Blue River City

Blue River City is the former capital of Talama. When the Deoracs ruled, the city called "Deoropon". The Swynfaredians renamed it "Afonlasdinas" after they conquered Talama. Before and after the Sywnfaredian conquest, most locals refer to the location as Blue River City because of it's iconic river.   Blue River City is also connected via the Blue River to Fumaya. You could theoretically ride a barge from King's Lake to Blue River City and never have to set foot on land.   When the Swyfnaredians conquered Talama, the control of Blue River City was a prize coveted by all the major houses, and to try to stem Byzantine intrigue over it, Blue River City was essentially set up to be everybody's and nobody's. Blue River City is technically part of the personal demense of the Queen of Swynfaredia but the burgermeister she appoints is a figurehead. A lot of the city districts were originally ceded to various dragon blood houses, but over half of these land holdings and buildings have been since purchased by wealthy guildsmen.   The regional head of the duchy encompassing most of Old Talama was moved out of the city into the Deorac's family secondary rural palace/castle, and the Deorac's main castle was ceded to the the Arcane Registry. The Arcane Registry doesn't keep as many arcane registers in the castle, but the castle does serve as their main bank/vault for gold and silver.   Many lesser sites in the city were divvyed up among the Swynfaredian dragonblood houses or given to the Children.   Blue River City is a hub of commerce, rivaling the Dragon's Lair. Thanks to a series of tributory rivers and a few artificial canals, Blue River City and the Dragon's Lair are connected via waterways.   The guilds are very powerful here. The local regulations were deliberately written to give the dragonbloods less oversight over them here. This was done in part so the guilds would erase a large portion of the debts the crown owed them. The Swynfaredian Masks also have their main temple here.   Blue Rivery City has a microcosm of the gated community in "The Dragon's Lair" where a bunch of dragon blood families cluster their manor houses so they piggyback off of the same magical and mundane defenses. It is also very close to a similar gated community where the wealthiest merchants and guildsmen live. The two districts are locked in a petty contest to outshine and both groups have spent unreasonable sums of money beautifying their respective districts. Sandwiched between the two walled districts are all the poshest shops and the main Mask temple. Surrounding the two districts is a ring of upscale services and the Arcane Registry castle. The further you get from the this geographic center, the poorer and seedier the city becomes.   All things considered, Blue River City does not have nearly as much organized crime as you would think. The so-called legitmiate guilds do not want competitors threatening their cartel, so they set up a private army of mercenaries to police the streets and keep order here, called the Fortunatas, nicknamed the Blue River Dragons (though they are forbidden from using dragon insignia directly). The Fortunatas are so harsh and often underhanded that it really blurs the lines between legitimate and ilegitimate guilds. As long as they don't hassle the Dragon Bloods, the Fortunatas get a lot of leeway to do as they wish. If one of the criminal cartels wants to do business here they have to be very sneaky or they have to play ball with the local "legitimate" guilds. The Blue River Dragons also get along swimmingly with the Masks and generally make life difficult for Zarthus worshipers to hang their lanterns here.