Aléath

, the third largest settlement of western and the largest in the, is called by its inhabitants the “City of Truth and White Virtue”. A seaport, at the mouth of the, the city is somewhat isolated from the rest of , lying outside the plain of the. Aléath’s hinterland is only moderately fertile but still possesses a fairly dense population. Boatbuilding and fishing are significant. The townsfolk pride themselves on their high standards of architecture and civic cleanliness, although Aléath is outstanding only by medieval criteria. The streets are regularly patrolled and Aléath is regarded as one of the safest spots on Hârn. Aléathians tend to regard outsiders as morally bankrupt; they themselves are often deemed self-righteous, prudish snobs. The city is a freetown, governed under a royal charter, by a royally appointed lord mayor and aldermen; the king considers the advice of prominent citizens when making such appointments.

Aléath has a trouble past. The city as founded by Alash, a chieftain of the. in 356. For a century, the city prospered as the capital of the, its wealth second only to that of. In 453, the Kingdom was incorporated into the Corani Empire and Aléath continued to prosper. Its port was expanded, and a paved road, linking it with the north, was built.

The city became known throughout the empire as the “fairest city of man”. Between 551 and 559 the entire empire suffered a series of plagues and famines fostering the. With the fall of Coranan to the armies of the jihad in 565, Aléath, the only untaken city, decried itself a republic and gathered the surviving loyalists its bosom. This First Aléathian Republic lasted for seven years, until the city fell to the Balashans after a bitter three year siege in 572. Some Aléathians fled by sea, undertaking the, and many others slew themselves, rather than witness the “Agony of Aléath”, the terrible bloodbath that was to follow the city’s fall.

The city reluctantly became part of the, in 572, and suffered its share of religious purges and spectacles. During the following the collapse of the Theorcracy in 588, Aléath suffered from the chaos, along with everyone else but gradually gathered power to establish a second republic in 612. Slowly extending the city’s benign influence over the nearby petty states, the republic hoped for a new liberal age but weakened by decades of war, Aléath’s strength was inadequate to the task. With rumors of barbarian invasions in the north, the Aléathian senate chose the least of several evils. In 633, the republic voted its crown to the ascendant, , who granted Aléath a liberal charter recognizing its rights as a within its kingdom. The following temples are to be found in Aléath:




 * Headquarters of the Order.

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