Solitude

Solitude is a city within the Aqirli Rei de Rekarii (Imperial Realm of Raykara) on the northern continent of Nieden, in the North East of the mountain range Mt. Rulagmo, originally repurposed for Gertonian refugees to flee from the Simulami vassalisation of the Gertonia and subsequent mass exile. It is currently led by the Akesor (Mayor) Dalek Labeshka, and the Akesirro (Deputy Mayor) Lenino Somomsomo. Rebuilt within only a few days, Solitude is a city that began to rapidly expand and gain new refugees, with many even saying that the town was the "fastest growing in its territory." The town now holds a fair amount of people, though the original Gertonian population is now all but extinct.

Although Raykara's religious demographic is mostly Soleannen, and all religions it doesn't support are banned within the country, Solitude was the only exception from those rules as it was gifted religious freedom by the Soleannan Imperium when they sought refugee status. However, this religious freedom was removed on October 21, 2023 when members from the House of Bellator, chiefly Katia Bellator, rampaged through the town and marked out non-Soleannen houses, killing the populace and generally pillaged the place.

Solitude from October 30, 2023 and on began to forge many projects under Dalek's 100 Day plan to bring a new populace in and set itself a new identity, realizing that the old identity wouldn't work anymore. With this, the plan should create a growth in wealth, population, and activity.

Revival
Solitude was recreated as a place to house Gertonian refugees who were either exiled from or decided to flee Gertonia. The Soleannan Imperium gifted them an abandoned castle to use, which lays upon a mountain range named Mt. Rulagmo. Over time, they remodeled and turned the area into modern day Solitude. Before this, Solitude had been abandoned and was in a ruinous state, with its previous history still largely unknown.

Soleannan Imperium Era
Solitude was given to the Gertonian refugees by the Soleannan Imperium and was under it for a small period of time. In that time it was officially led by Dominoess, with Valendaesu helping to govern. Initially, the leadership of Solitude was unofficially split between the rule of Dominoess, Valendaesu, and Puma until a settlement was reached, which included using an online randomizer to determine who would take overall leadership. Dominoess won, whilst Valendaesu and Puma became deputies, whilst still retaining an equal level of influence. Interestingly, this is the first unofficial example of Akesirros being used in the Raykara region. The mayor(s) were originally chosen based on the fact that they were all previously prominent leaders of Gertonian towns before they were exiled by ZenoHUN after the vassalisation and later annexation of Gertonia.

Religion under the Imperium
When Solitude was given to the refugees it became an exception to the religious conversion rule present throughout the Soleannan Imperium on the grounds that it'd be unfair to force refugees to convert to Soleannen, which would otherwise normally occur throughout other Imperium territories. Nevertheless, there were a few conversions, mostly out of appreciation for the fact that the Imperium had been so gracious towards the fleeing Gertonians.

Simulami Era
After the Soleannan Imperium fell to Simulami, the same empire that had caused the Gertonians to flee, questions began to arise on how to organise the fallen Duchy of Raykara and the exiled Gertonians living in Solitude. Valendaesu approached ZenoHUN and struck a deal that incorporated the northern cities of Gertonia, with the Duchy of Raykara and a few other Varmerii towns into the Kingdom of Creed, which would assume the status of a vassal under Simulami. Valendaesu would then go on to leave Solitude in favour of his former town, Galitz, that he governed before he fled with the other Gertonians to Solitude.

Kingdom of Creed Era
The end of tensions between Solitude and the previous leadership under Simulami came to a head when Valendaesu declared independence from Simulami. The refugees of Gertonia, now considered citizens of the independent Kingdom of Creed were extremely happy at this news, finally free of Simulami's reign, and the new dawn of leadership. As the town grew over time, it became aware of the transgressions involved in the region, especially after the Escharian Spring where the Third Escharian Empire was founded. Solitude became a town of quietness, located in the mountains, as the population became more and more inactive, with barely a handful willing to join it. Eventually, the Gertonian population died out and was solely Escharian, leaving the phrase of the last Free Gertonians as a old rule.

