Balenhof (Bal-len-hoff)

Along the banks of the Rolden river, the golden hills of wheat sway with the gentle winds, the irrigation canals gently gurgle with water, and the almond trees cluster around canals and ponds in little green groves. To the West the great Feften valley sprawls over the horizon, a flat expanse of golden wheat and yellow grass with lines of irrigation and the occasional distant village. To the east, across the river, green forests mix with patches of yellow plain, and the charred ruins of dead towns hauntingly creep out from the overgrown foliage. 
As one approaches Balenhof, the land rises up in great trenches and artificial hills, as if pinched upwards by the fingers of gods. These earthen walls and ditches, enormous in scale and ancient in age, have small gaps in them to act as gates, often with tiny walled hamlets attached. Once one is past the great earthworks, one can see Balenhof in all its glory: a great grey city of walls and spires surrounded by endless rows of fields and flowering orchards, a verdant and flowering piece of paradise where the wind smells like flowers and peaches. 
Wind and water mills cluster near the city is ancillary walled compounds, and caravans of farmers, merchants, and herders trundle in through these gates with great wagons of raw wheat or great flocks of sheep to be sheared. Once through the gates, Balenhof gives a sense of a city that is too big for its inhabitants, with rows of abandoned shops and apartments and roads too broad for the traffic in many places. It is also immediately and obviously a military city, with great companies of soldiers regularly entering or exiting, and many military supply depots throughout the city. Imperial cavalry riding Crown Dragons - mutated Sudraco finely adorned with feathered armor - can be seen riding the broad avenues, a peculiar site anywhere else. And the great riverside fortress, Castle Nanikem, is always bustling with activity. 
Visitors are a welcomed break from the war and drudgery here, and one is sure to find plenty of hospitality in the city's taverns and hostels. Appear too rich or too armed, though, and the political mire beneath the surface of the city is sure to drag you in. This is the old imperial capital of Eketen, the great crown of the Emperor, and its very existence is a beacon for intrigue and turmoil. Beware honeyed words and open arms here - any great warrior or mage who enters this city is joining the Game, whether they choose to or not. And to play the Game without a faction, or without awareness, is to walk into the jaws of unexpected death.

Demographics

5,000 - 10,000 humanoids live in Balenhof; the statistics break down to 25% Human, 25% Kobold, 25% Starspawn, 15% Dryad, and 10% Other. The war makes exact population numbers difficult.

Government

Balenhoff is ruled by Empress Ivara Avenet, self-proclaimed empress of the Empire of Eketen and current dominant personality within the 'royal triumvirate' that rules much of central Eketen in the current civil war. Ivara is a former dragoon and military officer, calm in battle and generous with her soldiers, and one of the most powerful warlords in Eketen. While she is a commonborn soldier (a child of con artists from Kiazerov who joined the military at a young age) with no clear claim to the throne, her charisma and her soldier's loyalty allow her to claim the throne anyways. To win over the broader public, she has entered a political marriage with the technically-in-the-dynasty Prince Nassar Avenet (another warlord to the Northeast who is a member of the triumvirate) and has been rummaging through the old imperial capital for potential hooks she could use to grant herself a hereditary claim. 
While Ivara rules from Balenhoff, the surrounding area is not technically her territory. The countryside is run by the third member of the triumvirate, Marshal-Duchess Niuna Devimund, who granted Ivara control of the imperial capital in exchange for equal power in government. Niuna is an eccentric character, a Kobold officer whose family entered the empire as mercenaries from the Agrimir Wastes and who has a major following among mercenaries and kobolds alike. Niuna is a very charismatic woman who has attracted a cadre of court followers who have suggested that she is the Irunek. Niuna has yet to deny these claims and has engaged in a few displays of public mysticism that could be seen as egging them on, though given her background among the Liberated Kivish she could also just be inclined to mysticism. 
When Ivara is busy with eternal war and triumvirate intrigue, Balenhoff is run by Count Nivel Gosvren I, a Starspawn lesser aristocrat whose father was able to secure Balenhof during the civil war of the 2000s. Nivel is an incredibly charismatic politician with great ambition, who betrayed his former warlord-liege to invite the Marshal-Duchess into Balenhoff several years ago. Despite being an incredibly orator and a skilled tactician, his reputation as a betrayer and his absolute ineptitude at civil management has prevented him from rising to be a full warlord of his own.

Defences

Balenhof's walls are formidable, designed by Empire of Calazan engineers and easily holding the vestiges of the depopulated city. Within the city, there is also Castle Nanikem, a grand citadel connected to the royal palace and intended to be the Empire's royal bastion and military headquarters. 
Beyond the city, a network of small watchtowers radiate out across the surrounding countryside. The countryside itself has also been warped to be more defensible: many centuries of digging and construction have shaped the earth into massive hills and ditches, huge earthen walls with ancient trenches and narrow breaks that would exhaust incoming troops or monsters and provide local farmers and herders defensible positions. These are old defenses that predate even the fortress of Balenhof, and have withstood the test of time magnificently.

