Stevie Lambert: (via JWB)

2026-05-20T13:24:02Z

(via JWB)

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{{Infobox Region
|Name = Jaldbel Taiga Hills
|Other Names = Unknown
|Biome = Taiga Hills
|Size = Unknown
|Continent = Unknown
|Subcontinent = Unknown
}}

==History==
===Historical Overview===
===History by Age===

====Stone Age: Before 1E 0====

====Copper Age: 1E 1-1E 2200====

====Bronze Age: 1E 2200-1E 4400====

====Iron Age: 2E 0-2E 700====

====Ancient Age: 2E 700-2E 2200====

====Middle Ages: 3E 0-3E 2050====

====Early Modern Age: 3E 2050-3E 2600====

====Industrial Age: 3E 2600-3E 2700====

====Machine Age: 3E 2700-3E 2800====

====Atomic Age: 3E 2800-3E 2850====

====Space Age: 3E 2850-3E 2875====

====Information Age: 3E 2875-3E 2900====

====Genetic Age: 3E 2950-3E 3000====

====Awakening Age: 3E 3000-3E 3415====

====Twilight Age: 4E 0-4E 500====

==Geography==

The Jaldbel Taiga Hills (in its original size) is a medium sized region, located halfway between the Ler’ther Bushy Grove and the Sulysh Thousand Isles; just North of the Southern tundra regions. The region is described as serene and calm, which caused many to be drawn to the location. As evident by its name, the Jaldbel Taiga is covered in many hills. Covering the hills is a forest, which the Ladir have thinned out due to harvesting the wood. The dirt in the region is extremely coarse, usually containing various sized stones, pebbles and gravel mixed in.

At the base of the trees, and under layers of other surface dirt, there’s podzol soil which aids the trees in their growth. Where a portion of the trees had been thinned out, the first Ladir zu’aan built their homes and camps. The camps were simple, majorly being a series of tents made from fabric or various hides. Slowly over time, those who hadn’t already, transitioned from tents for formal standing structures. The buildings were simple- the bare bones of a log cabin. The homes were nearly all open floor plans, with a fireplace on the wall opposite the main door with a table just next to it.

Their beds were against one side, with storage on the other wall. As more craftsmen and architects reached the region, the homes evolved further into multi-room homes. For the sake of not being wasteful, after the first upgraded home was built, and the family moved in, the wood from the previous home was salvaged as much as possible to build the next home. Anything that wasn’t covered by the salvaged wood was harvested from the trees that had to be removed for the new home’s placement. Being close to the Southern Tundra regions, Jaldbel often got snow during the winter.

Unlike other Taiga locations, Jaldbel had the most mild climate of the lot. Although it was only once or twice the whole winter, it stuck to the ground for nearly a month at a time. South winds would also be common during the season and could drop the temperature 10 or more degrees in a few minutes. Because the forest wood was more suited for building, the Ladir had to import wood for their fireplaces. Roads through the forest were built and marked by posts and railways so that any merchants or travelers would not get lost in the forest.

The kin’toni clan managed to get land in the Southern quadrant of the territory and moved clockwise around the region to reclaim the previously given away land. The neighboring regions had built various structures on the land, ranging from logging structures (cutting, storing, crafting, etc) to watch towers to townhall like buildings. Then the land was regained and returned to the zu’aan, they left the structures as they hoped to expand even more, and the already built buildings would allow them to focus elsewhere.

One of the storage structures built close to the original kin’toni land was decided to be a military barracks and arsenal. There they would conduct training from which they would be dispatched around the region. The kin’toni also built a structure they used as a secondary government building; the original was located in the center of the region with the rest of the zu’aan, but the kin’toni often chose to stay in their original area of land so needed a meeting place in its stead.

==Plants==

The Jaldbel hills are coated in a forest that takes up most of the region. The most abundant species in the region is the spruce tree, which has better quality of wood than the most other trees available in other regions. It is stronger and denser, making it perfect for building homes out of. This made it very sought-after and the region’s main export. Some other trees in the region were the ako, barla, vaahil and ulaic trees. The Ulaic wood was also a highly sought-after wood as it is soft and light, making it highly resistant to cracking. It is also is extremely durable with a low decay rate.

To many outsiders or non-craftsman, all the trees look to be the same species, as they all have the same reddish brown heartwood coloring, and the same yellowish white sapwood colors. The grain type also looks near identical: straight grain with a thin regular texture. Some craftsmen spent their whole lives attempting to learn the differences with only minimal luck. The main difference between them is in the needle types and branch growth. All the tree varieties grew to about the same height which averaged at about 500-600 feet tall.

