Barychd Fraa - The Furrowed Land

Barychd Fraa Notes.jpg


Geography:
Very rugged, mountainous landmass which is kind of what drew me to this location. Glaciers flow down from the corries into the southern sea though further north many of them have retreated and stay at higher altitudes. Travelling from east to west involves finding passes through each mountain ridge and then traverse the valleys between. Which can make communication by land difficult.


People and Government:
Which brings us onto the government of the land and why they don't really have one. A central ruling body for the country doesn't work and so the land is split into natural regions that govern themselves. They can still communicate well and swiftly across the country if an urgent message is needed. A network of beacons upon several of the peaks can send signal fires or raven from one peak to another (yes like that one scene in LOTR ). The northeast is warmer and more populated with towns (will determine the locations after the geography is done). Further west into the tundra a lot of the older cultures still thrive and each village and community pretty much keep to themselves.


Culture:
A lot of the country still keeps to old religions and customs passed down from their ancestors. One old belief is that a great herd of Barychiir furrowed out the land, raising mountains and carving valleys to create walls to protect their lands. Barychiir are huge beast of burden with shovel-like antler-tusks. Much of the culture of the people revolves around the migration of these Barychiir that make their way every few years back to the calving grounds in the tundra and then migrate back to various herds eastward. A lot of the culture also revolves around slaying the more dangerous creatures that lurk in the valleys.
Much of the culture is still yet to be determined, these were just some initial thoughts.


Fauna:
Barychiir are huge mammoth-like herbivores and often smaller creatures will hitch lifts and stick with these herds for protection. And protection is needed as the valleys are dangerous, even for a creature as large as a Barychiir. Strange creatures lurk and scuttle through the frozen crevasses of the glaciers, swift predators stalk the forests, large cavern beasts erupt from the mountainside to descend upon a passing party or a lone Barychiir. Not even the skies are safe for ice-drakes make roosts on several of the peaks. Travel by boat is probably safer (as long as you stay away from any sea-serpents ).
...Yes I have been playing Monster Hunter recently...

Trade and Conflict:
This will obviously depend on my neighbours who I'll contact soon. I imagine they may have Fey refugees fleeing over the mountains from what I've read of the National Fairy Republic. The country isn't so populated to the south so there probably wouldn't be too much contact with Khovania though I think it would be likely there would be settlements on the southern coast to the east. There may be some trade north to Yilseudor though there aren't a huge amount of settlements on the southern coast of that island.
All in all I feel the country would be mostly self-sufficient with the majority of trade being betweeen communities.


Magic:
Currently, I'm not sure. If they do have magic it won't be the high-fantasy "fireball" magic and more something primal/druidic and tied to the land or to the creatures. They definitely have some knowledge of herblore/alchemy as potion making and medicine is a large part. The beacon watchers also have various powders and such they can use to produce flames of different colours or intensity to signal different messages.


So, being off work for the indeterminable future and with time on my hand I thought I would have a go at this (I may even get around to streaming some progress). Not sure yet exactly what style I'm going to go for but probably similar to my last challenge entry, except cleaner and less rushed.