Goldland

### **Geography**

Much of the region is heavily forested, hot and humid. Massive vents of super-heated water leak out from the mountain range and fill the air with dense mist. Mega fauna wander the ancient forests and jungles of mega flora within the region alongside a multitude of smaller fauna. The area is so heavily populated by a rich diversity of wildlife that it is seemingly impossible for explorers or locals to categorize them all.

### **Culture**

The region is split between the world above, and the world below and is primarily inhabited by a race of giant sapient insects. The T'lc-Kha, as they are known by Goldlands human population, are an insectoid race that have created a massive underground network of tunnels in which to live. The name stems from the sounds their metal exoskeleton and soft under tissue makes. This same shell reveals their caste in the hive. As larva they feed on metal so that after pupation will that metal will be incorporated into the exoskeleton of their adult form.

"Flower wars" occur when a queen fails to moderate her hive's population. These wars result in the culling of her hive, the ceasing of many resources, land and the diminishing of her status among her fellow queens. Rumors abound of golden T'lc-Ka, that were fed gold and developed golden shells and a latent skill with magic and thus the entire society is obsessed with the acquisition and consumption of gold. Attendants of the golden one's carve strange glyphs into their carapace. The shells of deceased gold ones are locked away in guarded vaultombs to thwart the ever present risk of other hives' shelleaters and looters looking for wealth or arcane secrets.

Some of the hive's warriors may be hired as mercenaries for short excursions or an entire brood of more independent T'lc-Kha may be produced if a nation is willing to pay a kings (or queens) ransom that a queen might set for her brood. The "freeborn" T'lc-Kha, as they are colloquially known, are more individualistic but retain an in-bred loyalty to their hive. To them, it is their purpose to serve the "client" as they would serve the queen. The only order they would refuse, would be one that would result in harm to their hive of origin. Such mercenaries are highly prized for this very reason, though the cost of maintaining them in both food and metal is quite high.

The Coatlanhan people are made up of many petty kingdoms. Each of them preserve a small amount of ancient technology, the greatest of which, their god machines, are objects of worship and great weapons of war.

The Teritzoklan people, known as the godless by their countrymen, are those who occupy the lands nearest the eastern mountains, have suffered the most out of all the Coathlanhan peoples. Hordes of horsemen, regular techno barbarian raids and wandering abominations from the irradiated desert have left this tribe without even a single god-machine. As a result they rely heavily on massive flightless birds of prey as battle mounts. Most of their warriors no longer wear the armor of their ancestors as it has been lost to battlefield scavengers. Instead the eagle warriors wear the feathers of their mounts and simple leathers for increased speed and mobility. Occasionally the rare warrior will manage to tame the larger behemoths of the land, that warrior will be instantly recognized as a champion of the people. As hard as it is to tame the great birds, the behemoths are that much harder, that much more intractable. More often than not behemoth eggs are sold to merchants as exotic goods to be raised as arena fodder.

### **Religion**

Once a decade a dance of blades is held. The dance is in fact a great battle, in which warriors attempt to capture one another to be used as sacrifices to their tribe's god machine. The people believe that the dead join their ancestors by fusing with the walking god. Great works of art have been fused to these "God machines" giving these once terrible weapons of war an ornate appearance. These additions were once simple attempts by their ancestors to repair the devices that held back the dangers that other races, peoples and predators posed. While impressive to look upon the towering weapons of a bygone era are now handicapped by the ignorance of the priesthood. As it stands the God Machines of today have long run out of ammunition for their weaponry and instead rely on melee combat utilizing absurd weaponry pieced together from the scraps of the fallen. Constant repairs are required to forestall the cascade of system failures that threaten to occur on a regular basis. For the time being God Machines suffice to keep the peoples faith and hope alive that they are protected and blessed by a higher power but when the last great machine falls, devastation is sure to follow.

In the current era, treasure hunters and raids from other kingdoms for the technology the Coatlanhan people have hoarded for generations, are common. The high priests of "Goldland" as it is known by outsiders, work endlessly to maintain their great defenders to keep the armies of other nations at bay. Small raid parties are often far more successful than any large scale invasion. Many of Goldlands outlying settlements have been plundered of its most valuable and arcane technologies. The most "successful" of these large raids was The Last Hunt of Kara Khan; in which 10,000 soulriders were led by the Khan to raid Goldland, and only 12 made it back alive.

