Asturia, the land of the sea dragon
When the dragon gods established their territory over Gaea, Escaflowne the white dragon claimed the skies as his dominion, while the forgotten dragon roamed the lands, Jesha the dragon of the sea went rampant all over the oceans and seas of the planet, searching for a place to settle. No dragon is ever peaceful, and the sea god was as temperamental as his new found domain, storms, typhoons, tsunamis plagued the shores and arbors of Gaea. No one was ever really safe to venture near the salted waters.
Fishermen were giving sacrifices as much as they could, to try to get some favor from the dragon, but the god rarely took notice, more interested in the endless search for a nest of its own. This miserable endover went on until an alliance was made to try to get the temperamental god to calm down.
The alliance was made between the men living on the coasts of Gaea, and the denizens living under the sea. The merfolks and the sea beastmen, who thrived beneath the surface were the favored people of Jesha; they were his people, his first followers, and retainers. But even them were affected by the temper of their god, being his favorite never meant they were safe from him. It was the reason the merfolk decided to sign a pact with the humans: safety for everyone, peace for the gods, and the creation of a bond between the land dwellers, and the sea residents.
According to the legend, it was a young human who fell in love with a mermaid that put an end to the fury of the great sea dragon for good, after many failures from the alliance. Taking a small boat, the youth took to the sea in search of the wild god, and helped by its lover under the waves, found him. No one was sure what was offered, or how the pair managed to appease Jesha, but the result was unexpected. Jesha calmed down, and offered his blessing to the couple then let them establish a settlement who would become the kingdom of Asturia, named after the brave soul who went to the god. As the god retired to an unknown dwelling deep under the sea, where even the merfolk couldn't reach, he left behind a white guymelef in it's image, like his brother did in Fanelia, the dragon melef able to change form to go through the waters : the Jesha.
The couple became the first rulers of Astura, and established the capital Palas, named after the mermaid who helped her dragon blessed the dwelling with a large amount of fishes, and waters as clear and shining like the most precious gems.
Time passed and Asturia grew, from a simple settlement of men and beastmen, it slowly became a kingdom who prospered through trades both across the lands and seas. It grew and became the kingdom of merchants, where someone could become as rich as the sea. It was the golden age, but of course it didn't last.
One year the trades didn't work as well, drought and capricious weather resulted in poor harvest and fishing. And when the people were hungry they were quick to blame others, in this case it was blamed on the merfolks. Afterall if the sea was not giving as much it was surely their fault right ?
Then rumors were heard about how mermaid tears were no salt water but gems, and how their flesh could grant immortality. Neither were true of course, the origin of the rumor being an old text, a poem, which was a declaration of love between the author and a mermaid. But greed and superstition couldn't care less about metaphor of beauty and love, and so a hunt started.
Well, hunt was not the word one would really use to describe the massacre that occurred for this tragic event, but no one wanted to use the word purge , and no one forgot among the sea dwellers what really occurred.
Soon the shores of the kingdom became red with blood, the fishermen nets were filled with corpses instead of fishes. A rotten stench filled the air all around the capital and diseases started to break out as there was no one to really take care of the corpses, and as a result the beastmen were doubly blamed. The mermaids and sea beastmen fled under the sea, deep enough to avoid the nets, hooks and harpoons, away from the lands, only leaving behind those who were ready to fight against the humans.
Boats were sunk, and whole crews were slaughtered in retaliation, and the more corpses washed ashore, the more the unrest and hate grew.
The king of Asturia at the time, blinded by greed, decided to use the Jesha to hunt down any merfolks who were trying to flee his kingdom. Accusing them of treason to justify his cruelty, eager to try to gain riches and immortality through the flesh of innocents.
As expected, with the involvement of the legendary melef, a slaughter occurred, leviships and boats were destroyed, corpses were floating on the once blue sea, and just like the dragon god once rampant, the melef became an object of fear for everyone. That choice would bear heavy consequences for the merchant kingdom.
