Cesuna (seh-soo-na)

42% Humans, 26% Dwarves, 18% Halflings, 14% Other Races

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K'taleña's monarchal lineage traces back to a distant union between the Bazurich bluebloods and Cesuna's royal line. Blood moons are a national holiday of the Queen, with many festivals held in her honour.

Sanguine Affairs

With the capital as the patron city of Idonysus, Cesuna has a particular fascination with hemocraft and blood magic. Clerics devoted to Idonysus who partake in these sorceries are called Red Cloaks, and differ from typical clerics in a few regards. Red Cloaks are compensated for their societal duties by the crown, which include lighting street lamps with bloodlight to prevent nighttime crime, and acting as local healer in their respective communities. On the rare occasion it should be required of them: Red Cloaks can also aid wandering Aen'sael with quelling the call of battle through a process of cooling the blood, and sometimes, they guide that thrill towards something productive like local monster hunting. Many Red Cloaks dedicate themselves to Idonysus and humble pursuits for the commonfolk, but there is a subsect of this order which concerns itself with rural affairs. Blood hunters devote their studies to their prey by ingesting blood during a rite known as the Hunter's Bane, and use these powers to keep the wilds of Cesunan partially tame. While clerics of the Red Cloaks most often deal with people, blood hunters (ideally) deal with monsters.

Tithe Collectors

Despite the lack of natural resources, the church and monarchal line are relatively wealthy, and that's for one good reason—the tithe. Citizens pay a tithe collected by the Red Cloaks, funding the churches of their god within the region, and religious exploits within K'taleña as a whole. Portions of the tithe are even used to fund the Sanctum of Myths Cathedral in Cheydal for its continued construction and repairs when needed. For those who cannot pay the tithe in coin, vials of blood are collected and used as kindling for hemocraft. Other than the Red Cloaks, no one is quite sure what else it's used for besides bloodlight, as blood mages typically use their own blood to channel magic.

Death's Crossing

Cesuna is one of the main ports to travel to Indarys by boat. People from all walks of life travel to the very eastern tip of Galia to board a boat to the highly prestigious land of mages. As a consequence, the port city of Gelerethe is teeming with the magically gifted, who have either just departed Indarys or are hoping to take their next voyage there. Several of Cesuna's many services are directly tied to its relationship with Indarys, including bodyguarding, monster-hunting and mercenary work.

Pictured: the Vermilion Karsts by the city of Sheodahn.

Demonym. Cesunan

Government. High Queen Tzara Volenska helms the region and her vassals, who rule their respective duchies in other regions of K'taleña.

Defense. The capital, Haladrian, maintains a sizable army composed of K'taleñic soldiers and an Indaryssian levy from Yha Themar, which together account for 15% of its forces. Socialites hire and keep bodyguards of their own coin. Indarys-trained bodyguards are flaunted as a sign of wealth and status.

Commerce. Most goods are imported by Sarriel, Varemis and Cheydal, due to the perilous nature of harvesting Cesuna’s natural resources, as well as its land being largely unsuitable for farming due to its soil quality. Ore and stone are harvested from the mountains of Cesuna, which are found in plentiful sums. Services are much easier to find than goods, and travellers are not as common due to the local wildlife and difficult terrain. However, it makes a hotspot for adventurers and monster-hunting guilds.

Organisations. Temples to the Ryte gods are common here, chief among them—Idonysus, as Haladrian is its patron city. The real power in the capital is held by the priests and church who maintain the affairs of the High Queen. There is latent propaganda upholding her (and the Cesuna royal family) as a powerful entity to rally the people behind. The priests are commonly called Red Cloaks. Temples to Idonysus are paid for by the crown to be built and maintained, and as such are fairly opulent compared to other Ryte temples.

Pantheons. A devoutly religious region, Cesuna houses worshippers of the Ryte pantheons, but particularly the Etheryte—Idonysus specifically. There is a smaller presence of devout Lore'zael and Twin Pillar worshippers, but they are typically centralised in Gelerethe.