Map of the Galmearan freelands, detailing the tribes as defined by the Kreyicians

"Freelands map"

"This dreadful map is one I copied at Dyn Cwmroch in Kreyic, on the eve of invasion, whilst negotiating and inebriating a Kreyic lord.  It has been compiled by both the military magicians of Kreyic using remote sensing and by hostile spies on the ground. as such the tribal divisions are questionable, being based on visual cues and military interactions only.  It is, however horrifyingly accurate given these limitations.  I fear for the future of the Galmearans even more than I did.

It shows the extent to which semi-peaceful co-opting of land by Kreyic in the south has already occurred. Squared town icons are non-Galmearan, doubly squared if walled. Galmearan bases are dots if un-walled, dots with circles if walled and dots with tents if only seasonally occupied. Three dots indicate a ruin.  Only land marked with vegetation or mountains is that considered by her neighbors to be unclaimed by an official nation."



Tribes as defined by Kreyic and their location

The Naya Towwan Mountains (north to south)

The Water Chariot Tribes

(These island dwelling tribes where named after their use of dolphin pulled hide boats.  They interact closely with dolphins in much the same way other Galmearans interact with deer. Somehow, despite the seasonally frozen waters they posses the ability to swim amongst the pack ice. They are a distinct sub-race of Galmearan, the same as the Whale Singer Tribes.)

The Mauljajodd Tribes

(These tribes share ancestry both of the Galmearan Water tribes and Dwarven rebels who fled the Dwarvish Empire over 1000 years ago.  They are the only people I know of to have this interesting mix of ancestry.  They live in shallow natural caves and are astoundingly hardy, especially by Galmearan standards. Most Dwarves and many Galmearans think of them as mystics and visit their oracles. The name derives from the Dwarvish surface Kroltz "Maul Jaðod" meaning "Death Bay")

The Whale Singer Tribes

(These tribes are true mystics of the element of water, from an ancient ancestry that can be traced back across all the migrations of the Galmearan people.  They sing to Whales, including to an ancient Mage in the body of a grey whale who forwent the Magish transition to human form, preferring to stick to that of the larger water realm.)

- The Temple of the Water

(This temple is the latest incarnation of this place, a truly Galmearan affair, woven into the natural fabric of the coast of its island.  Galmearan priest/esses are often seen floating out at sea.  There is also an occasional colony of Mer-people, that rarest of the Magish races, who visit as part of their seasonal migrations.)

The Tribes of Centaurs

(Little is known about these nomadic tribes.  Are they truly a tribe of Galmearan-esk Deer-Centaurs, as the Dwarvish mercenaries reported to Kreyic, or was it a trick of the light?)

The Griffin Riding Tribes
(There are certainly Nobel Griffins breeding here, big enough to bare aloft Galmearans.  They have been reported doing this by Dwarvish spies, but how wide-spread this practice is is unknown. This area is one of very few on the globe where the Nobel Griffin lives.)

- Abooiana

(Being primarily fish eaters the colony of Nobel Griffins and Galmearans nest here together by a large lake, high up in nest dwellings constructed on conifers growing out of cliff faces with creeper walk ropes interconnecting them.)

- Biyiyihya
(This appears to be a smaller, even less accessible version of Abooiana.)

The Cursed Tribes

(So named after their apparent ability to resist all Dwarvish advancement into the mountains. It is known that any undertaking by the Dwarves of the nearby Nordvall goes unaccountably wrong in this area, especially after Galmearans of the Cursed Tribes have been spotted.  Rumors abound that the mountain range is home of that true native life-form of the earth, the living mountains, and inexplicably on this occasion their silicon hive-minds have sided with the Galmearans against the Dwarvish city-states of the Nordvall, Ceamol and Kahn. Certainly the area was once Dwarvish, and the remnants of their ancient empire can still be seen in places - but when the very rock has turned against you no Dwarve can dwell...  It is truly a cursed land.  

The Cursed Tribes have a strong tradition of walking - a long walk is thought to be able to cure all ailments of the mind, and most of the body.  They even have medical practitioners called 'Walkers' who will walk with the afflicted.  The last part of any cure, the walk home or back to the tribe, is always conducted alone - the 'Walker' always takes a separate path.)

- Shard

(A well fortified natural pillar of rock, with shallow caves peppering its flanks like woodworm holes. There are lots of goats about.)

