Toi'drinn
Summary
Nestled upon a small mountain range near the heart of Etzli Cuauhtla, there stands the greatest civilization in an unforgiving land of struggle. Since time immemorial, all sorts have lived and died on its stone walls, fighting against the Relentless Herds and Packs. Where nature sent its silent murderers, diseases ran a sinister course, killing everyone they could find. When the goddesses cast punishments down upon the veltron, floods drowned the fortifications as the dirt swallowed whole sections in calamitious quakes. The venerable stone fell silent for some years and decades, no one left to call it home. The location they chose, however, would ever make it a desirable one to take up. Then came the gathered tribes of vampyr peoples. Meek beyond compare, they found the ruins and called them Toi'drinn–"Stairs of the goddesses". They saw the ruins of old carnage, a battle site of eternity that the worthy fell upon. They, who were frightful of being prey, and ever abused by stronger peoples, found courage in its silent halls. In taking up the weapons of old, and rearming the broken battlements, the vampyr resolved to stand against Etzli Cuauhtla and all it brought. It's hard to say how they found the courage in those days, but the vampyr fought and endured. Where others broke, they continued on. Progress of any kind was slow, and every achievement worthy of celebration. The vampyr repaired the broken city, learned its secrets of masonry, and expanded further. Others took note of their efforts, disparate tribes or enclaves ever on the brink of life-and-death themselves. They too joined the vampyr upon Toi'drinn, vowing to stand together as blood sisters. So it is, Toi'drinn swelled in numbers and ability, audaciously staking its claim. Yet where people gather, the Relentless follow, and their ceaseless rage grew by leaps and bounds. Toi'drinn's first test arrived some decades later. Eerie silence pervaded for years until then, a quiet throughout the bloody jungles that no one ever remembered happening before. They, who stood in a crucible of brutal survival, saw the ominous omen for what it was: a warning. So the vampyr and their allies worked, and worked, and worked, even as they started to question the necessity of it all. Toi'drinn expanded, massively new fortifications being carved out or erected at a speed others would become slack-jawed at seeing. Countless pitfalls, spike traps, spear skewering levers, boulders, rockslides, and more arranged in perhaps the greatest and largest trap Veltrona ever saw. The horns came on that dreadful day, and even as the warnings encroached, they continued to work. A doomtide the likes of which no one in Toi'drinn could imagine thundered through the jungles toward them. They entrenched themselves, and on a storm-cursed day with dark clouds and lightning-broken rain, Toi'drinn and the Relentless collided. Vast tales of that month fill entire libraries, epics of triumph and tragedy which barely begin to describe the nightmarish struggle. Bodies piled high on the veltron, each other, fortifications, traps, and more. Blood turned into rivers, blackening the dirt as the heart of Etlzi Cuauhtla filled with carnage. They warred and warred and by the end of it all, the peoples of Toi'drinn stood atop a near-literal mountain of corpses. The greatest of vampyr warriors, Hrru, towered undisputed as the survivors' leader, and so the first queen of Toi'drinn was crowned. Understanding their timeless enemy, Hrru fashioned Toi'drinn into an ever greater fortress-city. She took all their learned lessons to ordain new improvements, one to survive such daunting prospects. The lands gradually transformed, a series of livable forts and farming spaces strung together in solid defensive chains. Traditions of hunting were reinforced, and warrior bands sent out into the wild jungles to hunt the Relentless. If they could be caught early, another doomtide would be prevented. This endless tithe became the blood price of Toi'drinn's success, an eternal reminder to what it took to survive. In raw defiance, the people of Toi'drinn richly celebrated life. Tremendous artistic displays, soul moving musical performances, food so sensational goddesses descended to eat it, and so much more filled the once solemn city. Pragmatism met artistic flair as the stonework transformed into mighty reliefs, statues, and iconography of Toi'drinn's victories. Indeed, functional form became their norm, but embellished with all sorts of lively touches. They did so to celebrate the joy of living, but also to grievously flaunt their triumph over the Relentless. In such ways, they honored their ancestors, and made it clear their sacrifices weren't in vain. Toi'drinn's influence soon grew throughout Etzli Cuauhtla. Trade routes are something of an oxymoron in the jungles, but their regular hunting parties sort of fused with the idea of trade caravans. A loose exchange gradually formed between Toi'drinn, the various tribes, and