Shi'Kharia

Overview
Shi'Kharia is the capital city of the Kingdom of Academia, and also the primary setting of the story.

Appearance
The city of Shi'Kharia is a beautiful city with pale white buildings and plenty of canals. Transportation is easy on the passenger canal boats as well as on the broad streets and bridges. Large buildings and palaces are scattered throughout the city, the palaces richly decorated with tall spires or domes emblazoned with bands of crimson, black, and gold.

The city is surrounded by a very thick white wall, which has three main gates as well as several minor ones. Throughout the city, paved squares are very common, often containing a fountain bubbling water, a large statue, or both. Out of these squares, Yaelna Square - named after a great hero of a thousand or so years ago - is by far the largest. At its center stands a statue of a woman with one arm raised as to point toward the sea. One entire side of the Yaelna Square is dominated by the gleaming white Royal Palace, home of the current ruler of the country of Academia.

Merchants line most of the streets, some the wealthy kind with their own shops or a large, ornate wagon with awnings and the like set up to give it the aesthetic of a complete shop; others merchants working small stalls, hawking their wars and trying to get the attention of passersby. Those who pass through the streets are the wealthy as well as the poor and middle class, though the difference between woolen tunics and breeches and individuals wearing their silken variety is very easy to spot.

Society
Shi'kharia's society is very highly advanced in both magic and technology, and is generally respected as a hub of trade and travel between the various lands of the continent.

Their hierarchy is based around one's birth, as well as (in some cases) how affluent one is.

Royalty & Prime Minister
Shi'Kharia is governed over by allegedly equal parts the Royal Family, and equal parts The Ministry and Prime Minister. There are areas where reach and responsibilities overlap, but it's generally understood that the Royal Family and Prime Minister are more or less on equal footing. While one is born into royalty, the Prime Minister is elected by the people via democratic vote.

Local Nobility
The Noble Class are individuals whose families are old and established in the realm, usually with their ancestors having done something to distinguish themselves from the rest in times of war, or times of economic crisis. These many millennia into the growth and expansion of Academia, most members of Nobility are at least distant relatives of one another, though they still conspire and manipulate events to try and one-up the other Houses while simultaneously maintaining a front of power and unity to those they call the "little people" (non-royals, non-nobility).

Religious Officials of Recognized Religions
Many religions exist in the world, but those that have been formally Recognized by The Ministry and Royal Family usually have a section of Shi'Kharia City where construction on a place of worship and gathering can be set up, and those occupying the uppermost top 3 or less positions within the religion's hierarchy will have status and bearing relevant to their roles.

Foreign Nobility
Nobility from other lands whose countries are in good standing with Academia. They are treated with the honor and respect owed to foreign dignitaries, though they are still of lesser standing (locally) than the local Nobility.

Wealthy Merchants
Generally born to either wealthy merchants, or even born Commoners, these are the most successful, prosperous and powerful of Merchants, whose reach and influence is only a few small levels below that of a Noble.

Commoners
Everyday people, usually the Middle-Class. These might be Blacksmiths, Silversmiths, Innkeepers, soldiers, lesser Knights, etc.

Peasantry
The poor, impoverished, poor farmers, and more. While the economy has flourished in the past couple centuries, there are still the occasional few hundred or so who still slip through the cracks, or who are impoverished during times of war, and children who are orphaned when their parents and older siblings went off to fight.

Forms of Travel
Being advanced in both technology and magic, Shi'Kharia is home to several different forms of travel.

Flight
There are various airships that travel through the sky to various destinations fueled by both magic and technological means. The exceptionally wealthy usually have one or two airships of their own, as does the military.

Tram
A vast underground network of interconnected tunnels accessed via a subway system.

Boat
Along the docks, various trade ships, leisure ships, and exploration vessels can be seen far and wide. Those with coin can usually find a ship to take them to another location, eliminating the need for a horse, carriage, or the other rigors of road travel.

Portal
There is a vast network of portals leading throughout Academia and some of the surrounding lands. There are also some portals, accessible only to The Ministry and members of Royalty and Nobility, that are speculated to cover even greater ground and even access places accessible by no other portals.

Currency
The currency is the same as throughout Academia, starting with copper pennies:

1 copper penny (equiv. to about $0.10 real-world currency)

10 copper pennies = 1 silver penny (equivalent to about $1 real-world USD)

10 silver pennies = 1 silver mark (equiv. to about $10 real-world USD)

10 silver marks = 1 silver crown (equiv. to about $100 real-world USD)

10 silver crowns = 1 gold mark (equiv. to about $500 real-world USD)

10 gold marks = 1 gold crown (equiv. to about $1000 real-world USD)

(Comparisons to real-world currency meant to distinguish just how far each kind of coin can get somebody, and whether the rich, the middle-class, or the poor might be found with which.)

Locations

 * Shi'Kharia City
 * Royal Shi'Kharia Security Division HQ
 * Market District
 * The Grand Bank of Academia
 * The Auction House
 * The Docks
 * The Shipyard
 * Mage's Quarter
 * Portal Chambers
 * Warehouse District
 * The Ministry
 * The Royal Palace
 * The Royal Gardens
 * The Training Yards

Story Arcs
The story unfolds as the authors write the stories. Here, events will be separated into "Chapters" based upon the events between timeskips, and/or every so many months in real-time.

Arc One
Coming Soon...

Arc Two
Coming Soon...

Arc Three
Coming Soon...