City of Elea is situated in a small valley that encompasses a beautiful harbour, giving the city protection from the storms. There are two big roads that lead to the east and to the west, and city itself is surrounded by the four-meter wall. The land surrounding the city contains a couple of villages and hamlets, with many grape-yards and olive groves. Some farmers in the countryside are trying to grow wheat, but unfortunately the rocky and sandy mountain earth doesn't allow them to yield a a lot. Gladly, the animal husbandry seems to be exceptionally popular - on the beautiful mountain steeps one could easily spot the herds of sheep and goats. Some people are even trying to breed cows but unfortunately you can find them only further away from the city, since these animals consume a huge load of grass. The necessity to store the olive oil is accounted for the mass appearance of many clay workshops and the strong competition between different artisans soon made the city of Elea famous for its beautiful pottery.
LFRP
The city is currently looking forward to establishing diplomatic relations with other cities, kingdoms, noble and royal families.
The House of Elea itself would be very curious to meet any individuals that seem to distinguish, or that would seem to prove useful for the House and for the City itself. SPECIFICALLY LOOKING FOR KNIGHTS.
The city is always looking for a new buyer of their goods that are of the superior quality! We are also looking forward to signing any deals on importing the goods that may interest our population or the Ruling Family.
The city would gladly host any groups of mercenaries, trade companies, secret societies and other curious entities.
We are looking forward to cooperating with paramilitary organisations, also known as "outlaws" and "pirates", in order to assist us in eliminating our enemies. Single individuals are also quite welcomed to visit the Keep itself!
We are always looking for more enemies, after all we have to pillage someone and how do you expect to be a prosperous city without owning any slaves?
Unnatural creatures such as dragons and demons are also welcomed! The majority of population is human and the people may be a little prejudiced towards demi-humans though, but please - don't mind the surprised glances of our citizens!
Finally, we are always open for your proposals!
Characters
House of Elea (The Dynasty)
Name
Description
Count Leo II
Believed to be deceased, has disappeared with mysterious circumstances. While he was believed to be a wise and honest ruler - of course - having his own difficulties, and sometimes falling in the fury - it could be that the unlimited power has broken him in a way. Nevertheless, he has never gave up to any secret kinks nor religions, thinking this sort of behaviour would not benefit any ruler. He used to be a just and a kind man in some way - though his wrath could force him to do some terribly things. Now, he has disappeared and it seems everything is over, but who knows to what strange outcome could this disappearance lead to?
Age: 45
Height: 183 cm
Countess Lydia
The regent ruler of the City and the land nearby. She is in her early 30ths, the daughter of the Baron whose village lie in the land nearby. Her father himself is long dead and his demesne - the beautiful village that lays behind the mountains by the riverside - is in the city's dominion now.
Her youth was harsh. Despite she rose in the noble family, she didn't have all the luxuries her children are able to afford now, when she is the ruler of a enormous trade harbour. She was sold... oh, of course she married! But it was not a big difference for her... she was "sold" to her husband, the rich Prince Leo when she has just turned 14. She was a healthy girl - an ideal mother, and it was obvious she would make a good addition to the noble family, allowing her father to live richly and happily the rest of his life. The life after marriage was difficult to her. She did have to adjust, and while she was not serving her husband in different ways she was studying the manners, learning to be a future Countess - the wife of the count. She studied a lot, and worked a lot, and born nice little children for her husband a lot - her body seemed to be perfect for this. She had to learn to be a mother soon too. Being from a relatively poor noble family she was glad her children can afford something she couldn't afford too, and she was definitely happy to pamper them.
The count has mysteriously disappeared in 9 years after her marriage. Gladly for the countess, she was already skilled in the court diplomacy and being an influencial lady it was not a big deal for her to secure her position at the throne. At least she was the leader till the moment her son, Prince Zephyr, would turn 18...and maybe a little longer.
She is courteous, professional and...mysterious. She pays a lot of attention to her beauty and her look, but not many people can say what exactly happens inside her decisive mind.