Escharian Empire Era (Dalek's Denomination)
Solitude was a dying town. On September 23, 2023, Dalek was brought into the town in a transfer of ownership. Upon transfer of ownership, Dalek's idea of transforming the Raykaran School of Language and Arts was first to be put into action. He finished the school and transformed it into the Estcharian Research Society, based on preserving historical and archaeological sites and artifacts. After the society's success, he recruited a new deputy mayor in replacement for Tom Snake, that being a talented acquaintance Lenino Somomsomo. Dalek then, with some brain storming, created a new 100-day plan to improve Solitude, included city expansions, new buildings, and possible political changes.

However, the era didn't start off as great as expected as the Solitude Massacre, led by Katia Bellator, rampaged through the city, executing those who were non-Soleannen. Dalek was away when this happened, but once he returned, there were difficulties in recruiting people due to the religious mandates. To balance recruitment and construction, the choice of isolation was reinstated, with exceptions such as the builders Darter Skaro and Tzesu, and focus was redirected to the construction of the Solitude Wall and the Landmark.

After some expansion into the plains before Yham, a new district was built for lower class and newer people, along with walls erected to establish new borders. Lenino created a rough draft of expansion plans that included taking the Fort of Ekkest, claiming the entire Rugalii mountain range, and even attempting to acquire the land of Baunei Av Kapuno. With this in mind, plans to expand westward to the Fort of Ekkest were in place. However, Lenino shared these plans to the king, Vallerian Bellator, which garnered a negative response. Vallerian responded to Dalek telling:

"So unfortunately, I'll have to say no on these plans. I like that you and your Akesirro are ambitious, but i feel like encompassing the entire mountain range defeats the purpose of solitude. That and the claim would be huge, too big to defend if it ever gets attacked."

Of course, this boiled down into a controversial matter as Dalek was remaining stubborn to specific expansions while Lenino remained ecstatic on the full extent of the planned expansions. Vallerian was running low on patience and said:

"The size will stay where it is or someone will get demoted. No more expansion... that defeats the entire purpose of why the town exists. it ignores everything the founders wanted it to stand for. I wont allow it."

This led to several weeks of stagnation in construction as there was no clear direction of where to go with it, seeing as Vallerian and the Escharian emperor where stubborn on letting changes occur while the mayor and vice mayor were stubborn on wanting change. However, disaster rolled through the events of the Escharian Collapse. The government suffered a huge blowback after their leaders of Duke and Yazov were executed for their involvement in the Great Rathnir Dupe, causing a leadership black hole to be formed. This, on top of the Salvre Kirrentai, led to the western Escharian becoming part of the Empire of Neidene while the eastern part split into the Estcharii Aakros and Reikara. Solitude suffered stagnation as well with Dalek leaving for a week, putting Lenino in charge, which only provoked the situation between local and national governments and put progress to a standstill. The town was dragged along through this mess as rumors of succession were all over, until the Reikari nation finally settled amongst a deal with the old Gertonian king Jeremy to form the Kingdom of Raikara-Garmillia.

(Diarchy Era)
Solitude, once the nation finally settled in and Dalek returned, started back on it to finish the needed projects to begin bringing people in. The Lank Mark, the farms, and the new businesses for the town were established, showcasing the great progress that was to come, but nevertheless there were plenty of issues that still plagued the town.

The biggest issue was the constant conflicts between the comayor and the leaders of the nation. In the most damming instance being where Lenino joked about overthrowing a government, leading to Valerion and Jeremy to request his dismissal as comayor. Dalek, reluctantly, took this request and demoted him. Through previous conflicts, the original mayor Dominoess was put as a second comayor, which now he stays as the official comayor of Solitude. Hope for the town's main projects to be finished within a week were stressed, but the conflict was simmering and not dying down any time soon.

Solitude Castle
Solitude Castle was the first building to begin construction at the start of Solitude's revival. It was a join project between the four refugees Dominoess, Puma Von Flamevaron, Valendaesu, and Tom Snake. It became the center of town, and most residential houses and a couple businesses would be built outwards from the castle.

