Whitehall

"I didn't know a building could be pretentious."

- traveling merchant

Over centuries of meticulous sculpting, this earth August Elemental was shaped into the impressive form of the largest mage tower on Yodren. Courtyards are protected by magnificent arching marble walls, aviaries and menageries are kept safe deep within the craggy maw of the town, and towers rise to touch the face of gods, shifting the very weather around them with their crackling arcane energy. Windows the size of tall-ship sails bathe inner sanctums with light, shifting colors to suit Whitehall's moods and give the town a quick and direct method of gauging when they've insulted the creature's intractable sense of dignity.
Whitehall's lofty towers, sharp crenellations and absurd propriety make it hard to recognize as anything but a castle. However the casual observer will notice the large fists dragging the foundation of this magnificent building along the southern border of the Wandering Fields soon enough. Whitehall is a stickler for the rules, especially any related to the structure of power. Hierarchies are thus rigidly enforced within the city such that lesser elementals follow a single greater elemental which in turn follow a human of some station. The humanoid hierarchies are also strictly enforced. Whitehall has a strange habit of throwing tardy attendants from the ramparts. Coups, usurpers, regicides, assassins, and other unsavory ilk are handled less delicately.
The current zeitgeist of Whitehall stems largely from two factors. First, the rigid social structure and prideful adherence to decorum has slowly weeded out those who are not disciplined enough. A form of social Darwinism that has quite literally thrown the unsophisticated savages from the town has pruned the populace to those who enjoy and benefit from order and temperance. Secondly, the large font of magic that streams from the crisp towers and pours from the wretched maw of Whitehall are no small source of power for those who dabble in the arcane. Whitehall has become a pilgrimage of sorts for scholars; research concerning the Weave and higher order levels of spell magic is prolific on top of the August Elemental.
These two overpowering facets of daily life in Whitehall have caused a massive population of mages to converge on the town. Schools of abjuration, evocation, and transmutation are studied in earnest but no research is regarded as taboo, not even necromancy. Interesting breeds of fighters have carved out a portion of the town for themselves as well. Rogue arcane experiments have created a need for those who can defend the experimenters. The Blind Guard have developed a unique ability to negate magic and have become very proficient at killing arcane horrors and aberrations. Disturbingly good. The Order of Knowledge has taken to using the research in Whitehall to augment their own martial abilities. Arcane archers and knights are as much a symbol of pride in Whitehall as they are lab rats for the mages and their thirst for new magics.

Demographics

Genasi -~20%
The genasi here are less integral to the relationship between humanoids and the August Elemental than in some other settlements perhaps, but no one understands the color changes of the windows better than they. They are the gardeners that shape Whitehall, turning his rock into pristine marble through transmutation. They've also been relegated to herding elementals that Cleaving leaves.
Humans -~50%
Humans have taken over the majority of the space on Whitehall. The stunning disregard for personal safety yet utter respect for an established doctrine found only in this short lived race drives them to take advantage of the source of power within Whitehall. Mages are by far the preferred profession but fighters are common as well.
Elves -~30%
Not nearly as reckless as humans, elves prefer a slow and deliberate approach to the exploitation of Whitehall's affordances. Believing in a methodical approach to scientific theory, elves are as much an institutional safeguard as much as a form of enterprise research. They keep in check the mad scientists that live in the settlement, ensure that no experiment is large enough (or at least contained and guarded well enough) to cause significant harm should things go awry, and steer research into a cohesive direction so that mages can benefit from others' research in the community.

Government

A complex system of electoral collages, statistical modelling, and bizarre rituals are used to choose the Significance. This process, which includes two earth elementals smashing fish against a tower, no less than four gnomes, and a large ice sculpture of an unnecessarily sexualized wyvern, is held every five years. The transition between leaders is quick as protocols are well practiced and respected. Appearances have to be maintained, after all. The new Significance installs new leaders as they see fit, effectively creating an entirely different form of government from their predecessor. The current Significance has prioritized economic expansion for his term of office; czars have been created for tourism and trade while research and martial training have been hidden deep within the castle, only brought out to display the magnificent strides research has made.

