Kingdom of the Golden Reef

Seven marble arches, taller than any tower, almost taller than the palace, stretched from one side of the largest isle to the other. They each commemorated a past ruler of the line of Al’ain. Aetha’s mother’s was the most recently built, her father’s the one before that. Aetha had commanded that they begin construction of her own immediately when she’d taken the throne. So far, only its foundations and the first sixth of each side were built. She stood in the shadow of the southern foundation, frowning up at four flayed bodies nailed to it.

-Blood Queen and Vermillion Beast, Chapter 4: Casting Shadows

Driven from Sof Sator, blood-drinking anthrals descended on The Golden Reef, at the time ruled by angels. Then the impossible happened all too quickly, the angels dead or captured, their blood feeding their sanguinate conquerers. The Isle of the Spheres now belonged to the sanguinates, and the Marble City was wholly undamaged. The sanguinate kings feasted on divine blood in a throne room meant for seraphs.

Structure

Before the sanguinates conquered the City of Marble, its angelic builders had organized it into seven districts which they called Spheres. Back then, the Spheres were literal, great globes of unblinking light beneath which the angels worshipped and labored. But after the angels were killed off, even as the divine light above the city went dark, the sanguinates used the angelic hierarchy as the basis for their own organization. The City of Marble remains segmented into seven districts, each now run by a noble bloodline which styles itself after divinity. The ruler of the kingdom takes the title of Supreme Seraph of the First Sphere, with this primary sphere being the city's palatial district. Other districts are ruled by their own Supreme Seraphs, each one holding one spot lower in the hierarchy than the Sphere above them.
Inside the Spheres, leaders are ranked as follows:

1. Seraph: The leaders of the Sphere, with absolute authority over members of their own Sphere and sometimes limited authority over lesser Spheres.
2. Ophan: Executives who speak with the authority of the Seraphim. Depending on the Sphere, they can be styled as enforcers, mentors, or supervisors.
3. Virtues: Agents of the Ophans and Seraphs, the Virtues of a Sphere are usually not decision-makers or leaders, but must be treated with respect.
4. Elim: These are servants of the Sphere who usually work directly beneath the Ophans and Virtues. They should assume no particular respect from other Spheres.

In the case of the royal line of Al'ain, the Supreme Seraph of the First Sphere is Queen Aetha'al'ain herself, and the Second Seraph of the First Sphere is Sister-Queen Eiri'el'al'ain. In other royal lines, additional Seraphs would be numbered for further relations, children, and honored elders. The Queen's huntmasters, Kan'al'oth and Quil'al'nex, are the First Ophan and Second Ophan respectively, with other members of the court being subsequently numbered Ophans. Royal agents and palace managers are unnumbered Virtues, of which there are several dozen, and their underlings and servants are unnumbered Elim, of which there are hundreds.
Usually, the Seraphs will have authority over all members of lesser Spheres, including the lesser Seraphs. For example, the Seraphs of the First Sphere expect the deference of all members of the Second Sphere, who themselves expect the deference of the Third Sphere, and so on. In specialized situations, the Ophan and even Virtues of a higher sphere can also exert influence on lesser Spheres, though this usually requires some kind of utilitarian purpose tied to military authority, or to commercial or industrial workflow.

Public Agenda

The goal of the Kings and Queens has always been the creation of a place where sanguinate anthrals can take their supposed rightful place of superiority over other anthrals, holding carnivates and omnivates alike as a slave labor force and as livestock. Depending on the ruler's priorities, the Golden Reef can serve as refuge to all sanguinates or can be a place of violent competition between bloodlines, though the kindest any ruler has ever treated lesser anthrals has been as a subjugated population in need of careful management. As of 1090 CR, under the rule of Matron-Queen Aetha'al'ain and Sister-Queen Eiri'el'al'ain, the Kingdom's goal is to ensure the wealth and power of the line of Al'ain and any noble families loyal to them, gradually taking power from disloyal nobles and treating the slave population as a disposable resource.

History

In time immemorial, the Golden Reef was inhabited by the Angels of the Seven Spheres, who constructed their Marble City and lived in perfect isolation from the rest of the world. In the year 693 CR, Admiral Avul'al'uy sailed from Sof Sator with a fleet of exiled sanguinates and their population of captive livestock, landed on the Golden Reef, exterminated the angels and took possession of the city. Since then, the Golden Reef has been ruled by three different royal lines who have guided the kingdom through ages of expansion, turmoil, wars, and plague.
In 752 CR, King Al'uy began a formal trade alliance with King Hysmal of Revan. Thanks perhaps to the immortality of termins and Hysmal's nearly uninterrupted rule, this agreement has endured for over a thousand years, though it has not been without its trouble. In 920 CR, the Golden Reef joined Revan in a war against Ossea in continental Sof Sator, a conflict which claimed the life of the Reef's King and left its monarchy in turmoil until the rise of the line of Al'ain in 960 CR. The rulers of Al'ain have never had as close a relationship with Revan as the line of Al'uy once did, and the growth of Revan's Greater Sabine Trade Compact -- from which the Golden Reef has been excluded -- has made things tense as Revan allies with an increasing number of the Golden Reef's enemies. The Gold Reef's current ruler, Queen Aetha'al'ain, seems to have a friendly relationship with Revan, but continues to conduct raids against Revan's allies.
In the 1030s CR, blood plagues migrated from Redfall Reach and began to spread through the Golden Reef. The plagues have been a fixture of the Reef since then, and their advance has continued to the modern day. Attempts to manage the plagues include the quarantine of islands and the formation of specialized livestock colonies on the Goldleaf Isles, but all of these efforts have failed. Quarantines of the Reef's largest islands have slowed the advance of the plagues outside of the Marble City, but the livestock colonies were purged and left abandoned.
Further Reading:
Sanguinate Kings and Queens
History of the Golden Reef (timeline)

Agriculture & Industry

The Golden Reef is abundant with gold and pyrite, though the royal lines of sanguinate rulers have traditionally protected these resources, refusing to mine them or let others mine them. The yellow grass that grows across the archipelago makes an excellent, cheap cloth, and most of the Golden Reef's lower class is dressed in some form of brilliant yellow clothing made from this grass. Alder groves cover the islands likewise, and its wood is the basis for all modern construction on the islands. The magical glow of the grass and trees fades shortly after it is harvested, though high-class sanguinates can enchant this to remain. Fish and other sea life are unnaturally abundant around the archipelago, and Revan has negotiated the right for its fishers to sail and fish from the waters.
In order to refill centuries-old trade contracts with Revan, many of the alder groves on the larger isles have been cleared to make room for plantations growing sugar, coffee, tobacco, and tropical fruit. These plantations are worked almost exclusively by a slave labor force of non-sanguinate anthrals. While some of these goods are consumed by the anthrals of the island, especially when they exceed quotas, the vast majority of agricultural goods are grown exclusively for export to Revan.
A small industrial center exists in the Marble City for the purpose of metalworking and processing ores, though there is very little of this raw material available and so there is not much demand for this work. Most of the raw materials that are worked here are sent by Revan, which is much more likely to simply send finished products whenever possible.

The Golden Reef, map by Jack O'Shadows

Sanguinate population: 10 thousand, mostly littorn and sollin sanguinates.
Slave and livestock population: 200 thousand, mostly sollin and alpin omnivates.
Government type: Noble Monarchy, divinely-inspired feudalism.
Closest Ally: Revan.
Rival: Revan.
Historic enemies: Redfall Watch, Ossea, Cradsoun.

Subsidiary Organizations

• Sanguinate Kings and Queens

Related Ranks & Titles

• The Prime Sanguinate