Renowned as the unbreakable city, many great empires have tried to breach the great walls of Feyn’s Throne only to fail and lose it all. While the city dates back to the time of the old Ustilian kingdom it only began to take its current form under the Ustilian empire as its emperors built three great walls blessed by Feyn himself to protect the city. For a long time it was the largest and most populated city in the Continent and served as a living testament to the might of the Ustilian empire. The city’s most radical change came with the death of Feyn and the rise of the Inheritor, changing its identity and even its name to Sek-Tessos to honor the empire’s new god and adapt to changing times.
The city was officially founded with the union of the kingdoms of Deverent and Elyon into the first kingdom of Ustilus as the nascent state set the foundations for a new capital which belonged to neither kingdom. Legends say that when king Arimion, first monarch of the Ustilus, had a vision from the god Feyn himself instructing him to build a great city which would become his throne once he returned to earth, finishing it in they year 2639. The city was named Feyn’s Throne in honor of the king’s vision and throughout his lifetime the first walls were built and blessed by Feyn to last for millennia.
Feyn’s throne would face its first challenge when the Tamashkhan empire sent a great army north to conquer the land of Pradjati, bridge between north and south Raldamain. This would trigger nearly a century of holy war and the city itself was besieged for the first time by the Temash, who after a lengthy struggle eventually were forced to turn back in defeat.
The city would face two more sieges in the centuries that followed, one by rogue Mazarine soldiers who attempted to sack the city and another by fanatical Feynist rebels who sought to overthrow the monarchy. After the kingdom’s enemies failed time and time again the city began to receive a reputation of being invincible which would carry on until the present day.
The darkest period in the city’s history took place with the conquest of Ustilus by the Rakashite empire, a brutal people from beyond the western sea who followed the demon god Sek-Tebos. Ustilian historians would often omit this period when chronicling the city’s history as the Rakashites were the first to successfully capture the city after a lengthy siege. To show the Ustilian people the price of resistance the Rakashites razed the city to the ground leaving nothing but scorched ruins.
While most of the population was forcibly displaced and the city remained abandoned for decades its ruins would serve as a hideout for the Ustilian resistance, who waited for a right time to free their nation from the Rakashites. An opportunity arose after the death of the godlike Rakashite emperor threw his land into a prolonged succession war. A popular general named Akrodios would join the side of the resistance and liberated the former Ustilian kingdom’s heartland with his army. He made the ruins of Feyn’s throne into his capital and fortified it once more, resisting multiple sieges by Rakashite armies thanks to his strategic brilliance and Feyn’s belessings. Akrodios also claimed to receive a vision that Ustilus would rise again and become humanity’s greatest empire, writing that Feyn himself would become its ruler in the year 4000.
Akrodios proclaimed the formation of the restored Ustilian kingdom in 3496 and made Feyn’s throne into his new capital, rebuilding its walls as Arimion did long ago. The city would finally finish construction under Akrodios’ son Kleonas, who began setting the foundations for the city’s second ring of walls after the city began to massively grow in population. These walls would stand another siege centuries later by the Hobgoblin Legion, adding another great victory to its long list of achievements.
As the kingdom transformed into an empire and the Ustilian economy massively grew with new conquests future emperors began to spend massively to improve the capital, hoping to forever cement their legacy and create a capital worthy of humanity’s greatest empire. Some of these improvements were the construction of the Basilica of Feyn the emperor, the Ustilian royal parliament and the city’s innovative plumbing and sewer system. When the empire reached its peak in the 40th century it finished construction of its third wall and its population reached a historical high at 700.000, solidifying its position as greatest city of the continent.
The year 4000 after Feyn’s ascension was hotly anticipated by the Ustilian people as the date of Akrodios’ prophecy had finally come. A day of great hope swiftly turned to crushing despair when dark clouds suddenly covered the city and the city’s high priest died on the spot, proclaiming with his last breath that the great god Feyn was dead. Following this announcement all of Feyn’s clerics lost their divine powers and all attempts to contact the god were in vain. Thus began a period of turmoil for the empire where its very existence hung on a thread.
