Westermarch

Summary
Westarmarch is a land of great natural abundance - its nature overflows with life and magic, its farmlands are fertile, and its rivers and lakes are teeming with life. Animals roam in great numbers, and the hills are full of birdsong. Even where the temperate rainforest turns to a looming taiga in its southern stretch, Westarmarch is full of life. Great beasts, both peaceful and predatory, prosper in the enchanting beauty of the land.

Having ceded from Gratalia in pursuit of greater freedoms and to better dedicate themselves to Hounwal, the God of Life and Nature, under whose smoldering peak rests the nation, the mostly human and elvish population of Westarmarch made quick work of securing their peoples’ future. By tying themselves more openly to Hounwal, instead of quietly and heretically as they did in Gratalia, they have enjoyed the boon of the “Younger Brother” and have finally found the peace they have long sought. A decentralized Republic of hamlets, villages, and cities sewn together as one large natural quilt, Westarmarch symbolizes the political, cultural, and geographic border of the East, beyond which it is believed only violent Westerners and genocidal Dark Elves scour the profligate land. With the Dirhandish deserts to their west, mountains to their north, and gratalia to their east, the citizens of Westarmarch benefit greatly from their geography - in more ways than one. Though the grasslands of their northwest open up towards the lands of Lahan, the Westerners rarely concern themselves with the lands of the south - it is unsure for many across Westarmarch if the Westerners even know that they’ve ceded from Gratalia.

From the Legislature in Loshell, representatives of the federated lands collaborate to promote their Hounwalist interpretation of government - one which places the natural balance between civilization and nature at the forefront. Having already raised a healthy (if inexperienced) military to protect their Gratalian and Lashani borders, the Republic mostly tasks itself with the construction of Hounwalist shrines, magical locations spread throughout the bountiful forests of Westarmarch in dedication of their god. At such places, fey creatures and fateful boons are believed to contribute to the young nation’s rapid growth - and as Hounwalists seeking to live in accordance with their faith, overpopulation and urban sprawl are gently and quietly disencourage. The Prime Minister of Westarmarch, Eladrion Wood, is an old, extremely apt elf whose firm commitment to Hounwalist principles and deep political experience from centuries in the Gratalian courts has fostered a strong - if tempered - confidence from its people. Opposed fiercely to monarchs and environmental overuse and degradation, Wood has given up on his Gratalian neighbors, whose desire for reemergence on the world stage has led to massive industrial projects which risk polluting the rivers and streams shared by Westarmarch.

Inhabitants
Every manner and make of creature lives in Westarmarch, a land where all might find their niche. From the foothills of Brother Hounwal, where dwarves and dragonborn are occasionally seen making small hearths in the hillsides, to the deep woods, where elves and humans toil to build magnificent towns which blend into nature, Westarmarch has a flavor of all of Uarach. A fiercely independent people, they are even more open minded than their Gratalian neighbors - where Gratalians are open-minded by experience, Westarmarchers are open-minded by ideology. “Everything has its place,” says the dogma of Hounwal.

The land overflows with prosperity - farms produce gargantuan vegetables, animals grow to ridiculous heights, and the trees themselves seem to grow inches overnight. This sudden burst of fertility and change has been considered a great boon by many of Westarmarch’s inhabitants - though some among them view the change with suspicion. Is such an abundance truly in line with the balance of nature? Or is such growth an abomination? A perversion of their ideals, skewed towards one end of the virtuous balance and order of the natural world? The Prime Minister holds private fear, though assures his people that these developments will strengthen their place in the world. He may be right - but to what end will the future steer the young nation? The opposite of abundance is not temperance - but oblivion.

Religion
The region’s varied races all bring some flavor of ancestral faith from the lands of their ancestors - some following Enhidurh, others still Evanarites, and some, purportedly, even follow Noyondayan, Golden Wolf of the Lashani. That said, Hounwal doesn’t simply reign supreme in this land - he is an obvious presence. No matter what faith those of Westarmarch observe, Hounwal sits atop the pantheon. Elves who worship Tanadoth, even, have found curious ways to entwine their commitment to struggle and battle to a respect for nature’s inherent power, and in crystal groves, across darkened forest ziggurats and in mountain temples, Hounwal’s light shines.