Coronus

The Coronus mountain range cuts across the heart of the continent. With a volcano at its center, it's a hotbed of geological activity, and atop its peaks, dragonkind makes its home. They rule skies, vistas, and all below; everything in their sight is part of their horde. Ignii count themselves among these masters: they oversee their domain from grand sparkling pavilions, so all may look up and view their majesty.

Geography

Coronus is a scattered country, with villages spread all across the mountains. Because the mountain range curls around the continent, its climates match The lowlands tend to be lush, green, and temperate: they're mostly fieldland, interspersed with stretches of forest and copses of trees. The ignii that live here tend to be more mild-mannered and social, and less violent than their neighbors at higher elevations. Those uninterested in the daredevil lifestyle tend to descend here. A majority of the farming happens in the lowlands.

As you go higher into the mountains, the fields become scrubby and rocky. Veins of stone rise to sharp cliffsides, and caves down to Dolsia or infested with wyrms lay bare in the open. Most Coric villages and cities are on this level, clustered around cliffsides, waterfalls, and lava flows. Ignii tend to favor locations with a view.

The mountain summits are a rocky, barren tundra. For most of the year, they're snowed over, and little lives there except the largest and strongest of dragons. Ignii who take matters of strength to their greatest extreme tend to live in this frozen wasteland. Training themselves to breathe the thin air, they build their homes atop spires that reach ever higher into the heavens.

Architecture

The Coric love large, open architecture. They love to live in places that dwarf them. Their cities are majestic places of marble pavilions and large, towering columns and archways. Their homes--any made to last, at least--are similarly made of stone, often with little gardens in the center. Occasionally, you see reliefs of mighty warriors set into buildings, but typically the Coric prefer to show off the natural grain of the stone, or to make mosaics of out of sparkling stone.

Building these magnificent buildings, however, takes a lot of resources and assistance. Many Coric people live semi-permanently in inns or log or mud cabins. These homes are much more modest, often just a collection of single rooms built around a hearth.

Notable Locations

There are a wide variety of landmarks within Coronus, from its snowy peaks to the fertile lowlands. A selection of some of its most well known ones are as follows.

Crysentis

The capital city of Coronus is the biggest in the nation. Wide expanses of shining marble pavilions and breezy open air buildings form steps up to the magnificent castle where the King of Coronus resides.

Volcano

The active volcano Crysentis was built on. Rivets and valleys allow its flows to pass safely through the city, while leaders gather for ceremony at its peak. The volcano is considered to be the still-beating heart of the Mother of Dragons.

Mother's Maw

An active volacano shaped like a dragon's head. The Coric faithful believe this to be the face of the Mother, and the rest of her sleeping body forms the mountain range they live on. The city in the Maw is full of the faithful, and pilgrims come to tell the Mother their troubles and secrets.

The Paint Pots

A collection of hot springs on the inner ring of the mountains. The pools bubble with radiant color from the natural minerals. While toxic to many other species, they are a popular vacation destination among ignii. A good long soak in the springs helps during shedding season.

History

They worshiped dragons for their strength and majesty, almost like gods. They considered them the superior creature. Their fevered passion was not well-accepted in Eniya, so many of these acolytes opted to migrate up into the mountains to live among the dragons.

Technology

Armor and weaponry.

Politics

Might is right.

Justice System

An eye for an eye.

International Relations

Isolationist.

Economy

Barter and sale.

Dragon Taming

Dragon taming is a time-tested and honorable career for an ignii. Dragons are revered in Coric society, so being able to befriend one is a huge mark of honor--all the more so if you can do that for many. Dragon parents are able to leave a tamer at any time if they find the tamer's home substandard, so a successful career in taming requires a mountain of trust and an intimate knowledge of the chosen dragon species's preferences. Different people specialize in different species, and they raise the dragons for different purposes. Some are raising pets, and others raise working dragons (ex: mounts, blacksmith assistants, chef assistants, disability supports, herding, etc). Some people who run rescues for injured dragons, and other people run shelters for dragons that want a new home. (Sometimes, a homeless dragon will just return to the wilderness, but some aren't capable or--having lived in the company of ignii--prefer it.) Dragons have a long memory and recognize faces, and they'll point out ignii that can be trusted or are to be avoided to others in their family pod.

Different tamers have different strategies for taming dragons, and some are very secretive about their methods. Dragon breeding generally happens without ignii intervention. There's a certain subset of people who are convinced egg thieving and imprinting on the hatchling is the only way to successfully tame certain species of dragons--particularly for the more challenging species. While it is effective, improper socialization causes major issues when these dragons encounter others of their kind, and they often flounder if ever released back to the wild. Egg thieving is considered abusive in the modern day.

