Inesh Daan
a land of cold hills and thick forest thrust into the Southern Sea
Inesh Daan is one of the fifteen provinces of Austur. Since the province is synonemous with the great peninsula of the same name, it's only neighbouring province is Maridion to the north.
The capital city of Inesh Daan is Lucas.
Unusually, Inesh Daan is the only province in Austur that conducts the majority of it's trade and travel with the rest of the nation primarily by sea.
The province is notable for it's unique geology and terrain and it's cold southern climate, but primarily for producing the best lacoba on Ashvaarya.
Demographics
Despite it's distance from the River Rothum, the folk of the Inesh Daan are generally considered "olde easterner". They might have been a bit shorter, their skin slightly lighter, and their hair fall a bit straighter than the average person from Landen or Heind, but the differences are so minimal that most would not notice them unless pointed out.
In addition to having a fairly low population compared to other provinces, that population is also unusually balanced demography across Books and Guilds when compared against national averages. They have fewer miners than the Western Mountains, fewer agrarians than Prov, and more fishers than the Diamant Hills, but the regions relative diversity of geology and resources, and their general self sufficiency, creates a balances of Guild citizens not seen in any other province.
Defences
Inesh Daan has one of the lowest Mageguard presence by population of any province in Austur.
Being so far from the Borderlands and muada territory, and with the muada incapable of breathing in salt water, the considered risk of muada attacks, even during periods of all out war, was essentially zero. The region also has very few dangerous creatures that are any threat to the human population. There are a few tree snakes in the lower peninsula, and a smaller, less aggressive species of dreorwulve along the small mountain range on the south and east of the region, but both are an infrequent concern easily dealt with by a few columns of Stonecutters distributed around the various towns and settlements.
Lucas has a Mageguard garrison and training camp of course, as all capital cities do, but with no standing legions and only a token number Patrol Corp, the training camp tends to have a larger population. Being relatively isolated from the rest of Austur, and with Guild travel papers infrequently granted to citizens of the region, there is a higher than usual percentage of young people who see the Mageguard as the only opportunity they may have to see the wider world.
Industry & Trade
The Inesh Daan is one of the less specialized provinces in Austur, but also tends to be more self sufficient than most. Being so far from the River Rothum, the economic and cultural heart of Austur, the most significant imports are preserved river fish and veg. Their colder climate also limits the growing potential for things like hemp, grain, and some fruit, leading to minor imports of each. The region also exports some unique materials like suripaca yarn, bloodwood, and hickory nuts in relatively small quantities due to their minimal demand through the rest of Austur.
The province's most notable export is produced in much less quantity than the other, and yet is nationally famous and desirable to a near mythological degree: lacoba.
The Inesh Daan is one of only two regions that can grow pomm fruit, the primary (and sometimes only) ingredient in lacoba, and even then only in quantities much smaller than most of other fruits in other regions. There are some plateau's in the Western Mountains that have both the cold temperatures and rare soil conditions needed to grow pomm fruit bushes, but their resulting fruit is considered inferior, and the resulting "rough" lacoba made from it, while still considered a delicacy, has less broad demand than that produced around the Inesh Daan.
Infrastructure
There are two major cities in Inesh Daan. Lucas, the centrally located capital, and Orport, the port city on the northern short of the peninsula.
Lucas is the centre of government, culture, production, and distribution for the province. Orport is the heart of trade and main connection to the rest of Austur. Travel to Landen does occur over land through the lower peninsula of course. One could go from Lucas to Zahaan and then north through the Iron Hills, but with thick forest and rough terrain, this journey can take the better part of two weeks. By comparison, taking a ship from Orport to Heind would take less than two days, with another two day journey by barge (depending on the tides in the Braidlands) to get to Landen, or a three day journey by cart or omnibus.
Thankfully the liyum network is as well grown through the province as it is anywhere else, though the somewhat mountainous terrain of the upper penninsula makes the potential locations for liyum stations less common. This keeps communication with the rest of the country robust and connections with The Council strong.
History
The Inesh Daan peninsula was settled towards the end of the second great post-Sunder expansion, in the late second century. Orport was established by settlers and explorers who had set out from the newly established city of Heind, and the unique geology and climate they found, and a great deal of ambiguity from old copies of lashaan maps, led them to believe that they had found a large island of the southern coast. Their error was of course discovered as the rest of Caalesh Sound was explored and mapped.
The uniqueness of the climate, terrain and plant life made the region quickly grow in intrigue and notoriety. Scholars noted that it was reminiscent of old Fallen descriptions of terran nations such as Kanada and Shotland. This notoriety in turn created a sort of popular trend for adventurous folk to go south, while others were headed north to Septur. By the beginning of the third century, Orport, Lucas, and several other settlements had been established around the upper peninsula.
It made the Inesh Daan peninsula however, the last major area of human expansion to be established until the beginning of the muada war, the fall of Septur, and the settling the lake towns, and the Diamant Hills.
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