Kaneica

Kaneica is a city on the Preic coast. It was never counted among the great cities, often little more than a stopover for merchants and travelers. Its more illustrious neighbors, such as Sataren and Pereui, cast long shadows that kept Kaneica overlooked by most.   Kaneica was once a walled city. Long ago, it began as a small fishing port, gradually growing into a prosperous community that enclosed itself behind an earthen wall. On a nearby hill, an acropolis was built, crowned with a temple to Olodon, god of the sea and sea creatures.   When the southern empire of Delasis conquered the Preic lands, the people of Kaneica resisted fiercely, and paid the price. The city was razed to the ground, wiped from the map. The Preic poet Siredanes wrote of his visit to the ruined city, noting that not a single stone remained. So thoroughly had the Delasians done their work that the only trace of a former settlement was the unnaturally flat ground. That, and the temple, still standing silently on the hill.   For over two centuries the site lay abandoned, the temple forgotten. But after an age of darkness had passed, the Preians who had fled to the eastern hills and mountains returned. They resettled around the old temple and rebuilt.   They walled in the temple, as well as the new settlement. In a short span of time, the people of Kaneica rebuilt a modest but thriving port, one that began to attract more and more merchant ships. A fortress was constructed near the southern wall, with the main gate placed between the acropolis and the new fort. A theatre and agora formed the city’s heart, while various temples, villas, and palaces rose across its districts. Though never a rival to great cities like Sataren or Pereui, Kaneica enjoyed a time of peace and prosperity.   The people of Kaneica are a resilient folk. They work long and hard, on their fields, in their boats, and upon their strong walls. In those days, they maintained a small but disciplined army. Aware of their city’s tragic past, they embraced that legacy as their own. They saw themselves as scarred, just as the city had been, and were willing to fight for what they had rebuilt, down to the last soldier. And they would do so, sooner than they wished.   Far to the south, on an isolated island, the city of Pifor the Great had risen as a formidable military power, subjugating one Preic city after another. In the fifth century, this led to the First Preic War, during which Pifor gained a foothold on the mainland. By the seventh century, Pifor pressed onward, founding an empire in what became known as the Great Preic War. It was during this conflict that the mighty city turned its gaze north, toward Kaneica.   Proud as ever, Kaneica refused to submit and resisted with all its strength. But the might of Pifor was too great. The Kaneicans fought long and hard, true to their word, down to the last soldier. Every defender on Kaneica’s walls fell the day Pifor attacked. The city was taken by force, and its people made into a warning for all who dared resist. Every man and firstborn son was executed. The rest were sold into slavery. It was the second fall of Kaneica. Parts of the city were destroyed, but Pifor chose to restore the damage and resettle the city, using it as a strategic outpost.   In the tenth century, the oppressed cities of the region formed the League Against Pifor. With aid from the northern merchant republic of Assaen, they began to reclaim cities under Pifor’s rule. Once again, Kaneica came under siege. The attackers broke through the eastern wall and captured the city by force. Assaen left a garrison to hold it until the war’s end, and from that day on, Kaneica remained under Assaenese control. After Pifor’s fall, the city was formally incorporated into the Republic of Assaen. The damaged walls were rebuilt in Assaen’s architectural style, and to this day, the stark contrast between old and new is clearly visible when approaching the city from the east.   In the eleventh century, Assaen itself was annexed by the Republic of Callaern, and so Kaneica became part of Callaern as well. The new rulers appointed a magistrate loyal to Callaern to govern the city, one eager to serve the republic in order to preserve his own power. Under his leadership, a new district of warehouses and shipyards was built outside the southern gate, all in hopes of drawing greater trade to Kaneica.   Even now, the cities of Sataren and Pereui rise tall above modest Kaneica, but the magistrate has a vision: to make his city the wealthiest and most influential on the Preic coast, greater than Sataren, Pereui, or even Pifor ever dreamed. Ambition? Or delusion? Time will tell.   Today, Kaneica feels like a place suspended between memory and ambition. Though its walls are strong and its harbor busy, there is still a certain quietness to the town, a sense that it remembers the weight of its past. The people move with purpose but without haste. Farmers and fishermen work side by side with traders and shipbuilders, by the acropolis and the creaking masts in the harbor. The air carries the scent of seawater, pine, and sun-warmed stone, and the streets are filled with murmurs of steady industry rather than the clamor of greatness. Kaneica does not yet rival its towering neighbors, but it breathes like a city gathering its strength.   Today’s inhabitants of Kaneica have little direct connection to the city’s original founders. Most are emigrants from Assaen or the fallen state of Pifor. Yet the story of the city endures, and matters deeply to its people. Even now, Kaneicans identify as a disciplined and proud people, ready to fight for their freedom to the bitter end.