Guldoval

Guldoval is the southernmost large city of The Empire. It is a coastal city on the river and a large trading hub. Xan Shidal is a part of it.

Description
Guldoval represents some of the best of the empire’s philosophy, the seamless integration of magic and technology, industry and nature. It is therefore uncanny to many people that amidst the collapse of the Empire, Guldoval has become the eye of the storm.

The natives don’t think it’s strange at all, and nor does anyone who has spent any amount of time in the area. The Guldoval region is known for its easygoing and flexible attitude – a place with a little bit of anything can, after all, make it through anything. While the leaders of other parts of the continent scramble to figure out what to do, Guldoval’s regency waits and listens. And they can afford to – their citizens are fed, their harbours are bustling, and as the place where magic and technology meet, the region looks no less attractive to any of its former sister states.

That the leaders prefer to sit and wait is, again, hardly surprising for anyone who has been to the area. Natives like to go with the flow and take things as they come, and with their glib charisma, it usually works out fairly well for them. Though the people here aren’t always reliable, they tend to be unpretentious and infectiously likable. They take care of their own and are quick to accept newcomers into the fold. Many are deft communicators, as likely to regale you with extraordinary stories as to charm you into gambling away the last of your coin. Relatedly, a native Guldovald’s down-to-earth nature should never be confused for laziness. The people are hardworking and as busy as the landscape – they just know how to kick back and enjoy themselves, too.

Since well before the Empire was founded, Guldoval has been something of a meeting place, friendly to people of all ideas and backgrounds, welcoming to traders and travelers. Its key location in many trade routes has always ensured that a diversity of people – as well as financial stability, with or without the empire. A mercantile class has developed here that is entirely different from the corporate and capitalistic world of Arca, and even somewhat hostile towards it. The salesmen here are hardly soulless, typically small-time and local, and involved in a wide range of business (with an equally wide range of legitimacy). They are perhaps most famous for their concentration in Xan Shidal, the flashiest and most opulent tourist trap in the empire. Xan Shidal, the city of golden lights, is widely denounced as tacky and over the top… and, in testament to its popularity, just as widely attended by its detractors.

Additional info

 * Key concepts: Harmony, diversity, integration, lackadaisical
 * Virtues: Flexibility, vivacity, dynamism
 * Vices: Noncommital, elusive, guileful
 * People who would live here: Iroh, Chie Satonaka, Edward Elric, Gin Ichimaru, Varric, Ezio Auditore