- Keld

(An ancient imperial administrative surface fort used to wage terror and thus control the surface farms and 'wood mines' in the time of the empire.  The upper levels of Keld now serve the Galmearan shamans and warriors of the Cursed Tribes.  They use the fort as a meeting place to learn the ways of their tribes.  Keld still stands on the path of a long imperial tunnel through the mountain range, though the maps of how to use it safely are usually thought to have been long lost.  There is, however, a rumor that Ok's western rebels of the mountain called "the Draran" in The Raheeni still retain this knowledge. The network of surface passes in the mountains around Keld are still maintained by the 'Walkers', albeit in a much narrower and less even form than previously. Many Dwarvish would-be raiders and salvagers have met their deaths in landslides trying to use these apparently sure paths.  In local Dwarvish folklore Keld is the home of Make - the goat daemon of mine collapse.) 

Frayan (north to south)

The Witch Tribes 

(Most of the reports from this area talked of the tribes doing inexplicable things. Since they where unexplainable the spies deduced it must be linked to religious activity of some sort, and as they where known not to have a state or capital city or any other administrative paraphernalia loved by priests they where therefore deemed to be practitioners of witchcraft.  And several of the spies did appear to become possessed and absconded to the other side.)

- The Temple of Fire

(Built in and around an active volcano in a marshland prone to summer fires and random explosive gas events the pilgrims who come here to learn of this element go naked except for a dark paint made of animal fat and soot. They usually have no hair.)

The Wild Tribes 

(This fearsome group of nomads ware oiled skins in winter and moss leg wrappings in winter and have feathers in their hair.  Some have been observed riding giant bog deer - an exceptionally rare species, though most ride elk.  They hunt with otters and are well versed in bow-craft and the use of bolas and the sling. When in combat they come clad in a seemingly impenetrable armor.  How it is manufactured is unknown - but it appears magically strong and light, and slightly flexible.  An area best avoided by the maliciously motivated.)

The Whispering Grass Tribes

(This apparently peaceable group of families living on the long-grassed mosaic of lakes and islands that are the Frayan marshlands dress head to foot in fawn coloured leather. They have short curly hair (unusually for the Galmearans) and lead a seasonal life of secrecy hunting wild water fowl and fish.  They appear to hibernate through the winter in grass globes constructed just before the first snowfall.  In the summer they dwell in small conical tents)  

- Moot

(This is a summer meeting place, by a vast goose colony, where the abundance of eggs and white meat allow a festival to occur. On one occasion the Kreyician spies did observe it being broken up by a marauding party of bears.  Instead of fighting them or scaring them off the people simply took to the water in skin boats and waited until the bears went, some two days later.  The festivities where then resumed.)

The Daemon Tribes
(Only one Kreyician spy returned from this area, and he was mad.)

- Inishamayan

(Amongst his incoherent babalings the spy mentioned dances carried out on this island. To quote him "There they hungry are, WATCH OUT! Dancing like the cranes, their beaks - oh their beaks - They called the island Inishamayan I tell you!  Inishamayan - don't go near if you value you pizzle! AND WATCH FOR THE EYES!!  Oh the eyes!  Tall as houses. Oh the eyes... Slender they are, red and black and white and the colour of flesh...  All up and down and no sideways, like lines of rain in the grass. That daemon island, those dancers, KEEP AWAY, cant keep away, stay BACK, I CANT!! ohhh ohhh...  Breasts like eggshell, nipples like flame. OH THE EYES!!!  Watch for the eyes my friend - the cranes will eat them as you stare like onions - and your lolling leching tongue - peck peck peck PECK!!! AGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!  I swam away I swam away I was hungry I wanted the bulrush roots so I swam but the burning beaks followed me they stilted followering yab yab ligaaaa!....

Is that a duck pie?  Yum.")

The Clay-god Tribes

("These tribes appear to worship clay idols that they build around the marsh.  They are usually formless and hollow, fired from the inside without expertise. The clever among them occasionally build small temples around the mightiest of them, though most are allowed to weather outside back to the soil. They constantly seem to be in search of new gods as the ones they have do not appear satisfactory.  They are thus considered a particularly unintelligent and stupidly focused set of tribes. simple military tactics should deal with them swiftly" - Kreyician spy report. I happen to know from personal experience that these "clay-gods" are in fact chimneys from winter hibernation huts.  Structurally they only last one season, so the huts are ceremonially burnt and the crumbling chimneys are abandoned each year, when a new area with fresh driftwood fuel is moved to in the subsequent winter.  They are in fact more intelligent than most Galmearans in their management of resources.  Almost none die in winter.  Their Gods are not their chimneys (they are animists, so their chimneys do have spirits) instead being part of the most common Galmearan pantheon, that with the family of Earth, Sun, Water, Greenwood and Fire at its head.)

