New Toleto

This page has a writeup in GURPS format. You can view it here.

Significance: Capital city of the UCNA
Location: On the western shore of the Mississippi River, near its confluence with the Ohio

On April 5th, Yusuf was caliph over a very disjointed territory. One of his seats of power was in Cuba [details?], and the main city on the mainland was Port-Royal, which became the UCNA's de facto capital for most of his career. At best it was a stopgap solution.

As a permanent capital city, Port-Royal had serious disadvantages. It was built in the swamps, and epidemics of malaria and cholera were so regular that diplomats demanded hazard pay. It was vulnerable to naval warfare, making the (Cuban-dominated) navy too powerful [details?] - and Cuban aggression couldn't be ruled out. (And although it was a nonissue at the time, Port-Royal anchored the UCNA to Caribby at a time when the north was extremely open territory.) From fairly early, both Yusuf and Don Musa had plans to relocate the capital. All they needed was a suitable location.

That location, ultimately, was found where the Ohio River met the Mississippi on their march to the Gulf of Mexico. As soon as accurate maps were available for the area [when?], Yusuf I started laying plans for the construction of a future capital city there. It would be out of the plaguey south; it would be forward-thinking and free from the traditionalism of Port-Royal; and as a new city, the caliphate could set the tone for its society.

From fairly early on, it was also clear that this city had the potential to see a lot of fighting. Recognizing this, Yusuf inevitably wound up naming it after the cultural redoubt of the Moorish world: Toleto - always threatened, sometimes conquered, but never lost.

A brief history of New Toleto

From the beginning, New Toleto was planned as a fortified city. Yusuf had no idea what lay in store for the future, but he wasn't taking any chances; he anticipated wars in the north, and saw the meeting of the major waterways as critically important.

• While Yusuf I saw the first Caliphal Palace (a brick-and-limestone star fortress) built, and established the Chamberlain of New Toleto as an office of the Caliphal Household, he died with the UCNA's capital still based out of Port-Royal. The capital was moved to New Toleto only under Don Musa, to undermine his weak caliphs. [details?]
• Once this move was in place, the Andalusian army was firmly seated in New Toleto. (That said, New Toleto's armory wasn't the most powerful; Port-Royal's was French-dominated and helped to supply its navy as well. The H11 controversy was a microcosm of what happens when the two arsenals don't see eye-to-eye.)
• The 1896 earthquake: Early in 1896 [when?], a 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit the region, less than a dozen kilometers from New Toleto. Tradition holds that every book in the city was unshelved, and a number of large fires broke out on the city's outskirts after chimneys were toppled.

Geography of New Toleto

While it's pushed east to the Mississippi banks, the heart of New Toleto was built a few miles from the shore itself. (Port-Royal was still recovering from the 1825 Mississippi flood, and Yusuf had no desire to go through that again.) The actual riverbank city has been destroyed and rebuilt several times; there's a very clear distinction between Toletula (the original city, so called because it generally spoke Arabic) and "New Toledo," its suburbs and outgrowths. New Toledo itself is districted mostly by the areas enclosed by floodwalls. [details?]

The Alcazar: New Toleto has several Alcazars, built at different times. The Alcazar, from which all others are distinguished, is a star fort, built from brick supplemented with limestone shipped downstream. Behind its walls rises the Caliphal Palace, its gardens, a private mosque and two small chapels for the servants and soldiers. It's the oldest part of the modern city, so old that Yusuf I was alive to lay the cornerstones, and in the near-century since his death it's become so closely tied to the Caliphal Household that the two have become synonymous.

This is a work in progress. It will be expanded upon.