The Archonate

The Archonate, formerly known as Harmony's Landing, is the capital of Gardelinden, the seat of power for the Church of Harmony, and is likely the largest city to ever have existed. It was founded by worshipers of Harmony crossing the sea north of Akroasia. Its founding date marks the start of the New Gardemoor Calendar, the year 0 PE.

The sheer size, diverse population, religious importance, geographical location, military power, and the strong presence of magic when compared to other places makes the Archonate the most powerful and influential city in the world. It is the commercial epicenter of the continents of Akroasia and Gardemoor, and of the subcontinent of Cravv.

Description

Considering the city being as large as it is, the Archonate houses millions of permanent residents, and millions more of travelers, merchants, pilgrims, adventurers and tourists yearly. The majority of people living here are human, common minorities consist of dwarves, gnomes, halflings, and elves. Enclaves of dragonborn and orcs also exist within the city. Other races occur as travelers and are usually not permanent citizens, with a few notable exceptions being the satyr and firbolg clerics of Vidistragt, and the vampiric clerics of Valferan.

The city lacks architectural consistency as the buildings around the different district were built at very different times throughout history, by different kinds of people, and with different kinds of imported materials. This makes the Archonate vibrant with different colors and styles that blend surprisingly well together in a beautiful kind of chaos. The most notable buildings are the 16 grand temples of the gods that were purposefully designed to fit into each its own respective district, making their style very distinct from each other despite sharing common themes. There is also the Golden Spire, a huge marble skyscraper adorned with golden decorations, which houses the the Archon himself and the governing magisters, as well as containing the most extraordinary temple of them all: The Church of Harmony.

Geography

The city is situated on a large island that has kept the name Harmony's Landing, just south of the Gardemoor continent's mainland. Rather than being surrounded by forests, lakes and mountains, the city is surrounding them, making huge natural parks in the midst of oceans of buildings. The island is surrounded by the Spark of the Archon, the ocean between the Akroasian and Gardemoor continents.

There is little farmland left on the island, most of it being located around the southern lakes in the Farmland Preservation District. As such the city cannot provide food for all its inhabitants without extensive import.

History

PE-era

The year 0 PE marks the founding year of the settlement Harmony’s Landing, when a group of harmonic-religious humans arrived after leaving northern Akroasia behind. Their exact reason for leaving is disputed, with one of the more likely hypotheses being disagreements and conflict with the Hua Yan beliefs.

Over the course of the next 300 years more people would arrive to the island, establishing new villages nearby that quickly grew and merged with the original settlement. Over that same period of time a lot of the original settlers and their offspring explored the continent of Gardemoor, and made outposts there that grew into temporarily independent towns and cities.

In the year 320 PE, a human cleric of Myrmylne named Claudius rose to leadership of Harmony's Landing, and after his rise to power he would massively improve infrastructure, establish guilds, and amend relations with the outposts, who vowed their loyalties to him. He also created the role of magister, a title given to learned scholars, mages, and important members of the clergy who helped him govern. In 329 PE, by supposed divine decree, Claudius was given the title of Archon. Four years later Harmony's Landing was renamed to the Archonate by popular vote among the magisters.

GE-era

The year after the renaming of the city, Archon Claudius declared the Archonate’s lands and outposts to be the Gardemoor Empire, and only the original island of Harmony’s Landing would be known by the Archonate name. The rapid expansion of the empire to cover the entire continent would greatly benefit the now capital city, bringing in more resources, people, and trade than ever. Using their newfound funds the city would undertake a huge number of extensive construction projects, covering the shoreline with ports and wharfs, building temples in honor of the gods, and of course, building the Golden Spire.

Plans for constructing the Golden Spire were already put in motion by 3 GE. The plans were to make a huge gold and marble tower that would serve as the seat of power for the empire, where all matters of governance would take place. The tower would have housing for all magisters, libraries and universities where one could learn about history, theology, arcana, and nature, grand meeting halls for discussing matters of the empire, offices for managing day-to-day matters, and a throne for the Archon. At the base of the tower there would be a grand temple where one could worship all the gods within the harmonic pantheon, a temple whose name would later give an official name to the religious beliefs of the people of the Archonate: The Church of Harmony.

