The Lands: Geography

The Lands as known are just a portion of the world on which they rest. The western and eastern extent of the maps is something like a thousand miles from the shores of the Great Ocean to the Sundering Steppes. They also extend from sultry oases in the south to gelid tundra in the north and this represents a distance of over two thousand miles from the Southern Desert to the Northern Wastes. Its many latitudes influence everything from weather to ancestral complexion.

The Maps (I and II) only depict major sites and otherwise generalize natural characteristics. A blank part of the map may include small scattered hills or a smattering of sparse woodland. Those hills specifically indicated are plateaus or sometimes the foothills of mountain ranges. Forests shown are major areas of dense and permanent woodland. Rivers and lakes are shown but never the many hundreds of streams and ponds.

Only the most populous settlements are shown rather than all the tiny villages of The Lands. Settlements in more civilized areas tend to be separated at a distance of between a day of walking or riding. Hilltop keeps are intended to afford views of a similar distance. Some handfuls of villages cluster closer together in the vicinity of a fortress and share a common community spirit. Likewise a city will tend to be orbited by villages under its authority. For more information see Nations & City-States. Finally some locales will have been abandoned but these ruins may still serve as campsites for travellers.

Those few who venture beyond the confines of 'the map' tell of a barrenness that grows with every passing mile and a listlessness that can only be cured by turning back to what is known.

The key regions within The Lands are the Northern Wastes, the Wandering Lands, the Great Ocean, Westara, the Eastern Expanse, the Sundering Steppes, the Golden Plains, and the Southern Desert. These and their major features will now be described...

The Northern Wastes

The Northern Wastes are a land of permanent snow and frost in which few animals and even fewer humans survive in a life dependent on hunting and fishing. This land has the Erimer Sea as its southern border. Its only locales of interest are the Twisted Forest and the Wilderfar Mountains.

Twisted Forest

The name for this dense woodland is somewhat fanciful simply because it is a forest almost exclusively of very non-twisted if rime-frosted pine. They say however that its wind-whistling miles will twist the sanity of anyone venturing into it. Also tales are told of both wicked spell-casting hermits and gigantic spiders - the Shadow Spinners - which hide in this forbidding land. Starvation is the most ever-present danger in the Twisted Forest according to sober travelers.

Wilderfar Mountains

These extensive ranges are always covered in ice and snow and they say nothing can survive the frigid conditions and the constant blizzards of this benighted land. However legends also tell that one or more Dragons maintain lairs there.

The Wandering Lands

This land gets its name because it is the ancestral home of the Erimanic and even today Eriman barbarians wander across this cold to temperate region hunting elk. Sometimes they clash in small inter-cultural wars. Far more often however they meet in traditional gathering places to exchange goods and news. The most important of these is the Stone Of Many Things. There the barbarians carouse and compete in bare-chested tests of prowess and valour. The Wandering Lands are crisscrossed with formations known as eskers that serve as natural roads for travellers. This land was the site of much of the Age Of Tumult civil war that involved both bloody clashes of arms and the over-casting of obscene magics. As a result some say it is dotted with slowly fading yet still dire 'wild magic patches' in which peculiar things happen and spells go awry. The Wanderings Lands northern extent is the Erimer Sea while its more vague southern border extends to the Grey Hills and the Hills of Fog. It has a number of important locales as follows.

Erimer Sea

This is an inland sea that is connected in the west by the Long Loch to the Bay of Farnorth. It is fed by the River Seething and other cold waterways of the region. It surface is fresh water while its depths are salt water. In Winter its surface freezes as much as fifty miles from its northern shores. A scant number of fishing vessels plow its waters to feed the few settlements along its southern shore. One danger to fishers of the Erimer Sea is its native population of Trolls (both fresh and saltwater breeds) which relish both fishy and human flesh. Another is the surprisingly choppy conditions that sometimes form on its surface. The free city of Kinshope is situated in a cove of its southern shore.

