Umberion, also known as the Golden City of Opportunity and the Bastion of Liberty, was a multi-racial city-state sitting on the western coast of Plenithor. The city was considered by many travelers, foreign and domestic, as the most advanced and developed cosmopolitan city on the continent. The city-state was a founding member of the Alliance of Aethusa, an alliance consisting of five city states, namely: Umberion, Orth, Stonewain, Planewater and Eastfold.
Etymology
The city was originally named “Lántille”, which was a Vittroeldin word, suggested by one of the founding fathers, a The Vittroeldi Elf of the The Alómi clan called Umberis, who served as the Phylarch of Lántille for 47 years before his passing.
The rough translation for Lántille would be “bastion”, with the intent of serving as a bastion of the city’s ideals which it wished to impart upon the continent as a whole; freedom. When Umberis passed, the city of Lántille had grown significantly in both lands and population. In respect to Umberis' tragic passing, the succeeding Phylarch and remaining Magistrate petitioned to rename the city to Umberion.
Although the city was renamed, many still believe that the original name should have been kept instead. Arguing that the petition was merely a ploy for the succeeding Phylarch, Haldiphe, to gain favours from the citizens that loved Umberis.
Brief History
The first settlement formed in the western region was a mixed village, containing both Vittroeldi and human settlers, called Pineville. For dozens of years, the settlement remained both peaceful but ungrowing. When Aethusa’s band, the Fourteen, and their crusade of freedom fighters reached the western regions in 53 BA, liberating any oppressed pockets of civilisations on their way, the citizens of Pineville spread out throughout the region to settle in other locations in an attempt to create a network of civilization.
After Aethusa’s disappearance, forming the beginning of a new era, the new settlement chiefs formed together and created the city of Lántille, now known as Umberion, in 0 AA.
Umberion became a core of civilization, craftsmanship, peace, freedom and honor. Aspects of the city that were widely marveled upon by tourists and citizens alike. This lasted for many ages and the city was often dubbed as the Golden City of Opportunity. This streak of fortune and growth took a side-path in 493 AA when an apostle necromancer of the accursed city of Al’Khú El Fakkãn cursed the city with a septicemic plague dubbed “Crown’s Hunt” in an attempt to rid the region of its inhabitants.
While many inhabitants were affected and killed, due to the White Tower and headmaster Dimedus Onthir’s interference, the unnamed necromancer was defeated on the scorched fields of Dragon’s Temper. With the necromancers grip over the plague removed, druids and other healers from across the continent came to the aid of the city to forward the mission for a cure.
Not long after the epidemic, dissidence grew within the city. In 501 AA, Phylarch Ginhayes turned to dictatorship and fascism, abusing the freedom ingrained into the city state to form an authoritarian group to oppress and strong-arm the remaining magistrates of the city to his will. Riots formed in opposition of Phylarch Ginhayes, who quickly shut the riots down by sanctioning mass slaughter within city streets, a slaughter now known in history as “The Severance”.
The mass slaughters served as a catalyst for the awakening of Archon Agatha, by some considered the divine embodiment of Aethusa’s will, a sentient artifact with a purpose of defending the heart of free men and women across the continent. It is believed that the cries of the people on the night of the slaughters formed the energy required to awaken the artifact.
Many believed the city to be doomed after the Severance but in 502 AA, Lord Remis Ravendale of Orth, saw an opportunity to strengthen the bond between all free men and women of the continent, nearly depleting the City State of Orth’s treasury in an attempt to rebuild Umberion. By 538 AA, the city of Umberion found complete stability and had slowly been restored to its original glory.
In 753 AA, a new Phylarch by the name of Prodikos was elected in light of the sudden passing of his predecessor, Phylarch Nikanor. While many questioned the investigation towards Nikanor’s death, rumors of foul play were quickly drowned when Prodikos swiftly introduced a set of new foreign policies, which primarily addressed potential trade with the Golden Tide Empire.
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There is much more to discover about Umberion, its history, society, culture and its structures and systems. Feel free to ask me for more information if you're at all curious!