Valinor

Gate of Elora

The city state of Valinor remains one of the most prosperous and famous cities in all of Elora. From its inception, to its Great Age, to the current era, Valinor has been a individualistic and imposing force on the world, bending great kingdoms to its will and orcheastrating mass influence with its coffers. Ever since Valin, the first king of Valinor or what was then called Suldrath, led the city to independence from the Republic of Aenod in 332 CA, the Gate of Elora, as it is known, has been the continental center of trade. Located at the mouth of the River Aber, Valinor controls the only accssess of trade from the Western Kingdoms to the Midlands, making it a hub for intercontinental trade.
While the Great Age of Valinor might be in the past, the city still have much life and power to offer. Bolstered by the influx of migrants from the newly discovered lands of Aike the city is once again becoming a hub of trade and ideas, leading many to proclaim that the city's best days are not yet behhind it.

Demographics

The City State of Valinor is a cosmopolitan port of the world, and home to a variety of species, ethnicities, and cultures. The racial makeup is roughly 45% Human, 13% elf, 12% Orc, 11% half-elf 6% Aracokra, 6% gnome, 6% Tabaxi, and a about 2% of Halflings, Deep Gnomes, Comarcian Dwarves and Goliaths. Valinor and its residents are tied strongly to the Aenodian Culture, due to the city's common ancestry with Aenod, however, its proximity to the Orcish region of Uldraga'a and the many diverse cultures of the Midlands makes Valinor a culturally rich and diverse city.
As the demographic majority, humans tend to also dominate the economic ecosystem of Valinor. As arguably the most successful trading city of The Great Age, Valinor possesses many old and rich noble houses. In The Great Age (350's CA) most residents of Valinor were human and in some cases elf or half-elf, and wealth has seldom been distributed since then. Adding to the economic disparity is the influx of Orc migrants in the last century. Often forced to set up tents around the city, or move into seedier neighborhoods, orcs fleeing from oppression in Uldraga'a often find a life of hardship and prejudice in Valinor.

Government

Valinor is a city-state under the rule of @dom. After Valin's Revolution in 332 CA and his subsequent coronation in 333 CA, Valinor has since remained a monarchist state. Succession in Valinor is hereditary, and there has yet to be a break in the line of direct descendants of Valin. Although the King holds absolute power, the High Priest of Valinor holds considerable sway over the populace and often the nobles of Valinor. Not part of a religious order, the High Priest rather serves as an ambassador to the Gods of Elora, making sure Valinor is in their favor.

Defences

Valinor is a heavily protected city, a necessity considering the the many enemies that surround the city; Orcs to the East, and Aenod to the West. With mountains on either side, Valinor is a perticularly difficult city to siege due to terrain. Natural city placement is therfore the most useful deffense in Valinor's arsenal.
Valinor boasts a number of impressive walls and fortifications. A 23 foot wide, 40 foot tall, and a staggering .9 mile long Sea Wall spans from east to west of Valinors cove, completely enclosing and protecting its harbor. The Sea Wall, which lies about fifteen hundread feet off of Valinor's shore, has four looming darksteel gates for boats to pass through and five hexagonal watchtowers topped with brimming burgundy roofs. The Sea Wall is an architechtual marvel providing complete and total protection of the city by sea.
Valinor's Northern Wall, at the northernmost part of the city, connects the natural deffenses of Eldrin's Cliff to the east with the Fairy Hills in the West, snaking up along the hills until they become the much steeper Westlight Mountain. The Wall contains an opening for the river Aber to pass through and and two gates to allow accsess to and from the city. Additional outlooks and towers are placed along the Westlight Mountain and Eldrin's Cliff for extra protection from those flanks. Additionally Snowpeak Castle is a fully fortified castle capable of withstanding its own invasion, making Eldrin's Peal perticularly hard to capture.

