I is for the Inquisition

One hundred and twenty years ago, the ruler of the Terrasan Empire--which had a greater claim to the title of Empire in those days than it does now, convened a quorum of experts on matters occult and theological.  While there isn't an official church or religion in the lands of the Terrasan Empire, culturally the people recognize a common pantheon of divine beings who influence the lives of mortals in ways both subtle and--occasionally--less so.  Small churches attended by decentralized friars, have sprung up over the centuries all throughout the area to cater to the spiritual needs of the people.  While the empire has resisted allowing these churches to centralize too much, or to gain too much political power, in reality, many such friars have evolved into advisors for local leaders--mayors, lords, dukes, and even kings.  As they've done so, they've managed to become very wealthy, and their small churches have evolved into massive cathedrals. 

While they remain politically impotent as a group, individually, many of them are among the most politically powerful men in the land.

That original quroum of learned individuals was called the Inquisition, and their original purpose was to inquire (hence their name) into matters occult.  Terrasa was rocked by a series of occult scandals, including the revelation that the king's own brother was possessed by a daemon, and the putting on of a play, of all things, called "The King in Yellow."  This play was maddening; most of the audience that saw its only known performance went violently insane and rioted; killing or consigning to an asylum many of Terrasa's cultural elite and leaving their ranks thinned for generations.

The recommendations of this body to the king were that some occult threats were too dangerous to be allowed to fester, and that the King should take a stronger hand in preventing them before they came to be scandals or crises like the two that rocked the capital that year.  And so, in a strange joint venture between these academics, clergymen, and the King's own Guard, the Inquisition was formed, a secret police dedicated to the rooting out of occult and supernatural threats throughout the empire.

Their mandate was, of necessity, somewhat secret, and although the rumors of a militant Inquisition that act as a secret police are not uncommon, few really know much truth about the organization.  And the fact of the matter is, that the body is very constrained anywhere except in its strongholds in the capital and a few other large cities of the Empire; beyond that, the only authority that Inquisitors possess is that which they can demand by nature of their strength of will and arms.  In fact, in many areas, they openly clash with other bodies of authority, who do not recognize them at all.

In this way, the Inquisition is less politically powerful in DARK•HERITAGE than in some other settings... and yet, they are if anything, perhaps even more sinister.  Lacking overt political power, they are the masters of subterfuge and espionage, and consider themselves above any law.  And while, of course, many Inquisitors are less kind-hearted than one would like, they serve mankind as a whole, preventing forces which would otherwise overwhelm the fledgeling mortal race from doing so, at least for a time.  If a few innocents have to be sacrificed along the way--or even if many innocents have to be sacrificed along the way, the greater good stipulates that such sacrifices are necessary and should not deter them from their task.

And if the Inquisition must utilize the weapons of its enemy to serve the greater good... they do not shy away from that either.

A is for Alcàsser

Alcàsser is a major urban development of the Terrasan culture on the far western edge of the Mezzovian Sea, northwest of Terrasa proper.  Technically, it is not a seaport, and is in fact many miles from the shore, but since the Durenga river estuary is wide and safely navigable (to knowledgeable pilots, at least) most seafaring vessels can make port at Alcàsser.  The water east of the city gets increasingly brackish, but by the time you reach the city itself, the Durenga is slow, fresh, and somewhat brownish and heavily sediment-laden.

From Alcàsser, the shoreline continues nearly due south for some time before turning east and then northeast to form the Tolosa Bay.  Directly east of Alcàsser (although certainly much too far to be visible) one would come up against the southwest coast of Gandesa, the island infamous for harboring the pirates of Porto Liure near its northeastern tip.  This puts Alcàsser roughly equidistant--as the ship sails, at least--between Terrasa itself and it's northerly neighbor Segrià.

Alcàsser has a reputation amongst Terrasans as being a boring place.  Politically loyal and untroubled by tendencies of seccession (as plague many of the more northerly city-states), the primary raison d'etre of Alcàsser is farming.  The Durenga River basin is famous for its gently rolling hills, fertile and well-watered soil, and lack of bandits, monsters, hauntings, or really any type of drama of any kind.  Called the breadbasket of the Empire, Alcàsser is seen as a sleepy little port full of farmers.  This isn't exactly untrue... but naturally, it's way too simplistic.  For one, Alcàsser isn't sleepy or small, it's a major port that has dozens of ships coming and going almost every day all over the Mezzovian, and as the main shipping hub of the grain industry, it's got its share of political manuevering and intrigue as various "grain barons" attempt to shoulder their competition aside.

Secondly, Alcàsser may be the front on a war that Terrasa isn't even aware that it's fighting until it's too late.  Because of its relative proximity to the Black Mountains and the pass of Sutaka, it's through Alcàsser that the Terrasans became aware of Kurushat.  Mostly this is in the form of runaway slaves or other outcasts who have gradually made their way as refugees to become migrant workers or rural immigrants to the area.  But official delegations have reached out.  While an embassy of sorts is under contruction in Terrasa "as we speak," for the time being, official communication between Kurushat and Terrasa goes through Alcàsser.  Some have wondered why the Kurushi seem OK with lingering in what is percieved as a backwater rather than setting up shop in the wide boulevards and canals of Terrasa.  Some have a rather disturbing theory.

