Republic of Ara

The Republic of Ara is the name given to the area surrounding the city of Ara, and its neighboring settlements.

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History

Inception

The Republic of Ara is older than even some of the mortal races; the first city to have been founded in the Known World, and yet one of the final to complete construction.
  Ara was founded by the first Human groups to begin appearing in the South, all of whom began to establish small settlements in the area individually. The tension between the groups rose steadily over the centuries that the area had begun to be occupied, many of the groups refusing to cooperate with one another for a slew of reasons that each respective group saw fit. In this refusal to cooperate, the groups frequently came into conflict with one another, inhibiting the area that would come to be known as Ara from becoming a full-fledged, completed city for just over two centuries.
  It took the eradication of several of the groups before the settlements joined together in unity, the collective settlement becoming hencefourth known as the Republic of Ara. The city was as diverse and colourful as it was bustling, quickly growing in population as the surrounding settlers sought a home surrounded by walls.
  As time progressed and the city grew, the Republic of Ara began to put into practise its own set of customs, laws and rituals - such as it's religious practises, and the locale's affinity for the chief goddess Azra. As they saw it, the sky was all that stood between the builders of the city and Lumas' wrathful stare.
  It is the Republic's strong idolization of the goddess Azra that dictates a grand majority of time-old traditions the Aran people had begun to establish, such as their open-air style of architecture, their frequent use of certain colours, and the layout of Ara's neighbourhoods. As well as all this, Ara established its line of leadership after the chief goddess herself.  

Leadership

After the likeness of their goddess, the leaders of Ara are traditionally only female. The city abides by a strict pseudo-monarchal system, wherein a queen is selected carefully at the very moment of her birth, and trained from her first breath on what it means to be a just and effective queen.
  In addition to this, each queen is assigned a protector; a bodyguard of sorts. This protector, otherwise known as the Queen's Hand is trained alongside the queen, typically also from youth. Rather than being trained as a queen, however, the Queen's Hand is martially trained and instructed on how to provide the queen with protection and fair council. There can be no Hand without the Queen, and vice versa.
  Upon retirement of a queen, be it in death or in fragility of age, a new queen is selected in the same manner from the city's newborn children, typically those of higher class and social standing.
  As per tradition, Queens of Ara are typically discouraged from marriage and motherhood as they are viewed as a hinderance to the queen's responsibilities. However, there have been - albeit very few - exceptions, in which a queen has wed. Though there is no penalty to be had for diverging from this tradition, it is frowned upon to go against it.  

Landmarks

 

Temple of Azra

The Republic of Ara is well known for its standing achievement of architecture, the grand Temple of Azra, situated at the city's centre; a sight that many from around the Known World travel long and far to witness.
 

Aran Marketplaces

Additionally, open-air markets are in great abundance within the city of Ara. Any commodity imaginable can be found within these markets, typically strewn along the busy city streets and around the perimeter of the city. The city's docks are especially plentiful with markets and pavillions.  

Other Cities in the Republic

 

Vegretoum

See: Vegretoum
  Vegretoum is a kingdom to the Northwest of the city of Ara, ruled by a long-standing royal family who had presided over their city since its own inception in 211 AC, the Lamafort family.
  This guilded city lies at the edge of the same sea connecting it to fellow city Ara, adorned in black and gold. As well as Azra, this city primarily worships the goddess of the moon whose name has been all but lost to time, as well as the goddess of the stars, Helia.    

Foren

Foren is a small colony located to the far North of Ara, established by Aran and Thali settlers whose populations consisted of refugees and escaped convicts, primarily. The settlement remained small, but thrived regardless of its size - becoming independant from its cities proper.