Micula, Pearl of West

Micula is the larger city on it's Continent, possibly on the world. Located on the West Coast, south to the Sorrowful River, it controls the West entrance of the Sorrowful and casts a large shadow on every direction. Since the end of the Imperial Age no other power came that close to expand the National Borders beyond the limits of a city and it's closest peasant villages.

We are talking about a very young nation, according to Sharitarn standards. Micula has little more than one thousand years. The place where the Main Square of Micula is used to be the Castle of Roud, a structure with the shape of a turtle shell. From it king Round controlled it's people.

The people of Road, the Djhalard, came from a world where magic is even more powerful and ostensible than it is on Sharitarn. Humanoids covered in furs, with a look that make Earthlings think in Wendigos and Sasquatches, between two and three times larger than humans, the people of Roud adapted well to the new world. Extremely strong, capable to heal from any wound not immediately fatal almost as fast as they can be hurt, tireless, and with long legs and arms articulated as snake spines which ended in long claws more powerful than most magical weapons. Their specie has many natural talents similar to magic, and can used to follow a strict code of loyalty flexible enough to keep the most capable and brave in power, and rigid enough to allow the race to functions as one giant military machine when convenient. In top of all that, they where resistant to all but the most powerful enemy spells.

They controlled the South Coast up to Makdiba, and treated all the forests next to the Sorrowful as their territory. Between their king's throne and Ziicrix at the base of Giant Mountains no Nation dared to challenge the Djhalard's dominance. The ungnuie ignored them, as they ignore most mammals, and the indifference was mutual. Unlike the plant people, the intelligent animals had reasons to fear the visit of Round's hunters. They particularly liked human flesh, and cultivated our specie as cattle, but hunted all kinds of animals. Their numbers was never large enough to threaten the human presence South to the Sorrowful, but they where know for invade and burn any human Nation they considered less than respectful enough.

That was long after the frog people's extinction and before the first forest people arrive through the vortex. When the forest people met the Ungnuie, and they made the famous alliance which resulted on the foundation of Alkavalla, the newborn tribes fought the Djhalard inch by inch. The hunt territory claimed by Kind Round was reduced slowly, and that conflict created the circumstances for a change inside Roud's palace.

"Micula, The Hero" was born from the union between a wild sigrax from the Piwag and a daughter of king Round. Micula entered the fortress of King Roud using information taught by his mother and mixed himself between the house slaves hiding his powerful magic until he had convinced enough slaves of try a insurrection.

The Dhjalard had a ritual of challenge where the leader should fight in a ring of anti-magic all the aspirants to his positions, those rings where on the center of every house build by this specie and the larger one was inside Round's palace. No magic worked inside this circles, not even the natural powers similar to spells. The challenge could only be made by people with enough prestige or from the right lineages, it could not be made by members of other species and certainly not by half-breeds who looked like mere humans. When Micula spoke the secret ritual words in the Chamber of War, challenging the King, this challenge had no juridic validity, it wasn't binding by the law and could have been ignored. However, Round decided to accept it.

Round was a huge beast, clearly the most powerful member of his specie on Sharitarn. No challenge had been made to him since he became the ruler. He knew that half breeds where stronger that normal humans, and could sometimes had healing powers as good as pure dhjalards, but the more they looked like humans less they inherited the racial traits of the strongest specie. Micula was visibly almost human, so kill him could not bring to Round any additional reputation as a warrior. On the other hand, kill the half-breed in single combat on the circle of challenge would bring good fun. Would distract the man from the lost in their war against the small forest soldiers and their vegetable allies. The king accepted the challenge without think twice, tanking his people's gods for the unexpected gift.

Micula was a sigrax, however he had never learned any spell to be used in combat. He didn't had a Energetic Perimeter even. All his Xar had been invested in mix his mother's racial advantages with his father's ancient magical Way. His spells changed the body internally, leaving little signs in the surface. Once used the magic dissipated leaving effects both permanent and cumulative. Just a little taller than a human, looking almost like one, Micula's physical capacities where almost a match for the might king. His dedication of all life to martial discipline and his high respect for the adversary did the rest. The King toyed with a prey while Micula pretended to be one, looking for the right opportunity.

