Catarina

Catarina, is a kingdom on the Western Continent of Gorlewynn, on the Western Peninsular of the mainland.
== Lore ==
=== History of Catarina ===
A land known for is jovial features, festivities and honourable knights, Catarina is a beautiful location in an otherwise dark and depressing world.
Founded by Aldricius following the War of Souls, Catarina stands proud for never being affected by the Undead Curse. Surrounded by its Great Wall and featuring some of the greatest cities across both continents, it became a jewel of the world, gaining visitors from several nations to come and enjoy the festivities.
Catarina is home to one of the few surviving noble houses from the War of Souls, with them being the House of Sieg, or more commonly known as the Sieg Knights. The name of Sieg has been passed down through the generations, dating all the way back to the first Sieg Knight, being Sieghart.
A great city was built on the western coast of the land, originally billed as 'The Rest'. But Aldricius I made it so that the city would be named after the current king on the throne and as such adopted a revolving name. So its first incarnation was Aldricius' Rest. Famous for being built completely of white quartz and marble, it serves as the epicentre for festivals and nightlife as well as the ruling capital of Catarina.
Several other towns and villages are settled across the lands of Catarina, with the three biggest being Amberfall, Tearstone and Ironwüdd each with their own unique identities: 
* Ironwüdd was the first to be founded among these three and was named after the Ironwüdd Grove, a forest with special trees that were rich with iron veins inside them and was processed into Bulwark Steel, used to create the special armours for both the common and Sieg knights (of which it is specially shaped into the famous Sieg Knight armour).
* Amberfall was founded on its silver mines which was subsequently mined and used in the creation of the Catarinian swords. It also contributed as a main supply to the majority of the worlds Silver. Silver was also used as a currency after being minted in the capital into Silver Coins which would be used until the present (since Catarina never used souls as a currency due to their nature). Allfather Lloyd also created his own currency bearing his image using Catarinian silver. The actual town of Amberfall was founded long after the founding of Catarina and the latest town to be founded and were founded by House Aurelius, but the silver mines had been there for hundreds of years by the time of the towns founding.
* Tearstone was settled and named after its gemstone mines in the area. The gems that were mined there were of a certain magic quality, but more famously were in the shape of tears when they were mined hence the name. The tearstone gems were then fashioned into certain jewellery, but mostly into magical rings which were then subsequently used by the Knights of Catarina.
Catarina is a unique nation, having never suffered from the undead curse which people often tried to set refuge in. Native Catarinians were never branded with the Darksign and so never reanimated when they died. Those branded with the Darksign effectively made them immortal and could live forever including being reanimated if they do die. As a result of this most Catarinians would live for around 130-160 years on average.
Being the first king, Aldricius founded the Royal Bloodline of Catarina and as such, the Royal House of Catarina. Aldricius had an insignia created, in the shape of a white tree with four great branches, to symbolise the strength that Catarina had as well as to symbolise the inevitability of death and its famous marbled capital city and great wall painted against a dark background symbolising night-time. This ironically became more important following the branding of the Darksign, that effectively made all humans, bar the Catarinians immortal, due to the affection that Gwyn had for Catarina as a whole, due to them being very close allies. 
Aldricius also crafted another magic sword using the last piece of magic ore that also made the Storm Ruler sword, but cut himself and bled into the mixture of molten ore, in an attempt to make him the only wielder of the sword. This in turn did work, with Aldricius being the only one who could use the magical ability of the weapon. The ability itself, was called upon by Aldricius and in turn a tremendous magic flowed through him, granting him an immense amount of courageous spirit, making him feel nigh invincible. He also realised that the power was so strong, it could be granted to those nearby. Only until Aldricius died, was it thought that the swords ability would no longer work. However this was proved wrong, when his son King Rupert I Catarina tested the swords ability to see if it would work and called upon it, immediately being overwhelmed with unbelievable courageous strength. The revelation was that those who came from Aldricius' bloodline, leading to it being known as the Sword of Kings and that the sword effectively emphasises the Kings prerogative and the true heir. It also adapted King Aldricius' nickname of 'Auld' or 'The Auld King' and soon became more famously known as the Sword of Auld. The sword also featured the Catarinian Royal House sigil on its pommel, in a somewhat smaller version.
=== The Great Siege of Catarina ===
When Vendrick, the King of Drangleic, upon his visit in 211FY stole a sacred item and captured several Giants from the Island of the Giants: Varangia. This angered the Giants, leading to one of them declaring themselves as Grand Sovereign of all Giants, becoming their leader and subsequently declared war against the world of all Humans.
The Giants initial invasion of the Continent of Gorlewynn was Catarina (in 217FY), with an initial force landing on the beaches to the North of The Rest. Reports of the landing parties and their ships were a sight to behold. The knights state that their ships were bigger than entire villages and towns and thousands of these ships could be seen off shore, seemingly endless. The Great Wall around the lands proved to be an effective tool for this invasion, almost like Aldricius foresaw these events transpiring.
