Golden Sea of Wheat

North of Florinth lies the Golden Sea of Wheat. A huge stretch of land populated by hard-working field workers who wear masks made of braided wheat stalks and in whose life everything revolves around the golden wheat that can be processed into the most delicious baked goods. They till their fields with gigantic plows pulled by monstrous agricultural behemoths. They look like a cross between an ox, a rhino and a wild boar. Adult specimens live up to 300 years and can reach the size of a small sperm whale. How the Wheatmen manage to control these monstrous creatures is a mystery to outsiders. Seven particularly large specimens of these behemoths are also used to turn the 350-ton millstone in the gigantic wheat mill at the center of this land. On the occasion of the astrological equinoxes, the wheat men, speaking in an incomprehensible and raspy language, celebrate grotesque ceremonies that involve, among other things, the erection of colossal wheat statues of human proportions, which they light to pay homage to the seed gods and bestow good harvests in the coming year.
== History ==
South of the Grënndell’s Sea, there lies a massive area, covered entirely by wheat fields. The geography is quite regular, flat plains dominating all the landscape, with the occasional gentle hill breaking the straight line of the horizon. Rains are not that frequent, but the land rarely is at risk of a drought. The wheat in the area is not an introduced species, it is a local variety of wild wheat that grows naturally in the area. And while it is not as productive as other types of wheat, it is infinitely easier to work with, as the locals simply have to wait for their natural cycle to complete and just harvest the fields. This has allowed the local populations to live very leisurely lives, only really needing to keep an eye on the wheat fields to avoid possible parasites, diseases or fires. 
The area was quickly absorbed by the Khenomeric Empire, which set their eyes on the region to turn it into the empire’s breadbasket. Seeing the massive fields and the ease with which wheat grew there, the khenomeric leaders thought it would be an easy task, though reality would quickly prove them wrong. Not only was the land not suited to grow crops of a higher yield, but the population violently refused to partake in any change to their fields. First the khenomeric representatives and agronomists, chased away from the wheat fields when they started cutting down local wheat to replace it with more productive varieties. The khenomeric authorities, confused by their reaction, sent envoys to try to understand what had happened. These too were chased down with pitchforks and torches. After a couple of attempts of diplomacy, the region became so violent against khenomeric authority that the royal family had to send the military in full force to pacify the region, something unheard of in the Khenomeric Empire, which was kept under control with much smaller forces.
After pacifying the region, it was decided that the plans to turn the region into the main food source of the nation was unviable, and they were left alone as a backwater province. Its only real importance after that was its position in the Grënndell’s Sea, key to expand towards Littlestep. The Sea of Wheat stayed mostly neutral to the rise and fall of the Magoclergy, and the members of the order themselves kept their distance to the Sea of Wheat in turn. This has puzzled many historians, since the Magoclergy was notorious for their ruthless need to control all the empire, and keeping such a big area to its own devices, an area infamous for its previous rebellion, was extremely out of character. Some people speculate that the magoclergy knew something about the region’s religion and rituals that kept them away from the area, but whatever it was, it is only speculation now.
After the birth of the Forest of Getting Lost and the creation of the Northern Khenomeric Empire, the Sea of Wheat was tasked once again to be the breadbasket of the empire. And once again, problems arose, though not to the extent as the last time. The Northern Khenomeric Empire was nowhere as big or as populated as the ancient Khenomeric Empire was, and the different regions that composed it were becoming more and more independent by the year, so there was not that much pressure to improve the wheat output of the land. Still, all attempts to change the wheat type that grew there, or to introduce another crop to complement production, were rejected, frequently with violence. The locals did not have any objections to sharing their wheat with the rest of the empire, and were very generally agreeable and welcoming when not trying to change their fields.
In the debates about magic and wizardry within the Northern Khenomeric Empire, the inhabitants of the Sea of Wheat were firm believers of druidic groups. Their own society had many druidic elements, and the adoration of the land was paramount of them, so they got along quite well with the druid movements outside of their land. It was in this context when they first got the famous agricultural behemoths that now roam the land. During one of many attempts of the alchemists of Tarot to gain political favor, the alchemists were showing the representatives of the lands of the Sea of Wheat around the vast markets of Ouroboria, when a police sting happened near them, causing quite a commotion. Apparently, some rogue alchemists had been creating war beasts, something taboo and forbidden by the law of Tarot. The local authorities demanded that all the monsters were put to the sword, to avoid them going loose. The Sea of Wheat representatives saw the misshapen creatures, still in their infancy, and in a stroke of pity upon the ugliest one. They asked the local authorities to forgive the beasts, something they were granted under the condition that they had to take care of them in their own lands, and the tarotian authorities would not take responsibility for whatever happened to them. The delegates of the Sea of Wheat took the creatures to their home and, to the surprise of everyone, the beasts turned out to be quite docile and obedient. They slowly populated the region, becoming its most recognizable sight after the fields of wheat themselves.
== The Culture of Wheat ==
The world of the people living in the Sea of Wheat revolves around their crop, which is not surprising. The local wheat is able to grow naturally and without extensive supervision, only needing to check if the lands needs enrichment or if there is a risk of disease or parasite. As nature itself takes care of food production for the most part, the locals have developed very leisurely lives, which has created a culture with a lot of arts and festivities, since they have time to spare. Festivals, celebrations and carnivals are common, always thankful to the seed gods for the bountiful harvest and the healthy growth of the wheat. 
The population of the region is quite high, since many people have gathered there due to the promise of easy crops. This has led to the founding of many different towns and cities, each one with their own different holidays revolving around wheat. The land is ruled by these independent city-states, which influence a couple of towns near them. Despite their universal adoration to the local crop, not all populations have the same attitude towards their wheat. In particular, we can differentiate three distinctive regions within the Golden Sea of Wheat: the cities and towns around the Yellow Lakes, the ones in the inner plains, and the ones in the coast.