Districts

Sun Harbour

The oldest of Valinor's districts, Sun Harbour had been the sole port of Valinor for a century before the much larger Port Valin district was constructed on the other side of The River Aber. This small and ancient district has only a few buildings standing from the 2nd century CA as most have burned or been torn down, however, The Weeping Hound Tavern on Tiel'n Street remains in its original form, making it the oldest tavern in Valinor dating back to 258 CA. The Sun Harbour is often filled with tourists and many of its buildings have been turned into museums, however, there are still active ports in the district. Here, one can also see preserved ruins of old Valinor or Suldrath as it was called

Port Valin

Port Valin is the crown jewel of Valinor. One of the great harbors of Elora, Port Valin has been the economic backbone of Valinor for centuries. On these docks, distant travelers from Aike draw their first breath of Eloran air, and countless traders and adventurers from across the world exchange goods, share rumors, and of course, engage in merrymaking.

Snow Peak District

Home to the city's nobles and royalty, this district sits on the summit of Eldin's Peak overlooking the rest of Valinor. The Green Steps, spanning half a mile, twist up Eldin's Peak from the base of the Valinor Hollow right up to the Snowkeep Gates. Up in the mountain top, the district contains the majority of government buildings, including the towering Snowkeep Palace, and many ancient and powerful guild houses.

Ram's Head

Ram's Head is the largest residential district of Valinor, beginning at the base of the Valinor Hollow and sloping skywards towards the Western part of the city. A hilly and steep district, it was originally named "Ram's Head" due to the sheep herding and mountain goats that would graze on the hill. A vibrant and diverse area, Ram's Head is home to folks of all different creeds and colors.

Central District

Located directly behind Port Valin, the Central District is the hub of market and artisan activity. Here residents and travelers can find bustling shops, stalls, and markets for all their needs, and carts hauling goods from the port is a common sight. The Central District is also a hub for many of the city's organizations and guilds.

The Cliffs

This makeshift district lies on the side of Eldin's Cliff in the east of Valinor. Formed mostly by Orc refugees, the Cliffs are a largely impoverished and unruly neighborhood, existing in many ways outside of the Valinorian citiesphere. Wood and tarp shacks propped up by beams, dangling hundreds of feet in the air fill up the side of Eldin's Cliff and lever systems carry people and goods up and down this vertical district. Eldin's Cliff, originally a mining site now sees its dark tunnels filled with markets and dwellings as its citizens weave in and out of the mountainside.

Smokecrown

Wrapping around the North and East of Valinor, Smokecrown, so named after its appearance to onlookers as a crown of smoke around the city was a hub of industry in Valinor. While there still are many smithers, smelters, and mining facilities in the area, activity has died down since its height in the six and seven hundred when Darksteel was discovered in Eldin's Cliff, igniting what is dubbed Valinor's Silver Age.

Six Crowns

This district snakes along the Aber River in the North of Valinor. The Six Crowns is the name of the six stone bridges that cross the Aber and it is where the district takes its name. A friendly middle-class neighborhood during the day, come night Six Crowns is a thriving scene of taverns, brothels, and underground organizations

Six Crowns District

Guilds and Factions

Cloaks of Valinor (The Cloaks)

The Cloaks of Valinor, or "The Cloaks" for short, is the mage guild of Valinor. Before Valin's Revolution, the mages guild of Suldrath (Valinor) existed as a branch of the Aenodian mages guild: The Union of Magic. After Valinor's break from the Republic of Aenod, the local mages guild, which largely supported Valin's cause, broke with The Union of Magic and formed an independent guild they called The Cloaks of Valinor. They took this name because during the revolution Aenodian soldiers would cry out "Cloaks!" in battle when they saw one of the Valinorian mages approaching.
The Cloaks of Valinor are largely concerned with the regulation and standing of magic and magic users in Valinor. They set prices for magic items, keep track of magic users entering and exiting the city and collaborate with the Royal Arcanen and the Institute of Omen. Their emblem is a dark blue cloak.

