Hereby

## History

Hereby was long a member of the various iterations of the Elven Empire (later known as the First Elven Empire), but its most numerous inhabitants, the hobbits, had little interest in military affairs.

The area (like Thereby and Whereby) takes its name from an old poem, though it is not a true nation, not like those in humans would understand anyways. It is more of a no man’s land, where no one fey lord is particularly dominant, and hobbits are the largest demographic group.

Following the loss of Scimitarian, and later the New Azan Faith reformations, the loose alliance of faerie lords that held together the Elven Empire broke apart. At first this had little practical impact on the inhabitants of Hereby, but then the persecuted from the Azan Empire and its successor states, who had long overestimated the coherency of the Elven Empire over most of its existence, began arriving in modest numbers seeking refuge. This helped make Hereby the most open and mercantile of the nations in the region, though this isn’t saying much.

## Government

Hereby doesn’t have one unified government. Different races tend to inhabit communities of their own folk, and community leaders are usually elected. Many of these communities are lumped together into shires and other small pseudo-nations, generally run by elected leaders and councils of representatives from the component communities. In past eras, the shires would choose a few representatives to attend important Elven Empire council meetings. In modern times, council meetings among former components of the Elven Empire still do occur occasionally, though the last was nearly a decade ago.

The faerie lords of this region tend to be fairly hands off, but their druids still have a lot of influence when their faerie lord decides to make a stand on a particular issue.

## Economy

Hereby has a more human-like economy than many neighbouring nations, though excessive hoarding of wealth and power is generally frowned upon.

The lands of Hereby are unnaturally fertile, allowing the hobbits to feed themselves and others nearby with little effort.

Certain wines, pipe weeds, gems, and carvings from Hereby fetch high prices in foreign lands. There are some coastal towns dedicated to trade, but they are nothing like the cities of human lands. Gem mining by the gnomes, and the hand crafted goods by several races also are significant drivers of the economy.

## Foreign Relations

### Elfwood, Windwillow, Thereby, Whereby

These nations were once components of the heartland of the Elven Empire along with Hereby, so links are still strong, especially within members of the same race, or followers of the same faerie lord. However, all these nations have a higher tolerance for violence, and the activities of wilder and unseelie fey, than Hereby, so a certain amount of caution is exercised as well.

### Gvilderstaaten, Azan, Sniden, Isle of Wizards, Northern Scimitarian

The hobbits of these regions are close cousins to the hobbits of of Hereby. They are therefore favorably disposed to hobbits in these regions, and also to the nations that treat their resident hobbits well.

### Unseelie and Wilder Fey

Hereby doesn’t have much tolerance for the darker and/or wilder of the fey. Particularly strong unseelie and wilder faerie lords and their nations like Nichtmair of the Gibberlings, Tyrie of Harpies Peak, and the Bog Witch are generally seen as enemies, though that doesn’t stop some inhabitants of Hereby from worshipping them in secret or trying to bargain with them. Some of these darker fey want to revert Hereby back to a more natural state by destroying the trappings of civilization. Others simply see the inhabitants of Hereby as weak and therefore prey.

### Gvilderstaaten

has managed to position itself as Hereby’s main trading partner due to immigration there by mercantile minded hobbits. Zapalovah is also a major trading partner. Most of Hereby’s sea trade goes to these two nations, as most hobbits don’t care much for sea travel and therefore just accept the fact that Gvilderstaaten and Zapalovah sometimes sell their trade goods for far more in the south and east.

### Three Sisters, Drow City-States, Hithlone, Nasr Satrapies

The hobbits dislike these nations for enslaving their kinfolk. Most such slaves come from Scimitaria, but when the price is right, Three Sisters slavers have been known to raid Hereby despite the massive distance involved, and the presence of many anti-slaving nations along the route.

### Baalps and Mastodon Isles

Hereby does some minor trade with these nations.

### Laurentian Crusade

A few hobbits, humans, and other folk from Hereby have joined the crusade.

### Snoloth Country

Snoloth and hobbits consider each other to be kindred spirits, but rarely encounter each other.

## Geography

Much of Hereby has a pleasant, temperate climate, and is covered in a mix of meadows, pastures, fields, and forest.

Hobbits are infamous for their “burrows”, houses and manors that are built partially beneath the ground, often into the sides of small hills. A few are far larger beneath the surface than above, with mazes of larders and halls sunk far beneath the surface, and sometimes partially inhabited by gnomes, who live and mine deeper still.