### **Organization**

There are 9 known T'lc-Kha hives within the Goldlands. Explorers say "known" because ambassadors to these hives have begun to suspect that these creatures have dug deep into the earth and spread outward into unexplored subterranean locales. The hive queens are said to adhere to a very austere code of conduct. According to their emissaries no hive is permitted to expand or spawn new queens without a majority consent among the "queens council" a gathering that takes place yearly in order to strictly manage available resources. Outsiders are not permitted within these meetings and spies are never heard from again. The queens rule their own territories with some contested authority. The human inhabitants are a source of constant concern and agitation but due to their advanced, yet aging technological defenses conflict remains a poor solution. For the time being the queens seem content to let the human populace on the surface squabble among themselves. Some even profit off the constant human conflicts by lending their spawn to one cause or another in exchange for goods and currency.

The Coatlanhan people are made up of many petty kingdoms. Founded by vault-dwellers the people of goldland have rebuilt upon the foundations and ruins of their ancestors. The five kingdoms are Teritzo, Coatlan, Tenoch, Naht and Ocoh. Each kingdom is named after its founder and his or her dynasty, Coatlan being the first and largest kingdom. Teritzo is said to have lost the last of their great God-Machines and now survives through extensive use of the local megafauna in war, construction and food production. Ocoh is the second greatest of the golden cities, built on the coast and profiting the most off of trade with other nations. Naht and Tenoch are nearly constantly skirmishing with one another over territory and petty squabbles. Outsiders are reccomended to avoid these kingdoms as great predators are drawn to the bloodshed.

### **Origin**

Few suspect that the T'lc-Kha are descended from the Teriads. Separation from the bulk of the Teriad population and millennia of evolution imposed by Goldlands ecosystem, have resulted in this evolutionary branch of the ancient bioweapons developing sentience and a more organic physiology. While having diverged greatly from their ancestors, the T'lc-Kha are still able absorb metals into their shell. Unlike their ancestors though it takes them weeks or months to process the metals into their carapace. The T'lc-Kha began their time in Goldland as an extremely violent and expansionist species. After multiple encounters with the surrounding sapient races and the rapidly dwindling resources at their disposal a convention of queens was held during which the queens of that era decided upon a path of stewardship of their lands and peoples rather than expansion. A brief yet bloody civil war followed as dissenters and incompotents were destroyed and millennia of relative peace has followed.

The Coatlanhan people are said to be descendants of the great builders of old. After the cataclysm many of the builders greatest works were either broken or loosed upon the world at large. The people crept from the ancient stone buildings and vaults of their ancestors to discover a world utterly at odds with the depictions their ancestors had left them. Were it not for the great machinery left behind by their ancestors the Coatlanhan would never have survived the robust mega fauna and flora that had grown in the fallout of the ancients demise. Little is known about about the origins of the many kingdoms except by those of the priesthood who hoard any and all knowledge of their people with religious zeal and paranoid possessiveness. Those who attempt to break this strangle hold on such knowledge are put to a bloody end and the truth matters little to the Coatlanhan as life holds enough challenges without worrying about the past.

### **Diplomacy**

Trade is primarly done with the Kingdom of Belara. Belara in turns views Goldland as prime real estate infested with deadly monsters and savage men, but are happy to trade with them.

The Tecnobarbarians have a friendly relation with the Coatlanhan people, an a unofficial alliance is formed between the two nations.

### **Economy**

T'lc-Kha commonly trade the following goods with surface dwellers; fine silk, chitin, resin, gems, metals and mercenaries. The Coatlanhan economy is as insular as its people and trade with outsiders is rare. The Teritzoklan are unique among the many tribes in that they frequently trade with outsiders in vast quantities of meat, hides and bones as well as novelty items like behemoth eggs both fertile and infertile. Behemoths often make for wondrous additions to the arenas and circuses found throughout the world.