Ruins Of Ringin

Ringin (a contraction of Ringularin) was once the capital city of the Erimanic Empire. It has been abandoned for well over a millennium and preceding that was also the site of civil war for a further five hundred years. Some say nothing can live there now because of the way in which the land was blasted by magical forces. Others however say that the city is inhabited by all manner of monsters that were once bred for the wars of the Age Of Tumult. It is likely that the ancestral mansions of long-forgotten nobility now house Wights and Wraiths. And some say that the backstreets and lanes are ruled by Dopplegangers whose greatest hope is to kill and assume the identity of visiting adventurers so that they can escape the monotony of Ringin for a new life in the wider world. The ruins are located on the shores of Circlet Lake in the Grey Hills which presumably is home to freshwater Trolls. Adventurers visit this site despite its dangers because it is also known as the greatest repository of both mundane and magical riches in all The Lands.

Mount Fate

Mount Fate is a lone mountain removed by some fifty miles from the Pillar Mountains. Its visage dominates the barren hills surrounding it. For several hundred years now it is rumoured to be the location of an underground maze and menagerie devised and ruled by a Lich known as The Castellan. Nobody knows for sure who The Castellan once was but many suspect that he was Hakon - apprentice of the fabled Arch-Mage Mons Tara whose actions helped end the Age of Glory. Some say the purpose of the Castellan is to challenge adventurers to face the dire tests of the maze so as to turn its survivors into a personal retinue of elite guards. Others however think that the maze is full of startling monsters and lethal puzzles simply because they are what amuses this ancient and eccentric undead mage.



The Great Ocean

The Great Ocean is the only ocean known to The Lands even if others may exist. It coast is in the west of The Lands and extends from icy to tropical climes. Clouds form along its coastline and tend to blow inland in an east to north-easterly direction. Its most noteworthy features are described herein...

Bay of Farnorth

A bay of the Great Ocean that connects to the Erimer Sea via the Long Loch. This is a wild stormy bay rarely visited by any ships. Eriman fishing villagers there report of seeing Selkie - seals that can assume human form - sitting on the rocks at low-tide.

Haven Island

Haven Island is the coastal island on which is located the present-day capital of the Elvish Haven. The Elvish Navy of sleek twin-hulled sailing vessels (inspired by twin-trunked trees) is docked in Velsena port on its landward side. It is an island of beautiful hills and woodland but it is often shrouded in mists. Furthermore much of its perimeter is protected by crumbling cliffs.

Bay of Nar

The Bay of Nar is a calm and temparate bay on which is located the three Sea Cities of Nartellfar, Delmisar and Orvilia. This entire land was once known to its original Elvish inhabitants as Nartellfar (long since the name only of its oldest human settlement). Another characteristic of the area is the Island of Nar located at the entry to the bay. It now belongs to the Sea Cities and a villa in its lowlands is the site of meetings of the League of Lasting Peace and Prosperity. However its hilly centre is off-limits to all humans by decree and legend says it is the site of the Elvish cemetery and garden of Endolin hidden from mundane access by powerful magics.

Pirate Isles

The Pirate Isles are a group of islands nestled in a wide gulf. The coastline of the gulf and the islands is rugged and characterised by cliffs and coves. There are many tide-line caves. Safe harbours are rare but the few that exist are all the territory of Narman and Lehenic pirates and smugglers. Recently these pirates have been unifying and the harbour town of Whistling Cove has become something of a capital (it even has a 'council chamber' for pirates that is constructed from a former sailing cog or caravel stood on end).

The Remnant

Nobody has proven it but this island is known as The Remnant because of the popular understanding that it is the only part of the legendary Mariner Isles to remain above water. It lacks any human habitation except for the encampments of shark hunters. The reefs surrounding this island are the home of a community of Merkind (which legends report are the descendants of the humans who inhabited that sunken island nation).

Farport Peninsula

This peninsula is the location of the city of Farport. It supports its own farmland and villages. Its northern coast is rugged and lined by cliffs while its southern coast sports some of the smoothest and most inviting of all beaches in The Lands.

Gaping Gulf

The Gaping Gulf is a massive bay on which the harbour of Nerina City and other Lehenic settlements are located. Vessels that try to sail along the coast south of these waters find themselves facing many perils which include sudden storms, hidden reefs, and the huge serpentine Hydra that hunt these waters for large prey (including sharks, dolphins and humans).

