Tellus

Tellus is a queendom of earth genasi in southern Ashun. Its capital city is Bryn.
Tellus is ruled by a hereditary monarchy ruled by the Earthmother, essentially a queen.

Culture

Tellan culture values family and tradition. It particularly values motherhood. Unlike most other cultures, Tellans depict the god Vulkannon as feminine and refer to her as The First Earthmother.
Tellans consider the Cavern of Tellia to be a cursed place. It is located far beneath the southern end of the Green Mountains, though its precise location is not well known. Unlike their fire genasi counterparts in Chatha, the earth genasi of Tellus do not feel a sense of duty around preventing the earth titan from returning to the material plane. Instead, they view the Collapse as their people's darkest time and vehemently avoid the place where the boundary between the material plane and the elemental plane of earth is weakest.

History

Before the Collapse

After the gods imprisoned the primordial titans, people began to settle in the Tellian Peninsula. Unbenknownst to them, deep beneath the southernmost point of the Green Mountains was the location where the earth titan Tellia had been defeated and locked away. The people who settled in the region became affected by the power of Tellia that bled into the material plane, turning them into earth genasi.
Over the years, the earth genasi lived in small city states on the peninsula. Their remote location meant they were largely unbothered by the troubles occurring on the rest of the continent.

During the Collapse

When the earth titan Tellia was released, she is said to have risen up from beneath the mountains, causing tremendous earthquakes and making huge chasms appear. A portion of the Tellian peninsula is said to have broken off the continent and fallen into the ocean.
The earth genasi in the region were heavily hit by the devastation brought by Tellia.

Post-Collapse

After the Collapse, the earth genasi who had survived Tellia's destruction came together, wishing to form one large community to better protect themselves. They formed a queendom and rebuilt their cities. The memory of the destruction of Tellia meant that they sealed away the portion of the mountains where the titan had been imprisoned, wishing to never see it again.
Today, the underground caverns where Tellia was imprisoned have been sealed off. Tellans consider the area cursed and do not travel close to it.

Type

Geopolitical, Queendom

Legislative Body

The Earthmother rules Tellus from Bryn. Her rule is absolute, however in practise her power is limited by the remote nature of the Tellian peninsula. The cities and towns of Tellus are largely self-governing, with only select matters being deferred to the authority of the Earthmother.
The position of Earthmother has religious significance as it is thought that she has a special connection with The First Earthmother (the Tellan depiction of Vulkannon).
The Earthmother is a hereditary position, with the first daughter of each Earthmother inheriting the title. If an Earthmother has no suitable daughter to pass the title to, she chooses a female heir before she dies or abdicates.