Ember

Ember, sometimes also known as Port Ember, is a costal town on Sarent's easternmost border with the sea. Once a relatively small town with a focus on fishing, the advent of the Nailknight Cult has transformed and expanded it into something closer to a city that now acts as the cult's capital.

Description

With sturdy walls surrounding, Ember could be mistaken for a fortress city from the outside with entrance granted by two great gates that sit on the town's western and north walls respectively. Both the style of these and those buildings within are distinctly gothic in structure as is typical of Sarenite construction, with tall spires and pointed arches. Within the streets give the impression of scale, main roads being large and open to permit the great amount of traffic such a place can expect to flow. This carries all the way through to a central plaza that only builds on this sense of scale and openness, complimented by fixtures such as the town hall, cathedral and what was once the central watch station. The main road continues on though, carrying right through to the outer district of the docks, separated from the main city by walls of comparable might to the town's main ones. Housed here are a great many fishing and trade vessels bearing Sarent's colours and a considerable amount of more combat-capable vessels that host The Iron Stake's distinctive aesthetic.

While the town itself presents as typically Sarenite there is a contrast in the presence of technology, otherwise not overly present about the nation. Of a night the streets are lit by electric lamps upon metal posts, tucked away behind otherwise gothic architecture are pipes and even the occasional vent. Perhaps most anachronistic are the factories and foundries, pushed away from the central areas, that spew smoke and belch fire into atmosphere during the day. In the docks too are the signs of industry, albeit not as pronounced, with construction yards capable of steadily producing warships of a distinctly tougher and more advanced nature than Sarent otherwise employs.

Impossible to ignore alongside all of this though is the distinct lack of Sarenite colours, aside from those present on the more civilian vessels of course. In defiance of the nation this town officially owes allegiance to, the reds and silvers of the Nailknight Cult, The Order of The Iron Stake, fly proudly both within and without. Their symbol and aesthetics dominate the place, much as does their presence. Even the Cathedral, once built to honour Sarenrae herself, is now place to preach the dogma and 'faith' of the Cult and the purity of mortality. The former central watch station barely resembles its original purpose, now effectively a fortress from which the cult operates. Ember is, by all accounts, a vision of a possible Sarent, for better or worse.

History

In times past Ember was a modest town supported by its fishing industry. Its position on the eastern coast prohibited much of the potential for trade that the western coast offers, though this did not prevent a few enterprises from conducting business with the northern nation of Alzhak Reger. Eventually the town would become a hotspot for undead hunters, pharasman penitents looking to cross the sea to 'neighbouring' Scarlet, triggering the birth of a rudimentary shipbuilding industry. It would be this purpose that would eventually transform the town into what it is today, witnessing the tragedy of those crusaders and bearing them on their return. This would accelerate rapidly with the departure of Sarenrae's own angelic forces across the land, their arrangement with the nation's former leadership closing.

It would be as part of the Cult's rise that industry truly came to Ember. Seeking any edge their belief's would allow, The Order embarked on a campaign of spending, using the subsidy afforded to them by the Sarenite defence initiative to develop mechanical enhancements to their equipment through partnership with less morally discerning engineers from Alzhak Reger and slowly building up a basis for industry in the town. Clever planning allowed for them to leverage this increased commerce with the dwarves for their own end while work began on modernising Sarent's own mining industry, otherwise left to flounder by the nation's government in lieu of simply exporting dwarven ore.

Industry and Trade

Under High Inquisitor Nabras, Ember has positioned itself excellently as a centre of trade and industry for the eastern region of the country. Processed metals from Scoria are brought down to be turned into weapons, armour, technology and all manner of other relative marvels that supply the northern mining industry in return as well as the Cult's ambition of war with Scarlet. Unlike elsewhere in Sarent, other industries have also benefitted from this greater focus on technology, namely the traditional fishing industry which is now both capable of higher yield and protected from possible Scarlet piracy by potent warships. Public amenities have also reaped this boon, running water and electricity being practically a staple within the city for those living there, a relative improvement from the sporadic implementation of more faith-based magi-technical solutions being developed and rolled out across western Sarent.

