Sorrento
Sorrento is not a true city-state, but a sprawling agricultural region whose inhabitants, who have been johar farmers for generations, have pooled their resources to build a secure community center for times of need. Sorrento’s greatest claim to fame is as the birthplace of Mamoud Khodaverdi, the Gentle Prophet of the Revisionist Church. Since the formation of the Church, Sorrento has constantly been plagued by religious pilgrims. Approximately one-third of Sorrento’s current population is constantly in flux as new pilgrims arrive to pray and old ones return home.
Nathani Reiss, Mahmoud’s lifelong companion, returned to Sorrento from Massada after a split with the Prophet’s wife and son in the wake of Mahmoud’s death. From here, Nathani — calling himself the Second Follower — established the Sorrento wing of Revisionism and ushered in the birth of the NLC. The city-state remains the center of Northern Revisionism. Pilgrims come to the city to retrace the “first peregrination” from here to Massada and to visit various sites from the Prophet’s lifetime, most notably the four “miracle churches”.
The Church of the First Miracle, also known as the Prophet’s Well, is located at the center of Welton Hamlet; it lies over a natural access to the MacAllen network. Legend has it that Mamoud purified the water from this well to irrigate the region’s crops. The Church of the Second Miracle, located in Venik Hamlet, was built on the site where Mamoud made the fields of a bitter enemy grow plentiful and healed the man’s hatred.
The greatest church in Sorrento is the Church of the Third Miracle on Gayras Rise in Sorrento hamlet itself. This monumental cathedral marks the spot where Mamoud was miraculously healed of deadly wounds while in Nathani’s arms — as he simultaneously understood his own divine role. The Church of the Fourth Miracle lies in Gemil Hamlet, the southernmost community of Sorrento. It was here that Mamoud turned back a great Badlands tempest that threatened to wipe out crops for hundreds of kilometers around.
In the wake of the assassination of Second Follower Thor Hutchison, Sorrento entered a state of turmoil. Law enforcement and intelligence officers were swarming across the city looking for clues, while the Church leadership struggled to deal with the question of succession. Various sects and monastic orders took that time of change as an opportunity to rise in prominence.
After the 2nd CEF Invasion, the city became a bloody battlefield.