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Prodai

Prodai, Western Territories

“Scorching Sands and Scolding Separatists”

Geography

Prodai, though a desert climate, once held a wealth of forested lands that hugged the southeastern edges of its mountain barriers.  However, over the generations of expansion on behalf of its ancient priest royalty and their great architectures to venerate their wretched, pagan gods, they had exhausted these natural resources completely, which resulted in many of their civilizations and cities to become empty husks where life once thrived.  The sweltering desert landscape has swallowed up these ancient places, burying them beneath the hot Prodain sands as time has takes its toll. The Prodai region is predominantly flat at its center, becoming more pronounced as you reach the foothills along the mountains that encompass almost all of its border. Almost in the center of this barren waste is a massive scar that plunges deep into Eden and stretches further than the eye can see; its depths craggy and torn, and one false step could be the undoing of any mere mortal foolish enough to get close to its edge. Boasting the largest territorial claim of any region within Vitaveus, Prodai’s legacy is as lengthy and large as it’s vast, rolling deserts.

History

Historically speaking, Prodaen people had been long isolated due to the lack of horses or mule-like animals in their region to help them overcome the vast and towering mountains that surround their desert lands.  Due to this, anicent Prodaen society had to internally rely on their own lands to further their development of civilization. Initially, this was not of concern to the Prodaen people, as their populations were easily manageable; however, as population levels grew, the demand for more resources grew in tandem.  Herein lies the conflict that slowly reduced by all accounts a once thriving empire into a ghost of its former, ancient glory.

The ancient rulers of the Prodaen people, considered “God Kings” by divine right and mandated as such by the priesthood of their society, sought to expand their cultural influence by building over their predecessors and erected great architecture that would stand well beyond their reign.  These grand projects, which served as vain tributes to themselves, saw to a mass commitment of an already dwindling supply of natural resources and manpower. For every one of these towering effigies built, a ritual of sacrifice would be conducted, taking the labor-force who were conscripted to build such marvels and murdering them en-masse as a tribute to whatever mad machinations the God Kings had worshiped.

The laypeople of Prodaen society eventually revolted against their God Kings, resulting in a bloody coup that would last years. In the midst of this violent and prolonged rebellion, the Venerated Republic visited its war machine upon the territory’s borders, bringing with it their Holy Reclamation.  Like a hot knife carving through butter, the Republic made quick work of those who would stand against them, be it those loyal to the God Kings, or the revolutionists who see to overthrow their former rulers.  Hundreds upon thousands of Prodaen people were slain in the conflict of subduing Prodai, and the Reclamation efforts within the territory would last nearly a decade – the longest sustained campaign of Reclamation the Republic would ever wage. When the dust had finally settled in Prodai, those who would remain were brought to heel before the Venerated Republic, either working predominantly in the countless salt mines that would later become the primary export of the region, or becoming conscripted into the vast armies of the Legion to replenish the staggering losses it sustained in attempting to subdue the region.

Torment

Since the emergence of the Torment, Prodai has become embroiled in a separatist movement founded on ancient cultural beliefs that have become reinterpreted by the indigenous people.  Technically, the Torment has not overtaken Prodai in earnest, mostly due to the natural borders that block easy travel as well as the sprawling deserts that are the hallmark of this territory.

Curiously, for many true-blooded Prodaen people, the Torment isn’t looked upon as a plague that affects them, but one that has been called forth by the old, dethroned God-Kings to plague the Decusians and their false angelic God.  They believe that the Torment to be retribution for the subjugation of Prodai. As such, numerous pockets of the territory has become unsafe. Public executions, murder mobs and lynching have all become commonplace in this region, and have only been exacerbated due to the dwindling Republic presence in the form of Legion and Templar military units.  This separatist movement, formally known as “The Luella”,  has now reached a level of organization and sophistication previously thought impossible for a rebel group operating within Vitaveus, and has amassed a large guerilla force that has repulsed many of the smaller Legion outposts of the region due to their inability to guard the Province as the Torment threat calls their attention elsewhere. Content on simply keeping the region contained as of the present, the Republic has thus declared Prodai as Blacklands, despite that it is lost more to revolution rather than the Torment threat.

Points of Interest

The Great Maw

This scar into the depths of Eden is revered by the people of Prodai, but for what reasons has been lost to time. Up until the arrival of the Venerated Republic, Prodean God Kings would ritualistically sacrifice one of their children into this large canyon-like crater upon their ascension to the throne. Today, many Decusian followers left abandoned in Prodai, particularly members of the Clergy, have been executed by being tossed into the Maw as an homage to the Old Ways.

Kobo

The largest city in Prodai, Kobo is positioned at the eastern end of the Great Maw, nestled against one of the few freshwater sources in all of Prodai.  It is here where the heart of the territory was founded and built, with countless temples spanning the desert, all stained in a rust-like color from ages of shedding blood upon their sandstone bricks.  Nearly all of these temples were brought to utter ruin by the Venerated Republic after the conclusion of the Recalamation, with churches to Archangel Decus having been erected in their place. In proper cyclic form, the Luella have now taken to dismantling these Decusian churches and cathedrals as well, working to reestablish the horizon of Kobo with the silhouettes of countless dozens of temples to the old God Kings.

Inspirations and Influences

Ancient Persia. Traditional example names such as Ahman, Srivan, Aida and Shana are common for those hailing from Prodai.