Amaranth

Often called the "Unfading Flower", Amaranth is the largest oasis in Outremer - a flat wasteland of dunes and rock, scoured by desert winds and blasted by the Sun. This ancient city-state rests at the mouth of the Thoran river where it spills into the Gulf. Its people, "Amaranthines", left Yavanna four thousand years ago and established the city as a crossroads of the world, dictating trade between Tiberium and Yavanna. "Dreamsage", a rare narcotic lotus, is cultivated in Amaranth.

Location & Layout
Amaranth boasts impressive twin harbors; one is a natural bay, the other a freshwater lake created by the city's foundations damming up the Thoran river. Foreign ships are docked in the bay and not allowed past the Water Gates. The inner harbor is reserved for the Amaranthine navy; a thousand sleek warships. Incredibly the city's shipwrights can churn out a single galley every hour, if needed.

The city is roughly triangular in shape and built from porous, pink stone. Its gold capped pyramids can be seen for long miles and the inward-facing walls are terraced with gardens. Because canals are used instead of streets poleboats, bridges, and raised boardwalks are the only way to get around in Amaranth. Besides easing travel through the city these canals also help control the river's flow.

Surrounding Amaranth are fertile floodplains and vast forests of oak and cypress. These forests play a crucial role, providing wood for ships, a natural storm break, and help to hold off the encroaching desert. Today they are less than 1/10 of their former size.

History
Despite its fantastic location Amaranth was not originally built for any strategic reason. Rather it was the final resting place of Prince Xandar, who had suddenly fallen ill at the age of thirty. From his feverish deathbed he ordered that a mighty fleet be built to carry his people over the Gulf sea. When this work was done only a single ship sailed out of Amaranth, and was set ablaze.

His nephew, Remer the Lion, succeeded him and established Amaranth as a city-state. Only a boy Remer was deposed by the Good Masters after a brief power struggle, and fled into the deserts of Outremer with a handful of followers. There he allegedly discovered the Well of Souls. Most of the men who'd supported his claim were enslaved, as were their children.

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Over time the Amaranthines learned how to harness the river and its floodwaters. They planted crops on its banks and built an intricate system of levies and dams, aqueducts, canals, drains, and pumps to control its flow. In time they had mastered the river completely and built canals deep into the deserts of Outremer, transforming it into a sea of grass.

Their greening empire depended on slaves. Amaranthine slavers sailed all over the world, though they dared not touch even the Casteless men of Yavanna. Slave trading and training became the Masters' chief occupation. Their biggest client, Tiberium, supplied them with prisoners-of-war from its conquests. The two became close trading partners; Amaranthine patronage saw Tiberium flourish into a continental empire, though it always treated the younger power as a subordinate.

This relationship ultimately proved disastrous. The Masters expected the Tiberians to kowtow to them; insulted, the Tiberian Consul abolished slavery in the Ecumene, practically ruining Amaranth overnight. Enraged the Amaranthines blockaded all sea trade coming into the Ecumene without actually declaring war, staying just outside its territorial waters and seizing all Tiberian ships/cargo and selling the crews into slavery. It was all Tiberium's fledgling navy could do just to keep the ports open. Many turned to smuggling; Amaranthine captains might sell back their cargoes to the Tiberians, and Tiberian captains sometimes managed to slip through the cracks. Powerful trade cartels emerged, and none were more powerful than the Brethren Court.

Tiberium built a 4000 mile long highway to Amaranth, promising freedom to any slave who worked on the project to its completion. Although millions of men perished the project was finished in an astonishing 10 years. When the Legions reached Amaranth they found it prepared for them. They easily defeated the Amaranthines in the open - Troikan mercenaries, the core of their army, turned on the Masters and their slave levies. Retreating to their city the Masters were confident they could wait out any siege, their steady supply of fresh water and control of the seas making the Legions' encirclement moot, feasting within sight of the Tiberian camps. But the Legions were not easily deterred. They dammed each of the Thoran's major tributaries, bleeding the river dry. Again the Masters were forced to submit. Ever since the Ecumene has retained control over the river, taxing its flow. Without it the land dried up and the Amaranthines had to build canals to hold off the encroaching desert and whole colonies were swallowed up by the sands. Each year brought diminishing returns on their harvests. Even when the Tiberians left the rivers was only a trickle of its former strength

Today, 200 years after Tiberium's collapse, Amaranth is beginning to regain its old power but is still only a shadow of its former glory. It remains a crossroads between north and south, east and west, and its fleets are still the greatest power at sea.

