Paxander (pax-AN-der)
Time can be cruel. The innocence of youth bursts into the flame of angry young adulthood, which the crushing realities of life extinguish over the years so slowly that one never realizes the moment when they fizzle out like a fart in the wind. Yet as slowly as it all seems, it all happens so quickly that the broken heart is still a surprise when one finally notices it.
The surprise when one discovers, usually in a blinding flash of the obvious, that the vast majority of the time people are generally the source of their own problems, can be disappointing. Having to admit wrongdoing after a lifetime spent mocking the actually-and-factually-correct party is one of those things that crushes the soul, over time. It's what causes that perpetually surprised look on very old folks' faces, according to Trayvon the Lighthearted, renowned Dean of The Bardic College Campus. Bearing that in mind, dear reader, as we continue we must understand that none of this scholarly work is a value statement on Humanity. It is merely an historical accounting of the rise and fall of Elvendom's greatest city.
Paxandrelossarch Archenon was the original name and designation of a large city of Elves that arose on the western side of one of the planet's landmasses. Unique in that it was never intended as either a place of great strength, for protection; or ease of access, for trade. It was simply a beautiful piece of land. The ministries of the elves, of course, brought about the best of the plant life and fauna thereabouts, and they enlisted the help of Gnomish1 naturatects to help ensure that the natural beauty of the place remained, even as the population grew by proverbial leaps and bounds. Elves poured into the city from near and far, building a society focused almost exclusively on the arts. Music and poetry would intertwine seamlessly with paintings and sculpture in truly spectacular ways. Paxander was a wonder of light, airy color and natural beauty.
By the time of the disastrous Elven Purge, Paxander had grown into a metropolis of stunning complexity and specialization. Fountains of light graced the city squares, and slender bridges arced from place to place amongst the mighty treetop housing and business districts. The air was cleaner, and the grass was greener, over on the Paxander side of the hill. And while yes, the inherent magic and wild nature of Elves in general brought magical beauty and exotic music to Paxander both night and day, it was really the hard work of the long-lived elves that built Paxander into the jewel it had become. Their society was impressively egalitarian, and boasted an enviably low crime rate per capita of one-hundred thousand, drawing the jealousy (and therefore the ire) of nearby territories. Those who spoke on behalf of Paxander, however, were able to allay the fears of the uneducated masses in various ways, each more desperate than the last, for a full century before Paxander fell to the Human hordes. Or, so the written histories of the elves would have one believe, anyway. To the humans, the day came when they sacrificed nearly one hundred thousand souls for the promise of peace, only to have the 'bloody elves'2 turn around and blame them for everything. The scale of the blame throwing exploded into an all-out assault by the confined forces of humanity, and we all know the horrors of the Elven Purge. There is a famous painting, by an artist who signed the work P. Darrenson, entitled La purge des femmes elfes, supposedly by one who witnessed the event, powerless to stop it. It depicts a horrendous act of barbarity perpetrated by the hordes of Human as they hunted out, and methodically destroyed, every single elven village, town, city and outpost that they could find upon the entire continent. It all started with Paxander.
The thing that many people will not tell you, because it has never been widely known, is that it was not a human horde that destroyed Paxander. It was a pale, violently red-haired woman, riding on the back of an enormous adult red dragon named Querilarnikax, who did the destruction. It was also her that funded the provocateurs sowing hate and fear and racism throughout the land. She it was who brought in the barbaric Cotnorian Mercenaries to finish razing the city. It was she who assured that the watchers of the tragedy would see humans, northfolk sure but Humans nonetheless, as a rapine horde; rather than an overpaid band of mercenaries charmed by her raw charisma. And also her magic. Querilarnikax was a mage, as well as a dragon; an exceptionally powerful creature. How the pale skinned woman compelled him to bear her as her mount is beyond the scope of this investigative installation.
The surprise when one discovers, usually in a blinding flash of the obvious, that the vast majority of the time people are generally the source of their own problems, can be disappointing. Having to admit wrongdoing after a lifetime spent mocking the actually-and-factually-correct party is one of those things that crushes the soul, over time. It's what causes that perpetually surprised look on very old folks' faces, according to Trayvon the Lighthearted, renowned Dean of The Bardic College Campus. Bearing that in mind, dear reader, as we continue we must understand that none of this scholarly work is a value statement on Humanity. It is merely an historical accounting of the rise and fall of Elvendom's greatest city.
Paxandrelossarch Archenon was the original name and designation of a large city of Elves that arose on the western side of one of the planet's landmasses. Unique in that it was never intended as either a place of great strength, for protection; or ease of access, for trade. It was simply a beautiful piece of land. The ministries of the elves, of course, brought about the best of the plant life and fauna thereabouts, and they enlisted the help of Gnomish1 naturatects to help ensure that the natural beauty of the place remained, even as the population grew by proverbial leaps and bounds. Elves poured into the city from near and far, building a society focused almost exclusively on the arts. Music and poetry would intertwine seamlessly with paintings and sculpture in truly spectacular ways. Paxander was a wonder of light, airy color and natural beauty.
