Lardburg

Old Lardburg is a city located in western Rhell, outside of Rathnir. It is the official capital of the Lardburgian Caeronate. New Lardburg is a city located in southern Alteniquia. It is the capital of the lardburgian province of Coenia, and the Archduchy of Coenia itself. It is the current seat to the Caeron of Lardburg and Gidesh of Coenia, Bowph Elernel, and is the center of Lardburgian and Coenian culture in Rathnir.

Name
The cities of "New" and "Old" Lardburg are both formally called Lardburg, their adjectives only being used to easily recognise the two cities in casual speech. The name Lardburg itself is the english reimagining of the czech word "Sádlov", literally meaning "lard town". In some texts, Old Lardburg is still referred to by its czech name.

Old Lardburg
Old Lardburg was originally founded as the city of Watchton by the Order of the Watchful Eye around the autumn of year 2019. It would fall into ruin after being severely griefed by the end of 2019, becoming completely uninhabited around two months later. The ruins were looted severely by remnants of the Order and other unrelated bandit gangs all throughout early 2020, leaving only the ruins 3-4 houses remaining.

Nova Carnia
The originally small outpost of Nova Carnia was founded at the site of the ruins by Caeron Kerplis Elernel. Kerplis only constructed a keep and a few watchtowers to overlook the nearby road, which lead to the great ancient city of Carn.He would then lease the city to independent mayor Bivoy the Lard (Bivoj Sádlo), who constructed a small village next to the keep. With the permission of Kerplis, he built a larger, circular keep atop the hill overlooking his village. Instead of incorporating the nearby ruins of Watchton, he decided to cover them over with dirt and constructed an artificial hill around the village to protect it from foreign invaders. From this time period, only the Old Keep remains in its original state, as it was reincorporated as part of the Carnian Walls. The New Keep was incorporated into the Lardburg palace, and the houses were all eventually torn down and rebuilt.

Sádlov - Early Lardburg
The settlement of Nova Carnia was, after the fall of Carn, rebuilt into a new town, which Bivoy the Lard (Bivoj Sádlo) renamed after himself. The first building to be expanded upon and rebuilt was the keep, which Bivoy remade into a fortified castle. This was by far the most glamorous and decorated part of the town, and, at the time, likely the best build in Rhell, which was recovering from the fall of Carn.

After this, Bivoy tore down the small wooden houses of Nova Carnia and constructed the town of Sádlov, which is standing to the present day and is sometimes referred to either as "The Old town" or as "The Harbourside". However, with the war of Lardburgian succession, construction in the town largely paused.

When Kerplis moved into the town from his temporary exile, he was given a house above the site of the Old Carnian keep. As the war began, he realised that the town was in need of defences. This prompted him to construct the Carnian Walls, which would serve as the city's first system of defences. The original walls were rather small from a modern perspective, but in a time without the extensive use of heavy artillery, they served the city well.

The first Siege of Lardburg
The city was besieged by Derius and his supporters at the end of the War of Lardburgian succession. It was severely undermanned, with only Kerplis, lord Peter and Drakakus defending it. The besieging force numbered around 15-20 people at all times. The siege would, in the end, last two real life days, with assaults every few hours. Peter famously got 2 hours of sleep during the whole weekend. An elder guardian was brought into the city as a way to ensure that the walls could not be broken via pickaxe, which was the main reason for the city lasting as long as it had. During the siege, the city was bombarded by small, light artillery, with cannons that could, at most, shoot 1 tnt at once. The Fire stick, an artifact present in Rhell that allowed its user to shoot fireballs, was used to set large parts of the city alight. Almost the entirity of the Old Town, except for the harbour, was destroyed.

On Sunday evening, Derius had to perform a last ditch assault to attempt to take the city. As he prepared to charge the main gate one last time, not knowing that the defenders had no more resources, and would certainly be defeated, Bivoy the Lard charged out of the nearby dark oak forest with his supporters and destroyed the unprepared forces, effectively ending the war, and saving the city.

Rebuilding efforts
Following the war, a large part of the Harbourside and most of the Old town was left in ruins. Bivoy the Lard hired Kerplis to help rebuild the city. Kerplis had permission to tear down any houses he wished, but was advised to try and preserve as much of the old town as he could. After a few days of planning, Kerplis drafted up the Lardburg plan, following which he would rebuild the city center following the principles and ideas of Ancient Carn. The whole plan would not be completely fulfilled until after the end of Bivoy's reign and Bowph's ascension as Caeron.

All damaged houses in the Harbourside were either fixed and restored to their original state, or remade in the Neo-Carnian style. This new movement was dubbed the Carnian Renaissance. The city center, which was almost completely in ruin, was torn down. In its place, Kerplis constructed a grand square, with colourful, renaissance-style houses, and a large clocktower. The Lardburg castle was expanded and a new royal palace was constructed.

