Beldad

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Capital
Largest city
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Settlement
Official Language(s)
Official Religion
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Beldad Proper

Beldad is a small chain of islands, east of Beau. There are three principle islands in Beldad:

• Gozo, the largest and home to the capital,
• Comino, where the town of Nocturne lies, and
• Melita, where much of the trade happens.

Beldad is a republic. The leadership is determined by drawing one hundred and fifty citizens' names from a pool of every citizen's name, all of whom are made members of the Parliament. From their number, they elect a prime minister. Parliament creates the laws, while it is the Prime Minister's duty to enforce them.

People and Culture

The General attitude of Beldad is a rather relaxed one. The general attitude is that life is too short to suffer through it. As a result, the people live by the philosophy of work until the work is done, and not a second longer. Thus, most of the people on the island are rather poor, for the acruing of wealth by hard work is nothing very appealing to them. Things are kept functional, but are often allowed to get run down in the process. Stores tend not to be open for too many hours a day. Any store open past nightfall tends to be run by outlanders there to take advantage of the residents' comparitive laziness. Most restuarants close down by sunset, and taverns tend to stop serving dinner at that time

The standard fare of the region is seafood. It is supplimented with the fruits that grow naturally on the isles: bananas, mangos, pineapples, coconuts, and the like. Farmers grow rice, as well. A few richer ones raise sugarcane, with hired labor to do much of the harvesting.

Beldad's current population descended from rogues, dissidents, and wanders. The original inhabitants, if any, are not known. There are a number of ruins scattered about the Beldad chain, but it is not known who or what made them. Some seem to have been large enough to serve as small cities, others appear to have once been temple complexes. Only one such ruin, the site of current day Sharese, has been found outside of the jungles to date.

Islands of Beldad

Gozo

Gozo is the largest of the three main isles. It is home to Paradyse, the center of Beldad's government. This is due to the fact that many of the first elected officials came from Gozo, and had no desire to move to another island. Tradition, or perhaps seeing no need to move everything from there to another city. Paradyse got it name from catering to tourists, providing places to rest, eat well, and have fun. This did not truly last, as the Beldad work ethic and serving guests do not walk hand in hand for long. However, those who don't worry about finding attentive or timely service will find that Paradyse is still full of fun places to visit, such as oddity shops, museums, boat tours of other islands, and so on.

Gozo is also home to the Lowmen Ruins. They seems to have once served as either a palace or a temple complex; antiquarians have yet to agree. It has been thoroughly looted over the years so it is not mostly ignored, save for historians. There are no known areas of active magic, but a couple spots with latent astral energies whose triggers are unknown.

Comino

Comino is the least populated of the three islands, located a day's sail from Paradyse's harbors. Much of it is still jungle, and much of this jungle is unexplored. Comino is also home to the town of Nocturne, the smallest and most unusual of Beldad's towns. Nocturne is unique that it has a very relaxed attitude on crime. In fact, much of the townspeople happen to be knowledgable in the art of pickpocketing. Theft is an everyday occurance in Nocturne, for it is not quite illegal. In fact, theft is a sort of game to the people of Nocturne. Whomever has the most money, wins. The mafia gained control of the positions of power in Nocturne some time ago. Now, it simply makes sure that no one has any quarrels in town, while making the real profit with trade.

As a result, money is not the best way to get things in Nocturne. Prices tend to be extremely high, as barter and services are the prefered way to obtain things. However, stealing items, or robbing farmers who produce the food for town, rapidly gets one in trouble with the Family. People who have a quarrel with the family tend not to be around too long.

Visitors who aren't clearly mechants find that they are fair targets for theft. How much a target depends mostly on how much they irk the local populace. A friendly person may lose perhaps a quarter to a half of their cash. A jerk may well lose it all and any loose items. Someone who gets violent may well wake up naked and sore in an alley.

The Karsin Ruins are not too far from Nocturne. These ruins have been picked very clean by the various rogues and treasure hunters from town. The historical value of the ruins is quite low, as many artifacts and murals have been damaged or outright removed. There is one unidentified point of astral energies. Hearsay mentions several others were destroyed. One known point will light the ruins when the proper words are recited. The Family knows the words, as do a few treasure hunters.

Melita

Melita is the most populated of the main isles, hosting the towns of Sharese and Telsite. Telsite serves as the major port, where ships from all over Argovia come to dock and do business. The most serious people of Beldad find themselves at home here. Still, they are quite relaxed when compared to businesspeople of other nations. Much of the nations immigrant population lives in Telsite as well. Hard work pays off especially well if one is willing to deal with the fact that no one else will work as hard.

Sharese is inland, and built around the Sharese ruins. These ruins have been roped off, and fully explored. A number of historians are currently examining them, cataloguing as much as they can. Sharese is also home to Berryll University, which was recently established in by some of the researchers who were in need of funding. It has flourised a bit, and is slowly gaining recognition in Argovia. The subjects taught there tend to revolve around history, anthropology, and archeology, but other professors are beginning to teach other subjects. Courses in magic are not offered.

-- Pervy

Misc

Original creator is Nekogami, currently managed by UnclePervy. Current government type is parliamentary republic. No official religion. Official currency is the sequin. Predominant resident race is human.