Early in the GE-era, the empire annexed the Cravv Isles, the homeland of the gnomes. As a result, the Archonate, over a short period of time, saw quite an influx of gnomish immigrants. The gnomes would enrich the capital with their own culture, architecture, as well as their affinity for clockwork. Gnomish clockwork toy wagons became quite popular among the rich, and its introduction to the Archonate market would help the gnomes easy into this new society as a well-liked race.

Along with the gnomes came a new religion and a new set of gods. The gnomes had been introduced to the dwarven Chained Pantheon some 2000 years ago by the duergar beneath Cravv, and they wanted to build their own temples to their own deities upon immigrating and settling down. They were long denied this privilege, until around the year 100 GE, when third Archon Rader had determined that the chained gods had little to no overlapping features with the harmonic gods. In fact, most of the chained gods seemed to compliment the harmonic beliefs quite well, and the Archon thus saw it fit to integrate the majority of them into the pantheon of Harmony. Though this decision sparked a lot of controversy, the gnomes were finally allowed - and encouraged - to build their temples in the Archonate.

Through the remainder of the GE-era, the city would continue to grow all the way up to the year 1657. Throughout the empire a new feral and hostile race called goblins had appeared from underneath the Nairam Mountains, and the capital had to spread its armies across the lands to fight a slow battle. Along with the war-hungry goblins, the long prophesied Avatar of Misery had reportedly appeared, and the magisters were sent out to deal with the miserable horrors that followed. This cursed year was the start of the end of a long golden era, and until the year 1873 GE, the Archonate's growth in population, economics, politics and overall prosperity came to a halt.

At the end of 1873 GE, after the banishment of the Harbinger of Misery, the well-established nation of the Dwarven Northbound Enclave, emerged from underneath the Nairams, and they would swiftly integrate themselves into the politics of the empire. This smooth integration was largely thanks to the gnomes in the city who had many similarities between the dwarven culture and their own. Before they had even established their first trading post, an embassy was up and running in central Archonate. Though the emergence of the dwarves marks the end of the Gardemoor Empire, the capital city would soon see another golden age of prosperity.

PGE-era

The dwarves of the Northbound Enclave were not introduced to the Archonate as much as they introduced themselves. The Gardemoor government was severely weakened after losing many magisters to the Harbinger, and so the well-organized dwarves stepped in and took on many responsibilities and tasks in exchange for land on the surface. The most significant task they were given was to deal with the goblin problem that had now spread beyond the Nairams. By this age the Enclave and their elite force of Reavers had been fighting off goblins for centuries, and within 6 years overground they had managed to push the hordes back to the mountainous areas. A treaty was made between the dwarven king and the Archon to turn the goblin-ridden duchy of Gorlov over to the Reavers, a land they could govern as long as they could keep the monsters at bay.

With the forming of the Gorlovoye treaty state in 7 PGE, and the dwarven defensive occupation of the Nairams, many of the armies and magisters that once left the Archonate to go to war came back, and resettled into the city. With a lot of previously empty positions within the government now being filled by those returning, the capital would slowly once again start to grow.

In the year 9 PGE, the Archonate was once again running at full capacity, and with all logistic operations now working smoothly, the imperial government came to a sad conclusion. The north and east duchies of the empire were all but cut off from the rest of it by goblin-infested mountains and a massive dwarven army. The dwarven army itself had by necessity occupied a lot of the eastern and southern parts of the continent to keep the goblins in the mountains. The reality of the situation was that the empire was fractured, perhaps beyond repair. And so, on New Year's Day, 10 PGE, the Gardemoor Empire was declared to be no more. The lands occupied by the dwarves were given to them to keep, turning the Northbound Enclave into the Kingdom of Ortal. The northeastern areas were divided between the two most prominent nobles in the lands, making the states Avena and Sadinfroe. The western part of the empire changed its name into Gardelinden, and remained under the control of the Archonate, along with Cravv. Gorlovoye remained a treaty state governed by the Reavers under the blessings and support of Gardelinden and Ortal.

