Lapithos

Lapithos is a town in the Imperial Archonal Union of Viodoxa and Tovarisha, in the province of Regnum Fortunae. It is located in south-eastern Rathnir, also known as Cymru, just south of the city of Fortuna, and is surrounded by cold mountains and forests. With 10 people residing in this sparsely inhabited town (as of April 2022), it stands as the 4th most populated city in the province of Fortuna and one of the smallest in Cymru.

It is described by many as a ‘beautiful, but small paradise’ that stands in the depths of Cymru, and also a trade center, despite its market activity. The city’s first and current mayor is Vincent Asagrim, and it has been traded across nations that have conquered this little area.

Etymology
The prefix Lapi- means Lapis, one of the symbols of the town. It was named after the Lapis Lazuli Ore because of the luck this ore brought to Fortuna's citizens and the lake's resemblence to this ore. It's unknown to this day what -thos means, but some theorize it means "village".

Traditional architecture
The culture of Lapithos derives from the Fortunan culture, adopting its religion and most of the traditions. There are a few differences from both cities' cultures, such as the building designs. While in Fortuna houses are sometimes built diagonally and with a flat wall design, Lapithos doesn't use a diagonal design for it's buildings, and uses a complex wall design, mixing the use of slabs and stairs. Another major difference in these houses is that instead of using bricks as the roof material, granite is the replacement for this, for economical reasons. Lapithos also uses paths as their road design. Decoration is a clue key in Lapithos' buildings apart of the wall design. The walls in Lapithos are very similar to Fortuna's walls but however, they're taller and they use stairs on both sides of the wall.

Flag
The flag of Lapithos is based on two equal horizontal bands of blue and white with a yellow isosceles triangle based on the hoist side. The top blue band symbolizes the Lapis Lazuli Ore, a meaningful ore in the town. The bottom white band is a symbol of peace for the citizens of Lapithos, and the yellow isosceles triangle is the symbol of Fortunism, the local religion.

Botany
One of the most symbolic plants in Lapithos is the Bushpine Blueberry (Fortunan: Thapeko Vaxinium). It is known for it's historical uses, for example traditions, but over time these traditions faded and hundreds of years later, a Lapithosi citizen tried making a dessert with a berry they found in the mountainuous side of Lapithos. These berries caused the consumers to have an addiction to them, and is what caused the Lapithosi ancestors to stop consuming it. Recently, studies have revealed that Bushpine Blueberries are also medicinal plants because the addiction to them makes all other mental addictions/disorders disappear, but it is extremely addictive and a tiny dosis must be put to make the effect.

Geography
Its particular geography makes Lapithos one of the most, if not the most isolated town in Cymru. This forces the town to adopt a terraformist expansion just like Fortuna did in the ocean. The city is surrounded by a variety of biomes, including birch-oak forests in the south, taiga forests in the west and cold mountains in the north.

It borders the Lapithos Lake whose name is given from the city’s, and is considerably close to the ocean, 400 blocks away. To the west, Lapithos is a neighbor of the castle of Occulere; to the north, it limits Fortuna, from just a 100 block gap between these two; to the northeast, across the mount crests, the capital of Valron, which goes by the same name; and finally, to the southeast, it is met with Fjörgyien through an ice highway.

History
Lapithos’ history, despite its variety in cultures throughout the past, is unknown for most of its period. Most of the history known goes from November 2021 to the present day.

Before the town was founded, there weren’t really any signs of life in the city except some trees without leaves. The town was founded on the 23rd of November 2021, when Vincent Asagrim decided that it could be a good place to settle in. The city’s first buildings weren’t well designed until Stephanie Justinianus came in and reformed whatever was first done. And just like that, the city began its first expansion, terraforming the grand surroundings of the city.

After the first expansion finished and the walls were built, the Lapithos Market was built and open to the public. For diverse reasons, the owners of the market had to leave it in an hiatus period after war struck Lapithos in a resource shortage. In the midst of a conflict between Greater Karolium and Fortuna, the town had gone over a tense moment when the Karolian troops were threatening with an invasion of the city, and were warned to stay out of the southern half of the wall, which wasn’t built around the time because of it’s short distance to the coast, which made it hard to build there.

In the end, a deal with Karolium was done, and despite being considered unfair to most of the citizens because they couldn’t expand anywhere, they still continued their daily lives, until Lapithos decided to expand south. Notwithstanding the pressure they were being put on by Greater Karolium, nothing happened after that. In the end, a war between an exiled and the now reformed Viodoxa happened, and the eyes of Greater Karolium started focusing on Viodoxa City. Lapithos took this as an opportunity to develop faster and expanded towards the Lapithos Lake, building over three islands; the Bronzekreuz Castle, the West Lapithos Park and the Fortuna's Statue.

When the war ended and Loic won, the city expanded towards the east, leaving new space to build more houses. Because of the previous conflict with Karolium, the builders began decorating what was available to build in, and they focused on the city’s quality rather than quantity. This was known as the second Lapithos expansion, and the first temple was finally built in the southern tip of the city.

The city went under an inactivity period for around one or two months until the mayor decided to stay active and began planning the third expansion, which was much larger than the second and featured it’s first mountain to the east.

Fortunist Ritual Place
One of the ancient relics of Lapithos. One of the ancient relics of Lapithos. It was founded by an unknown entity, to worship Fortuna and her children. This is the main place used for Fortunist sacrifices, and one of the greatest sites to visit when first visiting Lapithos.

Lapithos Market
The main economical factor of the town. The market sells varied items, like fish, blocks and valuables.

Fortuna's Statue
It's a statue located inside the lake off the town as a recursive island. It can be visited by going through the West Lapithos Park and walking straight forward, going around the tree.

Tripylos Mountain
A mountain located in the southeast of Lapithos. According to historians, it used to have a large cave inside, but as the years passed, it shrunk from geographical changes, and is now a tight space and a challenge for those who want to go through it. The peak is estimated to be at around 21 blocks high. The name Tripylos comes from Old Fortunan Trir "Smoothness" and Pylor possibly means "Incandescence". Both of these words form "Smooth Incandescence".