It'ūa
Spread up and down the southern bank of the Ukarī River in northern Ēwie is It'ūa, one of the many Ralisu city-states built along the rivers that run into the northern and eastern seas, some all the way from the Northern World Mountains far in the west. Boats flow down the river along wide canals on their way to the tradeport, where ships from all over the continent gather to exchange goods both luxurious and mundane.
Government
Like all Ralisu city-states, It'ūa was led by a matriarch with the title moving from the mother to her eldest daughter. All the land used and inhabited by the city's people belonged to the matriarch, though she would often grant rights to use them to individuals who had proved their loyalty to her and her kin.
Religion
A tall temple with eight pillars and six walls stand at the center of the city, surrounded on all sides by wide canals, with a single stone bridge leading to the temple's only entrance. The front wall is left open, and the back opens up to a circular balcony. Every entrance is guarded by creature both humanoid and aquatic alike, molded from ilūsai into life-like statues.
Within the temple the citizens of It'ūa worship their patron goddess, who fell and faded away along with her pod with the "final awakening of the land", though outsiders are rarely blessed with the meaning behind the phrase. Some worshippers visiting the temple come with gifts to aid the reawakening of their goddess, while others merely seek to keep her memory alive.
Trade
Most of It'ūa's wealth comes from trade. Its docks welcome ships from all over the continent and from inland as well, by way of a network of canals through which riverboats can travel with ease. The city itself trades their famed ilūsai clay and pearls in exchange for grain, meat, copper and precious metals, among many other things.
Honest trade is contrasted with the hordes of smugglers offering their own forbidden goods in small, out-of-the-way corners in and around the docks. Despite being officially forbidden and outlawed, trouble with the matriarch and her people can usually be kept at bay by ensuring the happiness of local guards by way of rare goods and treasures.
"Such a sight it was when I first saw it. It'ūa. Pain to say, the name, but what a sight! The shining, white stone hit by golden hues of a morning sun, blue waters lip-lapping against a cream-tinted cliffside above which stood the palace of their queen. Birds and people filled the docks, engaging in a never-ending competition of who can yell the loudest."
"The city itself is surrounded by canals, did you know that? Must have cost a fortune. They carved them all around the city, even through it. I guess that makes it an island, of a sort. No way in or out but by bridge or boat. But it's strange, it doesn't look like all the water flowing down Ukarī should be enough to keep the canals filled. Yet they never empty. But don't ask about it, the locals will laugh you out of whatever hole you found yourself in."
"Plenty of people wanting to visit It'ūa, particularly nowadays with news of some strangers taking land on some of the islands up north. Came right through the Storm Sea, they did, yet none of the thunder and lightning so much as licked their ships. Could be something awoke after the tremors, and they're running from that. The same happened with the plains' folk and their "Heart of Fire", with smoke and flame just flowing down the lonely mountain and climbing up the skies."
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