Cochnai 

The Civilized Tribes

- Nanda

- Cimbowli

- Ilmolio

- Aataifohegil

- A'Eatabooa

- Pirooahie

- Bwenan I'Sowin

Shenambi Forest (north to south)

The Fish Eater Tribes

- Burilis

The Red Axe Tribes

- Naratacea

The Cat Woman / Cat Faced Tribes

The Cloud Weaver Tribes

Estoadai Grasses

The Blue Axe Tribes

- Eianae

- Olkie

The Raheeni (The Inertia)

The Tented Tribes

- Shelaada

The Noble Tribes

- Lismad

- Lowea

The Sluttish Tribes

- MaBrae Staa

(Ok's Western Rebles - isolated Dwarvish Hive

- The Draran)

The Vay Mountains (north to south)

The Tall Tribes 

- Difani

The Dark Path Tribes

- Thiow Thiow

- Chiooriss

The Canny Tribes

- Agwan

- Deer Avon

The Wild Wood

The Deep Tribes

- Greenwood Temple

The Tribes of Death

The Shadow Tribes

The Higher Grasses (north to south)

Nomadic Tribes

The Daemon Music Tribes

- Uradeur

- Earth Temple / Temple of the Deep Earth

- The Colmarsh

- Dihrlarm

Mwnnwdd Abeata Hills 

The Weapon-maker Tribes

- Old Red

- Old Black

The Middle Grasses

The Incense Tribes

-Matalean

The Eastern Forests

(Blackbeard's Eastern Rebles

- Urikjolt

The Featherheads

- Tamdrey

Hobdowns

No permanent tribes

- Teash Traiding Camp

Shi Hills

The Tribes of the Cities of the Skies 

- Minx

The Dark Woods

The Leafbright Tribes

- Gaeib

Marrin Hills (east to west)

Tribes of Spears 

- Felt

Shining Tribes

- The Temple of the High Sun

Drisghol Hills (east to west)

The Many Coloured Tribes

- Grange Mass

Man-mother Tribes

Lliddydram Woods

The Invisible Tribes

- Ambara

Vayrean Hills

The Weak Tribes

Deep Oak (north to south)

The Hiding Ones

- Moss 

The Tribes of Many Arrows

The Tree-hut Tribes

- Ameahga

- The Last House

The Lower Grasses

The Sitting People

Ceolarai Forest (north to south)

Gypsy Tribes

Bandit Tribes

- Ealosai

The Faceless Tribes

The Cortez Mountains

The Far Away Tribes

A description of Cananshall

Cananshall

"An outline of Cananshall

Canashall is a large open plain, home to the Plain-Elves (also known as the Dim Lwis - 'Grassy Nomads').  This was once mostly a forested area, except in the far south, where the earliest Dim Lwis lived.  These early Dim Lwis where small in number and really just a collection of tribes that lived on the edge of the forests of Gaer.  This ancestral land is what is now in depute with the later arriving Humans of Domtajoya, a regretfully permanent state of raids and counter-raids having developed. 

During the time of the Dwarvish Empire the area of modern Cananshall was deforested for the pits and furnaces in the north.  The encroachment east of this deforestation was only held in check by the marshy swamp forests of Darngaer, where Dwarvish military tactics did not work due to the lack of solid ground.  

When the Dwarves had deforested the mineral poor area it was abandoned, and the ecology of the plains to the south took hold, including large herbivores such as horses and bison. Following in their wake came the Dim Lwis and slowly the area of Cananshall as it is know today was born.

An old map of Cananshall, from imperial times, but before Humans.

The Dim Lwis do not have permanent dwelling places, but they do have a series of meeting points for certain people or certain times of year.   In old maps one never finds these marked, and I suspect they are not in fact that ancient.  It may be a phenomenon of the last thousand years or so that larger regular gatherings of the Dim Lwis took place.  They speak a dialect of Calobelvan. The people of this area are famous for their stamina, being able to cover terrific distances with a endless skipping lope that a sprinter might be able to out run for the first hour, but would overtake any other race come nightfall. They live for the main part in tall many-poled tents and travel on foot with horses and bison and dogs pulling their belongings on wheeless carts consisting of two long poles with a sling of hide between them.

I chose to highlight Hwngadiaer as the capital because it is perhaps at times the biggest, but they would not regard it as a capital city as human lands might.  