the Dresxi Enclaves. In doing so, their collective struggle found strength in their own unique ways. Chief of all stood Toi'drinn's metal forges, sporting the only true open access metalworks to be found in Etzli Cuauhtla's heartlands. Great and marvelous wonders, riches, and resources went to Toi'drinn in exchange for their venerable weapons. Over the centuries since its grand stand, Toi'drinn remains the longest standing civilization in Etzli Cuauhtla's heart. Their rigorous warrior traditions are yet sharpened by the seasons, their eternal enemy a fruitful whetstone. Others, inspired by their audacity, have started to erect cities of their own. While the rest of Veltrona may have gone long into enjoying the fruits of relatively peaceful living, Toi'drinn is not far behind them. Indeed, by necessity and otherwise, they have crafted fantastical forms of magic and technology. Chief among them looms the vampyr's blood magic, a bizarre medical art that became their critical tool against disease and physical maladies. While the heights of it are secrets only known in Toi'drinn's upper echelons, the widely applicable parts spread throughout the lands. Perhaps just as much as the metalworks, the medicinal arts of Toi'drinn did much toward saving lives. For as slow as they were to spread to the farthest reaches, they ended up in the likes of Jerhegn and parts of Mount Skyreach. None more than the tokyau took them on in earnest, creating new approaches that would eventually help save their species as well. It also drew the attention of the power hungry, for the vampyr's blood magic possessed breakthroughs they struggled endlessly with. Whether within the jungles or outside, they sought invading Toi'drinn, and their efforts rattled the city-fortress time and again. But they, like all the Relentless before them, were broken upon the walls and the warriors' unwavering might. Still, Etzli Cuauhtla is changing around Toi'drinn. No longer is it just the jungle they must compete with, but other peoples both wise and not. The coming years warn of new frontiers, and they, as ever, listen to the warnings.Structure
A warrior-queen sits at the top of Toi'drinn, one either elected by a council of elders, or by the populace at large. All sorts of qualifiers sit attached to the royal throne, each of them a measure of a queen's potential to lead. Largely meritocratic in nature, the pragmatic reality around the queen's position means inadequates are quickly replaced. In the same stroke, a lack of decisive leadership can be crippling, so political games cannot afford to cripple or jockey around the royal throne. In the long line of queens who have ruled Toi'drinn, few have ever succeeded in bringing shame to their position.
Beneath the queen is the Council of Elders, representatives of the most powerful forces at work within Toi'drinn. A council seat is determined by the number of people who are willing to cast their lot behind that elder. With a small margin for error, the council dynamically grows and shrinks every five years as population fluctuates. The seats with least votes are those on the chopping block when it comes to adding or cutting out. It could be called democratic in nature, but the actual model followed is a tribal one. Anyone over an age of twenty, or a functional equivalent, are allowed to vote. Citizenry is not a concept that exists in Toi'drinn; one either lives and participates in the city-state, or does not. Some shenanigans around this results on the occasion, especially when outside tribes are 'invited' in for a 'short stay'.
While the central government changes based on the new queen in charge, some offices function independently of that mechanism. Traditionally, the four major offices are:
T'cah, or 'box sitter(s)', acts as Toi'drinn's central treasury. Bartering is the way of life for everyone in Etzli Cuauhtla, with coinage being hard to value or even care for. However, precious artworks are worth a lot depending on who they are given to. Similarly, what is valuable to who is up for the people to fuss over. The T'cah simply make sure everyone remembers what is agreed upon. Otherwise, their most prominent role is land ownership management, taking care of who owns what, where it is, and matters of succession, sale, or purchase.
Iyolili is the priestesshood in charge of ritual rites, sacrifices to the goddesses, and handling matters of divinity. They double as medicine women and librarians, tending to matters of long-term perspectives. It is through their work that the warriors are kept alive, but also Toi'drinn has seen any kind of significant development. The Iyolili priestesses are found all over, helping in matters of health as much as engineering and artisanry. They're almost always warrior veterans as a rule, served by young acolytes and initiates who must pass rigorous standards of training. As they also almost always have large popular support, they maintain a functionally permanent seat on the Council of Elders.