The disbandment of the empire proved to be very beneficial for the Archonate. They now no longer had to supply the most remote regions on the continent, and the cost of waging war with goblins was now mostly taken care of by the dwarves. The economy boomed in the following years, and to this day the boom has never really stopped.

In the year 100 PGE, to celebrate the upcoming 100 year anniversary of Gardelinden, the Archon commissioned the greatest dwarven architects and craftsmen in the lands to design and build one glorious temple for each of the gods within the Church of Harmony pantheon. 16 teams were formed to build 16 temples in the styles of 16 different districts within the city. No costs were spared, and by importing exclusive materials from all around the world, by long and hard work hours, and by the patience of the millions of people who were affected by the noise of construction work every day for 10 years, all temples were completed in time. All of them extravagant enough to be named wonders of the world. In the entire month of Sunwake, 110 PGE, a continuous feast was held in each temple, serving free food and drink to all who would come to celebrate the temples' completion. This event is considered the start of the new golden age of the Archonate.

Districts Map

Archonate Districts Map

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Districts

The Landing

"Ah, but you needn't see the entire Archonate, no. Traverse the Old Town and you will get a complete impression of what the entire Capital is like!"

Magister Strigoi Ockritus Grandovic

The Landing, also called Old Town, is the location of the original settlement of Harmony's Landing, covering the northernmost peninsula of the island. Very few whole buildings remain from the settler times, yet newer houses are often built on old foundations from millennia ago. It is said that visiting the Landing gives you an accurate impression of how the entire Archonate works, as throughout time, almost every settler arrived here first before moving on to other parts of the Island, thus leaving a small imprint of their own personalities and cultures as they passed through.

The Landing is the most densely built and populated district in the capital, being riddled with narrow roads and passageways, and having most large, open spaces indoors. No natural coastline remain, as it is entirely covered with ports and retaining walls stemming from artificial expansion of the land.

Notable points of interests:

• The Grand Temple of Myrmylne
  • One of the 16 grand temples built to the 16 gods within the Church of Harmony pantheon. It is located at the southern border with the Central district. A building with an organic shape like that of viny bush with shiny, golden leaves that reflects the sunlight. The central structure is a tower made in the image of Myrmylne's golden sunspear, giving this temple the nickname the "little" Golden Spire.
• Monument to the First Settlers
  • A series of golden and bronze statues built in a circle around the ruins of the city's first chapel to Harmony. The statues are arranged to tell the story of the first arrival and the first buildings, and continues showing every major event up until the crowning of the first Archon.
• The Understation
  • Formerly called the Station, this marketplace is one of the oldest in the Archonate, and used to be the market to go to before heading out to explore Gardemoor, as you could find everything to suit your needs here, a fact that remains to this day. The Understation is today completely without daylight, as buildings have come to surround it on all sides, both above and below. Lit by artificial lighting both magical and man-made, the lack of sun has made for a natural place for small duergar and svirfneblin enclaves to form and prosper.

Central

The Central district is, despite its name, not the central district, at least not in a geographical sense. It is located to the south-east of Old Town. Arguably the most important district in the capital, Central contains the Golden Spire, the government building for Gardelinden and Cravv that houses the Archon himself, as well as most of the magisters.

Central is one of the least populated districts, as well as being the smallest, as it mostly contains public areas and buildings for state and religious business.

Notable points of interests:

• The Golden Spire
  • This massive gold and marble skyscraper is the most important building on the continent, housing the government and providing education in politics and arcana for the higher ups in Gardian society. The district logo of Central is a stylistic interpretation of the Golden Spire, with the black being a stark contrast to the white marble facade of the real building.
• The Church of Harmony
  • The grandest temple of all, a place for worshiping all gods within the harmonic pantheon, but also the force of Harmony itself. Richly decorated beyond any other temple in the world, this megastructure is integrated in the bottom of the Golden Spire, taking up most of the spaces of the bottom floors.
• The Archon’s University of Theology
  • Situated at the Archon's Plaza, across from the Golden Spire, this university is the center of education for clerics within the Church of Harmony. With the exception of dwarves worshiping the Chained gods, all clerics within the church are required to receive the blessing of one of the high priests within before officially becoming priests themselves.

