Zerule is Loria's Capital and the nation's most populous city. It has an estimated population of 1,354,857 distributed over 893 square kilometres, located in the northeastern county of Queenstead. As the fastest-growing and most powerful settlement in the country, Zerule significantly influences commerce, magical research, technology, education, politics, fashion, and sports. It is widely considered the Kingdom's cultural melting pot and one of the most advanced cities in the world in terms of productivity and human development.
The Capital is distinguished for its abundance of skyscrapers compared to other settlements, boasting more than 30 buildings 100 meters or taller. As most of the buildings were built within five years and given similar architectural styles, they are key in the city's international identity. The antique and highly detailed masonry on the facade of its buildings is considered artistic and highly characteristic of Loria's general aesthetics.
The wide streets of Zerule are always bustling with traffic generated by people performing their day to day duties or partaking of the cities' services. While Downtown is the most active area of the city, the residential sector located in the mountains is a calm and beautiful sanctuary abundant in vegetation and primarily composed of large houses or smaller residential buildings. Most houses are government-built and sold to the townsfolk; they're made of wood, painted white with blue roof tiles, and often come with a well-maintained yard. This sector also offers a great view of the cityscape.
Zerule has a few notorious points of interest.
The Illustrious Plaza is the city's most important commercial center. It consists of a large town square with a stone slate flooring, black lighting poles, fenced-off green areas with small trees and colorful bushes, and a great marble fountain in the center that launches bursts in patterns, providing an entertaining watery spectacle. Streets run around the square, lined with buildings hosting businesses and services like shops and restaurants. The square is connected to the plaza's main building by a stone pedestrian bridge arching over the streets.
The main building is known as Kittenpaw Mall, it has three external floors and two internal stories all of which are lined with stores, cafeterias, entertainment centers, libraries, theaters, and even a cinema. Kittenpaw is cluttered on the outside but rather spacious on the inside, with polished white stone interiors and big picture windows on the roof providing great lighting to those inside.
The Elden Palace and its white rose monument are another well-known landmark within Zerule. Sitting by the Governmental Square is a massive white rectangular building of gorgeous architecture, with a pointed faceted dome sitting on squinches at the roof's center, and multiple curvilinear columns on the porch bearing the weight of its wedge-shaped roof. The Palace is not only the main governmental management building, but the Queen's home as well. It has four floors total, and its interiors are mostly made of shiny white marble with onyx and gold fixtures. Along its lengthy hallways are many rooms hosting offices that play a key role in maintaining the country's many variables in check.
Within the Elden Palace is the Chamber of Quartz - the Queen's throne room, and a forum for the Royal Court and its members to discuss matters important to the realm. The Chamber is a grand, spacious hall with a very tall vaulted ceiling and diagonal round columns on the sides, parallel and mirrored. Living up to its name the chamber is entirely made of Quartz, like a massive and perfectly symmetrical cave. Past the entrance is a wide set of stairs leading down to the off-level center of the forum; across it is another set of stairs that lead to the Queen's Crystal Throne.
In a city as grand as Zerule, full of life with countless roads, turns and roundabouts, colorful lights and shining signs, and plentiful places of all sorts and roles, you'll never know what you'll find past the next corner.