Roleplay
Game
[zɑːntʊəgɑːn]
When you hear stories about the shadow side of the desert land Koruna [kɔːɹuːnʌ], then you can almost be sure that they are about Santugan. Some even call it the "cursed city" or the "city of blood". In the whole world of Mereldia you won't find a place with more criminals in one spot as in Santugan. Because of this it also is often refered to as the "city of thieves". 30% of the population are criminals and everyone you pass is therefore a potential danger. Living in Santugan is under every circumstance dangerous, especially when you do not know your way around. Because of the life conditions the people there are often harsh and do not have much sympathy. They face death on a regular basis and are already used to see corpses laying around in the streets when you walk in the morning. Many want to leave the city, but it is laying far away from any other city which makes this difficult. For inexperienced people, a journey through the desert can be as deadly as the city itself. You need a caravan to leave the city safely, but those are expensive. Only few can afford this and therefore are stuck in the city of blood.
Mentality
All the people in Koruna are highly religious. They believe in the six element gods and the stars, praying daily to them. Every single one of the six high gods has at least one temple in their honour in each city, while the temple of the stars is the biggest and most treasured one. The stars and other heavenly bodies are the only means of orientation in the desert, which is why they are so treasured and even have been declared holy and godly.
Even in the dark city of Santugan, this religion is existent. They do not follow it as strict as the people in Monabur, but the habitants still believe that the gods will save them from their misery someday. They pray at least two times a day (in the morning and in the evening) and visit the temples every week. Some even visit them every day. It does not matter if you are a criminal or a normal citizen, the belief in the gods is deeply ingrained into the life of all people in Koruna. The only difference in Santugan is that they do not see their king as highly as they should. Most of the middle class and the low class despise him for his selfishness, while the high society thinks well of him.
Despite their unusual negative attitude towards their own king, they still regard the king of Monabur and therefore Koruna very highly. Like everyone in Koruna, he is almost seen as a god and no one in their right mind would speak ill of him or his family. Being disrespectful towards the royal family of Monabur is seen as high treason towards the gods themselves and therefore as almost a deadly sin.
People of Santugan are mostly harsh and speak in an unclear, mumbling accent. Many use foul language and do not have a lot of manners. Only the High Society proves to have some sort of class and manners.
Seeing apart from the high crime rate, Santugan is actually a normal city. 50% of its population is in the middle class and 20% are of the High Society. The High Society is mostly consisting of Soldiers, but most of them are corrupted. They use their high rank to attack people sometimes with the explanation that it has been a criminal. Other misdeeds are committed against criminals and innocents from the guards.
History
It was under the rule of king Baalis, son of king Fintan and grandson of Cynfor, that a group of brave people was sent out to find desert treasures yet unfound. The group wandered for weeks, some of them falling prey to the beasts of the desert and others dying of thirst, but eventually a river was found. A river that would later be named Ryleht, after the brave warrior that had fought the beasts of the desert to keep prince Caelan, the first king of Santugan, safe.
As the brave group followed the Ryleht, they came to find something they had not expected. A city like Monabur. It was as big as the known city of gold when also in a much more pitiful state. No habitants, not even Raccardis lived here. It seemed to be a city that had only recently risen from the burning sands. No doubt a gift from the gods.
When the explorers returned to Monabur, king Baalis was overjoyed of hearing that grand news. Just like Cynfor before him, he named the new place after his own wife, Santugan.
He decided that his brother prince Caelan would have the honour of being king of this new city. It from there forth was Caelan’s task to not only get to the city but also to rebuild it. He picked a team of warriors and architects who would accompany him to Santugan and help him with his fate.
The city of Santugan was just a mere few days away when the group was suddenly attacked by ferocious desert beasts unlike any other. Blood soaked the sand and screams of warriors filled the air. In the end, it was Ryleht, a young but brave warrior, that slew the beasts and saved the king. To show his undying gratitude and to let Ryleht’s brave deeds be remembered, prince Caelan named the river that lead them to Santugan after the brave warrior.
Upon arriving at the city, they all took shelter at the heart of it all. The palace. A building of beauty despite being worn by age and soiled by sand and dust.
Prince Caelan and his group worked together, he becoming more a friend to all of them than a king. But even so, he was the one commanding. And so, he commanded for the warriors to train daily so that they could fight off more beasts if some would dare to enter the ruins. The architects were to at first repair the castle, a building easily big enough for twenty groups of their size. It took moons upon moons, but eventually, the repairs on the castle were finished and the rebuilding of the houses of the city could begin.