Age: 32
Height: 168 cm
Weight: 67 kg
Cup size: D
Hair: A relatively short haircut. The natural colour is chestnut, until dyed.
Princess Irene
A rather spoiled girl, though definitely not as spoiled as her younger brother.
Irene has grown up in luxury - being the oldest sister she has received all the privileges of the young lady, all the possibly luxuries which one could find in the whole city. All her requests were thoroughly fulfilled, she had all the unusual toys the other noble families couldn't afford - even those rare mechanical dolls from the West. The loyal guard was always willing to protect her, and the city has never had any notorious enemies just yet - so she could afford going out and exploring the mountains, being always properly guarded and being able to dispose of any unlucky peasant that her noble train would accidentally meet. She has never been particularly cruel, of course - she didn't feel a need for it. She just threw people away just like her old toys. "My maid was not that kind and pleasing anymore? Oh, well, whip her, till she changes her mind! I don't care that she is not a slave, just whip her!" Unfortunately, in the cruel feudal world it is the power of the brute force and the army that control the people - not morale, that her unfortunate teacher tried to explain to her, neither even money.
There still were limits. She didn't have control over other noble families of the cities - and she has learnt it very early, but at least inside the House she could do a lot. Even her brother and her younger sister were not fully spared from her bossy character.
Irene enjoys the banquets and beautiful music and musicians, just as much as she was enjoying playing her toys when she was a kid. She fancies herself as a young woman that could unite all the noble families in her house, and despite not all of the young men and women tend to stick to her banquets, many of them still do! Those people were the only whom Irene would consider to be worthy her attention, and whose opinion could be important for her. Again, she is not evil. She just has learnt that if you are cruel with your servants - they tend to do their job better.
Age: 18
Height: 171 cm
Weight: 61 kg
Cup size: C
Hair: Ponytail with a fringe. Blonde.
Princess Heloise
A young beautiful noble woman who loves love, blood and roses. She is different from her older sister - completely. While she still enjoys visiting her banquets she finds her company a bit distractive, definitely not wanting to be a younger sister to someone as controlling as her. She was proud of her sister, and still silently hated her, doing her best to differ. At some point she has claimed the Castle's gardens as she was particularly enjoying the feeling of nobility and solitude that those ancient gardens has given her. She has put a lot of efforts in them on her own, buying new exotic flowers and even trees. Despite the love to exotic things that is shared in this family, she still believed that her "totem" plant is a rose - dangerous as her, noble as her and would die out if not cared about properly.
Unlike her older sister she is more prone to compliments - she hasn't received that much of them in her childhood. She loves being treated as she deserves and she loves charity, loves being called "humane", even though she could barely understand the true meaning of this word. She is still prone in doing the things the way she prefers and she puts little value in a human life. Those "noble" books that she was reading - some of them are love stories, though she has learnt those books are not really noble enough - they are for silly lower gentry! No no no, the real noble princess should read the books of ancient philosophers - the one who told what a real love is, what a real state is and what a real lady is. Unfortunately for her servants and friends, ancient philosophers had a somehow perculiar views on these matters. And for a young silly and proud princess most of those metaphors were perceived very, very literally. Love is death and control. The state is a control of the noble ones over the lowest ones, who are naturally not able to realise the whole burden of this control. A real lady is mysterious and dangerous. Literally.
Age: 17
Height: 163 cm
Weight: 50 kg
Cup size: B
Hair: long with a fringe. Often dyed red. Natural colour is blonde.
Prince Zephyr
16 years old. Spoiled, very spoiled!
"Shut up little slave and stand on your knees. Right. Right over there. My sisters are quite spoiled brats, aren't they? Irene even tends to order me around, but Heloise - she has already realised. She is mine and if she doesn't marry in two years she and that nasty Irene would be mine, completely. Of course they are sisters...I won't be too nasty to them."