When the hand of Micula entered the King's head from bellow his jaw, to grab a essential part of Roud's brain and pull it out took a moment for any dhjalard in the chamber understand what has happening. The slaves previously freed from their chains did not hesitated. When the fight begun a slave trowed a handful of powder in the fire, creating a yellow smoke visible from the distance. Seem the signal the Yellow Lizard tribe attacked from outside, commanded by Micula's brother.

Even taken by surprise the dhjalard fought hard. There was no massacre that day.

The victorious humans reunited in the center of city, and Micula broke a ancient taboo. The people of Roud always ate other intelligent animals, but their own flesh was forbidden for themselves and for everyone else. The corpses of their own had to be burned to the bone. So Micula distributed Roud's body among his generals, and his brother's men, inviting the freed slaves to do the same with all dhjalard they could find. No male prisoner was taken in this victory, most female and children shared the fate usually reserved for adult men on Sharitarn.

After some years Micula and his brothers fought, and the conflict broke the alliance between the Yellow Lizards and the nation of freed slaves for ever.

As for the dhjalard who survived, their destiny is kept in secret by the core families of Micula. The captive are carefully controlled and seldom allowed to breed. Most died at old age by now. Those who escaped faced persecution everywhere, and disappeared. Some may still live in the islands around the Undead's City, Mimbao, and on wild regions visited by no human.

Despite it's the as "Father of Micula" the half-breed sigrax was already death when the city was founded. In his old age Micula died assassinated by his favorite son, the former Royal Castle at this point was still no more than the center of a human village.

Micula's people preserve the military pride, and the dhjalard blood still runs in the veins of their most important families. Today The Pearl of West is among the most prosper centers of commerce on Sharitarn. They are considered a very open city, which welcome visitors easily than most and dedicates considerable energy to diplomacy. On the other hand they are less tolerant to other intelligent species than most humans Nations, and considered arrogant by many people. Scholars Castes from older nations_ what include almost every city on the continent, and even the large majority of villages_ still don't see their caste brothers from Micula as civilized enough to be treated as equals. The common men and_ specially_ women on places like Lutianen and Lauvriim consider anything related with Micula tacky and of bad taste.

The mages of Micula are accused to be disrespectful and uncooperative by their brothers in the Mage's Brotherhood. One strong argument raised to support this accusations is that Micula Mage Caste dared to brake the standard shape of all Magic Towers.

By a very old tradition all cities where exists a institution capable to for mages and civilized sigraxes has to have a mage tower, and all mage towers are identical in shape and size: almost as if they where the same build. They are huge, raised by magic, standing far above all other buildings and illuminating the sky with its magical light: but not on Micula. Micula's architecture is noticeable by it's horizontalization, except by the Towers of vigilance on the Port there is no tall structure inside the city or close to it. The "Mage Tower" was replaced by a structure of concentric rings separate by gardens, and connected by underground tunnels. The Mage Caste of Micula insists that they have at least as much space in their Head Quarters as any other Mage Caste on the world _ "which is certainly far more than any Mage Caste on the planet need or can actually use" they say_ but that argument satisfy no one outside Micula.

Despite such negative impressions about it's people the young nation continues to grow fast in population, strength, importance, by any objective criteria you could think about. The high castes of Micula clearly intend to raise up to the apex of civilization and conquer not only respect but also the leading position in the Main Continents. They are in the right direction for that.

One regional adversary stands against Micula, and remain as it's undefeated enemy: Mimbao. The Undead City, home for the most powerful necromancer on the planet.

Mimbao is an island, like Lutianen but far more distant from the Continent. It's ships dare to face the deep waters and survive thanks to a long history of treaties with some members of intelligent oceanic races, and that alone make the smaller Nation barely impossible to reach. The undead fleets came in the mist of dark nights to plunder and disseminate chaos, and the merchant ships of Bimbao take advantage of the sea currents in the Sorrowful River to brake the block raised against them by the formidable navy on Micula. Micula retaliate attacking Mimbao vessels where they can catch them, which includes all the extension of the Sorrowful River.

