Novali is a country in the far East of the Grand Plains stretching from the Wolf Hills all across the Eastern continent. The vast majority of its people graze their herds in the endless seas of grass that make up most of the country, but the coast has some more permanent settlements with basic industries and trading ports. A few ridges break the endless tide of the winds beating down on the lands, allowing for some small areas vaguely resembling what other countries call forests.
Browns and greys typically dominate the landscape, except for spring. With the first warm, sunny days after the exhaustive spring rains, the land dons it sfinest garment of colorful flowers, and the vast stretches of grassland first become a patchwork of colors, then turn into a lush green, until the summer heat hits and the exuberant energy of spring has been all but used up, leaving the land to its slumber, gathering energy for the next colorful season.
Along the two large rivers making their way to the coast, farmers have been settling for years, but it was only recently, after foreign traders brought the knowledge of proper irrigation with them, that the traditional ways of subsistence farming have become more efficient and some surpluses have emerged.
Woven Homes, precious Stones
Due to the lack of precious wood, the prevailing architecture has a sparse skeleton of sturdy woods and wall made out of two thick, carpet-like woven cloth, with insulation provided by slightly fulling shorn wool between the two cloth walls. Metal ovens heat the interior, carefully constructed to not waste precious fuel or drop embers on the thick, colorful carpets covering the trampled ground.
The Novali people have traded with the Kimutdol in the mountains north of the plains for decades, and thanks to this have had plentiful supply of ores and gemstones. Novali gold- and silversmiths are renowned for their skill and intricate designs as well as the well-constructed tools they provide. Their tools may follow simple principles, but years of refining the same design has optimized them to ingenuity.
Novali society is relatively strictly divided by gender, making things like weaving, cooking, raising kids, but also dying the wool feminine professions, while working with cattle and hunting is rather male coded. There is no taboo regarding this, but Novali who don't adhere to the social norms are quickly ostracized and shunned. Sometimes just marrying an outsider is enough for that to happen.
One of the very few professions that are equally acceptable for both genders are gold- and silversmithing.
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