Itand

"They live in the most beautiful fields of all Corvayn, yet they ride the most tempestuous beings one could hope to avoid."

- Bushos "diplomat"

Itand is a nation of sprawling grasslands, stretching from the southern border with Efox to the northern border with Bushos and Trodus. The Wandering Fields have inspired bards for generations but fail to betray the difficulty that Champion Bindweed presents to anyone wanting to explore the sun blessed landscape. The beauty soon pales when an adventurer tries to walk through the tough, dense, rope-like plant. Attempts to domesticate, placate, subdue or destroy this weed have been for naught. Foot traffic has been restricted to the point roads have never been able to mar the countenance of these green fields. Often, parties are left staring at the wall of green that greats them as they enter the country. Itand can only be considered a country rather than a wilderness because of the August Elementals. Scholars believe these are the last of a great species of elementals from an earlier age, having survived this long because of more gentle dispositions than their cousins who come straight from the elemental planes. This more docile nature allowed a cohabitation with humanoids as the world aged. In the previous age of Corvayn, the two groups began to work together. Now, August Elementals carry mortal settlements on their backs, both benefiting from the arrangement in various ways depending on the type of elemental (air, earth, wind, water) and individual elemental itself (it turns out they each have their own primitive personality). These settlements now roam the landscape of Itand, ferrying the city-states with them. Itand does have permanent, non-mobile settlements as well. Fire elementals, the small, domesticated offspring of the fire August Elementals, have been used to clear patches of the Wandering Fields. A fire elementals devotion to conflagration is important since Champion Bindweed never allows the fire elementals to rest lest the weed grows back as rapidly as it was burned off. Domesticated water, air, and earth elementals are used within the settlements as well for various civic purposes. Wind elementals power gondolas that carry people to nearby locations, water elementals power a sluice system that carries people and goods within the settlements, and earth elementals build roads, buildings, and arable fields. These settlements are isolated, being a blank spot in a sea of grass. August Elementals are the only way to find one of these settlements since they roam close enough to the borders of the Wandering Fields to pick up travelers. Once the travelers are dropped off at a settlement, a teleportation network can transport people to destinations too far for gondolas, namely other settlements. This ferrying of strangers into the nation is a detriment to economic growth but is the greatest protection against invasion as well. Permanent settlements can only be accessed if city sized elementals don't crush you. It makes for an effective deterrent. Geographic and geo-political maps of Itand rarely show settlement locations. Once carried to a portal, it is hard to distinguish where someone finds themselves. There are few landmarks on the flat plains of Itand and the Champion Bindweed grows tall enough to obscure the horizon. Without landmarks or knowing how far a portal has taken you, it becomes very difficult to gauge where a settlement is located. The two locations that have been cited, Whitehall and Swordbreak, are generalities since these are August Elementals rather than permanent settlements. They are typically found near these locations since Whitehall enjoys ferrying travelers and Swordbreak enjoys the pugnacious proximity to Rapix'iqi.

Demography and Population

A demographic study of Itand is bound to perplex even the most patient scholars. A census has never been done because there's no national government to mandate one and the individual settlements often have better things to do than to count their own. A more useful insight for the common traveler would be to study the individual settlements and understand how August Elementals formed their relationship with the inhabitants of the settlement. It is these relationships that tend to shape the demographics of each settlement. For example, Smithen suffers from eternally debilitating ore veins that deposit large growths on its surface, eventually locking the elemental's limbs in place and immobile. It would then be unsurprising to most that dwarves formed a deep bond with Smithen since their eternal greed has met its match with Smithen's eternal mineral production. To this day, dwarves keep Smithen free from growths. Each August Elemental has formed such a bond with some race. Which race is largely dependent on the type of elemental the settlement is built upon. Permanent settlements typically have a more diverse demography since the symbiotic relationship between settler and elemental isn't as crucial. Permanent settlements grew after the August Elementals were settled. The larger elementals often produce less elementals, a process known as Cleaving, which is unique to each elemental. These lesser elementals are often as docile as their progenitor and work with the settlers but more often dropped off at permanent settlements. These lesser elementals are the basis of infrastructure for Itand. It is important to remember that "lesser" does not necessarily mean small. The largest of the cleaved elementals are often use to form new settlements in the Wandering Fields. This demography, each race over represented with particular August Elementals and more diverse permanent settlement communities, was how things continued for many years. Relatively recently, within the past thousand years or so, genasi first came to Itand and everything changed. Rogue elementals were much more common in the early days of Itand and only basic functions could be gotten from the lesser elementals. When the genasi embedded themselves in the community, their impressive abilities to commune with these forces of nature spurred a golden age of economic, cultural, and technological expansion. Lesser elementals could be used for more complicated tasks and were more willing to work alongside the settlers. Most importantly, the number of Rogue elementals has diminished to the point where it is a distant threat that mothers use against irascible children. The last incident was nearly 500 years ago on Shatterpointe. Genasi now hold a distinguished position within any Itand settlement. Not necessarily the leaders, but without them, Itand society could not exist as it does now.

