Laiden

Laiden is a very humid and damp area with large portions of its landscape filled by a thick temperate forest. Towards the west is where this lush forest primarily thrives being next to a large body of water that connects them to both Aelvale & Flaidver. One of the more prominent features of the forest is the abundance of beautiful Sakura trees or, as most would call them, Cherry Blossoms. This results in many of the caravan routes within the country to be covered by a trail of the beautiful pink leaves. Aside from that, the more east you go the less dense the forest becomes as plants go from green, to brown. Farther than that the land expands into hills of sand.

The most prominent feature of Laiden would be what could be considered the largest and best maintained port in all of Mirror Domain. This port resides on the west coast of Laiden within the Sea of Serpents and is the main route of trade used with both Flaidver, and Aelvale. Consisting of a giant 100ft stone wall, stone towers, and galleon sized reinforced gates, no ship by sea would ever get through without Laidens permission. With this port, fishing has become the biggest abundance of resource for Laiden. They're able to bring in ships full on a near daily basis.

Culturally speaking, Laiden is a very Isolated country who strongly believe not only in honour, but being able to take care of themselves. Their only interaction with the outside world is in their trades with Flaidver and Aelvale, but even that is on strict terms. In fact, the only reason if any for why they are allied with Aelvale is simply so they won't intrude on their borders as long as trade is going well. The country of Nexx is also associated with Laiden, although communications are largely kept to a minimum. Other than their connecting boarders, both of which are heavily fortified, the two countries rarely interact. When they do, it's more often than not while in conference with Aelvale.

Technology and magic are very basic due to the Isolated culture. They do not have luxuries such as Airships or magic circles. Most of what they do have is extremely basic, and it's only really used for things like healing or defense. But, what they lack in the realm of magic they regain with resolve. A warrior of Laiden is very resilient and will fight to the last breath to defend their sacred lands from any outside invaders. This makes them some of the fiercest warriors in the Aelvale Alliance.

In terms of architecture, houses built in Laiden have been typified by wooden structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs. Sliding doors were used in place of walls, allowing the internal configuration of a space to be customizable for different occasions. Most buildings have a very open floorplan, usually built with the needs of Lesser Dragons in mind. Cities are almost always surrounded by a large ring of stone walls. These walls help in classifying the economic status of it's residents. Stronger and more well kept walls indicate higher society, whereas short, worn, or broken ones indicate the lower class. Even the capital is built up in layers, similar to a wedding cake, with the highest point being the residence of Laidens Lord.

The population of Laiden is dominantly Satyr, followed by Lesser Dragons. While Laiden does follow Aelvale's purity scale, all races are treated relatively equal on the social hierarchy. On rare occasions you may find a stray Human or Vulpine Kodin scattered around the countryside. The Vulpines usually being related to trade with Flaidver and the Humans being the inevitable result of pure Satyr crossbreeding.

The capital of Laiden is called “Sanseong” meaning Mountain Fortress in Terrin. It is called this because again of its wedding cake-like structure of walls, each ringed part of the city being higher than the next until the very top. The city is home to many churches worshiping the great warriors that have died or fought in the past for the sanctity of their blessed lands. There are even some idols of warriors from outside the country like that of the old king from Vertgate who toppled Lykan. Along with that there are bustling markets, noodle shops, public bathing areas and finally blacksmiths/Sword smiths who specialize in making the sharpest swords or the most durable armours.

Overall Laiden is a land full of rich culture and traditions with many secrets for adventures or outsiders to discover among its beautiful landscape, although it can be quite dangerous.