Rand

Rand is a fortified hill city in the central plains of Narette. It was the only major settlement in the plains not destroyed during the Long War, despite multiple assaults and seiges. It owes its survival to its position on a hill with unusually strong walls. During the war the outer city was sacked many times, the surviving inhabitants rebuilding their lives within the safety of the citadel.

Historically Rand was a city state, ethnically related to the herder people of the Ania Plains. It had close trading ties to the old Kingdom of Anret, but remained independent until it was de facto occupied and fortified by southern forces towards the end of the Long War, after which it became part of the unified Kingdom of Narette.

Today Rand flourishes as a market city for plains herdsmen, and as an important trading point for goods on the trade route between Belisan and Beyán. It has a somewhat unsavoury reputation as a hub for illegal trading in narcotics, stolen goods, and even slaves. It is a haunt of Anrelplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigAnrel Isles

Anrel [ANN-rel], or the Anrel Isles, is the most northerly island group in the Natorn Archipelago. It consists of three major islands and numerous smaller ones. The largest, colloquially if infrequently called Mainland, is divided between the kingdoms of Trésard and Narette. The island's notorious criminal cult, the Webrin.

The centre of Rand is dominated by a civic complex on a northeast-southwest axis. At the centre is Santadda Square, the city's main market thronging with goods. To the northeast is the Dugal Palace, “dugal” being an old dialect word for the city's ruler. To the southwest is The Domoste, an ancient temple complex dedicated to the gods of the Anrelian Pantheonplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigAnrelian Pantheon

The Anrel Isles has a rich polytheistic philosophy that sees the world as inhabited by many gods and willful spirits. They view all world religions as valid, but believe gods are tied to certain lands and places. Deities can therefore have separate or even conflicting mythologies, but these are accepted because they are the story of that particular deity. Gods, being non-human, can be capricious and irrational, and their followers adopt a pragmatic attitude to worship. Prayer …. The Domoste is particularly dedicated to Besechplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBesech

Besech, or Besechai, is god of “fire, the hearth and the dry places” in the Anrelian Pantheon, the god of home and also of death. He is the chief state god of Narette.

Anrelian Pantheon

This is in a series of articles about the Anrelian Pantheon, the gods, beliefs, myths, religious practice and Anrel, with a monumental statue and ever-burning brazier in its foyer. Before the temple is Domoste Square, surrounded by formal buildings of the Hexact Orders, particularly the Rinesti and Senasi.