Pela Huban

Pela Huban
Capital	Pela Huban (city)
Ruler	Auditor Judge Lasan Shast Bachtiar
Government	Electoral judiciary
Demonym	Hubanese
Adjective	Pela Huban
Languages	Various; Sangiran and Common especially
Religions	Various deities and pantheons

Pela Huban
Nation	Pela Huban
Demonym	Hubanese
Adjective	Pela Huban
Population	~1,500,000
Demographics	Various ancestries

Pela Huban (pronounced PEH-lah HOO-bahn) is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, home to roughly one and a half million people. Limited to an island between two forks in the Blackwater River, Pela Huban is a city-state in the most literal sense.

Geography, flora, and fauna

Pela Huban is located on Crane Island, between two forks in the Blackwater River where the river flows into the Kilche Sea. The roughly nine square miles of the island have been intensely urbanized to support the city's ever-growing population. Though their native habitats are long gone, numerous animals live amongst the people of Pela Huban. Various kinds of small monkeys roam freely, a frequent nuisance to the merchant stalls that line most streets. Bats live in the eaves of buildings across the city, and feral pigs root through the vast heaps of trash created every day. Few creatures live in the waste-filled river aside from carp and other fish that can tolerate such conditions. Aside from vines and other plants that can gain footholds amongst the trampled streets, native flora is practically absent amongst the streets and buildings that cover the entire island.

Like their mundane brethren, magical creatures are common throughout the city. Many are the descendants of familiars, or were otherwise brought to Pela Huban from far away. Along with the otyughs of the sewers, unfettered eidolons are known to wander the lower depths of the city.

Located just south of the equator, Pela Huban is hot year-round. There is little seasonal variation in temperature, though the rains of the summer monsoon season often bring with them cooler winds.

History

Growth under the Sangiran Empire

The land on which Pela Huban sits has been inhabited for millennia, but the history of the modern city starts considerably more recently. After annexing Langkha in Y6190^*, the volume of trade, visitors, and immigrants to the Sangiran Empire increased markedly. Wishing to control the activities of these newcomers, the Eternal Suzerain decreed that foreign arrivals would only be permitted to visit the port of Pela Huban.

The city was granted a level of autonomy, functionally separating it from Langkha, and the new arrivals were allowed a significant degree of social and political influence. This came with a number of restrictions, however. Most notably, inhabitants of the city were required to remain on Crane Island and were disallowed from venturing elsewhere in Kea Racha unless granted a special exemption.

Pela Huban's growth rapidly accelerated, fueled by the constant influx of immigrants from both elsewhere in Kea Racha and from abroad. With limited space to expand, many of the features of the modern city began to take shape.

Independence

After the death of the last Eternal Suzerain in Y9606^*, the Sangiran Empire began to disintegrate. Pela Huban remained part of the vestigial empire until Y9631^*, when the city-state declared independence alongside Langkha.

Though it was no longer bound by imperial decree, Pela Huban only continued to grow. Centuries of infrastructure and systems had been built to efficiently carry goods between the city and the rest of Kea Racha, and most simply found it convenient to continue to use the port as the primary gateway to the larger island.

In the absence of imperial administration, however, the law and order of Pela Huban broke down. Without the assistance of the Sangiran forces that previously bolstered their numbers, the Sentinels were unable to manage the city's overwhelming population. Gangs began to carve up portions of the city into their own fiefdoms, something that has continued to the present day.

Demographics

Individuals of every ancestry can be found in Pela Huban. Visitors and immigrants from around the world have made the city incredibly cosmopolitan, as people of all ancestries, backgrounds, and cultures live and work in close proximity to each other.

Pela Huban is arguably the largest city in the world, with an estimated one and a half million inhabitants. The exact population is not definitively known as past efforts at conducting a census have been stymied by the city's dysfunctional government and the constant influx of new residents. Roughly a million more people live just outside Pela Huban, on the opposite banks of the Blackwater River. Though officially residents of Langkha, it is not uncommon for people living there to travel across the river regularly for work and to visit marketplaces.

