Pronunciation: FELL-home
Founding Date: 1281 DA
Dissolution Date: -
Demonym: Fell/Fells
Capital: Sollan
Racial Distribution: human (60%), dwarf (15%), goblin (13%), other (12%)
Official Language: Fellgoll
Fellhome is governed by a loose collection of Patriarchs, who work together for the good of the Fell people but otherwise keep to the overseeing of their own collections of villages. They meet twice yearly on the equinoxes to discuss the goings on of their territories, but otherwise communicate via messenger birds. While wider regions are the domain of the Patriarchs, each individual village is guided by a Matriarch, who oversees the gathering and distribution of resources amongst her people and ensures the village has enough to survive the brutal winters.
Fellhome has little in the way of natural resources, and even less available that isn't vital for the survival of the inhabitants, but the Fell people make good use of what they have. Wool, gathered from the mountain deer, is their primary export, and is sold both in its raw form and woven into a variety of textiles. Fell-made blankets, coats, and rugs are known to be warm and well-made items, and it's said that Fell tapestries can be taken off the wall and used as a source of warmth if a sudden blizzard blows through. Fellhome communities may also trade a variety of semiprecious stones that can be found throughout the mountains, which may be used as spell components, worked into jewelry, or simply sold as pretty trinkets.
Uniquely, Fellhome is also the source of most of Altandor's homing charms, tiny magical items that are vital for the world's ever-growing hawk mail network. A village can make good money selling excess charms to the postal service, and they may also send hawk trainers down the mountain to assist in the training of new birds.
Fellhome is situated deep in the Skyfang Mountains, with villages perched in any valley, pass, or lofty peak that will support them. Some villages are so high up they sit above the clouds, the highest elevated settlements in Altandor. There is little vegetation in Fellhome save for moss, lichen, hardy alpine flowers, tough grass, and the occasional copse of pines. Much of the nation is rocky mountainside interspersed with green meadows, and all of it is encased in ice and snow each year for the duration of winter's brutality.
Sollan: Fellhome's capital city, though to call it a city might be a stretch. Sollan is built on the highest peak of the Skyfangs, and is considered sacred ground by the Fell people. The Star Temple is here, along with the Halfhall, a structure built into the side of the mountain, one side open to the chilly air, where the Patriarchs meet twice-yearly.
Fell culture is strongly collectivist: all resources gathered and all tasks done are for the good of the village. Food, herbs, clothes, and tools are doled out as needed, and all the villagers work together to help if one is in need. The strength of the community is seen as the strength of all its members, as survival in the Skyfangs' harsh conditions is much more uncertain for a lone traveler than one with a group to assist them. Villages are likely to help out lost travelers, seeing the welcoming of a stranger into their care as an opportunity for sharing knowledge or goods, and seeing value in life even if it has not aided them in any way. However, should a stranger prove untrustworthy, they will find their chances of survival in Fellhome much diminished - word travels fast on hawk's wings, and a village scorned will warn all others in the area not to help such a person. Criminals among their own people are banished in a similar manner.
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