Sespanos

 

Large Town: Population 3,141 (65% human, 22% vesperkin, 6% letheni, 7% other)

 

History

Sespanos is what many in Aellorah would consider to be a paradise. It is a coastal town with beautiful scenery and a sense of peace many places can only dream of, as Sespanos is the only settlement throughout all of Aellorah that has no Wellspring anomalies or dangers within 100 miles of the town. Additionally, despite technically being part of the Rathmore Empire's territory, the Empire has entirely forgotten about its presence, leaving the town untouched by Colton Rathmore's cruelty. This is mostly due to how remote the town is, being located beyond a mountain range, and because the town does not provide anything important to the Empire.

Sespanos was founded in the late Upheaval period following the formation of the Rathmore Empire. Its founders were fleeing the oppression of the Empire, and sought a hiding place. They decided to traverse the Gaharedenath, a dangerous forest inhabited by Blights, corrupt animate plants that had infested the forest. Among the founders were a circle of druids fleeing the Empire's anti-magic rhetoric and persecution. These druids were able to safely guide the town's founders to the other side, leaving traps behind them to keep the Empire away. When they finally emerged on the other side, they established the town and the druids who came with them set out to protect the town from the Blights, who would occasionally emerge from the forest to attack.

Though the druids were able to keep the blights at bay for a time, taking the defensive was not working, and Sespanos was constantly under threat. They decided to take the offensive, and began to purge the forest of these Blights, an act which wrought havoc on the ecosystem as a side effect. But there were only a dozen of these druids, and this war was taking its toll on their number. Eventually, every last Blight was purged from the Gaharedenath, but at great cost; only one of these druids remained -- Sevona Kanath, a young Letheni woman. She began to cleanse the land of the corruption brought by the Blights, a slow process which took centuries due to her inexperience. However, the townsfolk of Sespanos had forgotten her in the passage of time. When she returned, they had forgotten magic and saw her as a witch, and cast her out. Ever since, she has dwelt within the forest she spent so long cleansing, alone. The town has long forgotten her contributions to their founding and the sacrifices she has made, and fear her due to her magic. She continues to maintain the natural defenses keeping the Myrmidoni away; however, with her circle gone, the town will be defenseless when she passes.

 

Government

Though Sespanos is part of the Rathmore Empire, its people are largely unaware of it. Their isolation keeps them blissfully unaware of Myr's ongoing war. With no oversight from the Empire, Sespanos has acted autonomously for many years, appointing their own "Restamir", or Elder, to oversee the logistics and laws of the town. The Restamir is chosen by an informal vote held every 10 years, requiring only that those putting their name forth as candidates be age 40 or older and have proven knowledge of the town's laws.

The town has fairly straightforward laws that should be obvious to most even without having ever heard them; however, their system of punishment is what defines their legal system. Though murder is rare in Sespanos, it is punished by having the offender dragged down to the seashore and drowned. Unfortunately, there is no access to the Truthseekers or investigative bodies, so the Sespamudid often drag away the most obvious suspect without due process. This has been weaponized a number of times, with guilty parties leaving behind evidence to implicate someone else to cover their tracks. Theft is extremely uncommon in Sespanos to the point of being practically non-existent. However, those who do choose to steal, whether out of envy or for the thrill, face having a hand cut off for the offense; with the third offense resulting in a beheading. These punishments are doled out privately to avoid ruining the town's peaceful image.

Despite the brutal punishments for these crimes, Sespanos has no jails due to having practical punishments for offenses. But the reality behind that being that false accusations and being punished for crimes you did not commit are far more likely than in other parts of the world. Other crimes have similar punishments that "fit the crime", meant to discourage it from ever happening, much less repeat offenders.

 

Economy

Given how isolated the town is, they do not participate in trade; domestic or foreign. They have a currency system, but do not use coins due to metal being scarce. Instead, they exchange precious coral, shells, and pearls found in the reef below the waters of the sea that divers bring back. It is not a perfect system, as despite there being a law to report recovery of these items to the Restamir, some will seek these materials on their own, resulting in having more currency in circulation than is known. The Sespamudid have ships that patrol around the reef to watch for divers, but they occasionally miss someone.

Given the finite supply of these materials from the reefs around the town, none in the town can have too much or too little, and items are fairly priced. It goes without saying that the most lucrative profession in Sespanos is to be a fisher or a diver. However, alchemists are well-respected due to the need for physicians and medicine. Due to the lack of a steady supply of metal, blacksmiths are an extreme rarity, with there only being one or two in the town at a time. Leatherworking is more useful, and many in the village wear clothing and accessories made from various types of leather. Stonemasonry is a valuable profession, but the nearest quarry is dozens of miles away, and without sophisticated transport methods, it is laborious to bring raw material to the town.

Despite the scarcity of metal in Sespanos, they are extremely valuable to the limited number of blacksmiths in town, making it the single most valuable commodity in the town, with iron and copper being the most sought after metals. None in the town have any knowledge of how to work with more obscure metals, such as Esciten or Doniten.

