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--- geography:settlement:piam [2025/11/12 14:40] – patrigan
+++ geography:settlement:piam [2025/11/23 11:19] (current) – patrigan
@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 {{page>templates:infobox:settlement}}
-Piam, the white city. Built from white rocks carved from the stones of the mountain range surrounding the [[geography:Blankwi Basin]]. Said to be founded by [[pantheon:deity:calli|]].
+Piam is a radiant oasis-city built from pure white stone in the heart of the [[geography:blankwi_basin|Blankwi Basin]]. Founded by [[pantheon:deity:calli|Calli]], Sage of Sun, Wind, Loyalty, Knowledge, Darkness, and Protection, Piam represents freedom, artistic expression, wild beauty, and above all communal respect. Every soul is welcome here.
-==== Background ====
+The city gleams like a beacon against the desert sands — a blank canvas the people paint with spiraling banners, colored glass ornaments, and the music carried on endless winds.
-Piam has always been a sight to behold. At first, you barely notice its existence, as the houses are as white as the sands that surround it. But as you come closer, you see that Piam is a green oasis in the otherwise blank Blankwi Basin. Water seems to be pulled from underground aquifers and many passagesways into these underground lakes exist.
+===== Background =====
+==== Founding and Legends ====
+Calli, the most loyal and calm of the Seven Sages, was said to wander the desert as a sandstorm with eyes — eyes that always turned away, shielding mortals from her true form. She arrived in the Blankwi Basin guided by her close companion [[pantheon:deity:guaar|Guaar]], Sage of Water, who revealed the underground lakes beneath the sands.
+Calli vowed to create life here, just as her “elder sister” [[pantheon:deity:arbia|Arbia]] had grown forests in Iaras. She shaped the basin, drew windpaths through the stone, and with Guaar’s help opened the aquifers that would sustain her new city.
+Piam grew around the oasis she revealed — a testament to endurance, beauty, and the belief that all people, no matter their origin, deserve a place to belong.
+==== Architecture ====
+Piam’s architecture resembles a desert Santorini:
+  * structures carved from bright white stone
+  * wind-channels carved into rooftops
+  * domes tinted pale green
+  * openings everywhere to let cooling breezes flow
+  * minimal glass (to allow airflow), but where used, it shines with brilliant color
+The city rises in tiers toward the **Upper Oasis**, an elevated garden fed by hidden water channels. The eight outer walls of Piam each hold a gate, forming the city’s circular protective structure.
+The underground level is just as important. Below the city lie vast aquifers: cavern-lakes filled with coral, crystal, singing stone, and ancient ruins. Each aquifer has its own culture and inhabitants.
+===== Culture and Faith =====
+Piam’s people are known for their expressive creativity and fierce mutual respect. Racism, arrogance, and cruelty are strongly condemned. While competition is common — especially in arts, performance, and martial skill — it is always paired with communal support.
+Music is a spiritual act.
+It is communication, memory, ritual, and magic.
+Though instruments are more common than pure voice magic, the winds themselves carry song, making Piam feel alive with shifting melodies.
+Worship of Calli is central:
+  * The sun creates the shadows — darkness is simply light’s echo
+  * Endurance is a virtue
+  * Loyalty is a sacred promise
+  * Knowledge is a guardian of freedom
+The city welcomes all other deities, with shrines to Arbia, Ignor, Loumos, Guaar, and more.
+=== Festivals and Traditions ===
+**Festival of Singing Winds (Mid Winter):**
+A massive multi-stage concert held just outside the city walls. Artists and travelers fill the desert with music, while Piam’s galleries unveil their finest artwork.
+**Blessing of the Sunstone (Mid Summer):**
+In the central plaza stands the **Great Sunstone**, a massive crystal absorbing sunlight year-round. Its outer layers are chipped away in ritual, distributing powerful enchanted fragments to the city, honored citizens, factions, and chosen travelers.
+This ritual renews the protective **Sunstone Barrier**, which shields Piam from elementals, Wild Colossi, and lethal sandstorms.
+=== Local Customs and Etiquette ===
+A unique formal greeting is intentionally left undefined for player choice.
