Jzarmille

The Orcland Steppes, The Orvon Lands

Jzarmille is a wide, brutal landscape to traverse but it is barren and flat, and therein lies its value. If you need to get across the Protectorate and you wish not to suffer the tides of the Gelid or the eldritch of the Etter, then Jzarmille is the alternative. It is the safest, and the fastest, option.

Unfortunately since the Confederacy stole it, its crossing is no longer an option at all.

— Daedarian Tiergarn II

Jzarmille firstly refers to the plains that stretch from eastern Avar to the Desdin Coast, however its name is entwined with its inhabitants, possibly the longest-standing civilization on the continent. The orcs of the age prior, and the orvon of the current age, have kept an arduous hold over the land for at least two millenia. Neighboring empires have struggled, futilely, to wrench it from their grasp time and again, but the orvon have emerged from the slaughter in pyrrhic victory each time to rebuild their ravaged lands. It is a testament to their willfulness as a race, but it also speaks something of the land itself: as often as Jzarmille is burned and dessicated, it still welcomes back its true denizens.

Geography & Features

The Plains

Without war wreaking havoc Jzarmille is mostly flat, dry grassland, exhibiting the typical attributes of a temperate plain for most of the year, often with decent summer droughts but cooler winters. Toward the northwestern area of Jzarmille, past Vladica, is a more arid climate with slightly sharper dry and wet seasons.

While several areas do host thin copses of trees, most have either been burned or cut down. The majority of vegetation throughout the plains is that which has been replanted or cultivated by orvon within the past century. The orvon have taken care to preserve many otherwise endangered species, both flora and fauna; nonetheless, many of those native to the lands have fallen extinct.

Burials

Because Jzarmille has such a war-laden history, much of the land hosts mass burials beneath the surface. Most of these burials are the orcs who fought in the Wars of Liberation themselves, however there are a number of hidden 'beds' for their quadruped allies in the wars as well; many of these graves house the skeletons of dozens of dogs or horses.

History

Age Prior

There is little record of the land before the Wars of Liberation. Some art and early texts suggest that the orcs lived in limited and feudal capacity for a time; how far back their actual occupancy of the land goes is unknown. It is known that as far back as 826 Prior the 'orclands', as they were called by the eldermen, and the orcs themselves were subjugated to an eldermen populace. The exact terms of the subjugation aren't clear, but it's currently understood that the orcs were oppressed to some degree.

In 747 Prior, the orcs rebelled against the eldermen, claiming the land of Jzarmille for themselves. While they obviously lived there beforehand, the Wars of Liberation are what both modern orvon on the Reservations and foreign scholars think of as the beginning of orc/orvon Jzarmillan civilization and the emergence of the modern orvon structure of warlords and city-states.

Age of the Empress

Between the end of the Wars of Liberation and the fall of the First Aveaan Empire, the orcs and eventually orvon lived peacefully in Jzarmille. Memory of the Wars of Liberation as well as the hostility of Jzarmille itself toward outsiders kept away strong attempts at invasion until around 1300 after the Rape of the Imperium.

When Minos Tiergarn I took hold of the Cravvik Isles, it incited desire in both Ethana and Avar to take control of the entire 'Protectorate Region'—referred to as such in modern times because it would later become the Aveaan Protectorate. For the entirety of the Northwestern Trades Jzarmille became the primary battleground of Ethana and Avar, with the assumption that Jzarmille and its orvon denizens would fall under the dominion of whoever took permanent hold of the Protectorate Region.

The Brickard Trade Agreement

After the Northwestern Rage, the orvon were able to retain hold of Jzarmille with assistance from both the Beourjen Confederacy and Armistace for several decades until the Brickard Trade Agreements could be finalized and instated. Since then, they have maintained undisputed control over Jzarmille, with the Agreement formally recognized by all other major powers.

Resources

Animals

Mammoth

The mammoths of Jzarmille have lived there for as long as the orcs, and are one of their main food sources. They are smaller than southern, tundric mammoths and weigh around 9,000 lbs. Also unlike tundric mammoths, their coats are seasonal; during the spring they can shed between 50 and 80 lbs of fur, which orvon will often use to make clothing and housing insulation.

Many modern orvon settlements on the Reservations have dedicated mammoth farms, where they will treat mammoths much like livestock despite their size and sometimes stubborn temperaments.

NOTE: Riding mammoths requires a high level of expertise and precaution, and one should refrain from doing so without taking extensive precautions.

Prairie Vulture

Prairie vultures are chimeric hyenas, with the wings, neck, and front feet of a vulture. The species has been native to Jzarmille for at least 2,500 years, however scientists still speculate as to how exactly the creature came about. Their wingspans get as big as 8-10 ft (2.4-3.0 m), and they are sometimes called 'cackle vultures' because they cackle as they're swiping their prey like a hyena does.

The vultures don't make easy prey themselves, however orvon—and the Cravvik Isles—regard their meat as something of a delicacy. To catch a prairie vulture, orvon will lay a trap of sorts by placing a shiny object or food on one of their roofs at night. They'll then lay on a nearby roof so that when the prairie vulture swoops down in their arc toward the object, the orvon can reach up, pull the prairie vulture down, and snap their neck in a single movement.

Ownership¹
The orvon warlords of the cities of Vladica, Rauszec, and Attalux.

Etymology

The word 'Jzarmille' doesn't fit with any historically recorded languages. The first part of the word, jzar, does make sense with the dwarven variations of Old Cravven lexically—it translates to 'war-king' or 'warlord'—however the word as a whole appeared in ancient orc runes without any reasoning or explanation. The common thought is that the second half of the word, mille, means 'land of' but there's no clue as to the actual root language.

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Orvon Lands

Jzarmille is not inherently hospitable to much life on the globe, but it is easier on the orvon than the other hominid races. Orvon in general can weather harsher climates for longer periods, but a major factor is that common folk can't survive off of many of Jzarmille's potential food sources. Several plants native to the area are toxic to common folk but edible for orvon, and a major source of meat for orvon on the Reservations comes from mammoths. Mammoth meat often takes a long time to safely cook for common folk while orvon can, and traditionally do, eat raw meat.

We know the Wars of Liberation happened, and we can even say, this battle happened just north of Attalux in Moret, 746, and so forth. What is pure conjecture is how much of a text like Yvarda Rain, or the godstorm stories, is real because it's. . . it's religious mythology.

— Joseph Latven

The Northwestern Rage

Throughout the Trades the orvon had resorted to confining to their major settlements within Jzarmille and atempting to fend off repeated seiges from both sides. By the third Trade, eighty-five percent of their population was in one of Jzarmille's three main cities; almost forty percent were cramped in Vladica.

In an unexpected turn, General Petrev Marnise defected half of the Beourjen Army from under the High Commander in 1412 and supported the orvon in the final battle at Vladica, not only fending off seiges from both sides, but also landing a secondary victory against the two armies just outside the city days later.

by superemelka from Pixabay

For Further Reading:

1. Currently under protection of the Beourjen Confederacy.