Caspaine

Caspaine is a largely undeveloped province north of Kyravelle, and frequently referenced in the Unnamed Story.

Notable for its warm climate and a large magiborn population, Caspaine is a province divided by social class, the majority of its people living in poverty with the few moneyed individuals holding power, both monetarily and magical. Though owned in theory by Corva, the Kyravellan Temple has had an increasing influence in recent years.

History
When the Province of Elysia was integrated into Corva in 398PC, Caspaine was the portion of it they did not want. Already populated by a people as helpless as they were pathetic, they took almost no notice of their country's formation, so consumed were they with the struggle of their land's state of turmoil. After 200 years of plainly ignoring it, the powers in the Empire decided that the best course of action would be to explore the land's potential.

To this end, they dispatched a small number of their military, led by Duke Callum Reginald d'Mariere, a less-than-popular member of the Imperial family, along with much of his House. Callum was told he was being awarded land in return for his service to the Empire, but upon reaching his new duchy, he was deeply disappointed to find he'd been had. Caspaine was largely swamp and wilderness, with a smattering of beaches hardly pretty enough to balance out the tepid heat and unfriendly locals. The province was not a reward, it was a punishment. And if he did not find something of value to present the Emperor, he would be stuck with it.

The Syrganan Occupation
Attempts to announce their newfound lord to them were met with vague indifference, the people having greater concerns than the posturing of a bureaucrat when they had never seen one before. Unfortunately for them, Duke Callum was also a sorcerer, though a poor one, having come from a weaker branch of Corva's most powerful House. After repeated attempts to threaten and frighten the local settlers into obedience failed, he lost his temper, loosing a rain of fire that destroyed a number of villages. The Caspaini people were terrified; though magic was common among them, considered a persistent social ill, they had never seen such things before. Callum himself was surprised. He had not known he had such powers, his temper having unleashed them. But his tantrum had immediate consequences, as the fields and forest surrounding the village were razed by the flames he could not figure out how to douse.

Having razed a large portion of his new land, the Duke decided he did not want it--only to learn that his tantrum had earned him yet more of the court's disapproval. He had failed to prove the value of Caspaine to the Emperor, and in doing so, revealed his own uselessness. His punishment for gross abuse of his powers was permanent exile to Caspaine, which he was expected to take some care of...or else.

Unable to flee or bring the Caspaini people to task, Duke Callum elected instead to segregate himself and his people away from them entirely. It was for this reason that the Isle of Syrganos was founded, and the people of Caspaine were left as they had been, with only the threat of the Syrganan mages' reappearance in the future.

The Feral Gifted
While generally frowned upon, the fact remains that Caspaine has a long history of magic prevalence, with more than half the population believed to be knowingly or unknowing magiborn or Gifted. In the early days of Caspaine, long before the occupation, the province was largely populated and controlled by natural-born witches. Magic was seen as a blessing and a responsibility; those with the Gift were given leadership roles in their settlements, and encouraged to better the world around them, often defending their people from the frequent threats that plagued their lands.

After the occupation, sentiments changed drastically, the Syrganan sorcerers having shown the people in great displays the dangers of magic, and how easily it could be used to for ill. It was feared that those with power would soon join them, bringing ruin in their wake. Later, when the court of Syrganos began to show interest in their number, peasants began to hunt and even kill witches, to prevent them from adding their power to the decadent Kingdom of the Isle. It was a message that even the presence magic would not be tolerated.

The native witches not killed found themselves pariahs, their faces branded with aether to identify them, so that their true natures would be known, no matter where they fled to. Those few permitted to remain, whether due to perceived "goodness" or the importance of their roles, suffered themselves to be branded as well. The practice of branding captured Gifted remained in effect up until the last hundred years or so.

In time, the ostracized witches fought back, forming colonies in the hostile wilds of Caspaine surrounding their inland Sea. They branded themselves as a mark of pride, and used their powers to drive those meaning harm away. They created closed communities where sorcery was still taught, accepting neither Caspaini nor Syrganan presences among them. While the practice of branding has fallen out of fashion, adapted for other purposes, feral Gifted colonies are still believed to exist in the swamps and wilderness of the Caspaini backwater. In the older villages, some of aged Caspaini medicine women still wear brands on their faces, their meanings long since forgotten.

Governance
As an undeveloped country, Caspaine has very little influence in the political arena of the Continent.

Leadership
Officially, the capital of Caspaine is Syrganos, the location being home to the only city in the province. Caspaine is a duchy, so designated by the Elysian council when the country was first formed, and the few official documents referring to the province as a political entity name Callum d'Mariere as sovereign. In recent years, the Duchess Adelaine Faire--apparently a descent of Duke Callum and Lady Syrga, not that anyone knows the difference--has presented herself as ruler. Despite this, Syrganos does little by way of running Caspaine, the province having traditionally run itself since its formation.

Governance of the province falls instead to the leaders of its various settlements, with the issues of law decided by town tribunal and ruled on by the village headman.

Law
Much of Caspaini law is set in accordance with superstition and social belief, with a set of understood guidelines existing between settlements.