"I don't know who you are. Did you come from far away? That's entertaining. Our House loves guests - the ones like you. You make nice toys... my mother wouldn't agree, but she doesn't need to know..."
"Shut up! You are not allowed to speak in my presence! Everyone who enters my quarters is my property. My slaves...oh, well, maids - they know it. So do the bodyguards. They probably think they are so brave and smart, but it's so easy to manipulate them! You know...do you know what will happen in two years? The whole City will be my quarters!"
"That's it. Oh, where did we stop...ah, right! You can proceed kissing my shoes."
Age: 16
Height: 176 cm
Weight: 58 kg
Hair: Short haircut. Blonde.
Lady Lunette
The younger sister of the Countess, often performs the role of the intermediator and the diplomatic representative of the Dynasty. She is being romantically involved with... ohh, wait, those are just rumours anyway!
Age: 26
Height: 172 cm
Weight: 67 kg
Cup Size: C
Hair: Long chestnut hair with a fringe.
Lady Lunette has been obliged to perform the functions of the diplomat, sometimes even an ambassador, but these functions barely bother her as she enjoys risk and perfectly realises the dangers of her adventures. Of course, unlike other not so smart knights she seems to be perfectly fine with having big escorts, and she would never venture into the woods alone.
Lady Lunette is ambitious. Like most of the members of her family she has some cruel character, but she is barely spoiled by her power. What she really enjoys is to subdue other people to her will, let them do what she wants them to do - not in a cruel way of brute force, but rather in a way of cheating and charm - and maybe it's that trait of her characters that make the role of a diplomat perfect for her.
Other Characters (permadeath can be applicable)
Butler James
(?)
Court Minister
(?)
Delphine
Delphine is a castle maid - a loyal servant from a family of merchants. Her father has go bankrupted and it's only because to her father's friend, who was serving in the court, that she was allowed to work for the House of Elea. She is nice and kind, though can be a bit clumsy at times, and a bit slow. Though her slowness strangely disappears as soon as she is being told of the possible punishment. She is a literate and well educated person and she would surely deserve a better life than the one of the maid, though it was still better than anything her old father could offer her. At least she was serving for the court, and if she didn't make anyone particularly angry the life of a castle maid was not particularly terrible!
Age: 20
メイド２
(?)
農場の少女
The farm girl.
Colombina
Colombina is a young 18 years old girl, a daughter of a formerly rich merchant and is currently an orphan. She has a quite and a rather nice character, though probably too shy as for a merchant's daughter. Colombine was employed by the court for the special mission - mostly because of her character and of the general impression of "cuteness".
A place in the heart of the city - situated close to the docks and near the very center of the city - a place where local peasants and merchant can come in order to sell their goods, a place where both rich and poor citizens would come in order to collect some food and home appliances (the ones typical for that age and world, the electricity is not invented yet!). Many famous workshops are trying to move closer to the Forum since they know this is an easy way to acquire clients - and, of course, most of the citizens would prefer to live a bit farther from the loud clutter of the marketplace. During the big festivals many of the local stalls are being removed and the eager citizens can see spectacular shows performed by professional artists and magicians.
The Red Wreath Inn
- WIP -
The Town Hall
The town hall is placed in the western part of the Forum, closer to the Castle itself. The city is ruled by the Court Minister - a person bearing great responsibility and taking the role of the scape goat in case something goes wrong. The Town Hall performs the functions of the Court of Justice as well, and there is a notorious little stage placed in front of it - that stage shows the most gruesome type of the shows of Elea - executions of the famous criminals and prisoners. The rumours state that there is a reason why the place of execution is positioned so close to the Town Hall - the ruling Dynasty seems to believe it would show the Court Minister and the Town Hall in general as an appalling place, and would see the Castle and the Dynasty itself as the institution of utter Justice - the one, that can give them forgivance for all their sins.
