~~NOTOC~~ ====== Qhashdea ====== //Gateway of the gods// Qhashdea is centered around the region of fertile land between the Balaam, Onnissa, and Hasshak rivers to the Tannah sea. During most of the 4th age the region would be divided among large populous city states that dominate surrounding farmland. These city states are some of the oldest in the world. Many neighboring peoples have myths claiming Qhashdea to be the birthplace of mankind, and the qhashdeans themselves say the region is where the first humans descended from heaven before migrating to other places. The first recorded histories in Qhashdea date back to the [[polemos:2nd_age:main|second age]] when powerful mages ruled as god-kings. The exploits feature these mystic kings in their clashes with various rival civilizations such as [[Zulithan]] and the ancient [[polemos:2nd_age:factions:romalia|Romalian Empire]]. ===== Geography ===== Qhashdea's geography is dominated by three major rivers that generally flow north towards the Tannah sea. The Onnissa and Hasshak flow down from the Dusk Mountains, while the Balaam flows out of the Great Centras Forest. In the lowlands between the rivers one finds rich farms along with wilder swamps and small lakes. As one travels further south or farther from the rivers the uplands are dominated by arid grassland and rocky badlands, though lush oases are never too far away. ==== Duidain Desert ==== An arid plain on the north coast between the Onnissa and Hasshak rivers, the Duidain Desert grows little but meager scrub-brush and receives little rain. Its infertility and scattered salt-plains are explained as either a gradual receding of the Tabus Deathfields, or the result of repeated tsunamis that flooded the region during the [[..:..:3rd_age:events:elesh_rebellion|Great War]] that were brought about to bring divine punishment on the evil of Nian. ==== Balaam ==== Known to the Qhashdeans as the "river of the gods" (competing for a similar claim to the Rahiel of [[polemos:4th_age:factions:zulithan|Zulithan]]), the region around the Balaam supports the inner heartlands of Qhashdea, with the oldest and most insular city-states. ==== Erugarat Echoglade ==== FIXME Old Qhashdea mirror/ghostly ruins ==== Matut Terracerise ==== FIXME floating terrace rainforest, river reforms ==== Moal Hills ==== A large relatively flat hillland seated between the Onnissa and Hasshak rivers, the Moal hills have supported nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes for millennia. Lumped together by the Qhasdeans as Moalites these herding migrants are often purchased to supplement the manpower of the city states for labor, warfare, or trade. ==== Nod Shiverwood ==== FIXME trembling trees? Wandering wilderness/lost woods ==== Onnissa ==== The region around the Onnissa river that marks the border with the Midnight Desert of [[zulithan|Zulithan]]. Historically the region held a significant population despite the river's relative infertility to the Rahiel and Balaam, with people mostly in fortified settlements along the coastline. These forts and the towns that supported them were often ruled by client kings caught in an ever-shifting web of tribute and dynastic marriage with Qhashdea and the [[polemos:2nd_age:factions:orises|High Kingdom of Orises]]. However, during times of internal stability both major powers were often happy to keep the area as a buffer zone for trade and resource exploitation. Eventually most of the river basin came to be dominated by the city of Onis, by which the river became known, which was rich in cedar and near the western mountain pass. In the [[..:..:2nd_age:main|High Imperial Era]], the Pax Romalia and Romalian colonies brought the region further investments and coastline infrastructure, with Onnissan shipyards being a vital industry for the Romalian navy. A cosmopolitan Onnissan culture, distinct yet blending Qhashdea, Orissian, and Romalian elements, flourished until the [[..:..:3rd_age:events:elesh_rebellion|Great War]]. Being a military stronghold for