A closer look: the city of Asteriskia

[Richard Quest]

(skyline of Asteriskia, after the American discovery)

This is an outline of one of my cities in my daydream, Asteriskia. During the great Plague, a 14 year old boy started seeing vivid hallucinations. He would mumble nonsensical words in a stupor. This could happen at any time in the day: while he was in the bathroom, during a walk outside, etc. He kept saying the same thing over and over again--until someone wrote it down. What ensued was weird: what he said came true. This kid garnered a huge cult following in the weeks after the epidemic killed off all adults. His name was Kevin. He never provided his followers with a surname. He wandered his hometown of Green Bay, Wisconsin with his disciples until he received a vision from God to build a white city of guilded domes on the banks of Green Bay. After a few years, the city was finished and Kevin's book of prophecies was finished, he needed a name for both of them. Within the pages of his books, contains many footnotes marked with asterisks (***) They provided most of the bulk of the book, from living a good life, to prophesying the future. Kevin named his new city Asteriskia and his fledgling religion, Asteriskianism. 

The city and it's inhabitants grew rapidly for the next 80 years of expansion, controlling trade and culture in the Great Lakes. Oddly, they did not meet the United States until far later. 

CULTURE AND TRADITIONS

(Asteriskia has a two flag system in which they fly white flags in times of peace and black flags in times of war)

Asteriskia is considered one of the most religious cities in the world because of Kevin the Great and his religion. Due to this, Asteriskia has their own distinct identity compared to the other American citystates. Historically, there have been two sects of Asteriskianism in the city: Orthodox Asteriskianism, which follows Kevin the Great only; and Christian Asteriskianism, which combined the book of prophecies with the Christian Bible to provide a more whole religion. The people of Asteriskia live under a rare form of government before the American times. They had a theocratic oligarchy. Two councils headed all the business in the city, they both answered to Kevin the Great. The lower council was all democratically elected and secular, while the Higher council was the leaders of all the area churches. Religious law was the same as civil law before American contact too. But it is different than what it sounds like: material possessions were considered sinful so people were limited to a certain number.

HISTORY

(Kevin the Great declaring war after Hoffman incursion at Cana Island)

When Asteriskia expanded their trade empire in the Great Lakes, the Hoffman Empire heard of a great city of golden domes and marbled walls. Heather Hoffman sent off a force to loot the city. Kevin had placed island forts all around Door county to discourage piracy, but these forts were no match for the enemy airships that bombarded them. Cana Island, the largest of these forts, was completely destroyed. The airships landed due to high winds and the enemy army raided the countryside.(Cana Island being bombarded)

The resulting conflict lasted 11 days. The Hoffman soldiers raided Asteriskian cities closer and closer to Asteriskia proper until they were knocking on the great white walls. A siege followed until Kevin decided it was enough. He and his army came out of the city and chased away the invaders, but Kevin was captured in the process. (this is where another story of mine intertwines go check my blog for it) This girl, Amanda Prophet went out and found the dying prophet tied to a tree and bleeding out. She walked him back into the safety of the city, where Kevin died from his wounds. After driving the invaders from their country, Asteriskia quickly closed its doors to outsiders. Without a leader, the council had no desire to fix the city and expand power again. People were still in shock for their dead leader. For 20 years the city laid dormant in the landscape, the people never venturing too far out, and almost never accepting outsiders.

(the damages from the siege weren't repaired for 20 years)

It was prophesied that once the great leader fell, the military would drill every day. Due to this Asteriskia had the best army, but they didn't use it because of another prophecy stating they don't open their gates until 'an eagle from the South asks for hand in marriage, and trains soldiers for the greater good' This was Colonel Willows from Queensland asking for an alliance against the Hoffman Empire. He fulfilled the prophecy completely. When added to the union, Asteriskia was forced to be democratic and the religious council moved down only to religious and ceremonial purposes. They retained their massive and unique identity though. (like Texas)

This city will continue to be a hotspot of my plots for the rest of my daydream. They played a huge role in the Western Wars as well. This outline of my city only scratches the surface contentwise. 

I hope you enjoyed this! I'll make more blog posts like this with my cities! Do you guys have any input?

[Richard Quest]

Thanks! I spend a lot of time on it xD

[komal]

Wow, your daydream is so intricately designed and very interesting. Cool