Falas

Falas is the ducal capital of Alshar and the cultural jewel of Enultramar. Seated on the southern coast, the city is an ancient survival of the old Magocracy, one of the few large towns along the remnant of Riverlands country that predates the duchy itself. Its mild climate, harbours, and fertile hinterland made it a natural seat for the Dukes of Alshar, whose court became famous for refined entertainments, elaborate fashions, and a disdain for the coarser tastes of the northern Wilderlands.

At the heart of Falas stands the great chamber beneath whose dome sits the Coral Seat — a speaking podium (not a chair) at which the counts and high nobility of Alshar address the assembled peerage on state occasions and major religious holidays. A council of nobles chooses who may speak from the Seat, but not what they say. The chamber uses subtle magics and acoustic tricks so that every word carries clearly through the gallery. The Great Palace Library in Falas is one of the finest in the Five Duchies, with rare accounts of dragons, pre-Magocracy history, and the Alon.

After the fall of Duke Lenguin, Falas became the centre of the Five Counts' rebellion against King Rard. Count Vichetral of Rhemes, allied with several other territorial counts and the elderly Prime Minister Count Vrenn of Darlake, ruled Enultramar in the name of the captive young heir. Duke Anguin II's eventual return from exile in Vorone began the slow process of reclaiming Falas for the legitimate line. The Tower Arcane — long the Censorate's Falas headquarters — now serves as the Rondal-and-Gatina household.