If the Cavusto natives succumb to the military advances of the Kurushi, then the de facto Pax Kurushata extends easily beyond the Durenga Cascades, and then there is nothing to prevent legionnaires from marching on the city.  And with Alcàsser held, the rest of the empire would quickly starve.  If some of the citizens of Alcàsser and Terrasa can see this, then no doubt the spies that infiltrate the Kurushi labor camps and neighborhoods no doubt see it as well.  Because of this, astute Alcassan observers are very interested in news of the succession crisis that seems to be brewing in Kurushat, as chaos back home will hold the militant and expansionist state in place for some time to come.  Meanwhile, lobbyists for increased protection of Alcàsser and greater monitoring of the Kurushi community are seen as paranoid and deluded, and consistently ignored in terms of domestic policy.

Other than that, in recent months, strange wreckage of barges and boats, sometimes empty, sometimes showing the remains of long-dead skeletons or corpses, have been spotted floating down the river and reaching all the way to Alcàsser.  The style of the boats, and the style of the clothing of any bodies found thereon are both mysterious and unknown to the area, making their ultimate origin a mystery.  Since the lands all the way to the cascades (which are completely unnavigable) and beyond are well-known, all the way to the source of the Durenga on the eastern slopes of the Black Mountains, its unclear where these ships are coming from or what this disturbing omen could mean.  The ruler of Alcàsser, Duke Berat S'Asinara, has sent patrols up the river to attempt to uncover the truth behind this mystery, but so far, no reports have returned.  Meanwhile, the frequency with which these ships are coming down the river seems to be increasing.  Seen as a bad omen, few Alcassans have any interest in salvaging these seemingly worthless barges, and most are left to float downstream to the sea, accompanied only by a disquieting vigil from the docks as all stop to watch them pass.

The Mezzovian Sea

The world of DARK•HERITAGE is one that, like our world, is subject to continental drift, which is a major force in describing how the land came to be as it is now.  That said, some cataclysmic events that plate tectonics cannot explain seem to have had huge impacts on the world as well--dramatic shifting of continents on occasion, pole shifts, crustal displacement, and just plain old continents sinking under the sea (or rising from the sea) in a way that plate tectonics tells us is impossible--well it could happen here.  It has in the past, at least.

Like our earth, the continent on which the Mezzovian Sea action takes place--the Mezzovian continent, for lack of any other label (its inhabitants don't really understand the concept of continent like we do, lacking a strong knowledge or feel for global geography) is an ancient landmass, but it's really made up of smaller terranes, cratons, islands and other pieces of crust that accreted and became sutured together.  Evidence of this can be seen in the form of the old, hoary and worn-down mountain chains that cross north to south across the face of the continent (the Romeu and Garriga Mountains) that are not unlike the Urals, Caledonian mountains, Appalachians, or other older mountains that were formed when ancient continents collided and then remained fused together in new formations altogether.  This ancient chain of mountains basically straddles the north and south shores of the Mezzovian Sea, and even extends underneath it; the Tolosa Islands are essentially parts of these mountain ranges that have their feet submerged in the water.

The Mezzovian basin itself is an aulacogen, or "failed rift" that sunk below the general level of the continental  and became the floor of a shallow epicontinental sea.  Because of this, it's not very deep, but there are pockets where the crust has collapsed to a surprising depth here and there in the distant past (millions of years ago, if not tens of millions).  The shallow water and tropical/subtropical lattitudes combine to make the sea warm and pleasant.

Although subject to sometimes swiftly growing fierce storms, in general, the Mezzovian is known for being rather calm. Because of this, it has become a major highway for trade and conquest. The earliest group to develop a nearly circum-Mezzovian state was the Balshatoi, who were centered on the Razine peninsula. Their kingdoms and fiefdoms collapsed under economic and military pressure as the Terrasans surged northwards from their homelands in and immediately south of the Tolosa Isles.

Today, the Terrassan Empire maintains a nearly circum-Mezzovian hegemony as well, and this has kept the Mezzovian sea-lanes safe and secure. Due to the waning military presence of the Terrasans, piracy is becoming more of a problem, however. And in the east, rivals to Terrasa are surging forwards, eager for the old Empire to finally die and move on; vampiric Tarush Noptii with its shadow-shrouded shores, and the new conquests of Qizmir as well.

While the Mezzovian Sea is a single large body of water, islands, peninsulas and bends in its own shoreline have created a number of "subseas" and other subsets that are important enough to have been named. The Novilda Sea is the westernmost; a great bight or bay that extends westward from the northernmost Tolosa Islands to reach the Erau, Urt and Volo river deltas. The most important regional power in the Novilda Sea is Segrià, one of the Terrasan cities.

