Istoriya

The city of truth is bright and colourful

The city of truth, Istoriya is an ancient city from the times of the Kelmarth empire. It’s location is on the Island of Grytion.

Istoriya is a large walled city on a slight rise above a small natural harbour. At the tallest point of the city is the onion-domed towers of the ornately painted Drakonvakhta. The next tallest building are the spires of the splendid white marble hall that is the Temple of Moira (fate/fortune).

The architecture is tall, sprawling and grand marble/brick buildings with copper roofs and bright colours painted on the walls. The towers on buildings and the walls are often topped like an onion dome and polished to shining with flying striped flags from their tops. Wooden shutters are brightly painted to contrast their walls while lead-lined stained glass fills the homes of the wealthy and the Temple of Moira.

Newer buildings are made of large horizontal timber logs with wood shingles, decorated with small towers topped with wooden onion domes or other bits of decorated carving around the roofline, doorways and windows.

Fabric is incredibly important to this city and so people’s interiors are often lined with woven rugs and the walls lined with tapestries. The homes of the wealthy are elaborately decorated with bright warm colours, gold plaques, paintings and tapestries on the walls and ceilings.

# Early history

It is said that the city was founded on the bones of an ancient green dragon named Briandrayrth and was slain by the first Emperor Midas. The dragon’s bones and the bone’s of its kin are the foundation of the holy palace where the Bozhestvo (Bojestvo) now rules. Even in the days of the Kelmarth empire Istoriya became famous for the very secure dragon vaults that was where Briandrayrth stored her hoard. These ancient caves were infused with protective dragon magics that made them the ideal location to store the spoils of war, or anything you wanted to protect from thieves. Because of this, it became a counting house and centre of study and learning as it collected dragon and elf relics from the time when the weave first folded over the world (Tears in the Sky). In the vaults human mages and imperial scholars catalogued and studied the dwarvish, elvish, dragon and giant treasures from that invasion of otherworldly races.

During the decline of the Kelmarth empire it’s believed that many important items and relics were sent here for safekeeping and that many now stay in the Bozhestvo’s control.

Being on an island they stayed isolated from much of the trouble that enveloped the rest of Kelmarth after the collapse of the Midas dynasty and have very few ties to the other provinces. That didn’t stop the monstrous races from swimming and sailing out for the island of Grytion though. The wilderness became increasingly more dangerous and the Bozhestvo took more and more responsibility for keeping the rural areas safe from goblins, their beasts and worse.

# Recent history

Istoriya has evolved into a centre of culture, art, music, learning and technology. It is considered a haven of civilisation but one also stuck in the past. Some of their continuing achievements are in the areas of metallurgy, alchemy, and the crafting of musical instruments like the violin, viola and cello. They’ve also developed simple cannons, hand cannons and the expensive arquebus that can frighten and hold off roving bands of goblins and their ilk. For hunting, war and sport they’ve built some of the strongest crossbows a human can load and use, called an arbalest.

Even as the religion of Moira has faded from the empire as the provinces turn to their own local gods to lead them, there are still pilgrims who come to the city to marvel at the wonders and scholars who seek to read ancient scrolls preserved beneath the Drakonvachta or touch ancient relics in the hope of healing.

# Geography

The climate is temperate but with long cold winters. Summers are comfortable and dry while spring and autumn feel chilly with snow usually on the ground by the start of Late Autumn and doesn’t leave until the end of Mid-Spring.

## Surrounding Towns

**Holst — grows lots of linen**

Derevo — (Diereva) provides stone and timber

Reka — makes ferries and small boats

Ouvtza — a larger town that breeds many different types of sheep

Ryba — A small fishing village largely dependant on Ouvtza for trade and supplies

Zamok — a military town with an ancient castle to defend from monsters

Yeda — A farming village producing all sorts of vegetables for sale all across Grytion

## Trade

Istoriya trades for animals, food, and especially fibre from their small-town neighbours. Treasured relics and scrolls are usually only traded for other such rarities from the other provinces. Many merchants come to Istoriya with nothing more than coin simply to acquire cloth though. Istoriya produces so much that it costs less than half what it would in other provinces. From cloth scraps they also have a lot of cheap paper to sell.

Besides food and exotic luxuries, fibre is incredibly important to the economy as it fuels the spinning, dyeing and weaving trades that make up so much of the city. Spinning thread and weaving are considered sacred professions to the Bozhestvo and all the priests of Moira. So many traders bring hull loads of wool from cooler climes and cotton from warmer climes. Though linen is by far the most bountiful thread produced.

Istoriya lacks the plants and insects for many types of dyes and so certain colours like bright red and dark green are quite uncommon and a sign of wealth to wear. Yellow, light blue, brown and tan dyes are cheapest to produce and thus most common. A deep dark midnight blue is the royal colour of the Bozhestvo family and is used in the woven banners flying from the towers and battlements around the city.

## Religion

The Bozhestvo are the ruling family of high priests in the city and both men and women hold rank with the oldest male becoming the Golova or head priest. Below him is the Sanhedrin, a council of the oldest priest of all the noble families and the responsibilities of running the city are split among them. The religion is called the Truth of Moira, and teaches that to show respect for Moira is to extend your own thread and be brightly woven into her master tapestry of all living things.

Moira is considered a goddess of life, magic and destiny. She picks the choicest threads and gives them a long life, or a hard but valuable one and every thread in the tapestry has a part to play. Everyone must make their life into the longest and best thread it can be in order to appeal to Moira to be a part of her glorious tapestry. She spins you when she is born, weaves you into her work and then cuts your thread when it is time for you to die.

But there is a crazy man out there somewhere who says that Moira is not one goddess but three separate sisters who are not always so unanimous in what should be done to a life.

Day-to-day, there are services to praise Moira every morning and evening with songs sung in the language called the Truth (the language of Moira herself a variant of Celestial). There is also teachings about how to find your purpose in life so you can be woven into the tapestry according to Moira's perfect design.

## Justice

For the role of “keeping of the peace,” there are several Justice’s of the Peace in the city. They are nobles stuck with the position by random draw and a term is 1 year. Being a Justice of the Peace is an unpaid position that is allotted at the beginning of Early Winter amongst the nobles of the city. A justice of the Peace's job is to preside at a courthouse and pass sentences on law breakers to upholds the laws of the Sanhedrin. They also appoint unpaid constables below them who act as bodyguards for the Justice's and raise a fund to lead a watch. They are usually aspiring younger nobles. With sufficient money you can pay to pass on the role of Justice of the Peace or constable.

The watch and constables are commonly members of the Craftsman of Kelmarth and raise funds through private insurers and general subscriptions. The constable collects subscriptions in his neighbourhood and will be more active in the areas they are most paid to be in. They are legally obligated to watch the city gates though at all times.

Anyone in the city can perform an arrest and take the accused to a Justice of the Peace. However, the winner in such cases is usually whoever has the most witnesses and or money.

If there is a “general cry” given by a citizen, citizens are obligated to investigate and spread the cry and help in any arrest that is going on.