Trade has been carefully managed for the most part, flowing well within this Nailknight controlled eastern region but otherwise not leaking overmuch to the rest of the nation. All of this has been done to create a sense of prosperity under the Cult and emphasise the difference between the two competing powers. In many ways it successfully works alongside political disgruntlement to attract those unsatisfied with Sarent's ecclesiarchy to Cult-controlled lands. This means that the primary beneficiaries within Sarent are the towns of Cinder and Scoria, with Scoria featuring prominently due to its control over the lion's share of Sarent's mining industry. Outwardly Ember still makes good on its trade with Alzhak Reger, getting the rarer metals and parts they need from the dwarves and mostly trading foodstuffs back to them in return.

Demographics

The racial breakdown of Ember is relatively straightforward with humans featuring most prominently, followed by a sizeable portion of what are coming to be known as Sarenite Aasimar now reaching adulthood following the departure of Sarenrae's angelic forces. Dwarves make up a rather modest, if temporary, population as they come and go on trade missions from Alzhak Reger or stop off in Ember following contractual work in the more northern mines near Scoria. Otherwise, while not unwelcome, most other races have chosen to move on as the Nailknight Cult tightened its grip with a largely incompatible faith to their beliefs.

There is a zero tolerance policy to the fiend blooded, undead and those bearing the hallmarks of 'corruption', as defined by the cult itself.

Law, Crime and Punishment

One of the original attractions of life under the Cult is a tough approach to crime and public safety. Gone are the town guard, replaced entirely with armoured Nailknights empowered to carry out judgement on the street if necessary. It was this immediate approach to justice that most worried people at first, though the ever charismatic Inquisitor Nabras was able to spin things in her favour and introduce people to comforting 'joy' of public executions and punishment. It's these public displays that further deter crime and maintain order, heinous criminals and depraved villains made to suffer and eventually burn as an example to the people and any that would threaten them. Often these are accompanied by a speech or sermon, sometimes even from the High Inquisitor herself if people are lucky.

With little tolerance for evil and an emphasis on moral purity, the Cult deals harshly with any threat to public order. The law that's enforced is a twisted version of Sarent's own, cut heavily with the Cult's doctrine. To that end violent crime warrants torture and violence against cult officials is returned with death. Imprisonment is never permanent with extreme cases resulting in either exile or death and temporary sentences punctuated by torture and 'rehabilitation'. To this end costs here are low and levels of re-offence even lower. Lesser crimes are, amusingly enough, ruled on in a relatively benevolent manner when contrast against these other extreme punishments, punishment consisting of community service mixed with mandatory 'rehabilitation'.

The nature of this rehabilitation is kept a cult 'secret', outwardly presented as a sort of education. The truth of the matter is that is amounts more accurately to brainwashing, administering chemical treatments and drilling in the Cult's dogma in a targeted manner through magic and mundane means both. It is in this way that order remains at an all-time high and loyalty to the cult spreads.

For outsiders visiting the idea of safety is questionable. If acting in accordance with the cult and being of mortal purity there's unlikely to be a problem. Those with outward 'corruption' exist on borrowed time as they are urged to leave or accosted by overzealous agents of the Cult. Unheeded warnings often lead to disappearances or criminal charges, invented or otherwise, with the fate of those so charged relying on who might miss them and how it might affect relations more than anything else.

Military

One would be hard pressed to find a greater military in Sarent than in Ember. The Nailknight Cult recruits well and supplied easy to use equipment bolstered by mechanical enhancement while outwardly offering a number of perks to go alongside the perceived prestige of fighting evil and corruption. These armoured cultists patrol the streets and roads beyond, ensuring nothing troubles the people as they go about their lives with their mighty hammers and iron stakes.

If Ember's Nailknight presence boasts any vehicles beyond seafaring vessels they haven't been publicly revealed, the military might of The Order coming primarily from its infantry and its troops.

As the capital of The Order's activities most information related to Nailknight military capabilities can be found here.

Diplomacy

Ember maintains close relations with the similarly Cult-controlled towns of Cinder and Scoria, supporting them so as to stave off any need for the Sarenite government or trade from the western regions of the country. Diplomacy is otherwise in line entirely with the Cult's and can be found detailed here.