Canton

Canton is a sleepy, rustic country in central Ur, known as much for its fertile fields as its troubled past.

History:
The story of Canton began during the Fallow Wars, when the ash winters were just beginning to smother the land and blot out the Sun. As the lean years set in and game became scarce kings restricted their peasants right to hunt, their rangers and game wardens hanging poachers in the trees. A hunting dispute saw many starving refugees migrate to what is now Canton.

Canton's sprawling woodlands were still flush with game and its rich soil held much promise for farming. Unfortunately the pagan tribes who lived there were displaced by these new settlers and pushed out into the mountains and hills of Cloudy Crown, ultimately founding the nations of Denedell and Freesia.

During the Fallow Wars poor harvests, warlords, and the smothering ash winters all conspired to turn the country into a wasteland. A generation of hunger saw the people resort to human sacrifice, watering their own fields with blood. Today many farmers keep this old tradition, though they slaughter animals rather than prisoners.

The Fallow Wars & The Sorrows of Canton
The Fallow Wars, occasionally known as the "Interregnum", was a transitional period between the collapse of the Tiberian Ecumene and the present day. It began with dragons waking out of dormancy and setting the whole world on fire. Cities were razed to their foundations; woods and fields were burned; and the nights were lit as if by bonfires. The smoke and soot that filled the sky blotted out the Sun, resulting in something not unlike a nuclear winter. Survivors fled for greener lands not smothered by these ash winters. These migrations often ended in tragedy when starving refugees clashed with native peoples. The "Sorrows of Canton" are one such example.

Geography & Climate
Canton is known for its rolling fields and hills of green and gold corn, wheat, grain, and barley. There are still scattered groves of Ironroot trees left over from the Sorrows but otherwise there is very little woodland. The soil is a rich, red clay, allegedly stained by the blood that was spilled generations ago. Many rivers and streams wind down from the mountains and hills of Cloudy Crown. Despite the fertility of the land farming can be tough. When lean years are brought on by hard rains, coldsnaps, and blights the whole country goes hungry, so different counties tend to specialize in growing their own crops.

Flora
Canton was once known for its airy woodlands. These forests were distinct from the Oldgrowth in Land's End and made for rich hunting grounds. The Ironroot trees which flourished in Canton's rich soil had bark so tough it ruined most axes and was too strong to simply be uprooted. To this day farmers rarely go to the trouble of clearing Ironroots, often leaving them standing in their fields. The symbol of Canton is an upsidedown tree, its roots reaching for the sky.

Wild corn, tobacco, hemp, and grains were gathered by the native tribes and later turned towards intensive agriculture.

Fauna
Canton's wildlife has largely disappeared thanks to humans deforesting the country. Vast flocks of crows are a common sight during harvest season and many Yeomen keep trained hawks to protect their crops.

Society
The country is divided between Yeomen and Bondsmen (sharecroppers). The Yeomanry are landed gentry who own and rent out their land. Often they double as local officials like sheriffs or aldermen, participating in government. They also oversee the Bondsmen who work their land; these poor sharecroppers are serfs in all but name and are only paid a portion of their own harvests. Typically each Bondsman might only work a single acre, while its rare for a Yeoman to own less than a hundred. Among Yeomen the "Planters" are practically landed aristocrats, lording over whole Counties.

There are few Knights in Canton. Most are poor or old men without lords, their castles no greater than a wooden holdfast. Only the Moot has the power to knight a man and the title is usually only honorary.

Politics
Canton is divided into a number of counties who manage themselves and elect local officials from among the Yeomanry. Only land owners can vote, a custom that excludes virtually all Bondsmen from government. County matters are settled by moot (gatherings of Yeomen), however, the Moot essentially rules the whole country.

Industry
An astonishing amount of corn, grain, and tobacco is produced in Canton. The country is famous for its bountiful harvests, even during the lean years of the Fallow Wars. Most of the regions woods and forests have long since been felled by settlers, cleared to make room for farms. Only the tough Ironroot groves are still standing.

Canton's weavers are considered some of the best left in Ur.

Culture
Much of life in Canton revolves around agriculture and most of the calendar year is structured around harvesting crops and rearing livestock. Children play with corn husk dolls and wealthy Planters are known to commission elaborate corn mazes. During the "Reapings" criminals are crucified and strung up like scarecrows, keeping vigil over the land. Farmers sacrifice animals (cows, sheep, horses, etc.) to water their fields, and the dead are buried standing up in their own fields.

Football (rugby) is very popular among the lower classes; often whole villages will turn out for a single match, and injuries can be pretty brutal. Hammer throwing (hurling), tug'of'war, dancing competitions (among men and women), stone putting, competitive drinking and feasting, and wrestling are also common. The upper classes - Yeomen especially - prefer equestrian sports, including mounted archery (longbow) and hunting.

Warfare
Canton men go into battle wearing their grandfathers' rusty mail and wielding nicked broadswords, streaming tattered banners behind them. They prefer push of pike to swordplay and are ably supported by mounted Yeomen.

Misc
Settlements: Oxgang, Furlong, Fairfields, County Pryze, County Moot, Standish Shire, Kettle Lakes

Town council government; no kings or nobles (at least in name), a farmer republic

Goodwives (mid-wives, witches)

Blights - resemble Biblical plagues; swarms of locusts, fungal infections, stillborn livestock, hard rains/droughts/coldsnaps/brushfires, etc.

Bondsmen live in simple crofts and cruck houses - rude hovels with a wood frame, paneled with wattle & daub, plastered with quick lime and earth, roofed with thatch. Animals stayed indoors during the winter; the floor was hard, compacted earth, sometimes covered in straw or rushes for warmth. People slept up in lofts, above the livestock. One long room, no walls or privacy, and drafty. A fire for cooking and warmth; a small garden for herbs and vegetables; food would be hung from the ceiling in nets so rats couldn't get at it. Clothes would be boiled clean; a damp cloth would be used for daily washing, and sometimes soap was rendered from fat; in the warm months people would bathe together in rivers and streams

Women were basically sold into marriage for land, dowries, prestige, etc.

Children would be sewn into their smallclothes

Canton follows an agrarian calendar
 * Seed
 * Greening - spring
 * Burnover - wildfire season
 * Reap - beginning of harvest
 * Sow - start of spring men sow seeds
 * Shearing
 * Thresh
 * Last Reap - the last month when crops can be gathered, before its too cold for anything to grow
 * Harvest - the months between Reap and Last Reap are called Harvest, all efforts are put into gathering the crops and preparing for the cruel winters ahead
 * Brume - late autumn
 * Bloom - summer solstice
 * Frost - midwinter
 * Thaw - spring equinox

INFLUENCES:
Pilgrims: fashion: doublets, breeches, wide-brimmed hats, smocks, linen underclothes, flannel travelling cloaks, fine needlework; celebrate Feast Day by slaughtering a healthy animal, sharing the meat with their neighbors. Town-council meetings, Yeomen farmers, religious

Saxons: migrating invaders; battle dress - rusty hauberks, nicked broadswords, axes, spears, soft pine shields, leather helmets/skullcaps, clan brooches; clothing - burlap, hemp, denim. Every man is armed.

Oakies: migrant farmers, endured famine and migration

Mason Family: communal living, polygamy (sister-wives, goodbrothers)

Appalachians: poor, inbred, ignorant, isolated; faith healing, ecstatic worship

Donner Party: resorted to cannibalism and human sacrifice, after enduring long famine and cabin fever

American Gothic, Iron Age migrations into Britain, pagan & native american genocide, Cornwall/New England countryside