Above: The banner of the old Kingdom of Ticondera. Depicted is a stylization of the Crown of Ticondera.

Ticondera

The ancient land of Ticondera - where the magically-induced origins of Salenzian civilization lay, once the glittering fire opal of the Prophan Empire - now lies in ruins. Its old capital, Jadant, is abandoned, decrepit, and overgrown. The interior remains lawless, each farming village running itself, trading with its neighbours - and if they're unlucky, being harassed by one of the city-states.

History

Ancient Times

About four millennia ago, Ticondera was not part of Salenzis, but the Eastern Continent. It was part of what is now the Jami Province of the Talurmen Empire, and one can easily see how the rectangular shape of modern Ticondera could fit into the right-angular, high-cliffed coast of southeastern Jamiland. The flora and fauna, too, are similar, though some species from the rest of Salenzis have crept into Ticondera over a few thousand years. Among many Jamic tribes, there was one known to have called themselves the Ivrit. This tribe had been chased out of its homeland in western Ticondera by another Jamic tribe, because of an ancient blood feud that nobody knows the reason for anymore. What is known is that the Ivrit came to the east and found some low mountains to hide in. However, they were pursued by their enemies, and so they hid further, inside a cave in the mountains. It was deep in this cave system that they found the sleeping Onyx Dragon, a great being in the shape of a massive reptile, made of dark stone. One of their number, a mage known as Aaron, accidentally woke the Dragon. The mage spoke with him and told him of the Ivrit's plight. The Onyx Dragon took pity upon them and granted them a boon, using his great power of the earth to break the land off, and the enemies of the Ivrit fell into the sea. 137 years later, according to the ancient tablets, Ticondera slammed into Salenzis, creating the Ticonderan Mountains. After the earth settled down, the remaining Jamic peoples, including the Ivrit, made their first contact with the Salenzian barbarians, who learned from them the ways of agriculture, cities, and writing.

This is, at least, the tale that the Onyxians tell of Ancient Ticondera, but there is corroboration from the Jami Province, where ancient histories speak of a great catastrophe that sundered the land and drove much of it into the sea. There are also ancient historical records dug up in Anshacras that speak of similar things, as well as vague legends from Igion and Propha that speak of great earthquakes, and mountains appearing where there once was sea.

Once Ticondera was firmly in place in Salenzis, the Salenzians did indeed learn the ways of agriculture, cities, and writing from the Jamic peoples. There has been much archaeological evidence of pre-Prophan Igionese states that arose after the end of the Ticonderan Transit that were doing things pretty similarly to the ancient native peoples of Ticondera. Also as clearly, from how Ticonderans look these days, there must have been interbreeding between the Jamics and Salenzians. Modern Ticonderans look similar to the peoples of the Jami Province as many have curly hair and are somewhat short, but there are also some features like the occasional brown, blonde, or wavy hair, and narrow, aquiline noses that are indicative of Salenzian ancestry. Ticonderans are also somewhat paler than their Jamic cousins, though that's not saying much, since other Southern Salenzians and Prophans are not much paler than them either. Nevertheless, by the time the Prophan Empire came around to Ticondera just under two thousand years ago in 333rd year of the Second Age, the land had very definitely been partly Salenzianized, mostly in the southeast. The rest of the Salenzianization came with the Prophans, who chose the local variety of Salenzic language as the one they would promote to be spoken in the Provinces to bring unity and stability to the Empire. Ticondera was the jewel province of the Empire, being a great centre of ancient learning and trade since even before the Empire.

The Origins of Onyxianism

In 2:1324, a Ticonderan scholar known as Simon Sertorius Decimus Antiquarianus - or simply Simon the Antiquarian - led a party into a cave in the Ticonderan Mountains after hearing that a local hunter saw some ancient-looking architecture in it. Simon found the architecture, and more. He found ancient tablets bearing writing he could not read. Satisfied, he left and brought the tablets to a colleague in Anshacras who knew many of the ancient languages of Ticondera. After some weeks of study, this colleague made his first breakthrough in the translation, and from then on, Simon was with him, fascinated for months, every step of the way. These tablets were written by the ancient Ivrit tribe, detailing their story. Based on this, Simon again traveled to the cave and went deeper than he had before. There he found the Onyx Dragon, and he was in awe. He studied the translation of the tablets ceaselessly, even learning the ancient dialects his colleague had used to translate it in the first place. After a while, he began to speak on the streets about the Onyx Dragon and his power, that he was the rightful god of Ticondera, and indeed, all Salenzis. Some intrigued people followed him into the cave and saw the Dragon for themselves, and Simon had his first converts. By 2:1331, Simon and his followers had formally organized into a new religion in southeastern Ticondera, the Procession of the Sleeping Onyx Dragon - or as it is called for short nowadays, Onyxianism.

