Caratis

Caratis is a port city located on the northern coast of the Kingdom of Cottalem. Strategically positioned east of Beretha, it serves as a critical maritime gateway for trade flowing between the southern reaches and the northern kingdoms of Skyss and Dael Riata. In 774 AM, the city became a central theatre of the Cottalemnese expansionist conflict, subjected to a naval blockade that severed its commercial links with the Kingdom of Salicia.

The city faces north towards the sea, offering a deep-water harbour capable of accommodating large ocean-going vessels such as the Nordic and the Albany class merchants. Its position on the northern coast makes it the primary landfall for Skyssian merchants completing the two-week voyage from Kronstadt.

Caratis is linked to the interior of the continent via the northern spurs of the Great West Road, which facilitates the movement of copper from the Cobre Mountains and agricultural products from the Minhaton river basin to international markets.

The city has long served as a transit point for the nomadic matriarch Alfarinn. Her household frequently passes through Caratis during their seasonal migrations, moving north to forests around Grunwald for the summer and returning to their winter home at Estreham in the late autumn. This established the city as a known point of intelligence for tracking Heroic movements on the continent.

Ahead of the annexation of the Salician capital by Rojden, the Cottalemnese navy established a blockade just to the east of Caratis. The primary objective was to neutralise the city's trade and prevent Skyssian Resolution Agents from using the port as a base of operations. This military action forced independent traders to divert to alternative ports, and prevented the leakage of information ahead of the strike force being launched.

During the crisis involving the geas of Noren, the city was used in a sophisticated counter-intelligence operation. While Noren and Yngvild the Fierce fled west to Ocaso, the heroes Alfauda and Gefjun (both skilled shapeshifters) travelled to Caratis in the company of Clewgists. Dressed as the fugitives, they successfully confused Rojden’s pursuit, eventually assuming avian forms to escape the city once the diversion was complete.

• Alfarinn: The unaging matriarch who uses the city as a seasonal transit hub.
• Noren: The hero whose mother and sisters were tracked to the city via the ship Nordic.
• Yngvild the Fierce: Involved in the strategic diversion intended to mask her movements from the city’s watchers.
• Rojden: The commander responsible for the blockade and the surveillance of the port.
• Alfauda: A descendant of Alfarinn who performed a diversionary role within the city.
• Gefjun: A master shapeshifter who assisted in the 774 AM ruse.
• Alfinna: Handled the administrative paperwork for her mother’s household at the Caratis docks.

• Cottalem: The kingdom in which Caratis is a primate port.
• Kingdom of Salicia: The neighbouring realm whose trade with Caratis was severed by war.
• Beretha: A nearby port city also affected by the Cottalemnese naval campaign.
• Ocaso: An abandoned fort to the west used as an alternative to the blockaded port.
• Great West Road: The primary land-based trade artery connecting the city to the interior.

• Board of Trade: Maintains an office at the docks to monitor the flow of commodities such as iron and coal.
• Shapeshifting: Utilised by elven-descended agents to evade capture within the urban environment.
• Geas: Magical compulsions utilized by the state to monitor arrivals and departures during the 774 AM blockade.

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