Tellum County is a collective of farmers with
Human heritage that are responsible for various types of agricultural production for Solace, in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise. Tellum shares borders with the nation of
Felize to the west,
The Kingswood and
Silva Grandis to the south, and the
Dwarf state of
Kell Karin to the east. Due to its size and geomagical features such as The Mother's Blessing, Tellum contains diverse landscapes not common to other regions that were affected by less beneficial magics. Most of the population centers are in areas of prairies, grasslands, forests, and the coastline of
Lake Solace. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, and finally the massive walls erected to fence in the
Infinite Grave and fence out foreign nationals.
Tellum was founded in 1086 AD, by a mixture of Humans whose ancestors fled
The Sacking of Banpour, and druids who had split from
Grassroots over a disagreement in how to handle contact with the rest of Solace. They found it almost completely uninhabited, although the land was fertile, Tellum is under a curse that affects every sapient race outside of those with
Human blood. Plants grown in Tellum are roughly 1.75 times as large as their foreign counterparts on average, with some being recorded as up to 230 times larger, along with the average yield doubled and the harvest time halved. With these factors combined, farmland in Tellum is able to provide enough food to feed every person, beast, and monster in Solace several times over, the curse part though, is that in all the vast land of Tellum County, food eaten by outsiders is reduced to a mouthful of toxic ash, and liquid becomes unpotable and thick in the throat.
Tellum is overseen by the count, whose main function is to help organize groups of farming or herding families living together on jointly managed pieces of land, and to handle Tellum's security. Tellum falls under no single national jurisdiction, making it a free land much like
The Bountylands or Crossroads. This is in an effort to keep the peace between nations that hold power within
The Council of Kings, as Tellum produces more than half of the world's food supply. Any lack of neutrality would result in vast instability, food shortages, and the deaths of millions, so a main priority of the council is to keep each other from any foul play regarding Tellum.
History
When Dragons arrived in Solace, several different peoples, divided into many smaller tribes, were living in what is now Tellum County. The cultures present in the were
Beastmen, Orcs, Hobgoblins, Elves, and even some Giants. Some Elves from the ancient forest city of Masque inhabited the western portion of the state and the Giant-speaking native tribes lived throughout the interior. The agricultural, moundbuilding Rafaddo controlled much of the Plains and River basins, whereas the Karkisa lived along the central coasts of
Lake Solace, and at least one tribe of Hill Giants, lived in what is now southern Tellum. This entire culture group, primarily due to the Dragon War and the curse, is now extinct.
With the land overgrown and untenable, it laid dormant for a little more than 1000 years, forgotten by most as a wasteland of curse and the site of
Infinite Grave. The human immunity to this curse was discovered completely by accident, when an explorer named Joshua Brown from
Banpour, escaped a deadly encounter with a death cult of Orcish warriors that lived on the edge of the Infinite Grave, that refused to chase him into what is modern day Tellum. He noticed that the plants and wildlife were unusually vibrant, even finding a tree full of apples he claimed were "bigger than my goddamn head", and "juicy as
Nozima booty".
Once the curse was discovered, colonization efforts from all of the Human nations began immediately, with others within the council becoming wary of them gaining too much power with this uncontested resource. The Elves of
Meander started to fund campaigns for people with some Human heritage that were unaligned with Humans to stake claims in Tellum, leading to skirmishes and almost a full blown break in the council. After years of rapid development and extremely treacherous land disputes, the people of Tellum County were tired. Many of them had been born there and lived their entire lives on these farms, having never met the people they were sending so much of their yields off to. During the Tellum Revolution,
Banpour became heavily involved. Prior treaties with the Elves forbade
Felize from militarizing in any conflict between the two territories, but the Dwarves of Kell Karin refused to let Banpour have free reign. At that time, several sudden outbreaks of violence between Native races and Tellum Humans started to spread, accusing the natives of stealing livestock and raiding shipments despite lacking evidence. While no proof was found as to who the culprit was, those in charge of Tellum at the time attempted multiple times to publicly blame and punish the Natives for the incidents with the Banpouri government trying to keep them in check.
When the dust settled, the great wall of Tellum was raised, and they had won their independence through a combination of misdirection, political positioning, and a refusal to roll over. As the years went on, some became dissatisfied with their treatment of the native people who had lived here before. In response to this, the city of
Good News was founded on the river of songs, declaring its mission to repair relations between humans and the rest of Solace. Imported earth was brought in to nullify the curse's effect within the town borders, which was met with outrage by many Tellum residents. Progress was slow in the beginning, with neither side trusting the other to make an earnest effort, but in time the divisions softened. Tellum started to provide food for the whole world, largely for free as their abundance meant that they wanted for very little. A population boom followed, with many Tellum residents maintaining large families, and hundreds of thousands of new immigrants expanding
Good News into one of the largest cities in Solace.
Culture
Tellum has a cultural philosophy of excess that needs to be shared with all people, a belief that nobody should go hungry, and that everyone needs to do their part in order for us all to live well.
Everyday life is peaceful and affluent, with most people outside of bandits being unwilling to attack them. Most citizens have some kind of farm or ranch, or make specialized goods with items provided by them, with property ownership mainly operating on a social contract that heavily favors possession over legal rights.
They produce and export cattle and bison, cotton, timber, and a wide array of staple crops, fueling the agriculture of Solace. Money isn't as commonly found here as in other regions, but some have been able to become quite wealthy, running massive farming operations that employ thousands of people. They have little need to import goods outside of farm machinery from Kell Karin or
Ortemha.
Fashion is practical for farming, cotton and denim, heavy wool for the winter months, simple patterns, earth tones, and sturdy leather accessories. The standard of beauty for men and women is highly dimorphic, with a preference for big strong men and petite shapely women. Men generally have a wider range of expression that is considered attractive, including weight, height, and style, even though generally the bigger and more muscular the better. Women are generally not considered attractive if they are larger, meaning there is a focus on diet and beauty pageant style, with big hair and bright teeth. Body hair is expected for men and expected to be shaved for women.
Politics
while Tellum is an important political focal point in Solace, the county itself does not hold much political sway. It has long been posited that any significant shift in Tellum's neutrality or their goal to keep Solace well fed regardless of race or nationality would result in all out war by necessity. This implicit threat has intimidated the people of Tellum into silence for the most part, simply enjoying their lives of abundance and prosperity, but there have been rumors of shadowy elements within the county that are dissatisfied with the current balance of power.
Organizations of Note
World Marshall
World Marshall is a private military company based in Good News. Following the downfall of Deadlight Chase in his Mourning War, World Marshall was formed by the remnants of his armies led by
Juri Serrah'Kon the Slayer, and became the largest mercenary company in Solace. The
Vicario Family and the ruling class of Crossroads have strong ties to the organization, frequently hiring them on long-term contracts for private defense.
The People's Militia of Tellum
The "national" guard and police force of Tellum County. Formed when Tellum first fought for its independence, they patrol the cities and walls of Tellum in an effort to enforce civility among the common folk. While Tellum has few universal laws between settlements, the protection of property is paramount, and certain shipments leaving Tellum are subjected to the laws of their destination.
IFM(International Farmer's Movement)
A coalition of farmers and ranchers that work together to regulate the prices of goods that leave Tellum, and control the fair distribution of land between individuals. The process is often informal, messy, and tends to favor those with a connection to already established factions within the IFM, leading many to become fully independent outside of their jurisdiction.
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