Turmish, Country

Turmish was a democratic republic located northwest of the Vilhon Reach, on the Sea of Fallen Stars. It was a densely populated nation, famous for its mercenary companies and fair-dealing merchants that traded across all of Faerûn. Despite the fame of its hireswords, the country itself was peaceful, prosperous, and civilized. Turmish had a good reputation, with its warriors, and merchants especially, being respected and well-liked. Its welcoming people, peaceful nature, fertile countryside, and focus on commerce over warfare earned it the nickname "Heartland of the Reach" across the Inner Sea, but for being something of an "overlooked backwater," it was known as "The Land of Surprises." While Turmish suffered many hardships in the Wailing Years after the Spellplague, it recovered admirably following the Second Sundering and the ending of the Great Rain in the late 15th century DR.
“...And so at last we came to Turmish, and the lamps were lit, twinkling through the trees, and we were welcome, with warm hearth-couches waiting for us.” — Excerpt from A Merchant's Musings by Holdryn Nalaster

Demographics

“The hordes of Turmish are as numerous as the waves upon the Inner Sea.” — A common saying in Starmantle
Turmish had a reputation for being populous, even crowded—the "hordes of Turmish" was a byword in other lands for a large gathering of people or things. But this was a myth, arising from its crowded neighbors in the Vilhon Reach and the tendency of the Turmishans to travel, especially their mercenaries, compared to more sedentary folk in other lands who thought them displaced for some reason. In 1372 DR, it had a population of 1,693,440 people, with 78% humans, 9% dwarves, 5% halflings, 3% elves, and 2% gnomes, as well as 1% half-elves and 1% half-orcs.
The Turmishan humans were primarily (95%) of the Turami ethnicity, with the remainder (4%) being largely Chondathan. The Turami typically had curly black hair and dark-brown, mahogany-colored skin. They grew tall and muscular, had flattish faces, and were commonly considered beautiful and graceful. A male Turmishan was typically 6.2 to 7 feet tall and weighed 180 to 220 pounds, with slender builder and well-defined musculature. Some thought they had elven heritage.
While most dwarves in the land remained independent in Ironfang in the Alaoreum Mountains and were suspicious of the humans after past wars, some lived in Gildenglade and Ravilar's Cloak. Shield dwarves and gold dwarves also lived in the Aphrunn and Orsraun Mountains. Moon elves and wild elves lived in Xorhun and Gildenglade, rock gnomes in Xorhun and Nonthal, and lightfoot halflings in Alaghôn and Gildenglade. Half-elves often avoided Xorhun but lived peacefully in Gildenglade. Firenewts dwelled in the mountains.
In the 1400s DR, Turmish was regularly visited by those making scar pilgrimages to the Plaguewrought Land to obtain a spellscar. Moreover, a community of kobolds settled in Xorhun, joining the elves, half-elves, and gnomes, while lizardfolk resettled Morningstar Hollows before moving on to the Wetwoods in the Shining Plains.
Culture
“Visiting Turmish? Then forget not—manners are made to be minded.” — Halagard, an old ranger
The people of Turmish had a rich history and developed culture, with many customs that others might see as quaint or even strange. A contented and independent people, they generally took things easy, avoided getting angry, and enjoyed simply being themselves. Turmishans were fairly cosmopolitan and welcoming and were friendly and readily aided their countrymen, even strangers. However, visitors such as merchants were expected to develop a basic understanding of local culture and customs. For folk who wanted to retreat from society and live in peace and seclusion, Turmish was considered the best place for it and it likely had more retired great adventurers, reclusive archmages, and plain eccentrics than any other land in Faerûn. Hence it paid to be polite.
However, after the devastation of the Spellplague left Turmish isolated and struggling in the 1400s DR, the people grew xenophobic, becoming wary and suspicious of strangers. Many of them were restrained and serious and they focused on business while neglecting social pleasantries, seeming gruff and ill-mannered. Fortunately, Turmish was enjoying a restoration by 1489 DR.
During the history of Turmish, the druids of the Emerald Enclave had an important influence on the development of Turmishan culture, at times forcefully correcting people's missteps. As a result, Turmishans had a love of natural beauty and enjoyed living close to the land rather than in cities. Turmishans dealt harshly with those that despoiled their land.
For the people of Turmish, standards of beauty arose from nature, not art, so they studied the natural world and its cycles, from the seasons to the moon's phases. They had a knack for telling the time and the date just by looking up at the sky and out at the environment, even without seeing the sun. A landscape view was preferred to a painting, and a healthy body to a sculpture.
Large mirrors were outlawed in Turmish, owing to the fear of fetch, predatory creatures of the Abyss who used mirrors as portals to the Prime Material plane. An unsettling Turmishan folk song about fetch was a popular explanation for the ban on mirrors.
The game of dragon's-teeth, although treated as only for children in other lands, was taken seriously in Turmish. Adults played all through the afternoon, wagered gold on matches, and took great pride in their skill.
Dress & Fashions
“The measure of a man's worth can be seen in the cut of his beard.” — Old Turmishan saying
Fashions were not followed in Turmish, and they laughed at those who wore something inappropriate or impractical for the sake of fashion in other realms, such as adventurers wearing silk finery in the sewers or bright clothing when trying to be stealthy, or anything gaudy, frilly, or silly. Hence, basic fashions were slow to evolve in Turmish and striped robes were traditional. They favored practicality over appearance, and when it was very hot or humid, stripping off not unusual. Yet they had a love of beauty that they displayed in the clothes and armors they wore and in their tattoos.
Male Turmishan merchants customarily wore long, square, neatly trimmed beards possibly with a moustache. The phrase "square as a Turmishan's beard" or "square as a Turmian beard", signifying that a given deal was fair or that a deed was properly or skillfully done, was common throughout the Vilhon Reach. Warriors of Turmish tended to be clean-shaven, so as not to be mistaken as a merchant. By the late 15th century, the Turmishan square-cut beard was worn by men in general, not only merchants and it was not ubiquitous either. Traditionalists continued to wear the beard, but it was not uncommon for men to go clean-shaven.
Like much of the Vilhon Reach, all Turmishans shared the custom of painting small dots on their foreheads in colored ink or chalk to mark whether an individual could read (one dot), write (two dots), or use magic (three dots). This custom originated with the founding of Academia Vilhonus in Chondath in the Year of the Late Sun, 300 DR. Visitors without these markings were often thought to be illiterate, even of low intelligence, and folk suspected of wearing them fraudulently might be stopped and tested by guards (who'd ask firmly) and even some civilians, particularly nobles (who'd at least ask politely), and neither accepted refusals. People found guilty of false representation in this way could be swiftly executed.