Girn'du are the smiths, engineers, masons, and other city-building folk. Spurred on by their gehurm populace, the venerable name was given to those who followed in their footsteps. Subdivided into endless amounts of guilds, the Girn'du tend toward specialization more often than not. A lot of their work is passed down through familial lines, with some of the larger guilds offering opportunities to anyone who has the potential. They're the closest any group gets to having 'less capable' warriors, as they capitalize on Toi'drinn's safety to better create goods.
Fosholo are the guards, warriors, and other fighters of Toi'drinn. While every family and tribe maintains their own fighting forces, the Fosholo specifically guard Toi'drinn itself. By segregating from political infighting, they can focus exclusively on protecting everyone. Because of this sacred mission, it is a horrendous taboo to try and rope the Fosholo into internal affairs. What that entails is ever up to debate, but where matters of impartiality are needed, the Fosholo can suffice. They often work in tandem with the Iyolili, deferring any social problems they cannot handle to the priestesshood.
Beyond them, Toi'drinn comes to embody those who live in it quite freely. Various family lineages set up all over the city, some having been in their homes for multiple generations.
Demography and Population
Military
When it comes to killing the Relentless, Toi'drinn may have a legitimate claim as best in the world. Countless generations have been born into conflict against them, training their entire lives to slaughter with supreme skill. Whole clans have meticulously catalogued each and every animal, described its many natures, and designed killing methods from the utterly safe to the insanely dangerous. Indeed, every child in Toi'drinn is given a knife as soon as they can hold and throw a rock convincingly, and so embark upon the path of the warrior.
Being a hardy people and trained for survival from the get-go, Toi'drinn's military prowess is both fearsome and somewhat specialized. Their techniques are not entirely suited to warring against other people, as it is a rare thing for them to encounter. This almost spelled their unmaking when outside forces invaded Etzli Cuauhtla, and the clever thinking of people worked around their fortifications. A humbling realization, and a black eye in their venerable honor that Toi'drinn has not forgotten since.
For what can be said of that, Toi'drinn has pivoted strongly into adapting a more cohesive military force. Until it is tested again, though, no one can say for certain what will come of it.
Religion
Aptly named Kurshii–a vampyr scream of defiance–the titular faith is a multi-faceted creature as dynamic as the people of Toi'drinn. Ancient vampyr folklore and legends followed their tribes in settling Toi'drinn, and as other peoples came to live with them, theirs blended in. For what changed and didn't, a pantheon of divine beings emerged, chief among them death itself: Kirichiki. Whether she came from the vampyr or simply was always there, Kirichiki's solemn appearances within Toi'drinn ever reminded them all that an end did await them. Rather than fear her, the vampyr chose all the more to embrace life and the wonders it could give them. It became their lifeline in a place that only promised suffering and a miserable end.
The more Etzli Cuauhtla tried to break them, the greater the people of Toi'drinn resisted. Their eternal enemy became the fixation of their anguish and rage. If the Relentless wanted to wipe them out, they would survive. If they would lose everything, they would celebrate what they are all harder. Sheer spite against their eternal enemy, unironically, became a core and central tenet. They turned to each other all the more, and Kurshii turned into their common bond. Elaborate festivals, celebrations both small and grand, lively performances, erecting amazing structures, and more suited for them.
In this sense, Toi'drinn's love of life and their overly energetic way of living stands in sharp contrast to the death yet surrounding them. For all those yet lost, and for those who live but suffer, that many more worked harder. The bitter tears of parents who'd lost yet another newborn, or for the friends who left and only a few came back; these sorrows and more, they all remembered bitterly. None more than the vampyr and mussuba nursed resentments over it, for they both need deep bonds to prosper.
Arguably this led to the creation of blood magic. A promised tool that would stave off disease, mend the sick, and heal the wounded. Born from their great suffering, it became an invaluable boon, and the Iyolili priestesses of old spread it far and wide. Hence, Kurshii came to be venerated among more than just those in Toi'drinn. While these outsiders eventually deviated in their own ways, the core teachings yet stood unbroken.
Tangentially, it is their celebration of life and the acceptance of death's inevitability that makes those of Kurshii despise the undead. It is one matter to bring peace to the returned, that they understand and emphasize with well. Those who seek to pervert death's domain for their own ends, they endlessly hate. The likes of liches and vampires stand as age-old adversaries, second only to the eternal enemy. Though perhaps they hate vampires just as much, as the they've both ruined and humiliated the vampyr peoples' reputation across Veltrona.
