Shanidan (pronounced SHAH-nih-dahn) is a nation in the Stormlands in the northern Ilara Plaetau. In its democratic temple-communities, veneration of ancestors is central to both culture and governance, with the great halls of whisper urns places for contemplation and counsel.
Geography
Shanidan lies between the Tcheren Mountains to the west and the Amanas Mountains to the east in the northern-most part of the Ilara Plateau before the ranges converge into one and continue north. It is separated from the rest of the plateau to the south by Erei's Passage, a difficult to traverse stretch where the mountains nearly converge, becoming less than ten miles distant in some parts.
The plateau in Shanidan is no less hospitable than it is to the south - though less bitterly cold, it holds other dangers instead. The many deep canyons that cross it, carved by long-vanished rivers, are home to many dangerous beasts best avoided, and as a result nearly all inhabitants of Shanidan reside in communities nestled into protected valleys in the mountains' foothills. For a great many thousands of years, prior to the known arrival of people to the region, these rivers that begin in the Tcheren and the Amanas have instead flowed directly down into the earth in immense waterfalls that are believed to eventually connect to the Depths far below. They are generally avoided.
Most of Shanidan is effectively a cold desert. Rain falls rarely - any precipitation nearly always comes in the form of winter snow - and temperatures can swing wildly. As midday nears in the warmer months it is typical for the people of Shanidan to retreat from the heat into their homes or to rock outcroppings that serve as some of the little nature shade, yet nights bring no relief, for then the frigid air descends. Summers are short and winters are long.
Most vegetation in the region comes in the forms of shrubs or grasses well-adapted to the cold, arid climate. Trees are exceptionally rare and always diligently tended to and protected.
History
The earliest inhabitants of Shanidan were the descendants of the Shenii, a tribe that once lived in the forested lowlands of Bohaar to the northeast but almost a millennia ago migrated over the Amanas Mountains and into the plateau. Driven away from their traditional lands by incessant conflicts with the hobgoblins of modern-day Kad and Vukararn, they settled in the plateau, where they were forced to adopt their old ways to a landscape very different from what they knew. Over time they became the modern-day people of Shanidan, joined on occasion by new arrivals, mostly those fleeing the oni-ruled lands to the west.
Demographics
Nearly all Shanidanii are human. Hobgoblins, dwarves, tengu, and others are not unknown in the region but are quite uncommon.
Culture
Religion
Society
Languages
Despite their relative isolation, the people of Shanidan are often proficient in multiple languages. Nearly all speak Eshehi, their own tongue descended from that of the Shenii, but it is not unusual to additionally know Aanar, the most common language of Bohaar, or Ukkarak, the language of the northern hobgoblins.
Architecture and urbanization
Food and cuisine
Fashion
Government
The people of Shanidan govern themselves in a democratic manor, albeit one that relies heavily on the wisdom and advice of the ghosts of their deceased. Community councils, or circles, commonly convene in the whisper urn libraries of local temples, allowing them to consult the dead when matters arise in which the living lack confidence or knowledge. Though the advice of the ghosts is generally only meant to be taken under consideration and given the same weight as the input of any other, in many though not all matters what they advocate is often the route taken, such is the level of deference. Participation in the circles is open to all adult members of a community, an opportunity nearly always taken by all when their availability allows, and they can become quite packed and raucous as the voices of the people and the ghosts all intermingle.