Valynth

"As the great generals do look upon their fortifications of stone and sword wielding soldiers, so too do I look upon mine: My walls of knowledge, my guardians of tomes, my swords of thought... Valynth, my city of scholars."
 * - Yulesh the Third, second Archdeen of the University of Valynth, 562PR.

Culture
The local residents of Valynth follow much the same ways of life as other peoples within the northern region of the Sellederre Empire, in that a strong caste system both divides and unifies the local community. A strong heritage of learning exists within the city, meaning that most residents are considered to be highly educated by common standards across the world of Varia. Furthermore, the geographical position of Valynth as a city bordering both The Grand Imperium Arcarnum, and Sellederre Empire has granted cultural and educational benefits from both societies.

Commerce
High prosperity across the entirety of the Sellederre Empire has ensured the limitation of poverty to the extremely unfortunate within Valynth, while easy access to professional mage's mean that manual labour is mostly regarded as a task of the past. As such, the majority of people within the city practice a professional trade of some kind, whether it be creative or scholastic in nature.

As Valynth acts as a gateway of sorts between the Sellederre Empire and The Grand Imperium Arcarnum, traders frequently pass through the region, ensuring easy coin for those with excess goods.

Politics
The city of Valynth is governed by a council of five Looka-Duj families. The role is mostly viewed as being difficult and unrewarding, and as such, this hereditary arrangement has rarely been objected to, meaning that the same five families have governed Valynth for over three hundred years with very few concessions of compromises granted in that time.

Each of the five families have developed differing interests within, and goals for, the city: As each of the five families are primarily interested in one of those five areas, the council represents and addresses a wide range of issues with relative efficiency. Interestingly, no one family is interested in the domain of militaristic defence of expansion, meaning that this area is often overlooked.
 * 1) Aesthetic growth,
 * 2) Scholarly development,
 * 3) Trade taxation,
 * 4) Social welfare,
 * 5) Diplomatic relations.

Problems
Recently, the city is known to have fallen into the hands of Grand Imperium Arcarnum soldiers, and as such all word from the city has ceased. The extent to which the soldiers have gained control of the city, or the losses from the battle area still entirely unknown, indicating that a strict regime must be being implemented by the foreign soldiers to stop information escaping.

University of Valynth
The University of Valynth is an exceptional building interested in a vast range of academic topics from culture to history. It is considered to be among the top institutions of learning in the Sellederre Empire, and has strong affiliations with the majority of influential scholars across that empire. The University of Valynth is currently infamous for it's dispute with Uermont the Bard, and consequent removal of his honourary title.

Pillar of Arkmendis
The Pillar of Arkmendis is one of the true mysteries of the world, and a key artefact of interest for scholars around the world. Standing at around five meters high, and made of some form of black gemstone, the pillar has become a symbol of inquiry for many scholars. Very little is known for certain about the artefact, aside from that it has been present since at least the period of ruination, and seems to subtly draw upon the arcane energies of the surrounding area.

Vault of Life
The vault of life was founded shortly after the period of ruination, and is said to hold a vast store of pre-ruination artefacts. Most of these artefacts are thought to be devoid of arcane energies, though are still of some scholastic interest. The vault itself is commonly regarded as being impenetrable to anyone who has not previously been guided through the most recent iteration of its defences, which notoriously change at frequent intervals. There exist only three ways of being guided into the vault: First, each head of the five council families are familiar with one of the five defences within the vault; second, the Archdean of the University of Valynth is known to have access to the vault; and finally, the protection of the Old Gods is thought to ensure the safety of the Empress if she ever wished to enter the vault without a guide.

Origins
Valynth was constructed as a scholarly community based around the Pillar of Arkmendis shortly after the period of ruination, and has steadily grown ever since. It has always been considered to reside within the Sellederre Empire, though has also traditionally been treated as a neutral city-state by both the Sellederre Empire and northern powers.

Recent
The city has recent fallen into the hands of soldiers from The Grand Imperium Arcarnum, and all information and news of the city has ended. Speculation and rumour of the cities fate abound, though the authenticity of those rumours are sceptical at best.