The Definitive Country Almanac: The Southern Holds — Part 1#
Kethra Almanac • Approved 19 September 2026 • drafted 18 September 2026 • Sections 1–4 (Sections 5–8 are in Part 2)
Status: approved. Briana approved the whole almanac on 19 September 2026 (the Almanac Approval Decision). Where this file calls something a proposal, read it as approved, except the open points that decision lists.
Status before approval:
- An original grouping, not a roster faction (the spine). This almanac is the frontier's own.
- Already in the almanac (so treat as settled unless Briana changes it):
- Eldvang, the southern frontier continent, 142 million people, red summers.
- Self-governing Holds: some chartered to the Crown (Crown Holds, 9.4 million), some to the Imperium (Imperial Holds, 11.8 million), the rest free, bound loosely by the Holds Compact, which meets twice a year at Eldhaven.
- Moots of all adults; Charter-Wardens over the charter Holds.
- Charter-folk and free-folk; Gift-lines through mothers; Gift-mothers.
- The Wolf Rite (58% of the Holds) and the Ashward (6%).
- The Hold Reckoning of twelve moons and the Wolfsmonth; Southspeech; the Wolf Run at 15.
- The Charter Wars (1840–1856) and the first Compact; the Compact admitted to the Assembly in 2290.
- The Charter Reform Bill before the Crown's Hall.
- A standard Hold of 40–80 km² and 800–3,000 people.
- Proposal: everything else. It is built on the spine, the chapters and the other almanacs.
Reading note. The Holds are the frontier: the people who call the planet Kethra, the sun Sól and the red giant Surtr. This almanac speaks in their names. It covers the whole of Eldvang's Hold country, but its subject is the free Holds and their Compact. The chartered Holds belong to the Crown and the Imperium, and appear here as neighbours and kin. Every place named is in the interactive Atlas, and the full list is the generated Register of the Southern Holds.
Section 1: National Overview & Identity#
Official Name & Etymology#
- Formal name: The Holds Compact of Eldvang (the league); the free Holds (its people)
- Short name: the Holds, or the Compact
- Adjective: Hold, frontier. People: Hold-folk; Eldvangers (Chapter I). A person from a free Hold is free-folk; from a chartered Hold, charter-folk.
Where the name comes from. A Hold is a seeded island in the Wild: a Hold-house, its fields and its Hedge (Chapter III). The word is plain northern speech for a place you keep against something. The Compact is the league the free Holds swore in the Charter Wars. The name was chosen, the story goes, because "a compact is what you make when no one will give you a charter".
What others call them:
| Who | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| The capital (Selenne) | "the frontier", "the southern Holds" | Distance, and a landlord's patience |
| The Crown Hall | "the Holds question" | Charters, rents and votes |
| The Vardane Imperium | "the free holds" (said as one word) | Troublemakers next to the Imperial Holds |
| Line sailors and the Rovessa | "the Oath-folk" | They crossed on Rovessa decks |
| Themselves | "Hold-folk", and they call the north "the Stair" | "The Stair wants its rent" means the charter-warden is coming |
Greeting: "Dark sky to thee." Reply: "And to thine." It wishes honesty and sleep (Chapter IV).
National Symbols#
| Symbol | Description | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Flag: "the Wolf and Moon" | Green over dark green; a white crescent; a white running wolf beneath it | Hati chasing Máni (Chapter IV): the frontier, persistence |
| Seal of the Compact | The wolf beneath the moon, ringed by the motto | On every Compact note and every Compact letter |
| Motto | Never Catch, Never Stop | From the Wolf Rite: "run like the wolf, never catch, never stop" (Chapter V) |
| Anthem | None official. At the Compact every sitting opens with The Long Run, a call-and-answer sung by the whole hall. | |
| Emblem | The ember cloak: "the frontier's icon" (Chapter III) | Worn, patched, handed down |
| Door mark | Every family paints its Gift-line mark on the door (Chapter III) | Where you come from, through your mother |
| Animal | The dray: the only native animal ever tamed (Introduction) | It works the Wild, as the Holds do |
The Long Run (the opening verse, called by one voice and answered by all):
Who runs at night? — We run at night. Under whose moon? — Under Máni's light. And will you catch it? — Never, never. And will you stop? — Never. Never.
