Aszaryn (/æ 'zɑr ɪn/ | Az-ZAHR-in)
The City of Silver and Shadow
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Aszaryn is a city-state in the World Below with a powerful aristocracy and a bloody history. A place of decadence and pageantry, Aszaryn is defined by its tightly-stratified class structure. Every aspect of life is rigidly controlled within a caste system, from what you wear to where you live, to the jobs you are permitted to undertake within society.Demographics
Roughly 30% Vampire, 35% Elf, 25% Human, 10% other.
In return for their labors in the fields of the World Above, Vampires are given rationed allotments of the blood they need to survive--but never enough that they can seriously entertain any thought of rebellion. Vampires are minimally educated, and cannot possess weapons. Mortals who commit sufficiently serious crimes are turned into Vampires. The blood needed to feed the Vampire workforce is collected from the recently deceased, or from criminals as punishment for their crimes. Capital punishment is carried out with a method known as "Death by Bloodfeast": the guilty are given over to the Vampires to be drained dry in a feeding frenzy.
As might be expected in such a system, tensions between the different races and classes of Aszaryn are high. To make matters worse, the balance of the Human and Elven population is beginning to shift, due simply to their relative fertility rates. The Humans have begun to chafe at the glass ceiling in their society, and while there is always the threat of being made into a Vampire to keep them in line, the elites of the city-state fear that oppression will not keep them in check forever...
Government
Powerful great houses are the overt rulers of Aszaryn. There are seven houses of note, five of which are dark elven and two of which are made up of elves descended from surface dwellers. Once per century, the great houses meet behind closed doors to determine which of them should be the Royal House. According to official doctrine, this is decided by a matter of simple vote, but it is thought that backstabbing, political maneuvering, poison, blackmail, and overt magical threats play a role in the "vote." To date, only dark elven houses have ascended to the throne.
One demonstrates one's right to be considered a great house by displaying the incredible magical acumen required to perform the ritual that creates Vampires. To date, no Human house has achieved this, although many have tried.
While officially it has no role within the governing body, The Church of Hallowed Blood has an exceptional amount of influence in city politics. Having originated the ritual that creates Vampires, the Church is a source of hope and a font of worship for many Aszaryns. When the Hallowed One speaks, the great houses ignore them at their peril.
Industry & Trade
Aszaryn trades spider silk, potions, bioluminescent animals and fungi, various herbs and spices, bat saliva (used in blood preservation) and especially, silver, to the neighbouring cities of Adar’ul and Kapazand.
In return, they receive sand (for glass making,) glass, fish, jewels, herbs and spices that they can't (or don't) grow, resin, zinc, iron, fine-cut jewels, and coal.
Infrastructure
Aszaryn has an extremely well-developed infrastructure -- for some. Hot and cold running water, sophisticated plumbing, and rapid transportation is readily available in the higher-class districts, while the poor and enslaved must make do with public washing fountains, chamber-pots, and their own feet. Since, in an underground city, shelter from the elements is not as imperative, the poor often live in the open, eking out their existence in the patch they are capable of defending.
Assets
Wealth overflows in the higher-class districts of Aszaryn. The city is located near one of the most valuable assets in the changed world -- an enormous vein of silver. Wealth from the sale of that silver to other city-states allows the aristocracy of Aszaryn to live a luxurious existence, clothed in fine fabrics coloured by expensive dyes, and to dwell in opulence and the highest levels of creature comforts.
The commoners of Aszaryn receive some of this bounty, in that they rarely starve. The oppressed underclasses of the city-state, however, are either paid poor wages for doing the jobs that keep the city running, or are slaves.
The city-state keeps a variety of underground ranches that offer meat and fungi as staples, or other useful animals, such as giant bats and giant spiders, to make clothing.
The city-state also has a variety of bioluminescent lighting sources, thanks to the millennia-old knowledge of the dark elves who first lived here.
History
Aszaryn was founded when elves from the surface world made a pact with the dark elves of the World Below. To avoid mutually assured destruction, they agreed to share the existing resources of the city -- with the caveat that the surface elves would help the dark elves conquer the nearby Dwarven city of Renazuld to take their resources as well. A small population of humans joined the surface elves in this pact, and were allowed into the city also.
When The Spellburn, the cataclysm that destroyed the World Above deepened, and it became clear that this was by no means a temporary state of affairs, the elves and humans eventually not only conquered and enslaved the dwarves, they engaged in an active campaign of genocide, to limit their drain on the already-limited resources.
Before the secret of creating vampires was discovered as a solution for growing food on the World Above... well, let's just say that "dwarven bacon" became more than a cultural culinary expression.
Natural Resources
Aszaryn controls access to an enormous vein of silver, which has incredible value for its use against the magical mutants of the surface world.
Aszaryn by Artbreeder
Type
Large city
Population
About 16,500 people
Inhabitant Demonym
Aszaryns
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Aszaryn by Worldspinner
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