Midlands

Midgaard; Hundreds of Loosely Federated Duchies in the Broken Empire

"Bruinkastel."

"A black church surrounded by oak trees on yellow."

"Amphion."

"The Gjallarhorn, gold, over a white and blue split."

"Vertical or horizontal split?"

"Vertical, sir."

"Good. Alamire."

"A gold woman's face surrounded by snakes. On..."

"On?"

"B—Blue. Ow!"

"Grey-blue, you ninny. Are they peacocks?"

"Yes, sir. I mean no, sir. Grey-blue, sir."

Located across a large swath of central Gondara, the Midlands are a fragile and often bickering federation of duchies and minor kingdoms (generally called provinces) who share an ethno-linguistic identity sufficiently different from their neighbours. They are joined only in a loose cultural sense: there is no true political entity known as the Midlands. They are also called Midgaard or the Central Provinces. Their demonyms are Middish, Midlander or less often Midgaardian.

The Midlands are made up of thousands of influential families flying hundreds of banners in dozens of provinces, each with unique crests, colours, fashions and social niceties. Heralds and ambassadors with encyclopedic knowledge of these identifiers are highly sought after and well compensated. Many provinces fear the loss of local identity a full-fledged federation would cause, and as such it is common for travelers abroad to display their banner's colours and crests as openly as possible. This gives Midgaard a reputation as being colourful in a kitschy and ostentatious sort of way.

While Low Juran was the lingua franca of Gondara during the occupation of the Juran Empire, it is quickly being replaced by a trader tongue known as Middish Common, a blend of various Midlander dialects.

Certain provinces, for example Kintyria-Mors, Gormengast and Alamire, are truly ancient cultures, dating all the way back to the Great Fractionation of the Late First Age.

Geography

The Broken Empire

Open full size

And its myriad peripheries. Map represents much of Waking Materia's Gamma Quadrant.

Description

See also: Image Gallery: The Midlands' Fashion & Scenery (External)

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The Midlands span a wide range of ecozones, from the mountainous Corewestern provinces to the central parklands to the savannahs of the Voideast.

The most populous city in the Broken Empire is Fauregand, located between the two Corewestern provinces of Lough Amarant and Bruinkastel, at the foot of the Aralt Mountains. It is officially a politically neutral trade city under the ancient Treaty of Margulis Mons, however enforcement can be spotty depending on the leadership of its two parent fiefdoms.

The far Voideastern province of Bantock is home to the western fortress of the Voidward bridge across the Worldscar: they call the tower Bellstoll, while the official Juran name is Colossus Gamma. Similar to Fauregand, several treaties are in place allowing (indeed, obligating) the involvement of other provinces in its protection, given it is one of only two overland routes between the Gondarans and their former conquerors.

Provinces with populations over 100,000 people are as follows, in descending order of population. Their crests can be seen on the Profile image.

• Kintyria-Mors
• Calogrenant
• Bantock
• Inverness-upon-Andra
• Gormengast
• Kentigern

Provinces with populations between 10,000 and 100,000 people are as follows, in descending order of population. Their crests can be seen on the Profile image. Fauregand, being independent, is not counted towards the populations of Bruinkastel or Lough Amarant, though it is contained by the two.

• Lough Amarant
• Labraunda
• Alamire
• Corinthal
• Amphion
• Bruinkastel
• Zhayolm
• Lough Errant
• Tolereum
• Domhantyr
• Brigantia
• Midlake
• Deception Sound
• Whiteshield
• Mink Hollow
• Tremorleaf
• Gale Delta
• Trond Priory

Culture

The Midlands' identifier is Middish and the uniting language is Middish Common (though many provinces speak dialects not mutually intelligible with the trader tongue, and many take it as insulting to be described so generically). Nonetheless, Middish Common often acts as the lingua franca for most of continental Gondara, and is even known by many Lorentian tradespeople.

Travel

While Middish Common is frequent enough to prevent major language barriers between the myriad provinces here, the idea of unity is still very new and uncomfortable to many Midlanders, and as such travelers are still well-advised to learn local mores & etiquette when visiting unfamiliar provinces.

Sample Names

Masculine: Algus, Harald, Roland, Richter, Owain, Siegfried, Edgar, Gavvan
Feminine: Maril, Leona, Elanor, Agrias, Seren, Ravna, Hildegard, Joanna, Beatrix, Adelheid

Demographics

Midlanders are largely comprised of Meranthic (human-elven) peoples with minority populations of basal humans, eladrin, hobbits and arakh. Skin tones run the usual array of blacks and browns seen on much of the great archipelago, though with occasionally lighter tones due to genetic drift with residents of Æthermark and the Islands of Agåntyr. The higher amount of elven genetics result in Gondarans being seen as shorter and slighter than their more prominently human cousins in Valamon and Marai.

The Midlands

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Type

Political, Federation

Continent
Gondara, the Broken Empire

Quadrant
Gamma

Profile art credit: Hugo Gerard Ströhl

Musical inset: A popular Middish folk song, with variations in most provinces.

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Duke Cornelius Stroud. The Strouds are the ruling family of the Middish Province of Mink Hollow.

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A typical Middish fortress, built with as low a footprint as possible to maintain maximal pastureland or cropland. Since the Deluge, "every square metre counts" is a common sentiment on Waking Materia.

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Likewise, cliffside or hillside structures are common to place residences away from useful resources. Pictured is a traditional Second Age housing complex outside Bantock.

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A knight of the Middish Province of Alamire, bearing their iconic heraldry of a woman's head surrounded by snakes.

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Castle Kentigern, in the province of the same name.