Present Zelpha

[MasterRuler]

The pincipality of Ivendell, that distant political entail that sits on the coast of Bali, has a population of about four and a half million people and stretches out over two hundred square miles. The principality includes the vast and enormous city of Ivendell, and a number of large estates surrounding it. Ivendell was originally called Neobaliopolis. It was the centerpiece for the Mortikanian expansion into the nation.

The city is an immense metropolis, and a gorgeous, cosmopolitan area. From the steep bluffs that fall into the ocean, the city rises up, spreading itself across the gentle knoll that perch above the ocean. The eastern party of the city is larger, both in terms of height and due to the fact that from the eastern hills, the city slopes down in a sort of gentle bowel towards the ocean.

Monte di Neobaliopolis

The mount, as it’s called, was the ancient and original stronghold for the city’s first Kenjikan rulers. It has since become the focal point of governance for the city. It is connected to the mainland by a long, wide bridge called the Molise Avenue, that connects the Imperial Quarter and the Capital District to the rest of Ivendell. The Capital district Is home to the vast mansions of the high nobility, as well as lesser buildings to house the bureaucracy. The Mount is a gently sloping hill which is terraced, giving the villas and mansions amazing views of the ocean. More inclosed in this area is the Imperial Quarter. The imperial Quarter is a large square surrounding the capital building and the official residence of the Sovereign of Ivendell.  Around the perimeter of the square, sharing a back with the surrounding wall, are high ranking government buildings, There are four gates on the four sides of the Square wall (The square is shaped like a rectangle). To the North, south, east and west the gates open onto the four main roads of the island.

The Imperial Diet Building

The Veneto District

The Veneto District is the financial district of the city. It’s filled with huge high rise buildings. The soaring sky scrapers and banks are located here, along with all the major business head quarters of the city. The Veneto District is arguably the economic center not only for the city, but also for the Principality and the island in general. Ivendell is much more developed than the national capital, and since the rise of Prince Leto, has become the center both politically and economically of the entire island. Thus, this district which contains banks, stock exchanges and other major firms, is perhaps one of the most important areas of the city. The main street in the Veneto is Calabria Street, which had become synonymous with fortune and wealth. South of Calabria Street is a very different neighborhood within the Veneto District, referred to as the Soca.

Soca is home to the docks and the warehouses that house the commercial imports of the city. The district is filled with small, modest homes that are primarily occupied by university students and liberal thinkers. Artists of all mediums call this district home. The Warehouses of SoCa are the largest in the city. This is the port area of the city, its lifeline. The warehouses are situated here for connivence. They line the culdesac, and most of the street front from the square down. They store many things, and are government and privately owned. Although the warehouses of Ivendell are huge and numerous, there is always a surplus shipment. This surplus is sold to independent merchants who set up stalls all around the small squares of the distrct creating a sort of connected, united series of markets. This is considered a city highlight for its always fun to go to the wharf and shop at the markets. “The cafes” is a name given to the coffee shops, tea houses, and small restaurants that surround the markets, set in small spaces between warehouses in the first stories of shops and such. The intellectuals come here, to live the bohemian life, discussing things in the informal setting of a cafe, looking out over the ocean (as opposed to that of the formal forums of the Imperial Diet)

The Ivendell Stock Exchange building is perhaps the most important building in the city. It’s located right off of Zelpha Bloulevard. The architecture is in the classical art deco style. Decorated with ornate gargoyles and stone maidens. The first three stories of the buildings is a large apartment store, for the wealthy. Clothes and shoes and all sorts of things are sold here, their main buyers being upper class woman. The store is called 'Lady Bush's Popular clothing for the fashionable Woman' or simply 'Ladies'. The next five stories are luxurious apartment suits, for rent (used by the wealthy).  The building is a perfect square, with a large eight story base. The next twenty two stories are in the square of the tower. The building comes to a large glass dome, at the twenty fifth. From the dome, a large thin tower ascends, with a light on top to show airplanes and airships how tall the building in. The Bush family resides in the penthouse, of the upper five stories.

The Alto District

The Alto district is the primary commercial district. From the eastern wall of the city, the city slopes down to the ocean. The Alto district is thusly hilly and steeply. This lends the district a sort of charm. Especially when one considers that a huge immigrant population lives in this district. Both Celestials and Pasvies live here, left over from the various occupations of those different, respective foreign powers.

