Emerald City

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Emerald City (翡翠城)
Alias(es)	Queen's City; City of Pitch Crystals; Metropolis of Wealth; “Queen within the City” 653 665
Entity Type	Neutral Character (AI)
Affiliation	Southbank Territory; historically governed by the Cavendish Family from the Empty Palace 653 655
Occupation/Role	Capital of the Southbank Territory; major commercial, manufacturing, and trade center 653 665
First Appearance	653

Background / History

Emerald City’s identity as the “Queen’s City” is tied to the marriage of Prince Hyman and Regina. Their wedding reconciled King Horace I and Duke Koke Cavendish after their near-civil-war standoff; the resulting month-long citywide celebration became Queen’s Day and, later, the Emerald Celebration. 661 662

The Cavendish Family has long been politically intertwined with the Starfall royal house. Thirteen recorded Queens came from Cavendish branches, while royal princesses also married into Emerald City. Cavendish and Cullen fleets helped King Kessel II win the Battle of Bolasco Sea against the Hanbur Dynasty and Boundless Cadil. 653

The area around Emerald City escaped the Year of Blood without direct warfare. Though fewer than three in ten soldiers sent to battle returned, the Southbank Territory absorbed refugees and wealth; Duke Lenster’s tax exemptions and postwar reconstruction accelerated its recovery. Emerald City subsequently became the Starry Sky’s second-largest city after Everstar City. 653

Over generations, the Cavendishes tied their authority to the city’s security, trade, labor, and institutions. By distributing interests and authority among officials, merchants, farmers, and other residents, they became both guarantors and beneficiaries of Emerald City’s order. 729

Cityscape and Districts

Emerald City has expanded beyond its old defenses so extensively that its walls are difficult to identify; several former gate arches have been converted into streets. Its dense blocks are cleaner and more orderly than their irregular layout initially suggests, with homes, squares, workshops, shops, bridges, and crowded streets. 653 655

The Empty Palace stands at the city center and highest point. Unlike conventional lordly castles, it contains not only the Cavendish residence but also the Government Affairs Hall, Court of Justice, Vigilant Hall, and Notary Office. 655

District / Location	Known Features
Artisan District	Workshops and factories processing raw materials into marketable goods. 655
Canal District	Docks, warehouses, merchant houses, sailors, laborers, and transport routes including Archsea City. 655
Gold Refining District	Guild and merchant-association properties, private gold vaults, pawnshops, and wealthy residents. 655
Knight District	Location of the City Management Department and barracks. 655
Goddess District	Site of Emerald City’s Sunset Temple, skill schools, and studios for performers and visual artists. 655
Iris District	Entertainment quarter containing theaters, tea houses, bars, casinos, and the Midnight Temple. 655
Glory District	Old town and historical market district for assorted goods. 655
New Suburb / North Gate Bridge	Rapidly expanding outskirts; North Gate Bridge is markedly poorer and less illuminated than the central celebration areas. 655 736

Governance and Public Order

Emerald City’s prosperity depends on strict, detailed, and broadly enforced regulations that protect merchants, property, and trade. Its laws are regarded as credible by parties along shipping and trade routes, while the Vigilant Hall employs an unusually large number of officers and recruits property-owning citizens as volunteer assistants. 655 665

The Emerald Legion and Vigilant Hall enforce order during normal operations and especially during the Emerald Celebration, when the influx of visitors places exceptional pressure on security. 655

Under the Cavendishes, even the Duke was expected to operate within the city’s legal system: administrative bodies worked inside the Empty Palace, fines could be paid to the Court of Justice, and judges could receive public apologies from the ruling family. 665

Despite this reputation, the city’s order is vulnerable when political conflict disrupts confidence, trade, and administration. Riots, arson, assassinations, market instability, and trade blockades followed the struggle over Cavendish rule and Tales’ regency. 727 747 793

Economy

Emerald City is a trade nexus where goods from across the kingdom are gathered, processed, sorted, and sold before moving through Archsea City for overseas shipment. Reverse trade flows also pass through the city. 665

Its wealth rests on manufacturing, transshipment, maritime commerce, guild organization, and nearby mineral deposits, including pitch crystals. Cavendish-held ports and towns—including Archsea City, Windchime Town, and Sunscorch Town—support this wider commercial network. 653 655

