Talliastu (pronounced tah-lee-OS-too) is a province of Viridia. Long split between the mainly human coastal cities and the sparsely populated, primarily orcish interior, in Y9932* simmering tensions in Talliastu finally erupted with the declaration of a new orcish khanate, Hkarzda. Though the orcs remain disorganized and without central leadership, Viridian administrators and the legions have not yet reunified the province, in significant part due to their cautiousness around instigating a larger conflict.
Geography
Talliastu is, or was, a large province in southwestern Thadria. To the east it meets the province of Herren at the Amani River, while the Chaska Sea serves as its boundary to the south and the Sea of Ersas marks its western edge. In the north, adjoins the provinces of Ertan and Penmaerd. These, however, are its official Viridian borders. In reality the amount of this land that the Dominion controls today is much smaller, encompassing two triangles of land, one in the southwest of the province and the other in the northwest.
Large parts of Talliastu, especially the region now within Hkarzda, are covered by grasses and low shrubland, with more forest cover in the south and east. Much of the region is quite rugged. The Silverwood Hills of the interior are named after the unique silverwood trees that grow there. Prized for their use in art, and more rarely carpentry, trade in this material has almost ceased after the orcish rebellion began.
History
See also: Hkarzda
Viridia has long maintained a practice of granting large land grants in the Silverwood Hills as estates to retired janissaries and their families, as a reward for their long and loyal service. While there have never been large numbers of janissaries at any given time, through the generations and over the centuries the orcish population of the region has grown markedly. Some families that now inhabit Talliastu are the descendants of janissaries many generations removed.
Though considered an integral part of the Dominion for centuries, there had long been a sense of unease and unrest among the orcish inhabitants of interior Talliastu. Many viewed Viridian administrators as prioritizing the southern, mostly human, cities over the interests of the orc estates. This culminated in the declaration of a new orcish khanate, Hkarzda, in Y9932*, created in the image of the Druzda Khanate.
This separatist movement was not universally supported, however. Not only did the southern cities remain loyal to the Dominion, but a very significant proportion of the Silverwood orcs rejected the movement as well. As a result, the region has been in a low-level state of civil war since Y9932* - while open battles are essentially unknown, minor skirmishes and raiding are commonplace, including across the new de facto border with Talliastu.
Settlements
The capital of Talliastu is Malhassal. Other major settlements in the province include the following:
Officially, in Viridian eyes, the following settlements also fall within the province, but today they are under the control of the Hkarzdan orcs:
Inhabitants and culture
As is the case with Viridia as a whole, most of the inhabitants of Talliastu are human, with sizable populations of orcs and half-orcs. Even before the orcs of the Silverwood Hills declared their independence they were a minority in the province, though they did form a majority in the interior, away from the more densely populated coastal cities.
Viridian administrators retain a degree of control even in parts of Talliastu that the orcs claim as their khanate, as many orc families remain loyal to the Dominion and sometimes receive support, though often covert, from the Viridan government. Retired janissaries are still granted estates in some parts of the Silverwood Hills, in areas where those loyal to Viridia can safely travel. Some observers view the continuation of this practice, despite all the dangers it carries, to be a Viridian attempt to slowly erode support for the khanate without becoming directly involved. Viridia is bound by law to grant a level of political autonomy to the Silverwood orcs - while declaring independence certainly far exceeds these rights, a widespread belief amongst Viridan administrators is that direct military intervention would enrage the significant number of families that only marginally support the Dominion and increase support for the khanate.
As with neighboring Herren, many scholars believe the name of the province to have religious origins. Ancient works written in the Chaskan language, now extinct in Thadria, hint that the appellation Talliastu is an altered form of a name honoring the goddess Taliash.