Ergonia (ur-GO-neeuh)

Ergonia is the foremost (and northernmost) certilian kingdom, an austere society that requires unyielding religious devotion and strict adherence to a code of conduct. Ergonians are almost entirely certilians, a lizard people, though a handful of exceptions for those of other species have been made.

While "certilian" denotes a species, that of hearty, tall lizard-people from the southern deserts, it also refers (somewhat incorrectly) to ethnicity when the term is used in the north, as almost all certilians who venture north are among the Safra (SAH-fruh), the ancient people of the Kingdom of Ergonia. The Safra are not the only certilians, hence the misnomer, but they are almost exclusively the certilians seen in the north when they are seen at all. They tend to have scales colored dusty red, ashy black or blue, or desert tan. They are tall, lizard-like, muscular humanoids with broad faces and ridge-covered eyes.

The primary export from Ergonia to the north is chalain, a Safra name for a type of jewelry made from petrified wood shaped and embedded in bronze. Hand-made, the jewelers show their prowess with elaborate pieces carefully shaped and bound in thin, bronze wire, sometimes embedded in pieces of bronze. The bronze is lacquered through a secret process that strengthens it and leaves it with an even warmer, brighter color than it has naturally in addition to adding a bit of shine. Additionally, most of the petrified wood was petrified with opal rather than quartz, and the result is stunning, with the central pieces holding their original organic structure but expressing as something like a night sky flooded with fireworks and bound in creamy, lacquered bronze. Add the polishing and the intricate handiwork that makes for bracelets that take up half of the forearm or multi-layered necklaces that look brittle and delicate but have incredible strength, and you have rare and wondrous beauty wrought by the hands of expert workers.

The pieces are most highly sought-after among the very rich, often nobles and royals or captains of industry, but smaller pieces and less complex works also sell well to the bourgeoisie. This, in turn, helps to fuel the certilian war machine...this has led to multiple trade embargoes, but the moment there is a treaty or a truce, the chalain hits the trade routes again. Of course, it stays on the trade routes anyway, it just has to be hidden more carefully at times. Money talks.

Another notable export is anti-venom. Having lived in the desert for generations, the certilians have become expert snake handlers and charmers. They can extract venom, from which their alchemists create anti-venom, without harming even the deadliest snake. Most cultures have no concept of anti-venom beyond magical cures most cannot afford, so certilians anti-venoms fetch a nice price that's still far less expensive, and more readily available in the field, than a practiced healer.

Certilians--all of them, but the safra as well--place a high value on strength and endurance. They also value results. Many see the expansionist monarchy (called a consulary) as cruel, and it often is exactly that. And many see it as unethical, and as a kingdom that engages in the slave trade, they are. But they are also incredibly efficient and productive. They are survivors, and they have been tempered by some of the harshest conditions in the world of Enthion.