Orinilure

Orinilure
Image	Orinilure Mountains Ridge Painting of Orinilure
Location	Location of Orinilure on the continent of Méniail Location of Orinilure on the continent of Méniail
Continent	Méniail
Country(ies)	Orinilure Collective • Erden Monopoly
Largest City	Orinilure City
Subregions	Irere Mountains • Orinilure Mountains • Orinilure Valley • Eliulien Iler
Size	146,589 mi² (379,663 km²)
Spirits	Kiyañ • Iriché • Oviyai
Native Races	Oinien • Himoja
Population	c. 540,000

Introduction

Orinilure is a region on the north coast of Méniail. It consists of two parallel mountain ranges, the Irere Mountains in the west and the Orinilure Mountains in the east, and the Orinilure Valley between them. Most of its people are Oinien, a nearly blind human people who live in cavern cities and tunnels beneath the two ranges. The Himoja, who are native to the region, farm the valley. Orinilure is divided between two Oinien states, the Orinilure Collective in the east and the Erden Monopoly in the west. Its largest city is Orinilure City.

Etymology

The name is Arânzeni in origin. It is shortened from orinoase lure, "land of the booming voice", from orinoase (booming voice) and lure (land).

History

During the Great Erosion (c. 63,000–55,000 BME) the Namuril built passages beneath Orinilure, as they did beneath Khamria. Eliulien Iler, south of the mountains, is believed to hold the remains of Namuril from that time.

In the Age of Ascendance the spirits Kiyañ, Iriché, and Oviyai settled in the region. Kiyañ created the Himoja.

In 150 ME settlers from Gosterra entered the two ranges. The Himoja received them peacefully and helped them to establish themselves. The settlers took shelter in the caverns, moved deeper over generations, and became the Oinien. As the Oinien lost their sight, the Himoja came to farm for them and to act as their eyes on the surface. The Oinien extended the Namuril passages into the Deep Roads, in the period known as the Age of Deep Roads (150 – c. 500 ME).

The Orinilure Collective was formed in 230 ME to govern the settlements of the Orinilure Mountains. In 440 ME it chartered the Erden Monopoly to mine and settle the Irere Mountains, and the Monopoly came to govern the western range in its own right. The two states went to war from 626 to 633 ME. The treaty that ended the war set aside a small neutral zone beside the House of Iriché, and both states built the Treaty Forts there.

Geography

Orinilure is bordered by Aráinia to the west, Khamria to the southwest, and Arezilur to the east and southeast, with the ocean to the north.

Subregions

The Irere Mountains form the western range and the Orinilure Mountains the eastern range. Each covers about 50,000 mi² (130,000 km²). The highest peak is Mount Dombortisé, in the Orinilure Mountains. Beneath both ranges lie the cavern systems, cities, and tunnels of the Oinien.

The Orinilure Valley lies between the ranges and is about 600 miles (970 km) long and 100 miles (160 km) wide. It is dry country, hot by day and cold at night, and is farmed only along its rivers.

Eliulien Iler lies south of the mountains, between Orinilure and Arezilur. It is an expanse of toppled boulders and eroded monoliths, has no settlements, and is held sacred by the peoples of Méniail.

Rivers and lakes

Six rivers cross the valley, three rising in each range. From north to south, the Tohol, the Petut, and the Shebal flow from the Irere Mountains, and the Nakol, the Bemum, and the Hemom flow from the Orinilure Mountains. All six end in Lake Heshinum, a salt lake at the center of the valley that has no outlet. The House of Iriché stands on the lake. The names of the lake and the rivers are Himoja.

Goverment and Politics

Orinilure has two states. The Orinilure Collective governs the Orinilure Mountains from Orinilure City. It is an oligarchy established in law: those who accumulate the most wealth in a year govern for the following cycle. The Erden Monopoly governs the Irere Mountains. It is a single chartered company that holds exclusive rights to mining and trade in its range and rules its territory directly.

The two states remain rivals. A small neutral zone lies beside the House of Iriché, between the Shebal and Hemom rivers, and belongs to neither. The Treaty Forts stand in it and are garrisoned by both. No village lies inside the zone.

The Himoja villages of the valley fall under whichever state holds their river.

Economy

The economy of Orinilure is based on mining and metalworking. The two ranges yield iron, copper, silver, and gold, and the Irere Mountains yield obsidian. Oinien engineers also maintain and build the Deep Roads of Khamria.

Food comes from three sources. About two fifths is fungus, lichen, and livestock raised underground. About two fifths is grain grown by the Himoja along the rivers of the valley. The remaining fifth is grain bought from the Baviare Vale.

Orinilure has no sea trade. Its Deep Roads join those of Khamria: from the junction the road runs north to Ipierbâni, the nearest Arânzeni city, and south to Gareag. Orinilure also trades with the cities of Arezilur.

Demographics

The population of Orinilure is about 540,000.

People	Population estimate
Oinien of the Orinilure Collective	240,000
Oinien of the Erden Monopoly	225,000
Himoja	75,000

Almost all Oinien live in underground cities and towns. Orinilure City, the largest, has about 70,000 people. About 60,000 Himoja live in farming villages along the rivers of the valley, and the rest live among the Oinien. A further 50,000 Oinien live in the cities of the Arânzeni Confederation in Khamria.

Culture

The Oinien of the two ranges share a language but have grown apart in custom and speech since the 5th century ME. Both honor desire and the pursuit of wealth. The Himoja are not only farmers, but they are the only farmers in Orinilure, and the Oinien depend on them for sight on the surface as well as for grain.

Native Spirits

Three Ascendant Spirits have their houses in Orinilure. The House of Iriché, spirit of desire and greed, stands on Lake Heshinum. The House of Kiyañ, spirit of caves, is in the Irere Mountains. The House of Oviyai, spirit of sound and silence, is in the north of the Orinilure Mountains.

Two Ancestral Spirits are honored by the Oinien: Biseri, the spirit of the Deep Roads, and Mount Dombortisé.