Demos

This city cared for the warehouses and silos of the Sylvan Empire. The city lies at the center of a wide valley. All around it is rich farmland capable of sustaining crops and herds, so long as it is cared for. The people of Demos have learned how to keep the land producing, changing the crops they grow and refreshing the soil. The city is not on a river, but it is near to a nexus of roads that extend throughout Myrnia, so it was useful to the elves to store their goods there.

After the Fall, Demos seemed a good target for desperate people who, lacking trade, turned to violence to get supplies. Beatrice, a human who had been a chief clerk for the elven storehouses, foresaw this and organized her people to defend what was now theirs. Would-be raiders quickly learned that this city was defended, but Beatrice recognized the hunger and fear of the people around Demos. She offered support from her stores for anyone who would swear service to Demos. Many of those who might have stolen from the town instead helped defend it, and they ate well because they did. As the number of defenders grew, Demos was able to secure more of the roads and bring back much of the trade that fed Myrnia and made the people of Demos prosper.

The leaders of the city eventually asked Beatrice to take a crown and name herself Queen. She was reluctant, but recognized that other cities would respect Demos more if it had a strong leader. She acted in that role but was clearly always uncomfortable with it. Once her daughter Margaret came of age, she abdicated in favor of her.

Queen Margaret had been raised to be a queen to her people, and she wears the crown well. She knows the old Sylvan system of laws, the science of agriculture, and the etiquette and ceremony of diplomacy. Her main difficulty is that she has no heir, as she never married, and although today she is strong and healthy people are asking her to name one to avoid a potential succession crisis.