Windthrow

The Mongolian Steppes meet the North American Great Plains meet the African Savannah.  Grass.  Hills.  Wind.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

Structure

Prince = top of the food chain, leader of the nation.  The current Prince was "elected," but many contest that the election was a sham.  He is referred to as "The Prince of Windthrow" by those who accept him.  He has lots of other names too that are less respectful-- "The Puppet Prince" or "Prince Anselm the Crownless."  The latter picked up after Gadianton literally stole his crown haha... anyway.  He keeps the title of "Prince" until he is married, then he would change it to "King."  Vice-versa if it's a woman, which is allowed in Windthrow-- she'd be a Princess until she's married, then she'd be a Queen.

Culture

This is a large country, so there are lots of different cultures depending on where you are.  The more western area, closer to Kania in the more forested areas, is more "modern," urban, and populated.  Dancing is popular.  The area is growing rapidly so many people are employed as masons or woodworkers etc, so crafting is highly regarded.  There is a bit of class-ism, with nobles circulating around the Prince, followed by the lesser nobles circling around them, and on downwards with farmers at the bottom.  It is possible and common for people to move up their circle to a certain degree, but after you've reached the top-middle as a skilled worker you've kind of hit the ceiling, there's no way to become a noble, UNLESS... you strike out to the Prairie and establish/run a plantation for long enough to be awarded the title of Lord.

Public Agenda

Windthrow wants to grow.  Infrastructure, technology, education, and expansion are all hot topics right now.  And they want to show how "civilized" their use of magic can be.  Well, the government does, anyway.  There are lots of different opinions out there...

Assets

Land.  So much land!  The prairies are vast and fertile.  So lots of crops, food, textiles.  Some areas also are rich in metals like iron, silver, gold, and cantam.  Also, livestock.  Lots of cattle, sheep, etc.  Not so much timber.

History

There were people who lived in the mountains/forest.  They got together and called their nation Windthrow.  Some of them struck out onto the plains.  They called themselves "Settlers" or "Mount' Folk."  They ran into the Pixies.  They called them, "Prairie Folk."  They got along.
Fast forward almost a full generation.  Another wave of "Settlers" came, but they didn't like the Pixies.  So then, there arose another term among the Windthrowns... "Ghad'Zhe," which is the Pixie's own word for "Banished Ones."  But the Settlers started using it to refer to all Pixies, and in a negative way.  And they started calling the "Mount' Folk" "Prairie Folk," because they had been on the prairie as long as anyone could remember at that point.  So the names shifted a little bit.
To Sum Up:

• "Settlers" or "Mount' Folk" is what anyone on the prairie calls someone who was not born on the prairie, regardless of whether they're actually from any mountains.  "Settlers" is generally a little more respectful than "Mount' Folk."  Most Windthrowns would resent someone calling them "Mount' Folk," as it's usually an implication of incompetence.
• "Prairie Folk" are people who have lived on the Prairie for a few generations now but it does NOT apply to Pixies anymore.  Prairie Folk embrace their title pridefully.
• "Pixies" or "Ghad'Zhe" are the native Pixie people of the Prairie.  They don't like being called "Ghad'Zhe."  The Ghad'Zhe actually exist, but they are The Banished Ones, people the Pixies have cast out for committing unforgiveable crimes like murder.  They're really bad people, have a history of banding together and raiding both Pixies and non-Pixies.  They give all Pixies a bad name and it sucks.

TBD

IDK - Depends on who you ask...

Type

Geopolitical, Country

Demonym

Windthrown

Notable Members

• Gadianton Drache
• Neil Heilend