Luden

The entire peninsula next to Kokaine is a sprawling, gigantic city made up of connecting buroughs, named Lunden. It's populated by a race of greedy ratfolk who hate all their neighbors, though they have a lot of appreaciationg for the Gnolls and squids to the south, a lot of which have immigrated into Lunden in recent years.
The air of Lunden is black and the city is covered in soot and garbage, the runoff of which created the floating garbage patch. The water of Lunden is polluted and disease is fairly common.
The cause of all this pollution is the recent industrailization of Lunden (pic related), caused by the degradation of the traditional Lundonic countryside in which ratfolk used to live in the olde times. The rural rats were forced into the buroughs, and work virtually as slaves for the factory-owning elite. The factories, of course, produce cheese, of varying quality.
Lunden is nominally ruled by the ratking, but in truth it's ruled by a council formed by the greatest oligarchs in the land, collectively known as the Ratstag.
Life is hard for the common ratfolk of Lunden, but they reproduce so quickly that their population has exploded in recent yyears. Now they live in huge rackety towers, piled one on top of the other in small sub-nests.
Lunden is formally divided into 5 buroughs, from West to East these are:
1) Ratsport (known for it's pubs, which serve black grog)
2) Cheerby (highest suicide rate in all of Lunden)
3) Leancoin (poorest burough)
4) Rodentford (a murky swamp with very poor hygiene)
5) Broodingham (insanely high taxation due to some arcane ancient law which nobody quite understands)
And also the city of Lunden proper, which is a very small settlement towards the North-East coast which holds the palace, the assembly of the Ratstag, the houses of some of the rat elite and several banking institutions and the great Lunden cheese exchange.
== History ==
It is said that ages ago, the Dem Helidden Peninsula was colonized by folk from Ellesis (now Anchovia), though those times are now largely forgotten. Most ancient ruins in the area are instead from the ancient kingdom of Leng, one of five kingdoms that made up the Merfolk Empire.
Like in other regions once controlled by Leng, the Lengi built massive maze-like forts and cities, which are now in ruins or built over by the ramshackle ratfolk communities. Around 1500 years ago, the Leng were cursed by their god to become insane, perpetually restless ratfolk, a parody of their formerly industrious kingdom. For unknown reasons, most of these ratfolk migrated to the Dem Helidden Peninsula, where they have spent the last millennia and a half building up and tearing down all sorts of construction projects, ranging from the bizarre to the actively insane. Past projects have included trying to make an artificial mountain, build a massive trench to cut off the peninsula from the mainland, build the world’s largest floating platform, allow themselves to be farmed by the Jooish cat people for meat, and build an entire city from goat cheese.
Most of these projects are abandoned after a few years, but some last for decades. Even the few successful projects rarely last long though due to shoddy workmanship. The population of ratfolk has fluctuated greatly over the centuries, as they have a high breeding rate, but they often die in droves when either their population gets too high, or their agricultural system gets partially dismantled to support this or that insane project.
The second most recent project (produce as much cheese as possible) allowed the population to recover from its previous depletion, but the latest project (produce “cheese” via various industrial processes) has caused the population to grow even further, despite the hardships.
== The Ludenite Ratmen ==
Ludenite Ratmen is a species of beastfolk living in Giantstep. The ludenites used to be part of the ancient Merfolk Empire, before the betrayal of Uun and the curse of the empire by their previously protecting deity. The ludenites were transformed into rat-like beings, restless and impulsive. While this change was horrifying to onlookers, many counted their blessings, as many of the curses of Uun had been much harsher for their victims.
Ludenite Ratmen are humanoid rats, with a height of 1.33 meters. They tend to walk with a hunched position, as their bones aren’t that optimal to walking upright anymore, and when they are not in the presence of other sentient species or in case of an emergency, they revert to walking on all fours. They have a massive snout, full of uneven teeth, with two front incisors that are too big to be inside their mouths. These incisors never stop growing, and they need to gnaw on something or file them to avoid them overgrowing to the point of threatening their health. They have a heightened sense of hearing and smell, at the cost of being nearly blind. They are partially colorblind, seeing the world in mostly shades of blue. Ludenite ratmen have a long tail, around two-fifths the size of their body. This tail can be quite dexterous, but the ratmen need to constantly practice throughout their lives to truly make it prehensile. Ludenite ratmen have fur covering most of their body, and while this body is very vulnerable to parasites, it also protects them from humidity, and helps them swim. They are very effective swimmers, capable of paddling for great distances. Ludenite ratmen dedicate quite a lot of time to groom each other, to keep themselves from parasites and other skin diseases.
