Cathcalairach

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The Cathcalairach is the region encompassing the former Pentarchy of Calai. The name translate to Metropolitan Calai. It is the most populous region in Calai of Three Lakes, and is home to it's dejure capital, Grand Calai. People of Cathcalairach are simply referred to as Calains, or their specific nation. It is also a bloc in The Pent.

## Geography

The Cathcalairach is home to mostly swamp and rainforest. The Marred Swamp, a swamp beginning at the Bay of Arrivals, is the largest with The City of Stilts built in between the two, home to it's own unique urban ecosystem, and ending at the borders of the denser forests to the north, which Calains refer to as 'The Vastness', or, 'Where mangroves transform into towering trees'. The Vastness extends into the Western Lands, with the Valley of the Don dotted with Exaci Pillars, vast pillars of stone and minerals that start from The Terrace, the highlands region overlooking the lower jungles of The Vastness. These also overlook the Stern Coast, a slightly raised cliffy section of jungle, home to the Sang.

Azir is a desert above a large cave system, filled with subterranean lakes and rivers. This is used through a complex system of pipes to irrigate the many areas of standard agricultural land, as well as the desert agriculture of the sand dunes, with the most common crop being the simple cactus. In recent years large areas of Azir on the coastline have been returned to savannah, as Var Jeta Loq and Priataz Itoni provide more than enough food for the Union.

Sial encompasses three distinct areas. Firstly is the city of Hope's Reach, or the City of Stilts, on the Bay of Arrival. The bay is constantly filled with a unique species of lilypad, from two-twenty metres wide, called Lodgers. These are thankfully weak and unobtrusive, providing little more in harmful effects than seaweed. Lining the bay, and extending into it, is a city built on the stilts, filled with unique flora and fauna that is yet to be properly recorded or observed by scientific experts, however, the founding of Eth Bâtibore Hadaeidatalu Amun has lead to many biology students doing research in the city, while also spending large amounts of time helping themselves to it's luxuries at the same time.. The Marred Swamps on the border of the bay mark what could be called the suburbs of the city, with the furthest areas hosting small towns. These are full of yet more unrecorded creatures, a frequent area of research for seasoned scientists from the Technocracy of Rhebbid. The Vastness is the name given too the rainforests that expands past the coast of Sial. This is home to many of Calai's constituent tribes, unadvanced groups that used to average out Calai to the stone age despite recent advancements in the cities. The Vastness is considered extremely dangerous, and apart from trade outposts on the road to The Don, and the port at the edge of the Marred Swamps, Marac, there is little civilisation, any plants and animals are only approached on advice of Conts.

The Don live in the trees and hill of forest highlands, which they have partially deforested.. The Sang live in the coastal caves of The Vastness, on the Stern Coast.

## History

The Calai were a newly emerging people, split into disunited tribes for hundreds of years. Once a completely random set of people, a great general, politician, artist, a true savant, found them, and bought these groups together as one, who it called the Calai. However, one day the Great Uniter disappeared, leaving a decree for each individual tribe to prove itself. All tribes to go into the wilderness, to try and find their old hero, to shown them they had lived up to its expectations. They tried to prove them in different ways, accumulation of wealth, blood sacrifices, cartography or for some just trying to live their lives as best as they could. However, many tribes did not have common languages with each other, and defaulted to hostility when meeting in each in the wild, with some even raiding and killing. In recent years, those sent out have come back with news of a great upheaval among their neighbours, who were beginning to make governments and build wonderful new structures. These pilgrims bought back their own new languages, particularly the one of the colonial state of Gwerith. When interacting with these new people, some people met those of other tribes, and could finally understand each other. Stuck in the awkward position of wanting to be polite and wanting to kill their old enemies, utilising these newly learned languages, the Calai moved towards theological arguments. Hearing similar tales of pasts filled with disunity for these civilisations, now bustling and outgrowing the Calai, many began to reconsider their hostile attitudes. From the five largest and most developed tribes, five of these new linguists came to meet. Primed to become the successors of their tribes, they made a pact. That while they may have theological disagreements, what they had now would not suffice. Their old unifier must not want destruction of the Calai, it would want rejuvenation. Determining that the previous task must have been a trick, they promised to move their conflicts to debate and maybe occasional bloodsports. Once all five leaders had ascended to their thrones, and a lot of convincing of their populace, the newly relatively unified Calai were born.

This quickly became the Pentarchy of Calai, a minor nation in the Central Lakes. However, the persistent of the five leaders, The Pent, led to great achievements. Calai grew past it's old borders, united past bureaucracy, and restored trust between the populace, bringing together people who had for centuries known nothing but war. Calai grew to become the diplomatic power of the Sea of Hope, involved in the affairs of everyone from Doqnokarr to Kjeropan. Through diplomacy, occasional threats of war, starting international political movements and praying for large amounts of gold, Calai became one fo the most well known nations in Delthoria. With the founding of The Union of Calai of Three Lakes, the Cathcalairach stopped being an independent sovereign entity, with The Pent expanding to fit many more national leaders within it. Despite this, the Cathcalairach is still the most populous region in the Union, and the most politically powerful. The True Pent as many call them still are seen as the natural leaders of all the Union, and the Cathcalairach is still the only area of Calai that has complete technological unification, with no 'rural' areas in the region, with even the most remote Constituent Tribes in The Vastness having the latest stoves and typewriters.