The main street in the Alto is Katain Street. The street is dominated by some of Ivendell's most innovative architecture, some of the city's most posh hotels, expensive shopping centers filled with designer shops, and office buildings. Restaurants and bars here cater to Ivendell's white-collar workers. Although hotel choices in Alto are limited to the upper-range, staying here makes you feel like a resident yourself, as you rub elbows with the well-dressed professional crowds. Yet Alto is also packed with traditional Balican restaurants, outdoor markets, and the neon signs of family-run businesses. Trams -- certainly one of Ivendell's most endearing sights -- chug their way straight through Alto. The neighborhood even has oases of greenery at Chater Garden, popular with office workers for a lunchtime break, the Zoological and Botanical Gardens, and Ivendell Park with its museum of teaware, housed in Ivendell's oldest colonial-age building.

The Imperial Library

The main library of use is on Zelpha Ave (although there is one in Imperial Square). The Library building is huge, forty stories high. It is shaped like a rocket ship, with outcroppings of decorative steal tubing rising to the top, where another statue of a vaguely humanoid form stands. The library has huge glass windows. Only the first twenty stories of the library are used to store books. The rest of the building is used for offices, to publish books, and the librarians. From every few stories the stone shape of a mermaid juts out, decorating this building (like all) in the art deco style. The first twenty stories, the actual library is built with an indoor atrium. Around it are the various levels, lined with books and chairs, looking out on the city with comfy fires look down to the atrium.

The Marche District

One of the main attractions in Ivendell are the beaches. And the Marche has some of the best beaches. The waves are bigger, the water cleaner, and the beaches more inviting. First to be developed, The Marche Hotel officially covers only the lower two-thirds of the beach. The northern third known as Leme. That said, it's impossible to tell where Leme ends and the Hotel begins. The Marche is a modern neighborhood, consisting almost exclusively of large townhouses and graceful villas. Behind the Marche there's a lagoon, the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, which is circled by a pleasant 8.5km (5.25-mile) walking/cycling trail. At its north end, farthest from the beach, stand the two quiet residential neighborhoods of Lagoa and Jardim Botânico, the latter named for the extensive botanical gardens around which the area grew.

The Terebethia District

The ancient city upon which Ivendell is founded was long destroyed when the Dark Lord decided to colonize it. All that remained of that huge, Kenjikan masterpiece was a few villages situated among the stony ruins of the mostly destroyed metropolis.

The dark lord used the mountain (that had in the old days only been used as a vacation playground) to build his keep and start his new town. The Ive tribe that was sent to settle the region preferred the mainland, and set themselves up in what would grow to become Terebethia. Because of it’s tradition as a hot spot for dissension, it has remained a sort of foil to the Imperial Quarter and the city as a whole. The district is almost it’s own little city, with a specially elected administrator. It is also home to Terebethia Palace, which is currently home to Leto Letovitch, the future sovereign of Ivendell, though it has also been home to a number of anti imperial politicians. The region is also home to the Keen Palace, the head quarters of the extremely wealthy Keen family who have served as imperial administrators throughout the confederacy for a number of years.

Terebethia Palace

Teribethia Palace is huge, although larger then Ivendell Palace and Obelia Palace, its not quite as large as Hayholt Keep. Its four blocks, in each direction, at the head of Katain street. Its central building is at the head, while the wings go down East and West Street (which are extensions of one another). The palace is six stories high, pale green with black windows. It has islands of grass on either side of the great staircase that rises to the huge doorway of the palace. Its very labyrinthine, designed without the Empress's consent, she isn't fond of it. The palace sits at the top of the hill and overlooks the rest of the district.
Side Street

