Sto Plains

The Sto Plains describes an area on the main continent by the Circle Sea, next to the Octarine Grass Country, and across the sea from Klatch. People on the Sto Plains consider themselves the most civilized and the most technologically advanced. Being civilized is a subjective view (and in this case refers to nations that have invented the fork as well as the knife), but technology had in fact been behind those in the Agatean Empire and Klatch until very recent years; dentures, spectacles, and iconographs are developed from Agatean prototypes, and telescope is "invented" in Ankh-Morpork very recently but has been in Klatch for long enough to be an heirloom from someone's grandfather (see Jingo). See also the Annotation at the bottom.

The geography of the Sto Plains is cabbages. Principal exports of the Sto Plains are cabbages. Principal flora of the Sto Plains is cabbages. Principal fauna of the Sto Plains is anything that eats cabbages and doesn't mind not having any friends. Maps of the Sto Plains traditionally involve a lot of green, as did the cabbage-flavoured stamp with cabbage glue (in Making Money).

When a visitor is fortunate enough to be far enough from Ankh-Morpork, so that he is not choking on the Ankh-Morporkian smog, he will be aware of the very distinct smell of cabbages. The people of the Sto Plains are proud of their cabbages; cabbage export merchants get angry if another country, e.g. Klatch, rejects a shipload of cabbages full of caterpillars, which are honest proteins.

Regardless of the arrogance and the small geographical size, the city-states on the Sto Plains are powerful political entities. Their traditional enemies are one another and Klatch. Lancre is considered an unimportant kingdom long way away in the mountains, which are rural, uncivilized, no cobbles or pavement anywhere, capital is hardly larger than a village. Überwald is, to the nobles of the Sto Plains, a place to take a tour in and sneer at.

Notable city states

• Ankh-Morpork, city ruled by a Patrician, currently Lord Havelock Vetinari.
• Chirm, ruler unknown.
• Pseudopolis, formerly a duchy, now adjusting with some difficulty to being a republic.
• Quirm, duchy, currently ruled by Lord Rodley.
• Sto Helit, duchy, nominally ruled by Duke or Duchess of Sto Helit.
• Sto Kerrig, duchy, current ruler unknown.
• Sto Lat, kingdom, currently ruled by Queen Keli; has a mayor Joe Camels.

Other notable locations

• Big Cabbage
• Holy Wood
• Scrote

Noble families

• d'Eath (line now extinct)
• Fantailler
• Keepsake
• Ramkin
• Rodley (in Quirm)
• Rust
• Selachii
• Venturi
• Vetinari, a merchant family
• de Worde

Annotations

The idea that the inhabitants of the Sto Plains were the most technologically advanced, literate - basically better - is a parody of the notional "Western World" of Roundworld, whereby the white nations of England, Germany, France, Holland and Spain dictated the limits of knowledge and understanding, failing utterly to recognise that there were enormous advances being made in the Muslim world and in the Far East. It was a real shock to Europe to find that in many ways they were backward. In fact, they basically refused to believe it. Ronald Rusts exist everywhere. Nowhere existed, for example, until a white man had discovered it, preferably planting a flag and claiming it for his home country while he was at it. The fact that thousands of locals, travellers etc. had been discovering it on a daily basis for millennia does not count. How could it, pray? Were they white? They don't count? The troubles and strife this caused are being replicated on the Disc.