Port Calla

Map of Port Calla

## Common Knowledge

A small but busy trade island, known for having fair weather all year round. Port Calla is often frequented by pirates. It was also once home to the Fifth Archive, a floating magical library, but after the Fel Invasion this marvel was destroyed.

## Topography and Climate

Port Calla is a tiny island, rich in mountains and small plains. Its climate is temperate, and its seasons are famously mild.

## Population

As a trading port, Port Calla is home to all manner of people. No single demographic has much of a larger presence than any other.

## Exports and Trades

Port Calla is a major trade hub on the southern seas, and will buy and sell just about anything. Fine jewelry and gems, magical artifacts, works of art, obscure or forbidden texts, spices, exotic fruit and meat, baubles, gewgaws, and whatever else you could dream can all be found if one looks hard enough.

That rule also extends to what more “lawful” nations might not approve of. Port Calla is also home to thriving drug and slave trades, despite the criminalization of both.

## Government

Port Calla is governed by a plutocratic monarchy, helmed by the Grand Financier (or Grand Matron, or Grand Patron, depending on the identity of the title-holder). In addition to acting as the nation’s sovereign, deciding matters of state, and implementing new taxes or edicts, the Grand Financier is also the highest honor and trophy for any aspiring merchant. It also comes with the perk of living in the Azure Keep, a massive and luxurious castle overlooking the whole island.

Once every ten years, the wealthiest people in Port Calla pay an exorbitant fee (roughly equivalent to 1,000 Stone) to attend a special auction. At this auction, the only thing for sale is ownership of the title of Grand Financier, and all the power that comes with that station. A person may only be the Grand Financier two times in their lifetime.

Lesser administrative positions (such as judges, department administrators, and so on) are filled by direct appointment, with limitless terms usually lasting between seven and fifteen years. The Grand Financier will often remove those in positions which a previous Financier had installed, but government officials who align themselves with the current Financier often avoid such a fate.

In Port Calla, nearly any crime can have the punishment waived for the right price. Some crimes have this enshrined in law (most famously in the practice of buying one’s life off the execution block), while others it is simply a common practice of bribery. The only exception is the punishment of exile, which is reserved for killers of high-ranking government officials or those who act “contrary to the ideals upon which Port Calla was founded”. When a citizen or outsider is exiled from Port Calla, the Grand Financier seizes all their assets under the banner of the state.

## Military

Wholly uninterested in the affairs of other nations, Port Calla has no standing military. Instead, much of the city’s resources fund and support the Calla Guard, a highly-adept police force trained in martial and magical combat who appear to keep the peace.

While they are, indeed, well armed and proficient in blade and spell, the nation’s unofficial stance on crime ensures they are rarely called upon, if ever. Some Calla Guards still uphold their position as a rank of honor, and take pride in helping however they can, but almost as many investigate crimes only to blackmail their perpetrators later down the road.

The Calla Guard answer firstly to the Grand Financier, and then to the Lawmaster (a high-ranking, state-appointed position). Usually orders only come down, from either station, to see some particular person or faction held to account for a slight or injustice (at least according to the Financier or Lawmaster).

## Social Hierarchy and Culture

For those stopping in Port Calla briefly, it is an idyllic port city bursting with life and color. In truth, the city is a paradise for the merchants and cutthroats who live there. Though laws exist on paper, nearly any crime can be circumvented for the right price. Bribery is commonplace, sometimes even endorsed, to say nothing of extortion, blackmail, and theft.

Port Calla is home to all manner of criminal organizations, each vying for power with each other and everyone else scrambling to the top. While piracy is illegal (mostly for diplomatic reasons), perpetrators hardly ever see jail time. Port Calla has less of an underhive as much as it just has a hive; its criminal element is largely tolerated and in some cases acknowledged or respected.

### Celebrations and Holidays

The two main holidays are Callay Day (also called Founding Day) in the spring months and the Azure Feast in the fall months.

## Cities, Towns, and Villages

### Port Calla

The titular city of Port Calla, which occupies most of the island.

## Alliances

Port Calla has no formal alliances, but remains on friendly terms with Calahay and Galkador.

Given its status among seafaring nations as a hive of crime, Port Calla has elected not to join the United Orelisian Council.

## Enemy Countries

Port Calla has no enemy countries, though many seafaring nations and factions (such as Dilghao or Zondros) may not take kindly to their harboring of pirates.

