Summersea is the capital city of Emelan.
Location and climate[]
Location[]
Summersea is a port city on the Pebbled Sea. It is a trade capital, and most of its income comes from mercantilism.
Climate[]
It gets very hot in the summer, and is warm during the winter. It never snows.[1]
Politics[]
Law[]
The city is governed by the Duke of Emelan, Vedris fer Toren. He ratifies all the laws pertinent to the city. Winding Circle, a temple of the Living Circle, is located just outside of Summersea. The temple makes its own laws and is actually separate from Summersea and even Emelan, although basic Emelanese laws likely apply.
Known laws:
- The abuse of an animal is a punishable offense
- Dragonsalt is forbidden
- Confusion balls are forbidden
- Dishonorable trade practices and blood feuds are forbidden
Law enforcement[]
Peace is kept by the Provost's Guard, led the Lady Provost. They are nicknamed Harriers for the brown and blue color of their uniform. The Provost's Guard patrols inside the city walls of Summersea, while the Duke's Guard is responsible for the areas outside of the walls, including the Mire.[2] Members of the Duke's Guard also make up the Duke's personal protection, as well as that of his family.
Layout[]
Harbor and fortifications[]
The city is recognized as one of the safest harbors in the Pebbled Sea and attracts traders from many different cities. To keep the city safe, there are many fortifications, from strong walls with guard towers to sea walls joining many of the islands in the harbor. The only entrance it has is protected through a chain—spanning the fifteen hundred yards distance[3] between Tombstone and Harbormaster's tower—to prevent any unwanted ships from attacking.[4] One of those towers is massive and rectangular, the other thin and spiky.[5] There is also a boom between Maja and Tombstone islands which prevents passage. There ars lighthouse beacons on Astrel and Maja islands to guide ships, and a watch tower on Bit Island. Astrel, Maja, Crescent and Bit islands are all named after the currency of Emelan. The harbor and its two towers are at the back of the Emelan gold maja coin.[5]
Landmarks, districts, and roads[]
Districts[]
- Duke's Citadel, the main district of Summersea
- Emerald Triangle, an upper class residential neighborhood of the city.
- Summersea Market Square, a bustling square where vendors and merchants sell their wares. Filled with shops and stores. Trisana Chandler raised a water spout to help her friends here.
- Copper Triangle, located to the east of Market Square, and to the west of East District. Likely a middle to lower class neighborhood.
- East District, a poorer area of Summersea. This just means that the district is not upper class, as there are well-off working families who live in East District, such as the Acalon family. East District is where Acalon House is located.[6]
- The Mire, a slum just outside of the eastern city walls, located near East District.
- Fishing village, where there are many docks and where the city's fishermen live. Osabo Netmender lives here.
Roads and streets[]
- Spicer Street, a road which runs through Fountain Square, a very wealthy area of Summersea.
- Fountain Street, a road which likely also runs through Fountain Square, and connects with Spicer Street[7]
- Potter's Lane, small lane connecting two larger streets near Market Square and the Copper Triangle. Likely where pottery artisans have set up shop.
- Shortshank Way, smaller road that along a corner of the East District.
- Harbor Street, is an important road in Summersea and runs the length of the coast until the eastern wall. Passes all the well known harbors.[8]
- Lucky Street, bisects East District, Potter's Lane runs off of Lucky Street.
- Fuller's Circle
- Cobbler's Lane, runs up diagonally on the right corner of East District.
- Mummer's Close
- Spice Walk
- Nosegay Strut, longer road in The Mire. Urda's House is located on this road.
- Temple Road, which connects Winding Circle to Summersea.[9]
- Cheeseman Street, located in upper class neighborhood, likely in the Emerald Triangle. This is the location of Daja's House.
- Harbor Road, connects Godsluck Wharf to Temple Road
- Arrow Road, a street located in the eastern part of the city, in the poorer districts.[10]
Landmarks[]
- Duke's Citadel is perhaps the most notable landmark of Summersea. Operates as the royal palace and headquarters of House Toren, the ruling family of Emelan.
- Fountain Square
- Summersea Water Temple
- Godsluck Wharf, located on the shore of the Fishing Village. Where Pasco Acalon performed his dance spell to catch fish for the Netmenders.
- Long Wharf, Jansar Wharf, Sharyn Wharf,[11] located somewhere within Summersea. Sandry and the Duke rode by these wharves on their morning ride the same day Jamar Rokat was killed.[8]
Infrastructure[]
Water and sanitation[]
The city has a sewer and drainage system to get rid of waste and keep the populace healthier. In 1035 KF there was so much rain, which caused the sewers to flood and leak into the water supply. This is the main reason why the blue pox plague became so widespread, and affected so many.
