Palma
Ren
"The very first mercenary contract I ever had as a knight took place on these islands. I bet you can't guess how I got these scars on my face..."The Barony of Palma is located in far northeastern Duchy of Fairden, itself part of the Kingdom of North Cassel. To west is the barony of Orthez. To the west is also Terminus in the Kingdom of Lyonne. to the east is the Island Barony of Milos. To the south is Tornor Bay and the Corrupton of Xilralgus. To the north is the Voltaic Sea. Palma is one of the smallest baronies in Cassel, but is quite rich due what it produces.
The islands has a much higher population of Lamia than the rest of Cassel. This is because Lamias are resistant to dragon corruption. They lived for thousands of years isolated from the rest of the world during the Bronze Age. The islands of Palma are just one of many pockets where these people can be found.
Palm Trees
Palma gets its name from the palm trees that grow there. Scholars discovered long ago that every single palm tree on these islands is corrupted by the aetheric energy of Xiralgus, the Nova, a long dead dragon lord. Most forms of life on the islands are corrupted by this magic. Legends say that the death of this dragon lord created this island chain.
The dragon's influence comes and goes, but it still has an effect on the climate around the area, making it seem much warmer than climate maps predict during some years. The corruption of Xiralgus also gives plants corrupted with its aether the ability to generate their own heat, hence the varieties of palm trees growing where they shouldn't. These trees need to be near the dragon's corruption in order to continue generating their own heat, otherwise they wouldn't survive.
None of the palm trees found here are native to the area, and most were gathered from thousands of miles away at some point during the Bronze Age. There are small groves of each type of the following trees: Coconut, Rattan, Wine, Elaeis, Serenoa. Each of these trees produce their own products, from giant edible seeds, to oils, sugar, resins, and more.
The availability of each of these items are in an extremely small supply due to the small size of the islands, but demand for these products is quite high for the magical properties of some of the items, especially the dragonblood resin. Sourcing these items from their natural location requires sending merchants thousands of miles away. This makes these items very expensive to acquire, which has helped Palma become one of the richer baronies in Cassel.
Year Created:
Capital:
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2460, Iron Age
Tropeca
Baron Vipera Latastei
334 km2
Oceanic
46,000
75% Lamia
20% Human
5% Elf
Tropeca
Baron Vipera Latastei
334 km2
Oceanic
46,000
75% Lamia
20% Human
5% Elf
Cost of products from Palma
Product
Dragonblood Resin
Coconut
Palm Oil
Palm Wax
Palm Sugar
Rattan Fruits
Palmetto Fruits
Palm Wood (Depends on species)
Palmetto Fan
Dragonblood Resin
Coconut
Palm Oil
Palm Wax
Palm Sugar
Rattan Fruits
Palmetto Fruits
Palm Wood (Depends on species)
Palmetto Fan
Cost
10,000 Beryls per kilogram
2,250 Beryls each
1,000 Beryls per liter
650 Beryls per kilogram
480 Beryls per kilogram
225 Beryls per kilogram, 10 each
200 Beryls per kilogram, 2 each
175 Beryls per log
75 Beryls per leaf
10,000 Beryls per kilogram
2,250 Beryls each
1,000 Beryls per liter
650 Beryls per kilogram
480 Beryls per kilogram
225 Beryls per kilogram, 10 each
200 Beryls per kilogram, 2 each
175 Beryls per log
75 Beryls per leaf
* For reference, the annual salary of an average Casselian farmer is 12500 Beryls.
History
Palma came under the control of the Kingdom of Cassel for the first time in the year 2460 of the Iron Age. They gained control of the land as part of a treaty with the Kingdom of Yurria. The islands were seen as quite useless for anything but as a buffer for defense between Cassel and all the Elven kingdoms to the north. Cassel then did what they do best, build castles. This annoyed the local Lamia population at first, but they also hoped this would bring some stability to their land and stop the endless wars and invasions. Multiple forts were constructed at the islands to garrison soldiers and guard the waters. Administrative control of the province was given to the Count of Dorias, who had control of most of the Xiral Islands already.
Around the year 2500 the world of Vreathe started to undergo a renaissance when it comes to magic and science. Explorers were sent all over the world to find new plants, animals, and gemstones that had strange magical properties. Several Scholars who lived in Palma already knew of the magical properties of the palm trees here as the Lamia had taken advantage of it for hundreds of years. By far the most valuable magical ingredient that could be harvested from here was Dragonblood resin, which has the ability to apply a regenerative effect on the body.
A full 100 kilograms of this resin was needed. It was boiled, charged with mana and aether, then refined into a little 100 ml Elixer of Youth that could take 30 years of aging off a human, and many centuries off of an elf. The process wasn't perfect (and infected the person with extremely high levels of dragon corruption) but this was enough to set off a harvesting frenzy on the islands. Acres and acres of rattan palms were cut down until there were none left. Seeds were harvested and replanted for more to grow. Experiments proved that these plants can't grow anywhere but Palma. The dragon corruption of Xiralgus was too necessary.