Ragged Isles

The Ragged Isles are a few islands named for the forbidding cliffs that characterise most of their coastline. These islands are home to a hermitage of ascetic sages and scribes which has been there for generations and exists to preserve ancient lore. Recently all contact with the Hermitage ceased. The last message from it described a shower of shooting stars that fell into the waters at night. An expedition funded by the Tower of Lore to determine what has happened has been lost without trace.

Westara

Westara is deemed to be all the lands between the Great Ocean and the Border Mountains. Its northern and southern limits are more vague. This is a temperate land and considered the most populated one overall. Despite this it still has its own wilderness including the plateau of the Brethic Hills. Westara includes in its area Haven, the Rushing River cities, the Sea Cities, Hinhome, Rolania and the Grazian Confederacy. Other important locales are as follows...

Hills of Fog

These gently rolling yet mist-shroud downs are nominally considered the territory of Meadow Elves despite the very small numbers of any habitations there. A traditional part of life for Elvish nobility involves wandering alone into these hills to track and then tame a Unicorn - the largest native wildlife of these hills. Unicorns are the product of selective breeding by generations of Elves but they are left to graze in a wild condition - the taming is a vital aspect of the forming of a bond between Elf and Unicorn and the experience is considered a rite of passage for aristocratic Elves entering adulthood.

Greenwood

This beautiful forest is part of the territory of Haven. It is home to Elvish gardeners and gatherers. It is also a habitation of the twin-trunked Tilialind Tree and the reclusive Pixie - tiny and magical creatures with whom only the Elves have an accord.

Rushing River

This river flows from the Starshine Lake in the Brethic Hills to its swampy mouth into the Great Ocean. Its shores support many farms and villages as well as two cities connected by trading barges. In Urbana they say the river is named because of its wild and rapid waters flowing from the hills. In Traviata however they think it is named for the rushes and reeds that grow along the banks of this river. The area of its mouth is a preserve for Selkie that is still patrolled by Elves for this purpose - any large permanent settlements for land-dwellers are forbidden.

River Rolling

This river flows from the Brethic Hills from many different streams, through Rolania, through the Greatwood Forest, and finally merges with the Everflow. Beaver drawn barges ply its course in Rolania but commerce is forbidden on it in the Woodland Realm. There is an annual boating contest held on it among the many aristocratic families of Rolania.

Brethic Hills

This land of hills and dales is full of tales and legends - a land of Freshwater Trolls and Will-O-Wisps. Its native humans are the Brethic. They live in scattered rural villages (with names like Fenmore and Tor Hill) ruled over by a dozen 'robber' barons and baronesses who live in small hilltop keeps (some of which are also tin mines). Villages pay taxes to these lords and ladies in the hope they will then be left alone. Culturally the villages owe loyalty much more to the Druids (one in every village) and the wandering Bards. There are structures other than villages and keeps. These include the barrows of the ancient nobility and the famed chalk carvings (the most famous of which are the Fox & Hare of Muddy Gully in the westernmost part of the Brethic Hills and the only area which survives on hospitality rather than farming). For more info on the history of the Brethic see the Legend of the Royal Brethic Dagger in Sage Scrivenings.

Deben Wood

Some say this is the oldest of all remnant forest. Definitely it has some of the oldest trees including ancient oaks and elms. This forest nestles in that portion of the Brethic Hills that become foothills of the Border Mountains. They are the traditional home of the Druidic religion and the Grand Druid keeps a rambling home and farm in a secluded meadow here. Some say she also controls a secret array of 'ley portals' allowing her Ovates to traverse The Lands at speed. From the Deben Wood mundane passes traverse the Border Mountains and access minority Brethic settlements in foothills on the other side. However travellers must beware of Orc-Goblin cross-fire in that disputed mountain territory.

Archer Hills

These gently rolling hills overlook the Bay of Nar to the west and form the rural hinterland of the Sea Cities. Some say they are named for the Elvish scouts that once wandered here. They are now the site of villages that owe allegiance to the Sea Cities and villas of rich merchants from the Sea Cities who love the slow pace of life and the marvelous views at sunset. There is also some copper mining in these hills. Finally the Univeristy Of Nartellfar is located here on Rotting Hill.