Ludenite ratmen have a very fast metabolism. Their heart rate is around 200 bpm, and this makes them look twitchy and nervous. They are not capable of focusing on tasks for too long, often moving from one task to another without finishing either. It also means they need to eat very frequently, as they burn through their energy reserves very quickly. Fortunately for the ratmen, they are highly omnivorous, capable of eating most things, even when the quality is questionable. This fast metabolism also makes them more vulnerable to vampirism, since the disease spreads throughout their bodies at a much faster rate.
Ludenite ratmen have a very short lifespan of around 35 years. The child mortality within them is considerably high, due to both the dangers of Luden and the many health complications a child can develop until adulthood. However, this is balanced by the high reproduction rates. Each female can reproduce once every two years, giving birth to 5-10 newborns. Mothers are highly protective of their spawn, and work hard to keep them fed and healthy, though the dangers of Luden mean they often need to prioritize feeding the strongest of the bunch.
== Government ==
The government is theoretically a monarchy (the ratking), but this position is purely ceremonial. Instead, power rests with an oligarchy of sorts (the ratstag) made up of individuals who own the most cheese, some of whom are borderline sane. 
== Economy ==
The Luden economy currently revolves around the creation of “cheese”. In their insanity, the ratfolk have nearly forgotten what cheese actually is, create it out of nearly anything, and use it as a currency nearly as often as they actually eat it.
The oligarchs compete to produce the largest amounts of cheese by volume, but also the most unusual tasting cheeses, as these can end up being judged by the Ratstag as being worth several times as much by weight as lesser cheeses. Cheese is made from a wide range of substances. As most of the lifestock has died off, milk is supplemented by “sea milk” a mucous like substance produced when sea life dies off and rots on the beaches of Luden. Milk and sea milk is broiled in large vats, and sometimes mixed with foreign narcotics for extra “taste”.
Aside from cheese, the ratfolk engage in a number of other industries that seem deliberately meant to befoul their environment. The peninsula has vast reserves of oil and gas, most of which is deliberately dumped in the oceans (along with acids and raw Arcanium) to kill more sea life to make more sea milk. Coal is also burned at low heat in large quantities to produce a dark smog over much of the peninsula to block out the hated sun.
Other more semi-productive industries include large foundries making low grade iron, lumber mills and quarries to produce construction materials, lantern factories that use shards of (dangerous) Arcanium to produce light, textile factories to produce cloth, and a few factories owned by foreigners that take advantage of the dirt cheap labor, and don’t mind the subpar quality of the product.
The ratfolk are noted for their “factories”, large warehouse like buildings where many ratfolk work on just one step of a particular manufacturing process, and also make use of labor saving devices. The system is far from perfect though, as many ratfolk follow steps which are unnecessary or even counter productive, given their insane nature. However, a few foreigners have seen a certain method to their madness, and have tried to implement similar systems in other regions, with mixed results.
== Foreign Relations ==
Just about everyone considers the inhabitants of Luden to be insane, but a few are willing to trade the dirt cheap trade goods the ratfolk produce for narcotics and trinkets. Oil and coal are two other important exports. There are a few ratfolk manned trade ships, but they mostly rely on others to move goods.
=== Seagard, Kingdom of Silver, Princedom of Platinum ===
These nations buy oil and coal from Luden with silver, sometimes (particularly for Seagard) for export elsewhere at much higher prices.
=== Faarowt, Avangar, and Anchovia ===
Luden uses silver, coal, and oil to buy narcotics to mix into their cheese, and sometimes also buy coal from Avangar (for prices higher than they sell their own coal).
=== Kunt ===
Pirates from Kunt occasionally raid Luden for the stockpiles of oil, coal, and narcotics often found in the harbor districts of Luden.
=== Anchovia and Elanxa ===
Particularly unethical merchants from these nations sometimes set up factories in Luden to take advantage of the dirt cheap labor, cutting deals with the oligarchs who own those territories. They also send fishermen to dredge the waters around Luden, as surprisingly the toxins in the water seem to greatly increase the amount of marine life in these waters, though such seafood is also toxic, and often sold under false circumstances, except in Anchovia where people will eat anything anyways. A third reason they visit these waters is to collect salvage from the Great Floating Garbage Patch. Said by some to be some sort of trans-dimensional garbage chute, interesting materials can be found floating here, though far more is believed to be sitting on the ocean floor.
== Geography ==
Luden is often referred to as one massive city, but in fact, much of it remains underdeveloped, and many of the areas that are urbanized, are old Lengi ruins, or more recent ratfolk ruins, or a mix of both as the ratfolk often build their ramshackle cities over the ruins of old Lengi structures.
The land is barren in many places, befouled by past obsessions of the ratfolk, or deliberate pollution. 