East of the Novilda Sea is the Benàz Sea, bounded on the south and west by Tolosa islands, on the east by the Razine peninsula, and in the north by the Tec river delta and Iclezza. The southernmost reaches of this subsea border on Porto Liure as well. To the south, on the other hand, after passing through the waters of the Tolosa Islands, you come to Tolosa Bay. This is a relatively wild and untamed stretch of wilderness, and no land-based roads have been maintained that cross from Segrià and Alcàsser to Terrasa itself on the easternmost edge of the bay.

East of the Tolosa Islands, the Razine peninsula hangs down, and the southern Mezzovian shoreline curves northward to "pinch" the Mezzovian a bit. This semi-enclosed waterway is known as the Chistau Sea, and is famous for its calm waters and network of trade routes taking goods and passengers to ports all throughout the entire inner sea region. The Terrasan hegemony only extends a bit further to the east from here; a series of long islands divides the waters east of the Chistau into the Nosferatu Sea on the north and the Farriq Sea in the south. Razine ships sail the westernmost waters of the Nosferatu Sea and the attached northerly Razine Bay, but cede its more easterly waters to the control of Tarush Noptii and its benighted ports of Mnar and Mzagin. To the south, the easternmost Terrasan city, Sènt-Haspar, holds the shoreline at the western end of the Farriq Sea, but beyond that you find the relatively recently founded ports of Qizmir.

To the very east of the Mezzovian, the sea pinches again to the rough and dangerous waters of the Sea of Storms, which in turns pinches even tighter to Shipwreck Strait, which leaves the Mezzovian and goes into the open ocean. Because the Sea of Storms, and even more Shipwreck Strait are difficult and dangerous to navigate, Qizmiran ships rarely pass through them, and Qizmiran sailors are divided between "ocean" and "sea" sailors; those that stay beyond the strait, and those who sail within the waters of the Mezzovian itself. This has also forced the Qizmirans to establish caravan routes that cross the Golden Peninsula and ensure that the inner sea colonies get the support that they need from the capital.

Baix Pallars

Far to the southeast of the main Terrasan lands is the little country of Baix Pallars.  Nestled in the hilly land between the southerly cool lodgepole and cedar dominated Follà Forest, the Nijat River, the Azar Shahr mountains, and the Sahir savannah, Baix Pallars is an island of Terrasan colonial culture amidst pristine wilderness and encroaching Qazmiri interests.  Like Calça, the so-called "lost province", Baix Pallars has been abandoned by a Terrasan administration unable to cope with colonial holdings so far away from the center of gravity of an increasingly ponderous realm.  However, rather than being so remote as to be virtually unthreatened by any outside power, as Calça is, Baix Pallars is smack-dab in the path of expanding al-Qazmiri interests, and has it's back to a wilderness wall with al-Qazmir breathing right in its face as it is.  While jann are still rare in this area, culturally Qazmiri humans are common, and many of the names of local features are more commonly given in Qazmiri than in their Terrasan forms, and the bustling river town of Qaserun is nearby--and nearly as populous as all of the scattered villages and hamlets of Baix Pallars in their entirety.

Many of the Terrasans of Baix Pallars don't really care; Terrasa has abandoned them--mostly for the best--they add, and they're far enough away from any major Qazmiri administrative center that their is little expectation of a heavy hand if they decide to annex the hilly region.  But others find the very notion of a Qazmiri yoke intolerable, and these have increasingly been stirred up by radical and desperate elements.  Some of them have taken to preemptive guerilla strikes, ignoring the advice of others who suggest that their actions are more likely to cause the Qazmiri to pacify the region rather than prevent it.  Others are increasingly fleeing deeper into the mountains or the forest, as small groups of families or friends.

And others are turning to dark powers.  Entire hamlets and villages have turned to the worship of Hastur, Nergal, Iog-Sotôt or others, and frightening and disturbing occult activity has turned Baix Pallars into a hotbed of seething intrigue, sacrifices or worse.  Savvy travelers have started avoiding the area entirely, and lone travelers frequently go in but fail to come out.  This has hastened the flight of the decent and respectable members of the area into the picturesque mountains or forests, which hastens the fall of Baix Pallars itself into complete degeneracy.

The Terrasan "Empire"

The Terrasan Empire is the most important polity to feature in a majority of any action that takes place in the DARK•HERITAGE setting.  However, I haven't really explained much about it yet, have I?  It's a kind of shadowy entity that hovers just out of sight while I explore regionally a bit more in depth, or talk about other polities on the fringe of the Terrasan orbit, such as Kurushat, Baal Hamazi, Qizmir or others.  It's probably time to rectify that a bit.  Before diving into the content proper, how about a little context and meta background?  OK.

When I first envisioned the Terrasan Empire, when it was part of a different setting called--unimaginatively--first Dark DnD and the later--more tongue in cheek--Leng Calling, I saw it as similar to the late Roman Empire.  A formerly powerful empire that was fading to decadence and impotency, but which still had some life left in it yet.  I transcribed that notion as is to DARK•HERITAGE when I first brought it over, but have since re-envisioned the empire as an altogether different type of thing.  I now see it as similar to the so-called Aragonese Empire, more properly called the Crown of Aragon.  The Crown of Aragon was never a proper Empire.  It started, of course, as the modest Frankish kingdom of Aragon, and as it expanded due to warfare with the taifa states as well as its rivals and to dynastic union, it grew to encompass the Kingdom of Barcelona (including the county of Provence) then later Valencia and Majorca.  This large coastline as well as an eastward looking Mediterranean outlook eventually brought, at various times, the rest of the Balearic Islands, Malta, Sardinia, Sicily, briefly Corsica, Naples (which at the time really meant the lower two-thirds of the Italian boot) and the duchy of Athens, which included large portions of the northeastern Grecian coastline.

