The Iande Empire

The basic concept of the contest series:

--The Iande Empire is ruled over by Emperor Nixus. He has three sons that he wants to marry off to eligible young woman. The oldest is Prar, who is quiet, refined, and a good student. The middle is Delt, who is talkative and fun-loving. The youngest is Tamd, who is sweet and eager to please.

--Emperor Nixus has decreed that one young lady from each of the empire’s regions will come to the capital city. Here is will be decided which girls are best suited to marry the princes and eventually rule over the empire.

--As a participant, you will choose one of the regions to represent. You will then create a character that you believe could come from this region. You will continue to portray this character throughout the remainder of the contest(s).

--There will be several “mini-contest” where you are asked to perform a specific task, such as dressing your character in specific types of outfits, describing your characters reactions to the princes or the city, writing a poem, or creating something with drag and drop.

I will try to answer all other questions as they come up.

Rules:

--Try to stay in character.

--Try to follow the rules of the individual mini-contests.

--I (GyspyMoth) am the final arbitrator of what is okay and what is not. (This is a just-in-case rule ;) .)

--Try to stay within the limits of the setting. I’m going to try not to be too picky here, but follow these guidelines at least:

            ~non-magical

            ~non-modern

            ~non-futuristic

            ~non-belligerent

--Any doll maker is fine unless specified for a specific mini-contest.

--ALWAYS be polite to all other players. This should probably go without saying, but I want to specify it because your *character* CAN be rude to other *characters*, IF (and only if) it is okay with that character’s player. Make sense?

The Regions:

(The map is the cover for this ‘story’.)

1. Bascalin

Bascalin is the capitol city. It is temperate and urbanized. They import most of their foods. It is a city of learning, filled with lawyers, doctors, and professors. There are also many merchants selling goods traded from all over the country. They are a very proud people who consider themselves to be vastly superior to the unsophisticated outlying regions…despite the fact that they completely depend on them for survival.

2. Phitra

Phitra is a temperate area filled with rolling hills. It is best known for its wine, which is celebrated throughout the empire. They are largely self-sufficient in terms of food, but rely on the capitol Bascalin for many of their other necessities. They are a fairly easygoing people, more interested in enjoying life than in making a profit, which suits their trade partners just fine.

3. Joltan

Joltan is grassy area that is ideal for rearing livestock. They are known for their dairy products, meat, and tough leather. They take pride in providing Bascalin, the capitol, with a large portion of their food. They have a special relationship with the capital city and enjoy some luxuries—such as easily accessible universal schooling—that are not commonplace in other regions.

4. Wenth

Wenth is a polar region, filled with ice and snow year round. To live here you have to be tough. The main means of support in this area is hunting. This provides food to eat and fur to trade. Wenthian fur is considered a luxury in most of the empire and is highly prized. The hunter who can kill an animal with minimal damage to the fur is well respected in Wenth

5. Lestria

Lestria is made of temperate grassland run through with rivers. The land is made of clay, which makes agriculture very difficult. They have to import much of their food. But they do have lots of clay, and they have become wonderful potters. The best earthen works in the empire come from Lestria. Lestrians are generally willing to live uncomplicated lives. The person who tries to exceed their station is frowned upon.

6. Elgra

Elgra is a fierce people. They used to be comprised of many tribes that fought among themselves. Even now there are very strong rivalries between different clans. But now they are united. They still raise strong warriors. They defend the empire from enemies to the southwest. The area is desert, and most of the people live gathered around small oases. The Elgra never ignore an insult quietly.

7. Tarsa

Tarsa is a mountainous region known for their mining of metals and precious gems. They are not as rich as the cultures that use their metals and gems, but they do alright. Tarsans tend to be somewhat uncommunicative and slow to warm up to people, but they are very loyal.

8. Thand

While Tarsa mines the gems and metal, Thand has learned how to use it to its best advantage. They make the most luxurious jewelry in the empire. Delicate and refined, but also tough and resilient, it is impossible to get better jewelry. People from Thand are both well-off and pround, for good reason. They also tend to be overachievers bent on perfection.

9. Kretrin

The Kretrin don’t really have a pinpoint spot on a map. They are nomadic and travel all over the empire. They serve as traders, swapping furs in the far north for jewelry in the far south, and everything in between. They tend to be distrustful of non-Kretrins, but they are always civil to everyone. They come off as very private to outsiders, but among their own social groups they are quite open.

10. Mindor

Mindor is home to the empire’s quarries. Work here is hard with little reward. There are a few in charge who are quite wealthy while everyone else struggles to get by. The land is rocky and does not easily support farming. But Mindor stone, gravel, and marble is well respected throughout the empire. The people generally work too hard to have much time to enjoy life.

11. Nyph

Nyph is in the middle of a hard wood forest. Because of this, they have become wonderful carpenters. They are known throughout the land for their woodworking abilities. Most children are trained in a specific form of woodwork from the time they are ten. Those who do not receive special training usually become lumberjacks, which is a much less desirable career path.

