Ulmarka: Difference between revisions

Ulmarka
The northern coast of Ulmarka near Skerra, 2047
Location	Northern ocean, north-east of Rendorlin
Coordinates	47°06′N 68°18′E
Area	c. 2.8 million km²
Highest point	Mount Hald, 3,912 m
Largest city	Vharnhold
Administration
Country	Ulmarkan Empire
Demographics
Population	c. 58 million (2048 est.)
Demonym	Ulmarkan
Language	Ulmarkan
Coordinates	47°06′N 68°18′E

Ulmarka (/ʊlˈmɑːr.kə/) is a large island in the northern ocean of Orylia, north-east of Rendorlin. With an area of about 2.8 million square kilometres it is the largest island on the planet, and with roughly 58 million inhabitants one of the most populous.^{[citation needed]} The whole of the island forms the heartland of the Ulmarkan Empire, whose capital, Vharnhold, stands on a headland on its northern coast.^[1]

The island's interior is a cold upland of moor, forest and glacial lakes, rising to Mount Hald; most of the population lives along the sheltered southern and western coasts. In Ulmarkan tradition the island was first united by the legendary Colby, who is said to have founded Vharnhold in 871, and its clans' custom of settling disputes by wrestling gave rise to Ulmarkan oil wrestling, the national sport.^[2]

Ulmarka is roughly oval, about 2,400 kilometres from north to south. Its northern coast is a line of cliffs and fjords facing the open ocean, home to fishing towns such as Skerra. The central uplands, the Hald, are sparsely inhabited; their highest summit, Mount Hald, is snow-capped all year. The south and west are lower and greener, with broad river valleys, and hold most of the island's farmland and cities. Vharnhold sits on a high headland above the sea, with the valley below it, the traditional site of Corvin's grave, now covered by the city's old quarter.^[1]

The island has a cold maritime climate. On the western coast winters are raw rather than severe, with January maxima around 2 °C and frequent gales, while summers are mild, with July maxima around 21 °C. Annual rainfall on the coast is about 1,200 mm, heaviest in late summer. The interior is much colder, with snow cover lasting from November to April, and the failed harvests of 2042 that preceded the 2043 Ulmarkan Famine followed an unusually cold, wet summer.^[3]

Grey seals breed in large colonies on the northern and eastern shores, and the seal holds a special place in Ulmarkan culture: in legend, Colby and his twin were saved as infants by a grey seal, and seal fat was the original oil of Ulmarkan wrestling. Seal hunting has been banned since 2033 as an act of reverence by the imperial government. The uplands support reindeer, wolves and sea eagles.^[2]

Archaeological evidence shows settlement on the southern coast for at least four thousand years. The island's clans were united, according to tradition, by Colby in the 9th century, and formally under the Brotherhood of the Oil by the Oiled Compact of 1789. The modern state, the Ulmarkan Empire, was proclaimed in 2032 after the Night of the Oil, and has since extended its rule overseas through the Protectorate Wars; the island itself remains the empire's core and the source of almost all of its population.^[1]

About 58 million people live on Ulmarka, nearly all of them ethnic Ulmarkans speaking the Ulmarkan language. Around a fifth live in the Vharnhold metropolitan area. The northern districts lost much of their population in the 2043–44 famine, and resettlement of the north from the southern cities has been a priority of the imperial government since 2045.

• Ulmarkan Empire
• Vharnhold
• Colby
• Ulmarkan oil wrestling
• Ostholm experiments
• Casey
• Ostholm