Many histories, bound into a single, tight thread, make up this North African province of the Persian Empire. Years of factionary politics created a fractured state, between the regions of Cathalon, Rif, Merida, and Castile, with each kingdom vying to make and break associations with their partners in an attempt to gain control.
It was only the sudden imposition of the Arabian conquest that managed to bring the warring states under a single ruler, by force. Much of their culture became a mix of Arabian and Andalusian architecture, food, customs, and philosophy. However, there remains fierce competition between the four regions, people often identifying more with their region than the province of Al-Andalus itself, despite a shared language and history.
Cathalon
A mountainous region at the northernmost edge of the province that terminates, suddenly, at the sea in a dramatic series of cliffs. Ocean trade is not common here due to treacherous currents and dangerous cliff sides save for two major ports. This region is rich in gold and copper, however, and contains several quarries for marble. They are also known for their griffin husbandry, given the eyries in the mountains. They have a rich patronage of the arts, but they are known to have a hot blooded, romantic-minded culture. Artists, singers, dancers, and other cultural workers flock to patrons in Barcino, one of its port cities.
Rif
Sharing mountains with Cathalon, but in its arid rain shadow, the main draw of Rif is the many, many trade ports it boasts along the coast on the more sailor-friendly western edge of Al-Andalus. Rif and Cathalon have long had animosity over their border and the port island-city of Meliyya, an ancient city extending into the ocean. While not having agriculture of their own given nearly desert-like conditions, Rif is a major trade hub into the continent to Nubia, with whom they allied when going to war against Cathalon and Castile. They also have a strong maritime culture, and have one of the few air docks capable of building airships. Rif is a far more cosmopolitan area, given the international nature of their economy. They are heavily dependent on Castile to deliver goods from the plains, and in recent years has been forced to provide concessions now that war is no longer an option to air grievances.
Castile
The breadbasket of Al-Andalus, Castile is a flat plains region with rivers flowing down from Cathalon and Rif. However, Castile is not well developed and much of the country is considered "frontierland." The biggest city is Mayrit, on the banks of the Manzanares river. Due to the constant bickering of her neighbors, Castile was often the staging ground for combat, and it is only now, having been under Arabian — and now Persian— rule, that they have the stability to grow an economy outside of war and agriculture. Mercenary-work is very popular in Castile, and whole families may have mercenary companies made up of extended members. Aspects are unexpectedly welcome in Castile, filling a niche for labor opened by Castilos entering military service.
Merida
The least populated area of Al-Andalus, Merida is almost a desert landscape with scrubland where the loam is thinnest, massive jutting spikes of rocky tors where the loam is simply gone. There is little water here, the landscape a cracked and cragged place with only the briefest of oases and, in the few places water can seep, hardy wheat sways in the wind in seemingly unending waves, only to abruptly halt where the rocks start. Merida butts against Rif, through which entrance to Nubia may be assured, and the occasional raid was common as those exiled or daring enough to live in Merida scrounged resources. It is cut off from the plains of Castile by the same mountain ridges that go on to form Cathalon, the rain unable to reach inland and water the desert from the sea beside Rif. There are legends that gold is hidden in the tors of Merida by the pirates of Rif, but these seem to be mere legends to lure would-be adventurers into the wasteland.
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@Doctor Jax