The State Profile#
| What it is | A confederal league (Chapter II) of about 58,000 free Holds and their towns, in six Reaches. The Crown Holds also sit in the Compact. |
| Seat | Eldhaven, 1.7 million, the largest frontier town, on the Eldvang rift (Chapter III). The Compact meets there twice a year. |
| Speaker of the Compact | Wynne of the Hesket line, of Kettleby, holder of the moot-staff since 2312. Her term ends at the Thaw Moon sitting of 2314. (Proposal.) |
| Population | 120.8 million free-folk. With the charter-folk, Eldvang holds 142 million (Chapter I). |
| Land | 19.75 million km² of free Hold country, measured from the Atlas. The rest of Eldvang's 40.9 million km² is Charterland (0.31), Imperial Holds (0.52) and unclaimed Wild (about 20). |
| Gardenland | About 4.45 million km² in the free Holds (5.0 in all Eldvang, Chapter I) |
| Language | Southspeech (Chapter IV) |
| Money | No central bank. Compact notes only for Compact business. Everyday money is crowns, marks, credit (Chapter VI) and Rovessa Letters. |
| Calendar | The Hold Reckoning: twelve moons, 366 days, and a Wolfsmonth by Compact vote (Chapter IV) |
| Membership | The Homeworld Assembly, since AL 2290 (Chapter II) |
Chronological Timeline#
| AL | Event |
|---|---|
| 0 | Landfall, in the north |
| 41–about 400 | The Silence. On the frontier it is remembered differently: not the songs but the Gift saved humanity, carried by the Old Seedmother (Chapter IV). |
| 1620s | The Crossing. The first Crown seeding charters south of the Line. Settlers cross on Rovessa decks and swear the Line-oath. |
| 1651 | The first Imperial seeding charter, at Kastel |
| 1620–1811 | The exiles. Offenders are set ashore in Eldvang. Many Holds are founded by exiles (Chapter II). |
| 1700s | The Walk-outs. Charter families walk out of the charter lands into the Wild and seed Holds of their own. The first free Holds. |
| 1790s | Rare earths are found in the rift (Introduction). Every later dispute runs through them. |
| 1811 | Exile across the Line abolished. The Holds still remember it. |
| 1840–1856 | The Charter Wars. Crown and Imperial Holds against the free Holds. The free Holds swear the first Holds Compact. |
| 1856 | The Peace of Ember Crossing. Charters are confined to the existing Charterlands; the free Holds are left free. Hedda of the Old Seedmother line is the first Speaker. |
| 1877–1880 | The Wet Winter Flu. Worst in the crowded rift towns. |
| 1890s | The Rift Railway, built with Crown bank money, and charter debt with it |
| 1902 | The College of the Holds is founded at Eldhaven |
| 1987 | The Great Burn. An ember storm crosses the Emberscrub for eleven days. About 90,000 dead. The Ember Watch is founded. |
| 2141–2146 | The Iron Winter. Hold volunteers fight the Sentinels on the Oreth corridor. |
| 2150 | The Homeworld Assembly is founded without the Holds. The Long Knock begins: 140 years of asking to be let in. |
| 2279–2291 | The Corridor War. The Imperial Holds are garrisoned. The free Holds stay out. |
| 2285–2290 | The Lean Years. The north starves; the Holds sell grain north at famine prices. For five years the frontier is rich, and pays down a quarter of its charter debt. |
| 2290 | The Holds Compact is admitted to the Assembly. The Speaker is Orla of the Maelis line. |
| 2301 | The last Wolfsmonth |
| 2311–2312 | The Crown's Danmark government takes office with the Southern Accord's support. Its price is the Charter Reform Bill. |
| 2314 | The present. The Charter Reform Bill is before the Crown Hall. The Compact is split between Rewriters and Breakers. The Wolfsmonth is due, and its timing will move charter rents. A new Speaker is chosen at the Thaw Moon. |
Section 2: Geography & Environment#
Physical Geography#
| Eldvang | The southern frontier continent, about 40.9 million km², matching the spine's own figure. Split by the great rift valley; a dry interior plateau; highlands on the eastern edge; the Great Bowl, a 300 km impact crater (Introduction). |
| The free Holds | East of the rift, from the north coast (about 6° S) to the Southmark (about 47° S), and around the Great Bowl in the west |
| The Charterlands | Nine Crown Charterlands just west of the rift; eight Imperial districts further west |
