Raken

Raken was the rocky sea region located at the west of Adaven. It was characterized by its production of the medicinal plant techa, as well as its rumored status as a pirate haven.

Physical and Historical Features
The coastal region consisted mostly of a long, stone ridge, which dropped sharply into the sea. At night, the waters would flicker with color from the illuminated eyes of sea leviathans.

Several techa plantations could be found a distance from the cliff edge. Techa was a medicinal leaf endemic to Raken, which could be made into tea or ground into paste. It was highly valued due to its health benefits, and was at least a component in most medicinal creams. Techa took at least half a year to grow before it could be harvested. No other useful properties of techa have yet been explored or announced publicly.

The town of Raken could be found along the crags, and was divided into two portions. The Cliff referred to the flat, earthy area at the top of the ridge, while the Dock comprised the many stilted structures found along the ridge's face and base.

The Cliff
The noble family governing Raken lived in a fortress nearest the edge of the cliff. Beside it stood a school.

Apart from the noble family, there were four more families with a nearly identical economic background. All five houses grew techa as their primary means of income. Their homes and plantations were found a mile away from the cliff edge.

The Dock
The Dock had four levels. The residences of the dock dwellers were found at the topmost level, to avoid the high tide. The marketplace found on the second level was where people from all over Raken and Adaven came to buy, sell, and trade their products. The third level and fourth level consisted of the fish depot and the wharf respectively.

A cave could be found at the jagged rocks at the bottom of the cliff, some distance from the wharf. Within it, a carved staircase spiraled up through the inside of the cliff, toward the dungeon of the fortress. However, the cave was rarely, if ever, entered by the people of Raken. Apart from high waves and the jagged rocks at its mouth, many believed that the cave was also protected by a leviathan.

Peoples and Customs
The people of Raken did not have a religion. However, they believed in a number of superstitions, mostly related to the sea and its leviathans.

Raken suffered tension among its upper and lower classes due to several issues.

First was caused by the greed of the noble family. Raken was generally wary of the nobles because they seemed to attain astoundingly more wealth than the lesser houses, despite being in the same business. Furthermore, after the loss of his younger son, the head of the noble house had grown harsher towards his business associates.

A second issue involved the belittlement of the dock dwellers. They believed it unjust that their lifestyle was nowhere near as comfortable as those of the cliff dwellers, despite them working harder in raising the economy of Raken.

Thirdly, there was the issue coming from the cliff dweller families. Their common complaint was that they deemed it strange that dock dwellers were allowed to go to school alongside their children, and be given the same option to learn the skills of the upper class.

Social Organization
Raken's upper class was composed of the cliff dwellers; the Great House of Stille and the lesser houses of Estermont, Kellington, and Brechen. The lower class consisted of the dock dwellers, such as merchants or fisherfolk.

Social class was defined by how much profit one could bring in for Raken. Since they grew techa, the noble families belonged to the highest rank, with the Stille family slightly outranking the lesser houses. Below the noble families were the fishers, then the laborers, and lastly by the soldiers, as they contributed nothing to the economy of Raken.

Lower still than the commoners were the pirates, composed of people and families who were in debt to either Raken or the head of the Great House. Adaven as a whole considered these people criminals. Rumors spoke that the pirates were connected to the Raken nobles, but no reliable evidence ever surfaced.

The pirate families who resided in the Dock were Staedmon, Gower, and Errol, alongside scattered individuals in and around Raken. Certain members of the Brechen family, despite being noble, were also known pirates.

Pirates would attack ships from other countries and scavenge for treasure to appease the growing greed of their leader, the head of the Raken Great House. Most of their meetings and plundering were done at night, and the forbidden cave in the cliff served as their entrance into the fortress.

Commerce, Trade, and Public Life
People of Raken were relatively tanned. Those living by the beach wore less or lighter clothing, often without sleeves, to avoid the hassle of walking through life in drenched material.

At the age of eleven, families could send their children to school. Here, they were taught specialized skills, mostly related to scholarly pursuits or medicine. Most of the student population were of the noble families, with significantly fewer dock dweller children attending.

Prior to entering school, it was expected for parents to homeschool their children in reading, writing, and arithmetics, as well as in the history of Adaven and Raken.

The Great House
The noble family of Stille consisted of a father, a mother, and two children.

Besides being a family of techa growers, they obtained their riches from the pirates led by the father. The father was corrupt and unsatisfied even with the significant power he held in Raken. The mother was aware of the father being corrupt, but turned a blind eye to it. The elder son was much like his father.

They hunted sea creatures, including the elusive sea leviathans, as a hobby.