The Buntesveldt
The land known as the Buntesveldt stretches from the borders of Brounthia in the north to the coast of the Gulf of Akados to the south, and between the harsh Vast Desert to the west and Irkainian Desert to the east. In the local tongue, its name means “colorful grassland.”
Most of the Buntesveldt is indeed grassland, primarily tallgrass prairie. Why it is fertile in the midst of two deserts is a bit of a mystery. No major rivers run through these lands, but it receives plentiful rainfall on winds blowing from the Gulf of Akados to the south. Most scholars who consider the matter believe that this weather pattern, so different from that in the neighboring deserts, is the result of interaction of the Tropic of Arden with the cold currents in the gulf heading east to west offshore.
The Buntesveldt has been a crossroads of wars for thousands of years, as armies ranged from the centers of Akados in the west to Libynos in the east. The grassland conceals many burial mounds, necropolises, and ruined hill forts; some of which are reputed to be inhabited by undead.
History and People
The lands of the Buntesveldt were originally the home of various tribal folk related to the Erskaelosi of Akados. These tribes roamed throughout the Irkainian Peninsula for thousands of years, likely only disturbed on those occasions when Hyperborean armies used the peninsula on their campaigns east and west through their empire. Some Hyperboreans undoubtedly decided to settle in this region, and many of the current cities and towns appear to have foundations that go back to those ancient days.
Over time, the folk of the Buntesveldt settled increasingly in towns and then cities, though many stayed on The Plains, preferring a nomadic life like their ancestors. Eventually, five cities came to dominate the grasslands: Bliski, Karedorn, Morborg, Stavropol, and Ustran Pazeel. At various points in history, one or another of the cities managed to conquer one or more of the others, but such times have seldom lasted long as the folk of the Buntesveldt tend to be disorderly and often unwilling to accept outside authority (while, by contrast, often deferring without question to their city’s leadership). Over the years, cities forged various alliances with the nomadic tribes in the region to either enforce or overthrow conquests, but the allegiance of the nomads can be a fickle thing, and anyone who relies upon it is likely to live a short life.
At various times, the folk of the Buntesveldt were forced to flee to other lands or otherwise saw their population plummet, particularly during the Great Darkness and at the time of Daan’s campaign to Libynos when many of the warriors of the grasslands joined his legions. In each case, however, they returned to their ancestral homeland.
About a thousand years ago, following the fall of the Hyperborean Empire, the Ammuyad Caliphate of northern Libynos crossed the Mulstabhin Passage and seized lands in Pelshtaria. The caliph’s representatives eventually found their way to the cities of the Buntesveldt, where they introduced the worship of their god, Mah-Barek, and suggested that paying tribute to the caliph would be a wise choice. The response by the cities varied, with some paying nominal tribute, while others tied up the foreigners in webs of delay. The preferred state of chaos among the folk of the Buntesveldt was infinitely frustrating to the caliph’s people, and undoubtedly plans were being made for a military solution. But after 150 years or so, plague in the caliphate’s capital city and rebellion in the Antioch City-States drew the caliph’s attention away. When the Pelshtarians finally threw off the foreign yoke, some in the Buntesveldt breathed a sigh of relief that the threat from afar had passed; others failed to notice, as they had already gone back to the old ways of undermining other cities of the grasslands.
Outside of the cities, most of the settled folk of the Buntesveldt live in small fortified settlements, towns, or ranches that are generally called klaches.
Though nomadic tribes continue to roam The Plains, over the years they have been driven back by repeated campaigns by the city-states. Caught between the two deserts and their settled cousins, many of the nomads have taken to trading more the raiding, and have even adopted foreigners into their ranks. Ironically, the comparative peace and the arrival of foreigners have seen the nomadic population grow, putting some pressure on the resources of the veldt. A critical mass is growing and there are those who fear that it may only be a matter of time before someone decides that becoming a warlord of howling plains nomads would be a good career move.
Religion
Most folk of the Buntesveldt revere a pantheon of gods unique to the region, likely the original gods of the tribes. These include Chernobog, He Who Schemes in Darkness, Belun the Comforter, Svarog the Fire in the Sky, Matsyra, the Mother, and Morozko, Grandfather Frost. They also venerate (or at least placate) various spirits of nature and the home. There are no organized churches for these deities; rather, smaller shrines can be found in settlements and in natural locations where the presence of the god is particularly acute.
The worship of the Ammuyad deity Mah-Barek took hold to some extent in some of the cities of the Buntesveldt. Particularly among certain people living in the port cities on the Gulf of Akados, taking a foreign religion can be seen as a sign of sophistication, which aids in matters of trade with the caliphate. Small temples of the Church of Fatimashan and the Church of Marwen can be found in most major cities. Their clerics remain frustrated, however, that even their adherents continue to placate nature and home spirits, at least in private.
Trade and Commerce
The port cities of the Buntesveldt do a bustling trade with merchants from all over the Gulf of Akados and the Sinnar Ocean. Foodstuffs, textiles and horses, and commodities (such as amber) brought from the Northlands are exchanged shipside or in markets for spices, silk, manufactured items, and other foreign goods.
Loyalties and Diplomacy
Separated by deserts on the east and the west, and a plain inhabited by nomads to the north, the Buntesveldt is isolated, and as a result faces little in the way of foreign threat. It tries to remain on good terms with all of the nations with which it trades, including its neighbors on the Irkainian Peninsula, but also the merchants of Foere and Bard’s Gate, Castorhage, Reme, the Ammuyad Caliphate, and even far Khemit. The relationship with the caliphate can be a bit tense at times, but local adherents of Mah-Barek act as middlemen to ensure that matters do not escalate.
Locally, the relations among the city-states of the Buntesveldt itself varies from time to time, even sometimes day to day. Alliances are regularly made and broken, threats are delivered and ignored, and occasional skirmishes even occur.
Government
No unified government oversees the Buntesveldt. Each city-state rules itself and its region (the boundaries of which are largely agreed upon through ancient tradition, though that isn’t to say disputes never arise), with no input from outsiders. However, each of the five major city-states sends a representative to a body known as the Veldtrada, a council of the cities that normally meets at Bliski. It is not a legislative body in any sense and has no authority to make laws or bind any city-state or other residents of the Buntesveldt. Rather, it provides a forum for discussion so that the leaders of the city-states can peacefully meet for mutual planning, treaties, and the administration of Alkis Anvil.
Military
Each city-state raises its own army (and navies in the case of the port cities) for its own protection. These armies are usually under the command of the city leader. The only exception is the citadel of Alkis Anvil, to which each city-state is required to send a complement of soldiers.
Region
The Buntesveldt
Controlled Territories
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