Lacking any formal defensive measures, the Caspaini people are often forced to take the tentative law into their own hands. In the villages, disputes that cannot be mediated by the headman or otherwise settled often end with criminals run out of town by the mob, or otherwise facing punishments, public humiliation and even execution, with those in charging having only as much say as their respected positions afford them.

In the border towns, the stationed Order of Adavarion is infrequently summoned to deal with reports of rogue magic or witches thought to be causing misfortune. In these cases, the offenders face arrest and transport to Kyravelle, where they are judged as they would be had they been caught across the borders.

Demographics
Caspaine is largely undeveloped, with most of its population comprised of peasants. The primary occupations are farming, fishing, and textile production, with most of the major settlements gathered along the Kyravellan border.

Physical Characteristics
The people native to Caspaine are almost universally medium complected, due in part to its tropical climate, with some prone to freckling. Average height is distinctly lower than the northern provinces, with the average for a man between 5'6" and 5'9", 4'9" to 5'3" for women. The most common eye colors are black, brown and, rarely, green.

Caspaini hair is commonly brown or tawny, and infrequently blonde, a trait introduced by the rare Fortan influence in some family lines. Hair textures vary. Red hair--traditionally characteristic of Malvarian blood--is extremely rare, and almost exclusively occurs in people of mixed Caspaini heritage. The reason for this is not known, though there are theories suggesting the mixing of certain types of magiborn blood can cause this trait to appear. This tentative theory is the cause of much superstition regarding the appearance of redheads in Caspaine.

Language
The official language of Caspaine is Caspaini, which is a notoriously curling and musical, and has no written form. Caspaini is thought to originate from the dead language of Cerres, a scholarly language that is heavily encrypted and often associated with old magics. The few known words remaining refer mostly to abstract concepts and specific places.

The speaking of Crowne has become more prevalent along the border of Kyravelle, where trade and the Temple's presence have brought it to the masses. The result is a variant of Crowne spoken with a distinct lilting drawl, intercut with Caspaini words and often with an altered syntax.

No written history has ever been discovered regarding the time before the Elysian split, owing to Caspaine's lack of a writing system. The few things written in Caspaine are in Crowne. Much of the population is illiterate.

Religion
Caspaine's lack of a writing systems means that most of its mythology has been passed down through verbal tradition. Songs and epics, passed down by parents and along by minstrels, speak mostly of mischievous spirits called the Fell, or the Fae. They are believed to be the embodiment of the elements, and of mankind's good and bad natures. The stories of these beings are universally cautionary, insisting that they are drawn to magic, and that interaction with them is dangerous at best. No matter the evil they visit, these spirits are never referred to in a negative light, their bad deeds portrayed as deserved by the victims, their good ones as blessings.

The Temple's role as a charitable mission has greatly improved its effectiveness in converting the Caspaini people to its beliefs. Many have come to accept their teachings, with visits from lorekeepers and missionaries making up the only educational opportunities in poorer settlements. The teachings are a comfort to the battered people, encouraging them to appreciate their humble lives while pushing for tolerance and more careful thought regarding their fellows. Unfortunately, the distinct antimagi tone of most of the Temple's canon has only served to worsen resentment for the resident magiborn population.

Economy
Caspaine is equally divided into grassland and swampy forest, limiting both the places that can be settled and the professions that can be held.

Nearest the Kyravellan border, the major activity is farming. Rare orchards exist to the north, manned by girls and boys, their brothers and fathers employed by the mills occupying most of the larger settlements. Along the shores of the Sea of Caspaine, fishing is a common pastime and profession, with fishermen traveling to sell their catches to the local villages. The bounty is largely saltwater cod and crab, some of which is transported across Kyravellan borders to inland markets lacking steady sources of fish so far from the ocean. To the west, mining villages trail along the slopes of the Black Pall Mountains, miners extracting rich black iron from the mountain quarries for use in forging, or to be sold to Corva for use in their crafts.

Inland, unofficial commerce take place. Poachers sell their kills and furs, and rare hedgewitches travel between the settlements menaced by the swamps, exchanging protection charms and medicines in return for supplies--or a turned back in further dealings. So far from the border, these criminals are some villages' only form of protection.

Attitudes Toward Magic
The Syrganan occupation has greatly shifted public opinion against the presence of magic, as those who "rule" Caspaine are sorcerers, known for great and disastrous displays of their power. While the people were at one time decidedly neutral to those with Gifts, today many settlements hold a suspicious or even hostile attitude to them. Caspainis have been known to refuse shelter or even trade with people who identify themselves as magiborn, and those found amidst them with powers face harsh treatment, under the belief that their magic is a blight. Established magiborn residents are encouraged to suppress and disguise any powers they have, and not to have children, under threat of being ostracized.

Temple influence in the border villages has only served to worsen this sentiment, as Divinian teachings place the presence of misfortune and suffering at the feet of those with the Gift. That the court of Syrganos infrequently appears to make themselves known to their people only serves to further complicate things for native Gifted.

Noteworthy Caspainis

 * The Red Twins
 * Loch Rainer
 * Lier MacInsay