[Roran]

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The Holdfast of Cóstalon

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Introduction

Cóstalon is a new holdfast, founded by Clóibhín Càirde, a cabal of clannish warlocks in the service of Roran Moreaux. They were once a mere loose collection of friends studying the many twisting and varied branches of magic, but the construction of Broscilliad changed that. The Broscilliad is one part monumental academy dedicated to the sharing and consolidation of arcane knowledge, and one part great temple to the many faiths deeply intertwined with sorcerous rights. The combination of tradesmen needed to build the massive pyramid, the farmers needed to feed them, the sailors needed to transport them, and the students and scholars drawn to it's purpose, created enough of a population to birth a small city, and in time, a much larger one as both Clóibhín Càirde and their subjects grew in number. These days the Isle of Cóstalon hosts the Broscilliad Lyceum, a complete pyramid in the Silver Strait, and the city of Caolascuin, as well as a smattering of minor fishing, farming, and logging villages across the island.

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Government

Executive power rests solely in the hands of Clóibhín Càirde, with Roran Moreaux at their head as Consul. He is also the official Count of the Isle of Cóstalon and Curator of the Broscilliad Lyceum. Members of Clóibhín Càirde’s elite are called Cardinals, and are tasked with handling all matters spiritual or arcane in nature, but they also tend to have their influence felt in other branches of government, supposedly to come up with magical solutions to the mundane problems citizens of the Isle face every day. Said citizenry are charged with the day to day administrative branches of government, their leaders called Counselors of their various subdivisions. The judicial parts of government are mixed between both factions, being either a Cardinal or Counselor but unofficially they are called Correctors. Internal conflicts are handled by the Counselor of Arms, whilst external conflict is handled by the Cardinal of War.

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Ancestry

Fynnoderes are presumed to be a kind of fae, though the truth of it cannot be known due to their complete disregard of their own history and culture. They are absurdly clever and quick, their entire species leaping from illiterate cavemen to professional virtuosos in the span of a generation. Prior to their discovery on the Isle of Cóstalon half a century ago, the Fynnodere people dwelled in seaside caverns and mountain gorges, utterly incapable of magic and lacking anything resembling skill of any kind, and now they rival every craftsmen or sorcerer to ever step foot on the island. It is a trait shared by all their species; to be fast learners and poor teachers, as they are too eager, twice as impatient, and entirely practical in their manner. As for their looks, they are shorter than Syvisan and Sídhe alike, with a youthful stature akin to Halflings, with a more Goblinoid coloring, ranging from vibrant greens to soft browns and honeyed golds. Most of their hair is atop their heads, like many other species, but Fynnoderes are also covered in a thin layer of soft fur coming in those same shades of browns, blacks, golds, and greens. They are incapable of growing their hair long however, reaching only shoulder length at best, and perhaps a noticeable beard, but there is no chance they will ever rival a Dwarf, or even a Syvisan. Fynnoderes have only one sex and gender, typically equated to males of other species, and an unusual life cycle wherein they age and then shrivel into a wrinkled baby and mature all over again as an entirely new person. The total lack of natural reproduction in their life cycle has kept their population from growing for the entirety of their time in isolation on Cóstalon, but the recent influx of new sapient species have allowed them to grow their numbers for the first time in recorded memory, as the child of a Fynnodere and any other species results in a mostly full-blooded Fynnodere.

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Glasteyrns are a brand new species to Caer Sidi, birthed in the very halls of the Broscilliad entirely by magic. They are created from members of Clóibhín Càirde, not born. Some debate whether they are truly a separate species at all, but they consider themselves to be so and are usually highly ranked within Cóstalon’s government, which is enough for them to be noted down as such in all the Holdfast’s records. Glasteyrns shroud themselves in illusionary magic, making it so their actual physical appearance is masked behind either a guise of their old one or something completely new and different. When the illusions are dropped they tend to have little in common with one another aside from an odd luminescence to their skin, eyes, and hair, which are usually changed to some unusual color as well, the most common of which are white, blue, and green. They typically resemble their old selves in shape, and given Clóibhín Càirde is made up of sorcerers from all across the Warren that base is already quite diverse, but the ritual that changes them always adds something extra based on their chosen reagents, leaving them with distinctly bestial, floral, or elemental influences on their appearance and diet. A minor change from an auroch-based ritual could leave someone with cow ears, horns, and hooves, while a major change would as good as create a genuine minotaur. Glasteyrn rituals are highly complicated workings, taking years to design and prepare, and as such are highly customizable and can be used to completely redesign one’s physical form to their liking in ways impossible to sustain without magic. Lesser versions of the ritual have been used for sex changes and congenital cures, and current studies posit the chance of using it to change species completely rather than the halfway corruption Clóibhín Càirde use it for. However, these smaller, standardized rituals used by healers do not result in a new member of the Glasteyrn species like the more personal and advanced workings of Cardinals do.

The population of Cóstalon is: ⠀ Syvisan = [ 9,421 ] Sídhe = [ 2,879 ] Fynnodere = [ 1,544 ] Glasteyrn = [ 81 ] Miscellaneous = [ 1,217 ] [ 15,142 ]

The Natural and Processed goods of Cóstalon are: [ Total points available: 8 ] [ Total points used: 8 ] Jade = 1 point Olives = 1 point Pearls = 1 point Rice = 1 point Glass = 2 points Reagents = 2 points

Industry

Cóstalon is a hilly island, with what could generously be called a mountain at its centermost point. Tiered farms line the isle’s slopes and inclines, while paddies span across the flatlands, the majority of these farms filled with rice brought over by Syvisan colonists. Mines spring up in forest clearings and along river beds as prospectors find collections of jade jewels just beneath the surface. On the drier plains surrounding Caolascuin orchards of olive trees are tended to by the city’s denizens, and divers plumb the nearby reefs to wrestle pearls from giant clams. In the city itself much of the glassworks that went towards the Broscilliad continue to churn out products for sale abroad, shipped out alongside the arcane reagents crafted in excess by the Lyceum's warlocks. What the island lacks however, is metal. There are few deposits of even soft metals like copper, silver, or gold, but a total absence of harder metals like iron. Chefs and clerics alike hunger for a large variety of organic supplies as well, from blood and bones to fruits and flowers and everything in-between. Last and greatest of the Holdfast's demand is for arcane resources used in the many rituals and experiments undertaken every day within the pyramid, and which go in to fueling their production of their myriad reagents.