Aqivez

## Overview

Aqivez (Pronounced **Ah-Ki-Vehz**), is a city in Midi. Located in on the Lupa islands, Aqivez utilizes a system of canals, arcane magic, and artifice to control the water levels in the city. Artisans thrive here, especially glassblowers and smiths.

A popular tourist area for the works of art, Aqivez is perhaps the busiest city of Midi.

Ruled by the most talented Artisan who is called the Doge, Aqivez is currently led by the same person who founded it, Maare Citta.

## History

### Founding of Aqivez

Four years after Kiem's founding, Emperor Orsos began to notice Kiem's rapid sprawl and construction were beginning to negatively impact some of the local artisans. Fearing a loss of their talent, and more importantly, the loss of Midi culture due to aesthetics swiftly being abandoned within Kiem, the Emperor ordered a new city to be constructed away from Kiem. This new city would house the artisans and allow for study in a less chaotic location. Choosing the Lupa islands for the pleasant scenery and the lack of hostile creatures, Orsos begun to draft up a rough blueprint of the city.

However, his blueprints would go unused. With Orsos' declining health, he was unable to finish every minute detail, and deemed it unworthy of Midian construction. He instead asked the best and brightest architects to formulate sketches for the new settlement. Thus began the Forty Days of Ink.

### Forty Days of Ink

Requiring the plans to be finished as soon as possible, Orsos declared a national contest. The contest stipulated that an architect must come up with full plans for the new city, including how it would be constructed, the budget, and the timeline for the building. Doing such a task in forty days would be nigh impossible, even if one did not sleep. Knowing this, Orsos instead wanted to see where contestants would cut corners or attempt to deceive him. After the time limit, Orsos dismissed everyone noticing the flawed plans, the unethical methods in construction, and the lack of concern in all of the contestants. No one wished to own up to the difficulties of the task, and Orsos declared them not ready to build a city if they could not face the hardships.

"Is there no honest person in these entire lands? Why can no one admit to being unable to fulfill my demands?" - *Emperor Orsos Ashcoat*
Five days after the end of the contest, Orsos found the plans in an unlikely place: an orphaned drow girl named Maare Citta.

### The Plans of the Architect

Despite Citta's unlikely origins, she was quite adapt at city planning even at a young age. City planning wasn't her only strength however, Citta knew that building an entire city would be laborious, expensive, and not guaranteed to be perfect. With this in mind, she calmly explained her ideas to the Emperor, noting all the potential pitfalls. The Lupa islands were prone to flooding in the fall when rain became common. Adding roads was simply impossible due to the lack of the land. To solve these issues, she proposed a system of boats in the water and 'skyboats' that floated just above the canals for transportation. Flood control could be done with significant investment into artifice.

With the plans sound enough for the Emperor, he took her into the heart of Kiem, raising her as his own daughter before setting her in charge of the construction of the new city, now called Aqivez. Citta became the ruler of Aqivez shortly after Orsos's death.

### Patron's Policy

To maintain Aqivez's aesthetics while also updating throughout the years, Maare Citta instituted a similar contest to the Forty Days of Ink. Every year, she would host a competition between the local artisans. The winner was personally funded by the city to create more works of art, and got to live on Isola Agrumi. This would be known as the Patron's Policy, and was recently opened up to artisans around the world, much to the disapproval of many Aqivezian citizens.

### Modern Times

Still ruled by Maare Citta, Aqivez has recently become a tourist hub due to the artifice, works of art, and excellent food from Kohpoli cooked in a safer environment.

## Layout

Aqivez consists of a larger city sprawled across hundreds of small islands. They are divided neatly into districts consisting of islands that are grouped together. Instead of roads, Aqivez relies on the use of canals, the boats on the canals, and artifice gondolas that transport larger amounts of people just above the water.

### The Palace

The Doge's home occupies the most southeastern sector. It is lavish, almost decadent, and filled with art commissioned by the Doge herself. Security is tight due to the value of items contained within, but eager thieves have made off with some supplies before.

### Isola Agrumi

One of the more isolated islands in Aqivez, Isola Agrumi hosts the Doge's favored Artisans for the year. Stocked with the latest and greatest equipment, the island provides an artisan everything they could possibly need to create the next work of art.