Laria

Laria, originally named Port Crelov, is a town within the United Socialist States of Eldham. It is notable for its location on the sea, scenic landscapes, and beautiful architecture. The city's banner is a blue orchid on a white field, or the Larian Orchid, the favorite flower of several of the city's original chief builders.

It was formerly one of the largest cities in the nation, and one of the largest cities of early Eldham, with over thirty residents.

Founding and Early Days
The town was founded on May 31st, 2021 by a player named Kato (KatoLeAsian) centered around the small Bay of Gabeli on the island of Téntalo. Kato originally built a small, temporary base into the side of the area's cliffs and the river-woven cave that ran between both sides of the island. It was during this period that the building that would become 'The Out' (a noteworthy inn and brewery) would begin construction. One day a small tower and castle was built overnight by a player named Pietri on the top of the island's peak (much to Kato's surprise). In the following days, a player by the name of _Sorray_ joined, which ignited the rapid growth and construction of of the town. The coastal seawalls were raised around most of the island, and residential housing was built around the low-lying coast.

The Old City
It was eventually connected to the cities of Staroslav and Garkogorod through a system of packed ice bridges designed to be ridden on with boats in order to achieve incredibly high speeds and make travel across the Sea of Lélo'É easier and faster. Laria's iceway station was built in the hollow of the hill which used to be Kato's temporary base.

A wall with two spired towers was raised along the width of the island after several houses were built. However, the town continued to grow past this initial protective wall. The wall serves as a line/boundary between what is now called the 'Old City' and the 'New City'. There are plans for a second wall to be built closer to the western end of the island to encompass the New City if/when the last buildings get built.

The New City
In the area of the New City, large scale developmental projects were undertaken. This included the construction of two new residential districts, an open market square, the Great Library of Sorray, the Evergreen Cafe, the Bagel Inn, and Citizen Hall (a courthouse) - all built upon hand terraformed land.

The Dark Times
The week of July 4-10, 2021 marked a devastating series of events that drastically affected the city and her citizens. Early in the week, the USSE's northern neighbors - colonies of Vanakunir - repeatedly showed aggression towards the nation, which eventually spiraled into the Kunir War. Over the course of this fateful week, a seemingly minor and accidental border misunderstanding erupted into a war in which the warmongering leader of Vanakunir decided to annex the majority of USSE territory simply because he could. In the hours before the official war was to begin, the battle location was changed from Kunir to Laria - which left virtually no time for the city to be prepared for a siege.

The Battle of Gabeli Bay was fought on July 8th, and ended in a Vanakunir victory. Vast swaths of USSE land were claimed and annexed in a spontaneous, last minute decision by the leader of Vanakunir, which included the city of Laria - which wasn't originally within contested land at all. This came as a great shock to the citizens of the USSE, and especially to the residents of Laria. The land was then purchased by Welpish. Many of the residents of Laria were disheartened and fatigued from the events of that fateful week. These events also happened to coincide with real life matters of several of the town's leaders, which forced their inactivity. Many residents moved out, and those that remained were relatively inactive.

In one last build project before the official transfer of ownership, Kato and Sorray built a monument just outside the icy cave which first attracted Kato to the location originally. On July 9th, they built two monolithic statues wielding pickaxes. This monument was named 'The Builders', and was built in dedication and gratitude to the original builders and citizens (i.e. those from before the Kunir War) that were responsible for the majority of the city's construction, growth, and culture.

Reignition
In an unexpected, strange turn of events, Welpish offered to sell the land back to the USSE - though for a steep price. Not wanting to be auctioned off to a random bidder, the USSE repurchased some of their lost land (which included Laria). With the town's owner technically no longer being Welpish, Kato was thrust back into a position of leadership in the city as the de-facto mayor (which he didn't really feel like doing, but did anyways).

With the heartlands of the USSE regained, several of the city's primary builders returned temporarily to finally finish construction of the city. Shops were created, and residential housing was expanded - once more breathing life back into a city previously thought broken in the aftermath of the Kunir War. Pietri - the builder primarily responsible for the construction of the city's industrial sector - had raised an entire artificial island which included a lighthouse, a bridge to connect it to the main island, and a loading station for cargo ships. The second set of walls was built to encompass the New City, which were taller and more fortified than the Old City Wall due to advances in technology - not only marking the furthest line of expansion of the city, but also an important milestone in the construction and history of Laria.

