Rhosgobel
Brackish Islands Voidward of Gondara, Famous for its Stilted Halfling Swamp Villages
Geography
Description
See also: Image Gallery: Fashion & Scenery of Rhosgobel (External)Rhosgobel survived The Deluge, but not as well as most remaining landmasses in the Third Age: only a sliver of the nation's eastern extents remain dry all year around, while much of the rest are inundated with coastal lagoons, swamps, canals and midland fens.
Political Geography
Similar to some Middish societies, there is a divide in governance between the leaders of local Clannaðs and bureaucratic, clan-neutral governers; township representatives are nearly always Harvest Witches, while the politicians of the Revered Uplands are determined in more complex ways (see Society, below). Meanwhile, the Voidward swamps and coasts (over half the continent) are under the rule of a single, ancient wilderwitch and possible ascendant demigod by the name of Granny Ozma. There is no overlap: Ozma knows the lands she is steward of and has no interest in debating it, nor are the upland governers willing to challenge her.The Stilted and Floating Villages of Rhosgobel
Resulting from the high water table, an iconic sight in Rhosgobel are villages and towns built entirely upon wooden stilts, boardwalks, boats and other floatational devices. As a result, Rhosgobelish builders and engineers are some of the most knowledgeable and sought-after in the Gamma Quadrant, particularly due to their knowledge of flooding, subsidence and liquefaction. Many elite architects in the Broken Empire are halflings. Maintenance workers for this infrastructure are so important that their livelihoods are guaranteed by taxation of the island nation's various trade and minstrelsy guilds, conducted by the Elders of the Revered Uplands.
The Elders are also responsible for supplying fresh water to the Lowlands as standard artesian wells exacerbate subsidence of the lowland flood silts, placing the stilted villages at risk of sinking and collapse. Rhosgobelish alchemists are near-constantly working on methods to increase the speed and efficiency of seawater desalinization.Society
Along the eastern edges of the main continent are the Revered Uplands typified by rolling meadows, subalpine plains and small-sized mountains. Unavailable to the Lowlanders is the ancient halfling practice of building their homes partially into the ground, with a dome-shaped "upstairs" being the one point of entrance. Villages built in this manner are sometimes called Shires.
Among these Shires are the Rhosgobelish seats of government, lead partially by Revered Elders elected by diverse councils of tradesmen, cultural paragons (e.g. engineers or composers) and clergy of Aios, Ahm and more obscure hobbitish Ascendant demigods like the Tartan Lancers of the Sacred Heart. While Rhosgobel has struggled with corruption and infighting since the devastation of the Deluge, some new blood among the paragons are a cause for hope, especially the quiet but farsighted Midge the Solemn, who is rapidly becoming a figure of veneration among halflings who see a future where the religious and secular Elders can come together for the sake of Rhosgobel as a whole.
The other aspect of government is largely unique to the continent: leadership by random selection, where adults over 50 (as a general rule, a halfling is the same maturity as a human or arakh half their age) is selected randomly from the populace, similar to jury duty in several Earth societies. This method may seem odd, but it goes a long way to prevent corruption by eliminating "establishment" politicians, and those chosen still have the ear of knowledgeable and helpful experts in their fields.
Rhosgobelish townships are usually run by the halfling equivalents of human Harvest Witches, usually worshippers of Aios, Ahm and Ninalta in human societies but more non-demoninational here; halflings are a thankful but not worshipful people.
Profile art credit: Heikala
Banner art credit: 三叠色 (Size80)
Comments