The Strait

The Strait is located just east of the landing district. The dark gray facades near the ocean is richly decorated with dwarven-made stone carvings, and along the well-maintained main road towards Central there are bronze statues of every Archon to date. These features were all made to impress, as the ports serve as the landing for most foreign dignitaries going to Central. Many of the ports here also serve as the primary location for the magisters' private fleets.

The areas away from the coast and Central are considered to be rather poor, with buildings falling into disrepair and people of wealth moving to other districts.

Notable points of interests:

• Grand Temple of Carach
  • One of the 16 grand temples. Located at around the halfway point of the Archon's Boulevard, this temple has a square base made from dark stone types. The top is carved from several types of stone, creating a color gradient from dark to light, in order to make it look like jagged, frozen peaks. Hanging down along the base walls are huge, silver spiked chains to imitate the frozen chains of the winter god.
• Archon's Boulevard
  • The main road leading to Central is wide and heavily trafficked. Neatly trimmed conifers line each side of the road, with bronze statues of Archons of old in between. Each time a new Archon is elected, a statue is commissioned to be made in his likeness, and is to be placed somewhere along the path.

Chainward

The Chainward District formed from three smaller districts when an overwhelming amount of dwarves came to settle in the beginning of the PGE-era:

• Little Amberron, which was a gnome-dominated district named after the city states of Amberron on Cravv, split in two: one part going into the Chainward, and the other forming the New Amberron District.
• The Pit Vault, or just the Pit, was a poor district named for its prison which was built into the sides of a steep depression in the ground
• Kartac was one of the oldest districts in the city at the time. It had developed from the estate of one of the first settler's shipcaptain, captain Kartac. No living family member of Kartac's were found in the Spire's records at the time, leading them to reassign ownership over to the dwarves.

Flat stone brick walls inn all shades of gray is a canvas for extravagant and detailed pillars and statues in Chainward. Inlays of silver, gold, bronze, as well as colorful precious gems and stones breathes life into the otherwise lifeless rocks. The dwarves brought spirit, beauty, and prosperity to the three old districts, and created one that rivaled even the upper levels of Breakberg.

Notable points of interests:

• Grand Temple of Du-Corrach
  • One of the 16 grand temples. Found near where the borders of Chainward, Central, and New Amberron meet. This temple is a two-ringed crafting temple containing nearly 50 workshops ran by the best craftsmen of the district, and likely, of the entire city. The middle space is dominated by a stone statue of the dwarf-father shown making the first parts of his construct son, Volutor, after having chained himself to his forge.
• The Ortalian Embassy
  • Located right at the Central border, the first dwarven-made building of the Archonate has seen a lot of revisions after its founding in 1 PGE. Starting out as a simple brick house, this is now a tall, round tower with pillars elaborately designed to depict the ascension of the dwarven heroes that brought the ancient Northbound Enclave to the surface. The original brick house in encased in a dome of magically enchanted, see-through stone at the tower's ground floor center. The embassy is where the state of Ortal conduct their business regarding diplomatic relations with Gardelinden.
• Administration of the Treaty of Gorlovoye
  • Effectively the Gorlovoyan embassy of the Archonate, this building is where Reavers, magisters, and Ortalian ambassadors discuss matters concerning the treaty-state of Gorlovoye. Located just east of the Ortalian embassy, this fort-like structure stands out as being one of few official dwarven buildings without extensive embellishments on the outside, besides the small shrine to Arbas at the entrance.
• Bank of Dorbat Gardelinden HQ
  • This branch of the largest dwarven bank on Gardemoor is located to the south of the New Amberron border. The pyramid of steps shines, reflecting sunlight from its polished larvikite and marble slabs. Ancient calligraphy made with lapis lazuli inlays marks every step of the structure, depicting old slogans and long-gone interest rates from better times.
• The Pit Vaults
  • A prison formerly used to house all sorts of criminals. After the Pits became a part of the Chainward district, the prison was refurbished by the immigrating dwarves to house more dangerous criminals. More often than not these criminals are spies, terrorists, traitors to the state, servants of Misery, or powerful magicians. These have usually been deemed too important to kill, likely due to connections to nobility or them having intel valuable to the state. The prison is run by the CSAI.

