Qedem, Capital of the Ancients

Demographics

Qedem is, next to the Etoile Capital City , one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the Principality of Etoile, having served as a historic capital and attracting migrants, students, and travelers from all across Saibh for most of history.

Government

Qedem is, like most other district seats, run by a dual governance structure, that of the local District Commander of the District of Qedem, and the Mayor of Qedem and their City Council. The District Commander is paramount in authority, but the Mayor represents the source of local political legitimacy. Their dual role and rule provides the balance necessary for effective city-level governance.

Defences

Qedem was a historic citadel, with ancient brickwork walls surrounding the old city. These are about as effective in the modern era as can be surmised; there are no defenses in the city as it stands today, other than the local guards and a small garrison of the Etoilean Ground Forces. The river confluence theoretically makes Qedem a valuable strategic crossing, but it does not significantly figure into any wargame or theoretical battleplan.

Industry & Trade

While some smaller goods are produced in the local manufactories, the principal industry of the Ancient Capital is tourism. The rich history of Qedem's rulers goes back hundreds of years, with each era of history producing enough artifacts to fill another museum and provide ample fodder for the historically inclined tourist. Most other tourist oriented towns are worth a stop for perhaps a weekend; Qedem can fill an itinerary for multiple weeks.
The tourists themselves come to see what the local archaeologists dig up, though that's less of an industry as such. The Academy of Etoile maintains a boarding house for its research teams that are active onsite, across the hundreds of active archaeological digsites scattered in and around the old city.

Infrastructure

Qedem provides all the infrastructure and services of a modern Etoile city, with a completed rooftop power distribution network, flatrods on every building, coupled with an efficient citywide water pump and effluent disposal system. These modern affordances are, however, simply improvements upon the original and ancient aqueduct and sewers that were originally built in Qedem in prehistory; the central power linkage actually is bolted to and runs underneath the old central aqueduct.
The old city at the heart of Qedem was never built with Power-Wagons in mind, however, with the roads being far too narrow for even the smallest of wagons. Wagons are restricted to the newer outer districts, with those visiting the old city having to travel on foot or hand cycle.

Districts

The old city of Qedem is the most historically important, a maze of ancient brick buildings dating to prehistorical times, old enough to where even during The War of Unification the King of Nasse took care to inflict no damage to the inner district, having been persuaded to use a 'light hand' by his advisors. The old city is a tourist's dream, an intricate labyrinth with historical attractions around every corner, hawkers on every street, and a mixture of locals, pilgrims, and academics crowding the alleyways. The old city is separated into three parts, surrounding the merging of the river Rhys and a tributary and connected by ancient bridges.
For more practical utility, a modern business district was constructed some distance from the old city, where a number of not-as-old buildings were razed to lay a wide boulevard. The modern plaster and stone buildings here imitate the whitewashed buildings of Central in the Etoile Capital City, but are meant to handle regular traffic of Wagon-Trains and similar modern economic activity. This district encompasses the old riverports as well, with the old piers replaced by a modern Power generation plant.
The rest of Qedem is a more modern sprawl of medium density tenements and small manufactories, as Qedem is not a major industrial center.

History

The history of the Capital of the Ancients can and has filled multiple dusty volumes. It is by far the oldest settlement in the Principality of Etoile, the oldest continually inhabited settlement, the place with the longest recorded history, and so forth. At least six distinct states have ruled from or over Qedem:

The Principality of Etoile

The Qedem Sovereignty

The Corill Tetrarchy

Tienlong, the Holy Kingdom

The Third Crusade

The Salted Kingdom

With more lost to history and known only through archaeological artifacts. The preservation of the old city of Qedem was due to a general reverence for the city, as it cycled between rulers in the era of petty kingdoms and prior, with no small amount of superstition and political legitimacy resting on the old city remaining untouched. 
The Sovereignty, the last of the petty kingdoms to rule from Qedem, was essentially bypassed in The War of Unification. The Sovereignty was a weak state on its last legs, with no major third party support or military of note, and the King of Nasse left a token besieging force to cut off food shipments, until the city surrendered without a fight or any casualties less than a week later. The First Princeps never visited the city, merely sending a delegation to discuss terms with the former leaders of the Sovereignty and establish their own offices. 
In terms of modern Etoile and the path of Progress, Qedem is largely ignored as a backwater, of interest principally to academics. It is a popular site for would-be journal writers, the stereotype of a freshly minted journalist 'getting in touch with the old ways' by spending two weeks in Qedem, then writing about it, is so common that it prompts jokes at every comedian's show at the Grand Amphitheatre of Etoile.

Points of interest

There are several 'must see' spots on any itinerary to Qedem, in no particular order:

The Greathall of Emperors and Tyrants. The traditional throne of the Ancient Capital, this complex is small by contemporary standards but is likely the oldest preserved building in all of the Principality, a building that can only be entered properly by passing through a series of gatehouses, with places for obesiance and tribute at every gate. The throneroom itself, however, is literally just that - a relatively small room with a throne in its center, and somewhat disconcerting in its lack of grandeur.

The Vision Grotto. A cave under a small hill near the river, close enough to where water seeps from the cave walls to drain out through cracks. Historically known as a site where multiple historical prophets have received visions, consequently founding new religions and theocracies, of which the Holy Kingdom of Tienlong was one. Modern investigation of the grotto has concluded that the water seepage stimulates some sort of gas emission that has both soporific and hallucinogenic properties, and as such, the grotto can only be visited for fifteen minutes at a time. A common joke is that this is to prevent the rise of new religions under Etoile.

The Old Market. Still in use as a public market today, this market is a claustrophobe's nightmare, a haphazard arrangement of stalls and stands, lots assigned through a bizarre and arcane interweaving of ancient contracts, sure to drive any of The Magistrates insane. Apart from the ordinary foods and groceries, the Old Market falls under another strange tourist phenomena as that of The Stagonids - some of the souvenirs sold in the Old Market to tourists are actually manufactured at the Capital and shipped to Qedem for sale, to tourists from the Capital, so they can return home and place the souvenir on a shelf not far from where it was manufactured. 

The Ancient Fishery. At some point in prehistory, a portion of the city was excavated for a river diversion, sending water from the river Rhys into a series of marshy ponds before draining back into the river proper. This was built in order to attract fish into the ponds as a way to supplement the city's early food stores, with posts for nets to catch fish by the hundreds and old fisher huts standing on stilts in the water. In the modern era, this mass fish harvest is unnecessary, and the Fishery is now a popular spot for leisure fishing, with Etoileans casting lines between hundred year old pilings and huts.

Founding Date

Unknown

Type

City

Population

~125,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Qedemites

Location under

Saibh

Owning Organization

Principality of Etoile