Aratasa

The Prasei are one of the people groups who were part of the Yivri cultural sphere. They shared most of their cultural characteristics with the other Yivri peoples, and were usually politically allied with the Yivriindi through the Kenda.

History

The Prasei are descended from traders from Tsingris who settled around the mouth of the Prasa River, and the settlement itself became known as Prasa after the river. The Tsingrizhil traders left settlements and tradeposts all along the Yivrian coast of the Bounded Sea, but Prasa was the northernmost permanent settlement, and it soon became an important trade center in its own right.

Settlers from the city of Prasa settled up the length of the Prasa River, and they fell under the political and cultural influence of Prasa, the only large city in the vicinity. The hereditary lord of Prasa acquired the title of Prasada, and Prasa rose to become the third of the great cities of the Yivri, after Kendilar and Anami.

Prasa was sacked and the Prasada was killed during the invasion of the Yakhat_people. Much of the city was destroyed, but rebuilding began as soon as the war ended. The death of the existing Prasada left the city of Prasa with no clear leader, however, and the Kenda took advantage of this situation to appoint a new Prasada. After this point the internal politics of Prasa were dominated by Kendilar and the political freedom of the city was curtailed, but its importance as an economic center was unchanged.

Economy and Agriculture

Prasa is a center of trade and the primary trade nexus for three different trade routes of major importance:

• The deep-sea route to Kalignas, and from there to Amur
• The coastal route to Tsingris
• The overland route to the Gap, and from there to all of the civilizations on the other side of Azatsi's Spine.

These trade routes provide the bulk of the city's wealth and influence. Locally, Prasa was a producer of fish, abalone, seaweed, whale-bone, and other sea products. The salmon which is caught in copious numbers during the fall spawn is dried, salted, and smoked, and traded significantly along all of its routes. Other coastal towns of the Prasei have a similar emphasis on seafood production, though with a lower proportion of the economy devoted to trade.

The agricultural regions along the Prasa river and inland around the shores of the White Mouth Bay have a range of crops similar to those found throughout the rest of Yivras. Corn was the primary grain, but was occasionally supplemented by wheat. Only small, short-legged ponies were known to the Prasei until the Yakhat invasions, and they were used as pack animals and for their meat.

After the Yakhat invasions, the Prasei quickly adopted the Yakhat horse for riding and carrying loads over long distances, though their native ponies were still used for farm labour. The Yakhat cattle were also adopted as farm animals grown for meat and leather. The Yakhat affection for cheese and other milk products did not spread to the Prasei.