Fragrance

Despite being called the Gateway to the Land of Great Shade, Fragrance spans only a fraction of the entrance's actual width. Still, passing by is risky if one is uninvited.

Fragrance is located in the southwest of Pakohu.

### Inhabitants

Night Elves

Fragrance (*Frrakrrans*) is the largest Night Elven settlement on Pakohu. It's placed at the mouth of the *X'ao-Hwah*, also known as the Land of Great Shade, and is currently under the rule of the Merchant Council (*Maisak Toissa).* Founded 631 years before the Antiquity, it is a power to be reckoned with in the region.

## Law and Government

Fragrance is a city-state ruled by a merchant oligarchy, quite recently formed after the events of king Safron II's death. Before it, the First dynasty had ruled since the town was founded, starting with King Safron II's grandfather, King Safron I (*Eewak Tsafran*). The slow ageing of nelves means that leaders potentially can rule for several human lifetimes. It is therefore custom for ageing kings tired of ruling to either be overthrown by their heir or commit suicide. If not, the king will rule until death. With the appearance of Vampirism in later years, the option to overthrow one's parent has fallen nearly completely out of fashion, not only performed by impatient heirs desperate for power. The merchant council hasn't existed long enough to implement proper rules of inheritance.

The laws of Fragrance are based on the laws of Thystle, a legalist contemporary of King Safron I. They emphasise strict social hierarchy based on wealth and ability to maintain good hygiene, and follow a rule set maintained by the town druids. Druids, mages and augurs in Fragrance are just as much bureaucrats as they are priests, hold administrative posts around the city-state lands.

## Social Hierarchy

Fragrance is strictly divided into five social castes, between the middle three of which social mobility is possible, and the highest and lowest are set in stone. These are as follows:

1. The aristocracy (*xiesa*): The wealthy merchants, plantation owners and bureaucrats, as well as their family. Since the reforms away from monarchy, these have taken over as the rulers of Fragrance. These hold positions in office and the military, and function as administrators, warriors and commanders. They are democratically elected by the other merchants in the council, and can be unseated by majority vote. They do possess quite a bit of judicial leverage as they own almost all of the luxury wares that keep the people of Fragrance content.
2. The stillers (*soosa*) Commoners who do stillwork (quiet jobs), i.e. perfumers, florists, bakers, olfactorers and many more. These can also be referred to as the gentry. Many of these also work in the fields and own their own land.
3. The louders (*krrosa*): Commoners who do loudwork (loud jobs): woodworkers, whitesmiths, builders and so on. While necessary for the city-state to function, their occupations make them unwanted within the town proper. They are thus often expelled to the edges. They earn good wages, however, so complaints are rarer than one would expect.
4. The enslaved (*konsa*): Slaves in Fragrance are criminals or prisoners of war, forced to do loudwork that even louders can't handle.

## Demographics

Fragrance has the largest population of any single nelven settlement on Pakohu, hosting a population of roughly two thousand six hundred individuals, all arranged accordingly into the many classes. While most within Fragrance proper identify as Fragrancian (*frrakkrranssa*), there are also notable factions within the city-state that hail from neighbouring city-states, as noted by their accents and somewhat different customs. These are:

* Scentan (*sent'asa*): Nelves hailing from the neighbouring city-state of Scenta, a close ally of Fragrance and the warden of the Moonwell. Scentans are very similar to Fragrancians, but put less of an emphasis on perfumes and scent oils as essential parts of their culture. While they use them, they are not as adamant about hiding their body odour as the Fragrancians are, leading often to stigmatisation of their kin by certain Fragrancian circles. Furthermore, their main branch of druidism is different from the Fragrancian Circle of the Law, so schisms occasionally arise. Scentans are therefore often segregated to the third and fourth classes and form enclaves.
* Xiangan (*xiamksa)*: Nelves hailing from the city-state of Xiang (*Xiam*). While not an ally of Fragrance, Xiang is located in close proximity to the Tree of Fragrance, which gives them a powerful strategic advantage. Fragrance thus tries to keep them on their good side while planning their eventual conquest of the city-state.

## Culture

### Clothing

Fragrancian fashion is heavily dependent on social class. As the colour aspect of clothing is quite limited in the dark of the night, the nelves instead prefer the beauty of contrasts. As most nelven skin is bright purple or darker, the most priced shades include lighter shades of blue and white. These are often reserved for the aristocracy. Commoners will wear whatever's convenient, but will strive to wear lighter clothing to show off what wealth they have.

### Gender and Relationships

Fragrance is a strictly patriarchal society where women are groomed from a young age to function as servants to men and commodities to be traded between families in the form of marriages and alliances between houses. Only a few women manage to break out of this social prison, and they often still face stigmatisation despite being both powerful and well-connected. In the aristocracy, women usually cannot inherit property or wealth, and are strictly drilled in skills meant to serve and entertain the men. At a commoner level, these restrictions are much more lenient, but men and women are by no means equal there, either.

