Katrapetch
The city of Katrapetch, in the Alchemical Alliance, is the largest and most historically important settlement on the southern hemisphere continent of Punjuki on Magicians' End. It is located where the tributary river Petch joins the great river Jold, flowing south and east out of the Katra mountains.
Government
An informal constitution for the city was established early, not long after its foundation in the Age of the New Kingdoms and as the prosperity and power of the settlement grew, this developed rapidly, creating the Court Circle of Katrapetch as an instrument for governing the city under the leadership of the Raja. The Court Circle and its protocols and procedures remained in place under the Empire of Bradalkut, the Trinity Moon Triple Enfolding and the Old Pale Empire, even when the Rajas were compelled to bow before foreign rulers, and it persisted past the Planar Conformation and right up until the Limit Protectorate made sweeping changes that abolished the old bureaucracy and its royal rulers forever in 5155 APC. Those who wish to understand the long history of the city must appreciate, above all, that the Court Circle of Katrapetch lasted as an institution for close to fifteen thousand years and that none of the forms of government which have subsequently replaced it can even approximate that duration.
From 5155 APC, under The Limit Protectorate the city was ruled by a City Protector who answered directly to Prince Rygarde. When the Loyalist Thaumatic Army Council restored the independence of Magicians' End, the Court Circle of Katrapetch was not restored. Instead the Army Council maintained their own control through a General Advocate. A period of democracy followed under the Third Popular Ascendancy, before the city became one of the five capitals of the Jewelled Queendoms. Under Ixthamon it almost fell apart but it has since become the first and most important member of the Alchemical Alliance and is now governed by the Grand Alchemist for Katrapetch, who operates at the heart of a labyrinthine civil service based in the old Royal Palace. Some have noted the parallels with the ancient Court Circle of Katrapetch, albeit there is no longer a Raja or Rani and the position is not hereditary.
Industry & Trade
Katrapetch is the main centre for the drying and distribution of phryne, which is grown to the east of the city on the uplands of the peninsula known as the Cape of Juki. The dried leaf is traded in the famous Katrapetch Phryne Market, which has also become a hub for many other kinds of trading.
The city is also important as the main manufacturing centre for the cloth Vassith, which is made from the woven stems of the cultivated grass, Celovass, grown in large fields south of the Jold river. Vassith is the foundation of an extensive industry based around the making and trading of many kinds of clothing, with all the ancillary services required to support large scale and specialist garment production.
Districts
Katrapetch straddles both sides of the Jold and Petch rivers for some considerable distance from their meeting which is at the heart of the old city. The most ancient known location is the Sarill Quay, named after the first Raja, Gundabah Sarill and shown in the image at the head of this article. Sarill Quay stands on the south bank of the Jold, a little downstream of the point where the Petch joins it. It has always been a public dock and a place where ferries can be secured to cross the river, although individual buildings and businesses have come and gone over the many years since the site was first developed.
Other docks and quays line the banks to the north and south of the Jold which is important for the transport of goods, up and downstream. The famous Katrapetch Phryne Market is on the northern side of the Jold a short distance inland. The phryne harvest is shipped up river into the city to be stored in the drying rooms of a score of warehouses which stand between the river and the market.
The Royal Palace of Katrapetch is north of the market, and stands on the upper slope of a low range of hills, which have been terraced to provide a vista over the city.
To the west of the market and the palace, is Gundabah Park, a public green space, and then the Twin Domes district stands on either side of the Petch, which is flanked here by the magnificent Gold Dome and Blue Dome. The former is an auditorium used in the staging of public concerts and plays whilst the latter houses a great museum simply called the Museum of the Blue Dome and open to all for a small entry fee.
As the city has grown over more than fifteen thousand years, important aspects of the built geography have been determined by the two roughly concentric rings of the Old City Walls and the Pale Empire Walls, with the former enclosing the most ancient central areas and the latter defining a significant later and much larger limit which is still noteworthy, even if the city has now spilled beyond it in a number of places.
North of the Jold and east of the Royal Palace is the Corfurn Garden Suburb, an area of carefully cultivated allotments that sends produce to the fruit and vegetable markets incorporated within the Katrapetch Phryne Market. In the opposite direction, beyond the Twin Domes, the Confluence District occupies the wedge of land between the Jold and the Petch as they flow together to their meeting point. Confluence Commons is a well known beauty spot but the area is also known for more dubious pleasures, including expensive gambling establishments and houses of intimate exchange, particularly on and around Kohl Street.
Still within the Old City Walls, but south of the Jold, the Elvagril District is an exclusive residential area and the site of Elvagril Park which is the location where the Great Story Fair is held every ten years.
More populous areas open out beyond the ancient lines defined by the Old City Walls.
Sowsow street, shown in the illustration below is part of the Halaban District to the south and west where there are many weavers, tailors, seamstresses, dyers, laundry houses and other specialists who work in a variety of clothing related trades.
The Gilder Fields District to the south and east, is a large area of agricultural land which has been swallowed by the growth of the city and is now enclosed within the Pale Empire Walls, but has not been built on and still provides useful edible crops.
Katrapetch - The Twin Domes by DMFW with Midjourney
Katrapetch - Sowsow Street by DMFW with Midjourney
History
Note : A timeline which can be opened from a button at the bottom of this page, picks out selected events from the long history of the city which are of particular local importance.
Katrapetch is certainly one of the oldest, and possibly the oldest, continuously inhabited settlement on Magicians' End. It was founded by migrants from the New Kingdoms on Myruthea in 9842 BPC, not long after the very first maritime explorers to venture away from the shores of Myruthea had discovered Punjuki and Tinturbean. Since most (all?) of the contemporary or older settlements on Myruthea have subsequently been lost, ground under the glaciers of the Sundering or abandoned in favour of newer towns, Katrapetch now has a good claim to have the longest history of any currently populated city.
