TEXT: The World of  
  The World of  
  The losT lands
  The losT lands
  Bill WeBB  
  Bill WeBB  
  Mark GreenBerG
  Mark GreenBerG
  
  Created By: Bill Webb
  Developer and Project Manager: Mark Greenberg
  Associate Developer: Greg Vaughan
  Authors: Casey W. Christofferson, Matthew J. Finch, Mark Greenberg, 
  Tom Knauss, Patrick Lawinger, Rhiannon Louve, Vicki Potter, 
  Anthony Pryor, Ken Spencer, Greg Vaughan, Bill Webb, and Thom Wilson
  Producer: Zach Glazar
  Editors: Jeff Harkness, Vicki Potter, and Mark Greenberg
  Art Director: Casey W. Christofferson
  Layout and Book Design: Charles A. Wright
  Cover Art: Colin Chan
  Interior Art: Colin Chan, Santa Norvaisite, Michael Syrigos, Adrian Landeros, 
  and  Artem Shukaev; with Brian LeBlanc, Eric Lofgren, Jeremy McHugh, 
  and Tyler Walpole
  Cartography: Robert Altbauer
  Special Thanks: To all of the authors, editors, artists, cartographers, 
  and playtesters over the years who contributed to the products set in 
  the Lost Lands and helped bring this world to life!
  Dedication: To our amazing fans and backers, who supported 
  our products and enabled us to ﬁ nally publish this massive and 
  long-awaited compendium of the Lost Lands! 
  And a Special Dedication to:
  Richard, Eric, Kurt, Victor, Scott, Mike, and Dean – my original party from 
  the 1970s
  Clark, John, Dale, JP, and Ian – the intrepid super-party from the college years
  Louis, Jen, Ed, Michelle, Terrace, and Brian – after all, the gods say the 
  dwarf should open it!
  Jillian, John, Claudia, Rocco, Maggie, and Cash – my genius kid group that 
  makes me wake up and plan early
  Gary and Bob – I look forward to rolling dice with you again in the future 
  (but not yet)
  ISBN: 978-1-62283-822-6
  Bill Webb, Matthew J. Finch, Zach Glazar, 
  Charles A. Wright, Edwin Nagy, Mike Badalato
  ©2019 Frog God Games. All rights 
  reserved. Reproduction without the written 
  permission of the publisher is expressly 
  forbidden. Frog God Games and the Frog 
  God Games logo is a trademark of Frog 
  God Games. All characters, names, places, 
  items, art and text herein are copyrighted 
  by Frog God Games, Inc. The mention of 
  or reference to any company or product 
  in these pages is not a challenge to the 
  trademark or copyright concerned.
  Product Identity: The following items 
  are hereby identiﬁ ed as Frog God Games 
  LLC’s Product Identity, as deﬁ ned in the 
  Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 
  1(e), and are not Open Game Content: 
  product and product line names, logos 
  and identifying marks including trade 
  dress; artifacts; creatures; characters; 
  stories, storylines, plots, thematic 
  elements, dialogue, incidents, language, 
  artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, 
  likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, 
  themes and graphic, photographic and 
  other visual or audio representations; 
  names and descriptions of characters, 
  spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, 
  personas, likenesses and sptecial abilities; 
  places, locations, environments, creatures, 
  equipment, magical or supernatural 
  abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or 
  graphic designs; and any other trademark 
  or registered trademark clearly identiﬁ ed 
  as Product Identity. Previously released 
  Open Game Content is excluded from the 
  above list.
  FROG GOD GAMES IS:
  FROG GOD GAMES IS:
  Frog God Games
  Adventures 
  Worth 
  Winning
  
  2|
  2|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  Welcome to the World of the Lost Lands! ......................................................................3
  Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 4
  Chapter I: Overview of the Lost Lands ........................................................................... 5
  Chapter II: Peoples of the Lost Lands ............................................................................12
  Chapter III: A Brief History of the Lost Lands .......................................................... 27
  Chapter IV: Religions of the Lost Lands ......................................................................39
  Chapter V: Gazetteer of the Lost Lands ........................................................................40
   Western Akados ..............................................................................................................40
   The Green Warden Forest and the Free Coast .......................................................... 77
   Southwest Akados .........................................................................................................102
   The Haunted Steppes ................................................................................................... 119
   The Lands of Reme .......................................................................................................138
   South-Central Akados ..................................................................................................156
   Southeastern Akados ...................................................................................................208
   Eastern Akados & The Stoneheart Mountains ........................................................263
   Northeastern Akados ....................................................................................................315
   The Northlands ............................................................................................................334
   Northern Libynos ........................................................................................................355
   Eastern Libynos ............................................................................................................379
   Central Libynos ...........................................................................................................405
   Southern Libynos ........................................................................................................442
  Appendix I: The Lost Lands Timeline .........................................................................466
  Appendix II: Pantheons & Gods of the Lost Lands  ..................................................487
  TABLE OF CONTENTS
  TABLE OF CONTENTS
  
  WELCOME TO THE LOST LANDS
  WELCOME TO THE LOST LANDS|3
  |3
  WELCOME TO THE WORLD 
  WELCOME TO THE WORLD 
  OF THE LOST LANDS!
  OF THE LOST LANDS!
  After more than 40 years and much collaboration with dozens (hundreds!) of people in 
  the industry, from conventions, and in my home games, my campaign world is ﬁ nally 
  seeing press. The roots of this effort go back to 1977, when gaming was still wild and free. 
  Everything then was DIY and free form. We had no supplements and had to use books as 
  the basis for what we created. We were inspired by Tolkien, Howard, Lovecraft and others 
  (and in my case, several Sci-Fi authors as well). The only campaign setting that was (even 
  partially) ﬂ eshed out was the Empire of the Petal Throne, at a towering $25 price tag 
  ($108 in today’s dollars). Later came Judges Guild and the Wilderlands, and eventually 
  Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, and other worlds that inspired thousands of gamers.
  What you have in your hands now is my version of a game world . . . vast and full 
  of adventure. The only changes from the original map (which hangs above my dining 
  room table) are that all the intellectual property violation references have been changed 
  to prevent lawsuits! My limited brain capacity has been supplemented by some of the 
  great RPG authors of our time—Greg Vaughan, Matt Finch, Vicki Potter, Pat Lawinger, 
  Anthony Pryor, Rhiannon Louve, Tom Knauss, Mark Greenberg, Ken Spencer, Casey 
  Christofferson, and Thom Wilson, and many, many others that have helped me create 
  material over the last 19 years. 
  A special shout out to Mark Greenberg, who after retiring as a corporate attorney, 
  decided to come on board as a project manager for this beast. Let’s hope that he sticks 
  around after this! 
  All in all, the whole team worked very hard to create this book. I believe that no other 
  world setting has ever been created for use in the game that incorporates this level of 
  detail in a complete package. The word count is astonishing (even more than Slumbering 
  Tsar or the Blight), and cross references have been worked in to provide reference to our 
  existing body of work.
  You will ﬁ nd within these pages not only the standard canon from our prior works, but 
  expanded histories and links detailing everything from the fall of Tsar to the creation of 
  the Wizard’s Wall. Much of the world has been derived from actual play, and the parts 
  that are not from a game were certainly created with the intention of being used for such.
  So, practice your weightlifting and enjoy reading this encyclopedia (cyclopean?) monster 
  of a book. I hope that you will have as much fun playing in my game world as I have had 
  creating it.
  Bill Webb
  11/21/19
  
  4|
  4|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  The Lost Lands …
  … the campaign world of Necromancer Games and Frog God 
  Games for almost 20 years …
  … home to locations now legendary in the annals of roleplaying, 
  from the depths of the massive dungeons of Rappan Athuk, to the city 
  of Bard’s Gate, the Desolation of Tsar, the Blight, the demon-tainted 
  Sundered Lands, the chaotic tumult of the Borderland Provinces, and 
  the fabled Northlands.
  Between these covers is the deﬁ nitive guide to the world of the Lost 
  Lands. Herein you will ﬁ nd a description of the lands and seas and 
  the skies above, the people who populate the world, an overview of 
  its history, a summary of its religions, and an enormous gazetteer with 
  thousands of entries covering nations, cities, temples, ruins, mountain 
  ranges, waterways, and other geographical features.
  For the ﬁ rst time, in a single volume, are detailed descriptions of 
  the continents of Akados — where most of the previously published 
  adventures have been located — and far Libynos, including kingdoms 
  and locations that have been only hinted at before. Here can be found 
  the locations of your favorite adventures, all set into the historical and 
  physical context of the entire world, alongside new lands that have 
  never before been revealed.
  Welcome to the Lost Lands. A lifetime of adventures awaits!
  The Lost Lands …
  its history, a summary of its religions, and an enormous gazetteer with 
  Street of Mhalta in the Empire of Alcaldar.
  
  CH. 2: OVERVIEW OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 2: OVERVIEW OF THE LOST LANDS|5
  |5
  The world of the Lost Lands has been known by many names over 
  many thousands of years. To the ancient Phoromyceaens, it was Erce 
  the Mother. In the desert lands of Khemit, it was called Geb, while to 
  the people of Far Jaati, it was Kala. The ancient Hyperboreans called 
  the world Boros, the same name they gave to the continent from which 
  they came, and the name that was most used for the world during the 
  millennia of their empire. To the Heldring, the world is called Eorth, 
  while to the Northlanders it is Midgard. But today, the most common 
  name for the world is Lloegyr, or the Lost Lands, the name it was 
  given by the Daanites after their leader Daan overthrew the undead 
  imperatrix of Hyperborea (and was himself slain), bringing to an end 
  the Hyperborean era.
  The world of the Lost Lands is large. The globe’s circumference is 
  approximately 50,400 miles, nearly twice that of our Earth.
  The known world includes two populated continents, Akados in the 
  west and Libynos in the east. To the north, under a deep sheet of ice, is 
  the lost continent of Boros, from which the ancient Hyperboreans once 
  came and to which they returned when they withdrew almost a thousand 
  years ago. Whether they live there still, and in fact whether anyone at all 
  can be found in that frozen land, remains the subject of speculation. To 
  the south are islands scattered over thousands of miles of open ocean, 
  sometimes called the islands of Arkanos, which legend says are all that 
  remains of a mighty southern continent, now almost entirely sunken 
  beneath the waves.
  Those southern seas are known as Mother Oceanus and reach unknown 
  distances to the east, south, and west. Great lines of impenetrable storms 
  known as the Tempest Meridians lie far to the east of Libynos and far 
  to the west of Akados, barring the way to whatever might be in the seas 
  beyond. The Great Ocean Ûthaf is to the north of Akados and Libynos. 
  And between those two continents is the Sinnar Ocean.
  The world circles a sun that is slightly more orange than Earth’s. 
  Two moons — Narrah, the Pale Sister, and smaller Sybil, the Dark 
  Sister — appear in the night sky alongside several wandering stars and 
  uncountable other stars. 
  And in dimensions beyond are other planes of existence, homes of 
  gods and demons.
  Such are the bounds of the Lost Lands.
  LANDS AND SEAS OF 
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE LANDS
  THE LANDS
  There are three continents in the known Lost Lands: Akados in the 
  west; Libynos in the east; and lost Boros in the north, now buried 
  beneath hundreds of feet of glacial ice.
  AKADOS
  AKADOS
  Akados is the largest of the known continents of the Lost Lands. 
  Through its center runs the greatest of the world’s mountain ranges, 
  the Stonehearts, from the icebound far north to the heart of the 
  continent in the south. In the southwest, the Crescent Sea divides the 
  western lands of the Green Realm and the Xha’en Hegemony from the 
  former lands of the Hyperborean Empire of the Foerdewaith. And in 
  the far northeast is the Irkainian Peninsula, which reaches out to the 
  shores of Libynos, separated only by the narrow Mulstabhin Passage 
  and Krivcycek Island.
  The climates within Akados are vast. In the northwest are the trackless 
  plains of the Haunted Steppes; to the north, the forests and icy rivers of 
  the Northlands and the taiga and tundra beyond; in the northeast, the 
  Vast and Irkainian Deserts; and in the southwest, the mighty forests of 
  the Green Realm.
  Akados was the ﬁ rst land conquered by the Hyperboreans when 
  they marched forth from their homeland in Boros to the north. As 
  a result, many of the human kingdoms and realms of Akados can 
  trace their origins to provinces of that empire and look back to the 
  Hyperborean era as a golden age of peace and prosperity. Only the 
  far western portion of the continent, beyond the Crescent Sea — 
  where can be found the Green Realm of the wild elves, the Xha’en 
  Hegemony, Gtsang Prefecture, and Anaros Island — never felt the rule 
  of the imperators.
  Akados is also home to the largest groups of non-humans in the 
  world, including the wild elves of the Green Realm, the high elves of 
  the forests of eastern Akados, and the clans of the mountain dwarves in 
  the Stonehearts and other mountain ranges of the continent.
  The world of the Lost Lands has been known by many names over 
  
  6|
  6|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  
  CH. 2: OVERVIEW OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 2: OVERVIEW OF THE LOST LANDS|7
  |7
  LIBYNOS
  LIBYNOS
  The continent of Libynos is much longer north to south than it is 
  wide east to west. The Sea of Baal, a huge arm of the Sinnar Ocean, 
  nearly cuts the continent in two, dividing north Libynos from central 
  and southern Libynos. The Zakros and Scythirian Mountains dominate 
  the northern part of the continent, separating the lands of the ancient 
  western city-states from the equally old Jaati in the north and the 
  Jungle of Malagro along the eastern coast. In southern Libynos, a 
  series of lakes called the Channel Lakes runs through the middle of 
  the continent, and beyond that to the south are the peaks known as the 
  Hollow Spire Mountains.
  Much of northern and central Libynos is dominated by deserts. The 
  great Maighib Desert runs the entire breadth of the continent from 
  Khartous and the shores of the Sinnar Ocean in the west to Numeda and 
  the Boiling Sea in the east. Farther north is the Desert of Oreb, in the 
  midst of the Scythirian Mountains, and northwest of that is the Ashurian 
  Desert. Even southern Libynos boasts a desert, the Kanderi south of the 
  Channel Lakes.
  Although the Hyperboreans colonized many lands on Libynos, far 
  less of that continent bears the traces of those conquerors than does 
  Akados. When the polemarchs of the imperium ﬁ rst arrived on the 
  western continent, they found humans living in sparse, nomadic 
  tribes, severely pressed by the elves of the interior forests. With such a 
  fragmented existing culture, the nations that developed on Akados took 
  on a decidedly Hyperborean ﬂ avor as they adopted the traditions and 
  religion of their conquerors.
  Libynos, on the other hand, hosted civilizations that were ancient 
  even when the ﬁ rst Hyperboreans arrived on their shores. Many cities 
  of Istaﬂ umina, Jaati, and Khemit, and the Antioch City-States, predated 
  the Hyperborean arrival. Other folk of Libynos never truly fell under 
  the sway of the conquerors. When confronted by the Ashurian Desert 
  in the north and the jungles of the south, the Hyperboreans usually 
  chose to settle only on the margins, at coastal locations or slightly 
  inland near large rivers where they could trade with those in the interior 
  without needing to mobilize sufﬁ cient forces to conquer and hold such 
  inhospitable lands. As a result, when the Hyperboreans left, most of the 
  peoples of Libynos returned to their former ways. The one exception, 
  however, being Alcaldar, a Hyperborean colony that survived the end 
  of the empire.
  Beyond Libynos to the northeast are said to be the legendary Oestryn 
  Islands, the last land before reaching the Tempest Meridians in the east.
  LOST BOROS
  LOST BOROS
  Little is known today of Boros. From this continent came the 
  Hyperboreans when they marched south to Akados. And to Boros did 
  they return when they withdrew following the end of their empire. Once 
  said to be a temperate land, it has been covered with glaciers of ice since 
  the poles of the world shifted in 2491 I.R. The relationship between the 
  Shadowlands of northern Akados, beyond the Haunted Steppes, and 
  Boros is unknown. Though the sea ice makes a demarcation between land 
  and water uncertain, it is believed that parts of what is known as the Far 
  North, beyond the Northlands, are in fact on the continent of Boros. More 
  exploration will be necessary to determine the truth of this proposition.
  In any event, the ancient and original homeland of the Hyperboreans 
  — and the remains of their civilization — are today somewhere on 
  Boros, now buried under hundreds of feet or more of ice.
  THE OCEANS
  THE OCEANS
  There are three great seas of the known Lost Lands: Mother Oceanus, 
  Great Ocean Ûthaf, and the Sinnar Ocean.
  MOTHER OCEANUS
  MOTHER OCEANUS
  Mother Oceanus, also sometimes called Great Oceanus or just 
  Oceanus, is the largest ocean in the world. Her northern boundary is 
  easy to deﬁ ne — the southern coast of Akados, the Sinnar Ocean, and 
  southern Libynos. But if there are eastern, western, or southern limits, 
  none can say. 
  As far as is known, no large landmasses lie in Mother Oceanus. Very 
  old legends tell of a great continent once far to the south, known as 
  Notos, that sank ages ago in a terrible cataclysm. If such tales are true, 
  little of these lands remains today other than scattered groups of islands, 
  which some cartographers refer to collectively as the Arkanos Islands.
  On one such island, located across more than 2,000 miles of open 
  ocean from the southern shores of Akados, is the infamous Razor Coast, 
  which is visited by ships from Castorhage, the Kingdom of Oceanus, 
  and Alcaldar. Even farther south, according to tales told in wharf-side 
  bars, are more islands — some covered with jungle, others by desert — 
  that are populated by folk unknown in the northern lands. To the east, 
  between the Razor Sea and the coast of Libynos, lie the Aizanes Islands 
  that are home to a tribal people known as the Tulita. And nearby are the 
  island homes of the so-called Pirate Confederacy. 
  Also said to be in Mother Oceanus, somewhere southwest of Akados, 
  is the fabled Island of Ra, where the equator meets the Tropic of Arden. 
  And at the extremes of Mother Oceanus, far to the west of Akados 
  and far to the east of Libynos, are the Tempest Meridians: walls of 
  fearsome, raging storms that no known ships have yet to penetrate. 
  Various kingdoms of locathah, merfolk, nereid, tritons, sea elves, and 
  sahuagin can be found in the waters of Mother Oceanus, and in the 
  deeps, monsters of terror and darkness.
  
  8|
  8|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  Beyond the few known islands, untold thousands of miles of great, 
  rolling waves and often brutal storms challenge any who might decide 
  to sail beyond the sea lanes marked on mariners’ maps.
  Along the southern shore of Akados, the South Akadian Current 
  ﬂ ows from east to west. Ships sailing from the Sinnar to the Mouth of 
  Akados and the Crescent Sea take advantage of this current, as well as 
  the prevailing winds here south of the continent, which bear from the 
  northeast. The return trip east, however, tends to be much slower, with 
  ships having to combat the current and the wind. A northern equatorial 
  countercurrent some 500 to 750 miles south of the South Akadian 
  Current ﬂ ows east all the way to the shores of Libynos. Some captains 
  seek out this current, but its distance from Akados, and the dangers of 
  the deep waters and the ﬁ ckle storms of Mother Oceanus, mean only the 
  bravest or most desperate choose such routes.
  Other than by way of brief references, the lands and seas of Mother 
  Oceanus, including the Isle of Ra, the Razor Coast, and the Aizanes 
  Islands, are outside the scope of this volume.
  GREAT OCEAN ÛTHAF
  GREAT OCEAN ÛTHAF
  Great Ocean Ûthaf is the ocean of the northern hemisphere, including 
  the Far North, and surrounds Boros and touches both the eastern shores 
  of Libynos and the western shores of Akados. It is said that nothing 
  larger than a modest island rises above the waves in all of Great Ocean 
  Ûthaf, and that before the creation of the Tempest Meridians, one could 
  sail all the way around the world without seeing a sign of land (a task 
  said to have been accomplished by ancient Jaati of northeastern Libynos, 
  who legends say sailed east until they landed at Gtsang some 15,000 
  years ago). Whether anything in fact can be found beyond the barriers 
  of the Tempest Meridians remains little more than idle speculation and 
  the subject of fevered stories told by aged sailors.
  Along the western coast of Akados, the Western Akadian Current 
  ﬂ ows north to south and brings chill waters, clouds, and rain to the 
  Thousand Rocks, Gtsang, and the Xha’en Hegemony. This current 
  continues south until it joins with the South Akadian Current of Mother 
  Oceanus, and then turns to the unknown west.
  To the east of Libynos, the warm waters of the Great Eastern Current 
  ﬂ ow from the equator, following the shores of the continent north until 
  it reaches the northernmost point of Libynos. There, the current, still 
  holding the warmth of its equatorial origins, turns west to ﬂ ow along 
  the northern shore of Irkainia toward the mouth of the North Sea. This 
  stretch of the current is known as the Cymu Current, after a group of 
  volcanic islands through which it passes on its way west. Near the 
  mouth of the North Sea, the great river of water turns clockwise and 
  heads north and east, becoming the Transborean Current. From here, 
  as the current passes the Seal Coast and other shores of the Far North, 
  the waters take on icemelt and icebergs calving from the glaciers of 
  Boros and becomes an oceanic river of cold water that runs east. At a 
  point far to the east of Libynos, the current meets the Tropic of Arden 
  somewhere in the vicinity of the Oestryn Islands. Here, the power of 
  the Tropic enters the ocean waters, and the current again warms as it 
  continues on its way east into the unknown reaches where the Tempest 
  Meridians waits.
  SINNAR OCEAN
  SINNAR OCEAN
  The Sinnar Ocean separates Akados on the west from Libynos to the 
  east. It is divided roughly in half into northern and southern sections, 
  where Ramthion Island of Akados reaches out toward the east and the 
  islands of Caddesh some 1,000 miles distant.
  In the northern Sinnar Ocean, the current ﬂ ows counterclockwise, 
  bringing ships from Endhome, Eastgate, and Port Clar to the Sea of 
  Baal. In the southern Sinnar, the current ﬂ ows clockwise, favorable for 
  those ships of Akados seeking port in Alcaldar, the Channel Lakes, or 
  the Southern Paramountcies of Libynos.
  Though the Sinnar is much smaller than either Mother Oceanus or 
  Great Ocean Ûthaf and is regularly crossed by seaborne trafﬁ c, sailors 
  and captains know well not to take this ocean lightly. Mighty storms 
  are common, both in the north where they originate beyond Irkaina in 
  the icy north and in the south where they rush in from the open seas 
  of Mother Oceanus. Vessels here are known to vanish without a trace, 
  and sometimes reappear, undamaged and intact but without a crew. 
  Various creatures of the depths live beneath the surface of the Sinnar 
  and sometimes threaten those who sail its waves. Somewhere in the 
  southern reaches is said to be a great city of the sahuagin.
  BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF THE WORLD
  BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF THE WORLD
  The astrologers of Hyperborea knew well that Lloegyr is a planet 
  circling a yellow-orange star. Orbiting in turn about this world are two 
  moons, Narrah the Pale Sister and Sybil the Dark Sister. In addition, 
  at least three “wandering stars” in the sky were recognized as other 
  planets, also in orbit around the sun. Some have speculated that those 
  other celestial bodies may be home to their own unique inhabitants, and 
  possibly entire civilizations.
  Yet all of what we can see is not all that the universe holds. There are 
  other planes of existence, far dimensions that can only be reached by 
  powerful magic or long-lost gates. Such planes or other realms include 
  Alfheim, Niðavellir and Svartalfheim (believed to be separate locations 
  within the same plane of existence), from whence came the elves, the 
  dwarves and the drow, respectively; the Upper Planes, including the 
  Seven Heavens, Elysium, Arcadia, and Asgard; the Lower Planes, 
  such as Abyss, Tarterus, Hades, Gehenna, and the Nine Hells; and the 
  Ginnungagap, also called the Yawning Void, which touches and intrudes 
  upon those infernal domains, but also occupies the nothingness that lies 
  beyond their bounds.
  A MATTER OF SCALE
  A single grid of hexes has been overlaid on the world 
  map for convenience. As the world is a globe, however, 
  the scale of the hexes must of necessity be different at 
  different latitudes. For those who wish to ignore such 
  details, a 50-mile-per-hex scale can be used throughout. 
  Those wishing more verisimilitude may adjust the scale 
  as follows:
  At 60 degrees north
  30 miles per hex
  At 50 degrees north
  40 miles per hex
  At 40 degrees north
  45 miles per hex
  25 degrees to 35 degrees north
  50 miles per hex
  At 15 degrees north
  55 miles per hex
  At the equator
  60 miles per hex
  Using this scale, the hexes in the maps in 
  Cults of the Sundered Kingdoms and Borderland 
  Provinces are both approximately 50 miles, consistent 
  with those volumes.
  A MATTER OF SCALE
  A MATTER OF SCALE
  A single grid of hexes has been overlaid on the world 
  map for convenience. As the world is a globe, however, 
  the scale of the hexes must of necessity be different at 
  different latitudes. For those who wish to ignore such 
  details, a 50-mile-per-hex scale can be used throughout. 
  Those wishing more verisimilitude may adjust the scale 
  as follows:
  At 60 degrees north
  30 miles per hex
  At 50 degrees north
  40 miles per hex
  At 40 degrees north
  45 miles per hex
  25 degrees to 35 degrees north
  50 miles per hex
  At 15 degrees north
  55 miles per hex
  At the equator
  60 miles per hex
  Using this scale, the hexes in the maps in 
  Cults of the Sundered Kingdoms and Borderland 
  Provinces are both approximately 50 miles, consistent 
  with those volumes.
  
  CH. 2: OVERVIEW OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 2: OVERVIEW OF THE LOST LANDS|9
  |9
  WEATHER AND CLIMATE OF
  WEATHER AND CLIMATE OF
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  Similar to the Earth, the climate of Lloegyr is heavily inﬂ uenced by 
  the axial tilt of the planet, which is approximately 25 degrees relative to 
  its orbital plane with the sun.
  As a result, the northernmost latitude at which the sun can appear to 
  be directly overhead, on the summer solstice, is at 25 degrees north. This 
  latitude is also known as the Tropic of Freya. On Akados, it runs through 
  the Worntooth Peaks, the southern extent of the Blackrock Mountains, the 
  southern ﬁ efdoms of the Kingdom of Foere, and Old Burgundia to the 
  east. Similarly, the southernmost latitude at which the sun can be directly 
  overhead, on the winter solstice, is at 25 degrees south, known as the Tropic 
  of Mithras. This latitude is well south of the southern shores of both Akados 
  and Libynos, though some say it is near the location of the Razor Coast.
  The equator lies approximately 1,700 miles south of Akados, and 
  crosses Libynos in the region of the Southern Paramountcies.
  The arctic circle on Lloegyr is at approximately 65 degrees north; at 
  this latitude and farther north, the midnight sun (when in the summer 
  the sun never appears to set) is visible at least one day of the year. 
  Above this latitude are the Shadowlands north of the Haunted Plain, the 
  northernmost reaches of the Stonehearts, the Far North and, somewhere, 
  the continent of lost Boros.
  Another factor unique to Lloegyr also has a substantial effect on the 
  climate of Akados and Libynos. When the god Arden sacriﬁ ced himself to 
  banish invading hordes of the frog demon Tsathogga in –182 I.R., the very 
  fabric of the world was rent, creating what is now known as the Tropic of 
  Arden. Unlike the other tropics which parallel the equator, the Tropic of 
  Arden lies at an oblique angle to the equator, which it crosses in Mother 
  Oceanus at a point southwest of Akados (where legend says can be found 
  the Isle of Ra). From there, the Tropic reaches the coast of Akados near the 
  Cinderhame Mountains, and then crosses, in turn, the southernmost reaches 
  of the Green Realm, the Crescent Sea, the Kingdom of the Vast, the Plains 
  of Eaux and the northern domains of Foere, the southern Stonehearts and 
  the Dragon Hills. From there, the Tropic passes over the Gulf of Akados, 
  and then through Irkaina and the northernmost regions of Libynos.
  More than just a geographic designation, the Tropic of Arden in fact 
  constitutes a powerful atmospheric effect that refracts the sun’s light in 
  ways that change the climate of areas a thousand miles or more to either 
  side of the Tropic. Part of the effect seems to redirect solar energy from 
  lands in the Tropic’s inﬂ uence in the southwest toward the northeast. 
  As a result of this effect, the southern regions of Akados are much more 
  temperate and less tropical than would be expected of such southerly 
  latitudes; and in fact, the Helcynngae Peninsula, not far from the equator, 
  has the cool climate one would normally only see in a region much 
  farther north. On the other hand, the area around Freegate on the coast 
  of the Gulf of Akados is known for its remarkably subtropical clime.
  Passing over the northern Gulf of Akados and Irkaina, the Tropic 
  of Arden heats and desiccates the air, giving rise to both the Vast and 
  Irkainian Deserts, while also creating an odd coriolis effect that brings 
  moisture off the northern Sinnar to the Buntesveldt and Pelshtaria. In 
  Libynos, the Tropic causes the Ashurian Desert and the Maighib Desert 
  to be hot and dry though they are in northern and middle latitudes, 
  respectively, while across the Jungteran Mountains it brings warmth and 
  moisture to the lands of Jaati and the northeast coast of the continent.
  Prior to the shift of the world’s poles in 2491 I.R., the angle between 
  the equator and the Tropic of Arden was substantially less, mitigating the 
  effect the Tropic had on weather and climate. Since the pole shift, however, 
  the angle increased substantially, which has resulted in a concomitant 
  increase in the effect the Tropic has, particularly the regions farther north.
  SKIES OF THE LOST LANDS
  SKIES OF THE LOST LANDS
  The world of Lloegyr circles a yellow-orange sun known by the 
  Foerdewaith as Rana. Among the Ashurians, it is called Tascheter; to 
  the Hyperboreans, Solanus; and Mitra among the Jaata.
  The night sky is dominated by the two moons that orbit the world: 
  Narrah, also known as Luna, the Pale Sister, and Sybil, the Dark Sister. 
  Narrah is larger and bright, showing a crater-scarred face much like 
  Earth’s moon. Legends in some parts of the world, such as in the Yolbiac 
  Vale, claim that denizens of Narrah invaded the Lost Lands in the distant 
  past. The goddess Narrah is associated with this moon. Sybil is smaller 
  and dim, appearing an almost bluish-black when full in the night sky. 
  Evil portents attend this moon, which is associated with the goddess 
  Cybele. Times when both moons are full in the sky are of particular 
  importance to a number of faiths.
  Wheeling over the night skies of Lloegyr are a multitude of stars. 
  Among the best known are Oliarus, the Pole Star (known to the Daanites 
  ZODIACAL CONSTELLATIONS 
  ZODIACAL CONSTELLATIONS 
  Name
  Meaning
  Aspects
  Calade
  Hawk of Fate
  Associated with Arden in Hyperborean and pre-Hyperborean times, now associated 
  with the Tropic of Arden
  Draconis
  The Dragon
  On certain (un)holy days, the planet Xharos/Erebos is the dragon’s eye
  Irminsul
  Pillar of the 
  Gods
  The star Irminsul is at its peak
  Nodens
  God of the Sea
  Skiðblaðnir
  Ship of the Gods
  Also known as Sektet, Ra’s Solar Barge
  The Host
  The Army
  Appears as a hazy expanse of starlight
  The Ninefold Lamp
  An important constellation to the old gods (Daanite/Ancient Ones)
  The Sickle
  Called the Wheel by the followers of Jamboor
  The Sphinx
  The King of 
  Boros
  Associated with the Great Sphinx of Khemit; symbol of the 
  Imperial Mercantile League
  The Springald
  The Crossbow
  Also known as the Hammer or Donar’s Hammer, appears to be striking toward 
  Yales/Jörmungandr
  The Tesseract
  Shaped like a square of four stars within a larger square of four stars 
  The White Wolf
  Yales
  The Devil
  Also known as Jörmungandr the World Serpent among the Northlanders and Apep 
  the Eater of Souls in Khemit
  
  10|
  10|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  as Sidhe, the Star of the Otherworld); Solaris, the Lightstar, which was 
  the pole star before the world’s poles shifted in 2491 I.R.; Aether, Star of 
  the Upper Air; the Blót Star, or the Star of Sacriﬁ ce; Irminsul, the Pillar 
  of the Gods; and Eärendel, the star of the morning.
  In the astrology of the Hyperboreans, which has been passed down 
  to many of the cultures of Akados and Libynos, the stars combine to 
  form various constellations. Two such are known as Freya and Mithras. 
  Thirteen other constellations, which proceed one after another in a great 
  circle about the sky, form the zodiac, which deﬁ nes the 13 lunar months of 
  the year. The zodiacal constellations are presented on the previous page. 
  In addition, certain other “wandering stars” travel among the ﬁ xed stars 
  in the night sky in patterns that the wise can come to understand. Among 
  these are Mulvais the Red Star, Cyril the Blue Chariot, and Xharos the 
  Black Star (also known as Erebos, the Dark Star, and the Lower Air). 
  The astrologers of ancient Hyperborea believed these to actually be 
  other planets circling the sun in far-distant orbits, just as does Boros. The 
  Hyperboreans also believed that other planets existed in addition to these 
  three, but that they are so far away that they remain unseen by mortal 
  eyes. Some have speculated that those other celestial bodies could be 
  home to their own unique inhabitants and possibly entire civilizations.
  TIME AND CALENDARS OF 
  TIME AND CALENDARS OF 
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  When the Hyperboreans came south out of Boros to invade the lands 
  of Akados and Libynos, they brought with them a calendar that to this 
  day remains the basis for the calendars of most cultures around the world.
  In the Hyperborean calendar, a week consists of seven days. A fortnight 
  is a period of two weeks with a festival day in between, and so consists of 
  15 days. Two consecutive fortnights make a month of 30 days. There are 12 
  months in each year, which also includes a High Holy Day on each solstice 
  and each equinox. As a result, a year consists of 364 days, which is very 
  close to the length of an actual solar year. Approximately every 250 years, 
  the churches join in a conclave at which they agree to add a number of 
  additional days to the year — usually as additional holy days at the solstices 
  — to ensure that the seasons continue to occur at the correct times each year.
  Unlike the civil and religious calendar, astrologers follow a 13-month 
  calendar that is lunar and reﬂ ects the passage of the moons through the 
  zodiacal constellations.
  In 2768 I.R., Overking Magnusson of Foere imposed the common calendar 
  that is now in use throughout most of Akados in honor of his completion 
  of the imperial capital of Courghais. It shows evidence not just of its origin 
  in Hyperborean astrology, but also reﬂ ects the impact of other peoples on 
  the Foerdewaith, including the years of Heldring occupation following the 
  departure of the Hyperboreans. The latter inﬂ uence is particularly notable 
  in the names for the months (many of which end in “mond,” a derivative of 
  the Heldring word for month) and in the names of the days of the week (all 
  of which end in “dag,” a derivative of the Heldring word for day).
  MONTHS IN THE LOST LANDS
  MONTHS IN THE LOST LANDS
  Common Name
  Hyperborean 
  Name
  Earth Equivalent
  Oeros
  Firstmonth
  January
  Foeros
  Secondmonth
  February
  Freyrmond
  Thirdmonth
  March
  Eostre
  Fourthmonth
  April
  Tiwemond
  Fifthmonth
  May
  Daan
  Sixthmonth
  June
  Haymond
  Seventhmonth
  July
  Hummidos
  Eighthmonth
  August
  Mithrond
  Ninthmonth
  September
  Blótmond
  Tenthmonth
  October
  Winterfyll
  Eleventhmonth
  November
  Yule
  Twelfthmonth
  December
  The High Holy Days of each year are the two solstices and the two 
  equinoxes. In southern Akados, the exact dates of the solstices and 
  equinoxes are determined by the Order of Corollaries at the Reliquary 
  of Jamboor in the Rampart Mountains. Such dates are not considered 
  part of the month in which they fall.
   DAYS OF THE WEEK
   DAYS OF THE WEEK
  Solsdag
  For Solanus, the Goddess of the Sun
  Ardsdag
  For Arden, the God of Life (formerly Anumesday)
  Djinsdag
  For Da-Jin the God of Death
  Mootsdag
  The Day of the Market
  Manesdag
  The Day of Souls
  Sistersdag
  For Narrah and Sybil, the Goddesses of the 
  Moons
  Thingsdag
  The Day of the Government (for the Heldring 
  assembly)
  Not all peoples of the Lost Lands use this calendar. Castorhage adopted a 
  slightly modiﬁ ed version of it. On Akados, the Xha’en Hegemony, Gtsang 
  Prefecture, and Anaros Island have separate and unique calendars. Most of 
  the major cultures on Libynos also have their own calendars, though many 
  in large cities are aware of the Foere system, particularly merchants and 
  sailors who have need of a way to coordinate oceanic shipments.
  In the calendar of Foere, dates are still tracked by the Hyperborean 
  Imperial Record (I.R.), for which year 1 is the year in which the Battle of 
  Hummaemidon occurred. Those outside the historical dominion of the 
  Hyperboreans and Foerdewaith, or where the depth of their inﬂ uence 
  Calendar
  Abbreviation
  Year 1
  Event
  Principally Used By
  Erylle Cycle
  E.C.
  –6484 I.R.
  First Elven Exodus
  Elves
  Xha’en Calendar
  XC
  –1302 I.R.
  Founding of city of Xha’ahan
  Xha’en Hegemony, Gtsang 
  Prefecture, Anaros Island
  Imperial Record
  I.R.
  1 I.R.
  Battle of Hummaemidon
  Former Hyperborean and Foere 
  domains
  Blessed Year
  B.Y.
  482 I.R.
  Year Mah-Barek arrived in 
  Ashurian Desert
  Caliphate and worshippers of 
  Mah-Barek
  Huun Chronicle
  H.C.
  2496 I.R.
  Founding of Huun nation
  Huun
  New Khemit Reckoning
  N.K.R.
  2632 I.R.
  Release of Khemit from 
  Hyperborean hegemony
  Khemit and traders in Sea of Baal
  MAJOR CALENDARS OF THE LOST LANDS
  MAJOR CALENDARS OF THE LOST LANDS
  
  CH. 2: OVERVIEW OF THE LOST LANDS|11
  was limited, usually use a different, local calendar. Such others include 
  the Erylle Cycle among the elves, the Reckoning of Kings in Khemit, 
  the Xha’en Calendar, the Blessed Year calendar in the Ammuyad 
  Caliphate, and the Huun Chronicle. In some regions, multiple calendars 
  may in fact be in use; in Khemit, for example, many dates are given by 
  the applicable year of a given dynasty.
  TECHNOLOGY 
  TECHNOLOGY 
  IN THE LOST LANDS
  IN THE LOST LANDS
  The information blocks for many entries in Chapter V contain a line 
  called “Technology Level.” This item indicates the level of technological 
  achievement generally found throughout the land in question. Exceptional 
  individuals or groups may have access to a higher technology level or live 
  at a lower level, but for a given area this should give a general guideline 
  of the types of weapons, armor, and equipment found there. These levels 
  can vary even between neighboring nations as one may be more insular 
  and cut off from outside contact and ideas while another may be open to a 
  great deal of trade that brings in new innovations from outside.
  It should be noted that the technology levels presented herein are not 
  meant to represent real-world advancements in technology. There is, 
  perhaps, a loose correlation in some of it, but it is instead intended to 
  represent the developments of technology in the world of the Lost Lands.
  The technology levels used in Chapter V are as follows:
  STONE AGE
  STONE AGE
  Materials: clay vessels, furs, hides, horn, stone tools and 
  weapons, some copper, wood
  Armor: hide armor
  Weapons: dagger, javelin, shortbow, spear
  Warfare: ambush, raiding bands, single combat
  Settlements: rock shelters, semi-permanent camps
  Social Organization: tribes/bands
  Transportation: paddled craft, trained animals
  General: animal domestication, ﬁ re, horticulture, log rollers
  BRONZE AGE
  BRONZE AGE
  Materials: bronze tools and weapons, crude glass items, linen, 
  papyrus, wool
  Armor: breastplate, leather armor, padded armor
  Weapons: composite shortbow, short sword
  Warfare: organized armies, city walls (large city-states only)
  Settlements: capitals, cities, towns
  Social Organization: city-states
  Transportation: chariot, oars, sails, side rudder, wheel 
  General: agriculture, corbelled arch, hand loom, lever, oil lamp, 
  plow, potter’s wheel, pulley, sundial
  IRON AGE
  IRON AGE
  Materials: cotton textiles, iron and steel tools and weapons, 
  parchment
  Armor: ring mail, scale mail, studded leather
  Weapons: longbow, longsword
  Warfare: cataphracts, catapults, hill forts
  Social Organization: nations/empires
  General: arch, dome, locks, loom, screw, water wheel
  DARK AGES
  DARK AGES
  Materials: cold iron, felt, porcelain, silk, silvered weapons
  Armor: chain shirt, chainmail
  Warfare: fortiﬁ ed towns (wooden stockades)
  General: horn window panes, hourglass, masterwork items
  HIGH MIDDLE AGES
  HIGH MIDDLE AGES
  Materials: adamantine, mithral
  Armor: half-plate armor
  Weapons: composite longbow, greatsword, lance
  Warfare: castles, cavalry
  Social Organization: guilds
  Transportation: stern rudder, stirrup
  General: Gothic arch, lantern, spinning wheel, waterclock, 
  windmill
  MEDIEVAL
  MEDIEVAL
  Materials: paper
  Armor: full plate, tower shield
  Weapons: bastard sword, crossbow, rapier, warbow
  Warfare: trebuchet
  Transportation: astrolabe, compass
  General: buttons, crude glass window panes, mechanical clock, 
  mirror, power loom
  RENAISSANCE
  RENAISSANCE
  Materials: ﬁ nely-ground glass
  Transportation: caravels, coach lines
  General: ﬁ ne glass windows, glass lenses, printing press
  In certain published works by Frog God Games set in 
  the Lost Lands, such as The Blight and Razor Coast, 
  available technology includes such things as gunpowder, 
  cannons, and ironclad warships. Given that much of 
  the Lost Lands are at levels where such advances do 
  not exist (Medieval, High Middle Ages, and even Dark 
  Ages being common), the possession of such superior 
  technology by other realms poses issues of consistency. 
  Would not those with access to steam power and 
  cannons rule the waves? Wouldn’t heavy armor such as 
  plate cease to be in use in a world where handguns are 
  available? This problem is even noted in the introduction 
  to the Swords & Wizardry version of Razor Coast, 
  which suggests that the Razor Coast be separated from 
  areas of a traditional fantasy campaign by a planar 
  barrier, a physical barrier, enormous distances, or 
  barriers in space or time. 
  For players and Gamemasters who prefer a fantasy 
  setting without advanced technology, we have written 
  this volume to exclude references to gunpowder, cannons, 
  handguns, steam power, and ironclads. For those 
  purposes, it is assumed that Castorhage does not have 
  access to such technology. As the Razor Coast does not 
  work well in a pre-17th century setting, that region is 
  not covered by this volume, though some references are 
  included in various places. A GM preferring a lower 
  technology setting will have to modify The Blight
  accordingly if that text is used, as well as determine how 
  to include the contents of Razor Coast, or whether to 
  design such region afresh.
  Those who prefer a higher level of technology, or those 
  not concerned with having divergent technology levels, 
  are free to include that technology and incorporate 
  The Blight and Razor Coast as published.
  In certain published works by Frog God Games set in 
  the Lost Lands, such as The Blight and Razor Coast, 
  available technology includes such things as gunpowder, 
  cannons, and ironclad warships. Given that much of 
  the Lost Lands are at levels where such advances do 
  not exist (Medieval, High Middle Ages, and even Dark 
  Ages being common), the possession of such superior 
  technology by other realms poses issues of consistency. 
  Would not those with access to steam power and 
  cannons rule the waves? Wouldn’t heavy armor such as 
  plate cease to be in use in a world where handguns are 
  available? This problem is even noted in the introduction 
  to the Swords & Wizardry version of Razor Coast, 
  which suggests that the Razor Coast be separated from 
  areas of a traditional fantasy campaign by a planar 
  barrier, a physical barrier, enormous distances, or 
  barriers in space or time. 
  For players and Gamemasters who prefer a fantasy 
  setting without advanced technology, we have written 
  this volume to exclude references to gunpowder, cannons, 
  handguns, steam power, and ironclads. For those 
  purposes, it is assumed that Castorhage does not have 
  access to such technology. As the Razor Coast does not 
  work well in a pre-17th century setting, that region is 
  not covered by this volume, though some references are 
  included in various places. A GM preferring a lower 
  technology setting will have to modify The Blight
  accordingly if that text is used, as well as determine how 
  to include the contents of Razor Coast, or whether to 
  design such region afresh.
  Those who prefer a higher level of technology, or those 
  not concerned with having divergent technology levels, 
  are free to include that technology and incorporate 
  The Blight and Razor Coast as published.
  
  12|
  12|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  The origin of humans in the Lost Lands is shrouded in the mystery 
  of ancient eons. Evidence of Neolithic groups of humans dates back at 
  least as far as the so-called Age of Man, perhaps 100,000 years ago. A 
  few scholars have, based on very sparse evidence, suggested that some 
  humans may have in fact lived in far earlier times, though such views 
  are controversial to say the least.
  A vast diversity of people now populates the Lost Lands. In most 
  regions of the world today, the local folk either view their region as an 
  ancestral homeland or based on legends and myths can tie themselves 
  to a group that migrated to their present location at some time in the 
  past. Many groups show clear evidence of being the result of the 
  intermingling of two or more earlier populations that, for a period of 
  time, found themselves living in close proximity to one another.
  While the humans of the Lost Lands vary substantially in appearance 
  from one group to another, in many ways their differences in culture and 
  tradition outweigh differences in physical characteristics. The summary 
  in this chapter attempts to set forth some of the more notable distinctions, 
  but it should be noted that any description of a group of people by 
  deﬁ nition must speak in generalities, and variations and exceptions in 
  even the smallest populations certainly exists. In addition, this is not 
  intended to be a comprehensive identiﬁ cation of all human and non-
  human folk in the world, omitting some that either are not numerous or 
  have had a very limited impact on others in the Lost Lands, as well as 
  others that are perhaps yet to be revealed. 
  A substantial majority of the non-human races, such as elves, dwarves, 
  gnomes, and halﬂ ings, in the Lost Lands settled on Akados. The Green 
  Realm of southwestern Akados is the homeland for the largest population 
  of wild elves in the world, while high elves can be found principally in 
  the central and eastern parts of the continent. Nearly all of the dwarven 
  clans who came to the world from Niðavellir made their eventual homes 
  in the great mountain chains of Akados, and most particularly in the 
  Stonehearts; though hill dwarves are spread more widely around the 
  world and even have a sizable population in Shamash Kush in eastern 
  Libynos. But as a general rule, fewer of the non-human races will be 
  seen in Libynos than in Akados.
  ANARI
  ANARI
  The Thousand Rocks and Anaros Island are home to the Anari, a hardy 
  and skilled people known for their martial expertise and artisanship. 
  According to their legends, the Anari once lived on the continent to the 
  east and ﬂ ed to their current island homelands to escape a terrible war 
  and an army of demons led by evil gods and powerful sorcerers. The 
  Anari themselves date their arrival on the islands to 1313 XC (or 11 
  I.R.), which has led some scholars to speculate that the Hundaei may 
  have been the proximate cause of the Anari’s ﬂ ight.
  The Anari appear to be related to the Xha’en people, though they tend 
  to be a bit shorter on the average than their continental cousins. Much like 
  the Xha’en, Anari typically have dark hair, usually brown or black though 
  red hair is not uncommon, and tawny skin tones. Their eyes tend to be 
  black, brown, or dark green.
  Culturally, Anari are part of a feudal society where duty to a lord is 
  considered a paramount virtue. However, nobles are expected to share 
  hardship with their people. In times of crisis, food, water, shelter, and 
  other necessities are shared among all Anari regardless of their social 
  status. Monastic study and skill at arms are also highly prized by the 
  Anari, whose monks and warriors are among the ﬁ nest in the world.
  The Anari speak their own language, also known as Anari, and use a 
  syllabic alphabetic writing system derived from that in use in Xha’en.
  BERRINI
  BERRINI
  The folk known as the Berrini live between Irkaina and the Northlands, 
  primarily in Brounthia, including Hesten and Monrovia. Their name is 
  derived from Lake Berring, which is near the center of their homeland. 
  Among themselves, they sometimes refer to their people as the Hibor.
  In fact, the Berrini are largely descended from ancient Hyperboreans 
  who settled the region thousands of years ago. When the Great Darkness 
  fell upon the Gulf of Akados in 1491 I.R. following the destruction of 
  Tsar, the people of this region lost almost all contact with the rest of the 
  Hyperborean Empire. Although the Great Darkness lasted only three 
  years, the creation of the Burning Waste ensured that they remained 
  mostly isolated from their kin through the eventual end of the empire.
  Though intermarriage with the local plains tribes has undoubtedly occurred, 
  the physical characteristics of the Berrini are certainly quite distinct from any 
  
  CH. 3: PEOPLES OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 3: PEOPLES OF THE LOST LANDS|13
  |13
  of their neighbors. They tend to be lean and pale-skinned, with sharp facial 
  features and dark hair, though some families have very fair, often straw-gold 
  hair. Eye colors are almost uniformly light, from blues to greens to even pale 
  golds. Those who have studied the Berrini note similarities between them and 
  the people of Freegate who also claim Hyperborean heritage.
  The Berrini speak a language they also call Hibor, a heavily modiﬁ ed 
  dialect of High Boros. Most Berrini also speak Common.
  CASTORHAGERS
  CASTORHAGERS
  Scholars debate whether the folk of Castorhage (known as 
  Castorhagers in polite society and “Blighters” everywhere else) should 
  be considered a unique ethnicity. Most of the people of the city-state are 
  derived from various groups found throughout central Akados, and in 
  that regard are similar to those who are labeled Foerdewaith. That being 
  said, Castorhagi society has existed on Insula Lymossus for more than 
  3,500 years, and the culture and outlook of the people have clearly been 
  heavily inﬂ uenced by the city in which they live.
  This is most clearly the case with respect to the people known as the 
  “Blighted” who make up perhaps a third of the human population of 
  the city. They bear the mark of living in the Blight in body and soul, 
  and show an unusual degree of physical afﬁ nity for their position or 
  occupation, as if the city has crept into them and become a part of their 
  very being. Though the Blighted are ordinary on the streets of the city-
  state, outsiders ﬁ nd something just a bit off about them, as if they carry 
  with them a bit of the ill-regarded city.
  Castorhagers are divided into several different castes, the most 
  common of which are the Lowfolk. They speak Common (or a slightly 
  modiﬁ ed version thereof).
  CORALITE
  CORALITE
  The Coralites, once known as the Yalts, occupied the lands now 
  known as the Domain of Hawkmoon in southeastern Akados until 2496 
  I.R., when they sailed en masse to a coral reef in the Sinnar Ocean where 
  they founded the city of Coralis.
  A peaceful folk, Coralites stand four to ﬁ ve feet tall and have a bulky 
  build. Their skin is a deep, rich chocolate color, and their hair is long, 
  dark, and streaked with red or blonde. Both men and women wear 
  garments of diaphanous silk in bright, vibrant colors. The Coralites are 
  known for their art, learning, and music. They have evolved to facilitate 
  underwater exploration around their reef and are able to dive to 1,000 
  feet without suffering negative effects.
  Coralites speak their own unique language.
  DAANITES
  DAANITES
  The native residents of the island of Ynys Cymragh (known as Insula 
  Extremis to the Hyperboreans), Daanites tend to be well-muscled if a bit 
  shorter than the average, with ruddy or freckled skin, and hair ranging 
  from brown to red. Their eyes likewise range from brown to blues and 
  
  14|
  14|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  greens. They are rare sights outside of their island, though some trade 
  widely, as far as Castorhage. 
  The folk of Ynys Cymragh took the name Daanite in honor of their 
  high king Daan, who perished after slaying the undead imperatrix of 
  Hyperborea at Tircople in 2584 I.R. Most people of Akados hold the 
  Daanites in varying degrees of reverence for their sacriﬁ ce in ending 
  that dark queen’s rule.
  The Daanites speak their own language, known as Ogham, though 
  most speak Common as well. The formal name of the world, Lloegyr, is 
  derived from Ogham, and literally means “Lost Lands” in that tongue. 
  While most use the term to refer to the entire world, when Daanites use 
  it they mean the world other than their home island of Ynys Cymragh.
  ERSKAELOSI
  ERSKAELOSI
  The Erskaelosi were, in origin, a nomadic group of people who 
  wandered the Irkainian Peninsula from the lands of the Buntesveldt 
  to what is now the Principality of Pelshtaria. At the time of the Great 
  Darkness, many of them ﬂ ed west and south, but found little welcome 
  and less opportunity in their travels until they ﬁ nally reached the 
  Kingdom of Burgundia on the Sinnar Coast. There they constructed the 
  city of Tyr as a new homeland. 
  After the fall of Burgundia in 3354 I.R., many displaced Erskaelosi 
  began to wander once again. The wide-open places of the Unclaimed 
  Lands of the northern Borderland Provinces and the Plains of Mayfurrow 
  north to the Dragon Hills proved to be sparsely settled and offered a 
  degree of freedom from persecution not experienced since the height 
  of Burgundia. Mayfurrow has since become a more settled realm with 
  only a few small bands of Erskaelosi wandering about, always careful to 
  avoid agitating the villages and steadings of the plains. But to the north 
  many large bands of Erskaelosi still run free.
  While the Erskaelosi get along well with Plainsmen and the Riverfolk, 
  they tend to be looked at suspiciously by city folk, who often see them 
  not so much as neighbors but rather as a potential threat. For their part, 
  the bluff and boisterous Erskaelosi have no qualms about reinforcing 
  these stereotypes as an excuse to drink hard and play hard.
  Erskaelosi tend be tall and stocky, with weather-beaten — often 
  freckled — skin, and brown or black hair worn long and loose by men 
  and women alike. Their eyes range from dark browns to bright greens. 
  They are usually garbed in rough skins and are prone to tribal symbols 
  tattooed or branded upon their face, arms, and chest.
  The people who now live in the Buntesveldt and, to a lesser degree, 
  Pelshtaria, share a heritage with the Erskaelosi, but centuries of 
  intermarriage with Hyperboreans, other tribes, and Ashurians from 
  the Caliphate led these peoples to deviate substantially in culture 
  and appearance.
  FOERDEWAITH
  FOERDEWAITH
  The Foerdewaith are by far the most commonly found ethnicity in the 
  eastern half of Akados. These humans descend from the many indigenous 
  tribes that dwelt in the lands conquered by Hyperborea thousands of 
  years ago. During the years of Hyperborean rule, they largely assimilated 
  into an amalgamated people, though regional differences certainly 
  existed. After being left behind when the Hyperboreans withdrew 
  from Akados, these folk eventually became part of the hegemony of 
  Foere started by Macobert, the ﬁ rst Foerdewaith overking. Although 
  the Foerdewaith were identiﬁ ed as a single people during the height 
  of the Foerdewaith monarchy, this was true only as an ethnicity and a 
  broadly shared cultural heritage from the Hyperboreans and the later 
  rule of the overkings. Most Foerdewaith throughout Akados identify 
  themselves as members of smaller regions. The term Foerdewaith is 
  now commonly used to refer to the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Foere 
  and those (mainly the nobility) who can trace ancestries leading back to 
  the kingdom. These “Foerdewaith of Foere” consider the bloodline to 
  be a sign of superiority.
  The Foerdewaith of western Akados tend to have fair skin and aquiline 
  features, with darker hair colors and eyes of gray, blue, or violet. Those 
  of eastern Akados tend to broad features; brown, light brown, or blond 
  hair; tan to light-brown skin; and brown, black, green, or hazel eyes. The 
  Foerdewaith of southern Akados have lighter skin tones with brown to 
  blond to red hair, and deep brown to light hazel eyes.
  Almost all Foerdewaith speak Common, though some eastern 
  Foerdewaith traditionalists still speak Gasquen.
  GAELEEN
  GAELEEN
  A people unique to the Gaelon Valley, these riverfolk ply the waters of 
  the mighty Gaelon, ﬁ shing with line and hook and nets in large family 
  groups from light, ﬂ at-bottomed skiffs. They sell their catch at the great 
  trade-road bridges, in the markets of wealthy Endhome, or among the 
  innumerable villages that line the shores up and down the river and its 
  countless tributaries.
  The Gaeleen deny any relation to the peoples of the Kingdoms of Foere 
  and instead claim to have been born of the river itself and use their tendency 
  to be skilled swimmers as alleged “proof” of the fact. Scholars scoff at this 
  and surmise that the Gaeleen may be a remnant of a much-earlier people 
  called the Phoromyceaens who once inhabited the region of Endhome and 
  the Duskmoon Hills before disappearing from the historical record long 
  ago. The Gaeleen are a smaller folk than the typical Foerdewaith, with skin 
  tones that easily hold a tan from working on the waters under the sun all day 
  long. Their hair ranges from dirty blonds to dark browns, with darker shades 
  frequently being sun-bleached to a much lighter hue due to their chosen 
  vocation, and eyes tending toward greens and blues. The Gaeleen are great 
  storytellers and renowned singers, who often claim to “sing the ﬁ sh into 
  their nets” as they ply the waters of the Gaelon.
  Gaeleen speak the singsong Gaeling tongue, but most know Common 
  as well.
  GIANT-BLOODED
  GIANT-BLOODED
  The Northlanders hate giants, especially in regions plagued by hordes 
  of these monsters, such as Estenﬁ rd or Vastavikland. Yet sometimes 
  a union between a giant and a Northlander occurs, and the result is 
  the giant-blooded. Occasionally, a giant-blooded child is born to two 
  Northlanders, for it is said that the taint of giant blood corrupts for a 
  dozen generations. However the unfortunate thing is conceived, it is 
  usually killed at birth, for most Northlanders will not accept the shame 
  of such an abomination. Still, some are allowed to live and ﬁ nd a place 
  in Northlander society (or, sometimes, among giants), though always at 
  the fringes and never with full acceptance.
  Giant-blooded are huge, often well over eight feet tall, hairy, brutish 
  in body and mind, and prone to tempers and passions beyond that of 
  normal men. Their hair is coarse, as are their features, and cleft lips, 
  missing or extra digits, enlarged foreheads, and other unsightly things 
  are common. They are also not terribly bright as the giant blood seems 
  to dim the intelligence of the human to produce individuals who have 
  trouble with even the most mundane of tasks. Giant-blooded are not 
  patient and often give in to impulses and desires, often of a fell nature.
  GTSANG
  GTSANG
  According to their legends, the modern-day Gtsang are the descendants of 
  a group of Jaata who colonized the lands north of the Tsendakar Mountains 
  150 centuries ago. Whatever the truth of this may be, over 15 millennia 
  the Gtsang have adapted to their homeland, evolving both physically and 
  culturally. They tend to be short (though taller than modern-day Jaata), 
  with skin of various shades of light brown, dark eyes (usually black or dark 
  gray), and ﬁ ne, black hair. Many Gtsang boast arm or facial tattoos that 
  become increasingly elaborate the higher one is in Gtsang society.
  
  CH. 3: PEOPLES OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 3: PEOPLES OF THE LOST LANDS|15
  |15
  Though the Gtsang are friendly and outgoing, they are also somewhat 
  isolationistic, the result of long years spent in a small and well-protected 
  land far away from outside inﬂ uence. They are superb craftsfolk, 
  artisans, and performers, and their works of philosophy, magic, and faith 
  are among the wisest and most scholarly in all of Akados. They speak 
  their own language, which bears enough resemblance to Meeruwhan to 
  support their origin story.
  HELDRING
  HELDRING
  The fair-skinned Heldring have lived on the Helcynngae Peninsula 
  for as far back as histories reach. After the fall of Hyperborea, their 
  longships full of vicious raiders landed on the coasts of Akados and 
  swept all before them as they established colonies along large stretches 
  of the Sinnar Coast. Many current-day residents of these regions 
  still bear the distinct characteristics of the Heldring in their ancestry. 
  Eventually, the armies of the overking of Foere drove the Heldring from 
  continental Akados back to their peninsula, where they live to this day. 
  One key result of the Foere conquest, however, was the conversion of 
  the Heldring from the worship of Hel to the faiths of Thyr and Muir. 
  The Heldring tend to be a tall, broad-shouldered people, many with 
  fair hair and, among the men, prone to thick beards. They speak their 
  own tongue of Helvaenic, though many also speak Common.
  JAUNDOOL
  JAUNDOOL
  According to rumor, the Jaundool are an isolated tribe of folk who 
  lived within Yolbiac Vale long before the coming of the Hyperboreans, 
  and who live there still. The appearance of the Jaundool remains subject 
  to conjecture and uncertainty, and some scholars question whether they 
  were in fact actually human. Some speculate that the Jaundool interbred 
  with Hyperborean settlers following the conquests of Oerson, and that 
  some who still live in the area may, unbeknownst to them, in fact have 
  Jaundool blood in their veins.
  KAF
  KAF
  The Kaf are uncommon in Akados, being unique to only one place on 
  the continent: the Kildren Peninsula and nearby Sand Hills where they 
  roam, hunt, and conduct some trade with coastal cogs or the occasional 
  merchants that they approach on the Soldier’s Road. No other known 
  enclaves of the Kaf exist in the rest of Akados or Libynos. They speak a 
  language called Ruiki and are the only known speakers of that language.
  Their principal settlement is Kaf Village, but smaller farms and 
  villages are scattered across the peninsula. Scholars who know of them 
  tend to think they may be related to the K’Haln located north beyond 
  the river Xircos, but no ﬁ rm connection to the horse people has been 
  established. Records also don’t show how or when the Kaf came to 
  dwell on Kildren Point.
  The Kaf are ﬁ erce horse warriors that ﬁ ght with lance, shortbow, and 
  saber. They wear armor of layered leather and onion-domed helmets that 
  have a fringe of fur. They tend to have pale skin with straight black hair 
  and black eyes, and the men are prone to beards and moustaches. Most 
  Kaf have high, angular cheekbones that give them a ﬁ erce predatory 
  look and a reputation for a sour disposition. They dress in colorful pants 
  and vests with felt jackets. They are known to be cheerful and boastful 
  at feast but hard and taciturn at other times.
  KOUI
  KOUI
  The Koui are the original inhabitants of the Bream Islands of 
  western Akados and appear to be related to the Senge tribesfolk of the 
  mainland. They live in slate-roofed stone huts in villages of 10 to 50 
  souls and maintain small ﬁ shing boats or coracles. The Koui follow a 
  simple subsistence economy and survive on ﬁ sh, abalone, and seaweed. 
  Generally left to their own devices by the Xha’en, the Koui have lived in 
  this fashion for thousands of years, with most of their villages clustered 
  around the southern ends of the three Bream Islands.
  Like the Senge, Koui tend to be short and lean, with hair of light or 
  chestnut brown and honey or golden skin tones. With their life outdoors 
  on windswept islands, most Koui have weather-beaten skin by the time 
  they reach adulthood. Both men and women usually keep their hair 
  long, though they wear it tied in the back in tight braids.
  NORTHLANDERS
  NORTHLANDERS
  The most populous cultural and racial group in the Northlands are, 
  unsurprisingly, the Northlanders themselves. Most Northlanders are 
  of above-average height and weight for a human, though they do not 
  exceed human norms for size. In skin, eye, and hair color they tend 
  toward the lighter shades, though dark brown hair and eyes, as well as 
  black, are not uncommon. Northlanders are also well known for being 
  clean and for regularly bathing. These hardy folk see no problem with 
  diving into a winter-chilled stream provided they can quickly exit and 
  get back into the warmth of a hall.
  Men and women wear their hair long and in braids, though women’s 
  hair tends to be longer. Men and women engaged in more-active 
  pursuits, wear trousers, a long tunic, and shoes of wood or leather. 
  Women’s clothing tends toward dresses, aprons, and smocks, and both 
  genders wear several layers, especially in winter, as well as cloaks and 
  hats. Although women occasionally wear men’s clothing, men rarely are 
  seen in women’s clothing.
  NÛKLANDERS
  NÛKLANDERS
  Beginning at Nieuburg in Estenﬁ rd and reaching north to the 
  Endless Glacier that marks the edge of the world lays Nûkland. The 
  Nûklanders are a different race than the human Northlanders, a race 
  that foreigners would describe as elven. The average Nûklander is 
  short, slender of build, and dark of skin and hair. They have long 
  faces with small, broad noses, pointed ears, and eyes possessing 
  slightly folded lids. Nûklanders have a second inner eyelid that is 
  transparent and seems to serve to protect the eye from the sun and 
  cold, but also gives them the look of perpetually staring, as they 
  rarely blink. Despite their slight build, Nûklanders do not suffer 
  from the great cold of their icy homeland; indeed, they tend not to 
  feel the cold at all due to their innate resistance derived from their 
  inherently magical nature.
  While the Northlanders consider the Nûklanders to be natives of 
  the area, they are in fact rather recent settlers, having been led to 
  their current homeland nearly 3,000 years ago by a god the Nûk have 
  since abandoned.
  OCEANDERS
  OCEANDERS
  Though not an ethnicity in its own right, in recent years it has 
  become more common for citizens of Pontos Island to be considered 
  a distinct group. In truth, they are simply another of the vast number 
  of peoples melded together into the amalgamation of folk known as 
  the Foerdewaith, but their success in remaining a rival empire for 
  the last 300 years has caused their claims of racial distinction to gain 
  some traction.
  Oceanders look much like other Foerdewaith, with perhaps their skin 
  slightly more sun-darkened by years spent at sea and eyes a bit more 
  creased from squinting against the glare off the waves. They tend toward 
  shorter hair and fewer beards than their land-bound cousins, though this 
  is by no means universal among them.
  
  16|
  16|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  PLAINSMEN
  PLAINSMEN
  The term Plainsman is used in eastern Akados, and particularly in 
  Bard’s Gate, to refer to the nomadic folk of the plains of Reme. These 
  are the folk of the Loreclans, ancient inhabitants of the Rhemish plains, 
  who are known there (and described below) as Rhemans.
  RAMITHI
  RAMITHI
  Before the coming of the Hyperboreans, a number of human clans 
  lived on Ramthion Island. These piratical people were known for 
  raiding shipping as far north as Legions Bay and as far south and west 
  as the Mouth of Akados. Though the Hyperboreans colonized the island, 
  the local clans remained frustratingly independent and chafed under 
  the attempts of the imperators to bring them to heel, though they were 
  eventually driven to the swampy peninsula known as the Sea Dagger. 
  When Curgantium was destroyed and the Plains of Suilley and the 
  Matagost Forest were set aﬂ ame, the Hyperboreans withdrew, while 
  groups of refugees ﬂ ed across the Dardanal Straight to Ramthion Island, 
  where the local clans welcomed them.
  The refugees settled in the lowlands of the rest of the island, and for 
  a while there was peace.
  Unfortunately, Ramthion’s respite did not last long, for soon the 
  bloodthirsty Heldring invaded, and the islanders traded one oppressor 
  for another. Together, the old Ramithi clans and the newly settled 
  refugees resisted the Heldring invaders and eventually succeeded in 
  driving them off the island.
  Through their collective efforts, the refugee settlers and the old 
  Ramithi clans intermarried with each other and came to identify 
  themselves as one people. Today, all of the native inhabitants of the 
  island identify themselves as being directly descended from the Ramithi 
  clans, though probably only around 20 percent have any more than a 
  ﬁ ctional blood tie. The Ramithi have tawny skin and dark hair. They are 
  usually shaven with elaborate moustaches and sideburns. Their heritage 
  is that of a sea people, but they have had to become warlike over the 
  generations due to repeated invasions of their home island.
  The Ramithi exclusively speak Gasquen and refuse to speak Common 
  with its Helvaenic inﬂ uences.
  RHEMAN
  RHEMAN
  The Rhemans are the original inhabitants of the plains of Reme. A 
  nomadic, horse-riding folk, they are distantly related to the Hundaei of 
  old and their descendants, the Shattered Folk of the Haunted Steppes. 
  Since time immemorial, they have been divided into groups of extended 
  and interconnected families known as Loreclans.
  Many Rhemans continue their nomadic traditions today and live on the 
  endless plains of Reme. The largest of the nomadic Loreclans include the 
  Grass Sailors, the Quick Knives, the Stone Faces, the Thunder Riders, 
  the Stone Walkers, and the Beast Takers. However, the close relationship 
  between Reme and Foere over thousands of years has, without doubt, 
  changed the character of Reme. Today, roughly a third of the humans in the 
  grand duchy have some degree of Foerdewaith ancestry, although these 
  are clustered mostly in cities, towns, and other substantial settlements. 
  Adoption of Foerdewaith culture is more widespread in Reme than 
  actual Foerdewaith ancestry, for the cultural impact of Reme’s alliance 
  of convenience with Foere extended into the Loreclans of the plains as 
  well as the cities. The common tongue is used as a trade language to 
  overcome Loreclannic dialects of Kirkut, jewelry is heavily inﬂ uenced by 
  Foerdewaith craftsmanship, and — perhaps oddly, perhaps not — plays 
  and music from Foere are performed enthusiastically by amateur troupes 
  even deep in the plains by purely nomadic Loreclans.
  The connection between the Rhemish Loreclans and the Shattered 
  Folk is not just one of ancestry, however. Every 50 years, families 
  among the Shattered Folk beyond the Crynnomar Gap are permitted to 
  petition for a right to settle in the Rhemish plains, and a lottery is held 
  to determine who may immigrate. Those permitted to settle usually join 
  existing Loreclans in the plains of Reme, though occasionally they may 
  form new clans with a direct grant of range lands to be held thereafter.
  Much like their kin among the Shattered Folk, Rhemans have skin 
  tones that range from a burnt sienna to mahogany and have almost 
  universally straight, black hair — usually worn long — that tends to 
  gray early, though hair of a deep red is occasionally seen. They tend to 
  have long limbs and lean muscle. Beards and excessive body hair are 
  rare, while their eyes are almost always black or deep brown. Among 
  the nomadic groups, tattoos are fairly common, though not as frequently 
  seen as among the Erskaelosi.
  RIVERFOLK (ARKAJI)
  RIVERFOLK (ARKAJI)
  The Riverfolk have ﬁ shed the waters and hunted the banks of the 
  Stoneheart River for centuries, though their origin before entering the 
  record of Bard’s Gate around 3036 I.R. during the year of the Hard Cold 
  remains a mystery. Before then, they were virtually unknown in the city 
  and only sporadically commented on in the city’s annals as boatfolk 
  who plied the Stoneheart under the forest eaves. The Riverfolk speak 
  their own language of Kra, and some speak intelligible Common as well.
  Known among their own folk as the Arkaji, the Riverfolk live 
  primarily within the Stoneheart Forest, in the eastern stretches of the 
  central swamp, in particular. Their talent for handling shallow-draft 
  watercraft in the swamps and upon the river is peerless. As a result, a 
  large number of the Riverfolk can be found in Bard’s Gate or upon the 
  river waters in service to the city at any given time, and even into the 
  lower Stoneheart Mountains and as far down the Great Amrin River 
  as Eastgate. However, the Riverfolk avoid leaving the conﬁ nes of the 
  riverbanks for the open sea, but none has ever said what it is they fear.
  The Riverfolk have pale pinkish skin tones prone to sunburn and 
  freckling, eyes ranging from deep blue to pale, nearly colorless, and bristly 
  and curly hair and beards (or thick sideburns at least) ranging in color from 
  auburn to black with many going stone gray at an early age. They claim 
  to be descended from the Arcadians of the ancient mountain kingdom of 
  Arcady and take their name for themselves as a corruption of that long-lost 
  people, but their language of Kra bears no resemblance to the Khemitian 
  that was spoken by the folk of Aka Bakar’s kingdom. Some few scholars 
  speculate that they may indeed be a last offshoot of some Hyperborean 
  strain, and indeed their language does contain many parallels with old High 
  Boros. Despite some superﬁ cial similarities, they do not appear to be in any 
  way related to the Gaeleen of the Borderland Provinces.
  SEAGESTRELANDERS
  SEAGESTRELANDERS
  Southwest of the Northlands lies the Seagestreland, a forested band 
  that stretches between the shores of the North Sea and the vast plains of 
  the Sea of Grass. This forest, and the plains beyond, is home to hundreds 
  of warring tribes known collectively as the Seagestrelanders. These 
  tribes are human, but of a different origin than the Northlanders. They 
  speak several different languages and possess a very different culture (in 
  fact, several different cultures).
  It is difﬁ cult to describe the average Seagestrelander, as there is truly 
  no such thing. The vast majority are smaller in frame and stature than 
  the towering Northlanders, tend toward equally pale complexions, but 
  have darker hair and eyes. They are human, and number few mixed-
  races among themselves, having no half-elves or half-orcs, and rarely 
  produce a giant- or troll-blooded child.
  In general, Seagestrelanders pursue three main lifestyles: farming, 
  ﬁ shing, and herding, with cattle, horse, and sheep being the most 
  common livestock. Along the forested coast, the former two go hand 
  in hand, and most tribes practice both in roughly equal measure. Along 
  the Dnipir River, farming is the most popular occupation of the tribes, 
  while out on the Sea of Grass it is herding that dominates. Hunting and 
  trading, as well as raiding, heavily supplement all three.
  
  CH. 3: PEOPLES OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 3: PEOPLES OF THE LOST LANDS|17
  |17
  SENGE
  SENGE
  The Senge are the original inhabitants of the Plains of Xha, or at 
  least were living there when the ancestors of the Xha’en people arrived 
  thousands of years ago. Those two peoples clashed in ancient times, 
  until the Senge were ﬁ nally defeated in the year –1302 I.R. (0 XC). 
  Following their defeat, the Senge were largely driven to the plains east 
  of the Sengejia Hills. Then in –187 I.R. (1115 XC), the city of Xha’ahan 
  completed the Lujhiran Dam, which ﬂ ooded the plains the Senge lived 
  in and created Lake Pantai. As a result, they were forced even farther 
  into the hills where they dwell to this day in small villages along the 
  Upper Pantai River.
  The Senge are not particularly aggressive, though they keep to 
  themselves and avoid contact with the Xha’en to the extent possible. 
  Given their proximity to the city of Aphapor, however, they have 
  developed some trade with that city, which agreed to provide a 
  portion of their produce to the tribes to pacify them after the dam was 
  completed. In their lands, however, strangers are treated with suspicion 
  and generally shunned. Senge villages are overseen by clan hetmen and 
  supported by shamans who have been known to cast powerful druidic 
  spells in defense of their territory. Senge trade handicrafts, furs, and 
  produce for metal tools, clothing, and livestock. 
  The Senge appear to be related to the Koui, the natives of the Bream 
  Islands. They tend to be short and lean, with brown hair of varying 
  shades, and honey or golden skin tones. Though they can grow beards, 
  most Senge men choose to be cleanshaven, with some shaving their 
  heads as well.
  SHATTERED FOLK
  SHATTERED FOLK
  The Shattered Folk are the remnant of the once-mighty empire of 
  the Hundaei. Destroyed in their civil war of two millennia earlier and 
  hunted by the vicious humanoids of the Haunted Steppes, the Shattered 
  Folk now exist as scattered tribes that roam the vast steppes as nomads 
  and herders. There are hundreds of tribes ranging in size from a few 
  dozen members to thousands, and some are friendly with each other, 
  though many more either war upon those they meet or simply ﬂ ee. These 
  tribes are generally ruled by a chief, sometimes through a hereditary 
  lineage but equally often through egalitarian selection, depending on 
  the individual tribe.
  There is a still a strong culture of horse warriors among the tribes that 
  runs back through their blood to the mighty hordes of the Hundaei, but 
  they are now small and localized and lack the unity that once made them a 
  powerful nation. When brought to battle, they prove to be brave and skilled 
  horse warriors — after all, survival in the Haunted Steppes is no mean 
  thing, and they have had generations to hone their skills in this hostile 
  environment. Most Shattered Folk avoid contact with outsiders. However, 
  the two largest confederations, the Elitan-i-pan of the western plains near 
  the coast and the Campacha in the south, recently began trading with 
  merchants from Castorhage, Gtsang, Reme, and Foere, and some have 
  even experimented with permanent settlements and agriculture. 
  Every 50 years, a number of families of Shattered Folk are chosen by 
  lottery to move south of the Wizard’s Wall to the plains of Reme. The 
  majority of those choosing to relocate come from the Campacha.
  The Shattered Folk tend to be long-limbed and leanly muscled, with 
  dark eyes (black being most common) and skin ranging from deep 
  golden tones to chestnut brown.
  TROLL-BLOODED
  TROLL-BLOODED
  Troll-blooded are found almost exclusively in the Northlands, but 
  even there, they are rare in the extreme. Interactions between humans 
  and trolls are rarely anything other than killing and eating, and thus 
  almost never produce troll-blooded offspring. Still, it does happen, and 
  like giant-blooded, troll blood corrupts for generations, meaning that 
  two humans can produce a troll-blooded child. The fruits of these unions 
  are even more cursed than the giant-blooded, for if there is anything the 
  Northlanders hate more than giants, it’s trolls.
  Troll-blooded who are not slain at birth must face the hatred of their 
  neighbors and an all-consuming drive to eat. They are always hungry, 
  and due to their nature and digestive systems, they need to consume far 
  more meat than anything else. This makes keeping a troll-blooded fed 
  throughout the long winters a daunting task. Settlements that host troll-
  blooded over the winter often ﬁ nd that by spring they have a dearth of rats, 
  cats, and dogs, assuming that the livestock haven’t already been pillaged.
  Troll-blooded are feral, savage, creatures, at least in appearance if not 
  in behavior. They are tall, but not much taller than most men, and have 
  a hunched posture. Their skin is greasy and tends toward a greenish tint, 
  their hair is straight and black, and their eyes range from red to blue. 
  Like their troll relatives, the troll-blooded have long limbs and short 
  torsos; in fact, their hands easily reach to their knees when standing. 
  These hands grow long talon-like nails that can rend steel. It is the face 
  that is the most troll-like, having a long, narrow nose, high cheekbones, 
  and a mouth ﬁ lled with sharp teeth. Despite these inhuman features, 
  most troll-blooded retain some signs of their human heritage, usually in 
  their facial expressions or as a glint of intelligence in their eyes.
  UPLANDERS
  UPLANDERS
  The Uplanders are an honorable and proud folk living primarily in 
  the upper portions of the mountain valley of the River Eamon in the 
  Stoneheart Mountains. They tend to divide themselves along clan lines, 
  with the Angus of Dun Eamon being the primary chieftain of the premier 
  clan. Though they often exhibit a tendency to believe themselves 
  superior to those who do not hail from their homeland, Uplanders are 
  known to be hardworking and have a reputation for honestly and fair 
  dealing that, on occasion, may exceed the truth of the situation. 
  They are of average height, with lighter skin tones tending toward 
  freckles, and hair ranging from browns to auburn to shocking shades of 
  red. Eyes range from brown or hazel to gray to blue or green. While most 
  Uplanders remain in the Eamon valley, others have taken to trading, and 
  enclaves of these folk can be found as far as Castorhage.
  Uplanders speak Common.
  VANIGOTHS
  VANIGOTHS
  The Vanigoths are a large but widely dispersed nation of human 
  barbarians predominantly found in the Wilderland Hills and the plains 
  between the Lorremach Highhills and the Forlorn Mountains. They 
  are most likely mixed descendants of Heldring invaders and the pre-
  Hyperborean tribes of the Plains of Sull. 
  It is extremely rare for the disparate Vanigoth tribes to unite under a 
  leader, although they have their own king in the fortress of Aen Vani deep 
  in the Wilderland Hills. The Vanigoths take battle-trophies from their 
  victims, usually the head and some other trophy, often a hand or ﬁ nger.
  The Vanigoths speak their own language of Vanigothic derived 
  from a mixture of Old Sulli and Helvaenic, although most of them can 
  communicate in a rudimentary Common.
  XHA’EN
  XHA’EN
  The Xha’en are an ancient people who have inhabited the western 
  lands of Akados for thousands of years. Originally living in small 
  nomadic groups, they spread over an enormous range from the Tsendakar 
  Mountains in the north to the Utterends in the south, and between the 
  Caerulean Ocean in the west to the forests of the Green Realm in the 
  east. Over many centuries, they moved from a hunter-gatherer culture 
  to a more settled agrarian lifestyle, particularly in the rich farmlands 
  of the Plains of Xha, where villages grew into towns, and towns grew 
  
  18|
  18|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  into cities, eventually becoming some of the largest in all Akados. Their 
  expansion brought the Xha’en into conﬂ ict with the other people of the 
  plains, the Senge, but by –1302 I.R. (0 XC), those others were defeated 
  and driven to the east near the Sengejia Hills.
  Today, most Xha’en live in the Xha’en Hegemony, an empire of 
  city-states and territories, all of which owe allegiance to the emperor 
  in the city of Xha’ahan. After millennia of uninterrupted development, 
  the Xha’en are highly advanced in the ﬁ elds of art, science, magic, 
  architecture, and military development, and have developed an elaborate 
  hierarchical culture. While old tribal traditions still hold sway in villages 
  and in the countryside, most city-dwelling Xha’en are sophisticated and 
  well-educated and hold to the pursuit of learning and worshipping the 
  gods of the Imperial Pantheon.
  Xha’en society is bound up in a complex web of laws, traditions, and 
  bureaucracy, and people of all levels are expected to know the rules 
  under which they must live. On the other hand, there is also a long 
  tradition of revering those who overcome unjust limitations imposed by 
  the culture, and many of the heroes of Xha’en legend are notorious for 
  their iconoclastic and subversive ways — though always within certain 
  acceptable bounds. 
  For nearly the entire history of their people, the Xha’en have lived 
  almost exclusively within the bounds of the hegemony, isolated from 
  most of the other great cultures of Akados. Only in recent years have 
  outsiders come to do more than visit, most particularly when Castorhage 
  established colonies on the Bream Islands starting in 3210 I.R. In turn, 
  some Xha’en have now begun to travel outside their lands, and a sizable 
  mercantile enclave now exists in Castorhage itself. 
  Given their wide distribution and centuries of development, the Xha’en 
  vary signiﬁ cantly in appearance. Northern Xha’en tend to be taller, while 
  those from the southern cities are somewhat shorter, with broader, stronger 
  builds. Complexion ranges from tawny in the north to rich bronze in the 
  south. Mountain-dwelling Xha’en tend toward a rich ochre tone. Nearly 
  all Xha’en have black hair, though red and brown are sometimes seen. 
  Facial hair is rare, while eyes are generally dark — black, brown, and 
  rarely a very deep green.
  HUMAN FOLK OF LIBYNOS
  HUMAN FOLK OF LIBYNOS
  ALCALDRICH
  ALCALDRICH
  The Alcaldrich are the natives of the Empire of Alcaldar in central 
  Libynos. In origin, Alcaldar was a Hyperborean colony, one of the few in 
  central or southern Libynos that extended into the interior of the continent. 
  As a result, when the Hyperborean Empire fell, Alcaldar survived, 
  maintaining many of the traditions of the empire, though assimilating 
  with the indigenous Libynosi of the region. Today, the Alcaldrich have 
  themselves colonized other lands, conquering the old kingdoms in the 
  Channel Lakes region and settling in places such as the island of Estallia 
  and along the coast of the Yingozi Woodlands. Ships from Alcaldar can 
  be found in most ports of the Lost Lands, even as far as the Razor Coast.
  Most Alcaldrich have skin tones ranging from light olive to tan to 
  leather-brown, with hazel or brown eyes, though some have green or 
  even blue. Hair color ranges from dark blond in the upper class through 
  a range of browns all the way to black, and, very rarely, red. Their 
  heights tend to be average, though members of the noble classes tend to 
  be taller, with skin the color of old ivory.
  They speak their own tongue of Alcaldrich, which is descended from 
  High Boros.
  ANTIOCHIANS
  ANTIOCHIANS
  The folk of the Antioch City-States are known as Antiochians. Mainly 
  descended from Ashurian stock, some people also have Hyperborean 
  heritage from the years of empire. They share a common language, 
  though each city-state tends to have a separate dialect that is an amalgam 
  of Old Boros and Semuric.
  Most Antiochians have light tan or pale olive skin, however, instead 
  of the darker complexions typical of Ashurians. Eye colors tend toward 
  brown and hazel, though some, particularly those with lighter skin tones, 
  may have green or deep blue eyes. Hair color is typically brown or 
  auburn. Among the Antiochians, skin color is not considered important, 
  though lighter tones tend to brand one as “city folk” in most rural areas. 
  They tend to be taller than average but with slender builds.
  Though most Antiochans are in their city-states, they can be found in 
  many trading cities throughout Libynos, and even in major ports on Akados.
  ASHURIANS
  ASHURIANS
  Ashurian is a general label applied to many peoples of northern 
  and western Libynos, all of whom can broadly trace their ancestry 
  back to the ancient Assurian Empire. Though there is great diversity 
  in their appearance, most Ashurians are of a darker complexion, with 
  common skin tones often resembling light brown leather or the light 
  brown of dried tobacco leaves. Their hair color can range from black 
  to dark brown, occasionally to reddish brown. Eye colors are typically 
  brown or black, though some hazel is not uncommon. Slender builds 
  are typical, but almost every body type can be seen somewhere among 
  the Ashurian populations.
  Today, Ashurians can be found throughout much of northern and 
  central Libynos and even in northeastern Akados. Those who still dwell 
  in or near the Ashurian Desert are likely closest in appearance to their 
  original forebears in the Assurian Empire. Elsewhere, intermarriage with 
  other groups has led to the wide variation now seen in their populations. 
  Today, Ashurians make up large majorities of the Ammuyad Caliphate, 
  Pelshtaria, other parts of eastern Irkaina, Khartous, and islands in the 
  Sea of Baal; many Ashurians are also present in the Antioch City-States 
  and the desert countries of Guurzan and Caddesh.
  Other than in the Antioch City-States, the countries where Ashurians 
  are a majority all speak Semuric, a language based on the speech of the 
  ancient Assurians.
  BAALATHITES
  BAALATHITES
  The Baalathites are the people of Baalthaaz and Ifthaaz in northern 
  Libynos, as well as the original inhabitants of what is now the Khemitian 
  Governate of Tahmakht. They are seldom found outside the lands 
  surrounding the Sea of Baal.
  Baalathites tend to have dark olive skin, with prominent noses and 
  very dark brown or black hair, though lighter brown hair is not unheard 
  of. Their eyes are usually brown, dark green or black, and very rarely, 
  hazel or dark blue. Natives of Ifthaaz have an average range of heights 
  and body types, while those of Baalthaaz tend to be taller and more 
  muscular. Baalathites speak their own tongue, which appears unrelated 
  to either Khemitian or Semuric.
  BHANAKHIRANS
  BHANAKHIRANS
  The Bhanakhirans are natives of southern Libynos, in the forests, 
  jungles, and coastal regions west of the Hollow Spire Mountains. They 
  primarily live in cities along the coast and in towns and villages within 
  the interior, usually near rivers. Tribes in the Yingozi Woodlands and 
  the northern part of the Mengamuk Forest often have some Bhanakhiran 
  ancestors, and so may have similar features. Other than merchants and 
  traders, few Bhanakhirans leave their homeland.
  Most Bhanakhirans have golden-brown skin the color of amber, with 
  straight, dark hair that ranges mostly from dark brown to black. Their 
  eyes are primarily brown or black. On occasion, reddish-brown hair and 
  deep green eyes are seen, which may be evidence of some Hyperborean 
  
  CH. 3: PEOPLES OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 3: PEOPLES OF THE LOST LANDS|19
  |19
  ancestry. They tend to be shorter than average, though taller than the 
  people of Jaati. Plumpness is considered a mark of wealth and status 
  among these folk.
  They speak a language known as Bhanikhat, largely a unique tongue 
  of the region, though there is clear evidence of Hyperborean inﬂ uence 
  from the years of that empire’s colonial period in southern Libynos. As a 
  result, anyone who has studied High Boros should be able to understand 
  simple phrases and words in Bhanikhat.
  EQUATORIANS
  EQUATORIANS
  These folk are the people of Sensibar, Tulyamin, and villages in the 
  southern part of the Seething Jungle in south Libynos. They are seldom 
  seen anywhere outside of their homelands or the major cities of the 
  Reaping Coast.
  Most Equitorians have skin the color of ebony or onyx, with black 
  or brown eyes, and tend to be tall. They have black hair that curls very 
  tightly, which some wear in tight braids, often elaborately done, while 
  others keep their hair cut quite short or even shaven. Traditionally, 
  Equitorians dress in bright earthy colors or jewel tones and adorn 
  themselves lavishly with gold and silver or strings of shells or beads.
  Sensibrites and some tribes in the Seething Jungle place great 
  importance on being addressed by appropriate titles and expect people 
  to show them the respect due their positions. Those in Tulyamin tend to 
  be much more casual about such matters.
  Equitorians speak the Zenzin language.
  HUUN
  HUUN
  The Huun are the people of the Huun Imperium, with their homeland 
  in the Desert of Oreb, a high, isolated desert plateau in eastern Libynos. 
  They claim descent from the ancient Hundaei clans of the Great Steppes 
  of Akados, making them the inheritors of an ancient legacy of enmity to 
  Hyperborea. Their physical similarities to others who trace their origin 
  to the Hundaei, as well as the parallels between their language and 
  Kirkut, support such claims, though how they traversed the distances 
  between the Great Steppes and western Libynos remains a mystery to 
  Akadian scholars.
  For over 250 years, the Huun Imperium and the Foerdewaith of 
  Akados fought four crusades for dominion over the Sacred Table and 
  the city of Tircople in eastern Libynos. Three years ago, an army of 
  Huun recently appeared at the very verge of the Lyre Valley and held 
  Bard’s Gate captive within its siege line for more than a year before 
  disappearing just as swiftly in retreat before the approaching forces 
  of the overking of Foere. The Huun remain some of the most feared 
  warriors in all of the Lost Lands.
  Most who encounter Huun outside the high desert meet only armored 
  warriors in battle. Very few (typically limited to merchants or traders 
  from Ifthaaz or the Malagro) can claim any other relationship with the 
  folk of the Imperium, and they do not discuss such things.
  Huun skin-tones tend toward the dark red-brown color of mahogany 
  to walnut brown, while their eyes are usually black, but may also be 
  gray or brown. Their hair tends to be black and straight; men and 
  
  20|
  20|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  women usually wear their hair long, though hairstyles tend to be simple 
  and many warriors keep their hair short. The tallest Huun are barely 
  above average height, and most are shorter than average. They tend to 
  be slender, but muscular.
  The Huun language is different from any other in Libynos, having 
  the most similarity to the Kirkut of the ancient Hundaei, though there is 
  clear evidence of inﬂ uence from most local tongues, such as Semuric. 
  Their warriors are also known to employ a silent Huun Hand Speech for 
  use in battle and when stealth is an imperative.
  ISTAFLUMINAN
  ISTAFLUMINAN
  The Istaﬂ uminans are the natives of the fertile river plains and rolling 
  hills bounded by the deep Ashurian Desert on the west and the high Zakros 
  Mountains on the east. Their cities are some of the oldest in the world, 
  many of which were founded at the very dawn of human civilization. 
  Today, their merchants can be found throughout much of northern and 
  central Libynos, from the Ammuyad Caliphate to Khemit. The Adenians 
  have even established colonies in Jaati and on Tyrnos Island.
  To an outsider, Istaﬂ uminans would easily be classiﬁ ed as Ashurians, 
  though they consider themselves of separate ethnicities. Istaﬂ uminans 
  have somewhat darker skin than most Ashurians, with black or brown 
  eyes and almost uniformly black hair. Both women and men elaborately 
  style their hair, though some cut it short or even shave their heads. Men 
  often have well-kept beards, often styled, though some do choose to 
  be cleanshaven. The people of the Zakros Mountains — the Adenians, 
  Hurardu, and Kymmurean tribes — are somewhat taller than average, 
  with slightly lighter skin.
  Istaﬂ uminans speak Hakhaddic, which as a spoken language seems 
  to have some similarities to Semuric, though the written forms are 
  very different.
  JAATA
  JAATA
  The Jaata are native to the lands of far northeastern Libynos. Despite 
  its location at a high northern latitude, Jaati is kept warm by the waters 
  of the Great Eastern Current, along with the odd effects of the Tropic 
  of Arden. Most Jaata live in coastal cities or villages that line the many 
  rivers of the region, while much of the interior is sparsely populated.
  Among the shortest of humankind, the Jaata also tend to be slender, 
  though they still can be quite strong, which often surprises those not 
  familiar with their people. They have skin color that ranges from the 
  golden-brown of sandalwood to deep browns of rosewood or walnut, 
  with eyes that are almost always black, and black hair that is usually 
  ﬁ ne and straight. Women usually grow their hair long and braid or 
  wrap it, while men seldom grow hair past their shoulders but cultivate 
  their beards carefully. Usually ﬁ ne-featured and graceful, the Jaata are 
  considered by many outsiders to be the handsomest people in the world.
  Jaata often wear clothes of colorful silk, along with jewelry of gold 
  and silver. Such jewelry is a symbol of status but also a way to carry 
  one’s wealth, so most people wear some all the time and even more on 
  special occasions.
  The Jaata trade widely and form enclaves in many large cities. One 
  of the largest is in Shabbis, and a large population even lives as far as 
  Castorhage in Akados. They speak Meeruwhan. The Jaata are believed 
  to be distantly related to the Gtsang of western Akados, who are said to 
  have migrated from Jaati thousands of years ago.
  KALDILOORAN
  KALDILOORAN
  These folk are native to the westernmost extent of southern Libynos 
  on the coast of the Sinnar Ocean and live in the fertile, if narrow, coastal 
  plain and dense interior rainforest. Named after a chieftain who united 
  them from many related tribes, all Kaldiloorans are considered to be part 
  of the family of the prince, with chieftains being “cousins” who are in 
  charge of smaller houses under the great house of the prince. As infants, 
  they are given facial tattoos that designate their house, so it is possible to 
  recognize where a Kaldilooran was born if one understands the patterns. 
  Needless to say, anyone without facial tattoos is immediately revealed 
  as an outsider.
  Kaldiloorans tend to be of average height or taller, with skin tones the 
  warm browns of cardamom or cloves, or a few shades darker. Their hair 
  is usually dark brown, thick and curly, worn less than shoulder length 
  or bound in a thick tail. Their eyes are also usually dark brown, though 
  both black hair and black eyes are not uncommon.
  Kaldiloorans typically dress in cotton or linen, often in natural colors, or 
  (especially in cities) wear silk in muted colors. Clothing is not considered 
  a status symbol among these people, and outside cities is sometimes very 
  simple indeed. Kaldiloorans traders can be found around the southern 
  coasts of Libynos and have been known to sail south and west to the 
  Aizanes Islands and (rarely) as far as the Razor Coast.
  A number of the folk who live in the region but outside Kaldiloora 
  appear to be closely related to the Kaldiloorans. The River People of the 
  Delta, for example, seem to be quite closely related, though they have 
  more variations in appearance, some of which has been attributed to the 
  presence of fey blood. And the inhabitants of the Mengamuk Forest also 
  look much like Kaldiloorans, though they tend to be a little shorter on 
  average. The residents of Kaldiloora and the Mengamuk Forest speak a 
  language known as Gonidal.
  KHEMITITES
  KHEMITITES
  Khemitites are the people of the Triple Kingdom of Libynos, a land 
  of living gods and ancient civilizations. They are quite rare outside their 
  own kingdom and the lands they have conquered, though the beneﬁ ts 
  of trade have seen Khemitites sail to far ports, and sometimes settle 
  small merchant enclaves. Even a city as far as Bard’s Gate in Akados 
  has a permanent (if small) population of Khemitites, largely due to the 
  presence of the Temple of Bast there and the special relationship it has 
  enjoyed in the city since the time of the Shabbisian plagues.
  Khemitites generally distance themselves from those they see as 
  foreign barbarians — barbarians who were able to conquer their lands in 
  centuries past, but barbarians nonetheless. Even when living in foreign 
  lands, they are rarely seen in public, preferring to remain sequestered in 
  their fortiﬁ ed compounds and manses surrounded by soldiers of their 
  own land and priests of their own religions. 
  Though a distinct group, modern Khemitites can claim descent from 
  many different peoples, including Hyperboreans and Nubarans, and 
  accordingly they can exhibit a wide range of characteristics.  Nevertheless, 
  most Khemitites have darker skin that is often the color of nutmeg or 
  teak wood. Most have brown eyes, but black, green, gray, and hazel are 
  not uncommon. Their hair is usually black or dark brown, though lighter-
  skinned Khemitites may have medium-brown hair. They are usually 
  short, though some families are known to be of average or greater height.
  Many Khemitites, particularly those of the noble and merchant 
  classes, prefer to wear diaphanous tunics and gowns, skillfully crafted 
  adornments of gold and jewels, and have kohl-limned eyes. 
  Khemitites speak Khemitian, which is used in many ports throughout 
  Libynos, and some of their scholars are even able to read the hieroglyphic 
  language of Ancient Kemitian.
  LAGISH
  LAGISH
  The Lagish folk live in the Grasslands of Wahm and the Yingozi 
  Woodlands and are the natives of the Channel Lakes region. At one point, 
  those who lived near the Channel Lakes developed a semi-agricultural 
  society centered around a number of settlements, which collectively was 
  known as the Kingdom of Ka’dufaar. When the Alcaldrich conquered 
  the region some 275 years ago, they put all of those settlements to the 
  torch (one of which was rebuilt and became the city of Caduvar). Today, 
  
  CH. 3: PEOPLES OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 3: PEOPLES OF THE LOST LANDS|21
  |21
  the Lagish are almost exclusively a nomadic, tribal people. Though they 
  continue to tell stories of the glory of their former kingdom, they seem 
  to have grudgingly accepted their new lives, trading with their former 
  Alcaldrich enemies and even adopting their language. Two of the larger 
  Lagish tribes are the Moglai and the Mwandu.
  Mostly of average height, those of unmixed heritage have rich brown 
  skin tones, with hair and eyes of deep brown to black, and occasionally 
  dark green eyes. However, many of the Lagish have some amount of 
  Alcaldrich or Bhanakhiran heritage, and so show some characteristics 
  typical of those groups.
  Lagish living in the woodland areas have largely retained the use 
  of their original tongue, while many of the tribes near Alcaldar or the 
  Channel Lakes adopted Alcaldrich as their primary language. Lagish 
  are seldom found anywhere other than their native homelands and the 
  margins of neighboring countries.
  LITTORIC
  LITTORIC
  The indigenous folk of the jungles along the eastern coast of Libynos, 
  including the Mguru of the Malagro and the tribes of Ambicuaria, are 
  members of a group known as the Littoric. They tend to have the same 
  rosewood or walnut brown complexions as the Jaati, black eyes, and 
  coarse, black hair, often grown long enough to braid in charms and 
  totems. Shorter than the average, they are still taller than the typical Jaati.
  Littoric folk are typically xenophobic, do not take kindly to strangers 
  wandering in their lands, and similarly are almost never seen anywhere 
  other than their jungle homeland.
  MAIGHIB DESERTFOLK
  MAIGHIB DESERTFOLK
  The historical range of the Desertfolk includes almost all of the 
  Maighib, which nearly crosses the entire breadth of Libynos. They are 
  the deep desert tribes of Khartous, Guurzan, Khemit, and Qesh, as well 
  as the people of Numeda. While most Desertfolk still live nomadic 
  lives, about one-third of the general population of Guurzan and many in 
  Caddesh are descended from the Desertfolk.
  Their skin tones are mostly rich bronze in color, darker than a typical 
  Ashurian, with eyes that are usually dark brown or black. Their hair is 
  black or very dark brown. Men tend to grow beards easily from the teen 
  years. They are typically slightly taller than Ashurians or Khemitites, 
  Numedans being the tallest of the group. Though there are many 
  differences between the different tribes that make up the Desertfolk, 
  they all tend to wear loose-ﬁ tting, comfortable clothing suited to a 
  nomadic desert life.
  The Desertfolk originally spoke a group of related languages, with 
  enough diversity that distant tribes would not be able to understand 
  one another. Many, particularly those far from cities, continue to speak 
  dialects of these varied tongues. Other Desertfolk have, to one extent 
  or another, adopted, or at least have some passing familiarity with, 
  Semuric or Khemitian.
  Except for trading in the towns of Guurzan, Khartous, or Khemit, 
  most Desertfolk seldom wander far from their ancient nomadic lands. 
  Numedans travel a bit more widely, but even they are rarely seen outside 
  the areas of the Sea of Baal or the Ruby Sea, unless they have been hired 
  as mercenaries.
  MEROWEN
  MEROWEN
  The Merowen are a widely-dispersed ethnic group that includes the 
  people of Axuum, Aethiope, Imya, Kazania, Meroë, Qesh, and the 
  former country of Nubara. They usually have skin with the dark reddish-
  brown to brown-black colors of peppercorns, and black hair with tight 
  curls. Their eyes are usually dark brown, though they may be black or 
  (rarely) dark green. Most Merowen tend to be taller than average.
  Though styles differ widely among the various cultures that include 
  the Merowen folk, women in general often wear their hair loose or in a 
  scarf or multiple braids, while men usually keep their hair short or even 
  shave their heads. Many men choose to be cleanshaven, and if beards 
  are worn, they tend to be kept short and thin.
  Deferring to the dominant culture in the region, most Merowen speak 
  Khemitian, though Kazania managed to retain its own language.
  Merowen travelers can be found as far as large cities in northern 
  Khemit, while their traders typically venture along the Ruby Sea, south 
  to the Channel Lakes and the northern Reaping Coast, and east to the 
  Boiling Sea.
  REAPING COAST
  REAPING COAST
  The folk of the Reaping Coast are an agglomeration of many different 
  ethnicities. Those found here may claim ancestry from Hyperborean-
  era colonists, Lagish tribesfolk, Equitorans, and travelers from as far as 
  Foere and Castorhage. As a result, there is no typical resident of these 
  lands.
  RIVER PEOPLE
  RIVER PEOPLE
  These people are the natives of the land between the Lenggor River 
  and the Ular River and their various tributaries in southwestern Libynos, 
  including the area near the Sinnar Coast known as the Delta. Other than 
  those who choose to live in the Delta and trade with outsiders, they tend 
  to be reclusive and stay deep in the forests and jungles of the interior.
  As a general rule, the River People look much like their Kaldilooran 
  neighbors to the south, but have more variation in height, hair color, eye 
  color, and skin tones. Some of this is attributed to the possible presence 
  of fey blood among the River People. In addition, the beliefs, traditions, 
  and religion of the River People are entirely different from any of those 
  who live elsewhere in southern Libynos.
  In the interior, the River People speak their own strange language, 
  which appears to be unrelated to any other known tongue. In the Delta, 
  they use a trade tongue (called Delta Speech) that consists of a debased 
  version of their own language combined with Hyperborean and various 
  terms borrowed from Bhanakhirin and Gonidal (the language of the 
  Kaldiloorans).
  OTHER HUMAN GROUPS
  OTHER HUMAN GROUPS
  GHAZAKS
  GHAZAKS
  The Ghazaks are nomadic bands of Semuric-speaking peoples who 
  wander the island-realm of Mulstabha between Akados and Libynos. 
  These small family and clan groups of tall, pale-skinned, white-haired 
  humans are as phenotypically different from the Mulstabhins as could 
  be imagined, yet they alone are able to move unhindered through 
  Mulstabhin territory with impunity. Most folk think it is because there 
  are so few of them and that they represent no threat or great burden to 
  the city-state, while others claim it was because they inhabited the island 
  long before the Mulstabhins. Still others whisper that it was the ghazaks 
  who ﬁ rst taught the secrets of Mulstabhin astrology to the ephemerides. 
  Whatever the reason, the ghazaks are few in number and are rarely seen 
  in their wanderings upon the island. 
  MULSTABHINS 
  MULSTABHINS 
  The Mulstabhins are the folk of Krivcycek Island in the Mulstabhin 
  Passage between the continents of Akados and Libynos. The island is 
  also sometimes referred to as Mulstabha, which, somewhat confusingly, 
  
  22|
  22|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  is also the term for their leader. They are the people of the Land of the 
  Bull from the Sea, so named for their founder, a Libynosi minotaur and 
  pirate who founded the citadel of Jem Karteis. They share Krivcycek 
  Island with local tribes of peoples known as the Ghazaks.
  The folk of Mulstabha make almost all other foreign visitors 
  seem mundane and approachable. Their habit of holding themselves 
  aloof from the local residents makes the Khemitites look warm by 
  comparison, and their rigid system of castes make the Jaata system 
  seem ﬂ exible. The fact that they keep to themselves and share almost 
  nothing of themselves or their home with anyone makes them seem only 
  more exotic and powerful. They are tall and lean, with skin the color 
  of mahogany, and wiry black hair with blue or brown eyes. Descended 
  from a mixture of ancient sea peoples and Libynosi, they are unlike any 
  other known people in the world in appearance or culture.
  Mulstabhins speak Semuric.
  HYPERBOREANS
  HYPERBOREANS
  Scholars the world over, from Castorhage to Pharos, consider the 
  Hyperborean race as a distinct lineage to be extinct. The last remnant 
  of that ancient people disappeared from Tircople 900 years ago, and 
  from Akados a century before that. Though many records of those times 
  exist, oddly enough a description of a typical Hyperborean does not, and 
  accordingly what they looked like remains a subject of intense scholarly 
  debate.
  There are some folk within the Lost Lands who claim direct or near 
  descent from the Hyperboreans, such as the citizens of Freegate in 
  Akados and the Berrini between the lands of Irkaina and the Northlands. 
  There are good historical reasons to accept their assertions, though the 
  fact that Berrini and Freegaters look little like one another may make it 
  difﬁ cult to accept the truth of both simultaneously. Of course, centuries 
  of intermarriage with locals has undoubtedly affected both peoples and 
  led to necessary divergence of their characteristics.
  WANDERERS 
  WANDERERS 
  The term Wanderer refers to a mix of different peoples and even races 
  — humans of many and mixed lineages, half-orcs, even some halﬂ ings 
  and other assorted odds and ends, all of whom are exiles from their own 
  lands, who have come together as a group and have truly created their 
  own society. They are mainly recognized in the vicinity of Bard’s Gate 
  on Akados, where they live nomadic lives in small groups that wander 
  across the wide expanses of the plains to the east and west of that city 
  and the valley between. Given this, they are not truly an ethnic group, 
  at least not yet, though some scholars suggest that they could become 
  one in time.
  THE NON-HUMAN RACES
  THE NON-HUMAN RACES
  DWARVEN FOLK
  DWARVEN FOLK
  The ﬁ rst dwarves arrived in the Lost Lands just under 15,000 years 
  ago from their homeland of Niðavellir, part of the same plane of 
  existence as the elven Alfheim and the drow Svartalfheim. They were in 
  the midst of a war with the drow when they discovered the secrets of the 
  gates to Boros originally created by the elven god Wayland the Smith. 
  The dwarves opened multiple new gates between the worlds, and soon 
  the conﬂ ict between the two races spilled through. The dwarves soon 
  found themselves embroiled in the Gods’ War and allied with the gods 
  of good against the gods of evil (with whom the drow joined).
  Over the ensuing centuries, the dwarves spread throughout many lands of 
  Boros (or, as they still call it, Midgard). The planar gates were eventually all 
  destroyed or forgotten, until the dwarves lost contact with their homeland. 
  Yet in their new world, the dwarves began to acclimate to their new homes 
  and divided into distinct groups based on where they settled. Those who 
  came to live amid the peaks of Akados became the mountain dwarves; those 
  who settled in the hills became hill dwarves. The Ankhurans of far western 
  Akados are certainly dwarves, though their origin seems unconnected to any 
  of their cousins throughout the world. There are also the sand dwarves of 
  Libynos, the gray dwarves (also known as duergar), and the deep dwarves 
  of the Under Realms, as well as certain more recently-recognized groups 
  such as the street dwarves of Bard’s Gate.
  All dwarves, however, are known for their stolid resilience, 
  stubbornness, and sheer tenacity in the face of trial and hardship. As 
  they say, better to chip at a granite boulder than to try to change the 
  mind of a dwarf.
  HILL DWARVES
  HILL DWARVES
  The most common type of dwarf seen outside the deep mountains 
  are hill dwarves. These ruddy-skinned, stocky folk have beards and/or 
  sideburns that tend to be thick and in hues of dirty blond to dark brown. 
  They are mainly miners and craftsmen and can be found throughout the 
  world, from the Xha’en Hegemony to Reme to the Plains of Mayfurrow, 
  and eastward to the hills of Irkaina and Shamash Kush in Libynos. They 
  get along quite well with humans and can tolerate elves, having not been 
  a party to either the battle at Lake Crimmormere or the Great Betrayal 
  at Hummaemidon. They tend to avoid their mountain dwarf cousins, 
  however, as the two groups have little love for each other.
  MOUNTAIN DWARVES
  MOUNTAIN DWARVES
  Mountain dwarves tend to stay within their mountain dwellings, 
  though some do travel for trade or adventure to cities not far from their 
  people. They tend to be taller than hill dwarves, with pale skin, black or 
  gray hair, and full, thick beards.
  It is said that the mountain dwarves were originally all part of a 
  single clan whose greatest king was Karam Ezun the Wyrmkiller. Since 
  those ancient days, however, the mountain dwarves have divided into 
  nine Great Mountain Clans. These are Clan Craenog of the central 
  Stoneheart Mountains; Clan Ironskull of the Blackrock Mountains; Clan 
  Targ, now a scattered folk, originally from the Forlorn Mountains; Clan 
  Koth, also scattered, from somewhere in the Stoneheart Mountains; 
  Clan Krazzadak, who lost their home in the Shengotha Plateau when 
  ice covered it, who live yet in the Stonehearts and their capital of 
  Abad Durahai; Clan Flammeaxte of the Deepfells; Clan Bulghoi of the 
  Kal’Iugus Mountains; and Clans Duhnbeyl and Tusov, whose locations 
  are uncertain.
  Mountain dwarves generally do not have good relations with any 
  other folk, even their hill dwarf cousins. However, the Silverhelm Clan 
  of the northern Lyre Valley in the Stoneheart foothills, a part of the 
  Great Mountain Clan Krazzadak, is an anomaly in that they are on good 
  terms with the humans of Bard’s Gate.
  ANKHURAN DWARVES
  ANKHURAN DWARVES
  Found only in their homeland in the Tsendakar Mountains of far 
  western Akados, Ankhuran dwarves are a quiet, almost taciturn group, 
  who usually wear elaborate tunics, shirts, and trousers embroidered 
  with mandalas and geometric patterns. Unlike many other dwarves, 
  they favor bright colors such as reds and yellows, sometimes garishly 
  contrasting with darker blues or greens. 
  Ankhuran dwarves tend to wear their hair long and often woven 
  into multiple braids. Embroidered, soft conical hats with the top pulled 
  forward are common headgear, as are skullcaps and headbands. The 
  Ankhurans do not make quite such a fuss about beards as other dwarves, 
  and male Ankhurans often go unshaven or wear short beards that are 
  sometimes shaved into elaborate patterns. Ankhuran women favor face 
  paints or tattoos, also in traditional geometric patterns that are often 
  quite beautiful and extensive. Males usually do not decorate their faces, 
  save for ear- and lip-rings.
  
  CH. 3: PEOPLES OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 3: PEOPLES OF THE LOST LANDS|23
  |23
  ELVEN FOLK
  ELVEN FOLK
  Much like the dwarves of Boros, the elves came from another plane 
  of existence, from their homeland known as Alfheim. They arrived in 
  several waves via planar gates created by the god Wayland the Smith 
  beginning some 17,000 years ago. Initially, few were permitted to 
  pass the gates, most of whom were among the most noble of the elves, 
  ancestors of today’s grey elves of the Emerald Mountains. Over the 
  next several millennia, other groups of elves managed to cross in small 
  numbers and largely settled in remote locations. Only in –6484 I.R., at 
  the same time the Three Gods banished Orcus to the far plane of void 
  known as the Ginnungagap, did a large wave of elves come to Boros 
  during what is known as the First Exodus.
  The arrivals from the First Exodus settled mainly in the Great 
  Akadonian Forest that then stretched across almost all of southern 
  Akados. These were the ancestors of today’s wild elves (those who 
  refused to follow Valenthlis and withdrew west to the Green Realm) and 
  high elves (who followed Valenthlis, fought aside the Hyperboreans at 
  Hummaemidon, and live today in eastern Akados largely in friendship 
  with the human realms).
  HIGH ELVES
  HIGH ELVES
  Most elves encountered in eastern Akados or in human cities elsewhere 
  are high elves, most initially hailing from the Forest Kingdoms to the 
  east of Bard’s Gate or from the Harwood Forest. Many high elves are 
  subjects or vassals of the elven kingdom of Parnuble and revere the 
  beloved queen of that realm and gladly rise to defend her honor. Most 
  high elves have honey-blond hair, though some have black hair, and 
  blue, green, or sapphire eyes.
  Though preferring forests, many high elves encountered outside their 
  homelands are widely traveled and cosmopolitan, and are on friendly 
  terms with humans, as well as gnomes and halﬂ ings. They are reasonably 
  tolerant of hill dwarves, but dislike mountain dwarves. They ﬁ nd wood 
  elves to be fascinating throwbacks, view the wild elves as arrogant and 
  insular, and generally hold grey elves in legendary awe. They hate drow 
  on general principle.
  WILD ELVES
  WILD ELVES
  Though likely the most numerous of the elven kindreds in the world, 
  the wild elves are almost never seen outside their forests in the Green 
  Realm and Green Warder Nations. They are the descendants of those 
  elves who refused to make peace with the humans of Akados and chose 
  to retreat to the west to avoid civil war with their high elf kin. These 
  are also the elves that suffered the wars with the humanoid tribes of 
  the Haunted Steppes at the Crynnomar Gap and who erected the Green 
  Warder monoliths to prevent future human incursions into their lands.
  Most wild elves have ﬂ owing black hair, eyes of black, browns, or 
  grays, and rich woody-brown skin, though some may have silver or 
  honey-blond hair, and golden or amber eyes.
  Wild elves are coolly indifferent toward their high elven kin (whom 
  they view as having betrayed elvenkind by making peace with humans) 
  and half-elves (whom they view with a mixture of pity and disgust). 
  While wild elves would likely feel kinship with wood elves, they would 
  also consider them crude and barbaric. They think little of gnomes and 
  halﬂ ings, and view all humans and dwarves with outright hostility. If 
  possible, drow are killed on sight.
  WOOD ELVES
  WOOD ELVES
  The wood elves are the seemingly feral remnant of the elves that 
  neither followed the ways of Valenthlis nor chose to depart eastern 
  Akados during the Second Exodus. They usually live in small, isolated 
  enclaves scattered in woodlands throughout central and eastern Akados. 
  While they may be less overtly hostile to humans than their wild elf 
  cousins of the Green Realm to the west, these sylvan folk are nonetheless 
  more prone to isolationism and insular defense of their territories than 
  the high elves. Usually, conﬂ ict is the result where human settlements 
  encroach on wood elf lands. The one exception seems to be around 
  Bard’s Gate, where the wood elves of the region hold the queen of 
  Parnuble in high regard and respect the peaceful relationship she has 
  engendered with the local humans. As a result, the occasional wood elf 
  can even be seen walking the streets of Bard’s Gate.
  Wood elves tend to be shorter than high elves, slightly stockier, with 
  darker earth-tone skin, and hair of dark brown or muted auburn, and 
  eyes of black, brown or, occasionally, leaf green. Unlike their kinfolk, 
  some wood elves are able to grow beards.
  Compared with their high elf kin, wood elves tend to have somewhat 
  cruder technology but are more in touch with nature and druidic magic. 
  In point of fact, they usually have a haughty disdain for most high 
  elves and look down on half-elves as half-breeds. They get along with 
  gnomes, have a neutral to slightly-hostile attitude toward humans and 
  halﬂ ings, and actively dislike half-orcs and dwarves. Like their other 
  cousins, they hate drow. Being quite an insular folk, the wood elves 
  have little knowledge of wild elves or grey elves and would be both 
  fascinated by and cautious of such folk.
  GREY ELVES
  GREY ELVES
  The grey elves, mysterious and fey, are the legendary monarchs of 
  the elven race, sequestered in the Emerald Mountains deep in the Green 
  Realm. It is to these kings and queens that the wild elven high lords 
  swear fealty. They are an inherently magical race and are renowned for 
  the depths of their knowledge and wisdom. To their other elven kin, they 
  are known as the Hidden Ones or the Shining Ones.
  Grey elves tend to a much paler cast than other elves, with hair ranging 
  in color from white to silver, sometimes with a tint of bluish-gray. Their 
  eyes are bright blue, silver, completely colorless, or amber. They stand 
  taller than all other elves and are as at home upon the waves as on land.
  Grey elves are friendly though aloof with wild elves, whom they see 
  as their rightful subjects. High elves and wood elves are likewise seen 
  as subjects, though gone astray and without proper guidance. They think 
  little of half-elves as a debased offshoot and consider them more akin to 
  humans than elves. They tolerate humans, gnomes, and halﬂ ings and are 
  generally unfriendly with dwarves, though they reserve a special respect 
  for those dwarves directly related to the dwarven high kings of old, for 
  theirs is a shared history. Grey elves ﬁ nd drow to be fascinating and seek 
  to learn all they can of their subterranean kin. A grey elf is extraordinarily 
  unlikely to be encountered anywhere outside the Emerald Mountains.
  DARK ELVES (DROW)
  DARK ELVES (DROW)
  The drow are the descendants of the natives of Svartalfheim who 
  warred with the dwarves of Niðavellir and came over to Akados through 
  the gates the dwarves built, eventually siding with the evil gods in the 
  Gods’ War. They have lived in the depths of the Under Realm ever 
  since, in their own cities such as Thoth Kathalis underneath the Mons 
  Terminus mountains, and in one city on the surface, Vilik Strad on 
  the Talanos Peninsula of far southwestern Akados. Hating most other 
  races and being hated in return, few drow are ever seen outside their 
  own realms. The one exception might be the grey elves of the Emerald 
  Mountains, where a mutual curiosity seems to hold.
  HALF-ELVES
  HALF-ELVES
  Many half-elves trace their ancestry to the aftermath of the 
  Hyperborean wars, though many others are the offspring of more 
  recent interbreeding between humans and elves (usually high elves). 
  As a general matter, half-elves are accepted by most human realms on 
  Akados, particularly where they are more common; in some locales 
  where they are rare, they may be seen as a bit of an oddity, though 
  they still would not elicit hostility. As evidence of their acceptance, 
  particularly in eastern Akados, many leaders of human cities are and 
  have been half-elves.
  
  24|
  24|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  
  CH. 3: PEOPLES OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 3: PEOPLES OF THE LOST LANDS|25
  |25
  Half-elves and high elves are usually on quite friendly terms. 
  Ironically, it is among their other cousins that half-elves are most likely 
  to meet animosity. Typically, wild elves and wood elves would view 
  half-elves as half-breeds, while grey elves would think of them as little 
  more than humans. Only in some of the eastern lands of Akados would 
  wood elves be willing to accept half-elves as companions or friends. 
  GNOMES
  GNOMES
  The vast majority of gnomes in the Lost Lands live on Akados and 
  can be found in many locations and cities throughout the continent. 
  Some also live in Libynos, mainly in the region of the Hollow Spire 
  Mountains in the south of the continent. 
  Rock gnomes are the common gnomes of the Lost Lands, and the ones 
  most typically encountered in cities or other settled areas. They are found 
  more frequently in the central and western portions of Akados but live as 
  far east as the city of Bard’s Gate. Rock gnomes generally settle in small 
  villages in hilly regions, and mostly try to stay out of the affairs of other 
  folks. They are known for raising fruit trees, herbs, and bees; gnomish 
  wines and honey are well-regarded and can fetch good sums in trade.
  Their deep gnome cousins, the svirfneblin, are almost never seen 
  outside their mountain homes. Their city of Alesardin in the Stoneheart 
  Mountains is regularly in conﬂ ict with the nearby dwarven clans. Also 
  in the Stonehearts, on the Ice Plateau, are the ice gnomes, or barbegazi, 
  who are shunned by all of their cousins.
  HALFLINGS
  HALFLINGS
  The presence of halﬂ ings is virtually ubiquitous throughout the whole 
  of Akados, particularly in the lands that at one time or another were 
  under the dominion of the Kingdom of Foere. Their original homeland 
  may be in the area of the Dale and the Low Country, in the western part 
  of the Principality of Olduvar, though there is some support for their 
  origin in the Old Tors in the holdings of the overking of Foere.
  Most halﬂ ings live rustic lives, often in the countryside, where they 
  plant gardens, grow grains, and raise sheep and other smaller livestock. 
  Some, however, have found their way to major towns or cities, and in 
  some cases have reached heights of substantial inﬂ uence and wealth, 
  becoming successful merchants, guildmasters, or business owners. Some 
  few have even found a degree of notoriety as adventurers or rogues, a 
  status that secretly pleases many of the otherwise quiet halﬂ ing folk.
  LANGUAGES OF 
  LANGUAGES OF 
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  Hundreds if not thousands of languages are spoken in the Lost Lands. 
  At one point in time, most of the human population of the world lived 
  in small, relatively isolated tribes or clans, each of which developed 
  its own tongue (or divergent dialects of regional languages). Over 
  thousands of years, each of these different languages diverged, merged, 
  and inﬂ uenced each other, in a complex tapestry that can, even to 
  experts, be bewildering.
  That being said, certain languages have had outsized inﬂ uence on the 
  modes of speech in the world. A number of current languages either 
  are descended from or were heavily inﬂ uenced by the High Boros 
  spoken by the Hyperborean Empire. Even though now separated by 
  thousands of miles, many folk who claim Hundaei ancestry speak a 
  language clearly descended from Kirkut, including the Shattered Folk, 
  the Rheman Loreclans, the tribes of the Sea of Grass, and even the Huun 
  of Libynos. And throughout Libynos, the Semuric tongue of the ancient 
  Assurian Empire has spread far and wide to form the basis for scores of 
  languages now in use throughout that continent.
  Set forth below is a table of many of the major languages of the Lost 
  Lands, followed by a brief consideration of a few of the more widespread 
  or inﬂ uential tongues.
  COMMON LANGUAGES OF THE LOST LANDS
  COMMON LANGUAGES OF THE LOST LANDS
  Language
  Original Speakers
  Used Today By
  Anari
  Anari
  Anari
  Common
  Varied
  Many throughout 
  Akados
  Erskin
  Erskaelosi
  Erskaelosi
  Gasquen
  Foere tribes
  Foere nobility, Ramithi
  Helvaenic
  Heldring
  Heldring
  High Boros
  Hyperboreans
  None
  Khemitian
  Khemit
  Khemit, traders in 
  Libynos
  Kirkut
  Hundaei  
  (varied dialects)
  Rhemans, Shattered 
  Folk, tribes of Sea of 
  Grass, Huun
  Kra
  Arkaji
  Arkaji (Riverfolk)
  Meeruwhan
  Jaata
  Jaata, merchants in 
  northern Libynos
  Nørsk
  Northlanders
  Northlanders, others in 
  the Northlands
  Ogham
  Folk of Ynys Cymragh
  Daanites
  Semuric
  Assurian Empire
  Many throughout 
  Libynos
  Xha’en
  Plains of Xha tribes
  Xha’en, many in 
  western Akados
  WESTERLING (COMMON)
  WESTERLING (COMMON)
  The common language of most of Akados, Westerling (as it is known 
  outside of Akados) or Common (as it is usually known locally) is the 
  language spread throughout the continent by the Kingdom of Foere. It 
  began as something of a pidgin tongue that took words and construction 
  from the Gasquen of Foere and High Boros as well as other Akadian 
  tribal languages, and introduced a strong inﬂ uence of Helvaenic from 
  the era of the Heldring conquests. Over time, Common became a full 
  language, and, once it was adopted for the purposes of trade, diplomacy, 
  and soldiering, the most effective at permitting communication by a 
  wide variety of peoples. Today, the vast majority of people in the parts 
  of Akados once dominated by the Foerdewaith speak Common as the 
  regular language, and most merchants and traders on the continent (even 
  those from Libynos) use it in the ordinary course.
  GASQUEN
  GASQUEN
  Gasquen was the language of the original tribe of Foere from whom 
  Macobert descended. Unique in its linguistic etymology, its scope 
  of use was originally limited to central Akados around the Star Sea. 
  With the spread of the Foerdewaith empire, Gasquen was picked up 
  in many places to identify with the new overking. But even Macobert 
  himself realized that Gasquen was inadequate to communicate within 
  his growing empire and set about establishing the Westerling military 
  tongue as a vernacular to be used commonly among all his disparate 
  peoples. Gasquen is now found only in isolated areas or noble courts that 
  wish to strongly identify with Old Foere. In the Sundered Kingdoms, the 
  Ramithi, who hate the Heldring inﬂ uence on the Common tongue, speak 
  Gasquen almost exclusively as a means of emphasizing their cultural 
  identity in the face of generations of invasion of their island.
  
  26|THE LOST LANDS
  HELVAENIC
  HELVAENIC
  Helvaenic is the language of the Helcynngae Peninsula and is the 
  only tongue that most Heldring use when in their homeland. Wherever 
  populations with strong Heldring ties exist (which today includes the 
  parts of eastern Akados they at one time conquered), Helvaenic is likely 
  to be spoken as a household language if not in daily dealings. From 
  a wholly different etymological family then High Boros, some of that 
  ancient language has nevertheless found its way into Helvaenic after 
  millennia of (often hostile) contact between the two cultures. Of any 
  existing languages, Helvaenic is most similar to the Nørsk language 
  spoken in the Northlands, though that language appears to be a simpler, 
  more linguistically pure version. 
  HIGH BOROS
  HIGH BOROS
  The stilted and archaic language of ancient Hyperborea and the little-
  known land of its origin in Boros on the World Roof provides the common 
  roots of or contributes to almost all human languages in Akados and 
  Libynos today, and bits and pieces have found their way into non-human 
  languages such as Elven as well. However, despite this universal relation 
  that the language has to so many others, it is an all-but-dead language 
  itself, more likely to be found in old tomes and dusty archives than on the 
  lips of living speakers. Only two locations in Akados continue to use a 
  version of High Boros: the anachronistic city of Freegate and the Berrini 
  living between Irkaina and the Northlands. Even in those cases, most 
  know and use Common with visitors or while abroad. 
  KHEMITIAN
  KHEMITIAN
  One of the oldest human languages in the world, Khemitian is the 
  spoken language of the ancient kingdom of Khemit in Libynos and the 
  second-most commonly spoken language in Libynos next to Semuric. 
  Its written form is heavily inﬂ uenced by High Boros from when the 
  Hyperborean Empire stretched across Akados and to the far coast of 
  Libynos as well. Its older written form, the hieroglyphic language 
  of Ancient Kemitian (sometimes rendered as Ancient Khemitian), 
  however, is very different and bears no relation to High Boros.
  KIRKUT
  KIRKUT
  Kirkut is an entire language family rather than a single language, 
  with distinctive dialects spread across much of the world. It is derived 
  from the Hundish language of the ancient Hundaei Empire, and so 
  forms the basis of the current tongues of those claiming descent from 
  those tribal clans: from the Shattered Folk of the Haunted Steppes to 
  the Rheman Loreclans, the Ulnat of the Far North, the tribes of the Sea 
  of Grass, and the Huun of Libynos. The long years and far distances 
  that have separated these people, however, mean that the languages 
  they in fact speak are now widely varying dialects that are so different 
  that the speaker of one may be almost entirely unable to understand the 
  language of another.
  SEMURIC
  Semuric originated in the Assurian Plains, considered by many 
  scholars to be the cradle of humanity on Lloegyr. Khemitian makes 
  claim to being the older language simply because Khemit emerged ﬁ rst 
  as a single kingdom, and its language has changed less over the ensuing 
  millennia. If Semuric has been subject to more change, it is because it 
  has spread much farther across the continent of Libynos. Semuric is 
  principally spoken in the lands of the Ashurians of north, central, and 
  western Libynos and extends west most of the way across the Isthmus 
  of Irkaina but is the true lingua franca of Libynos, and many Libynosi 
  know it as at least a second language.
  26|
  26|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  itself, more likely to be found in old tomes and dusty archives than on the 
  lips of living speakers. Only two locations in Akados continue to use a 
  version of High Boros: the anachronistic city of Freegate and the Berrini 
  living between Irkaina and the Northlands. Even in those cases, most 
  know and use Common with visitors or while abroad. 
  that the speaker of one may be almost entirely unable to understand the 
  language of another.
  SEMURIC
  SEMURIC
  Semuric originated in the Assurian Plains, considered by many 
  scholars to be the cradle of humanity on Lloegyr. Khemitian makes 
  claim to being the older language simply because Khemit emerged ﬁ rst 
  as a single kingdom, and its language has changed less over the ensuing 
  millennia. If Semuric has been subject to more change, it is because it 
  has spread much farther across the continent of Libynos. Semuric is 
  principally spoken in the lands of the Ashurians of north, central, and 
  western Libynos and extends west most of the way across the Isthmus 
  of Irkaina but is the true lingua franca of Libynos, and many Libynosi 
  know it as at least a second language.
  
  CH. 4: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 4: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LOST LANDS|27
  |27
  The following history, brief as it is, includes far more information than 
  even the most respected scholar of the Lost Lands could ever know. Most 
  educated people will be aware of the basic history of their kingdom, and 
  maybe a close neighboring kingdom or two, going back perhaps two 
  or three centuries. Certain legends or stories of ancient times may be 
  common knowledge, if particularly important to the local community. 
  Residents likely also know some history of their city, if they live in one. 
  And almost everyone has heard stories of the ancient Hyperboreans and, 
  where relevant, the Foerdewaith. But that is likely to be the extent of the 
  historical knowledge of even a literate and well-read individual. That, and 
  the creation myths and legends of their own religion.
  Scholars in major cities know more, of course, but even there, most 
  only have expertise in a speciﬁ c area or topic. No one has the breadth 
  of knowledge set forth below, and it should be parceled out accordingly.
  More details about the history of speciﬁ c regions, nations, and cities 
  may be found in the applicable entries in the Gazetteer in Chapter V. 
  Other details and speciﬁ c dates are included in the timeline in Appendix 
  I at the end of this volume.
  CREATION OF THE WORLD 
  CREATION OF THE WORLD 
  AND THE AGE OF GODS
  AND THE AGE OF GODS
  The beginning of the world is shrouded in myth and mystery. Many 
  religions and cultures have their own creation stories, most of which are 
  entirely inconsistent with each other. As of yet, scholars have not been 
  able to piece together a single origin on which they can agree. 
  That being said, most scholars subscribe to the view that the world 
  is incredibly ancient. Evidence has been found that suggests that 
  the continents were at one point connected in one supercontinent, 
  sometimes referred to as Hyperboros, which eventually split into the 
  known continents of Akados, Boros, and Libynos. Given the speed at 
  which the landmasses appear to move, some of the wise in Courghais, 
  Reme, Bard’s Gate, and Castorhage postulate an age of the world of 
  billions of years.
  Most scholars have also come to a consensus that the world’s creation 
  resulted from the actions (whether intentional or not) of one or two 
  primordial elemental forces. Not necessarily gods in the strict sense, 
  these fundamental powers have been given various names by those 
  cultures that refer to them, including Erce, Boros (from whence came 
  the name of both the northern continent and the world), Ymir, and 
  Behemoth. Some of these forces may be native to our plane of existence, 
  while others may have come from the upper or lower planes.
  According to the oldest and darkest legends, there came a time, long 
  after the world formed but eons ago yet, that chaotic beings of enormous 
  power arrived on the world from beyond the stars. In many ways neither 
  gods nor demons, they have come to be referred to as the Great Old 
  Ones. Some of their names have also come down to us, including Hastur, 
  the Unspeakable One; Cybele, the Great Mother, the Black Goat of the 
  Woods; and Tsathogga, the Demon Frog God, the Devouring Maw, who 
  is also said to be a demon lord. The Great Old Ones and their unhuman 
  servitor races populated the world and are believed to have bred beasts 
  for labor and food.
  Eventually, the Great Old Ones warred among themselves during a 
  period called the Primordial Wars. None now knows which one of them 
  ended up ascendant. It is thought that Tsathogga was not victorious, but 
  that he and his tsathar servitor race survived the Primordial Wars by 
  retreating into desolate swamps and caverns, though they lost much of 
  their power elsewhere in the world.
  The end of the Age of Gods is traditionally marked by an event 
  known as the Judgment of Xtu. According to the legends that speak of 
  this time, a ﬁ ery object from the skies crashed into eastern Libynos and 
  annihilated a portion of the eastern side of the continent and devastated 
  the populations of the Great Old Ones’ nonhuman servitor races and the 
  great beasts inhabiting the world. Where the object struck, hundreds 
  of thousands of square miles of land were effectively vaporized. The 
  seas rushed into the massive crater and created the Boiling Sea, which 
  exists today as a part of Mother Oceanus along the east coast of Central 
  Libynos near Imya and the Jungle of Malagro.
  AGE OF DRAGONS
  AGE OF DRAGONS
  The next age of the world is typically known as the Age of Dragons. 
  With the Great Old Ones rendered powerless, dead, or imprisoned, 
  elemental and primal dragons arrived on Boros, likely from the Inner 
  Planes, and defeated the remnants of the prior nonhuman races and took 
  the land for themselves.
  Very little is known of this era. It is believed that the division between 
  chromatic and metallic dragonkind originated during this time and 
  led to a conﬂ ict known as the Dragon Wars. Both great lizards as well 
  as serpent-folk were either brought to the world or bred by the great 
  dragons as food or to ﬁ ght battles for them. And toward the end of this 
  era, giants are said to have arrived from Jotunheim to ﬁ ght the dragons 
  for dominion over the world.
  There is no agreement as to why this era ended, though it appears 
  that the dragons and giants battled among themselves until they were all 
  driven to the corners of the world. Into the vacuum came new powers, 
  The following history, brief as it is, includes far more information than 
  According to the oldest and darkest legends, there came a time, long 
  
  28|
  28|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  the ﬁ rst beings known as gods. And toward the end of this age, humans 
  arrived on Boros. As to the origins of humans, the diversity of stories 
  and legends are impossibly inconsistent. Some say that humans were 
  already here, in hiding, and that the gods found them and brought 
  them out of the darkness. Other religions claim one god or another 
  created humans. Whatever the case, humans began to spread across the 
  continents of the world.
  AGE OF MAN
  AGE OF MAN
  Evidence of Neolithic human groups can be found throughout all of 
  the continents of the Lost Lands. When and how they ﬁ rst arose, and 
  whether or in what way they might have been related, is uncertain. It 
  has been noted that one symbol, roughly looking like a cube within a 
  cube (an object known as a tesseract), can be found in cave art and other 
  petroglyphs in many locations separated by thousands of miles.
  These early people must have come into contact with the serpent-folk 
  and giants who had been around for, at that point, perhaps hundreds 
  of thousands of years, evidenced by certain obscure legends that come 
  down to us from that time. 
  During this period, the earliest human proto-civilizations arose. 
  Evidence of agriculture and the beginnings of communities from this 
  time can be found in the regions that would become Khemit, Istaﬂ umina, 
  and Jaati on Libynos, and in the future lands of the Xha’en in western 
  Akados. Based on relics dating from this period, the larger communities 
  appear to have been theocracies, with some evidence of brutal traditions 
  and the enforcement of loyalty through blood. From their weaponry and 
  armor and burials evincing terrible injuries, it is clear that, even in these 
  earliest years, there was conﬂ ict among the nascent human realms. In 
  one consistency across thousands of miles, the religious image of the 
  tesseract is widely recognized as a symbol of life and the natural order.
  Most scholars assume that the people of the northern continent of 
  Boros, the ancestors of the Hyperboreans, had their origin during this 
  time as well, although no evidence or records have yet been found that 
  could conﬁ rm this hypothesis. In addition, there are legends concerning 
  a southern continent, now lost, which was called Notos, on which 
  civilization also arose.
  AGE OF STRIFE
  AGE OF STRIFE
  The ﬁ rst human city-states were founded during the era known as the 
  Age of Strife, which began roughly 18,000 years ago. Cities such as 
  Erethu, Gessh, and Ur on Libynos grew large, built surrounding walls, 
  and conquered the neighboring countryside. Around the same time, the 
  explorer Koshag of Ur sailed the Sinnar Ocean and established the City-
  State of Xantollan on Pontos Island, the earliest city on Akados. And 
  about 15,700 years ago, colonists from the northeastern coast of Libynos 
  (the location of the modern Jaati) found their way to the west coast of 
  Elves ambush a Hyperborean patrol in the forests of southeastern Akados.
  
  CH. 4: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 4: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LOST LANDS|29
  |29
  Akados (legend says by crossing Mother Oceanus the long way), where 
  they founded Gtsang.
  During this period, the worship of many gods spread throughout the 
  human realms, along with the understanding that the deities belonged to 
  various groups, or pantheons. Many of the gods ﬁ rst to be worshipped 
  were benign, of light and agriculture, of land, sea, and air. But not all. 
  Some stories suggest the malign inﬂ uence of older, non-human races 
  in the introduction of the worship of various evil deities. However it 
  occurred, certain human realms adopted the ways of beneﬁ cent deities, 
  while others devoted themselves to gods of darkness. Soon, strife 
  between these city-states and kingdoms of Libynos erupted into war.
  The legends of the elves and dwarves indicate that those races ﬁ rst 
  arrived on Boros over the course of this age. Some 17,000 years ago, the 
  elven god Wayland the Smith unlocked the secret to passing between the 
  elven homeland of Alfheim and the world of Boros, and some among 
  the elves, or Alfar, crossed through. For many years, the way was kept a 
  closely guarded secret; the earliest visitors were limited to the noblest of 
  the elves, whose descendants are said to be the grey elves of the Emerald 
  Mountains of Akados. Over time, some other Alfar passed between the 
  worlds, but only in small numbers, and settled in remote locations, and 
  for reasons yet to be determined.
  Some two millennia after Wayland ﬁ rst discovered the secret of the 
  planar gates, the dwarves of Niðavellir (which, depending on who 
  you ask, is either a region of Alfheim, or is closely connected to it) 
  came into conﬂ ict with the elves of a realm called Svartalfheim, who 
  in time became the drow, or dark elves. During the course of this war, 
  the dwarves discovered the secrets of the gates of Wayland the Smith 
  and proceeded to construct gates of their own. Unlike the Alfar gates 
  made by Wayland that broached wild areas of Boros little populated 
  by sentient folk, and through which only small numbers of Alfar were 
  permitted to pass, the dwarves opened multiple gates into the deep 
  places of Boros, and in no time the conﬂ ict between the dwarves and 
  dark elves spilled through unchecked.
  The world they found was one already at war, scarred by the clash of 
  great powers. The strife between the followers of the gods of good and 
  the gods of evil had spread to the Outer Planes, into a conﬂ ict known as 
  the Gods’ War. The drow soon joined with the evil gods in the Gods’ War, 
  while the dwarves and Alfar allied with the deities of good. Eventually, 
  at great cost, the last general of the forces of darkness was overthrown, 
  and the god Thyr ended the Gods’ War, and with it the Age of Strife.
  Oddly, the dwarves of Ankhura, in the Tsendakar Mountains of 
  northwestern Akados, are said to have already been in their mountain 
  fastnesses when Gtsang was founded. If that is true, the dwarves of this 
  realm would have arrived independently of, and substantially earlier 
  than, their fellows who used the dwarven gates created at the time of 
  the Gods’ War. The dwarves of Ankhura do not provide any insight as 
  to when or how they may have come to their homes in the Tsendakars, 
  simply maintaining that they always lived in those mountains.
  AGE OF KINGS
  AGE OF KINGS
  Though elves and dwarves now lived on Boros, the Age of Kings 
  was in many ways the ﬁ rst great age of humanity. This period, starting 
  around 12,000 years ago, saw the rise of the Phoromyceaen civilization. 
  Not a single empire, the Phoromyceaens spread from an unknown point 
  of origin to found independent city-states across much of the world, all 
  of which, for some as yet undiscovered reason, were built underground. 
  Though a solidly Bronze Age culture (and outside their cities, essentially 
  Neolithic), they were magically advanced, with sorcerer-kings or priest-
  kings ruling most of their cities. Some of those ancient rulers are said to 
  have survived the fall of their civilization and become lichs, enduring to 
  this day in the hidden depths of the world.
  Among the cities founded by the Phoromyceaens were Barakus, 
  beneath the Duskmoon Hills of the Sinnar Coast of Akados, which was 
  abandoned in –6627 I.R.; Lyemmos, on the island of the Crescent Sea 
  now known as Insula Lymossus, which was swallowed by a massive 
  sinkhole in –6484 I.R.; Nestril, the ruins of which are said to be hidden 
  under the eaves of the Forest of Parna, also in eastern Akados; and 
  Tharistra, on the plains west of the Gulf of Akados, possibly in the 
  vicinity of Stoneheart Valley.
  In addition, it is believed that during these years a great empire arose 
  on the legendary continent of Notos in the seas south of Akados. Nothing 
  but myths and tales survive of this power, if indeed it ever existed. 
  Before the end of this age, the myths say that Notos was destroyed in a 
  cataclysm and sank beneath the seas, leaving only a scattering of islands 
  above the waves that today are known as the Islands of Arkanos.
  In this age, a mighty god walked among the people of Akados. He 
  was Arvonliet, an angelic being of almost painful splendor known as 
  the Prince of Beauty and also as the Bringer of Light for his radiant 
  presence. He brought great achievement, artiﬁ ce, and indulgence to his 
  followers, and if he also introduced jealousy, spiteful competition, and 
  vice, for long years no one was the wiser. For Arvonliet was not only the 
  self-proclaimed Prince of Beauty but also the Prince of Hate. It is said 
  that Arvonliet either destroyed or corrupted all the Phoromyceaen cities 
  and brought an end to that civilization throughout the world.
  To ensure his dominion over the lands of Boros, Arvonliet began 
  construction of a permanent gate to his home plane of the Abyss. At last, 
  the gods of good realized the peril the world was in. Together, the three 
  sibling gods Thyr, Muir, and Kel overthrew Arvonliet, driving him from 
  Boros and casting him into the outer plane Ginnungagap. To ensure he 
  would not return, the gods created a mystical ward known as the Keltine 
  Barrier, over which they raised a mighty range of peaks, the Stoneheart 
  Mountains. Ever after, Arvonliet would no longer be either beautiful or 
  light, and became known as Orcus.
  Whether a coincidence or otherwise, at almost the same time as the defeat 
  of Arvonliet, some event in the realm of Alfheim led to a large migration 
  of elves from their homeland to Boros. Known as the First Exodus of the 
  Elves, the cause for the sudden inﬂ ux of population is unknown, except 
  perhaps to the grey elves of the Emerald Mountains, who do not speak of 
  such things. The vast majority of the arrivals ﬂ ed to the southern reaches of 
  Akados, into deep forests that extended almost from the western edge of the 
  continent to the shores of the Sinnar Ocean in the east. There they founded 
  new elven realms far from the humans of Akados.
  Thus ended the Age of Kings in –6484 I.R.
  AGE OF SILENCE
  AGE OF SILENCE
  With the Phoromyceaen city-states in ruin, a new dark age settled on 
  Akados. The embryonic Xha’en folk of western Akados and the people of 
  Gtsang, in their mountain fastness, survived relatively unscathed. Similarly, 
  the nascent Libynosi societies that were to become Khemit, Istaﬂ umina, 
  and Jaati were largely unaffected by the events so far from their homes. 
  But for the rest of Akados, the people effectively returned to a Neolithic 
  existence, living in scattered tribes and eking out a meager existence.
  Evidence for one proto-culture of this dark age, known as the Andøvan 
  or Ancient Ones, can be found in eastern Akados and the Northlands. 
  They were a mixture of hunters, growers, and breeders of horses, and 
  their magic was in the strength of the natural world and its creatures. 
  They were clad in hides and wielded weapons of wood and stone, though 
  it is said some knew the secret of making bronze. Shamans called upon 
  the spirits of the land and the middle air. They communed with many 
  different types of spirits, and some of them were what would now be 
  called demons, such as Pazuzu, King of the Demons of the Wind. The 
  legend of Aracor of Fair Island (now called Ramthion Island), and the 
  arrival of the Obelisks of Chaos on the Plains of Sull, come to us from 
  this time (see Cults of the Sundered Kingdoms). The Ancient Ones also 
  populated much of the Northlands, where they ﬂ ourished for a time 
  but eventually fell before an onslaught of giants, trolls, and troll-kin. 
  They vanished by the time the ancestors of today’s Northmen arrived, 
  leaving behind only barrow mounds, earthen hill forts, and enigmatic 
  rings of standing stones upon the heights. Those ancients are still held 
  in a mixture of awe and fear by modern Northlanders, their barrow ﬁ elds 
  still haunted by the specters of their civilization that walk the night-
  darkened hills and forests (see The Northlands Saga Complete).
  
  30|THE LOST LANDS
  As the years of the Age of Silence passed, the human realms on 
  Akados and Libynos gradually became more complex and urbanized. 
  In Istaﬂ umina in northern Libynos, the cities of Gessh in the 
  Kingdom of Hakhad, and Erethu, Irrech, and Ur in the Kingdom of 
  Zumaru became centers of civilization during this time, with their king-
  priests commanding the loyalty of tens of thousands. In –1518 I.R., the 
  Lower Kingdom and Middle Kingdom of Khemit merged to become 
  the Conjoined Double Kingdom, beginning the First Dynasty under the 
  Pharaoh Narmar.
  On Akados, the city-state of Xha’ahan (a derivative of the word 
  Xha’en, the name the folk of the region have given to themselves for 
  thousands of years) was founded soon after the ﬁ nal defeat of the Senge 
  in –1302 I.R., designated as Year 0 in the ofﬁ cial Xha’en calendar (XC). 
  And in –722 I.R., the ﬁ rst Yaltic Dynasty of Hawkmoon on eastern 
  Akados was founded.
  In the late seventh century prior to the Imperial Record, however, a 
  shadowy group called the Cult of Aurikas arose in southern Libynos. 
  Akruel Rathamon, the high priest of this cult, consolidated political 
  power and brought various tribal folk under Aurikas’ banner. By –613 
  I.R., the cult and its disciples were committing unnamable atrocities 
  in the god’s name in the lands along the Reaping Sea. It was soon 
  discovered that Aurikas was, in fact, the ancient demon-god Orcus, 
  seeking vengeance for his prior defeat. And again, the gods responded. 
  Shah Rasalt, a Khemitian priest of Arden, raised an army in the name 
  of his god to bring war to the burgeoning empire of Akruel Rathamon. 
  Over 25 years, the forces contested in what became known as the War 
  of Divine Discord. At last, in –579 I.R., Shah Rasalt used the scepter 
  of faiths to defeat (but unfortunately not destroy) the vampire death-
  priest Akruel Rathamon as he marched across Libynos along the coast 
  of the Reaping Sea. Shah Rasalt and his army then turned and marched 
  hundreds of miles into the Seething Jungle to destroy the death-priest’s 
  remaining forces at the jungle temple of Al-Sifon. With the task 
  complete (or so he thought), Shah Rasalt returned to his desert temple 
  to die an old man.
  But the forces of evil were not done with Boros yet. In –182 I.R., 
  the frog demon Tsathogga unleashed a horde of demons in Irkaina in 
  far northeastern Akados. The god Arden again intervened, this time 
  sacriﬁ cing himself to entrap the horde and stop the invasion. In the 
  cataclysm of the god’s sacriﬁ ce, the very fabric of the world was rent, 
  and the odd atmospheric effect of the Tropic of Arden was created, 
  permanently changing the climate of lands ranging from the far south of 
  Akados to the northern extent of Libynos and beyond.
  As these events were unfolding, a new civilization appeared on the 
  continent of Boros, also called the World Roof, far to the north. In those 
  days, prior to the polar shift, much of that continent was not ice-covered, 
  and in fact was reasonably temperate. There, the Borean Empire, the 
  ﬁ rst Empire of Hyperborea, arose, adopting and consolidating a new 
  pantheon of gods that would soon sweep much of the world. For in –109 
  I.R. they sent an army to Akados and changed history forever.
  THE HYPERBOREAN AGE
  THE HYPERBOREAN AGE
  The remainder of the history of the Lost Lands set forth below 
  is principally a high-level summary of the events relating to the 
  Hyperborean Empire and its successors. We focus on Hyperborea 
  because of the profound impact that empire had on nearly the entire 
  continent of Akados, as well as much of Libynos, over thousands of 
  years. Details of the history of other regions, and speciﬁ c areas within 
  the empire, can be found in the related entries in Chapter V. In addition, 
  other details and dates may be found in the timeline contained in 
  Appendix I at the end of this volume.
  THE MARCH OF OERSON 
  THE MARCH OF OERSON 
  ((–109 I.R. TO 
  109 I.R. TO ––91 I.R.)
  91 I.R.)
  The recorded history of the Lost Lands begins in –109 I.R., more 
  than 3,600 years ago, when a phalanx of ancient Hyperborea led by the 
  Polemarch Oerson descended from the continent of Boros through what 
  are now the Northlands and into the fertile heart of Akados.
  At that time, the Hundaei roamed across the Great Steppes in their 
  numberless hordes, and the majority of southern Akados was covered 
  in a great primeval forest claimed by kingdoms of wild elves who 
  ﬁ ercely guarded their boundaries, conﬁ ning the Neolithic human clans 
  to scattered enclaves across the continent. The legion led by Oerson 
  marched along the eastern slopes of the Stoneheart Mountains and 
  began making inroads into the great forest. The elves were unprepared 
  for a concentrated assault by a professional army, and it was almost 
  a year before they were able to gather in sufﬁ cient numbers to drive 
  the tree-cutting Hyperboreans out of their woodland home. In the 
  meantime, elven settlements had been raided and burned, leaving many 
  elves dead. With the aid of the new reinforcements, the elves pushed 
  Oerson’s legion back to the edges of the forest and set an armed vigil 
  along this expansive front.
  Reluctant to dare the ambushes and traps of the wild elves again, but 
  not content to admit defeat, Polemarch Oerson spent 10 years expanding 
  his conquests along the edge of the Great Akadonian Forest, initiating 
  skirmishes with elven watchers and conquering the scattered human 
  tribes that he ran across. These tribal warriors — no matter how ﬁ erce — 
  were no match for the discipline and effectiveness of the Hyperborean 
  phalanx and its heavily armored pikemen. Stone and copper weapons 
  broke against bronze breastplates and hoplon shields, and bronze-
  headed sarissa pikes and javelins easily tore through hide armor and 
  furs. Those tribes that Oerson did not destroy were assimilated into 
  his legion, their ferocity harnessed and redirected. After organizing 
  these woods-wise warriors and teaching them to work together, Oerson 
  released them beneath the boughs of the forest eaves to hunt their hated 
  elven adversaries.
  The elves had long fought off incursions by the human tribes and were 
  adept at ambushing them and picking apart their war-bands through traps 
  and sniping. Those tactics still took a heavy toll on the human tribal 
  warriors, but now the invaders attacked in great numbers, organized and 
  guided to support each other and envelop the elven defenders. Even 
  as thousands of humans fell victim to the long arrows of the elves, 
  so too did many elves fall, quickly depleting their normal reserves of 
  guardians. And while this occurred, Polemarch Oerson continued his 
  circumnavigation of the forest and the absorption of human tribes, 
  swelling the ranks of his army with auxiliary levies.
  In the face of this unprecedented threat upon their realm, the elven 
  high lords called for aid from throughout the elven nations of Akados. 
  The guardians of the forest eaves were augmented by the archers and 
  soldiers of the forest’s deep interior kingdoms — even from so far as 
  the fabled elven cities of Elenis Tuath and Solis Alunaris — and a great 
  elven host gathered in numbers never before seen in Akados. But even 
  the stealth of the elves could not keep this host a secret, and Oerson’s 
  30|
  30|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  released them beneath the boughs of the forest eaves to hunt their hated 
  elven adversaries.
  adept at ambushing them and picking apart their war-bands through traps 
  and sniping. Those tactics still took a heavy toll on the human tribal 
  warriors, but now the invaders attacked in great numbers, organized and 
  guided to support each other and envelop the elven defenders. Even 
  as thousands of humans fell victim to the long arrows of the elves, 
  so too did many elves fall, quickly depleting their normal reserves of 
  guardians. And while this occurred, Polemarch Oerson continued his 
  circumnavigation of the forest and the absorption of human tribes, 
  swelling the ranks of his army with auxiliary levies.
  high lords called for aid from throughout the elven nations of Akados. 
  The guardians of the forest eaves were augmented by the archers and 
  soldiers of the forest’s deep interior kingdoms — even from so far as 
  the fabled elven cities of Elenis Tuath and Solis Alunaris — and a great 
  elven host gathered in numbers never before seen in Akados. But even 
  the stealth of the elves could not keep this host a secret, and Oerson’s 
  
  CH. 4: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 4: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LOST LANDS|31
  |31
  legion caught wind of its approach. Thus began the Perilous March, 
  a year-long retreat by the legion northward, retracing the route it had 
  taken along the forest’s edge, all the while being harassed and pursued 
  by the elven host. Though far enough from the forest’s edge that the 
  elves could not risk leaving the protection of the sheltering trees to make 
  a full assault, the Hyperboreans were subjected to what seemed a never-
  ending series of surprise attacks and ambushes that continually whittled 
  away at their forces and took an increasing toll on their morale. 
  Eventually, the elven host forced the legion into a lightly wooded 
  vale upon the northern slopes of the Stoneheart Valley near Lake 
  Crimmormere. Exhausted and low on supplies, the Hyperboreans found 
  themselves trapped in the valley and took up a defensive position in 
  their tortoise-like chelone formations with shields above and before. 
  The elves, sensing a ﬁ nal victory against the despised humans, advanced 
  into the valley against the outnumbered defenders.
  But as the elven spearmen and archers advanced, they discovered that 
  Oerson had not been idle the last 10 years: He had struck an alliance with 
  the mountain dwarves of the Stoneheart clans. Dwarves now emerged 
  from hidden caves along the valley’s upper slopes to send landslides 
  of carefully prepared boulders and scree down into the elves’ ﬂ anks. 
  Hidden pits opened beneath the rear ranks of the elves to swallow many 
  of their archers and most of their small cavalry force. From these holes 
  streamed columns of doughty dwarven warriors. Then as the elves 
  found themselves crippled on their ﬂ anks and enveloped from behind, 
  the heavy phalanx of the legion advanced from its defensive posture.
  The slaughter was terrifying, and legend holds that seven generations 
  of the ﬂ ower of elven civilization was destroyed that day, leaving only 
  the very old and the very young alive within the forest. When darkness 
  ﬁ nally came that evening and the few surviving elven warriors were able 
  to escape back into the trees, there was no doubt that Polemarch Oerson 
  had made the Hyperboreans conquerors and the new masters of Akados.
  THE RISE OF HYPERBOREA 
  THE RISE OF HYPERBOREA 
  ((–90 I.R. TO 
  90 I.R. TO ––1 I.R.)
  1 I.R.)
  The polemarch pressed his advantage and pushed into the interior 
  of the forest along with his dwarven allies, the surviving elven tribes 
  retreating before him. His great sweep went uncontested and managed 
  to reach all the way to the neck of the Helcynngae Peninsula. Here 
  his advance was checked by the barbarian tribes that had heard of his 
  approach and amassed their own war-bands to face the invaders. The 
  mountain dwarves marching with Oerson were of little help, as they 
  were more interested in plundering abandoned elven enclaves than 
  facing a new host of human adversaries. Leaving a defensive screen 
  of rival tribesmen across the neck of the peninsula, Oerson turned 
  his legion back and instead pressed through the southern foothills of 
  the Stoneheart Mountains until he reached the coast of the Crescent 
  Sea. Once there, he sent half of his legion back to retrace the route he 
  had marched over the last two decades to bring reinforcements from 
  Hyperborea while the other half remained with him to build the new 
  Hyperborean city of Remenos.
  With news of the success of Oerson’s legion reaching the land of 
  Boros, additional legions began moving south to reinforce the garrisons 
  left along the way by Oerson and further expand the acquisitions of 
  the conquering Hyperboreans. The savage tribes of the Heldring on 
  the Helcynngae Peninsula remained unbeaten, and a string of forts 
  was eventually built across its neck, connected by a wall called the 
  Helwall. A series of roads were cut through the vast forest of Akados, 
  and settlements and forts were built all along its length to prevent any 
  further incursions by vengeful elven tribes. The mountain dwarves, 
  having sated their lust for elven treasure and mayhem, returned to their 
  own mountain fastnesses and maintained a distant diplomacy with the 
  new human settlements. By the time of Oerson’s death at the ripe age of 
  131, as many as a half million Hyperborean immigrants had settled in 
  Akados, and a fragile peace had descended across their holdings.
  In –17 I.R., during the time of Oerson’s grandchildren, Oesson and 
  Oeric, the monarchs of distant Boros doubled their demand for tribute 
  from the Hyperborean colonies in Akados and sent episcopi — inspectors 
  general with authority to rule alongside the colonial governors to ensure 
  a full tallying of tribute owed — to the hundreds of Hyperborean 
  garrisons and settlements. By then, the Hyperborean immigrants and 
  their assimilated tribes constituted a population of millions and had built 
  their own burgeoning war machine of 20 legions, each with as many 
  as 30,000 men. For a time, the colonies grudgingly acquiesced to the 
  new demands, but each year the demands grew greater. After six years 
  of rising tributes and imperious tax collectors, the colonies erupted 
  in a popular uprising. The polemarchs of the legions and military 
  governors of the many garrisons and towns appointed Oesson and 
  Oeric as co-regents. The episcopi were lynched in the streets and their 
  heads sent as tribute back to Boros instead. Oesson and Oeric moved 
  from the prosperous port of Remenos to the more central settlement of 
  Curgantium and there raised the Tower of Oerson, a citadel to serve as 
  the heart of their new Hyperborean kingdom and a bastion of defense 
  for the realm.
  War was now inevitable. Though it took over a decade, Boros raised 
  27 legions and marched them south to bring the colonies back into 
  submission. On the plains east of the Stoneheart Mountains in the area 
  called Hummaemidon, the Boros legions were met by the Hyperborean 
  legions led by Polemarch Asenna. With his mountain dwarf allies, 
  Asenna managed to trap half of the Boros legion against the ﬂ ank of 
  the mountains and cut the other half off from reinforcing them. But 
  Crassin and Odontius, Boros’ polemarchs, had their own surprise ready 
  for Asenna. They had sailed a ﬂ eet of triremes around the Irkainian 
  Peninsula far to the east through the treacherous Mulstabhin Passage and 
  then west across the northern Sinnar Ocean to the Gulf of Akados. With 
  this ﬂ eet, Telamon, Boros’ navarch, brought the legions of Odontius 
  and landed them behind the Hyperboreans’ positions to catch Asenna’s 
  legions between the two armies.
  Seeing the new legions approaching from the rear, the dwarven army 
  turned from the ﬁ eld and formed a wedge and attempted to retreat to 
  the foothills south of their position where hidden cave entrances would 
  allow them to withdraw back into their cavern realms. The legions of 
  Odontius proved too many, however, and the dwarves found themselves 
  surrounded. Asenna, meanwhile, abandoned by his dwarven allies and 
  pressed from both ahead and behind by the enveloping legions of the 
  two polemarchs, created his own defensive position and led his men in 
  their death paean to Mithras.
  However, the battle did not end as anticipated, for suddenly the exposed 
  ﬂ ank of Odontius’ phalanx came under a withering hail of arrows ﬁ red 
  from the rolling hills to their south. As the Borean legionnaires turned 
  to lock shields against this new threat, the dwarven wedge they had 
  pinned down renewed the fury of its assault and sought to break through 
  and escape to the hills. Seeing the developments to the south, Asenna 
  split his own legions, leaving half to hold those of Crassin in place and 
  the other half to exploit the weakness caused by the dwarves as they 
  managed to divide the now-disorganized legions of Odontius. Crassin 
  watched helplessly as the legions of Odontius, now assaulted by arrows 
  from the hills, the dwarven wedge, and half of Assena’s legions, were 
  cut to pieces. He was unable to reinforce Odontius, but the split of 
  Asenna’s forces allowed his own legions to make an orderly withdrawal 
  back north. Of the 27 legions that marched forth from Boros, only eight 
  escaped to the north.
  Asenna himself was killed in the battle, but his strategos survived to 
  see the source of their salvation: A horde of elven archers descended 
  from the hills as the last of Odontius’ legionnaires fell. Now the elves 
  turned their bows and spears upon the approaching dwarves who 
  howled their battle cries in return and charged into the fray. However, 
  the mountain folk were already badly depleted by the battle with the 
  Boreans, and the elves were still fresh, having spent only arrows in 
  the ﬁ ght and not yet blood. The three strategos that commanded the 
  southern half of the Hyperborean legions then made a fateful decision. 
  In what it known as the Great Betrayal among the dwarven clans of 
  the Stoneheart Mountains and the Reconciliation by the elves of 
  
  32|
  32|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  eastern Akados, the Hyperborean phalanx charged into the rear ﬂ ank 
  of the retreating dwarves. The carnage was awful and casualties high 
  as the stubborn dwarves fought on to the very last. But in the end, the 
  exhausted human phalangites looked warily across the piled bloody 
  carcasses of the dwarves at the equally exhausted elven spearmen and 
  were astonished by what they saw: Many among the elven warriors 
  were taller and less fair than their elven brethren. Nearly half of the 
  elven force was composed of half-elves.
  Truce was called, and the Hyperborean strategos met with the elven 
  and half-elven high lords that commanded the elven force. They learned 
  that while the battles of three generations earlier had seriously depleted 
  the population of the slow-to-reproduce elves, atrocities committed by 
  the Hyperborean and tribal raiders had resulted in an entire generation of 
  half-elf bastards, and in numbers much greater than the usual elven birth 
  rate. These half-elven children were a shock to the insular wild elves. In 
  many of the surviving communities, they were known as the “war-dead” 
  and were considered abominations to be abandoned to die of exposure. 
  But in many of the diminished communities, the numbers of the half-
  elves and their quick maturation was the only means of survival through 
  the following decades. Finally, a schism had broken out between the 
  wild elf high lords who condemned the new race of half-breeds and the 
  high lords whose communities beneﬁ ted from their presence and held 
  no grudge against them for the circumstances of their birth. 
  Around –27 I.R., a charismatic half-elf by the name of Valenthlis 
  came of age and began demanding the rights and dignity of the half-
  elves be honored. Anger against 60 years of oppression broke out and 
  resulted in violence among the shadows of the deep forest. Queen 
  Vaissilune herself was slain and buried in a cavern deep beneath the 
  eastern Akadonian Coast.
  Unwilling to see even more elves slaughtered at the hands of their kin, 
  those who opposed Valenthlis withdrew to the far west to the realms of 
  Elenis Tuath and Solis Alunaris beyond the Crescent Sea. This became 
  known as the Second Exodus of the Elves, and those who went west named 
  themselves the wild elves, as they refused to accept accommodation with 
  those of part-human birth. Those who allied with Valenthlis now took 
  a new name for themselves — the high elves — as they believed their 
  willingness to join with their fellows was the moral path.
  In the 90 years since the massacre at Lake Crimmormere, the 
  Hyperboreans and the high elves of eastern Akados had stayed far 
  away from the domains of the other. When word of the march of the 
  Boros legions had made its way into the forest’s interior reaches, the 
  lords of the high elves gathered. Some argued that they should remain 
  within the protective eaves of the forest and take no sides in the coming 
  conﬂ ict. Others, with Valenthlis most prominent, feared that the 
  newcomers would, in their numbers, seek to further encroach on the 
  forests to seek out new lands. They believed that intervening on behalf 
  of the Hyperboreans would be to their beneﬁ t and might help forge an 
  alliance with the humans. While siding with their former enemies was 
  anathema to some, others noted that more than four human generations 
  had passed, and the actual perpetrators of atrocities against the elves 
  were now long dead.
  In the end, the lords of the high elves of eastern Akados resolved to 
  come to the assistance of the nascent Hyperborean realm. When they 
  saw the retreat of the Stoneheart dwarves who had ambushed their kin 
  at Lake Crimmormere, long-pent-up fury erupted, and the elves rushed 
  to the attack. The pragmatic decision of the Hyperborean strategos to 
  betray their erstwhile dwarven allies and side with the elves cemented 
  a lasting peace between the Hyperboreans and the high elves of eastern 
  Akados. It also created a simmering grudge between the humans and the 
  Stoneheart dwarves that lasted for thousands of years.
  The ﬁ nal, oft-overlooked, result of the Battle of Hummaemidon 
  was that the trireme ﬂ eet anchored on the nearby coast did not receive 
  word of the disaster of the Boros legions and remained unconcerned, 
  assuming victory to have been assured. Instead, they were caught 
  off guard as elves and tribal warriors suddenly streamed aboard their 
  anchored vessels in the night and captured more than 150 ships. Thus 
  was born the great Hyperborean navy, which until that time had been 
  greatly underdeveloped with only a few local curraghs and merchant 
  galleys to its name. Now the waters along the eastern and southern 
  coasts of Akados could be tamed, and the Mouth of Akados come under 
  the full control of the Hyperboreans. The port of Remenos rose to great 
  prominence and prosperity, and the great sea citadel of Castorhage was 
  constructed on Insula Lymossus to control the Crescent Sea.
  FORMATION OF EMPIRE 
  FORMATION OF EMPIRE 
  (1 I.R. TO 12 I.R.)
  (1 I.R. TO 12 I.R.)
  With the great victory at Hummaemidon and the capture of the Boros 
  ﬂ eet, the kingdom of the Hyperboreans began a new wave of expansion. 
  The legions were still largely intact after the battle and found themselves 
  swelling in number with the addition of thousands of half-elf volunteers 
  who wished to make their fortunes in the armies of their fathers. Oesson 
  remained on the throne in the city of Curgantium, while Oeric led these 
  legions aﬁ eld in the expansion of the nascent empire.
  The Hyperborean legions ﬁ rst turned east to the Isthmus of Irkaina, 
  where they faced the Irkainian tribes, which, though ﬁ erce, were no 
  match for the disciplined legions augmented by elven archers and tribal 
  cavalry. Crossing the Mulstabhin Passage, they entered Libynos proper 
  and marched through the Ashurian desert, then south to the cities in the 
  plains and hill country between the northern shore of the Sea of Baal and 
  the Scythirian Mountains to the north. One city after another around the 
  eastern shores of the Sea of Baal fell to the legions until they reached 
  the Triple-Kingdom of Khemit. Even that nation, ancient and powerful, 
  fell before Oeric’s armies, their soldiers assimilated into the forces of 
  the empire.
  Shortly after the conquest of Khemit, Oeric received a vision that 
  he claimed came from the goddess Muir. He saw a pristine tableland 
  vale encircled by a ring of mountains. He was told that he must build a 
  city on this Sacred Table that would become the greatest in the world 
  and that would serve as a bastion of the goddess’s virtuous faith. Oeric 
  marched north through Numeda and the throne-lands of Ift and Baal 
  to the eaves of the Scythirian Mountains where he found a pass east 
  through the peaks. Leading his legion on, he came at last to the table of 
  his vision. In this place, Oeric founded the city of Tircople. He abdicated 
  his right to the throne of Hyperborea and took on the humble robes of a 
  penitent, becoming known as the Pontifex of the Three and establishing 
  a monastery to Muir in the newly built city of Tircople.
  While Oeric conquered the lands of northern and middle Libynos, the 
  triremes of the Hyperborean navy explored the southern reaches of the 
  continent and established colonies at the mouths of major rivers. Inland, 
  the deep forests and jungles proved an insurmountable barrier for the 
  thinly stretched empire, so at the rivers’ mouths they stayed, using local 
  tribes to bring back treasures from the interior.
  With the abdication of his brother, Oesson took the golden regent 
  circlet sent back to Curgantium by Oeric and had it and his own melted 
  together and reforged into a royal crown. He then took up sole residence 
  in the Tower of Oerson and had himself crowned as imperator of the 
  Hyperborean Empire. This momentous and unifying action was taken 
  not a moment too soon, for shortly thereafter came attacks by bands 
  of vicious horsemen issuing from passes through the Stoneheart 
  Mountains. The Hundaei hordes had arrived.
  INVASION OF THE HUNDAEI 
  INVASION OF THE HUNDAEI 
  (13 I.R. TO 686 I.R.)
  (13 I.R. TO 686 I.R.)
  Riders of the Great Steppes, the Hundaei noticed the arrival of the 
  Hyperborean legions a century earlier but paid scant attention to them, 
  occupied as they were with their own internal clan warfare. However, a Great 
  Khan had arisen as ﬁ rst among the many khans of the Hundaei, and for the 
  ﬁ rst time the entire population of the Hundaei horse warriors gathered into 
  one great Invincible Horde. With the aid of the mountain dwarves seeking 
  
  CH. 4: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 4: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LOST LANDS|33
  |33
  revenge on the Hyperboreans, the horse warriors took secret paths through 
  the Stoneheart Mountains and found themselves within the fat and poorly 
  defended heartland of the new Hyperborean Empire.
  Though the Hyperborean legions were battle tested and peerless in 
  warfare, the Hundaei came at their settlements from a direction that was 
  thought to be safely sealed by the ramparts of the Stoneheart Mountains 
  while most of the legions were deployed halfway across two continents 
  from Occibolos to Tircople. The Hundaei quickly stormed through the 
  towns they encountered, burning them out and putting their inhabitants 
  to the sword. They even successfully besieged several walled cities and 
  left them in ruins. Their incursion made it as far as the regional capital at 
  Apothasalos, where the horse-riders were ﬁ nally stopped by two legions 
  led by the polemarch Gnassus. When additional legions approached, 
  the Hundaei were forced to withdraw, eventually back to the mountain 
  passes, where the Hyperboreans could not pursue without entering the 
  territory of their dwarven enemies.
  Great Khan Jaganga had successfully raided deep into Hyperborea 
  and taken much plunder, but he had made no gains of territory. Over 
  the next ﬁ ve centuries, Hundaei hordes would make lightning raids 
  deep into Hyperborea to burn and plunder, while the Hyperborean 
  legions would in turn seek out safe passes over the mountains to create 
  temporary beachheads on the Great Steppes beyond. The horse warriors 
  could never defeat the legions in a stand-up ﬁ ght, and the legions could 
  never force the Hundaei riders to engage in such a ﬁ ght. Neither side 
  made great gains against the other, and both suffered terrible losses at 
  the others’ hands. But no upper hand could ever be gained, and the war 
  stretched on seemingly without end.
  Despite the threat of the Hundaei to the west, Hyperborea ﬂ ourished. 
  The line of imperators descended from Oesson were intermittently wise 
  or warlike or foolish, but the prosperity and military might of the empire 
  was such that even the poor rulers did not cause any precipitous declines. 
  The great woodlands of eastern Akados were slowly deforested, giving 
  way to rich pasture and farmlands to feed the burgeoning empire, and 
  tribute poured in from its far-ﬂ ung corners. The folk of the Ashurian 
  desert, and the coastal lands, the throne-lands of Ift and Baal, Numeda, 
  and Khemit were absorbed into the empire, while colonies along the 
  coast of southern Libynos thrived, though the tribes of the deserts and 
  jungles continued to make war among themselves, sometimes requiring 
  the empire to intervene. Sea trade ﬂ ourished as well, bringing goods 
  and travelers from all over the empire. Remenos became the greatest 
  port city of the empire, and all overland trade in the heart of the empire 
  passed through Curgantium.
  The empire did ﬁ nd a western bound, however, just beyond Remenos. 
  Northward were the Hundaei, and to the west were the wild elves of 
  the Green Realm. With so much other land to conquer, the cost of 
  exploration farther west seemed to far outweigh any beneﬁ ts, so few if 
  any gave those regions further thought. As a result, the western shores 
  of Akados and the city-states of Xha’ahan, Jhohir, and Rojhah, as well 
  as Gtsang, remained beyond the ken of the Hyperboreans.
  One beneﬁ ciary of the growing sea trade was the island of Insula 
  Extremis across a narrow strait at the far end of the Helcynngae 
  Peninsula. Its denizens were not related to the warlike Heldring of the 
  peninsula, who were largely contained there by the Helwall. When the 
  triremes of the Hyperboreans came to their island, the folk of Insula 
  Extremis accepted the offer to join the empire and embraced the new 
  civilization, in time forsaking the old ways of the Ancient Ones from 
  whom they were descended.
  By the time six centuries had passed, the Hyperboreans had gained 
  the upper hand in their conﬂ ict with the Hundaei. They had made peace 
  with tribes of Irkainian hill dwarves and from them learned the secrets 
  of ironworking and steel. With these improvements in weaponry, they 
  were able to push back the less-numerous mountain dwarves until they 
  took refuge in their deep halls under the mountains and rarely, if ever, 
  emerged. With control of the mountain passes, the Hyperboreans were 
  able to put multiple legions into the Great Steppes. Armed with steel 
  pikes and swords and improved iron scutum shields and cuirasses, those 
  legions took a terrible toll on any Hundaei that they were able to bring 
  to battle.
  The pressure of the Hyperborean legions during the reign of Great 
  Khan Ogedane eventually forced some clans of the Hundaei to expand 
  into the northwestern corner of the Great Steppes at the foot of the Nam-i-
  Budhani, the Lost Mountains — territory long taboo to the horse clans of 
  the Hundaei — and to settle in and around the shores of dark Lake Hali. 
  These clans were ostracized by their fellows for daring to settle along the 
  forbidden shores. What transpired with these clans is unknown, but within 
  a year, clan war erupted among the Hundaei of the northwestern steppes 
  and eventually expanded to consume the entire nation.
  The civil war grew so vicious that by the time word reached the 
  Hyperborean frontier on the far side of the Great Steppes, more than 
  half the population of the Hundaei had already been slain. Within two 
  years of the war’s start, the Hundaei had ceased to exist as an organized 
  people. Hyperborean scouts found the Great Steppes in places to be 
  littered with the skulls of the once-great nation, now reduced to a few 
  roving bands that ﬂ ed from all contact.
  PAX HYPERBOREA 
  PAX HYPERBOREA 
  (687 I.R. TO 2490 I.R.)
  (687 I.R. TO 2490 I.R.)
  With the Hundaei threat ﬁ nally eradicated, nothing stood in the 
  way of the empire and its continued growth and prosperity. To 
  commemorate this time of Hyperborean transcendence, a new city 
  was established in the Piedmont Highlands to serve as a crown jewel 
  in the midst of the long Boros Road where the Hundaei no longer 
  threatened. The city was called Tsen and was built upon ground 
  sacred to the ancient faith of Arden. It grew in knowledge, wealth, 
  and sophistication to become known as the City of Wonders and rival 
  even the imperial capital at Curgantium.
  With the Hundaei horde shattered and dispersed, humanoid tribes of 
  orcs, gnolls, goblinoids, and even giants increased in number and power 
  on the Great Steppes. Unable to cross the Stoneheart Mountain passes 
  (where the mountain dwarves barred the way), the humanoid tribes looked 
  south to the Crynnomar Gap and soon were making war against the wild 
  elves in the forests south of the gap and north of the lands of Remenos.
  The wild elves of the Green Realm held this forested land as a 
  bulwark against the hated humans, from which they would launch raid 
  into the lands of Remenos from time to time to ensure their borders 
  were respected. They resisted the arrival of the humanoid bands, 
  fearing that they would turn west and attempt to raid farther into elven 
  lands. A call went out to all the elves of the Green Realm, even as far 
  as Solis Alunaris, for warriors to gather and defend the gap between 
  the Stoneheart Mountains and the Deepfells. Barely recovered from 
  their costly wars against the humans in past generations, the tribes and 
  kingdoms of wild elves sent their warriors and, in their pride, refused 
  to call upon their high elf kin to the east for assistance. The Crynnomar 
  Gap was to be their line of defense.
  The watchful Hyperboreans of Remenos noticed when the marauding 
  elves of their northern marches began to disappear. Tentative expeditions 
  were sent forth to scout out the land, and all returned with tales of 
  abandoned settlements and signs of a hasty withdrawal. The military 
  governor (or harmost) of Remenos saw an opportunity to log the pristine 
  woodlands in that region and expand the domain under his control. By 
  the time the elven war-bands returned south from the Crynnomar Gap 
  after 13 years of exhausting battle in which the humanoids were ﬁ nally 
  driven back into the steppes, they found that the Remenos frontier 
  had expanded deep into their forests, and an entire legion was ﬁ rmly 
  entrenched in the heart of their old lands south of the gap. Lacking the 
  will to ﬁ ght anew, they withdrew westward around the northern shore of 
  the Crescent Sea, deeper into the woods of the Green Realm, where they 
  erected a new line of defense. Monoliths imbued with ancient magics, 
  now known as the Green Warders, were set from the Impossible Peaks 
  to the north all the way south to the Hellgate Peaks to bar the passage 
  of any humans across this new frontier. The Green Realm was forever 
  closed to the presence of humans.
  
  34|
  34|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  After 800 years of glory, the might of Tsen ended in a single 
  night. For several decades, the folk of Tsen had been ﬁ ghting a war 
  of attrition with tribes of humanoids and inhuman marauders that 
  seemed to spring from the ground of the surrounding hills and nearby 
  plains. Finally, Tsen mobilized its army and marched forth to draw the 
  marauders into open battle where they could be decisively defeated. 
  On that fateful morning, some survivors outside the city reported 
  seeing a white feathered serpent rising from the gulf far to the south 
  and ﬂ ying through the sky toward Tsen. Whatever the meaning of 
  that portent, the city ceased to exist in a single act of cataclysmic 
  devastation the likes of which had never been seen before upon the 
  face of the world. Hyperborea’s crown jewel was no more and has 
  remained an uninhabitable wasteland ever after.
  Whether connected to the fall of Tsen or mere coincidence, over the 
  next three years a dense, dark haze settled over the Gulf of Akados in 
  the northern Sinnar Ocean. During these years, which came to be known 
  as the Great Darkness, the sun’s light was diffuse and weak during the 
  day, and at night the stars were entirely invisible, only a faint lightening 
  of the sky revealing the location of Narrah, the great moon. Crops failed 
  and, without stars visible to guide ships, shipping routes to the ports of 
  the gulf as far south as Freeport were abandoned. Tens of thousands 
  perished from starvation, and refugees ﬂ ed to regions far from the 
  gulf, where the light of the sun and stars still shone. After three years, 
  however, the haze ﬁ nally dissipated, and slowly people returned to the 
  lands about the gulf, and shipping lanes reopened.
  Not long after the fall of Tsen, a new kingdom arose on the Feirgotha 
  Plateau of the Stoneheart Mountains. The Khemitite wizard Aka Bakar, 
  who had been apprenticed to the archmage Alycthron the Dragon Lord, 
  founded this kingdom after ﬂ eeing the court of the prince of Pharos and 
  somehow absconding with a third of that city-state’s legion. With his 
  own magics and the force of his loyal Khemitite soldiers, Aka Bakar 
  carved the Kingdom of Arcady in the midst of the dwarven clanholds of 
  the Stonehearts and held it for nearly a century against dwarven assaults. 
  Yet Arcady did fall, in a short war of slaughter and desolation, but only 
  as a result of a massive surprise invasion by the combined hobgoblin 
  armies of the Deepfells to the west and the Stonehearts and the apparent 
  sudden madness of Aka Bakar himself. The archmages Alycthron and 
  Margon ended the devastation and defeated Aka Bakar, after which they 
  disappeared into the heart of Libynos on some mysterious errand and 
  were not seen again for centuries.
  THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE 
  THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE 
  (2491 I.R. TO 2515 I.R.)
  (2491 I.R. TO 2515 I.R.)
  As the Hyperborean Empire approached its 25th century, signs of 
  decline were becoming readily apparent. An apathy had settled over 
  its capital and provinces, and corruption was rampant in government. 
  Fewer lands seemed open for conquest and plunder. The legions were 
  reduced in number from 46 at the empire’s height to 12 as funds to 
  ﬁ nance these juggernauts of men and materiel became harder to ﬁ nd.
  Then in 2491 I.R., something of unknown origin but enormous power 
  occurred, and the world wobbled on its axis. Both lands and seas were 
  stricken by a season of unearthly storms and tidal waves. Far out in the 
  oceans, east of Libynos and west of Akados, great lines of impenetrable, 
  eternal storms arose, now known as the Tempest Meridians. What might 
  be beyond the storms none could say, though diviners named something 
  in the midst of the storms the Goitre. Whatever may be the case, no 
  longer could one sail the long way around the world.
  Over a period of three weeks known as the Troubled Span, the poles 
  of the world shifted. The north pole, which had previously been in the 
  Great Ocean Ûthaf beyond the Lost Mountains at the edge of the Great 
  Steppes, moved to a point directly upon the continent of Boros. This 
  brought about a sudden and radical change of climate, and a thick sheet 
  of ice began to form over that land, which proceeded to creep down into 
  what was now the Far North.
  As the weather shifted and ice began to cover the roof of the world, 
  the auguries in the Tower of Oerson were poor. When the high wizards 
  and priests of the empire gathered to reverse the drastic change to the 
  climate of their world, the results were cataclysmic. They spent ﬁ ve 
  years researching and preparing a ritual to return the world to its proper 
  alignment so that the stars would once again follow their old paths 
  across the sky. When all was in readiness, Imperator Obraskius oversaw 
  the inauguration of the monthlong ritual himself. But some powers, 
  perhaps, are simply too great to be harnessed by mortal man, and the 
  attempt by the haughty Hyperboreans was just such an instance. At the 
  climactic moment of the ritual, when the world was to set itself aright 
  upon its celestial foundation once more, the pent-up magic was released 
  in an uncontrollable wave of destruction. The Tower of Oerson was 
  thrown down, and ﬁ res consumed Curgantium. The ﬂ ames spread to 
  the plains around the city, and soon raging wildﬁ res marched across the 
  heartland of the empire, burning all in their path. The ﬁ res raged across 
  the plains and forests of eastern Akados for three years. By the time they 
  had at last burned themselves out, a quarter of the empire’s population 
  died due to either the immediate destruction or the resulting famine that 
  followed in the next few years.
  Rather than try to survive in the midst of such desolation, the 
  surviving Hyperborean elite chose to relocate east and make their new 
  capital at Tircople. They left behind their many subject tribes to fend for 
  themselves in the wasted lands and removed their garrisons that had for 
  so long kept the peace in Akados.
  THE LEGION OF KING DAAN 
  THE LEGION OF KING DAAN 
  (2516 I.R. TO 2584 I.R.)
  (2516 I.R. TO 2584 I.R.)
  The ﬁ rst of the tribes to arise in the wake of the Hyperborean 
  withdrawal was the Heldring of the Helcynngae Peninsula. They surged 
  across the Helwall and began their own age of conquest, though the 
  burned-out and desolate lands they found in the old hinterlands of 
  Hyperborea quickly checked their advance once they had captured the 
  Sinnar Coast. At that point, they turned their sights upon Insula Extremis 
  across the narrow channel at the end of their peninsula. Without the 
  Hyperborean triremes and galleys to protect the island, the Heldring 
  began building longboats, which they landed on its shores to seek land 
  and plunder.
  The warriors of Insula Extremis at ﬁ rst held off these incursions, 
  but soon the chieftains among the island’s clans began to war among 
  themselves. Taking advantage of the internal conﬂ ict, the Heldring 
  seized a small kingdom when a chieftain hired them as mercenaries 
  in a battle with his rivals. Using this foothold, the Heldring slowly 
  increased their lands on the island until Daan, the son of a local chieftain 
  who had served in the Hyperborean legions and a minor Hyperborean 
  noblewoman, returned to Insula Extremis. Daan himself had been 
  a hipparchos cavalry ofﬁ cer in the legions and served for long years 
  in the Irkainian Peninsula. When the Hyperboreans withdrew from 
  Irkaina following the destruction of Curgantium, Daan, together with 
  his father’s auxiliary phalangites and his own horsemen native to Insula 
  Extremis, were abandoned and left to ﬁ nd their own way home.
  The journey across eastern Akados took the small force three years 
  until they ﬁ nally reached a friendly port that would transport them and 
  all of their mounts to Insula Extremis. When Daan and his army arrived 
  on the island, they found the situation dire, with the Heldring kingdoms 
  expanding. Daan had learned much from ﬁ ghting the Irkainians and had 
  developed his own hipparchia of heavy cataphracts that combined the 
  heavy armor of the phalanx with the mobility of the cavalry. This force 
  of armored, lance-wielding horsemen was unlike anything the Heldring 
  had ever encountered, and in his ﬁ rst engagement Daan routed and 
  utterly destroyed a much-larger force of Heldring shield-warriors.
  Shortly after this engagement, the folk of the island named Daan as 
  the polemarch of Insula Extremis and placed the salvation of the island 
  in the hands of Daan and his cataphracts. For 10 long years, they battled 
  
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  CH. 4: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LOST LANDS|35
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  the Heldring and bested them in every engagement, until ﬁ nally in one 
  great pitched battle near the Spring of Agedium, Daan’s cataphracts and 
  the combined armies of the island’s petty kingdoms broke the power of 
  the Heldring on the island and drove them back to the sea. 
  However, Daan knew that it was only a matter of time before the 
  Heldring ships began to arrive in force again. Throughout the duration 
  of the war against the Heldring, Daan had repeatedly written to the 
  Hyperboreans at Tircople, invoking the name of his father and his mother’s 
  family to beg for help from the legions. No answer was ever received 
  until ﬁ nally, shortly before the Battle of Agedium, a reply was received 
  from Imperatrix Trystecce of Tircople advising that if the islanders would 
  send their kings as representatives, she would hear their pleas for aid and 
  consider what help Tircople could send. So even as the warriors of Insula 
  Extremis girded for the great campaign that would end at Agedium, the 
  petty kings of the island and their advisors and heirs took ship from their 
  port at Dunkelding to beseech the court of the imperatrix.
  Daan was victorious at Agedium and anxiously awaited word from 
  Tircople as the months passed, but none came. Eventually, the seers 
  and druids of the island were employed to ﬁ nd some clue as to the fate 
  of the kings in Tircople. To their horror, the divinations revealed that 
  the emissaries of Insula Extremis had been imprisoned at Tircople by 
  the court of the apparently mad imperatrix. Realizing the Hyperboreans 
  had abandoned and betrayed them, Daan saw no choice but to march on 
  Tircople itself to overthrow this corrupt monarch and rescue the kings 
  of Insula Extremis.
  Daan spent ﬁ ve years building his army. He took ship across the strait 
  with what forces he had and began recruiting among the disenfranchised 
  former subjects of Hyperborea. His ﬁ rst stop was among the burghs and 
  halls of the Heldring, who though beaten and incapable of ﬁ elding a new 
  army themselves, still retained many restless and leaderless warriors 
  lusting for battle and plunder. Many embraced the offer of their erstwhile 
  enemy and joined his growing army, many even training upon the great 
  warhorses to become cataphracts. And as his army grew, Daan headed 
  north through the devastated heartlands of Akados where thousands of 
  dissolute folk ﬂ ocked to his banner at the promise of glory and justice.
  Daan’s army continued to grow, and it encountered its ﬁ rst 
  Hyperborean legion as it crossed the Isthmus of Irkaina. But though 
  the legion was well equipped and well led by its strategos and had 
  nearly the numbers as accompanied Daan in his own army, it was not 
  experienced in dealing with the thundering charge of a formation of 
  cataphracts. While Daan’s archers and peltasts forced the legionnaires 
  to huddle within their chelones, the lance-wielding horsemen burst upon 
  their formation and overran them in droves. The battle was short, and 
  the badly-injured strategos had only enough time to formally yield his 
  forces to Daan before succumbing to his own wounds.
  Daan spent three years consolidating his forces and pushing toward 
  Tircople. During that time, he smashed three more Hyperborean 
  legions, including one composed of the charioteers of Khemit, and 
  his own legion swelled its ranks with recruits from among the former 
  imperial provinces he crossed and deserters from the Hyperborean 
  legions. Finally, with his host numbering well over 50,000, he crossed 
  the Scythirian Mountains and came to Tircople. He watched as the ﬁ nal 
  legion deployed outside the city’s walls ﬂ ed in full retreat toward the 
  Sea of Tyre. And there the legion of Daan stopped and waited. One 
  messenger was sent to the gates to demand the return of the kings of 
  Insula Extremis and their retinues, but no other action was taken, and 
  no other words were exchanged. Daan had brought the Hyperborean 
  Empire to its knees and awaited its capitulation.
  On the third night, the release of a catapult sounded, and a large 
  bundle ﬂ ew over the walls of Tircople and landed before the lines of 
  Daan’s legion. An inspection showed it to be a huge tarp holding the 
  severed heads of all the hostages taken by the imperatrix. The catapult 
  was likewise the signal to attack, as suddenly the ground around the city 
  erupted and hordes of undead abominations poured forth to attack the 
  besiegers. The Hyperboreans, once the greatest rulers and the light of 
  civilization in the world, had turned to dark rites and darker allegiances 
  to save themselves. The legion of Daan was decimated but not destroyed 
  by the sudden attack, and even as Daan deployed his heavy cataphracts 
  and phalanx to deal with the undead hordes, he ordered his auxiliary 
  troops to advance upon the walls of Tircople with ladders and ropes 
  while siege engines pounded away at its gates and towers.
  The battle for Tircople was long and vicious, and after four days 
  the gates were breached, and the legion of Daan poured into the city 
  streets. They did not loot or burn, but only attacked defenders who 
  threatened them as they made their way to the Imperial Palace. Daan 
  rode at the head of his cataphracts and was the ﬁ rst to reach the palace 
  and smash through the ranks of more undead that barred the way. Daan 
  fought through the horde and reached the throne room to face Imperatrix 
  Trystecce, where he and his companions discovered to their horror that 
  the imperatrix herself was an undead lich of surpassing power. Daan’s 
  cataphracts were not only superb heavy cavalry but were also heroes 
  and warriors of renown and now faced off against the horror that was the 
  queen of Hyperborea. Though many of his company died that day, Daan 
  himself gave the ﬁ nal blow to the lich-queen and ended her reign over 
  Tircople and Hyperborea. Her phylactery bore a vicious trap, however, 
  and when Daan destroyed it, it exploded. As the smoke cleared, the 
  corpse of the lich-queen was dust, and Daan the Polemarch of Insula 
  Extremis lay dead of a hundred cursed wounds.
  Honoring Daan’s ﬁ nal orders, the legion left Tircople unsacked. The 
  legionnaires returned to their own lands or sought out new opportunities, 
  while the surviving 50 horsemen of Daan’s cataphracts carried their lord’s 
  body back to Insula Extremis. He was interred in a crypt in a hidden 
  location somewhere on the island and pronounced the high king for all 
  time. Then the second sons and cousins of the executed kings renounced 
  the imperial name of the island and restored its ancient name, Ynys 
  Cymragh, and declared their tribes henceforth as the united tribe of the 
  Daanites. They rechristened the channel to the Helcynngae Peninsula as 
  the Straits of Daan and swore an oath that no man would cross it and live 
  until their high king had returned and ruled over the island once again. 
  The rest of the world they simply called Lloegyr, the Lost Lands — the 
  name by which the world came to be known among the common folk, 
  who thenceforth grew up on tales of Daan and his legendary cataphracts.
  THE KINGS OF FOERE 
  THE KINGS OF FOERE 
  (2585 I.R. TO 2842 I.R.)
  (2585 I.R. TO 2842 I.R.)
  Following the death of the imperatrix, anarchy reigned over Akados 
  for years as the disparate peoples of the former empire struggled with the 
  absence of Hyperborean rulership. On Libynos, the end of empire took 
  a little longer, but after only a few decades, the new imperator and the 
  surviving legions vanished in the north. The tribes of Irkaina spoke of the 
  Hyperboreans crossing the isthmus toward their ancestral home of Boros, 
  with columns of warriors and refugees marching silently northward into 
  the cold wastes. The Hyperboreans had departed for their homeland, 
  abandoning Akados and Libynos without a word of explanation.
  In the void left by the absence of the Hyperboreans in Akados, wars 
  raged between petty kings seeking to obtain and hold lands, wealth, and 
  warriors. One such kingdom in central Akados was Foere. Their king, 
  a half-elf named Macobert, had been a chiliarch (battalion commander) 
  of the Hyperborean legion that faced the Cataphracts of Daan in battle 
  decades earlier. Upon his return to Foere, he quickly overthrew the petty 
  king and installed the military tradition from his time in the legion. 
  Breeding his own war mounts, he created his own heavy cavalry from 
  among the lords of Foere, much like the old Hyperborean hippeis class. 
  Trained in cavalry tactics and the use of combined arms, they became 
  the single-most deadly ﬁ ghting force since the Cataphracts of Daan.
  These Knights of Macobert served as the anchor for his army and 
  allowed him to defeat and unite all of the petty kingdoms around until 
  soon one Kingdom of Foere ruled in central Akados. In his 260th year, 
  King Macobert marched his vast host, led by his thousands of knights, in a 
  long pilgrimage across Irkaina to distant Tircople. There he reclaimed the 
  city, cleared the High Altar of Muir, and had himself crowned Macobert I, 
  Overking of the Hyperborean Monarchy of the Foerdewaith.
  
  36|
  36|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  Subsequent overkings consolidated the Foerdewaith hegemony over 
  Akados and maintained their control of Tircople as a distant client 
  kingdom. Even the mighty Heldring of the Helcynngae Peninsula were 
  defeated in battle and brought under the banner of Foere.
  The ﬁ rst real troubles to threaten the Hyperborean Monarchy occurred 
  after Foerdewaith explorers and settlers migrated through the Crynnomar 
  Gap into the Great Steppes. By now, the Hundaei Khanate was a distant 
  memory, and only scattered bands of riders known as the Shattered 
  Folk continued to dwell upon the expansive plains. Foerdewaith settlers 
  found little to fear from these small groups, and soon small settlements 
  and colonies of Foere began to spring up on the fringes of the steppes.
  THE COLONIZATION 
  THE COLONIZATION 
  (2843 I.R. TO 2957 I.R.)
  (2843 I.R. TO 2957 I.R.)
  In 2843 I.R., Queen Beraia, wife of Overking Paulus, gave birth to 
  twin sons, Kennet and Cale. None knew which was the elder, since the 
  queen died in childbirth and the royal physiker, having been drunk at the 
  time, was summarily executed on orders of the overking. As the twins 
  grew, the empire was wracked by fears of civil war when Paulus should 
  die. But when Paulus did pass, the twins revealed a wisdom beyond 
  their years. Kennet was crowned the sole overking of the Hyperborean 
  monarchy. Cale, meanwhile, abdicated his claim to the throne, and in 
  return received sole control of the rich port of Reme (formerly known 
  as Remenos) as well as all the nearby marches that controlled access to 
  the Crynnomar Gap. 
  With the full support and resources of Courghais at his disposal, Cale 
  began the Great Colonization, a mass migration of settlers into the fertile 
  and largely unoccupied grasslands of the Great Steppes. Within 70 years, 
  a string of settlements sprang up along the base of the surrounding 
  mountains and in an unbroken chain across the steppes to the western 
  coast more than a thousand miles away. Then the colonists reached 
  the shores of Lake Hali in the far northwest. There they found better 
  organized and aggressive tribes of humanoids, which suddenly descended 
  in hordes onto the Great Steppes. The widely scattered settlements were 
  ill-prepared, and many were sacked and burned before the Foerdewaith 
  were even aware of the threat. With additional military assistance from 
  Courghais, the colonists fortiﬁ ed their steadings and slowly pushed back 
  the humanoid marauders until a tense stalemate settled in.
  The stalemate did not last long. Less than two decades later, the 
  ﬂ oodgates opened once again in a horde that poured forth from the Lost 
  Mountains in numbers not seen since the great elven defense of the 
  Crynnomar Gap, and this time accompanied by creatures of Shadow, 
  the sceadugenga, or shadow-walkers. The horde descended in a tide that 
  rolled south, burning and destroying settlements as it went. Finally, at 
  a battleﬁ eld now known as Cale’s Doom, the legion of Cale and the 
  remaining colonial irregulars met the humanoids and shadow walkers. 
  The legion fell where it stood, with tens of thousands dead. Grand Duke 
  Cale himself was among the missing.
  Refugees from the settlements poured into Reme, and the army of the 
  Foerdewaith prepared to march north to try to stop the oncoming horde. 
  In this time of Reme’s greatest need, the powerful archmages Margon 
  and Alycthron reappeared, having vanished from the knowledge of 
  men more than 10 centuries before. At the Crynnomar Gap, where the 
  gathering legions of Foere stared across a ﬁ eld at seemingly endless 
  numbers of humanoids, the wizards called upon ancient and forgotten 
  magics. The ground before the legions broke and tilted steeply 
  backward to create a slope where only a ﬂ at plain had stood before. The 
  hordes beyond the break watched as the tilted ground rose in a massive 
  The City of Courghais, Imperial Capital of Foere.
  
  CH. 4: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 4: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LOST LANDS|37
  |37
  escarpment of earth and stone before them, rising hundreds of feet and 
  stretching all the way from the ﬂ anks of the Stoneheart Mountains, 
  across the Crynnomar Gap, to the ﬂ anks of the Deepfells more than 
  500 miles distant. With such an unscalable height — thereafter known 
  as the Wizard’s Wall — blocking their path into the human lands, the 
  humanoid hordes were turned back.
  Sorrowful even in victory at the loss of the colonies and anyone 
  trapped below on the plains beyond the Wizard’s Wall, the soldiers of 
  Foerdewaith turned their backs upon the House of Cale and began the 
  long march home. Garrisons were left along the length of the broken 
  escarpment to ensure no attempts were made to scale the wall and sneak 
  into the human lands beyond, but never again, swore the folk of Foere, 
  would they cross the Crynnomar Gap and enter what became known as 
  the Haunted Steppe beyond.
  THE GREAT CRUSADES 
  THE GREAT CRUSADES 
  (2958 I.R. TO 3207 I.R.)
  (2958 I.R. TO 3207 I.R.)
  Ever since its founding by Oeric of Hyperborea, Tircople had stood as 
  a bastion of the Hyperborean gods on the continent of Libynos. It was 
  primarily dedicated, however, to the goddess Muir, whose High Altar 
  was established in the city as the center of her worship in the world. 
  Outside the city in the surrounding mountains was a secret shrine to 
  her said to have been blessed by the goddess herself, making the site 
  even more holy in the eyes of the faithful. Oeric, having abdicated the 
  throne of the Hyperborean Empire to his brother, was anointed as the 
  Pontifex of the Three, a triumvirate of ancient Hyperborean deities of 
  whom only Thyr and Muir were remembered — the identity of the third 
  deity having been lost somewhere in the distant past. Pontifex Oeric 
  thus established a long line of high priests who cared for the weighty 
  spiritual matters of the empire from their holy city while the political 
  matters of the empire were administered from Curgantium. This 
  arrangement persisted throughout the life of the empire with a heavily 
  traveled pilgrim’s road maintained between the heartlands of the empire 
  in Akados and distant Tircople.
  In the waning days of the empire, however, the imperator moved the 
  capital from ruined Curgantium and relocated it to Tircople where the 
  High Altar of Muir came to double as the Imperial Palace. Also at this 
  time, the ofﬁ ce of pontifex became absorbed by the imperators who took 
  the mantle of political and spiritual leader of the empire on themselves 
  when Imperator Garsune “discovered” Pontifex Maximilian murdered 
  at the beginning of the Twelve Nights of Blood in 2509 I.R. Garsune’s 
  reign was short-lived, however, as he mysteriously fell from the topmost 
  spire of his palace and was succeeded by his wife, the ageless Imperatrix 
  Trystecce. It was the hero Daan who discovered that she was actually a 
  foul lich and destroyed her, bringing about the end of the lines of both 
  imperators and pontiﬁ ces. 
  In 2744 I.R., when Macobert marched on Tircople, he replaced 
  the line of the imperators by having himself crowned Overking of 
  the Hyperborean Monarchy of the Foerdewaith, and lots were cast to 
  choose a new Pontifex of the Three between the high priests of Thyr 
  and Muir who had traveled with Macobert. Gesselrod, a priest of Thyr, 
  was chosen as pontifex, and the high priest of Muir, Sagrilaer, chose to 
  stay in Tircople and re-consecrate the High Altar of Muir. Seeing the 
  state into which the city of Tircople and its many holy sites had fallen, 
  Sagrilaer proposed to create an order of knights dedicated to Muir. 
  With the pontifex’s blessing, he established the Holy Order of Justicars 
  which, drawing upon the traditions of both the Knights of Macobert and 
  the Cataphracts of Daan, would be defenders throughout the world of 
  justice and the virtues of paladinhood. Sagrilaer placed the order under 
  the command of a high lord who would be the military defender of 
  Tircople, and second only to the pontifex in power within the churches 
  of Thyr and Muir.
  As the ﬁ rst high lord, Sagrilaer grew the order from a dozen worthy 
  knights to an entire battalion of mounted heavy horsemen ready to bring 
  the sword of truth wherever it was needed throughout the Kingdom 
  of Foere. As the number of Justicars grew, Sagrilaer appointed a 
  grandmaster to oversee the order in its duties abroad, while the ofﬁ ce 
  of the high lord focused on the defense of Tircople. Eventually, only a 
  company of Justicars remained in Tircople, while the rest rode far and 
  wide to discharge their holy duties and bring justice to the downtrodden.
  The Hyperboreans and, later, Foerdewaith were not the only peoples 
  to focus their attention upon Tircople and its Sacred Table in the 
  Scythirian Mountains, however. A Libynosi ruler, who styled himself 
  the king of kings and claimed his folk were descended from the ancient 
  Hundaei race, received a vision granted by the death god Nergal that 
  said the Sacred Table was sacred to his faith because it bore the entrance 
  to the Underworld hidden within its cliffs. King of Kings Ossimandius 
  declared the Foerdewaith anathema and led his people, called the Huun, 
  in a holy war against them. The Huun swept over the mountains and 
  slaughtered the inhabitants of Tircople and the valley basin. Almost 
  the entire body of Justicars on the Sacred Table fell in the onslaught, 
  alongside both the pontifex and the ﬁ rst high lord.
  In Courghais, Overking Granicus learned of this attack and called 
  upon the people of Foere to liberate the Sacred Table in what he named 
  the Great Crusade. Armies were raised from across Foere by Justicars 
  throughout the lands. With potentially hostile inhabitants in Irkaina and 
  northwestern Libynos, an overland march was deemed too long and 
  costly. Instead, a great ﬂ otilla was raised and sailed east through the 
  Canal of the Pharaohs in Khemit, and thence to the Wasted Desert that 
  lay west of the Sea of Tyre on the eastern coast of Libynos. The crusader 
  army landed and attacked the lightly defended eastern approach without 
  remorse. The unprepared Huun were driven before them, and Tircople 
  and the Sacred Table were recaptured.
  Fortresses were erected at strategic points in the Scythirian Mountains 
  and along the coasts. To create a powerful presence capable of repelling 
  future invasions, a series of Crusader States were established along a 
  section of the eastern shore of Libynos west of the Sea of Tyre and on a 
  group of islands offshore, which became known as the Crusader Coast.
  Ten years later, the Huun struck back and recaptured the Sacred 
  Table along with some of the Crusader States, and besieged Tircople. 
  Yurid, the new overking, called for a second Great Crusade to relieve 
  the besieged holy city. The crusader armies joined with the armies of the 
  surviving Crusader States, and once again the Huun were driven from 
  the Sacred Table and the siege of Tircople lifted.
  A century passed, and the Crusader States prospered. The Order of 
  Justicars grew under the half-elf Elanir, the second high lord, though 
  now it kept its forces marshaled primarily in and around the Crusader 
  States to guard against further incursions by the Huun, who still lived in 
  the mountains to the south around the Desert of Oreb. But in time, the 
  vigil of the Justicars grew lax and the Crusader States sank into peaceful 
  forgetfulness, while the long-lived King of Kings Ossimandius (or 
  another Huun leader who claimed to be the same person) consolidated 
  power. The Huun struck again, the coastal Crusader States fell, the 
  Sacred Table was overrun, and Tircople was sacked. The inhabitants of 
  all were put to the sword. Only the island Crusader States survived, and 
  all they could do was watch in horror as their brethren cities ashore were 
  ﬁ red to light up the entire coast at night in a ghastly spectacle.
  Overking Oervid called for a Third Great Crusade, which gathered once 
  again from all across Foere and took ship for the Crusader Coast. But this 
  time the Huun were ready for them and waited at the shore for the ships to 
  land. It was said that the immortal king of kings and his high priests called 
  upon their dark gods, and a great monsoon sprang up as the ﬂ otilla neared 
  the coast and smashed the ﬂ eet. Survivors unlucky enough to be washed 
  ashore along the coast were hunted by the gathered Huun spearmen and 
  executed before being cast back into the sea. The Third Great Crusade 
  ended in failure before it even stepped foot on Libynos.
  The Huun held Tircople and the Sacred Table for 30 years, ﬁ ghting 
  off occasional raids from the island Crusader States, before a Fourth 
  Great Crusade could be gathered. This one was led by Overking 
  Oessum VIII himself, a pious and devoted warrior of Muir. The ﬂ otilla 
  landed safely on the island of Cyproean and remained there for eight 
  years as Oessum slowly gathered more crusaders to his banner. A 
  
  38|THE LOST LANDS
  third high lord, Ethelgart of Berrocburh, was named while this army 
  gathered, and new Justicars were inducted into the order from among 
  the crusaders. Finally, the crusader army made plans to embark for 
  the coast where the forces of the Huun waited in numbers unequaled 
  by any prior Huun army. It is said that Ossimandius himself led the 
  army from his great war chariot pulled by elephants culled from the 
  forests of Far Jaati. The crusaders disembarked and marched across 
  the Wasted Desert toward the west where the escarpment rises to 
  the Sacred Table. Reaching the escarpment, they began their climb 
  up the Crusaders’ Road, at the top of which the Huun army awaited, 
  expecting to destroy the Foere as they tried to reach the plateau. But as 
  the ﬁ rst of the crusaders approached the top, a ripple of confusion ran 
  through the Huun forces from the rear.
  During the years of preparation on Cyproean, Oessum had not been 
  idle. His messengers had ﬂ own back and forth between the chieftains 
  of the hill dwarf clans of Shamash Kush. He had convinced these 
  chieftains of the dangers posed by the proximity of the Huun to their 
  homeland, and the clans had marched secretly over the Scythirian 
  Mountains and now tore into the rear positions of the Huun on the 
  Sacred Table. Portions of the Huun army turned to meet this new 
  threat, robbing the front lines of the ability to prevent the crusaders 
  from advancing onto the Table. Soon, the Huun found themselves 
  trapped between the two armies on a pair of small mounts on the 
  eastern edge of the Sacred Table called the Sickles. The battle was 
  ﬁ erce and the outnumbered crusaders hard pressed, but the morale of 
  the Huun was already broken and, after much costly battle in which 
  the majority of the Justicars were slain in suicidal charges upon 
  Ossimandius’ bodyguards, the crusaders carried the day. The king 
  of kings abandoned his famed war chariot on the ﬁ eld and was last 
  seen ﬂ eeing south toward Oreb with the survivors of his personal 
  bodyguard, while the main body of his force was smashed to ribbons.
  The Sacred Table and Crusader States were secure, and Tircople was 
  once again in the hands of the Foerdewaith. High Lord Ethelgart called 
  for a new pontifex to be ordained. Unfortunately, Overking Oessum 
  VIII was killed in the battle and died without an heir. Distracted by the 
  political struggles to agree on a new overking, the leaders of Foere left 
  Tircople to its own devices, and no pontifex was ordained. Finally, the 
  aged Graeltor, Oessum’s uncle who had administered Foere in Oessum’s 
  absence, was crowned overking in Courghais.
  THE AGE OF BREAKING 
  THE AGE OF BREAKING 
  (3208 I.R. TO PRESENT)
  (3208 I.R. TO PRESENT)
  The reign of Graeltor was not long. Shortly after his coronation, a 
  delegation of religious leaders in Courghais approached him about 
  the threat rising in the wastes north of Bard’s Gate where the temple-
  city of Orcus known as Tsar was threatening trade between Foere and 
  the Isthmus. Though the temple-city had been there for many years, 
  Graeltor declared his own Great Crusade to destroy the city, which he 
  dubbed the Army of Light. The siege of Tsar lasted for over a year and 
  claimed tens of thousands on both sides. 
  Then in distant Libynos, swarms of invading Mguru tribesmen 
  emerged from the Malagro Jungle and overran Tircople and the Sacred 
  Table, reducing it to a burning waste. News of this atrocity shocked the 
  Army of Light and shook its morale. Yet shortly thereafter, the forces 
  of Tsar suddenly retreated from the ﬁ eld and led the vengeful Army of 
  Light on a long chase down the Gulf of Akados coast. The army of Tsar 
  was driven into the Forest of Hope, and the Army of Light followed. 
  Both disappeared under the forest canopy, and no sign of either has been 
  seen since.
  The shock of the loss of so much of the realm’s nobility and greatest 
  warriors shook Foere to its core. Uprisings started to occur across 
  the kingdom, with few knights or noblemen to put them down. Three 
  years later, the broken Graeltor died in his bed, passing the crown to 
  his largely unknown and untested grandson Oedwin. Shortly thereafter, 
  Ramthion Island declared its independence from Foere, beginning what 
  is known as the Foerdewaith Wars of Succession. Two years after that, 
  the Grand Admiral of Pontus Tinigal withdrew from Foere and declared 
  himself Emperor of the Oceans Blue, and established the Kingdom of 
  Oceanus on Pontos Island. Efforts by the Foerdewaith to recover these 
  lost provinces failed, and in short order other Foere lands followed suit, 
  including Burgundy, Suilley, the Vast, North Heath and, in a devastating 
  blow, Reme.
  During the three centuries since, the power of Foere has continued to 
  decline, and many areas on its periphery have fallen increasingly into 
  chaos and disorder. Where once the legions of empire kept the peace, 
  now bandits and monsters roam, and good folk bar their doors and keep 
  ﬁ res burning through the perilous night.
  Just three years ago in 3514 I.R., an event occurred that shook the 
  kingdoms of Akados as a Huun army of the apparently immortal King of 
  Kings Ossimandius appeared on the northern border of the Desolation 
  of Tsar, past the ruins of Oxibbul. Never before had a Huun army set 
  foot on the shores of Akados. It advanced southward until it reached the 
  Lyre Valley, where it found its way blocked by Bard’s Gate and so laid 
  siege to the city. King Ovar the Magniﬁ cent, the overking of Courghais, 
  hastily called for a new Great Crusade against the age-old enemy and 
  rallied the nobles and men-at-arms of Foere and its former provinces to 
  the defense of Bard’s Gate. But ﬁ rst he unleashed a ﬂ eet of ships against 
  the sambuks of Ossimandius’ navy in the Gulf of Akados. A combined 
  Foerdewaith and Heldring armada delivered a crushing defeat to the 
  Huun ships and forced them into a retreat back up to the coasts of the 
  Sea of Spices.
  With their supply lines disrupted by the loss of its naval support, the 
  besieging Huun forces withdrew from the walls of Bard’s Gate and 
  retreated back across the Desolation with the crusader army in pursuit. 
  The last reports from the front were of the crusading army pursuing the 
  Huun into the wastes of the Irkainian Desert to draw them into battle, 
  but nothing further has been heard for two years. With no word from the 
  king of Foere nor any of the lesser rulers who marched with him, the 
  Lost Lands are once again on the verge of turmoil as the rule of law is 
  stretched by the absence of so many lords and men-at-arms. And rumors 
  that King Ovar has returned to his Throne Tower of the citadel Caene, 
  arriving alone at night astride his trained black dragon, has only further 
  sparked talk of rebellion and betrayal. The Lost Lands are in need of 
  heroes now more than ever.
  38|
  38|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  chaos and disorder. Where once the legions of empire kept the peace, 
  now bandits and monsters roam, and good folk bar their doors and keep 
  ﬁ res burning through the perilous night.
  kingdoms of Akados as a Huun army of the apparently immortal King of 
  Kings Ossimandius appeared on the northern border of the Desolation 
  of Tsar, past the ruins of Oxibbul. Never before had a Huun army set 
  foot on the shores of Akados. It advanced southward until it reached the 
  Lyre Valley, where it found its way blocked by Bard’s Gate and so laid 
  siege to the city. King Ovar the Magniﬁ cent, the overking of Courghais, 
  hastily called for a new Great Crusade against the age-old enemy and 
  rallied the nobles and men-at-arms of Foere and its former provinces to 
  the defense of Bard’s Gate. But ﬁ rst he unleashed a ﬂ eet of ships against 
  the sambuks of Ossimandius’ navy in the Gulf of Akados. A combined 
  Foerdewaith and Heldring armada delivered a crushing defeat to the 
  Huun ships and forced them into a retreat back up to the coasts of the 
  Sea of Spices.
  besieging Huun forces withdrew from the walls of Bard’s Gate and 
  retreated back across the Desolation with the crusader army in pursuit. 
  The last reports from the front were of the crusading army pursuing the 
  Huun into the wastes of the Irkainian Desert to draw them into battle, 
  but nothing further has been heard for two years. With no word from the 
  king of Foere nor any of the lesser rulers who marched with him, the 
  Lost Lands are once again on the verge of turmoil as the rule of law is 
  stretched by the absence of so many lords and men-at-arms. And rumors 
  that King Ovar has returned to his Throne Tower of the citadel Caene, 
  arriving alone at night astride his trained black dragon, has only further 
  sparked talk of rebellion and betrayal. The Lost Lands are in need of 
  heroes now more than ever.
  
