The only democracy in the region finds itself confronted on all sides by... trading partners. Wayland was founded in 1607, when a number of small states threw out their mage and undead rulers and decided to "have a go at government ourselves." The experiment seems to have worked and this nation of merchants and traders has managed to thrive, despite its small size and limited resources.
An assembly, composed of 45 members elected from geographical districts (shires), creates the laws for all citizens. The military is under the command of the Lord High General, who is chosen by the Assembly for a term of 10 years. Assemblymen are elected for terms of 7 years, and can be re-elected no more than twice in a row; the Lord High General is retired at the end of his term, to avoid having a police state. Laws are proposed by committees and then voted on by the entire Assembly.
Laws are enforced by local authorities, chosen by the people they protect. Most towns have either a mayor and a sheriff, or just a sheriff who performs both jobs. The mayor makes local laws and "interprets" the national ones, and the sheriff polices the area and keeps the peace. Larger communities usually have a resident Lawgiver (specialty priest of Tyr) who advises the sheriff on legal matters. Small villages rely on traveling Lawgivers or let the Sheriff make decisions on his own. Mayors and sheriffs are usually elected to terms of between 3 to 5 years, and can be re-elected as often as desired. Some towns have had the same mayor for 50 years!
Taxes are collected to keep the system running: each town has a tax-collector who goes from house to house collecting the local taxes and who rides with the national tax-collectors when they come through. National taxes are collected during Brewfest, or shortly thereafter; local taxes are collected at various times. Taxes are levied on property and wealth, but not on goods-for-sale. This makes it a wonderful place for merchants. (During Brewfest most people attempt to offer up all their goods for sale, so as to avoid paying any taxes. However, the tax collectors are allowed to decide what is really for sale, and what is only for show)
Many of the nation's citizens are farmers, living in small villages, but even they all have "something to sell". People looking for rare items from the far south go to Wayland first. Nethathon, the capital, has an open-air market that stays open day and night, all year long. It's said that, "if it can be bought or sold, it's bought or sold in Wayland." That saying is obviously an exaggeration, but it is close enough to the truth. Nethathon is the center for worship of Waukeen, not surprisingly.
Wayland has very little in the way of "formal" foreign policy; it relies on the conduct of individual citizens and groups to handle foreign relations. This has worked very well, allowing Wayland to become the major through-port for goods traveling overland between Ket and Athmyr, and most ships on the Kitaran Sea visit Nethathon at least annually. Sailors often look forward to "shore leave in Wayland" for months before they actually stop in the port.
Wayland's military is organized by shire and is completely voluntary. Each person is required to serve a minimum of 4 years in the military, some time between the ages of 15 and 40. Thus, there are a large number of 36 year olds in the military. This was the only way the founders saw of being able to keep their nation free from the "tyrants on all sides". So, Wayland has a standing military force that is simply huge in comparison to the other countries in the area. The military does not attack anyone, and is intended as a purely defensive force. However, they have to do something when no one is attacking Wayland...
The military performs "community service" projects most of the time. Guarding places, acting as a local police force or militia, tracking down criminals and spies, actively pursuing and putting an end to banditry, and even building structures such as bridges and roads for towns. Effectively every shire's men serve within the shire, living in bunkhouses and traveling to various towns for duty. Each town has a military "post", usually a building with a couple of offices and several beds for the permanently stationed military personnel. There are no mercenaries.
While many in Wayland worship Waukeen, most of the farmers and peasants worship Tymora, and there are shrines to her by the sides of many roads.
Many things in Wayland are organized by shire: Military divisions, politics, taxes, graineries, etc. The shires are divided up by population. The most influential shires are the cities:
The other six shires are geographical:
Possibly the second largest city on the continent, after Gothos. The "Market Square" is literally huge, nearly a mile across, and never closes. Some buildings are permanent in its aisles, but most are either canvas tents or wooden lean-tos. (During strong storms, a magical umbrella is spread over the market, thus making it the driest place in town -- and increasing sales.)
