Nova Carthago - the Holy City

Overview of the City:
Nova Carthago is the seat of "power" for the Proximian Faith, ruled by the faith's sovereign the Proximus Vitem Mortem. Its layout is indicative of its Proximian roots, the entire city a perfect circle with the Parthenon serving as the precipice of its architecture. From this city-state, the entirety of the orthodox worship of the Proxima is managed. It is the Holy of Holy’s, the Divine City; a Mecca.

Its entire construction is comprised of white marble giving it an almost blinding quality from a distance in the midday sun. Carved from a single mountain that rose up from the plains of Illian’s heartland, it is a tiered city with the peak serving as the focal point for the Faith’s structure. The city is divided into six distinct districts, each separated by a fortress wall and tiered down towards the base of the mountain from the peak. The Donarium occupies the precipice followed by the Certum, The Praefator, The Forum, The Atria Sylva, and The Quiddam in that order.

Formerly, it was the capital of the Illian Empire until the Vendilyrian Schism and thus; it like its sister city Nova Indomitus, was designed to be an impregnable fortress. The city was constructed around the Parthenon, which was established years prior as the premier temple to the Faith. Aqueducts crisscross throughout the city, providing fresh running water along with an intricate sewer system buried in the mountain.

It is one of the largest trade city’s in the world, and the largest in Ebira fielding goods from all across the continent and the world as millions of the faithful make pilgrimages to the Parthenon every year. It stands in stark contrast to its sister city, Nova Indomitus. The crime rate is low, streets heavily patrolled by Proximian Templars. Poverty is low as well due to temple programs to lend aid to the less fortunate.

While each district serves a primary function, the sheer size of Nova Carthago has led to each district functioning as though it was its own city; each with shops and craftsmen, homes and government offices to get people through their daily lives.

The Donarium - Temple Complex:
The Donarium sits at the peak of the city and contains all government and clerical offices; it is from here that the Faith is maintained and the city is ran. The towering Parthenon sits in its center, flanked on three sides by administrative buildings. Directly north of the Parthenon sits the Divus Arcis, which served as the seat of the Illian senate during Nova Carthago’s time as the imperial capital. Now it hosts all meetings of the Magisters when they are summoned by the Proximus.

To the Southwest of the Parthenon, is the Divus Ensis from where the Primus Aetherius commands the Templars and the Crusaders. Once, it held the upper eschelon of the Illian Legion. To the Southeast is the Divus Armum. It once served as the Palace of the Magnus Basileus and now functions as the central offices for the clergy and their clerical leader, the Castus Veneratus.

Other Districts
The Certum is primarily a residential district and serves to house all the members of the clergy that live within the city along with some of the wealthy elite. It; like the other districts wraps all the way around the mountain, flanked on both sides by towering alabaster walls.

The Praefator serves as a primarily residential district as well, housing the largest percentage of the city’s population. From rich to poor, the majority of Nova Carthago’s citizens reside here. It is second only to the Forum in trade, littered with shops to support the massive population.

The Forum is like a great bazaar, with the occasional cluster of small homes shoved against one of the walls that flank either side of the ring. Here all of Nova Carthago’s trade coalesces. It hosts goods both exotic and mundane from all over the world and is second only to Nova Indomitus in goods available, though the differences are minimal. From spices to slaves, if it is for sale anywhere in the world the same is probably true for The Forum. It serves also as the primary district for entertainment, from street performers to theaters. It is here that Nova Carthago's branch of the Scarlet Vault exists.

The Atria Sylva is the first true district visitors to Nova Carthago see. It is the largest of the primary districts and houses the wealthiest of the city’s populace. Entire groves of trees bordering on forests, elegant gardens filled with flora and fauna of an almost other-wordly splendor, fountains and ponds all perfectly manicured fill the district with large mansions and estates dotting its landscape. Beyond the Atria Sylva is the moat that wraps around the city, flanked on either side by the fifth and sixth of the city’s massive walls. Four drawbridges in each of the cardinal directions carry travelers across the moat which is kept at arctic temperatures by means known only by the upper-echelon of the temple hierarchy.

The Quiddam
Opposite of the Atria Sylva, the Quiddam sits on the other side of the frigid waters that surround the primary city. It forms the border of Nova Carthago with the Illian Empire in the form of a massive citadel wall that spans in a perfect circle around the city for a thousand miles, broken only by the occasional towering structure serving as fortresses to provide the first line of defense for the city in the event of a siege. Between the citadel wall and the first wall of the city is over seventy thousand square miles of farmland littered with small villages. In this vast expanse is where the great coliseum of Nova Carthgao was constructed.

It is because of the Quiddam, that Nova Carthago is fully self sufficient during a siege so long as the citadel wall is not breached.