Delfar

Delfar is the capital city of Dalfore, and the largest city west of the Trade Lake. With a population over half a million and another half million living in the surrounding areas, Delfar can be considered the largest population centre for three hundred leagues in any direction.
Delfar lies on the north bank of the Merkata River, forming a roughly circular shape between the riverbank and the coast of the West Sea. The central business district, an area of around twelve square kilometres, is enclosed within a well-maintained wall while the surrounding districts sprawl further, ending only where geography insists.
The Merkata River is used extensively for milling and irrigation upstream on both sides, and this has led engineers in Delfar to erect a wall of brick and concrete on the riverbank to shore up the eroding bank. This wall extends from the wall's end on the river to the sea, where a stone wharf takes over. However, this does not account for the outlying district, Roverhame, which is slowly retreating before the river as the bank is eroded.
Across the river lies the ruins of southern Delfar, garrisoned by soldiers of Tianguo. Further inland lies the town of Yueshan, though this is removed from the empty shells of the stone buildings of southern Delfar.
== History ==
The city was founded by a mixture of settlers from the Flentia Fleet - sailors of the Basque El Cruzado, the English Nightingale, the Greek Rigas Ferraio, the Spanish Unicornio, and the Dutch Eenhoorn and Reigersberg. It was dubbed 'd'Einde', Dutch for 'the end', as a symbol of finality. The settlers had travelled far enough, and this would be the end of their journey.
The settlers had grown close over the journey, but still settled in different areas due to their differences. The resulting 'city' was a collection of half a dozen settlements strewn along a tributary of the Merkata River. Over time, the settlements grew and merged together to form the city known today, but this was a process that took over a thousand years.
d'Einde was, due to its position, able to effectively strangle trade between the Trade Lake and the Persidian Sea. Once the city coalesced, it grew rich and powerful by taxing this trade. Category:Settlements
Category:Dalfore