Powys

Powys is a beautiful, green land. Much of it is bogs and moors, with heavy mists in the mornings giving the land a surreal quality. The moors are treacherous and filled with the dead, some horrifically rising as bog mummies or monstrous wraiths, drawing will o’ the wisps to feed on the life force of their victims. Powys holds many hags and spirits in it's borders, and these phantasmal creatures hold more terror than any flesh and blood predator. Powys hosts many peoples, being blessed with calm coasts on the Inner Sea protected by the storm giant Lirr, who receives a stipend from coastal cantrevs for this, as well as a discount at marketplaces throughout Powys. No native would ever charge Lirr for foodstuffs, and will allow other items at cost. Lirr for his part insists his captains not take advantage of this and only apply his discount to the ship’s requirements, purchasing personal items at the standard rates of any given market, but few merchants pursue this matter out of gratitude and respect, so unscrupulous captains have taken advantage despite the penalties incurred when discovered. Many of the folk here are reptilian and amphibious on the coast of Powys, navigating the hazards of the moors with relative ease. Curling ramlike horns are a masculine trait, crests and frills feminine. A small, gracile people, they are too alien for most disease to afflict, but do have a few diseases unique to their kind. They are egg layers, and maintain communal nesting pools about certain trees whose sap is the primary food of their young. These “mother trees” are revered by them and priesthoods tend them and educate those young as have matured adequately to digest solid foods. Adults are omnivorous, and even weaning young known to take meat supplemental to the sap that sustains them. Treetender enclaves are tight-knit and respected enough the lizardfolk will defend any endangered regardless of other considerations. Treetender dogma is deeply spiritual and compassionate as none truly know which eggs were whose so all are considered one large family. The lizardfolk of Powys are largely peaceful and complacent, but have no concept of personal property beyond what is in one’s possession, giving them a reputation as thieves since untended items belong to whomever gathers them. Upon attaining adulthood, the lizardfolk adopt their permanent name, usually personally selected though it is an honor to be asked to select another's name and the lizardfolk happily accepts whatever name is chosen for them. Lizardfolk have elaborate courtship rituals and mate for life despite having no families as understood by other races. The lizardfolk ARE a family, and consider all sentients as cousins.

Government

The folk here have drawn into communities called cantrevs for defense against Powys's nightmarish denizens, and the cantrev lords wield great power in their realms so long as they hold these horrors at bay. The terrors of Powys are so successful many are unnamed and unknown yet thriving, forcing many natives to reside in hidden subterranean halls, the fabled hollow hills they migrate between with the seasons. The cantrevs all center on a single lord who arranges collection and hunting excursions, sets a calendar to schedule individual outings, and organizes land management efforts. The cantrev lord collects rents and oversees trials, sometimes conducting them but more often prosecuting, and formalizes sentencing, amending som but generally abiding by the decision. Trials are conducted by the priesthood generally, but cantrev lords can arbitrate matters when the priesthood is accusing and no ranking priest unconnected with the accusations is available.

Defences

Stake walls protect, often at the edge of a ditch to deter horsemen, just as thornvine ropes may be poisoned in times of duress.

Industry & Trade

The moors are bountiful in plant life collected for food and medicine, but herding is the major industry. Some hunting adds to the dinner table.

Infrastructure

Cantrevs are built around settlements with borders delineated by stakes set as a wall to repel invaders and strung with cords of thornvine tightly woven where deemed necessary.

Assets

Cantrevs generally maintain rough lodges where supplies are stored, mostly free for the taking though guards are posted in troubled times.

History

The history of Powys is largely secret, as the lizardfolk do not speak of their arrival having possibly forgotten it. Priests migrated here from the west, arriving in coracles and settling. This arcane priesthood brought the laws with them, and taught it freely, eventually arbitrating disagreements then evolving into a respected judiciary, a position they still hold. When Klavdivs came, he befriended the priests and brought the Empire to Powys, greatly enriching the lives of the people with Imperial trade and prospects. Powys remained a rural backwater, but thrived. When the western Empire collapsed, Powys was isolated but peaceful. King Lirr protected the coasts and was repaid for this act as well as the grateful people could afford. When Lirr swore allegiance to Idris, the cantrev lords sought out the priests and their Lady brought them to Idris, who accepted them into the Heptarchy.

Architecture

Most hills have subterranean chambers, reinforced with stone quarried from remote locations dotting the Isle of the Mighty and painstakingly transported, but surface structures are wood with roofs of hide and thatch. Towers and forts of stone lay at the borders, often empty save in times of emergency. The lizardfolk build huts from rushes, easily broken down and carried away to accommodate their hunter/gatherer lifestyle, but Treetender enclaves construct sturdier structures of wood or stone as residences and storehouses. Treetenders bind scrolls into protective leather casings to protect the knowledge from the elements, but they prefer open-air instruction and only use classrooms in the most inclimate weather.

Geography

Powys is a vast moor, interspersed with enough solid ground roads do wind into labyrinthine paths to avoid the worst spots. Gentle hills rise up here and there, most already settled.

Natural Resources

The moors are rich in herbs and fruit trees, mostly apple and cherry. The venomous sheep of Powys produce milk, meat, hides, wool, as well as the poison for which they are famed.

Type

District

Location under

The Isle of the Mighty

Owning Organization

The Heptarchy