Lainz

**Lainz** is a settlement and province in eastern Penzing and is currently the largest town on the continent of Illyria. It was built by Henryk Wieniawsky, Grand Duke of Penzing, with contributions from Yung Voterfraud.

The town was founded on the 11th of November 2022. Lainz is famous for its popular beetroot vodka, made from the beetroots of the server's largest beetroot field and its fields of lilac. It is currently ruled by His Excellency Mayor *Heinz*.

## History

### Beginnings and Rise

According to recent discoveries in archaeology, most notably several ancient tablets recounting parts of early history found in the hills east of Penzing Palace, Lainz was founded by the ancient Melonesques and called Melonitz. When the Melonesque civilization started to crumble and the capital city of its empire was sacked by nomadic tribesmen, the people of Melonitz slowly forgot their ancient melon culture and formed a polytheistic religion of earth and sky gods. During this cultural shift, the town was renamed first to "Leynitz", which can be translated to "the town of the goddess Ley" (consensus among historians is that said goddess was some form of cloud deity), then to "Lainitz".

The lasting damage the nomadic raids inflicted upon the lands of the ancient Melonesques, paired with several cold summers and hot winters resulted in Lainitz suffering greatly from famine, with many dying from starvation. In those days, the beetroot was the region's main source of food. When the melon was introduced to the land, due to its ability to survive harsh conditions by quickly adapting to changing circumstances and the many nutrients contained within it, it saved the village from dying out. How precisely the melon came from the jungles of the south to cold Illyria is a question still discussed to great lengths by historians. According to legend, it was Melonman Robert who brought the melon to the town and made its population return to ancient customs of melon worship, adopting Melonism. However, it is not stated in classic retellings of the story, like in Melonman Simon's *Chronicles of the Melonmen*, that the town Robert was killed and dropped melon in was indeed Lainitz, leading to many other towns in the region claiming the be the village described.

Following the agricultural melon revolution, the town, now renamed "Lainz", entered into a golden age: The old temple of Lainz was renovated, a tower was added and its interior was richly decorated with melon and finely made bronze statues covered in gold. Many grandiose townhouses were constructed as the residences of merchants who settled in the town. A great library was founded, collecting many scrolls of ancient wisdom, curated by leading scholars of the time, like Hubertiniosius the Bald. The beetroot was only very rarely used for food anymore and barely grew on the great fields. At some point, it was discovered that beetroot can be used to brew a beverage: Beetroot vodka. Though its exact inventor is not known with absolute certainty, many sources cite the stable boy Robert Figgmentycrosser and his brother Simon as the men who developed it first. Due to them being serfs, though, it was their lord who profited from their invention.

### Decline and Fall

When colonizers from the city states of Pannonia arrived in Illyria and the new towns of Penzing and Rudolfshafen replaced Lainz as the continent's centres of trade, many merchants moved from Lainz to these new settlements. Lainz' great structures fell into disrepair, the town's elite could only maintain its opulent lifestyle through the export of beetroot vodka, the recipe of which became public during an incident involving the sons of the inventors and large amounts of recreational drugs, possibly used during a neo-Melonesque purification rite. For a short time there was some economic growth and even the population started to recover to more respectable levels. This attracted the attention of Lothar Otto Wienyawsky, the recently appointed head of the senate of Penzing in the west, who married off his son to the daughter and only child of the desperate Count of Lainz, Gregor Eisenstädter von Lainitz, resulting in approximately one century of Wienyawsky-Eisenstädter rule in Lainz before the war.

The great Melon Wars, recounted in the scriptures of Melonman Simon, were the last blow to the town, at this point mostly resembling a ruin despite the Wienyawsky counts greatest efforts, most notably the foundation of a new school, decades after the old school burned down. The village became the site of several brutal battles. When the wars ended, there barely were any traces of the former metropolis and nature reclaimed the land in the centuries prior to the Exodus.

### Development of the new town

The first town established by the Ottakring Corporation in Illyria was Penzing, headed by then-Throneman Henryk Wieniawsky. Wieniawsky was the head of the Wieniawsky branch that survived the war and had read extensively about the history of his ancient pre-war ancestors, leading him to name his new town Penzing. His first attempt at creating a grand palace where he approximated the location of ancient Penzing was unsuccessful. A new palace design was created and large parts of the new palace were built quickly. After the Commonwealth was formed and the palace was rid of NARO occupation, Henryk proclaimed himself Grand Duke of Penzing and laid claim to lands he believed contained towns once ruled by branches of the Wieniawsky family. One of these territories is the Duchy of Lainz, on the eastern border of the Grand Duchy. Henryk set out to meticulously restore the architecture of pre-war times, though the plans for the towns he wished to construct did not align particularly well with descriptions of ancient chroniclers.

