Zelos

A flourishing, wealthy country of booming trade, daring seacaptains, and mighty warriors, Zelos is ruled by Celdas Celafir, the shrewd and daunting King of the Coin, from his hilltop fortress, Khodashmindas, overlooking the bustling mining city of Alacasba. Zelos is the source of the most widely accepted currency on Ticonderos and is easily the most culturally cosmopolitan and diverse country on the continent, but while all faiths are technically welcome in Zelos, King Celafir often finds himself and his policies at odds with many religions and religious officials. While Zelos as a nation trends secular, this does still make Celafir one of the more controversial and divisive members of Ticonderos' ruling class.
Even though the King makes his dwelling and sits with his advisors upon the Alacasba hilltop, the true heart and capital of Zelos is, of course, Zelosport the grand coastal anchorage that sprawls out past the soft, sandy beach along the west Ticonderean coastline and stands tall amidst the savannah that rolls its way into the foothills of the mountains. Even the reclusive and prideful Oreiad come down from their heady mountaintop dwellings to do business in Zelosport, and men of all shapes, sizes, and colors from across the continent join them, as well as those from beneath it. Within Zelosport goods and crafters of them from all of Ticonderos' races and nations are represented, and there are even whole quarters of the city certain cultures and people have carved out and claimed for themselves, such as the Little Empire in which some Oreiad have come to live permanently, for just one example. Though it is a melting pot where all can come together and trade harmoniously, there can and often is quite the clash in everyday life. Regrettably, perhaps, the guardsmen employed by King Celafir very often crack down on the minorities within Zelos, forbidding certain practices which ruffle local majority feathers, or persecuting minorities, often publically, more harshly and more often than those of Zelos' mainstream Dragonscarred culture.
Recently, King Celafir finds himself dealing with the unenviable task of quelling panic as Dhogem pour out from the mines and into the streets of Zelosport and surrounding towns, seeking shelter from the horrors that spill out of the bowels of the earth. Various groups from within Zelos are mobilizing against the Dhogem, rallying masses with messages of fear and hatred. And though Celafir would have none of it, privately he admits to not knowing exactly what to do with, or for, these beleaguered refugees.
And it wouldn't be Ticonderos if King Celafir had only two major problems to deal with, would it? Of course not, thus, in addition to butting heads with religious figures and dealing with a huge mass of Dhogem refugees, a few fishing vessels and every one of Zelos' trading galleons that have departed on their normal voyages across the seas to exotic lands to the west have vanished leaving no trace. Much of the king's fleet remains anchored and suspicions grow of an enemy in waiting beyond his sight. For now, the king has kept this a secret from the rest of Ticonderos, but rumors are spreading… rumors of shadow sorceresses infiltrating Celafir's cities, rumors of a chink of the King of Coin's gilded armor, and rumors of black dragons on the wing…
But there is more to Zelos than ships and chaos. Zelos is also known as a titan of military might, not only possessed of an agile and powerful navy, but also well-renowned for its knights and schools of martial arts taught and refined for centuries. In fact, it boasts two noble houses, both Marbhall and Craicgrand, with entire lineages of celebrated warriors. Not only is the infantry of Zelos some of the most fearsome in all Ticonderos, Zelos-trained mercenaries are just as much an export of theirs as any other commodity. Despite all of his recent woes, King Celafir puts his military might into play even now, seeking out dragon scales, and not only on the surface. His forces are engaged as far south as the Dragon's Tail, the archipelago west of the southern desert where the King of the Coin seeks to absorb a few coastal villages currently under the rule of the fierce and fiery Alo Pagtria.

Demographics

88% Dragonscarred, 7% Native Ticondereans, 3% Dhogem, 2% Oreiades

Alternative Name(s)

Kingdom of Coast and Coin

Type

National Territory

Population

4,500,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Dragonscarred of Zelos

Location under

The Dragonlands