Mareve

Why, if we seek salvation from the gods, do we end our journey prematurely? Why do the sacraments of the Second Son fall, unbidden, from our lips each night? Why do we grant our new home a theistic name?

I find myself agonizing over these questions as I lie awake near the riverbank. I am thankful, of course, to have made it this far, and there is a sense of beginningness invoked by the Council that cannot be quelled. But we are in a strange land. There are all manner of beasts, and the nights grow colder than they ever were in the Empress' domain.

Only yesterday Balassar said that this was to be our new capital. I cannot help but laugh at the sentiment.

-Forged in Blood

Halfway up the Beourjen-Ethanian border on the bank of the Obsidian sits the Beourjen Confederacy's capital, a tightly-packed citadel with echoes of both the Aveaan and Cravvik empires. Still young in its current iteration, Mareve has risen quickly to become a stronghold of wealth and an exercise in defense at protecting Beourjen against not only the rest of the globe but also against the gods themselves.

Salvation from the Gods

It was the words of the First Empress that drove the Council and their followers down along the Obsidian and deep into the Baeoré Gensev forests, however it was Siran Marnise, High Arcanist of said Empress, who convinced the Inner Council that the abandoned dwarven fortresses of Mareven and Ursariss were to be their new citadel. The Council was reluctant to take root when the gods might yet plunge their new domain into devastation, but they had scant choice with the coming of winter and steadily declining morale through their populaces.

Country

The Beourjen Confederacy

Population

6 million

Founding Date

1267

They settled that winter in the shoddily rebuilt center of Mareven, hiding themselves away with the tentative plan to carry on their journey come spring. Yet by the thaw their peoples' resolve had shifted. The first musings of a modern city had taken hold, and Marnise had fortified the notion that this 'Mareven Cintoré' was the theoretical unchaining which they had sought.

The subsequent decades saw a period of rapid growth and stratification of Aveaan principals and organization atop the Baeoré natives' feudal structure, the development most evident in Mareven Cintoré. The Curias, as well as the palace and Hall of the Second, were constructed, and the northern and southern sects of the city distinguished. The surrounding free land was doled out to citizen members of the Council's following, and soonafter cultivated. As the city prospered, several members of the Council set off south and west with intentions of founding sister provinces, and eventually Mareven Cintoré came to be governed chiefly by Phaedrus Balassar and Szatisma Val'Eax.

Mareven and Ursariss

Mareven and Ursariss were sister fortresses that straddled the Obsidian halfway between Lake Urzarin and the Carriphons. Several centuries after the Wars of Liberation the fortresses were flooded by a godstorm. Nearly the entire population was wiped out, and while some stragglers attempted to rebuild Mareven, the land was wracked with both inclement weather and Sovrik pillages for a long while after.

Much of the underground system collapsed during the godstorm, however those tunnels and structures upheld by bronze quarried from around the Carriphons stood through the disaster. The catacombs were untouched for centuries even after Mareve was resettled by the Beourjens, more or less forgotten until the 1530s when Lennik Balassar proposed their utilization in expanding the city's water and sewer system.

by mirescosmo

The Fall of the Imperium

The initial period of peaceful prosperity was cut short by the fall of the Cravvik Imperium. The city's forces, under command of Balassar, were utilized for retaliation against Ethana after the fact, and abruptly turned over to Gwyneth Duxtour once Balassar was assassinated. The event marked a turning point for the city - its name was shortened from 'Mareven Cintoré' to 'Mareve', and controversy surrounding both the onslaught of incoming Cravvik refugees as well as Duxtour's command swept Mareve's atmosphere into a frenzy.

Duxtour efficiently set about building out infrastructure in the southern sect of the city in order to accommodate the Cravviks, albeit not nearly fast enough. Mareve's southeastern quadrant - specifically the borough nestled between Guardsrest and the University - became choked with halved and quartered poor-folk. The majority of these denizens were indentured under Duxtour to quarry stone from around the Carriphons that was then used to further build up the slum, and thus they dubbed their home 'the Loched Quarter.'

