Nebulonia

Nebulonia (Nebulonian: Ucuhlæverzon; Sajem Tan: Tözendin; Tözen Tan: Tozeñdiñ) is an autonomous region in the west of Sajem Din. It is named for the tribemember Tözen (Fog) who lives there, and for the thick fog that is characteristic of the region. In older sources, it is referred to as Fogland.

The region is divided into two main zones: the Foggy Mountains and the Boglands. The Foggy Mountains zone is further divided into the Highlands and the Lowlands. In between the Foggy Mountains and the Boglands is Tözenšömak, which is not a part of Nebulonia.

Geography
The air in Fogland is thickly foggy. This fog has a profound effect on life in the region, which will be discussed below.

The different conditions of Nebulonia have led to wide variation between the cultures inhabiting them, but some features unite Highlanders, Lowlanders, and Boglanders, particularly the adaptations to the dense fog and a common religion.

Highlands
The Highlands (Sajem Tan: Šekëkdin) occupy the part of the Foggy Mountains zone that is covered in high mountains. These mountains see the most fog, and visibility is commonly extremely low. As such, this is the preferred setting for hermits and monastic communities. Strangely, this is also the home of the capital of Nebulonia, Hrubéla, which sits atop Mount Hrubéla (the highest mountain in Nebulonia) and is comprised of the Winter Palace (the small residence of the king and his companions), a monastery, the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Šekëkdin, a library, a hospital, some small houses, and the Monastic University of Hrubéla.

Lowlands
The Lowlands are far flatter, and so are more suitable for farming and building.

Nebulonic language
Historically, the Nebulonic people spoke the Nebulonic language, which is a Rosselaic language. However, it was largely abandoned in favor of Sajem Tan. Today, few Nebulonians can speak Nebulonic; most of its speakers live in the interior of the Highlands.

Nebulonic has many dialects, many of which have died out. The strongest is the Central Highlands dialect, spoken around the area of Hrubeila, the only incorporated settlement in which the majority of inhabitants (63%) speak Nebulonic as a primary home language. The state of Hrubeila is the only state in which the Nebulonic language is considered "safe" by the Nebulonic Language Association (NLA). In the Highlands states of Vinesnil, Mocelkel, and Dortavel, as well as Bogland, between 25% and 50% of inhabitants speak Nebulonic with moderate to proficient fluency, making the language "vulnerable" according to the NLA. In other Highland states, the language is considered "threatened" by the NLA, and in all Lowlands states it is either "dead" or "severely threatened".

As a result of language contact, Nebulonic has adopted several features of Sajem Tan and other Tannic languages, mostly vocabulary. It has not had similar impacts on Sajem Tan in return, though some influence, naturally, is to be found in Tözen Tan.

Ethnicity
The majority of people in Nebulonia are Nebulones, with small minorities

Clothing and needlework
Clothing is very similar in the Highlands and the Lowlands. Clothing tends to be very warm. The most basic units of Foglandic dress are the gacafmet (essentially "shirt", something worn on the torso) and the jûkük ("pants" or "skirt", something worn on the legs). For daily life, thick, large shawls are worn over the gacafmet. Scarves and hats are also very common in the Highlands, but rare in the Lowlands except during the short, mild winter. Toques (brimless hats) are a common fashion, imported from the Sajem Tan culture.

Fabrics vary between the Highlands and Lowlands. Due to the frequency of sheep farming in the Lowlands, that is where wool is made, though the need for woolly clothing is not as pressing there and so it is often sent to the Highlands, where knitting is widespread. The Highlands have a rich tradition of knitting patterns. Fur is another common fabric in the Highlands. In the Lowlands, clothes are more often made of thinner fabric such as cotton and flannel. Lowland fabric is often decorated with vibrant, seasonal patterns.

Cuisine
One of the staples of Nebulonian cuisine is fog crops, crops that get their water primarily from the fog in the air rather than from the groundwater or precipitation. They put down short roots, just enough to hold them to the earth; selective breeding has produced crops with especially short roots so as to make harvesting easier. An irrigation technique known as fog mining has contributed to Nebulonia's agriculture, though it has met with some criticism from environmental activists over issues such as fog pollution and the depletion of ground water. Newer inventions such as the humidity catcher have enabled higher rates of fog harvesting from fog mines, and some have been designed so as to take water droplets from the air to be transported to farms so as to recycle the excessive fog and preserve ground water. I don't know why I just sat here talking about fog mining. This is the food section. I barely mentioned food. Anyway. The most common crop grown is the potato.

Also essential to the Nebulonian diet is meat. It is illegal to kill birds in most of the region, so meat primarily comes from mammals such as cows. The preferred dairy producer in most of the region is the goat, as it is well-adapted to mountain life, as well as the camel and the sheep. Nebulonian camel milk is highly sought-after in other parts of Sajem Din, usually to the detriment of Nebulonians who can no longer afford to buy it as it has been marketed as a trend abroad.

In the Boglands, additional foods eaten reflect the resources of the wetlands: amphibians are a common food source, and paramecium soup is a delicacy.

Education
The region is home to three centers of higher learning: the Tözendinvmê Jikin Snanömzmetmun ("Jikin University of Fogland") etc.

Society
Nebulonian society is structured around clans, which are most often named after types of birds. Each clan has a leader. The way clan leaders are selected is by a bird-call contest: members between the ages of 35 and 65 compete to see who can best imitate the call of the clan's official bird, and the winner becomes the leader. These contests are held whenever the previous leader dies.

Government
Nebulonia is a decentralized monarchy; this decentralization is a result of the mountainous habitat of the Nebulonians and pary also of their nomadism in the past. The king is more of a figurehead who rarely passes decrees. However, when the king does make a law, it is cause of great commotion. For examples of these laws, see the [[Fogwin's laws|laws of Fogwin], the current king.

Kingship is not hereditary.

In general, the laws are made by the various states.