+Other customs include:
+  * respecting stillness during strong winds — a sacred moment to Calli
+  * offering water freely to those in need
+  * avoiding loud conflicts in public squares
+  * reverence for singers, defenders, and scholars
+===== Government and Power =====
+==== Sage Rule ====
+Piam has been under martial rule since a long-ago incident with the [[organisation:faction:shadows_of_spefur|Shadows of Spefur]]. The Sage holds primary authority, supported by:
+  * **The Order of the Sages** — guardians of law, desert rangers, and water protectors
+  * **The Beholders** — scholars who guard ancient ruins and maintain magical security
+  * **The Windriders** — scouts and rumor-gatherers riding trained desert beasts
+Sage **Aleto of the Whitemane**, a Katari Leonin, rules with strict discipline and great humility.
+==== Sage Selection ====
+Candidates must survive the **Trial of the Desert**, a brutal endurance test submitted by the Beholders, the Windriders, and the Order.
+They traverse the desert with minimal supplies while assaulted by magic from afar.
+Many perish; the survivors earn the right to be Sage.
+===== Economy and Trade =====
+==== Exports ====
+  * Legendary colored glass (world-famous)
+  * White stone
+  * Desert dyes and powdered pigments
+  * Sunstone fragments
+  * Crystal from aquifer walls
+  * Water-brewed wines
+  * Desert spices and perfumed oils
+==== Imports ====
+  * Metal (from [[geography:settlement:rudiana|Rudiana]])
+  * Wood (from [[geography:settlement:iaras|Iaras]])
+  * Food (mostly from [[geography:settlement:kalzendil|Kalzendil]])
+  * Arcane tools (from [[geography:settlement:rurua|Rurua]])
+  * Illicit goods traded with [[geography:settlement:borunoa|Borunoa]]
+===== City Relations =====
+**Kalzendil:** deeply respected, major food supplier
+**Rudiana:** close ally, imports white stone & ores
+**Iaras:** good relations; Piam attempts reforestation aid
+**Rurua:** strong arcane partnership (Beholders active in both cities)
+**Toru:** trusted maritime ally
+**Borunoa:** dangerous trading partner; careful diplomacy
+**Tractas:** welcomed when near the basin’s entrance
+===== Geography =====
+The [[geography:blankwi_basin|Blankwi Basin]] is filled with ancient ruins, shattered boats from a lost lake, shifting dunes, and elemental dangers. Long ago, the basin was a massive lake at the heart of an advanced civilization using steampunk-like technology. A catastrophic explosion shattered the mountain rim, draining the lake into the sea.
+Piam was built atop these ruins — some still buried and active.
+==== Climate and Environment ====
+  * Extremely warm desert climate
+  * Strong, constant winds
+  * Cool interiors due to white stone and airflow design
+  * Underground areas are temperate and humid
+  * Elementals, Wild Colossi, scorpions, sand-spirits, and ruins litter the region
+  * Nomads rarely travel here except when Tractas passes the basin entrance
+==== Travel and Access ====
+Travel is hazardous due to elementals, shifting sands, and ruins. Access routes include:
+  * Eight city gates in the outer walls
+  * Windrider patrol paths
+  * Desert runner routes
+  * Narrow canyon roads carved through ancient stone
+The Sunstone Barrier protects Piam from the worst of the desert’s wrath.
+Piam endures as a city of light, wind, song, and unity — a place where creativity and loyalty shine as brightly as the desert sun.
 ===== Notable People =====
@@ Line 24: / Line 145: @@
 location.area        : Blankwi Basin
 settlement.type      : Great City
-settlement.leader    :
+settlement.leader    : Aleto of the Whitemane
-settlement.government :
+settlement.government : Martial Sage Rule (Meritocratic)
-settlement.primary_demographic : Beastkin
+settlement.primary_demographic : Beastkin (Katari, Faun), Humans, Elves, Coralfolk, Others
-settlement.alias     :
+settlement.alias     : The White City, Oasis of Winds, Calli’s Refuge
-settlement.touchstones : Santorini
+settlement.touchstones : Santorini, Silk Road Oases, Arcane Desert Cities
 ----

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