Trismagistus

Trismagistus is the capital city of the Trimaran Empire, and it is one of the largest cities in the known world. Even though it is recovering from a recent war with the Jawharans, it still stands as a shining example of the combination of old world ingenuity and new world flare.

Demographics

With such a huge population, members of almost every race and ethnic city can be found here. The majority of the population is a combination of humans and elves (about 60% human and 20% elven, who are mainly high elves), but the following races make up the remaining percentages:

• dwarves 10%
• dragonborn 5%
• Halflings, gnomes, and tabaxi 5%

Government

The Imperial Government Legislative Body The Imperial Senate, comprised of representatives from across the provinces, is the primary governing body of the empire. Most of the political decisions that govern day-to-day operations of the empire go through the hallowed halls of the Senate chambers.
Additionally, the People's Assembly, which is made up of mainly lower class citizens and worker's guild representatives, has more of advisory role, but they are still able to take concerns and laws to the Senate for approval.
Judicial Body The empire is one of the few states that has a robust court system. Each province has a district court that oversees county magistrates that deal with local law matters. Any higher cases are referred to the imperial district courts,a nd if anything higher is required, then the imperial Justiciar, who resides over the Ministry of Justice, will hear the case and render judgement. Sometimes, the emperor will consult on cases and offer a judgement, but the advice of the throne is not always required.
Executive Body Ostensibly, authority is divided between the imperial council and the emperor/empress; however, the imperator is the ultimate executive authority. While the council, being made up of various counselors and generals, advises the emperor, they have no practical political power unless the emperor confers it.
The City Government
Princep--The city's districts nominate candidates to stand for election as the princep, or first citizen. The eventual chosen candidate has to be approved by the emperor/empress and the small council before they are allowed to take office. The princep will be in charge of day-to-day management of the city, its districts and its resources.
District Council--the princep is aided by a group of delegates taken from each city district.

Defences

The city is heavily fortified with an outer curtain wall, protecting the city at large, and an inner wall, protecting the government distract and imperial palaces.  These wall are brimming with archers and a variety of siege defenses, but the best defense lies in its access to the ports and river.  During the last war, most of the populace and the government were able to escape by sea and continue prosecuting the war without disrupting the administration of the empire.  In addition, there are large retractable chains that protect the harbor and prevent enemy ships from entering.

Industry & Trade

The primary business of the city is trade.  The merchant fleet and imperial navy are based out of the city and are connected through the empire's settlements and allied territories.  Some overland trade is conducted into the interior of the continent, even up to the Free Peoples' Alliance, but the vast trade network extends across the seas and down the coasts.  Anything that the empire cannot produce on its own is acquired from overseas.
Metalworking is a big business as many of the city's blacksmiths are often contracted by the government o produce goods for the military.  Still, a fine piece of armor or weaponry can be acquired at a reasonable price.  There is even a market for magical items and artifacts since magic is generally not frowned upon in this part of the world.

Infrastructure

Since this city was not affect too adversely during the Great Collapse, much of its advanced infrastructure has been maintained and improved. The canal and sewer system ensures that the city remains clean while the aqueduct system keeps the fresh water flowing.   Roads are wide and well-maintained, bridges and canals connect all of the districts, and the fast moving river provides plenty of power to run all kinds of mills up and down the river.
There are also plentiful spaces, plazas, and quays where business of all sorts can happen.  Indeed, much of the revenue the city alone takes in provides a sizable percentage of the whole empire's income.