Hospitals[]
The city has several hospitals throughout that operate as first responders to an epidemic. Winding Circle also fills this role, although they are not bound by law to do so, being apart from Summersea in general. Urda's House was a hospital for the poor, that was located in The Mire. The Summersea Water Temple also serves as a hospital.
The city is well prepared for the outbreak of a sickness, having appropriate clothes, tents and wagons at hand to get the sick to the next hospital without letting all the citizens know and thus start a panic.[12]
Economy[]
Summersea is a bustling trade epicenter. Due to its reputation as a safe harbor from pirates, it has no shortage of business and income from trade. Many foreign merchants had set up permanent homes and businesses there, like House Rokat. The Duke is fair to the merchants who come to the city, but is no pushover.
Events[]
Natural disasters[]
Summersea gets quite a lot of earthquakes, being on a fault line. A devastating earthquake occurred in 1035 KF. It gained strength from being magically trapped in a diamond prison for months. It managed to bury the four young mages, and they only survived by combining their different magics.
Pirate raids[]
Early raids[]
Before the reign of Duke Vedris, Summersea was plague by piracy. The pirates usually came in from the Battle Islands and would raid the shoreline and coast. Duke Vedris became a pirate chaser in his early days, and was quite adept at it. They even attacked the Battle Islands in order to stop piracy at its source. The pirates were forced to go into hiding for years, and for the most part they broke apart.
Pirate attack in 1035[]
Winding Circle and Summersea were attacked by Battle Islands pirates in 1035 KF. They were led by Pauha and her brother Enahar. The pirates used boom-stones, which exploded upon contact in order to achieve their goals. They also had a spy in Winding Circle, Aymery Glassfire, who sabotaged a lot of the magical artifacts used for scrying. The pirates were finally stopped by Trisana Chandler, Sandrilene fa Toren, and Briar Moss. Tris destroyed most of their ships with her lightning and weather magic, but would have been defeated and killed by Enahar if her three friends and their teachers hadn't helped them.
Epidemics[]
Summersea had suffered from an epidemic in 1033 KF.[13]
Three years after the other plague, the blue pox haunted the city. During the blue pox, makeshift hospital camps had to be set up outside of the city, in order to quarantine the sickness. A Temporary Hospital Camp was set up between Summersea and Winding Circle in fields and away from people.[14] The pox was created by Eilisa Pearldrop by accident, as she wished to create a weight loss potion that would become her claim to fame and wealth. Her magic added an element to the pox that made it incredibly hard to cure, and Dedicate Crane's efforts to find a cure and detection oil were hindered by not knowing of the magic element. It was discovered initially by Briar Moss, and was confirmed by both Tris Chandler and Niklaren Goldeye. Despite the new detection oil and cure, many still died, including Dedicate Rosethron before she was revived by her four students.
Crime[]
Blood feud in 1039[]
In 1039 KF, a major blood feud was brought to Summersea. The feud was between House Rokat and House Dihanur, two merchant clans. One of the Dihanur family cut in front of Jamar Rokat's great-uncle and presumed head of the family in their birthplace, to get into a temple. The insult was avenged on Palaq Dihanur, their patriarch, by severing his head and displaying it on the city walls for everyone to see. Angered, the Dihanur family set on a mission to eradicate House Rokat from existence. They killed all in Janaal and Bihan, and moved into Summersea that year. They used unmagic and expensive magic in order to achieve their goals. They were killed by Sandrilene fa Toren using a mix of unmagic and thread magic.
Culture[]
Religion[]
Summersea residents usually follow the Living Circle, although there are likely other religions among inhabitants as they range from all over the lands surrounding Emelan. There are several gods themselves who are mentioned in the books, such as Shurri Firesword, Yanna Healtouch, Mila of the Grain, and Green Man.
Language[]
The official language of Summersea is Imperial, from the Kurchal Empire. The poorer and working classes of Summersea often use slang.
Examples of slang:
- "off the straight" — going rogue, or committing a crime while previously clean
- "street rat" — slang for a poor child on the streets. This is also used in other countries and cities where Imperial is primarily spoken, like Hajra, Briar's birthplace.
