Zulera City

*"A techniloigcally superior city where the talented and clever thrive at the expense of the weak and the dull... It's like a revival of my old civilization in a way. Truly it makes me wonder if Zulera was a Jalenga in a past life."*
*~Zivia Severa Vizori~*

Zulera City is a sprawling, technologically advanced metropolis located off the northwestern coast of Tsominku. It is the magnum opus of Zulera, and the culmination of her life's work. It is a powerful economic and technological hub, and despite running as effectively an independent island nation, it manages to compete with many other world powers and keep up with them. While the city also hosts a military presence, it has been frequented by Krippa's 648th military division, a regiment that "officially" does not exist.

Shortly after the Krawvill-Krippa war, it established itself as a sister city to Alinor in Krippa, assisting the growing metropolis in becoming nearly as advanced and economically powerful as itself. As such, these two cities stand as dominant powers in today's Mencu, with Alinor being 2nd only to Zulera City, and both of them leaving most other municipalities far behind.

## History

Zulera City was originally envisioned by the Madizi architect and revolutionary Zulera Joanna Tallarico as early as the year 4587, where she pictured a thriving city far from the reaches of the other nations (and yet still within travelling distance). From there, she continued to build up her own arsenal of machines and other technological gizmos and gadgets, aiming to conceptualize different facets of her city.

Zulera is also one of the leading players in the Mencuan Industrial Revolution that took place shortly after the city's construction. With promises of wealth, she attracted Madizi in particular, and the fledgling city was born. It was unclear where the island that Zulera City rested on had come from, and Zulera refused to disclose how she came across it, or more so how she managed to seize control of it. It was later revealed, however, that the island was raised and created by the goddess Nacreloo as part of a business deal she had had with Zulera.

## Function

Zulera City functions as an independent city-state free from the jurisdictions of any of the surrounding nations. It is unofficially "self-governed", although it is rumored that Zulera herself watches the city from the shadows, and that she has agents and enforcers that help protect it as well. As such, contrary to the common belief that Zulera City is anarchist, it actually functions more as a minarchist society. Even then, it still has something of a rotten underbelly like any other major city, and it is allowed to thrive more due to its high-risk-high-return nature.

Zulera City also serves as a powerful trading hub, and has thus helped many of the more capitalistic nations increase in wealth due to its abundant natural resources and skilled labourers. Its most notable trading partners are Krippa and Shahar-Eka, due to the great presence of Zaderei and dark elves in the city, and its primary trading partner is Alinor.

## Response and Reaction

Different nations reacted differently to the fledgling metropolis. The Shinzoka refugees that fled after the destruction of their homeland Krawvill first considered it a bastion of safety, although soon dealt the city heavy criticism as "being just another arm of the Krippan Empire".