Not only did prince Caelan reign over a city of friends, but also of family. One of the mares, that had accompanied him to Santugan as a servant, had caught his interest. It had only been mere moons since the finishing touches had been made on the palace building, that Caelan’s first child was born.
Prince Paq was an inquisitive child who liked to mingle with the children of the workers and who therefore learned to live the life of a citizen, not a royal. The people in the city were his friends. Everyone respected his father, so there was nothing to fear.
The harmonic reign of prince Caelan ended when his brother, king Baalis, made the journey to Santugan to crown him as king of the city. It was not the title of a king that Caelan now held that changed the city of Santugan, but rather what king Baalis had brought with him.
Vermin of the city. That was, what they were called. Those, that did not follow the Book of Prayers and therefore Umashree’s writings. They were those whose hearts had fallen for the darkness who could not be helped. King Baalis did not want them in Monabur, the holy first city, and so a second city had been a perfect place to put them. And just like vermin, those lawless people spread, growing in numbers steadily.
King Caelan forbid his son to play outside of the castle anymore, deeming it to be unsafe. The ones who the king had declared his friends were offered the noblest houses with the most secure walls, to keep them save from the criminals, who were left to roam where was still just ruin.
It was clear, that with all the murders and crimes committed, it was just a matter of time until someone very dear to king Caelan would die. He could not sit around and wait for his beloved city to fall. Caelan declared, that on the following full moon - two moons after he was crowned king of Santugan - all criminals that were found, should be executed for their misdeeds. He assured everyone, that he was following the Book of Prayers, since also prince Dwayne, who had fallen for the darkness, had been executed by the king for his misdeeds.
A slaughter the size unlike any that had ever occurred since after the war, began. Criminals were brought by the castle guards and chained in the palace’s courtyard. Then, when the full moon rose, just as it had during Caelan’s coronation, all of them were executed. Some were hanged, some were burned alive, some hanged from the gallows. It was a thing met with cheers and shouts of gratitude by the people who had suffered under the cruelty of the criminals.
King Caelan had not foreseen just how much this law changed Santugan. It divided the city into the hunted and the victims. Criminals took revenge for the death of their families and friends by killing every friend of king Caelan that they could find. Hanging them, burning them and beheading them, the same way he had beheaded their kin.
Things became much more drastic. King Caelan ordered all his closest friends to live in the castle with him, so be as safe as possible, while he ordered, even more, guards to be trained to catch the criminals and rid the city of them.
Eventually, King Caelan managed to shrink the number of criminals enough, to let them not pose as much a threat as before anymore. The full moon nights, in which criminals were executed, still were held. With time the people started to call them the days of blood. Every second full moon no criminals were executed, but instead the coronation of King Caelan and with that also the peace he promised were celebrated. Those were called the Moonlight Fests.
Things continued like this in not an optimal, but a relatively peaceful way for decades. Though also great kings one day have to fall. The criminals used their opportunity at one of the days of blood, where king Caelan made a public appearance and killed him. He had already been old then, but the shock still was enormous.
Following his father, prince Paq, long already an adult and with children of his own, was crowned the new king of Santugan. And so, a new reign began.
- Korunian Book of Prayer, Vol. I, Psamektia, "Caelan's Reign"
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Santugan was the second ruin city to be found in Koruna. After finding and restoring Monabur, caravans were sent out to search for new water and food sources. On one of these explorations Santugan was found. Just as Monabur, it had been buried under the sand for tousands of years and has only been dug out from nature a few years before. The ruins were in a good shape and even a river was flowing through the city. It was commanded that the city should also be reconstructed and populated. The king's brother, Caelan, got to rule the city back then. The ones that turned out to be criminals or ill-minded were shoved into the new city, for the king did not want them in the pure city of Monabur. This resulted the crime rate to be unnaturally high in Santugan, even from the beginning.
With time, more and more people travelled to the city, which quickly got known for its fresh water and the green land at the southern side of the city, on which a lot of food could grow. This was caused by an underground river, that did not dry out even on the hottest of days.
