Northern Jardo:

     The Northern Jardo is in a fertile area, which receives more than enough rainfall during the spring, but contains very few large lakes and has mostly small streams.  The Tear is almost inaccessible due to the fact it flows through a high walled canyon until just before the border between the South and North.  The Northern Jardo depend on fish and trade from the more mobile Southern Jardo.

Social Structure:

     Everyone works; men, women and children.  A lazy person is an unproductive person and that is frowned upon.  The only people who are not expected to work as hard as the rest, are the elders.  The elders are seen as founts of information and wisdom; afterall, they've lived longer than most everyone else, obviously they've done something right.

     As hard as they work, they play as hard.  There is a celebration after an amazingly good bounty from harvest time, to which the whole town and nearby countryside dwellers, will join in the party. 

     Families take care of their own and their reputation can be tarnished or pumped up by the actions of their relatives.  If one member of the family is a bad 'seed', then the whole family is tarred with the same brush.   Deviations from the  'norm' are dealt within the family and can be very harsh.

     Women are the homemakers and it is rare to see them within the guilds.  They are not openly discouraged from becoming a guild member or merchant, but neither are they encouraged.  Depending on the family, women in a business may be seen as deviant or daring.

National Relations:

     The relations between the Southern and Northern Jardo are tense to say the least.    There seems to be a mutual dislike between the two.  Although each relies on the other, they trade grudgingly with each other.  Prices for supplies, fish,   vegetables, etc.  fluctuate wildly as both sides try to extract an outrageous price from the other. 

     Violence often erupts between the two, especially when trading.   Interestingly, there is a low mortality rate, even with all the fighting.  The Essalee has attempted to step in, but both sides protested against it.  The feuding is seen as a private, national thing and outsiders have no right to stick their nose in where it doesn't belong.

    While both sides cannot seem to stand each other, there is a large amount of patriotism beating in their hearts.  If one side is threatened, the other side will come to their aid, irregardless that the day before they would have cheerfully beaten each other senseless.   This unity does not last long unfortunately.  As soon as the threat is dealt with, the side which came to other's aid is most likely to gloat about having to help their 'poor, pathetic' neighbors.  The unspoken truce will rapidly disintegrate, with the 'helpers' being unceremoniously thrown out of the 'helped' side.

Physical Characteristics:

     The men and women of the Northern Jardo tend to be average all over; average height, weight and body structure.  The only fat people amongst the Jardo are the richer merchants/guild members, who can afford to have others to work for them.

     Size ranges from 5' to 5'10" for the women and from 5'3 to 6'2" for the men.  The men's hair is cropped short, while the women's can be of many lengths.  A beard is seen as a handsome feature and very few men do not have some type of beard adorning their face.

     Their clothing is a durable and long wearing cloth.  The color of choice is all different shades of orange .  The only accessories worn are leather and metal chokers that both men and women wear.

     Eye color is generally a light brown to hazel.  There have been isolated incidents where a child is born with a darker pigment iris.  That child was brought to the Southern Jardo border and left to be found by a passing by Southerner.  Their hair is a medium to light brown with a natural curl to it.