Trixot

One of a select few nations bordering Mirror Domain’s mountain range Trixot’s environment is mostly comprised of lush pine forests. It’s westernmost border has a small amount of plains that have been converted into the country’s main farmlands, and the southern border connects to the Shallow Sea which allows access to fishing, ocean trade, and other standard benefits of being located near such a rare resource.

Being so close to the mountain range Trixot is known for its rolling hills and tiered cities and villages. Many people find the layout of Trixot’s cities confusing, as the higher up something is the more “important” or “prominent” it is. Travelers entering a city for the first time will likely be met with slums or peasant quarters before getting to your standard housing and market districts. This causes many uneducated people to view Trixot as a poor or dirty place, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

In addition to being close to the Sanquet Mountains, Trixot is also home to several openings to the Inbetween; Mirror Domain’s underground. With the Inbetween being so densely populated with Demons these openings tend to be heavily guarded. Trixot’s most well known cave system is the connecting network of tunnels leading to the city of Monspianza. This system is mere miles away from Trixot’s capital of Muria and is primarily used for diplomatic purposes between nations.

While Trixot has access to an abundance of resources the country mainly serves as a trading port/hub. They have well established trade routs with just about every nation bordering the Shallow Sea and the Sea of Misa and they aren’t afraid to act as a neutral third party when it comes to transporting goods. Oftentimes people pay ti have goods shipped to Trixot when their real destination is viewed in a bad light to their home country, and the merchants of Trixot will then take the goods to their final stop. Trixot collects payment from both sides in these transactions; both for housing shipped goods and shipping them themselves. A true trading nation.

   In terms of flora and fauna Trixot is normal for a coniferous forest. Tall cone bearing pine trees can be seen scattered across the landscape and thick brush and brambles line the forest floor. Big game animals such as deer and elk can be found roaming the forest in addition to their doppelganger counterpart; the Peryton. Songbirds, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, bears, and other forest dwelling animals are also common. One rare yet notable sight around Trixot’s northern region are Phoenix. Phoenix are known for living in the mountains, but on occasion they roam lower elevations. That being said, people don’t travel to Trixot in search of the elusive bird of fire.

   As for its pure population Trixot is dominantly a Human and elven country. It’s not uncommon to see various different races wandering around, especially near the southern port area, but the majority of non-Humanoids are simply visitors coming for trading or diplomatic purposes. The only permanent nonHumans in Trixot are it’s Whiver , who are used mostly for mining or work around the ports, or the three Dragons it currently has which act as messengers and guardians of Trixot’s capital.

   While it may be low on diversity in terms of races, Trixot is a bit of a melting pot of different cultures. With it being a trading port and seeing people from all across Mirror Domain on a regular basis they’ve adopted aspects of just about every culture surrounding the Shallow Sea and Sea of Misa. Trixot is known to have temples and churches to just about every common god, an abundance of taverns, and cuisine from all over the world.

   The origins of Trixot are murky at best. Seeing as it’s one of Mirror Domains more ancient countries much of it’s early history has been lost to time. Most historians have come to an agreement on what they believe happened, though. It’s said that Trixot was first founded during the time of the Arkan Renaissance shortly after the Flighted Resistance . After the band of Human Sorcerer s made their attack against Vertgate 's ruler, Lord Lykan, Humans and elves began fleeing the country in mass in an attempt to save themselves from the fallout that followed. These followers traveled north, using the mountain range as a guide until eventually settling in around 4074BDI.

   Early days of Trixot were spent clearing its dense forests to make room for villages. Villages that would later turn into towns, then cities, then a kingdom. Early residents did their best to lay low and keep themselves isolated from the world. After all, Lykan’s rule was steadily spreading across the Sea of Misa. If they were ever found the then budding settlement would either be destroyed outright or taken over by Lykan’s armies. The only true ally they had at the time was the nearby settlement of what would later become Pontyn. Pontyn acted as a “buffer” between Trixot and the Vertgate aligned countries. It was also their main source of information and resources.

