Thanks.
-The Azure Bonds trilogy featured Akbar Bin Akkar, a Turmishman, as well.
It's a fashion amongst Turmish men to have perfectly square cut beards.
The favoured bit of kit for a Turmish warrior is their armour - they'll keep it well-maintained, cleaned and polished, and it'll be highly decorated.
On one special day each year, there is a celebration, I can't remember the name or what for. This consists of lots of destruction and near-rioting.
Which for some reason wasn't up on my site anymore... I wonder how many I have that aren't posted anywhere.
The guest dish: a skull full of snails is considered a delicacy and a greeting gift, they roast snails on bamboo skewers and dip them in garlic butter, ugh
Other food: nut breads and cheese, wine, meat is highly prized, among the poorer folk even squirrels slain with a sling
Vineyards, they're potent fruit-liqueurs, very strong, drunken outlanders are a common source of amusement for Turmishan farmers.
Root cellars, everythin edible is stored against harsh winters, fugitives found these everpresent cellars to be ideal hideaways against the local militia or the Ghost Swords.
The land is full of gardens, orchards, farm fields, vineyards, walled with hedges and tumble-stone fences, the land lacks large rivers and cities (visitors think they are hidden), the lands is a pastoral maze crisscrossed with dirt roads, pools, trees, and creeks that are teeming with fish.
Pets and animals: few, dogs are almost unknown, forest predators keep herd animals at minimum, ponies of the Perloush. The use of mule and oxen is common. Turmishans fill their larders during the ''fall nights'' with grouse, pheasant, ducks, they take pride in skill of archery.
Wild tavern-tales speak of naked Turmishans running across the fields in the moonlight, howling as they hunt each other (possible exaggeration).
There is an old belief that for the land to be fertile riches must be sewn in it, literally, handful of gold and gems are buried below plow-wide depth, Turmishans ambush despoilers of the land in force.
Farmholding couples (worshippers of Chauntea, ''families'' of four inter-married folk, two female, two male) pass on the farms to their children or heirs when they reach twenty winters, then the couple dedicate themselves to tending woodlots or traveling the Realms as merchants or warrior-mercenaries.
Turmishans tend to aid fellow countrymen (or even strangers) they meet on the road, and to keep in contact with them. They are peaceful, calm, patient, confident in battle, contented, relaxed, slow to anger, accustomed to hard work. They are independent folk (to the extremes).
A typical Turmishan sets aside at least one day in nine to ''chase the sun'' to pursue a hobby or personal interest, often this is as mundane as brewing beer or whittling but it may be mastering intricacies of a harp or even the spells of a mage. The expression ''On the ninth day'' means ''I'll get around to it''.
Turmishans care little about wealth and fashions (minstrels mock to Sembians). Status is meaningless, everyone is judged on its own merits. They pay close attention to the cycles of nature and always seem to be aware of the date and time, even when they can't see the sun. Practicality is valued over fashion and looks (in hot weather, even nudity), the exception is Alaghon.
Travelers appreciate the Turmishan custom of digging signposted, free-for-all-to-use wells (roofed with candle lamps) along the main road to Hlondeth. Also their building of guesthouses, tree-sheltered cabins built in whimsical style by the landowners, intended to shelter small parties. Windows and stable doors in Turmish sometimes fixed with sleep-needle traps for thieves.
Several hundred years ago there was a fashion of carrying ornate walking-sticks often adorned with gems, ivory or containing scrolls, rubies, few still cling to this custom, most are buried with their owners. It's a custom to give a bride beautiful things on her wedding-day, flowers, poems, scents or finery. In high-nosed Alaghon it shifted into the giving of gems, it's the size that matters not the value. Poor folk give blown glass pendants or rainbow-flame hued earrings. The gems often circulate from bride to bride, wizards seeking to hide lichnee life-essences, imprisoned creatures introduced enchanted gems into the circulations, thieves also.
Festivals: the Feast of the Moon and Reign of Misrule are in Vilhon Reach
The Dancing Ring is an ancient Turmishan cult of those who believe the realm is kept strong by celebrating important evenet at monthly midnight dances. On a ''Dancing Night'' believers gather in fields or bare hilltops, drink from a cauldron of hot cider, and dance counterclockwise around the large oval ring of lit torches. At the heart of the ring illusions of important events, ancient or recent, are presented by the Masked Masters, who claim these visions have come to them in dreams sent by ''The Gods Who Watch Over Turmish''. Outlanders are allowed to watch in the distance among the drummers or even participate as long they don't disrupt the ritual. In more than 40 known Rings elves dance beside lizard men, gnolls shuffle along beside pixies and halflings, humans puf and bob along beside dwarves and even half-orcs. Interestingly there are no reports of korreds (''the Dancing Folk).
Members of the Ghost Swords (inspired by ancient Selunite apparitions) wear the shoulder-badge of a vertical white blade on a black field, or when concealed as medallions. They try to spot all powerful visitors to Turmish and stalk them (trying to remain unseen) to ensure they don't despoil the land.
I'm re-doing all the maps ATM, and I'll get beck to Turmish eventually. I wasn't quite satisfied with the last iteration - although I began tweaking things a bit more, I feel it just wasn't enough.
With the lastest version I've begun to really move stuff back to its proper 2e positions, while still retaining the look, feel, and scale of the 3e maps.
Rather then placing locales by their closest approximation on the 3e map, I am now adjusting the terrain so that the locales are correct (working from the other direction, as it were), and I'm really happy with the results.
For instance, except from some slight rotation, I had left Turmish almost exactly as it is on the official map, which is why it has that 'squashed' look. On the new one, I've slighty shrunk the mountains, giving me more clear terrain, and I can now place hills all around the mountains as it should have been. The new version still looks like the official version, but it is now geographically correct in regards to the old map as well.
I should be able to fit that Faerie Well on there, especially since I'm also upping the resolution, which allows me to go smaller with the labels and map icons..
