Mesegña (/ mɛsægni/)

Mesegña, also known as "The Holy City of Mesegña" and "The Most Serene City of Mesegña", is the central power behind the Lucian Faith and a pilgrimage site for many followers of the Lucian Faith. The city was known to be the birthplace of the Lucian Faith's primary Saint — Saint Lucia the Lightbringer — in the final years of the Kadian Empire. Ever since the rise of the Faith to the dominant religion of Azora, Mesegña has been considered a holy site of great import, despite its less than stellar history.   Pilgrimages to Mesegña are traditionally held in the spring and autumn of each year.  

History

A Hellhole of Disease and Filth

Mesegña originated as a dumping place for those afflicted with leprosy, tuberculosis, and syphilis as well as unpardoned criminals in the early days of the Kadian Empire, where the residents were put to work in a nearby mine until succumbing to their afflictions or the poor working conditions. Mesegña had next to no amenities, and was regularly burned to the ground when the waste products piled too high. It was known to be a living hell to those both inside and out.  

Improving Conditions

Under the reigns of Aurilakades and Corvinikades, the tenth and eleventh Emperors of Kadirum respectively, the living conditions of Mesegña improved significantly. They were afforded a sewer system and multiple wells were dug so they no longer had to drink from the waste-polluted river running nearby. The village began to house more people, still mostly outcasts from society, but their livelihoods were much improved from those of the past. By the time Imogen — later Saint Lucia — was born in 311 PI, the village had two cobblestone roads quartering the town.  

Avoiding Civil War

Thanks to Mesegña's reputation as a backwater for the diseased and the downtrodden, it was largely left out of the civil war that ensued after the final Kadian Emperor — Leokades — was finally killed after becoming a Demon King. No news from the Empire came to the town even before the civil war started, so they were shocked when, twenty years after the start of the war, Leokades' former Empress — Imogen — came back to her home town of Mesegña bearing news of the Empire's fall.  

Becoming a Holy City

Mesegña only made its transition to being a holy place after the publication of the Eternitas, the holy books of the Lucian Faith. As the Faith spread, Mesegña gained donations from the populace, and as Imogen — renamed Lucia by her followers — introduced ways of communicating with the Dium to the people in its streets, its fame grew until finally becoming the opulent city it is today.