Industry & Trade

Balenhof is famous for its orchards, which line the river near the wheat and corn farms. This is the city of peaches, people once said, and the sweet smell of peaches drifts on the wind across the countryside. Many orchard workers and local farmers live in Balenhof's walls to avoid attacks by monsters or bandits, though small fortified villages also dot the surrounding countryside. Balenhof also brings in agricultural products from across the Feften valley for refinement or export: the many wind and water mills here provide cheap milling of the wheat and corn of the broader valley, and the weavers, spinners, and tailors of the city are always eager to purchase wool from shepherds. Ranchers also bring cattle for sale down the river and mounts for the military. Local river-shepherds, with their Giant Lobsters, often live in Balenhof as well. There is also a very large beekeeping industry nearby, and the city produces mead and peach-apple cider for sale and consumption.  
The military needs of the triumvirate are also a big driver of manufacturing here: smiths, tanneries, fletchers, and stables are all big industries here. Once, there was also an imperial luxuries market here that attracted spellcasters and specialists in consumer goods, but many artisans now avoid Balenhof as a magnet for war. 
Along the river, Imperial Sudraco (Sudraco with beneficial Ederstone mutations bred in) are ranched in special enclosed estates. Balenhof remains the largest center of specialist warbreeding, and the city has some very large stables to accommodate those warbeasts during sieges.

Infrastructure

Balenhof's infrastructure is actually quite well-made and well-designed, if poorly maintained in recent years. The roads are large, neatly paved, and alternate between winding residential roads and military-made grid roads. The sewers are a centralized underground network that contain the smell and also do a good job of preventing flooding during the rainy seasons. There is a developing with the sewers given a total lack of maintenance, but the reduced population has slowed this and it could be another decade before the system begins failing. The water retention system, wells, and cisterns are robust enough to support the entire reduced city and more, despite the collapse of the old aqueduct system. The biggest issue there is with the piping bringing the water from the cisterns and reservoirs up to public, as damaged piping has not been replaced; some water reserves are also becoming contaminated or polluted over time. Water mills still operate along the edges of town, drawing in farmers and bringing food to the city. The riverport is large and is perhaps the only bit of infrastructure maintained by the current regime.

Guilds and Factions

The Imperial Guard: The bureaucracy and a good third of the local garrison and guard of the city, the Imperial Guard are the personal forces of Empress Ivara I. They do their best to imitate the professionalism and bureaucratic systems of the old Empire, though they lack the size and resources to fully make that happen. When they are overburdened, they often hand off tasks to the city guard or the mercenary companies. They are also the loyalists of the Empress, and move to support any group that favors her. The more military-oriented guilds tend to gravitate towards the Imperial guard (such as the smiths and the fletchers). The Guard also runs the local justice system. One of the more popular local factions. 
The City Guard: The personal retinue and warband of the Count, the city guard are less of a police force and more of a group of warriors who also help run the city during their down time. They are loyal to the Count above all and are agents of his political machinations. They also eschew the old bureaucratic style for a hands-off feudal style, where local militias and civilian groups do most of the legwork and ruling and the guards show up only if there's serious violence to be done. Those groups in the city who prefer total autonomy gravitate towards the city guard (gangs, small independent guilds, small religious groups, and the like). 
The Imperial Companies: Mercenaries that are stationed in the city to protect against attack, the Imperial Companies prioritize protecting merchants, boats, farmers, and caravans entering and exiting the city rather than any in-city work. The mercenaries are rowdy and generally do better in the countryside than in the city center, and just about everyone acknowledges this. Despite that, they are occasionally brought in for in-city problems when the other guards are overwhelmed (or for political reasons). The mercenaries are overwhelmingly foreign, hailing from the mountain states of Varasa, the Kingdom of Arvarun, and the chaos wastes, and they are loyal to Marshal-Duchess Niuna (who pays them) before they are loyal to any imperial actor. The Imperial Companies may not be popular thanks to their foreign culture and rowdy detachment from society, but their work protecting farmers and merchants has earned them some allies among the lesser merchants, millers, and weavers of the city. 
The Uvaran Priesthood: Perhaps the least militarized group in the city, the Uvaran priesthood help operate the local temples, charities, and spellcasting school (small and disorganized it may be). The priesthood is popular for its appearance of neutrality and pacifism, and it acts as a mediating body in the city. This neutrality is a front; the head of the city's priesthood, Lord-Priestess Kakala, is a quietly ambitious character aligned with the distant third member of the triumvirate, Prince Nassar. The Priesthood has aligned itself with more East-facing merchants, such as the riverboat captains and the wealthier merchant elites. One of the more popular local factions.
The Local Militias: The local communities have learned to care for themselves, and armed mutual aid networks span much of the city. These lack any kind of central organization and many are aligned with one or more of the major top-down factions, but some remain neutral.

