Region and Lore:

Amidst the wars of Sulgate, Daedina, the Land of the Daes, or Daeland, has most removed itself, declaring itself independent and ascribing within its borders only those lands which the now fallen Ssianid Empire took from it. Having succeeded in this it has acted as a silent watcher, and for this preserved much of its history and its people. Unlike its neighbor Bethar Garmak, it is home to few ambitions, for the Dwarves there called Daes have accepted living by humble means. However, recent stirrings have appeared to disrupt such an approach, and from the Daelands yet rises a potential power, something heretofor never seen.

Many ages ago Dwarven exiles came to what is called now Daedina, then a wasteland much as Bleakland today, though ere any made attempts to claim it. Bearing only those valuables which could within their stunted arms be carried, the nomadic and savage Men of the land, who had never before seen Dwarves, named them Dae, meaning "Short," or "Short one," and this name has yet become attendant to their identity, well into modernity.

A union existed between the Men and Dwarves of Daedina, who overland lived in equal numbers to one another for a time. From the Men the Dwarves learned the lifestyle of the desert nomad, and of their Sun god, Saultum and from Dwarves the Men learned of ores and metals, and how they might be shaped most expertly.

Ere long the Dwarves found passage to caverns beneath Daedina and with much toil they created small and humble towns, but as worship of Saultum had spread fully through their ranks, they in exile being desperate to restore what faith had been stripped from them, they build villages only shallowly into the ground, and with one large, open ceiling, as a window without glass, that appears as a crater from above, walled about with high towers so none might easily attack the town below through the opening. These girded chasms the Men called in their tongue Hufra, and were fashioned by the Daes so as not to invoke Saultum's wrath when exposed by hiding from him at all hours, as other Dwarves might. It is also by this wisdom that they profit from the Daeland's few rains, and find still some shade from the walls of their caverns ere the sun reaches its peak, and as it sets. But when that god they call Saultum is highest the Daes cease all of their activities to stand or kneel in the light from the Hufra and worship. Their towns soon grew in size and were called Huframadi, the Crater-Cities.

The humans who profited from this union eventually departed, heading south or west and spreading the worship of Saultum with them, along with a craftsmanship newfound which blended the styles of Sulgate men and Dirzubad Dwarves uniquely. The Daes expanded into this ceded territory from below, until a small kingdom they had carved, marking is presence with these many craters in the ground, and thus did the country become Land of the Daes.

The Ssianid Empire did take root in Daedina after a time, spread through the coast and nigh to the Sarazor mountains and to Zelegin, the gate from which the Daes were expelled by Dirzubad. But its rule was light there, the land having little to offer and the Daes themselves being resistant moreso than others, and populating much of Ssianid's warrior class. When the sundering of Ssianid was at hand the Daes acted swiftly, with a great general among them called Malmand of Clan Sugin, himself son of Tigrin of Clan Sugin who had ruled as de-facto governor under Ssianid authority, named himself Ssul, the Dae's word for "king." Malmand rules still, and is fashioning his capital Daema into a jewel of Sulgate, should his will bear fruit.

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Example Cities of Daedina:

Concerning Daema, the Capital City

Daema has been transformed and sees still many transformations presently, having begun its existence as a small market village dealing inland with traders from the coast as it worshiped still Kurdu in the manner of Diruzbad Dwarves. It now grows beneath a hufra, and there rise the first grand temples dedicated to At'ar, and splendidly does the city extend even beyond the light which its window offers, so that the hufra must be constantly made wider and longer. Ssul Malmand resides there in a great palace, as does a growing host of admirers and foreign dignitaries. Gathered there also are many scholars and historians, as Malmand has enticed them with offers of opulent lodging if they should bring to him their records and knowledge.

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Concerning Gwatadi, the City of Wind

The largest port of Daedina is Gwatadi, a name which means City of Wind, and it invokes it name aptly, for the sailing there seems ever favored to enter as it is to depart, and to demonstrate this favor, many colorful windmills are mounted high on the buildings, which do not otherwise loom tall. Gwatadi is the only city of Daedina peopled most by men, as it is also most ruled, if less by official decree for its governor is a Dae.

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Concerning Lavajj

Of those few who resisted Malmand's rule, Lavajj is the city stood longest against him, being attached more to their own notions of independence than the unification of an independent Daedina. The siege upon them lasted many months before they were overcome, without great shedding of blood, for they were too weak then to fight, having been starved and denied waters, and the rains had not favored them. The city now attempts to rebuild, but the effort is severe, for Malmand plundered it without mercy, the victory having cost him much.

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Concerning Kabba, the Fortress City

When Ssianid laid claim to Daedina, the termination of their claim lay not at the border to Gwathia, but at the holdings of Kabba, a walled fortress atop a mountain which from above guards a high-walled pass to Zelegin, the gate of Diruzbad, and it is the only city in Daedina not under hufra. The Daes there call still the Aburu of Diruzbad closest kin, and worship Kurdu also, and thus are they forced to live overland in their manner, severed from the Aburu magic of stoneshaping but forsaking also mining. It is said they hope still to amend their severed bonds and return from exile, if Diruzbad would have them. Kabba peacefully tolerates Ssul Malmand and his rule, for he provokes them not, knowing for the present time better than to challenge what stayed for many ages emperors more powerful than he.

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Concerning Assorted other Sites in Daedina

As it lays just at the border of Daedina, Zelegin bears mentioning in this entry as the only westward passage into Diruzbad. Innumerable other sites do not bear mentioning, they being fishing villages, oft-small, along the coast to the Thamun Sea, or lesser cities stretching inland now freed from Ssianid, as if after a long sleep.

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