Terumbu Nagaram
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Terumbu Nagaram is a city at the western border (2023) of the Shire, southeast of Zenophalia. It is being built by Zalidia and was inspired by a world building project of his and the real life Meenakshi Temple.
Terumbu Nagaram is among the oldest cities of the Shire. It is built mainly on a large beach next to a coral reef, that has been historically significant to the city in terms of economy and culture. The reef has 4 big rocky islands in it, each of them with a building. This all together is called the Desa Karang (which translates to 'town of coral'), an iconic monument in the city. This city is the founder and host member of the Iustitia Alliance.
Landmarks
Desa Karang
The Desa Karang is the most prominent landmark in Terumbu Nagaram. It is used for many things. From entertainment for the masses to a museum, from a library to the government building. They are described in this section.
The Desa Karang consists of 4 buildings. The northern island's building has a small dock and is otherwise mostly a tribune for audiences or the senate, depending on what day it is and what the Desa Karang is used for that day. If it is a friday, it's a guaranteed debate day for the government.
The southern island has the gate to the city.
The center island and the biggest of them all has the Tahusemua, a large and colorful temple-like building. Here you can find a banner and map museum, as well as the oldest discovered map of the Shire: Map 57. It has a stage with a speaker chair for lawsuits, entertainment, government debates, et cetera. The top of the building is like a clock with 5 sections, each indicating a type of event currently going on. It defaults to the middle section, the pink one, which indicates no event.
The western and eastern islands have the library and a house that is rumoured to be where the founder of the city lived or still lives. It was rebuilt a couple of times, as the current building there is only the fifth iteration of this house. The library has a collection of books any Shireling can contribute to and any Shireling can read any book they want to in the library.
Utara Square
Utara Square lies in the center of downtown Terumbu Nagaram. It is surrounded by embassies of To'ufenua, Olympia, Zenophalia, Arbemaisonnese Empire, Fox valley, (more to come). In the middle of the square, there is a hole in the ground that has the remains of the oldest discovered Temburan house, and around it 4 arrows in the tiles of the square that point in the 4 cardinal directions, which is what it was named after: "north square".
History
Hints at civilization in the area of Terumbu Nagaram date back to 12,000 PRY, with the oldest discovered house (in Utara Square) dating back to 6200 PRY, which is often considered the date of founding in Terumbu Nagaram, making the city over 8000 years old.
Before 6200 PRY
Not much is known about the time before 6200 PRY, as it left behind little to discover. The beach was used for fishing, foraging, etc, and a few temporary huts were set up on the beach in these times.
6200 PRY - 500 PRY
Commonly known as the Era of the Fish. In this portion of Terumbu Nagaram's history, Terumbu Nagaram was a fishing village. The oldest discovered house was presumably one of the first buildings of this fishing village. The coral reef made this beach very attractive to fishermen, hoping to catch some good fish from a big reef with tons of diversity.
The architecture of this time was mainly practical. Houses had a stone foundation, made with rocks, wet sand, clay, etc, almost like some kind of ancient cement. On top of these foundations they presumably built out of wood, which is why there's only a foundation left of the house in Utara Square; the wood eventually rots and collapses and gets carried away by the sea. Some buildings survived because they happened to be further away from the sea, but they also collapsed at some point. Buildings aren't built like this anymore in Terumbu Nagaram unless it's for research or educational purposes.
500 PRY - 12 RY
This era is commonly known as the Era of the Shield. Terumbu Nagaram has grown to a size much larger than the beach. During this time Terumbu Nagaram started waging war with the neighboring city of Marambatang, which is now a neighborhood of Terumbu Nagaram. The end of this era is defined at when the construction of Benteng Manal, a fortress in central Terumbu Nagaram, ended. This fortress was made to protect its citizens from attacks from Marambatang and train warriors in the arts of sieging cities.
Architecture of this era is known for the first buildings that use the coral as a way to dye building materials. In this era it was only used on sandstone, resulting in the same buildings from the age before, but with fancier foundations.
12 - 230
This era, known as the Era of the Bird, is commonly referred to as Terumbu Nagarams golden age. In 50 RY, Terumbu Nagaram completely conquired its neighbor Marambatang and started using their cheap labor to help expand the city even more. The coral business is booming, population growth is higher than ever, army is stronger than ever, and citizens have never been so safe in Terumbu Nagaram. This golden age (and the age of the bird altogether) ended when the coral reef was almost farmed into extinction. The economy started worsening, and population growth was now out of control.
Architecture in this time got a heavy boost from the newfound wealth that Terumbu Nagaram had. More people wanted dyed building materials in there houses as well as more space for themselves, so architects and engineers of the time started thinking of ways to do that. The second floor was born. To offer support for this second floor, the second floor would be smaller than the first one to make sure new buildings just fall over.