However, for the most part, these various polities were only united in the person of the King of Aragon, who also simultaneously held the titles of Count of Barcelona, King of Sardinia, King of Majorca, etc.  They were never united into a single polity with a single administration and a united national front; rather they were separate countries who just happened to be ruled at the same time by the same single person.  And my new version of the Terrasan Empire is more like this Crown of Aragon; Esteve Gregorio de Galdames de Rossolló is the King of Terrasa, as well as being the King of Alcàsser and Segrià, the Duke of Razina, the Tolosas, Posada and Feronia, and the Count of Iclezza.  The King of Sènt-Haspar is a sworn vassal of the King of Terrasa, which brings him into the orbit as well.

This means that the politics of the Terrasan Empire are a bit byzantine and bizarre, especially as King Esteve is not a strong or particularly engaged king, being more concerned with the pursuit of his mistresses and his sports, the Empire is run by competing nobles, royals, and bureaucrats.  Each individual state within the Empire has more autonomy than at any time in the past--a development that worries those who support a strong empire--fears of total dissolution and break-up are both commonly voiced and not without merit.

Culture and language across the empire is also not consistent.  Many of the regional polities have their own culture, their own governmental traditions, their own religious persuasions, and more.  Perhaps more importantly as an impediment to unification, they have their own languages, although it is a matter of public policy to refer to all of them as regional dialects of the Terrasan language rather than to recognize the true level of diversity.  In the real world, before the advent of strong, nationalist states and mass-produced media, linguistic diversity was very strong in Europe, and even now, several generations after the advent of those features, there are a lot of minority languages floating around out there.

For simplicity's sake, I've consolidated the dialects of the Terrasan Empire into three big name lists, and I represent them with a mix of Portuguese and Catalan on for the southern shore, Italian for the northern shore and Romanian for the more easterly dialects.  In reality, a number of other more or less closely related languages should be in there two--the southern languages should be represented by a good dozen or so languages like Leonese, Portuguese, Catalan, Aragonese, Asturian, Occitan and others, the northern shore by another dozen or so languages like Sardinian, Sicilian, Piedmontese, Venetian, Corsican, etc. and the eastern dialects should show similar diversity.  Of course, in reality, it's hard enough for people wanting to find names and phrases from a region to deal with the simplified version as it is; making it as complex as verisimilitude demands it to be would be impossibly difficult.

Despite these vast differences, most of the peoples of the Terrasan Empire have a cultural link, being descended from settlers, soldiers, conquistadores or merchants who set out from Terrasa in the distant past.  While they may not have necessarily seen this expansion as a nationalist pursuit, pan-Terrasan patriotism is a jingoistic sentiment that some have attempted to cultivate and exploit amongst the constituents.  Of course, this is a dual-edged sword--some of the peoples of the Empire are not descended from that cultural and linguistic group, and strong separatist Balshatoi sentiment is a major concern in the north, and in some parts of the east, the people identify almost as much with Qizmir as with Terrasa.  Other expatriate ethnic groups within the borders of the empire also view some of these developments with trepidation.

Because of cultural and economic links, all of the Terrasan "countries" have always maintained strong political and economic ties, and intermarriage of their royal houses--which led to the state of dynastic union that exists today--had always been common.  Despite this, nationalist sentiment with the various "Terrasan" nationalities is still strong as well and demonstrations, riots, coup attempts and other civil unrest is not terribly uncommon, especially when the tax-men come around, or when Imperial soldiers start bullying the locals.  As Terrasa's strength has waned and faded, parts of the empire have either quietly gone their own way, like Calça, or been quietly influenced in the direction of a rival, as Sarabasca and a vast (and mostly unpopulated) stretch of backcountry gradually became Qizmiri, or even like Porto Liure, where an revolutionary city-state was able to force Terrasa to a military stand-off and negotiate its autonomy and independence forever.

Next DARK•HERITAGE specific post: details of the city of Terrasa itself.

Dark•Heritage: Haşhaş

Haşhaş (the ş is a Qazmiri letter that is pronounced like a really thick, whistling S or sh sound), also rendered in Terrasan as hash-hash or hashash, is a plant native to the nation of al-Qazmir, but which grows well in the Golden Peninsula. More frequently, however, when a Terrasan uses the word hashash, he's referring to the drug that is made from the plant, which can be boiled as a bitter tea to induce mild hallucinations and euphoria, or other dissociative behavior, along with signs characteristic of drunkeness, such as slurred speech, and clumsy uncoordinated use of limbs. When dried and smoked in a pipe or hooka in suffucient dosages, the effects are much stronger.

