Hope, the city of Dawn

ope stands as the centre and heart of The Dawning Empire, created in the wake of Avlar's Ascension and the closing of the Maw.   Before the conquest, Hope was a small fishing village that stood near the isle of Ban Elsir and the Gods Willow which grew on the island.   After the fall of Avalon, the sacking of Carrag Nuine and the events of The Breach, the world was thrust into a dark era known as the Great Displacement.   After Ser Ecbert led a contingent of knights to close the doors to The Maw, Emperor Valeran Davistan I began construction of his capital for the fledgling Dawning Empire, to help unite the continent as it recovered from this calamity. Hope stands as an eternal watcher of the opening to The Depths Below, a tribute to The Green Knight and a reminder of Ser Ecbert's sacrifice at the great gates.   Hope is now a thriving metropolitan city that lies half on land and half on embankments built out onto Lake Lumelor. The lake itself is huge and exceptionally shallow - one could walk for miles near the shore and not get water anywhere above their knees.   The capital is a hub for progress, policy and the arts - bureaucrats, diplomats, policy makers, writers, artists and musicians call this place home. The city is dressed head to toe in colour; flags of the various houses snap in the wind above each tiled roof, crests and bannesr decorate the space above every door and mantelpiece, and the people wear garbs and accessories from the all corners of the continent.