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Cetatsenia-Demoness Meeting
Topic Started: Nov 18 2013, 07:41 PM (8,299 Views)
Cetatsenia
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If one was to take a place from the nation of Demoness to Cetatsenia, one would most likely see the dichotomy that the nation was rather known for. In the southern parts of the nation one would notice the highlands, heavily forested and almost untouched by man aside from the winding roads and the occasional town. But further north, the terrain would give away to the lowlands of the Centric Basin. This land was flat, and lacked the expansive forests, though there were smaller isolated forests. But the main difference one would notice would be the level of development, it was dominated by a large amount of farmland as the lowland soil was incredibly fertile, but there was also the occasional city, bustling with people.

Albraustana-zid was one such city, and it was the primate city of Cetatsenia, the richest and most populous and most important of them all. It was built along both sides of the great Albastru River that ran through much of Cetatsenia, though most of it was on the southern bank of the river. This was because of the simple fact that Albraustana-zid had begun life as three separate forts and settlements built along the river. Albrau and Stana had been built on the Southern bank, and over time had grown together until they were finally united into Albraustana. And while Zid would eventually become part of the greater whole, for a long time it was simply considered a city separated from the capital only by the river.

Since it had grown organically over the numerous years, and had once been three separate cities, the streets and roads had a habit of being winding and could be complicated to navigate for those unfamiliar with them who had no map. Though the roads had over time been widened and revamped in order to accommodate cars, and the newest sections of the city on the outskirts actually had a gridded street plan. As it was the middle of the day, the streets were currently filled with cars and buses, and the sidewalks filled with pedestrians, while the newest addition to the city's transportation network, the subway system, ran below the streets.

While there was a number of attractions in the city, such as the museums and baths, one of the most prominent is the Palatul Regal, the Royal Palace. The site of the original settlement of Albrau and lying atop a hill, it has been torn down or otherwise destroyed and then subsequently rebuilt several times throughout history. The most recent being the ascension of Ioan I to the throne of Cetatsenia, though it has been renovated and updated since then.

The Palace itself is surrounded by a wall that rings the entirety of the hill, with only a single gate leading up to it. The wall is patrolled by a special corps of Cetatsenian soldiers, easily identified by their bright blue ceremonial uniforms and ornate, pointed helmets. After that, a road lead up to the palace proper, an expansive building with a stone exterior that shared more in common with a medieval castle than what one thinks of when they hear the word 'palace'. It was home to a fair number of servants, as well as the guardsmen, and a small number of government officials. Most of those lived out in the city, and worked in their own buildings. It was absolutely huge, and in front of it was an expansive pool of water. Overall, it was an impressive sight that could be seen from a good portion of the city.

At the moment, however, Voivode Gavril IV Suveraneshti was not at his home in the palace. Rather he was at the airport, which had been cleared of any citizens besides him, the guards arrayed with him, and those who worked there; all flights to this airport had either been delayed or rerouted to other nearby airports. Today was an important day, as this was the decided upon day of Jia Li's visit to Cetatsenia. As two nations whose relationship could be accurately described as "mutually neutral", this was a rather important meeting, and Gavril did not want to mess anything up. So he stood alongside his older sister Andreea, the Steward of Cetatsenia, in the airport, ready to head out onto the tarmac to greet the Empress as soon as her plane set down.
Edited by Cetatsenia, Apr 22 2014, 09:58 PM.
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Cetatsenia
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"Well, Albraustana-zid is my personal Banate and ze land zat I control directly," Gavril said, "Bani are ze lowest level of nobility in Cetatsenia, and a Banate consists of a settlement and ze surrounding area; ze rest of Insemnat is under ze control of zeir Bani, zough zey all answer to me and are nowhere near as difficult to deal wiz as ze Knezi. As for Albraustana-zid, I am ze highest auzority but ze day-to-day running of ze city is left up to ozers."

"Oh, Insemnat comprises ze entirety of ze Centric Basin; all of Cetatsenia's lowlands, essentially," Gavril added, in case Jia Li wasn't familiar with the divisions of his nation.
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Demoness
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The explanation didn't help Jia Li much, as the equivalency in her nation was essentially ancient history - and not a direct correlation, if one read contemporaneous accounts from the stewards of that time. "Is that how all the knezates work? They all report to you? I'm sorry. I'm not actually that familiar with how your government functions," she apologized.
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Cetatsenia
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Gavril had to stop and think for a moment, trying to figure out a way to explain. However, before he did gavrila piped up with her input. "All right, so you have zree levels of nobles: ze Bani, ze Knezi, and ze Voivode, okay? Okay. And all of ze nobles have absolute auzority in zeir own area," Gavrila said, "All Bani are underneaz a Knez who zey report to and all ze Knezi report to ze Voivode. Gavril here doubles as Insemnat's Knez and all ze Knezi are ze Ban of zeir capital." At her last sentence she put her arm around Gavril's shoulder and smiled.

