Yavdlom (Most Serene Divinarchy of)
Location: Continent of Brun, southern half of Serpent Peninsula (including Thanegia Island). DV
Area: Approx. 240,000 sq. mi. (621,600 sq. km).
Population: 1,040,000.
Language: Yavdlom.
Coinage: Yavdlom does not mint its own coins, but foreign currencies are accepted at face value.
Government Type: Divinarchy (rule by sages and soothsayers), nation is divided into numerous dominions.
Industries: Trade, agriculture (mostly fruits, nuts, and vegetables), fishing.
Important Figures: Msiba Jahi (Bwana Ramla (Great Prophet)), Kondu Paka (Bwana Gwaride (Great Guardian)), Jibada Yavswano (Mokuba (Ruler)).
Flora and Fauna: Covering much of the southern portion of the Serpent Peninsula and Thanegia Island, Yavdlom is filled with thick jungles and foul swamps. The coasts are dominated by vast mangrove swamps, fed by the thousands of nutrient-laden rivers, flowing from the central highlands of Thanegia Island and the Nakakande Rain Forest on the mainland. Further inland, sunlight is almost completely blocked out by the dense canopy of vegetation high overhead, and where light does filter to the jungle floor, a great profusion of bushes, vines, and thorns makes overland travel extremely difficult. The Okwonga Lowlands, along the southernmost portion of the peninsula, are a vast swamp, choked with mangroves and mud.
Just as Yavdlom is blessed with rich vegetation, it is also teeming with animal life. Deep in the interior jungles one can find herds of triceratops and packs of tyrannosaurus rex. Also present are hundreds of varieties of snakes and birds, as well as various types of wild boar, deer, elephants, and predatory cats - including displacer beasts. Also known to inhabit the Nakakande Rain Forest are several tribes of trolls and jungle orcs, and some tales are told of green dragons making their homes far from prying eyes. The great swamps of the Okwonga Lowlands are no less populated-here, one can find tribes of lizard men and orcs, as well as scattered gatherings of Mugumba mud-dwellers. It has also been said that a great black dragon makes its home somewhere deep within the swamps, feeding off of anything so foolish as to venture near its lair. Among the less sentient inhabitants are water termites, hydrae, giant leeches, purple worms, snakes, and crocodiles.
Further Reading: Champions of Mystara boxed set, Voyage of the Princess Ark series, previous almanacs.
Last Year's Events: None to report.