The Lokenthaal

The Lokenthaal (sometimes Lokenthal or Lokanthal) is the area in west-central Rhydain occupied by the independent, self-governing communities of the Lokes. It is situated within the Lokenmoor, the highland region south of the Helvander valley and north of Alondria which also takes its named from those rugged hill-people. The political boundaries of the Lokenthaal roughly correspond with the geographical extent of the Lokenmoor, and either term may be used interchangeably to refer to the land of the Lokes. 
The Lokenthaal is not a kingdom or a unified country, and even to describe it as a loose confederation would be questionable. The Lokes are as stubbornly resistant to higher authority among themselves they are to rule by outsiders; each town or village tends to manage its own affairs with near-complete autonomy. There are a handful of customary laws held as enforceable throughout the whole Lokenthaal, but these are unwritten and traditionally up to local elders to apply. There is a strong taboo against anything resembling lordship or any other arrangement that might put one man or group in a position of power over multiple Lokish communities. A complex set of folktales and legends about the abuses of Lokish kings in the distant past, when such titles existed among them, reinforce this taboo.
The Lokenthaal's name derives, of course, from that of the Lokes, coupled with "thaale" or "taale", a word in their dialect of Tuvai meaning a fenced or walled area, or a bounded perimeter. The lands of the Lokenthaal are not literally walled; this is a figurative description of the boundaries within which the Lokes govern themselves without any interference by outsiders.