The Iren-nandoo ("the Inner Sea") is a long, narrow inland sea which stretches north from the Southern Ocean between the New Lands on the west and Soonaga on the east until it splits into the Iren-sha ("West Sea") and the Iren-Rey ("North Sea"). This vast sea is in reality a baby ocean being created by the splitting up of the vast continent O'juin ("She Lives") due to continental drift. The Huistain is the largest seraphy in the H'lomeh New Lands. An area about a third the size of Alaska, its moss-pine forests and rolling plains stretch north and northwest from the more southern seraphies, while its eastern borders wrap around the entire western branch of the Iren-nandoo. It is a thinly populated land of hardy, independent people and its capital, Achero, is the smallest H'lomeh city. It is ruled by the Seraphor of Huistain, a position which is part non-heritary duke and governor. The seraphor are actually voted into the office and, once gained, the office is for life, unless the seraphor suddenly dies or decides to retire from public life. It is possible to vote out a seraphor but is a rare event in the New Lands: such a vote happening only two or three times in 500 years. Generally, a seraphor is elected because of the k'mah of the people--a combination of earned love, affection, and respect. The key word here is "earned." Living in the Huistain is a difficult yet satisfying life. Its northerly position brings on long, hard winters in which the individual farms and isolated small villages of necessity must fend for themselves. This is followed by yearly raids through the warm months by marauding bands of aboriginial H'lomeh. Know as the Lake Huil Bandits, these raiders sweep across the Huistain burning, looting, and killing the more settled Huistainers. One of the major responsibilities of the Seraphor is to campaign against these wilders and drive them out of the region--and out of the more settled New Lands to the south. The life blood of the Huistain economy is the lupah. It looks a lot like a large reptilian looking kangaroo or raptor with an equine head. It is a warm-blooded animal and very intelligent. Lupahs function as both cow and horse for the H'lomeh. When ridden, they are capable of covering 10 meters in a single jump at full bound. Riding them is not for the timid! Most farms are really lupah ranches and the vast majority of crops, like the ripening bangah seen above, is usually winter fodder for the lupah herds. The bangah crop is usually stored in the second story of the barn. The third, or top floor, is usually the original dwelling space for the H'lomeh farm family; although as the farm prospers, a farm house is eventually added to the property. Credits: Every thing modeled in Bryce 5.5 by me; except for.... Moss-pine, which are really kelp plants by (RDNA). Foncil, which is really a fern plant by . Foreground terrain texture by Jonathan Allen. Background hill texture by Judith Ward. Grasses: 3d models by Flink turned into 2D Alpha planes by me. Textures his. Lupah: modeled in Poser 5 using raptor and horse parts; textures Net freebies. Thanks for dropping by and taking a look. Comments of an encouraging nature or that can help me to be a better artist are appreciated. Jeremy