Many Hills

The Many Hills are so named simply because the Narman visitors to the area were accustomed to the coast and had never seen so many hills stretching away into the distance. They are gently rolling hills which become rugged in the centre. There are scattered farms and villages in its western parts and some iron mining in its centre. In its east are wild pastures in which Centaur hunt and play. Only recently have settlers from Grazia encroached on these fields.

Tower of Mist and Tower of Lore

There are two amazing structures made by the Elves in ancient times - the Tower of Mist and the Tower of Lore. They were constructed from huge blocks of timber that were grown into particular shapes and fitted together perfectly then magically transmuted into stone. Like all Elvish architecture they lack right-angles and twist and curve into the sky. Both towers were made to defend the inland borders of the original Elvish empire (along with other fortifications now crumbling into nothing). They were home to warriors and also the site of powerful magics.

The Hills of Fog are the location of the Tower of Mist. During the Age of Tumult a force of Eriman warriors and mages succeeded in storming the Tower of Mist and everyone on both sides perished in a bloody fray. For over a millennium the Tower of Mist was abandoned due to the tales of a spectral battle that rages forever in its halls and corridors between the magically trapped spirits of both Elves and Humans. Only recently has this changed with the occupation of the Tower of Mist by the Arcane Coterie.

On the northern borders of the Many Hills is located the Tower of Lore. Even in the Age of Tumult this citadel survived all attacks. More recently however the Elves withdrew from the area and transferred ownership of it to a council of sages called the Trust of Lore. It is now the site of a small university town to which all may come seeking illumination. The tower itself still stands and is home to a Governor chosen by the Trust.

The Eastern Expanse

The Eastern Expanse is deemed all the lands between the Border Mountains and the Sundering Steppes. Its northern and southern limits are more vague. This is a temperate region dominated by grassland. Many who stand in its vastness think of it as endless. It includes in its area Bordenia, Rovnara, Kelda, Fugitives Forge, Mount Hammer, Ivana and the Woodland Realm. Other important locales are as follows...

Border Mountains

The Border Mountains form the divide between Westara and the Eastern Expanse. They are referred to sometimes as simply 'The Mountains'. They are among the longest mountain ranges in The Lands. They are however relatively low and broken by many passes and crevasses. The northern part of the Border Mountains is inhabited by Goblins and Hobgoblins. The southern part is inhabited by Orcs. The northern and southern inhabitants are constantly at war with one another. Humans are dismissive of this war except for those who wish the cross the central mountain passes. This is something they must do carefully.

Grey Hills

The Grey Hills are a hilly plateau covering a huge area. The name comes from the fact that the hills fade to grey in the distance and standing within them can give the impression that the whole world is grey. In these wild desolate hills few humans live. It is inhabited however and wolves hunt elk and deer while bears fish in its many cool streams. There are also lone Hill Giants and the Eriman barbarians who come to challenge them. Trappers and woodcutters of Brethic tradition live in scattered habitatations. Its southern limits are the northern marches of Bordenia and includes the isolated province of Greater Tittering.

Pillar Mountains

The Pillar Mountains are the tallest in the Lands. Nobody has ever crossed these ranges - nobody that is except for the fabled Stone Giants who legend tells live in its secluded stony vales. They know the safe passages over the Pillar Mountains but one has to find and befriend them and they are most reclusive. In its foothills copper and tin are mined. To its south-east is located the Fugitives Forge - a Dwarvish citadel overlooking a waterfall that has never fallen even to a siege by Eriman warriors during the Age of Tumult.

River Lake

The swamp-fringed River Lake only exists for the few months of Spring every year. The rest of the time it is a marshland stretching between the two rivers that meet to the south to form the Everflow River. It is only once both rivers burst banks with the melting snows of the Pillar Mountains that a lake forms. Then all manner of geese and pelicans and such gather from all over the Eastern Expanse and so do hunters of those water birds. These hunters tell tales of the seductive Zamodiva while sharing drinks in the Blackbog Inn just south of the swampland. An older iteration of that same settlement now festers abandoned within the swamps but the locals are close-lipped as to its fate.

