Varang City-States
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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. Varangis is the name for the fertile river valleys in the southeastern grasslands, home to the Varang City-States. 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.
Contents
Culture
Astrology
X
Castes
X
- Pandits: X
- Outcaste: X
Government
X
Religion & Sanctuary
X
Varang Culture-Code
X
Varang Military
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
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Agriculture
The extremely fertile river valleys of the Varang, which flood twice a year, depositing rich silt on the farms and plantations up and down the four rivers of the Varang Plains, are the breadbasket of the South. Their outputs of rice and grains is quite impressive, and many specialty crops that could not otherwise grow in the South find purchase here. Among these are a variety of vineyards, easily half of which are owned and managed by House V'neef.
Clockwork
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.
Firedust
The merchants who travel to the south-easternmost edges of Varangia often come back with impressive hauls of firedust, acquired from the various tribes and gatherers who haunt the Great Southern Desert. This firedust forms the foundation of Varangian national defense and economy both; it is not uncommon for city guards to be armed with firewands and flame pieces, for instance.
Gems & Precious Metals
From the depths of the Summer Mountains come rich loads of precious metal and gemstones, mined in massive mining operations. Slave-operated, these operations are the equivalent of prison camps, in many instances: in fact, most of the citizenry who find themselves at the wrong end of the law are sentenced to work in mining camps, as the Varang do not believe in imprisonment without accompanying work.
Djala Slaves
At the edges of Varang territory are the roaming grounds of the Djala tribes. Only the Djala may be employed as slaves in the Varang City-States' urban centers; all other slaves must be kept on rural estates and the like. Small bands of slaver bandits, strange humanoids who speak broken Flametongue known as the jikari hunt the djala, and sell them to both Varang rich enough to own them, and to the Guild slavers who make their occasional way along the Great Coastal Road.
Printing
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.
The Coastal Trade Cities
The Coastal Trade Cities are the only cities that foreigners are permitted entry into. As a result, both the Guild and the Realm maintain full-time presences in all three of them.
- Yane (Pop. 400,000): 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.
Cities of the Falucan River
- Jisal (Pop. 120,000): X
Cities of the Hokaj River
- Has-Kan (Pop. 180,000): X
Cities of the Fakal River
- Ulsan (Pop. 70,000): X
Cities of the Jighast River
- Volat (Pop. 200,000): X
- Tarcha (Pop. 90,000): X