People
Above all else Amaranthines are known for their excess and decadence. For millennia the city has depended on trade to maintain its lavish lifestyle. Smoking of Dreamsage as well as opium and hashish is quite common, even among the city's lowest classes and much time is spent in smoking lounges called "pillowhouses". Generally speaking they are a cruel but dignified people, cordial to their equals but expect deference from inferiors and foreigners. They have a mind for business and negotiation as well as loftier pursuits (the arts, philosophy, etc.). Often foreigners take them to be soft but they have fierce pride.

Slavery has become normalized over time. Often slaves are skilled or even educated workers and their status is more comparable to indentured servitude. Many are content with their lot in life, knowing no other alternative, and were born into captivity rather than being bought or sold. Although they are segregated and tied to their masters fair treatment is a social expectation.

Description
Comely, nut-brown skin, dark eyes, wooly hair.

Society
They are deeply patriarchal; women are considered property of their fathers' and husbands (who are polygamous) and are bought and sold in arranged marriages. Even a free, noble woman is hardly better than a kept slave. Recently it has become permissible for women of high standing to participate in male activities.

The top of the pyramid is dominated by Overseers who own huge estates in the country but live in the city for business/prestige. Because these estates are worked by slaves the Freemen are very poor and have to live in Amaranth's slums. They are afforded no special privileges and cannot vote and socially are only a rank above slaves.

Some slaves are actually better off than Freemen, being educated and enjoying the comforts of their master's household. It is possible for them to become government officials and functionaries, concubines, or even stewards of an estate. However, for most (even indentured servants) they have no rights and are treated as chattel. Remarkably there is little social tension between slaves and masters; slavery has become an ingrained, normalized aspect of society.

Industry & Trade
Although they no longer cater to great empires the Amaranthines still produce many luxuries. Their high denomination coins are red gold. Their floodplains are home to life not seen anywhere else in Outremer. Even before abolition the Amaranthines did not capture slaves, leaving that to foreign slavers.

For much of its history Amaranth was a colonial power but, as a lone city-state, it now favors mercantilism. The Overseers behave like a trade cartel, controlling passage through the Gates of the Sea. Their only serious competitor are the pirates of the Brethren Court.

Government
Amaranth is a republican oligarchy ruled by its "Overseers/Patrons", wealthy landowners. They alone are permitted to vote and have a stake in government. They elect the Lion of Amaranth, the master of the city who serves for life (although in reality he serves at the Overseers' pleasure and is expected to commit suicide if he fails the city). Most officials/functionaries are actually educated slaves.

Taxes were never levied on the Overseers, who instead provided labor for the city's maintenance and public works. Foreigners were taxed heavily.

Military
Amaranth's strength has always lain at sea. Its inner harbor (reserved for the armada alone) boasts over 10,000 ships, nearly all of which are swift galleys. The greatest of these ships can pull three hundred oars. Amphibious tactics are their forte, with the armada working in concert with professional Marines drawn from the ranks of Freemen. During their trade wars with Tiberium they successfully blockaded all of the Ecumene's ports, strangling its economy.

Although they prefer to fight at sea the city is nearly impossible to effectively besiege (having fresh water and control over the Gates of the Sea). When they take the field they depend heavily on exotic mercenaries (they're reluctant to arm Freemen and slaves are forbidden from bearing arms). The city's noble sons are also skilled lancers and some of the heaviest cavalry in the world.

Influences
The Greek "Amarantos" means "unfading flower"; in Sanskrit it translates to "immortal"