Even after hundreds of years, the city is still ruled by a king, who is the descendant of Caelan, the first king of Santugan. Madjel, the current king, prefers to be referred to as a "Prince" though because he is still young. He became king when he was just five years old due to his parents being murdered in their sleep. The guards prevented him from being murdered, but the perpetrator could escape. With no other heir, Madjel had to start ruling. From then on the city drowned even more in misery. He does not care much about his folk, and the people started to starve even more.. More and more people were now forced into theft, which let the rate of criminals rise into even more extreme numbers.
Ranks
Royalty
High Society
Middle Class
Low Society
Offscourings
King of Koruna and Monabur
Royal Family of Monabur
Royal Families
Nobility | Guards / Soldiers | Wealthy People | Scolars / Academics
Mages | Middle Class Workers
The Poor | Criminals
Slaves | Outsiders
King of Koruna and Monabur
He is seen as the direct connection to the gods and therefore is regarded as some sort of god as well. Critique on him is seen as critique on the gods and therefore as blasphemy, since the gods are inerrant. The king's word is law and no one in their right mind would talk bad about him.
Royal Family of Monabur
They are the king's family and therefore seen as almost as high as the king himself. They are worshipped and heard, though their word is not law. Still, no one would dare to speak bad about them since they are kin of the king and Decendants of Cynfor.
Royal Familes
Apart from the Royal Family in Monabur, there are also royal families in the other cities of Koruna. Those are, in their roots, related to Cynfor as well and therefore seen as high in their own cities, but the prayers still go to the king of Monabur. They are mainly there for administratory work in their own city. If the king issues a new law, it will be automatically instituted in all cities of Koruna, without needing approval of the other royal families.
High Society
People of noble heritage or just those that are wealthy enough to be able to afford a very luxorious life style, are regarded as High Society. Also those that are empolyed at the palace as guards and soldiers count to that class.
Middle Class
Vendors, bakers, blacksmiths. All of them and more belong to the middle class. Sometimes it even is just a thin line between it and the High Society or even the Low Society respectively. The Middle Class makes up about half of the population of Santugan.
Low Society
Those without occupation, who are too poor and who often call the slums their home, are of the low society. Once born in poverty it is hard to get out of it, so it is not uncommon that some resort to stealing. But not only thieves, but also other kinds of criminals are regarded lowly. Murderers especially, since their doing goes against the Book of Prayer. Even though that'S the cas, a third of the population of Santugan is made out of criminals.
Offscourings
There is just one class worse than the low society, which are the offscourings. They have no own place to belong and are looked down upon. Usually this are those with an unusal look, which indicates a demon heritage. Demons are widely feared, so those half bloods are regarded as nothing but vermin. Other than those, there are also the slaves. The Raccardis are the most common and prominent example, though also other species are sold into slavery. A poor family with too many children might often resort to selling one of them to keep their family alive and so the slave markets are bustling with all kinds of slaves. Those slaves are treated the same way as animals, so that equines, for example, get bridles and canines and felines get collars, etc. which marks them as the property of someone.
Celebrations
The time in Mereldia is looked at with the Celtic Calendar. The first month of the year is called Samonios, which would be November in our Calendar, and the last one is Cantlos, which would be October in our Calendar.
One month is one moon and every month starts with a full moon, so that no specific months (from our calendar) can be transfered actually.
To make things easier I decided to use our months and to just rename them to their Celtic names and to also set them into the order of the Celtic Lunar Calendar. We already have too much complicated system stuff in this RPG, no need to make complicated stuff even more complicated. Just comply with the calendar below here.
Equinoxes and Solstices
The habitants of Koruna are depending a lot on the stars and other heavenly bodies when they are traveling in the desert, outside of the safe walls of their city. Everyone in Koruna has a knowledge of Astronomy to find the way when they are lost outside. Since the sky plays such an important role in their daily lives it, and everything connected to it, is seen as holy. When big changes come around, like the Equinoxes or Solistices, the Koruneans celebrate with big street festivals and pray to it, so that it shall continue to keep them safe and sound. These celebrations are usually quite big events where fights of famous mages are held in the arenas of the cities and where booths with special food, extra made for the occasion, is available, as well as games and attractions. The whole celebrations take three days, starting on the day before the actual equinox/solstice and ending the day after it. Though the celebrations for the Solstices are usually slightly bigger events than then ones for the Equinoxes, which means that more booths are provided and even more events take place.