Districts

1. Imperial Core--The center of the city that houses the imperial government buildings and the central pantheon
2. Jewelers' Promenade--once the site of the global jeweler's trade, it is now one off the welthiest neighborhoods in the empire.  Palatial mansions and apartments line the streets where a few jewelers and gem,smiths still do business, though most have relocated there storefronts to be closer to the main avenues of trade.
3. Tower District--centered around the mage tower and imperial academy, this district is dedciated to scholarship, innovation, and education.  In addition, outside of the Pantheon in the core, the largest temples dedicated to the prime deities are here.
4. The Burroughs--Though this is the largest district in the city, it is actually a combination fo two smaller sections that used over time.  The upper Burroughs houses the majority of the citizenry and is middle to working class, while the lower burroughs is little better than a slum where the poor and the downtrodden make their homes.
5. Left Bank--The Bulk of the commerce in Trismagistus happens here as the Harbor Market and West Quay are both here.  Some apartments and hotels are here as well.
6. Dockside Quay--Just barely qualifies as a district, but this street goes up and down the right bank, and the families there have been there for generations and have developed their own unique culture.  The families also formed the dock workers guild and are in charge of loading and off-loading most cargo ships.
7. Martial Quarter--the training grounds, competiton arena, the circus maximus, and the local garrison barracks are all located in this northern part off the city.  While the training, education, and housing of most of the soldiery are here, local guards and military personelle are stationed through the city so that there are no gaps in the local defense.
8. Elven Quarter--Originally established to house the large local elven population, this district also now houses the local naval academy and shipyards.

Assets

Every type of store and product can be found within city.  The Trimaran trade network is vast and its ports are bursting with various curios from up and down the coasts.  Due to the nature of the military, there are not many craftsmen and purveyors who carry very heavy equipment.  Things like plate mail, heavy shields, and large swords are usually reserved for the military, but, for the right price, some of the imperial blacksmiths can be persuaded to make something truly remarkable for you.

Guilds and Factions

This city is rife with faction and guild politics. Factions:

1. War Hawks--This political faction pushes for war on almost all fronts to either expand the empire or conduct punitive raids to ensure that rivals do not get strong enough to become a threat.
2. Magocrats--This political faction is relatively small, but they have vocal representatives in the imperial council and the senate.  They wish for mages and magical adepts to be the ones in charge of imperial administration.  
3. Senatorials--There are members of the senate and ruling assemblies who believe that the monarchy has served its purpose and should either be reduced in prominence, though the more radical among this faction call for complete abolition of the royal family.
4. Monarchists--They are the mirror image off the republican minded senatorials.  They see the mulitple ruling assemblies as impediments to good governance and see monarchy as more direct and responsive.  Few are so rasical as to call for the eradication of all republican principles, but they should be reduced to advisory councils with little political power.

Guilds:

1. Trades Guild--while there is no law requiring one to register with the guild, there is significant pressure to join.  All trades have to be managed by guild members, and anyone who tries to opperate without oversite is shunned and blacklisted. 
2. Merchant Guild--this group is often at odds with the trade guild as some artisans will also opperate as merchants with no middleman.  When this happens, some craftsmen end up paying dues to both oorganisations, which can drive up prices.  Otherwise, the guild overseas all purchases and sales of goods within the city limits.  They also act as an unofficial arm off the government as they also collect customs duties and local sales taxes.
3. Mage Guild--magic is not forbidden in the city, but if one wants to practice freely, and especially if one wants to ply a trade in magical craft, registry with this guild is required.  Also, this group is reponsible or policing rogue magic users in the city, and if the guild does not respond adequately, the imperial government will then directly oversee the guild's activities, more than they already do.  

History

Trismagistus used to be a frontier fort and settlement called Tripolitania during the twilight years of the empire. It rested on a magical draw point, which is why it became a successful town so far from the center of imperial life. As it grew, the military commanders made expeditions, both military and diplomatic, to the outlying regions in order to secure the safety of the province. Decades before the collapse, Emperor Alexius The Farseer, purportedly saw the downfall of the old empire in a vision. Thus, he set about dismantling the empire into smaller enclaves that could govern themselves and therefore protect themselves when the final hammer blow came. When the collapse eventually arrived, the local mages helped stabilize the gate of the Imperial Highway, and they funneled tens of thousands of imperial refugees into the burgeoning city. Even though the city was growing, it could not contain the massive amount of people who were seeking shelter. Tripolitania had almost doubled in sizes and it needed to solve this problem before this crisis destroyed the city. So, the local council and military commanders started divying up the province between the refugees, and the leaders even made diplomatic inroads with the frontier tribes in order to create new colonies and camps. Eventually, theses colonies and settlements would become the foundations of the new empire. Until that time, Tripolitania had to solidify its control over the area in order to ensure that these new settlements didn't overwhelm the center of power. The city founders renamed the city Trismagistus after three mage knights who took charge and orchestrated the great solution. Eventually, they nominated the greatest of the three to be king while the other two became top lieutenants. They set about a new city plan that would incorporate all of the new towns within 20 miles into a new central province that would coordinate with the colonies. At first, this relationship was roughly equal, but over time, the central province asserted its authority over the colonies and formalized the creation of the Trimaran Empire.
Over the year, conflicts were kept to a minimum with light skirmishes and small scale naval battle being the biggest upsets. However, within the past few decades, two major conflicts stand out:

