Talmithe

Talmithe
Capital	None
Ruler	Multiple
Government	Great Houses
Demonym	Talmithen
Adjective	Talmithen
Languages	Elven; Tabahan; Aserdian
Religions	Elven pantheon; Aserdian pantheon; other local faiths

Talmithe (pronounced tall-ME-thay) is a land inhabited by many diverse peoples, who are all ruled by the four Great Houses, elven tribes descended from those cast out of Eita during the Banishment. Life in Talmithe can often be chaotic as the interests and laws of each Great House collides with those of their subject peoples.

History

See also: Banishment

Though the various peoples of Talmithe have their own long histories, they are all tied together by the events that brought the elven ruling class to the region. In the middle to late third millennium, social upheaval caused by Eita's creation of the the aeroliths reached a point of crisis. Those that opposed the aeroliths, who largely based their objections on religious grounds, were forced to leave the old elven kingdom under charges of fomenting unrest. Upon leaving the Cradle these Banished split. One of the largest groups made their way to Talmithe, where they eventually organized themselves into the first Great Houses, but this was not a quick process; it took several generations for the elves to replace their old social structures with the tribal system of the Houses, and several more to fully consolidate their collective control of Talmithe.

Demographics

The people of Talmithe are quite diverse. Humans and half-elves account for much of the population, but they are also joined by lizardfolk, catfolk, grippli, and Bleached Bone gnolls. Despite forming the ruling class, the number of elven inhabitants of Talmithe is relatively low.

Culture

Names

Names take a variety of forms in Talmithe. Many use typical Laqtan mononyms or even the Chaskan-inspired first and last names of Oscan. The elves of the Great Houses, however, have their own way of naming themselves, a practice that has spread beyond the Houses into other tribes as well. In this traditional method, an individual's first name is their house, or tribal, name, their second name is their given name, and their third name is their family name.

Economy

The Great Houses rely heavily on their subject peoples to support themselves. All demand tribute in some form, whether that be through levying taxes, demanding manpower for corvée labor, or through some other method. These demands are nominally balanced by the guarantees of safety and stability the Great Houses give towards their subjects, but the elven tribes can vary in how much they respect the promises they have made. When the Houses falter, however, so too does the tribute flowing to them, and inevitably all fall in line once again.

Within Talmithe, the vast majority of trade is internal between the many tribes of the region. Agricultural resources, textiles, spices, ceramics, animals, and jewelry are especially common trade goods. Use of currency in Talmithe varies widely - most are more than willing to accept coins made of precious metals, but these frequently end up melted down to be made into something else.

Coffee is the one resource produced in Talmithe that is traded in large quantities with the broader world. Talmithe is the only known region where coffee grows in great quantities, though the undead of Tarkuus have begun to start cultivating the crop as well, and therefore the tribes can and do trade it to merchants from abroad in an exchange that greatly favors them. These merchants then sell the beans for exorbitant prices in far away places - in many places the drink is seen as a novelty and status symbol for the wealthy.