The northwestern city-state, positioned where Moonwood meets Jungula Serpentine. Vassum has always been Kyagos's window to the outside world—the city-state most engaged with foreign trade, most tolerant of outsiders, most willing to bend the rigid Sylthik social codes when profit was involved.
The trade tower in Syvlius connected to the astral current, but goods still had to reach Syvlius somehow. Vassum controlled the sea routes, the overland passes, the warehouses where foreign cargo accumulated before the mountain crossing. This made them wealthy. It also made them dependent on Syvlius's infrastructure.
Now that infrastructure is gone, and Vassum is scrambling to adapt.
Post-Revolution Vassum
The city is flooded with refugees—Sylthik fleeing Syvlius, merchants whose businesses collapsed with the trade tower, opportunists hoping to profit from chaos. Vassum's traditional social order is straining under the pressure. The scar-ranking system feels increasingly absurd when five-scarred nobles sleep in warehouses alongside unscarred laborers.
Some in Vassum see opportunity. If they could establish their own connection to the astral current—build their own trade tower, find their own route through the mountains to the current's path—they could inherit Syvlius's economic position. The investment would be staggering, the engineering challenges severe, but the potential payoff enormous.
Others argue for intervention. Retake Syvlius, crush the rebellion, restore order. But Vassum's military was never strong, and the prospect of fighting through Dead Moon warriors and desperate Drasnians terrifies a population that hasn't seen real warfare in generations.
For now, Vassum waits, negotiates, and tries to maintain what trade it can through increasingly dangerous waters.