Long Step
by hughpierre
Structure
Short Steps
Short Steps have belatedly been attributed to be the smaller alliance organisations that were subsumed into the larger Long Step at the end of the Seductions Period. At the same time, it is the unofficial name given to the smaller municipalities whose areas drape over the Step like multi-patched coverings over furniture. The remaining short steps have their own zonal capitals that exert powers of self-government and jurisdiction as granted by the overall laws to which it is subordinate. In order of north to south, the different short steps are:- Mytenii Short Step
- Hajjinis Short Step
- Q'an Short Step
- Protilla Short Step
- White Woman Short Step
- Yulyult Short Step
Slope Steps
An administrative branch that manages the hamlets, towns and other market centers that populate the Slopes. There are several Slope Step offices that function under the scope of the individual six Short Steps in collecting and redistributing assets from the Slopes to the Mid-range areas that need it.Public Agenda
A political and cultural union of smaller alliances that existed in the Bad Step.
- To eliminate incessant intercity warfare
- To create peace and provide united strength
- To create a powerful force of tribes
- To safeguard existing territory and defend against invasion
- To expand their territories
- To establish an elective government with representatives from each of the territories
- To ensure fairness and equity
- To end the custom of cannibalism
Assets
Peak Snow
Collecting snow is a relatively cheap means of earning a modest income, provided it does not melt on the way to lower markets. In addition, the snow is mixed with three parts snow and one part wood pulp to make peat ice which is a durable building material.Mountain Ponds and Lakes
In depressions just above the mid range or in it, many ice melt lakes form from the peaks runoff which is an easy source of water for the inhabitants.History
Seductions
Before they collectively joined in the Triple Alignment; the seductions was a period of wars and series of diplomatic unifications of various organisations and major settlements of the Bad Step, over time.White case
What has been famously called the White Case; was the fallout of a highly contentious political election between two families for one of the rulerships. It has been termed "white" on account of the belief in the supposed 'white blood' of the true royals who are so ordained to rule the cities. And lay down the precedent of by which the leader are chosen.First Vanilla War
During this conflict each side more or less stayed within or close enough to their respective city, but laid bare the distances between the Caverns and the Sinks.War of the Wedges
A range spanning conflict whereby smaller alliances fought each other on a tangle of fronts. It was unfortunately named 'wedges' for the shape the major territories took before and at the end of the war.Second Vanilla War
From Mytenii to Protilla, caverns had to deal with an allied collection of Sinklings better prepared to fight them the first, but were nevertheless victorious due to the closed connection to the valley markets.Grund Revolt
A peasant uprising primarily focused on a collection of town, hamlets and smaller cities on the Slopes with the aim of seceding and forming a pseudo-short step separate from the Long Step.Jump Campaigns
Attempts by Long Step armies to finally secure the isolated settlements by force. These were only partly successful with half still operating independently.Third Vanilla War
The final war of the Seductions sought to give a common cause to the freshly unified Caverns and Sinks of the Bad Step by conquering regions that grow vanilla.Alignment Membership
The Step's integration into the Alignment was almost an accident. At the time, step folks had learned to manufacture and deploy wands cheaply in its new commoner armies. They were actually in the early stages of a conflict with the empire, but before the blows could truly fall; an explainable foe begun storming onto Grave. The realization of wights attacking Sangsalgu led to Sang field commanders asking for Step reprieve and assistance. A surprising request. Even more surprising is that they agreed in helping to oust the Tinged from the Sang capital. In return, the Great Speaker Huecui awarded them with an invitation to Alignment membership.Demography and Population
Step Folk
An umbrella term to describe the mix of peoples who historically emigrated to the heights of the Step.Elkin
Native mountain people claiming to be descendants of the original giants who lived during the Red Sun.Mountain Cloud Tribes
A trickle, then a flood of migrating tribes from the mighty cloud country.Courtiers
Initially expansionist colonizers organised in heavily establishing settlements on the southern tail of the Step.Gardeners
Periodic adventurers from the basin who slowly overtime moved into vacant areas in the northern tail of the Step.Territories
Bad Step
Jumps
The isolated echelons that raise between the peak and mid ranges that are often home to the purest of Step Folk.Peaks
The very tops of the Step's mountains, sparsely populated and more often covered in snow.Mid range
The middle height range that stretches all across the Bad Step.Slopes
The very base of the Step where the mountain range merges with the valley floor.The Cold Swamp
Wet Wilds
Due to the cold sweeping in from the east and the heat emanating from the Step, there exist a strip of wet land hospitable to colonization by the Step Folk.Military
