Domain of Sozomon

Sozomon is one of the newest Domains to be discovered by Imperial explorers and added to the wider Constellation. Like most Domains, Sozomon is linked to the rest by a Relay path in Solomon's Reach. In this case, its link is near the border of the outer Agerman's Mounts and Grand March. It is technically within reach of locomotives flying from either Port Alnor and Cadworth but in practice most come from Port Alnor. The route from Cadworth is notoriously treacherous and Cadworth's position as a hotbed and center for Reachman Independents means most avoid that path. That said, arriving from Port Alnor is by no means easy.   The discovery of this Relay path is regarded as one of remarkable luck, as the crew surveying for such path points almost didn't bother trying in that region. They only did so when an attack by local sky-beasts forced the engine to seek refuge in a large asteroid belt and chose to try and wait out said beasts. The process of finding the exact point of the Relay path is finnicky but after a week of effort, the survey crew succeeded, launching themselves into a new wilderness.   Sozomon, as the survey crew found, is even more wild with life than Solomon's Reach and much brighter in its starlight. Most light in the Reach is bioluminescent and the other Domains tend to be on the darker side. Sozomon in contrast is bright enough that Imperials are required to wear stained-glass goggles until they adjust to the sheer brightness of the realm. The sheer number of massive, blazing stars that dominate the Domain has been but one factor which keeps Imperial settlement and exploration tempered in Sozomon. But such restrictions by no means prevent adventurous spirits from plunging into the wilds of Sozomon.   After the successful linking of Sozomon to Solomon's Reach, a short flurry of exploration into the new Domain occurred along with the creation of a handful of small ports. Sozomon is in some ways a middle point between Eleusynia and Scarlet Sea in its development and population. Like the Scarlet Sea, Sozomon has a native population but unlike that war torn realm said populace is mostly accepting of Imperial travelers. Like Eleusynia, Sozomon is disunited and thinly settled at best. Unlike either realm, Sozomon mostly owes this to its absolutely wild overgrowth. To Imperials, Sozomon is as if one took the riotous Kingswood of the Reach and made that a full Domain but even more wild. Navigation is nearly as difficult as Eleusynia and the sky-beasts are no less dangerous. Imperial charting of the region would not be half as good, however, without the honest aid of the native folk of Sozomon.   To the Empire, the natives of Sozomon are typically called either the Wild Men or the Fey, in reference to old myths from before the Evacuation of the mystically peoples of forests and nature. To both the Imperials and Sozomonians, the parallel is quite apt. The Fey of Sozomon live closely with the wilderness of their home and have long learned which places are safe and dangerous by the time of Imperial contact. The Wildmen in fact take pride in the name given by the Imperials, seeing it as an accurate descriptor of themselves. Up to this point, in fact, there was no concept of a single "Sozomonian" people, only the myriad tribes and Houses which split them even to the modern day. Most still regard their local identity as more important but find the Imperial collective label as quaint, especially since the Imperials rely very heavily on the Wild Folk for help in their Domain.   Imperial charting of Sozomon focuses less on Domain-level regions and more on important locales and ports. There are currently seven main ports that are common to most Imperial charts of Sozomon, with around a few dozen lesser sky-marks that change from chart to chart.   Isonbridge is the first port of call for any Imperial entering Sozomon for the simple reason that it is where the Transit Relay is located. Located two thirds of the way to the periphery from the core of Sozomon, Isonbridge is akin to Craster Manor in Eleusynia. Isonbridge is a true colony of the Empire in Sozomon. It was created shortly after the Relay path was found with the help of two local Houses of the Fey: the Houses of Leaves and Ivy. These were the two Houses which made real contact with the Empire and were enthralled with the novelties that the Imperial travelers brought with them. After much haggling with the leaders of House Leaves and Ivy, the Empire was able to acquire the region around the Relay and begin building a new Imperial settlement. This would become Isonbridge. The two Houses were welcomed with open arms into the growing Imperial port as they were instrumental in teaching the Imperials how to live in the wilds of Sozomon and basic etiquette with other clans and tribes. Each House would build a hall where they could interface with the local Imperials and the Leaf and Ivy Fey established their own quarters within Isonbridge known simply as the Fey Quarter. Legally, the whole port is managed by Imperial law but as a show of faith and friendship, many traditions and laws of the two Houses have been integrated into the legal code of Isonbridge, which are highlighted for new arrivals. Aside from this concession, the port is truly Imperial. While traditional industry is difficult given the peculiar nature of Sozomon, the port's engine forge Lighthollow Foundry is able to produce new engines. As it is a collaborative effort between an Imperial company and the Leaves and Ivy Houses, Lighthollow Foundry produces two lines of engine: a more traditional Imperial line (which is akin to those made elsewhere in the Empire) and the Sozomonian line. The Sozomon engines are true collaborations between Imperial and Fey and reflect this. Lighthollow engines made by the Fey crews are, to an Imperial, a wondrous creation. Each engine is designed to either resemble the natural environment or to resemble a sky-beast in appearance or function. The internals are generally made in the Imperial pattern but engines specifically requested by Fey Houses or clans will be made to their preferences. Most materials, particularly metal, are imports from Solomon's Reach but more and more interesting components are being sourced locally in Sozomon. But for now, trade with the Reach is the main way local engines are built. Isonbridge is the only real location where locomotive engines are made in Sozomon, as most clans prefer sky-beasts. But buying one is easy enough if a House desires one. For arriving Imperials, Isonbridge is a general purpose market with a focus on food, hardy wood based supplies and a dockyard for engine repair.   