Politically the region is divided into four buroughs, though Luden proper is the main center of power. 
* Cheerby Mountains: The mountains of Cheerby. They would be seen as majestic, if they could be seen. The skies are so polluted that they look like giant walls of soot more so than mountains. Even ratfolk have a hard time traveling across them as air is functionally nonexistent the farther you go up.
* Luden Proper: The most populated area in Cheerby, with the greatest structures and elites.
* Cheesetopia Ruins: A failed project where the rats attempted to create a city of cheese.
* Godda: An industrial area where the majority of the cheese in Cheerby is produced. Sea-milk is gathered from all the coasts around Godda.
* Lurka: A midden which produces the majority of the workers for Godda.
* Bettergodda: An industrial area which tried (and failed) to use the reputation of Godda's cheese to increase their own profit. Instead it's mainly just used as a roadside stop for those traveling to the ruins, and Luden Proper.
* Bloashblo: A nesting area which uses an ancient Leng crane system to travel up and down the mountains.
* Coalcoaliron: A mining system that runs through the Cheerby Mountains. Cave-ins are regular, and often to get to a patch of minerals miners have to mine through rat corpses and skeletons.
* Rashi: A cheese area where cheese is produced by mixing sea-milk and salt from a nearby salt-mine. The salt-mine connects Rashi and Ticki, both areas compete to make cheese. The cheese is so salty it dehydrates anyone who eats it.
* Ticki: Similar to Rashi, competes to make cheese.
* Meakmaw: An area who's main demographic is made up of Gnolls. Because of the geographical location it is known for its unique foods. The most popular dish is a salted rat fillet paired with hard cheesy noodles making a sort of cheese spaghetti.
* Rattunel: A mainly underground collection of thin tunnels that connect the nearby areas. Crevices in the tunnels are filled with mudcheese that has become a recent addition to the local menu.
* Corglo: A sprawling area of rat corpses that has polluted the nearby river. Sometimes used by a desperate vampiric ratfolk and gnoll as an emergency dinner, however rotten it may be.
* Bloodpeak: The vampiric ratfolk haven in Luden. A nest of countless vampiric ratfolk that use the nearby corpse pit to thrive. The more sane and intelligent of the vampiric ratfolk settle in Chesspit.
* Chesspit: An area where vampiric ratfolk prey on nearby travelers, and produce a unique bloodcheese, likely the closest thing to actual cheese throughout Luden, and is considered a quality delicacy for any vampire.
* Lambpeth: A nest that takes in traveling rats from Luden Proper, Chesspit, and Rodenfort. It produces rafts that can travel down the river to Firebrough, in Rodenfort.
== Demographics ==
=== Ratfolk ===
Are the main inhabitants. Descendants of the cursed inhabitants of Ancient Leng, they have a hunched, rat-like appearance that can vary greatly due to both their cursed heritage and Arcanium related mutations.
=== Besshiru ===
Like their cousins in other regions once controlled by the Kingdom of Leng, the Besshiru are the cursed elite of the ancient Lengi, fated to watch their domains fall into ruin and squalor. Like Besshiru in other regions, they seem to be able to be mostly content to guard their ancient secrets, but a few have gone insane and formed the elite of what passes for ratfolk civilization in Luden.
=== Vampire Ratfolk ===
Due to the complete disregard that ratfolk have for each other, vampirism does particularly well here.
=== Squid-Folk ===
The squid-folk have a strange kinship with the ratfolk, perhaps recognizing they are both descendants of the cursed remnants of the Merfolk Empire. That kinship doesn’t really count for much though, particularly out in the open ocean.
=== Gnolls ===
Some gnolls have migrated to Luden in recent times for unknown reasons. Perhaps because the ratfolk are one of the few who tolerate them, or perhaps because they don’t seem to notice when the odd ratfolk gets turned into a snack.
== Religion ==
If the ratfolk have a religion, no one has figured it out. They work 20+ hours a day, poison themselves with partially fermented grog and narcotics laced “cheese”, rut, maybe sleep, then start the process over again the next morning.
== Military ==
Luden doesn’t have any real military to speak off. The oligarchs rely on big, somewhat sane ratfolk (and sometimes gnolls) to enforce their will on the commoner slaves, but can’t be bothered to train a professional army. When raided by foreigners, some ratfolk will be suicidally aggressive in driving out the attackers, others will keep working no matter what the danger is, while others will simply flee, it seems to depend on the nature of each individual ratfolk’s insanity. 
Luden’s main defence is that it has little worth stealing or conquering, except sometimes the harbors when there are enough goods stored at them.
Category:Nations
Category:Giantstep