Azzal

https://battlemaster.org/dynamicmap_mini.php?SetWorld=2&ShowRegion=15
Region Details
Continent
Region Type
Geographic Area
Population
Economy
Politics
Realm

[[Category:]]

Geography

The region of Azzal is a relatively small parcel of land, as compared to its surrounding regions. Centered in the fertile plains between the Olzesan forests to the west and Lake Itza to the east, it sits on a nexus of roads that stream in from the northern duchies of Siver and Saler and the southern realm of Talerium. Mostly flat, the land counts itself well supplied by water from the lake and wood from the nearby forest, making it a comfortable place to live. Its sole detraction is that because of the lake, winter tends to drop large quantities of snow on the city.

Notable features include the royal gardens and the eastern edge of the Olzesan forests, which because of their main tree population being the silver birch, resembles a shimmering wall of white in the mornings.

Economy

Because of the road nexus, the city of Azzal enjoys a thriving economy based primarily on trade and on manufacturing. Many skilled smiths, scribes, wrights and other tradespeople call the markets of Azzal their "second home" and market days tend to be colourful, vibrant and loud. Its marketplace is so large and popular, that the taxes raised on trade passing through the area pales only to the taxes raised on the sheer amount of goods sold. Because of this, the nearness of the Olzesan forests, and that the main market of overseen by a tall, thin white spire of a guard tower, the market (and by association, the city) is referred to by traders as the "The Silver Tree".

Military, Politics and Religion

Despite the rather raiderish reputation of its neighboring regions' peoples, Azzal does not boast of a proud or skilled military history. Its people tend to trades and other more civil work over the decidedly uncivil arts of war, and so the few that do choose that career usually form units of militia or perhaps light skirmishers.

However, because of its trade foundation, literacy tends to be somewhat common and many freemen can actually count or do basic figures. Bargaining sharpens the skills of logic and debate as well, meaning that Azzal has a level of political skill uncommon to much of the northeastern area of Atamara. When one considers that Azzal is the present capital of Darka, the city could rightly be considered a political hotbed, rife with dealing, trades, bargaining and agreements. The historical tendency of the Azzal royalty to maintain a fair if harshly meritable court has kept intrigue to a general whisper instead of a deafening hiss.

As for religion, Darka has maintained a state religion for an extensive period. Because of Darka's laws on the matter, the sole religion practiced openly is this state religion, resulting in that a large portion of population is of this persuasion. Further anchoring this is that the main temple of Darkanism is located in Azzal, a magnificent structure that dominates its neighborhood and the surrounding boroughs. However, because of its massive marketplace and the regular ebb and flow of people through its gates, Azzal's population does practice a number of other faiths, albeitly very privately.

History

The city of Azzal began as a small settlement on Lake Itza, founded in the stretch of land between the forests due west of the city and the lakeside. Since this was a simpler route to take traveling from north to south, it rapidly became a focal point for roads in the area and it quickly grew from village to town. Soon it became the marketplace for the goods of the Tolhuar and Zin rural highlands, resulting in its growth from town to city.

As time passed, the kings of Azzal slowly increased their domains to include the Olzesa woodlands. When King WhiteKnight of Azzal had lost all of his sons fighting the nomads of the Talerian plains, he married off his only living daughter to the crown prince of Darka and bequeathed to them the kingdom of Azzal, bringing Azzal and its domains into the Darkan realm.

With the events of the Darkan War, Azzal swelled with several waves of immigrants. The first settlers came from the then recently conquered sections of the Talerian plains, while the following waves were of refugees from the burgeoning war; loyalists from Saler, people from Siver who wished to escape North Darka, and in the end the people of Bisquez fleeing their razed city. Thus city became quite cosmopolitan from the admixture of these various peoples, and as a result of this, slowly become the center of overland trade of northwest Atamara. The conflicting views and peoples of the city also gave rise to new ideas on the government of Darka, and a new meritocracy was established in place of the previous aristocracy. As such, while Darka is still very much a nation of nobles and class divisions, rising within those classes is less based on blood, breeding and relationships and more on skill and experience.

This region has a temple of Darkanism or has a significant portion of its population following Darkanism.