Carist
The former capital of the Magedom of Carist, but now included within the realm of the Magisterium of Torith, Carist sits on the south coast of the Peninsula.
Government
As part of the Magisterium, Carist is subject to their laws and rulership. While there is no one Magister who stands above overs in the city in official terms, with each Trial of Torina that passes it does seem that different Magisters come to the fore in Carist.
Guilds and Factions
History
Carist was founded by Mages abandoning Torith around four hundred years before the Collapse. The Magisterium of Torith was founded around a hundred years prior, and established a quasi-meritocractic system of election for their leaders, but among the growing population there were many sorcerers - mages who were born with magical power - who disagreed with this approach. Believing in the supremacy of born mages above both learned mages and those without magic, this group rebelled against the Magisterium and left the growing city.
The sorcerers were led by a mage who some believe was the child of Torina, the mage who led the Founding Families to Torith, and after whom that city is named. Others claim Torina had no children, and the sorcerers were led by the most powerful of their number - Carwyn. Whichever case is true - though perhaps both tales are true - the rebel mages eventually encountered Dragonborn, and with their further passage barred they settled their home. The group had long been known as the Carwynist faction by the mages of Torith, and they carried that name through into the village they founded, which would become the city of Carist.
Carist grew quickly, drawing sorcers from across the Peninsula in much a similar way as Torith drew wizards, though given their exclusionary beliefs they did not prosper to the same degree. They did however benefit from the powerful magic of their inhabitants, carving out a large swathe of land that would rival the Magisterium and was known as the Magedom of Carist, ruled by Carwyn under the title of Grand Magus. Their intent was to imitate the noble bloodlines of the north, in which power would be passed down from sorcerer to sorcerer, preferably by bloodline but in the absence of that from master to apprentice.
In subsequent years there was conflict between the two realms, Magisterium and Magedom.
When the Empire invaded in the north around a hundred years before the collapse, they sent an emissary to the Magedom. Similarly to Torith, it is unclear on what the terms of their offer were, but the Magedom refused - again, unlike their former comrades. When the Legions and Imperial Chevaliers came to Torith to establish Imperial systems, they soon marched on the Magedom to expand the rule of the Empire to those lands as well.
Eventually the Magedom submitted to the Empire, and their lands were absolved into the Magisterium, both for ease of governance for the Empire and as a reward for the Magisters for their assistance and submission to the Imperials.
Since the Collapse, Carist has continued to be ruled by the Magisters of Torith, with much focus being put on the city as the first line of defence should war with the Republic to the east come to pass.
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