The Adults Retire
By late August, the city had finally come to its full fruition. A new blacksmith, shop, high density townhouses, bazaar, barracks, and government building had been constructed - filling the city up to the outer walls. Additionally, a public garden with a large, custom tree was built as well. Retroactive improvements were also made around the city. These included the raising of a tall, mage's/alchemist's tower next to the city Library, as well as smaller details such as street vendors, hand-built trees, and numerous custom player heads. A gazebo was also built atop a prominent hill in the New City district, which allowed residents a place to connect with nature, and more importantly provide a great view of the city. Farm fields and buildings were also built just outside the outer walls.

However, real life matters eventually caught back up with the city's leaders. Towards the very end of August, with the sprawling city of Laria finally completed, Kato and Sorray retired. They occasionally log on from time to time to visit, check up on things, and mess with new players, but their work is done. At least, for now...

MrBluePig, one of the earlier citizens of the city, was elected Mayor after Kato stepped down.

The city continues to serve as home to many people, and to instill awe into all who gaze upon its beauty.

The Silver Age
After recovering from the devestating Kunir War, the USSE sprung into an unprecendented Golden Age. During this time, many new cities sprung up and quickly grew. Laria, having already been highly developed, had plateaued in its growth. However, while there was little room left to build more, new projects and improvements were nonetheless made to the city.

These improvements were largely done during the Silver administration, in which several of the city's core citizens became involved in politics. Kato came out of retirement to be Silver's commissioner of foreign affairs, and Sorray became Laria's National Assembly representative. Being pulled from retirement, the two of them began new projects for Laria.

Several subterranean agricultural facilities were created throughout the city in order to have a source of food given the limited space of the island. Additionally, an underground labratory was constructed, in which scientific, arcane, and alchemical research is conducted. This lab was also where the cure for the USSE Neihrenspried outbreak was discovered. A large, intricate system of tunnels are also in the process of being constructed underneath the surface, which will eventually become an underground city to provide more housing space. Pietri's industrial district was remodeled and refurbished. Advances in technology made the medieval tech of the industrial district obsolete and inefficient. A watermill, mechanized factory, and upgraded mine were built. Furthermore, a casino, harbor, and potential housing district is currently in the works.

During the Silver administration, Mr_BluePig stepped down as mayor, and was replaced by Alaina Arianrhod.

Pre-server History
In the early history of the area, the island (later named Tentalo) on which the city of Laria would eventually sit upon was covered in a cold, wild, coniferous forest. This factor, in addition to being separated from the mainland, meant that the indigenous population was slow in exploring the island. As such, while the mainland areas of Eastern Serrona were dotted with agricultural settlements, the island for a long time laid untouched.

As the culture and civilization changed in response to advances in technology and shifts in ideology, large & centralized population centers began to rise on the far Eastern lands of Kiurtrog. The mainland areas of Eastern Serrona were slower in reorganizing into larger, permanent settlements, yet it was clear they were headed in the same direction. Two distinct cultural groups inhabited the lands of Eastern Serrona, yet for thousands of years they had lived in close contact with one another. A large sea had separated the heartlands of these two groups - rising waters had submerged the land bridge that once connected Kiurtrog to the mainland (the Island of Tentalo is all that remains of this land bridge). However, these peoples remained closely intertwined and related, and so there would soon be a need for a connection across the sea.

Early settlers of the island sailed across the icy, turbulent waters to land on the shores of the island. They trekked through the dense forest of tall, imposing spruce. Towards the end of the island, they found a cave in which a frozen river had bored through a mountain-side, creating a channel through the island. It is said that the early settlers had arrived at this location at the end of a long day of exploration, just in time to witness the setting sun shine rays of red and orange through the icy air of this frozen cave - and that that was the moment when Kato decided.

The first building of the city was then constructed: a tavern & inn, The Out. This location was originally meant to serve as a rest-stop along the route between Kiurtrog and mainland Serrona. However, this quickly changed as more and more travelers stopped to rest, and ended up staying. The location was then named Port Crelov (Crelov meaning 'icy cave' in Lo'Oi); however, the city's name would eventually be changed to its modern name of Laria (which will be the name used to refer to the city from now on).