The death of Feyn wracked the city with political instability and division as the Ustilian parliament’s two main factions, the Reformists and Imperialists, feuded over power and the influence as they desired to fill the void after Feyn’s death. In response to growing revolutions in the empire the Knights of Ustilus proclaimed a state of emergency in 4002 and forcibly took power in an action many defined as a bloodless coup. During the emergency the Ustilian parliament was shut down and many politicians who vocally opposed this action were arrested by the authorities.
The emergency lasted until 4005 after Grand Master Abshalom of the knights died in battle and was replaced by Fileon, a more moderate leader. Once most large rebelliones in the nation were crushed Fileon relinquished power to the Parliament and married the Reformist leader Ileria in an action that healed past wounds. Ileria would become the empire’s prime minister and after the ascension of the reformist-aligned Theodora to the throne Ustilus entered a brief period of liberalization and progress. Feyn’s throne was temporarily freed from the restrictive power of the Feynist church and philosophy, art and a free press began to flourish. The Ustilian constitution of 4006 was the culmination of this period, a powerful document that limited the powers of the monarch and granted many rights to the people.
This rapid era of reform would come to a crashing halt when Arshalan declared war against Ustilus, starting the Purification war. The reformist government was seen as weak by the Ustilian military and they pressured Ileria to resign, replacing her with a new primer minister more aligned to their interests. During the war the Just Ones began to infiltrate the city preparing for Arshalan’s inevitable attack, forming a network of collaborators from those discontent with the Ustilian government. At the same time a new religious movement named the cult of the Inheritor began to flourish in the city whose members claimed that a new god had succeeded Feyn and he would save Ustilus from destruction.
The Arshalani army would attempt to besiege the great city in the year 4010 with a powerful army equipped with the largest cannons the world had ever seen. Thanks to the Arshalani king Chandrial’s brilliant tactics where he combined firepower and sabotage he managed to successfully breach the city’s outer two walls. At the gates of the city’s inner wall he fought a legendary battle against the knights Fileon and Ajek along with the Crow Brotherhood, who gave everything they had to fight him. Chandrial would fall at the hands of his ally Yabu, who betrayed him right at his moment of victory. Thus the great city of Feyn’s Throne triumphed once again and Fileon cemented his reputation as a national hero.
The victory over Arshalan brought an end to the Purification war and the city felt the joy of victory after nearly a decade of despair. The cult of the Inheritor began to grow in number and influence as they claimed the Inheritor himself blessed the city’s defenders to grant them victory. The cult’s popularity grew massively after Fileon and high priest Basileos of the Church of Feyn gave their support to it, granting official recognition to the Inheritor. At the same time the empress feared the cult’s growing influence as she suspected it was plotting to overthrow her and was related to the cult of Sek-Tebos.
A few months after the empire’s great victory the empress got information about a plot by the cult of the Inheritor to usurp her throne and make Fileon the new emperor. Theodora attempted to assassinate key members of the cult and arrest Fileon himself but in her paranoia she did not realize that she was playing into the cult’s hands. Her assassination attempt was a failure and it pushed Fileon to stage a coup taking advantage of his popularity and overwhelming support by the military. The empress died in mysterious circumstances during the coup and Fileon proclaimed himself the new emperor, suspending the Constitution and granting himself absolute power.
This event radically transformed Ustilus into a new empire where the emperor and the church of the Inheritor ruled the nation with absolute power. Feyn’s throne was rebuilt after the war and its walls were blessed once again by the Inheritor to make them stand against all enemies. Any remains of the opposition were eliminated by the new empire’s ruthless secret intelligence networks and a cult of personality was formed around Fileon proclaiming him to be one of the nation’s greatest rulers together with Arimion and Akrodios. When the cult of the Inheritor reached the peak of its power it renamed the city to Sek-Tessos in honor of their god, revealing the truth about the entity they followed. Even though Sek-Tebos was the patron god of the Rakashites the cult diligently erased all historical records that revealed this fact and created an entire false mythology which united Feyn and Sek-Tebos.