The Giants soon began to march on the Capital, with the landing parties destroying the docks and ships already at the bay as countless legions of Giants invaded the shores. The war drums on the ships matched with the steps of the giants was rumoured to be heard all around Catarina including the far eastern town of Ironwüdd, leading to this phenomenon being called the 'March of Giants'. The defense of the City is lead by the leader of the Sieg knights Siegvald as well as the King of Catarina Aldricius II, though Siegvald perished early on in the war in 217FY.
The Giants of Varangia, now vicious and violent, are somewhat surprised at the power of the Catarinians and had severely underestimated them. Never had they thought a human civilisation be as noble and powerful as them, as overtime the Siege turned into a strong war of attrition, but the Giants made their mark. The Sieg Knights were near annihilated by the Giants, who had fought tirelessly, all but one of their Knights were killed. The final Sieg Knight called Siegfried, who had become leader following the death of Siegvald (and a quick ascension tournament was held) was said to become filled with rage after the death of his father Sieglinus, which as a Sieg knight was almost unheard of. With this rage he was said to have drawn upon the power of the Storm Ruler, unleashing a devastating attack that destroyed tens of entire units of Giants, with the shockwave effect toppling many of their ships, killing those onboard. 
Grand Sovereign Gormoth apparently witnessed Siegfrieds attack first hand, narrowly escaping the shockwave himself. Gormoth then supposedly, under a white flag, wished to speak to Siegfried. The subsequent meeting between Gormoth and Siegfried was witnessed as an iconic moment in the war; A Giant sitting down with a Human. It was said that Gormoth commended Siegfried for his actions in the war, giving tremendous respect to the Humans as a whole and realised that the war on Gorlewynn was unnecessary and that they would retreat to fight their true enemy; King Vendrick. He also issued a peaceful solution to the War, where he would let any Giants wishing to stay on the continent could do so, which many took up. Aldricius II afterwards declared that the Giants were no longer enemies and that the Catarinians would uphold this vow, with which Siegfried agreed. The Giants then departed for the Eastern Continent of Dwyrain with their entire force, to bring Drangleic to its knees.
=== The Sunset Fury ===
Due to the marching of the Giants echoing around the lands of Catarina, the Great Dragon Galdur, who had been missing since the War of Souls, woke up from his slumber inside the Sunset Peak and Galdur began terrorising the neighbouring lands, mostly that of Ironwüdd and Tearstone. Siegfried, disturbed by the news that a dragon had been sighted, travelled to the Sunset Peak wielding his storm ruler once more to face Galdur in his lair.
The Battle is said to have lasted days, throughout the mountain lair and on top of the peak, though the final encounter was famously fought at the entrance to the mountain where there was a large cave that allowed those to enter the mountain, though no one ever did. It was rumoured that the inhabitants of Ironwüdd and Tearstone could hear the fighting for days before finally sighting Galdur and Siegfried at the foot of the mountain where they then began to scream and cheer for Siegfried to become victorious. Galdur then began to exhale his bright green flames at Siegfried and with no time to react, drew upon the power of the Storm Ruler, filled with the fury that he felt on the Beaches of the Rest. The shockwave effect absorbed the power of the green flames into it's arc, slashing, warping and twisting its element into a great green fiery ripple of air that cut the Great Dragon in half through its torso, searing the two ends and its lasting shockwave carving a great slice into the mountain. This act became nicknamed Siegfrieds Sunset Fury.
The onlookers then let out a great cheer as Siegfried emerged victorious. He then proceeded to cut the Dragons head off and dragged it back to The Rest, where it was then stuffed and put on display at the entrance to the White Palace. Siegfried also had a great marble statue constructed for him and placed in the centre square of The Rest. King Aldricius also grants Siegfried the title of 'The Unshaken', for his extreme bravery and honour in killing the dragon, one of only three Sieg Knights to be bestowed this honour, with many also naming him Giantsbane for being able to slay Great enemies and the village of Ironwüdd nicknaming him Drachentöter.
=== The Catarinian Civil War ===
In the year 881FY, under the reign of Queen Sophia I Catarina, Catarina its first and to date last civil war. The war began after the lords of a noble house known as House Aurelius and their lords called Duncan and Juselda, began recruiting mercenaries to build an army that could potentially march against the royal family. House Aurelius long thought that they were above the Royal Family, gathering a large amount of wealth over time due to their founding of the town of Amberfall and the subsequent taking over of the silver mines in the area. They also believed that the Royal Family's time was up and their power had long been forgotten, due to how they had little experience in combat, with their last initiation in combat being that of the War of Giants. As such, the recruitment process began by going to each of the lords in the local towns of Ironwüdd and Tearstone, stating that they will be rich beyond their dreams if they join their cause and rise up against the royal family, but both of the noble lords refused, condemning the action as such a treasonous offense, that they were no longer welcome in either town. 
