Gior

Imaan]

Population: 547,000

Races: 39%H, 0%W, 61%G

Climate: Alpine

Capital: Giorite

Rulers: Da Huane

Main University: Qrieth

Languages: Estuan, Gioran

Currency: Huanici, Concord

The Kingdom of Gior is a beautiful, natural country has many rock formations and wide canyons with rivers flowing through them. It is notable for being one of the only kingdoms where galdori do not rule over humans in any concrete way. The two races take an isolationist approach to the kingdom. The human people of Gior are mainly livestock farmers, living above the canyons; however, the Gioran galdori live in cities carved into the rock faces of their canyons, away from human society. These galdori are unusually powerful. It is said they use the echoes of the canyons to increase the power of their spells.

The capital city of Gior is Giorite (pronounced JOR-et) but the most populous city is undoubtedly Qrieth (pronounced kreeth). This city is inside a massive temple carved into a mountain. Its many levels house over eighty thousand galdori.

Population

The people of Gior are known far and wide as being simple and self sustaining. Passives are not treated very badly here; they are viewed as cripples and are allowed to live with the galdori. However, Giorans are very wary of immigrants, and do not allow non-Giorans to become citizens.

Giorans are tall and strong, with pale faces and unusually angular features. An unusually encouraged genetic defect has caused most Gioran galdori to be born with albinism; the few that are not are often mistaken for foreigners. The defect includes all of the usual side effects of albinism, including sensitivity to sunlight and poor eyesight.

Topography

The mountainous ranges of Gior are subject to an alpine biome, though this does not mean it is one of the coldest biomes in the world. That honor belongs to Hox. Due to the high altitudes, Gior can be quite cool even in Roalis, ranging between 10 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius. In winter, it can drop to below freezing, and snow storms are a frequent event. The galdori of Gior however barely suffer this, due to the temperatures in the mountain always staying a consistent 9 degrees Celsius.

Given the precipice of Gior, rain is a frequent occurrence all year round.

Trees do not commonly grow in Gior given the hard stone of the mountains. There is more vegetation at the foothills, therefore a trade route is set up between Citeiva and Giorite. There are scientific advances in the city of Giorite that has seen rise in contained plantations, those these are subject to magical and scientific intervention to be successful. Remarkably, some species of cave lichen have been cultivated for various food and drink uses.

The problem of light is quite different in Gior, given that the deeper in you go in a city, the less natural light you have. The little amount of atmosphere at high altitudes exposes the Gioran area to sunlight, especially UV, at a dangerous level. To go out on the mountain top without full cover is to risk severe burn and cancerous growths.

Some of the plants in Gior are tussock grasses, dwarf trees, small-leafed shrubs, and heaths. Some common animals in Gior are; mountain kensers, wild white moa, wild chroven, Gioran osta, garmon, hingles, kluiw, beetles, grasshoppers and butterflies.

The border of Gior and Bastia has been in a long standing state of contention, the Giorans wanting to claim more of the mountain range as their own whilst Bastia are loathe to let go of any of the enormous land mass they hold.

History

Long ago, when the world was new and fresh, a tribe of galdori worshiped not Alioe and her infinite wisdom, but instead turned their eyes to Imaan. They were a small tribe, deeply housed in ritual and tradition. They lived within the mountain ranges to the south of Vita, where the echos of their casting gave them a more profound level of connection with the mona. As the world grew and turned, and tribes became villages and cities, the Imaan worshipers refused to bend or break. They shunned those who would seek to pursue change under the false cry of progress, turning away from their fellow galdori and casting their eyes to their ruling family, Da Giore. The matriarch of this family, Aminark Giore, refused to let her people loose what made them galdori. What made them whole. She called to her those loyal to the family, and with their knowledge and traditions, the peoples of the tribe closed themselves off from the rest of the world by building an enormous city into the mountains themselves. Aminark herself spent endless hours of endless days carving the great temple that would once come to be known as Qrieth.

And thus, the city of Giore was born. Over time this pronunciation has moved to Gior.

