[WATTYS 2024 SHORTLIST] Born with glowing green eyes. Destined for rotten luck.
Peasant girl Meya Hild was "given" the opportunity to become a Lady. At swordpoint. By mercenaries. Engaged to a dying nobleman. Poisoned with one month to live. Tasked...
Gather round, folks. All those weird Latakian jargon and cultural quirks that have since been mentioned or revealed are collected here.
(A/N: Meya will update this gradually as the poor lass learns more of her world)
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Latakia
Map of Latakia
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Latakia is a small, young kingdom populated by people of various races and cultures. The west of Latakia is settled by people displaced from their homelands by Nostra's westward expansion prior to the dragon age, forced to walk through the Zarel Pass to the great unknown. Whereas sea trade brought Tyldorn and the Southern Isles blood to the east and south, respectively.
Geography
The shape of Latakia is roughly hexagonal. With the capital city of Aynor at its heart, it is divided into six regions named after the regional capital: Icemeet (N), Easthaven (NE), Damerel (SE), Aquar (S), Meriton (SW), and Hythe (NW).
Latakia has two routes of sea trade: Easthaven Port; where ore ships would depart for Everglen, and merchant ships from Tyldorn carrying fabric, artisan glass and other luxury goods would dock, and Southmeathe Port; where merchant ships from the Southern Isles carrying spices and tropical crops would dock.
Latakia is accessible from Nostra via the Zarel Pass and Galwerth Pass. The Zarel Pass meanders across the canyonlands between Neverend Heights and Greentail Ridge, heavily manned and guarded by Amplevale Fortress. Plagued by earthquakes, rockfalls, poisonous gas and volcano eruptions, for centuries the Zarel Pass and the far east were largely ignored by Nostra as folly.
The Galwerth Pass sits next to the estuary of the Zarel River, guarded by Graye Fortress. Although the pass itself is significantly less arduous than the Zarel, the sheer breadth of the Zarel estuary, distance from the capital, and the presence of Meriton prove just as effective as deterrents for Nostran expansion.
Duchies
Icemeet - The frigid northern region, populated by small, nomadic mountain tribes. Icemeet is famous for its meat and dairy, especially beef and lamb.
Icemeet people usually have snowy skin that do not blemish in the sun, pale golden hair, and strikingly blue eyes. Icemeet men are taller and wider than men in other regions. They are a stoic people of few words, but can be surprisingly loud when they speak. They adore their picturesque nature and silence, at home on the green plateaus amid their herds of livestock. The Crossets have roots in Icemeet.
Icemeet sends sculpted tallow candles of various sizes to the Miracle Fest, honoring the light that sustains them through harsh wintry nights.
Easthaven - With vast plains to the east and long shores to the west, Easthaven is abundant in food and bustling with trade and tourism, and is easily the richest duchy of Latakia. Famous for its bizarre raw seafood dressed with fiery chilis, coastal Easthaven cuisine is not for the soft-bellied.
