Picesia

Picesia is the oldest of the Free Cities of Golding Bay. It is one of the most major ports in Hessos and populated by over 50,000 inhabitants, making it the largest city in northern Hessos.

Like its sister Free Cities, Picesia welcomes every craftsman and profession, offering every ware imaginable, and the unimaginable. The Free City is also home to over a dozen banks and lies northwest of the University di Bologna, the oldest of its type in Hessos.

Picesia is inhabited by humans of all cultures, Dwarves who occupy their expertise at many professions and the wandering and repulsive Halfbreeds. It welcomes all kinds of faith but gradually, the Church of Conn is asserting its dominance as the Doges instituted a temple to His honor and a powerful Bishop at its head. There is no standing army in the city but it does employ powerful condottieres, sometimes for a lifetime and an all-present secret service as well as a mighty fleet.

Deep below the city walls in both the shantytowns of Ravenhill and Lowbrook however lie the more roguish desperate townsfolk, near-independent of the city law but under the rule and territory of many rivaling gangs.

Emblem
The most recognizable Picesian emblem is a red-and-yellow field with two tigers passant or. This symbolizes the Reds and Yellows, or the Redmanes and Goldenmanes; the main rivaling political parties in Picesia.

Before Ice-Veins
Before the emergence of King Gregor Ice-Veins, Picesia was a small settlement of the people of the same name, the Picesii. However, when King Gregor rallied the northerners against the Normen invasion into a unified kingdom, the settlement quickly evolved in the city and capital of a new vassal country created by Lord Tarquin.

Independence
During the reign of Gregor's great grandson, Lothar the Proud, Picesia was sacked and conquered for its ruler Ancus' treason and the city became part of the Kingdom of Brissac for a long time.

Years later, under King Lothar's son Charles the Fat, the city was given back to its ruling family and a new king was named, Nero the Lame. However, Nero gained the throne through the murders of both his wife and his elder brother, followed by the assassination of every older member of his noble house. His reign shortly became that of great tyranny and failure, as he failed to repel Normard attacks and drowned himself in wine and debauchery as the city would find itself besieged. This would drive dozens of noble families to come together, slay Nero and vow to never allow a king to rule Picesia. The Free City was proclaimed. The many students and engineers of Bologna would come to tactfully design the city's thick walls and Picesia would find itself never breached ever since.

Government
As a result of the proclamation of the Free City, Picesia followed a mixed government model. A Doge would be elected every ten years and his powers were greatly limited by a pledge he has to take when elected. Moreover, power is shared with the Great Council, composed of 260 members taken from patrician families. In other words, the Doge cannot function without the Great Council and if such is the case, he is dismissed or sometimes, condemned to death. This type of rulership will inspire Picesia's sister city-states Pavonia, Ancona and Cepria in the years to follow.

The Great Council further diminished the Doge's powers by establishing the Council of the Ten as a supreme tribunal and the Senate as a legislative power. The latter is composed of forty members, twenty of each of Picesia's ruling parties; the Redmanes and Goldenmanes. The Redmanes are Picesia's oldest aristocracy, advocating strict rule and controlled access to the city as well as high taxation and, in some cases, war against the sister city-states. The Goldenmanes on the other hand are the party of moneylenders and powerful merchants advocating free and overflowing trade, sometimes even closing their eyes on the city's underground criminal activity.

Although the Doges are officially recognized as the rulers of the Free City, real authority is vested in the Great Council. By the year 810 AC, the current Doge is Pasquale Spinola, a feeble old man.

Military
The Free City hasn't witnessed a standing formal army since the days of the kingdom, judging so against their founding principles and a burden to their city. The city's thick walls, well-armed city guard and overall neutrality and good ties with the rest of the continent may ensure their safety but the ruling corps have taken a tradition to hire condottieres; Picesian mercenary bands led by ruthless commanders, some graduated from the University itself in the arts of war. The tradition evolved to hiring such men for a lifetime service to the Free City. The current Condottiere serving for over thirty years now is Gilberto Hawkwood, a competent commander born of a Normard minor noble warrior.

Economy
While Picesia was the wealthiest city of Hessos prior to the wars that ravaged continent, in the years that followed it had to give up that position to Pardalisca, the Gnomish city.

Picesia is key to Hessos' naval trade, trading heavily with every realm via its large port or continent's paved roads. It is said that five caravans go monthly to every corner of the continent, and double that amount in trading ships to every notable port.

The Picesians, like their neighbors in Coulant, are fond of grapes, sweet beets and strawberries which they grow in profusion. The outskirts of the University di Bologna are known for their vast vineyards and Picesia is known for its sweet red wine which is tended to by none other than botanic students and wealthy merchants.

Raven Cartel and Lowbrook Union
No matter the complexity of Picesia's law and government, its overflowing shantytowns have long been under the control of its criminal underground, which the Great Council itself is not a stranger to.

To the west of the city lies the Raven Cartel of Ravenhill. The Cartel is the recent union, in reaction to their rivals in Lowbrook, of three notable gangs; The Brown Thorns, The Brass Ravens and The Sharkteeth. One of their many criminal activities orbit around possessions like casinos, fighting rings, and brothels as well as drug dealing in Opio's Powder or poppy tears. The gangs are mostly composed of humans and roguish Dwarves.

To the east lie the Ravens' rivals, the Lowbrooks or the Lowbrook Union. The first union of its kind to be established by the Director, an elderly Halfbreed of the First Generation that hails from the Ukren steppes. The Union brings two powerful gangs to the table; the Daydreamers and Mama's Sons. Both know humans, Dwarves and Halfbreeds that have come to the serve the Director. The Union deals in Opio's Powder, black market weapons, artifacts, casinos and brothels. The members seal an inviolable pact from which no one can return. Those foolish enough to do so are hunted down to pay the final price.

Both gang unions know constant rivalry in their common criminal grounds and in some cases, an all-out conflict that ravages the shantytowns. For the moment being, the Director has sealed peace with the Raven Corax, the Cartel leader.