Rivers of Cananshall

Laldarin - (Opposite of Oak River / Relaxed Oak River) - In all probability this was called Darin (Oak River) in pre-imperial times and renamed subsequently in recognition of the deforestry, and the fact that beyond it to the west there was no oak left. Now some oak has regrown, and the Dim Lwis, as well as the tribes of Darngaer, tend to be pretty relaxed!

Lwnivanin - (Silver Song River / Silver Is Who River) - Most likely this is Silver Song River, being fast yet steady and with clear mountain water and a silvery stony bottom.  Avan is a rhythmic wailing walking song, while Van is to speak. However the name could simply be Silver River, with weird ancient elvish grammar.

Meanathin - (Beautiful Snow River) - this river swells when fed by the spring-melt of the mountain snow.  It is also so fast it flows white for the first three-quarters of its length.  It is exceptionally beautiful.

Some of the meeting places of Cananshall

(Notes on the dialect - these annoyingly elegant people will not stick to one form of words when bending it to braking point might make it trip off the tongue even more beautifully.  So my apologies, but I could not translate all of the names, and I very much doubt an elder of a Dim Lwis clan could either.) 

Faerncer - (Wolf Wood) - A meeting place for certain northern tribes. Some coppice is practiced here for tent poles.

Gandeal - (Lone Hill Windy) - A isolated hill in an otherwise gently undulating landscape. A meeting point for some festivities and prayers

Neqabesh - (Eating-Teeth Cat?) - This pointy peeked island of mountains has somehow never been taken by warvish might from the Elvish people (at least they say so).  It is considered a holy places for death and war.  The older people go here to die, often climbing the mountains looking for the mountain cats that live there in order to ensure that the sacred cats get to finish their lives.

Lasuli - (All Cloud?) - A dark place of frequent cloud - no travelers have been here and lived.  Although, having said that, there is also a rumor that this a a trading place with the Dwarvish black market!

Nisi - (?) - Not much is know about this place at present - When I turned up it was simply a big flattened area covered in horse droppings. Maybe it was the wrong time of year...?

Hwngadiaer and the tents - the main tent is a vast home of meeting.

Hwngadiaer - (Summer Garden) - The summer meeting point of the Dim Lwis. This is where almost all of the tribes gather for mid summer revelries, with tribes turning up from late winter and others leaving in mid autumn.   The grazing here is exceptionally lush, due to many hundreds of generations of concentrated manuring and grazing. Here is a happy place where one can witness the best of the plains people - singing, storytelling, magic and animal care.

Aesgstea - (Knowledge? / Raging?) - Home of the tribal councils that come together when the Dim Lwis need to act as one. This happens only every few years or so.  There is no prescribed time.

Harean - (?) - This is the only permanent dwelling of the Dim Lwis, though the inhabitants themselves always change. It is a trading spot to meet with the other Elvish people to the east and north.

Mordeantha - (Spirit / Ancient Birch Air?) - A mysterious meeting point, possibly connected to a semi-cult based around a long departed Mage who lived near by.

Madwasha - (Bones Blood Water) - A peaceful place devoted to child-rearing. Once the site of a bloody battle with the southern Humans.

Hathesa - (Warm ?) - A winter gathering spot for some tribes.

Muliseadath - (The Nomad's ?) - A trade center for goods going to and from the south. Only very brave Domtajoyan traders would risk the Disputed Land to reach it, but the high profits make it worth it...  I got a very high quality rug for my boat from here, and some fine rum. The river is still navigable this far in land."

Some maps of the Globe

[I shall publish Faadon's descusion of these maps at a later date - for now here are a few raw maps...]

A view of the Earth as it would be seen on the back of a dragon flying very high over the continent of Ottarol. In the center right is the ancient homelands of the Dwarves of Rock.  The dessert at the bottom is the home of the sand Dwarves, while the crescent in the center is where one can find dinosaurs. Essam, bottom left, is the now deserted continent where the Mage-created lifeforms such as Humans, Elves and Dwarves where created.

A rough design for a Sea-Nation trading map of the globe.  It serves the ego of the Sea-Elvish captain rather than any practical sense, not even having the currents depicted.

The captain who commissioned this map was obviously most interested in the trading opportunities in north-eastern Ottarol...

...and in Tuyun. There is an established trade rout following the currents and the winds between them. Yeno, the island in the top right, for instance, is not named, for the Ice Dwarves here do not engage in trading.