The pilot of the Jesha at the time was an old seasoned warrior, who had no choice but to obey his king's order, both as a loyal subject but also a member of a lesser branch of the royal family. He managed to become the pilot by chance as he passed the now forgotten trial due to lack of other candidates at the time, and as there were never two pilots per generation, he had to bear that burden to the end. He obeyed with a heavy heart, and killed relentlessly to the point the once white dragon turned gray and rusty colored due to the grim and blood coating the armor.
He tried during one of his rare breaks on land to plead to the king, explaining the strain the melef was under, how he himself was growing tired of the battles. He was scolded and threatened for his behavior, and no one listened to him. Left with no choice he prepared himself to go one last time to the sea with the dragon his family believed in and for whom he sacrificed so much. It would be his last outing.
The last sighting of the Jesha was recorded as follows. As the skies were gray and heavy with rain yet to fall, and as thunder was growling like the sky dragon was judging what was to happen, the Jesha took to the sea in his glorious dragon form. The sea was agitated but the melef was breaking the waves easily. Surrounded by the royal fleet of leviship and boats, the melef thread the water until it reached the location of a rebel sea camp. As the dragon took a stance to destroy the floating encampment the rain started to fall and the wind picked up, and the armor froze. Over the raging sound of the upcoming storm a scream coming from the pilot was heard, and the armor energist chamber pulsed with an ominous light as lightning split the skies. The energist turned gray as bone, and the Jesah, once a pristine white suddenly turned black as coal, with gray cracks from crust of salt covering its form. The dragon trashed and went out of control, destroying everything around it, allies and foes alike while the pilot screamed in pain and insanity.
Soon only wreckage was left with nearly no survivor to witness the last moment of the Jesha. The melef suddenly stopped moving entirely, turned itself in its armor form, and sank as lightning strikes. The ocean swallowed the melef, never to be seen ever again as it disappeared deep within a sea trench where even the sea beastmen could not reach. The loss of the Jesha was followed by a typhoon like no one had seen before, and it was said it was the combined wrath of the sea and sky dragon over the event.
Thus the Jesha, one of the three legendary white dragon melef was lost forever.
The loss of the Jesha was a critical event for both the kingdom and Gaea. One of the three dragon melef was no more, and for what ? An inside war that put the economy and peace of Gaea in jeopardy, as no merchant was able to conclude safe exchange during that time.
Asturia was the most prolific kingdom for merchants and trade, thus the situation was dire for a lot of people, may they be noble, rich or simple folk. Plus the disappearance of the Jesha was seen as a terribly bad omen. The people couldn't stand this anymore, and a civil war started on land, the king was deposed and a new king was crowned.
The Astur house, the chosen family by Jesha, descendant of the brave soul who sealed the holy deal with the dragon god, who was the reigning family until then and had unified the kingdom, was replaced with another branch of the family: the Aston family.
The first king Aston put an end to the war, declaring that no citizen of the kingdom, may they be of the land of the sea would ever be treated as merchandise. Slavery was now illegal among asturians. A temple was built in the capital in remembrance for all the souls lost in that tragic part of the story of the kingdom. And thus Asturia entered an era of peace and renewed prosperity.
Time flowed and the kingdom went with the tides, becoming the paradise of merchants all over Gaea, its water clear and sparkling like a gem, and still the dominion of the dragon god of the sea Jesha. The Aston house rule went for several generations until the event which would take place during the rule of Grava Efud Aston.
His rule was mostly uneventful until then, even if his wife, queen Therese, only gave him daughters. The first born princess Marlene, whose beauty was known far and wide, but who suffered from deep sadness from a long time without any cure to it. The second princess Eries, known to be wise and calm, took after her father's side of the family in terms of beauty, to the point of rumors of being illegitimate due to her lack of physical similarity with her sisters and mother, without proof ever coming up. And the third princess, Millerna, a radiant beauty like her eldest sister, but maybe because she was the youngest, the opposite of said sister, full of life, and a ray of sunshine, but also stubborn even at a young age.
