Kambyra: The Near Interior

It is hard to adequately describe the sense of relief when one leaves behind the Dustlands. The plains beyond that horrid expanse do not compare with even the lowliest provinces of the homeland, but nonetheless, the presence of so much quiet, hard toil, the tidy, if somewhat primitive villages, the earnest (though mean) state of the roadside accommodations all bespeak the resilience and industry of these goodly folk. If I have one complaint it is the absence of a proper feudal order: this region is lamentably democratic, owing allegiance only to the colonial administration. No great houses have been built here, nor shall they, by edict of the Emperor. Although I should not presume to question the Emperor’s judgement in this matter, the absence of a truly cultured strata of society is a cause of some sorrow, for, though the folk here are decent, they are also occasionally given to airs above their station, that serve only to highlight their unlettered ignorance.

            An excerpt from the Earl of Zastenuto’s “The Empire Abroad: An Exile’s Travels Throughout The Colonies”

Not much to see, and even less to do, unless you like pigs and pig-farming.

            Calvid Rhoak, the Wandering Scrimshander

This region abuts directly on the Dustlands, and is named rather obviously for the fact that it is that part of Kambyra’s interior closest to Kambyra Town. It is a low, dry grassland that is arable only if carefully managed. The main source of income is sheep, goat and pig farming. There are no sizeable settlements – at least since the destruction of Old Vastroy in the south. Only Little Vastroy and Antiso are large enough to qualify as villages, but there are many settlements of hamlet and thorp size scattered across the plains. Most are close to the main colonial highway that runs from Kambyra Town to Dylaro, but settlement is quite evenly distributed, although it becomes more dense the further east one travels.

There is little to be said of this region: it is quite poor, but orderly. Due to the presence of raiders from south and west, it contributes a higher number of soldiers to the colonial militia than most districts. The inhabitants are almost universally human, although Antiso and its immediate hinterland is home to a substantial population of Halflings and the northern coastal fringe has a few small settlements where the population is composed almost exclusively of liberated Anumi slaves from the western plantations (it is worth noting that, although they are technically freed slaves, the Anumi of these settlements are legally bound not to travel more than a days walk from their homes without special dispensation from the colonial administration. This is only ever granted to visit Kambyra Town or Antiso. Freed Anumi are never permitted to travel east of Antiso, into plantation country, lest their presence inspire the many enslaved Anumi there to rebellion).

As one final point: the Near Interior has the legal status of a colonial canton, a rare peculiarity indeed. Simply put, this status means that the aristocracy may not gain estates here. The land has been given to the peasantry, and there is a limit on the size of any holdings. In return for this imperial grant of freedom, the people of the Near Interior are expected to create and pay for the support of two battalions of troops to the colonial administration. The reason for the creation of the Near Interior Colonial Canton provides endless cynical amusement for students of the vagaries of Imperial politics: a former Emperor desired to punish a noble paramour of the Empress. This upstart, Lord Antiso, just happened to have purchased most of the Near Interior. The Emperor confiscated these lands without recompense and exiled Lord Antiso to the village that now bears his name, where he eventually died in poverty, an object of scorn for his former tenants. The Emperor gave the estates to the tenants.

You can find more information on Anumi here.