vaën

Vaën is a fictional city-state in a coastal region of the fantasy continent Eldria. It is depicted as a maritime and cultural hub where trade, scholarship, and craft attract merchants, scribes, and artisans from across the sea.

The name Vaën derives from the Vaën language, commonly interpreted as “water harbor.” The city’s heraldry shows a silver ship on a blue field, reflecting its long trading tradition and access to sea routes.

Vaën traces its origins to a coalition of merchant families in the early second millennium who established a free port. It evolved into an autonomous city-state governed by a merchant council and maintained its independence through several regional conflicts before joining a loose federation of coastal cities.

The government is an oligarchic council known as the Conclave of Eight, drawn from eight guilds: commerce, shipwrights, scribes, glassmakers, vintners, fishermen, masons, and healers. A mayor is elected by the Conclave for a fixed term, and the Vaën Code regulates trade, property, and nautical law.

The economy centers on shipping, textiles, glassware, and manuscript production. Vaën hosts libraries and scriptoria that preserve and disseminate knowledge, and its currency, the vaën, circulates alongside foreign coins.

Culturally, Vaën is known for arcaded streets, waterfront markets, and a tradition of illuminated manuscripts. Festivals of light and sea fairs mark the year, and local cuisine emphasizes seafood and barley bread.

Notable figures associated with Vaën include the poet Aelin Vaënore and chronicler Miran Kael, who appear in regional histories. In contemporary fiction, Vaën is a setting for political intrigue and scholarship.