  CH. 5: RELIGION IN THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 5: RELIGION IN THE LOST LANDS|39
  |39
  The exact number of deities worshipped in the Lost Lands is 
  undoubtedly unknowable. Some gods are ancient in origin, and 
  today may be nearly or entirely forgotten. Some new gods may 
  be venerated by only a small number of people in one location, 
  while others may be prayed to by many people in many different 
  places and even under different names.
  Most of the folk of the Lost Lands worship an interconnected 
  group of deities, divided into what are known as pantheons. 
  Whether the gods consider such divisions relevant is unknown. 
  Certainly, some gods have been adopted by several groups of 
  disparate peoples, and accordingly are included in more than one 
  pantheon, suggesting that these categories may be more a human 
  construction than anything else. That being said, deities certainly 
  do share bonds with one another, some friendly and some 
  antagonistic, so in some sense afﬁ liations do represent reality.
  A full discourse on the gods of the Lost Lands is beyond the 
  scope of this volume and is expected to be addressed in a future 
  publication. In the meantime, it can be noted that the most 
  important pantheons today include the Foerdewaith (which 
  represents an intermingling of the ancient Hyperborean gods 
  and those of the tribes of central Akados, principally Foere); 
  the Xha’en Imperial Pantheon; the gods of the Heldring and 
  the Northlands; the Annunaki pantheon; the gods of Khemit; 
  the deities of nature and the earth; and the various pantheons of 
  the non-human races (such as the elves, dwarves, and gnomes).
  One religious symbol that has acquired nearly universal 
  signiﬁ cance is the tesseract, usually shown as a square within a 
  square or, in three dimensions, a cube within a cube. Variations 
  of this symbol can be found as early as the Neolithic folk 
  predating the ﬁ rst human settlements on Akados. To this day, 
  it remains an important icon of Thyr and Muir, and the great 
  cathedral of the Foerdewaith pantheon in Courghais is known 
  as the Cathedral of the Tesseract. The reason for its widespread 
  relevance remains a subject of controversy among scholars.
  Appendix II at the end of this volume provides a table of the 
  major deities of the most important pantheons, with essential 
  information concerning their areas of inﬂ uence.
  The exact number of deities worshipped in the Lost Lands is 
  
  40|
  40|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS 
  OF WESTERN AKADOS
  OF WESTERN AKADOS
  XHA’EN HEGEMONY (SOMETIMES, XI’EN)
  XHA’EN HEGEMONY (SOMETIMES, XI’EN)
  (SHAH-en)
  Capital: Xha’ahan
  Notable Settlements: Thanalos, Djir, Rojhah, Tsadar, Jhohir 
  Ruler: Emperor Sajrac su Kar Rachar
  Government: hereditary monarchy (empire; local government 
  varies by tradition)
  Population: 17,700,000 (16,180,000 Xha’en, 500,000 Senge, 
  400,000 halﬂ ing, 200,000 hill dwarf, 150,000 mountain dwarf, 
  100,000 tabaxi, 75,000 half-elf, 75,000 tengu, 20,000 wild elf)
  Monstrous: barghest, bat swarms, bugbears, centaurs, 
  cockatrice, crabs (giant), dryads, eagles, eagles (giant), elephants, 
  ettercaps, ettins, fomorians, ﬁ re giants, hill giants, stone giants, 
  gnolls, goblins, griffons, hags, hobgoblins, hyenas, hyenas (dire), 
  kobolds, leopards, lions, lions (dire), lycanthropes (weretiger), 
  lycanthropes (wereboar), lycanthropes (wererat), lycanthropes 
  (werewolf), manticores, megafauna (arsinoitherium, glyptodon, 
  megaloceros, megatherium), merfolk (coastal regions), minotaurs, 
  mummies, nagas, ogres, oni, perytons, phoenix, rakshasa, rats, 
  rats (dire), sahuagin (coastal regions), satyrs, sea serpents (coastal 
  regions), sphinx, tengu, tigers, tigers (dire), treants, troglodytes, 
  trolls, vampires, yeti, worgs 
  Languages: Xaon, Guivoc (The Utterends)
  Religion: the Imperial Pantheon, numerous tribal pantheons, 
  ancestral spirits, and animism
  Resources: cloth, copper, ﬁ shing, foodstuffs, gems, gold, glass, 
  grain, iron, livestock (cattle, goats, horses), manufactured goods, 
  opium, pottery, silver, timber
  Currency: Xha’en
   Technology Level: Renaissance (Xha’ahan city), Medieval 
  (large cities), High Middle Ages (smaller cities), Dark Ages 
  (towns, villages and countryside)
  The mighty Xha’en Hegemony (sometimes written Xi’en by those of 
  other nations) is a union of several powerful city-states united under the 
  hereditary rulership of an emperor or empress based in the ancient city of 
  Xha’ahan. Secure behind the imposing slopes of the Impossible Peaks and 
  the near-impenetrable depths of the Great Akadonian Forest, the Hegemony 
  has grown and prospered over millennia into a powerful and sophisticated 
  state that is only now developing full contact with the outside world.
  The Hegemony’s borders range from the semi-autonomous Gtsang 
  Prefecture in the north, along the edge of the Great Akadonian Forest 
  to the east and the wild regions of the Utterends in the south. To the 
  west lies the Caerulean Ocean (known as the Nether Sea to the folk of 
  Castorhage) — dark, vast and mysterious.
  Many outsiders are entirely unfamiliar with the Hegemony, and ﬁ rst-
  time visitors are likely to be astonished that such a great state has evolved 
  in isolation. While many portions of the Hegemony still live following 
  the ancient ways, Xha’en city-states contain numerous wonders of art, 
  architecture, and science that equal or exceed those of kingdoms such 
  as Foere and Oceanus.
  Outside visitors to the Hegemony are rare, and locals tend toward 
  suspicion (in the countryside) and curiosity (in cities). Ever-present 
  Imperial ofﬁ cials are quite interested in the affairs of visitors, and often 
  insist upon ofﬁ cial passes and fees. Foreigners will ﬁ nd themselves 
  watched closely and sometimes even followed. This is not to say that 
  the Xha’en are openly hostile, but a healthy level of caution prevails in 
  most of their interactions with foreigners.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The ancient Xha’en people have occupied western lands for thousands 
  of years, and in that time many kingdoms and empires have risen and 
  fallen. Today’s Xha’en are believed to be descended from the primeval 
  nomadic folk of western Akados, the original progenitors of such races 
  as the Hundaei and the clans of Reme. Originally hunter-gatherers, the 
  Xha’en settled in the fertile Plains of Xha, where they adopted a more 
  agrarian culture and built permanent settlements while farming and 
  herding livestock.
  For many millennia, the population of the Xha region remained 
  relatively low, but as they prospered and their numbers grew, the Xha’en 
  came into conﬂ ict with the Senge, the area’s other inhabitants. After 
  generations of sporadic warfare and migration, the Senge were slowly 
  forced from their traditional lands and into the hill country to the east. 
  They still exist today, but as a minority in the greater Xha’en Hegemony.
  The Hegemony as such did not exist for several millennia to come, 
  as various city-states and small nations rose, fought, and fell. This era, 
  known as the Thousand Kingdoms, is one of the most popular in Xha’en 
  art, literature, and theater. Those days are said to have witnessed acts of 
  great heroism and fell villainy, as well as mighty sorceries, the blackest 
  of necromancy, and the forging of legendary artifacts. 
  WESTERN AKADOS
  Xha’ahan. Secure behind the imposing slopes of the Impossible Peaks and 
  WESTERN AKADOS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|41
  WESTERN AKADOS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|41
  |41
  WESTERN AKADOS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|41
  |41
  WESTERN AKADOS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  
  42|
  42|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  The greater history of the Xha’en Hegemony, spanning as it does over 
  three millennia, is a long and complex story. Brief histories can only 
  touch on its high points, as a full study of the Hegemony would take 
  several lifetimes. The city-state of Xha’ahan (a derivative of the word 
  Xha’en, the name the folk here have given to themselves for thousands 
  of years) was founded soon after the ﬁ nal defeat of the Senge in –1302 
  I.R., now designated as Year 0 in the ofﬁ cial Xha’en calendar (XC). 
  As years lengthened into centuries, Xha’ahan grew larger and more 
  inﬂ uential, dominating the neighboring cities of Tsadar and Aphapor. 
  Xha’ahan’s explorers reached out across the region and made contact 
  with many other entities, including the efreeti of Soohr-Ahmaad. The 
  Xha’ahan quickly realized that the efreeti were extremely powerful and 
  some called for a campaign of conquest, but these foolish voices were 
  quickly silenced by those who knew that such an act could lead only 
  to disaster. Instead, complex treaties were signed with the efreeti, the 
  contents of which remain a mystery to this day. Some scholars point to 
  the efreetis’ mystical powers and legendary wish-granting abilities and 
  note the continued success of the Xha’ahan, suggesting that there may 
  be some connection. For their part, Xha’en ofﬁ cially recognizes Soohr-
  Ahmaad but have very little to do with the strange state and its equally 
  strange inhabitants.
  With or without efreeti aid, Xha’ahan cemented its dominance in 1115 
  XC (–187 I.R.) with the construction of the engineering marvel called 
  the Lujhiran Dam, named for the Xha’ahan queen Lujhira sa Bhor Ahra. 
  Intended to prevent the annual ﬂ ooding of the Alu and Pantai rivers and 
  thus free up vast stretches of the Plains of Xha for settlement, the great 
  project resulted in the creation of the vast body of water now called 
  Lake Pantai, and just coincidentally the submergence of Agretor, one 
  of Xha’ahan’s chief rival cities. Xha’ahan’s allied cities Tsadar and 
  Aphapor now sit on the edge of a great body of water, which allows 
  direct access between the city-states by boat. With the loss of the Pantai 
  lowlands, greater emphasis was placed on the Xha farmlands freed up 
  by the dam’s construction. Great aqueducts and canals were constructed 
  to replace the yearly ﬂ oods while also providing a controlled source of 
  irrigation to the plains.
  The dominance of Xha’ahan was challenged in 1447 XC (145 I.R.) 
  when the cities of Jhohir and Rojhah formed a confederacy, sharing a 
  single legislative group of nobles and a military commander. As Jhohir 
  was the dominant party, this state came to be known as the Jhohir 
  Confederacy, and it lasted nearly 400 years before falling to internal 
  discord and external defeat. In 1834 XC (532 I.R.), a mighty ﬂ otilla 
  of vessels ﬁ lled with Jhohir and Rojhah warriors set sail, intent on the 
  conquest of the Thousand Rocks and the great Anaros Island beyond. 
  The Anari, long thought to be uncultured barbarians, took umbrage at 
  this act and fought back, battling the invaders for each rock. Bad weather 
  descended on the Sheltered Sea as well, with the wind battering ships, 
  waves sinking dozens of vessels, and the chill cold spreading across the 
  land to slow and sicken the mainland warriors. When at last the invaders 
  had had enough, they returned home, greatly weakened and diminished. 
  At this point, a ferocious squabble between the two states broke out over 
  who bore responsibility for the disaster, and by the end of 1837 XC (535 
  I.R.) the once-proud confederacy lay in tatters, with each of its partners 
  now going its own way.
  The Xha’en Hegemony as it is known today was founded in 2700 XC 
  (1398 I.R.) when Lord Vaelos su Dis Ahra, of the clan Ahra (Kingﬁ sher), 
  declared the three allied cities — Xha’ahan, Tsadar, and Aphapor — to 
  be a single union. Already ancient, Xha’ahan became the center of a 
  new and growing empire. In 2845 XC (1543 I.R.), the city of Rojhah fell 
  after a long siege. A puppet ruler was installed by the ruling Ahra clan, 
  and the following year the port city of Jhohir accepted the inevitable and 
  The Lujhiran Dam on the Pantai River in the Xha’en Hegemony.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|43
  |43
  WESTERN AKADOS
  agreed to peacefully join the Hegemony, followed in 2848 XC (1546 
  I.R.) by Aban Rha and Thanalos.
  The luck of the gods was with the new state, for just a few years later 
  in 2856 XC (1554 I.R.), a massive tidal wave swamped the region’s west 
  coast and devastated the city of Tianos, one of the last holdouts against 
  the Hegemony. A massive series of offshore earthquakes triggered this 
  disaster and also spread destruction across the undersea Kingdom of 
  Caerulea, but no one among the Xha’en was aware of this until several 
  years later when raids by the desperate sea-kingdom began to pick off 
  merchant shipping. By the time Caerulean forces began to attack coastal 
  regions of Quy Island and the Xha shore, the Xha’en realized that they 
  were facing a new and until-now unknown threat.
  The coastal cities, still reeling from the aftereffects of the great 
  tidal wave, attempted to band together to face their attackers, but the 
  Caeruleans were cunning, and with the ocean as their secret, utterly 
  unseen highway, could strike anywhere. Forces from across the 
  Hegemony were called up to man coastal garrisons. Mounted troops 
  and messengers were posted at regular intervals to quickly respond and 
  spread the word of raids as they occurred. In response, the Caeruleans 
  began to raid in greater numbers and brought substantial forces ashore 
  and struck several locations simultaneously. False raids intended to 
  draw off defenders were common, and soon the entire coast and Quy 
  Island beyond was aﬂ ame with a war between civilizations. Hostilities 
  lasted until 2878 XC (1576 I.R.), when the two peoples, exhausted from 
  conﬂ ict, ﬁ nally settled a treaty that ended the raids.
  The seemingly inevitable march of the Ahra clan to total dominance 
  halted abruptly in 2883 XC (1581 I.R.) when assassins felled the 
  Emperor Gyris su Ard Ahra and his family. In a brilliant coup, the 
  independent Ophronya (Peacock) clan seized power and declared their 
  home city of Djir to be the new seat of the Hegemony.
  The Ophronya Dynasty’s end came after a long, slow decline and ended 
  with a descent into madness on the part of the so-called Boy Emperor Ziris 
  su Dos Ophronya, who took the throne at age 11 in 3062 XC (1760 I.R.). 
  Prone to ﬁ ts of rage and irrational behavior, the young ruler was hopelessly 
  mad by his 20th birthday. A council of nobles met in secret and decided 
  to depose the emperor with the help of several allies in the royal guard. In 
  early 3083 XC (1781 I.R.), a mysterious ﬁ re in the imperial palace claimed 
  the life of the emperor. Immediately, stories circulated that Ziris immolated 
  himself while commanding the ﬁ re to stop burning. Thoroughly discredited, 
  the Ophronya dynasty ended.
  The leader of the rebellious nobles, Sarilla sa Dan Huris of clan Huris, 
  proclaimed herself empress and thus began the rule of what many believe 
  to be the greatest of all Xha’en dynasties. Under the Huris Dynasty, art, 
  music, and science prospered with noble sponsorship. Cities grew, and 
  huge public works were constructed. The dynasty reached its height 
  under Emperor Takar su Pan Huris when the Hegemony’s capital moved 
  back to the city of Xha’ahan in 3223 XC (1921 I.R.). This move led to 
  a revolt by southern nobles who saw their power slipping away. For a 
  time, the rebels met with success until 3230 XC (1928 I.R.), when Takar 
  su Pan’s forces emerged victorious from the epic Battle of Taode River. 
  Over the next ﬁ ve years, the Hegemony reconquered the rebel cities one 
  by one, and the surviving rebels ﬂ ed to the Utterends where, to hear the 
  Xha’en tell it, they were forced to survive as bandits.
  With the Hegemony reunited, the Huris clan returned to their program 
  of civil works by building roads, fortresses, toll stations, port facilities, 
  and similar improvements. Great works of art and music were displayed 
  in the capital and elsewhere. Engineering, astronomy, biology, and 
  medicine all advanced as well. Temples trained clerics and warriors 
  in the healing and martial arts, and colleges of magic were founded to 
  expand and codify the science of the arcane.
  But this order and advancement came at a price. A rigid caste system 
  grew up under the Huris, with peasants at the bottom and nobles at the 
  top. Taxes were often penurious, and those who could not pay found their 
  property conﬁ scated and their families forced into indentured servitude. 
  Thus, a class of virtual slave labor arose, a system that persisted for 
  centuries. So while one may marvel at the great buildings, monuments, 
  roads, and other works created during the Huris dynasty, they were 
  accomplished on the backs of slaves and at the cost of countless lives.
  Legal rigidity increased under the Huris as well. Laws were 
  established by a council of scholars under the emperor’s guidance. 
  While these laws were intended to be rational and relatively benign, 
  they were enforced with ruthless efﬁ ciency by the ofﬁ cial constabulary, 
  even if they proved to be misguided or unintentionally cruel. To enforce 
  the law, the Huris’ rulers decreed the creation of a class of traveling 
  judges — specially-trained warriors, many with some knowledge of 
  magic — who wandered the Hegemony to hear cases and deliver their 
  judgements on the spot. These warrior judges became the Huris’ most 
  feared servants, and legends are told of their adventures to this day.
  The authoritarian Huris faced many challenges during their years in 
  power. Most prominent was the so-called Ghost Plague that began in 
  3414 XC (2112 I.R.). First in small villages, then in larger settlements, 
  and ﬁ nally in the streets of major cities, the spirits of the dead began 
  to wander, moaning and begging for food and to be reunited with 
  their loved ones. In time, the spirits grew hostile and attacked those 
  who could not help them, driving out entire towns. It fell to the warrior 
  judges, Imperial priests, and others skilled in dealing with the undead 
  to clear abandoned towns and buildings of their unwanted inhabitants. 
  The plague continued for two years and ended as quickly as it began. 
  Though theories abound as to the plague’s origins, no one today knows 
  for certain why it happened. 
  Like the previous dynasties, the Huris eventually fell into decline and 
  vanished, but their end was more dramatic than most. Aging  Emperor 
  Amaran su Bha Huris had always feared death, and despite his advisors’ 
  assurances that he would ascend to heaven and take his place alongside 
  the other great rulers, he began to seek out a way to cheat mortality. His 
  experiments took him down a very dark road, and when he began to 
  hold court wearing fanciful masks, even his closest advisors began to 
  suspect that something was very wrong with the emperor.
  In 3697 XC (2395 I.R.), 20 years after his experiments began, Emperor 
  Amaran’s advisors demanded that he abdicate in favor of a council of 
  regency. In reply, Amaran revealed what many had long suspected, that 
  he was an undead horror, and that his royal guard had been replaced 
  by undying resurrected corpses. All would bow before him, Amaran 
  declared, and serve the new unending Immortal Dynasty. For long years 
  the Hegemony suffered under the undead emperor’s yoke. Amaran’s 
  necromantic minions spread across the land, occupying villages and 
  cities, and carried off innocent citizens to be transformed into undead 
  or to feed their master’s ever more horriﬁ c experiments. Even execution 
  or death from torture did not end the suffering of Amaran’s victims, for 
  many of them rose again as undead servitors, or as the dreaded Immortal 
  Guard, Amaran’s elite warriors. As the emperor’s atrocities grew and 
  the people suffered, an uprising was all but inevitable. Once more, civil 
  war raged across the Hegemony, and this time the nation fought for its 
  very survival.
  By 3777 XC (2475 I.R.), the rebels gained the upper hand and laid siege 
  to Amaran’s palace. For his part, the lich-emperor crafted a powerful 
  ritual that he believed would raise all the dead in the Hegemony as his 
  servants. Amaran’s mad scheme was to transform the Xha’en state into 
  a land of the undead that would never die and be forever subject to his 
  whim. Only drastic action could stop the mad lich, and it fell to a band of 
  heroes — a misﬁ t band that included an Anari Uarsinsi warrior, a stern 
  imperial soldier, a battle-priest, a sorceress, a warrior judge and even 
  an outlaw rogue — to scour the land for the lost Ahra dynasty artifacts 
  that could destroy him. In the end the adventurers, known today as the 
  “Heroic Seven” succeeded, facing down the emperor just as his terrible 
  ritual began. In the battle that followed, most of the heroes perished, but 
  the undead emperor was destroyed forever, along with all the wonders 
  of the imperial palace. The Immortal Dynasty was over.
  In the aftermath, the nation rebuilt under the relatively benign Tilgi 
  (Ibis) Dynasty. The reign of the Tilgi was marked by its very mundanity 
  as the nation prospered and the more rigid and cruel of the old dynasty’s 
  laws were relaxed. The Tilgi died out peacefully, as was their nature, to 
  be replaced with the more aggressive and militaristic Rachar Dynasty in 
  4258 XC (2956 I.R.).
  The Tilgi Dynasty was not without its momentous events, however. 
  The Xha’en had always been aware of a greater world beyond their 
  
  44|
  44|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  borders, and certain ambitious families such as the Y’lshon of Quy 
  Island sought to increase their personal fortunes and inﬂ uence 
  by seeking trade with distant nations, especially the city-state of 
  Castorhage, whose penal colonies were known to occupy the eastern 
  shore beyond the Great Akadonian Forest. In 3809 XC (2507 I.R.), the 
  Y’lshon received imperial permission to send vessels south around the 
  Talanos Peninsula and into the Crescent Sea. After several unsuccessful 
  ventures, the trading junk Bounteous Harvest made the journey and 
  reached Castorhage, offering Hegemony silk, artwork, and foodstuffs 
  in exchange for Castorhagi gold, livestock, and manufactured goods. 
  The journey was long and arduous, but the Harvest caused a sensation 
  when it returned in 3811 XC (2509 I.R.). A trickle of trade commenced, 
  with individual ships braving the journey to ferry goods back and forth 
  while bringing both nations news and information about the other. It 
  was not until 3888 XC (2586 I.R.) that the twin Castorhagi regents King 
  Alar and Queen Elspeth ﬁ nally sealed a permanent trade agreement with 
  the Hegemony that triggered an even greater ﬂ ow of trade and also a 
  steady stream of immigrants from the Hegemony to Castorhage where 
  the Xha’en quickly became one of the largest minority groups in the 
  city-state. A door to the outside world had ﬁ nally opened, but it would 
  be some time before that opening widened to more than a crack.
  It was another disaster, this time on land, that ﬁ nally established real 
  relations between Xha’en and the Caerulean sea kingdom. Beginning 
  in 3826 XC (2524 I.R.), a sea-borne plague spread by tainted ﬁ sh 
  consumed the Hegemony — ﬁ rst in coastal cities, then farther east. The 
  plague was quick, debilitating, and deadly without treatment or healing 
  magic. The sickness even proved resistant to magical cures, for those 
  treated by clerics often fell ill again immediately. When folk started to 
  sicken in the capital city of Xha’ahan, Emperor Alnand su Var Tilgi 
  summoned his advisors to deal with the situation.
  Some advisors believed the Caeruleans themselves spread the plague 
  to weaken or exterminate the Xha’en in preparation for a renewal of 
  hostilities. Others advised caution and a measured, diplomatic approach 
  to the problem. The emperor sided with those who counseled caution, 
  much to the anger of the war faction. Diplomats were dispatched to 
  the undersea kingdom while a renegade faction of nobles and ofﬁ cers 
  plotted an attack on Caerulea.
  Even as the diplomats were on their way, a ﬂ otilla of Xha’en vessels 
  set sail with elite warriors equipped with water-breathing magic. A 
  heavy, costly strike against the sea kingdom would surely trigger a 
  strong response, thus forcing the emperor into war, a situation that the 
  conspirators considered vital before the plague killed or incapacitated 
  too many Xha’en.
  Fortunately for the Caeruleans and the peace of the region, the 
  legendary Warrior Judge Samadar foiled the plot after learning of 
  it from a drunken nobleman and immediately moving to stop it. In a 
  ﬁ erce showdown, the conspirators were arrested, and their orders were 
  countermanded just in time to allow the diplomatic mission to proceed.
  As it transpired, the Caeruleans were aware of the plague and 
  provided a cure. Distributed throughout the Hegemony, the merfolk’s 
  potion stopped the sickness in its tracks and vastly improved relations 
  between the two nations.
  Today, under Emperor Sajrac su Kar Rachar, the Hegemony stands at 
  a crossroads as the outside world begins to intrude. An intelligent and 
  forward-thinking monarch, Sajrac su Kar has chosen a path of cautious 
  engagement by sending diplomatic expeditions to Foere and several 
  other western nations while expanding trade with Castorhage. Though 
  the arrival of Castorhagi colonists on the Bream Islands in 4512 XC 
  (3210 I.R.) sent shockwaves through the Hegemony, Sajrac su Kar sees 
  the presence of the Castorhagi naval yards and citadels on the Breams as 
  an opportunity to actually engage with outsiders and has also expanded 
  his contacts there. Unfortunately for him, an unscrupulous Castorhagi 
  governor may have plans of his own, for the foreign military presence 
  has been steadily growing over the past few years.
  The Hegemony’s population is largely human, and many of the 
  indigenous peoples have been absorbed into the Xha’en culture. A few 
  exceptions exist, such as the Senge, the descendants of the region’s 
  original inhabitants. Today, most Senge dwell in the Sengejia Hills and 
  live in small villages along the Upper Pantai River. The Senge were 
  already declining by the time Lake Pantai ﬂ ooded their original homeland 
  after the construction of Lujhiran Dam. Retreat to the hills proved costly, 
  and many Senge perished. Today, they exist semi-autonomously, keeping 
  to themselves and avoiding contact with the Xha’en.
  The Senge are not particularly aggressive, though strangers are treated 
  with suspicion and generally shunned. Senge villages are overseen by 
  clan hetmen and supported by shamans who are known to cast powerful 
  druidic spells in defense of their territory. Senge trade handicrafts, furs, 
  and produce for metal tools, clothing, and livestock.
  The native Bream islanders who live in small villages along the 
  shoreline resemble the Senge and are believed to be close relatives who 
  chose to settle on the islands rather than the plains at some distant point 
  in the past.
  Non-humans occupy an unusual place in the Hegemony, for many 
  clans of halﬂ ings and dwarves occupied regions conquered by the 
  Xha’en, and the hostile Eloitan elves occupy the depths of the eastern 
  forest. A small population of half-elves exists in the Hegemony but they 
  are generally shunned by human and elven societies.
  Most halﬂ ing communities were agrarian and could do little to stem 
  the tide of Xha’en migration. The Xha’en often displaced these villages 
  and killed or enslaved their people, or transported them to less-favorable 
  regions. Today, small communities of halﬂ ings persist, especially in the 
  southern portions of the Plains of Xha.
  Dwarven settlements dot the Sengejia Hills or are dug deep beneath 
  the Tsendakar and Odarnadar Mountains. For the most part, the Xha’en 
  left these groups in peace, and today they remain fairly isolated, keeping 
  to themselves and sometimes trading with the Xha’en. 
  In the south, particularly the Utterends, the situation is far more 
  chaotic, with humans and non-humans existing side-by-side and 
  sometimes coming into conﬂ ict. Ofﬁ cially, the Hegemony includes 
  the Utterends and nearby territories on its ofﬁ cial maps and in the 
  emperor’s decrees, but in reality, only a portion of the region comes 
  under Hegemonic control.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  During their early agrarian days, the Xha’en worshipped a variety of 
  ancestral and nature spirits, propitiating them in annual rituals. These 
  spirits were highly localized and varied across the region. Most did not 
  adhere to a single pantheon, and it was commonly believed that all of the 
  local entities coexisted, with each group being in charge of its chosen 
  territory. No general concept of afterlife existed beyond a general belief 
  in reincarnation.
  The founding of the Hegemony changed all this. The ancestral 
  spirits of the Ahra clan were elevated to the status of true gods, and 
  their worship became mandatory. Priests were sent throughout the 
  Hegemony to establish temples and to see to it that the locals worshipped 
  in the approved manner. Local pantheons were allowed to continue, as 
  displacing them might cause widespread disruption and unrest, but all 
  citizens of the new Hegemony were required to worship the Imperial 
  Pantheon as well.
  Like the Hegemony itself, the Imperial Pantheon is rigidly structured, 
  with the great god Ara at its head. Ara is an androgynous deity who 
  gave birth to all the races of humanity and also the other gods. The 
  remainder of the pantheon consists of six gods — Dakhan (war and 
  justice), Gorni (mountains), Jatan (sun and moon), Noradu (nature), Oba 
  (oceans), and Zakur (planting) — and an equal number of goddesses — 
  Banra (the underworld), Estia (the sky), Lainu (lakes and rivers), Meita 
  (the harvest), Quana (love and mercy), and Yainda (childbirth). Zakur 
  and Meita are both agricultural deities and divide duties between the 
  planting season (Zakur) and the fall harvest (Meita). 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Wealthy and largely self-sufﬁ cient, the Hegemony engages in extensive 
  internal trade, with goods transported within its own frontiers. Livestock, 
  produce, textiles, and timber ﬂ ow from the northern regions south, while 
  raw materials such as silver and iron come from the mines of the Odarnadar 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|45
  |45
  WESTERN AKADOS
  Mountains and gemstones are mined amid the treacherous volcanic peaks 
  of the Cauldron. The waters of the Caerulean Ocean are rich with the 
  bounty of the sea, providing all varieties of food to the Hegemony from the 
  ﬁ shing villages that dot the eastern shore. Off the coast, the shipwrights and 
  mariners of Quy Island provide ships and crews for the Hegemony.
  Foreign trade exists, though today the Hegemony has ofﬁ cial trade 
  agreements with only the city-state of Castorhage and its colonies 
  on the Bream Islands. Hegemony goods are exchanged for gold or 
  manufactured goods, and Xha’en immigrants continue to travel to the 
  city-state, growing in importance and bringing their cultural traditions 
  (including less-savory aspects of Xha’en society such as the Triad 
  criminal gangs) to the eastern lands.
  The Hegemony also maintains trade relations with the Anari of the 
  Thousand Rocks. Fish, ceramics, and copper ore are imported from the 
  islands in exchange for grains, cattle, tools, and smelted copper. While a 
  few emperors over the centuries considered conquering the islands, the 
  beneﬁ cial economics of the status quo always prevailed.
  The mountainous Gtsang Prefecture is an odd exception to Xha’en 
  dominance and maintains its effective independence due to its 
  inaccessibility while at the same time paying lip service to the Hegemony 
  with small tribute payments. The economic beneﬁ ts of this relationship 
  outweigh the expense and inconvenience of outright conquest, as the 
  mines of the Tsendakar Mountains are the Hegemony’s only reliable 
  source of tin, and it is generally known that the Gtsang are easily able to 
  destroy their mines in the event of invasion. While the Hegemony could 
  reopen these mines if destroyed, it would be an incredibly expensive 
  undertaking. The Tsendakar mines are also the biggest source of gold in 
  the Hegemony, making the region even more valuable.
  The growth of the Tycho Free States has opened another avenue of 
  trade, but the elves of Eloitan and the Green Warder States have so far 
  prevented the establishment of overland trade. Contact with the Free 
  States must be by ship only, but the voyage south then north into the 
  Crescent Sea is difﬁ cult and expensive.
  With the ascension of the relatively enlightened Emperor Sajrac su 
  Kar, the Hegemony seems poised to end its long isolation. Diplomatic 
  and trade delegations make perilous journeys to distant lands such as 
  Foere, Oceanus, and elsewhere, and goods from the Hegemony now 
  ﬂ ow to eastern kingdoms other than the Xha’en’s old trading partners, 
  the Castorhagi.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Separated from the rest of the world by imposing mountain ranges 
  and tangled forest, the Hegemony has existed in something of a bubble 
  for much of its history. While relations with the Thousand Rocks, 
  Gtsang Prefecture, and the sea Kingdom of Caerulea have long been 
  established, these are neighboring states that cannot be ignored. For 
  many long years, the only truly foreign power that the Hegemony traded 
  with was the City-State of Castorhage.
  Emperor Sajrac su Kar’s advisors have told him that the world is 
  changing, and that the old ways are fading, which will require new 
  paths of thought and action. To this end, he has begun to reach out to 
  other states of Akados, sending diplomatic missions to Foere, Bard’s 
  Gate, and elsewhere. The Castorhagi have been trading partners for a 
  long time, but the volume of trade was always strictly controlled — this 
  too may be changing as a growing number of Xha’en emigrants make 
  their home in Castorhage, taking with them many cultural and social 
  practices and institutions. The appearance of Castorhagi colonists on 
  the Bream Islands three centuries ago created yet another crack in the 
  Hegemony’s walls of isolation, and now the emperor hopes to further 
  expand his nation’s outside contacts, using the Breams as one route to 
  the greater world and its riches.
  A handful of Xha’en merchants also made their way through the 
  northern reaches of the Great Akadonian Forest, risking attack by hostile 
  wood elves and dangerous creatures, to trade with the young Tycho Free 
  States, and more eastern goods have begun to appear within Xha’en 
  borders. These steps toward opening up Xha’en to the outside world are 
  thus far relatively tentative but may grow in time.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  While the Xha’en’s state is ofﬁ cially called a Hegemony, it is ruled 
  by a hereditary monarchy based in the city of Xha’ahan (excluding the 
  period in which the capital was ofﬁ cially moved to the city of Djir). 
  Its great city-states — Jhohir, Aphapor, Tsadar, Rojhah, Thanalos, and 
  others — in turn exercise authority over surrounding territories, making 
  them de facto provinces in a larger empire.
  The Hegemony’s history is divided into dynasties, beginning with the 
  founding House of Ahra (the Kingﬁ sher). Four other dynasties — the 
  Ophronya (Peacock), Huris (Ostrich), Tilgi (Ibis) and the present-day 
  Rachar (Heron) — rose and fell, either peacefully or violently, and the 
  succession continued uninterrupted for four and a half millennia.
  Over the centuries, the occupant of the Imperial Throne has ranged 
  from a powerless ﬁ gurehead to an absolute monarch, with stops at 
  CRIME IN THE HEGEMONY
  As a highly lawful state, the Xha’en Hegemony abhors 
  crime and harshly punishes even the most minor and 
  mundane of offenses. All the same, the Hegemony is a 
  human state, and like all humans, the Xha’en themselves 
  are imperfect and vulnerable to corruption. Despite the 
  best efforts of local magistrates, warrior judges, and the 
  Silent Demons (the emperor’s secret police), crime exists 
  and ﬂ ourishes in many places in the Hegemony.
  While there are extensive petty crimes and many local 
  crime bosses, particularly in slums and poorer villages, 
  the two major axes of illegal activities are the Crimson 
  Mask and the Triads, two groups that take quite different 
  approaches to lawlessness. The Crimson Mask is a very 
  old organization, run primarily by the Vilgyr clan of 
  Djir. While this identiﬁ cation suggests that rooting out 
  the Crimson Mask would be an easy task — after all, 
  with supreme authority, why can’t the emperor simply 
  arrest every member of the Vilgyr family? — in reality, 
  the Vilgyr themselves are quite adept at hiding in plain 
  sight, often with a complex and sophisticated network of 
  secret identities, legitimate business, and safehouses. The 
  Crimson Mask has often been compared to a hydra, for 
  when one head is killed, two more seem to take its place 
  at new and even better hidden locations. The Crimson 
  Mask also commands a secret network of assassins who 
  are said to be able to kill anyone if their price is met (the 
  price for the emperor is, naturally, so high that almost no 
  one can afford to pay, though the Mask’s assassins insist 
  that they would be equal to the task should they ever be 
  called upon).
  The Triad gangs, on the other hand, are a far more 
  diffuse and harder to identify group. These are independent 
  entities organized according to very old traditions that 
  may date to before the founding of Xha’ahan city itself. The 
  name “triad” is based upon the gangs’ use of triangular 
  symbology, as well as the philosophy that their practices 
  require a combination of three forces — heaven, earth, 
  and spirit. Five major Triads — and numerous smaller 
  ones — are believed to exist in Xha’en. Triads are involved 
  in almost every criminal enterprise within the Hegemony 
  and beyond, including smuggling, murder, theft, the sale 
  of narcotics, prostitution, and slavery. Branches of the 
  Triads have made their way beyond the Hegemony and are 
  especially active among the Xha’en immigrants in the city 
  of Castorhage.
  CRIME IN THE HEGEMONY
  CRIME IN THE HEGEMONY
  As a highly lawful state, the Xha’en Hegemony abhors 
  crime and harshly punishes even the most minor and 
  mundane of offenses. All the same, the Hegemony is a 
  human state, and like all humans, the Xha’en themselves 
  are imperfect and vulnerable to corruption. Despite the 
  best efforts of local magistrates, warrior judges, and the 
  Silent Demons (the emperor’s secret police), crime exists 
  and ﬂ ourishes in many places in the Hegemony.
  While there are extensive petty crimes and many local 
  crime bosses, particularly in slums and poorer villages, 
  the two major axes of illegal activities are the Crimson 
  Mask and the Triads, two groups that take quite different 
  approaches to lawlessness. The Crimson Mask is a very 
  old organization, run primarily by the Vilgyr clan of 
  Djir. While this identiﬁ cation suggests that rooting out 
  the Crimson Mask would be an easy task — after all, 
  with supreme authority, why can’t the emperor simply 
  arrest every member of the Vilgyr family? — in reality, 
  the Vilgyr themselves are quite adept at hiding in plain 
  sight, often with a complex and sophisticated network of 
  secret identities, legitimate business, and safehouses. The 
  Crimson Mask has often been compared to a hydra, for 
  when one head is killed, two more seem to take its place 
  at new and even better hidden locations. The Crimson 
  Mask also commands a secret network of assassins who 
  are said to be able to kill anyone if their price is met (the 
  price for the emperor is, naturally, so high that almost no 
  one can afford to pay, though the Mask’s assassins insist 
  that they would be equal to the task should they ever be 
  called upon).
  The Triad gangs, on the other hand, are a far more 
  diffuse and harder to identify group. These are independent 
  entities organized according to very old traditions that 
  may date to before the founding of Xha’ahan city itself. The 
  name “triad” is based upon the gangs’ use of triangular 
  symbology, as well as the philosophy that their practices 
  require a combination of three forces — heaven, earth, 
  and spirit. Five major Triads — and numerous smaller 
  ones — are believed to exist in Xha’en. Triads are involved 
  in almost every criminal enterprise within the Hegemony 
  in almost every criminal enterprise within the Hegemony 
  and beyond, including smuggling, murder, theft, the sale 
  of narcotics, prostitution, and slavery. Branches of the 
  Triads have made their way beyond the Hegemony and are 
  especially active among the Xha’en immigrants in the city 
  of Castorhage.
  
  46|
  46|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  almost every level in between. Today, the power of the emperor appears 
  to be on the increase, with the vital and intelligent Sajrac su Kar 
  reclaiming some of the throne’s old authority. Already he has undercut 
  the privileges of nobles in other provinces and insists that they pay taxes 
  and visit Xha’ahan at least once every two years to report on conditions 
  in their homelands. He has placed much of the army under his and his 
  advisors’ direct control, and dispatched diplomatic missions far abroad, 
  triggering a growing ﬂ ow of trade from the east.
  How well the emperor’s reforms will succeed remains to be seen. 
  Many nobles chafe at his new taxes and decrees, and a signiﬁ cant number 
  of priests of the Imperial Pantheon express conservative views and call 
  for a return to older, more isolationist policies. A small but powerful 
  group of nobles has banded together to form a secret society known as 
  the White Serpent, but so far their plots against the emperor have been 
  foiled with the aid of the warrior judges and the Silent Demons.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Traditionally, the Hegemony’s military is made up of several armies, 
  each maintained and commanded by its city-state of origin. Also by 
  tradition, the army of Xha’ahan is required to be the largest and most 
  powerful. As the Hegemony has few enemies, these armies have dwindled 
  somewhat over the generations, and today serve mostly to safeguard the 
  country against bandits, put down local uprisings, and patrol the border. 
  Nevertheless, some ancient traditions continue, and the Hegemony 
  military still contains skilled and even legendary warriors.
  While armies differ in appearance and composition from one city-
  state to the next, all use similar military technologies and tactics. The 
  bulk of the army is infantry, divided between unarmored skirmishers 
  equipped with shortbows, medium infantry in leather armor (often 
  derived from the tanned hides of elephants and rhinoceros as well as 
  horses and cows) armed with well-engineered crossbows, and heavy 
  infantry in chain mail or plate, usually armed with large two-handed 
  weapons such as glaives, mauls, and halberds. Weapons and armor bear 
  design motifs and details that are unique to their cities of origin.
  Most mounted troops ride horses. The horse-archers of Thanalos are 
  considered the ﬁ nest in the realm and carry on the traditions of excellent 
  horsemanship developed by their distant ancestors. The knights of 
  Xha’ahan wear heavy scaled armor and ﬁ ght with great lances and 
  swords, while the lancers of Aban Rha are lightly-armored, mobile, and 
  deadly as both scouts and shock cavalry.
  Several unusual units exist within the Hegemony’s military, though 
  most of their greatest exploits took place in the distant past. The Tiger-
  Riders of Xha’ahan are probably the best known of these elite groups. 
  An all-female unit of armored warriors, mounted on tigers bred for both 
  size and ferocity and armed with lances, swords and bows, the Tiger-
  Riders are credited with winning numerous battles for the Hegemony’s 
  leading city-state. Their numbers have dwindled over time, and where 
  once over a thousand served at the personal command of the emperor, 
  only a single regiment of 300 remains.
   The city-state of Djir was long able to resist the dominance of 
  Xha’ahan through the excellence and professionalism of its army, which 
  included its legendary aerial cavalry, mounted on griffons from the 
  Odarnadar Mountains. Like the Tiger-Riders, the Griffon Knights are 
  today a shadow of their former selves, consisting of a single squadron 
  of six, maintained almost entirely due to tradition.
  Despite the suppression of halﬂ ings throughout the Hegemony, the 
  city-state of Rojhah maintains better relations with its halﬂ ing population 
  and has for many generations maintained several regiments of halﬂ ing 
  skirmishers equipped with bows, slings, and darts. These halﬂ ings are 
  employed as scouts and rangers and often participate in successful 
  campaigns on behalf of the Hegemony. Other non-humans occasionally 
  serve with the Hegemony military, usually as contractors or mercenaries 
  — dwarven engineers and half-elf scouts are most commonly employed 
  in this fashion.
  Arcane and divine magic have played important roles in the Hegemony 
  military, even more than in the eastern kingdoms. An entire coterie of 
  battle-wizards serves the emperor and can be called up on extremely short 
  notice. It was this command of magic and its application to warfare that 
  helped Xha’ahan dominate the region’s other city-states, and the emperor 
  continues to maintain a large number of these battle-wizards. In the past, 
  each regiment of the Hegemony’s united army contained one or more 
  war-priests who commanded both offensive and healing magic, though 
  this tradition is currently in decline along with other military practices. 
  The Xha’en maintain only a small standing navy, as few major threats 
  come from the sea. Emperors in need of ships can press civilian vessels 
  into service or commission the construction of ships intended for 
  short-term, fairly limited purposes such as amphibious invasion or the 
  suppression of piracy. The need for either function passed long ago, and 
  today the Hegemony remains a largely non-naval power. The vessels of 
  Ankhura and Castorhage patrol the outer waters but are restricted from 
  approaching the Xha’en coastline too closely.
  Overall, the Hegemony military remains strong and is easily the equal 
  of any nation that might present a threat, but generations of relative 
  peace have sapped much of Xha’en’s more militaristic tendencies, 
  and today the army has been largely relegated to civil duties and the 
  suppression of minor threats to the nation. Emperor Sajrac su Kar has 
  undertaken a program of modernization, sending diplomats to study 
  foreign militaries, reorganizing old and inefﬁ cient units, and putting the 
  armies of the Hegemony’s various member-cities under his own direct 
  command. Needless to say, this irritates many of the cities’ nobles, 
  especially members of the radical White Serpent Society.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The Xha’en Hegemony is one of the most stable of known nations. 
  Safe behind nearly-impassible mountains and forests, the Hegemony 
  has few real outside enemies, and those within its borders lack the 
  power to do more than inconvenience the emperor. 
  The nearest states with any power are the relatively new Tycho 
  Free States located on the eastern side of the near-impenetrable Great 
  Akadonian Forest. Engaged mostly in a struggle for growth and survival, 
  these states have little interest in antagonizing their larger neighbor to 
  the west and welcome the handful of Xha’en merchants who make the 
  difﬁ cult journey through the forest to trade. 
  The Utterends in the south are the least-settled portion of the 
  Hegemony and are home to independent groups of humans and non-
  humans. Relations with these groups vary, from friendly trade agreements 
  to outright hostility, with human bandits, humanoid raiders, and angry 
  warlords attacking Xha’en settlements and merchants. The Xha’en 
  military responds to these provocations, but the sheer inaccessibility of 
  much of the region limits their effectiveness.
  The most signiﬁ cant threats to the Hegemony come from inside its 
  own borders. A new emperor has taken the throne, hoping to awaken 
  a sleepy nation and set it back on the road to greatness. To this end, 
  Sajrac su Kar has rattled many cages — taking greater control of the 
  state military, dismissing advisors and bureaucrats from old families, 
  improving local administration, sacking corrupt governors, and making 
  tentative moves toward ending the Hegemony’s isolation from the rest 
  of the world.
  While these moves have met with some approval, especially from 
  younger and more progressive Xha’en, they have been frowned upon 
  by an increasingly alarmed establishment. Established noble houses, the 
  Xha’en Calendar
  Dynasty
  1115–2883
  Ahra
  2883–3063
  Ophronya
  3063–3702
  Huris
  3703–4258
  Tilgi
  4258–Present
  Rachar
  Xha’en Calendar
  Dynasty
  1115–2883
  Ahra
  2883–3063
  Ophronya
  3063–3702
  Huris
  3703–4258
  Tilgi
  4258–Present
  Rachar
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|47
  |47
  WESTERN AKADOS
  rulers of various city-states, military ofﬁ cers, and doctrinaire priests of 
  the Imperial Pantheon have all expressed dissatisfaction and, in some 
  cases, outright deﬁ ance of the new emperor’s edicts. 
  A few nobles banded together into a secret society known as the 
  White Serpent and intend to depose or kill the emperor. So far, the 
  emperor has survived two attempts on his life by masked assassins, and 
  has dispatched his secret police, the Silent Demons, to ﬁ nd out who is 
  behind the conspiracy and bring them to justice. 
  The Hegemony has maintained trade relations with Castorhage for 
  centuries and has come to warily accept the presence of Castorhagi 
  colonists on the Bream Islands. However, the expansion of both nations’ 
  inﬂ uence may lead to conﬂ ict. Some believe that the Breams’ governor, 
  Lord Duke Taneth, is building up naval and land forces with the 
  intention of invading Quy Island, thus expanding his nation’s holdings 
  and potentially provoking war with the Hegemony. This outcome, sure 
  to be disastrous for all involved, is one that all save Taneth and his allies 
  seem determined to avoid.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  Although it remains one of the largest and most powerful states in 
  Akados, the Xha’en Hegemony is not well-known outside its frontiers, 
  and opportunities abound for those who wish to travel there, as well as 
  those who were born and bred in the region. Surrounded by a changing 
  world, the Hegemony will soon be experiencing seismic changes in its 
  culture and society, surely creating many chances for adventure and 
  good fortune.
  The central regions of the Hegemony — the lands around Lake 
  Pantai and the fertile Plains of Xha — have been settled for millennia. 
  Other regions, such as the wild Sengejia Hills, the rugged Tsendakar 
  Mountains, and wilderness in the Utterends remain lightly populated, 
  minimally settled, and largely unexplored.
  The depths of the northern Akadonian Forest — and particularly the 
  wild elven realm of Eloitan — present a signiﬁ cant barrier between 
  the Hegemony and the growing Tycho Free States to the east. These 
  former penal colonies have vital economies and may prove important 
  in the new trade routes springing up along the Crescent Sea and linking 
  the Free Coast to the great city of Castorhage and other ports. The 
  forest is indeed an imposing barrier, thick with ancient trees, tangled 
  undergrowth, treacherous ravines, and deep, swift rivers. The presence 
  of hostile local wildlife is only the beginning of the challenges facing 
  those who would venture into the forest. The Eloitan elves, xenophobic 
  and hostile to all but their own kind, lie in wait for unwary travelers. 
  All of these factors make crossing the forest a near-suicidal 
  proposition, yet eager merchants and explorers on both sides continue 
  to make inroads, venturing into the forest and — rarely — actually 
  making it out alive. Rumors of treasure — lost elven gold, hollow hills 
  that contain the wonders of the ancient reptilian civilization that once 
  ﬂ ourished here, and the remains of the old Castorhagi fortresses — 
  continue to draw adventurers despite a depressingly high fatality rate.
  Many other adventuring opportunities present themselves, even in 
  the relatively cosmopolitan regions of the Hegemony. The Crimson 
  Mask and the Triads control most of the Hegemony’s crime, and also 
  maintain an extensive smuggling and assassination network — both 
  enterprises that adventurers may encounter or be drawn into. The nobles 
  of the city of Djir maintain a private hunting preserve in the nearby 
  Earos Hills, where they seek out the region’s exotic megafauna, and 
  these expeditions always require assistance from professional trackers, 
  hunters, and explorers. Diplomatic and trade parties regularly visit the 
  Sea Kingdom of Caerulea and the dwarves of Ankhura, and those parties 
  often require aid from warriors, mages, healers, and the like.
  XHA’AHAN, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  XHA’AHAN, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Emperor Sajrac su Kar Rachar
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 1,000,000 (mostly Xha’en, small numbers of 
  halﬂ ings and dwarves)
  Technology Level: Renaissance
  The grand city and capital of the Hegemony, Xha’ahan has occupied 
  its current site for nearly three and a quarter millennia. Starting life 
  as a small river town in what was subsequently declared to be Year 0 
  XC, Xha’ahan grew steadily in population and inﬂ uence, particularly 
  after the construction of the Lujhiran Dam in 1115 XC (–187 I.R.). 
  During this period, the Xha’en engaged in a series of public works and 
  improvements, demolishing old neighborhoods and rebuilding along 
  carefully planned lines. The resulting city consisted of three distinct 
  sections, each enclosed by graceful crenelated walls: the Imperial Palace 
  that rises majestically from the precise center of Xha’ahan; the Inner 
  City, home to nobles, temples, government ofﬁ ces, and bureaucrats; 
  and the Outer City where most of Xha’ahan’s residents live, along with 
  much of the merchant class. Paved streets and canals crisscrossing the 
  Outer and Inner Cities allow a relatively free ﬂ ow of trafﬁ c, and both 
  the Inner and Outer walls are accessible through massive gates, two per 
  side, for a total of eight on each wall.
  Over generations, Xha’ahan’s population has spilled out beyond the 
  Outer Wall to form vast labyrinthine slums where crime and violence 
  ﬂ ourish. Also beyond the Outer Wall lies the Xha’ahan army’s main 
  encampment, where the bulk of the city’s military, including the 
  legendary Tiger-Riders, are permanently stationed.
  While it is not the most ancient city in the region (the mystical 
  settlement of Duam in the Gtsang Prefecture takes that honor), Xha’ahan 
  retains a palpable sense of history. Structures from the earliest periods of 
  Xha’ahan history stand side-by-side with modern apartments, shops, and 
  government buildings. Cobbled streets rise above broad canals crossed 
  at regular intervals by picturesque bridges. Boats of every description 
  make their way across the city by water, while the streets are crowded 
  with foot trafﬁ c, wagons, and dray beasts. 
  The Inner City is graced with public parks, the estates of the 
  wealthy, statuary, gilded temples, and stern government buildings. 
  Prominent features include the Azure Tower, a decorative structure 
  built early in the city’s history that provides a panoramic view of the 
  surrounding countryside, and the Great Observatory of Xha, another 
  tower surmounted by a water-powered clock and an elaborate array 
  of telescopes, astrolabes, armillary spheres, and other astronomical 
  devices. Here, scholars and priests chart the heavens and make note of 
  signiﬁ cant celestial events.
  The Imperial Palace towers over the rest of the city. Its walls were 
  ﬁ rst laid down during the great rebuilding of 1115 XC (–187 I.R.) and 
  have been added to over centuries. Dark red and decorated with yellow-
  gold protective icons, the palace is considered to be the sole domain of 
  rulers and their households. This tradition has waxed and waned over 
  the years, and today the Emperor Sajrac su Kar has opened up the palace 
  and allows visits from priests, government ofﬁ cials, and even a handful 
  of foreign dignitaries, including representatives of the High Burgess 
  of Bard’s Gate and an ofﬁ cial diplomatic delegation from the eastern 
  nation of Foere.
  ABAN RHA, CITY OF
  ABAN RHA, CITY OF
  Ruler: Princess Iriku sa Dri
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 185,000 (180,000 Xha’en, 5,000 halﬂ ings)
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Located in the heart of the fertile Plains of Xha, Aban Rha is the 
  breadbasket of the Xha’en Hegemony, surrounded by vast ﬁ elds of 
  grain and seemingly-endless orchards of fruit trees. Its walls, parks, and 
  public buildings are all decorated with colorful agricultural symbols, 
  lucky signs, and motifs suggesting fertility and rich harvests. 
  Agricultural goods from Aban Rha are shipped throughout the 
  Hegemony — north to Rojhah, east along the wide Taode River and the 
  River Road, and down to Thanalos and the southern provinces beyond. 
  During harvest season, caravans enter and leave the city around the clock.
  As a result, Aban Rha is a prosperous city with little severe poverty. 
  While the peasants are still poor, they are generally better off in terms of 
  food and shelter than Xha’en elsewhere in the Hegemony. 
  
  48|
  48|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  Rich Aban Rha citizens, on the other hand, are the wealthiest in the 
  land, with the exception of the emperor himself. Vast sprawling estates 
  surround the city, and countless luxurious mansions ﬁ ll the city proper. 
  Gilded barges ply the river alongside lumbering merchant vessels, 
  lavishly decorated with decadent accommodations and small armies of 
  servants. Elaborate processions leave the city in good weather to travel 
  the countryside, setting up extensive encampments where the wealthy 
  can “enjoy the wonders of nature.” Lavish parades, festivals, and mock-
  battles are held on holidays and at the whim of the rich.
  The inhabitants of other cities, especially the grim militarists of Tsadar 
  and the old wealth of Djir, frown upon the excesses of Aban Rha, though 
  it’s known that outsiders often travel here to partake of its pleasures and 
  wonders. Aban Rha nobles are generally considered to be somewhat 
  boorish, vulgar types who ﬂ aunt their wealth in pointlessly ostentatious 
  ways. For their part, the Aban Rha don’t seem terribly concerned, for no 
  matter how judgmental the rest of the world may be, Aban Rha gold is 
  always accepted everywhere.
  APHAPOR, CITY OF
  APHAPOR, CITY OF
  Ruler: Prince Ydirac su Qol and Princess Amaya sa Qol
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 210,000 (177,500 Xha’en, 15,000 Senge, 9,000 
  halﬂ ings, 8,000 hill dwarves, 500 other)
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  Located along the shores of Lake Pantai and just south of the Sengejia 
  Hills, Aphapor has a reputation as an open and tolerant city, where the 
  wary Senge tribesmen can come to trade and treat with the Xha’en, and 
  where goods from the wilds and exotic lands to the east can be obtained. 
  Aphapor grew up amid the chaos of the Thousand Kingdoms period, 
  cementing its role as a crossroads and trading city with its central 
  location amid several other growing city-states. Though it was never 
  as populous or powerful as Xha’ahan or Tsadar, Aphapor nevertheless 
  became an important member of the alliance that led to the formation 
  of the Hegemony, transforming its trade and mercantile contacts into 
  a diplomatic network, and sending its ambassadors to the cities of the 
  Plains of Xha ready to negotiate, threaten, or cajole those reluctant to 
  join the new nation.
  Aphapor’s loyalty to the Hegemony was tested somewhat when 
  the Lujhiran Dam ﬂ ooded the old Pantai Lowlands where the city 
  maintained extensive agricultural interests, reducing Aphapor’s access 
  to neighboring territories. Ofﬁ cial protests — couched in respectful but 
  ominous terms — were sent to Xha’ahan, for the once-prosperous city 
  began to suffer from its isolation, with food shortages and population 
  pressures growing.
  Fortunately for all, the issue was resolved peacefully, with Xha’ahan 
  contributing to the construction of extensive lakeside shipping facilities, 
  signing lucrative agreements with the Aphapor government, and 
  assisting in the clearing of new lands for farming. A second diplomatic 
  tightrope act was needed to pacify the Senge, who resented the city’s 
  expansion into their lands — the Senge had been forced out of their 
  ancestral territories already, and now despite their overall paciﬁ stic 
  nature, they were reluctant to be squeezed out again.
  This dilemma was also solved through diplomacy, with the city ceding 
  arable territory to the Senge, offering them exclusive employment, and 
  distributing a portion of their farms’ produce directly to the tribes free 
  of charge. This last practice continues today and is accepted by Aphapor 
  farmers as the “Senge Tax.” After several decades of tension, Aphapor’s 
  relations with its neighbors began to improve.
  Aphapor today is a picturesque city, its white walls rising above the 
  waters of Lake Pantai, and surrounded by a network of roads, small 
  villages, farms, and Senge encampments. The city’s reasonably good 
  relations with the Senge has led to a bit of a cultural renaissance within 
  Aphapor. Senge artwork, folklore, and music are all studied and archived 
  here, along with histories of ancient cultures and nations that occupied 
  Xha’en lands in the distant past. The Hegemony’s tentative contact 
  with eastern states such as Castorhage, Reme, and Foere is followed 
  with great interest, and generally supported. A trickle of goods from the 
  Tycho Free States and elsewhere has found its way into Aphapor, where 
  they are studied and consumed with great enthusiasm. The city’s rulers, 
  Prince Ydirac su Qol and Princess Amaya sa Qol, have on occasion 
  dressed their ofﬁ cial guards in the styles of other nations, and have 
  ofﬁ cially sponsored work to translate works of eastern literature and 
  drama into the Xaon tongue.
  DJIR, CITY OF
  DJIR, CITY OF
  Ruler: Great Prince Nalas su Tan Djir
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 500,000 (451,950 Xha’en, 23,000 mountain 
  dwarves, 15,000 halﬂ ings, 9,000 hill dwarves, 1,000 half-elves, 
  50 wild elves)
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Djir is generally acknowledged to be the second most-inﬂ uential 
  city in the Hegemony and was even the Hegemony’s capital for a 
  time. Its status was eventually revoked and primacy returned to the 
  mighty Xha’ahan, but Djir emerged unharmed. Its ruler, once dubbed 
  “emperor,” is today given the slightly less grand but still impressive title 
  of “great prince.”
  Surrounded by a tall hexagonal wall, Djir is built in a different style 
  than its rival, with tall red stone buttressed towers, squat square homes 
  with spacious central courtyards, public plazas, and great aviaries where 
  many exotic breeds of bright-feathered birds can be seen. The city’s 
  phoenix-sigil symbolizes its fascination with winged creatures, as does 
  its legendary griffon cavalry, once the pride of Djir’s military but now 
  reduced in the long peace to a single squadron of six individuals based 
  at the city’s central ediﬁ ce, known as the Phoenix Palace.
  Like Xha’ahan, Djir’s population has expanded beyond its graceful 
  city walls, but adequate planning and public funding largely prevents 
  the creation of slums or other ugly sprawls. Districts beyond the wall 
  are administered with the same level of bureaucratic efﬁ ciency as the 
  rest of the city, and feature the same broad streets, attractive buildings, 
  and public spaces.
  Despite its beauty and tranquility, all is not well within Djir, for it is 
  known that the Crimson Mask criminal syndicate controls much of what 
  goes on there, with many nobles and ofﬁ cials in its pay. Though the city 
  of Djir presents a pristine and spotless image to the world, the Crimson 
  Mask represents a rot at its heart.
  EJINDOR, PREFECTURE OF
  EJINDOR, PREFECTURE OF
  Capital: Ejindor (population 85,000)
  Ruler: Governor Jerain sa Kha
  Government: vassal of Xha’en
  Population: 500,000 (336,500 Xha’en, 65,000 halﬂ ing, 40,000 
  tengu, 18,500 tabaxi, 17,000 half-elf, 12,000 hill dwarf, 11,000 
  other)
  Resources: cloth, dyes, ﬁ shing, foodstuffs, grain, trade hub
  Currency: Xha’en, mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The prefecture of Ejindor consists primarily of the trade city of 
  Ejindor and surrounding farms. Though on its ofﬁ cial maps the Xha’en 
  Hegemony extends much farther south and east than the prefecture of 
  Ejindor, in practical terms, Ejindor functions as a border town between 
  the Hegemony and the wilder lands beyond it. As such, the population 
  of the city and the surrounding countryside tends to include more than 
  the average of Xha’en’s various minority peoples, particularly tengu, 
  tabaxi, halﬂ ings, and half-elves. In addition, the average monthly 
  population of foreigners visiting the city of Ejindor is nearly 10 times 
  that of other typical cities in the Hegemony. 
  For these reasons, as well as the prefecture’s proximity to the controversial 
  Ghon Complex boarding school, laws in Ejindor are strict, curfews early, 
  taxes high, and the military ever-present. Despite these potential drawbacks, 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|49
  |49
  WESTERN AKADOS
  however, Ejindor has a reputation for treating visitors well and all residents 
  fairly. Governor Jerain sa Kha is largely beloved by her citizens, known for 
  her wise and measured interpretations of even the strictest laws, and her just 
  sentencing when punishment is necessary. 
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Though Governor Jerain sa Kha personally observes only Imperial 
  Pantheon religious practices and holidays, all religions willing to play 
  well with their neighbors are welcome in Ejindor and are permitted to 
  make public their festivals. The summer solstice festival is especially 
  multicultural and considered by seasoned travelers to be a must-see 
  event in the region.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Trade and commerce are the primary reasons for Ejindor’s existence. 
  Without them, the city would be neither so large, nor so diverse, nor so 
  economically relevant to southern Xha’en. It boasts several great public 
  markets, the largest of which is the river market, where one can buy ﬁ sh 
  and seafood of all kinds, as well as foreign goods brought to Ejindor up 
  the Jhoni River. This is also where locals come to sell any goods found 
  to be in high demand among river merchants and captains. 
  The farmers’ market on the east side of the city is where farmers bring 
  in the fruits of their ﬁ elds and sell delightful local confections, and where 
  visitors from surrounding regions bring livestock for sale. Finally, to the 
  south of the city stands the smaller, covered, year-round market hall 
  where the ﬁ nest of local crafts and creations are sold alongside the works 
  of famous Xha’en tradespeople and exotic foreign riches from all over 
  the world. The indoor market is the most heavily guarded (and taxed), 
  but it cannot be argued that its offerings are a wonder to behold, even 
  in the dead of winter (when it tends to be dominated by goods crafted 
  from materials gathered in the Cauldron to the south of the prefecture).  
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Ejindor is a loyal vassal-prefecture of the Xha’en Hegemony but it often 
  ﬁ nds itself in a delicate place politically as it is so far away from the center 
  of Xha’en’s politics and has such a large and constant inﬂ ux of foreign 
  contact. To avoid arousing suspicions of sedition, Ejindor puts on twice 
  the show of imperial loyalty that other Xha’en cities might do. Governor 
  Jerain sa Kha manages this balance with grace and dignity, but not without 
  a certain degree of discord between herself and Grand Teacher of the Ghon 
  Complex, the other most powerful appointed leader in the region. 
  Indeed, though even Governor Jerain sa Kha only knows or suspects 
  less than half of the “education” techniques being used to inﬂ uence the 
  Ghon Complex children, rumor has it that a small rebel organization has 
  sprung up in Ejindor with the intention of staging a prison break and 
  freeing the Ghon Complex children. If Governor Jerain sa Kha knows 
  of any such thing, it would appear she has chosen to turn a blind eye, 
  which could potentially bring terrible ramiﬁ cations down on Ejindor if 
  the situation were presented to the emperor in the wrong way.   
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Governor Jerain sa Kha has authority to run Ejindor as she sees ﬁ t, 
  though the commander of the local military garrison reports to military 
  superiors elsewhere in the Hegemony rather than to the governor. 
  Governor Jerain sa Kha and Commander Mornys su Rin work well 
  together, however, so this division of authority does not interfere with 
  the smooth functioning of the prefecture. Governor Jerain sa Kha
  serves as primary lawmaker (after the emperor, of course) and judge 
  and makes all non-military appointments, prioritizing skill and integrity 
  above connections or ﬂ attery. Military appointments are the province 
  of Commander Mornys su Rin, who also oversees the military in their 
  regular service as the watch and police.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Unless Ejindor is actively threatened by war, defense of the town is 
  left to the larger-than-average resident garrison of professional soldiers. 
  These troops enforce the curfew, guard the town’s imperial taxes until 
  they can be shipped north, and otherwise function as police. Their unit 
  includes two wizards and two clerics, none of whom is particularly high 
  in rank or skill. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The Jhoni Falls to the north do much to defend Ejindor from river-
  borne threats, and the town maintains good (or at least civil) relations 
  with all its neighbors. The threat of retaliation from the might of Xha’en 
  is enough to make any force think twice about attacking the city. As 
  such, the greatest threats to Ejindor tend either to be economic, such 
  as the tengu bandits that disrupt shipping in the Jhoni Canyon, or come 
  from individual monsters, such as the salamanders that have been known 
  to follow the Jhoni River downstream from the Cauldron in summer. 
  Of course, one looming threat is the eventual loss of Governor Jerain 
  sa Kha. Under Governor Jerain sa Kha’s rule, the markets thrive and, 
  despite the high imperial taxes, the citizens mostly prosper. The only 
  problem is that Jerain sa Kha is 87 years old. She is improbably hale for 
  her age as well as sharp of faculties, but even the healthiest of humans 
  — even with unlimited access to magical healing — must ever more 
  often play dice with death the older they get. Jerain sa Kha is aware that 
  one day soon her luck will run out, and mortality will win the round. She 
  is doing her best to prepare her people for her passing, but the future of 
  Ejindor remains uncertain. 
  The Ejindor prefecture is an appointed rather than inherited position. 
  Jerain sa Kha has begun to ﬂ oat suggestions for her successor to 
  representatives of the court at Xha’ahan, but so far none has been all that 
  favorably received. For now, Jerain sa Kha remains alive and well, and 
  Ejindor is a happy and diverse city, strict laws notwithstanding. Only time 
  will tell what the emperor will decide in appointing the next prefect.
  GHON COMPLEX
  GHON COMPLEX
  (GOAN, one syllable)
  Ruler: Grand Teacher Almalandra sa Pol
  Government: Xha’en imperial appointment
  Population: 412 (354 Xha’en, 20 Senge, 15 halﬂ ing, 10 tengu, 6 
  hill dwarf, 5 half-elf, 1 mountain dwarf, 1 tabaxi)
  Technology Level: Medieval with some Renaissance tools
  The Ghon Complex, named for its founder Ghon su Pol (grandfather 
  of the current Grand Teacher), is a prison-like boarding school in the 
  southwestern Xha’en Hegemony. Whenever a dissident, rebel, traitor, 
  or other political criminal is convicted in the Xha’en Hegemony, 
  presuming said criminal is sufﬁ ciently high-proﬁ le, high-status, or 
  wealthy, that criminal’s children, young siblings, and sometimes even 
  nieces or nephews are sent to the Ghon Complex for education, training, 
  and propaganda.
  The outside of the complex appears to be a sprawling military 
  fortress, nigh-impenetrable and crawling with guards. Inside, other than 
  the solitary conﬁ nement chambers in the basement, the Ghon Complex 
  is open and cheery, well-appointed, and full of gardens, practice yards, 
  and other deceptively inviting facilities. It boasts one of the largest (and 
  most painstakingly curated) libraries in all of Xha’en.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Founded in 4763 XC (3461 I.R.) as part of a “compassionate” 
  consolidation of the new Rachar dynasty’s power, the Ghon Complex 
  was formed with the idea that the young children of dissidents and traitors 
  need not necessarily be executed to prevent them from following in 
  their parents’ footsteps (as was sometimes done during older dynasties) 
  or expensively imprisoned for life (as was done during much of the 
  Tilgi dynasty). Instead, it was suggested that young children of political 
  criminals could be placed in a special school to teach them to grow up 
  as useful and honorable citizens, potentially able to cleanse their family 
  names of all rebellious taint. Thus, the Ghon Complex was born.  
  While the education that the Ghon Complex children receive is 
  relatively high caliber — offering many noble skills such as reading, 
  calligraphy, gardening, classical dance, and music, and even science, 
  magic, tactics, swordplay, and other martial arts for those deemed 
  sufﬁ ciently loyal — it is nevertheless a highly manipulative program 
  designed to destroy independent thinking and to obscure all the faults 
  and ﬂ aws of the Hegemony.
  
  50|
  50|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  The history taught at the Ghon Complex is particularly ﬁ ctionalized, 
  making all the rulers out to have been glorious, honorable, and wise, with 
  the sole exception of the lich-emperor, who is portrayed as a usurper. All 
  dissidents, rebels, traitors, and similar are portrayed as cruel villains, 
  including the children’s own relatives. While treatment is usually strict 
  but humane, children showing even the slightest signs of “following in 
  traitorous footsteps” are harshly punished, with methods ranging from 
  extra chores, to missed meals, to public canings, to solitary conﬁ nement.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Religious practice in the Ghon Complex is highly ritualized and 
  entirely compulsory for all residents. Other practices may be tolerated 
  in private, so long as the practitioner is believed to revere the Imperial 
  Pantheon above all else, and the speciﬁ c practices in question have not 
  been deemed seditious.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Though the Ghon Complex is dogmatically loyal to the emperor and 
  the Hegemony, it is not universally beloved by the Xha’en people. For 
  the most part, the activities of the Ghon Complex are kept secret, and it 
  is advertised only as a special school for children chosen by the emperor. 
  It is not entirely certain even the extent to which the emperor has been 
  accurately informed of the Ghon Complex’s methodology. 
  For those who know the truth, the Ghon Complex is controversial, 
  and it does have powerful enemies within the empire. Because of its 
  purpose of “inspiring loyalty to the emperor,” however, openly opposing 
  the complex can be somewhat tricky, politically speaking. As such, a 
  subtle political dance goes on continuously behind the scenes within 
  the imperial court, wherein enemies of the complex try to have it shut 
  down, while those sympathetic to its methods and purpose defend it and 
  keep it funded. 
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Unusually militaristic in organization for a school, the Ghon 
  Complex is ultimately under the absolute dictatorship of Grand Teacher 
  Almalandra sa Pol. A serious and oddly compassionate-seeming woman, 
  Almalandra is adamant that her school is beneﬁ cial to society and kind 
  to the children. If nothing else, she does not speak inaccurately when 
  she says that older policies toward the children of political criminals 
  were crueler still, and that many lands still practice worse atrocities. 
  However misguided and disturbing, the Ghon Complex is at least 
  intended to reform and teach rather than to merely torment or control. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The Ghon Complex is always heavily guarded by imperial troops 
  under Almalandra sa Pol’s command. While the Ghon Complex 
  teachers are included in the population statistics, the military presence 
  is not, especially since its complement may be doubled or tripled if 
  any particularly politically volatile children are in residence. Assigned 
  companies are rotated out regularly to avoid soldiers learning too much 
  about the speciﬁ c children in residence or why they are there.   
  JHOHIR, CITY OF
  JHOHIR, CITY OF
  Ruler: Prince Aranis su Tan Darondan
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 325,000 (247,000 Xha’en, 35,000 halﬂ ings, 30,000 
  mountain dwarves, 11,000 hill dwarves, 1,000 Senge, 100 half-
  elves, 900 others)
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Located along a broad strait sheltered by the Island of Quy, Jhohir 
  is the Xha’en Hegemony’s leading port city and hosts ship trafﬁ c from 
  all along the western Xha’en coast. Extensive docking, repair, and 
  warehousing facilities are maintained by the Darondan clan, who have 
  been masters of this city-state for several millennia.
  In the past, Jhohir was a powerbroker in the struggles for dominance in 
  the Xha’en region. Shipping and mercantile contracts from the Darondan 
  were used to favor one city-state over another, and Jhohir mercenaries 
  fought for any city that could pay their price. Strict neutrality kept the 
  city relatively safe, but the rise of Xha’ahan and the eventual formation 
  of the Hegemony signiﬁ cantly reduced Jhohir’s inﬂ uence and forced the 
  Darondan to focus more on their shipping and trade functions.
  Though the Darondan clan, in theory, rules the city and its members 
  or their close associates hold all major ofﬁ ces, the true power in the 
  city is the local chapter of the Triads, which controls a secret network 
  of criminals, killers, and smugglers. Triad operatives hold obscure but 
  signiﬁ cant positions throughout Jhohir, and nothing comes into or goes 
  out of the city without the express permission of the Triad leader, a 
  mysterious boss whose true identity is not known, though some claim that 
  she masquerades as a humble beggar or cart seller. Under her guidance, 
  Jhohir has become one of (if not the) major centers of Triad strength in the 
  Hegemony, and so far, few suspect the full extent of its inﬂ uence.
  Otherwise, Jhohir is what one might expect in an ancient city that 
  is crossroads to an empire — noisy, dirty, crowded, with a huge gulf 
  between the walled and guarded mansions of the wealthy and the rude 
  hovels of the poor, which continue to spread around the city like a dark 
  stain. Folk of every description can be found here, from arrogant Xha’en 
  nobles (the Darondan are the most arrogant of the lot, aware as they are 
  of their family’s past greatness, and how far they have fallen since the 
  glory days) to humble Gtsang monks, Anari merchants and their guards, 
  exotic southerners including the occasional cat- or ravenfolk, and even 
  a handful of Senge tribesfolk who have made the long journey here 
  to obtain food and clothing for their people in exchange for handmade 
  goods or service to wealthy patrons.
  ROJHAH, CITY OF
  ROJHAH, CITY OF
  Ruler: Prince Inodaren su Ber
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 420,000 (325,350 Xha’en, 85,000 halﬂ ings, 9,000 
  hill dwarves, 250 Senge, 100 half-elves, 300 others)
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Rojhah is one of the oldest cities in the Hegemony, and for a time 
  threatened to eclipse Xha’ahan as the region’s dominant state. Seeing 
  the futility of a long, drawn-out military or economic conﬂ ict with their 
  rivals, the folk of Xha’ahan chose the diplomatic route and formed 
  alliances and trade relationships with Rojhah that eventually led to the 
  formation of the Hegemony. The union proved prosperous to both sides, 
  and now Rojhah is a wealthy, cosmopolitan settlement in the middle of 
  the fertile Plains of Xha.
  Though halﬂ ings often fare poorly in competition with humans in 
  the Hegemony, Rojhah and its environs represent a better life for many 
  small folk. Halﬂ ing farms dot the countryside, a thriving halﬂ ing quarter 
  boasts shops, merchants, inns, and restaurants, and several regiments of 
  halﬂ ing bowmen and slingers can be found in Rojhah’s army. 
  Rojhah is not an especially attractive city, with ancient weathered walls 
  and vast, dingy stands of undistinguished buildings and streets that are 
  often choked with commerce and ﬁ lthy with the passage of countless 
  thousands. Even the grand palaces of the wealthy and the stern government 
  structures are strangely mundane. All the same, Rojhah is a vital city with 
  an ancient and vibrant culture — music, opera, sculpture, and ceramics 
  are all considered the ﬁ nest in Xha’en lands, drawing visitors and patrons 
  from all across the vast lands of the Hegemony. The Rojhah Opera House 
  has been the scene of many classic performances and the premieres of 
  numerous shows that went on to become enduring classics. 
  THANALOS, CITY OF
  THANALOS, CITY OF
  Ruler: Prince Yonnis su Ang
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 580,000 (505,500 Xha’en, 40,000 halﬂ ings, 17,000 
  hill dwarves, 8,000 tabaxi, 4,500 tengu, 3,000 half-elves, 1,600 
  Senge, 400 others)
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Located at the southern end of the great River Road to Tsadar, 
  Thanalos is the southernmost great city on the Plains of Xha and as such 
  
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  WESTERN AKADOS
  is the leading transportation hub of the Xha’en Hegemony. So important 
  is access to and from this city that its great walls were disassembled long 
  ago, leaving the city to sprawl unchecked across the ﬂ atlands around it. 
  A striking combination of modernity and the rustic frontier, Thanalos 
  stands at a crossroads between the urbane north and the wild south. 
  The old city — that portion of Thanalos that lies within the old, now-
  demolished walls — boasts many magniﬁ cent structures that date back 
  to before the founding of the Hegemony, carefully maintained and 
  repaired by the city’s leaders. A near-religious respect for the past is 
  common among Thanalos’ nobility, for many have ancestries that can 
  be traced back thousands of years. This backward-looking attitude 
  stands somewhat at odds with the rest of the city, which is inhabited 
  by thousands of new arrivals, many from such distant lands as the 
  Utterends. Here, buildings are built overnight, shops and stalls crowd 
  the chaotic streets, trade caravans are constantly coming and going, and 
  the population rises and falls unexpectedly. The focus is on the future, 
  on expansion and on new ways of living, doing business, and making 
  money. As the stodgy nobles remain in their ancient buildings dreaming 
  of the past, the city’s new inhabitants have created a vital and chaotic 
  society where almost anything can be bought and sold, crime runs 
  rampant and fortunes can be made and lost in the course of a single day.
  TSADAR, CITY OF 
  TSADAR, CITY OF 
  Ruler: Princess-General Hilelia sa Fahn Tsadar
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 375,000 (354,600 Xha’en, 15,000 halﬂ ings, 3,000 
  hill dwarves, 1,200 Senge, 1,000 half-elves, 200 others)
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Before the birth of the Xha’en Hegemony, numerous city-states 
  competed for dominance, and with its elite footmen and fearsome 
  scythed chariots, Tsadar was among the leading powers. Ultimately 
  worn down by the growing inﬂ uence of Xha’ahan, Tsadar eventually 
  joined in alliance with its former enemy and was rewarded with a 
  leading role when the great Hegemony was ﬁ nally born.
  Tsadar remains a stern military state. Though its warriors are not the 
  most numerous in the Hegemony army, they are acknowledged to be 
  the ﬁ nest. The armories and smithies of Tsadar produce high quality 
  weapons and armor, though long years of relative peace have made their 
  martial prowess less signiﬁ cant to the Hegemony as a whole. 
  The city itself is perfectly square, with thick, battlemented walls 
  that slant inward to shrug off siege missiles, and heavy gates crafted 
  from iron and steel. Like other Xha’en cities, Tsadar cannot contain the 
  entirety of its population, but the outlying communities are carefully 
  planned and laid out, with grids of paved streets and farmlands of near 
  geometric perfection.
  The creation of Lake Pantai when Xha’ahan erected the Lujhiran 
  Dam changed the city’s geography somewhat. The main walls sit atop 
  a bluff above the new artiﬁ cial lake, with switchbacks leading down 
  to the water where docks and warehouses have been constructed to 
  accommodate lake trafﬁ c. 
  THE UTTERENDS
  THE UTTERENDS
  Capital: Shan’daren 
  Notable Settlements: Chafa Temple, Quiris Meadow, Tchur-i-
  kahn, Tahngari 
  Ruler: none (High Duke chosen in times of war; Lord Dragon 
  consulted for conﬂ ict resolution)
  Government: nomadic bands.
  Population: 120,000 (39,000 Xha’en, 34,000 tengu, 27,000 
  tabaxi, 13,500 lizardfolk, 6,000 wild elf, 500 other)
  Monstrous: stirges, spire monkeys, giant silverﬁ sh, chike, 
  serpent creepers, boobries, tombotu, blaze boas, hanu-nagas, 
  malkeens, bloodsoaker vines, vile drakes, wood elementals 
  (any region); giant ﬂ ying piranha, bloodworms, gray dragons 
  (coastal regions only)
  Languages: Guivoc, Elven, Xha’en, Tengu, Tabaxi, Common, 
  Draconic
  Religion: ancestral spirits, animism, tribal pantheons
  Resources: rare magical herbs, rare poisons, rare intoxicants, 
  tabaxi steel
  Currency: gold, silver, steel, and iron ingots; barter; Xha’en
  Technology Level: Iron Age
  A proud and ancient mélange of nomadic people dwell in a vast and 
  deadly swamp once considered in Xha’en legend to be the location of 
  the utter ends of the earth. This is the nation most commonly referred 
  to as the Utterends (or variously Gyuubou, Guivo, or Gibo in different 
  local tongues). To outsiders, the Utterends often seem like a hellhole: 
  sweaty, primitive, and perilous, but that is only the barest surface of this 
  deep and complex land. 
  It is true that the creatures of the Utterends, both magical and 
  mundane, are often deadly and terrible, many venomous or bloodthirsty, 
  and some even possessed of a vile and cruel intelligence. The Utterends 
  are not an easy place to make one’s abode. Nevertheless, these terrifying 
  swamps have become a haven and a refuge to many who call it home.
  An isolated pocket of improbable weather, the Utterends are heated 
  by winds blowing down from the Cauldron to the north, hotspring 
  runoff from several springs on the mountains’ southern half, and by 
  underwater springs and volcanoes off the coast, a continuation of the 
  Cauldron range. This combination creates a unique climate in all the 
  world, with bizarre wildlife and weather seemingly wholly divorced 
  from the seasons around them. 
  Never cold and always damp, the Utterends has a “dry” season in what 
  surrounding regions call late winter and most of spring, and a monsoon 
  season that ramps up in late spring and doesn’t typically wind down 
  until “winter” solstice. This pattern (and the heat) makes the Utterends’ 
  main agricultural cycle quite short, with a planting celebration for the 
  new year and harvest before summer solstice. A second harvest cycle 
  takes place during the wetter months for plants that prefer to be partially 
  submerged. 
  Many rare and valuable plants grow well in the humid Utterends, 
  though all attempts at agriculture here come with a plethora of other 
  challenges. It is perhaps due to the sheer diversity of hardships in the 
  Utterends’ region that so many disparate peoples have been able to come 
  together to form a cohesive society based upon mutual cooperation, 
  support, and boundless hospitality.  
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  As far as the historical record can show, tabaxi were the original 
  natives of the Utterends. Locked in constant war with the brutal chike, 
  the desperately beleaguered tabaxi began a millennium-spanning tradition 
  (unlike no other known tabaxi community in the world) of welcoming any 
  and all fellow humanoids willing to ﬁ ght alongside them in their struggle 
  for survival. The earliest remains of this culture show that it was bloody 
  and warlike, nearly as cruel as that of the chike themselves, and that the 
  ﬁ rst group to join the tabaxi were the lizardfolk, who immigrated north 
  and west from the Akadonian Forest. Humanoid cats and lizards shared 
  the land in close alliance and learned to prosper together. 
  The next group to join the Utterends mix were tengu, who moved 
  south from the Xha’en region in response to human expansion. The 
  tengu, too, formed a friendly alliance with the others and brought with 
  them new types of military tactics and a partial tempering of bloodthirsty 
  patterns. Records of this era are sparse, but the bas-relief sculptures all 
  over the Chafa (or Tcha-i-F’ha) Temple walls indicate repeated attempts 
  to make peace with the chike during the next several centuries and to 
  bring them into the multi-species fold. But such efforts were met always 
  by rejection, misdirection, or betrayal. No chike records of the era have 
  been found. 
  Local legend says that 5,000 years passed this way, though elven 
  scholars believe this number to be wild hyperbole. 
  The next group to join the growing Utterends culture came nearly 
  1,600 years ago, in and around Xha’en Calendar year 3230 (1928 I.R.). 
  These were an inﬂ ux of Xha’en rebels defeated in their attempt to oust 
  
  52|
  52|THE LOST LANDS
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  WESTERN AKADOS
  the powerful Huris dynasty and driven into the Utterends to escape 
  Imperial retaliation for their treason. This inﬂ ux marked the beginning 
  of the Guivoc language, as well as a more streamlined integration of the 
  three humanoid peoples with their new human immigrants. What had 
  formerly been a trade pidgin of Tabaxi, Draconic, and Tengu was joined 
  by Xha’en and recorded using Xha’en characters on scrolls for the ﬁ rst 
  time. Several multi-species communities sprang up during this period, 
  and the pidgin evolved into a full-vocabulary creole. The Guivoc creole 
  has since become the dominant language of the region, though all four 
  of the languages it is derived from are still spoken in places, and most 
  inhabitants speak at least three local languages. 
  Though no one knows precisely how it happened, the next major event 
  in Utterends’ history was the Dragon Plagues in XC 3678–83 (2376–81 
  I.R.). During this period, a wave of hideous, magic-resistant poxes 
  swept through the Utterends, annihilating the majority of the region’s 
  reptilian humanoids and dragon-related creatures. Ordinary reptiles 
  and non-dragon magical beasts were unaffected, but all other dragonids 
  and humanoid reptilians were felled by the thousands. These species-
  spanning poxes are believed to be the work of Xha’en Emperor Amaran 
  su Bha (later revealed to be a lich), perhaps as an unintended side-effect 
  of experiments regarding undead dragons. Wherever the plagues came 
  from, their death toll was high, and they departed as mysteriously as 
  they arrived. 
  When the plagues ﬁ nally passed, many species were extinct in the 
  Utterends, including kobolds, black dragons, hydras, and countless 
  others. The lizardfolk population dwindled into the hundreds, though by 
  a cruel twist of fate, the ever-hostile chike population recovered from 
  the plagues within three generations, due largely to differences in chike 
  versus lizardfolk reproduction. Most dragonids common in the region 
  today are species that arrived to carve a niche for themselves in only the 
  last few centuries, and chikes and lizardfolk remain the only reptilian 
  humanoids in the Utterends.
  Following this regional tragedy, the culture of the Utterends was 
  badly shaken, as some lizardfolk found themselves no longer able to 
  relate to their less-bereaved neighbors. Inter-community disagreements 
  became heated, and a band of lizardfolk leaders set out to consult a 
  solitary gold dragon believed to have survived the plague. This dragon 
  had indeed survived, albeit scarred and blinded beyond the ability of 
  any magic to cure (as was typical for the consequences of this particular 
  wave of plagues). Despite his own suffering and grief at all he had 
  lost, he advised the Guivoc lizardfolk, and ultimately all of the Guivoc 
  peoples, to take this regional trauma as an opportunity to grow closer as 
  a people and to improve their way of life. 
  This era saw local improvements in many aspects of life for the 
  Guivoc people. Once again peace was sought with the chike. The blind 
  gold dragon, Mikan (referred to almost exclusively in history texts as 
  the Lord Dragon, though he has never held any ofﬁ cial status in the 
  Guivoc legal code), went personally to serve as mediator between chike 
  and Guivoc communities. The chike insulted the Guivoc delegation, 
  poisoned them, and attacked while they were ill. Mikan defended the 
  helpless Guivoren and, recognizing the poison used, brewed an antidote 
  in time to save most of them, but his interference was claimed by 
  the chike to prove he was never a neutral mediator, and retroactively 
  adopted as the justiﬁ cation for the attack. 
  Subsequent scholars have postulated that — like true dragons and 
  some extraplanar beings — some inherent aspect of chike physiology 
  makes it impossible for them to behave in any way other than overt 
  hostility. They certainly tend toward brutality amongst themselves — 
  not just toward the Guivoren — but it is yet unknown whether such 
  hypotheses are fair to the chike. Regardless, no subsequent attempts at 
  reconciliation have succeeded either, in more than 1,000 years. 
  Guivoc culture, however, made a meteoric rise after the Dragon 
  Plagues ceased. Soon, the lich-emperor Amaran su Bha, still enthroned 
  in Xha’ahan, noticed their economic and military power. With Xha’en 
  having long claimed the Utterends as imperial territory, the undead 
  emperor began to extort exorbitant taxes from the Guivoc people. The 
  people of the Utterends rejected his demands and deﬁ antly declared 
  their nation of Guivo to be ofﬁ cially independent of Xha’en. They 
  spent the rest of the lich-emperor’s reign effectively cut off from the 
  outside world, with undead forces boxing them in by land and sea, and 
  the elves of the Green Warden Forest unwilling in that period to have 
  any dealings with a “human-loving” nation, or with a nation they saw as 
  being probably full of spies for the lich king.
  The deadly Cauldron Mountains became the only route into or out of 
  the Utterends, and since it only led right back to lich-oppressed Xha’en, 
  this perilous passage offered less in the way of aid for the Utterends 
  than it did a string of Xha’en refugees to Guivo ﬂ eeing their undead 
  overlord. Within the Utterends, the chike chose to side with the lich 
  king for reasons of their own, and the Utterends spent decades ﬁ ghting 
  for its life. 
  Through it all, the Guivoc people remained steadfast in their 
  commitment to the Lord Dragon’s compassionate wisdom, and 
  Utterends’ histories record that the Utterends provided succor and 
  supplies at one point during those benighted times to the band of heroes 
  who ultimately recovered the Ahra artifacts that were used to depose 
  the lich. 
  Once Xha’en was saved and the Tilgi dynasty begun, the Utterends 
  were again ignored by an empire busy licking its wounds. But as both 
  nations recovered from that terrible time, later emperors remembered 
  that the Utterends’ declared independence was never legally 
  acknowledged by the Hegemony, and that Xha’en still claimed the 
  marshy territory as its own. Armed “tax collection” forces were turned 
  away at the Utterends’ borders, by violence if necessary, but always 
  as compassionately as possible. Diplomats sent to Xha’en seeking 
  ofﬁ cial recognition of Guivoc statehood were variously ignored or even 
  imprisoned for insurrection. 
  To this day, Xha’en claims the Utterends as part of the Hegemony, 
  acknowledges none of Guivoc history, and insists that the Guivoren are 
  “bandits,” savages eking out a squalid living in the fetid swamps the 
  emperor cannot be bothered to “clean up.” The swamps themselves, as 
  well as the geography around the Utterends, have protected the Guivoren 
  from true invasion or occupation by Xha’en forces. Xha’en can and 
  periodically does cut off the Utterends from contact or trade with any 
  but the Cauldron and the Green Warden Forest, and this has signiﬁ cantly 
  stiﬂ ed the Utterends’ economic growth. But what Xha’en can’t do is 
  ﬁ eld forces that can survive the perilous Utterends’ swamps and marshes 
  well enough to defeat Guivoc natives on their home territory. No leader 
  since the lich-emperor has been foolish enough to try. 
  Inﬂ uenced by the Lord Dragon (now a Great Wyrm) and by their 
  money-averse elven neighbors, the Guivoc people have chosen to 
  accept this state of affairs with Xha’en peacefully. The chike remain 
  a more pressing problem since they too are warriors native to the 
  swamp and not so easily defeated by compassionate means. Though 
  generally considered to be of near-animal intelligence and barely able 
  to use simple tools, the chike are wily and tough, and they reproduce as 
  quickly as the food supply allows (unlike the lizardfolk, whose former 
  numbers have still never recovered from the Dragon Plagues). 
  The Guivoc have largely found means to defend themselves from 
  chike raids, and they stay out of chike territory whenever possible. 
  Other language-capable creatures in the Utterends, such as the tombotu 
  and malkeens, have allied themselves with Guivoc culture even when 
  they have elected not to join it. The chike prey upon these creatures 
  as well, and on anything else they ﬁ nd within their grasp, though they 
  are known occasionally to ally themselves for brief periods with hanu-
  nagas or a gray dragon on the coast. Guivoc culture interacts with these 
  elements of the Utterends wilderness only if necessary, in self-defense.
  The rest of the time, the Guivoren pursue peaceful occupations such as 
  ﬁ ne art, education, poetry, and music. They trade with the Green Realm 
  and the Cauldron, and have established a discreet trade relationship 
  with Ejindor, one wherein so long as they never mention where they 
  are from, the Ejindor ofﬁ cials never accuse them of being “Utterends’ 
  bandits.” As simply “traveling merchants” therefore, they are able to 
  participate in the Ejindor markets and bring home books, tools, and new 
  technologies from all over the world for their libraries and schools. 
  Some have remarked that the Guivoren have grown so peace-loving 
  and intellectual that were it not for the ever-present chike threat forcing 
  
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  WESTERN AKADOS
  them to keep their swords sharp, they would lose all interest in the art 
  of war and be easily subsumed by Xha’en. Whether or not that is the 
  case, what has indeed become true is that those who know the people 
  of the Utterends well have come to see them as a haven for refugees 
  from oppression. Xha’en discontents of many species have continued 
  to ﬁ nd a home there over the centuries, so long as they are willing to 
  abide by Guivoc laws. Even occasional Green Warden elves, sick of the 
  anti-human bigotry and isolationism of their homeland, have found the 
  humidity and stirges to be worth the advantages of the warm community 
  that the Guivoc culture can offer.
  The Lord Dragon, for his part, is alive and well, and spends most 
  of his time wandering the Utterends, disguised in whatever humanoid 
  form takes his fancy, hiding his blindness with magic and draconic 
  abilities as best he can (since few types of blindness are not magically 
  curable, and the condition would otherwise give him away). Scarred 
  old Mikan does not rule the Utterends and does not wish to and avoids 
  making “Lord Dragon” appearances whenever possible. But he always 
  appears when he is needed. It is believed that he is not yet 2,000 years 
  old, and that as a gold dragon (a particularly long-lived species), he 
  may last two millennia yet or more. Some have speculated that without 
  his inﬂ uence, the perilous Utterends would quickly descend to their 
  former bloodthirsty ways. But for now he lives, and Guivoc is a just and 
  compassionate place.      
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Religion in the Utterends tends to be celebratory and closely tied to 
  the natural world. Most people mix and match all the common religions 
  of the region together in personalized, private worship, and public 
  ceremonies tend to be vaguely worded so as to appeal to as many types 
  of belief as possible. 
  The most important religious site in the Utterends is the ancient stone 
  temple at Chafa (or Tcha-i-F’ha in Tabaxi). The Chafa Temple is carved 
  in intricate and lovely bas-relief with the ancient history and legends of 
  the early Utterends’ peoples. The temple is dedicated to all Utterends’ 
  ancestors, and it is where the histories, both local and foreign, are kept, 
  guarded from tampering and humidity alike by a dedicated clergy of 
  scholar-priests. 
  The Chafa Temple is also a place for communities to mourn departed 
  loved ones or to pray to direct ancestors. When a nomadic band arrives 
  at Chafa each year, a large community funeral is held (in addition to the 
  smaller, personalized funeral that takes place just after a death). This 
  group grief ritual focuses on gratitude for everything the departed offered 
  to the community while alive, and on convincing the departed that it is 
  safe for them to leave their loved ones behind and move on to the next 
  life, by demonstrating — through feasting, dance, gifts, and kind words 
  — just how well the communities care for one another and how loved and 
  appreciated the bereaved are by the living people around them. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  In addition to rare plants that can be more easily cultivated in the 
  Utterends’ strange climate, and to the unique and often poignant 
  works of art produced by the Guivoc people, the Utterends are most 
  particularly known for tabaxi steel. Tabaxi are understood to be gifted 
  with weapons, intuitively able to understand them. The tabaxi of the 
  Utterends have honed and perfected this talent, such that Guivoc tabaxi 
  weaponsmiths are known to be some of the best in the world. 
  Any maker-marked weapons produced in the Utterends are considered 
  to be masterwork, as even non-tabaxi smiths must meet exacting 
  traditional standards to ply their trade in the region, but something 
  about tabaxi senses gives them a particular edge in the weaponsmithing 
  process, and thus far only tabaxi smiths have ever passed the grueling 
  examinations required by the Utterends’ smiths guilds for the right to 
  incorporate the elite “four claws” mark into their maker stamps. 
  Four-claws smiths are able to use the smells, sounds, and feel of every 
  moment in the ritualized and time-consuming traditional Utterends’ 
  steel-making process to pull the natural magic of the land into their 
  craft. As a result, any weapon, tool, or armor with a signiﬁ cant steel 
  component made by a four-claw smith is inherently magical, even if 
  the smith is not a spellcaster. Some four-claws smiths have more ability 
  than others, and four-claw caster-smiths can do more still, but any four-
  claw Utterends’ smith produces exclusively magical steel goods. 
  The Guivoc culture being what it is, even the most paciﬁ st smiths 
  are still usually willing to craft weapons in some circumstances. The 
  Guivoren know that even the compassionate are sometimes forced to 
  defend themselves and their homes. However, many Guivoc smiths will 
  not craft weapons for people they do not know or trust. Others exact 
  a vow to never use their weapons for unnecessary harm, accepting 
  customer responses with varying degrees of naivete (or shallow 
  ritualism). Few smiths craft weapons for resale to strangers, but tools 
  or defensive items (such as amulets, bracers, bucklers, helms, etc.) are 
  often pre-crafted and sold to merchants or sent to market in Ejindor. 
  Large steel items such as tower shields or full plate armor usually 
  require that a buyer bring the required iron as part of payment in 
  advance and be willing to wait long enough for the iron to be processed 
  into steel before the item can be crafted. This is because the Utterends 
  are in fact a terrible place to ﬁ nd iron. Mining is extremely difﬁ cult in 
  the wet marshes, and all the old above-ground sources have been long-
  since exhausted. Thus, for all the excellence of Guivoc steelmaking, 
  the vast majority of their raw iron must now be imported from outside. 
  For this reason, quality raw iron can be worth as much as copper in the 
  Utterends, and steel ingots of four-claw smith quality are worth as much 
  as gold. Precious metals are otherwise worth comparable amounts to 
  their values in other places and are often used in sculpture. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Despite Xha’en’s claims to the contrary, the Utterends maintain their 
  independence and do not offer fealty to any other nation. Isolated as 
  they are, the Utterends are also largely lacking in allies, as the elves are 
  too insular and few of the intelligent creatures living in the Cauldron 
  Mountains share a worldview compatible with Guivoc philosophies. In 
  many ways, the ever-brutal chike have an easier time forming (brief, 
  treacherous) alliances than do the Guivoc given their location. This 
  is one of many reasons why it is so often believed that the Utterends 
  will only maintain their open-hearted attitudes for as long as the Lord 
  Dragon yet lives. Without his inﬂ uence and protection, it seems likely 
  that the Guivoc people would experience a great deal more pressure to 
  conform to prevailing attitudes around them. 
  GOVERNMENT 
  GOVERNMENT 
  Guivoc government is as minimal and localized as possible, and no 
  one person is ever permitted to hold a great deal of power over others. 
  Small nomadic communities (usually no more than 300 people) choose 
  their own leaders however they wish, often by consensus. Professional 
  guilds are larger, some spanning the entire Utterends, but these never 
  have a single leader, and are instead often governed by large councils.
  A typical way for guild councilmembers to be chosen is that they must be 
  nominated (without volunteering) by three guild members in good standing 
  who are not already on the council. Should nominated individuals choose 
  to accept nomination, their credentials are presented to the council, along 
  with all other nominees. The council then votes among the nominees, using 
  a ritual voting process wherein choices are ranked by preference so that the 
  nominee with the broadest appeal to the largest number of voters is selected. 
  Decisions of the council are made through a similar process and are usually 
  quite slow. Councilmembers typically serve ﬁ ve-year terms, with a limit of 
  no two terms in a row and an unlimited possibility of re-selection after any 
  ﬁ ve-year period not spent on the council. 
  Crime is usually handled by community leaders, or, if applicable, 
  by the relevant guild. Unless the crime is violent, punishment is meted 
  out in hours of some form of service to the community, with certain 
  privileges revoked until service hours are completed. Violent crime 
  leads to imprisonment and rehabilitation efforts the ﬁ rst time, longer 
  imprisonment and more intensive rehabilitation efforts the second time, 
  and the third time to permanent exile from the Utterends, enforced 
  where possible by geas or other magic. Suspected criminals may always 
  appeal their sentences to the Guild of Justice, which handles disputes 
  between communities and studies international law, among other things. 
  Further appeals go to the Chafa Temple, where priests of knowledge use 
  magic to determine the lies or truth of all parties involved. The ﬁ nal tier 
  
  54|
  54|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  of appeal is ﬁ nding the Lord Dragon and convincing him to hear the 
  case, which is far easier said than done.
  The Lord Dragon’s interference is more likely when the Guild of 
  Justice ﬁ nds itself unable to mediate a major internal dispute, as old 
  Mikan dislikes internal conﬂ ict in his chosen homeland and will, if he 
  has to, go out of his way to help everyone get along. The Guild of Justice 
  was founded primarily with the intent of making sure the citizens of 
  Guivo try the Lord Dragon’s patience as rarely as possible.    
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Most adult Guivoc have some combat training due to the perilous nature 
  of the Utterends’ swamps. Typically, communities organize their members 
  into small militias to defend their own people. In addition, citizens may 
  volunteer (or be selected by lots if volunteers are insufﬁ cient, though this 
  is rare and unenforced) to spend up to a year at a time serving as guards 
  for various facilities such as the Chafa Temple or the great smithies. A 
  year spent as a guardian is a common cultural practice for Guivoren and 
  is a highly respected occupation, especially for young adults. It is a rare 
  able-bodied Guivoren who has the luxury to “get soft” and cease daily 
  battle drills or turns taken on watch for the community.
  For national defense, there is the Guild of Protectors. Those who 
  choose to dedicate their professional lives to the safety of Guivo may 
  join this guild, which organizes regular patrols of the wilderness and 
  borders throughout the Guivoc regions of the Utterends. 
  The various Guivoc military units are the only places within Guivoc 
  culture where individuals may hold a great deal of authority over other 
  individuals in a strict hierarchy. However, even here many rules are in 
  place to prevent corruption or power-hoarding, and military rank is often 
  determined by election or consensus, and relatively easy to strip from 
  ofﬁ cers. A centralized command is authorized with unilateral decision-
  making abilities only when a threat to the Utterends is deemed to be of 
  emergency status. During such a time period, a high duke (usually an 
  experienced veteran with a reputation for tactical and logistical skill) 
  is empowered to command all Utterends’ warriors for a clearly pre-
  determined, ﬁ nite period of time. When the threat or duration passes, 
  the Utterends’ military returns to its more typical localized state. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The Utterends themselves are extremely threatening, packed with 
  monsters and things that can poison a person. This alone is enough of a 
  threat to keep the Utterends eternally on its toes. Another threat would 
  be the way the Xha’en Hegemony is sometimes able to harshly curtail 
  travel and trade between the Utterends and the outside world. If this 
  were ever to take place during a major crop failure, thousands of people 
  could ﬁ nd the insular Green Warden elves the only thing standing 
  between themselves and starvation — a chilling prospect indeed.
  Should the Utterends’ chike population ever be convinced to organize 
  and rally behind a single, clever leader, the Guivoc nation would be 
  hard-pressed to defend its many tiny, mobile communities. Fortunately, 
  the chike have thus far always been fragmented and — albeit wily — 
  predictable in tactics, in much the way clever pack hunters can be. Their 
  passing alliances with evil beings in the past have yet to extend all the 
  way to obedience or loyalty. 
  Finally, one thing that would shake the Guivoc nation to its foundations 
  would be the death of the Lord Dragon, for any reason. This is perhaps 
  another reason why he prefers to make himself so hard to ﬁ nd. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  Due to the harsh environment and high prevalence of monsters, the 
  Utterends’ population is unusually small for so otherwise healthy a 
  community. Even humans seem to breed more slowly here, with mothers 
  rarely producing a child more often than once every four to ﬁ ve years, 
  for reasons only partially understood. Because of this, nearly all of the 
  Utterends is wilderness, the only exceptions being the nation’s few 
  permanent structures, and wherever a group of nomads is currently camped. 
  In general, the traditional nomadic routes are safer than other parts 
  of the region, both because no population of monsters can gain a deep 
  foothold there, and because the Guild of Protectors keeps the traditional 
  routes better-patrolled than other parts of the Utterends. The most 
  dangerous areas of the Utterends are the northwest and the coast. 
  The northwest region of the Utterends sees a larger inﬂ ux of monsters 
  wandering down from the Cauldron into the swamps and is also the area 
  of highest chike concentration. In addition, the Mudspit Peninsula is 
  partially submerged for half of each year, such that all the peninsula’s 
  water is brackish and foul, and travelers unable to drink saltwater (as 
  the Utterends’ species of chike are able to do) must pack enough water 
  along to make the hundred-plus-mile trek across it.
  The Utterends’ coast is bathwater warm for much of the year, but 
  in addition to being muddy and stirge-infested, it is also quite popular 
  among young gray dragons, for reasons unknown (especially since 
  gray dragons typically prefer coastal hills and mountains to mud and 
  muck). It is commonly believed that the Lord Dragon comes to shoo 
  such interlopers away on a semi-regular basis, but no one knows why 
  they keep coming back. Some believe there must be a large gray dragon 
  population in the Cauldron, or even some heretofore undiscovered 
  island off the coast that is covered in gray dragons. Whatever the cause, 
  the Utterends’ coastline has a recurring baby dragon problem. Thus 
  far, few juveniles or young adult dragons have been spotted (and none 
  older), but even the little ones are dangerous.  
  SHAN’DAREN, CITY OF
  SHAN’DAREN, CITY OF
  Ruler: none
  Government: guild council
  Population:  1,500 year-round (varies seasonally) (500 Xha’en, 
  425 tengu, 340 tabaxi, 150 lizardfolk, 75 wild elf, 10 other)
  Technology Level: Iron Age
  Shan’daren is a treetop city, modeled after a northern wild elven 
  basic structural design but with an entirely Guivoc aesthetic. Certain 
  practical aspects are different from elven cities as well in order to adapt 
  the design to the peculiarities of old growth cypress trees, to increase 
  air ﬂ ow on hot days, and to slow damage to the building materials from 
  humidity, among other things. All open spaces are draped with ﬁ ne-
  woven mosquito netting for a surprisingly decadent overall appearance 
  in the way that the lovingly-crafted and practical netting resembles 
  chiffon or other luxury fabrics. 
  Shan’daren was constructed during the reign of the Xha’en lich-
  emperor in order to address a need for a secure and centralized command 
  base for Guivoc resistance operations. In times of war, it is just that; but 
  in times of peace, the many and various national guild councils instead 
  use it as a headquarters in order to aid in the smooth running of the 
  guilds. The high command tree fort, whenever there is no high duke to 
  occupy it, is used instead by council members assigned by their guilds 
  as guild ambassadors who are tasked with coordinating governance 
  efforts between different guilds. 
  While the Guild of Protectors does organize volunteer guards to keep 
  Shan’daren safe from monsters, no other service positions are permitted in 
  Shan’daren. Councilmembers must make time and work together to keep 
  the place clean, do other necessary chores, and cook their own meals. 
  Exceptions to the ban on service positions can be situationally lifted for 
  councilmembers who are ill or disabled, but the social pressure is strong 
  to do as much as one can for oneself, save on Healers Guild orders. 
  Food in Shan’daren must be purchased from a guild’s budget, and life in 
  Shan’daren, in general, is mildly ascetic with a work-focused atmosphere. 
  Nomadic communities alter their routes to pass through Shan’daren 
  any time they feel the need to consult with one of the guild councils. 
  CHAFA TEMPLE
  CHAFA TEMPLE
  Ruler: none
  Government: priesthood
  Population: 400 year-round (varies seasonally) (135 Xha’en, 
  120 tabaxi, 110 tengu, 25 lizardfolk, 5 wild elf, 5 other)
  Technology Level: Iron Age
  Originally called by its Tabaxi name, Tcha-i-F’ha — after an ancient 
  local folk hero who is said to have stolen a whole series of useful crafts 
  
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  WESTERN AKADOS
  and tools from the gods, one at a time — the Chafa Temple is probably 
  the most beautiful structure in all the Utterends. Nearly 100 feet tall and 
  more than 300 feet per side, this stepped pyramid spirals upward from 
  the more solid earth of the north-central Utterends. Its top is capped 
  with a graceful stone dome and spire above a ritual space dedicated to 
  all ancestors and their knowledge. The path up to this shrine moves in a 
  long, squared spiral from the ground, and every wall of the pathway is 
  lined with ancient bas-reliefs depicting the history and legends of those 
  who built the temple long ago. Built before the inﬂ ux of humans to the 
  Utterends, the bas-reliefs notably depict mostly tabaxi and lizardfolk, 
  with a few tengu at the lower levels where the most recent sculptures 
  were placed. 
  While a few other ruins from that era dot the Utterends, only Chafa 
  Temple was built of an imported stone from the Odarnadar Mountains 
  located hundreds of miles to the north. This stone has withstood the test 
  of time in a way that the other temples of the era have not, and it is a 
  source of great pride for the Guivoc people. As nomads, they have made 
  few permanent structures over the centuries, and the Chafa Temple is 
  precious to them.
  The only year-round inhabitants of Chafa are the priests of knowledge, 
  but all nomadic groups stop here once a year just before monsoon season 
  to consult with the priests, exchange community books at the temple 
  library (a more recent but still beautiful stone outbuilding surrounded by 
  the clergy’s modest dwellings), and to celebrate the ancestors in a huge, 
  multi-community festival. 
  QUIRIS MEADOW
  QUIRIS MEADOW
  Ruler: none
  Government: none
  Population:  1,200 year-round (varies seasonally) (450 Xha’en, 
  385 tabaxi, 315 tengu,  lizardfolk, 35 wild elf, 15 other)
  Technology Level: Iron Age
  Located in the eastern Utterends, Quiris Meadow is a vast stretch of 
  the best farmlands in the region. As the Guivoc culture has grown, so 
  have its agricultural requirements, yet the practicality of the Guivoc 
  nomadic lifestyle is inarguable in a region where most structures quickly 
  rot and crumble, and stable ground is so scarce for half the year. The 
  Quiris Meadow has become Guivo’s compromise in order to maximize 
  food production. 
  Nomadic communities arrive near the end of the rainy season at the 
  “meadow,” which is farmed in the natural-looking elven style rather 
  than human-style single-crop rows, such that it really does look like 
  a giant meadow. Here, they take what they need from the reserve 
  stores in great storehouses and silos at the edge of the swampish 
  lands, leave any dried or preserved spare goods they acquired in 
  their wanderings (nothing of high monetary value), and go to work 
  planting the ﬁ elds for the year. Each community has a traditional 
  plot to care for, but all harvested goods are stored together, and 
  distribution is managed in several ways, though the task primarily is 
  organized by the Farmers Guild which assigns some members to stay 
  with the meadow year-round.
  Once planting is accomplished, a community chooses a need-
  proportional number of volunteers to remain behind and tend the ﬁ elds 
  through the growing season. The communities depart by their various 
  dry-season routes for more old-fashioned gathering of wild plants, 
  ﬁ shing and trapping, and other pursuits. Then, near the end of the dry 
  season, groups make their way back to the meadow for harvest time and 
  help bring in the crops, celebrate together, and participate in another 
  exchange of spare goods. 
  A new (or the same) group of volunteers is chosen to stay behind 
  and spends the rainy season preserving and guarding perishable goods, 
  and if a community’s supplies run low during the rainy season, couriers 
  can be sent back to the meadow for more. The Utterends are extremely 
  fertile throughout the region, so in most years there is a fair amount 
  of excess, and the Farmers Guild keeps the whole thing organized to 
  generate as little waste as possible. The Guild of Protectors focuses a 
  great deal of its efforts on defending the Quiris Meadow.
  TAHNGARI, CITY OF
  TAHNGARI, CITY OF
  Ruler: none
  Government: council of elders
  Population: 5,000 year-round (varies seasonally) (1,600 Xha’en, 
  1,450 tengu, 1,050 tabaxi, 560 lizardfolk, 250 wild elf, 90 other)
  Technology Level: Iron Age
  Tahngari is a stone city built into a series of cliffs along the 
  southeastern edge of the Cauldron Mountains, well north and east of 
  chike territory and near the entrance to Hearthﬁ re Pass, the safest pass 
  up into the mountains themselves. The city was founded by the ﬁ rst 
  tengu immigrants to arrive in the Utterends region, and a few parts of it 
  remain to this day inaccessible by people unable to ﬂ y. Most of the city, 
  however, has been built to cater to all Guivoc species, and Tahngari has 
  become a ﬁ xture of Guivoc culture. 
  Tahngari is where the volunteer guardians of Hearthﬁ re Pass make 
  their base of operations, and it also contains an extensive healing 
  community, including a small natural hotspring in the foothills below. 
  Though it is not part of the annual migration path of any of the nomadic 
  Guivoc communities, the sick and injured often make their way to 
  Tahngari for healing, mostly during the dry season when travel is safer, 
  so even in Tahngari, the population does seasonally ﬂ uctuate. 
  In addition to those ill and injured who only visit long enough to 
  be healed, Tahngari is home to a community of the elderly who have 
  begun to ﬁ nd a nomadic lifestyle difﬁ cult. Not all of the Utterends’ 
  elderly come here to retire. Some join the Priests of Knowledge or 
  are called to serve so often in various guild councils that travel away 
  from Shan’daren is rarely a concern. Others, mostly craftspeople, ﬁ nd 
  room to settle in Tchur-i-kahn, and other still are willing and able to 
  continue traveling with their home communities until the day they die. 
  Nevertheless, Tahngari has the highest population of elderly Guivoren 
  per capita, and is therefore considered a repository of wisdom. 
  Local Tahngari legend claims that the Lord Dragon visits the Tahngari 
  hotsprings when he feels the need to engage in intelligent conversation. 
  TCHUR-I-KAHN, CITY OF
  TCHUR-I-KAHN, CITY OF
  Ruler: none
  Government: Guild of Smiths
  Population:  2,000 year-round (varies seasonally) (775 tabaxi, 
  520 Xha’en, 360 tengu, 265 lizardfolk, 70 wild elf, 10 other)
  Technology Level: Dark Ages/Medieval
  Tchur-i-kahn is a city of smithies. Built atop the point of highest 
  elevation in all the Utterends (a jumble of low, rocky hills), Tchur-i-
  kahn is at least as ancient in its foundations as the Chafa Temple. This is 
  where the Tabaxi ﬁ rst learned to smelt and forge, and some of the oldest 
  stone forges are still preserved, used today for gold and silver works 
  (since they cannot be made hot enough for smithing iron and steel). 
  Over time, Tchur-i-kahn has grown in size, technology, and importance, 
  and has come to be another major annual stop for the Guivoc nomadic 
  communities. While the rocky hills remain high and dry all year round, 
  able to support a modest monsoon-season population, the ground 
  around the hills is all marsh during the rains, unsuitable for large camps 
  of people. In the dry season, however, the areas around the Tchur-i-
  kahn hills are hospitable and rich with life. Communities therefore come 
  here to camp for a time on their way back to Quiris Meadow for the 
  harvest season and have turned Tchur-i-kahn into a grand annual market 
  taking place usually at a midpoint between Spring Equinox and Summer 
  Solstice, in line with the Utterends’ unusual harvest cycle. 
  This tradition has, in the eyes of some, given the Guild of Smiths (who 
  largely run the city) an inﬂ ated share of national power, and the Guild 
  of Smiths’ council has thus become one of the hardest guild councils 
  to join and one of the easiest to be expelled from. While this may have 
  prevented corruption on the council, it has unfortunately promoted a 
  certain degree of disorganization, and market time in Tchur-i-kahn is 
  usually a jumbled chaos. 
  A smaller festival takes place in Tchur-i-kahn each year during 
  monsoon season and is attended by only a few volunteer representatives 
  
  56|
  56|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  of each community every year. This is the birthday celebration of the 
  Lord Dragon. It is said that the Lord Dragon claimed his birthday was 
  just after Fall Equinox in order to prevent the Guivoc people from 
  making a fuss over him every year, but they still do — it’s just a smaller 
  fuss than it might otherwise have been. 
  In a large gathering hall, each nomadic community that sent 
  representatives presents a work of art from its own band that is dedicated 
  to the Lord Dragon. These are judged by all attendees and prizes are 
  awarded to the communities of the winners in various categories such 
  as poetry, performance art, sculpture, etc. All entries (or transcripts 
  thereof) are displayed in the gathering hall until market season the 
  following year to make sure the Lord Dragon has a chance to see them, 
  but it is said that he makes his way in secret to the ceremony every year 
  without fail to hear performances and poems in person. For this reason, 
  attendees are always on their best behavior since they all know that any 
  other attendee might be the Lord Dragon in disguise. 
  It is unknown whether the Lord Dragon actually appears at his birthday 
  celebration each year, but some say he once promised someone that he 
  would, and he is known to always keep his promises if at all possible. 
  GTSANG PREFECTURE
  GTSANG PREFECTURE
   (G’tsahng)
  Capital: Duam 
  Ruler: Svaame-Anahbi Ojun Ahujawahl
  Government: theocracy
  Population: 325,000 (305,000 Jaata, 20,000 Xha’en)
  Monstrous: basilisks, bat swarms, eagles (giant), frost giants, 
  hill giants, griffons, harpies, hippogriffs, ogres, manticores, 
  perytons, rakshasas (rumored), trolls, wyverns, yeti
  Languages: Meeruwhan, Xaon
  Religion: Mithraldism, Path of the Circle
  Resources: copper, grain, silver, tin
  Currency: Xha’en currency
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The name Gtsang Prefecture is a bit misleading, for this autonomous 
  state is a part of the Xha’en Hegemony in name only. Independently 
  ruled for more than 15,000 years, the city of Duam and its surrounding 
  lands are among the oldest continually-occupied realms in Akados. Its 
  rulers pay a token tribute of 100 gold coins to Xha’ahan each year, and 
  generally go about their business unmolested, sometimes providing 
  sorcerous, scientiﬁ c, or martial aid to the Hegemony.
  The Prefecture is separated from the Hegemony by the treacherous 
  Tsendakar Mountains and are accessible only along a narrow and perilous 
  path grandly known as the Heavenly Road (named for its nearness to the 
  heavens rather than its heavenly qualities). A small ribbon of trade and 
  travel stretches along the road, and trafﬁ c between the Prefecture and 
  the Hegemony is infrequent but growing in signiﬁ cance. The Tsendakar 
  Range harbors the legendary Udanishanti Temple, where both Xha’en 
  and Gtsang students come to learn the way of the sword.
  The people of Gtsang are not Xha’en — rather they are the descendants 
  of Jaata colonists who ﬁ rst traveled here approximately 15,700 years 
  ago. A small number of Xha’en live in the Prefecture, with most making 
  a living as miners, shopkeepers, and subsistence farmers. Rumors 
  persist that a handful of rakshasas also live here, carefully concealing 
  their true identities with illusion and secretly running the Prefecture 
  from the shadows.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Settled over 15 millennia in the past, the city-state of Duam is the 
  second-oldest human settlement in Akados, surpassed only by Tros 
  Zoas, built on the foundations of ancient Xantollan on Pontos Island 
  in the Sinnar Sea. According to their most ancient tales, colonists from 
  the land that is now Far Jaati on the distant continent of Libynos made 
  the perilous voyage across the Great Ocean Ûthaf in relatively primitive 
  ships, eventually landing in the Gtsang region 15,700 years ago. How 
  they made such a long and difﬁ cult journey (or whether this is nothing 
  more than a myth) is not known for certain, but the Gtsang themselves 
  believe that they succeeded only with the blessings of Mithras Himself.
  The hilly lands of Gtsang seemed perfect for the colonists — a fertile 
  realm protected by the towering Tsendakar Mountains to the south and 
  adjacent to rich ﬁ shing waters. The main city of Duam was founded soon 
  after landfall, and within a few generations the tiny colony began to grow.
  The folk who settled Gtsang appear to have initially been a highly 
  religious magiocracy founded on the principals of Mithraldism (see 
  below) that emphasized spiritual learning combined with the absolute 
  authority of the jaaduga, or mage-king. These early mage-kings were 
  trained in the ways of Mithras by the priestly caste of Anahbi — many 
  Jaaduga were themselves priests. In this fashion, a highly lawful and 
  good society was founded in the new land.
  For centuries, Gtsang remained hidden from the outside world and 
  shunned contact with the ancestors of the Senge tribes who even then 
  inhabited the lands south of the Tsendakar Range. These early years 
  proved challenging for the new colony, for although it was blessed with 
  cool summers and mild springs, the region proved treacherous in fall and 
  winter as ﬁ erce storms swept down from the north and seasonal rains set 
  rivers to ﬂ ood. The hills and mountains contained other hazards, and 
  for the ﬁ rst few generations the Gtsang were forced to deal with raids 
  or outright invasion by ﬁ erce creatures such as yetis and frost giants. A 
  warrior class emerged over these years as Mithraldic monks began to 
  train in esoteric martial arts, and metalsmiths began to craft weapons 
  intended solely for the defense of the nation.
  The colonists found other friends in the region as well, for the Ankhura 
  dwarves had inhabited the Tsendakar Range for generations. Though 
  they were themselves an insular people, the dwarves made tentative 
  contact with the humans and offered trade and possible diplomatic 
  relations. A wary friendship began as Ankhuran smiths trained the 
  Gtsang in the secrets of ironworking and the forging of steel, and the 
  Gtsang provided a small amount of their precious crops in exchange. 
  For three millennia, the realm tottered on the edge of subsistence. But 
  ever so slowly, Gtsang began to prosper through the sheer determination 
  of its people and the strength of its community. It was nearly 12,000 
  years ago, well before the founding of the Xha’en Hegemony, that the 
  Gtsang community faced its ﬁ rst true crisis.
  Any society is bound to change over three millennia — those that do 
  not are doomed to waste away and perish. The Gtsang were no different 
  in this, moving away from the society of their founding colonists and 
  evolving to live in a new and very different environment. The power of 
  the mage-kings grew as the Anahbi began to lose inﬂ uence. Originally, 
  the Anahbi themselves selected the mage-king’s council, but as time 
  passed, the mage-kings increasingly selected their own advisors, 
  eventually shunning the priest class altogether. With the wise advice 
  of the Anahbi gone, the Jaaduga grew more independent and began to 
  seek council on spiritual planes, calling up ghosts, extraplanar entities, 
  and even demons. In this fashion, the mage-kings began to move toward 
  chaos and madness.
  The end of the Jaaduga came when the Mage-King Lakhsa made a 
  fearful bargain with the ogre mage Amnu-Paket, promising the monster 
  any worldly reward in exchange for absolute wisdom. The bargain 
  was predictably ﬁ xed — Lakhsha was driven mad by the knowledge 
  he gained and Amnu-Paket demanded rulership of Gtsang as his price. 
  Ascending the throne, he became known as the Red King.
  At ﬁ rst, the ogre mage’s rule proved a mixed blessing to Gtsang, 
  for though he was a thoroughly evil being, Amnu-Paket realized that 
  the power and security of his new domain depended on the health and 
  welfare of “his” people. Utterly ruthless with his enemies, and demanding 
  absolute obedience from his subjects, Amnu-Paket nevertheless led 
  Gtsang, for a time, to unparalleled prosperity. Crops were plentiful, 
  animals grew fat and productive, and peace (of a sort) ruled the land. 
  Well-fed and content, the folk of Gtsang were willing to overlook their 
  supernatural monarch’s wicked tendencies and rationalize away conduct 
  that they had, until recently, believed to be abhorrent.
  Amnu-Paket shunned the former capital city of Duam and instead 
  decreed the construction of a vast palace crafted from a single colossal 
  
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  WESTERN AKADOS
  emerald to be built upon the sheer walls of Mount Batekun, the tallest 
  peak in the Tsendakar Range. This great structure, the Tu Chai Palace, 
  served as the Red King’s home for the next ﬁ ve centuries as his grip on 
  the land grew tighter.
  Despite his initial attention to the welfare of the Gtsang, Amnu-Paket 
  over time came to see humans as weak and inefﬁ cient. He began to 
  hatch plans to replace the humans of Gtsang with evil creatures who 
  would be more obedient and work harder in his name. Humans would 
  survive, of course, but only as slaves to his dynasty. Dreams of empire 
  and conquest began to grow in his inhuman mind, and both the offshore 
  islands and the plains south of the Tsendakar seemed ripe for absorption, 
  along with legions of human slaves.
  In all this time, the Anahbi priest caste had not been idle. As the Red 
  King’s inﬂ uence spread, the priests traveled the land, seeing to the 
  needs of the people and forming alliances with the old warrior castes, 
  disaffected sorcerers, and the martial monks of the few remaining 
  monasteries. The dwarves of Ankhura, long distressed by the Red 
  King’s presence, agreed to send both warriors and weapons. 
  Amnu-Paket’s intentions soon became clear to even the most loyal 
  of his citizens. He had raised an army of hobgoblins and summoned 
  several powerful rakshasa to serve as generals and advisors. It was only 
  a matter of time before the humans of Gtsang were wholly supplanted 
  in favor of more loyal (and coincidentally evil) creatures, and after ﬁ ve 
  centuries the people of the land were ready to rebel. The priests had their 
  own army, and now as the Red King’s wicked schemes were about to 
  bear fruit, they struck.
  War came to a land that had been at peace for three and a half millennia. 
  Bands of martial warriors and elite ﬁ ghters armed with dwarven steel 
  weapons struck at hobgoblin commanders, depriving Amnu-Paket’s army 
  of leadership, while secretly-trained peasants and those Gtsang who still 
  followed the old warriors’ way took on the bulk of the Red King’s forces. 
  Surprised by the sudden uprising, Amnu-Paket’s army retreated into the 
  mountains, falling back on his fastness at the Tu Chai Palace. 
  The siege of the Red King’s palace lasted nearly three years and cost 
  countless lives. In the end, unable to break Amnu-Paket’s defenses, the 
  Anahbi and their arcane allies, including Ankhuran keepers of ancient 
  and dangerous knowledge, risked a fearsome spell that, if unsuccessful, 
  might curse the entire realm. Fortunately for them, the ritual was a success 
  and cast a terrible curse on Amnu-Paket that burned him to ashes while 
  transforming the once-fearsome Tu Chai Palace into a normal-sized 
  emerald. Amnu-Paket’s ashes were placed in a small golden receptacle 
  and (supposedly) safely stored in the magically shrunken palace. For 
  many more generations, both the emerald and the ashes contained within 
  were held safe in Duam, but were eventually lost, ﬁ nding their way, it is 
  said, into the hands of the Cult of Orcus and the lost city of Tsar. (See The 
  Slumbering Tsar Saga  by Frog God Games.)
  With the fall of the Red King, the priests of Mithras sought to 
  establish a new system of government that would avoid the mistakes of 
  the past. Now Gtsang was overseen by the Svaame-Anahbi, or priest-
  lord, who was in turn overseen by a new council of Anahbi, whose 
  approval was needed for all major decisions, who selected their own 
  members, and who could not be replaced or disempowered. Once more, 
  strict adherence to and training in the principles of Mithraldism was 
  required of anyone who wished to participate in government, and the 
  realm returned to its rigid but good-aligned nature.
  Little changed in the realm for several more millennia, until at last 
  the founding of the Xha’en Hegemony awakened Gtsang and brought it 
  into direct contact with the outside world. Protected by the mountains 
  and sea, and accessible overland only along the narrow and winding 
  Heavenly Road, Gtsang had escaped notice for many ages, but as the 
  Xha’en grew in power and the Hegemony spread its inﬂ uence, the 
  priest-lord and his advisors knew something had to be done.
  War with the Hegemony was unthinkable — though the Xha’en 
  would surely lose thousands attempting to force their way along the 
  Heavenly Road, Gtsang was vulnerable to attack from the sea, and any 
  conﬂ ict between the two states would be disastrous for both.
  And so, in 2945 XC (1643 I.R.), the Priest-Lord Amaa, with the 
  support of his council, agreed to join the Hegemony, at that time led by 
  the ascendant Ophronya Dynasty, with its capital in the city of Djir. The 
  Ophronya were also aware of the difﬁ culties involved in conquering 
  the tiny state, and readily agreed to generous terms. The Gtsang were 
  to continue to be self-governed and the priest-lord would have authority 
  over the region. A small tribute of 100 gold pieces would be paid 
  yearly, and the Gtsang would give the Hegemony favored status when 
  negotiating trade and other agreements.
  It was at this time that Gtsang’s other great institution was formed. 
  Martial artists and warriors from the Prefecture, the Hegemony, and the 
  Thousand Rocks formed the Udanishanti Temple (a compound Gtsang/
  Anari word that roughly translates to “service to heaven”) deep in the 
  mountains where they would train legendary ﬁ ghters who would help 
  defend the entire region, incorporating martial traditions from all three 
  nations. The temple remains to this day, well-hidden in the mountains 
  and accessible only to those individuals who are truly dedicated to the 
  art of the sword. The temple is the only location outside of the island of 
  Anaros where a warrior can be trained in the ways of the Uarsinsi, the 
  noble sword ﬁ ghters of the Anari. Those trained in the temple serve all 
  across western lands, for no student is turned away due to nationality, 
  gender, or religion. Even a tiny handful of easterners from Castorhage, 
  Bard’s Gate, Vast, Reme, and elsewhere are known to have received 
  training there.
  The entire region was thrown into confusion in 4523 XC (3221 
  I.R.) when settlers from the city-state of Castorhage settled on the 
  island of Greater Bream and founded the outpost of Farthest Point. 
  The Castorhagi had always been distant and relatively unknown to the 
  Gtsang, though it was known that the Xha’en Hegemony traded with 
  them. Now, as the new outpost grew and a Castorhagi trade delegation 
  arrived in Duam, the Gtsang were forced to accept that these outsiders 
  had established a foothold in the region and were unlikely to leave. To 
  almost everyone’s surprise — not least the Gtsang themselves — the 
  Anahbi agreed to trade with the Castorhagi, and goods began to ﬂ ow 
  between the Prefecture and the new colonies. Actual sea travel between 
  Gtsang and the Breams began as well, with a few small, crude docking 
  facilities being established in Gtsang ﬁ shing villages.
  Today, the Anahbi still govern a peaceful and pastoral realm, though 
  now the outside world is fully aware of the Prefecture’s existence. Its 
  inaccessibility helps protect Gtsang, but more foreigners have appeared 
  within its borders, including a small but growing number of Xha’en 
  settlers and Castorhagi traders. Though the state is outwardly peaceful 
  and tranquil, some disturbing rumors continue to be told, the most 
  persistent of which is that the descendants of Amnu-Paket’s rakhshasas 
  still exist, living as humans and keeping their true heritage a secret 
  while plotting to return to power. The teachings of Mithras still guide 
  the Gtsang, however, and despite their continuing allegiance to the 
  Xha’en Hegemony, the region remains autonomous and largely free. 
  How long before Gtsang’s isolation and independence are challenged in 
  a changing world is anyone’s guess, however.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The original settlers in the region of Gtsang were members of the 
  Mithraldic sect — devout followers of Mithras (also referred to as 
  Mitros or Mithros). Believing that divine knowledge can be transferred 
  from Mithras to his worshippers through a class of priestly teachers 
  known as Anahbi, the Mithraldi favor intellect and spirituality over the 
  supposed pleasures and temptations of the material world.
  Mithraldism is an extremely old branch of the Mithraic faith and 
  represents perhaps its most ancient and original version. While 
  essentially a monotheistic faith, Mithraldism nevertheless venerates 
  Mithras as a god of the sun served by three elemental entities that most 
  incorrectly identify as “angels” or “demigods” — Miotes, the spirit who 
  led humanity to learning and civilization; Myskes, the deliverer who 
  rescued humans from the darkness of ignorance and superstition; and 
  Neh, the messenger who delivers wisdom directly from the divine spirit 
  of Mithras. 
  This complex faith requires considerable study and has many legends 
  and sacred texts, though it lacks the various mystery cult aspects that 
  are practiced by other peoples. Mithraldic priesthood demands years of 
  
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  58|THE LOST LANDS
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  WESTERN AKADOS
  patient study, and Anahbi are all highly learned in history, science, and 
  philosophy. While ofﬁ cially sworn to non-violence, Mithraldic priests 
  are allowed to use their martial skills to defend the innocent and protect 
  the faith from its enemies.
  Several monastic orders also exist, with monks who are devoted to 
  separating themselves from worldly pleasures and beliefs, focusing on 
  spiritual perfection and the contemplation of what is usually called the 
  White Light of Mithras. Mithraldic monks share some elements with 
  the warrior-monks of Xha’en, often wandering the land and tending 
  to the sick and the poor. Many tales are told of simple monks who 
  outwit demons, warlords, and monsters while using only their spiritual 
  enlightenment and weaponless martial arts.
  While the faith of Mithras continues to hold sway in Gtsang, several 
  contending schools of faith also exist, with the ascetic Path of the Circle 
  being the most prominent. Developed in Gtsang, then spread to the 
  steppelands by the monk Bledja Ulgar and expanded upon by successive 
  philosophers, this system is as much philosophy as faith, teaching as 
  it does that an individual’s perception shapes reality. The so-called 
  “gods” were originally thought of as simply beings who have attained 
  an imperfect state of enlightenment called Falsana that grants limited 
  immortality and the ability to perceive multiple realities simultaneously. 
  Over the centuries, the path’s initial atheistic theology evolved (in part 
  due to pragmatic concerns) to the point that the gods are revered but as 
  enlightened teachers rather than deities. While this philosophy/religion 
  is today conﬁ ned mostly to the steppelands north of the Hegemony, 
  it has also grown and ﬂ ourished in the Prefecture, with several small 
  monasteries established to teach new followers.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Though the region is largely self-sufﬁ cient, the Gtsang Prefecture 
  maintains some trade relations with the Ankhuran dwarves and exchanges 
  local produce and cattle for ﬁ sh with the Thousand Rocks. Trade with 
  the Xha’en has grown slowly since Gtsang’s union with the Hegemony, 
  with caravans making their way along the treacherous Heavenly Road 
  along with a trickle of Xha’en settlers who have established farms and 
  small communities within the Prefecture.
  When the cunning Castorhagi established their colonies on the Bream 
  Islands 300 years ago, they immediately began to cement their position 
  in hopes of heading off any Hegemony interference. A trade delegation 
  to the Prefecture yielded results with surprising swiftness, and goods 
  began to ﬂ ow between the two regions, a situation that continues today.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The Gtsang people’s primary loyalty is to their nation and to the 
  teachings of Mithras, but they are pragmatic enough to know that they 
  are now part of a larger state in the form of the Xha’en Hegemony. While 
  in most cases diplomatic duties have been taken up by the ofﬁ cials of 
  the Hegemony, the Gtsang maintain good relations with the Ankhuran 
  dwarves and the Thousand Islanders. Relations with the Bream Island 
  colonies are a bit trickier, as the presence of the Castorhagi is a bit of a 
  tender subject with the Xha’en and other locals. While full diplomatic 
  relations with Castorhage have not been established, a small but robust 
  ﬂ ow of trade continues between Gtsang and the Breams.
  Along with their token tribute of 100 gold pieces a year, the Gtsang are 
  also obligated to offer favorable trade agreements with the Hegemony, 
  and also send martial artists and spellcasters to help the Xha’en. 
  Warriors and monks trained at the Udanishanti Temple serve throughout 
  the region, acting as soldiers, military advisors, and even diplomats for 
  the Gtsang, the Hegemony, and the Thousand Rocks. In general, the 
  Prefecture’s agreements with the Xha’en have been beneﬁ cial to both 
  states, and remain in place, even after long centuries.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Upon its founding, Gtsang was governed by the principles of Mithras 
  and led by a benevolent Jaaduga, or mage-king, trained and advised by the 
  Anahbi priests. Though successful for many years, the system eventually 
  fell into decline, with the power of the priests reduced systematically over 
  three millennia until at last the Mage-King Lakhsa ceded power to the 
  ogre mage Amnu-Paket. After the wicked Red King was overthrown and 
  destroyed by an army of Anahbi-led rebels, a new system was created by 
  the victorious priests. Now, a Svaame-Anahbi or Priest-Lord ruled the 
  land with assistance from Mithraldic clerics and Gtsang arcanists.
  This theocratic system weathered many challenges over the subsequent 
  millennia and endures today with few changes. This is largely due to the 
  Gtsang’s lawful nature, and with the government’s ﬂ exibility — new 
  Svaame-Anahbi are selected by the priests and wizards of the advisory 
  council and rule with their consent. Incompetent or incapacitated Priest-
  Lords may be removed and replaced, and if no suitable candidates are 
  found, the council can rule as a group.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Gtsang has no standing military, but in times of crisis can call up 
  a large number of warrior-priests and monks, trained peasant infantry, 
  and mages. These groups can be further reinforced by Anari Uarsinsi 
  warriors from the Thousand Rocks and armored dwarf soldiers from 
  Ankhura who have maintained a close relationship to the Gtsang. 
  Fortunately, the Gtsang have not faced any external threat in millennia, 
  and today can also rely upon the Xha’en Hegemony for defense. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  Most of Gtsang Prefecture north of Tsendakar Range is cultivated, 
  hilly land, settled continuously for millennia. From the lower slopes of 
  the Tsendakars rises the pale marble wonder that is the ancient city of 
  Duam, a labyrinth of streets and buildings of unbelievable age, full to 
  overﬂ owing with the collected wisdom of centuries. Only a handful of 
  outsiders has ever visited Duam or the Prefecture beyond it, and those 
  that do come for knowledge and enlightenment.
  The wild mountains hold the greatest dangers, as they are still home 
  to some of Gtsang’s most ancient enemies — wild yeti and tribes of 
  frost giants. Legend holds that some of the Red King’s ﬁ erce hobgoblin 
  warriors survived their master’s destruction and live on in the jagged 
  crags of the Tsendakars.
  KAMATKHAN
  KAMATKHAN
  Hidden deep in the Tsendakar Mountains, this narrow valley supports 
  a tiny village and monastery where over six centuries ago the aged 
  Gtsang monk Qataz developed a philosophy that rejected the gods and 
  proclaimed the individual as the ultimate arbiter of reality and spiritual 
  enlightenment. These teachings he shared with the monk Bledja Ulgar 
  to create what is today known as the Path of the Circle. This faith/
  philosophy is still practiced in the Gtsang Prefecture but made the most 
  signiﬁ cant inroads in the Haunted Steppes and its environs, where Bledja 
  journeyed to spread his new way of thought and faith. The Path that 
  is practiced today differs somewhat from Qataz and Bledja’s original 
  vision, in that the gods continue to be revered, though not as supreme 
  beings, and respect for existing institutions is encouraged (a pragmatic 
  political concession that has allowed the Path its continued existence).
  DUAM, CITY OF
  DUAM, CITY OF
  Ruler: Svaame-Anahbi Ojun Ahujawahl
  Government: theocracy
  Population: 85,000 (75,500 Jaati, 9,500 Xha’en)
  Technology Level: Medieval
  This city at the center of the isolated Gtsang Prefecture is the second-
  oldest settlement in all of Akados. Founded by Mithradic colonists 
  reportedly from the land now known as Far Jaati, Duam began life 
  as a rude huddle of huts surrounded by a rough palisade, but soon 
  the hospitable nature of Gtsang brought peace and prosperity to the 
  colonists. Within a few generations, what had been a primitive village 
  was the spiritual center of a thriving new nation.
  Duam sits on a low hill surrounded by well-tended farmlands and 
  Mithradic shrines crafted of pale stone. The city is unwalled and 
  
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  WESTERN AKADOS
  arranged in the form of a six-pointed star bounded by whitewashed 
  roads. Each point of the star is dedicated to different functions — three 
  are residential, two mercantile, and one public — with each ﬁ lled with 
  shines, temples, and parks. The religious and administrative center 
  is in the hexagonal center of the city and sports large and elaborate 
  temples, some of which have stood here for millennia. In the center is 
  the tower of Mithros, where the Svaame-Anahbii or Priest-Lord and 
  an advisory council of Anahbii (priests) and Bedhka (mages) apply a 
  light but ﬁ rm hand to the nation’s governance. Few suffer in Duam and 
  the city does not experience the crowding, crime, and poverty found 
  in other Xha’en cities.
  ANKHURA
  ANKHURA
  (An-koo-ra)
  Capital: Iron Octagon 
  Notable Settlements: Ithanic Fortress 
  Ruler: Grand Matron Ninsar Hamura
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 1,150,000 (mountain dwarf)
  Humanoid: mountain dwarf (many)
  Monstrous: bat (dire), bat swarms, cave ﬁ shers, giant 
  centipedes, doppelgangers, goblins, gray ooze, ogres, piercers, 
  purple worms, ratfolk, ropers, shoggoths, skeletons, giant 
  spiders, stirges, trolls, violet fungi, wights
  Languages: Ankhuran
  Religion: Masakhan
  Resources: copper, gemstones, gold, iron, mithral, silver, tin
  Currency: Ankhuran
  Technology Level: Medieval/Renaissance
  The ancient Ankhuran civilization existed before the arrival of 
  humans to the lands now known as the Gtsang Prefecture, and continues 
  to exist today, deeply entrenched among the grim slopes of the western 
  Tsendakar Mountains, with the mighty Ithanic Fortress as its imposing 
  face to the outside world.
  Though they are physically similar to the dwarves elsewhere in the 
  world, the Ankhurans are quite distinct culturally, leading some to 
  suggest that they may be the direct descendants of the original dwarves, 
  living in relative isolation, unchanged while the rest of the dwarven 
  peoples evolved to new lands and climates. The Ankhurans themselves 
  are notoriously tight-lipped about their history and hold the secrets of 
  their subterranean realm close to their chests.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The earliest history of the Ankhurans is shrouded in the impenetrable 
  mists of time. They present a dilemma to historians, as their civilization 
  was well established and thriving when humans arrived in the region 
  more than 15,000 years ago, before the legendary appearance of the 
  dwarves in eastern Akados. This suggests that either the Gtsang histories 
  are incorrect or the Ankhuran dwarves predate their eastern relatives.
  The Ankhurans themselves are no help as they simply claim that “we 
  have always been here” and let it go at that. As the prehistory of the 
  Ankhurans remains a sealed puzzle box, the only option left to scholars 
  is to study the dwarves’ history since their ﬁ rst contact with humans.
  The dwarves were quick to make contact as soon as they were aware 
  of the newcomers’ presence, dispatching envoys into the hill country 
  and establishing diplomatic relations with Gtsang. Representatives were 
  taken to the Ankhuran realm where they witnessed the wonders of a 
  truly ancient land that lay largely hidden in the mountains with only the 
  impressive Ithanic Fortress visible to outsiders.
  A stern but goodhearted people, the Ankhurans watched the Gtsang 
  develop as decades stretched into centuries, then into millennia, and 
  engaged in low-level trade and occasional cultural exchange. When 
  the wise but cruel Red King Amnu-Paket rose to power as a result of 
  corruption and evil in the heart of Gtsang’s rulers, the Ankhurans were 
  alarmed. Safe for the moment in their mountain fastness, the dwarves 
  knew that it was only a matter of time before the greedy Red King 
  came for them. Though conﬁ dent of their ability to defend themselves, 
  the Ankhurans knew that any conﬂ ict would devastate the region and 
  cost countless lives. So they began a quiet but determined campaign to 
  undermine Amnu-Paket and aid those in Gtsang who resisted.
  When the uprising ﬁ nally came, Gtsang warriors and priests alongside 
  Ankhuran soldiers assailed Amnu-Paket’s forces and drove his minions 
  from power and pursued them into the mountains and laid siege to the 
  seemingly-impenetrable Tu Chai Palace.
  There, the Ankhurans shared some of their most ancient secrets and 
  allowed the Anahbi priests — Gtsang spellcasters who had thrown their 
  lot against the Red King — to cast a powerful ritual that destroyed 
  Amnu-Paket and freed the nation from his tyranny. Grateful to the 
  dwarves for their help, the Gtsang priests swore that the knowledge they 
  had been given would never be used for evil purposes, though rumors 
  persist that the powerful Ankhuran rituals were transcribed and saved in 
  a great book that remains well-guarded in the city of Duam.
  Fortunately for the dwarves and everyone else, the priests kept their 
  promise, and harmony reigned in relations between the two nations. 
  When the Xha’en Hegemony was founded in 2700 XC (1398 I.R.), 
  the Ankhurans were once more concerned with the growing power 
  of the humans and immediately dispatched emissaries to secure their 
  independence and lay the groundwork for peaceful relations. The Xha’en 
  had little interest in conquering an underground realm full of dwarves 
  and so readily agreed. Today, Ankhuran armor, weapons, arts, and crafts 
  can be found throughout the Hegemony, commissioned directly from 
  dwarven artisans.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  As with most everything else, the dwarves are relatively tight-lipped 
  about their religion. It is known that they are monotheistic and revere a 
  single creator god named Masakhan, and their reverence for the heroes of 
  the past suggests that they believe that especially accomplished dwarves 
  join their creator as divine beings devoted to law and good. This is an 
  earned status — those who do not achieve greatness in their lifetime are 
  reincarnated and given another opportunity, while those who are evil and 
  unredeemable are snuffed out and cease to exist, thus making certain that 
  only the truly good can return. Priests provide guidance to worshippers 
  regarding proper conduct, behavior, and the right path to true goodness.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The Ankhurans are not an especially isolationist nation, nor are they 
  overly friendly with outsiders. They retain a typically dwarven skill 
  in trade and craftsmanship, however, and have maintained mercantile 
  relationships with the region’s humans since their arrival some 15,000 
  years ago. More recently, the Castorhagi of Bream approached the 
  dwarves, opening up some commerce and further cementing the status 
  of the Bream colonies as a permanent ﬁ xture in the region.
  There is little that the humans harvest or manufacture that the dwarves 
  need, so trade is mostly in terms of gold, silver, and exotic items that 
  tickle the Ankhurans’ stern fancy. Fabrics, works of art, unusual foods 
  such as citrus fruit, and poultry are all traded for Ankhuran crafts, tools, 
  weapons, armor, and mechanical devices. Trade usually takes place in 
  human lands, or at the Ithanic Fortress, which is normally accessible to 
  humans by sea.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Steadfast and independent, the Ankhurans nevertheless value peace 
  and friendly relations with their human neighbors. Dwarven emissaries 
  visit and even dwell among the humans of Anaros, Xha’en, and Gtsang, 
  while human diplomats are allowed into some of the less-sensitive 
  regions of the Ankhuran kingdom. The Castorhagi have been treated 
  with a little more reserve, though diplomatic missions have been 
  exchanged between Ankhura and Bream in recent years, which the 
  humans hope will lead to full diplomatic relations.
  The dwarves are also willing to send their veteran warriors to aid their 
  neighbors should any outside force threaten the general peace, though 
  
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  60|THE LOST LANDS
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  WESTERN AKADOS
  it usually has to threaten Ankhura itself to trigger such a response. The 
  most prominent such incident was when the dwarves aided the Gtsang 
  in their war against the Red King Amnu-Paket.
  Besides their tentative contacts with Castorhage, the Ankhurans do 
  not maintain relations with any nation outside the Xha’en region. In 
  fact, most outsiders are completely unaware of the kingdom’s existence, 
  a fact which is ﬁ ne with the Ankhurans.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The dwarves’ government is hierarchal and family-structured, with 
  a grand matron or patron (or sometimes both in the case of married 
  monarchs) at its head, and lesser matrons and patrons below. In general, 
  a given matron or patron has authority over all those of lesser rank, 
  though it is considered polite and proper to couch all “commands” in the 
  form of requests. These requests are almost always carried out however, 
  though subordinates always have the opportunity to question them 
  or request clariﬁ cation. Rarely must a high-ranking matron or patron 
  demand obedience, nor are they ever outright refused. Controversial 
  orders are sometimes discussed (occasionally at length) and may be 
  modiﬁ ed by consensus. Though this system seems odd to outsiders, the 
  Ankhurans have been practicing it for millennia and it seems to work 
  well for them.
  Other ofﬁ cials bear far less grandiose titles than their human 
  equivalents — overseer being the rough equivalent of “duke” and 
  manager more or less equivalent to “baron.” Investitures such as 
  “knight” and “lord” don’t exist in the Ankhurans’ largely egalitarian 
  society, though great heroes who perish in battle are enshrined as (for 
  the lack of a better term) “saints” and are believed to directly serve 
  Masakhan in the afterlife.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Though they are loath to admit it, the Ankhurans are in reality 
  a military state, with much of their society devoted to defending the 
  kingdom and holding off terrible threats from deep below.
  While their armor and weapons are every bit as strong, durable, and 
  often as magical as those of other dwarven nations, the Ankhurans favor 
  steel imbued with bronze coloration and classically designed muscled 
  or decorated breastplates and conical helms. Unlike dwarves elsewhere 
  in Akados, the dwarves of Ankhura prefer swords over axes, usually 
  with heavy, curved blades such as falchions, khopesh, or yataghans. 
  Ankhuran shields are square and semi-cylindrical, allowing Ankhuran 
  warriors to deploy with locked shields to block corridors and ward off 
  missile ﬁ re. Ranged weapons include powerful shortbows and elaborate, 
  intricately-designed crossbows with many different innovations such 
  as self-loading mechanisms, accurate sights, and security latches that 
  prevent their unauthorized use.
  A small Ankhuran navy is based out of the port facilities below the 
  Ithanic Fortress. These vessels patrol the waters of the Bream Straits 
  (wary of incidents with the Castorhagi navy, which is also present 
  there), the Kuseye Gulf, and the Thousand Rocks. While at top speed, 
  Ankuran ships can challenge the fastest-oared or sailing vessels aﬂ oat, 
  they seldom venture farther aﬁ eld. In past years, the Ankhuran warships 
  helped ﬁ ght pirates and smugglers, but recently they have acted more as 
  a mobile search-and-rescue force to aid vessels in distress or to help out 
  in cases of natural disaster.
  The Ankhuran warrior class is a distinct group, usually living 
  separately from others and intermarrying within its own ranks. Children 
  are allowed to choose their own path, but almost invariably continue in 
  their parents’ martial lifestyles. Warriors engage in ritual scariﬁ cation, 
  even males who normally leave their faces unadorned. 
  The highest rank in the Ankhuran military is Primary, equivalent to a 
  general or ﬁ eld marshal, naturally followed by the Secondary (colonel or 
  major) and Tertiary (captain). Below this are various grades of ofﬁ cers, 
  each identiﬁ ed by command or responsibility. The Ankhuran equivalent 
  to sergeant or non-commissioned ofﬁ cer is Master.
  While the Ankhurans do not have the same berserker traditions as 
  some dwarves and humans, they do consider death in service to the 
  nation as the highest of honors. Barracks areas throughout Ankhura are 
  decorated with shrines, statues, and images of past warriors who fell 
  in battles unknown to anyone outside the subterranean realm. In some 
  cases, these heroes gave their lives in conﬂ icts that might have ended in 
  regional, or even global catastrophe, against unspeakable horrors from 
  the deep levels, and lie unknown to any but their fellow Ankhurans.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Almost nothing aboveground threatens the Ankhuran Kingdom, and 
  the imposing ediﬁ ce of the Ithanic Fortress is a tangible symbol of the 
  dwarves’ strength and ability to defend themselves. The Ankhurans are 
  also quite capable of responding to dangers on the surface, as they did 
  when they sent warriors to aid in the Gtsang’s battles against Amnu-
  Paket. The truest and most alarming threats to Ankhura, and to the 
  world beyond, lie in the deep spaces far below, and almost no one on the 
  surface is aware of them.
  The tunnels and warrens beneath the Tsendakar Mountains and 
  elsewhere in Xha’en are home to subterranean races — derro, goblins 
  ratfolk, and others — that struggle ceaselessly against both each other 
  and the Ankhurans. The dwarves are able to defend themselves handily 
  against these foes, and most battles involve fending off raids or punitive 
  attacks into enemy territory. There are tales of periodic derro invasions, 
  goblin migrations, and explosions of ratfolk population that lead to 
  large-scale conﬂ icts, but these are rare.
  Known only to very few, the Ankhurans’ most ancient and dangerous 
  foes lurk in the labyrinthine tunnels that lie beneath the kingdom’s 
  lowest levels. No one knows who dug these tunnels; perhaps they have 
  always been there. The Ankhurans will not even acknowledge that they 
  exist, but a handful of inquisitive visitors and illicit explorers from the 
  surface world — those who survived with their bodies and sanity intact 
  at any rate — have described them.
  The tunnels are said to twist and turn in strange ways that induce 
  sickness, mental instability, and even physical pain. They appear to exist 
  in more than three dimensions, looping back on themselves or delivering 
  confused travelers to entirely different locations, hopelessly lost and on 
  the verge of madness. A few observers have spoken quietly of disturbing 
  carvings and runes that run all along the tunnels — runes that alarmingly 
  resemble the characters of the Ankhuran phonetic alphabet.
  The tunnels are the least of the deep horrors, for a few hushed rumors 
  have ﬁ ltered down from the tight-lipped Ankhurans that suggest the 
  tunnels are inhabited by entities every bit as alien and disturbing. 
  These horrors seem to originate someplace deeper yet, where even the 
  Ankhurans refuse to go, and periodically surge up from the depths to 
  assail the dwarves’ kingdom in ferocious attempts to break out onto the 
  surface.
  When this happens, the Ankhurans go to war with absolute society-
  wide dedication. Every Ankhuran ﬁ ghts when the horrors come. 
  Entrances to the surface are sealed, diplomats withdrawn, tradeposts 
  closed, and visitors are unceremoniously escorted out. No one knows 
  exactly how the Ankhurans face the horrors — that these wars take place 
  at all is little more than whispered rumor. But the dwarves’ fatalistic 
  determination suggests that that this is an ancient and extremely 
  important conﬂ ict. Claims exist that the Ankhurans possess some very 
  old magic, rituals, artifacts, and devices that are essential in their battles 
  against the horrors of the deeps, and that one such ritual was used to 
  defeat the Red King Amnu-Paket. Again, the Ankhurans say little to 
  nothing about such matters, but those who know the dwarves well are 
  assured that the horrors, and the measures to which the Ankhurans go to 
  keep them contained, are all too real.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  The Ankhuran kingdom is located beneath the inhospitable and 
  largely impassable Tsendakar Mountains. Entrances to the kingdom 
  are hidden throughout the region, though generally only the Ankhuran 
  dwarves themselves can locate and operate them. The Ithanic Fortress 
  is accessible from above, but the landward route is over a narrow and 
  treacherous mountain trail that many have tragically failed to traverse. 
  
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  WESTERN AKADOS
  Access from the sea is much easier, as the fortress has extensive port 
  facilities far below its peak.
  Travelers in the mountains may ﬁ nd themselves lost, starving, injured, 
  and attacked by hostile denizens such as goblins, frost giants, and yetis, 
  in which case the Ankhuran dwarves may appear from hidden entrances 
  to aid the unfortunates. Such contact probably leads adventurers into 
  the kingdom itself, at least those portions where outsiders are allowed. 
  Trusted outsiders may sometimes be recruited to help the dwarves 
  ﬁ ght off attacks by goblins or ratfolk, but the struggle against the deep 
  horrors is usually reserved for the Ankhurans alone. Being allowed into 
  the dwarves’ conﬁ dence sufﬁ ciently to know the truth about the horrors 
  may be the basis of an especially involved series of adventures.
  Delving into the mysteries of the dwarves’ origins and their connection 
  to the depths below may also be possible, though doing so without the 
  Ankhurans’ consent quickly earns their enmity. As a rule, Ankhurans 
  do not murder, but those who learn too much may ﬁ nd themselves 
  imprisoned or have their memories obscured through arcane means, 
  possibly leading to even greater complications. Only the most trusted 
  and reliable of outsiders can be taken into the dwarves’ conﬁ dence, and 
  then only if absolute secrecy is sworn.
  Tales among the Xha’en say that Ankhuran treasures and artifacts 
  may lie hidden or forgotten in the mountains as well. It is known that 
  the dwarves hold the secret of powerful magical rituals, and some old 
  stories suggest that they crafted especially dangerous artifacts to battle 
  unspeciﬁ ed enemies in the distant past. These secrets and artifacts, 
  along with fabulous treasure, may be hidden in the craggy Tsendakar 
  peaks. No one has thus far ever discovered such treasures, but this has 
  not stopped greedy explorers from venturing to the region, often failing 
  so catastrophically as to require rescue from the Ankhruans, the very 
  folk that they intended to rob.
  THE IRON OCTAGON (CAPITAL)
  THE IRON OCTAGON (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Grand Matron Ninsar Hamura
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 95,000 (Ankhuran dwarf)
  Technology Level: Medieval/Renaissance
  The Ankhuran seat of government is a central citadel called the Iron 
  Octagon, a heavily-fortiﬁ ed location under the peak of Mount Babokha. 
  Here, the Grand Matron Ninsar Hamura oversees the domain, protected 
  by elite Ankhuran veterans. Various lesser matrons and patrons travel 
  to the Octagon regularly, and the entire fortress is a constant beehive of 
  activities. Outsiders are rarely allowed into the Octagon, as the place is 
  full of sensitive information about the inner workings of the kingdom 
  and — more alarmingly — about the horrors that dwell far below.
  ITHANIC FORTRESS
  ITHANIC FORTRESS
  Ruler: Matron Nakhala Hosh
  Government: military fortress
  Population: 105,000 (99,000 Ankhuran dwarf, 3,000 Jaati, 
  2,500 Xha’en, 500 other)
  Technology Level: Medieval/Renaissance
  The dwarves of Ankhura, the subterranean kingdom that occupies the 
  western portion of the Tsendakar Mountains, are an insular but good-
  aligned lot. Their main connection to the outside world is through the gray 
  stone Ithanic Fortress, an artiﬁ cial massif that dominates the coastline 
  along the southern Bream Straits. A casual viewer might see the fortress 
  as just another grim gray mountain, but closer observation reveals that the 
  entire crag is carved with Ankhuran runes, and its peak is crafted in the 
  shape of an Ankhuran dwarf warrior with a conical helm. 
  The fortress is accessible by land over a long and circuitous trail that 
  connects to the Heavenly Road in the east, and by sea through sturdy 
  stone docks that lead to enclosed ship pens, connected via a series of 
  stairs, elevators, and lifts to the fortress nearly 10,000 feet above. Here, 
  visitors and merchants can interact with the dwarves, who, despite their 
  insularity, are friendly and hospitable. The dwarves also maintain a 
  small but efﬁ cient ﬂ eet of warships that can be called into action in the 
  event of piracy, disasters, or raids by hostile sea creatures.
  A number of Ankhuran ofﬁ cials oversee the fortress’s operation. The 
  Matron Nakhala Hosh is the current senior manager, and she runs the 
  place with singular efﬁ ciency. Unusually for an Ankhuran dwarf, she 
  has spent several years among the humans in the Xha’en Hegemony and 
  understands their strange ways better than most. Her top military ofﬁ cer, 
  Primary Fehna Khe, is a veteran of many underground battles and has 
  a rare understanding of the horrors that dwell deep below. The fortress 
  itself has fought off several major attacks by goblins and continues to 
  be a stronghold of Ankhuran inﬂ uence in the mountains and along the 
  Bream Straits.
  THE WESTERN ISLES
  THE WESTERN ISLES
  THE BREAM ISLANDS
  THE BREAM ISLANDS
  (Breem)
  Capital: Farthest Point
  Notable Settlements: Neer
  Ruler: Governor Lord Duke Taneth
  Government: Colonial governorship
  Population: 50,000 (35,000 Castorhagi, 14,000 Koui, 1,000 
  Xha’en)
  Monstrous: none
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Castorhagi, Xha’en Imperial Pantheon, animism 
  (Koui)
  Resources: ﬁ shing, ironwork, manufactured goods, 
  shipbuilding, shipbuilding supplies
  Currency: Castorhagi currency
  Technology Level: Renaissance
  Wild and sparsely populated, the Bream Islands were long the domain 
  of the Koui — simple ﬁ sherfolk who lived on the coastline, scratching 
  out a meager living from the sea. All that changed in 4512 XC (3210 
  I.R.) when King Worrn II of Castorhage issued a decree calling for the 
  exploration of the Nether Sea (as the Caerulean Ocean was called) and 
  colonization of the Bream Islands. This act caused an unexpected crisis 
  in the Xha’en Hegemony and ended with a foreign presence directly on 
  the Xha’en’s doorstep. Cautious relations continue to this day, though 
  the Xha’en’s new emperor is using the Castorhagi presence as a possible 
  route to full contact and open trade with the outside world.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The Breams’ original inhabitants, known as the Koui, appear to be 
  related to the Senge tribesfolk of the mainland. They live in slate-roofed 
  stone huts in villages of 10–50 and maintain small ﬁ shing boats or 
  coracles. The Koui follow a simple subsistence economy, surviving on 
  ﬁ sh, abalone, and seaweed. Generally left to their own devices by the 
  Xha’en, the Koui have lived in this fashion for thousands of years, with 
  most of their villages clustered around the southern ends of the three 
  Bream Islands.
  The city-state of Castorhage was the Hegemony’s only truly foreign 
  trading partner, having established ofﬁ cial mercantile relations in 3888 
  XC (2586 I.R.). However, it was not until 4512 XC (3210 I.R.) that King 
  Worrn II of Castorhage decided that the city needed overseas colonies, 
  and commanded that settlers be dispatched westward. The near-empty 
  northern reaches of the Bream Islands presented the colonists with a 
  risky but very real opportunity, with the hope that Castorhage’s previous 
  relationship with the Hegemony would lessen hostility and help avoid 
  open conﬂ ict.
  The Castorhagi exploration vessel Brave made landfall in the Breams 
  in 4515 XC (3213 I.R.) and found the islands suitable for colonization. 
  A Castorhagi ﬂ eet arrived in the early summer of 4523 XC (3221 I.R.) 
  and quickly established an outpost that was dubbed Farthest Point. 
  Within weeks, several crude stone structures and a palisade had been 
  built, and when unsuspecting Xha’en ﬁ shermen discovered it late in 
  
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  62|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  the fall, the outpost was well established and defended by well-armed 
  Castorhagi soldiers. Farthest Point’s governor, Duke Lord Kestrel, had 
  not been idle either, having dispatched a trade delegation to the Gtsang 
  Prefecture and persuaded the notoriously isolationist inhabitants to open 
  a small trading post.
  Winter storms set in by the time news reached Empress Ilesa sa Yn 
  Rachar and further investigation of the newcomers would have to wait 
  until the following spring. As soon as the weather was favorable, an ofﬁ cial 
  delegation, accompanied by a strong force of Xha’en soldiery, sailed to the 
  Breams to report on and, if necessary, destroy the foreign colonists.
  The Castorhagi were decadent and ancient to be sure, but they were 
  anything but stupid. The arrival of the Xha’en was inevitable, and Duke 
  Lord Kestrel was as prepared for the event as anyone could be under 
  the circumstances. He greeted the Xha’en delegation with deference, 
  ﬂ attery, and declarations of friendship, reminding the Xha’en of their 
  two nations’ long friendship, and presented gifts and offered tribute to 
  the Hegemony in exchange for the colony’s independence.
  Despite the Hegemony’s signiﬁ cant power and inﬂ uence, the Xha’en 
  delegation was somewhat taken aback at Castorhage’s diplomatic 
  assault, and despite some misgivings, relayed Kestrel’s offer back to 
  Empress Ilesa. Unsurprisingly, her court was thrown into confusion by 
  these events, with some demanding open war with the “invaders” and 
  others counseling a peaceful resolution and pointing to the centuries-
  long trade relationship between the two powers. Fortunately for all, 
  Ilesa sided with the peace faction and agreed to let the colony stay, so 
  long as yearly tribute was paid. The Castorhagi were allowed to build 
  a second outpost on Greater Bream, but further expansion was limited, 
  and any approach to the Xha’en mainland was strictly forbidden.
  For their part, the Castorhagi stuck scrupulously to the letter of this 
  agreement and established the outpost of Neer, then greatly expanding 
  facilities on Farthest Point until it was a fully-functioning fortress, a 
  major shipyard, and important waypoint for Castorhagi trafﬁ c north 
  toward the city’s new colonies along the Elitani coast. Both settlements 
  proved vital when they supplied and supported Castorhage’s ﬂ eet in the 
  defeat of the Sea-Throng of the Sinking Place in 4773 XC (3471 I.R.) 
  and as a refuge for damaged Castorhagi vessels after their disastrous 
  defeat on the Kraken’s Teeth in 4793 XC (3491 I.R.).
  The two Bream settlements have continued to grow in recent years as 
  trade along the Caerulean coast grows and ships move in larger numbers 
  from Castorhage and the Free States to the new Elitani colonies. The 
  Breams may well prove still more important as the Xha’en Hegemony 
  and its new emperor move to end centuries of isolation, for now the 
  Xha’en have established a permanent diplomatic mission there, and 
  more Xha’en immigrants have begun traveling to live and work in the 
  teeming districts of Castorhage.
  The islands are growing more cosmopolitan by the day, with traders 
  of several nations and ancestries arriving to help with mercantile 
  endeavors. Elves, dwarves, halﬂ ings, and others are now seen among 
  the crowds of Castorhagi traders, sailors, soldiers, and ofﬁ cials.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  As in Castorhage proper, actual “religion” is something of a misnomer, 
  for dozens of faiths compete for prominence. The settlements of Neer 
  and Farthest Point boast places of worship for several of Castorhage’s 
  true gods, including Baphomet, Mithras, and Mother Grace, but the most 
  popular true gods are probably Mammon, a god of ruthless commerce 
  and prosperity, and Sister Shadows, who is especially popular with 
  shipwrights and some mariners.
  The Koui, who still practice their subsistence economy along the 
  Breams’ southern coastlines, generally follow the Xha’en pantheon, 
  with a scattering of animistic local spirits, household gods, and entities 
  of the sea that must be propitiated to bring rich hauls of ﬁ sh.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  As the Bream colonies were founded for trade and support of trade, 
  it’s not surprising that they are today centers of exchange for the region, 
  and vitally important to Castorhage’s growing colonial empire. Regular 
  trade with the insular Gtsang was established early, with ﬁ nished goods 
  and foodstuffs sent to the Prefecture in exchange for raw ore, fabrics, 
  and artwork. Trade was similarly established with the Thousand Rocks, 
  and many Bream warriors bear weapons of Anari steel, and Bream 
  nobles wear garments of Anari silk.
  Full and ofﬁ cial trade relations with the Hegemony had existed since 
  well before the colony’s establishment, though the quantities of actual 
  trade were relatively small. This situation is changing as the Emperor 
  Sajrac su Kar has begun to negotiate and expand his contacts with the 
  outside world.
  Farthest Point’s naval facilities are increasingly vital as well, and now 
  Hegemony vessels — ﬁ shing ships and even naval craft — have begun to 
  make port there, seeking assistance from the skilled Castorhagi shipwrights.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The Breams occupy a somewhat delicate position: an outpost of the 
  growing inﬂ uence of Castorhage next door to the ancient power of the 
  Xha’en Hegemony. Ofﬁ cially, Neer and Farthest Point are colony cities, 
  and the Hegemony claims the remainder of the Breams, though there has 
  never been a signiﬁ cant Xha’en presence there. The two outposts have 
  expanded over the years to the very limits allowed by treaty, and now 
  that a friendlier and far more outgoing monarch sits upon the Xha’en 
  throne, Queen Alice’s diplomats have begun to make polite but insistent 
  requests to expand Castorhagi inﬂ uence to the entirety of all three isles.
  The Breams’ value as naval facilities for vessels traveling to and from 
  the Castorhagi colonies in the north has also increased the inﬂ uence of 
  the islands’ governor and made the ofﬁ ce a highly desirable one. The 
  current governor, Lord Duke Taneth, is also an inﬂ uential nobleman who 
  hopes one day to ascend to the rank of Justice and is willing to move 
  heaven and earth to do so. Such is his ambition that he has managed 
  to double the naval resources assigned to Farthest Point and station 
  several elite regiments of Castorhagi troops at Neer under the pretense 
  of providing security for merchant and colonial trafﬁ c bound for Elitani 
  lands to the north. Hushed rumors suggest that Taneth’s goals are far 
  more elaborate, and that he intends to provoke a diplomatic incident 
  with the Hegemony over maritime routes near Quy Island. In the ensuing 
  conﬂ ict, Taneth hopes to use his crack Castorhagi troops and warships to 
  sweep aside Hegemony defenders and add Quy to Castorhage’s empire. 
  While the long-term consequences of such an ill-advised strategy should 
  be obvious to even the dullest observer, the soaring heights of Taneth’s 
  ambitions may not allow him to see disaster in the ofﬁ ng. 
  The Castorhagi are aware of the existence of the Kingdom of 
  Caerulea, but so far have made no effort to approach the state or establish 
  diplomatic relations. Castorhagi vessels travel unmolested in the region, 
  and captains are usually careful about what they throw overboard for 
  fear of offending the merfolk. A growing number of ofﬁ cials have called 
  for direct contact with Caerulea, but so far Governor Taneth has refused.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The greater colony of Bream is under the overall command of an 
  appointed governor, usually of ducal rank. Each of the two citadels is in 
  turn commanded by a military ofﬁ cer, both subordinate to the governor 
  in civil matters. As noted, the position of governor has gained signiﬁ cant 
  inﬂ uence as the Breams grow more important to Castorhage, and Lord 
  Duke Taneth is an especially notable example of the ambitious Castorhagi 
  nobleman hoping to increase his personal power. The two garrison 
  commanders,  Lord General Aldus and Lady General Gentari, are both 
  skilled professionals who have few ambitions beyond military service — 
  a situation that Taneth himself arranged when he saw to their assignments.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Farthest Point is currently the most important Castorhagi outpost in 
  the far west, equipped as it is with extensive shipbuilding and repair 
  facilities. Supplies are shipped from the Forest Coast and elsewhere 
  to keep the shipyards working at peak effectiveness, and thanks to 
  Governor Taneth’s inﬂ uence, a full squadron of warships, including the 
  Strategos, are currently assigned to provide protection for the port and 
  for vessels bound to and from the northern colonies.
  Taneth has made certain that only the best and most competent 
  Castorhagi soldiers and sailors are assigned to the Breams. Soldiers, 
  knights, and engineers all have excellent arms and armor, and some 
  
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  WESTERN AKADOS
  are entirely equipped with weapons of Anari steel. Unbeknownst to 
  the Xha’en, the Castorhagi have also equipped the fortresses with 
  defensive weapons such as anti-ship ballistae and ﬁ re-throwing war 
  engines; these are kept hidden should hostilities with the Hegemony 
  ever break out.
  While Castorhagi numbers are markedly inferior to the seemingly-
  endless manpower commanded by the Xha’en, their position on 
  the Breams would allow them to hold out for a significant period, 
  and their powerful warships outclass the Hegemony navy in almost 
  every category. On the other hand, choking the Breams off from 
  supplies would be relatively simple, and any relief from Castorhage 
  would take months or even years to arrive. War between the two 
  states would clearly be a long, drawn-out affair likely to sap both 
  societies and economies, so cooler heads on both sides believe 
  it should be avoided. Unfortunately, rumor has it that Governor 
  Taneth himself is willing to risk confrontation simply to advance 
  his own political fortunes.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The Breams currently face no overt threats save for the harsh 
  environment of the Caerulean Ocean and the sheer distance to the city 
  of Castorhage. Potential enemies surround the Breams, of course, which 
  has necessitated an elaborate diplomatic balancing act. Tribute is sent 
  to the Hegemony every year, while trade is maintained with Gtsang, the 
  Thousand Rocks, and the dwarves of Ankhura.
  The greatest potential threat to the Breams, of course, is the Xha’en 
  Hegemony, and the Castorhagi have remained here at the Xha’en’s 
  indulgence for three centuries. Even if meddlers such as Governor Taneth 
  don’t succeed in triggering a disastrous conﬂ ict between Castorhage and 
  the Hegemony, there remains a distinct possibility that a war faction or 
  other group hostile to the colony might rise in inﬂ uence or, worse yet, 
  replace the emperor entirely.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  The Breams are for the most part rocky, windswept wilderness, 
  with settlements only on their coastlines. There are a few exceptions, 
  such as the great mountains of Shir and Kor on Lesser Bream. The 
  islanders tell tales of the hero Nandase, whose bones are said to 
  lie at the summit of Mount Kor. Pilgrims can supposedly receive 
  blessings and good luck when they pray at this site, but the route up 
  the mountain is deadly, plagued by ﬁ erce grifﬁ ns, giant eagles, and, 
  in some stories, vengeful spirits. One of the few green and pleasant 
  regions in the Breams are the forests and meadows at the base of 
  Mount Shir, which the islanders say are inhabited by nature spirits 
  who are kind to those who treat the land well and vengeful to those 
  who mistreat it. A small sect of druids dwells here in caves and tends 
  the land.
  A few legends speak of ogres, trolls, giants, and various species of 
  ogre magi that live in the island’s rugged interior, occasionally preying 
  upon the unfortunate ﬁ sherfolk of the southern coast. Whether these 
  stories are true or not has never been determined. 
  SHIR MEADOWS
  SHIR MEADOWS
  Though the vast bulk of the Breams are windswept rock, with 
  some patches of twisted trees, scrub, and lichen, the valley between 
  Mount Kor and Mount Shir is an odd (and some would say arcane) 
  exception. Here, dense pine forest surrounds a series of alpine 
  meadows, full of wildlife and rich, rugged beauty. A clan of good fey 
  are said to dwell here apart from the rest of the world and protected 
  by a small sect of human Koui druids. These druids defend the 
  area against intruders and keep the area healthy, while dwelling in 
  the caves that are found among the crags of Mount Shir. The Koui 
  themselves hold the meadows sacred and come here only in solemn 
  religious pilgrimages in the late spring. Once there, they leave 
  offerings to the fey and the druids, engage in quiet prayer and enjoy 
  the beauty before returning home. The Castorhagi are interested in 
  the meadows but are wise enough not to violate them for fear of 
  offending the Koui and possibly triggering an incident with the Anari 
  or the Xha’en.
  FARTHEST POINT, COLONY TOWN OF
  FARTHEST POINT, COLONY TOWN OF
  Ruler: Lord Duke Taneth (governor), Lady General Gentari 
  (military commander)
  Government: colony
  Population: 14,000 (almost all Castorhagi, handful of Xha’en 
  and Koui)
  Technology Level: Renaissance
  Established three centuries ago by an expedition from the city-state 
  of Castorhage, Farthest Point was the ﬁ rst foothold by a foreign power 
  in the Xha’en region and caused considerable consternation among the 
  imperial court. The outpost survived through skillful diplomacy and 
  good fortune, and today is a signiﬁ cant location for the Castorhagi, 
  with extensive shipyards, barracks, sturdy walls, and port facilities. 
  Trade delegations from the Hegemony, the Thousand Rocks, and the 
  normally-insular Gtsang Prefecture are also here helping to establish a 
  mercantile connection that the emperor and the Castorhagi hope keeps 
  the peace and fosters ties between the disparate nations.
  Farthest Point has grown in size and prominence over the years, as 
  Castorhage’s colonies in the Elitani lands to the north expand. Supply 
  vessels, merchant ships, and ships of the Royal Castorhage Navy make 
  port here. A small ﬂ eet of Castorhagi warships has been permanently 
  assigned here at the insistence of the colony’s governor, Lord Duke 
  Taneth. Though he maintains this is entirely for defensive purposes, it is 
  widely thought that he intends to create a diplomatic incident with the 
  Hegemony as a pretext for invading Quy Island and wants to use his 
  newly-reinforced ﬂ eet to do it.
  NEER, COLONY TOWN OF
  NEER, COLONY TOWN OF
  Ruler: Lord Duke Taneth (governor), Lord General Aldus 
  (military commander)
  Government: colony
  Population: 7,000 (almost all Castorhagi, handful of Xha’en 
  and Koui)
  Technology Level: Renaissance
  Established in 4576 XC (3274 I.R.) on Lesser Bream island, this outpost 
  added more protection and inﬂ uence to the established Castorhagi presence 
  elsewhere in the Breams. Today it consists of a single-walled citadel 
  surrounded by a small settlement with attached ship repair and boatbuilding 
  facilities. Governor Taneth also increased the outpost’s garrison from 1,000 
  to nearly 5,000, forcing the construction of new barracks, armories, and 
  storehouses. Some question Taneth’s motives for this increase, and some 
  go so far as to suggest that this is an invasion force to be used against the 
  Hegemony to increase Taneth’s status and inﬂ uence in Castorhage.
  Neer has begun to service overﬂ ow trafﬁ c from the nearby facilities at 
  Farthest Point. The Xha’en continue to keep a wary surveillance of the 
  outpost, though as with Farthest Point, they sometimes take advantage 
  of ship repair services here.
  ANAROS ISLAND AND THE THOUSAND ROCKS
  ANAROS ISLAND AND THE THOUSAND ROCKS
  Capital: Ui’aharti
  Notable Settlements: Ochotari
  Ruler: Eldest Saharwa Terq
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 1,200,000 (almost all Anari, with a small number 
  of scattered Xha’en, Jaati, Koui)
  Monstrous: ankhegs, giant boars, giant elk, goblins, green hags, 
  insect swarms, ogres, oni, owl bears, perytons, giant spiders, 
  stirges, wolves, wolves (dire)
  Languages: Anari, Xaon
  Religion: Ni Araha and Yisya Thun
  Resources: alchemical reagents, cloth, copper, ﬁ shing, gems 
  (pearls), glass, ironwork, linen, pottery, shipbuilding
  Currency: Anari
  Technology Level: Medieval
  
  64|
  64|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  The Thousand Rocks is a single domain under the spiritual (if not 
  political) leadership of an individual with the title of Eldest who 
  dwells in an inaccessible temple high on Mount Yu’unar. A brave and 
  stoic people, the Anari are known throughout the Xha’en Hegemony 
  as skilled warriors who have developed a vibrant culture and society 
  almost through will alone, transforming a resource-starved land into a 
  strong nation with rich traditions.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The Anari are related to the Xha’en people. Physically, they are quite 
  similar, though the Anari are somewhat shorter on average and red hair 
  is not uncommon. Though the story of how they got to Anaros and the 
  Thousand Rocks is shrouded in legend, it is believed that they came 
  seeking refuge from a pressing nomadic tribe, possibly the Hundaei — 
  the Anari themselves date landfall from 1313 XC (about 11 I.R.). Most 
  stories say that these Anari were refugees from a terrible war far to the 
  east and that they arrived on the islands after ﬂ eeing from an army of 
  demons led by evil gods and powerful sorcerers.
  The leader of these refugees — once more, according to legend — was 
  the demigoddess Ni Araha, a deity of justice and mercy who had taken a 
  mortal husband, the warrior-king Yisya Thun. Ni Araha and Yisya Thun 
  would lead their people as they colonized Anaros and spread across the 
  Thousand Rocks, and their children — all imbued with various semi-
  divine powers — would found all the important institutions that govern 
  Anari society. The ofﬁ ce of the Eldest, the various noble houses, the 
  traditions of the Uarsinsi warriors, the collective society that shares 
  its resources in times of trouble, the ascetic houses of monks where 
  martial arts and divine magic are taught — all of these are said to have 
  originated with Ni Araha and Yisya Thun’s children, whose descendants 
  are believed to still dwell among the Anari today.
  The Anari survived on the rocks for nearly a half-millennium, only 
  barely acknowledged by the powerful Xha’ahan city-states to the east. 
  Some trade and travel took place, but for the most part Anaros and the 
  Thousand Rocks were left to their own devices. All that changed in 1834 
  XC (532 I.R.) when the forces of the Jhohir Confederacy made landfall 
  in the rocks, intending to sweep over the Anari and greatly expand their 
  burgeoning empire.
  The Anari, well-schooled in the ways of the warrior and aware of 
  the threat that the confederacy represented, fought back with hit-and-
  run tactics, sapping the enemy’s manpower and supplies even as they 
  retreated island by island. On occasion, the Anari called up the mightiest 
  of their warriors, known as the Uarsinsi, and made a stand, inﬂ icting 
  further losses on the confederacy until at last, plagued by shortages, 
  sickness, and terrible storms that smashed their vessels to kindling, the 
  invaders gave up and returned home, greatly weakened and reduced in 
  number. The defeat proved a death-blow to the confederacy, and within 
  three years, the state utterly collapsed, its two member-cities now 
  independent and hostile toward one another.
  The Anari continued to enjoy their independence, and their defeat 
  of the confederacy lent them an almost-mystical reputation. When the 
  Xha’en Hegemony ﬁ nally subdued the former members of the Jhohir 
  Confederacy and forged a single state in 2700 XC (1398 I.R.), diplomats 
  were immediately dispatched, and treaties signed, guaranteeing 
  independence to the Anari. A new era of cooperation followed as the 
  Anari helped found the Udanishanti Temple in the Tsendakar Mountains 
  and actually sent Uarsinsi warriors to aid in training and supervising 
  Hegemony military formations.
  In 3250 XC (1948 I.R.), the Anari faced a new threat: an invasion 
  from the sea. Strange scaled creatures emerged from the surf along 
  Anaros Island’s western shore, attacking villages and dragging 
  victims into the sea. These were not the merfolk of Caerulea — far 
  from it. A great surge in the population of sahuagin had driven the 
  sea devils to attack the land for food, and after initial shock and 
  confusion, the Anari fought back, going so far as to seek help from 
  the Caerulean Kingdom, whose rulers eventually lent aid and helped 
  defeat the invasion from the sea. The inhabitants of western Anaros 
  Island still speak of this terrible struggle and remain on guard against 
  another such attack.
  Today, Anaros Island and the Thousand Rocks persist as an 
  independent state and neighbor of one of the most powerful empires 
  in the world. A stream of trade ﬂ ows between the Rocks and Xha’en 
  Hegemony and to the Bream Islands to the north.  The swordsmiths, 
  Uarsinsi warriors, and monks of Anari maintain their fearsome and 
  near-legendary reputation, while from the heights of Mount Yu’unar, 
  the Eldest oversees a nation that needs little real oversight.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The islands’ native faith arrived with the refugees — as legend 
  tells it, they were accompanied by the demigoddess Ni Araha and her 
  husband, the mortal hero Yisya Thun. Ni Araha was the last survivor 
  of her pantheon, which had been slaughtered and thrown down by an 
  alliance of demons and evil gods. Over generations, new aspects of the 
  faith emerged, and when Yisya Thun died, he and Araha ascended to the 
  heavens, leaving their children and children’s children to watch over the 
  people of the Thousand Rocks. 
  With her fellow gods dead, Ni Araha urged the Anari to adopt a new 
  faith that revered the divine spark that dwelled in all living things and 
  natural objects. This faith is somewhat druidic in nature and many Anari 
  priests and monks have access to druid spells. The only true “gods” that 
  the Anari revere are Ni Araha and Yisya Thun, who watch over the lives 
  of their followers but rarely intervene.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  For many centuries, the Anari managed on their own, growing their 
  own food and crafting their own clothing, utensils, and vessels, then 
  sharing equally during times of need. A small amount of trade existed 
  between the Thousand Rocks and the Xha’en states, but this situation 
  changed abruptly after the Anari’s defeat of the Jhohir Confederacy. 
  With their reputation as indomitable warriors ﬁ rmly established, the 
  other Xha’en cities agreed to leave the islands in peace, and when the 
  Xha’en Hegemony was created, diplomatic relations were immediately 
  established.
  Since then, trade between the Thousand Islands, the Hegemony, and 
  the Bream Islands has ﬂ ourished. Anari weapons, ceramics, and fabrics 
  are exchanged for foodstuffs, livestock, timber, and other vital materials 
  in a mutually beneﬁ cial arrangement that helps to cement peace and 
  good relations between the various nations.
  The Anari themselves have a surprisingly ﬂ exible economy that 
  combines a fairly robust trade and barter system with a collective 
  process that takes effect in times of difﬁ culty. Poor crops, bad 
  weather, natural disasters … these events cause misery throughout 
  the islands, and when they do occur, it is considered incumbent upon 
  those with more to share with those who have less. Once the crisis 
  passes, society returns to its normal practices, with commerce going 
  back to its usual pace.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The Thousand Rocks is not ofﬁ cially allied to any state but it maintains 
  peaceful relations with the Castorhagi of the Bream Islands and the 
  Xha’en Hegemony. This is not to say that the Anari are unwilling to 
  aid their neighbors in time of crisis — far from it. Anari weapons equip 
  many Xha’en warriors, and Anari Uarsinsi warriors help train ﬁ ghters 
  in the Udanishanti Temple high in the Tsendakar Mountains. The Anari 
  are friendly toward the folk of the Gtsang Prefecture and the dwarves of 
  Ankhura as well. 
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The Anari practice a rather unusual form of government, with the 
  nation under the spiritual leadership of the Eldest, who dwells in an 
  isolated temple high on Mount Yu’unar (or Mount Harthnow as the 
  Castorhagi call it). Those with news or requests must usually come 
  personally before the Eldest, which can be accomplished only by 
  negotiating the perilous route to the temple up sheer mountain 
  slopes above sickening heights. The Eldest also commands a group 
  of flying messengers who ride great snowy owls, but such measures 
  are employed only in times of emergency or when speed is of 
  the essence.
  
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  WESTERN AKADOS
  The rationale behind this unusual system is that only those with truly 
  signiﬁ cant issues will approach the Eldest. Other matters are dealt with 
  by local governors who are appointed either by the Eldest or by a local 
  council of nobles. These individuals are generally expected to consider 
  the welfare of their communities and see to it that no one goes hungry 
  or is otherwise neglected. They must also maintain bands of Uarsinsi 
  warriors and other military forces sufﬁ cient to defend their districts in 
  times of crisis. Governors who fail in these duties may ﬁ nd themselves 
  removed from ofﬁ ce, investigated, or even arrested.
  The method of selecting a new Eldest is unknown to those outside of 
  the Anari. Some statements by locals seem to suggest that the Eldest is 
  in fact either immortal or fantastically long-lived, which seems absurd.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  As there has not been a major military crisis in the Thousand Rocks 
  for many, many years, it would not be surprising if the military were 
  to be in decline, as it is in the Xha’en Hegemony. This is not the case, 
  however, and the long-standing tradition of martial excellence among 
  the Anari is as strong today as it was a millennium ago.
  The islands’ regular defenders are a skilled class of professional 
  swordsmen who also serve to keep the peace, enforce governors’ 
  decrees, track down criminals, and aid in civil projects. The sense of 
  duty that is instilled in each warrior means that even these seemingly 
  menial tasks are considered to be honorable chores and are done without 
  complaint. Among these are those trained in the highest of martial arts, 
  the noble warriors known as the Uarsinsi.
  In times of crisis, local militias are raised with able-bodied civilians 
  armed, armored, and trained by their governors. For the most part, these 
  times of crisis consist of natural disasters such as ﬂ oods, tidal waves, 
  and earthquakes, so as with the warriors, the army of the Anari exists 
  primarily for civil purposes. Should the region come under attack 
  however, the Anari army is fully capable of defending the islands 
  against invasion.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  As of today, no major outside powers threaten the Thousand Rocks. 
  The Anari’s reputation as invincible warriors has served them well 
  and held the Xha’en Hegemony at bay for generations and kept the 
  Castorhagi of the Bream Islands from investigating the region too 
  closely. Sahuagin raids occasionally threaten Anaros Island from the 
  seaward side, but local garrisons are assigned to deal speciﬁ cally with 
  such attacks, and they try to respond quickly. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  The Thousand Rocks that dot the Sheltered Sea are well named. 
  Some are simply single bare spurs of rock projecting above the waves, 
  sometimes supporting a single small dwelling. Others are larger, with 
  villages and even a small amount of arable land. Among the rocks, the real 
  wilderness lies underwater, where pearl divers seek riches and various 
  sunken wrecks contain valuable cargo. The wildlife of the area can be 
  hostile and includes sharks and octopi of enormous size as well as whales 
  and other larger species that are dangerous simply due to their size.
  Much of Anaros Island remains rugged, unsettled wilderness, and it 
  is known that wild animals and hostile creatures such as ogres, goblins, 
  and hags make their home there. Many stories are told about the island 
  prior to human settlement, and some of these involve incidents during 
  the Age of Dragons. One epic cycle claims that Anaros Island was 
  once connected to the mainland, and that battles between two great 
  alliances of dragons shattered the land and created the Sheltered Sea 
  and the scattered islands of the Thousand Rocks. Remnants of the battle 
  are believed to be found throughout the region, and one legend even 
  suggests that the grand palace of an ancient gold dragon is somehow 
  hidden on Anaros Island itself. There, it is said, the great being slumbers 
  amid untold riches.
  ANAYINONOS FORGE
  ANAYINONOS FORGE
  Popular legend holds that Anari weapons are supernaturally sharp 
  and imbued with amazing qualities, able to cut through almost any 
  other material, and in the hands of a skilled Uarsinsi warrior, all 
  but invincible. This legend is carefully encouraged and maintained 
  by Anari swordsmiths, who have made mountains of gold from the 
  Hegemony and others willing to pay for the weapons. In reality, 
  the islands’ iron is of such poor quality that it must be worked with 
  quantities of charcoal over a very long period to be made suitable 
  for weapon production. While the resulting steel is indeed of high 
  quality, it is not magical, nor is it especially superior to many other 
  forms of steel. Nevertheless, the Anari swordsmith’s art requires 
  surpassing skill and talent, for the blades produced are both beautiful 
  and functional. Several elite Hegemony units are equipped with Anari 
  weapons, and the sword of an Uarsinsi warrior must be of the most 
  ﬂ awless manufacture.
  Anayinonos Forge is probably the most famous swordsmithy in Anari 
  and is located near the great city of Ui’aharti. Here, master sword-makers 
  have practiced their trade for centuries, producing amazing weapons of 
  all kinds. Each year, the Eldest himself requests the manufacture of a 
  new sword, which is delivered to Aliyashinsah Temple via owl-rider and 
  placed in a specially-designed display hall. None of the Eldest’s swords 
  has ever been used in battle.
  UI’AHARTI, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  UI’AHARTI, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  (wee-a-HAR-tee)
  Ruler: Great Elder Domah Kald
  Government: oligarchy
  Population: 120,000 (almost all Anari)
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Located in a bay in the middle of the eastern coast of Anaros Island, 
  Ui’aharti is the largest and most important city of the Anari. While the 
  nation is generally overseen by the Eldest from the Warrior’s Temple 
  on Mount Yu’unar, Ui’aharti is the nation’s cultural and economic 
  center. Several colleges of excellent repute found in the city educate 
  the youth of the nobility alongside some number from the countryside 
  and even a few from outside Anaros Island in arts, philosophy, and 
  magic. Some 15 schools of martial arts are in the city, and each 
  provides instruction in a different master’s style of swordplay or 
  unarmed combat. Many nobles and merchants who oversee the more 
  practical day-to-day Anari matters live here in aesthetic splendor, and 
  their estates are marvels of art and architecture. 
  The collective nature of Anari society holds sway here as well, 
  and even powerful nobles are expected to share their wealth with the 
  less fortunate. Each day, poorer Anari visit these estates to meet with 
  chamberlains and other ofﬁ cials to receive grants of money or food 
  as needed. More generous nobles tend to wield more inﬂ uence, while 
  stingy families may ﬁ nd themselves ostracized and cut off from contact 
  with the Eldest.
  OCHOTARI, CITY OF
  OCHOTARI, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Elder Lashinsa Nudu
  Government: oligarchy
  Population: 75,000 (almost all Anari)
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Situated in the center of the Sheltered Sea, amid the jumbled chaos of 
  the Thousand Rocks, Ochotari is more town than city. The steep slopes 
  of Ososar Island rise sharply behind it, sculpted into steps of terraced 
  farms, where rice and other crops are cultivated. Ochotari itself clings 
  to a semicircular bay, usually crowded with tiny, one- and two-crew 
  ﬁ shing vessels.
  Besides it being the largest settlement in the Thousand Rocks, 
  Ochotari is most remarkable for its rich oyster beds, and the high-quality 
  pearls that they produce. An entire society of pearl divers exists here to 
  harvest oysters for food and pearls. Although they are assisted by their 
  own squad of spellcasters who provide water breathing and other useful 
  spells, a pearl diver’s life is a hazardous one, for the bay also harbors 
  a number of dangerous species such as tiger seals — an especially 
  aggressive species of carnivorous pinniped — and cove sharks, a large 
  
  66|
  66|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  and particularly toothy breed that has developed a taste for humans. 
  These, as well as currents, submerged rocks, entanglements, and related 
  hazards make the pearl divers among the most celebrated and admired 
  folk in the Thousand Rocks, and the Eldest has even recognized them as 
  vital members of society and directed that the craft of pearl diving never 
  be allowed to decline or die out.
  ALIYASHINSAH, TEMPLE OF
  ALIYASHINSAH, TEMPLE OF
  Ruler: Eldest Saharwa Terq
  Government: Oligarchy
  Population: 800 (almost all Anari)
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Known as the Warrior’s Temple, Aliyashinsah is the spiritual heart 
  of Anari culture, and home to the nation’s leader, the Eldest. Located 
  on the highest peak of Mount Yu’unar on Anaros Island, Aliyashinsah 
  is a wonder of aesthetics and construction, standing serenely with a 
  commanding view of the nearby Bream Islands, the scattered Thousand 
  Rocks, and the vastness of the Caerulean Ocean beyond. Most days, 
  however, the mountain is shrouded in clouds, closing it into its own 
  world, and shutting it off utterly from the world beyond. Snow lies thick 
  on the ground for much of the year.
  The location of the temple was a willful and conscious one — making 
  the Eldest Saharwa Terq all but inaccessible ensures that only the most 
  important matters are brought before him, and the isolation allows 
  the ruler to pay mind to truly deep and spiritual issues. The Eldest 
  spends most of his days in quiet contemplation, addressing matters 
  of governance and society only as absolutely needed. The needs of 
  the Eldest and maintenance on the temple are carried out by a staff of 
  priests, monks, and white-armored Uarsinsi warriors who swear lifetime 
  oaths of personal service.
  The Eldest and his advisors are aware that the temple’s isolation 
  might prove a liability in an emergency, so Aliyashinsah is also home 
  to a squadron of aerial messengers known as the White Wings who ride 
  giant snowy owls and bring and dispatch important news, visitors, and 
  supplies. The White Wings are legendary throughout Anaros Island and 
  the Thousand Rocks and are the subject of many tales of their bravery, 
  loyalty, and steadfastness.
  QUY ISLAND
  QUY ISLAND
  Quy Island is the only offshore holding of the Xha’en Hegemony, 
  located a few miles off of the western coast of the continent and home 
  to several thousand Xha’en, mainly farmers and ﬁ shers.  The city of 
  Jhadarah sits on the island’s north coast, and is home to the wealthy 
  Y’lshon family, whose vessels ﬁ rst undertook the long journey to 
  Castorhage to establish the ﬁ rst connection between the Hegemony and 
  the outside world.
  QUY TAR, FORTRESS OF
  QUY TAR, FORTRESS OF
  Ruler: Governor I’iris sa Ad Dharas
  Government: military
  Population: 3,000 (almost all Xha’en)
  Technology Level: Medieval
  This fortress guards the island of Quy, off the Xha’en coast. Here, 
  a garrison of about 1,000 warriors and a dozen Xha’en warships is 
  permanently stationed, though over the years the need for such a large 
  group has been questioned. The emperor has maintained the garrison 
  however, partially out of tradition, and partially out of wariness of the 
  Castorhagi colonies on the Bream Islands to the north. While so far the 
  Castorhagi have given no reason to suspect their intentions, the current 
  schemes of Governor Lord Duke Taneth have roused some suspicion in 
  the Hegemony, with a few of the emperor’s advisors suggesting that he 
  may be preparing for war.
  JHADARAH, CITY OF
  JHADARAH, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lord Teskec su Ric Y’lshon
  Government: oligarchy
  Population: 11,000 (almost all Xha’en)
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The largest settlement on Quy Island, Jhadarah is the domain of the 
  Y’lshon family, wealthy merchants who have lived here for millennia. 
  Shipbuilding and ﬁ shing facilities nearby drive the city’s economy, 
  while the Y’lshon’s merchant ﬂ eet is based out of the city’s sheltered 
  bay. The city’s ancient seaward walls stand weathered and overgrown 
  with vines and shrub trees and retain a few traces of their original 
  carvings and battlements.
  The city’s most prominent feature is the oldest continuously 
  operating temple to the god Jatan in the Xha’en Hegemony. Located 
  on the heights above the weathered buildings of Jhadarah’s noble 
  quarter, the temple is staffed by a group of six ancient priests and 
  a number of younger monks who carry out the place’s day-to-day 
  running. Its true age isn’t certain, but it is known to have been old 
  when the city of Xha’ahan was founded more than 4,000 years ago. 
  The common belief is that High Priest Arku is immortal, for he 
  has held the post for as long as anyone alive today can remember. 
  Arku is a wizened, ancient creature, almost blind and capable of 
  communicating only in a faint whisper, but it is said that he can 
  see the past and future with perfect clarity and will impart wisdom 
  to those he considers worthy. He refuses to reveal future events 
  however, for he claims that the gods themselves might be overthrown 
  if anyone were to know what he knows. Exactly what this means no 
  one knows, but a steady stream of pilgrims comes from all across the 
  Hegemony to visit the temple. Few are deemed worthy to even enter 
  the temple, let alone commune with the Ancient One, but those who 
  do are said to return changed forever, with a light of true wisdom 
  burning in their eyes.
  SOOHR-AHMAAD
  SOOHR-AHMAAD
  (SHYOOR-uh-MAHD, r slightly rolled)
  Ruler: Suzerain Tahmani Kohr
  Government: constitutional monarchy
  Population: 3,000 (?) (efreeti) 
  Monstrous: none (in city limits) 
  Languages: Auran, Ignan, Infernal, Common
  Religion: unknown
  Resources: unknown, though residents do seem wealthy
  Currency: mixed, primarily Xha’en
  Technology Level: unknown, but at least High Middle Ages
  This small, well-fortiﬁ ed town of efreeti is highly secretive and does 
  not allow visitors within its gates. Outside their great, steel-spiked, stone 
  town wall, a sumptuous “trade hall” — ﬁ nely furnished and strewn with 
  velvet and silk — has been built where visitors are invited to sell wares 
  or services. The resident efreeti spend a great deal of money there, and 
  never sell anything. In a magically scry-proof and soundproof backroom 
  off the trade hall, efreeti leaders hold secret council with their hired 
  scouts and spies, never inviting even these trusted servants inside the 
  town proper. 
  Those who have had glimpses inside the gate or over the walls report 
  a town that might support 2,000 to 4,000 efreeti. No other species have 
  been noted, not even as servants. The homes inside seem to be of ﬁ ne 
  quality and very defensible. The streets are clean. No one who has seen 
  more than that has shared what they have learned — assuming any lived 
  to tell the tale. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Little is known of the residents of Soohr-Ahmaad. What locals have 
  pieced together over the centuries may or may not be accurate, but it is 
  commonly believed that the Soohr-Ahmaadin efreeti are descendants of 
  
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  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|67
  |67
  WESTERN AKADOS
  a group banished from the City of Brass long ago. A thousand conﬂ icting 
  rumors argue as to why. 
  Whatever the reason for their banishment (assuming even that part 
  of the tale is accurate), the Soohr-Ahmaadin efreeti behave toward their 
  neighbors with a legalistically cruel sense of “fairness.” All the intelligent 
  communities and monsters in the Cauldron mountain range and its 
  immediate surroundings, including the Xha’en Hegemony itself, have 
  made extensive and complex agreements with the Cauldron efreeti (though 
  the Xha’en Hegemony would never publicly admit to such a thing).  
  The primary way in which the Soohr-Ahmaadin efreeti interact with 
  surrounding communities is in the hiring of scouts and spies to keep track 
  of the world around them. Through the questions their employers ask, 
  these hirelings are able to discern a little of their employers’ motivations. 
  According to some, even after many centuries away from the City of 
  Brass, the Soohr-Ahmaadin efreeti remain paranoid that the Grand 
  Sultan will yet send forces to destroy them. Similarly, they are fearful of 
  meddling from the Hellsgate Peaks devils, whom they suspect of coveting 
  their territory. For these reasons, the Soohr-Ahmaadin efreeti are always 
  in search of news of devils or other efreeti. According to rumor, they 
  are sometimes willing to pay in wishes, if adventurers will make secret 
  expeditions into the Hellsgate Peaks (hundreds of miles away from the 
  Cauldron range) to acquire military intelligence about the devils and their 
  hidden city. Thus far, no such expedition has been known to succeed. 
  The Soohr-Ahmaadin efreeti never speak of why they were banished, 
  why the Grand Sultan might still hold a grudge, why the devils might 
  be plotting against them, or why they are so insular that they don’t even 
  keep slaves in their community as most efreeti do (at least, none that any 
  outsiders have seen). They also seem to be bottomlessly wealthy and able 
  to defend their community from incursion despite engaging in only one-
  sided commerce, no conquest, and not even any known mining activities. 
  It is commonly suspected that the efreeti guard some magniﬁ cent 
  stolen artifact, one which provides their great wealth without them 
  needing to lift a ﬁ nger, and for the continued secrecy of which they 
  might gladly die. In perfect accordance with their own laws and with 
  their agreements with surrounding communities, the Soohr-Ahmaadin 
  efreeti capture and execute all who attempt to solve the mysteries of 
  their ongoing residence in the Cauldron mountain range.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Soohr-Ahmaadin coin is mixed, but almost always current and local, 
  with Xha’en being the most common. No one knows where or how they 
  get it, or what skills, crafts, or trades the town possesses. The efreeti 
  purchase almost anything of ﬁ ne crafting from those who come to trade 
  with them, even tools and weapons that no one ever sees them use. They 
  do sometimes wear the jewelry or clothing they purchase, and traders 
  have also observed them eat and drink. 
  The products in highest demand at the Soohr-Ahmaad trade hall are 
  ﬁ ne incense, high quality Xha’en rice wine or tea blends, and luxuriously 
  preserved sweets. Ordinary food staples are sometimes purchased, but 
  never in the quantities required to feed the entire community. Other than 
  the spies and scouts, the efreeti show no interest in hiring services unless 
  they can be performed on the spot. Musicians are sometimes paid to 
  play in the trade hall, for example, and those who service weapons or 
  repair clothing get customers now and again, among others. 
  There is talk of expanding the trade hall to allow privacy for a 
  massage parlor or brothel, but traders say there is always such talk, and 
  the project never begins. Perhaps the leadership of Soohr-Ahmaad does 
  not want its citizenry to become quite so relaxed around outsiders. 
  In any event, however they acquire their coin, the Soohr-Ahmaadin 
  efreeti offer a major boon to the business of all traders in their region, 
  which makes them quite popular with their neighbors, despite their cruel 
  and inﬂ exible policy toward trespassers. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  As far as anyone knows, Soohr-Ahmaad is entirely independent, 
  a miniature city-state. It has no ofﬁ cial acknowledgement as such 
  and seeks none, but extremely detailed arrangements exist between 
  itself and all neighboring military powers — including the powerful 
  Xha’en Hegemony — making it illegal for anyone to attack them, take 
  possession of their land, or enforce external laws of any kind within 
  their town walls. 
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The Soohr-Ahmaadin efreeti make no secret that their suzerain was 
  elected for life by the people, and that while her authority is generally 
  accepted in all matters, her power can occasionally be held in check by 
  a community council. Who sits on the council and why or for how long 
  has not been shared with outsiders. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Though the majority of the Soohr-Ahmaadin efreeti are never seen 
  with weapons in the trade hall, the locals insist that every force that 
  has ever assaulted Soohr-Ahmaad has failed. Many, traders report, have 
  made the attempt, from human bandits to Cauldron ﬁ re giants to various 
  monsters, often in search of whatever bottomless wealth store the efreeti 
  possess. Whenever such a thing occurs, the traders who rely upon 
  Soohr-Ahmaad’s business for their livelihoods watch the proceedings 
  intently from a safe distance. They report skilled defense of the walls 
  by powerful warriors and impressive mages, the greatest of which is 
  believed to be Suzerain Tahmani herself. 
  The Soohr-Ahmaadin forces always use the minimal force 
  necessary to utterly destroy their enemies. They never attack, but if 
  anyone attacks them, they show no mercy whatsoever. They do not 
  allow ﬂ eeing attackers to escape, if at all possible, and they take no 
  prisoners. They also never make sorties outside their walls, and when 
  sieges have been attempted, they have simply waited for the threat to 
  give up and go away (often encouraged by pressures from surrounding 
  communities, who miss the proﬁ ts of the trade hall). It would appear 
  that wherever the efreeti get their money, they also have access to 
  unlimited food stores. 
  It is not known what percentage of the Soohr-Ahmaad population 
  participates in its defense when it is threatened.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  According to the scouts and spies that serve the Soohr-Ahmaadin 
  efreeti, the only things they fear are devils and other efreeti. If they 
  do guard some precious artifact that grants their endless prosperity, 
  one would assume that stealing or destroying said artifact would harm 
  Soohr-Ahmaad greatly. However, Soohr-Ahmaad residents seem to 
  feel conﬁ dent that their secrets of secure abundance are safe from their 
  Cauldron, Xha’en, and any other plane-local neighbors.  
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  While no one enters Soohr-Ahmaad besides its efreeti residents, the 
  wilderness between Soohr-Ahmaad and its neighbors can be difﬁ cult to 
  traverse at times. Wealthy merchants who sell their wares at the Soohr-
  Ahmaad trade hall rarely make the trek in person. Instead, they hire 
  hardy and/or local agents to do their buying and selling and often send 
  along a few guards to defend their merchandise on the road. 
  At the bottom of the road leading up to Soohr-Ahmaad, on the 
  Xha’en side, a local adept sells potions of ﬁ re resistance at inﬂ ated 
  prices, warning always of salamanders, rasts, mephits, or the occasional 
  thoqqua on the trail. It is not inaccurate that some creatures normally 
  native to the elemental plane of ﬁ re do make the volcanic Cauldron 
  their home. Occasionally, there are bandits, some of whom might have 
  a ﬁ re giant among them. It is true as well that with all the geysers and 
  hotsprings in the area, much of the road is often shrouded in mist or 
  steam, which allows for easy ambush at times.
  Traders who make the trek regularly know that the road to Soohr-
  Ahmaad and its trade hall is usually clear, but you never go unarmed, 
  you stay on the trail, and you always bring healing and ﬁ re resistance 
  from somewhere with reasonable prices. If possible, it is recommended 
  to travel quietly and to avoid advertising one’s wealth.  
  
  68|
  68|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  SEA KINGDOM OF CAERULEA
  SEA KINGDOM OF CAERULEA
  (Kay-roo-lee-ah)
  Capital: Sessamon (pop. 750,000)
  Notable Settlements: Cealos (pop. 100,000), Cholama (pop. 
  100,000), Lacamon (pop. 250,000), Naelaec (pop. 350,000)
  Ruler: King Avilon II
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 3,000,000 (2,000,000 merfolk, 750,000 aquatic 
  elves, 250,000 tritons), 
  Humanoid: merfolk (many), aquatic elves (many), tritons 
  (many)
  Monstrous: aboleths, bunyips, giant crabs, dolphins, dragon 
  turtles, sea drakes, giant eels, grindylows, sea hags, 
  hippocampi, jellyﬁ sh swarm, giant jellyﬁ sh, kelpies, killer 
  whales, krakens, locathah, merfolk, merrow, manta rays, 
  reefclaws, sahuagin, scyllas, sea serpents, giant sharks, sharks 
  (dire), skum, stingrays, giant octopus, giant seahorse, giant 
  squid, tritons, water orms, whales, great white whales
  Languages: Aquan
  Religion: Eashe the Sea Mother
  Resources: ﬁ shing, gems, sea plants, sculptures, jewelry
  Currency: Caerulean 
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The Caerulean Ocean lies to the west of the Xha’en Hegemony, 
  a vast, dark body of water, largely unexplored, that has never been 
  crossed in living memory. Beneath these forbidding waters lies a 
  realm of wonder and surprising beauty, the undersea realm known as 
  Caerulea. Ruled for thousands of years by a single royal family of 
  merfolk, Caerulea has existed separately, following its own history 
  and ﬁ ghting its own cataclysmic wars, well hidden from the prying 
  eyes of surface peoples. Only when the realm collided violently with 
  the growing power of the Xha’en Hegemony did the region become 
  known to outsiders.
  As much empire as kingdom, Caerulea is divided among three 
  distinct major groups as well as several smaller ones. The upper depths 
  are inhabited by the sea elves, who live in dwellings of coral, magically 
  altered into homes and utilitarian structures. These elves serve as the 
  military class and, more recently, as a diplomatic corps, capable of 
  surviving for long periods on the surface where they can meet and 
  negotiate with the humans of Xha’en and other lands. Along the deeper 
  waters of the coastal shelf, the ruling class of merfolk hold sway, while 
  the extended slope between the edge of the Akadonian shelf and the 
  fearsome abyss farther out to sea is the realm of the nomadic tritons 
  who pay fealty to the royal family and serve as frontier scouts, hunters, 
  and explorers. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Like other peoples, the folk of Caerulea have their own creation myths. 
  Caerulean priests and teachers speak of a great oceanic god who created 
  the merfolk to be its chosen servitors, seeing to the health and well-
  being of the sea and tending to its creatures. The tritons were granted 
  the deeper waters as their home, but commanded to serve the merfolk, 
  and the aquatic elves are said to have migrated from afar, having taken 
  to the sea to avoid disaster on land. Arriving in Caerulean waters, the 
  elves offered their services as warriors and hunters, and the merfolk 
  welcomed them freely. For countless years, the merfolk claim, this 
  situation endured, and they lived at peace, divided into many different 
  kingdoms, all existing in harmony.
  Caerulea’s written history extends back to the Age of Kings, over 100 
  centuries ago, when it was only one of a dozen or so aquatic states, 
  though it had been ruled by a single family for countless generations. 
  The renegade mer-sorceress Awalea, who deeply resented the royal 
  family’s vast power and inﬂ uence, took several followers into the 
  undersea wilderness where they became leaders of an alliance of 
  renegade merfolk, tritons and evil sea creatures including sahuagin, 
  aquatic demons, and grindylow in an attempt to overthrow Queen 
  Caelass. Other kingdoms were drawn into the conﬂ ict, with some 
  backing the rebels and some the royal family.
  As the great Phoromycean civilization arose on land, as the 
  foundations of the city of Barakus were laid, and as the Jaati city of 
  Duam grew, a vast and terrible conﬂ ict raged unseen beneath the waves, 
  invisible even to the folk of Gtsang, who sat literally on the doorstep of 
  the Caerulean realm. A few mariners reported strange events at sea — 
  unexpected storms, weird mid-ocean waves, and lights ﬂ ashing in the 
  depths — but for the most part, Awalea’s War was fought in isolation, 
  well away from the surface.
  The conﬂ ict raged for decades. Communities were uprooted, coral 
  fortresses shattered, and monstrous creatures used by both sides. 
  Krakens, giant whales, devil rays, and horrors from the deepest 
  depths fought and ravaged the realm. At long last, the rebels were 
  defeated, and their surviving armies scattered. Of the evil sorceress 
  Awalea, no sign was ever found, and to this day she lives on as 
  an evil legend, often blamed for any misfortunes suffered by the 
  kingdom or its inhabitants.
  At the end of this long and painful conﬂ ict, Queen Caelass, long 
  grown weary of war and killing, abdicated in favor of her son, Caelon. 
  The new king, young and inexperienced, struggled to heal a kingdom 
  devastated by war, and was soon in thrall to several scheming advisors, 
  chief among them Count Isachla. This unscrupulous individual and a 
  cabal of corrupt sea-priests and power-hungry nobles sought to become 
  the power behind the throne, manipulating King Caelon and persuading 
  him to expand the kingdom to ﬁ rst encompass those rival kingdoms 
  that did not support Queen Caelass, and then the others. Through 
  aggressive diplomacy and warfare where it was needed, Caerulea soon 
  had absorbed all the other states, reducing them to mere principalities. 
  The tritons and sea elves were also repressed, and some were reduced 
  to virtual slavery.
  As Caelon matured, he also grew stronger-willed, ﬁ nally declaring his 
  independence from Isachla’s circle of “advisors.” He relaxed many harsh 
  laws and restored rights to the sea elves and tritons and gave the conquered 
  kingdoms greater autonomy. When the duplicitous count hatched a 
  conspiracy against the obstreperous monarch, Caelon responded harshly 
  by arresting the conspirators and executing their leaders.
  So it remained until well after the Xha’en arrived in their homeland and 
  drove out the Senge tribes and the city of Xha’ahan grew to prominence. 
  The Xha’en Hegemony prospered for over a century, unaware of the 
  undersea kingdom’s existence. But this was soon to change. In 2856 XC 
  (1554 I.R.), a massive undersea earthquake ripped through the kingdom 
  and unleashed several submerged volcanoes. The tremors shattered 
  numerous Caerulean cities while the boiling lava, hot mud, and ash that 
  surged up from below fouled the waters, killing millions of ﬁ sh and 
  poisoning thousands of merfolk.
  Shortages and deprivation followed, along with unrest throughout the 
  kingdom as the common folk felt the pinch of hunger. King Chalaine 
  and his advisors were in a dilemma, lacking the population and material 
  to expand signiﬁ cantly beyond their own frontiers. The deeper oceans 
  and open sea were vast but had few resources to help the struggling 
  kingdom. Only on the surface, where human ships plied the waves and 
  humans raised crops and herds, could the kingdom obtain the food and 
  materials that it needed.
  Raids on the surface began with a few carefully-planned attacks, 
  designed to appear as if ships were wrecked or lost in bad weather. It 
  was not until the Caeruleans began to openly take ships and raid coastal 
  areas that the Xha’en realized the full extent of the danger.
  The Caeruleans held the upper hand in the early stages of the struggle 
  as their sea-elf warriors were able to survive for long periods on land, 
  striking anywhere and vanishing before the Xha’en could respond. 
  Triton inﬁ ltrators could sneak into harbors, sinking and burning vessels 
  and escaping with impunity, and merfolk magic was able to harness the 
  sea itself against the humans. But slowly the humans reinforced their 
  local garrisons and added extensive mounted and ﬂ ying troops to counter 
  the enemy’s mobility. Ankhuran warships were deployed to escort 
  merchant and ﬁ shing vessels, and Xha’en spellcasters were trained in 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |69
  WESTERN AKADOS
  spells designed speciﬁ cally to repel aquatic foes. Water-breathing spells 
  allowed the Xha’en to take the war to the Caeruleans as well.
  The struggle eventually ground to a stalemate, as neither side could 
  gain a clear advantage. Caerulean attacks on land and Xha’en assaults 
  against the undersea kingdom were costly but could not hold territory, 
  and both sides had secure central provinces to provide supplies, 
  manpower, and other resources. Finally in 2878 XC (1576 I.R.), after 
  nearly two decades of open warfare, the two sides exchanged emissaries 
  and began to negotiate a peace settlement. The effects of the quake and 
  volcanoes had largely subsided by this time, cities had been rebuilt, and 
  schools of ﬁ sh had returned in even greater numbers than before, so the 
  causes of the conﬂ ict had largely abated. A treaty was signed, and both 
  powers agreed that they could largely ignore each other.
  Peace was maintained for almost a millennium before another crisis 
  arose in the form of a sea-borne plague that devastated the Xha’en 
  Hegemony. Though many of Emperor Alnand su Var Tilgi’s advisors 
  blamed the Caeruleans and called for a renewal of hostilities, cooler 
  heads prevailed after a traitorous plot to attack the merfolk and trigger 
  a war was uncovered and stopped. Xha’en diplomats made contact with 
  the Caerulean Queen Iulea, who agreed to help the humans treat the 
  plague. War was averted, and the two nations at last cemented the peace.
  The Caeruleans noted with interest and no small amount of alarm the 
  coming of the Castorhagi and the settlement of the Bream Islands. A 
  new surface power was rising, and the sea-folk felt it best to avoid direct 
  contact. When their ancient enemies in the Sinking Land began to attack 
  sea trafﬁ c to and from the Breams however, the royal family decided to 
  do something. Unknown to the Castorhagi, Caerulean warriors struggled 
  against the Sea-Throng, and actually aided in the humans’ great victory 
  of 4773 XC (3471 I.R.), when the Castorhagi ﬂ eet defeated the enemy 
  at the Battle of Quandary Deep. Once the ﬁ ght was over, the Caeruleans 
  returned to their policy of avoidance, assuming that the Castorhagi 
  would approach the sea-kingdom when it was ready.
  Good, or at least neutral, relations with the Xha’en have continued to 
  this day. For the most part, the Hegemony and the undersea kingdom 
  keep to themselves, occasionally coming into conﬂ ict over ﬁ shing 
  grounds, and occasionally cooperating to face down a mutual threat. 
  The situation beneath the waves is a bit less settled, as the Caerulean 
  Kingdom has its own neighbors and enemies, as described below. The 
  royal family maintains its rule unchallenged, despite grumbling from 
  nobles and occasional internal squabbles. The tritons of the lower 
  depths continue to practice their nomadic ways, ﬁ shing and patrolling 
  the kingdom’s frontiers and occasionally venturing into the deeper 
  waters below. In the shallower waters, the sea elves have begun to 
  build structures, some reaching above the waves, and have been 
  known to guide vessels through treacherous waters or rescue victims of 
  shipwrecks. Caerulean warriors continue to patrol the Sinking Land and 
  have on several occasions held back new incursions, while keeping their 
  activities secret from the Castorhagi.
  Those who visit this wondrous realm are almost always changed by 
  the experience, for the sheer wild, alien beauty of the kingdom is a sight 
  to behold. Vast castles of gleaming stone and magically-transformed 
  living coral ﬁ ll deep canyons, covered in bright sea plants, with schools 
  of rainbow-hued ﬁ sh darting in and out of waving kelp forests. Inside 
  these buildings, light is provided by clouds of bioluminescent ﬁ sh and 
  small organisms, and the king’s royal throne room is illuminated by large 
  and terrifying angler ﬁ sh, whose great light-emitting organs have been 
  enhanced to provide light almost as bright as on the surface. Legions 
  of sea-elf warriors swim in elaborate three-dimensional formations, 
  sometimes riding great seahorses, lungﬁ sh, or eels. Merfolk sorcerers 
  command the secret magics of the sea. Vast temples to the ocean gods 
  rise gracefully from the sea ﬂ oor, glimmering in dozens of shades of 
  blue and green. Many a surface visitor has come to love this realm, and 
  many are reluctant to leave.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The Caeruleans worship a pantheon of deities under the supreme 
  guidance of Eashe the Sea Mother, who is thought to be related to the 
  Mother goddess worshipped by the Talorani. A group of demigods 
  governs various aspects of the sea subordinate to the Sea Mother. Among 
  these demigods are Taela, goddess of plenty, Tymannum, god of war and 
  battle, Cehenasla, goddess of healing and mercy, and Udamata, god of 
  arts and architecture. All are of good alignment — the Caeruleans do 
  not have anything like an evil pantheon, for they believe that evil beings 
  cannot be gods. Dark entities of divine-level power are all considered 
  demons, while practitioners of evil magic such as the hated and feared 
  sea-witch Awalea live on in legends and popular tales.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Before the war with the Xha’en, the Caeruleans were content with 
  producing their own resources and trading with neighboring oceanic 
  states and nomadic tribes. Once the war was over and better relations 
  established with the surface folk, a small amount of trade began, with 
  the Caeruleans exchanging ﬁ sh and other foodstuffs for artwork, 
  gemstones, and various goods magically or otherwise treated against 
  the ravages of seawater. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  While the kingdom does not maintain full diplomatic relations with 
  the Xha’en Hegemony (few on either side would like to spend much 
  time in the other’s realms after all), the outright hostility of the past 
  has evolved into mutual respect and a live-and-let-live attitude on both 
  sides. Conﬂ icts are kept to a minimum, and those that do arise are 
  settled diplomatically, often with the exchange of emissaries — Xha’en 
  spellcasters venture below with the assistance of water-breathing magic, 
  and sea elf diplomats journey to the surface. Neither Caerulea nor 
  Xha’en has the resources or the stomach for another full-scale conﬂ ict.
  Undersea, the situation is somewhat more complex, as the kingdom 
  is actually a patchwork of smaller principalities, each with its own 
  rulers, and other states and powers exist beneath the ocean, unknown 
  (and largely unknowable) to the surface world. Caerulea is known to 
  maintain diplomatic ties to a number of other states, some of which are 
  populated by merfolk, and others that are home to different undersea 
  creatures. The vast Caerulean Ocean also harbors numerous creatures of 
  vast age and intelligence, including aboleth, evil kraken, ancient giant 
  cetaceans, and in the depths, beings of a nature that is almost entirely 
  alien to those who dwell on the surface. The Caeruleans are aware of 
  these creatures as well, and alternately maintain friendly contact or keep 
  them under wary surveillance.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The sea kingdom’s borders are ill-deﬁ ned, even by its rulers, as the 
  sea is a constantly changing environment. In all, about a dozen smaller 
  principalities are united under the royal family, each with its own prince 
  or princess. Each of the principalities is governed similarly to the larger 
  state, with elders and nobles advising each monarch.
  The royal house of Laesaela has ruled since the kingdom’s founding, 
  though it has been challenged more than once, most prominently when 
  the sorceress Awalea raised an army of evil sea creatures and demons 
  to overthrow her rightful queen. For the most part, however, the royal 
  family tries to maintain the peace, allowing principalities to go their own 
  way and govern as they see ﬁ t, so long as they do not unduly oppress, 
  overtax, or aggravate the common people. 
  The sea elves of the upper ocean are a stern and noble lot, unshakably 
  loyal to their merfolk monarchs. These folk make up the elite branches 
  of the Caerulean military, as they are able to ﬁ ght equally well on land 
  and at sea. Their relatively small numbers and inability to sustain long 
  supply lines limits their activities against the surface, but they are a 
  powerful group nonetheless.
  Down the continental slope, the tritons live in clan-based groups that 
  travel from place to place with little in the way of permanent settlements. 
  Each clan swears allegiance to the royal family, and are obligated to 
  send scouts, warriors, or workers if called upon. For the most part, the 
  tritons see this as an annoying but necessary duty, for they are aware of 
  the dangers that might rise up from the abyss and know that they need 
  the protection of the merfolk and the sea elves.
  
