Ter'sholt

Ter'sholt (pronunced Ter-*sholt*), located on the continent of Loustehd, is the third largest country in the New World. Known as the Land of Fields, the country of Ter’sholtis primarily an agricultural society.The natural waterways crisscrossing the land are fed mainly by the glacier-covered Ice Hills of the Camberge Mountains. It’s rich, fertile soils and mild climate provide perfect conditions for much of the New World’s food crops. However, this environment is also conducive to abnormal weather phenomena – namely violent wind vortices. The capitol, Gologor City, once lay in the most active vortex zone, but after being destroyed more than a dozen times, was moved out of The Path of the Wind God. The people of Ter’sholt prefer to keep to themselves, believing in the philosophy, “Don’t look for trouble, and trouble won’t find you;” however, they also believe in being prepared for the worst. For this reason, the garrison town of Fort Andrew was erected on the Eastern border shared with Arsuria. Because of its high status in New World food market, Ter’sholt is considered a virtually irreplaceable trade partner, and shares many good relations with its neighbouring countries – the best being with The Kingdom of Lakes. Using its long, mossy coastline to its advantage, Ter’sholt has a large fishing fleet, stationed off the mainland on the South Albion Islands. The sprawling nature of Ter’sholt makes it the only country to share borders with all other countries on Loustehd.

## Population

The Sholtkas are an extinct native tribe that once thrived in the plains of the New World continent. The race had been in decline and were few in number even when the Jessian and Lodovian settlers arrived. Though archeological excavations have hinted that their range once encompassed the vast majority of the interior including Ter’sholt, Ulluhn , and parts of the Kingdom of Lakes , descendants now are only found in the people of Ulluhn and the northern area of Ter’sholt (Luhnic is the modern derivative of the ancient language Kash ). *Sholtka* is literally translated as “wheat people” though the people themselves were divided into three working classes – the Branics were the wheat growers, the Maylar were keepers of livestock, and the Vuln were warriors that defended the rest against other invading native tribes. The Vuln were exceedingly skilled in combat, dedicating their lives to the study of both hand-to-hand and weapons-based techniques. The Branics and Maylar were both peaceful people, and though many of the Maylar and Vuln resisted, the larger proportion of Branics welcomed many of the settlers from other nations. Those who sought to preserve their dying culture moved northward to Ulluhn , but much of their ancient ways and phenotypic traits were lost within a few generations of harsh winters and interracial marriages. Early reports of their physical traits describe feline-like characteristics; wide, slanted eyes, upturned noses, and long limbs. It seems that males and females were more or less average in height, if not slightly shorter, and more slender in weight with wiry, athletic builds. The reason for their decline is as of yet, undetermined.