A Pearl Betwixt Empires, vol. 2

A Pearl Betwixt Empires: An Overview of Cathnoquey

Volume II

The Dragon's Black Scales, Spread Across the Sea

As any diligent student of geography knows, the island of Cathnoquey is the greatest of the four large islands within the Queyan archipelago, itself surrounded by 56 smaller islands known to the Imperial Geographical Society. Cathnoquey proper is by far the biggest isle, easily larger than the rest of the isles combined. The Empire's Cathnoquey Territory encompasses the entirety of the archipelago, but most of the Territory's population lives on the four largest isles.

Although it lies just north of the tropics, Cathnoquey is in truth a rather bleak place. Rocky beaches ring miles of stunted forests where the trunks of slender gray-trunked palms, seldom taller than a man, twist like wires as they struggle up from the stony landscape.

Beyond these forests are hills of igneous desolation where stones of black glass reflect the sun's heat on travelers. The interior of Cathnoquey remains obscure, even to the Keptu-Quey. Dark rumors shroud the volcanic (though long-dormant) interior, and few go there willingly.

Freshwater lakes and lagoons dot Cathnoquey's north, and it is here that most of the Keptu-Quey make their homes. The biggest native citadel, Ylöccan, straddles a rocky strand that divides the great Noccöny Lagoon and the seas of the Padomaic Ocean.

The industrious Keptu-Quey have cleared enough of the archipelago's ancient forests to set up extensive farmland. The staple crop is a filling variety of tuber called a nup root, which possesses a pleasantly sweet taste. Domestic animals tend to be similar to those found in the more settled areas of the Empire (especially after a century of trade with Tamriel), though there are more peculiar native beasts living in the wild. Other Keptu-Quey make their living by fishing in the lagoons, or via light manufacturing. Wasabi from the famed Wasabi Run is managed and cultivated by chartered Tamrielic growers, including many Nords from Skyrim.

Sulphur and glass deposits can be found closer to the central volcano, but the Empire has had difficulty exploiting these resources. The Keptu-Quey are unwilling to work in mines, and the attempts of previous governors to correct this issue did not produce satisfactory results. The few mines in operation use convict laborers imported from Tamriel, but these wretched places are more valuable for their remoteness and impracticality of escape than any real material profits .

The second largest island in the archipelago, Cinnanquey, hosts the largest Imperial presence, centered upon the thriving regional capital of Mare. Much of the Empire's colonial endeavors in the Padomaic are hosted at Port Mare, including the headquarters of the far eastern chapters of the Guilds. The easternmost large island, Cinvec, is primarily rural, aside from a handful of tiny settlements of the Keptu-Quey. The southernmost major island, Llénnöcöcönnéll, has been quarantined by Imperial edict since 3E 289 and is beyond the scope of this journal.

From East, From West, From North: The Keptu-Quey

Few human groups in Nirn are as puzzling as the Keptu-Quey. As the academic name for them suggests, researchers suspect that a distant relation to the Nedic-Keptic peoples who once inhabited Hammerfell, Cyrodiil, and Morrowind before the arrival of the Velothi. One justification for this theory is the bull heraldry so ubiquitous among the Keptu-quey, which resembles art known to have been produced by these ancient Tamrielic peoples. Other scholars contest these assumptions, and insist that the Keptu are in fact related to the lost Men of Akavir, driven out of the Uttermost East in ages past by the depredations of the Tsaesci.

It should be noted now that Chimeri-Quey and Keptu-Quey are demonyms of Imperial design. The inhabitants, both Man and Mer, refer to themselves merely as Quey (though some have accepted Imperial prefixes in recent years).

The nature of Chimeri-Quey society means that the elves often live beyond the reach of day-to-day Imperial authority (though they have gladly complied with Imperial tax collectors when summoned). As an island people, the Keptu-Quey have far more interaction with Imperial governance than their seaborne counterparts, exposure which has changed their culture considerably since the days before Empire came to the isles. Modern Keptu-Quey are far more enterprising than their ancestors of a century ago, and many can be found running profitable businesses in Port Mare or seeking work in ports as far afield as Firewatch, Tear, and Winterhold.

Traditionally, many Keptu-Quey lived around (and sometimes within) immense conical citadels that have never been touched by hammer or chisel. Words cannot truly do justice to these remarkable fortresses, which are made of solid rock but appear as if molded from clay. Rounded turrets and parapets extrude from the living stone, and irregularly placed ovoid windows look out onto the sea in regular intervals, but the Quey insist that no masons ever built them.

Though the citadels remain in use, most Keptu-Quey live in the towns which surround them. In older days, most Keptu-Quey dwelt in grass-roofed and cylindrical stone apartments called kenmennu. These communal structures would bind together several smaller stone huts reserved for the use of individual families. Kenmennu can still be found at the outskirts of towns and on the farms throughout the countryside, but buildings closer to towns' central citadels now more closely resemble those in Imperial settlements, with families and businesses existing under their own roofs.

Keptu-Quey households are almost always inter-generational. A matriarchal figure, either the mother or grandmother, typically owns the family home, while an elder male figure acts as the head of the family unit. The parallels with the Chimeri-Quey family structure are probably not coincidental. Families collectively participate in the raising of children.

Though the Keptu-Quey have adapted, somewhat, to the Imperial economy, they maintain a certain distrust of hoarding material goods. The intricate Keptu-Quey writing system, traditionally known only to priests and the most learned, proved too complex for the challenges of integration into the Empire. Modern Keptu-quey have adopted the common alphabet and script for most everyday purposes, including business and navigation. Families that have achieved great financial success are expected by their compatriots to expend much of their fortunes on the creation of fantastical (and utterly impractical) weapons. Cathnoquey is a peaceful realm, noteworthy for its lack of endemic violence, so this interest in such weapons hints at ancient traumas from generations past.

Mingling of Man and Mer

Early accounts state that contact between the Chimeri-Quey and Keptu-Quey was once rare and fleeting, consisting only of brief meetings when the Chimeri-Quey came ashore for trade. It is unclear when the relationship between the two peoples deepened into its modern form, but today, ships from the flotilla-cities frequently pay visits to Keptu-Quey towns, maintaining a constant system of contact. During visits, families exchange gifts, share food, and bless each other's children, relationships which often date back generations.