New Amberron

New Amberron, previously part of Little Amberron before dwarves arrived in the city, is the district with the largest population of gnomes. Named after the unofficial capitals of the Cravv Isles, the cities of North and South Amberron, the style of this district is very similar to how they look. Deep blue, steep roofs made from glazed terracotta tiles make up the top half of the buildings, and lime washed stone brick make up the other. Structures are built in clusters with a narrow floor plan, that over time grow together, creating a hard to navigate maze for newcomers to the district. Where there would be open spaces the gnomes make small parks and gardens filled with white and blue lilies, the symbols of North and South Amberron respectively.

Notable points of interests:

• Grand Temple of Peord
  • One of the 16 grand temples. Located around the midway point of the Chainward border. This temple is built on the foundations of the first temples to the Chained gods built when the Archonate first legalized their worship. Now a series of Amberron-style towers in a circular pattern, each one taller than the next, this temple to the god of carousing and brews contains both taverns and breweries. The weirdly named "State Sanctioned Ale" is one of many brew originating from within the temple.
• Amberron Consulate
  • The Amberron consulate is another tower located near the Central border. Matters regarding the ruling and taxing of the different settlements of Cravv is decided here. It also functions as an embassy for the people from Cravv in the Archonate.
• Clockmaker’s Guild
  • Not an actual guild, this large workshop is the center of clockwork-making in the world. Completely run by gnomes, the workshop produces automated toys for the most part, but also work with making elaborate locks, security systems, door mechanisms, inner workings of mills, and pretty much every other contraption relying on gears.
• Asonian Embassy
  • The embassy of Aso sits by the river in the southern parts of the district. It stands out from the surrounding buildings, having an organically shaped turf roof going all the way down to the ground, with a wattle and daub wall at the front. It houses both human and halfling ambassadors from Aso, and is probably best known for its halfling run restaurant serving traditional Asonian cuisine.

Springside

The Springside district used to be mostly flat, fertile lands, where one could get direct, unobstructed sunlight all year long. It was a prime location for farming when the area was being settled. Though the farmland here is gone, the idea of the direct sunlight to its fullest has remained. Most buildings cover a larger surface than the average, but very few have more than one floor above ground. These are post-and-beam cob structures painted in all the colors of the rainbow. It is very common for buildings to have greenhouses made from enchanted mica spanning their entire southernmost wall, and many people grow their own food in them regardless of season.

Notable points of interests:

• Grand Temple of Sawaarre
  • One of the 16 grand temples. While most of the grand temples have large and imposing structures, this one has no building associated with it, except for the humble living quarters of the clergy. Instead there is a colossal statue of Sawaarre herself amidst an orchard of different fruit-bearing trees, berry bushes, and a plethora of wildflowers. The statue is surrounded by stone steles depicting plants that no longer exist within the world. It is located around the center of Springside.
• The Winter Garden
  • The Winter Garden is a botanical garden structure, with one of the more prominent features being four different enchanted glass domes containing their own season all year long. Each dome is maintained by nature clerics of the seasonal gods.
    • The summer dome has a lot of tropical and foreign plants, as well as artificial lakes with all kinds of aquatic plant life. It is maintained by a group of clerics of Myrmylne, who also live within the Garden.
    • The autumn dome is dominated by reds, yellows, and browns, as a the plants here are being perpetually kept in the fall season. Through divine magics and ridiculous amounts of fertilizer, there is always fruits ripe for harvest within the dome, generating profits for the Garden, and benefitting the populace of the Archonate. It is tended by three clerics, one of Shaded Seren, and two of the moon godsesses Ies and Jiana.
    • The winter dome is kept at a few degrees below freezing temperature, and is home to evergreen trees and bushes, along with a few long-dead birch trees. The ground is covered in ice and snow, put in place there by a single cleric of Carach, who lives in a hut within the dome.
    • The spring dome is home to many plants that were once abundant on the island, but is now on decline due to the Archonate's development. Here the trees are bright green with freshly sprung leaves, and flowers are in constant bloom. This dome also functions as an apiary, funding its own maintenance with profits from honey sales. It is tended by clerics of Sawaarre from the grand temple nearby.

