Caerreyn

The Reds were the first to join together. The first to build. The first to conquer nature. Caerreyn, the Fortress of the Reyn stood as their ultimate triumph. -Lucian, through narration

The Royal City-State of Caerreyn is the capital of the eponymous Kingdom of Caerreyn and home to its institutions of government. A massive fortress shaped like a star, protected by magical wards and anti-airship cannons, Caerreyn is nearly impenetrable. In the center of the city is the Queen's Palace, from where Queen Avelina reigns over Reynland. It also acts as the prime fortress of the Red Reyn and is pimarily populated by that race of Reyn. The city is also home to the Red Reyn's main religious and cultural institution, the Church of the Stars, as well as the nation's primary government-sponsored Mage's Academy. Caerreyn is directly governed by a mayor who serves on the Queen's Council.

The city is located at the bottom of a valley and is ringed by tall ice-capped mountains. The valley floor appears to mostly be grass with a few scattered trees and has a river flowing through it. The city is organized in a shape like a many-pointed star, surrounded by high walls protected by anti-airship cannons. In the center is another set of significantly walls also organized like a star that surround the Queen's Palace, the Mage's Academy, and other civil buildings. These inner walls also act as a docking port for airships both commercial and military. The river flows through the city and the palace ground, with large openings in the walls allowing passage of the river. The densely populated city is organized much like a typical medieval city, with narrow winding streets, blind alleys, and a complex system of drainage canals to control wastewater. Buildings in the city appear to be made primarily of various-colored stone bricks and are almost universally red-roofed.

The history of Caerreyn dates to the Red Reyn unifying and beginning to build large structures to conquer nature. According to Lucian, their city was their ultimate triumph, a massive walled city. The Reds were the first to unify their state, and other races of Reyn followed suit afterwards. It seems that Reds had enough of a head start to have become the foremost power on Reynland, though it is also possible it simply is an affect of the Reds living in a more geographically favorable location.

Over 100 years ago, King Avelan defeated Auberwood and possibly other states. Many characters still feel the impact of this even now, with Reds glorifying Avelan as a great king and Grays considering him a lunatic. At the end of the war Avelan signed a treaty with the Grays. The Grays accepted Caerreyn rule, and in return Caerreyn would never put an Auberwood normal to death again. There are suspicions though that the previous lord of the Auberwood, Lord Anselm, was assassinated by King Herrot of Caerreyn.

Recently, Caerreyn was rocked by a civil war against a fanatic sect known as the True Starists, who used an extreme interpretation of the scripture of the Church of the Stars to claim that the Church was deluded, the royal line as false, and non-reds as heathens. The Mage's Academy of Caerreyn, normally neutral in religious disagreements, was forced to intervene against the Starists in the Battle of Fallen Keep.

Caerreyn's system of government is based on historic European feudalism and shares many similarities to it. Queen Avelina rules in the capital, while individual lords control various smaller fiefs, each with its own laws and military, though still beholden to the Queen. Some lords, such as Lord Julian Urocyon of the Auberwood, are disgruntled with the Queen's rule and actively seek secession.

In addition, other actors are important in Caerreyn government. After the Queen, the next most powerful Reyn is the Chancellor, who handles the day-to-day operations of Caerreyn and, in the Queen's absence, acts as her regent. The Chancellor also heads the Council, which includes the Archmage of Caerreyn and his deputy, the High Priest of the Church of the Stars and his deputy, the Commodore of the Caerreyn military, the Mayor of Caerreyn, and the Chief Judge. The Queen's personal bodyguard answers directly and only to the Queen herself.¹⁾

Like most historic feudal societies, Caerreyn does not maintain a nation-wide standing army, but rather exercises power through a highly structured military pooled only from the Queen's direct holdings. They also maintain as a royal magical organization called the Mages' Academy of Caerreyn, which is separate from the military but still act in a similar function. Feudal lords are responsible for the security of their own realms, and maintain their own separate military and mages that are beholden to their own lord before the Queen. Military technology is fairly well developed, with airships and anti-airship cannons both shown in the comic, but otherwise the military uses medieval-era equipment like swords, maces, and axes. These technologies seem to be magic based.

• The name Caerreyn means “Fortress of the Reyn”.
  • “Caer” is Welsh for “Fortress” and is seen in many placenames throughout wales, such as in Caerdydd (Cardiff in English) and Caernarfon.
  • Reyn refers to the Reyn, the vulpine race that is the focus of the comic. The origin of the name “Reyn” is unknown.
• Caerreyn is a massive example of a Star Fort, a kind of renaissance-era fortress shaped like a star that became prominent due to the advent of gunpowder. While cannon-fire could easily fell castle walls when the shot was directed perpendicular to the wall, cannons did much less damage when striking at an angle, and star forts minimized the ability for cannons to fire at walls perpendicularly.
• The inner walls have been depicted at different heights through the comic. Pages 11 and 393 both depict the inner walls as fairly short, while in page 220 the inner walls appear to tower over the outer city.

Categories: Locations