Luchas

Luchas is the name of both a city on the River Thala and a small state based in that city that claims to be the last surviving remnant of the once-mighty Dulama Empire.
The city of Luchas itself far pre-dates the Dulama Empire, existing in the sphere of influence of neighboring Aeda at least as far back as the days of the Amure Empire, the Thousand-Year Empire. Based in the rich upper reaches of the Thala, Luchas was a key point on the gold trading routes from the northern mountains to the more urbanized imperial centers downriver. It remained mostly unchanged through the rule of the Amure, Tollanaugh and Dulama Empires, never a particularly remarkable site. It sided with the losing brother in the Dulama Civil War, but was reintegrated into the declining empire in its last days.
After the final collapse of the Dulama, the death of Emperor Cairl XX, and the annexation of Aeda and points south along the Thala by the Empire of Trahana, the most powerful surviving Dulama general, Amethaine, found himself based in the city of Luchas, surrounded by enemies on all sides. Wishing to turn their attentions to other matters, the Trahana and Narannue made peace with Amethaine, who soon styled himself Cairl XXI, claiming the throne on a purported distant matrilineal connection to the Dulama imperial family, though he called himself the Emperor in Luchas rather than explicitly using the term "Dulama". No surrounding country, nor most of his own people, takes his imperial styling seriously, but political reasons have nonetheless kept Luchas independent, a tiny fragment of a once-mighty empire.
Category:Cities
Category:West
Category:Dulama