12. Ostreel

Ostreel uses the metal mined from Tarsa and wood from Nyph to make the strongest weapons in the empire. Many of these weapons are traded to the warrior Elgra, but their products go all over the empire. Ostreel are fastidious, but also really like to carouse and drink on their days off.

13. Hesh

Hesh is a temperate region used mostly for agriculture. Their most important crop is wheat. They have a strong rivalry with the Foushe to the southeast, who provide the empire with rice. Both regions feel that their crop is more important to the survival of the empire. The Hesh are generally very down-to-earth and practical, as well as proud and stubborn.

14. Foushe

Foushe is a lush region best known for growing rice. They have a strong rivalry with the Hesh to the northwest, who provide the empire with wheat. Both regions feel that their crop is more important to the survival of the empire. The Foushe have a highly collectivist culture, placing the survival of the group over that of the individual. They value fitting into the group and not standing out over much.

15. Prendit

Prendit is a temperate, coastal community. They are less populous than many of the other regions, but the exercise a disproportionate amount of control. This is because they are the empire’s main shipwrights. They build, sail, and navigate the ships that trade up and down the empire, and even venture to other lands to gain more exotic goods. They also defend the empire by sea, keeping any ambitious enemies at bay. Prendit people like to travel the world, but they love to come home, too. They are a close-knit community that work to support each other at all times.

16. Vandrea

Vandrea is a stretches from the sea into the mountains. Their main livelihood comes from rugged goats in the mountains and sheep in the lowlands. They rely on the meat and dairy from the animals for their own survival. They also make exquisite cheeses from the goats that they trade to their neighbors. But even more important than their famous Vandrean cheeses is their wool. They have the finest wool in the empire, and they extract high prices for it. Vandreans value peace and knowing when to hold your tongue.

17. Zyle

Zyle is a forested are that has developed an odd form of industry. They have become glass workers. They create everything from durable windowpanes to delicate decorative baubles. They value patience and a light touch. They tend to be a private people, and the rest of the empire doesn’t know as much about them as other regions.

18. Rixier

Rixier is known for their fantastic clothes. Many of their people are talented tailors and seamstresses. They make the finest clothes in the empire. The average citizen of the empire cannot afford their work, but anyone who can afford it will invest the money, as it is a sure sign of prestige. They learned the skill out of necessity, since their region is near the polar region Wenth, and they needed to learn how to create warm clothes to protect themselves, especially during the long winters.

19. Qan

The islands of Qan are mostly known for their fishing. Being island people, they are very good at it. They are a gregarious people who value a good story as much as hard work. In fact, all of the islands have a tendency to tell fantastic tall tales. Other regions find this either tedious or entertaining. But the Qan like their islands, and don’t often venture beyond them.

20. Sorl

The Sorl live in the center of the largest of the Qan islands. They were traditionally separated from the Qan culturally by the jungles which surround them. Now the division is less obvious, and Qan and Sorl often intermix. The Sorl have begun to grow coffee in the last several decades. Some Sorl are upset that the jungle is being destroyed for this purpose, but others are very pleased to finally have a product that the rest of the empire is actually interested in buying. As coffee becomes more popular across the empire, many wonder what will happen as Sorl runs out of room to grow more.

21. Antre

Antre is a very wet region, but they have learned to cultivate silk worms to produce fine silk. Despite the final product, producing silk is not a glamorous job. Antre has been having trouble lately as many of the young adults are leaving for work elsewhere. In many regions this would be unthinkable culturally, but Antre has always had a looser sense of ‘home’ than many regions. Many of the young people who remain behind in Antre are becoming bitter at their lot in life. They don’t know that conditions are far worse in many other regions.

22. Chastry

Chastry is a tropical region ideal for growing all fruits. This is their main export and source of income. Chastries are generally friendly and easygoing. They value openness and are usually willing to give a helping hand. They are also less competitive than other regions. They have faith that their fruit is important, and don’t feel a need to prove their worth to other regions.

23. Ytria

Ytria is another tropical region, but this one is less cultivated than Chastry. Instead of growing plants for consumption, they go through the jungle harvesting from the plants that have already taken root on their own. They collect spices which are highly prized across the empire. If you have only ever had salt to flavor your foods, a little bit of pepper or nutmeg can be quite an amazing thing. They do not like to socialize with the other regions, and even their trade is done by a select few. Most Ytrians have never even seen a non-Ytrian.

24. Unvalla

Unvalla is technically a sub-region of Ytria, but recently they have tried to differentiate themselves. This is because they think their product is more important than spices. They produce cocoa, and they are very proud of it. They have started to cultivate it, which also goes against the culture of Ytria. They still do not have a high level of production, so most of their trade is with the capital Bascalin. But slowly they are reaching a wider audience.