Pyra

Pyra, presumed to be related to a dialectal form of pyré, meaning king in Thyridic, is the name of the northernmost province of the Thyrosic Empire. Pyra is populated almost exclusively by Thyrids, though they differ greatly from their southern counterparts, in regards to culture and history. Pyra was the home of the Kingdom of Pyra, the last of the kingdoms to be conquered by the Thyrosic Empire.

Landscape

Pyra has the most hostile of the climates in the empire, and is covered a vast boreal forest. In the far north, tundra dominates the region. The west of the country has a terrain that bleeds through from the neighbouring province of Hýrisin, while, to the east, the higher plains bordering the Eýn Mountains are covered in snow. In the south, the climate is similar to the region of Thyressia, but has remained almost untouched by farming.

The River Hýn brings life to the region, as it does to the rest of the empire. The river is still filled with food by the time it reaches Pyra, and thus the centres of trade in the area tend to be built on its shores. However, in the far north, the river is prone to freezing over, and trading ships can get stuck in its waters.

Civilisation

The Thyrids of Pyra are dissimilar to their southern cousins. Because of the harshness of Pyra, their culture is obsessed with the elements, and with life and death. Everything has a god or spirit, from fire to trees, and each spirit has a day on which it is to be worshipped. 

The majority of Thyridic civilisation in Pyra is in towns and villages, for elsewhere it is too hard to survive. Settlements dotted along the Hýn make up the backbone of the region, although some farmers do live in the wilderness during the summer, when the winter comes and the sun sets for the last time, they too move into the urban areas.

The largest settlement in the region is Daigh, though calling it large would be a stretch. The services typical of a small Thyridic town can be found here, and only here. 

Alongside the Thyridic population, there are ever-present rumours of beings that come to inhabit the area in the sunless months, though no one can confirm or deny their existence, most scholars dismiss them as wives' tales.