Malka (Mal-kuh)

Following the Calazan river East to the sea, the land become green and verdant. The river weaves through the hills, mixing with other, smaller rivers from the surrounding region. At the river delta, the lights of Malka mark the end of the land and the river, and the beginning of the endless ocean to the East. 
Malka is the second largest city in the Empire of Calazen, and it is likely the most profitable. All goods entering or leaving Calazan markets from the coast must pass through here. It is from this city that the Eastern kings crowned themselves, whenever the Empire collapsed into civil war. While there are other large Calazan ports, none hold the political or economic power that Malka does. This is the city of bureaucracy, of jesters, of thieves and merchants. Where Etezja is traditional majesty and the might of the bloodline, Malka is the immense power of the empire containing boiling social chaos.

Demographics

Around 700,000 humanoids live in Malka, making it the largest city of Eastern Calazen and one of the largest cities in the Empire. Unlike Etezja, Malka has to compete with other neighboring imperial cities for population - specifically the two other main imperial ports, Inaba and Athalba. 
The population is 40% Half-prism, 20% Human, 30% Dryad, and 10% Other.

Government

Malka is the seat of the regional government of Eastern Calazen (formally known as the Vice-Kingdom of Shirmarsa). The head of regional government is Vice-King Tisel Ziraba, one of the more competent and ambitious members of the royal family. Tisel is an accomplished sorcerer, a capable administrator, and an effective politician; should the empress ever lose her grip over state power, Tisel would be the number one pick by the imperial court for her replacement. While Tisel isn't entirely content with "just" governing one of the wealthiest provinces in the Empire, he understands that patience is key, and he has made no moves to challenge his cousin's power. It helps that Tisel is generally quite busy, both with the bustling ports of the Eastern coast and with his three very headstrong children.
Given Tisel's imperial and personal duties, routine government is left in the hands of the Imperial Accountable. The current Accountable is Ithmi Baoja, an elderly nobleman who has been the Accountable for most of a century. Ithmi claims to have been personally chosen by Esam the Great as one of the first imperial appointments by the emperor, but he also claims to be the most direct heir of Ghavi as well as the first sorcerer to survive a duel with Darza, so the truth is a bit of a mystery. In some ways, Ithmi and his scamp-like behavior is beloved by the city as a kind of mascot - he is funny, well-connected, and represents continuous imperial stability.
When it comes down to it, though, much of the government people actually interact with isn't either nobleman, but rather the powerful ministries and clergy that collect taxes, interpret laws, investigate crimes, and build infrastructure. The landed nobility have less power than usual here, and generally avoid the main part of the city. Instead, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Thought, and the Ministry of Public Works manage the city, along with the Nediran clergy.

Defences

The city's defenses focus on the heart of government and the peninsula that protects the Dragonsport: the fort of Tishalla's Fang and the neighboring Palatial fortifications come together to form the military nucleus of the city. A smaller fort outside of town guards the Riverport area. Small walls protect and divide the Hundred Gates , but these are not built to withstand an army with artillery.

Industry & Trade

What isn't in Malka? There's every kind of trade or artisan work here in some capacity. Most work is small-scale, out of the home or a small shop. A number of workshops on the West side of town, in Riverside, employ large numbers of people - these are lumber mills, slaughterhouses, cotton processing workshops, and smelters. 
The majority of production here is small-scale or household production, done by small families coordinating with larger guild organizations. Free workers do artisanal work (textile production being the number one industry), city labor (such as construction work), and work as peddlers and minor merchants who help sell goods for the neighbors and extended families. A mixture of indentured laborers and lower-status commoners work in more consolidated industries, which are mostly concentrated in Riverside. The guilds and the big industries are not fond of one another as a general rule, though individual guilds and businesses have been known to make deals and alliances. Guild-dominated industries include weaving, tailoring, cobblering, apothecary work, silk production, dye production and use, brickmaking, and plastering. Big businesses dominate the palm oil, pottery, smelting, prism-food preparation, slaughterhouse, lumber-milling, and cotton preparation industries. State-connected merchants dominate the construction and stone carving industries, and operate in their own insular world of government contracts. A mixture between big Equite businesses and state bureaucrats run shipbuilding operations.

