Alsem

The city of Alsem is the easternmost settlement of the domain Conquista. Alsem was the first city to fall during the Vieuxlyese invasion, and was completely destroyed. It was later rebuilt bigger, stronger, and paradoxically more cosmopolitan than any other city in the land.

Nowadays Alsem is Conquista's gateway to the rest of the Wartorn Cluster's civilized domains, seeing as it guards the route by which trade enters and leaves the land. It is also a refuge for people who have fled from other domains to Conquista, and has incorporated many foreign architectural styles during its reconstruction. The city is also the first line of defense against another invasion from the direction of Vieuxlyons, and as such has powerful defenses and well-disciplined Hombres Valientes. As a trade hub and gathering-place for travelers, the city has considerable financial and skill capital at its disposal.

Much of Alsem's cosmopolitan character and prosperity is owed to its current civil governor / commander of the local Hombres Valientes, Francisco Hareleg, who has decreed a crackdown on corruption at every level of society, investigation of every crime, and that important positions should actually be filled by people who are capable of the associated tasks, rather than those who are capable of paying bribes or citing ancestry. Although this flies in the face of Conquista's traditions of racism, sexism and classicism, the population of Alsem adores him, and Alsem is probably more prosperous than the domain's capital of Hughsrest.

The countryside around Alsem is lousy with Witches, many of them of the evil variety. The governor/commander's decision to defy Conquistan and Taiian custom of persecuting arcane spellcasters has actually persuaded more benign Witches to ally with the city and join in its defense. Presumably, the Taiian sect known as the True Gardeners have a strong presence in Alsem, as their message of equality meshes well with local culture.