Along with all this, a second layer of walls, dubbed Kerplis's walls, was constructed around the city. This new system of defences had three layers of walls, with four moats, and 5 gatehouses with extended stone bridges on both gates, and was the greatest system of walls of its time. Around the area of the ancient Carnian amphitheater, a new district started being built, which is sometimes called the New Town, or the Arena district.

The second Siege of Lardburg
The city was once again besieged in the only battle of the War of Lardburgian Independence on the 10th of August 2021, after being captured by the forces of the League of Free lords lead by lords Derius, Drakakus and Beat, and the future Caeron, Peter "the Great". Before the siege itself began, the city had already been looted, losing most of its valuables and most beautiful buildings in the process. Improvised barricades were set up in the tight Sádlov-era streets leading towards the main square. This article will also describe this siege.

Gathering at Wołowicz
As the defenders who had captured the city a day prior gathered atop the hoardings of Kerplis's walls, the attackers, including SexyCanadian, Kerplis, Jabberdrake, Sir_Pontios, Bowph, RedRemnant, tocab, LilyPrism, the combined forces of Cobbleworks, Carn, Yimmu-Audal, Lynnmore, Escharia and various members of the Ulfaeng, gathered at the small nearby castle of Wołowicz to prepare gear and get ready for the battle. Several of the most important pvp-ers defected to the other side before the battle even began, including SexyCanadian, tocab, and RedRemnant.

The besiegers split into two regiments, the northern regiment or Group A, which was lead by Bowph Elernel, and the southern regiment or Group B, which was lead by Kerplis Elernel and was meant to be the main attacking force during the siege. Group A went around the city walls as they were bombarded by arrows, and made their way to the northern side of Kerplis's walls. Both groups split off into separate VCs.

Terms for the siege were negotiated - if the defenders scored 110% kills (according to the enemy numbers), they would win, whereas the attackers would win if at least five of their ranks stood in the main hall of the Royal palace.

Early Siege: Unsuccessful assaults
When the siege began, both groups began preparing for bombardment of the city's walls. Group A's cannon however blew up upon the first shot, destroying the defences they had set up in the process, and exposing them to many volleys of arrows from the defenders. Bowph, threatened by this, ordered a general assault on the main gate, facing extreme resistance as he had to blow open all three layers of walls and build across the city's many moats. One of the defenders, Beat_Come, also released a massive army of dogs upon group A, leaving them stuck down in the moats where they were promptly killed off. However, despite heavy casualties, group A managed to push through to the main square. They formed on the western side where they were relentlessly shot with bows by the defenders. When Redremnant and Beat_Come lead a sally against the attackers their ranks broke, and most were killed. The rest scattered around the city, ran towards the port, or retreated back outside the walls.

Group B, which had lead their attack much more methodically, had more success than Group A. They built several cannons with which they bombarded both the city walls and the houses behind them, resisting small sallies lead by tocab and Peter in the process. With few casualties Group B stormed the largely undefended walls, abandoned by the defenders who had to deal with Group A's assault on the main square, and set up a safe position on the White gate, from which they bombed the Carnian walls, who Peter ordered to be reinforced for the siege. After a small shootout at the cemetery hill, which Group B won, Kerplis noticed Group A being killed off at the Harbourside, so he had to abandon his slow approach towards the palace in order to save them. While he managed to do so, he suffered some casualties in the process and Group B had to rout back to their base outside the walls.

Mid-phase: Skirmishes around the Old Town
Following the first unsuccessful assault, which lead to minimal losses on the defending side, Group A was essentially routed. Its last surviving soldiers joined up with Group B on the southern side. Bowph died during the first assault, and lost Ernir, the sword of Bivoj the Lard himself. Redremnant then picked it up, and would cause havoc during this phase of the siege

Small regiments from Group B went into the city through their secure base at the white gate, and were largely repelled, dying on the barricades the defenders had set up, either from various booby traps, or from the constant arrow fire. The siege became a battle on the streets, where every ten blocks of gained ground almost cost a soldier's life. The tight streets whose houses were blown up during the previous day's sack became hiding spots for attackers and defenders alike, and the fighting grinded to a standstill. Famously, Redremnant charged after LilyPrism into the Western Keep, where he killed her in just a few swings using Ernir.

