Queen Ilene: Welcome again! This weekend I'll be conducting a tour to visit the smaller and humbler communities of the Kingdom! Despite absolute power being invested into my position, I always strive to keep in touch with my subjects, their worries and their aspirations. Hmmm....now where did Mew venture off?

 

Jenny Salisbury: Oh, dear Ilene, you know how the little fella is: he gets bored easily and probably went off to wander elsewhere in the Kingdom. Although you might as well do just that! We still have the define the budget and policies for this year, and you can't do that unless you're informed of the people's needs!

 

Queen Ilene: Let's not waste more time and head to the humble communities throughout Rota!

 

We'll begin by visiting the two towns north of the Palace:

 

Brixen, to the northeast...

 

...and Mayfield, to the northwest.

 

These two towns are like twins, sharing essentially the same economy, landscape and view of our regal capital! From what I noticed on the way there, there's heavy travel between them and Cameran, the odd thing being that it's Cameran's residents who do the bulk of commuting to the farmlands of Brixen and Mayfield. Much like Wellesley, Brixen and Mayfield enjoy sunnier weather, their skies are dotted with white, puffy clouds that gently roll along with the breeze.

 

Now we head south towards the outskirts of Aldemar. Despite this part of the kingdom being dominated by this city, Aldemar has two junior companions: the villages of Perceval and Naro.

 

Just as we cross the border of the capital city into Aldemar, we go past Perceval:

 

...to then go through Aldemar's urban center, where the mayor took the opportunity to remind me of something extremely important. We have to conduct the next census!

 

With that reminder fresh in the agenda, we move on and go past Aldemar's Floral Park. My goodness, is this place so enchanting! This reminds me, the landscape architects who designed it are the very same ones hired to design the four new parks at the capital, hopefully this will be a taste of what is to come.

 

Jenny Salisbury: Your Majesty, I believe Mew just went ahead of us to visit the smaller communities.

Queen Ilene: Would you look at that! He's thrilled as ever by the park!

Mew: Nyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!

(Translation: Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!)

 

We then venture to the southwest and starts to climb along the twisty mountain road, until we reach the village of Naro. Residents mostly cheered at our visit, but a few approached us with concerned faces. They worry about how the larger settlements are getting ornate public spaces and their tiny community remains neglected with no dedicated recreational areas.

 

We continue along our path and descend into the Valleys of Silurum...

 

...and to our next stop, the village of Elusa.

 

Elusans instead feel bothered by the noisy traffic and dangerous speeding vehicles dissecting their otherwise quaint home, the main road from Aldemar to Silurum indeed slices the community into two fearful halves.

As we went along said road, we descend to the town of Silurum. Despite its ranking, Silurum sure feels urban with its small pockets of industry and a very domineering real estate company constructing just one apartment building model within downtown!

 

Silurians appear mostly concerned about the architectural character of their town being lost to these cloned towers, they otherwise enjoy a more comfortable standard of living compared to the villages.

 

Even with the looming towers governing the cityscape, Silurum boasts a multitude of small parks, the most visited of these is one block away from the town's schools:

 

Mew: Nyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!

(Translation: Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!)

 

Jenny Salisbury: C'mon Mew, don't go off collecting the kids' missing toys! You already have more than enough at the Palace and wherever else you hide them!

 

Mew: Mew-mew? Mew-miw-miu, nyah-nyah-mew?

(Translation: Really? You mean that kids don't just throw them away?)

 

Jenny Salisbury: Yes, dear. Those toys belong to the kids! Besides, how are you gonna play with all of them if you keep hoarding more and more!?

 

Queen Ilene: Anyway....we then head to the village of Osca, towards the bottom of the valley:

 

Residents here also share the same worry as those of Elusa: non-local traffic keeps racing along their streets, but here the problem is a bit different: there is no main road around the village, and everything brought by it is dumped into their dirt paths.

 

We finally reach the town of Alba. This place used to be the westernmost settlement of Rota, at least until the war that formed part of our grand historic commotion. During the ensuing peace negotiations, our Kingdom was expanded further west. I will tell you more of this in the second part of our tour!

As for Alba proper, the townsfolk seem interested in getting new and better jobs, rather than being relegated to farming and small shops that have always been part of their livelihoods. The mayor here has approached us requesting royal efforts towards industrialization.