Territories

The territory that each settlement occupies is still a mystery. The mobile nature of most of these settlements and the ambiguity surround the location of the permanent settlements makes this a nearly futile task. Swordbreak and Whitehall are the exceptions, tending to stay close to their positions on the map. What is known is the names of the settlements. Below is a list of the larger settlements, mobile and permanent, that travelers may be interested in.
Permanent

Tence - The capital and largest permanent settlement of Itand

Valsi

Tarsa

Linmerge

Mobile/Elemental

Smithen - Earth elemental

Upwell - Water elemental

Shatterpointe - Fire elemental

Breezeheart - Air elemental

Whitehall - Earth elemental

Swordbreak - Fire elemental

Gloomlight Deep - Water elemental

Crystal King - Lava elemental

Lutu - Earth/Life elemental

Plunder Scuttle - Sand elemental

Foreign Relations

If relationships exist between Itand's neighbors and itself, it is formed on a settlement by settlement basis rather than with the country as a whole. An agreement made with Smithen will have to be renegotiated in Tence. The grand nature of the August Elementals make foreign relationships a curiosity in Itand. Most inter-country disputes can safely be avoided with the Wandering Fields and August Elementals forming persuasive deterrents to any who would want to draw Itand into conflict. Therefore, little dissuades Itand from its generally true neutral way of life, enjoying the warm days in gorgeous scenery. Despite an absent formal national government, cultural norms and decorum unique to Itand (extending past murder bad, thieving bad, puppies good, etc.) do exist. Breaking these norms within Itand will generally bring the ire of any settlement a person may find themselves with.

Elementals, August and otherwise, are held in high regard. Harassing an elemental will generally get someone thrown out of a community and harming one will result in a permanent ban. The times of elementals going rogue and harming anyone who happens to be near them have not been so far removed to forget what these creatures are capable of. This norm has developed out of self-preservation as much as it has from protecting the beloved family pet. Don't kick puppies, in other words.

Experiments, campaigns, and programs to kill Champion Bindweed are strictly forbidden. Participating in anything that even appears to mar the unique scenery will, at least, ban those involved from the Wandering Fields or, at worst, end quickly underneath the first of a mountain, flood, inferno, or tornado, depending on the nearest elemental.

Attempts to map the locations of permanent settlements are mysteriously uneard of. It is highly suggested not to attempt such a venture.

Type

Geopolitical, Country

Capital

Tence

Government System

Banana Republic

Power Structure

Confederation

Economic System

Mixed economy

Currency

D&D standards (gold, silver, copper, etc.)

Legislative Body

Itand doesn't have a legislative body as much as a federation of pseudo city-states in the August Elementals and permanent settlements. The laws of each settlement are written by whatever form of leader that settlement happens to have.

Judicial Body

Itand doesn't have a unified judicial body. Each elemental and settlement has their own methods of dispensing justice, what that justice looks like, and what deserves punishment. For more elaborate explication of judicial governance within each settlement, please see the list of settlements in the territory section of this page and follow the links to their own pages.

Controlled Territories