It was conquered by the Empire of Bradalkut, during the middle period of the New Kingdoms and when the Empire fell, it continued to be a part of the Proctorate of Bress, joining the Trinity Moon Triple Enfolding at the time of its formation.
After the Sundering Katrapetch regained its independence and grew in power and influence through control of the phryne trade as that became ever more important as a source of wealth, eclipsing Bress to become once again the superior regional power which it had been long before Bress was ever founded. The Palace Heart of the Royal Palace of Katrapetch was completed in 7040 BPC, early in the age of the Long Thaw and has been developed and extended over subsequent centuries.
It was phryne which made the city a key target for the invading armies of the Old Pale Empire during the Northern Punjuki Campaign and it joined the Empire after it was defeated in the Battle of Katrapetch in 4485 BPC. The Empire began a systematic program to increase phryne cultivation, and in 4285 BPC, two hundred years after the conquest of the city, the modern Katrapetch Phryne Market was developed to handle the greater volumes of trade. This was later expanded further, incorporating other goods and services, the most notable new building taking place when a grand arcade was created for the fruit markets in 3936 BPC.
In the aftermath of the Breach Wars that followed the fall of the Old Pale Empire, Katrapetch was one of the first major cities to recover. It became the capital of one of the Flame Kingdoms but would suffer the consequences of unwise arcane experiments when the eruption of Mt Gelzibom covered the city in a layer of ash in 211 APC.
Much later, during the Time of Terrors at the beginning of the fourth millenium APC, the city was home to Clarise Vabatan who founded the notorious Sisters of Vabatan, a cult which operated for more than six hundred years.
The Court Circle of Katrapetch governed the city from its foundation until as late as 5155 APC, when Prince Rygarde and the Limit Protectorate put an end to almost fifteen thousand years of continuous tradition, imposing a City Protector with supreme authority and abolishing the ranks of Raja and Rani.
In still more recent times Katrapetch was one of the five capitals of the Jewelled Queendoms. It was here that the infamous wizard Ixthamon (aka the Mad Mage) first came to power when he poisoned Queen Helena and imprisoned the princess Samaryn on her coronation day, before she could be crowned.
After the fall of the Mad Mage, Katrapetch was ruled by the Sacred Coven a system of government that eventually gave rise to the contemporary grouping known as the Alchemical Alliance. which unites a number of the most ancient cities around the world with arcane traditions who wish to remain independent of the Trans-Oceanic Empire. Although the Alliance technically has no capital, Katrapetch was a founder member and considers itself the first amongst equals. Whilst others might disagree, certainly the Grand Alchemist of Katrapetch holds a very important role in the Alliance, perhaps second only to the current Magistrada of the Assembly.
Points of interest
The Royal Palace of Katrapetch was completed in 7040 BPC as a much grander replacement for the previous seat of the Raja. This was a time not long after the Sundering when most of Tinturbean and a significant part of Myruthea were still recovering from the effects of the ice. Punjuki was relatively unscathed and Katrapetch, independent again after the fall of the Trinity Moon Triple Enfolding was undergoing a period of renewed growth, power and confidence. It is one of the greatest periods in the history of the city.
On the south bank of river is the Royal Mausoleum in which Rajas and Ranis have been interred for century after century, since the towered walls were raised only a little while after the construction of the palace.
A little way beyond the Old City Walls on the Halaban Road you can find Halaban House, a landmark in the Halaban District which serves the dual function of a clothing factory and a fashion emporium and is a very popular shopping destination.
Scattered throughout the city, are a number of special arcane structures of varying designs, known as the Sky Shield Lodestones. These make up a network of magical defence designed to protect against dust and ash falling on the city in the event of any volcanic eruptions in the Katra mountains.
The Royal Palace at Katrapetch by DMFW with Leonardo AI
Katrapetch - Royal Mausoleum by DMFW with Leonardo AI
Katrapetch - Halaban House by DMFW with Leonardo AI
Geography
The city spans the north and south banks of the Jold river, which flows east out of the Katra mountains and straddles the river Petch where this tributary, flowing from the north, joins the Jold. It is set in lush rain forest with a humid climate and a high level of rainfall. The land beyond the edge of the city in the south is given over to Celovass cultivation, but the Phryne for which Katrapetch is a famous trading hub, comes from the eastern and northern highlands and is shipped onwards via Bress and Cliffport, both of which have good roads connecting them to the city.
The Katra mountains have some active volcanos, which have erupted at irregular intervals throughout history, distrupting the life of the city to varying degrees. The most serious event was the Mt. Glezibom eruption in 211 APC. The image shown is from the Diary of Clarise Vabatan, who witnessed this eruption of Mt. Rintalima in 3065 APC from the western suburbs of the city.
The Mt. Rintalima eruption of 3065 seen from western Katrapetch by DMFW with Midjourney
Maps
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Magicians' End : Cities : Katrapetch
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Magicians' End : Cities : Katrapetch Centre
Founding Date
9642 BPC
Type
Large city
Population
~670,000
Location under
Included Locations
Owning Organization
Related Tradition (Primary)
Related Traditions
Related Materials
Famous Citizens
Ixthamon the Autocrat by DMFW with Midjourney
Queen Helena of Katrapetch by DMFW with Midjourney
Magicians' End - Clarise Vabatan by DMFW with Leonardo AI
Raja Lakshay Mehta by DMFW with Midjourney
Raja Gundabah Sarill by DMFW with Leonardo AI
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