Durnhao

Durnhao—or, more accurately, Durnhão—takes up most of the southern shores of the island of Pumirna, a large triangular land just to the northwest of the continent of Yandjee, as well as a large portion of the interior. Founded in the year 381 AB, it is something of a theocracy, the Duke (ofadiuca, more correctly translated "high king") and High Chaplain (malomalmu) acting as counterbalances to one another. As a state, Durnhão is founder and chiefly comprises followers of Llegramu, a faith which puts aside the gods and focuses on people—and on Guxaça, a devil-figure.

Durnhao as a region has quite a regional extreme in terms of seasons. Winters are warm, but incredibly dry; snow is rare even in the highlands. Summers, on the other hand, receive the full brunt of the equatorial storms; the highlands receive some storms from the south, and the lowlands are drenched. Although they lay claim to the whole of Pumirna as well as some other islands, Durnhão itself is around the size of the Ivory Coast.

Cities

Society

The society of Durnhão is divided into three broad classes. At the top sit the Duke and his family, and the High Chaplain and his cardinals. A level below one finds the "building classes"—the merchants and craftworkers, the soldiers and the lay priests, none of whom bear noble title. And at the bottom are the "ordinary classes"—the farmers and fisherfolk, migrants from afar and debtor-slaves.

These last are held for only so long as their debt remains unpaid, and the wages are set by the Duke…but it is a difficult thing to prove, and more and more there are those from other lands who are taken illegally and compelled to pay for their release. (To this end, certain abbeys have made an effort to "buy their souls" and free them from slavery, teaching them a trade if need be or granting them honest work if not, but it will have to be seen whether the Duke will be able to put a stop to the process entirely.) One man in fifteen is a slave…and one woman in ten.

Durnhão may be considered unusually progressive in that homosexual marriage has been recognized and even applauded for centuries…or unusually regressive, as homosexual marriage among men was the only type of marriage recognized for quite some time, with women being confined to ogucipi (singular ogucipu)—a combination nunnery, centre of prostitution, and family compound—for many centuries, until the rise of Llegramu put an end to it (possibly in part because the ogucipi were becoming power centres in their own right). These days, a man is able to marry both another man (or two, in fact) and a woman; any relations outside of these three marriages is considered illicit and adulterous.

Languages

The chief language of culture and religion is Eralca, a Nekortian language. There are ten recognized dialects along the coast; two of them are considered a language of their own, Ulmanda.

The language called Kshamakaraktha, a Dhunic language, is also still used, at least to some degree. Much trade with the west is carried on in Kshamakaraktha, and even though the priests of Llegramu are less than keen on following other gods, they respect the width and breadth of literature and culture that can be found in Kshamakaraktha texts.

Another Nekortian language, Δla-Χwé, is spoken inland on Pumirna, in the cities of the Nio people (which are still technically independent). The many tonal dialects are sometimes a bit difficult for your average Gomirna to follow, but many still learn it; many more, especially in the cities where Nio come to work, pick up words from Δla-Χwé as slang.