Narayako

Narayako, officially the Narayakan State is located within the province of Castellum within the State of Horane Nyonshin. It is known for being the so called "Northern Catgirl Captial" and is one of four towns within the province of Castellum.

Narayako is a small to medium-sized town nesting on the very edge of the coastline on the northern half of Castellum; it borders the Voclarian Sea, and has a large amount of cultural ties to Pompaelo, which lie to the south. Narayako specializes in the export of silk, porcelain, and other rare or exotic goods; it also possess a large agricultural economy which it uses to bolster itself. Previously, the area was referred to as Isollarium.

Background
Long before written history, and during the prehistory of Nyaristios; there is an ancient tale which tells of a story of a fox who came from the upper world, sent by the Heavenly Emperor Tiandimao to watch on the people of Northern Kasitai, later to become Narayako. In history, this fox would later be known as Hónghúlí. However, she became distracted as she fell in love with a simple mortal fox, therefor; in the midst of spring, Hónghúlí came from the heavens themselves and courted the mortal fox, later raised a family; and similarly to the rest of Nyaristios, many of the descendants of this couple later began to take on human forms, and partially integrated with the wider Nya'ristii world.

What would become the modern region of Narayako was relatively underdeveloped and isolated during the classical era of Nyaristios, with only a few small villages and tribes existing in the area, due to its harsh climate; however, a small community existed on the far north of what would later by named by Aristii colonizers as "Isollarium", a small community of the afforestationed foxes thrived. Due to their origins being unknown, what resulted in the significant variation between it, and the rest of Nyaristios is unknown; however, there is evidence to suggest these first settlers previously had contact with other peoples via the Voclarian Sea, such as some of the earlier iterations of Yaszuma, or other major powers across the Voclarian Sea; who would've definitely influenced Narayako extensively to come. Despite this though, proto-Narayako would remain largely isolated.

However, this period of isolation would not last, as the era of the "Qiutian" or "Fall" began in early Narayakan chronicles, with descriptions ranging from "Bandits" to "Invaders" and eventually, "Imperialists" being reported across the area, and to be moving closer to prehistorical Narayako everyday with Volcaria-Transardacia forming around the, and by the late , the area that was now Narayako was occupied by the armies of the Imperial Aristii, and was later built into a forward-operating post for the the rapidly increasing influence of Imperial Aristios in Kasitai, which now went under a new name; Castellum.

Imperial Aristios & Re-emergence of the Foxfolk
Despite this early period of initial conquest, the Aristii did not stay for long, and alter abandoned their outpost, and the area lay abandoned again, this allowed the various folk of Narayako, many of whom were foxes, to one again; emerge and rebuild, and thanks to their relative isolation. Eventually, they were able to rebuild their homes from the ground up, and later gave formation to what would later be called "Narayako"

Despite this, the area remained largely unknown and uncharted by subsequent Imperial Governments, and while there were sporadic attempts to settle the region, all were unsuccessful. This allowed the various Foxfolk and the Catfolk, who fled north to escape prosecution from the Imperial Government, where they formed a new settlement right on the coastline of the Voclarian Sea, nested away from any potential interference by Imperial forces, which were largely in the south.

During this period, the Catfolk & Foxfolk of the region, having been forced to settle together, began to intertwine; and began many cultural exchanges; giving rise to the formation of the Narayakan interpretation of Catfolkism, and the further development of the cultural apparatus of Narayako.

Republican Aristios & The Formation of Narayako
With the decline of the Imperial Government of Aristios, and the formation of a Republic, which was partially supported by many of the repressed catfolk population, many of the Imperial-era restrictions on the Catfolk and the Foxfolk were lifted, leading to a cultural revival across Castellum, and the resettlement of Catfolk across the province, giving it time to heal and recover.

Notably, the area which at this time, was still referred to as "Isollarium" suddenly was reported to have organized under a certain tribal leader, and the supposed formation of the village of "Narayako", which was the name many of the Catfolk & Foxfolk referred to this new town as. However, it was technically without government permission, and with the Aristii Government being more organized than it was during the Imperial Era, it seemed that some action may actually be done.

Thankfully for both sides, this new "leader", who would later be identified as the significantly younger, and far more naive Tenaru Chahemi (Fusionia) was leading the formation of the settlement. Logui Fielinya Olmero, who was in charge of governance of the Castellum Province at the time was sent to negotiate, and eventually, a deal was struck between the two; allowing for Narayako to exist as an official town of Castellum, and by extension, Aristios.

Traditions & Lifestyle
The cultural traditions and lifestyles of the Narayakan people arent too dissimilar to that of the rest of Nyaristios, however; there are some key changes; due to the far wetter climate, and the far flung isolation of the region, the Narayakans have developed a series of unique traditions that only are celebrated or practiced by them, here are some examples:

For the Narayakans, they refer to themselves as the "Xiaohai" or "Fox Children", seemingly steming from Narayakan oral tradition, which had survived for hundreds, if not thousands of years thanks to the relative isolation of the area. They refer to the people that live south of them; aka the Nyaristii as the "Huatong" or "Flower Children", which of whom they had some contact with throughout the prehistorical period of Nyaristios.

Dress & Clothing
Typically, peoples of Narayakan descent typically wear clothing akin to Hanfu's, Kimonos, or other dress-wear typically seen elsewhere. However, generally during work or normal times the range of clothing is extraordinarily diverse.

中秋节 | Zhōngqiū jié (Autumn Festival)
It is said that when Fox Goddess Hónghúlí came down from the heavens to finally live with her lover, it is described that all plant-life around her, including long dead trees and grasses suddenly re-emerged and flourished, seemingly in celebration for her return since that fall. Due to this event, the locals decided to graudally begin celebrating this event, and it later turned into a mid-autumn festival in Narayako, celebrated annually and usually involves the lighting of many lanterns, as well as celebrations in the streets; typically, one could expect to see small stalls lining the streets, and small pastries, such as mooncakes, milk bread, aswell as a vast array of beverages, some of the most common beverages are milk tea, sake, a form of fermented rice turned alcohol.

Typically, the Zhongqiu'je festival is typically celebrated in the middle of Autumn, but can usually occur later or earlier depending on the circumstances of that time.

早春节 | Zǎo chūnjié (Early-Spring Festival)
WIP