Bloemendaal (city)

Bloemendaal, the city not the state, is the capital of De Unie der Vestingstad Bloemendaal en Vrije Dorpen Zonnenberg en Honingsdam aan Koningsdiep. It is located in the centre of Bloemendaal, the state not the city, and hosts important governmental and cultural buildings such as the Bloemendaal palace.

Bloemendaal
Nation	De Unie der Vestingstad Bloemendaal en Vrije Dorpen Zonnenberg en Honingsdam aan Koningsdiep
Location	TBA
Region	Selvaris
Population	2 Players, ~35000 Citizens
Leader	EmmaOwO, AstayaUwU
Culture	Bloemendaals
Spoken Languages	Dallandsch, Lonais
Age	186 Years old
Founded	Era Vetus, Year 178 14/09/26 (50 days old)
Status	Operational

Lore History

The great migration and a forgotten city

The people of Bloemendaal, otherwise known as Dallanders, have a long history of a nomadic lifestyle, journeying from region to region before eventually settling in a flowery valley now called Bloemendaal, or Flowervalley in Common Tongue.

The events of this time period were never written down, the only things known about this time period come from legends and stories passed on for generations. One of the most well known and plausible stories is the story of how Bloemendaal was founded, this story can be found here (page is yet to be made sorry).

The exact reasoning for the nomadic lifestyle is long forgotten. There are however several mentions of life before the great migration. Current theories suggest the existence of a grand city. Although not much is known about this city, it is believed to have been a strongly fortified city of great nautical and mercantile importance, located on an unknown peninsula.

Due to an event of unknown scale or effects, the people of this city formed a nomadic group, wandering from place to place in search of a safe place to live, likely on the run from nightly monsters or whatever event caused the migration.

One survivor wrote down how this nomadic lifestyle looked like, he described it as "A camp so big it filled entire fields, yet so small in comparison of what our home was", the remnants of his notebook can be read in the library in the western Bloemendaal palace, access to which can be granted by a member of the city Stadsraad.

Raising the walls and city planning

After the founding of Bloemendaal, history started being recorded again, giving us a better insight to how life was in Bloemendaal's early days.

Bloemendaal's history began with the building of the walls, due to this priority of defenses, not much thought was given about possible future city growth. This eventually lead to the gradual birth of small villages, on the periphery of Bloemendaal's borders. This then lead to the Farmland Policy, which prioritized open farmland outside of the city walls, making an approaching army easier to spot. One of these villages, Honingsdam aan Koningsdiep, would eventually be granted the title of free town, due to hosting important features like Fort Clementine and the dam after which the town is named.

After the finishing of the walls

Geography

Bloemendaal is located in a small valley carved out by a river called Koningsdiep (Kingsdeep in Common Tongue).

Population

Bloemendaal's inrp population size is around 30000 to 40000

Bloemendaal is intended to be the only large city within the state, and currently in its golden age, so logically would be a decently large city for its time setting.

Architecture

Buildings

Bloemendaal's architecture styles have several real life inspirations, each with their own use case.

The main ones are:

Fachwerk / Wattle and Daub: for lower income or older houses.

Dutch Canal House: (not an architectural style, I know) Middle income, for houses along the packed streets and canals

Dutch, French and German Renaissance, Baroque and Gothic: For the higher income houses and government buildings

Besides architecture, Bloemendaal's city planning history also heavily influences the building styles. For example, Due to the lack of space within the walls leading to increased prices of land, many architects are forced to look upwards, leading to tall and thin buildings. For that same reason, many wealthier nobles are able to afford much wider housing plots leading to wider houses being a clear symbol of wealth of the owner.

Streets are often narrow with in some cases houses being built above the streets to allow for more housing space.

Defensive works

Bloemendaal's defensive works are inspired by bastion fortifications like the ones that are still visible in some old towns and city centers in The Netherlands. However, Bloemendaal's walls are a bit taller than real bastion forts and feature smaller, more medieval, crenelations.

Heraldry

Blazon

Shield: Chevronny Argent and Orange. In Chief a sunflower Proper, in Base a wall Cendrée.

Compartment: Poppy flower branches Proper.

Motto: Les Remparts Tiendront