Belsegallia (Aurora)

Kingdom of Belsegallia Belasegaiya Koletsa
History
Location	Auroran Sky
Notable castles	Terenata  • Larinata  • Yusugo
Places of note	Dorinata  • Tourmaline Wastes
Government
Type	Feudal monarchy
Ruling House	L’aderina
Head of State	Queen Xana
Head of Government	Archduchess Hana L’orika
Legislature	Mages’ Circle
Military	~8,000 women
Socio-cultural characteristics
Capital	Terenata
Official languages	Belsedori
Races	Belsedori Cloud Fae
Religion(s)	Belsedori Ditheism
Demonym(s)	Belsegallian
Population estimate	~2.0 million
Currency	Aiya

”Of the many realms described in this tome, the kingdom (the little information that I have at hand suggests that this is a misnomer) of Belsegallia remains one of the most enigmatic. What rumors and myths have reached me are vague, fantastical, and often contradict each other, though some common themes are present; the most believable of the stories regarding its inhabitants describe them as a cryophilic, harpy-like people (as is suitable for inhabitation of an aerial environment) with a notably high aptitude for all manner of magical arts.

—Darius of Reva, Atlas of Realms

Belsegallia (Belsedori: Belasegaiya), officially the Kingdom of Belsegallia (Belsedori: Belasegaiya Koletsa) is a feudal monarchy located in the southeast of Terra Aurora. Belsegallia’s territory is entirely composed of magically levitating landmasses of various sizes, with the eponymous land of Belsegallia being the largest; the climate on them is perpetually freezing year-round due to the high altitude that they reside at, and Belsegallia is perpetually blanketed with permafrost and snow. The primary race inhabiting Belsegallia is the harpy-like Belsedori, with token populations of other cold-tolerant aerial races also being present.

Etymology

The etymology of the name “Belsegallia” is obscure. The closest matching word in Belsedori is “Belase”, which translates to “snow”; however, because the climate of Belsegallia was relatively temperate for most of its history, this connection is tentative and considerable debate between scholars exists regarding whether the two words are actually related.

Economy

The economy of Belsegallia is heavily influenced by its geographic circumstances and is centered around the usage of magic to manufacture raw materials and goods due to a lack of conventional natural resources like copper and iron. Due to these resources’ localized rarity and the extreme difficulty of transporting them by air, most manufactured goods in Belsegallia are instead made with alchemically created metals and other raw materials. Most foreign trade by Belsegallia involves the sale and purchasing of magical substances, enchanted tools, trinkets, weapons, and apparel, and other relatively small durable goods that can be practically moved to and from Belsegallia in economically significant volumes.

Agriculture

Agriculture in Belsegallia is governed heavily by the icy, high-altitude environment that predominates in its territory. Due to the continual presence of snow that prevents the growing of most grains and vegetables, most commonly grown food crops are fruits from trees; widely cultivated examples include the potatofruit, the Yata, and the icefrond. Some herbs and other non-woody plants are seasonally farmed in the country’s far east, where snow cover melts for part of the year, although they remain specialty products that are too rare for everyday usage. Various kinds of flowers, the Belsegallian types of which grow on trees and in bodies of water like lakes and slow-moving rivers, are cultivated and preserved for usage both as decorations for clothing and as reagents.
Animal husbandry focuses on the Four-Winged Moa and the Fir Spider, which are raised for feathers, silk, and wool in addition to meat; Belsegallian culture has strong taboos against consuming milk from animals, and dairy animals are not raised in Belsegallia as part of agriculture.

Mining

Mining in Belsegallia is limited in scope due to the restricted availability of suitable ore and stone deposits. Most “mined” goods in Belsegallia consist of a variety of types of magical crystal which are harvested for trading and enchanting from specific locations where they coalesce.

Demographics

See also: Belsedori (Aurora)

The native inhabitants of Belsegallia are a race of cryophilic, semi-avian humanoids called the Belsedori, also sometimes colloquially known outside of Belsegallia as “Snow Harpies.” Belsedori comprise 95% of Belsegallia’s population and hold all positions of importance within its government, economy, and religion.

Language

The only language spoken commonly in Belsegallia is Belsedori, the associated language of the eponymous race. Belsedori script is read from right to left and from up to down, and with few exceptions generally relies on characters representing either a vowel or a consonant followed by a vowel. Characters are often wavy and rounded, with few sharp turns; most can also be written with one quill stroke.
Belsedori words have genders that are indicated by the vowel sound of the ending character; personal names in Belsedori also follow this rule, and married couples almost always have a slightly different family name.
Belsedori as a language is notable for the incredibly wide variety of diminutive suffixes, titles, phrases, and pet names that speakers use to refer to or address male subjects. Pet names in particular often have a figurative meaning that greatly diverges from the root words’ literal meaning, e.g. “Ayashirie” (fig. “Honey”, “Dear”, lit. “Toy”, “Doll”, “Plaything”).

Religion

The dominant religion of Belsegallia is Belsedori Ditheism, which rapidly gained prominence over Penthaïsm in the late A700s before completely replacing it in Belsegallia by A800.