Pelasgia
Established Nation
Iolcus, Pelasgia
Iolcus was one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Himyar, and all of Europe for that matter. Stretching back to at least four thousand years, the metropolis built on the northern Pelasgian coast had been settled by some of the very first Pelasgians to cross the Long Sea to Himyar, once they launched their invasion of the Himyari mainland from the Pelasgian Archipelago. Among the Pelasgians, and the countless foreigners who visited Iolcus for business or leisure every year for that matter, the Iolcians ("Iōlkoi") were known to be rather eccentric figures: hospitable, but on the condition that the guest would leave; cultured, but capable of immense solipsism; business-savvy, with the occasional financial disaster; convinced of their purity and superiority over all other Pelasgians (let alone barbarians), and yet weirdly obsessed with how foreigners viewed them. Iolcus was one gigantic contradiction, and it was only fitting that its architecture fit that trope.
Unlike other cities, where architectural styles gradually transitioned across time and space, reflecting the inherent economic, social, cultural and political diversity of any metropolis, Iolcus could uniquely be split into three areas: the Paralia (or "Sea-side"), the Omalos (or "Smooth ") and the Ori (or "Mountains"). The Paralia was the bustling and wealthy business district of the port, lined with tall skyscrapers housing the offices of major Pelasgian corporations of all kinds, as well as the residences of the wealthiest of Pelasgia's elite. Glass, steel and the occasional marble and limestone where the signature of this part of Iolcus, well-planned and with plenty of green spaces. The more historic areas of the Paralia were built in older neo-classical style, showing off the splendour of the area's shipping magnates. Deeper inland, the Omalos was composed almost entirely of neoclassical building, in the unique and colourful but conservative style that the Pelasgians liked so much, alongside Eiffellandian architects of the 19th century. More modern concrete building could be found here and there, but for all intents and purposes, the Omalos was a sea of marble and stone buildings up to eight floors tall, housing government buildings, smaller business and the vast middle class that made up the local citizenry. Further deeper inland, near the less fertile and rugged mountainous terrain, one could find the Ori, built in a less organised fashion and made up of cheaper concrete blocks. The areas watered by rivers at the beginning of the district housed factories, flanked by planned housing units for the workers and the city's poorer underclass, while further into the mountains housing disintegrated into what could sometimes very well be called slums.
Like other major cities of northern Pelasgia, Iolcus enjoyed a certain degree of greater autonomy from the central government, which exercised its authority over the rest of the region through the Thematic Governor and the Imperial Prefects. Though Iolcus was formally presided over by an Urban Prefect, most power over its local matters lay with the local democratically-elected Demarch, and the Citizen Assembly. Iolcus was one of the most prominent maritime democracies of northern Pelasgia (though its concept of democracy was limited by descent and property requirments for citizens that would seem clearly undemocratic elsewhere), and the only one that retained the traditional Pelasgian jury system for both verdicts and sentencing over the imported Tiburan bench trial practice. The Iolcus Metropolitan Government operated plenty of essential services for hundreds of thousands of citizens, including the well-known Iolcus Metropolitan Authority for Public Safety, as well as the Iolcus Metropolitan Port Authority and the Iolcus Metropolitan Airport Authority.
The second to last of these authorities was headquartered in a large modern building at the Paralia. Across the road from it was Poseidon Tower, an seventy-two floor behemoth of glass and steel, its sharp corners and slanted top being vaguely reminiscent of the ram an ancient trireme and the dagger-like silhouette of a modern destroyer. Poseidon Tower was the sole property of Pelasgian Shipyards A.E., whose Iolcus offices occupied most of its space. Whereas the firm's Propontis headquarters, housed in an equally impressive complex, dealt primarily with its military procurement programmes, the Iolcus headquarters dealt with international sales and with managing the various civilian subsidiaries, such as the Iolcus civilian shipyards and their Trapezon counterparts. At the very top of the glass spire was a large penthouse three floors tall. At the bottom of this penthouse was a conference room used for the rare event that a corporate board meeting of Pelasgian Shipayards and the other major Pelasgian ship-building companies was to take place.
On this very day, the room was packed, with the large circular table at its centered being lined with representatives from Pelasgian Shipyards and the other Pelasgian ship-building companies, including the CEO of Pelasgian shipyards himself, Aristotelis Kephalas. Even more attention, however, was due to the four men sat to the left and right of the CEO: the representatives of the four major Pelasgian business conglomerates (Pegasus, Adamidis-Aetos, Artemis and Polydoras). Despite theoretically sitting behind the CEO, as representatives of the corporation's biggest shareholders, it was clear that their presence was more domineering that differential. Added to these men, exactly next to Kephalas was another man: Special State Plenipotentiary Anaxandros Makrianos, the representative of Pelasgian Shipyard's largest shareholder: the Pelasgian State. Soon enough word reached the board room, from the mouth of an aide: the Sâh'li Ambassador had arrived at the building, and was being politely escorted to the top floor. The board had a long meeting ahead of it, if the latest business with FALEK was to be settled without a full-on corporate war. [SIZE=1]@Shaeoiumlah [/SIZE]
Iolcus was one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Himyar, and all of Europe for that matter. Stretching back to at least four thousand years, the metropolis built on the northern Pelasgian coast had been settled by some of the very first Pelasgians to cross the Long Sea to Himyar, once they launched their invasion of the Himyari mainland from the Pelasgian Archipelago. Among the Pelasgians, and the countless foreigners who visited Iolcus for business or leisure every year for that matter, the Iolcians ("Iōlkoi") were known to be rather eccentric figures: hospitable, but on the condition that the guest would leave; cultured, but capable of immense solipsism; business-savvy, with the occasional financial disaster; convinced of their purity and superiority over all other Pelasgians (let alone barbarians), and yet weirdly obsessed with how foreigners viewed them. Iolcus was one gigantic contradiction, and it was only fitting that its architecture fit that trope.
