The North-West Flatlands. "A broad, flat expanse of earth occupying almost one-fourth of the entire country, the North-West Flatlands spread themselves out beneath the sun, basking in it, tilled by farmers and punctuated occasionally by the odd village or minor town, supporting a huge population of farmed Long-Leggity Beasties and providing Umbagollah with its primary crop, the baize-green grass known as Hair. Not every Flatlander is a farmer (there are exceptions, such as the timbercutters and fisherpeople of Simple) but at heart most of them consider themselves to be people of the land. This does not, of course, include the inhabitants of the Flatland's biggest town, Jail, a place the farmers would rather ignore. They live on their farms in isolated family groups, far away from the parties and amusements of city life. They have evolved a vast folklore of tales to tell while sitting by the fire at night or lying in the Hair paddocks by day, staring up at the clear, blue sky and flicking wandering beetles off their clothes. Most of these legends are violent, and involve adventurers overcoming (or being overcome by) half-human monsters. Other stories deal with the more familiar threat of land pirates. Flatlanders pride themselves on being the most adult Umbagollians. Exians, they see as rather silly dilettantes." (From Madge Lettuce's Guide to the Provinces.) "In the evenings, clouds of golden insects swayed over the darkening fields and the world was silent save for the muffled grunt and sigh of the beasties and the multiple purr of homegoing pigeons. Pine had never been anywhere more peaceful. Yet he had the feeling that some connection here was being missed. This pastoral scene had undercurrents." (From The Silver Whistle, by Caleb Sighwater.)