Flint Hills

The Flint Hills region sits in the very center of the Heartland of the realms of the Theissiesc. The landscape is dominated by rocky steppes and stone hills that crack and buckle as the tectonic plates under the land scrape by each other, and the weather generally remains in a constant state of rain, storm or gloom, as in the majority of the Theissiesc heartland. Here, large mining communities and smaller hunting communities litter the land, forming a fierce confederation of municipalities that both fight bitter feuds amongst each other and rely on each other for support in times of foreign invasion. The Theissiesc of this region generally give the impression others think of when they think "Theissiesc", for most travelers outside of Theissiesc lands come from these parts. Houses here are built of whatever materials are on hand, built of stone brick, timber, plank, marble, or carved out of the stone itself. Oftentimes natural crevices, caves and the like are utilized as a foundation for a building or even whole town. Other times, buildings or towns are built on top of natural and sometimes man-made hills and cliffs. In a few cases, villages or strongholds are built on or of the pillars of stone and obsidian that dot the land. These massive monoliths seem to have been fashioned by colossi of a distant age. The Flint Hills municipalities chiefly rely on the beasts in their woods and caves and whatever various scraggly, hardy plants that manage to find a crack or crevice to cling to for food. In years of plenty, they ship the excess to the Highlands alongside the carts of food from the Rhyosyyd. They export large amounts of iron, timber, sulfur, silver, and corundum, and also deal in salted meats.
The people here live their life mining, building, and marching to war on a regular annual basis. The land here is not quite so bleak, barren and cheerless as in the rest of the heartland, but that statement is much like saying that a rabid bear is less dangerous and fearsome when compared to a raging behemoth. The flint hills are any tough and daring miner's ultimate dream, large veins of ore lie exposed amongst a landscape of solid stone hills that appear as if they were chipped off of the Windshorn highlands and flung over a barren wasteland (in fact, if tales be true, this is exactly the case). Here, at least a few scrub brushes manage to grow between the jagged slabs of solid rock, and in the south the Cragpine Forestlands creep into the heartlands, creating the Krigsweld Woods. Dangerous beasts of various types live both in the steppes and in the woods to the south, the most dangerous of which include the massive omnivorous, tree eating Behemoths, and the ancient Spirit Hosts that congregate here on their way down into Labyrinthine. This is not to mention the warring trollish and Theissiesc villages that inhabit the area, constantly feuding amongst themselves. Despite all this, the Flint Hills remains the hub of all land trade that passes through Theissiesc lands, controlling a pass through the heartland that welcomes merchants. The neutral state of Tolkunsceit controls this highway, and generates vast riches through the trade, for this road is one of the few connections that remains open and relatively peaceful between the Westermourne and the Midlands. The Theissiesc are given access to whatever goods they require through this and generate income through the tariffs and taxes applied to all trade that happens between the Cragsworn, the Westermourne, and the Midlands. Many merchants shie away from this route, preferring less profitable and much longer routes or destinations, but many more yet brave this trade route for its potentially extremely lucrative outcomes, both wealthy veteran merchants who have taken the route many times and are exceedingly wealthy because of it, and those young and brash looking for an adventurous beginning and great economic boost to their trade.
The Flint Hills armies all answer to a Lord of the Steppes, who under certain circumstances can unite all the holdings in the land to one common cause and march out in defence of Theissiesc lands anywhere. All Theissiesc provinces have such a Marshall, but the Flint Hills folk fight amongst each other to a much larger degree than in the other provinces and so make the Steppe Marshall's job all the more crucial and difficult. In cases of raids and minor invasion, the defending holdfast is left to fight off invaders themselves, while in times of mass defence full power is given over to the Lord of the Province, while all internal feuding is strictly prohibited during this time. The border between the Flint Hills region and the Highlands does not really exist, there forms a land in between that is much like both, but the inhabitants live independently from Highlander rule, living in clans and holdfasts like the rest of the Flint Hills. By most accounts, this land is part of the Flint Hills, though geographically the other case could be argued. Folk from the southern Midlands and the northern Westermourne, as well as folk from Varen and many other nations and empires all gather in the Theissiesc city of Tolkuns'sceit (keyhole/keygate, in Theissiesc'lein) to trade all manner of goods. Through the markets of Tolkuns'sceit the Theissiesc are given easy access to nearly all imported goods that they could ever need or want, and the rest they can get from Saltport or Krakencrag. It is here that they buy their horses, the best of which are given over to the Black Riders or other dragoon regiments. Others are sent to the frontier to be used by raiders and warriors, especially in the Rhyossyd, or to be put to other uses. In other holds, they are most usually used for labour or for food, and horsemeat is considered to be a delicacy among the rich (or at least less poor) Theissiesc. Only the most sure-footed Theissiesc-bred ponies are used for transportation away from the toll roads and in other Theissiesc lands. If not for the trade conducted with other countries as a result of Tolkunsceit's position between the Midlands and Westermourn, many Theissiesc throughout the Confederacy would have a lot less food and live in even more abject poverty.
Flint Hills warriors fight with an amalgam of various weapons, varying from region to region. The Obsidian Conclave near to the Windshorn Highlands, for example, arm their soldiers with powerful firearms, heavy hammers, and heavier armour, all of obsidian make. Krigsweld Rangers of the South Kryvolkir fight with varied firearms, poleaxes, and short, deadly piercing spears or bardiche's, wearing lighter, looser fabric trenchcoats. The mining villages of the North Kryvolkir, Verkund, Dunskain and Tursk municipalities in Central Flint Hills fight with varied mining picks, ravens beak hammers, and other weapons with heavier reinforced leather trenchcoats and iron armour, with plaid of grey, blood red, black and dark yellow-hazel brown signifying each clan respectively. The warriors of Central Skelgard, located between the highlands and the Flint Hills, fight with similar weaponry, but with heavier armour and some weapons similar to what standard Highlander armies use, and wear the colours of navy blue plaid to signify their clan. The neutral state of Tolkuneisc fields deadly Dragoon regiments, most regiments mounted on tough cragsland horse, armed with full heavy armour and wielding pistols and horseman's picks, to keep the merchant roads clear and safe for traders. The "Black Riders" refer to either the elite force of Dragoons, whose armour and weapons are forged of rare Black Meteorite that is mined in the Cragsworn, or to clan Theivaryyd cavalry, which is often confused for Tolkun dragoons amongst outsiders. Many Flint Hills clansmen also fling molotovs in battle and use Flint Hills Red Rye as a disinfectant for wounds.
The Flint Hills Folk also have a penchant for flinging things at trespassers with giant trebuchet emplacements installed at most every stronghold and village. Ammunition may include - but is by no means limited to - great half tonne, 1 tonne and even 2-tonne stones, iron shot, loose crushed stone, enemy corpses, dung, and blazing sulfur. There are even records of flinging supplies and ammunition to other nearby holdfasts and encamped armies - In the infamous Slaughter of Obsidian Ridge, a beleaguered band of flint hills miners and hunters held off an entire Sanctian army while the inhabitants of the nearby town, whose garrison had been defeated and mostly killed off in the assault the day before, flung ammunition and supplies at the brave band from their trebuchet emplacement in between hurling blazing sulfur upon the heads of the aggressors. Or so local legends say.
Some Westerlanders and Sanctians live amongst the clans of the Flint Hills, for varying reasons. Some have been made exceedingly wealthy by trade through this region, and now make themselves even wealthier yet as resident trade directors and guides for more novice merchants. Others have developed a strange love for these seemingly unloving and unlovable people and their strange ways. Yet more live as missionaries among them, and some as criminals seeking an escape and new life. The Theissiesc will not recognize bounties on outsiders heads and execute any outsider who commits violence within their lands without being in the employ of the Theissiesc themselves, and so criminals are relatively safe here and remain unharried by bounty hunters - by Theissiesc enforcement. However, they are only safe so long as their criminal past stays in the past. As a result, many smaller ethnic communities of non-Theissiesc have established themselves within the flint hills, and as long as they live by Theissiesc laws and prove useful enough they are left to live as they please - if they can navigate the feuding politics of surrounding clans and fend for themselves. Many integrate themselves well into the Flint Hills, forming smaller clans themselves or joining another clan, though they must be careful if they start out on their own. If a clan doesn't take kindly to their presence, most especially the over-territorial Clan Verkund, they may find themselves homeless or even dead.

Type

Geopolitical, Clan

Alternative Names

the Windshorn Steppes, the Windshorn Lowlands, the Cragslands, the Heartland

Demonym

Flint Hills Clansmen