Cess-yon

## Overview

Located to the north west of Drityuk, the small nation of Cess-yon resides peacefully within the towering mountains of ice and snow. Originally founded centuries ago by refugees from the overly traditional and magist country of Uo, Cess-yon has expanded to become a technological marvel, hidden within the many crooks and valleys of their rugged home.

Cess-yon is a steampunk masterwork of a nation, combining coal powered machinery with air based magic to create a number of well supported settlements nestled between the valleys of the towering peaks. The Cess, the people that inhabit the nation, live relatively comfortable lives despite their freezing environment.

Cess-yon is a mostly undivided nation, with a centralised government made up of representatives from each of its six cities and guilds within said city. Using the laws and legislation passed down from this council, each city will then uphold them to the best of their own ability; acting as a micro-nation in and of itself. This is mostly due to the inherent difficulties of travel between cities, thus demanding a level of independence.

## History

The original settlers of Cess-yon began life as a small sect of historians within Uo, over three hundred years before the modern day. These historians were fascinated with uncovering the hidden history of the Uon Empire, and came to realise that magic had once been commonplace across their lands.

Curious to discover what this meant, the historians made contact with trusted allies all across the nation and began experimenting in secret under the watchful eyes of their government. Eventually, a breakthrough was made in the field of air/ wind magic. Slowly at first, but over a generation a few hundred individuals were taught how to wield the ability.

However, no secret can be kept forever, and when the Uon church uncovered the sect they descended with a righteous fury. Those that managed to escape gathered together over the mountains and managed to hail a Merillian merchant ship who was passing through the seas. The captain heard their story and, being a kind man with an eye for opportunity, directed them to Jopu and agreed to organise a set of ships to carry their sect to a new land.

A year later, in which time the refugees had grown by spreading their ideals, the captain returned with a fleet of twelve ships and carried the refugees to a small country recently discovered by Merilla. Here, the two nations struck a bargain where Merilla would send some craftsmen to help and the refugees would settle the land to send back resources to Merilla.

Eventually, the bargain would fall over as time progressed and Merilla descended into a state of loose laws, but Cess-yon thrived, despite being as isolated as it is.

Hina-shuto

The capital city of Cess-yon, Hina-shuto, is a sprawling city built within the intersection of two mountain ranges. Roughly triangular in shape, the city rises up against the mountains at its back, with the upper classed perched at the very top. Aglow with the lights of thousands of lanterns and the flames of Steamforges large and small, the city feels oddly cozy within the darkness near the tip of the world.

In order to protect from avalanches and snow storms, the city employs a large number of Magikin to patrol its flanks, as well as protective wards carved into the walls that surround it. The city proper is grid like and quite organised, with a more Nordic, Victorian and Japanese blend regarding the style of homestead. Most buildings are one or two stories, and built of a mixture of wood, stone and tile.

The main point of access to the capital is through a pass between two mountains, which leads to a surrounding forest of pine trees and nettles. Here, a handful of small logging communities supply timber for the city, alongside a few crop and livestock farms that grow food tough enough to withstand the temperature. However, most of the cities food comes from the manta ray farms within the mountains (supplied from a huge underground lake) and trade. Hina-shuto is also abundant in mines, especially coal based, due to rich mineral deposits on their northern borders.

Miya-hi

The city of Miya-hi is the smallest of the six major cities of Cess-yon, but it is by no means redundant. In fact, Miya-hi is the home of some of the nation’s most elite and wealthy individuals, as well as several guild halls and seats of power. Located south of Hina-shuto, the bulk of Miya-hi sits atop a small mountain with few foothills surrounding it. However, within this city lies one of Cess-yon’s greatest assets – the Gale Hall.

The Gale Hall is one of the greatest technical magic academies on the planet. Though its tomes are not as extensive, the academy boasts some of the finest staff and training regimes for the root element of air and their manipulation. Much of this was born out of necessity, as without their advanced air specialization, modern Cess-yon would never have existed.

