Benefice Zeranzeri

Benefice Zeranzeri is a subset of the Drow elven kindred. They are but one of the large social units known as benefices, but the only one with a substantial surface presence. It is speculated that they may have lost much of their original subterranean dominion, since their capital now seems to be the surface city of Azeranzai. They are noted for their arcane prowess and the quality of their metalworking, most notably the Seagate, a two-hundred mile chain forged of ashmetal and Celestite, which controls all access to the Bay of Shadows and the Great Delta.
The Zeranzeri have adopted worship of a number of new deities, alongside the traditional Drow Gods, in particular a goddess called the Lady of Serpents. The Lady is not related to the Three-Headed Serpent of the Ophionic Empire, but is close enough on an aesthetic level to make diplomacy easier.
As with all ash elf benefices, Benefice Zeranzeri, the group who control the surface domain of Azeranzerai, is composed of a network of septs, connected by bonds of patronage.
Five civic septs control the major cities of Azeranzeri, and six high septs each hold significant territory besides. The true mark of a sept, however, is in its sziszeri, a specialised field of study or practice which members of the sept cultivate, both individually and collectively. Civic and high septs have broad sziszeriya, while the small and minor septs are defined both by their limited resources and by their more narrowly focused sziszeriya. A sept with no holdings is called an orphaned sept, and must practice its sziszeri nomadically until it can find a new patron, or at least a new house.
The ruling sept of Azeranzeri and Benefice Zeranzeri is Civic Sept Azeri. They hold territory in and around Azeranzai, the capital city. The Azeri sziszeri is the keeping and training of beasts, which remains a sore point with the septs who do not consider this a worthy focus for a ruling sept. They control a large percentage of Azeranzeri's land, however, through their patronage of agricultural septs focusing on domestic husbandry.
The second sept of Azeranzeri is High Sept Derezin. Their specialism lies in civic planning and constitutional law, which makes them superb allies for the ruling sept of a fledgling benefice. Sept Derezin holds a great deal of what the ash Elves call 'quiet power,' but are also ext­remely loyal to Sept Azeri.
Csizetteri, the City of Flowers, is the fief of Civic Sept Cathzeri. Csizetteri serves important diplomatic and mercantile functions, but its most prestigious institution is the White Tower University, one of the greatest academic institutions on Aiaos. White Tower's specialisation is the study of the Underhollows, but Cathzeri's sziszeri is alchemy and arcana. This field of study is not part of the University's offering in part because the Sept holds its work as a sacred mystery. The University itself is the province of High Sept Calaiash, whose sziszeri is the history of the Kindled. As well as collating and preserving accounts of the Underhollows, Calaiash is relied on for their ongoing record of Azeranzerai's social, political and diplomatic doings.
Oltholai, and the Zeranzeri holdings north of the Great Delta, are under the authority of Civic Sept Morzeri. A highly conservative, religious sept, Morzeri's sziszeri is mycology and herbalism, but they are better known for their continuing devotion to the Gods of the Underhollow. They are the sept most opposed to the authority of Sept Azeri, who championed the new gods, as well as attaining the role of ruling house over Morzeri.
High Sept Olai, second sept of Oltholai, only formed after the emergence. The waterways of the Underhollows are dark and close, and a group of small septs whose sziszwri dealt with subterranean rivers noted to form Sent Olai and learn the ways of the Delta. They control the docks in both Oltholai and Casserae, but the bulk of their territory is in the north. Sept Morzeri despise Sept Olai as newcomers, and have worked to elevate their allies in High Sept Tizane, whose traditional sziszeri - the strategies and tactics for battling Outerfolk - have left them somewhat irrelevant, despite their hereditary wealth.
Civic Sept Hezeri are the pre-eminent sept in Herezeri, the city - formerly Vararka - which guards the Fissure, and the border with the Ophionic Empire. Their sziszeri is defensive warfare, and as one of the oldest septs of the benefice, their expertise encompasses millennia of theory and practice. Hezeri were considered the natural ruling house of the new benefice before the emergence, but while they are a notably conservative sept, they never openly oppose Azeri.
The second sept of Herezerai is High Sept Hyzin. This sept contains some of the foremost armorers of the ash elves, and by extension, in the World. Hyzin blades, and especially their Black Steel paired swords and eskisirs (the double blade of a traditional ash elf soldier) are renowned.
Tsizzenai, on the horn of the Coronal peninsula, lies in the control of the superlative merchant-diplomats of Civic Sept Inzeri. Highly accomplished in the skills of negotiation, for trade or for statescraft, they are the first point of contact for foreign allies and trading partners. They are close allies of Sept Azeri, and similarly liberal in outlook.
There is no second sept of Tsizzenai, per se. Instead, the Crown, which lies in Inzeri's extended territory, is held by High Sept Hidrekazai, who study the secrets of the Tore Ladon, administer the town of Corona, and control access to the Tore, the Gnomon and the Crown Observatory. An extensive plan of development aims to upgrade Corona to city status, and thus advance Hidrekazai to civic status.
The last Zeranzeri holding is the Chainhouse in Kaiapolis. Controlling the Great Chain which can be raised to close the mouth of the Delta, the Chainhouse also forms the embassy of the Zeranzeri Court to the Sacred Republic. It is maintained by Small Sept Mizzenai, a client sept of the Inzeri with a narrow focus on theocratic diplomacy.