The Steppe

(pronounced 'step')

She was a vision in shining steel, sat upon her steed—Larkspur, he was called, as fast-footed as his fearless mistress.
She traveled towards the terrible troops, bull-headed in their desire to take our bulls; with her sword, her shield, her self-given name, Honour; had the raiders known her and her virtues, they never would have come.

—from a tale of the Legend Honour, the First Knight, shared amongst a morkhu around a campfire.

The Steppe is an expansive grassland in the north-west of Untir, inhabited by a sparse population of nomadic cattle-herders, tradespeople, and knights. The region's sole permanent settlement is the city of Khevel, where people come by tradition to share stories of chivalry and adventure.

(pronounced ‘more-KOOS’)

The majority of the Steppe is an uninterrupted sea of grassland. People generally live in nomadic groups called morkhus, which function as a family, whether biological or not. Everyone in a morkhu has their particular skills—whether that be cooking, foraging, cattle herding, or protecting the morkhu from the threats that populate the grassland, which include lynxes, wolves, snakes, and increasingly frequent and brutal Hen Eibari raids. According to tradition, these protectors are knighted by their morkhus—an honour which often involves the bestowal of metal armour and weapons acquired through trading at Khevel.

When two morkhus meet, they will often combine for a night or two and share what they have, making sure everyone has as much as they need.

…no, she won’t bite you. Just keep your hand still, and your palm straight. And let her approach you on her own terms. See, she likes you. Your very own Larkspur, huh?

—from a lesson on horse husbandry given by an uncle to his nephew.

(pronounced 'kev-ELL')

Khevel is the only permanent settlement in The Steppe. Located next to the ore-rich southern mountains and the most sigificant body of water in the region, it began as a settlement defined by its communal blacksmithing and mining equipment. It has developed from a small mining post into a city with a static population of merchants, entertainers, and tradespeople, as well as plenty of vistors from the neighbouring city of Eshsarel, with which Khevel has a long-standing trading partnership. Khevel's population has grown rapidly within recent years as many morkhus have settled in the city seeking safety from animals and raids.

Each year, a large number of morkhus come to Khevel to participate in the yearly Exchange of Tales, which includes not only traditional oral Telling, but new forms, too—in particular, improvised masked theatre.

Knight: My morkhu sing the praises of this bustling, bursting city, but could anyone here best me in an honourable duel? I think not. Whence comes a worthy opponent?
Craftsman: I know not, but when you discover her, I will make her a fine shield.
Farrier: And I shall find her a fine horse.
Merchant: …and I, of course, will be the one to sell them to her!

—from a performance during the Exchange of Tales.

Telling in the Steppe is almost entirely improvised and iterative, morphing and changing as they are passed from person to person, and from morkhu to morkhu. Even the plays of Khevel are generally improvised, not tending to contain named characters, but rather archetypes (the Merchant, the Knight, the Squire, etc.) upon which improvisation is easy. Musicians, too, spontaneously improvise more often than they write down their scores.

The people of the Steppe do not measure the worth of a story by its plausibility, but rather by how entertaining it is, how well it aligns with their morals, and how skilfully it is told. Many of the stories told in the Steppe follow the journeys and adventures of knights, although these tales are often told more earnestly by the morkhus of the Grasslands than those in Khevel.

The Steppe is both largely ungoverned and largely peaceful, an arrangement that persists through the widespread culture of chivalry between morkhus. Disagreements within and between morkhus do occur, but at worst they tend to resolve in non-fatal ceremonial duels. During the Exchange of Tales, Khevel is largely run based on the whims of the most prominent and revered knights present. However, during the majority of the year, the city’s burgeoning merchant class holds de facto control, and many are seeking a means to make their power more official.

Chivalry is of the utmost importance to the people of the Steppe. Children are taught from birth of the importance of being honest, strong, and selfless. First names reflect this: the most common names are virtues parents wish for their children to exhibit. The role of knight, the epitome of chivalry, arose long ago as a result of Hen Eibari cattle raids, which grow more frequent and brutal each year.

• A merchant from Khevel, hoping to rise to prominence and solidify their political power
• A knight off exploring the world seeking an adventure that will surely make their name known throughout the Steppe
• A blacksmith seeking recognition for their intricate metalwork
• A cattle-herder set on learning as many stories as possible

The most common names in the Steppe are virtues parents wish for their children to exhibit, although it is not unheard of for children to be named after plants, minerals, and observable characteristics.

Names often also indicate which area of the Steppe a person’s morkhu roams, or, in Khevel, which occupation they work. Examples of names include: Honesty of the Northern Mountains, Clover of the Western Grasslands, and Brevity the Blacksmith.