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Catun: Nyx Arcana

If you have ever been in a tinkerers shop, you know the sounds that fill the space at every moment while gears click and whir away. You may also know the sound of it in silence, when all has stopped, and the deafening nothing that fills your ears.   Catun has become the deafening nothing in the space where magic once was. The hum of it is dead and gone, consumed to the core. And yet we are alive, we have found new purpose in the aftermath. We will live in the silence in the pride of our survival.
- Unknown

Catun is one of the triad locations where the first effects of dragon deaths were seen on the continent in its unique way.   To the east of Sylvatica, sat between the Black Steppes and the shores of the Cyan Sea, is the province of Catun; also known as the Nyx Arcana. What separates it most from the rest of the land is the complete lack of magic within its borders. Upon the death of a gem dragon in these lands by a party of mages, the following cataclysm is suspected to have created almost a black hole for magic that has affected every fiber of nature in the area. One traveling closer who holds arcane talents will soon feel the magic seep out of their body as if sucked away by the land itself, only to have it return once out of the province.   Nothing magical functions in Catun, no spell or item, and some suspect even the gods hold little sway there. But, what was left behind in the sudden death explosion created caverns and cliffs and a crevasse system, were gems of great value. It was as if the body of the dragon had become one with the earth and created a seemingly near-endless mining supply of precious stones. The province now thrives in the trade of these valuable rocks, even without magic to aid them. It is suspected that Catun will be the first place to revive the stolen art of mechanics that was lost in The Great Death should they continue on this way.  

Culture and Values

Above all else, the people of Catun value self-sufficiency and those who trade in mining and anything involving jewel work. Without magic in this place, all those who abide here must rely solely on the work of their own hands to make the day-to-day happen. If you cannot be self-sufficient and work for yourself, then you have no place here. Pride and wealth rule all things, and the more you have of both, the better off you are and will be.  

Geography, Flora, and Fauna

Catun is solely a desert that gives way to the sea on its furthest borders. They have no great natural draw apart from the gems that they provide as around them is nothing but sand and rocks and a rather treacherous terrain from their own draconic explosion remnants as well as the trickle down of creatures and outlaws from the Black Steppes. All greenery is cultivated with careful bontanical care considering the lack of druidic influence and ability.  

Political Structures and Economics

This small nation is a democratic republic run by elected officials. But the true power and operations is in the hands of the most wealthy and prominent traders and jewelers families within the area. It is they that underneath it all really dictate the flow of their province, and everyone knows it not that they will speak it. As much as they have little of their own to provide for themselves, their trade in gems has made it so that the people of Catun always have what they need to survive, and their leaders have done a very good job of keeping decent relations with the other nations overall since the birth of their fair province barring a few jarring events.


Cover image: by kleinerHai

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