In part the endless war between this cities is a matter of economic interest: if Micula succeeds in it's project of control the West and South Coasts of the Main Continents, and the West entrance of the Sorrowful, them Mimbao will be isolated from the most important Markets on Sharitarn. To all practical purposes the trip trough the opposite direction is not economically viable, even with the lower chances of attack from the sea races. Mimbao would have to accept the isolation or ask for the protection of Micula, paying tribute to the Pearl of West. In part it has to do with the attitude of Micula regarding necromancy in general and undeads in particular: Micula Mage Caste banished all necromantic spells, and their city destroys any sign of creatures generated by this magical Way.

The war against necromancy is a hard one, since the region where The Pearl is located is richer in undeads of all kinds that any other on the planet.

Micula and Mimbao don't started their fight for the reasons mentioned before. When the first battle was fought Micula was not strong enough to be respected as a village. Most Nations still knew it as "that Feudal Domain on the Ruins of Round's Castle", including Mimbao. Micula's Great Hero was still in power, had lost the support of their brothers on the Piwag Desert, and his people needed friends among the Neighbor Nations. King Micula hopped to establish an alliance with the Undead City despite the bias against undeads already nourished by some among his most trusted generals.

Was no secret that Mimbao had been among the human cities nearby the only one untouched by the terror imposed by Micula's monstrous grandfather. The necromancers had a mostly cordial relationship whit the dhjalards, whit a constant and mutually profitable commerce flowing between the two powers. Would be inaccurate to say that Mimbao had an alliance with the Dhjalard Kingdom since the dhjalards had no concept of alliance with other races, but there was no reason for conflict between the two powers. On the contrary, existed a general coincidence of interests and some mutual respect.

Micula believed that his people could benefit from a approximation with the necromants. He was prepared to receive a proposition of protection, and being the terms favorable he intended to accept it. Was he received was a congratulation for his victory and a offer of alliance. Instead of patronage the Inner Council of Mimbao offered to king Micula a contract of free companionship with a member of their most important families. No protection would be paid. The Undead City would help the construction of Micula for the sake of a treaty of friendship. Micula could not reject that offer. He should have rejected it, of course, since it was far too god to be true: and what nothing more than a trap.

The marriage happened, help was send in form of builders and low undead. The bride, who became the first Queen of Micula was the most beautiful woman anyone on the region had seemed. She was also extremely intelligent, and a necromant sigrax far above average. She was also a vampire, what was not mentioned to Micula, but that was not the problem: she spell used to raise her as undead was designed to allow a existence so similar to life that she could even get pregnant and have children, but even if she couldn't Artalli wold still be a great queen. The problem was her aunt "Priestess Maliviab", who came as spiritual and magical mentor of Artalli.

The jolly old lady was in reality a liche. The marriage was proposed as a way to get Maliviab a fortress in the Continent. The simple presence of a liche changes the land, makes it unhealthy for living things and prone to generate low undeads spontaneously, because of that the liches can not exist near to their home cities, they must move to wild territories and build fortress up there. Must also move their address each few centuries to allow the land time to recover from their presence, or the circle of calcined land grows, becoming larger and deeper; eventually it became large enough to attract the attention of the Mage's Brotherhood and the sedentary lich is destroyed, but that takes a long time (about than a hundred thousands years). Maliviab only had to stay a few centuries on Micula, take care of a few generations of kings, before anyone notice she would be surrounded by miles of dead lands and a army of undead soldiers. As any lich she was a mage, and a very powerful one, would not be very hard for her to hide her real nature using Illusion and Whisper spells.

Was Artalli who betrayed her aunt, telling her plans to her husband. She helped him to trap the liche in the anti-magic circle which had been in the center of Roud's palace. Maliviab was captured thanks to Artalli's information and to the magical secrets learned from dhjalard's registers. The queen convinced her free companion to imprison the lich in a sarcophagus instead of destroy her. She argued that Maliviab could be used as a hostage to keep the forces of Mimbao at distance, but in reality the vampire wanted time to find a way to slave her old master and steal the liche's secrets. Locked in chambers bellow the old palace and surrounded by anti-magical runes and artifacts brought from the dhjalard's home world the lich's taint was contained.

Queen Artalli got her free companion assassinated by their son, and controlled the village through him. She intended to keep that method of control for as long as necessary to learn the secrets of Maliviab. Her hope ended when the Second Hero of Micula arrived from the vortex. He killed Artalli's wicked son. The vampire queen escaped in the night, to never be seemed again. The Second Dynasty, founded by this ii warrior still rules the city. Since them Micula declared war to necromancy and hunts all undead it can reach intending to destroy them. However, the way to the underground chamber where Maliviab is locked remains closed and up to this day no one found the keys to it.

