Sereor

From Almeopedia

Sereor [sɛ ˈre or] is a region in eastern Eretald, consisting of the valley of the Serea river; by convention it generally excludes the portion of the Serea that passes through Zeir. It is also the name of a Verdurian province.

Its separate identity derives from geography, since it is not connected to the Eärdur and Svetla that comprise the Caďinorian heartland. Its liberation from the Munkhâshi occupation is a good example of its mixed dependance and independance. Kaino took over the lower reaches of the Serea around 875 from the Meťaiun, who were more profitable and easier to loot than the Munkhâshi. The region became independent as Tel Neuor by 920, and began pushing south along the river. Within a century they had liberated the middle stretch of the Serea, but this area preferred to rule itself, under the name of Sereor. It was Caďinas which liberated the upper reaches of the river; the battle of Siloas Falls in this area indeed marked the recapture of Eretald (1150).

The Caďinorians conquered Tel Neuor in 1217, and ‘invited’ Sereor into the empire in 1260. For over a milennium it was a prosperous province of the empire, and its capital Aites, near modern Mituré, was one of the three most populous cities of the realm. A canal was built between the Mevost and the Adel to help tie the plain together, in the 1700s; it was not maintained during the Dark Years and became unusable.

Sereor became independent during the Gelyet invasion of the 2500s, when Caďinas had little attention to spare for remoter areas.

It was conquered by the Verdurian king Ževuran in the early 3000s, but though its old royal family were made Verdurian dukes, it retained a tendency to assert its independence during periods of weak central rule, such as the reigns of the wizards Utu. Tomao reasserted control of the region, but it rebelled in earnest against his son Ihano— one of the factors precipitating Ihano's sister Elena to seize power; once she had reorganized the Esčambra and thereby secured a better royal income, she put down the rebellion for good.

The region is divided into three Verdurian provinces: Aodo, Sereor, and Zelm. The latter province, which borders Dhekhnam, is heavily fortified, and run by a military governor. The chief city of Sereor province is Nuo, which has its own university, established by Mëranac 1e. It's a somewhat quiet region, important as a fertile agricultural supplier, but participating little in the new processes of global trade and industrialization. The Verdurians too have built a canal, the Menla-Vesi Canal, to tie the area closer to the center.

A portion of Sereor between Zeir and Aodo, though claimed by Verduria, remains effectively independent, largely due to the dukes of Muďuca, who prefer to retain absolute authority over their extensive estates, as well as despotic control over the city of Muďuca itself. They know how to choose their battles, rarely defying the Verdurians outright, and gladly participating in Verdurian trade. As semi-independent agents, they have even been useful as spies or thieves in the struggle against Dhekhnam.