| The unclaimed Wild | Most of western and far southern Eldvang, about 20 million km² |
| The Southern Ice / Nifl | Beyond the sea to the south. Frontier summer mining camps work it (the Nifl Camps). |
The Six Reaches#
| Reach | Land (million km²) | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| The Rift Reach | 3.50 | The rift valley: springs, terraces, the Rift Railway, Eldhaven and the rare-earth works. The richest and most crowded Reach. |
| The Northshore Reach | 3.02 | The north-coast plains facing the Line. Grain in good years; the Rovessa landings. |
| The Emberscrub Reach | 4.68 | The lowlands of emberscrub, the fire-adapted scrub that burns every red summer. The frontier's frontier. |
| The Highland Reach | 3.32 | The well-watered eastern highlands; thorium sands on the coast; the Ashward Delvings |
| The Southmark | 3.52 | The far south, where blackfrost kills. The long Southern Hedge. |
| The Bowl Reach | 1.71 | The Great Bowl, whose sheltered floor holds the best gardenland in western Eldvang. A free island between the Charterlands and the Imperial Holds. |
The Reaches are measured from the Atlas and add up to 19.75 million km², the free Hold country exactly.
Climate & Weather#
The seasons are the north's upside down (Introduction):
| Season | What it means in the Holds |
|---|---|
| Red summer | Heat by day, red nights, emberscrub drying out. The ember-storm season. People work at night and sleep in cool-cellars. |
| Autumn | Harvest; the fire season ends |
| Dark winter | Blackfrost. Long, cloudless, bitterly cold nights with no red light. "The hardest season." |
| Spring | Thaw and planting, "racing to finish before the red summer" |
- Ember storms make their own weather: fire pulls the wind in behind it (Introduction).
- Water is the second great source of disputes after the charters: plentiful in the east and along the rift, scarce on the plateau (Introduction).
| Place | Coldest month mean | Warmest month mean | Rain a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eldhaven (rift) | 2 °C | 29 °C | 640 mm |
| Glimmerholt (Northshore) | 12 °C | 30 °C | 820 mm |
| Hollow Ash (Emberscrub) | 1 °C | 34 °C | 380 mm |
| Tarnhollow (Highland) | 0 °C | 24 °C | 1,240 mm |
| Lastlight (Southmark) | −14 °C | 22 °C | 420 mm |
| Craterhold (Bowl) | 4 °C | 27 °C | 560 mm |
Flora & Fauna#
- Emberscrub (lowlands), salt-steppe (the plateau), duskwood (the eastern highlands) (Introduction).
- Shalebacks in herds on the plateau. Ember beetles swarm on burnt ground: "the embers' children".
- Drays pull the ploughs through the Wild. Frontier dogs are bred to scent reedlurkers and tidehounds.
- Cattle are almost unknown: they need too much seeded land (Introduction).
- The Hedge is a live front (Introduction): Earth weeds push out, native growth pushes in, and every Hold patrols it.
Natural Resources#
| Resource | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rare earths and copper | The rift (the Rift works); Brask (an Imperial concession) | Needed for frames and electronics. "A major source of frontier wealth, and of disputes over charters" (Introduction). |
| Thorium | Eastern beach sands | Sold north |
| Grain | Northshore and the rift | Exported in good years |
| Dray-hides and bone | Everywhere | The frontier's oldest export |
| Water | The rift springs and the east | Allocated by the Moots and fought over at the Compact |
| Land | Everywhere | The Holds are young and land-hungry. They mean to keep seeding. |
Section 3: History & Chronology#
Before the Charters#
The frontier's memory begins before the Crossing, and it disagrees with the north. The Cantorate teaches that the songs carried humanity through the Silence. The frontier teaches that the Gift did: the gut flora passed from mother to child that lets humans eat on Kethra. In the frontier's telling, the Old Seedmother kept the Gift alive when everything else failed (Chapter IV). That is why descent runs through mothers, and why a Hold's first question about a stranger is who their mother is.
The Crossing and the Walk-outs#
From the 1620s the Crown, and from 1651 the Imperium, sold seeding charters south of the Line: the right to turn native Wild into gardenland and own what grew. Settlers crossed on Rovessa decks. Exiles were set ashore beside them until 1811.
