Llomerryn
"It's not really the kind of place where one turns down a tumble. Even refuse a fortune teller, and they'd run your lot out of town."Llomerryn is a politically neutral port located on an island at the southern tip of Rivain, and to the east of Antiva.
Demographics
Llomerryn is famous as a refuge for the immoral. Its markets and bazaars are notorious for their abundant and exotic treasures — a lot of them stolen — and it is said that "any man can gain his heart's desire, for the right price". The Felicisima Armada has been operating out of Llomerryn for a little over a century.
Industry & Trade
Llomerryn doesn't actively import or export any goods. Rather, the things that come into Llomerryn are stolen from plundered ships and the things that leave are stolen goods that are being pawned off. There are vast markets where some of the lowliest of trinkets to rarest of magical artifacts can be found, ready to be bought by those with enough coin. It's considered an illicit affair in most nations to engage with these pirates, but that doesn't stop some people from traveling to these markets when looking for something specific or when large events are occurring.
History
During the Goliaths' invasion of Rivain, Llomerryn was hit with brutal intensity. Arguably, Llomerryn's people may have faced the worst of that invasion. Several goliath dreadnought ships caught the city by surprise and rained mortar fire on the city constantly for about a week. Stories tell that over one hundred thousand explosives were rained down on the city during that week.
There were some attempts by the Armada to attack the goliath ships head on, but those unlucky pirates were the first people to ever find out how terrifyingly powerful goliath ships are. The small fleet was absolutely outmatched as they mostly drew steel weapons while the dreadnoughts rocked the waves, spewed black smoke that darkened the sky, and launched iron balls the size of a man's head that ripped through any mast or hull.
After the invasion ended, this massive defeat on the Armada's end spurred a revolution amongst ship-builders that lived in Llomerryn. It had become quite obvious that dreadnoughts were so technologically superior to anything a Llomerryn ship-maker could build, so instead pirate ships began adopting faster and lighter designs. The thought process was that even their strongest ships had been torn straight through so rather than try to defend against a hit, it would be better to not get hit at all. The effects of this revolution have been going on for the past three decades and every year there are competitions at Llomerryn where ship-builders can race their newly designed vessels against the work of their peers. Some say that a proficient ship-builder can make more money at this event than they will for the rest of the year.
Culture
Week of Black Rain
The Week of Black Rain, which is sometimes just referred to as Black Rain, is an annual five week affair. The pretense of the event is that whichever pirate-captain can steal the most expensive good in the first four weeks of this event then gets to become the king or queen of Llomerryn for a week. There's no official guidelines as to what that really means, other than that they get to do whatever they want. Most winners spend this time basking in every worldly desire they could ever imagine, since few people will deny them during this time. Some try to decree rules, though this usually is forgotten after the week or just fails immediately. This event came from the dreariness that followed after the goliaths rained mortars down onto Llomerryn. One ship suggested it as a joke and it eventually caught on amongst many of the Armada's ships until becoming a full-on tradition. It was given its name to spite the goliaths since even though the goliaths could spill "black rain" down onto the city for a week, that wouldn't stop any good pirate from sticking it to them eventually.Pact of Salt
The Pact of Salt is a Llomerryn tradition amongst friend and foe alike. If one is invited to drink a cup of salty sea water with another person, then the inviter is attempting to enter both people into this pact. If they drink the sea water together and thus enter a Pact of Salt, the pact means that each person will make sure that no harm comes to the other person for 72 hours. Breaking this pact is culturally a faux-pas and will reflect very, very poorly on you and those around you. If you break the pact with someone powerful, you can expect to have yourself hang out on Llomerryn's cliffside and slowly have the waves crash over you until your drown. It's believed that this tradition came to be because pirate-captains needed a way to meet with one another and to expect not to be killed at any of these meetings. Most now treat it as a necessity; if one wants to meet them but will not enter a pact with them, then they will not meet with that person.Architecture
Llomerryn used to be "drab and dull", as it was originally a coastal fortress used by the Imperium to govern their satellite colonies in the area now known as Rivain. A lot of that old fortress-style that was present was defaced or leveled when the goliaths rained mortar fire on the city and subsequently invaded. After the goliaths left, the pirates of Llomerryn began rebuilding with an architecture style that was inspired by Antivan showmanship and Marcher practicality. The city that has been built since has become a colorful, playful place that "makes people want to come out and dance in the streets".
Comments