Parrono Plains - Patrella

Patrella

Sometimes considered ‘sister-kingdom’, sometimes considered rival, Patrella was originally a trading colony of Sutarna.

Population City 32,000 (27,000 ethnic Sirenian, 2,000 half-elves, 2,500 dwarves, 500 other)

Pre-Cataclysm History

Prior to the Great Cataclysm, Patrella’s deep water harbor was the main hub for shipping Sutarni goods to distant ports. During the Great Cataclysm, the colonists of Patrella wisely fled into the nearby Onno Hills. The port and town were completely destroyed by the series of tsunamis that struck the coast, but the majority of the townsfolk managed to survive the initial catastrophe. With the aid of sympathetic local forest elf druids, these survivors eked out a living within these hills for the next few years of the ash winter, eventually returning to the site of the port. As expected, the town had been completely wiped away. The harbor itself was altered by mudslides and the collapse of much of the shore. The harbor would never be the deep water port it had once been but still offered a serviceable, protected port from which to rebuild. Once the townsfolk established their new settlement, emissaries were sent, with some trepidation, to their former rulers in Sutarna. Many of the Patrelli were resentful that no aid had come from their ‘mother realm’ and all agreed that they would no longer accept fealty to Sutarna. They did, however, need goods and trade and Sutarna was the only known nearby power. Sutarna, however, had their own ideas of the proper order of things and conflict soon arose.

Sutarna, Patrella, and Druenn

While Sutarna had barely survived its own experiences with the Great Cataclysm, it still had the remnants of a standing army, recently supplemented by an infusion of Hammarbergian dwarven refugees. Sutarna’s elders agreed that Sutarna had a legitimate historic claim upon Patrella and decided that it would be prudent to move quickly to ‘reintegrate’ Patrella into Sutarna’s dominion. Unbeknownst to the Sutarni, however, the Patrellli had developed a strong bond with the Forest Elves of Druenn. During its time as a trading port for Sutarna, the colonists of Patrella were aware that there were elves living within Onno Forest. Shipments of goods traversed the ‘Old-Woods Road’ that skirted the elven territory. These elves avoided open contact with the colonists and traders and were thought to be few in number and timid in nature. When the survivors of the cataclysm sheltered in the Onno Hills, Druenn’s ruler, Queen Ranna-lyrith, took pity upon them and ordered her druids to help them survive the ash storms and grow crops. Many of the elves disagreed with allowing humans to ‘taint’ their lands but Ranna-lyrith had experienced a vision during the Great Cataclysm that showed her that she must forge and alliance with the humans or her people would be lost. Overriding the objections of her advisors, the queen helped the Patrelli survive. When barbarians from the Parrono Plains invaded the Onno woods, seeking to escape the ash-destroyed plains and take the still viable woods for their own, the Patrelli fought side by side with the elves to fend off the invasions.
When forces of Sutarna’s and Verensus’ Coreggo and dwarven infantry entered the Onno Forest on their way to Patrella, they were met by emissaries of Druenn and told they were not allowed to pass through elven territory. The Sutarni force, led by the dwarven firebrand and known elf-hater Thorvin Iron-Boot, though under a flag of peace, struck down the elven emissaries and began marching through elven territory. What followed was a pitched running battle in which the Sutarni were repeatedly struck from seemingly every direction. Thorvin himself was slain by the Elven Bladesinger Dalith Mist-Blade. After taking hideous losses, the surviving commanders ordered a general retreat and the remnants of the Sutarni force fled Onno Forest, never to return. Sutarna’s High Counsel debated returning to Onno Forest to punish the upstart elves but were informed by their surviving officers that the elves were much more numerous and far deadlier than any had imagined. Attacking Druenn, they assured their leaders, was tantamount to having the army 'Commit Suicide by Elf’. With much blustering, the high Counsel vowed revenge at a later date and quietly dropped the issue. Patrella was free establish itself, without the help of Sutarna, though limited aerial trade would later be established, avoiding entry into elven territory.
Relations between Druenn and Patrella have remained cordial, even friendly to a point, though the elves no longer allow free entry into the Onno Forest without special permission. Likewise, their strict prohibition against ‘relations with humans’ is resented by many of the Patrelli with ‘half-breeds’ being looked down upon by the humans and violently forbidden within Druenn. There have even been instances of elven maidens being ‘honor-slain’ by her family members for daring to taint herself with humans. Trade between the two populations is limited, with most trade between practitioners of the Arts or herbalists. Some elven artwork and crafts pass through Patrella to foreign markets at exorbitant prices.

Lutipri Influx

Other refugees would eventually seek sanctuary and a new home in Patrella. Survivors of the Lutipri portage town of Peli were forced to abandon their former lands in the face of invasion by Orcish hordes from the mountains and an increasingly expansionist Bêwar. The Lutipri and Patrelli share a common Sirenian ancestry and similar cultures and both parties benefited from the arrangement. With its newly expanded population and workforce, Patrella set about dredging and improving the harbor while also expanding the fishing and trading fleet. The fishing is mainly for tuna and herring, while traders sell mostly unique herbs, some lumber and exotic elven goods. Patrelli traders have run afoul of the Fariosi stranglehold on trade over much of this portion of the continental coastline. They are often priced out of markets by the more prolific supply chain of Fariosi goods. To add insult to injury, Patrelli traders find themselves paying to join Fariosi trading flotillas for protection from pirates and reavers. Some accuse the Fariosi of tipping off pirates when a lone trader refuses to join their flotilla. Patrella is too small and weak to fund more than a coastal defense force and Patrelli traders are forced to fend for themselves.

Carmine Fief (Coral Kingdom/Reef Realm)

Fishermen from Patrella began reporting vandalism to their fishing nets. Suspecting underwater assailants, they tried to defend their nets, using alchemical and magic attacks to scare off would be vandals. Instead, fishing boats were attacked, their crews dragged into the water to drown. When a group of adventurers, hired by the Patrella city counsel, entered the waters where the fishing boats were attacked, they were met by bands of angry Gillmen. Wisely avoiding open conflict, the adventurers parlayed with the Gillmen, discovering that the Patrellan fishing boats were trespassing on waters claimed by the Carmine Fief and disruption their ‘fish herds’. Upon further discussion, the adventurers learned that the Gillmen were retainers to a powerful family of Ocean Giants led by the Coral King. The Coral King and his giant court had little interest in the affairs of ‘air breathers’ but would not stand for human fishermen blundering into their sovereign territory and disrupting their fish herds. Luckily for the Patrelli, the giants were satisfied with letting their Gillmen deal with the nuisance. The adventurer’s leader, a powerful sorceress named Aneem Glimmer-Staff, painstakingly negotiated with the Gillmen, finally making introductions to the Coral King himself. Eventually, she negotiated an arrangement in which the Patrella’s fishing boats avoid Gillmen fish populations. In return, the Gillmen offer guidance on good fishing spots for wild populations. Very limited trade has begun, mainly for magically resistant metal items and exotic terrestrial goods. Patrella has approached the Carmine Fief, offering to pay tribute in exchange for protection of their shipping. The Coral King, however, has thus far declined ‘air breather entanglements’.

Patrella Crest by Ray Ramirez