Here, the drug causes, at a minimum, a severe dissociative "out of body" experience, hallucinations, suicidal or violent tendences and paranoia. Frequent users can develop severe mental illnesses, including persistant schizophrenic tendencies, violent or suicidal lingering behavior, severe dissociation with reality, and paranoia.

While most physicians and others understand this to be an effect of the chemistry of the dried and treated plant, there remain people, occultists and other fringe members of society, who believe that the drug is a conduit to an altered state where humanity can perceive reality as it truly is; seeing the spiritual as well as the physical at the same time. The paranoia and violent or suicidal tendencies, they explain, are caused by fear of spiritual entities and daemons which surround us at all times out of sight. Because hashash users are aware of these threats at all times, they say, the paranoid behavior is entirely understandable.

Most hashash is grown in al-Qazmir; either on the island itself, or on plantations and farms in the so-called "Golden Peninsula" immediately to the west of the island. The Golden Peninsula has been largely "Qazmirized" but still retains relicts here and there of the civilization that lived there before it, which was distantly related linguistically and culturally to the more westerly Terrasans. The Qazmiri government themselves, however, forbid the use of hashash. They are more tolerant of the growing of it, as long as the crop is shipped overseas. Hashash plants are also grown as ornamental plants in some places in al-Qazmir, although in such cases the harvesting of them is negligible to non-existant.

The Terrasans have also forbidden the trade of hashash, and attempted to stop or at least limit the degree to which it spreads through the empire, although state-sponsored trading of it to non-Terrasans is not unknown. As with the Qazmiri, the dangers of the drug are the reasons for the its restriction, but selling it to foreigners, or brokering trade from al-Qazmir to other nations (such as city-states from the Baal Hamazi lands, or Kurushat, or barbarians who don't form nation-level polities) is a perfectly acceptable way to bring revenue to the state and a weakness to potential enemies.

Because of this restriction of the legal use and trade in the drug amongst local potential users, hashash is most likely to be found in black markets, smuggled in from vessels that hail from Porto Liure or Sarabasca, or even sponsored by the sinister Union of the Snake. The trade in hashash has become inseparably connected to elements of crime, especially organized crime (although small-time smugglers are hardly unheard of still) in the major urban centers of Terrasa, al-Qazmir, and elsewhere.

Curiously, possessing, or even using hashash is not illegal or restricted in Terrasa, only the sale and transport of it, which is heavily regulated to keep the drug away from the citizens of the nation who is making the regulations. Because of that, some people, especially wealthy users, occasionally openly flaunt their use of it, at least in tea-form. Smoking hashash is still done privately, both because of the danger to the user (and others nearby) and because it is socially very frowned upon as openly flaunting the norms of society.

Razina

"The Razine underground is probably the worst around the entire Mezzovian Sea. They're brutal in a way that you can't begin to imagine. They allow no challenge to their authority, no matter how insignificant, to stand unanswered. And their answers are decisive. The citizens of Razina live in fear of their Mafia in a way that no other citizens do. The local Watch is thoroughly corrupted by them, and will take no significant steps to counter them. The leading politicians, nobles and even the newly rich merchant class will not cross them. They've even had the Duke assassinated before, without reprisals, and no one doubts that they could do so again. To cross the Razine underground is suicide."

Vanno shifted slightly in his seat, his eyes narrowing as he tried to read the hirsute wildman. "Does that mean that you won't join us, then?"

Najat chuckled. "Of course not! I'm in. Give me a day to pack my things and I'll lead your operation."

Razina is perhaps the most unusual city in the Terrasan holdings. Although Razina is the name commonly given to the entire urban center, in reality, Razina is two completely separate cities with completely separate governments, and they only get along grudgingly at best. This is due to the unusual arrangement of land grants and titles to the area, as well as the geography of the Razine peninsula and the Razine harbor in particular.

Lower Razina is a welcoming and convenient harbor that had been used by sailors for generations before Razina itself was founded. However, a few hundred yards from the sea shore there is a steep cliff that leads to a rocky tableland high above the harbor. A kind of natural grassy ramp cuts the cliff near the harbor. Because it wasn't difficult to get wagons up and down this natural ramp, another town was founded at the top of the ramp, overlooking the harbor.

When the Terrasans came to the area, the land on the peninsula was turned into the Duchy of Razina, and the Duke rules in the name of Terrasa. However, the harbor was not part of the duchy, very specifically, and a military commandant ruled the fort which guarded the ramp and the town that was slowly growing up around it. As the civilian population grew, the military rank faded in importance, but was never eliminated. The independent military now is the main link between upper and lower Razina. The Lord Mayor of Lower Razina is a Crown appointed post that is not responsible to the Duke of Razina--who's capital is, of course, Upper Razina. Traditionally the dukes have tried various political moves to control the Lord Mayors, with varying degrees of success over the years. This has often led to bitter rancor between the two bodies, which has contributed to the antagonistic attitude that exists today between the two cities.