## Founding and History

* ?,??? A.B. - The Constellation Atlas lifts the eastern region of a small southern island is into the sky, and constructs a massive and grand library of mundane and magical knowledge
* ?,??? A.B. - C. 2,000 A.B. - Word of this secret library spreads in various circles of mages across Orelisle, various magical scholars make pilgrimages to the “Fifth Archive”
	+ A harbor town appears, which both welcomes inquisitive minds and protects the Archive from hostile forces
* 2,050 A.B. - Galkador seeks to exploit the Fifth Archive for its own gains. Calahay wants to establish a stronger foothold over trade on the southern coast. Both groups, independently of each other, send military-backed colonizers to Port Calla to claim it for their respective nations
	+ This forces a diplomatic resolution, as the Galkadorians have a very limited grasp of Common and negotiations must be conducted on the mainland
	+ As a peace offering, the Galkadorian ambassador to Calahay presented its then-king with a <some food/corpse object>, as a show of good faith. The ambassador was executed for their insult to the crown, and Calahay declared full-on war against Galkador
* 2,058 - 2,064 A.B. - Callay Revolutionary War
	+ While Calahay and Galkador fought each other, a growing movement for independence sprouted on the island
		- Led by Jennifer Callay, a merchant and scholar (at least that’s what her propaganda billed her as)
	+ Eventually Calahay and Galkador withdraw their claim over the island, and their war continues on the mainland for a while longer
	+ New government of Port Calla created, ruled entirely by the newly-christened Grand Matron Callay
		- Basically a monarch position, but can legally be purchased by someone else for a price that the matron/patron/financier negotiates
* 2,145 A.B. - Grand Financiership purchased from Callay family for the first time
	+ Callay family still very powerful and wealthy, and has occasionally held the Grand Financiership again
* 2,442 - 2,950 A.B. - Reign of Grand Patron Grytjok
	+ 2,442 A.B. - Mysterious individual named Grytjok purchases Grand Financiership
		- During the crowning ceremony, a black dragon flies in and lands in the middle of town. That is Grytjok
	+ 2,447 A.B. - Grand Patron Grytjok bolsters Port Calla’s military, vastly expands powers of position (effective dictatorship), eliminates position purchasing
	+ 2,449 A.B. - Massive tariffs instituted on all goods passing into or out of Port Calla, accompanied by increase in taxes
	+ 2,512 - 2,514 A.B. - First Grytjok Rebellion (Crushed)
	+ 2,532 A.B. - Construction of Grytjok Castle completed, home of the Grand Financier
	+ 2,536 - 2,537 A.B. - Second Grytjok Rebellion (Crushed)
	+ 2,783 A.B. - Galkador attempts to conquer Port Calla, is easily rebuffed by military and Grytjok
		- First combat mission for Galkadorian Airship
	+ 2,895 - 2,950 A.B. - Third Grytjok Rebellion (Succeeds)
		- Grytjok driven into hiding in his castle, ultimately killed by revolutionaries
		- Castle would be rebuilt and named Azure Keep, after the Naiad leader of the rebellion
		- Most of the reforms Grytjok implemented rolled back, tariffs and taxes reduced
		- Azure takes this opportunity to restructure some of the government (only position purchasing for Grand Financier, otherwise direct appointment; mandatory term limit, etc)
* 3,164 A.B. - Azure Keep construction complete
* 3,165 A.B. - Grytjok-era oppressive reforms fully retracted
* 8,154 A.B. - Grand Financier renounces title’s control of Fifth Archive
	+ Came after a long movement for separation of Fifth Archive and Port Calla governing
* Late 9,000s A.B. - Port Calla becomes den of piracy and crime, nothing done about it since it benefits merchants and Grand Financier
	+ Mostly result of pirates holding power in Calahay
* 10,015 A.B. - Fel Invasion
	+ Port Calla overrun by Fel Demons
	+ Fifth Archive destroyed, plummets to earth
	+ Nearly 35% of Port Calla destroyed by shockwave and subsequent tremors, a further 10% destroyed by flooding
* 10,017 A.B. - Contract between Titani and Port Calla to create a Teleportation Pole between two nations

## Further Information

* Atlas
* Calahay
* Fel Invasion
* Galkador
* Teleportation Pole
* Titani