Infrastructure

Malka's infrastructure is a mess. Most of the focus is on controlling the rivers to irrigate fields and prevent flooding. The sewer system and drinking water supply are patchy, and riverwater treated with alum (which removes solids but doesn't completely detoxify the water) is used as a substitute for filtered water in some neighborhoods. Even with alum and household water boiling, polio is a frequent problem in some areas. It doesn't help that some tributaries and canals have essentially become garbage dumps, passing all sorts of pollution downstream. 
The roads of Malka are generally well maintained, but are quite labyrinthine. The major docks and commercial routes are especially well-kept.

Districts

The Palatial District: The walled-off elite district containing the Viceroy's palace, high court, and ministerial headquarters. The palatial district was built in imitation of Etezja's City of Blood district - an elite district walled off from the rest of the world, intended to house the imperial court in total seclusion. Wealthy manors and apartments cling to the vice-royal court, and great monumental buildings serve as government nerve centers. The Palatial District has its own private dockyard for the boats of the upper nobility, or for shipments of luxury goods headed straight for the palace. This is an extremely exclusive part of the city, forbidden to any Common class folk.
The Dragonport: The primary ocean port, where river trade and coastal trade meet. The Dragonport is a bustling district, full of sailors and merchants from across the coastal Inahng. Several neighborhoods are set aside for foreigners to stay in, if they wish to stay in the city for more than two weeks; these containment areas are a mix of slums (for common sailors, the stuck, and those wishing to immigrate and awaiting being formally made into a Freeman or Peasant) and compounds to house wealthy merchants. The Dragonport is the most permissive district, and it is the only place in the Empire where the religion of Metena is tolerated.
The Hundred Gates: The market district of Malka, as well as the guild artisan district. The Hundred Gates are broken into many streets, each with their own residential neighborhood and their own specialty market. Each street houses artisans of a certain specialty, and each street's market is geared towards the needs and standards of that craft. Each market opens up to the main commercial lanes, and is marked by a special gate (often themed as a kind of advertisement for the specialties within). It is worth noting that not every artisan of that craft will live in the street near the Gate (many households have some textile production, so not every weaver is going to be in Weaver's Gate Lane), but guilds will encourage what they consider to be the finest craftsmen in their trade to move here. Those who live in other parts of the city will often sell in their specialty market as well. All of these specialty markets orbit the Grand Bazaar, which is the mega-market of Malka. Aside from the grand bazaar, a few markets here are famous across Inahng:

• Medicine Street, where new, traditional, and foreign ideas of medicine comingle
• Spicemonger's Street, where spice merchants and mixers sell their wares. Wealthy and good-smelling
• The Vinter Gate Street, where fine wines made of grapes, rice, or otherwise are sold
• Calligrapher's Street, which buys and sells all kinds of books (no longer just hand-written)
• Magecraft Street, a hub of magic components, foci, and more
• Pipesmoke Street, for fine cigars, pipes, and anything that can be smoked
• Tinkerer's Street, a curious market for finely crafted gizmos; they sell doodads, but also take even the strangest commissions
• The Little Armory, a handful of streets that sell specialty weapons that are all next to each other

Riverside: The port and docks for smaller vessels along the Calazan river, site of the largest workshops in Malka. This is less of a commercial port, and more of a production and storage port; great hauls of various goods are kept in warehouses, large workshops turn raw resources into manufactured goods, and river barges load and unload cargo to and from small canal trams. This is a port for commoners: local fishermen, farmers, and common laborers live and work here. The docks here are all divided by use to keep traffic flowing - local fishermen and lobster herders, river shipping, low-class passenger shipping, and non-commoner passenger shipping. 
The Reeds: A large and sprawling agricultural and residential area along and between the rivers, made up of many smaller districts. This is the city as known by the majority of its residents. Some parts are nicer than others, of course. Most of it is common class, but some pieces are owned by members of the Raised classes. 
Gravenhill: A former suburb that has become the center of education, also known as the prime burial grounds of Eastern Calazen until recent years. This is the oldest part of the city, strangely enough - there are ruins here of the first coastal settlement of the very early empire. Huge stone monumental tombs sit at the top of the largest hills, surrounded by crumbling stone wreckage. The city has crept up around these ruins, leaving only the occasional pocket people weren't willing to build on - notably, the great cemeteries here, where Malka exported its honored dead to until the city bloat arrived here. The ruins and cemeteries are safe zones for ghosts to exist without being exorcised, and the district holds parties for them every season. The living are forbidden from living in these ghost-zones, though beggars and the desperate live in the ruins anyways. Before the town was absorbed by the city, it had gone from a Ghost town to a college town, as the local lord had invested heavily in building an academic campus. Now it houses the universities of Malka. 
Tishalla's Fang: A large fortress surrounded by a military production area, a drydock, and residential zones. The homes here are all occupied by government workers or their families - this area is owned by the Four Ministries, and an imperial edict waived rent for the families of War Ministry employees (soldiers, workers, and sailors) here. As Malka came under threat time and again, the military district grew substantially - and the imperial edict was ruled to apply to the families of employees of any ministry. Immediately, low-level bureaucrats for the other ministries rushed in here. Now, there is a weird mixture of soldiers and government clerks who live here. Ministry employees eagerly compete for slots in Tishalla's Fang, giving this place a bit of a meritocratic (sometimes snooty and aggressive) vibe. Families eager to live here generationally have supercharged the local public school system, which has interconnected with the one in neighboring Gravenhill.

