Zaragoz

A tiny realm on the furthest reaches of the River Eboro, Zaragoz is an Estalian duchy once ruled by Duke Marsilio diAvila, called tyrant by his people.

Zaragoz is considered the least of Estalia's realms, for its sun-dried land offers poor sustenance, and the dukedom has been an object of dispute between the families of diAvila and Quixana for centuries. Yet the lineages of Zaragoz' feuding families have been intricately tangled by complex patterns of intermarriage, and in the time of the old Duke, Ruffino diAvila, many who were innocent of seeking a claim to the throne were made to suffer by dint of their heritage. What Quixanas that remain go by other names, careful to choose substitutes that will not give them away.

Geography
The realm of Zaragoz is centered around a lonely crag surrounded by pastureland. Farms reside on the higher ground in the north, with orange groves and vineyards from whose fields the animals can be driven down to the River Eboro to drink. The soil of the path leading to Zaragoz had long been scoured away by floodwater to leave a dry and sandy reach where thorn bushes and tall grasses grow in ragged clumps. All the same such path leads to a road which descends from the farmland to meet the river at a place where it becomes calmer and wider. With the road parallel to the Eboro, one can see that, to the south of the river, the land stretches away far and flatly. The Eboro's northern shore, meanwhile, is blocked by trees and low hills, yet by following around a leisurely bend, one will at long last see the conical crag loom upon that part of the horizon in manner both striking and incongruous.

With low-laying land all around it, Zaragoz appears not to belong at all with the landscape, and, as Otheo the Minstral described it "as though some god carrying mountains to a place they belonged had suffered an accident which chipped the peak from one of them, and had carelessly let it fall". Perched atop this crag rests a citadel, with the rocky slopes beneath it too sheer to allow more than thirty or forty houses to cling there; thus the town over which the castle stands is arranged in a tight ring about its base, confined by a low wall. The farms that feed it form a greater circle still, cut across one side by the River Eboro's course.

Trivia

 * Duke Marisilo diAvila is known for his cruelty, surpassing even that of his savage father, Ruffino.
 * There are no shrines to the gods of order within Zaragoz.

Pending...

Source

 * : Zaragoz, by Brian Craig
 * : Prologue
 * : Chapter 1

[[Category:Z]]