In the bowels of the mountains, a sense of 'purity' captured the hearts and minds of the Da Giore family. Imaan, the Eternal Child God was always depicted as a pale white being, the ultimate representation of purity and beauty. The matriarch herself was albino, as pale as fresh snow, taller than her peers and afflicted with pale pink eyes. Almost a fashion statement, and out of love for their leader and God, the people of Da Giore began to favor similar genetic traits in their children. Lighter skin and hair, and pale eyes. Aminark saw these children as the future, and in one of the most controversial moments of genocide known to their people, the Da Giore family ordained that any babes without these features would be left to the fate of Imaan on the highest peak of the great mountain ranges. Those babes who's parents couldn't bare leaving them to the elements and their inevitable death would flee the city, afraid of the wrath of their leader. Even Aminark herself was rumored to have slept with any man who showed similar traits, breeding a line of descendants that bore the albino gene and spread it among their people. According to texts, the Da Giore family ruled for two hundred years and sired more than a fair share of the population. Selective breeding and generations of cave living has encouraged the albinism that is seen in today's Gioran society.

Eventually, Da Giore was challenged, and over ruled by Da Huane, the current ruling family in Giorite and Qrieth. The Huanes have held firm on the purity of their people, going so far as to ban any outsiders from taking up residence in the city for many many years. This ban was only lifted in the past thirty years or so, when the birth rates began to drop or more and more children were born deformed. This is said to be Imaan's anger at those who would seek to ignore ritual and tradition, but genetically it is a symptom of heavy in breeding. Marrying or breeding with an outsider is seen as tolerated, though if the child does not pick up albinism they do tend to find themselves shunned and viewed as 'stupid'.

Humanity began to show itself in the foothills of Gior around the same time as the Da Huane took over, and whilst they have been around for a while the galdori have not engaged with them. The Gioran galdori do not associate with humanity, seeing them more like animals than people.

Culture

Gioran galdori live in a ritualistic society built on centuries of family rule. The current ruling family, the Da Huane, have been in power for over three centuries. They rule over the capital city of Giorite and the city of Qrieth, with two sides of the family sharing power. During their rule, the Da Huane have been involved in many feuds with the Da Fintain, who rule over the Drigeth, a small society of rebels who resent Da Huane rule. This conflict is seemingly endless but has been largely nonviolent for the past fifty years. The Driegeth occupy a gorge called Damna Erth.

Human towns and villages in Gior are typically controlled by mayors elected by the townspeople. These mayors are referred to as "magisters," although they are not galdori. There are no galdori towns; the galdori live almost exclusively in the cities and in the Sourasian Gorge.

Gior does trade with other countries, though the trade is sectioned off according to race; the humans in Gior are primarily exporters (exports including tea, alpaca wool, and yak butter), and the galdori are primarily importers. Like Hoxian galdori, Gioran galdori prefer to be self-sufficient, and do not rely on human servitude or passive slavery. There have been great advances in hydroponics and animal husbandry in Gior because of this self-sufficiency.

Everything in Gior is ritualized, including dances and public meetings. One such dance is the Ba Bieth, a hauntingly beautiful choreographed dance that is said to bring rain. (As rain is an incredibly common occurrence in Gior, this dance almost always has the desired effect.) The city of Qrieth is called "The Temple" by locals, who use many of the public locations on the cliff face for worship. Many citizens of Gior make pilgrimages to the city to see its remarkable design and worship at its many fountains, which are fed by a sacred underground waterfall.

Human culture in Gior prizes stoicism and hard work, honesty and family. Interestingly enough, the galdori value the same qualities. A good deal of the peace and prosperity of the country comes from the lack of conflict and violence between the races. A great divide separates humans and galdori, one that is hardly ever crossed except in times of emergency. Because of the physical distance between them, there are no wick tribes in Gior. Relationships between humans and galdori in Gior are simply unheard of.

Cities and Towns

The capital of Gior is Giorite, though it is not the most populated city in Gior. This honor belongs to the monumentally impressive temple city of Qrieth. Giorite is more of a trade city, allowing the settlement of foreigners and their businesses. Most stock and produce comes from Giorite into Qrieth.

The country is divided into quadrants; Upper, Middle and Lower

Upper Gior

Ivenlath - a holy site, home to a huge petrified white tree called Iventre
Verit Lie - a human town known for its vineyards
Citeiva - a smaller galdori settlement south of Qrieth

Middle Gior

Qrieth - Gior's most most populated galdori city
Damna Erth - a gorge with perfect acoustics
Drah Lie - a human village in the heartland

Lower Gior

Giorite - capital city for the galdori
Susketec - a relatively large human town with a coal mine
Dolosgonne - a small human village
Omn Lie - another small human village, close rivals with Dolosgonne

Politics

See Gioran Politics.