Subsistence

Kalderesh is blessed with a fecund climate and good reservoirs of minerals and metals. As such, the land can meet all the survival needs of its varied inhabitants.

Natural vegetation

The natural vegetation in high-altitude areas is vast open conifer forests, thinning with decreasing altitude to woodlands and scrub.

In valleys and lowlands, open park woodland (mainly broadleaf evergreens such as korbon, oak, aseze, and cobser) and grasses are found. Most forests are tended by druids.

In drier regions, the trees are generally smaller, having small leathery leaves, thick bark, thorns, and waxy surfaces to protect against excessive transpiration. Low shrubs and brush appear as evergreen thickets, and are sparsely interspersed with scrubby grey-green or bluish broadleaf evergreens.

Subsistence strategies

The major subsistence categories in Kalderesh are light agriculture, grazing, and herding. Large tracts of coastal and inland plains have been cleared for these purposes.

Secondary economic activities are fishing and trading. Forestry, hunting, and gathering, are the least productive strategies.

Hot summers with moist winters favour a distinctive combination of farming and pastoral activities; various cereals and beans are especially well adapted to the climate. Hot summers are used to cure fruit. Wine is produced in the Big Valley region in Kirvan. In autumn various fruit-bearing plants are tended or planted. A wide range of vegetables are cultivated. For details, see the page on Plant crops.

Cattle (for labour, milk and meat) are a primary focus of animal husbandry throughout Kalderesh. Eastern Kirvan is famous for its cattle ranches on the plains, as is the Broad Valley in Daern. Large numbers of sheep and goats, used for meat, milk and fibre, are found in the less-arable areas throughout the hills and mountains. In the roughlands of eastern Kirvan, a singular breed of hardy sheep is found. Swamp rats are farmed in marshy areas. Pigs, chickens, geese and ducks are found throughout the land.

Horses run wild in parts of Daern, producing excellent breeding stock managed in the Prycastle and Eridale region. Donkeys and mules are bred here and elsewhere.

Fishing is of local significance but is not a major industry. A string of fishing villages with small fleets occupy inlets and bays along the coast. They supply local markets with sardine, cod, mackerel, crab, seaweed, shellfish, shrimp and oyster.

Forestry is a major natural resource in Kalderesh. Extensive forests of hardwood trees provide sturdy raw material for significant construction efforts. Forest management is undertaken by the various druidic orders and stands to be cut are identified by them.

Kalderesh is reasonably rich in mineral wealth. Coal, iron, aluminium, sulphur, zinc, lead, tin and antimony are mined on modest scale. Small deposits of gold, silver, copper and mercury are found.

See also

• Major plant crops and their uses
• Commerce and trade