the frontier [Lore] Seaddle

[SteelEagle]

Seaddle- The Sapphire City

 

Seaddle, the Sapphire City and the most prominent city on the Equestrian north-eastern coast, is one of of the most economically, socially, creatively, and geographically diverse cities in the land. It sits on the very edge of Equestria's northern expansion and discovery as well as helps cast her long gaze east across a vast ocean, and its many faceted economy allows a wide range of ponies to develop the city's character in fair amounts. Seaddle is therefore pulled in many places at once, neither being a city where high society nor low society run the local scene, where business is conducted with equal measures of respect given to those in the business meetings and those in the ports and mines that dot the area.
 

Seaddle sits in the Paradise Islands at the mouth of the River Stadia. It is part of the thin strip of the mainland and the islands referred to as the Stadian Temperate Rainforest. It is home to heavy forestation, where thickets of conifers, cedars and first dominate the landscape. Seasonal winds and the forestation help create a very temperate atmosphere: It doesn't get blazing hot in the summer nor does it get nearly as cold as Stalliongrad nearby, instead often sitting in a perfectly enjoyable temperature range. It rains often though rarely very heavily. Still, the most common association many have with Seaddle as a joke is rainstorms coming on through. Mt. Reiner is the head of a small mountain range that extends from the mainland to the islands, and it sits in the background of Seaddle's hustle and bustle. Indeed, while the range as a whole is nothing all that intriguing to many, Mt. Reiner is renown for being extremely rich in minerals and materials and is a favorite spot for everything from mining to hiking. It also serves as a landmark for ships traveling from the east who can see its towering frame long before it sees the city.
 

And once they do see the city, they see a city that has one of the more unique shipping situations in all of Equestria. The Paradise Islands are full of natural harbors and bays that Seaddle has grown around. While no city has the sheer capability of shipping as Seaddle does, conservation means it is not the largest port city- just one of them. Unlike other ports which often serve as the hubs for the transportation of materials however, Seaddle's location allows it to harvest it themselves. It is a city that unlike other ports is home to the very industries whose materials it transports, allowing it and the region as a whole to play host to a wide range of interests- one runs into a lumberjack or a miner on the same street as the CEO of a major corporation. It also houses a large contingent of the Royal Equestrian Navy and the Army in the community of Bremareton, stationed to protect the somewhat isolated city of Seaddle.
 

All of this helps fuel Seaddle, which is many things to many ponies. It controls trade in the Delta and is the most active Equestrian-long range trading port. It has started to compete with other cities for leadership in technological circles, with application of magical energy in powering cities being a main focus along with mechanical innovations. For the dreamer and the philosopher, the city has earned a reputation for forward thinking ideals and activism and 'flavor of the week' ideas can be bought and sold en masse by the excited populace with equal parts embrace and disgust. Artists are encouraged to take chances and action and the city as a result is a subtle assault on the senses as street performers of all types ply their trade and concert halls ring with the sound of music. CEOs, Miners, Artists, Students, Philosophers, and Ploughstallions each know their part but in equal amounts pull the city in many different ways. As a result, the Sapphire City is dynamic but at times confused as to what its identity is. And perhaps that is the best identity it could hope for.

- Canterlot Research Journal, Professor Pennyhoof