
Inarell is what I thought of when I settled on the idea of a location in my world that was based around Britain, but if Britain had been conquered by the Welsh.
Its landscape is marred in hills and valleys; much like the rest of the eastern continent it resides in. This led to the early inhabitants of Inarell to name the continent Glynmawr, or literally, 'Big Valley'.
Much like modern day Britain, its political structure has landed somewhere between democracy and kingdom, with a ruling class of aristocrats that form their 'democratically elected' parliament, and the Inarellian royal family - the original conquerors of the country and heads of the Inarellian Empire.
The empire had a lasting influence on the world, with now independent colonies still clinging to their Inarellian heritage - using Inarellian (Welsh) nomenclature and adopting Inarellian customs, allowing me to sprinkle bits of Wales throughout my world. The first King of the empire, Rhodri Fawr (Rhodri the Great, full name Rhodri ap Llywelyn), conquered much of the continent of Glynmawr, aligning the previously fragmented kingdoms under one ruler. He presided over the codification of Inarellian law, the first of its kind at the time, and lead to an unprecedented period of peace for the area.
Inarell's capital, Gwynedd, (a bit on the nose for any Welsh readers, or those familiar with Welsh history - as is much of the previous few paragraphs!) lies on the eastern coast of the continent, and is home to the country's parliament and royal palaces. Many other cities of importance exist across the country, including Caerfyrddin, the home of magicians (Merlin's home-town if Arthurian legend is to be believed), and Treffynnon (Town of the Well), the city closest to Vallenfall Well - the source of magic on Glynmawr.
North of Inarell you can find the large forest, Pen-y-lyn (Head of the Valley). This was originally home to one of the few non-Human settlements, the wood-elf country of Prestelwyn. Prestelwyn fell centuries before the age of Inarell - now Pen-y-lyn is an accursed place; the source of many wives' tales for scaring children and home to horrors for the men and women who have dared enter it.
Inarell itself has existed for many centuries - around six - and has been ruled over by around thirteen different Kings and Queens. The current monarch - Gwendolin ferch Rhydian - has ruled for only a few years, and is one of the country's youngest heads of state at only 26 years of age, her coronation taking place on her 18th birthday. Gwendolin has two siblings, Mari - two years her junior, and Ifan - three years her junior (who have appeared in many of my other short stories and are the protagonists of my work-in-progress novel). Their parents died when Gwendolin was only 17, an accident to the public but a cruel assassination amongst the aristocracy. King Rhydian, Gwendolin's father, was deposed by his power hungry brother - a plot gone wrong, after being discovered by Rhydian's loyal advisor. Gwendolin's uncle was disappeared by 'the family', and in his place she was crowned Queen on her first day of adulthood.
This is about all I've managed to get around to thinking about - I'm sure Inarell will evolve as I write more stories set in it and work through more of these worldbuilding prompts!
Linked throughout the above ramblings are my other short-stories or freewrites that include the mentioned location or person, please do give them a read if you're interested in finding out more about them.
The account has been added as a beneficiary to this post (10%), to thank them for the great weekly and daily prompts that help get my creative juices flowing!
Thanks for reading!