Encyclopedia of Science and History
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VACER. Vacers are hollow-horned ruminants closely related to goats. The principle differences are in the tails--which are longer--and the male beards--which are longer and thicker. They are found in the Ilion Mountains and on several of the surrounding islands. The Rinkleff Vacer is particularly renowned for the quality of its milk, though like all goats, the quantity produced is greatly inferior to that of a cow. The vacer was domesticated more recently than most species of goat, apparently around the year 7000. The leather supplied by vacer hides is generally thought to be of lower quality than that of other sources.

VENOSA ROOTS are reddish-brown plants that grow in northern Vyrica and the Republic. They mature quickly and are very nourishing. They are the material component of the modern regeneration spell; unfortunately, only perfectly ripe Venosa roots can furnish fit components. The plant is not rare, but most specimens prove unsuitable for magical purposes.

VENTROOMS are large (2' high, 2' diameter) white mushrooms with red spots. Close examination reveals cool air being released from the spots and air intakes in the underside's ridges. Ventrooms are used as air conditioners/filters throughout the world despite the fact that they need a demanding diet of various minerals garnered from the soil and the air. Ventrooms are also the material component of the spell Chill.

VERAJILTA (9960 - 10021) was one of the most power Drow dramatists of recent times. He is best known for his work Immortality on the meeting of Tuo Anhava and Cornelis Tromp in Mickelgarth and their views on pride, honor, patriotism, and glory. Nearly as well known as the drama itself is the story of its literary elevation by the Queen's Librarian after he had been forced to read it while serving under Admiral (then Captain) Pannaksemme on the Saimaa.

VERBAL COMPONENT is an essential element of the process of casting spells. Verbal components consist of textual passages, powerful and almost invariably poetic, that serve to create images and excite emotions within the mind and soul. The language in which the component is written is not important; the efficacy of the verbal component depends on the beauty and power of words and the dedication of the caster. As may be expected, such passages drive would-be translators to despair, rendering the duplication of a spell in another tongue nearly as difficult as its original devising. It is on account of verbal components that it is necessary to be fluent in the language of the spell's creator. The verbal component must be pronounced under circumstances which allow the spell caster to concentrate completely on the images and emotions; pain, fatigue, physical activity, and disturbing stimuli can cause the rupture of concentration and the failure of a spell.

VERMISSA VALLEY (pop. 5,000) is a small mining town in the coal-rich province of Ligeti. It lies about 90 miles west by northwest of Ligeti in the hilly terrain south of the terminus of the Aran Mountains. The city was founded about 9700 by settlers from Ligeti and Jacketz. The town's economy, and therefore its politics, are dominated by Gilmerton Brothers, a company founded in 9825 by its namesake siblings to exploit the coal resources of the area.

VERTEUX is a large region located in the corner formed by the Trenines and the souther Sprines in Ilico. Its climate is dry, but the soil is relatively wet--though poor in quality--due to mountain runoff. Much of the country is hilly and steeped in shrubs and other undesirable vegetation. The Verteux was originally the site of a vast forest; but that was cut down during the Colonization (9550-9850) to erect the buildings, walls, and bridges of the settlers from Pavimentum. The orcish tribes who had previously inhabited the area were pushed south.

Once the arboreal resources were exhausted, the human population lost interest in the region; an attempt was made by the defeated orcs to reclaim it, but this was repulsed as was a similar attempt by the gnomes to dominate the area (see Gnomish Resurfacing). It was relegated to the small population of hobbits that had coexisted with the orcs and which were deemed to be of negligible military or economic threat.

The Verteux is currently inhabited by the descendants of those hobbits; small farming villages of 20 to 200 residents dot the hills. The Verteux trades predominantly with Pieschland and Dun Cess, exporting small quantities of exotic foods--including watermelons and gourds--and importing farm implements and other tools needed to support their way of life.

The Verteux is informally governed by a group of twelve male hobbits chosen from the various regions of the area. The council has considerable respect, though little power, within the Verteux, but very little without its borders. In 9998 it made an attempt to force trading companies (primarily the Ilican Trading Company) to visit more Verteux dwellings with their caravans while returning from Pieschland to the Confederacy. The attempt was a political and diplomatic failure of the highest degree, accomplishing little but alienating the theretofore most friendly trading company.

The Verteux has no standing army, though it does require its citizens to attain some proficiency with the short bow, sling, and short sword in order to receive their measure of the meagre public services. Along these lines, the council sponsors the annual Verteux Archery Contest.