- "rats" — slang for criminal
- "harrier" — slang for members of the Provost's Guard, named after harrier hawks for their uniform[15]
- "coop" — slang for the watch-houses of the Provost's Guard[15]
- "kid" — street slang for child, actually means baby goat
Traditions[]
In Summersea and surrounding areas, it is incredibly bad luck to underpay a mage.[16]
Residents[]
Duke's Household[]
- Vedris fer Toren, Duke of Emelan
- Yazmín Hebet, the Duke's lover
- Sandrilene fa Toren, the duke's great-niece, one of the Four
- Erdogun fer Baigh, the Lord Seneschal
- Gospard fer Toren, one of the Duke's sons
- Franzen fer Toren, the Duke's youngest son
Merchants[]
Rokat family[]
- Jamar Rokat, head of House Rokat in Summersea. Was killed first by the serial killers.
- Durshan Rokat
- Fariji Rokat
Mages[]
- Daja Kisubo, metal-mage. Owns very large house in wealthy residential neighborhood.
- Briar Moss, lives with Daja and Tris.
- Trisana Chandler, lives with Daja and Briar. Insists upon being housekeeper and doesn't wish to take charity even from her siblings.
- Chime, the glass dragon she cares for.
Provost's Guard[]
- Unnamed Lady Provost
- Wulfric Snaptrap
- Guryil
Acalon family[]
The Acalons are a harrier family, and most members join the Provost's Guard in their lifetime.
- Edoar Acalon & Unnamed wife, head of the family
- Macarin Acalon & Zahra Qais
- Halmaedy Acalon and 3 other daughters
- Pasco Acalon, magic student of Sandrilene fa Toren, dance-mage
- Unnamed son(s)
- Macarin Acalon & Zahra Qais
Qais family[]
The Qaises are a harrier family, and most members join the Provost's Guard in their lifetime.
- Abbas Qais, head of family
- Isman Qais, captain in the Provost's Guard
- Zahra Qais & Macarin Acalon
Working class and poor[]
- Osabo Netmender, scion of fishing family.
- Flick, young street urchin who dies of the blue pox.
Winding Circle[]
Dedicates and novices[]
Other[]
- Esmelle ei Pragin, a young lady who lived in the Pearl Cup Dormitories of Winding Circle.
- Liesa fa Nadlen, another young lady who lived in Pearl Cup.
- Glakisa Irakory, a young academic mage who was Tris's student.
- Little Bear
- Shriek
Appearances[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ The Will of the Empress, final chapters
- ↑ Briar's Book, Ch. 5 (pg. 84; Scholastic paperback)
- ↑ Tris's Book, Ch. 6 (pg. 92; Scholastic paperback)
- ↑ Tris's Book, Ch. 6 (pg. 89; Scholastic paperback)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Daja's Book, Ch. 10 (pg. 181; Scholastic paperback)
- ↑ Magic Steps, Epilogue
- ↑ Magic Steps, Chapter 7
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Magic Steps, Chapter One
- ↑ Briar's Book, Ch. 1 (pg. 4; Scholastic paperback)
- ↑ Magic Steps, Chapter Eight
- ↑ Latter wharf likely named after Sharyn November, a former editor for Pierce's at Penguin.
- ↑ Briar's Book, Ch. 2 (pg. 29; Scholastic paperback)
- ↑ Briar's Book, Ch. 2 (pg. 37; Scholastic paperback)
- ↑ Map at beginning of Magic Steps.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Magic Steps, Chapter 2
- ↑ Magic Steps, Chapter 3
See also[]
Magic Steps | |
---|---|
Set in Summersea, the capital of Emelan (1039 KF). Protagonists search for perpetrators of gruesome serial killings. | |
Nobles | Duke Vedris • Sandrilene fa Toren • Erdogun fer Baigh • Franzen fer Toren |
Winding Circle | Moonstream • Crane • Lark • Skyfire • Comas |
Law Enforcement | Harriers: Edoar Acalon • Abbas Qais • Macarin Acalon • Zahra Acalon • Isman Qais • Wulfric Snaptrap • Behazin • Guryil; Duke's Guard: Oama • Kwaben |
House Rokat | Jamar Rokat • Durshan Rokat • Fariji Rokat |
House Dihanur & associates | Palaq Dihanur • Nurhar Dihanur • Alzena Dihanur • the Unmage |
Residents of Summersea | Acalon children: Pasco Acalon • Rehana Acalon • Halmaedy Acalon • Vanido Acalon • Haidaycie Acalon; Others: Yazmín Hebet • Osabo Netmender |
Magic | Ambient magic • Thread circle • Unmagic • Academic magic * Confusion ball |
Places | Emelan: Summersea • Winding Circle • Duke's Citadel • Pebbled Sea; Mentioned places: Bihan • Janaal |
other The Circle Opens novels: Street Magic • Cold Fire • Shatterglass |