Hox

Hox is a cold and mountainous kingdom to the north of Mugroba. Its capital city is Frecks, and its prime god is Bash, God of the Mountain. The Clan Speaker of Hox, Pal Palerti, recently passed away, and has been succeeded by his much less conservative and very progressive-minded son Pal Tzeh, though the other clans are not entirely satisfied with this choice of succession. Its main University is simply called the University of Frecks, or Frecksat in Deftung.

The population of Hox is small: only around two hundred and fifty thousand souls. Hoxian people are generally pale-skinned, with dark hair and eyes. The trademark "Hox nose" is small and wide, making Hoxian profiles unusually flat and rounded. For more information on Hoxian people, please see the Genetics and Appearances part of the Compendium.

Topography & Locations

To the west, mountains dominate the land; further east, the deep conifer taigas take over. Northern Hox, when not entirely dominated by mountains, is coated in a frosty tundra. The best way to travel through Hox is by river. Several civilizations can be found nestled within the mountains or forests, but a guide is often necessary.

The Steppes

Grasslands and gradually rising plateaus that mark Hox's border with Mugroba, the steppes are home to Hox's very limited wick population. Nomadic wicks that probably drifted from other Kingdoms have settled here into a life of following game, raising livestock, and gathering food. They have limited contact with galdori and meet more humans in their villages by river travel.

Lower Hox

The valleys and coasts of Hox are known as Lower Hox and these more mild landscapes are occupied mostly by humanity. Any galdori locations in Lower Hox are nestled in the deep valleys of The Spondola instead of along the coast, usually where waterfalls or rivers begin for trade reasons.

• Pesxe is a human city at the foothills of the Spondola, perhaps the closest to the capitol of Frecks. While a few galdori government officials and some wicks travel here during the warmth of Roalis for trade and administrative reasons, the city is otherwise largely human and rather sovereign.
• Rroxa is a village nestled against the mountains between the volcanically active Guaroxa Mountains on the west coast and the Spondola that make up the spine of the Kingdom. It is known for its amazing hot springs of various mineral make up and is perhaps the only place in all of Hox where races mix freely, and Rroxa has become a hub of equality and peace.
• Yrth a small human village in the taiga
• Dromboth is a very poor and suffering human village, plagued by wild animals, bandits and disease on one of the lower plateaus near the Steppes.
• Oer is the only galdori village in Lower Hox, located on the river that has its source somewhere beneath Frecks itself.

Upper Hox

• Frecks, the capital city of Hox is literally built around Frecksat, the magical university of the Kingdom and the bastion of wisdom and knowledge that Hoxian galdori pride themselves in and define their existence with. Nestled in the middle of the Spondola Mountains, high above the rest of Hox, Frecks is a formidable location to reach as well as cold, breathtaking, and beautiful. The high altitude often effects foreigners who aren't used to the extremes of Hoxian geography.
• Korse Koron is an abandoned galdori city, uninhabited for seven hundred years; it was sacked in a civil war, and is now a subject of curiosity for archaeologists, located at the base of the Guaroxa Mountains, nestled near the most active volcano, Vroh Guar, which makes access and exploration very difficult without magical assistance.
• Dessteka is a secluded galdori city in the mountains.
• Montack is a galdori town, literally the northernmost settlement in the Six Kingdoms known for its impressive observatory and astronomy studies.
• Xerxe is a small galdori village known worldwide for its enormous, ancient grave-caverns.
• Aexx Aora is an otherwise unassuming galdori town renowned for its beautiful women.
• Kzecka is a galdori town in the mountains, home of a very large religious library.
• The Spondola Mountains are the extremely high altitude, rugged mountain range that run like a spine through the small Kingdom of Hox. Many of the peaks have snow all year round and are harsh, unforgiving places that loom over the plateaus and valleys. Many peaks are volcanic, but the only currently active volcano is Vroh Guar, located on the coast and constantly spewing dust and smoke into the frigid northern sky.

Kingdom Information

• Climate
• Culture
• Economy
• Politics
• Race Relations

Climate

The Hoxian climate is cold year-round, especially in the mountains, where the high altitude means snowfall occurs even during the summer months. In the lower forested regions, it snows only for half the year, making travel around Hox difficult during fall and winter when the rivers freeze. While the Steppes do not have permafrost soil, the ground is relatively infertile and farming is difficult. Higher in the mountains, tiered landscaping and carefully cultivated farming techniques manage to produce impressive crops during a very meager growing season, and the people of Hox have learned to make do with whatever they have through preserving techniques and underground farming. Wild game and livestock are important, as are fish, and dried meats are a very vital part of the Hoxian diet because of the frigid and inhospitable climate.