   Seeing as it was the time of the Arkan Renaissance many discoveries were made that’d later help Trixot become what it is today. Most notably, the people there discovered the wonders of warding. Spells and runes that were able to keep certain types of creatures or magic at bay. Lykan and his men relied heavily on red magic, so the people of Trixot banded together to drive as much of it out of the region as they could. These efforts were so successful that the ambiance of the region was permanently effected. The area of dominantly dark magic was cleansed, and to this day it now maintains one of the most even green ambiances in the world. All in an effort to better identify and ward off Lykan.

   It wouldn’t be until Nem Lockett overthrew Lykan that Trixot would finally become a recognized nation. After Lykan’s downfall in 2900BDI Vertgate ’s new leader sought out to reconnect with Lykan’s enemies to spread the news. Diplomats were sent out across the Sea of Misa and Shallow Sea to inform neighboring nations of the tyrant king’s demise and Trixot was among them. When said diplomats arrived it became increasingly clear the people here were paranoid and shut off from the world. They were a lost and scared people in need of guidance. They viewed Lockett’s diplomats as their saving grace. Informed people from a flourishing nation. Quickly they worked to establish a relationship and from there Trixot really began to take off. With Vertgate now on their side they had all the information and resources they needed to finally establish themselves.

   Trixot has had several lineages of monarchs over the years. It’s to be expected that kings and queens would rise and fall in a country so old. Over the course of the 3750 years the country has existed it’s had four notable bloodlines ruling over the land. The very first of these was the Lonnir line. Born from diplomats of Vertgate the Lonnir’s oversaw the early days of established Trixot. As had been the way of the people for years before the Lonnir’s largely kept to themselves. Trixot still only had Pontyn as a concrete ally, although they were in good standing with Vertgate . The paranoia Lykan had caused forced Trixot to stay in the shadows for fear of a new threat taking hold of the world. This threat would never come, and after nearly 800 years of their rule the Lonnir bloodline was driven out after Trixot’s citizens grew tired of the royals “no contact” policy with other nations.

   With Lonnir driven out Trixot was able to open its borders to the outside world for the first time. Quickly their relationship with Vertgate strengthened until they eventually assimilated into Vertgate ’s alliance with nearby water-bordering nations. This also allowed for a new monarch to arise. The Tumarut line. Previously one of the kings assistants, Tumarut took charge of the kingdom’s “loose ends” politically after Lonnir’s downfall. Many feel Tumarut was cut down before their prime, however. Only 400 years into the lines rule the family was struck with a bout of infertility. Without a proper heir the kingdom once again fell under the rule of one of the kings workers. The kingdom’s advisor, Daxalim.

   The Daxalim line is viewed as a bittersweet span of Trixot’s history. On one hand, the family really pushed the kingdom for expansion. Bands of conquistador types set off to take hold of surrounding land. Cities were fortified and militarized. Ports were secured, walls were put up. Trixot was still more than happy to trade openly with surrounding countries, but Daxalim realized their land was vulnerable. At any point one of their alleged “allies” could send in a fleet of soldiers and they wouldn’t have any way to defend themselves.

Almost all of the countries important architecture was completely rebuilt during this time. The country’s capital, Muria, was fortified with towering walls spanning the outer perimeter of the city and inner walls surrounding the castle. Each wall was fitted with several outposts and each outpost was populated with guards. Not only that, but with the current Daxalim having a somewhat charming personality the kingdom was able to smooth talk their way to acquiring a clutch of Dragon eggs. These Dragons were then raised to be the kingdom’s main line of defense, and to this day residents of Muria can see these original Dragon ’s ancestors making the rounds and patrolling the borders of the city.

The Dragon faction is what began making people question Daxalim’s intentions. They were introduced about 663 years into the family’s rule, and at the time people largely viewed the countries militarization as a good thing. Expansion was good, and with the past threat of Lykan still burned into their memory it seemed like the safest option to fortify themselves. But the Dragons seemed to be a step too far. Trixot was already the second most militarized nation in the Vertgate alliance aside from Vertgate itself. What was the need for not one, but three Dragons? Demons weren’t even a big threat at the time, so while the mountain range may have been somewhat populated with them they were never in mortal danger over it.

