Locales: Tor Caldri

Picture from Pexels.com

Tor Caldri is located within the kingdom of Tarsus, one of the northernmost sub-kingdoms of Evandar. It is upon Wyvernmount, named for the famed creature that old tales said lived upon the peak of said mountain and kept the city under their protection. No name is remembered for the wyvern. Only signs of this ancient tale is seen in the insignia of the corps of the city's watch and of the city officials. The city banner is of a gold wyvern couchant upon a white field with a blue fess. Where the fess is usually a sign of martial honors, for the city of Tor Caldri, it is a sign of the great river it is beside, as is the white field.

The Usige Ban river is known as the White River in the common tongue of Evandar. In the ancient language of the first Evanadari people, it was known as the Caldri river, which also means white river. The river is known as the white river because of how many rapids it has. It springs from an underground fountain at great force, emerging from the upper face of Wyvernmount as a great waterfall of frothy water. The cavern it emerges from is unreachable because of the sheer face. This face is on the northeastern side of the mountain above the city. The water tumbles down and into a channel that runs along the eastern side of the city before sloping down the mountain in a more natural path.

Tor Caldri, known as the White City in the ancient language of the Evandari people, is a Free City. That is a city that has no kingdom allegiances and is a free state of itself. Most Free Cities are border cities, such as Farden on the eastern Dakon Bar/Evandar - Ranyth border. Tor Caldri is the site of an ancient border that no longer exists as the kingdom of Tarsus expanded in earlier eras. Tor Caldri retains its Free City status as it is the site of the High Council of Evandar, where the sub-kingdoms of the land hold council and discuss region wide issues such as trade, infrastructure, taxes and tithes to the High King. The High King is overlord of the entire Evandar region and rules for a designated period before another is voted in by the council.

This unlikely place is the seat of the high priesthood of Kaileth, the god of change, winds, and chaos. Where the city is laid out in a most orderly fashion and much of the buildings are faced if not constructed entirely of marble, the main temple of Kaileth is far older and is made from common stone. Grand structures erected as temples to the other principle deities of Evandar (the god Sigurt and goddess Roen) are popular pilgrimage sites, the main temple of Kaileth has largely been ignored. This is perhaps due to the reputation of the priests being insane or the unpredictability of the deity in question. Change, however is coming to the priesthood with the passing of the ancient High Priestess Theodonia.

The construction styles of the buildings of Tor Caldri varies, as this is a very old city. It is a walled city with an inner and outer wall. Within the inner wall is the old city. This is where the official buildings of the High Council, the priestly orders, and the most reputable of businesses are located. Most of these buildings have marble and are built with columns much like the Romanesque architecture of early Medieval Europe. The exception to this is the eldest buildings which make up the temple complex of Kaileth's priesthood. The courtyard of the old city is surprisingly large. On the western side of the courtyard is the priesthood of Kaileth. On the southern side is the temple complex for the priesthood of Sigurt. On the eastern side is the temple complex for the priesthood of Roen. At the northern side of the courtyard is the government buildings for the city, the summer palace of the High King, and the chambers of the High Council. Interspersed between these buildings and the wall of the old city are residences of the wealthy. The space between the inner and outer wall is where the new city is located. A bustling market is located within the courtyard of the old city that is set up daily. In the new city, however, there is no common market square but rather roads where businesses align. Thus the butchers and people who peddle meat products are on butcher's row as the fullers and seamstresses are on a street named for the predominant trade there.

At a corner where the old city and new city meet on the eastern side of the city, there is the public baths and wash. Here the people of the city come to communally wash their goods. This is a place of a great deal of public activity and gossip. Servants of wealthy households rub elbows with the poorest of the city in a general sense of good will. The wash is separate from the baths but water from both runs through pipes from the river itself. Tor Caldri has something like infrastructure to ancient Rome where water is used in a rudimentary septic system for the city. The runoff from this is drained out into the half moat that is around the southern edge of the city. When the moat reaches a certain height, sewage and waste flows out through a gate into the river to be carried away.

Note: I apologize for the lack of a map. I keep trying to draw a satisfactory map and failing. I hope that my description of the city is helpful.