Encyclopaedia Elyden update (Temuja)

Here are some of the Encyclopaedia entries that I came up with for Temuja (the map I posted last week). These aren’t comprehensive, as many other regions have been fleshed out for some time. These are the things added to this new detailed map as I was making it. Some things are included in the map, and others are generic worldbuilding elements that needed to be included to make other map features make sense (a monastery needs an order of monks, and the monks need a name and characteristic features, for instance). 

Italicised text below refers to other Encyclopaedia entries.

SAH AUR: shallow-shore l. in c S - E Temuja along the course of the r. Aihané. In particular harsh winter seasons the l. Can increase greatly in size, at times joining with the r. Arillien, causing the latter r. to break its banks.

KHASGA AUR: l. in c S - E Temuja, along the course of the r. Aihané. The capital of Duriahahn is situated close to its S shore. 

ILLHAN: small city in N Temuja (Pop. c. 7,200). 

DASTAN: gigantic bell in the high-temple of Dhu Tenra in the Eroch Maer in Temuja. Prayers to the tutelary spirits are inscribed upon it, and it is struck by deaf monks who tend to it. They are deafened in a ritual they undertake when they come of age following years of training.

TEMUJAN CALENDAR: the Temujan calendar is relatively simple, and is divided into 4 ‘months’ of 90 days each. Between each month is a festival, marking the solstices and equinoxes, three of which are 1-day long, and one, the Solsticetide Festival, is 2-days long. A leap year occurs every 7-years, adding an extra day to the Solsticetide Festival, making it 3-days long.

SOLSTICETIDE FESTIVAL: 2-day festival celebrated in Temuja marking the beginning of deadheat (summer), usually coinciding with the closest full moon to the actual start of deadheat. The festival also coincides with the approximate death of  the Legend Maghora, which is also celebrated during this time. Fire prayers are burnt at this time and the monks of the Silent Word emerge from their monasteries and receive prayers from the common folk.  

NORTH TOWER, the: see Subé.

SOUTH TOWER, the: see Enearhon. 

MORAN: ancient and crumbling Mtn. range in c S Temuja, E of the Duiarhi Mtns.  

KHADAN: small city in c. Temuja, along the course of the r. Aihane and the main trade-route of the ntn. (Pop. c. 12,000)

BANKHADAN: greattown in E Temuja (Pop. c. 20,000).

TSANKHAD: settlement in S - E Temuja known for its glass quarries in the Plains of Laes. It was the major supplier of crystal for the construction of the Palace of in Duariahahn (Pop. c. 3,000).

HAGKOR: settlement in S - E Temuja known for its glass quarries in the Plains of Laes (Pop. c. 2,200).

SUREN: mining settlement in far S - E Temuja, to the W of the Sword Hills. It is known for its copper production (Pop. c. 3,000)

BARAAN: major mining settlement in far S - E Temuja, to the W of the Sword Hills. It is known for its copper production (Pop. c. 7,000)

APHTHA: aslo ‘the Silent City’. Isolated Mtn. settlement in c Temuja, just S - E of the Allis Mtns. It is known as the home of ascetic Fir. who eschew the shaping in favour of a study of the theory and philosophies of shaping and the Materia Omna. The city is also home to many monks of the Silent Word, which is possibly responsible for its common name (Pop. c. 8,000). 

BAYARAT: library in the greattown of Duariahahn in S - E Temuja made from the stump of a gigantic tree, measuring around 90-ft. In diameter. The wood has been carved into shelves two storeys high and is surrounded by a stone and stained-glass dome to shelter it from the elements. It is part of the Palace of Learning and serves to show students how greatness can come of small things, and how time can destroy anything. 

PALACE OF LEARNING, the: university in the greattown of Duariahahn in S - E Temuja. It is home to many Fir. and Atr. scholars and academics of various other vocations.

SHAYAAT: also ‘the Singing Statues’. Three colossi in the S - E foothills of the Lonely Mtns that take the form of vague humanoids with their hands cupped to their mouths. They predate the present Temujan culture and are likely a relic of the early Nahorian expansions, though references made to them by the tutelary rel. Prevalent in Temuja indicates that they were appropriates as guardians of some form. They are named for the eerie whistling sound they produced when a strong northern wind blows. They were likely used as a warning for frontier settlers of bad weather. They survive to this day and, though they are greatly weathered (one is destroyed), they continue to whistle the arrival of northern winds. 

SINGING STATUES, the: see Shayaat. 

OYAAN: settlement in c N - E Temuja (Pop. c. 7,500).

ULASAHN: greattown in the c of the Togarmah in Temuja it links all settlements in the region and is known for its horse markets (Pop. c. 17,000).

ENEAR: fortified settlement in far W of Temuja, just 40-miles E of the gateway of the Tahnol Maer. It is a major mercantile centre in the region, trading W with Gâtha (Pop. c. 8,000).

DAGHITARI: farming settlement in c S Temuja, along the course of the r. Arillien (Pop. c. 3,000).

TSAGAN: farming settlement in c S Temuja, along the course of the r. Arillien (Pop. c. 2,000).

BUGHAL: settlement in N - W Temuja (Pop. c. 7,500).

KHABAUR: l. in c S Temuja, forming part of the course of the r. Arillien

KHABATAN: horse-rearing settlement in the Togarmah in N - W Temuja (Pop. c. 3,000). 

DROSTAN: settlement in the Togarmah region in c N - W Temuja. It is known for its keshiks (Pop. c. 5,000). 

TATARYA: fortified settlement in the far S of the Togarmah region in Temuja (Pop. c. 8,500).

KHOR: horse-breeding settlement in the region of Togarmah in Temuja (Pop. c. 3,000).

TENGAR: roughland region in W Temuja, between the Lonely Mtn. of Eroch Maer, and the S-most reaches of the Enearhi Mtns. The region is known for its rounded volcanic plugs that diminish to the N as they meet the Valar Principalities.  

SILENT WORD, the: monastic order in Temuja. The monks take a vow of silence and study the teachings of the Legend Maghora in the hopes of seeking enlightenment. They are generally misanthropic and only emerge from their monasteries on the Solsticetide Festival to solicit prayers from the common populace. Their major monasteries are the Ikh Sura and the Ikh Khot. 

IKH SURA: mountainside monastery of the Silent Word in the Tengar roughlands W of the Eroch Maer in W Temuja. The monastery is perched atop a sheer volcanic plug and is known for its isolationism. 

IKH KHOT: mountainside monastery of the Silent Word in the N - E -face of the Duiarhi Mtns. in c S Temuja. Though not as isolated as the similar monastery of Ikh Sura, it remains cut-off from Temuja as a whole

FACE OF OUR FATHERS, The: half-buried ancient granite monolithic head in c Temuja, possibly belonging to a now-destroyed colossus. Though weathered, the face’s features are clearly not human, possibly sieth. The head is on its side, acting as an artificial cliff some 10-ft. tall behind which is gently sloping plain. Little is known of the origins of its current name, though it is unlikely to have any bearing on the statues’ original purpose or design.