With a trio of Dragons now under his belt Daxalim began taking a turn for the worse. No one dared go against a man with three Dragons ready to strike at a moments notice. The current king began to get power hungry, and with each subsequent heir their lust for wealth and expansion grew. Soon the Daxalim line shifted into a family of tyrants, and while the kingdom had benefited from the changes its citizens grew unhappy. The poor were looked down upon and pushed out of large cities; being forced to create slum type settlements on the outskirts of civilization. Taxes increased. Businesses not tied to the military got no governmental support, and anyone who wasn’t part of the military was left to struggle. If you weren’t with Daxalim you were against him.

The lower classes of Trixot were struggling. While the kingdom as a whole had never been more prosperous it's distribution of resources was completely out of balance. The upper class were able to flourish while the middle and lower class only struggled more, and with no way to stang up to the king it seemed things would only continue in this direction. That is, until the people of Trixot’s pleas were heard by one of Muria’s three Dragons.

It had been about a hundred years since the Dragons had been brought into the city. The three of them, Artemis, Helix, and Decima, were well into their adulthood by now. Each were loyal to the king, but one of them was more observant than the rest. Decima, a firey orange serpentine Dragon , had been noticing the trend among the lower classes and the disparity of wealth and had began subtly trying to make a change. Unlike most Dragons who were inclined to hoard as much wealth as possible, Decima valued the pursuit of knowledge. Rather than being obsessed with hoarding gemstones or gold coins she hoarded stories and information. She’d read up on her history and she could see Daxalim was making many of the same mistakes kings and queens of the past had. Mistakes that eventually got them overthrown. If he continued to make the poor poorer they’d start to resent him, and eventually that resentment would cause them to lash out. Something had to change.

Of course, Decima’s concerns were not taken kindly. Dragons at the time weren’t even on the purity scale. Intelligent or not, the Dragons of Muria had no rights as far as the king was concerned. They served under him. They were to obey his commands. As time went on and Decima realized nothing was going to be done she opted to start making a change herself. Slowly she broke away from the king’s orders. She began spreading false information and withholding things from her normal patrols in an attempt to rebalance the social classes. Telling the guards she oversaw to start being more lax and lying about taxes to spare the lower class. This only made Daxalim more angry. She was his property. His pet. When an animal starts becoming a problem that animal is put down, and considering she was nothing more than a tool in Daxalim’s mind he had no issue striking down this rogue Dragon .

With two Dragons still under his charm, Daxalim ordered Decima’s execution. Quickly the other two sprung to action, and for the next several days the skies were filled with fire, blood, arrows, and smoke as the city’s military was turned against the now rogue Dragon . Unfortunately for Daxalim’s army, Decima was by far the strongest of the three. Unlike the other two Dragons who’d only ever trained physically, Decima had spent her hundred years in Muria practicing the arcane. Not only was she just as big and strong as the other Dragons, but she had extremely powerful magic at her side. She was almost an unstoppable force, and a little over a week in things were starting to look bleak. That is, until a new player entered the ring.

News of this rogue Dragon quickly spread not only across Trixot, but across neighboring countries as well. Decima’s destructive power caught the eye of a peculiar individual known as Rasterahz Arun. Rasterahz, or Ras as he was more commonly referred to as, was a well renowned mage from Bane. Someone who’d been studying magic longer than most people in Mirror Domain had been alive, and just the person Trixot needed to fend off this rogue Dragon . King Daxalim put out a desperate call for help, and Ras answered that call in an attempt to harness the Dragon ’s powerful magic for himself.

Ras knew killing this Dragon would cause the magic inside her body to disperse. Her soul would be severed and what remained would be of little use. So instead of killing her he put on a grand display of magic. He cast a spell to capture the Dragon ’s soul; forcing it inside of a small ring in order to draw from its power. This display of arcane knowledge was not only impressive, but it saved the capital from being completely destroyed. Daxalim was so impressed with Ras’ abilities he offered him a position as one of Trixot’s head mages. After a lengthy trial run Rasterahz Aurn was officially titled royal mage of Trixot in the year 922BDI.