The lowest hanging branches were usually 10 or more feet from the ground, either from natural evolution or creatures breaking them off the tree where they could reach, the Ladir of the region couldn’t tell. The forest grew a variety of plants outside of trees, many of which were perfect for sauces (paired with meats) and used in most daily meals. Most of these were abundantly available throughout the forest, growing wherever there was space. In small natural clearings, there would be plants of the spice variety growing in clusters where direct sun was abundant.

They were used in daily meals and shared with travelers but rarely exported raw due to limited supply. In contrast to the spice plants, berry bushes were found in large clusters around the region, usually in full shaded sections of the regions. The berries harvested from them were used by the zu’aan to make jams and juices which they used in trading. Also commonly found were mushrooms. Most mushroom species were found at the roots of the Barla trees; another distinguishment between the tree species.

The mushrooms were used in soup most commonly due to a rise in its popularity with travelers. When not in soup, it was used in confection making, specifically a spiced mushroom chocolate solely made in the region. Being one the mildest Taiga climate in the region, nearly all the plants- minus the spice plants that are more fragile- are available year-round. As different regions of the area got cold, non-tree plants would go dormant at different times, so those in the South might be dormant in early winter.

But the Northern quadrant of plants might not go dormant until the end of the winter season. When temperatures drop to a near freeze for the first time in the season, the spice plants would die, leaving their seeds which would not grow until mid-spring.

==Animals==

The forest holds many types of animals. There is a large enough variety and population of large sized animals that along with hunting for food, there’s enough for pleasure hunting. The main staple of the forest is the anri. They are about 4 feet at the shoulders, with long slender legs for quicker movement. The anri in the summer months are a medium brown color, and the males grow large (almost 5 foot) branch like antlers.

The females grow small antlers as well, but only short stubs in comparison. In the winter, their coat changes to a pure white and the males shed their antlers while the females keep theirs. They travel in small groups, usually about 5-10 adults. They use the berry bushes to hide their young while finding food or drawing a threat away. Beyond that, they usually stay in the small clearings and take turns sleeping so there’s always one keeping watch. They are hesitant around zu’aan as they are usually hunted by them.

Though they are more friendly to the kin’toni of the region as they are able to recognize the difference between the two. Another species in the forest, that hunt the anri as well is the ‘gathrik’. They are of the canine variety and are essentially forest wolves. They look similar to dingoes, though they are more of a neutral or dark brown than a red brown. They hunt in packs of about 5, using 1 as a decoy for the others to surround their prey. If they get into territory disputes, they can alter their vocal sounds at a rate to make it sound as though there is double or more than there actually are.

Gathriks are relatively friendly to the zu’aan and kin’toni residents, as they recognize they can get scraps from their towns, so its not uncommon to see one or two elder gathriks hang around. They take care of their own, elder or wounded, so while not necessary, the too weak to hunt will gather what they can from the residents and bring it back to the group. There was even an instance during a particularly harsh winter for the region where the zu’aan of the region and the gathriks have worked together, the gathriks finding the prey and the zu’aan killing it; they shared the resulting meals.

There are many smaller sized animals in the forest that are also hunted. The Ladir would set up a variety of traps including snares and cages. The smaller sized creatures were on average about the size of a house cat or smaller. The most commonly hunted was a danytik. They would make their burrows in the dirt or snow and hunt during the day for mice like creatures. During summer, their coats were a moderate to deep red, with hints of brown; in the winter they’d turn mostly white except for on their outermost extremities that stayed a dark brown due to those being the coldest areas.

Along with being hunted for their meat, their pelts were often traded for high prices as they were seen as a luxury item for their pure color and extreme warmth.

{{Template:Controllers
|Stone Age = Unknown
|Copper Age = Unknown
|Bronze Age = Unknown
|Iron Age = Unknown
|Ancient Age = Unknown
|Middle Age = Unknown
|Early Modern Age = Unknown
|Industrial Age = Unknown
|Machine Age = Unknown
|Atomic Age = Unknown
|Space Age = Unknown
|Information Age = Unknown
|Genetic Age = Unknown
|Awakening Age = Unknown
|Twilight Age = [[Ladir Kin'toni Clan]]
}}

{{NeartoDesktop
| Centre = {{PAGENAME}}
| North = Unknown
| Northeast = Unknown
| East = Unknown
| Southeast = Unknown
| South = Unknown
| Southwest = Unknown
| West = Unknown
| Northwest = Unknown
}}

{{CrossSiteAttribution
| User = [https://www.deviantart.com/iloverex Crystal Iris]
| Holder = Crystal Iris
}}

[[Category:Places]]
[[Category:Crystal Iris's contributions]]

Jaldbel Taiga Hills - Revision history

Stevie Lambert: (via JWB)