Platstore

Platstore the City of Wealth

This city is situated on the largest mine of Platinum in the world. As such, it has become the premiere mint on the continent, and is filled with merchants trading platinum for goods and services. Money and Intrigue make this city move.

A City Reliant on Others

The harsh winters native to the area, mixed with the damage to the environment from the mining operations have left the citizens of Platstore reliant on others for food, fresh water, and other supplies. As such, the merchant class of this city has become the default ruling class, controlling the flow of supplies into the city. One family of dwarves, split into four branches, controls the mines and the mint. As such, they control the city. They are known as The Devaljho Family .

History

The mine was originally created by Glorvia Devaljho 3000 years ago. It was originally a limestone quarry outpost, with a modest group of workers and miners manning the outpost. Then when the platinum block was found, there was a platinum rush and the city of Platstore was founded. However, after a mere decade, the problem with a platinum rush came rushing in. Inflation. With Platinum being everywhere, it's worth nosedived. Bakers were charging 100 platinum for a loaf of bread, and still not making enough to pay for the water needed to make the next dough.

Scoutavius Reforms

Glorvia and the other rushers did not care about the inflation. They kept digging and minting and making as much as they possibly could. Eventually, Glorvia's son, Scoutavius Devaljho, saw the suffering and decided to do something about it. He seized control of the mining companies and city, and immediately began to undo the damage. He shut down the mint, and sent letters to nearby villages that Platstore would be willing to buy goods at a massive markup. This brought in merchants of all kinds, here to sell food, water and other comforts and make a nice amount of money on the way. The mint would be reopened only when Platinum became scarce once more. He then turned his focus on the mine itself. Platinum, known for it's purity, was not very useful in other metalworks. However, if the mine shut down, then there would be no reason for workers to stay, and the city would collapse. As such, Scoutavius started the practice of making alloys out of the pure platinum for construction purposes. He brought in builder dwarves and had them experiment until a stable strong alloy could be made. The alloy was then used to build and reenforce the housing of the area.

The New Deal for Platstore

As Scoutavius grew older, he laid down a set of laws for Platstore to be ruled. These are known as The New Deal for Platstore. The laws state the following:

• The Devaljho Family will become the ruling monarchs of Platstone. A Devaljho must be in charge of the mine at all times.
• A program has been formed to exchange "old platinum" for "new platinum." All old platinum bought will be melted down into infrastructure metals.
• The Mint may only issue an amount of platinum equal to the amount of old platinum that was bought. This can be overwritten in times of trouble.
• Immigration is heavily limited. Food and Water can be scarce. Limiting the number of citizens will help keep the masses alive.
• Citizenship is earned, not given freely. Children of citizens need to prove themselves useful to the city before earning their citizenship. This includes the royal family.
• Tourism and trading is heavily encouraged. Noncitizens are not allowed to buy food or water in the city, but do not need a license to sell goods.
• Citizens get priority on goods purchasing.

Infrastructure

This city is built on wealth, literally. The buildings themselves are made out of platinum alloys, and stand 50 ft tall. The buildings are all packed tightly together, with alleys only 4 ft wide in between entire blocks of housing. While everything was originally designed as housing for mine and mint workers, buildings eventually morphed into the following layout:

1. Ground Floor: Shop Level. The bottom floor of many buildings became shops for merchants to sell their goods
2. 2nd Floor: Office Space: With sales being as important as it is here, bookkeeping and a space for it became VERY necessary. Many businesses use this second floor as for the "Brain" of their shop.
3. 3rd Floor: Owner's living quarters: This is where the owner of the business generally lives with their family. They like to be close to their business and be able to get down to the shop quickly if they are ever needed.
4. 4th-6th Floor: Worker's quarters: This is where mine workers and shop workers live. They will often pay rent to the owner, either through fresh platinum from the mint, or through their labor in the ship. The more expensive apartments are on the 4th floor, and get cheaper as you go higher. The top floors get notoriously hot. As such, there are some workers who make vents out the roof to help cool their living area.