By the time of the disastrous Elven Purge, Paxander had grown into a metropolis of stunning complexity and specialization. Fountains of light graced the city squares, and slender bridges arced from place to place amongst the mighty treetop housing and business districts. The air was cleaner, and the grass was greener, over on the Paxander side of the hill. And while yes, the inherent magic and wild nature of Elves in general brought magical beauty and exotic music to Paxander both night and day, it was really the hard work of the long-lived elves that built Paxander into the jewel it had become. Their society was impressively egalitarian, and boasted an enviably low crime rate per capita of one-hundred thousand, drawing the jealousy (and therefore the ire) of nearby territories. Those who spoke on behalf of Paxander, however, were able to allay the fears of the uneducated masses in various ways, each more desperate than the last, for a full century before Paxander fell to the Human hordes. Or, so the written histories of the elves would have one believe, anyway. To the humans, the day came when they sacrificed nearly one hundred thousand souls for the promise of peace, only to have the 'bloody elves'2 turn around and blame them for everything. The scale of the blame throwing exploded into an all-out assault by the confined forces of humanity, and we all know the horrors of the Elven Purge. There is a famous painting, by an artist who signed the work P. Darrenson, entitled La purge des femmes elfes, supposedly by one who witnessed the event, powerless to stop it. It depicts a horrendous act of barbarity perpetrated by the hordes of Human as they hunted out, and methodically destroyed, every single elven village, town, city and outpost that they could find upon the entire continent. It all started with Paxander.
The thing that many people will not tell you, because it has never been widely known, is that it was not a human horde that destroyed Paxander. It was a pale, violently red-haired woman, riding on the back of an enormous adult red dragon named Querilarnikax, who did the destruction. It was also her that funded the provocateurs sowing hate and fear and racism throughout the land. She it was who brought in the barbaric Cotnorian Mercenaries to finish razing the city. It was she who assured that the watchers of the tragedy would see humans, northfolk sure but Humans nonetheless, as a rapine horde; rather than an overpaid band of mercenaries charmed by her raw charisma. And also her magic. Querilarnikax was a mage, as well as a dragon; an exceptionally powerful creature. How the pale skinned woman compelled him to bear her as her mount is beyond the scope of this investigative installation.
Demographics
The permanent population of the city exceeded 99% Elvendom.
Government
A wondrously mandated egalitarian democracy.
Defences
None...there had never been any need.
Industry & Trade
Art and artists. The greatest art schools in existence.
Infrastructure
Civil engineering and public education combined forces to bring about some of the greatest social innovation of any age of the world. Waste management in such a situation was crucial to their goal of preserving the natural landscape and geography around them. In an effort to mitigate disastrous fires, the city built all of the furnaces and forges in one place, which sparked the idea to create spaces for artists and artisans all throughout the sprawling complex. The furnaces for forges, and glass blowers, and metalworkers, and etc., yes; and another for ceramics and pottery; and another for woodworking and carpentry. The city provided a boatyard, at a very nominal fee; and a shipbuilding yard that became the single most sought-after producer of large water vessels in the known world.
Districts
There were districts that encompassed starving artists, others that ensconced working artists, and many that coddled wealthy artists. There is historical mention of a "Blue District" in several places, which presumably house the "working class", which was invariably made up of human workers paid mostly in housing and food.
Assets
There was a civil and medical emergency response team, fire prevention stations throughout the city, and clean water cisterns available to the entire populace, The city paid for the construction and upkeep of bridges, causeways, tunnels, arboretums, floating light fountains, drifting glowglobes throughout the nights, elemental gondolas and people-moving air currents.
Guilds and Factions
There were representatives of every artisans' guild one could thing of.
History
Beginning as an artists' conclave and commune, Paxander's exponential rise to world political powerhouse happened, to the elves, overnight. But it's fall, it's destruction, took only one day.
Architecture
Paxander is a marvel, designed by the very best gnomish naturatects of the times.
Geography
It was built upon a rocky, hilly jut of land at the mouth of a river. They left all of the geography alone; indeed, much of the flora was also spared any sort of demolition or resurfacing. The geography changed, naturally, over the centuries, and the gnomes maintaining the entire place simply designed their cityscape around that.
Natural Resources
Wood, honey, fertilizer, sunlight, salt, salt water, fish, shellfish, granite, slate, marble, silica, freshwater fish, among many others. The resources were protected, and guarded, by the elves. The elves were nourished by their environment, and cherished it that way.
1 Gnomes were often actually acknowledged by the elves, who would even hire them as engineers and park designers. 2 'Bloody Elves' became a very rude turn of phrase before too long, and then a turn directly into racism as more and more folks realized the horrible original intent. It has fallen so far out of fashion as to be considered faux pas at the time of this writing, 5422NG
The Elf Women by Gnelly Gnoodlemeyer
Maps
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PAXANDER Dungeon, "The Gulag"
Entered through a refurbished Dragon Shrine, the first level of these dungeons has been cleared out, and space has been made to bivouac an entire company of kobolds within. The second and third level are more dangerous, as there are still some serviceable traps that need to be found and sprung, and within the third level is the entrance to the dissoultion tunnels far below even that.
The tunnels throughout are eight-and-a-half feet high, with some antechambers rising or falling slightly depending on bedrock formations and seismic activity over the centuries. The blocks of the walls are made with the stone that was excavated to delve this prison system in the first place; the walls pull double duty as dressing and support for the massive weight of the fortress that stood above the original labyrinthine complex. The floors are unadorned, smoothed rock, that still bears the marks of the tools used to clear out these tunnels.{/p]
Upon the walls are shields representing the great and noble houses of Paxander, meant to reinforce the gravitas of the Elven city's justice system. Torches, lit with heatless flame, spring to life as soon as anyone enters their area; this is a clear indication of Elvish influence in any architectural design. Except for a few examples, such as V'peef's refurbished study, all of the doors are comprised of iron bars, and can be locked from the outside. Cornerstones and fascia all bear the mark of ancient Paxander, and the sigil for "peace of mind".
RUINED SETTLEMENT
1 Janus 204 NG
Founding Date
12364TK
Alternative Name(s)
Elvenhome
Type
City
Population
365,500
Inhabitant Demonym
Elf, elves, paxander
Location under
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