Myrmitown
Myrmitown is a Home Realm of the Boggans.
Overview
Myrmitown was the first of the Home Realms to be fully created.
The most startling things about Myrmitown are the architecture and the giant chimerical ants the boggans use as beasts of burden. These ants are utilized for everything from food to transportation. The boggans here are so adept at breeding such chimera that they have a different type of ant for each type of work. Larger ants are used for transportation and smaller ants are bred for finer-detailed work. There are also ants for show pageants, gladiatorial combats, and guard duty. There are even a few strange ant-chimera with limited intelligence. These beings walk upright and possess a humanoid shape. They understand human language, barely, but can execute only one command at a time, and they must thoroughly complete a given task before they can receive another. These chimera, called Frains, are commonly used as soldiers and bodyguards, for they are strong and lightning fast.
The three villages of Myrmitown are more like Anasazi-style warrens than more conventional human dwellings. The residents live in ornately carved, interconnected chambers under the hills they call home. These chambers and burrows are all massively decorated with pictorial images and calligraphy of Myrmitown's history, culture, and relations with the other Home Realms. These cities are a social beehive of gossip, innuendo, and (usually) nonviolent Machiavellian intrigue.
The big event is the annual Myrmitownian Country Faire, where ant-breeders show their prize ants and compete for dross craftwork. There are market-booths, storytelling competitions, and a costume ball in the evening. The best contestants in each event win the invisible (but no less valuable in boggan society) currency of social prestige. The government is a plutocracy of the most powerful boggans. These captains of industry also serve in the Myrmitownian governing body called the Synod. Outsiders are usually welcome, but the boggans are quite proud of their crafts and protective of their techniques. Most of the intrigue in Myrmitown involves schemes to steal each others' craft working and ant-breeding methods. The surest way to infuriate a Myrmitownian is to note the imperfections in their craftwork or to try to steal their secret vermilion-and-cobalt-striped-ant breeding technique.
References
- CTD. Dreams and Nightmares, pp. 88-89.