Crastus

Crastus is a city state nestled between the western shore of the Vertician Ocean and the expanse of the Khastis Desert. The domain of the city stretches along the coast for hundreds of miles, and once almost reached the river valleys of Yem in the north. Over the centuries, the Crastians and the Yemitish have fought over the fertile lands separating the two, and the city state has never reclaimed it's lost glory. A tenuous peace now exists between the two, and with the Mardhelm Empire pressing the Yemitish borders in the north it is only a matter of time until it sparks into another war.

Arrival by Shenfeic

The Emerald Coast

At first glimpse of the shimmering green waters lapping at the port city of Crastus, one might think that the region's nickname of The Emerald Coast refers to its beauty. While this may not be an entirely flawed assumption, the true claim to fame for the region is the various emerald mines in the rocky hills inland from the city itself. Here thousands of Gedou slaves toil night and day - many of them not having seen the sun for so long they don't know the difference - to extract the rough gemstones from beneath the hills. These stones are cut and polished by master craftsmen in the city. They may be exported on their own or as part of finely crafted jewelry. This industry alone accounts for a drastic majority of the city's wealth, and it has been such for over a thousand years.

Many say that every emerald in the world came from the mines of Crastus. The Crastians are probably paying them to say that, but it's not far from the truth!

Baeleron Marcovici, from The Exotic West: Strange People and a Stranger Land

A Sleeping Beast

Even though Crastus hasn't gone to war in over five hundred years, it maintains a sizable standing army as a police force, a political deterrent, and as the primary tool for harvesting Gedou tribesmen from the desert to fill their labor pool. As the small number of wealthy merchants that control the city have no desire for territorial expansion, Crastus has not been seen as a threat by either Yem or the Mardhelm Empire. Recently though the mine carts have been coming up from beneath the hills with less and less of the precious emeralds that feed the true passion of the Crastian elite: greed. Should the flow of coins and luxury good to the top of the city-states economic pyramid ever cease, this sleeping beast might look outward for new opportunities.

Type

Large city

Population

20,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Crastian

Style of Government

Oligarchy

Economic System

State-controlled market economy

Demographics

75% Hirashian
15% Gedou
10% Tambard, Rikenian, and other

Chief Imports

Lumber, silver, and iron.

Chief Exports

Emeralds, exotic animals, and slaves.

Concept Design Illustration by Yao Yuon