While the city was growing rapidly, another population center had sprung up along the shores of mainland Serrona just across the channel of the island: Crosotex. While Laria was growing more quickly than Kato had intended, Crosotex was exploding in growth by comparison. At first, Laria's leadership was excited for this new, rapidly expanding neighbor: it was supposed to be a rest-stop along the route to Kiurtrog, so more mainlanders meant more travelers. However, Laria ended up growing into a fully fledged city in it of itself, and so a rivalry developed between the two neighbors. They would repeatedly compete over prominence and influence over the region.

Though Crosotex was more populous at the time, Laria was undeniably the more beautiful. While Laria stymied its own pace of growth in order to plan its development and layout, Crosotex accepted residents as they came in. This resulted in a larger yet rushed city, filled with crime and squalor. Laria on the other hand was smaller, yet comfortably fit and accommodated all of its residents.

Eventually, tensions between the two cities would rise and culminate into an extended violent confrontation. Outsiders looking at the conflict viewed it as a sort of civil war between peoples of the same culture and ethnicity, but the partaking parties had formed strong identities with their respective cities and viewed each other as adversaries. Luckily, the scale of the conflict was limited as Laria did not have the population to field a force large enough to overrun Crosotex, and Crosotex was unable to break past the natural defenses that Laria enjoyed from being on an island situated within a frozen sea. This conflict, however, was overshadowed by the larger Serotoix Civil War, which was mainly centered around Kiurtrog. The aftermath of the Serotoix Civil War resulted in the formation of the USSE which then incorporated the two feuding cities into its government, pacifying the conflict. Though the violence was ended, the rivalry would continue between the two cities up until the abandoning and destruction of Crosotex in the Kunir War.

Modern History
After peace had been established, Larian leadership redirected their attention inwards. More and more residents were being drawn to the city every day, and the city needed to grow and adapt to this growing population. Though the city was expecting and prepared to accommodate new residents at a continuous rate, the city's leadership would be faced with its first population boom. An outbreak of plague had spread in Kiurtrog, and refugees were fleeing the area (OOC: the original capital of the USSE was never really built, so new residents were just sent to other cities - mainly Laria as it was the most built up city). These refugees needed new homes, and the next two largest cities in the USSE were Laria and Crosotex. Crosotex quickly reached its limits, and began to turn away many refugees. Laria, though still in the midst of constructing expansions, felt that they could not abandon their countrymen in their time of need. The city's builders and architects worked tirelessly to raise additional housing in order to shelter the waves of refugees. They also refused to let this large swell in intake come at a cost to the quality of their building and architecture - the qualities which Laria prided itself on. In a feat of masterful engineering and construction, Laria grew exponentially in size with plenty of housing left to spare.

Eventually, Crosotex would stagnate while Laria would continue growing and surpassing them in size and population. And while Garkogorod (the original capital of the USSE, located in Kiurtrog) would remain the capital in name, Laria had become the shining jewel of the USSE - the magical glow of their city lights drawing visitors from far and wide.

Unfortunately, with fame comes jealousy - and with jealousy, predators. Though the USSE was peaceful and prioritized friendly relations with their neighbors, war would nonetheless come to their lands. Their northern neighbors, colonies of a separatist terror state in Rathnir, brought chaos and destruction to Eastern Serrona. Having been on a frenzied spree of warring and terrorizing to the North, they turned their attention south towards the USSE. They declared war over nonsense claims, and sent their army of bandits and criminals to raze the land. The USSE and their allies attempted to meet the invaders at their capital to spare their lands from destruction, but they were too late and were forced on the defensive (OOC: the battle was supposed to take place at Kunir, but was changed to Laria last minute for some reason). The invaders burned their way south towards Laria. Vostroya was in their path, but they completely missed it because they didn't realize it was there. Crosotex, however, was not as lucky.

Though a rivalry had existed between the two cities for as long as anyone could remember, the Larians all but forgot about it as they hurriedly evacuated mainlanders to the safety of the island. The city was completely evacuated by the end of the day, and the citizens of the USSE watched from across the channel as the fires of Crosotex illuminated the night sky - a sign of the brutality that was to come (OOC: Crosotex was abandoned some time after the war for several reasons, and the builders of Laria decided to turn the city into a ruins to look nice and ominous).