The Second Hero of Micula was a human, a Warrior with powers comparable to some spells but which worked according to rules different from those that control magic on Sharitarn. A combination between how this capacities worked in his own Universe and the laws of reality in Sharitarn. His original Universe was a place where Good and Evil where not abstractions build in the language and culture by linguistic beings but objective laws of nature. Up there the Warrior was a messenger of Gods of Justice, Good Deities, against the spawns of Evil Deities: and up there Necromancy is listed as a characteristic item in the portfolio of Evil.

A Monarchy, but not a Absolutist one. Successive kinds reinforced the power of the High Caste Council, as the city grew, and it passed from a consult organ with members pointed by the king to a deliberative chamber as powerful as the throne itself. In military matters the king sits with the heads of the Warrior Caste and Mage Caste to deliberate, and supposedly has the last word, but for everything else there is a deliberation system established by tradition and merit.

Public Agenda

Grow, advance as a power, to be the "Capital of All Civilization" one day.

And destroy Mimbao

A New and Better Civilization

Main Market 

     Micula Main Market is huge. Not a monstrous disproportional temple from Imperial Age converted to a market for purposes of national vanity. It has the size it must have, and for the largest and mostly densely populated city on the World that is it. 
  There are seven secondary markets any one of which is fairly larger than most Main Markets in large powerful nations. 2 are river side, 1 behind Sea Port, the rest are strategically located close to access entrances to Continent. Main Market is at the core of Micula. 
     It is far from the administrative center, which is where the castle of the vanquished non-human king used to be. Far from the ports, and from the gates. That's a common theme in Micula, everything seems to be far away from everything else. That is the price one must pay for being a enormous State City without tall buildings. 
Main Market grows with the nation, organically devouring its neighbours in large expansions every half century, and a handful more in the quarters of century. One could argue that would be more practical to brake the operation in smaller pieces and make a dozen more markets each one dealing with one area of commerce. Instead of expand the main market. 
That impracticality is concession made by the Pearl of West to Merchant Caste mindset. Merchants feel that some things must be concentrated in one place, so they can be watched properly.           The design of this Main Market follows the aesthetics of that building in this city responsible for much controversia: The Mage "Tower" of Micula. All Mage Caste head quarters on the planet are identical up to the last detail for tose who look from outside: black towers without windows, covert in glowing veins of many colours, shaped as needles and actually too long for that comparison. They go deep in the sky. All them, but the Mage "Tower" of Micula. That is a mandala of concentric circles no taller than five floors, with gardens between the circles (is hard to exaggerate how this architecture displeases Mages of all other cities when it is mentioned).       
Main Market is also a system of concentric circles, but each circle is draw in larger lines, and there are more of them. And secondary concentric circles outside, of many sizes, encountering the borders of the larger main structure had to be build, eight in total so far. And between the circles there are a few fountains and gardens here and there, but most the vaste area is taken by shops and tends, blocks selling slaves, and tanks to sell fish, some walking streets and many, many, narrow paths between the permanent, semi-permanent, and totally improvised merchant balconies. 
In each passage of access in those buildings you find statues. My favourite are the ones in the inner circle, standing above each of the passages that lead to the Central area of this Market. 
The statues are the First Hero and the Second Hero of Micula facing each other. Some hold hands, other have one hand in the shoulder of the other. Each pair of statues is a little different, but all they came from the same artist, and all represent the same two historic figures. 
In reality the heroes never met each other. The first died centuries before the second was brought by the Vortex. First Hero founded Micula, after killing the giant beast-king who terrorized the South Continent  and taking the monster's castle for himself. Second Hero saved the city from being destroyed by undead mages and transformed Micula in a Theocracy where necromancy is outlawed. He also started the political and economic basis for the fast growing that made this the largest nation in Sharitarn. 
Or she. The Second Hero was constantly surrounded by a magical aura that came from other Universe, and some suggest that he was not a priest-warrior man but a priestess. One of the statues I mentioned even acknowledge that theory, despite the lack of magical or documental evidence to support it.    

Type

Geopolitical, City-state

Alternative Names

Pearl of West