With Decima gone and a new powerful mage at his disposal the Daxalim lineage continued expanding outwards. Conquering new Territory for Trixot and trying to “civilize” the countries people. Around this time Trixot’s underground was discovered and Daxalim began sending scouts to scope out the Inbetween. Of course, with the Inbetween being sealed off by such a small tunnel and Daxalim’s Dragons being the driving force of his army they’d be at a heavy disadvantage trying to take over Monspianza. Trixot’s presence was made known, but nothing would come of that until after the great Demons Infestation.

Around 27BDI the kingdom once again started getting into a state of unrest. Its people had been pushed for years and they were beginning to reach a breaking point. A number of riots sprung out around the lower class sections of the country, and in a stroke of bad luck one of the two remaining Dragons, Helix, was slain. The common folk had taken out one of Daxalim’s biggest assets, and once they realized their power they realized they might stand a chance against Trixot’s army. The nation was on the verge of a civil war and Daxalim wanted to nip it in the bud as soon as possible.

Records on this are fuzzy, but some records from the time say that Daxalim summoned the aid of a powerful Demons to help “tame” the masses. This Demons, whose name was never recorded, offered to grand King Tristen Daxalim the aid of his magic in exchange for “his blood”. It’s not fully understood what this entailed, as records are so sparse, but Daxalim was highly against the idea and instead offered the “blood” of his firstborn child instead. The two made an agreement, and soon Daxalim was able to once again whip his people into submission. A grand display of power that took the wind out of the would be resistances sails.

Time continued on, Trixot continued to expand, and eventually the year 16BDI rolled around. Trixot’s drive to manifest destiny netted them many enemies over the years. One of these enemies was the country Malivax. Time and time again Daxalim had tried to take the place over under the guise of “educating” or “trading” with its people and said people had finally had enough. Malivax had it out for king Daxalim, so they hired an Elven spy by the name of Fey Bryna. Fey was sent into Trixot under the guise of being a diplomat, when in actuality she was trying to learn as much about the king as possible in order to take him down from the inside.

Of course, things took a massive turn when Fey began falling for King Daxalim. Her affections made her turn against Malivax and move both her and her son, Ariston, into the castle to take place as Trixot’s queen. A year later King Tristen Daxalim and Queen Fey Daxalim gave birth to their son. An elven boy by the name Vesstan. Vesstan was the kingdom’s pride and joy. The golden child of the family, as Ariston was not of royal blood. The king quickly became obsessed with his son. He’d promised Vesstan’s blood to his Demons patron, but now that this son was no longer just a concept in his mind and was an actual physical living being he’d had a change of heart. He went against his “deal with the devil”; a move that’d prove to be his downfall later on.

You see, king Daxalim was not the only one in contact with this Demonsic entity. With the entire ordeal being a matter of Magic his royal mage, Ras, was also involved. While Daxalim cut ties with this entity, Ras took its side in the matter. Ras saw yet another opportunity to gain more magic and more power by forming an alliance with this Demons and he was going to take if for all he could. On the surface everything seemed to be fine. Vesstan was being brought up as a proper heir to the throne and the kingdom was relatively stable. But behind the scenes the Royal Mage, now pledging his allegiance to an enemy of the king, was searching for a way to take what was owed to him. Ras was looking for a way to steal Vesstan while making it out to be an accident. That way he’d keep his status as royal mage and keep his favour with his new Demonsic ally.

Eventually Rasterahz made his move. In 9BDI, when Vesstan was only 7 years old, he struck. Just as he’d trapped Decima’s soul all those years ago he sought out to steal Vesstan’s as well. Unfortunately for Ras, Vesstan’s older brother had caught whined of his plans and stormed in to stop him. The two got in a small magic standoff, Ariston was struck down, and Vesstan’s cries for help alerted the castle’s guards who came running in. Rasterahz did not succeed in killing Vesstan, but he was able to spin the situation and turn things on Ariston. He claimed Ariston was trying to assassinate his younger brother out of jealousy and Ariston was promptly executed because of it.

