Tarq

Tarq is a nation in the main continent of the Fadelands predominantly containing Dwarves. It is roughly coterminous with the old nation of Ytarra and is about the size of Texas.
As well as land borders with Laric , Urruk and Telaras, Tarq has substantial Deluvian and Illud coastlines. Due to the high risk and high value of Tarqish shipping to the Illud, the Illud send envoys to advise the Dwarven Dons on security matters.
== Politics ==
Tarq is a mostly-hereditary oligopoly, led by a King who is elected by (and from among) the ranks of Council of Dons. Although the King does wield significant power in the sphere of diplomacy, foreign relations and emergency powers, their nomination must be reaffirmed frequently, and even then, a supermajority of the Dons can vote to remove the title and choose a new King on relatively short notice, such that the King of Tarq is incentivized not to push the limits of their authority. In fact, originally the Speaker of the Council of Dons was a much weaker role (a first among equals), but they renamed their leader "King" and granted them a commensurate increase in power in order to ensure they were treated as equals when meeting with foreign powers, particularly the eternal monarchy of the elves. King Silverbeard is the current monarch, having been re-elected by his peers for well over a decade.
Thus, most of the day-to-day governance is performed by largely-autonomous Dons. The role of each of the Dons of Tarq is to protect and organize the people of the settlement they control. Most are descended from the heads of old Dwarven Clans who lived under the mountains, but the direct origin of their authority is from the leaders of the caravans who set out from the last of the Dwarfholds, crossing the newly desertified terrain of Urruk. The caravan leader had to organize protection, food and water, and find them a new home to settle. Those who succeeded became de facto feudal lords, but their role of providing and trading for supplies evolved them into more of a CEO/investor class, especially as, after a few centuries, they had largely tamed the new (formerly Ytarran) lands.
Unlike most medieval feudal systems, the Dons don't own their peasants, though. The dwarves all have freedom of movement; if they are unhappy, they tend to move wherever they think they will prosper. The Dons are proud, petty, greedy and vain, but the country prospers and the people do pretty well overall, because it's prestige the Dons (typically) value over all else; they want massive wealth, but they want it so they can spend it - sure, they want rich fancy junk to show how successful and important they are, but they equally want to spend money building amenities and holding lavish parties for all the people they govern, because sharing the wealth shows how truly great you are (and, as it happens, when you spend a lot, you get a bunch of it back because it grows the economy).
== Notable sites ==
* Corso's Chasm
* Ginaron
* Tarquazhan, the capital. It is built on the site of the second Ytarran capital, which may or may not contain the tomb of Y'Solas Turi.
Category:Locations