Greenhill

Greenhill pictured at night from the north, with the River Seine visible.

Greenhill & Southdene (IPA: /ˌgrɛnəl ən(d) ˈsʌðdən/; toki pona: ma nena en ma anpa), commonly known as Greenhill (IPA: /ˈgrɛnəl/; toki pona: ma nena), is a self-governing city-state in Eastern Nostria. Geographically, Greenhill lies along the southern bank of the River Seine in an area where the waterway widens as it meanders known as Greenhill Bay. For the majority of Terra Nostra's history, Greenhill has been the most important and productive cultural centre and it has the highest active population of any settlement in Terra Nostra.

History

Settlement

Greenhill was the first settlement after the Great Spawning and was founded by Maria and Kawa on a joint venture. They discovered the mountainous landscape at the eastern coast of Nostria and began the founding of Greenhill with the construction of a simple staircase up from the river to a slight terrace in the hill. It was upon this terrace that Blossom House was built by Maria, shortly followed by Kawa's House. The first road built was Blossom Plaza, connecting the old staircase to Blossom House. Shortly thereafter, Occult Street was built by person or persons unknown connecting Blossom House to Kawa's House. The name Occult Street, however, did not come about until later when the apothecary was built.

Growth

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Founding of Southdene

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Geography

Landscape

Greenhill lies between Greenhill Hill, a long mountainous hill that spans the length of the town, and the River Seine on the northern side. At the part of the Seine by which Greenhill was founded, the course of the river is much wider than at other points and it begins to meander northwards. This area became known as Greenhill Bay.

On the other side of Greenhill Hill, the valley of Southdene provides a large expanse of flat land for building and therefore gave its name to the later borough of Southdene.

Metropolitan area

The area comprising Greenhill and Southdene is formally known as the Greenhill Metropolitan Area and this area definition forms the basis of the foundation of the Greenhill Council.

Transport

Roads

See also: List of roads in Greenhill

There are many roads in Greenhill, most of which were built through its history as new buildings were planned and constructed and the town grew. The distinctive style of roads in Greenhill has become an iconic marker of the town, with stone bricks and spruce slabs in use for most of the town, with the exception of the north west of Greenhill, which uses deepslate bricks and stone brick slabs, and Southdene, which favours wider streets of various grey bricks, often lined with flowering hedges.

Nether

There is one nether portal in Greenhill, accessible from the Promenade. It connects directly to the Nether Highway in the Nether and therefore makes it easy to access destinations such as Chicken Island or the End Portal without the use of elytra.

Elytra

Since the defeating of the Ender Dragon, elytra use has been commonplace in Greenhill and there is a firework shop situated on Mountain Walkway to easily enable this. In spite of this, the Boaties countercultural movement has steadily grown in Greenhill, leading many residents to reduce or completely eradicate their elytra usage. For the most part, Greenhill is a suitable location for those partaking in the movement due to its walkability.

Governance

Politics

Greenhill is an independent city-state which describes itself as self-governing. Formally, power is vested in a council which is made up of all resident members of the Greenhill Metropolitan Area.

Culture

Food

Food plays a large role in Greenhill culture, with the iconic Le Café de Flore being not only the oldest café in Greenhill but also amongst the oldest buildings. There is also the Poultry House, which provides fresh factory-farmed chicken to Greenhill residents, and the Rusty Spoon pub on the Promenade.

Folklore

Due to its large and active population, Greenhill has a long history of folklore. Once such example is the legend of Occult Street where due to the unknown builder of Occult Street, many folk interpretations of its construction have been adopted instead.

Literature

Greenhill enjoys a rich literary culture, with Southdene Library housing the collections of many local writers and poets in its local authors section.

There has also been a long-running news publication in Greenhill since the early days of its settlement, known as the Greenhill Herald. To date there have been two published editions of the newspaper. It is overseen by the Greenhill Publishing Company situated in Publishing House on Paper Street.