Tayel
From Ardesia
Tayel is a small Queendom carved out of the conflict of the Witch Wars, situated in the isolated Swift Valley, with access to the sea to the east and south. It is ruled by Queen Tayel Roseheart, who liberated the area from the witches over a hundred years ago. The Warrior Queen is well-loved by her people though she rules with a firm hand. Tayel is moderately prosperous and boasts a strong military and a modest navy. Its people are literate, and the arts of writing and bookbinding are well-respected. Tayelans are not adventurous people on the whole, rarely straying beyond their borders. Tayelan traders are slightly more bold, venturing as far as the Wayfound States with their cargoes.
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[edit] Geography
Tayel inhabits a fertile valley carved long ago by the Swift River. It is bound by the Dayfall Mountains to the west; by the Wraithspur Mountains to the north; by the coast of the Bay of Shoals to the south; and by the Fens to the east.
The fertile valley yields crops and feed during the short growing season. The Swift and Serpent Rivers irrigate Tayel's lowlands, the Swift also serving as a passage to the sea. A range of high hills called the Spine runs along Tayel's south coast.
[edit] Climate
Tayel's climate is temperate. The growing season is of average length. Springs are wet: in most months there are few days without rain, though downpours are uncommon and a steady gentle rain is the norm. Early in spring the wet is bone-chilling, but late spring is wet and warm. Summers are warm to hot, some years with a heat wave of a couple weeks at the peak. Rains are infrequent but regular. Fed by melt water–swollen streams from the surrounding hills and mountains, droughts are rare. Fall is dry though with frequent mists rising from the Swift River, rolling in from the Fens, or lowering over the south hills from the sea. Winters are chill, blanketing the land with snow that comes early and melts only when the spring rains come.
[edit] Economy
Tayel has a number of useful resources.
The hills of the Spine produce some heating coal, though the region consumes enough that coal is still imported. Abundant clay pits supply the kilns of Tayel's potters, and the hills give good yields of copper, some gold, and the occasional chunk of turquoise.
A variety of wines and vinegars are made from amaranth. The region's sheep-milk cheeses are well known, as are its exports of wool, felt, and raw fleece. Fish is the most common meat on Tayelan tables, and is preserved and exported in salted, dried, ground, paste, and fermented forms. Livestock exports are sheep and goats.
Trade goods produced in Tayel include books, silk, hempen cloth and sailcloth, copper and bronze vessels, brass ship fittings, wood planking, bronze chain, blades, and armour plates.
Common imports to Tayel include Coster beer and olive oil, and Wayfound salt beef, zinc, tin, and coal. Rarer imports include salt, peppercorn, silver, Iolan dream crystals, horses, and grape wines.
[edit] Culture
[edit] Food
A typical Tayelan meal includes fish, or more uncommonly, mutton, and seasonable vegetables. Stewed, fried, or steamed, the meal is often flavoured with amaranth wine, vinegar, citrus juices, or a variety of sauces derived from dried or salt fish. Meals are accompanied by flatbread, sheep and goat cheeses on occasion, and wine, beer, or salted milk. In late spring and early summer the seasonable vegetables are amaro (amaranth greens); in late summer and in fall, carrots, beets, and cabbage. Mushrooms are harvested in all seasons save winter. The vegetables are sometimes prepared breaded and fried. In the fall, vegetables are pickled and eaten through the cold winters. Dough boiled in milk, or fried in amaranth oil and sweetened with beet syrup, are year-round treats.
Tea is a common luxury imported from abroad. It is drunk hot except for summer, when it is left to cool in stoneware jugs in cellars and streams after being steeped.
A popular summer dish is ceviched fish. The variety of citrus fruits and freshwater fish available in Tayel make for a large number of variations on this simple dish. In Rightspear, the availability of saltwater fish makes for more exotic and sought-after variations.
[edit] Dress
Loose hempen robes or shirts and trousers, cinched at waist, wrists, and ankles (or knees for wading), are the most common garments worn by field workers, and various fashions have elaborated on this base. Long felted coats are worn as proof against the cold in the winter. In the early spring when it is wet but still cold, the coats are rubbed with tallow or oil to waterproof them. These are traded for felted wool or goat-hair cloaks worn over hemp clothes as the spring warms.
Tayelan clothes, when dyed, are most often shades of red derived from amaranth flowers, or less common light blues derived from a mushroom harvested in the Serpent Wood. Rarer dyes include reef purple (derived from the secretions of a marine snail) and Lamara indigo, both traded from coster ships.
[edit] Currency
Three coins are in common circulation in Tayel: the gold Rose, the silver Thorn, and the copper Leaf. The conversion rates are 77 Thorns to the Rose and 28 Leaves to the Thorn. They are minted with the intention that their material back their value, though the high quality of the Tayelan mints means that they are accepted at face value in practice. The obverse of all Tayelan coinage is stamped with the Queen's coat of arms and motto. The reverse varies by denomination. Tayelan coins are known for the quality and fine detail of their minting.
| Metal | Weight | Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rose | gold | 1oz | 77 Thorns |
| Thorn | silver | ½oz | 28 Leaves |
| Leaf | copper | ½oz | – |
The Rose is a five-lobed gold coin, stamped a five-petaled wild rose on the reverse. Roses are rarely used as currency, more often kept as bullion to back a treasury or bond, or used when moving large amounts of wealth is necessary. They are most commonly seen in trade when land is purchased with currency.
The Thorn is a large, curved tear-drop silver coin with a curved rose thorn on the reverse. It is also sometimes called the "talon" due to its shape. Thorns are the highest denomination commonly used in trade. Because of the precision with which the coins are struck, skilled merchants can tell from the curve of the coin whether a Thorn has been shaved; Thorns are hence preferred for large transactions. Only the richest wages are paid in Thorns.
Leaves are the common currency, used to pay wages, buy lodgings and meals, given as tips, and are the common coin exchanged for commodity goods. The Leaf is a small, round lozenge–shaped copper coin stamped with a rose leaf on the reverse.
