Between the escarpment of the Geato Marsh Plateau and ominous
Great Southern Forest is a region of marshy land and incomprehensibly tall
trees called the Krishtogalog. The sparsely populated region is home to the
Krishtog, the frog-peoples of Desylinn and the name of the massive trees they
use to breed and rear their young. The Krishtog form small family groups that
act individually with no competition for food or territory. Game is abundant in
the region, though dangerous, and the trees that soar hundreds of feet in the
air provide ample room for sleeping, scouting, and socializing through the
complex harmonious songs that the Krishtog sing. Their sonorous speech and deep
resonating voices fill the air with melodious music. Their songs convey the joy
they find in life through hunting, exploring or loving. Groups will sing at
night near cooking fires retelling tales and legends of their race with complex
beautiful harmonies. They also sing to deliver messages through the region and
call to protect the birthing trees.
Krishtog trees are massive soaring hundreds of feet into
the air, nearly as wide as they are tall the branches have wide hollows that
form pools of water collected by the roots and from rain fall. The largest
trees act as natural aquifers and waterfalls flow from the pools keeping the
waters fresh and pure. These trees are used as the birthing pools for the
frog-people. The eldest of the Krishtog race protect the trees, and the
younglings that survive and emerge from the pools are taught the basics of
survival and the songs of their people. Protection of the Krishtog trees is the
only time that the race can be seen fighting together in large groups.
The only city in the region is Qynjb, built in and around
the trunk of a dead Krishtog tree. Most of the population is made up of banished
criminals, typically from dwarven and lizard folk lands, scouts for the Music Guild of Hub, and those that are resisting the call of the Great Southern
Forest. Krishtog frequently visit the city, trading game for the pretty
trinkets that can be found there.
Great Southern
Forest
South of the Geato Marsh Plateau and the Krishtagolog is the
Great Southern Forest, a land with a corrupting magical influence, bizarre
creatures and potently magical plants. Created as a monument for the love that
the goddess Ariga once had for the god Mar, the vast forest ranges from alpine
forests in the rugged foothills of the Blackfire and the Dragon mountains, to thick
tropical jungles near the coast.
The magic of the forest infuses the wildlife with strange
magical properties. Many plants have innate magical effects, like potions or
elixirs. Intelligent animals are common, some awakened creatures, others
transformed mortals with animalistic tendencies. Wild fae-like creatures are
also found here, created by the magic on mortals as well. The primary residents
of the forest are druids, who feel the call of the region, and Treemen, long
lived sentient trees that help guard woods from intruders.
One of the most heavily guarded places is The Grove of the First Kiss where Ariga and Mar first made the love they once shared manifest.
It is said that anyone who can reach the grove will receive their hearts
desire. Treemen, druids and fae guard the grove vehemently with powerful
magical wards or brute force, making finding it a nearly impossible task.
Few settlements are found in the forest due to the strange magic
of the region, most are small villages or enclaves of druids, fae or animals.
The only city, Grandfather, is near the center of the forest and built around
one of the sleeping “Darag” a group of elder Treemen tasked with forever
guarding the forest. Grandfather soars hundreds of feet high, his crown lost in
the clouds above, and can be seen from as far north as the Krishtogalog on a
clear day. The city is made up of druids, touched mortals who’ve not succumbed
to changes yet and awakened animals. Along the southern coast are scattered human
settlements. The strange nature of the forest is slightly weaker here, but has
still managed to give the humans a strange preternatural appearance with some
gaining magical abilities.
The Fertile Lands
The lands where the legs and loins of the Nameless One fell
to the ground after being cast out of the heavens has become a natural uncultivated
breadbasket. Splitting the eastern side of the continent with the Blackfire
Moutains the Fertile Lands is home to the Gren and the Free Cities of Desylinn.
With rich soil, easily recognizable edible plants and abundant wild game,
foraging here is an effortless task.
The entire region is crisscrossed with a spider web of
roadways and trails that go nowhere. It’s here where the seven Families of the
gren wander in their multitudinous tribes and clans. Most ply the roads in
large wagons modeled after slave wagons used by the Empire. Others still roam
the region with tents and packs, but all use the large hounds called the chulla
as pack animals, hunting companions and guard dogs. A Gren clan’s camp is a welcoming
sight to weary travelers, their hospitality and reputation for celebration make
for a rewarding end to a day’s journey.
