Pyrrah

## Description

Pyrrah is the most industrious court of Sumarfold tasked with guarding the rift of fire and fumes while being a nexus for most of the nation’s technological advancements and manufacturing. Pyrrah is the least decadent court but most vocal about maintaining class structure and institutions and is often cited as the harshest or least welcoming of courts due to a lack of visual appeal of the presence of so many commerce and production blocks.

## Geography

The natural landscape of Pyrrah leaves much to be desired as most of the land and energetic leylines running through it have been altered or depleted of resources. Where Pyrrah fails to live up to the name of its nation’s beauty, it picks itself up with the existence of looming structures and factories that are gilded in gold and fit together to appear as aesthetically pleasing as they are helpful.

Although they are not the first or the grandest in their display, Pyrrah has recently discovered new ways of constructing floating structures from the power of their rift, turning many eyes towards their industries in hopes of work or a chance to learn more of this new technology. That said, having such a new and untested power in their hands has led to a recent uptick in research and is often cited as an argument against stricter regulations of rift-use.

## Government

Elysant Velvetide has sat as the current Archon of Pyrrah for over fifty years. She rules as though she were the High Archon, with little remorse or despair over cruel edicts and carries herself as the sole judge of intellect. Elysant doesn’t disregard Sumarfold’s government structure or the other Archons of the nation. Still, she does take to her own plans without much arbitration, even going so far as to appoint an unofficial council to help oversee her court and forgo appointing the typical singular Magistrate.

Elysant has earned the epithet, Hierophant Magistra, connotating her skills and intellect held in such high regard and truth they are as close to divine as a wizard could conceivably be.

### Crime

Criminal activity in Pyrrah usually contains itself in the lower quarters of the court, where life is naturally unforgiving from the start. Pyrrah tends to face smuggling, theft, and violent crimes with more frequency.

Pyrrah also houses the largest prison in the nation, ***Goldtholos***, which holds those who've committed the highest felonies and crimes in the land and the nation's political prisoners; it's an inhumane and dangerous place where instinct and money are everything. Inside Goldtholos is no different a structure than Sumarfold's society; it's a microcosm of the nation's worst behaviours and beliefs. There are rumours that high officials, criminals, entertainers, and aristocrats from other courts sneak off to nights in Goldtholos, where a gambling ring runs shows and betting matches at the bottom.

## Trade

Pyrrah's trade specializes in all raw materials, arms, and construction. They lack the audacious markets and entertainment centers their sister courts are revelled for; they've no control over Foldian banks or draws of tourism, so most of their trade deals take place domestically. They drive internal markets and hold political agendas over the heads of Foldian politicians from every court.

The culture of Pyrrah isn't conducive to small business, and its way of life lacks the dramatic interest that would typically drive tourists to a Foldian court. This considerable constraint provides far less opportunity to those who wish to follow artistic dreams or goals of owning their work, directly impacting the population and often forcing them into industry labour and skilled trades.

## Culture

Pyrrah is the broken back of Sumarfold. The court provides the most manual labour across the nation, which draws in the majority of specific labourers that offer glittering gems that make lords and ladies and the highly specialized technology needed to maintain the rifts. Decadence is only forgone in place of the sterner expectations Sumarfold hosts; providing for one's lineage through proud work, working towards buying one's line a higher position, perfection at all levels, warding the rifts and subsequently the power that Sumarfold holds.

Under the heavy workload is a people who are still familiar with the tradition of drink and dance, who demand their days to party and roam. With them is another circle of people who abide by the druidic words and stories, who do not speak as freely as they once did and seem to slowly quiet over the years.

### Fashion

Fashion in Pyrrah is precisely as one would expect of the Foldian courts, if not slightly behind trend at any given time. Their garments are loose, flowing, and cut to reveal the body's curves. However, the disparity baked into the structure of Sumarfold is represented clearly through clothing. It's much easier to notice a lord's wealth draped in crisp linens and bedazzled in gold emblems than the lowest working class, swathed in dusty inexpensive hues adorned with brass buttons and wire jewellery.

### Religion

The people of Pyrrah cling to their deities. Outside of the respite of Foldian festivals and cultural tradition, the gods are the only other salvation and rest to be found in arduous days of work and the chaos caused by an upper class of endlessly wealthy lords and ladies who never see the actual consequences of their actions. Pyrrah and Teramzyn have historically diverged paths on the opinion of religion, the first often citing the Pontic deities from Tresceian faith, which encompass the aspects of the world, while the latter prefers the words of druids and the natural world as god.

Some argue the court's support and open reverence are utilized against the lowest working class to keep them distracted from their everyday pains and manipulated into virtuous citizens who bury their complaints in the ears of their gods.

## Defenses

Pyrrah works closely with Aphoset regarding military defence, forging a consistent allyship by cohesively connecting soldiers with higher-class gear and weapons straight from the pyrrhic fold. The chemical concoctions and physical ammunition created by the court have previously proven remarkably devasting in action. Results of their industry and funding have brought about increasingly worrisome weapons that maintain modernity while fusing the most horrendous effects of the Foldian rifts.

What they lack in glamour, Pyrrah more than makes up for in resources. With so many precious uncut gems and metals, ammunition and arms stored away in large factories and industry houses, their borders are lined with a perfect wall of solid gold to act as the first layer of defence against those who seek to smuggle and steal.

## Transportation

Pyrrah utilizes all the forms of transportation that Sumarfold can offer: foot-traffic, carriage, portals and automaton lift. However, their most unique form of travel is the extensive wind tunnels built on the outside and inside rings of the court. This provides them with a high-speed route in two directions across the entirety of Pyrrah without the hassle of travelling within the ring to get across the court. There were plans for more tunnels after the success of the first two, but the plans were unexpectedly cancelled a few years into construction.