Darklea

Darklea (/darklea/ [Translation Unavailable]) is a subtropical Large Town located in Lolqazgehv Hold, Ipoulan Kingdom, within the Sylvanian Empire.

The name Darklea is derived from the Sylvin language, as Darklea was founded by Fyênm Cadwaladr Lloyd Lloyd Webber Hawkinson, who was culturaly Sylvin.

Climate

Darklea has a yearly average temperature of 13°C (55°F), with its average temperature during the summer being a cool 14°C (57°F) and its average temperature during the winter being a cool 12°C (53°F). Darklea receives an average of 241 cm/y (94 in/y) of precipitation, most of which comes in the form of snow during the pleasantly short winter months. Darklea covers an area of nearly 6 km² (2 mi²), and an average elevation of 1716 m (5629 ft) above sea level.

Overview

Darklea was founded durring the late 18th century in late fall of the year 1769, by Fyênm Cadwaladr Lloyd Lloyd Webber Hawkinson. The establishment of the new community went well, though many minor issues had to be solved as time went on. This was enough to delay construction and push back the formal opening ceramony, leading to some embarisment for Fyênm Cadwaladr Lloyd Lloyd Webber Hawkinson.

Darklea was built using the conventions of Sylvin durring the late 18th century. Naturaly, all settlmentss have their own look to them, and Darklea is no diffrent. The town's buildings feature timber framed wooden shiethed or brick construction, which gives form to a very formalized, rational, expence effishent arcatectural style based on strictly symmetrical designs which universaly feature pitched roofs, shutters, and the occasional column or pilaster for a decorative touch.

Darklea is buildings are speckled and packed arround narrow cobblestone streets with seemingly no patern to them. It appears as if the town's residents simply built streets as they pleased and squeazed buildings in wherever and howeave rpossible, creating an organic, frustrating to navigate, maze of a town. The town sits behind a stone-renforced palisade wall, with stone gatehouses and timber drawbridges for their trench. Astonishigly, the would-be-castle fortifications are in pristine condishion, as if they had just been finished before you laied eyes upon them.

A look around Darklea gives you an uneasy feeling. Everything is just a little too worn down, a little too dirty, or both. No one makes eye contact. Kids play quietly, but happily. Occasionally a passerby glances at you out of the corner of their eye, staring jsut long enough for it to be uncomfortable. Beneath this surface, the people of Darklea can be overheard having academic discussions, as well as talking about scholarly subjects in general. It’s quite clear Darklea places a lot of value on education and being a learned individual.

Civic Infrastructure

Darklea has an Office of Civil Groundskeeping, which works to enforce local ordinances relating to the construction and upkeep up of all plant life, water features, and other natural decorations within Darklea. They are also responsible for the maintenance of these features. Notably, the OCG is not responsible for Darklea's parks.

Darklea has an Office of Civil Vicary, which is responsible for providing a livelyhood for all officialy recognised religious figures within Darklea.

Darklea has a Gravedigger's Guild, which is responsible for collecting the dead and laying them to rest according to all applicable laws and religious customs.

Darklea has a Guild of Nurses, which is tasked with caring for the elderly and infirm in accordance with local ordinances, religious values, and customs.

Darklea has a Highwayman's Guild, which is tasked with maintaining the roads and highways leading into town as well as keeping them safe for travelers.

Darklea has a monistary of an order of Civil Monks, who provide divine-related services to the general public and maintain Darklea's public wards, blessings, and other arcane systems.

Darklea possesses a Galvanic Power Grid, which brings galvanic current to most if not all buildings in town, and permits a great many consumer goods to function within the Large Town. Darklea's grid is powered by mana accumulators.

Darklea's old civil lighting system was converted to Galvanic Lamps recently, and expanded to provide nighttime illumination to all city streets.

Darklea has a Parks and Recreation Department, which is responsible for the construction, management, and usage rights for all of its parks and parklands. They are not to be confused with the Office of Civil Groundskeeping as they do not hold authority over nor responsibility for Darklea's natural decorations nor waterways.

Darklea has a public schooling program overseen by the Hall of Sages who has the responsibility of ensuring access to affordable high-quality education in all basic classes (Reading, Writing, Mathmatics, General Sciences, General Arcana, and Social Education) is made available to all citizens.

Darklea has a public septic system, which allows its citizens to have indoor bathrooms. The septic system is overseen by the League of Sewerkeepers, who posses the legal authority to enforce all laws relating to the septic system, and are also tasked with its maintenance and upkeep.

Cultural Notes

Darklea's chapel was built using a different architectural style from the rest of the town. The style used is best known for its functional shapes, abstract shapes used sparingly for decor, simple color schemes, holistic design, and basic industrial materials. Its simple designs were created to be beautiful, functional, and mass-producible. The style used little to no embellishment or ornamentation, instead drawing attention to the streamlined design, such as flat roofs to create a simple, geometric look. The simplicity masks the style's nearly sinister functionality, as every last feature is designed to guide the people living in the building in how to make the most efficient use of the structure.

In Darklea birds speak prophesy.

The Living Topiary near Darklea are known to be more aggressive than normal.

Darklea's citizens partake in a curious ritual relating to their local kami. It takes place in spring and involves consuming a local toxin to channel Invocation energies of tier 1 via moments of science.

Economy

The following information was obtained via the Imperial Census Bureau as part of the Eyom Economic Outreach Program. It differs from Standard Imperial censuses in that many of Tom's citizens, regardless of culture, work in more than one occupation or hold more than a single job. The Imperial Census Bureau has ruled that a job is a job, hence, the intigers within the data presented here can count an individual more than once.

Darklea Census Data: Year 2000

482 of Darklea's population work within a Foundational Occupation.

• 28 work in Agriculture
• 104 work as Craftsmen
• 40 work as Merchants
• 78 work as Service Workers
• 52 work as General Laborers
• 18 work as Skilled Laborers
• 72 work as Civil Servants
• 43 work in Cottage Industries
• 24 work as Artists
• 23 work in Produce Industries

921 of Darklea's population do not work in a formal occupation, but do contribute to the local economy. 105 (7%) are noncontributers.

Points of Interest

Darklea produces some wonderful cultural artifact or trains famous artists. The product might be some exceptional cloth, or artistic luxury good, or the scholarly fruits of a famous academy. Trained artists might be students of a particular school, or the apprentices of the current masters of a long artistic tradition who dwell here.

Darklea is known for its unusual rock formations.

POI

History

The the a pair of spaulders of Augury, an a pair of spaulders imbued with potent amounts of Augury energies was created near Darklea by in time immemorial, reportedly some time during the early 2nd century.

History