founding

The islands of Miulu broke off from Aurholm's continent when Bartholomew cast Arsene into Nix. They remained uninhabited for several centuries, until a small group of exiled Kitt apostates found and settled on them. But, being a cold and barren land, famine soon struck and would have wiped out the settlers if not for the intervention of the Archon Mephi. Mephi is an obligate cannibal who subsists on the souls of the guilty and sinful, but when his magic is healing your dying crops, that's not really important.

Mephi, at the time, was being pursued by monster hunters who'd driven him out of Kitiven. They meant to force him into Nix, ideally banishing him forever, but the settlers defended him. Everyone agreed Mephi could stay, provided he restricted his hunting only to Miulu. Which he has, for centuries now, his presence and diet the cornerstones of Miull culture.

geography

A chain of four islands floating in space, connected by spacial warps to each other and the rest of Aurholm. One island is always dawn, one is always dusk, one is always twilight, and one is always night. The islands collectively experience auroras and the stars are always visible overhead – on the flipside, they're extremely cold, with barren earth and too little sun to naturally grow crops.

society

Small country, small population, good public order, good social harmony, somewhat isolationist. You need a certain humility to survive the peace of Miulu: no grand aims, no crazy laws, no big threats, no real problems, consistently reasonable politics. Everyday life lacks much to complain about, so much so it's almost stifling. But for others, the regulated human sacrifice that drives the success of the country hits closer, and if not honoured as necessary martyrdom, might be a cause for discontent. Law & Order Although he holds autocratic power over Miulu, Mephi's reluctance to dictate or even mildly suggest orders leaves Miulu's governance up to democratically-elected officials. Mephi can veto them whenever and delegate specific tasks to specific people, but it's rather rare that he does this.

Miulu is shockingly crimeless, as criminals consistently make the shortlist of being fed to Mephi. There is really not a worse place in the world to be a troublemaker than Miulu, whose citizens have a reputation for quite naturally accepting systems and order. Industry & Technology Miulu has few to no natural resources and a rather weak secondary sector. Despite these deficits, its economy is one of the richest and infrastructure one of the most stable. Mephi can create any material, so as long as he's there, there is no particular risk of exhausting essential resources.

Miulu sells international waste disposal services and heavily taxes merchants and travellers who pass through the country. As Miulu is the only convenient route between some nations, this income flow is quite stable. Its tourism industry is also strong, with persistent interest from scholars and occultists.

Miulu has an export market for fine clothes, arts, and rare materials, but most of its wealth comes from tertiary services. People & Culture Natives of Miulu are offshoots of the Kitt. They have extremely pale skin, black hair, and black or dark green eyes. Their skin and eyes are sensitive to sun, but they're otherwise unremarkable.

Staple foods include rice, egg, chicken, duck, soy, radish, ginger, scallions, and melon. The national language is Miull, with Kitt and Terran as common electives.

Religion

Hot diggity we're the Miulus and we sure love Mephi! Though Mephi refuses any organized worship of himself, that the country is a hive of Mephi cultists is rather undeniable. Rather than to churches or bishops, spiritual authority belongs to the institutions that facilitate Mephi's presence, chief of those being the Masked Coven and the Shevra Baht.

The Masked Coven are devotees who have volunteered their souls as food for Mephi. If accepted, Mephi manually severs an unimportant portion of their soul and allows it to rot. They consume it and become a witch. This process, for one, makes their soul palatable for Mephi, for two, gives them potentially awesome magic powers, and for three, keeps them sane compared to regular witches, as their souls are still mostly in-tact. Witches of the Masked Coven are royalty in Miulu, free to do whatever they want. They are identifiable, unsurprisingly, by the masks they wear.

The Shevra Baht are enforcers of the system. Their cult serves witches, tends to shrines, tends to the dead, and mediates affairs between Mephi and the people. They also subjugate rogue witches, run the dungeons, and otherwise ensure Mephi is fed.

Death Rites

Shorty after birth, citizens are implanted with enchanted catalysts (usually a tooth or a claw) of their chosen patron animal, always a carrion eater. Upon death, the catalyst activates. Rather than rot into a ghoul, the catalyst 'digests' the rot and subverts the transformation, so that the dead instead transforms painlessly into their patron animal.

Over the next few months, they slowly lose their connection to their past life and die again permanently. The living and dead are not meant to interact, with some regions designated as dead zones where the living are simply forbidden. Shrines are usually built in such regions to provide shelter and amenities for the dead.

Notable Places

The Night Isle: The smallest of Miulu's isles and the exclusive residence of Mephi. Other than his sanctum, the dungeons, and a small courtyard, there isn't much here. Access is forbidden except for witches and Shevra Baht.

Atabazas Glaciers: Large glaciers on the Twilight Isle that reflect rainbows of light between each other whenever an aurora hits. Considered one of the wonders of the world and a noted tourist destination. Rumours say that promises made in the glaciers, under an aurora, always come true.

relevant characters

Mephi: Patron god of Miulu. The country needs him to live.

Trivia: A witch of the Masked Coven who left the country to travel the world with her servant, Swift. After many decades of travelling, decided to ditch her deal with Mephi and marry Swift. The Shevra Baht went full repoman on her (or on her soul specifically), but she escaped them by entering an Archon pact with Camellia.

Swift: A cultist of the Shevra Baht who fell hard in love with Trivia, much to his cult's disapproval. That he chose Trivia over his duties to the cult remains one of the Shevra Baht's greatest embarrassments.