Government

By the mid-to-late 14th century DR, Turmish was a confederation of three city-states, each of them a democratic republic. The capital, Alaghôn was governed by the Assembly of Stars, also known as the Free Council. Members were chosen in free elections and every citizen, whatever their race, sex, or standing, had a single vote and was in turn eligible for election. In turn, the council would elect from their number a chief speaker, titled the Lord of Turmish or the Marcrowne of Turmish. The position included a palace and was aided by a Court Wizard. As of 1370 DR, the position had been filled by Lord Herengar for nine years. In elections, candidates were nominated by their peers, rather than putting themselves forward, and terms lasted only three years. This limited, but did not eliminate, the ranks of professional politicians and their political maneuverings. The councilors, known as 'assemblymen', often had to work long hours and travel around the Vilhon Reach. As a result, it was not uncommon for a merchant to nominate and lobby for a rival to get them out of business for a few years and elected to a position they did not really want. Hence, for a few months prior to each election, politicians spent a lot of time praising one another in a reverse popularity contest. It was commonly considered the oddest political system in the Realms. The other city-states had similar democratic systems and the country as a whole was well-managed and politically stable. Despite the central rule of the Assembly of Stars, as of the Year of the Serpent, 1359 DR, Turmish was somewhat politically fragmented, given its mostly rural settlements and disparate races. The other cities of Turmish were free to govern themselves however they liked, so long as they paid their share of taxes and followed the laws of the Assembly, but in practice they were left alone to deal with their own issues, with the Assembly focusing on national concerns, namely the economy and defense. The Lord of Turmish had few specific duties; their primary responsibilities were maintaining local and mercenary militias for defense of the realm against pirates and rival nations, keeping the waterways free of pirates, and generally ensuring Turmish's continued prosperity.
After the catastrophe of Spellplague, however, by the late 15th century, the country was driven to the brink of chaos by the competitive and desperate merchant costers. In practice, the country was ruled by wealthy merchants, albeit under the watchful eye of the druids of the Church of Silvanus and the Emerald Enclave. The head of the Assembly of Stars served as a chief administrator. At times, the Emerald Enclave seemed to wield more power. The country was a full parliamentary democracy, with each city contributing representatives to the Assembly of Stars.