Culture

Religion

In Pela Huban's diverse and pluralistic society, just about every known deity in every pantheon has worshipers. Among others, Laverna, Hasamel, Tarhunz, and their respective aspects in other pantheons are particularly popular in Pela Huban.

Due to the lack of space, most temples in Pela Huban are not the sort of separate monumental buildings that they are elsewhere, but rather are built into ordinary mixed-use structures. Sometimes multiple temples can be found in the same building, which can occasionally cause issues if the deities in question have opposing positions.

Society

Where in other nations new acquaintances might include their hometown or region of origin when making introductions, in Pela Huban the city's precincts serve the same role.

A large number of gangs have claimed parts of the city for themselves, sometimes staking claims on buildings, entire blocks, stretches of streets, or parts of the sewers. Many run extortion rackets, demanding money in exchange for "safety". Gangs often have certain specialties, whether that be the use of particular types of magic, constructs, or something else - organizing along religious lines is not uncommon either. Feuds between these gangs are nearly constant, sometimes escalating to full conflict but usually kept to retributive murders at the most. In general these gangs try to keep open fighting to a minimum to avoid giving the Sentinels cause to interfere.

Pigeons and other birds are widely kept as pets in the city, and are frequently used as messengers.

Language

Just about every language in use in the world can be heard in Pela Huban. Walking through the crowded market stalls, one might simultaneously overhear conversations in tongues as varied as Orcish, Asharan, Jotun, and Undercommon. Sangiran and Common serve as lingua francas - most signs in the city are written in, at minimum, both of these languages.

Architecture and urbanization

Pela Huban is a very dense city, tall buildings separated by narrow, packed streets. Constructed of stone, wood, and bamboo, the majority of buildings are between eight and fifteen stories tall. Roofs commonly use a striking curved design that ends in spires on two sides, but some are flat to allow for additional usable space. Windows are included as much as it is structurally safe to do so, to allow light and air to enter the structures. Buildings designed as residences for the wealthy frequently include balconies, though it is not uncommon for residents of other buildings to construct their own makeshift balconies out of scrap material.

It is common for building exteriors to be decorated with paints, cloth flags, and other ornamentation, even at higher floors. Wires run across streets are used both for practical purposes, like drying laundry, and for aesthetic purposes, such as to hang colorful streamers and pendants. Some wealthy individuals maintain rooftop gardens, and those who cannot afford the roof space often put planter boxes in their windows.

Across the city, skyways and makeshift bridges connect the tall buildings, providing a means of traversal without needing to head down to the bustling thoroughfares. Many of these are hastily constructed and not precisely safe, and accidents and falls are not unusual.

Most buildings are mixed-use, and may contain residences, temples, warehouses, industry, and anything else that can fit.

Within each block, most structures are built into each other, using shared walls for support. Alleys between these buildings, where they exist, are usually very narrow. Some blocks have small courtyards in the center, but not all.

The streets of Pela Huban, already not very wide, are further crowded by the stalls that line both sides. Merchants selling food, drinks, clothing, and all manner of other items usually do so from street-side stalls or from their own homes, as dedicated space for a store usually comes at a premium.

City streets are laid out in evenly sized blocks, with some variation around the edges of the island. The streets were planned and built back when the city was part of the Sangiran Empire, and display the typical imperial preference for order and longevity.

As a matter of space, there are few parks in Pela Huban. Those that do exist are the private domains of the wealthy, and are usually walled off from the broader city. The only notable exception is Dragonclaw Park, a block-sized garden of bamboo and other greenery. Officially set aside for the use of the Auditor Judge, the current holder of the position, Lasan Shast Bachtiar has opened it up to the public. Dragonclaw Park has become known as a neutral ground for the city's many gangs, who use it as a space to meet safely to arbitrate disputes.

Most inhabitants of the city get fresh water from the Blackwater River, run through the city's filters before consumption. Though the vast majority of buildings have no plumbing, large pipes carry fresh water across the city so residents do not need to walk to the river for it all the time.

Precincts

Pela Huban is divided into precincts, which serve as the administrative and cultural borders of the city. These vary in size from a single block to a quarter of a square mile. Many precincts have particular reputations, whether that be for the level of wealth of their inhabitants, a particular industry, a widespread religious following, or a gang.