Late phase: Final Assault
Eventually, Kerplis managed to gather both the routing forces of Group A, and the disorganised remnants of Group B, which altogether numbered around 12 fighters. While the defenders were distracted by continuing skirmishes and last survivors within the Old Town and Harbourside, Kerplis passed slowly and methodically through to the Grand Square, secured it, and besieged the Royal palace. After a short bombardment, the attackers had a safe approach through both the front gate and a hidden side entrance, supposedly a privy. They got into the palace from both sides and took it, winning the battle. It was unfortunately then that Derius accused the attackers of committing several war crimes, especially Bowph's use of Ernir during the early phase of the battle, and demanded that according to ancient tradition, a duel be set up to resolve the battle's outcome. The duel, which was held between lintin and Choochie15, was won by lintin, and in the end, Derius won the siege because of its result.

Destruction of the city
The city was ultimately the worst victim in the whole war. During the siege, most houses were damaged, and some almost entirely destroyed. The destruction was so extensive that afterwards it was ordered that most of the city be destroyed and replaced with entirely new buildings, except for the Harbourside, the Grand Square, and the Old Town. Such as plan has not yet been put in motion, but the old town itself was almost entirely restored to its original state.

Prominent buildings

 * The Lardburg palace - Sometimes referred to as the Imperial palace or Royal palace, this large palace complex serves as the residence of the Caerons of Lardburg.
 * The Grand Square - This great square serves as the primary square in Lardburg, and is full of shops and other commercial buildings.
 * The Rathaus - The Rathaus, or town hall, contains a vast wealth of literary works all the way back from Lantian and Carnian times.
 * The Old church - The Old church is the oldest place of worship within the city, standing on foundations from the times of the Order of the Watchful Eye. It was restored to its original state following the second Siege of Lardburg, however with minor additions.
 * The house at the castle walls - This house, which for a long time, served as a residence to Kerplis, is built on the First Keep of Nova Carnia. Following the second Siege of Lardburg, it was turned into a museum by Kerplis.
 * The Western Castle - The Western Castle, or Western Keep is Kerplis's private residence and serves as a royal prison.
 * Kerplis's walls - This series of defences can be seen all around the city, and still serve as the city's primary defense in case of war.
 * The Graveyard - Many of the most important people of Lardburgian origin, including Lant and Drakakus I., are buried in this graveyard.
 * The Arena - Colloquially known as the Lardburg or Carnian Arena, this amphitheater hosts annual gladiatorial games. During Bivoy's times, plays and poetry recitals were held here.
 * The Southern Gate/White Gate - What may originally seem like an ordinary gate is actually one of the oldest continuously used buildings in existence in Rhell. The first gate-like building here was constructed by an unknown group around late 2017, and was mostly made of wood, with only the tower being stone. It was used by the Order of the Watchful Eye, and nearly destroyed after its collapse. It was then used by a bandit group known as the Merry Men of the Rose as a base of operations. When Bivoy the Lard killed these bandits and drove them out of the gatehouse, he rebuilt it into its current state. Minor additions were made during the reign of Caeron Bowph.

Prominent buildings which are now destroyed

 * The Carnian walls (Now gone) - Only one or two towers remain from the Old walls of Lardburg, but they serve as a nice sight to visitors of the Harbourside.
 * The Church of the Holy Flower (Now gone) - This small church was the most prominent church in the city center, and was built by Bivoy the Lard as part of Nova Carnia.
 * The Old Rathaus (Now Gone) - The Old town hall held some of the last archives of books written during and before the times of the Order of the Watchful Eye. When it was bombed out during the War of Lardburgian succession, these were destroyed, along with countless other priceless artifacts. No copies remain.
 * Fort Watch/Watchton castle (Now Gone) - The original city of Watchton supposedly had a large, impressive fortress, but it is unknown where it was or if any parts of it remain buried underground.

New Lardburg
New Lardburg was established as a new home for the Lardburgians when they arrived in Rathnir, following a pact made between Kerplis and Centurion of Rhodia. When Reyllea was incorporated into Theios-Essukdal (now Yimmu-Audal), Lardburg became a city within the nation. When Kerplis ascended to the throne of Reyllea after StoryStudio's death, he first made Lardburg the co-capital alongside Icanscella, and then promoted it to be the sole capital of Reyllea.

The city of Moncheir, which bordered Lardburg, was eventually incorporated into the city as a district/borough. Caeron Bowph, chose New Lardburg as his official residence, officially cementing its co-capital status alongside Old Lardburg. Following the ascension of Caeron Daria Elernel, New Lardburg was officially renamed to Lestria.

Prominent buildings

 * The First keep - The first building established in the city was a barebones stone keep, from which a hold on the region was established.
 * The New Harbourside - A harbour was constructed in the city, following the principles of the Carnian renaissance.
 * The Grand Gathedral of the Blue Flower - Though this building has not been finished, it is currently the only Blue Flower Cult cathedral in Rathnir.
 * Bowph's walls - The city is surrounded by a layer of tall granite walls, whose design is inspired heavily of off Kerplis's walls.