Lantea

History

Mesaian People

Reaving and Raiding

A Nation Emerges

The Teya Conflict

Geography

Lantea is an island nation that lies off the southern coast of the eastern continent. It is a harsh island with a harsher climate. Weather patterns can quickly fluctuate, making any sort of sustainable agriculture extremely difficult.

Government and Politics

Lantea is governed by a unique council of officials that are deemed to be the best in their respective fields. At the head of this council sits the Archseleus. At the conclusion of each raiding cycle, a single ship captain is selected

Economy

Blegh. Somehow it works.

Demographics

Population

Urban Areas

Spire Lantea

Religion - Mesaian Pantheon

The Mesaian Pantheon is a set of homogenized religious beliefs between the three Mesaian nations of Lantea, Ilium, and Poleis. While each nation has its own unique traditions, all revere the pantheon.

• Lantilles, Breaker of Storms, Lord of the Sea, Patron of Lantea
• Galli, Goddess of the Seasons, Escort to Lantilles
• Hypertheia, Lady of the Night Sky, Bringer of the the Dawnfire, Patron of Ilium
• Resteri, The North Star, Wife to Hypertheia
• Polea, Arbiter of Justice, Mountain of the West, Lady of Poleis
• Scetea, Sovereign of the Wood, Companion to Polea
• Ochro, Keeper of the Eternal Tree
• Synodeia, Shepherd of Souls
• Allagi, Harbinger of Change, Deceased

Languages

Culture

"Everything has a price. Take what you can, give nothing back."

Captain Tribunal

A man left behind has been failed

Year of the King

The Raiding Cycle

A year in Lantea is measured by the progress of the Raiding Cycle. The Raiding Cycle consists of two major phases, the Harvest (not to be confused with the Harvest rite of passage) and the Verdant. Between these are the two minor Subsistence phases.

Ship Names and Selection of Service: The Harvest

Given the highly naval culture of Lantea, ships are incredibly important in society. While a Lantean is always given a name by their parents at birth, an adult Lantean's full name will always include the name of the ship they are currently serving on. Lanteans who are awaiting ship assignment at the beginning of their military service or at the beginning of the raiding cycle are giving the temporary name of Roster. If an individual is not selected or chooses not to join the raiding or merchant navies after their service to the national navy, they are assigned the posthumous ship name of Landlocked. It is customary for a Landlocked individual to give their current occupation immediately after the ship name.

As every Lantean is expected to serve in the nation's military navy, every person of age is randomly assigned to the ship that they must serve on. Assignments are rotated every four months to ensure that each person gets a well-rounded naval education. In contrast, Raid Captains who are looking to crew their ships go through several steps to fill their ship. First, they accept or reject any current crew that requests to serve another cycle. Then, they review candidates who have specifically requested to serve on his or her ship. After accepting from that list, they then join with all other captains in a crew draft, more commonly known as The Harvest.

The Harvest consists of three parts: Inspection, Review, and Selection. To start the Inspection phase, all individuals who are looking to serve are lined up on a field known as the Chopping Block. All recruits are run through a basic exercise routine. Then, all captains are allowed 20 minutes to silently walk through the columns of potential recruits. After that, the Review and Selection phases occur. In order of rank, captains choose 5 individuals to step forward. A designated reader reads off each of the five's Service Summary, which contains five positive traits and three negative traits they possess. After the reading, the captain must choose at least three of the five individuals to serve on their ship in the final Selection Phase. For Rosters who are mages, the process is very similar, but instead of being in the main recruit group, they are inspected and selected separately. Each captain looking to recruit a mage reviews two, then selects one. While The Harvest may take several hours, it is a time-honored tradition that is held dear by every Lantean. Even people who are not up for service come to witness The Harvest, as it is considered a rite of passage to all would-be marauders.

After ship assignments have been given, each ship has its new members go through a ship pledge ceremony. There, each new member swears to serve the captain faithfully, and to put the ship and crew's well-being above their own. After the pledge, a ritual is performed where each new crew member adds a drop of their blood to a board attached to the ship's mainmast. The bloodboard is held sacred by every member, as it represents all who serve and have served the ship.

When a Lantean no longer serves on a naval vessel, they receive a final posthumous ship name as a permanent adage to their name. Lanteans who retire and still remain in the nation are assigned Reverence, as they have proven themselves to be model citizens worthy of admiration and consideration. Many Reverence citizens continue serving Lantea in advisory roles, and often serve as judges for both festival competitions and trials. Lanteans who choose to leave the country after a voluntary discharge of service are assigned the ship name of Evanescence. Evanescence was chosen to symbolize the wrong that was done to the individual, and the hope that one day the harm that was inflicted can fade into nothingness. If an individual was dishonorably discharged from any navy, they are assigned the name Deplorable. Deplorables are able to shed the name, but only through vigorous tasks.

Any Lantean who does not give a ship name is considered to be actively hostile toward the nation, and immediate execution by any Lantean is expected.

The Festival of the Stone

At the tail end of the second Subsistence Phase of the Raiding Cycle, all able Lanteans attend the Festival of the Stone. In addition to the customary food and drink that accompanies all Lantean festivals, the Festival of Stone features all successful raid captains telling tales of their resident ship merchant, and the deals that they struck with other merchants. Captains give full accounts of three of the most memorable trades and sales that their respective ship's merchants made during their raiding runs. While all Lanteans, merchants especially, enjoy the stories of success, retired Reverence merchants take special care to note the details for the next stage of the Festival.

Once the captains have all finished, the Arc Merchant chooses seven random Reverence merchants to deliberate with. After at least a day of discussion and voting, the Arc Merchant announces the merchant that the group decided made the most profitable trade. The chosen merchant is immediately elevated to celebrity status among the population, and receives an award of a gem-studded scale (with secret places to weight each tray). After receiving their reward, the merchant's name is then carved into a stone, along with the details of the trade. The stone is then placed in the courtyard surrounding the Spire Lantea, where the merchant's deed will forever be remembered.

There is no higher prize among merchants than to have their names carved in stone during the Festival. It is almost necessary to have at least one stone in the courtyard to be considered for the position of Arc Merchant. In fact, in the entire 200+ year history of the Festival of the Stone, only three merchants ever achieved the position of Arc Merchant without a stone in the courtyard.

Some notable trades that won merchants stones are as follows:

• Arion Gavras Fotakis tou Landfall: Three seal ribs for 200 pounds of flour, 100 pounds of sugar, and 5 pounds of salt
• Rhea Hatzis Mantalos tou Crest: One restamped Estovakian coin for 200 barrels of Ilosian wine
• Kalyca Mylonas Costas tou Angel Wing: One 15 pound cannonball for three fully-equipped sloops