Valinorian Society of Arcana (The Society)

The Society, as it is known, only established itself after the Great Age, around the 450s CA, largely as a reaction to the need to find more effective defenses against Valinor's enemies who were now seeking the conquer the weakened city. Originally formed by magic users of various kinds in the ranks of Valinor's army, The Society now mostly consists of Sorcerers.
The Society of Arcana is concerned primarily with the research, development, and practical uses of arcana. Less administrative, less influential, but equally as powerful as the Cloaks of Valinor, the Society is also more combatative in nature, often offering up its member's expertise to the army, or anyone else willing to pay. Their emblem is a roundshield with a lightning bolt insignia.

The League of Ember (Artificer's Guild of Valinor)

The League of Ember, more commonly called the Artificers Guild, was founded during Valinor's "Silver Age" when, after the discovery of Darksteel in Eldrin's Cliff in the mid-600s, Valinor's economy was primarily reliant on mining and smithing. The Valinorian Silver Age attracted many great smithers and artificers alike to the Gate of Elora, and eventually, the League of Embers was founded to protect the interests of artificers and to help regulate the mining economy.
Today the League of Embers acts more as a community for the advancement of artificing rather than a union of regulation. In this way, the League of Embers has assumed a more traditional guild role than it formally possessed. Some in the Artificer's Guild use their enchantments to attempt to revive the Eldrin Mine, but many others agree it is a futile task. Still, there is more Darksteel to be found in Valinor and the League retains its position of authority in the industries of Smokecrown.

History

Valinor has a long history in the world of Elora, characterized by defiance, glory, and of course tragedy. First settled by Aenodians in 83 DA, Suldrath, as it was called, remained a quiet dairy farming town for nearly three hundred years, growing steadily in population. Over this time, however, Suldrath's port began to grow and the town became quite prosperous as a result of trade with communities further up the Aber. It was after the Second Aenodian Civil War, however, when Suldrath's legacy would begin. No longer engaged in internal disputes, the Aenodian Republic sought to broaden its influence in Elora, sending merchants, diplomats and explorers first to the faraway Midland kingdoms of Kaelhola and Ridgarth.
The explorers sent by Aenod had a theory that the river Aber, which formed at the then little-known frontier town of Suldrath, would get them closer to the Kingdom of Kaelhola, their first destination, quicker than if they took Suldin's Path that snaked through the valley's of the Peaks of Light. What these explorers found was that the river Aber didn't just get them close to Kaelohola, it brought them straight to its capital city. In a letter sent back to the Skaaltalla, the explorers explained their seismic findings and wrote "The town of Suldrath, which lies as the mouth of the Aber, shall be in short while the republic's city of most import."
The Aenodian explorers were right. As Western and Eastern Elora became increasingly entwined with trade, largely due to the vast wealth of gems in Tautolan lands, Suldrath become the center of trade, a bridge between East and West. With increasing wealth, the leaders and people of Suldrath alike became more and more displeased with the governance of Aenod. Suldrath, they believed, was the heart of Aenod, its most important city, and yet they were constantly subjected to punitive laws and a government that seemed to particularly look down on the city's inhabitants.
Suldrath's local administrator Valin, who held the position known as Bhàillidh, was especially vocal in his distaste for Aenodian politics. In 332 CA Valin and his followers, with overwhelming support from the populace, revolted against the Aenodian Republic and claimed an independent kingdom of "Valinor" named after Valin, the following year. How this city managed to stand its own against the largest political body of Elora is up to much debate. Many scholars believe however the decisive factor in the conflict was the economic and even sneaky military support that Valinor received from its many trade partner kingdoms, who had many incentives to see Valinor break from Aenod.

Points of interest

• Floating Market: Large goods market in the distict built on floating piers in Port Valinor District

• Weaping Hound Tavern:Oldest tavern in Valinor, found in Sun Harbour District

• Institute of Omens:College of divination and fortune-telling, one of the Seven Arcane Institutes

Kingdom of Valinor Crest

Founding Date

83 DA

Alternative Name(s)

Gate of Elora (Geata Deas), The Red Light

Type

Capital

Population

83,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Valin or Valinorian

Included Locations

• Institute of Omens

Owner/Ruler

Domnail IV