Xynnar is easily the most important port to Imperial crews, as it is the "capital" of Sozomon. In many ways, Xynnar is akin to Lunaris of Eleusynia. It is technically the capital of the Domain and as such is called that on Imperial charts. The sole reason for this is that most clans, Houses and tribes meet together at Xynnar for important festivals and meetings. It is Xynnar where most disagreements are settled, important community events are held and where most clans deal with Imperials formally at. Xynnar, like the Serpent Men capital, is not located in the middle of Sozomon. Its 'west' of the center of Sozomon and relatively close to the Imperial colony at Isonbridge.   Since most festivals and clans come and go, Xynnar fluctuates in population and activity. When there are no major events going on, Xynnar reverts to what it is: the quiet home of the House of the Plum. The Plum House is the great meditator among the clans of Sozomon for one simple reason, they make the very best wine in the Domain. Impressively, they've made a process for a non-alcoholic wine derived from flower petals that is just as flavorful as traditional wine, which is drunk during serious meetings to avoid drunkenness. When seriousness isn't needed, the wide array of exotic and distinct wines are opened for merriment and festivity. Since trade with the Empire has opened, Xynnar sourced wine is a massively valued commodity among the Imperial elite and great wealth is offered to acquire casks of House Plum wine for Imperial nobles, ministers and others.   Moving clockwise north of Xynnar is Zalfari, the gateway to some of the densest wild forest in all of Sozomon, Zalfen's Wilds. Zalfari as a port isn't fully static. It moves in a rough circle as the three clans of the port rotate leadership and clear portion of the forest away enough to allow for safe travel around them. The Zalfari tradition of moving in a circle began as a form of worship of the silver star Zalfen, one of the more prominent gods among the many clans of Sozomon. Those who favored Zalfen found that the glades where Zalfari lives are the best place to see His star, but only for a time until the silver star moves. As such, Zalfen's faithful would move with His star and clear space to be able to worship Him properly. Being the god of rituals, this whole arrangement pleases Zalfen and thus continues. As for the port itself, it is the only real safe point in Zalfen's Wilds and any Imperial explorers must make offerings at Zalfari before trying to chart the Wilds for interesting flora or fauna. The port itself sells products made from plants and beasts culled in the nomadic circle and various crafts made from said materials.   Next in the rotation, far beyond the wilds near Zalfari and roughly opposite Xynnar is Highstar Hall, home of the rebellious Highstar Grand House. The title of Grand House is rather literal, as several Houses have joined together under the Highstar banner mostly in opposition towards both the new Imperials and those clans who welcome them. While most houses are at best neutral to the arrival of the Imperials, some Houses (as occurred in the Scarlet Sea) were less enthused with the newcomers. Most of these Houses, such as Winter, Rose, Turtledove and Sky-bee, are the Fey equivalent of territorial and see the Imperials as nothing more than encroaching interlopers. A few others, such as House Asphodelia and Aconite, simply don't tolerate the Imperials presence wholesale. Finally, Houses Brightstar and Coldstone see this development as an opportunity to pull the locus of the Fey away from Xynnar and its locale toward a new one, preferably Highstar Hall.   Highstar Hall is a place few Imperials visit for obvious reasons and all charts at current warn engine crews and captains to avoid the Hall itself. That said, while the Hall-dwellers themselves are generally hostile the surrounding area is remarkably less so. The many Houses under Highstar have put together their own mini-ports and those near the periphery especially are quite willing to deal with Imperials. This showcases the main truisms of Highstar: rebellion and contrarianism. The houses here have always been different from their kin and unity is a rare thing out in that part of Sozomon. So even if the House says no to the Imperial, there may be a segment of said House which say hi just because they're not supposed to.   