Chapter Text
Describe the geography of where your society calls home.
- The Hooflands, the exonym given to the territory of the Hooflanders, is firmly within the Palliser's Triangle, with only some territory outside of the region.
- The Hooflands show a sharp transition from the Rocky Mountains to the flatter Great Plains
- Much of the west of the Hooflands is Rocky Mountain foothill, while the east is flatter, open prairie, overall poor for agriculture but excellent for grazing
- The Bow River flows through the Hooflands, leaving through the eastern borders, giving the Hooflanders some opportunities to fish, although it's not their primary source of food
Describe the climate your society deals with. How severe are their seasons?
- The Hooflands experience a semi-arid steppe climate
- The winters are generally long and cold, while the summers are brief and hot
- There is usually about 33.38 centimeters of precipitation yearly
What kinds of natural disasters has this society gotten used to?
- While tornadoes are a known and deadly threat, they're uncommon. More threatening to the local tribes are blizzards, cold snaps and heat waves.
What importance (spiritual or cultural) do people ascribe to the geography?
- Most of the time, tornadoes are seen as divine wrath, due to their rarity but extreme danger.
- The local beliefs hold that the land is a near-copy of The Homestead, simply less ethereal in nature.
How do people feel about local landscapes being altered or used for a purpose other than what is traditional?
- The Hooflanders believe that you should leave the land as you found it, if not better.
- Any large-scale farming is, as such, seen as sacrilegious, although the regular mass depopulations of animals is seen as a challenge from the Great Council for mortals to test their strength, combat prowess, and horse riding skills.
What are the most commonly-grown foods?
- Plant agriculture is non-existent among the Hooflanders, with the closest thing to such being a crude apiary tradition with wild bees.
What are the most commonly-eaten meats?
- Horse meat is by and away the most commonly consumed meat amongst the Hooflanders, although it's not the only one eaten
- Sheep, goat, cattle, bison, beefalo, wild game and sometimes fish are eaten as well. These animals are also all raised partly for their wool and dairy
- Honey is a beloved treat and a common sweetener, harvested from wild bee hives in a semi-symbiotic interaction. This is done with small fires set below the hives to pacify the bees while honey, beeswax and more are harvested, just enough to allow the bees to survive while still accruing benefit for the nomads.
- Hunting is virtually a way of life for the Hooflanders, who hunt various animals as much as they raise their own herds. Many teenagers see hunting with friends to be a fine way to spend a day off
What foods are considered exotic or expensive?
- Spices are relatively rare, as are crops of many kinds. Most are imported by Hooflander traders who return home and traded amongst themselves
What forms of alcohol are common? Rare?
- Thanks to their beekeeping, mead is by far the most common alcoholic drink amongst Hooflanders, although their extensive trading allows the elites to enjoy wine
- Fermented milk is also very common, albeit less popular of a trading ware in settled lands than mead.
Is there usually enough food and water for the population?
- The Hooflanders have sufficiently large herds for their people, plus extra for trading. Most Hooflander families will help each other when they hit hard times
What is this place's most abundant resource?
- Meat, wool and other animal products are more than abundant in the Hooflands, and much of their surplus is sold to other lands
What is its most valuable resource?
- Hooflander horses are viewed as a cut above the rest, with their distinct black-feathered hooves a mark of quality and a status symbol amongst non-Hooflanders. Hooflander horses are bred for reliability and strength in the Hooflands, and make excellent warhorses. Hooflanders know their horses are superior and charge accordingly
- Mead is also a popular export, with its entirely wild nature giving a unique flavor, at least to mead snobs
What resource is it most lacking?
- Metal is relatively rare amongst the Hooflands, who simply import whatever metal tools, armor and weapons they need
How do people travel from one place to another?
- All Hooflanders prefer to travel by horse, with great wagon caravans occasionally taking herds and entire lives to new grazing lands.
- Some Hooflander traders will occasionally take boats, although this is rare.
Are the borders secure? In what way?
- The borders of the Hooflands are generally ephemeral beyond a general sense of the exact borders shared amongst them and their neighbors. Despite that, raiders are still common, although swiftly dealt with by those in power
How many people live here?
- Due to the natural limits of herding and hunting, the population of the Hooflands is disparate, with groups varying in size from a half dozen to a few hundred spread out over many miles. The High Camp, the camp controlled by the ruling Ketterling family, is the largest of these camps, with a few thousand at any one time.
Where in this place do they congregate?
- The High Camp in Calgary is the largest single camp of Hooflanders, although this camp moves around seasonally, and will rest in specific regions that will host other camps when it's settled in those regions. While moving, it may also see smaller camps follow it around or meet up occasionally. The de facto "capital" of the Hooflands is in the old city of Calgary, with the camp resting just outside of the ruins of Calgary's downtown area
- In addition, large "market towns" are set up in areas the High Camp rests near, acting as a sort of local capital
What part of this place do they avoid? Why?
- Few areas of the Hooflands are actively avoided, although a large hostile force will see camps giving it a wide berth. Market towns, which are more permanent, and the High Camp, which is simply too big and cumbersome to easily evade hostile forces, are most vulnerable
What are the most common domesticated animals here? And what are they domesticated for?
- Horses, predominantly of the Hooflander breed, are the dominant species of domestic animal. Other breeds of horses and mustangs are seen but less common.
- Other ungulates are seen in every larger camp, usually about as many as horses.
- Bees could be considered a domestic animal as well, although the bees are all wild for the most part.
What are the most common wild animals? How are wild animals treated?
- The most common wild animals include bison, pronghorns, a variety of small game, wolves and mountain lions, as well as feral animals
- Almost all wild animals are regularly hunted, and the Ketterlings will also arrange Great Driving-Runs, the wholesale depopulation of entire areas of animals. While truly devastating on local populations, it also allows the Hooflanders to practice combat skills and gather a large amount of spare food for lean seasons, as well as the trade brought by selling the spare hides
Which animals are likely to be pets? Which ones won't be?
- Hooflander culture says that horses, dogs and falcons are all of mankind's bloodbrothers, and as such, dogs, falcons and personal horses are all common pets.
- Hooflander dogs are primarily descendants of a mixture of husky, German Shepherd, border collie, and various other working dogs, with a very likely admixture of wolf. These dogs are bred to be loyal, fast, intelligent and easily trained, and are noticeable larger than other dogs. They make for excellent guard dogs, and are more than willing to attack intruders who don't flee their baying howls
- Many Hooflander children get their own falcons around the age of 10, when they are also allowed to go hunting or sky-darting (Hooflander term for falconry) for the first time in their lives.
- All other animals are rare pet animals, although the odd mountain lion cub or wolf pup gets raised by a Hooflander with more gall than sense and is loyal to their handler
What are the most common domesticated plants here? And what are they used for?
- As mentioned, plant-based agriculture is non-existent, although carefully-tended areas of flowers or wild grains may be found on occasion, but these are exceptions to the rule
What are the most common wild plants here? What are they used for?
- Many grasses are native to the Hooflands, along with wild domestic crops like corn, wheat and sometimes potatoes. These few feral crops make up the few plants in a Hooflander's typical diet