Miennach
Miennach is the Miner's Aspect. It lies in southeastern Syoll and does not share a border directly with The Great Forest. The land itself is mostly open, with rolling hills and wide rivers transitioning from cold taiga in the north to the more temperate climate of the south.
The Aspect itself is split into two holds: Kesava, the southern, more temperate region and Ironstar, the northern, colder region, who are both controlled by their respective settlements of the same name. The border between the two lies along the Titan’s Rush. Mig Dural, Miennach's trade capital, forms the third hold (along with its satellite town, Titan's Hand)
Miennach's border with the Neverending Mountains is spotted with countless mines and quarries which are owned by a variety of organisations, many of which are families. This has made them incredibly wealthy and powerful, with certain ones taking the control of entire towns or cities into their hands. Some of these families are content with the rule over one mine, town, or city, but others strive for greatness. Although the factions have lived in relative peace with each other for centuries, there are often tensions between them.
Miennach is one of the most heavily populated Aspects and has a few larger settlements, those by the mountains focusing on mining, those in the countryside on trade. It is also home to one of the largest of the "young cities" in Syoll, Mig Dural.
Structure
Miennach, like all Aspects, officially has three elected representatives. One of these is the Steward of Mig Dural, the other two being elected for Ironstar's Hold (the northern region) and Kesava's Hold (the southern region). Although the position of the respective Triad Representative is open to anyone with citizenship of that hold, it usually falls to a Carbonhill in Ironstar and a member of the three larger guilds in Mig Dural.
Each Triad Representative has their own council, selected mostly by themselves. This council informs the Representative and functions as a containing factor, should any extreme Representative come into office.
Culture
The people of Miennach value hard work most of all. Their society is built on honesty and productivity, but the welfare of business people is of great import. However, a business should never thrive off the pain of others. There is a strong aversion to exploiting workers, as it is them who makes things possible in the Aspect. There are no real harvests in Miennach, as it is mostly fallow land, still there are a few festivals that celebrate the turn of the seasons.
History
Like the other Aspects, Miennach's territory and history has been rather static since the beginning of the Counted Years. The most notable change was the independence of Amridge, which had previously been the third, northernmost hold of Miennach. After that, the trade city Mig Dural and its satellite Titan's Hand were declared the third hold.
Demography and Population
The population of Miennach is mostly found in settlements. As there is little chance for agriculture, there are few people living scattered in the countryside. The settlements themselves are usually located either near the mountains or near a body of water and the people there specialise in mining or trade respectively.
With recent advances in streamlining healing and developing medicine that is non-magical, medicinal products are becoming cheaper and more available, leading to lower death rates and thus a growing population.
Military
Due to the fact that there has not been a war in over 1000 years, there is little need or want for a military. The monsters are kept in check by the Hold Guard and the monster hunters of the Fighter's Guild, who have their main base in Mig Dural.
Religion
Like the rest of Syoll, the main deities are the 14 Syolladver, the central gods. However, some individuals do tend to worship Peripheral Gods or none at all, which is seen as entirely normal. The temples in Miennan settlements tend either to be those of single Syolladver deities or one collective temple, with peripheral churches usually only being found in the largest cities.
Agriculture & Industry
Aptly named, the Miner's Aspect specialises in industry; coal, steel, valuable metals, and the like. There are some ranches with livestock, although they tend to be self-sustaining and not profit-oriented. The only exception is Devalle, a town in the Ironstar Hold with strangely fertile soil, where one finds a great deal of vineyards and some of Syoll's best wine.
Trade & Transport
There are two major transport routes for materials in Miennach. One of these is the Coin Road, which goes from Titan's Hand to Mig Dural and then further south to Kesava and its surrounding mines.
The second important route is the Titan's Rush, a river that runs from the mountains by Eskard to Titan's Hand as well. It is the calmer of the two large Miennan rivers and so more fitting for transport.
Education
The education in Miennach is lacking in comparison to other Aspects, but still rather good. It provides the people with important basics, like literacy and arithmetics, and gives a solid foundation of the sciences and history. There are however very few higher schools in Miennach, so should an individual want to study something in depth, they would have to travel quite far to get it.
Infrastructure
The infrastructure is quite varied, with Ironstar, for example, being an ancient, millennia old and almost unaltered city and Mig Dural being a rather young, modern city. Despite this, the settlements all have sewers and paved roads. Talks are currently happening as to the establishing of an airship dock in Mig Dural.
Work, Family, Honour
Type
Geopolitical, Province
Capital
Alternative Names
The Miner's Aspect
Demonym
Miennan
Government System
Democracy, Representative
Power Structure
Semi-autonomous area
Economic System
Mixed economy
Currency
Syollan Gold
Major Exports
Miennach's largest exports are raw materials (iron, stone, ores) but also processed goods like weapons, armour, tools, jewellery etc. Especially the processed goods are important for aspects like Ellion Dula or Farathin.
Major Imports
The land in Miennach is almost entirely barren and infertile, meaning its greatest import is food (especially grain), imported from Farmer's Triumph and quite a bit of wood is brought from Colliennach. Additionally, the wealthier people enjoy the inventions and innovations of Amridge.
Legislative Body
Although Miennach must follow the Eight Aspects' established laws, certain things may be decided by the Triad Council or by public vote. Laws that are established on the aspectual level are relatively free, as long as these do not contradict any Syollan laws. Because of the thorough democratic system, change can be relatively slow, but it ensures a modicum of safety against totalitarianism.
Judicial Body
Every hold controls their own employed guards, who patrol settlements and sometimes the roads. Mostly, these guards protect against any threats from monsters or simply make sure nothing untoward is going on. The guard is made up entirely of volunteers.
Official State Religion
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Comments