Taumury

Taumury is a nation of Dadauar, situated on the west coast of Matuni. It is sometimes called the "Land of Mud" for all the miry sloughs that cover much of the country. Taumury has managed to remain independent of the onirarchs, and has managed to cultivate diplomatic ties with several onirarchies.

Geography

Taumury is a roughly rectangular nation, much wider east to west than it is north to south, sandwiched between the nations of Cselya and Olozi. Although the Westwind Mountains cross near the eastern edge of the country, most of Taumury is flat and marshy, an expanse of mud and stagnant water broken by the occasional copse or hillock. The Sauven River flows lazily down the center of the continent, its borders often indeterminate amidst its sodden surroundings, its tributaries threading throughout the country like the veins of a leaf. In fact, historically Taumury's borders were originally defined by the river's basin, although as it turns out the measurement of the basin was inexact, and the borders don't actually match up to it well.

Aside from the mountains in the east, other features of Taumury that stand out from the interminable quag include the Tower Hills, so called after the ancient towers that stand there, relics of some forgotten civilization; the Glasswood, largest of the forested areas that speckle the wetlands; and the Grimshaw, a smaller forest with an eerie reputation. Taumury also sports many bodies of open water among the vast fenland, the largest of which is the Mares' Lake in the northeast.

Economy

Although Taumury seems devoid of natural resources, it manages to make good use of what it has. The muds and minerals that fill its marshes its people use for clays and ceramics with which they have attained a real expertise; Taumurian pottery is valued throughout Dadauar. It has even managed to attract tourism with its renowned mud-based beauty treatments and spas, which people come from all over the world to experience.

Taumury also makes good use of its relatively small bit of coastline, doing extensive fishing and harvesting of other oceanic resources. Taumurian roe is considered a delicacy all over the world, and if there are those who say it only attained this status through good marketing, it still fetches a high price. Even the marshy land Taumury manages to use for farming, producing in quantity certain aquatic or hygrophilous (or at least moisture-tolerant) crops such as lotus, taro, duckweed, wasabi, rice, and various Vaccinium berries. One recent development is the magical creation of a new type of edible alga called rauspic that thrives in Taumury's swampy territory, and which in the last few decades has been steadily increasing in popuarity—and in its contribution to the nation's income.

One of Taumury's largest imports is building materials. Although it has historically made many structures out of baked mud and out of the stringy wood of the twisted trees that grow in its swamps, and although it does have some quarries in the mountains from where it obtains some stone, Taumury has few sources of metal, and its stone production is limited. Taumury also imports a lot of textiles and meat. In recent years, its import of grain has also been increasing; while Taumury does produce rice, and some other starchy crops that are not technically cereals but can serve the same purpose, its citizens have apparently been developing a taste for wheat and maize and other grains that don't grow in its waterlogged environs.

Government

Taumury is run by a National Council, made up of two representatives from each of the hereditary clans that compete for power in the country. Presiding over the council is a Speaker, elected, along with a few other officers, by a vote of the council members. The council is forbidden to select any of these officers, including the Speaker, from within its own ranks, which has led to many politicians turning down council posts in the hopes of attaining Speakerhood or some other officer position that membership in the council would close from them.

Almost anything goes in the Council elections—and in the Council's elections of the other officers—, and the elections often seem to devolve into chaotic free-for-alls. Many people—in the onirarchies especially—accuse the Land of Mud of being an anarchy in all but name. Somehow, though, things always seem to work out, the government continues, and the people seem reasonably happy.

Among the officers appointed by the Council are administrators who govern each of Taumury's fifteen provinces. The details of running the provincial governments are left up to the administrators, and each administrator tends to run things a different way. Although in principle the administrator must be appointed anew every three years, in practice the Council almost always simply reappoints the incumbent, and for all practical purposes the appointment is for life. Only in cases of gross incompetence or corruption will an adminstrator typically be replaced.

Culture

Taumurians have a reputation for not sticking to formalities; their frequent failure to stick to a schedule may frustrate foreigners. Saunas are very popular in Taumury; many Taumurians consider at least one sauna visit to be an essential part of their daily routine. (A common joke is that Taumurians need the saunas to wash off all the mud.)

The people of Taumury belong to hereditary clans that play a large role in many aspects of Taumurian life. Each clan has its own traditions and celebrates its own holidays, and has alliances and rivalries with certain other clans. Clanship is matrilineal, with children belonging to the clan of the mother. Most marriage occurs between allied clans; marriage within a clan is frowned upon, though only relatively mildly. Marriage between rival clans does occur, but invariably leads to some tension in the extended family. Immigrants to Taumury are at least initially outside the clan structure, though those who stay long and integrate themselves into society are usually eventually adopted into a clan. (Immigrants who marry Taumurians are not generally adopted into the clans of their spouses, but into allied clans.)

Relations

Politically, Taumury keeps more or less to itself, not forming any close coalitions but managing to avoid making any strong enemies either. It is friendly with its neighbors, but has not made any formal alliances with them. Somehow, Taumury's government has consistently managed the dangerous balancing act of recognition by the onirarchies without actually becoming subject to them; like its neighbors Cselya and Olozi but unlike many other nominally independent nations, Taumury really is free of any direct onirarchal control. It maintains close diplomatic relations with Drithidiach, Ivinii, and Ovla Ba, without allowing them or any other onirarchy to dictate its policies or seize control of its economy or government.