 

Notable Locations

• Cartasapis - This large coral reef off the coast of the town is the primary source of the "currency" used by the town. The reef spans at least a dozen miles and is populated by innumerable aquatic creatures. The coral within is overwhelmingly red in color. There are a handful of useful plants that can be salvaged from the reef that have medicinal uses, such as antidotes for poisons and diseases. The Sespamudid patrol the reef to look out for those who may attempt to recover coral or pearls undocumented, but the reef is too large to watch all of it.
• Gaharedenath - The forest to the southwest that runs along the road leading to the town. The locals avoid it whenever possible, because despite a lack of monsters or anomalies within, it is feared due to the presence of a Letheni woman named Sevona Kanath who lives within. She has lived there longer than any in the town can remember, and despite keeping mostly to herself, the locals are terrified of her, believing her to be a "witch", and attributing disappearances in the town to her. In reality, she is a kindly druid who practices herbalism. She knows the locals fear her, and so she keeps away. What the locals do not know is that she is one of the reasons that their village has remained in obscurity for so long, as she uses her magic to keep travelers away, acts which have been attributed to an anomaly by outsiders.

 

Culture

The sea is incredibly important to Sespanos, being the source of not only its food and currency, but also its entertainment and even their religious beliefs. Given the peaceful nature of the town and its placid sea, in the unusual event that a storm does bring turbulence to the sea, its residents take it as a sign that they have done something wrong, or displeased Quen, who has a much larger following than Lekaris in the town. Her faithful claim to be able to divine the weather, using it to advise sailors of when to avoid the waters or where they can find the largest bounty; though most of them are simply con men.

Lekaris and Umos have a following in the town as well, with Lekaris' faithful expressing their creativity through crafts made of fish bones, paints made from coral, and sculptures. There is a tradition in the town where those seeking to court someone and propose marriage must craft a bracelet for their beloved with at least three pearls, with more pearls showing more dedication to their partner. With pearls being the most valuable denomination of the town's currency, this has unfortunately made it very difficult for some to marry; though this tradition seems to be mostly upheld among the Human population, with very few among the Vesperkin, Letheni, and others choosing to honor it. Umos' faithful organize public events, festivals, and hold midnight mass near the coastline under her moon's light.

The town has a handful of unique holidays and festivals that they celebrate. The most important event of the year is Thenarol, which occurs on Quen's full moon during the month of Quenten. It is a night festival during which residents of the town strip off their clothing to run into the cold, dark waters of the sea before rushing back to shore to dance around a large bonfire. The event is celebrated with specialty foods including Lagosanomas -- a freshwater fish commonly found in the lakes north of Sespanos that has a natural berry-like flavor to it; as well as Pegreltis, a popular dessert where cream is whipped and mixed with a compote made of wild berries, and topped with honey and eaten with shortbread cookies shaped like the moon. The festival continues until morning, and then folks rest for the next day.

Sespanos has very little exposure to magic due to the Rathmore Empire's long-standing suppression of such magic. Though it is not forbidden to practice magic in Sespanos, it is feared by the locals, who see it as volatile and destructive due to accidents that have made them mistrust those who practice it. Those seeking to practice magic of any kind must take care to find a safe place to hone their skills, as the locals are quick to call for magic users to be punished when they fumble a spell that harms or frightens them. Those who harm others with magic, whether accidental or otherwise, are publicly strung up outside town, with their limbs each individually tied to posts, to prevent them from using their magic, and left to rot.

 

Defenses

The town has their own local guard force appointed by the Restamir, called the Sespamudid. They dedicate a handful to patrol the borders of the town, but their primary duty is to patrol the town itself, as well as the sea just off the coast to look for shipwrecks, rescue stranded fishermen, and search for illicit activities. Though weapons are seldom needed, they are equipped with them and taught to use them in the event of an attack or a violent citizen. The Sespamudid use weapons made of fish bones, due to the scarcity of metals. They carry clubs and spears, as well as javelins.

The town has long been isolated from the outside world, and without the threat of monsters in the wild around them, they have never put much effort into building defenses around it. There are no walls, though there are a number of towers around the town used to get a higher view of the town and the sea to watch for those in need of help. However, the town's greatest defense is its ostracized silent protector, Sevona Kanath, the Letheni druid living in the Gaharedenath, who uses her druidic magic to repel those who attempt to approach the town from the wilderness to to the southwest. She has dwelt within the forest for centuries, possibly thousands of years, and despite the town's fear of her, she has upheld her self-appointed duty and protected the town since long before any alive in the town can remember.

 

Crime

Due to the town's rigid punishment system, crime is relatively rare. Murder is swiftly and brutally punished by the Sespamudid, and thieves who are foolish enough to be caught most often do not reoffend. The Sespamudid are widely supported by the public, and many citizens are quick to report sightings of crimes. The town makes up for its small number of guards by utilizing a public watch system, so they have eyes everywhere. The crimes that Sespanos most frequently has to deal with is debasement of currency, in which divers recover coral and pearls from the Cartasapis and do not report it, leading to there being more currency in circulation than what is known, depreciating its value. The Sespamudid does not have the numbers to patrol the entire reef, and divers are able to accomplish this with some tact. The punishment for this crime if caught is the same as theft on a first offense; removal of a hand. If caught doing it a second time, the offender has rocks tied to their feet and are cast into the ocean near the reef.

Another form of crime seen in Sespanos that leverages its rigid set of laws is extortion. Because of the lack of proper investigation into crimes, with the Sespamudid swiftly punishing crimes such as murder, some criminals will threaten to frame innocents for murder or theft if they do not pay tribute fees to them. There are a handful of gangs who look like everyday townsfolk who organize to bully wealthy folk into paying for their silence; otherwise, they run the risk of having a dozen random people claiming to have witnessed the victim kill someone; after which the gang will plant a body or stolen object for the Sespamudid to find. This crime has not gone unnoticed, and two gangs have been caught employing this despicable tactic in the town's history; after which, its members were all chained to posts in the town center and their tongues are cut out, after which they are left there for townsfolk to throw rotten food at for a few days.