The Lord Mayor of Lower Razina today is Guillén Rois de Tárrega. He is a middle-aged noble who has been in office for over a decade, and is proud of the fact that he's never set foot on any territory that belongs to the duchy. He has a good relationship with the military commandant that still guards the fort, and as such, ensures that goods for his people can still flow from the tablelands above, but also that they are all taxed and tarriffed appropriately. Simultaneously, he has cultivated a number of relationships with other seafaring powers to further reduce any reliance on the duchy. His ace in the hole is a deep cave that goes deep into the cliff behind the Lord Mayor's palace, and which leads to a deep freshwater lake and spring, keeping Lower Razina supplied with fresh water. Lower Razina under de Tárrega has become a major trading hub, and traffic from east and west in the Mezzovian frequently stops here--contributing to the city's coffers. However, his efforts to broker independence from Upper Razina and the Duchy, as well as deal with various other powers on the coast, has led to a certain negligence to internal affairs; and the city is firmly in the grip of organized crime. While this doesn't necessarily hurt the daily life of its citizens overmuch--unless they object to the corruption--the city is one that is abnormally quiet and its citizens frequently cast furtive looks over their shoulders. There is a fearful ambiance to lower Razina, as the criminal strongmen are capable of doing whatever they please and the only way anything approaching justice will catch up to them is if their higher-ups decide that their actions jeopardize the operations of the syndicate as a whole.

While the criminals have a number of hidden smuggling runs up the cliff-face; mostly carefully concealed narrow chimneys in the rocks, or long, out of the way hikes that go around the wall altogether, the main way to enter upper Razina from lower Razina is through the fort. Because this is controlled by the neutral, Crown appointed military commandant, it takes a policy of strict neutrality in the feud against the Lord Mayors and the Dukes, and ensures that at least some traffic, particularly that which travels on the Crown's business, is unmolested. Otherwise, many visitors who are on their way to upper Razina are best served by landing at another harbor entirely, such as more southerly Porto D'Albis, and traveling by land to upper Razina.

Upper Razina is a bit more rustic and rural in nature, existing primarily because it is the Duke's capital and because of the distinguished Universitat de Razina. Farmers and ranchers otherwise bring their livestock to market here (although they can't ship it abroad without paying tarriffs to lower Razina that are economically prohibitive). River traffic also stops here from inland, and from there often is loaded onto caravans that are headed to Porto D'Albis or its more northerly sister, Vega Baixa. The river used to pour over the cliff into the harbor, but a past duke diverted its course so that it now misses lower Razina entirely. The Acting Duke of Razina today is Antonio Larroca i Vives, and he is a young, charismatic man who has also taken to courting the favor of foreign powers. (The actual duke is Esteve Gregorio de Galdames de Rossolló, who is the "emperor" of Terrasa, so the administrative responsibilites go to Lord Antonio. Confusingly, he is also a duke, although he is a duke technically without a duchy; he is only acting duke in regards to the administration of the Upper Razina duchy.) Although he does not want to give any concessions to his rival de Tárrega in lower Razina, he actually is not terribly interested in the feud between the two Razinas, and is much more concerned with the separatist sentiment that has been sweeping the northern shore of the Mezzovian. Much of his foreign diplomacy has been around building a strong base so that if (or more likely, when) he decides that the Duchy of Razina is no longer subject to the Terrasan Crown, that he has the support he needs to make a go of it alone, subdue the token military that Terrasa has left behind, and then militarily conquer lower Razina if needed.

While upper Razina is not as notoriously corrupt as lower Razina, it's still a haven for organized crime as well, and a brisk smuggling business gets goods from one Razina to the other, and from there to other markets. Protection rackets are less common here than below, however, the Upper Watch is mostly honest, if a bit undermanned.

Campaigns which have action in Razina should take advantage of the local Cold War environment. The cliff face is, in many ways, not unlike the Berlin Wall, and both upper and lower Razina are hotbeds for intrigue, often of an international flavor. Also, like every city in DARK•HERITAGE, which must be some variety of "wretched hive of scum and villainy" by default, organized crime plays a major role in the workings of the city, especially in lower Razina, although smuggling is a huge operation in both. Both the Duke and the Lord Mayor turn a blind eye to some of it (if nothing else, it makes seafood a possibility up top, and red meat and other vegetables and fruits much more viable down below--and the nobles of both halves of Razina like variety in their diet). The Universitat is also a major source of potential plot hooks. If nothing else, it's got a sinister reputation as a place where forbidden knowledge can be found if one knows how to look. Historically, it was the scene of riots when the Book of the Black Prince was published by the Academy of History, a part of the Universitat, and even today desperate figures whispering to shady professors and curators is a sight that is not unusual on the Universitat's grounds.

Sarabasca

The exotic jann have a powerful island and coastal state in the caliphate of al-Qazmir, but it mostly exists outside of the Mezzovian Sea region. The Golden Peninsula is more and more becoming an important part of the caliphate, and it does have at least one major Mezzovian port city in the form of Qarizaq. The island town of al-Marraq is the westernmost seafaring settlement of al-Qazmir, but it still falls well beyond the sphere of inluence of any Terrasan city, even Sènt-Haspar. Nevertheless, that wasn't always true, and Terrasan influence used to stretch all along the coastline of the Mezzovian, reaching to the Shipwreck Strait and beyond to the northern shore. The farthest east major settlement of the Terrasans was Basarabeasca.