The Loched Quarter

Holding nearly a third of the city's population, the Loched Quarter is considered the largest Imperium revivalist subculture on the globe, and is also arguably where House Duxtour first began their monopoly over the liquor industry. Currently more than half of its inhabitants are enlisted in the Beourjen Army, and in turn the Army funds many of the Quarter's most popular establishments.

Marnise Trials and Arcanic Purges

Mareve is most recently infamous for hosting the incitement of Beourjen's Arcanic Purges. House Marnise was the first of the city's leading Houses to fall, and the subsequent terror that Andrei Duxtour followed their execution with left the rest of the globe appalled. Mareve was the first municipality to engage in the Purges, leeching and draining the blood of upwards of thirty thousand arcanists into the Obsidian and then burning their bodies.

Governance

Beourjen's highest governing body is considered the Triadic Councils, which conduct all affairs concerning the Confederacy as a whole out of the Curias, however issues specifically relevant to Mareve, and authoritative power over Mareve in general, is predominantly relegated to the North, South, and Summons Councilors. Beourjen Army's High Commander often also serves as a powerful figure over the city simply because the army is so centralized here, but will often send a proxy to the actual councils.

Currently, Sadaian Val'Eax (North), Alexei Duxtour (South), and Nezris Sephere (Summons) compose what is considered to be the 'Marevian Council'.

Areas of Note

Fort Brickard

Fort Brickard was established in the southern sect of Mareve during the negotiations following the Northwestern Trades. The idea of the orvon fortress was initially propositioned as an opportunity to utilize Beourjen technology and innovation for Jzarmillan benefit, however the stronghold undoubtedly also serves as insurance in the Beourjen-Jzarmillan alliance, and the majority of orvon who serve at Brickard never end up returning to Jzarmille.

Brickard citizens are considered to be of quartered standing, though Brickard operates outside of Mareve's market-based economy and is technically represented under the Summons. The fortress hugs Mareve's western wall, almost entirely sequestered from the rest of the city.

Hellfisher

Hellfisher served as the primary site of public execution even before the Loched Quarter was established, though it didn't garner the name until the initial wave of Cravvik immigration. The square attracts a particularly horrid brand of voyeurism, and was used extensively during the Purges after Ruskov Marnise himself was tortured and executed on the block

Valzeirse

There are as many theaters in Mareve as their are cathedrals, but similarly to the Hall of the Second, Valzeirse is simply the largest and most impressive. Originally built and owned by House Val'Eax shortly before the fall of the Imperium, then bought and remodeled by Aristan Ryker II in the late 1370s, the theater boasts a breathtaking amalgamation of Aveaan and Imperium styles and has been the site of numerous political dealings and scandals.

The Curias

The principal body of justice and diplomacy within Mareve, the Curias sits atop a lofty hill overlooking the Obisidian. It is comprised of the palace and three Halls, as well as includes the gardens and promenade surrounding this main hold. The palace lays sprawled out at the top of the hill with the Halls of Justice and Worship banking its left and right respectively. The Hall of Annals rest underneath the palace and Hall of Worship, and a silver-laced steel catwalk provides pathway between the Hall of Justice and the Beourjen Army's High Guard command.

Guardsrest

Directly northeast of the Loched Quarter is the largest cemetery in Mareve, designated for members of the Beourjen Army. Much of the cemetery is arranged by regiment and social status, and a wide walkway loops through the original acreage. Statues of Beourjen's various commanders have been erected along the walkway, creating a potentially either eerie or comforting atmosphere for visitors, and each of the city's major Houses holds a crypt within Guardsrest.

Hall of the Second

Beourjen's official religion is the Church of the Second, which began as a cult of Casper in the first Aveaan Empire but was more firmly established and recognized as Beourjen grew into its own power. The Hall of the Second was the first officially recognized cathedral of the faith in the BC, and still is the largest hall of worship devoted to Casper throughout the globe. It is a distinctly Aveaan style of architecture, carved mainly of basalt and marble, and regularly holds a crowd of three to four thousand each month.