The Protectorate

The Protectorate is a city created by Sister Ignatia to help her survive for a long time. She told everyone to come live in the Protectorate after their villages were destroyed by the volcanic eruption 500 years ago. People came, but they felt massive sorrow for the loss of their homes. Sister Ignatia thrives off of eating the sorrow from others, and the mass of sorrow hangs over the Protectorate like a fog. Now people call the area by different names, sometimes referring to it as "Cattail Kingdom” or as the “City of Sorrows” (4). The city is a clear area with a dangerous forest on one side and a Zirin-producing Bog on the other. The Bog stretches for as far as anyone knows, but the forest leads to other cities no one dares to visit.

The Protectorate is run by Sister Ignatia, who recruits young women into the...