Zalea

Description
Zalea is the former capital of the Jabal Kingdom, and currently serves as the provincial capital of the Southerland Province of the Kingdom of Aurea. Located adjacent to Uraka and Roddinbrok. The city was ruled by The Jabal Kings until the demise of Kingdom of Jabal. It was temporarily ruled by the Duchess Of Zalea under the House De'Avigantia, a formerly wealthy noble family which was granted rulership by Kingdom of Aurea In 201TE. The current Duke of Zalea and overseer of the Southerlands is Char Aesthetas, who is working diligently to revitalize the city.

Relocation
After the Zamotz Union raised ludicrous taxes, Jabal King nadir_gh and his trusted council decided to move the kingdom from Ygomir to another land. They agreed on a treatise to move into an autonomous zone where they would be in an alliance with Roddinbrok. This began at the end of November where an early scouting party consisting of Nekoma, Hobo, banoc, and Erik discovered the newly acquired lands and found a spot they later named Zalea.

Fall Of The Jabal Kingdom
The Jabal Kingdom, over time ceased to exist. It is unclear what caused these magnificent peoples to die out. Nonetheless, almost a century had past until Kingdom of Aurea had bought the land from the collapsing Rodinnbrok. Originally, the Aurean Royal Council thought the city would be a prosperous city, yet they came to Jabal and saw the city streets empty, finding that no one was living there. Rumours circulate that the Jabal people were wiped out with a deadly disease called Jabeara, a disease that causes you to vomit to your death. Fortunately, this disease no longer exists. People of mixed Jabal descent and heritage still inhabited the region, and they returned to the city to live in Zalea under the reign of the Kingdom of Aurea.

The Rise and Fall of House De'Avigantia
In 201TE, Aurean Royal Council began looking for candidates to overseer the Duchy Of Zalea. Their Queen began looking for someone who represented the culture of the new revived city. She Then met Katarina De'Avigantia, who after some converations, the Queen Of Aurea decided to make the first Duchess Of Zalea. Katarina founded the House De'Avigantia. Not only did Katarina De'Avigantia try to impress the Queen, but she was also of half Jabal descent, giving her an ancestral claim to the city. This only increased The Duchess Of Zalea's Influence as rising noble, and thus, the House De'Avigantia began. However, after Katarina became involved in politics, her ineptitude was quickly discovered. Her inability conduct diplomatic decorum and respect the Monarchy escalated. It ultimately ended in her banishment from the entire Kingdom of Aurea. Her story serves as a cautionary tale to those who seek to abuse power and lead without kindness and compassion.

Modern Zalea
After the banishment of the Duchess Katarina De'Avigantia, The Kingdom of Aurea scrambled to find someone to fill the shoes of Katarina and take Zalea under their wing.

This is where a member of the Royal Council known as Rhyland Wrenn put forward the name of his half brother, Charles Aesthetas. Char's name was quickly pushed through the ranks of the council and was officially appointed as Baron of Zalea on the 30th January 2023, His mission was "to rebuild Zalea to its former glory". Since then Zalea has doubled in size and is now a bustling city full of proud Zaleais Citizens.

Zaleais Culture
The Aurean Southerlands has a lot of history and has been apart of many nations. Now in the peaceful nation of Aurea the land is being regenerated into a flourishing Province full of proud citizens. The citizens have come from all over which brings a lot of diversity to the southerlands and with that also comes a lot of different cultural traditions.

Weinaukah
The citizens of the southerlands love alcohol, just like their decendants from Roddinnbrok, Even adopting their winter festival Weinaukah. A lot of the soul traditions of the festival have been lost along with Roddinnbrok, but everyone still gets together in the first 2 weeks of december and eat, drink and play music so loud that neighbouring towns can hear.

Tattooing
Although tattooing is not that popular across Eldham, The citizens of Aurean Southerlands hold it close to their heart and it is often seen as a sign of respect for another being, Zaleais people believe the more tattoos you have the more stories you have to tell, they also see it as a sign of strength and pain tolerance, the larger and more detailed the tattoo the more resilient you are.

The Sunrise Coliseum
The Sunrise Coliseum was built by foreign builders for almost $300,000. Many events and tournaments have taken place here, and it is the only location where warriors were once able to join the Jabal Royal Guard. The coliseum has since retired the training programs and it is used to host events such as "stick fighting" which is a proud symbol of Zaleais culture.

Zalea Brewing Co. Brewery
This is the Headquarters for the local brewery, Owned by Duke Charles and his friend Winter the busy brewery is always experimenting with brews and constantly pumping out drinks to the thirsty public of The Aurean Southerlands. It's a great place to stop by during visits to get a taste of true Zaleais ways

The Great Jabal Mine
Largely constructed by Jabal Councillors, Morrel and Supbros. This massive underground construction project is located underneath the city of Zalea. The mine is now unused and open to the public, it's a great walk through Jabalian history if you're new and visiting the city of Zalea.