Princess Marlene was married off to the Duc of Freid, for political reasons, even if her husband cherished her like no other, she left the kingdom of Asturia with a piece of it forever in her flesh and heart. She never left Freid after her wedding, and if she suffered from delicate health for a while she still survived the plague that took so many lives in Fanelia, and had spread over Gaea
.
Princess Eries was still not married, having refused all suitors for reasons unknown, rumors had it it was because of a one-sided love, or a religious belief since the princess was known to partake in charity, another rumor was that it was because she wasn't legitimate and therefore not mean to marry above her station. Another rumor was that she was just too busy taking care of her younger sister after the death of the queen, and therefore had little to no interest in the matters of the hearts until said third princess was married, even with the prospect of a political marriage for the good of the kingdom.
As for the third princess, Millerna, she was known for her sunny disposition and beauty like her eldest sister, but also for being quite eccentric for a princess. She learned to ride a horse in an unladylike way, wore Egzadians trousers, and learned medicine and surgery. She was called free spirited in the most polite circles, and savage and spoiled behind doors and feathery fans. Still Millerna was the one who would inherit the thrones of Asturia instead of her older sister, as only Millerna was engaged, and her husband-to-be would become the king, as women do not have the right to become the sole ruler of the kingdom.
Millerna was betrothed to the eldest son of one of the closest advisors of king Aston, and member of the council, Meiden Fassa. His son Dryden was engaged to the youngest princess when they were both quite young, the princess being 8 and him 14 at the time. To this day, the princess does not feel anything but scorn for this alliance done without her say in it, while the merchant son was traveling all over Gaea, making his own fortune as the heir of his family and a prolific merchant.
Then the Zaibach Empire reached out to the kingdom of Asturia, and things started to change. Events would unfold, throwing the world in chaos.
No one could have predicted how the third princess and her betrothed would play decisive roles in the upcoming war that would shake the planet.
Trivia time !
The whole "mermaid tears are gems and the flesh grant eternal life" is based on several legends and folklore.
Several mystical beasts were said to shed tears of pearls and gems, there is also a fairytale about a kind girl spewing snakes and toads at each word she speaks while her nasty sister spewed gems and gold coins after they interacted with a fairy by a well.
The flesh granting eternal life is also in some legends about mermaids, plus some other beats, especially in japanese lore (where mermaids are very very far from european beauties or the disney vision, and not even close the the mythical bird like ones from the odyssey)
You may have noticed something peculiar about this built lore for Asturia. I went completely nope with the official wiki for the kingdom, but something should have ticked you about the first ruler, I never revealed the gender of the lover of the mermaid from the legend did I? And now you can guess why when I said at the end of the chapter that Millerna had no right to be the sole ruler of the kingdom. Yep the couple were both women.
Surprise !
The kingdom was named after the human ; Aster, she was the daughter of a merchant and was always attracted to the sea and its wonders and this is how she met her mermaid lover.
And the capital was named after her mermaid lover ; Palas, a quick witted mermaid who fell in love with a curious human girl.
The royal family of Asturia comes from Aster's family, not her directly but her younger brother, he was the first king after his sister's rule came to an end. Then his children and the rest is history.
The poem that led to the belief of mermaid tears and flesh powers is in fact something Aster wrote for Palas. She was really enamored with her lovely goldfish whose scales were sparkling like gems, and embrace gave her life for many happy years. How a single tear from her lovely eyes was a gem of its own (she was talking about the fact her mermaid lover got teary eyes when laughing at her jokes, and loved her cuddles, she was completely in love, and Palas was the same for her, but she preferred songs over poetry)
Aster was thin and muscular for a woman, with skin tanned by her long hours under the sun, while Palas was a bit chubby for a mermaid her age, but as lovely as can be.
It's my fanfiction I do as I please with it. No it doesn't change much to the fic, and it won't have an impact on the story, but it shows you that i will put the typical censure and misogyny you can find in history in this fic. Sometimes there were no records, and sometimes things got "lost" to time.