The city would remain at peace until the Mazarine war when the Great Uniter attempted to besiege it in 4113 with an overwhelming army. Fileon, who had prolonged his lifespan thanks to a contract with Sek-Tebos, led the defenders once again to protect his capital from a new foe as he did a century ago. Even with her airships and artillery she was unable to fully capture the city and was forced to leave in defeat. Fileon would die not long after this battle and was replaced by an ustilian nobleman named Crassus, starting a new era for the empire.
Feyn’s Throne was built on the shores of a small inland sea, a location picked by the kingdoms of Deverent and Elyon for their united capital as it lay in the center of Ustilian lands. The city’s geography is one of the key reasons why it is so hard to besiege as the only way to enter the inland sea is through a narrow strait that is very easily defendable by the powerful ustilian fleet. The fleet can also resupply the city with additional resources if a siege drags on, ensuring it can hold on for much longer than any besieging force. Feyn’s throne has a mostly Mediterranean climate, giving it cool winters with frequent precipitation and hot dry summers. Due to the city’s maritime position it often experiences fog and humidity.
The city’s most distinctive feature are its ringed walls that separate it into three main districts. The outer district houses the city’s lower classes and its buildings are often made of cheap materials and poorly maintained due to the destruction it has historically faced due to the many sieges that have ravaged the city. The central district is mostly inhabited by merchants, skilled artisans and lesser nobles, being the most cosmopolitan and diverse out of all three. Finally, the inner district is home to the city’s nobility and has all of its main government buildings to ensure they remain protected from the enemy. Access to the inner district is extremely exclusively and only opens to the masses during holy days as the Basilica of Feyn the emperor is located within its walls.
While Feyn’s throne is not the richest city in Ustilus and remain away from most of the Continent’s main trade routes it is still a force to be reckoned with. The main source of its wealth is as a shipping port for wood, metals and agricultural products from the Ustilian interior towards the rest of the nation. Due to its position as capital of the empire the city has special privileges given to it by the emperor to improve its competitiveness such as less taxes and increased protection to trade.
Other key sectors of the economy of Feyn’s throne are banking and tourism which also generate vast riches for the city. Most of the banking sector is tied to the Ustilian nobility but it has begun to weaken in recent times as many move their wealth to Thiamashte or Thas-Tapet where it will be more secure and away from government interference. The city has also been heavily investing in tourism as a source of income, building many museums and entertainment venues to attract wealthy foreigners interested in Ustilus’ long and complex history.
Feyn’s throne has historically exerted a great cultural influence around the world and is considered by many as the successor of the First Empire’s mythical capital. Many travelers have marveled at the city’s imposing walls and architectural beauty, with the stories of the Feyn’s throne reaching all the way to faraway continents where it has a semi-legendary status. It is also a holy site for the followers of Feyn and until the god’s death many would go on pilgrimages to the city with the hopes of gaining blessings from the god of Humanity. With the rise of the Inheritor it has become the heart of this new religion, growing in importance as the cult begins to spread.
The city’s most important locations are the Ustilian parliament, the Imperial palace and the basilica of Feyn the emperor, three buildings that are iconic symbols of the city. Other important locations are the Ustilian university of arcane arts, a preeminent institution for teaching magic, and the Lysandros opera theater, the most prestigious venue for the performing arts in the entire empire. The city also boasts hundreds of museums, libraries and lesser educational institutions, offering a vast and rich cultural experience to all who can afford them. During the city’s periods of liberalization the city was home to many philosophers, writers and artists, but many were forced to flee with the rise of the restored Ustilian empire and renewed censorship by the church of the Inheritor.