The charters bound Holds to rents and to Charter-Wardens. Through the 1700s, families who would not pay walked out into the Wild and seeded Holds of their own. The Crown and the Imperium called them squatters. They called themselves free-folk.
Founding & Sovereignty: the Charter Wars#
When rare earths were found in the rift in the 1790s, the Charterlands wanted the free Holds' ground. The Charter Wars (1840–1856) set Crown and Imperial Holds, and their patrons' troops, against the free Holds. The free Holds swore the first Holds Compact, a league of equals, and held.
The Peace of Ember Crossing (1856) confined the charters to the existing Charterlands and left the free Holds free. It did not make them a state. The Compact had "little authority of its own" (Chapter II), by design: the Holds had not fought the Stair to build a new one.
Modern Era#
Debt. The Rift Railway (1890s), seed stock, power and machines were bought on credit from Crown and Imperial banks, secured on seeding charters. The free Holds escaped the charter rents and walked into charter debt. The Aletheia Exchange trades the futures (Crown almanac). The Holds say it makes their farms "a capital gamble".
The Great Burn (1987). An ember storm crossed the Emberscrub for eleven days and killed about 90,000 people. The Compact founded the Ember Watch, the first thing it ever built for itself.
The Long Knock (2150–2290). When the Assembly was founded, the Holds were not let in: they were not a state, the Crown and the Imperium said. The Compact asked every year for 140 years. It was admitted in 2290, near the end of the Corridor War, when the north needed its grain.
The Lean Years (2285–2290) made the frontier briefly rich. Holds sold grain north at famine prices and paid down about a quarter of their charter debt. Northern families remember the prices. Frontier families remember that for once the Stair paid.
Historical Rulers & Leaders#
Speakers of the Holds Compact (complete)#
229 Speakers since the Peace of 1856. The Speaker holds the moot-staff for two years, elected at the Thaw Moon sitting. Frontier names follow the Gift-line: a given name and the line of the founding Gift-mother. (All proposal. Generated from a fixed seed with mixed name pools, so that no single Earth culture owns the frontier; see the naming principles.) The current Speaker is in bold.
| Century | Speakers, with the year each took the moot-staff |
|---|---|
| 1800s | Hedda of the Old Seedmother line (1856) · Liora of the Hesket line (1858) · Rook of the Brenna line (1860) · Ysolde of the Old Seedmother line (1862) · Nell of the Wren line (1864) · Birk of the Old Seedmother line (1866) · Orla of the Adaeze line (1868) · Wynne of the Lisbet line (1870) · Sabel of the Lisbet line (1872) · Bryony of the Rhoswen line (1874) · Aurek of the Hesket line (1876) · Marek of the Adaeze line (1878) · Rook of the Kaja line (1880) · Marek of the Maelis line (1882) · Marek of the Adaeze line (1884) · Ximena of the Wren line (1886) · Anouska of the Sigrun line (1888) · Tamar of the Hesket line (1890) · Calder of the Hesket line (1892) · Kesi of the Brenna line (1894) · Kesi of the Lisbet line (1896) · Aurek of the Hesket line (1898) |
| 1900s | Tavin of the Wren line (1900) · Liora of the Temperance line (1902) · Wynne of the Hesket line (1904) · Femi of the Sigrun line (1906) · Tamar of the Maelis line (1908) · Dagmar of the Temperance line (1910) · Birk of the Brenna line (1912) · Ysolde of the Nkemdi line (1914) · Femi of the Kaja line (1916) · Femi of the Old Seedmother line (1918) · Sabel of the Ondra line (1920) · Tamar of the Temperance line (1922) · Anouska of the Adaeze line (1924) · Tamar of the Temperance line (1926) · Ximena of the Sigrun line (1928) · Liora of the Old Seedmother line (1930) · Tamar of the Nkemdi line (1932) · Nell of the Rhoswen line (1934) · Lenn of the Rhoswen line (1936) · Marek of the Adaeze line (1938) · Ximena of the Hesket line (1940) · Ysolde of the Lisbet line (1942) · Aurek of the Temperance line (1944) · Dagmar of the Ondra line (1946) · Tavin of the Temperance line (1948) · Nell of the Rhoswen line (1950) · Sabel of the Wren line (1952) · Femi of the Nkemdi line (1954) · Tamar of the Adaeze line (1956) · Femi of the Brenna line (1958) · Dagmar of the Old Seedmother line (1960) · Bryony of the Hesket line (1962) · Joss of the Ondra line (1964) · Emeka of the Nkemdi line (1966) · Emeka of the Maelis line (1968) · Lenn of the Brenna line (1970) · Liora of the Nkemdi line (1972) · Tavin of the Hesket line (1974) · Kesi of the Maelis line (1976) · Wynne of the Wren line (1978) · Ximena of the Hesket line (1980) · Rook of the Brenna line (1982) · Emeka of the Nkemdi line (1984) · Liora of the Lisbet line (1986) · Dagmar of the Sigrun line (1988) · Ruta of the Hesket line (1990) · Tamar of the Brenna line (1992) · Bryony of the Ondra line (1994) · Marek of the Sigrun line (1996) · Rook of the Old Seedmother line (1998) |
| 2000s | Marek of the Rhoswen line (2000) · Nell of the Hesket line (2002) · Lenn of the Maelis line (2004) · Kesi of the Nkemdi line (2006) · Rook of the Ondra line (2008) · Bryony of the Yewen line (2010) · Anouska of the Lisbet line (2012) · Anouska of the Adaeze line (2014) · Tavin of the Yewen line (2016) · Tamar of the Lisbet line (2018) · Liora of the Ondra line (2020) · Femi of the Old Seedmother line (2022) · Calder of the Brenna line (2024) · Rook of the Nkemdi line (2026) · Rook of the Ondra line (2028) · Ysolde of the Brenna line (2030) · Ximena of the Ondra line (2032) · Tamar of the Maelis line (2034) · Emeka of the Rhoswen line (2036) · Tamar of the Brenna line (2038) · Sabel of the Brenna line (2040) · Dagmar of the Hesket line (2042) · Dagmar of the Wren line (2044) · Ruta of the Adaeze line (2046) · Ruta of the Yewen line (2048) · Orla of the Yewen line (2050) · Bryony of the Wren line (2052) · Sabel of the Rhoswen line (2054) · Ximena of the Temperance line (2056) · Calder of the Maelis line (2058) · Marek of the Rhoswen line (2060) · Aurek of the Hesket line (2062) · Wynne of the Maelis line (2064) · Tavin of the Yewen line (2066) · Femi of the Rhoswen line (2068) · Hedda of the Ondra line (2070) · Birk of the Rhoswen line (2072) · Birk of the Adaeze line (2074) · Hedda of the Adaeze line (2076) · Anouska of the Sigrun line (2078) · Tavin of the Wren line (2080) · Wynne of the Lisbet line (2082) · Birk of the Wren line (2084) · Hedda of the Temperance line (2086) · Emeka of the Sigrun line (2088) · Dagmar of the Hesket line (2090) · Lenn of the Nkemdi line (2092) · Orla of the Adaeze line (2094) · Anouska of the Rhoswen line (2096) · Emeka of the Nkemdi line (2098) |
| 2100s | Hedda of the Hesket line (2100) · Dagmar of the Temperance line (2102) · Lenn of the Maelis line (2104) · Nell of the Adaeze line (2106) · Emeka of the Nkemdi line (2108) · Birk of the Ondra line (2110) · Dagmar of the Kaja line (2112) · Ruta of the Yewen line (2114) · Marek of the Adaeze line (2116) · Orla of the Hesket line (2118) · Emeka of the Maelis line (2120) · Dagmar of the Rhoswen line (2122) · Ysolde of the Wren line (2124) · Ruta of the Rhoswen line (2126) · Calder of the Old Seedmother line (2128) · Dagmar of the Wren line (2130) · Tamar of the Yewen line (2132) · Dagmar of the Brenna line (2134) · Joss of the Brenna line (2136) · Tamar of the Hesket line (2138) · Birk of the Lisbet line (2140) · Marek of the Nkemdi line (2142) · Hedda of the Brenna line (2144) · Calder of the Sigrun line (2146) · Joss of the Maelis line (2148) · Liora of the Adaeze line (2150) · Liora of the Brenna line (2152) · Bryony of the Old Seedmother line (2154) · Ysolde of the Adaeze line (2156) · Liora of the Brenna line (2158) · Emeka of the Lisbet line (2160) · Sabel of the Sigrun line (2162) · Hedda of the Adaeze line (2164) · Ruta of the Kaja line (2166) · Tamar of the Yewen line (2168) · Lenn of the Nkemdi line (2170) · Bryony of the Old Seedmother line (2172) · Orla of the Old Seedmother line (2174) · Nell of the Hesket line (2176) · Anouska of the Brenna line (2178) · Orla of the Rhoswen line (2180) · Dagmar of the Ondra line (2182) · Nell of the Kaja line (2184) · Wynne of the Kaja line (2186) · Tamar of the Wren line (2188) · Anouska of the Lisbet line (2190) · Marek of the Adaeze line (2192) · Dagmar of the Ondra line (2194) · Hedda of the Nkemdi line (2196) · Lenn of the Kaja line (2198) |
| 2200s | Lenn of the Yewen line (2200) · Nell of the Temperance line (2202) · Aurek of the Ondra line (2204) · Birk of the Sigrun line (2206) · Femi of the Lisbet line (2208) · Calder of the Wren line (2210) · Wynne of the Nkemdi line (2212) · Ruta of the Old Seedmother line (2214) · Rook of the Lisbet line (2216) · Lenn of the Sigrun line (2218) · Nell of the Sigrun line (2220) · Ysolde of the Adaeze line (2222) · Orla of the Brenna line (2224) · Liora of the Hesket line (2226) · Orla of the Old Seedmother line (2228) · Sabel of the Brenna line (2230) · Aurek of the Adaeze line (2232) · Rook of the Wren line (2234) · Orla of the Yewen line (2236) · Ysolde of the Brenna line (2238) · Ysolde of the Sigrun line (2240) · Rook of the Lisbet line (2242) · Wynne of the Brenna line (2244) · Tamar of the Nkemdi line (2246) · Sabel of the Yewen line (2248) · Marek of the Ondra line (2250) · Nell of the Rhoswen line (2252) · Dagmar of the Lisbet line (2254) · Lenn of the Sigrun line (2256) · Emeka of the Wren line (2258) · Bryony of the Rhoswen line (2260) · Ruta of the Old Seedmother line (2262) · Tamar of the Old Seedmother line (2264) · Anouska of the Temperance line (2266) · Dagmar of the Lisbet line (2268) · Tamar of the Wren line (2270) · Sabel of the Brenna line (2272) · Dagmar of the Sigrun line (2274) · Tamar of the Temperance line (2276) · Rook of the Adaeze line (2278) · Femi of the Sigrun line (2280) · Nell of the Yewen line (2282) · Liora of the Old Seedmother line (2284) · Calder of the Maelis line (2286) · Dagmar of the Rhoswen line (2288) · Orla of the Maelis line (2290) · Anouska of the Ondra line (2292) · Lenn of the Yewen line (2294) · Liora of the Lisbet line (2296) · Tamar of the Adaeze line (2298) |
| 2300s | Rook of the Wren line (2300) · Ximena of the Wren line (2302) · Ruta of the Sigrun line (2304) · Liora of the Brenna line (2306) · Kesi of the Temperance line (2308) · Liora of the Lisbet line (2310) · Wynne of the Hesket line (2312–) |
Figures every Hold child knows#
| Figure | Dates | Why remembered |
|---|---|---|
| The Old Seedmother | The Silence | Kept the Gift alive, in the frontier's telling. Several Gift-lines claim her. |
| The Wolf-Rider | Many versions | Rode a dray through an ember storm to warn the Holds (Chapter IV) |
| Hedda of the Old Seedmother line | Speaker 1856 | First Speaker after the Charter Wars |
| The Walk-out families | 1700s | The first free-folk |
| Orla of the Maelis line | Speaker 2290 | Brought the Compact into the Assembly after the Long Knock |
Section 4: Demographics & Society#
Population Metrics#
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Free-folk | 120.8 million (142 − 9.4 Crown Holds − 11.8 Imperial Holds) |
| Holds | About 58,000 free Holds, averaging about 1,300 people, plus the Hold-towns |
| Urban share | 38% (Chapter I), mostly in the rift towns |
| Births, deaths, growth | 22.6 and 11.8 per 1,000; +1.08% a year, the fastest on Kethra (Chapter I) |