Mezmer

It is unknown where exactly on Akroasia the first settlers on the island came from, but it is undisputed that the first people to arrive in today's Mezmer district were from Lao-Hua. The people here still have strong ties to the country, and the architecture is much inspired by the capital there, Akroasis. Matte greens, blues, and reds color the iconic sloped hip-and-gable roofs with up-curved corners that you find on nearly every building. The buildings are usually built from colorfully painted clay and exotic hardwoods from all around the world. There is a lot of minor illusory effects in play in Mezmer, in the same fashion as in Akroasis where windows constantly change colors, and banners and flags wave without wind.

Mezmer is also home to a small dwarven enclave stemming from somewhere on southern Akroasia, a rare occurrence as the vast majority of dwarves existing above ground in the world today emerged with the Northbound Enclave in the late GE-era.

Notable points of interests:

• Grand Temple of Cyfridaeth
  • One of the 16 grand temples, located on the northern coast of the district. The temple to the god of knowledge and the arcane is a walled-in complex of hundreds of buildings that matches the style of the rest of the district, along with some gardening space. They do however contain a lot more magical effects, making the complex seem very much alive and dynamic. Buildings rotate or change places with each other, a structure can have one floor one day and three floors the next. The gardens are full of plants that are rare, come from other planes, or plants that outright shouldn't exist, and should you offer these plants too much thought, they indeed just might stop existing.
    
    The larger buildings in the center of the walled-in area are make up the largest public library in the Archonate, and are less magical for the sake of convenience. Still, you may see flying books and pages being turned on their own in here.
• Lao-Hua Embassy
  • The embassy of Akroasia's country being in Mezmer is no surprise, with a lot of the population still considering themselves at least part Lao-Huan. Also built in the style of Lao-Huan architecture, but much larger, the structure takes up the entire border between Mezmer and Central, having several large gates and openings spanning the entire width of the building. There are also several integrated chapels devoted to practice of Hua Yan spiritism within the embassy.
• Gardian Academy of Magicka, Enchantments and Rituals
  • Located just outside the grand temple of Cyfridaeth, this arrangement of weird towers that really don't fit in with the rest of the district is the number one place of education in Gardemoor for wizards, both aspiring ones and veterans of the magecrafts. By being a place to practice all schools of magic, be it abjuration, alteration, conjuration, divination, enchantment, illusion, invocation, or even necromancy, there are numerous strong wards in place to protect the academy. Or rather protect the outside from the academy.
• Chapel of Valferan
  • The goddess queen of the Shadowfell has no place within the Church of Harmony, but is recognized as divinity. Worship of her is then somewhat limited in the Archonate. This small chapel on the coast next to Longport is part of a slightly larger chapel to Nimic, and thus contains a lot of the same symbolism and style that is part of Nimicism. It has become a safe haven and rehabilitation center for law-abiding people cursed with various forms of vampirism, and the dhampiric clerics within spend most their time and resources turning (nearly-) ferals into non-violent, functioning members of Archonate society.

Longport

As the name suggests, Longport is a very long districts consisting mostly of a variety of ports and large warehouses. Nearly all companies responsible for supplying the north-western quadrant of the Archonate with wares both luxurious and essential has a presence here. Besides storage, transport, and housing for the workers, there is seemingly little going on in this district. There are rumors, however, that one of the larger criminal organizations of the city operates here, responsible for large scale acts of smuggling and money laundering.

Hammer Crater

Most of this district is built within an actual impact crater, with a raised rim of more than 30 metres high as a natural wall surrounding it. It is the center of the courts of Gardelinden, and any official legal case or dispute in the lands gets processed here in some way. Architecturally the district is one of few built with a lot of local materials, with the people making their bricks from stones within the crater. The crater rim has had large sections hollowed out, and it is now the main housing area. The inside of the crater contains mostly public buildings, open plazas, and parks.

