Guildanthia

A city long divided by a brutal and bloody war, Guildanthia's distinguishing feature is the wall slicing the city in twain. To the west, The Azure Brotherhood promotes the interests of their wealthy benefactors. To the East, the The Ruby Pheonix Formation strives in the shadows to undermine the system restraining them.

Geography

Guildanthia is situated between the northern coast of the Remnant Landmass and the Unnamed Mountains. The narrow Lock Pass to the west and a rocky road to the north are the only surface paths out of the region. As the north road is surrounded on one side by a deadly drop into the sea and on the other by the unwelcoming Gate Woods , the city is only practically reachable by the west road. Some local legends claim there is also a secret trade tunnel heading due south beneath the mountains, but no viable passage is currently known.

Founding

When the cataclysm rocked northern Bullshitica, refugees fled south. Upon reaching Lock Pass, many of the group decided to remain rather than continue west into the northern coast or the equally inhospitable Shifting Wastes. What began as a refugee camp grew rapidly into a fortified settlement at the residents raced to protect themselves not just from the waves of enemies at their backs, but also the blistering seasonal storms common to the region.

Early Years

Establishment of the Elder Moot

The first winter spent in this hostile clime made for a restless and fearful people. At last, a great midwinter snow threatened starvation for some or great illness for all when the food stores ran out. To arbitrate, the wisest, strongest, and most respected refugees locked themselves without food or drink in a chamber. Before the sun had kissed the horizon, they had chosen from among them a Speaker to whom the final decision would fall.

Thereafter, it became tradition to do precisely this: once every year, twelve representatives meet and choose a singular voice for the many. Though there is no exclusion for the same man to hold the office as long as his fellows should wish it, throughout Guildanthia's history only four have ever held it for more than three years at a stretch, and this includes Mansfred, who held it three years and a fortnight when the moot was postponed to deal with a goblin raid., after which Mansfred honorably declined a forth appointment.

Shifting Tides

Many of Guildanthia's early conflicts stem from ever evolving racial tensions between humans and their Tiefling brethren. For reasons no one yet understands, the population of Tieflings in Bullshitica grew substantially as the years crept by, particularly among children born to refugees of the cataclysm. In a community formed of only such refugees, their numbers grew rapidly until they significantly outnumbered their un-horned cousins. This population boom made it near-impossible for them to be ostracized-- as they had been for centuries beyond memory-- to the fringes of human society. Even so, they had not one voice on the Elder council and were largely unprotected.

Then, in the year 213 PC, Purple Tiefling approached the Elder Council for aid. A mysterious illness known as Hornrot had been creeping through the city, unstopped and unnoticed by the un-horned residents. Rather than help or heed him, the council instead advised him to find his own cure. Three days later, he rode back into the city astride a brilliant unicorn, cure in hand. With this single act of heroism he garnered enough support for his fellow Tieflings to sweep him directly into the Moot Hall (not one warrior so much as raised a blade against them). He stood upon their meet table and demanded acknowledgement of his people and his deed. He was rewarded with a new, thirteenth seat on the moot council and, months later, by the further honor of serving as speaker.

While he was the first Tiefling voice to reach the council, his was far from the last. Many districts would choose Tiefling leaders in the decades and centuries to follow. While some historical texts still reference this great divide, the Guildanthia of the modern age is as integrated as any settlement has ever been.

Modern Age

Guildanthia's Socioeconomic development

In the centuries that followed, Guildanthia worked hard to establish trade relationships with Notch Watch to the South and Northport to the West. Their hard-won fortified position in the Unnamed Mountains made it uniquely capable of mining the mineral rich caverns beneath their feet. Even distant Dwarven Kingdom 2 was tempted enough by their raw material to establish paths through the Gate Woods, though the Wood Elves dwelling within like it not.

Unsurprisingly, once the potential for great wealth was established, many hopefuls flocked to the city. The most successful of these established families that still reside in the city to this day. Many of these became individual merchant guilds, some specializing but many diversifying their portfolio and warring bitterly with one another in the process. It wasn't long before these wealthy houses were able to worm their way into the Elder Moot itself. By the modern age, there is not one person on the council who is not directly connected to one of these ancient trading houses.

The current Elder Moot seats as of 1111PC:

1. Filbert Conroy
2. Dazzul Buble
3. Clementine
4. (Tiefling, 35, Ditzy Male)
5. Margo Hrundrapet
6. (Human, gender ambiguous, temple leader)
7. Greckle Feldspar
8. Schtize Clearn
9. Gladys Susk
10. Liere Nuan, Heiress of Suhpek
11. Chet Conroy (younger brother to 1)
12. Human man, 71, wizard

The Violet War

The ancient trade guilds might have seized the Moot, but none of them individually had enough power to enforce their will alone. It became too obvious too quickly that every family employed a standing pack of ruffians to cause trouble for their rivals. The Moot, as a body of order and governing, would be seen to enforce its laws, but only when and where it would most benefit its members.

While disruptive and problematic for one another, the Elder Council's reckless disregard for secrecy enraged the common people far more. The roving pockets of ruffians and the guards who would occasionally stop drinking long enough to chase them were a terror to all they encountered; no one more than the small business owner.

Things reached a critical tipping point when a teen Tiefling named Cheer returned to his family's shop to find it ablaze: his mother and sister still inside. Despite diving into the inferno, Cheer was unable to save them; his rage and grief was bottomless. He whipped up outrage as he staggered through the city, barely even aware of the army brewing at his back.

Half the upper quarter burned that night as rioting erupted throughout the city. The guards, each decked in blue, were said to have turned violet as the blood drenched their uniforms. The violence lasted for days, neither side able to gain enough leverage to fully subdue the city. Eventually, the thugs and guards joined forces and dissolved any illusion of separation between the two in order to protect their master's holdings.

At last Cheer, elevated to the status of a de facto leader, badly scarred from his attempted rescue, and now sporting the name Traj , commenced plans to divide the city rather than conquer it in a single stroke. He envisioned a great barricade running straight through the city, from coast to cliff. He and his compatriots dubbed themselves The Ruby Phoenix Formation . They would come to be known as "the Reds" by outsiders, but simply as "Fees" by members.

No one knew then that the Elder Moot had assembled what remained of the city guard and their hired ruffians (two groups that were functionally one and the same) to undertake a similar project. They would begin nearest to their precious mines and fortify as rapidly as they could their fine houses. They would soon name themselves The Azure Brotherhood, though their detractors simply called them "Blues" and "Bastards." They also attempted to dub themselves the "Heads" and their opponents as "Tails" in reference to Guildanthia's flag, but this moniker had limited sticking power.

What followed was ten years of sometimes covert and often bloody battles as each side sought to define where one territory ended and another began. Homes along the fault line were abandoned entirely and absorbed into the wall itself. Both factions fought tooth, nail, and horn for every inch of every street, giving the resulting barricade a jagged and uncertain architecture.

In the closest thing to a ceasefire the conflict had yet seen, the two organizations agreed to allow a neutral territory: a patchwork gate of fine carved wood and slapdash iron bands now slices the city in half. Both sides charge steep tolls for those seeking to pass through said gate but, in theory, it is possible to pass straight through Guildanthia without ever encountering trouble from the Reds or Blues.

Guildanthia

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