"I thought you said that we were heading to the largest city in central Grara."
"We are. You just can't see it over the hill and the tall wheat. And I certainly can't hear the city over your stomach."
"Wait, we're coming over the top and wow..."
"Eh, you get used to it."
A Fertile Ground
The city itself lies in a low spot but is not prone to flooding during the rainy season - this is attributed to the
ice caverns beneath. Despite this, the ground it often too wet and will cause any crops to rot away. The areas surrounding the city are at a higher elevation and have rich soils. This makes the city an important economic power with its neighbors because - in an average year - it producers much more food than it consumes.
Even with
horses to do much of the heavy labour, the large swaths of farmland require an immense amount of people to plant, care for, and harvest. Historically, this is one of the major factors of growth in the city as more and more people immigrated to work on the large farms.
Wheat is the most common crop grown around Irusii, though they also produce a variety of other goods as well.
Travel and Tourism
Irusii lies on the largest road that travels up to the
Orthlands from the lower parts of
Grara. Due to this, the city sees many traders and a few scholars heading for the border city of Beldan - also called the 'Gateway to the Orth'.
For people interested in sightseeing and in mystery there is the beautiful
Frozen Cave located underneath the town. The ice is used to make a summer treat called a
snowbowl which combines sugar-water and ice shavings into a refreshingly cold dish popular among both travelers and locals.
Missing and Depleting Resources
Despite the large amount of food produced by the farms, there are few remaining trees in the region and the city has to rely on imported lumber to build new structures and repair existing ones. Metal for tools and nails is imported, often at a high cost given the large distance between Irusii and the nearest metal-producing town.
The farmers in this region have recently encountered a problem with poor harvests. To combat this they have started cycling different crops throughout the seasons and simply cutting some down and leaving them to replenish the fields. In addition, they have begun to bring in more livestock to fertilize the fields with manure.
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