  70|
  70|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The Caerulean military is a sight to behold, with aquatic forces of all 
  kinds combining into a single body to face down the kingdom’s enemies. 
  Legions of aquatic elven infantry make up the bulk of the merfolk’s 
  forces. Clad in seashell armor, each is armed with a pair of wicked spears 
  and a crossbow. Cavalry is mounted on large swimming mounts, with 
  giant sea horses and hippocampi for the light riders, and sharks or orca 
  for the heavier forces. Merfolk aquamancers and priests of Tymannum 
  supplement battle formations with arcane or healing magic.
  Tactics are adapted to the merfolk’s undersea kingdom. Formations 
  are three-dimensional, with height, width, and depth rather than the 
  simple lines and squares of land warfare. Brave but inexperienced 
  Xha’en warriors venturing into the depths on punitive missions learned 
  this to their misfortune.
  The merfolk also use war engines, particularly giant spear throwers 
  intended to impale larger foes or damage enemy fortiﬁ cations. There 
  are vast fortresses in the sea crafted from living coral, stone, and other 
  materials, stronger for being surrounded by the dampening effects of 
  water. They are also roofed over, for once more the three-dimensional 
  nature of oceanic warfare requires changes from land-based battles.
  Assaults on land require signiﬁ cant changes in tactics and approach. 
  Surface warfare falls primarily to the aquatic elves, who can survive 
  out of water for extended periods. Merfolk lack legs and have only 
  limited abilities on the surface, so usually only ofﬁ cers and spellcasters 
  participate, their abilities modiﬁ ed by magic amulets that extend their 
  endurance out of water. Weapons are enhanced with magic and poisons 
  from various deadly sea creatures, so wounds from Caerulean spears, 
  harpoon guns, and ballistae are especially dire. 
  Land forces are also aided by specially-bred and magically-enhanced 
  giant armored lungﬁ sh capable of carrying up to two riders or small 
  war engines such as catapults or ballistae. These creatures are slow 
  and ponderous but highly resistant to damage and all but implacable, 
  advancing determinedly, stopping only if actually killed or dismembered.
  In the past, especially against powerful foes, Caerulean druids, priests, 
  and other spellcasters could summon or control the largest creatures of the 
  deep, including titanic whales, colossal sea turtles, pods of orca, and giant 
  sharks. A few intelligent creatures such as sea dragons and kraken have 
  been persuaded to aid the merfolk in battle as well. As noted, many battles 
  involving these titans take place far from the sight of surface dwellers 
  who have no clue of the massive forces struggling beneath the waves.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Though the most prominent conﬂ ict in the eyes of humans was the 
  great war between the Xha’en Hegemony and Caerulea, to the merfolk, 
  humans are only one of many potential threats to their kingdom. 
  Elsewhere in the sea are kingdoms of sahuagin, tritons, and even rumored 
  settlements of aquatic elves, as well as tribes of scrag, grindylow, and 
  other intelligent sea creatures unknown to humans. Nomadic merfolk 
  and tritons wander the ocean as well, swimming from place to place 
  following schools of ﬁ sh and warm weather. 
  While the kingdom maintains relations with many of these groups, 
  particularly merfolk and creatures of good alignment, conﬂ ict with 
  the others is a regular event, as sahuagin raid outlying settlements and 
  grindylows hunt merfolk for food. Large-scale warfare is rare, but can 
  occur, as it did when an alliance of sahuagin swept into the kingdom 200 
  years ago and overwhelmed Caerulean garrisons and enslaved entire 
  communities. The ensuing struggle was difﬁ cult and at last the enemy 
  was driven from Caerulean territory, but the cost was high.
  The Caeruleans view the monstrous inhabitants of the Sinking 
  Land with special horror and have fought a long war against them for 
  centuries. Beginning in 4572 XC (3270 I.R.) when Castorhagi vessels 
  were attacked by the monsters of the Sea-Throng, the Caeruleans struck 
  back, engaging the throng in an underwater war that was hidden from 
  the surface folk. The great Castorhagi victory at Quandary Deep in 
  4773 XC (3471 I.R.) took place with secret assistance from Caerulean 
  warriors, and to this day Caerulean patrols help keep the Sea-Throng 
  from returning.
  The Caeruleans do not talk about their war with the Sinking Land, nor 
  have they ever revealed who the true masters of the Sea-Throng are. The 
  Caeruleans’ fear of the Sea-Throng may be well-founded, for those few 
  scholars who are aware of the conﬂ ict and the sea-folks’ participation 
  believe the Sinking Land’s rulers to be the terrible aboleth — utterly 
  alien entities that lurk in the deepest trenches and enslave other races, 
  twisting and transforming them into hideous slaves. The Caeruleans 
  themselves do not even acknowledge that the aboleth exist, but their 
  continued vigilance regarding the Sinking Land suggests that they know 
  far more than they are willing to admit. 
  Other threats to the kingdom are equally dire, including demons and 
  other hostile extradimensional entities summoned by the kingdom’s 
  enemies, or spontaneously drawn to the region by surges of ancient chaos 
  magic. Undead are also a rare but alarming event, and the deep depths 
  of the oceanic trenches that lie beyond Akados’ continental shelf harbor 
  stranger things still. Rumors suggest that tribes of twisted merrow — 
  horribly changed merfolk transformed into evil monstrosities — dwell 
  in the unplumbed depths, and that the Caerulean Kingdom is always 
  on its guard against their return. In Caerulean legend and folklore, the 
  sea-witch Awalea still lives on, her life extended by unnatural magics, 
  gathering merrow and other horrors to her cause and plotting vengeance 
  against the royal family.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  The sea is a vast and unexplored wilderness, and other things even 
  more hostile than sahuagin lurk in the depths. Surface folk who venture 
  to the kingdom face signiﬁ cant challenges, above and beyond the need 
  to survive underwater. Moving and thinking in three dimensions proves 
  difﬁ cult for surface-dwellers, and disorientation is a common issue. 
  Also, the sea has no roads or signs that are recognizable by outsiders. 
  Landmarks and permanent features can be used to navigate underwater, 
  but smart travelers will engage a local guide — merfolk or tritons being 
  the most frequently employed for this task.
  Many of the region’s inhabitants are creatures of downright infernal 
  nature such as the giant devil rays of the open sea — malicious, intelligent 
  and skilled in druidic magic, they are an especially grave threat to those 
  merfolk who travel any distance from the kingdom. Punitive or rescue 
  missions against the devil rays often take place after encounters with 
  these evil creatures.
  Many parts of the ocean are imbued with negative energy, a result 
  of extremely ancient events that transpired eons ago as gods and 
  demons contended for dominance over a young world. This magic has 
  persisted, with a variety of woeful results. Planar gateways sometimes 
  open unexpectedly and draw hostile entities into the ocean. Unexpected 
  bursts of necromantic energy may yield undead horrors, from the dead 
  of the sea or from the remains of drowned mariners. Mutative chaos 
  energy may transform mundane sea creatures into horriﬁ c monsters.
  Diplomatic missions to the undersea kingdom are not common, but 
  take place when important matters such as trade, warfare, or natural 
  disaster are to be discussed. These expeditions are difﬁ cult and usually 
  undertaken only by the most experienced ofﬁ cials. They also require 
  guards and escorts, jobs that are ideal for veteran adventurers. These 
  expeditions invariably involve encounters with hostile sea life and 
  possibly enemies of the Caerulean Kingdom, and usually involve rich 
  rewards to the survivors.
  Freelance adventurers have been known to venture into Caerulean 
  territory in order to explore sunken treasure wrecks or to delve into 
  abandoned structures built by the merfolk and others. As with the escort 
  missions, such ventures are quite perilous but can yield signiﬁ cant 
  rewards. The Caeruleans themselves, though a generally good-hearted 
  folk, may take a dim view of surface-dwellers sneaking into their realm 
  to steal. 
  THE ABYSS
  THE ABYSS
  The Akadonian continental shelf extends about 50 miles off the 
  coastline of the Xha’en Hegemony. It is there that the Kingdom of 
  Caerulea ﬂ ourishes and most of their settlements exist. Other undersea 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|71
  |71
  WESTERN AKADOS
  kingdoms and groups prefer these relatively shallow waters as well due 
  to their tolerable temperatures and teeming sea life. Beyond the shelf 
  lies the somewhat deeper and colder Akadonian Plateau that extends for 
  another 100 miles before giving way to the steep continental slope. The 
  Caeruleans maintain some settlements and fortresses on the plateau, and 
  nomadic nereids, merfolk, devil rays, and related species travel here 
  frequently. It is the black, cold open waters beyond the continental slope 
  that ﬁ ll the Caeruleans with dread.
  Several deep trenches extend from the continental slope, but none 
  is deeper than that directly opposite the Xha’en coastline and the sea 
  kingdom’s frontier. This deep, known only as the “Abyss,” is known to 
  harbor forces that terrify the Caeruleans and (should they ever become 
  known) the surface world as well. Here, in absolute darkness, protected 
  by miles of cold, deadly water, dwell the aboleths — creatures that may 
  have existed from the dawn of time, possibly even before the coming of 
  the gods. Though these monstrous tentacled beings are rarely seen, their 
  appearance inevitably heralds horror and disaster, as they or their twisted 
  minions emerge from the Abyss to take prisoners or ravage the upper 
  reaches of the sea for their own alien, incomprehensible purposes. It is 
  known, though rarely spoken of openly, that the Caeruleans have fought 
  several disastrous wars with the horrors, though details are scarce. The 
  merfolk do not like to speak of these creatures and their ways, possibly 
  because some of their own number were taken and enslaved in wars, 
  then sent back to plague the merfolk.
  The extent of the Abyss is not known for certain. A few especially 
  brave tritons have ventured into its upper reaches and reported the 
  presence of other creatures almost as disturbing as the aboleth. No one 
  is certain whether these others are in league with the aboleth, but stories 
  suggest the presence of grindylows, aquatic undead, sea demons, and 
  even dark, twisted merrow who lurk in the deep, plotting vengeance 
  against those who exiled them. These last are often associated with the 
  legendary sea-witch Awalea, though most “sensible” merfolk believe 
  she is nothing more than a myth designed to frighten naughty youngsters 
  into obedience. However, a few claim to know better …
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS 
  OF INTEREST IN WESTERN AKADOS
  OF INTEREST IN WESTERN AKADOS
  ALU RIVER
  ALU RIVER
  Like the Pantai, the Alu River was once an untamed waterway that 
  ﬂ ooded regularly and washed away homes, farms, and whole villages. 
  In 1115 XC (–187 I.R.), the Xha’en erected the great Lujhiran Dam 
  and ﬂ ooded the lowlands upstream and permanently tamed the Alu and 
  the Pantai rivers. Today, the Alu is far more sedate, ﬂ owing sluggishly 
  through the foothills of the Tsendakar Mountains before emptying 
  into the ocean at the city-state of Jhohir. Nowhere near as ﬁ lthy as the 
  crowded South Pantai River, the Alu acts as a highway for the towns 
  along its banks. Graceful stands of trees grow along its banks in many 
  places, including the picturesque northern Xha’en willow, an especially 
  large and attractive species.
  ANAROS ISLAND
  ANAROS ISLAND
  The Anari who inhabit this forested, stormy island are renowned 
  throughout the Hegemony as tough, skilled warriors with a deeply stoic 
  martial philosophy. Anaros Island itself serves as the leading member 
  of a confederacy of small communities and states scattered throughout 
  the Thousand Rocks. The Eldest, the region’s spiritual leader, dwells in 
  the distant temple Aliyashinsah located at the peak of Mount Yu’unar.
  Anaros Island seems the ideal place to breed a nation of warriors. Cold, 
  with rocky shores and thick pine forests, the island is unprotected from the 
  storms that roar in from the west, but also provides shelter to the smaller 
  islands of the Thousand Rocks. Its minimal resources and arable land 
  force its people to live in a stratiﬁ ed, yet also surprisingly egalitarian, 
  society where all are cared for and hardships are shared. It cannot be said 
  that no one goes hungry on Anaros Island, but if some go hungry, all 
  go hungry, including even the most inﬂ uential nobles. A popular proverb 
  asserts that “The branch may break, but the tree stands strong.”
  BAKKO RIVER
  BAKKO RIVER
  The Bakko originates in the high slopes of the Impossible Peaks 
  before meandering through the Sengejia Hills and joining the larger 
  Taode River southeast of Tsadar. Several villages of Senge tribesmen 
  are located along its length.
  BREAM, GREATER
  BREAM, GREATER
  Rocky, windswept, and covered in scrub pine and brush, Greater 
  Bream is not an especially hospitable place. Named for its northernmost 
  location among the Breams rather than its size or importance, Greater 
  Bream was always sparsely inhabited by the Koui ﬁ sherfolk, relatives 
  of the Senge tribesfolk of the Xha’en Hegemony. These folk live on 
  the island to this day, in small hamlets clustered along the southern 
  coast, sheltered from the ferocious storms that batter the seaward side 
  of the island. The northern portion of the island is dominated by relative 
  newcomers, however — colonists from the city of Castorhage built the 
  outpost of Farthest Point which, along with the newer citadel of Neer, 
  services the growing trafﬁ c of Castorhagi and other vessels bound for 
  the Elitani colonies in the north.
  So prominent are the Castorhagi works there that today even ships 
  from the Xha’en Hegemony put in for repairs and reﬁ tting, activities 
  which the emperor hopes improves relations with the Castorhagi and 
  eventually leads to full diplomatic ties.
  The interior of the island is mostly scrubland dotted here and there 
  with stands of wind-stunted trees and a few real forests. Wildlife 
  consists mostly of smaller predators such as wild dogs, felines, and 
  raptors that prey upon mice, rabbits, and snakes. The island harbors no 
  truly dangerous natural creatures, though the gangsters of the Triads are 
  believed to control some villages and maintain safehouses here for their 
  assassins and criminals on the run.
  BREAM, LEAST
  BREAM, LEAST
  This southernmost of the three Breams also has the smallest 
  population, owing to its relatively inhospitable terrain and climate. A 
  few Koui villages scrape out a living from the sea along the island’s 
  western shore, but the remainder of the place is windswept and rocky, 
  with almost no arable land and few plants beyond lichen, scrub, and 
  wind-warped pines. 
  BREAM, LESSER
  BREAM, LESSER
  Contrary to its diminutive name, Lesser Bream is actually the largest of the 
  three Bream Islands. Similar in climate and terrain to its neighboring islands 
  (see Greater Bream entry), Lesser Bream occupies the middle portion of 
  the three and is similarly home to independent villages of ﬁ sherfolk. Larger 
  and somewhat more fertile, Lesser Bream also contains a few Koui farming 
  communities that produce grains, tubers and berries. These farms are mostly 
  located in Lesser Bream’s eastern coastal regions, as the southern end of the 
  island grows progressively rugged, ﬁ nally rising to the twin peaks of Mounts 
  Kor and Shir, with the Shir Meadows in the vale between. 
  BREAM STRAITS
  BREAM STRAITS
  This narrow waterway lies between the Bream Islands and the 
  Xha’en mainland.  
  CAERULEAN OCEAN
  CAERULEAN OCEAN
  This vast and seemingly endless body of water stretches west from the 
  coast of the Xha’en Hegemony. Known to the Castorhagi as the Nether 
  Sea, it has proved far larger than explorers anticipated, and its full extent 
  
  72|
  72|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  remains unknown. Great oceanic kingdoms such as the merfolk’s realm 
  of Caerulea thrive unseen beneath the ocean’s waters, and its depths 
  hide many things that are best left unseen.
  THE CAULDRON
  THE CAULDRON
  Named for its many geysers and hot springs, the Cauldron, much like 
  the Hellsgate Peaks to the north of the Free Coast, is a cluster of highly 
  volcanic mountains located in the southern Xha’en region. Though 
  not part of the same mountain range as the Hellsgate Peaks, dwarven 
  scholar-druids have claimed the Cauldron sits along the same great 
  crack beneath the surface of the world, and that this great underground 
  crack, which they call a “fault line,” also causes the regular earthquakes 
  that rumble beneath the ground in the southern region of the Hegemony. 
  A more popular theory is that an ancient deity of ﬁ re was defeated and 
  slain in the region, and that her angry ghost gives rise to all the local 
  volcanoes. Earthquakes, it is said, are simply her attempts to raise 
  new volcanoes, while geysers and hot springs are thought to be young 
  volcanoes, not yet fully developed. If the right rituals to appease her 
  rage were ever to be found, so it is claimed, all the seismic and volcanic 
  activity in the area would cease forever. 
  In any event, the terrain and populations of the Cauldron are similar 
  to the Hellsgate Peaks in that many ﬁ re- and heat-loving people and 
  monsters choose to make the small mountain range their home. The 
  Cauldron is somewhat more easily traversed by nonmagical means than 
  the Hellsgate Peaks, however, as the geysers are far more active than 
  the volcanoes, and said volcanoes are in turn more easily predicted and 
  understood in their activity than those of Hellsgate. Thus, some of the 
  wider passes through the Cauldron range are generally reliable if a party 
  is well-prepared and able to defend themselves. 
  Also unlike the Hellsgate Peaks, the Cauldron is known for neither 
  devils nor red dragons but instead for a close-knit community of efreeti 
  in the secretive and difﬁ cult-to-access village of Soohr-Ahmaad.
  EAROS HILLS
  EAROS HILLS
  Nestled between the forbidding Eloitan region of the Green Warden 
  Forest and the peaks of the Odarnadar Mountains, the arid Earos Hills 
  are sparsely populated and wild. Grassy or forested hills are interspersed 
  with rift valleys inhabited by megafauna such as mammoths, daeodon, 
  giant sloths, paraceratherium, glyptodon, giant otters, saber-toothed cats, 
  and others. Much of the region has been left in its natural state by the 
  nobles of the city of Djir who use the Earos as a sort of a private hunting 
  preserve. In the spring and summer, elaborate caravans venture out of 
  Djir, guided by professional hunters who lead their wealthy employers 
  on long, luxurious hunts to seek the rare and exotic species that ﬂ ourish 
  here. While outsiders are not strictly forbidden to venture into the Earos 
  Hills, they may ﬁ nd themselves actively discouraged from exploring by 
  nobles and their hired bullies. The nobles of Djir generally consider the 
  hills to be theirs and theirs alone and have little tolerance of visitors.
  There are good reasons to risk the nobles’ ire however. Mighty 
  mammoths have roamed this region for aeons, and tales are told of fabulous 
  “graveyards” where ancient mammoth skeletons can be excavated, along 
  with a fortune in ivory. Other stories, actively discouraged by the Djir 
  nobles, suggest that remnants of the region’s oldest intelligent inhabitants, 
  an advanced race of reptilian humanoids who ruled during the Age of 
  Dragons, may be found here in small numbers protecting powerful 
  magical artifacts that they no longer understand. 
  HEAVENLY ROAD
  HEAVENLY ROAD
  Winding perilously through the treacherous peaks of the Tsendakar 
  Range, this grandly-named narrow passage is the only land route between 
  Gtsang Prefecture and the Xha’en Hegemony. The very difﬁ culty of 
  this road is what assured Gtsang’s independence for so long, and this 
  protection continues to this day, allowing the folk of Gtsang to gain 
  the beneﬁ ts of Hegemony membership without the onerous taxes and 
  regulations levied against folk in the remainder of the Xha’en state. 
  Though it is narrow, winding, and slow to navigate, the road is 
  surprisingly safe if it is treated with sufﬁ cient care and respect. 
  Monks and Uarsinsi warriors from the Udanishanti Temple regularly 
  patrol the path to make sure that travelers are safe and that no 
  “undesirables” are allowed to enter the Gtsang Prefecture. Unfortunately, 
  this deﬁ nition also includes rootless adventurers and wanderers, so those 
  venturing to Gtsang seeking their fortune had best have travel papers, or 
  at least a convincing story, at the ready.
  Udanishanti patrols also try to keep the path clear of hostile creatures, 
  but the mountains harbor a number of dangerous species and this can 
  prove difﬁ cult. Unwary travelers may encounter giants, griffons, yetis, 
  or goblins. Dealing with these creatures often falls to the dwarves of 
  Ankhura who also call the mountains home and maintain the Ithanic 
  Fortress in the western region of the mountains. The dwarves generally 
  leave security along the road to the patrols but have been known to 
  intervene and rescue lost or threatened travelers.
  THE IMPOSSIBLE PEAKS
  THE IMPOSSIBLE PEAKS
  Tall, cold, and forbidding, these mountains are well-named. Along 
  with the Green Warders of the Akadonian Forest, the Impossibles form 
  the eastern frontier of the Xha’en region, separating it from its nearest 
  neighbor, the Grand Duchy of Reme. While some stories circulate about 
  secret passes and a handful of explorers claim to have crossed them, there 
  are no conﬁ rmed tales of the Impossibles ever being traversed. While they 
  are neither as extensive as the Stonehearts nor as tall as the Deepfells, the 
  Impossible Peaks may be the most rugged mountain range in Akados, full 
  of sheer rock faces, deep rifts and ravines, treacherous icefalls and snow 
  deep enough to bury a city. Constantly wreathed in clouds and storms, 
  very little is known of the mountains’ true geography or whether their 
  highest peaks harbor anything besides quick death for travelers.
  As with the Tsendakar Mountains, however, there are clearly 
  subterranean passages beneath the Impossibles, for reports of marauding 
  ratfolk, goblins, and worse circulate through the foothills to the east and 
  west. The Senge tribes of the Sengejia Hills speak of mysterious raiders 
  who descend from the mountains under the cover of night to steal crops, 
  cattle, and even children, while stories of goblin attack have come from as 
  far away as Harrowfar and Tanner’s Green. While some of these raiders 
  may be hill-dwellers, there is little evidence to support this, suggesting 
  that the mysterious attackers come from the Impossible Peaks, where it is 
  theorized that they dwell in underground cavern complexes.
  The lower slopes of the Impossible Peaks, where the craggy 
  mountains fade into rugged hills, are also inhabited by various hardy 
  wildlife species such as mountain goats, sheep, and snow leopards. In 
  the past, tribes of hill and frost giants have made their homes there as 
  well, but there have been no reliable sightings of giants in generations, 
  leading many to suggest that they are extinct in the region.
  JHONI RIVER
  JHONI RIVER
  From a source on the north side of the Cauldron mountain range, the 
  Jhoni River runs primarily northward to the Caerulean Ocean. Though 
  the southern portion of the Jhoni is hot and smells unpleasantly of sulfur 
  due to the high volcanic activity near its source, many small tributaries 
  ﬂ ow into it along its route and dilute it into a relatively normal river by 
  the time it reaches the bustling Ejindor river docks. 
  Not far north of Ejindor, the Jhoni plummets down the tall and rocky 
  Jhoni Falls, into a sheltered grotto where many river vessels typically 
  stand at anchor. The rest of the Jhoni’s journey northward is through 
  a narrow canyon, such that its mouth pours forth between two sheer 
  cliff faces, which explains why no coastal city has sprung up beside it. 
  Instead, ships small enough to make the somewhat narrow voyage sail 
  up to the Jhoni Falls where an ingenious winch and pulley system hauls 
  smaller landing craft up the side of the falls and allows them to paddle 
  the rest of the way to Ejindor for the region’s major commerce. 
  In weather and river ﬂ ow, the Jhoni is a safe and predictable passage 
  during all seasons but the winter ﬂ oods, though experienced captains 
  know to bring appropriate guards and equipment for dealing with the 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|73
  |73
  WESTERN AKADOS
  Tengu bandits that unpredictably attack some Jhoni Canyon vessels, and 
  whose lair has yet to be found. 
  The Jhoni is always an unusually warm river due to its Cauldron 
  source, and both ﬁ shing and river sports are quite popular in Ejindor, 
  even in colder months. The river is barely lukewarm by that point in its 
  journey, but it never freezes, nor does it experience ﬂ ooding due to any 
  sort of spring thaw. It ﬂ oods when it rains, rarely to any inconvenient 
  degree for Ejindor residents, and the waters recede when the rain stops. 
  Only in the Jhoni Canyon is this a danger, as the narrow canyon walls 
  funnel the ﬂ oodwaters into dangerous rapids. A good river captain 
  knows to watch the weather in the vicinity and allow the river time to 
  subside after any ﬂ ood-worthy rainstorm.
  KAHARIS RIVER
  KAHARIS RIVER
  This short river ﬂ ows swiftly from the slopes of the Tsendakar 
  Mountains, joining the Alu River between the cities of Xha’ahan and 
  Jhohir. A famous willow that hangs over the river near the town of 
  Xe’qun is said to be haunted by the spirit of a woman who drowned 
  herself in the river over a faithless lover. If visitors rest at the foot of 
  this willow and tell their own sad tales of lost love, it is believed that the 
  ghost will speak to them and tell them strange secrets.
  THE KRAKEN’S TEETH
  THE KRAKEN’S TEETH
  These imposing rocks are the upper peaks of the mountains that once 
  surrounded the ﬂ ooded lowlands now known as the Sinking Place. 
  They and the other peaks that lie just beneath the surface form a deadly 
  barrier capable of tearing out the hulls of passing ships and keeping the 
  creatures of the Sinking Place secure from attack from the surface.
  KUSEVE GULF
  KUSEVE GULF
  No expedition has ever successfully found the bottom of the 
  suboceanic rift that lies at the junction of the Bream and Anaros islands. 
  Many superstitions surround this ill-omened stretch of water, and ship 
  captains refuse to cross it at night or during full moons. Even the deep-
  diving tritons of the Caerulean kingdom avoid the region. Some legends 
  claim that a titanic beast slumbers there, or that the trench is so deep 
  that it reaches to another plane full of fell water demons that sometimes 
  emerge to trouble the surface-dwellers and unfortunate mariners. 
  LAKE PANTAI
  LAKE PANTAI
  Thousands of years ago, this vast artiﬁ cial lake was called the Pantai 
  Lowlands, and was home to Senge tribesmen. Later, the Xha’en Agretor 
  clan settled here and founded a vast and powerful city-state along the 
  Pantai River that rivaled the growing inﬂ uence of Xha’ahan. The cunning 
  Xha’en ended Agretor’s ascendancy by damming the Pantai, ﬂ ooding 
  the lowlands and transforming the region into what was redubbed Lake 
  Pantai. Now, the cities of Xha’ahan, Aphapor, and Tsadar rise from the 
  shores of the lake, with regular water travel between them. In addition 
  to submerging the troublesome city-state, the dam also wrought untold 
  havoc on the local environment and caused droughts across the Plains of 
  Xha and required the construction of a vast canal and aqueduct network 
  to bring water to Xha’en farms. These difﬁ cult days are long past, and 
  the battered ecosystem has readjusted to the new reality — the Xha’en 
  themselves even take ﬁ sh from the lake, and the tamed South Pantai River 
  is a major travel route through the central provinces of the Hegemony.
  As an entirely artiﬁ cial construction, the lake is free of many natural 
  hazards of the region, and its economic importance has grown over the 
  centuries. There is one major exception to the lake’s relative placidity 
  however, for the death of Agretor has never fully vanished from Xha’en 
  memory. Many tragic tales have been told of the last days of the Agretor, 
  and of the Senge tribesfolk displaced by the Pantai’s ﬂ ooding — despite 
  the Hegemony’s ofﬁ cial focus on the glories of the dam’s construction 
  and its signiﬁ cance as a symbol of Xha’en superiority. Some tales claim 
  that the city still exists in the depths of Lake Pantai, inhabited by the 
  shades of its old inhabitants who still relive their lives as their resentment 
  and rage at the Xha’en festers and grows. Stories of phantoms, shades, 
  mysterious mists, and even cannibalistic undead rising from the waters 
  of Lake Pantai are told in hushed whispers, and invariably silenced by 
  government bureaucrats. Yet the tales persist, and one day they may 
  actually prove true.
  LUJHIRAN DAM
  LUJHIRAN DAM
  This marvel of engineering was built in 1115 XC (–187 I.R.) when 
  many of Akados’ inhabitants still lived in highly primitive conditions. 
  Raised on the Alu River and intended to prevent the annual ﬂ ooding 
  of the Pantai, the dam succeeded almost too well, ﬂ ooding the 
  Pantai Lowlands and depriving the plains of water, necessitating the 
  construction of canals, channels, and aqueducts to bring water back to 
  the Plains of Xha in a more controlled fashion. It also utterly tamed 
  the Alu and the Pantai rivers, transforming them into far more placid 
  (and in the case of the South Pantai River, far ﬁ lthier) waterways. 
  The dam itself was crafted of ﬁ tted stones laid individually along the 
  Alu’s riverbed and in from its banks between the Pantai Lowlands 
  and the ﬂ at ﬂ oodplains north of Xha’ahan City. Some claim that high 
  sorcery and elaborate rituals were also used in the construction, for 
  the dam remains intact and functional three and a half millennia later. 
  To be sure, the dam has been renovated and repaired over the years; 
  at one point during the Huris Dynasty, a second, stronger dam was 
  built, essentially adding a second wall to the ﬁ rst, but the structure’s 
  longevity nevertheless supports the notion that arcane or supernatural 
  forces were used in its erection. In addition to its ﬂ ood control 
  functions, the dam also drives great grinding stones that produce ﬂ our 
  and meal for the Hegemony.
  MOUNT KAPE
  MOUNT KAPE
  The highest point of Least Bream Island is a prominent, snow-
  clad landmark for mariners, and is said to contain an ancient temple 
  to prehistoric, possibly pre-human, gods, but the region is wild and 
  inaccessible, so no one has yet been able to verify these rumors.
  MOUNT KOR
  MOUNT KOR
  One of the two prime peaks located on the southern end of 
  Lesser Bream Island, Mount Kor rises 6,000 feet beside its 
  slightly taller sibling, Mount Shir. The bones of the hero Nandase 
  supposedly lie at the summit, and those who venture here are said to 
  receive his blessing.
  MOUNT SHIR
  MOUNT SHIR
  Rising to 6,500 feet, Mount Shir is the taller of the two mountains 
  located on the southern tip of Lesser Bream. Its lower slopes are 
  forested, and foothills contain several lush alpine meadows, in sharp 
  contrast to the island’s harsh, windswept terrain. A small sect of Koui 
  druids tends to these natural areas and dwell in the caves found among 
  the crags of Mount Shir.
  MOUNT YU’UNAR
  MOUNT YU’UNAR
  Located at the very northern tip of Anaros Island, this mountain is 
  known as Mount Yu’unar in the Anari language, meaning White Peak.  
  On Castorhagi maps it is labeled Mount Harthnow, after the captain of 
  the Castorhagi vessel Brave, who mapped the peak in 4516 XC (3214 
  I.R.). It soars nearly 8,000 feet above the cold, crashing waves of the 
  Bream Straits. At its peak stands Aliyashinsah, the Warrior’s Temple 
  and spiritual heart of the Anari people, where the Eldest dwells in 
  isolation, contemplating the world that stretches out below him. Access 
  to the temple is by a number of risky climbing routes and winding paths 
  above yawning depths, and many who seek audience with the Eldest 
  never reach their goal. 
  
  74|
  74|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  ODARNADAR MOUNTAINS
  ODARNADAR MOUNTAINS
  According to Ankhuran stone-scholars, the Odarnadar Mountains 
  came to be as part of the same ancient geologic events that led to 
  both the Cauldron to the southwest and the Impossible Peaks to 
  the northeast, though the Odarnadars are nothing like those other 
  ranges. The Odarnadar Mountains are neither steep and cold nor 
  riddled with volcanoes; instead they are lush and green save for the 
  tops of the tallest peaks, with broad, sloping sides covered in deep, 
  ancient forests. 
  The soil here is not good for planting or grazing, and even a gentle 
  mountain makes for a harsher way of life than the plains and hills 
  below, so the majority of the Odarnadar Mountains remain untouched 
  by civilization. Exceptions include the deep-cut farming and grazing 
  terraces in the lower northern slopes near the foot of the range, as well as 
  the various iron and gem mines higher up on the same side. There is also 
  a well-maintained, broad pass through the middle of the range, running 
  roughly north-south, which is loosely guarded by Xha’en troops from 
  late spring to early fall, for uses both mercantile and military. 
  Outside these exceptions, the Odarnadar Mountains are a place of 
  pristine nature as far as the eye can see. However, this is not to say 
  that they are harmless to travelers. Aside from the one guarded pass, 
  the majority of the mountain range is home to all manner of perilous 
  wildlife, including at least one large pack of dire wolves, many other 
  dire animals, megafauna from the Earos Hills, and any number of forest- 
  and mountain-dwelling magical creatures.
  It has been said that the Odarnadar Mountains are guarded by some 
  powerful being that protects them from being despoiled beyond certain 
  encroachments. According to rumor, this entity might be an ancient 
  mountain god, a gold or green dragon, a kirin, or an immortal druid. 
  Animistic shrines dot the side of the road along the guarded pass through 
  the mountains, and while the druids who maintain them say they are 
  devoted only to the land itself, the travelers who stop beside them to 
  pray or to leave offerings of coin, food, and pretty stones will tell you 
  they are praying to almost every conceivable entity for safe passage 
  through its territory. 
  And, indeed, the road itself is usually as safe as any wilderness travel 
  can be expected to be. Those who step off the road outside the marked 
  camping areas, however, are indeed known at times to disappear or to be 
  found slain by wild beasts. Whether this is simply because they have left 
  the safety of the guarded road or because they transgressed against the 
  unspoken rules of whatever entity may or may not claim the Odarnadar 
  Mountains as its territory is perhaps a matter best left to personal 
  interpretation, as those who know the truth, if any, aren’t talking. 
  PANTAI RIVER
  PANTAI RIVER
  The broad Pantai River is central to the history and civilization of 
  the Xha’en region. Originally ﬂ owing unrestricted from high in the 
  Impossible Peaks, the Pantai brought water to the rich and fertile 
  Plains of Xha, allowing the development of agriculture and permanent 
  settlements by the region’s original inhabitants, the Senge tribesfolk. 
  This fertility came with problems however, for the Pantai periodically 
  ﬂ ooded the region, washing away towns and farms. It was the Xha’en 
  who ended this ancient cycle by erecting the mighty Lujhiran Dam on 
  the Alu River to the north, permanently ﬂ ooding the Pantai Lowlands 
  and freeing the plains from the threat of ﬂ ooding. Today, the northern 
  portion of the Pantai River remains, bringing fresh water from the 
  mountains to the artiﬁ cial Lake Pantai, from which the river’s lower 
  portion, the South Pantai River, now ﬂ ows, into the teeming settlements 
  and farms of the Plains of Xha.
  PERILOUS KAF
  PERILOUS KAF
  Once, long ago, there lived a mad wizard who chose to name her 
  rambling, asymmetrical, gravity-defying tower “the Kaf.” Many have 
  speculated that this word had some meaning in some extraplanar 
  language that the wizard spoke, or that it relates somehow to the Kaf 
  people of the Kildren Peninsula, but if so, the signiﬁ cance was lost upon 
  the wizard’s death. Also lost upon her death was the structural integrity 
  of her improbably constructed fortress, and before her elven allies had 
  even ﬁ nished lighting her pyre, her tower crumbled to ruins, destroying 
  most of her centuries of acquired knowledge and treasure — or so it 
  was thought. 
  Decades later, a group of treasure hunters passed through the region 
  and poured over the jumbled stone ruins, in case the elves had missed 
  anything of value. During the process, one of their number stumbled 
  through a broken stone trapdoor into what was, at ﬁ rst, believed to be 
  a simple basement. Excited by their discovery, the treasure hunters 
  descended into the passage below, where they stayed for several days. 
  Only two ever made it out alive, both badly injured, but one of them 
  managed to bring out with her a golden statue enchanted to temporarily 
  increase the intelligence of those touching it. 
  Sale of the statue made the two treasure hunters wealthy for life, 
  and both retired from adventuring. They documented what they had 
  experienced on a series of beautifully illuminated scrolls titled “The 
  Perilous Kaf: A Labyrinth of Terror.” The scrolls described wealth and 
  treasures but also knowledge beyond all imagining squirreled away in 
  seemingly random pockets throughout an incomprehensible system of 
  tunnels and honeycombing passages, all enchanted to magically shift 
  and change shape from time to time. 
  These passages were guarded by traps both mechanical and magical, 
  all enchanted to mend themselves if broken. In addition, various 
  corridors housed guardians in the form of golems, animated objects, and 
  other magical constructs, or were enchanted to summon living monsters 
  to attack in accordance with unpredictable predetermined criteria. 
  “The Perilous Kaf cannot, in our opinion, be safely explored by mere 
  mortals,” the scrolls conclude. “We were the best of our profession 
  with the best equipment, and we believe we saw less than half of the 
  wizard’s mad underground maze. Indeed, we believe that even she 
  could no longer access most of her creation, unless some mystical key 
  to her puzzle was lost in her tower’s rubble. We cannot recommend that 
  anyone ever attempt such an expedition again.”
  Despite such dire warnings, however, the scrolls do include a detailed 
  map to the portions of the Kaf that the treasure hunters were able to 
  explore, with extensive survival advice for those who would follow in 
  their footsteps. Many have done so, and few have survived to tell the 
  tale. Fewer still have had any better success than the ﬁ rst expedition, 
  and none has managed to map the full Kaf. 
  The last known location of the scrolls of the Kaf is the treasury of 
  the Xha’en emperor. By imperial decree, the Kaf itself has been sealed 
  with a great iron gate. Too many have lost their lives in its depths to no 
  purpose, and the empire fears what dangerous artifacts might be brought 
  to the surface should an expedition ever succeed. It is said, however, that 
  copies of the scrolls can be found here and there among the wealthier 
  members of Xha’en’s criminal underworld. Some such copies are fakes 
  or otherwise inaccurate, but it is said that at least one copy is a perfect 
  replica of the original (or even that it IS the original, and the emperor 
  has an excellent forgery). 
  Any explorers with a chance of survival would have no difﬁ culty 
  bypassing the emperor’s iron gate and lock, so the Kaf is still 
  explored from time to time. What no one has found yet is whether 
  the original treasure hunters were correct that some additional key 
  is needed to solve the maze. The wizard’s elven allies did recover 
  some treasures from the fallen tower. Could this hypothetical key 
  be among them? And if so, who has it now? Perhaps the scrolls’ 
  authors are correct that the mysteries of the Perilous Kaf will never 
  be solved, but … perhaps not?
  QALEN DELTA
  QALEN DELTA
  The great Qalen River terminates on the Xha’en coast northwest 
  of the city of Thanalos, along the southern edge of the Plains of Xha. 
  Agriculturally rich and densely populated, the Qalen Delta is the source 
  of a signiﬁ cant portion of the Xha’en Hegemony’s grains, alfalfa, rice, 
  and fruit.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|75
  |75
  WESTERN AKADOS
  QALEN RIVER
  QALEN RIVER
  Since the mighty Pantai was split in two and tamed by the construction 
  of Lujhiran Dam, the Quan has taken its place as the longest continuous 
  river in the Xha’en Hegemony, ﬂ owing along the southern edge of the 
  Plains of Xha. Broad and old, the Quan follows a serpentine path, with 
  various bends and oxbows throughout.
  QUY ISLAND
  QUY ISLAND
  This large, forested island lies a few miles off the west coast of Akados. 
  It is home to several thousand Xha’en who make their living farming 
  and ﬁ shing. It has one substantial settlement, the city of Jhadarah on the 
  island’s northern coast.
  The island’s interior is largely wild and unsettled, and is home to deer, 
  black bears, foxes, and similar woodland creatures. While the eastern 
  coast of Quy is relatively placid, the northern and western coasts are 
  windy, rugged places periodically lashed by storms and high waves. A 
  few communities cling to the rocks here, braving the high seas for their 
  rich haul of ocean ﬁ sh. Legends of the seas abound here, for just a few 
  miles beyond the island, the Akadonian continental shelf drops abruptly, 
  plunging to immeasurable depths, said to contain both wonders and 
  horrors. Every few years, tales surface of great monsters ascending from 
  the deep to ravage Quy ﬁ shing ﬂ eets before returning to the abyss. 
  QUY STRAIT
  QUY STRAIT
  A broad and deep strait, this stretch of ocean lies between Quy Island 
  and the Xha’en Hegemony, and is a popular route owing to its relative 
  calm and easily navigated waters.
  RIVER ROAD
  RIVER ROAD
  This broad road stretches between Tsadar and Thanalos. Fully paved 
  and well maintained, it is vital to trade and transport through the central 
  regions of the Xha’en Hegemony. Warriors from both cities regularly 
  patrol its length, and it is normally crowded with trafﬁ c each way.
  SENGEJIA HILLS
  SENGEJIA HILLS
  The rugged, nearly trackless foothills of the Impossible Peaks are 
  home to the Senge clans, the last descendants of the region’s original 
  inhabitants who ﬂ ed here in the face of Xha’en aggression. While 
  the Senge are not a hostile or warlike people, they remain insular and 
  distrustful of outsiders, which is not entirely unreasonable given their 
  tragic history. The hills are a rough place, and the Senge scratch out a 
  bare living through subsistence farming, herding, and occasional trade 
  with the Xha’en. The hills themselves are covered in hardy grasses and 
  occasional stands of white oak and smoke trees. The broad Pantai River 
  is the largest waterway in the region and dotted with many small Senge 
  settlements. Most other rivers are small, and many are seasonal. Wildlife 
  is similarly hardy, with a few large predators such as dire wolves and 
  hyenas, smaller predators such as foxes and coyotes, and herd animals 
  such as deer, vicuna, and an especially ﬂ eet species of antelope called 
  the kuailu. The region is also home to hill giant and gnoll tribes and is 
  sometimes ravaged by ratfolk from the caverns beneath the Impossible 
  Peaks. The Senge themselves fear to stray too far from home at night, as 
  stories of lycanthropes and roaming ghosts and revenants are common.
  SHAWA RIVER
  SHAWA RIVER
  A short, fast-ﬂ owing river, the Shawa is a major tributary of the larger 
  Qalen River.
  THE SHELTERED SEA (AKA UMI HOSOETA)
  THE SHELTERED SEA (AKA UMI HOSOETA)
  This body of water located between Anaros Island and the Xha’en 
  mainland contains the bulk of the Thousand Rocks, which range in size 
  from tiny outcroppings to larger islands capable of supporting houses 
  and small communities. Legend holds that the rocks were once part of a 
  single landmass that connected Anaros Island to the mainland, but that 
  they were shattered and ﬂ ooded during a battle between rival dragons 
  during the Age of Dragons.
  SHO RIVER
  SHO RIVER
  The Sho takes a circuitous route from the Odarnadar Mountains, 
  through the Earos Hills and the Green Warden Forest before joining 
  the Qalen River along the southern edge of the Plains of Xha. It is little 
  traveled and there are no settlements on its banks, owing to its proximity 
  to the elven domains.
  THE SINKING PLACE
  THE SINKING PLACE
  This mysterious region is said by the Gtsang to have once been above 
  water, but over centuries was slowly and deliberately drawn beneath the 
  waves, probably by the hostile forces that rule the place. Today, only the 
  upper peaks of the mountains that once surrounded the Sinking Place remain 
  above the surface, forming a potent barrier against large-scale incursion.
  The region is known to harbor many hostile sea-creatures, many of 
  which attack passing vessels with clear malevolence — sea serpents, 
  kraken, aquatic demons, and other lesser-known species have been sighted 
  here. Not only do these creatures represent a real danger to shipping, but 
  they appear to be controlled by some sort of greater intelligence.
  In 4572 XC (3270 I.R.), a Castorhage trade ﬂ eet set out from Lesser 
  Bream, only to be attacked by sea creatures on their return from Elitan-i-
  pan. While the event was a tragedy of catastrophic proportions, it proved 
  to be only the beginning of the Breams’ troubles in the region. Over the 
  next three years, attacks grew in number and intensity, and in 4575 XC 
  (3273 I.R.), Castorhage Admiral Milo Skanter led a ﬂ eet of 12 ships into 
  the area to hunt down and destroy the monsters. The expedition ended 
  in disaster as an overwhelming horde of sea monsters emerged from the 
  Sinking Place, with only a single ship escaping. It was not until 4773 
  XC (3471 I.R.) that the Sea-Throng was ﬁ nally brought to bay at the 
  Battle of Quandary Deep. Though the throng was defeated and wiped 
  out or put to ﬂ ight, the Sinking Place remains ﬁ rmly under their control, 
  and outside ships visit the region at their own peril.
  No one on the surface knows who truly rules the Sinking Place. The 
  sea-folk of Caerulea are said to have extensive knowledge, but in typical 
  fashion are quite reluctant to share information with surface-dwellers.
  SOUTH PANTAI RIVER
  SOUTH PANTAI RIVER
  Beyond the placid surface of Lake Pantai, the vast body of water 
  created by the damming of the Alu River, the once-wild Pantai River, 
  now ﬂ ows peacefully into the Plains of Xha where it is diverted into 
  canals and channels to aid in irrigation. Now broad, slow, and fully 
  tamed, the South Pantai serves as a highway of sorts, with extensive 
  boat and ferry trafﬁ c up and down its length. Its paciﬁ cation has had 
  consequences of course, for it is now full of silt and only the most robust 
  ﬁ sh species survive — mostly carp and some large catﬁ sh. Waste from 
  the city of Rojhah also fouls the water, and by the time it reaches the 
  sea far to the west, the South Pantai is dark, muddy and largely lifeless.
  TAODE RIVER
  TAODE RIVER
  The graceful Taode originates in the Impossible Peaks and winds 
  lackadaisically across the Plains of Xha. It is broader and less prone to 
  ﬂ ood than the old Pantai River, and before the coming of the Xha’en was 
  settled by the Senge, who traveled on and ﬁ shed in its waters. It remains 
  important to the region today, though the Xha’en have diverted much of 
  its ﬂ ow into canals for the irritation of Xha farms and settlements.
  
  76|THE LOST LANDS
  WESTERN AKADOS
  THE THOUSAND ROCKS
  THE THOUSAND ROCKS
  Anaros Island forms a long, narrow wall that protects this rocky 
  archipelago from the worst of the storms from the Caerulean Ocean, 
  allowing its inhabitants to wrest a living from the sea and their islands’ 
  rocky soil. Most inhabitants of the Thousand Rocks are Anari, though 
  some Xha’en have migrated here to try their luck. Most fail, leaving the 
  isles to their original inhabitants.
  There may well be a thousand or more rocks in the Sheltered Sea, 
  especially if one counts the uninhabitable spurs of rock that rise from the 
  waves all across the region. Larger rocks, marginally more hospitable, 
  harbor the region’s humans, who live in small villages or hamlets, ﬁ shing 
  or farming during the few pleasant months of the spring and summer. 
  Some of these hamlets are tiny, with only a dozen or so inhabitants, and 
  a few harbor solitary dwellings where individual families live in utter 
  isolation. Lone hermits also live here in huts that cling to the coldest and 
  loneliest of rocks.
  Like the Anari of the main island, Thousand Rock folk are a stoic and self-
  reliant lot, dedicated to a life of labor and deprivation, assured of nothing 
  save reincarnation to still more toil. A few seek spiritual enlightenment as 
  monks or take the path of the warrior, but most remain here for their entire 
  lives, rarely seeing anything beyond their home islands. 
  TSENDAKAR MOUNTAINS
  TSENDAKAR MOUNTAINS
  Rising majestically along the northern coast of the Xha’en Hegemony, 
  the Tsendakar range provides further security and is yet another major 
  factor in the ancient nation’s isolation and continued tranquility. 
  Impassable save for a single route known as the Heavenly Road, the 
  mountains are largely wilderness, unexplored and deadly to outsiders. 
  Yeti and frost giants lurk among icy peaks, snow griffons and ice drakes 
  prey on the unwary, and treacherous crevasses, all but bottomless, 
  crisscross the range, sometimes hidden beneath debris or drifts. The 
  Tsendakar are rich with folklore and history, for the fearsome Tu Chai 
  Palace of the tyrannical Red King was located here. The legendary 
  Udanishanti Temple, where anyone who makes the difﬁ cult journey can 
  train in the ways of the Uarsinsi, is located along a side trail of the 
  Heavenly Road. And there are legends of lost gods, forgotten heroes, 
  and ancient treasures to be found throughout the range.
  Beneath the Tsendakars lies the Kingdom of Ankhura, a dwarven 
  nation like no other. Hidden passages to Ankhura are in many locations, 
  but most are so well concealed that only Ankhuran dwarves can ﬁ nd 
  them. Lost travelers are sometimes rescued by the dwarves, though they 
  are reluctant to share their secrets. The undermountain passages also 
  contain hostile creatures — goblins, ratfolk, and others. The Ankhurans 
  are stingy with their secrets, but stories are also quietly told that the 
  dwarves have knowledge of deeper and more terrifying things in the 
  lightless depths beneath their lowest chambers.
  UDANISHANTI TEMPLE
  UDANISHANTI TEMPLE
  Standing at the top of a long and winding staircase that rises from the 
  Heavenly Road in the treacherous Tsendakar Mountains, the Udanishanti 
  Temple has stood here for centuries, a monument to martial excellence 
  and spiritual perfection. Built on ﬁ ve levels, each progressively higher 
  up the mountain than the previous one, the temple is a wonder of 
  aesthetic construction, incorporating dragon symbology throughout. 
  Founded by the Anari of the Thousand Rocks soon after the founding 
  of the Xha’en Hegemony, the temple’s doors are open to any who can 
  reach them, though the training regimen within has proven far too 
  challenging for the vast majority of students. Here, principles of martial 
  combat based upon the Anari warrior model are taught, along with other 
  unarmed martial arts, as well as calligraphy, poetry, dance, archery, and 
  meditation. Under the guidance of Headmaster Omronris, the temple 
  has trained warriors from Anaros Island, Gtsang, the Hegemony, and 
  the Utterends, as well as a handful of outsiders from as far away as 
  Castorhage who have made the perilous journey here. Not all students 
  need to be human, either — a good number of elves and dwarves have 
  come to learn the ways of the blade at the temple. It is even said that 
  some kenku and tabaxi from the far south have attended the school, and 
  that they bore the master’s teachings back to their own people.
  XHA, PLAINS OF
  XHA, PLAINS OF
  This vast and fertile plain has been continuously settled and cultivated 
  for millennia. The plains were originally inhabited by the Senge, 
  peaceful agrarians and herders who were unable to stem the tide of 
  Xha’en migration. Within a few generations of their arrival, the Xha’en 
  had forced the Senge into the hill country to the east and entirely taken 
  over the Plains of Xha. The construction of the Lujhiran Dam prevented 
  the annual ﬂ ooding that swamped the region, while permanently 
  ﬂ ooding the Pantai Lowlands. While this allowed for more permanent 
  settlements in the Xha region, it also deprived the area of irrigation and 
  forced the Xha’en to build canals and aqueducts to provide water to 
  local farmers. Today, the area is thickly populated with numerous farms 
  and villages, roads, inns, government buildings, barracks, and similar 
  signs of civilization. As the heavily-settled center of a great nation, the 
  Plains of Xha is possibly one of the safest regions in all Akados.
  76|
  76|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  Beneath the Tsendakars lies the Kingdom of Ankhura, a dwarven 
  nation like no other. Hidden passages to Ankhura are in many locations, 
  but most are so well concealed that only Ankhuran dwarves can ﬁ nd 
  them. Lost travelers are sometimes rescued by the dwarves, though they 
  are reluctant to share their secrets. The undermountain passages also 
  contain hostile creatures — goblins, ratfolk, and others. The Ankhurans 
  are stingy with their secrets, but stories are also quietly told that the 
  dwarves have knowledge of deeper and more terrifying things in the 
  lightless depths beneath their lowest chambers.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|77
  |77
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE  GREEN 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE  GREEN 
  WARDEN FOREST AND FREE COAST
  WARDEN FOREST AND FREE COAST
  THE GREEN WARDEN NATIONS
  THE GREEN WARDEN NATIONS
  Capital: none
  Notable Settlements: Anasanalin (61,000), Elenis Tuath 
  (200-600, seasonal), Family of Thorns (47,000) Forest’s Bones 
  (38,000), The Kingdom of Wolves (59,000), Lintariel (52,000), 
  Monkey’s Laughter (53,000) Sentinels of the Trees (60,000), 
  Serpent’s Coil (42,000)
  Ruler: none currently (a high monarch is chosen in times of war 
  with outsiders)
  Government: hereditary monarchy (Anasanalin, Lintariel), 
  semi-democratic republic (Forest’s Bones, Sentinels of the 
  Trees), semi-democratic monarchy (The Kingdom of Wolves), 
  nomadic bands (Monkey’s Laughter), martial meritocracy 
  (Family of Thorns), nomadic bands/monarchy mix (Serpent’s 
  Coil), theocracy (Elenis Tuath)  
  Population: 413,000 (wild elves 411,000, other humanoid 2,000) 
  Monstrous: dire or giant animals native to the region (including 
  but not limited to local breeds of monkeys, apes, pandas, red 
  pandas, wolves, foxes, many snakes, birds, and occasional 
  tigers), plant-type creatures native to the region (any, but 
  especially treants, shambling mounds), awakened plants/trees, 
  awakened animals, satyrs, pixies, centaurs, lycanthropes 
  (various) dryads, unicorns, nymphs, other fey, owlbears, 
  various undead (Forest’s Bones region, Great Road ruins 
  environs), wyverns, pseudodragons, other temperate forest 
  creatures native to the region 
  Languages: Elven, Sylvan, Druidic, some Common
  Religion: Animism, Arialee, local deities
  Resources: magical resources, spices, timber (responsibly 
  harvested in careful moderation), rare woods, dyes, spirits, 
  cloth, pottery, foodstuffs
  Currency: barter and gift, mixed
  Technology Level: usually High Middle Ages
  The Green Warden Nations are a collective of fragmented wild elven 
  peoples loosely allied in their guardianship of the Green Warden Forest. 
  They are peoples dedicated as well to preserving as much as they can of 
  all that they, and all elves, have lost. They prize tales of the past — both 
  the glorious past from before the humans came, and the terrible past of 
  wars and horrors and loss. 
  Each of the Green Warden Nations is different from the others. The 
  people are all similar: stately elves with ﬂ owing black hair, eyes of black, 
  browns, or grays, and rich woody-brown skin. Culturally, however, 
  these elves are more diverse than the humans who encounter them often 
  assume. They are a nation because they have decided to ally as one, but 
  they are proud of their differences, and they honor the divergent ways in 
  which each nation keeps its history alive. 
  One thing Green Warden elves do share is that humans never see their 
  settlements. Ever. Each nation handles this resolution differently, but for 
  the last several generations, the elves of the Green Warden Forest never 
  allow any human eyes to set sight on their homes. They also do not 
  draw maps of their nation and navigate instead by their deeply-instilled 
  knowledge of the forest itself, by a system of coded signs and symbols 
  hidden among the trees, and — in a pinch — magic. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Long, long ago, the forest was vast and stretched across the continent. 
  When humans began to cut and burn the trees, the elven people scattered, 
  fought, hid, or made peace as best they could. The wild elves retreated to 
  the far southwest to protect the remains of the Great Akadonian Forest from 
  human invasion. There, in a mighty and terrible ritual that took a full year to 
  cast, the wild elves raised the Green Warder monoliths in 725 I.R., a magic 
  to keep all enemies of the forest from being able to enter it … from the north. 
  Strategically, it was a well-chosen position for the spell, and for more 
  than 1,500 years it kept the elven peoples isolated from most of the rest 
  of the world. The early Xha’en peoples to the west did come to encroach 
  upon the western edge of the forest, but there was much wilderness 
  between them and the remains of the elves’ homeland. Even to this day, 
  the Xha’en have never mounted a serious incursion against the Green 
  Warden Forest. To the east, however, what had seemed a harmless 
  stretch of coastline was “discovered” by Castorhage, and in 2301 I.R. 
  they set up penal colonies alongside the eastern forest. 
  After 1,500 years, not even the elves had living memory of the 
  conﬂ icts that ﬁ rst raised the Green Warders. After a few diplomatic 
  overtures from Castorhagi Queen Malice, the elves began to feel 
  that perhaps the days of enmity with humans had passed. Indeed, her 
  outreach was so generous, and their economy so quickly improved by 
  Castorhagi trade, the wild elves and fey gifted her with the Courtyard of 
  Oak — a living courtyard — that was carefully nurtured and tended on 
  its journey across the sea to her court in Castorhage.
  Such friendship was not to last, however. Queen Malice’s great 
  grandson, Lertis Tevoy, decided (for reasons no one ever fully 
  understood) to break every treaty Castorhage and the Green Realm had 
  ever made. He began an incursion into the forest to build a road. The 
  elves attempted to dissuade the Castorhagi humans from following their 
  king’s bizarre order, but they could not be convinced, and no diplomatic 
  plea to King Lertis was ever acknowledged. When all else failed — in 
  2349 I.R. after the 37th tree was slain to make room for the road — 
  the elves, fey, and awakened plants and animals of the northern Green 
  Realm went to war with their human neighbors. 
  King Lertis Tevoy responded by doubling down on his devotion to his 
  incomprehensible road, committing thousands of troops and driving the 
  road all the way into the forest, almost to the edge of the Green Realm’s 
  former summer capital, Elenis Tuath. The history of Elenis Tuath is told 
  elsewhere, but when the humans arrived, it had been evacuated save for 
  a few monks whom the invaders slaughtered. 
  At that point, the elves, who had previously sought to limit the conﬂ ict, 
  ceased efforts at self-restraint and escalated to new and far bloodier tactics. 
  Within a week of the attack on Elenis Tuath in 2369 I.R., Fort Tevoy was 
  sacked and its garrison destroyed. It was another four years before the 
  Forest Coast War ﬁ nally ended, but by then it had cost Castorhage millions 
  in gold and nearly 80,000 lives. Losses did not approach such a scale on 
  the elven side, even when including felled trees as casualties. Having had 
  to mortgage the Castorhagi crown jewels to pay the war debts, King Lertis 
  Tevoy was betrayed by his own half-brother Terrance Acquiri, who, with 
  the support of the city’s nobles, was named king (and nicknamed King 
  Acquire).  In short order the new king, seeking a ﬁ nal end to the conﬂ ict, 
  made a wary peace with the wild elves. 
  This new state of affairs was far from friendship, however, and in 
  2383 I.R. the Green Realm lost all contact with the elves and fey in 
  Castorhage who tended the still-living Courtyard of Oak. To this day, no 
  clear explanation for their disappearance has been given, and relations 
  with Castorhage have never improved. 
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST
  AND THE FREE COAST
  AND THE FREE COAST
  
  78|THE LOST LANDS
  78|
  78|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST 
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST 
  AND THE FREE COAST
  AND THE FREE COAST
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|79
  |79
  A wild elven ritual at a Green Warder Monolith.
  
  80|
  80|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  The humans remaining in the Castorhagi Forest Coast colonies saw 
  less and less contact and support from their rulers and grew ever warier 
  of the threat of their elven neighbors as the years went by. In addition 
  to the dangers from the close-by forest, the isolated human colonies 
  found themselves beset by pirates on the seas and other difﬁ culties. On 
  the elven side, they largely ignored the human settlements, with the 
  exception of Fringe, a town on the forest’s edge that had long since 
  driven out all Castorhagi loyalists and begun independent operation. 
  With that group alone, the nearby wild elves (speciﬁ cally, the Sentinels 
  of the Trees) were willing to trade. 
  Other parts of the forest remained extremely anti-human, on all 
  sides, to the point that when petitioned by Xha’en refugees and even 
  by Utterends’ tengu and tabaxi to aid the Xha’en empire in deposing 
  Amaran su Bha, the lich-emperor, the wild elves of the Green Realm 
  turned them away and simply shut their borders against the undead 
  threat, waiting for it to go away and barely noticing when it did.
  With time, the Forest Coast War fell out of living elven memory, and 
  eventually out of living memory for even most of the fey and awakened 
  trees. Ignoring the now-militarily-irrelevant, coast-dwelling humans 
  became habit, as did mercilessly slaying them if they harmed a tree 
  without permission or refused to leave the forest when told. Instead of 
  their human neighbors, the elves began to turn on one another. 
  Sometime during this period, elves loyal to the Matriarch of 
  Anasanalin, one of the Green Realm’s oldest family lines, found the 
  Green Warder monolith known as Tyriem broken and thrown down, his 
  songs silenced. Though many elves and fey heard or felt a great crash 
  that night as the top of the stone fell to earth, and a few believed they’d 
  seen ﬂ ickers of eldritch light in that direction, no direct witnesses have 
  ever come forward, nor have any theories been advanced as to how such 
  a thing could have been accomplished. 
  After that, the forest began to change. In the corner that Tyriem had 
  guarded, just near the southernmost foothills of the Impossible Peaks, 
  incursions of monsters began to make their way into the forest to 
  challenge the local elves. Some communities were able to hold a line of 
  defense, but others were caught up in the inﬂ ux of horror and forced to 
  ﬁ ght for their lives.  
  At the same time, the northern Green Realm elves, especially those 
  along the Forest Coast and those nearest to the Impossible Peaks, began 
  to have ﬁ erce disagreements with the southern Green Realm and the 
  court at Solis Alunaris. The northern elves had begun to feel that they 
  were being used by the southern elves, to enable their complacency in 
  the face of the ever-expanding human world. To have a Green Warder 
  so mysteriously slain was terrifying to the northern wild elves, who felt 
  that at any moment the other six might follow and allow rampaging 
  hordes of humans to instantly descend on them. 
  The ﬁ nal straw came when hostilities broke out between the wild 
  elves living north and east of Tyriem and those living south and west of 
  the felled Warder. While their elven neighbors, including the Anasanalin 
  family, attempted to mediate the conﬂ ict, the court of the Green Realm 
  dismissed the issue as one might the squabbling of young siblings. 
  Seeking a neutral mediator, the northern elves looked to the Gardener of 
  Elenis Tuath for wisdom, and she was able to broker a grumbling peace. 
  Seeing that they had handled their problem by themselves without any 
  aid from their southern rulers, a movement arose in the north to choose 
  their own leadership and formally secede from the Green Realm. 
  It took 100 years, but in the end, the current Green Warden Nations 
  were established. Nine nations, with Lintariel as the southernmost 
  and Elenis Tuath enshrined as a tiny, neutral nation unto itself, were 
  acknowledged and empowered to oversee their own territories as they 
  saw ﬁ t, and conventions were established to provide for action in 
  concert when necessary for their mutual interest and defense. When 
  all was agreed, talks with the southern Green Realm began, and were 
  concluded surprisingly quickly and peacefully due to a multitude of 
  factors, including the coincidence of the talks with certain events taking 
  place in the south at the time. 
  The entire Green Realm north of the Ilber Peninsula became known 
  as the Green Warden Nations. However, before the matter was settled, 
  diplomacy broke down between Eloitan, the elves in the heart of the 
  growing corruption around the felled Warder stone, and all of their 
  neighbors. In the end, the elves of Eloitan chose not to ﬁ nalize their 
  agreement with the other eight nations and have governed themselves 
  in isolation ever since. 
  The remaining eight nations in the Green Wardens coalition are: 
  Serpent’s Coil in the far north, just above Tyriem’s fallen monolith; 
  Forest’s Bones to their east, still north of the line of Green Warders and 
  including Hollow Mountain as well as most of the “unquiet” realms 
  where the forest’s fallen defenders sometimes continue their stewardship 
  even after death; Anasanalin, stretching through the forest south of the 
  Warders, save for the parts considered Eloitan territory; Monkey’s 
  Laughter, Eloitan’s neighbors to the south and west; the Kingdom 
  of Wolves in roughly the center and center-west of the Green Warden 
  Nations; the Family of Thorns near the Hellsgate Peaks and the northern 
  Forest Coast; Sentinels of the Trees along the rest of the Forest Coast 
  border and all but surrounding Elenis Tuath; and Lintariel for the western 
  half of the southernmost portion of the Green Warden Nations’ territory. 
  While this new arrangement of nations healed relations with the southern 
  Green Realm such that trade and diplomacy increased dramatically and 
  a formal alliance was forged within a generation, internal matters for the 
  Green Warden Nations were less simple. Each nation had long celebrated 
  its own diverse culture (a major reason for their secession in the ﬁ rst 
  place), but now that they were largely self-governed, they found that their 
  differences with one another, particularly in ideology, only increased. 
  The Eloitan elves have never been coaxed into the coalition despite 
  several attempts, and they accuse the Green Warden Nations of using 
  them as a bulwark in the same way that the south was said to have used 
  the north. Serpent’s Coil elves accuse those of the Eloitan of colluding 
  with the monsters that plague their region, and Serpent’s Coil rumor 
  suggests that it was Eloitan elves who were responsible for the felling 
  of Tyriem. There are also some who believe that, whether they felled 
  the monolith or not, the Eloitan have been subtly affected by its fall and 
  have themselves wandered down the path of corruption. Anasanalin and 
  Monkey’s Laughter have had better relations with their Eloitan neighbors, 
  occasionally even providing assistance to the ever-challenged community, 
  but Monkey’s Laughter in turn has developed an antagonistic relationship 
  with the Kingdom of Wolves, whom they accuse of arrogance and 
  treating them like a vassal state. The Kingdom of Wolves, in turn, accuses 
  Monkey’s Laughter of refusing to deal with the thieves and raiders from 
  their territory who have assaulted Wolf villages. 
  Anasanalin and the Sentinels of the Trees both protest against Family 
  of Thorns’ xenophobic policies toward outsiders, while the Thornsibs 
  accuse the Anasanalions of living too far from any human populations to 
  know what they are talking about, and the Sentinels of having gone soft 
  or even betrayed the forest. The Sentinels, Lintarions, and Wolfsibs — 
  all of whom share borders with independent Elenis Tuath — constantly 
  accuse one another of attempting to gain undue inﬂ uence over the 
  Gardener of Elenis Tuath … and so on.   
  When nearly 900 years had passed since the last of Castorhage’s 
  direct crimes against the Forest Coast Nation, the remains of the Forest 
  Coast colonies, along with a few new settlements, ofﬁ cially declared 
  their independence from Castorhage and united to form the Tycho Free 
  States. Now the fragmented nations of elves and humans share a long 
  border along which they have complicated and varied relationships. 
  Thus far, the Sentinels of the Trees have in fact been quite friendly 
  with Fringe (which they have come to consider to be almost a vassal 
  state) and, to a lesser extent, with the leader of Freetown, and have 
  maintained decent, wary relations with greedy Timbertown. Trust is 
  thin, however, and even the Sentinels of the Trees are rarely friendly 
  with humans. Some of the fey in the Green Warden still remember 
  human betrayal, and the elves do listen to their tales. The Family of 
  Thorns will have nothing to do with the Tycho Free States and seems 
  only to grow more hostile toward them as the humans gain in wealth and 
  population. If Fringe were to petition the Sentinels to defend the Free 
  States against the Family of Thorns, some postulate that hostility might 
  erupt between the two Green Warden Nations.
  Indeed, internally, the Nations have continued to deal with strife in 
  many areas, and it has come to the point that — while neither nation has 
  
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  |81
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  sought to leave the Green Warden coalition — Monkey’s Laughter and 
  the Kingdom of Wolves are almost constantly at odds with one another. 
  Hostilities are rarely bloody, and the casualty count has yet to exceed a 
  dozen, even after decades, but every time their other neighbors help the 
  Wolfsibs and Apesibs to establish a truce, one or the other side breaks it 
  again in a vindictive raid over some past slight or other. It is suspected 
  that Serpent’s Coil may be engaged in a similar long-term conﬂ ict with 
  Eloitan, but if so, neither they nor the Eloitan elves speak of it to the 
  rest of the Nations. Though most elves in the region are willing to aid 
  the Eloitan should it be needed, there is still widespread suspicion of the 
  realm and a possible darkness festering in its heart.
  While most within and without the forest believe the elves would 
  unite as one if presented with a sufﬁ ciently threatening common enemy, 
  some fear that such a unity could not be maintained for long. If an 
  enemy were patient enough, the Nations would likely fragment, with 
  none having the military might necessary to defend the forest from 
  incursion — especially not if any more of the Green Warders fall. 
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Reverence for Arialee is the dominant religion in Anasanalin and 
  Lintariel, and tied for dominance in Sentinels of the Trees and Elenis 
  Tuath. It is the second most popular religion in the Kingdom of Wolves 
  and Forest’s Bones, and it is common in every Green Warden Nation. Of 
  the eight nations, it is least common in Serpent’s Coil. 
  Animism is the dominant religion in Family of Thorns, the Kingdom 
  of Wolves, and Monkey’s Laughter. It is tied for dominance in Elenis 
  Tuath and Sentinels of the Trees, and is the second most common religion 
  in Serpent’s Coil, Anasanalin, and Lintariel. Even where its popularity is 
  lowest, in Forest’s Bones, it is still practiced in a majority of households 
  as a secondary addition to other religious practices. Nearly all families 
  in the Green Warden Nations practice animism to some degree, blending 
  it seamlessly with their other beliefs, if any. 
  In Serpent’s Coil, the dominant worship is of a lesser-known local 
  deity called the Tree of the World, whose roots feed on death and whose 
  fruit gives life, and whose servant is a great serpent. Interpretations 
  of this deity have sprung up throughout the Nations, with two wildly 
  different versions popular as a fad among younger elves in Anasanalin 
  and Family of Thorns. It is believed that the dangerous cult growing 
  in the Hollow Mountain region of Forest’s Bones’ territory may be a 
  disturbing offshoot of Tree of the World worship, since mention has been 
  heard among cultists of a “Tree That Sees,” but the Hollow Mountain 
  cult version is very different from the others, if so.
  In Forest’s Bones, the dominant religion is ancestor-worship, with 
  strong animistic overtones. Ancestor reverence is common throughout 
  the Green Warden Nations, but only in Forest’s Bones, Anasanalin, 
  and Sentinels of the Forest does it commonly take on a true prayer or 
  devotion element. In Anasanalin and Sentinels of the Trees, ancestor-
  worship is a common element included in some types of animism, but 
  in Forest’s Bones it takes precedence over the animistic aspects of the 
  belief systems, and many outside Forest’s Bones ﬁ nd the Boneguards’ 
  obsession with the dead to be morbid. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The Green Warden Nations do most of their trading with one another 
  and with the Green Realm to the south. Exceptions include the close 
  trade relationship between Sentinels of the Trees and the town of Fringe 
  in the Tycho Free States, as well as the arrangement some Sentinel elves 
  have made with Captain Akadearg of Freeport to sell sustainably- and 
  responsibly-harvested lumber. Family of Thorns’ elves participate in 
  trade with the intelligent magical creatures of the Hellsgate Peaks and 
  have been accused of selling human prisoners as slaves to Hellsgate 
  Peaks’ devils. Lintariel elves have limited trade with Xha’en and more 
  extensive trade relations with the Utterends’ nomads. Any other external 
  trade relationships have not been made public by the Green Warden 
  elves engaging in them. 
  All eight of the Green Warden nations are nutritionally self-
  sustaining, and capitalism, money, and materialism in general tend to be 
  culturally despised, particularly in Monkey’s Laughter, such that trade 
  is not a prized value in any of the Green Warden Nations, and all would 
  question not just the utility but even the wisdom of deliberately seeking 
  economic growth. The Green Warden Nations concentrate instead on 
  magical education as their primary source of inﬂ uence. All spellcasting 
  classes are more common and respected in the Green Warden Nations 
  than is typical of the world around them, with druidry being a quite 
  typical life-path and sorcerers being revered as blessed children. 
  Magical power is inﬁ nitely more desired than wealth throughout the 
  Green Warden, as is knowledge. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The closest ally of the Green Warden Nations is the Green Realm 
  to the south. The Green Warden Nations keep no other ofﬁ cial allies 
  and are extremely standofﬁ sh when other nations attempt to initiate 
  diplomatic relations. The notion of a Tycho Free States embassy 
  has been rejected multiple times. Xha’en has been permitted regular 
  ambassadorial visits to the outer edge of Lintariel territory, and a Green 
  Warden ambassador has visited each of the last three Xha’en emperors 
  once to ensure ongoing peace with Xha’en, but even with that illustrious 
  empire no permanent embassy is maintained. The Green Warden elves 
  prefer to keep to themselves and be left alone.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Outside times of war or great necessity, the Green Warden Nations 
  are governed by a council of the leaders of the eight Nations. When any 
  of the leaders cannot be present, a representative is sent to the council 
  instead. If a vote results in a tie, one of the eight leaders is randomly 
  selected, and that leader may cast a second vote. 
  On a few rare occasions, the eight leaders choose to empower the 
  Gardener of Elenis Tuath as a wise and neutral ﬁ gure to make economic 
  and diplomatic decisions for the nation as a whole, but only for a brief 
  and pre-determined period. The Gardener of Elenis Tuath has, in the 
  past, been sent as an ambassador to Xha’en as well. In times of war, 
  the eight leaders would in theory select one from among themselves to 
  serve as High Monarch (or High King) until the end of the war, though 
  no military conﬂ icts have been considered sufﬁ ciently serious for such 
  a uniﬁ cation since the Green Warden Nation was formed. 
  Below the highest leaders, each Nation is governed differently. 
  Anasanalin is a semi-hereditary monarchy, its leader known by a 
  genderless elven term (tala) commonly translated as duke or duchess. 
  Positions of authority under the tala are either appointed by the tala 
  or hereditary, depending on the position. A council of 13 elders — 
  elected for life by all language-capable Anasanalin citizens over age 
  300, regardless of species — appoints each new tala, who must come 
  from the same historic family among the Anasanalin. The council is also 
  empowered to depose a tala under certain circumstances and approves 
  the partners with whom the tala is permitted to ofﬁ cially breed. 
  The council uses this authority to seek to enhance the wisdom, even-
  temper, intelligence, conﬁ dence, health, and magical ability of those 
  who may become tala in the future, with secondary concerns being 
  battle prowess and beauty. Though tala may marry whomever they wish, 
  heirs produced by matches outside the council-selected pool must pass 
  a grueling qualiﬁ cation process to be considered worthy. Inbreeding 
  is carefully avoided, and the partner pool often includes commoners 
  or even elves from other Green Warden Nations. Most tala have been 
  wizards (including the current duchess), but sorcerers are selected 
  whenever an available heir meets the elders’ criteria for good leadership 
  and shows sorcerous talent. 
  In the Family of Thorns, the Council of Elders system is similar 
  to Anasanalin’s, but the Thornsib elders preside over the choice of a 
  warlord rather than a tala. The warlord is selected by ritual tournament 
  every 10 years, with no term limits. The council may call a special 
  tournament before a term is up if a warlord is found to be weak or 
  treasonous. All other positions of authority are either appointed by 
  the warlord, appointed by the council, or determined by tournament. 
  Magic is permitted and encouraged in the ritual tournaments, and most 
  
  82|
  82|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  warlords have had some magical ability in addition to physical prowess. 
  The current warlord is a druid.
  Forest’s Bones is ruled directly by an elected Council of Elders that 
  selects a military leader only in times of conﬂ ict, to be removed as soon 
  as there is peace. Other authority positions are appointed by the council, 
  through means as diverse as tournaments, other contests, popular vote, 
  divination, or simply a vote by the council itself. 
  The Kingdom of Wolves is one of the few Nations to call its leader 
  king or queen. The Kingdom contains 11 noble families, which it has 
  come to style the “Great Packs.” Each citizen swears fealty to the 
  hereditary leader of a Pack of its choice (with a ritualized process for 
  transferring loyalty from one Pack to another, save in times of war). The 
  matriarchs and patriarchs of all of the Great Packs make up the Royal 
  Council, which shares power with the king or queen though a highly 
  ritualized legal system. The Royal Council selects a new monarch 
  when the previous one dies and also has a say in which of a councilor’s 
  heirs succeed to the council when a Pack matriarch or patriarch dies. 
  Councilors representing larger packs get more votes than smaller packs. 
  A breeding system similar to that of Anasanalin attempts to ensure that 
  the matriarchs and patriarchs on the council and the monarchs are all 
  sound of mind and temperament.
  Like Anasanalin, Lintariel is ruled by a tala (duke or duchess). 
  This leader is always the head of the ancient Lintariel family, though 
  the heir must be acclaimed by the majority of all elder citizens of 
  Lintariel (over 300 years) to be considered capable of inheritance. If 
  biological heirs are not found suitable, the tala must ofﬁ cially adopt 
  someone the elders will acclaim. The Lintariel tala must always 
  have at least one such acceptable heir, and usually a preapproved 
  line of succession is maintained at least ﬁ ve people down in case of 
  disaster. All other governing positions within Lintariel are appointed 
  by the tala, who has absolute authority and can be deposed only by 
  three respected priests of Arialee who can provide evidence of divine 
  decree, or theoretically by the Gardener of Elenis Tuath if all seven 
  other Nations chose to empower such interference (which would not 
  be undertaken lightly). 
  Monkey’s Laughter consists of many small nomadic clans, each 
  of which is governed by clan elders and an elected chieftain. Any 
  independent group of 20 or more citizens of the Nation (including 
  fey, some monsters, and awakened plants and animals) may appoint a 
  chieftain. Many of the chieftains gather every 10 winters to vote on a 
  national representative to sit on the Green Warden Leaders’ Council. 
  But many chieftains do not bother, and the national representative 
  rarely speaks for even half of the Monkey’s Laughter clans. Clans 
  whose chieftains do not acknowledge the representative often refuse 
  to abide by decisions of that representative. The current representative, 
  Nynarinel the Sharp, is unusually beloved by the Monkey’s Laughter 
  populace and has curried and maintained the support of all of the largest 
  and many of the smaller clans’ leaders. Even she, however, cannot be 
  said to “govern” the Monkey’s Laughter nation. In truth, hardly anyone 
  in Monkey’s Laughter has real authority.  
  Sentinels of the Trees is governed by a Council of Healers. Anyone 
  able to demonstrate healing ability (magical or otherwise, of animals 
  and humanoids, plants, or even of hearts) is granted “healing citizen” 
  status and may vote on the selection of members to the 19-member 
  Council of Healers. The Council of Healers appoints all other major 
  positions, including a permanent duke to command the military and a 
  high minister to sit on the Green Warden Leaders’ Council. Whenever 
  a member of the Council of Healers dies, the election process to select 
  a new one is long and chaotic, as locally-appointed ofﬁ cials attempt to 
  determine who is and isn’t a “healing citizen.”
  Serpent’s Coil, like Monkey’s Laughter, has little central governance 
  and consists of self-governing nomadic clans. However, the Serpent’s 
  Coil clans have a more structured legal system and methodology 
  for electing a representative, called the King or Queen of Serpents. 
  The Monarch of Serpents is beholden to the clan chieftains and 
  easily deposed, but technically holds absolute authority, especially 
  in military matters, so long as the majority of chieftains continue to 
  choose to obey.  
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Though it varies somewhat from Nation to Nation, for the most part, 
  the Green Warden professional military consists entirely of troops 
  other nations would consider special forces or shock troops. Rangers 
  are common, as are other stealth-based classes, with various forest 
  specialization. Spellcasters are unusually common in the Green Warden, 
  and a Green Warden army would never lack sufﬁ cient healers, mages, 
  or supporting casters. The Green Warden wild elves take military tactics 
  using magic for granted, so common is spellcasting among their peoples. 
  In times of war, all able-bodied adults may be urged to volunteer as 
  additional support to the professional forces, but even these less-trained 
  troops are likelier than average soldiers to know a few spells, own a 
  minor magical item, have non-humanoid allies, or be frighteningly 
  stealthy. In addition, with some local variation for speciﬁ c species, 
  the Green Warden military is adept at coordinating battle efforts with 
  various animal, plant, and monster units. 
  If the military of the Green Warden has a weakness (other than 
  being relatively small in number), it is that the differently-organized 
  and -motivated units of the various Nations are likely to have trouble 
  coordinating, should they ever need to ﬁ ght together as one.  
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Despite the constant (and typically anti-human) shield-rattling of 
  many Green Warden citizens, in practical terms, the Green Warden faces 
  few military threats from outside their borders. The forest is defended by 
  too much magic and too many monsters to make invasion cost-effective, 
  especially in territory so well-suited to guerrilla tactics, and the wild 
  elves do not appear to guard great wealth (at least, not of any varieties 
  that seem easy to steal). All in all, the Green Warden’s neighbors are 
  generally content to leave them alone. 
  The far greater threats come from less overt sources. In Forest’s Bones, 
  disappearances around Hollow Mountain are increasing. It is still unknown 
  why the northernmost Green Warder fell, and in Monkey’s Laughter and 
  Serpent’s Coil, foul monsters from Eloitan are an omnipresent hazard. 
  Family of Thorns faces similar difﬁ culty from monsters from the Hellsgate 
  Peaks. In many parts of the Nations, especially in disputed lands between 
  them (as none of the Nations are well demarcated, maps being a cultural 
  taboo), inﬁ ghting and intrigues among the wild elves themselves threaten 
  to poison the Green Warden as a whole. 
  In addition, as the Tycho Free States grow in population and 
  economic relevance, radical elements in Sentinels of the Trees and 
  especially Family of Thorns grow ever more eager to provoke conﬂ ict 
  with the humans. At this time, the Green Warden would almost certainly 
  triumph in such a conﬂ ict. However, the Free States have friends in 
  Reme, Castorhage, and even Foere. If the wild elves were seen by the 
  outside world to have become a threat to humankind, a multi-nation 
  retaliation for violence against the Free States might prove devastating 
  for the Green Warden peoples. In this sense, one of the greatest potential 
  threats to the Green Warden is its own radical fringe. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  With rare exceptions, all of the Green Warden Forest might as well be 
  wilderness to outsiders. Some communities use magic or misdirection 
  to mask their villages from prying eyes, while others hide their homes 
  in trees or caves, or simply post sentries to see to it that no outsiders 
  ever approach their settlements uninvited. Many are nomadic, keeping 
  no permanent dwellings, and these pack up and move if their camps 
  are observed. However the goal is accomplished, it is taboo to allow 
  outsiders — especially humans — to lay eyes on a permanent Green 
  Warden settlement. For this reason, the only Green Warden region that 
  traveling adventurers are likely to see is wilderness. Indeed, even Green 
  Warden agriculture is never farmed in traditional rows. Rather, it is 
  gardened in so harmonious a way as to be indistinguishable from natural 
  forest to all but the most perceptive and plant-savvy observers.
  The least “wild” Nation in the Green Warden is Anasanalin, and 
  some of the treetop villages in that region (including the Anasanalin 
  
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  |83
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  tala’s tree-mansion) are not considered to be sufﬁ ciently hidden 
  by members of other Nations. Since Anasanalin is surrounded on 
  all sides by other Nations, however, it is unlikely that intruders 
  would penetrate deeply enough to encounter its settlements in the 
  ﬁ rst place. Additionally, to all non-locals, the forest ﬂ oor beneath a 
  treetop village should be considered wilderness for the purpose of 
  many sorts of threats. For example, it is not uncommon for Green 
  Warden villages to be guarded by tigers, apes, dire animals, or even 
  treants or unicorns. 
  ELENIS TUATH 
  ELENIS TUATH 
  (EL-ih-nis TOO-ahth)
  Ruler: Gardener Findolel
  Government: theocracy 
  Population: 200-600 wild elves (including seasonal pilgrims)
  Technology Level: mixed (High Middle Ages, but residents 
  prefer Iron Age technology)
  This small, self-governing spiritual community, built in the ruins 
  of an ancient elven city, is of great import to the surrounding Green 
  Warden Nations and often serves as a place of mediation for disputes. 
  The order’s elected leader, known as the Gardener, has also now and 
  again been sought for judgment on important crimes or invested with 
  very high temporary authority by the various dukes and monarchs of the 
  surrounding fragmented Green Warden peoples. 
  This is done because Elenis Tuath is seen as owing allegiance only to 
  the forest as a whole, and as being above mundane political squabbles. 
  This perception in turn makes control of Elenis Tuath a potentially 
  very powerful position, despite all appearances. As a consequence, 
  the residents of Elenis Tuath never accept any form of money for any 
  reason: They seek to avoid undue inﬂ uence or even the appearance of 
  undue inﬂ uence over the Gardener from anyone, from anywhere.
  The remains of the old city, and especially its fair temple, are a marvel 
  of structural and magical engineering, full of sweeping arches, lace-
  like ﬂ ying buttresses, and gloriously intricate (though now shattered) 
  glass-paned windows. Though much of the ruins are indistinguishable 
  from natural rocks, or buried in ivy, it is impressive how much remains 
  upright — of the temple especially — despite the damage taken over 
  the centuries.
  The crowning glory of the temple (and indeed of the whole city) is 
  the great statue of Arialee, which is carved into a nearby hillside and 
  seamlessly appears to be emerging from the earth. Though somewhat 
  stylized in the manner of its era, this classic example of the reclining 
  Arialee — great with child in a local variation of her “Spring” 
  iconography — remains one of the world’s greatest works of art. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Once the summer capital of the Court of the Green Realm, Elenis 
  Tuath (a name meaning, very roughly, Oneness with Nature) was mostly 
  abandoned long before humans came to the region. The architecture and 
  materials were constructed using technology that the elves had lost ages 
  ago, and as the capital fell slowly into disrepair, the court found it more 
  and more a painful reminder of former glory. 
  As Elenis Tuath’s population thinned ever further and the court 
  became less likely to visit each summer, the former grand community 
  shrank until little remained but its greatest and most beautiful structure, 
  even lovelier than the court’s summer palace: a proud, ancient temple 
  to the fey goddess of nature, Arialee. Today, even that great temple is 
  now a crumbling ruin, a bitter reminder to the elves of the Green Warden 
  Forest of their culture’s decline. 
  By the time diplomatic relations broke down between the Green 
  Warden elves and the Castorhagi settlers on the coast, and the Great 
  Road crawled ever deeper into the heart of the forest, the Green Realm’s 
  old summer capital was already mostly empty, and even the worship 
  of the goddess Arialee had dwindled at that time among the northern 
  wild elves. As Elenis Tuath had become entirely indefensible, the Green 
  Realm leaders chose to evacuate the few remaining residents rather than 
  ﬁ ght to defend a place that caused them only pain. 
  The temple, by then, was sparsely tended by only a few monks, all 
  of whom lacked the necessary ability to keep the statue from being 
  covered in foliage without harming the plants, which their religion at 
  the time forbade outside strictly nutritional needs. Thus, the statue was 
  overgrown and largely forgotten. Nevertheless, the monks refused to 
  evacuate and chose to stay with the temple as emissaries of peace. 
  Due to a freak misunderstanding and poor leadership among the 
  Castorhagi forces, the near-abandoned temple was not only unable to 
  serve as a peaceful embassy, it was outright sacked. The forest around 
  it was cruelly burned, and the resident monks were slaughtered. When 
  other elves came to investigate the forest ﬁ re, besides the charred 
  evidence of this terrible crime, they found the newly uncovered statue 
  of Arialee marred by the ﬂ ames to forever appear as if tears streaked her 
  face as she gazed out over the now-ruined temple and city.
  The monks’ remains were laid reverently to rest, and the statue 
  became a potent symbol of elven pride and grief forever after. Once the 
  elves retook that part of the forest, it didn’t take long for a new order of 
  priests, druids, and monks to spring up — an eclectic group of different 
  local orders united by a dedication to preserving the natural forest and 
  what remains of elven culture. 
  This new and revitalized Order of Remembrance still tends to the statue, 
  once again training the foliage to enhance it rather than ever obscure or 
  damage it, and many Green Warden elves make pilgrimages each spring 
  to give offerings at the simple stone shrines now built at the ever-weeping 
  Arialee’s feet. The ruined temple, however, is left untouched, as a monument 
  to grief and loss. The resident faithful make their homes in deliberately 
  temporary little huts among the nearby city ruins. They rebuild the huts each 
  fall to serve as winter shelter and burn them in controlled summer bonﬁ res 
  as a ritual of the eternal sorrow of impermanence.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Nature is the key unifying element of the religions observed by the 
  Order of Remembrance. Animism holds the most sway among the 
  residents, and the current Gardener is primarily an animist himself. 
  Worship of Arialee is almost as prevalent as direct communion with the 
  land, and many members of the order preach that the two outlooks are 
  simply different ways of looking at the same thing. Other nature and 
  healing deities are occasionally revered by individuals within the order.
  The Order of Remembrance is profoundly anti-materialistic. In 
  addition to the preservation of nature and the forest, the order values 
  honesty, hard work, accountability, and knowledge of history. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Owing fealty to only the land itself, the Order of Remembrance 
  remains carefully neutral among all the various Green Warden Nations. 
  During times of war, one of the Nations’ leaders is selected as a 
  temporary High King; in matters of diplomacy or peaceful trade, the 
  Green Warden Nations’ leaders have been known to transfer much of 
  their authority to the Gardener at Elenis Tuath and empower this holy 
  individual to make major decisions and sign documents on behalf of the 
  entire Green Warden realm. During such periods, it could be said that all 
  the nations of the Green Warden owe their fealty to Elenis Tuath, but the 
  Order of Remembrance deliberately gives itself no means to capitalize 
  on such a circumstance.
  The current Gardener, Findolel, has never been granted such authority. 
  He gives no sign of coveting power of any kind.   
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The Order of Remembrance is highly organized, with the Gardener 
  at the head supported by the elders, who are in turn supported by the 
  watchers. Elders are all members of the order at least 250 years of age, 
  so long as they have ever been watchers. The Gardener (always an 
  elder) is elected to 20-year terms by the elders, with no term limits. 
  Watchers are members of the order who have been fully vested for at 
  least 20 years. The structure beyond that is quite complicated, with each 
  elder or watcher having authority over different aspects of daily life and 
  pilgrim-management in Elenis Tuath.   
  Within the bounds of the Elenis Tuath ruins, the Gardener’s word is 
  absolute law, enforced by the elders and watchers. The Gardener can 
  
  84|
  84|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  be removed from ofﬁ ce early if found to be guilty of deliberately (or 
  through criminal negligence) harming the forest. Detailed scriptural 
  history itemizes what sorts of events could be or have in the past been 
  deemed to harm the forest.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Elenis Tuath has no military as such, and bearing arms is not permissible 
  anywhere within the limits of the old city. However, the order does boast 
  many clerics, druids, monks, and any number of sympathetic local 
  monsters, animals, and magical creatures. When the person telling you to 
  leave your weapons at the gate is petting a six-foot tiger at the time, the 
  presence of a military is often considered to be unnecessary.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  While Elenis Tuath is sometimes considered to be “dangerously” 
  close to the human-dominated territory of the Tycho Free States, it is 
  unlikely to be threatened by humans or other foreigners any time soon. 
  The Green Warden Forest is very well defended. A much greater threat to 
  the region is posed by the rest of the Green Warden Nations surrounding 
  them. Should any of the surrounding dukes and monarchs see a chance 
  to exert inappropriate inﬂ uence over Elenis Tuath in any way, it could 
  have disastrous effects on the stability of the entire region. 
  Gardener Findolel has held his position for 30 years and is widely 
  respected. Thus far, he seems to be adept as a mediator and diplomat and 
  also entirely incorruptible. His mild demeanor and grandfatherly smile, 
  however, have made it difﬁ cult for some to take him seriously. Such 
  people worry that his appearance of “softness” already undermines the 
  unity of the Green Warden Nations, though many others ﬁ nd his even 
  temper and objectivity to make him the worthiest Gardener that has 
  been seen in centuries. Only time will tell if his leadership will ever be 
  of more than passing import to the loosely allied nations around him.  
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  The Order of Remembrance is located on the south side of the ruins 
  of the city, clustered in little huts and a small natural grotto between the 
  remains of the Temple of Arialee and Arialee’s weeping statue. Even in 
  spring, when the order sees its highest inﬂ ux of visiting pilgrims, the 
  elven population of Elenis Tuath rarely spills out over the former temple 
  grounds. The rest of the city, though watched over and lightly gardened 
  by the order, belongs to the plants, animals, fey, and other creatures. It is 
  a quite dangerous place to explore without a local or druid guide. 
  Dangerous, yes, but fascinating. Most of the ruins have been examined 
  thoroughly by the order over the centuries, but plenty of nooks and 
  crannies could have been overlooked that contain the gods only know 
  what ancient elven mysteries, not to mention the potential for harmful 
  or corrupted creatures taking up residence in some crumbling structure 
  or other without the order having noticed. 
  Finally, on the southeast edge of the ruined city, one can ﬁ nd the 
  crumbling and overgrown remains of the Castorhagi Great Road project. 
  This stretch of the Great Road is famously haunted. Undead found there 
  are always incorporeal and rarely more than sad or disturbing apparitions 
  with no power to affect the living, but now and again something might 
  trigger a change in one of the restless dead, from mere messenger of 
  sorrow to active instrument of vengeance, especially if a human were to 
  return to Elenis Tuath.  
  ELOITAN, ELVEN TRIBE OF
  ELOITAN, ELVEN TRIBE OF
  (Eh-loy-i-tan)
  Ruler: none
  Government: tribal hierarchy
  Population: 125,000 (est.) (wild elves)
  Monstrous: ankheg, assassin vines, bears, bears (dire), bugbears, 
  chimerae, faerie dragons, green dragons, dryads, ettin, ettercaps, 
  goblins, hags, leopards, lycanthropes (wereboar), lycanthropes 
  (werewolves), nymphs, giant owls, ogres, owlbears, pseudodragons, 
  panthers, satyr, skeletons, snakes (poisonous), giant snakes, giant 
  spiders, sprites, stirges, treants, trolls, unicorns, giant wasps, will-
  o’-wisps, wolves, wolves (dire), zombies
  Languages: elvish
  Religion: Arialee/druidism
  Resources: gems, magical resources, timber
  Currency: barter
  Technology Level: Bronze/Iron Age
  The name Eloitan is a corruption of a very old elvish term originally 
  meaning “Verdant Heart.” The wild elves who dwell in this region, 
  on the very eastern frontier of the Xha’en Hegemony, are among the 
  most insular and dangerous in Akados, shunning even relations with the 
  neighboring Green Warden Nations and the elves of the Green Realm. 
  Many of their fellow elves feel that there is a darkness here that gnaws 
  at the hearts of the Eloitan folk and affects the land itself, transforming 
  it into a hostile, perilous place, as if the entire region is a single living 
  organism that is inimical to all life save its own.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The Third Exodus of the Elves saw the westward retreat of elvenkind 
  in the face of advancing human civilization, falling back into the 
  remnants of the ancient Akadonian forests west of the Crescent Sea, 
  leaving the Green Warders behind to guard against incursion. The elves 
  who settled in the north-western portions of the forest bordering on the 
  Plains of Xhas dubbed their region the Eloitan.
  Originally known as the River Singers, they had been great artisans 
  — singers, musicians, players, balladeers, bards — but after this third 
  forced exodus, they were hardened, embracing a fanatical self-reliance 
  and separatism from the rest of the world. Though initially there was 
  tentative contact between them and the Xha’en to the west, this ended 
  quickly as the humans, ever seeking new lands and resources, began to 
  move into the forest, felling trees and building roads and settlements. 
  The elves of the Eloitan quickly struck back, raiding Xha’en settlements 
  along the forest’s edge and killing lone foresters and hunters. The 
  Xha’en responded, sending punitive expeditions into the forest in a low-
  level conﬂ ict that lasted for decades. 
  The last chance for trust between Xha’en and Eloitan was lost. The 
  forest elves would tolerate no further incursions and broke off all 
  contact with the humans. These were elven forests, and elven forests 
  they would remain — only the utter extermination of the Eloitan folk 
  would change that. The wild elves would die rather than take even a 
  single step backward. 
  The Eloitan’s insularity extended even to the other elves of the Green 
  Realm. At ﬁ rst, the shared sense of hardship and heritage bound the 
  forest elves together, but the Eloitan, stern and unyielding in their 
  dedication to the old ways, began to drift away. When the elves of the 
  northern forests split off from the Court at Solis Alunaris and became 
  the Green Warden Nations, Eloitan ultimately refused to join and went 
  their own way. Formal cordiality devolved into cold indifference and in 
  some cases outright hostility, for Eloitan warriors sometimes clashed 
  with Green Warden elves, especially those of the Serpent’s Coil, whose 
  territories adjoined the Eloitan.
  At the same time, Green Warden elves began to sense a change in 
  the Eloitan region. Some elves believe that the destruction of the Green 
  Warder monolith Tyriem may have marked the beginning of the Eloitan’s 
  descent, bringing a shadow to the entire forest region. Since that day, the 
  Green Warden elves say, Eloitan has been slowly but steadily transforming 
  into a dark and dangerous place. Natural creatures have grown larger and 
  more aggressive. Hostile humanoids such as goblins and gnolls wander 
  these woods, and even more fearsome creatures like ettin, ettercaps, 
  giant spiders, and other arachnids have seen their populations increase. 
  Violence in the once-peaceful region has grown and sometimes spread to 
  affect adjoining regions of the Xha’en Hegemony.
  With this has come greater conﬂ ict between Eloitan and the Green 
  Warden Nations, particularly the Serpent’s Coil — itself one of the more 
  fearsome wild elf nations. Open conﬂ icts between the two have grown 
  more frequent in recent years, sufﬁ cient to concern even the other elven 
  nations, with some leaders sounding the alarm and openly considering 
  whether something needs to be done.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|85
  |85
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  Most humans, especially those of the Xha’en Hegemony, consider 
  the Eloitan elves to be primitive savages with little regard for life or 
  civilization. On the contrary, of course, like the nearby Green Warden 
  Nations, the Eloitan are anything but primitive, though they have 
  willfully embraced a far simpler and less technological existence than 
  the humans.
  Eloitan elves usually live in temporary or semi-permanent camps 
  throughout the region, moving as the seasons dictate and the welfare 
  of the tribe demands. They are an unmaterialistic people, preferring to 
  hunt with ﬂ int- or obsidian-tipped weapons (or, rarely, artifacts left over 
  from before the Exodus), and wearing clothing derived from animal 
  hides and natural ﬁ bers. Fur cloaks are worn in the cold winter months, 
  while simple loincloths or less are favored during the heat of summer. 
  Body decorations in the form of pigments, tattoos, or scariﬁ cation are 
  common, with each tribe having its own unique motifs and practices.
  Long-lived, the elves have few children and the birth of a child is cause 
  for great celebration by a tribe and its neighbors. Youngsters mature 
  much more slowly than humans and are carefully taught the ways of their 
  tribes. Normally, children are considered adults at age 20, when they most 
  closely resemble humans of ages 12 to 14. These new adults are expected 
  to immediately take on adult responsibilities such as hunting, ﬁ shing, 
  farming, and training for battle with the other tribal warriors.
  The scarcity of children, as well as some very old societal practices, 
  has encouraged the development of group marriage among the Eloitan, 
  a situation in which several individuals of varying gender live in a 
  loose group, caring for each other and, if necessary, raising children 
  collectively. A child usually refers to all males in his group as “father” 
  and all women as “mother,” as speciﬁ c parentage is often not known 
  for certain.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The wild elves retain some elements of their people’s ancient faiths, 
  but other deities have arisen more in keeping with their current status as 
  keepers of the forest and defenders of nature. The fey goddess Arialee 
  is most commonly worshipped and thought to be the primary deity 
  among a host of nature spirits and elementals who make up the rest of 
  the Eloitan elves’ pantheon. The mysterious nature god known as the 
  Green Father is also worshipped, but usually by the druids alone, who 
  carry out his rituals in secret, and receive messages from the great deity 
  delivered by intelligent white ravens.
  Various demigods and spirits, often associated with very speciﬁ c 
  local regions, all serve under Arialee, who is considered to be kind and 
  benevolent, but must still be respected and appeased. The wild elves 
  truly believe that every plant, animal, and natural object possesses its 
  own spirit, and that some even contain the spirits of their own ancestors 
  who can be summoned through ritual and called upon for wisdom. An 
  Eloitan legend speaks of an entire tribe of wild elves that sought refuge 
  in the plants and animals of its region to escape persecution, and that 
  may someday return.
  Priestly duties are carried out by a shaman class that practices druidic 
  magic and cares for the natural life of the forest. These druids usually 
  dwell apart from the tribes but can be approached for advice or called 
  upon for divine assistance. These druids are among the most fanatical 
  of the region’s defenders, and often use their magic mercilessly against 
  trespassers and innocent travelers alike.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Trade is an entirely internal matter for the Eloitan elves, as, with 
  very few exceptions, outsiders are forbidden. Most tribes subsist 
  on hunting and gathering and maintain a fairly non-material culture, 
  living in skin tents, hunting with bow and spear, ﬁ shing with net or 
  bow, sometimes engaging in a small amount of cultivation, or keeping 
  small herds of goats. Trade usually takes place in spring and summer as 
  tribes trade excess food, tools, weapons, clothing, and animals among 
  themselves. From time to time, goods from Xha’en or the Tycho states 
  may be available for trade, the result of successful raids on unfortunate 
  communities or travelers.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The elves of Eloitan are loyal to no one save each other — not even 
  the elves of the Green Warden Nations. Folklore and history have shown 
  that non-elves are untrustworthy and should be either driven out of elven 
  lands or slain without mercy if they refuse. Humans are usually attacked 
  if encountered, which forces them to rely on stealthy passage through 
  the treacherous depths of this ancient forest. Other elves are allowed to 
  enter the region but are often followed and treated with suspicion. 
  Prisoners are rarely taken, though in recent years disturbing reports 
  have emerged and suggest that some Eloitan communities have taken 
  to capturing enemies and putting them to torment before ﬁ nally killing 
  them. The truth of these rumors is not yet known, but they are disturbing 
  and consistent with the suggestion that the Eloitan’s character has grown 
  even darker over the centuries.
  The Eloitan do not maintain formal relations with the Green Warden 
  Nations, though from time to time they accept aid or in especially dire 
  circumstances, offer it themselves. For the most part, however, the 
  Eloitan consider the Green Warden elves to have strayed from the paths 
  of ancient wisdom and authority, and shun contact. In some cases, the 
  Eloitan come into open conﬂ ict with their fellow elves, especially the 
  Serpent’s Coil. The two groups clash over control of various sacred sites 
  such as the Circle of the Wild and the site of Tyriem’s warder.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The elves of Eloitan have nothing resembling a central government, 
  instead consisting of small tribes ranging from 20 to 200 members 
  scattered across the region. Though once their forebears followed a single 
  monarch, the move back toward a “purer” and less technologically-
  advanced society also encouraged reversion to earlier cultural practices. 
  Most of their communities are overseen by a chief — usually an 
  older, accomplished warrior, hunter, or druid. These chiefs can be of 
  any gender and are selected by the other elders of the tribe upon their 
  predecessor’s death or disability.
  Chiefs are assisted by councils of elders, usually the oldest of the 
  tribe. These groups are also of mixed genders, and though their advice 
  does not have to be followed, it is considered very unwise to ignore 
  them. Councils are able to remove incompetent chiefs from power and 
  accordingly reduce their status though this occurs only rarely.
  Some Green Warden elves who have visited the Eloitan region report 
  that in some communities, the priestly class has grown in inﬂ uence, 
  sometimes dictating decisions to chiefs and elders. When taken with the 
  rumors of tortured prisoners and violence growing in the heart of the 
  Eloitan region, these reports are even more alarming.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  All adult elves, including those who have just reached adulthood, are 
  expected to ﬁ ght and defend the tribe. About half to two-thirds of each 
  tribe is capable of ﬁ ghting at any time.
  Eloitan warrior bands are highly effective at skirmish and hit-and-
  run, attacking the enemy without warning before vanishing among the 
  trees. Tribal warriors ﬁ ght unarmored with spears, longbows, clubs, 
  and ﬂ int knives. Some tribes employ hide or turtle-shell shields, and 
  others use less-familiar weapons such as atl-atl and stone-bladed clubs. 
  A few weapons that date back to before the Exodus exist, and these are 
  carefully guarded by tribes and revered as sacred objects.
  Warbands are often accompanied by druids who use their magic to 
  enhance warriors and confuse the enemy. Many druids also command 
  creatures of the wild — animal companions as well as ordinary creatures 
  under druidic inﬂ uence — that can attack the enemy from unexpected 
  quarters, perform reconnaissance, or carry messages.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Although the Eloitan once considered the humans of the Xha’en 
  Hegemony to be their greatest threat, a growing sense among the 
  Eloitan is that all peoples beyond their borders are dangerous, including 
  other elven nations. Icily polite relations with the Green Warden elves 
  
  86|
  86|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  continue, and the Eloitan accept and offer aid in times of trouble, but it 
  seems that the isolated realm is growing ever more estranged from their 
  fellow elves. Some among the Green Warden Nations, in fact, fear that 
  skirmishes between Eloitan and the Serpent’s Coil elves may erupt into 
  open warfare over sacred sites.
  Though the Xha’en see the forest as a vast untapped source of timber 
  and other resources, their past incursions into the area have ended badly, 
  and at this point most Xha’en keep their distance. 
  The forest’s other denizens have been growing more aggressive in 
  recent years. Signiﬁ cant numbers of goblins, gnolls, giants, and fey of 
  every sort and alignment plague the Eloitan, often requiring several 
  tribes to combine forces to face the challenge. Of these, the goblins are 
  the most persistent. Their warriors are almost as cunning and dangerous 
  as those of the Eloitan themselves and their evil spellcasters specialize 
  in summoning or compelling some of the forest’s more dangerous 
  inhabitants — giant spiders, cave bears, dire wolves, serpents, 
  carnivorous worms, birds of prey, and the like — to serve them and 
  attack the elves. Battles with the goblins sometimes go on for days, 
  with each side sneaking through the woods, attacking, retreating, and 
  counterattacking over and over until both are exhausted and forced to 
  withdraw. The goblins rarely attack to seize or hold territory — they are 
  most interested in theft and mayhem.
  The fey are a different matter, for the elves of old maintained a special 
  relationship with the creatures of faerie. In the past, the elves and good-
  aligned fey kept to themselves, occasionally joining forces to battle 
  mutual foes such as evil fey and undead. The wild elves’ relations with 
  the good fey have been strained, however, as the Eloitan grow more 
  suspicious of outsiders. Conﬂ icts between the elves and the good fey are 
  usually inconclusive, and typically end with either the fey or the elves 
  moving away from the source of the conﬂ ict.
  War with the evil fey are far more serious affairs, for they are as 
  hateful toward the elves as the elves themselves are to humans and 
  dwarves. Evil fey consider the elves — and their good cousins as 
  well — to be interlopers who have no right to live in the region, and 
  frequently engage in bloody raids, lay traps, and kidnap unfortunate 
  elves and subject them to fearsome torments. Elven children are an 
  especially popular target for the dark fey, and these are sometimes 
  replaced with wicked changelings. For the most part, the evil fey and 
  the elves avoid each other, for struggles are invariably costly and end 
  tragically for both sides.
  Alarmingly, some of the stories of tortured prisoners and powerful 
  priests are accompanied with evidence that a few Eloitan communities 
  have made peace with the evil fey and might even be cooperating with 
  their former enemies. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  The woods of the Eloitan are notoriously wild and dangerous. Even 
  without the hazards presented by the wild elves, the forest, which is full 
  of natural hazards such as pits, ravines, and thickets, is a fearsome place. 
  Even the mundane creatures of the woods — bears, wolves, panthers, 
  boars, etc. — are especially ﬁ erce and cunning, and larger species such 
  as cave bears, giant boars, and dire variants of ordinary creatures are 
  quite common and extremely aggressive. It is as if the wildlife of the 
  forest burns with the same fury toward outsiders as the wild elves.
  Monsters are even worse, with tribes of gnolls, goblins, ettercap, 
  and ettins. Giant spiders, scorpions, and insects often lair in trees 
  or underground, making even the shortest of journeys in the forest 
  extremely hazardous, and as previously noted, fey — both good and 
  evil — defend their territory ﬁ ercely.
  Reasons exist to venture into Eloitan, though not everyone agrees that 
  they are good reasons. Certainly, the lure of a permanent trade route 
  between the ancient Xha’en Hegemony and the young and growing 
  Tycho states is a potent motivation, with potential riches awaiting 
  anyone who establishes such a connection. Eloitan is only the ﬁ rst step 
  of such a journey, but the elf tribes are determined to make that step a 
  costly one.
  TYCHO FREE STATES 
  TYCHO FREE STATES 
  (ALSO SPELLED TAICHO)
  (ALSO SPELLED TAICHO)
  (TYE-cho)
  Capital: none
  Notable Settlements: Bogsweat, Freetown, Fringe, Hotpools, 
  Ilber Nole, Median, Timbertown
  Ruler: Chief Magistrate Kemma Philben
  Government: confederation of independent city-states
  Population: 450,000 (196,000 Tycho ethnicities, 80,000 halﬂ ing, 
  65,000 Foerdewaith, 50,000 half-elf, 30,000 mixed or other 
  ethnicity human, 15,000 hill dwarf, 4,000 Xha’en, 3,500 half-
  orc, 2,500 high elf, 2,000 lizardfolk, 1,000 tengu, 500 mountain 
  dwarf, 500 other)
  Monstrous: dire or giant animals native to the region (including 
  but not limited to local breeds of monkeys, apes, pandas, red 
  pandas, wolves, foxes, many snakes, birds, and occasional 
  tigers) (all wilderness areas), awakened plants/trees, 
  awakened animals, satyrs, pixies, centaurs, other fey, plant-
  type creatures native to the region (any, but especially treants, 
  shambling mounds), lycanthropes (various, usually non-evil) 
  dryads, unicorns, nymphs, owlbears, wyverns, pseudodragons, 
  other temperate forest creatures native to the region (forest 
  edge regions); worgs, harpies, occasional manticores or 
  chimerae (remote, non-forested areas); stirges, will-o-wisps, 
  chuuls (marshes, especially near Bogsweat); ﬁ re giants, red 
  dragons, salamanders, or other ﬁ re-elemental-related beings 
  (far northern Tycho, near the Hellsgate Peaks); giant or dire 
  sea life, nixies, or the rare sea hag (coastal waters)
  Languages: Common, Elven, sometimes others
  Religion: varies regionally
  Resources: timber, medicinal herbs, ﬁ shing, rare herbs and 
  spices, naval mercenaries, salt, shipbuilding and repair, 
  shipbuilding supplies, quarry stone, trade with elves, sea 
  transport, pearls, grain, foodstuffs, furs, hotsprings
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval (most cities), Dark Ages (remote 
  areas)
  Located on the Free Coast between the Hellsgate Peaks and the 
  southern end of the Ilber Peninsula, the Green Warden Forest, and 
  the Crescent Sea, the Tycho Free States are ofﬁ cially just over 275 
  years old, one of the youngest nations in the region. Parts of the Free 
  States’ history goes back thousands of years, however, long enough for 
  individual states in the confederacy to have developed vastly different 
  cultures from one another, despite a common origin. 
  The name “Free Coast” was originally coined shortly after the ofﬁ cial 
  withdrawal of Castorhage from the region in order to distinguish between 
  the Tycho Forest Coast (formerly the Forest Coast Work Colonies) and 
  the rest of the Forest Coast to the south. Initially, it was rarely used by 
  local inhabitants (who were more likely to say “North Coast”) and was 
  more a conceit of mapmakers and politicians.
  In recent generations, however, as the descendants of the Tycho Free 
  States’ founding citizens grow further removed from their origin as a 
  penal colony, the “Free” Coast has become known for its high rate of 
  indentured servitude among the populace. This irony has led to the long-
  standing map-marked title for the area ﬁ nally coming into general use 
  among the Tycho Free States’ indentured poor and neighboring peoples.
  Indentured service in the Tycho Free States is normally imposed 
  as a result of the failure to pay debts or as a punishment for certain 
  crimes. Although permanent slavery is technically illegal, the economy 
  of the region increasingly relies on an ever-growing class of indentured 
  servants, and many local laws make it difﬁ cult for those ﬁ nding 
  themselves in this status to escape their bonds. In addition, a small illegal 
  slave trade can be found running a nomadic operation up and down the 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|87
  |87
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  Free Coast. With the exception of the renowned privateer Evangeliana 
  Akadearg, the Tycho Free States’ leaders have yet to fully acknowledge, 
  much less address, this elusive new danger in Free Coast waters.
  With impassibly rocky coastlines in some areas and easily defensible, 
  well-hidden natural harbors in others, the Free Coast is exceedingly 
  difﬁ cult to police. This in itself explains much of the military history 
  and survival of the Tycho Free States, and now encourages a growing 
  tradition of illicit activities in the region. The most dangerous region 
  of the Free Coast is in the north, where ash and steam from the Strait 
  of Gehenna are frequently blown south to obscure northern Free Coast 
  waters and harbors. It is believed that slavers may have a secret base in 
  this region, and that some may in fact be in league with devils from the 
  Hellsgate Peaks.
  Outsiders tend to know the Free States by several different, often 
  conﬂ icting reputations. It is a land of liberty and populist values. It is 
  a land of indenture and oppression. It is a land of piracy and anarchy. 
  It is a land of heroes and naval might. It is the human nation with the 
  single best trade relationship with the Green Warden Forest. It has 
  an antagonistic relationship with its elven neighbors and may at any 
  point provoke a war with them. It is a land of overcrowded little cities 
  and ancient, beautiful roads. It is a land of trackless and treacherous 
  wilderness. It is a land of extravagant wealth and a land of humble 
  simplicity. All of these statements are true and not true, depending on 
  where one looks.    
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Starting in 2301 I.R., Castorhage established a string of penal 
  colonies on the northern Forest Coast to work convicts and harvest the 
  plentiful trees of the Green Realm. Eventually, King Lertis Tevoy of 
  Castorhage provoked armed conﬂ ict with the wild elves of the nearby 
  forest when he tried to build a great road piercing the heart of the Green 
  Realm. The war was ruinous for Castorhage and resulted in the near-
  total destruction of the Forest Coast Work Colonies. By 2373 I.R., the 
  great road project was abandoned, and Ilber Nole was left as the only 
  remaining fortiﬁ cation on the Forest Coast.  By the following year, King 
  Lertis was overthrown by his half-brother and sold into slavery to pay 
  for the debts he incurred in the war. 
  After peace was restored with the elves, Castorhage continued to send 
  convicts and other undesirables to the Forest Coast. The island nation 
  had less luck maintaining control over its colonies, as other outcasts 
  and those seeking political freedom also began to relocate there. By 
  2854 I.R., the settlements of the Forest Coast ceased payment of taxes to 
  Castorhage, and despite various threats, Castorhage in effect lost control 
  of its colonies there. Attempts by Castorhage to reassert dominion were 
  thwarted by the Grand Duchy of Reme, which preferred independent 
  cities along this critical line of Crescent Sea shortline. In the 3230s, 
  a group of Reme-inﬂ uenced philosophers and revolutionaries founded 
  Timbertown on principles they believed at the time would lead to a 
  natural meritocracy. They set about freeing the oppressed populace of 
  Pearlhaven. Finally, in 3240 I.R., Castorhage lost the Short War with 
  Reme, and agreed to permanently absolve all claims to the Forest Coast.  
  The next year, in 3241 I.R., the Tycho Free States were founded.
  Timbertown, Pearlhaven (which returned to its former penal colony 
  name of Bogsweat), and Fringe became the ﬁ rst three States on the Free 
  Coast, and leaders from these three vastly different regions collaborated 
  on and eventually signed the Tycho Free States Accords. These leaders, 
  however, knew more about grand ideals than they did about actual 
  governance, so the accords have proven over the intervening years to 
  be a minimal legal system at best, and barely more than a loose alliance 
  at worst. Few other nations have taken the Free States seriously as a 
  uniﬁ ed entity, and it remains common practice to deal with each local 
  leader as a wholly independent entity. Some see the entire Free Coast as 
  vassal states either to the elves of the Green Warden Forest or to Reme. 
  However, in the last 20 years much has changed in the Free States. 
  Timbertown’s economy has leapt astronomically, and Bogsweat has 
  been nearly keeping pace. At the same time, a vigilante privateer by the 
  name of Evangeliana Akadearg took it upon herself to hunt down and 
  attack slaver ships all over the Crescent Sea to bring the freed slaves 
  home with her to a small harbor on the northern Free Coast. Eventually, 
  this harbor became a town, and — as its reputation spread for harboring 
  all “refugees from injustice” with no questions asked — the town 
  became a city, and soon Freetown was large enough to sign the Free 
  States Accords in 3502 I.R. “Captain” Akadearg’s ﬂ otilla of loyal ships 
  instantly doubled the Free States’ navy, vastly increasing the nation’s 
  military pull with surrounding entities. 
  More changes followed swiftly on Freetown’s heels. While the chaotic 
  young city continued to grow far too fast for its own infrastructure or 
  minimal legal system, the infamous pirate haven of Ilber Nole, on the 
  Free States’ southern edge, decided suddenly to clean up and start 
  behaving like a real community. The people of the Free States were 
  understandably skeptical of this change of heart, but when the Ilber 
  Nole pirate ﬂ otilla came to the Tycho navy’s aid in its next conﬂ ict, Ilber 
  Nole’s head of state, Andre Turotimis, was also invited to sign the Free 
  States Accords in 3511 I.R., further increasing the nation’s naval might. 
  In the nearly seven years since the number of Tycho Free States 
  ofﬁ cially increased to ﬁ ve, the rest of the world began taking more 
  notice of the sometimes quite backward confederacy. Indeed, the Free 
  States seemed to be taking themselves more seriously as well. In 3513 
  I.R., at the most recent Free States Conference of Leaders, more new 
  laws and ordinances were drawn up than ever before in the nation’s 
  history, and the ﬁ ve cities’ chosen representatives elected a new and 
  energetic chief magistrate who has proven herself devoted to unifying 
  and regulating her nation. 
  Chief Magistrate Kemma Philben is the ﬁ rst Tycho chief magistrate born 
  of the local Tycho ethnicity. The Tycho people are a mix of the prisoners, 
  slaves, outcasts, and dreamers who have been coming, voluntarily or 
  involuntarily, to the Free States region for more than 1,000 years. While 
  more recent human arrivals to the Free Coast may evidence their forbears’ 
  ethnic identities, those whose ancestors have been living in the region for 
  centuries have together formed a blended people, impossible to lump in 
  with any of the other ethnicities around them. 
  Taking their name (as does the nation itself) from a corruption of 
  an elven term meaning “marshy coast” (a name only accurate in the 
  Bogsweat region of the Tycho Free States, but due to misunderstanding 
  considered in local legend to be the elven name for the Free Coast), 
  the Tycho people have a darker complexion than is typical for humans 
  native to the Crescent Sea region, reﬂ ective of the disproportionately 
  multicultural nature of the Castorhagi labor colonies (and some say 
  more of the dark-skinned local elven blood than the elves would ever 
  admit, though the hardy Tycho build is hardly elﬁ n). 
  Tycho folk are typically shorter than those of Foerdewaith ethnic 
  background, generally broader of build, with higher and wider 
  cheekbones. Despite their darker skin for the region, it is not wholly 
  uncommon for Tycho individuals to have red hair and gray or green 
  eyes, though black or dark brown hair and brown eyes are far more 
  common. In other respects, they tend to resemble other Crescent Sea 
  human populations, which is to be expected, considering that the Tycho 
  mix had a healthy helping from Castorhage’s and surrounding regions’ 
  poor as well. 
  Because the Tycho people are descended from the poor and oppressed 
  of the Free Coast region, they have not typically been in good position 
  to proﬁ t from the Free States’ burgeoning economy. Indeed, they are not 
  even the largest human ethnic group on the Free Coast (that being more 
  recent immigrants of various strains of Foerdewaith stock from across 
  the Crescent Sea). Nevertheless, in Kemma Philben they ﬁ nally have 
  their ﬁ rst Tycho chief magistrate, and she is thus far proving well-suited 
  to the position. 
  Of course, humans make up less than two-thirds of the Free States’ 
  humanoid citizens, and with the exception of half-elven Evangeliana 
  Akadearg, and occasional half-elven leadership in Fringe, no non-
  human has ever yet held high ofﬁ ce in the Tycho Free States. Halﬂ ings, 
  the nation’s largest humanoid minority, make up almost 18% of the 
  population but hold very little political power. 
  Most of the Free States’ halﬂ ings arrived as indentured servants. 
  Halﬂ ing immigrants were courted (and misled, and badly oppressed) by 
  the Castorhagi because it was believed that smaller workers would be 
  
  88|
  88|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  easier to control. Now, centuries later, the Free Coast has become these 
  halﬂ ings’ home, and they would like to be treated as equals with their 
  human neighbors, without regard to physical stature.
  Similar stories can be told for many humanoid or ethnic minority 
  populations in the Free States, all of whom would like to enjoy what the 
  Tycho humans currently, ﬁ nally have: a chief magistrate who resembles 
  their own people.   
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Though for the most part Free States’ trade and commerce are best 
  discussed in the context of each individual state, all of which deal in 
  different trades, one interesting aspect of Tycho commerce is how much 
  of it is internal. The Free Coast region is sufﬁ ciently diverse in trade goods 
  and in food production that if the Free States trade among themselves, 
  the nation requires few imports in providing for its populace. The more 
  closely-knit and reliant upon one another the Tycho Free States become, 
  the more economic power the nation is able to wield as a whole.
  That being said, coastal Timbertown, complete with its timber 
  industry-supported shipbuilding and ship-repair docks, has become the 
  natural place for the majority of Crescent Sea foreign trade with the Free 
  States. Timbertown merchants are becoming ever more inventive in 
  ﬁ nding ways to make more money on every sale than do the producers 
  of the goods in question, even if said goods were produced in other 
  Tycho Free States. This gouging has led to heated policy disagreements 
  between the various states’ leaders and a growing fear among other 
  Tychoans that Timbertown leaders are out to wrest control of the entire 
  nation for themselves. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Each state in the Tycho nation largely maintains its own independent 
  diplomatic relationships. This is especially true in regard to the Green 
  Warden elves who have markedly different policies toward Timbertown 
  than toward Fringe, for example, and would prefer to have nothing to 
  do with the rest of the Tycho nation. However, there are diplomatic 
  relationships that the Tycho Free States engage in as a whole, such as the 
  uncomfortable peace with North Heath for several years now, following 
  an unsuccessful naval assault by the larger nation (or by rogue elements 
  within it, if North Heath diplomats are to be believed). 
  The most important of the Tycho Free States’ diplomatic relationships, 
  however, is that with Reme. Without Reme, the Tycho Free States 
  would never have been able to break free of Castorhagi control. Over 
  the centuries, Reme repeatedly found it to be desirable to frustrate 
  Castorhagi interests in the Forest Coast, and Reme was the ﬁ rst nation 
  to ofﬁ cially acknowledge the legitimacy of Tycho’s independence and 
  the Tycho Free States Accords. 
  As a consequence, the Free States have carefully maintained good 
  relations with this ally and benefactor, and even Timbertown offers 
  Reme merchants particularly favorable trade arrangements.  
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The Tycho Free States government is difﬁ cult to deﬁ ne. The accords 
  contain certain pacts and regulations intended to maintain a close military 
  and economic alliance between confederacy members, and are otherwise 
  largely permissive. A population must exceed a deﬁ ned threshold and have 
  a legally-deﬁ ned leader to qualify for membership, as well as being willing 
  to unify with the other members and abide by the decisions of the Leaders’ 
  Council and any rulings of the chief magistrate that member states are 
  required to follow. A qualifying population is considered a member state 
  only if a two-thirds majority of the member states’ current leaders choose 
  to afﬁ rm membership and invite a signature on the magically-preserved 
  Tycho Free States Accords document.
  For the most part, the chief magistrate has little authority within the 
  claimed territory of the member states and is tasked instead with the 
  administration of Tycho territory that isn’t claimed by member states. 
  To accomplish this, each state sends one representative per thousand 
  citizens in its average annual population (states determine for themselves 
  how representatives are selected) to an annual summer conference in 
  Median, a town built for this purpose along the old Great Road between 
  Fringe and Bogsweat. These representatives provide authority and 
  direction to the chief magistrate in any mutual international matters 
  and in governing unincorporated territory within the Free Coast region. 
  Every four years, the leaders of each of the states meet at Median in a 
  Leaders’ Council, and every other Leaders’ Council they meet to elect a 
  chief magistrate for a term of eight years.
  The Free Coast has been well settled for over 1,000 years, but outside 
  the larger settlements, the unincorporated territories are sparsely 
  inhabited, usually requiring little attention from the chief magistrate. 
  Current projects on the mind of the chief magistrate, other than 
  international diplomacy, include the organization of attempts to clean 
  up and repair all that remains of the Castorhagi Great Road (outside the 
  forest, of course) in order to improve transport and make it easier for 
  outlying farms to bring their produce and livestock to markets or ports. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The military of the Tycho Free States is almost entirely naval. On the 
  sea, the Free States are as well-defended as could be expected for their 
  population, if not better. On land, however, the Free States have little 
  that constitutes an army. Military activities on land tend to provoke harsh 
  protests from the far more powerful Green Warden elves, leaving the Free 
  States in the uncomfortable position of needing to rely on geography and 
  the wild elves’ mercy to protect them from overland invasion. 
  That said, there are enough monsters threatening the edges and 
  wilderness areas of the Tycho Free States that a total lack of military 
  would be disastrous. As such, the Free States do keep a small 
  professional defense force to deal with threats to the countryside’s 
  security in unincorporated territory. These defenders are well trained, 
  often rangers, but in sheer numbers an entirely inadequate force if any 
  army were to invade the Free States by land.  
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The Tycho Free States face threats on all sides. To the east, however 
  respected their navy (and allies) may be, they are nevertheless 
  outnumbered and outclassed by other navies in the Crescent Sea, and 
  hardly unassailable were they to be seriously attacked. To the south, 
  even assuming that Andre Turotimis’ reformation is sincere, Ilber Nole 
  has a long tradition of piratical occupation, and might slip back into 
  threatening habits if anything were to happen to the current charismatic 
  leader. Without Turotimis and his ﬂ otilla providing defense, the 
  increasingly wealthy Free States ports would only seem more enticing 
  to those in search of plunder. 
  To the west, the Tycho region is, as always, threatened by the 
  magically superior elves and their powerful forest-dwelling allies, and 
  to the north, no one really knows how great a threat the Hellsgate Peaks’ 
  devils might be to the Free Coast, or what may be the source of the 
  mysterious disappearances in Hotpools. 
  Finally, the Tycho Free States are threatened from within, both by the 
  growing power of the greedy in nearly every state, and by the increasing 
  division between the various states’ political and economic philosophies. 
  At any point, some believe, the Tycho Free States could fragment into 
  civil conﬂ ict, either one state against another or an uprising of the 
  oppressed against oppressors.  
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  Other than the edges of the wood to the west and the occasional 
  wandering monster in the marshes or remote areas, the most dangerous 
  and mysterious region of the Tycho Free States is undoubtedly Hotpools, 
  with its history of unexplained disappearances, and its possible 
  connection to the devils of the Hellsgate Peaks. 
  MEDIAN, VILLAGE OF
  MEDIAN, VILLAGE OF
  Founded sometime after the beginning of the Tycho Free States’ 
  confederacy, Median is a village that exists for the purpose of 
  governmental decision-making, mediation of disputes, and national 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|89
  |89
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  infrastructure management. It is normally a tiny little town in the 
  middle of an otherwise featureless stretch of road, save for the annual 
  midsummer conventions of Free States’ governmental representatives, 
  the larger convention every four years for the Leaders’ Councils and the 
  election every eight years of a chief magistrate. During these times, the 
  population balloons into the thousands, with the states’ representatives, 
  leaders’ entourages, and many citizens who come to make appeals, have 
  disputes settled, and sell goods to everyone else in attendance. 
  Some have attempted to call Median the Free States’ capital, but 
  legally speaking, the Tycho Free States do not have a capital, as the 
  central government exists to serve and coordinate the state governments, 
  rather than to rule over them. Median is ofﬁ cially, therefore, a neutral 
  meeting point, no more.
  BOGSWEAT, CITY OF
  BOGSWEAT, CITY OF
  Ruler: Headman Valor Forswythe
  Government: council
  Population: 9,900 (4,100 Tycho ethnicities, 2,900 halﬂ ing, 2,000 
  Foerdewaith, 600 half-elf, 280 other or mixed ethnicity human, 
  20 other) 
  Languages: Common
  Religion: local interpretations of Brine, Father Canker, Mother 
  Grace, and Sister Shadows, combined with animism and the 
  Loa
  Resources: ﬁ shing, grain, herbs, medicinal herbs, magical 
  herbs, pearls 
  Currency: mixed 
  Technology Level: mostly High Middle Ages
  Bogsweat is a humble collection of closely-packed villages in the 
  middle of a giant brackish marsh on the Free Coast. Incorporated 
  together, the villages make up just barely a large enough community to 
  have been one of the founding members of the Tycho Free States, third 
  to sign the Tycho Free States Accords.  
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The oldest surviving Castorhagi town on the Free Coast, Bogsweat 
  was among the original penal work colonies commissioned by Queen 
  Malice in 2301 I.R. Though too small to appear on most maps, several 
  little streams come together to form a swampy wetlands and estuary just 
  to the west of Bogsweat’s humble brick huts and storehouses. Bogsweat 
  was unique among the labor camps in that its location was chosen 
  for peak food production, and prisoners sent to Bogsweat worked to 
  produce exports for sale to line Castorhagi pockets and also to feed the 
  rest of the Forest Coast Work Colonies. 
  For this reason, even after King Lertis began his ill-advised Great 
  Road project and pulled all other laborers out of their “colonies” and 
  put them to work on the road, Bogsweat was the only such town to 
  remain continuously populated, hard at work with ﬁ shing, farming of 
  staples, and cultivating herbs both medicinal and magical. Positioned 
  as they were, largely inaccessible to the north and west due to miles of 
  marsh and swamp, and with their backs to the (at the time) Castorhagi-
  dominated sea, Bogsweat was touched by the war only in that it now 
  had to provide for thousands of soldiers and sailors as well as its fellow 
  labor colonies. 
  After the Great Road was abandoned, King Acquire lost interest in the 
  Forest Coast colonies and gave governorship of Bogsweat to an irritating 
  courtier who’d done him an important favor. The courtier, one Lord 
  Governor Merris, excitedly departed for his new position, convinced 
  he could make himself fabulously wealthy there. Merris ordered a 
  disastrous foray into major export crops like cotton and tobacco despite 
  the region’s inappropriately moist soil for either plant. The more money 
  he lost on the venture, the more convinced he became that “next year” 
  the harvest would bathe him in gold. 
  During this time, the Bogsweat population swelled to the maximum 
  that could be supported by the region, with most inhabitants still being 
  indentured laborers (either punitively or through self-indenture to pay 
  off debts). Only the presence of this pool of poorly-treated, near-slave 
  labor enabled Merris to turn anything like a proﬁ t from his ridiculous 
  orders to his subjects. Merris did die modestly wealthy, but the culture 
  of Bogsweat was forever altered by his practices.
  Every governor after him continued the reliance on large populations 
  of ill-treated indentured labor, but these chose their projects more wisely, 
  including not only high-yield crops such as a nutritious rice brought 
  back from trade with Xha’en, but also dangerous ﬁ shing practices and 
  oyster beds. Bogsweat’s name was changed to Pearlhaven, a place for 
  the wealthy to make themselves wealthier by working the indentured 
  poor (not uncommonly) to death. 
  This state of affairs continued quietly, despite all the upheaval 
  in Castorhage, until Pearlhaven was sacked by pirates in 2797 I.R., 
  while Castorhage lay stricken with plague. In addition to all the pearls 
  waiting at the docks to be shipped to jewelers all over the world, the 
  pirates also stole all of the governor’s vast wealth, his excessively-
  stocked armory, and his seal of ofﬁ ce. The pirates used this loot (and 
  a fair amount of trickery) to sack Ilber Nole as well, Castorhage’s last 
  remaining fortiﬁ cation on the Forest Coast. With the plague in full force, 
  all communication between the Forest Coast and Castorhage ceased. 
  The pirates decided to seize Pearlhaven for themselves. The 
  Castorhage-appointed governor was deposed and replaced by a tyrannical 
  pirate captain as the small settlement’s so-called “king.” Unfortunately, 
  so much was destroyed in the sacking of the town that Pearlhaven’s 
  wealth was slow to recover, made worse by previous overﬁ shing and 
  mismanagement. In an ironic turn of events, the grandson of the original 
  pirate king was forced to re-pledge fealty to Castorhage to maintain his 
  control of the town and accepted a change in title back to governor. 
  Although Castorhage was happy to accept the payment of taxes and to 
  provide extremely modest naval support in return, the interest of the 
  Castorhagi rulers in the Forest Coast was in decline, and a reduced-
  productivity Pearlhaven was largely ignored. 
  The next generations of governors (now an inherited position) 
  departed from a model of indentured servitude in favor of outright 
  enslavement of large portions of the populace, a change that did not sit 
  well with Pearlhaven’s more liberty-minded neighbors. In 3236 I.R., 
  Pearlhaven was once again sacked, this time by revolutionaries bent on 
  freeing the Forest Coast from “all bondage.” Despite the good intentions 
  of their liberators, the newly freed slaves were left largely to fend for 
  themselves and pick up the pieces of the destroyed community and 
  decide on a means of self-government. 
  When the Forest Coast colonies ofﬁ cially declared independence from 
  Castorhage in 3241 I.R., the ﬁ rst elected headwoman of Pearlhaven — 
  chosen for the position largely because she had received an education 
  before the misfortunes that made her a slave — signed the independence 
  declaration and Free States Accords as Alice, Headwoman of Bogsweat. 
  Her decision was controversial at ﬁ rst, but Alice argued that Pearlhaven 
  was a name born of injustice and suffering, and the community should 
  not want to invite such a thing ever again. Rather than advertising 
  themselves as pearls to be stolen or bought and sold, the residents would 
  be better served by a humble name that would keep outsiders away. The 
  residents put the name to a vote and narrowly chose to follow Alice’s 
  advice of returning the region’s name to Bogsweat. 
  Though Bogsweat is adjacent to no actual bogs, most of the region is 
  marshy, muddy, and damp, uncomfortably humid in the summers, and 
  prone to mosquitoes. Without the pearl association, few would want to 
  live there who weren’t born there. Nevertheless, Bogsweat’s rice paddies, 
  cultivation of rare herbs, ﬁ shing hauls, and oyster beds have made the 
  town prosperous enough that its name isn’t always enough to deter a 
  perceptive outsider from seeking their fortune here, legally or illegally. 
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Bogsweat religion is humble, quiet, insular, and a bit odd, much 
  like the region itself. It combines animistic and tribal beliefs and 
  practices from all over the world (beliefs which Bogsweat inherited 
  from its multicultural work-camp and slave ancestors) with local re-
  interpretations of a few Castorhagi deities and other spirit beings. 
  Believers top all this off with local quirks and superstitions. Technically, 
  
  90|
  90|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  all religions are welcome in Bogsweat, but locals do look askance at any 
  who won’t participate in the regional festivals. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Bogsweat has much of value to trade, and in recent years made 
  arrangements with Freetown shipping vessels to distribute its goods 
  more effectively, leading to a surge of economic growth not entirely 
  welcome in the insular little region. 
  Bogsweat still produces ﬁ ne pearls, though this is less advertised to 
  outsiders than it was during the Pearlhaven era. In addition, Bogsweat 
  produces many tons annually of spare rice for sale, and the Bogsweat 
  herb ﬁ elds are the true backbone of the region’s economy. Dried herbs 
  from Bogsweat are ubiquitous in apothecary shops and magical supply 
  markets throughout the Crescent Sea and beyond. 
  The Free Coast now offers a great deal of competition in the ﬁ shing 
  industry, so Bogsweat concentrates more on its own specialties, ﬁ shing 
  more for sustenance than commerce. That said, Bogsweat folk are adept 
  at preserving ﬁ sh and roe, and some other ﬁ shing communities bring 
  their excess to Bogsweat for smoking, salting, or pickling.  
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  A full member of the Tycho Free States, Bogsweat is standofﬁ shly 
  friendly with its fellow states. Protected now by Freetown and the rest 
  of the Tycho navy, most residents of Bogsweat prefer to keep their heads 
  down and ignore the outside world. That said, Headman Valor is known 
  among the rest of the Tycho government as an excellent diplomat 
  and deal-maker. His political capabilities are more appreciated at the 
  meetings of the Free States’ heads than they are at home.   
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Bogsweat adult citizens of good standing vote for the headperson 
  and for a “people’s judge” whose job it is to curb the powers of the 
  government whenever necessary. The headperson appoints a council of 
  nine elders from any “respectable townspeople of grandparenting age or 
  older,” and this council makes most of the region’s decisions. 
  Despite the populist ideals underlying this system, the last several 
  headpeople have continually appointed the wealthiest landowners to 
  the council of elders, and the members of the town’s watch seem to 
  all be relatives of said landowners and of late far more concerned with 
  the protection of their landowning relatives than with defending and 
  policing the general populace. The last several people’s judges have 
  either been toothless, been bought by the elders, or died early. 
  Laws in Bogsweat are, therefore, wandering steadily back toward a 
  feudalistic model, and indentured servitude has once more become a 
  commonplace and accepted moneymaking practice. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Other than the bullying watch, Bogsweat has almost no military 
  whatsoever. Individual landowners hire their own mercenary security 
  forces, and the region as a whole relies on the rest of the Tycho Free 
  States for protection. When additional forces are needed, the town must 
  usually hire outsiders.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  It is not impossible that Bogsweat could once again be targeted 
  by pirates, though the Tycho navy has protected them thus far. Other 
  threats include a regular stirge problem, and the occasional will-o’-
  wisp or chuul. The latter two threats are often more than Bogsweat can 
  handle alone and have led to the hiring of mercenaries on all previously 
  recorded occasions. 
  In addition, due to recent shifts in Bogsweat’s government, greedy 
  resource management has again become the rule, and Bogsweat’s poor 
  grow hungrier. Rumor even claims that some Bogsweat landowners are 
  illegally importing slave labor and magically geasing the slaves not to 
  speak of the crimes committed against them. 
  Rumor also whispers of dangerous magical experiments being performed 
  on plants and sea life in irresponsible attempts to increase yield and proﬁ ts 
  and to allow better ﬁ shing competition with surrounding communities. If this 
  is the case, it cannot be long before the perennially benighted community 
  of Bogsweat faces the worst fallout of rampant greed that it has ever seen.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  The marshes surrounding Bogsweat are mostly long-tamed and 
  monster-free, with the exception of an unusually high stirge population 
  that keeps coming back no matter what the locals do. However, the 
  Bogsweat marshes do attract the occasional dangerous invader. Will-o’-
  wisps and chuuls are encountered a few times a decade, and legend tells of 
  a couple of black dragons in the distant past, one of which was probably 
  actually a hydra, depending on the version of the tale that one hears. 
  FREETOWN, CITY OF
  FREETOWN, CITY OF
  Ruler: Captain Evangeliana Akadearg
  Government: crude democracy
  Population: 16,000 (3,300 Foerdewaith, 2,500 Xha’en, 2,400 
  half-elf, 2,200 human mixed ethnicity, 1,400 halﬂ ing, 1,000 
  Tycho ethnicities, 1,000 half-orc, 800 high elf, 600 other 
  human, 400 dwarf, 400 other) 
  Languages: Common, Xha’en, Elven
  Religion: eclectic, informal, celebratory
  Resources: ﬁ shing, sea transport and hauling, naval might
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Freetown is the largest city in the Tycho Free States that was not built 
  before the Free States gained independence. Its architecture, such as it 
  is, is all recent construction, mostly of wood. Few regulations and near-
  nonexistent oversight have led to streets that are entirely unnavigable, 
  as well as dangerously ramshackle structures, often built of reclaimed 
  materials from shipwrecks or other decommissioned vessels. 
  For all its ﬂ aws, however, Freetown is largely beloved by its residents. 
  Populated by a multicultural, multi-species hodgepodge of freed slaves, 
  refugees, outlaws, and various other fugitives, in addition to a few local 
  ﬁ shing folk, Freetown is a city of wild opportunity for many who have 
  never had opportunities before.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Young for its ever-burgeoning size, Freetown was founded by 
  Evangeliana Akadearg, a vigilante (some say pirate) sea captain with a 
  predilection for attacking slave ships and freeing all the slaves. When 
  said slaves had nowhere else to go, she at ﬁ rst offered them jobs on her 
  crew, but such a life did not appeal to every freed slave. Eventually, in 
  answer to the growing need, Akadearg offered to help them build a new 
  town, and once it was built, she was overwhelmingly elected its leader. 
  Since then, it has grown far too quickly for its own good, with not just 
  more freed slaves but all manner of refugees, fugitives, and anyone with 
  nowhere else to go. 
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Religion in Freetown is as chaotic and freeform as everything else in the 
  city. People are tolerant of one another’s faiths because they have to be. 
  Everyone is surrounded by people completely different from themselves. 
  Already, the town is becoming a stewpot of synchronistic “heresies,” with 
  new and mix-and-match religions and holidays springing up all over the 
  place. If there is any theme or overall “feel” to Freetown religion, it is 
  “festive.” Freetowners love an excuse to celebrate. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Freetown’s primary food source is ﬁ shing, and many community 
  members are ﬁ shers. However, most of Freetown’s money and other 
  goods come from longer seafaring voyages, and many citizens spend 
  much of the year away from town. Freetown ships hire themselves out 
  in transportation of goods and passengers, or to serve as mercenary 
  military vessels. Ships directly loyal to Captain Akadearg largely support 
  themselves by stealing from slavers or the more murderous sort of pirates, 
  with occasional careful forays into the more political sorts of privateering. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Freetown was granted permission to incorporate by the Tycho Free 
  States, and when its population grew large enough for it to be considered 
  
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  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  a city-state by Tycho legal deﬁ nitions, Captain Akadearg was invited to 
  sign the Free States Accords, which she did. Now a full “state” in the 
  Tycho Free States, Freetown owes loyalty and alliance to its fellows, 
  and to all of the Free States’ other allies. 
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  A master of shipboard swordplay, high seas tactical maneuvering, and 
  inspired leadership, Captain Akadearg (who insists that her title is “captain” 
  no matter her elected position in the town or how many ships she commands) 
  might as well technically be a reigning monarch. Freetown laws are poorly 
  deﬁ ned, giving their elected leader a great deal of power. Thus far, the good 
  captain has made little use of her legal authority, in either just or unjust 
  ways, making Freetown barely shy of an amiable anarchy. 
  Interestingly, Captain Akadearg is also a savvy businesswoman and 
  has made a mint by dealing with the elves to buy and sell naturally 
  fallen lumber from the Green Warden Forest, such that she is also well 
  known in Timbertown to the south. Unfortunately, however, the good 
  captain’s many talents do not extend to urban planning, which makes 
  her a strange leader for Freetown, to say the least. 
  Captain Akadearg’s leadership abilities are sufﬁ cient to keep crime 
  remarkably low (especially considering the high Freetown population of 
  former convicts) and economic growth on a steady rise. Only time will 
  tell how long such a balance can be maintained.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Though their army is small, Freetown is hardly undefended. Captain 
  Akadearg has long commanded a fair handful of battle-ready ships 
  full of loyal veteran sailors, and she is now ofﬁ cially the head of the 
  Freetown Navy. This small and ragtag-looking ﬂ otilla is well-trained 
  and well-utilized, such that they are considered a major player on the 
  waters of the western Crescent Sea, a scourge to all slavers in the region.
  Besides Akadearg’s loyal navy, other battle-ready ships do make port 
  at Freetown. Though these usually hire themselves out as mercenary 
  vessels, such as to escort wealth-ﬁ lled merchant ships, most have a 
  standing agreement with Freetown to sail with the navy in times of war. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Freetown is well defended by sea and largely surrounded by allies on 
  land. Like any community in the half-wild Tycho Free States, Freetown 
  must occasionally contend with monsters wandering into town or 
  threatening crops or livestock in outlying farms, but the primary threats 
  to Freetown come from within. 
  The town’s poor building choices, in particular, hang over it like an 
  axe waiting to fall. One visiting druid described the place as not just a ﬁ re 
  hazard but as a mass pyre that simply has yet to be lit. The overworked 
  and inexperienced elected city council organized ﬁ re evacuation routes 
  and water brigades, and the city is fortunately built so close to the sea 
  that much of it is either on stilts above the waves or literally ﬂ oating on 
  pier-like structures in the water, such that a good bucket brigade would 
  be able to put out small ﬁ res quickly in most of the city. A large ﬁ re is 
  another story, however.
  Then again, the risk to the town from storms and ﬂ ooding (or, in 
  places, sinking due to leakage) is at least as considerable as the risk 
  of ﬁ re, and for that Freetown has yet to organize any countermeasures 
  beyond Captain Akadearg paying a few wizards and druids out of pocket 
  to protect the city during storm season. 
  FRINGE, CITY OF
  FRINGE, CITY OF
  Ruler: Governor Kimmerlyn Syrris
  Government: republic
  Population: 13,000 (5,100 Tycho ethnicities, 3,900 half-elves, 
  2,500 halﬂ ings, 800 Foerdewaith, 500 high elves, 150 other 
  human ethnicities, 50 other) 
  Languages: Common, Elven, some Sylvan
  Religion: Arialee, Animism
  Resources: forest marble quarry, trade with the Green Warden
  Currency: mixed, barter, Green Realm
  Technology Level: primarily Medieval
  Fringe has the distinction (if half-elves are counted as human, as per 
  wild-elven reckoning) of being the sole human-majority community in 
  regular trade with the Green Warden Nations. Though Fringe is a founding 
  state of the Tycho Free States, and a Fringe leader was ﬁ rst to sign the Free 
  States Accords, Fringe is considered by some (especially within the Green 
  Warden Nations) to be very nearly an elven vassal state. 
  Other than friendship with notoriously unfriendly elves, Fringe 
  is known primarily for a type of marble unique to the Green Warden 
  region. Shot with veins and patches of an improbably gemlike dark 
  green, forest marble is prized the world over, perhaps all the more so 
  because of Fringe’s careful quarrying practices, which incidentally also 
  ensure that the global supply of forest marble remains rare and precious. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Fringe began as a Castorhagi penal colony, beside an outcropping of 
  a stone discovered to be a beautiful green-variegated marble, dubbed 
  forest marble. Originally named “Stonecut,” the town’s popular 
  nickname became “Fringe” within a few years of its construction, 
  because it was the farthest inland of all the labor towns and because it 
  was built just under the fringes of what the early residents cheerfully 
  called the “Malice Forest” after Queen Malice of Castorhage, who 
  commissioned the colonies. 
  The quarry at Fringe was known up and down the Forest Coast as 
  the worst of the labor camps, with dangerous practices and conditions, 
  as well as the most back-breaking labor. Due to the rare beauty and 
  practical utility of forest marble, however, Fringe was also the largest 
  money-producer for Castorhage of all the original penal colonies. When 
  the ﬁ rst wild elf raid on the town occurred, Queen Malice was quick 
  to make peace with these wary neighbors by offering generous trade 
  agreements and other concessions to keep them happy. 
  For this reason, mining and agricultural practices in Fringe have always 
  been careful and clean, with no major incursions into the forest and very 
  little damage to any of the surrounding wilderness, other than the rock 
  of the quarry itself. These concessions made friendship between Fringe 
  and the wild elves easier than it could otherwise have been. With the 
  understanding that the forced laborers at the quarry were criminals serving 
  their sentences, the elves simply remarked that humans must produce a 
  great many terrible criminals for so many to deserve such treatment. 
  All could have continued like this indeﬁ nitely, if not for King Lertis 
  Tevoy’s mad insistence on building a road deep into the forest, not only 
  destroying large swaths of the wilderness but ﬂ agrantly disrespecting 
  wild elven territory. The Forest Coast War followed, sometimes referred 
  to as the Mortgage War, because King Lertis was forced to mortgage the 
  Castorhagi crown jewels in order to pay his debts after the extremely 
  costly venture was ﬁ nally abandoned.
  During the war, a fortress was built at Fringe in order to defend the 
  quarry. Several battles were fought there, but the governor of Fringe at 
  that time, one Lady Governor Avarice, was a skilled leader and excellent 
  tactician. She held the defenses at Fringe with minimal casualties on 
  either side and brutally punished any of her soldiers who behaved 
  with dishonor or unnecessary cruelty toward the elven enemy. Due 
  to her longstanding familiarity with the local elven leaders and their 
  appreciation for Fringe’s respect of the forest, Fringe was granted 
  similarly honorable treatment in return. 
  It was not long before Governor Avarice lost all respect for her 
  sovereign. Nicknamed for her devotion to the acquisition of wealth, she 
  found King Lertis’ poor ﬁ nancial decision-making an embarrassment. 
  Citing strictly ﬁ nancial reasons, she began to engage in fewer hostilities 
  with the enemy. Careful never to overtly disobey her monarch, Avarice’s 
  subtle subversion was secretly looked upon with sympathy and approval 
  by several of the king’s ﬁ nancial advisors, as well as some of the nobility.
  Governor Avarice disappeared from Fringe in 2371 I.R. Upon 
  investigation, it was discovered that all of the quarry’s pre-cut supply 
  of marble, as well as all the governor’s own riches from her mansion, 
  were also missing — a process that would have taken months to 
  accomplish without alerting anyone to the activity. Mere weeks after 
  her disappearance, the vice-governor assumed the post of governor and 
  declared Fringe independent of Castorhage and sued for peace with 
  
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  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  the elves. Upon observing that Fringe was turning away all Castorhagi 
  soldiers and work parties, the elves accepted the proposed treaty and 
  ceased all hostilities with Fringe. 
  Six years later, three years after the war had ended, Lady Avarice 
  reappeared in Castorhage without explanation for her absence. She was 
  welcomed back into the town, and eventually died a rich woman. Sixty 
  years after Governor Avarice’s death, secret communications came to 
  light between herself and Terrance Aquiri, later known as King Acquire. 
  It turned out that in exchange for a full pardon for desertion and a 
  guarantee of no scandal, Governor Avarice agreed to arrange and broker 
  the deal to sell King Lertis into slavery, revealing for the ﬁ rst time 
  that King Acquire knew far ahead of time that his half-brother would 
  mortgage the crown jewels to pay his debts. 
  In the meantime, Governor Petram, a philosopher and populist at 
  heart, began to improve conditions in Fringe, starting by forgiving 
  the ﬁ nancial debts of all Fringe’s debt-based indentured workers and 
  halving the remaining sentences of the rest. He also decreased daily 
  required work hours and improved quarry safety. Finally, he revealed a 
  project he had been working on in his spare time for the past 15 years: a 
  proposed legal system for an experimental republic. 
  The Fringe republic model allows the vote only to resident, tax-
  paying landowners, but since most of the city was at that time a penal 
  colony, Governor Petram allowed a one-time election in which all 
  residents were allowed to participate, and the proposed republic was 
  overwhelmingly adopted, afﬁ rming Petram as governor. 
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Though worship of Arialee, alongside a forest-centric animism, 
  dominates Fringe’s spiritual life, Fringe’s religious practices are unique, 
  including an annual spring ﬂ ower-sculpture of Arialee that is allowed 
  to dry over subsequent months and is burned in a giant bonﬁ re every 
  harvest season, as well as a late winter three-day chanting vigil (taken in 
  shifts) to wake the plants and call them up from the earth. 
  The most incomprehensible religious practice in Fringe, from the 
  perspective of most outsiders, is the dawn gratitude service. Every day 
  at dawn (or just before, if farm duties require it), anyone who intends 
  to work that day is expected to rise and engage in ritualized poses 
  and chanting for two turns of the glass, at least. Residents say that in 
  addition to the spiritual beneﬁ ts of spending the morning in gratitude 
  for nature itself, this daily practice gets the blood ﬂ owing, offers healthy 
  stretching, and opens up the lungs, which results in better energy during 
  the day, less soreness, and fewer labor-related injuries. 
  Unfortunately, it also alienates anyone with a less dawn-oriented 
  internal clock, including many mostly-nocturnal humanoids. Individuals 
  who regularly fail to participate in “dawn gratitudes” are often viewed 
  with vague suspicion by the locals and possible enemies of the forest 
  (even if they are Green Warden wild elves). 
  On the more popular side of things, Fringe religion is quite sexually 
  permissive and tolerant of intoxicants and celebration of all varieties. 
  For some outsiders, this permissiveness presents a confusing dichotomy, 
  given the Fringe predilection for strict discipline, hard work, and rising 
  early to pray.  
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Fringe has always supported itself primarily through the quarrying 
  and sale of forest marble, but it must be noted that Fringe’s ability to 
  trade with the Green Warden is also a major source of its economic 
  stability. Fringe sells marble, spends the money it gains on goods 
  and luxuries it knows will appeal to even the anti-materialistic Green 
  Warden elves, trades those to the elves for elf-made magical items, rare 
  herbs and woods, elf-brewed spirits, and other items Fringe merchants 
  can turn around and sell for a high price to other humans. Since Fringe 
  has exhausted its original forest marble quarry and may not ﬁ nd another 
  in its territory when the second runs out, trade with the elves is an 
  important economic backup strategy for Fringe residents.  
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Fringe participates actively in Tycho Free States’ lawmaking 
  and governance and maintains healthy relationships (and plenty of 
  disagreements) with its fellow Free States. Despite the Green Warden 
  perception of Fringe as a near vassal state, Fringe relies more heavily 
  on its fellow Free States for its economic stability and political security. 
  Few Free States’ citizens see Fringe as disloyal, and many are cognizant 
  of the important inﬂ ux of rare and magical goods that Fringe’s trade 
  with the wild elves provides. 
  The good relationship between Fringe and its wild elf neighbors 
  is carefully maintained, in part through a continuing commitment to 
  preserving the wilderness around them. Due to this longstanding tradition 
  of cultural exchange, the population of Fringe includes a much higher 
  than average percentage of half-elves, and even a few resident elves. 
  As Fringe becomes known as a place that accepts half-elves with little 
  prejudice, half-elf immigrants from other parts of the world sometimes 
  come here seeking acceptance. Not all of them ﬁ nd it, as Fringe has very 
  speciﬁ c, traditional ideas of how people ought to live, and the residents 
  tend to dislike change intensely. Fringe-born half-elves, however, 
  usually speak well of their home.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Fringe has, surprisingly, remained a republic for the last 1,200 years. 
  Hardly any of Petram’s original proposal remains in the legal code (save 
  where it is profoundly modiﬁ ed by amendments, clariﬁ cations, and 
  exceptions), but all land-owning and tax-paying residents may vote on 
  nearly every decision the government makes, including all government 
  appointments of any authority, and Fringe is one of the few of Tycho’s 
  tiny city-states to have legally classiﬁ ed indenture as a form of slavery 
  and forbidden it. Governors are now elected to ﬁ ve-year terms, with 
  no term limits, and Governor Kimmerlyn Sirris, in her fourth term, is 
  largely beloved. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Ever since Fringe’s ﬁ rst defection from Castorhage during the 
  Mortgage War, Fringe has not maintained a professional military. 
  Instead, all able-bodied adults take one shift per week in the town 
  watch, which is organized and directed by a handful of full-time watch 
  constables and sergeants, most of whom are rangers by training. These 
  watch professionals are an entirely peacekeeping force and resort to 
  violence only in self-defense or defense of Fringe citizens. The citizen 
  watch is trained to avoid violence at all costs, unless speciﬁ cally directed 
  otherwise by a constable or sergeant. 
  Some believe that this lack of military, especially for a community so 
  close to a famously hostile border, is not only foolish but an invitation 
  to be attacked. In practice, Fringians have found that a wholly peaceful, 
  harmless appearance is perhaps the only consistent way to disarm 
  the wary Green Warden wild elves and maintain their precious trade 
  relationship. Of course, if Fringe were bordered by the Family of Thorns 
  Nation of the Green Warden confederacy instead of Sentinels of the 
  Trees, this attitude of deliberate defenselessness might indeed provoke 
  wanton hostility from radical elements. Fringe’s military strategies are 
  catered to the culture of the elves it encounters most consistently. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Even aside from the potential threat of radical anti-human elements 
  within the Green Warden Nations, not all is wonderful in Fringe. 
  Foreigners can face standofﬁ shness or outright prejudice from native 
  Fringians, and Fringe also faces an ever more concerning gap between 
  the wealth of the shrinking number of landowners and that of the 
  growing number of citizens denied the vote for not owning property. 
  Unrest is on the rise, and none can yet predict what will become of 
  the difﬁ culties. Strangely, a growing number of Fringe citizens seem to 
  believe that doing away with their republic and returning to a feudalistic 
  dictatorship would somehow solve their problems of power inequality. 
  More troublingly still, some Fringe citizens have begun to complain 
  of headaches, dizziness, inexplicable loss of time or memory, and 
  extreme mood swings. Some blame a supposed curse on the new marble 
  quarry, opened only a few years ago, after the centuries-old original 
  quarry was ﬁ nally exhausted. Others believe they have seen one or more 
  mysterious ﬁ gures lurking in the dark around the town and suspect more 
  direct magical interference. Governor Syrris has sent for experts on 
  
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  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  stone, on magic, and on medicine to come consult on the ailments, but 
  thus far no clear conclusions have been drawn.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  Fringe is close enough to the Green Warden Forest that its quarry, 
  outlying farms, and even — on rare occasions — its westernmost streets 
  can be visited by various interesting “wildlife,” including dangerous 
  dire animals and plant creatures. Since these creatures are accepted as 
  neighbors by the wild elves (many of whom can speak with them, after 
  all), it would be considered in poor taste to harm them in defense of the 
  city. When Fringe’s watch encounters a creature it cannot safely handle 
  alone, the beast may do considerable damage before help sufﬁ ciently 
  powerful to subdue and relocate the creature without harming it can arrive. 
  In addition, it would be greatly useful to Fringe residents if anyone 
  were to discover the source of the strange illness sweeping the city 
  and how to cure it. Is this a plot by elven radicals? Human radicals 
  attempting to provoke a war? Is it really a curse on the new quarry? Or 
  the accidental side effect of someone’s magical research? Whatever the 
  cause, the citizens of Fringe would like to know the truth. 
  ILBER NOLE, CITY OF
  ILBER NOLE, CITY OF
  (ILL-bur NOLL)
  Ruler: Free Corsair Andre Turotimis, Commodore
  Government: semi-democratic monarchy
  Population: 9,600 (5,300 various human ethnicities, 
  1,300 half-elf, 1,200 half-orc, 600 high elf, 500 lizardfolk, 
  400 tengu, 300 other)
  Languages: Common
  Religion: many, none dominant or ofﬁ cial
  Resources: naval might, mercenary sailors, defensibility
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval/Renaissance
  Ilber Nole is a small city-state sprung up around the only Castorhagi 
  fort on the Free Coast to survive the war with the elves and conﬂ icts 
  with pirates. It has recently joined the Tycho Free States. However, most 
  outside Ilber Nole still believe it to be a den of pirates. 
  The fort itself is known to be impenetrable and full of ingeniously 
  designed traps. It is said that a single well-supplied soldier could hold 
  off an army or navy for days, and that four soldiers sleeping in shifts 
  could hold it until they died of old age. Well-supplied is the key to that 
  claim, however, as Ilber Nole is easy to cut off from resupply by land 
  or by sea and contains no internal source of fresh water. Any army with 
  enough magic to create food and water from nothing for all its troops 
  probably also has enemies with wizards who can blast right through the 
  cliff itself from a nice, safe distance.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Ilber Nole began as the largest of the Castorhagi fortiﬁ cations on the 
  Forest Coast, and it was also the ﬁ rst constructed, commissioned by Queen 
  Malice to oversee her penal colonies and defend against sea raiders. Built 
  partway into a natural cliff face out on the point of the Ilber Peninsula, 
  the Ilber Nole (Nole being an archaic term for “defensible location” in 
  a strategy game apparently popular with Ilber Nole’s ﬁ rst commanding 
  ofﬁ cer) is one of the most easily defended locations in Akados. 
  To date, it has never been breached (at least, not while defended). 
  Indeed, during the Mortgage War, Ilber Nole was utterly ignored by the 
  wild elves, who saw its location to be of no tactical advantage to them. 
  Its position is most useful against naval assaults, which was a concern 
  of neither the elves nor the Castorhagers on the Forest Coast. Thus, it 
  survived the conﬂ ict untouched. 
  Ilber Nole was used to good tactical advantage by Castorhage against 
  Crescent Sea raiders and pirates on numerous occasions and is thought 
  to have served as a deterrent and tactical inconvenience to Reme forces 
  over the centuries. Then, in 2797 I.R., a group of pirates disguised 
  themselves as Castorhagi naval ofﬁ cers and forged a document turning 
  control of the fort over to themselves, using the stolen seal of the 
  governor of Pearlhaven (Bogsweat). Intent more on plunder than on 
  gaining a permanent base of operations, the pirates, once inside the 
  fort, proceeded to sack it rather than capturing it and sent the fort’s tiny 
  garrison away unarmed and in their underwear. The pirates celebrated 
  wildly for a few days on the fort’s supply stores and then moved on. 
  Between the garrison’s shame at having been tricked and the total 
  lack of contact with Castorhage (which was suffering from plague at 
  the time and was later blocked from re-establishing contact by Reme’s 
  machinations), none of those Castorhagi soldiers ever returned to Ilber 
  Nole, and the place remained abandoned for some time. 
  Eventually, its availability was discovered by a wandering beggar 
  who then set himself up as a miniature king in the region. King Bo died 
  without issue, but not before he and his associates managed to damage 
  the fort’s entrance (and failed to repair any of the damage done by the 
  celebrating pirates). Between the two, the fort’s defensibility lay marred 
  for generations, and for a time it changed hands regularly, with no one 
  bandit ever keeping hold of it long enough to enact the repairs that would 
  restore its impregnability. After the place was emptied twice in ﬁ ve years 
  by two separate cholera outbreaks — both too deadly to even leave time 
  for a healer to arrive — Ilber Nole gained a reputation for being cursed 
  and stood mostly uninhabited for another cluster of decades. 
  In 3145 I.R., a pirate named Rosvo suddenly declared himself the 
  tyrant of Ilber, and it was discovered that he’d managed to secretly 
  repair the Ilber Nole fortress’s defenses and also improve them. 
  When asked about the curse, Rosvo replied that when he’d taken the 
  place, it was so ﬁ lthy inside that he could only suspect that the cholera 
  outbreaks were due to poor hygiene and nothing mystical whatsoever. 
  Rosvo also improved the indoor plumbing, replacing what had been 
  little more than a grated chute into the sea, ﬂ ushed by bucket, to an 
  elaborate pump system allowing for running water and even hot baths. 
  Unfortunately, he was unable to add a freshwater well, so all the water 
  in the facility is brackish, and the pumps require regular maintenance to 
  avoid clogging or degradation from the salt. 
  Rosvo was killed in a ship-to-ship battle somewhere east of Tandril 
  Island, but his daughter, Rosita, inherited the fort from him and turned 
  away from piracy. She instead made a name for herself as a tinker and 
  further improved Ilber Nole’s defenses with complex clockwork traps, 
  alarms, concealed passages, and a retractable system for transporting 
  people and goods up and down the cliffs to anchored ships below. 
  Rosita’s descendants held the place for about 200 years and used it for 
  a variety of purposes and ultimately established healthy trade relations 
  and a great deal of respect with surrounding communities. A town grew 
  up around the fort, complete with outlying farms, and the so-called Ilber 
  Tyranny became a surprisingly prosperous little city-state — until a 
  naïve, young Rosvo the Second married an alluring older woman who 
  turned out to be another pirate captain. Young Rosvo was kept captive 
  for many years in his own fortress, while his wife made a bloody fortune 
  and eventually attempted to conquer the other Tycho Free States. 
  This ended poorly for her, and rather quickly, as she was killed in the 
  very second battle of her campaign and her forces broke and scattered. 
  Unfortunately for Rosvo the Younger, however, one of her subordinates, 
  calling herself Lady Stiletto, took this opportunity to murder him and 
  set herself up as tyrant instead in 3359 I.R. Stiletto began what is still 
  commonly considered to be the current era of Ilber Nole as a dangerous 
  pirate nation and threat to the entire Crescent Sea. 
  Succession of the Ilber Tyranny thereafter passed repeatedly by murder 
  and betrayal, with not a single tyrant either inheriting the position or 
  being elected by the populace. The city-state surrounding the fortress 
  has suffered greatly, at times because it is not nearly so defensible as the 
  fortress and at other times due to cruel and irresponsible leadership. In 
  3458 I.R., Tyrant Hen was discovered to be engaged in the slave trade in 
  deﬁ ance of Tycho Free State law. An unsuccessful attempt was made by 
  the Free States to oust him from his fortress, and then a blockade was set 
  up to starve him out — with the unfortunate side effect that any slaves 
  who were unable to escape and surrender to the blockade, as other town 
  refugees had done, instead starved to death before Hen could be defeated. 
  When Tyrant Hen publicly demonstrated his willingness to eat his 
  slaves before surrendering, his third in command murdered him and his 
  lieutenant and ran up a ﬂ ag of truce. Making a deal with the Tycho 
  
  94|
  94|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  forces, this subordinate of Tyrant Hen became the next tyrant, in line 
  with what had become Ilber Nole tradition. 
  Subsequent tyrants have been relatively decent leaders to the fortress’s 
  little surrounding city-state, even building an outer wall to protect the 
  citizens, but the threat of piracy posed by the fortress to surrounding 
  communities has not abated. The north side of the Ilber Peninsula is 
  relatively sheltered from typical Crescent Sea weather patterns, and 
  a permanent pirate dock and pirate-loyal ﬁ shing village have sprung 
  up there over the years under the protective watch of Ilber Nole. The 
  town and dock can be safely assaulted by land and have indeed been 
  destroyed three times (most recently in 3492 I.R.), but since Ilber Nole 
  itself remains unassailable, the pirate port is always rebuilt. 
  The current tyrant, Andre Turotimis, poses something of an enigma 
  to the world around him. He hates to be called tyrant and instead claims 
  his title to be “Free Corsair” or at most “commodore.” He has not 
  explained his past to even his closest lieutenants and allies, though he 
  communicates and behaves as if well-educated in many subjects and 
  has the look of a man who has traveled and seen much. He speaks an 
  unknown number of languages, and his own slight accent is deﬁ nitely 
  foreign but difﬁ cult to place. His skin is notably dark for the region, 
  even among the ethnically diverse pirate population, and his black hair 
  is especially curly, but he has told no one his origins. Lieutenants and 
  lovers have revealed that his back is scarred as if by the lash, and his 
  wrists and ankles as if by shackles. He tries not to let strangers notice 
  either and grows silent and brooding if asked about them. 
  He claims, and his lieutenants support him on this, that he won the 
  leadership of Ilber Nole in a game of chance. Since he took control of the 
  fortress and the surrounding city-state, Turotimis has been hailed as the 
  wisest and most benevolent ruler since Tyrant Rosita. Romantic poetry 
  extols him as having the dignity, courtesy, and poise of a prince, and his 
  handsome face and ﬁ gure are said to break hearts wherever he goes. 
  Returning to the Rosvo family tradition, Andre Turotimis has made 
  diplomatic contact with all his neighbors, and is engaged in fair and 
  lawful trade with them. Furthermore, in 3511 I.R., in gratitude for 
  his heroic defense of the Free Coast from a brief naval conﬂ ict with 
  North Heath, Commodore Turotimis received controversial but ofﬁ cial 
  recognition from the Tycho Free States’ leaders as a genuine head of the 
  Ilber Nole state and has signed the Free States Accords as a member.
  As far as anyone has been able to prove, neither Andre Turotimis nor 
  his exceedingly loyal immediate subordinates have broken any Tycho 
  laws since he signed the accords, but he has been repeatedly accused of 
  continuing his career of piracy whenever he leaves Free Coast waters. 
  It is also claimed that he maintains membership in a highly unsavory 
  pirate confederacy to the south, and many suspect him of merely playing 
  nice and using his charm and good looks to lull the Tycho Free States 
  into complacency. 
  Commodore Turotimis and Captain Akadearg of Freetown had an 
  extremely public maritime policy argument at the last meeting of the 
  leaders of the Free States, just four years ago, and it was clear from 
  their words that the two had known one another a long time. Though 
  Captain Akadearg is considerably older, none would deny her blade-sharp 
  beauty. Ever since her dramatic disagreement with Turotimis, it has been 
  widely assumed that the two are lovers. Some say Turotimis is reforming 
  himself and his crew for her sake, while others assume that only she can 
  stop whatever nefarious plot he has in mind, and that he has therefore 
  chosen to seduce her, to slow her wits in his regard. No proof of any such 
  association exists, and neither entertains questions about the other. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Ilber Nole produces just enough food to feed itself, and few other 
  goods. All of the city’s wealth comes from its “naval activities” (both 
  legitimate and illegal).
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Andre Turotimis owns the Ilber Nole itself and would thus be difﬁ cult 
  to oust from power should he choose to resist. However, like many pirate 
  captains, he was elected to his position by his crew, and the captains of 
  the other vessels in his ﬂ otilla elected him as their commodore with 
  (presumably) the endorsement of their own crews. Albeit running 
  unopposed, Turotimis also asked for and was given the popular acclaim 
  of the common folk of the Ilber Nole city as their leader, making him 
  technically sort of democratically elected.
  That said, and regardless of his humility in refusing to style himself a 
  king (or tyrant) as previous Ilber Nole rulers have done, Andre Turotimis 
  is effectively an absolute monarch, with no laws in place to gainsay his 
  whims. Thus far, his rule is very much in line with maritime tradition: 
  highly disciplined where practicality demands it, and totally libertine in 
  all other respects. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Ilber Nole is home to what is effectively a truly excessive professional 
  military for a community its size. Many of the pirates turned Free States’ 
  sailors are veteran combatants, and despite a certain piratical wildness 
  to the Ilber Nole “navy,” the ships are disciplined once at sea. Turotimis 
  is a fair naval tactician and not above listening to his advisors. Since 
  shouldering the defense of the Free Coast alongside the rest of the Tycho 
  navy, Turotimis has been undefeated on the water.  
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Threats to Ilber Nole depend on where its loyalties actually lie. If Andre 
  Turotimis is what he seems, then upcoming threats might stem from his 
  mysterious past or his former piratical allies. If he is, as many suspect, 
  playing some kind of con on the Tycho Free States, then most seem to 
  place their hopes in Captain Akadearg of Freetown to bring him to justice. 
  Either way, Ilber Nole is extremely well defended. Andre Turotimis 
  and his subordinates and subjects have more to fear from espionage and 
  betrayal than from any kind of direct assault. 
  TIMBERTOWN, CITY OF
  TIMBERTOWN, CITY OF
  Ruler: rotating Timber Council chair
  Government: plutocratic oligarchy touted as a meritocracy
  Population: 9,000 to 22,000, seasonal (typical peak population: 
  14,000 Foerdewaith, 3,300 Tycho ethnicities, 1,600 other 
  human ethnicities, 1,000 halﬂ ing, 900 half-elf, 800 hill dwarf, 
  300 half-orc, 100 other)
  Languages: Common, Elven (used primarily for ofﬁ cial business 
  with elves)
  Religion: varied
  Resources: timber, salt, ﬁ shing, foodstuffs, furs, shipbuilding, 
  shipbuilding supplies
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Founded just in time to be large enough to participate in writing 
  the Tycho Free States Accords, Timbertown was built atop the ruins 
  of a long-abandoned Castorhagi labor colony called Treefall. As can 
  be discerned from the thematic similarity between the old and current 
  name, the town is ideally located for the transportation, curing, 
  and export of timber. Poised at the very well-behaved mouth of the 
  Queensribbon River, Timbertown is where all the lumber felled farther 
  up the Queensribbon is hauled ashore, prepared for sale and sea voyage, 
  and then hoisted aboard merchant ships for distribution. 
  There are three main sections to the Timbertown city-state. East Town 
  sits right near the sea and is primarily dedicated to ﬁ shing, crabbing, 
  ship-building, and sea salt reﬁ nement. West Town sits on the river a little 
  farther inland and is primarily dedicated to the timber industry. North 
  Town, above and between the two, is more like a kind of trading post 
  for farmers, hunters, trappers, and other rural or wilderness professions. 
  All three of Timbertown’s populations ﬂ uctuate wildly with the 
  seasons, with variations from industry to industry. West Town is all 
  but deserted in spring and early summer, as loggers trek upriver to fell 
  trees and send them back down lashed together in large rafts. North 
  Town, by contrast, sees a steady inﬂ ux of seasonal residents beginning 
  in late-spring, reaching its peak population for the year at the fall harvest 
  festival and dropping off sharply again for winter.
  East Town’s population is the most stable, with the majority of residents 
  living in the city year-round. However, because of the seasonal inﬂ ux of 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|95
  |95
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  people during the late summer and early fall in both West and North towns, 
  many Crescent Sea independent merchant ships put to port in Timbertown 
  for several months of each year, stopping for repairs and allowing their 
  sailors to work seasonally as additional ﬁ shers because there would 
  otherwise never be enough food in town to satisfy the hardworking and 
  hungry loggers who produce no food of their own. Some of these ships 
  overwinter in the large natural harbor south of Timbertown, adding yet 
  another quirk to the Timbertown population ﬂ ux.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Another Free States town with a large indentured population, 
  Timbertown’s chief article of faith is that those who work hard and work 
  smart will always do well. Thus, you can tell who the hardest, smartest 
  workers are by who has the most money.
  Many gods are worshipped, and any religions common anywhere 
  around the Crescent Sea can be found here, but in permanent Timbertown 
  residents there is almost always this “cosmic fairness” overlay to any 
  worship: the people doing well are the best people, and the people doing 
  poorly must deserve it somehow. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Trade and commerce are everything to Timbertown, with the highest 
  proﬁ ts coming in, on average, from the timber for which the town is 
  named. The second most lucrative profession in Timbertown is sea salt 
  reﬁ nement. Timber-uns have been known to claim their salt tastes the 
  best in all the world and is the secret to the excellence of Bogsweat’s 
  salted ﬁ sh. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Of all the “states” in the Tycho Free States, Timbertown has the most 
  delicate balancing act to play with their elven neighbors in the Green 
  Warden Forest. Timbertown values place proﬁ ts above all else, but the 
  elves couldn’t care less about money, and are concerned only for the 
  wellbeing of the forest and its living things. The elves are also typically 
  believed by Timber-uns to all be archdruids and human-haters. 
  Timbertown is bitter about the military superiority that requires them 
  to follow elven rules about land-use along the edge of the forest, and 
  now and again a greedy or desperate Timbertowner crosses a line with 
  regards to elf-imposed regulations. So far, the Timbertown government 
  has always managed to respond to such infractions in a manner that 
  keeps the elves placated, but many believe that relations between 
  Timbertown and the Green Warden Nations are a powder keg waiting 
  to blow, and this in turn shakes the foundations of the ever-wary peace 
  between the Free States and the Nations.  
  Within the Free States, Captain Evangeliana Akadearg of Freetown, 
  to the north, owns and operates a highly successful lumber business 
  through Timbertown. Wealthy and successful enough to sit on the Timber 
  Council every year, she is the elected leader of another town and does 
  not maintain a residence in Timbertown, thus barring her from council 
  membership. Nevertheless, being wealthy, she embodies the ideals of 
  success foundational to the Timbertown faith … and she is highly and 
  vocally critical of the Timbertown system and works constantly to teach 
  ideals of freedom and justice whenever she passes through the region.
  It is broadly understood that if Timbertown’s poor and indentured 
  were ever to rise up against their oppressors, Captain Akadearg would 
  be there to support them with her Freetown “navy.” In the meantime, she 
  is suspected of regularly harboring fugitives from Timbertown “justice” 
  and spiriting them away northward to her own city-state. 
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The leaders of Timbertown are always the 19 wealthiest business 
  owners in the city. Each fall, after harvest season, all registered taxpayers 
  in the city are encouraged to gather together, where they elect a team 
  of auditors who spend the winter reviewing the ﬁ nances of those who 
  might be among the town’s wealthiest people. At Winter Solstice, the 
  top 19 become the year’s Timber Council and elect a new chair from 
  amongst themselves every season. 
  The make-up of this council rarely shifts much from year to year. 
  Timbertown laws overwhelmingly favor the wealthiest, most-established 
  business-owners over the poor and over the smaller business-owners. 
  Order in Timbertown is maintained almost entirely by employers who 
  punish the crimes of their employees in whatever way they see ﬁ t (with 
  docking of pay being a common punishment). Independent workers who 
  commit crimes are either punitively indentured for a speciﬁ ed period or 
  driven from town, as is anyone convicted of the crime of unemployment. 
  Employers who commit crimes are generally ﬁ ned. If the ﬁ ne is more 
  than they can pay, their assets are seized as a punitive tax, and they and 
  their families are indentured to pay the debt. Their employees are given 
  one month (or three months in winter) to ﬁ nd new work before being 
  convicted of willful unemployment. The Timber Council’s job, other 
  than its own prosperity, is to mediate disputes between business owners. 
  In general, they tend to ﬁ nd in favor of the wealthier party, save when 
  political or business machinations would for some reason make it more 
  advantageous to ﬁ nd in favor of the smaller business. 
  The majority of Timbertown residents seem to stubbornly believe that 
  this is the way things should be, and that if they are smart enough and 
  work hard enough, they too will one day be rich enough to sit on the 
  Timber Council and tell other people what to do. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Timbertown keeps a small, largely-mercenary militia and navy to 
  defend its wealth from thieves and pirates. Any larger force, however, 
  tends to be taken as hostile posturing by the elves, who would prefer 
  there be no armed forces anywhere in the Free States, especially in 
  Timbertown.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Timbertown faces three potential major threats. Always in the 
  forefront of the Timbertown lumber-barons’ minds are the elves. While 
  in reality, the elves are only likely to become a threat if the town’s 
  agreements with them are broken, their proximity, power, and alien 
  thinking make the threat seem larger in Timbertowner minds. 
  A more constant threat is that of coastal piracy. While matters have 
  improved since the Ilber Nole community signed the accords to join 
  the Free States, relations between Timbertown and Ilber Nole are wary, 
  and many Timber-uns believe that the Ilber Nole pirates only bide their 
  time, waiting to attack. Should relations between Timbertown and 
  Captain Akadearg of Freetown ever sour, Timbertown could ﬁ nd itself 
  insufﬁ ciently defended by sea, easy prey for reavers. 
  Finally, Timbertown’s policies toward its own people threaten the 
  city-state from the inside. If unrest ever rises high enough for the 
  common folk to question whether the rich really are better than they are 
  after all, a civil uprising is likely.  
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  Timbertown itself is very orderly. Monster invasions are bad for 
  business. However, in the tree farms upriver, many strange and 
  dangerous creatures are known to wander from the natural forest to 
  the artiﬁ cial one, causing problems for loggers on a semi-regular basis. 
  Most of these creatures are natural or magical animals, unaligned and 
  incapable of speech, while a few are mischievous fey or other dangerous 
  creatures simply out for a stroll. 
  In general, these creatures are on perfectly good terms with the 
  Green Warden elves — or are even Green Warden citizens — and 
  must therefore be handled with exaggerated care in order to avoid a 
  diplomatic incident. On other occasions, wicked fey or similar beings 
  have been known to attempt to use the Timbertown tree farms as a means 
  of sneaking into the Green Warden Forest. Such a tactic has never been 
  known to succeed, but it can certainly cause trouble for Timbertowners 
  in the process. 
  SETTLEMENTS OF THE HELLSGATE PEAKS
  SETTLEMENTS OF THE HELLSGATE PEAKS
  The Hellsgate Peaks are volcanically active, and home to, among 
  others, red dragons, salamanders, elementals of ﬁ re and, according to 
  rumor, perhaps the largest population of devils in permanent residence 
  on the Material Plane. Yet it boasts two settlements of note. On the shore 
  of Giant’s Harbor, a steam-hidden, eddying harbor within the Strait of 
  
  96|
  96|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  Gehenna, sits the ﬁ re giant village of Kreglarran.  And just to the south of 
  the mountains in a sheltered harbor is Hotpools, a destination for those 
  seeking the healing waters of the pools or guidance into the mountains.
  KREGLARRAN, FIRE GIANT VILLAGE OF
  KREGLARRAN, FIRE GIANT VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: Chief Aemtian Flaemroch
  Government: hereditary chiefdom
  Population: 280 ﬁ re giants
  Monstrous: ﬁ re giants, red dragons, salamanders, devils, and 
  other ﬁ re-elemental-related beings
  Languages: Kreglarran Giant, standard Giant, Common, 
  Draconic, Infernal
  Religion: various giant deities
  Resources: ﬁ shing, shells, pearls
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval
  This ﬁ shing village is one of the most unusual in the world. Situated 
  on the shore of Giant’s Harbor, sandwiched between the perilous Strait 
  of Gehenna to the south and the violently volcanic Hellsgate Peaks 
  to the north (and west, and east), Kreglarran is home to an isolated 
  population of ﬁ re giants. Content to ﬁ sh and bathe in the hot and 
  plentiful waters of their harbor (or the occasional nearby lava ﬂ ow), 
  Kreglarran ﬁ re giants are ﬁ ercely territorial warriors — because to 
  be anything else would be suicide in the monster-infested, devil-
  beleaguered Hellsgate Peaks — but they are only warlike when they 
  have to be. The rest of the time, Kreglarran ﬁ re giants are fair and 
  honest in trade, and generally friendly, if wary of outsiders (any of 
  whom could be devils in disguise or greedy treasure hunters looking 
  to ravage their harbor for petty wealth schemes). 
  In the Kreglarran giants’ local dialect (related to Giant, but 
  incomprehensible to outsiders), Kreglarran means “pleasant home,” 
  which is exactly what the hot, humid, steam-clouded little harbor is 
  to them. Interesting ﬁ sh, starﬁ sh, and exceedingly useful sea plants 
  are harvested in quantities sufﬁ cient to allow for proﬁ table trade with 
  surrounding communities, and the eternally scorching, volcanically-
  altered weather is very much to ﬁ re giant taste. Fortunately for 
  visitors or those seeking to trade with the giants, most villagers who 
  participate in trade with outsiders speak at least one of the other local 
  languages, such as standard Giant, Westerling (Common), Draconic, 
  or Infernal.
  Though the trading of ruby mussel shells and the harvesting of lava 
  pearls could win them vast wealth in the outside world, the Kreglarran 
  ﬁ re giants prefer to keep such treasures to themselves. Lava pearls are 
  harvested on only the rarest and most sacred of ritual occasions, such as 
  the death of the village elder, or the selection of a new village warlord. 
  Ruby mussel shell is also considered sacred and rarely allowed to leave 
  the village, but the shells are collected all along the beach of Giant’s 
  Harbor and are used in much of Kreglarran’s art and ritual. 
  On rare occasions, a trusted friend of the community is granted a ruby 
  mussel shell as a gift. Only slightly less rarely, a greedy community 
  member might be persuaded to smuggle out a few shells, with the right 
  incentives, but these usually are second-rate shell fragments of lesser 
  luster and brilliance than those prized within the village. Kreglarran ﬁ re 
  giants are not friendly to those who seek to steal their precious shells 
  or pearls.
  HOTPOOLS, VILLAGE OF
  HOTPOOLS, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: Mayor Alvindor Mesk
  Government: elected mayor and council of wealthy citizens
  Population: 280 (175 Tycho ethnicities, 40 mixed or other 
  ethnicity human, 20 halﬂ ing, 15 Foerdewaith, 15 mountain 
  dwarf, 10 half-elf, 5 half-orc)
  Monstrous: ﬁ re giants, red dragons, devils, salamanders, and 
  other ﬁ re-elemental-related beings
  Languages: Common
  Religion: unknown
  Resources: hotsprings, medicinal herbs, ﬁ shing 
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  A small settlement in the southern foothills of the Hellsgate Peaks 
  near a sheltered natural harbor, Hotpools was built on the site of a 
  destroyed stone temple to some forgotten deity. The great stone head 
  of the deity, much worn by time, sits forlornly beside the long-shattered 
  remains of the rest of the statue, and near an altar carved with weathered 
  runes in a forgotten tongue. These mysterious remnants lie covered in 
  moss and vines, only a few of them recognizable for what they are. 
  Beside them is a cluster of ﬁ ve hotsprings, three of which have been 
  surrounded and covered by columns and roofs of forest marble, open to 
  the air on all sides. 
  The marble shelters were built during the reign of King Lertis Tevoy 
  of Castorhage, as were a few surviving marble buildings in the nearby 
  town. Some have said that Hotpools was King Lertis’ primary reason 
  for his bizarre ﬁ xation on building the Great Road. In one version of 
  the tale, a courtier visited the Hotpools’ baths and brought back a piece 
  of the deity’s statue as a souvenir for Lertis. The young man developed 
  an obsession with the eldritch writing on the stone until he became 
  possessed by the forgotten deity of Hotpools and was thus driven to 
  carve a road into the forest — perhaps to recover some ancient treasure 
  of the destroyed temple, or perhaps to speciﬁ cally provoke a war as 
  vengeance on the forgotten deity’s enemies. 
  Most historians agree that Castorhagi rulers do not need forgotten 
  deities and mysterious writings to inspire them to make bad decisions, 
  but what is interesting about Hotpools is that all contact with the work 
  crews building the settlement ceased sometime during the Forest Coast 
  War. By the time the place was investigated by Castorhagi soldiers, 
  it was deserted. The building project was put aside for after the war, 
  and ultimately abandoned. The Castorhagers never again attempted an 
  ofﬁ cial settlement there. 
  The history of Hotpools is lost for centuries after that, though 
  evidence suggests that several groups at least attempted to form 
  communities there before the current city arose. Missives back and 
  forth between would-be settlers and their sponsors or loved ones in 
  the Tycho Free States also support the assumption that attempts were 
  made. Oddly little is known about the relative success of such ventures 
  or why they failed.
  The current community at Hotpools is less than a century old. Its 
  buildings are constructed mostly of mud-brick and thatch save where 
  they repurposed marble scavenged from the Castorhagi ruins. It is a 
  small but bustling place, and its economy revolves around the pools 
  themselves and the nearby Hellsgate Peaks. Visitors can purchase 
  simply-crafted jewelry made of local volcanic stones, souvenirs — both 
  real and fake — from (allegedly) deeper inside the Hellsgate Peaks, 
  medicines and potions that at least claim to be made using rare volcanic 
  ingredients, and other such marvels. Services available include two 
  surprisingly nice inns for a town this size, both dedicated to the peace 
  and relaxation of the pools, with a skilled herbalist on staff at one and 
  two skilled masseurs at the other. 
  Whatever mysterious force led to the disappearance of the previous 
  Hotpools communities has yet to make its presence known in this 
  one. Some suggest this may be because the current leadership of the 
  hidden city of devils within the Hellsgate Peaks is clever enough 
  to realize that Hotpools makes good bait to lure travelers into the 
  deadly mountains. It is true — and most decent guides will say so 
  — that the majority of travelers who venture more than a day into 
  the Hellsgate Peaks do not return. Hotpools’ residents recommend 
  that travelers simply stay and enjoy the pools, and then go. But if 
  one insists upon entering the mountains, guides are available here, 
  at varying levels of ability and honesty. The best guides turn back 
  before things get too interesting. The worst guides are those who turn 
  out to be literal devils in disguise.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|97
  |97
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE GREEN 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE GREEN 
  WARDEN FOREST AND FREE COAST
  WARDEN FOREST AND FREE COAST
  BOILING MAELSTROM
  BOILING MAELSTROM
  Between the central strong current of the Strait of Gehenna and the 
  largest eddying harbor on its north shore, tucked between the skirts of two 
  Hellsgate Peaks volcanoes, churns the ever-present Boiling Maelstrom. 
  Here the swift Gehenna central current smashes into the rocky cliffs 
  that outline the sheltered Giant’s Harbor, forcing the powerful ﬂ ow back 
  upon itself, and thus into an eternal and deadly spiral at the mouth of 
  the harbor. 
  Any craft entering the Maelstrom would invariably be sucked beneath 
  the waves and smashed against the rocky sea ﬂ oor, but — so long as no 
  volcanic activity is disrupting its current — the Maelstrom is at the very 
  least predictable. The ﬁ re giants who live on the nearby shore of Giant’s 
  Harbor regularly navigate their craft around the Maelstrom’s edges. 
  To untrained outsiders, however, the Boiling Maelstrom is truly 
  deadly. Though it is rarely literally boiling, it is always hot enough to be 
  concealed by a thick cloud of steam. Unless one already has memorized 
  the safe paths around the outer edge, there is no way to see through the 
  steam well enough to navigate around the whirlpool. Fire giants from 
  Giant’s Harbor apprentice to veteran Maelstrom pilots for ﬁ ve years 
  before they attempt the feat themselves. 
  CIRCLE OF THE WILD
  CIRCLE OF THE WILD
  Deep in the tangled depths of the forest, the elves of Eloitan venture 
  to worship and take counsel at this eerie circle of stone monoliths. They 
  are similar to the menhirs of the Green Warders but smaller and seem 
  immune to the ravages of time and nature. Three times the height of 
  a man, these rough-hewn stones are carved with Eloitan ideographs, 
  as well as other symbols that no one can decipher — possibly the 
  iconography of the fey creatures who also dwell in the forest.
  This site is known to be a powerful source of arcane and divine 
  magic, and also appears to be a “thin place” where the creatures of the 
  fey and the material world can meet and travel to each others’ realms. 
  In the past, the Circle of the Wild was used as a neutral location where 
  the Eloitan tribes could meet, where weapons were forbidden, and rivals 
  could negotiate without the threat of violence. The elves could also meet 
  here with the creatures of the fey, as these otherworldly beings also 
  respected the truce at the Circle.
  In recent years, however, the Circle of the Wild has become a far more 
  ominous place. Now, tribes meet here for war councils to determine how 
  to respond should outsiders enter the forest. Worse, the elves discovered 
  that they can use the Circle’s magic to summon ferocious fey creatures 
  or dire animals of the deep forest and compel them to attack intruders. 
  With the passing years, some among the Green Warden Nations have 
  come to believe that the Circle may have been corrupted, possibly by the 
  same fell energies that have affected the Eloitan elves and their forest. 
  Eloitan shamans are rumored to have visited the Circle to openly attempt 
  to treat with evil fey and use its power to summon demons and other 
  foul creatures. And some suspect that wicked fey from faerie realms 
  beyond may use the Circle to gain access to the forest. In all, though its 
  purposes appear to have originally been benign, the Circle of the Wild is 
  now a perilous place indeed for elves and non-elves.
  The Circle falls in territory claimed by both the Eloitan and the 
  Serpent’s Coil elves of the Green Warden Nations. Verbal and physical 
  confrontation between priests on both sides are growing more common, 
  and open skirmishes have sometimes broken out, though the ﬁ ghts so 
  far have not led to outright warfare. Other elves have expressed deep 
  concern at the conﬂ ict, but to this point neither side seems willing to 
  listen or to de-escalate tensions.
  ELOITAN FOREST
  ELOITAN FOREST
  The Eloitan Forest is the name for the northwestern portion of the 
  Green Warden Forest, closest to the eastern frontier of the Xha’en 
  Hegemony. Here, after the destruction of the Green Warder Tyriem, 
  the forest has become hostile, wild, and perilous, with a dark heart that 
  troubles even the wild elves of the Green Warder Nations. It is home 
  to the Eloitan tribe of wild elves who are insular and shun even the 
  company of their fellow elves.
  FOREST COAST
  FOREST COAST
  The Forest Coast makes up almost 3000 miles of Crescent Sea 
  coast, from the Hellsgate Peaks in the north all the way to the Mud 
  Coast in the south. The northern portion, the Free Coast, is home to 
  the Tycho Free States. There, the humans and wild elves of the Green 
  Warden Forest maintain a watchful truce, careful not to encroach on 
  the lands of the other. South of the Ilber Nole peninsula, the Forest 
  Coast is largely uninhabited, a condition enforced by the wild elves 
  of the Green Realm who have no desire to share their forest with 
  others, particularly the kingdoms across the Crescent Sea who would 
  plunder their resources and colonize their virgin woodland. To this 
  end the elves keep a watchful eye on the coast and have established 
  the fortresses of Linn Tark and Linn Meriku to watch the seas from the 
  Mud Coast to Tandril Island. 
  In any case, much of the southern coastline is rocky and inhospitable 
  to easy human settlement though it provides many safe havens to pirates 
  and other seagoing vessels with a reason to hide from the navies of the 
  Crescent Sea powers.
  GIANT’S HARBOR
  GIANT’S HARBOR
  The largest of the steam-hidden, eddying harbors that deﬁ ne the north 
  coast of the deadly Strait of Gehenna, Giant’s Harbor is the only place 
  along the Gehenna coastline that truly teems with life. Always as hot 
  as a hotspring (with subtle variations, depending on season and nearby 
  volcanic activity), Giant’s Harbor is home to a wide variety of unique, 
  magical, and heat resistant sea life. Here can be found rare volcanic 
  minerals, magical sea plants brimming with medicinal or dangerous 
  properties, and some say the most beautiful population of starﬁ sh and 
  sea anemones in the world.
  Here is also the one place in the world where one can ﬁ nd the 
  elusive ruby mussel. Ruby mussel shells are a dull, near-black red on 
  the outside, barely distinguishable from typical blue-black mussels, 
  albeit somewhat larger than average. Inside, their ﬂ esh is strangely 
  metallic-tasting and can be toxic in large quantities, such that they 
  are rarely eaten. However, the mother-of-pearl lining a ruby mussel’s 
  inner shell blazes in the wild oranges, pinks, reds, and yellows of 
  a glorious sunrise, and when ruby mussels form pearls, they are 
  brilliantly variegated red or orange. 
  Ruby mussels rarely form pearls (especially in captivity), and when 
  they do, they are never perfectly round. A smooth, oblong ruby mussel 
  pearl (often called a ruby pearl, lava pearl, blood pearl, or hell pearl), 
  the size of a grain of rice, would be worth a thousand similarly-sized 
  perfect rubies. Even ruby-mussel shells are worth extravagant sums, 
  which is the primary reason why attempts have been made to keep them 
  in captivity in heated pools, albeit with little long-term success.
  Of course, one reason the ruby pearls are so precious, even aside 
  from their rarity, is the near-impossibility of obtaining one from Giant’s 
  Harbor. To the south of the harbor lies the infamous Boiling Maelstrom 
  and beyond it the deadly-swift waters of the Strait of Gehenna. To the 
  east and west, the harbor is sheltered by unscalable volcanic cliffs. To 
  the north, the harbor is guarded by the ﬁ re giant village of Kreglarran, 
  which is populated by ﬁ ercely territorial warriors. Some say that even 
  the waters of the harbor itself are guarded and the mussel beds tended 
  by a race of intelligent octopods with whom the giants have a treaty. If 
  so, only the Kreglarran ﬁ re giants have ever seen them. 
  
  98|
  98|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  THE GREAT FOREST COAST ROAD
  THE GREAT FOREST COAST ROAD
  The Great Forest Coast Road runs from Hotpools in the north to 
  Ilber Nole and the ruins of Fort Toofar in the south. Originally laid by 
  the Castorhagi to connect their penal colonies along the Forest Coast, 
  it was carefully engineered with meticulous stone paving and clever 
  drainage systems.
  As Castorhage lost control of its colonies, many sections of the Great 
  Forest Coast Road fell into disrepair. Over the years since, as the Tycho 
  Free States have gained in economic strength, they have rebuilt and now 
  maintain many stretches of the road. However, the fragmented nature of 
  the Free States means that the road is typically in best repair wherever 
  it is nearest to large current settlements. The places in worst disrepair 
  include the last few dozen miles before Fort Toofar, where the ﬁ nal 
  layer of the road’s paving was never ﬁ nished, and the section between 
  Timbertown and Bogsweat, which washed out in a freak storm after 
  having been damaged by several lightning strikes (some say a pair of 
  wizards must have dueled there considering the extent of the damage). 
  Leading from Fringe into the Green Warden Forest are the remains of 
  the Great Road that King Lertis Tevoy of Castorhage attempted to build to 
  pierce the secrets of the Green Realm. Work on the road was abandoned 
  during the Mortgage War with the elves. Ironically, this portion of the 
  road may be the most beautiful. The wild elves chose not to dismantle the 
  road’s remains within their territory. Instead, they leave it as a reminder 
  of past sorrows and betrayals, as well as to warn travelers what becomes 
  of those who violate wild elf territory. Druids coaxed the forest to regrow 
  around — or even through — the crumbling pavement. Many portions of 
  the road here feel like a haunted, green cathedral, at once holy and terrible. 
  Travelers in the region have often sighted ghosts or similar shadows 
  working or ﬁ ghting on the forest road or weeping beside it. 
  GREEN WARDEN FOREST
  GREEN WARDEN FOREST
  The Green Realm once referred to all of the remains of the Akadonian 
  Forest west of the Crescent Sea. Differences between the southern and 
  northern wild elves, however, ultimately led to their sundering. The 
  forest lands south of the Ilber Peninsula continue to be known as the 
  Green Realm. The northern portion of the forest has come to be called, 
  by its elven inhabitants, the Green Warden and extends northeastward 
  past the Green Warder monoliths to include everything south of the 
  Westwood and west of Hollow Mountain (though the elves of the 
  Eloitan region, in the northwest portion of the wood nearest Xha’en, 
  would not agree they are within the Green Warden).
  The Green Warden is a strange and haunting forest, full of cathedral-
  like clearings and glens, ghostly sighing of breezes, fearless and often-
  magical wildlife, and occasionally hostile trees. Even outside the 
  immediate vicinity of the discomﬁ ting Green Warder monoliths, there is 
  a sense throughout the Green Warden of being watched. 
  North of the monoliths, the Green Warden Forest is literally haunted 
  in certain places, as the mystical ramiﬁ cations of the ritual that created 
  the Green Warders made it possible for the dead to remain so long as 
  they are loyal to the forest and its living denizens. Though the wild elves 
  are not entirely comfortable with this state of affairs, they tolerate their 
  undead allies and avoid the haunted areas since it serves to protect the 
  elven lands (and, in any event, the elves know of no way to alter this 
  consequence of the ritual). The occasional stone or partial foundation of 
  Warder Forts can also be found in the lands north of the monoliths, the 
  last line of defense where the elves held back their enemies, human and 
  other, while the year-long Warder Ritual was completed. 
  South of the Warders and east of the Eloitan, the Green Warden is 
  an idyllic paradise for those who live there and understand its many 
  secrets — and for any they invite as friends. For unwanted intruders, 
  however, the Green Warden tends toward the brutal and nightmarish. 
  Though the reasons are poorly understood, even to most of the elves, the 
  trees and plants here are often fully awakened and intelligent. Perhaps 
  one in every 500 plants and one in every 300 trees is sentient and able 
  to move. Some even evidence druidical power, awakened by the elven 
  druids of the region. 
  Monsters in the Green Warden are usually neutral or unaligned in 
  outlook and are never harmful to the larger ecosystem. Indeed, many 
  are either allied with the elves in protecting the forest or instinctively 
  territorial toward all but the elves who learn from birth how to safely 
  live alongside such beasts.
  GREEN WARDERS 
  GREEN WARDERS 
  These massive, moss-covered monoliths loom 50 or more feet tall, 
  peeking their bald stone heads up from the trees around them. Now 
  covered by thick moss and vines, the stones were erected by elven might 
  in a great ritual that lasted a full year. 
  Early in the eighth century I.R., humanoid incursions across the 
  Crynnomar Gap threatened the Green Realm, which then extended 
  nearly to the gap. The wild elves began a defense there that lasted until 
  725 I.R. When at last the humanoids were forced back into the steppes, 
  the elves discovered that Reme had settled much of the northeastern 
  part of their forest. Exhausted and tired of ongoing threats from their 
  neighbors, the elves vowed to create a barrier across which none could 
  pass. They withdrew farther west in what became known as the Third 
  Exodus of the Elves.
  The elves set a new border of seven great monoliths in a line across 
  the northern part of the Green Realm and began a ritual that took an 
  entire year to complete. Feeding into the ritual was the power of an 
  ancient ley line linking the Impossible Peaks with the Hellsgate Peaks to 
  the south. To complete the ritual, a powerful spellcaster was required to 
  merge permanently with each of the seven monoliths and leave behind 
  their elven selves forever. For this reason, each of the stones has its own 
  name — the name of the elf whose spirit forever inhabits and empowers 
  it. Three druids and four other casters volunteered for this eternal duty. 
  In order from the Impossible Peaks to the Hellsgates, the stones are 
  named Tyriem the Bard, Lysseia the Shapeshifter, Cryssien the Sorcerer, 
  Piriel the Wizard, Meniera the Plant-Speaker, Kemmel the Healer, and 
  Shinaia the Storm-Lord. 
  It is said that when the ﬁ nal climax of the year-long ritual spell was 
  cast, every enemy of the elves or the forest within a hundred miles of any 
  of the Green Warders was struck instantly dead. And thereafter, any who 
  would wish harm to the Akadonian Forest or its wild elven inhabitants 
  were said to fall violently ill when they stepped within the bounds of 
  the legendary rite’s range. If they retreated, they might recover, or they 
  might not. But if they advanced despite their illness, death was said to 
  almost certainly follow. 
  Despite what some histories claim, the ritual was not targeted against 
  humans or any speciﬁ c species. The power of the rite could even harm 
  wild elves, should they approach the Warders with a wish to harm the 
  forest or its wild elven inhabitants. Green Realm histories even record 
  one instance where this power of the Warders is suspected to be the true 
  cause of death of one notoriously wicked elven warrior. 
  It is unknown to what extent the Warders still retain the ability 
  to sense the ill intent of the intelligent minds around them. It is not 
  impossible that as the stones age they may have grown to see even 
  humanoid creatures as simple animals, acting only on instinct. Cases 
  of illness near the Warders are rarely recorded in current times, and no 
  known recent cases have led to death. That being said, no ill-wishers in 
  living memory have pressed on once ill, so perhaps the stones have not 
  grown weaker but merely more merciful. It is difﬁ cult to say, and few 
  with ill intent desire to approach the stones close enough to test them. 
  Those who do approach the monoliths — especially those who step 
  close enough to see the deep-etched ancient runes buried beneath the 
  millennia of moss and vines — can feel their thrum of power. No 
  intelligent creature, to this day, can sleep restfully within miles of the 
  Green Warders. The histories say that, in the early days, the stones’ 
  chosen Warders could project emotions to those around them and 
  even send messages in dreams. Now, after nearly 3,000 years, it seems 
  that the minds of these ancient elves-turned-monoliths have grown 
  too vast and alien for the comfort of an ordinary consciousness, such 
  that communion with the stones can cause outbursts of uncontrollable 
  emotion, unshakable trances, and incomprehensible nightmares. 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|99
  |99
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  Each of the stones also seems to affect the area around it in ways 
  that differ among the monoliths. Around Shinaia, the weather can be 
  unpredictable or seem almost sentient. Near Kemmel, any who do 
  manage to fall asleep may not awaken for days or weeks, though they 
  will awaken in perfect health once they do, assuming nothing kills them 
  in their sleep in the meantime. In the area about Meniera, the plants 
  can all move of their own accord and exhibit animal-like intelligence. 
  Piriel’s monolith can drive visitors permanently mad without warning 
  or apparent pattern, and Cryssien’s is shrouded constantly in shadow 
  and mist that interferes with magic cast in its vicinity and weakens 
  most spells but rarely strengthens them beyond all control or causes the 
  opposite of their intended effect. And around Lysseia, some unknown 
  percentage of the otherwise-ordinary forest creatures are able to speak 
  several languages and sometimes cast spells. 
  Tyriem’s patch of forest was once full of haunting and sad melodies, 
  woven into the breeze, the movement of leaves, the birdsong, and the 
  babbling of every stream. However, many centuries ago, Tyriem’s 
  monolith was broken and thrown down — although no one knows how. 
  As if still in mourning after all this time, the forest around his ruined 
  monolith is eerily, uncomfortably silent. 
  All seven Warders are sites of wild elven spiritual pilgrimage, though 
  few pilgrims can stand to remain in their presence for long. Kemmel, 
  Meniara, and Lysseia are the most commonly visited Warders, while 
  Piriel is treated most warily, and Tyriem is only accessible to those able 
  to survive and defend themselves in deadly Eloitan territory.
  Ever since Tyriem’s destruction, the might of the Green Warders 
  has lessened. Malevolent creatures have become emboldened within 
  Eloitan, the northwestern region of the forest, and the wild elves of the 
  Green Warden Nations grow ever more concerned that, any year now, 
  the other six Warders will begin to fail. Wild elven magical scholars 
  are researching what little record remains of the original ritual, both to 
  ascertain the extent of the danger and to learn if it might be possible to 
  restore Tyriem or — if the need grew sufﬁ ciently dire — to choose a 
  new volunteer to stand with the other six as Warders of the forest. 
  Of course, since most threats to the forest now come from the Xha’en 
  wilderness or the Crescent Sea, the relative tactical utility of fully 
  restoring the Green Warders is debated. As is particularly obvious to 
  those wild elven nations living closest to the Tycho Free States, the 
  Green Warders’ magic can extend only so far. It cannot protect the forest 
  from every angle. 
  HELLSGATE PEAKS
  HELLSGATE PEAKS
  This volcanically active mountain range (of which Infernis Isle is 
  technically an extension), is home to many ﬁ re-loving creatures. Fire 
  giants, red dragons, salamanders, and many other elementals of ﬁ re can 
  be found here. In addition, it is well known that the Hellsgate Peaks 
  host perhaps the largest population of devils in permanent residence 
  on the Material Plane. The exact location of their city is unknown, but 
  escaped slaves describe its terrible grandeur built deep inside the walls 
  of a volcanic caldera. 
  The volcanoes of the Hellsgate Peaks, along with those of Infernis 
  Isle, pour near-continuous ash and lava into the Strait of Gehenna, 
  substantially altering nearby weather patterns and wildlife populations. 
  The seabirds that roost in the Hellsgate Peaks along the coast are unique 
  in all the world, and some are unusually large and dangerous compared 
  to others of related species. 
  The peaks themselves are of similarly unique ecology, and even more 
  dangerous than the coastal cliffs. All plants and animals are adapted 
  to life in extreme heat, and many are magical. While some passages 
  through the Hellsgate Peaks are traversable, other regions are too hot for 
  humans (and most other natural creatures) to survive without magical 
  assistance. Maps of the Hellsgate Peaks are difﬁ cult to acquire and are 
  often rendered inaccurate by new outpourings of lava, ash, and boiling 
  mud, such that a knowledgeable local guide is a necessity for travel 
  through the region, a fact that enterprising devils have been known 
  to exploit in order to acquire fresh slave labor for their city, often by 
  disguising themselves and posing as guides.
  HOLLOW MOUNTAIN
  HOLLOW MOUNTAIN
  Suspected to be a dormant volcano, the appropriately named Hollow 
  Mountain has long been left alone by natives of its region, though 
  evidence shows it was inhabited by certain pre-human reptilian races 
  long ago. Given the unusually high volcanic activity of the Hellsgate 
  Peaks to the south, some scholars believe that Hollow Mountain is 
  certain to erupt again and is thus best treated with great caution.
  For a long time, Hollow Mountain was thought to be uninhabited. 
  Recently, however, a secretive cult has arisen in the area around the 
  Hollow Mountain, and rumor suggests that the cultists may have 
  made the mountain into their base or temple. Everywhere that this 
  cult has spread experiences strange disappearances and kidnappings, 
  and members of the cult behave very differently than they did before 
  becoming members. In any event, there is a growing concern that 
  something bizarre and terrible is going on inside Hollow Mountain.
  INFERNIS ISLE
  INFERNIS ISLE
  An extension of the Hellsgate Peaks in the Crescent Sea, Infernis 
  Isle is divided from the mainland by the perilous Strait of Gehenna. 
  While the island, like the rest of the peaks in the range, is home to 
  several unusually active volcanoes, regularly spitting lava and ash in 
  large quantities, it is different from the rest of the Hellsgate Peaks in 
  several respects. 
  Surrounded by the waters of the Crescent Sea, Infernis Isle is much 
  cooler than the rest of the Hellsgate Peaks, which allows for natural 
  creatures to exist on its slopes, particularly on the isle’s eastern coast. 
  Though the plant life is too sparse and the territory too steep and too 
  dominated by volcanic rock to make Infernis Isle habitable to humanoids 
  (not to mention the ever-present stink of sulfur), many seabirds and 
  mammals survive there by ﬁ shing in the well-stocked, often bathwater-
  warm waters near the shoreline. 
  The highest points of the isle are more mysterious, however. 
  Shrouded continuously in smoke and ash, the peaks are said to be 
  impossible to climb. Tradition along the Free Coast claims that a very 
  old red dragon makes its home near the top of Infernis Isle. But while 
  smaller red dragons are often observed near the Hellsgate Peaks, 
  none is large enough or powerful enough to ﬁ t the description of the 
  legendary Infernis Isle Wyrm. Perhaps the creature is slumbering in its 
  lair. Perhaps it is long dead or never existed. In any case, local sailors 
  and ﬁ shermen approach the Infernis Isle coastline only in times of 
  direst necessity, and none ventures up the isle’s steep sides to explore 
  the peaks above. 
  ONTHENLIAN RIVER
  ONTHENLIAN RIVER
  Some distance north and east of the Hellsgate Peaks runs the 
  Onthenlian River. Named millennia ago by wild elves ﬁ ghting to defend 
  their forest homes, in the elvish of the era “onthenlian” meant “waters 
  of bereavement.” No record remains as to why the river was given such 
  a grim designation, though some suggest it references the ash-gray color 
  of its waters due to natural sediment in the region. 
  The mouth of the Onthenlian pours out into the volcano-heated, 
  northward-running current at the upper end of the Strait of Gehenna and 
  signiﬁ cantly cools the seawater and allows it to return to a more sea life-
  friendly temperature. The meeting of the hot strait with the cool river, 
  however, plays havoc on local weather, and rain and thunderstorms are 
  almost constant above that stretch of coastline. These “weeping skies” 
  (as one old poem says of the region) have been postulated as another 
  possible reason for the river’s sorrowful name. 
  Whatever the ancient reason, fey and elven residents of the area 
  recently began to identify more strongly with the “onthenlian” sentiment 
  in light of a rash of kidnappings and disappearances. Taking place just 
  barely outside the range of the Green Warders, where the river runs 
  closest to Hollow Mountain, the disappearances seem to have arisen in 
  tandem with a violent new local cult dedicated to something they call 
  “the true nature.”
  
  100|
  100|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  QUEENSRIBBON RIVER
  QUEENSRIBBON RIVER
  Called the Ilian by the wild elves, after a silvery blue ﬂ ower that 
  grows in the region, the Queensribbon River is best known at its mouth 
  in Timbertown, where ships come from all over the Crescent Sea to 
  purchase lumber from the excellent Queensribbon tree farms the elves 
  permit Timbertown to keep on the edge of the forest. East of the forest’s 
  eaves, especially in the late summer, the river’s length is devoted to 
  log-driving and lined on either bank by hypnotically row-planted trees 
  or fresh-cut stumps. 
  A short distance into the forest, an ever-hidden contingent of wild 
  elves guards the river and disallows all passage any farther into their 
  domain. The guardians always include archers and at least one druid, and 
  the river is lined with various traps and deterrents designed to hamper 
  boats without disrupting wildlife. Timbertown ofﬁ cials are careful to 
  never cross the elves in any way, to the extent of enacting several strict 
  river-protection policies in their use of the Queensribbon waters, despite 
  the Timbertown obsession with proﬁ t above all else. Residents who defy 
  local law in this regard are commonly disavowed by the Timbertown 
  authorities and are left to the elves to punish as they see ﬁ t. 
  It is said that no human has ever seen the source of the Queensribbon.
  SAERIEL RIVER
  SAERIEL RIVER
  The largest tributary of the river the elves call Ilian and the humans 
  call Queensribbon, the Saeriel river runs mostly northeast in a narrow, 
  tight meander, wriggling through the forest like the pretty creeping vine 
  for which it was named in the local tongue. Between all the winding 
  banks, several short waterfalls, and some jagged whitewater patches, 
  the Saeriel River is rarely traversed by humanoids. It is, however, the 
  spawning ground of the nalendrien, a rare breed of salmon that the local 
  wild elves prize over all other ﬁ sh. 
  It is lucky for the humans of Timbertown that the practice of log-
  driving does not hamper the annual runs of this culturally-important 
  ﬁ sh. Nalendrien swim upstream under the Timbertown logs and ﬁ ght 
  their way unerringly through the Saeriel-Ilian conﬂ uence, always 
  turning up the Saeriel to spawn. Once they begin to leap up the rapids 
  and waterfalls of the swiftly-winding river, the sight of their coppery 
  orange bodies, glittering against the water in the sun, has inspired some 
  of the most renowned of wild elf religious poetry in all the land. 
  Nalendrien is a corruption of a phrase meaning “ﬂ ame in the water”, 
  and several parts of this magical ﬁ sh can be used as spell components 
  or medicines. The ﬂ esh or oils, prepared correctly, can increase wisdom. 
  The powdered scales are said to be of use in crafting lightning-producing 
  magical items, incidentally also turning the lightning that is produced 
  a ﬁ ery orange in color. Finally, the roe can increase or restore one’s 
  hope in the face of despair, or one’s courage to ﬁ ght when frightened. 
  The local wild elves closely guard their methods for preparing the ﬁ sh 
  for magical crafting and are impeccably moderate and respectful in the 
  harvesting of their bounty. Outside their modest, ritualized harvests, 
  they guard the ﬁ sh as ﬁ ercely as if they were fellow elves, and many 
  celebrations and songs are offered up during the annual nalendrien run. 
  STRAIT OF GEHENNA
  STRAIT OF GEHENNA
  While the swift ﬂ ow of tidal waters through the Strait of Gehenna did 
  allow it to carve a gap in the mountain range that includes the Hellsgate 
  Peaks and Infernis Isle, even the inexorable patience of water has been 
  unable to defend the strait from the constant effects of the region’s 
  volcanic activity.
  At least once per month, and sometimes even several times in the 
  same week, lava, hot ash, and boiling mud are known to pour into the 
  strait from volcanic activity of the Hellsgate Peaks and Infernis Isle, 
  oftentimes lasting for days at a time. But the current between the 
  mainland and the island is so ﬁ erce that even this continuous inﬂ ux of 
  sediment and volcanic rock cannot clog up or dam the Strait of Gehenna. 
  Instead, volcanic detritus is spread over the seaﬂ oor all the way to the 
  northernmost and even the easternmost coasts of the Crescent Sea. 
  Between the powerful current and the constant heat, the Strait of 
  Gehenna is entirely impassible by nonmagical crafts, and nothing 
  nonmagical is known to live here. In the protected heat of eddying 
  harbors, however, many heat-loving magical creatures can be found, 
  including one sauna-like seaside village of ﬁ re giants in the largest of 
  these harbors. 
  In addition, rumors persist of strange, alien species making homes 
  cut into the smooth, volcanic stone that lines the central strait’s narrow 
  walls and deep ﬂ oor. These rumors have been difﬁ cult to verify due to 
  the strait’s unusual weather patterns. The constant inﬂ ux of superheated 
  materials into the water ﬁ lls the strait with an ever-present cloud of 
  steam. This uncomfortably warm fog does at times drift southward or 
  northward with the wind, or wear thin at the edges along the coastline, 
  but it has been seen to fully dissipate only during the most violent of 
  storms. For this reason, visibility into and within the Strait of Gehenna 
  is all but nonexistent. If something alien does make its home in these 
  fast-ﬂ owing waters, no one has ever seen it and lived to tell the tale. 
  Strange creatures, however, are not required to make the Strait of 
  Gehenna impassible. The ﬁ erce current is difﬁ cult to steer against and 
  likely to smash boats against the strait’s rock walls, and after every lava 
  ﬂ ow new jagged teeth of broken volcanic rock are left behind to claw 
  the undersides of craft that attempt the voyage. Such spears of rock are 
  always worn away to smoothness in time, but since new hazards appear 
  with every eruption, the only constant is the absolute unknowability of 
  where it is and isn’t safe to steer one’s boat. Even the ﬁ re giants who live 
  on the strait’s shores do not put craft into the central current and instead 
  trek by land to and from their village through the Hellsgate Peaks for 
  any needed trade.  
  TOOFAR
  TOOFAR
  When this ruin was still a Castorhagi fort, it was named Fort Tevoy 
  after King Lertis Tevoy, the force behind the ill-fated Green Warden 
  forest incursion. Tevoy was the last of such forts to be built, and by the 
  time it was commissioned, every single one of King Lertis’ military and 
  economic advisors was telling him not to waste resources on extending 
  the road down to yet another fort in what by then already looked to be a 
  losing investment in lives and resources. 
  After three different generals found excuses to avoid participating 
  in the military campaign that would be required to make King Lertis’ 
  new fort a reality, the king ﬁ nally found a fourth, General Balgon, so 
  blindly loyal he not only led the campaign to hold the fort’s territory 
  long enough to build the thing, he also named it Fort Tevoy after his 
  beloved king. 
  The fort was ﬁ nished in 2367 I.R. In 2369 I.R., General Balgon 
  was slain in the battle of Tevoy, which also saw the destruction of the 
  Castorhagi royal army garrison for the region and the sacking of Fort 
  Tevoy by a wild elf warband. The fort was only in full operation for 
  19 months. 
  Now nicknamed “Fort Toofar,” the ruins are used as an informal 
  reconnaissance outpost by the corsairs of Ilber Nole.
  TRANITH
  TRANITH
  As King Lertis Tevoy’s forays into the Green Realm began to anger 
  the wild elves, Castorhagi settlers built several small forts facing the 
  woods to defend themselves from their elven neighbors. Tranith was 
  neither the largest of these nor even the farthest inland, though it is the 
  farthest inland that survives today as discernible ruins. 
  Unlike most other such forts, Tranith did not even survive to the 
  end of the war with the elves and the abandonment of the Great Road. 
  Instead, it was destroyed in an earthquake relatively early in the war. 
  What makes its tale particularly tragic is that it so happened that a group 
  of settlers had taken shelter there just before the earthquake. These 
  settlers had been making their homes somewhat deeper inside the Green 
  Warden Forest, but when hostilities broke out between them and the 
  elves, their warriors were defeated, leaving behind only the children, 
  elderly, and a few caretakers. 
  