Guilds and Factions

Eastern Court Nobility: The nobility of Eastern Calazen travel here to participate in the regional court. They tend to avoid the city itself, but their power is still felt through proxies. They tend to fall into a few factions: 

• Military-aligned nobility, cooperators with the city guard and Ministry of War
• The Equitarian nobility, those willing to pall around with the Equite merchants. These nobility have almost all the printing press licenses in Malka, so most printing houses are owned by this faction
• The old Ziriba family line and their allies, who are close with the Ministry of Thought and have power in the academic and magical institutions

The Ministries: Four ministries do most of the governing, but they are also factions that should be regarded as such:

• The Ministry of Revenue taxes and manages tariffs, but it also gives loans and decides else who can loan money in sums over 50 gold. Unpopular, but extremely powerful. This ministry also controls the mills and surplus grain storage. 
• The Ministry of War manages the forts, the city guard, and the navy. These wings within the ministry don't much like each other. 
• The Ministry of Public Works manages roads, canals, sewers, and reservoirs. Desperate for funding, they have had to court the goodwill of the Ministry of Revenue for support, angering the other two Ministries. 
• The Ministry of Thought manages schools, magic, and art patronage. The local ministry office has become quite buddy-buddy with the Darzan University despite Darza herself being banned from Calazen, and this relationship has given the minister great power in recent years. 

The Nediran Clergy: The clergy of the Nediran religion run the court system, are involved in criminal investigations, and act as morality police. The Nediran temple is something of a "Fifth Ministry" of Calazen, just more independent of the secular government - it helps track people's licenses and formal social class, and conducts censuses. It would be wrong to imagine that the priesthood is all law and paperwork and no spirituality, though. The clergy lead major holidays and manage all things ethereal and unseen. They are quite close with the local Exorcist's Guild 
The Equites: An Equite is a title-granted merchant of high status, a rich person that has reached the pinnacle of what wealth alone can do for one's status in the Empire. They are expected to provide funding for local infrastructure projects, they are used as advisors on trade matters, and they are expected to either have a warhorse and armor to act as a cavalry auxiliary in wartime or the fat stacks of cash to hire at least one trained horseman in their stead. Equites come in two varieties: Superior and Inferior, depending on their power level. The Equites of Malka are much less traditionalist than other urban Equites, and are more than happy to invest in large workshops or new technologies. 
The Jester's Guild: Led by the King of Fools, the Jester-King of Malkina, the Jester's Guild manages the Street Jesters and Jester's Manors of the city. These clowns are unusually well-organized for a Calazan city, and they handle all manner of legal-but-stigmatized trades: gambling, comedy, sex work, street entertainment, and the operation of things like dancing clubs. The Jester-King, who wears the coronation name Potapo XV, is a flamboyant hedonist who loves to get involved in holiday parades through the city.
The Pink Lotus League: The Metena outpost in Calazen. This group is limited entirely to the foreigner's enclave in Dragonport, and they are kept under close watch by the city authorities. Within the enclave they have great power, though.
The Court of Thieves: The most prominent thieves' guild in Malkina, and semi-secretly a cult of Hiku the Muse. The Court of Thieves is best known for their cat burglars, who compete among themselves to pull off showstopping capers. 
The Coinpool Cats: The powerhouse of cat politics. The Coinpool cats rule the Coinpool, a moonpool that is also a market, archive, and banking institution but only for cats. The Coinpool is protected by the Nediran temple, who don't understand what the cats are doing, but have rules against disturbing the sacred ponds of cats. The Cats enforce the Warrior's Code of the Fallen Stars - a form of cat heresy from the land of Tarasa, that has added a new set of commercial rules to the warrior's code. Non-heretical cats have fallen to the last; even the Jellicles have pledged their allegiance to Coinclan. The strays organized themselves into Clan-Guilds, which harvest excess meat, medicine, bones, and useful garbage to participate in the cat economy and validate their status as warriors of the market; they are also very evangelical to other strays.

