Royal Flag of Calleporto.

Calleporto was a small kingdom that had been an uneasy neighbor (and sometimes province) of larger Esper for centuries. It had maintained its independence largely thanks to its mercantile navy and far-flung trading empire, pursuits reflected in its flag designed by Dom Manuel IV the Great, the king who led its expansion into a world power.

The white crosses against a blue sea represented the trade routes pioneered by Calleportese vessels plying the ocean, while a gold armillary sphere represented those same mariners’ famed navigational prowess. The crown of Manuel I, the first king of the nation after its reconquest from the Saracens, tops a heater shield upon which is each of the possible rolls of a six-sided die. This represents the Wager of Manuel, in which a key siege against the Saracens was decided by a single roll of the dice, both Manual and his opponent Mullah Hacén having agreed to “let the Lord, or Allah, decide without bloodshed.” A long-held legend attributes the iconography to another wager, this time for the port of Sindapur, that was also won by the Calleportese. A more cynical view makes note of Manuel IV’s love of gambling, the debts of which the state inherited on his passing.

In any case, unlike neighboring Esper, Calleporto was never fully occupied by Valois. Its royal family escaped overseas and the Valoise Emperor did not even deign to name one of his relatives as a puppet king, instead seconding whatever conquests his troops made to Esper. This had the effect of inflaming Calleportese sentiment still further, and their struggle against the invasion remains a point of national pride in contrast to Esper, which “rolled over and died before it rose again.”

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