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  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  This tiny band made its way through the forest back to the fort at 
  Tranith and holed up there waiting for help and supplies to arrive. 
  Unfortunately, the earthquake hit before help or supplies ever came, 
  and the surviving refugees were trapped inside the damaged fort, many 
  of them injured. At the same time, an escalation of violence between 
  elves and humans in the area forced the humans to retreat and cede the 
  fort to elven control. When the elves took possession — perhaps in an 
  act of monstrous cruelty, or perhaps mistaking the refugees for soldiers 
  still guarding the structure — they burned what remained of the broken 
  little fort to the ground with the huddled, injured noncombatants still 
  cowering inside. 
  Ever since that incident, the ruins of Tranith have been haunted. 
  Travelers through the region are harassed by dangerous apparitions, and 
  those who (usually unknowingly) take shelter in what is left of the ruins 
  tell tales of terror and peril after ﬂ eeing for their lives — assuming they 
  get out at all. In addition, those who die inside the ruined fort have been 
  known to rise again as undead possessed by the restless ghosts of the 
  abandoned refugees. 
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  THE GREEN WARDEN FOREST AND THE FREE COAST
  
  102|
  102|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF 
  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  THE GREEN REALM
  THE GREEN REALM
  Capital: Solis Alunaris
  Notable Settlements: Sataama Vassen, Sataama Vierta, Linn 
  Syldryll, Linn Kothkaan, Linn Tark, Linn Meriku
  Ruler: High King Riar Harwood, Royal Council
  Government: tribal monarchy
  Population: 500,000 (480,000 wild elves, approximately 20,000 
  centaurs (near Syldryll Vale and the Verdant Plains), small 
  number of grey elves)
  Monstrous: dire or giant animals native to the region (including 
  but not limited to local breeds of monkeys, apes, brown 
  bears, wolves, foxes, many snakes, birds, tigers, leopards, 
  plant-type creatures native to the region (any, but especially 
  treants, shambling mounds), arboreal dinosaurs, wood 
  giants, awakened plants/trees, awakened animals, satyrs, 
  pixies, centaurs, lycanthropes (various) dryads, unicorns, 
  nymphs, quicklings, korreds, sprites, fauns, satyrs, owlbears, 
  wyverns, pseudodragons, incursions of green dragons, drakes, 
  elementals, and  other temperate and sub-tropical forest 
  creatures native to the region
  Languages: Elvan, Sylvan, Druidic, Draconic, some Common
  Religion: Arialee, the Green Father, animism, to a lesser extent 
  Darach-Albith (some elves) 
  Resources: steel and weapons (Northern Steel Tongue 
  Mountains), gold (Southern Steel Tongue Mountains), 
  elven ponies (Syldryll Vale), magic, information (Emerald 
  Mountains), wine. 
  Currency: Green Realms coin, mixed
  Technology Level: Dark Age (wild elf villages), Renaissance 
  (Solis Alunaris, Linn Tark, Linn Kothkaan, Linn Syldryll, 
  Sataama Vassen, Sataama Vierta)
  The Green Realm originally referred to all of the remnants of the 
  Great Akadonian Forest west of the Crescent Sea, reaching from the 
  Crynnomar Gap in the north to the High Barrens in the south. Since 
  then, incursions of humans have reduced the extent of the forest, 
  particularly in the lands of Reme, and nearly a thousand years ago, the 
  northern wild elves seceded to form the Green Warden Nations. Since 
  that time, the Green Realm encompasses only the forest south of the 
  Ilber Peninsula. But even so reduced, the Green Realm constitutes well 
  over one million square miles of subtropical and temperate woodland, 
  the largest remaining extant of primeval forest in the world today, and 
  the home of the largest nation of wild elves on Akados.
  The wild elves of the Green Realm seek to keep their primeval paradise 
  as pristine and unmolested by the taint of man, dwarf, goblin, and orc 
  as possible. As such, they have built a tightly-knit bulwark around their 
  realm made up of hidden woodland fortresses, awakened plant life, 
  prehistoric beasts, and brutally ignorant neighbors that would dissuade 
  incursions by their human neighbors, or the more complex threats from 
  their dark elf kin based in the ever-shadowed walls of Vilik Strad. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The ﬁ rst elves arrived on Akados over 10,000 years ago, voyaging 
  from their homeland in another plane of existence. Some event there 
  eventually led to great numbers coming to live on the continent in what 
  is now called the First Exodus of the Elves. Eventually, the elven forest 
  realms grew to encompass most of the Great Akadonian Forest, which 
  then covered nearly all of the southern half of the continent.
  For thousands of years the elves lived in harmony with one another 
  and with the creatures of the great forests. They roamed freely across 
  Akados from the polished wooden halls of Solis Alunaris, the Sylvan 
  City, in the west, to glorious Parnuble and Arendia in the east. Wherever 
  they went, they learned the nature and names of things around them 
  and gave name and life to other things as beﬁ t their wild imagination. 
  Always they stood against the terror of troll and giant, of ogre, and 
  goblin whenever such creatures crawled down from the mountaintops or 
  up from the chasms of the earth. They largely ignored the humans, who 
  were mainly rustic farmers and ranchers, then populating the continent.
  The Green Realm extended far to the south on the west coast of the 
  Crescent Sea, but it never reached into the Talanos Peninsula, which then was 
  a jungle plateau teeming with monsters and covered in a darkness that the 
  elves feared. Then in –201 I.R., ﬁ res were seen behind the dark walls of Vilik 
  Strad. The Lords of the Green Realm were alarmed and took counsel with 
  the grey elves in the Emerald Mountains. Together, they began formulating 
  a plan to halt the advance of their drow cousins, who were now observed 
  in the deep shadow of the jungle canopy even in the brightness of day.
  Then came the event that changed elven history on Akados forever: 
  the invasion of the Hyperboreans in –109 I.R. The elves of the Great 
  Akadonian Forest gathered their strength and fought against the invaders, 
  initially with great success, but in –91 I.R. they were betrayed by the 
  mountain dwarves of the Stonehearts and their main host was massacred 
  in an ambush at Lake Crimmormere. 
  The power of the elves was broken, and they faded back into the 
  forests. But the Hyperboreans followed up their victory at Crimmormere 
  and pressed on into the forests where they attacked and destroyed now-
  defenseless elven settlements. A byproduct of the evils visited on the 
  elves by the Hyperboreans was a sudden increase in half-elven births 
  among the elven remainder. After the loss of so many at Crimmormere, 
  many among the elves saw the swift-maturing half-elves as a blessing. 
  But others shunned the half-elves, calling them in elvish the “war-dead.” 
  In –27 I.R., a half-elven leader named Valenthlis rose and demanded a 
  place of honor for half-elves in elven society. A civil war broke out 
  between the elves who welcomed their half-brothers and those who did 
  not, ending only when Queen Vaissilune was killed in the conﬂ ict. As 
  a result of this tragedy, the elves that rejected the half-elves decided to 
  withdraw to the west and migrated to the Green Realm in –26 I.R. in 
  what became known as the Second Exodus of the Elves. They began 
  calling themselves the wild elves to denote their complete denial of 
  humanity and their civilization. The elves that remained behind and 
  supported Valenthlis began calling themselves high elves, the ancestors 
  of the elves who live today in eastern Akados.
  There in the Green Realm, the elves withdrew from the world 
  and for a time were at peace. This was broken in 52 I.R. by an 
  incursion across their southern boundaries of armies of goblins, 
  ogres, orcs, and bugbears driven by the dark elves in Vilik Strad.
  Emissaries were sent seeking advice and aid from the grey elves of the 
  Emerald Mountains.  Working together, Queen Talith Harwood of Solis 
  Alunaris and King Reithon of Suomen Gron performed a great ritual at 
  the edge of the Talanos Plateau, tearing a rift in the ﬂ oor of the world. 
  There they raised the Cinderhame Mountains from the edges of the 
  planes of Earth and Fire, burning the dark jungle of the plateau to the 
  ground and blocking the routes between Talanos and the Green Realm. 
  King Reithon is said to have passed from the world of Boros as he infused 
  the ritual with the last spark of the soul of the Eldest he held within his 
  heart. His sacriﬁ ce was the price required to be paid for such a horrid 
  violation of the natural order. 
  The dark elves of Vilik Strad who survived the rending of the ground 
  and the scorching of their jungles returned to the safety of their shadowed 
  fortress. It is said that they have licked their wounds since that day, plotting 
  and waiting for an opportunity to blot out the sun and wreak revenge 
  upon their cousins in the Green Realm. Meanwhile, bands of homeless 
  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  
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  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
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  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  
  104|
  104|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  humanoids were left to wander the waste, cannibalizing one another and 
  warring on their kin, until it is believed they ﬁ nally settled on the shores of 
  the Crescent Sea under the leadership of a prophet of Orcus, who forged 
  the wanderers into what would become the “free” city-state of Braktu. 
  Their land now protected from much of the rest of the world, the elves 
  of the southern Green Realm grew ever more isolated, even from their 
  kin in the northern parts of the forest. When the north felt threatened by 
  raids from the Xha’en plains or from Castorhage, and even when one of 
  the Green Warders fell, those in the south saw such events as far away, 
  seeming indifferent to the plight of their northern cousins. As is told 
  elsewhere, this estrangement ultimately led the northern wild elves to 
  secede from the Green Realm and become the Green Warden Nations. 
  And so the Green Realm remains isolated to this day, even from its kin to 
  the north. Whether the rest of the world permits them to continue to enjoy 
  their isolation remains to be seen. 
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Like all wild elves, the tribes of the Green Realm venerate the 
  teachings of Arialee and sing the songs of the Fey Lands and the love 
  and protection of the never-ending circle of life. Equally, the tribes 
  follow the animism and naturalism of their elders and claim heraldry 
  from the beasts of the wild and the living trees and plants that they call 
  friends. Among the Uniﬁ ed Tribes are Oaks, Pines, Foxes, and Bears. 
  Elders of the Green Realm are often skilled in druidic traditions and 
  combine the shamanistic teachings of nature with the legends of Darach-
  Albith, the god-creator of all elves. 
   TRADE AND COMMERCE
   TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The Green Realm is a land rich in natural resources. Food is abundant 
  in the verdant forests, and the wild elves lack for little. They are careful 
  curators of the ancient wood who carefully manage animal populations 
  and clear dead wood in solemn ceremonies whose traditions stretch 
  back more than 10,000 years. Trade items include rare jewels gifted 
  them by the Hidden Ones of the Emerald Mountains, steel for weapons 
  and armor that are drawn from the depths of the Northern Steel Tongue 
  mountains, and gold drawn from mines in the Southern Steel Tongues. 
  Elven-made steel tipped arrows and spears are much sought after by 
  the tribes of centaurs who dwell in Syldryll Vale. The centaurs trade 
  ﬁ ne horses to the elves in exchange for such steel and the promise 
  to defend the southern entryway to the kingdom from any outsiders. 
  Like their cousins to the north, the masters of the Green Realm are well 
  versed in the enchantment of magical items and the knowledge of spells, 
  occasionally offering information, education, or magical items in trade. 
  It is known that many among the human kingdoms of Akados covet 
  timber from the Green Realm. Talk of trade in such things is laughable 
  to the wild elves, who would just as soon dismember a child of their own 
  upbringing as slaughter one of their kinfolk of wood and leaf. 
  LOYALTY AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTY AND DIPLOMACY
  King Riar Harwood keeps ambassadors among the Green Warden 
  Nations, just as they keep ambassadors within his own court. Though the 
  northern and southern kin of the elves have been sundered, they remain 
  deeply aware that the blood of the ancients, back to the time of the First 
  Exodus, ﬂ ows through all of their veins. Were a great threat to arise, the 
  elves would be expected to join their forces to face it. In the meantime, 
  King Riar prefers that the Green Warden Nations keep a watchful eye 
  on the doings of the Xha’en Empire while the true High Lords of the 
  Green Realm remain unknown to imperial spies and generals of that 
  populous nation. He is uncomfortably aware that, should Xha’en decide 
  to march into the beloved woods of the Great Akadonian Forest, they 
  An ogre, hobgoblins and goblins venture forth from Vilik Strad into the High Barrens.
  
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  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  would surely take them, should they have the will to sacriﬁ ce millions 
  in the endeavor. For this reason, the king encourages nationalistic 
  tendencies among the Green Warden Nations and ensures they receive 
  such weaponry and other aid they might need to act as a buffer.
  The Green Realm also maintains good relations with the  Five Clans 
  of the Hoof in Syldryll Vale. But other than the centaur nation, the 
  Green Realm has no other allies or relations with any other kingdoms 
  or peoples.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The Green Realms is a monarchy ruled by a king or queen with the 
  guidance and assistance of an Elder Council. This council consists of 
  tribal nobles elected by the heads of each tribe. Most councilors are 
  elected to serve a term of 20 years though some are voted continuous 
  terms by their individual tribes. Final authority is vested in the monarch 
  based on the ﬁ ndings of the Elder Council, though in the majority of 
  cases decisions are consistent with the council’s suggested course of 
  action. Under certain circumstances when the need is particularly dire, 
  the monarch may dispatch emissaries from the  Halls of Suomen Gron 
  in quest of further advice from the Hidden Ones who dwell there. 
  For themselves, the tribes are mostly autonomously run, with their own 
  chieftains relaying information to the Elder Council of happenings in their 
  portion of the Green Realm, making requests for aid in the form of magic, 
  weapons, or reinforcements as needed. Tributes sent by these chieftains to 
  the High King of the Forest include documents obtained from prisoners 
  and samples of technology and magic seized from pirates and raiders.
  For himself, King Riar Harwood is nearing the end of his reign and is 
  expected to select his successor sometime in the next 20 years. Riar is 
  incredibly old even for a wild elf. In the last several decades he has begun 
  the process of becoming one with the great forest as his body begins to 
  meld into the tree from which his throne has grown. As one with the tree 
  he can sense immediate threats to the forest and direct resources to the 
  source of those threats as far as the edges of the Green Realm’s roots allow. 
  Riar’s eldest children Prince Sima and Princess Orovaki serve in effect 
  as co-regents to the throne, standing at each side of their father as he 
  receives advice from the Elder Council. The prince and princess act as 
  intermediaries and ambassadors of the king in their dealings with the 
  Green Warden Nations, and in the rare occasions when the advice of the 
  Hidden Ones of Suomen Gron is sought. 
  For their part, the monarchs in the line of Harwood have sought 
  fairness and neutrality in their rule, seeking little in the way of tribute 
  but much in the way of respect. They allow the general autonomy of 
  the tribes so long as each tribal chieftain remembers their purpose in 
  protecting the sanctity and purity of the last great forest on Akados. 
  Potential royal heirs spend years among the various tribes learning each 
  particular tribe’s customs and strengths. For example, an heir may spend 
  years learning the stealth tactics of the Fox clan, or the pack hunting 
  tactics of the Wolves. They may train their bodies in endurance running 
  among the Elks, or in observation and sniper techniques of the Hawks.  
  This personal interaction with the various members of the kingdom 
  helps to ensure the tribal support of the Harwood line. By ensuring that 
  his heirs develop a deep understanding of the other tribes, Riar hopes 
  to avoid the misstep his ancestors made in not fully supporting their 
  northern relatives at a time that they perhaps needed it most. 
  NOTABLE TRIBES
  NOTABLE TRIBES
  Although there are many tribes among the Green Realm, including 
  some very small ones, the major tribes of the Green Realm are the Fox, 
  the Elk, the Bear, the Eagle, the Leopard, the Wolf and the Red Hawk.
  The Fox Tribe is a dedicated clan of scouts who roam the lands 
  between the east and west coasts parallel to Tandril Island. They are 
  sharp-eyed and sharp-witted, with golden-brown skin, hazel eyes, and 
  reddish hair. They are experts at evasion and ambush, leading foes 
  deep into the forest where they are dispatched by hidden traps. The 
  Fox Tribe has the most trade with the Green Warden Nations, though 
  they are still deeply loyal to the ancient bloodline in Solis Alunaris. 
  The Elk Tribe ranges from the coastal plains of the west to the deep 
  forests that parallel Bitter Island on the east, and are a strong tribe 
  whose chieftain, Prince Jalaba Vui, is a respected leader known 
  for his speed and strength. The Elks do more than take their name 
  from the majestic beasts of the forest, as most are bonded with 
  great dire elk of the wood and ride the beasts as their southern-
  most cousins who dwell near the Syldryll Vale ride horses. 
  Living in the forests around the Karthu Mountains, where it shares 
  territory with the Eagle Tribe, the Bear Tribe is known for its bravery 
  and ferocity. The Bear Tribe maintains some of the most barbaric 
  traditions of the wild elves. Their berserkers have fought at the forefront 
  of every war ever waged on behalf of the Green Realm against its foes. 
  Their villages are built in caves and they spend their days questing for 
  challenges to prove their bravery.
  The Eagle Tribe lives among the mountain cliffs of the Karthu range, traveling 
  on the backs of great eagles. A small number of Eagles also live high among 
  the trees close to Solis Alunaris where they offer aid in swift transportation 
  and as eyes in the sky soaring above the majesty of the Green Realm. 
  The Leopard and Wolf Tribes live deep within the woods. The homes of the 
  Wolves are built close to the ground like the beasts whose name they keep 
  and whose dens their villages emulate. The Leopards build their villages 
  within the branches of the trees, their surefooted step, patience, and gold 
  green eyes making them deadly stalkers of the deep arboreal gloom.  
  The Red Hawk Tribe lives among the coastal trees of the Crescent 
  Sea. They are one of the most populous and powerful tribes of the realm 
  and are tasked with watching the kingdom’s safety and security from the 
  castle of Linn Tark and for 500 miles to the north. Members of the Tribe 
  of the Red Hawk are renowned archers and strategists whose raiding 
  parties harry pirate camps and burn their ships when encountered. 
  Like the Green Warden Nations, many of the other tribes are more 
  nomadic in nature and keep small villages throughout the forest where 
  they stay sometimes for a week, month, or even a few years before 
  wandering deeper into the woodland. They let the voice of the forest 
  speak to them, and if danger calls, all tribes are alerted and send their 
  emissaries to the Elder Council for further instruction. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The armies of the deep forest are more varied than those 
  of the Green Warden Nations to the north and have a mix of 
  traditional and non-traditional troops to call on in times of need. 
  Western territories bordering the broad plains and that have made 
  alliances with the nomadic tribes of centaurs dwelling there possess a 
  mounted light cavalry that can be called upon to harry and harass foes if 
  necessary. Their numbers are small, so that between the western coastal 
  plain and Syldryll Vale their numbers are under 5,000, though when 
  bolstered by the wild centaur, the cavalry muster could potentially be 
  much greater. 
  The cliffs of the Steel Tongues and the Karthu Mountains farther 
  north are homes to tribes known for their tamed and ready giant 
  eagles, with each region accounting for nearly a thousand air cavalry. 
  Typically, these great birds are ridden by sorcerer knights, rangers, 
  or druids who rain down thunder and lightning from the skies. 
  The forest’s interior is home to a host of rangers as well as sure-eyed archers 
  of note, druids, sorcerers, and the alliances of treants, friendly forest giants, 
  and fey creatures whom the elves call forth to reckon the terms of old 
  alliances dating back to their mutual ancestors’ origins in the Fey Realms. 
  The eastern coast along the Mud Coast, the Forest Coast, and the 
  Cinderhame Mountains contain more organized military forces with 
  garrisons built along the timberline and hidden in the sides of hills. 
  These forces are drawn from a mixture of tribes and train together for 
  years in preparation of a human armada bent on invasion and conquest. 
  MAJOR THREATS 
  MAJOR THREATS 
  The deep forest holds its secrets, and some locations in the forest 
  are dark and rotten. In such places, unclean spirits sometimes rise from 
  the pit of hell to challenge the sanctity and security of those around 
  them. There are monsters in the depths who claim their home among 
  the shadows of the trees. Trolls and ogres are found in the deep forest, 
  
  106|
  106|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  as are chimera, dangerous dinosaurs, carnivorous apes, harpies, hags, 
  and other folk who remain dangerous and hidden in their own steadings. 
  When threats arise from the shadowy parts of the forest, the guardians 
  of the wood band together to thwart the threat. Rarely, they have been 
  known to quest forth beyond the borders of their ancient kingdom in search 
  of aid for things that they admit that they cannot vanquish on their own.
  Less common though still dangerous threats to the Green Realm arrive in the 
  occasional appearances of exploratory missions sent from Xha’en that are 
  quickly turned away at the western coast. Other common dangers include 
  pirates who pierce the veil of the forest in search of fabled elven treasures. 
  Rarer still are encounters with legendary green dragons said to 
  sleep in the depths of the deep timber or from one of the spawn of 
  Qoatl Boax that slithers across the Mud Coast to test the resolve of the 
  wood’s defenders. 
  In recent centuries, ogres, hill giants, ﬁ re giants, trolls, bugbears, 
  and gnolls have taken up holdings in the Cinderhame range. 
  Bloody skirmishes have been fought that have set the elven sages to 
  searching for the crumbling scrolls that detail pieces of the old ritual 
  that would break open the earth to devour their enemies once more.
  It is speculated that these monstrous foes have been driven across 
  the High Barrens to take their home there by their shadow-walking 
  overlords in Vilik Strad. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  Like the Green Warden lands of the north, the elves of the Green 
  Realms use magic and illusion to hide their villages from outsiders, 
  preferring to direct them into traps and capture if they seem to be a mild 
  threat. Strangers who enter the outskirts of the forest as often as not ﬁ nd 
  themselves standing along the coast several days later, relieved of all but 
  basic survival equipment but otherwise no worse for wear. 
   SOLIS ALUNARIS, SYLVAN CITY OF 
   SOLIS ALUNARIS, SYLVAN CITY OF 
  (Sol-Iss A-LuNar-Iss)
  Ruler: High King Riar Harwood, he who is one with the 
  trees; Elder Council of the Green Realm; Caraeith Helias, 
  Hierophant of the Sylvan City; Illieha the Star-treader; and 
  Lord Sorceress Milathiu Velhei
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 90,000 (wild elves)
  Languages: Elven, Sylvan, some Common
  Religion: Animism, Arialee, Darach-Albith, lesser and fey 
  deities.
  Resources: magic, cultivated natural resources, ﬁ ne art. 
  Currency: Green Realms coin, mixed 
  Technology Level: Medieval/Renaissance 
  Solis Alunaris, the Sylvan City, is the greatest wild elven city 
  remaining in the Lost Lands. The folk of the great city, though not 
  necessarily as wild as they once were, take pride in their naturalistic 
  heritage and have grown the city from the seeds left by their ancestors, 
  cultivating and nurturing its trunks and boughs into the spectacle that it 
  is today. 
  To an uninformed observer, little would be seen of the great city from 
  the ground. Comprising 20 square miles of 3,500-year-old trees that reach 
  more than 500 feet into the air, the city is nestled among intertwining 
  living boughs that have been shaped to the needs of its denizens. Hollows 
  within trunks form entire apartments for elven families, and reclaimed 
  wood of the forest has been built into thoroughfares and platforms that 
  support the various shrines, temples, and lodges of the Elder Council of 
  the Green Realm.
  The forest city towers over other surrounding trees that stretch for 
  hundreds of miles in every direction. The primeval woodland within 
  view of the city is well guarded by awakened trees, treants, and patrols 
  of wild elves who race among the broad tree limbs as easily as one 
  would stroll across a green carpet of rolling turf or sail the winds on the 
  backs of giant eagles. 
  LODGES OF THE TRIBES OF THE WILD
  LODGES OF THE TRIBES OF THE WILD
  Each of the Tribes of the Wild are represented with their own great 
  lodge within the city. These lodges are built onto platforms high in the 
  boughs of the most sacred and ancient trees of the primeval forest. Each 
  lodge is kept by a druid initiated in the deep arts of nature. Warriors of each 
  tribe born to the line of chieftains and chieftesses serve an honorarium 
  of several decades within the lodges. Here, they are often engaged in 
  challenges and games against other tribes to keep their skills sharp while 
  learning diplomacy and respect for the other tribes of the Green Realm. 
  Lord General Yerrian Giath, the supreme war chieftain of the Kingdom of 
  the Green Realm and member of the Elder Council, oversees their training. 
  Yerrian Giath is taller than most of his kin, and like Riar Harwood, shows 
  obvious descendance from the old lines of Suomen Gron in his violet eyes 
  and silvery hair that is striking in his rich chestnut face. 
  It is Yerrian’s job to ensure that the young nobles of the lodges 
  comport themselves as noble warriors, heroes, and guardians of the 
  Green Realm against all threats.
  HIGH TOWER OF SOLUS ATRALIIS
  HIGH TOWER OF SOLUS ATRALIIS
  Arcane instruction is sought by those who are born with the touch 
  of the ancient fey magic at the High Tower of Solus Atraliis. Grown 
  from a massive redwood, the tower of Atraliis is kept by Lord Sorceress 
  Milathiu Velhei, a nearly 300-year-old wild elf and a seeker of mysteries 
  and keeper of arcane secrets. She and her initiates train those young 
  elves born to the mark of the sorcerer to wield their power in protection 
  of the forest and the uniﬁ ed tribes. 
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Within the city of Solis Alunaris stand great temples to Arialee and 
  Darach-Albith. Arialee’s temple is formed among boughs of an enormous 
  white khooma tree. A statue of the goddess shaped from the living wood 
  of the tree and crowned with hair of leaves of pure gold stands within 
  a natural archway formed by entwined branches. The temple is kept by 
  Caraeith Helias, priestess of the goddess and hierophant of the Sylvan 
  City. Her circle is charged with the life and health of the eternal trees of 
  the Sylvan City. She instructs the princes and princesses of the tribes in 
  the care of the forest beyond the city, in listening to the life that it shares, 
  and in the physical and metaphysical stewardship of the forest.
  Directly across from this holy place is the open-air temple of 
  Darach-Albith tended by Illieha Star-treader. Illieha is one of the last 
  of his kind, a cleric of the old faith descended directly from the priests 
  of the creator-god in the First Exodus. Faith in the ancient religion of 
  Darach-Albith has dwindled greatly among most of the elves in the 
  ages since the migration, but homage is paid as is its due. Illieha 
  seems almost an albino to the young wild elves, save those who have 
  had the honor of being allowed to visit the halls of Suomen Gron, 
  who recognize in Illieha a likeness to the ﬁ rst born of the Elders. 
  Illieha tends to few acolytes, and to those few who arrive every few 
  decades in search of religious knowledge. Illieha serves on the Council 
  of Elders, though he is prone to travel the astral plane battling on 
  behalf of his god, and like others, ever searching for the lost goddess. 
  Many of the nobles dwelling within the city also keep a shrine to 
  Rialae-Aibaru, the lost goddess who forever searches in anguish for her 
  missing child. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The various tribes of the Green Warden Nations keep embassies in 
  the Sylvan City, for despite their differences of opinion, King Riar is 
  committed to reconciliation with the northern nations. He knows that 
  if Castorhage rises to prominence again, and the rumblings in the 
  Cinderhame Mountains prove true, that it may require a uniﬁ ed kingdom 
  to ensure the survival of both forest and elf alike. 
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Despite being the seat of power for the Green Realms, the Sylvan 
  City itself is administered by Mayor Varenth Illuene and is divided into 
  administrative districts that ensure the care and protection of the trees 
  and the folk who dwell among them. As has long been the tradition, the 
  king appoints the mayor of the city from among the commoners of the 
  
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  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  tribes who gains the rank of noble upon completion of their century long 
  term of service. Varenth has served for nearly 50 years and is popular 
  among the lesser magistrates of the city’s districts and the common folk. 
  He is more frequently the face of the city than the king himself, though 
  this has much to do with Riar’s slow transition from elf to forest spirit. 
  Due to the importance of his work, though not a noble, Varenth serves 
  on the Council of Elders.
  The mayor and district magistrates who still bear the honoriﬁ c title 
  of chieftain from the purely tribal days of the past manage the homes 
  and shops of the common folk. Within the trunks are districts ﬁ lled with 
  artisans and crafters who prepare food, tool leather, and weave ﬁ ne 
  linen fabric. Others carve great works of art from the fallen wood of 
  the forest. There are also bowyers, ﬂ etchers, vintners, perfumers, and 
  confectioners among the ones who live in the various districts that line 
  the trunks of the great trees. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Beyond the civilian districts that ﬁ ll the trunks and line the branches 
  are the more military districts, such as the Root District on the forest 
  ﬂ oor where the Knights of the Burled Crown keep watch along with 
  the treants and other sylvan beings who are allied with the Throne of 
  the Green Realm. Higher in the branches are the nests of giant eagles 
  and hippogriffs in the Bough District. These beasts are ridden by elite 
  Knights of the Wind who serve as scouts and bodyguards of the king. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  There are currently few immediate threats to the city of Solis Alunaris 
  due to its location deep within the forest and the layers of protection that 
  the forest and the various elven fortresses provide. It therefore serves 
  as a solid training ground and center for culture and debate among the 
  various of the Uniﬁ ed Tribes. 
  LESSER CITIES AND FORTRESSES 
  LESSER CITIES AND FORTRESSES 
  OF THE GREEN REALM
  OF THE GREEN REALM
  The forest is dotted with small settlements, too innumerable to 
  mention. The most important castles of the kingdom are located at 
  points where danger to the forest is recognized, or where a watchful eye 
  must be kept over wild allies of the fey who have occasionally proven 
  to be difﬁ cult friends. 
  SATAAMA VIERTA (SAH TAM AH VI-EER-TA)
  SATAAMA VIERTA (SAH TAM AH VI-EER-TA)
  The river port of Sataama Vierta rests on the western banks of the Gold 
  Wine River in the shadow of the Emerald Mountains. The city is well 
  defended and is one of the few outward signs of wild elf might outside of 
  the actual shadows of the Great Akadonian Forest itself. The port is closed 
  to most visitors and serves in a mostly coastal military capacity. There is a 
  growing voice among the local pirate confederacies to band together and 
  sack the city and establish it as a port of ingress to the Green Realm and 
  its rumored wealth of magic and untapped natural resources.
  Sataama Vierta was established as a naval outpost at the suggestion 
  of the Hidden Ones in the Emerald Mountains. The grey elves pointed 
  out to the rulers of Solis Alunaris that it was only a matter of time before 
  pirates or forces loyal to the Brotherhood of Skulls based out of Braktu 
  would someday ﬁ nd a way to spread their depravity across the sea or 
  under it. 
  The wild elves set forth establishing the port and building a navy 
  with plans and technology afforded them by their grey elf kin. The 
  ships they built were of a sleek outrigger form that allowed swift 
  travel along the southern coastline. The wild elves for their part are 
  not overly fond of the sea, preferring the glens and meadows of the 
  deep forest to the rage of waves, and so typically stay close to the 
  shore. Their navy is supplemented by friendly fey water creatures and 
  alliances with tritons of the southern waters and water elementals. 
  Sataama Vierta is ruled by Lady Hennith Tonkhala, chieftain of the 
  Swordﬁ sh Tribe. She is conversant in Sea Elf and the Aquan tongues 
  and has a strong relationship with the fey folk of the sea. The port has 
  a population of 4,000 with roughly half of the denizens serving aboard 
  ships and a quarter more who serve as defenders of the city. 
  SATAAMA VASSEN (SAH TAM AH VASS-EN)
  SATAAMA VASSEN (SAH TAM AH VASS-EN)
  Ruled by Lord Otaha Mikkvalla and the Lady Rovanna Delﬁ i on 
  behalf of King Riar, the port of Sataama Vassen has a population of 
  5,000 and is a relatively new settlement in terms of the ages of the wild 
  elves. It was established in 530 I.R. after riders of the Verdant Plains 
  encountered an exploratory surveying party from Xha’en. The survey 
  party was slaughtered, and their boats sunk before they could return 
  to their homeland. The queen of the Green Realm at the time decreed 
  that a port would be established that would protect the Green Realm 
  from any new incursions on their western shores by the race of man.
  Called the Blue Eye of the Sea by the elves, Sataama Vassen is well 
  hidden in the shadow of the North Steel Tongue Mountain Range. Like 
  its sister settlement Sataama Vierta, this small naval port houses scout 
  ships used by the elves to watch the coastline and warn of incursions of 
  pirates or attempted encroachment from Xha’en or the Utterends into 
  the lands claimed by the Green Realm. Sataama Vassen is maintained by 
  the Dolphin and Whale tribes. The noble chieftains of Sataama Vassen 
  have a treaty with sea elves and merfolk of the Caerulean Ocean who 
  have agreed to warn them should any invading navy set its sights for the 
  relatively calm shores of the Verdant Plains. 
  A small ﬂ eet of 20 fast and elegant warships calls this port home. 
  These stealthy vessels patrol the coastline from south of the Utterends 
  to Syldryll Vale. The ships of Sataama Vassen avoid interaction with the 
  navies of Xha’en but attack any pirates who enter the Caerulean Ocean 
  on sight.
  LINN KOTHKAAN, CASTLE OF THE EAGLE
  LINN KOTHKAAN, CASTLE OF THE EAGLE
  Linn Kothkaan is located in the northernmost point of the Northern 
  Steel Tongue Mountains and serves as the ancestral tribal hold of the 
  Eagle Tribe who are charged with observing the wide plains to the west 
  of the Great Akadonian Forest and keeping a watchful eye over the 
  northern coasts from any potential threats from Xha’en. 
  Linn Kothkaan is well fortiﬁ ed and was carved with the help of magic, 
  elementals, and earthbound creatures to mimic the natural surroundings 
  of the mountainside. The castle is garrisoned by 2,000 elves with an 
  aerie containing several hundred giant eagles who serve as mounts and 
  brethren to the tribe. 
  LINN TARK, CASTLE OF THE WATCH
  LINN TARK, CASTLE OF THE WATCH
  Built to be indistinguishable from the surrounding forest, this castle 
  sits on a wooded butte that overlooks the vastness of the Mud Coast. 
  Linn Tark is administered by the Hawks and houses 3,000 wild elves 
  of the tribe. There are 200 winged hippogriffs stabled at the fortress 
  whose riders roam the forest coast south of Linn Meriku and observe the 
  lizard folk of the Mud Coast from afar to ensure they continue to focus 
  their attentions to their own kinfolk in the Crescent Sea to the east and 
  avoid any curiosity over the doings of the forest dwellers to the west.
  LINN SYLDRYLL, CASTLE OF THE VALE
  LINN SYLDRYLL, CASTLE OF THE VALE
  This castle stands at the north end of the Syldryll Vale between 
  the Emerald Mountains and the Southern Steel Tongue Range. Linn 
  Syldryll is the last line of defense in the vale before entry into the heart 
  of the forest. The fortress, built like other wild elf castles to resemble 
  the local terrain, also serves as the center for trade with the nomadic 
  centaur tribes of the vale who have long allied themselves with their 
  wild elf neighbors. 
  Linn Syldryll is maintained by Lord Laaksion, a member of the Horse 
  Tribe and second cousin of the king. The fortress houses 2,000 wild elf 
  knights who ride the powerful elven ponies that are raised for them by 
  the centaur clans of the valley. Laaksion is a renowned horseman whose 
  family has maintained the centaur and elf alliance for hundreds of years. 
  LINN MERIKU
  LINN MERIKU
  This hidden castle 500 miles northeast of Solis Alunaris is a purely 
  military facility built in the last century to maintain a vigilant eye on 
  the Forest Coast, serving as a waystation between Linn Tark and the 
  coastal elves of the Green Warden Nations to the north. The fortress has 
  proximity to Bitter Island and informs the Council of Elders whenever 
  that cursed island rises from the waves. 
  
  108|
  108|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  The castle keeps a small naval dock where sleek elven 
  galleys ply the waters 50 miles out to sea, dissuading pirates 
  and reporting on the navies of Castorhage and the Low Country.
  The fortress houses 2500 archers, 1500 cavalry, and a contingent of 150 
  sorcerers trained to burn the ships of sea born invaders. Land patrols 
  roam the coast and stay with coastal tribes on a fairly regular basis.
  THE EMERALD MOUNTAINS
  THE EMERALD MOUNTAINS
  Ruler: King Semmjon and Queen Adosha of the Emerald 
  Mountains
  Capital: Suomen Gron
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 4,000 (excluding seasonal pilgrims) (3,500 grey 
  elves, 300 wild elves, 200 gnomes)
  Monstrous: dire or giant animals native to the region (including 
  but not limited to local breeds of bears, wolves, leopards, birds, 
  tigers), giant eagles, non-evil plant-type creatures native 
  to the region (any, but especially treants), pixies, satyrs, 
  other non-evil fey, centaurs, unicorns, pseudodragons, rocs, 
  perytons, silver, and gold dragons, and other temperate or 
  subtropical forest-dwelling non-evil creatures.
  Languages: Elven, Sylvan, Gnome
  Religion: Arialee, Darach-Albith, Rialae-Aibaru
  Resources: gold, silver, precious gems, magic.
  Currency: barter and trade
  Technology Level: Medieval/Renaissance
  Blanketed by high alpine forests at the southern end of the Green 
  Realm are the Emerald Mountains, which are known to the elves 
  as Gora Harmyth. Here is the home of the near mythic grey elf 
  kingdom that shares the mountains’ name. The magniﬁ cent halls 
  of their capital of Suomen Gron are seldom visited by denizens 
  of the Green Realm, save for rare pilgrimages by nobles who 
  would seek advice from their ancient forebears in times of travail. 
  The grey elves of the Emerald Mountains are quiet free spirits when left 
  to their own devices. Being more closely related to the pure essence of 
  the Fey Realms than other elves, they have become near legend even 
  among their own kin, who refer to them as the Hidden Ones or the 
  Shining Ones. Indeed, they are rarely seen anymore because they have 
  so deeply attuned themselves with the world of spirit, fey, and magic 
  that many of them are on the verge of becoming one with the fey essence 
  of the cosmos. Some of the Shining Ones spend centuries dwelling 
  among the glades of fairy folk, only seldom taking time to return to the 
  gleaming fortresses of the Suomen Gron to observe the happenings of 
  the mortal realms or to take action against the resurgence of Vilik Strad. 
  The Hidden Ones have a natural capacity for wielding the chaotic forces 
  of raw magic and shaping it into the natural world around them as easily 
  as a potter shapes clay. It was with the help of the grey elf wizards of the 
  Emerald Mountains that the wild elf high lords of the Green Realm were 
  able to raise the Cinderhame Mountains from the crust of the world 
  and thwart the advance of their dark elf adversaries across the Talanos 
  Peninsula in year 52 I.R. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The grey elves were the ﬁ rst of the children of Darach-Albith to 
  voyage from their ancestral homeland on another plane to Boros, 
  even before the First Exodus of the Elves. More arrived in the First 
  Exodus in roughly the year –6484 I.R. along with others of their kin, 
  ancestors of the wild elves and high elves. What drove the elves to 
  cross over to Boros in this wave remains a mystery of which the grey 
  elves — who alone of the elves may know the truth — will not speak.
  After coming to Boros, the grey elves and their progeny were little 
  changed. But, particularly after a few generations had passed, the 
  other elves seemed to take on aspects of their new homeland. Their 
  strong skin and ﬂ ashing eyes came to reﬂ ect the colors of their native 
  forests, of which their spirits quickly became a living part. As they 
  matured and married, they conceived more quickly by the standards 
  of the Shining Ones but lived shorter lives than the grey. Their lives 
  were just as deeply in tune with the natural order of the world but were 
  perhaps richer for the shorter time they had upon it. These changes 
  to their kin were at ﬁ rst considered quaint and primitive by the grey 
  elves, who loved them all the more for it. But their new differences 
  did result in the two groups of elves growing apart. The Shining 
  Ones for their part largely left their exuberant cousins to their own 
  devices and relocated to a new home in the Emerald Mountains, only 
  interfering when advice was asked or when their society was threatened 
  with destruction. In these days, sometimes princes and princesses of 
  the grey would marry into the rising noble houses of the other elves 
  to enhance the richness of the Eldest bloodline among their kinfolk.  
  The other elves quickly spread throughout the Great Akadonian Forest, 
  which then spanned the length and breadth of the continent, and tended 
  the ancient woodland as wardens and protectors. In the east, they built 
  cities indistinguishable from the primeval forests. Unfortunately, many 
  of those cities were destroyed or abandoned following the Hyperborean 
  invasion and the massacre at Lake Crimmormere in – 91 I.R. As many 
  elves ﬂ ed west in the Second Exodus, they were welcomed by the grey 
  elves into the Green Realm, who helped re-establish noble lines and 
  serve as mediators as new lands were settled and tribes formed. From 
  this time forward, the elves of the west who rejected Valenthlis became 
  known as the wild elves.
  The wild elves of the west came to enjoy a close relationship with the 
  grey elf kind, which proved critical when they were forced to call upon 
  grey elven aid to prevent an invasion of the Green Realm by the dark 
  elves of Vilik Strad. 
  But after many years, once the survival of the wild elven lineage was 
  ensured with the establishment of the Harwood line, the host of the grey 
  elves at last retreated into the alpine peaks of the Emerald Mountains 
  and their secretive palace fortress of Suomen Gron. For their part, they 
  were happy to withdraw from the ambitions of elves, dwarves, and men. 
  The grey elves now spend a majority of their time re-attuning themselves 
  with the power of the Fey Realms. They may cross into the lands of 
  the fey and dance with the faerie folk, or spend centuries focused in 
  the deep study of arcane magic. Still others take to traveling unseen 
  through the lands of their children as they survey the world as it has 
  become. Over the last centuries, the Shining Ones have turned their eyes 
  once again to the deeps beneath Vilik Strad and rumors of dark powers 
  growing there in strength. 
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The grey elves of Gora Harmyth are ruled by an ancient monarchy led 
  by Semmjon and Adosha, king and queen of the Emerald Mountains. The 
  pair are descended from the eldest lines of grey elven royalty from before 
  the First Exodus and are loved and admired by their people. The duo has 
  been married for over two centuries and are nearly 400 years old. 
   RELIGION
   RELIGION
  On the surface, the grey elves of the Emerald Mountains don’t seem to 
  truly have any religion at all, until one realizes that these long-lived beings 
  believe themselves children of the divine, descended from the god Darach-
  Albith and the lost goddess Rialae-Aibaru. A marble temple to Darach-
  Albith stands in a mountain vale not far from Suomen Gron, as does another 
  small shrine to the fey deity Arialee. Here on midsummer and midwinter 
  the barriers to the Fey Realm become thin and allow the grey elves to 
  refresh their living spirit through contact with their original homeland. 
  In these festivals they are reminded of the Eldest and the day when 
  all shall join again, dancing at the feet of Arialee in the land of the fey 
  when none shall need take up bow or wand in defense of life and freedom 
  ever again. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The denizens of the Emerald Mountains have little need of trade 
  as they sustain themselves with magic and the bounty of the forests, 
  rivers, and mountains. They receive infrequent though valuable tribute 
  
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  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  from the lords of the Green Realm as is tradition and return tenfold 
  the gifts they receive from the wild elves in the form of wisdom and 
  magical reinforcement. They have been known to disguise themselves 
  as young wild elves and to trade for ponies and grain from the tribes 
  of the vale. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The grey elves of the Emerald Mountains are known for their 
  exceptional skill at ancient wizardry. They make use of summoned forces 
  to absorb attacks and use explosive invocations to blast through enemy 
  ranks. In addition, many of the Hidden Ones are skilled swordsmen, and 
  their knights are remembered in antiquity for their bravery and deftness 
  of blade strikes. A unit of grey elves is adorned in supple armor and 
  wields bows and thin-bladed swords of exceptional strength and balance. 
  They are fearless in the face of supernatural foes. Were it not for their 
  small numbers and their languorous spirit, the grey elven combination 
  of powerful wizardry and dizzying blade-craft would undoubtedly 
  grant them dominion over any of the lesser mortal races in the world. 
  Of the population of the Emerald Mountains, three-fourths are capable 
  of taking up arms or wands to combat any threat. Their equipment is 
  considered ﬁ ne to excellent and has a good chance of being enchanted. 
  A cadre of well-trained knights who ride the winds on the backs of 
  pegasi form the royal guard known as the Tuul Rasaja. These riders 
  of Suomen Gron serve as messengers, scouts, and protectors of King 
  Semmjon and Queen Adosha. 
  The grey elves forged alliances over the millennia with younger gold 
  and silver dragons who make their homes in the roots of the Emerald 
  Mountains, though they call upon their aid only in extremis, for even 
  kindly dragons charge high prices for their services, and not all of their 
  bills may be paid in gold and jewels.  
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The most imminent threat to the Emerald Mountains is its proximity 
  to the Cinderhame Mountains. Riders of the Tuul Rasaja have noted 
  movement in those old volcanic cones of ﬁ re giant fortresses, as 
  well as signs of hobgoblins and trolls. Already, the wizards of Gora 
  Harmyth wonder if the ancient magic that was once used to raise 
  the mountains from the earth may need to be called upon again to 
  collapse them to dust. Time will tell. What is known is that the dark 
  elves of the high walled city of Vilik Strad have had thousands of 
  years to plan their revenge against the Hidden Ones and their cousins 
  in the Green Realm. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE
  The mountains are dangerous to those who are not welcome there. 
  The Hidden Ones have earned that name for a reason. They keep a 
  watchful eye over the passes and are well aware days in advance of any 
  incursion into their sanctum. Should travelers manage to ﬁ nd one of 
  their hidden tunnels or mountain passes, they are met ﬁ rst with conjured 
  weather followed by summoned beings and magical constructs designed 
  to turn interlopers away. Should unwelcome visitors be persistent, they 
  are next met with a force of grey elves intent on dissuading any further 
  exploration of their land. 
  THE FIVE CLANS OF THE HOOF
  THE FIVE CLANS OF THE HOOF
  Capital: None
  Notable Settlements: Linn Syldryll 
  Ruler: Five Clans of the Hoof
  Government: Tribal 
  Population: 24,000 (20,000 centaurs, 4,000 wild elves)
  Languages: Elvan, Sylvan, Druidic, some Common
  Religion: Arialee, Cavacendo
  Resources: horses, wool, bison  
  Currency: Green Realms coin, mixed
  Technology Level: Stone Age to Medieval
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The centaurs of the Five Clans of Hoof have dwelt among the Syldryll 
  Vale grasslands that skirt the Green Realm for as long as they can 
  remember. Their oral tradition dates back to the time before meeting 
  the ﬁ rst elves when they were taught the language of the elven folk 
  by the Shining Ones, who were kin and friend to other beings that had 
  once dwelt together in the realm of the fey in the time before time. 
  The ﬁ rst encounters between centaur and elf were not without their 
  own conﬂ ict, as the elves were giving birth to their own customs and 
  traditions, which were not always compatible with the untamed primal 
  passions of the centaur clans. The centaur folk, in turn, were fascinated by 
  these new forest lords and sometimes approached them inappropriately, 
  especially when ﬁ lled with the heady wine that the elves offered them 
  as gifts of gratitude and friendship.  
  Festivals of peace and friendship occasionally ended in bloody 
  skirmishes. Ultimately, the high lords of the Green Realm held 
  a council with the chieftains of plain and prairie. Arialee and the 
  Green Father were themselves called upon to intercede on behalf 
  of the conﬂ icting parties. A treaty was arranged between the clans 
  of the hoof and tribes of the wood whereby the hoof lords would be 
  master of the prairie and plain, and the wild elves would be master of 
  the forest glen. They would trade in kind, but the hoof lords would 
  promise to drink their wine only among their own folk and keep their 
  hands to themselves whenever they were found in mixed company.
  In exchange, the elves would provide access to weapons of steel, wine 
  (in moderation), and protection in time of need from raiders from the 
  sea and the beast folk who wandered into their lands from the bowels 
  of the mountains. This truce remains in force to this day. The wild 
  elves learned much from the culture of the Hoof Clans and took up 
  horsemanship and riding with the centaurs as their nomadic families 
  crossed the plains from their ancient homeland in Syldryll Vale to 
  as far north as the foothills of the Karthu Mountains. Boisterous and 
  competitive, the centaurs of the vale have a deep love of the heady forest 
  wine vinted by the wild elves and a desire for arrowheads and weapons 
  of the lightweight steel forged at the foot of the Northern Steel Tongue 
  Mountain range by the skilled elven craftsmen.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Governance of the Hoof Clans of the Syldryll Vale, to the extent one can 
  call it that, consists of a loose confederation of tribal councils. Each clan 
  has a chieftain who is elected from among the tribal members. Typically, 
  the clan chieftain is responsible for the safety of the clan and for mediating 
  between clan members in the case of conﬂ ict, setting scouts, and 
  negotiating with the wild elves or strangers encountered in the grasslands. 
  Each chieftain is assisted by a tribal shaman, who is usually the 
  strongest spellcaster from among the tribe. This shaman may be a 
  druid, cleric, sorcerer, or warlock. Below the chieftain are a number of 
  sub-chieftains, each of whom is generally responsible for 4–6 hunters, 
  herdsman, or warriors from the clan. In addition, a sub-chieftain may a 
  have specialized job such as hunting, gathering, scouting, or security. 
  A chieftain may be challenged by others of the tribe at any time, with 
  each Hoof Clan choosing its own method of election. In some clans it 
  is by vote, while in others it is determined by a race, and still others 
  choose unarmed combat to resolve leadership issues. In times of war, 
  a war chief may be nominated by a clan. This is typically the most 
  experienced and ﬁ erce warrior that the tribe has, which may or may not 
  be the clan chieftain. 
  During threat of a broader conﬂ ict, several of the Hoof Clans may 
  join together and nominate a war chief as their general to command 
  them in battle. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The tribes trade horses, cattle, sheep, wool, grain, pottery, and ale among 
  each other and to the wild elves. Luxury items and commodities sought 
  by the centaurs are elven wine, steel weapons, and elven horn bows. 
  The center for trade in the Syldryll Vale is located around Linn Syldryll, the 
  
  110|
  110|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  fortress of the wild elves at the southern edge of the forest. The different 
  Hoof Clans make general migratory stops at the fortress throughout the 
  year and bring their trade goods to the elves and compete in contests of 
  archery and engage in various games with their elven hosts.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The centaurs of the Hoof Clans follow an animistic religion 
  with additional veneration of Arialee as mother of the fey races and 
  Cavacendo, the god of the ﬁ re horses who taught their race the power of 
  the torch and ﬂ aming arrow against foes from forest and from the sea. 
  MILITARY 
  MILITARY 
  The centaurs of the Hoof Clans are adept lancers and archers who are 
  particularly skilled in light cavalry activities. They pursue hit-and-run 
  tactics. They avoid bunching up in mass waves that could be defeated by 
  magic until they whittle their enemy’s numbers down to a point where 
  they stand little chance of failure. 
  Their more advanced units would be best described horn bow armed 
  archers or barbarians armed with lance and weighted club. These units are 
  supported by naturalist spellcasters such as druids, sorcerers, or warlocks. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Major threats to the vale come from its proximity to the Cinderhame 
  Mountains, where incursions of ogres, trolls, and hill giants have 
  become more commonplace, as has the appearance of hobgoblin raiding 
  parties that appear to have discovered a mountain pass from the High 
  Barrens. To the west, occasional threats from young stone giants striking 
  out from the deep mountain interior have been known to occur in the 
  shadows of the Steel Tongue Mountains. 
  The centaurs raised awareness of these incursions from the 
  Cinderhame to their elven allies in Linn Syldryll and scouts were 
  dispatched to investigate. It seems to many that the long sleeping forces 
  of Vilik Strad have awakened once more and that the drums of war will 
  once sound in the Vale.
  TANDRIL ISLAND 
  TANDRIL ISLAND 
  (Tan-Drill)
  Capital: Trinidar
  Ruler: Lord Commodore Levassier Elian
  Government: high council
  Population: 90,000 (with an additional 20,000 transient 
  population passing through) (55,000 Castorhagi human, 
  20,000 Rhemian, 6,000 halﬂ ing, 5,000 half-orc, 3,500 half-elf, 
  500 other)
  Monstrous: ogres, hobgoblins 
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Loa
  Resources: ﬁ shing, coffee, sugar, trade
  Currency: Castorhage, Rhemian, Mixed 
  Technology Level: Medieval/Renaissance
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Tandril Island was colonized in 2284 I.R. by the City-State of 
  Castorhage as a forward base for expansion and colonization into the 
  Great Akadonian Forest. 
  The city of Trinidar, once known as the Jewel of the Crescent Sea, 
  was founded at a natural harbor on the north coast of the island. Trade 
  brought foreigners from other seafaring nations as well as indentured 
  servants and slaves from the Castorhagi’s wars of expansion. Within 40 
  years, using Tandril Island as a base of operations, Castorhage began 
  the settlement of the Forest Coast through the establishment of penal 
  colonies and work camps. In the end, the colonization of the mainland 
  proved disastrous for the rulers of Castorhage, who were summarily 
  defeated by the wild elf defenders in the Forest Coast War (also called 
  the Mortgage War) that ended in 2373 I.R.
  Despite the eventual loss of the Forest Coast colonies, Tandril Island 
  and the port of Trinidar remained critical to the power structure of the 
  Castorhage throne. Repeated attempts were made by Trinidar nobles 
  and governors to increase their share in the wealth created through the 
  island. These entreaties were most typically ignored by Castorhagi 
  monarchs, who as usual demanded absolute fealty on the part of their 
  colonies. Over time, the island’s leaders found more and more ways 
  to thwart Castorhage’s efforts to collect taxes and otherwise command 
  obedience from their colony, becoming increasingly wealthy in the process.
  By 2854 I.R., Trinidar was independent of Castorhage in all but name only. 
  Efforts on the part of Castorhage to regain control were repeatedly thwarted 
  by the Grand Duchy of Reme. When Castorhage lost the Short War with 
  Reme in 3240 I.R., Trinidar took advantage of the situation and formally 
  declared its independence. This resulted in the arrival of a new generation of 
  Rhemian settlers who mixed with the local population and produced a folk 
  who are as distinct and different as Rhemians are from the folk of Castorhage. 
  TRINIDAR AND THE INTERIOR
  TRINIDAR AND THE INTERIOR
  The city of Trinidar makes up 70% of the island’s population. The port 
  proper is the focus of the city, with the Governor’s Keep standing on a 
  bluff that overlooks the harbor. The naval garrison occupies the north 
  side of the harbor and a lighthouse stands on the south side that guides 
  shipping to the civilian docks. The city’s architecture reﬂ ects the South 
  Coastal style, being made from wooden timbers with grand shuttered 
  windows and colorful stucco.  In the time since it was founded, Trinidar 
  has grown as a center for trade in the Western Crescent Sea, affording 
  Rhemian naval ships and merchants a ready and welcoming port.
  The rest of the inland is rich with volcanic earth that lends itself to the 
  growth of lush native crops. A number of Trinidarian nobles own various 
  plantations located inland along the slopes and shores. These plantations 
  typically house several hundred workers and a personal complement of 
  guardsmen and overseers numbering 20–30 heavily armed individuals.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Tandril shares some of the darkness of its original founding homeland, 
  and many of the gods of Castorhage continue to be worshipped here, 
  along with the (sometimes unsavory) festivals dedicated to those gods. 
  As an island whose lifeblood is trade, however, it has a fairly liberal 
  view on religions, and many gods of folk from afar also have temples 
  in the city. The city of Trinidar, in fact, possesses the only known major 
  public temple on Akados dedicated to the worship of Loa of the Aizanes-
  Tulita, an island group west of Libynos far to the east. 
   TRADE
   TRADE
  The Port of Trinidar holds a special place in the area of trade along 
  the western Crescent Sea. The city is known as a place where ill-gotten 
  gains can be exchanged with few questions. Smuggled items are quickly 
  re-branded for a “fair” excise fee and immediately placed on merchant 
  vessels that often return them to their port of origin. For this reason, the 
  city is popular with pirates plying from as far off as the Razor Coast and 
  the Utterends to those closer to home based in the foul city state of Braktu. 
  Rhemian nobles turn a blind eye to the less savory aspect of Trinidaran 
  trade and religion so long as the sliding scale of proﬁ t and geographical 
  power remains in their favor and puts Castorhage at a disadvantage. 
  The Port of Trinidar is also home to a chapterhouse of the Imperial 
  Mercantile League, where its mercenary members plot out risky 
  ventures on the high seas in search of plunder and wealth at any 
  cost. The league’s ofﬁ ces are in an otherwise nondescript warehouse 
  at one end of the docks and houses a private club for members as 
  well. Denoted by their Sphinx of Boros tattoos, the league’s locals 
  constitute a small but critical percentage of non-military sailors 
  who claim Trinidar as their home port. Their power in the city 
  comes less from their numbers than their wealth and knowledge. 
  The island’s rich plantations produce foodstuffs — including sugar, 
  rum, and rich coffee grown in its mountainous interior — that are much 
  sought after on the eastern mainland and provide cash crops and a steady 
  stream of homegrown revenue for the denizens of Tandril. 
  
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  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The Port of Trinidar is ruled by a high council that is presided 
  over by the Lord Commodore of Port Trinidar and attended by the 
  Tradesman’s Guild of Tandril. The high council seats 10 members, 
  including seven nobles descended from the ancient families of Trinidar 
  and three Rhemian transplants who are careful not to overexert 
  their positions, though they do tend to vote in a uniﬁ ed block. 
  The Tradesman’s Guild is composed of shopkeepers, landlords, 
  wholesalers, shipwrights, and tradesmen, including a representative 
  of the Imperial Mercantile League who owns his position largely 
  through intimidation of other members of the Tradesman’s Guild. 
  Membership in the guild requires fairly hefty dues, meaning the 
  poorest of local businesses often group their coin together to back 
  a single member who works for all of their collective interests. 
  The lord commodore is appointed by the high council, though 
  bribes from the Tradesman’s Guild and the league go a long way 
  in inﬂ uencing the vote. The requirement for appointment is that the 
  candidate be of blood descendancy from the original noble founders of 
  the island. Furthermore, the lord commodore must have been a captain 
  in the Trinidaran Navy with no fewer than 10 years of experience on 
  the high seas. 
  The current lord commodore is Levassier Elian, a middle-aged, 
  square-jawed man with iron gray hair, the scarred hands of a swordsman, 
  and the eyes of a hawk. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The Trinidaran military trains at the Naval Academy of the Crescent 
  Sea, which  offers training in seamanship, close-quarters combat, and 
  a school of magic emphasizing crowd control tactics. Most sailors, 
  marines, and magic-users are required to perform six months to a year 
  of training before being sent out on their ﬁ rst patrol. 
  Trinidar’s navy serves two purposes. It is ﬁ rst and foremost designed 
  to intercept and destroy warships that would invade or otherwise threaten 
  the port itself. Its secondary purpose is to serve as military escorts for 
  wealthy merchants who pay a high premium for the protection provided 
  by their heavily-armed warships. 
  Trinidaran marines wear studded leather and carry light crossbows 
  and cutlasses. They are adept at close-quarters ﬁ ghting and are trained 
  in the use of the most modern ship- and land-borne siege equipment. 
  These units are backed by wizards who pay off their training in service 
  to Trinidar. There is usually at least one wizard per 20 standard marines. 
  Trinidaran soldiers work mostly in seeing to the defenses of the 
  port from invaders and threats both monstrous and magical. Their 
  shore patrol is renowned for its toughness and holds a long tradition of 
  maintaining order among the various sailors who make port there, be 
  they navies of visiting nations, pirates, or merchant marines looking to 
  burn through their pay in the city’s many taverns, gaming parlors, and 
  pleasure houses. Entrance to the shore patrol requires a minimum of a 
  year at sea in the service of the Trinidaran ﬂ eet. 
  The Trinidaran shore patrol wear chainmail hauberks, and are armed 
  with saps, longswords, and shields. They swap weapons depending on 
  the threat they face. Shore patrolmen who keep watch on the walls trade 
  their clubs for heavy crossbows. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Trinidar’s major threat comes from Castorhage. The royalty of the 
  Blight would very much like to see Tandril back in its colonial empire, 
  though they recognize that such an event would never be tolerated by 
  Reme. As a result, their competition with Trinidar can be ﬁ erce and 
  merciless, and many would, if they can’t have Tandril, prefer to see it 
  left in ashes. Other threats include the wild elves of the Green Realm 
  and the Green Warden Nations, who would strike the denizens of Tandril 
  Island from the map before it could again be used as a point of invasion 
  against their beloved forests. 
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE BLIGHT
  THE MUD COAST 
  THE MUD COAST 
  Capital: Ajsak Telek
  Ruler: High Priest Yax Telek, servant of Qoatl Boax
  Government: tribal  
  Population: 300,000 lizardfolk, 25,000 (?) tsathar 
  Monstrous: dire or giant animals native to the region (including 
  but not limited to local breeds of insects, snakes, birds, 
  dinosaurs, crocodiles, alligators, catoblepas, hippopotami, 
  ﬁ sh, plant-type creatures native to the region (assassin vines, 
  shambling mounds, gallows tree, witch trees, awakened 
  plants/trees, awakened animals, bog men, black and green 
  dragons, marsh jelly, wyverns, swamp trolls, green hags, 
  locathah, sahuagin, frog, froghemoth, fen witches, hags, and 
  other temperate and sub-tropical marsh, swamp and sea 
  creatures native to the region 
  Languages: Draconic, Aquan
  Religion: Tiamat; some Behemoth
  Resources: ﬁ sh, medicinal herbs, rare spices, pirate treasure
  Currency: barter, gemstones
  Technology Level: Stone Age (villages), Bronze Age (Ajsek 
  Telek) 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Long ago, the vast salt swamp that makes up the majority of the 
  interior of the Mud Coast was at the bottom of the Crescent Sea until 
  some unknown event caused the waters to recede. During what came 
  to be known as the Age of Dragons, lizardfolk moved into this region 
  and established temples and cities within the swampland. Some came 
  to worship the Mother of Dragons while others sought guidance from 
  Behemoth. They made pacts with great and powerful beings who granted 
  them access to sorcery and power over the very fabric of the world. 
  Eventually, those of the Cult of the Mother of Dragons became twisted 
  by the powers they had summoned, and in the name of the Mother 
  commenced the wholesale slaughter and sacriﬁ ce of intelligent life 
  around them. At ﬁ rst, this meant any of their distant kin serpentfolk 
  who wandered into the swamps and locathah who laid their eggs 
  upon the muddy shores. But in the end, the lizardfolk turned upon 
  themselves in a mass sacriﬁ ce of their own folk that left their civilization 
  in ruin toward the end of the Age of Dragons some 400,000 years ago. 
  Fallen into barbarism, the descendants of the original lizardfolk remain in the 
  Mud Coast and dwell among the ruins of their fallen civilization. They harry 
  ships foolish enough to weigh anchor off their coast and continue the ancient 
  tradition of tormenting the locathah. Until recently, the greatest threat to the 
  lizardfolk has been themselves. Eking out a brutal existence, the various 
  tribes have long warred with each other, taking slaves of their own kind and 
  practicing cannibalism in order to steal the life essence of their enemies.
  But less than a hundred years ago, a new Cult of Tiamat arose among 
  the lizardfolk in the swamps, and new rituals to the Queen of Dragons 
  have been wrought.  The cult’s prayers were heard and recently Tiamat 
  sent her draconic emissary, Qoatl Boax, to the ruins of the ancient 
  city of Ajsak Telek to serve as god-king of the lizard folk in her name. 
  Upon his arrival the priests of Tiamat set about unifying the disparate 
  tribes of the scale and tooth, slaughtering those who would not swear 
  allegiance to the new rulers of Ajsak Telek. Qoatl Boax has overseen 
  reconstruction of the city’s defenses. He has also ordered exploration of 
  the ruins of the ancient cities in search of forbidden artifacts and ancient 
  hieroglyphs that — once deciphered — may reveal long-lost secrets. 
  Uniﬁ ed and with newfound strength, the lizard folk venture as far inland as 
  the edges of the tree line where their expeditions die in a rain of arrows or 
  they ﬁ nd themselves beset by packs of wolves, prides of leopards, or picked 
  to the bones by waves of giant hawks. Undeterred, the sorcerer priests of 
  Ajsak Telek are merely testing the strength of the elves, much like a tiger 
  tests the bars of its cage. 
  The lizardfolk are not the only race that calls the Mud Coast home. 
  Tribes of tsathar hide deep in the swamps and worship their dark god in 
  areas so desolate that even the lizardfolk don’t venture there.
  
  112|
  112|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  More than half of the lizardfolk who dwell in the Mud Coast 
  live in the swampland in one of a dozen or so tribes, each led 
  by a powerful chieftain who is usually a barbarian, warlock, 
  druid, or sorcerer. They live lives not so very different from 
  other rustic folk, with the majority of chores involving the 
  gathering of food and protecting the tribe from trolls, catoblepas, 
  shambling mounds, vegepygmies, hags, and other dangerous 
  denizens of the swamplands known to prey upon the lizardfolk. 
  Closer to Ajsak Telek, governance is far more organized, with 
  Qoatl Boax as the supreme authority and Yax Telek, the Mouth of 
  the Dragon, as the wyrm’s second in command. Below those two, 
  various chieftains are given authority over territories near the capital 
  (or, in a few cases, more distant areas of strategic import or that 
  contain ruins to be explored), including the semi-settled lizardfolk in 
  their area. The chieftains also act as military leaders with a certain 
  number of warriors under their command. All positions of authority, 
  including subchieftains and warrior leaders, are appointed by those 
  directly above them, though Qoatl Boax has the authority to appoint 
  or remove anyone at his whim.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The lizardfolk in the far-ﬂ ung tribes along the fringes of the Mud 
  Coast practice a form of animism that is very reptile-centric in nature, 
  looking to crocodilians, monitor lizards, and similar beasts that resemble 
  themselves. Increasingly, however, the Cult of Tiamat has spread, and 
  the inﬂ uence of the Queen of Dragons is growing by the day. This is 
  particularly the case near Ajsak Telek where Qoatl Boax brooks no 
  challenge to his mistress. Some few lizardfolk look to Behemoth but do 
  so largely in secret. 
  The worship of Tiamat demands sacriﬁ ces, and the altars of the 
  newly rebuilt pyramids of Ajsak Telek run with the blood of the 
  lizardfolk’s victims once more. Bands of hunters from the city now 
  stalk the coastal waters for locathah and anchored merchant or pirate 
  vessels. Others hunt along the edge of the timberline delineating their 
  territory from the Green Realm in search of unsuspecting wild elves. 
  In lieu of prisoners, the lizardfolk are known to slaughter unafﬁ liated 
  tribes in mass sacriﬁ ces or even volunteer members of their own brood 
  to ensure the favor of the Queen of Dragons. 
   TRADE AND COMMERCE
   TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The lizardfolk of the mud banks seldom trade with anyone. Much 
  of their gear is made up of stone and leather, metals that such as 
  bronze and copper that resist rust, or sharpened bone. This is not to 
  say that equipment possessed by the dwellers of Ajsak Telek are not 
  sophisticated in other ways and means, or that their weapons are any 
  less deadly in skilled hands. 
  Upon the arrival of Qoatl Boax, weapons and technology have taken 
  on a decidedly more advanced nature, as vaults are uncovered from the 
  ruins ﬁ lled with weapons of the ancients. These weapons have been 
  awarded to Qoatl Boax’s most faithful servants. These include axes 
  and maces of sturdy bronze, and javelins tipped with a rust-less iron 
  alloy that supplement the churt missiles hurled by the atlatl of their 
  coastal brethren. Still, the denizens of Ajsake Telek dig deeper as their 
  excavation continues, bent on ﬁ nding the fabled war bows of the ancients. 
  The lizardfolk are aware of more advanced weaponry, having been 
  subjected to it by pirates and navies that have assaulted their coastal 
  villages, and would certainly be interested in acquiring such weapons 
  should the opportunity present itself. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Since the ascendency of High Priest Yax Telek and the arrival of 
  Qoatl Boax, the lizardfolk of Ajsake Telek have been organized into 
  military units and have begun training in advanced combat techniques.
  Below each chieftain are a number of expert warriors called kochatl. 
  Each kochatl commands four experienced soldiers called popatl, each 
  of whom in turn commands eight ﬁ ghters known as tzitzi tmati. In 
  addition, 100 kochatl (along with the corresponding number of popatl 
  and tzitzi tmati) directly serve Qoatl Boaz in Ajsak Telek.
  Ajsak Telek itself is further protected by the Chosen of Tiamat known 
  as the qoatl tmati. These elite knights are ﬁ ghters and sorcerers trained 
  in more orthodox methods of combat than their barbarian cousins who 
  dwell in the outer villages. They are often heavily armed with bronze 
  weapons and enchanted items, and mix potions from the abundant 
  resources of the swamps around them.
  Thus far, the newly organized forces of the lizardfolk have only been 
  tested in lesser combat where they move against villages or raiding 
  parties into the Green Realms in search of weapons and magic.  
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Thick sludge and muddy swamps, with their clouds of mosquitos and 
  biting ﬂ ies, make for an unattractive locale to most not otherwise native 
  to the Mud Coast. As such, the largest threats to the Mud Coast are 
  internal, from the hidden enclaves of tsathar, or beasts and other hazards 
  found there, such as dinosaurs, ﬂ esh-eating bacteria, piranha, stirges, 
  and the hags who keep their covens among the muddy backwaters. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  The Mud Coast itself is a vast wilderness of thick mud and a mangrove 
  swamp that is home to a variety of threats and challenges. There are 
  still many ruins that have not yet been uncovered, and it is believed 
  that a gate to the Styx is hidden there where the waters run directly 
  from the Mouth of Tsathogga. A rumored temple to this malevolent Frog 
  God is believed to be kept by tsathar monks somewhere in the trackless 
  wastes. The masters of Ajsake Telek would like to see it conquered and 
  its secrets stolen for the greater glory of Tiamat. 
  EARLDOM OF BORSS
  EARLDOM OF BORSS
  Capital: Borss
  Ruler: Earl Harald Borss-Evey
  Government: Earldom
  Population: 61,000 (50,000 Foerdewaith, 5,500 mountain 
  dwarf, 5,000 halﬂ ing, 500 half-elf)
  Monstrous: bears, sea lions, wolves, dire wolves, wild boars, 
  lizardfolk, possible dragons
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Foerdewaith pantheon
  Resources: mercenaries, ﬁ shing, shipping, dairy, privateers 
  Currency: mixed, Foere
  Technology Level: Renaissance 
  The Earldom of Borss is the  farthest land that still swears fealty to the 
  Foerdewaith crown at Courghais and consists of the southern portion 
  of the island of West Talon. The Earldom, and speciﬁ cally its capital 
  of Borss, are recognized as a safe haven by Foere merchants who ply 
  the southern Crescent Sea and the waterways feeding trade along the 
  southwest portion of the continent.   
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  Originally the Hyperborean Province of West Talon, Borss became an 
  earldom of Foere in 2812 I.R., as that kingdom expanded throughout Akados.
  Though the Kingdom of Foere diminished long ago, the earls of Borss 
  continue to ﬁ nd it favorable to remain loyal to the Court of Courghais to 
  avoid interference from Castorhage. This makes Borss a favorable port 
  for those who seek to avoid the dangers of Castorhagi inﬂ uence in the 
  southern seas. 
  A small but well respected and wealthy population of mountain 
  dwarves dwells within their own enclave in the city of Borss. Many are 
  descendants of the army that King Col of the Ironskull Great Mountain 
  Clan from the Blackrock Mountains brought to the island in a failed 
  assault on the Dread Dragon Temple. Many still long to avenge the 
  
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  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  death of the king and are known to hire adventurers with the purpose 
  of testing the strength of the Dread Dragon Temple and seeking a way 
  to destroy it.  
  The earls of Borss, for their part, leave the Dragon Heights alone. 
  They have not felt the breath of a dragon in centuries and have no 
  interest in stoking the ﬁ res that burn in the belly of old wyrms. 
  The city of Borss holds a small population of halﬂ ings from the Low 
  Country, transplants who work as merchants and sailors to negotiate 
  trade between the two regions and beyond. Other populations of note 
  include a group of half elves feeling the pull of their elven side who long 
  to catch a glimpse of the Green Realm, though to their sorrow they are 
  not welcome among the wild elves of the deep forests. Many of the half 
  elves serve in Borss as sailors, scouts, interpreters, and guides. 
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Natives of the earldom are generally members of the High Church 
  of Foere, and temples to Stryme, Tyre, and Sefagreth in the city are 
  well-attended. 
  Bishop Otto VanDeurer, a worshipper of Sefagreth, is the ranking 
  ecclesiastical leader in the earldom and has the ear of Earl Harald. His 
  advice has been crucial in helping the earl rapidly build his fortunes. 
  Common folk of the earldom pay their respects to the Foere gods during 
  their various seasonal rituals, with congregations of warriors paying 
  homage to Tyr and Stryme and demonstrating their skill at arms in 
  seasonal tournaments that are popular among the locals. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The economy is largely based on shipping, ﬁ shing, and providing 
  escort to ships plying the waterways through the Mouth of Akados 
  onward to the southwestern coastline. Local merchant houses and 
  foreign merchants who seek to establish a presence in Borss must 
  execute a contract with the earl, who grants a charter in return for a 
  percentage of the proﬁ ts from any shipping venture. 
  The earl has banned the Imperial Mercantile League from operating 
  within the earldom. The earl has begun to charter private captains 
  with their own ships as privateers to hunt and destroy members of the 
  Brotherhood of Skulls. This has brought the ire of the buccaneers who 
  have alerted the brotherhood’s other strongholds, making a war between 
  the two forces increasingly likely.
  LOYALTY AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTY AND DIPLOMACY
  The earldom is on friendly terms with the Grand Duchy of Reme, 
  the Kingdom of the Vast, the Principality of Olduvar, the Duchy 
  of Mains, Bottomborough, and most of the coastal cities south of 
  Castorhage. They are openly neutral to Castorhage, though secretly 
  unfriendly, and work to avoid Castorhagi inﬂ uence from creeping 
  into their port. 
  The earldom’s proximity to Vilik Strad, Braktu, and the Mud Coast 
  is of increasing concern. Their warships seem to ﬁ ght an unending 
  battle against the ﬂ eet of Brotherhood of Skulls’ pirates operating 
  out of Braktu, who keep hidden bases in Treachery Bay. Quietly, the 
  earl is investigating the cost and potential for success of an assault 
  on Braktu to destroy the port and degrade the city-state’s ability to 
  harass trade. 
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The earldom is a domain of the Kingdom of Foere, and all Foerdewaith 
  laws apply here.  As the local vassal of the Court at Courghais, Earl 
  Harald rules, with the advice of his inner council which consists of 
  his son Harald Borss-Evey II, Bishop VanDeurer, and Vice Admiral 
  Anslaugh Vanwyken, known as “Iron Arms” for his thick forearms. 
  Viscount Dejark Seablade, ruler of Kamis, affords his fealty to Earl 
  Harald, and is the second-wealthiest and most powerful man in the 
  earldom, after only Harald himself. 
  The earl also claims the fealty of four sea-lords who have chartered 
  holdings within the earldom. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Soldiers of the earldom are led by Earl Harald himself, while his ﬂ eet 
  of a dozen armed carracks and twice that number of support ships is 
  led by Vice Admiral Anslaugh. Half of the warships are out to sea at 
  any given time providing merchant escort, with the other half plying 
  the waterways close to port in patrol capacity or in drydocks for repair.
  The city watch is administered by the harbormaster of the city watch, 
  who has a keep near the docks that serves as the watch headquarters and 
  city jail. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The Earldom of Borss is far from the center of Foere power in 
  Courghais. As a result, it has to maintain local strength to protect itself 
  from threats, since any assistance from the rest of the kingdom would be 
  long in coming. Also for that reason, relationships with those who might 
  be able to aid Borss, such as Reme, are nurtured by the earl. The greatest 
  threat to the earldom comes from the denizens of the Talanos Peninsula, 
  and in particular Braktu and the Brotherhood of Skulls, with whose ships 
  the earl’s navy does frequent battle. Other pirates on the Crescent Sea 
  pose risks to those who use the port of Borss. And Castorhage remains 
  a continuing concern, as the ruler of the Blight ﬁ nds the presence of this 
  outpost of Foere to be a thorn in his side.
  KAMIS, CITY OF
  KAMIS, CITY OF
  Ruler: Viscount Dejark Seablade
  Government: feudal
  Population: 8500 (6,000 Foerdewaith, 2,000 mountain dwarf, 
  500 halﬂ ing)
  Technology Level: Renaissance
  Viscount Dejark Seablade is directly descended from Jarkun 
  Seablade, a famous reaver and privateer who was granted the holding by 
  the seventh earl of Borss after singlehandedly sinking three Castorhagi 
  warships that were attempting to blockade the city of Borss. 
  Jarkun made good use of the money he made from privateering and 
  investing, and his holding became greater than any of the other sea lords 
  who served under Earl Hervesti. Soon a walled town rose up around his 
  ever-growing keep. The Seablade clan has proven its loyalty to the earls 
  of Borss time and again and were granted a viscounty within the earldom 
  for their service. The viscounty has been given semi-autonomous status 
  within the earldom out of respect for the Seablades (and also due to the 
  fact that a conﬂ ict with the Seablades would be at best costly, and at 
  worst disastrous, to the earldom). 
  Dejark’s lords command four warships and have a contingency of 
  10 support ships. At least one warship is in Kamis’ harbor at any given 
  time with others participating in patrols on behalf of the earldom or on 
  privateering assignment in behalf of the viscount. 
  BRAKTU, CITY-STATE OF
  BRAKTU, CITY-STATE OF
  (Brack-Too)
  Ruler: High Horn Docefris
  Government: theocracy
  Population: 70,500 (30,000 goblin, 15,000 orc, 10,000 half-orc, 
  5,000 mixed-ethnicity human, 5,000 half-ogres and ogrillons, 
  500 drow)
  Monstrous: various undead, hill giants, ogres, ogrillons 
  Languages: Orc, Goblin, Giant, Troll
  Religion: Orcus
  Resources: mercenary armies, piracy 
  Currency: mixed 
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  The city-state of Braktu sits on the Barren Coast of the Talanos Peninsula 
  beneath the looming escarpment of the High Barrens, some 500 miles 
  away from the shadowy walls of Vilik Strad. Those approaching the city 
  
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  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  from the sea are met with the terrifying sight of a series of monolithic 
  demon faces carved into the side of towering rock walls. The largest 
  of these carved demon faces is over 120 feet tall and can be clearly 
  seen from nearly two miles out to sea. The face bears the likeness of a 
  ﬁ endish horned goat with its mouth outstretched as if it vomited forth 
  the chaotic tumble of fortresses, buildings, towers, crumbling walls, 
  and destitute hovels below it and surrounding the foul-smelling harbor. 
  Braktu is ruled by a mad theocracy of death worshippers dedicated to 
  the Demon Lord Orcus. It is surmised by some that the dead within 
  Braktu outnumber the living, and if that is true, the High Horn of Orcus 
  and his priests may command one of the largest armies of the dead in all 
  of the Lost Lands. 
   HISTORY AND “PEOPLE”
   HISTORY AND “PEOPLE”
  The city was founded sometime between 500 and 700 I.R., but by 
  who and for what reason remains largely a mystery. The city has a 
  large population of orcs and ogres, as well as humans and humanoids 
  of blended heritage descended from captured shipwreck survivors and 
  a slave market maintained by the Brotherhood of Skulls, as well as 
  migrations of people back and forth to Carcass on the Razor Sea. It 
  is possible that independent tribes who broke away from Vilik Strad’s 
  sphere of inﬂ uence after the cataclysm that brought the Cinderhame 
  Mountains up from the bowels of Boros settled here as well. None know 
  the truth, and few truly care. 
  Regardless of its origin, the city has ﬂ ourished after its own fashion 
  as a center for piracy, slave trade, and other darker mysteries on the 
  southern coast of the Talanos Peninsula since its inception. 
  Braktu keeps an uneasy alliance with Vilik Strad. Neither trusts the 
  other, yet both know a war between them would be disastrous for their 
  goals, many of which share several of the same ends.  
  At one point in time, the High Altar of Orcus was located in Braktu, 
  though that season has long passed, and the favor of the Lord of the Dead 
  has moved back to Rappan Athuk, the legendary Dungeon of Graves 
  on eastern Akados. As a consequence, a ﬁ erce rivalry exists between 
  those of Orcus’ priesthood that were trained in Braktu and those who 
  rise from the pits of Rappan Athuk. Indeed, High Horn Docefris refuses 
  to acknowledge emissaries from Rappan Athuk as authentic to the cause 
  of the Lord of the Dead. 
  Braktu is overrun with hordes of undead. Entire districts are populated 
  with ghouls, ghasts, and zombies (infectious and otherwise). It is 
  believed that one of the city’s many charnel houses is in fact a gateway 
  to Styx where the Necropolis of Ankev itself can be accessed. The less 
  intelligent undead are subservient to the living in all ways, and a steady 
  stream of captives brought in by boats captained by the Brotherhood of 
  Skulls ensures that the more intelligent dead have a fair amount of fresh 
  ﬂ esh to feast upon. 
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Braktu is steeped in the worship of Orcus, though some tribes of 
  hobgoblins and goblins in the city also pay homage to their paternal 
  deity Snuurge and keep altars to him within their lairs. Within the city, 
  the chief priests and necromancers of Orcus maintain retinues of dozens 
  of zombies or other lesser undead, with stronger undead such as ghouls 
  and their ilk as household thralls and guardians. 
  Monthly mass sacriﬁ ces to the Lord of the Dead take place during 
  the ritual of the horned moon. There prisoners brought on ships of the 
  Brotherhood of Skulls await their cursed fate. Some are executed by 
  the priests of Orcus before his altar and raised immediately as fresh 
  ﬁ ends of the undead. Others are led like cattle through stockyard pens 
  to slathering masses of ghouls and other creatures where they are torn 
  asunder for the entertainment of the living denizens of this municipality 
  of mayhem. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Braktu’s economy is principally based on trade in the sale of undead 
  armies and the importation of living prisoners. Would-be warlords and 
  necromancers from around Akados seeking ready-made warriors to ﬁ ll 
  out their armies or defend their strongholds know that such forces can 
  be had for a price in the city of Braktu. Other revenue is generated from 
  the mining of bitumen and phosphorus from the walls of the plateau. 
  Among thriving ventures in the City of Ten Thousand Skulls are a 
  chapterhouse of the Underguild, the Brotherhood of Skulls’ Slave 
  Market, the Necromancers’ Market, and various mercenary tribes of 
  orcs, hobgoblins, and humans of the plateau willing to sell their swords 
  to well-paying would-be generals. 
  UNDERGUILD CHAPTERHOUSE
  UNDERGUILD CHAPTERHOUSE
  Undead allies of the Brotherhood of Skulls, the Underguild keeps a 
  chapterhouse in the city of Braktu. The Dead Prince Evoine of Cailin 
  Lee presides over the chapterhouse, which is a gaming hall popular 
  with pirates, slavers, hobgoblins, bandits, and other generalized scum 
  of the High Barrens who come down to the shore for a good time. 
  Dead Prince Evoine has been a vampire for 400 years, having been 
  chased from Olduvar after rising from the grave and slaughtering 
  several of his kinfolk. With naught but a cofﬁ n of dirt from his own 
  grave, he booked passage to the Duchy of Borss. Before the ship could 
  make Borss, he caused it to wreck in sight of pirates, who brought him 
  (and the other survivors of the wreck) to Braktu. Before long, Evoine 
  managed to acquire enough coin to buy an interest with the Underguild 
  and has run the chapterhouse ever since. 
  NECROMANCERS’ MARKET
  NECROMANCERS’ MARKET
  Necromancers from across the Crescent Sea often make a pilgrimage 
  to the City of Ten Thousand Skulls for training in the dark arts of the 
  dead. Several powerful necromancers call the city home and accept 
  apprentices from among these pilgrims. Material components required 
  for casting a variety of necromantic spells can be found in the city, as 
  well as such components needed to craft permanent necromantic magic 
  items. The market also provides access to permanent common undead 
  for those who would have use for their services. 
  BROTHERHOOD OF SKULLS’ SLAVE MARKET
  BROTHERHOOD OF SKULLS’ SLAVE MARKET
  The Slave Market and a portion of the docks of the city are managed 
  by the pirate confederation known as the Brotherhood of Skulls. The 
  brotherhood accept death as a part of their daily business and as such 
  pay homage to Orcus, though not all of their number are outright 
  worshippers of the Bloated Goat. The Brotherhood of Skulls ply the 
  Strait of Praeis, the Mouth of Akados, Treachery Bay, the Barren Coast, 
  and as far off as Tywyl Bay. They seek out merchant ships, transports, 
  and small, lightweight warships that they can outﬁ t and add to their 
  pirate ﬂ eet. 
  The brotherhood brings their prisoners back to Braktu for sale to the 
  high horn and his priests or to be bid over by the various factions of orcs, 
  hobgoblins, and goblins who call the city home. 
  Captain Griego Aiello is a burly half-orc sorcerer that now manages 
  the slave pits for the Brotherhood and sits upon their captains’ council. 
  The brotherhood keeps a half-dozen ships near harbor and has a dozen 
  more out to sea plying the straits at any given time. 
  LOYALTY AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTY AND DIPLOMACY
  Braktu is a self-contained city-state owing no particular loyalty to 
  anyone save its rulers’ blind devotion to the Lord of the Dead. The city 
  does, however, have diplomatic ties to Vilik Strad due to their proximity 
  to one another. Braktu’s priesthood does not fear the dark elves of the 
  walled city, as they have an army of undead at their beck and call, and 
  nearly as many demons on retainer to do their bidding should the dark 
  elves contemplate an invasion. 
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Braktu is a theocracy dedicated to Orcus. The high priest of Braktu 
  is High Horn Docefris, and the Horned Hierarchy ordain rules from the 
  Demon Temple-Tombs carved into the rock face of the plateau wall. 
  Most business with the Brotherhood of Skulls or the Underguild is 
  assigned via personal contract with Docefris’ inner circle of bishops. 
  Decisions begin and end with Docefris, who serves as patriarch and 
  
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  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  High Horn of Orcus in Braktu. Docefris claims to confer directly with 
  Orcus (which he does … in a manner of speaking) on all matters. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Death-priests of Braktu command squads of common undead and units 
  of orcs, hobgoblins, and, depending on their rank and power, ogres and 
  trolls. These priests are organized in a hierarchy of deacons, protopriests, 
  bishops, and metropolitans ending in Docefris himself. The bishops 
  and beyond command their own demonic hosts in battle when needed. 
  Despite his city’s alliance with the Brotherhood of Skulls, Docefris recently 
  commissioned several triremes each capable of carrying a complement of 
  200. His intent is to ﬁ ll the holds with infectious undead and beach the ships 
  near the shores of civilized lands where the spread of the undead may hasten 
  the re-entry of Orcus, resurrected in Arvonliet’s Apocalypse. 
  The city is unsure if it can count on the Brotherhood of Skulls as an 
  ally against any seaborn invasion. They know that the brotherhood can 
  be paid to ferry mercenary forces to other locations. Docefris’ bishops 
  expect that the brotherhood will do whatever it can to ensure its own 
  survival. As a result, the priesthood garrisons their own mercenary 
  armies of orcs, hobgoblins, and more powerful monsters in a manner 
  that prevents the brotherhood from cutting and running if faced with a 
  serious threat against the city. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Though an uneasy alliance exists between them for now, the 
  dark elves of Vilik Strad could pose a serious threat to Braktu were 
  they to ﬁ nd a reason to attack. Additionally, the growing naval and 
  ﬁ nancial might of the earl of Borss and his allies could someday be 
  turned against the City of Ten Thousand Skulls in the form of a new 
  crusade. Should any such threat materialize, the priesthood of Braktu 
  would be forced to empty their tombs of the dead, and in the mind 
  of Docefris, begin the doomsday his visions have always promised.
  For the time being, the ships of Sataama Vierta and the Green Realm are 
  no match for the pirates of the Brotherhood of Skulls. Were the elves of 
  the Green Realm to become a threat to the port of Braktu, they could 
  seek assistance from Vilik Strad, though the priesthood would be very 
  reluctant to do so. Any such assistance would come with a price, and 
  that price could affect the hierarchy of power not only in the Lost Lands, 
  but also in the far reaches of the dark planes. 
  VILIK STRAD, THE DARK CITY 
  VILIK STRAD, THE DARK CITY 
  Capital: Vilik Strad
  Ruler: Her Unholiness Queen Arabella Nightweave
  Government: theocratic monarchy
  Population: 1,751,500 (300,000 orc, 300,000 goblin, 250,000 
  drow, 200,000 gnoll, 200,000 hobgoblin, 200,000 kobold, 200,000 
  ogres, 100,000 bugbear, 1,000 hill giant, 500 ﬁ re giant)
  Languages: Dark Elf, Under-Common, Abyssal, Common
  Religion: demon worship
  Resources: precious metals, jewels, mining, slaves, magic
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Renaissance and other
  This massively fortiﬁ ed citadel on the eastern tip of the High Barrens 
  has a long and malevolent history. Its hundred-foot-high walls are 
  carved from smooth black basalt, but it is said to be the citadel’s heart 
  that gives it its name as the Dark City. Vilik Strad is the only known 
  major surface enclave of drow in Akados. The shadows of its high walls 
  and the general miasma that hangs over the High Barrens shields them 
  sufﬁ ciently from the sun to operate on the surface. Said to be an actual 
  dark elf remnant of the Age of Strife, Vilik Strad has stood on this clifftop 
  for as long as even the wild elves of the Green Realm can remember. It 
  is entirely possible that it is the remains of one of the Doomspires from 
  the time of the Gods’ War.
  Vilik Strad is home to thousands of drow, but they are substantially 
  outnumbered by a vast host of slave and servant races. Orcs, ogres, 
  bugbears, gnolls, and giants are abundant in the city as are many other 
  Under Realms’ races that the drow have recruited to their cause.
  It is said (incorrectly) that the powerful sorcerers of Vilik Strad caused 
  the sinking of the Foerdewaith ﬂ eet of the Third Great Crusade in 3173 
  I.R. It is also said by some that Vilik Strad sent the Singed Man who took 
  over the Duchy of Kear and created so much carnage in western Foere.
  The high walls of the city’s Overworks are heavily guarded by bands 
  of ogres, giants, trolls, and bugbears, with entire towers set with reserve 
  forces of hobgoblins. Its many gleaming, razor-like spires are said to 
  bristle with weapons crafted from dark sorcery. A great central keep 
  serves as the entrance to the Underworks and serves the needs of surface-
  dwelling dark elves who oversee the martial operations conducted 
  above. These shadow dwellers wrap themselves in ﬁ ne spider-silk robes 
  and wear visors made from thin shards of dark violet crystal to protect 
  their eyes even from bright moonlight. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The drow are believed to have held Vilik Strad for almost 15 
  millennia, reputedly having seized it from dwarves who had, in turn, 
  wrested control of the fortress from its original serpentfolk builders that 
  then ruled the Jungle of Shadows. 
  Once they became masters of Vilik Strad, sorcerers and priestesses of 
  the dark elves (known as Matrons of Shadow) discovered the Underworks 
  in the darkness below the citadel, where they found arcane machinery 
  and learned secrets of the cosmos from denizens of the lower planes. 
  Slow to breed and slow to move, the dark elves consolidated their power. 
  Pacts with demons and knowledge of sorcery allowed them to enslave 
  many of the ﬁ erce tribes of the Under Realms. Their thousands of years 
  within the Underworks and the city built atop them have granted the 
  dark elves of Vilik Strad a greater resistance to daylight than other drow, 
  so that they do not suffer as much from the ill effects of bright light.  
  To the west, they explored the deep dark of the Talanos Peninsula, 
  building fortresses in the Jungle of Shadows with the purpose of 
  expanding their empire from below to one that would rule the land 
  above it as well. To the east, they built the  Port of Ruin, as it has become 
  known, with plans to seize islands throughout the Mouth of Akados.   
  Even as their inﬂ uence spread in the realms below and across the 
  Talanos Peninsula, the dark elves of Vilik Strad became aware of 
  the arrival in the Green Realm nearby of groups of their Alfheim kin 
  who were ﬂ eeing from wars in the east. As elves spread across the 
  southwestern portion of Akados, the drow feared that it would not be 
  long before these warped tree worshippers would ﬁ nd their way to the 
  Jungle of Shadows. Deciding to act before their enemy was prepared, 
  the dark elves sent an army of orcs, giants, hobgoblins, and gnolls to 
  the very edge of the Jungle of Shadow with the intent of conquering the 
  cities of Solis Alunaris and Suomen Gron in one fell swoop. 
  Their plan was shattered when the grey elves and wild elves of 
  the Green Realm performed a mighty ritual in 52 I.R. that raised the 
  Cinderhame Mountains and shattered the dark elven armies and turned 
  the lush Jungle of Shadows to ash.
  The drow were forced to retreat to Vilik Strad. There they have slowly 
  rebuilt their strength and recently settled outposts in the Cinderhame 
  Mountains themselves. They watch the Green Realm and bide their time 
  before they have the might to move again against the forest and bring 
  ruin to their hated alfar cousins. 
   RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT
   RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT
  The drow consider themselves to be near equals of lesser demons and 
  ﬁ ends, and as such they have created pacts and alliances with several 
  demon lords and similar dark powers of far planes. They favor the Queen 
  of Spiders above others, and despise Orcus, who in one incarnation is 
  said to have shown disrespect to the Lady of Webs. 
  The hierarchy of their empire is matrilineal, with noble born queens 
  heading the government and the high priesthood of their demonic faith. 
  The current ruler is Queen Arabella Nightweave, leader of the House of 
  Nightweave. Arabella is thought to be around 200 years old and a high 
  priestess of the Queen of Spiders. The House of Nightweave is one of 
  
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  116|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  the oldest and most feared families of dark elves in the Under Realms 
  and is recognized among the inner and outer planes. Some whisper that 
  Arabella may actually be an avatar of the Queen of Spiders herself, 
  though this may be a rumor spread by her house to ensure obedience 
  from other families in Vilik Strad.
  Loving intrigue and trusting no one, Queen Nightweave sets the 
  members of her court against each other, encouraging sabotage and 
  even murder in efforts to prove their worth to her. Subversive civil 
  wars have often been manipulated for the amusement of the queen. 
  While preventing the accumulation of enough power by any of her 
  courtiers to threaten the ascendency of House Nightweave, these types 
  of machinations go a long way to explaining why it has taken the dark 
  elves so long to grow in sufﬁ cient strength to again pose a threat to 
  their neighbors.
  The priestesses of the dark elves, known as the Matrons of Shadow, 
  also hold many of the important administrative positions in the city. The 
  matron known as the Sister of Jewels runs mining operations deep below 
  the peninsula; the Sister of Slaves sees to the collection, imprisonment 
  and training of slaves; the Sister of Death supervises the training of 
  assassins; and the Sister of War commands the armies and directs the 
  martial training of males and females. The Matrons of Shadow are 
  assisted by a sorcerer caste of males. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The drow of Vilik Strad are enormously wealthy, owing to hordes of 
  soldier slaves, demonic pacts, and deposits of jewels and rare minerals 
  mined from deep beneath the Talanos Peninsula. As a result, much of 
  the actual economy of the dark elves is based on favor. He or she who 
  has the favor of the most powerful demon, most unscrupulous efreet, or 
  highest-ranking sorcerer shines most brightly in the avaricious eyes of 
  Her Majesty Arabella. 
  Such things as gold, silver, and jewels therefore are a commodity 
  among the wealthy, and are used primarily to pay for their personal 
  armies and to entreat with demonic beings or dragons who might have 
  an appetite for such treasure. 
  LOYALTY AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTY AND DIPLOMACY
  The dark elves of Vilik Strad owe no loyalty to anyone save their 
  patron demon lords and their queen. And even those loyalties are not 
  complete. The Dark City keeps a fortiﬁ ed embassy in Braktu to keep an 
  eye on the followers of Orcus and allows a surface embassy of Braktu 
  in the Upper Works. These embassies are purely a charade and barely 
  disguise the enmity the two groups have toward one another. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The military strength of Vilik Strad is organized in cadres 
  of humanoid warriors who are ruled by their own chieftains, 
  but subservient to a regimented core of dark elf task masters. 
  Hordes of goblin and kobold warrior slaves with spears and light bows 
  are often sent forward into any attack, followed by cadres of more 
  disciplined troops.
  The cadres are typically divided into numbers of 500 to 1,000 
  hobgoblins, orcs, or gnolls, who bring a subchief per 25, a chief for 
  every 500, and a major war chief for every thousand. In this mix are 
  typically shamans and sorcerers working in support of the main hosts. 
  Above these are shock troops of 100 to 200 bugbears set with whips and 
  chains to ensure that the orcs and goblin hosts do not run and to keep the 
  gnolls from eating the cowards. 
  When the dark elves venture forth in war themselves, they are 
  typically organized into companies of 50 to 100 warriors wielding 
  deadly weapons and wearing lightweight ﬁ nely-tooled armor, with 
  one or more sorcerers and Matrons of Shadow to provide magical aid. 
  When the cause of battle calls for it, the matrons may bring forth bound 
  demons ranging from vrocks to hezrou, or perhaps swarms of dretches. 
  Within the city proper (both the Overworks and the Underworks), dark 
  elf troops predominate, with the queen herself maintaining a royal guard 
  of 10,000 shock troops, 100 sorcerers, and 100 priestesses of the Lady 
  of Webs, including subservient demons alleged to include nalfeshnee 
  and glabrezu among their numbers. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The dark elves in truth have little to fear, save perhaps an invasion from 
  the inner planes through an unmapped planar gate in the Underworks 
  or the accidental release of some undiscovered arcane threat of the 
  legendary serpentfolk from the depths below the city. Braktu is watched 
  closely, but not thought of as a great risk. On the other hand, while the 
  elves of the Green Realm do not have any intention of invading the 
  Talanos Peninsula, the drow continue to perceive their distant cousins 
  as some sort of existential threat, and plot and plan in the darkness of the 
  citadel to end that threat forever. 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS 
  OF INTEREST IN SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  OF INTEREST IN SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  BARREN COAST
  BARREN COAST
  The southern coast of the Talanos Peninsula is more than 1,000 miles 
  of inhospitable, rocky shoreline with few stunted trees and mosses 
  surviving the ash that rains down from the Cinderhame Mountains 
  to the west and the storms that Mother Oceanus drives up from the 
  south.  There are few places of safe harborage on the coastline other 
  than at Braktu, which is perilous for entirely different reasons. And 
  with sahuagin stalking the waters, only the desperate attempt to anchor 
  anywhere near the Barren Coast.
  BITTER ISLAND
  BITTER ISLAND
  A few hundred miles off of the Forest Coast, Bitter Island has 
  been claimed for hundreds of years by the monarchs of Castorhage, 
  and has over the years been a royal residence, a hermetic retreat, and 
  a place of exile. It also is a temporary island whose appearance and 
  disappearance remains a mystery to sages. Some believe the island 
  is transported by supernatural methods, perhaps as some form of 
  trap laid by Dagon or another sea god to draw mortals to their doom. 
  Others believe the island rises to the surface and is lowered again 
  by mechanical means through vast undersea pumps constructed 
  by a long-forgotten civilization that once called the island home. 
  All that is conﬁ rmed is that the vast palace complex found upon the 
  island, believed to date back to Phoromyceaen times, has been on the 
  island since its discovery. Many visited the island, and many of those 
  were lost when the island disappeared again. And whenever the island 
  reappears, no evidence remains of any of those who occupied it when 
  it disappeared. Nevertheless, the island continues to be sought out by 
  explorers seeking to uncover its secrets and explore its lost history. 
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE BLIGHT
  CINDERHAME MOUNTAINS
  CINDERHAME MOUNTAINS
  Raised from the crusts of the world by powerful rituals wrought by 
  the mightiest among the grey elves and wild elves in 52 I.R., the creation 
  of the volcanic Cinderhame Mountains decimated the then-rising drow 
  empire of Vilik Strad, from which it has taken that citadel thousands of 
  years to recover.
  Their volcanic ﬂ oes now cooled, and their cones frozen into great 
  spires of obsidian, the mountains slowly became populated with various 
  humanoid tribes, many of whom now swear their allegiance to Vilik 
  Strad, which once again turns its attention to the verdant forests of the 
  Green Realm. The mountains are home to ﬁ re giants, hill giants, bands 
  of ogres, trolls, gnolls, and more. 
  
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  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  EAST TALON
  EAST TALON
  East Talon, located just off the northern coast of the Talanos Peninsula 
  and 60 miles east of West Talon, is a mountainous wilderness island 
  dominated by high peaks and thick forests. The island has no natural 
  harbor suitable for building a port as its few rocky beaches are small 
  and dominated by hundred-foot cliffs of sharp volcanic rock. From the 
  sea, a single white spire several hundred feet tall can be seen rising from 
  one of the cliff faces. None know for certain its purpose or who built it. 
  It is surmised that the spire may be an ancient relic of a bygone age or 
  perhaps the home of an archmage who does not wish to be bothered. 
  The island’s interior is home to a number of dangerous beasts, mostly 
  Pleistocene megafauna and primitive humanoids that are not averse to 
  cannibalism, at least according to the few pirates and adventurers who 
  managed to pierce the interior and return. The island’s coastline is littered 
  with shipwrecks, and it is common practice of the Borss Navy to check 
  the shoreline for survivors after tropical storms blow through the region. 
  THE EMERALD MOUNTAINS
  THE EMERALD MOUNTAINS
  Situated at the southern end of the Green Realm, the Emerald 
  Mountains (known as the Gora Harmyth to the elves) are steep, rugged 
  peaks blanketed by alpine forests often deeply shrouded in mist. These 
  mountains are dangerous to those who have not been invited. There are 
  many natural threats, from wild animals and perilous fey to treacherous 
  paths and sentient plant life, but most importantly, the grey elves of the 
  heights do not like visitors.
  GOLD WINE RIVER
  GOLD WINE RIVER
  The Gold Wine River runs 450 miles north to south through the 
  heart of the southern forest. The river teems with an abundance of ﬁ sh, 
  waterfowl, and the fey folk of the water who keep their homes in the 
  backwaters of the bubbling brooks and streams that feed the river. 
  THE GREEN REALM FOREST
  THE GREEN REALM FOREST
  At one time, the Great Akadonian Forest covered most of southern 
  and central Akados, from the western coast of the continent almost to 
  the shores of the Sinnar Ocean in the east. Now only the deep woodland 
  west of the Crescent Sea remains of this massive forest. The southern 
  extent, south of the Ilber Nole peninsula, is the home of the wild elves of 
  the Green Realm. The elves protect much of the forest against intruders 
  both human and otherwise. But in the darkest reaches, there are places 
  even the elves are loath to go. After all, these woods are older even than 
  the elven courts that call them home.
  HIGH BARRENS, THE
  HIGH BARRENS, THE
  Once covered by the vast Jungle of Shadow, the upper world homeland 
  of the burgeoning empire of Vilik Strad, this massive plateau on the 
  Talanos Peninsula was turned barren and desolate when the elves of the 
  Green Realm raised the Cinderhame Mountains and rained down volcanic 
  ash and altered the local weather pattern to divert moisture to the north 
  and south. So severe was the consequent drought that most of its original 
  population perished, and the numerous cities and settlements built by 
  slaves of the dark elves fell to ruin and were eventually consumed in dust. 
  The broken, sometimes volcanically active land is sporadically inhabited 
  by ogres, trolls, giants, drakes, and worse. Vilik Strad still considers 
  the Barrens its own territory and has begun funding expeditions of its 
  humanoid forces into the hinterlands where they have established bases 
  in the Cinderhame Mountains. Patrols rarely extend into the ashen 
  interior, however, where choking dust storms are still known to swirl. 
  KARTHU MOUNTAINS
  KARTHU MOUNTAINS
  The Karthu Mountains, rugged, heavily wooded peaks rising from 
  the western Green Realm Forest, are home to the Eagle Tribe of the 
  Green Realm and their legendary great eagle mounts. In the forests 
  of the foothills are the members of the Bear Tribe, renowned for their 
  ferocity in battle and barbaric traditions. Few humans have ever seen 
  these heights, and most of those who have, have never returned.
  THE MUD COAST
  THE MUD COAST
  The Mud Coast comprises 500 miles of muddy coastline and 62,000 
  square miles of warm, swampy interior that borders the Green Realm 
  to the west and the Crescent Sea to the east. This land is ancient, as 
  primeval as the nearby forests of the Green Realm, and in a constant 
  state of growth and decay for uncounted millennia. This land had once 
  been at the bottom of the Crescent Sea until some unknown event caused 
  the waters to recede ages ago. Today, a growing nation of lizardfolk and 
  tsathar dedicated to the worship of the Mother of Dragons calls this salt 
  swamp home. The coast is largely avoided by sailors and is generally 
  shunned by the guardians of the Green Realm, who maintain outposts 
  along their borders with the Mud Coast to protect against any incursions 
  by lizardfolk into their forested kingdom. 
  NORTHERN STEEL TONGUE MOUNTAINS
  NORTHERN STEEL TONGUE MOUNTAINS
  Though home to one of the major wild elf tribes, these mountains hold 
  a largely unexplored interior whose jagged peaks and sheer cliffs face 
  the ocean to the west. The elves seldom venture farther than the forested 
  escarpments of the east where their mines and castles are held against 
  any threats to come down from the mountains, including trolls, giants, 
  wyverns and other lesser dragon kin that have been known to roost there. 
  PORT RUIN
  PORT RUIN
  Vilik Strad once had a port city at the tip of the Talanos Peninsula 
  whose true name is long since forgotten. It is now called Port Ruin by 
  the navies of Castorhage, Reme, Foere, and the Earldom of Borss. None 
  know when it ﬁ rst came to ruin or why the Dark City abandoned it. 
  While the port seems to be deserted, rumors abound of dark ships at 
  the docks in port, which are said to seize or sink ships that come too 
  close. Whether or not this is true, more ships seem to go missing in the 
  Mouth of Akados than can be explained by bad luck or weather, and the 
  blame often falls on this port. As a result, it has been attacked several 
  times by ships of each nation in retaliation. Naval captains are loath to 
  land their marines on its shore, however, as they tend to not come back 
  or, if they do, come back changed — unhinged and murderous. Such 
  poor souls usually end up imprisoned or slain by their own comrades. 
  Interestingly, the port never seems to be rebuilt after each attack, the 
  port always appearing a virtual ruin and deserted, with no ships at the 
  wharves, when the avenging ships bombard it with catapult, ballista, 
  ﬂ aming debris, and spells from the water. Yet Port Ruin also seems to 
  never be destroyed no matter the number and extent of the attacks, with 
  the same buildings in near ruins and the same debris-choked but still 
  recognizable streets each time. There is, in fact, no evidence that Vilik 
  Strad has made any attempts to repair the port, or even enter it with their 
  troops. No one is quite sure what is going on with this port city, but most 
  mariners consider it cursed and avoid it at all costs.
  SOUTHERN STEEL TONGUE MOUNTAINS
  SOUTHERN STEEL TONGUE MOUNTAINS
  The mountains to the southwest of the Green Realm that form the 
  western side of Syldryll Vale are called the Southern Steel Tongues. From 
  these mountainous domains, the wild elves call upon mighty elementals 
  to draw iron ore from the depths of the earth and smelt the ore with carbon 
  from naturally fallen trees into a ﬁ ne lightweight, high carbon elven steel 
  used for the arrows, spears, and ﬁ ne blades of the wild folk. 
  SYLDRYLL RIVER
  SYLDRYLL RIVER
  The headwaters of the Syldryll River are deep in the Emerald 
  Mountains and ﬂ ow some 400 miles to the sea.
  The river is rich in ﬁ sh and waterfowl and is a source of fresh water 
  for many of the herds that roam the grasslands of the Vale. The north 
  
  118|THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHWEST AKADOS
  fork starts in a mountain spring high in the Emerald Mountains where 
  it erupts and cascades 1,000 feet to a shimmering lake below known 
  as Arialee’s Mirror. On the southern fork, Hidden Ones from Suomen 
  Gron sometimes sail pleasure boats and survey the vast prairies of the 
  vale, often obscured by illusion and hidden from the watchful eyes of 
  the centaur clans. 
  SYLDRYLL VALE
  SYLDRYLL VALE
  Syldryll Vale makes up 125,000 square miles of native grassland 
  located between the cliffs of the Southern Steel Tongues to the northwest 
  and the Emerald Mountains of the east. The vale, like the Verdant Plains, 
  is home to tribes of wild and free centaurs, the Five Clans of the Hoof, 
  as well as wild elves who have taken up the horse culture from their 
  hooved allies. 
  TALANOS PENINSULA
  TALANOS PENINSULA
  The Talanos Peninsula extends more than 1,000 miles from the base 
  of the Cinderhame Mountains to the Mouth of Akados, nearly cutting 
  off the Crescent Sea from Mother Oceanus. Once covered by lush 
  jungle, the peninsula today is almost entirely barren and inhospitable, 
  shrouded by layers of ash spewed forth from the Cinderhames. The 
  interior is dominated by the plateau of the High Barrens. The only 
  permanent settlements are Braktu on the Barren Coast and Vilik Strad, 
  on the eastern end of the plateau. 
  TANDRIL ISLAND
  TANDRIL ISLAND
  Tandril Island is a green, verdant island about 50 miles off of the 
  Forest Coast in the Crescent Sea. Once a colony of Castorhage, it is 
  now independent of that nation-state. The port city of Trinidar is on the 
  northern coast of the island. The interior is rich with volcanic earth that 
  lends itself to the growth of lush native crops. Plantations owned by 
  Trinidarian nobles produce, among other things, sugar, rum, and rich 
  coffee grown in the mountainous interior. 
  TREACHERY BAY
  TREACHERY BAY
  Treachery Bay is bounded by the Mud Coast on the west, the Talanos 
  Peninsula on the south, and the island of West Talon to the east. So 
  sheltered, these waters are fairly calm and safe, though there are no 
  ports other than those of Borss and Kamis on West Talon, and any sane 
  sailor avoids the shores of either the Mud Coast or Talanos. As a result, 
  the bay is seldom traveled by ships. It gained its name during the Short 
  War between Reme and Castorhage, when a Castorhagi captain switched 
  sides and assisted in the destruction of a Blighter naval squadron in 
  these waters.
  VERDANT PLAINS 
  VERDANT PLAINS 
  The Verdant Plains make up 82,000 square miles of swaying grassland, 
  home to the Gazelle and Buffalo tribes of the Green Realm. These tribes 
  keep a friendly rivalry with one another as they ride the plains in search 
  of adventure and excitement. The Buffalo and Gazelle tribes live for 
  sport, holding races across the prairie and inviting their woodland kin to 
  camp among the open skies of the plain. 
  WEST TALON
  WEST TALON
  West Talon is the larger of two islands north of the Talanos Peninsula. 
  The northern portion of the island, known as the Talonmoor, is rocky, 
  wild, rainy and windswept, and is home to sea lions, seals, grizzly 
  bears, black bears, red deer, wild boar, and elk. Nobles from Borrs in the 
  southern part of the island sometimes sail here for hunting expeditions 
  and to train their soldiers in survival skills. The mountainous central 
  portion of the island, which divides the Talonmoor from the settled 
  south, is called the Dragon Heights, where can be found the fabled 
  Dread Dragon Temple. 
  The southern half of the island is quite hospitable and includes the 
  Earldom of Borss with its orchards of fruit trees and vineyards, and the 
  semi-autonomous city of Kamis. 
  REFERENCE SOURCE: DREAD DRAGON TEMPLE FROM QUESTS OF DOOM 
  DRAGON HEIGHTS
  DRAGON HEIGHTS
  In the center of West Talon are three mountains that create a barrier 
  between the Talonmoor and the ﬁ elds of the Earldom of Borss. This 
  mountainous terrain is the Dragon Heights. Climbing here is strenuous 
  and dangerous, and many who attempt it fail to return. Dragons are said 
  to lair in caves in the mountains, and lizardfolk prowl the slopes. In 
  addition, here is found the ancient and massive Dread Dragon Temple, 
  which has served as a holy site to the primordial dragons Tiamat and 
  Behemoth since at least the Age of Dragons. The temple is said to be 
  the hiding place of the fabled staff of the dragons. Legends hold that 
  the dwarven King Col of the Ironskull Great Mountain Clan from the 
  Blackrock Mountains was lost attempting to assault the temple with 
  his army. The earls of Borss have always left it alone but use its dire 
  reputation to protect their lands from invaders.
  TALONMOOR
  TALONMOOR
  The Talonmoor is a wet, cool, and nearly treeless windswept wildland 
  of nearly 10,000 square miles in the north of the island of West Talon. 
  The Talonmoor serves as a hunting ground for the Earls of Borss, one of 
  whom was lost to a bear on a hunting expedition more than a hundred 
  years ago. The Talonmoor is an occasional site of shipwrecks on the 
  island, and unusual items sometimes wash up on its windy shoreline.
  118|
  118|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  these waters.
  years ago. The Talonmoor is an occasional site of shipwrecks on the 
  island, and unusual items sometimes wash up on its windy shoreline.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|119
  |119
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  Capital: none
  Ruler: none
  Government: clan chieftains (khans)
  Population:  620,000 (607,500 Shattered Folk, 7,500 halﬂ ing, 
  3,500 half-elf, 1,500 wild elf)
  Monstrous: goblins, gnolls, orcs, centaurs, hobgoblins, kobolds, 
  axe beaks, ankhegs, hill giants, ogres, minotaurs, banshees, 
  dire wolves, bugbears, perytons, worgs, skeletons, zombies, 
  basilisks, revenants, cyclops, blood hawks, shadows, owlbears, 
  wraiths, griffons, harpies, ghosts, nightmares, wyverns, 
  lamias, manticores, mummies, bulettes, hippogriffs, chimeras, 
  specters, trolls, wights, cockatrices, hell hounds, vampires, 
  blue dragons, copper dragons
  Languages: Kirkut (various dialects), Common 
  Religion: Ethtuwate
  Resources: grain, livestock, horses, mercenaries, 
  Currency: barter, various coins
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  The Haunted Steppes are a vast plain stretching from the Deepfells in the 
  south and the Stoneheart Mountains in the east to the shores of Great Ocean 
  Ûthaf in the west. The Lost Mountains and Lake Hali mark the end of the 
  steppe to the northwest, but to the northeast they continue ever northward 
  into frozen lands of increasing darkness known as the Shadowlands.
  Once home to a powerful empire that challenged the might of the 
  ancient Hyperboreans, these vast plains are now a cursed land of shadow-
  haunted horror and broken peoples. A place of fear and apprehension, 
  the Haunted Steppes have borne the tread of hordes of murderous 
  humanoids and the terror of the shadow-walkers, known to the Nørsk as 
  the Scaedugenga. For long centuries, outsiders have avoided the steppes, 
  praying that the fearsome things that dwell there never emerge again. 
  Only in recent years have explorers from the City-State of Castorhage, 
  Gtsang and Reme returned to these lands and discovered surprising 
  truths about the region and those who call it home.
  Almost all humans of the Haunted Steppes belong to the Shattered 
  Folk tribes, distant descendants of the once-mighty Hundaei Empire. 
  Most now live in the western portion of the steppes, south of the crook 
  in the Devil’s Tail. Elsewhere, nomadic tribes roam the greater expanse 
  of the steppe, but in smaller numbers, never stopping anywhere for long. 
  All Shattered Folk particularly avoid the lands near the Lost Mountains 
  and Lake Hali, and quickly cross the central corridor known as the Road 
  of Sorrows making signs to draw the blessing of their gods, fearing it is 
  cursed and home to demons and other foul things.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  In the distant past, this region was known to the nomadic folk who 
  lived here as the Kayma-ura-mat (in archaic Kirkut, literally, “Mother 
  of Grass”). They tended their herds of goats and followed the buffalo, 
  antelope, and other game animals that migrated with the seasons. The 
  people lived in family-based clans and roamed their ancestral lands 
  under the leadership of chieftains known as khans. None today knows 
  when they ﬁ rst arrived in these plains or from where they came. In 
  their language of Kirkut, they referred to themselves as the “Hundaei,” 
  meaning “far-riders.” And alongside the Hundaei were their chosen 
  companions, greatest of the horses of the Lost Lands known as the 
  Hu-Soncala (“mighty horse-lords”). The Hu-Soncala, it is said, were 
  blessed with human intelligence, could speak their own language, and 
  were masters of the magic that dwelled in the land itself. 
  Roaming across thousands of miles of open steppe — a land of 
  bounty but also peril from terrifying storms and deep, cold winters — 
  the Hundaei and the Hu-Soncala were undisputed masters of the plains. 
  But danger lurked in the northwest where fearsome beasts, living 
  shadows, and ancient slumbering devils were said to prowl beneath the 
  ice and in the windswept crags of the Lost Mountains. Lake Hali in 
  particular was forbidden — even catching a glimpse of its bleak shores 
  was said to curse the viewer with madness and death. Tribal priests 
  and soothsayers warned the clans against venturing near any of these 
  places, an admonition that the clans were easily able to obey, for their 
  own lands were rich and life was good. Unbeknownst to most of the 
  clansfolk, however, their safety from the horrors of those mountains and 
  the dark lake was not secured just by happenstance. An order of priests 
  consisting of humans and their humanoid neighbors moved among the 
  clans in secret, performing at set times ancient rituals that bound the 
  evil that dwelt in the north. These priests were known as the Asran, or 
  the Guardians. 
  This golden age on the steppes came to end, the Hundaei storytellers 
  relate, when an evil god called Ocru-ca cursed the people for refusing to 
  worship him, surrounding the plains with a wall of stone. Some scholars 
  suggest that Ocru-ca may refer to the demon-god Orcus, and that these 
  legends recall the raising of the Stoneheart Mountains in the distant 
  past, an act that shattered much of the continent and disrupted rivers, 
  seas, and the climate for thousands of leagues around.
  After this catastrophe, game and fodder on the plains grew scarce. 
  Many rivers dried up or ﬂ owed only during the rainy season. Even the 
  mighty Ethtuwate-cala-Tun (meaning the “Gods’ Ride River”) was 
  affected — where once it was at the center of a network of rivers that 
  ﬂ owed throughout the steppes, after the disaster it grew broad and slow 
  as its tributaries vanished or dwindled.
  The consequent decline of the grasslands and reduction of water 
  forced the Hundaei clans to wander farther aﬁ eld. Herds grew smaller, 
  seasonal crops became scarcer, and — worst of all — the Hu-Soncala 
  lost their mystical abilities. Though still magniﬁ cent, sturdy, and 
  powerful animals, within a century or two of the disaster they became 
  mere shadows of their old selves. Stories told around the campﬁ res do 
  say that, even today, when the need is great, true Hu-Soncala are born to 
  bear great warriors and cast powerful spells, but such tales may be little 
  more than the wishful thinking of a diminished people.
  As the years stretched on and the bounty of the steppes diminished, 
  the tribes of the hills, mountains, and steppes — gnolls, goblins, 
  centaurs, orcs, hobgoblins, and others — were also forced to struggle 
  for resources and turned on each other and on the Hundaei clans for 
  control of the best lands. Soon, the plains were ablaze with conﬂ ict and 
  soaked in blood as human and humanoid clans fought for dominance. 
  The Asran struggled for decades to maintain the rituals that kept the 
  chaos of the Lost Mountains, Lake Hali, and the Shadowlands at bay, but 
  eventually conﬂ icts between Hundaei clans disrupted the performance 
  of the ancient magics. The wards that protected the steppes wavered and 
  weakened, and fearful things began to stir.
  The events that followed are almost unknown among the scholars of 
  the Lost Lands, but songs and tales of the Shattered Folk still recall the 
  dark tragedy and epic heroism of this ancient time. Around –450 I.R., 
  more than three centuries before the arrival of the Hyperborean legions 
  on Akados, the ﬁ rst incursion of the Shadow on the steppes began with 
  a strange darkness spreading outward from the Lost Mountains. Some 
  unlucky Hundaei caught a glimpse of a column of inky blackness rising 
  from the surface of Lake Hali and were struck blind or driven mad or, 
  in some cases, died of horror from what they saw within the darkness. 
  Clans that had ventured too close to the forbidden Shadowlands or the 
  cursed lake were visited by strange, frightening dreams and visions, and 
  a few even fell under the sway of the Shadow as it grew and spread. 
  Such folk captured by the darkness came to be known as the Naduk-
  Taak or “Fallen Ones,” if they are spoken of at all; for it is believed that 
  even talking about them constitutes a bad omen.
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  
  120|THE LOST LANDS
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  120|
  120|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|121
  |121
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  The Fallen Ones, as well as many groups of non-humans — among 
  them the goblins, ogres, centaurs, and hobgoblins — joined together 
  under the banner of the Shadow and began to drive the Hundaei from 
  the northern plains. Frightened rumor claimed that they were led by 
  fearsome beings of shadow mounted on dark steeds and crowned 
  with darkness. The clans who lived in the perilous lands just south of 
  the Lost Mountains were the ﬁ rst to fall, slaughtered without mercy 
  in a place that came to be called simply the Killing Ground, where 
  their cursed bones still lie and are shunned by those who dwell in 
  the Steppes. 
  Faced by this terrible threat, the Hundaei khans met in an urgent 
  gathering and heard tales of survivors and the opinions of priests, 
  soothsayers, and holy folk. The Asran themselves ﬁ nally came forward. 
  A power not of the earth threatened the steppes and — if it was not 
  stopped — the entire world beyond.
  On the ﬁ fth day of the gathering, a strange band of emissaries presented 
  itself. Alone among the humanoids, only the gnolls resisted the siren call 
  of the Shadow. A vicious, carnivorous and intensely xenophobic people, 
  the gnolls nevertheless saw the omens, read the signs, and realized that 
  the Shadow would swallow them whole along with their human foes. 
  Though some gnoll clans refused to participate, the majority decided to 
  band together and offer common cause with the Hundaei.
  For their part, the humans were intensely suspicious, and many 
  sensed treachery and called to reject the gnolls’ emissaries. But the 
  auguries were favorable, and all signs suggested that the beast-folk were 
  telling the truth. When the khans selected the warrior-chief Utai as their 
  supreme leader, Utai consulted with his advisors, allowed his priests 
  to perform one more round of auguries, and then decided in the end to 
  accept the gnolls’ offer and go into battle with them.
  Great battles were fought then on the steppes between the shadow-
  driven humanoids and the Hundaei and their gnoll allies. But a greater, 
  and unseen, battle was fought in the Shüdar, or Shadow, the adjacent 
  plane of reality that harbored the soul-essences of the shadow creatures. 
  Little can be said about this other struggle, and the songs and stories are 
  largely poetic. But the handful of scholars who have studied Hundaei 
  stories and culture believe that the Asran used powerful and very old 
  magic to cast their own spirits into the void. There they advanced through 
  nightmarish landscapes to face down their foes — whether demons, 
  gods, devils, or something utterly beyond comprehension is not known. 
  Few Asran returned from the Shadow, and of those, some had had their 
  sanity shattered. A few tales suggest that some of the Guardians were 
  trapped in the Shadow and may perhaps remain there today.
  Eventually, after long years of war, whatever goal the Asran sought in 
  that darkened realm was achieved. At the height of a great battle where 
  an army of humans and gnolls fought side-by-side against a horde of 
  the north, a chorus of fearsome howls arose as the shadow-things were 
  drawn away, dragged back across the threshold that they had crossed 
  and exiled to the depths of the Shüdar.
  Bereft of leadership, the humanoids fell back. The Fallen Ones, 
  irrevocably changed and twisted by their alliance with the Shadows, 
  fought mindlessly until they were scattered. Victorious but on the verge 
  of exhaustion, the defenders dragged themselves north where the last 
  six of the Asran guardians recast the wards to seal the Shadowlands and 
  ward the Lost Mountains and Lake Hali. What dwelled there was not 
  killed — for it may well have been impossible to kill by mortal means, 
  no matter how powerful — but banished. The wards the Asran set were 
  strong, and long years passed before the darkness again stirred and came 
  to once more threaten the world.
  A party of adventurers looks upon the ruins of a city on the shores of Lake Hali.
  
  122|
  122|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  The remaining Asran passed their knowledge on to a new generation 
  and once more faded into Hundaei society, conducting their rituals and 
  rites in secret, away from the prying eyes of the world. The gnolls and 
  Hundaei swore oaths of peace and went their separate ways, and to this 
  day will not war on each other. The Hundaei gradually returned to their 
  old ways as decades stretched out into centuries.
  Sometime around 5 I.R., Khan Jaganga of the Sukeken (or Leopard) 
  clan had a fearsome and portentous dream. He saw strange men and 
  women clad in strange armor, bearing spears and marching across the 
  land, consuming crops and killing livestock in their path. In his dream 
  they built a great stone table that encompassed the entire land, shutting 
  out the sun and reducing the mighty Hundaei to servitude and slavery. 
  Consulting his oracles, Jaganga became convinced that this dream was 
  a prophecy. Although it is possible that the story of Jaganga’s dream 
  is apocryphal, there is a remarkable coincidence: at almost the same 
  time, the Polemarch Oerson is said to have been granted a vision by the 
  goddess Muir, showing him the location of the Sacred Table in Libynos, 
  and bidding him to found there what became the sacred city of Tircople.
  For many years the Hundaei had known that a new people had arrived on 
  Akados to the east beyond the Stoneheart Mountains, but the newcomers 
  were leagues distant and the steppe folk had their own affairs to worry 
  about as the clans migrated, fought their own wars both petty and great, 
  and saw to their own economic and spiritual needs. Safe for millennia 
  behind the Deepfells and the Stonehearts, the Hundaei gave little thought 
  to the outside world. They did trade with the mountain dwarves, however, 
  and Jaganga learned that many dwarves had been displaced by the 
  invaders — humans in bronze armor who had sailed in great oared ships 
  with painted sails and called themselves the Hyperboreans.
  Daring scouts from the Sukeken clan slipped through the mountain 
  passes, surreptitiously observing the distant lands to the east and 
  conﬁ rming Jaganga’s greatest fear — that the Hyperboreans were on 
  the march and determined to expand their empire.
  By this time, Jaganga was already well on the way to uniting the clans 
  through a cunning combination of diplomacy and conquest. A league of 
  Hundaei khans still opposed him, but as he gained more conﬁ rmation 
  from his priests and diviners, Jaganga grew more determined to weld 
  the various tribes into a single nation, not only for his own gloriﬁ cation, 
  but also to save his people from extinction.
  Jaganga called for a great gathering of the Hundaei and there told 
  the khans of his dream. Others afﬁ rmed the vision and spoke of their 
  own. Priests and soothsayers conﬁ rmed the legitimacy of the visions. 
  True, some priests counseled caution and suggested that the dreams 
  were actually warnings against hasty action, but Jaganga believed that 
  only aggression under his uniﬁ ed leadership would forestall destruction 
  and set their cautious words aside. The choice that he presented to 
  the remaining independent khans was simple — join his empire or be 
  destroyed, either by his armies or by the Hyperboreans. In the end, 
  either out of true conviction, or out of simple pragmatism, the dissident 
  khans were convinced, and for the ﬁ rst time the Hundaei were united 
  under a single ruler.
  Though there was much to do to forge his new empire, Jaganga’s 
  primary focus was on the Hyperborean threat. The Great Khan decided 
  to strike ﬁ rst. Guided by allies among the mountain dwarves, Jaganga’s 
  riders made their way through the seemingly impassible ramparts of 
  the Stoneheart Mountains and emerged into the Sea of Grass and swept 
  south, descending without warning in the heartland of the Hyperborean 
  Empire in 12 I.R. 
  The effect on the Hyperboreans was devastating. It was as if the 
  very ground had opened up and disgorged an army of devils, and the 
  undermanned garrisons of the Xircos River region were quickly overrun 
  by the fearsome riders whose style of warfare was well-suited to the 
  endless plains on the Sea of Grass. Even the walled settlements that 
  marked the northernmost extent of the Hyperborean Empire, utterly 
  unprepared for war, fell before the Hundaei. Every warrior believed that 
  they were ﬁ ghting for the very survival of their people and saw their 
  merciless slaughter simply as a pre-emptive act of self-defense.
  The Invincible Horde, as it came to be known both by its members 
  and its enemies, was ﬁ nally stopped at the walls of Apothasalos, where 
  the Polemarch Gnassus waited with two crack Hyperborean legions. It 
  had taken months to gather the scattered legions but now at last the 
  Hyperboreans were ready to make a stand.
  This was a new form of warfare for the Hundaei. The serried ranks 
  of bronze faced them from behind bristling masses of the long deadly 
  pikes known as sarissa. Uncertain for the ﬁ rst time, the Hundaei pelted 
  their foes with arrows, only to see the Hyperboreans form into a sturdy 
  chelonae or tortoise formation to ward off the vast majority of their 
  missiles. Frustrated, the Hundaei chiefs ordered their warriors to charge 
  the enemy phalanxes, but most of their horses — possibly showing 
  more sense than their riders — steadfastly refused to impale themselves 
  on the bronze points of the enemy spears. Those that did manage to 
  charge discovered the full effectiveness of the Hyperborean formation 
  and fell back in disorder.
  Counterattacks by the outnumbered but still effective Hyperborean 
  cavalry nibbled away at Hundaei numbers, and with supplies and 
  reinforcements funneled directly through Apothasalos the Hyperboreans 
  showed no sign of weakening. Soon, the Hundaei commanders received 
  word that more imperial legions were on their way, and ﬁ nally decided 
  to abandon the ﬁ eld. Though it was far from an overwhelming defeat, 
  it was a defeat nonetheless, and the battered Hundaei withdrew in good 
  order, retreating back through the passes and limping home.
  This inconclusive campaign was only the beginning of a long conﬂ ict 
  between the plains’ riders and the Hyperboreans that would scar the 
  psyches of both peoples for generations. Raids continued for many years, 
  with various groups of Hundaei forces emerging from the mountains to 
  cause havoc and widespread panic before withdrawing. Hard-pressed 
  by a mobile and seemingly limitless enemy, the Hyperboreans were 
  unable to pursue or take the battle to the Hundaei, or the Huns as they 
  came to be known.
  War between Hundaei and Hyperborean became a sad fact of life, and 
  soon no one on either side could remember a time when the two peoples 
  were not at war. Years grew into decades and decades into centuries. The 
  Hundaei’s entire existence began to revolve around the terrible conﬂ ict, 
  and for their part, the Hyperboreans spent mountains of treasure to keep 
  their frontier well-guarded. Legions stationed there became seasoned 
  veterans, well-versed in warfare against the horse-lords. Hyperborean 
  cavalry evolved to meet the threat, which led to the creation of entire 
  mounted legions whose sole purpose was to patrol and protect the 
  endless plains on the Sea of Grass.
  In the end, the Hyperboreans broke the stalemate through the arrival 
  of a new technology. From the dwarves of  Irkaina, they learned the 
  secrets of iron and steel. Many years passed before the new knowledge 
  spread throughout the empire, and more before entire legions could be 
  equipped with steel arms. But eventually, superior weaponry enabled 
  the Hyperboreans to ﬁ nally gain the upper hand and press through the 
  mountain passes that had once served as highways for the Invincible 
  Horde, until they ﬁ nally broke through onto the Great Steppes.
  Now, the darkest fears of the Great Khan’s prophecy were coming 
  to pass. Desperately the Hundaei pushed back, throwing themselves 
  against the imperial legions with near-suicidal bravery. Some battles 
  were won, but most were lost, for the Hyperboreans had learned much 
  and counteracted the Hundaei with sturdy ranks of ironclad infantry and 
  their own skilled light cavalry, which was sufﬁ cient to chase down and 
  engage the nimble Hun riders. 
  But now, ﬁ ghting across a mountain range and far from home, the 
  Hyperboreans faced the same challenges as the Hundaei once had. 
  Mountain supply lines were unreliable, and the steppes were unsuited 
  to fortiﬁ cations or permanent settlement. Hyperborean activity on 
  the plains consisted mostly of counter-raids and a long-term attrition 
  strategy intended to settle the region once the Hundaei were ﬁ nally 
  paciﬁ ed. Despite these limitations, the empire met with some success, 
  and pressure from the legions pushed the Hundaei westward, farther and 
  farther away from the Stoneheart Mountains. And, entirely by accident, 
  this pressure began the ﬁ nal downfall of the Hundaei.
  Deprived of some of their most fertile and hospitable grazing lands, 
  the Uken and Chabaike clans withdrew to the northwest. Lake Hali and 
  the Lost Mountains had remained strictly forbidden since the coming of 
  
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  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  the Shadow, but memories had faded, and the displaced clans demanded 
  the right to hunt and graze within sight of the taboo lands, well away 
  from the troublesome Hyperboreans. When the Great Khan Ogedane 
  forbade the migration, the two clans deﬁ ed him, riding north in the year 
  680 I.R. and daring him to stop them. It was the greatest act of deﬁ ance 
  directed against a Great Khan in generations, but Ogedane, pressed by 
  the Hyperborean threat to the east, was unable to respond.
  After the Great Khan’s twin humiliations at the hands of his traditional 
  enemies and his supposed vassals, conﬁ dence in Ogedane wavered 
  and in several cases broke altogether, as more clans began to defy his 
  authority. The Uken and Chabaike clans, from their new homes in the 
  forbidden lands, raised the banner of revolt and demanded Ogedane’s 
  head and the election of a new Great Khan. To some, it seemed that 
  those clans were driven by more than anger or resentment; their fury 
  reminded some of the Fallen Ones, the long-ago Hundaei who were 
  possessed by ill-omened spirits from the shadow.
  Pressed on two sides, Ogedane gathered loyal clans and faced down 
  the renegades. Battle was joined, and tens of thousands perished and 
  entire clans were annihilated. In what may have been the bloodiest 
  war in Akados’ history, the Hundaei essentially committed collective 
  suicide. By 683 I.R., the once-mighty empire was no more. Small bands 
  of survivors still roamed the plains, and those who had made new homes 
  in the Sea of Grass escaped the war. Some, it is said, went so far as to 
  ﬂ ee Akados entirely and make the long journey to far Libynos. But for 
  all intents and purposes, the Hundaei as a people were gone forever. The 
  surprised Hyperboreans suddenly realized that, through no actions of 
  their own, their enemy had vanished.
  Today, the descendants of the survivors who roam the Haunted 
  Steppes are known as the Shattered Folk, a folk haunted by memories of 
  ancient greatness. They bitterly recall the prophecy of the Great Khan 
  Jaganga, and retell his story, a warning about the potentially tragic cost 
  of fulﬁ lled destiny.
  Ironically, though their greatest enemy no longer roamed the Steppes, 
  the Hyperboreans chose not to settle there and spent their treasure on 
  expanding the empire elsewhere. But the void was not left unﬁ lled. 
  The humanoids of the steppes exulted at the downfall of the Hundaei. 
  Within just a few years, hordes of humanoids swept across the steppes 
  and through the Crynnomar Gap to threaten the northernmost reaches 
  of the Green Realm. As is told elsewhere, the elves were forced to 
  abandon their lands to the south to make a stand in the gap. Eventually, 
  the humanoids were repelled, at great cost to the elves. In their absence, 
  the folk of Reme felled trees and settled farms and legions to carve 
  the new realm of the Northmarches from the former elven lands. The 
  elves, tired of conﬂ ict, ﬂ ed west, and established their new and inviolate 
  boundaries of the Green Realm.
  Alone among the humanoids of the steppes, the gnoll tribes mourned 
  the Hundaei’s passing, for they still recalled the days then human and 
  gnoll stood together. To this day, the gnolls and Shattered Folk will not 
  ﬁ ght each other.
  Despite the slaughter of the Hundaei, the Asran — who refused to 
  ﬁ ght in a civil war of clan against clan — survived and continued their 
  vigil in the north to keep the Shadow contained.
  For long years, the rest of the world gave little thought to the steppes, 
  assuming it a savage wilderness. But by the 2800s I.R., the Kingdom 
  of Foere was ascendant in Akados. Ambitious and practical, the Grand 
  Duke Prince Cale — who had spared the kingdom from civil war by 
  renouncing his claim to the throne — cast his eyes to the north and saw 
  there a region ripe for the picking. Long ignored, the Great Steppes 
  seemed largely depopulated, home to bands of disorganized humanoids, 
  nomadic centaurs, and the last pitiable remnants of the Hundaei empire. 
  The Great Colonization had begun.
  At the call of the grand duke, great caravans of settlers gathered in the 
  Northmarches of Reme and then moved north through the Crynnomar 
  Gap and into the lands north of the Deepfells. They founded settlements 
  there in what became known as the Caleen lands, which began to 
  grow and thrive. Outposts were built north of the settlements, and the 
  Foerdewaith then advanced into the Ethtuate-cala-tun basin, the old 
  heartland of Hundaei civilization.
  Within 70 years, a string of settlements sprang up along the base of 
  the surrounding mountains and in an unbroken chain across the steppes 
  to the western coast more than a thousand miles away. The Shattered 
  Folk retreated and refused battle, hoping to preserve their numbers and 
  retain their independence. Many chieftains and petty khans chose to 
  negotiate and accepted payment for their lands or agreed to treaties that 
  allowed for continued grazing and migration through the settled regions. 
  However, the Caleen colonists also discovered that humanoids 
  existed on the steppes in much greater numbers than ﬁ rst believed. The 
  many humanoid tribes had scattered and gone feral after their defeat 
  at the hands of the wild elves, but an unbroken remnant had settled 
  on the shores of Lake Hali in the shadow of the Lost Mountains. Here 
  they regrouped and began to grow strong again. Priests and soothsayers 
  among the Shattered Folk issued dire warnings to the Foerdewaith, 
  cautioning them against going too far north or disturbing the terrible 
  powers that slumbered there. To their later regret, the Foerdewaith saw 
  these as reﬂ ections of the superstitions of a simple folk and utterly 
  ignored the warnings.
  When the colonists reached the shores of Lake Hali by 2931 I.R., they 
  encountered better organized and more aggressive tribes of humanoids. 
  Where before there had been only sporadic marauders, suddenly the 
  ﬂ oodgates opened. Hordes descended from Lake Hali onto the Great 
  Steppes. The widely scattered Caleen settlements were ill-prepared and 
  many were sacked and burned before the Foerdewaith were even aware 
  of the threat. By the time they were able to regroup and prepare for war, 
  they found themselves encircled by hostile tribes that had seemingly 
  sprung up from the steppes themselves. Though hard pressed, the 
  colonists managed to fortify their settlements and steadings while 
  receiving additional military assistance from Courghais that allowed 
  them to push back the humanoid marauders. The lands they controlled 
  were consolidated and protected, but now a tense stalemate existed with 
  roving bands of the hostile humanoids.
  But the stalemate did not last. After 16 years, some event disrupted 
  the rituals of the Asran, and none know the cause. The Shadow was 
  freed, no longer contained by the ancient magics. With no warning, 
  in 2947 I.R. the Scaedugenga burst forth from their place of exile and 
  unleashed armies of humanoids and creatures of darkness in a renewed 
  assault on the Caleen colonies.
  Grand Duke Cale called to Reme and Foere for aid and, despite his 
  advanced age, went north to personally command the defense. A body 
  of troops called the Caleen Legion was raised and initially met with 
  some success in battle, driving off humanoid armies and relieving 
  several colonies from siege. The victory was short-lived, however, 
  as more humanoids, in what seemed unending numbers, continued to 
  pour forth from the shores of Lake Hali, from the mountains, and from 
  the Shadowlands, welded into a single force by the dominance of the 
  Scaedugenga. While the overking sought to raise a force to relieve the 
  colonies, Cale was forced into battle south of the Everfar Hills. The 
  Foerdewaith fought bravely, but in the end they could not overcome 
  the might of the magic of the shadow and sheer numbers. Grand Duke 
  Cale, his honor guard, and his legion fell there in battle. To this day, the 
  battleﬁ eld is called Cale’s Doom, where it is said that Cale’s spirit and 
  those of his legion wander each night, endlessly contending with the 
  forces of shadow.
  The story of the Shadow War’s end is well known — the desperate 
  race to the Crynnomar Gap, preparations for a doomed last stand, the 
  return of the ancient wizards Margon and Alycthron and their raising 
  of the Wizard’s Wall. And there the tales of Reme and Foere end, with 
  the armies of Shadow beneath the unscalable heights of the wall. But 
  missing from those tales are what happened next in the steppes.
  Staggered by the titanic magical forces marshaled to raise the Wizard’s 
  Wall, the Scaedugenga reeled back, initially seeking another route to 
  the southern kingdoms. But unknown to the folk of Reme and Foere, 
  the Asran still lived, and behind the wall they worked to save the rest of 
  Akados from the horrors of the north. Gathering together with the priests 
  of the Shattered Folk and tribal shamans from the gnoll and centaur tribes, 
  the Asran again invoked the ancient rites and entered the Shadow plane, 
  doing renewed battle with the Scaedugenga and their dark minions.
  
  124|
  124|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  Though they were not as powerful as they once were, the magical forces 
  that had raised the wall had also battered and weakened the Shadow, and 
  after a long and costly struggle, the Scaedugenga were once more thrown 
  back behind eldritch wards. Yet the defeat was not complete, and the new 
  wards were weaker than those of old, and the Shadow continues to extend 
  its dark tendrils from the far north even today.
  To the rest of Akados, the Great Steppes were a place of tragedy and 
  loss where sad spirits wandered. They were the Great Steppes no longer 
  — after the defeat of the Shadow horde, the folk of Reme and Foere did 
  their best to forget the lands beyond the Wizard’s Wall, which they now 
  called the Haunted Steppes.
  Now ignored by the rest of the world, over time the steppes themselves 
  returned to something approaching a normal existence. Remaining 
  Shattered Folk clans returned to their ancient migratory routes and, in 
  some cases, even created semi-permanent settlements. Some of the folk 
  of the Caleen colonies also survived. Now trapped behind the Wizard’s 
  Wall, they settled into independent communities — intermarrying with 
  some Shattered Folk and incorporating dwarves, halﬂ ings, and even 
  some humanoids into their villages — and developed a new, unique 
  society. Humanoid tribes bickered and fought each other. All came to 
  shun certain lands where the shadow forces that had been unleashed 
  had left a lasting mark, where ghosts, spirits, and undead roamed. The 
  Asran, though diminished, continued to maintain their rituals, and now 
  also wielded powers to repel and guard against the undead.
  And so the steppes remained, forgotten, until the fateful year 3262 
  I.R., when the Castorhagi trader Provision made landfall at the mouth 
  of the Devil’s Tail. There they encountered and established a cautious 
  friendship with a group of nomadic riders and soon learned that the 
  descendants of the ancient Hundaei still lived on the plains, and that the 
  local groups had banded together into the Confederacy of the Elitan-i-
  pan. The Haunted Steppes’ long isolation was ﬁ nally at an end as the 
  wily and proﬁ t-minded Castorhagi established trade posts along the 
  coast and expanded their contact with the locals.
  Gtsang traders who ventured into the steppes in 3360 I.R. had some 
  success with the Campacha tribes, another confederacy of Shattered 
  Folk, who proved to be open to foreign trade. In the course of their 
  expedition, the Gtsang reached the small community of Chesmire, 
  located on the southern bank of the Tabur River, one of the villages of 
  the survivors of the Caleen colonies. They soon realized that other small 
  villages in the region appeared to have similar populations.
  Then in 3439 I.R. the Conroi Expedition, a group of explorers sent 
  from Reme to determine the extent of any threat from the Haunted 
  Steppes, carefully crossed the Wizard’s Wall at Durgam’s Folly. They 
  ﬁ rst made contact with the Campacha folk, who roamed not far from the 
  wall. To the expedition’s surprise, the Campacha proved to be a strong 
  and well-established people who had paciﬁ ed much of the southern 
  steppes. Shortly thereafter, they conﬁ rmed the few rumors that had 
  reached Reme from Gtsang and arrived at the villages where lived the 
  descendants of survivors of the Caleen colonies.
  Word of the survival of some of the original Caleen colonies 
  shocked Reme and Foere. These communities, soon dubbed the Conroi 
  Settlements, are only now making full contact with the outside world, 
  visited by merchants and agents of Castorhage, Foere, and Reme. 
  Rumors about these settlements continues to spread throughout Akados, 
  much false, including the beliefs that they were actually founded by the 
  Conroi Expedition, or had been on the verge of extinction before their 
  rescue by the expedition’s arrival.
  For their part, the folk of the so-called Conroi Settlements (who 
  generally refer to themselves as the Caleen) are uncertain about these 
  foreign interlopers, and largely distrust a world that abandoned their 
  ancestors long years ago.
  The Shattered Folk of today are divided into countless clans ranging 
  in size from a few dozen to a thousand or more, and still practice many 
  of their old traditions. Many still hunt and graze, following the seasons 
  across the steppe, and engage in skirmishes with neighboring clans 
  as they ﬁ ght over prime grazing land. Some are known to be utterly 
  ruthless with their enemies and outsiders who enter their territory, 
  while others, such as the Campacha and the Elitan-i-pan Confederacy, 
  are open to outside contact and have made tentative moves to a more 
  settled economy and lifestyle, actually building a few semi-permanent 
  settlements and tending farms on the steppe.
  For the most part, however, the folk of the plains continue to live on 
  the Haunted Steppes in the same manner as they have for millennia. The 
  outside world has come knocking, but so far, their inﬂ uence is minimal, 
  and there are still herds to graze, crops to grow, and battles to ﬁ ght. 
  And among the Shattered Folk, and among some of the other people 
  of the steppes, including the centaurs and the gnolls who continue to 
  remember the old stories, dwell the Asran, still dedicated to resisting the 
  inﬂ uence of the Shadow that lingers and bides its time in the far-away 
  frozen north.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The tales of the Hyperboreans and their descendants make of the 
  Hundaei the great enemy of civilization, brutal warriors interested only 
  in conquest and bloodshed. In actual fact, the Hundaei were (and in their 
  present incarnation as the Shattered Folk, are) a subtle and sophisticated 
  people with a far more complex culture than their enemies wished to 
  admit. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Ethtuwate faith, which 
  is still practiced across the Haunted Steppe.
  The ancient Hundaei were a varied people, and each great clan had 
  its own traditions, beliefs, and legends. Their common faith was a 
  highly adaptable and tolerant one, having evolved to encompass all of 
  the Steppe folk. Ethtuwate practitioners believe that the universe was 
  created when the primal deity Tunkaku, the Great Giver, split apart, with 
  some of its elements forming the stars and celestial bodies and others 
  forming the deities and powerful beings of law, chaos, good, evil, and 
  neutrality. While Tunkaku no longer exists, its energies are suffused 
  throughout the cosmos, and all living things contain a small spark of 
  the Great Giver’s spirit. Thus, many Hundaei continue to give thanks to 
  the Great Giver for its sacriﬁ ce and its continued inﬂ uence on the world. 
  This attitude contributes to the Shattered Folk’s tolerant faith, its great 
  adaptability, and acceptance of other gods and goddesses.
  Tunkaku gave birth to the two primary gods of the Ethtuwate mythos 
  — the sun-deity Thaka, who rides across the sky on a great pegasus, 
  and the moon-deity Drethra, who rules the night astride a mighty 
  nightmare. While Thaka is most often portrayed as a god and Drethra 
  as a goddess, they are actually androgynous (as are all deities of the 
  pantheon), incorporating both male and female characteristics. Of the 
  two Thaka is by far the most popular, as he is the good-aligned god of 
  the sun, harvest, and life who rides the pegasus Hloctaw, while Drethra, 
  usually portrayed as a creature of evil — pale and sickly with jet-black 
  hair, steely-gray eyes, and parched, angry red lips — mounted on the 
  nightmare steed Calcetrix the Malevolent.  
  In addition to these two supreme deities, the Ethtuwate faith includes 
  a host of lesser demigods and spirits: Srishwa the Queen of Beasts, 
  goddess of the hunt; Soncala the Horse Lord, god of war; Ugutis the 
  Sin Master, the chaotic god of vice; Zuxaca the Serpent Trickster; and 
  even a god of comedy and mischief named Cajusta, who is believed to 
  have once been a mortal jester elevated to divine status by Thaka. While 
  most of these are usually portrayed as male or female, these are only 
  considered guises of genderless divine beings who can appear or act in 
  any way they deem appropriate.
  These gods are only the core pantheon however, for while the Hundaei 
  worshipped many common traditional deities, their diverse and wide-
  ranging culture made room for local spirits, heroes, and demigods. The 
  old clans’ nomadic lifestyle brought them into contact with each other, 
  which led to an exchange of gods, beliefs, philosophies, and ideas. The 
  resulting Ethtuwate faith is therefore highly ﬂ exible and adaptive, easily 
  adopting outside gods and faiths without conﬂ ict or question as needed.
  The resulting laissez-faire attitude toward the divine makes the 
  adoption of new gods and faiths comparatively easy, though missionaries 
  often ﬁ nd the Shattered Folk to be incredibly frustrating, as they eagerly 
  embrace foreign gods like Thyr and Jamboor while remaining faithful 
  to the Ethtuwate pantheon. In fact, the Shattered Folk have often been 
  
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  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  more successful at converting foreigners to their openminded faith than 
  the missionaries have at getting them to abandon their old beliefs.
  That being said, most Shattered Folk draw the line at the worship 
  of demons and evil gods, however, for they are not so naïve to believe 
  that there is not true wickedness in the world. Some priests teach that 
  the gods of evil exist to show the folly of selﬁ shness and cruelty, and 
  that even demons serve a purpose in the great schema of the cosmos. As 
  the whims of nature and the changing character of fate are tools of the 
  inscrutable divine, so too are the creatures and gods of evil.
  Priests, soothsayers, diviners, and fortune tellers play an important 
  role in Shattered Folk society, providing guidance and interpretation of 
  omens, signs, portents, and dreams. Numerous methods of divination 
  are used on the steppes, including the casting of bones, the ﬂ ight of 
  birds, and the examination of entrails. However, soothsayers insist that 
  they are merely messengers, and that their interpretations are merely 
  feeble mortal attempts to interpret the mystical. The ﬁ nal interpretation 
  of signs and portents is up to the person for whom the signs are read. 
  And priests and soothsayers remind anyone seeking guidance of the 
  tragedy of Great Khan Jaganga, of his war with the Hyperboreans, and 
  the role of prophecy in the destruction of their empire. One should not 
  allow oneself to be led or deluded by dreams and visions.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  For nearly their entire history the Haunted Steppes have been isolated 
  from the rest of the world. In the distant past, the Hundaei established a 
  friendship with the dwarves of the Stoneheart Mountains and engaged 
  in a small amount of trade, but this was the exception rather than the 
  rule. It was not until very recently, when the ships of Castorhage made 
  landfall in the Devil’s Tail and established relations with the Elitan-i-pan 
  Confederacy, that any real trade existed between the Haunted Steppes 
  and the rest of the world.
  Today, thin threads of merchant trafﬁ c connect the Elitan-i-pan 
  Confederacy with the traders of Castorhage, and the Campacha with 
  Gtsang, Reme, and Foere. Exotic foodstuffs, steelwork, jewelry, liquor, 
  ﬁ ne cloth, and lumber ﬂ ow into the Haunted Steppes in exchange for 
  ﬁ ne steppes’ horses, handcrafts, textiles, and herbs. For their part, the 
  Shattered Folk also provide some of their local intoxicants and narcotics, 
  including fermented mare’s milk and the dried seeds and resin of the 
  wild dreamleaf plant, which is harvested in the early fall and has begun 
  to prove quite popular in the dens of Castorhage and Reme.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  As with trade, the Haunted Steppes have always been a world apart. 
  Since the end of the Shadow War, they have had little contact with the 
  rest of Akados. 
  Today, the Shattered Folk remain ﬁ ercely independent, though some 
  clans prove to be open to contact and even positive relations, as the 
  Elitan-i-pan folk have with the Castorhagi. The discovery of the Conroi 
  Settlements has brought further attention as diplomats from Reme and 
  Foere have approached the colonists’ descendants. For the most part, 
  however, the folk of the steppes keep to themselves, free on the plains, 
  living in the old ways among the ghosts of the past.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  No uniﬁ ed government exists on the Haunted Steppes. Each of the 
  peoples who live here govern themselves in such manner as they see ﬁ t.
  Clans of the Shattered Folk are governed by khans, who are usually 
  either accomplished warriors or high priests. The status of khan varies 
  from clan to clan — some are absolute rulers whose word is law while 
  others are essentially ﬁ gureheads with a council of wise men or women 
  actually ruling the clan. Though most khans are male, it is not unusual 
  to encounter a female leader who gained the position through skillful 
  leadership or martial accomplishment.
  The folk of each of the Conroi Settlements are typically ruled by one 
  or more elders or senior families chosen by such means as the settlement 
  determines.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The ancient Hundaei were peerless warriors, skilled in the arts of 
  mounted warfare. Each warrior bore a short horn bow, arrows and a pair 
  of light lances which were used to deadly effect. The clans’ nimble hit-
  and-run style of warfare frustrated many a Hyperborean commander, and 
  while the Hundaei were rarely able to break the impregnable fortresses 
  of the Hyperborean phalanx, they were never decisively defeated either. 
  Today’s Shattered Folk continue many of the same traditions, 
  including military training from the age a child can ride and the deadly 
  use of the mounted shortbow and lance. Fewer opportunities exist for 
  military glory these days, of course. No sane outsiders would attempt to 
  invade the steppes, with endless miles of empty plain, mounted warriors 
  without peer on such open spaces, and the land’s reputation as haunted; 
  and the Shattered Folk themselves have no interest in conquest any 
  longer. Fights between clans tend to be short and relatively bloodless, 
  often ending after only a handful of casualties. But the old ways remain 
  strong, and twice-yearly gatherings on the plains bring together dozens 
  of clans for games, drinking, gambling, and sport, including contests 
  between lancers, bow-armed riders, and nimble, acrobatic trick-riders. 
  The Hundaei may be a mere shadow of their former selves, but at times 
  they shine quite brightly. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Today, no kingdoms of Akados have any desire to attempt to seize 
  lands within the Haunted Steppes, the tales of old deterring any but the 
  insane from such foolish endeavor. And those who dwell here have little 
  or no interest in the goings-on beyond their plains. Whether either view 
  could change with the new contacts between the Shattered Folk and 
  Castorhage, Gtsang and Reme remains to be seen.
  Clans bicker, and skirmishes occur with the humanoid tribes, but 
  that is just the ordinary way of life here and poses no real threat to the 
  inhabitants of the steppes.
  Though now quiescent, the darkness of shadow continues to loom 
  in the north. The Scaedugenga are held at bay by the magical barriers 
  raised and maintained by the Asran, but even the most optimistic 
  guardian knows that the wards are not what they once were and that the 
  Shadow is constantly probing, seeking to return once more and spread 
  across the mortal world.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  The Haunted Steppes are nearly all wilderness and continue to be 
  a world unto themselves, isolated behind mountainous ramparts and 
  the mystical barrier of the Wizard’s Wall. While the Campacha and the 
  Elitan-i-pan Confederacy have settled and paciﬁ ed signiﬁ cant sections 
  of the steppes, they remain vulnerable to raids from humanoids and 
  other hostile Shattered Folk clans. 
  The rest of the plains are a vast and seemingly endless sea of grass 
  broken here and there by rivers, especially the God’s Ride River. The 
  only signiﬁ cant heights in the steppes are the rugged Pin-i-Pinjhami 
  Hills, home to hostile humanoids and largely avoided by the plains-
  dwelling clans.
  Elsewhere, travelers are likely to encounter many challenges, some 
  of which can be deadly to those who are inexperienced or unprepared. 
  Fierce winds scour the plains, especially in winter, when they accumulate 
  massive drifts that can strand and isolate travelers. Summer weather 
  
  126|
  126|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  is also hazardous, as the temperature may soar to deadly levels. Great 
  droughts also affect the plains in summer, drying rivers and reducing 
  them to treacherous stretches of mud. Massive rain- and hailstorms 
  pound the steppes during spring, causing ﬂ ashﬂ oods that can sweep 
  away encampments or entire traveling groups.
  In addition to the hazards of weather, the plains are also home to many 
  marauding bands of goblins, orcs, hill giants, ogres, and others who like 
  nothing better than to prey upon unwary travelers. Not all encounters 
  are hostile, as the Shattered Folk, the centaurs, and (surprisingly) gnolls 
  of the plains are sometimes willing to approach outsiders for trade or 
  assistance. The gnolls are an especially interesting exception, as some 
  have maintained good (or at least tolerant) relations with the Shattered 
  Folk since the ﬁ rst Shadow incursion and are not inclined to simply 
  attack humans on sight. Naturally, not all of these groups are always 
  friendly, or even neutral, as many centaur tribes are very warlike and 
  some of the clans of the Shattered Folk, such as the fearsome Ognari, 
  are highly protective of their home territories.
  And here and there can be found remnants of the incursions of 
  the Shadow upon the Haunted Steppes, wandering undead and 
  even the occasional demons or outsiders biding their time until the 
  Asrans’ barriers fall again. Rumors among the Shattered Folk also 
  tell of strange beings of shadow that still stalk the plains, possibly 
  Scaedugenga who avoided banishment by the Asran, hunting in the 
  dark and seeking ways to break the wards and allow their fellows to 
  return again to mortal lands.
  Yet now, for the ﬁ rst time in generations, the Haunted Steppes 
  are opening up to the outside world, as Castorhagi, Remans, and 
  Foerdewaith reach out to the Shattered Folk. Trade caravans and 
  diplomatic expeditions require experienced adventurers for protection. 
  Scholars from the south, especially in Reme, seek more knowledge 
  about the history of this highly isolated and in many ways, unknown 
  region, particularly the history of the Shattered Folk in the wake of the 
  Hundaei Empire’s collapse, the nature of the Shadow Horde and the 
  Scaedugenga, and the history of the surviving Caleeen Colonies — how 
  they survived and the challenges that they faced in doing so. Some 
  enterprising adventurers have even set out to the plains on their own to 
  investigate mysteries such as the Tangjan College, the Tav’chul, and the 
  Cursed Ruin of Stone (though this last is extremely dangerous and risks 
  the murderous rage of the Shattered Folk for violating a strict taboo). At 
  the same time, ruins of the old colonies still molder amid the vast grasses. 
  Some are entirely gone save for a few piles of stone, while others may 
  be haunted by lonely spirits or inhabited by the creatures of the steppes. 
  These battered settlements may provide shelter to travelers, or they may 
  yet hold some remnants — for good or ill — of their original residents.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: FIELDS OF BLOOD, THE BLIGHT
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF 
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  CAMPACHA PLAINS, CLANS OF THE
  CAMPACHA PLAINS, CLANS OF THE
  Capital: none
  Notable Settlements: Thian, Petyan
  Ruler: Khan Boro’ul Ikres, Khan Oqotur Tarkut and Khan 
  Tolun Campacha
  Government: tribal confederacy
  Population: 109,700 (103,500 Shattered Folk, 2,700 Gtsang, 
  1,500 Rheman, 1,250 half-elf, 750 wild elf)
  Monstrous: goblins, gnolls, orcs, centaurs, hobgoblins, 
  kobolds, axe beaks, ankhegs, hill giants, ogres, minotaurs, 
  banshees, dire wolves, bugbears, perytons, worgs, skeletons, 
  zombies, basilisks, blood hawks, owlbears, wraiths, griffons, 
  harpies, ghosts, nightmares, manticores, mummies, bulettes, 
  hippogriffs, chimeras, specters, trolls, wights
  Languages: Kirkut (Campacha dialects), Common
  Religion: Ethtuwate
  Resources: foodstuffs, grain, horses
  Currency: barter or miscellaneous coins
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  When the Conroi Expedition ﬁ rst crossed the Wizard’s Wall past 
  Durgam’s Folly in 3439 I.R., they did not know what they would ﬁ nd. 
  Though some rumors from Castorhage and Gtsang suggested that 
  remnants of ancient peoples still lived there, most in Reme believed that 
  the Haunted Steppes would prove to be nothing more than a vast charnel 
  house, its inhabitants slain and lying silent beneath the eternal skies.
  The rumors proved true, for the plains were not empty. Quite the 
  contrary, the descendants of the Invincible Horde lived on and had spent 
  the intervening centuries rebuilding. Fortunately for Conroi and her 
  expedition, the ﬁ rst group they encountered were the united clans of 
  the Campacha, powerful, but not unwilling to host and deal with these 
  visitors from the south.
  The Campacha Plains are still wild, and roving bands of humanoids 
  can make the region hazardous. The old magic of the Shadow Horde still 
  lingers even after centuries, sometimes opening doorways to other realms 
  or compelling the ancient dead to rise and trouble the living. Just the 
  same, the plains are a rich and relatively peaceful place where the Grand 
  Duchy of Reme has tentatively begun to establish trade and learn about 
  the history of the Haunted Steppes since the days of Cale’s downfall.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The remaining Shattered Folk after the raising of the Wizard’s Wall and 
  the banishment of the Shadow by the Asran were few and scattered, but 
  survivors there were. Those in the southern steppes had suffered such losses 
  that they no longer needed to ﬁ ght one another for territory. However, though 
  the barriers in the north had been restored, many tribes of orcs and goblins 
  remained on the plains to threaten the survivors. To avoid destruction, the 
  Shattered Folk of the region were forced to band together. 
  The leading clan of the area was called the Campacha, and 
  within a few generations the alliance transformed into a true 
  confederacy named for its founding group. The humanoid threat was 
  largely eliminated by coordinated defense, and the creation of the 
  confederacy taught the Campacha the beneﬁ ts of diplomacy. They 
  also discovered that trade with the nearby Caleen colonies was to 
  their advantage and enhanced their own security and prosperity. 
  As a result, the fear and distrust of outsiders was far less among 
  the Campacha than many of their more-isolated kinfolk. When the 
  Conroi Expedition arrived, they found a well-established nation in 
  the Campacha, one secure and willing to trade and even befriend 
  those from the south. They tolerate the Reman missionaries, 
  incorporating the foreign gods into their pantheon, and some among 
  the Campacha have even considered forming settlements, farming, 
  and tending herds rather than wandering the plains. Conservative 
  Campacha are disdainful of this suggestion, but the idea is gaining 
  popularity, and the Campacha may join the Elitan-i-pan Confederacy 
  in founding permanent villages and farms.
  Some time ago, a Gtsang scholar by the name of Tiblu Ottika arrived 
  with the seemingly mad notion of establishing a major college in the 
  midst of the Campacha Plains. Somewhat puzzled, the Campacha 
  agreed, and the college was built near the town of Petyan. After initial 
  success, the grand experiment collapsed as a horde of chaos-creatures 
  emerged from the college, forcing a desperate defense by the Campacha 
  wizard Tunicamna. Though the battle against the creatures was won, 
  repercussions from the disaster have continued over the years, and the 
  college remains abandoned and shunned.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Most Campacha practice the Ethtuwate faith of their ancestors. Since 
  adherents of this faith can incorporate other deities, even imported gods 
  such as Thyr and Muir, into their religion, missionaries from Reme, 
  Foere, and elsewhere ventured onto the plains seeking converts. 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |127
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  Initial reports from these missionaries told of success and the 
  conversion of entire communities, leading to the mistaken belief that 
  the Campacha are somehow spiritually deprived and seeking new 
  enlightenment. In reality, the easygoing Campacha listened to the 
  stories of Thyr, Freya, Jamboor, and others, and simply added these 
  “new” gods to their existing faith, even while continuing to remain 
  faithful to Thaka and the other Ethtuwate deities. As this has become 
  more apparent, the priesthoods of the other gods have come to ﬁ nd the 
  Campacha maddening, for their demands that they abandon all other 
  faiths to pursue a single pantheon are invariably met with mocking 
  laughter and bafﬂ ement.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  For many years the Campacha were content to trade among themselves 
  or with the Caleen. Occasionally, Campacha would venture into the 
  Stonehearts to contact the dwarves and return with iron weapons, works 
  of art, or tools. For the most part, however, trade and commerce played 
  little role in the Campachas’ life.
  The arrival of the Remans, the Foerdewaith, and the Castorhagi 
  changed that somewhat, as merchants from all three groups made contact 
  with the Campacha and brought gold and ﬁ nished goods in exchange 
  for horses, grains, and other foodstuffs. Trade is a small but growing 
  concern at this point, for though the Campacha have little to offer now, 
  many foreigners see vast opportunities in the wide-open steppes.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Once an alliance of ﬁ ercely independent nomad clans who wished to 
  be left alone and to see to their own security, the Campacha have been 
  made aware of the outside world, and many seek to expand their contacts 
  with Foere, Reme, and Castorhage. So far, the relationship consists of 
  minimal diplomatic presence and trade, but this seems likely to expand.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Like the Elitan-i-pan, the other major assembly of the Shattered Folk, 
  the Campacha are a confederacy of several clans — the Ikres, Tarkut and 
  Campacha — and after decades have come to be known by the name of 
  the most prominent of these. The independent nature of the old Hundaei 
  society has led to a fairly loose state with minimal organization. Each 
  of the three federated clans is led by its own khan and elder council, 
  and these three khans meet each month in the Tae’kon encampment to 
  administer and oversee the Campacha region, settling disputes, making 
  laws and overseeing relations with the Caleen and other outsiders. Most 
  decisions are made by consensus, but the presence of three khans makes 
  tie votes unlikely.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The old warrior traditions are still practiced by the Campacha, and 
  every clan member is trained from birth in the arts of riding, shooting, 
  and combat with lance and tulwar. All members of the federation, even 
  many young and elderly, are highly capable warriors and in times of 
  conﬂ ict can be called upon to defend their folk. The warriors of each 
  clan are under the command of their respective khan, but should an 
  outside power threaten the region, the khans would almost certainly 
  select one of their number to be supreme leader.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Orcs, ogres, and hill giants of the region are a constant threat and 
  raid Campacha lands in the spring and summer. These incursions are 
  opposed by the nearest clan, which sends mounted warriors to intercept 
  incoming raiders or pursue those attempting to escape. Battles between 
  the Campacha and wolf-mounted goblins or orcish worg riders are also 
  a frequent event in this portion of the steppes.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: FIELDS OF BLOOD
  PETYAN, VILLAGE OF
  PETYAN, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: Elder Priest Quanata
  Government: clan
  Population:  168 (104 Shattered Folk, 22 half-elf, 18 wild elf, 24 
  others)
  Like most settlements on the grasslands of Campacha, Petyan has 
  a sizable transient population. The village lies a few miles west of a 
  migratory buffalo route and grazing area, making it a popular destination 
  for nomadic people during the spring and summer months. 
  In addition to its ideal hunting location, the underground rivers and 
  aquifers that bisect the area are also perfect for sedentary farmers. Lush 
  crops of corn and other food staples dot the landscape in every direction. 
  The farmers who tend to these ﬁ elds dwell in earth lodges built into 
  the sides of small hills or excavated from the ground. These permanent 
  structures feature a wooden dome covered by dirt, reeds, mud-bricks, 
  and similar materials. Because they are partially underground, these 
  homes are better suited for the extreme temperatures encountered during 
  the hot summers and the frigid winters. 
  Petyan’s residents are entirely self-sufﬁ cient, so commerce in the 
  traditional sense is far less prevalent than in conventional communities. 
  It is possible to purchase goods and services within the settlement, 
  though barter is the preferable method of acquiring valuables within 
  Petyan. Its permanent and even temporary residents all share some 
  degree of kinship. Naturally, those belonging to the full-time population 
  are more closely related to one another than its transient settlers, who are 
  typically ﬁ rst and second cousins several generations removed from the 
  permanent residents. Still, the bonds of blood run strong, and even the 
  most-distant relations respect the authority and wisdom of the village’s 
  patriarch. The patriarch is revered as a titular authority ﬁ gure that 
  provides wisdom and guidance, though he wields no real political and 
  military authority. Instead, leadership is determined on the battleﬁ eld 
  and the hunting grounds. The bravest and ﬁ ercest warrior from among 
  the patriarch’s immediate family assumes autonomy over the village. 
  Hintah fulﬁ lled that role in Petyan until the centaurs killed him. After 
  his death, Quanata, the resident cleric, reluctantly accepted the role as 
  the village’s leader. 
  REFERENCE SOURCE: FIELDS OF BLOOD
  THIAN, VILLAGE OF
  THIAN, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: Chieftain Angarzhu the Wise
  Government: clan chieftain 
  Population: 330 (Shattered Folk)
  Thian is an especially sacred place for the Shattered Folk, as it is the 
  site of the Mound of the Sun, the primary temple of the god Thaka. As its 
  name suggests, the temple is a vast and ancient earth mound that dates 
  back to the earliest history of the Hundaei clans. Inside, a series of rough 
  corridors and chambers lead to a vaulted central chamber where a round 
  opening in the roof frames the sun perfectly at noon on midsummer, a 
  time of especially solemn ritual.
  A scattering of permanent settlements — rubble or sod with attached 
  farm plots or animal pens — surrounds the temple. Beyond the 
  settlements lie seasonal encampments where nomadic Campacha spend 
  the warmer months hunting herd animals and engaging in trade.
  Though inns and rooming houses are normally rare in the steppe 
  lands, this town also boasts housing for pilgrims and visitors, as most of 
  the Shattered Folk, regardless of their clan, wish to visit the Mound of 
  the Sun at least once in their lives. Travel here is heaviest at midsummer, 
  and the crowd that is here to witness the moment when the sun passes 
  directly overhead frequently overﬂ ows the mound completely.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: FIELDS OF BLOOD
  
  128|
  128|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  TAE’KON ENCAMPMENT
  TAE’KON ENCAMPMENT
  This fertile, picturesque grassy spot lies near the middle of the 
  Campacha lands. It is here that the Campacha khans meet each month 
  to make decisions regarding their peoples. Usually these meetings are 
  small and sober gatherings that feature a huddle of tents and lean-tos 
  around a central pavilion, but the Great Meeting that takes place on the 
  summer equinox each year is a more festive occasion with thousands 
  of Campacha gathering, raising colorful banners and erecting wildly-
  decorated tents, engaging in games and contests, feasting, drinking, and 
  celebrating the founding of the confederacy.
  CASTORHAGI COLONIES
  CASTORHAGI COLONIES
  PORT KINSAL, COLONY OF
  PORT KINSAL, COLONY OF
  Ruler: Governor Josep Mantral
  Government: colony
  Population:  1,194 (620 Castorhagi, 326 Elitani, 150 Rheman, 
  98 halﬂ ing)
  Languages: Common, Kirkut
  Religion: Castorhagi pantheon, Ethtuwate, Mick O’Delving
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The smaller of the two Castorhagi trade settlements, Port Kinsal is 
  located on the site of the ﬁ rst Castorhagi landing three centuries ago. 
  Situated on a cold and fairly bleak stretch of the Elitani coast, the 
  climate is harsher here along the Devil’s Tail, and the settlement is 
  more vulnerable than Port Mandei, having endured several humanoid 
  raids over the past years. Kinsal is protected by a strong wooden wall 
  reinforced with stone here and there, and many buildings are stone. Like 
  Mandei, the settlement includes port facilities, trading centers and inns 
  that cater to a wide range of visitors.
  Though the Elitani will certainly help defend the settlement if 
  possible, they are not as strong in this region as elsewhere. As a result, 
  the Kinsal folk know they can’t necessarily depend upon the nomads 
  and must defend the settlement on their own. About 250 Castorhagi 
  and mercenary warriors are stationed here, as well as 50 elite halﬂ ing 
  archers. In addition to the archers, Kinsal is also home to a branch of 
  the Lightbody Trade Alliance, a halﬂ ing mercantile group based out 
  of Courghais.
  PORT MANDEI, COLONY OF
  PORT MANDEI, COLONY OF
  Ruler: Governor Alexa Wolsten
  Government: colony
  Population: 1,605 (875 Castorhagi, 350 Elitani, 220 Rheman, 
  160 Foerdewaith)
  Languages: Common, Kirkut
  Religion: Castorhagi pantheon, Ethtuwate, Thyr, Jamboor
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Located on the shores of Tabur Bay, Port Mandei is one of two 
  Castorhagi trading ports along the Elitani Coast. Founded nearly 
  two centuries ago, it has grown into a substantial settlement, with 
  well-equipped docks and repair facilities, warehouses, trading 
  establishments and inns that cater to Elitani and foreign traders. The 
  town bustles with activity as ships and trade caravans arrive and depart 
  along with their attendant crowds of sailors, traders, Elitani clansfolk, 
  mercenary guards and, in recent years, adventurers who have begun to 
  venture into the steppes.
  Port Mandei boasts sturdy stone buildings and a wood-and-stone wall 
  and a small group of 200 professional mercenaries who keep the place 
  safe from humanoid attacks. This threat has faded in recent years as 
  the nearby Elitani secured the plains and usually intercept humanoids 
  before they get anywhere near the outpost.
  ELITAN-I-PAN CONFEDERATION
  ELITAN-I-PAN CONFEDERATION
  Capital: none
  Notable Settlements: none
  Ruler: High Khan Yalbaq Alchi-Tarqut
  Government: Confederacy
  Population: 87,000 (85,750 Shattered Folk, 750 half-elf, 500 
  Castorhagi)
  Monstrous: goblins, gnolls, orcs, centaurs, hobgoblins, kobolds, 
  axe beaks, ankhegs, hill giants, ogres, minotaurs, banshees, 
  dire wolves, bugbears, perytons, worgs, skeletons, zombies, 
  basilisks, revenants, blood hawks, shadows, owlbears, wraiths, 
  griffons, harpies, ghosts, nightmares, wyverns, manticores, 
  mummies, bulettes, hippogriffs, chimeras, specters, trolls, 
  wights, cockatrices, hell hounds, vampires, blue dragons
  Languages: Kirkut (Elitan-i-Pani dialects), Common
  Religion: Ethtuwate
  Resources: grains, leather goods, horses
  Currency: barter
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  As the Campacha of the south have gathered together the surviving 
  clans into a single confederacy, so have the Shattered Folk of the 
  Elitan-i-pan region drawn together for mutual defense. More religious 
  and mystically-minded than the Campacha, the Elitan-i-pan folk have 
  continued and expanded the old traditions of divination, soothsaying, 
  and the analysis of omens. Castorhagi explorers and merchants 
  contacted the confederation in 3262 I.R. and maintained steady and 
  largely friendly trade with them since then. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  For several years after the raising of the Wizard’s Wall, the Shattered 
  Folk of the Elitan region of the Ethtuwate-cala-tun (Gods’ Ride) basin 
  struggled against the humanoid tribes left on the steppes after the 
  banishment of the Shadow. Each clan faced the threat alone, and some 
  clans were annihilated when they were overwhelmed by the orcish or 
  goblin tribes.
  In 2955 I.R., Khan Elanghus of the Elun-koro (Thunder Rider) clan 
  called upon the other khans, suggesting that they would all be better 
  served to set aside the old hatreds and band together for mutual defense 
  and beneﬁ t. A few clans rejected the proposal and struck out on their 
  own, but a core of a dozen clans agreed and swore common cause. An 
  attack on one would be an attack on all, and the allied clans swore to 
  never ﬁ ght or shed each other’s blood again, submitting to a council of 
  chiefs to mediate disputes. Clans would be strengthened by arranged 
  intermarriage, and priests would likewise move from clan to clan to 
  share their speciﬁ c wisdom and spiritual guidance, further joining the 
  clans into a single entity.
  The omens for the alliance were good, for within a few years the 
  clans that had rejected Elanghus’ proposal were either wiped out 
  or reconsidered their refusal and joined their fellows. Within three 
  generations, the confederacy was well established and while its member 
  clans retained their independence, they all thought of themselves as a 
  single related people.
  The new confederacy was tested over the following years as waves 
  of humanoid migration and invasion swept through the Ethtuwate basin. 
  Had they not declared common cause, many clans would surely have 
  been annihilated, and the wise counsel of Elanghus was fully recognized 
  by his descendants. The worst of these invasions came in 3130 I.R. 
  when the orcish warlord Hazhgol Swordhand united several orc clans, 
  conquered several goblin clans and turned them into slave warriors, and 
  began a crusade to claim the entire Gods’ Ride River basin and its rich 
  lands. Hazhgol’s deadly worg-chariots swept into the river lands and 
  descended on the Elitani-i-pani.
  Over generations, the Elitan-i-pan had grown into a highly religious 
  people devoted to the Ethtuwate faith and its pantheon. While the 
  confederation’s warriors rode out to face the warlord, their priests 
  
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  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  remained behind to seek guidance and wisdom and to read the omens 
  and cast their various objects of divination. Even powerful spells brought 
  mixed and ambiguous results, and initial engagements with the orcs and 
  goblins proved unsuccessful. The old Hundaei mobile tactics of hit, 
  run, withdraw, then attack from a different direction were frustrated by 
  goblin wolf-riders and ended, at best, in bloody draws with casualties 
  on both sides. Still, Hazhgol’s horde advanced despite the Elitans’ best 
  efforts to resist him.
  Consensus came to the meditating priests when a common thread 
  developed in their visions and omen readings. All signs pointed to the 
  old ruins at Pan-ni-Rikam-Po (the Cursed Ruins of Stone), the remains 
  of the only great city ever built by the Hundaei, the place that had served 
  as the capital of the Great Khans in the glory days of the Invincible 
  Horde and the endless wars with Hyperborea. Dreams revealed that a 
  great weapon lay there, one sufﬁ cient to defeat Hazhgol and shatter his 
  horde. It seemed imperative that some hero venture to the old city, brave 
  its dangers, and retrieve the weapon, whatever it was.
  There was one problem — after the city had been devastated in the 
  great Hundaei civil war, it was declared cursed by the surviving khans. 
  Entry was absolutely forbidden on pain of death to both Hundaei and 
  outsiders. This prohibition remained even so many long generations 
  after, and all knew that anyone who ventured into the ruin would do so 
  at the cost of his or her life.
  Nevertheless, it seemed that the only answer to the crisis lay at the heart of 
  the forbidden city, and a call went out to the warriors of Elitan to volunteer.
  Despite the tolerant nature of the Ethtuwate faith, breaking ancient 
  tribal taboos was a difﬁ cult, if not impossible, task for even the boldest 
  warrior. Only a handful responded, and of these, the omens and 
  divinations favored only one — a young man named Tahtona from the 
  Mua-chae clan. When the council of priests announced that he had been 
  chosen, Tahtona spent the next day fasting and meditating upon what lay 
  ahead. He was not an experienced warrior and had fought in only a few 
  skirmishes, but he had felt a compulsion to answer the priests’ call and 
  now faced his fate with stoic resolve.
  Alone, Tahtona ventured into the forbidden ruins. What took place 
  in Pan-ni-Rikam-Po is not known, for he did not share his story with 
  anyone. All that is known is that after nearly a fortnight Tahtona emerged 
  clad in the lacquered armor of a chieftain, polished and gleaming, backed 
  with ﬁ ne silk, looking new and untouched. He bore a black horn bow, a 
  quiver of arrows that seemed to radiate dark energy, and a pair of lances 
  with heads of strange glassy material. He spoke little but assured his 
  friends that he was still the young and vital Tahtona. He had, however, 
  seen his destiny, and he emphasized that the ruins were still forbidden.
  The young warrior, now somehow transformed into a mighty war 
  chief, gathered the clans to him and called upon them to meet Hazhgol 
  in battle. Soon the entire Elitan-i-pan Confederation rode forth to seek 
  out the orcish horde. Hazhgol seemed drawn to them and eagerly 
  responded, his chariots in the lead, supported by hordes of screaming 
  goblin archers.
  The battle that came to be called Bloody Grass was the greatest since 
  the coming of the Shadow Horde. At ﬁ rst, the orcs had the upper hand as 
  their chariots cut through the Elitani riders and the goblins held them at 
  bay with volleys of small but deadly red-feathered arrows. But soon the 
  tide began to turn. The chariots were stopped and cut to pieces, and the 
  goblins ﬂ ed, leaving Hazhgol and his worg cavalry to advance for the 
  ﬁ nal confrontation. Cunningly, the orcish warlord sent his swift goblin 
  wolf-riders around the ﬂ anks in an attempt to envelop the Elitani, but 
  the Shattered Folks’ own light cavalry countered, and the battle began 
  to sprawl over the vast plains.
  It was then that Tahtona advanced alone against the horde. Those who 
  saw him claimed that as he rode, he grew in stature, and that the spirits 
  of ancient Hundaei warriors rode with him, mounted on the shades of 
  the old Hu-Soncala, the legendary horses of the old days. It was said that 
  Tahtona’s lance impaled dozens with each strike and that his black arrows 
  slew hundreds with each shot. The Spirit Host, as it came to be called 
  in legend, cut through their enemies. Mighty orcish warriors, renowned 
  for their morale and fanaticism, ﬂ ed in terror until only Hazhgol and his 
  bodyguard remained. Tahtona rode at the orcish chieftain.
  The battle that followed is said to have gone on for hours. Some 
  stories say that the sun itself stood motionless in the sky as the two 
  battled. Neither gave ground and neither asked for quarter, for they both 
  knew that the outcome of the great battle hinged on this single ﬁ ght. 
  Swords and lances clashed, armor was battered, and blood was shed.
  In the end, the two warriors stood dismounted, near exhaustion, 
  weapons still clashing. Then it is said that a strange thing happened. 
  Both combatants paused, their gazes locked, their rage transforming 
  into an expression of acceptance, recognition, and — strangely — 
  respect. As if by mutual agreement, the warriors raced at each other, 
  simultaneously piercing each other’s hearts and dying together, locked 
  in eternal combat. The orcish warlord was overthrown, and the brave 
  Tahtona paid the price for his violation of ancient taboo.
  As expected, the loss of their leader disheartened the horde as subordinate 
  chieftains began to ﬁ ght for control and dominance. By the time the sun set, 
  the orcs and goblins had been driven from the ﬁ eld of battle and, though 
  they had suffered terribly, the Elitan-i-pan emerged victorious.
  The confederacy recovered from their losses at Bloody Grass and 
  slowly rebuilt its numbers and kept the plains relatively secure. As 
  always, the steppes were never fully at peace, for raids and territorial 
  conﬂ icts continued. The ghosts and undead who trouble the rest of the 
  region are present here as well, including shades and vengeful spirits 
  called forth from the old battleﬁ eld at Bloody Grass, and clan priests 
  or warriors must often be dispatched to deal with them. All the same, 
  the union of the various folk prove successful, and the Elitani forged a 
  secure and relatively stable nation.
  Then in the year 3262 I.R., Elitani scouts reported making contact 
  with foreigners on the shores of the Devil’s Tail. It was the Castorhagi 
  trader Provision on a mission to contact the indigenous peoples of the 
  steppes to possibly establish trade relations. To the Castorhagi captain’s 
  inﬁ nite relief, these descendants of the fearsome Hundaei proved 
  friendly, open, and willing to talk. Within a few years, Castorhagi trade 
  settlements were established, and mercantile trafﬁ c began to ﬂ ow.
  While the years of isolation and persistent bitterness over the long war 
  with Hyperborea hardened many of the Shattered Folk and reinforced 
  their xenophobia, the Elitani had, in creating their confederacy, sown 
  the seeds of forward-thinking diplomacy. While they retained many of 
  the old traditions, the Elitan-i-pan were open to new ideas. In the years 
  since contact, some clans have begun to transition to a more settled 
  economy, building permanent or semi-permanent villages and farms 
  in some of the more fertile regions of the God’s Ride basin, and the 
  inﬂ ow of foreign goods, ideas, and faiths has affected some of these 
  communities. Foreign missionaries have visited the region but, as with 
  the Campacha of the south, the Elitan refuse to forsake their faith and 
  instead incorporate other gods and religious traditions into their complex 
  and highly adaptable religious life.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  One of the unifying factors of the Elitan-i-pan Confederacy is its 
  religious practices. They are far more devout and mystical than their 
  Campacha cousin to the south and revere the Sky-God under the name 
  Nah-ki-at. Omens, prophecies, and divination by a number of means 
  (spells, casting of dice or stones, entrail-reading, and the like) are 
  practiced with great reverence and given signiﬁ cant credence by all, 
  even the most powerful local chieftains. Priests wield considerable 
  inﬂ uence in Elitan society, but usually act as advisors, mediators, and 
  counselors, and rarely get involved in clan politics or rulership.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The Elitan-i-pan’s primary exposure to the world beyond the 
  Haunted Steppes is due to their trade relationship with the city-state 
  of Castorhage. For nearly three centuries, goods have ﬂ owed from the 
  two major Castorhage trade cities along the Elitani coast, exchanged 
  for local goods, foodstuffs, and especially horses. Over the years, the 
  sturdy steppe horses bred by the Elitani for export have grown popular 
  throughout eastern Akados and recently found their way into the Xha’en 
  Hegemony through the Castorhagi trade missions on the Bream Islands.
  
  130|
  130|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The confederacy maintains diplomatic relations with other clans 
  and alliances of the Shattered Folk, including the southern alliance of 
  the Campacha. Until the arrival of the Castorhagi, that was all that the 
  Elitani needed. Today, they have taken tentative steps toward contact 
  beyond the borders of the steppes, as a handful of Elitani have visited 
  Reme, Castorhage, Foere, and the Xha’en Hegemony. So far, the Elitani 
  maintain full relations with only the Castorhagi, but the other powers of 
  the region have seen the city-state’s successes and have increased their 
  efforts to establish diplomatic ties.
  For their part, the Elitan welcome the attention. Most feel that the 
  old xenophobic attitudes are part of the past, since most of their ancient 
  enemies are long since extinct. A few holdouts resist the encroachment 
  of the outside world, but they are a distinct minority.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  More than a dozen clans make up the Elitan-i-pan Confederacy, each 
  led by its own khan, chieftain or, in the case of the Mora-tahn (Storm 
  Hawk) clan, a trio of high priestesses. The many different clans represent 
  different traditions and practices, a factor that the confederacy’s founder, 
  Khan Elanghus, recognized when he ﬁ rst proposed the new alliance. 
  Cultural and religious exchanges between the different clans helped 
  lessen these differences, and though the various groups retained many 
  differences, they also managed to forge a common identity.
  Constructing a uniﬁ ed rulership was a challenge, for every clan felt 
  it was best qualiﬁ ed to lead. In the end, the chiefs all came together and 
  decided that the confederacy’s High Khan would be a rotating ofﬁ ce 
  chosen once every ﬁ ve years from among the leaders of the various 
  clans. A single khan could not serve two consecutive terms, and a new 
  khan would be chosen by vote of the other khans. The khan thus chosen 
  would be the confederacy’s paramount leader, though in important 
  matters that affect multiple clans, the khan’s decisions must be ratiﬁ ed 
  by a majority vote of the other khans. This system has persisted, with 
  various modiﬁ cations and adjustments, over several centuries and 
  continues to this day.  
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The Elitani retain the traditional Hundaei values and, as with other 
  clans, all are trained in the arts of war, and all able-bodied warriors are 
  called up to serve should the region ever be threatened. Each clan has its 
  own specialty — some are scouts, others are expert horse archers, while 
  others serve as armored lancers capable of standing up even to the steel-
  clad knights of other nations. The High Khan traditionally commands 
  the confederacy’s military, but unless the khan is especially capable, he 
  or she generally appoints an experienced veteran as general.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Conﬂ icts still rage on the steppes — with smaller, rival clans of the 
  Shattered Folk, with humanoid tribes, and with the undead or unnatural 
  creatures that continue to stalk the plains in the wake of the raising of 
  the Wizard’s Wall. As always, the greatest threat still slumbers in the 
  far north in the form of the vanquished Shadow Horde. No one can say 
  whether the horde will one day return, but anyone who is familiar with 
  the history of Akados knows that evil is never truly defeated, and that it 
  is usually only a matter of time before it rises again.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE BLIGHT
  LOST COLONIES OF THE CALEEN
  LOST COLONIES OF THE CALEEN
  Capital: none
  Notable Settlements: Cale’s Hope, Fort Relian, Imar, 
  Chesmire, Enua
  Ruler: none
  Government: clan confederacy
  Population: 2,305 (1,890 mixed Foerdewaith-Hundaei, 220 
  halﬂ ing, 120 half-elf, 75 gnome)
  Monstrous: goblins, gnolls, kobolds, ankhegs, hill giants, 
  ogres, minotaurs, banshees, dire wolves, bugbears, perytons, 
  skeletons, zombies, blood hawks, shadows, owlbears, wraiths, 
  griffons, harpies, ghosts, nightmares, wyverns, lamias, 
  manticores, bulettes, hippogriffs, chimeras, specters, trolls, 
  wights, cockatrices
  Languages: Kirkut (mainly Campacha dialects), Common
  Religion: Ethtuwate, Muir, Thyr, Jamboor
  Resources: grain, fruit, livestock, wool
  Currency: barter, miscellaneous coins
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  When the Shadow Horde poured forth from the north and swept the 
  Great Steppes in 2947 I.R., it was believed that all of the Caleen colonies 
  were destroyed. As a result, the folk of Reme, safe behind the Wizard’s 
  Wall, made no attempts to reach the lost colonies. 
  Yet when Gtsang traders began exploring up the Tabur River in 
  recent centuries, they discovered intact settlements of folk of mixed 
  Foerdewaith-Shattered Folk ancestry where some of those lost 
  colonies had been. Later, the Conroi Expedition discovered even 
  larger settlements to the east along the Deepfells and the old course 
  of the Tabur, now known as the Ghost River. These settlements had in 
  fact survived the Shadow Horde and continued through the years of 
  isolation since then. The easternmost villages are popularly referred to 
  as the Conroi Settlements, which has given rise to the myth that they 
  were actually founded or delivered from extinction by the arrival of the 
  Conroi Expedition.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The days of the Great Colonization was a time of great optimism and 
  excitement. Colonists ﬂ owed by the thousands through the Crynnomar 
  Gap, expanding northwards into the steppes. The Caleen colonies, 
  named for the Grand Duke Prince Cale who had envisioned the 
  endeavor, would spread throughout the north. Humanoids, monsters and 
  the remnants of the once-great Hundaei Empire would be brushed aside 
  and soon Reme would command vast new territories, rivaling even the 
  ancient Hyperboreans in power. It was not to be.
  Starting in 2861 I.R., colonists made their way past the gap, then 
  turned northwest, taking the path of least resistance along the verdant 
  lands surrounding the Tabur River. Small outposts were founded as 
  they went, and some of these outposts such as Fort Relian and Cale’s 
  Hope grew into true settlements. Progress seemed all but inevitable, 
  for at ﬁ rst popular belief was reinforced — the humanoids and human 
  nomads of the region were either entirely absent or weak. The collapse 
  of the Hundaei Empire was so complete that it had all but scoured the 
  land of defenders. The colonists saw this as a sign from Thyr himself 
  that their destiny was manifest, and that the plains belonged to them 
  and them alone.
  The colonies grew and dotted the land as the settlers’ trails diverged, 
  some founding new towns along the coast while others struck directly 
  north past the Everfar Hills, across the Gods’ Ride River, and into the 
  heart of the steppes. Soon it became apparent that their initial optimism 
  was somewhat misplaced, as the farther north they went, the greater 
  resistance from the humanoids and the surviving Hundaei grew. All the 
  same they pressed on, reaching the bleak shores of Lake Hali in 2931 
  I.R. It was then that disaster struck.
  At ﬁ rst, very little news ﬁ ltered down from the far north. The new 
  colonies were facing resistance, but few expected it to amount to much. 
  But soon the news turned dire. Something greater had stirred, and the 
  humanoids were far more numerous than initially thought. Swarming 
  from lairs in the Lost Mountains they descended on the small northern 
  settlements, wiping them out and sending a wave of refugees ﬂ eeing 
  south. The refugees brought even worse tidings, for it seemed that the 
  humanoids were being led by shadowy, demonic creatures that emerged 
  from the realms of the far north that the Hundaei had avoided with such 
  superstitious fervor.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|131
  |131
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  Grimly the colonists prepared to defend themselves. 
  The Shadow Horde advanced southward, and it soon became clear 
  that their intention was to sweep humanity from the steppes. If that 
  succeeded, there seemed little that could stand before them if they 
  passed the Crynnomar Gap. One after another, the colonies between 
  Lake Hali and the Everfar Hills fell to the advancing horde.
  With regular Foerdewaith troops scarce and reinforcements months 
  away, the colonists had no choice but to form their own army, dubbing 
  it the Caleen Legion. The legion managed to hold the humanoids at bay 
  for a time, but in the end even reinforcements from the Northmarches 
  weren’t enough. Grand Duke Cale, who had arrived to personally 
  take command, perished in battle south of the Everfar Hills, and what 
  remained of the Caleen Legion was scattered. 
  Only the Caleen Colonies along the Tabur River remained. Some 
  ﬂ ed toward the Crynnomar Gap while others grimly prepared for a 
  last stand. To their shock however, the horde turned aside and marched 
  directly toward the gap, leaving only a small contingent of humanoids 
  to assault the Tabur River settlements.
  The ﬁ ght that followed was ﬁ erce, and in the end the Tabur River 
  folk managed, after signiﬁ cant losses, to push back the humanoids. 
  Though they had won a temporary reprieve, the Tabur River folk knew 
  that it was only a matter of time before the horde, having defeated the 
  Foerdewaith in the south, would return to ﬁ nish the job. Only a miracle 
  could save them.
  The miracle came in the form of two ancient wizards who returned 
  seemingly out of the mists of time to work one of the mightiest acts of 
  magic in history — the raising of the Wizard’s Wall that permanently 
  sealed the Crynnomar Gap and caused devastating changes throughout 
  the region. Walls and buildings crumbled. Rivers changed their courses. 
  Lakes appeared where there had been none. But despite the upheaval, 
  the Caleen colonies survived, though now the life-giving Tabur had 
  permanently shifted, leaving them astride a dry riverbed.
  But the Shadow Horde was frustrated, not defeated. It could still 
  exterminate the last Foerdewaith survivors. Now a second miracle 
  was delivered by the Shattered Folk and the secret society known 
  as the Asran, who worked another great ritual and vanquished the 
  fearsome Scaedugenga and sent them back to their shadowy homeland. 
  The humanoids fell to bickering and retreated, leaving the battered 
  settlements of the southern steppes in relative peace.
  Slowly the settlements rebuilt. Walls were restored, structures 
  repaired. New farming lands were established in the rich soil left behind 
  by the Tabur River’s diversion while irrigation was provided by wells 
  and small streams from the Deepfells. The Caleen, as they now called 
  themselves, formed a rough alliance of independent settlements and 
  reached out to the Campacha nomads who had moved back into their 
  traditional territories. Eventually intermarrying with the local Shattered 
  Folk, the people of the settlements lived for generations, until they were 
  rediscovered by the rest of the world through visits from Gtsang traders 
  and the Conroi Expedition.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The original colonists came from all across Foere and brought their 
  various faiths with them. Primary among their deities were the traditional 
  religions of Thyr, Muir, Jamboor and a handful of other Hyperborean 
  or Foerdewaith gods. When the Great Colonization collapsed into 
  disaster and the Shadow Horde was on the march, the people of the 
  colonies prayed to all their gods for deliverance. The diversion and 
  eventual banishment of the Scaedugenga seemed to be an answer to 
  these prayers, and the faith of the Caleen was bolstered and increased. 
  As years went by, temples and shrines to their traditional gods were 
  founded, while contacts, migration, and intermarriage with the nearby 
  Caleen also brought the Ethtuwate faith, whose tolerant and inclusive 
  culture allowed it to easily integrate into Caleen society.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  For most of their history, the Caleen Colonies have been largely self-
  reliant, though there has always been some amount of trade within the 
  colony settlements and with the local Campacha. Over time, many of 
  the colonies and farms have come to produce a modest surplus, which 
  provides a solid basis for trade with the Campacha and, more recently, 
  the Remans and Castorhagi. The old riverbeds have been converted 
  to farming and produce oats, wheat, and rye. The Caleen have also 
  cultivated signiﬁ cant fruit plantations where they grow apples, pears, 
  and various nuts. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Left on their own for centuries, the Caleen colonies have developed 
  a ﬁ erce streak of independence, even from each other. While they 
  are entirely capable of banding together in defense of the region, the 
  settlements are all distinctly separate entities, each with its own leaders, 
  government, and way of life.
  Of necessity, the Caleen maintain good relations with the Campacha 
  who helped them in the aftermath of the Shadow Horde and continue 
  to aid the Caleen against monsters and humanoid raids. Campacha can 
  ride freely through Caleen territory, and Caleen merchants, farmers, and 
  even adventurers may be found throughout Campacha lands.
  Recent years have left the Caleen in a state of ﬂ ux, for after their 
  rediscovery by the Conroi Expedition and the popular adoption of the 
  term “Conroi Settlements” for the easternmost Caleen cities (a practice 
  that has infuriated most Caleen), the region has become a popular 
  destination for scientists, scholars, adventurers, and merchants. While 
  the new visitors have brought contact with the outside world as well as 
  goods and services long absent from the area, the Caleen have remained 
  standofﬁ sh, suspicious of the descendants of those who abandoned them 
  so many years ago.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The Caleen do not have a collective government but instead act 
  as a group of independent settlements that work together as needed 
  for mutual protection, economics, and general welfare. The Caleen 
  themselves are a singularly self-reliant people and the notion of banding 
  together as a confederacy or — worse — a true kingdom is contrary to 
  their independent natures.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  After surviving the horrors of the Shadow Horde, the Caleen were 
  forced to see to their own defense. Fortunately, a number of veterans 
  of the Caleen Legion survived the war, along with a small group of 
  Foerdewaith regular soldiers, and these individuals formed the core 
  of the militias who continue to defend the Caleen settlements to this 
  day. Despite the Caleen towns’ independence, they practice mutual 
  defense out of necessity, with commanders selected from among the 
  most accomplished and skilled warriors to command all Caleen troops 
  regardless of their town of origin.
  Caleen militia consist primarily of infantry armed mostly with 
  spears and bows and armored with padded cloth or light leather armor. 
  If mounted troops or scouts are needed, the Caleen can call upon the 
  Campacha for assistance, and help is usually given except in very 
  unusual circumstances. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The Caleen have always lived in a land of great peril, even in times 
  of relative peace, surviving invasions, natural disasters, and raids from 
  the humanoids of the plains and the Deepfells. Storms, ﬂ oods, extreme 
  winter weather, heat in summer, droughts, blights, and other natural 
  disasters are every bit as perilous as the goblins, gnolls, ogres, and other 
  hostiles who ravage the settlements. Though their greatest threat — the 
  Scaedugenga — are gone, the Caleen do not forget and dread the time 
  when the Shadow may again move on the steppes.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  The Caleen region is covered by signiﬁ cant wilderness — it is, in fact, 
  almost all wilderness with small settlements dotted here and there. Some 
  
  132|
  132|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  of the villages are connected by unpaved roads, but most are separated 
  by wide open grasslands with occasional stands of trees that can provide 
  either shelter or concealment for patient humanoid ambushers. Banditry 
  is, thankfully, less of a hazard in the Caleen colonies than elsewhere due 
  to the relatively low population and limited prosperity of the region.
  The area does not contain much in the way of ruins, tombs, or other 
  traditional adventuring sites. However, the presence of signiﬁ cant 
  numbers of hostile species constitutes an opportunity for freelance 
  adventurers. Heroes could end up hunting down raiders, patrolling 
  travel routes, pursuing humanoids, centaurs, or other hostiles who have 
  sacked settlements or taken captives. 
  CONROI SETTLEMENTS
  CONROI SETTLEMENTS
  The eastern settlements of the lost Caleen colonies discovered by 
  the Conroi Expedition in 3439 I.R. are now commonly referred to, 
  outside the villages themselves, as the Conroi Settlements. Since the 
  return of the expedition and its acclamation by the public, a false belief 
  has developed among the general public that the eastern settlements 
  (Imar, Cale’s Hope, and Fort Relian) were actually founded — or in 
  some stories, rescued from extinction — by the expedition, leading to 
  the popular name for the towns. In reality, they were well-established 
  towns with signiﬁ cant populations for centuries before the expedition 
  was even conceived.
  CALE’S HOPE, SETTLEMENT OF
  CALE’S HOPE, SETTLEMENT OF
  Ruler: Mayor Ambros Tyndar
  Government: clan chieftain 
  Population: 925 (mostly mixed Foerdewaith-Hundaei)
  Languages: Kirkut (mainly Campacha dialects), Common
  Religion: Ethtuwate, Thyr, Muir, Jamboor
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  The largest and generally the leading settlement of the lost Caleen 
  colonies, Cale’s Hope is located along a portion of the Tabur River that 
  still ﬂ ows. After the deliverance of the colonies from the scourge of 
  the Shadow Horde, the surviving inhabitants of Cale’s Hope rebuilt and 
  established new farms and bred their depleted stock of goats and sheep 
  with the help of the Campacha nomads who recognized the need for 
  peace and good relations in the chaotic world of the post-horde steppes. 
  Like the other colonies, Cale’s Hope retained a ﬁ erce independent 
  streak and never formally joined their fellow settlements in any kind of 
  confederacy or alliance. Just the same, Cale’s Hope became a center for 
  trade and a meeting place located conveniently between the eastern and 
  western settlements. Today, the town continues to prosper, with partly-
  paved streets, several inns, and a wood-and-stone wall. Diplomatic 
  missions from Castorhage, Reme, and Foere have all chosen Cale’s 
  Hope as their main location in the region, and outsiders — including 
  merchants, explorers, and even adventurers — have become a more 
  common sight. Mayor Ambros is a prosperous local farmer and is canny 
  enough to recognize the potential advantages of contact with the outside 
  world. However, he is adamantly against allowing any foreign inﬂ uence 
  and demonstrates his diplomatic cunning by playing the various visiting 
  factions off each other.
  FORT RELIAN, SETTLEMENT OF
  FORT RELIAN, SETTLEMENT OF
  Ruler: Marshal Nadea Charan
  Government: garrison commander
  Population: 760 (mostly mixed Foerdewaith-Hundaei)
  Languages: Kirkut (mainly Campacha dialects), Common
  Religion: Ethtuwate, Thyr, Muir, Jamboor
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  A military fort built to defend the old colonies, Fort Relian has stood 
  on the steppes since the ﬁ rst wave of the Great Colonization. When the 
  Shadow Horde came rampaging out of the north, destroying colonies 
  and slaughtering their ﬂ eeing inhabitants, Fort Relian became the base 
  of the Caleen Legion, a scratch force made up of Foerdewaith regulars 
  and colonist militia. As the horde advanced, the fortress swelled with 
  THE CONROI EXPEDITION
  For generations, the lands north of the Wizard’s Wall 
  lay untouched and unexplored (at least by the humans of 
  the south). Many legends and wild tales were circulated 
  about the place, but for the most part the Haunted 
  Steppes remained a cypher. Most believed that they were 
  all but lifeless, possibly inhabited by a handful of humans 
  or humanoids, scoured by the passing of the Shadow 
  Horde and the magical upheavals created by the Wizard’s 
  Wall. Of the old Caleen colonies, nothing was known, and 
  nearly everyone believed them to be extinct, slaughtered 
  by the humanoids and the Scaedugenga.
  Still, there were those who felt that there was knowledge 
  to be gained on the steppes. If nothing else, explorers 
  could learn the fate of those left behind and also possibly 
  gauge whether the Shadow Horde still existed and, if so, 
  whether it presented a threat. In 3439 I.R., Professor Ilene 
  Conroi of the Grand Duchy of Reme proposed an expedition 
  north of the Wizard’s Wall. Her goal was to survey the 
  Haunted Steppes and report on the region’s current status 
  — its land, ﬂ ora and fauna, its people (if any) and, most 
  importantly, the potential for threat to Reme. Obtaining 
  modest ﬁ nancing from the grand duke, Conroi set out to 
  recruit scholars from across Akados. She was joined by 
  several prominent historians, geologists, biologists, and 
  other scientists. Supplies were purchased and sent ahead 
  to await the expedition. Professional caravan guards 
  and adventurers were hired to escort the expedition. By 
  summer, the expedition arrived at Durgam’s Folly and 
  was ready to cross into the unknown north through the 
  mountain passes below the fortress’s dark walls.
  The expedition made its ﬁ rst discovery soon after 
  entering the plains, for the Campacha people of the 
  southern steppes had taken note of the caravan and 
  approached the newcomers. To the surprise of Conroi and 
  her fellow explorers, the Campacha proved to be friendly 
  and helpful.
  Guided by Campacha scouts, the Conroi expedition 
  set out into the grasslands. Their perils and adventures 
  are far too numerous to describe, but of note here was 
  their discovery that some of the supposedly lost Caleen 
  colonies had actually survived the ravages of the Shadow 
  Horde. West of Shadowfell Lake, the great body of 
  water that lay at the base of the Wizard’s Wall, several 
  settlements endured, inhabited by the descendants of the 
  old Foerdewaith colonists and the Shattered Folk of the 
  region. They told stories of their founding, many of which 
  had evolved and changed until they barely resembled true 
  events, and by this time they had nearly forgotten the 
  names of their old kingdoms. Here they lived, adapted to 
  the land, tending their herds and farming the harsh soil.
  Though Conroi and her expedition made many 
  discoveries in their two years of exploration, the 
  rediscovery of the colonies was its most signiﬁ cant 
  achievement. Upon their return, the expedition members 
  were proclaimed as heroes and their exploits magniﬁ ed 
  by heroic chronicles, bardic songs, and popular legend. 
  Today, popular belief holds that the eastern Caleen 
  colonies were actually founded by the Conroi Expedition, 
  a false notion that discounts the efforts and resilience of 
  the colonists.
  THE CONROI EXPEDITION
  THE CONROI EXPEDITION
  For generations, the lands north of the Wizard’s Wall 
  lay untouched and unexplored (at least by the humans of 
  the south). Many legends and wild tales were circulated 
  about the place, but for the most part the Haunted 
  Steppes remained a cypher. Most believed that they were 
  all but lifeless, possibly inhabited by a handful of humans 
  or humanoids, scoured by the passing of the Shadow 
  Horde and the magical upheavals created by the Wizard’s 
  Wall. Of the old Caleen colonies, nothing was known, and 
  nearly everyone believed them to be extinct, slaughtered 
  by the humanoids and the Scaedugenga.
  Still, there were those who felt that there was knowledge 
  to be gained on the steppes. If nothing else, explorers 
  could learn the fate of those left behind and also possibly 
  gauge whether the Shadow Horde still existed and, if so, 
  whether it presented a threat. In 3439 I.R., Professor Ilene 
  Conroi of the Grand Duchy of Reme proposed an expedition 
  north of the Wizard’s Wall. Her goal was to survey the 
  Haunted Steppes and report on the region’s current status 
  — its land, ﬂ ora and fauna, its people (if any) and, most 
  importantly, the potential for threat to Reme. Obtaining 
  modest ﬁ nancing from the grand duke, Conroi set out to 
  recruit scholars from across Akados. She was joined by 
  several prominent historians, geologists, biologists, and 
  other scientists. Supplies were purchased and sent ahead 
  to await the expedition. Professional caravan guards 
  and adventurers were hired to escort the expedition. By 
  summer, the expedition arrived at Durgam’s Folly and 
  was ready to cross into the unknown north through the 
  mountain passes below the fortress’s dark walls.
  The expedition made its ﬁ rst discovery soon after 
  entering the plains, for the Campacha people of the 
  southern steppes had taken note of the caravan and 
  approached the newcomers. To the surprise of Conroi and 
  her fellow explorers, the Campacha proved to be friendly 
  and helpful.
  Guided by Campacha scouts, the Conroi expedition 
  set out into the grasslands. Their perils and adventures 
  are far too numerous to describe, but of note here was 
  their discovery that some of the supposedly lost Caleen 
  their discovery that some of the supposedly lost Caleen 
  colonies had actually survived the ravages of the Shadow 
  Horde. West of Shadowfell Lake, the great body of 
  water that lay at the base of the Wizard’s Wall, several 
  settlements endured, inhabited by the descendants of the 
  old Foerdewaith colonists and the Shattered Folk of the 
  region. They told stories of their founding, many of which 
  had evolved and changed until they barely resembled true 
  events, and by this time they had nearly forgotten the 
  names of their old kingdoms. Here they lived, adapted to 
  the land, tending their herds and farming the harsh soil.
  Though Conroi and her expedition made many 
  discoveries in their two years of exploration, the 
  rediscovery of the colonies was its most signiﬁ cant 
  achievement. Upon their return, the expedition members 
  were proclaimed as heroes and their exploits magniﬁ ed 
  by heroic chronicles, bardic songs, and popular legend. 
  Today, popular belief holds that the eastern Caleen 
  colonies were actually founded by the Conroi Expedition, 
  a false notion that discounts the efforts and resilience of 
  the colonists.
  