The Verteux suffered during the Second War of Ilican Succession (10007-10011) when the deep gnomes of the Sprines invaded southern Pieschland. Not only was trade disrupted, but several villages were pillaged by both armies and their respective deserters. After that war, there began a substantial increase in the number of hobbits leaving the Verteux to seek employment elsewhere, chiefly in the Confederacy and frequently in Dun Cess itself. The population of the Verteux dropped substantially between 10010 and 10040 and had only begun to recover when the gnomes struck again after their dastardly alliance with the Egyebrech in the War of the Egyebrech (10037-present). From a total population of about 5,000 in 9800, the population reached nearly 50,000 by 10000, but dropped to fewer than 35,000 by 10025. The population had returned to about 40,000 by 10040; since then the council has had no opporunity to attempt another census.

The only center of population remotely approaching the concept of a city within the Verteux is the aptly-named Trade City located near the center of the region on Berenson's Trail (now called the Northern Trail). Perhaps 2,500 people inhabit the town; most are hobbits but a few families of gypsy elves and humans have joined them.

VICKS, SIR MANSHIP (9997-10037) was a knight of the Order of the Rhododendron. A noted jouster and swordsman, he was given command of the Order of the Dandelion in 10029 by personal orders of Pericles I himself. Under his direction the Order became more involved with the affairs of the island, assisting the local police force in criminal investigations, but also became advisers to the island's governors, eventually acquiring a substantial influence in the island's politics. Sir Vicks was killed in 10037 when the Egyebrech invaded Trangle Island as a precursor to the blockade they were to form to sever Pavimentum from Ilico. His position as Commander of the Order was left vacant until 10044 when Sir Daniel Ruggot was appointed to oversee the construction of the order.

VIKING ORCS are a cultural subrace of the orcish people. They resemble other orcs in general appearance, but for an extra inch of height on average. Their hair tends toward blond and is worn long by both sexes. Their skin is usually whitish-tan and their eyes are invariably blue. Almost all of the modern-day viking orcs live on Yarmouth island, supporting themselves with farming, fishing, and an occasional raid. In the past, they were not nearly so pacified, however, having made their home on the fortress-like island only after bloodily evicting the lyceum orcs following the Orc and Gnomish War. After occupying the island, the viking orcs quickly began to make use of the strong timbers of Yarmouth and became the dominant sea power, preying on unguarded merchant vessels of the city-states. In was in this manner that the viking orcs earned their name and their reputation. A lengthy, indecisive naval war was fought from 9530 to 9545 which solved nothing militarily but led to an initial trickle of trade between the Icelanders and the orcs. The next five hundred years have seen a series of piracies, blockades, battles and raids by both sides which, when particularly frequent, have been called wars, most prominently the three Wars of the Yarmouthian Strait. In the longterm, the fury of both sides has abated and in modern times violence is at a minimum and a modicum of trade runs between Ankey and Maygar on Yarmouth and the cities of the Western Coast. The orcs import gemstones, food, coal and machinery while exporting copper and timber. It has been frequently proposed that the Confederacy annex Yarmouth, primarily for the value of its forests, but major military action has never ensued. Orcish raids are a threat to but three of the seventeen provinces of the Confederacy, far too few to force affirmative votes in the Senate. A major breakthrough in relations occurred in 10031 when Yarmouth and the Confederacy signed a mutual extradition treaty, an event orchestrated by Arbit Kantor, the Ambassador General of the Confederacy, and Vladimir Bishchev, appointed representative of the Nation of Yarmouth.

VYRICA (middle orcish, Vaerico, "heirloom") is name of large southern continent across Kissing Dragon Pass from the Republic and the Confederacy of Dun Cess. To modern civilizarions, it is largely terra incognita. Most of Vyrica lies under virgin deciduous forest, varying from extremely dense in the interior to fairly sparse on the coast. There is a large sandy plain in the center of Vyrica on top of a fault-block cliff (Nirack's Bluff) that runs nearly 100 miles north/south in the interior of Vyrica. The Vyrican Range is a high set of fault-block mountains arranged in an arc-type pattern in northern Vyrica. These mountains are moderately high (8,000 to 12,000 feet) with two notable peaks, Mt. Molill (16,500) and Mt. Ebank (15,700). The area north of the mountains is primarily savannah and is inhabited by dozens of tribal orc communities. Vyrica has only one important commerical/cultural center, that being the moderately large Crimson Tide, an old orcish community that has become a cosmopolitain metropolis for liberal trade and thought. Vyrica was more advanced in the past than today; it was the home of the Second Orcish Republic, the succeeding Orcish Empire, and, earlier, the Kobold Kingdom. The last major attempt to found a civilization on Vyrica was the ill-fated Roanoke expedition of 10002-4. In the 2000 years since the fall of the Orcish Empire, much of Vyrica has returned to the barbaric conditions which preceeding the lenivestic presence.