Domain of the Silver-Crowned

The Domain of the Silver-Crowned is a bleak and barren land covering a spur of hills jutting out of the Fire Mountains south of An-Teng and east of the Dwelling of Serpents who Walk like Men, between Thousand Dragons Lake and the River of Four Kings. The summers are hot and dry, while the winters see frigid winds howl down from the mountains.

According to local history, the land was founded by a hero named Ivory Cup, who had aided the Immaculate Dragons in the overthrow of the Anathema. Ivory Cup was personally entrusted by the Dragons with standing guard over the land and keeping eternal watch for any attempt by the Anathema to return.

Over the millenia, these beliefs have shifted and harshened to form an austere and brutal society. The land is a source of iron ore, which is mined, forged into steel, and traded to outsiders for basic neccessities and implements of war. Luxury is unknown, with even jewelry forged of steel and martial in aesthetic. The mountains are not fertile for agriculture, and trade routes are difficult.

Every resident of the land dyes their hair pure white in honour of their founder Ivory Cup, and every adult bears weapons with which to battle the inevitable return of the Anathema. The culture is ruled by a number of traditions which outsiders find completely divorced from reality: locals, when they grow into adults, are interrogated in a highly ritualistic fashion, studied by the land's elders and declared either loyal or destined to serve the Anathema. Those found to be the latter are executed immediately. Likewise, travellers passing through the Domain are captured and interrogated in similar manner... if they cannot justify their presence in a manner which satisfies the incomprehensible requirements of the ritual, they are immediately executed as spies for the Anathema.

The Domain is not a satrapy of the Realm. Indeed, it is as difficult for Realm representatives to travel there as it is for anyone else, as despite ostensibly being given mandate by the Dragonblooded and Immaculate Dragons, neither Terrestrial Exaltation nor Immaculate Order membership are acknowledged as relevant when a traveler is taken into custody. The lies of the Anathema are, after all, deep and far-reaching, and their spies could be anywhere.