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 along the pavement, 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 very 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 Y8130*, 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
Traditions
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.
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
Food and cuisine
Art
Occupations
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. 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 commonplace.
Oared boats are also used to transport people between the waterside precincts. Most move along regular routes and can be hired for a small fee.
Heavily trafficked ridges 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. Most new 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.
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.
Education
Government
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.
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.