The Shrine
-undefined yet-
The Docks
Despite various claims the real treasure of the city is its enormous harbour, that allows city host many ships giving them shelter during the storm and requiring an unusually small docking toll. Unfortunately, the city itself lacks any proper ship-building facilities, but it still has a small shipyard that allow ships to undergo some basic repair or overhaul. There are a couple of wharfs and enormous warehouse that allow to load and unload a big amount of cargo, which are used by the local merchants to bring their goods deeper in the country - gladly there are two stone roads leading deeper into the continent. A big amount of these goods also go to the local markets, making the city famous for having a variety of goods available for a low price.
A couple of rich trade companies have opened their offices in the city, allowing them to oversee the docks and the general flow of the goods.
The Castle
A giant stone building surrounded by the 6-meters wall, situated on the rock closer to the seaside, but not that close - the wall surrounds the castle from all the sides, since it's believed the skilled assassins could climb the cliffs and that wouldn't be too wise to destroy the cliffs itself, eliminating the foundation of the castle. The walls and the gates are decorated with the red banners - the sign of the prosperity of the Ruling Dynasty. The road to the castle entrance is largely believed to be the most beautiful once in the whole city - surrounded by a small park with many beautiful statues and many vigilant Castle guards.
The Keep itself is designed as a rather beautiful building, with big windows and unusually designed - the keep seems to consist of four towers built close together and sharing all the inner parts of the wall, introducing the concept of rooms and allowing the architect to give the Keep a much more sophisticated design of the interior, introducing secret room and secret passages - all those things that any respective Dynasty would surely have.
The Secret Shrine of Abraxas
-WIP-
The Dungeons
Unfortunately, you have to get in there before you manage to learn more about them.
General Statistics and Economics
Trade and Trade Agreements
Of course the estimation would be very rough. Let's say, currently the House of Elea can afford spending 10 florins per month (excluding money they are already spending on food, services, animal care etc.). I have no idea how much dollars would be in a single florin - let's say 1 golden florin equals to 10 tons of wheat.
"Trade vehicles" can carry:
Donkey - 1/20 ton
Trade galley - 50 tons
Cog - 100 tons
The city tax on all goods that come through the port or being traded on the marketplace is 10%. So, let's say - if the city accepts a single cog loaded with wheat per month - that would give the royal family additional 1 florin per month. Of course, if we sign a trade agreement on carrying more expensive goods then the profit would rise correspondingly.
Now, of course it depends on how proud the knights are of themselves and how big do they want their salaries be. This is mostly a RP issue, though all the salaries that are paid for the knights and other entities would be listed in this profile, as well as any trade agreements and any sources of income.
RP events (cannon):
7) Princess Heloise has found an ancient book in the Castle's Library, telling the story of the Goddess Valgryf. She and her friend and servant Karina, the daughter of the local baron, has attempted to summon the Goddess at the Countess' Summer House - a manor places somewhere in the mountains. The details of the ritual are unknown, but at the end Miss Karina was found dead, struck in the heart, and Princess Heloise pledged allegiance to her new Goddess, attempting to start a new cult in the City. Karina's death still seems to be either a mystery or unknown to the majority of the County population, though it's reported that the Countess has ordered her daughter to undergo a strict punishment. (2013-10-08)
6) Lady_Florence, the representative of the Kingdom_of_Acadia has payed a visit to Elea castle and decided to stay for a week in order to work on the details of the trade agreement (2013-08-12).
5) Tanya_Roberts has become the page of Lady Lunette. No salary, but Lunette promised to help "him" with getting good education later. (2013-08-12).
4) Nazo_Enigma has become the private bodyguard of Princess Irene. Salary: 1 florin. (2013-08-12).
3) Colombina was sent to the Castle Meisus, the demesne of Victoria_Meisus (2013-08-11).
2) The demi-human Dragoness Violla decided to stay in the castle with her escort (2013-08-11).
1) Visit of the Royal Lady_Lucia, who decided to stay in the castle a little longer (2013-08-11).
A map made using fantasycities.watabou.ru (This exact seed)