The most common method of taming involves spending time around a dragon and offering it things it likes (usually either food or things it hoards) until it begins to show an interest in you. It's a very dangerous process, however, because if anything gets pushed too far too quickly, or a dragon's invisible rule is broken, they may attack. Younger dragons are easier to tame, but parent dragons can be very protective of nests. Older, successful tamers are friends with parent dragons, allowing them access to hatchlings, and thus they can foster a whole family line.

Cuisine

The rich volcanic soil makes for great farming, allowing Coric farmers to grow a huge variety of crops at lower elevations. At higher elevations, farming becomes more restricted as the air gets thinner and the weather colder, but a robust trade system means those living higher rarely lack. Their diets typically are savory and salty, with more vegetables than you might expect. Grilling is the most common form of cooking, as is braising. Coronus has mastered spit and pit roasting. Coronus loves big, bold flavors and spicy foods. At higher elevations, cheese and cream based dishes become more popular, as more herding occurs there.

Religion

The great dragon that anointed them the worthy.

Guardian Dragons

Coric civilizations exist in a constant tension with the larger dragons they call neighbors. Large dragons tend to be antisocial, and in the worst of cases, they can be actively antagonistic to Coric settlements in their territories. But, at the same time, large dragons most embody the might and heat that Corics so worship. The bigger they are, the longer their lives, and the closer they're considered to be to their collective Mother.

Dragons that have maintained a peaceful relationship with their Coric neighbors or appeared at an auspicious moment in a community's history are often adopted as the Guardian of that community. The Guardian is given the community's name, and pious ignii will make pilgrimages to visit it. Offerings to the Guardian are akin to offerings to the Mother, and they are thought to bring good fortune. Occasionally, if one cultivates enough of a positive relationship with the Guardian, it may grant a boon. There are many legends of Guardian Dragons saving towns from disaster or granting a supplicant just the gift or omen they needed to navigate a conflict.

Guardianship can be revoked if the dragon turns on its community, and this is typically treated as a failing on the part of the town to appropriately honor it, rather than the whims of the dragon. Fallen Guardians are considered creatures of tragedy. When a Guardian dies, the entire community goes into mourning, and the position will remain vacant until another worthy dragon appears. While Guardians are almost universally large, there have been a few notable cases where a small dragon was chosen.

Culture

Hedonistic.

Strength

Coric culture values strength and athleticism above all else. The strongest person in the room is the one who can protect those they love; they can defend themself from anyone who seeks to trample them; and they have shown a patience and dedication to improvement of the self that is to be respected. Coronus is a dangerous place: for all the love ignii show to dragons, large species of dragons can and do see them as potential prey.

That said, strength is incompatible with cruelty. Cruelty is selfish, lazy, and antithetical to society. Coric people have a very strong sense of justice and how things ought to be, and they will band together to take out anyone they perceive to be abusing their power.

That said, this single-minded focus on strength has cultivated a rift in society. Children who are averse to fighting struggle. Often, they face bullying from their peers that gets compounded by worried parents who want them to be able to defend themselves. While things are better once grown--adults don't have such a desperate need to prove themselves, and many places in Coric society include no fighting at all--these reputations can follow.

Arts and Entertainment

Mosaics are a common art form. Drums are important in their music.

Romance

Hot dating tips: challenge your future spouse to a duel.

Polyamory is fairly common in Coronus. The heart wants what the heart wants, and if that's multiple people, then the more the merrier.

Family

Ignii love their dragon brethren and nearly all will, at some point in their life, befriend a dragon and develop a companionship of some sort. Dragons are part of the family: they might be pets, pests, mounts, assistants, guides, or more.

Death

Return them to the volcano.

Disability

Parents ought to work within your abilities to enable you to defend yourself.

Holidays

Coronus loves holidays.

Fumir

Come autumn, as the leaves die and the weather cools, a favorite festival lights up the Coronus Mountains: Fumir. Fumir is the Coric new year, where you say goodbye to the past and release your regrets, your grudges, and your fears. Anything that holds you back is thrown to the fires so you may enter the new year unburdened and free. This is a time when enemies reconcile, secret admirers confess their feelings, and sour relationships reach their close, although many choose to simply remember. All bring their offerings to the bonfire.

Most importantly, however, Fumir is about eating lots and lots of delicious food. Fumir food is rich in flavor: heavily spiced soups, pockets of bread full of cheese and nuts, and skewers covered in sweet, spicy, sticky meat. Street food stalls pop up everywhere during the holiday, offering their wares to anyone roaming the plazas.

Ashfall

Great dragons are a subset of rare, notably large dragons that occupies the Coronus mountains, and they are especially revered by their Coric neighbors. Typically, there is a small group that tends to these dragons like priests, and when one is ready to pass, it is a funeral for the entire community. A pyre is built, and the corpse is dismantled and returned to the community and the earth: scales and skin become leather and armor; bones and claws become weapons; and every part is utilized.