Ottarol , Gortyn and Essam depicted in the opening page of a book called "An Anthology of the World"

Tuyun, Tuy F'Fowyap and the Jagraana Archipelago in the same book.

A map of the "Elvish Shore" (slight nudity)

A map of "the Elvish Shore" by Faadon Naano

The Elvish in this banner reads "[th]e elvi[sh] [sh]ol" - The 'l' at the end must be a miss spelling - it should be 'r',  the character to the right.

Green Man from above map

We will look more closely at the main map later, but for now will content ourselves with the border.  The pattern of spiraling vegetation is a variation on an old Elvish one.  In the modern age, when the Elvish peoples feel themselves to be in somewhat of a winter for their race on this part of Ottarol it is without leaves, except for close against the green man, the symbol of the green god who gave life to the paper which made it. This means the original (perhaps this is the original) was drawn on Gaer tree-paper, rather than Vellum.

A similar green man from a much older Elvish map

The depiction of a Dragon and a Unicorn is also an old Elvish devise.  These two beings are believed to be the creatures most in balance between the three substances of matter, consciousness and faerie.

Dragon from the map above

Unicorn from the Map above

Unicorn from an older Elvish Map

 

The beings at the top are a reference to the fact that though this area is referred to as the Elvish Shore this is an anachronism.  Now there are Dwarves and Humans living in this area, and the Elves are no longer a united race but split into countries.  

Forest Elve

The first depiction is of a traditional forest dwelling Elve of Gaer. With longbow in hand and curved blade by side this being carries the long banner of history in their hand.

Dwarve

Next comes the fearsome Dwarvish iron clad warrior who first arrived in this land in the early days of their ancient empire. Now they inhabit rebeliouse Nazuralnitotzu and certian remnant townships on the Western Plateau.  They bare aloft the broad axe of their people, symbolizing the cutting and the carving out of these lands into nations. The Galmearans who they drove out of these lands are not depicted.

Plains Elve

Here is the long legged Plains Elve of Cananshall. Although their people roamed the area before the coming of the Dwarves it is only through the deforestation of the Dwarvish Empire that their current lifestyle fully developed.  They are depicted carrying an atlatl, two small spears to through it with and a long barbed spear. The atlatl symbolizes the length of their limbs, the two darts their speed and dispersed population. The long spear symbolizes their own unconquerable strength. Above them fly two birds symbolizing freedom, and beside is a mobile tipi symbolizing that they are forever on the move, while no Plains Elve can be depicted without a horse! 

Human

Lastly is the Human. in an old pot helm and a hunting spear. Faadon Naano has chosen to depict them as the noble but poor beings they where originally when they came to these shores. This is probably because given the choice between the northern Kingdom of Brach, with its often overblown and cruel leaders operating in a strictly feudal society, and the Common Lands of Brach to the south where an older and more democratic system based of gift giving and bravery is in force, Faadon felt the later better fitted the flow of history.  The castle depicts their reliance on these structures, and the banner planted in the earth depicts how reliant they are on personal stakes in land.  It is shorter than the elvish banner given their shorter time here. It is also set up to show their historical opposition to the Elvish people.

Compass Rose

At the bottom of the map is Faadon Naano's elaborate illustrated compass rose. 

Domtajoyan human and Cheetah

  

Domtajoyan trade goods

To the left is a dark skinned human from Domtajoya, the Human land in the extreme south-west. Behind him are trade goods symbolizing the wealth of the region, as well as the fact that most contact in the region is through trade rather than conflict. The Domtayoyan man brings decorated carpet, a famous export of the region, a jeweled  knife, a snake skin belt and a box of spice. Behind him are the long grasses of the fertile bits of his country and the sacred cheetah of his Savannah. He carried in his hand a ceremonial hammer-axe, as used on state occasions.

Elvish Shaman

Elvish trade goods

The Elvish woman is a shaman from the north eastern Sharmail Island region. (This area is called the Haunted Islands on this map - this is the Human name and serves the purpose of making the surviving underground vaults of this ancient library relatively undisturbed - this is a trick learned from the Galmearan people.)  She brings fruit from the forest gardens, a sealed drum of olives from her trade partners in Zingomoogaer, and the vital reason for her continued existence on this island, copies of the ancient elvish books.  Behind her is the  timid sacred deer of the island, and thick vegetation. Her weapon is the saw-spear, developed from the tools the elves have both used to tend their forest gardens and defend their privacy.  

The strait horned cow skull is from the Cananshal region, and the spear looks like the ceremonial spears of Darngaer, both regions central to the map.