Lywind

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Governorate of Lywind, Circuit of Benacia, State of Modan
Lywind flag.PNG

Lywind coa.PNG

Feudal Status: Govenorate
Capital: Lyhigh
Largest Cities: Twoggle, Oggle, Boggle

Local Leadership Title: Governor
Local Government: Colonial
Current leader: Eliza Carstens

Local language: Praeta (upper and administrative classes only), Istvanistani (Lywind dialect), Laqi (spoken in East and North)
Local Religion: Cedrism


Geography

Geographically, Lywind is simply a vast plain extending along a fertile coastal region- like many counties of the Khaz Seaboard, Lywind produces a bounty of crops- especially barley, hops, wheat, and corn.

Lywind is something of an oddity among Shirereithan county-level regions, as it was never fully developed until the mid 1500s, unlike many other regions of the so-called ‘home counties’ of Brookshire. It was originally organised as one of the constituent counties of the Barony of K'Tzuni, before passing through various permutations to become a governorate of the State of Modan.

Unlike its neighbouring counties of Amarr and Modan-lach, Lywind's culture remained associated with that of the serfs, with the lands they toiled upon becoming a resource base for larger armies and empires, whilst the Lywinders themselves maintained a relatively agrarian society with a dwindling population.

Even today, especially after the collapse of Lichbrook Lywind remains a hugely sparsely populated area in relation to its neighbours, and although not remote, the Lywinders rarely make a point of straying beyond their county’s borders. Lywind as a region contains relatively few cities of respectable size, the only substantial one being Lyhigh (also the seat of the administration), so called due to it being located on the only hill of any notable size within the large plains of Lywind. The area is mentioned as Lywind Dale in the Ages of Shireroth: Volume III.

Map

Lywind Map.png

Culture

The culture of the Lywinders is a simple one- their language was wiped out centuries ago, and the last Lywinder to speak the local language died under the reign of Kaiser Aleijan II, though the Lywinder accent is still very strong with many local words still retained- a source of mocking from other Shirereithans.
However, what Lywind does possess is a vibrant artistic community as of late, and the more wealthy Lywinders who have since moved to Shirekeep have become moderately successful poets, sculptors, actors, and playwrights. Many say that it is probably the thoroughly monotonous scenery of the county which inspired these more outgoing locals to need to convey their county’s bleakness with the world through the medium of art.
Lywind’s flag is a chequered brown and red, shown to represent the fertile soils and wheat which make the Lywinders comfortable and rich, and the red representing the evil forces of nature which ravage the little county. It was also the battle banner of the Lywinder leader Lyssanson, who managed to forge a moderately successful Lywinder Kingdom in these lands during late antiquity. The county arms also derive from his ancestral clan’s arms. Lywinders comemmorate Lyssanson on July 1, when he was defeated and killed at Lygovsk just seven years after founding his Kingdom. Descendants of Lyssanson are obliged to add the prefix Ly to their first name and ‘Sanson’ to the end of their last. Therefore, if a Thomas Jones was the descendant of the county hero, he would be called by the locals Lythomas Jonessanson.
To the East near the Lach-Modanian border, the majority of people are Laqi by ethnicity and use the large plains to their advantage to practice their skills as horsemen. To the great annoyance of the Lywinders, the Laqi call this area ‘Western Lach’ in common parlance with eachother. The actual Lywinder population is only around 70% of the county’s tiny population, who mainly live in rural settlements dotted around the plains. Traditional Lywinder architecture is perhaps what sets this county apart from any other in Shireroth, as to the unwary Lywinder towns simply appear to be vast circles of brick. This is due to the high speed winds which rush across the steppe from the sea to the South, giving the county its name of ‘Lywind’, literally meaning ‘mighty wind’. Thus, the Lywinders walled their cities with vast barricades of stone to keep the wind out. Therefore, there is no room to build out of the walls so many of the oldest city houses can be as high as seven floors; this of course meant that the walls had to be built higher to protect the houses from the fierce storms, giving the towns their current appearance.
The local staple diet is delicious crusty wholewheat bread filled with melted cheese and olives, which are grown near the coast of the county. This delicacy, known as Lywinderbrot has taken Shireroth by storm sold as a sausage sandwich garnished with a strange kind of local mustard, the contents of which most Lywinders do not claim to know.