Better Know A County 1

[Scott of Hyperborea]

I'm going to redefine my position as Imperial Inquisitor to allow me to generally inquire about things. There doesn't seem to be a lot of crime going on now, not counting those spiders in Agnesia or the rebellion in Monty Crisco or the missile thefts from Caligae or those gnomes who keep disobeying ducal decrees in Elwynn, and as far as I know those are all under control, sort of. So the First Official Imperial Inquiry will be an unrelated attempt to get some activity and cultural development called Better Know A County.

The game works like this: I ask a question. You give an answer for your county or other subdivision. Whoever gives the best answer, as measured in things like completeness, creativity, and self-consistency gets a small monetary prize, possibly to be raised to a large monetary prize if I get national funding.

For example, I might ask "What kind of food is popular in your county?". Maybe the count of Yardistan describes how everything there is very spicy and similar to Mexican food, and there's also a lot of fish because it's on an island. And the Count of Discontinuity describes Straylight's program to create vat-grown genetically engineered meat, and the Count of Monty Crisco gives the ancient Imperial recipe for moose stew.

I'll probably actually use the food one eventually, but let's use this as the official first question:

In the real world, everyone's familiar with Irish beer, Swiss watches, and Japanese electronics. Within the US, everyone associates Maine with lobsters, Florida with oranges, and Michigan with cars. What products of your subdivision are famous across Shireroth or the world?

If we get four or more answers, I'll consider it official and hand out a prize to the best.

[Gman Russell]

Speaking soley for County MASS, I have three words: Religion and Gemstones.

Mirioth has one of, if not the oldest known Cedrist Temple in all the world. It's been there since the beginning, and it's also commonly recognized as the biggest Cedrist Temple (I'm sure Brappa will have something to say about this, though). Khaz Modan (now known as So-Sara) was where the ancient empire started, and where Cedrism began as well. Mirioth was where the famous Guide to Cedrism was written as well.

Besides Cedrism, County MASS also has the largesst concentration of cults in all of Shireroth. The Cult of the Descendi, the GHOST Program, and the Enlightenment all call County MASS home.

And the second thing County MASS is known for, are its gemstones. According to the MCS resources map (which no one really pays attention too), Mirioth is the only place in all of Shireroth that produces gemstones on any mass scale. I believe this is why County MASS should win the prize. Cheers.

[Leo Fenrir]

Wintergleam, though not until quite recently, has become famous for its high grade breed of sheep and the best quality wool available in this plane of existence. This stemmed, of course, from the Count's somewhat questionable love for the critters. Wintergleam has been offering its sheep and wool for a wide variety of services including heating installations.

[Andreas the Wise]

It's fairly obvious, but I'll say it anyway: Melangia is famous for History.

The island and its inhabitants are dedicated to Sakat, the Squid-God of Time and Patron God of Historians. He made the Melangians his own from the first historian. In the Dark Ages, they kept the history and prophecies of Kildare alive; and they continue to record all known history. Beyond Sakat's nifty ability of being able to go back to any point of time up to his birth, so he can always get an accurate primary source; the Time Revisionists* work to make sure that events go as History says they should, leaving a double edge to the accuracy of all their historical accounts.

*I should really pull all the story bits out of the Jasonia War and put them in one place.

[Aurangzeb Khan]

Alalehzamin was formerly infamous as the tripartite county of Lesser Zjandaria, it is the heartland of the Babki-remnant in Shireroth. It has been in the past been host to syncretic interpretations of native and Babki culture and lore.

It has carried over elements of the notoriously draconian Elwnameh, the harsh and repressive laws which governed Elwynn during the Ardashirian ages. It has an Elfinshi Affirmative Action Programme and is home to the notoriously departmentalised "Celestial Bureaucracy".

The County Militia served as the template for the future development of the Elwynnbrigaden and the Imperial Volunteer Forces.

It has a wide variety of industries dedicated to the manufacture of legitimate machine parts.

There is a tolerably functional map of the seat of County Government in Ardashirshahr. Ardashirshahr was incidentally the scene of the notorious assassination of Kaiser Hasan.

But primarily the products of Alalehzamin most liable to be noted by the rest of the community are it's excessive bureaucracy and sheer grinding human misery.

[Scott of Hyperborea]

Among the small but zealous community of water connoisseurs, springs from Hyperborea are known to be among the best in the world, and even supermarkets serving the less discriminating will carry Hyperborean brands of bottled water. Environmental issues are hardly a problem, as the bottles are generally glass and priced too high to become general nuisances. Kahanisu Sidli is generally considered to be top quality (and most expensive) both in and out of the country, though people trying to prove how hip and independent they are will of course have their own preferences.

Lirikoth Yyitek is the only remnant of the old Elwynn Hi-Tech Engineering consortium, and was nationalized by the government after the old company failed. It's best known for bizarre combination vehicles, like the flycycles used in the Nelagan war, and for high-quality private boats, planes, and the occasional zeppelin. Any weird and stylish form of unconventional transportation has a 50-50 chance of having passed their doors at some point.

Hyperboreans love jewelery and are expert jewelers. They import most of their raw material from Mirioth, but opals and amber are found locally. They also deal in glassware and the occasional sculpture, and are well-known for art and architecture in general.

[Gman Russell]

Cool, I learned alot. Now who won?

[Scott of Hyperborea]

Darn, I was hoping no one would ask that.

Everyone's was pretty good, but I'm going with.....................................................................................Gman. For answering according to the prompt instead of just giving a general description, and for using the MCS resource map, which I hadn't even though of. And for a generally good post. Your 20E is in the mail.

[Gman Russell]

Thanks! Because I won, i'll split the cost of the next contest, how about that?