Valley of Allmeet

The Valley of Allmeet is a beautiful vale in the foothills just south of the Border Mountains. Within it is located a village and a keep which houses the garrison of Allmeet. The purpose of this military presence (funded by both Bordenia and Rolania) is to police the overland route between Westara and the Eastern Expanse. The population is constantly changing in size and composition. Because of its location and purpose the village has the sort of diversity one would expect of a city. The valley must occasionally face raids from the Orcs of the Mountains but it is always well-prepared to repel such attacks.

Greatwood Forest

Greatwood Forest extends into both the Eastern Expanse and Westara. It is deemed to be more part of the Eastern Expanse however because the Woodland Realm within it is very much in its eastern half. It is from the Wood Elves that most descriptions of the Greatwood Forest come. It is the largest forest in The Lands and is home to the tallest of all natural trees - the Greatwood Tree. The Everflow River here is lined by weeping willows. The forest is like a sea of leaves of all shapes and hues. It is home to the fabulous Griffon and (in its western half) the wild Centaur. It is also the site of a hill under which are magnificent caverns of water-carved mineral formations (stalagmites and stalactites and stone pools) that have been preserved even as the caverns have been converted into the fortress of the Elves.

Shadow Water

The Shadow Water is a deep lake named for the shadows cast onto it at Dawn by the Iron Mountains. It is a beautiful lake filled with all manner of fish. It is also the location of the free city of Ivana. Due to its location Ivana is a trading town for both the Elves of the Greatwood Forest and the Dwarves of the Iron Mountains.

Iron Mountains

This mountain range sports many mines of iron. Its foothills are pastureland for sheep and goats. One mountain stands separate from the others - Mount Hammer. It gets its name from a natural formation on its western slopes that resembles an anvil (the sharp end jutting away from the mountain) with a square block of stone above it (which the Dwarves imagine is the front of a hammer about to pound the anvil). Between the anvil and hammer is a gap which provides entry into a wonderful cavern and what was once the greatest iron mine of all time. Its ore has all been removed but now the mine has been converted into the palace of the Mountain Dwarf monarch and the foothills on the western slopes are now the site of the many-terraced city of Mount Hammer.

The Sundering Steppes

Many think that the Eastern Expanse is endless till they come to the Sundering Steppes. Young travellers ask how far they go. Old travelers answer that they extend all the way to Sunrise. The Dwarves have another thing to say however - they ask "what is the difference between nothing worth finding and nothing at all?" to which they answer "Nothing!" The Sundering Steppes are an arid plateau of moors and hills. Clumps of bushes and piles of stones are all that seems to challenge the monotony. The Katharians (a old Planavic word for 'children' suggesting that the Planavic of the Eastern Expanse think themselves to now be mature) live here in scattered clans in the old ways of the Planavic. Once every few generations however they unite into an army that sweeps west seeking battle and booty. The rest of the time they graze kine and horses across vast areas.

Seven Hills

The Seven Hills (named for the seven tallest of scores of hills) are technically part of the Sundering Steppes but are culturally deemed part of the Eastern Expanse. For most of history these hills rich in gold and silver were the site of the capital of the Dwarves. They now however are the home for a brutal band of Hill Giants that gathered from the Sundering Steppes to destroy the Dwarvish homeland. Once beautiful citadels and towns of stone (set both on the hills and inside them) are now the vandalized hovels of monsters (hovels the Hill Dwarves have sworn to one day re-take).

The Golden Plains

The Golden Plains are a wide and wild expanse of rich grassland. Much of this temperate to warm land is inhabited by wild oxen, deer, gazebo, wolves, lions and eagles. Zinda wander this land in small bands. Hunters come from as far as Grazia and Ivana to capture or kill some of its prized wildlife. Most of this land seems to be an endless haze of gently waving long grasses. However to the south are several distinctive locales...

Everflow River

The Everflow is the longest river of The Lands. It is attended by gently wooded flood plains and at its widest it traverses the pastures of Nerina. At times it is so deep as to allow seafaring galleys to voyage hundreds of miles inland. Sometimes Hydra will also travel inland along this waterway from the Gaping Gulf.