Defences

Defense is another avenue for Whitehall to strut. The town has so many ways to defend itself. Normally, mages in the towers overlooking the Wandering Fields simply lob fire or call lightning. For less pressing matters, they'll use the assault to test experimental spells and gauge their effect. If Whitehall is hosting a large crowd or a high profile dignitary, more flamboyant methods of destruction are used.
Genasi wardens take a host of elementals to the field, using each elemental to compliment another for explosive effect. Fire and earth create magma while air turns a vortex into an aerial whirlpool of liquid fire. Water peppers the battle field with rain so that steam obscures the view. It's a kindness really. Who would want to see a magma tornado anymore than they had to before they die?
The Order of Knowledge can be teleported onto the battlefield and demonstrate on live targets how enchanted weapons, arcane tricks, and mystical powers can catch enemies off guard and overpower them. Transmuting an arrow into a ballista bolt midflight makes for a spectacular show. A knight's shield unexpectedly floating by itself, suspended over the person's back so that they can safely wield a two handed weapon can be devastating if given to assault forces. Berserkers are terrifying in their own right, never mind the Order's barbarians sprouting serrated antlers, jagged tusks, and iron carapace from their armor to look like the animals they imitate.
The animals that are kept in Whitehall's maw aren't simply for show. Gryphons, wyverns, hippogryphs, wyrmlings, giant scorpions, great boars, and a host of other animals are often sent into battle. The dazzling silver armor that covers these prized animals enhances their natural predatory nature, making them ideal war mounts or agents of chaos if let loose onto the field.
And if all of these tools fail, there's still a walking castle ready to crush survivors in a frustratingly polite way.

Industry & Trade

Like many of the other settlements in Itand, Whitehall is a center for trade in the intractable depths of the Wandering Fields. Markets here follow a more traditional specialization, relative to Lutu or Crystal King. Luxury goods, creature comforts, and high end clothing can be found in abundance. If it should be found in a king's court, the markets in Whitehall will sell it.

Infrastructure

Genasi keep the elementals that Cleaving provides busy with most of the infrastructure needs: earth elementals maintain roads and buildings, water keep sewage and plumbing running, fire does fire things, and air elementals are used to ferry trade from travelers to and from Whitehall. Air elementals are impressively hard to come by however. Large markets and gaming pavilions take the majority of the space on top of Whitehall, while residences are found below. The large, iconic towers are where magic is experimented upon and the craggy maw of Whitehall is where martial skills are honed and dangerous beasts kept.

Assets

Pomp and regality aside, Whitehall is little more than an entertaining market to the average tourist. It is not graced with a Gemmed Cove nor do alchemists, runecarvers, or smiths find purchase in the stalls of Whitehall. Luxury goods are the beating heart of these markets. Novelty items are sold by the cartload: small versions of Whitehall enchanted to move about, toy shields like those of the Blind Guard, mock bows that make fireball noises when shot, and the like. The pavilions are a chance for the Blind Guard and Order of Knowledge to display how physical combat can benefit from arcane gifts. Merchants and envoys for nations can then approach the mages of Whitehall if they are interested in the technology displayed.

Tourism

With perhaps the exception of Swordbreak, Whitehall is the most visible of the August Elementals. The August Elemental seems to enjoy the attention it gets by wandering so close to the southern border of the Wandering Fields. As such, it attracts visitors who want to see a relic of the previous ages still wandering the earth and the settlement capitalizes on this steady stream of tourism. This conspicuity also means Whitehall is often the only gateway into Itand for adventurers unwilling to wade through the Wandering Fields; a trek that would take months even if they somehow knew which way to go. Whitehall takes the self-appointed task of ambassador and representative of the country very seriously.

Architecture

Whitehall is aware of the change in fashions tourism brings to the settlement. As such, it demands its architecture be kept up to date with the latest trends and fashions of the time. Genasi will always find work tailoring the castle to best keep up to date. As such, the 4th age Human Architecture is all that will be found on Whitehall.

Geography

Whitehall has been shaped to form a walking castle. Battlements sit atop gargantuan marble walls. Towers erupt from the center of the August Elemental, their magics swirling the weather around them. A point, a sharp battlement that escapes the rest of the architecture covers the only surface of the elemental that hasn't been changed. A chasm opens to the depths of the elemental, stalagmites and stalactites pointedly remind everyone that an elemental need still be feared no matter the skin it wears.

Natural Resources

The mouth betrays one aspect of Whitehall that escapes most other earth elementals. A font of arcane energy sits within the settlement. Chutes, chimneys and stopes have been created to siphon this unrelenting force into the towers that sit on top of Whitehall. Experiments are powered by this font, sometimes to disastrous effects.

Type

Town

Population

~400 humanoids and 200 lesser elementals

Inhabitant Demonym

prigs, prudes, pomposity incarnate

Location under

Yodren

Ruling/Owning Rank

Significance