Arapis

Once known as Prima Dues, this city was the center of power for the Holy Irillian Empire (Second Empire). Since 1951 AE the city has been occupied by elements of the Elven Army and under the control of Ellendar.

• Name: City of Arapis; Prima Dues; Centrale Il Serpente
• Location: Irill, Ellendar

  • Founded: Irillians 582 AE
  • Conquered: Elven Army 1951 AE
• Holder: Tellarmi, Grand Elmari of the Watchful
• Liege: Queen Endirwen Landilinar of the Kingdom of Ellendar
• Etymology: Arapii; The Eternally Conquered
• Land Area: xx km² (yy acres)

  • Woods: xxx acres (xx km²)
  • Cleared: xxx acres (xx km²), xxx acres cultivated
  • Tenant:
  • Demesne:
• Population: 8,500

  • Ethnicity: Human (5,000), Elf (2,300), Other (200)
• Military:

The city started as a small town built around the Great Temple of Irrish in 975 AE. This temple was the center of the Irrishites, then a minority religious sect among the Irillians. By 1100 AE the town had grown into a city of 10,000 people, all dedicated to the worship of Irrish and their proper place in the world. In 1200 AE the Irrishite religion became the majority religion within Irill and in 1260 all other religious worship were declared heretical. At this point the word of the Maximus Magister carried more weight than any Senator.

The local law for each borough is carried out and enforced by the Consiglio di Borgo, which is comprised of Irillian citizenry selected by the Elven Military Officer for the borough. By law all of the actions of the council must be formally approved by the overseeing officer, in reality most of the councils run the borough with little oversight by the elves.

The large central borough is dominated by the Great Temple of Irrish, which is closed to all Irillians. From 1951 - 1970 AE the elves used the temple for administrative purposes, but have since abandoned the building and stopped all maintenance. This led to the collapse of the west wing of the temple in 281 AH.

Most of the elven army is quartered in this district, along with the bureaucrats who administrate this city. In 34 AH the elves began demolishing the buildings that once housed the priests and the library. They have tilled the ground planted a grove of trees. Unbeknownst to any but the highest ranking elves, a seedling from The Great Tree was brought to this grove in 465 AH. If this seedling should take in this soil then the city will undergo a massive change as the grove becomes a sylvan forest.

This district does not have a council of Irillians as no Irillian is allowed to live within its boundaries, even those Irillians who need to enter this borough on official business must get a pass from the elven bureaucrats.

This once great market place was named in honor of the Adriano family that controlled the three largest trading houses in the market. Before the elves conquered the city no goods were sold in the city unless the Adriano's received their cut. The elves have tried to rename the borough several times since they conquered it, but the people of Arapis have resisted their efforts to date.

Salvatore Adriano does not serve on the official council, but there is no doubt in anyone's mind that he runs the borough. It is an open secret that Salvatore is the highest member of The Guild in the city and the borough named in honor of his family is the center of his power.

Running along the northern wall in a crescent shape centered on the northern gate are the homes that once housed thousands of pilgrims, now it is little more than crumbling slums. The elven army goes in regularly to clean out any spark of Irrishites, but have never been able to exterminate it completely. The people who live here talk about “The Serpent's Mask” who spreads the true word of Irrish and gather his followers to him. The elves believe this person is a myth created by the last embers of a dying religious cult.

If there is a single bright spot for the humans that still live within the city, this borough is their shining hope. By the law an elven overseer is selected for this district, but they have never appeared before the council and no decisions of the council has been overturned. The people of this borough tend to be craftsmen and merchants who suffered the most in the last days of the Maximus Magister Giovenco before he killed himself atop the Great Temple.

The elves have spent the largest sums of their treasury rebuilding these homes and crafthouses. The streets are clean and freshly cobbled, while the homes are all topped with new tile roofs with eaves clean of soot and rot. Judging solely on this district the city of Arapis is prospering, but only at great expense of the elven treasury.

Although this borough is outside of the main walls, it is still considered a part of the city and not a distinct town or village. Once home to thousands of pilgrims that flocked to the city, but could not afford a room inside the walls - the western third of this borough was burned when the elves attacked the city. The eastern section where the descendents still live consists mostly of orchards, fields, and pens of livestock.