Delta Swamps

Many rivers and many more tiny streams and pools traverse this land of swamps and reeds. It is known as the Delta Swamps and sometimes locally as Queensmire. Some venture into these swamps to hunt its rich store of fish and birdlife. However they are always careful to stay to the bigger rivers due to the legend of the Formanti - a colony of insect creatures who hunt humans for sport and food just as humans do the smaller inhabitants of this land.

Hills of Plenty

The Hills of Plenty are so named for the many orchards and vineyards covering these hills in a colourful patchwork. In the vales are many small villages. They traditionally owe allegiance to the Empire of Nerina but nowadays this is only nominal and villagers are far more likely to identify with the merchants of Farport (many of whom now own holiday villas in this welcoming province). The area is also note-worthy for an array of steep-sided and stony hillocks known collectively as The Backbones which start at the fishing village of Swordfish Bend and extend well inland.



Lost Hills

The Lost Hills were once the site to which exiles from the Empire of Nerina would flee - hence those who inhabited it were those who had lost all honour and property. Then gold and silver were discovered in those rugged hills and they became a land of mining settlements served by merchants who made many a fortune. Those mines have been exhausted for a millennium and many townships sit abandoned. Others however persist on a mixture of grazing and pottery. Local legends say that some of the abandoned villas are home to lost private fortunes but that such caches are guarded by undead Mumia.

Elderwood

There is debate over the origin of the name Elderwood. Some say it is because of its age. Others however say it is due to the industry of Elderberry wine production along its northern border. It is a lovely mix of ferns and shrubbery as well as larger trees including palms towards its southern border. Rarely does this forest become thick and many travelers have walked from one end to the other. Legends persist nonetheless that hidden deep in Elderwood are meadows in which the last flock of the Pegasus live to this day.

Salty Sea

The landlocked Salty Sea is so salty that they say nothing can live in it. However generations from Nerina have reported on the vigor that comes of bathing in its waters. Also locals know that algae grows in it and can tint its waters different colours from green to blue to purple. In recent times a shooting star fell into the Salty Sea at night and the following morning its shores were shroud in an unusual mist that flowed into the city of Mirage on its shores.

Mirage

Mirage is a city of Nerina named because its beauty exceeded the expectations of all visitors to it. The city was attractive and its setting between the hills of Demona and the Salty Sea made it particularly picturesque. At one time it was even considered as an alternative capital to that of Nerina City. Recently Prognosticators have become confused by Mirage as spells tell them that - despite all evidence to the contrary - the city is now deserted.

Demona

Demona is a land of hills that are themselves the foothills of the Wyrmway Mountains. It is sparsely vegetated and is dotted with hot springs and warm muddy bogs. In ancient times the fumes were blamed on demons. It is a land of stark rock formations in which both zinc and copper are mined. Demona is a risky land to wander in because of the bogs and the occasional Manticore.

Wyrmway Mountains

The Wyrmway Mountains are known to be the oldest. The are also low by the standards of other ranges. The most distinctive characteristic of these mountains is that Wyverns roost among its craggy tops. For many miles around they can be seen circling in the sky and many assume they are Dragons.

The Southern Desert

The Southern Desert is a barren land many consider bereft of any life. This is a mistake however and there is some scattered life in this hot and arid clime. The northern borders of this land are more like grassland. Further south they cede to dunes, salt flats and stony vales. The Zinda tell tales of many rare and legendary monsters hiding in the Southern Desert. Among those named are Gorgons, Manticores and Jackalrie.

Travellers of the Southern Desert use a network of scattered oases known as the Isles of Spice & Silk. Spices abound in Lehenic lands with some of the rarer ones originating here. Silk in contrast originates in these watering holes specifically and is produced by reclusive web crickets.

From these isolated habitations come tales of the legendary Skyland - a temperate plateau hidden by an ever-diverting haze. Some say it exists further south while others say it is simply the past of the Isles of Spice & Silk which are all that is left of a once more fertile land that was engulfed by rising sands.