Paetani

Paetani, the City of Flags, is one of the Free Cities of Velia.

"Barbarians, the whole lot of them. Ruallin, Birthplace of Freedom, it was once called. A place of peace and wonder, before the General Paetani and his youthful army killed all who lived there decades ago and turned the place into a glorified war camp. Now banners of martial propaganda obscure elegant storefronts of stone kissed by magic. Crude fortifications are slapped on the most beautiful architecture I have ever laid eyes upon. The best I can speak of them is that they do not seek to conquer, to rule, else the region would be awash in blood. Mercenaries, they hire themselves out to the highest bidder, and lure young men and women to their cause with false hopes of glory. An effective, but brutish lot, who take great satisfaction of parading about town the flags of those they have defeated in battle.

''Their success, their wealth, and their prominence is a mockery to morality. That they are allowed to have their representative on the Velian Council disgusts me. It is cowardice that no one will rise to arms to put them down. The indiscriminate destruction of the elven fortress, Yinthaesha, should have been a call to arms to those who want to live life without fear. Paetani sent his diminutive warriors, some so young as to be obscene, as the first wave of the assault in the cover of darkness. A child's knife slitting your throat is just as deadly as an adult's, and the shock value alone was said to lead them to victory. It says something of their training as well that the bulk of them survived, if living through and being part of such a masacre can be considered survival.''

''The city is named after the General, who hasn't seemed to age a day over these many years it is said. His army too use his name as their own... for they are taught that they are but an extension of his will. 'We are Paetani - glory in blood drenched coin' is one of their many mottos. There is no glory in what they do.''"

-- Urthik Nethram, a travelling scribe whose head now decorates the city's east gate