Thaal

Thaal is a nation in northern Vaspira. It is primarily located across the borthal tundra, and into the gellar woods. The population of Thaal is largely human, Goliath, and Yeti. Thaal is led by the Shaman's Moot, and is home to a unique tradition of Shamanistic Magic. As the Moot is as much religious leadership as it is secular, they chafe more than any other nation under the Arcane decrees of Zagrean, enough so that twenty years ago they led a full scale rebellion against the first city, now known as the Shaman Wars. Thaal is a warrior culture, the national identity still bruised from losing to the arcane might of Zagrean. Great emphasis is placed on respecting kin and country. They are at peace with Zagrean now, but under a yoke of even stricter control, a situation that is boiling closer to bursting with every year. Most settlements in Thaal are located along either the mountains, forest, or coastline, with only a handful of settlements in the deep tundra, usually localized around some kind of rare resource.
With little available workable farmland, fish makes up a major staple of the Thall diet, as well as the gathering of nuts and acorns in the southern woods to form a rough, brown flour. These goods are often exchanged and transported by massive snow barges, powered by shamanic magic. They keep bees, and favor mead among drinks.
The Thaal people do not keep livestock or ride mounts. A practical people, while they disdain the southerner's use of animal-pulled carts, they will usually ride on them if necessary. The only animals they keep are the Tovaras Hounds, large, wolf-like hounds used for hunting and tracking, more like family than pets.
The capital of Thaal is Ghedral