Servai

Welcome to Servai, on the Southern Shore of the Andraz Sea.

Servai is the gem of the world. This beautiful and wondrous land is divided into four city-states. The Four Divine Sisters, Rose, Eden, Lorelii, and Cherica, rule the city-states named in their honor. Rulership is handed down from mother to daughter, with each new sovereign accepting her new status by throwing off the shackles of worldly ties (birthname, siblings, parents, etc). Each Divine Sister believes herself to be appointed by the Goddess herself and acknowledged as kin.

Understandably, Servai is a very religious place. The people worship the Goddess (kind of a cross between Mother Nature and the Romans' Zeus) and every child upon reaching his/her majority at the age of 16 must undergo a trial administered by the Goddess herself. This includes a lavish feast, ceremony and all-night vigil for the wealthy and only the vigil for the very poor. Trials must be conducted at one of the many temples of Servai and supervised by the priests. Both men and women can be priests; they are the most highly-respected denizens of Servai, subject only to their own conservative and strict code of conduct and reporting to their own heirarchy, which even bypasses the Divine Sisters.

The land of Servai is a hot and steamy tropical rain forest. The majority of the land remains untouched. Only the cities have carved their own mark upon the forests. Below are descriptions of the four main cities and their immediate outskirts. On the map, you might say Cherica is midway between Rabat and Algiers, Rose is Tunis, Lorelii is Tripoli, and Eden is Giza.

Servaians consider their society to be on the cutting edge. They have the best of everything: the finest warriors, smartest children, holiest priests, noblest rulers, etc. They view Northern Servaians as a people who need protecting, since they are so primitive. Northern Servai is treated civily, but as if the people are incapable of understanding the far-superior technology and society of Servai. Lutchans, on the other hand, are a barbaric people who still worship multiple gods who all still require life sacrifices. They chant and do war dances for good luck. Lutchans can't read or write; they have no written language, so their culture cannot possibly be very advanced. Certainly not like Servai.

Servaians are haughty and arrogant, believing themselves to be far superior to any other race and therefore invincible. The thought of anyone even attempting to challenge them is unthinkable. Ludicrous, even. (except for the Titans, but Servai prefers to ignore that unpredictable race, rather than admit there might be someone who could wrest control of the world away) Such is their belief in their own superiority, Servaians are raised with the attitude that their way is right and all others wrong. And, a good Servaian is one who can persuade any doubters to concede to Servai's authority. Servaians are so stuck in this rut that they do not have the ability to recognize that someone else might have a good idea once in a while.

In appearance, those of Servai are fairly average built, men averaging about 5'8" and women at 5'4". Hair is a way to display wealth; if you can afford to care for such long hair, you must be wealthy indeed. Similarly, if you can afford to spend long days indoors out of the sun (that is, you aren't a common laborer) your pale skin is also a way to display wealth. Their tastes tend toward ightweight, colorful clothes, reminiscent of the beautiful birds that inhabit the jungle rainforests. Hair varies in shades of browns and blondes, though children of the wealthy have taken to dying their hair peculiar shades of reds, blues, purples, greens, and pinks. People go mostly barefoot or in sandals and attire for both men and women is much the same. Servaians are mostly well-educated, with most knowing at least two languages.

There is some dissimilarity between the city-states, as far as dress and appearance go, but trends often change. Servaians seek out the exotic and the different. Their strong drive for exploration and adventure often sends the young to far off places with some unusual results.

Cherica

Situated at the far west of Servai, Cherica is the largest of the four city-states. Cherica borders the ocean to North and West, Rose on the East and a large, open plain to the South.

This country has the distinction of being home to the Order of the Rose, the Militant arm of the priesthood. These holy warriors protect the peace and security of the peoples of Servai and undergo many quests to bring themselves and their order honor. Their most recent endeavor is to convert the heathens of Lutchun to the faith.

Cherica is known for their Rose Knights (as they are informally called) above all and the numerous contests of arms to keep them healthy and fit. Exports include mainly weapons and armour. Imports iclude wine, art of all forms, horses, and women (the male to female ratio is Cherica is 4 to 1).

