Seventy years ago the only residents of Varoayne would have been Atumi citizens. Once the great opening up of the Confederacy began the people of Varoayne found themselves acclimating to new trade with foreign nations. This, inevitably, led to some merchants looking to make riches in a strange land or various city-states sending ambassadors to live amongst the Atumi in order to forge diplomatic relations.

Most of the non-Atumi reside in the Foreigner’s Quarter. An area built by foreigners from stone and approved recycled wood. Some factions within the Atumi culture are resentful of this but the majority of the population is accepting of the non-Atumi presence in Varoayne.

Nearly all of Varoayne consists of buildings that are grown. The fungi towers and buildings make up the majority of the city, most of them created through magic. While the average family might live in a small and squat mushroom yurt, the Clanmother and senior members of a clan tend to reside in larger multi-storied towers.

Parts of the city have stone structures that have been crafted into the mushrooms themselves. Typically this is done for practical reasons by the Atumi when their magics cannot create what hard work and masonry skills can. Its most commonly seen on the outskirts where guard towers are positioned or among families who are less magically inclined.

Speaker’s Tower

The largest point in all of Varoayne, the Speaker’s Tower, stands in the center of the city. Clan Speakers from every clan assemble here and form the Tribunal. All matters of the Atumi Confederacy are decided upon by the Tribunal after debate from the Clan Speakers occurs and the Speakers reach a supermajority consensus. Thus, all political decisions are discussed and agreed to at the Speaker’s Tower. It is for this reason that Varoayne has seen the majority of non-Atumi residents settling here.

According to legends the Speaker’s Tower was the first mushroom grown by legendary Clanmother Isbeil who was said to have been the greatest mage in the history of Atumi society. Isbeil missed her home dearly and wanted her clanchildren to get a glimpse into the glory they had been forced to abandon, thus she planted the Speaker’s Tower and it was her tears that caused it to grow larger than any mushroom building since.


Enoki Docks

The docks have always existed but prior to outside influence it was simply a place for the Atumi to house their webspinners. The webspinners are an aquatic bug creature resembling a spider whose feet can dance upon the surface of the water. This was one of the primary methods of travel between the islands of the archipelago that the Atumi call home.

In more recent years new docks have been built that can accommodate the wooden ships of other nations. Recognizing the advantage of transporting more than one or two people on a webspinner the Atumi have also begun to procure ships or hire foreigner’s to build ships for them.

Foreigner’s Quarter

When the first non-Atumi broached the topic of living in Varoayne the Tribunal debated for an entire week as to the best course of action. It was decided that all non-Atumi would not be permitted to live in any of the mushroom buildings that the Atumi reside in. As a compromise the Tribunal decided that a space would be reserved for all foreigners to live but wooden buildings would not be permitted.

As a result the Foreigner’s Quarter was constructed entirely by non-Atumi out of stone and concrete. Any doors or coverings are primarily heavy fabrics or in some cases recycled wood that has been approved by Speakers of the Atumi.

Within the Foreigner's Quarter there are traditional shops and pubs that could be found in any other major city though significantly less pronounced. It is also the only area of Varoayne in which Atumi are not in the majority and because of the recent openings to non-Atumi the population of the Foreigner’s Quarter is quite evenly distributed amongst orcs, dwarves, and humans. A few elves, kivren, and other races can even be seen passing through the quarter.

Porcini Yurts

When non-Atumi were permitted to live in Varoayne there was one clan that protested but was eventually overridden by all of the other clans of the Atumi. Clan Santoro opposed the decision so violently that against the norms of the Confederation every Clan Speaker resigned their position. The Clanmother accepted the Tribunal’s decision but also was sympathetic to her Speakers that resigned. As a result of their fury all of the resigned Clan Speakers moved just outside the limits of Varoayne and built small sized mushroom yurts.

Foreigner’s are not welcome in the Porcini Yurts and due to the small size of the township the few foreigners who have seen it mistakenly refer to it as a ‘slum.’ The Santoro dissidents still respect and listen to their Clanmother but are openly hostile to any non-Atumi who trespass within their section of Varoayne.

Millenia ago the clans of the Atumi called the core of the Ixchel Wilds home. Eventually relationships between the various clans deteriorated and they waged war upon one another. Great and ferocious beasts rose up and the Atumi were too fractured to form a proper united resistance. The clans that weren’t entirely wiped out were forced to leave their ancestral homelands and search for greener pastures.