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  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  desperate refugees and came under siege by humanoids as the main 
  body of the horde moved south to invade the Northmarches. Fort 
  Relian’s walls shook and some buildings tumbled as the Wizard’s Wall 
  was raised, but the citadel survived and kept countless refugees safe. 
  Desultory attacks by the humanoids continued, but with the banishment 
  of the Scaedugenga, these ﬂ ed to the north and left the fortress battered 
  but intact.
  The fortress became the center of a new settlement, and today is the 
  second most populous town in the Caleen region. Inhabitants are amused 
  at apocryphal stories of how the Conroi Expedition “saved” the fortress 
  and are somewhat annoyed at being referred to as one of the “Conroi 
  Settlements,” but they remain open to visitors and are interested in 
  learning more about the world outside the steppes. Like the other former 
  colonies, Relians are very independent. The current inhabitants are of 
  mixed heritage, with Foerdewaith and Shattered Folk ancestry. 
  Fort Relian remains home to what is still called the Caleen Legion, 
  a small contingent of about 150 veteran warriors, and the garrison 
  commander, ofﬁ cially called the “marshal,” is also the town’s ruler. The 
  current leader, Marshal Nadea Charan, is a tough, no-nonsense woman 
  who lost an eye in a centaur raid several years ago. She rules with stern 
  but fair hand.
  The town itself is made up primarily of a stone keep surrounded by 
  wood and stone buildings, and boasts a temple to all of the local gods 
  (including Thaka and several other Ethtuwate deities), as well as a 
  number of inns and general merchandise stores, a farmer’s market, and 
  a livestock yard where horses, sheep, and goats can be bought and sold.
  IMAR, SETTLEMENT OF
  IMAR, SETTLEMENT OF
  Ruler: Mayor Axel Connor
  Government: mayor and council
  Population: 420 (mostly mixed Foerdewaith-Hundaei)
  Languages: Kirkut (mainly Campacha dialects), Common
  Religion: Ethtuwate, Thyr, Jamboor
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  One of the lost Caleen colonies, and also considered part of the 
  “Conroi Settlements” by outsiders, Imar is unusual in that it retains 
  many very old defensive works that were erected by the old Caleen 
  Legion. A great earth berm set with squat stone towers surrounds the 
  town, making it an especially tough nut for attackers to crack. As a result, 
  Imar has not suffered as many humanoid attacks as other Caleen towns, 
  and some of its buildings are more than 200 years old. Inside the walls, 
  Imar looks actually more like a town of Reme or Foere than a rough 
  frontier settlement. Imar is considered the safest and most beautiful of 
  the Caleen colonies, with several inns, stables, and a large merchant 
  square where folk from all across the area come to trade on market days. 
  Signiﬁ cant temples devoted to Thyr, Muir, and Jamboor can be found 
  here as well, along with a stone council house where Mayor Axel and 
  his advisors meet weekly. A few foreigners live here, mostly Castorhagi 
  traders and members of the Reman diplomatic mission.
  Imar once stood on the shores of the Tabur River, but with the 
  geological shifts that took place with the raising of the Wizard’s Wall, 
  the old riverbed has been turned into orchards and farmlands to produce 
  grains and fruit in sufﬁ cient quantities that they can sometimes be 
  exported to other Caleen towns.
  CHESMIRE, SETTLEMENT OF
  CHESMIRE, SETTLEMENT OF
  Ruler: Elder Sabratha
  Government: village elder
  Population: 115 (mostly mixed Foerdewaith-Hundaei)
  Languages: Kirkut (mainly Campacha dialects), Common
  Religion: Ethtuwate, Thyr, Jamboor
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  A small community of 115 souls, Chesmire is the westernmost of 
  the lost Caleen colonies. Living in relative isolation until its discovery 
  by Gtsang traders in 3360 I.R., Chesmire’s inhabitants had lived a 
  precarious existence, growing just enough food to survive and tending 
  to small herds of goats and sheep. A small amount of trade with Enua 
  and other small villages also took place. The arrival of the Gtsang 
  established relations with the outside world after many years and 
  brought in much-needed goods. The later arrival of the Castorhagi who 
  wished to trade with the Shattered Folk also aided Chesmire and its 
  surrounding settlements.
  Chesmire remains a very small settlement inhabited by the 
  descendants of the original Foerdewaith settlers and Shattered Folk 
  clansfolk. The village consists of a huddle of stone and sod houses 
  surrounded by a wooden palisade. When danger threatens, Chesmire 
  can call up about 60 able-bodied militia to defend it, and older folks tell 
  stories of several ferocious ﬁ ghts with marauding goblins or orcs that 
  were near-run things indeed. The town has few resources save the grains 
  and vegetables that it grows and the goats and sheep that graze in the 
  surrounding grasslands. The current leader is Elder Sabratha, a wizened 
  old woman who claims to be more than 100 years old.
  ENUA, SETTLEMENT OF
  ENUA, SETTLEMENT OF
  Ruler: Father Gedney
  Government: theocracy
  Population: 85 (mostly mixed Foerdewaith-Hundaei)
  Languages: Kirkut (mainly Campacha dialects), Common
  Religion: Ethtuwate, Thyr, Jamboor
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  A tiny village that is home to 85 souls of mixed Foerdewaith and 
  Shattered Folk ancestry, Enua is another of the lost Caleen colonies. 
  Once boasting a population of over a thousand colonists, much of Enua’s 
  population ﬂ ed as the Shadow Horde advanced. Those who remained 
  behind prepared for their fate but were delivered when the horde turned to 
  assault the Crynnomar Gap. Defending itself against an assault by horde-
  allied humanoids, Enua barely survived the onslaught and was again 
  saved by the miraculous banishment of the horde by the rituals of the 
  Asran, though no one in the village knew it. In the following generations, 
  Enua grew smaller still, ﬁ nally stabilizing at its current tiny population.
  Like the nearby settlement of Chesmire, Enua survives on subsistence 
  agriculture and the herding of goats, though a small stream of foreign 
  goods and necessities has begun to arrive thanks to the traders of Gtsang 
  and Castorhage. The village is led by the solemn-faced Father Gedney, 
  a priest of Thyr and Thaka (a situation that the Enuans do not ﬁ nd at all 
  odd, given their long association with the tolerant Shattered Folk).
  OGNARI, LANDS OF THE
  OGNARI, LANDS OF THE
  Capital: Castle of Skulls (?)
  Notable Settlements: None
  Ruler: Ognar the Awful (?)
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 22,500 (21,000 Shattered Folk, 1,500 mountain 
  dwarves)
  Monstrous: goblins, gnolls, orcs, ankhegs, hill giants, ogres, 
  minotaurs, banshees, dire wolves, skeletons, zombies, hell 
  hounds, bugbears, perytons, shadows, wraiths, griffons, 
  harpies, ghosts, nightmares, wyverns, manticores, bulettes, 
  hippogriffs, chimeras, specters, trolls, wights, cockatrices
  Languages: Kirkut (Ognari dialects)
  Religion: none
  Resources: horses, mercenaries
  Currency: barter or miscellaneous coins
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  The Ognari nomads of the eastern steppe are greatly feared, even by 
  the other Shattered Folk. A particularly wicked and violent group, the 
  Ognari engage in the practices of headhunting and even (it is said by 
  their enemies) cannibalism. Nevertheless, these violent nomads also 
  do a booming business as mercenaries, especially with their fellow 
  
  134|
  134|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  Shattered Folk, who can overcome their fear long enough to hire them 
  for especially unpleasant tasks. Today, some outside forces have taken 
  an interest in the Ognari’s services as well.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The nomads of the northern steppes were among the most ferocious 
  of the Great Khan’s opponents in the short but catastrophic Hundaei 
  civil war of 683 I.R. Many of these tribes engaged in excessive 
  brutality and were believed to have fallen under the inﬂ uence of 
  the fell shadow creatures and the madness that dwelled in the Lost 
  Mountains and Lake Hali. Some had even degenerated into little more 
  than violent warrior cults interested only in war and slaughter. These 
  cultists ﬁ led their teeth and tattooed their faces to resemble demons, 
  and some were said to eat the ﬂ esh of fallen enemies while others 
  took their foes’ heads as trophies. Though they suffered severe losses 
  in the war and were scattered in its aftermath, the northern nomads 
  survived as independent warrior bands that stalked the plains hunting 
  both game and their fellow humans.
  This situation persisted for many long generations as chaos and 
  warfare spread, with humanoids and humans struggling for survival. It 
  was not until the 3200s I.R. that a single leader rose and began to reunite 
  the various northern bands.
  The warlord named Ognar appeared to be just another brutal tribal 
  chieftain, but he soon proved to be far more. While vanquishing rival 
  chieftains and absorbing their tribes into his own growing horde, 
  Ognar, who became known (to his enemies at any rate) as Ognar the 
  Awful, took many wounds that would have normally been fatal, yet he 
  always survived, though often with horriﬁ c scars. The source of this 
  invulnerability was unknown, but undoubtedly unnatural.
  Once Ognar subdued all of his rival chieftains, he summoned the 
  conquered bands to a great gathering just south of the Shadowlands. 
  There he gathered a thousand prisoners along with all of the 
  surviving enemy chiefs, and sacriﬁ ced them in a long and bloody 
  ceremony, piling their heads into a great pyramid. Once his gory task 
  was complete, Ognar summoned a band of dark priests of Drethra, 
  who spent an entire night inscribing a magical circle around the 
  great pyramid while the gathered nomads, alternately fascinated or 
  terriﬁ ed, watched in grim anticipation. When the ﬁ rst rays of dawn 
  struck the pyramid, a fearsome transformation began. The victims’ 
  skulls grew in size and stature and the entire mound became a vast, 
  grisly structure. Ognar declared the place his Castle of Skulls and 
  vanished inside.
  Ognar has not been seen since that day, but the Castle of Skulls, 
  which has the power to move about the steppes and is rarely in one place 
  for more than a few days, continues to grow as Ognari warriors and 
  mercenaries bring heads as tribute. These severed heads are absorbed 
  into the castle’s structure, which now towers over the Steppes. As for 
  Ognar, most of the clansfolk believe that he still lives, for periodically a 
  great booming voice issues forth from the castle, though none can truly 
  say it is Ognar himself.
  The Ognari now serve as mercenaries, selling their services to anyone 
  who isn’t squeamish about their violent practices. Fearsome warriors, 
  the Ognari bedeck themselves in the severed heads of their foes and 
  wear masks made to resemble skulls or demons. They are a profane 
  and heretical people who shun the will of the gods and put war and the 
  taking of heads before all other pursuits. They tell fantastical stories 
  about taking the heads of gods, demons, and heroes, and are both feared 
  and reluctantly admired throughout the Haunted Steppes for their 
  martial skill and suicidal bravery. 
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The Ognari claim to worship no gods but instead venerate their 
  ancestors and some of the spirits of the plains, which they call upon 
  for aid in battle. They have no priests or temples, but some Ognari may 
  serve as druids and cast nature-based magic and craft magic items such 
  as rings, spears, and amulets from enemy skulls to provide protection 
  and prowess in battle.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The Ognari have no major trade routes, and mercantilism is not a 
  large part of their culture. Some other clans of the Shattered Folk do 
  visit Ognari territory to sell them foodstuffs and supplies, but the Ognari 
  never offer anything save gold in return. Between raids, buying foreign 
  goods, and tending their own herds and crops, the Ognari manage 
  to take care of their basic needs. Their primary source of income is 
  through service as mercenaries and though most folk of the Shattered 
  Lands outwardly abhor the headhunters and their barbaric practices, few 
  clans are so selective that they won’t hire a few of them if needed, for a 
  variety of reasons such as holding or claiming territory to ridding their 
  lands of pesky raiding humanoids. For their part, the Ognari are not 
  terribly picky either and serve any employers who can pay their price.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The Ognari shun diplomacy and maintain no relations with any 
  outside kingdom or clan. They are highly suspicious and even hostile 
  toward strangers in their lands, unless the stranger carries a blue banner 
  to signify the intention to sell goods or negotiate with the Ognari for 
  their services as sellswords. Otherwise, the Ognari stick strictly to 
  themselves, though in times of shortage they raid neighboring clans for 
  food, livestock, and other necessities. These raids satisfy the Ognari’s 
  cultural need for battle and heads, as do conﬂ icts with the orc, goblin, 
  and ogre tribes of the region. Though they reject many of the old 
  Hundaei values, the Ognari oddly enough still maintain the old truce 
  with the gnolls and generally the two groups avoid each other.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Though technically a confederacy of numerous warrior bands and 
  clans under the leadership of a single Great Khan, the Ognari are always 
  simply called “the Ognari,” and everyone on the steppes knows what 
  that means. 
  The Ognari have little in the way of a formal government structure. 
  Each of the various groups that makes up the Ognari has its own 
  traditions, decorations, weapons, clothing, and armor, but as time has 
  gone by, these various groups have evolved into essentially warrior 
  societies within the greater Ognari clan. Each is led by its own chieftain 
  and generally sees to its own needs while cooperating with the other 
  societies. Chaotic and insular, the Ognari seem to function together out 
  of mutual need and cultural identity.
  Though no one has seen him in decades, the Great Khan Ognari (he 
  is the only leader on the steppes who has the temerity to have adopted 
  the old title) rules from his mobile Castle of Skulls which has over the 
  years grown to be truly enormous. It creeps at a walking pace around 
  the Haunted Steppe, sometimes in the foothills of the Stonehearts, 
  sometimes at the edge of the Gods’ Ride Basin, other times on the very 
  edge of the cursed Shadowlands. Occasionally a great voice booms from 
  the castle and issues orders to the Ognari, imparts wisdom, or simply 
  babbles incomprehensibly. Tradition and true fear of the Great Khan 
  and what he has become keep the Ognari coming to the castle to present 
  their tribute in the form of heads before they depart, often quickly.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The Ognari military is one of the most feared and dangerous in all the 
  steppes. Their numbers do not compare to the more numerous Elitan-
  i-pan and Campacha, but they make up for this deﬁ ciency in expertise 
  and ferocity. Each of the Ognari’s component warband/societies has 
  a different style of ﬁ ghting, along with different armor, weapons, and 
  decorations, including tattoos, ﬁ led teeth, facial scarring, and other 
  unique features. Currently, about a dozen different bands are among the 
  Ognari and number from a few hundred to a thousand. All ﬁ ght mounted 
  on their ﬁ erce steppe horses, but some specialize in lance combat, others 
  in mounted archery or close-quarters sword ﬁ ghting, and so on. 
  Ognari are best known as mercenaries, usually in service to other 
  clans of the Shattered Folk. Clients can hire anywhere from a score or so 
  of warriors to an entire warband. Theoretically, the entire Ognari nation 
  
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  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  is available for hire but so far no one has met the headhunters’ steep 
  price for such services. As contacts with the Castorhagi, Remans, and 
  Foerdewaith expand, the Ognari’s reputation has spread, leading some 
  foreigners to approach the nomads seeking their services. So far, only 
  a few hundred Ognari serve as guards or raiders in other lands, but that 
  number may be growing.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The Ognari experience the same threats as the other steppe folk — 
  marauding humanoids and wandering undead created by the many 
  magical catastrophes that racked the region, demons that appear from 
  random rifts, and gates and even shadow creatures that emerge from the 
  Shadowlands to the north. The Ognari are generally secure from other 
  steppe tribes who avoid them due to their ferocious reputation. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  The Ognari themselves present a major challenge to adventurers in 
  the region, for they are quite hostile to those who do not bear the proper 
  blue banner that signiﬁ es a desire to trade with or hire the Ognari as 
  mercenaries. The Ognari are quite merciless with such outsiders, seeing 
  them as an opportunity to hone their martial skills and, of course, to 
  take heads.
  Besides hiring the Ognari, not many good reasons exist for visiting 
  their section of the plains, but a few still make the attempt and make their 
  way to the haunted ruins of Tay’chul or seek out the legendary Castle 
  of Skulls as it moves across the plains of its own volition, seemingly 
  at random. This last is particularly anathema to the Ognari, who hold 
  their sacred ruler in high esteem and believe that he still lives, ruling his 
  people from his morbid fortress. To date, no one — including the Ognari 
  themselves — has seen the interior of the Castle of Skulls and lived.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: LOST LORE: THE HEADHUNTER
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  INTEREST IN THE HAUNTED STEPPES
   BITTERWOOD
   BITTERWOOD
  Rising from the shores of the icy northern ocean, the Bitterwood 
  is a tangled mass of wind-tortured surf pines and tough undergrowth. 
  Very little lives in the Bitterwood due to its inhospitability, but some 
  particularly hardy birds nest among its trees. The wood is also a poor 
  source of timber, for the trees are small and twisted, contorted by wind 
  and cold. Some claim that trolls live among the tangled branches and 
  point to a number of mysterious disappearances of humans and horses 
  nearby, but this assertion has never been proven.
  CALE’S DOOM
  CALE’S DOOM
  The Grand Duke Cale is a legend among the peoples of Reme and 
  Foere — the noble prince who renounced the throne to prevent civil war 
  then presided over one of the nation’s greatest adventures. That the Great 
  Colonization ended in horror and disaster seems to only add to Cale’s 
  reputation, for he died heroically in battle at the head of his troops, 
  desperately striving to stem the tide of shadow and save the kingdom.
  This bleak and weathered spot on the Haunted Steppes is considered 
  ill-omened by the Shattered Folk, for it is where the Caleen Legion and 
  Grand Duke Prince Cale fell, consumed by the Shadow Horde. It is said 
  that ghosts wander the land, still reﬁ ghting the battle, and that sometimes 
  disembodied spirits driven mad by centuries of woe fall upon the living, 
  driven by envy and rage. The truth of these stories isn’t certain, for the 
  Campacha and the Caleen avoid the place with superstitious zeal. It is 
  known that creatures of shadow have sometimes been seen here, and that 
  at least one party of eager young treasure hunters never returned. This 
  has not quieted rumors that magic weapons, armor, and other plunder 
  might be found here, but so far few have had the courage to brave the 
  curse of Cale’s Doom and search.
  CLIFFS OF ODRAN-HI-NIM (THE END OF LIGHT)
  CLIFFS OF ODRAN-HI-NIM (THE END OF LIGHT)
  These precipitous cliffs, visited only by lonely seabirds, extend from 
  the northern portions of the Haunted Steppes to the uttermost north and 
  form the western edge of the Nam-i-Budhani Mountains. The sun is 
  never bright here, and many days it never rises at all or fails to break the 
  dismal cloud cover. Far beyond the freezing iceberg-laden waters here 
  lies the mysterious realm known only in whispers as the Ebon Shroud.
  CRYNNOMAR GAP
  CRYNNOMAR GAP
  See “Geographic Features and Points of Interest the Northmarches” 
  in “The Lands of Reme.”
  DEVIL’S TAIL
  DEVIL’S TAIL
  The Icetongue empties into this great gulf at the northwest corner 
  of the Haunted Steppes. Unlike the river, the Devil’s Tail gulf is not 
  considered especially ill-omened and is home to pods of whales and 
  orca, as well as herds of seals, sea lions, and walruses. Legends speak 
  of an enormous sea-turtle called the Father of Waters (or Kalam-eth-nar 
  in Kirkut), who aids lost sailors and sometimes grants prophetic visions. 
  The Castorhagi ﬁ rst made landfall here before meeting the Elitani clans 
  in 3262 I.R.
  ELDER FOREST
  ELDER FOREST
  The forests of the Haunted Steppes are small and isolated. Some 
  legends among the Shattered Folk claim that they were once far more 
  extensive, but that they dwindled when the Stoneheart Mountains rose 
  and cut the steppes off from the rest of the world. The Elder Forest 
  is said to be one last remnant of the old woodlands. Stories tell of a 
  hidden palace that is still inhabited by the beings who once controlled 
  the woods (possibly high elves, deva, or other mystical beings) and that 
  ordinary mortals will be struck dead or at least driven to madness if 
  they set eyes on the palace and its unearthly beauty. Those few, brave 
  Shattered Folk who have ventured to the edge of the woods report 
  strange sylvan or aberrant creatures such as unicorns, owlbears, and fey 
  of all sorts dwelling there.
  ELITANI COAST
  ELITANI COAST
  So named by the Castorhagi traders who have been coming here since 
  the late 3200s I.R., the western edge of the Akados continent is a place of 
  cold, uneasy seas and beaches of shingle or rough sand with little in the way 
  of anchorages or sheltered bays. Nonetheless, the Castorhagi managed to 
  carve out two rugged settlements at Ports Kinsal in the north and Mandei in 
  the south. The Elitani-i-pan clans tend to avoid the seashore, ﬁ nding little of 
  beneﬁ t there, and leave the area mostly to the Castorhagi. 
  ETHTUWATE-CALA-TUN (GODS’ RIDE RIVER)
  ETHTUWATE-CALA-TUN (GODS’ RIDE RIVER)
  This extensive river and its tributaries once formed a fertile network 
  of rich grazing and farming lands and gave birth to the great Hundaei 
  culture. The Shattered Folk’s legends hold that long ago an evil god raised 
  the Stoneheart Mountains to punish the people and cut them off from the 
  rest of the continent, and after that the river lands grew more arid and 
  less productive. Today, while the Gods’ Ride remains a central feature 
  of the Haunted Steppes, its ﬂ ow is not as great or as easily predictable 
  as in the past. Its lands remain ideal for grazing, but occasional droughts 
  can cause deprivation, and some of its various tributaries are seasonal, 
  dwindling to muddy trickles in dry seasons before swelling to ﬂ oods 
  when the rains come. The Elitan-i-pan Confederacy controls much 
  of the western portion of the river basin and have begun to construct 
  permanent or semi-permanent settlements in tentative steps from a 
  nomadic culture to a more settled economy.
  GHOST RIVER
  GHOST RIVER
  Once the Tabur River ﬂ owed through this region along the northern 
  edge of the Deepfells. The old Foerdewaith settlers built the Caleen 
  colonies here using the river for irrigation and travel. The creation of 
  
  136|
  136|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  the Wizard’s Wall changed all that by permanently diverting the route 
  of the Tabur and leaving its old river valley dry. The Caleen colonies, 
  which in Foere were believed destroyed by the Shadow Horde, survived 
  the disaster and managed to scrape by in the aftermath. The dry riverbed 
  was nevertheless rich agricultural land, and today runoff from the 
  Deepfells keeps the region irrigated and allows for the maintenance of 
  modest farms. Many of these are subsistence operations that can feed 
  only individual homes or communities, but some surplus is produced, 
  which is sold to the Campacha nomads who come here to trade.
  ICETONGUE RIVER
  ICETONGUE RIVER
  This river system drains from the lower slopes of the Nam-i-Budhani 
  (or Lost) Mountains. Its waters are considered cursed (with good reason, 
  given that the Lost Mountains have on several occasions produced both 
  humanoid invaders and shadow horrors that threatened to conquer the 
  Steppes). The Shattered Folk never travel through this area, though 
  young warriors are often sent to test their manhood in this region as 
  their coming-of-age ceremonies. Many never return, and those who do 
  are forbidden to speak of their experiences.
  KALIST�KA RIVER
  KALIST�KA RIVER
  This narrow, swift river ﬂ ows through a treacherous gorge to join the 
  God’s Ride River just south of the Zuxaca Canyon. Some travelers have 
  reported that the canyon walls are covered in small caves or holes that 
  harbor dangerous worm-like creatures. Some speculate that these might 
  be the larval stages of some species of giant insect, but the distance and 
  isolation of the region prevents further study.
  KILLING GROUND
  KILLING GROUND
  The region south of the Lost Mountains was once home to several 
  Hundaei clans. Their proximity to the forbidden regions, including Lake 
  Hali and the Shadowlands to the north, sometimes affected their lives and 
  spawned strange creatures or induced madness in those who ventured too 
  close, but for the most part these were just more of the normal challenges 
  faced by the nomads in those days. All of that changed around –450 I.R. 
  when the ﬁ rst incursion of shadow swept out of the north and corrupted 
  some clans and destroyed many others. The shadows themselves killed 
  and corrupted many, but most deaths were a result of clans turning on each 
  other (and on themselves) in a maddened blood-frenzy. Legend holds that 
  the grounds are so thick with the skulls of the dead that a traveler can walk 
  for miles without ever touching earth. Among the Shattered Folk, the area 
  is strictly taboo and even approaching the Killing Ground merits severe 
  punishment. Undead in many forms lurk here, along with murderous 
  remnants of the Shadow and (it is said) the shambling remains of the old 
  corrupted Hundaei tribes, known as the Fallen Ones.
  LAKE HALI
  LAKE HALI
  The Shattered Folk of the Haunted Steppes regard Lake Hali with 
  deep (and fully justiﬁ ed) superstitious dread. Not only is its very 
  material substance cursed so that those who even view the place are 
  said to go mad, but the lake was also central to the two great incursions 
  of shadow that ravaged the steppes over the past millennia. Something 
  dwells there, the priests and seers say — something utterly inimical to 
  humanity and all other mortal creatures. Exactly who, or what, dwells 
  in the lake is not known, and is certainly never spoken of save in the 
  darkest of whispers.
  The lake’s proximity is blamed for the birth of the Fallen Ones — 
  Hundaei clans that were corrupted by its strange energies and drawn into 
  the terrible Shadow Horde. None of this mattered to the Foerdewaith 
  settlers who ventured into the region during the Great Colonization, and 
  their subsequent construction and exploration around the lake and in 
  the Lost Mountains beyond disturbed something that responded with a 
  wave of madness and horror. The second coming of the Shadow Horde is 
  believed to be directly related to the colonists’ settlement of the Lake Hali 
  region, but some believe that whatever lives there was entirely distinct 
  from the Scaedugenga. The shadows, they suggest, were merely a side 
  effect and the real danger remains hidden, lurking and biding its time.
  Few records exist of the Foerdewaith exploration, but several accounts 
  claim that the ruins of at least three cities of some apparent advancement 
  lie near the shores of these dark lake waters that cast no reﬂ ections. Who 
  or what built them is a mystery, if they in fact exist. Even darker rumors 
  claim that strange artifacts have been discovered in these settlements, 
  and that some of them may actually have been brought south to Reme or 
  nearby kingdoms, but so far there has been little evidence of this.
  MIRANDA-TUN (NORTHSTAR RIVER)
  MIRANDA-TUN (NORTHSTAR RIVER)
  A prominent tributary of the Ethtuwate-cala-tun basin, the Miranda-
  Tun ﬂ ows south from the Lost Mountains across the northern plains 
  before joining the main river east of the Everfar Hills. Though the river 
  has a somewhat dark reputation due to its origin, many generations of 
  Shattered Folk and Hundaei before them have watered their horses in 
  the Miranda-Tun without incident.
  NAM-I-BUDHANI (LOST MOUNTAINS)
  NAM-I-BUDHANI (LOST MOUNTAINS)
  These bleak, eternally snow-covered crags located between the 
  cursed Lake Hali and the fearsome Shadowlands are the northernmost 
  mountains in all of Akados and have a dire, ominous reputation among 
  the Shattered Folk. Known to be riddled with caverns and tunnels and 
  crawling with savage humanoid tribes, the Lost Mountains are also 
  rumored to contain gateways to the realm of shadow from whence came 
  the terrible Scaedugenga. The humanoids — goblins, kobolds, orcs, 
  hobgoblins, and others — seem to fall under the shadow’s inﬂ uence quite 
  easily and have on at least two occasions swept out of the mountains 
  in a seemingly irresistible ﬂ ood to ravage the steppes in the name of 
  their masters. Today, the mountains are forbidden by strict taboo, though 
  many think it is only a matter of time before the wards set by the old 
  Asran guardians weaken and allow the Shadow to emerge again.
  PAN-NI-RIKAM-PO (THE CURSED RUINS OF STONE)
  PAN-NI-RIKAM-PO (THE CURSED RUINS OF STONE)
  The Hundaei were not well known as city-builders, but here in the 
  middle of the endless steppelands, the Great Khan Jaganga built a 
  permanent settlement of stone where he and his people could live, and 
  where the other clans could come to meet and trade. In those days it was 
  called Kolo-ba-thun, which means “Home of the Great Ones” in Kirkut. 
  This capital city thrived for many generations, outlasting Jaganga 
  himself. Completely destroyed in the Hundaei civil war of 681–683 
  I.R., the place was renamed Pan-ni-Rikam-Po (Cursed Ruin of Stone) 
  and now exists as an abandoned ruin inhabited only by wild beasts and 
  the restless dead. 
  The wreckage of the capital remains taboo to all Shattered Folk tribes, 
  and none will enter its borders on pain of death. Only once was this taboo 
  broken, by the young warrior Tahtona when he followed the guidance of 
  the soothsayers and condemned himself to death by entering the ruins. 
  He returned to lead his people to victory over their foes, but perished in 
  the battle, thus fulﬁ lling his destiny and maintaining the sacred taboo.
  PIN-I-PINJHAMI (EVERFAR HILLS)
  PIN-I-PINJHAMI (EVERFAR HILLS)
  These highlands between the Tabur and Gods’ Ride rivers are the 
  highest prominences in the Haunted Steppes. They are avoided by the 
  nomadic Shattered Folk who dislike hills and places that interfere with 
  free movement, leaving them to various quarrelsome gnoll, hill giant, 
  and kobold tribes. 
  ROAD OF SORROWS
  ROAD OF SORROWS
  No longer a true road, this region was the path that was followed by 
  the original Caleen settlers as they traveled northwest along the foot of 
  the Deepfells, founding villages and forts as they went. It is also the path 
  followed by a branch of the Shadow Horde as it advanced, destroying 
  as it went. The northwestern end of the path is considered especially 
  unlucky and is avoided by the Caleen and the Shattered Folk, for 
  lingering bits of shadow and undead of all kinds have been encountered 
  there among the ruins of burned-out and slaughtered settlements.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |137
  THE HAUNTED STEPPES
  SHADOWFELL LAKE
  SHADOWFELL LAKE
  The raising of the Wizard’s Wall in 2947 I.R. shifted the geography of 
  the entire region. Rivers changed their course or dried up, valleys became 
  plains, even the mountains of the Deepfells shuddered and in places 
  crumbled. The great Wanaheeli River that once ﬂ owed along the northern 
  edge of the Deepfells was diverted, leaving behind a great lake at the 
  northern base of the Wizard’s Wall. Shadowfell Lake remains today, and the 
  passing of the centuries has transformed it into a far more natural formation, 
  with gentle shores and cold deeps. At some unknown time in the past, some 
  enterprising Caleen colonists seeded it with ﬁ sh, so various species of chad, 
  trout, pupﬁ sh, and bass can be found in the lake. The Caleen sometimes 
  venture here to ﬁ sh, but the Shattered Folk generally shun such activities. 
  Despite its dire sorcery-ridden birth and its ominous moniker, 
  Shadowfell Lake is a surprisingly peaceful and pleasant place. The 
  Wizard’s Wall rises to the south while stands of birch and elm have 
  sprung up along its edge, with hazel, buckthorn, and wild roses growing 
  beneath. Bear, puma, and wolves hunt along its shores. Though giants 
  or hobgoblins from the Deepfells or gnolls and goblins from the plains 
  may sometimes be encountered here, Shadowfell Lake is one of the 
  most sedate places in all the Haunted Steppes.
  SHADOWLANDS
  SHADOWLANDS
  This bleak, barren land lies at the northernmost end of Akados 
  between the Stonehearts and the Lost Mountains. No one has explored 
  this region, which is known to be home to the Scaedugenga shadow-
  walkers who have led humanoid hordes to invade the southern lands on 
  numerous occasions. No one truly knows who or what the Scaedugenga 
  are, nor what truly lies in the heart of the Shadowlands, though some 
  dark and ancient rumors speak of something called the Ebon Shroud 
  that lies beyond them.
  SONCALA-TUN (HORSE LORD RIVER)
  SONCALA-TUN (HORSE LORD RIVER)
  This major tributary of the Ethtuwater-cala-Tun is large enough that it 
  continues to ﬂ ow year-round, though in the dry season it tends to slow 
  to a thin trickle. The Shattered Folk water their horses here and also 
  harvest clay from the red earth along its banks. Trolls are sometimes 
  encountered near the river when they come here to catch ﬁ sh.
  TABUR BAY
  TABUR BAY
  The great inlet that forms the mouth of the Tabur River was explored 
  by Gtsang traders centuries ago, but never settled. Today it hosts one of 
  the few permanent settlements in the steppes, the Castorhagi trade city 
  of Port Mandei.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE BLIGHT
  TABUR RIVER
  TABUR RIVER
  This river of the southern steppes once joined what is now the 
  Wanaheeli River where it descends from the Deepfells at North Pass. 
  However, the continental subsidence caused by the creation of the 
  Wizard’s Wall altered the course of the river so that one of its tributaries 
  in the western Deepfells became its primary headwaters, and all 
  connection with the Wanaheeli waters was lost. Now it ﬂ ows directly 
  from the new headwaters into Tabur Bay.
  TANGJAN COLLEGE
  TANGJAN COLLEGE
  Decades ago, the Gtsang scholar Tiblu Ottika braved the dangers of 
  the Haunted Steppes and had a vision of a great institution of learning 
  located in one of the most isolated places in all of Akados — the vast 
  Campacha Plains. Though many thought him mad (at that point he was 
  not), Tiblu overcame many obstacles to establish his institution, making 
  friends with the bewildered Campacha and attracting hardy scholars 
  who survived the difﬁ cult journey to the newly-founded Tangjan 
  College. For a decade the place thrived, until Tiblu — who had grown 
  increasingly irrational — abruptly closed the place. Tiblu’s friends and 
  family abandoned him and a few years later a horde of strange chaotic 
  creatures emerged from the disintegrating buildings to devastate the 
  surrounding Campacha lands, only to be defeated by the Campacha 
  wizard Tunicamna and his band of veteran warriors. Today, the college 
  still stands abandoned on the plains, haunted by madness and the protean 
  creatures of chaos.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: FIELDS OF BLOOD
  TAV’CHUL (THE FIVE PILLARS)
  TAV’CHUL (THE FIVE PILLARS)
  In the midst of the cold northern plains, near the territory of the feared 
  Ognari headhunters, stands a circle of ﬁ ve ancient pillars inscribed 
  with runic symbols that no scholar has yet to decipher. This part of 
  the steppes is especially hazardous, for in addition to the Ognari (who 
  dislike outsiders who are not here speciﬁ cally to do business with 
  them), several orcish tribes lay claim to the area, and rumors persist that 
  Scaedugenga shadow-creatures have been encountered near (or even 
  within the conﬁ nes of) the Five Pillars.
  Who built the pillars, what they are for, and how they got to this place 
  remain unsolved mysteries. When the Ognari can be persuaded to talk, 
  they claim that the pillars date back to the ancient days of the plains, 
  when they were used for the worship of the demon-god Ocru-Ca, who 
  they believe raised the Stoneheart Mountains to isolate the steppes. 
  With proper inducement, they may conﬁ de that the pillars are only the 
  upper works of a vast network of underground passages that may or 
  may not still harbor traces of the old magic, or evil artifacts used in 
  sacriﬁ cial ceremonies. Whether this is true or not isn’t known — the 
  Ognari do take great pleasure in deceiving foreigners — and so far, no 
  one is believed to have actually explored the pillars or determined what 
  lies beneath them.
  WANAHEELI RIVER
  WANAHEELI RIVER
  The raising of the Wizard’s Wall caused massive shifts in local 
  geography and essentially split the old Tabur River in two. The western 
  branch remained and reformed around a tributary in the northern 
  Deepfells, while the eastern half continued to ﬂ ow from the Stonehearts 
  but ended at the new Shadowfell Lake. Renamed the Wanaheeli River 
  for a local chieftain who survived the catastrophe, the river continues to 
  ﬂ ow today, pouring down from its old headwaters.
  The Wanaheeli is shallow but wide and quite wild, to the extent that 
  wooden bridges don’t normally last for more than a few years before 
  collapsing or being swept away by spring ﬂ oods. A few stone bridges 
  span the river in places, but these are rare, and some were originally 
  built by Foerdewaith colonists and remain today due to maintenance by 
  the Campacha or the Caleen.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: FIELDS OF BLOOD
  WORGWOODS
  WORGWOODS
  Forests are rare in the Haunted Steppes, and those that do exist are thick, 
  tangled, and hardy. The Worgwoods of the eastern steppes are typical, 
  with old gnarled evergreens protecting a handful of open meadows and 
  vales in the woodlands’ heart. The region is named for the giant lupine 
  predators that lair here and hunt the surrounding grasslands. The orcish 
  tribes of the steppe breed their own black-furred worgs as riding beasts 
  but sometimes venture here to hunt or capture new breeding stock.
  ZUXACA CANYON
  ZUXACA CANYON
  This extensive canyon system lies along the northern reaches of the 
  Gods’ Ride River. It is avoided by the Campacha, who consider it to 
  be under the inﬂ uence of the demigod of madness, Zuxaca the Serpent 
  Trickster. It is true that there appear to be an unnatural number of 
  serpents in the canyon, slithering through thickets of oak and scrub. The 
  area is known to be infested with monsters of all sorts in fact, from giant 
  spiders and insects to trolls, ankheg, shambling mounds, and similarly 
  dangerous creatures. Legend holds that a secret temple to the Serpent 
  Trickster is hidden somewhere in the canyon, but to this day no serious 
  exploration of the canyon has been attempted.
  
  138|
  138|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE LANDS OF REME
  REME, GRAND DUCHY OF 
  REME, GRAND DUCHY OF 
  (DUCAL LANDS)
  (DUCAL LANDS)
  Capital: City of Reme
  Ruler: His Far-Reaching Presence Iltobarus, Grand Duke 
  (Kirkut: Great Khan) of Reme, Wave-Rider of the Crescent Sea 
  and Wind-Rider of the Marches
  Government: monarchy with a Loreclannic-feudal organization
  Population:  4,341,000 (including only grand ducal lands) 
  (2,186,200 Loreclannic, 1,738,500 Foerdewaith, 162,400 
  halﬂ ing, 71,100 mountain dwarf, 66,500 hill dwarf, 59,500 
  gnome, 31,400 half-elf, 17,300 high elf, 7,300 half-orc; 800 
  other)
  Monstrous: hobgoblins and orcs (Deepfells), goblins, orcs, trolls, 
  rocs and green dragons (Green Mountains and Quail Valley), 
  dire hyenas and gnolls (Westwood and the Endless Hills), 
  creatures of shadow (Haunted Wood), orcs (Ashen Hills), 
  kobolds (High Downs), sabosan, greenskin orcs and ettins 
  (Whiterush River region)
  Languages: Common, Rhemish, Kirkut, Elven
  Religion: Solanus, Dame Torren, Mithras (city); Archeillus, 
  Sefagreth, Vanitthu, Belon the Wise, Muir, Thyr; Kamien, 
  Freya, Telophus, Ceres (countryside)
  Resources: wine, baleen oil, grain, lumber, salt, trade
  Currency: Rhemish
  Technology Level: Renaissance (City of Reme), Medieval 
  (cities), High Middle Ages (rural areas)
  The Grand Duchy of Reme is a vast realm: a network of well-settled 
  river valleys running through enormous areas of almost-uncharted 
  wilderness. To the west, Reme’s territory extends to the Deepfell 
  Mountains and the forbidden Green Realm of the wild elves. To the east, 
  it reaches to the town of Fareme near the western edge of the Stoneheart 
  Valley. Its northern border is the Wizard’s Wall across the Crynnomar 
  Gap, and to the south, the realm extends to the Whiterush River. The 
  land borders of Reme do not tell the whole story, however, for Reme 
  is also a seafaring nation, one of the most signiﬁ cant in the world. The 
  grand duke has no colonial aspirations, but the nation has been focused 
  on dominating trade on the Crescent Sea for centuries, and Rhemish 
  ships venture throughout the known world from the city’s great port.
  In overall size, the Grand Duchy of Reme rivals the entire holdings of 
  the overking of Foere and exceeds that of the actual Kingdom of Foere by 
  quite a bit. However, most of Reme remains wild, inhabited by nomadic 
  tribal clans known as Loreclans rather than agrarian settlements.  With 
  the exception of river valleys, Reme is almost entirely a vast grassland 
  prairie, poorly suited to farming. The Frontier in the northwest is only 
  nominally under the jurisdiction of the Northmarches, for the reach of 
  the duchess at Ironfell only barely extends into this region. In the west, 
  permanent agricultural settlements have only recently begun to form in 
  the Windreft following the resolution of civil wars that have ravaged 
  the Westmarch for the last several decades. The civilization of Reme is 
  powerful, but the settled population is widely scattered in pockets and 
  along the great rivers.
  Given the uneven settlement and great distances within the wild 
  territories of the Reme, the grand duchy has evolved into a number of 
  marches providing for more local administration.  Today, these are the 
  Westmarch, the Northmarches and Waymarch, in addition to the central 
  lands which are held directly by the grand duke. The origin of power 
  of the dukes of Reme are as Loreclannic chiefs, and their authority, 
  developed over the course of millennia, extends to ancient Loreclannic 
  boundaries rather than feudal grants of the land itself. The distinction 
  between Reme’s Loreclannic traditions and Foere’s feudal law is 
  nuanced, but it is a key factor in understanding the history and the nature 
  of the Rhemish people.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Reme is dominated by its various Loreclans: a social collective akin 
  to that of a tribe but more complex in terms of internal organization. 
  Loreclans usually have between 500 and 1,000 members, but there are 
  smaller Loreclans that have fallen upon hard times over the years and the 
  urban Loreclans in and around the city of Reme can number as many as 
  5,000. Across the vast Sea of Grass dominating Reme’s central plains, vast 
  differences exist between the cultures of the various Loreclans, with all 
  of them respect an overarching tradition governing the rights of all of the 
  Loreclans but with each clan having its own unique customs and practices.
  Most Loreclans are led by a “baron,” a word imported from the 
  Hyperborean/Common tongue that in Rhemish is usually the word 
  “tarkhan.” Both titles are used throughout the lands of Reme. There 
  is no permanent level of nobility between the barons/tarkhans and the 
  dukes (or khans), which leaves a vast gap for any kind of administration 
  of collective Loreclan traditions or interclan justice, or the mediation of 
  interclan disputes. 
  This gap is usually ﬁ lled by those appointed to the role of “pashtar,” 
  a temporary title for an individual who acts in the nature of an attorney, 
  mediator, ambassador, or temporary chieftain for more than one 
  Loreclan at one time, usually for a single purpose. Most of the Loreclan 
  representatives at the ducal courts are pashtars given temporary 
  authority by a group of barons to speak for their collective Loreclans. 
  Anyone designated as a pashtar has an absolute right to the hospitality 
  of tribes along the journey to a court — they are sacrosanct when acting 
  in the capacity of pashtar.
  PRE-HYPERBOREAN PERIOD
  PRE-HYPERBOREAN PERIOD
  Pre-Hyperborean Rhemish history comes to us from the varied oral 
  traditions of the Loreclans, although most of the commonly-told stories 
  have been put to writing, expanded upon, and even turned into scripts 
  for plays in the famed Rhemish theaters. At least as far back as such 
  tales go, the original inhabitants of the Rhemish plains were nomadic 
  and divided into numerous Loreclans, some of which no longer exist 
  because they were destroyed in battle, merged with other Loreclans or, 
  in some cases, simply vanished from the tales. 
  HYPERBOREAN ERA
  HYPERBOREAN ERA
  The city of Reme was founded under the name of Remenos by 
  Polemarch Oerson in the earliest years of the Hyperborean conquest 
  of Akados, and since that time the lands of Reme have largely been 
  governed from that city. Boasting an excellent natural harbor and central 
  location on trade routes, Remenos quickly became the premier port on 
  the Crescent Sea, and the lands under its sway expanded to the west 
  and east. For many years, any expansion north was held in check by the 
  wild elves of the Green Realm, whose domain then extended to forests 
  north of the High Downs. Then in the early Eighth Century I.R., war-
  bands from humanoid tribes in the Great Steppes poured through the 
  Crynnomar Gap to make war on the elves. Fearing that the humanoids 
  if not stopped would threaten their homelands farther to the west in the 
  Green Realm, in 712 I.R. the elves moved up to the Crynnomar Gap to 
  make it their line of defense, emptying their lands further south. Noting 
  the withdrawal of the elves, the military governor of Remenos took the 
  opportunity to move into the forests north of the High Downs. When 
  the elves ﬁ nally beat back the humanoids and returned from the gap 
  in 725 I.R., they found Hyperborean legions entrenched and loggers 
  clearcutting their former forest homes. Already disorganized and 
  depleted after their war with the humanoids, the wild elves lacked the 
  will for further battle and withdrew west deeper into the Green Realm, 
  leaving Remenos in possession of the northern lands all the way to the 
  Crynnomar Gap.
  THE LANDS OF REME
  THE LANDS OF REME
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|139
  THE LANDS OF REME
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|139
  |139
  GRAND DUCHY OF REME AND ENVIRONS
  GRAND DUCHY OF REME AND ENVIRONS
  
  140|
  140|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE LANDS OF REME
  Hundreds of years of peace followed the withdrawal of the wild elves 
  as Reme consolidated its hold on the lands south of the Crynnomar 
  Gap. Then in 1548 I.R., hobgoblins raiding parties from the Deepfell 
  Mountains fell upon the northern fringes of Reme. Survivors reported 
  a new hobgoblin kingdom had arisen among the clans of Dragonbone 
  Peak, which was led by a seemingly unbeatable warlord. The armies of 
  the Northmarches were staggered by the onslaught, and by 1557 I.R. had 
  fallen to the hobgoblin hordes. Everything north of the High Downs was 
  claimed by the hobgoblin kingdom of the Deepfells. Reme set a defensive 
  line between the High Downs and the Green Mountains. Several years 
  later, a group of adventurers inﬁ ltrated Dragonbone Peak and discovered 
  that the warlord of the hobgoblins was in fact the demigod Kakobovia.
  In 1571 I.R., an army of Deepfell hobgoblins and allied orcs invaded 
  Arcady in the Feirgotha Plateau in the midst of the Stoneheart Mountains, 
  only to be destroyed in a magical attack the following year. Kakobovia 
  survived, however, and gathered the remaining forces of Dragonbone to 
  launch an all-out attack on the High Downs. At the Battle of Ironhill, the 
  hobgoblin army was lured into a trap and destroyed by forces of Reme. 
  Grand Duke Borell I of Reme himself led the army and is said to have 
  personally banished Kakobovia from the Material Plane.
  Rhemish nomads and settlers ﬂ ooded back into the Northmarches after 
  the Battle of Ironhill, harrying and destroying any remaining outposts of 
  the hobgoblin horde, and quickly re-established their dominion over the 
  homelands from which they had retreated.
  For nearly a millennium, the lands of Reme remained largely 
  unthreatened, a prosperous though thinly populated region of the empire.  
  In 2496 I.R., the Hyperborean capital of Curgantium was destroyed in 
  a wildﬁ re that spread and burned the Plains of Suilley and Matagost 
  Forest. Three years later, the imperial capital moved to Tircople in 
  Libynos, and the Hyperboreans abandoned their western empire. The 
  harmost of Reme, Barthorios Deciandos, was ordered to march to 
  Libynos with his legions, along with the dependent harmost of Panetoth.
  Deciandos, who had spent the majority of his life in Reme and 
  was in fact half-Rhemish, was disinclined to leave. He consulted 
  with the Loreclannic dukes and the harmost of Panetoth and with the 
  high priests and priestesses of Dame Torren, Mithras, and Solanus 
  in a series of counsels known today as the Council of Deciandos. 
  Deciandos argued that Hyperborean withdrawal from the region 
  would cause tremendous upheaval, and that if it was necessary for the 
  Hyperboreans to withdraw then something needed to be done to ﬁ ll 
  the ensuing power vacuum. At the end of the Council of Deciandos, 
  the decision was made that the harmosts would resign their posts, and 
  that Deciandos would be acclaimed grand duke in his own right by the 
  Loreclans, accepting a sovereign position over Reme. In the end, only 
  a very few of the Hyperboreans in Reme actually departed for the east, 
  as the majority of the Hyperborean power structure simply changed 
  its name — from the service of the imperator to the service of the 
  grand duke. To reﬂ ect the new order, the name of the capital city was 
  changed from Remenos (its Hyperborean name) to Reme
  FOERDEWAITH ERA
  FOERDEWAITH ERA
  This period of independence barely lasted 200 years. In the early part 
  of the 28th Century I.R., envoys of Macobert, king of Foere, came to 
  Reme with a proposition: swear fealty or prepare for war.  The canny 
  Grand Duke Altharus III, recognizing the beneﬁ ts that would come from 
  allying with Macobert as well as the importance to Foere of a secure 
  harbor on the Crescent Sea, sent diplomats to negotiate a favorable 
  treaty. And a favorable treaty he obtained that granted Reme substantial 
  independence in exchange for an oath of fealty, Foere’s access to the 
  port, and a small annual payment to the crown.
  The City of Reme.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |141
  THE LANDS OF REME
  Then in the year 2858 I.R., Overking Paulus of Foere died. He left 
  behind twin sons, Kennet and Cale, though no one knew which was the 
  elder. Different factions of the empire supported each of the brothers, 
  and the possibility of a civil war loomed.  
  A similar situation loomed in Reme where the childless Grand Duke 
  Yajot Oersi Windﬂ ame suffered from a wasting sickness that would 
  clearly prove fatal at some time in the near future. As in Foere (though 
  due to a lack of obvious heirs rather than too many), a succession war 
  threatened the Oersi rulership of Reme, with Loreclans beginning to 
  form sides behind a number of possible successors.
  The twin heirs of Foere, showing a wisdom beyond their years, 
  chose a course of action that solved both problems. It is likely that the 
  solution evolved slowly in the minds of the various nobles involved, 
  but eventually someone must have noticed the opportunity inherent in 
  the long Rhemish tradition of adopting outsiders into their Loreclannic 
  structure. In preparation for the eventual death of Grand Duke Yajot 
  Oersi Windﬂ ame, Cale Macobert entered the Oersi Loreclan as Cale 
  Oersi Macobert, adopted by the dying grand duke as a son and heir. This 
  gave the Loreclans of Reme time to accept Cale as their future leader, 
  and for the Oersi to overcome (either by negotiation or by combat) the 
  claims of other potential successors.
  In Foere, Kennet was eventually crowned as the sole overking of 
  the Foerdewaith. Cale, meanwhile, abdicated his claim to the throne, 
  and succeeded to the title of grand duke of Reme. The arrangement 
  served to unite the two realms more closely for many years to come 
  and aligned the new Oersi dynasty in Reme with the royal lineage of 
  Foere. Cale’s adoption remained a point of friction for decades among 
  many of the Rhemish Loreclans, but to deny its validity would clearly 
  ﬂ y in the face of centuries of Rhemish Loreclannic tradition. So-called 
  “conservatives” pointing to the fact that Cale had no Rhemish blood 
  received little help from equally conservative Loreclannic leaders who 
  sought to adhere closely to Rhemish traditions. Ultimately, the voices of 
  opposition wavered and grew silent.
  With the full support and resources of Courghais at his disposal, Cale 
  of Reme began the Great Colonization, a mass migration of settlers 
  through the Crynnomar Gap into the fertile and largely unoccupied 
  grasslands of the Great Steppes. The Foerdewaith military provided 
  all the protection that the colonists needed against the few bands of 
  Shattered Folk and disorganized humanoid tribes that were occasionally 
  seen upon the plains beyond Reme. Little was known in Reme of the 
  battles that the elves had fought at the gap more than two millennia 
  before, and such rumors as were remembered were generally dismissed 
  — the Rhemish are quite aware that their campﬁ re tales of valor and 
  war contain a bit of poetic license. Unfortunately, in this case the dark 
  ﬁ reside tales were fairly accurate.
  Within 70 years, a string of settlements sprang up along the base of the 
  surrounding mountains and in an unbroken chain across the steppes to the 
  western coast more than a thousand miles away. The colonists then reached 
  the shores of Lake Hali in the far northwest where they found better-
  organized and aggressive tribes of humanoids that suddenly descended 
  in hordes onto the Great Steppes. The widely scattered settlements were 
  ill prepared, and many were sacked and burned before the Foerdewaith 
  were even aware of the threat. With additional military assistance from 
  Courghais, the colonists fortiﬁ ed their steadings and slowly pushed back 
  the humanoid marauders, until a tense stalemate settled in.
  The stalemate did not last long. Less than two decades later, the 
  ﬂ oodgates opened once again in a horde that poured forth from the 
  Lost Mountains in numbers not seen since the great elven defense of 
  the Crynnomar Gap, and this time new horrors never seen by the men 
  of Foere accompanied the horde, creatures of Shadow only whispered 
  of in the old tales of the Northlands and the Ancient Ones. The horde 
  descended in a tide that rolled south, burning and destroying settlements 
  as it went. Finally, at a battleﬁ eld now known as Cale’s Doom, the 
  Caleen Legion and the remaining colonial irregulars met the humanoids 
  and shadow-walkers. But against this new threat, the steel pikes and 
  heavy cavalry of Foere proved little worth, and the legion fell where it 
  stood with tens of thousands dead. Among the missing was Grand Duke 
  Cale himself.
  Refugees from the settlements poured into Reme, and the army of 
  the Foerdewaith prepared to march north to try to stop the oncoming 
  horde. In this time of Reme’s greatest need, the powerful archmages 
  Margon and Alycthron appeared out of legend, having vanished from 
  the knowledge of men more than 10 centuries before. At the Crynnomar 
  Gap, where the gathering legions of Foere stared across a ﬁ eld at 
  seemingly endless numbers of humanoids, the wizards called upon 
  ancient and forgotten magics. The ground before the legions broke 
  and tilted steeply backward, creating a slope where only a ﬂ at plain 
  had stood before. The hordes beyond the break watched as the tilted 
  ground rose in a massive escarpment of earth and stone before them, 
  rising hundreds of feet and stretching all the way from the ﬂ anks of the 
  Stoneheart Mountains, across the Crynnomar Gap, to the ﬂ anks of the 
  Deepfells more than 500 miles distant. With such an unscalable height 
  — thereafter known as the Wizard’s Wall — blocking their path into the 
  human lands, the humanoid hordes were turned back.
  Sorrowful even in victory at the loss of the colonies and anyone 
  trapped below on the plains beyond the Wizard’s Wall, the soldiers 
  of Foere turned their backs upon the House of Cale and began the 
  long march home. Garrisons were left along the length of the broken 
  escarpment to ensure that no attempts were made to scale the wall and 
  sneak into the human lands beyond, but never again, swore the folk of 
  Reme, would they cross the Crynnomar Gap and enter what became 
  known as the Haunted Steppes beyond.
  Between 2960 I.R. and 3207 I.R., the Foerdewaith embarked on four 
  great crusades to Libynos in efforts to control the ancient city of Tircople 
  and the holy Sacred Table. Many of the forces sent on these crusades 
  took ship from the port of Reme, and in the sinking of the Third Great 
  Crusade’s ﬂ eet both Grand Duke Tobiah and his son and heir Crown Duke 
  Jesper were lost at sea. Ultimately unsuccessful, the aggregate effect of 
  these crusades was to drain the resources of Foere, in both manpower 
  and gold. By 3213 I.R., Ramthion Island declared its independence from 
  Foere, marking the beginning of the Foerdewaith Wars of Succession.  
  INDEPENDENT WORLD POWER
  INDEPENDENT WORLD POWER
  In 3233 I.R., the grand duke of Reme, with the concurrence of the 
  Lords’ Council of Reme, declared its independence from Foere. By 
  this time, the overking was unable to do much other than complain and 
  attempt, without avail, to pressure other monarchs not to recognize the 
  grand duchy’s independence. The young king Luceus of Castorhage, 
  caught between the two, managed to offend both nations and soon found 
  himself in the decisive Short War with Reme. In seven months, Reme 
  soundly defeated Castorhage’s navy, forestalling Castorhage’s attempts 
  to regain control of its former possessions: Tandril Island and the Forest 
  Coast. In the next year, the Free States declared their independence in 
  the Forest Coast, and the Grand Duchy of Reme became the ﬁ rst to 
  recognize this new state.
  CIVIL UNREST IN THE WESTMARCH
  CIVIL UNREST IN THE WESTMARCH
  Over the last 500 years, various families have contested for 
  dominance in the Westmarch, which has led to civil unrest and, in a few 
  circumstances, outright rebellion against the grand dukes.  Recently, the 
  last of the disobedient families was brought to heel, leaving the grand 
  duke in ﬁ rm control of the Westmarch. As a result, areas under the 
  domain of the duke in Eckland that were formerly largely inaccessible, 
  such as the Windreft, have become fertile ground for new settlers.
  ETHNICITY AND CULTURE
  ETHNICITY AND CULTURE
  Roughly a third of the humans in the grand duchy have some degree 
  of Foerdewaith ancestry, although these are clustered mostly in cities, 
  towns, and other substantial settlements. Adoption of Foerdewaith 
  culture is more widespread in Reme than actual Foerdewaith ancestry, 
  for the cultural impact of Reme’s alliance of convenience with Foere 
  extended into the Loreclans of the plains as well as the cities. The 
  common tongue is used as a trade language to overcome Loreclannic 
  dialects of Kirkut, jewelry is heavily inﬂ uenced by Foerdewaith 
  craftsmanship, and — perhaps oddly, perhaps not — plays and music 
  from Foere are performed enthusiastically by amateur troupes even 
  deep in the plains, by purely nomadic Loreclans.
  
  142|
  142|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE LANDS OF REME
  THE LORECLANS AND THE SHATTERED FOLK
  THE LORECLANS AND THE SHATTERED FOLK
  Every 50 years, tribal families from the Shattered Folk beyond the 
  Crynnomar Gap are permitted to petition for a right to settle in the 
  Rhemish plains, and a lottery is held to determine who may immigrate. 
  Those granted the right to cross the Wizard’s Wall are usually 
  incorporated into one of the Loreclans, for most tribes of the Shattered 
  Plains have at least some relations, if distant, in the Rhemish plains that 
  have been granted their own Loreclannic lands.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Although temples to many gods may be found within the walls of the 
  city of Reme, Solanus, Dame Torren, and Mithras are the matron/patron 
  deities of the city, and their worship is predominant among the residents. 
  The worship of Mithras is almost exclusively limited to the cities and 
  settlements, having been an import of the Hyperborean legions that did 
  not catch on among the nomadic Loreclans.
  In addition to the three most prominent deities, other gods (mainly 
  of the Hyperborean or native Loreclannic pantheons) are worshipped 
  throughout the grand duchy. Merchants and travelers pray to Sefagreth 
  or Belon the Wise, many soldiers and city guards venerate Vanitthu, and 
  throughout the countryside Kamien, Freya, Telophus, and Ceres have 
  devotees. Given the dedication to Solanus throughout Reme, this is one 
  of the few regions on Akados that has proven resistant to the growth of 
  the faith of Mitra.
  Many among the more nomadic Loreclans worship  Halatra the Horse, 
  while Loreclannic knights often pray to Bowbe, god of battle-ragers. 
  The worship of Bowbe is more common in the eastern regions of the 
  plains but is found scattered throughout the Loreclans across the country.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The city of Reme sits at the western end of the Tradeway, a critical trade 
  road that in the east passes through Bard’s Gate, and thence to Freegate, a 
  port city on the Gulf of Akados. The Tradeway has existed since the days 
  of the Hyperborean Empire and provides a direct travel route that does not 
  require a detour through the heart of the Foerdewaith empire.  
  The city of Reme also boasts one of the best harbors on the Crescent 
  Sea, with merchant trafﬁ c arriving from and departing to all of the 
  known ports of Akados and beyond.
  As a result, nearly anything can be bought or sold in the markets of 
  Reme. Most of the trade throughout the grand duchy is controlled by 
  several powerful merchant houses, each of which has a representative 
  on the Council of Merchant Houses and Guilds that, with a lord mayor, 
  governs the city of Reme.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Reme has no colonies beyond its traditional, ancient borders. In 
  part, this is due to a distaste for foreign conquest arising from the 
  painful memory of the terrors that nearly overran the grand duchy 
  from the Haunted Steppes after the disastrous attempt to colonize 
  those lands during the reign of the Grand Duke Cale. But even without 
  that impetus, with the excellent harbor at the city of Reme, vast lands 
  providing ample food and other resources, and a central location 
  in Akados unmatched by any other power, it really has no need to 
  look elsewhere for conquest or colonization. Reme’s entire political 
  structure is based upon the ancestral lands of its Loreclans, and there 
  are no ancestral lands that Reme has not already reached and protected. 
  If Reme were ever to lose control of lands claimed by one or more of 
  its Loreclans, however, the reprisal would be savage, involving hordes 
  of mounted cavalry in numbers far beyond what most feudal leaders 
  could possibly mobilize.
  As a result of this general attitude of peacefulness beyond the borders, 
  the grand duchy seeks to be on good terms with other realms of the Lost 
  Lands, so long as they do not threaten the sovereignty of Reme’s lands 
  or the security of its trade. Stability is the primary goal sought by the 
  grand dukes. As a result, it is on friendly terms with Foere, the Kingdom 
  of the North Heath, the Kingdom of the Vast, the Principality of Olduvar, 
  the Kingdom of Suilley, Bard’s Gate, the Borderland Provinces and 
  the Kingdom of Oceanus. It has particularly good relations with the 
  Tycho Free States and has been instrumental in ensuring their ongoing 
  independence. Reme trades with various cities in the Northlands 
  throughout Libynos. Reme even has good — albeit wary — relations 
  with Castorhage.
  To protect its interests, the grand dukes have agents and spies in nearly 
  every country and major city on Akados, and even in many locales in 
  Libynos. The slow but steady deterioration of Foere is of great concern 
  to Reme, particularly the growing chaos in the Borderland Provinces 
  and Sundered Kingdoms. This concern is a large part of the reason 
  that the grand dukes have encouraged the alliance between the Duchy 
  of Waymarch and Bard’s Gate, as this secures the Tradeway and the 
  eastern border of the grand duchy.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The Grand Duchy of Reme is a hereditary, feudal monarchy ruled by 
  a sovereign known in the common tongue as the grand duke or grand 
  duchess. In Rhemish, with its ancient linguistic roots in Kirkut, the 
  title instead is “grand khan.” For purposes of understanding Reme’s 
  structure of government, as opposed to its culture, the term “grand duke” 
  is probably the better ﬁ t. The grand duke’s powers are more limited 
  than those of the khans of the Hundaei of old, subject to Loreclannic 
  conventions and ancient ancestral promises, rather than a legal code of 
  the type that restrains feudal rulers in other cultures such as Foere. Yet 
  even beyond these conventions and ancestral promises, the grand dukes 
  of Reme seldom interfere in the affairs of the dukes of the Waymarch, 
  the Westmarch, and the Northmarches.
  Local authority in the Marches is devolved to the respective dukes of 
  the Northmarches, the Westmarch, and the Waymarch as the protectors 
  of Loreclans that have sworn fealty to them as groups. Although the 
  position of duke by tradition passes down to the predecessor’s ﬁ rst 
  heir, the grand dukes can remove and appoint dukes, a right that 
  has been exercised by them on only a few, very rare occasions. 
  Below the dukes (or, in the case of the ducal lands, the grand duke), 
  settled regions are usually divided into baronies (a title now given 
  to a Loreclannic chieftain), with some small communities held by 
  “Loreclannic knights” — a close analogy to the status of knighthood 
  elsewhere in the Lost Lands. 
  The grand dukes have long ruled with the guidance of a high 
  council made up of the dukes of the Marches and a group of chosen 
  advisors. The advisors generally include one or more of the ruling 
  members of the prominent merchant houses such as Drenwall, Oron, 
  and Gastone-Sheshek.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Given the size of the territory of Reme, it is unsurprising that the 
  duchy maintains a sizable military contingent at all times. The grand 
  duke draws forces from the grand ducal lands, and from the forces of the 
  dukes, who are obliged to provide a certain number of warriors to their 
  monarch each year. The navy of Reme also owes allegiance directly 
  to the grand duke, and warships are continually venturing around the 
  Crescent Sea and beyond the Mouth of Akados to protect shipping lanes 
  and deter pirates. Command of the ships of the Reman navy is vested 
  in the lord high admiral of Reme, a direct appointee of the grand duke.
  Reme’s military tends to focus on heavy infantry with large contingents 
  of the light cavalry of Loreclannic warriors. Light infantry has little 
  value in Reme’s open interior. Given the vast distances involved, the 
  most likely combat would be between light cavalry units. Heavy infantry 
  would instead see use in battles against settlements or fortiﬁ cations. The 
  Rhemish tactic against invasions such as the great hobgoblin incursions 
  or large-scale banditry focuses on cutting off supply lines, weakening 
  opposing forces, and, in many cases, simply waiting until the invaders 
  starve or become lost on the open plain, engaging in open combat only 
  when the enemy is weakest. In foreign wars (such as the Crusades), 
  Reme’s most signiﬁ cant contribution has been in the form of mounted 
  archers clad in light armor of high quality.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|143
  |143
  THE LANDS OF REME
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The major threat to trade seen by the grand dukes is the growing 
  instability of the other kingdoms of Akados, particularly the deterioration 
  of Foere.  
  In terms of actual political threats to the country, Reme has few 
  concerns at this time in its history. The civil unrest historically seen 
  in the Westmarch has recently been resolved in Reme’s favor. There 
  are, of course, tribes of humanoids in the realm, particularly in the 
  Green Mountains and in the far north amid the Haunted Wood and the 
  Deepfells. But none of those pose any real threat to the security of the 
  Rhemish heartland. The Haunted Steppes beyond the Crynnomar Gap 
  also poses a theoretical danger, but the Wizard’s Wall continues to be an 
  impassable barrier to those of ill intent who might wish to cross.
  For more information, see Grand Duchy of Reme, forthcoming from 
  Frog God Games.
  REME, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  REME, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Lord Mayor Aldus Artaxis
  Government: mayor and Council of Merchant Houses and 
  Guilds (appointed by and subject to the Grand Duke)
  Population:  311,295 (104,200 Loreclannic, 90,295 Foerdewaith, 
  53,800 human mixed ethnicity, 18,500 halﬂ ing, 12,900 half-elf, 
  10,700 mountain dwarf, 9,400 hill dwarf, 6,200 gnome, 5,100 
  high elf, 200 other) 
  Religion: Solanus, Dame Torren, Mithras
  Technology Level: Renaissance
  The city of Reme is one of the two most important port cities on 
  the Crescent Sea (the other being Castorhage) and is the capital of the 
  Grand Duchy of Reme. At its docks, merchant ships arrive from and 
  sail to all of the known ports of Akados and even Libynos. It sits on the 
  western terminus of the great Tradeway, the merchant road that runs east 
  to Bard’s Gate and then to Freegate on the Gulf of Akados. As a result, 
  Reme is one of the great trading cities of the world, where virtually 
  anything can be bought or sold.
  The city of Reme is also one of the oldest on Akados, dating back 
  to the era before the founding of the Hyperborean empires. Originally, 
  it was the location for trading posts where Loreclannic tribes would 
  meet. When Polemarch Oerson and his legions arrived here on the 
  shores of the Crescent Sea in the early years of their conquests, they 
  united the trading posts and began to lay the foundations of a city they 
  called Remenos.
  The elegant walls of the city of Reme and the spires and towers rising 
  from within can be seen for miles out to sea. There are several large 
  market squares within the city, about which can be found merchants, 
  traders, artisans, craftsmen, mapmakers, and scholars with few peers 
  anywhere in the world. The city also boasts the Arcanum Collegium, 
  one of the most prominent wizards’ colleges on Akados, and several 
  museums and art galleries. The Reman Theatre is recognized far and 
  wide for its cadre of famous playwrights and arresting performances.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The city of Reme is one of the most cosmopolitan cities of Akados, 
  and accordingly, temples to nearly every god known may be found 
  somewhere within its walls. However, Solanus, Dame Torren, and Mithras 
  are the matron/patron deities of the city, and their worship is predominant 
  among the residents. The city boasts the High Altar of Solanus at the 
  venerable Hospital of St. Jethra the Martyred, which maintains 1,220 beds 
  and accepts the sick and inﬁ rm seeking healing from all over Akados. 
  Prominent temples to Sefagreth, Vanitthu, Belon the Wise, Muir, and Thyr 
  can also be found in the city, and are well-attended.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The lord mayor of the city of Reme, charged with administering the 
  city and enforcing its laws, is appointed by the grand duke, and serves 
  at the sovereign’s will. Laws are approved by a Council of Merchant 
  Houses and Guilds, the members of which are also appointed by the 
  grand duke. That said, each of the major merchant houses and guilds of 
  Reme has traditionally had a seat on the council, and the grand dukes 
  pay close attention to their proposals concerning foreign trade. Even 
  in the city, the Rhemish tradition of consensus (relative to other cities 
  of the world) and a ﬂ at hierarchy of government (again, as a relative 
  matter) reﬂ ects the city’s Loreclannic roots, even after millennia of 
  urban existence.
  Ofﬁ cials below the lord mayor are typically appointed by the lord 
  mayor, though positions of substantial authority are often subject to 
  approval by the council. The grand duke has the right to remove or 
  appoint any of these ofﬁ cials at any time, though this has been seldom 
  exercised over the years.
  Certain crimes and matters are, under the laws of Reme, subject to 
  punishment or enforcement by the applicable merchant house or guild, 
  but usually only if others outside the house or guild are not involved. 
  Other matters come before magistrates appointed by the lord mayor and 
  approved by the council.
  As a general matter, the city of Reme has been well-run for centuries 
  thanks to the appointment of qualiﬁ ed administrators to the role of lord 
  mayor. That being said, more than one thieves’ guild is active in the city, 
  as well as other groups that operate in the shadows. 
  GILBOATH, TOWN OF
  GILBOATH, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Mayor Aerin Sarporond
  Government: mayor and town council 
  Population: 2,220 (1,104 Foerdewaith, 611 Loreclannic, 257 
  human mixed ethnicity, 225 halﬂ ing, 23 half-elf) 
  Religion: Muir
  Resources:  grain, wine
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Gilboath is a small town about 150 miles north of the City of Reme. Its 
  main business, were it not for one fact, would be agriculture. Rich ﬁ elds 
  and vineyards can be found in the surrounding region. Farmers and vintners 
  come into town to sell their wares and to buy goods from elsewhere.
  The town’s great claim to fame, however, is its most famous son, 
  Gerrant of Gilboath, a Justicar of Muir, one of the last two members of 
  that holy order. Gerrant was lost in the Battle of Tsar between the Army 
  of Light and the Disciples of Orcus in 3209 I.R. Sometime after that, 
  a shrine to Muir was established in Gilboath. The townsfolk spared no 
  expense in building the temple, which is constructed of beautiful white 
  marble and houses six falcons, Muir’s sacred animal. It is said that the 
  falconer can read portents from the goddess in the ﬂ ights of his raptors. 
  Pilgrims from near and far come to the shrine to worship Muir and seek 
  the intercession of her holy paladin Gerrant.
  QUINTAS, CITY OF
  QUINTAS, CITY OF
  Ruler: Earl Darvel Arcunas
  Government: feudal 
  Population: 21,378 (15,173 Foerdewaith, 3,120 Loreclannic, 
  1,211 human mixed ethnicity, 841 hill dwarf, 629 gnome, 244 
  half-elf, 160 halﬂ ing) 
  Religion: Freya, Telophus, Archeillus
  Resources: trade (cattle), grain
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Quintas sits at the crossing of three important trade roads, one leading 
  north to Ironhill and the Northmarches, one east to Broadwater, the 
  gateway to Eamonvale, and the last south to Yalendir, and the rest of 
  the grand duchy. Earl Arcunas has proﬁ ted greatly from this location 
  and the amount of tradegoods that pass through the city’s gates. As a 
  result, the earl is a very wealthy man. Fortunately for the folk of Quintas 
  and the rest of the county, the earl is also a thoughtful shepherd of his 
  wealth and ensures that his demesne is well run with as little corruption 
  as possible.
  
  144|
  144|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE LANDS OF REME
  Outside the city walls is a large open area called the Mustering Field. 
  Although it would make for good farmland, it is always kept unsown. 
  According to local legend, the ﬁ eld was used for the mustering of 
  the armies of Reme in 1573 I.R. on their way to the Battle of Ironhill 
  with the forces of Dragonbone Peak, and again of the Foerdewaith 
  legions heading north to the Crynnomar Gap during the war against the 
  humanoid and shadow hordes from the Haunted Plains in 2947 I.R. It is 
  said that so long as the ﬁ eld remains available for the use of the Rheman 
  army, the grand duchy will never fall.
  VARAZATH, CITY OF
  VARAZATH, CITY OF
  Ruler: Commander Alforce Berallo and Baron Midiera Nais
  Government: feudal 
  Population: 16,248 (10,935 Loreclannic, 2,956 Foerdewaith, 
  1,250 human mixed ethnicity, 811 halﬂ ing, 296 half-elf) 
  Religion: Freya, Telophus, Sefagreth
  Resources: trade, cattle
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Varazath represents the northern extent of the lands of the grand 
  duke. The city stands aside the relatively minor trade route between 
  central Reme and the Frontier at the northern extent of the Road of 
  Horses. The city is located on a small rise and consists of two sections 
  contained within the city walls: the ducal city made up of the inner 
  bailey and the ducal castle, which is held directly by the grand duke, 
  and the larger baronial city, held by the local baron in fealty to the grand 
  duke, which occupies the outer bailey of the city. The ducal castle is in 
  reality more a fortress than a residence, given its primary purpose as 
  a military installation protecting the territory of the grand duke from 
  intruders from the mountains and the High Downs. Since the fortress is 
  as isolated as one can get in the grand duke’s lands, it is neither a desired 
  posting nor particularly efﬁ cient. Slovenly, in fact, would be the word 
  chosen by most of the duchy’s commanders to describe the condition of 
  the fortress and its garrison. The city reﬂ ects the relative poverty of its 
  trade route but is by no means in the poor condition of the garrison that 
  ostensibly protects it.
  WHITERUSH, TOWN OF
  WHITERUSH, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Lord Breldin Greaves
  Government: feudal 
  Population: 4,220 (2,104 Foerdewaith, 1,406 Loreclannic, 462 
  human mixed ethnicity, 225 halﬂ ing, 23 half-elf) 
  Religion: Kamien, Freya, Telophus
  Resources: trade, timber, ﬁ shing
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Whiterush is a trade town located where the Poitres Road crosses the 
  Whiterush River just above the Whiterush Falls. Lord Breldin Greaves 
  holds title to the city and most of the nearby river valley. Lord Breldin 
  spent his own youth enjoying wine, women, and sausages, and today is 
  a doddering old man with a prominent paunch and a permanently addled 
  expression on his wrinkled face. A local family, the Quinns, control 
  much of the trade going through Whiterush.  The land here is generally 
  peaceful, although rumor says that a tribe of orcs lives nearby in the 
  forests to the north of town.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: ONS5 ONE NIGHT STANDS 5: SCORNED
  YALENDIR, CITY OF
  YALENDIR, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lady Belestra Vorns 
  Government: governor appointed by the Grand Duke
  Population: 36,422 (18,671 Foerdewaith, 14,011 Loreclannic, 
  2,685 human mixed ethnicity, 944 halﬂ ing, 111 half-elf) 
  Religion: Freya, Telophus, Kamien
  Resources: trade, grains, glass
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Yalendir is a key trade city located at the fork of the Remenos River 
  and the River Eamon and astride the Trade Road from Panetoth in the 
  south to Quintas and Broadwater in the north. As a result, a large portion 
  of the goods heading to and from the Northmarches and the Stoneheart 
  Mountains must pass through its gates.
  Lady Belestra Vorns was granted the lucrative governance of Yalendir 
  seven years ago after retiring from a highly successful career as a captain 
  in the Rhemish navy. Having had enough of the sea for several lifetimes, 
  she asked for a demesne far from the ocean and was thus vested in lands 
  outside Yalendir and appointed as the city’s governor. She is a thoughtful 
  ruler with little experience in administration who relies heavily on her 
  advisors. Perhaps too heavily, as several take advantage of their position, 
  and a bit of corruption now plagues the city. Increasingly, bribery is 
  required to get anything accomplished. There is little doubt that the Lady 
  Vorns would put a stop to this behavior if she knew of it. So far, it is 
  relatively conﬁ ned, and, given the wealth that passes through the city, has 
  not risen to the level where she might take notice.
  Yalendir is recognized throughout Reme for the wonderful stained 
  glass manufactured here. While the sand must be brought in via the 
  river, certain plants found on the river’s shore here are processed into 
  dyes that produce magniﬁ cent colors in the glass. The secrets of the 
  glassworks are closely held by the glassworkers’ guild here and are 
  never shared with anyone other than another master or one’s apprentice.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE GRAND DUCHY
  INTEREST IN THE GRAND DUCHY
  REMENOS RIVER
  REMENOS RIVER
  The city of Reme sits astride the Remenos River, which makes its 
  slow, peaceful way through the ﬁ elds of Reme from the Stoneheart 
  Mountains, 1,000 miles to the northeast. The Remenos is navigable 
  virtually all the way to the Stonehearts and is regularly used to transport 
  goods both upriver and downriver.
  ROAD OF HORSES
  ROAD OF HORSES
  This road runs north from the Western Reme Road about 100 miles west 
  of the city of Reme, through the heart of the grand duke’s ducal lands, 
  past Gilboath and along the eastern margins of the Green Mountains, 
  until it reaches the town of Varazath, beyond which are the open plains 
  of the Northmarches and the Frontier. Well-maintained along its southern 
  portions, the road’s quality deteriorates signiﬁ cantly the farther north one 
  goes and is essentially a dirt track by the time Varazath is reached. Of old, 
  Loreclannic tribes would follow the path now taken by this road to Reme, 
  where they would bring their ﬁ nest horses for trade or show.
  WHITERUSH RIVER
  WHITERUSH RIVER
  The Whiterush River ﬂ ows through a lightly forested river valley 
  running from the Old Tors to Rimeth Sound. It is navigable for most of 
  its length and is economically important to southern Reme.
  WAYMARCH, DUCHY OF
  WAYMARCH, DUCHY OF
  Ruler: Lucius Qellinroque, Harmost of Panetoth, Duke of the 
  Waymarch, Voice of the Grand Duke in the East
  Capital: Panetoth
  Government: feudal
  Population: 3,752,500 (1,330,100 Foerdewaith, 975,300 
  Loreclannic, 799,700 other human mixed ethnicity, 267,100 
  halﬂ ing, 133,400 half-elf, 111,600 mountain dwarf, 102,800 
  hill dwarf, 31,200 high elf, 1,300 other) 
  Languages: Common, Elven
  Religion: Mithras and Mitra (primary), Quell (secondary as 
  patron of duke’s house)
  Resources: horses, cattle, military
  Currency: Rhemish
  Technology Level: Medieval
  
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  THE LANDS OF REME
  The vast lands of the Duchy of Waymarch are mostly made up of 
  rolling grassland, with limited water other than a few collections of 
  lakes from spring rainstorms and winter snowmelt. No major rivers 
  cross the Waymarch plains, so water shortages are common in summer. 
  As a result, the plains are excellent for raising horses, sheep, and certain 
  cattle, but make for poor farmland. 
  The region of the Waymarch has, since Hyperborean times, been 
  governed by a military administrator called a harmost who is based in 
  Panetoth, the regional capital. When the Hyperboreans left Akados, rule 
  of the Waymarch was granted to a Loreclannic chieftain, who was given 
  the titles of both harmost and duke. This combination of harmost of 
  Panetoth and duke of Waymarch survives to this day. 
  The current duke, Lucius Qellinroque, of House of Qellinroque 
  (“Rock of Quell”), is the great grandson of Duke Borell, who was 
  named for the famous Grand Duke Borell I of Reme who defeated the 
  forces of the Hobgoblin Kingdom of the Deepfells in 1573 I.R. 
  Under its charter with Reme, Waymarch is required to keep a large 
  military force for the protection of the grand duchy. With its limited 
  resources, however, the march has historically struggled to support 
  such an expense. In the last century, the dukes of Waymarch hit upon 
  a solution to their persistent lack of income. The city of Bard’s Gate to 
  the east was growing ever richer in coin, but not in the military presence 
  necessary to defend its extensive interests. With the blessing of the grand 
  dukes, Waymarch began hiring out its soldiers to the City of Lyres as 
  mercenary troops. Such soldiers are only permitted to serve in regions 
  geographically adjacent to the grand duchy in case a military emergency 
  arises that necessitates their recall home. This requirement has imposed 
  little by way of real limitation, however, as the lands of interest to Bard’s 
  Gate adjoin those of the Waymarch, even if the troops hired by the city 
  are often deployed to posts as far away as the Binjerin River Valley in 
  the Gulf of Akados or even deep into the Sundered Kingdoms.
  Most of the folk of Waymarch are of Foerdewaith extraction, 
  particularly in Panetoth and the other towns and cities of the March. 
  The plains, however, are dominated by the nomadic Loreclans, who 
  migrate throughout Waymarch, the lands of the grand duke, and the 
  Northmarches each year. Some of the prominent Loreclans currently in 
  the plains of Waymarch include the Grass Sailors, the Quick Knives, the 
  Stone Faces, the Thunder Riders, the Stone Walkers, and Beast Takers. 
  Every 50 years, families among the Shattered Folk beyond the 
  Crynnomar Gap are permitted to petition for a right to settle in the 
  Rhemish plains, and a lottery is held to determine who may immigrate. 
  Those permitted to settle usually join existing Loreclans in the plains of 
  Reme, though occasionally they may form new clans with a direct grant 
  of range lands to be held thereafter. The latter typically occurs only when 
  an existing Loreclan is declared for elimination by the grand duke as 
  punishment for egregious violation of ancestral tradition. This is on the 
  verge of happening with the Quick Knives Loreclan, so there is a good 
  chance that at some point in the near future a Shattered-Folk tribe might 
  replace the (exterminated) Quick Knives in their Loreclannic territory.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The worship of Mithras (in the cities), Solanus, Kamien, and Dame 
  Torren is widespread in the Waymarch, as is the case in the rest of Reme. 
  Devotion to Freya is also common in the countryside, and Sefagreth has 
  followers in many of the towns and inns along the Tradeway. Although 
  Quell is the patron deity of the ducal family, the sea god is not otherwise 
  a prominent deity in this landlocked realm.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Waymarch is essential to the protection of nearly 3,000 miles of 
  roadway from Bard’s Gate in the east to Reme in the west. The duchy 
  further patrols the road from the capital city of Panetoth to the trade 
  city of Broadwater. These roads serve as arteries of commerce for the 
  entire Grand Duchy of Reme and are of vast economic and territorial 
  importance. Large volumes of cattle, sheep, horses, grains, wool, linen, 
  and cotton are hauled along the Tradeway, as are ﬁ nished goods brought 
  in from the port of Reme and the broad river-markets of Bard’s Gate.
  To this end, cavalry waystations are frequent sights along the roads of 
  Waymarch, and dozens of riders are tasked with patrolling and repairing 
  the long tracts of the Tradeway so that commerce can keep moving at 
  a steady clip. 
  Yet for such a large duchy, Waymarch itself produces surprisingly 
  little in the way of commodities for trade elsewhere. The horses of its 
  plains are renowned and can fetch good prices in town and city markets. 
  Otherwise, Waymarch is primarily a crossroad of trade, its revenues 
  coming from taxes and fees (in addition to the hire of mercenaries to 
  Bard’s Gate), and many of those in its cities and towns make their living 
  catering to the needs of those traveling east and west.  
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Lucius Qellinroque is the fourth of his line to hold the title of duke 
  of Waymarch. He has been forced to be a creative administrator of his 
  demesne, always looking for sources of revenue to help pay for his 
  feudal obligations to the grand duke in Reme. So far, by hiring out a 
  substantial portion of his military to Bard’s Gate, he has managed to 
  keep local coffers full and his vassals happy. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Under its ancestral obligations to the grand duke of Reme, Waymarch 
  is required to maintain a sizable military presence for the defense of the 
  grand duchy. Of course, many of the soldiers of Waymarch are abroad at 
  any one time in the service of Bard’s Gate. Were an emergency to arise 
  they could be recalled, but given the distances, it would take time before 
  the bulk could make it back to Rhemish territory.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Few major threats to Waymarch exist other than the risk of severe 
  drought, which occurs once a decade or so. It is on reasonably good 
  terms with all of its neighbors, and though a substantial portion of 
  its military is in the east in service to Bard’s Gate, there are no true 
  military challengers on its horizon. Of late, however, its soldiers 
  guarding the Tradeway have been attacked, and rumors say that 
  Duke Passur of Ysser may be involved in these events. Though the 
  Tradeway would be a prize of incomparable value, any attempt by 
  Ysser to annex any portion of that road would undoubtedly be met by 
  the full military force Waymarch could bring to bear and could risk 
  war between Reme and Foere. Any proven aggression by Ysser, or 
  other events which might arise from the increasing instability of the 
  northern provinces of Foere, could drag the March more deeply into 
  the politics of its former sovereign in Courghais than either it or the 
  grand duke may desire.
  PANETOTH, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  PANETOTH, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Duke Lucius Qellinroque
  Government: feudal 
  Population: 82,419 (47,297 Foerdewaith, 20,617 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 11,241 Loreclannic, 1,256 hill dwarf, 941 mountain 
  dwarf, 777 halﬂ ing, 199 half-elf, 91 high elf) 
  Languages: Common, Kirkut, Dwarven
  Religion: Mithras and Mitra, Quell (ducal family)
  Resources: trade, horses, military
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Panetoth is the capital and regional administrative center that oversees 
  Waymarch and houses its main garrison as well as the ducal palace. 
  Patrols of the Waymarch and the absence of many soldiers in service to 
  Bard’s Gate means that the military encampments on the plains north 
  of the city are never full. The city is also a key trading center, as it sits 
  on the Tradeway, the main road from Reme to points east as well as 
  the center of the Kingdom of Foere. The Temple of Mitra in the city 
  protects the dwindling water supply every summer from contamination 
  to prevent outbreaks of dysentery and cholera.
  
  146|
  146|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE LANDS OF REME
  FAREME, CITY OF
  FAREME, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lord Ostric Kensalius
  Government: feudal 
  Population: 4,000 (2,850 Foerdewaith, 500 Loreclannic, 212 
  halﬂ ing, 121 half-elf, 105 gnome, 212 hill dwarf); but swells to 
  10,000 during in caravan season 
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Sefagreth, Belon the Wise, Mithras, Mitra, Quell
  Resources: trade, horses, military
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The Tradeway links the eastern cities of Freegate, Derinden, Arendia, 
  and Bard’s Gate to the lands of the Grand Duchy of Reme to the west. 
  The farthest eastern extent of the Duchy of Waymarch, the city of Fareme 
  lies on its border with the Suzerainty of Bard’s Gate. Here, Fareme 
  serves as a waystation for merchants traveling east and west. During 
  the caravan season, which runs from the beginning of Eostre until the 
  end of Blótmond, the population temporarily swells to roughly 10,000 
  souls, though its full-time permanent inhabitants shrink signiﬁ cantly 
  shortly after the caravan season ends. The numerous transients passing 
  through town often bring more than their provisions and wares with 
  them. Countless days of monotonous travel wearies the mind and body, 
  prompting many visitors to drop their inhibitions and indulge their wild 
  sides for at least a few days in a rough-and-tumble town catering to 
  such folks. Fareme boasts a disproportionate number of inns, taverns, 
  brothels, and gaming halls to suit every taste in addition to meeting the 
  caravans’ practical demands including open-air markets, general stores, 
  pastures, paddocks, warehouses, wheelwrights, and other services 
  necessary to properly outﬁ t traveling merchants. 
  Despite its hard-partying reputation, Fareme’s authorities display little 
  tolerance for bad behavior in public. Drinking, gambling, carousing, 
  and haggling are accepted pastimes in Fareme, but its city guards do not 
  tolerate ﬁ ghting or thievery conducted out in the open. What happens 
  behind closed doors, however, is none of the guards’ business, especially 
  when it comes to the city’s thriving black market of stolen relics and evil 
  magical objects supposedly salvaged from the ruins of Tsar and Tsen. In 
  addition, large quantities of illegal intoxicants exchange hands here for 
  ﬁ nal distribution to High Karst far to the north. While the city largely 
  turns a blind eye to these clandestine affairs, murder, rape, and other 
  violent offenses incurring bodily harm are severely punished regardless 
  of where they occur. The city can call upon 150 mounted soldiers to 
  assist in this endeavor, complemented by 350 pikemen who also serve 
  as an auxiliary police force alongside 100 constables who keep the 
  peace on the streets.
  Though it is geographically on the boundary between Waymarch and 
  Bard’s Gate, Fareme is ﬁ rmly under the political control of the duke in 
  Panetoth. However, Bard’s Gate exerts far more economic inﬂ uence over 
  the city, especially among its caravan workers who frequently ﬁ nd work 
  from a sign posted at a tavern, an inn, or a place of ill repute. Although 
  more than two weeks march from Bard’s Gate, the Wheelwrights’ Guild 
  makes its subtle presence known throughout the city. No one hires onto 
  a caravan without the organization receiving at least a small cut from 
  the transaction. 
  No institution beneﬁ ts more from the steady stream of new arrivals 
  than the Temple of Sefagreth. His followers always pay homage to 
  their patron deity before stepping out on the road again into the great 
  unknown. An upstart church dedicated to Belon the Wise has also taken 
  root in Fareme. Its worshippers include many travelers, but it appeals 
  more to wizards and other arcane practitioners who dabble in the 
  trade and exchange of rare mystical tomes and other curiosities. Many 
  residents and visitors alike believe his priests control the distribution 
  and sale of magical items within the city. Others speculate that the 
  Church of Belon the Wise is merely a front for another more insidious 
  organization because of their propensity for dealing with vile objects 
  best left undisturbed. Regardless of the truth, the god’s followers 
  maintain a well-respected public façade. 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE DUCHY OF WAYMARCH
  INTEREST IN THE DUCHY OF WAYMARCH
  THE DAGGER & ROSE
  THE DAGGER & ROSE
  A traveler’s inn and tavern located at the intersection of the Tradeway 
  and the King’s Road, this establishment was opened 60 years ago by 
  Tamalaine of Portia, an enigmatic elven woman rumored to be of noble 
  birth. The Monfrad clan, woodsmen and rangers who have lived in 
  these parts for hundreds of years, built the tavern for her and then later 
  sent family members to work there. Throughout its history, the Dagger 
  has seen all manner of travelers come through its gates, ranging from 
  humble young aristocrats with barely a gold sovereign to their names 
  to princes ﬂ eeing incognito to escape death at the hands of assassins. 
  The region is also home to a band of brigands called the Highwaymen 
  who assault travelers on the roads and are said to be led by a mysterious 
  leader named Black Jack Cutter.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: DM1 BOOK OF TAVERNS: THE DAGGER & ROSE
  FIVESTONES
  FIVESTONES
  Not far from the Grimburg in the shadow of the Stoneheart Mountains 
  on the eastern reaches of Waymarch is a partial ring of ﬁ ve standing stones 
  (once there were seven), around which has grown up a small village of 
  a few hundred souls. This is the site of an ancient settlement that once 
  served to supply and support the Stoneface Clan of the Grimburg. The 
  settlement’s occupants have changed many times over the intervening 
  millennia, but it has always been here. Perhaps some mysterious force 
  draws certain folk to come here to support the svirfneblin fortress without 
  even knowing why. The current village consists of a mix of humans and 
  rock gnomes who conduct trade with the distant Tradeway and provide 
  supplies to the Stoneface Clan. They have no knowledge of the purpose 
  of the Grimburg, though they do enjoy sharing rumors among themselves.
  THE GRIMBURG
  THE GRIMBURG
  This massive stone fortress is ancient, predating the arrival of 
  the Hyperboreans. A very visible part of the landscape of northern 
  Waymarch, the Grimburg is often mistaken for a huge block of stone 
  rising from the rolling green foothills of the Stoneheart Mountains. 
  A closer look, however, reveals observation holes and arrow slits 
  that are cleverly hidden into the crevasses of the stone, and cold-
  wrought-iron stapling pins running up one side of the huge rock.
  The fortress itself is seemingly constructed from a solid piece of granite 
  that emerges from the natural bedrock here. The only entrance is a 
  massive, concealed gate that is always guarded by surly, heavily armed 
  and armored deep gnomes.
  Known to only a few is that the Grimburg is a planar prison for holding 
  the most dangerous and powerful of extraplanar fugitives, ﬁ ends, and 
  godlings. Its interior gives access to many dimensional gates and cells. 
  It has been manned by the Stoneface Clan of deep gnomes who were 
  given their charge at the end of the Age of Strife, roughly 14,000 years 
  ago, by the elemental Lord Mocham — who infused it with a portion of 
  his power to enable it to hold its prisoners. It has had no veriﬁ ed escapes, 
  with one possible exception. When the Wizard’s Wall was raised in 
  2947 I.R. — when Alycthron and Margon called on the spirits of the 
  Haunted Steppes and the Stoneheart and Deepfell mountains to move 
  the very foundations of Akados itself — in that moment of siphoning 
  power, a great crack appeared in the wall of the fortress. It has since 
  been repaired, but rumors persist that one unidentiﬁ ed prisoner was able 
  to make its escape. The Stonefaces deny any such assertion.
  Since that time, however, observers of the earth-spirit in the Stoneheart 
  Mountain Dungeon have noticed that it seems to grieve deeply. 
  THE ICE TOWER
  THE ICE TOWER
  Standing at the head of a great glacial ﬂ ow that has broken free from 
  the Stoneheart Ice Plateau is the Accursed Ice Tower of Kal-Tior. The 
  
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  THE LANDS OF REME
  tower serves as home and siege tower of Kal-Tior the warlock, herald of 
  Count Perﬁ dium of Kainus, a high prince in the Court of the Nine Hells. 
  The tower itself is guarded by a nest of soulless ice goblins and a tribe 
  of frost giants who pledge their allegiance to Count Perﬁ dium. 
  The ﬂ ow of the glacier, with the tower at its head, moves slowly 
  but surely, and has now nearly reached the plains of Waymarch. From 
  here, Kal-Tior will turn the direction of his infernal tower toward the 
  Grimburg. Once there, he intends to freeze the gnomish prison vault 
  solid and smash it to pieces to free those held within. 
  The tower’s movements are controlled by blood sacriﬁ ce, and thus 
  far its progression has been fed by the sacriﬁ ce of ice gnomes and 
  captured Rhemish plainsmen from the grasslands of Waymarch south 
  of Eamonvale. 
  The last few hundred miles are going to require greater sacriﬁ ces, 
  however, and Kal-Tior has called upon his master for the assistance of 
  ice devils, more frost giants, and any other help that can be offered to 
  begin his assault on Grimburg. 
  See Cold as Hell, forthcoming from Frog God Games for more on 
  the Ice Tower.
  THE PLAINS
  THE PLAINS
  Most of the Waymarch, along with the northern extant of the royal 
  domain of the grand duke, consists of vast plains of rolling hills covered 
  by grasses and sedges. Across these plains ride the Loreclans, the 
  mostly-nomadic, horse-riding folk native to Reme. In the Waymarch, 
  the largest Loreclans include the Grass Sailors, the Quick Knives, the 
  Stone Faces, the Thunder Riders, the Stone Walkers, and the Beast 
  Takers. All of the Loreclans here in eastern Reme are subject to the duke 
  in Panetoth in his capacity as Loreclannic chief, and are largely on good 
  terms with each other, taking care not to interfere with the territory or 
  rights of the other Loreclans — with the exception of the Quick Knives. 
  That Loreclan has in recent years come into increasing conﬂ ict with 
  its neighbors, with its horsemen visiting random and extreme violence 
  on those they encounter. It is said that in the councils of the duke, the 
  termination of the Quick Knives as a sovereign clan — the most severe 
  punishment under the laws of Reme — has ﬁ nally been broached.
  Superb horsemen and virtually unmatched light cavalry, the 
  Plainsmen are also great traders who are able to carry the goods 
  of Reme much more quickly than traditional caravans, although in 
  smaller quantities.
  THE TRADEWAY
  THE TRADEWAY
  This major trade road runs all the way from the city of Reme in 
  the west, past Bard’s Gate and to Freegate on the coast of the Sinnar 
  Ocean. Some merchant companies exist solely for the caravan run 
  on this road. A typical caravan takes roughly one year to travel the 
  entire length, with seasonal stopovers in Panetoth, Fareme/Bard’s 
  Gate, and Arendia.
  WESTMARCH, DUCHY OF THE
  WESTMARCH, DUCHY OF THE
  Ruler: Duke Wylan Rogers
  Capital: Eckland
  Government: feudal
  Population: 1,224,789 (604,844 Loreclannic, 470,839 
  Foerdewaith, 79,065 halﬂ ing, 45,209 half-elf, 11,176 hill dwarf, 
  8,211 mountain dwarf, 3,890 high elf, 1,555 other) 
  Monstrous: orcs, hobgoblins
  Languages: Common, Rhemish, Elven
  Religion: Quell, Mithras, Dame Torren, Halatra (plains)
  Resources: cattle, grains, ﬁ sh, pearls, emeralds
  Currency: Rhemish
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The Duchy of the Westmarch has been a problem for the grand 
  dukes of Reme for generations. At least four of the leading families 
  of the March have fought among themselves for as long as they can 
  recall over slights that no one remembers. These families each have 
  the support of more than one Loreclan, and the pashtars have not been 
  able to broker any sort of mediated peace among them. As a result, 
  this region has been plagued with inﬁ ghting that ﬁ nally degraded 
  over the last several decades into regular eruptions of outright civil 
  war. Various grand dukes mediated or interfered in various ways, 
  but without lasting success. Every tenuous peace was eventually 
  followed by new acts of ever-escalating retribution for claimed or 
  perceived wrongdoing. 
  Two years ago, Grand Duke Iltobarus brokered another new peace 
  when he elevated Wylan Rogers to the ducal seat at Eckland. Duke 
  Wylan — of Foerdewaith ancestry but backed by a number of inﬂ uential 
  Loreclannic pashtars — managed to pacify the competing families and 
  restore order to the duchy once more, but much strife still lurks under 
  the surface. Few believe that the Duchy of the Westmarch will see a 
  lasting peace. 
  Most folk of the Duchy of the Westmarch live in the southern and 
  eastern sections of the duchy, with a Foerdewaith-type feudal structure 
  in the areas closest to Eckland. The farther north and west one goes, the 
  wilder the land becomes, and the more the old Loreclannic traditions are 
  entrenched. Warring groups of allied Loreclannic barons control less-
  populated territories in the Westmarch wilderness, each waiting for a 
  show of weakness from the new duke and the opportunity to break the 
  newly imposed peace. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  With peace established by Duke Rogers, trade is ﬁ nally returning to 
  the Duchy of the Westmarch. The port of Martyn’s Nest sees seaborne 
  trafﬁ c from around the Crescent Sea, most of which comes for the 
  pearls obtained in the nearby coastal waters and for the emeralds 
  mined from the Green Mountains and cut by the gemcutters guild 
  based in the port. Cattle ranching can be found in the southern and 
  western portions of the duchy, with sparser Loreclan herds occupying 
  the rest of the duchy.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Duke Rogers is making every effort to obtain and hold full control 
  of the levers of power within Westmarch. He has appointed trusted 
  friends and advisors to all of the positions of authority within the 
  duchy, and so far, the vast majority of them appear competent and 
  trustworthy. But he has a long way to go before he can claim to have 
  excised all the decay and corruption that has taken deep root from 
  decades of internal strife.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The duchy’s land military, directly controlled by the duke, 
  primarily serves as a peacekeeping force. It is used to guard the 
  countryside against bandits and monsters, as well as to minimize 
  opportunities for feuding Loreclannic families to pick fresh ﬁ ghts 
  with one another. That being said, the households of Loreclannic 
  barons are permitted small personal guards for their own security, 
  and a few towns without ducal barracks are permitted to organize 
  semi-professional guard militias. Ducal barracks dot the outer 
  Westmarch borders and are common in all major Westmarch cities 
  as well as most larger towns. These enable the duke’s own forces to 
  keep most of the region safe for travel and trade.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Many internal and external threats to Westmarch exist. Duke Rogers is 
  still in the process of consolidating power and pacifying the Loreclannic 
  barons of the duchy, and any number of events could derail his efforts 
  or even recommence the civil wars that have been the rule here for 
  generations. Many dangers exist in the Green Mountains, Westwood, 
  and the Endless Hills. And the eaves of the Green Realm are not far 
  away, along with the shadow of Hollow Mountain, around which it is 
  said a cult with unknown intentions has grown.
  
  148|
  148|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE LANDS OF REME
  ECKLAND, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  ECKLAND, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Duke Wylan Rogers
  Government: feudal 
  Population: 37,811 (Foerdewaith 27,335, human mixed 
  ethnicity 7,093, halﬂ ing 1,224, half-elf 1,002, hill dwarf 771, 
  mountain dwarf 330, high elf 41, other humanoid 15)
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Quell, Vanitthu, Solanus, Archeillus
  Resources: trade, grain, cattle
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Eckland is the capital of the Westmarch and is located at the end of 
  the Western Reme Road on the Quail River. The duke’s castle sits on 
  an island in the middle of the river. Both banks of the river have docks 
  for barges going upriver toward the Green Mountains and downriver 
  to the Crescent Sea. Eckland is ﬁ rmly under the personal control of the 
  duke. He has appointed a city administrant to run the operations of the 
  capital, as well as each of the various magistrates and the captain of the 
  city guard.
  The major markets of Westmarch are found here in the city, and so this 
  is the endpoint for merchants and traders traveling the Western Reme 
  Road. The surrounding lands are fertile and well-watered, bringing 
  farmers and cattle ranchers into town to sell their wares.
  GLONDARR, TOWN OF
  GLONDARR, TOWN OF
  This coastal town is about 10 miles west of Martyn’s Nest.
  MARTYN’S NEST, TOWN OF
  MARTYN’S NEST, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Council of Ministers
  Government: Three duke-appointed district ministers 
  (Vennelitia Shiningtide, Augusthir Megson, and Athlindra 
  Penabi) and their appointed staff
  Population:  5,672 (2,120 Foerdewaith, 1,737 Loreclannic, 682 
  high elf, 567 half-elf, 341 halﬂ ing, 113 hill dwarf, 57 gnome, 55 
  half-orc) (Note: The Martyn’s Nest region includes as many as 
  20,000 individuals)
  Languages: Common, Elven, many others
  Religion: Quell, Sefagreth
  Resources: ﬁ sh, pearls, emeralds, mercenaries, shipping, 
  foreign goods 
  Technology Level: Medieval/Renaissance
  The size of Martyn’s Nest depends entirely upon where one chooses 
  to draw its borders. Many towns dot the western Reme coast, and as 
  Reme’s population has grown over the generations, the towns around 
  Martyn’s Nest in particular have bled together at the edges to form what 
  some consider to be a single sprawling town along the entire eastern 
  shore of Martyn’s Bay, nearly two-thirds the acreage of the city of Reme 
  in total.
  Ofﬁ cially, however, Martyn’s Nest is a modest town on the southern 
  Baronswood Peninsula, just south of the Quail River’s mouth. This is, 
  indeed, the best-organized and best-governed portion of the city, with a 
  population approaching 6,000 permanent residents and perhaps twice 
  that during peak shipping seasons. 
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K1 A FAMILY AFFAIR
  TANNER’S GREEN, TOWN OF
  TANNER’S GREEN, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Mayor Rutiger
  Government: elected mayor 
  Population: 309 (198 Foerdewaith, 101 Loreclannic, 10 halﬂ ing)
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Freya
  Resources: farming, ranching, some trade
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Tanner’s Green is a small town near the eaves of the Westwood, 
  not far from the borderland with the Frontier. It is governed by Mayor 
  Rutiger, a position that is chosen by the landowning citizens of the town 
  every three years. A temple of Freya is in the town, which relies mostly 
  on farming, ranching, and a small amount of trade.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K10 DEMONHEART
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE WESTMARCH
  INTEREST IN THE WESTMARCH
  BARONSWOOD
  BARONSWOOD
  This forest near Martyn’s Nest is rumored to be the home of the green 
  dragon Aureensaador.
  CAER DIRE
  CAER DIRE
  The ruins of an ancient castle, this is now a tavern and trademeet 
  for three tribes of ogres and orcs who live in the region. An ogre mage 
  named Brazzer Mandragore, whose standard is a rook and broken lance, 
  is said to reside in this area as well. 
  Some 500 years ago, this was known as Caer Dunaven, the summer 
  home of the Dunaven family, nobles in the court of the grand duke. 
  According to legend, the Dunaven family eventually fell out of favor 
  with the court in Reme due to the machinations of another local family 
  that sought to usurp them.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: DM1 BOOK OF TAVERNS: THE QUINTAIN’S TOWER
  DUNAVENWOOD
  DUNAVENWOOD
  This region of forested land is located near Caer Dire, which of old 
  was known as Caer Dunaven. The woodland is protected by a group of 
  rangers known as the Wood Wards of St. Sophia. Wild forest buffalo 
  wander the Dunavenwood.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: DM1 BOOK OF TAVERNS: THE QUINTAIN’S TOWER
  ENDLESS HILLS
  ENDLESS HILLS
  Ofﬁ cially a part of the Westmarch, the Endless Hills are unsettled and 
  wild, well beyond Reme’s control. Hot in summer and cold in winter, the 
  hills are arid, rugged, and covered in coarse grasses that are interrupted 
  here and there by seasonal streams and stands of hardy oak, juniper, and 
  cottonwood. Hyenas, both dire and ordinary, roam the hills, and hostile 
  tribes of gnolls make travel extremely hazardous. In the distant past, the 
  gnolls were far more numerous and powerful, threatening the elves of 
  the Westwood and even raiding nearby human settlements.
  THE GALLOWS
  THE GALLOWS
  The Gallows is a teardrop-shaped island some 450 miles to the 
  southwest of Martyn’s Nest in the Crescent Sea, with an extension on 
  the northern end that gives it the vague resemblance of a hangman’s 
  noose. The island runs 20 miles north to south and eight miles east to 
  west. Light pine forest dots the entire island, except for the center, where 
  a craggy hill known as Dead Man’s Head resides. The eastern beach 
  holds the remnants of a village and cemetery of unknown origin.
  Previously known as God’s Tear Island, for many years it was an 
  important trading port and safe haven for merchants in the midst of the 
  Crescent Sea. Though surrounding reefs make the waters around the 
  island perilous to navigate, the islanders learned the passages and would 
  row out to ships arriving at the island and lead them safely to the docks. 
  About a hundred years ago, however, the baron at Martyn’s Nest 
  learned that the island was the haven of a group of ﬁ erce pirates that had 
  been terrorizing the sea lanes out of Reme. The baron mobilized a large 
  ﬂ eet and seized the island. The islanders mysteriously vanished before 
  he arrived. Four months later, the baron’s ﬂ eet sank or captured each and 
  every one of the pirates’ ships. It is said that, as they looted the vacant 
  island, the baron’s soldiers reported seeing strange shapes lurking in 
  the shadows and hearing disturbing noises. At ﬁ rst, these reports were 
  dismissed, but then soldiers began to disappear in the night. Their 
  bodies would eventually be found with fearful expressions on their 
  faces, but no marks on them to indicate how they had died. By the time 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|149
  |149
  THE LANDS OF REME
  the baron’s soldiers left the island, rumors had spread that it was haunted 
  by the ghosts of the dead pirates. The baron’s soldiers returned to tell the 
  tales to their families and the name of the island became known as the 
  Gallows. To this day, the island remains uninhabited, and sailors refuse 
  to go there, as they believe the island is cursed.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K1 A FAMILY AFFAIR
  GREEN MOUNTAINS
  GREEN MOUNTAINS
  The Green Mountains are a range of now extinct volcanoes northwest 
  of the city of Reme in the Duchy of Westmarch. Caves dot the heights, 
  which feature groves of aspen and other alpine trees. The range is 
  divided into eastern and western arms by the Quail Valley, the origin of 
  the Quail River that runs south into the heartland of the duchy. Dwarves 
  of the Green Mountain Clan live in the western range and mine emeralds 
  renowned for their brightness and clarity. Other parts of the mountains 
  are less hospitable. Orcs, goblins, and other humanoids dwell amid 
  the peaks, and rocs are said to migrate south from here every autumn. 
  Rumors also abound that ruins of prehuman civilizations can be found 
  in the roots of these mountains.
  QUAIL RIVER
  QUAIL RIVER
  The Quail River runs south from a source high in the Green 
  Mountains through Quail Valley and into the heartland of the Duchy of 
  the Westmarch, past the march capital of Eckland, and eventually to a 
  marshy mouth on the Crescent Sea.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: G4 THE VAULT OF LARIN KARR
  QUAIL VALLEY
  QUAIL VALLEY
  Quail Valley divides the eastern and western ranges of the Green 
  Mountains. The Quail River originates at the northern end of the 
  valley, high in the mountain peaks. Within Quail Valley can be found 
  the Nin Forest, a dense, old-growth woodland said to be home to a 
  group of elves, and the lightly wooded Gaskar Hills, which is prowled 
  by the White Fist orc tribe. The Gaskar Hills are also the location of 
  the Thorfax Mines, which produce a steady stream of iron ore, a key 
  source of revenue for the Westmarch. The valley hosts a few small 
  towns, including Pembrose, Bostwick, and Twain. Rumor has it that 
  entrances to the Under Realms, the deep caverns and twisting tunnels 
  that underlie much of the known world, exist somewhere in Quail 
  Valley. Hints of civilizations older than humanity are also said to be 
  hidden in this valley.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: G4 THE VAULT OF LARIN KARR
  TOWER OF JHEDOPHAR
  TOWER OF JHEDOPHAR
  More than a thousand years ago, a great mage named Jhedophar built 
  a school of magic at the westernmost edge of the Green Mountains. 
  Some centuries later, he closed the school, drove his students away, and 
  sealed himself within his tower, never to emerge. Though the tower has 
  largely passed from history and memory, it does yet stand, only recently 
  rediscovered by intrepid adventurers. 
  Inside, over the centuries, the tower has become a veritable labyrinth 
  of terror packed with undead monstrosities, perilous eldritch mysteries, 
  and a dragon who claims a portion of the tower for himself. Little else 
  is known, as none has yet penetrated the tower’s ancient heart — none, 
  anyway, who has escaped to tell the tale.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K7 THE TOWER OF JHEDOPHAR
  WESTWOOD
  WESTWOOD
  This tangled forest in the far western portion of the Westmarch 
  borders on the Endless Hills. Currently home to wood elves and gnolls, 
  it was once inhabited by an ancient race of elves known as the Trae’este 
  (Shadows of the Forest). It is said that in the distant past, the Trae’este 
  summoned outsiders to battle a gnoll invasion from over the Endless 
  Hills but were forced to sacriﬁ ce themselves and merge their souls with 
  the Westwood to vanquish an especially powerful demon-lord they 
  inadvertently called up and were unable to dismiss.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K10 DEMONHEART
  THE WINDREFT
  THE WINDREFT
  The Windreft is a remote area of the Westmarch west of the Green 
  Mountains that has long been wild and, until recently, unsettled. Now 
  that Duke Rogers is in Eckland, however, the grand duke deems it 
  worthwhile to see if settlers can be enticed to move there. The risks 
  are not insubstantial, as orc tribes control much of the nearby foothills, 
  hobgoblins camp in the north, boggards infest the waterwoods, gnolls 
  hunt in the open plains, and trolls sometimes wander down from the 
  Green Mountains. Recently, the tiny town of Glory was established 
  in the Windreft. But rumor has it that the town may in fact be located 
  directly over something that perhaps would best be left undisturbed.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: LOST LORE: TOWN OF GLORY
  NORTHMARCHES, DUCHY OF THE
  NORTHMARCHES, DUCHY OF THE
  Capital: Ironhill
  Notable Settlements: Albion, Dreikeng and Harrowfar (in the 
  Frontier), Ionkri Hall, Nerimar, Tanith
  Ruler: Duchess Candrella Iskadar
  Government: feudal
  Population:  220,000 (subject to seasonal variation) (85,000 
  Loreclannic, 60,000 Foerdewaith, 19,500 half-elf, 15,000 other 
  human mixed ethnicity, 12,000 gnome [High Downs], 10,000 
  halﬂ ing, 8,500 hill dwarf, 5,000 mountain dwarf, 3,000 wood 
  elf [Haunted Wood], 2,000 other)
  Monstrous: hobgoblins (Deepfells), goblins, centaurs, gnolls 
  (the Frontier), trolls, creatures of shadow (Haunted Wood), 
  orcs (Ashen Hills), kobolds (High Downs), dryad (Eisenwood, 
  Haunted Wood), bugbears, ogres, ettercap (Haunted Wood), 
  ankheg, banshee, basilisk, chimera, cockatrice, peryton, 
  treants (Haunted Wood), cyclops, manticores (the Frontier), 
  owlbears (Haunted Wood, Sternwood)
  Languages: Common, Kirkut (among some Loreclannic visitors 
  from the deep plains), Elven
  Religion: Solanus, Dame Torren, Mithras (Ironhill); Kamien, 
  Freya, Telophus, Ceres (countryside), Halatra, Solanus, Dame 
  Torren (Loreclans)
  Resources: cattle, sheep, iron, chalk, timber
  Currency: Rhemish
  Technology Level: Medieval
  For most of Reme’s history, the Northmarches constituted the 
  effective frontier of the grand duchy. Though lands beyond have been 
  claimed over the centuries, this March has always been the last line of 
  defense, the farthest reach of homeland that must be protected at all 
  costs. Those crossing the windblown plains occasionally stumble across 
  bones or rusted weapons or armor half-buried in the thin soil, remains 
  of ancient battleﬁ elds where the legions and Loreclans of Reme met 
  humanoids and darker enemies from beyond the Crynnomar Gap or 
  hobgoblin armies from the Deepfells. Fortunately, few such forces have 
  threatened the lands of the grand duke for many centuries now, though 
  a watchful eye is still maintained in Durgam’s Folly and in watchtowers 
  on the Wizard’s Wall overlooking the Haunted Steppes.
  The land here is lightly populated, with little agriculture possible. 
  Horses and cattle graze on the plains, however, and several of the Plains’ 
  Loreclans range over the Northmarches on a seasonal basis. Iron and 
  chalk are proﬁ tably mined from the High Downs.
  On ofﬁ cial maps, the Northmarches include the Frontier and the 
  Haunted Wood, but the duchess ignores both, since any effort to settle 
  those lands would end up costing more in lives and treasure than it could 
  ever conceivably be worth.
  The few settlements, other than the capital of Ironhill, are largely 
  trading posts for trappers, cattle drives, and prospectors, or are logging 
  towns along the forest edges. The folk dwelling here are hardy, proud 
  of their self-sufﬁ ciency, and often suspicious of those from the south. 
  The duchess also maintains the military outposts along Wizard’s Wall, 
  
  150|
  150|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE LANDS OF REME
  including the fortress of Durgam’s Folly, and ﬁ elds a substantial standing 
  army that patrols the outskirts of the Haunted Wood and the Gryphon 
  Hills to protect against incursions of humanoids and other threats. The 
  army is well supplied with light cavalry from the Loreclans, and very 
  little gets past their watchful eyes.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Northmarcher livestock, iron from the western slopes of the 
  Stoneheart Mountains, and chalk from the High Downs all make their 
  way along trade routes to the rest of the grand duchy and to places such 
  as Waymarch, Ysser, the heartland of Foere, and Bard’s Gate, earning 
  much-needed gold and silver. An equally small but vital trickle of trade 
  returns, bringing textiles, grains, manufactured goods, and a variety of 
  foodstuffs back to the Northmarches. 
  The nomadic Loreclans provide an especially vital link to the other 
  duchies as well, for their yearly migration route takes them from the 
  Northmarches in the summer to the ducal lands of the grand duke in 
  the spring and fall, and their winter camps in the Waymarch, then back 
  again. Skilled merchants, the semi-nomadic Loreclans trade as they go, 
  obtaining goods that they need and items that they know will be needed 
  in their upcoming destinations. 
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Rhemish rule in the Northmarches is minimal out of necessity, for 
  beyond the various military garrisons sparsely posted throughout the 
  duchy, the vast distances and unpopulated lands provide little opportunity 
  (or need) for the exercise of real authority. Fortunately for Grand Duke 
  Iltobarus, Northmarchers maintain a strong sense of Rhemish identity, 
  despite their isolation and distrust of outsiders.
  A hereditary duchy, the Northmarches are currently ruled by Duchess 
  Candrella, the ﬁ fth ruler in the Iskadar line. While she is ambitious and 
  wishes to see the Northmarches become a fully-integrated part of the 
  grand duchy, with new roads, palaces, fortresses and cities (she has 
  familiarized herself with the region’s history and longs for the old days 
  before the Deepfells invasion), Candrella is also realistic and knows that 
  such changes cannot take place within her own lifetime. With little in the 
  way of support from a grand duke who has numerous other priorities, 
  Candrella must content herself with less ambitious projects such as 
  building a paved, raised road through the High Downs and providing 
  some much-needed repairs to the walls of Durgam’s Folly.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The military forces of the Northmarches are charged with guarding 
  the Wizard’s Wall, and thus garrison Durgam’s Folly as well as the 
  watchtowers built atop the escarpment overlooking the Haunted 
  Steppes. They also patrol the outskirts of the Haunted Wood and the 
  Gryphon Hills, as well as the border with the Frontier and the foothills 
  of the Stoneheart Mountains. As a result, the army of the Northmarches 
  is comparable in size to that of many nations on Akados. Troops are 
  regularly shifted among posts to avoid boredom and complacency. 
  Command is held by the lord high commander of the Northmarches, 
  who reports directly to the duchess. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  There are many and varied threats to the Northmarches. Humanoids 
  and worse live in the Haunted Wood and in the Gryphon Hills, and often 
  ﬁ nd their way into the Northmarches from the Frontier. Just 30 years 
  ago, a goblin raid from the Gryphon Hills claimed the life of the duke at 
  the time. There is also the looming presence of the Haunted Steppes to 
  the north. Though nothing has threatened to breach the Wizard’s Wall in 
  generations, there is something unsettling about the lands beyond. No 
  one who serves at Durgam’s Folly or at one of the watchtowers on the 
  escarpment can ever forget the sight of those barren and haunted lands, 
  or shake the feeling that something there is watching and waiting for 
  some unknown event or portent to once more bring forth a darkness 
  against the lands of Reme.
  More immediately, both of the duchess’ sons are manifestly 
  unqualiﬁ ed to succeed her on the ducal throne at Ironhill. In the absence 
  of another obvious and legal heir, her passing may result in chaos and, 
  potentially, civil war in the Northmarches.
  IRONHILL, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  IRONHILL, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Mayor Ingal Stellan and Duchess Candrella Iskadar
  Government: ducal city; feudal 
  Population: 56,194 (24,677 Loreclannic, 21,481 Foerdewaith, 
  3,890 gnome, 2,111 hill dwarf, 1,841 mountain dwarf, 1,041 
  halﬂ ing, 912 half-elf, 219 high elf, 22 other)
  Languages: Common, Kirkut (Loreclannic dialects)
  Religion: Solanus, Dame Torren, Mithras 
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The capital of the Duchy of the Northmarches is heavily fortiﬁ ed 
  — hill dwarves aided in building its walls and other defenses — and 
  designed to withstand attack from any foe no matter how strong. The 
  ﬁ nal battle against the demigod Kakobovia in 1573 I.R. occurred in a 
  vale amid the hills within sight of the city. Since then, Ironhill has grown 
  signiﬁ cantly and is the only real urban center in the Northmarches.
  Designed to be a refuge to the region in the event of war, Ironhill’s 
  walls encompass much more space than is necessary for its typical 
  population. Several large greens on the southeast and southwest sides 
  of the city can be converted into tent camps that could hold thousands 
  of refugees if necessary. The northern half of the city is divided into 
  several quarters, including a merchants’ quarter and a gnomish enclave, 
  overlooked by the massive Tower of the North, fortress of the duchess. 
  Scores of military barracks sit in the shadow of the tower and house at 
  all times a sizable complement of soldiers either returning from duty on 
  the borders of the March or preparing for assignment. One of the largest 
  temples on Akados dedicated to Vanitthu, god of the steadfast guard, is 
  located in the western part of the city. Temples of Solanus and Dame 
  Torren are also prominent in the city; both expanded recently to house 
  larger congregations.
  ALBION, VILLAGE OF
  ALBION, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: Mayor Jorgin
  Government: feudal
  Population: 140 (50 Foerdewaith, 45 Loreclannic, 25 human 
  mixed ethnicity, 15 gnome, 10 halﬂ ing)
  Religion: Solanus, Freya
  Resources: timber, trapping
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Albion is a small village north of the High Downs located on the 
  road from Ironhill to Durgam’s Folly. Situated relatively near the 
  eastern eaves of the Haunted Wood, locals make their living with some 
  logging and trapping in the forest and provide for those on the road 
  heading south to the ducal capital or north to the Wizard’s Wall. The 
  level-headed Mayor Jorgin was appointed to his position by the baron of 
  Tanith, whose domain nominally includes Albion, although villagers see 
  little of their lord other than the annual tax collectors. Of late, a wizard 
  from Reme has settled in the area and built a tower outside of town.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: LOST LORE: EMBERS OF DOMIN’S TOWER
  IONKRI HALL, TOWN OF
  IONKRI HALL, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Lord 
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 11,500 (11,250 gnome, 110 Loreclannic, 50 
  Foerdewaith, 50 halﬂ ing, 40 human mixed ethnicity)
  Languages: Gnomish, Common
  Religion: Dre’uain the Lame, Hammer Mittelschmerz
  Resources: mining
  Technology Level: Medieval
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|151
  |151
  THE LANDS OF REME
  This gnomish town sits in a valley in the western High Downs and 
  is surrounded by a high wall that seems to have been made of a single 
  seamless block of stone. Visitors are allowed into the mercantile quarter 
  inside the main gate, where shops, taverns, and inns cater to traders and 
  travelers. Only gnomes may enter the rest of the town, which is said to 
  include homes aboveground as well as dwellings below. Several mines 
  are located a few miles to the north and west of Ionkri Hall, and carts are 
  regularly seen traveling the road to and from the town.
  NERIMAR, TOWN OF
  NERIMAR, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Mayor Ganik Athranos
  Government: democratic
  Population: 1,583 (613 Foerdewaith, 520 Loreclannic, 218 other 
  human mixed ethnicity, 144 gnome, 88 halﬂ ing)
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Solanus, Freya
  Resources: timber
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Nerimar is a frontier town located a day’s march south of the Haunted 
  Wood. It is a bustling trade hub and the last stop before passing into 
  western wilderness. The residents are a rough-and-tumble sort, mainly 
  trappers and loggers, overseen by a mayor who appoints a small city 
  council and is democratically elected every two years. The current mayor 
  is Ganik Athranos, who also owns the leading local inn, the Wizard’s 
  Wall. However, many suspect that another secretive organization may 
  truly be the power in Nerimar.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: 
  ONS6 ONE NIGHT STANDS: CURSE OF SHADOWHOLD
  TANITH, TOWN OF
  TANITH, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Baron Silas Novar
  Government: feudal
  Population: 1,251 (766 Foerdewaith, 356 Loreclannic, 103 
  gnome, 26 halﬂ ing)
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Solanus, Arialee
  Resources: grain, livestock, iron, copper
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The second-largest town in this region of the Northmarches, Tanith 
  lies close by the Stoneheart Mountains. It is an important trade center 
  for iron and copper from the dwarven mines to the east and a stopover 
  point for troops going to and coming from the fortress at Durgam’s 
  Folly.
  Tanith is a ducal territory with a hereditary Loreclannic chieftain 
  who bears the ofﬁ cial title of baron. The current baron is Silas Novar, 
  a young Loreclannic knight who was forced to take the ofﬁ ce only two 
  years ago when his father perished while ﬁ ghting marauding hill giants. 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF
  INTEREST IN THE NORTHMARCHES
  INTEREST IN THE NORTHMARCHES
  CRYNNOMAR GAP
  CRYNNOMAR GAP
  The Crynnomar Gap is the 500-mile pass between the Deepfells on 
  the west and the Stoneheart Mountains on the east, and constitutes the 
  border between the lands of Reme and the Haunted Steppes of the north. 
  Through this gap, dark armies of humanoids and worse have poured 
  south several times in the long-ago past as they sought to conquer the 
  lands of the elves and humans. Since 2947 I.R., the Wizards’ Wall has 
  sealed the gap.
  DURGAM’S FOLLY 
  DURGAM’S FOLLY 
  The mighty fortress of Durgam’s Folly has long stood guard on the 
  shoulders of the Stoneheart Mountains, serving as a bastion between the 
  settled lands to the south and the wild steppes of the north. It predates 
  the creation of the Wizard’s Wall, having been founded by the military 
  captain Durgam Volmsmer in the earliest years of the Great Colonization 
  of the steppes by Reme. It was nicknamed Durgam’s Folly by those who 
  believed that it would never stand and expected it to quickly succumb 
  to the evil creatures of the Stonehearts. Early attacks on the citadel by 
  forces of orcs and goblins seemed to conﬁ rm these expectations, and 
  the name stuck, despite all of the attacks invariably failing. It is now 
  said that Durgam’s Folly is in fact unconquerable, proof against any 
  external threat. Such would be a good thing, as since the raising of the 
  Wizard’s Wall, Durgam’s Folly now guards the eastern ﬂ ank of the wall 
  and the only passes through the mountains leading to the southern lands 
  of Reme.
  It is said that Durgam’s Folly was originally built on the ruins of an 
  older fortiﬁ cation of unknown provenance. Of late, the grand duke has 
  sent one of his court’s wizards to the fortress to develop new magical 
  defenses that could be employed were a new attack to come from the 
  Haunted Steppes.
  The citadel is currently commended by Captain Evrik, a capable 
  soldier.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: G1 THE SIEGE OF DURGAM’S FOLLY
  HAUNTED WOOD
  HAUNTED WOOD
  The Haunted Wood is a vast forest crossing northern stretches of the 
  Duchy of the Northmarches from the Deepfells almost to the foothills of 
  the Stoneheart Mountains. This woodland has always been considered 
  fey and strange, and it is believed that large portions of it currently 
  lie under a shadowy curse. It was never actually a part of the Great 
  Akadonian Forest that once swathed much of the continent, always 
  having been separated by the Green Mountains and chalky High Downs 
  to the south. Tribes of reclusive wood elves still live in this forest but 
  are largely conﬁ ned to the settlement of Golden Oak as a consequence 
  of the shadowy curse that besets the woodland.
  Five thousand years ago, the Haunted Wood was connected to the 
  Namjan Forest across the Gryphon Hills. It was then the domain of the 
  elven kingdom of Alathanar, home of the Alathi tribe. These elves who 
  worshipped the goddess Shalraei were advanced in arcane knowledge 
  and lived in homes melded from the living trees and rocks of the forest. 
  It is said that a king among these elves turned to dark powers, which led 
  to a civil war that ultimately destroyed the kingdom. Since that time, 
  the elven presence in these northern forests has diminished (particularly 
  after the wild elves departed to the south and west in the Third Exodus 
  of the Elves) and the Shadow increased. The forest has gradually shrunk 
  over the years until it is now completely isolated from the Namjan to 
  the west.
  Somewhere in the Haunted Wood can be found the ruins of 
  Shadowhold, the stronghold of the dark elven king.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: 
  ONS6 ONE NIGHT STANDS: CURSE OF SHADOWHOLD
  HIGH DOWNS
  HIGH DOWNS
  The High Downs are a natural chalky highland area of central 
  Reme between the Green Mountains and the Stoneheart Mountains. 
  They are considered to be the southern boundary of the Duchy of the 
  Northmarches.
  The capital of the Northmarches is at Ironhill in the High Downs. 
  This area is home to large numbers of gnomes and is the historic site of 
  an ancestral rock gnome homeland, speciﬁ cally the royal gnome Clan 
  Granith.
  The invasion of the Northmarches by the Hobgoblin Kingdom of the 
  Deepfells was stopped here at the High Downs. In 1573 I.R., an army 
  led by Grand Duke Borell I ambushed the remaining hobgoblin army at 
  the Battle of Ironhill, forever ending their threat against Reme. In the 
  battle, the grand duke also defeated the hobgoblin demigod Kakobovia 
  and banished him from the Material Plane.
  WIZARD’S WALL
  WIZARD’S WALL
  The Wizard’s Wall is a vast cliff escarpment more than 500 miles 
  in length that runs across the Crynnomar Gap between the Deepfells 
  
  152|
  152|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE LANDS OF REME
  to the west and the Stoneheart Mountains on the east. For well over 
  half a millennium, it has been an impenetrable barrier protecting the 
  Northmarches of the Grand Duchy of Reme from the Haunted Steppes 
  to the north. 
  Approaching the wall from the Northmarches, the land slopes gently 
  upward, almost imperceptibly, until it suddenly drops in sheer cliffs 
  to a base on the Haunted Steppes, as much as 1000 feet below. Along 
  its western end at the base of the escarpment, the shallow, swampy 
  Shadowfell Lake formed from waters that collected from the redirected 
  Wanaheeli River. The face of the escarpment is effectively impassible, 
  the rock of its vertical walls brittle and likely to crumble in the hands 
  of any who might try to climb them. Attempts to pass the wall on the 
  west are thwarted by the sharp crags and high peaks of the Deepfells, 
  while the fortress known as Durgam’s Folly guards the only known trail 
  through the Stonehearts at its eastern end. More than just a physical 
  obstacle, the stony precipice holds power over the unseen as well and 
  bars passage by dark spirits from the steppe that seek to cross into the 
  southern lands.
  After the destruction of the Caleen Colonies in the Haunted Steppes 
  in 2947 I.R., the wall was raised through the use of ancient and powerful 
  magics by the archmages Alycthron and Margon to block what otherwise 
  would have been an unstoppable invasion of Reme by hordes of 
  humanoids and shadow-walkers from the Lost Mountains far to the north.
  In the long years since, Reme has kept a watch on the Haunted 
  Steppes beyond the Wizard’s Wall. In addition to the permanent 
  garrison at Durgam’s Folly, the Duchy of the Northmarches maintains 
  a number of watchtowers along the top of the escarpment. Troops are 
  regularly shifted among these watchtowers, Durgam’s Folly, and other 
  assignments in the Northmarches, including patrols of the outskirts of 
  the Haunted Wood and the Gryphon Hills. While some smaller towers 
  are not always manned, the six largest host permanent contingents of 
  soldiers charged with watching over the plains beyond. From the west, 
  these six towers are called Haldor’s Tower, Granite Eye, Rilla’s Watch, 
  the Tower of the Rock, the Duchess Tower, and Coursguard.
  THE FRONTIER
  THE FRONTIER
  Although the lands called the Frontier are considered a part of the 
  Duchy of the Northmarches of Reme, in truth it is wild and outside the 
  control of the grand duke and his vassals. The land is higher, the climate 
  is generally cold, particularly in the winter, and not favorable at all for 
  crops. Flora and fauna are both hardy, with herds of elk, buffalo, and 
  caribou migrating with the seasons.
  The nomadic Vaeltaia centaurs scratch out a hard living here, moving 
  from place to place following the seasons and the game that they require 
  for survival. Old treaties with the centaurs limited settlements, but 
  today small farms dot the territory, along with the occasional cottages 
  of trappers, woodcutters, and hunters. There are also a few communal 
  farms of religious fanatics who believe that someday these lands will 
  become fertile, with well-cultivated ﬁ elds. To the extent that there is an 
  economy, money can be made from timber and the fur trade.
  DREIKENG, VILLAGE OF
  DREIKENG, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: none
  Government: council
  Population: 512 (256 Loreclannic, 181 Foerdewaith, 50 hill 
  dwarf, 21 half-elf, 4 half orc)
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Bablukar, Solanus, Dame Torren
  Resources: timber, trapping
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Dreikeng is a village of about 500 souls (the vast majority being 
  humans, with a small number of dwarves, half-elves, and half-orcs) 
  dedicated, for the most part, to woodcutting, hunting, trapping, and 
  manufacturing. Located on the Aciier River, a council of three local 
  merchants govern the village.
  About 100 miles south of Dreikeng is the even smaller village of 
  Gauldark, which is home to about 200 residents, principally humans 
  and a few refugees — often half-orcs. For most of the year it is almost 
  vacant, with its residents in the forest woodcutting, hunting, and 
  trapping. Only during winter, when inclement weather forces the people 
  to ﬁ nd shelter, is the hamlet full “of suffocating life,” as the villagers 
  say. The town contains an outpost of the local thieves’ guild (known 
  as the Silver Crown Society), a shrine to the god Bablukar, and tavern 
  named the Stuffed Bear — despite having stuffed boar inside instead.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K5 THE SIX SPHERES OF ZAIHHESS
  HARROWFAR, TOWN OF
  HARROWFAR, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Mayor Alijah Drusk
  Government: informal democracy, chartered by the grand duke
  Population: 1,172 (304 Loreclannic, 237 Foerdewaith, 231 high 
  elf, 165 hill dwarf, 127 halﬂ ing, 85 gnome, 14 half-orc, 9 other)
  Languages: Common, Elvish
  Religion: Solanus
  Resources: subsistence only, basic needs
  Technology Level: mostly Dark Ages, with some Medieval 
  elements
  Though ostensibly capital of the Rhemish Frontier, and thus under the 
  jurisdiction of the Northmarches, the town of Harrowfar is located at the 
  eastern edge of the Endless Hills, which are often also considered to be 
  Westmarch territory. This confusion is, itself, indicative of the region 
  surrounding Harrowfar, as no real control over these lands is maintained 
  or presumed by any authority in Reme, though Harrowfar’s mayor does 
  occasionally receive instructions from the duchess of the Northmarches, 
  the duke of the Westmarch, or from the grand duke directly. When she’s 
  lucky, these instructions do not contradict one another. 
  A rough border town, Harrowfar boasts steel-reinforced wooden 
  palisades along with other defenses against the hostile gnoll tribes of the 
  hills. Harrowfar’s full-time professional guard is unusually large for the 
  town’s size and often provides protection for other settlers and travelers 
  in the region. This guard force was originally funded by the grand duke 
  as part of his sponsorship of the Harrowfar settling expedition.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE FRONTIER
  INTEREST IN THE FRONTIER
  ACIIER RIVER
  ACIIER RIVER
  This river runs from its source in the Ashen Hills past Dreikeng and 
  between the Eisenwood and the Sternwood, and thence around the 
  Green Mountains into the ﬁ elds of the Westmarch, until it reaches the 
  Quail River some distance north of Eckland. Logs of Eisenwood red 
  cedar are shipped by barge down the Aciier for sale in the markets to 
  the south.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K5 THE SIX SPHERES OF ZAIHHESS
  ASHEN HILLS
  ASHEN HILLS
  This area of rocky, largely barren hills east of the Deepfells contains 
  no know veins of precious ores, though some of the gray stone here 
  can be quarried for use in building. Tribes of orcs roam these hills. In 
  addition, it is said that an ancient complex of tunnels, possibly dug by a 
  prehuman race, can be found deep in these hills, which ends in a secret 
  valley containing a magniﬁ cent temple.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K5 THE SIX SPHERES OF ZAIHHESS
  DEEPFELLS
  DEEPFELLS
  This mountain range, despite its isolation, has played host to a 
  number of momentous events in the history of Akados. In –6484 I.R., 
  the Obsidian Vault plunged into the range, creating the strange structure 
  known as the Devil’s Finger. In those days, dwarves inhabited portions 
  of the Deepfells, and the arrival of the vault prompted some of them to 
  begin worshipping the demon known as the Faceless Lord. The dwarves 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|153
  |153
  THE LANDS OF REME
  were largely displaced by hobgoblin clans who began moving into the 
  region, and by 1548 I.R., under the leadership of the demigod Kakobovia, 
  the Hobgoblin Kingdom of the Deepfells had grown powerful enough to 
  threaten the Northmarches of Reme, eventually reaching its tendrils as 
  far east as the Starcrag fortresses. Kakobovia was eventually defeated 
  and banished at the Battle of Ironhill in 1573 I.R., and the hobgoblins 
  were pushed back into the mountains over subsequent decades.
  Today, the Deepfells remain a dangerous place. Communities of 
  dwarves struggle to survive against the hobgoblin clans who still dwell 
  in the mountains, leaderless but still deadly.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: G5 CHAOS RISING; MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS
  DEVIL’S FINGER
  DEVIL’S FINGER
  This bizarre tower resembles a great bony ﬁ nger rising 750 feet above 
  an isolated valley in the Deepfells. It was formed 10,000 years ago when 
  the demon lord Juiblex’s Obsidian Vault crashed into the mountains. 
  Within the tower, a clan of dwarves built the citadel of Dwurschmiede. 
  The dwarven god Dwerfater ultimately trapped Juiblex in the vault 
  some 9000 years ago. Three thousand years ago, Orcus, rising in power 
  in the Abyss after his humiliation by the Three Gods, sent forth an 
  army of demons in an unsuccessful attempt to invade Dwurschmiede. 
  Finally, some 1300 years ago, the citadel fell to undead legions of the 
  necromancer Giltz after being betrayed from within by a dwarf priest 
  follower of Orcus.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: G5 CHAOS RISING
  DRAGONBONE PEAK
  DRAGONBONE PEAK
  This high peak in the midst of the Deepfell mountain range is 
  honeycombed with caves and roughhewn passages, a citadel of the 
  Deepfells’ hobgoblins. Dragonbone today is a mere shadow of its former 
  greatness, when it served as home to the demigod Kakobovia and his 
  powerful hobgoblin empire. Kakobovia’s power reached its zenith in 
  the late 1500s I.R., but Grand Duke Borell I of Reme ﬁ nally defeated 
  the demigod at the Battle of Ironhill. Without a leader, the Deepfell 
  hobgoblins splintered into competing factions and scattered throughout 
  the mountains, though the Dragonbone clan remains the strongest and 
  most inﬂ uential due to its control of the citadel.
  EISENWOOD FOREST
  EISENWOOD FOREST
  The Eisenwood Forest is regularly logged for its famous red 
  cedars. The reddish wood is used to build most of the structures in the 
  surrounding area and is sent on rafts via the Aciier River to the markets 
  in the south for sale. Many animals also call the Eisenwood Forest 
  home, including deer, squirrels, and the like, with the occasional dire 
  boar falling prey to the hunters, and vice versa.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K5 THE SIX SPHERES OF ZAIHHESS
  GRYPHON HILLS
  GRYPHON HILLS
  The rocky, largely barren Gryphon Hills arise as foothills on the 
  eastern end of the Deepfells, bounded by the Haunted Wood in the east 
  and the Sternwood in the south. They are separated from the Ashen Hills 
  by the Namjan Forest and the Fehlween River to the west. Hobgoblins, 
  ogres, and hill giants are known to prowl the Gryphon Hills, which are 
  also well-known for caverns harboring bears, griffons, large cats, and 
  manticores. The occasional dragon may also be seen winging overhead. 
  According to rumor, the tomb of Thajar Darkfrag, an infamous arch-
  mage, can be found somewhere in these hills.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K5 THE SIX SPHERES OF ZAIHHESS
  NAMJAN FOREST
  NAMJAN FOREST
  The Namjan Forest is an old growth forest of northern Reme located 
  between the Ashen Hills and the Gryphon Hills. At one time, this forest 
  was a part of the Haunted Wood, which then extended over the Gryphon 
  Hills. In the intervening years, both forests receded, and today they are 
  separated by several hundred miles. According to rumor, the Ancient One 
  sorcerer-warlord Dyraxl Uhl-Kal-Totten, who killed himself in a sorcerous 
  explosion in the face of a siege by his enemies, once controlled this region, 
  which has been the subject of incursions from the Shadow Plane.
  The Fehlween River begins in the hills north of the Namjan Forest 
  and runs through the woods to the south until it joins the Aciier River 
  above Dreikeng.  
  Thistlehill, a gnomish mine fabled for its rare sunbreath quartz, is 
  found within the Namjan Forest.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: 
  THE DARKENING OF NAMJAN FOREST FROM QUESTS OF DOOM
  STERNWOOD
  STERNWOOD
  The Sternwood Forest has a very bad reputation because of the many 
  people who have of late disappeared in its vicinity. The most accepted 
  cause is the presence of a particularly ferocious and well-organized pack 
  of wolves. Others believe that a band of thieves and refugees use the 
  forest as a hiding place, and some even think that some terrible monster 
  inhabits the forest. The last is the typical story told to newcomers in a 
  tavern to get some free drinks or coin in exchange for information. In 
  fact, a wizard of substantial power built a stronghold upon a small hill 
  in the midst of the forest, from which he sets loose undead slaves to act 
  as guardians of the forest.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K5 THE SIX SPHERES OF ZAIHHESS
  EAMONVALE
  EAMONVALE
  Capital: Dun Eamon
  Major Settlement: Broadwater
  Ruler: Lord Arb Angus
  Government: Feudal
  Population: 46,505 (29,606 Uplander, 4,979 Foerdewaith, 4,226 
  mountain dwarf, 2,921 half-elf, 1,818 human mixed ethnicity, 
  912 gnome, 716 hill dwarf, 676 halﬂ ing, 401 high elf, 250 
  other) 
  Monstrous: wolves, great cats (including jaguars), bears, 
  serpents, girallons, dire animals, smilodons, kamadans, 
  dryads, sprites, oakmen, brownies, and buckawns
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Thyr, Sefagreth, Belon the Wise, Stryme, Kamien, 
  Dre’uain, Pekko, Solanus, the Green Father
  Resources: trade, timber, fur
  Currency: Eamonvale (though Rhemian currency is widely 
  accepted)
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Eamonvale is a long fertile valley through which runs one of the few 
  trade roads across the Stoneheart Mountains. The valley, the forested 
  mountain slopes that ﬂ ank it, and its deep swamps and boggy moors 
  are governed from the Grey Citadel of Dun Eamon. The authority of 
  the Lord of Eamonvale extends from the mountain passes near the 
  river’s headwaters to the trading center of Broadwater at the edge of the 
  foothills of the Stonehearts.
  For reasons that remain unclear, the Grand Duchy of Reme has never 
  laid claim to the lands of Eamonvale, even though it is the source of a 
  major tributary of the river that at its mouth empties into the Crescent 
  Sea at the city of Reme itself. Rumors suggest that Eamon Angus, the 
  original lord of Eamonvale, performed some critical service to the grand 
  duke centuries ago and was rewarded with a permanent writ to hold 
  Eamonvale free of the authority of Reme. Whether or not that is the 
  case, neither the grand dukes nor the dukes of the Northmarches have 
  ever attempted to annex the valley, though that has not stopped Rhemish 
  merchant houses from seeking inﬂ uence over this key trading route. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
   In 3238 I.R., Eamon Angus founded a small trading post at a ford near 
  the end of a valley in the western eaves of the Stoneheart Mountains, 
  south of the High Downs. As it became apparent that the trading post 
  and the growing community on the ford were in a position to inﬂ uence 
  trade across the mountains, the community attracted the attention of 
  
  154|
  154|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE LANDS OF REME
  several merchant families from the heartland of Reme. As the number 
  of caravans moving across the ford and stopping to trade within the 
  walls of the city grew steadily, the merchants sought a toehold in the 
  thriving economy. Angus and his descendants forbade their emporiums 
  in the city that would become Dun Eamon, so the merchants were forced 
  to barter their goods and collect their tariffs before the caravans entered 
  the valley.
  At the mouth of the valley where the River Eamon calmed and widened 
  into a navigable waterway, the tent cities and caravan camps of the 
  traders grew into the town of Broadwater. It was here that the powerful 
  Rhemian merchant house of Drenwal was able to establish an emporium 
  and dominate the smaller independent traders. With total control of the 
  movement of goods up the valley, House Drenwal taxed goods so heavily 
  that they became unmarketable in the frontier communities. The merchant 
  dynasty bought out caravans of certain critical supplies to deny the settlers 
  the tools for their survival. When Eamonvale had been weakened by their 
  actions, a scion of the Drenwal empire led an army of mercenaries upriver 
  to sack the Angus trading center at the ford and seize the lucrative position 
  on the trade road for themselves.
  Angus and his supporters raised an army of woodsmen and settlers 
  and engaged the merchant prince with a ferocity and tenacity that 
  surprised even the seasoned mercenary generals. The battles of the 
  Frontier War were hard-fought and costly, but the people of Eamonvale 
  drove the army of House Drenwal from the valley and secured their 
  economic freedom and gained effective control over the trading center 
  of Broadwater. House Drenwal withdrew from the economics of the 
  region but has never forgotten the chagrin of their defeat in the campaign 
  and still covets the valley’s ﬂ ourishing economy.
  The frontiersmen of Eamonvale fought for generations to preserve 
  their rights in the valley, ﬁ rst wresting their sustenance from the 
  untamed wilds, then defending their homes against humanoid 
  onslaughts and, most recently, dealing with the political machinations 
  of greedy merchant empires. The people of Eamonvale are hardy and 
  self-sufﬁ cient, hardships are taken in stride, and respect is reserved for 
  those who earn it. Two dominant social groups exist in the valley and are 
  usually at odds with each other. The woodsmen who people the fertile 
  slopes and forested glens of the valley regard the merchant class as 
  arrogant foreigners from pampered lowland cities; the merchants regard 
  the woodsmen as savages whose uncouth lifestyle they tolerate only in 
  the interests of proﬁ t.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Among the merchants, Sefagreth is worshipped, and a temple to this 
  god can be found in Broadwater. The locals generally prefer Dre’uain 
  (particularly among the craftsman), Kamien, Pekko, and Thyr. Many 
  travelers also sacriﬁ ce to Belon the Wise, seeking protection as they 
  travel into the wilds beyond the valley. The Angus family, rulers of 
  Eamonvale, have typically honored Stryme, and Lord Arb Angus’ 
  brother, Cael Angus, currently serves as the Master of the Temple of 
  Fortitude and High Priest of Stryme in Dun Eamon. Rumor has it that 
  the Angus family adopted Stryme as their patron after a long-ago battle 
  where they fought alongside dwarves who honored that god.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Eamonvale is a key location on one of the few commercial trading 
  routes over the Stoneheart Mountains. Caravans, traders, explorers, and 
  more take the Eamonvale Trade Road, and Dun Eamon and Broadwater 
  are the last safe havens before entering the deep mountains. This has 
  made the valley a target of many merchant houses over the centuries, 
  though the Angus family has fended off all threats to the independence 
  of their domain. Other than trade, the valley also produces fur and 
  timber that is sent downriver to Yalendir and beyond into the heartland 
  of Reme.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Eamonvale is isolated, located on the very limits of civilization 
  several hundred miles from the nearest Rhemian city of Quintas. It 
  remains on friendly terms with the grand duchy, having apparently 
  been guaranteed its independence around the time it was founded. 
  On rare occasions, ducal patrols visit Broadwater or Dun Eamon on 
  their way to assignments along the Stoneheart foothills, and they treat 
  the locals with care and respect (which treatment is reciprocated by 
  the Eamonvalers). The only real diplomatic challenge to the Angus 
  family comes from Rhemian merchant houses, and particularly House 
  Drenwal, which continually seek to inﬂ uence or control the trade 
  routes through the Stonehearts.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  For almost three centuries, rule of Eamonvale has passed by hereditary 
  descent through the Angus family, beginning with Eamon Angus, the 
  founder of Dun Eamon. The current ruler is Lord Arb Angus, a tall, 
  robust man with thick brown hair and a well-trimmed beard. The region 
  has developed well under his reign. He is young, having just entered 
  his 30th year, and he rules with the conﬁ dence and vigor of youth 
  tempered by the strict discipline and wisdom of his father. His policies 
  on trade and tax ensure a place for the local farmers and craftsmen in the 
  economy, and his strict prohibition on foreign guild inﬂ uence has drawn 
  much controversy. While many abroad would see him overthrown, he is 
  well loved by his citizens.
  Arb Angus remains unmarried, and it is well known in the valley that 
  he intends to wait until later in life to take a wife. He has two younger 
  brothers: Bron Angus serves as captain of the Mist Watch in Dun Eamon, 
  and Cael Angus is master of the Temple of Fortitude and high priest of 
  Stryme in Dun Eamon.  
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The maintenance of law and order in and around the Grey Citadel is 
  the responsibility of the Mist Watch, which is over 200 strong. The force 
  is made up of career soldiers, citizen militia, and wilderness outriders. 
  There is no law of mandatory service for the citizens, but any man living 
  within the city walls is subject to conscription in times of war.
  Bron Angus, Arb Angus’ younger brother, is the captain of the 
  watch and has been highly successful despite his young age. His 
  experiences as a young man in a mercenary company taught him 
  to be intolerant of sloth, insolence, and drunkenness, and his strict 
  orders have resulted in an elite ﬁ ghting force. The members of 
  the Mist Watch are trained to a basic level with all weapons and 
  tactics, but many of them have additional areas of expertise. All the 
  watchmen are rotated through various duty stations to avoid boredom 
  and complacency.
  Another 200 soldiers serve in the Broadwater Guard, a standing 
  military force garrisoned at the Old Keep in Broadwater. These 
  guardsmen, under command of sergeants and captains, are charged 
  with safeguarding the town from external threats, a duty that includes 
  manning the walls and gates, patrolling the immediate vicinity, and 
  responding to any apparent threat in the small communities immediately 
  outside the gates. As the largest armed body of troops in the city, they 
  may also be called upon to respond to any large disturbance within the 
  walls, but they do not operate regular patrols in the town (which is the 
  province of the Broadwater Constabulary).
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  There are many threats to Eamonvale that require the continual 
  vigilance of the Angus family. The mountains contain many perils, 
  including the orcs of Og-Brethos to the north and the other monsters 
  that call the Stonehearts home. But historically, the greatest threat 
  to Eamonvale has come from the merchant families of Reme who 
  continually seek to take control of this critical juncture on the trade 
  road across the mountains. It is said that House Drenwal, in particular, 
  holds a deep grudge against the Angus family for evicting them from 
  Broadwater in the Frontier Wars several centuries ago.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: G6 THE GREY CITADEL; 
  K12 THE EAMONVALE INCURSION
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|155
  THE LANDS OF REME
  BROADWATER, TOWN OF
  BROADWATER, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Council Chairman Alfgar (appointed by Lord Angus of 
  Dun Eamon)
  Government: town council 
  Population: 2,268 (1,022 Uplander, 811 Foerdewaith, 90 half-
  elf, 74 mountain dwarf, 68 gnome, 61 halﬂ ing, 58 high elf, 45 
  half-orc, 39 hill dwarf)
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Sefagreth, Belon the Wise, Pekko
  Resources: trade, furs and pelts
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Broadwater, a thriving crossroads town of more than 2,000 citizens, 
  marks the lower end of Eamonvale and the point where the River 
  Eamon, having frothed and plunged its way down from its mountainous 
  origins, ﬁ nally becomes navigable by watercraft. The river, the 
  Eamonvale Trade Road, and two other busy trade routes meet in 
  Broadwater, bringing with them trade goods, foreign travelers, ﬁ ghting 
  men, ambitious merchantmen, fortune seekers, intrigue, and adventure. 
  The walled town contains a maze of twisting streets, crowded markets, 
  and whitewashed sandstone walls, and is divided into four quarters. Of 
  late, additional communities have sprung up outside the gates.
  The town of Broadwater also represents the extent of the inﬂ uence of 
  the Angus clan, where the rule of the Lord of Eamonvale gives way to 
  the authority of the Northmarches of the Grand Duchy of Reme.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K12 THE EAMONVALE INCURSION
  DUN EAMON, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  DUN EAMON, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Lord Angus of Dun Eamon
  Government: Feudal
  Population: 5,722 (4,323 Uplander, 312 mountain dwarf, 229 
  gnome, 209 half-elf, 183 human mixed ethnicity, 171 halﬂ ing, 
  115 high elf, 87 hill dwarf, 51 half-orc, 42 Foerdewaith)
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Stryme, Dre’uain, Belon the Wise, Kamien
  Resources: trade, furs and pelts
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The city of Dun Eamon is the center of government for Eamonvale. 
  Located high in the mist-shrouded mountain crags of the Stoneheart 
  Mountains, it is a city like no other. Locally known as the Grey Citadel, 
  it is an important trading city that sits on a broad ford at the base of 
  one plunging waterfall and at the head of another. Midway across the 
  ford, a huge slab of bedrock divides the river into two channels. On the 
  island between, many generations ago, Eamon Angus staked a claim 
  and founded a tiny trading post. Now, centuries later, expansion of the 
  duchies and kingdoms on either side of the Stoneheart Mountains and 
  development of trade between them have caused the tiny trading center 
  and way station to grow into a heavily fortiﬁ ed citadel, with the lordship 
  still in the hands of the Angus family. Three brothers of the Angus Clan 
  currently rule over the city and valley with strictness and compassion, 
  and they have seen it ﬂ ourish under their authority.
  The Grey Citadel is renowned as the location of some of the ﬁ nest 
  forges in the land. Nearly any tool, weapon, or other metal item can be 
  crafted there, and the quality of their alloys and strength of their castings 
  are unsurpassed. Due to its critical location at the ford and its safety 
  relative to the perils of the frontier, the Grey Citadel is a popular stop on 
  the route to the passes of the Stonehearts. It is a hiring point for caravan 
  laborers and guards for the dangerous journey over the mountains to the 
  distant kingdoms beyond. Many hunters and trappers pass through the 
  gates every season to sell their pelts and to re-supply for another trip 
  into the wild mountains beyond. Traveling minstrels, adventurers, and 
  highwaymen all call the city home from time to time.
  A rampart wall surrounds the entire island, with watchtowers evenly 
  distributed along it, and a massive gatehouse guards each entrance 
  where the road rises up from the ford. Where the divided channels of the 
  river spill over the lower falls, the island rises steeply to a ﬂ at-topped 
  promontory. On this slab of rock sits the upper city, which consists of 
  the craftsman’s district, the vast market, and the largest taverns. The 
  stone buildings are quarried from the same gray basalt as the bedrock 
  they sit on, as are the city walls and keep. The rest of the buildings are 
  half-timbered two- and three-story structures, with roofs of thatch or 
  shingle. The cobblestone streets and alleys are always shiny and damp, 
  and everything in the city hosts at least a thin sheen of green moss, and 
  many buildings have thick clumps of ferns growing on the roof. Amid 
  the green-forested slopes and drifting gray rain clouds, the gray-green 
  ediﬁ ces of the citadel blend right in.
  According to rumor, a network of caves and caverns and even an 
  underground river lie beneath Dun Eamon.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: G6 THE GREY CITADEL
  EAMONVALE TRADE ROAD
  EAMONVALE TRADE ROAD
  Winding a course through Eamonvale’s mountainous wilderness, this 
  road is the chief artery of transit for the valley. It runs from the town of 
  Broadwater, past several villages, through the gates of the Grey Citadel 
  of Dun Eamon and beyond, until it slips into the snow-clad passes of the 
  Stoneheart Mountains and eventually arrives at the Feirgotha Plateau. 
  Beyond that, the eastern eaves of the Stonehearts are reached through 
  the Southern Pass, to the Desolation of Tsar, or the Cobalt Pass. Trafﬁ c 
  on the road includes mercantile enterprises ranging from large caravans 
  to tiny farm carts, as well as travelers, military forces, homesteaders, 
  pilgrims, and indigenous creatures.
  RIVER EAMON
  RIVER EAMON
  The River Eamon ﬂ ows down out of the Stoneheart Mountains, ﬁ rst 
  through snow-fed mountain streams before crashing down through rocky 
  gorges and ﬁ nally calming and widening at the town of Broadwater, 
  where it enters the plains of the Northmarches of Reme on its eventual 
  way to join the Remenos River to the Crescent Sea.
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  |155
  The city of Dun Eamon is the center of government for Eamonvale. 
  Located high in the mist-shrouded mountain crags of the Stoneheart 
  Mountains, it is a city like no other. Locally known as the Grey Citadel, 
  it is an important trading city that sits on a broad ford at the base of 
  one plunging waterfall and at the head of another. Midway across the 
  ford, a huge slab of bedrock divides the river into two channels. On the 
  island between, many generations ago, Eamon Angus staked a claim 
  and founded a tiny trading post. Now, centuries later, expansion of the 
  duchies and kingdoms on either side of the Stoneheart Mountains and 
  development of trade between them have caused the tiny trading center 
  and way station to grow into a heavily fortiﬁ ed citadel, with the lordship 
  still in the hands of the Angus family. Three brothers of the Angus Clan 
  currently rule over the city and valley with strictness and compassion, 
  The Grey Citadel is renowned as the location of some of the ﬁ nest 
  forges in the land. Nearly any tool, weapon, or other metal item can be 
  crafted there, and the quality of their alloys and strength of their castings 
  are unsurpassed. Due to its critical location at the ford and its safety 
  relative to the perils of the frontier, the Grey Citadel is a popular stop on 
  the route to the passes of the Stonehearts. It is a hiring point for caravan 
  laborers and guards for the dangerous journey over the mountains to the 
  distant kingdoms beyond. Many hunters and trappers pass through the 
  gates every season to sell their pelts and to re-supply for another trip 
  into the wild mountains beyond. Traveling minstrels, adventurers, and 
  A rampart wall surrounds the entire island, with watchtowers evenly 
  distributed along it, and a massive gatehouse guards each entrance 
  where the road rises up from the ford. Where the divided channels of the 
  way to join the Remenos River to the Crescent Sea.
  
  156|
  156|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  HEARTLAND OF 
  HEARTLAND OF 
  THE KINGDOM OF FOERE
  THE KINGDOM OF FOERE
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE 
  HEARTLAND OF THE KINGDOM OF FOERE
  HEARTLAND OF THE KINGDOM OF FOERE
  KINGDOM OF FOERE
  KINGDOM OF FOERE
  Capital: Courghais 
  Notable Settlements: Croix, Demz, Farall Hold, Nains, 
  Pentahs, Sion 
  Ruler: His Holy Radiance, Emperor of the Hyperborean 
  Monarchy, Overking of the Foerdewaith and Heldring, Prince 
  of Ynys Cymragh, Guardian of the West, Grand Admiral of 
  the Oceans, Suzerain of Khemit, Protector of Tircople and the 
  Sacred Table, Defender of the Faith, King Ovar I
  Government: feudal kingdom
  Population: 4,193,400 (including only royal lands) (3,061,900 
  Foerdewaith, 621,500 human mixed ethnicity, 323,400 
  halﬂ ing, 58,800 high elf, 46,400 mountain dwarf, 33,600 half-
  elf, 22,900 hill dwarf, 16,300 gnome, 5,900 half-orc, 1,800 orc, 
  900 other)
  Monstrous: giant animal, wolf, goblin, hobgoblin, fey (plains); 
  gnoll, forest troll, giant animal, owlbear, forlarren, dryad, 
  green dragon (forest); hill giant, stone giant, giant eagle, 
  hippogriff, cave moray (mountains)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Dwarven, Elven, 
  Gnome
  Religion: Archeillus, Mitra, Thyr, Stryme, Freya, Mick 
  O’Delving, Dwerfater, Muir, Bacchus-Dionysus
  Resources: grain, foodstuffs, gold, glass, metalwork, 
  stonemasonry, manufactured goods, textiles, timber, trade hub
  Currency: Foere
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  The Kingdom of Foere is the heir of the Hyperborean Empires of old 
  and to this day maintains a claim to most of the lands of Akados as well 
  as large portions of far Libynos beyond the Sinnar Sea. At one time, the 
  overking’s arm really did stretch that far. But today, Foere is now a mere 
  shadow of its prior greatness. It still commands, at least nominally, the 
  loyalty of the Duchy of Ysser, the County of Coutaine, the County of 
  Roy, the Barony of Baldenar, the Duchy of Saxe, the Duchy of Mains, 
  the Duchy of Listonshire, the Duchy of the Rampart, Aachen Province, 
  the County of Vourdon, Exeter Province, and Cerediun Province. 
  However, the domains east of the March of Mountains are in reality 
  mostly semi-independent, as Foere has little ability to enforce its edicts 
  at such a distance. And the lands no longer under the command of the 
  overking far exceed those that remain. The breakup of the Foerdewaith 
  Empire has left much chaos in its wake as the rule of law crumbles and 
  new kingdoms have little reason not to go to war against each other.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Toward the end of the 25th Century I.R., the Hyperborean Empire in 
  Akados collapsed. In 2496 I.R., a wildﬁ re destroyed the imperial capital 
  of Curgantium and spread to burn the Plains of Suilley and Matagost 
  Forest. Three years later, the capital moved to Tircople in Libynos, and 
  the Hyperboreans abandoned their western empire.  By 2632 I.R., the 
  last Hyperborean abandoned Tircople, and their age came to an end.
  In the void resulting from the retreat of the Hyperboreans, wars raged 
  between petty kings throughout Akados seeking to obtain and hold lands, 
  wealth, and warriors. One such kingdom in central Akados was Foere. 
  Their king, a half-elf named Macobert, had been a chiliarch (battalion 
  commander) of the Hyperborean legion that faced the Cataphracts of 
  Daan in battle decades earlier. Upon his return to Foere, Macobert 
  overthrew his nation’s king and instituted the military traditions he 
  learned from his time in the legion. To this he added experience he 
  gleaned from having faced the seemingly invincible Cataphracts of 
  Daan and bred his own war mounts to create his own heavy cavalry. 
  The expense of their mounts and gear was such that he recruited the 
  members for this specialized unit only from among the lords of Foere, 
  much like the old Hyperborean hippeis class. He trained these riders 
  in cavalry tactics and the use of combined arms until he created the 
  deadliest ﬁ ghting force since the Cataphracts of Daan. He called them 
  his Knights.
  The Knights of Macobert served as the anchor for his army and 
  allowed him to defeat and unite all of the petty kingdoms around until 
  soon one Kingdom of Foere ruled in central Akados. He carried the 
  standard of the lost glory of Hyperborea, and many vassal kingdoms 
  ﬂ ocked to his banner seeking his protection or hoping to share in the 
  spoils of his victories. Soon the Foerdewaith, as his people were called, 
  became recognized as the dominant authority and spiritual inheritors of 
  the ancient Hyperborean Empire. And in his 260th year, King Macobert 
  marched his vast host, led by his thousands of Knights, in a long 
  pilgrimage across the Isthmus of Irkaina to distant Tircople. 
  There he found the city in near ruins, its few inhabitants left in the 
  wake of the Hyperboreans’ departure a mere shadow of their former 
  masters. Macobert quickly claimed the city and at the newly cleared 
  High Altar of Muir had himself crowned as Macobert I, Overking of the 
  Hyperborean Monarchy of the Foerdewaith. He left a small garrison to 
  refurbish the city and returned with his forces to the Foerdewaith fortress 
  of Caene and set about rebuilding it into a capital to rival Curgantium. 
  Upon its completion in the time of Macobert’s son, Magnusson, the 
  capital city was renamed Courghais — the “Heartstone” — to serve as 
  the seat of the Hyperborean Monarchy of the Foerdewaith.
  The Foerdewaith continued to consolidate their hegemony over Akados 
  and maintained their control of Tircople as a distant client kingdom. The 
  road between Occibolos (later known as Oxibbul) and Tircople was kept 
  open as a pilgrim route, but the rest of the territory between was largely 
  left to itself, being considered too far away from Courghais’ interests to 
  be of importance. A series of powerful Foerdewaith overkings expanded 
  the control of Foere and brought the former Hyperborean lands of Akados 
  under their banner as the legitimate heir of that empire. Overking Osbert 
  II even took a large force of Knights of Macobert, supported by heavy 
  infantry, over the Helwall and against the shieldwalls of the Heldring. 
  The expert tactics of the Knights in ﬂ anking and engaging the rear of 
  the Heldring shieldwalls while the Foerdewaiths’ own shieldwall held 
  them in place proved disastrous for the Heldring so that even that land of 
  barbaric warriors ﬁ nally tasted true defeat on its home ground and was 
  brought under the sway of the banner of Foere. The Foerdewaith did not, 
  however, attempt a crossing of the Straits of Daan. The losses suffered 
  by the Daanites in purging the Hyperborean Empire of its corruption 
  were still fresh in the memory of the Foerdewaith, and Osbert and his 
  successors chose to leave the island of Ynys Cymragh and its people in 
  peace, reckoning they had endured enough.
  In 2843 I.R., Queen Beraia, wife of Overking Paulus, gave birth to 
  twin sons, Kennet and Cale. The royal physiker was drunk at the time 
  of the delivery, and Queen Beraia died in the childbirth. Overcome 
  with grief, Overking Paulus summarily executed the physiker for his 
  gross incompetence and only afterward realized that only Beraia and 
  the physician had known which of the twins was ﬁ rstborn. The overking 
  had been in the chambers outside the birthing room, and the group of 
  midwives attending the physician did not see which child was ﬁ rst since 
  they assumed the physiker would tie a red string to the ankle of the ﬁ rst 
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
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  |157
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  
  158|
  158|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  child at the moment of birth as was tradition in Foere. A pious man, 
  Paulus dared not simply decree one child as the heir in possible deﬁ ance 
  of the will of the gods, and as a result both brothers grew up as co-heirs 
  to the crown in the tradition of Oesson and Oeric nearly three millennia 
  before. While the brothers got along well enough, the land was troubled 
  by the possibility of civil war upon the death of Paulus if the brothers 
  did not choose to administer it peacefully as co-regents.
  As the twins reached the age of majority, Overking Paulus died of 
  an illness that had afﬂ icted him for several years. Immediately, parties 
  supporting one twin or the other stepped forward hoping to promote their 
  choice to take control of the empire and bring more power to their own 
  ambitions. Instead, the twins showed a wisdom beyond their years and 
  chose another course. Kennet would be crowned as the sole overking 
  of the Hyperborean Monarchy. Cale, meanwhile, abdicated his claim to 
  the throne. Kennet rewarded him by giving him sole control of the rich 
  port of Reme as well as all the nearby marches that controlled access to 
  the Crynnomar Gap. Shortly after, Cale began the Great Colonization, 
  an attempt to settle the fertile and largely unoccupied grasslands of the 
  Great Steppes. As is told elsewhere, this led to great misfortune, and 
  resulted in the death of Cale and the near-destruction of Reme.
  In the year 2958 I.R., a Libynosian king declared anathema the 
  inﬁ dels of the Foerdewaith and led his people, called the Huun, in a 
  holy war against the Akadonian at the Sacred Table. The Huun swept 
  over the mountains and slaughtered the inhabitants of Tircople and the 
  valley basin. Fully half the Justicars of Muir fell in the onslaught, with 
  the rest being abroad in their wandering duties. In addition, the pontifex 
  and the ﬁ rst high lord were slain.
  In Courghais, Overking Granicus learned of this attack and called 
  for an immediate liberation of the Sacred Table in what became known 
  as the First Great Crusade. Justicars who had formed chapters within 
  lands across Foere raised armies for the cause. A great ﬂ otilla eventually 
  sailed to land a crusader army on far Libynos. The crusader forces 
  drove the Huun before them and recaptured Tircople and the Sacred 
  Table. Ten years later, the Huun retook Tircople, and a Second Great 
  Crusade was launched. The Foerdewaith again seized the Sacred Table, 
  which they held until 3169 I.R. when the Huun overran the Crusader 
  Coast and again sacked Tircople. A Third Great Crusade failed when 
  the entire ﬂ eet was lost at sea, and 30 years would pass before a Fourth 
  Great Crusade could be gathered, this time led by Overking Oessum 
  VIII himself, a pious and devoted warrior of Muir. Eight years later, the 
  Huun army was destroyed at the Battle of the Sickles when it was caught 
  between the crusader army and allies the overking raised from the hill 
  dwarves of the nearby Shamash Kush.
  The Sacred Table and Crusader States were secure, and Tircople was 
  once again in the hands of the Foerdewaith. Unfortunately, Overking 
  Oessum VIII was killed in the ﬁ nal battle and died without an heir. 
  The ensuing political struggles to put any one of a number of potential 
  candidates upon the Hyperborean throne sapped the momentum of the 
  victory in Tircople. Plans to ordain a new pontifex and renew the faiths 
  of Thyr and Muir — which of late had been in decline since the loss 
  of Tircople — failed. Finally, Graeltor, an aged uncle of Oessum who 
  had served as administrator of the monarchy while the overking was on 
  campaign, was crowned overking in Courghais.
  The reign of Graeltor was not long. Shortly after his coronation, the 
  patriarchs of Thyr and Muir in Courghais along with a delegation of 
  many of the other good and neutral faiths approached him about a threat 
  arising in the wastes north of Bard’s Gate where the temple-city of Orcus 
  known as Tsar was threatening all trade between Foere and the Isthmus of 
  Irkaina. Though the temple-city had been there for many years, Graeltor, 
  having been left in Akados while Oessum and his armies achieved glory 
  in Libynos, decided to declare his own crusade against evil, which he 
  dubbed the Army of Light. Under the command of Zelkor, Graeltor’s 
  The Citadel of Caene in the city of Courghais, capital of Foere.
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  trusted archmage advisor, the Army of Light gathered at Bard’s Gate and 
  fought its way through the outer defensives of Tsar. Among the many 
  warriors who made up the Army of Light were Alaric of Tircople and 
  Gerrant of Gilboath, the last two Justicars of Muir. After several months, 
  the Army of Light ﬁ nally laid siege to the city of Tsar itself.
  The siege of Tsar lasted for over a year, during which many insidious 
  weapons and tactics were unleashed to claim tens of thousands on 
  both sides. Meanwhile in distant Libynos, swarms of invading Mguru 
  tribesmen emerged from the Malagro Jungle and overran Tircople and 
  the Sacred Table, reducing it to a burning waste. News of this atrocity 
  rocked the morale of the Army of Light. Alaric of Tircople returned to 
  the Sacred Table, where he and the third high lord perished in an attempt 
  to retake the holy city. Back in Akados, Gerrant of Gilboath also fell 
  outside Tsar. Shortly thereafter, the forces of Tsar suddenly retreated 
  from the ﬁ eld and led the vengeful Army of Light on a long chase down 
  the coast of the Gulf of Akados. At last, the Army of Light cornered 
  the forces of Tsar in the Forest of Hope. The disciples of Orcus and the 
  Army of Light entered the forest, and thereupon disappeared entirely. 
  No sign of either has been seen since.
  The shock of the loss of so much of the realm’s nobility and greatest 
  warriors shook Foere to its core. Uprisings spontaneously occurred 
  across the kingdom, with few knights or noblemen to put them down. 
  Graeltor died some years later in his bed and passed the crown of 
  the Hyperborean Monarchy on to his largely unknown and untested 
  grandson Oedwin, which brought about the Foerdewaith Wars of 
  Succession. Ramthion Island declared its independence from Foere in 
  3213 I.R. Pontos Island did the same in 3215 I.R. and renamed itself the 
  Kingdom of Oceanus. Two years later, a Foerdewaith ﬂ eet attempted 
  to retake Pontos Island but was defeated by Oceanus at the Battle of 
  Kapichi Point. Within a few more years, Endhome, Burgundia, and 
  Suilley declared their independence from Courghais. In 3223 I.R., 
  Suilley defeated a Foerdewaith army at the Battle of Bullocks Bale, and 
  soon after, Southvale, Vast, and North Heath were independent as well.  
  Finally, in 3233 I.R., even the Grand Duchy of Reme left Foere, an event 
  that the overking by then had little choice but to accept. As the remnants 
  of the Kingdom of Foere turned inward and became more decadent, 
  many of the former Foere lands east of the March of Mountains and 
  west of the Blackrock Mountains fought among themselves as law and 
  order slowly disintegrated in the region.
  Just three years ago, however, in 3514 I.R., a Huun army appeared on 
  the northern border of the Desolation of Tsar past the ruins of Oxibbul 
  and advanced into the kingdoms of Akados. In the Lyre Valley, they 
  found their way blocked by Bard’s Gate and lay siege to the city. The 
  current overking of Courghais, King Ovar the Magniﬁ cent, hastily 
  called for a new Great Crusade against the age-old enemy and rallied the 
  nobles and men-at-arms of Foere and its independent neighbors in the 
  defense of Bard’s Gate. But ﬁ rst he unleashed a ﬂ eet of ships against the 
  sambuks of the Huun navy in the Gulf of Akados. The Foerdewaith and 
  Heldring ships delivered a crushing defeat to the Huun ships and forced 
  them into a retreat back up to the coasts of the Sea of Spices.
  With their supply lines disrupted by the loss of their naval support, 
  the besieging Huun forces withdrew from the walls of Bard’s Gate and 
  marched back across the Desolation with the crusader army in pursuit. 
  At last report, the Huun army had entered the wastes of the Irkainian 
  Desert with the crusaders close behind, but nothing further has been 
  heard for two years. With no word from the king of Foere nor any of 
  the lesser rulers who marched with him, the Lost Lands are on the verge 
  of turmoil as the rule of law is stretched by the absence of so many 
  lords and men-at-arms. Now, King Ovar is said to have returned to his 
  Throne Tower of the Citadel Caene alone at night astride his trained 
  black dragon. The other lords of Akados who have heard this rumor 
  are left to wonder how this could have happened and, if it is true, what 
  became of the rest of the army that marched with the overking.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Foere maintains good relations with Reme despite the grand duchy’s 
  declaration of independence, as well as with Bard’s Gate. Foere and 
  Oceanus continue to abide by the non-aggression treaty they signed in 
  3339 I.R. It has a substantially more complicated relationship with its 
  other former vassals, particularly the Vast, North Heath, Olduvar, and 
  Suilley. While not hostile, there is no love lost among the Foerdewaith 
  for these realms and they will not go out of their way to aid them. That 
  being said, Overking Ovar was able to muster support from many of the 
  independent kingdoms that had once sworn fealty to Courghais to take 
  part in the recent crusade against the Huun and lift the siege of Bard’s 
  Gate. However, tensions have increased among these realms because 
  of the rumors currently circulating that the overking has returned — 
  without those who followed him.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Foere remains a center of trade and commerce throughout Akados. 
  Given its central location, the kingdom lies at the crossroads of trade routes 
  that reach to the farthest ends of the continent and beyond to Libynos. In 
  addition, Courghais is a center of learning and manufacture known far and 
  wide for its smithing, stonework, glassblowing, and textiles. If something 
  cannot be found in Courghais, it can be made there.
  Several trading houses of substantial antiquity are based in Courghais, 
  and they hold mercantile interests throughout Foere and the rest of 
  Akados, and beyond. The most notable are Houses Iskane and Tulius.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Before he disappeared with his army while chasing the withdrawing 
  Huun, Overking Ovar the Magniﬁ cent ruled Foere with a ﬁ st of iron. In 
  many ways, he was a throwback to previous overkings, but he was also 
  a ruler unfortunately born at a time when his kingdom was in decline. 
  Reynald, the overking’s son and the prince of Foere, frequently served 
  as his father’s liaison with other realms. In Ovar’s absence, Reynald has 
  been ruling the kingdom as regent.
  Outside the royal demesne, nobles who serve as vassals of the overking 
  possess the authority to govern on behalf of their lord. Dukes are the 
  greatest of these vassals, followed by barons. Fiefdoms below the barons 
  are known as cantrefs, and, before the rise of Macobert, were ruled by a 
  prince. After the establishment of Foere, they came to be administered by 
  lords and favored men-at-arms — frequently a member of the Knights of 
  Macobert. Most vassalages are hereditary, but the overking may remove 
  and appoint a successor to one of his nobles under certain circumstances.
  Magistrates preside over courts throughout the kingdom and 
  have certain jurisdiction even in the lands of the overking’s vassals. 
  The overking appoints most of these magistrates, who are known as 
  Listeners. Where ecclesiastical law prevails (such as in the domain of a 
  cathedral city), the local ecclesiastical magnate appoints the magistrates, 
  who are called Lawgivers.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Foere has historically ﬁ elded one of the largest armies on Akados, 
  although it is scattered throughout the kingdom, a necessity given the 
  sheer magnitude of the lands under Foerdewaith control. The overking 
  commands a sizable personal army based in Courghais, and each of his 
  vassals also maintains military forces and is obliged to provide a certain 
  number of soldiers per year to the kingdom if the overking so demands.
  Unfortunately, a sizable portion of the armed forces of Foere left with 
  Overking Ovar in pursuit of the invading Huun two years ago and have 
  not been seen since. In his absence, Prince Reynald and the duchies 
  and baronies of Foere began conscripting soldiers from the towns and 
  countryside since the threats to the kingdom persist. But the army 
  remains seriously depleted, and the remaining commanders fear what 
  might happen if a war were to break out or if an invasion were to occur.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The largest threat to Foere at the moment is likely its continuing 
  disintegration. Each province that secedes makes it easier for the next 
  one to do the same. While the lands owing fealty to Courghais have 
  been stable for some time now, the absence of the overking and a sizable 
  portion of the armies of Foere have left the country unstable and rife 
  with rumor. If the tales of Ovar’s return without the army are true, it is 
  impossible to know what effect that might have on the vassals farthest 
  from Courghais or even on the nobility of the city itself.
  
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  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  COURGHAIS, IMPERIAL CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  COURGHAIS, IMPERIAL CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: King Ovar I
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 221,341 (153,784 Foerdewaith, 41,200 human 
  mixed ethnicity, 17,643 halﬂ ing, 3,098 high elf, 2,861 half-elf, 
  1,243 gnome, 793 hill dwarf, 629 half-orc, 90 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Gnome, 
  Dwarven
  Religion: Archeillus, Mitra, Thyr, Stryme, Freya, Mick 
  O’Delving, Dwerfater, Muir, Bacchus-Dionysus
  Resources: grain, foodstuffs, glass, manufactured goods, trade
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  The Imperial City of Courghais (which means “Heartstone” in 
  Gasquen) is the seat of the overking of the Kingdom of Foere. Built 
  on a peninsula on the eastern shore of the Star Sea, it rises up on the 
  shoulders of a long hill overlooking the waters. The walls and many of 
  the towers of the city are constructed of a white granite originally cut 
  from the Rampart Mountains. During the day, the city shines white, 
  but at sunset over the Star Sea on a clear day, some odd property of the 
  granite transforms the slanting rays of the sun such that the city glows 
  a brilliant, golden-red color and gives rise to its Gasquen name.
  Designed in a manner intended to mirror the ancient capital city of 
  Curgantium, Courghais is divided into several quarters. The Royal 
  Quarter, which sits upon the highest part of the landward portion of the 
  city, includes the Citadel of Caene with its Throne Tower that was built 
  in homage to the Tower of Oerson of lost Curgantium. At the other end 
  of the city, rising high above the waters at the end of the peninsula, is 
  the Cathedral Quarter and the Cathedral of the Tesseract. The Docks 
  are on the northern side of the city along the shore of the Star Sea, 
  with the Merchant Quarter rising beyond that. Other quarters within the 
  city include the Highborn Quarter (where are found the mansions of 
  nobility), the Minstrels’ Quarter, and the Low Quarter. Each quarter is, 
  in turn, divided into wards. 
  The Kingdom of Foere has been in decline for some 300 years now 
  since the beginning of the Foerdewaith Wars of Succession. Province 
  after province declared independence from the overking, and of those 
  that remain loyal, the ability of the court to enforce its wishes grows 
  weaker with each passing year. As wealth and power fail, the intrigues 
  of the nobility in the city become ever more vicious and desperate. 
  Increasingly, Courghais has become a city that boasts a veneer of 
  virtue and respectability but covering a wicked and immoral heart. 
  And with the overking and many of his nobility — including almost 
  all of the Knights of Macobert — away on campaign against the 
  Huun, those remaining in the city are resorting to the darkest forms 
  of conspiracy and scheming to achieve whatever dominance they can 
  over their rivals.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  High above the waters of the Star Sea, the Cathedral of the Tesseract 
  rises at the center of the Cathedral Quarter of Courghais. The cathedral 
  is the seat of the archbishop of Foere and is dedicated to the entire 
  Foerdewaith pantheon, although Quell, the original patron of Saint 
  Macobert, and Mitra, the patron of the overkings since the Battle 
  of Oescreheit Downs, predominate. It is by far the largest, most 
  magniﬁ cent cathedral in all of the domains — current and former — of 
  the Foerdewaith Empire. The cathedral is a massive temple of white 
  marble columns with a burnished copper roof and serves as a beacon 
  that can be seen for miles outside of Courghais — and even far out into 
  the Star Sea. All gods of the pantheon are venerated here, and many 
  of the bishops, deacons, and priests sent to minister to the peoples of 
  Akados are trained within its walls. Pilgrims from far and wide travel 
  to Courghais to visit the Cathedral of the Tesseract and to pray at the 
  holy shrines of the gods of Foere. For those wishing to bring home a 
  memento of their visit, sellers in the city’s markets and on the streets 
  offer small statues of the gods and, so they claim, true relics of various 
  saints and the gods themselves.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Though it constitutes the seat and capital of the royal domain of the 
  overking, Courghais is ruled directly by the lord commander of the citadel, 
  an appointee of the overking and usually a Knight of Macobert. The lord 
  commander also commands the overking’s royal army that is based here. 
  A group of quartermasters, ward captains, and watch captains — all 
  appointed by (or with the approval of) the lord commander — administer 
  the city and enforce the city’s laws. Justice within the city is overseen by 
  a group of magistrates known as Listeners appointed by the overking, 
  with each sitting in one or more ward or quarter courts. A city militia 
  separate from the royal army based in the city maintains order within the 
  walls and is the ﬁ rst line of defense in the event of attack (which would 
  be extraordinarily unlikely here in the center of the kingdom).
  Many guilds are active in Courghais, but by tradition they have no 
  role in government, though the request of a guildmaster does carry some 
  weight with the lord commander. While not to the liking of most of the 
  guilds, their lack of any authority over the city goes back hundreds of 
  years, and the critical position of Courghais in the economy of Foere 
  makes it impossible to simply depart the city. As a result, however, 
  bribery (and, on occasion, blackmail) has long been a tool used by the 
  guilds to ensure that their voices are heard.
  The Cathedral of the Tesseract is considered its own cathedral city 
  enclave within greater Courghais. As a result, the laws applicable in the 
  Cathedral Quarter are ecclesiastical and are enforced by the archbishop 
  or the mayor of the palace (or other ecclesiastical magnates appointed by 
  the archbishop). Similarly, clerics found to have broken any laws within 
  Courghais, even if outside the Cathedral Quarter, are usually remanded 
  to the cathedral for punishment, though in rare cases the overking has 
  exercised the right to supersede religious jurisdiction.
  Since 3515 I.R., King Ovar and his Knights of Macobert have been 
  on campaign chasing Huun invaders who laid siege to Bard’s Gate. He 
  took with him the well-regarded Lord Unstan Dary, the former lord 
  commander of Courghais. In the overking’s absence, his son Prince 
  Reynald now rules as regent with the assistance of the less-well-
  regarded Baron Pelorious Vandon (a younger son of a noble, and not a 
  Knight of Macobert), who is serving as lord commander.
  Recently, rumors began swirling about the city that King Ovar 
  returned to the Throne Tower of the Citadel of Caene, ﬂ ying alone 
  into the city at night astride his black dragon. If he has in fact returned 
  without the army, rebellion is a real possibility among many of the noble 
  families of Foere.
  CHANTRY, CATHEDRAL CITY OF
  CHANTRY, CATHEDRAL CITY OF
  Ruler: Her Grace Salashara Ofor, Archdeacon of Quell, God of 
  the Seas
  Government: feudalism/religious (Kingdom of Foere)
  Population: 8,705 (5477 Foerdewaith, 990 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 891 half-elf, 712 halﬂ ing, 433 high elf, 123 hill 
  dwarf, 59 gnome, 20 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Dwarven, 
  Gnome
  Religion: Quell, Archellius, Solanus, Thyr
  Resources: ﬁ shing, grain, foodstuffs, religious pilgrimage sites
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  Chantry is a city of memories and echoes of memories, of reminders 
  of past greatness, all now mere shadows of what once was the seat of 
  mighty kings.
  Before the founding of Courghais, Chantry was the capital of Foere, 
  as it had been the seat of the petty kings of the tribes of the Foere for 
  dozens of generations. Here, in fact, is the birthplace of Macobert the 
  Great, where he ﬁ rst claimed descent from the Sea-God Quell. In 2744 
  I.R., Macobert was crowned the ﬁ rst overking of Foere in this city, 
  which remained the capital of the kingdom for his entire life. Even after 
  the court moved to the Heartstone farther north on the coast of the Star 
  Sea during the reign of Macobert’s son Magnusson, Chantry remained 
  a place of importance. Macobert founded a cathedral to his patron god 
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  within Chantry, the ﬁ rst of the Foerdewaith cathedral cities. After his 
  death, it was renamed the Chancel of Macobert the Great, and for four 
  generations, his descendants came here to receive the blessing of the 
  Sea King.
  Then in 2802 I.R., the god Mitra appeared to Overking Osbert II, 
  Macobert’s great-great-grandson, and promised the Foerdewaith victory 
  over the Heldring in what became known as the Battle of Oescreheit 
  Downs. Osbert took Mitra as his new patron, and the worship of Quell 
  began a slow but inevitable decline in the lands of Foere. And with the 
  decline of the Sea King, so declined his city of Chantry.
  The city’s walls of stone blocks remain strong, though most of the 
  towers are unoccupied as Chantry has too few soldiers to man them. Much 
  of the land within the walls is now a ﬁ eld for grazing sheep and cows, 
  and long-unoccupied buildings have been razed, their stones harvested 
  for other purposes. As a result, from the outside, Chantry appears to be a 
  great city, but from within, it seems largely empty and provincial.
  The archbishop ensures that enough funds are made available to 
  Chantry to maintain the chancel in a condition beﬁ tting its history. Built in 
  an archaic style quite distinct from the typical neo-Hyperborean temples, 
  the cathedral is longer along its east-west axis. It is lower in the middle and 
  rises in a series of stepped levels on each of its eastern and western ends, 
  each of which is topped by a graceful tower clad in blue-white marble. 
  Archdeacon Salashara Ofor comes from a family with ancient roots in 
  the region; her ancestors were Foere nobility from times even before the 
  rise of Macobert. She is quite devoted to Quell and is an excellent cleric, 
  though her disdain of politics doesn’t help her city in the intrigues that 
  roil the court in Courghais. Dunastan Reev, her mayor of the palace, is 
  highly competent and does his best with the limited resources available 
  to him. Some still make the pilgrimage to Chantry to visit the Chancel 
  of Macobert the Great and to see the supposed birthplace of the ﬁ rst 
  overking. Some travel from as far as Oceanus, though such visitors take 
  great care to avoid attention given the current perilous relations between 
  Courghais and Pontus Tinigal.
  A circle of ruined marble columns can be found in a ﬁ eld about 10 
  miles east of Chantry. These columns surround a stone disk set in the 
  ground that is inscribed with elegant elvish script that forms an inward-
  leading spiral to the center. Now ruined, this location once permitted 
  transportation to and from a similar disk found at Elﬁ ngate in the 
  Kingdom of Suilley.
  CH
  CHÂLAIX, CITY OF
  LAIX, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lord Darandaran Choly (currently absent)
  Government: feudalism (Kingdom of Foere)
  Population: 15,889 (10,996 Foerdewaith, 1,411 half-elf, 1,241 
  human mixed ethnicity, 1,011 halﬂ ing, 992 high elf, 119 
  mountain dwarf, 89 gnome, 30 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Elven
  Religion: Archeillus, Mitra, Thyr, Muir, Kamien, Belon the 
  Wise, Ceres, Dre’uain the Lame, Freya, Mick O’Delving, 
  Solanus, Telophus, Yenomesh
  Resources:  trade, ﬁ shing, grain, wine, olive oil, manufactured 
  goods
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  At the end of its northernmost arm, the waters of the Star Sea ﬂ ow into 
  the Great Amrin River and begin their long journey east to the distant 
  Sinnar. For thousands of years, the hilltop just south of the juncture 
  of sea and river has hosted settlements, the most ancient of which 
  perhaps predate the arrival of humans on Akados. Today, the mighty 
  Castle Châlaix commands the crest of the hill, its gray stone towers and 
  ﬂ apping pennants visible for many miles, whether from over the waters 
  or the rolling ﬁ elds of eastern Foere. From the castle, the city spills 
  down steep cobbled streets to the docks and warehouses jutting forth 
  into the waters of the Star Sea.
  All trade between the port cities of the Star Sea and the eastern 
  provinces by way of the Great Amrin River must pass through the 
  harbor of Châlaix. And for those preferring wagon to boat, the road from 
  the heartland of Foere to Aixe also runs through this city. As a result, 
  the coffers of Châlaix are always full from the various taxes and levies 
  imposed on merchants traveling east or west.
  In addition, the lands about Châlaix are known for their vineyards and 
  olive groves, and many of the best vintages and oils of Foere are found 
  here on the northeastern shores of the Star Sea.
  Lord Darandaran Choly’s family has held the city of Châlaix now 
  for four generations. Like the three generations of Choly’s before him, 
  Darandaran is a Knight of Macobert. As a result, in 3515 I.R., he, along 
  with nearly all of the others of his order, left on campaign with the 
  overking in pursuit of the Huun invaders that had besieged Bard’s Gate. 
  In his absence, his wife, the Lady Escaril Choly, and his seneschal, the 
  elderly Horam Pris, administer the city and countryside. While both are 
  competent, many within the kingdom would like nothing more than 
  to seize the Castle Châlaix, its robust revenue, and its rich lands. The 
  longer Darandaran remains away, the deeper the intrigues that seek to 
  wrest Châlaix away from his lady.
  Many visitors come to Châlaix to see the famous catacombs that lie 
  beneath the city hill. Most of the chambers and passages are restricted, 
  but a number may be accessed by those wishing to pray at one of the 
  underground chapels to various gods of Foere, several of which claim to 
  hold relics of sacred power. Although now most burials occur in one of 
  the cemeteries outside the city walls, some families still retain the right 
  to interment in the catacombs. The exact age of the catacombs, and their 
  full extent, remains unknown.
  CROIX, CATHEDRAL CITY OF
  CROIX, CATHEDRAL CITY OF
  Ruler: Lord Foran Solled, His Grace Amaril Basile, Archdeacon 
  of Thyr, God of Law and Justice
  Government: feudalism/religious (Kingdom of Foere)
  Population: 9,264 (5,920 Foerdewaith, 887 halﬂ ing, 800 human 
  mixed ethnicity, 745 high elf, 607 mountain dwarf, 193 half-
  elf, 67 gnome, 45 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Dwarven, 
  Gnome
  Religion: Belon the Wise, Ceres, Dre’uain the Lame, Freya, 
  Mitra, Thyr, Muir, Mick O’Delving, Solanus, Telophus, 
  Yenomesh
  Resources: grain, foodstuffs, manufactured goods, trade hub
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  Judge’s Road, which heads north from Malan and the Barony of 
  Baldenar, ends at the tall, tan stone walls of the city of Croix where it 
  overlooks the Star Sea. Those walls, as well as the docks and many of its 
  stone buildings, are made from a tan limestone dug from quarries located 
  50 or so miles to the northeast on the shore of the Star Sea. A mix of 
  new wood and wattle and daub buildings, as well as some newer stone 
  structures, add color to the city. But none of these buildings compares to 
  the beauty and elegance of St. Bannor’s Church, the seat of power for His 
  Grace Amaril Basile, Archdeacon of Thyr, God of Law and Justice. 
  From the docks, goods are brought in and out of Croix via ships 
  crossing the Star Sea to or from Courghais, Sion, and Pentahs, while 
  wagon trains travel via the Judge’s Road to the south and beyond that 
  along the King’s Road to the east. The steady trafﬁ c in goods makes 
  Croix an important trading hub, with numerous businesses aimed at 
  entertaining and supporting the constant ﬂ ow of merchants and goods. 
  Judge’s Road passes though the city’s gates and travels all the way down 
  to the docks with inns, taverns, shops, gambling houses, and brothels 
  lining the entire route. Nearby ﬁ elds provide corn, wheat, and sorghum, 
  while the Star Sea is ﬁ shed for a wide array of freshwater delicacies. 
  Many of the ﬁ ne wines, brandies, and other rarities shipped to Courghais 
  can be found here, but usually at a hefty price. 
  Lord Foran Solled and the militia assigned to him control all the 
  areas associated with trade within Croix, while the archdeacon and his 
  ecclesiastical magnates administer the rest of the city as well as the 
  surrounding area. Tensions exist between the two, but as both were 
  appointed speciﬁ cally by the overking, they try to stay within the bounds 
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  of their assigned duties. This essentially means that Lord Solled focuses 
  entirely on ensuring that trade and goods move through the city quickly 
  and efﬁ ciently while the archdeacon handles virtually everything else.
  ST. BANNOR’S CHURCH
  ST. BANNOR’S CHURCH
  Dedicated to Thyr, but open to the worshippers and clerics of the 
  other neutral and good gods of the Foerdewaith pantheon, this massive, 
  elegant cathedral is a testament to rarely-witnessed architectural and 
  engineering skill. Elegantly carved marble spires rise from four towers 
  at the outer corners of the cathedral while a ﬁ fth, much-larger spire rises 
  from the center of the roof. Each spire possesses abstract representations 
  of all of the gods of the Foerdewaith and Hyperborean pantheons. 
  The archdeacon controls most of the city as well as the surrounding 
  farmlands with the help of his ecclesiastical magnates and their 
  retainers. All ordinary crimes within Croix are tried under ecclesiastical 
  law. In effect, the church runs the city, although Lord Solled technically 
  runs the docks, gates, and trade areas. However, any crimes found to be 
  committed in these areas are turned over to the church. 
  DEMZ, CITY OF
  DEMZ, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lord Oton Tarquin
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 6,512 (3,931 Foerdewaith, 910 human mixed ethnicity, 
  805 high elf, 653 halﬂ ing, 121 half-elf, 67 gnome, 25 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Elven, Halﬂ ing, Gnome
  Religion: Mitra, Thyr, Muir, Mick O’Delving, Dre’uain the 
  Lame
  Resources: grain, livestock (cattle), foodstuffs (cheeses), trade 
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  Built on a low hill with a clear view of the surrounding ﬁ elds, Demz 
  has low stone walls that frame several gates that enter the sprawling city. 
  Positioned above the surrounding terrain, it is exposed to high winds 
  and storms that race across the nearby plains during the spring and 
  summer, so the buildings here are generally squat, low stone structures, 
  many of which have deep foundations and basements. The main trade 
  roads from Nains, Poiretre, and Sion enter the city through broad gates 
  and meet in a large central square that is surrounded by shops, taverns, 
  gambling houses, and brothels. Corrals and parking areas for wagons 
  take up a large portion of the square. 
  The high winds that often batter Demz force Lord Tarquin to maintain 
  cobblestone roads for the main streets of the city and to lay down gravel 
  on the side roads. Exposed dirt is torn up and spun around by the winds 
  and spread throughout the city. The small military contingent here is 
  often tasked with maintaining the roads as well as actively patrolling all 
  the trade routes in and out of the city. 
  Rich farms and ﬁ elds surrounding the city support a variety of crops 
  and a large dairy cattle industry. Cheeses of all varieties from Demz are 
  considered a delicacy by many. Most are exported through Sion to other 
  parts of Foere, but some are preserved and sent much greater distances. 
  FARALL HOLD, TOWN OF
  FARALL HOLD, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Lady Aral Gemlight
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 11,267 (7,635 Foerdewaith, 1,587 halﬂ ing, 925 
  high-elf, 423 mountain dwarf, 329 gnome, 210 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 108 half-elf, 50 other)
  Languages: Common, Elven, Gnome, Dwarven, Halﬂ ing
  Religion: Archeillus, Mitra, Thyr, Muir, Mick O’Delving, 
  Solanus, Telophus, Yenomesh
  Resources: ﬁ shing, foodstuffs, trade
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The lovely terraced gardens and homes of Farall Hold are a sight to 
  behold for any traveler. As welcoming as the small city appears from 
  a distance, with its colorful buildings and statues arranged carefully 
  on a tall hill overlooking the Star Sea, most of the city is off limits to 
  visitors. Farall Hold is largely a retirement community for elite servants 
  and advisors to the overking. The “retirement” is in many ways as much 
  prison as reward, despite the lavish surroundings. By relocating former 
  key advisors and servants with knowledge of the kingdom’s secrets to 
  Farall Hold, the overking ensures that those secrets are kept safe. The 
  retirees are not allowed out of the city without a guard detail and are 
  permitted visitors only from approved lists.
  Arranged along roads circling up a tall hill rising from the shoreline 
  with the Star Sea, the highest and most elegant homes and gardens stand 
  behind a tall, heavily guarded wall with a single gate that allows access 
  to the restricted portion of the city. Residents here refer to the homes 
  of the elite as “above the wall” and to the rest of the city as “below the 
  wall.” Unwelcome visitors who are not on a proper list or who do not 
  have papers allowing them access to areas beyond the wall are turned 
  away. Anyone discovered above the wall without proper authority is 
  arrested, investigated brieﬂ y, and, if not allowed access, executed.
  Most of the retired elite are served by live-in servants and cooks, with 
  a large number of additional services provided by those living below 
  the wall, most of whom have special passes and are recognized by the 
  guards. The docks here are small, suitable for ﬁ shing boats and the 
  smaller boats that bring deliveries from Sion and Pentahs. 
  Lady Aral Gemlight runs the city for the overking and pays special 
  attention to keeping the chosen former servants and advisors in luxurious 
  living conditions while also restricting and monitoring their movements 
  and interactions. While some goods are grown locally, most of the more 
  expensive luxury items are brought in at the expense of the crown. 
  NAINS, CATHEDRAL CITY OF
  NAINS, CATHEDRAL CITY OF
  Ruler: Archdeacon Melijan Velon, Voice of Mitra, Lord-Captain 
  Joucalt Chenare
  Government: Religious/Military/Feudal (Kingdom of Foere)
  Population: 21,632 (16,622 Foerdewaith, 1,569 halﬂ ing, 1,208 
  mountain dwarf, 791 high elf, 620 human mixed ethnicity, 563 
  gnome, 189 half-elf, 70 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Dwarven, Elven, 
  Gnome
  Religion: Archeillus, Belon the Wise, Ceres, Dre’uain the Lame, 
  Freya, Mitra, Thyr, Muir, Mick O’Delving, Solanus, Telophus, 
  Yenomesh
  Resources: grain, livestock (cattle, sheep), foodstuffs, trade
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Broad walls of black stone surround this fortress-like city that sits on 
  the main trade road from Reme and the Kingdom of the North Heath 
  into Foere. The white stone pinnacles of the massive Cathedral of Saint 
  Angeline rise from the center of the city, dominating its skyline and 
  acting as a beacon to travelers as they approach the city walls.
  While nearby lands supply cattle, sheep, and large amounts of corn, 
  wheat, and sorghum, the main driving forces of the economy here are 
  tourism and trade. The trade caravans traveling through provide ample 
  opportunities for shops selling provisions as well as taverns, gambling 
  houses, and brothels. Equal to those is the constant inﬂ ux of pilgrims 
  coming to see the cathedral and to worship in its holy halls.
  Lord-Captain Joucalt Chenare is in charge of a signiﬁ cant military 
  contingent here. He is responsible for patrolling the trade road and 
  keeping it safe and in good repair, while his duties within the city are 
  largely restricted to maintaining control of his troops. All other aspects of 
  the city are under the rule of His Grace, Archdeacon Melijan Velon, Voice 
  of Mitra, a man whose faith barely matches his charisma and forceful 
  personality. The overking has chosen not to assign this city to any civilian 
  lord, believing, justly, that a competition between the personalities of the 
  archdeacon, the lord-captain, and a third party would be bad for the city.
  CATHEDRAL OF SAINT ANGELINE
  CATHEDRAL OF SAINT ANGELINE
  By order of the overking, the cathedral must welcome clerics and 
  pilgrims of all the neutral and good faiths, but the cathedral itself is sworn 
  and dedicated to Mitra. The overking assigned this cathedral, as well as 
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  the city of Nains, to His Grace Archdeacon Melijan Velon, Voice of Mitra. 
  Ecclesiastical magnates and retainers do most of the work administering 
  the city and local region, while the clerics manage the cathedral.
  The cathedral is constructed of smooth white stone and possesses 
  niches and altars to the many gods of the Foerdewaith pantheon. 
  While Mitra might be the main god worshipped here, Archeillus is 
  almost equally represented in the images, statues, and paintings found 
  throughout the stone hallways. 
  PENTAHS, CITY OF
  PENTAHS, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lady Selicine Bonhil
  Government: Feudalism
  Population: 6,414 (4,070 Foerdewaith, 590 halﬂ ing, 489 high 
  elf, 407 hill dwarf, 310 human mixed ethnicity, 291 half-elf, 
  167 gnome, 90 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Dwarven
  Religion: Archeillus, Belon the Wise, Freya, Mitra, Thyr, Muir, 
  Mick O’Delving, Solanus
  Resources: ﬁ shing, manufactured goods, grain, foodstuffs, 
  livestock (sheep, goats), spirits (ale, mead), trade hub
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  Known to some as the “Gateway to the North,” Pentahs is a city of 
  sprawling wood-framed structures that cling to the rocky cliffs above 
  the Star Sea. Goods brought in by ship to the docks are raised to the city 
  by an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys, while visitors must make a 
  short but steep climb via a series of stairways and ramps. Possessing a 
  large military contingent and surrounded by nearby farms and ranches, 
  Pentahs is a well-established trade hub between the lands to the north 
  and the main seat of the Kingdom of Foere.
  Pentahs’ claim to fame comes from a 250-year-old song made popular 
  by the great bard Raeilha Redsong in which, somehow, the lamb stew 
  and mead of Pentahs are used by a young maid to seduce a prince. The 
  song was made popular by the overking of the time, perhaps in part 
  because he was having an affair with the bard in question, and in the 
  years since Pentahs has embraced this, with almost every inn and tavern 
  providing a ﬁ ne, spiced lamb stew and quality mead to their customers.
  In truth, Pentahs is a crucial link to the north and is important for 
  trade and the information networks that the overking maintains. Lady 
  Selicine Bonhil was put in charge of Pentahs with the speciﬁ c orders to 
  maintain trade and the information networks with the north. Command 
  of the military is held by a captain appointed by the overking. Troops 
  stationed here usually do not stay long and are rotated out to other duties 
  every three or four months or so.
  While trade drives the economy in Pentahs and supports most of the 
  shop owners, inns, and taverns, a series of powerful guilds also reside 
  here, their members crafting well-regarded furniture, jewelry, and 
  cookware. Nearby farms produce grains, corn, a selection of fruits and 
  vegetables, as well as sheep and goats. Goats’ milk and goat cheese are 
  very popular in the city, as is mead that is brewed by multiple houses.
  SION, CITY OF
  SION, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lord Altral Galon
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 6,279 (3,565 Foerdewaith, 987 hill dwarf, 726 
  halﬂ ing, 380 human mixed ethnicity, 270 high elf, 197 gnome, 
  94 half-elf, 60 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Dwarven, Halﬂ ing, Elven
  Religion: Dre’uain the Lame, Freya, Mitra, Thyr, Muir, Mick 
  O’Delving
  Resources: livestock (cattle), foodstuffs, manufactured goods, 
  ﬁ shing
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  Known to some as the “City in the Cliff,” Sion consists of wood-frame 
  and stone buildings built into and at the top of a cliffside overlooking 
  the Star Sea. Most of the homes set into the cliff wall have ancient 
  foundations, their true origins lost to time. Sion’s importance comes 
  from its natural harbor on the Star Sea and its well-organized docks. 
  While goods travel through Sion in a steady stream, merchants do not 
  stay here long. The air near the waters below is tainted with the strong 
  smell of ﬁ sh and a hint of decay, while the atmosphere on the cliffs 
  above is dominated by the stench of slaughterhouses and tanneries that 
  only the local residents can endure for long.
  In addition to trade, ranches near Sion provide a large number of cattle 
  for the kingdom, many of which are slaughtered here with the meat 
  preserved and sent on to other cities. Sion produces leather for a wide 
  variety of products, including armor, saddles, clothing, shoes, and other 
  accessories. The ﬁ shing industry provides ﬁ sh to Courghais and other 
  nearby cities. Lord Altral Galon would like to focus the city more on 
  trade, having started his own gambling hall here, but he recognizes that 
  the various aromas of the industries that originally made Sion important 
  to the kingdom make it difﬁ cult to entice travelers into staying for long.
  BARONY OF BALDENAR
  BARONY OF BALDENAR
  Capital: Malan 
  Notable Settlements: Corvusrook, Nyham Chae 
  Ruler: Baron Gaitan Baldenar
  Government: feudal barony (Kingdom of Foere)
  Population: 499,470 (385,950 Foerdewaith, 26,200 human 
  mixed ethnicity, 23,500 halﬂ ing, 21,200 high elf, 16,100 hill 
  dwarf, 11,200 gnome, 6,700 mountain dwarf, 5,600 half-elf, 
  2,120 half-orc, 900 other)
  Monstrous: giant animal, wolf, goblin, hobgoblin, fey (plains); 
  gnoll, forest troll, giant animal, owlbear, forlarren, dryad, 
  green dragon (forest); hill giant, stone giant, giant eagle, 
  hippogriff, cave moray (mountains)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome
  Religion: Archeillus, Mitra, Thyr, Stryme, Freya, Mick 
  O’Delving, Dwerfater, Muir, Bacchus-Dionysus
  Resources: grain, foodstuffs, gold, manufactured goods, timber, 
  trade hub
  Currency: Foere
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The Barony of Baldenar stretches from an area 50 miles south of 
  Corvusrook, north along Judge’s Road to the intersection with the 
  King’s Road, and then east to Nyham Chae. Its principal farms and 
  settlements are found in the well-watered lands between Malan and the 
  Shadrack Forest, particularly along the Gilded River. On ofﬁ cial maps, 
  the barony includes all of the Shadrack Forest to the base of the Rampart 
  Mountains. In practice, the forest is little patrolled.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Baron Gaitan Baldenar is a young, charismatic, and forceful leader 
  that many consider a throwback to the ﬁ rst Baron Baldenar granted these 
  lands by the overking in Courghais for his heroism in battle. But recent 
  generations squandered much of the goodwill once granted the barony 
  by the overking. The Baldenar family lineage is one of the longest 
  continuous family lineages in the kingdom, with some throughout 
  history having served with such distinction that the Baldenar coat of 
  arms is displayed in the halls of the overking. As with all long lineages, 
  there are sometimes less-effective rulers, as the past few barons of 
  Baldenar have demonstrated. The crown has noticed Gaitan’s hard work 
  eliminating the corruption that grew in the province under his father’s 
  rule. While the light of the Duchy of Saxe may be fading in the halls of 
  the overking, the Barony of Baldenar is rising. 
  Corruption and mismanagement grew over several recent generations 
  until it reached a point where something had to be done. Gaitan had 
  his father declared incompetent, with approval and encouragement from 
  the overking, and took over the barony at the age of 24. Well-educated, 
  driven, and disgusted by what he felt were the failings of his own family, 
  Gaitan replaced all of his father’s leaders and advisors with individuals 
  
  164|
  164|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  who were both competent and trusted. Several of the new advisors were 
  brought in from other parts of the kingdom but the initial distrust these 
  advisors faced receded due to the startling changes in the barony under 
  its new ruler. Additionally, nearly all of the mayors and other local city 
  leaders were also relieved of duty and replaced with appointed mayors 
  and staff loyal to Gaitan himself.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Much of the barony’s income is generated from control over the 
  King’s Road and Judge’s Road and the trade these routes generate. 
  Gold-mining operations near Corvusrook along the Gilded River are 
  well-protected and owned by the Baldenar family. Recent generations 
  spent income on opulent mansions and castles and large parties, but 
  Gaitan ended this practice and focused on shoring up the reputation 
  of the barony. Farming operations help support the larger cities while 
  logging operations in the Shadrack Forest are relatively minimal and 
  mostly restricted to areas near Nyham Chae.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Baron Baldenar is completely loyal to the crown. His goal is to 
  become important and recognized enough to increase his position in 
  the kingdom and to consolidate his control over the region he now 
  possesses. He has an excellent relationship with Lord-Commander 
  Lorant of the County of Roy and active trade agreements with the Iron 
  Kingdom and the Duchy of Mains. He has a tense relationship with 
  Duke Mercur Saxe, however, as Saxe believes that Baldenar’s efforts to 
  increase the use of the King’s Road as a trade route to the east hurts the 
  trade coming through Saxentry.
  Tasked with the upkeep and protection of both the King’s Road and 
  Judge’s Road from Corvusrook to Nyham Chae by the overking, Gaitan 
  performed necessary repairs and upkeep to make merchant trafﬁ c 
  smoother. Increased patrols reduced the number of brigands that moved 
  into the area during past rule to the point that the trade roads are now 
  largely considered safe.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The baron’s rule has been forceful, direct, and on occasion, violent. 
  His swift punishment of the corrupt elite earned him the love and respect 
  of the more common folk, particularly members of the various guilds. 
  The court system is presently run with judges handpicked by Baron 
  Baldenar with the approval of the overking. The baron’s service in the 
  Foere military began at the age of 14, with several years of education 
  at the University of Mains in Arbo, through which he came to know a 
  number of highly educated, dedicated, and loyal servants to the crown, 
  from among whom he picked many of his advisors. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Ofﬁ cially, all military forces within the barony are under the charge of 
  Baron Baldenar, although the military forces stationed in Nyham Chae 
  are under Mayor Piers Touriq, who orders regular patrols near Shadrack 
  Forest and the Rampart Mountains. The forces presently stationed at 
  Nyham Chae come from regions outside the barony in hopes of reducing 
  the corruption that was prevalent here recently.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Being near the seat of power of the kingdom, and the close proximity 
  of the military forces in Ems, make this one of the safer areas on all of 
  Akados, particularly now that the baron has eliminated the major abuses 
  and corruption that were so prevalent before and taken steps to reduce 
  or eliminate brigands along the major trade roads. Creatures from the 
  Shadrack Forest and the Rampart Mountains still pose a threat but the 
  newly invigorated barony is now taking steps to reduce them as well.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE
  The baron is still looking for knowledgeable people with no link to 
  the past rulers and leaders to help investigate some of those who are 
  still in power. Some who were already taken and convicted hid their 
  wealth, and the baron is always seeking to recover such lost treasure 
  as well. Shadrack Forest is largely unexplored, as there has been so 
  little of value discovered there and few want to deal with the gnolls 
  living within. Rumored ruins in the Rampart Mountains, as well as the 
  hill giants and stone giants that are reported to live there, also attract 
  explorers and treasure seekers. 
  MALAN, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  MALAN, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Baron Gaitan Baldenar
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 23,205 (17,379 Foerdewaith, 1,633 halﬂ ing, 1,282 
  high elf, 1,050 human mixed ethnicity, 876 gnome, 578 hill 
  dwarf, 234 half-elf, 113 half-orc, 60 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Gnome, 
  Dwarven
  Religion: Archeillus, Mitra, Thyr, Stryme, Freya, Mick 
  O’Delving, Dwerfater, Muir, Bacchus-Dionysus
  Resources: grain, foodstuffs, manufactured goods, trade
  Technology Level: Medieval 
  As recently as 10 years ago, Malan had decayed into a city where 
  the divide between rich and poor was extreme and appalling. Nobility, 
  wealthy merchants, and the guardsmen who were supposed to keep the 
  peace and protect the people held clear sway over the rest of the city 
  and the surrounding area. Skilled craftsmen were taxed and harassed to 
  the point that they could barely feed their families; less-skilled workers 
  were even more hard pressed. Gaitan Baldenar usurped power from his 
  own father and took over the city and the barony with the support of the 
  overking. The anger and rage at this drove his father to an early grave, but 
  the act of deﬁ ance gave this city new hope.
  Corruption as deep and pervasive as that suffered here in Malan is 
  difﬁ cult to overcome quickly but Gaitan’s swift and decisive actions 
  have, at least, driven any remaining malfeasance into the darkness. New 
  leaders for every level of the guard were installed, and those accused 
  and found guilty of corruption were convicted of “treason against the 
  crown” and publicly executed. The guilds cheered these efforts at ﬁ rst, 
  until guild leaders realized their own illegal fees and penalties made them 
  subject to the same crimes. Craftsmen and honest merchants and traders 
  are now free to ply their trades without interference or harassment. 
  Decaying tenements and buildings have been repaired, or are being 
  repaired, using funds gained by seizing the properties and money of those 
  convicted of corruption. Whispers say that Gaitan used the corruption 
  scandals to eliminate business competitors or personal enemies and steal their 
  wealth. Whether true or not, the general populace loves their new baron and 
  the broad changes that have been made here. Where once caravans would 
  make their way through this crossroads city as quickly as possible, now they 
  pause to enjoy the taverns, inns, and various shops and trading opportunities. 
  “Caravan Run,” a broad section of cobblestone road in the city’s center with 
  guarded parking areas for large groups of wagons, is often ﬁ lled now.
  Ancient stone walls around the city are also being repaired, even if 
  the threat of a military attack seems small. Gaitan considers it a matter 
  of pride. The High Quarters of the city is home to opulent mansions and 
  ornate, walled homes, but many of these homes are now owned by the 
  baron and used to house his top advisors under the philosophy that if 
  they are paid and treated well already, the temptation to resort to graft is 
  eliminated. Other parts of the city are in various states of repair as years 
  of neglect and mismanagement are slowly overcome.
  CORVUSROOK, CITY OF
  CORVUSROOK, CITY OF
  Ruler: Mayor Suavar Redmont
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 11,282 (6,760 Foerdewaith, 1,423 halﬂ ing, 947 
  mountain dwarf, 788 gnome, 592 high elf, 530 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 187 half-elf, 55 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Dwarven, Gnome, Elven
  Religion: Archeillus, Mitra, Thyr, Stryme, Mick O’Delving, 
  Dwerfater, Muir, 
  Resources: gold, grain, foodstuffs, trade
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|165
  |165
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  Constructed on one of the safest crossings of the Gilded River, 
  Corvusrook sits at the crossroads of several trade routes, including Judge’s 
  Road heading north to the Kingdom of Foere. Bridges built here make 
  crossing the river easier, and the city is growing into a busy trade hub while 
  still maintaining its original roots as a mining town. A number of rich gold 
  mines are located nearby on the rocky shores of the Gilded River. Dwarves 
  contracted by Baron Gaitan Baldenar now run several of those mines. The 
  dwarves are expensive mine managers and workers, but their honesty and 
  loyalty provide a welcome relief from the corrupt management of the past.
  Simple but well-made wood-frame buildings dominate Corvusrook, 
  which has no real city wall to speak of. Guard towers look over the trade 
  roads in every direction with open terrain giving a clear view for a great 
  distance. While small, the city is growing and bustles with energy of 
  traveling caravans and miners coming in and out. Taverns, inns, and a wide 
  variety of shops do steady business during the day while the evenings are 
  often more sedate. Miners and the crafters and tradesmen take equally dim 
  views of each other, but the elimination of corruption in the city government 
  and the various guilds has begun to smooth things over.
  Baron Baldenar appointed Mayor Suavar Redmont to oversee the 
  city with the aim of ridding it of corruption within the guards and other 
  government ofﬁ ces. The powers given the mayor are broad, and the 
  additional troops he brought are loyal to both him and the baron, which 
  gives him great latitude in his management of the city. Merchants and 
  several of the guild leaders were upset at their sudden loss of power and 
  became very nervous when Mayor Redmont ordered the ﬁ rst executions 
  of corrupt guardsmen and tax collectors. But the mayor enjoys the full 
  conﬁ dence of the baron, as well as support from the newly appointed 
  mine managers and other dwarves working the mines. 
  NYHAM CHAE, CITY OF
  NYHAM CHAE, CITY OF
  Ruler: Mayor Piers Touriq
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 10,247 (5,610 Foerdewaith, 1,230 hill dwarf, 1,166 
  halﬂ ing, 928 high elf, 543 gnome, 370 human mixed ethnicity, 
  281 half-elf, 89 half-orc, 30 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Dwarven, Elven, Halﬂ ing, 
  Gnome
  Religion: Archeillus, Mitra, Mick O’Delving, Dwerfater, Muir
  Resources: timber, foodstuffs, trade
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Nyham Chae suffered the worst under the corruption and 
  mismanagement of previous rulers. Ongoing repairs to the ancient 
  walls around this small city, and to the King’s Road winding through 
  it, feel like a bandage over a deeper wound. Despite rebuilding efforts 
  throughout the city, a sense of decay, a hint of darkness, clings to the 
  atmosphere here. Seen best in the quiet countenance of its residents, 
  there is an ongoing feeling that some dark calamity is on its way. 
  Mayor Piers Touriq battles against corruption here in the name of the 
  overking and the baron. Where other areas of the barony were corrupt, 
  Nyham Chae was a festering pool of darkness and decay. Rather than taking 
  the time to investigate the crimes of those who had run the city, Mayor 
  Touriq brought in his own guardsmen and rounded up the city leaders, 
  previous guard members, and guild leaders in a single night. It was decided 
  that, in Nyham Chae, there were no innocents in power and the previous 
  leaders of the city were all executed over a period of several weeks. The 
  purge and reclamation of wealth paid for the major building projects in 
  the city, with repairs to the walls and the King’s Road being of primary 
  importance as they were directly ordered by the overking of Foere.
  Wood-frame buildings here stand atop ancient stone foundations that 
  predate even the stone of the King’s Road. While foundations so old in 
  other places hint at some previous greatness, here there is no sense of a 
  greater past or more impressive history, just age. Freshwater springs in 
  the center of the city support beautiful, if ill-kept, gardens, but little else 
  here could be described as beautiful. New efforts to clean and revitalize 
  have done nothing to quell the stench of the tanneries or the smoke that 
  hangs heavy in the humid air. 
  Nyham Chae, once a major stop on the King’s Road between the main 
  seat of the Kingdom of Foere and the Duchy of the Rampart to the east, 
  became a place merchants and trade caravans avoid staying in for long. 
  The overking of Foere himself ordered his new baron to ensure the city 
  is brought back to its previous, if not glory, at least ability to support the 
  needs of the kingdom.
  BILTSCROUGH, CATHEDRAL CITY OF
  BILTSCROUGH, CATHEDRAL CITY OF
  Ruler: Archdeacon Peridor
  Government: ecclesiastical
  Population: 48,662 (46,561 Foerdewaith, 1,020 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 671 halﬂ ing, 399 half-elf, 11 other)
  Humanoid: halﬂ ings (some), half-elves (few)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing
  Religion: Archeillus, Mithras, Dre’uain the Lame
  Resources: pilgrimage, trade
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  Biltscrough is a cathedral city of the High Church of Foere and, despite 
  being located at the border of the Duchy of Mains and the Duchy of Saxe, is 
  independent of both. Situated in the middle of these two great Foerdewaith 
  demesnes, the city sits in the center of trade and information within the 
  southern Kingdoms of Foere. Though the principal business of Biltscrough is 
  service to the gods, a vibrant community has grown up around the cathedral 
  and temples, and many commercial interests set up shop in their shadows. 
  The roads in and out of the city gates are bustling from sunrise to sunset. 
  Traveling merchants, loggers, miners, adventurers, and pilgrims arrive with 
  a plethora of tales and stories ranging from the mundane to the ridiculous.
  In the center of the city is the magniﬁ cent Cathedral of St. Flail, 
  dedicated to Archeillus. Constructed of stone clad in golden sheeting, 
  the cathedral boasts a main central tower that rises almost 300 feet into 
  the air and dwarfs seven smaller surrounding towers. Outside of the 
  cathedral on the holy grounds are other temples to Foerdewaith gods, 
  including Mithras and Dre’uain the Lame. The ecclesiastical compound 
  is surrounded by high, white stone walls. Outside these walls is the rest 
  of the city, itself now surrounded by a further set of walls.
  The Cathedral of St. Flail is the seat of Archdeacon Peridor, who 
  oversees the cathedral and the administration of the city and its nearby 
  environs with the assistance of the ecclesiastical magnates under his 
  supervision. As an independent city, issues of royal interest (such as 
  taxation, defense, and the lay courts) are overseen by the mayor of the 
  palace in the name of the overking. Representatives of both Mains and 
  Saxe live in the city and are happy to provide advice to the archdeacon, 
  but Peridor is an excellent diplomat as well as a cleric, and runs 
  Biltscrough in the manner in which he sees ﬁ t.
  COUNTY OF COUTAINE
  COUNTY OF COUTAINE
  Capital: Cantelburgh 
  Ruler: Count Eggar le-Gaunt
  Government: feudal county (Kingdom of Foere)
  Population: 2,922,900 (2,803,084 Foerdewaith, 61,955 halﬂ ing, 
  41,200 human mixed ethnicity, 11,121 half-elf, 3,719 hill 
  dwarf, 1,091 high elf, 622 gnome, 108 other)
  Monstrous: wolf, dire wolf, large animals, kobold (open areas), 
  hill giant, orc, wyvern 
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome
  Religion: Archeillus, Belon the Wise, Dre’uain the Lame, Muir, 
  Solanus, Mick O’Delving, Mitra, Thyr
  Resources: iron ore, manufactured goods, grain, cattle, 
  foodstuffs, spirits (wine)
  Currency: Foere 
  Technology Level: Medieval
  North of the Star Sea, the County of Coutaine is in the heart of old 
  Foere and, to this day, a loyal domain of the Court at Courghais. The 
  
  166|
  166|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  western boundary of the county is the Elderwood (which itself is within 
  the overking’s lands), and the eastern boundary is the Mons Terminus 
  and the Great Amrin River. On the north, it shares a border with the 
  Duchy of Ysser, and on the south it abuts the royal domain of Foere. The 
  only wilderness is near the Elderwood and the Mons Terminus, with the 
  rest of the county being primarily rich ﬁ elds, farmlands, and vineyards. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Early in Macobert’s conquest of central Akados, the future overking 
  set his eyes upon the petty kingdom of Cantel north of the Star Sea. As 
  Macobert’s army approached, the king of Cantel went to the Cathedral 
  of St. Oerson in Cantelburgh to seek the blessing of the archdeacon on 
  the eve of battle. According to legend, while praying at the high altar, 
  the king had a vision from Muir of a great empire that would be founded 
  by Foere. Heeding the god’s message, the king rode forth to Macobert’s 
  army and, holding high a ﬂ ag of truce, came before Macobert and swore 
  allegiance to him. Macobert accepted the king of Cantel as his ﬁ rst 
  vassal and named him Count of Coutaine (a Gasquen word that roughly 
  translates to “ﬁ rst land”).
  Since that time, the rulership of Coutaine has passed through various 
  families of the original house of the kings of Cantel, which for the last 
  700 years has been the le-Gaunt family. The current Count, Eggar, is 
  a robust man in his 50s and one of the few great nobles of Foere who 
  did not follow Ovar on his campaign against the Huun. He walks with 
  a noticeable limp, a reminder of a near-fatal injury he suffered in his 
  youth.
  Situated as it is in the heartland of Foere, the vast majority of folk in 
  the county are of Foerdewaith extraction.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  With the Cathedral-City of Cantelburgh as its capital, the County of 
  Coutaine is heavily inﬂ uenced by the traditions and worship of the old 
  gods of Hyperborea, in particular Muir and Thyr. The le-Gaunt family 
  has long been faithful adherents of Muir, and Count Eggar, no exception, 
  is always happy to expound on the tenets of his faith to anyone who so 
  much as makes a minor inquiry.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Coutaine is in a most enviable location in the domains of Foere. 
  Its lands are rich and provide good soil for farming and cattle. The 
  county maintains iron mines along the southwestern slopes of the Mons 
  Terminus. And its location astride the routes between the port cities of 
  the Star Sea to the south and the duchies of Ysser and Waymarch to 
  the north provides it a critical role in trade among some of the most 
  populated areas of Akados. Cantelburgh is recognized for mapmaking 
  (as it hosts the headquarters of the famed Guild of Cartographers and 
  Explorers), casting bronze, and the manufacture of clocks.  
  The western reaches of the county are known for their vineyards, 
  including the Le Chateau Gluant, a winery of repute near the edge of the 
  Elderwood on the lower slopes of the Broken Mountains.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Coutaine is entirely surrounded by the royal lands and other domains 
  of the Kingdom of Foere, to which it remains loyal. Count Eggar is 
  troubled by the disappearance of Overking Ovar and, though he would 
  not say so publicly, does not trust Duke Othon Passur of Ysser. But the 
  count’s main focus is on ruling his county, and he tries not to worry too 
  much about other nations and their troubles.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Count Eggar rules the county from his seat in Cité Coutain on the 
  eastern edge of Cantelburgh. Outside the city, his authority is enforced 
  by his various vassals, as well as by sheriffs and judges he appoints to 
  towns throughout the countryside. He is advised by a small council that 
  consists of his most important vassals and the archdeacon.
  Within Cantelburgh, however, which is a cathedral city, authority is 
  held by the archdeacon and, to the extent royal matters are implicated, 
  the mayor of the palace (except within Cité Coutain itself). In other 
  circumstances, this division of power might result in a great deal of 
  political strife. However, Eggar le-Gaunt, a sincere devotee of Muir, and 
  Archdeacon Artes Monfrier have for many years been good friends and 
  always manage to reach mutual agreement in governance. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The count maintains a modest force of soldiers loyal to him and 
  can call up a levy from his vassals. A goodly number of the county’s 
  professional soldiery went off with King Ovar to chase the Huun, 
  though the lack of any substantial current threat to the county means 
  they haven’t been missed greatly. The count does keep a close watch on 
  his northern border, however. His spies tell him that the duke of Ysser is 
  looking to expand the lands of his duchy. While these aims at the moment 
  seem likely focused on Waymarch, Eggar recognizes the wealth of his 
  own lands and remains vigilant in case his northern neighbor decides to 
  take advantage of the overking’s absence and expand at the expense of 
  Coutaine.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Bandits, humanoids, and other threats can be found along the eaves 
  of the Elderwood and on the slopes of Mon Terminus. Few of these 
  venture far into the lands of the county, however, which remains quite 
  safe and peaceful. The greatest threat to Coutaine may in fact be its 
  northern neighbor, the Duchy of Ysser, should the overking not return 
  to Courghais and re-establish normal order.
  CANTELBURGH, CATHEDRAL CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  CANTELBURGH, CATHEDRAL CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Archdeacon Artes Monfrier, Mayor of the Palace Telifere 
  Palogi, Count Eggar le-Gaunt
  Government: feudalism/ecclesiastical
  Population: 73,004 (68,459 Foerdewaith, 2,118 halﬂ ing, 1,300 
  human mixed ethnicity, 612 half-elf, 303 high elf, 167 hill 
  dwarf, 45 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Dwarven
  Religion: Thyr, Muir, Freya, Mitra, Mick O’Delving, Stryme, 
  Dwerfater
  Technology Level: Medieval 
  Cantelburgh is a Foerdewaith cathedral city and home of St. Oerson’s 
  Basilica. In addition, the seat of the count of Coutaine is on the eastern 
  edge of Cantelburgh.
  Other than in the Cité Coutain (where the count’s authority is 
  predominant), Cantelburgh is ruled by the archdeacon and his mayor 
  of the palace. Wards are overseen by watch captains appointed by the 
  mayor. The archdeacon has also chartered a guild of judges that consists 
  of clerics who provide justice to the citizens of the city in dreams.
  St. Oerson’s Basilica rises high on a hill in the midst of the western 
  half of the city and is dedicated to the “Three Gods of Hyperborea.” 
  Two of these gods are known to be Thyr and Muir, while the third 
  god is, oddly, uncertain. Records from the times of the ancient empire 
  are vague, and the identity of that third god is neither indicated in the 
  magniﬁ cent murals and tapestries throughout the basilica nor spoken 
  of by the clerics of the cathedral. In any case, it seems clear that the 
  third deity must be one that is now missing or dead. As a result, most 
  believe it was Arden, who perished in a battle with mighty demonic 
  forces before the coming of the Hyperboreans to Akados.
  In addition to being a trade city and market for the many goods brought 
  from the countryside, Cantelburgh is known for its bronze casting and 
  the manufacture of clocks. It is also the headquarters of the famed Guild 
  of Cartographers and Explorers. Though based here, the guild casts its 
  members in all directions in an effort to expand the known world. In 
  backwater ports and seedy towns throughout Akados and beyond, one 
  may ﬁ nd a guild house full of great beast hunters, brave explorers, and 
  bookworm librarians.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|167
  |167
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  DUCHY OF MAINS
  DUCHY OF MAINS
  Capital: Arbo 
  Notable Settlements: Dundlend, Fornal, Carson’s Mill
  Ruler: Duchess Aeria Enserrat
  Government: feudal, Palatine Duchy of Foere
  Population: 2,965,800 (2,471,200 Foerdewaith, 210,540 
  halﬂ ing, 174,100 human mixed ethnicity, 38,600 high elf, 
  23,260 mountain dwarf, 18,980 half-elf, 12,220 gnome, 8,200 
  hill dwarf, 6,700 half-orc, 1,325 orc, 675 other)
  Monstrous: giant animals, wolf, dire wolf, goblin, hobgoblin, 
  ogre (plains); nixie, nymph, giant leech, giant turtle, dragon 
  turtle (Mains River); gelatinous cube, lephane, mimic, water 
  elemental, will-o’-wisp (Lake Escaurt); any forest creature or 
  forest subtype creature in or near Harwood Forest
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Dwarven, 
  Gnome
  Religion: Mitra, Freya, Mithras, Mick O’Delving, Stryme, Thyr, 
  Muir, Dwerfater, Narrah
  Resources: foodstuffs, grain, trade, timber, manufactured 
  products, iron, ironworks, magical resources, spirits (ale, mead)
  Currency: Foere
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The Duchy of Mains stretches from Dundlend to Lake Escaurt, south 
  into Harwood Forest and southeast into the Wolf Hills. Ofﬁ cial maps of 
  the Kingdom of Foere have the duchy laying claim to large swaths of 
  Harwood Forest, but the forest is more defended against than controlled. 
  The ﬁ elds, pastures, and orchards of the Duchy of Mains are rich, well-
  tended and extremely well protected.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Unquestioned loyalty to the crown of the Kingdom of Foere marks 
  the history of this large duchy, and this fealty continues to this day. 
  The aging duchess and her two sons are completely loyal to the crown 
  as, historically, the crown has provided the duchy with the resources 
  to defend and strengthen its hold on a land that is often beset by 
  creatures roaming out of Harwood Forest as well as hostilities from the 
  Principality of Olduvar. 
  During the early expansion and conquests of the Kingdom of Foere, the 
  overking found an easy and steady ally when they came to “the Mains,” 
  where lived ﬁ erce, tactical ﬁ ghters more concerned with monstrous creatures 
  than the conﬂ icts of men. Offered a way out of battle for a pledge of fealty, 
  Jeorge Enserrat, the leader of the area at the time of Foere’s arrival, saw 
  an opportunity to offer his loyalty in exchange for the resources to better 
  protect his people from the encroaching forest creatures to the south and the 
  predations of nearby nation-states. Their ﬁ rst proof of loyalty was providing 
  assistance in the conquest and “paciﬁ cation” of the area now known as the 
  Duchy of Saxe. That act led to the formation of the Duchy of Mains and 
  Enserrat’s elevation as a duke of the kingdom. It also earned the resources to 
  signiﬁ cantly improve the defenses of Arbo against creatures from the forest 
  to the south, allowing the city to prosper and grow. 
  Throughout the subsequent centuries, the Duchy of Mains has 
  remained steadfastly loyal to the crown, providing some of its best 
  captains, generals, and advisors. Always on watch for attacks from 
  creatures from Harwood Forest, the militia and guardsmen of the duchy 
  are highly trained in a wide variety of military styles and techniques. 
  Forced at times to ﬁ ght off dragons, ettins, giants, and other creatures, 
  the hardened soldiers of the duchy are more than happy to face 
  “ordinary” troops in more ordinary battles. Presently the lord-governor 
  of Exeter Province is Benevic of Lortsbar, a knight-commander leading 
  the defenses of Dundlend during one of the Principality of Olduvar’s 
  many attacks. The battles brought Lord Benevic to fame as he held off 
  vast numbers of troops while losing very few of his own men. Many 
  other generals and commanders assigned in other locations come from 
  the Duchy of Mains, in part due to the schooling troops are required to 
  go through here.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The Duchy of Mains has a friendly, though “careful,” relationship with 
  the Iron Kingdom of Dorriden but remains hostile to the Principality of 
  Olduvar that repeatedly tests their borders. Trade relationships with the 
  Barony of Baldenar and the Duchy of Saxe are both friendly and active, 
  with tariffs in all directions controlled by the overking of the Kingdom of 
  Foere in Courghais. The duchy maintains a number of small fortresses and 
  towers along the border with Olduvar and has towers overlooking parts of 
  Harwood Forest. Ofﬁ cially, the Duchy of Mains extends into and claims 
  large portions of Harwood Forest, though in reality only the outer edges of 
  the forest are explored as few want to risk the creatures deeper within.
  Forces from Dundlend formerly protected the farms of the Genev 
  Gap from monstrous incursions from Harwood Forest. The recent move 
  of the Barony of Baile to essentially revolt and declare its allegiance to 
  the Iron Kingdom of Dorriden caused the overking in Foere to order 
  troops stationed in the Duchy of Mains to no longer protect those farms. 
  Some of the creatures coming out of the forest have even been harried 
  and driven toward the barony. Tensions with the Barony of Baile run 
  high, but trade relationships with the Iron Kingdom remain strong.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Lumber from the Harwood Forest is sent to Arbo for eventual trade and 
  transportation while farmlands north of Arbo toward Lake Escaurt provide 
  rich harvests of wheat, corn, and a variety of other crops. Fish from Lake 
  Escaurt and the Mains River provide additional variety to the tables of those 
  who can afford them. While there have been numerous attempts in parts of 
  the duchy to raise grapes for wine, these efforts have not succeeded. This 
  said, Arbo boasts several dwarven-controlled breweries known for ﬁ ne ales 
  and meads that are traded throughout the kingdom.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Duchess Aeria Enserrat is aging and soon plans to turn the duchy over 
  to Sorar, her eldest son. While her loyalty remains intact, she is frustrated 
  that some of her ﬁ nest military leaders and advisors have been “taken” 
  by the crown for services elsewhere. This has caused her to temper some 
  of her reports to Courghais, in which she downplays the strengths and 
  leadership of some of her best people, particularly her sons and, lately, her 
  older grandsons. Her advisors are chosen for intelligence and loyalty. The 
  duchess is considered a pleasant woman who is easy to work for, and her 
  sons and grandchildren are highly regarded. Citizens of Arbo and Dundlend 
  strongly support the ruling family as they see the beneﬁ ts of their rulership 
  in day-to-day life. More distant Fornal and Carson’s Mill are only beginning 
  to receive more attention, and taxation, and are not as thrilled.
  Several generations ago, education was made a priority in the duchy, 
  and the duchess continues that focus of trying to make certain that 
  children learn to read and write and to do simple mathematics at an early 
  age. Schooling beyond the age of 10 is not forced but is encouraged. 
  Children under 10 must attend school three days per week. Carson’s 
  Mill and Fornal have only recently begun schools, but Dundlend 
  and Arbo have well-established schools for all ages. The University 
  of Mains in Arbo provides advanced education in military tactics, 
  agriculture, languages, and mathematics. The duchess has made it her 
  goal to expand the prestige and breadth of the university as she believes 
  it will increase the duchy’s standing with the crown even further.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  A large military contingent is stationed here, in part due to the border 
  with the Principality of Olduvar and the nearby Harwood Forest. Lord-
  Commander Malcom Enserrat is in charge of all of Foere’s military 
  forces within the duchy. He keeps the majority of his forces in or near 
  Dundlend and in small fortresses and towers along Harwood Forest. A 
  large percentage of military ofﬁ cers throughout Foere have spent some 
  time in training at the University of Mains in Arbo.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Harwood Forest provides a constant threat, with creatures coming out 
  of the forest at random. The Principality of Olduvar has been known 
  to attack about once a decade, though so far all such attacks have been 
  easily defeated and thrown back by the military here.
  
