Lampei ((Lam- pay))

Lampei is located in the flatlands between the black waters of Mavan Lake and the dense underbrush of Diaskor forest. The plentiful lake, fertile soils, and access to the resources of the forest have made Lampei one of the most prosperous cities in Elgis.   Despite the popularity of the inner city, Lampei consists primarily of the farmlands stretching northward along the lake, called the Farmlands. It is with the support of the Farmlands that more people can abandon their rakes and specialize in arts and technology. There is a drastic change as you approach the city's center: farmhouses sprout into multi-story buildings of brick, the gravel roads become smooth cobblestone, and the crisp air becomes thick with acrid smog. This is the Lamplight district, where the largest and most efficient factories in Elgis produce goods and pollution in equal measures, and where the smog is so thick that the sun can be blotted out in-between the tall buildings. The final district is beneath the Lamplight district, located in the sewers and connected caverns. It is known as the Unlit district. This district is not officially recognized and certainly not supported by city officials, but they do little to destroy its existence. Perhaps due to the economic boosts the black market hidden within the Unlit district provides, or the money changing hands in the shadows.   The industries of Lampei are drastically varied amongst the districts. In the Farmlands, the primary industry is farming, primarily of barley and potatoes; though it also includes the shipyards located far from the polluted heart of the city. In the Lamplight district is the booming factory industries producing everything from steel, self-powered wagons to Refined Sterea. However, due to the material-intensive process used to create refined sterea and the government's push to create as many as possible at whatever cost, the city has become so polluted that even breathing its air for prolonged periods can be deadly. This has produced an entirely new occupation that could only exist in Lampei, the air cleaners. The air cleaners consist of air mages whose entire work is of cleaning the pollution from households and properties. The Unlit district's main industry is of importing and exporting illegal or unsavory goods to and from the shadowy tunnels, whether this is drugs, humans, or even the Elves that some of the powerful like to keep as pets.   The history of Lampei began with the history of the Mavanish Empire, over four hundred years ago in the city-state of Willowwind. The cataclysm of the Andier raized the highly advanced city-state to the ground, the only living heir a young girl named Prota and her robotic servant Parado. With Parado's technological might, Prota gathered together the tattered vestiges of the surviving population and formed the beginnings of the Mavanish Empire. Their first village they formed on the banks of Mavan Lake in 2 Metah , and Prota named it for the way her lantern glinted off of the black waters. Lampei was born. And almost immediately it was at war with the assimilating force of the Ardetinians. The newly formed city was quickly restructured in order to build ships and weapons as efficiently as possible, the basis for the modern factories. The war raged, even coming to Lampei, despite its distance from the conflicts as a handful of soldier and mage-filled ships crept up the river to Mavan Lake. The raid on the city left significant damage that crippled the Mavanish's ability to produce much-needed war technologies. However, the war ended only a year later. The wounds left by the attack were not matched by even the second territorial war, not until 342 M, when the terrorist and revolutionary Aftoi began her campaign with coordinated attacks throughout Lampei. Whilst the revolution was quickly squashed and the damage was quickly reversed, this attack so close to the heart of the Mavanish Empire left a seed of paranoia in the minds of the leadership and lead directly to the discovery of Refined Sterea in 414 M and the resulting push for industrialization.