The cities and towns around the Yellow Lakes are the original population of the region, and the ones who were there first, way before than the first khenomeric colonization. They were the original creators of all the rituals and the local language, and they have a very traditional view of their crops. Their branch of faith defends that nature should be left alone, with the gods providing harvest when and how they see fit. As such, they are the most pious of the local inhabitants. They have built many shrines in the shape of windmills, covering the lands around the lakes with temples of different sizes. They offer animal sacrifices to the temples (both farm animals and fish from the lakes) at the beginning of each month, draining the blood to fertilize the lands around the shrines in a symbolic ritual, whereas the wheat priests consume the body. The religiousness of the people around the lakes makes them spend quite a lot of time partaking in sermons and rituals, and also preparing the wheat effigies for the different celebrations in the area. They also believe in maintaining a balance with nature, and as such, they will avoid having too many children, with families with more than three kids being somewhat badly looked upon. The fourth child of the family usually has to move away from the land, generally establishing themselves in the inner plains. 
The cities and towns in the inner plains are later arrivals, coming from various parts of the Khenomeric Empire to expand the crop harvest. These people quickly bonded with the locals, seeing that there were enough resources for the newcomers as well, though they never really adopted their level of zeal the original population had. They still worship the local cults of wheat, but not with the same intensity. Many of these groups were poor farmers without land, coming to the region invited by the khenomeric authorities to expand the crop yield. The majority of those people were kicked out during the first stages of the conflict between the local wheatians and the khenomeri, but enough stayed to occupy the inner plain areas, and nowadays they form the majority of the population. This was helped by the many marriages between the local population and the new arrivals, with many of these locals being fourth, fifth or later children who had to move to the lakes to other areas of the region. This mix of cultures has made the locals in this area more open to change and innovation, and they are the ones who actively till and work the land. To that end, they will use their great agricultural behemoths to plow huge swaths of land at the same time, which are tamed from birth to work the fields or to serve as beasts of burden for transportation, moving millstones, pushing specially designed ploughs… During the holiest of celebrations, many of these people will go to the Yellow Lakes to partake in the rituals of the wheat priests.
The cities and towns in the Grënndell’s Coast are part as well of the arrival of migrant population during the days of the Khenomeric Empire, but unlike the ones in the fields, their inhabitants came mostly during the times after the Northern Khenomeric Empire was created. Due to the increased importance of sea trade to the overall empire, the authorities of both parts of the empire pushed to develop all coastal areas as much as possible, to improve the logistics as much as possible now that land transport had been cut in half. These towns share the least amount of cultural elements with the locals (though, once again, will not tolerate any attack to the wheat), with examples such as wearing masks that only cover half the face, instead of the full-covering masks of the other regions. They also do not speak the local wheatian tongue, but instead a variant of khenomeric. Their closeness to the sea has made them sailors more so than farmers, being in charge of keeping the region in contact with the rest of the world. Many of them also become travelling merchants, selling the goods acquired in the coastal cities throughout the rest of the region. Their more open nature makes the more traditional and zealous habitants of the region to look at them with some distrust, but this also makes them the more adequate people to interact with outsiders. They still follow the wheat traditions of the land, though. A particularly noteworthy custom is that, every full moon, they will line the coast with thousands of wheat scarecrows and then set them alight once the moon is at its highest, lighting up the night with all of the burning figures. 
The locals are generally welcoming to those new inhabitants who want to integrate, but they will see any attempt to change their way of life as a deep insult. In particular, they resent two particular jabs to their culture: any criticism to the wheat masks and any suggestion that their wheat should be replaced by other plant. The wheatians wear masks made out of wheat to cover their faces. These masks are worn every time wheatian exit their home, and it’s of poor manners to ask someone to remove it for any reason. Most of the time they fully conceal their face, with the exceptions of the youth, especially those looking for a marriage partner, which wear masks covering half their face vertically, and the people in the coastal cities, which only wear masks covering the upper half of their face.
The lands follows a rigid wheat-based religion. The cults of wheat are led by the wheat priests, men and women raised in the deepest secrets of the region to protect the harvest through deep prayers and thanksgiving rituals. They have been trained in the many druidic ways of caring for the land and communing with nature, all with the purpose of taking care of the fields. In between the two Yellow Lakes, there lies the most sacred building for the wheatians, the Great Windmill. It is a windmill of such size that legends tell it was build over a construct made by giants eons ago, and whose construction was barely finished around 1.902 ABE. Many generations of wheat priests had been born and died during its construction, and participating in the building of the great temple was seen as an act of devotion. Nowadays, it keeps a concise record of all the wheat harvests that have happened since times immemorial, an archive that was collected from all towns and cities of the region and that is zealously guarded by the wheat priests. During the astrological equinoxes, chosen by the few astromancers living in the region, the priests will bring tons upon tons of grain to the windmill, which will then be grinded by the colossal millstones, moved by the biggest agricultural behemoths. Thousands of bakers will then make bread with it, which will then be eaten by the masses during the night, all while thousands of wheat effigies are burnt during the night.
== Wheatian Folklore ==
=== The Roggenmuhme ("rye mother") ===
>The Roggenmuhme is a female grain hag and children's fright of wheatian legend who resides in the rye field of Rye. 
>She walks up and down the field, feeds on the grain and pulls out the unripe ears. 
>When she is angry with the farmer, she dries up his field thereby punishing him. 
>In general, however, the crossing of the field by the Roggenmuhme ensure fertility. 
>At harvest she flees into the last sheaf.
>The Roggenmuhme also receives a share of the harvest, which is either left standing or thrown into the field. 
>This custom is supposed to put the rye mother in a good mood and bring about a fruitful next year.
>The Roggenmuhme's home is thought to be underground, in the "root kingdom" below the golden sea of wheat or in a cave.
>The Roggenmuhme in folktales punishes lazy maids who have not spun their distaffs during the twelve nights. 
