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Ixaka

Ixaka is home to a vigorous hybrid jungle that extends well into the outer storm -- the unique location and wind patterns allow for the hybrid ecosystem to prosper at alpine altitudes in a self-regulating manner, with the thick forest canopy diverting just enough miasma into itself to sustain the adapted deep lifeforms while not causing significant discomfort to the inhabitants or the alpine creatures. Because of this, Ixaka is the Slipstream's premier source of special natural fibers... if you can wrest them from the numerous and aggressive fauna.

Land Ixaka was colonized early, but an eddy in the Slipstream isolated it for at least three hundred years until the mid '500s. An enterprising group of Jovian Orangist zealots from Enotria and Hibernia christened the newly rediscovered area "Land Valua" and set off on a war of conquest, which ended in about fifteen years after the discovery that the Orangists' faith and comparatively advanced technology was no match for guerrilla tactics, poisonous-dart launchers, and humanity being nowhere near the top of the land's food chain.

Today Ixaka is still as verdant as it was during the ill-fated Conquista, with a number of settlements on the coast and a green expanse between it and the outer storm dotted with small villages. The Conquista has brought Enotrian-style corruption to what little government there is, but this is limited to the coastal towns. The interior of Ixaka looks a lot like a scale model of the whole Slipstream, minus most of the miasma: a thick jungle with large slow moving rivers, and few settlements on hills or even on particularly large clusters of tall trees. At least one "river", the Ouroboros, is in fact a ring-shaped narrow lake whose water is kept in motion by wind, with precipitation close to the outer storm and evaporation elsewhere preventing it from going stagnant.

Due to a high concentration of silver in the soil, argyric complexion is common in those who live in the interior. Ixaka was briefly subjected to intensive deforestation during the Big War in order to provide special woods for various war machines -- the land itself remained neutral but gave land grants to competing logging groups from the various factions. This inevitably brought the war home, to which the natives reacted by summarily kicking everyone out with surprising force; the area in which the deforestation took place is now known as Fazendas and still bears the marks, notably in the fact that it's possible to raise cattle there; Ixakan dire hamsters are known for their excellent taste.

Due to the powerful and unpredictable winds in the interior, land travel is often preferred for expeditions that cannot afford a ship with big enough engines; visiting ships should look into additional power pods or stick to the coasts. This makes wyvern-riding a viable alternative to small rigs, if nothing else because the beasts know when to hit the deck and can perch on trees.

A rumor persists that Black Lance survivors hid in plain view in Ixaka's coast, and indeed there have been cases of elderly people being linked to the Black Lance and summarily executed by bounty hunters.

Ixaka is a cooperativist canton, meaning that direct democracy and syndicalist principles are applied everywhere possible. For example, trials are very short, and consist in a lot of people sittin down, accusations being laid out, a bit of back and forth between the disputants, and then everyone convened voting. People who are prominent in the community (elders in villages, respected people in towns) also talk right before the vote; this is true of criminal cases too, so if you kill someone with no friends, you have a good chance of getting a way with it.

 (Stereotype: Brazil / Pandora)