History

Pre-Capital History

Balenhof is a defensible and arable location in an area that desperately needs one, so it shouldn't be surprising that the spot that is now Balenhof has been used on-and-off as a hill fort and place of refuge for many centuries. A local monarch established a permanent fort in Balenhof in 1095 in order to use the area for more sedentary agriculture and to project more power over the tribes of the Feften valley. This fort slowly grew into a town as farmers and fishermen flocked to the riverlands surrounding it for protection and trade access. And in 1150, the fall of the much larger town of Kalahov to the South to monsters sent a wave of refugees to Balenhof, and these settlors helped transform the town into something larger and richer. The rise of Balenhof in the late 1100s was meteoric, as expanded irrigation into the Feften valley allowed for a population boom in the region. By 1210, Balenhof was considered one of the more populous and prosperous cities in Central Eketen, and it hosted the Bayanol Accords - a conference of Eketeni leaders where the major kingdoms drew up plans and agreements to create roadways and safe waterways connecting the West, Center, and East.
The Feften valley prospered through the 1200s and 1300s, and Balenhof rose as its premier city. The 1400s were less kind, as monsters and warring kingdoms alike broke the irrigation system and led to famine and plague. It took until the mid 1600s to fully recover from this 15th century collapse, though the new order was far more consolidated: the Feften valley was unified now, one of only three kingdoms across all of central Eketen. And from 1630 to 1820, Balenhof was built up by the Kingdfom of Feften as its mighty capital and trading city. In 1820, Balenhof was conquered by the Empire of Eketen. The city initially dwindled after the imperial conquest, as safer roadways and new border settlements allowed for more travel across Eketen and offered new opportunities elsewhere for commoners. The old aristocracy, already heavily trimmed by the conquering empire, further withered away as social and physical mobility increased for local communities. Different populations, including groups of Kobold herders and ranchers, moved into the valley and proved more difficult to enserf than sedentary farmers. Attempts by the old aristocracy to reassert control led to rebellion in 1882, and the Eketeni emperor surprisingly sided with the local farmers and ranchers over the aristocrats. The military marched in, redistributed some land, and took control of the valley and city as the new feudal aristocracy. Balenhof became the big military city, the training ground for dragoons and the recruiting ground for loyal soldiers; local communities actually liked the military and were quite loyal to both them and the emperor. 

As Eketen's Capital 

It was this loyalty and military association that led to Balenhof being made the imperial capital of Eketen in 1922. The new emperor, Nanikem I, wanted to move the capital away from the disloyal aristocrats of the East and towards a more symbolic center of the empire, and Balenhof was perfectly suited for just that. The city was built up once again, and from 1922 to 1960 the city flourished. The 1960 - 1962 civil war diminished this growth, but didn't stop it. The city grew and grew in wealth and population, until a truly devastating civil war broke out with Balenhof at its center in 2000. 
After Empress Kudana I was assassinated in 2000 by a cadre of imperial officers, those officers attempted to place their own candidate, Nanikem II, on the throne in Balenhof. Kudana I's husband, Emperor Eriten I, rallied loyal officers to besiege the city almost immediately. The siege lasted two years, all while Eriten and Nanikem's forces fought across the countryside, and Balenhof's people starved and sickened in droves. Ultimately, Eriten I was killed and the siege was broken, but Nanikem II was not far behind - the Eastern-backed Aveneka I, distant niece of Kudana, was able to defeat them on the field of battle and her forces sacked Balenhof in 2008. The looting of 2008 was horrific and unrestrained, and many more innocents were killed. The city traded hands three more times from 2008 to 2014, but none of those captures or occupations were nearly so brutal to Balenhof as the siege or sacking of the early war.
2014 ended with Count Torben Gosvren, an aristocrat from West Eketen, seizing Balenhof to sell to the highest bidder, mere months before the ceasefire was called. Count Gosvren never did sell Balenhof, but rather sat on it while waiting for a major power bloc to form. The elder Gosvren was assassinated in 2015 and replaced by his charismatic but bad-at-management son, Nivel Gosvren. In 2016, Nivel Gosvren betrayed the local warlord who had protected him and his father, the false Avenek IV (a pretender who claimed to be Avenek III's lost son), to invite a different warlord, 'Duchess' Niuna, into the city. In late 2017, Niuna then joined the 'royal triumvirate' of herself, Prince Nassar, and 'Empress' Ivara. The Empress demanded that Nivel give control of the city to her and submit absolutely to her government and was able to bring enough force to bear to force the count to submit without a fight, but Nivel was able to retain some power in the new order.
All this war and changing of hands has seriously diminished Balenhof's population and riches. Once, this city seemed on track to rival Kiazerov in size and glory; now, it is steadily slipping towards becoming a heavily fortified town.

Architecture

Steep rooves and large basements, with a mixture of stone, brick, and wood.

Geography

Balenhoff sits along the Western bank of the Rolden river, in the semi-arid flatlands of central Eketen. The great Feften valley lies to the West, a vast open expanse of wheat, corn, sheep, and cattle.

Founding Date

1095 ME

Alternative Name(s)

Bayanol, Valhof

Type

City

Population

5,000- 10,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Balenhoffers

Location under

Stildane

Owning Organization

Empire of Eketen