Xarlaca
On an island off the coast, is the place where the Gods first brought people into the world. The birthplace of the new age in a new world. Generations later, it’s grown into a great bustling town called Xarlaca.
Known as the City of Wonders, Xarlaca is a nexus of culture, learning, and commerce. Sophisticated residents rub shoulders with wide-eyed visitors.
Blessed with mild, sunny weather and abundant natural resources. It’s the largest town in the world. A paradise, almost.
Government
The city is managed by the Council of Elders, composed of representatives from each clan registered in Xarlaca. The Council votes on actions that require city-wide cooperation, such as setting taxes, defining laws, and building roads. They also adjudicate disputes between clans. The most clans are relatively small, comprising family groups of about 50 or so. Towering among the lesser clans are the great houses, large constellations of families linked by blood, marriage, and agreements of trade and power. The academy appoints a historian scribe to take minutes for the record and to answer questions of precedent.
Generations after its founding, Xarlaca has grown far beyond the dreams of its first inhabitants. Almost 120,000 people call Xarlaca home. At any given day, twenty thousand people or more will be visiting the city, staying for a while to spend time with family, study at the academy, or buy and sell their goods.
The leadership of the city is decentralized. Clans claim and govern their own territory in and around the city. However, each clan participates in the council of elders, which addresses issues that affect multiple family groups and adjudicates disputes between them.
There are few formal laws, but most clan territories have firm expectations about appropriate conduct and the responsibilities of those who stay within their borders. Most clans don’t have taxes, but instead expect about a day of service every two weeks from every adult within their territory.
Districts
Old Town
Old Town is the oldest residential area of Xarlaca. It's essentially a series of giant compounds. Each compound is privately owned by a single House, and gaining a compound in Old Town is an unspoken prerequisite for being considered one of the great houses of the city. Small, twisty streets allow people to navigate between the compounds, but there are no public or commercial areas.New Town
New Town houses the largest residential area in Xarlaca. A prosperous district, the compounds are generally smaller than those of Old Town, but sometimes more opulent or modern. The carefully planned growth and high service requirement in New Town gives the district is elegant style, with straight, wide boulevards and generously appointed public parks. In addition to the homes and parks, the district is home to the First Celestial Church, an extensive compound that serves as the both a cathedral and the headquarters for the Celestial Church. Street vendors and entertainers compete heavily for prime locations in the New Town parks, with extravagant and unusual props to catch the attention of those looking for beauty and entertainment. Discussion shaveFounders Field
Founders Field is dominated by a wide-grassy meadow that gives the district its name. At the center of the field is St. Mical, a Locus that acts as both a portal to other worlds and a guardian of the portal. Next to the Locus is a simple shrine to , who first organized the city as a pregnant teen, and traveled all over to gather together people who had been brought to Mezclandia in other locations. She’s the city patron spirit now. Central fairgrounds The Temple of the Blessed Family Council house. Official meeting place for the council of leaders. Each family registered in Xarlaca has a seat in the great hall, with space around for advisors. The academy appoints s historian scribe to take minutes for the record and to answer questions of precedent. Made up of heads of representatives of registered families & clans; they vote on actions that require everyone’s cooperation, butAcademy District
Named after the style of bright blue tile roofs that they popularized, the academy is an institution dedicated to understanding and documenting the world and to spreading the knowledge.Market Town
The southern-most district is Market Town. Fueled by the city docks, Market Town is dominated by commerce. The docks area itself has warehouses, piers, several shipyards, and the customs house. Beyond the water, market town turns into a cacophonous stew of shops, inns, boarding houses, and street hawkers, all circling the main market square of the city. . The public spaces are loud and chaotic. Although everyone speaks the same language, some of the visitors outlying communities have accents and dialects that are almost unintelligible to local Xarlacans.History
The first settlement founded in the new world, Xarlaca began as a refugee camp for those whom the Gods saved from the old world. The early days were chaotic. People flooded the area, overwhelmed, grieving, numb, scared, and angry, but also hopeful, excited, relieved, and every other emotion. They knew they needed to work together to survive, but most were strangers to each other. Records of the early days say that the people remembered the old world at first, but their memories quickly faded, dimmed with the Gods’ grace and replaced with new connections.
Eventually, leaders emerged. They organized people to care for those in need, to explore the surrounding lands, to fish the seas, and to farm the fields. The people built the town, bit by bit.
Not everyone stayed in Xarlaca. Many left to build a home in a calmer area. Others felt a call to wander the new world or to settle in a specific place. Most of those who left kept some connection with Xaralaca, however. They’d visit every year or so, or send their children or grandchildren to experience the wonder of the first town or to train with their scholars and crafters.
Natural Resources
- Tarpit: The ancient life form is the bedrock upon which the modern alchemical industry stands.
- Aquaculture: Situated on a natural harbor, Xarlaca has read access to all the bounty of the sea. Fish, pearls, and seaweed are major aspects of industry.
- Geography: Xarlaca is rocky, with hard, black-and-white-speckled granite throughout the island which the Xarlacans use in everything from pavement to monuments. The south of the island holds pockets of crumbly, colorful schist rock stained rust red or olive green. The greenschist holds valuable streaks of waxy green serpentine, which the islanders polish and carve to use in decorations and jewelry. The coarsely grained red schist hides garnets, most small as sand grains, but a few large enough to use for jewelry and much prized by rich merchants and the powerful among the great clans. Bluehall alchemical gardeners have started experimenting with the schist, trying to grow and work the minerals the way orchardists grow their trees.
Founding Date
3001
Founders
Alternative Name(s)
City of Wonders
Type
Large town
Population
120,000
Inhabitant Demonym
Xarlacan
Location under
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
Story Hooks
- A couple neighborhood pets are missing overnight. So is the town’s sewer sludge, an incarnation of rot that normally roams the sewers, disposing of waste.
- The pre-apocalyptic artifact kept in the basement of a temple has recently started glowing irregularly. No one knows what it’s supposed to do. The artificer-theologian that’s been studying it thinks the glowing is a code.
- Each year, students from the archipelago gather in Xarlaca to apply to Bluehall Academy. The council wants to develop relationships with more communities. So this year, they’re sending you to abroad to invite potential students from as many communities as possible, gathering info about each community while you’re there, and accompanying students on the way back.
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