>The breath of the Roggenmuhme brings sickness and death.
>The Roggenmuhme is often described as completely snow-white, and of sometimes of superhuman size.
>The arms of the rye mother are long 
>Her fingers or rather claws are made out out of iron
>The Roggenmuhme's unusually large breasts are so long that she can throw them over her shoulders.
>She sometimes appears as having many breasts.
>Her nipples are sharp and buring hot hard, they look like iron thorns 
>The breasts are filled with tar, poisonous milk or blood.
>Because of the prominent feature of her breasts, the Roggenmuhme is also called Zitenweib ("Titswive") in the common tongue
>She also appears as an old, fat and wrinkled woman.
>She has awns on her face, has a crooked nose with a large wart on it (somtimes described as wooden) 
>The Roggenmuhme is said to have an iron heart.
>She can change her shape into a snake, a frog, a wolf, a black cat or a horned animal
>The Roggenmuhme is often dressed in black, but can also be dressed entirely in grey or white
>Her appearance is ragged and she wears wide, flowing skirts.
>She sometimes wears a white headscarf like a reaper or walks on crutches.
=== The Rye Wolf ===
The Rye Wolf is a wolf-shaped grain demon of wheatian legend, who lives in the rye fields. Various proverbs characterize the rye wolf as insatiable and voracious to the point of being unable to move as a result of excessive devouring. He's very aggressive. The rye wolf howls and roars in its greed for food. The Ryewolf is a dark wind spirit. He also bears the name Windwolf. It was said that the wolf went through or over the field to make the crops dance, was in the corn or chased the sheep in the fields, especially when the wind caused the ears to move in waves. Sometimes there is also talk of several wolves chasing each other in the corn fields. The howling of the wind over Rye is said to be caused by the rye wolf. The rye wolf also appears as an embodiment of raw air, fog and rain in wheatian folklore. The driving of the rye wolf in the field is said to either promote the fertility of the field or, on the contrary, to reduce the fertility of the field, especially since the rye wolf feeds on the grain of the field. He is also said to cause ergot, which is named wolf or wolf tooth after him. The rye wolf is said to be sitting in the last sheaf of harvest just like the Rye Mother. After him, the last sheaf is also called a "wolf". Anyone who comes into contact with a rye wolf during harvest will become ill. The rye wolf is also known as a children's fright. He is to wait in the field for the children who are looking for cornflowers or picking ears of corn, in order to tear them up, bite them, grab them, eat them or carry them away into the "Root Kingdom". The souls of the children eaten by the rye wolf have to fly around the trees until the grain is brought in. The rye wolves are believed to be the children of the rye muhme (Roggenmuhme/Rye Mother), another darky entity fright, who also lives in the rye field. The function of the rye wolf as a child fright is illustrated by the names "yellow tooth" or grauelwolf. There are other variants of the the rye wolf, which are named after the crop of the corresponding field in which the wolf is said to be up to mischief. (corn wolf, oat wolf, barley wolf, potato wolf, grass wolf and so on. 
=== Noonbrides ===
The Noonbride is a ghastly young woman. Clothed in a linen, she hovers just above the ground, her hair white from constant exposure to the sun. Streaks of light drift about her, and when necessary she uses these to blind her opponents. The noonbrides's frock and shoes suggest she once was a young girl, who venturing into the fields, joined in a spectral dance and thus entered the spirit world as a wraith. She can disguise herself as the beautiful young woman she once was but this trick only works on lustful men. 
These monsters appear in fields when the sun is at its highest. Swaying grains on a windless day announce their arrival. They dance in circles in the light of day and draw farmers in to join them. Since they are undead wraiths, no one who joins them leaves the circle alive. Noonbrides are born at high noon out of heat, sadness and the sweat of ploughmen. In the hot air above the fields, they gather to dance madly, creating air vortexes, but the specters dislike being watched. Those who peep are forced to dance with them. Noonbrides stop their dance when the sun goes down, once the abducted mortal is long dead from fear and exhaustion. Noonbrides are said to be creations of Shamhna.
=== The Old Mårran ===
Wherever she stands, the ground below dries out while plants and grass die. She leaves a trail of corruption and darkness when she walks on the ground. Anything she touches will die, and fire quickly extinguishes when she goes near it. The Old Mårran appears as a large hag shaped creature with long saggy breasts and sharp birdlike claws and a heavily hunched posture. Her face is always twisted into an unsettling grimace, with two cold staring eyes and a hidden wide mouth containing a set of large, yellow teeth. She is said to sleep under the roots below the wheatfields and awake when someone disturbes her crops. 
=== Hand of Glory ===
A Hand of Glory is an occult artifact relatively often found around the wheatfields, consisting of the dried left hand of a hanged man. If the person was hanged for murder, and it's the left hand that "did the deed" the Hand of Glory is considered to be especially powerful and valuable. The hand is combined with candle wick made from the hair and wax made from fat from the corpse of the same malefactor who died on the gallows. The candle so made, lighted, renders motionless all persons and most creatures who look at it for seven minutes (besides the person who made it). It also has the power to unlock any door it comes across. 
Why these sinister objects are so common in the Wheatfields is a matter of debate, but it has been suggested that the high number of executions by hanging, gibetting and wheeling could be a reason for this. The Golden Sea of Wheat has extremely severe penalties for things that often appear superstitious, indiscriminate, and arbitrary to outsiders.This which is why it can happen that travelers crossing the fields are executed for stepping on a holy wheat sprout, asking a "forbidden question", eating during a fast or simply for looking too "foreign" and looking at one of the local girls in the wrong way. Together with the harvest poles, the gallows, gibbets and breaking wheels jut out like bleak trees from the otherwise rather flat agricultural landscape. Another explanation is the high prevalence of occult practices in this region which are performed by virtually everyone living in the fields to a certain extent and by some individuals particularly intensively.
