The human nation of Calien is a land known for its density of trade and high taste for luxury, and is governed by a council of wealthy merchant houses known as the Seven Moons of Calien. Crimson velvet and fine lace, however, have done little to disguise the darkness in Calien’s past. The nation is at a political turning point as it rises up out of the grasp of the Vampire Lords who once dominated its people. Indeed, The Calien Revolution was still a very recent event.
This nation is also compromised by a lack of identity, as cultures clash from east to west. In the capital city of Malene, ladies and gentlemen seek a refined and civilized way of living. On the eastern peninsula, a culture of displaced islanders struggle to stabilize their dying traditions as their soldiers set down their katana and begin to take up the broadswords of the west.
The City of Malene
The capital city of Malene is land of high manners, fine ladies, and lordly gentlemen. It is city where well-bred women are adorned in beautiful corsets and men of note go about their work in magnificent capes and doublets. It is a city of wealth and prestige. In Malene, power is shown with the glint of a coin and honor is won at the tip of a rapier. The architecture of Malene is full of elegant arches, grand staircases, and quaint towers.
In the lower regions of the city, swashbucklers and vagabonds live the lives of rivermen, traveling the waters in trade and exploration, although there are very few who would dare to stray from the more commonly used paths.
The City of Lombard
Lombard is home to the finest traditional of the culinary arts. Nearly every street possesses an exquisite bakery and a fine restaurant. In the early history of Lombard, the city was under mercantile sanctions from the lords of Malene which prevented the tradesmen of Lombard from acquiring a certin amount of wealth which would put them on footing to rival the power of Malene. This sanction drove the people of Lombard to discover new ways to spend their coin, and thus the city became home to high art, exquisite entertainment, and extravagant dining.
Lombard now enjoys a full host of its own Calien Lords and Ladies, with noble courts to rival the intrigue and prestige of Malene. The architecture of the city displays vast courtyards, sprawling gardens, and rich stone manors. The Knights of Lombard, a nearly forgotten order of knights which was utterly destroyed in the last age, has recently been reborn and serves to protect the Calien people from all manner of threats.
Port Prosperity
Port Prosperity is a large port town built upon the bones of a truly ancient port city. The scholars of this city are known to boast that King’s Port in the Heartlands was not the first true bastion of human civilization in Lairroth, as is commonly believed, but rather that Port Prosperity claims this honor.
In the current era, Port Prosperity is a wealthy trade city full of the clashing cultures of Malene, Lombard, and the Shinjuku Peninsula. Port Prosperity is located to the north-east of Malene, upon the coast of the Calien Sea. As such, it often serves as a destination point for travelers from The Gladelands and even Moradrim.
Shindaishi Peninsula
The Shindaishi Peninsula is ruled by a caste of military nobility which follow ancient precepts of honor and tradition descendant from a series of islands which once rested within the Calien Sea. Many of these islands were destroyed in the great upheaval after The Betrayal, and the remnants of their culture survived in the hearts of those who now live in Shindaishi. Some legends claim that a few of these lost islands once held secret magical portals which led into the mountains of Ebrus in Terath, but tragically these portals were almost certainly destroyed as well, if they ever truly existed.
The other denizens of Calien often perceive the traditions of the people of Shindaishi as strange and unusual. The people of Shindaishi value education and literacy to such a degree that common people of all walks of life are encouraged to study history, writing, mathematics, and sword technique. Meditation is believed to be important to education, in offering a process to calm one’s mind.
The philosophy of Shindaishi is unusual as well. Most of the people of Shindaishi are said to believe that those who live with honor are reborn after death, and their soul is thus given the chance to better the world through further acts of honor. Thus it is widely believed that seeking an honorable death is nearly always preferable to living a life in dishonor.
The weapons of Shindaishi are often said to rival the quality of those crafted by the Elentari, and are known by strange names such as the Wakazashi, the Katana, and the Naginata.
The peninsula was historically also known by the name Shinjuku, but the people of the region ceased the use of this older name after the territory was flooded by magical tidal forces in 217 pb.
