Post by Admin Pete on Jul 6, 2019 16:12:51 GMT -5
Government: Grand County (Sovereign)
Pantheon: Greco-Roman (G)
Ruler: David XII
Capital: Trebizond (Population: 285,000)
Other Cities (and populations):
Phasis: 30,000
Satala: 25,000
Location: Azir (Near)
Language: Greek
Population: 500,000+
Flag/Emblem:
Flag: Two white seahorses
crowned gold, on a blue field.
Coinage: Khazirian Standard.
Important Persons: Prince Alexius (VI), the heir apparent; mayors,
nobs, priests, officials, etc. <Lord @dragonspipe >
Alliances: Hellenic League. Ukrimia (trade and mutual sea defense).
Hostilities: Galitia, Slovia.
Open Warfare/Skirmishing: Some petty skirmishing over Phasis.
Sea actions of all sorts continuing against Slovian shipping.
Intrigues: The fleet of Trebizond is the rival of any in the Middle Seas,
<cf. High Seas, DRAGON #116>
the princesses and noble ladies reknowned for their beauty,
<cf. Make Charisma Count For More, DRAGON #63>
Trebizondian artistic decoration and opulence in its palaces and villas
wondered at. The state has connections by marriage to many of the
surrounding lands. In such an atmosphere, the plans, machinations,
plots, and intrigues are as varied and intricate as can be imagined.
Magickal Devices: The power of Trebizond rests in the Iron Alternatives
of Xanadides, the Astral Conveyance,
<cf. Voidjammers!, DRAGON #159>
the Meteorswand,
<artifact-level wand of meteor swarms>
Igar's Smokesring, and the Hekaheart.
Alignment: Neutral Evil <arrikhans>
Thumbnail Sketches: Although only about 12,000 square miles in
extent, this state is at once wealthy,
<2 rolls for starting money, take the best>
powerful, and beautiful. It is
virtually walled off by mountains of 4,000 to 5,000-foot height, with
bears, lions, wolves, stags, boars, deer, chamois<>, and the like dwell.
There are towns and villages along the coast and the borders of the land,
but the Pontic Mountains are virtually uninhabited. Because of these
protecting mountains, the climate is mild and humid, the land fertile, and
only towards the easternmost extent is the coastal region not a virtual
garden, for in that direction the land becomes rocky and quite difficult.
The capital city, Trebizond, has been praised for its extreme beauty,
natural and architectural--condemned for its debaucheries and intrigues.
It is built on a seaward-slopng spit of rock of table-like shape
<cf. WSG>
(thus Trapezus, its original name). Steep precipices to the left and right,
where parallel valleys run to the Mare Ostrum's shore, protect the city.
A great wall across the seaward end of the spit is carried landward
along the cliff-like portions, and at the high end towards the mountains
it culminates in a citadel complex with 50-foot walls, and towers
of 80-foot height. A second wall divides the remainder of the place
into upper and lower cities, and at this division are massive flying
bridges which arc across the ravines to encompass new additions to
Trebizond. At the southern, highest terminus of Trebizond is the great
fortress of the city, the palace of the grand count, several smaller
palaces of nobles, and the various administrative buildings and halls.
From this height one can generally see all the complex patterns of
Trebizond which spread away and down through the waters of the
Mare Ostrum. The Upper City is basically one of fine sort with wealthy
and middle-class establishments, temples and grander buildings
near the citadel, and the bridge areas. The Lower City is generally less
affluent, the place of artisans, craftsmen, laborers and the like. In all
places trees and gardens are seen, but these are far more predominant
in the two wings of more recent construction.
To the west if the "Villas Quarter" and the three castles which
define its triangular shape, now interconnected and connected to the
city proper by a relatively low but thick wall, making it no longer a
suburb but an integral part of the city. Religious communities, temples,
and shrines, as well as a school and several guild halls, decorate the
expanse. There are again many trees and gardens visible, and there
is a charming park with stream and pond within the Villas wing; and
all around outside the walls are olive groves and orchards, gardens
and little fields of herbs and vegetables. Eastwards is the "Port City"
which covers much of the adjacent promontory, again walled
and towered--the southern portion being occupied by houses and
shops, and containing the foreign sector with its polyglot of Phoenicians
and Galacians, Ukrimians and Khazirians, and all manner of Westerners
and Easterners from far distant lands, too; the northern (seaward)
part given over to warehouses, factories, commercial buildings, and
the low dives and lodgings of exotic seafarers and imported workmen.
Even therein are to be seen many green and flowering things. The
harbor is eastwards of this place. It has recently been deepened, and is
protected by a wide and high mole<> built about a mile distant and angled
northwest so as to shelter the anchorage from northeast wind and storm.
The social structure of the state is the same as that of Byzantium
Cereals such as wheat, barley, and oats grow well in this land. So
too do cotton, tobacco, poppies, hemp, and flax. Mulberries are seen
everywhere, as silk is cultured in Trebizond. Vegetables of all sorts,
berries, licorice, herbs, and flowers, too, grow in numerous garden
plots. Vineyards produce grapes for wine, fruit, and raisins. Orchards
and groves of most sorts of fruit and nuts are likewise abundant, and
include olives, peaches, apricots, almonds, plums, pears, figs, pomegranates,
and cherries. Fishing provides delicacies and solid fare for the population, too.
Mining <cf. DSG> is pursued in several places where copper and manganese<>
ores are extracted from the mountains. Quarries produce marble and
building stone.
Note: the above is a map from Earth, not Aerth.
* EPIC OF AERTH, Page 175: verbatim.
