Katelli Ideas

Traditions
+50% Innovativeness Gain
-10% Cost of Advisors with Ruler's Religion

At the End of the WorldApproaching Katelperai from the east, one might be forgiven for thinking they are approaching the end of the world. Behind countless towers and holdfasts punctuating high and strong walls, rows of buildings rise up the mountains, flanking the narrow eastern pass that leads to the dry coast. Katelperai is a tiered city, and the higher you go, the grander and richer the city gets. The bottom tiers, dubbed "the ditch" by the Katelli, are a vast slum, dominated by illicit workshops and laboratories and the aspects of magical science and innovation respectable folks would rather pretend did not exist.\n\nIn contrast, the upper tiers are practically luxurious, filled with palatial residences and discussion chambers, and the offices and workspaces of the brightest minds of Taychend. With the eastern entrance – which leads to the Dry Coast – all but inaccessible, Katelperai is extremely difficult to take by force, with various challenges, be it the stinging logistical pain of attempting to blockade the eastern approach, or the cost of actually assaulting the tiers of the city, preventing all but the most determined conquerors from attempting to truly capture the city of exiles.
+10% Fort Defence
+10% Garrison Size

City of Exiles, City of IntellectualsOriginally little more than a watch-tower guarding the eastern pass to Tskebor, Katelperai grew dramatically during the days of the Mudaliar Empire, as the Nakari used it as a dumping ground for those intellectuals and scholars who opposed their rule but were too popular to outright imprison or execute. As these exiles brought their followers and families with them, the burgeoning city would become a light of scientific and philosophical innovation – and a place where more "morally dubious" fields could be pursued, hidden within the many clandestine speaking halls and research chambers within the city’s underground.
-5% Technology Cost

Urazhil the Life TwisterIn the mid 1100s, Kateperai was taken over by a charismatic mage, Urazhil, believed to be a master of illusion magic. Indeed he was, but he had also secretly mastered enchantment magic, and the dark arts of necromancy. Enslaving the leading minds of Katelperai, he set them to work creating vile monsters of flesh and bone, sending these beasts out into the Kalavend in an attempt to conquer the region, and eventually all of Taychend.\n\nThough they captured Palaya Orenkoraim and Cankaman, and overran the hill-cities of present day Uesrennu, the forces of Urazhil were halted outside the gates of Royakottar by the Four Families and destroyed by a quickly-arriving Nakari and Varamrayan force. The resulting campaign led to the death of Urazhil and the freeing of the city from his grip, though at significant cost to the Kalavendhi, priming them for conquest by the nascent Second Gophiran Empire.\n\nFollowing Urazhil’s apparent demise, his followers spread out across Taychend as the Hero-Cult of Urazhil, the "Life-Twister", conducting their dark arts within caves and ruins across the region. While his name is widely reviled within the city, the "Life-Twister" is nonetheless an apt representation of the potential the minds of Katelperai possess.
+1 Possible Advisors
+10% Mages Loyalty Equilibrium

Bowcrafters of the EdgeThe walls of Katelperai offer the perfect place to rain down arrow fire on anyone daring to besiege the city, and the Katelli know this all too well. For centuries since the city’s founding, the bow has been the city’s most valued weapon, and given the natural tendencies of Katelperai’s citizens, it is no wonder that they have sought to maximise their bow's capabilities.\n\n"Bowcrafting" is an art that concerns the creation and heavily customised and modified bows, often utilising enchantments, alchemical techniques and the use of relics. Often considered an (albeit extremely specialised and esoteric) form of early artificery, the practice has made the archers of Katelperai some of the most powerful in all Taychend, and has also been a source of power for the scholarly institutions of the city.
+10% Land Fire Damage

The VitikalingovitaCamnan Senjita was a ruler of Katelperai in the late 1400s, though he is much better known for his life before he succeeded his father to become the city’s Dhavana. Canman, drawn into the Wars of the Two Heroes when he accompanied his father’s army and joined Kalazhil Bronzewing’s stand against Erankar, would become one of the most well-travelled people in Taychend in the period.\n\nMeeting most every major figure, and being present at each of the great battles of the period, from Troppaimkq to Masialendi to Volisi Vara, he would draw on his experiences to write the "Vitikalingovita", a fictionalised account of the period, which, despite frequent exaggerations and twisting of the historical record, is nonetheless considered one of the most authoritative sources for the 30 year period between the start of Laskaris’ invasion and the death of Laskaris.
-1% Prestige Decay

The Scouring of KatelperaiDespite the Jaherian Exemplars’ best intentions, their arrival heralded more war and upheaval, in part due to the rapid growth of a new abolitionist faith, the Oren Nayiru, whose second largest stronghold laid within the undercity of Katelperai. Though seemingly natural allies in terms of ideology, the violent and revolutionary rhetoric of the Oren Nayiru did not endear them to the Exemplars – combined with the machinations of the ruling Senjita family, long standing rivals to their Larankarha overlords, maintaining order in the city was a near-impossible task.\n\nAlready gradually bowing to general pressure from the Larankarha Emperor Tesheladar to crack down on the radicals, a brazen attack on a Taychendi merchant house would force the Sun Elves into action. But the attempt to arrest prominent leaders of the group would be frustrated by the unexpected intervention of the Senjitan city guard, who saw the mark of Urvand in the Elves’ actions. It mattered little who struck first. By the end of the "Scouring of Katelperai", most of the city had been destroyed and half of the population – including most of the Oren Nayiru leaders and the entire Senjita family – lay dead. Neither the city nor the Sun Elves’ reputation would recover, and the Scouring would be the first of the many conflicts between the Taychendi and the Sun Elves.
+1 Attrition for Enemies

Surael's BastionWith the destruction of most of the city during the scouring of Katelperai, the Exemplars set themselves to the task of rebuilding the city. Though efforts were disrupted by the dramatic end of the Exemplar expedition, by the 1550s Katelperai had been largely repaired, though it was still a shadow of its former self. Boasting a unique mix of Bulwari and Taychendi architecture, Katelperai became a city of an entirely different kind of exile.\n\nThose faithful of Surael who converted willingly to the New Sun Cult, and did not turn away from them after the disastrous end of the expedition, fled to the city over the years, their various cultures of origin greatly influencing the city. Since then, Katelperai has served as Rezankand’s foothold in Taychend, the starting point from which all of their campaigns in the region have begun, and though the city’s relationship with the Rezankandi government back east has not always been friendly, it has enthusiastically taken on the nickname of "Surael’s Bastion", a shining light at the edge of Taychend.
+2% Missionary Strength

Ambition
-15% Stability Cost Modifier