Basarabeasca was only reachable by ship, since the vampire nation of Tarush Noptii cut it off from the mainland on the north. Because of that, it was only ever at best a fairly wild frontier region, and not heavily settled. The natives of the area spoke a language that was obviously closely related to Terrasan, but difficult if not completely impossible to understand for the Terrasans. Under the influence of Terrasan traders, soldiers, and even settlers, many of these "East Terrasan" speakers found their language gradually migrating to something more similar to standard Terrasan, as it picked up loan words and even loan structure from its relative. But by and large Sarabascan exists as a separate language, still common in the far eastern region of the Mezzovian, especially on the north shoreline. On the south shoreline, it's being rapidly replaced by Qazmiri, as the jann's kingdom expands that direction.

As the Terrasan Empire's might faded, far-flung areas that were under its influence found themselves left to their own devices. Calça is the most notorious of these areas, earning the subtitle of the Forgotten Province, but the far eastern lands were abandoned even earlier. Technically, they were never incorporated into the Empire in the first place; they were merely areas that had some Terrasan influence, trade, settlers, or perhaps they gave a nod of recognition to the Empire in Terrasa without surrendering any actual local authority. Basarabeasca was the most important and largest of these north shore cities, but several neighbors sprang up over time as well.

As Terrasa retreated westward, many of the actual Terrasans (or their descendants) remained in the area of Basarabeasca, now shortened after decades of use to Sarabasca. Independent Sarabasca saw many of its trade relationships dry up, but to encourage the further influx of money, the ruler of the city repealed a number of anti-smuggling and piracy statutes and opened the city to trade that was perhaps gathered in more ilicit ways than before. While many Sarabascans naturally did not welcome this change, most were indifferent, and the wealthy were happy to see goods and gold flowing into the city again. Jobs were available, on the crews of ships, on the docks, or working in the growing security industry--making sure life and property weren't threatened by the rougher crews. For a time, Sarabasca enjoyed a sometimes friendly rivalry with its far western spiritual brother, Porto Liure, which was also a haven for pirates, privateers and other frequently less savory traffic on the Mezzovian Sea. Many captains who's activities ranged the entire inner sea were, of course, familiar faces in both ports. But at about the time Porto Liure was undergoing its gradual transition from lawless pirate haven to legitimate and independent city-state, Sarabasca was undergoing a completely different kind of transformation.

As al-Qazmir consolidated its position on the Golden Peninsula and founded (or conquered and renamed) the cities of Qarizaq, Tayyebat and the island port of al-Marraq, only naturally they greedily looked at the shores of the northern Mezzovian sea as well. Their armies and navies, heavily supplemented by mercenaries from amongst the eastern peoples who were similar in language and customs to the Terrasans (although never part of the Terrasan empire) thus founded the province of "North al-Qazmir." However, North al-Qazmir was never as thoroughly "Qazmirized" as the Golden Peninsula and some of the eastern islands were. A political crisis, partially brought on by the strained budget of paying this conquering army, seized the Qazmiri capital of Qattara. Finally, most of the troops were recalled, and the province largely left to its own devices. However, this compromise was orchestrated by a number of Qazmiri who remained in the area, including the sultan installed at Sarabasca (called just Sarab by the Qazmiri.) For the benefit of paying a "tribute"--not a tax, which would imply a more direct and centralized relationship than exists, al-Qazmir would leave Sarab alone.

Many Qazmiri, both jann and human, migrated into the area as all this happened, and in the years since. al-Qazmir has not made a concerted attempt to bring North al-Qazmir under direct control again, and as long as token tribute comes from Sarab and some of the rest of the major settlements in the area, that status quo has not been challenged. In fact, many of the locals do not use the name North al-Qazmir for the area at all, and many of the backcountry locals have never even heard of al-Qazmir or seen a jann in their life. The coastal regions have gradually become a hybrid of Qazmiri, Terrasan and local culture, however, and most Sarabascans speak all three languages fluently just to get through their day to day routine. The sultan of Sarab is the most important figure in the area, and he plays a sometimes dangerous political game, trying to ensure his independence and safety from reprisals of both al-Qazmir and Terrasa, and to keep the rivalry with Porto Liure from boiling over into hostilities, and ensure that Tarush Noptii keeps quiet as well.

The entire area has recently acquired the nickname of the Barbary Coast, and corsairs from Sarabasca and other cities in the region range all over the Mezzovian Sea and even beyond Shipwreck Strait on occasion. These barbary pirates are more likely to indulge in the slave trade, raiding ships and even coastal regions for captives to sell in the markets of Qarizaq or Qadat, while the pirates who operate near the Tolosas are more likely to steal ships or cargo and ransom the prisoners, or even simply leave them stranded on some lonely coast to make their way as best they can back to civilization. For this reason, they are more likely to be feared by the Terrasans who are their targets. However, the Barbary corsairs are also not as likely to be as dangerous to larger ships, as they have few square-masted vessels and much lighter armaments and smaller boarding crews.

