Chapter 1120: Jamshid
While he’d not expected the full support of Shatufan, Leon was still disappointed by the results of Jamshid’s initial attempts to support him. Jamshid, however, attempted to mitigate this failure by telling Leon that many of the Azadan were not so much opposed to him as they were afraid of the Ocean Lords and that they still valued the storm crystal he could provide.
“Worry not, there won’t be city guardsmen knocking down my door at midnight. I have allies in wait, we can move quickly to ensure you aren’t kicked out and that trade will continue between our cities,” he’d said, before conspiring with the few Azadan who were openly supportive of Leon.
Leon, however, was less inclined to give him that time, though in the hours following Manuchehr’s departure from Jamshid’s estate, Leon didn’t demand anything of Jamshid, letting him see to the politicking while he contemplated his options with his followers.
The Aurichalcum was needed, that much was without question. The material wouldn’t win their war by itself, however, and that meant that Leon had to consider other options for increasing his people’s power, too. In that respect, he considered what other powers there were in the region that Jamshid had called ‘the Far West’.
The Far West was effectively everything west of the Bolt Mountains—the eastern edge of Archelaus’ Despotate—and the King’s Ocean off the western shore. Given the meddling of the Ocean Lords in this region, the southern half of the Far West, where Artorion was located, was rather bereft of major settlements. The northern half was well populated, but as far as Leon knew, there weren’t any post-Apotheosis mages in any of these cities.
Most of the population of the Far West lived along the shores of the Finger Lakes, long, narrow lakes in a fertile valley formed by two branches of the very same mountains that flanked the Artor Valley—the people of the Finger Lakes called these branches the Westfells and Southfells. The lakes were connected via a network of canals further to the west, and the Southcourse river system in the east. The Southcourse rivers merged further to the south, eventually flowing through the Artor Valley and into the King’s Ocean.
Of the cities on the Finger Lakes, only three were of much consequence: Hosragan, the largest; Sentudon, which built all of the ships and what few arks the region had; and Shatufan, whose wealth eclipsed all other cities of the Finger Lakes. There were other cities in the Far West of note, though, including several that were larger and more powerful than Shatufan.
Queenfall, where a would-be Storm Queen was killed, on a large peninsula to the northwest jutting out into the King’s Ocean. Many warriors called the city home, though they mostly fought the monsters that came down from the Galehorn Mountains in the center of the peninsula.
Krizos, along the shore of Treasure Lake in a valley formed by the Bolt Mountains and Bower Hills further east. While Krizos lacked much in the way of military power, they more than made up for it in natural and manufactured resources, being a major source of Titanstone and Lumenite in the region.