The Land of Trael
The Land of Trael holds domain over much of the Western side of the continent of Olgrith, and of the three major societies extant on the continent, is by and far the least magically advanced. But the citizens of Trael make up for their lack of magical talent with incredibly powerful technologies, each one built and powered through the use of Pneuma. Like much of Olgrith, Pneuma is central to civilization in Trael, but unlike the rest of the continent, the people of Trael do not beg to gods or twist the laws of nature to their will. Instead, they harvest a form of raw, solidified Pneuma from the very ground, pulling it out with machines when possible, and by hand when forced. By mixing this raw form of Pneuma with gunpowder or oil, the people of Trael create an energy source known as Pneumatics, with more potential energy than either resource alone.
Using their advanced knowledge of metalworking and the power of Pneumatics, the people of Trael fashion technology very similar to that of WWI-era Earth. In fact, weapons of war are the major source of trade in Trael, being given back and forth amongst people and cities, and are the major export of Trael to the other regions of Olgrith. The people who work with Pneumatics to construct machines, both from pre-fabricated plans and from designs of their own making, are known as Mechanics. Mechanics in Trael are a dime a dozen, but the best mechanics are still held in high regard, and their work is highly sought after, with some of Trael's best mechanics living like kings off of their profits. Perhaps that's why there are so many mechanics to be found.
Though the mechanics of Trael are the rockstars of society, they rarely make good leaders, and that's where the Senators step in. While Trael is the name for the region at large, there is no single ruling body in the land. Instead, Trael is separated into a vast array of city-states, each led by their own governmental body or ruler, determined in any of a hundred different ways. But each city-state in Trael, no matter what ruling system they subscribe to, has a single Senator. This government position, either elected by the people or chosen by the ruler of a city-state, serves on the larger body of the Senate, along with all other Senators from all other city-states. The Senators are the ones who settle disputes between ruling bodies, negotiate trade deals and alliances, and serve as the major source of contact between one city-state and the next. Because the city-states of Trael are always pushing for more favorable conditions for themselves over their neighbors, it is often left to the Senator to quell any potential battles, meaning they often carry the fate of the land in their hands.
In the furthest Western reaches of Olgrith, cliffs and promontories look out over a churning sea, often battered by heavy thunderstorms brought by Easterly winds from the ocean. Here the citizens of Trael live a hard-scrabble life, even more so than the normal citizenry. Resources are often in short supply, as the soil varies between rocky and sandy, lending itself little to the pursuit of farming. Instead most of the citizens rely on large, heavy, domesticated beasts to serve both as sustenance and labor, offsetting their diet with scraggly vegetables pulled from the cliff-sides, and sea-birds and fish hunted from the sky and water with Pneumatic guns and bows. Luckily for them, the creatures of the Western Sea grow to immense proportions to survive in the otherwise hostile and stormy waters, meaning a single kill can feed a family for nearly a week. Unfortunately, this also makes the beasts dangerous to hunt, and more than likely to kill an unprepared band of hunters. The city-states here make their money by capturing lightning from the very sky itself during storms, bottling it and using it mixed with Pneumatics to power experimental and dangerous devices to trade to other city-states and far off rulers. To further expand their ability to collect the lightning from storms, these very same lightning-powered Pneumatics have been used to create vessels like those which sail the sea, but with the ability to soar high into the clouds instead. While more profitable than bottling the bolts which happen to hit lightning rods, riding these vessels carries the constant risk of a heart-stopping shock, not to mention interference from the enormous birds which fly the skies above the ocean.
On the opposite side of Trael, to the East of the region, the situation is decidedly reversed, though not much better. The people of Eastern Trael have little problem in finding food- plants grow in abundance, and game roams the wilds. Unfortunately, it is water that these lands lack, sitting close to the desert of the No Man's Land, with no natural barriers between them. The desert plants which grow here thrive in the dirt buried beneath the sand, but take so long to grow that farmers rarely have much left to sell at market after feeding their families, and their lifestyle is not a rich one. The animals found here are plentiful, yes, but the smallest ones more suited to eating only come out at the deepest parts of night to feed, meaning hunters must work at night, and sleep during the day, just as the creatures they hunt. Of course, perhaps that is preferable, as the only creatures which roam the sands during the day are massive horrors, either mutated beasts lured out from the No Man's Land, or simply behemoth desert monstrosities adapted to life under the baking sun. The lack of water in the East means the city-states here are often limited to a few settlements each, and perhaps a large city if the residents are plucky enough and have a mechanic capable of dredging up enough water from the aquifers hidden below the ground. Because of this, the few city-states which exist here have territories which spread for untold miles, and the boundaries between them can be difficult to define. The only benefit to life in this part of the land is that while the rest of Trael must dig their own mines to search for solid Pneuma, the caves of the desert often hold Pneuma in abundance, offering potential fortune to those willing to brave the monsters and the heat to search for them. For those who won't, the sandstorms which rock the land often push and shift the dunes of the desert, exposing free-standing veins of Pneuma even in places heavily populated.