Today

Ticondera's status would remain great throughout the history of the Prophan Empire, but only a few hundred years after it, as the Ticonderan Civil War began in the 334th year of the Third Age and has technically not ended since. Ticondera's status in the Empire brought with it darker things. There was much splendour and luxury, yes, but there was also decadence and sloth. There was intelligence and education, but also scheming and plotting. It is not known who sent the assassin after Dorian V, the heirless last King of Ticondera, though the final two remaining Ticonderan noble houses of Cambala and Mandos blame eachother. Cambala rules the City-State of Anshacras in the northwest, which is the last remaining city with Ancient Jamic origins ever since the Fall of Jadant. Mandos rules the City-State of Naldus, in the northeast. The Onyxians took the opportunity to carve out their own state in southeastern Ticondera, taking the city of Calse on Soluran Island and renaming it Onyxia. These three states continue to fight eachother to this day. There is a fourth state, the Union of Ticonderan Port Cities - or just the Ports Union for short - which formed in response to the warring of the city-states. With the nobility gone, merchants were able to take over the wealthy ports of southwestern Ticondera. These oligarchic plutocrats eventually banded together for mutual defense against the other Ticonderan states.

Anshacras

Above: The flag of Anshacras. At the top is the Crown of Ticondera, signifying Anshacras' claim to it. The writing below says 'magic' in Ancient Anshacrasian.

Anshacras, ruled by House Cambala, is the oldest inhabited city not only in Ticondera, but on the entire continent of Salenzis. Jadant was older, but it's a complex of ruins now. Anshacrasians are very proud of their history, frequently claiming that if it wasn't for them, nobody on Salenzis would be civilized. According to the historical and archaeological evidence, they may well be right. Anshacras has a strong tradition of powerful enchantment techniques that is said to extend to before the Ticonderan Transit. The presence of somewhat similar techniques in the Jami Province may point to the truth of that claim. However, the techniques currently present in the Jami Province pale in comparison to the mastery of the craft that the Anshacrasians have achieved. While the creation of the Ticonderan Mountains very nearby to Anshacras was initially devastating to the city, it happened to avoid being completely obliterated by the greatly accelerated orogeny. Once the Anshacrasians rebuilt and got back on their feet, they took advantage of the great mineral wealth afforded to them in the new mountains. This allowed them to gradually advance their smithing and gemcutting techniques, which made enchanting easier, allowing them to explore its intricacies more thoroughly than ever before. Almost all the best enchanters on Salenzis get their education in one of the Three Colleges in Anshacras. Because of its origins, to this day there remain cults of Jamic origin in Anshacras. In fact, these cults together form the majority of belief in the city, with the Salenzian Tradition and Sublimism both being minorities.

Naldus

Above: The flag of Naldus. At the top is the Crown of Ticondera, signifying Naldus' claim to it. Below is the Mu-Delta monogram of the ruling House Mandos, which resembles the high mountains of the Ticonderan chain.

Naldus is a fortress-city nestled in the northeastern Ticonderan Mountains. It has a remarkable architecture in that most of it is actually inside of a mountain - the outside parts are the fortifications and other military structures. It used to just be a border fortress in the mountains, but when the Civil War came, House Mandos, who ruled the magistracy it was in, took to the fortress to get away from the fighting, and many others followed. Because of this military origin, Naldus is quite a militaristic state, and is the most aggressive of the three warring city-states.

Onyxia

Above: The flag of Onyxia. At the top is the Crown of Ticondera, signifying Onyxia's claim to it. Below is a depiction of the Onyx Dragon, asleep. This symbol is also used for the Onyxian religion, though there really isn't any separating it from the Onyxian state.

Onyxia is situated on Soluran Bay, on the island of the same name in southwestern Ticondera. They also control the rest of the islands of southwestern Ticondera, and even a good chunk of the mainland, most importantly the Ticonderan Pass that goes to Igion. Onyxia is, rather uniquely on Salenzis, a theocracy. It is governed by the Procession of the Sleeping Onyx Dragon, which is the state religion. Something frequently pointed out in criticisms of Onyxia is that the Onyx Dragon - who the Onyxians worship as their god - is not really much involved in any of this, since he mostly spends his time sleeping. The actual governing of the state is executed by the Procession's internal hierarchy, which has become an especially bloated bureaucracy. Because of its theocratic nature, Onyxia puts many restrictions and fees on followers of other religions going through the lands and waters it controls, which basically amounts to everyone else. As such, most trade with Onyxia is actually conducted in western Igion. Some Onyxian merchants also do business in the Ports Union, but this is frowned upon by the Procession.

The Ports Union

Above: The flag of the Union of Ticonderan Port Cities. The orange in the background represents the Ticonderan mainland, and the blue represents the sea. The anchor is there because the Ports Union greatly relies on overseas trade. The white letters stand for the full name of the Ports Union in Salenzian, YK ΣOKIETOΣ ΔA YPANUNO ΠOPAΛ TIKONΔYPIN. The black text on the anchor is in Old Salenzian, and means "Unity for Defense".

The Ports Union is ruled by an oligarchy of plutocratic merchants who banded together for mutual defense against the warring city-states. They engage in much overseas trade, seeing ships from all over coming in to dock. The Ports Union is somewhat infamous for being lax about what is sold in the lands it controls - one can buy many things in the Ports Union perfectly legally that would be quite illegal in the rest of Salenzis, or even abroad. This can range from drugs, to useful but dangerous devices, to "services" that cater to the most "eclectic" of tastes. This last one means that the Sublimist Temple especially despises the Ports Union. This broader range of legal goods also means that if something illegal has been smuggled into another Salenzian nation, it probably went through the Ports Union at some point. This perception has led to somewhat strained relations between the Ports Union and the rest of Salenzis.