Agriculture & Industry
Food is a paramount concern, and while meat is plentiful, fruits, vegetables, and grains are decidedly less so. Etzli Cuauhtla's rampant jungles grow incessantly and almost without end, so equitable farm land is a contentious problem. It takes a not-inconsiderable amount of workpower to clear land, till and fertilize it appropriately, take out pest infestations, and keep the new growing plants happy and preferably non-explosive. Not impossible, but time consuming. As Toi'drinn secured more land around itself, sizable portions went into reclaimed farming territory. Due to the constraints of said land, engineers struggled to reconcile good farming with adequate defenses. Their solution came when someone asked an infamous question, "why not build upward?"
After some trial and error they deduced they could, in fact, build upward. Toi'drinn took to vertical farming with an alarming speed, creating spires of solid, beautiful stone and verdant fields. Indeed, all sorts of colorful and mana-rich plants dressed the spires, turning them into wildly colorful pillars. With these opportunities, farmers took to cultivating their crops more particularly, increasing yields and ease of work further. While it solved much of their land needs, pests and the like yet remained–but, by Etzli Cuauhtla's standards, the vertical gardens were miraculous. Thanks to the safer, more reliable foods, the population grew rapidly and healthily.
The only true 'heavy industry' found in Toi'drinn is the various metalworks and magical laboratories. While their mines are usually sufficient, the time needed to process, refine, and produce workable metal is hard to ignore. Most of anything they do make ends up into various weapons, fortification reinforcement, and varying kinds of armors. Broken scrap, impure metals, and other inequitable pieces often end up recycled in a 'second hand market', creating beautiful pieces of jewelry.
It should be said that Toi'drinn's artisans command a certain skill within their realm. Steeped with magical means, they can create flawless works of art both the simple and absurdly impossible. All sorts of precious metals, useless in war, end up in their hands as they're virtually worthless in their raw and even processed forms. Driven by a culture of immense demand for beauty, celebration, honor, and veneration, these artisans are ever pushed to create greater and greater pieces. By the measure of merchants in other nations, Toi'drinn is ludicrously rich. It's almost impossible to put a number value on how rich they actually are, but they do not see it through a monetary perspective. The recognition and prestige of a successful piece is every artisan's dream; more, to offer sacrifices to the goddesses from their own hands.
Education
Learned knowledge is all over the place in Toi'drinn. Traditionally it passed down through family and tribal lines, with most people learning fairly universal, survival-oriented skills. Everyone needs to know how to fight, and everyone needs to know what to eat and what will kill them if they eat it. Being a multi-species city-state at that, peculiars for certain species make this knowledge all the more important to pass on. As more and more piled into and found a living within Toi'drinn, the need for common knowledge to pass on became far more important.
The Iyolili ultimately shouldered the burden, as they were already maintaining stores of knowledge for their own needs. Schools, of a kind, formed by the various lower-ranked Iyolili, becoming important locations that soon doubled as daycares for children. Then the schools turned into temples as well, pivotal and important to the various communities within Toi'drinn. The ripples from these step-by-step changes reshaped Toi'drinn, ushering in a focused effort to educational foundations. Magical laboratories stood to benefit the most, as a more capable populace gave mages far more talent to work with. The feedback loop on them in particular became explosive in its rewards, affecting all of Toi'drinn's efforts.
Martial schools arose as a prominent force, centering around particularly notable warrior bands. They became gathering points for the collective, yet unorganized knowledge Toi'drinn amassed throughout the years. Very obviously bent around survival and effective fighting, the vast skills of seasoned veterans better disseminated through the populace. Indeed, every new generation took less to match the old, and surpass them just as easily. Less people died in brutal combat, and the burden of survival lessened that much more.
Eventually, more craftswoman-related schools would emerge, particularly smithing and armorers to better help the warriors. Breweries, clothiers, jewelers, and fanciful artisans followed after, a transformative wave of new works sweeping the lands. While always present, the increasing safety acquired by Toi'drinn afforded more and more time for luxurious experimentation. In a way, it is the silent force that took the edge off the populace at large. A way of living beyond the day-to-day they and their ancestors had long endured.
By our mothers' blood.
Type
Geopolitical, City-state
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Trained
Government System
Monarchy, Elective
Power Structure
Autonomous area
Economic System
Barter system
Location
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Comments