The district gets its name from a legend from the time of the first settlements on the island: The area was owned by a wealthy and evil farmer who abused his serfs to such an extent that he invoked the wrath of the god of justice himself, Waldithare, who sent his hammer down from the sky to smite him.

Notable points of interests:

• Grand Temple of Waldithare
  • One of the 16 grand temples. Not only a holy site due to the temple structure, the Hammer Crater is a holy reminder to walditharians that justice is inevitable. Built in the very middle of the crater, this temple is built in a ring around the main point of impact where there is erected a colossal statue of Waldithare holding his polehammer in his left hand, and the weights of justice in his right hand, similar in shape to a crafting temple, but without the workshops. Instead it houses the country's highest court where only trials of the gravest of crimes are held.
• Crater Courts
  • The crater courts are courthouses surrounding the grand temple. Court cases of any kind take place within these buildings, from minor family disputes, to land disputes of nobles, to criminal cases against petty thieves, and against terrorists.

The Left and Right Arm of the Archon

These two districts are so-called "road districts" with no big open market spaces or public areas. Their main purpose is to provide road access from the central north-west to the central north-east. A long, wide, well maintained road stretches uninterrupted from one end of the left arm to the opposite side of the right arm. This long road is lined with small shops and military installations of all sizes.

The areas surrounding the big roads contain housing for the people maintaining the road, guarding the road, or for people that have a long-term sales permit for their roadside shop. These houses are more often than not simple, two-to-three-story wattle and daub houses.

Islingbour

Named after Archon Isling who ruled early in the GE-era, at the start of the first golden age of the Archonate. One of Isling's key passions was the introduction of large scale tourism to the city and showing hospitality to travelers. This district sharing his name was thus made for the people visiting the city, containing a plethora of hotels, inns and taverns to accommodate for both long- and short-term stays. The district also provide a stipend for immigrant-run businesses with good track records, making Islingbour one of the most attractive districts for migrants.

Armada

There are four districts with the name Armada, North, West, South, and East Armada respectively, spread around the island. These districts together hold the brunt of the Gardelinden naval forces, and are an essential part of the city's defenses, both as a deterrent to would-be-attackers and a major military force should there be an actual attack. Only used for housing military personnel and equipment, as well as families of those serving in the military, the Armada districts are inaccessible to most civilians, with the exception of those passing through on walled-in roads built specifically for transit.

The Armadas are so-called "artificial" districts, meaning they have been built for their specific purpose, rather than having grown from smaller settlements. They are therefore similar architecturally, despite being built on opposite ends of the Archonate. Their structures are built with limewashed stone bricks, and they have red terracotta tiles on their roofs. The districts are divided into walled sections for defensive purposes, even having some of their harbors walled in with thick fortifications reaching far into the ocean.

Karalianborg

Sometime early in the GE-era, a fleet with thousands of humans and some-hundred elves from the far-western continent of Vark, calling themselves Karalians, came to the island as refugees of war. Archon Isling gave them a sizable piece of land to farm, which they called Karalianborg, in trade for their ships. Their descendants live here to this day, and strive to preserve their heritage. This district's architecture is inspired by the buildings first built here by the Karalians: Timberframed houses with wood paneling painted in all sorts of colors, detailed with painted knot works on every corner.

The Karalians were exceptionally skilled makers of dyes, paints, and make-up, and with their descendants adamantly holding on to their traditions, Karalianborg has a lot of manufacturers exporting these products around the world.

Rayaz

Rayaz accounts for the elven Karalians who fled from Vark. The district was originally part of Karalianborg, but was separated from it after a very loud minority expressed their disdain for elves through harassment and sabotage of farmland. After several hundred years as two different districts, a petition was created to reunite them, but it was ultimately rejected by the Archon.

The population of Rayaz today mostly consist of half-elves descended from the original elven Karalians. Besides being more densely structured, there is little architectural difference with Karalianborg.

The Rose of Gardelinden Shield of arms of the Archonate by PrippyMontyPoppyCock

Contents

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Location of the Archonate in relation to central Gardemoor, marked with a red outline. Gardelinden marked in yellow, Sadinfroe in red, Gorlovoye in pink, Ortal in gray.

Characters in Location

• Theodore Justice

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