The largest island on Teolin is Mercantie. At least it is the largest island we have visited so far. It measures about 200 (north-south) by 150 miles (east-west). Mercantie forms the trade and political center of Teolin, where crime is not a real issue. Mercantie is an anomaly in Teolin, as it is a large island, that is home to a civil state and there also is a guild that has found refuge on Mercantie. On the other hand, the guild of seeing seems partly responsible for the fact that Mercantie is short on crime, which again is the reason why it could grow into the island where the great council resides.
Movement
To give you a idea of the size of Mercantie, we have gathered some movement data from the players handbook and calculated the time you need to cross the island in both north-south and east-west direction.
Transport method
Distance per hour in miles
Distance per day in miles
Days needed to cross north-south
Days needed to cross east-west
Walk (30 ft)
3
24
8-9
6-7
Cart/Wagon
2
16
12-13
9-10
Pony
4
32
6-7
4-5
Heavy horse
5
40
5-6
3-4
Light horse
6
48
4-5
3-4
Geology of Mercantie
Mercantie measures nearly 200 by 150 miles and is sort of rectangular in shape. The north and east coast are very rough coasts, after which the land quickly forms into rough and high mountain lands that stretch for about 30 to 50 miles inland.
The south and west side of the island however are far different, a very smooth coast is lined with some low mountains and high hills, after which you reach the flat lands in about 2 to 5 miles. These flats run al the way until you reach the heavy mountains of the east and north coast. Because of the mountains that circle the island, the flat center of Mercantie has little or no storms or other bad weather.
The majority of the population is found in the flat area, although small villages are also found on the outer perimeter of the island and in the rough mountain ridges. The biggest town is called Zervantella, but most people simply call it the city of Mercantie. It is in Zervantella that the great council has found residence.
Around Zervantella you will find many a big village or small city, that houses one or more embassy's or merchant outposts from the different nations that reside in the great council. When you travel out of this urban area, the rest of the flatlands is used as agricultural lands, where farmers tend their lands and provide all the visitors to Mercantie with their due meals.
Though not very rich in ores and metals, some are found in the mountains in the north and the east of Mercantie. The mines are the reason for the small settlements in the mountain region. Usually the settlements are formed around the mines, or at less then a mile of them.
Political situation
Mercantie is a democratic nation, that is lead by a council formed by representatives of the common people. The council appoints a "Chair of daily chores", well the council appoints four members into this chair, two wizards and two sorcerers. Besides these wise people, two priests of Irtolie are appointed into this Chair, by the bishop of Irtolie. The chair is led by a third Wizard, who is appointed by the order of seeing.
The chair takes care of the day to day political and practical problems of Mercantie. The nobles of Mercantie have formed a advisory board. The nobles feel that it is this board that actually runs Mercantie, but in reality, little or no attention is paid to their advise.
Crime and Justice
All crime within a range of 50 miles of the coasts of Mercantie is prosecuted in all nations. There is very little change that crime, theft or any wrongdoing goes unnoticed, as the order of seeing always has some very talented wizards and or sorcerers on guard. They see just about everything and send reports to the guards nearest to the crime. If the crime is committed or may be intended to be committed in the waters around Mercantie, one or more Mercantie Patrollers are dispatched.
This together with the harsh punishment for criminals, has lead to the fact that Mercantie is not a good place for thieves to visit.
Magic
There is no ban on magic in Mercantie, although people are asked to use magic with care. There are visitors, ambassadors and other representatives visiting Mercantie, that feel that magic comes from the dark or evil powers. Mercantie would not gladly anger those people.
Of course magic used to harm or wrong others is strictly forbidden and severely punished, sometimes with death.
Revered gods
On Mercantie you will find temples for Irtolie only, well oke, next to the graveyards you will find temples of the so called dead gods.
This does not imply that Irtolie is the only god that is revered by the people living or staying on Mercantie. It simply is a practical solution for a difficult problem, other gods simply are revered in Irtolies temples. Some temples even have a schedule that will tell you when the holy ceremony of which god is about to commence. For clerics or paladins that have a requirement to attend or to host services, on Mercantie they can actually do so in Irtolies temples. Even visiting a temple of Irtolie is not held against them by their god, provided it is on Mercantie. For other islands, most gods are not so easy.
All in all, Irtolie has his holy day on Devo-priem. This has led to the practical situation that all gods accept that on Mercantie they are revered at this day and their own holy day is not a day not to work on.
Main population
Many a strange race has visited Mercantie and set up shop there. Today, Mercantie is the only island we know of that has such a wide variety of races living on a single island. We have not been able to find a race that would be considered dominant, although humans and half-elf are most common.
Economy
Mercantie has a very strong economy, thanks to its huge food production and the important part it plays in trading goods. Other then food, Mercantie does not produce any base goods, but thanks to the large amount of wealthy people on the island (the embassy's, the trade outposts etcetera) many a merchant and craftsmen has set up shop on Mercantie.
Mercantie is well known for its quality jewelers and especially for its good quality scientific equipment. Especially the last type of objects is also exported to other islands.
On the import side, Mercantie needs to import just about any ore material, weapons and well ..... you name it. This makes the two ports of Mercantie into two very busy areas in the city.
Far north of Zervantella, on the western shore, near the mountains, you will find the last important village for Mercantie's economy. That is Birliund, where you will find many a person building and repairing ships. Birliund is not the best place to get your ship build, but it is one of the cheapest places to get a decent quality ship.
Order of seeing
Some powerful wizards and sorcerers have set up shop on Mercantie long ago. Now they spend their years and knowledge on seeing what others do mainly. The requirements of their order forbid them to take money or services from people directly, this helps other people to trust them.
Of course a order that houses, feeds, entertains and employs more then a hundred wizards needs quite some funding, especially since the members are not allowed to gain any income on their own. Well, they are welcome guests everywhere and hardly ever pay their meals in taverns, bars, restaurant or pub, but still the upkeep of the buildings alone....
The guild these days is paid by the embassy's and other representatives to the great council. They pay a annual fee for the protection the guild provides to the council.
Map of the islands
The map here is but a small version. We suggest you save the larger version that you will get to see when you click on the image. Especially when your goal is to use the map in your further exploration.
The Teolin Setting Copyright 2001-2005 Ylorea's Adventuring
Last update 03-11-2002
