Trichtania
The land of the Sourcefall, a unique climate that has resulted in unusual evolutions in both fauna and flora. The Sourcefall itself is 3 days of heavy rain, and it is always followed by 57 days of drought. This, in combination with the extremely silty soils allowing water to simply filter through down to the aquifers instead of being retained, means that in much of the land life has had to evolve to either retain water, exploit the aquifers, or exploit one of the former evolutions.
Melons of various sorts tend to occupy the first category of evolution - water-filled flesh surrounded in hard, waxy rinds that prevent it from evaporating, along with massive root and vine systems that cover immense amounts of the surrounding area to maximize the amount of water they can catch and preserve. One particularly interesting behaviour they have evolved is the cyclic growth and abandonement of that vine system, however. A few days after the Sourcefall, the vines of these melons have almost entirely been dessicated - cut off from the melons' water supplies. From there, the plants enter a dormancy period until approximately a week before the next Sourcefall, when the roots extending down from each melon reawaken and spread their vines once more - expending as much water from their existing gourds as they need to and are able to to stock up once more for the coming drought.
Taproots are the primary example from the second cateory, enormous trees with immense, towering canopies and their similarly extensive root systems. These trees have developed incredibly strong roots that delve deep into the underground aquifers, providing them virtually limitless hydration to fuel the expansion of their canopies. As their canopies grow, they become more desirable as nesting grounds for birds and other small life forms both within the branches and below, in turn nourishing the tree with their droppings and allowing it to grow ever more strongly.
The final category is filled with many and varied lifeforms. Vines, mushrooms, lichen, and more often coat the trunks of Taproots, piggybacking off their water. Creatures like the Mosquito Vipers learned to harvest water from melons without destroying the entire object, allowing for sustainability both short term and long term. Others, such as Tappers mimicked the mushrooms and harvest directly from the Taproots for a more guaranteed source.
Calendar System
Trichtania organizes its time into a series of Falls and Cycles. A Fall is the span of 60 days starting with the first day of the Sourcefall, a Cycle is a segment of 6 days - making 10 Cycles in a Fall. 9 Falls make a year, typically separated into 3 seasons - Ascension, Descension, and Nocturne. Ascension is named for the days getting longer during the first two Falls, and staying even for the third one. Descension's first Fall matches Ascension's third Fall, and then the following two Falls feature ever shorter days. Nocturne is a season of stability, with three full Falls of short days and long nights.Structure
The President of Trichtania is elected every 5 years and has a large amount of power over the direction the state takes. Alongside them, however, every region within Trichtania also has 5 elected officials, with one seat from each region up for election every year. These officials form the Conclave. Acting primarily as counsel to the President, they work to defend the interests of their region and push their priorities into the decisionmaking process of the President; however if a supermajority of 90% of the Conclave agree to work together they can force a specific policy into code or call a Vote of No Confidence, and a majority of 60% can veto a policy the president would enact. A Vote of No Confidence prompts a statewide vote which can remove the President from office and causing a new Presidential election one month later to fill the vacancy until the next standard Presidential election.
On a local level, each region elects its governor and guard captain every two years in alternating years.
Culture
Trichtania has a rich culture, mixing ethnic traditions from its racial and communal groups. It has fairly well developed scientific infrastructure and moderately developed magical infrastructure. Due to the Sourcefall's unique ecosystem, Trichtania is fairly sparsely populated, with its regions primarily consisting of cities significant distances apart - limiting communication to trade channels and a few upper-class magical systems.
Type
Geopolitical, Republic
Demonym
Trichtan(s)
Controlled Territories
Related Species
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