The Kingdom of Talir

A Brief Geographical Treatment

by Bayburry of Peakshadow


Though one of the Eight Kingdoms, Talir is actually a theocracy. Once peopled by pagans dedicated to the worship of Kinurea, goddess of earth, Talir was the last holdout of the so-called elder gods. When the people of Talir finally converted from their old religion, they maintained some of their customs (such as the use of Wine Trees), and their social system remained intact. Thus, every citizen of Talir is an observant member of the Church. Those who are not members of the Church are second-class members of society called metics. Metics have few rights and must pay special taxes.

Talir's most famous city is Watersedge, a port of some reknown. Citizens of Watersedge enjoy great freedoms and prosperity, but its visitors and metics often find the laws onerous and stifling. Even so, a poor metic in Watersedge often lives better and in greater finery than some minor nobles in places like Balduren or Collonia. All of the cities and towns of Talir are run by Viceroys who are priests by law and act locally on behalf of the Supreme Holy Council.

The Supreme Holy Council is made up of priests who serve life terms of office and nominate their own successors. It is this Council which chooses the King of Talir. This King wields some internal executive power, but mostly just represents Talir in the eyes of the rest of the world and especially before the High Throne in Peakshadow. Though he is considered a proper King to those outside of the Kingdom, by his own citizens he is widely regarded as a titular and ceremonial head of state. In Talir he is commonly called the Vicegerent.

For these and other reasons, the people of Talir are considered both culturally strange and religiously zealous by outsiders. They are sometimes unfairly characterized as being superstitious and backward (though this depiction has some merit among their Marsher population). Despite this, Talir is commonly called the Shipyard of the Eight Kingdoms. It is famed for its sacred cypress forests whose wood is used both for the making of weatherproof shingles and for shipbuilding. Additionally, some nobles from around the Eight Kingdoms have been known to panel their manors using the highly polished wood which is admired for its golden yellow hue.

Because of its climate, Talir is also home to transplanted groves of lemon and orange trees that were once found only in Eastrun. That fruit is growing in popularity throughout the Eight Kingdoms, but is seldom available except in places like Menea, Rath and Saklan. The fruit is also highly prized by sailors and merchantmen for it has been shown to stave off the dreaded Yellow Waste.

Lastly, the South East coast of Talir is known also for its swamps, which the locals call the Wetwood. The people who live among those swamps are called Marshers or Marshmen. They are rabidly independent and considered uncivilized. They live on tiny freeholds and sustenance farms, eschew polite society, have their own strong dialect. They sometimes still maintain some private devotion to Kinurea stapled onto the faith of the Church. Their diet consists of frog, shrimp, crayfish, and alligator. This local fare is not highly prized in the rest of Talir or the other South Kingdoms, but strangely have become delicacies in other farflung places like Bolden, Peakshadow and Collonia.