Romalia, Onnissa saw heavy fighting and the destruction of Onis and the complete scattering of the Onnissan people. In the [[..:main|4th Age]] the Onnissa region receives seasonal ash storms from the neighboring [[..:locations:dusk_mountains|Dusk Mountains]], leading to a boon of fertility. The destruction of the Onnissan culture and its trade networks, however, has kept the region a lawless and isolated backwater in the Tannah Sea. Though some cedar forests has regrown, and [[..:languages:pheocian|Pheocian]] and [[zulithan|Zulithan]] colonies of Utibal and Sifothai, respectively, have restarted trade between Qhashdea and Zulithan, Onnissa remains a pale ghost of its former glory. ==== Hakkamanah Titanyard ==== FIXME ancient battleground, massive animals ==== Hasshak ==== FIXME Hasshak river basin ==== Sharesh Rustwilds ==== FIXME Centaur raids, chariot battlefields, semi-nomads. ==== Tabus Deathfields ==== A wide saltmarsh near the once-famous harbor of Nian, whose ruins now lay along a shattered coast. Tradition holds the deathfields are the result of the siege of Nian during the [[..:..:3rd_age:events:elesh_rebellion|Great War]], when the mage-king Sadah fell into madness and sacrificed his people to cast plagues and curses to lift the siege. Though he achieved victory in the bloody battles that followed, the curses lingered and spread. The city and its harbor were abandoned and fell into ruin, and the marshy fields are still reported to expel pools of blood and diseased corpses that feed swarms of man-eating flies. Misama from the deathfields spreads plague and illness upon the wind, leading to the area remaining uninhabited except by the most foolish, desperate, or depraved. ==== Tashatu Craze-Rift ==== FIXME worldtear affects regional "dreamfire," leading to insanity and/or divination. ==== Ul Floodlands ==== Named after an ancient (and long abandoned) city of Ul, the region occupies the reedy salt marshes where the Hasshak meets the Balaam at the sea. Wholly unsuitable for larger trading ports and highways, the area is known for small fortified outposts, river pirates, and overgrown ziggurat ruins. ===== History ===== ===== Government ===== ==== Parties, Ideology, and Politics ==== ===== Political Divisions ===== FIXME basic information about provinces, provincial map ===== Foreign Relations ===== ===== Military ===== ===== Economy ===== basic economy info ==== Income and Human Development ==== ==== Science, Magic and Technology ==== ===== Demographics ===== FIXME general ethnicities ==== Ethnicity ==== === Eruite === FIXME Echoglade people === Darite === FIXME === Hakkamanah === FIXME 'Immortal' === Merite === FIXME coastal Qhashdeans === Moalite === FIXME Moal hill people === Shareshi === FIXME Sharesh steppe people === Ulonian === The majority ethnicity of human Qhashdeans, named for the fabled city-state of Ul. Ulonians have brown skin and, based on their lineage, either dark hair and eyes or blue to white hair and eyes based due to [[polemos:races:anthegal|nephilim]] admixture. Many dark haired Ulonians bleach their hair to mimic high-admixture lineages. ==== Language ==== ==== Religion ==== ==== Education ==== ==== Health ==== ==== Crime and Law Enforcement ==== ===== Culture ===== ==== Popular Culture ==== ==== High Culture ==== ==== Food ==== ==== Sports ==== ^ Qhashdea ^^ | Flag || | Map || |Capital|None (No Central Authority)| |Official Languages|[[..:languages:Qhashdean]]| |National Languages|[[..:languages:Qhashdean]], [[..:languages:Marretic]], [[..:languages:Pheocian]], [[..:languages:Halser]], [[..:languages:agothonian#koine|Koine]]| |Races|96% Human \\ 3% Dragoon\\ 1% Shapeshifter| |Demonym|Qhashdean| |Government|Independent City-States, Mostly Autocratic| |Alliances| | |Official Religions|[[..:religions:Qhashdean]], [[..:religions:Yazta]]| |National Religions|[[..:religions:Qhashdean]], [[..:religions:Yazta]], [[..:religions:Hoshania]]| |Area| | |Population| | |Currency| | |GDP| | |Agriculture| | |Staple Foods| | |Imports| | |Exports| |