Suldyn, the Copper Kingdom

In order to work around this environmental hazard, the local Suldynii have eschewed the use of iron-based technology; making use instead of non-magnetic metals such as copper and more prominently bronze, and it is from this that the kingdom's nickname derives.  

Present-Day & Geography

In the present day, Suldyn is as an independent polity ruled by a king. The country embraces the Rukhmarite religion, and branches of the Firebird Church have been set up in the capital as well as other settlements in the region.   However, although still fiercely independent, Suldyn is both economically, politically, and militarily largely irrelevant in the eyes of most other Pretheyan nations. The country boasts a total population of only around 20,000 people; less than many medium-sized cities elsewhere on the continent. The kingdom's borders are limited to the land inside of the magnetic field projected by the floating island, and what little land they do have available to them is poor farmland that only produces mediocre crops. The area also has little-to-nothing in the way of valuable natural resources, and what does exist is either difficult or impossible to extract due to the impossibility of using magnetic tools. For the same reason, the Suldynii military is considered a joke by most other nations. While capable of operating competently within their home territory, their primitive bronze armaments render them unable to stand against a modern military force without the backing of the magnetic field.   With no way to develop further while in the presence of the magnetic field, and the unwillingness on behalf of the Suldynii to attempt to do away with the island that has protected them for generations, Suldyn and its populace have largely remained frozen in time for the past millennium.  

History

It is unknown when exactly Suldyn was founded, but it first appears in the records in 263 Re when it came in contact with the Grannrormrlen. The fledgling city underneath the floating island was discovered by one of the Grannr's scouting parties, and the usual attempts at convincing them to join the empire peacefully were undertaken. When the Suldynii refused, a task force was dispatched to attempt to subjugate the settlement; but immediately ran into problems when their weapons were swept out of their hands several miles from the city, forcing them to turn back.   Allegedly, upon hearing about this bizarre mishap, the Fyrstbairn who had been in charge of the army was bemused enough to investigate the city themselves. They promptly discovered that the weapons had been snatched away by a powerful magnetic force, and were able to ascertain that the source of the field was the island floating above the city. Marcavian of Vinheim speaks of the events that followed:  

After a thorough investigation into the dimensions and reach of the field, the governor is said to have stopped and began laughing in front of his legion. When asked why he was laughing, the governor responded: "It would not be difficult to capture this city. But what would be the point? We could do nothing with it, even in the event that we did conquer it. No, let the savages have it, and let it remain as a monument to the greatness of the Ormr; that they could create a work so mighty that even their children were turned back from it."

— Excerpt from Marcavian's Histories

  This attitude seems to have been shared by future conquerors in the region, all of whom have similarly deemed subjugating Suldyn as 'too much work.' The one exception to this were Shahru missionaries who travelled to the country in around the 11th century Re to spread the word of Rukhmar, who after much cajoling and an informative lesson in the fact that Theos incantations are not magnetic, convinced the king of Suldyn to convert to Shahru.