Given the smaller population this borough now supplies a large percentage of the foodstuffs eaten inside the city itself. The elves have spent a great deal of time and wealth repairing the fields and teaching the Irillians who live there better methods of agriculture. Acre for acre this is the most fertile lands anywhere in Irill.

The western edge of the the borough is where the elven army burned its way into the city. Once this borough claimed nearly as much land as the city itself, now it is down to only half of its size. Now people only live on the eastern half of the borough and the common name reflects this new reality.

The smallest borough is comprised mostly of elves, but with a significant enough Irillians to need a council. Located around the Western Gate most of the goods that come from Ellendar pass through this gate. The few “human” goods that come through this gate are those of prominent and trusted merchants. Unlike the much larger North and Eastern Gates, the tolls are cheaper and line shorter. A license to move goods through the Western Gate is considered high recognition by the elven administrators of one's trustworthiness.

Nobody not in the list gets through the West Gate - and nobody works near the west gate unless they have been approved by the Gate Commander.

The largest and busiest gate in the city is the Grand East Gate. At one time the gate was adorned with statues of rising serpents, but those were destroyed by the elves. Although the city is a shadow of its glory, the Eastern Gate is still busy and the people who live in the borough around it have prospered. Laborers, craftsmen, ostlers, handlers, carriers, and tavern keepers have pushed and wedged themselves into this borough. The elves have kept most of the houses from encroaching into the main road, but there are sections where the upper floors of buildings meet in the center.

Drunken brawls and thievery are pretty common in this borough, but at least the elves do not have to worry about Irrishite trouble as the people of this borough worship at the alter of gold.

This borough was once the homes and barracks of the Zenki Order, an order of Knight-Crusaders who served the Magisters of Irrish. They were the last to surrender to the elves, with many of the knights throwing themselves on their swords rather that suffer humiliation and imprisonment by the elves. Their borough burned for weeks after the elves took control of the Great Temple. No effort has been made to repair or even clean the debris from this borough. There is now council that serves the few vagabonds that live here.

By Elven law, the citizens of Arapis may not carry any blade longer than a hand span in length nor may they wear any clothing that could be construed as armor or designed for soldiery. The Irillians that remain do see to the day-to-day actions of the watch, but they are overseen by a soldier of the occupying army and allowed to carry nothing more than a wooden truncheon.

The occupying Elven Army is the only true military units within the city. From a tactical standpoint they are surrounded by the “enemy” with little ability to obtain self-sufficiency. They rely on food from the surrounding Irillian villages to feed the people that remain in the city. While the Irrishite religion has changed dramatically, Arapis still represents the holiest of holy ground, with thousands many the journey there every year.

In spite of this the Elven Army is not under any threat of lack of supplies or rebellion. Before the fall of Arapis the Irrishite leaders committed many atrocities to their own people as well. Strict adherence to their will was demanded of all and those that failed were tortured. The new leaders of the Irrishite religion seem more than willing to bury that past as trade between Irill and Ellendar increase.

The elves have gone to great lengths to return the religions demonized by the Irrishites to the people of Irill, but with very little success. The Irillians that still live, and travel, to Arapis are the true believers and have resisted all efforts. Those few Irillians that have taken up the older religions are persecuted and only find shelter among the elves.

Prima Dues was never a trade center nor did it have easy access to the raw resources to export to other markets. Instead wealth flowed into the city from pilgrims and crusaders that sacked far off lands. When the elves conquered the city they actually took very little wealth from the city, instead they took only the most artistic pieces and melted the rest. They have harbored this wealth over the years and used it to offset the trade imbalance of the city.

It is only a matter of time before the accumulated wealth runs out and the Elven Army will be forced to either abandon the city or secure additional funding from Ellendar to maintain their hold on the city. The surrounding Irillian cities have pushed up the tariffs for goods travelling into the city - not in an effort to force the elves to withdraw, but rather make it difficult for them to control much beyond the city surroundings.

The elves know that the Irillian republic is very pleased with the most radical Irrishites drawn to Arapis, forcing the elves to maintain a tight grip on the city, but there is very little they can do about it in the short term. The Irillians have them boxed in and until the Elven Queen decides to remake the city as a sylvan glade and extend Ellendar's power here they must wait.