Much of the rest of the city is either housing for the Market Sellers or support businesses: entertainment, supplies, warehouses, etc. The place is the center for goods produced in Wayland, too, with lumber and finished goods from the Ta-Bel'Ran (and the elves) and farmed goods from the entire plain and fishing from the Kitaran sea all converging here to be loaded on ships and sold.
One of the most beautiful sites in the city is the House of Firehair, the oldest and greatest temple to Sune in the Kitaran Sea region.
At the end of the "Ruathan Wall" (also called the "Athmyrian Folly" around here), Selenica chose a different way of dealing with the Nomads on the other side of the river; they trade with them. The Wall stops just at the edge of Selenica's territory, about a day's hike from the city. From there to the Rhu'nada Sea, the Nomads can cross freely -- except that the river is so strong by then, that they effectively must use the bridges at Selenica. This keeps the Athmyrians from attacking the city for letting the Nomads through, but retains the city's friendship with several tribes.
Within the city can be seen the effects of the tribes: artifacts, architecture, and ways of dress and speech reflect the multi-cultural character of the city. The current permanent population is roughly one-third nomadic, from basically four tribes.
The city is a shire unto itself, like Nethathon and Sauter, due to its size.
Think of West Berlin. Three bridges connect this easy-going, free-wheeling place to Sauthos, however the gulf between the two cities is larger than the Blue River. Sauter is another large trading city. Much trade, both legal and illegal, crosses the bridges daily. Since Wayland is the only allowed trading partner with Ket, goods from other countries usually end up here to enter Ket. (The Emperor knows that this is going on, but since Sauter is so far from the other countries, he believes the goods "become Waylander" somewhere along the way, intentionally or not.)
Some of the wealth from the Adri Forest makes it to Sauter instead of Sauthos, but not the majority. Sauter also distributes the farmed goods from the Emba valley to the traders on the Kitaran Sea.
For details about this shire, see the entry for halflings.
The largest shire, this area covers all the farmlands between the Rhu'nada Sea and central Wayland. Mostly farming, some mining and forestry keep the people in this shire busy and fed.
The lands near Nethathon, including the borders of the Ta'Bel'Ran, are known for the great battle between Tyr's Avatar and a dragon, which occured here many years ago.
The great fishing in the Tunwalch Bay brings in more money to this shire than all the farming, which is more prevalent. This is probably due more to the pirates who spend their ill-gotten gold in the small fishing villages here, than to the fishing itself.
The lands between the Ruatha River and central Wayland make up this farming shire. Many of those who live near the Athmyrian Folly disagree with its presence, but the national government has made a deal with Athmyr to keep up the watch, so the farmers do not interfere with the military patrols.
The lands in the valley of the Emba River are still under some dispute. However, to increase the people's desire to live under Wayland's rule, the government has made these lands their own shire, with a full political voice in the Assembly.
While the elves of the Ta'Bel'Ran do not allow humans in the deep forest, many people make a good living in the edges and shadow of the trees.
Recently uncovered, this place has become the center for a real revolution in the Kitaran Sea area. Several psionicists from the Network discovered this tomb of an Autarch years ago. However, the programmed sending from the doorway disturbed them: "Here lies the Autarch Costanza, ruler of the Rhu'nada Sea and beyond. Do not disturb him for 2000 years, until he shall rise again and re-claim what is his." According to records, the 2000 years should be ending in 1899, probably during Goodmonth. Since the Network would not do anything to prepare (or warn the thousands of people in nearby Selenica), a group of five broke from the Network and declared their existence and the Tomb to the Lord High General in Nethathon.
He was shocked to realize that "Mindwitches" still existed, but even more dismayed by the prophesy of the Tomb. So, for the first time ever, he agreed to let the psionicists work with the military to discover the secrets of the Tomb and stop the ancient Autarch.
This has led to the establishment of a Registry for psionicists in Wayland, similar to other organizations for Mages and Priests. However, psionicists must always wear a yellow scarf around their upper arm, with a symbol of an eye on it. They must agree to not enter another's mind without permission (from the person or the government, not necessarily both) and to follow orders via mandatory military service for the rest of their lives. The initial five and a few who have joined them all agree that these are small prices to pay for the safety of Wayland.
Copyright © 2000, Michael Friedman.