The northern lands of Trael bleed into the great forests of the Untamed Wilderness, moving from the urban cityscapes of Trael's center into arid grasslands and wide-open plains, before changing once again into the lighter forest that marks the uncertain border between Trael and the Wilderness. Known as the Untamed Hills, before the Great War, these plains once served as the breadbasket of Trael, shipping grain to numerous city-states and providing an important agricultural center for an otherwise machine-focused society. However, the events of the Great War devastated the ecology of the area, resulting in once green hills becoming dry scrub lands, barely able to grow enough to sustain the farmers who tend to the plots. What little the farmers create which they do not eat is generally taken as tax by the true owners of the land, the aristocratic barons which live in villas and manors dotting the countryside. Previous to the Great War, the feudal system which the majority of city-states in Northern Trael work on resulted in a highly balanced economy, one in which farmers were given rights to farm land which otherwise belonged to barons, and in return for a portion of the crops, the barons protected the farmers from the beasts which occasionally break from the Wilderness to hunt. But now the barons hoard their resources, locking themselves in their castles, lazily leeching from the labor of the farmers while the beasts of the Wilderness roam unchecked. Instead, the Barons have taken to portioning out the grain themselves, keeping the vast majority for their own stores and giving back to their laborers what they feel each is entitled to. Farmers who try to hide grain from the tax collectors appointed by the barons are punished harshly if caught, and often forcibly relocated to the Pneuma mines which sit under each town.
The south of Trael shares a border with the Holy Isles, knwon by the name of the Southern Shores, and the influence of the religiously motivated lands remains strong despite the hardships the people suffer. Unlike in the Holy Isles, the religious faiths of Southern Trael see little variance, though this is mostly due to the rulers of the land. Much of Southern Trael is split into three large city-states, though dozens of much smaller locales lie along the borders between them. These three city-states are each under the de-facto control of three different despotic families, each of which rules their homeland with an iron fist. Each family brings with them an ancestry traced back centuries, with strong links tying them each to the worship of a different deity. The rulers of these lands force their own religious associations onto their citizens, and have done so for centuries. Those who rules the smaller city-states in the borderlands provide a small modicum of freedom in religious worship, but certainly not to the degree that the rest of Trael allows its citizens. For those who choose not to worship the Deific Pantheon popular in the Holy Isles, or for those who choose to hide their true affiliations, the most common religion is that of the True Depths. This religion is especially popular amongst those whose living centers around the frigid waters of southern Olgrith. It is in these waves that titanic sea creatures lurk, ever-present in the legends and myths of the region. Those who partake in the cult of the True Depths believe these beasts to be the original inhabitants of Olgrith, and offer them ritual worship in the belief it keeps the behemoths at bay when out at sea. The numerous rivers of the Southern Shores, and the sea which they all feed into, is an important part of life and culture for all the city-states of southern Trael. Because the land is just above the water level, Pneuma mines in the Southern Shores are rare, and therefore the people of the Southern Shores must always trade other resources and services for access to the essential power source.
The urbanization of the land of Trael becomes increasingly apparent towards the center of the region, eventually culminating in miles of unbroken city, an area collectively known as the Metropolis. The Metropolis is not owned by any single city-state, as it stretches into the borders of several, and the very center of the Metropolis is deliberately retained by the people of Trael as neutral territory. It is here that the Senate meets every season to discuss politics, in addition to the individual meetings that any single Senator might otherwise have with another. The Metropolis is also frequently known as the City of Invention, as Mechanics from all over Trael, and hopeful students from over the whole of Olgrith, travel to its streets in order to share their designs and ideas, hoping against hope to be recognized as the designer of the next great machine. Within Metropolis, mechanics are never out of work, as the powerful machinery which keeps the city running requires constant maintenance, and groups of mechanics working together as guilds vie for the highest-paying contracts with the leaders of the city-states which the Metropolis spans. These city-states once had long-standing treaties which ensured each contributed equally to the maintenance of the Metropolis, but after the Great War and the political turmoil both during and following it, the future of these treaties has been left unclear. While for now a tenuous peace holds, several of the city-states involved in the treaties openly speak of their disdain for the role they play, and some worry that these troubles could some day soon lead to the return of the Great War, throwing the city-states of Trael against each other once again.
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments