Located between the sea of doubts in the south and the sealing sea in the north, Tal’dor is a massive stretch of land that extends in the east to the Altais plains, whose border it shares with the Nur Dal. The country consists of almost entirely level plains, though this changes at its northern end, where the mighty Zapovedni range forms a stone wall, beyond which the hermit kingdom of Volchok lies. The major cities in Tal’dor are Kvev, Polt, and Xorxiv, all of which enjoy temperate weather and fertile land, which has fed the people of Tal’dor for thousands of years. In the middle of the country, the great lakes break up the otherwise monotonous flatlands, and those who grow tired of the enormous metropolises of Tal’dor often retreat to this area, since it is quiet and sedate, and offers a totally different rhythm to life. Nil, in the far south of the country, is by far the warmest city in Tal’dor, and also its most troubled. Situated so closely to the Sakr, Nil is associated in the minds of the average Tal’dori with smuggling and weapon running, hostage taking and the occasional spate of necromancy. As much as possible, the Priesthood of Kvev and Blood Rurik have tried to tame this area, but it has proved difficult, with many folk in that city identifying more with the Sakr – in language, family ties and history – that with Tal’dor. Nil has on many occasions attempted to become an independent city state, but such desires have always been treated with the brutal directness we have come to expect of Tal’dori law.
Ecosystem
Wide spaces in Tal’dor make for strong winds which, when they blow from west to east, turn into gales and hurricanes and hit the Shivtsei deserts of the Nur Dal at colossal speeds, creating sandstorms that can sink villages and small towns in meters of sand. Other than that, the weather is fairly temperate. A large tectonic plate runs vertically through Bratsk, and it runs along the Tal’dor/Nur Dal border. It is joked that should an earthquake ever happen along this fault line, the breach in the land would still not be as wide as the breech between the two cultures.
Plateaus and steppe make up the majority of the Tal’dor, which makes it an excellent place to graze cattle, sheep, and goats, though not in the same way as its nomadic neighbours. In Tal’dor, farms of enormous size dominate the interior, and their owners are some of the richest people in the country. In fact, Blood Voron’s wealth is founded upon agriculture, and even today, Voron’s lands remain the biggest and most plentiful in Tal’dor.
Fauna & Flora
The Tal’dor is a rather polluted country, given that, more than any other country in Bratsk, its industrialised drive, intensive farming and lack of effective pollution control means the environment is not in the healthiest condition. Though the centre of Kvev for example, looks wonderous and beautiful, venture further out and the great smoke stacks can be seen pouring soot into the atmosphere at a fierce rate. Within the interior, things do not improve too much. Chemicals pollute the rivers and seas, and untreated sewage still remains a problem. It is interesting that the most technologically advanced nation in Bratsk is also its dirtiest, something which the Priesthood and Blood Voron have been at pains to justify but ultimately always fail.
Still, given the size of the country and the massive steppes and plateaus that make up the majority of its space, much of the Tal’dor is either untouched or unexploited, and therefore remains as pure today as it did millennia ago. Here, particularly in the region of the great lakes, unusual species of fish and birds can be seen, ones that revel in Tal’dor’s kind climate. Bears and wolves are a rarity in Tal’dor – it is hardly ever cold enough to support such life. But other mammals, like foxes, deer and badgers can be regularly seen in the woods and pastures.
Natural Resources
Significant natural resources in Tal’dor include iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, salt, oil and graphite. It has used these riches very wisely in its history, learning to exploit them for the superstructural technologies of their cities that are the envy of Bratsk.
