Cadua
Cadua is located on the northwestern shore of Iber Bay and is well-known for producing high-quality edged weapons, especially various types of swords and daggers. Under the Hyperborean Empire, Cadua was one of the first places that not only produced iron (in the nearby Nazarre Mountains) but also other minerals that improved the alloy of iron into steel. These minerals were later found in or traded from other locations, but Cadua had a head start on developing better steel. Its smiths (many of whom could really be considered metallurgists) continued to experiment with making steel and forging weapons. The steel-makers and weaponsmiths of Cadua keep their proprietary knowledge safe through the 977-year-old Alliance of Steel, which requires oaths of secrecy and special training before their confidential techniques are revealed. The group’s greatest competitors in Libynos are the weaponsmiths of Tarresh, one of the Antioch City-States.
Cadua is also known for its dueling academies. Once focused specifically on preparing people for success in the tradition of dueling for one’s honor, or to prove oneself right, the academies have now branched out into teaching all types of blade work. This has been necessary since Alcaldar has expanded into an empire, because restless people are inclined to go out seeking increased opportunity in new places rather than stay home and look for excitement by taking umbrage at other people’s remarks. In addition, dueling was always more a practice of the affluent — insults among the lower classes tended to be settled with fisticuffs or a blade in the dark — but over the centuries it has become ritualized in ways that have increased the cost. (For example, to correctly execute a duel, the challenger must rent an arena or dueling ground and hire a referee and at least a healer, if not a full cleric.) This means dueling is now largely restricted to the nobility and the wealthy, and they tend to have instructors come to them rather than attending an academy.
Many masters (such as the eminent swordsman Camos Gemarin) teach with no more than a studio and a handful of students. Of the major schools, the Meruelo Academy of the Crossed Swords is the most well-known; its dozen instructors handle probably 20 times that number of students. Of course, all these gallant institutions are the subject of much discussion and comparison, not to mention gossip. It is said that one of the larger schools (it varies which one in the telling) once had a temple to the war-god Mithras as part of its facilities. Obviously, that was closed when Alcaldar came into the worship of Muir 300 years ago, but rumor says there is a secret way that someone could again access it and look on the ancient altar built by the Hyperboreans themselves.
Encroached upon as it is by the Nazarre Mountains, Cadua has only a few haciendas surrounding it. These include the noble estates of the Duquesa of Esterquel and the Conde of Isavana.
Settlement
Cadua, City of
Type
City
Owning Organization
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