In Lainz, only the Melonist shrine was placed precisely where it most probably once stood and was designed to contradict as few ancient sources as possible. The other buildings were modeled after etchings and descriptions of Lainzian architecture and placed in such a manner as to create a picturesque townscape. Lilac fields were planted and the largest beetroot field of all nations was created for the production of beetroot vodka. Lainz houses an Ottapost office, a florist, and a fruit merchant and will house an archive, as a continuation of the great ancient library, as well as a school, in reference to the ancient Wieniawsky-Eisenstädter's greatest achievement. In the graveyard behind the Melonist shrine, a crypt was constructed in honour of the three Wieniawsky-Eisenstädter Counts of Lainz and their close relatives.

### Pencil Gate

As the first step in Ottapost's Illyrian expansion program, a permit was granted to establish an office in Lainz. Shortly after the new post office's opening, it started receiving fewer and fewer pencils until no pencils were delivered anymore. Sir Enoch Robertson, the postmaster of Lainz, was sent to Wackel to investigate the matter and it was found that there was a lack of pencils at Ottapost and that the little pencils that still were present were sent to the Johanburg office. This fact lead to protests from Lainz and other nearby communities in Illyria, as Ottapost had previously guaranteed to always prioritize Ottacorp offices. The affair is known colloquially as *Pencil Gate*. After a week, Emperor Calvin announced that Ostenbourg would start supplying the central office of Ottapost with pencils, thereby ending the crisis.

Lainz has seen great economic growth following the construction of the *Via Henrica*, connecting it to Rudolfshafen and, by way of the *Via Pacala* and *Via Calvina*, to Penzing.

## Government

The town is ruled by a mayor who is voted by all adults with permanent residences in Lainz in yearly elections. In bi-weekly meetings, the *elders* of the town can discuss their ideas with His Excellency the Mayor in the town hall.

##### First Election upon the 25th of November

In the first election after the town was founded, ordered to be carried out by the Grand Duke, the strongly anti-Ostenbourg *All Ottacorp Party*, headed by Dr. Heinrich Westbourg, colloquially referred to as *Heinz*, went against the centre-left *Commonwealth Unity Party*, headed by Reba Antonin Trakl. By relying on the strongly anti-Ostenbourgish sentiment present among the town's population and exploiting his opponent's Ostenbourgish heritage, *Heinz* managed to win the election by an overwhelming margin: Only three people, two of which were the brothers of Reba Trakl, voted for *Commonwealth Unity*.

##### First Mayoral Tenure

Soon after being elected, *Heinz* held a public debate against the firmly Commonwealthianist Chairman Pacal08 and invited members of the press to attend it. Most notably, the events of *Pencil Gate* were discussed passionately. During the debate, the Right Honourable Chairman was attacked by a reporter from the *Lainz Daily Messenger*, who was promptly shot by the Chairman. In the course of the same debate, the quality of wood from Pommern was questioned by the same reporter who was shot dead by Chairman Pacal. The Count of Pommern was informed of this insult and promptly embarked on a journey to Lainz to punish the responsible reporter. When he arrived and the local people at the tavern notified the Count of the reporter's death, they started to talk insultingly of Ostenbourg and its inhabitants. The Count replied with similar vigour and was challenged to a duel in accordance with the constitution of the Serene Thronemanship, which he won. This incident only further fueled the anti-Ostenbourgish sentiment of the Illyrian population.

## Buildings

##### Melon Shrine of Lainz

    The Melon Shrine of Lainz is based directly on architectural etchings dating from around the time when the golden age of the town had ended. As the drawings were not labeled, it cannot be said with absolute certainty that they depict the old shrine of pre-war Lainz, though by virtue of them not contradicting any contemporary accounts, common consensus is that they do show the old structure. The first religious building of Lainz was a great temple built by the Melonesques, which was destroyed by a fire that also destroyed great parts of the Melonesque old town. Afterwards, a temple to the gods of the new religion was constructed. When the famine ended and the town became Melonist, the interior of the temple was repurposed into a melon shrine, which, during the golden age, was decorated with bronze statues of all previous melonmen. During the town's decline several small damages to the apse and the tower of the temple had to be repaired in a more simplified fashion. Finally, during the reign of the Wieniawsky-Eisenstädter counts, the entire structure was stripped of its old ornaments to create a uniform exterior, which was its final form before complete destruction in the Melon Wars. It probably is this final form that the current building is based on. Its interior is decorated with many melons and two golden statues of Melonman Robert and Melonman Cloun respectively.