Defences

Defenses Well-organized mercenary companies and adventuring bands operated as local militias in Turmish. These watched and patrolled the borders and scout out the wildernesses, and so discouraged raids and monster attacks from the mountains. Any raid on a settlement was met by a well-organized and determined militia and a population focused on driving off invaders. Similarly, the navy was a militia of privately owned vessels that could be commandeered as required to combat pirates. However, this also limited enforcement and led to piracy being overlooked, especially in the aftermath of the conflict with Yrkhetep in the 1350s DR, with pirate raids occurring in sight of the capital without retaliation. Otherwise, by 1372 DR, ships patrolled the Vilhon Reach and kept safe local trade routes. Turmishan merchant ships were typically coasters and less often caravels, while fishers used currachs. In the late 1400s DR, ships of Turmish sometimes followed a certain naming convention, with an adjective or descriptor (e.g., Forgotten, Mighty, Morning, Night, Strong, Salty, Tempestuous) followed by a noun for a creature, object, virtue, deity, or notable person (e.g., Albatross, Falcon, Shark, Siren, Sword, Titan, Valkyrie). This order might be reversed if it would make more sense, such as the pirate ship Umberlee's Resolve.
For security of homes and stables, it was common to use sleep-needle traps, which were invented by Phindal of Gildenglade. Stone golem guardians and the like were known to have been encountered by treasure-hunters in the ruins of Turmishan cities.
However, the most unique protectors of the realm were the Ghost Swords, apparitions of swords that, on moonlit nights, led people to hidden bandits, those in need of rescue, or lost treasure. (They also prevented the creation of similar images of blades anywhere within Turmish, so there were no bogus Ghost Swords.) These inspired the founding of the Ghost Swords, a band of defenders who kept watch for threats to Turmish.
Law & Order The law of Turmish was based on the Code of Enlil. According to the letter of these laws, both piracy and smuggling were severe crimes. However, because of Turmish’s fragmented politics, enforcement was lax and punishment was unlikely. Furthermore, there were no extensive customs patrols in Turmish, allowing smugglers to operate widely. Nevertheless, the gnomes cracked down hard on both pirates and smugglers they caught, sometimes without waiting for human law to catch up. Even goblinoids were hard on smugglers, even executing them for "unauthorized" smuggling, namely, not letting them in on a cut of the profits.[35] It wasn't uncommon for thieves, bandits, and other unscrupulous sorts fleeing the authorities, creditors, or rivals to head to Turmish, thinking to get lost there. Some took up their old ways and were disappointed, others were welcomed by the temples and left only with stories.[26]

Industry & Trade

A strongly mercantile realm, trade and commerce dominated matters in Turmish, but this was balanced by the dictates of the druids of the Emerald Enclave. These limited the cities from growing past a certain size, yet kept the people affluent and only a few being especially rich. Nevertheless, there was friction—the Enclave allowed logging only in certain areas deemed healthy to the forest, but this could make work more difficult and costly. On country estates they practiced coppicing, which involved cutting limbs from a living tree but avoiding killing it, so it would regrow in about a decade and producing higher wood yields than otherwise. Coppiced trees were distinctive by their many-trunked forms. Circa 1372 DR, the nation exported salt and glass, mostly to Procampur and Tsurlagol, respectively, in the southern Vast. Its mercenaries usually traveled to Chessenta via Chondath. Grains and timber were produced and traded locally within the Reach. Trade and luxury goods were imported from the Dragon Coast. Metals were also imported. Turmish's food exports made it the breadbasket of the heavily populated Vilhon Reach. Dwarves of the Alaoreum Mountains traded their metals and minerals to Turmish in exchange for Turmishan goods. Dice carved from ivory in Turmish was sold in Aurora's Emporium, as was the cheese known as Turmish brick.
Major sea routes ran from the Dragon Coast and Sembia to near the coast of Turmish, where they either proceeded on to the Alamber Sea or turned more sharply to enter the Vilhon Reach. The strategic location of Turmish gave it the saying "Turmish is the gateguard of the Vilhon."
Turmish was unique in the Vilhon Reach for outlawing the slave trade. Whenever Turmish won the Southsand Games, it freed the slaves it won.
Turmish was famous for its merchants. They were known to be fair-dealing, close-mouthed, and well-armed. Businesses in Turmish were often family-run affairs, and were dominated by the women in the family, with the men serving as little more than faces and traveling agents for their enterprises. Turmishan merchants often emigrated to Battledale in the Dalelands, settling there and contributing to its diversity.