Winter's Eve
Even though winter does not show itself with snow in Koruna, Princess Shree still regarded winter itself as important. Following the Korunian Book of Prayer, winter is therefore celebrated on the day it was once coldest for the Princess and Holy Priestess. She had asked the stars to show her the wonders of the rest of the world that day and they had answered her prayer to let her feel what snow felt like, gifting Monabur with the frozen water on this day only. It should remind them that water is a great gift and that ice in the desert is even more valueable.
In celebration of this day of wonder, crafts of snowfalkes are made and often also painted on fur with henna to honor the god of water and the stars. It is considered as a day of kindness and a day of giving. One sits together at home with their family, reads the story of how the gods gifted Princess Shree the wonder of snow for one day, and decorates everything in white, blue and silver. One eats with their family and gifts each other presents as a meaning of gratitude. Songs about snow and wonder are sung and stories about Princess Shree and the stars are told. Small trees are brought into the house and decorated with trinkets and white letters with wishes, symbolizing the snow and the wonder that has once layed on the trees and streets of Monabur.
Scarlet Day
On this day people gift their lovers and/or family red flowers as a sign of their love. It goes back to Princess Shree, who laid red flowers on her brother's grave to show her love for him and to remind him of his sins. Ever since then, a red flower has been seen as a symbol of love, as well as a symbol of forgiveness.
Fire Parade
In the middle of summer, when it’s the warmest time, the so called Fire Parade is held. It is meant as a huge and collective prayer to the god of fire to have mercy and let it become cooler again.
The celebration only lasts for one day and on this day, everyone should wear red or orange clothing to praise the fire god and show the subordination to him and his powers.
The parade itself is held by the royal family and members of the high society. Everyone else of the city has to bow down to them, since they are the ones who are nearest to the gods and so will lead the prayers to the high god of fire. The parade always ends at the fire temple of the town, where everyone will bow down and leave a personal prayer.
After the parade, everyone will return home and celebrate with their families. Usually feasts are held and all relatives come together for this celebration.
Light Festival
Similar to the Fire Parade the light festival is also a celebration in honor to the god of fire, but at the same time also to the god of light. Lanterns are hung on the houses and for the children there also is a little parade through the town, on which they have a lantern with them. Usually those lanterns are build in schools by the children themselves. After the parade they run around with their lanterns in town, usually in groups, and sing songs of the light festival on the doorsteps of people, which they receive sweets for.
New Year's Festival
The 31st Cantlos is the last day of the year. The people are celebrating the old year dying and a new year rising.
Moonlight Fest
The moonlight fest takes place in the full moon nights in between the Days of Blood, also every two moons. The celebration is held because, for the people in Santgan, the full moon has a special meaning. The city was founded in the time of a full moon, as it is told, the first king of Santugan was crowned in the time of a full moon, and on every second full moon the criminals face their just punishment and therefore the city is made safer. It is said that the full moon takes away all pain and darkness, so that full moon nights are very pure and therefore precious. By celebrating this day, the people of Santugan believe their souls to stay clear and pure.
On the moonlight fest the whole family sits together, eats the best food and just has a few very peaceful days in general. It is a religious celebration which the majority of Santugan takes part in.
Days of Blood
Every second full moon, the criminals are to be executed publicy. This is done to set an example. The days of blood last as long as the moon stays full. Feasts are held in the HIgh Society to celebrate that the criminals faced their just punishments.
Your Character
◉ Thieves are common
◉ Your character will be (when grown up in Santugan) used to a harsh life. Insults, death wishes and threats are the daily routine, they will probably not
be bothered by it.
◉ The streets of Santugan are feared, especially at night. Criminals can linger behind every corner. Your character does not have to be afraid of this, but it
still is completely normal to be afraid, especially if your character is female.
◉ People from Santugan don't usually see most stuff as strict as other people do. Survival is their top priority, the difference between male and female is
almost unimportant.
◉ Your character can live a normal life in Santugan, they just have to be more careful. They can go to school, follow an occupation, buy a
house, find a family, etc.
◉ Leaving the city is only possible in company of a caravan, otherwise your character will die in the desert (unless they happen to be a camel or some
other species that can survive well in the desert). Caravans are people who have made it an occupation to bring travelers through the desert safely and
charge a daily pay for it, which can often be very expensive. Since it takes several weeks to reach the nearest city and since caravans often charge a
price of around 50 Vend per day, most people cannot afford the journey.
◉ Not everyone in Santugan is a monster, not even every criminal. It is important to stay suspicious though.