=== Corn Dollies ===
Corn dollies are a form of straw work made as part of harvest customs practiced by the wheatfolk. In wheatfolk culture it is believed that the spirit of the corn lives amongst the crop, and that the harvest makes it effectively homeless. Among the customs attached to the last sheaf of the harvest are hollow shapes fashioned from the last sheaf of wheat or other cereal crops. The corn spirit then spends the winter in this home until the corn dolly is ploughed into the first furrow of the new season. The last ears of corn made into a doll, is called the "Corn-mother". 
There is a large variety of corn dollies in different sizes and shapes, which are used for a all sorts of different things. Quite a few of them are used for magical rituals. The most common one of these rituals is to make a corndoll to represent a person, for casting spells on or to aid that person through magic. These dolls are fashioned with the intent that any actions performed upon the effigy will be transferred to the subject. In order for the spell to take effect, part of the hexed must be contained within the cornpoppet (eg. a hair, a finger, a drop of blood). Hexed Corn Dollies can be used for white magic like love and fortune spells aswell as for curses and black magic. They are occasionally found lodged in chimneys.
== Creatures and entities from the Wheat Fields ==
=== The Agricultural Behemoths ===
The agricultural behemoths are an alchemical species of mammal that lives in the Golden Sea of Wheat. Since the wheatian representatives in Tarot save them from being put down, they have found a home in the fields of wheat. Despite their threatening looks and them being created as war beasts, their gentle nature and ease to domesticate meant that the population quickly bonded with the behemoths. They are herbivores, eating great amounts of grain every day, as well as the sicker wheat plants that need uprooting anyway. Their high calorie consumption is compensated by being quite slow and passive, resting most of the day. Their massive amount of refuse they produce is used to restore the more exhausted lands. Their reproduction is a very slow process, only mating once every couple of years, and with a gestation period of more than a year. The calf is then protected by the mother during ten years, which is the only time the wheatians can see an agricultural behemoth mad, as the mothers are highly protective of their spawn. Generally, though, they will let the local wheatians get near the calf after a year, once the more intense maternity instincts have mellowed out, and this will help the newborn become more calm around people. They can live quite long lifespans, with some of the oldest reaching the 300 years, and since they keep growing through their entire lives, they can reach absurd sizes. The biggest behemoths are given to the wheat priests as a show of gratitude and faith. They paint holy wheat symbols in the behemoths’ skin. During the holidays, the agricultural behemoths are dressed with wheat decorations, which are put on their backs to avoid them eating the decorations. 
=== Mannshahn ===
The Mannshahn (roughly translating as Man rooster) is a species of hybrid with the upper body of a male or female and the lower body of a rooster or hen. The men are belligerent and engage in brutal but elegant dance-like fights for the hens. They like to use halberds to defend against enemies. Soldiers also attach iron blades to their claws. Their language sounds like a mixture of chicken cackle and French. According to popular belief, the species was created by Pisklęta, but the question of whether the Mannshahn or the egg came first still remains unclear. The Mannshahns live in the wheatfields and feed on grains lying on the ground. Their species is not particularly large and is currently measured at a few hundred specimens. 
=== Strawmen ===
Strawboys seem to be the offspring of a strange species called Strawmen who live in the fields and seem to be wrapped in straw from head to toe. However, this is not a disguise but a kind of natural "hair". The Strawboys are completely mute, but seem to understand many different languages. For some festivities, such as Cimbol, they join the parades and dance of the wheatfolk, dance around the harvest pole's and spread cheer with their presence. 
The Strawmen seem to be friendly to the Wheatfolk, but there are several reports of foreigners disappearing into fields where these beings are said to live in. If the harvest has been particularly bountiful in a year, even the fully-grown Strawmen join in the celebrations dancing along with the wheatfolk which is interpreted as a good omen and supposed to bring rain for the crops. The straw men are also said to have clairvoyant and some other lesser magical abilities. The life and behavior of the strawmen is a great mystery and all who have tried to unravel it have disappeared without a trace.
=== Kratt ===
A Kratt, is a magical creature in old wheatfolklore. Some consider it a living thing others believe it to be nothing but a construct animated by dark magic. A kratt is a creature formed from hay or of old household implements by its master, who then had to give Shamhna three drops of blood to bring life to the kratt. The kratt is notable for doing everything the master orders it to and is mostly used for doing hard field labor, hunting, stealing and bringing various goods for the kratt's owner. Some kratts are even said to be able to fly around. An interesting aspect of the kratt is that it is necessary for it to constantly keep working, otherwise it will turn dangerous to its owner. 
Once the kratt becomes unnecessary, the master of the kratt will ask the creature to do impossible things such as "build a ladder from bread". Such impossible tasks take so long to complete that it causes the kratt, which is made (at least partly) of hay and wood, to catch fire and burn to pieces, thus solving the issue of how to get rid of the creature. In wheatfolk astronomy a bolide is thought to be a kratt that had been given an impossible job. The enraged kratt is thought to catch on fire and burn away as a fireball. Old folkloric descriptions suggest that a particular cunning wheatfolk called Kjorn Kivirähk once managed to use blackcurrant berries instead of blood to sucessfully cheat Shamhna and save his soul from being dragged into the root kingdom after his death.
=== Huntbeast ===
Huntbeasts are dangerous creatures appearing together with the wild hunt to terrorize the inhabitants of the fields during the Grim Nights. The beast likely resembles a deer but its size is that of barn. Huntbeasts have a third eye which they use to hypnotize their opponents. They are walking mountains of muscle capped with horned, tooth-filled heads.Their size alone makes Huntbeasts extremely dangerous – one blow from their powerful paws can kill a knight along with it's fully armored mount. During the wild hunt mighty undead knights, hags and sometimes even dark gods ride on these creatures through the sky. The antlers, third eye and fangs of a huntbeast are coveted magical artifacts used for ritual purposes in the fields. 