The oldest of the elves on Vreathe were approaching their maximum lifespan of 50,000 years and had been alive since the end of the Silver Age. They knew the cost of immortality and attempted to warn the humans and younger elves, but they were ignored. By the year 2515 word started to spread about this miracle resin. Just about every kingdom in the area had an interest in the islands, 6 kingdoms total: Faeon, Ordland, Lyonne, Yurria, Rinea, and Cassel. Negotiations over the islands and the products they sell started to break down. Various nations declared war on each other and it turned into a three way conflict. The Elven kingdoms of Ordland and Faeon against the human kingdoms of Rinea and Yurrimkil. Lyonne and Cassel were always allies and formed the third side in this conflict.
The islands ended up changing hands several times over the following decades. Cassel was usually in conrol of the islands more often than not. Most of the conflict surrounding the islands died off completely a few decades later once the effects of the elixer and dragon corruption were more understood. These effects were simple and small at first. Drinking a single elixer would cause an uncomfortably cold feeling that would persist for a decade or longer. This effect can still be cured by drinking several Pure Potions, so it wasn't an issue yet.
Drinking two elixers would cause the body to grow scale-like plates on the skin, similar to a lamia, but without the resistance to dragon corruption. This happened regardless of if the previous corruption was cleansed or not. and drinking more pure potions didn't do anything after this point.
Four elixers would cause more reptilian features to appear like a tail, slits in the eyes, a forked tongue, and more. It would also cause the person to start generating a lot of heat. Being in the same room with them was like being in a sauna. By the sixth elixer, the person would just spontaneously combust. They would burn hotter than the sun for a brief moment until nothing was left but ash. The lamia could drink as many of these elixers as they wanted and the dragon corruption would never affect them.
So it ended up not being a good path to immortality. It could still extend human life by 30 years and elven life by 3,000 with just one elixer, but anymore than that was pointless. It was still more than enough to go to war over, and dozens of wars were fought when the supply of dragonblood resin was getting low, but Cassel retained control of the islands after this all the way to the present day.
Control of the province shifted from Dorias to the Duke of Fairden, who more or less allowed the Lamia there to rule themselves. A number of contracts were created to regulate the price and supply of dragonblood resin. Enough is harvested every year to make roughly 100 elixers. These elixers cost upwards of 1.5 million beryls today, which is why Pamla is so rich. Several elixers are set aside for the King of Cassel, who might drink one in their lifetime, but usually he gives them away to other heads of state.
The usefulness of other products like coconuts and palm oil weren't well known until centuries after the dragonblood resin was known, mostly because youth and immortality were more important than anything else.
Recent History
in the year 2984, Several knights took up a mercenary contract to investigate the largest Palma Island, Areca. Several fields of rattan trees were burned down and Baron Matias Romero wanted to know who was responsible. These knights included Renelle and Lucia.
While investigating at night, Ren lt a fireball in her hand to see better, and was then attacked by Lamian soldiers, who wielded leaves as weapons. Ren underestimated these saw palmetto leaves, that could instantly harden into steel when charged with mana. She has a few scars on her face to remind her of this mistake. Ren and Lucia were able to defeat the soldiers and started questioning the survivors. This ended up being a misunderstanding as the soldiers were also looking for the arsonist, who was described as a red haired girl who was good with fire magic.
That was enough information for Ren and Lucia to find the arsonist, Zoe Romero, Baron Matias Romero's daughter. It turned out that some of the island's humans were setting fire to the fields to control the price of dragonblood resin. This caused a short conflict that saw Matias deposed from his duties and a new baron took his place. Vipera Latastei took control and is still in control of the islands.
Castillo de Palmeras
The redunantly named Castle of Palms was constructed in the year 2511 to protect the new town of Tropeca, which was founded the same year. It has a secluded harbor behind rocky cliffs that are hidden from view except from specific angles. The castle is made almost entirely of limestone, which is great at defending against magic. It also quells the corruption of Xiralgus somewhat in the immediate area due to a complex system of frost stones and silver wire connecting it all together, powered by a large aethercite diamond somewhere in the center of the castle.
The current Lord of Palma, Baron Vipera Latastei, does not use it as his home. As a Lamia, He sees the castle as a symbol of human rule, which while necessary to bring stability to the islands, is something he has always loathed. The Castle is actually occupied by a small force of Casselian Soldiers, commanded by Captain Leopold Sharpe, who is in charge of the defense of the islands.
When Baron Matias Romero was in charge of the islands, there was a great deal of tension between the human and lamia population, but now the islands are in a state of peace. For the last eight years, Banquets are held here after each seasonal harvest with lots of human and lamian cuisine.
Interesting - there's a couple items I would fix - you state "Most forms of life are corrupted by this magic." I think you mean on the islands, not in Vreathe. And there's a text " a Three was war was declared. " to the end of the 4th para under history - not sure what that was supposed to be. I was also thinking when I read it that your products from this island chain probably can't be found anywhere else simply because of the dragon lord corruption - this seems to be borne out later in the article. Last - I think there's a narrative piece to be had in the "recent history" section... I wouldn't do it now with a word count goal in front of you for WE, but I'd change that last into a story narrative - or link it in from a prose article. Overall though this is really solid world building!
You correctly called that last part! I have several short stories in various states of rough draft. I'm starting to reference them in my articles to increase the length and add bits to expand on later. I tend to mostly use Ren for writing practice so she ends up being in most of them. I will publish some of those stories someday if I ever finish them, just not this month or any time soon! On the other parts, I made some edits to clarify it all a little better. Thanks for pointing those out!
Any time! I really enjoy reading your world. It's great stuff!