Unlike other cities, where architectural styles gradually transitioned across time and space, reflecting the inherent economic, social, cultural and political diversity of any metropolis, Iolcus could uniquely be split into three areas: the Paralia (or "Sea-side"), the Omalos (or "Smooth ") and the Ori (or "Mountains"). The Paralia was the bustling and wealthy business district of the port, lined with tall skyscrapers housing the offices of major Pelasgian corporations of all kinds, as well as the residences of the wealthiest of Pelasgia's elite. Glass, steel and the occasional marble and limestone where the signature of this part of Iolcus, well-planned and with plenty of green spaces. The more historic areas of the Paralia were built in older neo-classical style, showing off the splendour of the area's shipping magnates. Deeper inland, the Omalos was composed almost entirely of neoclassical building, in the unique and colourful but conservative style that the Pelasgians liked so much, alongside Eiffellandian architects of the 19th century. More modern concrete building could be found here and there, but for all intents and purposes, the Omalos was a sea of marble and stone buildings up to eight floors tall, housing government buildings, smaller business and the vast middle class that made up the local citizenry. Further deeper inland, near the less fertile and rugged mountainous terrain, one could find the Ori, built in a less organised fashion and made up of cheaper concrete blocks. The areas watered by rivers at the beginning of the district housed factories, flanked by planned housing units for the workers and the city's poorer underclass, while further into the mountains housing disintegrated into what could sometimes very well be called slums.
Like other major cities of northern Pelasgia, Iolcus enjoyed a certain degree of greater autonomy from the central government, which exercised its authority over the rest of the region through the Thematic Governor and the Imperial Prefects. Though Iolcus was formally presided over by an Urban Prefect, most power over its local matters lay with the local democratically-elected Demarch, and the Citizen Assembly. Iolcus was one of the most prominent maritime democracies of northern Pelasgia (though its concept of democracy was limited by descent and property requirments for citizens that would seem clearly undemocratic elsewhere), and the only one that retained the traditional Pelasgian jury system for both verdicts and sentencing over the imported Tiburan bench trial practice. The Iolcus Metropolitan Government operated plenty of essential services for hundreds of thousands of citizens, including the well-known Iolcus Metropolitan Authority for Public Safety, as well as the Iolcus Metropolitan Port Authority and the Iolcus Metropolitan Airport Authority.
The second to last of these authorities was headquartered in a large modern building at the Paralia. Across the road from it was Poseidon Tower, an seventy-two floor behemoth of glass and steel, its sharp corners and slanted top being vaguely reminiscent of the ram an ancient trireme and the dagger-like silhouette of a modern destroyer. Poseidon Tower was the sole property of Pelasgian Shipyards A.E., whose Iolcus offices occupied most of its space. Whereas the firm's Propontis headquarters, housed in an equally impressive complex, dealt primarily with its military procurement programmes, the Iolcus headquarters dealt with international sales and with managing the various civilian subsidiaries, such as the Iolcus civilian shipyards and their Trapezon counterparts. At the very top of the glass spire was a large penthouse three floors tall. At the bottom of this penthouse was a conference room used for the rare event that a corporate board meeting of Pelasgian Shipayards and the other major Pelasgian ship-building companies was to take place.
On this very day, the room was packed, with the large circular table at its centered being lined with representatives from Pelasgian Shipyards and the other Pelasgian ship-building companies, including the CEO of Pelasgian shipyards himself, Aristotelis Kephalas. Even more attention, however, was due to the four men sat to the left and right of the CEO: the representatives of the four major Pelasgian business conglomerates (Pegasus, Adamidis-Aetos, Artemis and Polydoras). Despite theoretically sitting behind the CEO, as representatives of the corporation's biggest shareholders, it was clear that their presence was more domineering that differential. Added to these men, exactly next to Kephalas was another man: Special State Plenipotentiary Anaxandros Makrianos, the representative of Pelasgian Shipyard's largest shareholder: the Pelasgian State. Soon enough word reached the board room, from the mouth of an aide: the Sâh'li Ambassador had arrived at the building, and was being politely escorted to the top floor. The board had a long meeting ahead of it, if the latest business with FALEK was to be settled without a full-on corporate war. [SIZE=1]@Shaeoiumlah [/SIZE]