Infrastructure

Cities

• Alaghôn
• Gildenglade
• Ravilar's Cloak
• Xorhun

Towns

• Ayakar
• Banathar
• Centaur Bridge
• Dauntshield
• Ironcloak
• Jathrin's Jump
• Nonthal
• Obelner's Well

Villages

• Bistal's Bottom
• Faerie Well
• The Five Lions
• Holdensword
• Illowwood
• Karthoon
• Merrydell
• Moonhunt Down
• Morningstar Hollows
• Peldrathan's Pool
• Quorngar
• Regalia
• Sambryntyn
• Swordslake Creek
• Tarnring
• Ulver's Lance
• Velorn's Valor
• Vollermar
• Wyvernstone
• Zustild

Ruins

• Marikor
• Shaus
• Scarbarlatine

Roads

• Turmway

History

Summary
Built on the ruins of ancient Jhaamdath, the beginnings of Turmish lay in the founding of Alaghôn in the Year of Patriots, −37 DR. Yet it was not until the rise to power of Dempster Turmish in the Year of Thirteen Prides Lost, 132 DR and his subsequent expansions that the modern nation was founded. Turmish alternated between being ruled by merchant families, strong lords, wizard conclaves, and even a dragon. However, following the resignation of dragonslayer-made-king Corwin Freas in the Year of the Cockatrice, 1248 DR and the establishment of the Assembly of Stars, Turmish was governed as a democratic republic.
The Spellplague of the Year of Blue Fire, 1385 DR, and the ensuing Wailing Years hit Turmish hard, though they escaped the destruction that befell Chondath to the south in what became known as the Vilhon Wilds. The shrinking of the Sea of Fallen Stars harmed Turmish's trade, which was bitterly felt in a country so dependent on commerce. Constant raids from vampires or Erlkazar made Turmishans wary of outsiders.
Following the Second Sundering in the 1480s DR and the concurrent Great Rain, many crops failed in Turmish and famine was widely felt. The Emerald Enclave performed a great ritual that hastened the rains, bringing the Inner Sea to the level it was prior to the Spellplague, and magically restored the farmlands and crops of the country. With its great cities reconnected to the Inner Sea and to trade, along with an agricultural boom, Turmish enjoyed an upturn in fortunes by 1489 DR.
Prehistory The Turami people hailed from far to the east of their future homeland, having their ancestral lands around the Alamber Sea and in the foothills of the Akanal. Their tribes subsisted by hunting and gathering and their pantheon of gods, if any, is unknown.
Eventually, the Turami tribes of the Akanal were incorporated into the empire of Jhaamdath during its eastward expansion after −5005 DR, when it began to settle colonies all around the Vilhon Reach and beyond. The Akanal Turami tribes were absorbed as an underclass of field hands and manual laborers; slavery was forbidden in the empire, at least. They dwelled within the Eastern Province of Thirty Anvils, while the land that would become Turmish was the Northern Province of Granite Grates circa −4000 DR.
Then, after the fall of Imaskar in −2488 DR, their former slaves the Mulan pushed westward, settling around the Alamber Sea and establishing the nation of Unther, and displaced the native Turami there. Some of these Turami migrated westward along the southern coast of the Sea of Fallen Stars and settled in the fertile coastal basin of the Granite Grates.
Jhaamdath was ultimately destroyed by the elves of Nikerymath in the Year of Furious Waves, −255 DR,
In the Year of the Striking Lance, −247 DR, Tyr, god of justice and war, emerged from a portal at Beansidhe Hill near what would later be Alaghôn in Turmish. He was in command of an army of two hundred celestial archons. In a highly targeted campaign known as the Procession of Justice, Tyr's host crossed the Vilhon Reach to pacify the remnants of Jhaamdath.
The northern coast of what became Turmish was once home to Scarbarla, a separate country of fisherfolk and pirates. They expanded their borders only slowly, preferring to focus on the sea and its bounties. When Scarbarla tried to expand inland, it was met with raids from angry satyrs that erupted into full-scale war, with concurrent attacks from vengeful victims of their piracy and several years of harsh winters, which together destroyed the nation. The last settlement was abandoned in the mid–9th century DR.
Founding First recorded in a trader's journal, the earliest known settlement in the Vilhon Reach, the port city of Alaghôn was founded in Year of Patriots, −37 DR. By that time, it was a flourishing port and became a major trading hub of the Sea of Fallen Stars. Seafarers on their way to southern lands, nomadic tribes from the Shining Plains, and dwarven gold from the Orsraun Mountains converged upon the young city to exchange wares. The population grew along these inland trade routes, with many villages forming in the land that would later become Turmish. The success of Alaghôn inspired other trade centers to be established within the Vilhon Reach, first Iljak and then Hlondeth in the Year of Patriots, −37 DR, and others, thus opening trade with the Chondalwood elves and later south Faerûn. The Turmway was built to link Alaghôn and Hlondeth, which traded goods to and from southern Turmish.
