ICELAND (pop. 250,000) is small, rich country that borders on the Northern Glacial Wall. Founded in 9522 by human settlers after a bloody, divisive four-year war against gnomes and orcs (Orc and Gnomish War, 9518-9521). Iceland exports melted glacial water to the Confederacy of Dun Cess and Pieschland; the taste of glacial melt is deemed superior to that of boiled or rainwater. Iceland has few mineral resources and is dependent on trade with the mining towns of Pieschland and the Confederacy through its only port of Urbandale on Singularic bay. Iceland laws are among the most racially and sexually tolerant in the world, a result that may derive from the period of history following the Orc and Gnomish War where a plague devasted the country. Women were socially promoted in this time of need to fill administrative and military positions, reducing their vocationals stigma. Catastrophes of similar magnitude and duration were not realized in other human settlements. The only races legally discriminated against are orcs and to a lesser degree, gnomes. Iceland has a literacy rate of 65% and the lowest per capita crime rate among its major cities. In addition, Iceland boasts the highest density of professional workers in the world. The soil of iceland is extremely good, producing annual surpluses. Iceland borders the Northern Expanse on the south (the border is ill- defined), Pieschland on the southeast, and the Sprinal Tap mountains on the east. Iceland finances continual expeditions into the Sprinal Tap in the hopes of accumulating enough information to determine exactly the elements that make that area subject to such bizarre effects while evidencing no other symptoms of magical fallout. This vigilance is much of the reason that Iceland only rarely suffers violence at the hands of the inhabitants of that darksome range.

I.E.C. see CHOPAN

ILICAN SUCCESSION, FIRST WAR OF (c. 6660-6666) was a massive overground conflict that ranged during the fall of the once impregnable First Orcish Republic. The current Orcish president, Boxes (r. 6656-6662) was a feeble moderate, elected to please both conservatives and liberals in the Parliament. As such, when the first gnomish and elvish armies landed, he was slow to react. As the Parliament bickered and the president tried to negotiate, gnomes and elves took town after town, killing thousands of civilians and destroying hundreds of buildings. The invasion began in present-day Boatia, and expanded north- and westward. The Orcish Republic, based on a philosophy of pacifism and moral strength, refused to fight the invaders even though they possessed a strategic technical superiority in weaponry, communication, and transportation. Many younger orcs fled with their families leaving the serene elders to face the invaders. They were slaughtered without mercy by a multiracial force that believed fanatically they had the good of civilization on their side. The First Orcish Republic fell after a few years of war leaving the elves, gnomes, and indigenous races to quarrel over the ruins, carcasses, and glory. The years 6664-6666 were in no sense a full scale war, merely a mop-up of surviving pockets of orcish resistance.

ILICAN SUCCESSION, SECOND WAR OF (10007-10011) was the most widespread conflict of recent times, but, in retrospect, a "rather half-hearted war," according to one observer. The root causes of the conflict were economic frustration, resource scarcity, and racial antipathy. Beginning in 10006, diplomatic relations among the various components of the Confederacy were strained over interprovincial taxes, resource pricing, and emigration. In 10007, Chinmin province, upset at price controls levied on coal and copper, seceded from the Confederacy and set its own price levels. This precipated a call to arms against Chinmin and a whirlwind mobilization that saw Chinmin appeal to Pieschland, the dwarves, the gnomes, and the orcs for assistance. Several other provinces took this opportunity to revolt, declaring independence from the Confederacy. The Republic (10008) invaded the southern provinces of the Confederacy, apparently in league with a loose Orcish hegemony which invested Jacketz and took many of the smaller towns of Boatia. The dwarves and the gnomes both agreed--in secret--to assist Chinmin which was invaded by 12,000 Confederate soldiers, but, upon discovering they were allied with gnomes and dwarves, both factions went to war on Chinmic territory and looted several Chinmic cities. It is rumored that they both left behind "fifth column" colonies in the Trenines. Pieschland provided miltary support and kept Chinmin from falling to the Confederacy until 10010. The Confederacy's normal military chain of command was disrupted in 10010 by an abortive coup attempt by Aethulwulf, a decorated general and ultraconservative. The military directorate, however, glad to be rid of the responsibility, pardoned Aethulwulf and gave him full command of the military. Aethulwulf won two important victories, one against the Tribal Orcs near Ine, and one against the allied western provinces; immediately two of the western provinces returned to the Confederacy. Sadly, Aethulwulf was assassinated by a dwarven bounty hunter--never caught--and was succeeded by his aide-de- camp, Alfred. Alfred had a string of brilliant victories at Jacketz, Reallymuddy, Peregrin, and Zork which led to an almost overnight (September 10010 to June 10011) recreation of the Confederacy. Chinmin surrendered in October and requested Confederate help to throw the victorious dwarves out of the eastern part of their province. The last three months of 10011 saw a mutual respect treaty signed with Pieschland, a truce between the gnomish and dwarvish forces, the retreat of the orcs and Republicans from the Confederacy, and the destruction of a gypsy elf military force in the Northern Expanse. The deep gnomes continued their siege of Parapanisades a year past the ending of the war, although on October 8th, 100013, the investments disappeared overnight and the city was freed from the ring that had encircled it.