##### Lainz Town Hall

    Depictions of old Lainz' town hall have not survived the Melon Wars. The current building is based on a wealthy farmer's house which stood somewhere west of Penzing. Before the war, the town hall of Lainz was the palace of the Count of Lainz. Built in a gothic style, it was a building that radiated splendour. Though fitting during the golden age, the palace became a symbol of hatred against the ruling class in times of decline and was damaged by revolting peasants multiple times. In recent history, the town hall was the site of several press conferences concerning the extremism present in Illyria stemming from the great prestige NARO still holds in the region and the pencil supply shortages of Ottapost. During one of said conferences, lead by Chairman Wieniawsky, also Lord Mayor of Póla, a representative of the Workers' Union of Póla died. Wieniawsky was accused of having lead to the man's death and civil unrest grew in working class quarters of Póla.

##### Lainz Ottapost Office

    The Ottapost Office of Lainz is located directly next to the town hall, certainly a signifier of its importance in the town's community. Based on a drawing of Gruber & Sons' Pumpkin Merchants' townhouse built shortly before the golden age, the building is two stories tall and is topped with a large distinct gable. As the first step of its Illyrian Expansion Program, Ottacorp Post asked to set up an office in the building, which was granted by Chairman Wieniawsky.

##### Trakl and Brothers Florists

The building Trakl & Brothers Florists is based on was constructed around the same time as the building the post office was inspired by. It is a townhouse of two stories with a slightly curved gable. Trakl & Brothers offers a wide variety of flowers, saplings and leaves of all kinds and from all places. The three Trakl Bros. Zur, Hur and Reba were originally from the lower middle class of Póla, their mother a Pólaese and their father an Ostenbourger from Harztal. They were raised very strictly and *conservatively* and made plans to move away as soon as they were adults and an opportunity presented itself. When an article in *Daily Ziehrers* proclaimed that Lord Mayor Wieniawsky was constructing new towns in his territory in the north, they traveled to the still developing town of Lainz. Due to their generally poor education, the *conservatism* of the Illyrian countryside was not known to them and when they noticed it, they already had bought a house and were in debt. Their mixed-race background quickly made them the town's scapegoat and a target of public ridicule. The developments of *Pencil Gate* only worsened their reputation.

##### Rosillonhof

The Rosillonhof is the summer retreat of the Rosillon family. Originally a large house based on a farmhouse which once stood west of Penzing, the building fell into disrepair after its original owner Solomon Porzellansternchenthaler mysteriously "abandoned" the village. The building was sold for a symbolic amount of 1 Kreuzer to the aristocratic Rosillon Family by Grand Duke Wieniawsky upon the 17th of November. The building has since been rebuilt in the neo-baroque style. It is the largest building by area in Lainz and features two stable units. Due to them not being citizens of Ottacorp the Rosillons are not particularly popular among the village population, though their gift for organizing chique soirees in the building's courtyard has caught the attention of the town elite. During such events modern music from Póla is played and exotic foods presented, things normally unheard of in the Penzing countryside, save for the Ducal Estates.

##### Statue of Hubertus Otto Augustus Wieniawsky and the bust of Melonman Robert

The two golden statues were commissioned by the Grand Duke at the Pólaese sculptor duo Glenn Dorsey and Thomas Miller to be placed in the gardens of Penzing Palace. During a meeting with the sculptors, Wieniawsky was advised to consider placing the statues in the newly-built town of Lainz, which the Grand Duke agreed to do. The statue of Hubertus Otto Augusts Wieniawsky was placed atop an already existing fountain near Rosillonhof, while the bust of Melonman Robert was placed near Calvin Bridge.

Bust of Melonman RobertStatue of Hubertus Otto Augusts Wieniawsky
##### Portal House

The Portal House of Lainz is a small structure located near Calvin Bridge and the bust of Melonman Robert. It is based on a subsidiary structure (either a tool shed or gatehouse) of an estate that once stood northwest of Lainz. The current structure serves as Lainz's connection to the global highway system.

##### Lainz Archives

Planned:

* Lainz School