But the burgeoning population in the Reach became a problem. In the Year of Clinging Death, 75 DR, the first great plague struck Turmish, along with the wider Vilhon Reach, Westgate, Calimshan, Chessenta, the cities on the Lake of Steam, and the Shaar. The origins of the plague were unknown, but everyone had a theory—priests called it divine retribution for people's love of gold, fisherman thought the water was bad, and sages theorized that vermin such as rats carried disease. Over the following decade, more than half the population of the Vilhon Reach and Westgate, including Westgate's king Kergaard Twinblade, perished. In Alaghôn, the number of dead was so great that many were buried in mass graves. In order for humanity to survive in the Reach, changes in practice were demanded, and instituted. Rubbish and waste were removed from the cities. Druids of Eldath played an important role in reducing the severity of the "clinging death" by cleaning the water supply in cities in the Vilhon, and in Westgate a priest of Ilmater led efforts to combat the plague and was made king in gratitude. After the plague subsided, the peoples of the Reach happily returned to trade as usual, but many wars followed shortly thereafter, both among nations and with pirates.
14th Century
When the Plague of Dragons emerged in the Year of the Wandering Wyrm, 1317 DR, it arrived first at Alaghôn. However, rather than reacting with fear and shunning, authorities and priests responded with reasoned research to limit its spread and develop a cure. They stopped it quickly and with relatively few deaths, until it was eradicated within the Vilhon Reach by 1323 DR. This victory was seen as proof that Turmish had grown to become a mature democratic nation that was peaceful, safe, and content.
Circa 1353 DR, the then Marcrown of Turmish hired bounty hunters to find the notorious thief Tasso. Although he disappeared, again, the bounty hunters gave his spellbook, Tasso's Arcanabula, to the Marcrowne. It was stolen from the palace vaults shortly after, but not before the Court Wizard Sleem recorded its contents.
In the 1350s DR, the arcanadaemon Yrkhetep sought to claim souls to serve him and power his Infinity Train, and induced evil creatures to go to war all around the world, especially in Turmish and Chondath. This caused chaos and several significant battles. Early in the conflict, a band of adventurers attacked the nest of the kobold Scything Claw tribe, killing many and looting their treasures and a religious idol, unwittingly breaking a long-standing truce between the Scything Claw and the town of Gildenglade. Outraged, the gnome townsfolk ordered them to return the treasures in hopes of salvaging the peace. It was too little, too late, and Greshlyrr, chief of the Scything Claw, led the remaining kobolds in an attack on Gildenglade that the townsfolk and adventurers were forced to repel. Meanwhile, for three years, the self-styled King Hetep of Muktar waged war in the southern hills of Turmish, and attacked the petty kingdom of Golconda, who employed adventurers in its defense. Eventually, leaders of Turmish and Chondath learned of Yrkhetep's involvement and sent adventurers to destroy the infinity train. Without the fiend's malign influence, peace returned to both lands. Turmish, being so spread out, suffered few losses, yet was too distracted to act against emboldened pirates in the years after.
During the Time of Troubles in the Year of Shadows, 1358 DR, a significant temple to Loviatar in Turmish was destroyed.
In the 1360s DR, the so-called Cinnamon Dragon was sighted in various places around Turmish. Meanwhile, the Turmishan mage Darbrent Amclara was hunted by Red Wizards after destroying one of their number and destroying their citadel with a novel new spell. Some Red Wizards appeared deep in Turmish to attack mages they mistook for Darbrent. Via a message on a swift merchant caravel to Thay, the Assembly of Stars issued a rebuke to the Red Wizards, both disavowing Darbrent and warning against any further attacks, declaring they would be met with, in their words, "might of magic that is certain to surprise even the most arrogant Red Wizard." Though the Thayans did not (publicly) reply, observers were stunned by the Turmishans' temerity and feared the Red Wizards would ruin the country, but others supposed the Turmishans had some plan or trap in mind. In other news, there were stories in Sembia of a Turmishan merchant selling a perfume that was actually a deadly poison, killing soon after contact with the skin, though others claimed it turned the skin tough enough to deflect blades. Groups working on behalf of curious Sembian mages hired adventurers to find and acquire this a load of perfume, or even kidnap the merchant behind it.
In the Year of the Tankard, 1370 DR, during the Twelfth Serôs War, the coast of Turmish was also subject to increased attacks from koalinth and ixitxachitls. Despite this, groups in Turmish hurried to seize land in the Whamite Isles, but monsters and rocks destroyed their ships and crews, so they abandoned the effort and avoided the islands entirely. Later, the terrible mohrg Borran Klosk escaped his centuries-long captivity beneath the Temple of the Trembling Flower in Alaghôn, having been released by unwitting street urchin at the direction of Malar. Borran Klosk set about trying to activate an artifact known as Taraketh's Hive to devastate Turmish's ecology for centuries to come, and summoned an army of drowned ones from the Whamite Isles to overrun Alaghôn. Borran Klosk was defeated by Haarn Brightoak of the Emerald Enclave.