ILICAN TRADING COMPANY was an overland trading caravan that was founded by Maximus Thrax in 9955 as a family business. Maximus' wife died in 9972 after bearing twin girls in 9970. Maximus raised the girls himself. One of the twins, Kendra, went to work for a competitor (NETCo) in 9995 following a disagreement with her father. The following year Elizabeth left to seek her own fortune. Maximus, reluctantly, went public with the company only to find, to his dismay, that NETCo had bought up a huge fraction of his stock, as he slowly sold more and more to pay--the small size of his operation was unable to keep up with the excellent organization and humoungous resources of the monopoly of NETCo. Unwillingly to yield control, he took out loans to buy back large portions of his stock. NETCo, annoyed, tried to shut him down economically (and allegedly violently) and succeeding in driving him into bankruptcy by 10005. Maximus Thrax disappeared in 10006 after a joyful reunion with his estranged daughter, Kendra. It is assumed that he committed suicide. He was given a joyful funeral, in absentia, by his friends and loyal employees.

ILICO is the largest continent in the world. It contains six major countries: the Confederacy of Dun Cess, Pieschland, the Verteux, LaCoast, the Republic, and Iceland.

ILION MOUNTAINS are a massive, towering mountain range that covers much of central Pavimentum. The Ilion Mountains are known for their exquisite cave structures, hidden valleys, and treacherous climbs. They are no active volcanoes. Cuprite and malachite abound, making these mountains ideal locations for the initial development of copper smelting, hence tools, communities, and civilizations. The mountains are otherwise poor in minerals (especially iron) but contain an abundance of semiprecious stones, especially diamonds. The hematite and casserite of the mountains has almost been exhausted, though Mickelgarth Mining and Manufacturing, and many other corporations, are undertaking an extensive geological survey of the mountains in hopes of obtaining more minerals. This project his the beneficial byproduct of producing systems of transportation and communication ever deeper into the mountains, systems that could be converted to public use. Of course, with the discovery in 10034 of the massive iron deposits in the Clastic mountains in the glacier, 3M's need of new sources has dropped.

ILMEN MOUNTAINS are the northern section of the eastern portion of the Vyrican Range. The highest peaks are about 10,000 feet. The mountains are rich in iron ores and were also the first substantial source of a mineral to which they gave their name--ilmenite. The mountains are mined heavily by the orcish peoples that live in and around them.

ILMENITE is the primary ore of the "ferrum mirabilis," now known as titanium. It is mined in the Ilion mountains, the central Sprines, and in its namesake range, the Ilmen Mountains in Vyrica. Ilmenite is an iron black rock of hardness about that of apatite or orthoclase and about five times denser than water.

IMMORTALITY is the title of the greatest work by Drow dramatist Verajilta. Uncharacteristically, the play takes place outside of Syllabus, in the city of Mickelgarth and tells the fictional story of the growing friendship between Tuo Anhava, the father fo the Drow navy, and Cornelis Tromp, an officer in the Mickelgarthian navy. Largely devoid of action, the book tells the story of Tromp's longing for immortality and the martyric manner in which Anhava slyly proposes that he achieve it. The book first came to prominence when Admiral (then Captain) Pannaksemme declared it to be required reading for the crew of the Saimaa, one of whose officers went on to serve as Queen's Librarian.

