The City of Syrada

The City of Syrada was established nearly a thousand years ago. It started as a fortress on top a large hill but quickly grew due to its easy-to-defend location. It was ruled by a Council that became known as "The Council of Nobles". Its members became the city’s first nobles.

For centuries Syrada prospered as an independent city-state. Then from the north came the Tynian Empire, named after its first self-proclaimed Empress Tynia.

The city’s rulers realized that they could not win against the empire. So the Council sent messengers to the empire and asked to join it. The Empress accepted and Syrada joined the empire willingly. The Council’s members were allowed to keep their titles and the Council continued to rule the city as it had done for centuries. There were only two important changes. First, the city grew due to trade with the rest of the empire, especially after the empire’s forces managed to pass through the Grey Mountains and conquered the port city of Tarib in the south. Second, the Council got a new member: The Observer.

People that do things the Empress really does not like tend to suffer unfortunate – and often fatal – accidents. Some claim that these "accidents" are the work of the Observer but no evidence has been found to confirm or deny the accusation, and the Observer seems to not care, so the claim remains just a rumor. Despite that - or maybe because of it - the city is rather peaceful and most of its citizens are happy, or at the very least content, to live there. But of course, in such a large city there are plenty of things that happen away from the eyes of the public, be it in the shadows or behind closed doors...

Many dfferent people live in Syrada. Among them is a young woman with great potential. She could become a legend... or end up as a nameless slave in a distant land... or a dozen other fates in-between. It all depends on her decisions...

Author note: This story is an Alternative Universe (AU) version of my forum game "Adventures in Syrada". Since it is an AU it doesn't have to be the same as the original, and it allows me to continue the forum version at a later point.

For more Quest-type stories, or if you would like to try making your own, check out "Quest Story Proving Grounds" (https://chyoa.com/story/Quest-Story-Proving-Grounds.10400)