Castann

The proud city of Castann sits astride the River Kanoa in a rain-forest valley surrounded by mountains. It is a city-state known for its ferocious warriors and powerful mystics, and yet infamous in history for the savage clash between tradition and modernity. Its people are recognisable by their ornate decorations around the eyes, either by scarring, tattoo, glyph or more recently, filigree mask.


Formerly a clan-based hunter-gathering people, this city-state was brought to life kicking and screaming in the short space of a century, following the discovery of massive metal deposits. The change to everyday life brought with it bitter civil war as ancient and modern cultures clashed. After years of turmoil a prophesized visionary emerged, the Great Oracle, Tamahiné, and at last a peace was reached. Since then the cultures have integrated and the population has flourished. Warriors clad glittering in steel armour now took the field alongside their brothers and sisters in traditional glyphs.


Tamahiné foretold the Scourge would come, and to die during the invasion was her fate. Castann was ready for battle when they burst innumerable from the ground. After a week of relentless fighting it was also the first city to be overwhelmed. Oba Kundi, the Castann King, and his extensive family were massacred in their palace. The Toa, the much-feared warriors of the Castann, were eventually overcome and decimated, a few lucky survivors escaping to the surrounding hills. Tamahiné accepted her fate but as she waited on her knees at the temple door she was seized under the final orders of the Oba, and was smuggled away.


Right now this city-state is on a precipice. The loss of its Guardian, Foi Mata, wounded the Castann soul deeply and now any expression of Toa warrior culture is banned, and the Escari are in the process of displacing and dismantling the ancient clans. It is believed that the Great Oracle still lives in hiding in the mountains or rain forests, and the invaders constantly scour the land for her. If they find her it could spell the end for Castanni resistance. Perhaps for Castann itself.