Manaia : The City of Keren and the Kuzian Civil War
Keren is the capital of Northern Shevarah and home to both a population of over 4 million and the Atras himself.
Though the city is surrounded by an impressive wall that is thought to be impregnable, the people of Keren have been unable to evade the violence of war that has afflicted the region over the past decade. While no Euchaon army has laid siege to the walls of the city, within the borders of Keren, a civil war has erupted and continues to bring bloodshed and loss of life to the people of Keren.
War in the city began in response to a failed coup by an aggressive faction of the Kuzu religion who believe that the Atras should be seeking to, by means of conquest, spread the religion throughout the entirety of Manaia.
The aggressive branch of the Kuzu faith, known as Kayo-Kuzu, is the also the newest, being less than two decades old and having gained traction only in recent years. Though Keren is undoubtedly home to the largest community of Kayo-Kuzi, numbering somewhere around half a million, the faction has seen a recent increase in followers, perhaps in response to the war in the region and the continued loss of Kuzian life.
Though many parts of the city have become dangerous warzones and no-go areas to any but those serving in the Kerenian or rebel military forces, in some parts of the city - fewer every month - life continues in a relatively normal manner, and the two opposing branches community's even work together to bring peace to the capital.
Against the recommendation of several of his advisers, the Atras has chosen not to go into hiding or seek refuge in nearby Sherishemi, but to remain in his palace in Keren - albeit with a significantly bolstered guardforce.
Depending upon whom one chooses to ask, Atras Mo II is either an excellent ruler and lover of his people, or a tyrant guilty of experimenting upon and murdering his own subjects.
Keren is also home to a community of some 200,000 Sobanites. As a reaction to Sobanite persecution at the hands of the growing rebel force in Keren, the followers of Sobanism in the city have unified in one location, where they are offered a level of protection from the Atras' military forces.