Post by Chris on Dec 10, 2009 17:32:50 GMT -5
Capital | Mayene |
Public Happiness | 80/100 |
Military power | Perhaps somewhere in the order of 15,000 men, mixtue of Heavy infantry and light cavalry |
Details | Mayene is a small but wealthy city-state on the Sea of Storms, in the far south-east of the Westlands. Mayene claims to be an independent city and has its own government and military forces, but it is also claimed by the nation of Tear to the west. Mayene controls territory that includes most of the peninsula it sits upon, which extends for a hundred miles or more from the mainland. The Mayener peninsula forms the eastern and south-eastern edge of the Bay of Remara, and is cut off from the mainland by the Drowned Lands, a hostile swamp impassable to large armies. The peninsula does not appear to be easy to invade by sea either, forcing any attack to come through the city itself, which is defended by stout walls and formidable defences. Fishing shoals rich in oilfish lie somewhere to the east of Mayene, but the location is a closely-guarded secret. Mayene also lies close to the Sea Folk island of Cindaking. A combination of its location on key trade routes to the Sea Folk isles and Shara, plus its dominance of the oilfish trade, make Mayene extremely wealthy and covetable in the eyes of Tear. After the War of the Hundred Years ended, Tear renewed its claim to Mayene, but was rebuffed. Several attempts to capture the city by force were defeated. Given its size and manpower, Tear could have seized the city in a grinding war of attrition, but only at the expense of exposing its western border to an attack by Illian. Instead, Tear resorted to subterfuge, espionage and blackmail in an effort to force Mayene's capitulation, but to no avail. Mayene has a strong relationship with Tar Valon. Due to Tear's antipathy towards Aes Sedai, this relationship was kept secret from them. The First enjoys the counsel and wisdom of an Aes Sedai adviser at almost all times, and is schooled in the arts of rule in a similar manner to the Daughter-Heir of Andor, regardless of her ability or inability to channel. The First is also given martial training and is taught how to avoid assassinations and knife attacks. A combination of these factors makes the First both an unusually canny and personally dangerous ruler. The First and Mayene are both defended by the Winged Guards, an elite military formation who are noted for their skill at arms and promotion through merit. Given the extreme remoteness of Mayene. The Drowned Lands: A natural bulwark keeping Mayene safe from landward invasion, the Drowned Lands are a vast saltwater marsh with no lengthy open waterways or truly solid high ground. Junglelike areas grow amid seas of chest-high grass, providing homes for dozens of distinctive creatures that make travel through the swamps even more hazardous. In addition to a plethora of highly venomous serpents, these creatures include the nedar, a tusked water-pig that reaches up to 50 pounds; the soetam, a gigantic rat weighing as much as 15 pounds; twenty-foot-long carnivorous water lizards that do not hesitate to attack humans; and the swamp cat, a predatory feline of about 20 pounds. |