15th Century
The Spellplague of the Year of Blue Fire, 1385 DR, changed Turmish's fortunes for the worse, as the Sea of Fallen Stars drained away, leaving Alaghôn's port miles from the new shoreline. The merchant fleet deteriorated and even a century later had not recovered and the once trade-reliant nation struggled. Turmishans became increasingly xenophobic as bandit raids from Erlkazar terrorized them and they were cut off from their neighbors. What's more, the island of Ilighôn became part of the mainland, putting the Emerald Enclave on Turmish's doorstep. Nonthal overtook Alaghôn as Turmish's most prosperous city as the capital became increasingly dilapidated, while Sapra became the nation's only port. To make matters worse, in the Year of Thundering Hosts, 1423 DR, the city of Gildenglade was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Kolimnis, killing almost all its 50,000 inhabitants.
After the Second Sundering in the 1480s DR and the concurrent Great Rain, many crops failed in Turmish and famine was widely felt. The Emerald Enclave and chosen of Lathander, Stedd Whitehorn, performed a great ritual that hastened the rains, until the Sea of Fallen Stars rose to water levels not seen since before the Spellplague, and magically restored the farmlands and crops of the country. Turmish's great cities were once again connected to the Inner Sea and its trading opportunities. This, along with a great agricultural boom aided by the Emerald Enclave, brought an upturn in the country's fortunes by 1489 DR.

Points of interest

Hills & Mountains

• Aphrunn Mountains • Bare Bones Hill • Mountains of the Alaoreum • Orsraun Mountains • the Orbrekh

