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The population is incredibly varied: most, if not all, the known races and nations are represented to one degree or another. Citizenship is awarded to any who are born in Llaza or who can show evidence of residence for 10 years and who of course are wealthy enough. The architectural, cultural and religious diversity reflects this variety; the neighbourhoods are a patchwork of further subdivision along these lines. Men and women are equal in both civic and mercantile law and occupations are pretty much equally divided between them, except of course within specific ethnic groups.
Citizens Associations
Between the time between the collapse of Imperial rule and the rise of the Viceroy and League, the rule of law was weak and unable to help the average citizen. During this time, the Citizen's Associations were born. These are in reality a collection of non-governmental organisations with a diverse array of interests. Some were designed to protect craftsmen, like a cross between a mediaeval guild and a modern trade union. Others were centred on neighbourhoods, and were designed to protect the finances of local people. Some have undergone changes in their original function over the years. Some examples of the surviving Citizen's Associations are given in the side bar, but they are merely the tip of a very large iceberg.
Notable Events
There are two main events during the year, the first is the Turn of the Year celebrations, a two day event at New Year. On the first day there is a parade around the city of all the movers and shakers in their finery, dispensing food and money and trying to outdo each other. It ends at the Temple where a service is held to thank the gods for the good things, take wisdom from setbacks and to pray for good fortune (which doesn't just mean luck!) in the next year. Priests from all the faiths conduct the service, so it takes quite a while. The Viceroy's Ball ends the day. The second day is usually taken up with recovering from the festivities and visiting friends and family with small presents. The other major event is Freedom Day, celebrating the independence of Llaza from the Empire, the League hosts a ball to mark their pivotal role in the event, and inevitably the two events compete in magnificence. The different ethnic and cultural groups all celebrate their own holy and national days separately. It's a reasonable bet that on any given day of the year someone somewhere is having a festival of some kind. Also popular are the races, held throughout the year.
Llaza is a cosmopolitan metropolis and attracts adventure seekers, treasure hunters, honest yeomen, shrewd manipulators, prostitutes, missionaries, heroes and villains. You can make your fortune there or loose it.
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Llaza
Anhui River States
Places of Interest
Llaza Government
The Merchant's League
Llaza Races
Dragon Scales
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Citizens Associations
The Half Moon Street Society is the largest of Llaza's fire prevention companies. Originally it served only the eponymous street, but now covers most of the city. Citizens pay their dues to this, or another, fire protection society and in return if their house catches fire the society will do their best to save it. This type of Citizens Association is one of the few to be regulated by the Council, to prevent it becoming an arson based form of protection racket.
The Honourable Company of Bird Fanciers started life as a hobby group. Its member tended to be the rich and the powerful and so now it is more of a social organ, allowing the right connections to be made. It has a very grand club house with tearooms, meeting rooms, sleeping accomodation and so on.
The Boatsmen's Guild provide transport through the city's waterways by boat, for a fee. Members are aloof outside of work, and are recognised by their immaculate boats and red sashes. Non-guild boatsmen may be cheaper, but there is no guarantee that you won't be robbed and/or murdered.
The Black River Society started life as a citizen protection scheme, and is now one of the most notorious criminal cartels in Llaza. The Black River Society has a large enough network to move cargo without paying dues to the League. They are happy to do this for anyone, but the price may be beyond the customers ability to pay. The Black River Society is also thought to deal in stolen goods, gambling, prostitution, narcotics, slavery and evil magic.
The Glassblowers' Guild is a typical craft guild, made more prominent because of the use of glass for coinage. The guild jealously guards the secret of making the particular colours of glass used in coin-making.
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