1. The Jawharan War--The conflict with the neighboring empire that brought Trimara to its knees.
2. The Azure Pirates--Part of the enigmatic Azure Syndicate, these pirates started becoming a nuissance before the ink was dry on the peace treaty that ended the Jawharan War.

Points of interest

• The Imperial Core rests on a large island in the middle of the river and stands as the heart and main throughway connecting all three main parts of the city. The core is protected by an impressive array of towers and walls.
• The Mage Guild Tower is the tallest structure in the city and is the center of magical scholarship in the empire. An observatory is perched on top off the tower and sometimes tsranges movements and lashes of light can be seen around this building.
• The Harbor Market is the crown jewel of the Trimaran mercantile empire as almost anything and evreything can be found here. Merchants from all over the world and beyond sell items, and because so many people go through the market, restaurants, theatres and other avenues of entertainment have opened up alonogside the market stalls.
• The West Quay is a major trading hub that competes with the harbor market.  It has a wide variety of shops available, though some say that the "colorful" character of this market is what makes it a draw.  Others say that if you want to find any item with as few questioons asked as possible, this is where you go.

Tourism

Being a truly cosmopolitan city, which is pretty rare in this day and age, people of all walks of life pass though this city.  Merchants from far and wide visit the city on a regular basis, and the city's magical academies and scholarly institutions draw learned people ffrom across the continent and beyond.

Architecture

The city includes an eclectic mix of architectural styles.  The wood and plaster, Tudoric, style buildings can be found in some of the newer, residential districts, while the older ares of the city have plastered walled buildings with terra-cotta tiles on the roofs. The mage towers are made out of resilient limestone and granite, but they are built to remember the high elven towers found in their forest kingdoms.  The temples usually adopt a style that matches whatever god they serves, and as such, they range from gaudy and eclectic to austere and spartan.  The imperial quarter is the most uniform in this melting pot of a city as its buildings are an expanded complex that is trying to freeze in place the all but forgotten glory of the old Austrian Empire.

Geography

The city sits a few dozen miles up from the mouth of the Trimaran River, and it rests astride the river itself.  The imperial palaces are on the center island while the bulk of the city is split between the left and right banks.  Some of the local marshlands had to be drained in order to expand the city, but some of the bogs remain just to the southeast of the city.  To the north, the river extends past the plains and into the Umber Mountains.  The western marches are flat plains that turn into rolling hills.  The center of the empire is a truly beautiful landscape, for the most part, as war has left few scars up until recently.

Climate

The climate is somewhat sub-tropical with mild temperatures in the winter while the summers tend to be long, hot and humid.  The heat and humidity is mitigated by the air currents sweeping the air westward and by the gentle breezes coming from the river and estuaries.  Sometimes storms from the seas can be a problem.

Natural Resources

Local forests are maintained and harvested for lumber, and clay beds are worked regularly for bricks. However, the majority of the land around the city is reserved for farmland as the city is massive and maintain food reserves is a priority.  As was discovered in the last war, the perennial grain surplus saved the people from starvation.  There is not much mining done in the imperial province around the capital, but up river, prospectors search amongst the old ruins for any old imperial artifacts that the government and local merchants contracted for.

Founding Date

First iteration: 1,000 IE; Second iteration 50 AE/AF

Alternative Name(s)

The Saphire City

Type

Capital

Population

150,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Magisters

Owner/Ruler

Atavaria Stratos

Additional Rulers/Owners

• Kuveria Miletus

Ruling/Owning Rank

Emperor/Empress

Owning Organization

Trimaran Empire

Characters in Location

• Atavaria Stratos