Tell me everything about Kohmli's homeland 👀
(but seriously, what goes into creating a world like that?)
Ooo, prepare for a lotta yapping TvT! First off, Kohmli's homeland is named THALOR. Wilds era TLOZ! It's directly south of Hyrule, and quite the distance away, far enough that it just barely slips past the horizon.
So far I've expanded upon the region of the Rito especially, the politics/governance, corruption, baselines, music, geography and so, so much more! This isn't everything of course and will be expanded upon over the next few years but here we go!
OVERVIEW: Thalor is a republic (inspired by the late roman republic) made up of 3 major provinces (or whatever the word is), each in possession of 3 major races in the area: The Hylians (comparably more bereaucratic than Hyrule's hylians), Rito (the mediators), and the marginalized, native lizard-like Saurians (name will def change) that I still need to expand upon.
Aside from those races, are your other Zelda races: Zora, Gorons, Koroks, etc. Despite it's beauty, it's a republic full of corruption somehow still holding together even after a recent civil war nearly a decade before the events of TOTK over a resource war.
The Hyruleans mainly live in a coastal city facing towards Hyrule, Thalor's major settlement consisting of a senate hall and other random bs. Yet despite this, trade with Hyrule has ceased following fears and self-interests rose after the Great Calamity. Kohmli is one of several figures who are advocating for a re-opening of trade with Hyrule.
GEOGRAPHY, INSPIRATIONS, & REGIONS (so far): Thalor geography wise is heavily inspired by parts of Asia, Africa, India, and South America!
The Hyruleans have a greco-roman style architecture - mainly living in hills famous for their cherry blossoms, Rito live in a dense jungle filled with spires along the coast, and the Saurians have now been marginalized into a pocket of volcanic mesas and geysers.
Scattered between these major regions are some others I've yet to expand upon lololol TvT
Here, have some images I found!
THE AGALI REGION (home of Thalor's rito): The Agali region of Thalor is the most developed and ONLY named region I have so far. It's the most jungle based. The first image is what a huge portion of it is made off of! Inspired by India and Southeast Asia, particularly Zhangjiajie National Park in china (LOTS, of rock columns and spires). Key settlements include NOBI VILLAGE (pictured in the 2nd image, Kohmli's home village) with a literal balanced boulder restitched Kintsugi style following a civil war. There's also Loretta Inn (a family owned inn just outside the village for travelers.)
The rito of this land are far more vibrant and musical compared to their Hyrulean counterparts. Their sound and instruments are probably indian-esque?
HISTORY (rough): Thalor's Saurians were the first and major race on the mainland, with an extensive history of culture going all the way back to the era of the Zonai. They had their own mythos and religions prior to the arrival of the other races (aside koroks who were also present).
First came the Rito around 20,000 (maybe??) years before TOTK, who settled around the jungle and were relatively peaceful with the saurians, as well as certain gorons and zora around this period. Then, came the Hylians around 16,000 years ago. They already had immense power, and were settling from across the world, especially Hyrule.
After some tensions and even fighting, a truce was settled and the republic of Thalor was first formed as an alliance. An uneasy one, but one nonetheless. This would last for thousands of years, fueled by trade both domestic and abroad.
One resource, Celestium (which I WILL change name wise), was a type of crystal with magical n utility properties was a major resource across Thalor. Over the course of millennia, this resource would slowly run low, rising tensions. Hylians were gaining more and more influence, Saurians were getting marginalized, and the Rito and other races had to act as mediators.
After Hyrule's Great Calamity led to the destruction of Hyrule's monarchy, reactions from other foreign lands were mixed. In Thalor's case, it was both fear, and an excuse to focus on self-interests. Millennia of tensions were about to explode.
4 years before the events of BOTW (100 years post great calamity), a Saurian noble's daughter was tasked with a diplomatic inspection of a celestium mine somewhere in the Agali region. She already had a reputation of being different from the largely conservative climate. During this, she was assassinated by a group of Hylians.
This sparked an outrage from her father, who declared war. The Rito and other races as always were caught in the middle as the war begun to tear the republic into three. The war was brief, only around a month or two but it was chaos. Nobi Village was bombed at night by Hylian airships. (See Kohmli's POV here: KOHMLI'S TOYHOUSE )After more fighting, the war ceased, and now the republic was basically fractured.
In the present (TOTK, 105 years post great calamity), Thalor now is politically unbalanced and fractured. Yet despite this, still remains progressive minds even after the war 9 years prior. This is where Kohmli plays his role, and will be expanded upon in later fics!
If you've read ALL of this, I commend you. This took a bit to write TvT. I've been building Kohmli's homeland since last year piece by piece. I usually catch myself daydreaming about it. Thank you so much Vanali for the ask! ^v^
