Quadling Country Location Southern Oz Ruler Supreme Glaxony of Quadling CountryHeart-of-Mushroom

Viceroy (Emerald City appointed, formerly)

Quadling Country is the southern quadrant of the land of Oz. The inhabitants of this land are called Quadlings.

In Gregory Maguire's Wicked Years, the Quadling Country is a small, largely undeveloped and swampy region filled with destitution located directly south of the Emerald City.

It is here where Elphaba, Nessarose, and Shell are raised due to their parents' Unionist missionary work, even though they are natives of Munchkinland.

Qhoyre is the provincial capital of Quadling Country, a city located on a isthmus made of shabby, stuccoed buildings of red stone and high balconies built upon high stilts, with its red-skinned inhabitants living in hot rooms invaded by wild insects and drinking the native drink: red mint tea.

The river, Waterslip, runs along a short dry red brick road, connecting Qhoyre with two known settlements: Bengda, a village situated on a bridge, later dilapidated by the Emerald City forces, and Ovvels (the original home of Turtle Heart and Candle), a town set up as a network of cabanas built hanging in the limbs of supple trees above the salty, humid marshes and swamps of flooded groves, causing the streets to be silted with mud. Hiding underwater in the river of Waterslip there lay rubies and exotic wildlife, such as otters.

Despite its unprofitable swampy soil, Quadling Country is reported to be situated above vast deposits of rubies, and for this reason the Emerald City and other ruling forces of Oz send their armies to clear the area for mining. These campaigns results in the decimation of both the population and the ecosystem of the area.

Other campaigns involve less mining and more so the institution of military order and control along the populace. One such military campaign was led by Commander Cherrystone, who deployed his men in Qhoyre, ostensibly to find those responsible for the kidnapping of the Emerald City-appointed Viceroy and his wife and to maintain order, but imperatively to show some strength against the Quadlings for their lack of interest in the disappearance of the Viceroy. The Quadling鈥檚 quietism and general deferential nature, however, prevented the Emerald City鈥檚 army from needing to display any force. Over time, however the unit came to absorb the laid-back nature of the inhabitants, and the authorities in Emerald City became critical about their laxness, ordering them to get back on mission immediately. To adopt an appearance of keeping the Quadlings in line, and in desperation, Commander Cherrystone provoked the village of Bengda into refusing to pay an exorbitant fine and ordered a secret operation to burn the village. In the operation, many of the Bengda villagers including women and children were burned to death or drowned. The Quadlings would later attack and kill most of the army in response to the burning of Bengda. However, in retaliation, the Emerald City sent dragons to punish the Quadlings even further.

During the reigns of autocratic leaders such as the Wizard and the dual Throne Ministers, Quadling Country was overseen by a Emerald City-appointed Viceroy stationed in the Government House, a building in Qhoyre large enough to be pretentious and commanding to the populace however, in recent years the building had cracks in the plaster, mildewing whitewash, and a garden run to seed.

The last known Viceroy and his wife supposedly were kidnapped and had been missing for a unspecified amount of time before an investigation was put in place by the Emerald City, who took matters in there own hands through the military; the village of Bengda being burned in the process, however, no evidence was ever found and the Viceroy has been missing ever since.

By the time of the later years of the Emperor Apostle, Quadling Country was represented by the Supreme Glaxony: a Quadling native named Heart-of-Mushroom who came to the summit in the Emerald City at the end of Out of Oz.

Fan art portrayal of Quadling, Turtle Heart with young Elphaba Thropp

Quadlings have a dark, ruddy complexion and speak the Qua'ati language. They are typically thought of as inferior by the other races of Oz and are faced with oppression by the ruling forces of the Emerald City, starting with the Wizard who built the Yellow Brick Road into Quadling Country to allow for the collection of taxes. Despite this, Quadlings are portrayed as being artistic and sexually free, often describing their homeland as being "poor but incredibly beautiful". Quadlings also act on their impulses when so inclined, without shame or secrecy.

Most Quadlings from the village of Ovvels have the ability to read the present, a gift in which both Candle and Chumpo have.

Rain is often mistaken by the Quadlings to be a rafiqi, or guide, because of her Quadling features, which allows her and her companions safe passage through the country.

Elphaba Thropp sees similarities between Quadlings and the Yunamata tribe of the Vinkus, assuming they are distant cousins.

In L. Frank Baum's Oz, the residents of Quadling Country wear mostly the color red, which is also the color of the country itself. Some parts of Quadling Country are wealthy and grand, and other areas are dangerous and prohibited. In the original book, Glinda rules over the Quadlings as Glinda the Good Witch of the South, contrasting to the Wicked years, in which Glinda resides over the north.