Every citizen of Permatu is taught the same principle from childhood:
No life is without value.
Physical weakness, illness, affliction, poverty, emotional instability, or fractured minds are not viewed as burdens to be discarded, but problems to be understood and healed. In Permatu, usefulness is not measured solely by strength or wealth. Every person is expected to contribute what they can, and every person is believed capable of becoming more than they currently are.
This philosophy transformed what was once one of the most tragic regions of old Keridwyn into one of the most prosperous.
During the final centuries of the kingdom’s reign, the lands that would become Permatu were ravaged by plague. Entire communities vanished beneath waves of sickness. Roads emptied. Farms rotted. The region was widely believed to be doomed.
Yet healers came anyway.
Physicians, alchemists, herbalists, miracle workers, priests, scholars, and wandering caretakers traveled from across the kingdom with a single shared purpose: save whoever could still be saved.
For years they labored without rest.
They studied symptoms relentlessly. They performed dangerous experiments. They buried friends and patients alike while refusing to surrender. Through tireless effort and collective sacrifice, the plague was eventually eradicated.
Many of the greatest healers chose to remain afterward, founding the famed Wright’s Academy of Healing Arts and Magics.
Under the academy’s guidance, the region flourished with astonishing speed. Fertile soil spread across once-blighted lands. Harvests became abundant. Weather patterns stabilized beneath the work of ritualists and druids. Communities rebuilt stronger than before.
Soon, Permatu became synonymous with healing throughout the continent.
Not merely healing of flesh, but healing of the spirit and mind as well.
The physicians of Permatu believe true medicine cannot treat the body alone. Emotional suffering, trauma, destructive lifestyles, magical corruption, and spiritual instability are considered equally important. Their treatments often involve therapy, environmental changes, ritual practices, social rehabilitation, and long-term care in addition to conventional medicine.
In the later days of Keridwyn, even nobles and generals traveled to Permatu seeking treatment for conditions no other city could cure.
When the alliance between the cities collapsed, Permatu refused to close its borders.
Refugees, wounded soldiers, plague victims, orphans, and the destitute continued to receive aid freely despite growing instability across the realm. Their compassion quickly made them a target.
Raiding parties from less principled cities repeatedly struck Permatu during the early years of the collapse. Medical supplies, alchemical ingredients, healers, and food stores were stolen regularly. Pacifism alone proved insufficient protection.
Reluctantly, Permatu formed an armed defense force under Captain Kiana.
Even now, however, the city remains remarkably restrained compared to its neighbors.
Permatuns value people far above material wealth. All citizens are expected to work in ways that benefit society. Those unable to find purpose independently are assigned roles by the republic based on their abilities and needs.
Farming, counseling, ritual weather shaping, education, rehabilitation, and public care are among the most respected professions within the city.
Above them all stands the mysterious Guild of Life.
Membership within the Guild is considered the highest honor a healer can attain. Only the most gifted are invited, and those accepted speak little of what occurs within its sealed halls.
Spies sent to uncover the guild’s secrets rarely return.
The sole surviving report recovered from such attempts referenced only a single phrase:
“The Symbiote.”
The city itself is governed through an open parliamentary system. Public debate is common, and town hall sessions are frequently attended by ordinary citizens. Education and medical treatment are freely available to all who seek them.
Though compassionate, Permatu is not naïve.
Criminal investigations are meticulous and patient, but punishments are severe once guilt is proven. Exile and forced service remain common sentences for major crimes. Laws are intentionally few in number, designed to remain simple, strict, and difficult to manipulate.
Overall crime rates remain exceptionally low.
Unfortunately, Permatu’s reputation for healthy citizens and advanced healing has made it highly attractive to traffickers, cultists, blood mages, and other predatory groups who view its people as valuable resources.
As a result, Permatu’s defenders have become far more experienced with violence than the city publicly admits.
The population remains highly diverse, though Angels, Elves, Cog, Rodentfused, Shimmer, and Rettocuru are especially common due to natural healing affinities or resistance to disease.
Jinmenju is widely regarded as one of Permatu’s most admired citizens.
Elegant, charitable, politically active, and endlessly composed, she possesses deep connections among influential merchants, innkeepers, restaurateurs, and landowners throughout the city.
Her Flora lineage bears unusually strong Shade influence. Red lotus blossoms bloom from branches whose shadows seem unnaturally deep, while her preference for luxurious crimson dresses makes her presence impossible to ignore.
Among Flora, such vanity is considered unusual.
Among everyone else, it is considered unforgettable.
Jinmenju appears to embody the highest ideals of Permatu. She cares personally for numerous orphaned children despite expecting nothing in return. Her alchemical workshops produce salves, medicines, and restorative elixirs renowned throughout neighboring cities.
Her caravans regularly travel to Crossroads, Tordab, and beyond, distributing Permatu’s medical aid across the fractured lands.
She participates actively in public life as well, attending formal gatherings, social debates, and even wrestling competitions where she attempts — often unsuccessfully — to guide less civilized individuals toward more refined behavior.
During parliamentary sessions, Jinmenju consistently advocates diplomacy, restraint, and compassion over vengeance or fearmongering.
She is, by every visible measure, the image of civilized virtue.
Which naturally explains why so many rumors surround her.
Whispered accusations tie her family to blood rituals, magical narcotics, smuggling operations, disappearances, and trafficking rings hidden beneath the polished surface of Permatu’s prosperity.
Of course, no evidence has ever been produced.
And in Permatu, accusations without evidence are treated very seriously.
Kiana did not begin her life in Permatu.
She was born within the now-destroyed city of Brexia, where she served among the local militia when disaster descended from the sky.
Airships struck without warning.
Streets burned. Defensive lines collapsed. Panic spread faster than orders could. While many fled blindly, Kiana rallied surviving soldiers and civilians into an organized retreat, guiding as many as possible away from the slaughter.
Brexia disappeared behind them in flame and ruin.
Many of those left behind never moved again.
The exhausted survivors eventually reached Permatu, where they were given shelter, treatment, and dignity despite arriving with little to offer in return.
The experience changed Kiana profoundly.
She witnessed a city that valued ordinary people rather than exploiting them. A society where kindness was treated as strength instead of weakness.
When raids against Permatu increased after the alliance fractured, Kiana refused to watch another home fall.
She gathered volunteers, refugees, laborers, hunters, failed soldiers, and overlooked citizens into a defensive force that eventually became Permatu’s standing army.
Though smaller and less disciplined than many rival militaries, Kiana’s forces repeatedly achieve victory through adaptability and unconventional tactics. She specializes in finding value in individuals others dismiss as unusable.
In many ways, her army reflects Permatu itself.
Defensive campaigns remain her preference. She rarely launches assaults except to recover kidnapped citizens or dismantle trafficker operations threatening the city.
Her soldiers are trained heavily in restraint and capture techniques. Mercy is considered strategically valuable whenever possible.
It is not uncommon for Kiana’s army to return from battle larger than when it departed.
Over time, Kiana’s successes have earned enormous political influence within Permatu. More notably, she was granted access to the secretive Guild of Life — an honor almost never extended to military figures.
Rumors claim the guild entrusted her with knowledge or augmentations meant specifically to strengthen Permatu’s defenses.
Kiana herself has never commented on the rumors.