Varoayne was established centuries ago by Clan Ursinus, led by Clanmother Isbeil, after the Great Exodus. At the time, and still to this day, Clan Ursinus was the largest of the multitude of clans. When Varoayne was first created every clan of the Atumi called it home. It was decided on the day the Speaker’s Tower was created that they could never again wage war amongst themselves lest their new home be swallowed up as their old one had.

On that day the Atumi Confederation was formed to ensure that never again would the Atumi people fight one another in open conflict.

Over the years other clans have struck out to form new settlements and cities but all of them keep Clan Speakers present within Varoayne for Tribunal meetings. Clan Olearius is likely the most prominent clan aside from Ursinus and were the first to establish a rival city within the Iuk-’u Delta.

Clan Ursinus and Clan Fabri are the only major clans that still call Varoayne their home with a few smaller clans, such as Santoro, also residing within the city of Varoayne.

The Atumi Confederacy is made up of a dozen clans which are comprised of dozens, sometimes hundreds, of families. Within each of the clans the Clanmother holds supreme authority over every member of her clan. Every year the next Clanmother is designated by the current Clanmother who is only succeeded upon her death. This process allows the current Clanmother to change who the heir apparent is on an annual basis though most commonly they carry over the designee from the previous year.

All of the clans comprise the Confederacy and all decisions are made by the Tribunal. The Tribunal’s rulings are binding and require a supermajority in order to come to a decision. The members of the Tribunal are Clan Speakers who are appointed by the Clanmother and ultimately must answer to her. Clan Speakers wield significant political clout but can, at any time, be replaced if they are acting against what the Clanmother perceives to be in the best interests of the clan.

In addition to Clan Speakers who hold the political power within the Confederacy there are a few other types of Speakers that are appointed to work on the Clanmother’s behalf.

Speakers of War are Atumi who command armed forces and act as generals of the Atumi Confederacy’s military. They do not have any power to declare war and may only act aggressively against other nations or city-states with the blessing of the Tribunal. However, on the battlefield they command autonomy and independence.

Speakers of Justice are Atumi who serve as lawbringers within Atumi society. In every Atumi city, including Varoayne, each clan is permitted to appoint multiple Speakers of Justice who work to preserve the law and order of the city and the Confederacy. When crimes are committed within a clan the Speaker of Justice simply presents evidence to the Clanmother who passes judgement after hearing the defense of the accused. In situations that involve multiple clans, Speakers of Justice from each clan present their cases before the Tribunal who render a binding verdict. In rare cases where a death sentence is proscribed it is always the Speaker of Justice who brought the case forward that is assigned to carry out the execution.

Speakers of the Tree are the only lifetime appointments that a Clanmother can make. They are religious leaders who carry out holy sacraments and offer advice as well as spiritual guidance to other members of the clan. Each clan has a single Speaker of the Tree at any given time.

Outland Speakers are a very new addition to the framework of Atumi governance. At the time of first contact with non-Atumi it was believed that foreigners were only useful for acquiring exotic items or metalworkings that the Atumi had not mastered. Over time, however, the Speakesr of Trade not only manage economic transactions with foreign powers but also act as diplomats. They are prohibited from entering into any truces without Tribunal approval but they frequently make under-the-table deals with foreigners that benefit their clan.

Overall the Clan Speakers are the most prestigious position that a non-Clanmother can achieve however any Speaker has earned the position through merit or circumstance.

“Brothers! Sisters! Hear my plea! Today is a grim day in the history of our people! Today, for the first time since its inception, the Confederacy has failed us all.

They’d have you believe that allowing non-Atumi will benefit us. That opening up to what they call the “outside world” is the best path forwards for our people. Do they not recall what happened the last time non-Atumi came into our lands? They warped into monstrosities of nature who ate our ancestors and forced us to leave the Ancient Grove from which we were born!

Now they relegate the ones they call hoomans and orks and dwarwes to a new section of Varoayne, a section made from their own vile crafts and maligned sorceries.

I say nay! We shall not idly sit back and watch as the Tribunal curses us to damnation! We shall go live outside the city, in yurts as our ancestors did! And I dare any of our adversaries to step foot into our lands!”

• Simidh Cearrach, Disgraced former Clan Speaker of Clan Santoro

• Soon