Tyon-Arat

The Ardanic basin, also known as Tyon-Arat, is a region located in the southwest of Oksandanderi. It is home to the Ardanic people, who speak the Ardanic language. The largest body of water is the lake Uskay. The largest settlement is the city of Tyelesh. The name Tyon-Arat refers to the political entities represented by the three Ardanic cities. Tyon-Arat means "threefold homeland". It refers to the unity and harmony of the three cities Alpa, Tyelesh and Ksuray.

Geography


The Ardanic basin lies south of the great mountain range and north of the great desert which deliminate Oksandanderi itself. It is part of the Lowlands in the broader sense, but is separated from the Yarlish Lowlands by the small Kupal mountains. This midsized mountain range lies between the Ardanic basic and the Midlands along the Yarla river. The largest feature of the Ardanic basin is the lake Uskay and the river Fsikay. The main tributaries of the Uskay are the Fsikay in the west and the Očew in the north, as well as a few smaller rivers originating in the Kupal mountains. Most of the area of the basin is covered in dry steppe. The western shores of the Uskay are periodically flooded. The Ardanic people have utilised this flooding by creating a system of reservoirs and dikes to guide the water further inland to irrigate their crops. This had lead the growth of the three cities. The area along the Fsikay is inhabited mostly by smaller farmers and further inland pastoralists and herders. The landscape in the north is different and more mountainous. The people living along the Očew are ethnically Ardanic, but their culture differs in some ways. Their lifestyle is has some resemblance to the central Highlanders.



The most important population centres are the three cities Alpa, Tyelesh and Ksuray. They are roughly equal in size and population. During the Old Ardanic period, Alpa was most likely the biggest one, while Tyelesh grew in size later. Ksuray was always the smallest of the three, but politically extremely important, as it was considered the place of gathering, where decisions regarding all three cities were made. The size of the cities is hard to determine. Ksuray has indeed a large city core, which is as big as the urban core of Tyelesh, but it has a much less densely populated periphery. Tyelesh and Alpa on the other hand have very densely populated periphery, where urban and rural areas transition fluidly into each other. As a whole, the shores of the Uskay as very densely populated and urban. The landscape is mostly artificial and covered in villages and irrigated fields and reservoirs. Politically the three cities are the centres of the Tyon-Arat. The three cities are equal to each other in essence, but carry different duties and functions. Ksuray is the place of gathering, while Tyelesh is a place of education and wisdom, Alpa carries the duty of the agricultural ministry. At the centre of the political organisation of the Tyon-Arat are the three urban cores of the cities. Then there is the periphery of the city itself, both are in a way linked to each other, but the duties and rights of their inhabitants differ already. There are three core provinces, which correspond to the three cities. Then there are the peripherical provinces, notably the Očew and Fsikay provinces. There provinces are ruled by the cities in unison and have no government of their own.