The high altitudes above the Steppes are difficult for visitors not used to the lower oxygen levels and differences in atmosphere. Travel in the mountains for foreigners can be deadly if they aren't prepared for the effects of deprivation or have conditioned their lungs for the exertion.

There are only two seasons in Hox: winter and summer. The summer months are distinguished by slightly warmer temperatures and less precipitation. In the winter, the sun hardly rises for more than a house above the horizon and in the summer, long stretches of day leave but a house of twilight-like darkness in the evenings.

Auroras and other astronomical events make the skies above Hox beautiful and mysterious, a playground of the gods despite the frigid temperatures. The Hoxian observatory in Montack is the most state-of-the art location for studying the currently known universe.

Culture

Hoxian men and women of all races are prided on their strength, self-reliance and stoicism. Outward displays of emotion are discouraged. Women are taught to be the head of the family, silently bearing any hardship and keeping the men in check. Men are told that emotion makes them weak. The foreign perception of Hox is that of a cold and aloof society, but in reality, subtle displays of affection and emotion are more common than one would imagine. In Hox, such things are expressed through beautiful art, poetry and quiet conversations.

Hoxian culture prizes traits such as stoicism, self-composure and intelligence; to be well-spoken and calm at all times is to be a good member of society. Morality in Hox is less about concrete standards that apply to everyone, and more about assessing the situation and making a judgment based on the personalities and village culture (saatri) of the people involved. From an outsider perspective, Hoxians are some of the least judgmental people in the world. They will not condemn someone for behaving in a manner that they find immoral.

Important cultural concepts include that of rhakor (personal composure), zkratas (the oneness of all things), and hevothen (pure language). See the Deftung Lexicon for more information.

Because of the nature of societies in Hox, there are very few national holidays. Resources are sparse, and celebrations are rare; birthdays and weddings are generally not celebrated at all. The single unifying holiday in Hox is called Spar Rhavat, the Night of the Stars. Bonfires are lit and whole villages come together to tell religious stories about the beginning of the world. The purpose of the night is to put life into perspective and convince people that in comparison to the vast universe, they are tiny and insignificant. To many this would be a disturbing revelation; to a Hoxian it is a freeing sentiment that brings great relief.

Hoxian people are deeply religious, perhaps moreso than any other Kingdom, and while Bash is their prime god out of the Circle, they pay attention to nearly all of them throughout the yearly cycle, attuned to a rigorous liturgy of genuine worship and spiritual obligations.

Religion in Hox

Gender & Marriage

Economy

Hox does not trade with the outside world; there are no exports or imports. The Kingdom has kept a very low profile, not getting involved in international struggles. Until very recently, there were no envoys or ambassadors to other Kingdoms, either. It is only due to the efforts of Anaxas' Queen Ester that Hox has been persuaded to enter into political discourse.

Hoxian Currency

Kingdom Economies

Politics

Information on Hoxian Politics coming soon.

More on Politics

Hoxian Law

The Karmine

Race Relations

Hox is notable for being one of two kingdoms where galdori do not rule over the humans in a concrete way: the two races are kept separate, living in different areas and generally avoiding interaction whenever possible. Although galdori in Gior sometimes trade with humans, this never occurs in Hox, and the galdori take on traditionally human roles in their class system in order to be self-sufficient. The younger members of the Hoxian working class traditionally take on the most physically taxing roles.

The last conflict between humans and galdori in Hox was many centuries ago, during a period of famine when humans raided galdori territory to steal food. Despite this, the galdori of Hox do not nurse much of a grudge against their human neighbors; if asked, most Hoxians would display a lack of opinion on members of the non-magical race of men. Hox is a difficult country to survive in, with its extreme temperatures and equally extreme isolation of most towns and cities. It is theorized that its citizens have more important matters to worry about than a mere conflict between the races.

There are few wicks in Hox, mostly because of the stark divide between humans and galdori. Most wicks live nomadic herding, hunting, or trading lifestyles in the politically grey area of plains and steppes as nomads between the border of Mugroba and Hox.

Passives are very, very rare in Hox, and an even smaller percentage of them are born to the northernmost people than anywhere else in Vita (it is estimated that less than .5% of births in Hox produce a passive child). There is much pride in this genetic purity, as Hoxians call it, and yet, despite their extremely rare status, passives receive much the same treatment that they do in Anaxas. They are considered a sign of impurity or at least some kind of personal slight against the Circle somewhere in that galdori family line, an evidence of weakness in that family line. Though they are not bought or sold discreetly, most passives are still freely given to Frecks University or another institution or business as servants. In small towns and villages, passives are sometimes kept in the home, locked away out of sight. Sometimes passives run away to live among humans or wicks, which they often do with great success, as they are not branded and share similar features.