Varodimel
54 miles wide, average above surface 5,700 ft.
8.1 years between Core Island connections.
Geography
Varodimel is decidedly wedge shaped. The leading edge is unsettlingly flat and thin, and the Island thickens to a mountainous trailing edge that ends in a sheer 4000 foot cliff. Digging of any kind is prohibited near the leading edge – in some places a shallow shoveling can cause holes in the Island. The Gate and Traverton are near this edge, and visitors are reminded to use the provided chamber pots and NOT to wander off and dig their own small latrines.
The winds sweeping across the wedge make for some unpleasant outdoor weather in unsheltered places, yet the flatter parts of the Island are covered in fertile farm grounds and crops grow on Varodimel without much tending. The hills and steeper vales on the trailing edge provide wind breaks for larger settlements, including the main city of Novid Hara, which is nestled in a deep basin surrounded by steep walled cliffs.
Small pools of green liquid occasionally puddle up and disappear randomly on Varodimel. The liquid has several strange properties, and these pools are sought after and, when found, quickly collected by the locals.
People and Culture
The original settlers of Varodimel were Baraki tribes and Anvardi clanless, and they grew into two of the three peoples on modern Varodimel.
The group of clanless that began the first 8 year cycle away from the Core Islands devoted themselves to becoming more like a Clan, and adopted many of the attitudes and practices that the actual Clans exhibited on Anvard. They took the name of the Island as their “clan” name, and through imitation and snobbery (and no small amount of exploitation) became the ruling overclass of the Island. Over a few centuries they split into many families but continued to identify themselves as the aristocracy by taking the prefix “Varo” before their familial name. They built the city of Novid Hara with pretensions to being just as sophisticated as Anvard, and, although Novid Hara is still far smaller, it does echo Anvard’s trappings of wealth and progress. The Varo class make their home there, with estates and holdings throughout the mountainous part of the Island.
The flats and farms of Varodimel are occupied by the descendants of the original Baraki settlers, who in contrast to the clanless came to the Island to get out of their tribal structures. They became the workers and commoners on Varodimel. They live in small villages and generally lead humble agrarian lives, viewing the Varo and those they employ as unnecessarily attached to material wealth.
The third people of Varodimel are the Kimending, the cloistered communities of monks on the Island. They view even the farmers of Varodimel as too attached to material wealth. They do not procreate, and recruit their members from the populace and the occasional foreigner. They practice an austerity and devotion to the mind that connects them to what they call “ki”, and sometimes allows their adherents mystical abilities and unarmed martial prowess. This paucity also makes them dependent on others, however, and they are often called upon to lend their skills to one of their wealthy “sponsors”. Each monastery on Varodimel devotes itself to some higher purpose, like the charting of the skies or the keeping of sacred objects. Some groups have left over the years and founded monasteries on other Islands. The Tovan Monastery on the surface is one of the more famous examples.
The second generation on Varodimel discovered an oddity of the place – people born and raised for 20 or so years on the Island develop a very faint green tinge in the whites of their eyes and live far longer than normal humans should. Grandparents who should be slipping into dotage retain their middle-aged vitality well close to 100 years of age. Today the people of Varodimel can expect to live to about 170, and there are some who are only a few generations removed form the original settlers.
The longevity of Varodimel people is rumored to have something to do with the strange green liquid that bubbles up from time to time on the Island. Indeed the wealth of the Varo, and of the Island itself, is in large part based on the collection and use of these “Varodimel Vitals.” When the liquid is properly incorporated into the making of objects it seems to imbue them with a durability and strength well beyond the other material components. The liquid is sold for small fortunes to foreign apothecaries and artisans, and the Varo themselves compete on what sorts of crafts they can make and sell at the 8-year-market. Some families also ferment it with fruits and make a sort of brandy, “Varodimel Green”, which is also highly sought after on the other Islands. Drinking the liquid does not seem to confer any particular benefit, although the brandy supposedly grants a happy euphoria.
Due to their parents’ longevity, the sons and daughters of the Varo wait a long time for their inheritances. Their restlessness has led to a common practice of Island hopping, where young Varo lords and ladies take a retinue and leave Varodimel for 8 year cycles, some to lounge in what luxuries can be found and others to mount expeditions seeking their own fortunes to bring back.
Local Authority
Each Varo family has a vote in a sort of merchant council called the Varoslung. Although each family is the law in its own houses and lands, and keeps its own bodyguards and armsmen, the Varoslung maintains a panel of judges and an armed force that settles disputes and keeps the peace.
There is an Arcanist and Collegium presence in Novid Hara.
Language
Vardim, a local dialect that is a creole of Baraki and Anvardi. Travit and Vardim speakers can understand each other for simple conversations, but not well for anything complicated. The Varo overclass are taught to speak Anvardi and Travit.
Traverton
The Traverton on Varodimel is a temporary market village that gets set up around the Gate every 8 years. There are some permanent structures that sit abandoned between Gate openings, and during Gate openings many temporary tents and structures pop up. There are a few inns and many taverns and mostly market stalls, with Varodimel Green, Varodimel Vitals and objects made from the same being the primary things for sale. Visitors through the Gate are reminded incessantly to keep from digging into the ground – even a tent stake is not allowed, and the locals will even set up appropriate tents for visitors rather than let them puncture the thinnest part of the Island.