Hanustandor

The Flag of Hanustandor

**Hanustandor**, (Gu-Maek: **Ma Pona**) is the capital city of Vorosan, a province in the South East of the Aurlûnor Velande. The city lies on the Southern border of the Velande, only separated from the Dominion of Ashura by the Kidat River. Because of its central location between the Velande and its vassal Ashura, the city is a hub for travel and commerce, along with being a cultural melting pot. Hanustandor is also known for its beautiful, but smaller scale architecture, along with the Twin Dragon Monastery that watches over it.

## Etymology

Originally called Ma Pona, the city's name was changed by Velereth and Celestial Matron, Sareariel Leyla-Earcala, to Hanustandor, meaning "Monastery land" in Aurlûnoren, after the Twin Dragon Monastery around which it was built.

## History

The settlement that would later become Hanustandor was originally founded by a mixed race elf named Zewisch leading an expedition of Kumiho colonists from the neighboring Hampo Province, who erected a Twin Dragon monastery atop a plateau overlooking the Kidat River. The plateau had once been the site of the lost city of Lingwi, the capital of the Warring States Era kingdom of Lingwilocendur, however, the city had long since been sacked by the Krow Hordes and abandoned. They called this place Ma Pona, and over time, a town would spring up around the monastery, fed by the fertile North bank of the Kidat. Zewisch would soon become governor of the province of Vorosan, with Ma Pona as its capital. The Velereth Sareariel would soon be married to Lucius von Savras, the Kaiser of Andorn in the monastery. The official name of the town was also changed to Hanustandor, an Aurlûnoren name, as per the Velereth's orders. Later on, Zewisch would disappear, leaving the position of governor unoccupied.

Following this, Acario, a barbarian who'd supposedly been resettled in Avalitia, attempted to incite a large scale revolt with Vorosan, specifically Hanustandor, at its center, falsely claiming that humans weren't being allowed citizenship in the Velande. However, after attempting to recruit citizens from Avalitia and Sawiyah Oasis to his cause, Acario was exposed by Gildun Salah, the future founder of Tyalu, at the time a denizen of Rosaria who'd been contacted by Acario.

Soon after, Geollo would be appointed the new governor, however, he was unpopular among both the people and the court, and he too would leave later on. The one to take his place would be Seoun Tashili, another Kumiho born in Nanseong, Hampo. Soeun was a member of the Tashilis, by far the most powerful of the Great Kumiho Clans. Despite being only 14 at the time, he'd begin a new acceleration of development in Hanustandor, overseeing the construction of a cactus farm, bringing in newfound wealth off the back of a burgeoning blacksmithing industry, along with the renovation of an old fort, converting it into the Tashili Inn. This sudden burst of prosperity would provoke a wave of immigration, mainly from the provinces of Nir, Tamaka, and rural Vorosan, all of which were very poor at the time, especially from Hloamar, which was going through a housing crisis. This created a sizable Yi'yen minority and greatly increased the number of Taku. This boom in population would help to fuel the city's growth.

Unfortunately, this progress slowed greatly when Governor Soeun was banished after being framed by a political rival. Hoàng Khánh Sơn, a Yi'yen immigrant who'd been put in charge of Hanustandor's cactus farm, was named his successor, having been recommended by Soeun himself. Sơn would do his best to continue Soeun's legacy, as the two had been good friends, and continue to develop Hanustandor, along with advocating for Vorosan in the imperial court. He would also design a flag for Hanustandor, based on the new one he'd created for Vorosan.

## Culture and Demographics

Despite originally having been founded by Kumiho and Celestial Elves, the great migration under the reign of Soeun Tashili transformed the city's ethnic makeup, making Hanustandor into quite possibly the most diverse city in the Velande. The mixing of so many different peoples- Kumiho, Taku, Lhûren, Azerals, and Yi'yen, has led to the formation of a kind of fusion culture unique to the city, although ethnic groups still generally maintain a degree of cultural distinctness.

This can also be seen in the city's many languages, as although communities tend to speak their own native tongues among themselves, communication between Hanustandoris of different ethnicities is mainly conducted in a sort of pidgin language called Mavna, its name a corruption of "Ma Pona," also used to refer to the people's city and culture. Although Mavna is grammatically based in Aurlûnoren, as the language already held the status of a lingua franca both in post migration Hanustandor and in the province of Nir, it's loaded with loanwords from Yi'yenic, Gu-Maek, Taku, and Ashuran, along with unique grammatical constructions and original slang. Interestingly, the Ashuran influence on Mavna is somewhat disproportionate to the very small size of the city's Azeral minority, a result of frequent interaction with the Ashuran merchants who pass through on the daily.

The great migration would also create a new cultural gap between the wealthy, already established, Kumiho and Lhûren upper class and the growing population of poorer, working class Yi'yen and Taku who'd arrived looking for better jobs and places to live. These circumstances automatically created a pyramid with Kumiho and Lhûren at the top, the wealthier Nirrine Taku in the middle, along with a few other Taku families whose prestige had survived the partition of the Takumakken Empire, and the bottom comprised mainly of Yi'yen farmers and fishermen, along with those Taku who'd been poor pastoralists prior to the migration. Governor Soeun, began mending these divisions almost immediately, creating stores of free food for the public and promoting people to government positions based on merit rather than connections, resulting in the appointment of many minority citizens to positions of power. Hoàng Khánh Sơn was one such citizen, becoming head of the cactus farm project, followed by governor in spite of his immigrant status.

Having been founded by a mixed race elf, Hanustandor's signature architectural style is similar to the Mavna pidgin that can be heard bubbling in the streets below the beautiful buildings they crisscross between: based in the culture of the Lhûren, but characterized by a unique flair. While drawing inspiration from classical Lhûren architecture, Hanustandor's buildings are mainly constructed of wood and maintain an air of simplicity, flowers, water features, and courtyards accenting a central rectangular structure, often topped by a smaller one. Practically every structure in the city has a complementary color palette of blue and orange created by the combination of the acacia wood native to the region, mainly used in a construction's walls and support beams, with the warped wood that makes up the roofs of even the city's bridges and gates, used for its fireproof characteristics, a necessity on the hot, dry savanna.

## Flag

The flag of Hanustandor was designed by Hoàng Khánh Sơn following his promotion to the position of governor. Its colors and form represent both the city's geography and its cultural demographics, along with much more. In terms of geography, the blue band that divides the flag in two, outlined in white, represents the Kidat River upon which Hanustandor lays. The yellow half symbolizes the Ashuran desert on the South side of the river, with the green one being the savanna to the North. The dragon, meanwhile stands for Hanustandor itself, (the dragon being the city's patron spirit) straddling the line between Ashura and Vorosan and wrapping tight around the river that feeds its population. The five colors also represent Hanustandor's five main ethnic groups, with the Kumiho in orange, the Yi'yen in blue, the Lhûren in white, the Taku in green, and the Azerals in yellow. The entwined orange dragon and blue stream also represent Sen and Lyn, two of the main deities of the Lûnatwa faith. The green also stands for the cactus the fuels the city's smithies, with the blue being the diamond armor they produce and yellow being the wealth the industry rakes in.