As an example, the Water's Retreat precinct consists of the old docks, before they were expanded further out to sea. The precinct is a slum, mostly home to dockworkers and their families. As it is constructed mostly on pile foundations over the water, the normal tall buildings could not be erected. Instead, Water's Retreat is a disorganized jumble of hastily constructed abodes of questionable quality.

Food and cuisine

The cuisine is a complex fusion of the food of many places. Primarily influenced by the cuisine of neighboring Langkha, food in Pela Huban incorporates influence from places around the world.

Aside from home cooking, street-side food stalls are the most popular way to get a meal in the city. Typical restaurants or taverns found elsewhere are practically nonexistent, as few can afford the seating space, and Hubanese inns are usually sleeping spaces only. These stalls sell everything from snacks to full meals and drinks, usually in forms that can easily be eaten on the go. Portable stoves in the stalls create a permanent haze of smoke in many streets of the city.

For many laborers in Pela Huban, lunch is delivered to them by the countless street vendors. Some workplaces have made arrangements with these vendors to provide regular meals at arranged prices,so the workers can easily acquire their midday food without having to make the commute to the stalls.

Pela Huban is incredibly reliant on constant food imports from the farms and fields of Langkha. Invisible to most residents of the city, one of the primary preoccupations of the city government is ensuring the succession of barges carrying food downriver does not cease. With such a large and concentrated population, Pela Huban would be in significant trouble if a major interruption occurred - some in the city estimate it would only take two days of missed shipments before food ran out and the city descended into even greater chaos.

Art

Street art is widespread in Pela Huban. It is not uncommon for murals at street level to suddenly appear overnight, or for them to just as quickly be covered over by another. These are by and large not done by conventionally trained artists, as the city has a culture of artistic expression even amongst the common people.

Similarly, buskers serve as a source of entertainment for the people of the city. These entertainers often incorporate music, dancing, and acting into their routines. Found on street corners across Pela Huban, some buskers are bards who have turned to public performance to support themselves. Minor magical tricks are frequently incorporated into these performances, in order to draw in crowds, but use of suggestive, mind-altering magic is strictly forbidden in this context due to the potentially dangerous situations it could produce. The actual enforcement of this ban is uneven at best.

Occupations

Although just about all jobs can be found in Pela Huban, a very sizable percentage of the city's population works on the docks. Cargo arrives from the Kilche Sea and the Blackwater River continually, which then needs to be sorted and either sent around the city or loaded back onto other ships. The docks are a chaotic mess at the best of times, as people carrying crates jostle around to get where they need to go quickly. Some enterprising merchants have begun using magical items to levitate their cargo around in order to speed up the process, though their endless theft has discouraged many.

To many in Pela Huban, it seems like the sanitation department of the city, known colloquially as the sweepers, is one of the few parts of the city government that actually functions. For their work in keeping the streets relatively clean of waste, the water mostly safe to drink, and the sewers somewhat clear of dangerous creatures, the sweepers are widely respected in Pela Huban. The role pays well and carries with it a certain level of prestige. The sweepers have an arrangement with the otyughs of the sewers and rely upon them heavily.

Travel

Within the city, most people travel on foot. The narrow, crowded streets make other means of travel difficult, though some wealthier individuals hire rickshaws to move around leisurely. Oared boats are also used to transport people between the waterside precincts. Most of these boats move along regular routes and can be hired for a small fee.

Heavily trafficked bridges connect Crane Island to the other banks of the river.

Immigration

Pela Huban continues to grow in population despite the already cramped living conditions for most. The majority of arrivals are from elsewhere in Kea Racha, or from one of the nations around the Gulf of Timakal, but a handful of immigrants come to the city from as far away as Hellea and Thadria. Most that make the city their new home do so in search of opportunities for wealth and success - the city's very low taxes and endless opportunities for connections are attractive to entrepreneurs, while most workers are drawn by the plentiful if not always well-paying jobs.