"Yes, I suppose zat is a good explanation of it," Gavril said, a bit surprised that his cousin had answered the question, "Do you have any ozer questions?"
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Demoness
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"No, that I understand," Jia Li said, mentally comparing it to her own structure. The Imperial Family technically owned all land that hadn't belonged to a Clan, but it had its own territory surrounding the capital city in order to generate income and assure its own independence - which, of course, varied throughout history.

"It sounds a bit like how the Clans functioned several centuries ago, before they surrendered their land rights," she continued. "And that was voluntary, as their power had passed from the physical land to other aspects, so it made sense at the time to surrender it. Most of the Clan's estates have grown into formidable cities on their own."
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Cetatsenia
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Gavrila grinned even wider, her arm moving from Gavril's shoulder to elbow him in ze stomach playfully, "I am pretty good at explaining zings, nu sunt eu?"

Gavril nodded his head in agreement, "Yes, yes you can be. Zough I could have done it if you had let me zink."

Then the Voivode turned his attention back to the Empress. "I will admit zat our system of governing does seem to be a razer archaic one at times. But it has worked well so far," Gavril said, "And it is not as zough nozing has changed over ze centuries. But ze Knezi's more abstract power is still tied to ze land zat zey control, so I do not see zem giving up zat right any time soon." At that he chuckled a bit.

"I have to ask, how large are ze Clan's estates?" Andreea asked, "And are zey considered to be simply cities, or are zey in zeir own category?
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Demoness
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"Our country is divided into wards. The wards named for the Clans encompasses most of their historical lands, though it really only reflects the Great Clans and the adjustments Empress Kyo Du made for her allies following Unity," Jia Li replied. "So they are quite large, in essence. Houses had their own lands, of course, but those were given to them by their Clans and is counted as part of it. The Lesser Clans' territory is of less significance as well and do not directly coincide with ward boundary lines either. 'Estates' coincide with their 'capital' cities or their major seats of power. Many of them maintain them as historical sites, but they also have relocated their estates to a site near the older ones." She nodded. "They are quite nice as well," she added, reflecting on the only visit she had ever able to make.

Notably, she could not show any favoritism toward any Clan, so if she visited one Clan, she had to visit them all. It was why all the Great Clans were extended invitations to all state functions. However, she had made a special exception for her cousin's wedding, since they had been close even as children, and she hadn't cared what they thought. In retrospect, it had been a dangerous move since it followed the Civil War and the last thing she needed was to show further deviance from tradition, but Yuri had done just as much to shield her and her sister from her father as her guards had; she owed her. However, her Katsuragi grandmother had always distanced herself from Jia Li and rarely treated her as anything other than the Empress; though she knew it had been compensation - a direct bloodline association with the Empress upset the Clans' balance too much - she often wondered how her grandmother felt about her.
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Cetatsenia
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Gavril listened intently, nodding his head in understanding. It was an interesting setup, though he figured the Lesser Clans' territory might get confusing if they did not match up with the Wards, it seemed like it might be a recipe for some form of incident.

"Why have some of ze Clans relocated zeir Estates?" Gavril asked, "And why would zey relocate to somewhere near ze old sites instead of simply keeping ze old site as zeir Estate?"
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Demoness
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"The old estates were their seats of power, so keeping new estates there made sense. The 'new' estates are still several centuries old and have been renovated a handful of times," Jia Li explained. "The 'old' estates are their fortresses. It's a bit hard to install indoor plumbing or central air in an old castle, so in the end they moved because of modern conveniences."
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Cetatsenia
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Gavril gave an embarrassed laugh. "Ah yes, I forgot about age," he said, "It was difficult renovating ze Palatul Regal to give it modern amenities, I can only imagine how much harder it would have been for somezing as old as zeir old estates."

Gavrila giggled a bit and slapped her cousin on the back, "Nice one Gavril."
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Demoness
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Jia Li laughed. "Yes, I imagine so. Thankfully, I didn't have many issues with the Palace, except for the electricity. The Palace had a fairly advanced sewer and water system and has really only needed maintenance." She shrugged. "With the large windows, we still utilize a lot of natural light, but it's nice to have proper wiring. And of course, things need to be replaced as well, and that was difficult." She tilted her head. "What did you have to do?"
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