"We sell powder to one, a knife to the other, and blessed wax to both. When the war ends, we sell peace. When the peace lasts, we sell war. That is why the Most Serene never sleeps — and why hell does not either." — Doge of the Sails Aurelio Mattei, speech on taking office, 1872
Velinia is the only archipelago-city in the world: built on 84 islands and islets, joined by 412 bridges (a canonical number, seven times Eisheth — a symbolic device). Approximate population 250,000 in 1890 (the highest urban density on the continent). Political, mercantile and diplomatic capital of the Velinia Serenissima (Velinia the Most Serene).
Fundamental canonical duality: Velinia is at one and the same time:
- A mercantile capital: the largest exchange for raw mineral on the continent; a centre of liturgical credit; the Doge of the Sails + the Council of Captains govern.
- A frontier city in permanent war: placed 60 km west of the Red Stretch (where the Mare Chori becomes the Mar Tenebrum). The republican fleet in a state of constant alert. Pactuary bombardments (from Leviakol) strike the outer islands at least four times a year. Squares full of shell scars. Statues with pieces missing.
The city lives in that paradox: luxury goods + blood in the canal. A Venice-analogue in full carnival while the ironclads fire in the distance.
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