Mazaron's Castle: Uluru

Uluru

This is a long isolated continent, poorly known or unknown to the other civilizations - Zakharan, Kara-Tur, Bharatan, Faerunish - until now. It is a vast, arid land of few rivers, with crocodile-infested swamps on its northern portion, small forested portions in its southeastern and southwestern sections, and desert everywhere else. There are, from what can be seen from the coast, few large mountains, certainly nothing snow-capped.

The wildlife is unlike anything else on Toril. The mammals are strange, in that they have pouches, and some are said to lay eggs! Strange, two-legged hopping creatures are the main plant eater, something the natives call kangaroos. Large flightless birds - emus -speed across what the natives call the outback. Other strange creatures include thylacines, which are pouched wolf-like creatures; wombats, which range in size from groundhogs to rhinos and eat a variety of foods; wallabies, which are smaller kangaroos; goannas, which are large hunting four-legged land lizards ranging from a few feet to bigger than a horse in size; and the willandra, which resembles a lion in appearance and habits.

The natives, who call themselves in a term roughly meaning "People of the Dreamtime," are very primitive, far more so than anywhere else known so far on this planet. They live in large family groupings that one might call tribes, but they are not even as organized as that, as there really is not even a tribal leader.

These "tribes" - examples include the Gunwinggu, Murinbata, Gidjingali, Anbara, and Djanggawal - live off the land, hunting, fishing, gathering, harvesting of native millet, and even some "firestick" farming of yams and taro roots, much as in the islands (there are no domesticated animals other than dogs known as dingos). They seem very much in tune with the land, and there is evidence that they are proficient druids and rangers, as they see themselves as stewards of the land. Using such unusual weapons as boomerangs, they are adept hunters.

These "Aboringies" seem skittish but rarely hostile to visitors, and seem fascinated by their technology and customs. They also appear quick to adopt new words they find useful or interesting.

These basically stone-age people do apparently engage in trade with other groups, though this seems to be not trade entirely in the sense of classic supply and demand, but include elements of ritual gift-giving as well. There is a small amount of trade carried on with maritime merchants from other parts of Toril; the main items were stone and wood tools and weapons, ochre (pigments used for cosmetics, body and artifact decoration, and cave painting), pipeclay (for cave paintings), charcoal (for cave paintings), spinifex gum, shells, and a type of native tobacco called pituri. Little trade in food except the trepang or beche-de-mer (a type of shellfish of good flavor), but much exchange of stories, myths, dances, and songs. They seemed to greatly desire tools, utensils, nails, trinkets, and cloth. There seems little the natives can trade that would bring in much money from other places, and the natives as far as can be determined lack or do not use any precious metal or gemstone.

With much available land in Maztica, Kara-Tur, and even Faerun itself, it would not seem Uluru would be an attractive place to colonize, given its remoteness, arid climate, and apparent lack of natural food sources. The possibility exists of course, as always, that Uluru has mineral resources; other than stone quarries and ochre mines, the Aborigines are not a mining people.

The Aborigines tell of one possible race that shares the continent with them, but based on native rumors many are unsure if they exist or not. Often depicted in their cave paintings, these spirits are called mimi. The mimi are, according to the Aborigines, stick-like creatures, and are usually depicted in their art in lively movement, running, dancing, or hunting. They are said to be so thin and light that they hunt only in still weather, for fear of being broken by the wind, but they possess very keen sight and hearing. When an Aborigines comes near one (they say) they run quickly to a rock and blow upon it; the rock obediently opens and closes behind them. Sometimes medicine men claim to have glimpsed a mimi, but many an outsider has failed to find one. Some speculate that maybe they are elves, or some time of faerie, or maybe they don't actually exist.