Carif

  The Sovereignty of Carif lies between the northern Weeping Mountains, and the west coast of Erask. The mines of the mountains yield great riches for the region, while the lowland plains have good farming and the coastal waters teem with fish. As a result, the Sovereignty is a wealthy state, with that prosperity unusually distributed across the population, thanks to the influence of the powerful mining unions of Calchis and Stannisa. The only poor land is the marshes of the coastal plain, which are brackish and unwelcoming. They are, however, peppered with pockets of Primeval Wilderness.   The Sovereignty has three leaders, each known by their token of office. The Fisher Crown is the head of the northern coastal community and the north-western farmers, elected by and from the elders of those communities and sitting in the harbour city of Westport. The north-eastern farming elders and the stewards of the mines in the northern mountains elect the Copper Coronet, a leader who sits in the mountain city of Calchis. Finally, the southern miners, farmers and fisherfolk elect from their leaders the Barley Wreath, who sits in Stannisa.   The Three Crowns of Carif form a ruling council which, in theory at least, represents all people in the Sovereignty. Each position is elected in an annual gathering at their home city, and every seven years one of the three sitting Crowns is chosen to enter into a seven year union with the Sovereignty's patron deity, the God of the Golden Sword, and so become Sovereign of the nation. The Sovereign vanishes from mortal sight for the duration of their pact, returning to pass on the bond to their successor, and to then sit for seven years as a mediator between the three.