Passes

• Lilit Pass

Cliffs

• Cliffs of Atin

Lakes

• Evenstar Lake
• Lake of Drifting Stars
• Starfall Stream Pool

Valleys

• Allascar
• Evenstar
• Vale
• Halondar
• Perloush

Forests

• The Faraway

Geography

“Turmish? Make sure ye take a map—or a hire a guide ye can trust... or ten winters from now, ye'll still be trying to find yer way out o' that land. Most folk give up, I hear, 'an just settle down. Ye can find worse places in the Realms.” — Mirt the Moneylender
Turmish was shaped like an arrowhead, with the Orsraun Mountains on one side, the Aphrunn Mountains on another, and the Sea of Fallen Stars on the third. The Aphrunn Mountains ranged on Turmish's southeastern border and served as a defensive barrier between the kingdom and the warlike city-states along the northern shore of the Vilhon Reach. One mountain pass—Lilit Pass—crossed through the Aphrunn and allowed direct access to the Vilhon.
The mountains surrounding Turmish had many active volcanoes. The Aphrunn contained Mount Kolimnis, the Orsraun contained Mount Andrus, and to the southwest was Mount Ugruth. Their periodic eruptions would play decisive roles in the history of Turmish, with Kolimnis burying the city of Gildenglade in 1423 DR, after threatening to in the early 1360s; Andrus destroying the fearsome Candlekairn clan of orcs in 517 DR; and Ugruth causing the downfall of house Gestin in Hlondeth in the Year of the Speaking Mountain, 257 DR.
While there were no large rivers in Turmish, there were numerous pools, streams, and creeks (known locally as "draws"), and the Alaoreum River ran from the Alaoreum Mountains to Evenstar Lake.
The coastline was rocky, as around much of the Vilhon Reach, but it became more gentle northwest of Alaghôn. On the northern coast, the seabed was very deep, so ships could put to shore just about anywhere, which was a boon to pirates and smugglers. After the Spellplague lowered the sea level and reshaped the coastline, Turmish was left with a wild and rugged coast.
There was little in the way of open plains, with only some areas south of the Alaoreum Mountains and in the mouth of the Perloush.
Running through the center of Turmish was an ancient road called the Halondar. The road began at Alaghôn, the capital of Turmish, and continued southwestwards through the country until reaching the City of Serpents. Besides the Halondar, however, there were very few roads in Turmish. Instead, the country was covered in a maze of small and meandering country lanes, mostly dirt roads, making Turmish a country that was easy to get lost in, even for invading armies.
“The treasures of Turmish are hidden amid all that beauty. Beautiful trees, dells with beautiful streams… oh, yes, and beautiful men, every one of them with secrets to be wormed out into the open.” — Naneetha Shinalstar, Memoirs of an Illithid-Human Crossbreed
Turmish itself was a verdant, fertile, pastoral, and beautiful country, full of vineyards, gardens, orchards, picturesque villages, and well-tended farmland. The rolling fields were separated by fieldstone fences, hedges and dense rows of trees, which left plenty of space for wild animals and woodlots. In the mid–14th century, there were only two or three cities in the whole country: Alaghôn, Gildenglade, and Nonthal, with only Alaghôn being a long-term fixture. Cities were so rare in Turmish because people preferred to live close to the land. Most Turmishans lived in small villages in their beautiful countryside, enjoying their proximity to nature though they sat clear of the mountains for fear of raids. There were dozens of towns and hundreds of villages, most too small to be marked on maps and there were no good maps anyway, owing to the meandering road and wild countryside. Villages grew around crossroads, keeps, and temples, while hamlets appeared around wells, springs, and lakes of drinkable water.

Climate

The weather of Turmish was the same as that around the Vilhon Reach, namely sub-tropical and humid. While temperatures could drop in winter months, snow was rare; instead winter would come with heavy rains. On occasion, winters were harsh enough to block travel and trade for months and kill livestock left in their fields. Summer months were often very hot and humid, and spring came early. The humidity abated somewhat in autumn. The Turmishans described the climate as "one with the Reach", that is, as humid as the sea.

Natural Resources

Flora & Fauna Blueleaf trees grew in Turmish, but were fairly rare. Broadleaf reeds grew in the waters along the northern coast, forming giantgrass forests. Wildlife was abundant, with game like squirrels in the woods, fish in the streams and pools, and bears and goats in the mountains. Ducks, grouse, pheasant, and other fowl were fed and allowed nesting grounds, and rarely kept in barns. Limited plains and predators in the forests limited herd animals. Once, there were wild Turmish ponies, but they survived only in captive herds in the Perloush.
There were also monstrous creatures such as bulettes, leucrottas, and perytons, as well as hybrids. Some of these were descendants of the experiments of the mage Tauthryn the Mad. Deepspawn were naturally common and could be found in isolated caves in the mountains.
It wasn't common to keep household pets and dogs were almost unheard of. However, people would feed fish or birds in their area. Small oxen, mules, and domesticated ponies were kept on farms.

Turmish Citizens

Turmish Warrior

Founding Date

-37 DR & 1248 DR (Modern Democracy Founded)

Population

1,693,440

Inhabitant Demonym

Turmian

Included Locations

• Alaghôn
• Ironfang Deep
• Morningstar Hollows
• Nonthal
• Village of Hommlet, Master

Turmish Monk

Capital of Alaghon