Cerca (pronounced SIR-cah) is an aquatic nation in the western Wounds, a union of the twin cities of Lurath and Ethausva, both aeroliths that crashed close to each other into the Na-Gaesa Ocean long ago. Over several generations their inhabitants found themselves transformed into aquatic elves, after which they gradually rebuilt their communities into centers of underwater trade and learning amongst the Wounds.
Geography
Cerca is located in an oddly shallow part of the Na-Gaesa Ocean, especially as there are no major islands for hundreds of miles in any direction, with the aerolith cities resting on the seafloor about two thousand feet below the surface. Though too deep for natural reefs to form, some have been cultivated around the cities, sustained by magical lights and fauna introduced from other waters. Storms and other conditions on the surface do not affect the underwater cities.
Cerca is roughly 320 miles south of the Protectors, 450 miles northwest of the Grievous Islands and Harv Taruhm, 770 miles north of the Wisps, and 560 miles southeast of the Gekhuknaka Trench. Within Cerca, Lurath and Ethausva are separated by over 40 miles of open ocean.
History
Like the Zabarshu elves of Phersu, the ancestors of the inhabitants of Cerca arrived in the Wounds by way of their aeroliths, which bore them aloft across the world. Both Lurath and Ethausva were built sometime in the late third millennium and remained flying until the late fifth millennium, at which point their travels brought them over the Na-Gaesa Ocean, as they had many times before. This time, however, the elves encountered an unexpected and unusual magically-charged storm that interfered with the aerotheurgic magic that kept their cities in the air. Thrown about in the sky, they struggled to regain control, but all efforts eventually failed as both aeroliths went plummeting towards the ocean below. At the last minute both were able to slow their falls enough to lessen the blow, yet the impact was still immense, shattering parts of the flying cities and causing tsunamis to strike faraway islands.
As the cities came to a rest on the seafloor, their inhabitants stayed alive by remaining within magically-generated bubbles of air as they assessed the damage. While early repairs to the habitation structures were successful, efforts to fix the aerotheurgic cores proved futile, for over the millennia knowledge of their true workings had been lost. Understanding that they would not fly again, some elves departed for the surface to find new lives elsewhere, but most remained in the aeroliths, where over generations spending more and more of their lives in the water and away from their magical air they found themselves slowly transformed into aquatic elves.
The presence of newcomers to the sea did not go unnoticed by others in the Wounds, and fairly quickly the aeroliths were visited by inquisitive locathah and merfolk and some perhaps less than friendly sahuagin. With their relatively central location in the western Wounds, Lurath and Ethausva rapidly became centers of trade as the elves sought supplies necessary for their repairs. As the years dragged on and the repairs were completed, this status remained, especially as it became clear the new arrivals would not be departing. Gradually the twin cities became known as centers of magical learning as well, as the elves taught others what they remembered of their arcane arts.
Demographics
Aquatic elves account for most of the population of Cerca, but they are joined by significant numbers of locathah, both Itothani and Angareza, merfolk, and other denizens of the waters. Surface-dwellers are less common in the twin cities but not completely unknown, as Fanakara, Keleta-Ru, or Zabarshan visitors sometimes arrive to trade or in search of knowledge.
Culture
Religion
Faith in Cerca is a diverse mix. Many elves continue to hold to their ancestral pantheon, but an equal number have adopted religions local to the Wounds instead, and in particular veneration of the Beating Heart, the Cascade, the Sunken Star, or one of the various forms of ancestor or spirit worship held by other peoples of the surrounding sea.
Travel
Despite the distance between the twin cities, travel between them is relatively safe, as the route is nearly always protected by guards from the underwater aeroliths.
Trade
At the center of both cities are vibrant marketplaces that attract traders and others from long distances away. In these markets one can find goods from far across the Wounds, and sometimes even farther afield, brought there by wandering traders, most of whom hail from either the Itothani or Angareza locathah. While trade in equivalent goods is of course common, the elves also frequently trade in their expertise, as their artistic labors are valued heavily by many.
Education and magic
Lurath and Ethausva are both renowned as centers of magical learning, flocked to by many in the Wounds. Using their ancient libraries, or at least what parts of them survived the impacts or could be reconstructed, both cities have set up magical institutions from which all can learn. Their archives are open for all to peruse, though the time of their master mages is far more precious, and one is likely to only receive an audience if their area of research is of particular interest to one of these figures. Each institute has its own focus. In Lurath the mages have directed their attentions towards understanding the magical creatures of the ocean, both those around them and those found in deeper and shallower waters, while in Ethausva they have attempted to reconstruct the lost art of aerotheurgy - though far away from having a true grasp of the advanced magic of flight, they are considered by many to have made the most progress towards its rediscovery.
Government
Lurath and Ethausva are matriarchal hereditary monarchies, whose rulers take the title of ocean-queen. These monarchs are advised by councils of respected figures within their cities, traditionally, though not always, consisting of one representative from the markets, one from the magical institutes, and one from the amongst the guards. Together the ocean-queens rule the union of the cities in a diarchy, consulting each other and coming to an agreement on any issue that affects both.