The next day, the Battle of Gabeli Bay was fought at Laria. The defenders fought. The defenders lost.

Much of the USSE was annexed, and refugees fled West to the last remaining city of the USSE: Nizkaya, a small farming settlement. In the prelude and aftermath of the battle, Laria was left a mess. Houses were barricaded, and makeshift fortifications were raised last minute. Bodies and rubble were strewn all about the city's once lively streets, and the city was eerily quiet - there was no sign of the city's original residents (OOC: there were cobwebs and random blocks everywhere, god it was ugly...). As refugees fled west, they looked back at the once shining and beautiful city now lifeless and broken. The jewel of the USSE was shattered. All hope had been lost.

For a while, the remaining citizens of the USSE lived in squalor in the cramped refugee camps at Nizkaya. That is, until one day they were given the opportunity to repurchase their lost lands - though for a gravely steep price. The resolve of the people of the USSE shone through as they worked to meet the tall demands of their conquerors, and they met the challenge. Their lands reclaimed, many residents left Nizkaya to return to their homes in the East. Upon breaking through the last of the woods of mainland Serrona at its eastern shores, they gazed across the channel in shock. They saw smoke rising from chimneys, people mingling in the streets, and the flag of Laria waving proudly atop its spired towers.

The residents of Laria had endured the horrors of war, and were steadfast in their will to remain with their beloved city. Their conquerors had been in such awe at the city's beauty that they could not bear to raze it to the ground as they did with Crosotex. The Larians welcomed their USSE brethren back with open arms as they returned to their homes once thought lost. After the reunification, the Larians proudly presented their latest project: The Builders. Two imposing, monolithic statues had been erected at the mouth of the city's frozen river - the very site which drew Kato to this location originally. The statues served as an honor to the city's residents, and a reminder that it was their city.

Laria would continue to grow to the edges of its home island, and would be known until the end of time for its unmatched beauty. The city would eventually hit its population limit as there was physically no more space to put more housing. Laria had finally reached its potential, and would stand aside as newer settlements rose to take its place. Kazkaya, a young but booming city located deeper in the mainland, would rise to prominence in the USSE. All the while, the founders and chief builders of the city gazed upon their work, and smiled.

Culture and Society
The residents of Laria above all else prided themselves on the beauty and quality of their city. The city's awe-inspiring appearance and enchanting environment made it iconic and famous. Residents of the city live in pride at being from such a gorgeous city, proudly proclaiming to all that they live in Laria.

Aside from the fierce pride in their city's beauty, Laria promoted a culture of chill - both literally and figuratively (you know, since its in a snowy biome). The city encouraged incredibly progressive values such as freedom of expression and identity, egalitarian policies, free housing, free food, and several public facilities and amenities.

One of the few things that Larian leadership was strict on was building and architecture. Housing was pre-built and provided for free, but residents had to apply to be a builder - the vast majority were not accepted. Though building codes were incredibly strict, this paid dividends for the beauty of the city. Rather than being an amalgamation of mediocre, unfinished, mismatched houses, Laria was planned carefully and was much more 'tied together' than most other cities on Eldham as a result.

The city's laws followed general USSE laws, but also had more specific additions and specifications in their local laws. The philosophy of the city's laws can be found most notably in the symbolism of the city's courthouse design. During normal, internal proceedings, the judge and defendant would occupy the lower level: the defendant would stand in the center beneath the rotunda, and the judge would stand at the desk in front of the podium; thus being level with one another. The podium was generally to be reserved for only the severest of crimes. One such crime was committing bigotry and hate. In such cases, the judge would stand atop the podium, looking down at the defendant. Nonetheless, in all cases, the people of the city and nation would occupy the top level, thus putting the people above both the judge and the defendant at all times as the law exists in service of the people and the good of the people. Additionally, there is a large symbol built into the back wall of the courtroom: it is a simplified version of the symbol of empathy.

Kato acted as mayor for most of the city's current history. Though he was loyal to the USSE, he always prioritized his city's residents. In doing so, Kato hoped to show his residents that he would always have their back, and would always come to bat for them should they ever need it. This partly instilled a sense of unity and loyalty between the city's residents, and a strong sense of community.