You know, they've done quite a remarkable job at bringing what was Kazorith back from ruin. I was quite worried when I saw The Rebellion take them on, if only because the citadel and surrounds were something of an architectural masterpiece. Not entirely sold on the city's renaming, but it rolls off the tongue at least. Babel... hmph, sounds like the name of something wonderful and mysterious to come. - Ferdinand the Traveled.
Overview
What was once the glorious city of Kazorith, ruled over by the Verk Empire, is now the collective work of restoration manned by The Rebellion's forces. Now named Babel, the newly restored kingdom is the epicentre of hope for a brighter future within Etera.
Situated on a geographically advantageous mountainscape, the citadel and its cities extend onto the only parts of relatively flat land available. A few miles North-East deep within the mountains lies the Tower of Divination, a mysterious tower that like many others appeared sometime around the end of Gozran, 44 IA.
Kazorith and the Verk Empire's Rule
For more information, see The Verk Empire.
For the most part, life in Kazorith was mainly oppressive due to the iron grip the Verk Empire had over it. The Emperor's word was law, and shortly before the Rebellion took over, the land's day to day running was ruled mainly by military commanders who were more interested in serving the Emperor and enacting his will than serving the Empire as a whole. Any attempts to speak out or resist this was dealt with harshly. Due to the poor ruling on the council of commanders' part, famine and disease were quite common among the people. Resources were low and given out equally yet sparingly, and during the Empirical rule, the citizens were slowly indoctrinated to the Empire's ideals. Slavery was also common among citizens. Some of the citizens still share the thoughts and idealisms of the former Empire but do not seem to be the kind of people to act out on it.
Babel and Life Post-Rebellion
Following The Rebellion's success in ending the Empirical rule over Kazorith, they quickly took charge into repairing what was lost both there. Wanting to completely rebrand the city and start anew, the leaders of the
Rebellion decided to rename Kazorith, and after long deliberations chose Babel. As there was no need for a Rebellion any longer, the organisations that made up the group started to disband, leaving namely the Knights of the Divine and the Bloodzerkers to take over. Given their anti-lawful beliefs, the Bloodzerkers were quick to leave the land as soon as the Empire was defeated. The leader of the Knights of the Divine sought the help of the Leader of the Former Erastil's Deadeyes, who amicably agreed. Believing that the ruling of Babel should be a joint venture, the two sought the help of other people who were key in the rebuilding of Babel; Serafina Aliberti, who had a strong following and brought many people to the ruined city to repair it, and; Bahar Golshan, a rich Sylph noble who had the money to facilitate the repairs to the city itself. Together, this quartet would form the basis of what is now the governing republic over the city and surrounding area.
After the rebuild of the city was completed, there was a push to relocate people into the city. Those who survived the destruction of the city and wished to stay there did, but not even they were immune to the disappearance of half of Etera's population. There was a lot of room to fill.
After the destruction of Fair Maiden, the majority of the population was teleported to Grey Hollow as an interim measure to ensure that people weren't teleported to the incorrect place. Once all were accounted for, an effort was taken to move the displaced Fair Maiden population to Babel, to fill in the gaps that were left. The people of Fair Maiden's Red District were quick to move to the Western parts of the city, finding themselves a nice new home to settle into.
Babel and surrounding area.
As people move their lives to the City of Babel, it's understandable that people are on edge and tired. They just want a place to stay that won't get destroyed, and want to live their lives peacefully. It's an understandable sentiment, but there is an underlying sense of hope in the people that move here. Some see this city as a new beginning and are wholeheartedly taking the opportunity. It will take some time for life to become "normal" for most, but there is at least a committed effort on both the people's and the leaders' parts to ensure they get there as soon as possible.
Refugees From Afar
When refugees evacuated the continent of Vrozai, a part of the citizens ended up settling in Babel, swelling its population to around 25,000 and reinforcing its status as the largest individual settlement on Etera. There weren't enough repaired buildings for more people, so the rest of Vrozai's people began to spread around the continent, forming settlements of various sizes.
The Architecture and Surrounding Environment
Babel's architecture remains mostly unchanged from what it was as Kazorith. After the Empire's fall and the city was left mostly in ruin, it was deemed that the base architecture of the city and citadel were structurally sound enough to repair, not clear and rebuild. It took only a matter of weeks to fully repair the ruin, with the help of a strong workforce, the required materials being abundant in the mountains surrounding, and magic.
Being situated in the only open space flat enough to support structures Babel is nestled around mountains and hills, giving it a truly advantageous position when it comes to war and invasion. The architecture of the city and the citadel comprises mostly reinforced stonework that rises jaggedly, giving itself the illusion that it too is part of the mountainscape.
When experts examine and make comments on the architecture of the city they often liken it to an underground dwarven stronghold, but out in the open air. The strong stone columns, high walls, and even higher citadel paint a picture that is equally impressive as it is imposing. With the Observation Tower sitting in the skyline in the distance, it leaves a lot to the imagination as to just what the people of this city are truly capable of.
The streets of Babel (Daytime)
The Red District
For more information, see The Red District.
Following the events that lead to the destruction of Fort Fair Maiden, the council of The Red District decided to migrate their people to Babel due in part to ensure that they would not be held responsible for those events. Erastus, 44 IA
The Red District survived most of the destruction of Fort Fair Maiden due to several reasons, and as they were a group of people living on the edge of the town it was easy for them to relocate. The 500-odd permanent residents of The Red District comprises mainly Tieflings, with about 20 or so non-Tiefling individuals who have shown to be remarkably helpful and supportive of the rest of the populace.
