Republic of Arthos

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## Founding

### Founded on

April 28th

The Arthos is a port settlement situated in the verdant coastline north of the White mountains. The denizens of Arthos enjoy a subsistence and horticultural lifestyle, reaping the boons of the meadows and the ocean they border. In the port of Tivris, merchants tell tales of their voyages across the Marium Centralis, their yarn being more or less exaggerated allegories and hearsay to beguile their patrons. Of these however, none is more truthful than the stories of the Viiran, those shrouded in fog. Little is known as to their appearance or intentions, but one thing that is certain is that every Arthonian, whether they be Archon or lowliest fisherman, speak in hushed deference to the benefactors of Arthos itself.

## History

### **The Euretians**

Little is known as to the exact the origins of the Arthonian culture prior to the Covenant, whether due to the haze and incoherence of history or the censorship by the Naevo Viiram. The Euretians, precursors of the Arthonian peoples, were a collection of seafaring tribes that once inhabited the sunken islands around the coast of Tivris and atop the marbled vistas of the White Mountains. Within the floral valleys and forests, the Euretians established many small holdings, which would eventually coalesce to become the respective city states of Arthos and Laenos. It is even believed by some heretical librarians that the Euretians also settled further in the Northeast peninsula along the Tivris gulf north of the White Mountains.

The Euretian diet consisted of mainly venison, nuts, and sweet berries, along with fish and whales hunted offshore in coastal settlements. The Euretian people also occasionally imported food from other neighboring peoples of around the White mountains and across the Gulf of Tivris, though little information is currently available. Horticulture emerged as a practice following the founding of the Arthos, greatly expanding the palette of available foods to the Arthonian people. The increase in grain, starchy foods, vegetables, and luminescent fruits would allow for increased specialization and compartmentalization of Euretian society into many roles, producing a caste of artisans that would govern Arthos. Conversely, the denizens in Laenos would diverge from Arthos by allowing venerated elders and hunters to continue to guide their people.

### Garden Era

Serving as the economic backbone of the city, the bottom caste consisted horticulturists and fishmen who were intrinsic to food production. In caste superseding the workers, the legionnaires of Arthos lend their blades and their lives to Artho's security. In the same caste, merchants and sailors would venture across the Marium Centralis, to the lands of Hyperion and Genova, and return with many coveted woods. In the caste above, masons would produce unique Arthonian works of marble and diorite, and the craftsmen would yield the finest of jewelry. The ruler caste would consist of the artisans themselves, those who ran the politics and the armies of the undaunting legionnaires. The uppermost caste of Arthos would further separate into 2 distinct moieties consisting of the artisans and the shamans. This caste would persist for many generations, but infighting within the very ruler caste, coupled with incompetency and the gradual cultural decay of the Arthos would lead to its desperate hour.

### Age of Storms and The Barbarian War

The City of Arthos would fall prey to many catastrophic events. Once domesticated Arthonian bees would enter a maddened state and start aggressively stripping away the gardens, swarming anyone who tried to stop them. Typhoons would appear unexpectedly on the coasts and ravage harbors and fishing fleets of Arthos, leaving them stranded with their six-legged oppressors. This persisted until winter, with parts of the Arthonian population succumbing to famine and angry bee swarms. The rival city states and subjects of Arthos would take advantage of their momentary weakness with only Laenos coming to Arthos' aid. Battles would paint the verdant valleys a crimson red, with a vast menagerie of extremities decorating the floral fields. Through grim resolve and superior tactics, the legionnaires would repel the onslaught, but war attrition and a bunch of six-legged fiends had greatly diminished Arthos' capacity to provide food to its people. Furthermore, months worth of tension and ignored pleas had pent up within the legionnaires and worker class. Thus, a rebellion would happen overnight, with the artisans would be ripped from their marbled homes and strung up in front of the theatres, before being swiftly cannibalized by crazed denizens.

### **The Covenant**

In their hour of tumult, the people Arthos would find their deliverance from the hell their society created. The cold grey specter of death hung in the air as ashes clung to the swirling mist. The cacophony pained cries and feral screams would deafen as the fog enveloped Arthos. No shape could be deciphered from the trees, but gradually a recognizable outline appeared amid the intangible geometries. Adorned in a deer hide cloak, a single destitute man was said to emerge from living fog itself. Unphased by the unfolding carnage and hysteria, the man spoke with an air of steadfastness and clarity: even the most frenzied of Arthonians peered from their bloodsoaked works. The stranger spoke in revelations, of deliverance from the catastrophe that had stricken sickly Arthos; from the moral perversity of their rulers. He would disseminate the primordial truth of the Viiran to the people of Arthos, and they, in exchange for subservience, Arthos would be able to not only restore its prosperity but propel itself to greater heights. Thus the covenant was born, the souls of Arthos indebted to the whims of their unseen masters.

[Describe the ritual, include burial site image]

## Society

### The Naevo Viiram

Religion and spiritualism are fundamental to all aspects of Arthonian society. Every Arthonian, from the grandest of prophets to the humblest worker express extreme reverence bordering fanaticism to their enigmatic protectors. The Naevo Viiram, a holy order consisting of only the most hallowed of Arthonians, preaches its primordial truth. Once initiated, a priest is seldom seen in public without their robes, their physical alterations considered a sign of divinity that tainted eyes cannot yet perceive.