• Merchant institutions — Guilds, associations, chambers of commerce, and a dedicated Notary Office support the city’s extensive commercial activity. 665
• Labor base — The population includes workshop owners, property owners, shipowners, merchants, artisans, carters, trackers, dockworkers, and sailors. 665 754
• Trade security — Stable law enforcement is a primary reason merchants consider Emerald City a reliable place to transact. 655
• Financial crisis — The city’s debt exceeded 13 million gold coins. It had been repeatedly restructured and consolidated into three major repayment batches, with the first containing over one million in advance debt due within two years. 729 751
• Structural dependency — Cavendish assets are tied up across the city’s industries, making a sudden replacement of the ruling family financially and administratively dangerous. 729

Emerald Celebration

The Emerald Celebration is Emerald City’s most important annual festival. Originally derived from the wedding customs of Hyman and Regina, it lasts seven days and follows the stages of their royal wedding, beginning with the Feast of Contention and ending with the Praise Banquet. 662

Beyond celebration, it serves as an enormous commercial gathering. Merchants, nobles, foreign dignitaries, and negotiators arrive from across the world to establish contracts, conduct large-scale transactions, and determine the future movement and prices of goods. 655 661

• The festival brings severe crowding, fully occupied inns, and increased demand on the Vigilant Hall and Emerald Legion. 653 655
• Emerald City functions as neutral ground for negotiations among domestic and foreign powers during the celebration. 661
• The Never-Ending Feast Parade commemorates Hyman and Regina’s wedding, but its bright festivities contrast with the neglected North Gate Bridge area. 736

Key Associations

• Cavendish Family — The dynasty historically responsible for Emerald City’s institutions, prosperity, and political order; its authority is centered in the Empty Palace. 653 729
• Duke Jann Cavendish — Former Duke of South Bank whose fall destabilized the city; he argued that removing Cavendish would require dismantling and rebuilding its governing system over decades. 724 729
• Prince Tales Radiant Star — Arrived under the pretext of a marriage alliance, later took control of Emerald City as regent after Jann and Federico were confined in the Empty Palace. 644 724
• Federico Cavendish — A rival Cavendish claimant whose accusations against Jann helped trigger the succession crisis. 724 731
• Emerald Legion — City force responsible for enforcement and security, particularly during the Emerald Celebration. 655
• Vigilant Hall — Major public-order institution with extensive officers and volunteer assistants. 655 665
• Sunset Temple — Influential religious institution based in the Goddess District; Vice High Priest Feibul later sought a contract limiting and supervising the regency. 655 790
• Black Street Brotherhood — Underworld force rooted around the New Suburb and North Gate Bridge, operating within limits tolerated by Emerald City’s order. 655 683
• Blood Bottle Gang — Longstanding local gang associated with the Canal District and connected to guilds, commercial associations, and parts of the Vigilant Hall. 655

Story Role / Major Arcs

Arrival of the Duke of Star Lake

Tales arrives with the Star Lake Guard amid enormous Emerald Celebration crowds. His party enters discreetly after his identity is exposed, while he surveys Emerald City’s scale, wealth, security structure, and Cavendish influence. 653 655

Conflict with Duke Jann

While publicly maintaining hostility toward Jann, Tales investigates the city’s political and economic structure. He concludes that Emerald City’s prosperity and public order are inseparable from Cavendish governance, making a simple royal takeover untenable. 661 665

Cavendish Succession Crisis

Jann is accused of patricide and usurpation, Federico returns as a rival claimant, and Tales assumes control of the city. Jann and Federico are held in the Empty Palace, but their respective supporters, the city’s debt, and the threat of trade collapse complicate Tales’ regency. 724 729 731

Regency and Stabilization

Riot and fire break out on Rukhsan Street as confidence in trade and governance deteriorates. Tales meets officials, guild representatives, foreign envoys, merchants, and other local powers to restore wages, market order, streets, and maritime trade. 727 747 754

City of Triangles

Tales ultimately recognizes that Emerald City is not merely contested between himself, Jann, and Federico. The decisive balance involves Tales, the Cavendish Family, and the city’s many classes and factions, whose shared interests prevent either Cavendish faction from acting without consequence. 775

Feibul’s Contract

Vice High Priest Feibul uses the city’s crises to demand a covenant dividing and supervising the regent’s power, giving Emerald City a formal role in governance and requiring Tales to surrender authority by a deadline. The proposal divides the Council Hall and raises the possibility of Emerald City backing Tales’ future claim to the throne. 788 790 793 794