Sol'Uldar

The Ul Dynasty asserts their right to rule by birth. The Divan, a team of eight viziers who manage legal, financial, engineering, interior, commercial, military, religious, and palace affairs, carry out their orders. The Syndicate, a council comprised of six of Sol'Uldar's most elite and powerful people, now wields actual power as the influence of sultans has been decreasing for some time.

In a city of merchants, everything has a price, and business is placed upon a nigh-hallowed pedestal. Shopkeeps show scant mercy towards their rivals, and anyone who is cheated out of coin is seen not as a victim, but rather as a fool. To others, inhabitants of the city-state may seem as swindlers who worship nothing but profit. Nonetheless, the core of Sol'Uldari values of hard work and daring have earned many men great fortunes in their lifetime.   The culture and politics of Sol'Uldar has greatly been dominated by trade and profiteering, affording the Syndicate a significant power base. Influence and most importantly wealth are the criteria for membership, and seats on the Syndicate can be bought. Syndicate members typically fell into two camps: Royalists who supported the monarchy, and Monetarists who prefer to displace the monarchy and exert more control over the city-state. Though Sultana Nanamo Ul Namo is officially the head of state in Ul'dah, her power has been eroded by the largely Monetarist Syndicate, reducing her to a figurehead.  

Merchantry:

With a gateway to the five seas and roads to all corners of the realm, Sol'Uldar has long flourished as a center of commerce. Today, countless companies and consortia – both large and small – operate within the city-state.  

Mining:

Beneath the lands of Thanalan run countless veins of quality ore, and, as a result, bustling jewelry trade has evolved.  

Textiles:

In addition to crafting essential fabrics for everyday use, a large and prestigious apparel industry has grown under the auspices of an increasing number of wealthy people. As represented by Sunsilk Tapestries, a number of notable brands have become popular even outside of Sol'Uldar's borders.  

Medicine:

Thanks to the tireless study of ailments and Frondale's Phrontistery, Sol'Uldar has established itself as a reputable producer of alchemical and traditional cures.  

Entertainment:

The city-state offers something for seekers of pleasure, from gladiatorial displays in the Coliseum, gambling at the Platinum Mirage, and games of fortune at the Manderville Gold Saucer.

Frondale's Phrontistery East Aldenard trading Company Gladiator's brotherhood

The Rise and Fall of Belah'dia

The dawn of the First Astral Era saw a great suffering of magi. They had ruled the realm for an age, yet their arts had wrought great destruction, and many people demanded that magic be forbidden outright. Naturally, all those even remotely proficient in spellcraft faced some form of persecution. Those few who used sorcery to protect themselves from the stones of fearful peasantry were often subject to greater retribution. The only path left to the magi was to flee and hide in the remote outskirts of civilization.   As time passed, bitter memories became history, and history legend. After several centuries, men had forgotten their fear of magic, and instead desired it anew as a means of military might. Thus, it was the Lalafell heirs to the sorceries of Mhach—one of the civilizations of the Forgotten Era—who eventually sought to reclaim the rightful place of magi. Banding together, they made for the wilds of Thanalan, and there used the arts of their forebears to find water flowing beneath the parched lands. What began as a well became a town, and grew into the nation of Belah’dia by the year 937.  

Twins Apart

Belah'dian civilization flourished in relative peace for two hundred years. Yet all was to change in 1164, when the sultan grew deathly ill and was confined to his sickbed. This triggered a fierce struggle between Sasagan and Sasawefu, his two sons, over who would sit the throne as rightful heir. The twins each called upon the soldiers loyal to them, and the nation was soon wracked by war. The sultan's death a year later did nothing to stem the fighting, and in 1169 the princes decisively tore Belah'dia in half. Each then built a city anew in Laëril-Sil'dih under Sasawefu, and Sol'Uldar under Sasagan.   For centuries thereafter, the sibling city-states found cause to fight. However, it was the actions of King Lalawefu of Sil'dih in 1559 that would ultimately doom their relationship. Instituting flood control to save his nation's ailing economy, Lalawefu began to draw waters from the upper reaches of Sol'Uldar's source. The move was popular in Sil'dih, and the people proclaimed their monarch the King of Springs. The Sol'Uldahns, however, hissed curses at him through parched lips. The stage, then, was set for war.  

