The Wonders, the Mysteries: Ta'al, the Far Continent

[Wensleydale]

The original Wonders thread can be found  here.

Ta'al is a land of true wonders, with a heavily settled coastline and tens of thousands of square miles of unexplored, unsettled territory claimed and unseen by local monarchs for hundreds of years. It is, like the Tandhus archipelago, a Duer homeland - and has been for almost as long - but only two Duer clans survive here, royalty in their own right over their own kingdoms and rejecting the idea of 'House'.

Of course, Ta'al is also home to many new human and other kingdoms, colonies of T'Zakat'az Durin, towers of Eldritch recluses, draconic ruins, and a vast and widely contrasting geographical area holding dark and strange secrets.

[Wensleydale]

Snàn-Zŭŭnur

Capital: Snàn-Zŭŭnur
Ruling Body: Clan Medis
Government System: Dictatorial Monarchy.
Population: 1,321,000 (90% Duer, 5% Humans, 5% Elves)
Official Language: Sharuss.
Imports: Slaves.
Exports: Slaves, Gold, Silver, Exotic Foods.

The Riversea is one of the most prominent geographical features of the entire continent of Ta'al, a river so much wider, longer, and further-affecting than anything else to be found anywhere else in the known world that it is considered almost as large as an ocean. The river opens out into a vast, semi-enclosed channel known as the Durun Sea, and it is along the coast of this sea that Snàn-Zŭŭnur, which makes its dam-enclosed capital of causeways and elevated houses around the river itself, rules. It is a cross between a city-state and a kingdom, and although its leader calls himself 'Rànnujandjùkur' (the Farmer Crown) or 'Ràldjùk' (Northern Crown) rather than King, he is in all respects a monarch.

History

Snàn-Zŭŭnur was founded by one of the largest clans, Medis, who continued across the sea rather than face the enormous conflict over Tandhus that many predicted correctly. It is one of the two Medis nations, its kinsman being Djūkdakarur, Queenshold, much further south. It was established by a vast group of Medis colonists from further south, and was (for two-hundred years) a colony of Queenshold, however, after the Medis succession wars it emerged as its own state under the Rànnujandjùkur, or Farmer Crown, Ishma Jaku Medis. The nickname, based on Ishma's original army of mercenaries and farmer conscripts, stuck as a title, and is still used today. Since then it has maintained an on-and-off alliance with Queenshold, which at the moment looks to be put to the test by Tandhusi incursions over the sea and from nearby colonies.

After the fall of the Hariij Empire, many fleeing elves (and daemonspawn from the similar defeat of the daemons) fled over the sea to Ta'al. Although there has been less immigration into Snàn-Zŭŭnur than other nations (due to its relatively isolated position), it still has a sizable population of humans and elves, some of which are slaves (a tradition that Clan Medis retains).

The Capital

Snàn-Zŭŭnur city is a place that is both awe-inspiring and strange. It was built, and is maintained, using wood and stone quarried from many miles away, brought across the surrounding minor rivers and the Riversea itself by huge boats, and looks as if a city had been built first across a vast, hugely oversized fortress, and then extended out into an even bigger network of dams, complete with fields and windmills. A second, smaller fortress extends upwards out of the huge one - the larger one being essentially just several artificial platforms connected together when seen from up close - built in the Duer style of domes, although these are not purple, as common Tandhusi domes are. This is the royal stronghold, and the home of the Farming Crown and the royal family.

[Wensleydale]

The Nasjinur

The 'Not Us', as they are referred to in Sharuss, are the vast Duer peoples who were never part of the Great Migration. Their languages, cultures, and worldviews are almost totally foreign to the Tandhusi, and, to a lesser extent, to the Duer of Clan Medis and Clan Dese'el.

Origins

The Nasjinur are made up of thousands of smaller kingdoms, tribes, and princedoms, and cannot trace their beginnings back to one single area as the Tandhusi can. Rather, their origins can be vaguely specified as 'draconic' - they were 'built' off the basic template used to create Duer everywhere, but grew culturally and linguistically separate. The main, well-known Nasjinur can be divided into two main distinct groups, however - the Han-Ez and the Kud-Iru-Li. Both have specific, mostly separate languages, and both have mostly distinct religions (although loanwords and loaned gods through conquest, conversion, migration and so on have led to some blurring of lines in these respects).  

The Han-Ez

The Han-Ez can be found mainly in the vast, excellent grazing lands of the Bju-Ha-Ra, surrounding the draconic ruins of SshaanRik and SatDassik (from where they are assumed to have originated). Their common pantheon is much more centralised than that of the Kud-Iru-Li, consisting of three goddesses and the God - who ride across the sky in the sun and pour down rain and light and other phenomenons of weather to keep their children - the Han-Ez - happy. The Kan tribe, one of the most borderline cultures between Han-Ez and Kud-Iru-Li, have subjugated many other tribes in the past - creating a vaguely unified identity in terms of language and customs.

The Kud-Iru-Li

The Kud-Iru-Li differ from the tribal system of the Han-Ez greatly. Rather than organising themselves into large villages, they are mostly migratory, and generally group in family groups. Your average travelling unit is made up of about seven related men, their wives, their children, and prospective brides and husbands of these children. This unit will be headed by a grandfather or similar. During the long winters - which, as other parts of the planet, Ta'al suffers from - these groups gather together with other similar groups they are related to by bonds of marriage. They are mostly animistic, although groups have acquired some other polytheistic tendencies from the Han-Ez.

Magic

None of the inhabitants of Ta'al were ever taught the Free Magic, and although some of the fringe groups have come to accept it now, many still have shamans practicing Wild Magic as a standard part of life.