Like much of Cess-yon, Miya-hi is neatly organised and rather clean. The city’s highest levels house the homes of the government, rich merchants, noble lords and the most powerful Magikin. From here, the wealth slowly dips until it reaches the bottom tier, that of the miners, woodcutters and farmers.

Wissh-minato

Translating to ‘Waterfall harbour’, the city of Wissh-minato is Cess-yon’s only port city, due to the country being mostly inland. However, due to the nature of Cess-yon’s technology, the city is a bustling place of street vendors and merchants. Built next to the nation’s largest waterfall, the city sprawls itself along the rocky shoreline, welcoming the trade of its foreign neighbours.

Wissh-minato is the main stop over for diplomats wishing to establish trade relations and, as such, has quite a number of hotels and inns, renowned for their quality. Still, most visitors only stop here for trade or for transport to one of the other more inland cities. Thus, life in Wissh-minato moves quite quickly, and many of the locals have jobs that take them far from their homes. Manta-fishers, Sherpas and airship haulers are the most popular professions by far.

Despite all this, the city isn’t much of a travelling destination. The temperature is very cold and the city is organised and outfitted for the necessity of trade rather than culture. Still, the Clearblade soldiers that make up the country’s navy power are a unique sight nonetheless.

The Average Cess-yon

The people of Cess-yon are similar to their Uon cousins, being of a smaller statue with epicanthal folds around their eyes. They also tend to have black hair and narrow facial features. However, due to living in the frigid climates their skin is paler and their bodies more strongly built. Most keep their hair long and their beard in neatly trimmed mutton chops and goatees.

The colours of Cess-yon are dark blue, brown, taupe and light and dark grey, with a hint of yellow and light blue on occasion. Their clothing is often trimmed with fur and tends to be more practical rather than ornamental. The most common garment is the takke, a knee length wool coat that belts at the waist.

Cess-yon Military

The military of Cess-yon is not terribly large, as their nation is very hard to attack due to its location. High mountain ranges and fortified narrow passes prevent larger armies from traversing their territory, and most flying creatures are limited due to the biting temperature. That being said, Cess-yon soldiers are still expertly trained and equipped for combat should the situation arise.

The policing and combative duties of Cess-yon are performed by the Clearblades (the Turi-sun), named after the nature of the spear heads they use. These spears are constructed of magically formed blades of air, formed by the Clearblade when battle draws nigh. These blades can be atoms thin, ideal for slicing through thick hides of the creatures they battle. Each Clearblade typically wears a brigandine takke (with plates underneath) and a pointed helmet called a syah. Their load out consists of a turisun (clear blade) and a black powder revolving pistol with three shots.

Black powder is a technology somewhat new to Cess-yon, having been brought over by early Canaren and Jopu traders. However, they have incorporated it into many levels of their society, and were the first to invent the revolving cylinder (new though it is) and incorporate rifling into their barrels. Still, their main use of black powder is in controlled explosives, used mostly in their coal mines.

The Cess-yon military’s main purpose though, rather than fighting other nations, is to protect the cities from the various creatures that call the north home. Udaks, Varulevs, occasionally the Drityukai and many others attack the nation’s population centres regularly. Though firearms are effective against some creatures, others have dense hides that only a line of turisun can penetrate efficiently.

Cess-yon, a steampunk nation built in and amongst a pair of intersecting mountain ranges, is subdivided into six major cities, as the population can only survive the harsh conditions by living within each city's field of magical and technological warmth.

Each city is run by a council of representatives, called a Honi-kai, ranging from 10 to 50 people (depending on the city's size). Each representative, or kai, represents the interest of their respective guild, company or population. Examples would be the head of the hunting party, scoutmaster, rich merchants etc.

From here, each council elects three members to speak for their city at a national committee that decides the laws, legislations, taxes and any other decisions that will impact the country as a whole. This council, called the Via-kai, meets every four months at the nation's capital; Hina-shuto.