Glossary
Atlantis, Myria Federation
Country Capital
Population: 486,720 (estimated 2981 YA)
History
The oldest standing site of human civilization, Atlantis is positioned on a key shipping route between Kanchen and the riches of Ter’Ciel, and the major islands of the Myria Federation. Elected the capital of this newly allied group of islands in 531YA, the city has since grown into the prosperous metropolis that it is today.
Atlantis is based upon the site of several Relics that survived the War of Mages, including the famous Relic Wall that protects it from the violent Myrian Sea, and the Tower of Hope that now rests a mile above the city. It enjoys a healthy relationship with most of the Faerie Clans because of this, with the current Kahuna holding the Anahita Blade, said to be forged by Anahita herself. However, since it’s hasty rise to capital in 531 YA, it has become infamous for being corrupt and near ungovernable, with a population the size of Escher in one city. It is only thanks to it’s skill with iron and strong alliance with Tanor that enabled it to build the great iron towers which house most of it's population.
Between 531 YA and 2019 YA, Atlantis’s reputation was undeserved, yet the building blocks for what it would become were being laid. Land-lords were greedy in their rent and uncaring for the people they served. The police force, such as it was, was overstretched and underpaid, leading most to choose to be bought by the highest bidder to look the other way. So when Apollyon sparked a civil war in Tanor, ceasing the vibrant trade between Tanor and Myria, the capital collapsed into the state it was in until 2988 YA. The city underclass became even poorer, whilst the rich became richer, ignorant of the need of the many, choosing to fulfill their own desires. The few uncorrupt police left struggled to keep the piece, as crime became a common sight in the poorer districts. Even after the trade started up again, Apollyon had made it’s mark. Trade had dimmed as Tanor focused on it's new alliance with Bastet. For the next thousand years, the city stagnated, it’s people becoming ever more weary.
When Apollyon rose again in 2988 YA, it was unsurprising that many sympathizers were found within the Relic Walls. As the might of the Myrian Army sailed to help the Tanorian fight off an unprecedented force, crime soared as police forces failed to cope, or simply joined in the looting. For several months, the Land-lords watched the city burn, uncaring of the plight of the common people. This culminated in the Queer Riots, where a band of several hundred thugs and vagabonds roamed the streets, looking for those "whose sinned have blackened their hearts", resulting in 300 deaths and the besiegement of several buildings.
It was only the morning after this black day that order returned. To protect themselves from the roaming gangs, the people of Mummer’s Street blockaded the area around their Tower, sealing themselves off from the rest of Atlantis. They were lead by Lord Melchior Ximal, a new Land-Lord raised by the families of the street. Soon, refugees from other Towers fled to this street, and the wall moved, engulfing Towers in order to protect their inhabitants. Gangs found themselves facing fishermen with harpoon and butchers with sloutre knives. By eve of 2989 YA, nearly three-quarters of the city had been engulfed by the wall, leaving only the strongest, and thus the most corrupt, Land-Lords to be looted by what was left of the gangs. When the Myrian Army returned from Tanor, the Land-Lords appealed for help from the rebellion, only to find that the army was also supporting Melchior Ximal.
In a final strike on the Lord’s Tower, the people pulled the Land-Lords down from their seats and demanded that order be returned. In all, it was a efficient coup that resulted in a complete reshuffle of government which favored the people. When Melchior was elected as Kahuna, he quickly took advantage of this fact to set up several policies that would benefit the people’s safekeeping and not his own. As well as incorporating several Theoni ideas, like the Manufactory complexes at Potter’s field, Melchior introduced one final stroke of genius that secured his popularity amongst the people. Recognizing the history of Atlantean Land-Lords only serving themselves, he took an oath of fealty to "The people of Atlantis, to serve and protect them, and to do their bidding, not my own". In one fell swoop, he created the closest form of democracy currently found on Neon, and made sure that the city would not fall into corruption again.
Such exaltation was short-lived, when shortly after the beginning of the fourth millennium, the Tower of Hope was attacked, splitting the Hope Link which held the city of Atlantis above the sea. The cause is unknown, and whilst the people blamed everyone from a rouge mage to Apollyon himself, only the method is known. "A mighty bolt of lightening flashed across the Tower, and the parkland seemed to rock as if a great beast was beneath the city. Great cracks began appearing in the ground as tremors rocked the Tower, small at first but increasing in magnitude. Suddenly a great flash of light rushed forth from within the top of the Tower, where the Hope Link rested. The roof rained down upon us as we fled, and pieces of the link flew overhead towards the horizon. Lightening raced across the sky as the Relic Wall raised it’s defenses, yet it was too late. The Tower had risen several hundred paces into the air, and tremors still rocked the city. As I stared out to the harbor, I realized that there were waves lashing the Relic’s barrier. The Tower did not rise. The city was sinking."
Only the quick thinking of the men manning the Relic Walls saved the city from being submerged by water. Yet the Hope Disaster of 3002 and sunken the city to the bottom of the sea, and trade became hard and expensive as entirely new ways of sailing were thought up to circumvent this new problem. Even today, trade is slower than it was after Melchior’s ascension.
Government
There are around 400 or so Land-Lords, most of whom govern one Tower in Atlantis, although several control several Towers across the city. The manufactories, harbor and offices of government are controlled by the Kahuna, who is advised - and usually controlled - by the Land-lords at the Lord’s Tower, the longest standing building in Atlantis, not including the Tower of Hope. Here, they decide and vote on the laws of the city, as well as deciding on changes to the law in the other islands of the Myria Federation. However, for the most part Atlantis is separate from the other self-governing inlets that scatter the Myrian Ocean.