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Phaedon was on the edge of the empire, distant from the capital. Its population, while prosperous, lacked a certain amount of elegance and prestige. Its leaders were mostly of the lower royal families who did not have the connections to attain great notoriety outside of their humble local holdings. Situated in mostly a desert landscape, Phaedon supported a meager amount of farming that clung to the edges of a small river, which trickled along its border. The nearby desert hills were peppered with occasional shepherds who moved through the landscape herding the tough local breed of goats who had proven capable of bearing the intense heat and meager amount of water, somehow managing to sustain themselves on the wiry desert foliage. These scant food sources could not sustain the entire ci