It currently stands as the housing for the Mayor and Vice Mayor, and the main resource hold for the town. Dalek saw the ineffective measures for the town when he drew up the 100 Day plan, seeing that a new town center was needed. With the Landmark project completed, the new spawn would be located either behind it or front of it, leaving the Solitude castle as a monument of the town's history.

Mistveil Keep
Mistveil Keep was a project by the leader Dominoess who built it within a matter of a week or so; it held tons of armor and had room for prisoners if there ever be need for it. One of the most impressive builds and comparable to the castle, and an amazing sight to see from town.

Under the Escharian Empire Era, it's entrance hall was renovated into a town hall meeting area. Plans to add a guillotine outside the building have been proposed.

Soleannen Church
Many months after the creation of Solitude work began on projects that had been planned since the start, including the creation of a church to praise Soleannen beliefs. It is open to the public, and a very beautiful site to see in Solitude.

The Raykaran Research Society (also known as the R.R.S.)
The Society is a place dedicated to research of all that is within Rathnir, with a possible department for Eldham. It was originally a school built for learning Raykaran languages and cultures, however it was never completed as the builder, Charlie, left the town. When Dalek inherited the town, the idea of turning it into a place dedicated to research and historical preservation was an idea of its own. After being constructed, the first major success was the Excavations of Brothar in which many bodies and ruins were found, laden across the area underground.

With the enactment of the 100 Days plan, A museum, jokingly called the Lank Mark, was constructed to be sponsored by the Society to preserve and archive Escharian and Raykaran history. This was obviously changed as a monk wanted to include more, so it was changed to dedicate to the history of Rathnir. Regardless, the museum is an extension of the RRS.

The Estcharian Museum of Rathnir
One of the major points of the 100 Day Plan, the museum was extracted from an Empirate design from its original architect Zenos Blazik. The design was then copied to be built for the RRS as a way to preserve the historical findings from archeological sites and findings found across the world. The building itself was built by Lenino as he had a specialty in that area, building the outstanding building in only two weeks. While there were talks of putting a spawn around the museum, the museum would be put to the left of the spawn, the front being visible from the RRS.

Of course, there were disagreements and concerns as it involved cutting into the terrain and the Rugalii mountains, which did not sit well with the government.

Tom's Bar & Grill
Tom's Tavern is a local business in Solitude created by Tom Snake that serves many drinks a variety of food items. Tom's Bar & Grill was the first ever business in Solitude and was a branch from Tom's Nightclub in Yham.

Mr. Werty's Block Shop
New to Solitude was Mr. Werty, the 3rd resident to create a shop to support the local economy. By focusing on an untapped market such as the block industry he made a dashing entrance, covering all the essentials from wood to stone bricks.

Solitude General Store
The Solitude General Store was the second business created in Solitude and is run by Hyque. They serve products like cheese, ores, blocks, and many other useful items making it one of the best shops in town.

The Golden Cow
This store is owned by the Bohéma Brewing Company, a family business ran by the Noble House of Bohéma. It mainly serves alcoholic drinks, with the family being known for its quality drinks and brews.

Darter's Blacksmithery
The blacksmith that is around the area of shops and the museum, run by Darter Skaro, is a startup that is dedicated to making custom weapons and armors.

Lower Solitude
Lower Solitude is the name for the extension of Solitude, going down into the lower plains from the mountain. The area was a critical component of the 100 Day Plan in the expansion of Solitude as it meant more housing for those who are new or those who'd generally be passive and wander about. Initially the Skaro Wall of Solitude was erected first, encapsulating the land and taking control of the main supply route of the road that cut across. Once the wall was established, two subdivisions were built and roads were named. The area was patched up and pathed, creating a new section for housing more people.

The construction of lower Solitude did expose a problem of lacking materials to build the wall alone, as it and the museum were being built simultaneously. This led to a solution of possible grinding events and stores to increase resources for future events, although the idea was brushed to lesser status later on.