  168|
  168|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE
  While the interior of the duchy is fairly safe, the areas around the 
  Wolf Hills, Lake Escaurt, and, of course, Harwood Forest, provide 
  ample opportunity for adventurers to explore. The duchy actively 
  encourages adventurers to delve into the depths of Harwood Forest 
  and hope that this might reduce the incidents of creatures coming out 
  of the forest to attack or harass its people. While maps might claim 
  that large portions of Harwood Forest are under the control of the 
  Duchy of Mains, the simple truth is that the forest is not patrolled or 
  controlled in any way.
  ARBO, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  ARBO, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Duchess Aeria Enserrat
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 64,500 (40,650 Foerdewaith, 5,680 halﬂ ing, 5,150 
  high elf, 4,280 mountain dwarf, 3,200 human mixed ethnicity, 
  3,020 half-elf, 1,880 gnome, 430 half-orc, 120 orc, 90 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Gnome, 
  Dwarven
  Religion: Mitra, Freya, Mithras, Mick O’Delving, Stryme, Thyr, 
  Muir, Dwerfater
  Resources: manufactured goods, iron, ironworks, foodstuffs, 
  spirits (ale, mead), timber
  Technology Level: Medieval 
  White stone walls around Arbo are heavy, squat, wide, and studded 
  with battlements and towers that face outward on all sides. Ballistae 
  and a variety of catapults are set to target the surrounding lands and 
  skies. At a distance, the walls and battlements look like a challenge, a 
  ﬁ st raised against whatever might come. More than an appearance of 
  strength, Arbo has in fact never been conquered. Dragons have burned 
  parts of the city, giants have attacked its walls, and basilisks have 
  tried its gates, but the city stood against them all and remains poised 
  against any other threats that may come. The people here bear a ﬁ erce 
  pride born of the challenges faced, and beaten, by the city as a whole. 
  Ancient foundations and catacombs here are rebuilt or modiﬁ ed as 
  needed without heed to their history as Arbo is more concerned about 
  its future than its past.
  While there is a district mainly populated by the poorer residents, 
  most of the city is well mixed, with walled-off mansions standing amid 
  homes, workshops, and stores. The center square of the city is protected 
  with a second wall that encloses the palace, the main government 
  buildings, and the growing University of Mains. Well-designed and 
  cared for streets and sewage systems throughout the entire city — even 
  in the poorer district — mark the city as forward-thinking and “modern” 
  in spite of its ancient roots. 
  Ofﬁ cially, Duchess Aeria Enserrat rules from the capital city of the 
  Duchy of Mains, but in reality, it is her son Sorar who controls the day-
  to-day activities of the city. The duchess concerns herself with promoting 
  the schools and the developing university as she believes they provide a 
  lasting impact on the future of the duchy. Sorar Enserrat is well-liked in 
  the city and across the duchy; he is pleasant, charismatic, and generally 
  ﬁ nds pragmatic solutions to problems that might arise. Decorated 
  military service during his younger years earns him the respect and 
  admiration of the militia and guards, and that military background helps 
  him maintain a strong defense for the city.
  Generally, trade goods must follow the trade route through Saxentry 
  in the Duchy of Saxe to the northeast, but as both dukedoms are sworn to 
  the Kingdom of Foere, this generally doesn’t cause any problems. Arbo 
  exports some food items but its predominant exports and trade goods 
  include luxury quality ales and meads and a variety of lumber and wood 
  products. Much of the iron from the nearby iron mines is either used 
  within the city or sent out for trade. Hunters and adventurers delve into 
  Harwood Forest in search of valuable ingredients for magical spells and 
  items that are sold here, often to the university. Dwarven stonemasons 
  based here are often contracted for the construction of walls, castles, or 
  other structures at costs far beyond the standard.
  CARSON’S MILL, VILLAGE OF
  CARSON’S MILL, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: Mayor Reils DeVrilis
  Government: feudal
  Population: 581 (350 Foerdewaith, 64 high elf, 55 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 52 dwarf, 31 half-elf, 16 half-orc, 12 halﬂ ing)
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Mitra, Freya, the Green Father
  Resources: timber
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Located at the southeastern edge of the lands claimed by the Duchy 
  of Mains, Carson’s Mill is a bustling river valley community supported 
  by logging and milling. Here, rough logs are cut into lumber for 
  overland travel or to be loaded onto barges to be sent downriver to 
  the heart of the duchy. Though Mains has long ignored the town, the 
  recent decision of Durbenford to declare fealty to Suilley has made this 
  location substantially more important strategically. Only recently have 
  schoolteachers been sent here, and according to rumor, the duchess is 
  now considering posting militia to the town.
  A mill for cutting logs is built across the Hyon River and is the heart of 
  the village. Many villagers work there or in the storage buildings beside 
  it. Other shops that transport the cut logs have grown up around the mill. 
  Logs are supplied upriver and beyond in the portion of Harwood Forest 
  known as the Barren Forest. 
  Captain of the Watch Torcan Hald and his small security detail police 
  the lumber town, with Mayor Reils DeVrilis acting as judge in disputes.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: GLADES OF DEATH
  DUNDLEND, CITY OF
  DUNDLEND, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lord-Commander Malcom Enserrat
  Government: military/feudalism
  Population: 29,993 (22,030 Foerdewaith, 2,140 high elf, 1,729 
  halﬂ ing, 1,290 human mixed ethnicity, 1,272 half-elf, 835 
  gnome, 647 hill dwarf, 50 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Elven, Halﬂ ing, Gnome, 
  Dwarven
  Religion: Mitra, Freya, Mithras, Mick O’Delving, Stryme, Thyr, 
  Muir, Dwerfater,
  Resources: trade hub, manufactured goods, timber, foodstuffs
  Technology Level: Medieval 
  Squatting on the east-west trade route between the Kingdom of Foere 
  and the nations to the west, Dundlend provides control of trade to and 
  from the kingdom as well as a focal point for the defense of Foere and 
  the southern dukedoms. Construction of the walls and battlements here 
  is similar to that of Arbo, with heavy white stone blocks that can be 
  seen for miles during the daylight. However, the defenses here have 
  been taken to another level and include three sets of walls protecting 
  progressively smaller portions of the city, with the central portion 
  encompassing land reserved for military barracks, government ofﬁ ces, 
  and small ﬁ elds and wells for fresh water in the event of a prolonged 
  siege. Ballistae and catapults maintained on battlements of all of the 
  walls are ready for any attack, whether monstrous or man.
  Lord-Commander Malcom Enserrat is part of the leading family of the 
  Duchy of Mains and a lord-commander of the militia of the Kingdom of 
  Foere. At 60, he is the youngest son of Duchess Aeria and has children 
  and grandchildren of his own. While not as attractive or outgoing as 
  his mother and older brother, the lord-commander’s military bearing, 
  evenhanded justice, and pragmatic negotiations make him equally loved 
  in Dundlend and by the troops who serve him.
  Lumber contractors and woodworkers do a good business here, but 
  Dundlend is mainly a stop for merchants and caravans, earning money 
  both through trade and provisioning. Taverns, gambling houses, inns, 
  and other services for those traveling through do well here. The strong 
  military presence, largely paid by tariffs as well as an allowance from 
  the crown, also provides strong income for the service businesses. 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|169
  |169
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  FORNAL, TOWN OF
  FORNAL, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Mayor Hiergad the Red
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 1,142 (1,052 Foerdewaith, 35 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 28 halﬂ ing, 19 gnome, 8 half-elf)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Gnome
  Religion: Freya, Thyr, Narrah
  Resources: timber, foodstuffs, gems
  Technology Level: Dark Ages 
  Small enough to avoid notice for many years, Fornal has of late 
  become important to the Duchy of Mains and the Kingdom of Foere. 
  The recent declaration of Durbenford for the Kingdom of Suilley has 
  forced the duchy to maintain a closer presence on its eastern borders. 
  Little more than a community of loggers, hunters, and gem prospectors, 
  the wooden walls of Fornal are barely a match for the rare monstrous 
  creature from Harwood Forest or the Wolf Hills, let alone for any sort of 
  military battle. The increased militia presence and new school — both 
  forced upon the village by the duchess — are unwelcome but tolerated, 
  as the taxes are low and the increased militia helps get lumber and furs 
  to more lucrative markets.
  Elderly Mayor Hiergad the Red holds the position mainly by default 
  since he was the only one of the more important villagers willing to 
  take the job. Angry at the duchy’s recent interference, he was given the 
  opportunity to speak to Duchess Enserrat personally. Impressed by her 
  honesty and directness, he has since encouraged the villagers to make 
  adjustments. The present population includes approximately 100 militia 
  and 2 schoolteachers sent by the duchess. More troops and investments in 
  the town have been promised, which has residents pleased and concerned.
  BARONY OF LOUP-MONTAGNE
  BARONY OF LOUP-MONTAGNE
  Ruler: Baron Ghislain Chaput
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 34,620 (32,577 Foerdewaith, 1,160 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 821 halﬂ ing, 62 half-elf)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing
  Religion: Freya, Thyr, Narrah
  Resources: timber, foodstuffs
  Currency: Foere, mixed
  Technology Level: Dark Ages 
  The Barony of Loup-Montagne is a small holding of Mains in the 
  eaves of the Harwood Forest. Its main town is Roulune, which is actually 
  within the wood, and holds barely 500 people. The rest of its populace is 
  spread throughout the forest and engages in hunting, logging, or trapping. 
  Others are found in the ﬁ elds east of the wood in widely scattered farms. 
  The greatest threat to the region are wolves out of Harwood. The current 
  baron, Ghislain Chaput, is only 19 years old and inherited the barony 
  last year when wolves killed his grandfather Nicodeme, the prior baron. 
  Perhaps coincidentally, Ghislain was next in line because his father and 
  mother were both killed by a pack of wolves nearly 12 years ago.
  A ruined abbey dedicated to St. Ulrich and the abandoned Castle 
  Travers, former seat of the barons of Loup-Montagne, are somewhere in 
  the forest to the west.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: BAD MOON RISING FROM QUESTS OF DOOM
  COUNTY OF ROY
  COUNTY OF ROY
  Capital: Ems 
  Ruler: Lord-Commander Norgrim Lorant
  Government: military (Kingdom of Foere)
  Population: 2,116,100 (1,866,400 Foerdewaith, 98,100 halﬂ ing, 
  68,200 human mixed ethnicity, 27,900 half-elf, 18,250 
  mountain dwarf, 17,300 high elf, 12,100 gnome, 5,670 half-orc, 
  1,200 orc, 980 other)
  Monstrous: wolf, dire wolf, large animals, kobold (open areas); 
  hill giant, stone giant, orc, dragon, wyvern, goblin, bugbear, 
  hobgoblin (near Blackrock Mountains)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome
  Religion: Archeillus, Belon the Wise, Dre’uain the Lame, Mick 
  O’Delving, Mitra, Stryme, Thyr
  Resources: iron ore, manufactured goods, foodstuffs, military 
  training, spirits (wine)
  Currency: Foere 
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Framed by Judge’s Road to the east, the Blackrock Mountains to the 
  southwest, and the main cities and roads of the Kingdom of Foere itself 
  to the north, the County of Roy is a land of broad, rich ﬁ elds and lightly 
  forested hills. Farms, vineyards, and homes throughout this region are 
  largely safe and well-protected. Not only are these lands close to the 
  main seat of power of the overking in Foere but they are also under 
  the strict control of the county’s military, with its ﬁ elds, mines, and 
  businesses focused entirely on supporting the preparation, training, and 
  deployment of the many varied military branches of Foere.
  Walled mansions and castles belonging to some of the wealthiest 
  merchants and nobility of the kingdom can be found in isolated parts 
  of the County of Roy, though these residences are generally considered 
  “summer homes” by those wealthy enough to keep and maintain them. 
  The militia stationed within Roy do not usually interfere with the 
  possessions of the wealthy or the powerful, even though the orders of 
  the overking provide them the right to investigate or even take control 
  of any home or building in Roy. Only those in favor with the overking 
  are given leave to maintain holdings here.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The county of Roy was one of the ﬁ rst earldoms handed out by the 
  overking of the kingdom of Foere to one of his loyal generals, Earl Corwin 
  Geoth, and remained in that family for many generations. One of the most 
  steadfast supporters of the crown during the early centuries of Foere’s 
  growth and expansion, the Geoth family and local nobility ultimately fell 
  into sloth and decadence. When Overking Oessum was killed in battle in 
  3207 I.R. and Overking Graeltor took the throne, the decay in Roy was 
  too much for the new overking to stomach. While calling his troops to 
  arms, the overking not only discovered that the leaders and nobility of 
  Roy were engaging in parties dedicated to bloodshed in which servants 
  and commoners were being tortured, murdered, and abused, but also 
  that money assigned from the crown for the maintenance of troops and 
  arms for the defense of the nation was being embezzled and that troops 
  were poorly equipped and poorly trained. While the ﬁ rst offense angered 
  Graeltor, it was the latter that caused him to dissolve the title of the Geoth 
  family and have the family, and all nobles involved, put to the sword. 
  The overking then put the County of Roy under military rule and placed 
  control of the iron mines near the base of the Blackrock Mountains and 
  the entire area at the disposal of his generals for supplying and training 
  troops during the Foerdewaith Wars of Succession. During the hundreds 
  of years since, the tactically important location near the Iron Kingdom 
  of Dorriden and the Kingdom of the North Heath has remained under 
  strict military control. Facing continuing decay of the eastern provinces 
  and potential threats nearby, it is unlikely the overking will make a 
  change here any time soon.
  A vast body of militia are held here, kept as a reserve location for 
  troops due to easy support with the nearby ﬁ elds and vineyards. Horror 
  stories of the time before military control keep the common folk satisﬁ ed 
  with their place as they are well-cared for and Lord-Commander Lorant 
  has ﬁ rm regulations against any abuse of commoners by his troops. Iron 
  ore from mines at the base of the mountains is transported to Ems for 
  smelting and working into weapons and tools. Fields and grazeland near 
  Ems provide food for the troops, and vineyards near central Roy provide 
  a number of ﬁ ne wines, much of which is transported to Courghais for 
  the crown. Although slavery in Foere might be illegal, prisoners of war 
  kept here are put to work in the ﬁ elds and mines as virtual slaves with 
  any attempt to escape bringing a swift execution.
  
  170|
  170|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  In addition to a number of smaller temples and shrines dedicated to 
  a variety of gods throughout the area, a massive cathedral dedicated to 
  Stryme, God of Strength, is located in Ems. Many soldiers here follow 
  Stryme as a result of the cathedral, with a number of others following 
  Solanus or Archeillus.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Most of the resources in Roy are used to support the military troops 
  stationed within the county, with a substantial surplus available to be 
  sent by wagonload to other locations of military importance. Fields 
  here are largely dedicated to grains and other foods that can be easily 
  transported, as well as feed for cattle and horses. While some of the 
  surplus iron ore mined from the base of the Blackrock Mountains is 
  sold or traded with other parts of Foere, most is reserved for weapons 
  and armor. Vineyards in central Roy produce excellent wines with the 
  best of these reserved for the overking’s cellars in Courghais. A number 
  of smaller businesses support the troops in various ways, particularly 
  with regard to entertainment, but relatively few travelers or merchant 
  caravans spend much time in Roy.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The military leaders here are among the most faithful and loyal to the 
  crown and are ready to respond to the overking’s orders at a moment’s 
  notice. Trade caravans entering from the Kingdom of the North Heath 
  to the west are allowed to travel through without harassment, but it is 
  always clear that one of the reasons for the military stationed here is 
  to remind the Kingdom of the North Heath, and even Reme farther to 
  the northwest, that Foere is ready to go to battle. To the feudal baronies 
  and principalities nearby, Roy serves as notice that they all serve at the 
  pleasure of the overking. 
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The entirety of the County of Roy, including the capital city of Ems, is 
  under strict military rule. Military ofﬁ cers and judicial systems oversee 
  all actions, including any crimes, of the military here. Lord-Commander 
  Norgrim Lorant was assigned control of the County of Roy directly by 
  the overking and is well-established in this position. One concession to 
  the civilian population is a civil court system that handles any crimes or 
  disputes between civilians. All law enforcement is handled by specially 
  trained militia, as are all guard duties and training throughout the area. 
  By law, the military can enter and investigate any home or building 
  throughout the County of Roy at any time, for any reason. They can 
  also examine any merchant goods traveling through and seize them 
  if they see ﬁ t. In truth, it has been decades since any military ofﬁ cial 
  has taken advantage of these laws. Lord-Commander Lorant insists 
  on evenhanded and steady enforcement of the laws of the Kingdom of 
  Foere. Any ofﬁ cer violating or abusing the rules and privileges granted 
  here is court-martialed.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Troops stationed in Roy total almost 75% of the population, such that 
  military troops are used during harvests and planting times for some of 
  the ﬁ elds. Assignment to Roy involves a great deal of training exercises 
  but is generally considered a “good” assignment. Cavalry, infantry, 
  artillery (ballistae and trebuchet), and specialized troops are all trained 
  in different parts of the county. Most new recruits from the surrounding 
  principalities receive their basic introductory training in Roy as well. 
  This means that there is a mix of highly trained, experienced veterans 
  and fresh new recruits. While senior ofﬁ cers look forward to closing out 
  their service in Roy, junior ofﬁ cers prefer other assignments to increase 
  their chance of promotion. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The constant military drilling and patrols throughout Roy make it one 
  of the safest areas of the entire Kingdom of Foere. At one time, civilians 
  could have expected the threat of soldiers taking advantage of them, 
  but the present strict rule means that there is little likelihood of even 
  that happening. Some fear the continuing decay of Foere’s domains to 
  the east might mean a major campaign using most of the troops that 
  reside here, which would leave a power vacuum in the county, as well 
  as leaving the area largely unprotected.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE
  Constant military patrols and training exercises make Roy one of 
  the most heavily-guarded areas in Foere, leaving few opportunities for 
  adventure. Adventurers might seek out excitement at the base of the 
  Blackrock Mountains where some giants or orcs sometimes make an 
  appearance. Military leaders here view adventurers with some caution 
  as they are suspicious of possible spies.
  EMS, CATHEDRAL CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  EMS, CATHEDRAL CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Lord-Commander Norgrim Lorant; Archdeacon Roeder 
  Steelgrace
  Government: military/ecclesiastic
  Population: 47,400 (33,435 Foerdewaith, 4,200 halﬂ ing, 3,980 
  mountain dwarf, 1,320 half-elf, 1,190 human mixed ethnicity, 
  1,105 high elf, 950 gnome, 720 half-orc, 500 other)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome
  Religion: Archeillus, Belon the Wise, Dre’uain the Lame, Mick 
  O’Delving, Mitra, Stryme, Thyr
  Resources: ironwork, manufactured goods, foodstuffs, spirits 
  (wine), trade
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Transformed by years of military control, Ems is an efﬁ ciently organized 
  city with wide cobblestone streets organized in a simple grid. Military 
  barracks and apartments line the inside of the tall stone walls enclosing 
  the city. Open city squares and parks separate many of the other buildings, 
  including shops, apartments, homes, and government ofﬁ ces. Large metal 
  smelting and metalsmithing operations are located in the southern portion 
  of the city. Vast stables housing the cavalry, as well as the supply wagons, 
  are located inside the northern wall away from the smells and sounds of 
  the metal operations to the south. Training yards for all forms of military 
  practice are found inside and outside the walls.
  It is only the presence of a number of civilian shops, taverns, and 
  other businesses that separates Ems from simply being a large fortress. 
  The sturdy walls and potent defenses combine with the constant noise 
  of the marching and training of soldiers inside the city walls to provide 
  a constant reminder that this city is always prepared for war. In fact, 
  by the overking’s decree, this city’s sole purpose is to provide for the 
  training and provisioning of his military forces.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Corruption and abuses of the Geoth family caused the County of Roy 
  and Ems to be turned over to strict military control several hundred 
  years ago. Over time, Ems was transformed into a highly-organized 
  city with advanced defenses, water and food storage, and an advanced 
  sewage system. Garbage collection and disposal is also controlled by 
  the military to keep the city streets clean and passable, as well as to cut 
  down on vermin and disease. 
  All economic industries here are controlled by the military or, at least, 
  are designed to fully support the military. While there are many ordinary 
  citizens here plying their business, mostly in the form of taverns, 
  eateries, gambling houses, and brothels, produce coming in from the 
  surrounding ﬁ elds and the iron ore and smelting operations are meant 
  to provide for the military. While some citizens initially feared military 
  control, most residents now enjoy the safety the strong military presence 
  and order provides.
  The western side of the city is devoted to massive warehouses for food 
  and weapon storage as well as large barracks for housing soldiers. It is 
  actually rare that all of the barracks are full, as most troops are rotated in and 
  out of the city in part for training, but also to avoid overtaxing the resources 
  of the city itself. In times of heavy troop rotations, the population of the city 
  can grow by more than 50% for a period of several weeks.
  Palaces and mansions of the noble families found guilty of crimes 
  against the crown so many centuries ago can be found in the eastern 
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  section of the city. Most were transformed into housing for the top 
  military ofﬁ cers and their families long ago, with some sold to the 
  families that have taken over the mining and smelting operations on 
  behalf of the kingdom.
  ST. ELB’S CATHEDRAL
  ST. ELB’S CATHEDRAL
  One of the few attractions that actually draws visitors to Ems is 
  the massive cathedral found here. Dedicated to Stryme the Mighty, 
  God of Strength, who is also known as Strym to the dwarves, the 
  white marble structure has an iron roof and towers that remain free 
  of rust or tarnish. Services at the cathedral are attended principally 
  by human soldiers and laborers, but all are welcome. The priests 
  here encourage hard physical labor and dedication to one’s physical 
  form, so the military leaders are happy to encourage their soldiers to 
  worship Stryme.
  The cathedral is considered a city unto itself, and it and the immediate 
  surrounding grounds are subject to ecclesiastical law, ruled by His 
  Grace Archdeacon Roeder Steelgrace, Loyal Servant of Stryme, in the 
  name of the overking. The military and the church have historically 
  had good relations in Roy, as it was originally members of the church 
  that drew attention to the corruption and decadence of the Geoth 
  family and other nobility that lead to military rule over the County of 
  Roy. Archdeacon Steelgrace and Lord-Commander Lorgrant continue 
  that tradition, and in fact get along well. Both leaders are loyal to 
  the crown and do their best to manage their areas together for the 
  betterment of the kingdom.
  DUCHY OF SAXE
  DUCHY OF SAXE
  Capital: Saxentry
  Ruler: Duke Mercur Saxe
  Government: feudal, Palatine Duchy of Foere
  Population: 3,155,700 (2,575,500 Foerdewaith, 243,500 
  halﬂ ing, 193,400 human mixed ethnicity, 43,800 high elf, 
  32,100 mountain dwarf, 27,900 half-elf, 19,800 hill dwarf, 
  12,800 gnome, 4,900 half-orc, 1,100 orc, 900 other)
  Monstrous: giant animal, wolf, goblin, hobgoblin, orc, ogre, 
  ogre-kin (plains); giant animal, troll, orc, stone giant, demon 
  (mountains)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Dwarven, 
  Gnome
  Religion: Mitra, Belon the Wise, Muir, Archeillus, Freya, 
  Mithras, Mick O’Delving, Dre’uain the Lame
  Resources: grain, gold, iron, foodstuffs, spirits (beer, mead), 
  manufactured goods, livestock (cattle, sheep), trade hub, 
  timber
  Currency: Foere
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Wedged between parts of the Kal’Lugus Mountains to the east and 
  Lake Escaurt to the west, the Duchy of Saxe is relatively small, but 
  it stands on a major trade route between the east and west. One of the 
  earliest conquests in the expansion of the Kingdom of Foere, Saxe 
  is well-established, wealthy, and of great importance to the crown. 
  Saxentry is known for its architecture and ancient roots and has been 
  used as an example for city planning in other areas.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
   Conquered and held by Foere early during its expansion, the Duchy 
  of Saxe was named and granted in 2807 I.R. to one of the generals 
  instrumental in the conquest of the eastern provinces. Recently, the 
  Duchy of Saxe fell from favor with the overking in Courghais. Once 
  considered a guiding light, a shining example of loyalty and service, 
  recent losses of lands to the east of the March of Mountains have 
  frustrated the overking and some of the blame has, perhaps unfairly, 
  been placed on the Duchy of Saxe. Expected to maintain information 
  networks and pass information to the overking, Saxe has allowed those 
  networks to fade and break down. 
  In general, the people here are hearty, cheerful, and overwhelmingly 
  loyal to the crown. The nobility and wealthier merchants do their 
  best to prove their fealty to Foere, though the effort goes increasingly 
  unrecognized in Courghais. In the view of the crown, Saxe’s most 
  important role is control over the trade routes heading to the eastern 
  provinces. While the duke has ensured that the trade roads are carefully 
  maintained and patrolled, other parts of the border are less well 
  protected, and his agents have failed to provide important intelligence 
  at key moments.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Although smaller than some baronies, Saxe is a densely populated, 
  wealthy province with control over a major trade route combined with 
  rich farmlands and productive gold and iron mines. Craftsmen and 
  crofter’s guilds thrive in Saxe, and clothing, armor, weapons, furniture, 
  and a variety of other trade goods are made here, with some craftsmen 
  living in small, isolated communities to focus on their manufacturing. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The duke and his people are loyal to the crown. All male nobility of 
  the Duchy of Saxe are required to perform a minimum of three years of 
  military service to Foere as evidence of their loyalty and dedication to 
  the overking. The duchy as a whole has good trade relations with the 
  Duchy of Mains, the Iron Kingdom, the Kingdom of Suilley, Keston 
  Province, and the County of Toullen. The personal relationship between 
  Duke Mercur Saxe and Duchess Aeria Enserrat of the Duchy of Mains is 
  somewhat tense. Duke Saxe believes that some lands presently assigned 
  to Mains should belong to Saxe, as they did in the past, while Duchess 
  Enserrat believes the duke is a bumbling incompetent, and she has made 
  no secret of her assessment.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Ruled for many centuries by the Saxe family, the leadership here 
  has been surprisingly stable. Over the years, there have been few 
  conﬂ icts about succession and almost nothing in terms of scandal. 
  While the term “boring as Saxe” has fallen from use, it is that 
  stability and loyalty to the crown that made the Duchy of Saxe so 
  highly valued. Alas, all families and nations have their ebb and 
  ﬂ ow, and Duke Mercur Saxe is neither bright nor charismatic. These 
  factors, when combined with poor advisors — all friends of the duke 
  from his childhood — have put Saxe’s inﬂ uence and power on a 
  precipitous decline.
  The court system is well-organized, although like most in Foere, 
  it substantially favors the wealthy. The militia and guardsmen are 
  also well-organized and equipped. Other parts of the government are 
  controlled, at least ofﬁ cially, by childhood friends or longtime allies of 
  the duke. Most of these are unﬁ t for their jobs, and many try to take 
  ﬁ nancial advantage of their positions when they can. The networks of 
  spies and information gathering about the eastern provinces that Saxe 
  was once responsible for have been poorly monitored, and this failure 
  has angered the crown.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Because Saxe is a gateway to the east, particularly the Kingdom of 
  Suilley and other areas that have broken away from Foere, there is a 
  strong military presence here. Lord Marshall Bertrand commands all 
  the forces of Foere stationed throughout the area while Captain Korwell 
  commands the militia and guard forces of Saxe. All of the male nobility 
  are required to perform three years of service for Foere and must be 
  prepared to answer a call to battle from the overking.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Saxe, though fading from favor with the overking, is of major 
  importance to the Kingdom of Foere, so troops, trade routes, and 
  farmlands in the duchy are carefully defended and watched over. The 
  overking and the duke openly fear possible attack from the east, though 
  in truth this may likely be more of an excuse to increase certain taxes and 
  troop deployments in the area. The true threat to Saxe at this time is the 
  incompetence of its ruler and the growing corruption and ineffectiveness 
  of the people he has appointed at several levels of government.
  
  172|
  172|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE
  Areas near the Kal’lugus Mountains and Shadrack Forest are poorly 
  patrolled and subject to incursions of monsters. The deep catacombs 
  beneath Saxentry, known as the undercity, are said to be haunted. 
  Otherwise, much of the rest of Saxe is free from excitement as most 
  of the area is well-settled. That being said, some adventure can be 
  found here in the form of special jobs and investigations for some of 
  the nobility, who are always seeking new forms of wealth as well as 
  information.
  SAXENTRY, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  SAXENTRY, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Duke Mercur Saxe
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 83,536 (57,170 Foerdewaith, 6,130 halﬂ ing, 5,980 
  high elf, 5,378 mountain dwarf, 4,110 human mixed ethnicity, 
  3,112 gnome, 960 half-elf, 463 half-orc, 133 orc, 100 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Dwarven, 
  Gnome
  Religion: Mitra, Belon the Wise, Muir, Archeillus, Freya, 
  Mithras, Mick O’Delving, Dre’uain the Lame
  Resources: grain, gold, iron, foodstuffs, spirits (beer, mead), 
  manufactured goods, livestock (cattle, sheep), trade hub, 
  timber
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Income from the nearby gold mines and longstanding presence on 
  a major trade route have made Saxentry one of the wealthiest cities in 
  the Kingdom of Foere. While new structures dot the city, many of the 
  buildings are old, with some bordering on truly ancient. The stone of the 
  city’s foundations, as well as the stone lining the trade routes for several 
  miles in either direction from Saxentry, is extremely old and predates 
  the earliest histories of the area. Known entrances to the catacombs and 
  tunnels beneath the city are ﬁ lled in and regularly patrolled by guards as 
  the undercity is known to be haunted. A well-designed sewage system is 
  in place to route wastes and wastewater out of the city safely.
  Nobility and the wealthier merchants display their wealth through the 
  architectural designs and ornate decorations of their mansions, and the 
  city itself proclaims its wealth in the display of three immense temples. 
  The largest temple, dedicated to Mitra, is ﬂ anked by temples to Belon 
  the Wise and Muir. While each temple is dedicated to its particular god 
  and decorated appropriately, the massive marble structures are similar in 
  their ostentatious display of art and gold leaf throughout their interiors. 
  Each religious order takes the responsibility for guarding its own temple. 
  The faithful are always welcome, and other visitors are allowed limited 
  access when no services are taking place.
  The temples look over a wide central plaza where the trade routes 
  from Arbo to the southwest, Corvusrook to the northwest, and the route 
  heading east toward the Borderlands all meet together. Wide enough to 
  allow caravans to pass each other or to park and trade, the cobblestone 
  square is ﬁ lled with food and supply vendors ready to make a quick sale. 
  Tall gray stone walls encircle the city with smaller stone walls and 
  gates dividing the inside of the city into smaller sections. Wide, tall gates 
  allow entry to the largest wagon caravans to well-maintained streets 
  providing straight passage through the central square. Taverns, inns, and 
  shops carrying any goods one can imagine line the major streets passing 
  through the central square. Guards patrol the entire city but the areas 
  seeing the heaviest patrols are the northern area, which is devoted to 
  the homes of the wealthy nobles and merchants, and the central square 
  where caravans meet and the main government ofﬁ ces, military ofﬁ ces, 
  barracks, and the ornate temples can be found. 
  DUCHY OF YSSER
  DUCHY OF YSSER
  (EE-sur)
  Capital: Tourse 
  Ruler: Duke Othon Passur
  Government: feudal, Palatine Duchy of Foere
  Population: 2,226,847 (1,566,608 Foerdewaith, 388,909 human 
  mixed ethnicity, 171,300 halﬂ ing, 29,207 high elf, 21,288 hill 
  dwarf, 18,671 half-elf, 12,338 mountain dwarf, 9,140 gnome, 
  6,119 half-orc, 2,767 orc, 500 other)
  Monstrous: giant animal, wolf, goblin, hobgoblin, orc, ogre, 
  ogre-kin (plains), troll
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Dwarven, 
  Gnome
  Religion: Archeillus, Mitra, Belon the Wise, Muir, Freya, 
  Mithras, Mick O’Delving, Dre’uain the Lame
  Resources: grain, foodstuffs, spirits (beer, mead), manufactured 
  goods, livestock (cattle, sheep), trade hub, timber, ore, 
  diamonds (Broken Mountains)
  Currency: Foere
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The Duchy of Ysser consists of rolling hills and ﬁ elds dotted with 
  farms, cattle ranches, and small copses of woods. It is bounded on the 
  west by the Elderwood, the Broken Mountains, and the Old Tors Road, 
  and on the east by the Mons Terminus. Its northern border, by agreement 
  with Reme, runs 50 miles south of the Tradeway. On the south, the 
  border between Ysser and Coutaine has been the subject of dispute, 
  and, on more than one occasion, hostility, for centuries, even though 
  both are vassals of Foere. Though the matter was technically settled in 
  3011 I.R. by a writ issued by the overking, Ysser came to believe that 
  the royal surveyor who set the border was in fact biased in favor of 
  Coutaine, as it was later discovered that he was a member of the Guild 
  of Cartographers and Explorers based in Cantelburgh. Since that time, 
  the dukes of Ysser have coveted the richer lands of their neighbor to 
  the south and have looked for any opportunity to expand their holdings.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Ysser was the last of the petty kingdoms about the Star Sea that 
  Macobert conquered before he turned his eyes east to the plains beyond 
  the March of Mountains. The capital of Tourse ﬁ nally surrendered to 
  Foere in 2741 I.R. after a two-year siege. The defeated king, his entire 
  family, and the majority of his retainers were promptly executed, and 
  their bodies were left to rot in gibbets hanging in the main city square. 
  Macobert awarded the newly created Duchy of Ysser to one of 
  his knights, who, while his king was in the east, managed to lose his 
  holdings in a game of chance. Since then, the duchy has passed through 
  the hands of a number of noble families of Foere, with few lasting more 
  than two generations. In this Duke Othon Passur is unusual, as he is the 
  third generation of his family to hold the ﬁ efdom.
  Most of the folk of Ysser are Foerdewaith, descendants of the various 
  tribes originally conquered by Macobert. However, its location astride 
  and near trade routes that cross the continent means that many other 
  people are traveling through, and often settling, in the lands of the duchy. 
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The oldest temple in Tourse is devoted to the worship of Archeillus, 
  who is the patron of the current duke and his family. In fact, the duke 
  requires all of his vassals to attend services there and has been known 
  to frown upon those showing devotion to other gods. Nevertheless, a 
  substantial temple to Mitra manages to maintain a body of worshippers. 
  Solanus, one of the patron gods of Reme, is greatly disfavored here.
  Smaller temples to Belon the Wise, Muir, and Dre’uain the Lame are 
  also in the city, while the folk in the countryside often worship Freya, 
  Mithras, or Mick O’Delving.
  Some clerics visiting Tourse have of late returned with concerns about 
  the temple to Archeillus in Tourse. Some of the devotions seem different 
  from those performed elsewhere in Akados, and certain ceremonies are 
  held in secret and only for the greatest nobles of the duchy, away from the 
  sight of those of lesser rank. And the mutual, and near-fanatical, devotion 
  shown by the duke and the clergy of Archeillus to each other seems oddly 
  disturbing. Rumors question whether the priests of Archeillus do in fact 
  honor that god, but any espousing such rumors had best not speak them 
  in front of agents of the duke or they may ﬁ nd themselves in great peril.
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Astride the Northern Kingdom Road, the Duchy of Ysser is an 
  important center of trade. Its own resources are a bit more limited. Some 
  of its ﬁ elds, particularly on the south, boast soil rich enough for farming 
  various grains. A number of well-respected ales and beers are brewed in 
  Ysser. In the north, the soil is less fertile, and in those lands are found 
  ranches with cattle and sheep. Some logging and trapping occur in the 
  portion of the Elderwood that borders the duchy. Ores are mined from 
  the lower slopes of the Mons Terminus, and diamonds can be found in 
  the Broken Mountains, where the mines are held by the Baron Denar 
  Craldan of Vroulet, a vassal of the duke.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  As a loyal vassal of Foere, the dukes of Ysser do not technically 
  engage in diplomacy independent of the overking. This has not, however, 
  actually impeded Ysser from meddling in affairs both domestic and 
  foreign where an advantage can be found. 
  Of late, with the overking, many other nobles, and nearly all of the 
  Knights of Macobert away campaigning against the Huun, Duke Othon 
  Passur has seen certain new favorable opportunities arise. It is said that 
  agents of the duchy have been seen in the Stoneheart Valley hiring gnolls 
  to attack Waymark troops in service to Bard’s Gate. Already critical to 
  trade along the Northern Kingdom Road, Ysser would be in position to 
  even further enrich itself were the duchy able to gain a foothold on the 
  Tradeway, and dominion over commerce going east and west as well.
  Perhaps the only thing more attractive to Duke Othon than 
  incorporating the Tradeway into his demesne would be taking lands 
  from the hated Coutaine to the south. His spies and soldiers probe the 
  border, looking for any opportunity, but so far the watchful Count Eggar 
  le-Gaunt has countered each move. If the authority of the Crown at 
  Courghais is not restored soon, however, the duke may decide to take 
  matters into his own hands and commence open hostility to gain what 
  he wants.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Ruling a palatine duchy of Foere, the duke is sovereign in the lands 
  of Ysser and possesses within its bounds the authority of the overking. 
  As with the rest of Foere, Ysser’s government is feudal, with counts 
  and margraves holding lands as vassals of the dukes. Ysser, however, 
  has fewer such vassals than its peer realms. It is a poorly kept secret 
  that Othon and his predecessors have over the years sought ways to 
  arrange the forfeit of their vassals’ lands, to the enlargement of those 
  held directly by the dukes. 
  As a result, few of the vassals of Ysser trust their liege, with the 
  dukes ruling by fear rather than love or friendship. Similarly, the dukes 
  have historically appointed magistrates who sit in courts throughout the 
  duchy, with the authority to investigate and dispense justice in the name 
  of the duke independent of the local feudal lords. The duke’s vassals 
  are wary of interfering with a magistrate, unless it can be done without 
  attribution; more than one such vassal has been banished or beheaded, 
  their lands forfeit to the duke.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The dukes of Ysser maintain a sizable body of soldiers loyal only to 
  them, often enhanced by mercenaries or sell-swords bought by the coin 
  gained through the lucrative trade passing through the duchy. While 
  the dukes also have the right to call upon levies from their vassals, the 
  level of distrust between liege and vassal leaves such an action at best 
  uncertain.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  There are really no major external threats to Ysser. Both of its 
  neighbors, Waymarch and Coutaine, would much prefer peace with the 
  duchy than hostility. As a result, the greatest danger may in fact be the 
  duke’s ambition and whatever mysterious plans may be motivating the 
  priests of Archeillus in Tourse. Additionally, though Othon has been deft 
  at maintaining fear among his vassals, were he to show weakness or take 
  a sufﬁ ciently outrageous action, a rebellion or assassination attempt is 
  not entirely out of the question.
  TOURSE, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  TOURSE, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  (tur-SAY)
  Ruler: Margravine Cassandra Angot (subject to Duke Othon 
  Passur)
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 54,112 (40,454 Foerdewaith, 9,864 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 1,010 halﬂ ing, 959 high elf, 801 hill dwarf, 719 half-
  elf, 214 gnome, 91 other)
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Dwarven, Gnome
  Religion: Archeillus, Mitra, Belon the Wise, Muir, Dre’uain the 
  Lame
  Resources: trade, manufactured goods, ﬁ nance, spirits (beer, 
  mead)
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Tourse, a walled, wealthy city astride the North Kingdom Road, is 
  the capital of the Duchy of Ysser. In the bustling markets of the city, 
  goods from all over Akados can be bought and sold. The skills of the 
  glassblowers, the gem cutters, and the smiths of Tourse are renowned 
  and produce goods that are often sent by caravan for sale as far as the 
  port cities of Libynos. The taverns of the city are always well-stocked 
  with the famous ales and beers of Ysser, including the annual winner of 
  the Brewers’ Fest in Hogshead Bend.
  Due to the duchy’s location in the heartland of Foere in the midst of 
  Akados, many of the noble families of Ysser have long been involved 
  in mercantile businesses, with interests throughout the continent and, in 
  some cases, beyond the seas. As a consequence, a few of those houses 
  have become known for banking, providing letters of credit, safekeeping 
  valuables, and lending through their chapters in key trading cities. The 
  leading banking family in Tourse is House Angot, the head of which is 
  the Margravine Cassandra. 
  Shortly after Ysser became a vassal of Foere, the dukes granted to a 
  loyal noble family the title of margrave of Tourse, to rule the city proper in 
  the name and on behalf of the duke. About 150 years ago, the title passed 
  to the Angot family, which has used the secular authority so gained to 
  enhance its mercantile interests. In 3510 I.R., the most recent margrave 
  died in his sleep, and being without heir, his widow the Margravine 
  Cassandra took the reins of the city. She is only 43 years old and has 
  many suitors who would wish to gain her title and leadership of the Angot 
  interests. As of yet, she continues to play them against each other while 
  maintaining a ﬁ rm grip on both city and family. Some have now sought 
  the ear of the duke, suggesting that a successor to the margravine should 
  be identiﬁ ed sooner rather than later. Those who know Cassandra well, 
  however, would advise against underestimating her.
  The oldest temple in Tourse is devoted to the worship of Archeillus, 
  who is the patron of the current duke and his family. In fact, the duke 
  requires all of his vassals to attend services there and has been known to 
  frown upon those showing devotion to other gods. The city also boasts a 
  substantial temple to Mitra and smaller temples to Belon the Wise, Muir, 
  and Dre’uain the Lame. 
  While the Margravine attends services at the temple of Archeillus 
  with the duke, she has been seen quietly worshipping at the temple of 
  Mitra, a fact she has so far been able to hide from Othon.
  HOGSHEAD BEND, TOWN OF
  HOGSHEAD BEND, TOWN OF
  Hogshead Bend is a small town of about 200 souls that is built around 
  a spring in the midst of the ﬁ elds of eastern Ysser. It would be entirely 
  unremarkable but for the fact that it hosts an annual festival on the date 
  of Brewers’ Fest, a day holy to the god Pekko. For the week before the 
  holiday, the population of the town swells ﬁ ftyfold or more as travelers 
  from far and wide come to taste (and, in the case of merchants, purchase 
  hogsheads of) the ales and beers competing in the annual competition 
  for best brew of Hogshead Bend. Whether it is the water of the village 
  spring, the grains grown in the nearby ﬁ elds, or some other unknown 
  factor, the ales and beers of the six brewers in this tiny village are 
  recognized as the best throughout Akados. After each year’s Brewers’ 
  
  174|
  174|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  Fest, the winning brew can often be found in taverns as far Kingsgardt, 
  Castorhage, Bard’s Gate, Brookmere, and the Tycho Free States.
  TORWATCH KEEP
  TORWATCH KEEP
  The Duchy of Ysser maintains this fortress, which was constructed 
  after the destruction of the Black Monastery to keep an eye on the Old 
  Tors for any resurgence of the dark cult that built the monastery. Those 
  exploring the darker parts of the Old Tors or the Elderwood often use 
  Torwatch Keep as a base of operations, where supplies, a safe rest, and 
  healing can be found.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE HEARTLAND OF THE 
  INTEREST IN THE HEARTLAND OF THE 
  KINGDOM OF FOERE
  KINGDOM OF FOERE
  BROKEN MOUNTAINS
  BROKEN MOUNTAINS
  Though close to the Old Tors, the Broken Mountains are much 
  more recent, likely raised as a result of the same forces that created 
  the Stoneheart Mountains far to the northeast. Their peaks are high and 
  sharp, with heavily forested deep valleys.
  In the early years of the Hyperborean conquest of Akados, plans 
  originally called for the Tower of Oerson to be built in a valley of the 
  Broken Mountains. However, earthquakes repeatedly shattered the 
  upland vale where the tower’s construction had begun, killing hundreds 
  of builders. The site came to be deemed cursed, and construction of the 
  tower was moved east to the future location of the city of Curgantium on 
  the Great Amrin River. 
  To this day, earthquakes regularly strike the Broken Mountains. 
  According to legend, a restless dragon (or even larger beast) sleeps 
  beneath the ruined foundations of the unﬁ nished Hyperborean tower.
  The Broken Mountains are home to the Senelast Clan of hill dwarves. 
  The northern portions of the mountains fall within the domain of the baron 
  of Vroulet, who owes fealty to the duke of Ysser. The baron’s wealth largely 
  derives from diamond mines located in the lower slopes of the range.
  Le Chateau Gluant, a winery of repute, lies within western Coutaine, at the 
  edge of the Elderwood in the rolling lower slopes of the Broken Mountains.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: FGG2 STRANGE BEDFELLOWS;
  THE NOBLE ROT FROM QUESTS OF DOOM
  ELDERWOOD
  ELDERWOOD
  The Elderwood is an old growth forest of northwestern Foere bordered 
  by the Old Tors on the west and the Broken Mountains on the northeast. 
  The Saymere Valley lies between the Elderwood and the Old Tors, part 
  of the County of Barresque of Foere. The eastern portion of the forest is 
  known for its towering redwood trees.
  For millennia before the Second Exodus, the Elderwood was home 
  to a number of clans of wild elves, including Clan Silverblossom. It is 
  said that Elderis Thadell, the Silverblossom king, went mad while in the 
  Elderwood and slaughtered his family and drank poison. Many of the 
  elves’ abandoned tree villages can still be found.
  Three small villages were established in 3285 I.R. along the eastern 
  edge of the forest: Harmony, which has a population of 227; Stone’s 
  Throw with 351 residents; and Thorbold, which holds 197 folk. All are 
  within the small Barony of Kamlan, part of the royal demesne of Foere. 
  Recently, the people of the three villages began clearcutting trees to 
  expand the pastureland for their sheep.
  The forest is home to several branches of an ancient druidic order, 
  including the Druidic Order of Talanis. In addition, goblin tribes are 
  known to haunt the Elderwood, and are reported to hold a dungeon 
  stronghold somewhere in the forest deeps.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: FGG2 STRANGE BEDFELLOWS;
  THE COVERED BRIDGE FROM QUESTS OF DOOM 4
  GILDED RIVER
  GILDED RIVER
  The yellow sands and dirt along the shores of this wide, winding river 
  gave rise to its name, and the discovery of gold in some of those sands 
  near Corvusrook made that name last. Starting deep in Shadrack Forest, 
  the Gilded River winds its way through the Barony of Baldenar and into 
  the Duchy of Mains where it ﬁ nally enters Lake Escaurt. Its shallow, sandy 
  shores drop off quickly into a very deep center. The river moves slowly and 
  calmly due to its exceptional depth and rarely ﬂ oods. River trout and other 
  ﬁ sh are caught here, but ﬁ shermen are cautious as there are larger creatures 
  as well, some large enough to make a meal of the ﬁ shermen.
  JUDGE’S ROAD
  JUDGE’S ROAD
  Running at least four wagons wide in all areas, Judge’s Road runs 
  from Corvusrook up to Croix and is still considered one of the most 
  important trade routes in the Kingdom of Foere. While maintenance 
  of the road has been spotty at times, lately the road is well-kept and 
  patrolled regularly by troops under Baron Baldenar’s banner. Made of 
  gravel and cobblestones, the road is raised above the surrounding area 
  so water runs off the road and keeps it clear of mud and debris.
  KING’S ROAD
  KING’S ROAD
  This wide gravel and cobblestone road stretches from the Kingdom 
  of Foere to the Duchy of the Rampart and is one of the main routes 
  used when the Kingdom of Foere made its march eastward to conquer 
  the eastern provinces. Decay of the road was once seen by many as 
  a sign of the decay of the kingdom itself. As the eastern provinces 
  were lost, the maintenance of the road fell away as well. The stretch 
  of the King’s Road between Nyham Chae and Judge’s Road has seen 
  extensive repairs and rebuilding, and even the construction of rest areas 
  for travelers. These changes were ordered by the overking when the new 
  baron of Baldenar was installed.
  LAKE ELB
  LAKE ELB
  Known on some maps as the “Lake of Glass,” this eerie, large, 
  freshwater lake possesses a mystery that none has been able to solve. 
  While the water is cold, refreshing, and perfectly safe to drink, not one 
  ﬁ sh or aquatic creature lives in the lake itself. Creatures can swim and 
  bathe in the icy waters with no ill effect other than perhaps a chill from 
  its frigid temperature. Windmill-driven pumps pull water into long 
  irrigation ditches heading to rich vineyards to the north, and the plants 
  and animals around the lake thrive when fed these cold waters.
  A second mystery surrounds the surface of the lake, which is 
  unperturbed by winds of any strength, always undisturbed like a calm 
  mirror reﬂ ecting the sky. Ripples from anything landing in the lake or 
  swimmers die out quickly, never traveling far enough to truly shift the 
  surface of the lake. Sages and learned men have come up with various, 
  sometimes wild, theories to explain the mysteries of Lake Elb but none 
  can truly explain it. There is something disturbing about the lake, a 
  disquiet that strikes any intelligent observer that comes from the deepest, 
  most primitive parts of the mind. It is far easier to drink the refreshing 
  water, reﬁ ll one’s canteen, and continue on, than it is to contemplate the 
  mysteries of Lake Elb.
  LAKE ESCAURT
  LAKE ESCAURT
  Boasting deep, icy cold waters colored by glowing phosphorescent 
  algae, Lake Escaurt is the subject of many tales and stories of hauntings, 
  ghosts, and other supernatural or magical phenomenon. Swirling, glowing 
  waters add an eerie feel to the usually calm waters at night, but those 
  ﬁ shermen used to the phenomenon remain unperturbed, worried more 
  about the larger, more dangerous denizens of the darker, colder depths. 
  Bodies of strange and terrifying creatures are sometimes found ﬂ oating in 
  the water, as are remains of other large, but at least recognizable, animals. 
  The center of the lake goes as far down as some of the deepest oceans and 
  is rumored to be the location of one or more portals leading to and from 
  different portions of this world, or even other worlds. 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |175
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  Past centuries have seen conﬂ icts over Lake Escaurt, with competing 
  claims by the Duchy of Mains and the Duchy of Saxe. These conﬂ icts 
  were solved when the overking of Foere declared it the domain of the 
  Duchy of Mains almost 150 years ago. Fishing here is bountiful, but in 
  truth not enough to compensate for the expense of maintaining a militia 
  presence and boats nearby to protect citizens near and on the lake.
  LYNOSSE
  LYNOSSE
  This heavily forested island of approximately 2,600 square miles has 
  long been the exclusive province of the overkings of Foere. Fishing boats 
  are permitted to cast their nets near the shore, but none are permitted 
  ashore without authorization from Courghais. A few docks protected 
  by a stone fortiﬁ cation are located on the small bay on the southeastern 
  shore, perpetually manned by a garrison of soldiers. Most locals believe 
  that the overkings use the island as their personal hunting grounds for 
  large game otherwise extinct elsewhere on Akados. Whether there may 
  be another purpose to the island remains unknown.
  MAINS RIVER
  MAINS RIVER
  Beginning in the Edriss Mountains near the southern coasts of 
  Akados, the Mains River rolls through the Duchy of Listonshire and 
  through the Harwood Forest, and then through the Duchy of Mains to 
  Lake Escaurt. Wide and slow moving, the river provides an excellent 
  source of water for farms and orchards of the duchy as well as a wide 
  variety of ﬁ sh. Stretches of the river closer to Lake Escaurt are marked 
  with walled mansions and small castles used as vacation homes by the 
  very wealthy. Beautiful as the scenery may be, disappearances near the 
  river are a regular occurrence so it is best not to travel on or near the 
  ﬂ owing water alone.
  NORTH KINGDOM ROAD
  NORTH KINGDOM ROAD
  This well-maintained and patrolled road runs from Pentahs on the 
  north shore of the Star Sea, north through Cantelburgh and Tourse, until 
  it intersects the Tradeway past the border with the Duchy of Waymarch. 
  Much trade passes along this road, which is a key artery of commerce 
  between Foere, Reme, and the eastern provinces. It is very safe, and inns 
  along the road provide ready accommodation to travelers of all sorts.
  OLD TORS
  OLD TORS
  These ancient, craggy hills cover almost 60,000 square miles of 
  northwestern Foere beyond the Elderwood. Some scholars believe these 
  were the oldest mountains of all Akados (save perhaps the Lost Mountains 
  of the far north), now weathered down over countless eons. The overking 
  claims this land, with the northern and western edge of the hill country 
  constituting the border of his kingdom with the Duchy of Waymarch.
  A few enclaves of halﬂ ings make their homes in these hills. Some of 
  their elders insist that their folk have lived here since time immemorial 
  and suggest that this may in fact be the original homeland of the halﬂ ings 
  in the Lost Lands.
  While Foere patrols do keep watch along the margins of the hills and 
  make occasional forays to ensure no other realm claims this land, much 
  of the hill country is wild and populated by orcs, hippogriffs, and batfolk.
  Somewhere in the Old Tors is the Hill of Mornay, on which the 
  notorious Black Brotherhood built their monastery in 3272 I.R. As is 
  now well-known, the Black Brotherhood served dark powers and sought 
  to assassinate the overking of Foere. In 3314 I.R., Overking Osment sent 
  an army to besiege the Black Monastery. Many perished in the attempt 
  and at the end the monastery disappeared in a massive conﬂ agration. 
  Three years later, Torwatch Keep was built to keep watch on the Hill 
  of Mornay to ensure that the brotherhood never returns. In recent 
  years, however, at least ﬁ ve incidents have occurred in which witnesses 
  reported ﬁ nding the Hill of Mornay once again crowned with black 
  walls and slate-roofed towers. In every case, the manifestation of this 
  revenant of the Black Monastery has been accompanied by widespread 
  reports of madness, crime, and social unrest.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE BLACK MONASTERY
  OLD TORS ROAD
  OLD TORS ROAD
  This road runs from its juncture at the North Kingdom Road west 
  to Torwatch Keep. Long ago, this was part of a longer road that ran as 
  far as Nains in the south. This route eventually fell into disfavor, and 
  beyond Torwatch Keep, only a rough track and occasional cobbles now 
  mark the way between the Old Tors and the Elderwood. Today, most of 
  the trafﬁ c on the Old Tors Road is heading to or from Torwatch Keep, 
  though some merchants do travel this way to reach small logging towns 
  in the forest’s eaves.
  SAYMERE VALLEY
  SAYMERE VALLEY
  This serene valley lies between the Old Tors and the Elderwood in 
  the northern extent of the County of Barresque, a small county of the 
  Kingdom of Foere. Long ago, this area was part of a barony held by 
  the Loga family, which controlled a road through the valley between 
  the city of Nains in Foere to the south and Panetoth in the Duchy of 
  Waymarch to the north. Eventually, the road was abandoned, the Loga 
  family lost inﬂ uence, and the valley was annexed by the County of 
  Barresque. The old Loga manse remains in the valley, along with a 
  covered bridge over the Upper Saymere River (which is too small to 
  appear on the continental map).
  In the past, duergar have been spotted in some force in the valley, 
  leading some to believe that there may be an entrance to the Under 
  Realms here. A paladin of Thyr, Sir Varral et-Casan the Blessed, is said 
  to have lived in this region at one time.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE COVERED BRIDGE FROM QUESTS OF DOOM 4
  SHADRACK FOREST
  SHADRACK FOREST
  Ancient, old growth forests with tall, majestic trees traditionally grant 
  a sense of awe and mystery to the viewer, triggering the imagination, 
  but Shadrack Forest breaks with that tradition. The hemlock and twisted 
  elm trees here are dotted with birch trees and, here and there, a tall 
  pine. Those trees that might be useful for loggers are tucked amid 
  thick, sometimes toxic, undergrowth and a collection of trees of no 
  real value. Shadrack Forest is merely ancient, its awe and mystery 
  replaced with darkness and foreboding. Gnolls, not elves, roam and 
  control the forest, or at least those areas not claimed by larger and more 
  dangerous creatures. Massive dire bears and packs of dire wolves roam 
  the center of the shadowy forest where few challenge their domains. 
  While claimed by Foere and ofﬁ cially part of the Barony of Baldenar, 
  the forest is considered to be of little real value. The gnoll tribes are left 
  to themselves so long as they do not make any move out of the forest.
  STAR SEA
  STAR SEA
  The Star Sea is a large freshwater lake in the center of the domains 
  of the Kingdom of Foere. It is fed by rivers issuing from the slopes of 
  the Cretian, Rampart, and Blackrock Mountains. From its northernmost 
  arm, its waters ﬂ ow past the hill of Châlaix into the Great Amrin River, 
  on the long journey east to the Amrin Estuary and the Sinnar Ocean.
  Boats of all sizes ply the waters of the Star Sea, bringing goods to and 
  from the ports on its shores, and down the Great Amrin River to the eastern 
  provinces. The Star Sea also boasts many varieties of freshwater ﬁ sh.
  With little topography surrounding it to block wind, the Star Sea is also 
  known for brutal and terrifying storms that often arise with little warning 
  in the spring and summer months (and evaporate just as swiftly). Each 
  year, some number of vessels fail to return to port after encountering these 
  infamous storms; though in some cases, boats disappear without others 
  reporting any bad weather. In any event, the bottom of the Star Sea is 
  thought to be littered with the wreckage of thousands of years of vanished 
  craft, some perhaps holding treasures long forgotten.
  WOLF HILLS
  WOLF HILLS
  The Wolf Hills southwest of Durbenford are principally rolling 
  grassland with some low brushland, but in the south become tree-covered 
  in the outskirts of the Harwood Forest. While several packs of wolves 
  
  176|
  176|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  are known to occupy the area, a strange stone outcropping that looks 
  very much like the head of a howling wolf rising from one of the hills 
  closest to Fornal gives this range of low hills its name. While claimed 
  by the Duchy of Mains and home to the towns of Carson’s Mill and 
  Fornal, the hills remain dangerous and travelers must be vigilant. Ettins, 
  hill giants, and several tribes of goblins are known to hunt the area, and 
  creatures from the darker portions of nearby Harwood Forest are always 
  a danger. Sole prospectors and small groups of adventurers claim to 
  have found gemstones in these hills but without better protection from 
  the creatures here it has proven too dangerous to try to establish any 
  mines. Prospectors from Fornal do make regular forays into the hills, 
  but with limited success.
  KINGDOM OF THE NORTH HEATH
  KINGDOM OF THE NORTH HEATH
  Capital: Bret Harth 
  Notable Settlements: Broten, Poiretre 
  Ruler: King Lytyr Reddrake
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 1,645,800 (1,180,900 Foerdewaith, 277,300 human 
  mixed ethnicity, 102,400 halﬂ ings, 37,600 half-elves, 34,200 
  high elves, 6,100 hill dwarves, 4,700 gnomes, 1,950 half-orcs, 
  650 other)
  Monstrous: goblin, hobgoblin, kobold, bugbear, hill giant, orc, 
  troll, sahuagin (coast), roc (coast), dragon (coast and regions 
  near Blackrock Mountains)
  Religion: Ceres, Darach-Albith, Dre’uain the Lame, Kamien, 
  Mick O’Delving, Mitra, Muir, Telophus, Thyr, Yenomesh
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Dwarven, Gnome
  Resources: trade hub, iron, gold, manufactured goods, ﬁ shing, 
  livestock (cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats), grain, foodstuffs, 
  breeding (horses)
  Currency: North Heath, mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Spread from the jagged coast of Norshore and Bret Harth all the 
  way across the Plains of Eauxe to Poiretre, the Kingdom of the North 
  Heath covers a broad spread of land and an even broader variety of 
  people. The coastal sailors and ﬁ sherman along the Crescent Sea have 
  a very different culture than the farmers along the Meander River 
  who are equally different from the tribal plainsmen of the Plains of 
  Eauxe. Now independent of the rule of Foere as well as the powerful 
  inﬂ uence of Reme, the Kingdom of North Heath remembers warfare 
  all too well and maintains a vigilant watch over nearby nations and 
  free states. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  History tells us that kingdoms and nations rise and fall, with new 
  nations formed from the remnants of older ones. The Kingdom of the 
  North Heath is no exception. Most of the kingdom’s territory includes 
  broad tracts of land with poor rocky soil growing little more than moss 
  and tough grasses ﬁ t for only sheep and goats to eat. Only along the 
  Meander River can good farmland be found. The mouth of that river, 
  the current location of the city of Bret Harth, has long been settled, 
  with its access to fresh water, mines along the coast, as well as good, 
  arable land for crops. No records remain of those ﬁ rst settlers, and 
  some of the foundations and ruins in and near the city predate even the 
  Hyperborean Imperium. Whatever the origin of Bret Harth may have 
  been, the modern Kingdom of the North Heath ﬁ rst came to be when 
  the sailor and privateer Captain Ayre Barbossa conquered the city to 
  provide a base for his operations. At that time, the city and surrounding 
  areas were in dire need of leadership, and the captain easily stepped in 
  to take over and proclaim himself king. 
  Several generations later, the small kingdom began to expand down the 
  Meander River and toward the plains where it met powerful resistance 
  by the Horsemen of Eauxe. The true birth of North Heath occurred when 
  King Drake Barbossa took the unusual step of challenging the chieftains 
  of the plains tribes to individual combat. He successfully defeated the 
  champions of all the tribes individually over the course of almost a 
  year. His courage and prowess in battle earned him the fealty of the 
  ﬁ erce warriors. While most of the citizens no longer recall this event 
  nearly 1,000 years gone, the tribesmen still tell the tale of Drake, and the 
  dreaded Horsemen of the Plains of Eauxe remain loyal to the throne of 
  the Kingdom of the North Heath. The royal family still sends all of their 
  children to spend a minimum of three years living among the Horsemen 
  as a sign of their loyalty to the tribes.
  Recognizing the growing power of the ﬂ edgling kingdom, the 
  ascendant Kingdom of Foere decided to add even these poor lands 
  to its principalities.  The ﬁ erce horsemen fell to Macobert’s advanced 
  tactics and weapons in 2729 I.R., and North Heath was defeated. The 
  former king of the North Heath was forced to bend the knee to Macobert 
  and receive his new title of margrave of Bret Harth. Over the ensuing 
  centuries, the Foerdewaith settled portions of the Plains of Eauxe, going 
  so far as to grant title to the lands to a marquis of Eauxe, much to the 
  anger of the plainsmen.
  When the Singed Man rose in Kear (now the Kingdom of the Vast) in 
  2970 I.R., his predations and destruction reached far into the territories 
  now claimed by North Heath. Laws against necromancy and the undead 
  here reﬂ ect the fear still raised from that dark time in history. 
  After the disappearance of the Army of Light in 3210 I.R., Foere 
  began its slow disintegration in the Foerdewaith Wars of Succession. 
  One year after Duke Oden of Kear declared his domain’s independence 
  as the Kingdom of the Vast in 3224 I.R., the margrave of Bret Harth 
  did the same, having himself crowned the newly restored king of the 
  North Heath. This began a lengthy war with Foere that eventually 
  ended in 3245 I.R. when an armistice was signed in conjunction with 
  Vast, negotiated with the help of the City-State of Castorhage. It was 
  agreed that the Plains of Eauxe would be abandoned by the villagers 
  and townsmen who had settled the region and be restored to the free 
  run of the Horsemen of Eauxe. Only Poiretre would be left as a place 
  of meeting for the tribal councils and for administration by North 
  Heath. Otherwise, the lands would become a largely depopulated buffer 
  between Bret Harth and Courghais.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Muir, Goddess of Virtue, and Thyr, God of Law and Justice, are the 
  major gods worshipped in the lands of the Kingdom of North Heath. 
  Worship of Mitra is growing lately at the expense of Muir. Other minor 
  gods are also worshipped in some locations but the major temples in 
  cities such as Bret Harth and Broten are to these gods. The Horsemen 
  of the Plains of Eauxe worship far differently; they provide no name for 
  their gods but claim to worship the land, sun, and sky. Sages argue that 
  some god must answer their prayers as clerics among the horsemen are 
  as powerful as those of any of the named gods.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Regular ﬂ ooding along the Meander River helps keep the nearby 
  farmlands fertile and productive and grow various grains, corn, and 
  cotton and support herds of sheep and goats. The broader plains are 
  home to cattle, buffalo, and wild horses tended by the tribal horsemen. 
  The heath itself stretches from Bret Harth across to Broten and down 
  toward the Plains of Eauxe. Sheep and goats raised on the heath 
  provide wool, milk, and meat but the majority of crops and food come 
  from the areas close to the Meander River. The coastal regions are 
  supported principally by ﬁ shing, though Bret Harth and Broten focus 
  on ﬁ shing and trade. Several isolated mines along Norshore and the 
  area near Bret Harth provide some gold and iron, although not enough 
  to support the full needs of the kingdom. Bret Harth and Poiretre boast 
  large numbers of extremely skilled craftsmen that take imported raw 
  materials and turn them into manufactured products recognized far and 
  wide for quality, including furniture, clothing, cookware, weapons, 
  and other items. As a result, the many trade agreements the kingdom 
  has made are the lifeblood of its cities, and the king does everything 
  possible to maintain them.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|177
  |177
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Trade agreements and treaties with the Kingdom of the Vast, the Grand 
  Duchy of Reme, the Iron Kingdom of Dorriden, and the City-State of 
  Castorhage and the armistice agreement with the Kingdom of Foere have 
  long ensured North Heath’s safety and economic well-being, though 
  some of the aspects of those treaties cause King Lytyr and his advisors 
  some concern. Although their vigilance is not entirely unwarranted, in 
  spite of its size, the Kingdom of North Heath is a relatively poor nation 
  populated by ﬁ erce and hardy people, particularly among the Horsemen 
  of Eauxe, which makes it a poor target for conquest.
  Kingdom of the Vast to the south is an ally and steady trade partner, 
  as is the City-State of Castorhage. The Kingdom of the Vast provides a 
  buffer against the Principality of Olduvar for North Heath, while North 
  Heath provides the same role against Foere and Reme for the Kingdom 
  of the Vast. The City-State of Castorhage, at this time, is happy to keep 
  these smaller kingdoms independent restraining Reme and Foere so that 
  it can focus on some of its own internal problems. Relations with Reme 
  also remain on reasonably friendly terms.
  Presently there is an uncomfortable peace with the Tycho Free 
  States after a rogue North Heath admiral seeking fame and a route 
  to power began an unsanctioned naval assault in 3511 I.R. Poorly 
  planned and carried out without knowledge or support of the navy as 
  a whole, the young admiral and his forces were defeated. In addition 
  to the loss of several major ships in the embarrassing defeat, the 
  Kingdom of the North Heath was left in an unfavorable position 
  regarding trade and diplomacy while trying to rebuild and strengthen 
  its navy, a necessity to protect its trade in the often-dangerous waters 
  of the Crescent Sea.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The Kingdom of the North Heath is a hereditary monarchy presently 
  ruled by King Lytyr Reddrake. The Reddrake family came to power in 
  3403 I.R. when King Aylyr Reddrake (Barbossa), who had taken the 
  family name of his Eauxe wife, succeeded to the throne after his cousin, 
  the king, and his family were lost at sea. While over the centuries the 
  royal succession of North Heath has been plagued with difﬁ culties 
  from time to time, King Lytyr took the throne without dissension. He 
  maintains a strong set of advisors who represent the interests of all major 
  craft and trade groups as well as the nobility. He also maintains a close 
  connection to the horsemen. As a general rule, King Lytyr has been able 
  to keep the nobility happy, the crafting and merchant guilds satisﬁ ed, 
  and makes clear his support of the farmers, ranchers, and horsemen of 
  his kingdom. He is known to venture throughout the kingdom to visit 
  farms along the Meander River or goat herders on the heath simply to 
  ensure that things are going well for his people. King Lytyr has two 
  brothers, Joural, who is older and abdicated his position as heir in order 
  to serve as a cleric of Muir, and Brance, who serves in the kingdom’s 
  navy. Lytessa, a much younger sister, resides among the riders where 
  she now intends to stay. The king’s main residence is in Bret Harth but 
  he spends one month per year in Poiretre and several weeks in Broten as 
  well as additional time with the horsemen. 
  A court system is in place with a high court that adjudicates crimes 
  of the nobility as well as civil disagreements between merchants and 
  families, and a low court that handles all other crimes. Ofﬁ cially, laws 
  are applied to the nobility and low born equally, though in practice the 
  wealthy and powerful rarely see trial. The horsemen of the Plains of 
  Eauxe have their own tribal laws and justice. Horsemen guilty of minor 
  crimes against other citizens are turned over to their tribe; only in the 
  event of murder or rape of another citizen do horsemen go to a regular 
  court, and in such cases, it is always the high court where they are 
  treated as nobility. Anyone questioning the outcome of a trial can appeal 
  to the king. King Lytyr has never overturned a court ruling, though some 
  kings in the past have favored nobles or friends. 
  The cities and communities of the heath and along the Meander 
  River have elected mayors and city councils who are sworn to serve the 
  crown and the people. The king remains focused on the kingdom as a 
  whole, particularly in maintaining its navy, and leaves the day-to-day 
  operations of Bret Harth to the city council and mayor. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The military consists of three parts: the Navy, which commands all 
  the ships of war and the ports at Bret Harth and Broten; the General 
  Militia, including all regular troops and traditional cavalry of the 
  kingdom; and the Horsemen of Eauxe, who form their own specialized 
  horseback units. Marines trained in sea and land combat are part of 
  the navy and serve on ships and in some of the harbors. In defense of 
  the kingdom, the Horsemen of Eauxe are led by a horseman who has 
  received additional training and education in modern tactics as well 
  as ways to better incorporate their strengths with that of the general 
  militia and cavalry. Since the time of the Singed Man, North Heath has 
  maintained a strong and steady training regimen for its regular troops 
  and its ofﬁ cers. All ofﬁ cers must pass stringent physical tests before 
  assuming their ﬁ rst command.
  The military is led as a whole by a council chaired by the king that 
  consists of two senior admirals, a general from the army, a general from 
  the cavalry, and the senior horsemen in charge of the Horsemen of Eauxe. 
  The council decides where troops and ships are to be stationed as well as 
  the movement and rotation of troops during peacetime, and, of course, 
  oversees mobilization of the military as a whole in the event of an attack.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Coastal threats include all of the dangers of the Crescent Sea, 
  including piracy, storms, and certain beasts from the depths. While 
  some military leaders fear attack from Foere or Reme, both of 
  these nations have their own concerns. Reme, in particular, has 
  little interest in seizing lands with so little to likely gain. Near 
  the coast and in the area of the Blackrock Mountains, dragons 
  sometimes attack settled areas or ships. Strange forms of undead, 
  likely somehow left behind during numerous battles throughout 
  parts of the kingdom, are found in some areas, though they are 
  usually quickly eliminated.
  BRET HARTH, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  BRET HARTH, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Rulers: Mayor Lady Brianna Hearthtracker
  Government: democracy (sworn to the monarchy)
  Population: 42,670 (27,345 Foerdewaith, 9,350 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 2,670 halﬂ ing, 1,290 hill dwarf, 815 high elf, 670 
  gnome, 320 half-elf, 120 half-orc, 90 other)
  Languages: Common, Elven, Gnome, Dwarven, Halﬂ ing
  Religion: Mitra, Thyr
  Resources: ﬁ shing, foodstuffs, gold, grain, iron, manufactured 
  goods, trade hub
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Standing on low cliffs near the ocean, Bret Harth looks over rows of 
  piers and docks that can accommodate ships and boats of all sizes. One 
  of the largest and safest ports along the eastern shore of the Crescent 
  Sea, Bret Harth keeps its tariffs and docking fees lower than the other 
  large cities to attract a steady trafﬁ c of merchant vessels. It is also the 
  safest harbor for ﬁ shermen working the dangerous sea along Norshore. 
  These factors combine with a wide variety of skilled craftsmen creating 
  trade goods to ensure that Bret Harth remains a bustling city. As the 
  capital city of the Kingdom of the North Heath, Bret Harth also hosts 
  ambassadors of several nearby nations as well as the ofﬁ ces of a number 
  of merchant companies.
  Like most large cities, Bret Harth has distinct areas and 
  neighborhoods. The docks and all of the buildings near the water at 
  the foot of the cliffs are known as Oceanside and possess a series of 
  stone towers looking out over the piers and the ocean. These towers 
  hold troops and siege weapons tasked with protecting the city from 
  any naval attack. The largest tower near the center of the docks also 
  contains a barracks for naval sailors on shore leave. Ships of the navy 
  dock at the central piers closest to this tower. Northern piers are larger 
  and are close to the larger warehouses and are generally reserved for 
  merchants and trading vessels. The southern docks provide spots for 
  ﬁ shing vessels.
  
  178|
  178|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  Roads climb from Oceanside past stone warehouses, inns, and other 
  buildings to reach the main city on the cliffs above. The city center 
  closest to the docks is known to residents as Center Harth and hosts 
  a variety of stores, markets, and craftsmen. Sturdy stone buildings of 
  Center Harth frame a number of open squares that contain wide gardens 
  and provide space for open air markets. Ancient foundations here and 
  deep catacombs beneath them predate any written history of the area. 
  Several of the buildings are equally old and made of carefully ﬁ tted 
  stone that has withstood millennia of harsh weather.
  North of Central Harth is the Quiet District, which consists of ornate 
  homes and gardens along the cliffs with views of the sea. The nobility 
  as well as foreign ambassadors and wealthy merchants and landowners 
  make their homes here. Roads stretch south from Center Harth along 
  solid stone buildings that squat along the cliff line to form the Loud 
  District, home to simple laborers as well as the stores and shops of 
  craftsmen. To the interior of all these districts are the varied buildings 
  of Heathhome, one of the largest districts but generally relegated to the 
  poorer laborers and tradesmen. Buildings here are more sheltered from 
  the coastal storms, so wood structures and wattle-and-daub buildings 
  are mixed with older stone structures. 
  The present mayor of Bret Harth is Lady Briana Hearthtracker, 
  an aging noblewoman with extensive interests throughout the city. 
  Elections are held every ﬁ ve years but only property owners are allowed 
  to vote. The mayor works closely with advisors to the king to ensure 
  that the city is working smoothly with the military and the navy. Elected 
  mayors must accept their role while making an oath of allegiance to the 
  king in a public ceremony.
  BROTEN, CITY OF
  BROTEN, CITY OF
  Rulers: Mayor Lithan Whalesong
  Government: Democracy (sworn to the Monarchy)
  Population: 36,090 (25,305 Foerdewaith, 5,250 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 2,120 halﬂ ing, 1,310 hill dwarf, 835 gnome, 760 high 
  elf, 205 half-elf, 185 half-orc, 120 other)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Dwarven, Gnome, Elven
  Religion: Muir, Thyr
  Resources: ﬁ shing, foodstuffs, livestock (sheep, goats), trade hub
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Climbing from a low, rocky shoreline, Broten meets one of the main 
  trade routes heading east toward the Kingdom of Foere and is the main 
  reason, and possibly the only reason, that Foere spent the time and 
  energy to conquer the Kingdom of the North Heath so many centuries 
  ago. Like Bret Harth, tariffs and docking fees are kept low here to 
  help encourage trade. Some of the great merchant houses of the Grand 
  Duchy of Reme do not like the amount of trade Broten syphons away 
  from them, but the grand dukes have long valued the buffer that North 
  Heath serves between them and the central Kingdom of Foere, which 
  leaves the merchant houses with no choice but to grudgingly accept the 
  status quo.
  The protected conﬁ nes of Rimeth Sound and the natural depth of 
  the water make Broten an ideal place to dock and unload large ships. 
  Mayor Lithan Whalesong directed the building of sturdy, well-protected 
  docks and carefully positioned warehouses to help increase the use of 
  the docks and to build trafﬁ c through the city. Most of the buildings here 
  are built of stone, with some heavy logs used as frames and support. The 
  docks are protected by large stone towers armed with a variety of siege 
  engines, and chains carefully positioned across the harbor entryway can 
  be raised in the event of an attack.
  Lithan Whalesong is the elected mayor of the city and takes care of 
  all normal city activities and planning. Elections are held every ﬁ ve 
  years with only property owners and noblemen with business interests 
  being allowed to vote. A substantial militia outpost here is largely 
  maintained to remind the Kingdom of Foere and the Grand Duchy of 
  Reme that North Heath values its independence. General Cruen the 
  Tall is in charge of all militia activities, while the city guard remains 
  under Lithan’s control. Admiral Tareek Darkbreeze is in charge of naval 
  and marine forces in the area but defers to General Cruen for activities 
  within the harbor itself.
  While ﬁ shing and trade with sheep and goat ranchers of the heath are 
  major industries here, Broten’s key to survival is trade and all of the 
  money it brings through the town. As such, it caters to visiting merchants 
  and sailors, providing as many amenities as possible, including ﬁ ne 
  food, drinks, and suitably comfortable inns.
  POIRETRE, CITY OF
  POIRETRE, CITY OF
  Rulers: Mayor Pog Waveheart, Chieftess Lythara Ghostdrake
  Government: Democracy/Tribal
  Population: 27,030 (13,030 human mixed ethnicity, 10,325 
  Foerdewaith, 2,085 halﬂ ing, 625 hill dwarf, 470 high elf, 215 
  gnome, 195 half-elf, 85 other)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Dwarven, Gnome
  Religion: Mitra, Solanus, Horseman Faith
  Resources: foodstuffs, livestock (cattle, horses), breeding 
  (horses), trade hub
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Poiretre was always a major meeting place for the tribal horsemen 
  of the Plains of Eauxe, but with the armistice with Foere limiting the 
  size of settlements permitted on the plains, Poiretre has grown into the 
  sole meeting hall of the tribesmen as well as a key center of trade at 
  the intersection of several major trade routes. Most of the buildings are 
  constructed of wood, with some of clay brick and a scattering of wattle-
  and-daub structures. Protective walls around the city are made of heavy 
  stone and boast series of well-protected iron gates that, when opened, can 
  allow hundreds of horsemen to pass in or out of the city at a time. Wide 
  streets allow horsemen to ride through without causing any congestion. 
  Although a signiﬁ cant militia presence is located here and the city walls 
  are very sturdy, the best protection lies in the horsemen who consider 
  this their special grounds. Any attack on the city would be met with a 
  counterattack by skilled, fearsome horsemen likely numbering in the 
  hundreds of thousands.
  Trade caravans pass through Poiretre almost continuously and often 
  stop and unload some goods while loading up others for wherever 
  their destination may be. The horsemen bring horses and cattle for 
  trade and sale. Horses of the plains are much sought after as they are 
  stronger and have greater endurance than most other breeds. Cattle 
  sold here are considered to be of the highest quality. Inns, taverns, and 
  a variety of other establishments here cater to traveling merchants and 
  the tribal plainsmen.
  There are two rulers here: Mayor Pog Waveheart, who was elected 
  by the property owners and merchants of the city, and Chieftess Lythara 
  Ghostdrake, who was chosen by the plains’ tribes to represent their 
  interests. All standard city business is conducted by the mayor while 
  Chieftess Lythara decides all matters involving horsemen. Tribal 
  meetings are held here regularly, with different tribes coming to trade, 
  or argue, with others throughout the year. A greater meeting including 
  representatives of all tribes (usually tribal leaders and all unmarried 
  adults) occurs every two years on the Winter Solstice. At those times, 
  tents stretch away from the city walls for miles, and the city becomes so 
  crowded that even the horsemen choose to walk the streets rather than 
  try to ride through. Centuries ago, this meeting was marked with duels 
  and blood battles. Now, though there will still be a number of ﬁ ghts, and 
  gambling to go with them, the meeting is mainly a time for tribesmen 
  to meet others from other tribes. It is best described as a ﬁ ve-day long 
  drunken party punctuated with dancing and orgies. Those not of the 
  plains who try to participate are dissuaded, usually violently. 
  HORSEMEN OF EAUXE
  HORSEMEN OF EAUXE
  The Horsemen of Eauxe roam the plains in individual tribes, tending 
  to their horse and cattle while collecting certain fruits and roots as they 
  travel. Simple but ﬁ erce, the horsemen are all trained as warriors from 
  the age they can walk, following traditions created thousands of years 
  ago. Religion here is simple and involves the worship of the land and 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|179
  |179
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  the sun, although they give no name to their “gods” other than “life 
  and love.” They have no temples or speciﬁ c rites, but their religious 
  leaders easily match the powers of some of the highest clerics of the 
  named gods, so some power must indeed answer their prayers. Contrary 
  to rumors, the horsemen accept and respect magic and support wizards 
  of their tribes. They also treat and care for their wounded, crippled, and 
  aged. Those who can no longer keep up with the tribe are left at an oasis 
  or are settled in Poiretre where any tribes passing through check on 
  them and provide help as needed.
  Among the tribes of the plains, women hold authority, and control 
  all the major decisions of a tribe, as well as most of its wealth. When a 
  man marries a woman of the plains, he must take her name and move 
  to her tribe. Any wealth he might have becomes hers and is shared with 
  her tribe. Outsiders can join or marry into a tribe so long as they follow 
  all the traditions of the horsemen. Those who live here for more than a 
  few years tend to develop the same deep connection to the land that the 
  plainsmen possess.
  Thousands of years of warfare between tribes turned the Horsemen 
  of the Plains of Eauxe into a greatly feared force that, to the great 
  fortune of kingdoms nearby, never left the plains for more than raids or 
  skirmishes. The plainsmen have a mystical bond to the land here, one 
  that often makes them uncomfortable when leaving it. It is even said 
  that, in ages past, plainsmen would get sick and eventually die if they 
  remained away from the plains for more than a few weeks. Rumors 
  about a great leader who could separate them from the land came true 
  in the form of King Drake Barbossa, who, in an effort to expand the 
  Kingdom of the North Heath, decided to conquer the plains. Initially, 
  he was met with several bruising defeats through which he came 
  to respect the strength and ferocity of the plainsmen. Learning that 
  sometimes tribes avoided war through challenges of single combat, he 
  put his size, strength, and skill as a master swordsman and warrior to 
  the test through challenges to the champions of the individual tribes. 
  When he defeated the ﬁ nal champion, a meeting of all the tribes was 
  convened during which King Drake Barbossa was titled “Great Chief” 
  and the tribes all swore their allegiance. 
  After the ceremony, the tribal leaders informed him that he had 
  changed their bond to the land, and that the Horsemen of the Plains 
  of Eauxe were now free to leave and conquer at his command. 
  Temptation to expand his kingdom did weigh on him, but in the 
  end, he told them that there could be no more beautiful land than 
  the Plains of Eauxe, and that there was no reason for them to leave 
  but rather he hoped they could live in peace with the rest of his 
  people and work together for a stronger kingdom. Since that time, 
  all children of the royal family are expected to spend at least three 
  years living among the plainsmen to learn their ways and also to 
  understand the mystical bond to the land. Over the centuries, some 
  of the royal family have chosen to stay with the plainsmen, marrying 
  into a tribe or simply remaining with one. The royal line is now 
  mixed with that of the plainsmen, further cementing the loyalty that 
  began when Drake Barbossa respected their traditions.
  Leaders of war parties now receive training in modern military tactics 
  and techniques, which makes them an even more dangerous ﬁ ghting 
  force capable of exploiting the weaknesses in others and enhancing their 
  own strengths. Wizards are encouraged to receive formal training before 
  returning to help their tribes. Religious leaders sometimes meet with 
  clerics of other gods, but they maintain their own traditions regarding 
  passage of knowledge and power of the land to future leaders. In short, 
  the Plainsmen of Eauxe are now a powerful threat to any nearby nation 
  kept in check by one simple fact: They have no desire to leave the plains 
  and see no reason to do so.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN 
  THE KINGDOM OF THE NORTH HEATH
  THE KINGDOM OF THE NORTH HEATH
  THE BRINE HEATH
  THE BRINE HEATH
  This great, poisoned salt swamp spoils the coast south of Norshore 
  in the southwestern region of the Kingdom of the North Heath. The 
  oily, briny waters are inimical to life, yet still some plants and creatures 
  struggle to eke out an existence. Some giants and several types of dragons 
  and drakes have been sighted here, and the ruins of the early Hyperborean 
  city of Almanass stand in the northern reaches of the swamp.
  MEANDER RIVER
  MEANDER RIVER
  Winding its way through plains and heath, Meander River runs a 
  twisting course from the Blackrock Mountains to the Crescent Sea. 
  Springtime ﬂ ooding helps maintain a rich soil while the river itself 
  provides water for farming. The river plain extends for several miles in 
  each direction from the river, and most of it is actively farmed. Tilled 
  farmland extends as far from the river as possible, eventually hitting the 
  rocky soil of the heath to the west or the thick grasses of the Plains of 
  Eauxe to the northeast. The river itself provides a home to a variety of 
  freshwater ﬁ sh, predominantly large river trout, and, strangely, a large 
  number of turtles, from small box turtles to large snapping turtles and 
  even dragon turtles. While the spring ﬂ oods bring rushing, dangerous 
  waters, the rest of the year the river moves slowly, living up to its name.
  The farmers here are a solid, easygoing folk, well in touch with the 
  river and its “moods.” While many of the ﬁ elds begin almost at the 
  water’s edge, the farmhouses themselves are usually far away from the 
  ﬂ ood zone, often not even visible from the river shore itself. Farmers 
  along the river raise corn, rice, wheat, and a number of vegetables as 
  well as a signiﬁ cant amount of cotton.
  While their ﬁ elds grow, Meander farmers ﬁ sh the river in ﬂ at-bottom 
  boats, careful to avoid known territories of some of the larger and more 
  dangerous river denizens. Fall harvest is transported by barge either to the 
  trade route near the Blackrock Mountains or toward the sea to Bret Harth.
  The Plainsmen of Eauxe are happy to allow farming along the parts of 
  the river that pass through their plains so long as the farmers share part 
  of their harvest in fair trade and provide clear paths to the river’s edge 
  to feed cattle and horses as tribes pass through. Equally, the farmers in 
  these areas are glad to trade with the plainsmen as their simple presence 
  provides additional safety.
  NORSHORE
  NORSHORE
  The inhospitable shoreline of the Kingdom of the North Heath is 
  marked on maps as Norshore but sailors familiar with the area have 
  other, far-less-kind names. Cliffs and jagged rocks provide no safe 
  harbor for ships, and the wisest sailors know that even coming near the 
  shore here is hazardous. The mountain range of the island of Lymossus 
  (home of the City-State of Castorhage) to the southwest actually 
  extends northward toward Norshore, but those mountains don’t rise far 
  enough from the ocean bottom to break the surface of the Crescent Sea. 
  Alas, a number of those jagged peaks come close enough to the surface 
  to damage the hull of a ship, particularly during large storms with 
  signiﬁ cant swells. The underwater mountain range creates a variable 
  depth in the area near Norshore with some peaks only a few feet below 
  the surface and deep valleys extending thousands of feet down. As a 
  result of differing depths, a wide variety of ocean-going creatures call 
  the area home.
  Captains of the ﬁ shing boats that work the waters off the coast of 
  Norshore know the area, and its risks, well. The rich ﬁ shing makes the 
  hazards worthwhile, but nobody chances sailing close to the coast in 
  stormy seas. Pods of killer whales and other creatures hunt here as well, 
  but only rarely harass boats. 
  
  180|
  180|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  PLAINS OF EAUXE
  PLAINS OF EAUXE
  Thick grasslands extend from an area west of the Meander River 
  to the east beyond Poiretre and north toward Broten. These rolling 
  grasslands may look ﬂ at from a distance, but the tall grasses conceal 
  numerous small hills and valleys, many large enough to conceal a 
  number of cattle or horses or armed tribesmen. Thick, lush grasses 
  here support a wide variety of life, all of which is put to use by the 
  roaming tribes of plainsmen. The only real hazard to travel here is 
  those riders, and if they see ﬁ t to let travelers pass, there are almost 
  no other dangers to be seen. Any creatures that could pose a threat 
  are taken care of by the wandering tribes. Larger threats merely cause 
  tribes to band together, and even dragons typically do little more than 
  snatch a single isolated horse or animal before being set upon by the 
  ﬁ erce plainsmen.
  Oases dot the fertile land, some fed by underground springs, others 
  simply consisting of rock-enclosed pools of seasonal rainwater. 
  Over thousands of years of roaming, the tribes of riders have slowly 
  transformed these oases until almost all of the trees and bushes growing 
  near these pools of water are fruit bearing. No tribe passing takes all of 
  the fruits or wild vegetables; they simply acquire what they need and 
  leave the rest for other tribes.
  RIMETH SOUND
  RIMETH SOUND
  As one moves inland along Rimeth Sound, the shores to the sides 
  of the inlet slowly lower from high cliffs to a more approachable 
  rocky shore. The bay itself is quite deep and supports a variety of 
  ﬁ sh, several types of seals, and a number of whales. Merchant ships, 
  ﬁ shing boats, and naval vessels belonging to the Kingdom of the 
  North Heath are common sights here. In the past, these have been 
  contested waters with merchant ships from the Grand Duchy of 
  Reme and pirates interfering with some of the trafﬁ c. Lately this has 
  not been a problem, but the Kingdom of the North Heath keeps a 
  close eye on the sea lanes here.
  KINGDOM OF THE VAST
  KINGDOM OF THE VAST
  Capital: Eber 
  Notable Settlements: Cailin Lee (fortress), Seilo Ford, Streeth 
  Ferry, Tourne 
  Ruler: King Jior Vast 
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 935,460 (600,200 Foerdewaith, 197,240 human 
  mixed ethnicity, 79,800 halﬂ ing, 22,850 half-elf, 18,900 high 
  elf, 9,350 hill dwarf, 7,120 gnome, 600 half-orc, 300 other)
  Monstrous: giants, orcs, goblins, trolls, wyverns, dragons, 
  occasional undead
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Dwarven, Gnome
  Religion: Mitra, Freya, Mithras, Mick O’Delving, Stryme, Thyr, 
  Muir, Dwerfater, Telophus, Ceres, Yenomesh
  Resources: manufactured goods, grain, foodstuffs, spices, 
  spirits (wine, brandy), livestock (cattle, sheep, goats), ironwork
  Currency: Vast 
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Stretching from the fortress of Cailin Lee at the southern border 
  past Seilo Ford to the north and wedged between the Blackrock 
  Mountains to the east and the lands around the Worntooth Peaks and 
  the Crescent Sea to the west, the Kingdom of the Vast — sometimes 
  also referred to as Kingdom of Vast — is a lightly-populated 
  nation with good farmland and reasonably productive mines in the 
  Worntooth Peaks and the western Blackrock Mountains. Now mainly 
  known for its skilled artisans, the Kingdom of the Vast and its people 
  remain haunted by memories of a time just 400 years ago when the 
  realm was overrun with the undead minions of the vampire-lord that 
  had enslaved their lands.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Thousands of years ago, an ancient people known now to scholars as 
  simply “the Vast” lived in these lands, and left behind intricate, abstract 
  stone sculptures dotting the landscape that range from ﬁ ve to 15 feet 
  in size, and which, despite the passing of ages, seem even today to be 
  newly carved, untouched by time or attempts at destruction. Nothing of 
  this forgotten culture remains other than these sculptures, no hint of how 
  they were made, or what magic was used to preserve them for so long. 
  Those living here now claim to be descendants of the Vast, though the 
  truth of this remains uncertain.
  In the days of the height of the power of the Kingdom of Foere, 
  these lands were the Duchy of Kear, held in fealty to the overking. 
  When the overking gathered the Second Great Crusade to retake the 
  Sacred Table in Libynos from the Huun, a vampire-lord known as 
  the Singed Man arose and took advantage of the absence of so many 
  warriors taking part in the crusade to conquer Kear. He named himself 
  its Infernal Tyrant in 2970 I.R. King Prudus II of Castorhage, who 
  was traveling through Kear at the time, was captured by the vampire’s 
  forces and slain. But until the crusaders returned, there was little 
  that could be done to dislodge the Singed Man and his undead army. 
  Finally, six years after the Sacred Table was retaken, the overking 
  charged Battle-Duke Ormand of the Rampart with freeing Kear from 
  the Singed Man. In 2977 I.R., the Battle-Duke’s forces met those of 
  the vampire lord in battle. Taken by surprise by undead rising from 
  the banks of the Meander, Ormand and his Foerdewaith army were 
  crushed by the Infernal Tyrant at the Battle of Seilo Ford. Worse, 
  the battle-duke himself was slain and turned into a vampire spawn, 
  becoming the servant and general of the Singed Man. For more than 
  150 years, the vampire-lord and his servant terrorized the lands of 
  Kear. The exhausted forces of Foerdewaith and Castorhage could do 
  little but watch.
  The reign of the Infernal Tyrant ﬁ nally ended in 3128 I.R. when 
  Sir Varral the Blessed slew the Singed Man and Ormand. Foere 
  reclaimed the Duchy of Kear, and a nephew of the overking was 
  appointed duke in Eber. However, Castorhage seized the port of 
  Tarry as recompense for the loss of their king. Foere decided not 
  to challenge this annexation, and Tarry remained a Castorhagi 
  dependency ever since, leaving the Kingdom of the Vast without a 
  port on the Crescent Sea.
  Fealty to Foere did not last long, however. The Foerdewaith Wars 
  of Succession began in 3213 I.R., and Duke Oden of Kear declared 
  independence from Courghais in 3224 I.R., renaming the duchy the 
  Kingdom of the Vast. By the next year, the Kingdom of the North 
  Heath had also declared its independence, and both nations began their 
  battle for freedom from Foere’s rule. Years of battles and skirmishes 
  came to an end with the signing of an armistice between Foere, Vast, 
  and North Heath in 3245 I.R., negotiated with the help of the City-
  State of Castorhage.
  In an attempt to separate themselves further from Foere and 
  Kear’s troubled past, the new royal family changed its surname 
  to Vast and made a concerted effort to connect themselves and 
  their people to the Vast of old. In truth, these efforts were made in 
  large part to help the people forget the years of brutality under the 
  Singed Man and the years of war with Foere and to usher in a new 
  era of confidence and growth. Recently, these efforts seem to have 
  had some success, and the population of the kingdom is finally 
  starting to grow again, though it is nowhere near what it was before 
  the reign of the Infernal Tyrant. But even now, the predations and 
  destruction brought by the Singed Man are not discussed in Vast, 
  at least not in public.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Eber is home to a temple and large university constructed by the 
  monks of Yenomesh, while other temples throughout the realm are 
  dedicated to various good or neutrally-aligned gods. Almost all of 
  the active temples in Vast were constructed after the brutal reign 
  of the Singed Man, during which most temples were desecrated 
  and destroyed.
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The soils of the lands of Vast produce a variety of crops and other 
  foodstuffs which, given the kingdom’s relatively low population, 
  results in a good surplus for sale to other nations. While its mines in 
  the Worntooths and Blackrocks may not be extensive, there are enough 
  gem, iron, silver, and gold mines to support steady industries. Artisans 
  and craftsmen in the cities take these raw materials and manufacture 
  ﬁ nished products that are traded or sent by caravan to the kingdom’s 
  bordering nations. All such trade must pass through one its neighbors, 
  however, as Vast lacks a port on the Crescent Sea ever since Castorhage 
  annexed Tarry following the defeat of the Infernal Tyrant. While the king 
  of the Vast would like to establish a new port, the only possible location 
  on the coast north of the Worntooths would undoubtedly provoke the 
  wrath of the Blighters. As a result, no moves toward settling such a port 
  have yet been made.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The Kingdom of the Vast remains largely free of outside inﬂ uence due 
  to a combination of wise treaty choices, natural terrain, and the fact that 
  their most hostile neighbor, the Principality of Olduvar, is for the most 
  part badly managed and under constantly changing leadership. Periodic 
  skirmishes occur on the border with Olduvar, but the defenses of Cailin 
  Lee and Eber have been more than sufﬁ cient to protect the homeland. 
  Right now, it is unlikely Olduvar will mount a major attack any time 
  soon, but Vast remains prepared. The City-State of Castorhage pays 
  close attention to the politics and policies of Vast because its main trade 
  port, Tarry, is completely surrounded by lands claimed by the Kingdom 
  of the Vast. A close, friendly relationship beneﬁ ts Castorhage, as it can 
  then focus on its own internal problems without being concerned about 
  the safety of Tarry.
  King Jior Vast maintains healthy and positive trade and political 
  agreements with Castorhage, the Iron Kingdom of Dorriden, the Barony 
  of Baile and the Kingdom of the North Heath. It has cautious, but fair, 
  trade agreements with the Kingdom of Foere. No trade or political 
  agreements exist with the Principality of Olduvar, however, as the 
  leadership of that country is not trusted. Most citizens of Vast consider 
  the leaders of Olduvar to be insane and beyond understanding.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  While known to be egotistical and self-serving, King Jior Vast’s 
  rule is marked by his ability to follow the good advice of his wise 
  and experienced counselors and advisors. He maintains complete 
  control over appointments to various positions of power throughout 
  his kingdom but does his best to choose well-qualiﬁ ed individuals to 
  govern his cities and villages. Military decisions are left predominantly 
  to his top military counselors and generals. Minor government ofﬁ cials 
  and ofﬁ ces are generally ﬁ lled with nobles or wealthy merchants who 
  support the crown.
  The court system is complex partly due to old traditions and, in part, 
  because it beneﬁ ts the wealthier nobility and landowners. The courts 
  are split into Low Court, Courtesy Court, High Court, and Lion’s Court. 
  Low Courts handle criminal proceedings against anyone not considered 
  to be of noble birth. Courtesy Courts handle ﬁ nancial or civil disputes of 
  all types, but generally it costs money to ﬁ le a grievance in the Courtesy 
  Court, which usually reserves its use to the wealthy. Poor citizens who 
  believe they have a case can appeal to certain legal representatives in 
  the hopes that those barristers will pay the costs of ﬁ ling a Courtesy 
  Court case with the plans of recouping their costs and expenses in a ﬁ nal 
  settlement, though this is extremely rare and when it does occur, there 
  is often a different sponsor in the background trying to inconvenience a 
  rival. High Courts decide criminal complaints against nobility while the 
  Lion’s Court decides criminal complaints against the military and any 
  accusations of treason against the crown. All decisions can be appealed 
  to the king, who has been known to grant clemency to some nobility and 
  certain friends.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  When Duke Oden of Kear declared independence from Foere, he 
  beneﬁ ted from the Foerdewaith custom of a well-ordered military. 
  To this day, the soldiers of the Vast maintain strong traditions with 
  intensive training and education, and are very well-organized. While 
  there are some political disputes within the military ranks at times, 
  generals have a great deal of power and inﬂ uence throughout the 
  kingdom, arising from their uniform competence as well as King Jior 
  Vast’s preference to allow the generals complete latitude in running 
  the military as they choose. Vast is land-locked and has no navy, but 
  its infantry and mounted knights are said to be among the ﬁ nest in the 
  Lost Lands.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Vast is under constant threat of attack by the Principality of Olduvar 
  and is highly vigilant in that direction. A threat not often recognized is 
  that posed by Castorhage, which controls the only port on the Crescent 
  Sea available to the Vasters. Fortunately, the Blighters tend to be highly 
  focused on their own intrigues and show little interest in interfering with 
  Vast. But were their commercial interests to diverge for some reason, the 
  city-state could inﬂ ict a great deal of pain on the kingdom. Occasional 
  incursions of humanoids and other creatures come from the Worntooths 
  and the Blackrock Mountains from time to time, though neither has 
  posed much of a threat to the central parts of the kingdom.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE
  Most of the kingdom is now relatively safe. The years of dominance 
  by the Singed Man, followed by years of warfare, actually reduced the 
  population of monstrous creatures in the region. Adventurers might 
  seek out the ancient ruins rumored to be hiding the Worntooth Peaks 
  knowing that these mountains are home to hill giants, orcs, dragons, 
  and other creatures. Some areas south of Eber close to Olduvar are 
  unpopulated and wild and act as a sort of buffer zone between the two 
  nations. Ruins of ancient temples and villages dot the area, buildings 
  and towns so thoroughly destroyed by the Singed Man that they were 
  never rebuilt. 
  EBER, CITY OF (CITY OF SPIRES, 
  EBER, CITY OF (CITY OF SPIRES, 
  SPEAR OF THE VAST) (CAPITAL)
  SPEAR OF THE VAST) (CAPITAL)
  Rulers: King Jior Vast
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 84,980 (45,040 Foerdewaith, 18,250 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 6,220 halﬂ ing; 5,720 high elf; 5,150 hill dwarf; 3,090 
  gnome; 860 half-elf; 430 half-orc, 120 orc, 100 other)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Dwarven, Gnome
  Religion: Mitra, Freya, Mithras, Mick O’Delving, Stryme, Thyr, 
  Muir, Dwerfater, Telophus, Ceres, Yenomesh
  Resources: manufactured goods, ironwork, spices, foodstuffs, 
  trade hub, banking
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Colorful towers topped by wind-blown pennants thrust up from the 
  center of the capital city of the Vast, contrasting strongly with the tall, 
  black, glassy stone city walls, quarried from the Worntooth Peaks. 
  Within those walls, Eber appears to be the happiest place in the world. 
  Visitors and travelers — not just citizens — who come to the city are 
  overcome with joy. This happiness pervades everything. The sunlight 
  seems brighter in Eber, the sky bluer, ﬂ owers smell better and are 
  always in bloom, food tastes better. Nobody can explain why this is so. 
  Some claim it has to do with the ancient Vast sculptures scattered about 
  the city, but others say it is something in the air or water, while still more 
  entertain conspiracies or some sort of evil at work, or even some sinister 
  holdover from the vampire lords that once ruled these lands. Whatever 
  the case may be, Eber is a happy place, and the happiness even remains 
  with travelers for some time after they leave.
  Strange though it may be, the sense of happiness here does not affect 
  people’s work or habits; they are just happy doing whatever it is they 
  
  182|
  182|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  are doing. Perhaps some might do their jobs even better than they would 
  otherwise, but the work still gets done, products are still made and sold, 
  the streets are still patrolled, and, yes, thefts, robberies, and other crimes 
  still occur. Several sages claim that the wide diversity in architectural 
  styles and building materials used in Eber is a side effect of the happiness 
  here, but whatever the case may be, the city contains a variety of beautiful 
  homes and buildings in every possible architectural style. Massive walled 
  mansions belonging to wealthy merchants can be surrounded by smaller 
  buildings and apartments that somehow all seem to ﬁ t together. 
  Eber has the highest concentration in the kingdom of the abstract 
  sculptures left by the long-gone Vast, spread throughout the city 
  seemingly at random. The most well-known is a bright orange monolith 
  carved in the shape of a spire standing almost 20 feet tall at the very 
  center of the city near the king’s castle. It twists toward the sky in 
  complicated spirals that most ﬁ nd difﬁ cult and even disturbing to look 
  at closely, as if the geometry is somehow wrong. It has been nicknamed 
  the “Sunsucker” which, some would say, is an example of why a seven-
  year-old prince should not be allowed to name things. Yet the name is 
  somehow apt, as the twisting spire appears to absorb the light of the 
  setting sun before then emitting it in a soft glow throughout the night. 
  As the capital of the Kingdom of the Vast, Eber is home to embassies 
  from nearby nations. Craftsmen here turn out elegant jewelry as well as 
  high fashion clothing and ornate furniture, while nearby wineries and 
  distilleries provide ﬁ ne wines and liquors for elegant dining. Trade and 
  crafts are Eber’s primary lifeblood, and the strange sense of happiness 
  that overcomes its visitors helps draw them back, contributing to the 
  growth and prosperity of a city once decimated by the brutal control of 
  the Singed Man.
  UNIVERSITY OF THE VAST
  UNIVERSITY OF THE VAST
  Monks of Yenomesh, God of Glyphs and Writing, set up a small 
  university called the University of the Vast and dedicated it to advanced 
  studies. They accept some students outside of their devotion for a hefty 
  fee but provide advisors and counsel to the king at no cost. Origins 
  of the university are somewhat clouded as nobody outside the monks 
  seems to know exactly when it was formed, how long it has been here, 
  or the extent of the renowned library within its broad stone walls.
  One thing that is known is that the monks and all their books remained 
  well-hidden throughout the years the Singed Man controlled this region, 
  only reappearing several years after his defeat.  How and where they 
  were hidden is unknown to any but the monks themselves. 
  SEILO FORD, CITY OF
  SEILO FORD, CITY OF
  Rulers: Earl Jalen Touret
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 19,562 (10,713 Foerdewaith, 5,220 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 1,322 halﬂ ing, 928 mountain dwarf, 716 high elf, 
  434 gnome, 169 half-elf, 60 other)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome
  Religion: Mitra, Freya, Mithras, Mick O’Delving, Stryme, 
  Dwerfater, Telophus, Ceres, 
  Resources: grain, foodstuffs, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle), 
  manufactured goods, trade hub
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  Seilo Ford stands at a broad ford over the southern branch of the Meander 
  River on the crossroads of the main trade routes from Tarry and the City-
  State of Castorhage to the west, to the Kingdom of the North Heath and the 
  heart of Foere to the east, and to Streeth Ferry and the rest of Vast to the 
  south. Buildings constructed of massive stone blocks squat like toads along 
  the roads coming in and out of the city and huddle over the central square. 
  More recent wood-frame buildings and wattle-and-daub structures ﬁ ll in 
  some of the spaces in between. Designers and builders of the original stone 
  buildings have long been forgotten, though some say they haunt the equally 
  ancient cisterns and aqueducts of Seilo Ford.
  Merchant caravan trafﬁ c here is steady throughout most of the year 
  and makes this small city crucial to the interests of the Kingdom of the 
  Vast. Earl Jalen Touret keeps careful control over the city and ensures 
  the trade routes are well guarded and that the various craft guilds and 
  merchant alliances pay their dues and stay in line. His active management 
  of the city causes some to bristle, but he holds his position as a direct 
  appointment from the king and ﬁ rmly believes that his actions are in the 
  best interest of his king and his country.
  While some of the buildings in the city seem extremely ancient, there 
  is little to distinguish them but age. Their design is plain, uninspired, and 
  often repeated from structure to structure. No artwork or writing left behind 
  indicates who originally built them, though the scattering of buildings and 
  the series of aqueducts beyond the city walls suggests that at one point the 
  city was far larger. Some speculate that these buildings, like the strange 
  sculptures throughout the kingdom, may have been created by the Vast, 
  though most scholars discount this theory since the wildly artistic sculptures 
  seem inconsistent with such boring and uninspiring buildings. It has also been 
  noted that none of the strange abstract sculptures found in other parts of the 
  kingdom are found within the conﬁ nes of Seilo Ford or anywhere nearby.
  Nearby farms along the branch of the Meander River heading south 
  along the trade route toward Streeth Ferry provide the city with a wide 
  variety of fruits, grains, and vegetables and nearby grazing lands provide 
  sheep, goats, and some cattle. Strict control of the guilds here by Earl 
  Touret hasn’t quashed the activity of the artisans due to the vast amount 
  of trade ﬂ owing through the city, though several guild leaders have in 
  fact penned complaints to the crown. 
  Two miles upriver on the west bank of the Meander is the battleﬁ eld 
  where the Foerdewaith forces under Battle-Duke Ormand fell to the 
  Singed Man. Only stunted grasses now grows where the battle was 
  fought, and it is said that the cries of the fallen can be heard on moonless 
  nights in the breeze over the river.
  STREETH FERRY, CITY OF
  STREETH FERRY, CITY OF
  Rulers: Lady Quereth Oden
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 28,919 (17,100 Foerdewaith, 6,100 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 2,169 halﬂ ing, 1,506 hill dwarf, 983 high elf, 723 
  gnome, 248 half-elf, 90 other)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome
  Religion: Mitra, Mithras, Mick O’Delving, Thyr, Muir, 
  Dwerfater, Telophus, Ceres, 
  Resources: grain, foodstuffs, iron and ironwork, gold, semi-
  precious gems, manufactured goods, trade hub
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Once merely a ferry station enabling travelers on the trade road to pass 
  over the southern branch of the Meander River, Streeth Ferry has grown 
  into a small city spanning both sides of the river and the massive bridge 
  that now spans the river. Built high enough to conquer spring ﬂ ood 
  waters and wide enough to allow caravans across in both directions, 
  the bridge is a marvel of engineering and design. Trade caravans and 
  wagons must pay a toll to cross the bridge, while city residents and lone 
  travelers do not. Those wishing to avoid the toll can still take a ferry 
  but, in general, the fees are almost the same. Although the bridge was 
  constructed more than 100 years ago under the king’s command, city 
  residents talk about it as if it was a recent accomplishment of their own.
  Crafting guilds are very strong here as the various woodworkers, 
  metalsmiths, smelters, leatherworkers, and textile workers have found 
  Streeth Ferry to be an excellent place to ply their trade. A road north of 
  the city leads to mines in the Blackrock Mountains that produce a modest 
  amount of iron ore, gold, and some semi-precious gemstones. Trafﬁ c on 
  the roads provide easy trade for raw materials and for the sale of goods. 
  After a few growth problems, city leaders decided to conﬁ ne all of the 
  industries that might create smoke or foul odors to the northern shore 
  where prevailing winds take the noxious fumes away from the city. 
  Tanneries, metal working, smelting, and similar crafts are kept north of 
  the river while most residences and other businesses remain to the south.
  Lady Quereth Oden, an elderly dowager, provides a gentle but ﬁ rm 
  guiding hand to this rapidly growing city in the name of her king. Her 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |183
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  love for her city and her king come through in her discussions with 
  the various trade guilds, other nobility, and city workers. Focused 
  on growing the city and its trade, she makes certain that merchants 
  and travelers of all types are made welcome. A well-loved, caring, 
  charismatic leader, Lady Oden has strong support throughout the city.
  Streeth Ferry boasts a number of the strange abstract stone sculptures 
  found in different locations around the Kingdom of the Vast. The city 
  square is built up around several such sculptures, with benches provided 
  for viewing them and a variety of street venders selling various snacks 
  and drinks nearby. Proud as the residents might be of these sculptures, 
  they are considered relatively minor when compared to others found 
  elsewhere in the kingdom.
  TOURNE, CITY OF
  TOURNE, CITY OF
  Rulers: Lady Sarina White
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 16,158 (6,397 Foerdewaith, 4,870 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 1,478 halﬂ ing, 1,397 high elf, 1,108 gnome, 532 
  mountain dwarf, 293 half-elf, 103 half-orc, 50 other)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Gnome, Dwarven
  Religion: Mitra, Freya, Mithras, Mick O’Delving, Thyr, Muir, 
  Dwerfater, Telophus, Ceres
  Resources: grain, foodstuffs, livestock (cattle, sheep), spirits 
  (wine, brandy), manufactured goods, trade
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  While the main trade route from Eber turns north from Tourne toward 
  Streeth Ferry, a second, equally wide and well-maintained road runs 
  south toward the fortress of Cailin Lee, down which provisions for the 
  garrison there are regularly sent. Tourne itself, however, is little more 
  than a stop along the way, a provisioning spot for merchant caravans 
  and military supply trains. Few craftsmen are here, and most of the area 
  is involved in farming of some type, with some vineyards farther out 
  near the base of the Blackrock Mountains. The few taverns and inns do 
  a steady business catering to the merchants and soldiers on their way to 
  someplace else.
  Positioned on a high plain not far from the foothills of the Blackrock 
  Mountains, Tourne is in one of those locations where it is either 
  uncomfortably hot or uncomfortably cold, and seldom in between. 
  When it rains, it does so for days at a time, and rather than light showers 
  it is usually subject to driving storms. Nearby farmlands and grazing 
  pastures do well enough in the mixed weather, but few merchants or 
  travelers prefer to endure it for very long.
  The buildings, and even the people themselves, are a mix of old and 
  new. Several stone homes and warehouses here are at least centuries old, 
  built from sturdy stone that must have been quarried from the distant 
  Blackrock Mountains. Other structures are newer wood-frame buildings 
  or small homes made with clay bricks. Citizens range from young 
  children to the oldest of the old. It seems that, barring accidents, people 
  living in Tourne can reach a very advanced age. Lady Sarina White does 
  her best to talk this up among the nobility and visiting merchants when 
  she can, attempting to attract more money to the region she now controls 
  in the name of the king, but her efforts are generally laughed away. Alas, 
  there is no real reason for the present number of aged in the city other 
  than a combination of luck and the fact that many of the craftsmen that 
  once lived here have since moved to Streeth Ferry where the trade and 
  proﬁ ts are better.
  One of the few interesting features of Tourne is an ancient temple in 
  the northern portion of the city. The ornate stone structure has features 
  similar to the sculptures hailing back to the Vast, but somehow seems 
  both older and younger. Enterprising clerics have tried to consecrate 
  the grounds to their own gods but have all met in failure. Covered 
  with decorations geometric and abstract in nature, it is impossible 
  to determine what god this temple was constructed for, but those 
  investigating it have sensed no evil emanations, so the temple is 
  simply left alone. It is one of the few ancient temples left intact during 
  the brutal rule of the Singed Man.
  CAILIN LEE, FORTRESS OF
  CAILIN LEE, FORTRESS OF
  Ruler: General Moorkal Redmane
  Government military
  Population: 18,793 (14,500 Foerdewaith, 1,400 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 1,280 mountain dwarf, 825 halﬂ ing, 525 high elf, 
  127 half-orc, 86 half-elf, 50 other)
  Languages: Common, Dwarven, Halﬂ ing, Elven 
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Built to address the constant — and annoying — threat posed by the 
  Principality of Olduvar, Cailin Lee is a massive, squat fortress on a 
  large hill overlooking the lands to the south. The king and his advisors 
  know that Olduvar is a constant threat and ensure that the fortress is 
  well maintained and provided with the most modern of armaments and 
  training. The City-State of Castorhage prefers a free and independent 
  Kingdom of the Vast next door to them over any other conquering 
  country and, to that end, provides Cailin Lee with the siege engines and 
  protection it needs to ensure its success.
  Dwarves of the Iron Kingdom of Dorriden constructed the walls and 
  buildings of the entire fortress several centuries ago and added to the few 
  structures that were already here. Now expanded to encompass wells, 
  ﬁ eld lands, and even grazing areas, the fortress covers an area the size of 
  many small cities. The tall, crenellated walls and towers provide a wide 
  view of the surrounding area and are patrolled and monitored by trained 
  militia. Both the towers and the walls have shielded placements for 
  ballistae, trebuchet, and other engines of war. General Redmane keeps 
  the fortress in an admirable state of readiness. Forces here regularly 
  patrol the region but are under orders to avoid any conﬂ icts. 
  Cailin Lee has repelled a number of assaults from the Principality of 
  Olduvar over the years, both direct attacks upon its walls and incursions 
  of forces that sought to invade the Vast though paths that avoided the 
  fortress altogether. Since the dwarven improvements were completed, 
  the fortress has never fallen.
  WORNTOOTH PEAKS
  WORNTOOTH PEAKS
  This broken jumble of volcanic mountains on the coast of the 
  Crescent Sea is actually part of a chain of mountains running beneath 
  the water to the Isle of Lymossus. Years of wind and rain have worn 
  down these glassy mountains without softening their sharp and jagged 
  lines. A scrabble of bushes, grasses and trees cling precariously 
  to the sandy dirt ﬁ lling the valleys and low areas between the high 
  peaks, along with some high lakes and streams. Strewn through these 
  mountains are occasional green and peaceful areas, areas cultivated by 
  the orcs and giants that make the valleys between the ragged mountain 
  tops their home.
  Ruins of ancient cities and buildings can be found within these jagged 
  peaks, but some of these ruins now provide homes for hill giants, orcs, 
  and various other creatures hiding from the dragons and rocs also 
  making these mountains their home.
  IRON KINGDOM OF DORRIDEN
  IRON KINGDOM OF DORRIDEN
  Capital: Iron Hall
  Notable Settlements: Grimm Fortress, Arlonne (Barony of 
  Baile)
  Principalities: Barony of Baile
  Ruler: High Thane Thornir Ironskull
  Government: clan leadership (special)
  Population: 781,300 (626,900 mountain dwarf, 81,200 
  Foerdewaith, 63,990 human mixed ethnicity, 5,010 halﬂ ing, 
  2,720 gnome, 670 high elf, 490 half-elf, 150 half-orc, 170 other)
  Monstrous: orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, trolls, giants, wyverns, 
  dragons
  Languages: Dwarven, Common, Elven
  Religion: Strym; Dwerfater, Father of Dwarves; Vergrimm 
  
  184|
  184|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  Earthsblood, Keeper of the Mines; Dre’uain the Lame; Belon 
  the Wise; other good or neutral-aligned dwarven gods
  Resources: copper, gold, iron, lead, mithral, platinum, silver, 
  gems, ironwork, metal work, quarry stone, stonework, 
  foodstuffs, livestock
  Currency: Iron Crown, mixed
  Technology Level: Renaissance
  Dwarves of the Iron Kingdom claim the full range of the Blackrock 
  Mountains and the lands of the Barony of Baile and the Genev Gap 
  as their own. In truth, the fertile lands of the barony and the mountain 
  passes important for trade are the only areas actively patrolled and 
  defended. Dwarves living within Iron Hall generally delve deeper 
  into the ground rather than exploring the surrounding mountains. 
  Through a series of treaties, they have also agreed to permit mining 
  in the foothills of the Blackrocks by the County of Roy, the Kingdom 
  of the North Heath, and the Kingdom of the Vast, so long as those 
  mines remain relatively shallow and don’t impinge upon the historical 
  territory of the dwarves. Outside the area the dwarves patrol, the 
  mountainsides are wild and often home to perilous monsters such as 
  giants, rocs, and dragons.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The Blackrock Mountains are home to the Ironskull clan of 
  mountain dwarves, the most powerful of the mountain clans commonly 
  encountered by the humans of Akados. It is said their ancestors moved 
  here in ages past, after the original dwarves arriving in the Lost Lands 
  divided into the Great Mountain Clans. The Ironskulls are known as 
  renowned giant ﬁ ghters with noteworthy heroic sons such as Dramen 
  Ironskull (who was among the ﬁ rst of the Akadonian peoples to 
  encounter the Xha’en) and Grimmbold Ironskull (who battled giants 
  among the Forlorn Mountains). Its most famous scion perhaps was 
  legendary Old Thane Col, who ruled the clan for well over 250 years 
  until the venerable thane disappeared at sea 100 years ago with a rare 
  dwarven armada as he sought to plumb the depths of the fabled Dragon 
  Temple of the island of West Talon.
  The ancestral hold of the Ironskull clan is Iron Hall, located deep in 
  the Blackrock Mountains. From here they rule what has become known 
  as the Iron Kingdom of Dorriden (a corruption of a compound word 
  that approximately means “dwarven citadel”). They ensure the safety of 
  key mountain passes but otherwise leave most of the mountaintops and 
  vales to the creatures that choose to settle there, so long as they do not 
  threaten the dwarven realm.
  The Barony of Baile is a recent addition to the kingdom, one made 
  through treaty rather than conquest. Feeling abandoned by Foere and 
  at the whim of the mad rulers of the Principality of Olduvar, the baron 
  of Baile came to the dwarves seeking a treaty or other arrangement for 
  his barony’s protection. Recognizing threats to the Barony of Baile as a 
  potential threat to their own trade, and impressed by the baron’s concern 
  for his people, High Thane Thornir and the clan council offered him an 
  equal seat on the clan council in exchange for his oath of fealty to the 
  Iron Kingdom, an oath he was more than happy to give.
  The newly expanded kingdom suffered a few growing pains and some 
  increased tensions, but as time has passed, the relationship between the 
  established dwarven kingdom and its new, predominantly human “clan” 
  has improved to the beneﬁ t of both.
  Of late, a great red wyrm has been seen ﬂ ying among the peaks of the 
  Blackrock Mountains, circling near the entrances to the Iron Kingdom 
  but never landing. A few fear that this beast may be from the legendary 
  Dragon Temple of West Talon, come to avenge some insult given by Old 
  Thane Col years ago.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The patron of the Ironskull clan is Strym (also known as Stryme) 
  and accordingly the Great Chapel in Iron Hall is dedicated to the 
  god of strength, but many dwarves choose to worship other gods, 
  and accordingly temples or altars can be found throughout Iron Hall 
  dedicated to Dwerfater, Vergrimm Earthsblood, and yet other dwarven 
  gods. Worship of any evil gods or demon lords is prohibited in the Iron 
  Kingdom. Humans of the Barony of Baile worship Belon the Wise as 
  the ﬁ rst Baron Baile appointed to oversee this area by the overking of 
  Foere was a worshipper of Belon the Wise. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The Iron Kingdom of Dorriden produces a variety of metals, metal 
  items, and weaponry and armor as well as gems and jewelry made and 
  mined in Iron Hall. Skilled stonemasons work within the kingdom but 
  also are engaged by the royalty of other nations to build their most 
  important castles, palaces, and citadels. The addition of the Barony of 
  Baile expanded trade to include a wide variety of grains, fruits, and 
  other food items. The kingdom supports a strong militia as well as the 
  construction of new fortiﬁ cations along trade routes out of the mountains 
  and now to help protect Baile.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Trade agreements with the City-State of Castorhage, the Kingdom of 
  the Vast, the Kingdom of the North Heath, and some of the principalities 
  of the Kingdom of Foere keep the nation and its economy strong. 
  Signiﬁ cant tensions exist with the Principality of Olduvar, and tensions 
  are growing with the overking in Foere related in large part to the 
  Barony of Baile joining the Iron Kingdom. Nearby principalities of 
  Foere continue to honor their trade agreements and Olduvar has never 
  been thought of as a trustworthy trading partner.
  The dwarven nation has no need or desire to expand and the 
  provisions from the barony combined with the size and military might 
  of the dwarves make the Iron Kingdom a formidable opponent that few 
  have any desire to get into conﬂ ict with. All dwarves — and now that 
  the Barony of Baile has joined the Iron Kingdom, all human citizens of 
  the kingdom (male and female) — must spend two years in training in 
  the militia and be prepared to serve the nation in a time of war. 
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The Ironskull clan in the Iron Kingdom consists of 11 subclans (the 
  royal Ironskull subclan, Ironbreaker, Whitehelm, Axebreaker, Craghold, 
  Hammerﬁ st, ForgeFire, Goldenbeard, Wolfbane, Silvercliff, and 
  Anvilbreaker), and now the Barony of Baile. Each subclan appoints a 
  representative to the clan council, who is usually its clan chief. The clan 
  chief of the royal Ironskull subclan is high thane, which usually passes 
  by descent to the eldest child (whether male or female). The baron 
  himself serves on the council as representative of Baile.
  A host of guards made up of members of all subclans enforce the laws 
  of the kingdom, and a single court system is used to adjudicate civil and 
  criminal complaints. The clan council appoints nine judges to the senior 
  court, who in turn choose the judges for 12 lower courts. Court cases can 
  be appealed to the senior court, and then, ultimately to the clan council 
  itself. Appeals are rare. Most small cases are handled within a subclan. 
  The court system is reserved for larger disputes or crimes. 
  With the exception of the predominantly human barony, other races 
  making their home in the kingdom have no direct representation in the 
  government or military, but citizens and visitors of all races are treated 
  equally under the law. While some individual dwarves do bear ill will 
  toward other races, the Iron Kingdom as a whole is welcoming to other 
  races under the philosophy that a uniﬁ ed kingdom can more easily 
  defeat powerful creatures such as dragons and hostile giants, allowing 
  all to prosper.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Each subclan is expected to provide “regulars” to the military based 
  on the size of the subclan. In addition, all citizens, which for the Iron 
  Kingdom means dwarves and humans of the Barony of Baile, must serve 
  two years in the militia for training. All citizens are expected to come to 
  arms in a time of war. The high thane or the clan council can declare war 
  or declare a military emergency, which generally involves a dragon attack 
  or some sort of attack on one of the passes in the mountains, which causes 
  the generals to muster troops and prepare for action. The military is under 
  the command of the high thane, who delegates various responsibilities to 
  several generals. The two most senior are the Lord of Stone, who oversees 
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  tactics and training, and the Lord of Steel, who is placed in charge of the 
  Grimm Fortress and is responsible for immediate defense of the realm. A 
  majority of the active regulars reside at the Grimm Fortress with additional 
  small forces at locations in the Barony of Baile and larger garrisons at Iron 
  Hall where militia training takes place.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Treasure-hungry dragons are always a threat to isolated dwarven 
  settlements and mines, but any attacks on the Iron Kingdom are met with 
  an overwhelming response. The military technology and equipment the 
  dwarves have allow them to mount successful attacks against predatory 
  dragons and giants in the mountains. Reports from those who have seen 
  the great red wyrm circling the entrances to the Iron Kingdom, however, 
  tell of a dragon the size of which has not been seen for ages. 
  The Principality of Olduvar has always caused difﬁ culty, forcing the 
  Iron Kingdom to look toward other nearby nations for trade. The Kingdom 
  of Foere is extremely displeased with the loss of the Barony of Baile to the 
  Iron Kingdom, but the tensions it has with the borderlands to the east and 
  the military might of the dwarves prevent it from acting directly. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  With the dwarves delving downward into the mountains and leaving 
  the surface largely unpatrolled and uncared for, a variety of creatures can 
  be found in the Blackrock Mountains. The Ruins of Tiro’en attract some 
  attention, as do tales of lost dwarven cities (untrue) and mines (partially 
  true). A number of dragons have hidden lairs deep in the mountains, 
  some of which have simply been lost to time. Explorers discovering any 
  treasures are wise to keep them secret as the Iron Kingdom taxes such 
  discoveries at a hefty 50%.  
  IRON HALL, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  IRON HALL, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: High Thane Thornir Ironskull
  Government: clan leadership (special)
  Population: 544,000 (526,600 mountain dwarf, 7,220 
  Foerdewaith, 5,580 human mixed ethnicity, 2,340 gnome, 
  2,180 halﬂ ing, 80 other)
  Languages: Dwarven, Common, Elven
  Religion: Strym; Dwerfater, Father of Dwarves; Vergrimm 
  Earthsblood, Keeper of the Mines; Dre’uain the Lame; other 
  good or neutral-aligned dwarven gods
  Resources: copper, gold, iron, lead, mithral, platinum, silver, 
  gems, ironwork, metal work, quarry stone, stonework, 
  foodstuffs, livestock
  Technology Level: Renaissance
  Carved out of the mountains, the broad halls and passages 
  of Iron Hall stretch and wind their way beneath the surface. The 
  city branches its way beneath the mountains where some massive 
  caverns and halls demonstrate the skill of the dwarven stonemasons 
  and architects. The Ironskull clan that calls this home possesses a 
  diversity and a calm conﬁ dence that most other enclaves of mountain 
  dwarves do not demonstrate. This has allowed all to prosper here, 
  and that prosperity enables the dwarves here to deal with other races 
  with the conviction that their knowledge, skill, and kingdom shall 
  endure all challenges.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  When the subclans of the Ironskulls initially joined forces to form 
  the Iron Kingdom of Dorriden, they had many small settlements 
  throughout the Blackrock Mountains, which made them easier 
  prey for dragons, giants, and other creatures. The decision to 
  move all of the subclans to the hold of the royal Ironskull subclan 
  provided greater strength and safety to the ﬂ edgling kingdom. One 
  underground city was easier to defend and easier for the dwarves 
  to expand. Initially, the city was subdivided into different areas for 
  each subclan, but as the centuries have gone by, they have become 
  closer and work together on a more even basis so these divisions are 
  often in name only.
  Shafts extend in a variety of directions deep into the mountains 
  and allow access to mining areas as well as providing venting for the 
  various forges that are hard at work near the city center. The protection 
  afforded by the underground city, and the peaceful conditions at 
  work, allowed the city and the kingdom to ﬂ ourish and grow. The 
  underground nature and strange manner in which it has grown and 
  spread into the mountain makes it almost impossible for outsiders to 
  gauge the true size of Iron Hall, but it is undoubtedly one of the largest 
  cities in the Lost Lands, something the dwarves prefer to keep a secret 
  from outsiders.
  The strange history of the formation of the Blackrock Mountains 
  provides the opportunity to mine a variety of metals and gems. Most of 
  the mines can be reached through tunnels, but some dwarves do still travel 
  overland to mine more distant areas. Iron Hall is known for some of the 
  ﬁ nest weapons and purest metals throughout the land. The situation of 
  relative peace here has allowed dwarven smiths and craftsmen to focus 
  entirely on their art creating unequalled metalwork that others can only 
  strive to match. Stoneworkers and masons here are equally skilled and 
  often called upon to fulﬁ l contracts in other nations while also expanding 
  and supporting the ever-growing underground city.
  While ofﬁ cially the city and the Iron Kingdom are welcoming to all 
  races, almost all non-dwarves live in a region just off the central artery 
  through the city in a neighborhood that was originally for the clanless. 
  Other races receive very little outright discrimination otherwise and are 
  allowed free passage through all safe areas of the city.
  THE GRIMM FORTRESS
  THE GRIMM FORTRESS
  Ruler: General Kord Axebreaker
  Government military
  Population: 45,600 (42,150 mountain dwarf, 2,100 
  Foerdewaith, 1,350 human mixed ethnicity)
  Languages: Dwarven, Common 
  Technology Level: Renaissance
  This massive stone fortress is a sign of dwarven ingenuity and skill 
  as well as a symbol of the power of the Iron Kingdom of Dorriden. The 
  fortress itself is constructed along a long mountain ridge and gives a 
  long view over Genev Gap to the south and oversees the rich farmlands 
  of the Barony of Baile. Nearby farmers are expected to ﬂ ee to the safety 
  of its walls in the event of any sort of attack, so the fortress itself has far 
  more housing than its troops actually require. The militia here is made 
  up entirely of dwarven and human warriors, with humans making up 
  less than a tenth of the contingent. 
  The thick, imposing walls stretch along the mountain walls for 
  hundreds of yards and are punctuated with tall towers armed with 
  powerful ballistae and other weapons capable of taking down dragons, 
  giants, or foreign armies. General Kord Axebreaker and his staff keep 
  the troops on high alert with constant training drills that under many 
  circumstances could lead to complaints and grumbling, but the general’s 
  charisma and friendly nature to all of his troops keeps them dedicated 
  to their jobs.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE REGION OF 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE REGION OF 
  THE IRON KINGDOM OF DORRIDEN
  THE IRON KINGDOM OF DORRIDEN
  BLACKROCK MOUNTAINS
  BLACKROCK MOUNTAINS
  Some cataclysm of the ancient past brought forth a cluster of 
  volcanoes spewing molten stone and metal to form the tall and 
  forbidding Blackrock Mountains. Though the volcanoes have been 
  dormant now for thousands of years, the rock thrust up by the eruptions 
  and the volcanic glass left behind form massive mountains and jagged 
  cliffs that are difﬁ cult to traverse or explore. Millenia of erosion and 
  
  186|
  186|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  earthquakes have softened the mountains some, but their imposing 
  glassy rock stretches thousands of feet upward in ragged lines with 
  strange, twisting valleys and passes winding through and around the 
  larger peaks. Travel through the mountains, even on well-known passes, 
  is unforgiving and dangerous, particularly for those unskilled in such 
  adventures. The Blackrock Mountains sit in the midst of a number of 
  human kingdoms and partially divide the Kingdom of Foere from its 
  prior possessions: the Kingdom of the North Heath, the Kingdom of the 
  Vast, and the Principality of Olduvar.
  Only the hardiest of plants ﬁ nd purchase in small pockets of sandy soil 
  collecting in the gaps and valleys amid the Blackrocks. These few plants 
  support a menagerie of creatures that are as tough and unforgiving as the 
  mountains themselves. Dragons are drawn to the metals and gemstones 
  hidden in the rocks and regularly come into conﬂ ict over small caves 
  and lairs. Several clans of hearty stone giants make their home in some 
  of the safer valleys, and storm giants are drawn to the area around the 
  ruins of Tiro’en.
  The dwarves of the Iron Kingdom of Dorriden call these forbidding 
  mountains home and claim the entire range as their own, but they delve 
  into the depths of the mountains seeking precious metals and gems 
  beneath the surface and generally protect only the passes to and from 
  Iron Hall. The rest of the mountains are left to themselves and defended 
  only if threatened by a foreign army. Even giants are tolerated and left 
  alone so long as they do not harry the trade caravans moving in and out 
  of Iron Hall.
  Tribes of goblins are known to haunt some areas of these mountains, 
  though they keep far from any dwarven settlements or mines. Orcs were 
  driven from the mountains during a dwarven campaign against dragons 
  at the birth of the Iron Kingdom and can be found only in isolated family 
  units that ﬂ ee at the possibility of conﬂ ict. Rarer creatures have been 
  sighted but most intelligent creatures stay far from any dwarven trade 
  paths or activities.
  TIRO’EN (RUINS)
  TIRO’EN (RUINS)
  A city of glowing spires and magniﬁ cent glass and stone buildings of 
  varying sizes, shapes, and designs — some of human or even halﬂ ing size, 
  some large enough for giants — stands in the caldera of a long dead volcano. 
  A strange stone obelisk at the center of the city is carved with a variety of 
  symbols and seemingly random words of various languages. The symbols 
  and words change slowly over time, as if the stone rewrites whatever was 
  meant to be written there — with one exception: the word “Tiro’en” carved 
  into the base of the obelisk in a variety of languages and alphabets. 
  Dust and dirt stirred by the winds sweeping through at this high-
  altitude swirl and move along broad avenues, empty fountains, statues, 
  and wide areas that might once have been parks or greenways, but today 
  there is no life amid the ruins. No plants, animals, or even mosses or 
  fungi ﬁ nd purchase here. Any animals that might pass by move away 
  quickly, and even intelligent creatures ﬁ nd the eerie ruins unsettling and 
  have no desire to stay or explore. Buildings stand open, yet are strangely 
  hollow and bereft of any life or even a hint of who, or what, may have 
  lived here in the past. 
  While the location of Tiro’en is known and even marked on some 
  maps, little is known about its history or origins. Rumored to hold 
  treasures and secret knowledge, adventurers have tried to explore the 
  ruins, only to be turned away by storm giants, if they do not disappear 
  altogether. Dwarves of the Iron Kingdom give the ruins a wide berth and 
  claim no knowledge of its origins.
  In truth, a clan of storm giants built Tiro’en long ago, back in an 
  age when some of giantkind thought it wise to share knowledge with 
  other races. They used powerful spells to bring forth this city from 
  the volcanic glass of the caldera. There they built a library and invited 
  visitors from other races to come to exchange ideas and knowledge 
  within a collection of ornate, beautiful buildings and gardens created to 
  encourage peaceful contemplation and study.
  The city’s doom came when one storm giant seeking knowledge 
  best left unknown touched the mind of an elder god and was driven 
  irrevocably mad. Flush with power from this deity of the void, she 
  cleansed the city, slaughtering every living creature, animal, and plant 
  within its conﬁ nes. Only the empty buildings and a looming sense of 
  fear remains of the beauty that once was Tiro’en.
  Whether they acknowledge it or not, the true history of Tiro’en and its 
  destruction is what drove storm giants to their more solitary existence 
  and their extreme caution when sharing knowledge, or even interacting, 
  with other races. The ruins remain unexplored, as anyone entering the 
  barren city triggers a signal that draws several storm giants to the area to 
  discourage investigation. If asked for an explanation, none is given, as even 
  the giants themselves have forgotten the details of Tiro’en’s destruction. 
  They just know that they are to prevent anyone from exploring here and 
  possibly repeating whatever disaster might have occurred.
  WYTCH BOG
  WYTCH BOG
  The Wytch Bog, located south of the western arm of the Blackrock 
  Mountains, is a desolate wasteland of several thousand square miles 
  covered in stinking peat bogs, saturated earth, and hardy greenery. No 
  political entity claims dominion over the Wytch Bog. Almost every 
  vestige of civilization, regardless of how insigniﬁ cant, abruptly stops at 
  the ﬁ rst tract of boggy soil. However, a number of hardy families have 
  settled this land for centuries and eke out a living as farmers, peat cutters, 
  and eel hunters. The Nadi River ﬁ nds its source among the waters of the 
  bog. It is said that deep within the bog is a haunted realm populated by 
  shambling corpses, vengeful undead creatures, and pathetic spirits. 
  BARONY OF BAILE
  BARONY OF BAILE
  Capital: Arlonne 
  Ruler: Baron Duran Baile
  Government: feudalism/monarchy (see below)
  Population: 139,900 (86,400 Foerdewaith, 42,540 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 6,350 mountain dwarf, 2,830 halﬂ ing, 670 high elf, 
  490 half-elf, 380 gnome, 150 half-orc, 90 other)
  Monstrous: goblins, orcs, giants
  Languages: Common, Dwarven, Elven, Gnomish
  Religion: Belon the Wise, Mitra, Dre’uain the Lame
  Resources: foodstuffs, grain, spices, spirits, trade hub
  Currency: Iron Crown, mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Stretching from the southern base of the Blackrock Mountains to 
  include Arlonne and the rich farmlands near and along the mountains 
  and west to the outskirts of the Wytch Bog, the Barony of Baile has 
  endured numerous name and leadership changes over the centuries, but 
  for the better part of three centuries the barony has been in the hands of 
  the Baile family. Baron Duran Baile is deeply dedicated to the safety 
  and well-being of his people, as were his father and grandfather before 
  him, engendering great loyalty but creating difﬁ culties for his rule. The 
  wide-open farmlands and orchards are difﬁ cult to defend and easily 
  attacked. Over the past few years, the Baile family has increased what 
  defenses they could and done their best to help the farmers living on 
  open land have sturdy structures to withstand smaller raids.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The barony was granted to Jorah Baile by the overking of Foere for 
  his loyal service in the battles that won Vast and North Heath their 
  independence. It was not necessarily the choicest grant of land. With 
  North Heath, Vast, and Olduvar now independent of Foere, the barony 
  became the frontier of the kingdom in the west. And even before the 
  Foerdewaith Wars of Succession, the overkings had difﬁ culty with this 
  area, particularly as a result of continual unrest within the Principality 
  of Olduvar. Time and again in the past, the nobles of Olduvar rebelled 
  against Courghais, which required the intervention of imperial troops 
  who would cross the ﬁ elds of the barony on their way to Mose. In truth, 
  the overkings preferred that the barony remain unfortiﬁ ed, as they did 
  not want any impediment to taking back the principality when they 
  needed to. 
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  Ten years ago, Olduvar attacked the barony and left behind burned 
  ﬁ elds and buildings without actually approaching Arlonne. Baron Baile 
  became enraged when the overking attributed the attack to simple raiders 
  and refused to respond or provide helpful compensation and defense. 
  The young baron reduced his tribute to the crown while using some of 
  the money collected to build more secure warehouses for grains and 
  goods in Arlonne, and began to seek ways to better defend his land and 
  people. With pleas for assistance to Courghais ignored, and continued 
  chaos in the Principality of Olduvar, Baron Baile ﬁ nally turned toward 
  the Iron Kingdom seeking any sort of alliance he could muster to defend 
  his people. 
  Baron Duran Baile is an enigma to many of the other rulers in the 
  area, as his ﬁ rst duty and thought is actually for the safety of his people. 
  It is this love for his people and desire to protect them that so impressed 
  the dwarves of the Iron Kingdom that they offered him an opportunity 
  to join the Iron Kingdom and granted full clan rights to the barony. This 
  offer allowed him to throw off any allegiance to Foere and provide a 
  steadier more reliable defense for his people. It also provided the Iron 
  Kingdom with rich farmlands to support the miners and craftsmen. And 
  with the might of Dorriden now supporting the barony, Foere was left 
  with few options to punish their former vassal.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  When he was granted these rich lands by the overking, Baron Jorah 
  Baile found mostly burned out ruins and was tasked with rebuilding 
  Arlonne and other smaller settlements nearby. A devout adherent of 
  Belon the Wise, Jorah had several temples built, all of which stand to 
  this day. While Duran Baile follows the dwarven tradition of allowing 
  the presence and worship of other gods, and temples to a few other 
  Foerdewaith gods exist, most of the people of Baile venerate Belon 
  the Wise, whose clerics and temples are the ones most well known in 
  the area.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Rich farmlands and orchards of the barony provide ample harvests 
  of wheat, barley, and other grains as well as a wide variety of fruits 
  and other vegetables. Vineyards along the base of the Blackrock 
  Mountains produce ﬁ ne wines and brandies that are a sought-out 
  luxury item in many nearby nations. Rich soil and favorable weather 
  patterns allow many of the farms to have multiple harvests in a single 
  year. While it has always had good trade with the dwarves of Iron 
  Hall, the barony’s new position in the kingdom has strengthened that 
  relationship and provided strong trade partners for a variety of other 
  items as well.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  As a relatively new principality of the Iron Kingdom, the barony 
  has somewhat tense relationships with those domains still loyal to the 
  Kingdom of Foere. But those relations are warm compared to those with 
  the Principality of Olduvar, which seems ready at any moment to attack 
  and loot the towns and villages of the barony. For all intents, a cold war 
  that occasionally becomes hot exists between the two nations. Whether 
  the risk of angering the dwarves of Dorriden has changed the calculus 
  in Mose remains unknown.
  So far, Foere continues to abide by trade agreements with the Iron 
  Kingdom. As a result, trade goods from the barony have been allowed to 
  pass through with only normal tariffs. Baron Duran Baile is completely 
  loyal to the Iron Kingdom, as they provided him a way to defend his 
  people and help them prosper. In addition, he feels he understands and 
  can trust the dwarves of the Iron Kingdom at their word, a trust he does 
  not hold for leaders of other nearby nations. He has friendly relations 
  with the Kingdom of the Vast as well as representatives that have visited 
  him from the City-State of Castorhage.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  While feudal in origins, the barony can now be viewed as more of a 
  hereditary monarchy. Baron Baile is ﬁ rmly in charge of all decisions 
  within the barony and acts now as the equivalent of a clan chieftain, 
  with his position due to be handed down to his eldest child. Duran Baile 
  was raised to have a profound concern for his people and their well-
  being, and he is raising his children to have the same concerns, while 
  also having them spend signiﬁ cant time with the dwarves to learn their 
  culture and ways as he believes the union with the Iron Kingdom will 
  truly protect his people and allow them to grow and thrive just as the 
  dwarves have done in Iron Hall. 
  Now that barony is part of the Iron Kingdom, there is a small court in 
  Arlonne with a judge appointed by the senior court of the Iron Kingdom. 
  Other smaller criminal and civil cases are handled by the courts that the 
  barony already had in place before the union with the dwarves.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The wide, rich farmlands of the barony are a blessing and a curse, 
  as there is little in the way of protection for the many farms spread out 
  through the barony, leaving the population subject to attack by creatures 
  or armies that can easily cross the open ﬁ elds. While a signiﬁ cant 
  population is found in Arlonne, most of the citizens of the barony are 
  spread throughout the region on various farms and groups of farmhouses 
  that could not even be called villages. 
  The small militia maintained by the baron is now under the 
  leadership and guidance of the Iron Kingdom. While most of the 
  soldiers in the barony are human, the addition of dwarven soldiers and 
  ofﬁ cers has made the militia more tightly organized. Small outposts 
  and towers built throughout Baile are manned with groups of ﬁ ve to 
  10 soldiers that keep watch for monstrous and military incursions. 
  Ofﬁ cers of the Iron Kingdom reviewed the widespread farms and 
  made plans to provide better protection for the citizenry. In some 
  cases, speciﬁ c farmhouses were reinforced to provide protection for 
  groups of farmers. In others, small forts were built for farmers to ﬂ ee 
  to in the event of an attack. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  While there has always been the threat of small raiding parties of 
  goblins or giants coming out of the mountains or the Wytch Bog, 
  the predominant threat to the Barony of Baile lies in attack from 
  the Principality of Olduvar or, possibly, the Kingdom of Foere. 
  Increased defenses and the new status as part of the Iron Kingdom 
  make these attacks less likely, but Olduvar has been known to send 
  troops or mercenaries to do nothing more than burn fields and 
  destroy croplands.
  Farms of the Genev Gap suffer slightly different dangers as monstrous 
  creatures from Harwood Forest make forays into the rich ﬁ elds in search 
  of food. The increased number of towers and defenses in the area have 
  helped, but these random encounters are a constant danger to those 
  toiling the rich soil of the Genev Gap.
  ARLONNE, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  ARLONNE, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Baron Duran Baile
  Government: feudalism/monarchy
  Population: 42,400 (26,750 Foerdewaith, 10,660 human mixed 
  ethnicities, 2,430 mountain dwarf, 1,850 halﬂ ing, 420 high elf, 
  170 half-elf, 90 gnome, 30 half-orc)
  Languages: Common, Dwarven, Halﬂ ing, Elven
  Religion: Belon the Wise
  Resources: foodstuffs, produce, spirits, grains, spices, trade hub
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Buildings of Arlonne are so spread out that it often feels more like a 
  large village than the city it has become. Some of the land within the 
  city area itself is reserved for crops and is actively farmed, spreading 
  buildings out even farther. The baron’s home and a number of important 
  buildings and warehouses are behind a single wooden wall that stands 
  only 25 feet high. The rest of the city must depend on the new towers 
  placed throughout the sprawling buildings for defense.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Arlonne and the Barony of Baile are mostly populated by humans of 
  Foerdewaith descent who were settled here by the Kingdom of Foere 
  
  188|
  188|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  when it initially conquered these lands. Left largely undefended, the 
  city has fallen many times in battle, changing hands between Foere and 
  whatever forces happened to be in control of the Principality of Olduvar. 
  The allegiance to the Iron Kingdom is a recent development that has 
  increased the stability and protection of the city to the point that the 
  citizens here are pleased with the new situation and are beginning to 
  prosper as new trade agreements and partnerships grow.
  Knowledge that their ruler cares enough about his people to take the 
  drastic step of changing his allegiance from Foere to the Iron Kingdom 
  makes the citizens here love and respect Baron Baile. While there was 
  some initial fear and trepidation at the changes made, the dwarves are now 
  welcomed openly, and the changes to the defenses have inspired conﬁ dence.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The only full temple in Arlonne is dedicated to Belon the Wise, 
  largely because the ﬁ rst Baron Baile was a devout worshipper of that 
  god. Other religions are allowed here, but in truth, few people practice 
  any particular faith.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Arlonne acts as a storage location and clearing point for the grains, 
  fruits, spices, and livestock that allow the barony to thrive. Several 
  dwarven merchants set up warehouses for the temporary storage of 
  some of the metals and items that Iron Hall exports to other nations. 
  Warehouses behind the wall hold barrels of aged spirits and wines that 
  are sought-after luxury items in a number of nations. Mismanagement 
  of nearby Olduvar and the growing demand for food within the Iron 
  Kingdom continue to create additional trading opportunities for the 
  merchants of Arlonne.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Baron Duran Baile has retained the title baron but is now considered 
  by the dwarves to be a clan chieftain. His rule is slated to be handed 
  down to his eldest son, and he has every intention of continuing to 
  hold leadership of the barony within his family lineage. The courts and 
  judges of the Barony of Baile are housed within Arlonne, as are the few 
  government ofﬁ ces and aides to the baron.
  GENEV GAP
  GENEV GAP
  Rich soil of the broad, level land in the gap between the Blackrock 
  Mountains and Harwood Forest has largely been turned into bountiful 
  farmlands with small communities and farms spread along the 
  trade route stretching from the area west of the Gilded River to the 
  Principality of Olduvar. Ofﬁ cially claimed by the Barony of Baile and 
  the Iron Kingdom of Dorriden, these lands pose few natural defenses 
  to armies or monsters and force farmers to build sturdy structures 
  to protect their families in areas far from any city or town. The Iron 
  Kingdom has begun the construction of a series of towers and outposts 
  to defend against monstrous incursions from Harwood Forest. In the 
  event of an approaching army, farmers are expected to ﬂ ee to the safety 
  of the Grimm Fortress.
  The ﬂ at, level land here has been the meeting place for many battles 
  over the centuries. Spearheads, broken swords, and other items are 
  regularly turned up by plows. The open nature of the ﬁ elds provides no 
  real advantage to any side, and there is no easy way to maintain control 
  of territories that might actually be conquered. While still angered by 
  the betrayal of the Barony of Baile, the overking of Foere listened to 
  his advisors and concluded that the costs of trying to retake the barony 
  exceeded its value, and so it would be better to force the Iron Kingdom 
  to defend those lands and, at the same time, create an additional buffer 
  between Foere and the Principality of Olduvar. As a result, Courghais 
  ordered the Duchy of Mains to leave the areas north of Dundlend alone. 
  But Dundlend was also ordered to allow monsters or other invading 
  creatures from Harwood Forest to pass by into the gap. 
  PRINCIPALITY OF OLDUVAR
  PRINCIPALITY OF OLDUVAR
  Capital: Mose
  Notable Settlements: Bottomborough, Loagwater, Newmire, 
  Oakhall, Overlook, Tratai, Westfort 
  Rulers: Prince Anscul White, Lord Roese Bloodsight, Lady 
  Agacia Crossthain, Lady Karyn Greenheart
  Government: oligarchy
  Population: 1,227,900 (677,300 Foerdewaith, 328,470 human 
  mixed ethnicity, 157,200 halﬂ ing, 23,200 half-elves, 17,100 high 
  elves, 14,580 wild elves, 4,390 gnomes, 3,100 hill dwarves, 880 
  mountain dwarves, 560 half-orcs, 450 orcs, 400 other)
  Monstrous: hobgoblin, goblin, kobold, stone giant, hill giant, 
  ogre, treant, troll, dragon (green in the Low Country, red in 
  Upland Vale), roc
  Languages: Common, Dwarven, Elven
  Religion: Freya, Muir, Thyr, Mitra, Solanus, Hecate (secret), 
  Demogorgon (secret)
  Resources: foodstuffs, silver, gems, gold, manufactured goods, 
  spirits (ale, wine, whiskeys), timber, trade hub
  Currency: Olduvarian
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Boasting rich farmland, a number of small gem and gold mines, and 
  control over a major trade route, the Principality of Olduvar is a wealthy 
  nation that often acts on designs to expand and conquer neighboring 
  cities and nations though with only moderate, and usually short-lived, 
  success. Spread across a narrow strip of land between the capital of 
  Mose in the east, to Bottomborough and towns to the west with a dip 
  south to Tratai, the Principality of Olduvar remains under the control of 
  the nobility given positions here by the Kingdom of Foere.  
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Conquered by the Kingdom of Foere during its initial expansion, 
  Olduvar had to be reconquered multiple times over the centuries 
  as the leaders of the principality repeatedly revolted or simply 
  disregarded orders from the crown. Olduvar seems to have always 
  been ruled by a committee of like-minded despots focused on 
  enriching themselves on the backs of their people. Following each 
  new conquest, Foere would install new nobles to take control of 
  the principality, but inevitably they would fall into the ways of the 
  previous rulers. The chaos of the Foerdewaith Wars of Succession 
  left the Kingdom of Foere distracted enough to ignore Olduvar as it 
  simply broke off again and refused the leadership of the overking. 
  Once Vast and North Heath won their independence, Courghais lost 
  the will to try to control the western lands and made no attempts 
  to retake Olduvar. Present politics suggest this policy will likely 
  continue, as any actions against the principality now could threaten 
  Foere’s relationship with the Iron Kingdom of Dorriden, the City-
  State of Castorhage, and other smaller kingdoms.
  All of the noble families of Olduvar are descended from those 
  Foerdewaith families granted holdings here by various overkings during 
  their rule of the principality, but none has any afﬁ nity for the crown. 
  The commoners are largely Foerdewaith but include some high elves 
  and half-elves as well as some rare half-orcs. Although ofﬁ cially against 
  the laws of the principality, slaves are fairly common here, particularly 
  in Bottomborough where some of the slaves include hobgoblins, orcs, 
  elves, halﬂ ings, and humans.
  While the nobility may indeed be somewhat mad, the commoners and 
  general citizenry are hardworking, determined individuals struggling 
  to better themselves in the face of a corrupt government. While they 
  know their government is a problem, they would rather stick with 
  the government they know than with some foreign power, and would 
  provide a stiff defense were Olduvar attacked. Most of the population 
  is spread throughout the rich farmlands near Mose and Tratai with a 
  signiﬁ cant and diverse population in Bottomborough.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|189
  |189
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  The Low Country and the Dale, home to many halﬂ ings, are claimed 
  by Olduvar, and occasionally tax collectors from Loagwater ride 
  through and demand payment. As there are no substantial resources to 
  be exploited there, however, the principality largely leaves the halﬂ ings 
  to themselves, a happy circumstance for them to say the least. 
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  There is no predominant religion in Olduvar, as most of the nobility 
  here follow no particular gods and no money is spent on temples in this 
  region. Some of the commoners worship Muir and Freya, and in fact 
  an ancient shrine to Freya can be found at the outer edges of Tratai, 
  though few visit it. Mitra, Thyr, and Solanus also have minor followings 
  in some areas. Lady Agacia Crossthain secretly worships Demogorgon, 
  and Master Adoril Longstaff of Newmire worships Hecate.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  In spite of its political isolation, the Principality of Olduvar commands 
  a wide variety of resources and does a great deal of trading in silver, 
  gems, coal, lumber, rare stone, and slaves, though most of the trade 
  travels through Bottomborough and the port at Loagwater to avoid the 
  tariffs charged by their neighbors. While the government itself is poorly 
  managed, the nobility and leading merchants take great care in running 
  their individual businesses, and as a result, Olduvar boasts some of the 
  ﬁ nest vineyards, wineries, and distilleries in the Lost Lands as well as a 
  variety of high-end crafts, including jewelry.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Politically isolated and not trusted by any of the nations around them, 
  Olduvar is presently held in check by the Free City of Brookmere to 
  the southwest, the fortress of Cailin Lee of the Kingdom of the Vast 
  to the north, and Dundlend of the Duchy of Mains and the Grimm 
  Fortress of the Iron Kingdom of Dorriden to the east. Most of its history 
  is made up of being conquered by Foere and then simply ignoring its 
  rule. Leadership changes happen swiftly in Olduvar, so neighboring 
  nations view any agreements with distrust and fully expect them not to 
  be honored for very long.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Olduvar’s governing class consists of little more than a loose 
  confederation of small noble families, with minimal common purpose. 
  Leadership changes as a result of blackmail, assassination, open revolt, 
  and coups are a standard feature of the principality’s history. These 
  changes make it difﬁ cult for Olduvar to form any lasting treaties or 
  alliances because other nations and city-states don’t trust any treaty 
  or agreement with Olduvar to last. Occasional plans by one or another 
  noble family to conquer nearby areas inevitably falter due to internal 
  political inﬁ ghting. Such military successes as are achieved are usually 
  sabotaged by either the corrupt military or the very nobles who ordered 
  the activities in the ﬁ rst place. 
  Each of the nominal rulers of Olduvar represents a particular group or 
  region within the nation, chosen by a mixture of backroom deal-making, 
  blackmail, and bribery. Anscul White represents the nobility of Mose, 
  the putative capital of Olduvar, and in such capacity acts as the prince 
  of Olduvar (a title held by this particular representative, which is neither 
  hereditary nor endowed with much in the way of actual authority). 
  Lord Roese Bloodsight is the ruler of Bottomborough and represents 
  the Olduvaran merchant and craft guilds that have their headquarters in 
  that city. Lady Karyn Greenheart of Loagwater represents those nobles 
  whose lands are near the mouth of the Nadi River and maintains her 
  position with the wealth obtained from the small port there and her gem 
  mines in the Briar Hills. Lady Agacia Crossthain of Tratai draws her 
  inﬂ uence from trade goods produced by the nearby farmers and loggers 
  in the Harwood Forest, as well as the nobles along the trade road between 
  Mose and the Free City of Brookmere. Each of the representatives does 
  their best to undermine the others while trying to secure greater power 
  for themselves. Prince Anscul White has held his position only for one 
  year and is already paranoid and fears poisoning or assassination. In 
  truth, a number of the wealthier noblemen and merchants are dissatisﬁ ed 
  with the present rulers so any one, or all, could be replaced at any time.
  Such disarray and corruption infect all levels of Olduvar’s 
  government, from the oligarchs at the top to local ofﬁ ces, courts, and 
  the military. As a result, the populace views all ofﬁ cials with distrust 
  and disdain. Olduvar’s natural resources should make it a wealthy 
  nation for a country of its size, but this wealth has been squandered or 
  embezzled in a variety of foolish enterprises. Individual noblemen often 
  maintain their own private troops and refuse to provide them for defense 
  or support of the nation. Most high-ranking members of the militia are 
  on the payroll of one or more noble families providing information and 
  contracts in their best interest. 
  Unsurprisingly, the system of justice is particularly corrupt. Ofﬁ cially, 
  the laws of the principality are derived from those of Foere, but the 
  resemblance is purely superﬁ cial. Guilt or innocence in Olduvar is 
  largely determined by wealth rather than actual evidence or guilt. 
  Some judges publicly list the price to have certain crimes dismissed. 
  The poor are left with little choice but to face whatever penalty a judge 
  decides to mete out. Disagreements between noble families or wealthy 
  merchants are sometimes reached through negotiation, but often only 
  after a series of secret attacks against each other’s ﬁ nancial interests or 
  family members.
  Nearby nations view Olduvar’s leaders as simply insane or mad. 
  Bards in the nearby Kingdom of the Vast sing songs and tell jokes 
  that all involve a punchline that includes “the Mad Prince of Olduvar” 
  who apparently needs no other name as all of the Lords of Olduvar are 
  viewed as insane.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Generals and high-ranking ofﬁ cers of the military in Olduvar are 
  among the most corrupt in the nation, and that is certainly saying 
  something. Almost all of them are on the payroll of at least one noble 
  family and some are paid off by several. Conscription for the rank-and-
  ﬁ le is held at random intervals when ofﬁ cers believe they need more 
  soldiers. The vast majority of military units are inefﬁ cient, corrupt, and 
  loyal only to their immediate ofﬁ cers and friends, to the extent they 
  possess any loyalties at all. However, wealthier noble families usually 
  maintain their own guardsmen, and many of these soldiers are highly 
  trained and knowledgeable. In fact, effective military ofﬁ cers are usually 
  hired away by noble families as soon as their skills are noticed. At this 
  point, none of Olduvar’s neighbors has any interest in trying to conquer 
  the nation and take on its numerous problems. All recent actions by 
  the military have involved little more than chaotic and largely pointless 
  raids on lands of the Kingdom of the Vast or the Barony of Baile.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  Most of the areas near Tratai and Mose are relatively well-tamed 
  farmlands with occasional monstrous attacks from Harwood Forest to 
  the southeast. Portions of the Eldevere Forest and the Briar Hills are 
  home to various monstrous creatures that generally stay away from 
  the more populated areas. The main adventures in Olduvar involve the 
  various intrigues between the noble families that are always trying to 
  spy on and damage each other.
  MOSE, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  MOSE, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Prince Anscul White
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 65,342 (49,220 Foerdewaith, 14,620 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 1,125 gnome, 198 half-elf, 87 mountain dwarf, 54 
  half-orc, 38 high elf)
  Languages: Common, Gnome, Dwarven, Elven
  Resources: silver, gems, foodstuffs, manufactured goods, 
  trade hub
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Mose stands on a major trade route and has been subjected to numerous 
  attacks over the years. The nobility here spent wisely on massive walls, 
  towers, and defenses focused on protecting the Noble Quarter. The rest 
  of the city is split into discrete areas, all of which have their own walls 
  and protections, though not nearly as extensive as that of the Noble 
  
  190|
  190|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  Quarter. The Crafters’ Quarter houses a variety of craftsmen, including 
  jewelers and gem cutters as well as blacksmiths and woodworkers. All 
  craftsmen require a license purchased from the city to work and sell their 
  products. The Joy District houses inns, restaurants, and trading houses 
  as well as brothels and gambling houses, all of which are licensed by 
  the city, paying variable fees depending upon their proﬁ tability and the 
  social status of their owners. The ironically named High Quarter on 
  the southern part of the city holds military barracks and a variety of 
  ramshackle buildings housing the poorer laborers and workers.
  Most of the structures in Mose are simple wood-frame buildings, 
  with some larger wattle-and-daub buildings in the Crafters’ Quarter and 
  random stone buildings spread throughout. Ancient stone foundations 
  lead down to catacombs beneath the city that are often ﬂ ooded and 
  reek of sewage and decay. The Noble Quarter possesses mansions of 
  the ﬁ nest construction and materials, some of dwarven make, as the 
  different noble families do their best to outdo each other.
  All of the most proﬁ table businesses are controlled by the noble 
  families, whether it is gem or silver mines, wineries, distilleries, or 
  wide swaths of farmland. The difference between the rich and poor 
  here is marked and appalling. The poor are kept at least somewhat fed 
  and satisﬁ ed not due to any generosity but because the nobles fear any 
  possible revolt.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The nobility in Mose control nearly all aspects of life and elect their 
  prince, adopt favorable laws, and appoint judges who happily accept 
  bribes. Craftsmen and merchants send representatives to the prince 
  and other nobles, but the only path to inﬂ uence is through bribery and 
  blackmail. Ofﬁ cially, the laws apply to all, but in reality, the nobility 
  is not subject to the same laws as the lowborn. Nobles have been 
  known to openly abuse and even kill servants and lowborn without 
  any repercussion. Most of the noble houses are in regular conﬂ ict with 
  each other, often for reasons that stretch back generations. While these 
  frictions rarely end in open conﬂ ict, assassination, blackmail, and 
  sabotage are popular pastimes among the nobility. Ordinary citizens of 
  Mose generally consider the noblemen to be bordering on insanity and 
  do their best to avoid and reduce their interactions with the highborn.
  Mose — and the Principality of Olduvar as a whole — is led by Prince 
  Anscul White, who is beholden to several of the other major noble 
  families in Mose and is unsure of his power. Local laws are enforced by 
  the militia with a highly corrupt court system that heavily favors wealth 
  and power.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The military in Mose is ofﬁ cially split into the general militia, which 
  includes the city guard and infantry, and the cavalry, which is made 
  up of mounted soldiers and knights. The cavalry mostly consists of 
  wealthy sons not directly due inheritance of their family businesses or 
  holdings, and are known to be particularly corrupt. While the military 
  could be called to arms to defend the city and nation in time of need, 
  their dedication is highly questionable. Any defense of the city is certain 
  to focus on protecting the Noble Quarter.
  BOTTOMBOROUGH, CITY OF
  BOTTOMBOROUGH, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lord Roese Bloodsight
  Government: dictatorship
  Population: 38,348 (21,280 Foerdewaith, 15,450 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 133 half-elf, 127 mountain dwarf, 63 gnome, 879 
  human mixed ethnicity slaves, 245 half-orc slaves, 148 orc 
  slaves, 23 high elf slaves)
  Languages: Common, Gnome, Dwarven, Elven, Orc
  Resources: foodstuffs, manufactured goods, timber, trade hub
  Technology Level: Medieval
  While some large cities boast a long, deep, complicated history, 
  Bottomborough is a recent city, a relatively new addition to the 
  landscape. Built from a small village on the banks of the Nadi River 
  into a bustling city, Bottomborough beneﬁ ts by being far enough from 
  the sea to avoid storm damage yet close enough to the Eldevere Forest 
  and rich ﬁ eld lands to have dependable, steady resources. Although now 
  close to 100 years old, the city grew so fast (and is still growing) that 
  there is no real city planning; shops, craftsmen, taverns, inns, gambling 
  halls, and even guard posts and government buildings are randomly 
  strewn about on curving, complicated roads and alleys.
  Broad wood walls surround the city, while thick stone walls protect 
  Noble Row on the western edge of the city. Gates to the main city 
  are monitored; individuals may enter as they please, but wagons are 
  inspected for items that might need to be taxed. Gates to Noble Row, 
  where the wealthiest merchants and noblemen maintain their mansions, 
  are guarded and patrolled, and only select individuals and laborers with 
  the correct papers are allowed to pass those gates. Roese Bloodsight 
  rules Bottomborough, as well as Oakhall and Overlook to the north in 
  the Eldevere Forest, with an iron ﬁ st. Guards and militia overseeing the 
  city report to him, and he treats them as his own personal guard.
  Nearby resources make this an ideal place for craftsman to ply their 
  trade so long as they are careful not to anger any of the upper class. 
  The real reason for Bottomborough’s growth, however, lies in its darker 
  nature. Anything can be bought here for a price. Almost all business 
  activities and other transactions are legal, though also regulated and taxed. 
  Gambling, prostitution, and even slavery are all legal here. It is rumored 
  that the city hosts the headquarters of an assassin’s guild that is licensed 
  by Roese Bloodsight himself. The ofﬁ cial laws of the Principality of 
  Olduvar outlaw many of these activities, particularly the slave trade, but 
  in Bottomborough, money and wealth create their own laws.
  While Roese is an elected leader chosen by the noblemen of the city, 
  he acquired his power through blackmail, extortion, and sheer physical 
  force through control of the city’s guardsmen and militia. He maintains 
  his position the same way, and is broadly disliked, but his ﬁ rm control 
  of the militia and the guardsmen is something that other noblemen and 
  merchants can’t break. The fact that almost all of the noblemen and 
  wealthy merchants of the city beneﬁ t somehow by the lax laws helps 
  cement his power.
  LOAGWATER, CITY OF
  LOAGWATER, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lady Karyn Greenheart
  Government: dictatorship
  Population: 24,896 (15,240 Foerdewaith, 7,552 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 1,724 halﬂ ing, 167 gnome, 98 high elf, 86 half-elf, 29 
  mountain dwarf)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Gnome, Dwarven, Elven
  Resources: gems, foodstuffs, timber
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Loagwater sits at the mouth of the Nadi River, its city wall surrounding 
  a collection of stone and wood buildings on both banks of the river. The 
  docks, while not extensive compared to other major harbors, see steady 
  trafﬁ c of ﬁ shing and merchant vessels. As the Nadi isn’t navigable for 
  much of its length, goods brought to or from Loagwater mainly travel 
  by small caravans on the road to Bottomborough or by ﬂ at-bottomed 
  barges. Other than a few taverns and inns near the docks, Loagwater 
  maintains few amenities in spite of the merchant trafﬁ c.
  The northern section of the city includes a massive tower surrounded 
  by large, ornate homes separated by exquisite gardens. Tall stone walls 
  separate the homes of the nobility from the barracks and other buildings 
  of the city. While this area has no ofﬁ cial name, most of the common 
  residents call it Noble Row and consider it off limits to travelers. The 
  wealthy here control the docks, the ﬁ shing along the nearby coastline, 
  and the gold, silver, and gem mines in the nearby Briar Hills. The 
  inland ﬁ elds where cotton, wheat, and other crops are grown are also 
  controlled by the nobility, many of whom also own massive plantation-
  style homes outside the city. The Greenheart family controls many of 
  the richest mines, and the resulting wealth is the source of Lady Karyn 
  Greenheart’s dominance over the city and the surrounding countryside.
  Loagwater’s domain includes the northern portion of the Briar Hills 
  claimed by Olduvar, the lands about the Nadi River about halfway to 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |191
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  Bottomborough, and the southern end of the Eldevere Forest, including 
  Newmire. Loagwater also claims dominion over the Low Country and 
  the Dale, but as there is little there of value, the nobles of Loagwater 
  ignore it, and the halﬂ ings who live there largely return the favor.
  On the surface, Loagwater appears brighter and friendlier than 
  other cities and major villages in Olduvar. The common people here 
  are well fed and in good spirits, but this appearance is deceiving. Lady 
  Greenheart dominates virtually all aspects of Loagwater, including the 
  other noble houses that have businesses here. Her inﬂ uence among the 
  nobility and wealthy merchant class extends throughout the kingdom 
  due to an extensive network of spies that helps her maintain information 
  about all of the other major power players in Olduvar. She is not above 
  blackmail or even assassination to maintain her power.
  Lady Greenheart maintains a close relationship with Adoril Longstaff 
  of Newmire, but hates and despises Roese Bloodsight of Bottomborough, 
  particularly the darker businesses there. She does not have the inﬂ uence 
  to do more than keep Roese in check.
  NEWMIRE, CITY OF
  NEWMIRE, CITY OF
  Ruler: Master Adoril Longstaff
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 19,305 (9,350 Foerdewaith, 8,490 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 1,214 halﬂ ing, 98 half-elf, 76 half-orc, 54 orc [dock-
  working slaves], 23 high elf)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Orc, Elven
  Religion: Hecate (secret, see below)
  Resources: gold, silver, gems, foodstuffs, ﬁ shing, trade hub
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Newmire is built upon a modest hill overlooking the Eldevere Forest 
  to the north and the ﬁ elds down to the Nadi valley to the south. Thick 
  stone walls surrounding elegant stone buildings occupy a small portion 
  of the city to the south, while the rest of the city, protected by a tall 
  wooden palisade, consists of sturdy, but fairly nondescript, wooden 
  buildings. Although the wooden structures of the main city are solid and 
  well-constructed, no effort has been made to decorate or paint the homes 
  and buildings there. On the other hand, the ornate buildings behind the 
  stone walls are clearly planned with artistry in mind and without any 
  care for the cost of the construction or the materials used.
  The main buildings here are constructed from lumber harvested from 
  the nearby Eldevere Forest with stone reserved for walls and buildings 
  of the nobles. Newmire’s wealth is derived from farming along the forest 
  margins and logging within the forest itself. Several valuable types of 
  wood can be found in the southern reaches of the Eldevere, particularly 
  a dark cherry wood excellent for furniture and small craftwork.
  Master Adoril Longstaff, a wizard of some renown and power, lives here 
  in a home beside his imposing tower. An egotistical, driven man, he rules 
  Newmire and the surrounding area by virtue of his magical might and the 
  fear it induces in the rest of the nobility. The local nobility fully supports him, 
  believing that they have no real choice in the matter. His rule of Newmire 
  is merely a task that helps him support his quest for greater magical power 
  and knowledge. Adoril acts as a sworn supporter of Lady Karyn Greenheart, 
  mostly because she can blackmail him over his worship of Hecate and his 
  penchant for sacriﬁ cing innocents to demons in exchange for knowledge. 
  The guardsmen of the town answer solely to Master Longstaff, with 
  any arrests or judgments decided directly by him. If someone is accused 
  of a crime when he is not in town, they are held in jail until his return.
  The other nobility of Olduvar prefer to ignore Adoril in part because he 
  ignores their activities, leaving those things happening outside Newmire 
  without interference. Combined with his magical activities, his lack of 
  interference with others keeps him safe from the machinations of most 
  of the other noble families.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Master Adoril Longstaff keeps a private altar to Hecate but is also 
  open to, and investigating, worship of certain other demon lords in 
  an effort to increase his power. While he does not openly declare his 
  worship, he does prevent the building of any other temples or altars 
  within the city limits using the ofﬁ cial excuse that he doesn’t want to 
  favor any particular religion.
  OAKHALL, VILLAGE OF
  OAKHALL, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: Kohavier Wolfbane
  Government: military (special)
  Population: 3,476 (2,140 human mixed ethnicity, 988 
  Foerdewaith, 321 high elf, 27 half-elf)
  Languages: Common, Elven
  Resources: herbs, timber, spices
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Massive oaks stand like evenly-spaced pillars throughout the conﬁ nes 
  of Oakhall. Houses and cottages have been built at the foot of many of 
  these massive trees, with additional homes built into the branches above. 
  It is clear that the massive trees were planted in a speciﬁ c spacing and 
  orientation for a reason, but that reason, and those who did the planting, 
  have long since faded into history.
  Oakhall once was a thriving community closely in tune with the forest 
  and provided timber, herbs, spices, and medicinal plants for trade with 
  nearby cities. Roese Bloodsight had difﬁ culties convincing the town 
  leaders to increase their production of timber for his growing city and, 
  after some frustrations, brought in a small army to conquer Oakhall and 
  place it more ﬁ rmly under his control. The residents are forced to log 
  and gather herbs and spices simply for Bottomborough to use and trade. 
  Kohavier Wolfbane acts as the mayor of Oakhall but is, in reality, the 
  leader of the extensive militia stationed here to ensure the cooperation 
  of the villagers. The village is maintained under strict martial law, and 
  guardsmen have the power to demand pretty much anything they desire. 
  Those villagers with the means to do so ﬂ ed Oakhall, leaving behind 
  those with few options or who are unable to leave for whatever reason. 
  OVERLOOK, VILLAGE OF
  OVERLOOK, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: Waeira Steelsong
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 2,883 (920 human mixed ethnicity, 860 
  Foerdewaith, 525 gnome, 380 wild elf, 198 half-elf) 
  Languages: Common, Gnome, Elven
  Religion: Solanus
  Resources: silver, timber, herbs
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Rising to form a small hill, the land on which Overlook was built 
  allows a view of much of Eldevere Forest, if one is willing to climb 
  high enough into one of the trees. The trees here grow in a wild pattern, 
  completely unlike the carefully planted trees of Oakhall. Cottages dot 
  the area, as do small, burrow-like homes belonging to some of the 
  gnomes that live here. A small wooden palisade surrounds the majority 
  of the homes, but there is little in the way of an organized defense. A 
  simple, ancient temple to Solanus is managed by a traveling cleric who 
  saw it in a dream and came here to serve the people of the area. 
  In addition to logging the sturdy oaks of Eldevere Forest, Overlook 
  is also home to several small silver mines owned and run by the 
  Steelsong family that also controls the village. The gnomish miners get 
  along well with the other residents and provide steady, fair leadership. 
  Waeira Steelsong and her son Khorin do not like Roese Bloodsight or 
  the activities in Bottomborough, but they do not have enough wealth 
  or military might to do anything about it. They give him their support 
  and send their goods through Bottomborough (though they have little 
  choice). One small act of resistance they perform is to support refugees 
  from Oakhall by providing them work in the forest as they can.
  Wilder and, somehow, more primitive, the forest here frightens the 
  guardsmen in Roese’s employ, so Overlook is largely free of their 
  predation. Villagers do not wander too far into the forest because the 
  deeper woods are home to a group of highly xenophobic druids. So far, 
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  the druids have kept to themselves and not interfered with the logging 
  in this area. Waeira is wary of the threat the druids and the forest might 
  carry but also the threat of being conquered the way Oakhall was, so 
  she does her best to provide trade goods as needed to Bottomborough 
  to avoid any conﬂ ict.
  TRATAI, CITY OF
  TRATAI, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lady Agacia Crossthain
  Government: feudalism
  Population: 30,536 (18,920 Foerdewaith, 10,420 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 1,056 halﬂ ing, 97 half-elf, 27 mountain dwarf, 16 
  high elf)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Dwarven, Elven
  Religion: Freya, Demogorgon (secretly, see text)
  Resources: cotton, grain, timber, trade hub
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Rolling hills covered with ﬁ elds of corn, wheat, barley, cotton and 
  other crops surround the city of Tratai, which is spread across the top of 
  a wide, ﬂ at hill. The city stands on the main trade road between the Free 
  City of Brookmere to the south and Mose and the heartland of Olduvar to 
  the north. Crumbling stone walls and structures on the outskirts of Tratai 
  hint of a larger city in the past. Many of the buildings here are ancient 
  and reminiscent of some of the old structures found in Brookmere. 
  Newer buildings stand atop ancient stone foundations and crumbling 
  catacombs. The larger streets are well-maintained cobblestone, while 
  smaller alleys and side streets are simply dirt or gravel.
  The outer walls of the city are only indifferently maintained, though 
  guard patrols man the towers and walk the tops of the walls, alert to any 
  potential attack from the nearby Harwood Forest. The central portion 
  of the city is also walled, these being tall, broad, well-maintained, and 
  constructed of heavy stones clearly cut and dressed by dwarven masons. 
  The wealthy nobility of Tratai live in almost palatial mansions on the 
  northern side of the city. Militia and guardsmen are quartered in clean, 
  comfortable barracks scattered along the city walls. Laborers and the 
  poor are generally relegated to poorly maintained buildings that receive 
  little or no services from the city. The poor here are truly poor, and often 
  desperate, but the militia and ruling nobility show little or no mercy to 
  the lower classes. Due to the imposition of high tariffs (both ofﬁ cial and 
  unofﬁ cial), few merchants or artisans choose to live in Tratai, so there is 
  little of a middle class in the city.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  A small, ancient shrine to Freya stands just outside the outer walls 
  of Tratai. While it has no active clergy, local women spend a great 
  deal of time cleaning and maintaining the shrine either in hopes the 
  goddess will bless them with a child or in thanks for children they have. 
  Lady Agacia Crossthain is a bitter woman who lost all her children 
  and grandchildren to accidents, disease, or violence. She turned to 
  worshipping Demogorgon in secrecy. Several of her top assistants and 
  advisors also worship Demogorgon, but their celebrations and rituals 
  are kept very quiet and private.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Produce from all of the nearby farms is routed through the city and all 
  wood from logging in the Harwood Forest is expected to pass through 
  Tratai. A combination of heavy tariffs and a high markup sees most of 
  the money made here going straight to the nobility and city coffers. 
  Ofﬁ cially, there are no tariffs on goods that are simply passing through 
  Tratai, but the simple reality is that there are always small “fees” to be 
  paid when passing through the gates or simply parking wagons in the 
  city. There is little in the way of skilled craftsmen in the city as most of 
  them were driven away long ago by the heavy burden of tariffs and the 
  constant corruption of the guardsmen. Those few who remain work for 
  one of the noble families. Cotton, wheat, rye, and corn are the main cash 
  crops here. While these don’t sound exciting to some, the volume of 
  produce from the nearby farms is enough to bring in substantial wealth.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Although in theory elected as mayor by the nobles in Tratai, Lady 
  Agacia Crossthain maintains her position through a combination 
  of blackmail and simple raw power. Frankly disliked by most of the 
  region’s nobility, she is tolerated as a “necessary evil” because few 
  would want to spend the amount of energy it requires for her to remain 
  in power, and many fear the disclosure of the information she possesses 
  on their family businesses. She exchanges some information with Lady 
  Karyn Greenheart when it beneﬁ ts her. Both women distrust each other 
  but have different enough business interests and goals that they are 
  willing to work together toward their own ends.
  Guardsmen and government ofﬁ cials are under the strict control of 
  Lady Crossthain. Judges, prosecutors, and guardsmen are all easily 
  bribed, although Lady Crossthain is the ﬁ nal arbiter of any court 
  decisions that involve a capital crime, crimes between nobility, or civil 
  disagreements between nobility. Her decisions are considered ﬁ nal. The 
  local nobility control all of the business operations here, whether it is 
  stables, inns, farms, or warehouses.
  WESTFORT, KEEP OF
  WESTFORT, KEEP OF
  Ruler: Commander Argo Shalls
  Government: military
  Population: 3,211 (2,750 Foerdewaith, 433 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 21 high elf, 18 half-elf)
  Languages: Common
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Westfort is a stone keep built on an island in the Nadi River about 30 
  miles south of where it emerges from the Wytch Bog. The northernmost 
  outpost of Olduvar, the keep is garrisoned to protect against incursions 
  from the bog or the mountains, and to provide a staging point should 
  the principality decide to invade the Barony of Baile or lands beyond. 
  It refuses all trade with Baile, relying solely on supplies sent up the 
  Nadi or overland from Mose. Commander Argo Shalls maintains strict 
  discipline among his troops and ensures the readiness of a mustering 
  ﬁ eld off the east bank of the river, large enough for an enormous army. 
  He is, however, under strict orders not to do anything to provoke Baile 
  or the Iron Kingdom. As a result, travelers who might involve his troops 
  in any way will not ﬁ nd much succor here, no matter the peril they might 
  ﬁ nd themselves in.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: MARSHES OF MALICE
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN 
  THE PRINCIPALITY OF OLDUVAR
  THE PRINCIPALITY OF OLDUVAR
  BLOODSTONE MOUNTAINS
  BLOODSTONE MOUNTAINS
  The Bloodstones are a small range of low, weathered mounts, other 
  than the dual-peaked Mount Bloodstone, dark red and jagged, that rises 
  to an elevation of 15,000 feet. These mountains tend to be avoided by 
  most folk, as inhabitants of the peaks include stone giants, wyverns, at 
  least one roc, and a tribe of yetis in the highest altitudes.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: FGG1 FANE OF THE FALLEN
  BRIAR HILLS
  BRIAR HILLS
  South of the Nadi River, near where it empties into the Crescent 
  Sea, the Briar Hills run from the coast to the feet of the Bloodstone 
  Mountains to the east. The Principality of Olduvar claims the entirety of 
  these hills, but maintains a presence only in the northern section close to 
  the river where their gold, silver, and gem mines can be found. On the 
  south, the town of Briarwatch also mines iron ore but claims little of the 
  highlands. Lightly forested, the Briar Hills are surprisingly difﬁ cult to 
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  traverse, with the tall grasses covering rocks, ravines, and steep slopes. 
  Caves dot the landscape, some being the habitations of humanoids and 
  other monsters that make this area home.
  THE DALE
  THE DALE
  The Dale is a low valley between the eaves of the Eldevere Forest and 
  a small line of hills that separates it from the coastal plain of the Low 
  Country. Many halﬂ ings call the Dale home and live in small clusters 
  of homes burrowed into the hillsides. They have no settlements of any 
  size and no real government, and band together only when some threat 
  appears that requires collective action (which has not happened in 
  living memory). They live in peace with the nearby forest, though they 
  seldom venture far into its depths. The druids of Eldevere discourage 
  any exploration, and the halﬂ ings are happy to stay in the valley and 
  grow their gardens.
  When tax collectors from Loagwater ride through, the halﬂ ings 
  usually collect what is necessary to pay them off. They do not worry 
  about how much actually arrives in Loagwater, as opposed to remaining 
  in the pockets of the collectors. Otherwise, the purported rule of Olduvar 
  has little effect on the rustic folk of the Dale.
  ELDEVERE FOREST
  ELDEVERE FOREST
  Tall oaks and sturdy maple trees predominate here, with some beech 
  and birch trees and, in the southern portion of the forest, black cherry. 
  The forest ﬂ oor is often covered with a wide variety of undergrowth that 
  provides edible and poisonous berries. Parts of the forest are logged and 
  harvested, but the central northeastern portion of the forest east of the 
  Dale is home to an ancient circle of elven druids. Their purpose there is 
  unknown, as they do not talk with travelers except to warn them out of 
  this region of the forest. They are extremely hostile to anyone not heeding 
  their warnings, and attack if a second warning is ignored. Anyone trying 
  to meet with them or talk to them is simply ignored. They refuse to grant 
  safe passage through this part of the forest, even to other druids.
  THE LOW COUNTRY
  THE LOW COUNTRY
  The Low Country is a ﬂ at plain rising from the Crescent Sea coast to 
  a line of inland hills and green ﬁ elds interspersed with briny marshland. 
  There are no good locations for a port along the shore, so this area has 
  never been settled in any material way. On the ﬁ elds above the lowlands 
  are clusters of small, colorful homes, inhabited by halﬂ ings who know 
  where plants can grow.
  The halﬂ ings tend to avoid the marshy lowlands of the Low Country, 
  which are too soft to support buildings and too salty to permit anything 
  to grow other than marsh grasses, which wave in the coastal breeze 
  and conceal numerous dangerous sinkholes, pits, and areas of watery, 
  loose mud and dirt that act like quicksand to the unwary. Because of the 
  dangers of the marsh, the halﬂ ings of the Low Country are generally left 
  alone, even by Olduvarian tax collectors.
  NADI RIVER
  NADI RIVER
  Stretching from the base of the Blackrock Mountains to the Crescent 
  Sea, the Nadi River winds through the Principality of Olduvar and 
  provides water for the rich farmland near its banks. Narrow and very 
  fast moving for most of its length, the river is hazardous to boaters and 
  not very useful for trying to move goods due to areas of dangerous, 
  rocky rapids. Only between Bottomborough and Loagwater is the river 
  navigable, and even there, only by ﬂ at-bottomed boats. Bony pike and 
  other ﬁ shes found in the river are not particularly ﬂ avorful, so there is 
  little ﬁ shing.
  UPLAND VALE
  UPLAND VALE
  While the Worntooth Peaks are claimed by the Kingdom of the Vast, 
  Olduvar maintains that it possesses the hills south of the mountains 
  known as Upland Vale. However, Upland Vale is also claimed by a large 
  tribe of stone giants that call the region home and take any incursions 
  by “lesser” races as an insult to be is met with immediate attack. Past 
  leaders of Olduvar have led campaigns to rid Upland Vale of the giants 
  and goblinoid races found there, only to be met with costly defeat.
  BROOKMERE, FREE CITY OF
  BROOKMERE, FREE CITY OF
  Ruler: Lord Thorbold
  Government: limited democracy
  Population: 21,022 (10,030 Foerdewaith, 7,335 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 2,130 high elf, 680 halﬂ ing, 365 hill dwarf, 215 
  gnome, 132 half-elf, 105 half-orc, 30 orc)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Gnome, Dwarven
  Religion: Freya, Muir, Mitra, Thyr, Mick O’Delving, Dwerfater, 
  Dre’uain the Lame
  Resources: foodstuffs, livestock, manufactured goods, magical 
  resources, trade hub, silver, spices, spirits
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Governed with a motto of “High Walls but Open Gates,” the Free 
  City of Brookmere controls the trade routes between Mose in the north, 
  Bridgeport in the west on the Crescent Sea coast, and other points south. 
  Massive stone walls wind their way around the ancient city and provide 
  sturdy protection against any attacks. Although ancient in origins, 
  the walls are carefully maintained as the protection they afford allow 
  Brookmere to maintain its status as a free city. 
  Brookmere itself is a bewildering collection of old and new stone 
  structures mixed with wood-frame buildings and a collection of tree-lined 
  parks and avenues. Taverns, inns, and gambling houses line the main 
  trade routes as they enter and exit the city while street vendors are found 
  on every major (and some minor) thoroughfare. The skilled observer can 
  easily determine that the walls of the city and some of the oldest buildings 
  within are the sturdiest structures here, likely of dwarven construction. 
  With generally pleasant temperatures, attractive surroundings and lenient 
  laws, Brookmere is a favored stop for merchants.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Unbeknownst to any but a few learned sages, Brookmere’s ancient 
  foundations stretch through thousands of years of history and predate 
  the formation of the Hyperborean Empire, let alone its expansion. First 
  built in a deep forest, the original city was constructed from rock and 
  stone pulled up through the earth using dark blood magic and ritual 
  sacriﬁ ces by a coven of elves seeking a connection to the darker gods 
  and demons of creation. Eventually, other elven tribes joined together to 
  destroy the city and the coven of dark elves, either killing or driving its 
  inhabitants away. The walls and buildings were razed, leaving behind 
  nothing but rubble.
  The location was rediscovered centuries later, and another city was 
  built using the stone left behind from the ﬁ rst. While the design of 
  the new city was advanced, considering drainage and the springs of 
  fresh, cold water, it was eventually overrun by creatures of the forest, 
  potentially at the instigation of druids, and the population was forced to 
  move out. It was another thousand years before tribal hunters discovered 
  the stone walls and eventually moved to settle in, and still more time 
  before a clan of dwarves driven from their homes by the Hyperborean 
  invasions to the east came to settle here as well. These dwarves took it 
  upon themselves to build and enhance the walls and buildings in the 
  hopes of avoiding being driven from this new home as well. Some of 
  these designs and creations have lasted to the modern day and protect a 
  city that predates nearly every settlement in the region. While most of 
  those dwarves eventually moved on, some dwarven families still make 
  their home here.
  Heavy logging by the inhabitants of Brookmere eventually stripped 
  much of the surrounding area, most of which was given over to wide 
  ﬁ elds growing a variety of crops and a number of orchards producing a 
  vast array of different types of fruit.
  When the Kingdom of Foere expanded and conquered both nearby 
  and distant lands, Brookmere did fall along with all the rest, but the 
  
  194|
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  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  repeated revolts of the Principality of Olduvar kept Brookmere isolated 
  from the main kingdom and largely forgotten. As the Foerdewaith Wars 
  of Succession raged, Brookmere was largely forgotten, unimportant to 
  the needs of the Kingdom of Foere. The departure of the Foerdewaith, 
  however, has allowed the growth of a number of tribes of orcs and 
  goblins within the light forests nearby, further isolating Brookmere from 
  its neighbors.
  In recent years, the efforts needed to combat the humanoids moving 
  into the region, while largely successful, began to drain the city’s coffers 
  to the point that Lord Thorbold realized it wasn’t sustainable. He has 
  turned to diplomacy in an effort to set his potential adversaries against 
  each other. To this end, he entered into a treaty with the Irontooth Clan 
  of orcs and some other humanoids that reside in some of the light forests 
  nearby. While the treaty is viewed poorly by some, most realize that the 
  city has little choice. 
  While Brookmere spends a great deal on its defense, its strong walls 
  and defenses cannot protect the farmlands outside the city walls. The 
  presence of one of the few open schools of magic, and the knowledge that 
  wizards training within are involved in the defense of the city, provides 
  additional incentive for their neighbors to leave Brookmere in peace.
  Most of the human population here is of Foerdewaith descent. There is 
  a fairly large population of elves for a city of this size, and a number of 
  dwarves make their home here, descendants of those who built many of 
  the city’s walls and buildings. These dwarves are considered “clanless” 
  and looked down on by other dwarves, which keeps them isolated from 
  other dwarven communities. A small contingent of gnomes that migrated 
  here several decades ago has become important in the mining of gems 
  as well as the crafting of jewelry and other works of art. Recent peaceful 
  relations with the Irontooth Clan have seen orcs and half-orcs move into 
  the city, where they are largely accepted or at least left alone in peace.
  Citizens of Brookmere are generally outgoing and friendly and accept 
  others for who they are. The philosophy here is that if your activities 
  don’t harm or prevent mine, then you are free to do whatever you please.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Brookmere has no declared religious afﬁ liation, and, at least ofﬁ cially, 
  allows and welcomes individuals of all faiths. Construction of temples 
  and altars requires city approval and permits as well as a yearly tax. At 
  present, small temples to Freya, Thyr, and Muir exist.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Brookmere focuses on protecting the nearby farmlands and several 
  small silver mines that help support the city. Trade trafﬁ c is not 
  extensive, but continuous enough to continue to support the city and 
  its slow growth. Thriving orchards, vineyards, and farmlands lie to the 
  south of the main city walls, all producing bountiful harvests for trade 
  and support of the city. Craftsmen here are among the most skilled in the 
  Lost Lands and produce reﬁ ned, expensive goods for trade.
  Boosting its importance, the Free City of Brookmere is one of 
  few cities to openly house a school of magic, which gives it greater 
  importance in the area and helps maintain its status as a free city. Wizards 
  from the school are directly tasked with defending the city in the event 
  of any sort of attack and provide additional aid in the construction and 
  maintenance of its defenses.
  LOYALTY AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTY AND DIPLOMACY
  As a declared Free City, Brookmere has had some difﬁ culties with 
  the Principality of Olduvar and the Kingdom of Foere which both, at 
  different times in history, controlled the city and its environs. Olduvar 
  used to attack as often as once a decade but it is presently too self-
  involved with its own intrigues to pose an active threat.
  Briarwatch, Bridgeport, and Kindler’s Bell have all declared a form 
  of allegiance to Brookmere, more in an effort to protect themselves 
  from the predations of Olduvar than for any true loyalty. Whether or not 
  Brookmere would truly come to the defense of these small towns and 
  villages remains an unanswered question. There have been no attacks 
  and, while treaties have been signed, no taxes are collected on them by 
  Brookmere. The reality is that they are of little economic or military 
  importance and are geographically difﬁ cult to get to.
  Brookmere adheres to few laws, and city leaders allow most activities 
  so long as they are taxed and controlled in a way that beneﬁ ts the city 
  and its leading families. Those in charge recognize that their status as a 
  free city is grounded partly on their distance from major nations as well 
  as their impressive defenses. They have no desire to pique the interest 
  or rage of larger and more powerful nations, so they avoid any extreme 
  tariffs or activities that might reduce the trade trafﬁ c that makes its way 
  through the city.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The major guild leaders of the city elect a town-commander, who at 
  this point is Lord Thorbold. He has formed an advisory council with 
  leaders of several guilds and organizations including the Merchant Guild 
  (Guildmaster Shokri), Crafters’ Guild (Lady Jian Fodril), the captain of 
  the guard (Captain Dal White), and the headmaster of the Brookmere 
  Wizard’s College (Lady Aerlyn). Brookmere maintains stability by 
  keeping its militia and city walls strong and by keeping taxes and tariffs 
  low. Leadership changes only when leaders of the four main institutions 
  change. The past 50 years have seen stable and peaceful changes in the 
  city leadership, which help maintain a strong city. 
  The laws of Brookmere are lax. Most drugs, prostitution, and even 
  slavery are legal here, although actual trade in slaves is frowned upon. 
  Simply put, physical attacks against others are illegal, except in the 
  case of self-defense, and almost everything else is legal. Nevertheless, 
  the city is relatively peaceful and considered safe for most travelers. 
  A single court system handles all civil disagreements and criminal 
  complaints. Decisions can be appealed to the town-commander, but he 
  usually lets the court decisions stand.
  The ancient foundations here conceal a vast network of catacombs 
  dating back to the elven creators of the ﬁ rst city to stand here. Those 
  who know of the catacombs whisper that they lead to larger, deeper 
  networks of caverns stretching far beneath the surface. City leaders 
  are, quite honestly, frightened of the possibility of what might lurk in 
  those catacombs and caverns so all entrances are kept sealed. Any time 
  a collapse or construction reveals a new opening, it is promptly ﬁ lled 
  in, and guards watch over it until it is forgotten. Although not discussed 
  ofﬁ cially, anyone found attempting to enter the catacombs or creating an 
  opening to them is immediately arrested and brought before city leaders 
  for punishment.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The military consists of the general militia under General Reid 
  Coldstone, and the city guard under Captain Lizette Raintree. Both 
  groups work together to defend the city and the surrounding farms 
  and mines. The general militia includes highly-trained infantry and 
  artillery (ballistae and trebuchet) and man the defensive walls of 
  the city as well as making continuing patrols of the surrounding 
  areas. The city guard takes care of all policing of the city, including 
  monitoring the gates, protecting valued clients and businesses, and 
  investigating crimes. The city guard also assists in the defense of the 
  city under the orders of the militia. General Coldstone has a detailed 
  knowledge of the powers and abilities of the most powerful mages in 
  the Brookmere Wizard’s College and is able to call upon them in the 
  event the city is attacked.
  BROOKMERE WIZARD’S COLLEGE
  BROOKMERE WIZARD’S COLLEGE
  One of the few openly declared schools of magic in the Lost Lands, 
  the Brookmere Wizard’s College possesses an extensive library and a 
  few powerful mages, but, in truth, most of the students here possess 
  little skill and are often children of wealthy families sent to learn control 
  over their meager powers and to bring some enhanced reputation to 
  their family. Students here are required to take oaths of allegiance to the 
  school, which, in turn, swears to aid the city when needed. While some 
  of the students are not powerful enough to ﬁ nd apprenticeship with 
  more powerful mages, the number of students here makes the school a 
  formidable addition to the protection of the city as a whole. Lady Aerlyn 
  presently controls the school and its faculty.
  Rumors about Archmage Hariodolbus and the school that he began 
  more than 2,000 years ago abound. Possessing magical knowledge 
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  and abilities far beyond any normal mage, he is said to have founded 
  the school here as a way to spread his knowledge and to help other 
  mages discover their true powers. Truth, as in many cases, is darker and 
  stranger than the stories that are now told. Archmage Hariodolbus was 
  beholden to a demon for the powers he was given and needed to sacriﬁ ce 
  someone of magical talent once each year to maintain his powers and 
  keep the demon at bay. The school was started simply to collect likely 
  candidates so the archmage could ﬁ nd one that wouldn’t be missed. Few 
  know the truth behind the school, but the building itself contains many 
  secret rooms, some tainted with dark and evil magic.
  BROOKMERE LIBRARY
  BROOKMERE LIBRARY
  Originally constructed by Archmage Hariodolbus at the same time 
  as the Wizard’s College, the Brookmere Library is famous throughout 
  nearby lands as one of the ﬁ nest repositories of knowledge in the Lost 
  Lands. In existence now for more than 2,000, the library contains and 
  protects an extensive collection of ancient texts, including various 
  scrolls and tapestries from ancient times. The head of the library, who 
  is known only as the Loremaster, personally decides who may see the 
  rarest and most valuable texts, but other parts of the library are open to 
  visitors. Many sages make pilgrimages to Brookmere simply to visit and 
  study in the Brookmere Library.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: FGG1 FANE OF THE FALLEN
  BRIARWATCH, TOWN OF
  BRIARWATCH, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Elder Eimhar Powel
  Government: limited democracy 
  Population: 1,377 (840 Foerdewaith, 457 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 47 half-elf, 33 mountain dwarf)
  Languages: Common, Dwarven
  Religion: Solanus
  Resources: livestock (goats, sheep), iron ore, grain
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Once nothing more than a small village of goat and sheep herders 
  in the Briar Hills south of the Nadi River near the Crescent Sea, 
  Briarwatch is growing. Iron ore found in the nearby hills has attracted 
  the investment of the Jouril family, a major iron smelter in the Free 
  City of Brookmere. The family brought in supplies and materials, built 
  barracks-style buildings for their miners, and has gone out of their way 
  to support the present village leadership. The village does not produce 
  enough food for all of the new miners, so the Jourils import additional 
  food that is sold to the miners at cost. Raw iron ore is taken by caravan 
  to the Free City of Brookmere once a week.
  Presently, Briarwatch is run by a council of original inhabitants 
  who have reached the age of 60, and who elect one of their own to 
  act as the elder of the village. The miners are still considered visitors 
  and do not have a say in government. There are so many miners now 
  that the villagers are afraid of being overrun. There is no town watch 
  other than some guards hired by the Jouril family to protect the mines 
  and shipments of ore. All herdsmen are expected to rise to the defense 
  of the village and the herds when needed. However, the inﬂ ux of new 
  people has Elder Eimhar Powel considering asking some of the sturdier 
  herdsmen and experienced hunters to act as a regular guard for the 
  village. He intends to charge the Jouril family a tax to support this, but 
  has yet to act on the plan.
  BRIDGEPORT, CITY OF
  BRIDGEPORT, CITY OF
  Rulers: Baron Goron Ulien
  Government: Limited Democracy
  Population: 38,400 (21,200 Foerdewaith, 9,425 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 3,820 halﬂ ing, 1,890 mountain dwarf, 1,210 high elf, 
  370 gnome, 265 half-elf, 135 half-orc, 85 other)
  Languages: Common, Elven, Gnome, Dwarven, Halﬂ ing
  Religion: Belon the Wise, Sefagreth, Quell, Muir
  Resources: agriculture, trade, shipbuilding, shipbuilding 
  supplies, livestock, banking
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Modest fortiﬁ cations and stone buildings hover over the rocky 
  shoreline here, protecting the piers and docks that are the lifeblood 
  of Bridgeport. Most of the shoreline stretching from the Falconmere 
  Peninsula up to the Worntooth Peaks can’t support the large structures 
  needed to form a good harbor as the shoreline varies from high and 
  rocky to soft and swampy. Bridgeport is the closest safe port for large 
  merchant vessels arriving through the Strait of Praeis and, of course, the 
  last safe port before departing the Crescent Sea, which provides it with 
  very heavy shipping and merchant trafﬁ c that the city does its best to 
  support and encourage.
  For more about Bridgeport, see Sea King’s Malice from Frog God Games.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Like many of the areas nearby, Bridgeport was once under the 
  control of the Kingdom of Foere but that control fell away during 
  the Foerdewaith Wars of Succession. The separation from Foere by 
  Olduvar and the presence of nearby Brookmere help keep Bridgeport 
  independent. Most of the citizens are human residents of Foerdewaith 
  descent, but there is also a signiﬁ cant population of halﬂ ing craftsmen 
  and a number of dwarves that migrated here from Brookmere years ago. 
  A healthy mix of other races can be found here as well; Bridgeport sees 
  enough merchant trafﬁ c through its harbor that visitors occasionally 
  decide to stop here and take up residence.
  The foundations here are deep and ancient. As one of the few areas 
  able to support a sizable harbor along this stretch of coastline, there has 
  been a city of some type at this place for thousands of years. Warfare, 
  piracy, and even massive storms have changed the shape and form of 
  the city over time, as well as its residents, but this location is ideal 
  for traders and merchants, so even in the face of catastrophe the city 
  has always been rebuilt. The present structures have stood for several 
  centuries but the ﬂ ooded catacombs beneath the city are from a distant, 
  unrecorded past.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  All religions are welcomed here as the city’s leaders do not want to 
  alienate any merchants or traders. The Temple District is inland from 
  the Trademoot and contains many temples, some grand and others quite 
  humble. The leading among these are temples to Sefagreth (trade), 
  Quell (the sea), and Belon the Wise. A temple to Muir is smaller and has 
  fewer devotees. The Green Father is also worshipped here with a well-
  maintained temple and altar.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Trade is the lifeblood of Bridgeport. Whether it is agricultural goods 
  traveling to the port to be transported out or goods from the ships docking 
  here meant to be sent inland, most of the city is devoted to attracting and 
  keeping merchant trafﬁ c passing through. After agriculture, ﬁ shing and 
  ship building and repair are the next largest contributors to the city’s 
  coffers, with various smaller guilds following closely behind.
  While shipping and trade are certainly the primary concerns of 
  Bridgeport, running a not-so-distant second is farming. The entire 
  region is known for its large plantations. These farms fan out inland 
  around Bridgeport and line the trade way to Brookmere. A semi-tropical 
  climate, fertile ground, and easy access to distant and eager markets 
  make this region an agricultural hotbed. While there are farms that raise 
  livestock, the vast majority of the plantations in the region produce cash 
  crops, with the most signiﬁ cant being allspice, ﬁ gs, cotton, gold melon, 
  maize, millet, olives, oranges, and turnips.
  Another of Bridgeport’s primary features is that it boasts one of the 
  few true shipyards on the Crescent Sea. Shipwrights here are capable 
  of building craft of almost any size and capability, and the shipyard can 
  also perform repairs on damaged boats. The one drawback is that the 
  yard is small enough that only one large ship can be built at a time, and 
  each ship takes a considerable amount of construction time.
  
  196|
  196|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  Three major trade houses are in Bridgeport: Risen Star, The Tamil 
  Group, and Zephyr Assimilated, which is also the largest. These three 
  concerns, and others, are responsible for shipping the local agricultural 
  products abroad as well as inland. They then return with a vast array 
  of goods from far-ﬂ ung points in the Lost Lands to sell locally in 
  Bridgeport or the surrounding cities.
  A robust guild presence supports the seafaring trades and ship 
  construction as well as a variety of inns, casinos, and brothels. Banking 
  services provided by the Rising Sun Coinhouse are recognized 
  throughout many of the major trade cities in the Lost Lands.  
  The busiest part of the city is the Trademoot. Close to the docks, the 
  Trademoot is a combination open-air market and auction arena. Locals 
  sell their wares and produce in booths while the open-air auction house 
  is where all manner of things are sold. Most of the inﬂ uential guilds and 
  ﬁ nest shops in Bridgeport surround the Trademoot.
  LOYALTY AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTY AND DIPLOMACY
  Bridgeport has a mutual defense treaty with the Free City of 
  Brookmere, but, in truth, it would expect any attack against it to come 
  from the sea, making the treaty of little beneﬁ t. Trade agreements with 
  the City-State of Castorhage, Brookmere, the Kingdom of the North 
  Heath, and even distant Reme help maintain trade trafﬁ c through the 
  city. No present agreements are in place with the Tycho Free States, but 
  there is considerable trade trafﬁ c with merchant vessels from the far side 
  of the Crescent Sea.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Bridgeport is a barony, but not exactly in the classic sense. While the 
  baron is the nominal ruler of Bridgeport, he is advised by a council of city 
  leaders called the Seven who are the heads of powerful and inﬂ uential 
  families residing in Bridgeport. Most of the members of the Seven are 
  either from one of the major merchant houses or are plantation owners, 
  the two biggest industries in Bridgeport (trade and farming). The baron 
  of Bridgeport is thus more of a mayor working with the advice and 
  consent of the Seven than a sovereign ruler.
  The baron serves an indeﬁ nite term, one basically determined by the 
  conﬁ dence and support of the Seven. This means the baron is forced to 
  consider his supporters in all the decisions he makes. Goron Ulien has 
  made it his goal to become as important as possible to the livelihood 
  of the Free City of Brookmere as he believes it can only enhance and 
  protect Bridgeport’s status. Lax laws and reasonable tariffs ensure that a 
  great deal of trade runs through Bridgeport, but without the support of a 
  larger city or nation-state, the baron and others of the local elite believe 
  their chances of growing larger are limited.
  A well-armed and organized militia enforces the law, but these laws are 
  designed to encourage trade and visitors, not to turn them away. While the 
  actual trade in slaves is outlawed, ownership and use of slaves is fairly 
  common, especially on the surrounding plantations. Import laws with 
  respect to drugs and other items are equally friendly. There is a single 
  court system in town managed by judges picked by the baron, usually 
  with the approval of various city leaders. Corruption in the courts is 
  common, and wealthy patrons have little to fear in the court system.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The militia here is ofﬁ cially under the control of Colonel Girese 
  Longcoat, who commands the guardsmen of the city. While the militia is 
  not very large, it is well-trained, which makes their defensive positions 
  formidable in the event of an attack. Most of the work of the militia 
  comes in the form of acting as guardsmen policing the city for violent 
  crimes. Bridgeport also has a small but effective navy of one galley 
  and three longships under the command of Captain Coral White that 
  patrols the waters just outside the harbor and periodically makes rounds 
  to watch over active ﬁ shermen and whalers.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Baron Ulien and the city leaders believe that Bridgeport’s major 
  threat comes in its dependence on trade. So the city makes a concerted 
  effort to encourage more skilled craftsmen to come to the city and hopes 
  to encourage the proliferation of its already robust agricultural sector.
  KINDLER’S BELL, VILLAGE OF
  KINDLER’S BELL, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: Sister Nin
  Government: theocracy
  Population: 1,657 (910 Foerdewaith, 605 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 87 halﬂ ing, 55 half-elf)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing
  Religion: Ninkasi (Goddess of Beer and Desire)
  Resources: ﬁ shing, grain, foodstuffs
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Ramshackle buildings sprawl randomly across these rocky hills 
  clinging to the coast of the Crescent Sea. While some are clean, tidy, 
  and painted with bright colors, the majority of the homes and buildings 
  are in poor repair, with many evincing obvious storm damage. The vast 
  majority of those living inside the village earn their livelihood ﬁ shing 
  the Crescent Sea. The shallow rocky waters of the small harbor are 
  unsuitable for larger vessels, and only smaller ﬁ shing boats can really 
  dock here. Periodically, larger ships anchor farther out and send boats 
  in to trade, usually for fresh water and dried ﬁ sh, but there is little in the 
  way of active commerce.
  Villagers live under the philosophy, “Work Hard, Play Harder.” The 
  center of the village is taken up by a wide, well-tended square before a 
  small temple to Ninkasi, Goddess of Beer and Desire. On all Akados, 
  only two clerics venerate this almost-forgotten goddess, and both serve 
  at this temple. Every evening, the square hosts a party where ﬁ sh are 
  cooked on open ﬁ res and other foods are brought in from nearby homes. 
  The clerics provide their blessing, and the eating, drinking, and revelry 
  begin. Outsiders are welcome to join in; those who bring additional food 
  or beverages even more so. 
  The nearby farmlands grow wheat and other grains and send their 
  produce into the village as offerings. The farmers come into town many 
  nights to also enjoy the festivities. The village and nearby farms exist 
  seemingly in a microcosm, too small and out of the way for others to be 
  concerned with, and too consumed with its constant revelry and signs of 
  faith to the obscure goddess who protects them to wish to bother with the 
  outside world. Most of the food and ﬁ sh is consumed during the nightly 
  parties, but some ﬁ sh is smoked and dried to provide lasting rations.
  Sister Nin, as the senior cleric, is the unquestioned ruler of the village. 
  Sister Asi, the junior cleric, is her second-in-command. Both women 
  are exceptionally beautiful and charismatic and use their magic to 
  aid villagers in need. The daily revelry is part of the worship of their 
  goddess that the villagers are happy to participate in. In turn, the clerics 
  provide ale and other items with their spells, as well as healing to those 
  devout villagers who might require it. The clerics protect the villagers 
  in times of powerful storms; in turn, the villagers hold true to the faith 
  and worship of Ninkasi.
  CASTORHAGE AND ITS DEPENDENCIES
  CASTORHAGE AND ITS DEPENDENCIES
  CITY-STATE OF CASTORHAGE
  CITY-STATE OF CASTORHAGE
  Capital: Castorhage 
  Notable Settlements: Tarry 
  Ruler: Her Royal Highness Queen Alice and three crown 
  justices 
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 4,800,000 (3,216,000 human various ethnicity; 
  241,000 mongrelfolk; 239,000 ratfolk; 192,000 gnome; 192,000 
  dwarf; 144,000 half-elf; 96,000 goblinoid; 72,000 half-orc; 
  62,400 briny; 57,600 orc; 48,000 elf; 240,000 other including 
  halﬂ ing, swyne, tengu, inphidian, tabaxi, grippli, ghazaks, 
  dhampir, and vishkanyas)
  Monstrous: too numerous to mention
  Languages: Common, along with most other languages found in 
  the Lost Lands
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|197
  |197
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  Religion: Mother Grace, Mammon, Lord Shingles, Sister 
  Shadows, Mithras, Geryon, Lucifer, Baphomet, Brine, the 
  Green Father, Demoriel
  Resources: trade hub, manufactured goods, banking, coal, 
  pitch, cotton, cloth, spices, whale oil, spirits (beer, liquors), 
  ironwork, shipbuilding, tin, alchemical reagents, glass, 
  alchemy, magical resources, breeding (dogs, warhorses)
  Currency: Castorhage, mixed
  Technology Level: Renaissance
  The City-State of Castorhage is a shadowy and storied land with a 
  deep, dark history stretching back thousands of years. Predominantly 
  made up of the city of Castorhage, the city-state includes colonies in 
  Between as well as the more conventional city of Tarry that provides 
  a port for Castorhage on the mainland. Any listener hearing the name 
  thinks of the city as a nation, for the city alone is larger than most nations, 
  and certainly more powerful than all but the greatest. Known to most 
  simply as “the Blight,” Castorhage has many other names, including the 
  Canker, the Rot, City of Secrets and Lies, City of Golems, and for many, 
  simply the City. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The isle upon which Castorhage sits has a history longer and deeper 
  than even modern scholars know, with settlements stretching back more 
  than 12,000 years, a history too deep to enter into here. What is known 
  to scholars at this point is that the city-state’s early formation began 
  5,000 years ago with the rise of the Hyperborean Empire, during which 
  Strategos Oleus Castorhage was granted the right to establish and rule 
  the island province of Insula Lymossus. As the military governor, Oleus 
  established Citadel Castorhage, which overlooks the Great Lyme River. 
  The Castorhagi family ruled as faithful stewards of the Hyperborean 
  Empire for more than 1,700 years, during which time they built a 
  successful city on the banks of the estuary. This ended when a mysterious 
  stranger known as the Eburnean Oracle found the ear of Demos 
  Castorhage and eventually convinced him to declare independence from 
  the Hyperborean Empire and title himself King Demos Castorhage I. 
  Within a decade, skirmishes with Hyperborean forces grew into the 
  Eleventy Years war. The war went poorly for Castorhage, until ﬁ nally 
  the Borxia, Tredici, Nightshade, and Castorhage families established the 
  First Illuminati and called upon the archdevil Caasimolar to intercede on 
  their behalf. With the archdevil’s help, an agreement was made whereby 
  hostilities ceased and the city-state would retain its independence, but 
  the Castorhage family had to pass the crown to the Borxia family.
  The Borxia family ruled for 222 years before the Castorhage family 
  regained the throne, which it has now held for 1,500 consecutive years, 
  excepting a trio of short periods when non-Castorhagi queens were on 
  the throne. Castorhagi rule has brought the city-state into the modern 
  era through the collapse of the Hyperborean Empire as well as the 
  growth of Foere and numerous challenges along the way. The greatest, 
  and possibly most dangerous, was the discovery of the Between. This 
  strange echo-land that can be reached through special mirror-portals 
  provided a different way for Castorhage to expand and an entirely new 
  set of resources to exploit. Most of the true colonies and expansion of 
  Castorhage is now in the Between, which has had a variety of effects on 
  the city-state.
  Castorhage has made discoveries and breakthroughs in a variety of 
  areas that some might ﬁ nd disturbing and even immoral, including the 
  science of creating golems and planar binding. If other nations knew the 
  scope of some of the experiments taking place within Castorhage, they 
  might wish to put an end to it, but would also fear the consequences if 
  they attempted to do so.
  The citizens of Castorhage are a mix of races and creatures not seen 
  elsewhere, including ratfolk, mongrelfolk, as well as creatures unique 
  to Castorhage itself. The simple hustle and bustle of the city is full of 
  people from distant lands who came here and stayed, sometimes even 
  by choice. The City-State of Castorhage is a dynamic, changing nation, 
  largely concentrated in its main city, yet spread out into the Between and 
  in small colonies that represent its interests throughout the Lost Lands. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Castorhage’s trade relationships are so vast that it is sometimes 
  easier to list those nations it doesn’t trade with. Presently, Castorhage 
  enjoys open and free trade relations with the Aizanes-Tulita Islands, 
  the Free City of Brookmere, the city-states of the Buntesveldt, the 
  free city of Endhome, the Elitan-i-Pan Confederation of the Haunted 
  Steppes, the cities of the Domain of Hawkmoon, the Kingdom 
  of Khemit, the Southern Libynosi Paramountcies, the City of 
  Mulstabha, Port Shaw and other colonial settlements of the Razor 
  Coast, the City of Trinidar, the Kingdom of the North Heath, the 
  Kingdom of the Vast, and the Xha’en Hegemony. Nations and cities 
  with somewhat more cautious trade agreements include Bard’s Gate, 
  the Kingdom of Foere, Gtsang Prefecture, the Huun Imperium, the 
  Empire of Oceanus, the grey elves of Sarefein, the native Tulita of 
  the Razor Sea, the Tycho Free States, the Kingdom of Helcynngae, 
  and the Grand Duchy of Reme.
  Castorhage has also settled colonies around the world, including 
  on the Bream Islands near the Xha’en Hegemony and on Libynos. 
  Many of those colonies’ neighbors view Castorhage with distrust and 
  trepidation. The Empire of Alcaldar and the Pirate Confederacy of the 
  eastern Razor Sea are examples of two nations that not only don’t 
  have good trade relations with Castorhage but are openly hostile to 
  its interests.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The City-State of Castorhage enjoys a close and friendly relationship 
  with the Kingdom of the North Heath and the Kingdom of the Vast, 
  with somewhat more tenuous relationships with the Grand Duchy of 
  Reme, the Kingdom of Foere and the Tycho Free States. While North 
  Heath and Vast feel a particular loyalty to Castorhage for its part in 
  negotiating the end of the wars for their independence from Foere, 
  keeping those nations free and independent was a tactical move on 
  the part of Castorhage. The independence of those nations allows 
  Castorhage to focus on its own problem with fewer concerns about 
  Foere or Reme.
  The simple truth of Castorhage is that it is not known for getting along 
  well with others; it has always been more concerned about itself and its 
  own problems than with anyone else.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Ofﬁ cially, Her Royal Highness Queen Alice is the ruler of the City-
  State of Castorhage with nine-year-old Princess Alicia “The Little 
  Queen” her chosen heir. The simple truth is that Queen Alice is merely a 
  puppet for the crown justices who are the true rulers of Castorhage. The 
  three crown justices, known as the Illuminati Triad by those who serve 
  them, covertly control all matters of the city-state. The queen is kept 
  under control by the alchemy used to keep her upright.
  The simple, and somewhat disturbing, fact is that almost every 
  element of the government is actively plotting to move higher through 
  the sabotage, destruction, and even outright murder of those above 
  them. Thirteen justices oversee speciﬁ c aspects of city law or municipal 
  governance while the under-justices beneath them actively plot against 
  others as well as the justice they serve. Each under-justice is the chief 
  jurist of a city district with absolute power in their district and can only 
  be overruled by a member of the royal family. Judicares are minor 
  judges who handle court and criminal cases beneath the notice of an 
  under-justice. Streetclerks provide legal aid and other services for the 
  under-justice and sometimes ﬁ ll in for them when they don’t feel like 
  hearing a case. Underclerks assist streetclerks. Each of these wants to 
  move upward through the ranks, and how they accomplish that feat is 
  of little concern. 
  The maze of constant betrayal, spying, and deceit that makes up 
  the government of Castorhage is perhaps a saving grace for the rest 
  of the world. If not for these constant distractions and the continuing 
  exploration of the Between, the city-state might turn its eyes outward 
  toward the rest of the world.
  