=== Feldgeister ("Field Spirits") ===
Feldgeister is an umbrella term for a variety of weird looking beings that vary widely in traits and appearance. Their behavior ranges from harmless and playful to cunning tricksters up to dangerous and potentially life-threatening
== Wheatfolk Pantheon ==
* Aurelia: Godess of the Golden Wheat, Grain, Bread and fertility
* Solstara: Godess of Summer, Love, Beauty, Harvest and Midsummer celebrations
* Onba: God of Gratitude, Abundance, Excess, Wine, Gluttony, Indulgence and Idleness
* Shamhna: God of Death, Rebirth, Change and Black Magic
* Firn: God of Winter, Coldness, Snow and Yeul Celebrations
* Saelm: Godess of earth, soil, dusk and necromancy. Daughter of Shamna. Sealm always had an uncommon connection to the earth. Any time she becomes separated from it, she begins to feel uncomfortable - which is why she brings a bag of fresh soil with her everywhere she goes. Saelm believes the worms and decay within the dirt actually talk to her. Don't be fooled by her beautiful appearance and quiet, solitary nature. She possesses immense necromantic powers and is unpredictable in her moods varying from derpessed to straight up sadistic. She is said to reside in one of the darkest corners of the root kingdom below the fields, guarded and cared for by her skeletal servants. Some people even believe she is reigning over the souls of the desceased in this mysterious realm below.
* Crnya: Goddess of darkness, starvation, witchcraft and crows. Mother of Saelm.
* Nuit: Godess of the Night, Occult Wisdom, Magic and Owls. Mother of Lunya.
* Sclafa: Godess of Sleep.
* Mutr: God of Dreams.
* lgnah: Godess of nourishment, fertility, birth, harvest, cattle, abundance and evening hours. Manifestation of the Earth. Mother of Aurelia and Gorn.
* Gorn: God of hermitage, wood chopping, horned animals, wrath, envy, aggressive sexuality, black magic, dark wisdom and left handed people.
* Gruzja: Demigoddess of witchcraft, cunning, hunger, thirst, and birds. Daughter of Crnya. Powerful witch feared by the wheatfolk. Serves as a bogeyman for their children's stories. Mother of Kura, Sowa and Wrona.
* Kura: A quiet, misanthropic old hag with two peg legs. She is the protective witch of chickens and roosters. Parts of the field population sacrifice their chickens to appease her, get her blessing or stay on good terms with her. She has a caring and kind side that very few ever get to see. Daughter of Gruzja.
* Pisklęta: Unlike her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, Pisklęta is neither good nor evil. She has an unusually lively and cheerful nature for a witch. Her lower body resembles that of a hen and her legs end in claws. She is armed with a magical mancatcher which she uses to kidnap human men she likes into her hidden home until she is done with them. Despite her positive attitude, she is quite magically capable and ready to kill when it counts. Her passion is to play tricks and fool around with humans and wheatfolk. Stealing human children to teach them swear words or to scare them. However, she usually brings them back to their beds in a jolly manner and chuckling. Sometimes she turns naughty children into chickens or lets them grow beaks. She is said to have created the Mannshahn species.
* Wrona: Wrona is a hag with a raven's beak, donkey's ears and two devil's horns. Instead of feet, she has crow's claws. She eats small children which she captures, confines in a cage or gibbet and fattens until they are fat enough to be consumed. She is the protective witch of crows, ravens and a trickster by nature. Some people speculate that she created the Kikimori in Witchbogs aswell as the Crowhags in the Golden Wheatfields. She is one of Gruzja's three daughters. She can summon flocks of crows to pounce on her enemies. She also uses crows and ravens to carry things for her, deliver messages and do scout work. They are her eyes and ears.
* Sowa: Sowa is Gruzja's youngest daughter and a mysterious mute figure. She has the head of a barn owl and is able to hover above ground and water. She moves completely silently and feeds on small mammals such as rats, mice and martens. Her call is said to lead to the death of anyone who hears it, which would explain why no one has heard it to report how it sounds. She is highly intelligent and considered one of the most powerful witches, even if she rarely uses her powers. Her abilities are said to lie above all in the fields of prophecy, wisdom and strategy. Like many higher witches she is revered as a qasi religious figure by some. There is a small cult in the fields that pays homage to her and whose followers take a vow of silence. The ritual burning of owl feathers in a small house altar dedicated to Sowa is said to bring magical powers and enlightenment. She is said to have created the hexfiends and the witchowls.
== Wheatfolk Harvest Wheel ==
=== Cimbol ===
The cult observes Cimbol, or Candlemas, as the early signs of spring emerge. They conduct candle-lit ceremonies, praying for the thawing of the earth and the awakening of its fertility. They seek blessings from the goddess Igrid to protect their crops and ensure abundance in the coming growing season.
It is the time for purification and spring cleaning in anticipation of the year's new life. 
Cimbol lands about halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. 
The wheatfolk associates it with the onset of Igrid's lactation, prior to birthing the spring lambs in the Evergreen Pastures. 
On Cimbol, Igrid's crosses are made and a doll-like figures of Igrid ("Igrideógs") are paraded from house-to-house by girls, sometimes accompanied by 'strawboys'. Igrid is said to visit one's home at Cimbol. To receive her blessings, the wheatfolk make a bed for Igrid and leave food, drink and amuletts outside for her to bless. Igrid is also invoked to protect homes and livestock. Special feasts are had, holy wells are visited.
It is a time for divination. Cimbol is believed to be when the Leachcai — a divine hag of wheatfolk tradition and folklore — gathers her firewood for the rest of the winter. Legend has it that if she wishes to make the winter last a good while longer, she will make sure the weather on Cimbol is bright and sunny, so she can gather plenty of firewood. Therefore, wheatians are relieved if Cimbol is a day of foul weather, as it means the Leachcai is asleep and winter is almost over.
