Elendel Basin

Elendel Basin
by Isaac Stewart
Capital	Elendel
Era	Post-Catacendre
World	Scadrial
Universe	Cosmere

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The Elendel Basin is a lush, fertile basin created by Harmony when he reshaped Scadrial as part of the Catacendre. It was purposefully designed to allow civilization to build itself back up over just a couple of generations. It is named after Elend.

Geography and Ecology

Geography

The land of the Basin is almost perfectly circular, with the exception of the western coastline on the Sea of Yomend and the Sea of Lennes. Several mountain ranges define the outer edge of the Basin: the Channerel Range to the northwest, the Faleast Range to the northeast, and the Seran Range to the southeast. There are passes leading through these mountains out into the rugged frontier lands known as the Roughs. The topography of the basin is generally flat and open, although some forested areas exist.

The Basin's coastline matches up with the coastline in known maps of the Final Empire. The peninsula that contains Bilming can be seen on Final Empire maps, just west of the Ashmount Doriel.

Elendel

The Basin largely revolves around the city of Elendel. The city is located near the center of the Basin and serves as a major port on the Sea of Yomend. The Basin's rivers, including the large Irongate River, are laid out like spokes on a wheel such that they each run through Elendel. Similarly, railway lines loosely mirror the paths of the rivers and almost every line runs through the capital. Elendel itself is roughly circular and divided into octants by large canals, with suburbs that lie outside of the urban core that blend into an agricultural area known as the Outer Estates.

Outer Cities

Other cities in the Basin are collectively referred to as the "outer cities". Each city has its own unique character, with differing types of industry depending on their location, and in some cases different clothing and accents.

Notable outer cities labeled on known maps include the following:

• Alendel
• Bilming
• Dazarlomue
• Doxonar
• Doriel
• Dryport
• Drypost
• Elmsdel
• Garmet
• Mycondwel
• New Seran
• Rashekin
• Steinel
• Tarier
• Tathingdwel
• Vindiel-Cameux
• Wyllion

Additionally, there are many other smaller settlements throughout the Basin. Many lie along railways, but there are also small, remote farming villages such as Dulsing.

Ecology

The Basin is incredibly lush and verdant. All types of plant life grow exceptionally quickly, without the need for irrigation, and the land always stays fertile no matter how much it is farmed. Little to no cultivation is required, and the only struggle for farmers is harvesting crops fast enough. Fruit orchards are common, and other food crops include wheat, carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes. Harmony has a direct hand in keeping the land so bountiful; the mists are used to refresh the land. The mists themselves actually spread water and nutrients across the ground.

Common domesticated animals include horses, cats, and dogs. Cows, pigs, and chickens are among the animals raised for meat. Many other wild animals roam the lands and seas such as fish, octopuses, wolves, rabbits, boar, and various species of birds.

Politics

The Basin functions as a de facto nation; Elendel's economic hegemony has allowed it to influence policy throughout the Basin, largely through taxation. The Basin itself was created by Harmony with canals and rivers running towards Elendel like the spokes of a wheel. New cities cropped up along the canals, but the canals only run to and from Elendel. When the first railways were laid, they followed the paths of the canals. Therefore, any city that wishes to trade goods with any city other than along its own spoke has to trade through Elendel, which places tariffs on many of these goods.

Since Elendel remains the only city wealthy enough to create and maintain railways, the outer cities lack the resources to make themselves independent. Although Elendel is considered the capital of the Basin, each city is administered locally and is not directly governed by Elendel. However, the city governments still feel constrained by their economic dependence on the capital. They have requested new railways to connect the main lines, but have been repeatedly denied by the seat of power in Elendel. These cities therefore believe they are being taxed twice to transport their goods: they pay levies to maintain the railways and canals, and then pay nearly unavoidable tariffs to ship their goods using these methods.

Additionally, many citizens of Elendel remain ignorant of life in the outer cities, in some cases openly mocking their innovations. The taxation and disrespect has led to extreme animosity from the outer cities, and talk of possible civil war that could lead to a fracture nation of city-states.

People

The residents of the Basin are the direct descendants of the people who survived the Catacendre, known as the Originators. Around one fifth of the Originators were Terris, with the rest being either skaa or noble. During the Catacendre, Harmony restored human genetics to the same state it had been prior to the Lord Ruler, but people were still aware of their ancestry, with many noble houses persisting after society was rebuilt. The residents generally have light skin, with the exception being the Terris, who naturally tend to have more skin color and largely marry within their own ethnicity.

Relatively few people live outside of the Basin in northern Scadrial. There are a few towns in the Roughs, but they have small populations. The residents of the Basin were not aware of the Southern Scadrians until the Brunstell crashed in Dulsing.

Notes

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