The servile status of females makes marriage an utmost matter of convenience and obligation alone. Men who take pleasure in the company of women are often stigmatised and seen as weak and effeminate. Conversely, men who prefer the company of other men are seen as exemplary Fragrancians. Homosexuality is considered the purest form of love and brotherhood in Fragrance, and to not have an *oio'j,* which can be translated to mean "husband", "boyfriend" or simply "male lover", is a mark of shame. Marriage is considered below this brotherhood - marriage is a contract binding two people together, and the love between men is so mighty that there is no need for a binding legal agreement. Homosexuality among women is typically frowned upon, but powerful women will often defy this norm, as well, in challenge to the system.

### Pantheon

* **Chig’wach** - goddess of earth, fertility, and flowers.
* **Kippom** - god of night and might.
* **Keytian** - god of strength.

### Medicine

The Fragrancian sages have an intricate system of humours that form the basis for Fragrancian medicine. There are a total of eight humours, separated into four dichotomies, all of which have to be kept in balance to keep the body healthy. Each dichotomy will affect the body differently if one element takes more than the other. The most common way to ensure balance of the humours is by adoping a balanced diet. The humours are as follows.

* **Stone - Water**: These are the physical humours. Stone represents everything hard and solid, like wood, bone, earth, muscle, metals and, of course, stone; water represents everything soft and fluid, like blood, oil, saliva, mucus, sap and, of course, water. Stone-related foodstuffs include mostly lean meats, but can also refer to hardbread, grains, raw vegetables, nuts and some fruits like coconuts. Reversely, water-related foodstuffs are all largely vegetarian, and include soups, fats, oils, boiled or mashed vegetables, porridges and more. A balanced diet usually incorporates both stone and water, but in case of imbalance, a sage will typically remove ingredients with too much of one humour from the meal. A stone deficiency will therefore typically be cured with grilled meats, whereas a water deficiency will be cured with vegetarian soups. In terms of what deficiencies in either will typically look like, a stone deficiency is often characterised with an overflow of mucus and fluids, such as a runny nose, vomiting, excessive sweating and the like, as well as weak bones; a water deficiency is characterised by dryness of the skin and body, excessive thirst, muscle pain and difficulty urinating or defecating.
* **Sun - Moon**: These are the psychological humours. Sun represents everything relating to wrath, anger and power - it is the element of chaos and emotion, but also strength and will; the moon represents everything relating to kindness, sharing and tranquility - it is the element of order and focus, but also naivité and repression. Foodstuffs relating to sun heavily incorporate salt and bitterness; foodstuffs of the moon are instead sweet and sour. Fruits are therefore often associated with the moon, whereas salads and mineral-rich leafy vegetables are associated with the sun. Adding any of the individual flavours to any food will also increase the amount of the given element in that food - for example, salting meat will increase that meat's level of sun, and marinating it in fruit juice will infuse it with moon. Additionally, sun is related to hot foods and moon to cold foods, so the temperature at which a food is eaten can influence the humours, as well. One can also be recommended to stay in warm or cold climates. Overload of sun is typically associated with fevers, emotional instability and madness; overload of moon is associated with hypothermia, depression and loss of empathy.
* **Scent - Smell**: These are the olfactory humours. Scent represents any weak or nonexistent olfactory sensation; smell represents strong sensations to the point of overwhelming rank. Too much smell is typically associated with nausea and loss of conciousness; too much scent is typically associated with confusion and disorientation. Balancing out scent and smell often necessitates either going to a largely pure and unscented place, such as the deserts, or to a place with many strong smells, such as the bath houses. One is also recommended to eat bland foods or fragrant foods. Tea is incredibly important to the scent-smell dichotomy, as there exist both non-scented and incredibly fragrant teas.
* **Whisper - Noise**: These are the audible humours. Whisper represents the quiet sounds or the complete lack thereof, and is associated with deafness, solitude and loneliness; noise represents the loud sounds, and is associated with pain, crowds and exhaustion. Foodstuffs relating to whisper incorporate soups, fats and jellies with buttery textures that hardly make a noise when eaten; foodstuffs relating to noise have hard, crunchy textures that can be felt throughout the whole body.

## Notable Characters and Orders

* Lavender, Captain of Fragrance
	+ The Bloodiest Showman II: This hero's strength and dexterity increase considerably whenever he fights in front of a crowd cheering for him. (Free with Pride)
	+ The Entertainer II: This hero has an almost eerie ability to sway the crowds to his side, either through impressive displays of gymnastics, song or speech. It's as if the spotlight's always on him.-2 DP