Yurette

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Heaven Above. Haven Below.

This content takes place in the Haven setting of Imagindarium's Creation.

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The People's City of Yurette is a large city-state on the southern coast of Zazriel that has sovereignty over the bay of Rastolk and surrounding farmland. Located at the mouth of the large river, Akina, Yurette is a center for trade in southern Zazriel. Much of the trade flowing from inner kingdoms to the north flows through Yurette. Ruled by twelve elected individuals on a council called the People's Vanguard, Yurette is one of the few democracies on its continent.

The origins of Yurette's peculiar form of governance and trade is said to have originated with its founder, Conditor. In 12 YM, Conditor and his wife, Conditrix, had one dozen children and, from these children, it is said that the entire population of Yurette is descended. The immortal Conditor lived long enough to see the population of Yurette rise to 120,000. To his horror, it was nothing like the small village he remembered where no one had needs and everyone cared for one another. In 821 YM, Conditor went on a rampage through the city, killing the entire government of Yurette and replacing it with its current system. Conditor then died, having created 12 weapons to be wielded by the People's Vanguard to maintain peace, abundance, independence, and prosperity not for Yurette as a whole, but for each of its inhabitants.

History

Pre-Fall of Haven

Before the Fall of Haven, local legend says Yurette was a small village with a population of no more than one hundred. Given the climate and region, they likely lived mostly on fish, basic gardening, and small-game hunting. Despite the advantageous location for trade, the Akina river was sparsely populated with villages no larger than Yurette dotted along its length. The village had a peculiar system of running things akin to a democracy. These ancient Yurites decided how to run their village based on popular vote and had a democratically elected mayor who acted both as judge and the village elder.

On an unknown date, a hulking figure walked into the village. At over three and a half meters tall, the figure dwarfed even the strongest village warriors. He continued through the center of the village to the bay where, after wadding deep into it, grabbed a large squid. He dragged the struggling beast into the village and, after slaying it, he ate the squid. The confused villagers tried to communicate with the man but he did not understand them or any language for that matter. He stayed with the villagers for years, learning their language, helping them to hunt and catch fish, and defending them from bandits. Eventually, they would name him "Conditor."

Destruction of Old Yurette

After Conditor learned the language, bonded with the people, and became a trusted member of their village, the worst came to pass. The Fall of Haven meant a planet-encompassing genocide of its Mythra people of which Yurette was a part. A single soldier, wielding technology thousands of years more advanced than the villagers, slaughtered the entire population. Try as he might, Conditor could do nothing to stop the soldier. Invulnerable to the soldiers attacks, however, Conditor continued attempting to stop the lone soldier until the soldier grew bored and left the area far faster than even Conditor could run.

Defeated, broken, and empty, Conditor returned to find his village destroyed. Some were burned to death, others killed using magic, and still others put to death by the sword. He cried out, a cry so loud that several of the invading soldiers came to see the ruinous village. After finding nothing of note besides Conditor, the soldiers tried to use him as target practice, laughing at his misfortune. Their laughing increased as tears rolled down his face, first of water, then of blood.

Within moments, Conditor was upon them. Ripping one in half, quickly converting their laughter into screams. The legend ends with the soldiers concluding he was not a Mythra and not worth the trouble. They fled before the now much stronger Conditor could reach them.

Early Modern Yurette

The legends skip in time until 12 YM, the traditional date of the formation of new Yurette. Conditor found a wife, sometimes simply called "a Mythra" and sometimes called "Conditrix," implying she is of the same kind as Conditor. With her, Conditor fathered 12 children that, like Conditor, possessed exceptional abilities. With time, however, they would die, unlike Conditor. As time went on, their descendants would go on to be identical to Mythra in terms of physical abilities.

These descendants would continue living in a humble village until a sudden population explosion in about 231 YM. At once, the population went from about 250 to over 2,500, a ten-fold increase. Conditor, only ever interacting with his children, spent this time in a daze. He hardly noticed as the population increased.

Later, as Yurette grew large enough to warrant needing a city wall, an increasing number of bandits began attacking the city. Conditor spent his days repelling even small armies bent on conquering the village. At one point, he spent over a year laying waste to a small kingdom that managed to kill a few dozen of the member of the village. The area of the destroyed kingdom, about 100 kilometers from Yurette, still exists to this day, mostly just as the ruined foundations of houses and exceptionally salty earth that most plants cannot tolerate.

Kingdom of Yurette

Yurette eventually became a monarchical society just like its neighbors. By around 312 YM, it had become a formidable nation. It began training elite soldiers befit of a city with no walls. The Kingdom has a fearsome reputation for barbarity and armies fled at the sight of Conditor who, with enough prodding, could be made to join the army in an attack on neighboring nations.

At the age of 7, every member of the population became subject to harsh training in schools. Boys and girls alike would, at first, be taught things such as gymnastics and calisthenics. Additionally, hand-to-hand combat and basic competency with a spear was taught in case of invasion. At 17, each would be subjected to a test of strength. For the strongest, they would move on to become soldiers in the army. For the average, it would mean becoming a laborer, fisherman, or farmer. The weakest were simply thrown onto the street and, if lucky, could find a job somewhere.

The population of Yurette became fierce, strong-willed, and difficult to defeat. Never once was Yurette captured thanks to this system. Upon age 30, those in the military received citizenship and could vote. The King himself was an elected official that, if incompetent, would be voted out of office. Resisting the system usually meant a swift end.

With time, the Kingdom of Yurette became feared across southern Zazriel, most known for their brutal subjugation of the nearby kingdoms. They took pride in not relying on Conditor for every military victory, later making a point to never take him with the armies. By 345 YM, it had captured a massive slave population from nearby kingdoms. It was the first kingdom to institute chattel slavery based on race. The Yurites believed themselves to be superior to their neighbors, thus justifying this practice.

The United Guilds of Yurette

This carried on until 512 YM when Conditor finally looked around his city. He saw the brutal treatment of slaves, the poor trampled, the weak cast aside, and saw many starving. This was nothing like the small village he once knew. After seeing one of his descendants beat a slave simply for the sake of it, Conditor let out a cry of anger and grief. Once again, his eyes began to weep tears of his rose-gold-colored blood. At once, all of his descendants wept similar tears. Conditor, in his rage, began to kill those with significant power in the city. Generals, business owners that treated slaves poorly, wealthy individuals, and the king all died. Covered in the shiny pink blood of his descendants, Conditor continued his rampage through the military. Not even their strongest soldiers lasted even a minute against his fury.

After several hours of rampage, dozens of destroyed buildings, and thousands of deaths. Conditor began giving a speech to the poor, the enslaved, and the disabled. To those brutalized by the system they had no choice but to participate in. He gave a vision for society, a vision which would return Yurette to its days as a village. No one went hungry, all cared for one another, and all were free to live as they saw fit. People fished, worked, and farmed not just for their own survival but for the survival of the whole village. After stating his vision, a large portion of Yurette began following Conditor in his quest to restore Yurette to its former glory.

After forming what is known as a "guild," a democratically operated organization, called "The Vanguard Guild," the people began to reshape society. It was not good enough that only citizens could vote for the leader, everyone could. It was not enough that the government was democratic, all institutions had to be. Everything, from farms to bakeries and fisheries to mines would be ran by those who worked there. After declaring that the Vanguard Guild would be the ones tasked with maintaining this newly created society, Conditor entered a state of inactivity.