Many pirates, of course, recognize no port as their home, and travel freely from Porto Liure to Sarab, and other ports besides. In fact, there is a growing number of expatriate Terrasans who are moving to Sarab, and occasionally even from there to other ports that are even more thoroughly entrenched in Qazmiri culture. As Terrasa's power and influence wanes, al-Qazmir's waxes, at least in the far eastern shores of the Mezzovian, in many respects there are more opportunities there than in remaining in the west.

Dark•Heritage: Calça, the "forgotten province"

Keisa Alawasmu turned to her shaggy companion with a smirk. "I don't think they like your kind here, Najat."

The young wildman growled deep in his throat like an animal, snarling at the suspicious faces all around him. His hand drifted slowly towards his gunbelt, but stopped when he saw the angry eyes of the native Calçans, who were reaching for their own weapons--hunting rifles and old swords mostly, but deadly enough. Especially when there were close to thirty of them.

"Look," Najat Chuluun said placatingly, raising his hands in a friendly gesture. "We don't want any trouble. We're just passing through."

The locals starting jeering. "Nobody comes to Calça who doesn't want trouble. Nobody else remembers that we're even here. And especially nobody crosses through the Bisbal Forest unless they come directly from one of the bandit companies. You two better start talking, and your story better be good."

Keisa looked like she'd just been slapped in the face. She put her hand to her chest and mouthed the word, "me?" stunned that she was just as suspect as her shaggy friend. But when the local spokesman cocked his rifle, she started talking fast, hoping that the story she was making up was good enough...

When the Terrasan Empire's reach was at its greatest extent, it was conquering and settling lands far to the north of the Mezzovian Sea, coming into conflict with Untash and Tazitta Tribesman, and even the Baal Hamazi empire itself. Old cities that had been capitals of earlier kingdoms, like Razina and Iclezza, were conquered and expanded, and Terrasans flooded the area bringing their language, their culture, and their architecture. However, the lands to the west of the Bisbal Forest, nestled between what was later named the d'Acs Sea and the Vajol Downs, were almost completely uninhabited. The forest opened up into green meadows and rolling hills here, and to farmers from Terrasa--or to northerners looking to leave the increasingly Terrasanized northlands, it was highly desireable land. An archduke was appointed to govern this new territory, and it was given the name of Calça. For several generations settlers moved into this land, mostly farmers, and while it was never a rich or populous land, it was fertile and easily self-sufficient, and wine and olives and other crops grown in Calça were exported throughout the Terrasan sphere of influence.

As Imperial reach was strained, however, merchants and Imperial officials became more rare. About a hundred and fifty years ago, Imperial attention was drawn to the Pirates' War, as it was called, which ended with the declaration of Porto Liure as a free city-state right smack dab in the middle of the Mezzovian Sea, on the Tolosan island of Gandesa. Resources for Calça were appropriated for the war effort. For a time, Archdukes continued to administer the province, with his personal guard serving as soldiers and constables of a sort, but when the last Archduke died mysteriously fifteen years ago, his twin heirs never seen publicly and suspected of being demons, any official government collapsed completely.

This lack of imperial attention made the shadowy Bisbal Forest an attractive destination for bandits and other outlaws. As they became increasingly more dangerous, the roads connecting Calça to the rest of the empire gradually closed and fell into disuse except by the strongest and most well-armed of caravans... which themselves had little incentive to undertake the hazardous journey. The local Calçans found that they were under seige themselves from the bandits, and organized local militias to fend them off on the eastern edges of their province. Unpaid rangers were commissioned by the local rural village and town heads, and were seen by most as heroic figures. Rangers traditionally can request food and shelter from any homestead and Calça and except in situations of extreme hardship, can expect it to be gladly granted; their service to the area is seen as invaluable.

Today, Calça remains mostly rural. Small farming communities, logging communities on the fringes of the forest, and even fishing communities on the shores of the d'Acs Sea dot the area, but there are no large cities or population centers. The Archduke's old town, Baix Colomers, is the largest in the area, but it's still only a few thousand people. Because it's so cut off, and has been for some time, Calça is sometimes called "the forgotten province" when it is, in fact, remembered at all. The locals are tight-knit and suspicous of outsiders, as in their experience very few people come to Calça for any good reasons.

That has partially started to change, however. A number of bandits, and the young descendents of bandits from the forest have tired of their hard-scrabble, violent lifestyle and have gradually trickled into Calça to settle down. For the most part, these folks pretend to be local Calçans from a far-off village or hamlet, but more and more the locals see through this. They are reluctantly welcomed after a long period of time during which they are seen as objects of extreme suspicion. Perhaps more disturbing to the locals is a trickle of refugees from the north, crossing over from the Downs into Calça. It doesn't help that these people are very foreign; they don't speak the Terrasan language, or even the balshatoi language very often, they dress funny, and many of them are clearly descended from daemons. While awareness of the wider world is not something that most Calçans can boast of, at the same time, they are one of the first groups to start to get garbled and incomplete reports of what is happening in the northlands of Baal Hamazi and the supposed rise of Hutran Kutir--but they are at a complete loss as to what's to be done about it.