* Significance: Coming end of Winter, beginning of the growing cycle
* Celebrations: Feasting, making Igrid's crosses and Igrideógs, visiting holy wells, divination, spring cleaning
* Other Names: Igrid’s Day, Oimelc, Feast of Torches, Feast of Caarn, Lupercalia, Feast of the Waxing Light
* Themes: Quickening, hope, renewal, fertility, purification, hearth and home, return of the light
=== Oraast ===
The cult celebrates Oraast, or the Spring Equinox, to embrace the balance between light and darkness. It marks the beginning of the planting season, and the wheatfolk sow their first seeds, asking the spirits of the grain, the blood and the soil for blessings on their crops. They rejoice and dance in the fields, expressing hope for a fruitful harvest.
Oraast, the Vernal Equinox is the second of three spring festivals on the Millstone. Coming in between Cimbol and Albtene, this is a time for celebrating the balance between extremes that is found amid the seasons. It is the official beginning of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere of Giantstep. Oraast marks the moment of exact balance between the light and the dark. Known as Albna Ilire, meaning "Light of the Earth's Soil" in wheatfolk tradition. 
Oraast is the spring celebration, during which light and darkness are again in balance, with light on the rise. 
It is a time of new beginnings and of life emerging further from the grips of winter. 
Some wheatfolk associate Oraast with OIuuna, a heavy-bosomed female harvest deity and keeper of the fruits of youth in wheatfolk mythology.
* Significance: Beginning of Spring
* Celebrations: Lighting bonfires, feasting
* Other Names: Albna Ilire, Rites of Spring, Eoraast’s Day, Vernal Equinox, Spring Equinox, Lady Day, Bacchanalia
* Themes: Balance, renewal, rebirth from the death of winter, beginnings, hope, new possibilities
=== Albtene ===
Albtene is a joyous celebration for the cult. They honor the spirits of nature and the fae folk believed to watch over their crops. Lighting bonfires and dancing around the maypole is said to strengthen their connection to the spirit world. Offerings of flowers and food appease the spirits and ensure their protection over the growing season.
The first day of summer is the beginning of Albtene and an important sabbath and festival occasion. This period recognizes the power of life in its fullness, the flourishing of nature and youthfulness. Albtene marks the transition point from Spring to Summer. The Hexennacht Sabbath ("Witches' Night") is held on the first summers night by all sorts of witches, hags and other sinister folk. It is the night when all the witches hold a large degenerate celebration on a secret, remote location. Large "Hexenfeuers" (Witch Fires also called Walpurgisfeuer) are also ignited all over the golden fields of wheat during celebrations with which the wheatfolk aim to drive away the evil spirits.
The end of the festivities are marked when a single towering fire called "Agrarzussa" is kindled in Aurum. 
The celebrations last until late into the night. If the fire has burned down enough, the Albjumping takes place, a tradition in which it is common for lovers to jump over the Agrarzussa Fire together.
* Significance: Beginning of summer
* Celebrations: Lighting bonfires, decorating homes with summer flowers, making summer bushes, visiting holy wells, feasting, sacrifices
* Other Names: Walpurgisnacht, Floralia, Calan Iam
* Themes: Passion, mischief, sensuality, sexuality, beauty, witchcraft, romance, fertility, vitality, abundance 
=== Ithal (Midsummer / Summer Solstice) ===
The cult celebrates the peak of summer and the sun's life-giving energy. They hold grand feasts, giving thanks for the abundance provided by the sun's warmth. Rituals ensure a successful continuation of the growing season and protect their crops from malevolent forces.
Midsummer is one of the four big solar festivities and is considered the turning point at which summer reaches its height and the sun shines longest. Among the wheatfolk sabbaths, Midsummer is preceded by Albtene, and followed by Ulghnasadh. The wheatfolk celebrates this festival as Alban Hefin, "Light of Summer." The sun in its greatest strength is greeted and celebrated on this day.
While it is the time of greatest strength of the solar current, Ithal marks a turning point, for the sun begins its time of decline as the millstone of the year turns. Arguably the most important festival of the wheatfolk traditions, due to the great focus on the sun, it's heat and its light as a symbol of divine inspiration. Wheatfolk celebrated the Solstice with torchlight processions and giant bonfires since ancient times to ritually strengthen the Sun.
* Significance: Marks the middle of summer
* Celebrations: Festivals, bonfires, feasting, singing, Maypole dancing, wearing woven flowers in the hair, drinking, human sacrifice, drug taking, effigy burning
* Other Names: Midsummer, Midsummer’s Eve, Gathering Day, Summer Solstice, Alban Hefin, Feill-Sheathain
* Themes: Themes: abundance, growth, love
=== Ulghnasadh ===
Ulghnasadh marks the first harvest for the cult. They honor the grain godess Ulghna, believed to oversee the growth and prosperity of their crops. Sharing the first fruits of the harvest expresses gratitude for the land's abundance and Ulghna's benevolence. Weaving ceremonies symbolize their connection to the earth and the cycles of life.
Ulghnasadh or Saalm is the first of the three big harvest festivals in the Golden Sea of Wheat, the other two being the autumnal equinox Onbam and Hainsam. The first grains are ready to be harvested, the trees begin dropping their fruits, and the ever-shortening daylight becomes more apparent with each sunset. Wheatfolk mark the festivities by baking a figure of the mother and fertility godess Ulghna in bread and eating it, to symbolise the sanctity and importance of the harvest. Celebrations vary slightly between different wheatfolk villages. The name Saalm ("loaf mass") implies the agrarian-based nature of this festival. It's a feast of thanksgiving for grain and bread, which symbolises the first fruits of the harvest.
