Elkown
Elkown is the collection of territories most watched over by various tribes of shifters, humans, elves, gnomes, and scattered orcs. Elkown has a deep spiritual tie to the primal forces of nature and is almost entirely a wild place. As a set of tribes, there is no central government.
Elkowans tend to revere the Cyclical pantheon and the Spirit pantheon. They have no centralized government, but are instead a loosely allied confederacy of tribes and communities. Because of this, there are many groups that consider themselves part of the Elkown confederacy.
Elkowan magic is almost all primal and shamanistic. Few other disciplines of magic are practiced in Elkown communities. Culturally, they are incredibly superstitious and ritualistic. This leads to an aversion of strange and foreign magic.
Elkownans are best known for their close knit tribal structures and intolerance towards outsiders. Family, tribe, community, and nature are the top cultural priorities. They tend to wear earthy tones, furs, and hides alongside their intricate tattoos.
Demography and Population
Elkown is composed of many tribes, not all of which have participated in an official United Halla Alliance census. Academics have used large-scale divination rituals to estimate population quantities.
Elkown has two regions: a northern and southern range. The northern range has about 2,470,000 citizens and the southern range has about 170,000 citizens.
Northern Eno has the following distribution:
Southern Eno has the following distribution:
Territories
Elkown is split with the northern tribes in the region Zorike and the southern tribes in the region Oini, both of which are in Whohe Dvuha. Many tribes identify their territories as ancestral lands.
The northern tribes of Elknown are approximately 1.38 × 1012 fl2 (128,000 km2). The southern tribes of Elkown are approximately 1.22 × 1011 fl2 (11,000 km2).
Military
There is no centralized military in Elkown. Instead, each tribe has its own fighting force. Any tribe can make a call to arms, beseeching its fellow Elkowans to temporarily unify their forces to fight as a cohesive military. This usually is accepted by about five to ten tribes, which is less than half of the tribes.
Technological Level
Elkown does not have a strong technological, scientific, or arcane tradition. Most of its understanding of the world comes from a spiritual lens, especially with the Spirit pantheon. There is virtually no artifice in Elkown other than the occasional sacred tree totems an Elkowan shaman might create.
Religion
Elkowans are a very superstitious and pious people. Instead of the more popular Celestial pantheon that larger and more powerful nations observe, most Elkowans revere the Spirit pantheon or the Cyclical pantheon.
The far majority of tribes in Elkown have at least one Elkowan shaman as a spiritual advisor. These shamans receive training from hidden locations in Elkown, then are assigned a tribe to assist. A shaman is able to seek guidance from the primal spirits around them and also act as a diplomatic figure with another tribe's shaman. While rarely a medica, the shamans can also function as herbalist or medical healer in the tribes. It is considered taboo to harm a shaman, even one assigned to a rival tribe.
Reverence for spirits infuse daily rituals. Most outsiders have admitted that the spirit reverence is uncomfortable to their more celestial outlooks.
Foreign Relations
Agriculture & Industry
Elkowan tribes often have small, root vegetable plots. However, the majority of agriculture in Elkown hunt, gather, and forage for food. Their culinary traditions include smoking and fermenting crops and meat to sustain them through long winters.
A few Elkowan tribes have iron deposites in the bottom of lakes and bogs in their territories. This allows Elkowans to develop their own disciplines of metallurgy and metalcraft, but most Elkowans use wood, bone, leather, and hide.
Elkowans are well known for their fantastic leathercraft, claycraft, and bonecraft.
Trade & Transport
Elkown is not considered a wealthy civilization in the United Halla Alliance. Most goods are transported over rivers or by a few trails. There are two nodes in the Iritan Ethereal Translocation Network in Elkown -- one in the Kaelo tribe in Zorike and one Aakorm tribe in Oini. There are maintained docks, the most significant being Whae in Zorike and again Aakorm in Oini.
Education
There are few Stoa in Elkown, nor is there a Universitate campus. Instead, most Elkowans are taught in communal settings by their Elkowan Shaman in their tribes. When adolescent, an Elkowna usually begins their training in a specific industry, such as crafting, hunting, or foraging. A few adolescents might be picked by their shaman to train in the spiritual arts.
Infrastructure
Each Elkowan tribe has different standards of living, including infrastructure. Ancient Elkowan tribes have constructed bridges over major rivers, which still stand to this day. Beyond this, there is not much to the Elkowan infrastructure.
Elkowan architecture is usually made of wood. Particularly important buildings will be reinforced with leathers or hides. The roofs are steep and most Elkowans grow mosses or grasses on them. This helps retain heat in the frigid winters of Zorike and the cool winters of Oini.
Most tribes feature a communal hall where the tribe meets, socializes, and feasts. Homes are often small and a typical Elkowan does not own many possessions.
Elkowan culture favors a collectivist tribal perspective rather than an individualistic perspective. There are over fourty tribes in Elkown, with the far majority having less than 150 members. The ten largest tribes, which form the loudest voices at the tribesmeet, can have populations upward of 300.
Type
Political, Confederation
Capital
Demonym
Elkowan
Government System
Tribalism
Power Structure
Confederation
Economic System
Barter system
Currency
Elkown follows the Standard Currency model, but many tribesmembers will prefer to do a barter exchange.
Major Exports
Elkowan tribes often trade and export leathercrafts, such as armors or book covers. In addition, Elkowan pottery, woodcraft, and bonecraft is popular in the international art scene.
Major Imports
Legislative Body
There is no central legislative body. The largest tribes will meet once every five years to discuss overarching political matters, but each tribe is highly independent. There are over fifty distinct tribes in Elkown and the heads of the ten largest tribes have the most significant say in this five-year tribesmeet.
Judicial Body
There is no central judicial body. The Arbiter's Outpost has a minor presence as a inter-tribe peace keeping force, but each tribe dispenses its own justice.
Official State Religion
Parent Organization
Location
Comments