On Nibenese Farming Practices

http://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/24y777/soil_report_on_the_nibenay_valley/

Brother Gaerston,

I have finally reviewed your work, Report on the Soils of the Nibenay Valley which has been the talk of the Council in past weeks. Food shortages have never been a tremendous problem for the Empire, outside of times of war, but the prospect of a 'home-grown' agricultural surplus has excited planners who are seeking to bolster Imperial strengths wherever they can.

I support efforts like these, entirely. However, I also think there is much to be gained from nuanced policy as well. Few Imperial officers know much of what lies beyond the major highways of central Cyrodiil.

As a proud son of the Heartlands, I wanted to take the opportunity to report to you some of the traditional Nibenese farming practices which remain largely unknown to the broader population of the Empire. I must admit, the Niben peoples are vastly overshadowed by the events of history which constantly march in and out of their lands. My people have this tendency to be completely overlooked by anyone with an abiding interest in the Nibenay Basin.

As you know, the Niben peoples were the original mannish peoples of Cyrodiil who threw off the yoke of their ancient Ayleid oppressors. In the immediate aftermath of this legendary revolution, the people lived mostly in the environs of their masters' former settlements. Obviously, the Imperial City was settled by the First Empire, but at first many of the old Ayleid centers remained in the use of the former slaves. After all, these were their homes for better or worse. The old Ayleid roads that criss-crossed Cyrodiil, connecting the settlements like some spider's web, stayed major avenues of commerce for many generations.

I would also like to report that, in spite of recent controversy, Nibenese tradition maintains quite adamantly that the lands of Cyrodiil were once a dense and inhospitable jungle.

The Ayleid architecture supports this. The elfish empire consisted of various hubs connected by spokes. The early Niben adopted this practice of city-building. To this day, our style of life reflects what was borne of an effort to survive in a harsh environment.

In the jungle environment, clearing land was nearly impossible. Villages were arranged in circles, and the trees cleared inwards out. These created havens from the dark and inhospitable wilds.

The swamps of the wilds proved intractable. The Ayleids first built huge causeways, some of marble, but most of wood. Our people maintained these, eventually building elevated earthworks to ease their travel. These causeways were built very deliberately, to sustain travel between known centers in a vast network of settlement.

Agriculture was tremendously tasking. Large-scale tilling of land was impossible. Small garden agriculture became the norm. It's no secret that the best vegetables are grown in the Niben. We eschew the hard and grainy turnips and pumpkins of the North. Tomatoes, asparaguses, artichokes, melons and radishes of the Heartlands are shipped to all quarters, favorite of nobility and commoner alike throughout the Empire.

Where smaller projects could not sustain growing populations, my ancestors of the Niben highlands turned to their famous terraces, which one encounters on the steep slopes of the Jeralls' foothills. Students of agriculture have long heralded these as among the most advanced practices of farming in Tamriel. The highlands, being as they were a bit dryer in climate, produce large quantities of maize, quinoa, and other unique grains thought to be developed by the careful planning of generations of Niben famers.

To the South, the River Niben have long mastered the practice of rice paddy farming. I enquired at the market the other day, and the merchants whom I briefly interrogate alone could note over 342 varieties of rice. It is said that the Akaviri of Reman's Dragonguard found this climate most to their liking, and intermingled with the River Niben, improving upon their aquatic farming techniques.

Between the Hill Niben and the River Niben, the Forest Niben too have a history of larger scale agriculture. There are rumors of ancient times in which larges areas of now forest had been slowly treated over generations to sustain farming even in the depths of the once harsh jungle.

This "Niben Black Earth" was said to have been created by centuries of careful treatment by agricultural waste, fish bones, and the hooves of the Sacred Bull. This soil is endowed with Kynareth's blessing.

Once legends speak of the land changing into a forested climate more suitable for the Colovian Cyro-Nords, these Westerners began settling along the major Imperial highways, building numerous farms and settlements among the Niben culture.

The positioning of Imperial highways for trade, travel, and military purpose means that they rarely coincide with the old routes used by the Alessian culture and the Ayleids before them. And, indeed, the new system of Imperial agriculture has reduced the significance of the old ways.

Nevertheless, Niben culture is far from fading in significance. Traditional villages still dot the Heartlands. Vast terraces still carve out the hills. The paddies and rice farms of the river can be toured by the shortest of river cruises leaving from the City.

Yes, the numerous and influential Niben that dominate life in the Imperial City as its fabled merchant class also dominate the minds of Imperial subjects concerning the nature of a "Nibenay Man". Yes, the Empire itself, its roads and farms, dominate the Heartlands so as to overshadow the quiet and timeless culture that still thrives there.

I encourage you to venture off the main highways, to sample the local produce, and investigate the untapped wonder that is the Niben Black Earth soil.

You may find that what the Heartlands can provide, more so than good soil for surplus grain, is a diversity of culinary wonder. Perhaps the Empire needs less in the way of raw production, when it comes to agriculture, and more in the way of high art.

For that's what Nibenay farming is: high art. Our produce is the result of thousands of years of refinement on the small scale.

Nevertheless, brother, thank you for your attention to this land which I cherish.

Yours in the Nine, Cercetus Eton'Hualla Imperial Delegate for the Central-East Heartlands.