Eadinsk (ay-deen-sk)

Eadinsk is the capital city of the kingdom of The Dale, located in the heart of that nation's territory. The city sits in a fertile plain between two mountain ranges  - the Backbone Spires and Toldrun's Shoulders - where two rivers converge. There has been a city or village of varying size in this location as far back as anyone can remember, possibly dating back to the very beginning of the First Age. Most scholars put the founding date for a city in this location at 12 1A, as that is the earliest they have been able to find textual evidence mentioning a city here in other nations' archives. For the vast majority of history, the city located here was small and remained irrelevant in a larger geopolitical sense. The early centuries saw a severe distrust of mages and the arcane, so the city did not flourish and threaten the gods as did many other ancient cities that brought about The Smiting. This disdain for magic was not founded on some strong fundamental religious principle - though they did trust priests to heal and use other magics as necessary - but rather on a belief in working with one's own hands to accomplish something instead of using magical means.
In the 16th century of the First Age, the city-state of Edovina managed to form an alliance with all of its neighbors, and through a series of strategic marriages they were able to cement the region together into a coherent kingdom called The Dale or Dolmesta. Shortly thereafter, the border fort in the northwest gap was built, and The Dalians mostly sealed themselves off from outside influence and interaction. Since that time, the monarch in Eadinsk has ruled over all of the kingdom, and the other towns have prospered from this communal arrangement. In the early years of this kingdom, the anti-arcane sentiment in Eadinsk was spread to the other parts of the territory, and mages were sternly but politely chased out of most towns. This mindset perpetuated well into the Second Age, which is a main contributor to the small size of Eadinsk despite its ancient origins and longevity. The full ban on arcane magic was repealed and relaxed in 1501 2A, but some areas of The Dale and Eadinsk specifically remain skeptical to this day. Eadinsk is the only capital city in the world without some type of arcane academy, and no other town in The Dale has one either.
Eadinsk has a central walled district that contains many government buildings, several important temples, and the Queen's Palace within its own walled keep. This central district sits atop a small hill just a few hundred yards north of the rivers' convergence. The city radiates outward from this district, with parts of the city on all sides of the rivers' Y-shaped meeting point. Where most nations would use this geography to have massive river port facilities, Eadinsk does not have a need to use the rivers to transport large amounts of goods; there is only a small port on the southern side of the city, at the closest part of the river to the sea. The generally less well-off workers live closer to the river - sometimes in houses built on stilts - and the more successful business owners and nobles live further away on the small hills of the city. The somewhat frequent river floods and regular seasonal tide changes plague these slum areas, and in recent decades the entire population has shifted outward toward the city's edges with the riverfront being left mostly abandoned except by those who desperately cannot afford anywhere else.

Demographics

Like most of The Dale, Eadinsk is around 70% human, with halflings, gnomes, and huundari making up most of the remaining citizens. Eadinsk is fairly welcome to the traditional "monstrous races", so it is not completely out of the ordinary to see a bugbear, orc, or even drow roaming the city's streets. Most people in the city are involved in either agriculture or craftsmanship of some kind. Many "manufacturing" businesses in The Dale are located in Eadinsk, where raw materials are shipped from various other places in the kingdom. This has resulted in the average income and livelihood of Eadinskis being slightly above what is normal in other large cities. Another somewhat large industry is simply the bureaucracy needed  to deal with the kingdom's planned economy and resource management. There are a few nobles in the city who own collectives of manufacturers or large farming estates on the city's outskirts. These nobles owe fealty and quite a large annual tax to the Queen, so they are not nearly as rich as nobles in other parts of the world.

Government

The Queen appoints a mayor that is usually a family member or trusted friend. This mayor is almost always advised by a small council of civic leaders, but there have been notably arrogant mayors who eschewed the council to their own detriment. The Queen has overall authority and can step in to run the city when she feels the mayor is not doing a good enough job. The mayor may also be deposed in times of civil unrest, if the citizens are calling for change and the Senate can convince the Queen to oust the mayor. Most of the time when things go wrong, the mayor blames their council and replaces as many members as necessary until things start improving or the unrest quiets.

Defences

The central district of the city is surrounded by an ancient, thick wall that has been slightly updated and renovated over the centuries. It encompasses the Queen's Palace, the main government buildings, and several important temples. Other than that, there are no walls around any part of the city since the city has not faced a serious direct invasion threat in over two millennia. There are a few watchtowers throughout the city's various wards, but these serve more as a base for the city Watch than any military that protects from invasion. There are several small installations up and down river in all directions from Eadinsk that watch for and protect against river-borne invasions. All of the bridges across the various rivers can be raised or drawn up for ship passage or to prevent invaders from having easy passage to the central areas.

Infrastructure

All of the roads in Eadinsk are paved, and the city government makes sure they are well maintained for best use for everyone. Fresh water is diverted into the city via a series of underground canals from both rivers that empty into large cisterns available to the public. Along all three riverfront areas there are many watermills that use the force of running water to mill grain and corn, as well as providing power for primitive factories and manufacturing machines. There is a small shipyard and port facility on the southern part of the city, predominantly on the eastern side of the joined river.

Architecture

Most of the buildings and houses here are what might best be described as proto-brutalism, with stone instead of concrete. Grey stone and simple slate roofs make the city look rather dull and monochromatic, with very few embellishes or decorative features except on commercial shop fronts. Even the windows are small, bland, and few enough in number to just barely light in the buildings' interiors. The noble estates are slight more ornamented, resembling Tudor style manors and castles, with some featuring decorative brickwork akin to Hampton Court or St. James's Palace. The central government buildings and temples are a neoclassical style, with unadorned Doric columns and less-busy porticoes that feature only a symbol of the corresponding deity and their name. The Queen's Palace is a fantastic Baroque building adorned with a variety of colored gems and stone bricks, though no gold or platinum furnishings on the outside.

Founding Date

12 1A

Alternative Name(s)

Edovina (former)

Type

Capital

Population

16,549

Inhabitant Demonym

Eadinskis

Owning Organization

The Dale