The never-ending tales of tragedy would only continue from here. Like the rest of the world, when year 0 came around and the great Demons Infestation struck Mirror Domain Trixot was thrown into war. Even with their powerful military and draconic influence they were in a bad position. Being so close to the mountain range left Trixot vulnerable. The Sanquet Mountains were Demons territory and Trixot was one of their first targets. Any internal conflict the nation had was put on hold as the people there fought for their very right to continue existing.

Being the heir to the throne the young Vesstan Daxalim was eager to take part in this budding war. He may have only been 15, but he had years of military training under his belt to help aid their kingdoms cause. He and his father, along with most of Trixot’s military, stormed the mountain range and began wreaking havoc on the Demons influence. Little did Daxalim know, that influence had already gotten inside the kingdom. Not just the kingdom, but the castle itself. With Demons on the offence and Vesstan out in the battlefield Rasterahz took the opportunity to strike. While Vesstan was stationed in an outpost he lured him away and finally ripped his soul from his body effectively killing him. That soul was then placed into a small gemstone for safekeeping until it could be delivered to Ras’ patron.

Of course, none of this would come to light until nearly 500 years later. At the time it was believed Vesstan was slain by his mortal enemy. An enemy he’d made in the war. A elf from Monspianza by the name Cali Rovalur. To put a long story short, enemies of Daxalim had taken advantage of the chaos the infestation brought on. The uprising that started all those years ago was never truly stopped, instead those passionate about taking down Daxalim and his men went into hiding. These people, lead by a Human named Pyria, had been reaching out to various cities and towns across Trixot in search of aid.

Their call for help caught the attention of residents of Monspianza and the underground city had been forming their own plan of attack in secret ever since. They were preparing for war, and the Infestation striking gave them the perfect out. Yes, their own troops would be at risk because of the Demons, but if they too were after Daxalim’s head perhaps the two sides could form a temporary truce. This truce came to be, and now Daxalim had both Demons and Monspianza army against him. He was vastly outnumbered and starting to get desperate. Word of his son’s death only caused his dwindling sanity to be shattered.

You see, Cali Rovalur was a skilled technician. An engineer known for creating magical artifacts to aid his side in battle. When Vesstan was killed the king was left with a sword. A masterfully crafted sword that contained the remains of his sons soul. Craftsmanship like this was a trademark of  Cali, and in a fit of rage and grief the king turned all of his efforts against him.  Cali was promptly captured and, wanting to him to suffer the same fate he’d allegedly put his son through, the king opted to have  Cali’s soul forged into a sword as well. He was executed the same way Vesstan was.

By the time the infestation had come to an end the Daxalim line had been slain. With Vesstan gone and the kings sanity on the decline it was only a matter of time before he too fell to the cause. Like the rest of the world the kingdom was left heavily scarred. People had been killed, homes had been destroyed, and the spirits of the people had been saddened. The only solace Trixot had was knowing its 1700 year reign of tyrants was finally over. Several years after the infestation ended the leader of the resistance against Daxalim, Pyria, took the throne. His lineage has been ruling over Trixot ever since, with Trixot’s most recent ruler being Queen Alyssa Pyria.

The Pyria line largely focused on mending what Daxalim had broke. Restructuring the social classes, restoring historical landmarks and holy sites destroyed during the manifest destiny, and mending relations with allied countries who were beginning to grow weary of Daxalim’s hunger for more and more power. The military had been weakened from the war, and Pyria did little to rebuild it. It was restored to a point it’d be functional, but Trixot was no longer a militarized nation.

Efforts to rebuild after the war put Trixot’s trade routes into overdrive. Their ports were some of few untouched by the infestation, so all water based nations began using them as a hub of sorts. Trade increased tenfold as trade ships would often sell wares to the country even if it wasn’t their final destination just as a thanks for housing their ships. Trixot’s economy was booming and the country was quickly becoming a dominating force in the North as a result.

Scars of the past were finally beginning to heal. What started out as a small cowardly home for Humanoid refugees and an imbalance land ruled by tyranny was now shaping up to be a modernized trading hub. Nowadays they’re one of the more peaceful nations in the Vertgate alliance. A peaceful nation with a booming economy and a well of knowledge from far away lands.