Alendrea, City of Merchants

Council of Traders: The city is ruled by a council of Merchant Lords that runs Alendrea. They control the trade that keeps it alive, and each member controls a specific type of trade and the merchants under them that sell it.

City Walls: The city has large walls that protect it from attack, along with portcullis that block the entryways that allow ships into the city. The area outside of the town was made of marshes as well, with only a few places to walk on without sinking into them and becoming stuck.   Harbor Chains: Towers have been constructed to prevent any ships from forcing their way into the harbor, and can be easily stopped by raising chains to stop them from getting any closer.

Trade is the power of the city and is the only thing that has kept it afloat for many centuries. Everything can be found in the city, from the rarest of wild beasts to the brightest gems, from the darkest reaches of the continent. Along with foreign goods used to trade for them, they only find their way into the hands of natives with greater profits achieved. Making thousands of people come far and wide to see the wares that are in store on every stall and store. It's also where the most profitable business in the world is stationed as well, dyes from the famous Alendrite Snail, and are used to make the best-dyed material around, which is often worth a fortune. Some farmland is also on the Mother River, with minerals rejuvenating the soil for endless farming.

The city was built with an extensive sewer system to ensure that it never became filthy, and watermills were used to create delicate spices and foods for sale along with machinery. Roads are as smooth and straight as a board for proper foot traffic. Courtyards to fill with stalls and stores to sell wares, boats travel through waterways between the buildings for faster travel by boat, and a massive dock to fill hundreds of ships a day.

Vast Market: The city has thousands of stores full of many goods, both exotic and familiar, on every street, with many of them targeting foreigners.   Water Ways: n the city's harbor becomes crowded smaller ships can of more easilye river into Alendrea to drop off their goods much easier.

The merchants rule the city, but they are often divided into special groups that sell certain products to customers; this is to ensure that merchants can't have control over all aspects of the trade. These groups are beasts, spices, treasures, cloths, delicacies, and crafts. Then there are the Black Merchants, those who delve into more illegal items for wealth.

Founding Colony

  The city was originally a colony of the Paranth Sultanate and was one of the first colonies ever created on the Dark Continent since its discovery. It was nothing more than a few thousand people who were desperate and wanted to find a better life for themselves. They started settlement on the mouth of the Mother River and began farming the land. The settlement would struggle for many years as they were constantly suffering from attacks from both tribes and wild animals. But one day, a discovery would change all of that: a colorful snail that could be used to create special colored dyes for clothing. It would put the settlement right on the map from that day forth. Many of the nobility took an interest in this, and more resources were brought in to support the colony.     In many years, the settlement would be a thriving settlement in less than a decade. Then, more and more people soon came to turn it into a flourishing city. Soon, other colonies began to spread throughout the coast, and Alendrea became the center of it all as a place of trade prosperity. From here, new colonists would come and seek their fortune inside the very walls. Often full of adventures and mercenaries seeking their fortune out on the frontier, it is always full of many dangers. The city became far safer since its founding, since they usually made friends with everyone from criminal minds to hostile tribes with gifts that made the richest of men stare in awe, making the expansion of the Alendrea all the better as it sent more and more expeditions into the wilds and brought back many delicate items to sell. After a few decades, the authority of the city would be under the control of the merchants, who bought out Alendrea with all of the products they brought from the heart of the continent.   They even hired many mercenaries that made the city heavily guarded and more well-protected than any other place on the continent. After the rebellion had occurred and the colonies turned on one another, Alendrea was left to its own devices and managed to remain intact, continuing with its business as usual. With very few people ever attempting to take the city for their own, as it was too valuable to damage. Many sought safety within the city's walls as it always managed to keep its wealth, even as everything else began to fall apart, and gave away needed supplies as long as a profit came out of it, that is. It has since maintained its essential role as a trade hub in the southern regions of the continent.  

In Search of Profit

  Alendrea conquered the continent not with weapons or armies, but with goods and goods alone. As the continent tore itself apart, merchants began to send expeditions deeper and deeper into the continent to bring back more and more things of value to sell on the market. Those who went on these expeditions would often become very rich in only a few years and never have to work again if they brought in good hauls all the time. That is, if they survived, that is, as a merchant expedition into the continent often was full of many dangers, such as hostile tribes, savage beastmen, dangerous animals, and far darker things in store for them. The farther you go, the less likely you are to manage to come back alive in the long run.     They often go in search of just about anything, from catching exotic animals to looting ruins and tombs for lost treasures. All of which are returned to the city and sold to the highest bidder, making everyone left very rich. As new nations began to rise from the ashes of the old world, they began to travel the great oceans of the world, and many of them found their way to the city and brought many things back home with them. Attracting people from all over to buy the goods they had to offer. They even brought their goods to trade as well, and the merchants would send them to the natives of the continent, making them very rich in the process.     But their dye was still the main reason that they came in the first place, and they wished to keep it that way as the merchant counted their profits in secret. Hundreds of thousands of ships dock in the city every year. The merchants always make a sale at the end of the day as it is said that Alendrites merchants are born with silver tongues and speak honied words that could make even a miser give up their last coin for something exotic, making them some of the wealthiest merchants in the world, with some even being richer than kings, with very few places that can rival it a place such as Alendrea. Even being of a lower status while working in the city can allow them to live a life of comfort for the rest of their days. Yet hiding under all the fine cloth and coin, there lies a darker side of merchants that very few ever see.   A side of greed that many of them live by as a creed, with some diving deeper into a bottomless pit. While most merchants deal in everyday goods by legitimate means, others prefer to choose darker grey areas to gain wealth. These are the Black Merchant, merchants that defy the will of the merchant lords and trade in items forbidden by most merchants. These items are weapons, slaves, creatures too dangerous to sell, hazardous materials, magic items, and occult artifacts, making up the black market of the city, and are often considered the worst merchants imaginable. Due to this, they are sworn enemies of merchants of the Alendrea and are frequently hunted down and put to death because of it.  

A Place No One Can Touch

    The city has been considering neutral ground to factions on the continent due to the trade that it brings in, not to mention the bribes of coins and gifts that are given to them by the merchants. This is why it is the perfect place for many groups to meet without bloodshed occurring, as the city forbids weapons unless you work for the merchants, which makes it a peaceful environment for talks while enjoying the hospitality the city has to offer. For merchants, conflict is destructive for business, and peace makes all sides prosper. Not to mention, if violence ever does occur, those responsible will be banished from the city and will take it a step further by blocking ships from entering the town from certain groups and places for a certain amount of time. This is why no one would dare try to do so or meet a slow, painful death at the hands of all the people who lost profit for their bad behavior.

Many People from across the continent and the world come to the city in search of many rare goods that they cannot find anywhere else. With thousands arriving in the city every day, they seek out merchants who can give them what they desire.

Much of the city’s designs date back to the colonial era of the Sultanate, with bricks used for the buildings along with domes, columnar arches, and mosaics built into the buildings, and many temples throughout the city. Most of them have been converted into markets and barracks since that time. But the newer parts of the city are entirely different from the more native designs, such as buildings made of rocks and clay.

It is found on the western coast of Colwaza and built right on the Mother River, allowing freshwater to flow into the city, which is covered in grassy fields and farmland.

The city has been known for its location on the Mother River, the largest river on the continent, bringing in large amounts of fresh water daily, along with the famous Alendrean Snail.