IMMORTALS is the common name for a hypothetical class of people who are techinically known as autopsychenatalists (see Necromancy). When an "immortal" dies, his body and mind are lost, but his soul has the ability to re-enter the world in the body and with the mind of a new person of any race, sex, or culture. The soul retains its drives, values, phobiae, and other unconscious feelings: they will manifest themselves within the new body. Believers in the phenomena are (usually) convinced that they are "immortal" themsevles, though this conflicts with their belief that the soul only unconsciously knows that it is eternal. Supposedly the new mind inherits none of the knowledge of the previous, though many "immortals" have devoted their lives to discovering who they were previously.

INDIA is a small island in the far northwest corner of the Western Ocean. It was most recently explored and mapped by the East India Company in 10016, though nothing of economic or historical value was reported.

INVER BRASS is the largest lake in the world. It is located on Pavimentum, nestled in the foothills of the Ilion Range. It is the location of two resort towns (near the north), a Mickelgarth Consortium research facility (near the south), a mining operation, and a small fishing industry. It is also the site of the Berthe Petrified Forest (western coast) and Warden's Resort, a frequent site of summits among the city-state leaders of Pavimentum. The lake is of enormous beauty, a beauty threatened by pollution through incoming streams from the mountains bearing waste and dust from newly-extended mining operations.

INE (pop. 2,500) is a small farming town in the middle of the Confederacy. Ine is the home of the world-famous "Wheat Grotto," a monumental tribute to the rural producer everywhere.

INUIT (goblin) is the plural form (for more than two) of Inuk, the goblin word for one of their own race. The correct term for two Inuk is Inuuk.

IOCAINE POWDER is colorless, odorless, tasteless, deadly powder made form Iocaine flowers which are known to grow only in the Vyrican Range. The powder kills within one minute. The flowers are pale white and grow extremely slowly. They can only be used to make the poison after the eighth year of their life. The flowers are extremely rare, though they grow as openly as possible. The Iocaine Poppy is distinctive because it sports seven petals around the center of the flower. Iocaine powder has been the traditional means of death assigned by historians when famous orcs who died mysterious deaths. Iocaine powder from young flowers is used in many of the older orcish religious rituals, a dangerous practice at best as the flower is also thought to cause brain damage even when too recently germinated to be fatal.

IRON FIST LEAGUE is an organization of drow elves devoted to the development of magical spells and technology, especially physomantic dweomers. Based in Jaarvenpaa, they are a new organization with few resources and members; more advanced magical researchers consider them to be amateurish and unscientific in their approach to magic theory and application. It was founded in 10011 by a group of Jaarvenpites who were studying magic. The Iron Fist League was successful in developing three spells between 10022 and 10032; the Thunderclap spell, the Feather Fall spell, and the Ferrofirmer spell. Sale of the Ferrofirmer rights to armorers allowed the I.F.L. to finance its first magical research building in Dun Cess and to hire a full complement of assistants and technicians. The current leader of the I.F.L. is the drow Ervisk Mopatio (UR visk mah pah TEE o).

ISHIKAWA dynasty was the Imperial House of the Sudibin from 9588 until 9723.

ISTHMUS is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land masses. When capitalized, it refers to one of two such prominent landforms connecting (before the Kissing Dragon Pass was finished) Ilico and Vyrica.

ISTROPOLINGUA is an artificial language conceived for the single purpose of recording verbal components of magic spells. The language is a result of six years of work by Z. Loecke Scarne, a wizard of the Institute of Advanced Sorcery, though it is based on an idea of Kridsada and Pattanadid. The language is extremely simple syntactically, but allows for great variation of meaning. The language's primary failing is the difficulty involved in generating real emotion (and thus magical response) when reciting it due to the extraneous mental activity involved in translation. When native fluency is attained, however (level X), there is no statistical difference in magical effects. It is rare, however, for a wizard to spend the required time to learn the language, even given its similarity to middle orcish.

ISTROPY is a physical/mental characteristic, thought to be set at birth, that partially determines the ability of people to cast magic spells. The physical/neurological causes of high (and low) istropy are not understood, thought magical spells have been devised (Detect Istropy) to measure the magical abilities of people. Use of this spell has revealed abnormally high istropy in certain animals, but, in general, beasts are completely free of this characteristic. Detect Istropy's effects are distorted by the caster's istropy (it is a new spell) and so this effect must be subtracted out. The whole process requires repeated testing of casters and complicated mathematics to figure out from the readings what everybody's istropy must be. The wizards, after this process, can use the spell to evaluate the istropy of others.

I.T.C. see Ilican Trading Company