St. Curtis

St. Curtis
Type	City
Located In	Fragaria
Racial Occupants	Human, Jakkai, Fairy
Known Residents	Melli the Fire Bee
Notable Features	Tree of Peace Spring Flower Festival stands Temple District
Buildings	Trouble Center Southeast St. Curtis Public Stables Coiled Cobra Bar
Debut
Slightly Damned #466 [HQ]
Image Gallery

St. Curtis is a merged Jakkai/Human city, the single largest city in Fragaria. It is located at the center of Fragaria, south of the capital, in Blossom Valley, a large fertile valley of the central mountain range.

Every year, St. Curtis celebrates the Spring Flower Festival at the beginning of Spring when the flowers from the Sacred Tree begin to fall. The city was also where Demons staged a massive invasion to gather up Angels for their plans.

Architecture

Top view of the city's districts.

The city is located in the center of the valley, and is surrounded by fields of flowers and various farms. The entire city is built in and around the base of a giant tree, dubbed the Tree of Peace, that used to be the primary home of the Jakkai over two hundred years ago. Most, if not all the buildings are wooden and often seem integrated within the roots of the tree that spread all throughout the city. Vines can be seen growing on the buildings and even tree branches that seem to extend from the walls of the buildings. There are four road passes through the mountains to reach the city, one in all four cardinal points (North, East, South, West).

The tree itself, once the home to the Jakkai that lived in it, has partially been converted into a temple, dedicated to worshiping the gods of Medius. Windows can be seen around the tree, including a pathway that seems to circle the tree twice on the way up. There are also houses that are either separate from the interior of the tree or act as entrances to the inside. Because of the large tree roots that tend to separate certain parts of the city, wooden stairways are built to allow people to walk across them.

As of the Gathering, most of the southern section of the city has been burned down, however many structures remain intact after several days and the tree appears to be unharmed.

Culture

Population

St. Curtis is a city that completely integrates both Jakkai and Humans in its architecture and government; it houses the largest Jakkai population in the world, compared to traditional Jakkai villages which tend to be smaller. As such, it also holds a significant population of Hukai Mixlings. Fairies also live there, and commonly resemble bees; unlike most Fairies, they speak Lingo.

Due to its history, St. Curtis has a unique reputation as a place where just about anyone is welcome, regardless of species; when Angels and Demons showed up on Medius, many gathered there and were welcomed by inhabitants. The city is also the usual home of Melli the Fire Bee of the Twelve Guardians and a popular location for Meeros the Mortori Bird to appear as well.

Celebrations

Every year in spring, the city houses the Spring Flower Festival, the "greatest party in Fragaria". People from all over the world come to see it, making for a very busy city. The festival starts when the sacred tree's flowers start to fall, and ends when they're done. As it is the busiest time of the year, it is a good occasion for merchants to set up stalls.

Food

St. Curtis is famous for its honey, including Fire Honey collected from Fire Bees. Fast food vendors sell popcorn balls coated with honey to tourists during the Spring Flower Festival, as well as ice cream and other treats. Fire Honey is also used in Fire Bee Mead, which is said to be the strongest kind of alcoholic mead around.

Religion

Within the Tree of Peace is the Temple of Reconciliation, where people worship the gods of Medius; not just the Twelve Guardians, but also Mother Gaia, Father Syndel, Death and all their servants. The temple exists to worship and respect the gods equally so travesties like the Great War don't repeat. Many people took refuge there after the city was razed by Demons, including rescues Angels and pacifist Demons.

History

Past

Approximately two hundred in-universe years before the beginning of Slightly Damned, St. Curtis did not exist. In its place were two villages: a Jakkai village who lived in their massive Sacred Tree, where they were master bee-keepers and honey-gatherers; and a Human village inhabited by excellent farmers whose crops and flowers were unrivalled by any in Fragaria.

The Jakkai's bees required the farmers' flowers for nectar to build their hives and make honey while the humans required the bees spread their pollen so that their crops and gardens would flourish. Ignorant of this fact, the two races shunned each other — they kept strictly separate and refused to communicate.

One fateful night, the Jakkai's Sacred Tree somehow caught aflame. The flames claimed many lives and the Jakkai could not handle it alone. The humans could easily see the blaze from their village but they took no action for they felt the Jakkai would never lift a paw for them and it was their problem.

However, one young man broke away from the group and sprang to action, running to the tree; as if this was a signal, the rest of the humans followed him and rushed to help. With the help of their human neighbors, the Jakkai were able to save their Sacred Tree and extinguish the flames. Still, many homes had been destroyed and their livelihoods were greatly damaged. From the ashes rose a bond between Jakkai and human alike in Blossom Valley — they agreed to work together to create a better town, one for both races so that they could live together in harmony.

Alas, it was discovered that the young man who had been the first to run to the Jakkai's aid had died in the fire. To honor his sacrifice, the town, which eventually bloomed into a city, was named St. Curtis.

To this day, no one knows (or admits) how the flames started, but there have been rumors that Melli the Fire Bee started the flames to teach the two races a lesson. Some say it was arson, others a freak lightning storm, and one involving the extinct Fragarian Fire Dragon.

The Flower Festival

Rhea and company would first arrive at the city just days before the festival would begin, and would spend their time looking for Kazai while also helping out with the Helper's Guild. At the same time, however, Demons who were part of Hell's Army had started to arrive there and would go undercover until the time was right. As some Demons, like Sahne and Lakritz, were out among the Medians, many of them would follow suit but still use the Coiled Cobra Bar for their base of operations.

As the festival picked up, Melli would take part in the festivities while Meeros the Mortori Bird showed up in time to see the newest member of the Sinclair Family. Jake, who for awhile received mail from Rhea about her adventures, arrived as well to learn the truth of her resurrection and join her on their adventures as well.

Raising Hell

By the third day, Moonshade would enact the Demons plan of taking over the city by killing Melli, whose death caused fire to spread throughout a large portion of the city. As civilians tried evacuating or put out the flames, the Demons would start gathering Angels, kill Medians and/or cause more chaos and destruction all around them. Rhea and Buwaro would later perform a rescue operation to save Kieri and other Angels before they would be taken away to be sacrificed, though succeeding in saving a small group of Angels including their friends.

Atop the Tree of Peace

Days after the invasion started, the fires eventually died down and people began to return to survey the damage. Most of the residents have been displaced due to the damage caused, forcing many to take refuge at the temple within the Tree of Peace. This also caused their faith in Melli, Moku and Meeros to be soured to the point of vandalizing their respective statues.

The Lost Puppy

Lakritz talked about joining forces with the people that Rhea's friends have helped and Medians, as to possibly help the captured Angels at Mt. Sentinel. Rhea and J's faces ended up on wanted posters in the Temple District. In the burnt outskirts, Kazai tried to forcefully stop Kieri from leaving, but she eventually won and her group left the valley out through Griffin Pass.

Locations

• The Coiled Cobra (a bar where Iratu and his team set up base)
• Southeast St. Curtis Public Stables (one of possibly several stable houses where Fritz, Sugar, Pepper and Chestnut are being kept)
• Tree of Peace (the giant tree at the center of St. Curtis that housed Jakkai in the past before the city's founding)
  • The Temple of Reconciliation (located inside the tree)
• The Temple District, located around the Tree.