Clockwise east of rebellious Highstar is Jorgim's Rest, a very different place indeed. Jorgim's Rest is located in the Nachtwald (night-woods), darkling place where the normally oppressive light of Sozomon is choked out by an abyssal darkness. No Fey clan can explain why the Nachtwald is what it is, only that it has always existed. Most Fey Houses have avoided the Nachtwald but a few, such as House Duskrose and Amber-eye have made their home in the endless shadows of the Nachtwald. There is but a single true port in the abyssal wood, Jorgim's Rest. The modern port is built on the ashes of the original myth. According to the Fey, long ago a fearless Fey named Jorgim declared in Xynnar that he would find the heart of the Nachtwald and plant a torch there so everyone would have a safe place to rest. Then he left to do just so. After three years of waiting, the Houses gathered in Xynnar agreed that they should try to find Jorgim and organized a great search party which plunged into the Nachtwald. While the party never found the torch, they did find the body of Jorgim in a relatively safe clearing not quite in the heart of the region but closer than anyone thought possible. So a torch was created and Jorgim laid to rest beneath it. And for generations, parties would gather to go and relight the torch whenever it went out. With the Imperial's arrival, an offer was made to improve the torch into a proper lighthouse, which would be easier to maintain and easier to see. Thus, the modern Jorgim's Rest was born, a small hamlet built around the towering lighthouse aptly called Jorgim's Lighthouse. Those Imperials who venture to this region use Jorgim's Rest as a resupply point, akin to Glatterglen back in Solomon's Reach. It allows Imperial crews to range into the Nachtwald in an attempt to chart it and make the region safe. While such efforts are rarely lasting, the Fey argue that its the safest the Nachtwald has been in any of their memories. Plus, the crews have found strange materials that the Fey will pay very handsomely for if acquired that are only found in the deeper parts of the Nachtwald.   Pushing further east, near the edge of the Nachtwald is the Dusk Maze. The Maze is simply named as it's a twisting, labyrinthine place even to the Fey. Its believed by the Fey to have been made by a particularly star-maddened Fey House Lord in times long since forgotten. What is known is that the strange rose-star symbol that covers the Dusk Maze is no longer used, with some whispering it was never used. The Fey believe that there is something within the heart of the Dusk Maze but the only ones to have ever returned from the Maze alive have been those who turned their backs and left exactly the way they came, never deviating for a minute. If one strays from their original path, you will become forever lost in the Dusk Maze never to return. Of course, such a legend will be a draw to the brave and foolhardy alike and ever since the Relay path was opened, Imperial crews have headed into the Maze seeking whatever lies at its heart. No one is sure if the Fey are being honest or are luring the outsiders into the Maze for their own purposes. The only thing that is certain is that the Maze is well named and has claimed plenty of victims by the modern day.   The last main port or location common to most Imperial charts of Sozomon is Cairnweald, the name of both the port and the region its found in. The Cairnweald region is a calm place located between Xynnar and the Dusk Maze, specifically its clockwise of the Dusk Maze. Even before Imperial contact, the Cairnweald region was used as a burial place for most Houses among the Fey. It's studded with small shrines, icons of remembrance and the like. But there was no true port or settlement in the region. When the Empire found out about the importance of the Cairnweald, Her Majesty the Empress offered to create a mausoleum in the style seen in Ascalon's Nivin's Mausoleum in the port of Ely, an offer the Houses voted to accept. While the Imperials built the mausoleum port, the architects wanted it to reflect the architectural sense of the Fey and so effectively had the Fey design the Mausoleum itself. Since many Houses have different views on what is pleasing for mourning, the Mausoleum ending up being a riotous blending of many different designs and styles which the Imperial architects worked to blend together as best they could. While to an Imperial the Cairnweald Mausoleum is rather wild and ill fitting as a monument of mourning, the Fey universally find the Mausoleum both pleasing and appropriate. They see the endlessly clashing styles melding into one another an apt metaphor for how they perceive the clan and House system, the melding of sometimes wildly different views into one great riotous whole. The wild design also ensures that every House and clan can say it has some representation within the new Mausoleum. This design ethos has extended outwards to the myriad shrines and smaller gravesites as well.   Cairnweald port is itself akin to a Fey monastery, a place of reverence and stillness to better remember what has been lost. The House charged with the maintenance of the Mausoleum, House Mourning-blossom, takes their charge seriously. They even maintain a vow of silence themselves and won't speak within the precincts of the Mausoleum. Rather, they rely on an elaborate sign language which blends old Fey signs with inspiration from the Imperial sign language. The Fey have even begun using the sign language of House Mourning-blossom as one of the common/trade languages among themselves though they also use Imperial as a trade speech as well for convenience. The port gladly accepts Imperial travelers, particularly if they bring food and valuables. As for its own exports, Cairnweald port sells a variety of devotional works. These carry good prices among the Empire's elite and parts of the Imperial frontier for the novelty and distinctiveness from Imperial devotional works.   While the aforementioned ports and locales are the most common ones found in Imperial charts, there are dozens more that differ from chart to chart. Some charters highlight the larger Fey towns and homesteads over prominent sky-marks while still others prefer to highlight a particular route through Sozomon and what is found on said route above all. As such, traveling through Sozomon is a tricky affair and most captains rely on a Fey navigator to reliably guide them over the more unreliable Imperial sky-charts.