Valdyas is an imaginary kingdom in an equally imaginary world that grew
in the telling. At first it was only the setting for what I then thought
was going to be a book, pieced together from the shards of two other
worlds that had fallen apart for different personal reasons, but in the
almost
twenty years (egads! has it been that long?) that it has existed it's taken
on a life and a language of its
own.
The whole country is about half the size of Europe (look at the map for latitudes). Its known neighbours
are Iss-Peran to the south across
the sea, Solay (or in its own language:
Aumen
Síth) to the south-west, and Velihas to the east over the
mountains.
Velihas is nominally an estate of the Crown since Vegelin II (the
Great) married Lédu Lástalfái, the youngest daughter
of its king, in 358.
King Vegelin the Great
Miallei Vegelin astin Velain (339-399) was regent for his niece from 354
to 359 and then king until 380. That he bears the title "the
Great" is because of his spiritual rather than his physical
stature: history has him as a short and slight man, no more than about five
feet tall. He was an excellent swordsman, however. His sword is still being
handed down from monarch to crown prince or princess, but most of them
exchange it for a longer weapon when they grow up.
People live there: peasants and nobles, teachers and students, watchmen and
midwives, priestesses and guildmasters. And
many
children. To have children is one of the greatest joys of life in Valdyas.
After more than a hundred years of hard times, when harvests were poor and
many children didn't live to see their second summer, Queen Alyse II,
Alysei Alyse astin Velain, and
her
Prince Consort Hyltei Radan astin Brun
made the kingdom flourish again. When Queen Alyse died in a smallpox
epidemic, her son Athal became king at thirteen. (More recent history
is here,
in my roleplaying blog.)
The most important single factor that shapes Valdyan society is probably
the eternal struggle between the god Anshen and his twin, who is
usually not
named. About one in seven people is born with psychic gifts, which many of them use
to work for
one god or the other.
That may be the reason that literacy is more widespread than
in most equally developed societies: to do a god's work, you need to
know things, and many things you need to know are written down or can
most easily be communicated in writing. Even the smallest village has
its school.
The economy is mostly agricultural. Population is densest where the
land yields plenty, but even in the Western Plain there are stubborn
people scraping a living from the bare ground. Ryshas is the richest region, and
some
people call it "the Garden of Valdyas" or "Queen Alyse's Garden" after
Alyse I, the king's grandmother, who used to spend winters in
Turenay. Grain and wool come
from
the north, weavers from Rizenay
make the best tapestries, wine is produced in Ryshas and Lenyas.
There are some successful trading companies, mostly based in Essle where ships keep up trade
routes
to Solay and Iss-Peran. The Star of the South is the largest
company, though it's only a branch of a company from Iss-Peran. The
Rising Sun and The Dawn strive for second place, and at
the moment the former is on top because The Dawn has recently suffered some
serious setbacks. All trading companies have offices and warehouses in
Essle and most have an office in other towns, or at least an agency
with the Temple of Mizran,
whenever something they happen to trade in is produced in the region or
there's a reasonable demand for their imports.
