Hinterlands

A farmer stands in his doorway at the end of a long day and surveys his land, the house at the top of a slight incline providing a view across the fields. He is tired, hot, a piece of straw stuck to his forehead, but he looks proud and happy as he looks across golden fields of wheat, taller than he is, the land extremely fertile and the air heavy with dust in the summer evening.
Small children giggle as they run through the marketplace; they are meant to be helping their parents manage their stall but the allure of sweet apples proved too much of a distraction. Their mother watches them go, her long blond hair tied in a plait that matches her daughter's, a smile on her face as she is momentarily distracted from the customer she is haggling the price of tomatoes with.
The labourers in the fields work on through the warm rains that sweep through, soaking everyone to the skin. There's no time to take a break and wait for the rain to pass, and the workers are proud of their fields, knowing that their hard work will soon pay off in profits and reputation. This is one of the best farms in the Hinterlands, and thus in Illithea, and even the lowest labourer is proud of his work and his position.
Up in the mountains, unbeknownst to the farmers many miles away, a woman stands on a lookout platform high in the trees. She can see for miles, down onto the plains and across the mountain she lives on; her red hair blows in the breeze.

Geography

The Hinterlands are, compared to the surrounding regions, very flat. There are enough hills to keep it from being boring, but there are no natural mountains and few great lakes. Quite a few rivers wend their way throughout the region, the largest passing through the city of Asreigh, capital of the province of Bilath.
Forest land is present but not as copious as in the past; deforestation has occurred to allow fields to be planted. Lots of deforestation has occurred throughout the Hinterlands to make way for fields and farms, villages and towns. The dams and irrigation channels set up throughout to bring water to the fields have damaged a lot of the surrounding areas. The Hinterlands are still pretty, but it is a man-made prettiness and much of the original wildness is gone.
The quarries in Onuron have damaged a lot of the mountains, with pollution from the mines themselves and dumped cast-off stone in piles outside. Above in the actual mountains, the area is reasonably unspoilt, with only wooden houses and occasional patches in the forest areas to show that people have in any way reacted with their environment; the people there are hunter-gatherers rather than farmers, due to the lack of viable soil.

Fauna & Flora

There is a great deal of flora in the Hinterlands, but most of it man-planeted and harvested. The soil in the region is extremely fertile thus producing the best quality food in Illithea. Many crops grow in abundance and the farms are plentiful.
Outside the farms, the roads are lined with trees, shrubs, and flowering plants. Weeds are not given much chance to take hold, given that they quickly spread into the crops, and even people walking alongside merchant caravans will stop to pull known weeds; every Hinterlander has the instinct to protect the fields deeply ingrained into them as a child.
As much of the natural forest has been cut down to allow space for fields and homes, there are few trees that are not apple orchards. Most of the fertile soil is used to provide food, and therefore natural wilderness cannot be allowed to abound as it is seen as a waste of land.
Small animals tend to make their homes in the crops or in the wooded areas, and can often be seen scurrying away from people coming their way. People living in the region keep cats and dogs as pets, often also as a form of pest control. Horses and mules work the fields with their human owners

Alternative Name(s)

Farmland

Type

Region

Location under

Illithea