Conscription
Compulsory enlistment of the lower social class including both free people and serfs, and slaves serving in logistics.Mercenary Auxiliaries
Toik Terror Riders
Uniquely mobile units equipped for rapid response fighting from the backs of terror birds. Squads are hired with a salary, and depending on their level of experience can be housed and feed at folk expense.Flower War Veterans
Battle hardened former combatants to the yearly Flower Wars on the valley floor are ideally hired as generals, lieutenants, tutors to young step folk nobles or whole battle groups.Technological Level
Wands
Invented in the colonies to be used against the caverns; wands concentrate heat energy through its length and onto alternate points.Mold Medicines
A large class of mold, fungi and parasites that thrive in the grooves and provide medicinal value in treating diseases, birth control, bodily enhancements, ailments and in fashioning special casts.Religion
Centzon
Worship of the 800 divided stars in the North and South skies.Centzon Mīmixcōa
Observation, study and worship of the 400 'Cloud-Serpents'.Centzon Huītznāuhtin
Observation, study and worship of the 400 'Southerners'.Serpentism
Worship of the feather dragons as deitiesRainbow Serpentism
Deification of the rainbow lights that wade between the clear and frozen skies.Viperist
Deification of a living species of snake that leaps from the ground and between tall trees.Cintēteo
Worship of a divine group of corn siblings: the sons of the goddess Centeōtl and the god Cinteōtl.Quinametzin
Worship of the ancestor giants so claimed in particular groups.Foreign Relations
College of Birds
AllyFellow Alignment member
Otoerm Coil
NeutralFickle with the trade embargo placed by Sangsalgu
Soonous
PeaceableTechnically at war but uncommitted
Agriculture & Industry
Terrace Farming
A method of farming whereby “steps” (terraces) are built onto the slopes of hills and mountains. When it rains, instead of rain carrying away the soil nutrients and plants down the slope, they flow into the next terrace.Trade & Transport
Warm Facing Side
Eo Trails
Narrow mud and clay, dirt paths primarily made and used by Eo herders.Valley Steps
Long steps and inclining paths made of gravel and wood, or carved from bedrock to ease the trek on the lower slopes.Mountain Blood
Walled with oily black stones with white and graying etchings of an undecipherable tone. These are unmapped tunnels craved through soil and bedrock that cross unknown boundaries, but are a rumored path to the valley floor.Cold Facing Side
Black Roads
Physically, the layered, flattened and polished hot-rocks connecting the many Sinks in Cold Swamp. It also names the overall trade system by which the vanilla flower is traded.Reed Roads
Between the cold and freezing environment in the Deeper Swamp, are long combed over reeds of a bygone era that remain stable and clear with little maintenance.Bad Path
A long windy mountain trail that criss crosses over natural plateaus, carved steps and in and out of blood openings.Infrastructure
Observatories
A great many investments are made in observatories and laboratories for observing terrestrial or celestial events from the cold summits often very far away from the majority of the population centers.Caverns
Fungal Grooves
Housed in the deepest, reachable depths of the cities' caverns are grown a rich assortment of mushrooms, mosses, molds, certain nuts, creeping figs, sweet worms and other species that grow well in the damp dark for purposes of local consumption.Gatte Mouth
The open cave maw that was the starting point for many the cavern cities that was easily defensible and provide many resources in the deeper depths.Sinks
Store Houses
In their early heydays, many Sinks needed a lot of space within the settlement to properly store and preserve its collected earnings. Usually, they were a free standing structure made of purple salt, but other available resources are common such as stone, grass and earth that store more of the same. Otherwise it was an expandable pit dung in the ground and covered with hides or smaller construction.Workshops
Rather that sending regular supplies to maintain the colony, the mother cities equipped the young territories (at great expense) with materials it would need for a year on its own. The settlers, as a whole, built huge single multi-purpose buildings that acted as sleeping quarters and work stations (to keep warm and kitchens, food storage and eateries (to keep cool). While the little village expanded, the working capacity of these buildings overtook all others, especially those of the conventionally smaller homes that sprung up around them.
Type
Political, Federation
Capital
Demonym
Step Folk
Government System
Electocracy
Power Structure
Confederation
Economic System
Mixed economy
Currency
Major Exports
Raw Materials
Rubber
Fossils
Snow
Bird Feathers
Finished Products
Fungal Fabrics
Eo-based goods
Precious Stones
Major Imports
Raw Materials
Obsidian
Incense
Spices
Phantom Gum
Shells
Salts
Logistics
Finished Products
Fabrics
Food Stuffs
Dyes
Legislative Body
- Parent Offices
- Trusts
Judicial Body
- Paal Court
- Waal Court
- Grand Appeal
Parent Organization
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Related Traditions
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Manufactured Items
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
Related Myths
Comments