Lath is a southeastern city in Asiri Asa. It is known primarily as an industrial town, though renovations to its historic Redline Station have caused a surge in population in the last fifty years. It is one of the cities where the Egland family built extensively, and many credit Bamic Egland as the town's surrogate founder.
History
Lath was once Methal Lath, the strongest territory in historic Erah. For many years it was held together by petty kings who controlled the safest passage through the Batubesar Mountain Range that separated the powerful nations of Todao and Troe. It was the second or third (depending on time period) largest territory and became an important trading post between Todao and the rest of the continent to the east. However, the Erah territory was widely disorganized and the weak treaties that held the nation together were easily dissolved by widespread slave trade. By the 1300’s historical Erah was more or less disappeared. Lath, however, remained an important trading post between Todao and their neighbor directly north, Redgrah because of the timely development of the Redline Station.
In the late 300’s, a train was built to run from one side of the continent to the other to improve the exchange of culture and knowledge. The station in Lath was nicknamed the "Gate to the West" because of its strategic position. However, these stations were used to the point of neglect. By Bamic's lifetime, the station was primarily used for freights.
Then comes Bamic ‘Bic’ Egland. The Egland family is old money, but Bamic spends like he’s new money. He’s eccentric, but those eccentricities seem to do well for him; he owned several successful businesses and came to Lath hoping to get into the shipping business. A trademark of Bic and his wild money spending practices was that he often built homes wherever his ventures took him, and because of his fabulous wealth others often followed. No one expected him to build a home in a blue-collar town like Lath, but woah-ho, Bic arrives to town and sees that Lath isn’t just an industrial dump of a town. They have an (albeit very deserted) original Redline station, they are 30 minutes from the ocean, the climate is moderate and it is naturally very lush. In the northernmost of the city there is an old abandoned university where the wealthy families of Todao and Regrah would send their children for higher Ed, and just north of that was a beautiful almost untouched land of old mansion homes.
And Bamic built. Oh, did he build. And others came, inspired by the lush greenery and the mysticism of the Redline station and the abandoned uni (I say abandoned, but actually of the 5 colleges on campus one was still functioning). Of course, now that Lath’s population was growing, it needed more amenities, especially ones that catered to the extremely wealthy moving in up north. This is when development on the downtown area began. The problem was that the downtown area developed very quickly and without much thought. It is a little confusing to navigate and for the most part is just plain ugly. Lacking personality, however, didn’t stop it from quickly becoming the ‘it’ place to live. People flocked from the suburbs and historic neighborhoods to be closer to grocery stores, shopping, entertainment and each other, even if the buildings were ugly. As the area grew in popularity, Lath grew in prestige. It attached more businesses, and from that, a lot more people.
It was only a few years before this story begins that the re-development of the university began. See, once everyone saw how ugly the downtown area became and how basic the surrounding newer suburbs were, the idea was hatched to give Lath some of its historical charm back. The idea was simple; refurbish the old, 600 to 400 year old buildings of the university, create a few newbuilds to match, and turn the university into a condensed neighborhood of its own. This project was called University Town, though now most residents call it U-Town.
Geography
Downtown- high rent, lots of arts and entertainment, high rises, shopping, bars, restaurants, no mass transit, financial and professional job market. Warehouse district – cheaper, warehouse shopping, artsy, lots of empty space, still used as a ‘processing area.
Station East – transitional urban and cheaper suburbs, historic neighborhoods with smaller homes and narrow streets. Some discount shopping and entertainment but mostly residential.
Lower Lath – Larger homes, suburban, mall shopping and more spacious. Lacking character and charm but pricey, close to downtown without sacrificing space.
Factory District – Still many used as factories, mostly processing shipments from wholesalers or large companies (like amazon). Not a lot of residential but many people still work there.
Station West – a small area just between downtown, factory district, and station east, station west is an up-and-coming residential area that is meant to be one of many small communities catering to the factory district.
Utown – university town, character and charm, a lot of slow progress because of building with/around historical buildings, lots of easy mass transit, lots of character, younger area for post-college and young families. Still developing, not much done yet. Each neighborhood is named for the college that was once there
Atus College – religious studies CyunErah (Kai-Un-Era) College – arts, still a college though quite small. Upera College – Sciences (including brewing and distillation of alcohol) Lothes Kol College of Medicine – medical LKCM. People call it ‘LK’ or ‘Kol College’.
Fodelse (Faux-Dells) College – anthropology, history, lit
Upper Lath – the wealthy wealthingtons live here with large space and huge mansions. Historical home of both the Eglands and the Swans.
Ed Row – A small strip of land bordering the next city and the downtown/station west area, Ed Row is a transitional urban area famed for its many excellent schools. It isn’t the best neighborhood.
Demographics
Culture
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Government