Tel Girade

Land
The most viable lands in the barony and, truly, the isle, Tel Girade is the most important lordship in Trebachas. To the north and west, there is the Sea of Veils, and it is bordered the east by the baronies of Caerdach and Smithfield, and to the south by the Trebachas lordship of Trickling Dart. It is also the lordship of origin for the Grey River which flows through the whole of the barony.

It is mostly a gently rolling terrain that sits 100 feet above sea level on average, but there are steep and rocky hills along the northern coast, favored by the northern Trebachan tribes. More of these hills are found in the east along the Smithfield border.

Climate
Tel Girade, despite its farming potential, is not a gentle or hospitable climate. Due to the winds that come off of the ocean and its position against the eastern mountains, it is prone to freezing winters and very hot, dry summers. Snow and other precipitation often finds its higher elevations, but then temperatures can climb as high as 98°F (37°C) in the height of summer.

Cliffs Overlooking the Sea

Tel Girade is, by far, the most arable of the lordships in Guardians. Compared to Green Fields, however, the produce is vastly inferior — smaller, tougher, more bitter, and not as plentiful — and the majority of the lordship's fresh fruits and vegetables are still imported. After harsh winters, it has been known for even hay to be brought in to feed livestock.

Tel Girade olives – a green variety – are an important export, as they are a treasured commodity across the isle and throughout the empire and actually thrive in the harsh and rocky soil. There is also a single vineyard, a vintage lesser known than those in Green Fields and inferior in many ways but still very good and highly exclusive, that produces annually nearly a hundred bottles of wine for sale across the isle. It is not sold as an export, although noblemen have been known to sometimes give it as a gift to honored guests from other isles.

The presence of the capital city means that currency is the most expedient and reliable way to pay for goods and services, but bartering becomes more the rule as one traverses into the hills and south of the lordship.

Terraced Olive Groves

While there is a notable tribal presence, the 'native' peoples of Guardians are not the dominant culture in Tel Girade. Rather, there is much of the mainstream Guardians culture. The Legions are a familiar and honored occupation and youths are encouraged to enlist to escape the farming life that would ensnare them should they stay. This is less true in the city of Tel Girade, where business thrives, but men of the country tend to either become career legionnaires or enlist just long enough to earn money to purchase land of their own for farming.

Because of the difficulty in manipulating the land, there are planting and harvesting festivals, whereupon communities work together in order to help each other plant and harvest crops in time for their appropriate seasons. The exact nature of these festivals, however, varies from village to village.

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