Editing Acrozatarim/Gazetteer (section)

==Adhur==

'''Icons''':  Magistrate Reshaan Purity-of-Fire

In the forested, rugged wilds in the Basin's north, the young and militant nation of Adhur stands guard from a series of fortress-towns amid crags and steep valleys.  This federation of settlements emerged over the centuries, slowly coalescing into a solid alliance and finally a unified people under a Sun-Council of town representatives, commanders and Solanthaari priests.  Ever since, Adhur has aggressively expanded, sweeping nearby lands into their grasp and engaging in brutal, bitter conflict with the Dread Marches.  Now they look north with concern at the Huronese advance, even as they seek to spread their brand of law and order across the Central Drakkath.

Established around a code of laws and responsibilities that has ensured Adhur's survival over the centuries, the culture of this nation is orderly and focuses on duty to the greater whole.  Solanthaar worship dominates over others of the Host, and she is considered the nation's patron.  Vigilant Inquisitors, ordained and legally empowered enforcers, are given leeway to investigate and hunt out the taint of Adhur's most hated enemy - the Elders and their servitors.  The Eclipse Hunt, when the fledgeling federation was nearly undone by vile Hashrukkite cultists and servitors, has never been forgotten - and the Adhuri intend that it never happens again, though they must burn out every nest and enclave of their enemy's corruption in the land.  The focus of the Solanthaari faith is the great Sun Cathedral, a Drakkath Empire era structure that has been lovingly maintained by expert Adhuri masons and architects and which still cuts an imposing shape against the skyline.

Indeed, Adhur is known for its masonry and the skill of its builders; the walls of Adhur towns are tall and strong.  Another of Adhur's strengths, that of alchemy, also contributes to the nation's defences - Adhuri alchemists have a number of unusual mortar and sealant concoctions that are supposedly much stronger than their traditional forms. Alchemy has advantaged Adhur in many other areas too - chemical concoctions are commonly used for armament fuels, for battle-drugs and to power strange alchemechanical engines that some of the crag-towns make use of for driving cranes and lifts.  It is claimed, though not proven, that Inquisitors undergo an alchemical transformation that renders them with strange abilities, including the capacity to smell out Elder taint and the numbing of their ability to feel fear.  A dangerous substance known as black powder is also a result of Adhuri alchemical advances, but the alchemists jealously guard the particular process for creating it.

The broken landscape of Adhur is rife with streams and rivers that tumble into frothing waterfalls, and these hold a particular place in Adhuri culture.  The Adhur place emphasis on purity, usually that born of purging fire, but many domestic rituals involve participants standing or swimming in the pools that the falls plunge into, letting the waters cleanse them of burdens and worries that they carry - this is a particularly important element of both marriages and also the bestowal of important official positions.

Another feature of southern Adhur are the dams and waterways of old Imperial construction.  All those streams and rivers eventually feed down into the Basin, but once a great series of mighty Drakkath dams formed immense reservoirs; many harnessed the power of the water with massive mills and other industrial buildings.  The impact of Ephras's hate-star caused earthquakes that wrecked many of the dams, contributing even more water into the ravaged Basin as the previously dammed lakes came crashing down.  However, several dams did survive, as well as portions of the elaborate locks and waterways that Imperial engineers had threaded between the reservoirs.  Many of these dams are in poor condition but excellent Adhuri masonry has reinforced them and prevented them from collapsing; and while much of the old water-powered industry is long since reduced to rubble there are several repaired mills that serve Adhur even today.