Courant

The Archdiocese of Courant is a wind-swept land of rugged hills and open grassland, slightly isolated from the rest of Ensor by its position on a long peninsula stretching out into the Great Stormy Sea. The heart of the peninsula consists of high crags of distinctive bluish stone intermixed with dwarf forests of stunted seacoast pines and blue oak, while lower but still rugged hills and coastal dunes fill the rest of the region. Harsh as the terrain may be, the hilly plains of Courant offer some of the best grazing in all of Ensor, and the Couranti themselves are a largely pastoral folk, roaming the land with their flocks of sheep and goats. Despite the semi-nomadic character of this lifestyle, many other Couranti live in small tidy towns and villages, and overall they adapt well to city living.

In fact adaptability may be one of the chief traits of the Couranti. They are a people distinct from all others in Ensor, from even the earliest days acknowledged as a separate race by those residing in the rest of the realm. Brought to heel by the "true" Ensormen a few hundred years ago, the Couranti did not squander much of their time in outright rebellion against their new masters, and instead seem to have accepted their subjugation with equanimity. Unlike the far more restless clans of the Highmoor, the Couranti have worked diligently to assimilate themselves into the kingdom -- at least superficially. Many Couranti occupy prominent places at Court, while others are shrewd merchants who travel widely to obtain the best prices for their famed wool, cheese, and horses. The chief city of Courant, Wessey, is also the second-greatest city in the kingdom, with a thriving sea trade linking it to the lands of northern Ruvera.

Of all people in Ensor, the Couranti seem to be the most terrified of the Misty Reaches -- rather oddly, considering the distance that lies between most of Courant and the Mistmarches. Even the Couranti don't seem to be entirely certain why this is, but most of them are so superstititious about the Reaches that they refuse even to serve in the Mistwatch.