Known for providing security services and crafting exotic tools and equipment, the people of The Red District have now made a home in the western part of Babel.
The Golden Lamp
For more information, see The Golden Lamp.
The Golden Lamp is a genie-run shop in Babel. Most of the day-to-day work is handled by the extremely muscled efreeti Bhaiqun, who has a rather distinctive air of sarcastic professionalism... at least until he finds a fellow bodybuilder to be friends with. The shop itself is owned by the Young Master, an enigmatic figure who seems to have a lot of connections in the City of Brass, and the store is also home to the Young Master's two wives.
The Divination Tower
Not long after the fall of the Verk Empire towers of Colossal size appeared across the continent, each bearing a mark of a given school of or sphere of magic. In the mountains North-East of the Babel sits such a tower, bearing the Mark of Divination. 29th Gozran, 44 IA
The Divination Tower beaming light into the heavens.
The tower's origins still remain a mystery, but it has exhibited anomalous traits since it's appearance. Originally spewing out Black Miasma, the Tower has now since been converted into an Observation Tower after countless times being visited by adventuring parties. Apart from miasma, the tower has been able to conjure tendrils of cubes that enveloped it, as well as project seemingly magical but actually mundane, concentrated beams of light upward. 6th Sarenrith, 44 IA
While adventurers sought to explore the tower, a group of intellectually inclined individuals examined the cubes enveloping the tower. After much examination and deliberation, a new council was formed, named The Division of Disciplinary Sciences. The council member's consist of Hadrian, Zosia, Morty, Kino, Sol, Luna, and Mikuno. The findings of the council's examinations found the invention of technology that is not wholly dependent on magic. To some, this discovery officially begins the separation of Magic and Technology. 30th Sarenrith, 44 IA
Laws of the Kingdom
As a True Neutral city, Babel's set laws are following what should be the basic principle and decency. Some laws are also in place to ensure the safety of the common folk, and some ensure that the city doesn't regress to how things were as the city of Kazorith.
The laws are as follows:
Crimes
- Treason - For the act of aiding, harbouring, comforting, or informing enemies of the State or deliberately acting out against the wishes and interests of the State, the accused may be sentenced to Death, Imprisonment, or Exile as determined by the authorities.
- Murder - For killing another being without sound justification, the accused may be sentenced to Imprisonment or Death as determined by the authorities.
- Kidnapping - For unlawfully seizing, holding hostage, or refusing exit to a person or persons by force, fraud, or against their will, the accused will be sentenced to Imprisonment as determined by the jury.
- Theft - For unlawfully seizing or destroying personal property (including larceny, robbery, vandalism, fraud, and corruption of important peoples), the accused must pay a fee of double the value involved in the crime, and could be sentenced to up to 10 years of service to the State or Victims, or Imprisonment. Should the accused be unable to pay back the fee, the cost is added to the sentence in time.
- Assault - For harming and individual in any form (physic, mental, spiritual, or otherwise), the accused must pay the medical fees to rectify the issue, and could be sentenced to up to 5 years of service to the State or Victims, Imprisonment, or Death (for repeat offenders or if performed en masse.) Should the accused be unable to pay back the fee, the cost is added to the sentence in time.
- Necromancy - For the use of Necromancy in the city, and knowing the history the previous occupants had with the craft, the accused will be instantly exiled with no chance for return. Should the accused attempt to come back to the city, they will be executed on the spot. Any undead found to be created in the city, intelligent or not, will be instantly destroyed.
- Wild Magic - For the use of Wild Magic in the City of Babel and it's aligned cities, the accused will be instantly exiled with no chance of return. Should the accused attempt to come back to Babel or it's aligned cities, authorities are encouraged to execute the accused on the spot.
If anyone is believed to have and has been found attempting any of these crimes but were unsuccessful, they will still be punished as if they had committed the crime to a lesser degree.
Rights
- The Right to Work Freely and Fairly - All citizens have the right to work as they see fit, provided that it's for the betterment of Babel, it's people, and themselves. Should a person interfere with this right, it is considered an act of theft (akin to stealing one's wages.)
- The Right to Open Discussion and Free Speech - Babel does not censor it's public, and one may have discussions of all kinds in public or private as they see fit. This includes sharing grievances or debating views and decisions. Interference with this right depends on the nature of the interference but is considered a crime nonetheless.
- The Right to Basic Property - All citizens have a right to own their home and possessions. Taking away property unlawfully or interfering with this right is considered an act of theft.
- The Right to Report Crime - All citizens may and are encouraged to report crimes they witness within the city limits. The authorities take these reports seriously and will do their best to investigate it without bias. Interfering with this right is considered treason, whether it's preventing a person from committing crimes, or purposely wasting the city's resources reporting false crimes.
- The Right to Magic (However Restricted) - All citizens have the right to cast any magic that is not Necromancy. However, magic may not be used to assault, impersonate, coerce, or otherwise negatively impact an individual. Depending on the incident, this will be viewed as assault, kidnapping, or worse.
- The Right to Juris Macto - Should two individuals have a personal grievance with each other (a criminal holding grievance to the authority that caught them does not count) they may sign a contract to be reviewed by authorities to a public duel. The rules of the duel are determined by the individuals, so long as it does not affect onlookers or third parties directly. The results of the duel are final, and can not be rebuked. An authority figure will serve as the Master of Arms, appropriate to the type of duel initiated.