  198|
  198|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Although the City-State of Castorhage is unwalled and maintains a 
  standing army within the city numbering only 17,000, Castorhage has 
  seemingly grown too big to fall to external invasion. The stinking Lych 
  Fen surrounding the city is only one deterrent; it is the sheer press of 
  humanity calling the city home that gives pause to any thought of a 
  military invasion. A greater danger would be a blockade that let the city 
  starve, but its powerful naval ﬂ eet makes such an endeavor simply an 
  exercise of thought.
  The Royal Army is estimated to have more than 100,000 colonial 
  auxiliaries stationed throughout its possessions worldwide. Such troops 
  are trained in their native land but then moved to other possessions to 
  prevent any chance of an armed uprising in their homeland. Ofﬁ cially, 
  the Royal Navy is part of the army and makes up approximately a 
  quarter of its troops. The navy possesses a ﬂ eet of 57 ships of war, some 
  of which are of the most modern design and abilities of any in the world.
  The Watch (known as Ofﬁ cers of the Watch or the Queen’s Men) 
  numbers just over 2,100 and is somehow expected to patrol and prevent 
  crime in a city of millions. In essence, the Watch worries only about 
  major threats to the city or to its most important personages, and ignores 
  most other crime as minor enough to be handled by others. Poorly paid 
  and monitored, bribery of members of the Watch is considered more a 
  standard than a surprise.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Much could be said of the threats the city faces simply because of the 
  Between, but the City-State of Castorhage’s greatest threat is itself. The 
  inﬁ ghting and competition between various elements of the city royalty, 
  government, and secret organizations is the most consistent threat to 
  Castorhage. A nation this powerful, with this many resources, magic, 
  and technology at its disposal can only be brought down by itself. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE
  The City-State of Castorhage is full of adventure opportunities, 
  whether it is exploring the Between, getting caught up in the intrigues of 
  the cults or city leaders, battling against (or for) the Illuminati, working 
  with the guilds, or getting involved in the politics of the city. Danger lies 
  just a few steps forward in the streets and alleyways of the Blight, but 
  the stalwart adventurer should be warned that this is no ordinary place 
  and those steps forward could change them forever.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE BLIGHT
  CASTORHAGE
  CASTORHAGE
  Ruler: Her Royal Highness Queen Alice and three crown 
  justices 
  Government: hereditary monarchy
  Population: 3,284,990 (2,200,950 human various ethnicity; 
  164,250 mongrelfolk; 164,250 ratfolk; 131,400 gnome; 131,400 
  dwarf; 98,550 half-elf; 65,700 goblinoid; 49,275 half-orc; 42,705 
  briny; 39,420 orc; 32,840 elf; 164,250 other including halﬂ ing, 
  swyne, tengu, inphidian, tabaxi, grippli, ghazaks, dhampir, 
  and vishkanyas)
  Castorhage is both city and nation. While the city-state includes 
  colonies throughout the known Lost Lands and the Between, in truth 
  Castorhage is the city-state. It is a city of excess, deceit, lies, and 
  desperation in which any object can be found, any item acquired, and 
  any sin committed. Each of the districts of Castorhage is as large, or 
  larger, than all but the greatest of cities in the Lost Lands, and each has 
  its own ﬂ avor, its own twist on the Blight that consumes and, really, 
  becomes this whole place.
  This is merely a taste of the rot, decay, and opulence that is the Blight. 
  The following brief description of the districts in Castorhage are just 
  a quick glance, a sideways look from the corner of one’s eye, and ill-
  equipped to encompass the true majesty, and horror, of the Blight.
  THE CAPITOL
  THE CAPITOL
  Seventeen centuries of labor and the lives of more than 10,000 
  workers brought to life the dreams of hundreds of architects, politicians, 
  and kings in the form of the Capitol. A thousand buildings crushed into 
  one, it rises as a single building imposing itself upon the entire city. This 
  is the home of Queen Alice, the royal family, the crown justices, and 
  the 13 justices who assist them. Servants of all types serve here, as do 
  countless clerks and other ofﬁ cials. Deceit, lies, and betrayal command 
  here, as they do throughout the city, but here they are unequalled, 
  existing on a scale only the most twisted mind could encompass.
  THE ARTISTS’ QUARTER
  THE ARTISTS’ QUARTER
  At the heart of the city, the Artist’s Quarter provides home to artists 
  practicing a thousand different forms of performing and traditional arts. 
  The district is fractured with artists gathering by disciplines, with streets 
  of puppet-makers running to alleys of glassblowers stretching toward 
  courtyards of paint makers. Lurking in the shadows here are the fetch, 
  whose vampire elders are drawn to the waking nightlife, the Triads 
  of the Xha’en and Gtsang immigrants, and the rebels and anarchists. 
  Between these powerful groups and the various artists struggling for 
  fame and glory, the Artists’ Quarter is a hotbed of anarchy, intrigue, 
  plots, blackmail, and deceit.
  THE BARNACLES AND GREAT DOCK
  THE BARNACLES AND GREAT DOCK
  Built upon various levels of tunnels that link in turn to the outer 
  buildings, this large island town is a dizzying stack of buildings rising 
  from the ocean. Hundreds of buildings are variously tied, nailed, or 
  bolted to the precarious cliff faces hovering over jagged rocks below. 
  Tunnels weave through the rock, and a vast array of bridges links to 
  a wall of warehouses, buildings, cranes, and ferries that serve ships 
  docked here. 
  BOOKTOWN
  BOOKTOWN
  Tall buildings and towers linked by bridges, gangplanks, rope bridges, 
  and ladders create echoing canyons that smell of old books and ink. 
  BookTown is a repository for tomes and grimoires of all types, maps, 
  arcana and all manner of written works. Merchants, wizards, and even 
  creatures from distant planes ﬁ nd their way here in search of knowledge. 
  BookTown is home to the Seminary, home to the greatest universities 
  and academies clinging to the foot of the Capitol. 
  Knowledge has its price, and in Castorhage, almost everyone is willing 
  to pay that price, particularly those in power. The Seminary is a center 
  of experimentation where the ﬁ rst breach into the Between occurred and 
  where the ﬁ rst alchymic undead were raised, and now provides a home 
  for countless other horriﬁ c, dangerous experiments. 
  While the Seminary has its own special type of fame, the most hated 
  parish in the city lies in BookTown. The City of Golems found here is 
  home to an area of cottage universities and charnel houses providing 
  alchemists and physikers free range, and an endless supply of bodies, 
  to experiment upon. 
  FESTIVAL AND THE GREAT FAYRE
  FESTIVAL AND THE GREAT FAYRE
  Festival is a huge timber pier in the Lyme River built around a squat 
  gray hill. Ruled by the Rat Queen, this is a metropolis of wererats and 
  hidden lycanthropy. Rising some 200 feet through steep streets called 
  the Skew to the Great Fayre at the summit, Festival is a shamble of 
  buildings built upon buildings, groaning and threatening to collapse at 
  any moment. Half of Festival is covered with the Crimson Lantern, the 
  town’s prostitution district where the darkest of excesses can be enjoyed.
  THE GREAT LYME RIVER (SISTER LYME)
  THE GREAT LYME RIVER (SISTER LYME)
  The foul waters of Sister Lyme cut through the heart of the city, 
  keeping at bay the districts behind its docks and warehouses, yet 
  somehow touching upon them all with its fetid stain. It is a place of false 
  islands, smuggling, piracy, murder, and any who wish to cloak their 
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  deeds in shadowy darkness. Somehow there is life here; sough-eels and 
  slop-sharks are just a few of the many creatures hungrily watching those 
  above. A fall into these tainted waters is a sure death sentence.
  Adding to the river’s dark stench is the Bilges, the answer to the 
  city’s sewer problem. Nicknamed both “Stinktown” and the “City of 
  Perfume,” the Bilges is about the lowest a person can ﬁ nd themselves in 
  the city. All of the unwanted rubbish of the city comes here to die and 
  decay in one of the islands of waste. The decay creates a stench unlike 
  any other, a concentrated form of rot that causes the islands of refuse to 
  shift, move, and seemingly change form with a life of their own.
  The Gyre also ﬁ nds home in the river, a town of ﬂ otsam and jetsam 
  that should not hold together, yet somehow does. Its ability to support 
  a settlement complete with buildings, boardwalk streets, and piers is 
  unbelievable. It is one more of the impossible wonders of Sister Lyme 
  that is both interesting and yet disturbing to behold.
  THE HOLLOW AND BROKEN HILLS
  THE HOLLOW AND BROKEN HILLS
  Tree-lined avenues and parks, cliffs, inlets and temples and places 
  of worship ﬁ ll the splintered land here. Miracles happen among the 
  temples, grottoes, and altars. Sanctuary, home of the master of the 
  church in Castorhage, stands here, as do various vast holes that have 
  come to replace some of the churches that were once here before. 
  Powerful clerics, bishops, archbishops and holy fathers rule this part 
  of the city, but don’t be fooled, their lust for power and propensity for 
  intrigue and duplicity runs as high as anywhere else in the city.
  THE JUMBLE
  THE JUMBLE
  Known as the Cat’s Cradle, the Madness, the Maze, the City of 
  Thieves, and a few less-kind names, the Jumble is a vast, confusing 
  maze of streets rising upward and outward in a vague, pale mockery of 
  the Capitol itself. It is a place to get lost or to seek a richer life, a home to 
  a variety of thieves and villains, as well as those simply trying to escape 
  something. The Jumble has its own markets and laws. Vigilantes walk 
  the streets at night, but foul things still easily ﬁ nd a home here.
  Claiming to be the greatest market in the world, the Bazaar sits beside 
  and within the Jumble. It is a thousand streets ﬁ lled with countless 
  shops, stalls, markets, and traders, where, purportedly, anything can be 
  found. The air here is tainted with desperation as voices call out the 
  goods they are selling and arguments can be heard echoing through the 
  maze of buildings.
  THE SINKS
  THE SINKS
  The Sinks provide a sign of Castorhage’s future. The city itself is built 
  on clay and silt deposits, the ever-increasing weight of building upon 
  building crushing those at the bottom into the ground. The Sinks began 
  as the brainchild of King Branner. Planned as a new town for artisans, 
  it was cursed from the beginning. Even as “Branner’s Folly” was being 
  built, it was sinking into the soft ground. What remains today is a twisted 
  wreckage of leaning walls, broken battlements, and haunting arched 
  bridges over canals that range between a few feet deep and seemingly 
  bottomless. The Sinks are disturbing for visitors, the view inducing ﬁ ts of 
  vertigo and dizziness, but the disowned nobility making their homes here 
  think of it as an elite domain. This is a home for true exiles, those who 
  have committed crimes beyond what is normal in the rest of Castorhage.
  THE ASYLUM
  THE ASYLUM
  Only in Castorhage would there be an area larger than most cities 
  dedicated to nothing more than hiding the less-fortunate. This walled 
  off area of the city has its own laws and even its own currency. The 
  walls and buildings are secured such that there is only one single huge 
  doorway in or out. The inmates here are left to rot; once cast into the 
  Asylum, no one ever leaves.
  TOILTOWN (EAST ENDING)
  TOILTOWN (EAST ENDING)
  Whether one calls it the East, East Ending, or the State of Sweat, 
  Toiltown is hated by everyone, even the overseers and managers 
  who run the endless manufactories and sweatshops, workhouses, and 
  underground mills. The lowest castes of the city live here amid the 
  dizzying array of unnamed streets and slums. Life is cheap here. East 
  Ending has an unenviable history of murder, there being several every 
  night. Beneath even this dark surface lies a darker trade in slavery, and 
  worse, because anything can be bought here.
  Hanging from East Ending near the Great Docks is Boattown. While 
  there are other boattowns throughout the Blight, this ﬁ xed group of 
  piers, riverboats, and planks carries the name like a banner. Halﬂ ing 
  families control this, the nastiest of boattowns, where ﬁ sherman rub 
  shoulders with briny and murder costs but a few coins, if that.
  TOWN BRIDGE
  TOWN BRIDGE
  Town Bridge takes advantage of curious laws that do not recognize 
  the bridge as part of the city. Lodgings and traders on the bridge escape 
  taxation. As a result, Town Bridge is a mass of trade and humanity 
  crushed into the space between the Great East Bridge Gate and the Royal 
  West Bridge Gate. Shacks can be lashed onto the side of a building or 
  simply hung out over the edge of the bridge itself. Buildings here stretch 
  upward and outward over the Lyme River.
  UNDERNEATH
  UNDERNEATH
  The Underneath is everything below the city, and it is vast and deep. 
  Made up of caves, ﬁ ssures, and ancient buildings that have sunk beneath 
  the ground, the Underneath touches every part of the city, and, in truth, 
  threatens it with the possibility of collapse. Streets and buildings have 
  been known to disappear into massive sinkholes as the caves and 
  openings below lose their integrity and fall in themselves. The city just 
  ﬁ lls in and builds over these holes, as progress must be made.
  PEOPLE
  PEOPLE
  Castorhage is a clearinghouse for the unwanted, a stopping point for 
  travelers, and a waypoint for wanderers. The Blight taints everyone 
  living here over time until they become a part of the city in a way no 
  other city bleeds into its people. Humans of every type found in the 
  Lost Lands reside here, as do dwarves, elves, halﬂ ings, and all the other 
  races. They are joined by coprophagi (roach people), briny, ratfolk, 
  mongrelfolk, all manner of undead, dragons (though they usually hide 
  their form), night slugs, swyne, tabaxi and many others who call the 
  Blight home. If an intelligent creature exists on this or any other plane, 
  it most likely can be found somewhere in Castorhage.
  TARRY, CITY OF
  TARRY, CITY OF
  Ruler: Duke Talmas Odrecky, Lord of the Damps
  Government: feudal colony of the City-State of Castorhage
  Population: 38,762 (30,235 human various ethnicity; 1,550 
  gnome; 1,500 mountain dwarf; 1,162 half-elf; 458 half-orc; 
  387 high elf; 3,470 other including halﬂ ing, briny, ratfolk, 
  mongrelfolk, swyne, tengu, inphidian, and tabaxi)
  Languages: Common, Gnome, Dwarven, Elven, Infernal
  Religion: Mother Grace, Mammon, Lord Shingles, Sister 
  Shadows, Mithras, Geryon, Lucifer, Baphomet, Brine, The 
  Green Father, Demoriel
  Resources: trade hub, manufactured goods, coal, pitch, cotton, 
  cloth, whale oil, spirits (beer, liquors), alchemical reagents, 
  alchemy, magical resources
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Tall stone buildings stand out along the shoreline, hovering above the 
  docks extending out into the Crescent Sea. Tarry is one of the few areas 
  along the eastern shoreline of the Crescent Sea suitable for larger docks and 
  ships, so, in spite of other drawbacks to the waters in this area, Tarry has 
  stood here in some form for thousands of years. The ancient foundations 
  beneath some of the buildings have sunk deep into the soft earth, and are 
  now ﬁ lled with mud, silt, and water and almost impossible to explore. 
  
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  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  Taverns, inns, joy houses, and supply houses surround a broad square 
  at the foot of the docks where ships and caravan wagons exchange goods 
  before heading out on their journeys. Opulent mansions overlook the 
  docks and ocean from hills located away from and above the shoreline. 
  The rest of the city feels as if it was simply tacked together, a random 
  assortment of buildings with mixed purposes held together by hope, 
  luck, and, in some cases, dark impulses. Some of the creatures found 
  here shock visitors, as they are rarely seen anywhere but Castorhage. 
  These creatures are just one more reminder that this is now a part of the 
  City-State of Castorhage.
  Annexed from the Duchy of Kear after the defeat of the Singed 
  Man, Tarry provides the City-State of Castorhage with a port on the 
  coast of Akados, a needed trading site that allows merchants to send 
  their goods throughout the continent. Virtually any goods can be found 
  here, as can most services, if one is able to pay the price. The lax 
  laws and even more haphazard enforcement found in Castorhage have 
  spread to Tarry like a looming cancer. Deaths at night are generally 
  ruled accidental; apparently falling and accidently cutting one’s own 
  throat is a regular occurrence.
  The seas around Tarry are shallow and silty, and the area is known for 
  the oil and sludge seeping from the seabed. The oil seep creates an oily, 
  sludgy area of ocean known as the Damps. Workers from Tarry collect 
  the oily sludge and use it to make pitch, asphalt, tar, alchemist’s ﬁ re, and 
  a variety of other things. 
  Duke Talmas Odrecky runs Tarry in the name of the queen and maintains 
  its docks and its status as trade hub while focusing on the magical resources 
  the Damps provide. He is also in charge of the mysterious Preterhouse, a 
  well-guarded site on a small island in the Damps. Preterhouse is rumored 
  to be the site of experiments conducted by the government of Castorhage 
  that are deemed too dangerous to be performed in the city. Considering the 
  experiments performed in the city, it is difﬁ cult to imagine experiments 
  horriﬁ c enough to be considered so dangerous.
  THE SOUTHERN COAST OF AKADOS
  THE SOUTHERN COAST OF AKADOS
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE 
  SOUTHERN COAST OF AKADOS
  SOUTHERN COAST OF AKADOS
  DARKHOLLOW, CITY OF
  DARKHOLLOW, CITY OF
  Ruler: Triela Redbough, Jorak Mural, Drogo Coldburrow
  Government: oligarchy
  Population: 8,630 (2,762 human mixed ethnicity, 2,630 halﬂ ing, 
  2,538 high elf, 478 half-elf, 192 gnome, 17 mountain dwarf, 13 
  half-orc)
  Languages: Common, Elven, Halﬂ ing, Gnome, Dwarven
  Resources: herbs, spices, rare woods, woodwork
  Currency: Foere, mixed
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Deep in the Harwood Forest a tall wooden palisade surrounds a small 
  city, one built in levels with some homes nestled into the branches of 
  the larger trees, quaint brightly-painted cottages on the ground, and 
  burrow-like homes within the roots of the trees themselves. The trees 
  and canopy have been trimmed back inside the walls to allow light to 
  reach the ground where small ﬁ elds have been tilled and grow herbs, 
  ﬂ owers, and even a few crops. Halﬂ ings make up around 30% of the 
  population, with the rest of the residents split almost evenly between 
  humans and elves, with half-elves and individuals of a few other races 
  making up the difference. Most of the halﬂ ings live in underground 
  homes tucked into the roots of the trees. As one would expect, many 
  of the elven residents occupy the homes built in the upper reaches of 
  the trees, with some of the elves and a majority of the humans living 
  in the cottages.
  Most of the residents here delve into the forest during the daylight 
  hours either for hunting, logging, collecting herbs or food, and 
  in some cases seeking out gems or other rare items. Others focus 
  on woodwork or other crafts. In truth, most of the residents here 
  are simply working and living here because it is the only life they 
  have known. Others know that there are places where life would be 
  easier but choose to live here for reasons of their own. A few rare 
  individuals are hiding out to avoid being captured and charged with 
  crimes committed elsewhere.  
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Darkhollow contains a strange combination of races that came 
  together out of necessity in a bid for simple survival. Originally split into 
  encampments and villages of their own, the races were driven together 
  to form a larger, safer community by the foul predations of a coven of 
  hags. The hags would easily overrun smaller communities and use the 
  residents in their foul rituals before moving on to another small village. 
  Banding together to form a larger, organized force under the nominal 
  control of an elven ranger known as Kailee Redarrow, humans, elves, 
  and halﬂ ings managed to defeat or drive away the hags. After the hags 
  were defeated, leaders of the three groups agreed to stay together for 
  mutual protection. After more than 100 years, problems are rare, with 
  everyone working together simply to survive in the dangerous environs 
  of Harwood Forest.
  Rather than breeding a people as harsh and dangerous as the forest they 
  struggle to survive in, the hardships faced by the citizens of Darkhollow 
  have made them open to visitors and they are usually welcoming and 
  friendly. Working together ensures the continued survival of the city and 
  the people within, so most of the residents here are happy to help others 
  and expect that others will help them if they are ever in a time of need. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Only a few items from this area are actually sent from Darkhollow 
  in trade, those mainly being rare herbs and ﬁ ne, rare woods. There is 
  some trade in pelts and other items from creatures hunted in Harwood 
  Forest, but travel from Darkhollow to other cities or nations that 
  might want some of these goods is difﬁ cult and sometimes very 
  dangerous. Most of the commerce is between residents who trade 
  food for other items.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Officially, the Duchy of Mains claims Darkhollow, but 
  Darkhollow has yet to pay any tribute or taxes and nobody has ever 
  come from the duchy to collect or provide any leadership. In truth, 
  there is not enough wealth or strategic advantage to Darkhollow for 
  any nation to spend the time and effort to truly control it. Residents 
  here are fine with that situation, as they know that no large nation 
  would provide them with any real benefit while trying to drain 
  away their resources.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The original agreement forming Darkhollow declared that each 
  of the major races would choose one representative and that the city 
  would be led by those three representatives working together. Triela 
  Redbough, an elderly elven ranger, provides most of the leadership, 
  as her knowledge and wisdom are often sought out by all members 
  of the village, including Jorak Mural, a young human druid who is 
  uncomfortable with his position as a leader of the village. Drogo 
  Coldburrow provides leadership and advice to the halﬂ ings but stays 
  out of village business, only coming to meetings to ensure no decisions 
  are made against his people.
  While there are guards and sentries, they are more focused on the 
  threats from the surrounding forest than worrying about enforcing any 
  laws within the city walls. Arguments and ﬁ ghts do break out at times, 
  but these are usually solved through calm negotiation. If a crime is severe 
  enough to require prosecution, the city leaders act as judges and the 
  senior guardsman on duty acts as prosecutor. The most severe penalty is 
  banishment to the forest without clothing, supplies, or weapons. This is 
  widely considered a death penalty and is given only rarely.
  
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  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  Entirely surrounded by dangerous wilderness, Darkhollow is 
  constantly wary of the creatures of the forest. Many of its residents trek 
  into the forest daily, but very few travel far. Rumors of lost cities and 
  other treasures in Harwood Forest often draw adventurers here as a ﬁ rst 
  step toward delving deeper into the unknown.
  FARSHORE, TOWN OF
  FARSHORE, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Mayor Mourtil Rouvarche
  Government: Dictatorship (Benevolent)
  Population: 3,040 (2,540 human mixed ethnicity, 190 high elf, 
  110 halﬂ ing, 75 half-orc, 60 half-elf, 45 gnome, 20 merfolk)
  Languages: Common, Elven
  Religion: Kamien, Telophus, Mitra
  Resources: trade hub, foodstuffs, fresh water, spices, ﬁ shing
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Wood-frame buildings and wattle-and-daub structures sit on solid 
  stone foundations near the shoreline of the crescent-shaped harbor that 
  is the lifeblood of this town. Floating wooden docks extend into the 
  harbor and provide safe berths for large ships. The Barrier Islands to 
  the west make Farshore the only reasonably safe port for deep draft 
  boats and large ships to dock for food, water, and supplies when 
  traveling Oceanus between the Sinnar Ocean and the Crescent Sea. 
  While Tindledusk farther to the west can handle large ships, it doesn’t 
  encourage and welcome trade the way Farshore does, and weather and 
  conditions make Farshore an easier port of call for large vessels.
  The summer months bring extensive ship travel through the area that 
  extends into early fall. Periodic storms from late fall through spring 
  make travel dangerous for ships, however, and as a result, Farshore 
  must largely survive on the trade that takes place during the summer 
  months. During high times, there are as many as three large ships and 
  three smaller vessels (the maximum its small docks can handle) as well 
  as some ships anchored farther out. When the port is at capacity, the 
  population can be as much as 50–60% higher than normal, as ﬁ shermen 
  and craftsmen come to trade with the passing ships. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Originally little more than an island village supporting ﬁ shermen of 
  the area, Farshore grew with the advent of larger ships making long 
  journeys from the Sinnar Ocean to the Crescent Sea. Many of the 
  humans here are descendants of the original travelers from Oceander 
  who arrived thousands of years ago, while the rest are of Foerdewaith 
  descent. The few half-elves and merfolk who make their home here tend 
  to keep themselves hidden from travelers. The merfolk are those who 
  were cast out of their villages for some reason and have been welcomed 
  by Mayor Mourtil Rouvarche so long as they provide assistance 
  maintaining the harbor.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Farshore exists as a trading port, not for major items, but for the food 
  and fresh water ships require to make the long journey to and from the 
  Crescent Sea. As one of the only safe ports for large ships in this region, 
  Farshore is a destination for ﬁ shermen and fruit growers from the 
  mainland during the summer months when trade is at its highest point. 
  The tariffs charged are used to promote the village and maintain the 
  docks. Aside from the food and freshwater, pearls are also traded here as 
  A small boat sails along the southern coast of Akados.
  
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  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  some of the oysters found in the Barrier Islands provide beautiful pink 
  and white pearls. The island itself is home to a number of small farms 
  and orchards that provide additional food and spices for trade.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Mayor Mourtil Rouvarche is the unchallenged ruler of the village 
  and leader of the small militia that controls the docks and all other 
  aspects of village life. There is little crime in this small village due to 
  a combination of draconian laws and Mourtil’s support of the “true” 
  citizens of Farshore. Mourtil acts as judge and jury for any conﬂ icts 
  and has a history of always ruling in favor of his citizens. Ship captains 
  know to keep control of their sailors when on shore leave as any 
  violence against a citizen of Farshore brings about a death penalty with 
  little chance of a trial.
  While Mourtil controls much of the trade and makes a great deal of 
  money on tariffs, he puts a lot of effort into ensuring that his citizens 
  are cared for and that the village and docks are kept in good repair. 
  Mourtil is a good ruler who is well-liked by the citizens. This said, his 
  word is law and he does not tolerate anyone disputing his authority. 
  He banishes citizens who speak out against him in public but is more 
  tolerant if someone brings a complaint to him privately. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  While too out of the way for any nearby countries to try to control, 
  Farshore is important to merchant trafﬁ c. So long as trade tariffs are kept 
  reasonable, it is unlikely any nation will choose to attack or demand 
  its fealty, though if such a thing were to occur, Mourtil would likely 
  surrender quickly to avoid damage to his town. Storms, sea creatures, 
  and occasional pirate attacks (which are more easily defended) do occur, 
  and the town often has to recover from damage from such events. So far, 
  the sahuagin farther to the west pose no threat though Mourtil keeps a 
  cautious eye in that direction.
  HAMPTON HILL, TOWN OF
  HAMPTON HILL, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Mayor Strybyorn Arthand
  Government: limited democracy
  Population: 1,153 (1,027 human mixed ethnicity, 58 halﬂ ing, 
  35 high elf, 12 mountain dwarf, 11 gnome, 10 half-elf) 
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Elven, Gnome, Dwarf
  Resources: foodstuffs, luxury trade items, timber
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Framed by rolling hills and light forests, the brightly-painted cottages 
  and buildings of Hampton Hill pose a colorful contrast to the surrounding 
  area. The town and surrounding region have become a popular vacation 
  destination for the wealthy, with some families maintaining homes in 
  nearby Horrik Forest. Not only is the climate here generally pleasant, 
  the region is well-sheltered from storms and well-patrolled by guards 
  from Hampton Hill as well as private guards employed by visiting 
  nobility and merchants.
  HISTORY
  HISTORY
  Hampton Hill began centuries ago as a mining community focused 
  on pulling silver from the nearby hills to the west. After these mines 
  played out, some workers turned to nearby Horrik Forest for lumber 
  while others extended ﬁ elds away from the village. Over time, the 
  pleasant surroundings attracted visitors and travelers, particularly 
  when the region was under the ﬁ rm control of the Kingdom of Foere. 
  When powerful, wealthy families began building vacation homes in 
  nearby Horrik Forest, the area became much more secure as patrols 
  began clearing the more dangerous creatures out of the forest and 
  surrounding areas.
  Ofﬁ cially, Hampton Hill is no longer a part of Foere, nor is it a part of 
  any other kingdom at this time. Present independence is maintained in 
  part by the fact that some of the wealthy visitors to this area come from 
  Olduvar, Foere, and Vast, and it is considered to be in the best interest of 
  all of them that this vacation area remains independent. The presence of 
  Londar Brightrain, a wizard of great power and renown living in nearby 
  Horrik Forest, helps support continuing independence as well as the 
  safety of the surrounding area. Londar Brightrain’s colorful displays of 
  magic at the Fall Festival every year help draw in additional visitors at 
  that time of year.
  The presence of nobles from many different nations, however, can 
  make Hampton Hill a hotbed of rumor and intrigue. But only the 
  vilest noble would risk any action that would affect the neutrality of 
  Hampton Hill.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Although a small city, Hampton Hill does trade in some high-end 
  luxury items that would normally not be found in an area this small. 
  The demands of the wealthy visitors and travelers drives the trade in 
  these items, which is usually restricted to expensive wines, liquors, and 
  luxury food items. A variety of grains, fruits, and vegetables are grown 
  in the ﬁ elds along the rolling hills outside the city.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Mayor Strybyorn Arthand is elected by the property owners of the 
  city once every four years. He has been the mayor for some time now 
  as he has generally done a good job and the trade and taxes here help 
  support enough guards to keep the city safe. The city has no major 
  defenses against an attacking force and would certainly surrender if an 
  organized army attacked.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: G3 THE HALL OF THE RAINBOW MAGE
  LISTONSHIRE, DUCHY OF
  LISTONSHIRE, DUCHY OF
  Ruler: Roderick, Duke of Listonshire
  Capital: Castle Liston
  Government: feudal
  Population: 190,500 (95,300 Foerdewaith, 61,800 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 15,200 half-elf, 12,600 halﬂ ing, 3,100 high elf, 1,500 
  hill dwarf, 900 gnome, 120 other)
  Monstrous:  bandits, orcs, doppelgangers, goblins, worgs, dire 
  wolves, ogres, drench, trolls, korreds, wyverns, ghasts, ghouls, 
  green dragons, skulks, quicklings, hangman trees, centaurs
  Languages: Common, Elven 
  Religion: Archeillus, Solanus
  Resources: timber, iron, gemstones, foodstuffs
  Currency: Foere
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  The Duchy of Listonshire has long stood at the very southern reach 
  of the Kingdom of Foere. For generations, even before the Foerdewaith 
  Wars of Succession, the duchy functioned, for all practical purposes, as 
  an independent province, a kingdom in miniature. Separated from the 
  main part of Foere by the largely impassable Harwood Forest, few of 
  the overkings have ever felt it worth their attention. The duke paid his 
  yearly taxes to Courghais and was otherwise left to rule as he would. For 
  the most part, this proved a most equitable arrangement. Listonshire has 
  always been reasonably prosperous for its size. Its crops are healthy and 
  abundant, providing more than enough to feed the people who live here 
  with a surplus left every year for sale to other, less-fortunate territories. 
  The Edriss Mountains in the southwest have always provided adequate 
  veins of ores and repositories of gems to keep mining a worthwhile 
  (if not fabulously enriching) proposition, and the duchy’s many forests 
  provided substantial timber for use locally and sale elsewhere. 
  Of late, however, a curse seems to have come over the duchy. Over 
  the last decade, the veins in the Edriss Mountains seem to have been 
  played out, and the Greentail has become perilous, with woodsmen and 
  trappers vanishing without a trace. Odd illnesses plagued its villagers 
  and farmers. Now, those who have been spared sickness are moving 
  away to Brookmere or points farther north. Towns and villages are 
  deserted. Even the duke’s two vassals, the barons of Durneth and 
  Shrievmar, have not been spared.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K3 THE DOOM OF LISTONSHIRE
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  CASTLE LISTON
  CASTLE LISTON
  Rulers: Roderick, Duke of Listonshire
  Government: feudal
  Population: 6,700 (4,250 Foerdewaith, 1,020 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 710 half-elf, 430 halﬂ ing, 190 high elf, 60 hill dwarf, 
  30 gnome, 10 other)
  Languages: Common, Elven
  Religion: Archeillus
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Castle Liston is the home of the dukes of Listonshire. The castle is 
  surrounded by a stone curtain wall. The wall occupies seven sides of 
  an octagon, with the wide castle gate occupying the southeastern side. 
  It was built to withstand even a lengthy siege, with thick wooded doors 
  and a heavy bronze portcullis. Beyond the castle walls, a town has 
  grown, itself unwalled.
  NOVGOROD, CITY OF
  NOVGOROD, CITY OF
  Ruler: Morwenna, Queen of Novgorod, Chosen of Medhiba
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 7,310 (6,660 demonkindred; 300 demonkindred 
  slaves; 150 goblin slaves; 120 orc slaves; 80 human slaves)
  Languages: Common, Infernal
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The dark, forbidding conﬁ nes of Harwood Forest open up into the 
  streets and buildings of a massive city without any clear division or 
  preamble. Buildings twist into the boles of giant, rotting trees, while the 
  streets and alleys are carpeted with stinking moss and fungi. Novgorod 
  is a hidden, dark city, as dark as the forest around it, and the secret 
  enclave of the demonkindred banished here and cursed with mortality. 
  From a distance, the citizens might appear elven, but here, in their 
  greater numbers, the superﬁ cial resemblance is unconvincing. Though 
  their appearances vary, the small horns, long canine teeth, and predatory 
  expressions make it clear that these are no ordinary humanoids.
  The forests in the vicinity of Novgorod are ﬁ lled with many dangers 
  and ruins. Stone circles, forbidden temples, and a great crater are all said 
  to be deep in the Harwood Forest in proximity to the dark city.
  HISTORY
  HISTORY
  The Kashverai, a race of demons, served Lilith, the Demon Queen, 
  in Fortress Neë riel, her grand home in the hells. These loyal servants 
  were tempted to betray their queen, an action considered so vile by 
  this powerful goddess of chaos that she stripped the entire race of their 
  demonic powers and banished them to the material plane where they 
  were doomed to die, in time, of old age. The Kashverai did not die out, 
  however, but bred new offspring, not as powerful as their parents, but 
  still carrying the taint of demonic chaos in their bloodline.
  After battles, inﬁ ghting, and a mix of assassination and blackmail, 
  Vargoth Novgorod, an exiled elf from the realm of Caer Myrrdin in 
  Harwood Forest, took over the displaced Kashverai and, moving deeper 
  into the forest, founded the city of Novgorod, which his bloodline has 
  retained unstable control of ever since. Novgorod was founded here to 
  avoid the eye of Lilith and any other punishments she might mete out 
  on those who betrayed her. In truth, as time and generations have gone 
  on, she has all but forgotten the Kashverai, who now call themselves 
  demonkindred. If reminded of their presence and their hope to once 
  again attain full demon status, she would undoubtedly ﬁ nd some way to 
  torture and abuse them for further revenge.
  GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
  GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
  Morwenna, Queen of Novgorod, Chosen of Medhiba, is the Novgorod 
  heir presently on the throne, but her rule, while strong, is somewhat 
  tenuous. Numerous factions with varied interests in the demonkindred 
  city and the inﬁ ghting between them has resulted in assassinations, 
  murders, and outright ﬁ ghting in the streets. Some groups are aimed 
  at simply removing the Novgorod family from power, while others 
  are focused on the promises made by the demoness Medhiba to return 
  the demonkindred to true demonic form and power. Still others want 
  to ignore the demon lords and gods and simply go out to conquer the 
  world outside Harwood Forest and make it their own. Needless to 
  say, such inﬁ ghting is a blessing to the outside world, which is largely 
  unaware of the presence and threat the demonkindred could pose. If the 
  demonkindred residing here become truly uniﬁ ed behind a single leader 
  and purpose, the results for those nearby could be disastrous.
  PLACES OF INTEREST
  PLACES OF INTEREST
  Spread throughout the trees and twisted growths of this part of 
  Harwood Forest, Novgorod has several areas of note, though it would 
  take a truly bold adventurer to risk entering the demonkindred city.
  CASTLE NOVGOROD
  CASTLE NOVGOROD
  Castle Novgorod stands upon a small mountain within the forest, with 
  a single road leading to the tower guarding a bridge over a ravine into 
  the castle itself. The seat of power for the Novgorod rulers, the castle 
  is a large, well-constructed, and well-defended building that has stood 
  here since shortly after the Kashverai were banished.
  SLAVE MARKET
  SLAVE MARKET
  The demonkindred actively seek out slaves from areas near Harwood 
  Forest, as well as from among the less fortunate of their own kind. 
  Slaves are actively traded here, and a few traders make the long and 
  dangerous journey to sell humans, goblins, or orcs in the slave markets 
  in Bottomborough.
  ARENA
  ARENA
  Slaves are pitted against each other and against monstrous creatures 
  in the sands of the Arena. The moss-covered stone of the Arena walls 
  and seating are of the same type used in the construction of Castle 
  Novgorod, as the Arena was constructed at almost the same time. 
  Demonkindred wizards often cast spells into the Arena before, or even 
  during combat, adding illusions or summoned creatures to make the 
  ﬁ ghts more entertaining. 
  THE LAUGHING SKULL THEATRE
  THE LAUGHING SKULL THEATRE
  Conﬁ ned to their forest city, in part due to their own inﬁ ghting and 
  conﬂ icts, the demonkindred demand entertainment beyond that provided 
  by the Arena. The twisted, murderous plays and skits performed here 
  provide that entertainment, often along with deaths, dismemberments, 
  and outright torture of slaves as may be called for in the playwrights’ 
  scripts.
  THE MAGIC QUARTER
  THE MAGIC QUARTER
  Made up of small magic academies mixed in with the residences 
  of those studying the magical arts and various shops selling magical 
  components, the Magic Quarter trumpets its existence with bright, 
  sometimes painfully garish, ﬂ ags and banners. Spells, potions, and 
  various items can be bought here, but only by demonkindred customers.
  TEMPLES AND SHRINES
  TEMPLES AND SHRINES
  Numerous temples to Medhiba are found throughout the city, as 
  are shrines to the Demon Queen Lilith. Medhiba ﬁ nds the shrines 
  and prayers to Lilith entertaining, as she knows the Demon Queen 
  doesn’t even notice them, and that if she did, she would only visit more 
  vengeance upon the descendants of those who betrayed her.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: FGG1 FANE OF THE FALLEN
  RAVENSCAR, TOWN OF
  RAVENSCAR, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Lord Mayor Harlyth Obraiun
  Government: democracy 
  Population: 1,455 (1,150 human mixed ethnicity, 131 halﬂ ing, 
  73 half-orc, 43 gnome, 29 hill dwarf, 15 high elf, 14 half-elf)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Gnome, Dwarf, Elven
  Religion: Revered Mother
  Resources: grain, foodstuffs, livestock (sheep)
  
  204|
  204|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  A collection of quaint wood-frame buildings surrounds a town market 
  and a series of small roads heading out toward the Shroudwood and 
  various nearby farms and ranches. While there are no walls for the city, 
  a single small stone tower marks the home of Arendil, an elven wizard 
  who helps protect the town from any attack. 
  Now known as Ravenscar, the town that ﬁ rst stood here was known 
  as Castleview. The powerful wizard Taosiir constructed a castle here, 
  and, while doing so, cleared out most of the monstrous creatures and 
  other dangers in the area, which helped attract farmers to the area. 
  Those farmers needed services and a place to trade their goods, so a 
  town gradually grew up around the castle. At some point — certain 
  histories argue different times — the castle and surrounding town were 
  all but destroyed by a magical green ﬁ re that rained down on them one 
  night, leaving behind nothing but ruins. The nearby farmers rebuilt the 
  town and renamed it Ravenscar after the raven-shaped patch of burned 
  ground left behind by the calamity. 
  The burned-out ruins of Taosiir’s castle provide a beacon that attracts 
  adventurers to the area, but in truth, no treasures have been found by 
  those delving into the ruins. The villagers and local farmers stay away 
  from the castle ruins, convinced that they are haunted. Lord Mayor 
  Harlyth Obraiun is happy to attract adventurers and treasure seekers to 
  the town, mostly in the hopes of increasing the security of the town for 
  his people, but also because bandits are in the Shroudwood and he hopes 
  adventurers might solve that problem for him. The fact that he runs the 
  general supply store in Ravenscar also makes him very open to visitors.
  Villagers are happy to provide services to travelers, and even the 
  clerics at the temple of the Revered Mother certainly provide healing 
  services at a reasonable cost, but the village does most of its trade and 
  service with the nearby farmers. A few loggers go into the Shroudwood, 
  but most of the area is dependent on farming.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K2 THE DIAMOND FORTRESS
  TINDLEDUSK, TOWN OF
  TINDLEDUSK, TOWN OF
  Rulers: Hunter Whyte, Guildsman Jeet Siam, Sea Witch Ciarra 
  Quill
  Government: oligarchy
  Population: 2,580 (2,240 human mixed ethnicity, 130 halﬂ ing, 
  105 high elf, 65 half-elf, 25 half-orc, 15 orc)
  Languages: Common, Elven
  Religion: Hecate (practiced in secrecy), Mitra
  Resources: trade hub, foodstuffs, fresh water, spices, ﬁ shing
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  A natural rise in the coastline provides the small homes and buildings 
  of Tindledusk a beautiful view out over the small docks along the 
  shoreline below. Tindledusk has one of the few ports along this stretch 
  of southern coast where farmers and orchard growers can bring their 
  good for trade and sale. Most of these goods are taken by boat to 
  Farshore where there is more active trade during the summer months. 
  Boasting pleasant weather most of the year and sheltered from the worst 
  of the ocean storms, Tindledusk seems, on its surface, to be quaint and 
  attractive. However, it has never become a major destination, partly 
  because its docks have difﬁ culty handling larger ships, but largely 
  because the citizens do not welcome or encourage trade.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Tindledusk began as a village devoted to witchcraft, but the witches 
  soon learned how unwelcome their powers were as they suffered 
  numerous attacks. Safety required that they hide the presence of their 
  powers and come to agreements with the hunters, farmers, and ﬁ shermen 
  of the area. Over time, these agreements grew stronger as the witches 
  helped protect Tindledusk and the surrounding area from a variety of 
  threats coming from the Low Hills as well as from the ocean itself. 
  While Tindledusk itself does not boast a large population, an extensive 
  collection of farmers and fruit growers of the nearby inland areas call 
  it home.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The main trade here is in dried and smoked meat, and ﬁ sh, fruits, 
  and vegetables, and some pearls and a few crafts that include jewelry 
  and glasses and plates made from a variety of shells and glass. Most of 
  these goods are traded to ﬁ shermen or smaller traders that then move the 
  goods to Farshore for trade there. The witches discourage trade trafﬁ c 
  through the city, preferring traders take their goods to Farshore.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Fishermen who ﬁ sh the Barrier Islands and hunters who hunt the Mean 
  Shore and Low Hills nearby form a collective presently led by Hunter 
  Whyte. Guildsman Jeet Siam leads the few craftsmen of the village, 
  and Sea Witch Ciarra Quill is the chosen leader of the nearby coven of 
  witches that exerts the most control over the village. The witches are the 
  primary driving force in convincing the other groups to conduct their 
  trade with Farshore rather than allowing ships to dock here with the 
  potential result of an inﬂ ux of strangers. The simple truth is that Ciarra 
  Quill and the coven are the main power here, and they prefer to keep the 
  others involved in day-to-day decisions and in managing the city itself 
  so they can focus on their own activities.
  Strangers and visitors are unwelcome and viewed with suspicion. 
  The witches are a well-kept secret that help defend the village and 
  make it appear smaller and less interesting than it already is. Magic, 
  however, plays a strong role in the area, and the power of the coven 
  helps keep the sahuagin of the Barrier Islands in check. Unknown to 
  the main population, lone travelers are often captured and used by 
  the witches in blood sacriﬁ ces designed to protect the village from 
  dangerous weather.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN 
  THE SOUTHERN COAST OF AKADOS
  THE SOUTHERN COAST OF AKADOS
  BARREN FOREST
  BARREN FOREST
  See “Harwood Forest” below.
  BARRIER ISLANDS
  BARRIER ISLANDS
  These rough, rocky islands of varying sizes shelter the inner coastline 
  and stretch from Farshore to the Mouth of Akados. They vary in size, 
  with most covered in thick vegetation and populated by a large variety 
  of birds and small animals. Coral reefs around the various islands 
  somehow move through the shallow, rocky waters, their random 
  movements combining with the rough, jagged shorelines of the islands 
  to make the waters unnavigable for larger ships and deep draft boats. 
  A wide diversity of ﬁ sh and oysters are found in this area, particularly 
  near the moving reefs, but only the local ﬁ shermen from Tindledusk or 
  Farshore are willing to risk these waters in their smaller boats. These 
  ﬁ shermen take the time to study the reefs and their movements, and ﬁ nd 
  their own safe zones to ply their trade. None of these ﬁ shermen travels 
  west of the promontory south of Greentail Wood. A clan of sahuagin 
  claims the unnamed bay between the Southern Reach and the Greentail 
  Wood, and so long as no ﬁ shermen or ships impinge on their territory, 
  they make no move against areas around them. Nobody knows how 
  many sahuagin are actually in the area, but the local ﬁ shermen are afraid 
  of them and avoid their territory. So far, the sahuagin stay within the 
  bay, but the ﬁ shermen and town leaders nearby keep a wary eye on the 
  waters near Greentail Wood.
  COREDOR BELT
  COREDOR BELT
  The low marshlands stretching from Tuller along Tywyl Bay to the 
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  Low Hills are known as the Coredor Belt. Although the soil here is 
  rich, this area between Harwood Forest and the ocean ﬂ oods regularly 
  during the fall and winter storm season and remains soft and wet during 
  the summer months. While most of the soft land is unable to support 
  any large buildings, a number of small citrus orchards dot the area. 
  The farmers tending these orchards are a hardy and independent lot, 
  taking their oranges, lemons, limes, and other fruit to either Tindledusk 
  or even Tulley for trade. The fruit is in high demand for ships making 
  long journeys. But there is risk in farming these lands, as they are also a 
  haven to outlaws and others who ﬂ ed to this otherwise lawless region to 
  escape the reach of one nation or another.
  Deer, moose, elk, and other woodland creatures brave the soft land 
  to feed on the lush grasses during the spring and summer months, only 
  to retreat to the forest at the sign of predators or when storms begin 
  to strike. Dragons, drakes, and other creatures from the nearby forest 
  aggressively pursue all prey into the open marshlands and pose potential 
  problems for travelers.
  EDRISS MOUNTAINS
  EDRISS MOUNTAINS
  The Edriss Mountains are an old range, heavily weathered over the 
  ages. For many years, they held adequate veins of ores and repositories 
  of gems that made mining a worthwhile proposition (although not a 
  fabulously enriching one). Recently, however, the veins of ore all seem 
  to have been spent, and ogres and dark fey moved into the vales between 
  the forested peaks.
  FALCONMERE PENINSULA
  FALCONMERE PENINSULA
  Stretching south from Hampton Hill and Tranquil Bay to end at the 
  Southern Reach by Mandible Isle, Falconmere Peninsula creates a large 
  inlet to the east and borders the beginning of the Crescent Sea to the 
  west. Most of the coastline ends in tall, rough cliffs that provide no real 
  areas to safely dock or land a boat. The inland areas include several 
  large, old-growth forests as well as Hampton Hill, an area popular 
  with some nobles, and Ravenscar, which is known for its artists. The 
  peninsula’s main claim to fame is the wide variety of birds and other 
  ﬂ ying creatures that call it home. Wyverns, rocs, and dragons along with 
  many species of falcons and eagles are found here, with some intrepid 
  adventurers making a living seeking out the eggs of the rarer creatures, 
  or the creatures themselves.
  GREENREACH
  GREENREACH
  Towering rock walls rise from the waters of the southeastern Crescent 
  Sea to a high plateau covered with lush, but strangely twisted, vegetation 
  supporting a strange collection of mutated animals and creatures. Flying 
  creatures otherwise seen all over Falconmere Peninsula and regions nearby 
  avoid Greenreach, as do sailors and ﬁ shermen. The land here is tainted by 
  ancient magics, poisoned somehow during the Gods’ War almost 15,000 
  years ago. Plants and animals from the high plateau are permanently 
  altered, and no known magic or spell can return them to normalcy. High 
  cliffs and the lack of any good place to make landfall leave Greenreach and 
  its twisted, mutated wildlife unexplored. Rumors of the creatures here, and 
  those few that can be seen from the waters below, are enough to keep all but 
  the foolhardiest from wanting to climb the cliffs and explore further.
  GREENTAIL WOOD
  GREENTAIL WOOD
  Once the source of lumber and game hunted for nearby communities 
  in the Duchy of Listonshire, the Greentail — so named because it seems 
  to protrude from the Edriss Mountains — is now as dangerous and 
  horror-ﬁ lled as anyplace else in the vicinity of the duchy. The Silvermane 
  tribe of centaurs has long dwelt deep in these woods and until recently 
  remained largely aloof from the nearby human communities. Of late, 
  however, they have expanded their reach throughout the forest and for 
  some unknown reason have begun to slay fey and other good creatures 
  of the wood as darker things move in. Soon, they may pose a danger 
  even to those who travel outside the forest’s eaves. It is said that some 
  have seen a witch in the deep woods who is served by blue-tinted fey of 
  evil disposition. It is also said that the forest is not beyond hope, as allies 
  of good may still be found within. The trees of the Greentail grow thick 
  and slow those without woodland skills as they travel within the forest.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K3 THE DOOM OF LISTONSHIRE
  HARWOOD FOREST
  HARWOOD FOREST
  Extending from an area just west of the Kal’lugus Mountains to the 
  Principality of Olduvar and the Genev Gap, Harwood Forest is the last 
  great remnant of the Great Akadonian Forest in eastern Akados. It is 
  ancient, dark, and dangerous like few places in the Lost Lands. The 
  deepest depths of the forest possess an aura of primal energy and a sense 
  of unyielding power, as if it has an intelligence and incomprehensible 
  drive of its own. While men and elves have hunted and lived along its 
  edges for as long as history recalls, and have braved its darker depths, all 
  attempts to settle the untamed forest have failed. An unknown number 
  of humanoids, dark fey, lycanthropes, and more sinister denizens live 
  beneath the trees of the Harwood.
  It seems that all types of woodland may be found somewhere in this 
  forest. In some areas, the trees are widely spread, while in others the 
  undergrowth all but makes passage impossible. Elsewhere are stands 
  of tall, ancient trees with canopies so thick that no light reaches the 
  ground. Some druids speculate that Harwood Forest is a vestige of the 
  original wood where all trees originated, as it seems that any tree found 
  throughout the world can also be found somewhere here, from tropical 
  trees near hot springs to towering redwoods in the cool valleys. 
  While the Duchy of Mains lays claim to parts of the forest, in truth, 
  there is no governance here other than simple survival. The secret 
  demonkindred city of Novgorod stands only for itself, leaving the rest 
  of the forest and its denizens to do what they please. Elves, humans, and 
  halﬂ ings of Darkhollow live together for mutual protection and survival. 
  Ruins of ancient castles and cities dot the forest, overgrown to the point 
  that almost nothing remains. Adventurers regularly trek into its dark 
  and forbidding conﬁ nes in search of lost treasures, although most return 
  emptyhanded — if they return at all.
  In the western verges of the Harwood live a group of wild elves. They 
  have a city in the midst of the trees called Caer Myrrdin, which is the 
  name they use for their realm as well. Farther east is the cursed city of 
  Novgorod, originally founded by an exile from Caer Myrrdin.
  The eastern reaches of the forest, south and east of Carson’s Mill, are 
  now known as the Barren Forest. The northernmost extent of the Barren 
  Forest is also called the Wyld Wood (or the Wild Wood). Over the years, 
  it has been subject to much logging and parts of it are charred from a 
  massive forest ﬁ re that occurred many years ago. It is said that this part 
  of the forest is home to a circle of druids, as well as a tribe of goblins and 
  a colossal, lifeless tree reaching 500 feet into the air. This region of the 
  forest establishes the western border of the County of Toullen. 
  South and west of the Wolf Hills within Harwood is a swampy 
  region known as the Dyrgalas Fens. A few stalwart humans live here 
  and scrounge a living through hunting, ﬁ shing, trapping, and even some 
  agriculture. In addition to those honest folk, however, the Dyrgalas 
  has some less-savory residents that include black and green dragons, 
  lizardfolk, trolls, hags, escaped criminals, and a host of lycanthropes. 
  The Drijoc River originates in these swamps and wends its way south 
  through the Coredor Belt to Tywyl Bay.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: FGG1 FANE OF THE FALLEN;
  GLADES OF DEATH; HUNTER’S GAME FROM MARSHES OF MALICE;
  DEATH IN DYRGALAS FROM QUESTS OF DOOM
  HORRIK FOREST
  HORRIK FOREST
  Horrik Forest is a pleasant, temperate woodland of maples, oak, 
  and birch trees that has drawn the attention of a variety of wealthy 
  nobles and merchants from around Akados who have constructed 
  isolated mansions in different regions of the forest. The areas around 
  these mansions, along with the region about Hampton Hill, are quite 
  well-patrolled and safe. Loggers work the forest near Hampton Hill 
  in search of tall oaks and maples to harvest, but are careful not to log 
  
  206|
  206|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  the lands of any of the estates. Other areas in the forest, however, 
  are known to provide homes to kobolds, trolls, lammasu, and even 
  rarer creatures.
  One notable arrival to Horrik Forest is Londar Brightrain, a wizard 
  of great power and reputation, who built his home in the forest near 
  the dirt trade road that heads west from Hampton Hill.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: G3 THE HALL OF THE RAINBOW MAGE
  LANDSGRAVE ISLAND
  LANDSGRAVE ISLAND
  Of all the Barrier Islands, Landsgrave Island is well-marked 
  on the charts of all sailors traveling through the region and justly 
  feared. Wise captains give this island a wide berth. The large rocky 
  mountain in the center of the island ends in a broad cliff that looks 
  disturbingly like a tombstone. Sailors’ stories claim that sirens 
  call ships to their death against the island’s jagged rocks and that 
  the region is haunted by ghosts of the lost as well as the evil that 
  brought them there.
  And those stories are, in fact, true. The island is indeed haunted by 
  the ghosts of sailors lost when their ships crashed onto its shores. And 
  during stormy times, sirens call to passing ships, though the stories of 
  the island are so widespread that only ships driven far off course would 
  ever ﬁ nd themselves close to these shores. At night, the island glows 
  with strange green and purple lights that are visible from miles at sea, 
  which makes it even easier to avoid.
  Locals do not come to the island for any reason. The few ﬁ shermen 
  who in the past have done so report that the ﬁ sh in the shallow, rocky 
  waters are bony and unpalatable, and that the deeper waters are the 
  hunting ground of several schools of sharks seeking whales pushed into 
  the rocky beaches by storms or any other prey that may happen by.  At 
  least one will tell the tale of a group of explorers who were brought to 
  the island, never to be heard from again.
  LOW HILLS
  LOW HILLS
  The Low Hills between the Harwood Forest and the Mean Shore are 
  blanketed with high, thick grasses and sporadic trees, and are home 
  to several small tribes of hill giants. Hunters from Tindledusk stay 
  out of the hills to avoid the giants, but travelers from the Duchy of 
  Listonshire have been known to make the fatal mistake of wandering 
  into hill giant territory from time to time. The deer, goats, and other 
  animals living here provide ample support for the tribes, and they 
  seldom venture outside the hills. They have little interest in risking 
  the dangers of the Harwood Forest, and they avoid the area near 
  Tindledusk, which they believe is protected by a group of dangerous 
  hags. It is said that standing stones almost obscured by the tall grass 
  can be found deep in the hill country, along with deep wells dug by 
  some unknown folk in the distant past. But the hill giants do not like 
  visitors, so such rumors remain unsubstantiated. 
  MANDIBLE ISLE
  MANDIBLE ISLE
  The “jaws” protecting the narrow Strait of Praeis include Mandible Isle 
  to the east and its mate, Maxilla Isle to the west. The strait separating the 
  two is deep and wide, but the islands themselves are hazardous to ships 
  that come too close. Mandible Isle is little more than a very high plateau 
  surrounded by steep, rocky cliffs that provide no easily accessible shore 
  line. A number of rocs make their homes on the high plateau and hunt 
  animals in the heavy vegetation on the plateau as well as prey found on 
  the Southern Reach nearby. While the massive creatures are not known 
  to bother passing ships, their shadows and distant ﬂ ying shapes strike 
  fear into the sailors.
  MAXILLA ISLE
  MAXILLA ISLE
  Making up the western “jaw” bracketing the Strait of Praeis, 
  Maxilla Isle is ﬂ atter than its sister Mandible Isle and rises from the 
  ocean to a maximum height of barely 100 feet. Volcanic glass and 
  jagged sharp stone make up a shoreline that, while vastly different 
  from nearby Mandible, is equally forbidding and dangerous. Plants 
  of the island are twisted and discolored, and some odd ones are like 
  nothing else found anywhere in the Lost Lands, though the animals 
  living here seem normal and unaffected. Its foreign appearance and 
  dangerous shores mean it is an unlikely stop for any reason other than 
  a shipwreck. Those who have been unfortunate enough to spend a 
  night (or more) on the island are said to have felt strange, unearthly 
  vibrations. Some of these poor folk went irrevocably insane, gibbering 
  about “emanations from beyond the stars” or “the eyes of yellow.” A 
  few are said to have been cured of this insanity, but only after months 
  away from the insidious inﬂ uence of this island. Whatever the source 
  of the madness, it doesn’t seem to affect the sea birds and mammals 
  that perch or sun on its rocks.
  THE MOUTH OF AKADOS
  THE MOUTH OF AKADOS
  Choppy windblown waters south of the Strait of Praeis are known 
  as the Mouth of Akados, an apt name given the shape of the islands 
  and lands nearby. Large whales and, periodically, other creatures 
  of the dark, deep oceans to the south come to the shallower waters 
  here in search of food. Such beasts only rarely cause problems 
  for ships making their way in and out of the Crescent Sea. Pirate 
  vessels are a much more prevalent danger, particularly during 
  summer months when milder weather brings the annual influx of 
  merchant ships passing through the Strait of Praeis. The pirates 
  prefer to attack in the Mouth of Akados as the location provides 
  more avenues for escape and it is easier to sink ships unseen near 
  the broad open ocean.
  THE MEAN SHORE
  THE MEAN SHORE
  The broad and rocky coast of the mainland west of Tindledusk is 
  marked by jagged beaches and rocky cliffs that make landing even a 
  small ﬁ shing boat hazardous. The Barrier Islands to the south protect 
  this section of shoreline from some of the harsher weather and waves 
  that would normally break down and smooth the surfaces of the rocks 
  and cliffs of the shore. In addition, the witches of Tindledusk use their 
  magic to make the shore seem even less hospitable, thus reserving the 
  land inland for the hunters from their town. 
  Populated by a number of game animals, the Mean Shore supports 
  the Tindledusk hunters and also hill giants from several tribes of the 
  Low Hills. The giants stay clear of the Tindledusk hunters because they 
  believe the hunters to be in league with hags (which are actually the 
  witches of Tindledusk, traveling in disguise).
  SHROUDWOOD
  SHROUDWOOD
  This dark and tangled forest is home to a variety of trees and 
  underbrush that leave the few patches of clear ground cloaked in moving 
  shadows. Only the areas of the forest nearest to Ravenscar have been 
  explored and, in the absence of easy trade routes to transport lumber 
  away from the forest, there is little logging. A variety of birds and other 
  ﬂ ying creatures call the high branches of the forest home, leaving the 
  ground to creatures that thrive in shadows and rumored to include 
  dragon horses and a thesselgorgon. One or two tribes of wild elves are 
  said to occupy the westernmost reaches of the Shroudwood, but the only 
  sure residents are bandits that plague the local farms and villages. The 
  bandit lair is well-hidden and few have the courage to enter the forest 
  to search them out.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K2 THE DIAMOND FORTRESS
  SOUTHERN REACH
  SOUTHERN REACH
  The southern extension of Falconmere Peninsula slopes gradually 
  toward the water and ends in a soft, marshy wetland known as the 
  Southern Reach. The Barrier Islands to the southeast and Mandible 
  Isle to the south shield the coast from storms, leaving the marsh 
  stagnant and stinking of rot and decay. A variety of swamp creatures, 
  as well as a strange variety of undead, call this area home, as do 
  several young green dragons that divide the Southern Reach into 
  their own hunting areas.
  
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  TRANQUIL BAY
  TRANQUIL BAY
  Ensconced between Greenreach, the island to the west, and the rocky 
  cliffs of the Falconmere Peninsula, the deep, calm waters of Tranquil 
  Bay provide a safe place to anchor during storms. The lack of high 
  winds and rough seas also make for an active breeding ground for 
  several pods of whales and a variety of ﬁ sh, which makes ﬁ shing boats 
  from Kindler’s Bell and Bridgeport to the north a common sight.
  TYWYL BAY
  TYWYL BAY
  This peaceful bay is heavily traveled by ﬁ shermen and ships and boats 
  that don’t wish to risk the deeper, rougher waters of Mother Oceanus. 
  Large numbers of ﬁ sh make the bay ideal for ﬁ shing, though those vessels 
  must be wary of the whales and sharks that also make this their hunting 
  ground. While ample prey is here to satisfy the larger sea creatures, ﬁ shing 
  vessels have been attacked on occasion. Rocs, wyvern, and dragons also 
  hunt these waters, though such instances are rare. Those who ply Tywyl 
  Bay tell stories of isolated small villages of merfolk who stay beneath the 
  waters and avoid interactions with surface races.
  WESTERN MOUNTAINS
  WESTERN MOUNTAINS
  The Western Mountains are a truly ancient range of thickly forested 
  rocky peaks and valleys, much weathered over tens of millennia. 
  Several tribes of orcs live in the heights. Also within this range is Arn’s 
  Mountain, said to be an important location from ages ago, about which 
  remnants of ancient roads can still be seen.
  WYLD WOOD (OR WILD WOOD)
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  SOUTH-CENTRAL AKADOS
  Large numbers of ﬁ sh make the bay ideal for ﬁ shing, though those vessels 
  must be wary of the whales and sharks that also make this their hunting 
  ground. While ample prey is here to satisfy the larger sea creatures, ﬁ shing 
  WYLD WOOD (OR WILD WOOD)
  WYLD WOOD (OR WILD WOOD)
  WYLD WOOD (OR WILD WOOD)
  WYLD WOOD (OR WILD WOOD)
  
  208|
  208|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  THE BORDERLANDS
  THE BORDERLANDS
  The Borderlands of Southeastern Akados are described in detail in 
  The Lost Lands: Borderland Provinces by Frog God Games.
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE 
  BORDERLANDS OF SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  BORDERLANDS OF SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  EXETER PROVINCE
  EXETER PROVINCE
  Capital: Albor Broce
  Notable Settlements: Cairn Condor, Jambles, Whitsun Measow 
  Ruler: Lord-Governor Benevic of Lortsbar 
  Government: feudalism (vassal of Foere) 
  Population: 1,326,560 (966,500 Foerdewaith, 206,000 Heldring, 
  62,000 halﬂ ing, 39,000 high elf, 26,560 half-orc, 12,800 hill 
  dwarf, 9,500 wood elf, 4,200 mountain dwarf) 
  Monstrous: wolf, goblin, giant animal, centaur, hobgoblin, 
  orc, auroch, ogre-kin, ogre, corpse rook (plains); fey, ettercap, 
  tangtal, wood giant, forest drake, lycanthrope, treant, corpse 
  rook (Wiltangle Forest); orc, ogre-kin, undead, quickwood, 
  witherstench, ogre, harpy, half-ogre, vulchling, minotaur, troll 
  (highlands); orc, rock troll, hill giant, peryton, ettin, gargoyle 
  (Forlorn Mountains foothills) 
  Languages: Common, Helvaenic, Halﬂ ing, Elvish, Dwarven 
  Religion: Ceres, Vanitthu, Freya, Frigg, Tykee, Odin, Hester, 
  Mick O’Delving, Tyr, Mithras, Darach-Albith 
  Resources: foodstuffs, livestock, grain, trade hub, gems, tobacco 
  Currency: Foere
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages, Dark Ages (some 
  isolated areas) 
  Exeter is a loyal province of the Kingdom of Foere and is ruled by 
  a lord-governor appointed by the overking. It is cut off from the rest 
  of the kingdom, and for the last 10 years has been governed on the 
  principle of defending the borders at all costs, without preemptive 
  attacks against raiders, and without regard for the decline of law and 
  order in the interior of the province. The population of the rural areas is 
  under constant threat from roaming brigands and monsters of all kinds. 
  Exeter’s capital is Albor Broce, which is built around the site of an ancient 
  Hyperborean fortress. Its territory extends north to the Wilderland Hills, 
  west to the intersection of the South Road and Provincial Military Road, 
  south to the edges of the Wiltangle Forest, and east to the Cut Horn Gap. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  Exeter Province once extended all the way down to the Helwall, built 
  83 years before the Imperial Record began to chart the years, and as a 
  military frontier, played a major role in battling the Heldring raiders at 
  the dawn of the Hyperborean Empire. In 2802 I.R., after the Battle of 
  Oescreheit Downs and the ﬁ nal defeat of the Heldring, the lands now 
  governed as Cerediun Province were divided away from the original, 
  much larger Province of Exeter. The early history of Exeter is a long 
  recitation of war and ruin: Heldring armies marching through the area to 
  raid along the March of Mountains, Hyperborean and then Foerdewaith 
  armies marching to bring them to battle, refugees, ﬁ re, and pillage. 
  Ten years ago, Exeter Province was spared from the violence of the 
  Wilderlands Clan War of 3506 I.R. that was fought almost exclusively in 
  Keston Province and the Wilderland Hills of southern Suilley. This was an 
  exception to the norm, however; over the course of history, vast numbers 
  of incursions into the regions between the March of Mountains and the 
  Forlorn Mountains have pillaged their way through Exeter Province, 
  skirting around castles and forts but ravaging the countryside unopposed 
  by the province’s much-weaker armies. Exeter Province has long held the 
  uneasy position of serving as one of civilization’s buffer zones. 
  As a result of this dismal and violent history, the province is not heavily 
  settled. At present, the lord-governor keeps his troops carefully deployed 
  in camps and small forts to watch for further incursions from the north in 
  case of a repeat of the Wilderlands Clan War. A chain of signal ﬁ res has 
  been arranged to warn the capital if battle is joined in the highlands. One 
  unintended result of this caution is that the rest of the province is currently 
  short on troops and patrols, with most of the soldiery concentrated 
  along the northern border or walled up in Albor Broce. Ten years of this 
  defensive strategy have caused burgeoning problems with beasts and 
  monsters in the rural countryside, and unchecked banditry is on the rise. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  Exeter conducts and regulates overland trade with Hawkmoon to the east, 
  which generates most of its revenue, and to some extent also trades with 
  the Helcynngae Peninsula to the south (though this goes through Cerediun 
  Province ﬁ rst, which takes the most lucrative cut of tolls and taxes). 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  Exeter maintains its loyalty to the Throne of Foere, though it has 
  little contact with its liege state. The overking’s court sends a new lord-
  governor once every decade or so, and the former lord-governor assembles 
  his retinue, guards, and proﬁ ts for the journey home to Courghais. 
  The province has virtually stopped paying taxes to Foere after bandits 
  annihilated more than one large shipment of silver while in transit. Small 
  shipments of tax money are often sent, along with guards, with merchant 
  caravans on their way to the County of Vourdon. The total of these sums, 
  though, is a slight fraction of what the overking could normally expect if 
  the province were not cut off from the rest of the kingdom. 
  In return, Exeter Province receives less help from the Royal Court 
  in Courghais than it would ordinarily expect as a loyal province, even 
  though it would send the taxes if it could. 
  GOVERNMENT 
  GOVERNMENT 
  A lord-governor residing in the capital of Albor Broce administers 
  Exeter Province on behalf of the overking of Foere. The current lord-
  governor is Benevic of Lortsbar, a knight-commander who rose to fame 
  in Foere after successfully holding off a massive assault upon a border 
  castle under his command in the Duchy of Mains. Unfortunately, Lord 
  Benevic’s military expertise and attitudes are entirely defensive; on 
  behalf of Exeter and Foere, he created a brilliant system of defenses and 
  fortiﬁ ed the borders against attack, without focusing on the problems 
  created by emptying the province’s interior of troops. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  The wilderness is creeping into Exeter Province like nightfall. 
  Troops no longer make regular patrols, and rural garrisons have been 
  bled of their soldiers to man the forts and castles along the edge of the 
  Wilderland Hills to the north. The population of the province has never 
  been large, and settlements tend to be isolated, unguarded, and ripe for 
  the plucking. This area has the potential for all kinds of adventures, 
  for there is wilderness between almost every village and hamlet except 
  along the high roads. 
  ALBOR BROCE (CAPITAL)
  ALBOR BROCE (CAPITAL)
  (AL-bor BRO-chee) 
  Population: 14,830 (11,222 Foerdewaith, 2159 halﬂ ing, 830 
  high elf, 619 hill dwarf)
  Ruler: Sir Rohnic Ort, Minister of the Capital
  Government: appointed minister
  Albor Broce is the capital of Exeter Province, built 69 years before 
  the beginning of the Imperial Record. Built on the site of an early 
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
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  |209
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  
  210|
  210|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  Hyperborean fort, the streets still run in the straight grid laid out by the 
  Hyperboreans, though the city has long since outgrown the ditch that 
  surrounded the fort. In some places in the city, the ditch and berm can 
  still be discerned as a gentle, curving rise in the ground, and occasionally 
  the citizens still ﬁ nd artifacts of old Hyperborea when digging for new 
  wells or building foundations. The city is well-fortiﬁ ed with high stone 
  walls, and Lord-Governor Benevic has personally supervised their 
  repair and improvement. The Citadel of Broce, home and court of the 
  lord-governor, is constantly abuzz with soldiers training at siege defense 
  and with the comings and goings of his force of spies. 
  These spies are organized as the Squires of the Ferret, which does 
  not grant its members the full status of knighthood (which the lord-
  governor awards only to those who are staunch warriors), but lends 
  them approximately the same powers as a sheriff. The Provincial 
  Order of the Squires of the Ferret is commanded by a knight by the 
  name of Sir Ghendric the Terrier, who essentially functions as Lord 
  Benevic’s spymaster. Since the province actually contains only a very 
  few subversive conspirators, the Terrier has to stretch a bit to justify his 
  position, and has a long-standing practice of treating late tax payments 
  as evidence of treasonous intent. 
  The troops stationed in Albor Broce are trained to perfection, although 
  most are unbloodied in combat; they should be a formidable ﬁ ghting 
  force if challenged. They are efﬁ cient at keeping order in the city, and 
  their informants are well paid; any sort of crime beyond petty thievery 
  is extraordinarily rare within the city walls. 
  Unlike most cities in the Borderland Provinces, Albor Broce has no 
  municipal government of its own; it is treated as part of the lord-governor’s 
  direct responsibility, and the lord-governor delegates most tasks to Sir 
  Rohnic Ort, his “Minister of the Capital.” Sir Ort is a capable administrator 
  and an intelligent man. He is disturbed by the increasing lawlessness of the 
  countryside beyond the capital, but he considers his role to be limited to the 
  city and nothing but the city. Moreover, even if someone asked him for a 
  solution to the problems in Exeter Province, he would have no answer. Sir 
  Ort is trapped within the same defensive mentality as the lord-governor, 
  unable to see that all the province’s resources for keeping order are 
  deployed around the borders instead of balanced between the borders and 
  the countryside. To be fair, Sir Ort has a weaker perspective than the lord-
  governor, since he is not privy to the province’s large-scale deployments. 
  Sitting in the well-defended capital, he has no way of understanding that 
  within 25 miles of his armories are villages utterly undefended from even 
  the threat of a few lightly-armed rufﬁ ans. 
  All traveling merchants passing through Albor Broce are required to 
  bring their wagons to a large customs house just inside the gate where 
  the contents are tallied and then taxed at 2% of their value. The lord-
  governor’s tax-assessors are not easily bribed, for they know they are 
  watched carefully by the Squires of the Ferret, and accepting bribes is 
  a capital crime. 
  CAIRN CONDOR, CITADEL OF
  CAIRN CONDOR, CITADEL OF
  Population: 729 (631 Foerdewaith, 41 hill dwarf, 36 high elf, 21 
  halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Sir Pernanz Avor, strategos of Cairn Condor and the 
  Forlorn March
  Government: military 
  Cairn Condor is a citadel built on the crest of a tall foothill at the 
  base of the Forlorn Mountains. The fortress is manned by troops from 
  the Lord-Governor’s army, and is the base for all patrols along Exeter’s 
  250-mile mountain frontier. Its walls are 40 feet high, and the great keep 
  rises to a height of 80 feet. A huge farseeing lens called the “Condor’s 
  A caravan is ambushed by bandits on the Burgundian road.
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  Eye” is mounted on the keep’s roof and allows the castle’s defenders 
  to see great distances along the mountain border and into many of the 
  nearby mountain valleys where foes might be gathering. When weather 
  permits, the lens is constantly manned, being rotated inch by inch to 
  survey the landscape for enemies. 
  The garrison of the fortress is 400 infantry, 200 cavalry, and 25 
  knights, together with 3 “counselor-mages” of 6th level.
  JAMBLES, TOWN OF
  JAMBLES, TOWN OF
  Population: 2,721 (2721 (2305 halﬂ ing, 396 Foerdewaith, 20 
  high elf)
  Ruler: Mayor Totho Bellfeather
  Government: autocracy (elected mayor)
  Jambles is a small town walled with stone, located just by the Provincial 
  Military Road about halfway between Albor Broce and the crossroad 
  with the South Road. The area enclosed by the walls is unusually large 
  for the town’s population, and from the outside it looks like a small city. 
  The town was originally a halﬂ ing village of burrow-houses and a few 
  one-story structures, but its location on the road caused a slow inﬂ ux of 
  human traders and even a few elves. Now the area inside the walls is a 
  strange mix of four-story human buildings alongside the burrow-houses 
  and low-ceilinged buildings of the town’s halﬂ ing population.
  WHITSUN MEASOW, VILLAGE OF
  WHITSUN MEASOW, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 253 (Foerdewaith)
  Ruler: Lum Yandly, “King Lum”
  Government: overlord
  Whitsun Measow is an unwalled settlement with a few well-built 
  houses at the center and a sea of huts, hovels, and tents surrounding 
  them. Originally an ordinary village, bandits took it over in 3514 I.R. and 
  converted it into a stronghold for outlaws and heretics. The “King” of 
  Whitsun Measow is a bandit chief named Lum Yandly who accumulated 
  a small army of 150 outlaws from dispossessed peasants, heretics, and 
  ordinary bandits before deciding to set up a permanent base. The village 
  is now host to all kinds of refugees from justice.
  KESTON PROVINCE
  KESTON PROVINCE
  (KEST-un, occasionally GAST-un) 
  Capital: Kingston 
  Notable Settlements: Aljun 
  Ruler: His Excellency the Lord-Governor of the Suilleyn 
  Dominion of Keston Province, Baron Miltrin Cormien
  Government: feudalism (vassal of Suilley) 
  Population: 477,280 (385,150 Foerdewaith, 42,700 Heldring, 
  23,500 halﬂ ing, 17,680 half-elf, 4,100 hill dwarf, 2,060 high elf, 
  1,300 mountain dwarf, 790 half-orc) 
  Monstrous: wolf, goblin, giant animal, hobgoblin, orc, aurochs, 
  ogre-kin, ogres (plains); giant mosquito, lizardfolk, bugbear, 
  shambling mound, undead, chuul, black dragon (Creeping 
  Mire); orc, ogre-kin, giant bat, undead, mobat, quickwood, 
  witherstench, ogre, harpy, half-ogre, vulchling, minotaur, troll 
  (highlands); giant animal, orc, ogre, mammoth, frost giant, ice 
  troll, thunderbird, demon (mountains) 
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Dwarven, Elvish, Orc 
  Religion: Dre’uain the Lame, Mitra, Freya, Mithras, Thyr, 
  Pekko, Mick O’Delving, Muir, Pan, Dwerfater 
  Resources: wool, livestock (sheep), ﬂ ax, foodstuffs (apples), 
  grain, linen, quarry stone, coal, lead 
  Currency: Foere
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages 
  Keston Province is no longer a province of the Kingdoms of Foere, 
  having declared fealty to the crown of Suilley. It has always been sparsely 
  populated and is still reeling from the devastation of the Wilderlands Clan 
  War. The province is well-governed, but even before the war only the 
  areas around the main roads were particularly safe, and at this point the 
  province’s interior is no more than a sparsely settled wilderness. 
  The southern border of Keston Province runs due east from the 
  intersection of the South Road with the Provincial Military Road, with 
  an eastern boundary at the Trader’s Way, 150 or so miles to the north 
  of Albor Broce in Exeter Province. To the west, the province ofﬁ cially 
  includes the eastern slopes of the Kal’Iugus and the southern half of the 
  Meridian mountain ranges, but these are wild areas unpatrolled save at 
  the very edges. 
  Between the two mountain ranges, the Keston Border extends through 
  the high saddle of land along the Gap Road and runs all the way to the 
  Duchy of Saxe. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  Keston is very lightly populated, with most of its folk living in the 
  towns and villages along the length of the South Road and the Gap 
  Road. Few settlements remain along the Trader’s Way after the ravages 
  of the Wilderlands Clan War of 3506 I.R. There has never been more 
  than a scattering of hamlets and freeholds in the province’s interior or 
  along the edge of the mountain ranges. 
  Before becoming a province of the Kingdom of Foere, the lands 
  of Keston were subject to waves of Heldring raiders over the course 
  of thousands of years. As Foere expanded, it took steps to secure the 
  region in 2803 I.R. and established a garrison town at Kingston and 
  drew boundary lines for a royal province. Most of the area’s inhabitants, 
  scattered in their hamlets and tiny villages, remained completely 
  unaware of this change in status. Local warlords were forced, one by 
  one, to call themselves “knights” and to enter the feudal hierarchy of the 
  Foerdewaith by pledging fealty to the same chieftains they had always 
  followed. These chieftains, in turn, discovered themselves actually 
  to be “barons” who paid small amounts of tax to a distant governor 
  in exchange for not being attacked. Once the concept of “taxes” had 
  been gotten across by the burning of a few motte-and-bailey forts, the 
  isolated settlements of the province settled into their new titles, and life 
  continued as before. In a very real sense, Keston Province was annexed 
  by nomenclature rather than by armies. 
  In 3336 I.R., Lord-Governor Fenevic Jaounehelm (JOWN-helm) 
  switched his feudal allegiance from the overking of Foere to the king of 
  Suilley, following the lead of Count Catrebrasse of Toullen. 
  Keston Province’s recent history is dominated by the events and 
  effects of the recent Wilderlands Clan War. Some 10 years ago, early 
  in the year of 3506 I.R., a great horde of raiders emerged from the 
  Wilderland Hills and burned the village of Bynum and fortiﬁ ed it to use 
  as a base for ravaging the countryside. The lord-governor of Keston at 
  that time, a veteran of several petty border wars, began assembling his 
  forces to counter the invasion and invoked the feudal duties of his barons 
  to provide soldiers. The army of Keston, such as it was, consisted of a 
  core of trained infantry with the various small cavalry units ordinarily 
  responsible for patrolling the province’s roads. Barons and their knights, 
  accompanied by small levies of troops of varying quality, assembled in 
  the mustering-ﬁ elds around Kingston underneath the colorful pennants 
  of the feudal lords. Their numbers were small, and the then lord-
  governor sent the faster-moving elements of the army forward without 
  the levies, but ordered the less-organized and less-experienced militia 
  force to follow behind the veterans and knights along the South Road 
  to the Provincial Military Road and then north to the borders of the 
  Wilderland Hills. 
  In the ﬁ rst contact between the forward elements of the army of 
  Keston and the raider horde at the ill-fated Battle of Sontanne Hill, 
  the Kestonfolk engaged a mixed force of hill barbarians, orcs, and 
  ogres. Sontanne Hill might have turned out to be a decisive victory for 
  the more-organized soldiery of Keston, but the humanoids turned out 
  to have the unexpected support of several margoyles and their lesser 
  gargoyle kin that ﬂ ew over the human army, swooping in and out to 
  the kill. Demoralized by the attacks from the air, the army of Keston 
  retreated back to forested cover, leaving the raider horde in possession 
  
  212|
  212|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  of the ﬁ eld. Perhaps even worse for morale, the lord-governor of the 
  province was badly wounded in the rearguard action when his leg was 
  crushed. The few prisoners taken from Sontanne Hill revealed that 
  a clan of margoyles from the Forlorn Mountains had organized the 
  army of raiders and hoped to seize a domain for themselves in the 
  lowlands. Not particularly intelligent, for margoyles are not, this clan 
  nevertheless managed to use a mix of bad ideas, persuasiveness, and 
  brute force to raise a truly massive horde of reavers to sweep down 
  into the settled lands. 
  When groups of lost or ﬂ eeing soldiers from the defeated regular 
  army met the advancing militias and levies on the Trader’s Way, and 
  news spread through the militia, the second force evaporated in a panic 
  and headed back to Kingston without ofﬁ cers. The few barons who 
  had been leading the levies were unable to rally them, and the army of 
  Keston was effectively destroyed. 
  Drawn by the successes of the advance force, new tribes and clans 
  poured out of the Wilderland Hills, some coming all the way from 
  the Forlorn Mountains to join the pillaging. The count of Toullen, 
  always a good neighbor to Keston Province, immediately sent a 
  contingent of his own knights and solders to shore up the collapsing 
  defense of Keston. Too badly injured to take the ﬁ eld, the lord-
  governor appointed Sir Miltrin Cormien to reassemble and command 
  the army of Keston, largely because the knight was related to all 
  four of the province’s leading noble families and had demonstrated 
  great heroism in the Battle of Sontanne Hill. This turned out to be 
  a lucky decision, for as the war progressed, Sir Cormien’s blood 
  relation with the great nobles of the province was far eclipsed by his 
  unexpected military genius. 
  Making the correct assumption that his enemy was not a single army 
  but rather a collection of independent clans, Cormien took the extremely 
  unpopular step of ordering his knights off their prized Suilley destriers 
  and out of their heavy armor and put them in much lighter armor and 
  onto lighter riding horses. This new force — small units of heavily 
  armed light cavalry — fanned out across the contested area in eastern 
  Keston guided by locals. By locating isolated clans and combining 
  together for the battle, then splitting up again, Cormien’s small army 
  managed to check the advance of the horde, although the largest of the 
  tribes remained undamaged by the light cavalry tactics. 
  By 3507 I.R., a small army raised by the king of Suilley ﬁ nished 
  mustering outside of Manas and marched south along the Flatlander 
  Road to assist in Keston’s defense. With the arrival of these heavier 
  troops, the war settled into a more traditional pattern, with the allied 
  armies of Keston, Suilley, and Toullen attempting to bring the large 
  tribes into a pitched battle where they could be decisively defeated. 
  These attempts failed, mainly due to poor leadership of the allies by 
  the commander of Suilley’s army, the largest in the ﬁ eld. After a year of 
  watching the army get beaten back in petty defeat after petty defeat, the 
  king of Suilley recalled his general and placed Keston’s Sir Cormien at 
  the head of all the allied forces. Baron Nalsibert, the disgraced Suilleyn 
  general, drank himself to death on the road back to Manas and capped 
  off a long and incompetent military career.
  With Baron Nalsibert removed from command, and with a new 
  inﬂ ux of Foerdewaith troops from Vourdon and Exeter Provinces 
  joining the allied army as a gesture from the overking, Sir Cormien 
  (now Baron Cormien) undertook a series of lighting advances against 
  the horde and cut off the army of the large Wormaganth Clan in a 
  hamlet called Onjoun and slaughtered them. The margoyle leadership 
  of the horde now discovered that they actually had very little control 
  over their “subjects” and were virtually unable to respond as Cormien 
  severed and destroyed their army clan by clan. The ﬁ nal battle took 
  place deep in the Wilderland Hills as the clans retreated farther into 
  their home territory. At the ancient fortiﬁ cations of Broch Tarna, the 
  allied armies broke and crushed the remaining hill clans, bringing 
  an end to the bloody, three-year war and sending the few surviving 
  margoyles ﬂ eeing back to their haunts high in the Forlorn Mountains. 
  Cormien himself fought in the vanguard of the army, losing his left 
  arm to the infection of a wound inﬂ icted during the battle. When 
  the former lord-governor eventually died from the lingering wounds 
  suffered at Sontanne Hill, the king of Suilley elevated Keston’s hero, 
  Baron Cormien, to the position. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  The city of Kingston is well placed for trade, being at the crossroad 
  of the Gap Road leading into the Kingdoms of Foere, the South Road 
  which runs from Toullen to the Duchy of the Rampart, and controlling 
  the Provincial Military Road leading to the Domain of Hawkmoon 
  through Exeter Province. None of these routes is very heavily traveled, 
  but together they make enough revenue to maintain the province well. 
  If the province manages to rebuild the ravaged rural communities lost to 
  the depredations of the Wilderland Clans, it will become a strong nation 
  over time. At present, however, the province is still struggling with the 
  loss of farmland, villages, and rural population from the war. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  Keston was once a province of Foere, but in 3336 I.R., along with the 
  County of Toullen, Keston Province rescinded its feudal obligations to 
  the Court of Courghais and offered fealty to the crown of Suilley. The 
  realm of Suilley has governed it indirectly ever since. 
  GOVERNMENT 
  GOVERNMENT 
  Since declaring its independence from Foere, Keston Province has 
  been governed as a feudal vassal to the Kingdom of Suilley, very 
  much along the same model used by the Kingdom of Foere. The king 
  of Suilley appoints a lord-governor for the province, but the feudal 
  ranks below the lord-governor are hereditary. These nobles offer their 
  fealty to the king of Suilley but report to the lord-governor as the 
  king’s representative. Hence, travelers in the province ﬁ nd the usual 
  mix of barons and knights, all with greater or lesser landholdings. 
  Four dukes make up the governmental layer between the barons and 
  the lord-governor, and these four dukes are extremely powerful in the 
  province and even in Suilley. These four families, along with the lord-
  governor at the time, are the ones who delivered Keston into Suilley’s 
  hands by seceding from the Kingdom of Foere. The lord-governor who 
  engineered the secession became rich in land and titles himself, but his 
  family is by no means as powerful as the dukes, and his descendants do 
  not much involve themselves in the province’s government other than as 
  ordinary members of the nobility. 
  Keston’s current ruler is the retired general Baron Miltrin Cormien, 
  who was elevated to the position of lord-governor by Ulrich IX, the 
  young king of Suilley. Cormien is a disciplined administrator and 
  staunchly loyal to the crown of Suilley, related by blood to all four of 
  the dukes of Keston and a ﬁ gure of legend among the common folk after 
  his defeat of the Wilderland Clans. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  Other than along the roads, there is very little in Keston Province 
  that is not wilderness. In the eastern part of the province, many 
  secrets lie buried in the charred remains of forgotten villages. 
  Wolves — and far worse things than wolves — howl unchallenged 
  beneath the night skies of empty, rural Keston. Farms lie fallow, and 
  forests claw their way back into the long-forgotten grounds of their 
  ancestral growth. A few hardy settlements remain in these newly 
  crafted wilds, and some new villages are springing up almost like 
  colonies in a foreign land. Many of these new hamlets disappear in 
  time, but some persevere and prosper. 
  KINGSTON, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  KINGSTON, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Population: 15,612 (9,844 Foerdewaith, 2,340 halﬂ ing, 1,008 
  Heldring, 876 half-elf, 721 hill dwarf, 503 half-orc, 259 gnome, 
  61 high elf)
  Ruler: Lord-Governor Baron Miltrin Cormien
  Government: The Council of Listeners, appointed by dukes, citizens, 
  guilds, and the lord-governor
  Kingston is a high-walled city with a strangely lopsided appearance, 
  for its foundations shifted slightly during the Fiend Rains. The citadel, 
  in particular, leans visibly, and has come to be known as the Tilting 
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  Citadel. As far as anyone can tell, the walls are still strong and stable, 
  but entering the city with its crooked houses and uneven streets gives 
  some travelers a distinct sense of vertigo. 
  Kingston is the capital of Keston Province and the seat of the lord-
  governor, currently Baron Miltrin Cormien. It is governed by a council 
  of 10 citizens known as the Council of Listeners. Each of the four dukes 
  of the realm appoints one listener, the citizens of Kingston elect two, the 
  city guilds elect two, and the lord-governor appoints two. 
  Kingston boasts a sizable temple to Mithras, with the entrance made 
  up of a massive stone bull’s head, with the mouth forming the gateway. 
  But many in the city and the surrounding countryside worship Dre’uain 
  the Lame, who has become a symbol of recovery of the once-settled 
  areas emptied during the Wilderness Clan War.
  The largest open-air market in the city is the Sliding Scales, a circular 
  plaza ﬁ lled with tents and vendors’ booths from dawn until noon 
  each day. The plaza developed a distinct slope when the Fiend Rains 
  damaged the city’s foundations. A ball could roll down the entire length 
  of the market from west to east if not for the uneven cobblestones. A few 
  permanent shops surround the plaza, and the council hall of the listeners 
  stands at the western end of the market. Kingston houses a number of 
  semi-professional theater companies of widely varying quality. An odd, 
  sinister building in Kingston’s poor quarter is the headquarters of the 
  Academy of Inquisitors, a guild of torturers and interrogators operating 
  across many of the realms in the Borderland Provinces. Graduates of the 
  Red Academy are hired by various governors, dukes, barons, and others 
  who maintain dismal prisons, often traveling great distances to lucrative 
  postings. The origin and history of the academy are cloaked in a good 
  bit of mystery and are not spoken of by the Red Inquisitors.
  It is said that the Grey Rooks, a criminal brotherhood based in 
  Durbenford, have a presence in Kingston.
  ALJUN, TOWN OF
  ALJUN, TOWN OF
  Population: 4,237 (3,728 Foerdewaith, 322 halﬂ ing, 162 high 
  elf, 25 hill dwarf)
  Ruler: guild representatives
  Government: council
  Aljun is one of the few towns near the Wilderland Hills to have 
  survived the Wilderlands Clan War without much damage to its 
  buildings or surrounding farmlands. Spared by chance from the initial 
  waves of the assault, Aljun became a mustering point for the lord-
  governor’s knights and soldiery, which soon made it an unattractive 
  target for casual pillaging. Once the war ended, Aljun prospered as the 
  only surviving market in the area.
  Aljun is ruled by a town council made up of representatives from 
  the Wool-Merchants’ Guild, the Weavers’ Guild, the Dyers’ Guild, the 
  Brewers’ Guild, and the Guild of Smiths, the main industries here.
  DUCHY OF THE RAMPART
  DUCHY OF THE RAMPART
  Capital: Troye 
  Notable Settlements: Metzel, Reliquary of Jamboor, Ristalt 
  Ruler: His Most Noble Lordship, the Palatine Duke Claud VII, 
  Battle-Duke of Foere and Sword of the Foerdewaith
  Government: feudalism (palatine duchy of Foere) 
  Population: 3,156,000 (2,850,000 Foerdewaith, 183,000 hill 
  dwarf, 57,500 halﬂ ing, 43,000 high elf, 13,500 half-elf, 6,200 
  gnome, 2,400 half-orc, 400 other) 
  Monstrous: giant rat, giant ant, krenshar, kobold, kenckoo, 
  giant boar, ankheg, owlbear, bulette (plains) dire wolf, goblin, 
  orc, giant lizard, ogre, stone giant, bugbear, hill giant, wyvern, 
  roc, dragon, yrthak (mountains) 
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Dwarven, Halﬂ ing, Elven, 
  Gnome, Orc, High Boros 
  Religion: Sefagreth, Vanitthu, Archeillus, Mithras, Vergrimm 
  Earthsblood, Mick O’Delving, Thyr (declining), Mitra (rising), 
  Darach-Albith, Jamboor, Muir, Solanus (declining), Quell 
  Resources: coal, iron, gems, wool, quarry stone, cloth, timber, 
  ironwork 
  Currency: Foere
  Technology Level: Medieval 
  The Duchy of the Rampart is a palatine dukedom, which means that 
  the title is hereditary and that the duke holds his lands directly from 
  the overking. It is a stable and well-guarded realm with a strong sense 
  of chivalry and feudal obligations. But a certain decay is setting in, 
  and strange things lurk in the shadows. The creeping advance of the 
  darkness is subtle and isolated, but very much present. The people of the 
  duchy know in the backs of their minds that the Rampart is declining, 
  but they do not understand why, or how to counter the process. 
  On the eastern side of the March of Mountains, the borders of the 
  Duchy of the Rampart extend roughly 200–250 miles from Troye to the 
  south, southeast, and west. To the west, the border extends roughly 600 
  miles and includes all of the lands between the Cretian Mountains and 
  the Rampart Mountains. 
  The duchy was once much larger than it is now, reaching as far east 
  as the Gundlock Hills, and south almost to the Lorremach Highhills 
  (though this latter was a mix of Suilleyn and Rampartine nobles and 
  villages that had no real delineation until the secession of the Suilleyn 
  king). Most of these lands were lost to the Kingdom of Suilley during 
  the Suilleyn rebellion from the Kingdoms of Foere, and there is no 
  credible expectation that they could be retaken. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  The Duchy of the Rampart was founded in 2802 I.R. when Overking 
  Osbert II raised Claud Oberhammer, a war hero and the overking’s 
  nephew, to the status of Duke of the Rampart, Battle-Duke of Foere, and 
  Sword of the Foerdewaith. In accordance with the ancient Hyperborean 
  custom of dux bellorum, the battle-duke is traditionally the marshal of 
  the armies of Foere anywhere they ﬁ ght. This custom has waned over 
  the years, with overkings or generals often leading armies into conﬂ icts 
  and crusades that occur far from the Rampart. 
  The earliest beginning of this break from custom came with a tragic 
  occurrence, perhaps the duchy’s greatest shame. During the Second 
  Great Crusade of 2970–2971 I.R., while the majority of Foere’s military 
  forces were engaged across the Sinnar Ocean in far Libynos, a powerful 
  vampire-lord known as the Singed Man arose in the western Kingdoms 
  of Foere and conquered a great swath of territory in the distant Duchy of 
  Kear, far to the west of the duchy itself. The Singed Man formed his own 
  enslaved domain and named himself as its Infernal Tyrant. By the time 
  the crusader forces returned from the east, the Infernal Tyrant was already 
  well entrenched and ready for the attack of the war-weary soldiers. 
  Responsibility for dislodging the vampire-lord from his hold and 
  freeing the oppressed lands was given to Duke Ormand I, palatine-
  duke of the Rampart and battle-duke of Foere. Because of the scattered 
  nature of the returning armies and the depleted resources of Foere, 
  Duke Ormand had great difﬁ culty raising a new ﬁ ghting force and 
  properly equipping and supplying it. It was 2977 I.R. before Ormand 
  ﬁ nally marched on Kear, and in all those years the Singed Man had 
  been carefully planning and preparing a response to just such an attack. 
  Duke Ormand’s forces trudged across the Plains of Eauxe, enduring 
  the constant harassing tactics of the Singed Man’s defenses, but ﬁ nally 
  brought the Infernal Tyrant’s forces to ground at Seilo Ford, trapped 
  against the ﬂ ooding Meander River. Unfortunately, it was also there that 
  Ormand discovered the horriﬁ c preparations of the Infernal Tyrant: All 
  the dead of Kear suddenly rose up from the ground on the banks of the 
  Meander around the duke’s army and attacked from all sides. 
  Duke Ormand’s army was decimated at Seilo Ford, the survivors 
  ﬂ eeing east back toward Foere. The battle-duke himself was captured 
  and turned into a vampire, an unholy slave of the Singed Man. Duke 
  Ormand became the Singed Man’s general and devoted servant and 
  used his military prowess and experience to expand the wasted realm 
  of the Infernal Tyrant to ever greater bounds. Foere’s own armies were 
  exhausted and crippled, unable to do anything but watch as the Infernal 
  Tyrant ran rampant in the west. It was not until more than 50 years later 
  that the paladin Sir Varral the Blessed was able to destroy the Singed 
  
  214|
  214|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  Man, free the realm of Kear, and ﬁ nally send the former Duke Ormand 
  to his eternal rest. Ormand’s name was stricken from the line of the 
  Rampart by his grandson, Duke Claude III, and a taint lingered upon 
  the battle-dukes in the eyes some of the Foerdewaith overkings due to 
  the late duke’s failure. This great shame only festered over the years, 
  leading perhaps to an overly aggressive war doctrine among the line of 
  battle-dukes that ultimately led to the duchy’s second-greatest shame at 
  the Battle of Bullocks Bale some 94 years later. 
  In the war between Oceanus and Foere, when the city of Endhome 
  declared neutrality in 3217 I.R. and expelled its Foerdewaith garrison, 
  the forces of the Rampart marched up the King’s Road to retake the 
  city, but sudden intervention by Burgundia caused the outﬂ anked 
  Foerdewaith army to withdraw to Troye without bloodshed. The lord-
  general of the army was dismissed in disgrace by the enraged battle-
  duke of the Rampart, but the event was the ﬁ rst real damage dealt to 
  Foerdewaith military invincibility in the provinces. 
  Only ﬁ ve years later, the forces of the Rampart were directly engaged 
  in the war of Suilleyn independence of 3222 I.R. An aggressive new 
  lord-general led his Foerdewaith army into western Suilley to bring 
  the rebel barons to heel. Unfortunately for the battle-duke who was 
  returning from far aﬁ eld in the battles of Matagost to the east, his 
  Foerdewaith were virtually slaughtered at the Battle of Bullocks Bale, 
  with only a few managing to escape. At this one stroke, the legend of the 
  military power of the Duchy of the Rampart was ended. The Rampart 
  maintains a powerful army in the present day, but it is no longer seen 
  as the invincible force that at one time simultaneously threatened and 
  protected the realms of the overking. 
  The people of the Rampart are solidly and traditionally Foerdewaith 
  and very loyal to the overking in Courghais. Chivalry is still a strongly 
  held value among the knightly class, although there are certainly many 
  knights whose claim to chivalry is dubious at best and scurrilous at 
  worst. The Order of the Swan, whose device is a white swan on a black 
  background framed by a circle of plumes, is an ancient order of knights 
  based in the Rampart. Knights of the Swan are generally knights-errant 
  rather than in service to a feudal lord. They owe their loyalty to the 
  order, although they have often ridden to the defense of the duchy when 
  danger threatens. 
  However, a certain sense of ennui, decadence, and decay has been 
  slowly creeping into the Duchy of the Rampart for many years. The 
  tenets of chivalry are on the wane, roadside inns seem just a bit less well 
  kept, and the pleasures of some of the nobility are a bit more jaded than 
  in centuries past. Banquets sport increasingly elaborate dishes carried 
  to the table by poorly fed domestic servants. Heresy in on the rise, and 
  small and secret covens of demon-worshippers have been uncovered in 
  the rural countryside, their cults festering beneath the mask of a cheerful 
  peasantry. The occasional savage murder goes unsolved, leaving people 
  to look over their shoulders when walking alone. The touch of evil and 
  decay is subtle, but its gentle pressure can be felt. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  The capital city of Troye beneﬁ ts from an excellent strategic location 
  for trade, although the city itself is not particularly mercantile. Caravans 
  ascend the King’s Road from the Kingdom of Foere and enter Troye’s 
  gates from the west. Southern trade arrives from Toullen, Keston, and 
  Vourdon along the South Road, and the King’s Road brings cargo from 
  Endhome’s seaport and the farms of the Gaelon River Valley. Many 
  of these shipments change hands in Troye as the various different 
  merchants buy each other’s goods to take back on the return journey. 
  In general, the folk of the Rampart are not traders or merchants, but 
  the duchy makes efforts to foster trade and travel within its borders. In 
  3423 I.R., the Duchy of the Rampart acted in cooperation with Endhome, 
  Sunderland, and Suilley to establish Grollek’s Grove as a merchants’ 
  post on the Trader’s Way to foster commerce among the four realms. 
  Even though the Kingdom of Suilley tends to divert caravans onto its 
  own Flatlander Road rather than the more-dangerous Trader’s Way, the 
  duchy makes no protest about reducing trade to Grollek’s Grove. The 
  Flatlander Road, after all, eventually leads to Troye itself from which it 
  can continue down the King’s Road to Grollek’s Grove, enriched from 
  its time within the duchy. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  The Duchy of the Rampart is the easternmost domain of the Kingdoms 
  of Foere. The duchy has stood for centuries as the eastern defense of the 
  Foerdewaith homelands and is ﬁ ercely loyal to the overking and the 
  heartlands to the west. 
  GOVERNMENT 
  GOVERNMENT 
  The current ruler is Claud VII, Duke of the Rampart, Battle-Duke of 
  Foere, and Sword of the Foerdewaith. He has a long and bloody history 
  in petty wars on the wild fringes of civilization ﬁ ghting on behalf of 
  Foere, with the duchy administered in his absence by the nobleman 
  Traont, Baron Thulde under the title of Lord-Steward of the Rampart. In 
  the recent campaign against the Huun in the lands of the Gulf of Akados 
  and Irkaina, the overking decided to lead the armies personally rather 
  than placing the duke in his traditional post of command, and Claud 
  returned to his lands in the Rampart, clearly confused and insulted. 
  Having been established by decree, the duchy is not a wild patchwork 
  of feudal divisions like the provinces to its east. It is segmented into a 
  regular system of equally-sized counties. The counts appoint sheriffs 
  and other ofﬁ cials and usually have at least four castled baronies in their 
  lands, along with several knightly manors. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  The Duchy of the Rampart is well-settled, although pockets of 
  wilderness are everywhere in between settlements. The southern 
  verge of the Cretians is a wild and rugged place, much more sparsely 
  inhabited, and correspondingly more dangerous for those who 
  venture close to these strange peaks. Fewer settlements are along 
  the margins of the Rampart Mountains, but this is an area where 
  mining towns and villages of hill dwarves can be found in the rugged 
  foothills. Patrols are at least occasionally undertaken by actual troops 
  rather than a lone knight or a few volunteer yeomen with billhooks 
  and crossbows. 
  TROYE, CITY OF (CAPITAL) 
  TROYE, CITY OF (CAPITAL) 
  (TROY) 
  Population: 44,600 (36,760 Foerdewaith, 4,023 hill dwarf, 1,910 
  halﬂ ing, 860 half-elf, 437 gnome, 322 high elf, 160 half-orc, 
  128 other)
  Ruler: Lady Yvonne Talaine, Lord-Mayor of Troye
  Government: appointed lord-mayor and elected council of 
  burgesses
  The high granite walls of Troye are resplendent with banners, and lines 
  of colorful shields afﬁ xed to the battlements represent the various noble 
  houses of the Duchy of the Rampart. Great towers stand at intervals above 
  the walls, some crowned with trebuchets and ballistae, others with high, 
  pointed roofs. Over it all rises the vast citadel of the duke, the greatest and 
  most formidable structure in a city designed for war. 
  Troye is the capital of the Duchy of the Rampart and was founded in 
  the Hyperborean era. The city is a major destination for caravans, whose 
  merchants sell their cargos here to buy goods from faraway places for 
  the return journey. Merchants planning on making the whole trek from 
  the Kingdom of Foere into the provinces and back (most likely to 
  Manas, but sometimes to Endhome) stop here to enjoy one last taste of 
  city comforts before heading off into the wild. 
  This great metropolis at the far reaches of the Kingdoms of Foere 
  offers a vast array of interesting sights, sounds, cultures, clothes, music, 
  merriment, purchases, people, and pickpockets. It is wise to keep one 
  hand on the belt pouch when walking through crowds in Troye. Tourist 
  attractions include the University of Subtleties, the Great Stone Rabbit in 
  Lapin Square, the smoke-snorting iron bull atop the temple of Mithras, 
  the great Marchantal market, the dried remains of the six tall thieves (at 
  the Citadel’s Gate), and the Court of Thespians. 
  In any of the city’s hundred small markets, mostly temporary affairs 
  blocking crossroads, one can ﬁ nd herb-crusted breads, baskets of the 
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  dark purple, dream-inducing apples grown in the Yolbiac Vale, puppets, 
  trained cats, dwarf-crafted trinkets, colorful surcoats, stolen items 
  available for quick sale, clay idols painted with symbols, and all manner 
  of merchandise culled from traveling merchants of the world. 
  Shells are a particularly popular item of jewelry, a curiosity in a city 
  so far from the sea, and are often seen adorning wealthy merchants and 
  nobles when they ride through the city’s narrow streets. Pearls are also 
  much more highly prized than mined gemstones. 
  Troye is governed by a lord-mayor whose position is equivalent in 
  status to a count (in other words, higher than a baron but not ranked 
  as high as a duke). The duke-palatine appoints the lord-mayor, but a 
  council of burgesses elected by the city’s landowners handles most of 
  the job of managing the city. In the past, lords-mayor who continued to 
  make unpopular decrees were stopped in their tracks by the citizens who 
  shut down the gates, blocked streets, and started arresting people loyal 
  to the unpopular mayor. So even though the city is not technically self-
  governed, there is a practical limit to what the duke can impose upon his 
  capital city without its consent. 
  Troye is the headquarters or an important area of operations for a 
  number of different organizations. Principal among these, of course, 
  is the city’s government and city guard. Others include the Council of 
  Guilds that regulates the city’s commerce; the Most Honorable Guild of 
  Thieves, which regulates the city’s crime and underworld; the Church 
  of Vanitthu and the Temple of Jamboor, both important players in the 
  city’s politics and spiritual life; the city chapterhouse of the Order of the 
  Swan; and the Guild of Magisters. 
  Troye is a large city containing many secrets — and many dangers 
  for the unwary. Decadence is setting in, which is giving rise to a much 
  higher level of murders and lesser crimes than in centuries — and even 
  decades — past. The worst of the symptoms is the growth of demon-
  cults hiding within the city’s walls that are conducting secret sacriﬁ ces 
  and engaging in vicious plots to undermine the forces of law and mercy. 
  Heresies are whispered in the shadows, and criminal gangs roam the 
  streets at night, disappearing into dark alleys and abandoned buildings 
  if challenged by the guards. 
  If a party of adventurers asks around about strange events, especially 
  among city ofﬁ cials, they may hear about the bizarre posters, pamphlets, 
  and handbills that have been ﬁ nding their way into the city over the 
  last couple of years. The texts of these writings are nonsensical and 
  disturbing: visions of the underworld, pointless ramblings, and deranged 
  advice. The city’s ofﬁ cials have grave concerns about what seems at ﬁ rst 
  glance to be nothing more than one more quirk of city life. They have 
  observed that the printed materials have a certain fascination to them, 
  and many citizens seem to be collecting them, even quoting them from 
  time to time in ordinary discussions. Each time a new batch of pamphlets 
  arrives, the city suffers a spate of unusual and pointless crimes, most 
  of them completely petty. Signs are removed, turned upside down, or 
  switched with those of other establishments. Horses are stolen from 
  one stable, only to appear in another across the city. Bakeries report a 
  tripling or quadrupling of the ordinary rate of pilfering. There seems to 
  be no direct connection to the pamphlets, but the correlation is precise. 
  METZEL, TOWN OF
  METZEL, TOWN OF
  Population: 2,876 (1,356 Foerdewaith, 920 hill dwarf, 313 
  halﬂ ing, 152 half-elf, 77 gnome, 58 high elf)
  Ruler: Commander of the Watch Pietre Balmont
  Government: council
  Metzel is located 10 miles from the base of the mountain pass into the 
  Yolbiac Vale, and also beneﬁ ts from several nearby coal and iron mines. 
  Its main industry is smelting iron, and sturdy wagons containing pigs of 
  iron and sacks of coal make their way down from Metzel to the forges of 
  Troye, along with various products from the Yolbiac Vale.
  The town is chartered by the palatine duke, which allows it to be self-ruled, 
  and is governed by a council of three: the guildmaster of the Iron Smelters’ 
  Guild, the trademaster of the Merchant Brotherhood, and the commander of 
  the watch. Metzel has a bad reputation for crime and questionable behavior. 
  The guilds here are well organized, and have the feel of an extortion racket 
  rather than a means of ensuring high-quality goods.
  RELIQUARY OF JAMBOOR
  RELIQUARY OF JAMBOOR
  Population: 2,274 (Foerdewaith)
  Ruler: High Reliquarian
  Government: religious
  The Reliquary is high in the foothills of the Rampart Mountains, but 
  there is an excellent dirt road leading to the heights where the Reliquary 
  is found. It is a massive fortress built into the side of a cliff, looking 
  almost as if the sheer rock face had suffered an avalanche of carved 
  stone walls and buildings.
  The fortress houses a large temple-complex to Jamboor, “He Who 
  Hears the Secrets of the Dead,” Hyperborean god of knowledge, magic, 
  and death. The complex includes the main temple, a library, an academy 
  of magecraft, and extensive burial catacombs in the depths of the cliff 
  behind the cascade of buildings. It is the most signiﬁ cant temple to the 
  god in the Borderland Provinces, and the high reliquarian oversees the 
  church’s activities in the Rampart, Vourdon, Suilley, Keston, Toullen, 
  Exeter, the Gaelon River Valley, Eastreach, and the Amrin Estuary.
  The Reliquary is also the center of a considerable intelligence-
  gathering operation monitored by another high ofﬁ cial who bears the 
  title of “high excriptor.” The high reliquarian is considered senior to 
  the high excriptor, but both are selected based on omens direct from 
  the god: the excriptor’s role is more of an independent advisor to the 
  reliquarian than a subordinate.
  RISTALT, CITY OF
  RISTALT, CITY OF
  Population: 6,781 (3,627 Foerdewaith, 2,895 hill dwarf, 251 
  halﬂ ing, 8 gnome)
  Ruler: Mayor Sir Sorbat of Gulping Pond
  Government: overlord
  The small city of Ristalt is walled with stone and surrounded by 
  short, squat drum towers. The round citadel looks to be newer than the 
  walls, and is quite beautifully constructed with protective symbols and 
  realistic-looking vines sculpted as massive bas-relief decoration all 
  around the wall. A mayor appointed by the duke governs the city. The 
  current mayor is Sir Sorbat of Gulping Pond, a courtier more than a 
  knight, but an adequate administrator nonetheless
  Ristalt is the ﬁ rst destination of most products from the western face 
  of the Rampart Mountains. The city turns some of the products into 
  manufactured goods and sends the rest northward to the King’s Road 
  and thence to Troye. Dwarves are a common sight on the city streets, 
  usually traders who live on the roads rather than actually dwelling in 
  the mountains. For unknown reasons (possibly the dwarves), elves are 
  greatly disliked here.
  KINGDOM OF SUILLEY
  KINGDOM OF SUILLEY
  Capital: Manas
  Notable Settlements: Alembretia, Cluin, Pfefferain, 
  Stronghold Hjerrin 
  Ruler: His Most Regal Majesty King Ulrich IX of Suilley, 
  Sovereign of Keston and Toullen, Protector-Regent of the 
  Lorremach. 
  Government: monarchy 
  Population: 2,449,600 (2,152,000 Foerdewaith, 202,500 
  halﬂ ing, 47,050 half-elf, 36,700 high elf, 7,250 hill dwarf, 3,280 
  gnome, 820 other) 
  Monstrous: hobgoblin, bugbear, hill giant, troll, manticore, roc, 
  dragon (mainly Lorremach Highhills) 
  Languages: Common, Gasquen 
  Religion: Ceres, Sefagreth, Freya, Vanitthu, Mitra, Thyr, Muir, 
  Archeillus, Mick O’Delving, Belon the Wise, Solanus, Darach-
  Albith, Yenomesh, Bowbe, The Father, Mathrigaunt the Mad 
  
  216|
  216|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  Resources: foodstuffs, livestock (horses), trade hub, grain, ﬂ ax, 
  spirits (ale), glass, manufactured goods, quarry stone, banking, 
  copper, opium, gems 
  Currency: Suilley
  Technology Level: Medieval (cities), High Middle Ages 
  (countryside) 
  Some 300 years ago, the Kingdom of Suilley declared itself an 
  independent kingdom and seceded from the Kingdoms of Foere. Since 
  this time, other large regions of the Borderland Provinces have declared 
  themselves vassals of the Suilleyn king, which has increased the 
  kingdom’s power by an order of magnitude but strained its resources to 
  the utmost. It remains a real possibility that Suilley could collapse under 
  this pressure, in which case vast areas of the Borderland Provinces 
  would be thrown into chaos. 
  The northern border of Suilley is the King’s Road until it comes 
  within 150 miles of the city of Troye; these 150 miles are within the 
  Duchy of the Rampart. The western border with the County of Vourdon 
  is roughly 100 miles east of Olaric, and although parts of it are disputed, 
  it is considered to run due north and south along this line. The southern 
  border runs northwest from the very southernmost extent of the 
  Lorremach Highhills, with the Flatlander Road approximately 50 miles 
  inside the border, then turning southwest 200 miles south of Manas to 
  join a triple border-point with Keston and Vourdon 150 or so miles south 
  of the city of Olaric. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  In the year 3222 I.R., Ghienvais Pas, the lord-governor of Suilley, 
  had himself crowned as His Independent Majesty Ghienvais I, King of 
  Suilley, Marquis of the Lorremach Highhills, and Warden of the Plains 
  of Suilley. This event is still often called the “Theft of the Kingdom” 
  in Foere, and Suilley the “Stolen Kingdom,” although three centuries 
  have turned the Suilleyn secession into an accomplished fact of history, 
  legitimated by the passage of time. The rebellion’s background can 
  be explained in relatively simple terms, although the details are by 
  deﬁ nition more complex as it occurred within the larger tapestry of 
  rebellion and secession that afﬂ icted the Kingdoms of Foere during the 
  Wars of Succession. 
  Essentially, the majority of the Suilleyn nobles came to see themselves 
  as a separate branch of the Foerdewaith but entitled to equal status with 
  the nobility of the heartland kingdoms in terms of taxes and privileges. 
  It is likely that many of them did not anticipate war at all, merely a 
  long and ultimately successful wrangling of diplomats in the Court 
  at Courghais. Thus, the noble class of Suilley united around the lord-
  governor, marshalled their legal arguments, sent a letter to the royal 
  court explaining their grievances, and crowned a monarch who offered 
  fealty to the overking. 
  Despite the peacefulness of the intentions, a small civil war 
  immediately broke out among barons in eastern Suilley, with loyalists 
  and monarchists engaging each other in the plains near the Gundlock 
  Hills, no doubt inﬂ uenced by the struggles for independence occurring 
  in Burgundia to the east. 
  Hopes of a peaceful secession were dashed, however, when the 
  overking, watching his empire slip through his ﬁ ngers as ﬁ rst Ramthion 
  Island, then Pontos Island, and then Burgundia entered into rebellion, 
  declared the king of Suilley to be a usurper and traitor to the crown, and 
  his nobles to be stripped of their lands in favor of new, more faithful, 
  vassals. By doing so, the Court at Courghais transformed a peaceful and 
  ultimately still loyalist modiﬁ cation of feudal rights into a battleﬁ eld 
  war, with the Suilleyn nobles suddenly ﬁ ghting for their lives rather than 
  merely for lower taxes and greater social status. 
  With its back to the wall, Suilley stripped its ﬁ elds of able-bodied 
  peasants to form battalions of levied troops, mustered every knight 
  who could straddle a horse and hold a lance, and prepared for an all-
  out war to the death. Blacksmiths’ hammers rang through the night, 
  couriers rode lathered horses from one manorial estate to the next, and 
  even many of the originally loyalist barons came to realize that they 
  would be executed alongside the rebels if Foere returned in victory to its 
  former province. Surrender was no longer an option, and a soft resolve 
  hardened into iron. 
  King Ghienvais realized the futility of trying to ﬁ ght ardently loyalist 
  barons in the east at the same time as a Foerdewaith army to the 
  northwest, and attempted to entice the loyalist nobles in the Gundlock 
  Hills region and the surrounding plains with peace offerings of lucrative 
  trade and inﬂ uence, but to no avail. Many monarchist nobles of those 
  areas soon ﬂ ed to the Suilleyn heartlands as the jubilant loyalists held 
  trials and burned accused traitors at the stake, which caused civil war 
  to erupt in eastern Suilley even as the western portion of the nascent 
  kingdom prepared for an invasion by Foere. 
  The muddy season greatly slowed the assembly of the forces of 
  Suilley, for the barons and supply wagons for the inevitable siege 
  of Manas had to ﬁ ght their way down mud-soaked cart trails and 
  sodden country lanes. But the new king also anticipated that the 
  mustering of additional forces in the Duchy of the Rampart would 
  take time, even though the higher lands of the Rampart did not face 
  the obstacle of mired supply lines, since so many Foerdewaith troops 
  had already been deployed to Matagost to put down the Burgundian 
  rebellion and defend against Oceander invasion in the east. The new 
  kingdom did what it could to protect the capital city in the meantime. 
  Suilleyn troops occupied the nearby gatehouses along the Rampart 
  without opposition from the garrisons, whose commanders elected 
  to withdraw rather than die in a hopeless last stand, and the great 
  road between the capital cities of Manas and Troye was turned into 
  a fortiﬁ cation. 
  Authorized for battle by the overking, the aggressive general in charge 
  of the army of the Rampart, Lord-General Baron Cavodeill, moved into 
  action immediately, not waiting for the arrival of the battle-duke from 
  his deployment in Matagost, and not waiting for a full mustering of the 
  barons. While the Suilleyn nobles were still organizing themselves in 
  their rural manors and distant castles, or on the mud-wallowed roads 
  to Manas, the Foerdewaith army marched down the Rampart against a 
  kingdom that had barely started its preparations. 
  With siege engines in its train and heavy infantry able to ﬁ ght on 
  the causeway far better than levied peasants or mounted knights, the 
  Foerdewaith army crushed opposition at gatehouse after gatehouse 
  along the Rampart, drawing nearer to the city of Manas day by day. Had 
  the lord-general of the Rampartine forces continued on this relentless 
  march, the city of Manas might possibly have been taken at the outset 
  of the war, although such an outcome would have been unlikely against 
  a fortiﬁ ed city waiting for signiﬁ cant reinforcements to arrive from the 
  countryside. In any case, the assault took a radically different turn when 
  Rampartine scouts stumbled upon the main force of the small Suilleyn 
  army circling around behind the Foerdewaith advance along the 
  causeway. Correctly judging that the objective of the Suilleyn general 
  was to retake the Rampart behind him, effectively cutting off his forces 
  from reinforcement on the fortiﬁ ed road and allowing a hammer-and-
  anvil assault from behind when he reached the walls of Manas, the 
  duchy’s general moved his cavalry and main forces off the Rampart to 
  prevent encirclement. 
  The Rampartine army caught and engaged the smaller Suilleyn 
  force not more than a mile from the fortiﬁ ed causeway. In the open 
  pastureland, the Foerdewaith knights and soldiery rapidly broke the 
  smaller, hastily assembled array of Suilley’s local knights and levies 
  and forced them back in disorder to a copse of trees near the pastures of 
  Bullocks Bale. Unfamiliar with the muddy season in Suilley, the lord-
  general of the Rampartine army immediately followed up his victory 
  and pursued the retreating Suilleyn into the muddy ﬁ elds below the 
  higher ground around the causeway. Suddenly bogged down in mud 
  and threatened with holes dug by the Suilleyn troops to break the legs of 
  horses, the knights and cavalry of the Rampartine army died in droves 
  from the missiles of archers and slingers sheltering in the copse of trees. 
  The knights of Suilley circled entirely around the battle in the pasture to 
  shatter the still-disorganized advance of the Foerdewaith infantry behind 
  their mired cavalry, keeping to the higher ground near the causeway 
  where their own charge could be delivered over dry, even ground. The 
  army of the Rampart was utterly destroyed, and Suilley’s “theft” into 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|217
  |217
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  an independent monarchy free of the overking’s authority became an 
  accomplished fact, though it ultimately withdrew from the civil war in 
  its own eastern region and foreswore claim to any of the lands near the 
  Gundlock Hills. 
  As the power of Foere continued to decline in the provinces and the 
  newly minted District of Sunderland beyond, the emerging Kingdom 
  of Suilley found its power increasing by default. Although Suilley 
  was forced to ﬁ ght several more battles with the Foerdewaith after the 
  ﬁ rst one, the cost of these conﬂ icts was partially subsidized by other 
  opponents of Foere, namely Endhome, Oceanus, and Burgundia. 
  Captured territories between Manas and the duchy were granted to 
  many of the monarchist nobility of eastern Suilley who had been forced 
  to ﬂ ee the loyalists, and this area continues to harbor considerable ill 
  will toward the Kingdom of Foere, remembering burning villages and 
  executions by loyalist bands of marauders. This ill will is not directed 
  at the Duchy of the Rampart, for the anti-monarchists were Suilleyn 
  themselves, but the monarchists are quite hostile to any Foerdewaith 
  from across the March of Mountains. 
  Two major provinces of Foere, the County of Toullen and Province 
  of Keston, ultimately renounced their fealty to the overking of Foere 
  in the year 3336 I.R. and pledged themselves to the king of Suilley as 
  vassal states. 
  An example of Suilley’s emerging power and authority is its 
  participation in establishing a trading post at Grollek’s Grove in 3423 
  I.R. in concert with the city of Endhome, the formerly hostile Duchy 
  of the Rampart, and what representatives could be found to stand for 
  the District of Sunderland (many of whom were former loyalists who 
  battled against Suilley’s secession). 
  The largest problem facing Suilley at this time is actually the result of 
  its own past successes in war and diplomacy. It has inherited the realms of 
  Keston and Toullen with all their problems, which means the king of Suilley 
  now possesses, largely by default, a wide-ranging and disorganized feudal 
  empire. The Suilleyn monarchy is being entreated from all sides to shoulder 
  the burden of solving vast regional problems caused by the retreat of Foere. 
  With a relatively independent nobility, the king of Suilley would have 
  enough work just organizing his own domain. He is instead being forced 
  into a constant juggling act trying to balance wilderness and depopulation 
  in Keston; problems in the Lorremach Highhills; tax-rebels and petty wars 
  among the barons of his own country; occasional tension with Foere over the 
  King’s Road or the Rampart border; and the task of turning his patchwork 
  confederacy of feudal states into a functioning whole with uniﬁ ed laws and 
  common defense. The core of Suilley, a hundred or so miles around Manas, 
  is a very stable domain, but one cannot rule a vast empire from such a small 
  base, and this is what the King of Suilley faces. The resources simply do not 
  exist to protect, subdue, rebuild, and organize all the things in Suilley’s far-
  ﬂ ung domains that need to be protected, subdued, rebuilt, and organized. 
  Very few people realize how tenuous King Ulrich’s situation actually has 
  become. The treasury is emptied as soon as it is ﬁ lled, his personal wealth is 
  tied up in maintaining the army, and his soldiery is stretched thin as a wire. 
  Suilley is a growing empire that could falter and fail simply from a run of 
  bad luck or any signiﬁ cant catastrophe.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  A great deal of caravan trafﬁ c passes through Suilley on the north-
  south Trader’s Way from Exeter Province, the east-west route along the 
  South County Road from Olaric toward Endhome, or on the Rampart 
  Road to and from Foere itself. The Trader’s Way route passes through 
  wild and dangerous places, and the Flatlander Road diverts its trafﬁ c 
  from a 300-mile stretch of the Lorremach Highhills, but the South 
  County Road and the Manas-to-Troye Rampart Road are both well 
  patrolled and served by towns and fortiﬁ ed inns along the way. 
  Although Suilley endures a season of rain and mud each year, farms 
  are productive and pillaging is infrequent, especially in the regions up 
  to 25 miles from one of the roads (with the exception of the Trader’s 
  Way). The uninhabited parts of the country’s rural interior — and some 
  wild regions such as the Lorremach Highhills — cannot be described 
  as safe, but they are not unduly dangerous for those who travel in large, 
  well-armed groups. 
  Suilley has recently been making great efforts to entice northbound 
  merchant caravans coming from Exeter Province to take the Flatlander 
  Road through Manas rather than the Trader’s Way. Given the dangers 
  of the Trader’s Way, even the small incentives offered are enough to 
  persuade many merchants to take the Manas route. The result has been 
  to make the Trader’s Way between Grollek’s Grove and Pfefferain even 
  more sparsely traveled and more dangerous, but Suilley’s main concern 
  is the kingdom’s coffers, not the safety of a road far at the realm’s 
  eastern border nor the lawless lands of the Sundered Kingdoms beyond 
  that might suffer from this reduction in trade. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  Because the overking has never ofﬁ cially recognized the 
  independent status of Suilley and the Court at Courghais continues 
  to address the king of Suilley as “our subject,” relations between 
  Suilley and the Kingdom of Foere are uneasy, but both realms are 
  aware that the Kingdom of Foere no longer has the wherewithal 
  to successfully invade Suilley. Relations between the Kingdom of 
  Suilley and the duke of the Rampart are actually quite friendly, for 
  the trade route between Manas and Troye is an important source of 
  wealth for the duchy and the kingdom. Whatever the overking and 
  his court might think of Suilley, the Duchy of the Rampart would 
  be exceedingly unhappy to ﬁ nd its trade relationship with Suilley 
  impeded by war. 
  Many of the barons of northern Suilley have their eye on the periphery 
  of the Gaelon River Valley, and a few freehold lords on the northern 
  side of the King’s Road have pledged fealty to the king of Suilley. But 
  at this point, the incursion into the Gaelon River region remains small 
  and scattered. The Kingdom of Suilley is aware that while the Duchy 
  of the Rampart cares little about the Gaelon River Valley, it (along with 
  Foere, beyond the March of Mountains) cares a great deal about who 
  controls the King’s Road. The one event that could lead to renewed 
  hostility between the two realms would be if the Suilleyn border began 
  to creep too far beyond the King’s Road itself, putting the road ﬁ rmly 
  into Suilley’s control. 
  Suilley’s good relations with the County of Vourdon on its western 
  border are a high priority for the monarchy. If there is ever another war 
  with the Kingdoms of Foere, Vourdon would threaten Suilley’s ﬂ ank in 
  a conﬂ ict with the Duchy of the Rampart, and although Suilley’s army is 
  strong, it is not strong enough to ﬁ ght two separate conﬂ icts on different 
  fronts (as evidenced by its failure to curb the civil war in its own eastern 
  territories at the time of its own inception). Keston Province is a vassal 
  of the Suilleyn king, but is too weak to tie down the forces of Vourdon 
  in case of a war. To this end, Suilley maintains an ambassador in the city 
  of Olaric, whose task is to ensure that potential conﬂ icts between the 
  realms are quickly resolved. 
  GOVERNMENT 
  GOVERNMENT 
  Suilley is a monarchy ruled by a hereditary king or queen who derive 
  descent from Ghienvais I, the ﬁ rst king to bear the crown in rebellion 
  against Foere. The realm has eight ducal houses, which makes the king 
  relatively strong compared with many of his peer monarchs, since it is 
  rare for the dukes to agree long enough with each other to unite against 
  the king in any way. 
  Only one queen has ruled Suilley in its history, for the succession 
  traditionally goes to the oldest male offspring, and to the oldest female 
  only if there is no male heir. The reign of Queen Dacinthe I was initially 
  plagued by her uncle, Prince Huelbert, who claimed that no female 
  could inherit the throne at all, which would make him the rightful king. 
  Eventually, one of Dacinthe’s loyal dukes captured Huelbert in battle 
  and sent his head to the queen in a large glass bottle. Dacinthe ordered 
  the bottled head displayed as the centerpiece at her next royal banquet 
  to the distress of many of the guests, especially those suspected of 
  complicity with the would-be usurper. All ambiguities in the law were 
  thus completely clariﬁ ed. 
  The heraldry of the house of King Ulrich, and thus the device of 
  Suilley, is a golden crown over two red lions rampant, back to back, on 
  a green ﬁ eld. 
  
  218|
  218|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  As with most of the Borderland Provinces, Suilley is far more settled, 
  law-abiding, and prosperous in the regions surrounding its patrolled 
  roads than in the rural areas beyond. Much of the interior resembles 
  a thick scattering of villages and castles merging into an equally thick 
  scattering of wilderness. Thus, there are always opportunities to ﬁ nd 
  adventure, even in the country’s heartlands. The Lorremach Highhills 
  and the Wilderland Hills are large wilderness regions with virtually 
  no protection whatsoever and can be very dangerous to those without 
  armed escorts.
  MANAS, CITY OF (CAPITAL) 
  MANAS, CITY OF (CAPITAL) 
  Population: 28,420 (21,500 Foerdewaith, 3,030 halﬂ ing, 1,700 
  half-elf, 950 high elf, 680 hill dwarf, 400 gnome, 160 other)
  Ruler: Mayor Laurenti Rizaal
  Government: elected council of burgesses chooses mayor
  Manas is a sprawling metropolis that has outgrown its city walls, with 
  cottages and other buildings extending in all directions around the central 
  walled precincts. There has been a project to build an outer wall around 
  these settlements, but construction has been stalled for some time. 
  Manas is the capital city of Suilley and houses the court of King 
  Ulrich at Palaz Terondel within the city walls, along with various other 
  institutions of the country’s government. The city prospers from trade 
  and from the stability of the surrounding region, being at the very 
  heart of the king’s authority and power. At the same time, however, the 
  treasury is badly strained as the city helps to fund the king’s distant 
  landholdings and vassal nations. 
  Like Troye, Manas is an ancient city that charts its history back to the 
  days of the Hyperboreans, although it grew as a trading town rather than 
  originating as a fortress. The city’s stone walls are of great antiquity, 
  but they were built to replace wooden walls that had protected the city 
  for centuries before quarrying ever began for the stronger fortiﬁ cations. 
  Below the city is a vast Hyperborean-era series of vaults, passageways, 
  and tombs. Why a tomb complex would require such a wealth of rooms, 
  galleries, and winding tunnels beneath Manas is a secret lost with the 
  Hyperboreans, for it is not a common feature of Hyperborean city-
  building. Throughout the city, a number of holes have been dug deeply 
  enough to break into the vaulted corridors and labyrinthine tunnels 
  below so that sewage and storm water can drain down from the city 
  streets and be dispersed in the labyrinth. 
  Manas has the vibrant, almost frenetic, atmosphere of a place at the 
  center of events, and this is indeed the case, for the kingdom more 
  and more is becoming the main center of gravity in the Borderland 
  Provinces. The kingdom’s trade roads are safer than average, its guilds 
  are less venal than many, its courts of justice are fairer and less corrupt 
  than one might expect, its coins are well minted, its troubadours have 
  little trouble ﬁ nding wealthy patrons, and its nobility still considers 
  chivalry to be something more than a fashionable lie. Demolition 
  of old buildings and the construction of larger ones clog the city’s 
  thoroughfares with stone and lumber as the city continues to expand to 
  ﬁ t its emerging role as a major power. New merchant houses, not only 
  from within Suilley but from places as far as Bard’s Gate and Endhome, 
  are opening their doors for business. Famous troubadours and jongleurs 
  travel to the city from as far as Troye and Vermis to seek audiences 
  and noble patronage. Manas has even begun to export some of its court 
  fashions, perhaps the most signiﬁ cant mark of any city’s pre-eminence. 
  There are limits, of course; when Manas fashions are worn in Troye, the 
  days of the Kingdom of Foere in the east will truly be ended, but that 
  day has not yet come.
  At present, Manas has no formal college of magecraft but it is home 
  to several wizards and sorcerers of note who live in formidable palazzi 
  with arcane wards upon the doors and strange guardians prowling their 
  halls by night. The sorceress Veril of Tourne lives in the crumbling Palaz 
  Tourne, the former home of her now-deceased father, the sorcerer Beinad 
  of Tourne, son of Ylaine of Tourne, the Courghais-born sorceress who 
  advised Ghienvais I when he was still a mere lord-governor, and was 
  an early advocate of the Suilleyn secession. The family is long-lived 
  and not entirely sane. There is also Ciosceppio, who seems to disdain 
  any surname, and whose rune-tattooed bull is, by speciﬁ c decree of the 
  king himself, not allowed into the city streets any more. The mystical 
  Pytharian and the notable Rhomenides also number among the city’s 
  great mages, both of them solemn and long-bearded, quite satisfactory 
  to the expectations of the citizens of Manas in terms of how wizards 
  should look and behave. 
  Various factions operate within the city of Manas, especially 
  now that the kingdom has become a major power in the provinces. 
  The trade embassies of Bard’s Gate and Endhome are both making 
  considerable numbers of allies among the city’s mercantile classes. 
  The thieves’ guild supervises criminal activities and several small 
  opium guilds are involved in a savage battle to control sales of opium 
  from Pfefferain. A diplomat from Courghais, while never referring to 
  Suilley as a kingdom, works diligently to ensure that Foere’s interests 
  are represented in the court at Palaz Terondel. Representatives from 
  the vassal courts in Kingston and Tertry promote caravan trade to 
  their countries and petition Ulrich for funds and troops to assist in 
  the interests of Keston and Toullen. Temples of various gods jostle 
  for inﬂ uence with the citizenry (especially those who are wealthy 
  and/or noble). The quantity of intrigue as all these factions interact 
  is mind-boggling. 
  The city maintains a small standing garrison, mostly to watch and 
  guard the walls, but also a ceremonial bodyguard for the king, a troop 
  of ranger-outriders, and a few spellcasters to supplement the city’s 
  Wardens. 
  Additionally, units of the Royal Army are stationed in the citadel, 
  a round tower called the Caerronde (which also contains the royal 
  dungeon) and serves as the city’s last defense. The standing army of 
  Suilley is much smaller than in days past when the Duchy of the Rampart 
  represented a real threat, and many of its units are constantly on dispatch 
  in Keston and even as far as Toullen trying to assist these vassal realms 
  with the daunting task of keeping order. The army also patrols roads and 
  maintains small garrisons throughout the kingdom, so the king’s force 
  here in Manas is not much larger than the city’s own army. It usually is 
  composed of a levied force of 200 trained peasants, 50 men-at-arms, 
  and ﬁ ve mounted knights representing the feudal obligation of one or 
  two barons to provide the king periodically with troops. Additionally, 
  there is one battalion made up of 100 archers and 200 lightly armored 
  infantrymen, and a second battalion of 300 heavy infantrymen. The 
  King’s Cavalry is made up of ﬁ ve troops of 20 riders plus their ofﬁ cers, 
  one unit of 50 heavy cavalry, and a third unit of 20 knights together 
  with their soldiers (a number varying from 30 to 50). All of these forces 
  are supplemented by the private standing forces of the eight dukes and 
  by a small corps of more-powerful individuals who shift from unit to 
  unit as needed. This corps is often referred to as the King’s Scepters 
  and includes sorcerers, powerful ﬁ ghters, clerics, and often a paladin 
  or two. It is a mixed and often-changing group, but the Scepters are in 
  many ways the troubleshooters and backbone of an otherwise relatively 
  weak army. 
  The king has the ability to muster a massive army by calling up 
  barons and knights, so the size of the standing army should not be 
  seen as a measure of Suilley’s true power. This is merely the group of 
  professional, full-time soldiers who are ready to respond at a moment’s 
  notice if the king or country is threatened. 
  The Corps of Wardens is a separate contingent of guards maintained 
  by the city who patrol the streets and respond to disorder and crimes. 
  As with the Royal Army, the Wardens are mostly no more than trained 
  but ordinary individuals who answer mundane problems such as thefts 
  and tavern brawls. For larger matters such as Ciosceppio’s rune-tattooed 
  bull, the Wardens have a small number of spellcasters and clerics who 
  support the ordinary Wardens with considerably more unusual resources. 
  The commander of the Corps of Wardens is currently the knight Sir 
  Orlando Cormont. 
  The city’s symbol is three white circles arranged as a triangle around 
  a badger on a blue ﬁ eld. This is distinct from the king’s royal arms and 
  represents only Manas itself, and it is proudly displayed on banners 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |219
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  ﬂ own atop the houses of the city’s wealthy merchants, the towers around 
  the city wall, and the House of Burgesses. 
  The burgesses are prominent leaders elected by the citizens for terms 
  of two years. It is the burgesses who elect the mayor, pass municipal 
  laws, and undertake speciﬁ c responsibilities such as the minister of 
  justicators (courts), minister of the curtilage (the walls and defenses), 
  and minister of revenues (gate and sales taxes). 
  The city’s greatest market is Damozel Square, with the great merchants 
  buying and selling large lots in the center, and small vendors selling to 
  ordinary shoppers around the square’s periphery. Every oddment and 
  tidbit of the world seems to be available here, from diamonds and opium 
  to turnips and ﬂ ax. 
  Manas is an excellent place to hear rumors, ﬁ nd employment, 
  and ferret out interesting opportunities. Representatives of the eight 
  dukes are often looking for mercenaries who can solve problems in 
  the countryside such as dealing with dragons and mysterious events. 
  The city’s wizards always require tasks and travels that would be too 
  dangerous for ordinary people. The temples extend their benevolent 
  reach as far into the realm as they can, usually offering such rewards as 
  raising the dead or removing curses instead of paying money, but even 
  the temples dip into their coffers to handle truly strange and threatening 
  events, whether inside or outside the walls of Manas. Caravans always 
  need guards, and merchants always seek unusual items to sell. Even 
  within the city, there are strange mysteries, secret cults, sabotage, 
  bodyguarding, and other interesting chances for gold and renown. 
  Manas is a place where many possibilities converge. 
  ALEMBRETIA, CITY OF
  ALEMBRETIA, CITY OF
  Population: 13,240 (10,575 Foerdewaith 1,085 hill dwarf, 740 
  gnome, 460 half-elf, 380 halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Riobert Nev, Grand Master of the Glassmakers’ Guild of 
  Alembretia
  Government: council
  Alembretia is a large city on the Flatlander Road some 10 miles 
  from the base of the Lorremach Highhills and perhaps 50 miles from 
  the crossroad where the Flatlander Road meets the Trader’s Way in 
  the highlands. The citizens of Alembretia’s upper class are a rather 
  unpleasant lot,
  greedy and somewhat cruel, and are known for wearing elaborate 
  clothes. Anyone dressed in ordinary garb is treated as a rank commoner, 
  and on no account taken seriously.
  The city makes considerable revenue from travelers on the 
  Flatlander Road, but its main product is blown glass. The sandy hills 
  of the Lorremach include several deposits of colored sand that can be 
  incorporated into the glassmaking process. Alembretia’s glass-makers 
  and glassblowers are thus able to produce glassware in a variety of 
  beautifully rich hues, or clear glass with graceful swirls of color.
  The city is self-ruled by a Council of Guilds which is effectively 
  controlled by the Glassmakers’ Guild, whose members elect the majority 
  of the council seats.
  CLUIN, TOWN OF
  CLUIN, TOWN OF
  Population: 3,213 (2,730 Foerdewaith, 480 half-elf, 3 gnome)
  Ruler: Mayor Oswalt
  Government: overlord
  Cluin is one of the main towns along the road from Manas to Grollek’s 
  Grove. An elected mayor governs the town, and all citizens are entitled to 
  vote. The current mayor is Oswalt of Cluin, a prominent merchant who has 
  managed the town diligently and well. Most of the town’s basic industry 
  is centered on producing manufactured goods for the wealthier members 
  of the surrounding rural communities. Only a very small amount of trade 
  comes from caravans passing to and from Manas, although many of them 
  stop here for the night, and the town is not authorized to tax travelers on the 
  road. Cluin is a major pilgrimage destination. Some 100 years ago, a rune-
  covered pillar rose in the local cemetery under mysterious circumstances. 
  Now known as the Rock of Yenomesh, the artifact is holy to followers of 
  both that Hyperborean god of glyphs and writing as well as Thyr.
  PFEFFERAIN, TOWN OF
  PFEFFERAIN, TOWN OF
  Population: 4,712 (2,686 Foerdewaith, 754 gnome, 613 halﬂ ing, 
  377 high elf, 236 half-elf, 46 hill dwarf)
  Ruler: Mayor Arellias auf der Henneschlieden
  Government: autocracy
  Known to its citizens as the “Crown of the Lorremach,” the hill-
  walled town of Pfefferain is part of the Kingdom of Suilley but has a 
  charter that allows it to govern itself rather than being ruled by a local 
  lord. A justicator (essentially a magistrate) from the king’s court in 
  Manas supervises the town’s court of law and serves as the voice of the 
  king’s authority if needed, but the royal court does not interfere with 
  any matters other than law and taxation. Pfefferain is left to itself on all 
  local matters. 
  In this generally inhospitable region, Pfefferain beneﬁ ts from its 
  position in the middle of a large plot of fertile savannah territory near a 
  spring-fed stream. The tillable land nearby supports corn, wheat, ﬂ ax, 
  soybeans, vegetables, and fruit trees, and grasslands supply grazing for 
  herds of cattle, pigs, sheep, and horses. However, its main trade product 
  is processed opium from the poppies that grow wild in the surrounding 
  highlands. The town itself does not manufacture the opium; this is done, 
  for the most part, by the hillfolk who gather or grow the poppies then 
  bring the paste to the town to sell. 
  The town is extremely friendly to users of magic and is home to the 
  “Revered Sorcerers and Wizards Guild of Pfefferain.”
  REFERENCE SOURCE: F1 VINDICATION
  STRONGHOLD HJERRIN 
  STRONGHOLD HJERRIN 
  Population: 3,672 (3,120 Foerdewaith, 330 hill dwarf, 179 
  gnome, 43 halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Fortress-Commander Sir Oessum Keenblade
  Government: military command
  Stronghold Hjerrin occupies the tops of two adjacent mesas and is built 
  up between them to create a stone tunnel through which caravans may pass 
  without entering the stronghold itself. The fortress is a vast construction 
  of drum towers and thick walls designed to pour destruction down onto 
  the road below. It ﬂ ies a huge banner of the Kingdom of Suilley over the 
  highest tower.
  In the vast, shaded underpass through the fortress, one ﬁ nds two inns, 
  stables, a store selling general supplies, and the forge of an experienced 
  blacksmith, all to allow caravans a safe rest stop and supplies for the 
  next leg of their journey. The long, arched tunnel is as ancient as the 
  stronghold it passes through, but the stonework remains as sound as the 
  day the Hyperboreans built it. 
  Only travelers of very high station or fame are admitted to the 
  stronghold itself for reasons of security. Most visitors are limited to the 
  small community in the huge, arched underpass beneath the fortiﬁ cations.
  COUNTY OF TOULLEN
  COUNTY OF TOULLEN
  (TOO-len, antique: too-lain) 
  Capital: Tertry 
  Notable Settlements: Tuller, Durbenford 
  Ruler: The Honorable Luthien I, Count-Palatine of Toullen, 
  Protector of the Southern Marches 
  Government: feudalism (palatine county of Suilley) 
  Population: 1,292,000 (789,600 Foerdewaith, 198,000 half-
  elf, 93,700 halﬂ ing, 59,100 high elf, 54,000 hill dwarf, 42,550 
  Heldring, 28,000 wood elf, 19,800 mountain dwarf, 4,950 
  gnome, 2,300 other) 
  Monstrous: giant boar, kobold, giant weasel, goblin, dire 
  wolf, goblin snake, swan maiden (plains); orc, hill giant, 
  
  220|
  220|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  troll, trollhound, winter wolf, mammoth, frost giant, 
  chimera, thunderbird, red dragon, white dragon (Kal’Iugus 
  Mountains); giant animal, worg, giant spider, fey, ettercap, 
  tangtal, wood giant, forest drake, lycanthrope, treant 
  (Wiltangle Forest) 
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Elvish, Dwarven, Gnomish 
  Religion: Freya, Thyr, Mick O’Delving, Muir, Pan, Darach-
  Albith, Dwerfater, Vergrimm Earthsblood, Quell, Sefagreth, 
  Shae’loegn, Path of the Shattered Sword 
  Resources: timber, ﬂ ax, linen, foodstuffs, livestock (swine), 
  copper, furs, gems, ﬁ shing, shipbuilding supplies, shipbuilding 
  Currency: Suilley
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages, Medieval (Tertry and 
  Tuller) 
  Toullen is now a feudal vassal of Suilley, essentially a palatine realm 
  ruled by the count who has pledged his personal fealty to the Suilleyn 
  king. It is a very rural country that is still recovering from long-term 
  damage caused by the Fiend Rains. The main attraction of Toullen for 
  most people of the Borderland Provinces is the Tournament of Lilies 
  and the highly competitive jousting competitions of the county. Most of 
  the county’s revenue comes from logging and mining operations on the 
  western slopes of the Kal’Iugus Mountains. 
  The county is a narrow realm bordered to the west by the Kal’Iugus 
  Mountains, although a small annex exists beyond the mountains in a 
  forested area dominated by the city of Durbenford that is reached by means 
  of a mountain pass. The county’s eastern border is the Wiltangle Forest, 
  and on the south it extends all the way to the city of Tuller on the Tywyl 
  Bay coast, the only port within Suilley’s domains. Its northern border with 
  Keston Province is the crossroad of the Provincial Military Road and the 
  South Road, 200 miles by road from the capital city of Tertry. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  The County of Toullen was established in 2856 I.R. during the period 
  of time when Foere made great strides in organizing and consolidating 
  its vassal states beyond the March of Mountains. In that year, the 
  overking raised High Baron Trosvoun to the rank of count, granted 
  him the vast region of Toullen as a feudal realm, and charged him 
  with the task of uniting the local warlords and petty chieftains into an 
  organized system of vassalage and fealty. Count Trosvoun established 
  his seat of authority in the small town of Tertry on the South Road, 
  thereby allowing reinforcements and supplies to travel swiftly to his 
  assistance from Foere, if need be. Over the years, the mandated system 
  of vassalage and fealty slowly developed outward from Tertry as one 
  warlord after another eventually chose to join the county’s march 
  toward uniﬁ cation and centralized power, represented by the count and 
  his distant, omnipotent overking. 
  In the year 3336 I.R., Count Catrebrasse II of Toullen declared that 
  he was retracting his feudal loyalties from the Kingdom of Foere and 
  would pay fealty instead to the kings of Suilley. Emboldened by this 
  development, the lord-governor of Keston Province similarly shifted his 
  allegiance to Suilley not more than a month after the count of Toullen’s 
  decree. It is evident an agreement was made between the two rulers so 
  Toullen’s troops would help defend Keston across the Gap Road in case 
  of a counter-invasion by Foere. A large contingent of knights of Toullen 
  was already present in Keston Province with a battalion of crossbowmen 
  when the town criers of Kingston began ringing their bells to announce 
  that the king of Kingston had changed. 
  Most likely the ﬁ rst discussions took place during the Tournament of 
  Lilies in Tertry, which the lord-governor of Keston Province attended 
  to witness a much-anticipated joust between Sir Rolvin of Dwarnhold 
  and Sir Corin of Kingston (the victor being Sir Rolvin). Thereafter, 
  Count Catrebrasse and the lord-governor remained in contact, making 
  use of a magic mirror known as the Ormoulande that allowed them to 
  use two mirrors to speak to each other at a distance. As all know, the 
  legendary thief Morwin, also known as the “Golden Crescent,” stole the 
  Ormoulande from the palace of the count of Toullen some months later. 
  The catastrophic year of 3439 I.R. brought the Fiend Rains, torrential 
  downpours along the March of Mountains that ﬂ ooded the easternmost 
  of Foere’s provinces, principally the Duchy of the Rampart, the 
  Kingdom of Suilley, Keston Province, and the Counties of Vourdon 
  and Toullen. Although the city of Tertry was spared most of the 
  destruction by being on somewhat higher ground near the mountains, 
  the entire realm became a shallow river with the regions north of 
  Tertry draining toward Keston, and the regions to the south draining 
  slowly toward Tywyl Bay. Count Rolomair, who was wavering and 
  indecisive and already suffering the disrespect of his subject nobility, 
  failed to marshal any sort of response to the disaster and has since 
  been given the appellation “Rolomair the Wetself.” The deluge thus 
  affected Toullen somewhat worse than the other provinces, and set the 
  county back by years. Many barons declared themselves freeholders 
  rather than vassals of the Wet Count, and petty wars against these 
  barons occupied Rolomair’s successors for a decade thereafter. 
  In the interim between the Fiend Rains and the present day, Toullen 
  has struggled to recover its prosperity. It is somewhat aided by its 
  possession of Suilley’s only seaport, even though most of Suilley’s trade 
  goes north to Endhome or Eastgate. 
  It might seem like a strange thing for a nation to have a separate 
  entry for a sport, but in Toullen’s case, leaving out mention of the sport 
  of jousting would be a serious omission. In addition to hosting the 
  Tournament of Lilies at Tertry, which is the most prestigious tournament 
  in the provinces and brings contestants from as far away as Eastreach 
  and even Courghais, Toullen is obsessed with the sport. From knights on 
  their Suilleyn destriers in elaborate plate armor, all the way to peasants 
  on donkeys riding at each other with quarterstaffs and barrel lids, the 
  County of Toullen is universally addicted to the lists. 
  Under the auspices of Count Quelovic II, the ﬁ rst Tournament of 
  Lilies was held in Tertry in 3119 I.R. as a melee tournament with 25 
  knights to each side, and was resolved in a single mock battle that 
  resulted in two deaths and a number of serious wounds. Members of 
  the victorious side received chaplets of lilies, and all the knights — save 
  two — declared that the mock battle had been a tremendous success. The 
  count’s popularity greatly increased, and on the spot he declared that 
  the tournament would be repeated the following year on the same day 
  (the day before the ﬁ rst full moon) in the same month. From that time, 
  the Tournament of Lilies has evolved to become more a competition of 
  individual jousts rather than of the melee, and a system of qualiﬁ cations 
  developed to ensure that the tournament would not drag on for weeks 
  due to the number of participants. 
  As with the Province of Keston, the County of Toullen is not greatly 
  affected by the retreat of Foere’s power. These vassal states of Suilley 
  threw off the yoke of Foere relatively early, and Foere was doing little 
  to beneﬁ t them in the ﬁ rst place. They experienced the rough edge 
  of Foerdewaith culture far more than the civilized edge; other than a 
  countryside interpretation of chivalric principles and an invader’s 
  language, they have little to show for their temporary role as vassal 
  states to the overking in Courghais. 
  For the Toullenese, the changing times have more to do with growth 
  and stability, building connections with Suilley to beneﬁ t their people, 
  and reclaiming fens and marshes that have stood fallow since the Fiend 
  Rains decades ago. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  Virtually all of Toullen’s wealth comes from two sources: merchants 
  on the South Road and the extensive mining and logging efforts in the 
  Kal’Iugus Mountains. Caravans on the South Road are fairly common 
  as they make short legs of the route between the port at Tuller through 
  Toullen and then beyond to Keston, Vourdon, the Duchy of the Rampart, 
  and Manas. Caravans along this route are often quite large, but carry 
  cargoes of relatively low value compared with the riches that traverse the 
  north. Toullen gains more of its revenue from the Kal’Iugus Mountains, 
  mainly along the western ﬂ anks, which are reached through the Toullen 
  Pass 100 miles to the southwest of Tertry. On the far side of the mountains 
  is the region of Durbenford, an area that renounced its fealty to Foere at 
  the same time as Keston and Toullen, but instead pledged itself to the 
  count of Toullen. Durbenford has extensive logging and mining resources 
  and has proven to be a great ﬁ nancial boon to the county’s limited coffers.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |221
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  Toullen has been subject to the Kingdom of Suilley since 3336 I.R. 
  and is on particularly good terms with the Province of Keston to its north. 
  The only connection between Toullen and Suilley is through Keston, and 
  at present, no good road leads directly from the two vassal states to that 
  kingdom, although the Court of Manas is deﬁ nitely contemplating one. 
  No one is hostile to the county, and the county minds its own business 
  in the regional politics of the provinces. 
  GOVERNMENT 
  GOVERNMENT 
  A hereditary count — currently Luthien, ﬁ rst of his name to rule 
  — governs Toullen. Count Luthien is a fat, friendly man who is 
  much loved by his subjects. His popularity is greatly enhanced by 
  the independent fame of his younger sister, the Demoiselle Cyrilinde 
  the Lance, a champion tournament jouster and grand victor at one 
  Tournament of Lilies. She has ﬁ nished among the top 10 jousters for 
  the last three years and taken the laurel crown in two of the last three 
  Tournaments of the Realm. 
  Below the level of count, Toullen has a stratum of nobility called 
  high barons to whom ordinary barons pledge fealty, with most knights 
  in turn pledging fealty to one of the ordinary barons. Fifteen high 
  baronial houses form an advisory council of sorts to the count, but the 
  council has no actual governmental powers. Of all the realms in the 
  Borderland Provinces, the count of Toullen exerts more direct power 
  over his subjects than the ruler of any other realm. For Toullen, a weak 
  ruler means a weak county (see e.g., Count Rolomair “Wetself”), but 
  a strong ruler can make dramatic improvements without facing much 
  opposition from great noble houses serving their own agendas. Count 
  Luthien is a strong and popular ruler, and the county is beneﬁ tting 
  greatly from his reign. 
  The 15 high baronial houses are the Aulzevern, Caer Nor, Grellec, 
  Saltfalcon, Gloun, Nantres, Hleen, Jormorel, Tauntirion, Mothcandle, 
  Cascat, Porthiliot, Greenwine, Liscondel, and Vanj. In addition, Lord 
  Durben of Durbenford has been campaigning hard for the elevation of a 
  16th high baronial house for the last several years. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  In general, Toullen appears to be quite well settled, with villages and 
  hamlets throughout the county’s narrow band of territory. Yet these 
  settlements all have much-smaller populations than one would expect, 
  for the Fiend Rains turned a great deal of the county’s tillable land to 
  marsh and fen, something from which Toullen’s former vast ﬁ elds of 
  grain have yet to recover. 
  Depopulated as it is, the countryside has few broad expanses of 
  primeval wilderness, which makes for fewer threats to civilization. On 
  the other hand, the Kal’Iugus Mountains to the west, and the Wiltangle 
  Forest to the east, are quite wild and dangerous, indeed. Adventurers 
  seeking their fortunes in Toullen will most likely be seeking out 
  treasure and fame in one of these two places and should be prepared for 
  unpleasant surprises in the wilderness of Toullen’s marches. 
  TERTRY, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  TERTRY, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Population: 13,593 (10,003 Foerdewaith, 1,312 half-elf, 880 
  halﬂ ing, 526 high elf, 442 hill dwarf, 350 other)
  Ruler: city council
  Government: city council subject to the count’s veto
  The city of Tertry is a forest of small towers bounded by a strong stone 
  wall, with a river running through the middle of the city. A large, permanent 
  ﬁ eld of tournaments and jousting is laid out beyond the city walls. 
  Tertry is the capital of the County of Toullen, but far more importantly 
  to the Toullenese, it is the site of the annual Tournament of Lilies on the 
  great lists and ﬁ elds beyond the city walls. 
  The count’s palace is located in the city, and the count reserves the 
  power to veto any decisions made by the city for its own government, 
  although this feudal privilege is seldom invoked. Subject to the count’s 
  veto, a council made up of an unusually diverse group governs the 
  city. The Master of Revels, who is responsible for the tournament, is 
  one of the members of the city’s council. The count’s ofﬁ cial jester is 
  also a member of the council. More prosaic members are two council 
  seats appointed by the city’s guilds, one commoner popularly elected 
  by the people, one member of noble descent also selected by popular 
  vote, one representative of the king of Suilley, and the city’s high 
  priest of Thyr. 
  The annual Tournament of Lilies is the highest event in the 
  calendar of all Toullen. The ﬁ elds around the city begin ﬁ lling 
  up a month before the tournament with knights from all over the 
  provinces and far beyond Toullen’s own borders. Pavilion tents ﬂ y 
  long banners proclaiming the heraldry and lineages of the knights 
  within, minstrels compose songs extolling the skills of their patrons, 
  bookmakers stroll from one area to another taking bets, and the 
  master of revels employs twice his normal staff just keeping matters 
  from devolving into utter chaos. 
  The tournament is composed of several different contests, divided 
  into three categories. The ﬁ rst category allows knights from any 
  realm to participate in the individual jousts and is the main event 
  of the tourney. Winning the Crown of Lilies is a matter of pride for 
  provinces as far as Eastreach. Foreign knights participate in a number 
  of qualifying jousts to limit the number of contestants once the true 
  tournament begins. 
  The second category is the least of the events, being competitions 
  other than jousting, and is open to the peasantry. Such competitions 
  include wrestling, archery, quarterstaff, pig-hurling, and horse racing, 
  to name but a few. 
  The third category is often called the Tournaments of the Realm, 
  for only the count’s subjects may participate in these jousts. Patronage 
  from one of the 15 high barons or from the count himself is required 
  in order to allow a knight to enter the Tournaments of the Realm. The 
  least prestigious of the Tournaments of the Realm is the Peasants’ 
  Tourney, once held for comedic value, but which has become so serious 
  that the Toullenese high barons now sponsor talented rural jousters by 
  providing loaned armor and warhorses. Victory in the Peasants’ Tourney 
  leads to immediate offers of employment from barons in their personal 
  forces and represents a tremendous improvement in the life of whatever 
  talented peasant managed to defeat all others. 
  The next most prestigious Tournament of the Realm is the Warriors’ 
  Tourney, which is limited to members of the class “at arms,” generally 
  professional soldiers of all kinds, from city guards to royal or baronial 
  regular troops. The winner in this tournament is invariably knighted on 
  the jousting ﬁ eld. 
  The third and most prestigious Tournament of the Realm is almost 
  as important to the folk of Toullen as the Crown of Lilies. This is the 
  “Count’s Tournament,” and it is open only to Toullenese of the noble 
  or knightly classes. As with the other Tournaments of the Realm, the 
  Count’s Tournament requires patronage by one of the high barons of the 
  realm and also requires that a contestant has placed high in the lists of a 
  qualifying lesser tournament in one of the county’s towns. 
  Victories and placing in the Tournaments of the Realm (including 
  the lesser ones) has become a matter of incalculable prestige for 
  the high barons. All the country perceives a high baron’s sponsored 
  contestants as a kind of team, even though they all compete 
  separately. The audiences at the tournament carry flags of their 
  faction, engage in brawls with followers of other factions, and 
  generally show an almost-religious fervor. The importance of 
  winning and placing in the tournament now translates directly into 
  political power; barons have switched allegiances from one high 
  baron to another based on consistently poor results in the lists. 
  Moreover, the high barons whose sponsored contestants win first, 
  second, and third place in a tournament each exempt all the high 
  baron’s vassals from one of nine taxes levied by the count. The 
  tournament exemptions are generally divided among different high 
  barons, for it is highly unusual for a single faction to sweep first 
  through third place in all three divisions of the Tournaments of 
  the Realm, but it has happened a few times in history. Thus, even 
  the peasantry benefits when their high baron’s faction wins one or 
  more divisions of the tournaments. 
  
  222|
  222|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  DURBENFORD, TOWN OF 
  DURBENFORD, TOWN OF 
  Population: 7,073 (5,446 Foerdewaith, 637 halﬂ ing, 354 high elf, 
  212 hill dwarf, 141 gnome, 71 half-elf, 53 half-orc, 159 other)
  Ruler: Marcus Durben, Lord of Durbenford
  Government: hereditary lord
  Durbenford is primarily a lumbering town, but it provides a very signiﬁ cant 
  beneﬁ t to the County of Toullen to which it declared fealty (seceding from 
  the Duchy of Saxe) when Toullen changed fealty to the Kingdom of Suilley. 
  Durbenford is the most remote possession of the Kingdom of Suilley, 
  which the folk of Durbenford refer to simply as “the Northern Kingdom.” 
  The particular species of pine tree native to the Durbenford region grows 
  extremely straight, making them highly desirable for ship’s masts and other 
  speciﬁ c uses.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: TROUBLE AT DURBENFORD
  TULLER, CITY OF 
  TULLER, CITY OF 
  Population: 6,840 (4,126 Foerdewaith, 1,854 Heldring, 833 
  half-elf, 27 other)
  Ruler: Mayor Bendigond Lune
  Government: mayor and town council
  Tuller is a seaport city located on a small, deep harbor on Tywyl Bay. 
  It has high walls of a green-tinged stone, and a round citadel that ﬂ ies 
  the ﬂ ag of Toullen: a yellow jousting helm on a black ﬁ eld with a green 
  ﬂ eur-de-lis in the corner. A small island lies in the harbor, its land area 
  completely occupied by a pillared temple with attached outbuildings, all 
  made of stone. 
  Though Tuller is the only seaport accessible to the Kingdom of 
  Suilley, and a small ﬂ otilla is maintained there to fend off pirates on 
  Tywyl Bay, the kingdom nevertheless conducts very little trade through 
  the port. There is a modest stream of seaborne trade between Tuller 
  and the western ports of the Helcynngae Peninsula to the east, and with 
  some ports of the Southern Reach to the west, but the merchants of 
  Manas generally prefer to send their goods overland to ports such as 
  Endhome or Eastgate where prices are higher.
  COUNTY OF VOURDON
  COUNTY OF VOURDON
  Capital: Olaric 
  Notable Settlements: Shullcross 
  Ruler: His Excellency Peilorth Rhombard I, Count-Palatine of 
  Vourdon, Earl of the South Rampart Marches
  Government: feudalism (palatine county of Foere) 
  Population: 914,000 (768,000 Foerdewaith, 68,500 hill dwarf, 
  50,100 halﬂ ing, 21,000 half-elf, 6,400 high elf) 
  Monstrous: ankheg, goblin, fey, smilodon (valley); spider-eye 
  goblin, giant stag and boar, smilodon, forlarren, forest troll, 
  owlbear, dryad, green dragon (forest); cave lion, hill giant, 
  griffon, giant eagle, cave moray (mountains) 
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Dwarven, Halﬂ ing, Elvish 
  Religion: Telophus, Ceres, Sefagreth, Thyr (declining), Pan, 
  Hester, Archeillus, Freya, Stryme, Dwerfater, Bacchus-
  Dionysus, Moccavallo 
  Resources: spirits (wine, brandy), ﬂ ax, grain, foodstuffs (grapes, 
  apples, pears), linen, livestock (sheep, swine), wool 
  Currency: Suilley
  Technology Level: Medieval 
  The County of Vourdon is a vassal state of the overking in Foere, 
  with a great deal of independence from the distant rule of Courghais. It 
  is a peaceful and productive land that enjoys good diplomatic and trade 
  relations with its neighbors on either side of the March of Mountains. 
  Vourdon extends through the gap between the Meridian and Rampart 
  ranges, from the verge of the Shadrack Forest (just west of Shullcross) 
  to approximately 100 miles east of Olaric, 100 miles north of Olaric, 
  and 150 miles south of Olaric. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  The County of Vourdon was established by decree of the overking in 
  the year 2822 I.R., thus incorporating a region that had been a largely 
  ungoverned expanse since the days of Hyperborea that lay between the 
  Kingdom of Foere and the outlying Province of Suilley. Lords and barons 
  with their bloodlines dating back to the Hyperborean Age were required 
  to pledge fealty to the new count, whose seat of government would be 
  Caer Sferic near the thriving market town of Olaric. When the Archmage 
  Quaoule destroyed Caer Sferic in a ﬁ t of pique, the count’s surviving 
  retainers brought the Throne of Harts to the town of Olaric itself, eventually 
  building the Comital Palace to house it properly. In default of living heirs to 
  the countship, the overking appointed a new great house to the position, and 
  so began the still-surviving dynasty of the House of Rhombard. 
  During the Fiend Rains of 3439 I.R., Vourdon was subjected to 
  massive ﬂ ooding, its rivers becoming deluges and its lower-lying 
  pastures becoming stagnant lakes. Unlike the catastrophic failure in 
  Toullen, the County of Vourdon, under the leadership of Count Lorn 
  of House Rhombard, responded immediately to the catastrophe. All the 
  great mages of the county were summoned to Olaric to hear the Edict 
  of Rains, which ordered them to different tasks in accordance with their 
  capabilities, knowledge, and prestige. By means of great magicks and 
  an unprecedented level of cooperation, the mages excavated a number 
  of deep weirs along the March of Mountains, raised ramparts and dikes 
  around many of the larger towns, and bound earth elementals to the 
  task of cutting massive drainage canals to channel the mountain runoff 
  down to the lower-lying regions of Suilley and Keston. The wizards 
  Thylimeles, Fernijan, and Xolobar worked together (reportedly using 
  lost secrets of Alycthron and Margon) to raise the city of Olaric itself to 
  an altitude 10 feet higher than its original standing. All but the owners 
  of the numerous collapsed buildings considered this a small price to pay 
  for such security. The mages also created great terraces carved from the 
  mountain rock east of the capital (using the same unknown magic) to 
  stop rockslides and to abate surges of water during the heaviest rain. 
  Due to this orderly and expansive reaction to the ﬂ ooding, the Fiend 
  Rains affected Vourdon considerably less than they damaged the 
  surrounding regions. Some of the canals are still in use and connect 
  towns by waterway. The artiﬁ cial mountain terraces are now home to 
  fertile vineyards that produce the mediocre vintages of wine for which 
  Olaric is justiﬁ ably not famous but sells in great quantity across the 
  continent to establishments and wine cellars less interested in quality 
  and more interested in price and availability. 
  In the year 3222 I.R., when the lord-governor of Suilley declared 
  himself to be an independent monarch, the count of Vourdon declined 
  the overking’s demand to send troops against the rebellious new 
  kingdom, citing obscure matters of feudal law. As a result, diplomatic 
  relations between the County of Vourdon and the Kingdom of Suilley 
  have always been friendly and amicable. 
  Vourdon has not suffered excessively from the retreat of Foere’s 
  inﬂ uence, although the demands of the overking are increasing as his 
  tax base and military power wane. Large numbers of troops have been 
  requested, although so far the count has avoided sending more than 
  the bare minimum. The tax burden is a bit more serious and causes 
  consternation among the nobles. Thus far, the county’s status as an 
  independent vassal has allowed it to dodge or reduce several tax levies, 
  but demands from the Court of Courghais are becoming more strident 
  and threatening. 
  At the same time, diplomatic overtures from the Kingdom of Suilley 
  continue, offering potentially enormous beneﬁ ts to the county if it were 
  to throw off the reins of Foere and offer its fealty to the Suilleyn king. 
  The concern, however, is that even as weak as the Kingdom of Foere 
  has become, it could still potentially overwhelm Vourdon before any 
  help could arrive from Suilley. The County of Vourdon is no warrior 
  nation, much as its knights believe otherwise, and its peaceful lands 
  provide a desperately needed ﬂ ow of gold and food into the Foerdewaith 
  heartlands. The count is justiﬁ ably concerned that if Vourdon shifted its 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |223
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  allegiance, Foere might not just accept the situation as it did with the 
  secessions of Keston Province and the County of Toullen. War would 
  be a deﬁ nite possibility, and Vourdon is not prepared for such a conﬂ ict. 
  Even more vexing, if Suilley’s power continues to expand, while that 
  of Foere weakens, the friendly persuasions of the king of Suilley might 
  change their tone into demands or threats. 
  Caught between kingdoms, given choices of an increasingly 
  demanding overlord, the potential of ruinous war against that overlord, 
  or possibly waiting too late to join with Suilley on good terms, the count 
  of Vourdon bides his time. With good luck, some new event will arise 
  to give him better leverage against the demands of the overking. With 
  bad luck, some new event may force his hand and require him to rush to 
  Suilley, risking bloody retribution from Foere. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  The County of Vourdon is an exclusively agricultural region and 
  initiates very little trade beyond its borders other than linen, bad wine, 
  brandy, and small quantities of ﬂ ax oil. A number of merchant caravans 
  pass through Olaric on the way into and out of Foere along the South 
  County Road, which is a safe and pleasant route. The length of the 
  road from Olaric to Shullcross, while very hilly, is a pleasant journey, 
  lined with ﬁ elds of ﬂ ax that turn into a sea of blue during the ﬂ owering 
  season. Orchards cover the hillsides, and great terraces carved into 
  the mountains are overburdened with the yellow grapes of Vourdon. 
  Fortiﬁ ed stone chateaux may be seen in the distance, usually on hilltops 
  from which the owner can look over the lands and farms of the ﬁ efdom. 
  Olaric and Shullcross are below the highland gap between the 
  Rampart Mountains and the Meridians. Shullcross is a lumbering town, 
  and Olaric is surrounded by ﬁ elds of golden wheat. Other than farming, 
  Olaric’s main industries are manufacturing linen from ﬂ ax, selling barrels 
  of “cask-quality” wine, and distilling brandy. Distillation in Olaric is a 
  primitive process of mixing grain alcohol into wine, then distilling the 
  mixture. The brandy is consumed in sailors’ taverns and questionable 
  dives across the provinces, just as the wine is imbibed in the manors of 
  impoverished knights and the houses of miserly merchants. 
  The linen industry in Olaric produces fabrics with a wide variety of 
  quality, some of which are suitable to be worn by kings. The lowest-
  quality ﬂ ax ﬁ bers are woven into rope and twine, and the long ropewalk 
  in Olaric is always a hive of activity. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  The County of Vourdon is an independent feudal state, subject to the 
  overking of Foere. 
  Diplomatic relations with the adjacent Kingdom of Suilley are 
  extremely good, partially based on the fact that Vourdon never attacked 
  Suilley during Suilley’s war of secession, but also due to trade along the 
  South County Road directly between the capitals, and the general sense 
  that the two realms are quite similar in culture and outlook. 
  The King of Suilley constantly attempts to woo the count of Vourdon 
  into switching his allegiance from Foere to Suilley, making lucrative 
  trade agreements and bestowing gifts. Thus far, all diplomatic efforts 
  in this regard have failed, albeit very cordially. Vourdon’s status as an 
  independent feudal realm under Foere’s protection is a comfortable 
  situation for the counts of Vourdon, and they have seen no need to go 
  through the turmoil of changing fealty. 
  Of late, however, Foere has made some onerous demands upon the 
  county, calling up a number of troops to join the overking’s army and 
  levying several new taxes. If the trend continues, too many demands from 
  Foere might certainly cause the count to rethink his current loyalties. 
  GOVERNMENT 
  GOVERNMENT 
  The countship of Vourdon is a hereditary title currently held by Count 
  Peilorth Rhombard, second of his name. Below the rank of count, the 
  country has high barons as in Toullen, with barons below the high 
  barons and knights below the barons. The count of Vourdon has only 
  ﬁ ve high barons in his council, which means that those nobles exert 
  considerable power in the country. On one occasion, four of the high 
  barons threatened a civil war if the count enacted a particular law, which 
  forced the count to withdraw the proposal. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  Vourdon is safe enough that wandering the villages looking for 
  adventure yields relatively poor results, although there are always 
  small groups of bandits to chase and the occasional predator from 
  the adjoining mountain ranges. Most adventurers in the country are 
  drawn to the mountain terraces, for when these were carved from the 
  mountainsides, some few of them revealed ancient catacombs that had 
  been underground until the removal of countless tons of rock. There 
  are not many of these, but a few expeditions into some discovered that 
  many of the passageways are of worked stone, their origins completely 
  unknown. Moreover, they are home to a number of dangerous predators 
  and contain ancient treasures. Little organized exploration of these 
  catacombs has been attempted; their terraces are left unfarmed, and the 
  folk of the mountainsides avoid them. It is possible that some of these 
  catacombs are the source of predators that emerge from the mountains, 
  although the high peaks of the mountains certainly house a variety of 
  fell beasts. 
  OLARIC, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  OLARIC, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Population: 19,297 (18,102 Foerdewaith, 995 halﬂ ing, 170 half-
  elf, 30 other)
  Ruler: Lord-Mayor Margaine Fleur
  Government: lord-mayor appointed by the count-palatine
  Olaric, also often spelled Olaaric, is the capital of Vourdon and seat 
  of Count Peilorth Rhombard. The city is quite provincial, but pleasant. 
  Indeed, the royal family of Ulrich, king of Suilley, has on more than 
  one occasion summered in the upland wine country of the county, and 
  guested at the Comital Palace here.
  A grand city today, Olaric was a major agricultural center even in 
  the ancient days of the Hyperborean Age. Relatively stable after the 
  Hyperboreans’ departure, Olaric expanded and built, providing a 
  marketplace and protection for surrounding communities. Incorporated 
  into the Kingdom of Foere and made seat of the new County of Vourdon 
  in 2822 I.R., Olaric continued to expand. In 3506 I.R., as the Wilderlands 
  Clan War raged in nearby Keston Province, Olaric served as a staging 
  area for troops from Foere and other kingdoms, which also helped to 
  discourage the hostile clans from attacking Vourdon.
  Olaric’s walls are not high, but they are serviceable enough to protect 
  the city against any attacks short of a true siege. Slender towers around 
  the wall rise to dramatic, conical roofs where the banner of Olaric (a 
  bunch of yellow grapes on a ﬁ eld of green) and the Rhombard family 
  (a red lion on black and white) ﬂ y proudly over the city. Four gates 
  lead into the city to admit the high roads from the realms surrounding 
  Vourdon, which cross in the city center.
  Olaric’s main industries are wheat-farming, manufacturing linen from 
  the ﬂ ax ﬁ elds of the West Country, and distilling low-quality brandy. 
  A few merchant houses are based here, but the majority of buying and 
  selling is conducted by factors from merchant houses in Troye and Manas. 
  As a ﬂ ax-producer, the city also boasts the largest ball of twine in all of 
  Foere, which is likely an accurate claim. It is displayed in the hall of the 
  Ropemakers’ Guild for those who wish to see it; admission is free.
  SHULLCROSS, TOWN OF 
  SHULLCROSS, TOWN OF 
  Population: 3,100 (2,763 Foerdewaith, 282 high elf, 55 halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Mayor Jormandh Sawyer
  Government: mayor appointed by the count-palatine
  Shullcross is a walled town where ﬂ owering ivy covers the walls 
  and many of the buildings in the city. A medium-sized settlement at the 
  western border of Vourdon, the city stands where the South County Road 
  turns southward and becomes the Saxen Road to the Duchy of Saxe. 
  Shullcross has traditionally been licensed by the throne to conduct 
  logging in the royal forest of Shadrack ever since the days of the 
  Hyperborean Empire, with the tradition carrying on through the rise 
  of the Kingdoms of Foere. The timber industry is the mainstay of 
  
  224|
  224|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  Shullcross’ small economy, with some ﬂ ax farming, and the remainder 
  coming from merchants crossing the gap to and from the provinces.
  YOLBIAC VALE
  YOLBIAC VALE
  (YOL-bee-ak)
  Capital: none (though Coelum is usually considered the First 
  City of the Vale) 
  Notable Settlements: Coelum 
  Ruler: none (13 “ducal” families rule most of the area) 
  Government: decentralized feudalism 
  Population: 85,800+ (79,000 Foerdewaith, 3,800 hill dwarf, 
  3,000 half-elf, unknown number of wood elf) 
  Monstrous: giant wolf, fey, ogre, lycanthrope, wight, treant, 
  dullahan, hag, hangman tree, groaning spirit, vampire 
  (Yolbiac Vale and passes); lycanthrope, adlet, frost drake, 
  lamia, nightmare creature, yeti, wind walker, Leng spider 
  (high peaks) 
  Languages: Common, Gasquen, Elvish, Dwarven, Druidic 
  Religion: Narrah, Thyr, The Green Father, Cybele, druidism, 
  Hecate, Bilis 
  Resources: livestock (swine), timber, foodstuffs (dream-apples), 
  spirits (wine), alchemical reagents 
  Currency: Foere
  Technology Level: Dark Ages 
  The Yolbiac Vale is a dark and forested realm, barely populated, ruled 
  by independent barons and a scattering of local nobles claiming higher 
  status than baronial. Villages are far apart, roads are dangerous, peasants 
  are secretive, and dangers lurk in the omnipresent forests. The people of 
  the Yolbiac Vale are considered to be strange and unpredictable. 
  The vale is a deep indentation in the middle of the Cretian Mountains 
  that runs from Coelum to about a hundred miles south of the town of 
  Elet. It has several wide river valleys extending to the west that curl 
  into the deep heart of the mountains. The strange folk of the Yolbiac 
  populate these remote areas. The territory comprises approximately 
  22,000 square miles. The majority of the region is heavily forested, but 
  not with a single, contiguous growth of trees. Instead, the region has 
  many primordial forests that run ﬁ ve to 10 miles across. Ridges of stone, 
  or infertile ground, divide the forests, for this is high and broken terrain.
  The Gurmenadh possesses blackest bark, 
  And Olcabar the Deep is dryad-marked. 
  Nevezeld holds close its standing stones, 
  And Grim Canoct shall hoard its whitened bones. 
  Beware the Wargenwold of Tamril Shee; 
  Wear green in Lengis Lorme of restless trees. 
  In Faunwood Fey the wildest satyr’s pipe, 
  While murderous fruits in Mouldenarc grow ripe. 
  The Father Forest, ﬁ rst that ever grew 
  Is the primeval wild of Scal Farnu. 
  — Ending stanzas of the 
  “Teaching-Rhyme of the Druids of Leagan Cairn” 
  The translator’s note to the “Teaching-Rhyme,” by the 
  scholar Nonadh Bleyir, reads as follows: 
  “In the cant of the druids, the iambic pentameters of the 
  “Teaching-Rhyme” contain a number of nuances and double-
  meanings that do not translate well into the common tongue. 
  Moreover, each of the stanzas has a sub-poem associated with 
  it; I must confess that my understanding of the cant proved 
  insufﬁ cient to convey the interwoven implications of any of the 
  sub-poems, and I have abandoned the task of translating these.”
  As the teaching rhyme suggests, the great forest of the Scal Farnu 
  is a dominating feature in the Yolbiac Vale. Irregularly shaped, it has 
  long, narrow extents that most certainly shift their locations by several 
  miles each lunar month beneath the waning gibbous moons. Common 
  folk avoid the Scal Farnu, not because it is inherently deadly as with 
  the Mouldenarc, but because strange and unpredictable things — often 
  life-changing — happen in the forest. Such events are by no means 
  always maleﬁ cent, but peasants are conservative folk and choose not to 
  risk the shifting pathways that entice travelers into the shadowy, green 
  depths of the Scal Farnu. The Scal Farnu is said to contain the manse of 
  Hautmarlune, a mysterious archmage. It is also thought to contain the 
  sacred groves of the druidess Rowena of the Hounds (as distinguished 
  from the famous Rowena of Greatstone Cairn). Two supernatural 
  hounds, Aubrei and Simain, prowl the forest, apparently immortal 
  beasts that may guide a party of lost adventurers back to the safer paths 
  if they follow. The hounds travel separately, and mortal weapons and 
  magic cannot harm them. They are patient and not vindictive, but they 
  depart if attacked, melting away into the trees. According to legend, 
  these are the hounds of Rowena, but none knows for certain. 
  In the deepest forests of the lower peaks surrounding the vale are 
  known to dwell a reclusive tribe of wood elves known to the Valefolk 
  only as the Eldest. What tragedy or turmoil this people may have suffered 
  in the past is not known, but they are seldom seen by the folk of the vale 
  and when they are spotted, they remain distant and quickly disappear 
  into the trees. Attempts to make contact with them have universally met 
  with stony silences and hasty withdrawals, but so far they have shown 
  no inclination over the years for hostilities toward the humans of the 
  vale. To most of the Yolbiac’s inhabitants, they are simply one more 
  evidence of the vale’s fey nature. Hints at a tragic history of these elven 
  folk can be found, however, in the few elven ruins in the lowland parts 
  of the valley and in the unusual preponderance of groaning spirits that 
  are known to haunt some of the surrounding mountain slopes. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  The Yolbiac Vale is a land of dark alpine forests, independent villages, 
  isolated abbeys, bizarre superstitions, and strange perils. Its people are 
  widely varied in attitudes and customs, for few of them ever leave the 
  environs of their home villages. Such wanderers are highly suspect, 
  and even though they bring back fascinating news and tales of other 
  villages, they might be doppelgangers or shape-changed faeries. It is 
  best to always be careful; some returning travelers merely receive a 
  sound thrashing before being sent back on their way. 
  Events in the Yolbiac Vale proceed unchanged since time immemorial. 
  Stories accumulate and are forgotten, heroes live and heroes die, strange and 
  supernatural events occur, others are warded off by the proper hand gestures 
  and taboos. Darkness abides, and life goes on. Such is the Yolbiac Vale.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  The Yolbiac region produces many strange commodities such as a 
  variety of dark-purple apples that induce strange dreams and a dark 
  grape, almost black, from which they ferment a potent, bitter wine that 
  stains the lips and teeth of those who indulge frequently. Fey items are 
  often brought down from the vale and include twists of hair or painted 
  sticks that have magical powers, or ﬁ nely chased goblets of hypnotic 
  beauty. Purchasers of such items are cautioned; occasionally, their 
  original owners imbued them with unanticipated consequences. 
  The vale may be reached either through the Coelum Pass in the 
  Duchy of the Rampart or by the Ghostwind Pass near Elet in Aachen 
  Province. During the summer months, there is a considerable amount 
  of trade with the folk of the Yolbiac Vale, but when the winter snows 
  set in, they are left to themselves. The Ghostwind Pass is completely 
  inaccessible during the depths of winter, and the Coelum Pass is 
  treacherous at best. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  Outsiders consider the Yolbiac Vale to be an annex of Foere, but it is 
  strangely ignored and appears to have no ruling authority whatsoever. 
  As such, the vale cannot be said to have any loyalties to, or diplomacy 
  with, other nations. At one point, a baron of Aachen Province led a small 
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  army into the Yolbiac with the intention of seizing a ﬁ efdom, but there is 
  no historical record of the event beyond the army’s departure from Elet. 
  GOVERNMENT 
  GOVERNMENT 
  The vale is considered a part of the Kingdom of Foere, but no one 
  seems to rule it; there is no capital and no governor, just the occasionally 
  tyrannical law of a few barons, some of whom pay fealty to one of the 
  13 so-called “ducal” families, more commonly referred to as the “Old 
  Families.” Unruled lands separate the baronies and duchies, but the 
  barons make no attempt whatsoever to expand their territories and stay 
  strictly within their traditional landholdings. This is a general tendency 
  in the vale: Strange traditions and odd customs are seemingly more 
  binding upon the folk of the Yolbiac than any decree of authority. 
  Old writings refer to the vale as the “canton” of the Yolbiac, but even 
  these records seem not to mention any sort of authority over the area, 
  which is exceedingly unusual, perhaps unique. The folk of the Yolbiac 
  Vale refer only to “Good King Oerson,” as if the ancient Hyperborean 
  emperor still lived and ruled. They smile and nod when hearing about 
  the Kingdom of Foere, as if the entire sweep of post-Hyperborean 
  history were a fairy tale for gullible children. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  There is essentially nothing but wilderness and adventure in the 
  Yolbiac Vale. Many villages ﬁ nd themselves in times of crisis without 
  the help of anyone, and monster lairs are virtually everywhere in the high 
  crags and deep forests of the region. Off the top of one’s head, one can 
  list Ysoolte’s Weir, the caves of Quarvel, the lair of Borovendal, the Tor 
  of the Yellow Witch, and many others. Adventuring in the Scal Farnu is 
  possible for those of stout heart, and fur hunting in the Ghostwind Pass 
  could leave a group of hunters with a nice bag full of gold afterward. It 
  is more difﬁ cult to avoid adventure here than to seek it out. 
  REFERENCE SOURCE: PERILS OF GHOSTWIND PASS FROM QUESTS OF DOOM
  COELUM, TOWN OF 
  COELUM, TOWN OF 
  Population: 2,848 (2,602 human various ethnicity, 181 hills 
  dwarf, 65 half-elf)
  Ruler: High Mayor Riaundo Groon
  Government: high mayor elected by regional dukes
  Coelum is not a political capital, but as the main town in the Yolbiac Vale, 
  it is where most of the trade goods go to market, and where the local nobles 
  go for their larger meetings. The 13 “ducal houses” of the vale, which are 
  the old noble families whose bloodlines date back past any recorded history, 
  elect a high mayor for the town every 10 years or so. The high mayor 
  oversees the town’s trade, maintenance of walls, and a small (but extremely 
  well-armed and dangerous) city guard called the Husjaegers. 
  As with much of the Yolbiac Vale, the town seems, to outsiders at 
  least, to be ruled more by its customs and superstitions than by any sort 
  of actual law. Many of the inhabitants practice druidism.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS 
  OF INTEREST IN THE BORDERLANDS OF 
  OF INTEREST IN THE BORDERLANDS OF 
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  BROCH TARNA 
  BROCH TARNA 
  This ancient ediﬁ ce is thought to be the oldest still-extant fortiﬁ cation in 
  all of Akados. The Daanites of Ynys Cymragh would argue that some of the 
  mountain fortresses on their island are older, but these are not technically 
  on the mainland, and no one can be entirely sure about histories reaching 
  so far back. There is no record at all of the people who originally built 
  the broch; it was already an abandoned ruin when Oerson led his legion 
  through this area in –88 I.R. Since then it has been rebuilt, occupied, and 
  abandoned many times; so many times, in fact, that the broch has gained a 
  reputation for being cursed in some way. The Hyperboreans chose to build 
  a new fortress at Albor Broce rather than claim this one in the highlands, 
  and a goodly number of those who have occupied Broch Tarna have died 
  either in battle or for seemingly entirely unrelated reasons (an outbreak of 
  plague, treachery from within, a well gone bad to poison the occupants, or 
  everyone simply disappearing one night). The last known occupants were 
  the margoyle overlords of the human hill clans of the Wilderland Hills, who 
  were defeated there in the ﬁ nal battle of that war. Lately, wandering rangers 
  have reported that the walls are repaired once again, and that spearmen walk 
  the battlements once more. But no banner ﬂ ies above its ramparts, so who 
  (or what) these new occupiers are, and what their purpose is in garrisoning 
  the fortress, remains unknown as of now.
  THE CREEPING MIRE
  THE CREEPING MIRE
  Once a stark and beautiful moor in the center of Keston Province 
  known as the Hearthglen, this area is the lowest-lying region between 
  the March of Mountains and the highlands of the Wilderland Hills and 
  Lorremachs. When the Fiend Rains unleased their 10-year deluge upon 
  the eastern slopes of the March of Mountains, the surrounding lands 
  for thousands of square miles drained into the Hearthglen, and though 
  much of the water did slowly seep into the ground, the area became 
  a vast, ever-expanding swamp nonetheless and swallowed an ancient 
  shrine holy to pilgrims of the Church of Mitra. Lizardfolk and brutish 
  swamp dwellers are rumored to lurk in the dark waters of the swamp, 
  but they are seldom seen, and their true numbers are unguessed beyond 
  the accumulated disappearances of travelers on the Swamp Road. 
  CRETIAN MOUNTAINS 
  CRETIAN MOUNTAINS 
  The Cretians are the northernmost range of the March of Mountains, 
  and also the largest. The peaks of the Cretians are unusually high, taller 
  than any others of the highest mountains of the central Kal’Iugus range. 
  Many dark rumors and superstitious stories surround the Cretians, from 
  tales of ghosts, to invisible giants that ﬂ y on the wind. The Cretians 
  completely encircle the heavily wooded Yolbiac Vale, an isolated and 
  inbred country with strange attitudes and motivations. 
  The heights of the Cretians are virtually unknown to geographers, 
  scholars, and cartographers, with the exception of the outermost few 
  miles around the periphery of the vast mountain range. Few venture into 
  the interior, and fewer return.
  KAL’IUGUS MOUNTAINS 
  KAL’IUGUS MOUNTAINS 
  (KAL-eye-YOU-gus) 
  The Kal’Iugus Mountains are the second largest of the ranges of the 
  March of Mountains after the Cretians. The meaning of the odd name 
  Kal’Iugus is lost to history, but it is thought to predate the arrival of the 
  Hyperboreans. The highest part of the range is its northern spur, where 
  the massive Jerinot (Jair-i-no) Glacier lies over the peaks, and which 
  is said to be the home of giants and reclusive tribes of barbarians who 
  ride across its surface on sleds pulled by dogs. The king of Suilley is 
  lately concerned with reports of a giantish invasion preparing to descend 
  from these northern slopes into Keston and Toullen, but so far no solid 
  evidence has been uncovered to conﬁ rm the danger.
  LORREMACH HIGHHILLS 
  LORREMACH HIGHHILLS 
  The Lorremach Highhills are a rugged, savannah highland, very dry 
  and riven with uncounted gullies and canyons. It receives little of the 
  rainfall associated with the lowlands to the west. Winds blow violent 
  dust storms through the area that carve the rocks into strange shapes, 
  many of which are somehow eerie, others of which are dramatically 
  beautiful. Farming is poor, although corn and opium poppies seem to 
  thrive, and there are many hidden fens in the valleys or shaded by cliffs 
  the locals call “ﬂ orelgartens.” The Lorremach is home to numerous 
  tribes and communities of very diverse types. Halﬂ ing villages surround 
  shaded farmland in the dells, their goats grazing on the scrub and sparse 
  vegetation on the higher ground. Gnomes also have many settlements in 
  the Lorremachs and live in caves around the edges of a ﬂ orelgarten region 
  and ﬁ sh in the deep wells and streams found in many of the cave systems.
  
  226|
  226|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  MARCH OF MOUNTAINS
  MARCH OF MOUNTAINS
  This is the name for the broken range of mountains made up of (from 
  north to south) the Cretian Mountains, the Rampart Mountains, the 
  Meridian Range, and the Kal’Iugus Mountains.
  MERIDIAN RANGE
  MERIDIAN RANGE
  In the year 43 I.R., the Imperial Court geographer Rasymius declared the 
  central peak of this range to be the highest point upon the exact Prime Meridian 
  of the world of Boros, based on a series of exacting calculations. The mountain 
  was named “Primus,” and the range containing it became the “Meridian Range.”
  MOURNINGHAVEN SANATORIUM 
  MOURNINGHAVEN SANATORIUM 
  A sanitorium on this site was ﬁ rst constructed by the Church of Mitra as 
  a hospital for the advancing arts of medicine and healing. It was built on a 
  spot traditionally held to have been visited by Mitra in ancient times and 
  stood surrounded by the Hearthglen, a picturesque green moor. For many 
  years it faithfully served its role at the edge of the province of Keston 
  and catered to the rich and poor alike, turning away no one in need of 
  its healing. But following the Fiend Rains, the Hearthglen became the 
  Creeping Mire. Entire buildings began to sink, and walls buckled and 
  cracked as foundations shifted and settled. The road to the sanitorium 
  grew increasingly wild and hazardous, and people stopped going to the 
  facility for the healing it offered. Eventually, the Church of Mitra sold 
  it to a local baronet who repurposed the sanitorium as an incarceration 
  facility for those who committed crimes under the inﬂ uence of mental 
  illness. Dark tales of what happened behind its walls led to the sanitorium 
  becoming known colloquially as Mourninghaven. Eventually, Keston 
  took control of the site, but its sinister reputation, and the dangers of the 
  Creeping Mire about the facility, have only continued to grow.
  RAMPART MOUNTAINS 
  RAMPART MOUNTAINS 
  The Rampart Mountains are so named because the central peaks of the 
  range are steep and uniform like a castle wall. The mountains have always 
  served as a bulwark defending the eastern ﬂ ank of the Foerdewaith and 
  the Hyperborean Empires. The western verge of the Ramparts, entirely 
  within the Duchy of the Rampart, has numerous mines that produce 
  gold and iron. Many of these are dwarven excavations, but the mining 
  towns serving them are predominantly human. The duchy also rules the 
  northern part of the range’s eastern ﬂ anks.
  RAMPART ROAD 
  RAMPART ROAD 
  The Rampart is a raised causeway running from Troye to Manas and 
  resembles a broad and short wall of earth and rock with a road running 
  along the top that averages 30 feet in width. Small stone gatehouses at 
  irregular intervals of 25 miles or so can be used to block passage along 
  the road, although the gates are kept open unless there is a serious threat 
  that invaders may be on the road.
  SOUTH COUNTY ROAD 
  SOUTH COUNTY ROAD 
  The South County Road is well-patrolled, well-settled, and peaceful. 
  Most of the journey from Manas to Olaric passes through orchards and 
  ﬁ elds of ﬂ ax; farm wagons laden with produce are a constant sight as they 
  make their way to the various market towns and inns along the road.
  SOUTH ROAD
  SOUTH ROAD
  The South Road runs north and south along the eastern rim of the 
  March of Mountains, originating in Tuller on the south coast of Toullen 
  and then passing northward through the County of Toullen, Keston 
  Province, Vourdon, and the Duchy of the Rampart before ending in the 
  city of Troyes. In old documents, the road is called the “South Provincial 
  Road,” but common usage has shortened the name. 
  Merchants generally prefer taking the South Road rather than Trader’s 
  Way for moving their cargoes north or south through the Borderland 
  Provinces, for the Trader’s Way passes through many areas of empty 
  wilderness, and the South Road is at least lightly settled along its whole 
  length. Even those on slow wagons only have to spend one or two nights 
  under the stars rather than ﬁ nding a roadside inn. Not necessarily a 
  clean, honest, or comfortable one, but an inn nonetheless.
  SWAMP ROAD 
  SWAMP ROAD 
  The Swamp Road is desolate and obviously poorly maintained, 
  especially during the spring rainy season when provincial repair crews 
  are unwilling to brave the dangers of the Creeping Mire. Although it 
  is one of the ancient stone-paved high roads built by the Hyperborean 
  Empire, there are gaps, sometimes miles long, where ﬂ oods and 
  mudslides washed out the stones. These have been repaired many times 
  by log corduroys in the past, but each spring, sections are washed out 
  anew and require additional repair.
  TOWER OF CORREDRIX 
  TOWER OF CORREDRIX 
  The Tower of Corredrix stands at the edge of the Lorremach Highhills 
  and is now named for its current occupant, the wizard Corredrix. The 
  tower itself is much older than the wizard, who took it by force from a 
  hobgoblin chieftain and his band of brigands. It is an isolated place, and 
  travelers are very unlikely to stumble upon it unless they already know 
  of its existence and approximate whereabouts.
  TRADER’S WAY 
  TRADER’S WAY 
  The Trader’s Way, insofar as it concerns the Kingdom of Suilley, 
  extends from beyond Suilley’s southern border into Exeter Province, 
  runs northward through the town of Pfefferain, through the Lorremach 
  Highhills to Stronghold Hjerrin, and then forms the country’s eastern 
  border with the District of Sunderland until it reaches Grollek’s Grove 
  at the base of the Gundlock Hills. 
  This reach of the Trader’s Way runs through wild and untamed 
  regions, for neither Suilley nor Sunderland has many settlements in the 
  area. A small number of fortiﬁ ed inns are along the road, of course, for 
  caravans are willing to pay good gold for a safe night’s rest, but these 
  are few and far between. 
  WENNESALAR
  WENNESALAR
  Wennesalar was an old village of the Highhills that was recently 
  destroyed and its population scattered. A wizard known as the Darkmage 
  is widely considered to be responsible for the destruction, and the 
  garrison at the crossroads chooses not to investigate what happened.
  WILDERLAND HILLS 
  WILDERLAND HILLS 
  Although the Wilderland Hills are generally considered to be a part of 
  the Kingdom of Suilley, no real attempt is made by anyone to lay claim 
  over these wild, desolate lands, other than a few patrols in the western 
  reaches that keep the Trader’s Way from becoming utterly infested with 
  bandits and humanoid raiders. It was the hill clans and humanoid tribes 
  from this desolate region that invaded Keston Province in 3506 I.R., 
  and it was at the ancient fortress of Broch Tarna at the center of the 
  hills where the ﬁ nal, decisive battle was fought to end the war. Some 
  scattered clan remnants are still known to roam the highlands here, so 
  few travelers dare to intrude too closely in the area.
  WILTANGLE FOREST 
  WILTANGLE FOREST 
  The Wiltangle Forest is one of the last eastern remnants of the Great 
  Akadonian Forest that once covered most of the continent. The majority 
  of the Great Akadonian Forest was slowly broken up by a series of 
  catastrophes and by woodcutting intended to free up farmland or burn 
  out monsters. The Wiltangle, unaffected by the fate of the rest of the 
  continental forest, is primordial and wild, and only little explored. 
  The folk of Toullen engage in very little woodcutting on their side of 
  the forest, but there are a few villages and logging camps in Cerediun 
  Province along the eastern reaches of the forest. 
  Deep in the forest, more than one stone circle dating back to antiquity 
  remain as holy sites to many druidic sects. Villages along the forest’s 
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  periphery are almost universally druidic, although various gods are 
  recognized and some even have small temples that live alongside the 
  inﬂ uence of the druids. All attempts to actually subdue the druidic faith have 
  met utter failure in this area, not always peaceful and often mysteriously. 
  In the days before the coming of the Hyperboreans, several elven 
  kingdoms were in the Wiltangle, and the Heldring referred to the forest 
  by a name that translates to “northern woodland kingdoms.” A fey and 
  deadly place for intruders, the southern reaches of the Wiltangle restricted 
  the Heldring to their peninsula until the arrival of the Hyperboreans. 
  Even then, the Heldring took care never to enter the forest in force. 
  To this day, the Wiltangle is a forest of legends: a witch queen 
  who ruled until being transformed into a tree; ancient ruins along the 
  riverbanks of the interior; cairns and holds of some diminutive race; 
  and fabulous jewels recovered from a few upriver expeditions. Such 
  tales may, of course, be exaggerated. The question, however, is not 
  whether ancient treasures are in the Wiltangle, for there certainly are; 
  the question is whether they are ripe for the taking or whether they are a 
  fool’s errand for those fated to die beneath leaf-green shadows.
  SUNDERED KINGDOMS AND 
  SUNDERED KINGDOMS AND 
  THE SINNAR COAST OF 
  THE SINNAR COAST OF 
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  The Sundered Kingdoms and the Sinnar Coast of Southeastern 
  Akados are described in detail in The Lost Lands: Cults of the Sundered 
  Kingdoms by Frog God Games.
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE 
  SUNDERED KINGDOMS AND THE SINNAR 
  SUNDERED KINGDOMS AND THE SINNAR 
  COAST OF SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  COAST OF SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  CEREDIUN PROVINCE
  CEREDIUN PROVINCE
  (Ser-eh-DEE-un)
  Capital: Trebes 
  Notable Settlements: Sessilbridge
  Ruler: Lord-Governor Bryntwis Carlarion
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 27,000 (20,000 Foerdewaith, 4,000 other mixed human 
  ethnicity, 1,500 halﬂ ing, 1,000 mountain dwarf, 500 half-elf)
  Monstrous: goblins, goblin dogs, hill giants, trolls, werewolves, 
  will-o’-wisps, wolves, worgs, wraiths, various undead
  Languages: Common, Dwarven
  Religion: Arialee, Muir, Oghma, Thyr
  Resources: foodstuffs, grain, livestock, timber
  Currency: Foere
  Technology Level: Middle Ages
  Cerediun is the southernmost province of the Kingdoms of Foere, lying 
  to the south of Exeter Province between the Wiltangle Forest and the 
  Scar-in-the-Sky Peaks, and just north of the Helcynngae Peninsula. The 
  province still maintains its loyalty to Courghais and Foere, although this is 
  mostly lip service. The current lord-governor is clearly playing a waiting 
  game until he can declare himself to be an independent king.
  
