A small land entirely under the influence of nearby Xalgon. The Yllerians are renowned alchemists and inventors. Alchemy is for them a tradition and a passion to which everything else must yield. It is said among the people that the Yllerians were originally one of the houses within Xalgon itself, specialists in alchemy. However, their wild experiments were constantly blowing out windows in the city and polluting both air and water, so the Xalgonians themselves banished them from the city. Only alchemical vendors and “non-explosive” inventors remained in Xalgon, while the majority of the kin was resettled to the relatively uninhabited plains southeast of Xalgon, where they founded their new homeland—Yller.
Yller is a land of bulbous, thick-walled houses, cheap roofing (often replaced), pipes and hoses, steam, machines, chimneys, laboratories, and factories. Although the land lies quite far to the north, Yllerian houses are always warm thanks to central heating. The Yllerians grow many of their foodstuffs in heated greenhouses, though they also import a great deal. As a center of alchemical research, Yller boasts its own university, supported by numerous global patrons.
The average Yllerian is a person in a constant rush. They scurry around their machines, adjusting settings, and behave similarly in social or family circles. Yllerians are constantly “solving problems” and “improving solutions,” whether regarding machines or people. Their quick, even reckless intellect is certainly not afraid of experiments and mistakes. “Errors are the portals of discovery” is the Yllerian motto. A typical Yllerian seems almost delighted by the destruction caused by a failed experiment. It is hard to say whether this is because they have eliminated an incorrect path, or simply because something exploded. Yllerian parties almost always involve a significant amount of explosives.
Yllerians certainly do not take themselves too seriously. They love explosions, and the value of human life is not held particularly high among them. If a famous inventor dies in a blast, the nation mourns, of course—but they mourn the lost intellect rather than the person. The Yllerian ability to not take themselves seriously also affects their fashion. They intentionally style themselves as inventors, including details such as disheveled and aesthetically grimy hair, styled with hair gel (an Yllerian invention!) to look as if they have just survived an explosion.
Despite its small size and inconvenient location, the country is quite wealthy. Most believe this is due to the fact that Yllerian products sell at quite high prices, primarily in Xalgon, but also in Garion and Havdaur. However, there are those who believe the Yllerians are “wallowing in gold” because they have managed to uncover the secret of the Stone of Transmutation, allowing them to transform lead into gold. Few, however, believe such tall tales, though they enjoy passing them on.
Yllerian import is a chapter unto itself. While most northern countries simply cannot enjoy delicate, quickly ripening southern fruit because transport by horse-drawn carriage is too slow and the fruit would spoil, the Yllerians decided to show what their inventions could do. They bored an immensely long north-south tunnel beneath the Telpan Mountains, emerging in the Kingdom of Tagaris near the capital of Altamoar, which lies far enough south and at a crossroads of trade routes. A steam-powered train, the pride of Yllerian skill, runs through the tunnel. Tagaris agreed to the terminus on its territory, albeit with hesitation; the prospect of brisk trade centered in their city outweighed the unsettling vision of a hostile army one day pouring out of that hellish machine. To this end, the train is always carefully inspected before exiting the tunnel, and the Tagarians have built a massive steel gate at the tunnel’s end.
It remains to ask why the inventions that abound in Yller do not spread rapidly across Qurand. Some slow spreading undoubtedly occurs, especially toward Garion and from there further across Qurand (and Mantrin is a chapter of its own), but it is true that there is strong resistance to inventions in many lands of Qurand. In several Qurandian languages, the word for “invention” or “machine” is the same as for “deception” or “plot.” For many rulers and nobles, it is prestigious to have some spectacular “invention” or “automaton” at court, but it would never occur to them that these are anything more than amusing or dangerous “tricks.” Their use in battle would mean a one-time victory but a long-term moral defeat, as neighboring rulers would subsequently descend upon such a dishonest player with a concentrated attack. Their use in production currently offers little scope in most lands of Qurand, with their low population density and feudal structure. Beyond Yller, the first attempts are taking place only in Xalgon, Havdaur, and Garion. In many other respects, alchemy and technology are rivaled by magic, which is generally considered a more honorable and proper path.
