Shinn

Shinn is the newely selected capital city of the empire, and after some initial protests, it seems to be growing and expanding nicely. This settlement was chosen to strengthen the government control over the northern regions as the invasions by the barbarian clans from beyond the border started to happen much more frequently in recent decades.   Originally a mining city, after its silver deposits were depleted, the town was slowly descending into oblivion and more and more people were leaving for south, in the hopes of finding more stable home. This was happening until about 30 years ago when the previous emperor has chosen to revitalise this ghost town into a new prosperous center of the empire. Some noble houses protested that it will make the other regions harder to control and could make the pirates more brazenly attack the coasts, but so far these concerns have not come to fruition. Pirates seem to be as much of a nuisance as they have always been and so do the complaining nobles in the southern regions.   Shinn is living through a renaissance that has given life to this mountain region. While its soil is not as fertile as the previous capital, and the region does have some trouble sustaining its fastly growing population with food, everything that is needed, including many tributes to the ruler, gets transported on the nearby river by an extensive network of water canals, that are able to deliver relatively fast anything that might be needed. And thanks to its strategic position, it does make for a perfect spot to plot against any other future invasions.   It is also the first time when the imperial palace was not build from the ground but carved into the rocks above, making you truly feel that the emperor and his family are one with the heavens.