* Significance: Beginning of the harvest season
* Celebrations: Offering of First Fruits, feasting, handfasting, fairs, making corn dollies, burning effigies
* Other Names: Feast of Bread, Harvest Home, Gŵyl Awst, First Harvest, Thanksgiving 
* Themes: first fruits, harvest, fertility, gratitude, benevolent sacrifice, utilizing skills and talents, abundance
=== Onbam (Autumnal Equinox) ===
The cult celebrates the second harvest and gives thanks for the successful growth of their crops. They honor the spirits of the land and their ancestors, acknowledging their role in the cultivation of the Golden Sea of Wheat. The last of the crops is gathered, stored for winter, while preparing for Hainsam.
Onbam falls on the Autumn Equinox and is the second of the three harvest festivals among the wheatfolk sabbaths (Saalm, Onbam and Hainsam). Just like Oraast but on the opposite side of the Millstone of time, at Onbam the days and nights are of equal length. It's the festival of the autumnal equinox, Onbam is a Wheatian ritual of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth and a recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings of the Goddesses and the Gods during the coming winter months. Though temperatures may still be warm during the day, summer has truly come to an end. The leaves on deciduous trees have begun to turn colors and fall to the ground and there is a chill in the evening air. The beginning of Onbam marks the first ritual harvest of the Golden Wheat called "Aurum" which is sacred to the wheatfolk and gave the region it's name. 
* Celebrations: feasting, drinking, thanking for the harvest, animal sacrifice, human sacrifice
* Other Names: Autumnal Equinox, Fall Equinox, Harvest Tide, Harvest Home, Golden Harvest Festival, Alben Elfed, Meán Fómhair, Gwyl canol Hydref
* Themes: harvest, gratitude, abundance, balance, preparation, welcoming the dark
=== Hainsam ===
Hainsam marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. The cult honors and appeases the spirits of the deceased, believing they return to the earthly realm. Wearing special festival masks and eerie costumes made from animal fur, wooden sticks or wheat ears disgusing them from malevolent spirits. Candles and lanterns guide the spirits back to the afterlife, reflecting on the past year's harvest, and preparing for the colder months ahead. Witches, hags, unseelie fey, demons and other malevolent spirits are said to be especially active during this time of the year. 
The third and final harvest festival on the Millstone is Hainsam. This Sabbat marks the end of the growing season and the beginning of Winter, which needs to be earnestly prepared for now. Grain and herbs are dried for winter storage, fruits and vegetables are canned and preserved, and root vegetables are dug up and stored so they may nourish the wheatfolk through the cold months. The word “Hainsam” translates to “Summer’s end.” Hainsam is considered to be one of the four Greater Sabbats as a time to celebrate the lives of those who have passed on. 
It involves paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends and other loved ones who have died. 
In some rituals the spirits of the departed are invited to attend the festivities. It is seen as a festival of darkness, which is balanced at the opposite point of the wheel by the festival of Albtene, which is celebrated as a festival of light and fertility. Many of the wheatfolk believe that at Hainsam the veil between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest point of the whole year, making it easier to communicate with those who have left this world. Undead skeletons are said to walk through the fields during Hainsam. Inhabitants of the Sea of Wheat either stay inside the safety of their own homes or celebrate in the comfort of their brightly lit village communes.
* Significance: End of the harvest season, beginning of winter
* Celebrations: Bonfires, guising and mumming, divination, feasting, sacrifice
* Other Names: Oidhche Shamhna, Huinsam, Third Harvest, Day of the Dead, Feast of the Dead, Félie Na Marbh, Shadowfest, Ancestor Night, Feile Moingfinne, Winter Nights, Old Hallowmas, Calan Gaeaf, Hallows eve, Day of the Dead
* Themes: death, rebirth, dark divination, ancestor worship, introspection, benign mischief, revelry, black magic
=== Yeul ===
The harvest cult considers Yeul, or the Winter Solstice, as a critical time for introspection and preparation. They observe the longest night of the year, believing that the spirits of their ancestors are close during this time. They conduct solemn rituals seeking guidance and blessings for the approaching planting season. Lighting ceremonial bonfires symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness and brings hope for the growth of their crops in the coming year.
Midwinter, known commonly as Yeul within wheatfolk traditions signifies a turning point in the yearly cycle of the millstone. The reversal of the Sun's ebbing presence in the sky symbolizes the rebirth of the solar godess and presages the return of fertile seasons. Practices vary, but sacrifice offerings, feasting, and gift giving are common elements of Midwinter festivities. Bringing sprigs and wreaths of evergreenery (such as holly, ivy, mistletoe, yew, and pine) into the home are common during this time. In the wheatfolk's belief system, the Sun is reborn at Yeul, having died at the previous Sabbat (Hainsam). The weak quality of sunlight during these still-short days is symbolized by the Sun godess in her infancy, just born and needing sustenance before she can come back into her full power.
The tradition of the Lwyd Mare ("Gray Mare") is celebrated during Yeul. It is the tradition to carry an eponymous hobby horse which is made from a horse's skull mounted on a pole and carried by an individual hidden under a sackcloth. The folkloric depiction of this grim horse is based on a mysterious spirit that roams through the bare grain fields in winter and tears alive anyone who has not sacrificed enough of their harvest.
* Significance: Midwinter
* Celebrations: feasting, gift giving, decorating homes with evergreens
* Other Names: Winter Solstice, Midwinter, Saturnalia, Yeultide
* Themes: rebirth, quiet introspection, hope, setting intentions, celebration of light
The Grim Nights
The Grim Nights, "Rauhnächte", or Thirteen Nights, are a unique and sacred period for the cult of the wheatfolk that occurs between the years. They believe that during these nights, the veil between the physical world and the spirit world is at its thinnest, and various spirits and terrible beings roam the earth. During the Grim Nights, the cult engages in protective rituals to safeguard their crops and livestock from potential harm. They perform blessings on their fields and farms, seeking protection from malevolent entities. Offerings of food, herbs, and other symbolic items are left outside their homes and barns as a gesture of appeasement to the spirits and to invoke blessings upon their land and livestock.