Instead, the House began to journey first around Catarina and then sent messengers to those outside of the Country, appealing to mercenaries to join in the oncoming conflict, most of which was unknown to the Queen, until the lords of Ironwüdd and Tearstone journeyed to the capital to warn her of the upcoming rebellion. Eventually House Aurelius managed to amass a force of up to 800 men, with the main portion of the army being made of a mercenary group known as the Claxon's Warband, famous and named for their screeching war cry when they charge into battle. Several members of the warband, acting as rogues and spies managed to intercept messages being transported between the towns to the capital, implementing their own messages to throw the royals off. Messages indicating that the warband was to try and march directly onto the capital was the main story that these messages were giving off, giving false reports of the army moving towards The Rest. 
As such, the forces of the Sieg Knights were redirected from their fortress and sent to the capital, to make sure they crush the insurrection. With this being the plan of House Aurelius however, the army instead marched on Fort Sieg itself, led by both Duncan and Juselda themselves, killing the small garrison and the only remaining Sieg Knight stationed their called Siegbrut. House Aurelius took Fort Sieg for its heavily defensible position, knowing that only a small garrison would be left there, hence why it was taken so easily, though even one Sieg Knight can be dangerous, Siegbrut stood no chance against an army of 800 by himself with such a small amount of garrisoned troops. The fortress in turn fell in less than a couple hours. Of course this did not go down well with the Sieg Knights, who were usually known for their jovial yet furious nature, it seemed that only one side of their character would be fuelled with the taking of the fortress. The Sieg Knight captain Siegluff at the time was indeed furious and would make sure that the retaliation would be brutal and so he gathered an army of around a thousand men, accompanied by the rest of the Sieg Knights and march onto Fort Sieg, but House Aurelius once again outwitted the royals, by first setting ablaze the fortress and abandoning it, knowing that if they were to be attacked, the army of the attacker would horrifically outnumber them. 
As such, the army of the Sieg Knights would instead be forced to try and save the fortress, by attempting to stop the fire before it would be reduced to rubble. The Aurelius army then decided to try and march on The Rest, thinking that the main fighting force would have been sent to Fort Sieg, knowing that the Sieg Knights would want to take it back with all of them present. House Aurelius believed that the true fighting force of the Catarinian army would be that of the Sieg Knights, so by luring them away, they believed the Capital to be vulnerable. So the fighting force of House Aurelius marched on the capital, attempting to besiege the capitals walls on its south-eastern side with a combined use of magic and small siege weaponry to try and breach the wall. But it seemed that this had been Queen Sophia's plan all along. Playing onto the idea that the Sieg Knights were key to the Catarinian armies success, the Queen knew that House Aurelius would try and lure them to Fort Sieg, knowing that they would want to take it back. As such she played into their plan, letting the Sieg Knights march back to take the fortress and so the Queen hatched her own plan, by hiding a force of men and cavalry, led by herself, in the woods that surrounded the southern side of the capital. The idea that the Royal Family were estranged from combat was that of a myth concocted by House Aurelius to stir trouble, when in reality every man, woman and child of the royal family With the warband up against the walls, the trap was sprung. The men stationed on the walls fighting the invaders off were ordered to make as much noise as possible, sounding war horns and explosions to drown out the sound of the cavalry charge that was incoming. The Queen battered through the warband, destroying the army quickly and efficiently without the warband realising.
Duncan and Juselda were captured and the rest of the warband were put to the sword. Word was sent around Catarina to search for the only remaining member of House Aurelius, Duncan and Juselda's son: Horald, specifying that he is to be captured and brought to the Queen. This was done rather quickly, as this messaged travelled at the same time that House Aurelius had been crushed and the son was brought before the Queen within days. Sophia then proceeded to decapitate the son in front of both the parents using the Sword of Auld and then proceeded to do the same to Juselda. Duncan however was kept in the White Palace dungeons for several weeks and Queen Sophia had the heads of his wife and son placed just out of reach on spikes in front of the cell for the time he spent there, reminding him of his treachery and the consequences of his actions: The destruction of his house. After his stay in the dungeons, Duncan was himself also beheaded by Sophia, making a public spectacle of his death so that everyone can witness the extinction of House Aurelius but also to remind those that to oppose the royal family is futile. Loyalty to the Royal Family however was unanimous and love for them was unwavering and that remained the case especially following the executions. Fear of course came into play, but there was never any doubt that the only rebels remaining were those in the ground. Sophia eventually had Duncan, Juselda and their son buried, despite their disrespect to the royals. The Catarinian Civil War was officially over, even though it had only lasted several months by this point. Queen Sophia was thereafter known as 'Sophia the Peacemaker', becoming one of only several Catarinian Monarchs to be given such a title by the people.
=== The Black Sickness ===
In the year 1234, a great Black Sickness began to sweep across the lands
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