## Culture

### Moral values and principles

Calain morals are built somewhat on that of the Great Uniter. The morals it laid down depend on which tribe you ask. The Sang believe that politeness is very important, as with their high mortality rates in ritual battles or new conflicts anyone could die, regardless of status, at any time. The Don, despite opposition from every other nation do trade goods without having an exact reliable source of their origins, or effects on people. Sial are taught from a young age that they are to maintain balance in all things, ironically at times taking this to the extreme. An example of Sial balance is that all Sial youth spend time before their Gap Year in other areas of the Union, with most Sial schools partnering with others in the Union, and sending their students there from the ages of roughly 14-15.

The leaders of The Pent are seen as role models for their tribes, with a prime example being Noe Agrippa, the Stilter Queen of Sial, who as the person who bought back knowledge from Gweriþis lead to her being seen as personification of the practice of cultural balance. An example of the cultural influence from the Gweriþon Calain was the importing of the Gweriþ religious teaching of ‘Observe the waves and you will survive’, with has been added to the Predictive Watching of the Unifier, an Eastern Don theological/ideological text now popular under Asahumu Polytheism, specifically on sections of how to apply observations of the world high up in the nearby coasts of the Sial. Although cultural exchange between the East and Calai is very easy by now, most Sial still study how groundbreaking this achievement was at the time.

### Traditions

Before the Day of Halves, it was tradition for every Calain to spend a number of years in their years searching for the Great Uniter. While this is no longer done since the revelation the Uniter is dead, it is now traditional that every Calain holds a mock funeral to the Uniter, before departing in travels around Delthoria for a year before heading to university. This is known as a Gap Year, and happens exactly two months after a Calain finishes higher education.

The Day of Departure is a holiday that takes place upon the return of young Calains from the Gap Year. It used to honour the search for the Uniter, but now acts as a community farewell to Calains before they head off to university beyond the Cathcalairach. Each Nation has some differences, but generally someone wearing an elaborate mask or costume representing the Uniter will give a moral lesson of some sorts, now based of tales from Asahumu Polytheism, although not following the theistic elements of the stories. They will then congratulate any of the explorers that have returned in the last year. From then on traditions vary between tribe, the Poursoi will give addition time to their explorers, with lectures on new discoveries in foreign lands, while the Don will then journey to their highest nearby spot, and stargaze. After any interim event, a feast will be had, depending on local cuisine.

Bloodsports are common in Calai, previously near unique to the Sang, they have spread in popularity with unification and need to let of some violent energy from those not yet tired of war. Common bloodsports are Fillings, a form of optimistically non-lethal honour duel where two contestants will fight while carrying a bucket of bread, with the aim to beat the opponent until they can push it down their throat, making them either choke or throw up,  causing humiliation for the person who has slighted you. Standard for death duels are also common. Sangi bloodsports are the main form of entertainment in the tribe, and therefore contain more twisted ‘games’ that have become their entertainment, as sacrifices for the Great Uniter to hasten it’s return.

Each tribe has its own kind of cuisine. The Azir has their famous 'Poicat', a meal of common fish, with the skeleton ripped out, the fish ripped in half to the tail, and then filled with cactus before being cooked. Other tribes simply call it ‘That Abomination’, with the exception of fellow coastal dwellers, the Sial, who call it Etrapenge, loosely translating to ‘a strange alternative’.

### Art

Azir has unique architecture. All buildings are made of sandstone, as although there are many available sites for quarry, the Azir believe that possible mining could disrupt the cave systems that provide them with their agricultural capabilities. As their piping systems are the pride of the Azir, their homes and general buildings usually feature elaborate stonework following pipes, to either personal canisters or public fountains, with many of Azir’s wealthy seeing using their buildings as conduits for public pipes a sign of charity.

Sial has little opportunity for art themselves. Most is found on their foreign expeditions. However, when in a particular mood, Sial have been known to use the sticks form their stilts to carve into the clay of their marshland, placed onto wide stone slabs, unique patterns, which are then moved into an oven and dried.  More recently The Sang tradition of murals has been practiced throughout the City of stilts, although without the use of blood.

The Don import pigments from across the Union, to create beautiful paintings, most of which are usually sold off or kept for personal use. Oil paintings are the latest craze amongst the Don.

The Poursoi are near constantly away from home, noting areas for future Calai expansion, spying or doing Union bureaucracy before returning to their permanent settlements in their Cathcalairach. Because of this nomadic nature, the most common form of artistic expression among the Poursoi is tattoos and face painting. Unique symbols are tattooed, usually on the arms or face, depicting a loved one or valuable memory, so that despite their many solitary expeditions or time spent with other Union Nations, each Poursoi will carry the mark of what they fight for.

The Sangi, to no one’s surprise have one form of paint, blood. Thankfully however they actually mostly use blood of non-sentient creatures, although unfortunately not exclusively. Despite the gruesome pallet, Sangi paintings vary in subject and form, most often taking the place of murals on buildings, or as temporary bodypaint before bloodsports or fighting commences.