Points of interest

The Shirmarsan Palace Complex: The palace complex of Malka is a governmental and cultural behemoth. You've got the viceroyal court, the High Shofet's court of law, the museum of Shirmarsan history, and a large salon for writers and artists who have gained acclaim among the elites.
The Rahtesra Sorcery Academy: The greatest sorcerous academy in Calazen, the Rahtesra sorcery academy is a massive seaside estate that trains the nobles and exceptional Familiar-class subjects. Esam the Great himself was trained here. The Darzan University has forged a working alliance with the academy (as long as Darza or her upper faculty never actually go here), allowing the Academy to access arts, materials, and sciences from around the world. A very exclusive institution, but the best there is. Found on the Southern edge of Gravenhill.
The Laughing Manor: The stronghold of the Jester's Guild, the residence of the Jester-King, and the most opulent house of sin in all of Calazen. The elaborate manor, which sits between the Dragonport and the Hundred Gates, is surrounded by gardens and seedy orbiters. The Laughing Manor has every kind of delight (or so it advertises), but it isn't all play - the Manor also hums with politics and intrigue. One of the Jester-King's hosts, known only by their stage name of The Jokeler, has even become something of an information broker.
The Gilded Mill: The Gilded Mill is the grandest of the city's mills, a water-powered complex that can grind huge volumes of grain. But this isn't just a place for farmers - it also stores grains, stores valuables for people, and offers loans. This is a bastion of the Ministry of Revenue, a monument to their power.
Printer's Row: The Shirmarsan court grants more printing licenses than any other region in Calazen, and printing presses have proliferated here. This has drawn would-be writers from across the empire, who are drawn to the promise of fame and fortune. But the Ministry of Thought only gives patronage to a handful of writers, and the writing industry is tightly shut against newcomers. And so, petty authors end up in Printer's Row. This is where you get ghostwriters, pamphlet-writers, propagandists, gossip-mongers, smut-writers, every kind of writer that can be used to turn a profit by the big printing houses (or the illicit ones). This is also where you get some of the most innovative artists, who have experimented with their craft and the possibilities of mass printing. Now and again, the best tabloid writers or experimental artists are plucked out of the gutter - perpetuating the fantasy of making it big.
The Exorcist's Guild Headquarters: The Exorcist's Guild of Inahng is based out of this complex in Gravenhill, next to a Nediran temple. Given the unusual saturation of ghosts here, the exorcists are a welcome symbol of order. Should ghosts leave their haunted places and attempt to assert their will on the living, the exorcists leap into action. While Malka's Gravenhill is not the largest concentration of ghosts in Calazen (the Empire has an entire abandoned city set aside for ghosts), it does have a prime location at the heart of the continent.

Architecture

Calazen loves its big buildings and fancy styles. Buildings often sport more columns than necessary, rise into drill-shaped towers, or stack on themselves like ziggurats. Any building with dignity in this city secretly wants to be a pyramid or a ziggurat, and the city is full of different centuries of styles that all tried to make that happen in different ways. Inside this monumental glory are a lot of vaulted ceilings and intricately made ventilation systems; Malka's spires often create gusts of wind going upwards, which pulls hot air out of the vents and creates a natural airflow. More dense buildings, like apartment complexes, help this along with community evaporation coolers. Vents are often tastefully hidden in the "squinches", or corner compressions in the vaulted ceilings. The large vents have made for great drama in Calazan novels and plays - perfect for someone to spy on someone else in either a political thriller or a comedy.
Pearlescent shells that are extremely common in the river delta are used to create an architectural flourish unique to Malka: white tiles with a unique sheen to them, and greater durability than comparable porcelain. These are often used for floor and roof tiles in older or wealthier neighborhoods.

Founding Date

390 ME

Alternative Name(s)

Malkna, Shirmasaja

Type

Large city

Population

700,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Malkan

Location under

Inahng

Owning Organization

Empire of Calazen