Rose

Bordered by Cherica on the West, the sea to the North, the plains to the South, and Lorelii to the East, Rose is home to the scholar.

Counter to Cherica's athletes and love of competition, Rose values education above all else. Here the priests of the Goddess labor in vast libraries to write down the history of the world. Their endless task is to recopy old and decrepit tomes of history to keep the knowledge from being lost.

Rose has strict policies on behavior, even to go so far as to impose a curfew. This city-state has the fewest Rose Knights to uphold the peace, but also the lowest crime-rate in the known world.

Rose has few actual temples. The priests of Rose live within the libraries, heavily fortified against the hot and humid weather. The people admire and protect anything old and anything new is looked upon with disfavor and suspicion. They abhor violence of any kind (the last murder commited in Rose was over a hundred years prior).

Seemingly idylic, Rose is also home to the Dread Pirate Ghirarct (the Scourge of Andraz), the greatest percentage of poor, and the highest number of alcoholics (though they do not recognize the disease as such) in all Servai. Taxes are heavy, with many young children being apprenticed in the other three city-states in order for the family to survive. This of course leads to a lack of population (few who leave willingly return).

Exports are books, music, poetry, jewelry, clothing, painting, and children. Imports include foodstuffs, wine, music, books, jems, cloth, and anything that could be construed as a relic or an artifact.

Lorelii

Lorelii is the largest of the city-states, with a population of almost half a million. Bordered by the Andraz to the North, Rose to the West, Eden to the East, and the Mountains of Luz to the South, Lorelii is the business district.

Everyone is an entrepreneur in Lorelii. From infancy, every child is taught the finer points of trade and politics. The merchants of Lorelii have blazed trade roads across the known world and have even dared to venture into the unknown. Few are the people who cannot claim a pirate in the family. Competition in the marketplace is almost as entertaining and dangerous as the Arenas of Cherica.

After a person's majority, he/she is required by law to serve aboard ship for a minimum term of 5 years, whereupon, returning safely, he/she is allowed to open up his/her own business. There are no formal schools in Lorelii, except for the stint upon the sea, and the underground thieves' guild.

Lorelii is the only city-state to acknowledge and award their thieves. The Divine Sister annually invites all her subject to the "Thieves' Ball," a masked affair in which the thief is the star. Early in the evening, the Divine Sister places an object of great worth onto a pedestal in the center of the festivites, surrounded by heavy guard and thousands of watching eyes. Anyone caught trying to capture the object is immediately put to death. The winner, however, is the one who succeeds. He/she is then promoted to the head of the Thieves' Guild and is thus responsible for the actions of the other members. The most notorious winner is the Dread Pirate himself, but the title is now held by a minor priest, formerly a sibling to the current Divine Sister Lorelii.

Exports and imports include everything under the sun. A common saying is, "We all end up in Lorelii sooner or later."

Eden

To Eden's East is the Three-Mile River, a fast-moving flow that moves from south to north, the only one of its kind. North is the Andraz, West is Lorelii, and South is a seemingly endless and rugged desert.

The people of Eden are quiet folk, minding their own business. They come together in a group very seldom, unless the Divine Sister is about. This particular Divine Sister has traditionally worked alongside her people and therefore garners great love and respect. She loves flowers and lives within a miles-wide maze of beautiful gardens.

Eden's people have a particular affinity with the land. They seek to become one with nature, rather than bend the land to their own whims. There is only one corner of this city-state that seems to contradict this effort and that is the assortment of mines nestled up to the hills bordering the Western edge of the desert and Lorelii. Wagonloads of precious minerals and gems are driven to the market each and every day. The majority of Eden's population lives and works below ground.

Another diverse group in Eden are the nomads. Once kin to the people of Eden, these desert wanderers eke out a living beneath the burning sun. Their wealth is measured by their horses. Though seldom seen, Eden's desert horses are the envy of the rest of the known world. Every few years, one of the nomads will come forth to race against the Rose Knights of Cherica and win. Though many have tried, no one has won a race against a horse of the desert.

Exports of Eden include mostly the riches pulled from the bowels of the earth, but also quantities of grains and foodstuff. They import very little.