The Dead Walk

In 1577, a drought came over Thanalan and King Lalawefu succumbed to illness. This misfortune spurred Sol'Uldar to action, Sil'dih's sibling nation seeking to profit from the confusion. The following year, the city-state marched forth in full force to reclaim their water source. The Sil'dihn elite, however, did not stand idly by. They united their nation in the face of the crisis, and met Sol'Uldar with their own army. The resulting war was long and bloody. Yet, despite countless summers of campaigns against one another, neither side could claim superiority, and the conflict showed little sign of drawing to an end.   In 1581, however, Ul'dah found a means to break the stalemate-a powder, devised by the alchemists, that turned men's corpses into zombies. Having laid siege to Sil'dih, the Sol'Uldahns used their catapults to cast the substance upon the citizens within. What followed within was a scene not amiss from the Abyss. The bodies of those fallen to starvation rose one by one, and attacked their own countrymen.   To explain the anguished screams, Sasagan Ul Sisigan-the third of his name and ruler of Sol'Uldar-crafted a fictitious tale: Sil'dih had transformed their own dead to zombies in an attempt to win the war. Proclaiming it a sacred crusade to send these zombies to the beyond, he ordered his Immortal Flames, an elite unit, into the city. Behind them followed a great host, and together they purged the walking dead. Thus, Sil'dih fell.  

A New Dynasty

Having brought an end to Sol'Uldar's troubles, Sasagan Ul Sisigan put the fell powder under close guard, and kept the truth of Sil'dih's end from the masses. The silence held for forty years, until Baldurf Thorne, a Human of noble blood, learned the truth, and charged Sasagan for his crime. Startled, the aging ruler flew into a rage, and demanded the offender's head. However, no one lifted a finger, let alone a weapon, for Baldurf was known as a righteous man. Sasagan was imprisoned, and spent the rest of his days in the Marasaja Pit.   Those around Baldurf then asked him to serve as sultan. Though refusing at first, he eventually acquiesced on the condition that he would be a steward, ruling until the city-state was stable. The new sultan never made knowledge of the powder public, for fear that it would fall into the wrong hands. Instead, he established the Arbiters of Truth, a group devoted to preserving the truth of Sil'dih's downfall for the future.   The Thorne Dynasty ruled for four hundred summers thereafter, and produced many ardent reformers. In 1770, one moved Sol'Uldar to almost directly above where her sister city-state had once stood. When undead rose from the ancient sprawling sewers of Sil'dih in 1853, another enlisted the aid of the Amalj'aa-Sol'Uldar's fierce enemies. Given the beastmen's belief that Thanalan is sacred, they eagerly joined with Sol'Uldar to exterminate the impure presence. With this done, the Thorne heirs felt their sworn duty had come to an end, and returned rule to the Ul Dynasty.  

The Syndicate

The Amaljaa threat notwithstanding, Ul'dah gained control of Thanalan through the razing of neighboring Sil'dih. It was then that the city-state began to truly establish itself as a mercantile power, hiring sailors and purchasing ships from as early as 1590. Soon, it had opened trade with Radz-at-Han and the rest of the Near East. Behind this was the guiding hand of the Thorne Dynasty, who had restored the Ul'dahn markets and overland trade routes after moving the city. Inheriting their vision for the nation, the second Ul Dynasty worked to better commerce, and under their rule the nation flourished.   Yet, that selfsame policy granted the merchant class greater power as their own coffers grew, while robbing the sultanate of its influence in almost equal measure. Thus, in the year 2401, the distraught line of Ul established the Syndicate, a group of six advisors chosen as the merchants who had added the most to the wealth of Ul'dah. This group came to command the government, and presently is the true power in the city-state.