S'lorris Cattsio

Arms of S'lorris Cattsio

**S'lorris Cattsio** (pronounced *suh-LORE-iss CHAT-see-oh*) was a city-state on the southeastern coast of Yulia. They were the dominant power over much of the eastern Yulia and most of the Yulian Veldt. They were known to have a robust and active slave trade, a human-centric authoritarian government, and several serious strict restrictions on the use of magic. They maintained a longstanding animus towards the city-state of Ochoa.

## History

**S'lorris Cattsio** is one of the oldest cities in Yulia, predated only by Argosi and Girad-Upon-High. In the centuries since its founding it has solidified its position as the dominant power over the eastern half of that continent.

Their mythology states that in ancient times, a child was born to a virgin human woman after conceiving in a sacred grove dedicated to her deity S'lorris. She was to name to name this child Cattilinus and give the newborn to a pride of lions as a test of her faith. According to the story, these lions sensed the child's destiny and instead of devouring the defenseless baby, adopted the child as one of their own. This child lived with the lions until adolescence and later go on to lead his mother's old village, using his fierce hunting and tracking skills to gain favor as a phenomenal hunter. Over time, this village grew and expanded, eventually forming **S'lorris Cattsio**. The state religious cult maintains that the current God-Emperor of S'lorris Cattsio and this original Cattilinus are literally the same soul.

The city-state was engaged in a brutal one-again-off-again war with neighboring city-state Ochoa for decades, starting in the early 9800's.

## Demographics

**S'orris Cattsio** was decidedly a human-centered city, nation, and culture. Besides their obvious bias towards Humans, they also divided that category even further, creating two specific castes, the Anastores and the Humilaris. The Anastores being the landed, richer classes and the Humilaris being the poor, renter class of free Humans. Any other kith were regularly treated as less than the Humiliaris unless they were representatives from other powers or otherwise given special dispensation.

## Government

**S’lorris Cattsio**'s day-to-day was governed by a senate of wealthy human freedmen. They deferred to the whims of the God-Emperor, Antonious Cattilinus, as he was the absolute monarch of the city and surrounding area. The Cattsian Senate was often filled with cutthroat politicking and jockeying for influence and approval from the God-Emperor. Some highly ranked officials of the Ferrum Fratres and the Frumentarii consolidated their power with senate seats.

### Magic and S'lorris Cattsio

Any obvious public use of magic of any kind was prohibited in S'lorris Cattsio. According to the state religion, arcane magic was considered an unclean, corrupting influence, not suitable for the pure freedmen of the Anastores and Humilaris. In practice, some arcane magic was used by agents of the Cattsian Frumentarii but often only in order to detect, dispel, or counter magic used by others. Special units of the Frumentarii operated as a form of Inquisition, targeting both divine and arcane spellcasters.

### Purple and S'lorris Cattsio

While certain colors were associated with different stations and organizations in the city's culture, no color held a position of importance as high as that of purple. Only the First Consul was allowed to wear purple robes in S'lorris Cattsio. It was considered the color of the God-Emperor in their state religion. Outsiders were politely but sternly warned against wearing the shade before entering the city. To wear purple in the city limits was considered a serious faux pas in private and in public, could mean summary execution for heresy.

## Defense

**S’lorris Cattsio** is a patriarchal human-centric militaristic culture. All able-bodied human men are required to serve in the Cattisan military for at least four years. That generally means conscription in the Civis Legiones though those of certain talent can find membership in the Cattsian Frumentarii.

## Commerce

**S’lorris Cattsio** is the center of the slave-trade in Yulia. Slaves of many kinds can be found here, as well as other simple and manufactured goods. The technological level of goods available is not quite the standard of goods found farther west, but with sufficient gold, one might be able to find what they need.

Due to the city's anti-magic bias, it's rare to find magical items for sale in any public markets. There is a small black market for such things but the Frumentarii commonly police even these.

## Organizations

Due to its highly regimented and militaristic culture, **S'lorris Cattsio** fostered numerous official and unofficial organizations. A list of the largest and/or most powerful or important is featured below.

* **Cattsian Frumentarii -** A specialized corps of individuals that operated in a number of different ways for **S'lorris Cattsio**. They were sometimes deployed as special forces, engineers, spies, or secret police.
* **Civis Legiones -** The citizen-soldiers of **S'lorris Cattsio**. Membership was mandatory for all able-bodied Human freedmen. In practice, the officer corps consists of citizens drawn from the Anastores caste while the rank-and-file soldiers were members of the Humilaris.
* **Ferrum Fratres -** The slave-trading guild of **S'lorris Cattsio**. They operated a massive complex in the center of the city consisting of pens, training grounds, and gladiatorial arenas.
* **Sacerdotes -** The elite corps of warrior-priests that guarded both the office and person of the God-Emperor.
* **Vacca Maris -** Originally founded as an arm of the Civis Legiones, the Vacca Maris was the Cattsian navy and maintained the city's military and commercial fleets.

## Notable people

* First Consul Antonious Cattilinus, God-Emperor of S'lorris Cattsio