The Lands are divided into three distinct areas: To the far
north is the Cold Veldt, tundra running west to east along the coast. Though
the area suffers from a short growing season it still manages to have an
abundant harvest during the short summers. The middle region, called the Green,
is a mix of taiga in the north and temperate forests to the south. Full of wild
root vegetables, lettuce, asparagus and hundreds of varieties of berries as
well as small game it’s a popular route for the Gren. The largest region, the Gold
Hills, is the true breadbasket of the land and was controlled by the Empire
from the outpost of Tarn Modeshi. Spanning the bottom two-thirds of the Fertile
Lands this large plain of rolling hills is broken up by small wooded regions.
Grains grow easily in this region with lots of roaming wild herds of grazing
animals. Villages of other races can be found through this area, mostly of
mixed races though a few Kindred Pits are found in the western portion near the
border of Eartlinn.
The Free Cities
Originally only Bann Tordech, Niathal, and Chaido the Free
Cities, also known as the Cities of the Lost, were havens for those escaping
the reach of the Mariean Empire. The five cities are influential to the regions
surrounding them and mark the borders of the Fertile Lands with only Tarn
Modeshi in the center in the heart of that region.
Tarn Modeshi sits where the Orginnligh and the Faichligh
rivers meet. The city marks the end of the Great Imperial Highway, and was the
Empire’s capital fortress for the region. Surrendered without bloodshed during
the War of the Five it became a haven for anyone seeking to escape the
slaughter. It’s ruled by a council of disparate factions all vying for control
of the region, including a large group of human-blooded elves who still
maintain significant numbers in the city.
On the border with Eartlinn, the city Qlaz is hailed as the
Gateway to the Fertile Lands. Founded by a Lash-tinowish slave caravan that
stopped to wait out the War of the Five it maintains a large population of
snake-people, as well as humans who descended from the original slaves.
Nestled in the low lying foothills of the Blackfire
Mountains is the city Chaido. Thought to originally be an abandoned dwarven
outpost from the Age of Myth Chaido is controlled by a council of leaders from
Cult of the Unmakers, the Bloody Sacrament of Daikado, a contingent of
Blacksmiths that try to keep law in the lawless city and a Mage’s school, made
up of mostly wizards. Chaido is a stopping point for those seeking to travel
into the Blackfire Mountains.
On the eastern coast is the city of Bann Tordech at the
mouth of the Greater Orginnligh River. Bann Tordech, The Warrior’s City, was
founded as a refugee village for half-elves during the Mariean Empire. It’s known
to ban alchemists as a way to keep out poisons (seen as dishonorable) and most
Gren clans. The people of the city are soldiers first focusing on other
vocations second and can mobilize into a disciplined military at a moment’s
notice.
On the Cold Veldt between the north coast and the Green is
the city of Naritha. It’s the smallest of the Free Cities and home to the
winter camp of one of the seven Families of Gren. The permanent population is
small, mostly hunters and farmers who take advantage of the abundant but short
growing season. The town is peaceful with a population of dwarves, Turid
Kindred and elves and is one of the few locations outside the Ruins of Old Mariea with a Chantry of Mar. Every few years strange visitors come down from
the coast taking “willing” citizens with them when they leave.
Blackfire
Mountains
Making up the southern half of the eastern side of Desylinn is
the strange cursed peaks of the Blackfire Mountains. Named after the black
flames that appear on the mountain peaks that can be seen from a great
distance, the mountains are cursed, corrupting those who stay too long with
physical and psychological changes. It’s here where Bahu hid the worst of the Remnants of the First War and little is known about the mountains or the area beyond
them.
Rumors of corrupted mortals and strange abominations are
common and those that go into the mountains either never come back or become
monstrous. They become larger, grow extra limbs, eyes, mouths, their skin turns
to metal, glass, or stone, or they speak with voices not their own. Chaido is
the nearest settlement, but rumors persist of monasteries of the Brothers or
the Cults of the Unmaker high in the
peaks built by mad holy men. One rumored monastery is The Monastery of the
Broken Mind, where all the monks have forgotten their pasts.
Tales abound about the mountains: strange race of
translucent men, a race of winged four-armed warriors, pools of sentient acid, spells
that have gained life or a city made of glass. The few people that have come
back and maintained a portion of their sanity have confirmed such stories,
saying that is the least of what the mountains and the lands beyond hold.
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