The Twin Cities of Vannaleona and Stenin
Decided I wanted to make a map of Vannaleona so when we talked about things in RP I have a better idea what we're referring to. Buildings definitely represent more 'blocks' then buildings, outside where details imply otherwise. So there are probably even more small roads and paths.
Stenin is left largely undone because no one ACTUALLY cares about what's in Stenin.
So to refresh. Vannaleona is the capital of Leone, the former kingdom, which is now just a region/duchy of Esperada. The Cruz used to be the royal family of Leone, but, once surrendering, were allowed to continue ruling as dukes.
Stenin is a major city in Steier, another former Kingdom. Before both Steier and Leone were consumed (Steier become a part of Bherigan), they were constantly at war. Steier built a city across from Leone's great bridge, both basically sieging each other for decades and stopping river traffic inland (which hurt Leone more since their lands at the time went farther north).
Nowadays, there is Peace, and Stenin is the "Newark" to Vanaleona's "New York City".
Due to the conditions of both these cities growing, their looks are very different. Vannaleona is a very old city and was a royal capital and is a beautiful city with classic terracotta roofs and old buildings and a giant old castle with incredible stonework. Stenin was, for most of it's life, a military camp. The castle across from Leona Castle is more of a fort. The city is a lot of gray stone and spartan designs.
That said, time has done great things for both of them. Vannaleona didn't always have gorgeous river beaches and waterside walkways and cultural centers. Duchess Valentina vos Cruz spent a lot of her reign redesigning parts of the city and building great public works to give the city more relevance in a post-war time. A lot of the walls and fortifications were torn down and converted. The bathing area in the river became a beautiful stoneworked square that floods in the spring. She started the beach projects to convert the cannon thrashed coastline into something beautiful, taking advantage of the huge estuaries already ocean like waters. The "Freshwater Ocean of Vannaleona". Which.. it's an estuary and not part of the ocean but hey, branding.
(Ironically the beaches on the Stenin side, while not beautiful imported beach sand, are actually natural river deposits)
Vannaleona and Stenin are also in heat and humidity hell. Part of the reason the Cruz's don't live in Leona castle anymore is because the old, huge castle isn't really the best for climate control. In a post war era, it's hard to justify. So the actually quite large Cruz estate was built in the old royal hunting grounds to be a comfortable estate with great airflow (it's long and angled toward the prevailing winds to help keep it cool). While modern day Vannaleona and Stenin have some access to climate control technology and magic, it's just just much easier to build things reasonably to begin with.
Also the bridge goes under the castle. The Vannaleona and Stenin castles are relatively high (good for ships passing under). A big chunk of the Leona Castle is under ground (which is at least cooler, but god is it damp). While they have access to the tunnel and bridge from the castle, the entry ways are limited, it's surrounded by kill slits. Basically a really strong security checkpoint
Nowadays the first ring of the castle is public -- museums, a park, whatever, and the inner keep is used for the actual government and administration.
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