| Fertility | 2.9 births per woman (Chapter I) |
| Life expectancy | 64 K-yr (about 70 Earth years) (Chapter I) |
| Hearth size | 6.1 people (Chapter II) |
| First marriage | Typically at 19 (Chapter I) |
| Reach | Free-folk (millions) | Gardenland (million km²) | Towns |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Rift Reach | 34.0 | 1.15 | Eldhaven (1.7 million), Stavholm, Hartsfall, Ember Crossing, Lowgard |
| The Northshore Reach | 24.5 | 0.98 | Kettleby, Glimmerholt, Skarth, Saltmere |
| The Highland Reach | 22.5 | 0.90 | Brandvik, Tarnhollow |
| The Emberscrub Reach | 18.0 | 0.55 | Hollow Ash, Cinderholt, Dray Fair |
| The Southmark | 13.0 | 0.45 | Tindra, Lastlight |
| The Bowl Reach | 8.8 | 0.42 | Craterhold, Bowl's Edge |
| Total | 120.8 | 4.45 |
Working. 120.8 million ÷ 4.45 million km² = 27 per km² of gardenland; Chapter I gives 28 for Eldvang as a whole.
Kin, Standing and the Gift#
- Close to equal within each Hold (Chapter II). What divides people is status under charter, then Gift-standing: descent through a strong Gift-line carries prestige.
- Matrilineal in practice (Chapter II). Descent runs mother to daughter to granddaughter. Men hold Moot offices freely; the Gift-mothers' councils decide inheritance.
- Hold-crèches care for the young in harvest and ember seasons. Every adult may correct any child. The Gift-mother's authority equals the parents' (Chapter II).
- Hearth-joining is marriage: the Gift-mothers of both families share a meal. Triads join the same way (Chapter V).
Language & Descent#
- Southspeech (Chapter IV): slower, with open vowels; frontier names for everything; borrowings from Line cant and dray-handling. Dates are given in moons.
- Eldvangers (Chapter I): mixed, with a heavy heartland share; settled from AL 1620 by Crown, Imperial and Line migrants, and by exiles.
- Names: a given name and a Gift-line: Wynne of the Hesket line.
Religion & Belief Systems#
| Belief | Share |
|---|---|
| The Wolf Rite | 58% (Chapter V) |
| The Cantorate (mostly Literalist) | 22% |
| No affiliation | 9% |
| The Ashward | 6% (Chapter V) |
| Plain Reckoners | 3% |
| Other | 2% |
- The Wolf Rite has no priesthood; Gift-mothers lead the rites. It keeps the lunar calendar and the Sól–Máni–Hati–Surtr myth, and does not believe in the Return. It believes in endurance (Chapter V).
- The Ashward believe Surtr is coming and the world will burn. They dig deep shelters and seed hoards, and withdraw into the eastern highlands: the Ashward Delvings (Chapter V).
- Rites (Chapter V): Gift-naming; the Wolf Run at 15; Hearth-joining; Seedmother's Day on the first of Seed Moon.
- No blasphemy law. Insult someone's Gift-mother and you answer in the Moot, or with fists (Chapter V).
Public Health#
| Threat | Notes |
|---|---|
| Giftloss | Antibiotics or severe illness wipe out the Gift. It is treated by the Sharing (Chapter I). The Sharing House at Eldhaven keeps Gift cultures from every line that will lend them. |
| Rustlung | "The cough of the Hedge and the frontier" (Chapter I) |
| Reedlurker envenomation | Antivenom in every Hedge post (Chapter I) |
| Tidemouth | "Don't taste the tide" (Chapter I) |
| Ember burns and heat | Worst in the Emberscrub |
- No Hearth Care. Only the Crown Holds have it, and "far thinner" than in the north (Crown almanac). Each Reach runs its own healers' houses.
Education#
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Literacy | 84% |
| School | Moot schools in every Hold, from 5 to 13. After that, the Hedge and the fields. |
| Higher learning | The College of the Holds, Eldhaven (1902); healers' schools in every Reach |
A frontier child can imitate a tidehound's call (Introduction), read a dray's temper and a fire's direction, and run the Hedge at night at 15.