Aldwynne

Capital
Redcrest, in the South-East, beside the coast and mountains.

Regions
Southern mountainous region, gets water from the mountains, so there’s a lot of farming there, all along the range, lots of small towns. Cities on each coast. Westernmost coast doesn’t get a lot of trade, since it’s next to the Second Sea, so it’s mostly a fishing village, called Alderdock. Lots of people live there for the plentiful food and water.

On the easternmost coast is Redcrest, the capital. They have all the things of Alderdock, but they also have plentiful trade. Fairly regular tides, few natural disasters, so they have the chance to build their buildings high. They switch between building in dark or light stone, dark heats too much, but light reflects too much. The result is a checkerboard town at its base. The people value color, and try to use it to emulate their magically influenced dreams, as a result there are colored hangings everywhere. Usually they are strung across the streets to provide shade. The city is sprawling, with narrow streets and many levels, going up the slopes of the mountains, and down the coast.

Settlements, lone houses, a few small towns follow the rivers going north. Spanning the delta at the northernmost point is the city of Ashmer. Just as bustling as Redcrest, but with more seasons, more of a change between night and day. There is a little more immigration there, since it is more similar to the rest of the world. Primarily seafaring, very strong rules and governance. Most outside influence in Aldwynne is in Ashmer, hence the stronger government, and weaker religion.

People
The native people have reddish skin, dark hair and eyes, tend to be tall and muscular.

The southern people do not appreciate cold temperatures, and have darker coloring. They wear many colors, and have many temples, since the region is dominated by the Worship of the Sun. Their clothing tends to be loose, with pants, belted at the hips. The calves, ankles, shoulders, arms, and waistline are considered the most beautiful parts of the body, and are generally exposed or fitted by their clothing. Hair is worn long, and essentially the entire south is considered under the eye of the sun, so residents rarely have loose hair, unless they are foreigners. There is some mixing of other races in there, but most foreigners don’t like the south, because they are used to having darkness for at least a few hours a day, and often find it difficult to sleep. Still, there will be the occasional light skinned or light haired Aldwynne. Colored shade hangings are common, even outside of Redcrest. The rain is enthusiastically celebrated, usually with the singing of old songs, dancing in the streets, and the lowering of the colored shade hangings to let the rain flood and clean the streets. Often the hangings will be utilized in the dances. Many will participate in group dances, some will dance with a partner, some will simply run through the streets, trailing colored streamers and hangings and singing as loudly as possible. It is a time of giddy joy, particularly the first rain of the rainy season, often the celebrations will last longer than the rain.

The people in the mountains have paler skin, and lighter brown eyes, but since they don’t trade with foreigners, and foreigners don’t usually want to go further south than they have to, there is little in the way of mixed people, most have the red and black coloring of native Aldwynne. They have much more rain, and don’t have seasonal monsoons, and seasonal drought, so they don’t celebrate the rain. They instead have summer festivals to celebrate the end of the rain. These are some of the only times they see their neighbors. It mostly involves an exchange of food.

In the north of Aldwynne, around Ashner, the night actually exists during the winter. There are more foreigners there, so many more people will have light skin and hair. The temperatures are slightly cooler, and so the natives have lighter skin, though still red. Their eyes are a lighter brown, and they will sometimes have hair that is closer to brown than black. There are more foreigners, so the Worship of the Sun is less frequent, and since the sun does not always shine on this region, the land is not always under the watch of the sun, then worshippers need priests to consecrate it, or to have a child be born to tattooed members of the religion. Many places are under the eye, but most are not, so those who are religious will spend a lot of time taking their hair down and putting it up again.