Saule, City of Medicine (Sawl)

Overview

Often called the City of Medicine, the Neutral City, or Safe Haven, Saule is seen as a sanctuary among the harsh world. The city, located in Midstrell, receives refugees from all over, making it an exceedingly diverse city with people from every walk of life. The city itself is ancient and has survived Calamities with barely a scratch to show for it, which has been the source of much interest among foreign scholars.

Education

The name "City of Medicine" comes from the advances it has made in the art of medicine. Translations of science journals from the Era of Sorrow are present within it's many libraries, making it one of the few places that has surviving records of the ghasts.
Heartstream Academy, considered one of the most prestigious schools of medicine in the world, is the city's largest and oldest academy and attracts hundreds of students from outside the city. Students who enroll are held to strict standards set by the Guild of Practical Medicine, which is based in Saule, making the school exceedingly hard to graduate. Those who do graduate earn special prestige, giving them countless opportunities in their medical careers. Recently, the academy has expanded enough to allow students to take courses on animal medicine as a sole practice or alongside hominoid medicine.
Aside from the famous Heartstream Academy, the city also boasts many other schools that teach anything from general knowledge and mathematics, to magic and cosmology. While they may not be as prestigious as their medicinal counterpart, they are still an excellent opportunity for both residents and foreign scholars to expand their knowledge.
With the focus on knowledge, many people are eager to outdo their peers and stand out among the crowd. This competitive drive can leave most people feeling isolated and unable to ask for help, even those who aren't a scholar by profession. While some campaigns set out to fix this problem, there has been little progress. It has led many people to take drastic measures help their insecurities or loneliness.

Government

Saule is traditionally a diarchy, ruled jointly by the heir to the previous rulers and the partner they were arranged to marry. The current rulers are two men who, though haven't done much over their short rule, are generally liked by the citizens of Saule.
The decisions the diarchy makes is heavily influenced by top guilds of the city, keeping the rulers from making policies that might harm the guilds or their members. Over the years the guilds have pushed for more and more freedom from the rulers, wanting full control of their own branch of business. When the rulers challenge this freedom, the guilds have found ways to force them to stop, so the rumors go.

Politics

The Neutral City has remained impartial to the wars and tensions that plague the world outside its borders. It has a truce with all of the nearby nations, for if they are slighted, they refuse to take students from the offending nation and subtly advise their existing students to stay away from that place. Apart from barring students, nations fear the target that would be put on their back if they took hold of such an important city, not to mention the mysterious powers Saule has to keep itself safe from invaders. Knowing all of these factors, no one in modern times has dared strike out against Saule, in fact most assist the city in maintaining its safe haven status.

History

All that is known about Saule's founding was when: sometime nearing the end of the Era of Sorrow. When the Calamity of Sorrow hit, the city worked to help as many people as possible during the terrible time. Once the world picked up again, the city worked extensively to bring back knowledge to the general public.
By the time the Elven Empire had formed the city had already established itself as a neutral territory that would not aid in any battles. Saule was officially not conquered by the Empire, though the Empire did tout to its citizens that they had control of it by default of controlling every nearby territory. Despite this, Saule continued its aid to the enemies of the Empire.
When the Calamity of Blindness brought down the elves, the city of medicine once again aided as many people as it could, even those who were once agents of the Empire. During this time there was a lot of tension within the city, nearing a civil war between those harmed by the elves and those who benefited from their rule. Before things could escalate further, the ruling pair set up free humanitarian lectures and classes for the public. These were aimed at reminding those who still harbored grudges that the world was suffering and needed help to rebuild and eventually become a better place than it was before.
After the Era of Blindness, Saule now offers in-depth history classes on the Elven Empire, which shares both the advances the Empire brought to the world, the hopes it had, and the inevitable suffering caused by it.
The city in modern years still shares the same ideals it has had since the Calamity of Sorrow, a hope of being a reprieve from the wars that bring suffering to the people. Their walls have greatly expanded in recent years, making it one of the largest, if not the largest, cities in the world.

Type

Large city