Zalea

Description
Zalea is the provincial capital of The Aurean Southerlands, which is a province in the Kingdom of Aurea. Led by Duke Charles Aesthetas, The city has seen ups and downs in its history but the future is bright and bustling. Now home to over 100,000 Citizens the city is full of life and culture with constant expansion plans to house new coming citizens.

Description
Zalea was once the Capital of the Kingdom of Jabal and was ruled by the Jabal Kings until the demise of the Kingdom

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.

Overview
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.

Humble Beginnings
Charles would be named Baron of Zalea and hastily travelled to The Aurean Southerlands only to discover a city with loads of potential and no direction. The people of the city were rude and blunt and took no noticed of the newly appointed Baron. The atmosphere was gloomy and the culture was basically non-existent. Charles and Rhy instantly started work, ripping down old derelict buildings and reworking everything that Char didn't approve of.

The Brothers would build tirelessly for days and weeks filling the town with colour, light and hope. The people of the city had seen the massive amount of progress being made and had to begun to open up, helping to gather materials and build structures. Eventually, laughter would start to fill the streets and a positive atmosphere began to form, the people began to love Charles and Charles began to love the people. The people of Zalea began to feel represented and like their historic town was loved.

The population exploded as a result, with over 60,000 people moving to the freshly revitalised city since Charles took over. People started having gatherings and markets started bustling with crowds. Festivals were held almost seasonally with many cultures starting to form across the city.

The Queens First Visit
When Queen Bee and her Husband Bag eventually visited the city to see how things were going they discovered a city full of proud citizens and massive amounts of progress, Their mouths hung open as crowds began to form around them as they wandered the streets, cheering them on as they went. There was lights and markets and flourishing greens draping across buildings, The atmosphere was so vibrant and positive they couldn't believe their eyes.

They began to routinely visit Zalea and every time they were shocked at the progress being made between every visit. Charles had completely revived a failing city, with his motivation and positivity, He wanted to impress the Queen and do that he did.

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 wiser you are, they also see it as a sign of strength and pain tolerance, the larger and more detailed the tattoo the more resilient you are.

Stick-Fighting
Stick-Fighting is a common activity that takes place in The Sunrise Coliseum. The opponents remove all armour they may be wearing and place it in a chest just outside the doors, They are then given a single stick and are locked in the coliseum, They then beat each other with the stick until either one admits defeat. Those brave enough to step into the ring are already respected and seen as resilient and strong. While those who admit defeat are not seen as losers, They are seen as brave for admitting that they have lost and are given a sense of pride for knowing when to stop.

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 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.