Politics: Sharlyik Castle City
The Castle City Sharlyik (shar-LIKE), more often simply referred to as Sharlyik, has been a prominent city for several centuries, but it is believed by some - though with few supporting records - that there has been a settlement in its place since the Age of Empires. The modern incarnation of that settlement was built up in CR 17 by Hof'stadt, a halfling adventurer who sought to protect his caravan from the Draconic Armageddon, including the rapid construction of a castle, which stands even in the modern era.
The word sharlyik is Lynaen for crossroads.
History
As earlier information regarding the settlement is piecemeal at best, and most modern records refer to the settlement as Sharlyik - which is technically the name given to the castle within the city, not the city itself - this page will only detail the city's history from its formation during the Draconic Armageddon.
The Draconic Armageddon
The wandering halfling adventurer Hof'stadt was traveling in the region in early CR 17 when he encountered his home caravan. Taking respite from his travels, it was only a few days after that the dragons erupted from their slumber in earnest and waged war among themselves in the sky. His caravan was mostly terrified, and some even claimed that the time of Medibaria had come - Hof, however, brooked no such arguments, reminding them that the legends of their people spoke of prophet moths, not dragons.
Taking charge of the caravan, Hof led them through plains and hills, seeking shelter. After a week afield and the only halfling able to serve as outrider, he eventually found a small settlement with walls of wood, isolated from the mainland by a wide river.
Deciding that wooden palisades would not make for an effective defense against the draconic threat, Hof gathered the lorists of his tribe and instructed them as to what he wanted to do: an immense fortress, built upon strong foundations, capable of withstanding fire and whatever else a powerful dragon might rain down on it from the heavens. The end result of his quick sketch resembled something more akin to a pyramid than a castle, and called for the lower levels to be embedded into the earth.
As the lorists of the Stadt caravan discussed how this might be down - engineers and akashics, with a few shaman among the lot - Hof rode his chocobo to the wooden encampment. After a terse conversation he was allowed entry, and explained to the inhabitants what he wanted to do. He also understood the limitations of what his lorists could do: perhaps by invoking other powers, this process might be made easier. With some hesitation, this argument proved persuasive, and soon the people of the small town were working alongside the halflings to engineer Hof's vision. Mages and engineers, priests and callers, epochents and learners, working together. Carefully, of course, to avoid unwanted interaction between their powers - but working together, all the same.
Within a week, the fortress was complete, and so the varied peoples and the Stadt caravan rode out the Draconic Armageddon together, beneath an edifice wrought of stone and powers that rarely chose to cooperate.
In the early twenties CR, as the roar of dragonfire faded from the world and the remaining dragons returned to their slumber, the peoples of the fortress - it had no name then, beyond "the fortress" - ventured out of their citadel. In the intervening time a number of dragons had found their haven and attempted to lay siege to it, only to grow bored and seek out other challenges or find themselves under attack by other dragons. Thus much of the outer layers of the pyramidal fortress laid in ruin, strewn across the island.
As an adventurer, Hof had seen much of the world in his time, and knew how isolationist and xenophobic most of the peoples of the world were. In the time since the Iron Twilight, the various peoples of the world had cut themselves off from each other, becoming more tribalistic. Here, in the joining of a halfling caravan and the denizens of one such settlement, Hof saw the opportunity for something more: as the Ronkan Empire had once brought together the various peoples of the lands of Sarteri, there was no reason that dream could not be reality once again.
Hof instructed the lorists of their people to rebuild the fortress, but this time not as a purely defensible structure, but one that might inspire pride and awe. He ventured into the nearby sea in search of seeq and zora; to the mountains, in search of dwarves and rito, and to the deserts, in search of gerudo and thri-kreen. These he found, and more, and invited them to return to the citadel built on the ruins of what was once a pyramid, branded as Sharlyik, a crossroads not of any mere roadways, but one of culture and traditions. At first, he made these ventures alone, but over time, others accompanied him - and yet some more began these pilgrimages far afield on their own.
And so they came, beckoned by the promise of a society that could become a fusion of the many peoples of Trinity. Around the base of the great castle, they first set up simple camps, which eventually gave way to makeshift buildings, which eventually became more permanent structures. A port was built, and the original settlement was gradually incorporated into the greater whole, and by CR 48, the city encompassed the whole of the island - and thanks to the pilgrimages made by its inhabitants, at least whispers of the city had spread far and wide across the world.
Hof was pleased with what he had accomplished, but he was an adventurer, originally a halfling outrider - while he had the raw charisma to lead people, he had no interest in ruling over a city. In CR 50, he announced his departure: he and the Stadt caravan would return to their worldly travels.
