Cerrivane (Sery-vain)

The Seat of House Cerroni

Written by Regulus_Vaikyn

"...Oh its a bastion-city alright - bastion of evil and hate that is! Its no rumor that House Cerroni is just about the worst you can be. All that talk about madness and cruelty? Well, how about this: Cerrivane has no crime rate. Strange right? That's because whenever someone commits a crime and gets caught - no matter how small - they get thrown on a bus and shipped to a training camp in the middle of the Sansurath, where they barely train you, strap some explosives to you, and say, 'Off ya get!' And that's not even the worst of it! I heard that if you commit some really bad crime - like murder, or treason - they make you into a Cyborg forcefully. No wonder the Belrithians would rather die than be captured..."

Cerrivane was the capital city of the Cerroni controlled region along the western coast of Tyrralore. It was the seat of power from which House Cerroni controls its forces and inhabitants. It had often been referred to as "the seat of evil," due to the countless crimes against humanity that the Cerronies - the ruling body of Cerrivane - had committed throughout the Tyrralorean Civil War against its own people, in addition to any prisoners of war they managed to capture. 

Cerrivane was often described as "the closest you can get to Hell without actually being there." Aside from the obvious reference to House Cerroni's enormous amount of human rights violations, there also existed a disproportionate number of Doeveiga within the city's walls - seemingly as a result of the abject cruelty of those in power there. 

Although the city had at one time stood as a bastion of protection for its many inhabitants, the corruption at its heart as a result of the War resulted in far too much slaughter to be spared, and the city was razed to the ground after the ruling house refused to accept and ratify the Four House Treaty, which finally brought the conflict to its tentative end. The ruins of this once great city now stand as a reminder of the unceasing cavalcade of madness that once stemmed from this place, and all the lives that were destroyed because of it.

"I bet the place is haunted now. If you plan on going to the memorial outside the ruins - make sure you go no further. Not unless you want to get the soul sucked out of you by ghosts, demons, monsters, or some rogue experiments wandering around in there..." 

Alore    Nations and Society    Countries      Cerrivane

Above: Rough area of Cerroni held territory during the Tyrralorean Civil War.

RUINED SETTLEMENT
5 Voruzel, 113 Alorean Third Era (AE3)

Founding Date

23 Saerazel, 2 Alorean Second Era (AE2)

Alternative Name(s)

"The Seat of Evil,"

Type

Metropolis

Population

None - No further census has been conducted after the city was razed.

Location under

The Sansurath

A History of Death and Defilement

Comparatively Humble Beginnings

Cerrivane, the stronghold of House Cerroni, inherited the reputation of its rulers - that of seemingly mindless cruelty. It became known colloquially as "the place where freedom and rights go to die." However, it was not always like that - this level of infamy was actually a rather modern attribute, resulting from their heinous code-of-conduct towards the Tyrralorean Civil War. In the beginning, Cerrivane was just like the other four bastion cities of Tyrralorean: a place where people - now freed from their fates in the underground after the Second Reclamation - could seek shelter against the vast dunes and carnivorous creatures of the Sansurath, as well as any leftover roving bands of demons that still walked the lands. The people of the now reclaimed Tyrralore could live their lives without fear of mindless slaughter at the hands of demons or wild beasts - not so long as those enormous, fifty-foot, Veluvium-steel walls remained in place. However, the peace that these inhabitants once knew would come to be dashed by the single bloodiest conflict in Alorean history.

The War Machine Beckons

On the outset of the Tyrralorean Civil War, no one knew just how quickly and brutally the conflict would escalate. With ample access to land, sea, and airborne forces, each of the four bastion cities set about a conventional war. Some minor and major victories would come and go, but one thing remained clear to those at the top of House Cerroni: in order to win this war decisively, one needed to strike quickly, and with extreme force. What followed this decision were a series of high-level assassinations against the heads of the four noble houses - a fate that House Cerroni was not sparred from. This began the continuous downward spiral for Cerrivane, as the new, total-war stratagem meant the drafting of forces from all over Cerroni held territory.

The Unceasing Cruelty

The shift came suddenly and swiftly. Citizens all over Cerrivane began protesting the war in earnest, now that it meant those who wanted nothing to do with it were being dragged into the ever-grinding machine. Most protests began merely as marches with signs and slogans, but quickly turned violent as some individuals - who were speculated to be either radical anarchists or installed government agents - started to cause chaos amongst the protesters. On the orders of the now war-consumed house, and using this violence as an excuse for exercising their power, protesters were gathered up in droves, and driven out to various military camps for "training." This massive upset of social stability resulted in an ever escalating level of retributive violence from the population who either chose to remain or could not escape the city, and the increasingly cruel methods that House Cerroni used to put down what they called a "rebellion." The invention of Cybernetics during this time only served to accelerate the rampant madness that sought to consume the city, as both government actors and those who now sought to join a militia against the tyrannical House Cerroni began to use this new technology prolifically. It was during this time of unprecedented instability that Cerrivane, and by extension House Cerroni, could have been conquered by an outside force, and spared the people of the region from what was to come, but the events to come would close that window of opportunity until the very end of the conflict.

A Legacy of Madness

"If you go to the west-most section of the memorial, you might end up hearing the faint wailing of the poor souls that the Cerronies had tormented for generations. Just there, beyond those crumbled walls..."

With their use of advanced Cybernetics, agents of House Cerroni struck a dizzyingly decisive blow against the forces of House Troyes. The attack was so brazen and complete, that the completely unprepared House Troyes immediately sued for peace, and sought to exit the War entirely. The advent of this new agreement between the two northern-most houses solidified the new state of how the war would be fought for the next seventy years. With more resources than they could have ever garnered alone, the Cerronies began to focus their efforts on creating a series of elite special forces units using Cybernetics and by forcefully fostering Yearn within their populous. This process typically involved the forced application of Cybernetics on initially unwilling participants, which resulted in an extreme percentage of these subjects to undergo maddening personality breaks. These breaks typically came alongside violent outbursts, quickly followed by the subject's termination. Although the heinous nature of this process remained hidden from the wider populous for the majority of the war, the eventual reveal of this "Psycho-Force" on the frontlines was what finally cemented the anti-Cerroni sentimentality in the hearts of the other houses, and gave Cerrivane its nickname: "The Seat of Evil."

It wasn't until the rejection of the Four House Treaty by House Cerroni, and the subsequent raids by the rest of unified Tyrralore that the true nature of this hideous experimentation was revealed. Once the raids had been completed, and the situation became dire - with the majority of House Cerroni finally giving in to their madness and becoming demons - Cerrivane was evacuated as much as possible, and the city was reduced to ashen rubble by a full, twenty-four hour bombardment by the combined forces of the other three houses. Once the war concluded, blank memorials were erected near the sites of the four bastion cities, where as many names as possible which could be remembered would be inscribed into history - a reminder of lives and humanity that was lost over the course of that conflict.