Magic

Though officially illegal, golem grafts and elemental augmentations are easy to acquire in Pela Huban's black market. Skilled mages and surgeons, usually working out of facilities behind inconspicuous storefronts, will upgrade the bodies of anyone willing to pay the price. These augments are popular among the wealthy of the city, as well as within the upper ranks of many gangs, both as a sign of prestige and for the powerful abilities they grant. The Sentinels rarely take any action against the grafters, though they are aware of most. Among Hubanese who run in the circles of the underworld, it is widely understood that many of the grafters work as informants in order to keep their operations running.

Black market

Anything can be found in Pela Huban, no matter how illegal or distasteful it may be. Most Sentinels see it as futile to try to curb the smuggling that goes on through the city, unless it is particularly egregious or dangerous, and some are even complicit in it themselves. If one knows where to look, anything from illicit magical items, poisons, exotic animals, people, flesh and blood for undead, and more can be bought in the city. Yadenan alchemical melange is especially popular among the elites of Pale Huban, and relatively easily obtained despite its dangers. Some merchants in the street-side markets maintain connections to those who can provide "special" goods, as long as one knows who to ask.

Sports

Racing through the city streets is popular, either on foot or using mounts.

Government

In general, the government of Pela Huban is rather hands-off towards life in the city. This is partially is out of a lack of willingness to clamp down on illegal but not immediately harmful activities, and partially out of an inability to manage the city's massive size.

Judiciary

Pela Huban has a rather unusual form of government, one based entirely on the judiciary and courts. The laws of the city are based on an extensive corpus of cases and judicial decisions, which form a precedent for any new situations that may arise. Laws are not something decided by a council or mayor, but rather are evolved over time by the conclusions of the city's many judges.

Each precinct of the city elects three executive judges for ten year terms, who hear any cases that have no clear precedent. Below them is a vast array of lower judges, also elected, who resolve issues relating to common disputes and crimes.

Above the executive judges is the auditor judge, a figure elected by the entire city. The auditor judge has the authority to strike down any decisions by the executive judges, for example if a case is decided in a manner clearly at odds with existing laws.

Sentinels

Though frequently overwhelmed and drastically understaffed, Pela Huban employs a large number of officers to keep order. Known as the Sentinels, this organization is intended to enforce the laws of the city. To many Hubanese, however, the Sentinels are seen as little different from the various organized gangs that de facto run sections of the city. Despite attempts at reformation by many judges, the Sentinels largely protect those who will pay for their services - bribery is rampant and seen as a fact of life to many in the city.

Each precinct has its own branch of the Sentinels, who often lack the resources or lines of communication to effectively cooperate.

Sentinels use a standard set of armor, lamellar of either leather, bronze, or steel, depending on the rank of the officer. Most Sentinels decorate their armor with the name or symbol of their precinct, and some include other emblems or phrases indicating their experiences or status.

A special branch of the Sentinels, called the Bloodhounds, handles especially serious crimes in the city. All Bloodhounds are skilled investigators or trained in divination magic, able to extrapolate from even the most tangential of clues. Bloodhounds have free reign of the city and a special status that grants them exemptions to many laws, as long as it is in pursuit of their work. Most Bloodhounds wear no uniform or obvious markings, preferring to blend in whenever possible.

Navy

Pela Huban maintains a small but formidable anti-piracy navy. This fleet operates along the trade routes of the Kilche Sea, protecting to the best of their abilities the merchant ships that are crucial to life in the city. In the last few decades vast amounts of the city's resources have been diverted into growing and maintaining this fleet, to the detriment of other aspects of the city. Massive junks have been constructed, some even reaching the scale of the old flagships of the Sangiran navy. Among residents of Pela Huban, some blame the state of the navy for the city's slow decay, claiming that it is taking away resources and manpower from protecting and supporting the people of the city.

Economy

Immense amounts of material pass through the port of Pela Huban every day. Referred to by some as the "Gateway to Kea Racha", a majority of merchant ships that ply the trade routes of the Kilche Sea consider Pela Huban to be their most important port of call. The city's docks are an unending flurry of activity, as crews work to move cargo day and night.

Despite the city's lack of space, Pela Huban does have industry of its own. Workshops, smithies, refineries, and more have been built wherever possible, often mixed in with residential buildings.