Editing Acrozatarim/Gazetteer (section)

==Sukumvarang==

'''Icons''': Hierophant Prachatra of the Temple of the High Host

Although the Imperial Palace itself did not survive the Dawn War, the legacy of the Drakkath Empire has survived most strongly in the ancient Sukumvarang Prefecture, now one of the largest of the new Drakkath nations.  It is a major maritime and cultural power in the region, generally seen as a spiritual centre for the south-eastern reaches of the continent and destination for pilgrims from distant lands.  It is a major rival and obstacle to Huronese expansion south, especially since Sukumvarang is the ultimate prize for anyone seeking to claim the mantle of Emperor.

The northern regions of the peninsula serve to protect the nation from land assaults; high mountains and extremely rugged foothills offer a perilous approach for any foe seeking to challenge the Sukumvarang legions, who are themselves highly adept in the forested landscape.  The spine of these mountains reaches south down the heart of the peninsula for some distance before giving way to the flat, forested lowlands that run to the coast; it is here that the bulk of the Sukumvarangese people live, and here where their great cities and towns are to be found.  Phusaratham, the capital of the Drakkath Empire, still stands at the point of the peninsula, albeit with many of the structures and edifices of that era long since lost to the ravages of time.

Sukumvarang is a land of order, its hills and fields well-regulated under the watchful Republic that rules.  Truth be told, the nation would eagerly become the heart of a new Empire if it could, and it now has the resources and manpower that give some the hope that this will soon become a reality.  The last centuries have seen frequent clashes, finally resulting in the conquest of the former Suruni city-state of Dalwreath, but further expansion has faltered in the face of the Huronese threat and no small amount of internal conflict between major political parties.  The temples also hold a great deal of sway here; innumerable shrines to every aspect of every Younger God conceivable can be found here, and the Sukumvarangese make a great deal of the worship of all the Younger Gods as the High Host.  This is in part thanks to the Glorious Defence during the Dawn War, when a great number of nascent Younger Gods protected the Imperial Seat from annihilation - one can walk ancient collonades and roads in Phusaratham that were literally the spot that a divinity stood upon, and see strange, corroded flagstones where Urazel drove a spear through the wretched Ashurnagan's chest or the bright crimson stains where Churaphrat tore her own head off to spill forth the Army of Crimson Rage from her blood.  Walking the land of Sukumvarang is to feel, even more than elsewhere, a truly direct link to the divine past.

Sukumvarang is a place of learning, although a great deal of its knowledge is split amongst the priestly enclaves and orders - groups and factions that often bicker with one another.  Many hold scraps of arcane and eldritch lore that only the chosen may partake of, creating a sacred caste of mage-priests who are considered the most steeped in the mysteries of the divine.  Even this fractiousness, though, hasn't prevented successive Hierophants from establishing a firm grip on their insubordinate flock of temples; and it is here that the greatest of religious efforts are put, with entire conclaves of priests entering into weeks-long philosophical efforts to better understand reality and the world.  Some say that the deeper chambers under the Temple of the High Host have been the setting of some truly strange theological experiments, and the current Hierophant is known for his delving into the secrets of the divine.  Three years ago, a fire claimed one wing of the Temple, and was seen to burn in coruscating rainbow colours; the rumour has it that this was a failed attempt to forcibly invest divine power into a recipient, possibly as an endeavour to directly contact the Younger Gods.  Restlessness amongst some wings of the priesthood and public has grown as knowledge of the experimental theology has spread; even Sukumvarang only sanctions going so far.

As well as the extremely rich resources, fertile soil and repositories of art and culture, the Sukumvarangese possess a larger amount of intact Dawn-era technology than most of the neighbouring countries.  Much of it was scavenged as the Empire collapsed, and much of it is not very well understood, but it's no secret that the Temples hold quite a number of eldritch devices and edifices in their power.  The two old Mercury Towers that stand to either side of Phusaratham's harbour are reputed to have fearsome and still-active defence systems that the Port Authority know how to deploy against would-be invaders, while the immense Shouting Wheels are still put to work gouging great mines in the mountains and hills.

The country is a wealthy one; it is also the producer of a dizzying myriad of different drugs and mind-altering substances, cultivated in temple gardens and in great fields of dizzying hues.  Sukumvarang culture is one where such substances are very commonly used; priests enter meditative trances, scribes rub orange paste into their eyelids to keep them awake and sharpen their perceptions, warriors drink deep of pain-numbing brews and the leisurely enjoy rich, sense-enhancing smoke-liquids.  Those practicing chemistry, herbalism and alchemy find much to learn in Sukumvarang.

There are an unusually high number of genasi, aasimar and tieflings in Sukumvarang, particularly in the upper echelons of society; bearing such lineages is favourably looked upon.  This is because of the old Imperial claims to right to rule from elemental infusion; historically, the Imperial Families were mostly bearers of such lineages, particularly genasi, and practices were encouraged that resulted in more such touched children being born amongst the aristocratic and ministerial castes.  Historical accounts vary on whether Rangkun Yun, the First Emperor, was blessed with elemental might before or after Gilam chose him to enforce order in the Drakkath region; whatever the truth, from its earliest generations the Imperial Family was recorded as being made up of genasi.