Azeranzerai

Azeranzerai is the domain of Benefice Zeranzeri, the only region of the surface of Aiaos in the authority of the Kindled. It encompasses the banks of the Great Delta, save the southern extent of Zeras at the northern ocean shore, but including the Crown Peninsula and a swathe of agricultural land in the south.

Cities: Azeranzai, Herezerai, Tsizzenai, Csizetterai, Oltholai
Towns: Casserae

History

Jararka was one of the cities of the Great Ophionic Empire, a great, fortified settlement on the border with the Darklands. After The Uprising, the city no longer had the threat of the Legions to give it purpose. An expeditionary force was sent south to try to take advantage of the post-Uprising chaos, but the ones - in no mood to accept new masters - mounted a fierce defence, leaving Jararka once more in a defensive posture.
Centuries later, during an expansion of the Jararkan sewer system, a work crew broke through to a cleft in the stone which plunged down over a mile, into the depths of the Underhollows. Seeing a chance to claim new territory for the Empire, the lords of Jararka sent a powerful military force into The Fissure - as they called it - to assault those who lived there, the Kindled of Benefice Razcir and the Hollow Dwarfs of Kheldhor-aKwi (works at the door to beneath.)
Once again, the Virin-yal of Jararka overplayed their hand. They struck with the element of surprise and seized the outer circle of Kheldhor-aKwi, designed as it was to defend mostly against those trying to break out. The second gate was barred, however, and unable to close the outer gates, the attacking force was trapped between the defenders and a relief force of ash Elves.
With much of their strength committed to - and lost during - this attack, Jararka fell quickly to a counterattack by the Kindled. The First Scions of Razcir sent the forces of four great septs, led by Sept Azeri, who were renowned for animal breeding and whose scouts had long explored the surface for specimens. Some more martial septs felt slighted by this choice, but the assault was a success. By releasing slaves to join their cause, the Azeri seized Jararka in less than a week, with most of the work done in a single night.
Sensing a further danger from the Empire as long as the upper end of the Fissure lay in Ophionic control, the First Scions granted permission for Sept Azeri to form a new Benefice and claim surface territory. Reinforcing the original force and seeking allies in the Free Coast and among enslaved populations, Benefice Zeranzeri spread out towards and then along the banks of the Great Della. They integrated former slave populations and siezed or destroyed Ophionic fortifications, dramatically shifting the balance' of power in the region.

Demographics

The population of Agerangeri is not solely composed of ash Elves. Thanks to the historic conflicts over the Crown and the depredations of the Great Ophionic Empire, there is no indigenous population per se, but neither did the Zeranzeri come to an uninhabited region. Non-ash elf residents of the area are known colloquially as the Unkindled, and may or may not belong to a sept.
The earliest recorded inhabitants of Cathlaea were human and Petari tribes, whose rise to statehood was interrupted, first by the Legion-Regime Wars, and then by the rise of the Cult of the Three-Headed Serpent and the Ophionic Empire. At the time of the Zeranzeri emergence, the region that would become Azeranzerai was the troubled northern hinterland of the Empire, where minor Ophionic houses struggled to maintain dominance over their many slave labourers while their aristocratic superiors vied for power in the heartlands. As a result of the Empire's activities, the human and petari residents of Azeranzeri are the descendents of slaves from various tribes of origin, many of whom had either risen and been put down shortly before, or who rose while their masters were distracted. Some of these former slaves joined the septs of the newcomers, some renowned independent under a painstakingly negotiated land-share agreement, while others removed - mostly without ill-will - to the Free Coast. While they rarely rise to positions of great authority- not least because the customary sept hierarchy of seniority prejudices in favour of the longer-lived elves - both lineages are accorded the same rights as the Kindled.
There are also numerous half-elves in the region, especially in the more cosmopolitan cities. In the coastal cities, the sea elves are a common sight, and many families mix Flowing and Kindled heritage. In addition to residents, there are many transient sea elf merchants who hire quarters and anchorage in the Zeranzeri ports. A small number of hollower Dwarfs and deep Gnomes also share the region, especially around the Fissure in Herzerai. These are mostly descended from allies of the original septs, who emerged with - and are often a full part of - those septs.
A small number of gnolls and Genasi have emigrated from the Dustlands. A few Virin-yal snakeblooded have fled the Empire, and fewer still families and individuals have left the Republic, adding Steadfast and additional human lines to the populace. There are also kobold warrens under most cities, although the greater demand for subterranean space by other residents limits their activities.

Foreign Affairs

Of its three neighbours, Azeranzeri has trouble with two. They maintain a cordial relationship with the Free Coast, but this cannot be said of the Ophionic Empire in the south, nor the Sacred Republic in the north. In the case of the Empire, this obviously goes back to the original Ophionic assault on the Underhollows, and the answering seizure of much Imperial territory. In the north, the seizure of the northern Delta shore during the War of Hubris provides a cassus bellum, and rival theologies an ongoing motivation.
While there has been no formal hostility between the Benefice and the Empire since the second Campaign of Western Restitution - when the forces of Herezerai supported the Free Coast in repelling the attempted annexation of their territories, but were unable to prevent the reopening of the Road of Shackles - small-scale raids from the south are a commonplace. While officially attributed to bandits, it is an open secret that these raids are a means of testing the defences of the north, as well as taking slaves. Despite official acceptance of the 'bandit' explanation, members of the Scouts and the Free Watch consider the raids justification for retributive attacks on slave caravans on the Road. The Ophionic authorities take the same view of these attacks, at least until such time as indisputable proof can be secured.
Border incursions in the north are unknown, but theological tensions between the pious followers of the Underhollow Gods and the zealots of the Republic are always raw. Missionaries of the Church of the Eightfold Way are permitted to enter Zeranzeri territory, but not to preach in public places. Accusations of espionage are common, usually as a means to deport those whose private sermons become too popular, or who are too unsubtle in trying to leverage the resentment of minority populations into unrest against the septs.
Relations in Kaiapolis are strained for different reasons. The refusal of the Zeranzeri to relinquish the northern Chainhouse, instead holding it as an embassy, was a sore point when the province of Zeraskaya was reclaimed, and remains so. Some also blame the Kindled for retreating and leaving the Republic's forces to deal with the problem of the necro­mancer's tower and its polluting, necrotic influence.