[map of the narrows]

The Narrows is a protectorate of The Kingdom of Two Valleys. In general, life there is peaceful and prosperous. In specific, it only seems so on the surface because of the system of oppression that the Valleymen implement.

Demographics

The Narrows is entirely made up of humans. Elves who try to openly settle in the region find a way of disappearing. Valleymen do not live in The Narrows, though they do frequently visit. Anything else nonhuman, like Shylings, are generally hunted down. Though visitors are allowed, as long as they don't stay for too long.

Institutions

All governmental organizations in The Narrows descend from The Kingdom of Two Valleys, which administrate this quasi-independent province as if it were, indeed, a province. Though they are mainly staffed by humans, Valleymen overseers have the ultimate say and will frequently intervene if things are not kept in order.

The Ministry of Prosperity

The most insidious aspect of The Narrows is that the promises that the Valleymen make are true. There is no war. Violent criminals are taken into bondage and removed from society. Everyone is well fed, the water is clean, basic housing is provided. While rebellious and seditious elements of society exist, gathering support is difficult on account of the minimum quality of life in The Narrows being so high.

The Ministry of Prosperity works. They exist to ensure that all the resources of the state are dispersed equitably and more or less fairly. There are problems and flaws with the organization, but outside intervention generally keeps it in line. In The Narrows, even the administrative caste are not immune to the Reap.

Arenas

Weapons of war are not permitted in The Narrows. Violence and crimes of passion are a surefire way to be taken away by the Ministry of Collections. The only government approved outlet for violence in The Narrows are fights in the arena.

Each city has its own stadium. As there is a veritable armory housed inside, it will be one of the few places in The Narrows permanently staffed by Valleymen, not just their human servants. These stadiums will house more than just the arena: a gymnasium, other sorts of public amenities, and so on. What makes them famous though are the arenas.

Every day, those of a martial bent will go inside and fight as they like, and those interested in watching will populate the stands. Not just citizens of The Narrows, but gladiators from inside The Kingdom of Two Valleys will occasionally go out into The Narrows and essentially put on a show as they travel from arena to arena. The local citizens who participate in the arena essentially act as a club, in the same way that countries in the real world that outlaw ownership of firearms will still allow shooting clubs to exist in the same restrictive way that Valleymen permit The Narrows to engage in the occasional mock fight or blood sport.

The Ministry of Collections

The Reap is a feared time among those who inhabit The Narrows. Each city, every twenty years, is systematically closed off from the rest of the world for any time between one day and a few weeks. Valleymen come in to supervise the collection process, and also to prevent anyone from leaving.

Even foreigners, caught during a Reap, will not be permitted to leave. And anyone who attempts to circumvent the blockade will be forcibly taken away as a slave. For that is the point of the Reap: to collect an arbitrary quota of slaves from the city, as determined by the needs of the Valleymen at that time.

The order is usually quite simple. The Valleymen will begin with an audit of the administrative caste, and anyone who is deemed to have overstepped their boundaries, broken the law, or engaged in corruption will be taken first. Then the dungeons, with a review of all the criminals and their judgements and each taken in order of severity. Then, if the Valleymen still have need of more slaves for their quota, they will target people according to the quota. Whether or not the quota is known, how the quota is filled, is entirely at the discretion of the Valleyman overseeing the Reap.

The Ministry of Collections assists the Valleymen in this Reap. And inbetween Reaps for a given city, they are in charge of organizing things so that the Reap goes smoothly once it begins. Arresting criminals, investigating corruption, and so on. They are essentially the police for The Narrows.

=Provinces

Unlike the rest of the world, The Narrows were deliberately planned out and the cities existed before the inhabitants who built it were established. And any workers who had established temporary housing had their temporary housing destroyed once the cities were built.

Each city is numbered, and its number functions as its name. There are ten planned cities, its number assigned from north to south. There is City One, City Two, City Three... so on through to City Ten. Ten cities was convenient to the Valleymen who built the cities, because it allows the Valleymen to go out and make their collections every two years, while each individual city gets a twenty year break.

For this reason, and because the cities are largely homogenous and share a similar culture, people who leave The Narrows and establish their own life elsewhere will often just say they are from The Narrows.