Varang City-States

The Plains of Asherta

The Varang City-States are on a wide, wind-swept plain, the easternmost portion of the Southern Plains of Asherta. The Varangian Plains are well-known for their incredible summer storms, which sweep in from out of the wild prairie, on thunderheads the size of mountains.

A peaceful nation, Varang is located amid the fertile river valleys in the southeastern grasslands. There are seven major cities in the Varang City-States, each boasting between 50,000 and 400,000 residents. They control the trade routes between the central and eastern South, and even the Guild is forced to deal with them on their terms.

Culture

Outsiders find the Varang customs incredibly exasperating, for their lives and traditions are based on extensive astrological lore. This astrological obsession colors everything they do: there are five castes in society, and interactions between those castes are tightly regimented. Moreover, a person's profession is determined by the astrological hour in which they were born. All of these factors can be determined at a glance by native Varang, but the assumed traditions and expectations between the citizens of this nation are a hopeless web of confusion for outsiders.

Moreover, Varang society is based on a plutocracy — the eldest hold the power, whether in a family, business or a caste. As a result, the intrigue and flat-out assassination that results from this is quite well know. Outsiders are viewed with suspicion, because those Varang who do wish to thin the ranks above them rarely wish to risk giving another Varang the sort of blackmail material that would come from having one of their countrymen performing a murder for them. So, outsiders are the most common assassins in Varang, and all Varang know it.

As a result of this, a tradition evolved long in the past of the Varang, the tradition of Sanctuary. A person could flee into a temple and claim Sanctuary, and the temple was required to grant it. Moreover, none could enter into that temple to work violence on those who'd claimed Sanctuary, lest they invoke the wrath of the gods and the priestly caste.

Of course, this tradition remains even after the Varang became a satrapy to the Empire. Actual worship in the temples ceased, with the Varang insisting that the temples must remain as cultural relics, and their priestly caste tenders as curators and keepers of Sanctuary. It is an open secret that the priests still perform the rites of their gods, but the Varang are notoriously dismissive of gods and religion in general.

Products

The Varang are also highly regarded for their clockwork craftsmanship, originally used to create orreries and other pieces of astrological and astronomical measurement, but which have since been applied to the creation of tall clock towers, which mark precise measurements of time. One of these stands in each official ward of a Varang city, tolling out the hours and decorated in a fashion that represents something about the nature of that ward.

This clockwork technology has been put to other uses, including an incredibly complex clockwork printing press. Varang is famous for its rag-paper novels, sold on many street corners in the cities. Most of the people of Varang are quite literate, and take great pride in this fact.

Cities of the Varang

Varang cities can also be considered hopelessly confusing, for their layout are always according to some principle of cosmic and astrological perfection. They are known for their numerologically pleasing divisions into wards, each of which is marked with a tall clock-tower.

Yane (Pop. 250,000): The capital of the Varang City-States, Yane is laid out in a precise radial plan, with the Great Celestial Gardens, the palace-complex of the ruling caste, in the center. Yane maintains a large and impressive Imperial Embassy, notorious to outlanders for the fact that the Varang invited the Realm, rather than waiting for the Realm to step in themselves. As a result, their interactions with the Realm are of cultured politics, without the influence of the Immaculate Order, as is so often the case with places the Realm takes an interest in first (which usually results in the arrival of Immacualte monks before any diplomats).

Kriss (Pop. 180,000): Home to the largest Imperial garrison in the Varang City-States, Kriss is the western-most city of the Varang, laid out in a six-sided spiral which winds from the noble-caste palace in the center to the periphery.

Talt (Pop. 160,000): The eastern-most city of the Varang, Talt is home to an Imperial garrison nearly the size of that in Kriss. Talt itself is laid out in a set of equilateral triangles, interlocking and confusing to visitors.