According to popular belief, the stormy powers of the "Wilde Jagd" (wild hunt) ride out during this period to cause terror, fear and mischief and only go to rest at the dawn of the last of the Grim Nights. 
The heavyness of the storms during these thirteen nights determines the weather of the coming new year.
In addition to the wild hunt, legend has it that during this period (also called the fifth season) the terrible Möder roams the dead and frozen fields. Fleeing flocks of crows herald the approach of this terrible creature, considered a dark god and even worshiped by some of the Wheatfolk the Terrible Möder devours all living things it encounters, bringing crop failure, rot and ergot upon those who only catch a glimpse of him with their eyes. His hunger is insatiable and only the blood of a newborn smeared to the front door of a house is said to reliably protect against his visit. Some occultists and theologians of the cult believe they may have found a connection between Lwyd Mare and the terrible Möder, believing that he is the Lwyd Mare that got corrupted by the consumption of too much humanoid flesh. They say for every wheatfolk or human that the Lwyd Mare eats, the Möder devours ten more. It is therefore appealed by these cultists to each resident of the fields to sacrifice enough of their harvest in order to appease the Lwyd Mare and thereby prevent it from turning into the terrible Möder.
* Other Names: Rauhnächte, rough nights, Stormnights, Thirteen Nights (also thirteenth), bell nights, inner nights, Unternächte
=== The Grim Nights ===
The Grim Nights, "Rauhnächte", or Thirteen Nights, are a unique and sacred period for the cult of the wheatfolk that occurs between the years. They believe that during these nights, the veil between the physical world and the spirit world is at its thinnest, and various spirits and terrible beings roam the earth. During the Grim Nights, the cult engages in protective rituals to safeguard their crops and livestock from potential harm. They perform blessings on their fields and farms, seeking protection from malevolent entities. Offerings of food, herbs, and other symbolic items are left outside their homes and barns as a gesture of appeasement to the spirits and to invoke blessings upon their land and livestock.
According to popular belief, the stormy powers of the "Wilde Jagd" (wild hunt) ride out during this period to cause terror, fear and mischief and only go to rest at the dawn of the last of the Grim Nights. 
In addition to the wild hunt, legend has it that during this period (also called the fifth season) the terrible Möder roams the dead and frozen fields. Fleeing flocks of crows herald the approach of this terrible creature, considered a dark god and even worshiped by some of the Wheatfolk the Terrible Möder devours all living things it encounters, bringing crop failure, rot and ergot upon those who only catch a glimpse of him with their eyes. His hunger is insatiable and only the blood of a newborn smeared to the front door of a house is said to reliably protect against his visit. Some occultists and theologians of the cult believe they may have found a connection between Lwyd Mare and the terrible Möder, believing that he is the Lwyd Mare that got corrupted by the consumption of too much humanoid flesh. They say for every wheatfolk or human that the Lwyd Mare eats, the Möder devours ten more. It is therefore appealed by these cultists to each resident of the fields to sacrifice enough of their harvest in order to appease the Lwyd Mare and thereby prevent it from turning into the terrible Möder.
The heavyness of the storms during these thirteen nights determines the weather of the coming new year.
* Other Names: Rauhnächte, rough nights, Stormnights, Thirteen Nights (also thirteenth), bell nights, inner nights, Unternächte
== Gastronomy ==
A man cannot life out of wheat alone, and the wheatians know it. Despite their fervor towards wheat, the wheatians have developed a very diverse cuisine, though most of the variety comes from the many meats they can produce. Since wheat is a natural plant in the region and it grows in such quantities, the wheatians have more than enough grain to feed quite a lot of stable animals, from chickens, turkeys, ducks, pigs, goats, sheep, cows, horses, domestic worms… They can easily be fattened to acceptable levels and bred in considerable numbers, something that helps the trade of the region immensely, not having to depend entirely out of trading wheat. The wheatians have developed a very carnivore diet, always accompanied with some of the best breads, pastas and sweets known this side of Giantstep. Fruits and vegetables outside of wheat are quite rare, since the land is exclusively geared towards the production of wheat, and something else can only really grow in potted agriculture, only viable to a private level. The wheatians import a lot of fruits from the north, compensating this void on their diet.
Eating an agricultural behemoth is usually discouraged, since they breed so slowly they are not an appropriate food source. They are eaten on the rare occasion one of them dies of natural circumstances and its meat is still edible, but otherwise they are left alone. According to many who have tasted it, their meat tastes surprisingly similar to a mix between bull and horse meat.
== Foreign Relations ==
The people of the Golden Sea of Wheat are relatively friendly with their neighbors, being indeed the biggest food producers around. Wheat and meat trade is a common thing between the wheatians and the rest of the region, and the wheatian docks are a very frequent stopping spot for ships crossing the seas between Littlestep and Giantstep, since sailors who have spent weeks or months in the sea could use to rest in an area where food is plenty. Of course, beware of any who dares to alter the ways of the wheat, since they will get booted from the land rather quickly. This has led to the wheatians to get a reputation of having a fiery temper behind their their gentle masks.
In particular, there get along the best with two particular areas. First, the lands of the Fyrd were mostly colonized by people from the Golden Sea of Wheat. The wheatians themselves think of the people from the Fyrd as their dumber relatives, with many wheatian families sharing some blood ties to those of the Fyrd, but otherwise they share many elements and traditions. The fyrdians have abandoned for the most part their adoration of wheat, since the region mostly produces bog-yam, but otherwise the two groups are really similar. Many fyrdians return from time to time to the Golden Sea of Wheat, since the Fyrd is too small and too conflictive for many of its inhabitants.
The wheatians also get along very well with the druids of Faarowt. The wheatian religion and their wheat priests follow a form of druidic tradition, and this makes them have a lot in common with the druids from Faarowt. The wheatian priesthood is more urbanite and more used to living away from nature, but they are still druids regardless, and the wheatian and the faarowt do meet each other to discuss matters of nature and magic.
Category:Nations
Category:Giantstep