## Demographics

### Hobbits

The most numerous and prominent inhabitants, they are mostly farmers, but some tradespeople, herders, hunter-gatherers, professionals, and a few scholars, druids, and magic users as well. They have a reputation for laziness, pacifism, and sometimes gluttony.

### Humans

There have long been humans in Hereby, close cousins to other northwestern human ethnic groups. They tend to live near the coast as fishermen, farmers, and herders. Although their communities are often separate from the hobbits, they get along well enough and help protect the coast from pirates and slavers.

### Other Fey

A wide range of other fey races live in Hereby, particularly gnomes, brownies, animalkin, and coastal merfolk, but also a few goblins, wood elves, drow, hags, dryads, harpies, and she-ep.

### Demon Tieflings

A handful of demon tieflings have sought refuge in Hereby, though most ended up in Gvilderstaaten and the Terusia Isthmus instead.

## Religion

Most folk worship the faerie lords, even if only loosely. The servants of the faerie lords are known as druids, and they have been granted some level of magic ability by a faerie lord or senior druid in order to support other followers and promote the tenets of their particular faerie lord. The most popular faerie lords in Hereby include:

**Arbul Applebloom** – The most popular with hobbits, but also some human and animalkin farmers, she is a benevolent, pacifist being associated with fertility and farming. Unlike most faerie lords, she tolerates the conversion of wild land into farmland.

**Crimisa** – Queen of the Dryads, and also quite popular with wood elves. Once highly prominent among the faerie lords running the Elven Empire, and among the most warlike, she has gone into seclusion ever since a major loss in Scimitaria, but is still worshipped by several orders of rangers who patrol the borders and wild areas of Hereby.

**Stoutheart** – The Badger Lord, though sometimes appears as a bear instead. Defender of the Hearth. Popular with the militias of humans, hobbits, animalkin and gnomes, as well as miners and the constructors of burrows.

**Adonis** – The Wise One. Odd caterpillar-like creature associated with wisdom and seeing the future. Once a key member of the Elven Empire, now lives in seclusion in Sniden.

**Deloros** – The Free. Queen of the northwestern merfolk, and also popular with (the mostly human) fishermen and sailors of the coastal regions of Hereby.

**Scruffy** – The Dog God. Very loyal. Popular with dog owners, dog riders, and some animalkin. There is some doubt as to whether he is sentient, but he is powerful. And a good boy.

**YiffYiff** – Fox Goddess of Sex. Seen as wild and unpredictable. Popular with satyrs, nymphs, and foxkin.

**Caijin** – The Sea Slug God. Popular with sailors and fishermen that like someone firmer than Deloros.

**Nichtmair** – The Dark One. Lord of dark tricksters and cruel cunning. Normally associated with gibberlings, but also popular with many other unseelie fey, as well as anti-social hunters, those fighting in brutal bush wars, and those who enjoy inflicting pain on others.

**The Bog-Witch** – Has a few small cults in Hereby, usually centered around a hag or another senior operative, supported by a mix of bullies, predators, dupes, and the desperate.

**Voluptuia** – Queen of the She-ep. Mostly worshipped by she-ep, but sometimes also by herders of actual sheep.

A few humans and hobbits have converted to the New Azan Faith, and are generally tolerated, especially by followers of Arbul Applebloom.

Some hobbits have also been known to form secretive cults worshipping the **Glutton God**.

## Military

Hobbits don’t care much for fighting, but if necessary, can muster up some militia formations for each shire, including a few druids and spell casters.

A peculiar hobbit organization are the bounders, light cavalry that patrol the edges of a particular shire. They are usually mounted on giant rabbits, but giant foxes, corgis, and Calcrabian Spaniels are also popular.

Humans, wood elves, and certain animalkin tend to be more useful in a fight. They have their own militias along the edges of Hereby that tend to see more fighting, and also form the backbone of the elite ranger formations that patrol the most dangerous areas and actively hunt down any troublemakers that evade or defeat the militias and bounders.

Gnomes and brownies are too small to fight human sized opponents in a conventional manner, but have many tricks to even the odds. Similarly, nymphs, dryads, satyrs, centaurs, etc., are too few in number and unruly to form large formations, but are extremely dangerous when fighting on their own terms.

The senior druids and faerie lords are extremely potent spellcasters, though few faerie lords are in Hereby at any given time, as most have holdings throughout the northwest to visit, as well as other realms in other dimensions.