Barony of Mataro

Mataro is the name for a large barony located in West-Central Cassel, located within the Diamond County. It comprises the lands under the direct governance of the Queen of the West. It is bordered on the west by the Esmeralda river and on the east by the Adamant River. Its northern border is an extension of the mountain range known as the Golden Towers and the Northeast borders the Sands of Nessa. Geographically, Mataro comprises the eastern half of the Diamond Plains.

Several thousand years ago, the Kingdom of the Diamond God controlled most of these lands. In the year 654 I.A., the Kingdom of Cassel invaded. At the time, Cassel was very much under the control of Saint Nora and the kingdom would not tolerate false gods. Several hundred years prior they conquered the kingdom of Dorias, worshippers of a false dragon god, and the Diamond kingdom was next.

Cassel had some trouble at first. The Diamond Kingdom had control of the Island of Rosika, which has the largest desposits of Aethercite within a thousand miles. This gave them magical capabilities far greater than Cassel. Eventually, Cassel did win, by invading Rosika, preventing additional shipments of aethercite.

Once the Diamond Kingdom was conquered, the City of Tesiadem and the lands known as Mataro was placed under the direct control of the King of Cassel. the surrounding lands were given to several loyal lords.

As Cassel grew larger, the King stopped governing Mataro directly, and gave governance of the lands to Baron Camillus Arturo in the year 963 I.A. Their control of these lands was stripped around 1800 years later, in the year 2730 when the Baron tried allying with Irellith in conquering West Cassel.

Several hundred years later, after Cassel split into three kingdoms, and after Queen Larielle of West Cassel stepped down and disappeared eight years ago in 2977, the head of the Arturo family sent mercenaries to the Palace at Tesiadem and took over the barony once more. He pledged loyalty to the King of South Cassel but in reality has very little respect for Casselian royalty.

Year Created:
Capital:
Controlled by:

657 I.A.
Tesiadem
Baron Charles Arturo

Land Area:
Climate:

9,570 km²
Mediterranean

Population:
Demograpics:

234,000
76% Human
20% Elf
4% Lamia

Shining City of Tesiadem

Also known as the City of Guilds, Tesiadem is home to the Cartographers and Explorer's guilds. The Artificer's Guild and the Alchemst's guild are also located in the city. There are rumors that the Rethian Thieves Guild has a presence in the city.

The glowing city walls is because the outer layers are covered in chalk paint which then absorbs the ambient mana in the air. Tesiadem is also located on a magical leyline, otherwise the walls wouldn't glow as bright. Various magic schools also use this leyline as a way to amplify spellcasting.

The Diamond Palace sits in the center of the city, and it is arguably more impressive than the Palace at Wrethilin. It's large size is actually because it was built around a hill and all those walls are shorter than they appear. The hill itself has several hollowed out tunnels that are said to lead to a crystal cavern, said to contain the so-called Diamond God. In this respect, the palace is said to also be a prison to prevent this co-called god from escaping.

Other Settlements

Zaffiro

Zaffiro is a small town on the coast about fifty kilomters west of Tesiadem. It surrounds a bay with crystal clear waters. The Town has a school for water mages that is known to create some of the best healers in the nation.

Colibri

A small village in north central Mataro. There are several large vineyards here. Most of the wines made here have a small amount of aethercite dust in them and are named after various birds.

Este

Located along the Adamant river on the borders with Nessa. The town is known for refining aethercite crystals into usable cores for magic weapons.

City of Zaffiro.

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Products and Economy

Aethercite

Aethercite is a general term for any crystal charged with Aether, the primordial energy of the gods. This is different from mana that exists ambiently all over the world. Nearly all of the Aethercite mined on the island of Rosika passes through Mataro in some way, and roughly half of the supply of Aethercite in the entire kingdom of Cassel comes from there.

The crystals are first processed, separated by type and quality. Next the crystals are cut and refined, then sent to various craftsmen in various settlements for further processing. Some are turned into cores for magic weapons while others are grinded into dust to be used in potion making.

Wine

A large chunk of Mataro's exports is in wine. the wine that comes from this area is said to be semi-sweet and dry. Many kingdoms in Northeastern Vreathe buy wine from Mataro and neighboring baronies

Education

Mataro is Cassel's leader in magical education. The barony is rich enough to hire the finest mages from across vreathe, from the elf kingdoms of Lyonne and Ledo, to the nations of Faeon and Terrask. Prominent families from all over send their magically gifted children to Tesiadem to learn.

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Wildlife

Tabrian Lynx

These subspecies of lynx is common across West Cassel. Like several other subspecies of lynx in Cassel, they are seemingly unafraid of humans. They are often seen prowling the vineyards, hunting rodents and other pests.

They don't get along with domestic cats and many places that have these lynxes are entirely free of other feline varieties.

Southern Ibex

Often seen climbing the seaside cliffs in the south and the golden towers to the north. Ibexes in Mataro are smaller than the varieties in Central Cassel, but their horns are roughly the same size.

For some reason their numbers never seem to dwindle, and hunting this animal is quite popular in the region.

Rune Bear

A very rare animal infected with aetheric corruption of some kind. The exact type is unknown as there are no dragon craters or fallen gods nearby. Rune bears are entirely resistant to magic, which makes killing one nearly impossible.

Every few years, stories spread about a bear going on a rampage in one of Mataro's many villages, but these stories are often greatly exaggerated.

Diamond Terrier

The diamond terrier is an old breed of dog that has been around since the days of the kingdom it was named after. It is a city dog, bred to go after rats and other vermin found in human settlements.

While a small breed, they are fearless, and are known to fight larger breeds of dog, lynxes, and people.