The Valle D’Aosta District

The Valle D’Aosta district is the district of merrymaking. It centers around the large Ivendell Imperial Opera House, which takes up the center of the district. Built by Leto II, the Opera House is an elegant reminder that Ivendell is a cultural powerhouse. The Opera House is a large building-it takes up almost three blocks on the wester part of the district. The Opera House is the most famous opera houses in Ivendell, with the oldest Opera Company, the Royal Thorns. It was a favorite of the Late Taka Maygrey. Surrounding the Opera House are smaller opera houses, theaters, fine hotels and dance halls. Restaurants and outdoor amusement gardens also fill the area. The district is also home to the world famous Crystal Casino, which is perhaps the most luxurious and vice ridden establishment in all of Zelpha. The Crystal casino looks out on the ocean, its a large building, wide and long, but not very tall. Its owned by a large gang group in Ivendell who call themselves the A.R. (Azule Revivalists) and are radicals. Yet most of their illegal business goes on behind the facade of Crystal Casino (that takes in millions of dollars each day). The casino is a large round shapeless dome building, with tall statue like towers rising from it. When lit up at night it looks like a jewel. The first ten stories is a complicated maze way of blackjack tables and slots. The next eight stories are used as a hotel, while the top two are used as the penthouse of the mop boss of the A.R. The main entrance is via tower, which has three elevators in it. The tower is built of glass, and the elevators descends to the surface street. The Sunset Hotel, the premiere hotel in the nation is also located here.

[Drake]

The trip to Bali had been terribly uneventful. After packing their things, both Frederick and Sarah had been sent on their way in the best way possible—on board the luxury airship Andromède. It wasn’t one of the vast zepplins owned by the dynasty, but rather by a private company that connected Esto Gaza to several other Sadien metropoles via airship. Frederick and Sarah were not alone, and were traveling with some twenty other people. Indeed, for once Frederick was forbidden from traveling in any capacity befitting his station. Both he and Sarah were forced to go incognito, as the Duke and Duchess of Albany, in order to prevent any possible attack on them. To throw any possible attackers, news quickly spread throughout Esto Gaza that the Dauphin and his future Dauphine intended to vacation in the Sudland, before returning to the capital. If anything, Frederick and Sarah would be safe from any possible harm in far off Ivendell. Frederick wasn’t going to complain—Terebethia Palace would be a welcome change from the Vertfort.

It wasn’t just a pleasurable trip, however. Frederick had high hopes that his cousin Leto would meet with him, even if he had to travel to Casadublance to do so. The two had been close in their youth, but it seemed like they were drifting apart more than ever. With Frederick intent to send Solre away, he needed a true friend more than ever. He only hoped that fences could be mended with Leto, and he could be restored to a proper position within the royal family. While Sarah was somewhat wary of the King of Bali, she had never formally met him and decided to reserve her judgment until she had—after all, he could not be any worse than Solre, and Sarah was more than happy to meet another member of the family of which she was to shortly become a member of. If he was anything like Katarina, she was certain they would get along just fine, without any problems at all. Upon their arrival in Ivendell, Sarah was forced to push such thoughts from her mind as she became caught up in a scramble to collect their various bags for transport to Terebethia.

Now that they were in Ivendell, Frederick was allowed to abandon his disguise. The city was wonderful, a sort of paradise that couldn’t compare to Esto Gaza. While the capital of Sade screamed of refinement and taste, it was Ivendell where everyone went to vacation, it and Casadublance being the former epicenters of entertainment, beacons of light when the rest of the world had been covered in shadows. It’s architecture was quite different, but with a hint of Serdian taste, for the the Grand Principality had been ruled by Serdio, however briefly, before passing into the hands of Sabriel and Meria. In a way… Ivendell was home. Frederick was glad to be there and was glad to have Sarah at his side.

“Have you ever been to Ivendell before?” Frederick asked his Dauphine as he offered his hand, to her to alight her into the carriage that would carry them to Terebethia.

“No. But I’ve always wanted to visit. It’s so beautiful! I can see why the Ives were sent here to settle this place. Against all odds, they flourished. It’s almost strange how different Ivendell is from Bali, by just crossing the border… a different language, different cities, different everything. I’m glad we’ve come here, even if it’s not in the best of circumstances.”

Frederick smirked. “We will cross over into Bali at some point, as I hope my cousin Leto shall invite us formally to Yerba Buena. Until then, perhaps we will meet with the Signoria; there are many distinguished families in this city. But more importantly, perhaps we can meet with His Eminence, the Archbishop of Ivendell?”

“Do you mean—”

“Shh.” Frederick said, chuckling. “We can discuss it later.”