  228|
  228|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The province’s history reaches all the way back to the dawn of the 
  Hyperborean Age, when the ﬁ erce Heldring of the Helcynngae Peninsula 
  halted the all-conquering legions of Polemarch Oerson’s march in –88 
  I.R. The imperial legions fell back and established Cerediun Province as a 
  buffer state and began construction on the Helwall. The capital of Trebes 
  surrendered to the expanding kingdom of Foere in 2748 I.R. and was 
  quickly absorbed, though the Heldring held back the Foerdewaith as they 
  had the Hyperboreans, and the overking’s advance stopped at the Helwall.
  Cerediun has since had a long history of being the ﬁ rst line of defense 
  against the invading Heldring, though after the Battle of Oescreheit 
  Downs and the Heldring conversion to the faiths of Thyr and Muir it 
  has since maintained friendly trade with the Heldring. It was primarily 
  Ceredian monks and missionaries who carried the faith of the sibling 
  gods to the Heldring in those fraught times, and more than one became 
  a martyr to their faiths in the process. 
  Sparsely populated and quite rugged, most of the province’s population 
  lives in the capital city of Trebes, with the remainder scattered in small 
  villages, the most notable of which is the town of Greybriar that is 
  home to about 1,000 halﬂ ings and a few hundred humans. Peace with 
  the warlike Heldring has reduced Cerediun’s importance, and many feel 
  that Foere has forgotten the province altogether.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The Ceredians are a sober and devout people, most of whom worship 
  Thyr and Muir, though a signiﬁ cant number also revere Oghma, the 
  patron of Bard’s Gate. Halﬂ ings are more likely to be found with 
  shrines to the nature-goddess Arialee, whose faith predates the human 
  deities. There are persistent rumors that a secret cult of Demogorgon has 
  adherents in the province and that these cultists meet on moonless nights 
  to perform sacriﬁ ce and other forbidden rites. Most sensible Ceredians 
  dismiss these tales as nonsense, but they are careful to lock their doors 
  during a new moon nevertheless.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  A small frontier state, Cerediun is largely self-sufﬁ cient, growing 
  crops and raising livestock in small farm communities, none of 
  which could be considered larger than a village. In good years, the 
  province produces sufﬁ cient surplus to be exported, and the new trade 
  relationship with the once-hostile Heldring has opened new markets 
  for Ceredian farmers and merchants. Goods such as ﬁ sh, spirits, and 
  copper have also begun to ﬂ ow from the south, further cementing the 
  two regions’ new relationship. Increasingly, Trebes is becoming less a 
  military citadel than an important hub of trade between the province 
  and its southern neighbor.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Ostensibly a province of the Kingdom of Foere, Cerediun has always 
  been something of an unwanted stepchild to the overking, existing 
  primarily as a buffer between the kingdom and the violence of the 
  Heldring raiders. With the Heldring’s newfound faith and improved 
  attitude, Cerediun has been largely neglected and left to its own devices, 
  a situation that suits the easygoing inhabitants quite well. In recent 
  years, the growing accord between Cerediun and the Helcynn Kingdom 
  has in fact made many feel closer to their southern neighbors than to the 
  distant nobles of Courghais, a situation that the lord-governor hopes to 
  use to his advantage.
  In addition, Lord-Governor Bryntwis hopes that the new trading 
  relations with the Heldring can be leveraged into a military alliance with 
  his realm’s old enemies, and that the southerners could be persuaded 
  to support his move to establish an independent state. He is no fool, 
  however, and knows that the warlike Heldring may not be the best of 
  allies, for a vulnerable new nation on their frontier might reawaken their 
  martial spirit and inspire them to surge past the neglected Helwall to 
  take Cerediun for their own.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The Ceredians are not an especially nationalistic people, preferring 
  instead to see to their own concerns before that of any greater 
  kingdom. As a result, the rule of Foere is usually thought to have 
  little in the way of either beneﬁ t or hindrance, but simply as a fact of 
  life. Lord-Governor Bryntwis Carlarion, an ambitious Foerdewaith 
  nobleman who was assigned here due to his political connections, is 
  nowhere near as pragmatic as his people and seeks to one day be the 
  ruler of his own kingdom. He is a patient man and hopes to play the 
  Foerdewaith and Heldring against each other, winning him a crown 
  in the process.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  The land between villages tends to be fairly rugged and undeveloped, 
  with small stands of woods, lonely valleys, and cold streams — much 
  like the lands to the south beyond the Helwall. It’s said that some areas 
  are plagued by undead such as ghosts, revenants, and draug — the 
  remnants of the ancient battles fought in the region. More substantial 
  creatures such as small goblin clans, lone trolls, ogres, and other 
  humanoid threats can be found here as well.
  The adjoining Wiltangle Forest, once controlled by royal foresters and 
  patrols, has grown more perilous in recent years, and creatures there have 
  grown bolder, forcing some villages and farms to see to their own defense.
  Given its violent history, Cerediun is not without its various legends, 
  the best-known of which was the Witch of the Valley, a hag said to 
  prey upon travelers and spirit them off to her hidden cave where she 
  and her half-hag sons kept them alive while devouring them one limb 
  at a time. Said to have been slain by the hero Devisha Parneux (or 
  others, depending on the story), the witch supposedly left behind a 
  hidden treasure that remains unfound to this day, but is guarded by 
  (once more, depending on the story) the witch’s ghost or a host of her 
  reanimated victims.
  TREBES, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  TREBES, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Population: 15,800 (13,725 Foerdewaith, 1,100 halﬂ ing, 725 
  mountain dwarf, 250 half-elf)
  Ruler: Mayor Ondorio Voon
  Government: mayor appointed by lord-governor
  The city of Trebes is the capital and, for that matter, the only city of any 
  real signiﬁ cance in the entire province of Cerediun, the largely-neglected 
  southernmost province of the Kingdom of Foere. Once a Hyperborean 
  garrison built to help contain the Heldring, the city surrendered to the 
  advancing Foerdewaith in 2748 I.R., bringing the remainder of the province 
  with them. 
  In the following years, Trebes was fortiﬁ ed and built up by the overking, 
  and the massive Heldenheight Citadel was home to hundreds — and in 
  times of crisis, thousands — of Foerdewaith soldiers. Times change, of 
  course, and today with the great kingdom of Foere in decline, Trebes stands 
  as a tribute to the faded glories of two empires. 
  Well-situated on a large island in the middle of the small lake of Piorvorun, 
  Trebes is surrounded by rolling, fertile plains dotted with numerous villages. 
  Trebes’ old fortiﬁ cations, from the days when the province was wracked with 
  warfare, still stand, but are in poor repair — a faint echo of the city’s past as a 
  military citadel in its new role as a center of commerce. The lord-governor no 
  longer holds court in the Citadel of Heldenheight and now occupies a palace 
  in the city center rather than the cold fortress that rises above the city’s peaked 
  rooftops. Merchants from many lands pass through Trebes’ markets, buying 
  and selling in the many pleasant wine-plazas that one ﬁ nds everywhere in the 
  city, even in unexpected and out-of-the-way locations.
  SESSILBRIDGE, TOWN OF
  SESSILBRIDGE, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Mayor Tavour Palann
  Government: town council
  Population: 1,622 (785 Foerdewaith, 454 Heldring, 333 human 
  mixed ethnicity, 50 dwarf)
  Monstrous: orcish races from nearby Sky Peaks
  Languages: Common, Helvaenic
  Religion: Eostre and Tyr
  Resources: farming, river-ﬁ shing and hunting
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |229
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  Currency: bartering primarily with some common currency 
  accepted
  Technology Level: Medieval on land
  Sessilbridge is built on and around a massive bridge over the River 
  Sess, a bridge that is often compared to Lyre Bridge in Bard’s Gate 
  for its size and scope. The bridge and the town are ancient, dating to 
  Hyperborean times before the death of Oerson. Nominally within 
  the demesne of the province of Cerediun, as the last town before the 
  Helwall, it tends to be quite independent, with little supervision from 
  Trebes, and pays a modest annual tax based on trade passing over the 
  bridge. The town is a center of the trade between Cerediun and the 
  Heldring to the south.
  A diverse mix of races have settled in this river-village, which is known 
  to be the last stop along the south road to the Helcynngae Peninsula. An 
  ever-changing racial proﬁ le keeps the small town interesting; depending 
  on the time, the number of Heldring, mixed-race humans, dwarves, and 
  even elves vary in the makeup of its residents.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The small town and bridge were established in –69 I.R. to provide a 
  crossing over the River Sess and a watchful eye north of the Helwall 
  over the southern part of the continent as well as the northern plains and 
  forests. As the last stop before the Helwall, military garrisons would 
  stage in the town on their way north or south, and those few traders and 
  other travelers with reason to be in this region would ﬁ nd a safe haven 
  within the town’s walls. Over the years, armies have moved through the 
  town using the bridge, though it has largely been held by one or other of 
  the northern kingdoms.
  Of late, as hostility between the Heldring and Foere declined, more 
  folks from south of the wall have taken up residence here, especially 
  as trade with Cerediun Province increased. Now, the city is a mix 
  of Foerdewaith, Heldring, and a potpourri of other races, including 
  dwarves and the occasional high elves or half-elves. Lord-Governor 
  Bryntwis Carlarion’s desire to expand trade has been good for the 
  town’s economy.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The Foere residents of Sessilbridge generally worship Arialee or 
  Muir, and temples to both gods can be found on the bridge. For the 
  Heldring, a combined shrine to the sibling gods of Eostre and Tyr is 
  found in the southern portion of the town and is often ﬁ lled to capacity 
  with god-fearing residents. Zealous priests of the two gods ensure that 
  their benches are always occupied and that the coffers are overﬂ owing 
  with donations.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  As the last stop before the Helwall for southbound travelers, 
  Sessilbridge is a welcoming settlement with plenty of merchants, 
  inns, and taverns. Dreading the harsher trip into the more dangerous 
  peninsula beyond the wall, travelers have been known to linger in the 
  comfortable town for more than a few days. Prosperous from constant 
  travelers eager to spend their wealth, the town is constantly adding more 
  homes, businesses, and residents.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Nominally, Sessilbridge is governed from Trebes as a possession of 
  Cerediun Province. However, in practice, the proximity of the Helwall 
  and the presence of sizable numbers of Heldring leave the town largely 
  independent, and in fact, some support comes from both nations to keep 
  the town in a defensible state. Soldiers of both regions live in the town 
  and can be found repelling raids from brigands or wayward humanoids, 
  though the Heldring are more usually found in the southern part at the 
  foot of the bridge.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Under a charter from the Cerediun lord-governors, a ruling council 
  of ﬁ ve men, led by the most senior of the group, presides over laws and 
  decides town matters. Tavour Palann is the current senior-most council 
  member, having served on the council for more than 30 consecutive 
  years. Once selected to the council, nothing short of death or treason 
  removes a member from the elite group of ofﬁ cials.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Although the town has its own guard that patrols the interior of the 
  town, Sessilbridge’s borders are protected by Cerediun and Heldring 
  soldiers on the north and south, respectively. As a general matter, 
  however, the soldiers are present only for external protection and do not 
  have jurisdiction within the walls of the river-town.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Dozens of roaming brigands and gangs of murderous humanoids 
  constantly seek easy prey along the river and plains. Sessilbridge at ﬁ rst 
  seems an easy target until the well-trained soldiers respond to attacks. 
  Although most small raids are dispatched quickly, the occasional 
  coordinated attack from larger groups of goblins and orcs may seriously 
  test the soldiers and town fortiﬁ cations.
  DUCHY OF DUQUESNE (ALSO, DUSQUESNE)
  DUCHY OF DUQUESNE (ALSO, DUSQUESNE)
  (due-KANE)
  Population: 18,000 (14,300 human mixed ethnicity, 1,050 wood 
  elf, 850 halﬂ ing, 700 half-elf, 650 hill dwarf, 450 other)
  Ruler: Duchess Shalindra
  Government: Monarchy
  Humanoid: wood elf (some), halﬂ ing (some), half-elf (some), hill 
  dwarf (some)
  Monstrous: ankheg, basilisks, bugbears, bulettes, centaurs, 
  chimeras, cockatrice, cyclops, ettins, fomorians, goblins, griffons, 
  hags, hill giants, kobolds, manticores, minotaurs, orcs, ogres, 
  pegasus, perytons, stirges, treants, trolls, unicorns, werebears, 
  wereboars, wererats, werewolves, will-o’-wisps, wyverns
  Languages: Common
  Religion: unknown
  Resources: trade
  Currency: Foere, barter
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The Duchy of Duquesne is a small realm independent of Cerediun 
  Province and Exeter Province and the Domain of Hawkmoon. Entirely 
  contained within the Cut Horn Gap between the Forlorn Mountains 
  in the north and the Scar-in-the-Sky Peaks to the south, the duchy 
  is currently under the rule of Duchess Shalindra. The duchess keeps 
  the pass well-patrolled in exchange for the payment of tolls by those 
  traveling through.
  The origin of this duchy is unknown, and its political allegiances are 
  unclear. Some scholars assume that the folk of the duchy are descendants 
  of the people who eventually moved to settle the Domain of Hawkmoon, 
  or perhaps are part of lost Parma. In any case, the duchess has made 
  plain on many occasions that Duquesne is not, nor ever was, a part of the 
  Kingdoms of Foere. She has also refused every offer from the Kingdom 
  of Suilley to join its ranks. Despite its rather enigmatic political status, 
  the duchy remains the closest overland trading partner of the Domain of 
  Hawkmoon, and the two domains are allied in mutual defense.
  DOMAIN OF HAWKMOON
  DOMAIN OF HAWKMOON
  Capital: City-State of Hawkmoon 
  Notable Settlements: Fort Fodom, Leafton, Swordport, Yunn
  Ruler: None
  Government: none (ofﬁ cially a protectorate of Hawkmoon City)
  Population: 25,350 (14,500 human [Hawkmoon ethnicity], 
  5,000 halﬂ ing, 2,500 mountain dwarf, 1,500 wood elf, 1,200 
  gnome, 500 deep gnome, 150 aarakocra)
  Monstrous: ankheg, banshees, basilisks, bugbears, bulettes, 
  centaurs, chimeras, cockatrice, cyclops, dryads, ettins, faerie 
  dragons, fomorians, goblins, griffons, hags, hell hounds, hill 
  giants, kobolds, manticores, minotaurs, orcs, ogres, pegasus, 
  
  230|
  230|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  perytons, pixies, satyrs, specters, sprites, stirges, treants, 
  trolls, unicorns, vampires, werebears, wereboars, wererats, 
  werewolves, will-o’-wisps, wraiths, wyverns, zombies
  Languages: Common, Sirrocan
  Religion: Thyr, Muir, Freya, the Hawkmoon Pantheon
  Resources: Fish, foodstuffs, iron, livestock, tin
  Currency: Foere
  Technology Level: Medieval
  Encircled by the treacherous Scar-in-the-Sky Peaks and the Moonsilver 
  Sea, the Domain of Hawkmoon is geographically isolated, its borders 
  forming a natural barrier against invaders — as well as a wall to dissuade 
  its inhabitants from leaving. The region is said to be a haven of footpads, 
  a place of succor for criminals ﬂ eeing persecution. There is indeed a bit 
  of truth to these rumors, as the domain was ﬁ rst settled 300 years ago by 
  marauders seeking a refuge against the armies of those nations they’d 
  plundered. Echoes of this grim legacy can still be heard today. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  In its earliest years, the Domain of Hawkmoon was inhabited by the 
  legendary Yaltic peoples who oversaw seven local dynasties in the area 
  but were in decline when ﬁ rst encountered by outsiders in 1944 I.R. 
  The last of the Yalts ﬂ ed Hawkmoon in the face of raids and population 
  pressure during the polar shift in 2491 I.R. Within ﬁ ve years, the last of 
  the Yalts had departed the region by sea to establish the city of Coralis, 
  leaving their realm to the newcomers. 
  The domain’s new masters were a hardy and fractious mix of outlaws 
  and refugees from the ﬁ res that burned eastern Akados after the fall of 
  Curgantium, and with little outside authority the region degenerated 
  into a state of anarchy and lawlessness. The domain’s destabilizing 
  inﬂ uence grew in later years as bandits and raiders — protected by 
  the forbidding peaks of the Scar-in-the-Sky and Forlorn Mountains — 
  started to raid other nations by sea. When Hawkmoon corsairs plagued 
  the Helcynngae Peninsula, the Heldring were forced into a frustrating 
  defensive war.
  Eventually, the Heldring had enough of what they called the “open 
  sore” of Hawkmoon on their doorstep and set sail in 2801 I.R. to invade 
  the region and install one of their own on the throne and establish the 
  puppet state commonly called the Kingdom of Hawkmoon.
  The following year, the Battle of Oescreheit Downs heralded 
  the downfall of the Helcynngae Heldring, but the Heldring regime 
  in Hawkmoon was too isolated and secure for the Foerdewaith to 
  dislodge. In fact, Hawkmoon became a refuge for the Heldring who 
  refused to surrender, and Heldring rule persisted for nearly four 
  more centuries.
  It was not until 3282 I.R. that the people of Hawkmoon, led by many 
  heroes and joined by the mountain dwarves, threw off the Heldrings’ 
  yoke and reclaimed their territory. The rebels were led by Hanfred Vel, 
  a paladin of Muir, and the general Bosworth, both of whom saw a future 
  for Hawkmoon that was well beyond its confused and bloody anarchic 
  past. The overthrow of the Heldring was followed by the so-called 
  Great Purge, during which Hanfred and Bosworth led their forces in a 
  merciless campaign to rid the land of brigands and outlaws.
  The new nation envisioned by the two liberators regrettably did 
  not come to pass. Bosworth took the crown of the domain when the 
  Heldring were thrown out, but his dynasty did not endure long after 
  his death. His son Vargha served as viscount for a time, but a series of 
  plagues ravaged the nation, and eventually the individual communities 
  of Hawkmoon largely went back to their own ways. Nevertheless, 
  Bosworth is remembered as the founder of modern Hawkmoon and is 
  canonized among its inhabitants as “the Great.”
  Today’s Hawkmoons have retained their old rugged and individualistic 
  spirit, the notion of a united nation never having taken hold. True, the 
  old bandits and warlords are gone, but now the region’s inhabitants 
  remain stubbornly resistant to outside authority. While they would unite 
  to oppose an outside threat, and frequently combine forces to hunt down 
  bandits, monsters and raiders, the people refuse to acknowledge that 
  Hawkmoon is anything more than simply their homeland.
  The Hawkmoons are descended from a dozen different ancestries, to 
  the point that they are their own distinct nationality that combines the 
  cultures and characteristics of their numerous forebears. Most speak the 
  Common tongue, but many are fully bilingual with the ancient Sirrocan 
  language, which locals speak when they wish to keep discussions secret 
  from outsiders.
  Despite the domain’s apparent anarchy, there is very little violence, 
  as most inhabitants are focused on their own communities and families, 
  with little desire to impose their will on others. This independence 
  is a two-edged sword, of course, for while the Hawkmoons accept 
  little or no outside authority, they receive virtually no help either, 
  making the domain a wildly varied place — wealthier communities 
  maintain their own roads and public works, and diligently enforce 
  their laws, while poorer towns and villages have correspondingly poor 
  roads, sanitation, and defense, or are ruled by organized criminals 
  who masquerade as constables or civil leaders. Likewise, law varies 
  signiﬁ cantly from town to town, with acts that are legal in one being 
  strictly illegal elsewhere.
  Banditry and murder are nevertheless surprisingly rare, though property 
  crime, robbery, extortion and similar acts are sadly more common. 
  Hawkmoon boasts a single thieves’ guild that is led by ex-adventurer 
  Sivian Ulphar, who is known commonly as the Lucre King. While the guild 
  controls much of the organized crime in Hawkmoon, the land’s independent 
  spirit extends to its criminal endeavors, and many small brotherhoods and 
  gangs are active on a local level, engaged in highway robbery, con games, 
  burglary of all kinds, livestock theft, smuggling, and the like. These 
  small groups do not compete directly with Ulphar’s guild, but they are so 
  numerous that they commit a large percentage of the domain’s crime.
  As Hawkmoon City provides little support to the Outfolk, it 
  falls to the locals to defend themselves against criminals, bandits, 
  raiders and the occasional warlord. A class of freelance bounty 
  hunters known as the Trunchers has developed to serve this need. 
  Hired by individual communities, Trunchers range from moral and 
  reliable freelance law-enforcement personnel to amoral, violent 
  mercenaries who are only a step or two above the bandits that they 
  are hired to apprehend.
  Other denizens of the Hawkmoon Domain include the Horselords of 
  Kur, a tribe of ﬁ ercely independent centaurs who often trade with local 
  merchants and may occasionally be hired on to assist with merchant 
  caravans or to defend communities against bandits.
  Wood elves are also frequently seen in Hawkmoon. Based in the 
  various forests throughout the domain, they are led by the prophetess 
  Zinaida Quespar.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  While the Foerdewaith deities of Thyr, Muir, and Freya have made 
  inroads in Hawkmoon and elsewhere, the region is most notable for 
  its unique pantheon, which scholars believe was inherited from the 
  Yaltic dynasties that preceded the domain’s current inhabitants. Like 
  the people of Hawkmoon, their gods are a widely varied lot numbering 
  no fewer than 29 individual deities, the most commonly worshipped of 
  which include Aletheia, Goddess of Wisdom and Protection; Majium, 
  God of Mercy and Magic; Oon, God of Nature; and Quooembla, God 
  of Wisdom. Other gods are worshipped by smaller and more specialized 
  groups, such as Zahm, God of Money and Business — revered by 
  merchants and businessman — and Ulremara, Goddess of Candles and 
  Desire, who is popular in brothels and taverns.
  Most inhabitants of the domain worship their many gods in private, 
  usually with family and close friends, but there are some organized 
  priesthoods and temples, though these temples usually include statues, 
  altars, and worship facilities for multiple gods. 
  Many in Hawkmoon believe that the moon vanishes from the sky one 
  day each month, at the time of the new moon. They refer to this event as 
  the “Vanishing Moon.” Scholars elsewhere have found no evidence for 
  this event, and the origin of this belief remains unknown.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The Domain of Hawkmoon is mostly self-sufﬁ cient, producing 
  foodstuffs, livestock, and timber sufﬁ cient to keep its population fed and 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|231
  |231
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  housed. Excess is sold to the city-state, and outsiders may venture into 
  the domain through Cut Horn Gap to trade in Leafton and Hawkmoon 
  City. Mines in the Forlorn Mountains and the Scar-in-the-Sky produce 
  iron and tin, some of which is exported to neighboring kingdoms, 
  including the Kingdom of Helcynn.
  Fishing vessels out of Swordport work the Moonsilver Sea and 
  provide their haul to the rest of the domain. Trade ships from Oceanus 
  and other port cities on the Sinnar Sea have been calling at Swordport 
  more in recent years, bearing ﬁ nished goods, cloth, clothing, weapons, 
  and tools in exchange for Hawkmoon’s products.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Neither the domain nor the city-state of Hawkmoon owes allegiance 
  to any other state or kingdom, though a few foreign trade ofﬁ cials and 
  diplomats — the most prominent being those from Castorhage, Oceanus, 
  and Foere — maintain facilities. Most such contacts are with the city-
  state however, as the Outfolk have little to no interest in diplomacy or 
  contact beyond some basic trade.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  At the heart of the domain is the city of Hawkmoon, an independent 
  city-state that answers to no foreign power. The land outlying the city is 
  ofﬁ cially a protectorate of Hawkmoon, though not part of the sovereign 
  state itself. In other words, though Hawkmoon troops patrol the land, the 
  Outfolk (as those beyond the city walls are called) are not beholden to the 
  city nor in any way obliged to follow its mandates. The Outfolk pay no 
  taxes to Hawkmoon, though they do use the city as the primary base for 
  selling of their crops and manufactured goods. This strange dichotomy is 
  the result of the region’s oldest and most revered tradition: “Our ancestors 
  came here to escape authority’s oppressive grasp, and we shall not dishonor 
  them by submitting.” The Domain of Hawkmoon, then, teeters on the brink 
  of anarchy, though it never fully tumbles into the abyss.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The domain has no official military, leaving patrols and security 
  to the city-state’s armed soldiery. However, the folk of Hawkmoon 
  are independent and resourceful, well able to unite into a potent 
  irregular force. Looking back to their days as Heldring vassals, most 
  Hawkmoons are skilled scouts, hunters, archers, and guerrillas. 
  While they almost joyfully defy any kind of central authority, the 
  region’s inhabitants actively defend their realm against outside 
  threats, with each community forming ad hoc military units and 
  even — in an act that would normally be met with derision and 
  shock — submitting to command from experienced leaders from 
  the city-state. These units are mostly infantry, though a few 
  mounted scouts and skirmishers may be present. These Hawkmoon 
  irregulars have very light armor, or none at all, and fight with light 
  melee weapons and missile weapons, which they wield to good 
  effect, engaging in hit-and-run attacks before vanishing into the 
  wilderness to strike elsewhere.
  These irregular community-based units don’t just appear in times 
  of national crisis — they also come together in the face of banditry, 
  humanoid raiding, piracy, and other local threats, sometimes with 
  several communities combining resources to eliminate the danger 
  before returning to their normal independent existences.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  Hawkmoon Domain is a mixture of settled areas — farms, ranches, 
  towns, and villages connected by locally-maintained roads of varying 
  quality — and wild lands that are often under the control of bandits or 
  monsters. Travel is always a chancy proposition, and trade expeditions 
  between cities must usually be strongly defended. The stretches between 
  towns are often heavily forested, which provides ideal concealment for 
  attackers and requires considerable vigilance.
  The land is also full of various bizarre and dangerous locations, the 
  most obvious of which are ancient Yaltic palaces, temples, and tombs, 
  some of which still contain old magic, treasure, and even potent artifacts. 
  These are sometimes defended by spirits, demons, or the undead remains 
  of their old guardians. It is said that a city was founded on an island in 
  a lake somewhere in the domain and was home to a council of wizard-
  priests, but it sank as a consequence of a failed ritual and is yet to be 
  rediscovered. An ancient dwarven mine is also rumored to exist beneath 
  that lake. Elsewhere in Hawkmoon is the fearsome realm known as the 
  Bonegarden where the spirits of thousands of criminals slaughtered in 
  the Great Purge are trapped.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: G2 What Evil Lurks; G9 A Lamentation of 
  Thieves; K9 Elemental Moon; Dead Man’s Chest
  HAWKMOON, CITY-STATE OF
  HAWKMOON, CITY-STATE OF
  Population: 10,200 (6,850 human [Hawkmoon ethnicity], 2,250 
  halﬂ ing, 875 mountain dwarf, 225 gnome)
  Ruler: Administrator Burgrave Malva
  Government: elected administrator
  The city of Hawkmoon is an independent city-state that holds the 
  rest of Hawkmoon as a loose protectorate without considering it to 
  be the territory of the city itself. The current ruler is Burgrave Malva, 
  essentially an administrator of the city’s interests, both urban and in the 
  surrounding domain of the city-state.
  Built on the remains of far-more-ancient Yaltic settlements, the 
  modern city-state of Hawkmoon became fully independent with the 
  expulsion of the Heldring in 3282 I.R. Initially led by the legendary 
  Bosworth the Great, Hawkmoon City soon became the leading 
  settlement of the region but never exercised anything beyond general 
  leadership and guidance to the ﬁ ercely independent Outfolk. Today, 
  the city-state retains its role as ﬁ rst among equals and provides patrols 
  and military assistance to, but exercises little real authority over, the 
  rest of the domain.
  Many consider the city-state a lawless place where a powerful thieves’ 
  guild — led by an individual known as the Lucre King — and other 
  crime networks, such as that run by the Valder family, help make policy 
  and act as the true power in the city. The patriarch Chistoff Valder is 
  considered equal to Administrator Burgrave Malva in the establishment 
  of general policies and laws.
  CORALIS, CITY OF
  CORALIS, CITY OF
  Population: unknown
  Ruler: unknown
  Government: unknown
  The city of Coralis was founded by Yalts ﬂ eeing the Domain of 
  Hawkmoon shortly after the shift of Boros’ poles in 2491 I.R. Not a part 
  of Hawkmoon, Coralis is built entirely on a broad expanse of coral reef 
  somewhere east of the domain in the midst of the Sinnar Ocean. Today, 
  it is a haven of peace and knowledge, a city of legend, encountered 
  rarely by wayward travelers and built up in mortal minds as the earthly 
  abode of the gods.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: Dead Man’s Chest
  FORT FODOM
  FORT FODOM
  Population: 500 (almost all human [Hawkmoon ethnicity])
  Ruler: military governor
  Government: military
  Fort Fodom guards the eastern coast of Hawkmoon from the threat of 
  invasion by sea and marauding pirates. The fortress harbor is a common 
  stopping-point for galleys making the coastal journey from Swordpoint to 
  the Helcynngae Peninsula.
  LEAFTON, VILLAGE OF
  LEAFTON, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 850 (625 human [Hawkmoon ethnicity], 
  225 halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Mayor Kaun Solear
  Government: elders elect mayor
  
  232|
  232|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  Leafton is a village of 850 peaceful folk. It is a pleasant farming 
  community at the edge of the Gaunt Wood, ideal for a respite from the 
  dangers of adventuring.
  SWORDPORT, CITY OF
  SWORDPORT, CITY OF
  Population: 3,855 (2,820 human [Hawkmoon ethnicity], 555 
  halﬂ ing, 250 mountain dwarf, 230 gnome)
  Ruler: Oro Gullina
  Government: loose oligarchy
  Known as the City of Shrouds, Swordport is a rollicking coastal city, the 
  gateway to the Moonsilver Sea. It is the second most important urban area 
  in the domain, a natural rival to Hawkmoon. Intrigue between the two cities 
  is rich and complex as they vie for power in the domain. 
  YUNN, TOWN OF
  YUNN, TOWN OF
  Population: 472 (almost all human [Hawkmoon ethnicity])
  Ruler: Sheb Nikandur
  Government: pre-eminent citizen’s personal inﬂ uence
  Yunn (or Yuun) is a small town on the shore of a lake in Hawkmoon 
  that operates a sawmill in the Gaunt Wood. It has a population of 472 
  and is led by Sheb Nikandur, its “ﬁ rst citizen.”
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K9 Elemental Moon
  KILDREN POINT
  KILDREN POINT
  Capital: none
  Notable Settlements: Kaf Village 
  Ruler: none
  Government: clan hetmans
  Population: 7,800 (7,000 Kaf, 800 Foerdewaith)
  Monstrous: crab swarms, hyaenodons, locathah, giant crabs 
  (coastline); bat swarms, gnolls, hyaenodons, dire bats, giant 
  insects, ankhegs, sandlings, paleoskeleton creatures (Sand 
  Hills)
  Languages: Kaf, Common
  Religion: Halatra the Horse
  Resources: livestock (sheep, horses), wool, glass, gems
  Technology Level: Dark Ages 
  This lonely stretch of coastline is out of the way and little-visited by 
  the caravans of the Soldier’s Road and coastal traders. It is the exclusive 
  homeland of the enigmatic Kaf tribe who dwell in small clan settlements 
  scattered throughout the peninsula and even into the Sand Hills. The 
  only other humans who risk the threat of gnoll raiders are a few hardy 
  prospectors and traders that are known to the Kaf and serve as a point of 
  contact for outside commerce. Visitors to the peninsula are forewarned. 
  Sometimes the riders of the Kaf are friendly to visitors seeking trade 
  and swapping of tales, but other times they simply attack, seeking to rob 
  those they run across. 
  KAF VILLAGE 
  KAF VILLAGE 
  Population: 522 (Kaf)
  Ruler: none 
  Government: the hetmen of Kaf
  Little more than a camp, really, Kaf Village is constructed on the 
  northern edge of the Sand Hills where its riders can easily make forays 
  into the desert wastes to hunt the giant insects that dwell there for 
  their valuable carapaces and delicate wings which are used in jewelry 
  and adornments for dwellings. Many of the village’s homes are tents 
  of stiff leather that have stood for many years and whose lines must 
  constantly be replaced and new patches added due to the omnipresent 
  winds of the point. At least half of the homes, however, are constructed 
  from ill-ﬁ tting wooden beams and logs, their chinks ﬁ lled with mud 
  and thatching. Despite the aridity of the location, the village streets 
  seem perpetually muddy due to the pigpens along either side that 
  constantly drain into them and the horses that continually churn them 
  into a stinking morass.
  LOWPORT, FREE CITY OF
  LOWPORT, FREE CITY OF
  Ruler: Tyrant of Lowport, Conqueror of the Waves, Despot of 
  the Stony Strand, Baljulias the Great
  Government: dictatorship
  Population: 13,800 (6,610 human [mostly Foerdewaith], 3,035 
  orc, 2,700 half-orc, 790 hobgoblin, 520 mountain dwarf, 125 
  half-elf, 20 high elf)
  Monstrous: goblins, monstrous jellyﬁ sh, sahuagin (coastline); 
  krenshars, howlers, ogres, barghests (countryside); rock 
  baboons, worgs, ogres, hell hounds, harpies, hill giants, 
  dragons (Stony Strand)
  Languages: Common, Orc, Goblin
  Religion: Thursis, Grotaag, Kakobovia
  Resources: plunder, slaves, coal, chalk
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  At one time, the Lowport region was the easternmost portion of 
  the Kingdom of Burgundia with several fortiﬁ cations of ancient 
  Hyperborea built along the coastline to guard against sea invasion and 
  piracy. However, the territory changed hands several times after Foere 
  quit its claims upon it, and it ultimately ended up under the jurisdiction 
  of Penmorgh with orders to man the old fortiﬁ cations. The Southvalers 
  were unequipped to deal with the remote forts and failed to properly 
  garrison or oversee them so that when the sea reaver Gathos the Cruel 
  arrived in the city of Parthos in 3485 I.R., he was able to put the entire 
  garrison to the sword and rename the place Lowport with himself as 
  the tyrant. Lowport was declared a free city with a port open to all 
  comers and became a bastion of pirates, smugglers, slavers, and every 
  unsavory sort imaginable. With Oceanus wholly occupied with its wars 
  of expansion, there was no one with sufﬁ cient sea power to dislodge the 
  scurvy lot that had taken over. By the time things had calmed enough 
  for the powers-that-be to turn attention toward the situation, they found 
  Gathos and his recruited mercenaries well entrenched with a heavily 
  defended harbor. With no land areas of real value nearby to be claimed 
  and defended, it became more expedient to simply patrol the waters 
  off the coast to reduce piracy rather than try to root out the entire rats’ 
  nest. Gathos wisely ordered his piracy conducted farther aﬁ eld to avoid 
  antagonizing nearby Oceanus, and Lowport became a ﬁ xture of the 
  Sinnar Coast.
  Gathos’ rule was cruel and proﬁ table until the old pirate was challenged 
  and defeated by a half-orc gladiator champion. But if folk thought that the 
  rule of Baljulias the Great would bring moderation and greater civility to 
  the town, they far overestimated the conscience of the foul brawler. Under 
  Baljulias, Lowport has sunk even further into depravity, getting much more 
  heavily involved in the slave trade and beginning to conduct kidnappings 
  for ransom of valuable targets in the nearby realms. The situation has not 
  grown so bad to require a military response yet, but many folk suspect that 
  it won’t be too many more years before an Oceanic ﬂ eet carrying a sufﬁ cient 
  number of marines arrives to sweep the riffraff into the sea.
  Lowport’s claim to the Stony Strand hills is almost completely 
  spurious; the city’s reach extends perhaps 100 miles inland beyond the 
  city walls. Orc bands make excursions into the hills, but so far Lowport 
  has made no attempt to establish any permanent presence there.
  The city itself is, as one might suspect, a haven for all kinds of 
  seaborne villains. The tyrant’s orcish allies are permitted (in small 
  numbers) in the city, making the atmosphere even more volatile than 
  normal in a pirate stronghold. The original cityfolk are docile under the 
  tyrant’s rule, waiting for some brave group of heroes to dislodge Gathos 
  and return the city to peace and freedom.
  A group of fugitives from Lowport have gathered at the nearby ruins 
  of the Hyperborean fortress of Salyos.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|233
  |233
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  MATAGOST PENINSULA
  MATAGOST PENINSULA
  (MAT-uh-gost)
  Capital: Oestre 
  Notable Settlements: Heldring’s Cross, Highreach, Highsmyth, 
  Tirigoth
  Ruler: Governor-General Alphonse d’Tarrio Alejandros
  Government: military dictatorship
  Population: 122,000 (58,650 Foerdewaith, 23,600 Oceander, 
  17,200 mountain dwarf, 12,000 half-elf, 6,800 high elf, 1,650 
  halﬂ ing, 1,110 gnome, 990 other)
  Monstrous: goblins, worgs, bugbears, duergar, aberrant 
  giants, stone giants, giant eagles (Matagost Range); wolves, 
  dire wolves, giant beetles, inphidians, decapi (woodlands); 
  snapping turtles, crab swarms, giant eels, sahuagin, kelp 
  devils (coastline)
  Languages: Common, Dwarven, Elven, Halﬂ ing, Gnome
  Religion: Mithras, Tykee, Sefagreth, Dre’uain the Lame, Thyr
  Resources: shipbuilding supplies, coal, iron, quarry stone, 
  ironwork, timber, livestock (goats, pigs), lead, gems
  Currency: Oceanus
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The Matagost Peninsula protrudes like the blade of a cleaver from 
  the eastern side of Akados, stretching almost all the way to Ramthion 
  Island where the dark Dardanal Strait marks its easternmost point. The 
  Matagost Range bounds its southern ﬂ ank while the northern shore 
  looks out upon Pontos Island and the Gulf of Akados far to the north. 
  The discovery of vast iron lodes in the mountains led to its current state 
  as a leading fabricator and exporter of ironwork. This is the position 
  it now holds in the Empire of Oceanus, the latest sovereign to control 
  the lands of the peninsula. No longer a great forest, Matagost is lightly 
  wooded for much of its length and provides ﬁ rewood along with coal 
  mined from the mountains to light the forge ﬁ res of Highsmyth.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  In the days of Hyperborea, the Province of Matagost long sought to be 
  a shipping capital but was always eclipsed by Tsen and its holdings to the 
  north. With the destruction of that land and the emergence of Endhome as 
  a trade center, Matagost was relegated to a military status to protect against 
  Ramithi pirates and other threats. Over time, it developed into a self-sufﬁ cient 
  province in its own right through its emergence as a center for ironwork.
  After the fall of Hyperborea, Matagost was absorbed into the 
  burgeoning Kingdom of Foere in 2745 I.R. Over time, the appointed 
  lord-governors in Oestre gained some slightly greater standing as 
  Ramthion Island was brought into the kingdom and Matagost came to 
  serve as a hub for what limited travel existed between Courghais and 
  that distant province.
  When the Kingdom of Oceanus rebelled against Foere in 3215 I.R., 
  the Foerdewaith ﬂ eet gathered at the great sea fortress of Highreach 
  to crush the rebellion. However, after Oceanus soundly defeated the 
  Foerdewaith navy at the Battle of Kapichi Point, Matagost found itself 
  in a precarious position as neighbor to a growing naval empire and 
  without the military support of its own distant master. Nevertheless, 
  Matagost chose to stay the course and maintained its allegiance to the 
  Court at Courghais. They beneﬁ ted from Oceanus being occupied by 
  other, greater threats and managed to marshal their own defenses.
  When the Province of Burgundia declared its independence from 
  Foere in 3221 I.R., the magnate of Oestre, the ruler of Matagost Province, 
  marched on Trevi. His route through the Moon Fog Hills avoided 
  detection, and he was able to lay siege to the city before the Burgundian 
  army reached him. Now forced to defend a huge area against a possible 
  invasion from Foere, the Burgundian army had insufﬁ cient forces to 
  break the army of Matagost at Trevi. The city and both armies settled in 
  to what would become a long siege. 
  In 3222 I.R., the province of Suilley seceded from Foere, and in 
  3224 I.R. the magnate of Penmorgh was assassinated, and the province 
  of Southvale became a duchy of Burgundy. In response to this new 
  uprising, the magnate of Oestre landed an army loyal to Foere south of 
  Wellesley and marched on Penmorgh. His army outnumbered the forces 
  holding Penmorgh, but the magnate of Oestre had not reckoned on the 
  numbers and training of the peasants who arose from the countryside 
  to harass them nor the heavy infantry provided by the dwarves of 
  Durandel. The army of Matagost soon found itself outnumbered and 
  caught in unfavorable terrain. The army was routed and forced to retreat 
  to the coast to be picked up by the ships that had transported it.
  With Matagost reeling from its sudden defeat, the new duke of 
  Southvale took the initiative and marched his now-blooded army up the 
  Southvale Causeway toward Trevi. These reinforcements, combined 
  with the surrounding army of Burgundia, broke the siege of Trevi and 
  routed the Matagost host. At the same time, word came that ships carrying 
  survivors of Matagost’s southern army encountered a storm in Dardanal 
  Strait and many had gone down, including the one carrying the magnate 
  of Oestre. Pandemonium immediately engulfed the Matagost Peninsula. 
  A new lord-governor appointed by the overking was murdered in his chair 
  when he convened a council of the leading families. Though many of the 
  lords of Oestre were rich and powerful, none was capable of defeating all 
  of his rivals and exerting power over the entire peninsula, which resulted 
  in a bloody civil war that lasted for more than eight decades.
  Finally, in 3312 I.R., a ﬂ eet of ships came silently out of a night fog 
  and landed on the shores of Matagost. Oceander marines stormed ashore 
  and quickly took Highreach while transport ships deployed infantry and 
  cavalry units. In only a matter of weeks, Oceander units swept through 
  the war-torn remnants of the peninsula and brought its civil war to 
  a screeching halt. The banner of Oceanus was raised over Oestre, and 
  the maritime empire had its ﬁ rst mainland holding. Matagost’s massive 
  foundries now produce the weapons and armor for the Oceander war 
  machine, and its cities are the staging point for its continental land armies.
  In ages past, the peninsula was heavily forested and inhabited by elves. 
  Hundreds of generations of timbering and the great ﬁ res of Curgantium 
  did much to clear its lands, but they have recovered signiﬁ cantly over 
  the years. Some high elves still call Matagost home, though most live in 
  the more sparsely populated areas where the trees grow thickest among 
  the foothills of the mountains. These elves are friendly with the lowland 
  humans and their Oceander masters. They avoid the ﬁ lth and soot of 
  Highsmyth but are commonly seen in Oestre and frequently serve as 
  guides and hunters for travelers or caravans headed for the dwarven 
  mines in the mountains.
  The population of the Matagost Peninsula is composed primarily of 
  native Foerdewaith stock, many with the blood of the Heldring in them 
  from their invasions of long ago, but there are also many folk of Oceanus 
  (also Foerdewaith but with the olive skin common to the natives of that 
  island) who have relocated here to ﬁ nd their fortunes since the peninsula 
  fell under Oceander control.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The Piedmont of the city of Oestre serves as the location of the marble-
  columned chief temple of the peninsula. It has venerated many deities 
  over the years, but switched from the soldier god Mithras to Sefagreth, 
  God of Commerce, by order of the governor-general 13 years ago in 
  order to promote the prosperity of trade over Matagost after the long 
  specter of war that it faced for so long. With so many military forces 
  present in the peninsula, however, Mithras remains extremely popular, 
  along with Tykee, the Patroness of Luck. Dre’uain the Lame is likewise 
  widely venerated, especially in the forge-city of Highsmyth. The courts 
  of law are still dedicated to Thyr, but his presence has faded greatly 
  from the old days. Rumors of cults of diabolical or demonic inﬂ uence in 
  Oestre have circulated for centuries, but to date no evidence of such has 
  ever been discovered by the authorities. Lack of proof, however, hasn’t 
  kept the rumors from continuing to swirl.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Matagostian timber builds and maintains the Oceanic ﬂ eet at Highreach 
  and beyond, while coal from the Matagost Range feeds the forge ﬁ res 
  in Highsmyth. The many forges and foundries in Highsmyth create a 
  constant racket at all hours of the day and night as they produce the armor 
  and weapons needed to feed the expansion of the Oceander Empire.
  
  234|
  234|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The Matagost Peninsula is an occupied land. Long a province of 
  Foere, it suffered over eight decades of civil war before the Oceanders 
  conquered the area 200 years ago. While some of the old families 
  continue to resent the Oceander occupation, they recognize the stability 
  and peace that it has brought and make no move to rise in rebellion 
  against the lord of Pontus Tinigal. While the native folk of Matagost 
  harbor no great love for the Oceanders, they elect to make no trouble 
  for them either — and not entirely because of the proﬁ ciency and 
  ruthlessness of the Oceanic forces that control their lands. Besides, with 
  the effective disintegration of Burgundia, rival claims to the lucrative 
  mines of the Moon Fog Hills have evaporated, and the avarice of 
  Matagostian aristocrats inclines them to cooperate with their Oceanic 
  overlords with the prospect of greater riches on the horizon.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The mayor of Oestre is the highest-ranking civilian on the peninsula, 
  but it is the military governor-general appointed by Oceanus who resides 
  in the Lord’s Palace and rules Matagost as a military dictatorship. The 
  governor-general appoints mayors of Oestre and Highsmyth (often from 
  among the Oceander gentry), and the smaller towns and villages are 
  allowed to elect or appoint their own mayors or headmen, though these 
  must answer to regional correctors appointed by the governor-general 
  who serve as magistrates and auditors of the local municipalities under 
  their authority. There is little unrest among the Matagostian population, 
  but the ever-present Oceanic soldiers and marines means any such 
  troubles that do arise are put down quickly and brutally.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Matagost has no real military of its own beyond the household guards 
  of the more powerful aristocratic families, primarily found in Oestre. 
  However, the land remains highly militarized as a military dictatorship 
  with Oceanic troops keeping and maintaining order and a watchful 
  presence over the land. The main concentration of troops consists of 
  5,000 Oceanic marines kept in a constant state of readiness at the ancient 
  fortress of Highreach. At any time, scores of Oceanic naval vessels and 
  crews are present as well, all kept on hand and ready to depart at a 
  moment’s notice to address some threat to the empire anywhere in the 
  world. The rest of the forces found in Matagost are the 3,500 soldiers 
  and light cavalry primarily billeted in Oestre and Highsmyth and 
  charged with keeping the peace upon the peninsula. Some few patrols 
  make their way down the Soldier’s Road west of Oestre to scout the 
  western reaches, but most remain more centrally located.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The Matagost Peninsula enjoys a sort of wary peace. In many ways, 
  the civil wars of 200 years ago exhausted its stores of violence. The 
  Oceanic occupation is well-ordered, and the enemies of Oceanus lie 
  far away, leaving Matagost a region of little national intrigue. There 
  remain giants and goblinoids in the Matagost Range, and the mysterious 
  depths of the Dardanal Strait continue to spawn weird ichthyic threats, 
  but these offer little overt threat as a whole. Even the barbaric tribes of 
  the Moon Fog Hills and ravenous gnolls of the Sand Hills seem little 
  disposed toward being more than an occasional nuisance nipping at the 
  borders of the realm.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  The thin veneer of calm over the peninsula hides a land ripe for 
  adventure. Giants and goblins still control major parts of the Matagost 
  Range, and rumors of gray dwarves and vengeful restlessness among 
  the mountain dwarf clans themselves have been heard of late. Slimy, 
  scaly things crawling up from the eastern and southern coasts point 
  toward untold dangers hidden in the briny deeps of the Dardanal Strait 
  and Matagost Bay, and the mysterious Moon Fog Hills remain able to 
  swallow entire companies of soldiers in their silent embrace, leaving no 
  trace but the dripping leaves in the fog-shrouded Mistwood.
  OESTRE, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  OESTRE, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Population: 15,616 (10,054 Foerdewaith and Oceander, 1,800 
  mountain dwarf, 1,410 half-elf, 855 halﬂ ing, 630 high elf, 520 
  gnome, 347 other)
  Ruler: Governor-General Alphonse d’Tarrio Alejandros, Mayor 
  Padrick de Querne
  Government: mayor appointed by the governor-general
  As long as an organized nation-state has existed on the peninsula 
  of Matagost, Oestre has served as its capital. Built with double 
  concentric walls, ﬁ rst in earth and wood and later replaced in stone, 
  the piedmont of the city still serves as the location of the Lord’s Palace 
  and the marble columns of the city’s chief temple, currently dedicated 
  to Sefagreth, God of Commerce. Other prominent temples in town 
  include those dedicated to the soldiers’ deities of Mithras and Tykee, 
  the Patroness of Luck. The citizens of Oestre are primarily of the native 
  Foerdewaith stock, many with the blood of the Heldring in them from 
  their invasions of long ago, but there are also many folk of Oceanus 
  (also Foerdewaith but with the olive skin common to the natives of 
  that island) who have relocated here to ﬁ nd their fortunes since the 
  city fell under Oceander control. Oestre is open to trade and travel, but 
  entry and exit are strictly monitored, and the watch is always on the 
  lookout for spies from distant Foere. 
  HELDRING’S CROSS, TOWN OF
  HELDRING’S CROSS, TOWN OF
  Population: 1,332 (976 Foerdewaith and Oceander, 251 half-elf, 
  105 halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Fray Compton D’Lac (Cleric of Thyr)
  Government: Church of Thyr
  The town of Heldring’s Cross lies at the crossroads where the 
  Soldier’s Road from Endhome meets the Hollow Road from Old 
  Burgundia and both turn east toward Oestre. The town is considered the 
  westernmost part of the Matagost Peninsula and has historically been 
  considered disputed territory between that province and Sunderland to 
  the west. There is currently no organized government of Sunderland, so 
  Matagost’s claim to the town has gone unchallenged for many years. 
  Despite this, it remains virtually ignored by the government in Oestre 
  and is generally ﬁ ne with that. 
  The small burg’s one claim to fame dates back to the times of the 
  Heldring invasions of a thousand years ago. One war band led by an 
  unnamed jarl, who was among the ﬁ rst to convert to the gods of the 
  Hyperboreans, made its way here through the Moon Fog Hills. The 
  journey was harrowing, the dangers of the mystical hills taking a heavy 
  toll on the warriors, and the end of their journey brought them into battle 
  at this point with a host of local warriors gathered from Oestre in the 
  east. The Heldring were victorious despite their many travails, and the 
  grateful jarl built a church here to Thyr in thanks for his aid. The original 
  church is long since gone, but the 12-foot-tall, rune-scribed stone cross 
  that he erected next to the church still stands, time-worn and lichen-
  crusted. Its runic inscription of thanks and dedication is faded but still 
  legible, and it has always been seen as an important shrine to the church. 
  The leader of the town is always a priest of Thyr sent to tend the shrine, 
  and the Oceander cleric currently serving in that role (Fray Compton 
  D’Lac) is no exception. He preaches the will of Thyr weekly and calls 
  on travelers to seek justice and leave donations at his small church. 
  HIGHREACH, FORTRESS OF
  HIGHREACH, FORTRESS OF
  Population: 5,256 (almost all Oceander)
  Ruler: High Admiral Novar Telleﬁ ri
  Government: Military
  The Hyperboreans originally constructed this great fortress on the 
  Sinnar Coast to defend against attacks by Ramithi pirates. The ﬂ eet 
  of Oceanus has since converted it into their own military harbor and 
  strong point from which to project their naval power across the region. 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |235
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  In addition to the many ships constantly anchored here and their crew 
  complements of sailors and marines, an army of 5,000 Oceander soldiers 
  is constantly kept stationed here and drilled to battle readiness in order 
  to be transported to anywhere needed at a moment’s notice.
  HIGHSMYTH, CITY OF 
  HIGHSMYTH, CITY OF 
  Population: 7,827 (3,890 Foerdewaith and Oceander, 1,962 
  mountain dwarf, 1,075 half-elf, 655 gnome, 245 halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Mayor Carlo d’Brocce Alvamo and Master Ironworkers 
  Guildmaster Ivan Gundris
  Government: mayor appointed by the governor-general, with 
  high local inﬂ uence by Ironworkers Guild
  Highsmyth is the great ironmongering capital of the Matagost 
  Peninsula. It provided a great deal of iron ore in the days of Hyperborea 
  and Foere and even now serves as the primary foundry for the Empire 
  of Oceanus. Here ironwork of the highest caliber is exported to Pontos 
  Island for use in even more reﬁ ned manufacturing. A great black fog 
  continually hangs above the city from its hundreds of forge ﬁ res, and on 
  days when the wind is still, this miasma sinks to street level and covers 
  the city with its smudge. The result of these black fogs and the soot 
  constantly falling from the many smokestacks stains everything within 
  the city a dismal gray, which the Oceanic mayor cheerfully calls “the 
  new color of gold.” 
  TIRIGOTH, VILLAGE OF 
  TIRIGOTH, VILLAGE OF 
  Population: 782 (756 Foerdewaith, 19 gnome, 7 half-elf)
  Ruler: Mayor Limper Karl and Sheriff Callawagn
  Government: mayor for life, highly corrupt elections
  The ﬁ shing village of Tirigoth lies on the southern end of the 
  Criehammer Pass through the Matagost Range. It is small and isolated, 
  and tends to its own business, sheltered by the surrounding cliffs as 
  it ignores the rest of the world. It has no interest in the politics of the 
  rest of the peninsula, and so far Oceanus has shown no interest in this 
  tiny burg. A few years ago, the mayor’s compatriot Sheriff Callawagn 
  stumbled upon a small dwarven mining claim in the nearby mountains 
  that contained a promising gold vein. Together they murdered a villager 
  and framed the dwarven miners. The miners were arrested and executed, 
  which gave the mayor and sheriff sole control over the mine to be worked 
  by their gnomish crew. But now the mayor fears dwarven reprisals and 
  has set a ban on dwarves within Tirigoth. It remains to be seen if the 
  mountain dwarves of the Matagost Range realize the crime that has been 
  perpetrated and seek vengeance. 
  OLD BURGUNDIA
  OLD BURGUNDIA
  Capital: none
  Notable Settlements: Emryl, Terrin Keld, Tyr
  Ruler: none
  Government: anarchy (Wildlands), feudalism (settlements)
  Population: 33,800 (13,350 Foerdewaith, 11,200 Erskaelosi, 7,100 
  mountain dwarf, 1,300 half-elf, 450 half-orc, 400 other)
  Monstrous: dire animals, ghouls, leucrotta, boggards, megafauna, 
  perytons (Wildlands); dire animals, orogs, ogres, crag giants, hill giants, 
  stone giants, wyverns, dracolisks, frost giants, cave giants, rocs, cloud 
  giants, dragons (Forlorn Mountains)
  Languages: Common, Erskin, Dwarven
  Religion: Bowbe, Gromm, Dwerfater
  Resources: furs, plunder, ivory, quarry stone, cinnamon
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Once the richest of the Sundered Kingdoms, Burgundia stood out as 
  a shining example of prosperity and sophistication. From the much-
  lauded capital of Trevi, with its marble buildings, silvery fountains, and 
  vaunted walls, the kings of Burgundia enjoyed great reputation among 
  monarchs throughout Akados. The kingdom’s ﬁ nely crafted furniture 
  and unique silver-veined marble were found among the richest across the 
  known world, and even today antique furnishings of Burgundia remain 
  the prized pieces in palace collections from Castorhage to Menefet. 
  The great city of Trevi was besieged twice, once for ﬁ ve years against 
  the Foerdewaith armies of Matagost when the city stood ﬁ rm, and once 
  for three years against the armies of Oceanus. In the second case, the king 
  of Burgundia was killed in battle in Southvale and his young son Marteir 
  was forced to take the throne. Between the young king’s inexperience and 
  the Oceanders’ siege engines, the city fell. The Oceanders laid waste to the 
  countryside from Trevi to Parthos and left behind a decimated population 
  and destroyed infrastructure. While many survivors emigrated elsewhere, 
  some few remained behind, though the kingdom never recovered as 
  anything more than a handful of independent towns.
  EMRYL, TOWN OF
  EMRYL, TOWN OF
  Population: 1,166 (1,011 Foerdewaith, 105 mountain dwarf, 50 
  other)
  Ruler: Lord Ergimot Culruh
  Government: hereditary lordship
  The town of Emryl sits astride the Southvale Causeway just north 
  of the Forlorn foothills on the road to Weatherall in the Duchy of 
  Southvale. Emryl prospers off the trade on this road, and the local lord, 
  Ergimot Culruh, lives well and has the luxury to grow cassia trees from 
  which to export the famed Burgundian cinnamon of old.
  TERRIN KELD, TOWN OF
  TERRIN KELD, TOWN OF
  Population: 3,286 (2,645 Foerdewaith, 328 half-elf, 213 
  mountain dwarf, 100 other)
  Ruler: Lord Caraway of Dunish
  Government: hereditary lordship
  Ruled by a lord claiming to be hereditary nobility, Terrin Keld is a 
  trade town that serves the overland route from Southvale to points north 
  and west. Grown much since the fall of Burgundia, it took in many 
  refugees and is now walled with an earthen embankment and a wooden 
  palisade. Four gates, each ﬂ anked by two wooden towers and topped by 
  a ﬁ ghting platform, open in its four walls, and torches are kept lit atop 
  these throughout the night to provide light for the crossbowmen who 
  constantly man them. The Wildlands are extremely dangerous at night, 
  and Terrin Keld is one of the few spots of civilization in the area. Lord 
  Caraway rules from nearby Dunish Keep and tasks his men-at-arms 
  with patrolling the surrounding roads for both creatures from the wilds 
  and armed parties coming from Lowport. He fears an attack someday 
  from Baljulias the Great, the tyrant of Lowport, and has several paid 
  informants in that town to alert him of any news. 
  TREVI, RUINS OF
  TREVI, RUINS OF
  Once a beautiful city to behold with shining walls of white studded with 
  domed towers, gates of silver-chased Libynosi blackwood, and an acropolis 
  built in the indigenous silver-veined marble, Trevi is now a crumbled 
  shadow of its former glory. The walls are little more than rubble piles where 
  the ashlar facing stones were taken by the invaders, and its famous gates 
  now lie in twisted shattered ruin from the impact of Oceanic catapult stones, 
  the silver chasing long since stripped away by the invaders. The ruins have 
  been picked over and looted for the last 175 years, and occasional pack 
  trains still come to salvage marble from the palaces on the acropolis for 
  trade. Lately, however, scavenging parties from Terrin Keld and Emryl 
  have failed to return. A ﬁ endish ogre mage warlord calling herself the 
  Beautiful Contessa has assumed control of the city and gathered the dregs 
  of the countryside to her banner. She plants the heads of intruders and those 
  who displease her atop pikes outside the ruined gates. Recently, one of the 
  princess of Tyr’s favored consorts was among those lost, and a band of 
  devoted Erskaelosi warriors from that city calling themselves the Blade of 
  Vengeance are planning an attack on this upstart’s new kingdom.
  
  236|
  236|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  TYR, CITY OF
  TYR, CITY OF
  Population: 7,362 (6,221 Erskaelosi, 731 mountain dwarf, 213 
  half-orc, 197 other)
  Ruler: Bridthotina, Princess of Tyr
  Government: monarchy (principality)
  The  Erskaelosi city of Tyr stands on the plains just to the north of 
  the Giantlands like a taunt. It has weathered more attacks from giants 
  and their kin than probably any other place on Lloegyr, yet endured 
  despite the constant danger. Its walls are low earthen mounds studded 
  with sharpened stakes designed to withstand pounding from hurled 
  boulders and to hinder the ability of giants to simply walk over them. 
  The area in front of and behind the mounds are riddled with narrow 
  trenches from which defenders can take cover and then strike at 
  attackers with longspears when they try to cross. The buildings of Tyr 
  are a combination of hide tents and awnings and wooden structures. 
  The Erskaelosi know that structures are easily susceptible to the attacks 
  of giants and build them so they can be easily reconstructed. The only 
  stone structures in the city are the dark basalt construction of the great 
  arena where gladiatorial tournaments and executions of captured giants 
  occur, and the Heartsﬂ ame Palace where the princess of Tyr dwells. 
  Even these bear the scars of giant attacks, though neither has ever fallen. 
  RAMTHION ISLAND
  RAMTHION ISLAND
  Capital: none (formerly Port Clar)
  Notable Settlements: Farketh Knowe, Fort Kellstyn, Lambert 
  Landing, Port Clar, Salt Tide, Tentbrean, The Damerhold 
  Ruler: His Excellency the Governor-General Altorius d’Ambrago 
  d’Mediceno Thyriskos (lowlands); His Grace the Dux Bellorum, 
  Ombarto Trullian (mountains) 
  Government: military dictatorship (lowlands), feudalism 
  (mountains)
  Population:  52,300 (32,800 Ramithi, 17,000 Oceander, 2,000 
  half-elf, 500 gnome)
  Monstrous: blood hawks, spriggans, caterwauls, banshees, 
  rift drakes, vampires (Caterwaul Mountains); crab swarms, 
  bunyips, giant crabs, sahuagin (coastline); giant frogs, oozes, 
  gnolls, gallows trees, zombies, vampires, black dragons 
  (Southfell Glades)
  Languages: Gasquen (Ramithi), Common (Oceander)
  Religion: Telonius and Ythral (Ramithi), Quell, Mithras, 
  Sefagreth, Thyr, Muir and the Mother (Oceander), Dagon 
  (Oceander, rumored)
  Resources: chalk, cloth, ﬁ shing, ﬂ ax, foodstuffs, grain, pottery, 
  wool
  Currency: Oceander, barter, hyperborean currency
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Originally an island of small ﬁ shing villages and laconic river folk, 
  Ramthion Island came to be known for its cash crop of sugarcane and 
  its infamous pirate clans. With much of the island to the north and 
  south covered by swamplands and mountains in the west, most of the 
  towns developed along the coasts or on the banks of the island’s major 
  river. Bargemen poling their great rafts up and down the shallow Caney 
  River were a common sight in times of peace. Unfortunately, times of 
  peace are often few and far between as invasions have disrupted the 
  populace many times in the past. The coming and eventual ouster of the 
  Heldring created the impetus for the many disparate villages to identify 
  themselves as a uniﬁ ed people known as the Ramithi. And it is this 
  Ramithi unity that provokes the people of the island to continue to resist 
  the current invasion of the Kingdom of Oceanus. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Ramthion Island was one of the ﬁ rst conquests by the Hyperboreans 
  when they arrived around –109 I.R. The pugnacious Ramithi pirates of 
  the Sea Dagger put up a spirited ﬁ ght, but the Hyperboreans prevailed 
  and quickly established several fortresses and naval bases, including the 
  coastal city of Port Clar.
  With a new Hyperborean governor and Hyperborean taxes to pay, the 
  Ramithi chafed under their new rulers’ thumb and proved troublesome 
  subjects. Ramthion proved to be an onerous and sometimes terrifying 
  place for the Hyperboreans as well, for (as other would-be conquerors 
  such as the Oceanders would ﬁ nd out in their time) the island was thick 
  with ancient and mysterious ruins, bloody and disturbing folktales, 
  rumors of hauntings and monsters, as well as numerous sightings of 
  unusual, unknown, and frightening creatures that unnerved even the 
  experienced Hyperborean legionnaires. Unsurprisingly, Ramthion 
  began to gain a reputation for being haunted, cursed, and worse. Service 
  on Ramthion was considered especially undesirable and often used as 
  punishment. Consequently, the island quickly fell to lawlessness as lax 
  Hyperborean administration allowed extensive banditry and piracy. 
  Ramithi pirates continued to operate from all along the Sea Dagger, 
  raiding shipping as far north as Legions Bay and as far south and west 
  as the Mouth of Akados despite the Hyperboreans’ best efforts to stamp 
  them out. Despite the Hyperboreans’ lack of overall success, the old 
  clans of the Ramithi began a steady decline, though they continued to 
  be a thorn in their conquerors’ side.
  The disasters that began with the great polar shift in 2491 I.R. 
  culminated ﬁ ve years later in the destruction of the Tower of Oerson and 
  the wildﬁ res that swept across the Plains of Suilley and the Matagost 
  Forest, leading to a massive loss of life and population shifts. Refugees 
  ﬂ ed across the Dardanal Strait to Ramthion where the pirates welcomed 
  them and helped maintain order in the face of the Hyperborean collapse 
  a few years later. It seemed that the Ramithi once more had control of 
  their own lands and destinies. By this time, only a few of the island’s 
  original clans remained, however, still practicing their piratical ways in 
  the marshlands of the Sea Dagger. The refugees settled in the lowlands 
  of the rest of the island, and for a while there was peace.
  Unfortunately, Ramthion’s respite did not last long, for in 2517 I.R. 
  the bloodthirsty Heldring invaded, and the luckless islanders traded 
  one oppressor for another. Heldring dominance was secured with the 
  construction of the fortress of Farketh Knowe in 2523 I.R. The old 
  Hyperborean fortress at Kellstyn was also expanded and renovated. It 
  seemed as if the Heldring were planning on a long stay.
  For nearly 300 years the islanders suffered under the Heldring yoke, 
  and like the Hyperboreans before them, the occupiers came to fear the 
  island and its mysterious inhabitants. Disappearances, strange bouts 
  of madness and the appearance of many strange creatures plagued the 
  Heldring, and the island’s inhabitants proved even more troublesome 
  than they had been with their previous conquerors. The common folk 
  of the island, descended from various Hyperborean and Foerdewaith 
  ancestors, declared common cause with the remaining Sea Dagger clans 
  to forge a new Ramithi identity in the face of outside threats.
  The pirate clans called for open rebellion in 2803 I.R., and the people 
  responded, displacing the Heldring and smashing the fortress of Farketh 
  Knowe. Despite their desire for freedom and independence, many wiser 
  Ramithi realized that the realm would be unable to survive on its own, 
  so the victorious islanders appealed to the overking in Courghais for 
  admission to the kingdom of Foere. In 2805 I.R., the island was made 
  an ofﬁ cial Foerdewaith province.
  Foere’s administration was by far the least onerous yet. The populace 
  was taxed lightly and generally left to their own devices by a sensible 
  and experienced Foerdewaith governor. Life on the island continued at 
  its old, leisurely pace, though pirates continued to operate out of their 
  secret ports and friendly settlements along the Sea Dagger. In general, 
  these corsairs steered clear of Foerdewaith vessels, and the governors 
  largely turned a blind eye to their exploits. The Ramithi felt conﬁ dent 
  enough in their allegiance to Foere that in 3312 I.R. they rejected 
  demands for fealty from the new kingdom of Oceanus, and resisted 
  Oceander pressure for a century and a half.
  New mysteries and legends were added to the island’s already 
  signiﬁ cant collection in 3422 I.R. when the entire town of Greenpool 
  was devoured by an inexplicable combination of storm, wave, and 
  earthquake. The Ramithi themselves heard the news, clutched their 
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  holy symbols and lucky talismans tightly, and prayed that the Doom of 
  Greenpool would not take them. To this day, the region is considered 
  cursed and is avoided by the (rightly) superstitious Ramithi.
  Finally, in 3478 I.R., the Kingdom of Oceanus — weary after years of 
  unrestricted Ramithi piracy with the winking approval of the Foerdewaith 
  governor — launched a massive invasion of Ramthion. The island’s 
  newest conquerors stormed ashore and conquered much of the lowlands 
  and constructed the fearsome fortress known as the Damerhold.
  The Ramithi once more resisted, and the rebels gathered in the ruins 
  of Farketh Knowe in 3483 I.R. and appointed a dux bellorum (war duke) 
  to lead their armies against the Oceanders. The following year, the 
  Oceanders sent an army into the Caterwaul Mountains to exterminate 
  the rebels, but the operation ended in disaster with the Oceanders 
  retreating to the lowlands and building a new stronghold at the site of 
  Fort Kellstyn.
  The Ramithi proved unable to follow up on their initial success, though 
  they remained free in their strongholds in the Caterwaul Mountains. The 
  Oceanders control the lowlands and use Port Clar as a major naval base 
  and trading hub for their vast maritime empire, and their inroads into the 
  island are maintained through their possession of the fortresses of the 
  Damerhold and Fort Kellstyn. But so far, the armies of Oceanus have 
  been unable to dislodge the Ramithi resistance from its mountainous 
  foothold. An uneasy game of waiting and looking for opportunities to 
  strike at the enemy has turned their war of invasion into a slow-burning 
  pressure cooker. 
  Like the Hyperboreans and Heldring before them, the Oceanders have 
  also found that the Ramithi rebels are not their only problem, for with 
  their occupation they have discovered the island’s rich history of folk 
  tales and legends regarding disappearances and bogeymen that come in 
  the night. They are discovering that at least some of these tales appear 
  to have a basis in reality, as watchmen disappear from their posts and 
  entire patrols are lost in the dark, leaving no clue as to the culprits or 
  means. Governor-General Thyriskos believes that Ramithi partisans are 
  to blame, but his closest advisor, the wizard Dom Alihsero d’Coba, fears 
  something much older and more sinister is at work, something that even 
  the local population fears.
  Today’s islanders count Foerdewaith and Ramithi ancestry but 
  collectively consider themselves to be Ramithi. They remain ﬁ ercely 
  independent, superstitious, and distrustful of outsiders. Strangers are 
  usually not welcome in their villages, though most provide grudging 
  hospitality so long as newcomers are not associated with the Oceanders. 
  Most Ramithi still speak the old Gasquen tongue and feign ignorance 
  of more common languages, though this is often a ruse by islanders to 
  listen in on strangers’ conversations.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  While the Oceanders publicly follow more traditional deities such 
  as the Mother, Thyr, and Muir, their worship of Dagon is an all but 
  open secret on Ramthion. Temples to Telonius and Ythral have been 
  hastily converted to Oceander use, with public services during the day 
  and dark Dagonic rites at night. Worship of the dark sea-god has grown 
  widespread among the Oceanders as a defense against the supposed 
  forces that the Ramithi have mustered against their invaders.
  The Ramithi have always worshipped their own gods — ancient 
  deities that date from well before the arrival of even the Hyperboreans. 
  Gods that, in fact, may be among the oldest still worshipped on Akados, 
  for some religious scholars associate Telonius, Goddess of Creation, 
  and Ythral, God of Destruction, with the gods of good who allied 
  with the early Hyperborean deities during the Gods’ War over 15,000 
  years ago. Shrines and sacred stones with extremely ancient symbols 
  and indecipherable carvings are scattered across the island, and are 
  often sites of supernatural activity — strange lights, extradimensional 
  phenomena, strange creatures, and the like. Some very old temples and 
  worship sites in caverns have literally been in use for millennia. 
  Telonius and Ythral represent the two poles of nature — one creative 
  and one destructive — and together form a whole. Both priests and 
  druids worship these deities, and lately have been directing the full force 
  of their energies against the Oceanders, summoning ancient entities of 
  chaos and madness to plague and distract the enemy. For their part, 
  the Oceanders call the Ramithi priests “witches” and “warlocks” and 
  ascribe all manner of wicked traits to them.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  As an ofﬁ cial part of the Oceanders’ kingdom, Ramthion serves 
  primarily as a colony and source of goods, as well as providing bases for 
  Oceanus’ powerful navy. The common folk of Ramthion have always 
  engaged in subsistence agriculture, producing very little beyond what 
  is needed for survival, so the Oceanders’ conﬁ scation of crops and 
  livestock has caused considerable suffering and deprivation.
  The island once derived signiﬁ cant income from piracy, especially 
  during its years as a Foerdewaith province when the governor allowed 
  Ramithi corsairs to prey on other kingdoms’ shipping with little or no 
  risk of punishment. This situation in fact led to the Oceander conquest, 
  for after generations of Foere-approved piracy, the kingdom’s patience 
  simply ran out.
  Today, there is little trade in or out of Ramithi. The Oceanders import 
  the goods they need to keep their occupation running and require the 
  use of Oceander currency. The Ramithi in their mountain fastnesses, 
  and those who are not directly under Oceander control, utilize barter or 
  trade using a variety of coins from many lands, including many very old 
  Hyperborean coins that have been in circulation for millennia.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Ramthion is technically still a province of Foere, but the Oceander 
  conquest changed that — most likely permanently given the decline of 
  the Foerdewaith. As the struggle for control of Ramthion continues, the 
  rebels have reached out to their old kingdom, as well as to other states 
  such as Suilley, for assistance, but so far nothing has been forthcoming. 
  The Ramithi remain a ﬁ ercely independent and troublesome people, but 
  their isolation and the ongoing war makes outside relations difﬁ cult.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The Ramithi have always lived in a sort of benign anarchy, with local 
  communities governing themselves with an eye toward the general welfare, 
  peace, and cooperation among islanders. The old Ramithi, who made their 
  way as corsairs, were a surprisingly egalitarian society that nevertheless 
  turned authority over to “captains” and “chieftains” in times of crisis. This 
  model is followed when the Ramithi unite to face enemies such as the 
  Heldring or the Oceanders — a single commander known as a dux bellorum 
  (war duke) is chosen to lead all Ramithi forces. This war duke has great 
  authority over all Ramithi and has absolute command on the battleﬁ eld, 
  yet are always expected to act with the best interest of the people foremost.
  The Oceanders serve under Governor-General Altorius d’Ambrago 
  d’Mediceno Thyriskos, an especially prominent nobleman who hopes 
  to quell the rebellion and thus earn greater inﬂ uence in the empire. 
  There are rumors that Altorius seeks to take the throne himself when 
  the current ruler dies. He has instituted a two-pronged approach to the 
  rebels, giving aid and support to lowland communities with one hand 
  while launching a furious scorched-earth campaign against the Ramithi 
  in the mountains. Oceander troops, backed by mercenaries, have begun 
  to raid and torch Ramithi villages in an effort to deprive the rebels of 
  their bases of operations. The campaign is bearing fruit, as the Ramithi 
  rebels have retreated deeper into the mountains, but the Oceanders’ have 
  proved unable to dislodge them and remain stalled in the foothills.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Two Oceander legions — the 15th and 22nd — serve on Ramthion, 
  along with numerous mercenary regiments of various levels of quality 
  recruited from all across Akados. Service on Ramthion is considered one 
  of the most dangerous and onerous of duties, and the occupiers’ morale 
  is mercurial. The Oceanders generally believe that they are carrying 
  out a sacred duty to their empire, while at the same time dreading the 
  ghosts and bogeymen of Ramithi legend. When an Oceander patrol 
  disappears or a lone sentry is found savaged by fearsome claws, their 
  dread of the assignment grows. Ramithi ports are blockaded by the 
  powerful Oceander navy, but smugglers constantly test the barriers, 
  surreptitiously delivering food, supplies, and weapons to the rebels.
  
  238|
  238|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  The Ramithi are organized differently in independent companies 
  and regiments named for their region, their commander, or for various 
  legendary creatures. These rough-and-ready units vary in size from a few 
  dozen up to several hundred and can change in number and composition 
  freely. The Ramithi tend to ﬁ ght a guerrilla war, with few major full-
  scale engagements. Most battles in the mountains consist of raids, feints, 
  or ambushes that usually end quickly with the Ramithi disappearing and 
  the Oceanders left to count their dead. Today, 2,000 warriors form the 
  core of Dux Bellorum Ombarto Trullian’s forces based in the restored 
  fortress at Farketh Knowe, with several thousand irregulars scattered 
  throughout the rest of the island. Despite their retreat from the foothills, 
  the Ramithi continue to gather strength, looking ahead to the day that 
  they can all rise up and drive out the Oceanders, as they did the Heldring 
  and the Hyperboreans before them.
  Once skilled pirates, the Ramithi have little remaining in the way 
  of naval assets, preferring instead to smuggle and raid with small, fast 
  boats or mercenary naval units. As with land combat, Ramithi sailors 
  shun set-piece naval battles and prefer to ﬁ ght, inﬂ ict damage, and ﬂ ee 
  to hidden harbors or coastal villages.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Ramthion Island is an occupied land, conquered and colonized 
  by the forces of the Empire of Oceanus. The ongoing resistance to 
  the occupation represents the greatest threat to Ramthion’s peace 
  and stability, and some outside powers have taken advantage of the 
  conﬂ ict to bleed and destabilize the empire. Smugglers regularly run 
  the Oceander blockade to bring supplies and weapons from Foere and 
  Suilley, as both powers ﬁ nd it in their interest to keep the Oceanders 
  occupied and pinned down in Ramthion.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  Ramthion Island is a wild and rugged place. Its lowland regions 
  from the Southfell Glades to the marshy areas of the Sea Dagger are 
  dotted with small villages and farms with thatch-roofed stone huts, most 
  with a population of a few dozen. Oceander legionnaires based at Fort 
  Kellstyn and the Damerhold keep watch on main roads, river crossings, 
  and strategic villages, but are naturally unable to be everywhere at once, 
  which leaves the vast stretches between settlements unoccupied and 
  unpatrolled.
  These regions are mostly bleak moorland interrupted here and there 
  by small stands of forest, crossed occasionally by cold, fast-moving 
  streams. The island’s two main rivers are the Caney, whose origin lies 
  high in the Caterwaul Mountains, and the Lesser Reach, which ﬂ ows 
  from the stony-shored Lake Wealand. Largely unpopulated, the region 
  around the lake is a source of many legends, and it is said that at least 
  one and possibly more dragons or other fearsome serpents dwell in its 
  chill depths, and can sometimes be glimpsed through the morning and 
  evening fogs.
  The barrows, cairns, and old places of worship are avoided by the 
  Oceanders due to the dark and often entirely plausible legends associated 
  with them. The spirits, undead, and dark fey creatures who inhabit their 
  environs seem to be especially aggressive toward outsiders, and more 
  than one patrol has vanished into the woods, dales, or moors never to 
  be seen again.
  Other beasts — shadowy, red-eyed, creeping through the darkness 
  and haunting wild places — are said to dwell in the wild lands. Locals 
  claim to know the charms and chants that ward off these mysterious 
  creatures, but they keep these invocations and rituals secret, especially 
  from the Oceanders.
  Adventurers of only the hardiest and most daring (or foolhardy) 
  sort are drawn to Ramthion Island to seek artifacts and treasures said 
  to be hidden in old Hyperborean (or earlier) ruins. These ventures 
  are inevitably fraught with peril, for both the occupying Oceanders 
  and rebellious Ramithi dislike outsiders intruding: the Oceanders for 
  disrupting the island and possibly associating with rebels; the Ramithi 
  for the violation of their sacred places. From time to time, these 
  adventurers do ﬁ nd their fortune, but they often ﬁ nd other things as well, 
  including curses, disease, or the same ferociously protective unknown 
  creatures that prey on the fearful Oceanders.
  THE DAMERHOLD (FORTRESS)
  THE DAMERHOLD (FORTRESS)
  Population: 5,260 (Oceander)
  Ruler: Colonel-Commandant Obargria d’Havlina Chyri
  Government: military
  This massive stone-walled fortress serves as the strongpoint of 
  Oceander power on Ramthion Island. Its construction was key to the 
  paciﬁ cation of the lowlands, and after many years it has seen the end 
  of Ramithi resistance centered in the swamps of the Sea Dagger. The 
  citadel’s commander, Colonel-Commandant Obargria d’Havlina Chyri, 
  has watched the core of the Oceander war effort shift westward to 
  the vicinity of Fort Kellstyn to deal with rebels in the mountains, and 
  he does not like to see the decrease in his inﬂ uence upon the island. 
  Unfortunately, since the governor-general likewise resides in the 
  Damerhold and has authority over the commandant, there is little at this 
  time that Chyri can do to directly determine Oceander war policy on the 
  island. With a garrison of 350 heavy cavalry and 4,000 infantry, Lord 
  Chyri awaits only the opportunity to once and for all squash the Ramithi 
  resistance in a decisive battle. 
  FARKETH KNOWE (FORTRESS)
  FARKETH KNOWE (FORTRESS)
  Population: 3,285 (Ramithi)
  Ruler: Dux Bellorum Ombarto Trullian
  Government: Military
  The great stone fortress of Farketh Knowe was built by the Heldring 
  to control the lowlands of their conquered islands. When the Ramithi 
  pirates led the conquered peoples in rebellion against their Heldring 
  overlords during the waning of the Heldring Expansion, the fortress 
  was overrun and its walls thrown down. Its ruins remained formidable, 
  however, and when the Ramithi refugees created a dux bellorum to lead 
  them in their revolt against the Oceanders, that war leader chose the 
  centuries-old ruins to serve as the focal point of their resistance. The 
  walls and towers of Farketh Knowe stand strong once again with repairs 
  continuing on sections that had crumbled and warriors once again ﬁ lling 
  its halls. Dux Bellorum Ombarto Trullian has gathered 2,000 Ramithi 
  warriors here and continues to put the call out among the mountain 
  refugee towns. His plan now is to continue a guerrilla campaign through 
  the mountains until he can gather sufﬁ cient forces and determine the 
  right location for a decisive battle against the invaders. 
  FORT KELLSTYN 
  FORT KELLSTYN 
  Population: 950 (Oceander)
  Ruler: Captain Garos d’Lamaya
  Government: military
  This small fort only recently sprang up within the last 30 years. After 
  the lowlands were subjugated from the fastness at the Damerhold, the 
  Oceanders realized that they needed a bastion against incursions from 
  the Ramithi forces gathering in the mountains. The wooden palisade 
  of the fort is augmented by stone towers that are being constructed at 
  each of its corners, and the roof of the keep within has been replaced 
  with tile to guard against the ﬁ re arrows of the rebels. The garrison is 
  under the authority of Captain Garos d’Lamaya, who commands an 
  Oceander force of 25 light cavalry and 267 infantry. In addition, another 
  100 Ramithi auxiliary infantry conscripted from among the conquered 
  lowlanders live in a tent town outside the walls of the fort and serve to 
  reinforce its troops when needed. 
  GREENPOOL, RUINS OF
  GREENPOOL, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  The village of Greenpool stood for centuries on the rocky cliffs 
  overlooking the ocean at the southernmost tip of Ramthion Island. Not 
  exceedingly prosperous, it nevertheless made a fair trade on its local 
  saltworks and ﬁ shing until 3422 I.R. In one night, the waves rose and 
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  crashed over the cliffs, though no storm blew them; the earth cracked 
  and opened, though no earthquake shook them; and men fell dead where 
  they stood, though no hand slew them. An unknown doom had come to 
  Greenpool, and when dawn rose red over the town the next morning, 
  not a living soul remained. Over the years, the town has been avoided as 
  cursed, and what few buildings remain have fallen into ruins. The only 
  thing that remains to easily identify the town is the green tidal pool from 
  which it took its name. That strangely deep pond still exists, its waters 
  occasionally rippling even when no wind touches its surface. 
  LAMBERT LANDING, TOWN OF
  LAMBERT LANDING, TOWN OF
  Population: 573 (mostly Oceander)
  Ruler: Lord-Mayor Antoin Lambert VI
  Government: hereditary mayor inﬂ uenced by church leaders of 
  Thyr and Kamien
  This settlement lies where the muddy waters of the Lesser Reach 
  branch off from the Caney River and head toward the mires of the 
  Southfell Glades. Despite its small size, this town boasts a curtain wall 
  and two stone churches, one to Thyr and one to Kamien, Goddess of 
  Rivers, though none of these constructions is in particularly good repair. 
  At one time, the town served as the central shipping point of the vast 
  Toussant sugarcane empire, though it has fallen on hard times since the 
  disappearance of that family a century ago. Now it exists by minor trade 
  with river trafﬁ c to the north, as well as the shipment of fresh frog legs 
  for the tables of the Oceanders in Port Clar (considered a rare delicacy 
  among the new Oceander elite). There is also a signiﬁ cant trade in fools 
  looking to enter the glades for hunting — or more likely, to ﬁ nd the lost 
  treasures of Toussant House. Currently, only about half of this latter 
  group ever return, and those who do have all returned emptyhanded. 
  PORT CLAR, CITY OF
  PORT CLAR, CITY OF
  Population: 8,673 (almost all Oceander)
  Ruler: mayor appointed by Governor-General
  Government: dictatorship
  Formerly a large trade town that sprang up around a Hyperborean 
  fortress, Port Clar has seen a sudden expansion to a small city since it 
  serves as the primary port of call for the Empire of Oceanus on Ramthion 
  Island. The people still go about their business as normal, but now they 
  make way for constant supply trains and columns of troops marching to 
  or from the fortresses built farther inland. A small Oceanic naval base 
  has been established with a ﬂ eet of ﬁ ve ships, and a contingent of 1,500 
  Oceander marines are likewise stationed in town for rapid deployment 
  inland or upon the sea as necessary. The port has been opened to a 
  greater expansion of contact due to the Oceander occupation, but the 
  folk remain insular and tight-knit among themselves, waiting for the day 
  when the occupiers leave. 
  SALT TIDE, VILLAGE OF
  SALT TIDE, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 321 (270 Ramithi, 51 Oceander)
  Ruler: Village Headman Natch Prumble
  Government: village headman appointed by ofﬁ ce of the 
  governor-general to enforce absolute rule
  The village of Salt Tide consists of a half-dozen families, all of whom 
  work in the extensive saltworks that lie along the shore. Many other 
  saltworks are located along the coasts and in the swamps of Ramthion 
  Island, but Salt Tide is renowned for producing the whitest and most 
  uniform crystals. The villagers of Salt Tide were long considered to be 
  tenants of the principal clan-chief of the Ramithi, but they are now in 
  the employ of the island’s Oceander governor-general. They make a 
  pittance for their backbreaking labor, but consider one tyrannical lord 
  much like another, and go about their business in isolation save for the 
  weekly ships that arrive to pick up loads of salt. 
  TENTBREAN, VILLAGE OF
  TENTBREAN, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 626 (Ramithi)
  Ruler: Savilara Barthee
  Government: elected “village elder,” not necessarily old
  Tentbrean is a large village on the eastern coast of Ramthion Island. 
  For some reason, merfolk ﬁ nd the people of Tentbrean to smell unusually 
  trustworthy, and the village does a brisk trade with Port Clar in unusual 
  deep-water shells and underwater salvage.
  DUCHY OF SOUTHVALE
  DUCHY OF SOUTHVALE
  Capital: Penmorgh
  Notable Settlements: Border Keep, Bradﬁ eld, Guildford, 
  Southreach, Stonebridge, Weatherell, Wellesley 
  Ruler: The Honorable Lem Mastlan, Mayor of Penmorgh; 
  Guildmaster Berezon of the Merchant Guild of Penmorgh; 
  Deputy-Governor Alvoria d’Alvoros (of Oceanus), the self-
  styled “Duke” of Southvale
  Government: oligarchy
  Population: 165,000 (67,500 Foerdewaith, 51,000 Heldring, 
  26,500 mountain dwarf, 8,300 halﬂ ing, 5,000 half-elf, 3,700 
  high elf, 2,200 Erskaelosi, 800 other)
  Monstrous: dire animals, orogs, ogres, giants, wyverns, 
  dracolisks, rocs, dragons (mountains); kobolds, dire bears, 
  goblins, fey, quickwoods, bugbears, undead, dracolisks, 
  treants, behirs, demons, dragon horses (woodlands); goblins, 
  buckawns, fey (countryside); skum, scrags (coastline); annis 
  hags, medusas, dracolisks, serpentfolk, hydras (Black Marsh)
  Languages: Common, Helvaenic, Dwarven, Halﬂ ing, Elven
  Religion: Muir, Thyr, Freya, Herne
  Resources: ambergris, chalk, ﬁ shing, foodstuffs, livestock, rare 
  woods, shipbuilding, shipbuilding supplies, spirits, timber, 
  trade hub, whale oil, wool
  Currency: Southvale
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages or Medieval 
  (countryside), Renaissance (city of Penmorgh)
  The Duchy of Southvale has existed in some form or fashion for more 
  than 1,500 years since the city-state of Penmorome was established by 
  Perigorn the Conqueror in 1930 I.R. Sheltered by the nearby Forlorn 
  Mountains, the climate of the vale is milder with more rainfall than that 
  of the rest of the Sundered Kingdoms. As a result, as long as there has 
  been a fortiﬁ cation on the site of Penmorgh, the surrounding lands have 
  been jealously guarded.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The city of Penmorome was established in the later days of the 
  Hyperborean empire, well after the end of the Pax Hyperborea. Located 
  near a tangled remnant of the old Akadonian Forest, the new settlement 
  was from its founding subject to raids by goblins, hostile fey, and 
  even vengeful treants. Despite the construction of massive walls about 
  the city, the growth of Penmorome was severely constrained by the 
  continual conﬂ ict from the Fae Copse. Eventually, occasional raids and 
  punitive expeditions grew into open warfare. By 1943 I.R., the citizens 
  of Penmorome had had enough and, with the assistance of soldiers from 
  Parthos, razed the surrounding forests with ﬁ re and iron axe in a terrible 
  campaign known today as the Great Conﬂ agration. The evil treants and 
  other fey were driven out, forced to ﬂ ee to the Fae Copse and Black Wood.
  With the threat from the forest eliminated, more Hyperboreans 
  moved into Southvale and established more settlements, farms, and 
  castles, ﬁ nally establishing the Duchy of Southvale in 2002 I.R. with 
  Penmorome as its capital.
  The end of Hyperborean authority in the west following the destruction 
  of the Tower of Oerson was a signal to opportunists and empire builders. 
  In 2517 I.R., the land-hungry Heldring landed in Southvale and swept 
  across the duchy and put Hyperborean towns to the torch. Penmorome’s 
  stout walls resisted the Heldring’s most ferocious assaults, however, 
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  and Duchess Irylia declared the Edict of Sealing that barred entry to 
  all foreigners. Soon, Southvale was effectively split. Hyperboreans 
  retained control of the city, while the Heldring held the countryside.
  The Heldring raiders found the forested lands of Southvale — which 
  were spared the worst of changing climate and ﬁ re ravages — to be 
  rich and fertile. They built settlements of their own among the ruins, 
  including the cities of Wellesley, Weatherell, Freeport, North Bay, 
  Penn, and Pike Point. Soon the surviving inhabitants of Southvale 
  outside of Penmorome were living in these new Heldring settlements, 
  intermarrying and assimilating with them.
  The dominance of the Heldring began to break when the Polemarch 
  Daan defeated the Heldring at the Battle of Agedium and began his 
  legendary march to overthrow the corrupted Hyperborean Court at 
  Tircople. Then in 2762 I.R., Overking Macobert, marching along the 
  Sinnar Coast and bringing lands within his new Kingdom of Foere, 
  approached Penmorome in force by land and by sea. The Heldring 
  settlements provided little resistance as a few warbands were swept away 
  and the rest quickly learned to lay down their arms at the king’s approach. 
  As Macobert’s siege lines were put into place around Penmorome, the 
  city’s gates suddenly opened with a fanfare of trumpets. Out of the gates 
  marched the primus of Penmorome and his entire family, complete with 
  attendants, courtiers, and entertainers. Given leave to approach the great 
  king’s tent, the primus laid the keys of the city and a wreath of golden 
  laurels as Macobert’s feet and swore fealty to him on the spot.
  Overking Macobert raised the primus to his feet. He said that 
  Penmorome had stood in opposition to his rightful rule, but Penmorome 
  stood no more. He said that before him he saw only the city of Penmorgh. 
  He named the primus as magnate of Penmorgh and placed the entire 
  Province of Southvale in his hands to rule with justice in the king’s name.
  Membership as a state within the Kingdom of Foere brought new 
  prosperity and trade to Southvale. Centuries of relative peace passed, and 
  dwarves from the fabled mines of Hazad-Burgh in the Forlorn Mountains 
  discovered gold and silver in Southvale. With the permission of the magnate 
  of Penmorgh, the dwarven city of Durandel was founded. Soon, precious 
  metals ﬂ owed across the Blackﬂ ow River and out from the wharves of 
  Penmorgh, bringing evermore riches to the guilds of that city. However, 
  with the death of Overking Oessum VIII on the Fourth Great Crusade a 
  mere century later, the beginnings of cracks in the provinces’ foundations 
  began to appear. In 3213 I.R., the Foerdewaith Wars of Succession began. 
  Within a decade, Ramthion Island, Pontos Island, Burgundia, and Suilley 
  all declared their independence from the Court in Courghais.
  The Province of Southvale, secure in its out-of-the-way corner, 
  watched the chaos engulﬁ ng its neighbors with great trepidation. But 
  the walls of Penmorgh remained manned by trained troops and the local 
  militias were raised in the town, so the vale felt ready for the approach 
  of any external threat. It was not ready for a threat from within when 
  one of the province’s local barons, Tarler Traverthal, led a coup within 
  the city and assassinated the magnate of Penmorgh. Traverthal gained 
  the support of the guilds and, therefore, had the support of the local 
  garrison. The Guild Council quickly raised Traverthal to the position of 
  duke of Southvale and allied itself with Burgundia.
  In response to this new uprising, the magnate of Oestre deployed the 
  troops he brought to Highreach and, within a few months, a new army 
  loyal to Foere landed south of Wellesley and marched on Penmorgh. 
  The army outnumbered the forces holding Penmorgh, but the magnate 
  of Oestre had not reckoned on the numbers and training of the peasants 
  who arose from the countryside to harass them nor the heavy infantry 
  provided by the dwarves of Durandel. The army of Matagost soon found 
  itself outnumbered and caught in unfavorable terrain. The army was 
  routed and forced to retreat to the coast to be picked up by their ships.
  With Matagost reeling from its sudden defeat, Duke Tarler took 
  the initiative and marched his now-blooded army up the Southvale 
  Causeway toward Trevi. These reinforcements, combined with the 
  surrounding army of Burgundia, broke the siege of Trevi and routed the 
  Matagost host.
  Southvale, little bloodied by the worst of the ﬁ ghting, settled into 
  something close to prosperity as the guilds jockeyed for power and 
  control of trade in and out of Penmorgh. However, in the time of Duke 
  Tarler’s son, trouble came to Southvale. The giant tribes of the Giantlands 
  in the neighboring Forlorn Mountains noticed the violence going on 
  among the puny humans of the plains. But other than occasional raids 
  into southern Burgundia where they encountered companies of heavily 
  armed soldiers as often as they encountered spoils for the taking, they 
  did little to get involved. With normalcy returning to Southvale, they 
  now saw a land of accumulating riches that did not have nearly the 
  numbers of armed troops as nearby Burgundia. So on one moonless 
  night in the fall of 3306 I.R., a howling horde of hill giants led by their 
  larger cousins stormed down from the mountains in western Southvale.
  A call for help immediately went forth from Penmorgh to Trevi. 
  However, the guilds of Penmorgh — in their unending loggerheads 
  over primacy within Southvale — had recently backed a measure to 
  undermine the Guild of Ironmongers, which had signed a lucrative 
  agreement with the Royal House of Burgundia. The move cost the 
  Burgundian king a great deal of money when his investment fell through 
  and soured relations between him and Penmorgh. When King Guillerm 
  received word of the attack on Southvale, he rashly ignored his court 
  advisors and instead had his keeper of accounts tally the ﬁ nancial 
  losses suffered as a result of the guilds of Penmorgh. He then estimated 
  the number of days that a giant raid could ravage Southvale before 
  Penmorgh suffered the same economic loss. When that number of days 
  expired, King Guillerm the Petit (as he became known) gathered his 
  army and marched on Southvale. But he was already too late.
  The invading giants hit Southvale hard, ransacking many towns on 
  its forested western border. The giants continued pushing forward as 
  the militias and army were unable to get organized. They ﬁ nally formed 
  a defensive line at Guildford that held. A stalemate ensued for several 
  days as the giants probed for weaknesses along the Guildford front 
  as they continued ravaging the countryside they had already crossed. 
  Things looked bleak for the defenders of the vale until a new army 
  entered the ﬁ eld.
  The gates of Durandel opened, and a dwarven host marched to war for 
  the ﬁ rst time since the relief of Trevi. The giants, unaware of the dwarven 
  city’s location, overlooked them as defenders of Southvale. When the 
  dwarven army slashed into the rear ﬂ ank of their hated enemy, the giants 
  held only moments before breaking in a panic. Hundreds of giants fell 
  in the space of a few hours, and hundreds more ﬂ ed westward, back to 
  the mountains. But on the ﬁ eld of battle, the duke of Southvale lay dead. 
  When the army of Burgundia marched in a few weeks later, they found 
  the giant threat averted and the battle-scarred populace turned against 
  them. The guilds of Penmorgh had elected a mayor to oversee the city, 
  and he became the de facto ruler of the entire duchy as a result.
  King Guillerm quickly withdrew his forces to Trevi and only beat the 
  messengers bearing news of Southvale’s secession from the Kingdom 
  of Burgundia. The outraged king threatened war, but this time cooler 
  heads among his advisors prevailed. The army did not march again, and 
  the Court of Burgundia hoped to normalize relations with Penmorgh 
  through peaceful means in order to once again welcome them into the 
  kingdom. Their hopes of consolidation never came to be. Six years 
  later, Oceander marines captured much of the Matagost Peninsula, and 
  Oceander diplomats were dispatched to the courts of Trevi, Port Clar, 
  and Penmorgh to demand immediate fealty to Maximilian d’Horatius 
  Pontos II of the Kingdom of Oceanus and Emperor of the Oceans Blue. 
  Southvale, seeing a way to gain support against the hated King Guillerm 
  of Burgundia (and with insufﬁ cient naval forces to effectively resist 
  anyway), immediately swore fealty.
  In 3350 I.R., King Phillipe of Burgundy traveled to Penmorgh on a 
  diplomatic mission. Unfortunately, not all saw the visit of the sovereign of 
  their former kingdom in a positive light, and some folk still remembered 
  what they saw as the betrayal of the Burgundian throne during the giant 
  invasion two generations earlier. It was just such partisans who plotted 
  the assassination of King Phillipe at the aptly named King’s Head Inn 
  in Penmorgh. The plot was discovered, and the king escaped with his 
  life and a serious injury that his court clerics healed, but the injury to his 
  soul was not so quickly resolved.
  The formerly friendly and outgoing Phillipe withdrew and became 
  increasingly paranoid. Only a year later, the outriders of Weatherell 
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  reported a Burgundian army marching on their borders. A call for aid 
  immediately went forth from Penmorgh, and a ﬂ eet was dispatched 
  to land at Parthos and assist the defenders of Southvale. The Oceanic 
  ﬂ eet successfully took Parthos and pinned the Burgundian king on the 
  causeway between the mountains and Stony Strand. At the same time, 
  an Oceander army marched forth from Oestre. Once again, little more 
  than a century since the last time, Trevi found itself besieged. This time, 
  however, its king was not inside to lead it. Trapped on the causeway, the 
  Burgundian army was defeated at the Battle of Weatherell Moor, and 
  King Phillipe was slain.
  Since then, Southvale has been largely blessed with stability and 
  prosperity, though the occasional attack by giants or treants does occur.
  In 3392 I.R., a strange Tower of Bone suddenly appeared in the Fae 
  Copse of Southvale and the dwarven city of Durandel was destroyed.
  Consisting of a mixed population of old Foerdewaith (principally in 
  Penmorgh) and descendants of Heldring invaders (in the surrounding 
  countryside), Southvale is fairly cosmopolitan and enjoys the beneﬁ ts 
  of its inclusion in the empire of the Oceanders. 
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Foerdewaith-descended Southvalers revere Thyr and Muir, the 
  traditional faiths of their ancestral kingdom. For the most part, the 
  Heldring followed the example of their brethren in the Helcynngae 
  Peninsula and also adopted the Foerdewaith faith, but there are persistent 
  rumors of Heldring cults who still practice the worship of bloodthirsty 
  Hel in the spirit of their savage ancestors. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Conquest by Oceanus has had surprisingly positive effects on the 
  province. Trade with the home empire has grown and, unlike in some 
  other provinces, the Oceanders have made sure to apply only light 
  pressure in the form of low taxes and minimal tariffs on goods.
  Southvale has long been home to a wealthy merchant class. Goods 
  such as livestock, rare woods, and timber from the remaining woodlots 
  of the province, ﬁ sh, and sheep’s wool all ﬂ ow through the ports of 
  Penmorgh and Wellesley, while manufactured goods, metal, ironwork, 
  and textiles are shipped in from the empire. Shipworks at Penmorgh 
  provide repair and construction, and send ships to sea as merchants or in 
  service to the Oceander navy. Wellesley is home to a thriving whaling 
  industry and sends whale oil and ambergris to Oceanus and beyond.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  After a long history of conquest, independence, and assimilation, the 
  Duchy of Southvale seems to have found some stability as a province 
  of the growing kingdom of Oceanus. The inhabitants of the city of 
  Penmorgh, originally Hyperborean but now largely of Foerdewaith 
  extraction, are among the most loyal (or at least the less troublesome) 
  inhabitants, as Oceander gold and goods ﬂ ow through the docks. The 
  Heldring of Wellesley and Southreach are similarly passé regarding the 
  Oceanders and generally look the other way while enjoying the beneﬁ ts 
  of the province’s status.
  In the countryside, the Heldring are, unsurprisingly, less enthusiastic 
  about Oceander dominance. Tax collection in the hinterlands is sometimes 
  an onerous job, as Oceander ofﬁ cials sometimes disappear mysteriously 
  and require armed escorts that further degrade their reputation. The 
  Oceanders often respond harshly to attacks on their ofﬁ cials — arresting 
  and executing the perpetrators, or at times displacing whole villages. 
  The Oceanders have also tried to counteract their bad reputation by 
  building roads, public works, and inns, but this does not seem to have 
  molliﬁ ed their critics. Dissatisfaction with Oceanus in the countryside 
  has been growing for years and shows no sign of lagging.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The duchy hasn’t had a duke since the death of Artimus Traverthal 
  during the giant invasion, and the mayor of Penmorgh has served as 
  the primary decision maker for the entire vale since then. With the 
  emergence of the Merchant Guild in Penmorgh as the true power behind 
  the throne, it is now the guildmaster of this organization who wields 
  the real power, though edicts are still issued in the name of the mayor. 
  Individual towns elect or appoint their own mayors, but these are all 
  subject to the rulings of Penmorgh. Deputy-Governor Alvoria d’Alvoros 
  of Oceanus, who resides in Penmorgh, has begun to style himself “the 
  duke of Southvale,” and he is consulted by Guildmaster Berezon and 
  Mayor Mastlan on all policy decisions involving the region as a whole. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The Oceanders keep a single legion stationed in Penmorgh, as well 
  as a small ﬂ eet of warships. So far, though dislike of the Oceanders 
  has grown in the countryside of late, they have seen no need to further 
  reinforce their garrison, and service here is usually considered especially 
  pleasant. The legion’s primary occupation is patrolling the roads and 
  keeping villages safe from monsters, bandits, and natural disasters, 
  though from time to time a squad or platoon of warriors is tasked with 
  escorting a tax collector or government ofﬁ cial into a hostile area. 
  Punitive expeditions against local villagers are considered particularly 
  onerous and unpleasant, as most Oceanders are fond of Southvale and 
  consider it to be fully a part of the kingdom despite its essentially 
  colonial status. Elsewhere, the legion has been called to counteract giant 
  raids in the eastern half of the duchy, but so far, their response time has 
  been slow, and most of the raiders have escaped back to the Giantlands.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Though Southvale is stable for now, and the city dwellers enjoy 
  their status as a prosperous Oceander province, the country folk chafe 
  under Oceanus’ rule — either openly rebelling or complaining in 
  private. Organized outside threats are few, but the adjacent crags of 
  the Giantlands have always held dire threats to the folk of Southvale, 
  especially those in unprotected villages and farms. The Giant War of 
  3306 I.R. began when well-organized tribes of hill and stone giants 
  under the command of a powerful ﬁ re giant chief came down from the 
  mountains and overwhelmed village militias and stole crops, livestock, 
  and treasure. To the horror of the Southvalers, it seemed that this was no 
  temporary raid; the giants intended to stay and were evicted only with 
  the aid of the dwarves of Durandel. Today, Durandel is gone, and the 
  giants remain in the mountains, and while raids are rare, they appear to 
  be increasing in number and severity. Recently, a major raid interrupted 
  trafﬁ c along the Southvale Causeway for several days before order was 
  restored. Some witnesses reported that ﬁ re giants are once more leading 
  the attacks. The Oceanders have directed their legion to defend against 
  the attacks, but so far they have been unable to catch the giants in the 
  act. Governor d’Alvoros has begun to contemplate hiring mercenaries 
  or adventurers to counteract the raids.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  Much of Southvale is settled, and the region around Penmorgh is 
  free of monsters and banditry. Other portions of the country, especially 
  those that border on the Giantlands and the Stony Strand, are subject 
  to attacks and threats from bandits, ogres, harpies, hill giants, and (it is 
  rumored) even dragons and drakes. The Southvalers regularly venture 
  into Stony Strand to harvest chalk and come into conﬂ ict with the orc 
  bands dispatched by Baljulias the Great, the Tyrant of Lowport, and 
  often require escort.
  Elsewhere in the duchy, legends speak of pre-Hyperborean ruins 
  hidden in the mountains of the Giantlands where it is said treasures from 
  the Age of Kings may be found. Most scholars consider these rumors 
  to be exaggerations and that what ruins exist are simply evidence of the 
  duchy’s pre-Hyperborean inhabitants — an alternative that might not be 
  as lucrative for adventurers but which would be extremely valuable to 
  historians and researchers.
  The towns along the frontier of the Giantlands are also under threat, 
  with giant activity increasing and the Oceander military so far unable to 
  counteract it. Some town elders have begun to organize militia or have 
  appealed to outsiders to help repel the raiders when they come. This 
  call has been heeded by some adventurers who have engaged in their 
  own counter-raids, attacking giant strongholds and bringing back stolen 
  plunder (though the adventurers are always careful to take out their own 
  cut of the proceeds).
  
  242|
  242|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  PENMORGH, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  PENMORGH, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Population: 23,454 (18,529 human, 2111 mountain dwarf, 938 
  halﬂ ing, 910 high elf, 704 half-orc, 235 half-elf, 27 other)
  Ruler: Mayor Lem Mastlan, Guildmaster Gebhardt Berezon, 
  Commander of the City Watch Montforte de Guise, Deputy-
  Governor Alvoria d’Alvoros “Duke of Southvale,” and Lady Astrid 
  Dugganey, a paladin of Muir, Mistress of the Order of Iron
  Government: mayor appointed by deputy-governor
  Southvale has always existed as one of the richest provinces of whatever 
  empire it was a part of, and the trade city of Penmorgh at its heart is where the 
  riches ﬂ ow to and from. A century ago, the Merchant Guild gained control of, 
  consumed, or crushed all other guilds in the city to become its single driving 
  economic force. Known to most simply as “the Guild,” the Merchant Guild 
  pulls the strings on a mercantile empire spanning most of its own continent of 
  Akados and even onto Libynos. Seen as the ﬁ rst city of Southvale, Penmorgh 
  has always dominated the rest of the duchy (other than during the Heldring 
  invasion) even when there has been no sitting duke. As goes the mayor of 
  Penmorgh, so goes the Duchy of Southvale — and for those in the know, as 
  goes the Guild, so goes the mayor. Even now as a territory of the Empire of 
  Oceanus with a new self-styled duke, it is still the Guild of Penmorgh that the 
  imperial authorities look to for principal local control. 
  In addition to a healthy city watch, militia, mercenary guild, and a 
  contingent of imperial Oceanic marines, Penmorgh boasts the headquarters of 
  a militant holy order dedicated to Muir known as the Order of Iron. This order 
  of paladins, based out of a stone fortress within the city, is the most militaristic 
  order of Muir west of the Temple Militant in Alcaldar. They see it as their duty 
  to bring the faith by sword to where it is needed most and frequently make 
  incursions into the Giantlands to forestall any threats that might emerge from 
  there. The Guild, the city, and even the Temple of Muir look askance on these 
  grim holy warriors, but none doubts their ability or dedication to defend the 
  city should the giants of the mountains threaten once again. 
  BORDER KEEP
  BORDER KEEP
  Population: 2,070
  Ruler: Colonel-Commandant Usario d’Sparoza Détienatos
  Government: Military
  Built following the giant invasion of two centuries ago, the Border Keep 
  was intended to repel raids by the giants of the Forlorn Mountains. The 
  giants’ natural fear of the eerie forests of western Southvale (the Black 
  Forest and the Fae Copse) ensured that their primary route of invasion 
  was through the pass defended by Border Keep. The keep’s walls were 
  built especially thick to withstand the thrown boulders of giants, and 
  its heavily reinforced roofs had to be replaced after every sortie by the 
  giants. After Southvale became a part of the empire of Oceanus, the keep 
  was rebuilt as a star fort with low, thick walls and bastions complete with 
  glacis to more effectively deﬂ ect the heavy missiles of attackers.
  Under the command of Colonel-Commandant Usario d’Sparoza 
  Détienatos of the Order of the Lion and manned by 500 imperial soldiers 
  of Oceanus, a full town sprang up around the keep and provides support 
  and services to the garrison. Called Giant Fodder by the keep’s troops, 
  the success of the Border Keep in repelling giant invasions in recent 
  decades has discouraged further attacks so that the town has never been 
  razed as most assume would happen in short order. However, it has been 
  some time since the last giant invasion and the memories of giants tend 
  to be short, so the next attack could come at any time.
  BRADFIELD, CITY OF
  BRADFIELD, CITY OF
  Population: 4,223 (4,054 human, 84 mountain dwarf, 43 
  halﬂ ing, 42 other)
  Ruler: Mayor Mikaelah Bastich
  Government: mayor appointed by Oceander deputy-governor
  Bradﬁ eld stands on the Blackﬂ ow River where a lucrative toll bridge 
  spans the waterway. The city’s reputation for thievery exceeds that of 
  even the larger cities of the duchy. But in the past 10 years, its new 
  captain of the guard, Lars van Leuwan — a retired adventurer and 
  national hero for his battles against giants in the mountains — brought a 
  great deal of order back to its streets. The town was almost completely 
  destroyed during the giant invasion, but ever since has hired extremely 
  competent mercenaries and experienced warriors to ﬁ ll out the ranks of 
  its town guard. Those who visit Bradﬁ eld always make a point to stop at 
  the Red Dragon to sample some of the ﬁ nest ale in Southvale.
  DURANDEL, RUINS OF
  DURANDEL, RUINS OF
  Durand Strong-Arm founded the Targ Clan mountain dwarf city of 
  Durandel in 3190 I.R. after the fall of Hazad-Burgh. It began as an iron 
  mine but expanded into a full city after rich veins of silver and gold 
  were discovered. Durandel endured for 202 years and served as a major 
  participant in events of Southvale during the giant invasion and its war 
  for independence until the mysterious Tower of Bone appeared on the 
  surface above it and destroyed the dwarven city. The Tower of Bone’s 
  lower levels broke through into the dwarven city, and the tower’s ability 
  to create unique varieties of undead began a siege on the city from its 
  own catacombs. The city actually endured for several years after the 
  tower’s initial appearance, though most of its surviving inhabitants ﬂ ed 
  in the ﬁ rst few months. It was through the efforts of dwarven heroes such 
  as Dagfa Durbhis and Branwyr that the city lasted for as long as it did 
  and allowed as many dwarves to escape to safety, though ultimately they 
  were unsuccessful and a dwarven city of more than 30,000 inhabitants 
  was destroyed.
  GUILDFORD, CITY OF
  GUILDFORD, CITY OF
  Population: 14,245 (9,456 human, 2,801 mountain dwarf, 722 
  half-elf, 560 halﬂ ing, 493 high elf, 213 other)
  Ruler: Mayor Harlan Mizerschmidt and Guild Representative 
   Andressa Triff
  Government: mayor appointed by Oceander deputy-governor 
  (but effectively appointed by the Penmorgh Merchant Guild)
  Built on the road connecting Penmorgh with the Southvale Causeway 
  where it crosses a minor branch of the Blackﬂ ow River, Guildford is 
  the second great trading city of Southvale. Firmly under control of the 
  Penmorgh Merchant Guild, the guild representative in town commands 
  more inﬂ uence than anyone other than the Oceander deputy-governor 
  when he makes his frequent visits to the imperial hunting lodge kept 
  there by the Oceanic Court. While the deputy-governor is thoroughly 
  corrupt, the Merchant Guild actually sends its most valuable honest 
  representatives to Guildford where they can work in the ﬁ nancial 
  interests of the Guild without the risk of discovering the Guild’s darker 
  doings. Representative Andressa Triff is a shining star in the Guild for 
  her ﬁ nancial acumen and incorruptibility, but she has begun to notice 
  minor discrepancies in some of the Guild’s books so her days before she 
  must be quietly removed may be numbered.
  The city walls of Guildford are strong and kept in good repair by a 
  full company of imperial troops that augment the city guard. But these 
  walls are scarred and show the tests of battle. It was here that the giant 
  invasion was ﬁ nally halted and turned back with the aid of the dwarves 
  of Durandel in 3306 I.R. Since then, the city has maintained a watchful 
  eye on doings from the Giantlands that some would say borders on 
  paranoia. Regardless, Togus van Wellton, the captain of the guard and 
  a paladin of Muir, vows that should the giants come again, Guildford’s 
  walls and defenders alike will not break.
  SOUTHREACH, VILLAGE OF
  SOUTHREACH, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 960 (912 human, 31 halﬂ ing, 17 half-elf)
  Ruler: Mayor Parmen Urgeni
  Government: elected mayor
  A small ﬁ shing village at the southern tip of Southvale, this settlement 
  was once considered the southernmost part of the Foerdewaith Empire. 
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  Now it has little of interest to offer other than occasional sightings of 
  the legendary Moonsilver Beast from the Moonsilver Sea to the south. 
  STONEBRIDGE, TOWN OF
  STONEBRIDGE, TOWN OF
  Population: 1,768 (1,715 human, 35 halﬂ ing, 18 mountain 
  dwarf)
  Ruler: Mayor Edgar Fritch
  Government: mayor appointed by Oceander deputy-governor
  Built at the very northern edge of the Black Marsh, the town of 
  Stonebridge sprang up around the great stone span constructed by the 
  dwarves of Durandel to move supplies and goods to and from the humans 
  of Penmorgh. The town has been razed several times by various ﬁ res 
  and calamities, but the dwarven stonework of the bridge has withstood 
  every disaster and allowed the town to be rebuilt. With little to offer as 
  the location of a settlement, the tolls from the bridge and the river below 
  it truly are the lifeblood of the town. 
  WEATHERELL, CITY OF
  WEATHERELL, CITY OF
  Population: 3,888 (2,527 human, 715 mountain dwarf, 483 half-
  elf, 102 high elf, 61 halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Inspector General Olthobol d’Charosa
  Government: inspector-general appointed by Oceander deputy-
  governor
  Known as the Doorway to Southvale, this Heldring city serves as the 
  ﬁ rst line of defense against all land invasions of the duchy except those 
  from the mountains. It is built as a palisaded fortiﬁ cation that crosses the 
  Southvale Causeway, with the rest of the town built upon an elevated 
  mound that overlooks the surrounding moors before they give way 
  to the foothills between the Forlorn Mountains and the Stony Strand. 
  Any army hoping to march into Southvale from the north must plan 
  on overcoming this strongpoint or cross the marshy fens on either side. 
  A motte and bailey keep raised above the center of town serves as the 
  abode of Inspector General Olthobol d’Charosa, who inspects, issues 
  permits, and taxes all trade caravans entering the duchy. 
  WELLESLEY, CITY OF
  WELLESLEY, CITY OF
  Population: 4,320 (4,121 human, 199 half-elf)
  Ruler: Mayor Jorgen Jorgenson
  Government: elected mayor
  After Guildford, Wellesley is the largest city of Southvale outside 
  Penmorgh. During the time of the Heldring invasion, the Heldring lord Jarl 
  Ragnar kept his hall here atop a knoll overlooking the bay. The remnants of 
  that hall still stand, its beams blackened by centuries of mold and lichen and 
  its thatched roof long since carried away by winter winds. The population of 
  Wellesley remains primarily Heldring to this day, and one walking its streets 
  would not ﬁ nd longships pulled on the shore of the bay at all out of place, 
  though the town boasts a ﬁ ne set of wharves and the barbarians of yore are 
  primarily ﬁ shermen and traders now. The old Heldring spirit still lives on to 
  some extent, though, for offerings are still left on the blót nights to the old 
  gods of the Helcynngae in the ruins of Ragnar’s hall. 
  Notable citizens in Wellesley are Mayor Jorgen Jorgenson, Chief 
  Constable Dryus Felthem, and Soothsayer Mmeld the Aglaecwif.
  DISTRICT OF SUNDERLAND
  DISTRICT OF SUNDERLAND
  Capital: none
  Notable Settlements: Billockburne, Cat’s Wife, Coburn, 
  Dimmelhill, Fairbridge, Grollek’s Grove, Malthlyn, Soldier Stone
  Ruler: local town councils, magistrates, and mayors
  Government: varies
  Population: 220,000 (172,000 Foerdewaith, 22,000 Oceander 
  [Foerdewaith], 11,000 half-elf, 6,500 halﬂ ing, 4,000 mountain 
  dwarf, 2,100 high elf, 1,300 gnome, 1,100 other)
  Monstrous: goblins, bat swarms, worgs, giant beetles, bugbears, 
  dire bats, ogres, athachs, mutated creatures (Gundlock Hills); 
  kobolds, orcs, stirges, trolls, hill giants, carrion moths, gray 
  renders, slime crawlers, troglodytes, tsathar (Moon Fog Hills); 
  wolves, blood hawks, lions, dire lions, giant spiders, wolfweres, 
  leucrotta, lycanthropes, ebony horses (plains)
  Languages: Common, Elven, Halﬂ ing
  Religion: Kudrak, Freya, Mithras, Sefagreth, Stryme, Thyr
  Resources: foodstuffs, wool, livestock (horses), wine, timber, 
  copper, tin, silver, gems, mithral
  Currency: Suilley
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Considered by Courghais to comprise everything between the Trader’s 
  Way and the sea, the District of Sunderland proper primarily encompasses 
  the plains and hills between the Gaelon River to the north, Old Burgundia 
  to the south, and the Matagost Peninsula to the east. Hundreds of villages 
  and farmsteads are scattered across the district, most with no more than 
  a few dozen inhabitants and many without even a name. The folk are 
  primarily native Foerdewaith, though the Oceanders have moved in from 
  the Matagost Peninsula and inﬂ uence much of the northeastern parts of 
  the district, primarily along the Soldier’s Road. They do not extend 
  their reach north of Soldier Stone because they do not wish to agitate 
  Endhome, whom they see as a valuable trading partner. To the west, 
  Sunderland extends to the King’s Road and Trader’s Way, and it reaches 
  the Burgundian Road in places to the south. These lands are under no 
  sovereign in general, though mercantile interests from other lands have 
  made forays in some strategic locations. 
  Most of Sunderland is dry, rolling plains covered in low grasses and 
  rocky outcroppings. Rivers are usually seasonal and appear during the 
  rainy springs and dry up over the summer. Winters can be harsh with 
  no mountains and few trees to break the bitter north winds. Horses are 
  still bred on these plains as they have been for hundreds of generations, 
  though it is no longer the primary source of horseﬂ esh as it once was 
  in the days of Foere. Shepherds and their ﬂ ocks are frequently seen on 
  these grasslands. The plains’ two chains of hills are low but rugged in 
  places, and often tree covered. On the gentler slopes of these hills, the 
  soil is often good for vineyards and orchards. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Sunderland has always been a sparsely-populated, sleepy 
  backwater. In fact, the Hyperboreans did not even exercise control 
  here, preferring instead to simply patrol the roads to keep them clear 
  of dangers. Since the departure of the Hyperboreans, the district has 
  fallen under the inﬂ uence of Foere and Burgundia, but with Foere’s 
  decline and Burgundia’s destruction, the region has returned to a 
  largely ungoverned state, with villages managing their own affairs. 
  Merchants from Oceander, Foere, and Suilley have been visiting the 
  region lately, seeking horses, wine, and other goods. Beyond this, 
  Sunderland is usually simply a region that travelers pass through on 
  the way to Eastreach, Southvale, or Suilley.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Most Sunderlanders worship the gods of Foere and Oceanus, 
  primarily Muir and Thyr. The district has a small temple located in 
  Malthlyn overseen by an aging priest and priestess, and a shrine in the 
  midst of the Lonely Moor.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Trade represents Sunderland’s major contact with the outside 
  world, as traders from neighboring lands regularly stop in small 
  villages to barter for the district’s various goods. In general, 
  Foerdewaith coinage is used, though most Sutherlanders aren’t 
  particular and accept any currency that contains the right amount of 
  gold, silver, or copper. Besides these small trade expeditions, there 
  is little activity in the region besides travelers along the Burgundian 
  and Hollow Roads, which has led to the establishment of several 
  small inns. Of these, the Black Crow between Malthlyn and Terrin 
  Keld is the most famous.
  
  244|
  244|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  Sunderland is a largely empty and uneventful place, though it is not 
  without its potential challenges, particularly in the south along the borders of 
  the Wilderlands and the ruins of Old Burgundia. The Erskaelosi barbarians 
  of the Wildlands sometimes advance over the Burgundian Road seeking 
  plunder and blood and force farmers to ﬂ ee into the safety of local 
  stockades or the village of Malthlyn.
  Farther south, the ruins of Old Burgundia and the city of Trevi have 
  become a haven for outlaws and humanoids, including ragtag orc 
  bands, goblin gangs, and Erskaelosi barbarians who ﬁ ght with each 
  other but often venture into Sunderland. In the north and perilously 
  close to Malthlyn, the creatures and supernatural forces of the Moon 
  Fog Hills represent a danger to the Sunderlanders and an opportunity 
  for adventurers.
  BILLOCKBURNE, VILLAGE OF
  BILLOCKBURNE, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 165
  Ruler: Sheriff Tom Gorn 
  Government: sheriff
  Standing in the heart of Lonely Moor, Billockburne is one of the oldest 
  extant settlements of Sunderland. The community was established to 
  support the nearby shrine of Thyr, which is now known as the Chapel-on-
  the-Moor. The village consists mainly of herdsmen and peat cutters with a 
  single blacksmith and some small trade with surrounding hamlets. The local 
  public house serves as the center of society for the entire Lonely Moor area 
  and draws folk from farms and thorps as much as a day’s walk away. 
  CAT’S WIFE, VILLAGE OF 
  CAT’S WIFE, VILLAGE OF 
  Population: 74
  Ruler: Bailiff Hans Krecher
  Government: consensus of village notables
  This quaint little village lies not far down a little-used side trail off the 
  King’s Road midway between the Gundlock Hills and the Gaelon River. 
  It is a pleasant farming community that does some small trade with the 
  travelers of the King’s Road. It also has a small local river that happens to 
  be one of the few stretches of waterway in the region capable of supporting 
  ﬁ shing year-round. The villagers proudly point out that their village is 
  named for the well-known fable about Cat seeking a wife and take great 
  delight in putting the image of a cat in all of their decoration. Some scholars 
  who have studied local folklore, however, think that the tale refers to actual 
  incidents involving some sort of werebeast and is connected to a string 
  of disappearances of young women that occurred in the area over two 
  centuries ago. Whether the villagers know anything about that matter is 
  open to conjecture, but if so, they do not let on about it. 
  COBURN, VILLAGE OF
  COBURN, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 918
  Ruler: Reeve Sylas Orth
  Government: reeve elected by boatowners
  Coburn is a ﬁ shing village and the only permanent settlement on 
  Kadalon Bay. The docks are small, however, and boats longer than 
  30 feet or so need to anchor offshore. Visitors must be ferried to and 
  from shore on dinghies or smaller boats. Few merchant ships come by, 
  however, due to the somewhat sinister reputation of the bay. The boats 
  of the Coburnese seem immune to whatever swallows up ships in these 
  waters, and they stay at sea for days at a time seeking the renowned 
  silver sea bass and red-billed swordﬁ sh. Some of the choicest ﬁ sh is 
  salted and sent inland to the Dancing Gnoll, a well-known inn and 
  tavern on the Soldier’s Road, and occasionally is sold to merchants who 
  make their way to the village.
  A single chapel overlooks Coburn from a nearby hill, but non-
  residents are not welcome to visit it, let alone worship there.
  DIMMELHILL, VILLAGE OF
  DIMMELHILL, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 131
  Ruler: Magistrate Arbel Threethumbs
  Government: elected magistrate
  A small village, Dimmelhill is a lone outpost amid the barren, 
  windswept eastern reaches of the Gundlock Hills. Packs of violent 
  humanoids, including goblins, ogres, and bugbears, roam these 
  hills and threaten isolated farmsteads. When raids occur, locals 
  flee to the village and the protection of the stout wooden palisade 
  surrounding it. 
  Every three years, the local farmers and residents of Dimmelhill 
  gather to elect one of their number to act as magistrate, with the 
  authority to manage the village and nearby farms and to act as judge. 
  Arbel Threethumbs, the current magistrate, is mainly known for having 
  two thumbs on one of his hands, and for little else. He has served a 
  bit over two years now, and he and most of the villagers are looking 
  forward to the end of his term.
  Unknown to most of those in Dimmelhill, the village is also home 
  to a coven of witches dedicated to Cybele. The coven is led by a local 
  midwife called Mother Tidwel, who has overseen the births of almost 
  every babe in Dimmelhill and the surrounding farms for more than 
  three decades. She checks each newborn for a mark that might indicate 
  whether the baby has been chosen by Cybele. She notes these marks so 
  members of her coven can settle near the children and keep an eye on 
  them until the day when some unknown fate the Magna Mater has in 
  store for them is revealed. The coven believes that somewhere nearby is 
  a center of power holy to Cybele, though they have yet to ﬁ nd it.
  FAIRBRIDGE, TOWN OF 
  FAIRBRIDGE, TOWN OF 
  Population: 2,212 (1,354 human, 628 half-elf, 230 halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Magistrate Pythoras Kroon
  Government: local magistrate
  The town of Fairbridge stands where the Trader’s Way crosses a 
  small muddy river called the Granis by the locals, though it does not 
  appear on any maps. The bridge is maintained and repaired every 
  few years by workers out of Grollek’s Grove to keep it sturdy and 
  to repair washouts. The town’s magistrate collects tolls for crossing 
  the bridge from travelers who look as if they can be intimidated, 
  though he has no authority to do so since the town does not maintain 
  it. A crow cage next to the bridge usually contains the picked-over 
  skeleton of some petty criminal that the locals like to point out to 
  discourage miscreants. 
  GROLLEK’S GROVE, TOWN OF 
  GROLLEK’S GROVE, TOWN OF 
  Population: 853 (785 human, 34 halﬂ ing, 17 high elf, 9 
  mountain dwarf, 8 half-elf)
  Ruler: Magistrate Miriam Kriel
  Government: local magistrate
  Established a century ago by a consortium of merchants out of 
  Endhome led by a shipping magnate named Beval, Grollek’s Grove 
  controls a key crossroads between the Trader’s Way and the King’s 
  Road. The Beval family still resides in Endhome under their patriarch 
  Alistair Beval but maintains extensive orchards in and around the 
  small town. Branches of other families, including the Morricks and 
  Eldorans, relocated to the town and own extensive vineyards from 
  which they produce several of Endhome’s ﬁ ne selection of wines. 
  The magistrate of Grollek’s Grove is appointed by a vote of the 
  shareholder merchant houses, and all have a vested interest in seeing 
  the town continue to prosper. Tragedy struck the town ﬁ ve years ago 
  at the wedding of Lord Beval’s scion and few of the guests survived. 
  The estate at nearby Morrick Mansion where it occurred has been 
  considered cursed ever since. 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|245
  |245
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  MALTHLYN, TOWN OF 
  MALTHLYN, TOWN OF 
  Population: 278 (194 human, 42 mountain dwarf, 15 high elf, 
  13 half-elf, 6 halﬂ ing, 5 gnome, 3 half-orc)
  Ruler: Acting-Sheriff Cignor
  Government: hereditary lord
  Originally a land grant to a Foerdewaith knight by the overking 
  ﬁ ve centuries ago, Malthlyn found prosperity through a silver mine 
  established in the nearby Mistwood. Unfortunately, after several years 
  the original Count Mathen went insane and murdered his family before 
  killing himself at the family estate. The mine was closed, and the town 
  sank into obscurity for centuries. Only recently has an heir to the Mathen 
  name moved back in and re-established lordship over the town and 
  mine after mithral was discovered within. A consortium of merchants 
  in distant Bard’s Gate provided the Mathen heirs the funding to reopen 
  the mine and their ancestral estate. Because of the ominous reputation 
  of the Moon Fog Hills and the dangers in transporting the mithral ore to 
  the nearest ports, the consortium contracted Wayriders from the duke of 
  Waymarch to provide security in and around the town. When shipments 
  failed to arrive as expected, a company of Lyreguard from Bard’s Gate 
  was dispatched to investigate the problem. The merchants have yet to 
  hear back from these troops. 
  SOLDIER STONE, TOWN OF
  SOLDIER STONE, TOWN OF
  Population: 520 (310 human, 105 half-elf, 78 halﬂ ing, 25 high 
  elf, 2 mountain dwarf)
  Ruler: Sheriff Croweye and Curate Madderson
  Government: ecclesiastical
  This small town straddles the Soldier’s Road west of the Sand Hills. 
  Its location marks the site of a major battle in the wars that have raged 
  across the plains in the past millennia, though no one quite knows which 
  war or exactly who was ﬁ ghting. The only thing to mark the site was a 
  standing stone raised beside the roadway with a crude engraving of the 
  image of Mithras, the Soldier God. Numerous arrowheads and bits of 
  rusted armor and weapons have been found in the ﬁ elds surrounding 
  the area, indicating that the battle was large in scope and must have 
  involved thousands of men. Digging around the base of the Soldier 
  Stone unearthed 12 graves of warriors slain in that battle. They were 
  reburied, but grave robbers stole anything of value they may have once 
  had. To protect the site, the Church of Mithras built a shrine nearby, 
  and a village sprang up around it shortly thereafter. The curate for the 
  shrine, appointed by the church, holds authority over the village, though 
  a sheriff is usually appointed by the curate to enforce civil laws.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE SUNDERED 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE SUNDERED 
  KINGDOMS AND THE SINNAR COAST 
  KINGDOMS AND THE SINNAR COAST 
  OF SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  OF SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  BURGUNDIAN ROAD 
  BURGUNDIAN ROAD 
  This roadway runs from the Trader’s Way in the west to Lowport in 
  the east by way of the trade town of Terrin Keld. It sees little enough 
  trafﬁ c other than caravans out of Southvale, and much of its length is 
  rutted and washed out. Bandit encounters are frequent occurrences.
  CANEY RIVER AND THE LESSER REACH
  CANEY RIVER AND THE LESSER REACH
  The main artery of trade on Ramthion Island, the Caney River ﬂ ows 
  wide, muddy, and shallow down from the Caterwaul Mountains and 
  across the plain before draining into the Sinnar Ocean at Port Clar. 
  Named for the numberless sugarcane plantations along its length and 
  the patches of wild sugarcane that grow along its banks, the river has 
  been the lifeblood of the Ramithi for generations. Now in addition to the 
  slow-moving cane barges that plod up and down its length, keelboats 
  manned by Oceander marines patrol from Port Clar to the base of the 
  mountains looking for Ramithi insurgents. 
  CATERWAUL PEAKS 
  CATERWAUL PEAKS 
  Rising on the western end of the island as an extension of the 
  Matagost Range beyond the strait, the Caterwaul Mountains serve as a 
  foreboding natural fortress in the heart of Ramthion Island. Ruins from 
  the time of the Ancient Ones still dot the peak, and the great fortress of 
  Farketh Knowe stands on the high precipice of Mount Marvel. Many 
  small Ramithi villages have sprung up in hidden dells and valleys as 
  refugees from the lowlands seek to escape the Oceander invaders. 
  These stubborn people have appointed a war leader to lead them in their 
  rebellion against the invaders centered at the ancient Heldring fortress. 
  The peaks themselves are steep and jagged, broken by many narrow, 
  high-walled valleys and precipitous waterfalls. The terrain is perfect 
  for a guerrilla war against the conventional armies of Oceanus, and the 
  Oceanders appear to be no closer to ﬂ ushing the resistance out than 
  they were when they began. A mountain village culture has developed 
  among the Ramithi, and anyone who knows their hidden ways can ﬁ nd 
  communities prospering, with children playing among the women who 
  go about their business of weaving, building, and trading while the able-
  bodied men continually train for battle. At night, the ﬁ res are lit, and 
  dancing and feasting take place in the streets while the folk forget their 
  troubles for the moment and remember their lost homes on the rivers.
  CUT HORN GAP
  CUT HORN GAP
  The Cut Horn Gap is a pass between the Forlorn Mountains in the 
  north and the Scar-in-the Sky Peaks to the south, through which the 
  Hawkmoon Road runs. The gap is not considered a part of Exeter 
  Province, for it comprises the small Duchy of Duquesne, an enigmatic 
  regime independent of its neighbors. The duchess keeps the pass well-
  patrolled in exchange for the payment of tolls by those traveling through.
  DARDANAL STRAIT 
  DARDANAL STRAIT 
  The narrow strait between the Matagost Peninsula and Ramthion 
  Island was once called the Narrow Sea. Though scholars have found 
  artifacts to show that early inhabitants of the region navigated it in hide 
  coracles and canoes, it has been impassible to such craft for thousands 
  of years. In fact, after the activation of the Obelisks of Chaos some 
  years ago, the inﬂ uence of the demon lord Dagon fell heavy on these 
  waters and made them dark and turbulent and ﬁ lled with all manner of 
  malevolent creatures. No less than two sahuagin cities, clusters of kelp 
  devils, and multiple sightings of scyllas and charybdises are attributed 
  to this befouled stretch of water. During the great ﬂ ight of 2496 I.R., 
  when wildﬁ res forced refugees to attempt the straits in great numbers, 
  the predators of the strait fed well. One Hyperborean ship captain called 
  Dardanal the Navigator became legend after crossing the strait no fewer 
  than 12 times with full shiploads of refugees. It was on his 13th trip 
  across that he and his ship, the Wayfarer, vanished and allegedly fell to 
  the creatures of those waters. The strait was renamed in his honor and is 
  largely avoided. Men-of-war out of Highreach patrol the northern and 
  southern end to prevent the vile things that lurk within from emerging in 
  numbers. So far, they have successful kept the creatures contained, but 
  no one knows how long this détente might last.
  DEHARI RIVER
  DEHARI RIVER
  As the Domain of Hawkmoon’s largest water channel, the Dehari 
  plays an important role in the land’s economic well being. Even the most 
  sizable of barges are capable of navigating much of the river’s length, 
  from its mouth in the Miasmoor to its headwaters north in the Forlorn 
  Mountains. Being a major byway for merchants moving large quantities 
  of heavy goods, the river sees a high degree of pirate activity. These 
  river-robbers favor the marshes of the Miasmoor for their hideouts and 
  
  246|
  246|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  ply their grisly trade from small, agile rafts that are easily hidden in the 
  tall reeds and sawgrass of the swamp. The river is nearly a half-mile 
  wide at its broadest point, which makes it very difﬁ cult for would-be 
  lawmen to curtail the pirate enterprise. 
  DUSKMOON HILLS
  DUSKMOON HILLS
  The Duskmoon Hills are a large range of tall, jagged hills to the north 
  of Endhome through which runs the last stretch of the Trader’s Way. 
  Endhome patrols the road through the hills, but the city has no particular 
  interest in wasting time, gold, and people to tame these wild lands. Once 
  travelers stray from the road, they are on their own.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: The Lost Lands: The Lost City of Barakus
  FLATLANDER ROAD 
  FLATLANDER ROAD 
  The Flatlander Road, unlike the various stone-paved high roads of 
  old Hyperborea, turns and wanders, with much of it nothing more than a 
  wide dirt trail. During Suilley’s mud season, parts of the road are almost 
  impassable, and bandits come out of the woodwork, some of them 
  sponsored by local knights who desire a bit more revenue.
  FORLORN MOUNTAINS
  FORLORN MOUNTAINS
  This vast mountain range is one of the largest other than the 
  Stonehearts, and once served as the ancestral home of the Great Mountain 
  Clan of Targ, although these dwarves are now widely scattered after the 
  fall of the citadel at Hazad-Burgh in 3160 I.R. to giant invaders. Giants 
  haunt the eastern reaches of the mountains in great numbers on the far 
  side of the range, but Exeter Province is spared from the worst threat 
  the mountains offer. Nevertheless, the province still has to cope with 
  giantish raids from time to time, for the entire mountain range is rife 
  with them. In recent years, the lord-governor of Exeter Province has 
  done an excellent job of staving off the giant incursions, although some 
  of the local nobles have voiced the opinion that rooting out trouble at the 
  source might do more to stop the problem.
  Legends speak of a strange and powerful wizard called the 
  Mechanician who is said to have a fortress in the southern Forlorn 
  Mountains where he keeps one of the fabled Bells of Heaven, though no 
  one has been able to conﬁ rm this rumor.
  GAP ROAD
  GAP ROAD
  The Gap Road is an old stone-paved high road between the Duchy of Saxe 
  and Keston Province that runs through the hilly lands between the Meridian 
  Range to the north and the Kal’Iugus Mountains to the south. It is relatively 
  well-maintained, with milestones and a few places where the paving stones 
  have been replaced. Much of its route passes through pleasant countryside.
  A number of small roadside inns are found along the way, along with villages 
  out of sight of the road but marked by cart trails that lead to the thoroughfare. 
  As long as wayfarers do not push on too aggressively, it is possible to spend 
  each night of the journey at a coaching inn. It is a safe assumption that rooms 
  are available unless a caravan or mule train happens to be present already. 
  Lone travelers are seldom seen on the road, although this is not so much due 
  to highwaymen as to the pure length of the journey. It is more than 200 miles 
  from Kingston to the western side of the gap, a long trip to make without 
  companions. There are incidents of brigandage, of course, and monsters do 
  come down from the cold southern heights to hunt, but this is one of the few 
  areas that Keston Province can truly be said to govern, and it is well-patrolled.
  GAUNT WOOD
  GAUNT WOOD
  Gaunt Wood occupies much of the northwestern portion of the 
  Domain of Hawkmoon. As forests go, it is not particularly deadly, but 
  caution is certainly advised, for the forest contains ogres and even the 
  occasional hunting wyvern.
  GIANTLANDS
  GIANTLANDS
  A stretch of the Forlorn Mountains played host to the Storm Kings of 
  old, great storm giants who possessed castles that ﬂ oated upon clouds 
  and fortresses atop the highest peaks. The Ancient Ones of the lowlands 
  knew of their legend and gave homage when the great storms swept down 
  from the mountains. But these despots of old disappeared long before the 
  arrival of the ﬁ rst Hyperborean scouts, and little remains of that legendary 
  kingdom save for a stretch of peaks in the Forlorns called the Giantlands.
  This range still serves as home to an inordinate number of giants. Other 
  than deep in the Stoneheart range, there is perhaps nowhere else in Lloegyr 
  that serves as home to a greater concentration of giants than these peaks. 
  Only the hardy dwarves of the Targ Mountain Clan dared live close to them, 
  and Old Burgundia long reinforced its southern border with companies of 
  heavily armed knights and Erskaelosi mercenaries. Giants of many sorts 
  still live in the Giantlands, though it is believed that all of the storm giants 
  left and few enough cloud giants remain. Strangely, ﬁ re giants have never 
  been known to be found in this region. These giants live in various holds, 
  steadings, and caves in conditions ranging from comparable of that to the 
  Heldring of the lowlands to absolute squalor. They hunt in small bands 
  but rarely leave the mountains themselves in any numbers. Not in two 
  centuries has a powerful-enough chieftain arisen to unite the various groups 
  into an organized invasion, though some fear that another one cannot be 
  far off. Recently, giants have been raiding into the Duchy of Southvale 
  with increased frequency, often led by ﬁ re giants, which many consider an 
  especially alarming event, suggesting that a new chieftain may be emerging.
  GNARLHEIM
  GNARLHEIM
  The fortress of Gnarlheim stands against the side of one of the peaks 
  of Mount Therosabad in the northern Forlorn Mountains. Its massive 
  ramparts of crumbling stone and leaning towers are the remnant of an 
  ancient storm giant citadel that crashed into the mountaintop long ago 
  and was abandoned. Two decades ago, a powerful frost giant calling 
  himself the Thunder-Caller rose up and inhabited the ruin with his 
  band of giants and enslaved ogres. Since then, this self-styled king has 
  attracted more giants of all kinds to his banner and is the closest thing 
  to a true monarch among the Giantlands. The barbarians of Tyr fear that 
  if a powerful giant does rise to unite the giant bands of the mountains, it 
  will be King Graccus Bonesnapper. A bounty of a great weight in gold 
  has been placed upon the giant king’s head, but the walls and newly 
  tunneled caverns beneath the fortress of Gnarlheim have proven to be a 
  tough nut to crack for even experienced giant slayers.
  GUNDLOCK HILLS 
  GUNDLOCK HILLS 
  Much of these sprawling hills of Sunderland are considered 
  comparatively safe, particularly the western portion. A fair number of 
  villages are here in proximity to the Trader’s Way and King’s Road. This 
  area boasts orchards and is ﬁ ne vineyard country, though many of these 
  are overgrown, having been abandoned after wars and skirmishes in the 
  past. Bats can be a nuisance at night due to their occasional tendency to 
  swarm, and the dire bats and mobats that hunt the more desolate regions 
  that are capable of carrying away a goat or peasant are much more of a 
  problem. The eastern portion of the Gundlocks, however, is much less 
  populated and wilder. Violent humanoids roam these eastern hills in 
  small packs, though they have yet to gather into groups large enough to 
  pose a threat to anything other than isolated farmsteads. 
  HAZAD-BURGH, RUINS OF
  HAZAD-BURGH, RUINS OF
  The Great Mountain Clan of Targ created the kingdom of Hazad with 
  its primary mines and citadel at Hazad-Burgh. Their mines were wealthy 
  and one of the few sources of ironstone, but were under constant threat of 
  attack being built so close to the Giantlands. When the defenses ﬁ nally 
  fell in 3160 I.R. after many years of declining population, the surviving 
  remnant scattered into the mountains to the west while many migrated 
  east into Southvale. It was this migration that led to the establishment 
  of Durandel and the creation of the second great Targ citadel. Today, the 
  empty halls of Hazad-Burgh are stalked by giants, undead guardians, 
  and worse, and are avoided by all but the bravest. The most interesting 
  tales of late speak of a blue dwarven ghost drifting among the corridors. 
  However, there are also always tales of lost treasure caches within to 
  convince the foolhardy to tempt their fate.
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  THE HELWALL
  THE HELWALL
  The Helwall is a 150-mile-long wall and string of defensive forts the 
  Hyperboreans began in –83 I.R. to contain the wild tribes of the Heldring 
  within the Helcynngae Peninsula and to keep them out of the continent’s 
  mainland. The fortiﬁ cations were maintained by garrisons in some form 
  or fashion until after the Battle of Oescreheit Downs, which broke the 
  Heldring once and for all. Upkeep was sporadic over the years, and the 
  fortiﬁ cations have not been maintained by the northerners since the ﬁ nal 
  defeat of the Heldring at Oescreheit Downs in 2802 I.R. 
  On the other hand, the ancient wall now serves to protect those in the 
  Helcynngae Peninsula from invaders and raiders from the north. A small 
  garrison of volunteers hand-selected from Kingsgardt serve one year of 
  duty at the Helwall to maintain peace, protect the lands to the south, and 
  reject entry of less-desirable northerners.
  HOLLOW ROAD 
  HOLLOW ROAD 
  The Hollow Road is an old track running between Terrin Keld in Old 
  Burgundia and Heldring’s Cross on the Matagost Peninsula. It had some 
  signiﬁ cance in the old days when shipments of silver from the Mistwood 
  Mines in the Moon Fog Hills were sent over its rugged course. But the 
  road fell into disuse when the mines shut down over the intervening 
  centuries. With the reopening of the mines in recent years, trafﬁ c has 
  picked up again somewhat, and at times patrols of Waymarch cavalry 
  and Lyreguard from distant Bard’s Gate and its environs have been seen, 
  though of late even these are absent. 
  KADALON BAY
  KADALON BAY
  The waters north of the Matagost Peninsula and east of the Sand 
  Hills and Kildren Point are known as Kadalon Bay. Relatively sheltered 
  and with calm seas, this would seem to be a safe place for ships to 
  anchor. Few, however, voluntarily choose to enter the bay, other than the 
  ﬁ shermen of the village of Coburn, the only settlement on these shores. 
  Sailors tell of ships that sail into these waters, never to be seen again. 
  Worse, it is said that sometimes a deckhand from a lost ship will be 
  found in a far city, gibbering and dirty, staring blankly at former friends. 
  Whether or not there is truth to these tales, most captains prefer to avoid 
  Kadalon Bay.
  KAPICHI POINT 
  KAPICHI POINT 
  An ancient fortress of the Ramithi pirates once stood upon this 
  lonely, rocky point that reaches into the Sinnar Ocean. For long years, 
  treacherous sea rocks beneath its ramparts, which only the pirates 
  knew how to navigate, protected them and their ﬂ eet from attacks by 
  those who would end their piracy. However, in the Battle of Kapichi 
  Point 300 years ago, the Ramithi clans in the fortress watched the 
  Oceander navy brilliantly defeat the navy of Foerdewaith and send 
  the overking’s sailors to watery graves upon the very rocks beneath 
  the fortress. They then looked on with horror as the Oceander ﬂ eet 
  somehow navigated those self-same rocks and converged upon 
  the Ramithi ships at dock in the harbor. In that one day, Oceanus 
  destroyed the only two naval forces in western Akados capable of 
  threatening their own ﬂ eets. The fortress of Kapichi was destroyed, 
  and the surviving Ramithi ﬂ ed into the swamps to the south to escape 
  the slaughter. The piles of rubble that stand at the end of the point and 
  the jagged rocks in the waters beyond the harbor serve as reminders of 
  the Ramithi fortress and Foerdewaith navy that were both sent to their 
  ruin here by the Oceanders. 
  KING’S ROAD 
  KING’S ROAD 
  Originating in distant Courghais, the King’s Road has carried the 
  king’s messengers to distant courts and armies to war for a thousand 
  years and more. Now it is used mainly for trade as it ends in the mighty 
  trading city of Endhome in the east. A bridge of wood and brick crosses 
  the Gaelon River 100 miles west of Endhome. It is that city’s duty by 
  contract to see to its maintenance, and it has been repaired or replaced 
  many times over the years after being destroyed in war or washed 
  out in ﬂ oods. A tollhouse now stands on either bank and collects tolls 
  from travelers and traders. Southbound tolls go to the coffers of distant 
  Courghais while northbound tolls feed into nearby Endhome. 
  LESSER REACH 
  LESSER REACH 
  Actually called the Lesser Reach of the Caney River, this languid 
  ﬂ ow trickles south into the glades and the scum-covered surface of Lake 
  Latrouche in the heart of the swamp. The town of Lambert Landing lies 
  just beyond the initial fork in the river.
  LONELY MOOR
  LONELY MOOR
  East of the Gundlock Hills and north of Dimmelhill is the Lonely Moor, 
  a vast stretch of verdant wetland where most of the rainfall collects after it 
  drains from the hills. The land of the moor is lower than that of the coast to 
  the east and north, so no rivers carry this drainage out to sea. As a result, a 
  large moorland developed west of Stone-ring Knoll. The aridity of the area 
  keeps this from becoming a true swampland, but grasses and heather grow 
  thick in this region, and deadly bogs lie hidden beneath mossy patches that 
  look like solid ground to the unwary. The paths that run across this region 
  are known to be safe, but anyone venturing off of them risks disappearing 
  among the unforgiving mires, both horse and rider alike. To aid travelers, 
  the clerics of Thyr who once inhabited the moor erected stone crosses along 
  the path. These ancient stone monuments are weathered and broken — and 
  many are missing entirely — but those that remain still mark the safe trails 
  and continue to guide those who would travel the paths of the moor known 
  collectively as the Monk’s Way.
  MATAGOST RANGE 
  MATAGOST RANGE 
  Rising along the southern edge of the peninsula, the Matagost Range 
  runs from the Moon Fog Hills to the Dardanal Strait and are a part of 
  the same range that makes up the Caterwaul Mountains on Ramthion 
  Island. The peaks of this range are stark and knife-edged, and the highest 
  peaks remain covered in white even during the summer. Many mountain 
  dwarf clans, long friendly to the human lowlanders, work mines in this 
  range and provide ore to the great foundries of Highsmyth. Though the 
  roads to these mines are good, ore caravans are always heavily guarded 
  because goblin worg-riders and their bugbear cousins are known to 
  inhabit the lower slopes and gray dwarves have raided a few mines in 
  the ridges above in recent years.
  MIASMOOR
  MIASMOOR
  The Miasmoor is a dangerous, marshy region in the Domain of 
  Hawkmoon where the Dehari River empties from its sources in the Forlorn 
  Mountains. Quicksand is a particular threat in this area. The Miasmoor is 
  home to sawgrass, mangrove, sedges, cattails, reeds, water buffalo, and 
  tribes of trolls.
  MISTWOOD
  MISTWOOD
  See “Moon Fog Hills” below.
  MOON FOG HILLS 
  MOON FOG HILLS 
  These sinister hills rise from the eastern plains of Sunderland and 
  form the foothills of the Matagost Range. Much of these hills are 
  covered by the Mistwood, a light forest that is much wilder than the 
  copses and orchards that cover the rest of the plains. These hills are 
  also quite rugged, with many hidden vales and isolated ridges where 
  small villages and homesteads have existed for centuries, largely cut 
  off from outside contact. There have always been many disappearances 
  of travelers within the Moon Fog Hills, and not all of them are from 
  monstrous or natural hazards. 
  These hills gain their name from the strange misty iridescence that 
  rises from the treetops of the Mistwood at night to give the moon an 
  ominous hazy halo that creates disorienting shadows beneath the trees. 
  This strange phenomenon, combined with the lurid coloration that paints 
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  the sky during nights of the full moon, is thought to be the cause of a 
  schizophrenic condition locally known as “moon haze.” Cases of moon 
  haze are fortunately infrequent, but when they do occur, they often lead 
  to madness and murder. Unbeknownst to most of the inhabitants of the 
  region, these strange manifestations are, in fact, a direct result of an 
  unusually high concentration of Obelisks of Chaos in the area of Malthlyn.
  In addition to these unique dangers in this region, the Moon Fog 
  Hills also have an unusually high number of openings into the Under 
  Realms from which foul subterranean denizens have been known 
  to come forth in the night to wreak their own brand of havoc. More 
  than one disappearance in the region has actually been the result of the 
  unfortunate being dragged to realms below and whatever unimaginable 
  fate awaits them there. 
  MOONSILVER SEA 
  MOONSILVER SEA 
  The waters of the Sinnar Ocean off of the eastern eaves of the Forlorn 
  Mountains are known as the Moonsilver Sea. The magical lung leaf tree 
  grows in scattered underwater groves on seabeds far below the surface. 
  This area is also home to the (perhaps merely legendary) Moonsilver 
  Beast that is said to occasionally be sighted from the shore.
  OLD KINGDOM ROAD 
  OLD KINGDOM ROAD 
  Once the main road of Burgundia that brought trafﬁ c through Trevi, 
  the Old Kingdom Road was largely destroyed by the army of Oceanus, 
  which pulled up many of its paving stones to take back for building 
  projects at Matagost and Parthos. It is now little more than a pitted lane 
  that has a tendency to break cart wheels and bring animals up lame. The 
  little-used cart track that brought travelers to the town of Terrin Keld 
  became a bypass for this road and now carries all of the substantial 
  trafﬁ c of Old Burgundia.
  PROVINCIAL MILITARY ROAD
  PROVINCIAL MILITARY ROAD
  This ancient road was built in the days of Hyperborea’s war against 
  the Heldring to connect the South Road with a direct route to the Helwall 
  so that reinforcing armies were not faced with grueling overland travel. 
  Despite the antiquity of its construction, the original paving stones 
  remain in place, and the road is wide and level, which makes it easier to 
  travel than many of the royal roads in the heartland of Foere. Once quite 
  safe, the road is no longer adequately patrolled and is becoming more 
  dangerous by the year.
  SAND HILLS 
  SAND HILLS 
  These windswept dunes rise in terraced formations on the western 
  shore of Kadalon Bay south of Kildren Point. They are composed of a 
  coarse yellow sand unique to the Sinnar Coast, and scholars speculate 
  that they are all that remains of a time when an ancient inland sea 
  covered much of the Sundered Kingdoms. This is supported by the vast 
  skeletal remains of ancient sea beasts that are occasionally uncovered by 
  the near-constant winds; sometimes these ancient bony remains crawl 
  to life on their own and attempt to swim through the dunes or make 
  a meal of curious onlookers. The hills are now home to a smattering 
  of gnoll bands that hunt the giant insects that reside among them and 
  domesticate the native hyaenodons.
  SCAR-IN-THE-SKY PEAKS
  SCAR-IN-THE-SKY PEAKS
  The Scar-in-the-Sky Peaks form the southern border of the Domain 
  of Hawkmoon and the eastern border of Cerediun Province. These 
  mountains are inhabited by barbarian clans, rocs, griffons, giants, white 
  dragons, and yeti, and is the home of the Stormbreaker cloud giant clan.
  THE SEA DAGGER 
  THE SEA DAGGER 
  The northern peninsula of Ramthion Island, the Sea Dagger got its 
  name from its characteristic shape jutting out into the Sinnar Ocean as 
  well as from the proclivity with which the rocks at its northern tip cut 
  into the hulls of ships unfamiliar with its waters. Most of the peninsula is 
  swampy and difﬁ cult terrain, which made it ideal as a barrier to guard the 
  Ramithi pirate clans when they dwelt in their fortress on Kapichi Point. 
  Despite the ominous terrain, these marshes don’t share the same sinister 
  reputation as those at the island’s southern end, and for many years after 
  the Oceander invasion they served as a hiding place for Ramithi resistance 
  ﬁ ghters. With the construction of the Damerhold, however, any patches of 
  resistance that once resided here have largely been rooted out. 
  SESS RIVER
  SESS RIVER
  The Sess River valley is generally a peaceful area dotted with 
  small villages.
  SOLDIER’S ROAD 
  SOLDIER’S ROAD 
  This military road starts in Endhome and wends its way to the 
  southeast through Heldring’s Cross and Oestre before ﬁ nally ending at 
  the fortress of Highreach. In the past, it felt the tread of mighty armies at 
  war, but of late sees little use beyond local farmers and trade caravans. 
  SOUTHFELL GLADES 
  SOUTHFELL GLADES 
  The southern end of Ramthion Island is a swampy morass despite 
  the fact that it lies far enough above the sea that it should be able to 
  drain. Scholars speculate that some catastrophic deluge of old must 
  have occurred to create the anomalous conditions, but no one knows 
  for certain. The Lesser Reach of the Caney feeds into the swamp and 
  Lake Latrouche at its center, and from there muddy ﬁ ngerlets of water 
  spread out to saturate the entire area of the glades. This area has been 
  considered haunted since the earliest known times on Ramthion, and the 
  ruins of the ill-starred Toussant family’s house still rest somewhere within 
  their dank embrace. Disappearances have always been common among 
  villages that lie near the swamps and are usually attributed to alligators or 
  the gargantuan frogs that haunt its depths, but the graybeards just shake 
  their heads and know better. In addition, an undeniably large number of 
  mindless undead wander the watery ways, so even the most skeptical have 
  to consider that something supernatural may be at work here. 
  SOUTHVALE CAUSEWAY 
  SOUTHVALE CAUSEWAY 
  This road runs south from Terrin Keld, passes the town of Emryl and 
  the northern eaves of the Forlorn Mountains, and then after Weatherall 
  crosses the moorlands before it heads into the heartland of Southvale 
  on the way to its terminus at Penmorgh. Much of the road’s length, 
  especially in Southvale, is a raised causeway built up on an earthen 
  mound to avoid the fens and hidden bogs along its route. Boggards are 
  occasionally sighted along these marshy stretches, but they have yet to 
  attack any sizable groups of travelers.
  STONE-RING KNOLL
  STONE-RING KNOLL
  This low grassy mound rises from the plain east of the Lonely Moor in 
  Sunderland and is topped by a ring of nine ancient standing stones. There 
  were originally 12 but three fell and two have long since been carted away 
  for use as building material in a keep east of Billockburne. One of the fallen 
  stones still lies sunken partially into the ground and can just be seen in 
  the tall grass. The locals consider the knoll either a sacred or a cursed site. 
  Those who spend the night upon it are said to experience visions of either 
  paradise or madness, and more than one person has disappeared from the 
  area, though this could easily be a result of the predators that roam the 
  plains. Nonetheless, no village has ever been constructed too near the hill 
  because of the superstitious fear the locals have of it.
  In truth, Stone-ring Knoll is actually the site of Bryn Calun, the Holy 
  Hill of Sull eons ago. Tribal shamans called dark powers here and laid a 
  curse upon the whole region sealed with their blood. If anyone were to 
  systematically dig up the top of the hill, they would ﬁ nd the remains of a 
  great ﬁ re at its center with bits of charred bone, now mineralized from their 
  long years of internment. Likewise, 50 feet below the surface of the mound 
  is the ﬁ rst and greatest of the Obelisks of Chaos. This one is sacred to the 
  demon lord Pazuzu and attempts to tamper with it cause blood hawks, giant 
  wasps, air elementals, and vrocks to appear to defend it. If in danger of 
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  destruction, its caretaker nalfeshnee appears with reinforcements to destroy 
  the interlopers.
  STONY STRAND 
  STONY STRAND 
  This stretch of desolate, rocky coastline is little visited even by the 
  inhabitants of Lowport. Too many wild or deadly creatures run amok to 
  make travel within this area worthwhile for any but the most desperate. 
  Nevertheless, Baljulias the Great, the Tyrant of Lowport, sends orc 
  bands out into the hills semi-regularly to scrape the chalk above the sea 
  for blocks of the stuff for export when his treasury begins to run low.
  THOMKURN HEIGHTS
  THOMKURN HEIGHTS
  The Thomkurn Heights are a low mountain range overlooking the 
  Moonsilver Sea. They are ﬁ lled with isolated glades and valleys, most of 
  which are inhabited by monsters of one kind or another. 
  TRADER’S WAY 
  TRADER’S WAY 
  Perhaps the longest road in Akados, this road carries trade from far 
  to the south in Cerediun Province all the way to Telar Brindel in the 
  north. Along this route, it serves as the western border of the District of 
  Sunderland and is one of the trade routes passing through the crossroads 
  village of Grollek’s Grove.
  THE WEIRWOOD
  THE WEIRWOOD
  The Weirwood is located in the isolated Domain of Hawkmoon. Well 
  removed from any trade roads, the forest of Weir has for centuries grown 
  ungoverned by druids and uncharted by woodsmen. This isolation — 
  and perhaps a bit of dark magic from a long-forgotten curse — allowed 
  the Weir to become a crucible for all sorts of lifeforms that are usually 
  kept in check by the hands of man. In particular, poisonous ﬂ ora abounds 
  in this dense and murky wood. 
  The treetops are so thickly entwined as to cover the ground in 
  continuous shadow, permitting the rampant growth of lichen, fungi, 
  and myriad mosses, many species of which are quite inimical to human 
  life. As a result, few mammals stalk the forest, save those immune to 
  the various natural toxins. Certain creatures adapted over the years to 
  ﬂ ourish in these environs and represent new genetic strains of common 
  fauna: Deer, rabbits, and several types of vermin in the wood evolved 
  into species entirely different from the ordinary members of their kind. 
  WILDLANDS 
  WILDLANDS 
  This desolate stretch of dry wastelands and blasted hills stretches across 
  Old Burgundia south of the Burgundian Road from the Trader’s Way to 
  the Stony Strand. Once miles upon miles of lush, irrigated farmland, 
  orchards, and copses of the native cassia trees, the Oceander invaders 
  laid waste to the entire countryside and destroyed what they could not 
  carry off. Rivers were dammed with brush and rubble, irrigation canals 
  were allowed to silt in, and windmills that plumbed water wells were left 
  to slowly succumb to time and the elements until this is now a dry and 
  barren place home only to scavengers and creatures that hunt among the 
  wastes looking for hot blood to drink. Bands of Erskaelosi barbarians 
  roam these lands, eking out a living on the few resources it possesses 
  and bringing to battle any fell creatures they ﬁ nd. Many Erskaelosi tents 
  bear the horns and scales of the foul denizens they have bested, but 
  just as many bleached bones of Erskaelosi warriors lie unburied in the 
  unforgiving landscape where the hunters became the hunted.
  WORTHAM FIRTH
  WORTHAM FIRTH
  This bay south of Cerediun Province lies at the eastern end of the 
  Helwall and has been contested by pirates and freebooters from time 
  immemorial as the mountains of its north coast provide innumerable 
  fjords, inlets, and sheltered harbors where they roll down to the sea’s 
  edge. Trading ships ordinarily do not venture into the Firth, which 
  represents a barrier to coastal galleys unless they are deep-keeled and 
  sturdy enough to cross the open water around the Firth.
  THE HELCYNNGAE PENINSULA 
  THE HELCYNNGAE PENINSULA 
  AND YNYS CYMRAGH
  AND YNYS CYMRAGH
  KINGDOM OF THE HELCYNN
  KINGDOM OF THE HELCYNN
  Capital: Kingsgardt 
  Notable Settlements: Aethelham, Berrocburh, Bournedon, 
  Burcestor, Burh Weider, Durwent, Lichﬁ eld, Lymnester, 
  Oxwain, Suthgardt, Uthelgardt, Warsley, Wellford, Wirric 
  Bury
  Ruler: His Pious Majesty by the Grace of Tyr, the Hledwalda 
  Aethelmark, King of the Helcynn
  Government: hereditary monarchy assisted by Witan (noble 
  advisory council)
  Population: 2,087,900 (1,954,300 Heldring, 75,800 
  Foerdewaith, 43,900 dwarf [mostly mountain dwarf], 9,200 
  human mixed ethnicity, 4,000 ﬁ rbolg, 700 skinwalker)
  Monstrous: wolves, bristle boars, goblins, goblin dogs, fey, 
  quickwoods, wereboars, wights, bog hags, forester’s banes, 
  fachens, wood giants, will-o’-wisps (lowlands); goblins, goblin 
  dogs, ogres, ogrens, wayangs, worgs, ﬁ rbolgs, veds, ettins, 
  werewolves, will-o’-wisps, trolls, nilbogs (mountains)
  Languages: Helvaenic, Common, Dwarven
  Religion: Tyr, Eostre, Odin, Thor, Frey, assorted other Ése, Hel
  Resources: grain, ﬁ shing, pitch, livestock (cattle, swine), 
  shipbuilding supplies, spirits (beer), quarry stone, copper, 
  ships
  Currency: Heldring
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  The Helcynngae Peninsula extends from the southeastern coast of 
  Akados for 1,000 miles and divides the Sinnar Ocean from Mother 
  Oceanus and the deeper waters of the south. Dominated by high, rugged 
  mountains, swift streams and rocky meadows, the peninsula has given 
  birth to a people as hardy and, often, as unforgiving as the land. Though 
  located on the southern end of the continent, the odd impact of the 
  Tropic of Arden results in a much cooler clime along the peninsula than 
  its latitude might otherwise suggest.
  This harsh land is the home of the legendary — and feared — Heldring. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  No records tell of a time before the Heldring lived on the Helcynngae 
  Peninsula. Their own legends say that they were born in these lands, a 
  warrior people in service to the ancient gods of their ancestors. According 
  to their lore, long ago they were divided into seven different clans: 
  the Baerroc (hailing from the region around Berrocburh), the Aelrich 
  (from around Lichﬁ eld), the Uthael (near Uthelgardt), the Ochs (near 
  Oxwain), the Waershael (about Warsley), the Woerc (near Wirric Bury) 
  and the Suthca (near Suthgardt). Proof of the existence of such clans is 
  limited since there are no written records from such days, though many 
  noble families do claim long family trees showing descent from one 
  cyning of a clan or another. Today, long years and intermarriage among 
  the Heldring have made clan membership largely irrelevant to daily life.
  Whatever the truth of the origin of the Heldring may be, they ﬁ rst enter 
  the reckoning of history when the Hyperborean legions of Oerson, ﬂ ush 
  with their victory over the elves at the Battle of Crimmormere, swept 
  the length and breadth of Akados as its new and unrivaled masters. In 
  the barbarian tribes of the Helcynngae Peninsula, the polemarch met 
  his match. The legions were unable to breach the neck of the peninsula, 
  where they were faced with hordes of battle-hardened Heldring. The 
  Hyperboreans ultimately decided that the cost in lives and treasure to 
  take this land — particularly given the expanse of the empire already 
  conquered — was too high, so they instead built a string of forts across 
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  the neck of the peninsula, connected by a wall called the Helwall, to 
  contain the barbarian threat.
  The Hyperboreans did not initially abandon their dreams of dominion 
  over the peninsula, however, and from time to time sought to make 
  inroads beyond the Helwall. Then in 288 I.R., the Heldring destroyed 
  Strategos Verin and his legion in the Peninsular Campaign. Fearing 
  that the barbarians would take the initiative and surge out to attack the 
  newly settled Hyperborean lands, militias were raised from Helwall to 
  Apothasalos, coastal forts were erected south of the Matagost Range 
  to guard against sea invasion, and the forts of Albor Broce and Sylvos 
  were expanded. Fortunately for the Hyperboreans, the Heldring did not 
  attempt to move past the Helwall, and both sides settled into a status 
  quo. And thereafter, for so long as the Hyperboreans ruled the rest of the 
  lands and the seas, the Heldring remained behind the wall, living among 
  their mountains, largely ignored by the rest of the world.
  Then in 2496 I.R., the Tower of Oerson was destroyed, and wildﬁ res 
  ravaged Curgantium and spread across Akados, burning the Plains 
  of Suilley and Matagost Forest. Within 20 years, the Hyperboreans 
  withdrew to Libynos. In the chaos that followed, the Heldring ﬁ nally 
  crossed the Helwall in force and overran much of southeastern Akados. 
  In 2516 I.R., their longships seized Ramthion Island, and the next year 
  they invaded Southvale where they quickly took all of its lands other 
  than the city of Penmorome (now known as Penmorgh), whose stout 
  walls stood between the invaders and its inhabitants. Over the ensuing 
  years, the Heldring settled lands as far as the Plains of Mayfurrow, 
  and built new villages and towns and raised fortresses to protect their 
  new domains. Some areas remained independent, such as the city of 
  Freegate and the Forest Kingdoms (and the Ramithi of Ramthion Island 
  were never paciﬁ ed), but without any real threat to their dominance, the 
  Heldring settled in as conquerors of an empire. In many places, they 
  came to assimilate with the local populace, and to this day, many folk of 
  eastern Akados claim descent from Heldring bloodlines.
  The Heldring also turned to their neighbors on the island of Insula 
  Extremis (known to the locals as Ynys Cymragh), whose population 
  had long been protected by Hyperborean triremes and galleys. With no 
  one to challenge them at sea, the Heldring landed on the shores of the 
  island to seek land and plunder. Initially held off by warriors of the local 
  tribes, the Heldring eventually seized a small kingdom when a chieftain 
  hired them as mercenaries in a battle with his rivals. Using this foothold, 
  the Heldring slowly increased their lands on the island until Daan, the 
  son of a local chieftain who had served in the Hyperborean legions and 
  a minor Hyperborean noblewoman, returned to Insula Extremis. Daan 
  himself had been a hipparchos cavalry ofﬁ cer in the legions and served 
  for long years in the Irkainian peninsula. Employing the skills he learned 
  in service to Hyperborea, he united the petty kingdoms and broke the 
  power of the Heldring in 2576 I.R. at the Battle of Agedium when he 
  drove them back to the sea. Later, when Daan marched to Tircople to 
  free the Sacred Table, he was able to rally many Heldring warriors to 
  ﬁ ght alongside him. But after his death, the people of Ynys Cymragh 
  withdrew back to their island, and the alliance with the Helcynngae 
  Peninsula collapsed. Whether due to the strength of the Daanites or out 
  of respect to Daan, the Heldring have never since made a serious effort 
  to invade Insula Extremis.
  At a time when the cult of Hel, the Goddess of Death and the Lady of 
  Pestilence, was waxing among the Heldring, one thegn by the name of 
  Swein Sigurdson turned his back on the wicked ways of Hel and sought 
  an escape for his people. In 2731 I.R., he and his folk began the trek 
  along the so-called Neimbrall Trail, eventually coming to settle in the 
  Northlands of Akados. 
  In the meantime, on the mainland of Akados, the Heldring remained 
  largely unchallenged until the rise of Foere, which claimed the mantle 
  of the Hyperboreans of old. As the Foerdewaith realm expanded, it came 
  into increasing conﬂ ict with the Heldring settlements and territories 
  along the Sinnar coast. In 2801 I.R., armies of Heldring from the 
  peninsula began a series of attacks on Foere holdings along the March 
  of Mountains, burning settlements and slaughtering inhabitants as they 
  went. In response, Overking Osbert II gathered a large force of Knights 
  of Macobert supported by heavy infantry and marched south from 
  Courghais to meet the Heldring in battle. In a story now well-known, 
  the god Mitra is said to have appeared to the overking while he was 
  in the Heathglen and predicted that Foere would have victory over the 
  Heldring. In response, Osbert built a shrine to the Sun Father, and in 
  2802 I.R. crossed the Helwall and met the shieldwall of the barbarians at 
  Oescreheit Downs. The knights’ expert tactics in ﬂ anking and engaging 
  the rear of the Heldring as the Foerdewaith shieldwall held the front of 
  the lines in place proved disastrous to the Heldring, who fell in huge 
  numbers on the ﬁ eld of battle. Although some skirmishing continued 
  for a period, the Helcynngae Peninsula was for all intents and purposes 
  paciﬁ ed and brought under the banner of Foere.
  The Foerdewaith did not, however, attempt a crossing of the Straits of 
  Daan. The losses suffered by the Daanites in purging the Hyperborean 
  Empire of its corruption was still fresh in the memory of the Foerdewaith, 
  and Osbert and his successors chose to leave the island of Ynys Cymragh 
  and its people in peace, reckoning they had endured enough.
  Following the Foerdewaith conquest, many of the Heldring were 
  converted to the worship of Thyr and Eostre (their name for Muir). However, 
  not all Heldring renounced their old ways, and a signiﬁ cant sub-kingdom of 
  Heldring who still follow Hel remain in the Cumorian Mountains. Shunned 
  by others of their countrymen, they now exist as a bloodthirsty monotheistic 
  theocracy with their primary stronghold at Thunderhelde.
  During the Foerdewaith Wars of Succession, the overking’s 
  representatives withdrew from the Helcynngae peninsula, presumably 
  with the intention of returning once order was restored. They have yet to 
  return. The Heldring have never felt it necessary to ofﬁ cially renounce 
  their allegiance to the Court at Courghais, but they have in fact been 
  independent now for several centuries.
  In recent years, the ancient hostilities between the inhabitants of the 
  Helcynngae Peninsula and their neighbors to the north have been replaced 
  with a cautious détente, and trade is growing between the Heldring and 
  Cerediun Province, and with many other ports on the coast of the Sinnar 
  Ocean and even in the Crescent Sea. As a result, enclaves of Heldring can 
  be found as far aﬁ eld as Bard’s Gate, Freegate, and Castorhage.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Since time immemorial, the Heldring worshipped their own pantheon 
  of gods. According to rumor and legend, the Heldring people’s unique 
  ability to resist incursions by the Hyperboreans was the direct result 
  of a pact they made with Hel, the Goddess of Death and the Lady of 
  Pestilence, from whom their common name derives.
  As a result of the Foerdewaith conquest, however, the faiths of Thyr 
  and Muir (whom the Heldring refer to as Eostre) were introduced to 
  the Helcynngae Peninsula and began to take hold as the major religion 
  of that people, supplanting the worship of Hel and many of the older 
  gods. Today, the Heldring have developed an almost-theocratic society 
  devoted to Tyr and Eostre, to the extent that their hledwalda petitions 
  annually for the High Altar of Thyr to be moved from Bard’s Gate to 
  Kingsgardt. To date, Thyr’s clergy have remained silent on the subject 
  of relocation, though patience wears thin among the Heldring nobility.
  Some deities of the older Heldring pantheon, such as Odin, Thor, and 
  Frey, continue to be worshipped — particularly in the countryside — 
  but to a much lesser degree. The only ancient god whose worship is 
  outlawed is Hel, though she remains venerated among the Heldring of 
  the Cumorian Mountains around Thunderhelde.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The conversion of the Heldring to the worship of Thyr and Eostre, 
  and the decline of the veneration of Hel (except among the Cumorian 
  peoples around Thunderhelde), have led to a substantial reduction in 
  hostility between the Helcynngae Peninsula and the other folk of 
  Akados. Regular caravans head north and south through Sessilbridge 
  north of the Helwall as trade with Cerediun Province grows. Heldring 
  longships are now common sights in many ports of Akados, particularly 
  those on the Sinnar Coast that, as a result of prior Heldring conquests, 
  have substantial populations that claim Heldring descent.
  The Helcynngae Peninsula boasts many resources that form the basis 
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  of such trade, including copper, grain, ﬁ sh, pitch, livestock, and the 
  famous Heldring beer. The Heldring are also skilled shipbuilders, and 
  the white pines of the Cumorians and Hatlus are highly sought after for 
  their use as ship masts.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  For most of their history, the Heldring have been a people apart. 
  This isolation started to break down following the departure of the 
  Hyperboreans and the Heldring conquests of the eastern Sinnar Coast. 
  Even then, however, they were little more than invaders and colonists, 
  and disdained diplomatic entanglements. But after Oescreheit Downs 
  and the introduction of the Foerdewaith pantheon, the Heldring were 
  forced into interactions with other nations and peoples. Thus, the years 
  following the disintegration of Foere saw a Heldring people much more 
  open to trade and other relations with those beyond their borders.
  Today, the kings of the Helcynn maintain good relationships with 
  Cerediun Province and Exeter Province, and regularly trade with 
  Southvale (where many of the people have Heldring blood), Freegate, 
  and Bard’s Gate. Heldring longships can be seen in many of the ports 
  of the Sinnar Coast, and as far as the Crescent Sea. Similarly, merchant 
  vessels from around Akados make calls in the ports of Warsley and 
  Suthgardt. The current king, the Hledwalda Aethelmark, has seen that 
  commerce can be just as valuable as conquest, with a lot less risk. As a 
  result, he has sent delegations to many of the provinces and kingdoms 
  that trade with his folk, though he has established no permanent 
  embassies outside the peninsula.
  The Ramithi, however, have never ceased despising the Heldring for 
  their years of occupation and would attack a longship on sight were one 
  to attempt a landing on Ramthion Island.
  The dwarves of Erodgrimm in their citadel in the Eorec Heights 
  refuse any and all embassies and merchants from outside their realm, 
  other than rare humans in Suthgardt who have performed some service 
  for the dwarves. As a general matter, the Heldring are happy to leave the 
  dwarves to themselves.
  The Heldring continue to look longingly at Insula Extremis, but they 
  have not been willing to try the defenses of the inhabitants of that island 
  for many years. Occasional raids do occur, however, and it may only be 
  a matter of time before hostilities once again rise to the fore.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The king or queen of the Helcynn is known as the hledwalda, a 
  position of authority both secular and religious, holding legal power 
  as a hereditary monarch and also as the Heldring high priest of Thyr 
  (if a male) or Eostre (Muir) (if female). The title of hledwalda passes 
  to the eldest child of the prior hledwalda able to wield a sword and 
  shield, whether son or daughter. If no such person exists, either a cousin, 
  nephew, or uncle of the previous hledwalda is chosen by the Witan.
  It is said that in the distant past, the folk of the Helcynngae Peninsula 
  were divided into seven clans. Each clan was led by a cyning, a kingling, 
  and many Heldring nobles to this day boast genealogical tables that show 
  their descent from one such ruler or another. Other than that, the concept 
  of clan holds no power in Heldring society. Instead, most cities and towns 
  (and the surrounding countryside) are now held by landed nobles known 
  as ealdorman (or sometimes earls) who owe fealty to the hledwalda under 
  a complex set of traditions deﬁ ning their co-dependent relationship. 
  Rulership of local shires is usually granted by the related ealdorman to a 
  reeve. All such positions of nobility are usually hereditary and pass down 
  to the eldest child. In certain circumstances with the consent of the liege, 
  a domain could be split among siblings or other heirs. On rare occasions, 
  the liege may strip a family of its inheritance to enable a supporting noble 
  or other worthy individual to acquire the lands.
  The lowest class of nobility among the Heldring are thegns, 
  sometimes landed and sometimes landless warriors, who may serve a 
  reeve or ealdorman, or may be granted rights directly by the hledwalda. 
  Some thegns are based in coastal cities and instead of land count their 
  holdings in longships; which, depending on the nature of the thegn, may 
  make their coin either in trade or through raiding the lands of other folk. 
  Above the power of the Heldring nobility, including the hledwalda, 
  is the authority of Thyr and Eostre. Church law on the Helcynngae 
  Peninsula is supreme. The hledwalda is the high priest of one of these 
  gods, depending on whether he or she is male or female. But for 
  ecclesiastical purposes, the high priest or priestess of the other god is 
  granted pre-eminence over the hledwalda. In part, this makes sense 
  since the kings and queens are seldom educated to the extent of a true 
  priest, but more importantly this ensures that at least some division of 
  power is maintained.
  Other than the hledwalda, those who swear themselves to the service 
  of Thyr or Eostre are deemed removed from the domain of the nobility 
  and become solely subject to the authority of the church. Monasteries 
  and shrines are held in the name of the gods and are also outside the 
  control of any nobles. The most senior priest or priestess assigned to that 
  location holds religious and secular power over that location, as well as 
  certain surrounding lands.
  The greatest of the ealdormen, along with several members of the 
  Heldring clergy, sit on the Witan, a council that meets in Kingsgardt four 
  times a year and provides advice to the hledwalda concerning issues of 
  importance. The opinions of the council are only advisory, however, and 
  the decision of the hledwalda is ﬁ nal. However, many traditions in effect 
  place boundaries on the scope of the king’s or queen’s authority, as does 
  the fact that many of the nobles on the Witan have substantial holdings 
  as well as warriors at their command.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The Heldring continue to maintain a strict military tradition handed 
  down to them over millennia. To this day, their bards sing songs of their 
  ancestors’ defeat of the Hyperboreans and the conquests of the Sinnar 
  Coast, a standard to which all Heldring aspire. All children are taught to 
  ﬁ ght from a young age, and most also spend a number of their adolescent 
  years onboard longships, even if they have no intention of becoming 
  sailors. As a result, nearly the entire population of the peninsula can 
  ﬁ ght or man a ship if necessary.
  Each ealdorman maintains a sizable house guard and can call upon 
  the folk of their domain (including reeves and thegns) at any time in a 
  moment of need. The hledwalda, who also boasts a large house guard, 
  has the right to demand service from the ealdormen, though the traditions 
  and customs around doing so limit such circumstances to either defense 
  of the realm or for the purposes of raiding or conquering the lands of 
  others. Since the Foerdewaith conquest of Helcynn, no king or queen 
  has called upon the nobles for either purpose.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  No nations of Akados pose any real threat to the Heldring. Their 
  reputation as ﬁ erce and indomitable warriors remains, despite their 
  defeat at Oescreheit Downs. There is some limited risk of piracy to their 
  longships, but most sensible pirates avoid taking on Heldring ships, both 
  because their sailors are uniformly excellent warriors but also because 
  any gain would almost certainly be outweighed by the consequences of 
  incurring the wrath of the Heldring.
  The Helcynngae Peninsula itself, however, harbors dangers to those 
  who venture too far from lands controlled by the various settlements. 
  Orcs, goblins, trolls, and worse inhabit the Cumorian Mountains and 
  the Hatlu Peaks, the latter of which are also prowled by dangerous 
  lycanthropes. The depths of the forests and fens harbor creatures that 
  thrive in darkness, and dragons and other wyrms are known to ﬂ y out of 
  the Eorec Heights.
  KINGSGARDT, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  KINGSGARDT, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: His Pious Majesty by the Grace of Tyr, the Hledwalda 
  Aethelmark, King of the Helcynn
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 27,770 (26,000 Heldring, 1,220 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 550 mountain dwarf)
  Monstrous: giants to the north, orcs and goblins to the west
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  Languages: Common, Helvaenic
  Religion: Eostre and Tyr
  Resources: merchant trade, precious metals in the mountains 
  to the north
  Currency: Heldring, though many Akadonian currencies are 
  accepted
  Technology Level: Medieval 
  The largest city in the Helcynngae Peninsula, Kingsgardt has been 
  the capital of the Heldring and home to their rulers since the time of 
  legends. Dozens of kings have sat the throne here, negotiating treaties, 
  subjugating regions, and declaring war on enemies. Five hundred of 
  the best-trained soldiers of Aethelmark’s house guard — called the 
  Kingsblood — are based in the royal keep within the city to protect the 
  king and his family with their lives.
  Built upon a massive granite rock amid the southern foothills of the 
  Hatlu Peaks, Kingsgardt is a truly imposing ediﬁ ce that stands watch 
  over the road that runs the length of the peninsula. The city bustles with 
  life and trade. The royal keep is clad in a dark blue stone with red-
  golden slate tiles on its roofs. Nearby, the Temple of Thyr and Eostre is 
  constructed of white marble that the Heldring imported from Courghais.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Each of the original seven clans of the Heldring was centered in a 
  different town or village in the peninsula. The mythical king who united 
  the Heldring was named Thurbald the Great and was said to have been 
  of the clan Uthael. When he became hledwalda, he chose to establish a 
  new city as the capital of all of his people, which became Kingsgardt. He 
  was not the ﬁ rst to build on this site, however. It appears that a fortress, if 
  not a city, has been located here for as long as humans have occupied the 
  Helcynngae Peninsula. No one today recalls the ﬁ rst builders on the rock 
  of Kingsgardt, though it is clear that the foundations are truly ancient.
  The vast majority of the population of Kingsgardt are Heldring. 
  Many live here in the city, but many are those who are merely passing 
  through, merchants looking for trade or nobles, great and minor, seeking 
  an audience at the hledwalda’s court. A small population of mountain 
  dwarves has also settled in the eastern quarter of the city, and the 
  southern quarter, near the market squares, hosts a modest number of 
  folk from elsewhere in Akados.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The Temple of Thyr and Eostre, near the royal keep, is the center 
  of all worship in the Helcynngae Peninsula, where the high priests of 
  the two gods sit in ecclesiastical court and lead services attended by 
  thousands. Priests, monks, and adepts are trained here, and then sent 
  forth into the countryside to minister to the Heldring.
  Smaller shrines of Eostre and Tyr can also be found throughout the 
  city, perpetually ﬁ lled with devoted worshippers of all races. Several 
  services are offered each day and provide residents near-limitless 
  options for worship day or night.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Although the capital city is toward the southern end of the peninsula, 
  merchants and caravans make the long trek down the road to trade with 
  outstanding craftsmen and one-of-a-kind artisans. Kingsgardt has one of 
  the largest open-air markets in southeast Akados and boasts more than 
  500 merchants in the maze of colorful tents and awnings. It is said that 
  if it can’t be found in Kingsgardt, it doesn’t exist.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The hledwalda has personal authority over all of Kingsgardt, but 
  administration of the city is usually granted to a reeve, often a relative 
  of the king. The reeve then appoints such ofﬁ ces as are necessary to see 
  to the city’s orderly management.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Although well protected by the king’s personal house guard, the city 
  is not without threats. Hill and frost giants from the Hatlu Peaks, ﬁ lled 
  with the desire for the fabled treasure within the vaults of the kings, 
  occasionally descend from the tall mountains to invade the city. Never 
  has a single giant made it past the outermost city walls, with the ballistae 
  and catapults from the towers that loom over the open ﬁ elds surrounding 
  the city ready to strike them down.
  AETHELHAM, TOWN OF
  AETHELHAM, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Ealdorman Garth Ovunweld
  Government: feudal
  Population: 8,872 (8,550 Heldring, 322 mountain dwarf)
  Monstrous: dragons, goblins
  Languages: Common, Helvaenic
  Religion: most worship Eostre and Tyr with some devoted to 
  the goddess Hel (in secret)
  Resources: grain, copper, livestock, woolen garments
  Currency: Heldring, although barter is common
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  This fortiﬁ ed town is located at the southern end of the old defensive 
  earthwork known as the Wealdyke near a spur of the Cumorian 
  Mountains. Now one of the larger towns of the Heldring, Aethelham is 
  of comparatively recent construction. None of the ancient clans called 
  this locale home. Instead, the town was likely built to hold the southern 
  ﬂ ank of the Wealdyke. But its location was fortuitous, with a commanding 
  position over wide ﬁ elds and access to mines in the nearby mountains.
  In the ﬁ elds nearby, farmers grow wheat, barley, and corn, and in the 
  mountain foothills shepherds tend ﬂ ocks of sheep. The wool-spinners 
  in Aethelham are some of the best of their craft and produce well-made 
  garments for their own use and for sale in the markets of Kingsgardt. 
  Several dirt roads lead off to the Cumorians to several active mines (and 
  some abandoned).
  The family of the current ealdorman has held Aethelham in ﬁ efdom for 
  generations. It is said that one of his ancestors was responsible for building 
  the Wealdyke, and tales of his battles with the Daanites are legendary.
  The worship of the sibling gods Eostre and Tyr dominates in 
  Aethelham, though many of the farmers and shepherds continue to 
  venerate the old gods. Unknown to most, a few older families have 
  connections to Thunderhelde in the mountains and continue to worship 
  Hel in secret.
  BERROCBURH, TOWN OF
  BERROCBURH, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Ealdorman Bijeorn “Longbeard” Arjenstal
  Government: feudal
  Population: 2,117 (1,998 Heldring, 64 Foerdewaith, 55 human 
  mixed ethnicity)
  Monstrous: sea-raiders, orcish races from the Cumorian 
  Mountains
  Languages: Common, Helvaenic
  Religion:  Eostre and Tyr
  Resources: ﬁ shing, farming, livestock
  Currency: Heldring, barter
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  A remote town in the far northwest of the kingdom, Berrocburh 
  is secluded from much of the trafﬁ c through the central part of the 
  peninsula. Though now largely a backwater, the town is proud of its 
  history as the ancestral home of the Baerroc, one of the original seven, 
  semi-mythical clans of the Heldring.
  Most of the Berros make their living through farming or herding, 
  though some ﬁ shing is done off of the nearby western coast of the 
  peninsula. There are no good harbors in this area, which leaves the 
  ﬁ shing vessels to launch off shores of rocky scree. It is easy to land 
  boats there, however, and as a result, raids from western pirates and 
  slavers have nearly decimated Berrocburh dozens of times throughout 
  the town’s history. In order to protect themselves, the Berros became 
  formidable sailor-soldiers. Nearly every man, woman, and child in 
  Berrocburh is capable of ﬁ ghting, their tough existence hardening their 
  
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  will for survival. Children are taught archery as soon as they can hold 
  a small bow, and women are equals to their husbands and fathers with 
  sword and shield. Intruders are met with surprising tenacity and often 
  ﬂ ee after realizing their error in choosing the town as their target.
  Capable shipbuilders and ﬁ shermen, Berrocburh’s residents maintain 
  a meager yet comfortable lifestyle. Though wary of strangers entering 
  their town, the surprisingly good-natured Berros are willing to trade 
  fairly for supplies they lack. Salted ﬁ sh, clams, and shellﬁ sh are 
  traded for tools, vegetables, and beer. Though the Heldring currency is 
  accepted, many in the town prefer to barter for luxuries.
  The town hosts a small temple to Eostre and Thyr, though attendance 
  is meager except during the festival days.
  The Berros have a unique tradition concerning their ealdorman, 
  which due to its antiquity is honored by the hledwalda in Kingsgardt. 
  The position is not hereditary. At an annual rite on the eve of the spring 
  equinox, any Berros who feel their current ealdorman has lacked the 
  proper skills or nerve to run the town may challenge the ealdorman 
  to ritual combat, the winner taking or retaining the seat. Only one 
  challenger may attempt to win the seat, elected by town vote if more 
  than one steps forward. The current ealdorman may elect to step down 
  at the spring equinox, vacating the seat willingly without any disrespect 
  or dishonor.
  Pirates and slavers are the most common threat to Berrocburh. 
  However, raids from the west are becoming less frequent as the stories of 
  the ferocious and unrelenting Berros reach foreign ears. Unfortunately, 
  while the sea-raids have lessened over several decades, orcish stirrings 
  within the Cumorian Mountains have increased. Orc tribes have probed 
  farther north and west, hoping to gain a foothold beyond their dark 
  holes. The northern end of the vast range is teeming with numerous orc 
  clans, each vying for the rumored wealth of human villages.
  BOURNEDON, TOWN OF
  BOURNEDON, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Iken Forewolden, Chieftain of the Long Road
  Government: feudal
  Population: 2,311 (1,625 Heldring, 348 mountain dwarf, 338 
  human mixed ethnicity)
  Monstrous: orcs from the western hills and giants from the 
  Hatlu peaks
  Languages: Common, Helvaenic
  Religion: Eostre and Tyr
  Resources: traders, sheepherders, and some farming
  Currency: Heldring, some Foerdewaith, and bartering for goods 
  with travelers
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  A central point in the peninsula and astride the Long Road, the bustling 
  town of Bournedon sees a fair amount of trafﬁ c each day. It seems 
  nearly every resident has something to sell or trade — homes along the 
  main road all have storefronts open to travelers as they pass. Clothes, 
  food, weapons, armor, supplies, and trinkets are found in plenty along 
  the wide, stone road. Dwarves from the Cumorian Mountains have been 
  allowed to bring their wares to sell at the northern and southern ends of 
  town, displaying well-crafted weapons and armor at reasonable prices.
  The town of Bournedon was formed around a temple to Hel long ago, 
  bringing acolytes and worshippers to the central plain village where 
  three dirt paths intersected. Over time, the village grew into a town 
  boasting two great taverns (both still exist, the Rolling Mug and Broken 
  Wheel) and several merchants with access to excellent wares. Although 
  the temple of Hel was eventually destroyed, the town continued to thrive 
  from its constant trafﬁ c. As a hospitable location on the Long Road, 
  Bournedon has become a welcome stop for most travelers heading north 
  or south.
  Most of the people make their living trading and selling goods to 
  travelers. Although nothing like the markets of bigger cities, travelers 
  can ﬁ nd common supplies at affordable prices, whether they wish to 
  pay in gold or silver, or trade an unwanted item or two. Nearly every 
  merchant in Bournedon is agreeable to a reasonable deal. About a ﬁ fth 
  of the town’s residents still herd sheep along the hills and plains and 
  provide the much-needed wool for many of the clothing shops on the 
  town’s main road.
  Shrines for several deities have been erected within the town’s 
  borders, though the vast majority of its residents worship the common 
  gods of the Heldring, both Tyr and Eostre. A small pocket of believers 
  still pay homage to Hel although their practices are quiet and in secret. 
  Most travelers can ﬁ nd a shrine serving a god or goddess from their 
  homeland as they pass through this town.
  Iken Forewolden, the ealdorman of Bournedon, also holds the 
  traditional title of the chieftain of the Long Road. He has now been 
  providing leadership over the slow-growing town for two decades. 
  More businessman than warrior, the chieftain ensures that the families 
  of Bournedon continue to prosper by limiting growth of new homes 
  and businesses. Although Forewolden listens to the advice of many, he 
  is the lone voice of leadership in the town. He makes and changes the 
  rules, administers punishment to criminals, and negotiates deals with 
  merchants and dwarven clans.
  Although a score of lightly trained soldiers protects the inner portion 
  of the town, Forewolden enlists the services of sturdy dwarves of the 
  Bloodbeard clan and pays them in much-needed supplies. Nearly a 
  hundred dwarven veterans, each with years of battle experience in the 
  depths of the Cumorian Mountains, devoutly protect the borders of 
  Bournedon. The stout Bloodbeards have quickly thwarted several orc 
  and goblin raids from nearby hills.
  The town’s hired forces can easily contain and quash most humanoid 
  raids from the west, but when hill and frost giants descend down from 
  the eastern peaks of Hatlu, the town seeks reinforcements from dwarven 
  clans and Heldring settlements from the north. Hundreds of mounted 
  and armored dwarves often rout the slow-witted giants before they can 
  do much damage to the town.
  BURH WEIDER, VILLAGE OF
  BURH WEIDER, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: Thegn Haandol Weider, Council Spokesman
  Government: feudal (Council of Elder Fishermen)
  Population: 511 (Heldring)
  Monstrous: pirates at sea, humanoid creatures from nearby 
  mountains
  Languages: Common, Helvaenic
  Religion: Eostre and Thyr; worship of an unnamed sea god
  Resources: ﬁ shing, light farming
  Currency: Heldring accepted, but bartering preferred
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  The village of Burh Weider, situated on the eastern coast, is one of 
  the newest settlements in the Helcynngae Peninsula and was formed 
  only three decades ago. Named after its original founding family, the 
  settlement has grown as regional ﬁ shermen learned of the abundant sea 
  life found off its shores. The secret to catching the long, delicate ﬁ sh that 
  reside off the coast is known only to those who have lived in the village 
  for some time and is never shared with outsiders.
  Yeolder Weider, a landless thegn, was granted the right to establish 
  this village by the ealdorman in Uthelgardt about 30 years ago. He chose 
  this coastal location after discovering the sea nearby to be teeming with 
  strange, slender ﬁ sh. Thinking he could catch and trade the long ﬁ sh 
  with neighboring settlements, he quickly set to the task of ﬁ shing the 
  eastern coastline. However, he soon learned that the ﬁ sh were more 
  intelligent than other aquatic creatures and was unable to catch them. It 
  took many months for the Weider family to discover the correct method 
  for ensnaring the cunning ﬁ sh. As the only ﬁ sherman able to catch the 
  delicious sea creature, the Weider family and trusted villagers trade for 
  supplies with frequent merchants who arrive by land and sea.
  As with the rest of the Helcynngae Peninsula, the worship of Eostre 
  and Thyr is prominent in Burh Weider, and a temple to the sibling gods 
  is found on the western side of the village.  However, local ﬁ shermen 
  and their families quietly worship an unnamed sea god whose image has 
  been passed down through stories from the original inhabitants of the 
  
  254|
  254|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  area. Fisherman say prayers of thanks and reverence while at sea when 
  successful capture of their bounty occurs. While no shrines, priests, or 
  totems to this god can be found in Burh Weider, the people’s devotion 
  to their protector and judge is strong. So far, the church ignores the 
  worship of this sea god so long as it remains largely hidden from view, 
  and so long as the pews remain ﬁ lled on holy days.
  Although Thegn Haandol Weider has title to the village and 
  surrounding lands, he governs with the advice (and usually, consent) 
  of a council of elder sailors. At least half the council are his relatives 
  from the Weider family, their voices being the most respected among the 
  group. The elder sailors of the council are the only men and women who 
  know the full secrets to ﬁ shing for the silvery delicacy.
  Pirates and sea-raiders have been known to harass the small ﬁ shing 
  vessels from the village on occasion, though the Burh Weider ﬁ shermen are 
  always on the lookout for foreign ships and quickly slide their small boats 
  into a well-hidden harbor if a threat appears. In addition, a local militia is 
  maintained to protect the ﬁ shermen and farmers of Burh Weider from the 
  threats of the sea and neighboring mountains. Several dozen well-armed 
  men and women patrol the area, keeping an eye out for trouble from every 
  direction. The small village is rarely a target and is avoided by most who 
  pass by the hidden coastal locale. Occasionally, ﬁ sherman from other 
  nearby settlements attempt to catch the cunning ﬁ sh of these waters, but 
  inevitably become frustrated, though this never stops new ﬁ shermen from 
  arriving and trying to discover the secret to landing the rare sea creature.
  BURKESTON, TOWN OF
  BURKESTON, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Ealdorman Orlan Fjordson
  Government: feudal
  Population: 4,750 (3,989 Heldring, 511 Foerdewaith, 250 
  human mixed ethnicity)
  Monstrous: goblins, orcs, and trolls of the Cumorian Mountains 
  (and some thrydreg)
  Languages: Common, Helvaenic
  Religion: Eostre, Thyr, Wotan the All-Father
  Resources: trade, steel, sheep and goat herding, some farming 
  Currency: Heldring, though most common Akadonian 
  currencies are accepted, as is barter
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Protectors of the Helwall and the northern peninsula, the people of 
  Burkeston consider themselves the ﬁ rst line of defense to any invaders 
  from beyond the ancient wall raised by the Hyperboreans. Ever vigilant 
  and serious about their military prowess, the Burks are a ﬁ erce people 
  with little tolerance for visitors who seek to disrupt the peace of the 
  town. Many travelers have found themselves quickly dispatched by 
  even the youngest of militia-men and in need of the healing services of 
  the local clergy. Nearly three-quarters of the men of Burkeston can be 
  ready to march to battle within a few moments and always seem more 
  than willing to search out conﬂ ict and war.
  Though there has been little conﬂ ict along the Helwall in generations, 
  the people of Burkeston remain a tough and, to outsiders, an often 
  mirthless folk. They are devoted to their families and livelihoods, 
  holding these and their combat prowess above all else. It is mandatory 
  that all Burks participate in daily training with sword and shield, lance, 
  and longbow. Even children of ﬁ ve or six years of age can take down a 
  bird in ﬂ ight with a longbow.
  As trade continues to grow between the Heldring and Cerediun Province 
  (and the lands beyond), the road across the Helwall has seen a substantial 
  increase in merchant trafﬁ c and other travelers in recent years. As the 
  northernmost Heldring town on the Long Road, Burkeston has proﬁ ted 
  off of the trade by providing services to those passing north or south, 
  collecting tolls for use of the road, and occasionally hiring themselves 
  out as guards for caravans or others seeking protection in the peninsula.
  The blacksmiths of Burkeston are renowned for their speed and 
  quality of work, often drawing comparisons to dwarven skills. Excellent 
  bowyers and ﬂ etchers can also be found in the village, though most are 
  unwilling to trade their wares to outsiders.
  Burkeston maintains a strong relationship with the smaller village 
  of Berrocburh to the west and lends soldiers to assist in driving 
  growing goblinoid clans back into the Cumorian Mountains from 
  time to time. In return, the Berros supply their allies with small 
  amounts of a rare ﬁ sh egg found along the western coast that the 
  inlanders consider a delicacy.
  Ealdorman Orlan Fjordson rules Burkeston alongside a council of 13 
  elders elected by all residents of the town able to wield a sword. No 
  Burk may run for council until they are of 30 years of age and may not 
  hold a council seat for more than 10 years in total. By tradition, the 
  vote of the council is to be accepted by the ealdorman (who holds a 
  double vote on the council), though on rare occasions its decision can 
  be overruled.
  The town of Burkeston is always under threat of raids from the 
  Cumorian Mountains, and occasionally from bandits seeking to attack 
  trafﬁ c on the Long Road. However, the town is always in a state of 
  preparedness and eager to meet any conﬂ ict head-on.
  DURWENT, CITY OF
  DURWENT, CITY OF
  Ruler: Ealdorman Aelfric Dorgorson and Olagaard Bronzehand, 
  aka “Ha’Dwarf”
  Government: feudal
  Population: 11,179 (7,222 Heldring, 3,005 dwarf, 952 human 
  mixed ethnicity)
  Monstrous: none
  Languages: Common, Helvaenic, Dwarven
  Religion: Thyr, Eostre, Dwerfater
  Resources: shipping, trade, farming, sod-farming, 
  sheepherding, some mining
  Currency: Heldring, barter, raw gold, silver, or gems
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  The city of Durwent stands upon a promontory on the eastern shore 
  of the Helcynngae Peninsula. The Heldrings’ largest port on the Sinnar 
  Ocean, Durwent is the gateway to Kingsgardt and the central towns and 
  farmlands of the kingdom. Ships from around Akados, and even from 
  far Libynos, can be found at dock in the harbor alongside large numbers 
  of Heldring longships. The city bustles with merchants and craftsmen, 
  mercenaries, travelers, and vagabonds.
  Ealdorman Dorgorson maintains a strict peace in the city and 
  surrounding countryside, his house guard being large and well-paid. 
  Docking fees and other tariffs keep his coffers full, but he is wise 
  enough to know that overzealous costs would impair the trade that ﬂ ows 
  through the city. Corruption is much less prevalent here than is the case 
  in other port cities.
  The city walls, and much of the foundations, are of dwarven 
  construction, and in fact predate the arrival of the Heldring to this locale. 
  According to legend, when the ancestors of the Heldring ﬁ rst came to the 
  promontory, they found the place already built, home to a small number 
  of dwarves, unlike any others to be found in Akados. Where they came 
  from, and how they might be related to their kin, is unknown. But to this 
  day, the Durr dwarves are found only here, in Durwent and its nearby 
  lands. Their differences with mountain and hill dwarves are noticeable. 
  Although stocky and bearded like other dwarves, the Durr are blond 
  and bronze-skinned. They enjoy swimming in the sea and sailing (to 
  a small degree) and prefer the sun on their faces to the darkness of the 
  underground. They are decent farmers and have just recently discovered 
  their hidden talent for mining, scouring sea caves along the coast for 
  hidden pockets of precious stones and metals. Though gregarious and 
  happy to partake in trade and commerce, they keep their private lives 
  to themselves, and show no more familiarity with other dwarven clans 
  than they do with humans.
  Of late, some substantial deposits of gemstones have been found 
  in some of those nearby sea-caves, which has drawn attention (not 
  all welcome) to Durwent and its unusual dwarven residents. Pirates 
  harassing ships out of the port and brigands on the road to Wirric Bury, 
  once unheard of, are becoming increasingly common.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  The ealdorman usually leaves issues concerning the Durr dwarves to 
  their hereditary chieftain, currently the generally well-regarded Olagaard 
  Bronzehand, also known as “Ha’Dwarf.” A number of traditions have 
  developed to address those circumstances where matters arise between 
  human and dwarf.
  Most of the Heldring in Durwent worship Eostre and Thyr. Some 
  of the Durr dwarves have come to venerate Thyr as well, though the 
  majority pray to Dwerfater. If there is a shrine that the dwarves visit, 
  however, it is unknown to their human neighbors.
  ERODGRIMM, CITY OF
  ERODGRIMM, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lord Grisselﬁ re V
  Government: Governing Council of Lords
  Population: unknown (guesses of 5,000 to 10,000 mountain 
  dwarves are possible)
  Monstrous: all manner of dark-dwelling humanoids
  Languages: Dwarven; some Common
  Religion: Dwerfater
  Resources: mining, trapping
  Currency: Erodgrimm
  Technology Level: Medieval
  No greater population of dwarves exists on the peninsula than the 
  number found in Erodgrimm, a mountain citadel carved into the Eorec 
  Heights. Thousands of the stout folk work to remain both independent 
  of the realm of the Heldrings and completely self-sufﬁ cient. From 
  windows carved high on the mountainsides, one can see the southern 
  plains of the Heldring to the north and the isle of Ynys Cymragh across 
  the Straits of Daan to the southeast.
  Erodgrimm was founded relatively recently, as the dwarves count 
  the years, by a small group of survivors of the Great Mountain Clan 
  Targ ﬂ eeing the destruction of Hazad-Burgh in 3160 I.R. As a general 
  matter, the folk of the city rarely trade with any other than their own 
  race. Until very recently, their citadel remained closed to the Heldring 
  in neighboring settlements. With the exception of a few trusted humans 
  in Suthgardt, not a single Heldring has been able to secure any of the 
  exceptional swords, axes, shields, or armor that the expert craftsmen of 
  the citadel create.
  Numerous shrines to the dwarf-god Dwerfater are found throughout 
  the citadel, on street corners, roofs, and fountains. The father of the 
  dwarves is revered and respected in this mountain refuge. Several small 
  temples are found at the outer edges of the city and are mainly attended 
  by young dwarves and those not wishing to travel across the city to the 
  main shrine at the citadel’s center.
  A governing council of 20 lords of the original families oversees the day-
  to-day and long-term needs of the community. Each family is responsible 
  for a single craft or duty within the citadel, with their lone representative 
  attending the council on their behalf. The council works to ensure that the 
  citadel and its residents prosper. They elect one among their number to act 
  as lord of the citadel, though the powers of this individual, absent war or 
  other crisis, are more ceremonial than substantive.
  Five hundred well-trained soldiers protect the citadel from harm and 
  easily drive off small raids of goblins or orcs, and sometimes greater 
  threats of ogres, trolls, or giants. Many of the surrounding humanoid 
  tribes avoid crossing paths with the fearless dwarves as they know their 
  survival is unlikely during any battle.
  Recently, rumors have reached Erodgrimm that dwarven ruins have 
  been found in the Cumorian Mountains. No tales tell of dwarven folk in 
  those peaks, so the origin of those ruins — or the veracity of the rumors 
  — remains unknown.
  LICHFIELD, TOWN OF
  LICHFIELD, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Ealdorman Frolgar Frostboar
  Government: feudal
  Population: 3,665 (3,285 Heldring, 210 human mixed ethnicity, 
  170 Foerdewaith)
  Monstrous: orcish races from the Cumorian Mountains
  Languages: Common, Helvaenic
  Religion: Thyr, Eostre
  Resources: farming, trading, herding (livestock)
  Currency: Heldring, barter
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Lichﬁ eld stands amid rolling plains on the Long Road between 
  Burkeston and Lymnester. The town holds little in the way of wealth, 
  earning nearly all of its income from trade along the road, along with 
  some farming and livestock. But the people of Lichﬁ eld are proud folk 
  of old stock, their town the ancestral home of the Aelrich, one of the 
  legendary clans of the Heldring. Most have lived their entire lives in the 
  town or nearby farms. The locals are average craftsmen at best, their 
  only exceptional ability seemingly in animal husbandry.
  Visitors rarely stay long in Lichﬁ eld, moving on after a few hours 
  or a day at most. There are a few inns in town with comfortable beds, 
  ﬁ ne fare, and great dwarven ale. But there is little else here to divert a 
  traveler’s attention.
  A town militia protects the residents from infrequent raids from 
  the Cumorian Mountains to the west. Twenty armed men patrol the 
  village day and night, banishing non-believers and repelling would-be 
  troublemakers.
  LYMNESTER, TOWN OF
  LYMNESTER, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Abbess Gunnfrith
  Government: feudal (religious)
  Population: 780 (632 Heldring, 111 human mixed ethnicity, 37 
  mountain dwarf)
  Monstrous: orcish races from the Cumorian Mountains
  Languages: Common, Helvaenic
  Religion: Eostre, Tyr
  Resources: farming, trading, herding
  Currency: Heldring
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Lymnester is home to Leofric Abbey, a convent of 30 priestesses of 
  Eostre led by the imposing Abbess Gunnfrith. The charter granting the 
  town and surrounding lands to the church is one of the oldest, dating 
  to shortly after Oescreheit Downs. The Warders of St. Leofric, a 
  small order of holy knights, is based here to guard the abbey and the 
  surrounding countryside.
  With Leofric Abbey providentially located at the intersection of roads 
  leading to Lichﬁ eld, Uthelgardt, and Bournedon, a small town has grown 
  up around its walls to cater to merchants and travelers making their way 
  through the peninsula. While those passing through are not required to pay 
  any tolls, it is long tradition to make a donation of a portion of the value 
  of one’s goods to the abbey to ensure the gods’ favor. After all, the roads 
  here can be perilous, threatened by orcish raiders from the mountains 
  or brigands seeking to separate coin from those traveling unawares. 
  The abbey and the walled town are a welcome sight to many braving 
  the empty miles in the midst of the peninsula. And tales certainly tell of 
  greedy merchants who failed to pay a proper tithe to the priestesses, only 
  to vanish after leaving Lymnester, never to arrive at their next destination.
  OXWAIN, TOWN OF
  OXWAIN, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Ealdorman Ealdric Mundgard
  Government: feudal
  Population: 5,736 (4,852 Heldring, 811 human mixed ethnicity, 
  73 mountain dwarf)
  Monstrous: humanoid races from the Cumorian Mountains
  Languages: Common, Helvaenic
  Religion: Eostre and Tyr; some worship of Hel in secret
  Resources: trade, farming, herding, mining
  Currency: Heldring
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  
  256|
  256|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  The legendary home of the Ochs, one of the original Heldring clans, 
  Oxwain in recent years has found itself increasingly dominated by the 
  nearby capital of Kingsgardt. A proud folk, many Oxwains chafe under 
  what they consider the overbearing rule of the hledwaldas. This has made 
  the town a ripe target for intrigue by its mountain neighbor, the heretical 
  city of Thunderhelde. More than a few nobles and leading citizens of 
  Oxwain are rumored to have become initiates of the Lady of Pestilence.
  Situated on the Long Road, much trade moves through the town of 
  Oxwain and brings a not insubstantial amount of wealth to the residents. 
  The nearby farms and ﬁ elds are productive and provide a decent surplus 
  that can be sold to merchants passing through or brought to the larger 
  markets in Kingsgardt. Several lucrative mines are also maintained 
  in the nearby Cumorian Mountains. It is said that some of the mines 
  employ professional laborers from Thunderhelde, a folk particularly 
  experienced with the craft of carving ores and gems from the mountain 
  rock. Such allegations are unproven, however, as commerce with the 
  excommunicated residents of that city is illegal among the Heldring.
  Ealdorman Ealdric Mundgard does his best to convince his people 
  of the value of being loyal servants to the crown. He makes a point of 
  honoring all of his obligations to Kingsgardt to the letter and ensures 
  that the hledwalda in turn honors all of his obligations to Oxwain. So 
  far, at least among the other nobles, these efforts have silenced any talk 
  of rebellion.
  Ealdric, though married, has fathered no children as of yet. As a result, 
  the current heir to Oxwain is his younger brother, Earrim Mundgard, 
  who serves as the captain of the city guard. A few have noted Earrim’s 
  unusually frequent visits to the mines in the Cumorian foothills where 
  he meets with locals living in the mountains. Moreover, tongues wag 
  that Earrim never seems to attend services at the temple of Eostre and 
  Thyr in the city. 
  Goblins and orcs from the Cumorian Mountains are always a threat 
  to Oxwain, as are other dark creatures that live in the peaks and valleys. 
  But the greatest threat may be the one recognized but left unspoken, the 
  gradual inﬁ ltration of the inﬂ uence of Thunderhelde and the worship 
  of Hel into the city. What plans that mountain citadel may have are 
  unknown, but a rebellion in Oxwain, which would undoubtedly bring 
  down the wrath of Kingsgardt, would certainly be welcomed there.
  SUTHGARDT, TOWN OF
  SUTHGARDT, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Ealdorman Forgwolfe Cavatral
  Government: feudal/military
  Population: 10,786 (9,110 Heldring, 835 human mixed 
  ethnicity, 499 Foerdewaith, 342 mountain dwarf)
  Monstrous: sea-raiders; humanoids, giants and wyrms from the 
  Eorec Heights
  Languages: Common, Helvaenic
  Religion: Thyr
  Resources: ﬁ shing (rare crabs and shellﬁ sh) and farming, trade
  Currency: Heldring, barter
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  The southernmost town of the Helcynngae Peninsula, Suthgardt is 
  the ancestral home of the Suthca, one of the semi-mythical original 
  clans of the Heldring. The town boasts a sizable presence of soldiers 
  and armed longships, all under the command of the ealdorman, who 
  also holds the Heldring title of helm of the south. Under the charter from 
  Kingsgardt, Suthgardt is charged with guarding against invasion from 
  Ynys Cymragh and protecting the nearby sea-lanes (particularly for the 
  smaller coastal towns of Wellford and Warsley).
  Many ships venturing between the Crescent Sea to the west and the 
  Sinnar coast of Akados pay call at the port of Suthgardt to resupply. As a 
  result, the town does a brisk trade, and many establishments cater to the 
  needs of sailors and merchants. Many ﬁ shing vessels at the docks leave 
  each morning to scour the small, southern bay for rare white crabs and 
  pygmy shellﬁ sh, delicacies in other parts of the Lost Lands.
  Nearly a ﬁ fth of the town’s population are professional soldiers 
  or sailors under the respective command of a chief of the Shieldwall 
  and a lord captain, each appointed by the ealdorman. A small council 
  consisting of the chief, the lord captain, and representatives of several 
  of the larger guilds in town advise the ealdorman, proposing laws and 
  regulations for Suthgardt and the areas under its protection.
  Suthgardt maintains a cautious relationship with the dwarven citadel 
  of Erodgrimm in the Eorec Heights. The dwarves care little for issues of 
  concern to humans, but some trade has proven beneﬁ cial to both. Most 
  of the trade occurs, however, in Suthgardt; almost no humans are ever 
  invited to, or permitted in, Erodgrimm. As a consequence, some items 
  of dwarven handiwork of spectacular quality can be found in the more 
  exclusive shops in town, though they are never on display — one has to 
  know where to go and whom to ask.
  It is said that the ealdorman and Lord Grisselﬁ re have exchanged 
  quiet embassies, and have agreed to aid the other in the event of any 
  external threat that could pose a risk to the entire region. In fact, soldiers 
  of both cities have repelled a few incursions of ogres and giants. If the 
  rumors of a large dragon somewhere in the Eorec Heights prove true, 
  then this alliance may prove critical.
  Due to the dominance of the military in town, the worship of Thyr is 
  predominant here, though there is a shrine to Eostre. Some of the sailors, 
  conservative in their ways, continue to worship Njördr, the old god of 
  seafarers and the winds.
  THUNDERHELDE, CITY OF
  THUNDERHELDE, CITY OF
  Ruler: Hel’s Regent, High Thegn of the Helcynn and Köenig of 
  the Helite Council, Östric the Gaunt
  Government: tyrannical theocracy with Helite Council 
  (religious noble advisory council)
  Population: 10,321 (9,601 Heldring, 341 ogrekin, 212 troll-
  blooded, 167 half-ogre)
  Monstrous: goblins, goblin dogs, ogres, ogrens, worgs, ﬁ rbolgs, 
  ettins, will-o’-wisps, trolls, nilbogs
  Languages: Helvaenic, Common, Giant, Goblin 
  Religion: Hel 
  Resources: coal, iron, ironwork, plunder, gems
  Currency: none (though most coinage of precious metals are 
  accepted)
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  With the Foerdewaith defeat of the Heldring army at Oescreheit Downs 
  in 2802 I.R., the Foere pantheon was introduced to the Helcynngae 
  Peninsula, particularly the worship of Thyr and Eostre. When the 
  hledwalda himself was converted, the veneration of the older gods started 
  a precipitous decline. Shortly thereafter, the worship of Hel, who had 
  previously been the matron deity of the Heldring, was outlawed.
  Not all Heldring willingly gave up the ways of the Lady of Pestilence. 
  After several armed conﬂ icts, the Hel worshippers were driven into the 
  Cumorian Mountains where they built stone-walled forts in the heights 
  and forested valleys. Several attempts to exterminate them ended in 
  disaster, and eventually the lowland Heldring decided to leave their 
  former kin alone in the mountains.
  Today, perhaps 35,000 Heldring live deep in the Cumorian Mountains 
  alongside allies consisting of goblins, ogres, troll-blooded, and half-
  ogres numbering in the thousands. Their largest settlement, and the 
  capital of their realm in exile, is the fortress city of Thunderhelde. From 
  here, the Helfolk of the Cumorians are ruled with an iron ﬁ st by their 
  high thegn, a high priest of Hel, alongside a council of priests and nobles 
  known as the Helite Council. The folk of Thunderhelde seek to spread 
  the worship of the Lady of Pestilence to their humanoid allies in the 
  mountains, and eventually to their lowland kin. They live for hardship, 
  battle, and purity, dreaming of the day when they will sweep the entire 
  peninsula free of the invader gods and return the exclusive worship of 
  Hel to their ancestral lands. 
  Within Thunderhelde and any lands under its control, the worship 
  of any deity other than Hel is punishable by death (preferably by ﬁ re). 
  Nearly every building and structure in the city displays the grim visage 
  of the goddess, her blue and white face glaring at all who look in her 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  direction. Those who die gloriously in battle are given large tombs in a 
  mountainside overlooking the fortress and bestowed with all honors and 
  respect of one who went to willingly serve their goddess.
  Due to its isolation and the laws of Kingsgardt that prohibit commerce 
  with Thunderhelde, its folks are self-sufﬁ cient and independent, 
  only rarely trading with outsiders. The one exception is a growing, 
  underground trade with the miners of Oxwain, the nearest Heldring 
  settlement. The High Thegn has spies among those miners and is said 
  to have agents in Oxwain itself. While he doesn’t appear to be ready to 
  provoke a general war with the Heldring, a rebellion by Oxwain would 
  be an interesting — and likely useful — development.
  UTHELGARDT, TOWN OF
  UTHELGARDT, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Ealdorman Brunhilda Harkeness, First Hunter of 
  Uthelgardt
  Government: feudal
  Population: 5,707 (4,776 Heldring, 810 human mixed ethnicity, 
  121 Foerdewaith)
  Monstrous: brigands and raiders of the plains
  Languages: Helvaenic, Common
  Religion: Eostre
  Resources: trade, farming, mining
  Currency: Heldring, barter
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  The ancestral home of the Uthael, one of the original clans of the 
  Heldring, Uthelgardt’s most famous son is the semi-mythical Thurbald 
  the Great, the ﬁ rst hledwalda of the Heldring. Once Thurbald ﬁ nished 
  his conquest of the Helcynngae Peninsula, however, he chose to establish 
  a new city to be his capital, which became Kingsgardt. To this day, the 
  Heldring of Uthelgardt, with their long memories, view the capital as 
  a younger sibling, and themselves as the true, original ﬁ rst city of the 
  peninsula. Whatever the true history may be, this hilltop city has long been 
  home to thousands of folk, including artisans, merchants, and warriors.
  Part of the reason for Uthelgardt’s loss of inﬂ uence is undoubtedly 
  the fact that it lies off of the Long Road, the main route through the 
  Helcynngae Peninsula. Moreover, the population is rather thin along the 
  south coast of the Bryon Firth. As a result, while there certainly are 
  opportunities for trade in Uthelgardt, there is simply not as much money 
  to be made as in those cities on the Long Road.
  In addition to trade, some mining is done in the nearby Hatlu Peaks, 
  and farming and cattle are raised in the nearby ﬁ elds.
  There are those in the ealdorman’s family who harbor dreams of 
  the ancient glories of Uthelgardt, and in the dark whisper about what 
  it might take to overthrow the predominance of Kingsgardt. Brunhilda 
  Harkeness herself, however, seems to discourage such thoughts.
  The folk of Uthelgardt, particularly those outside the city walls, are 
  subject to the occasional raids of humanoids from the Hatlu Peaks such 
  as goblins, orcs, and ogres, as well as brigands on the roads. 
  WARSLEY, TOWN OF
  WARSLEY, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Ealdorman Raegan Althorne
  Government: feudal
  Population: 3,470 (Heldring)
  Monstrous: goblins, orcs, and giants from the Cumorian 
  Mountains
  Languages: Common, Helvaenic
  Religion: Eostre and Tyr
  Resources: trade, ﬁ shing, grains (wheat, barley, oats, potatoes)
  Currency: Heldring, barter
  Technology Level: Dark Ages 
  Warsley is a small burh and shire west of the Cumorian Mountains. 
  Passage over the mountains being difﬁ cult (due to both physical barriers 
  and the humanoid and other residents of the peaks), the town is largely 
  isolated from the rest of the Helcynngae Peninsula other than by sea 
  travel. Said to be the home of the Waershael, one of the original seven 
  clans of the Heldring, the town today plays little part in the politics of 
  the peninsula. It makes its way hosting ships traveling the southern coast 
  of Akados at its docks, doing a decent business in trade and providing 
  services to sailors and merchants; the Tangled Rigging, a dockside 
  tavern, is a particular favorite among those who frequent the docks in 
  Warsley. Fishing vessels leave from its port each morning and bring 
  home their catches in the evening, and various grains are farmed in the 
  ﬁ elds between mountain and coast. As long as Warsley continues to pay 
  its taxes to Kingsgardt, the rest of the Heldring mostly ignore the town, 
  a state of affairs quite satisfactory to Warsley as well.
  There have been the occasional troubles with the denizens of the 
  Cumorian Mountains, however, and Warsley fought a mountain war 
  with the goblins 20 years ago. Giants can also be a threat to outlying 
  communities, and the fyrd has had to be raised in defense more than 
  once in recent years.
  The Althorne family has held the shire for many generations. The 
  current ealdorman, Raegan, succeeded to the title last year after the ship 
  his mother was on sank in a storm.
  The Vale, a small idyllic valley, lies north of the town.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: DEEP IN THE VALE FROM Quests of Doom
  WELLFORD, VILLAGE OF
  WELLFORD, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: Lord Arlid Ansgaar
  Government: feudal
  Population: 931 (843 Heldring, 88 human mixed ethnicity)
  Monstrous: sea-raiders, orcish races from the Cumorian 
  Mountains
  Languages: Helvaenic, Common
  Religion: Eostre and Tyr
  Resources: ﬁ shing, some farming
  Currency: Heldring, barter
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Wellford is one of the oldest ﬁ shing villages on the western coast of 
  the peninsula. Only a few small piers jut out into the water but they are 
  suitable for nothing larger than a modest ﬁ shing vessel. No roads lead to 
  Wellford, just light trails that are easily found by experienced trackers 
  and those familiar with the route. As a general matter, those who live 
  here have lived here for many generations and support themselves by 
  ﬁ shing or farming. They receive little notice from the larger cities of 
  the Heldring. In recent years, however, as Suthgardt’s longships have 
  chased away pirates and others who might threaten Wellford, the town 
  has seen some small growth.
  Wellford’s residents worship Eostre and Tyr in a temple that overlooks 
  the ocean in the western edge of town. A single priest ministers to the 
  villagers and is replaced only upon death or sickness.
  Lord Ansgaar, the ﬁ fth of his line to hold title to Wellford, has been 
  trying to increase his trade options by sending merchants to some 
  neighboring settlements to offer ﬁ sh, crabs, and other sea creatures 
  for much-needed supplies not found in the coastal village. He would 
  eventually like to raise enough funds to expand the docks to permit 
  larger vessels to make port in Wellford.
  Although the village primarily consists of ﬁ shermen and farmers, 
  nearly 50 men and women have experienced enough battle along their 
  settlement’s borders to be able to protect their town from small raids 
  or single pirate ships. In the event of any major threat, however, the 
  villagers look to Suthgardt for protection. Luckily, their remote location 
  keeps them safe from marauding hordes and large ﬂ eets of sea-raiders.
  WIRRIC BURY, TOWN OF
  WIRRIC BURY, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Ladies Evelynn, Astrid, Agraat, Yniss, and Ulaarta
  Government: matriarchal council 
  Population: 7,500 (7,000 Heldring, 500 human mixed ethnicity)
  Monstrous: humanoids from nearby mountains
  Languages: Helvaenic, Common
  
  258|
  258|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  Religion: Eostre and Thyr
  Resources: farming, cattle-herding, and exceptional artisans
  Currency: Heldring
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  This large town at the northern end of the Wealdyke — located on 
  the road between Kingsgardt and Durwent — is a well-organized and 
  efﬁ cient settlement primarily controlled by ﬁ ve noblewomen who form 
  a matriarchal council. Although men and women share common rules 
  throughout the town, Wirric Bury has had only women in the role of 
  leadership for many years. Since their initial appointment decades 
  earlier, the town has known only success and prosperity.
  Under the watchful gaze of the capital city to the west, the small town of 
  Wirric Bury has steadily grown to become one of the largest settlements in 
  the region. While hardworking residents farm and herd cattle in the open 
  space surrounding the walled settlement, an emerging group of artisans 
  and their work has been growing in popularity, with sculpting, pottery, and 
  music gaining renown in the region. Recently, leaders of the community 
  commissioned the construction of a large theater that is rumored to seat 
  1,000. Neighboring settlements and even the nobles at the Kingsgardt court 
  are said to be eagerly awaiting the completion of the theater.
  Although shrines dedicated to Eostre and Tyr are found within the 
  sprawling town, worship services, like attendees, have been declining 
  substantially of late. With their focus on the newly emerging arts, many 
  residents pay less attention to the gods. Priests turned to the church in 
  Kingsgardt for help but have yet to receive a reply on the matter.
  Although Wirric Bury once only traded cattle and crops with 
  merchants and neighboring towns, their recent development and 
  advancement in the arts has attracted rich and wealthy collectors. Inns 
  and taverns received face lifts to meet the needs of those used to more 
  comfortable and attentive service. The new inﬂ ux of wealth entering the 
  town stimulated the economy, which drew more merchants, business, 
  and residents at a faster rate than ever before. Wirric Bury will no doubt 
  grow into a city in the coming years.
  The matriarchal council — which collectively possesses the right and 
  title of an ealdorman — controls every aspect of the growing town. Each 
  council member has authority over one of ﬁ ve matters: economy, art, 
  defense, religion, and law. Although all ﬁ ve members get an equal vote 
  with respect to proposed changes or additions to the settlement’s governing 
  doctrines, each member is an expert in her own area of responsibility.
  YNYS CYMRAGH 
  YNYS CYMRAGH 
  (IN-is KIM-rah)
  Capital: Dunkelding and Demetae
  Notable Settlements: Caer Cadwin, Caer Cwm, Luggbroch 
  Ruler: none, though Daan was recognized as polemarch 
  (ardrigh/high king) in centuries past
  Government: loosely allied petty kingdoms
  Population: 177,099 (118,300 Daanite, 20,100 Heldring 
  [typically slaves], 14,100 wood elf, 9,950 gnome, 7,900 
  Foerdewaith, 3,700 half-elf, 1,600 wyvaran, 999 mountain 
  dwarf, 450 changeling)
  Monstrous: kelpies, selkies, fey (coastline); bog hounds, 
  bog horses, fey, dire animals, fachans, hags, will-o’-wisps 
  (lowlands); goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, bugbears, ﬁ rbolgs, 
  ogres, trolls, veds, wyverns, mist dragons (mountains)
  Languages: Common, Ogham, Elven, Sylvan, Druidic, Dwarven
  Religion: Mithras, Old Way, Thyr, Heldring Pantheon (some), 
  Fey Pantheon, Bilis, Crom Dubh
  Resources: livestock (cattle, sheep), wool, ﬁ shing, horses, tin, 
  iron, ironwork, gems
  Currency: Daanite
  Technology Level: Iron Age
  Ynys Cymragh, a windswept island of high mountains, deep forests, 
  and green ﬁ elds, rises out of the waters at the end of the Helcynngae 
  Peninsula across the Straits of Daan. It is a realm apart, home of the 
  legendary people of Daan, liberators of Tircople, who have withdrawn 
  to their isle and suffer few to set foot upon their shores.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  There are no tales of a time before the people of Daan lived on Ynys 
  Cymragh. Their oldest legends tell of their ancestors coming forth from 
  deep caves within the mountains to spread over the peaks, hills, and 
  valleys of the isle. Here they lived in a time of myth, worshipping the 
  gods of the Old Way, until the coming of the Hyperboreans.
  Then in 128 I.R., the Hyperboreans landed upon its shores. They 
  quickly colonized the island and renamed it Insula Extremis. Over the 
  ensuing centuries, the original folk of Ynys Cymragh adopted many of 
  the practices of the Hyperboreans, including the worship of Mithras. For 
  long years, the island was a province of the empire and at peace. But in 
  many ways, the ancient traditions remained unaffected by the conquest.
  With the disintegration of the Hyperborean Empire in the years 
  leading up to 2500 I.R., the people of Ynys Cymragh again broke 
  into squabbling, petty kingdoms. At the same time, the void left by 
  the departing Hyperboreans led others to exploit the new chaos. One 
  such folk, the Heldring of the Helcynngae Peninsula, began a series of 
  conquests on the mainland of Akados. They also turned to their nearby 
  island neighbors on Insula Extremis. Initially, the kingdoms repelled 
  their attempts at invasion. But then an unnamed lesser king (believed 
  to have been a king of Caer Cadwin) imported Heldring mercenaries 
  in 2521 I.R. to supplement his own army and allowed them to settle in 
  some areas of lower Gwynmet as part of their payment. Caer Cadwin 
  was successful and brieﬂ y conquered a large portion of the island, but 
  within two years the Heldring settlers expanded beyond their allotted 
  boundaries and illegally brought in more of their folk across the strait. 
  Soon, the mercenaries who had been invited in overthrew Caer Cadwin 
  and most of its lands, and the rest of the island found itself in a war 
  against the Heldring tribes.
  The folk of Ynys Cymragh held fast for years, creating a virtual 
  stalemate at the Strathclyde Mountains. But the greater numbers of the 
  Heldring took a toll as more of the invaders arrived from across the strait 
  and raided the island’s coastal settlements, steadily taking more ground 
  each year.
  The stalemate ﬁ nally broke when Daan, a native of Ynys Cymragh 
  who had served the Hyperboreans in far Irkaina, returned to his homeland 
  with his cavalry of heavy cataphracts. A commander with surpassing 
  military skill and a near-unstoppable force of armored knights, he 
  rallied the petty kingdoms of the island and drove the Heldring back. 
  In 2566 I.R., the kings granted him the Hyperborean title of polemarch 
  and he was named ardrigh (or high king) with absolute authority over 
  all the folk of Ynys Cymragh. In a series of victorious battles, Daan 
  broke the back of the Heldring armies and drove them to a few coastal 
  settlements. In 2576 I.R., he defeated the last Heldring thegns at the 
  Battle of Agedium and expelled the last of the invaders from the island.
  For a period of time after that, Ynys Cymragh knew peace, but 
  word of the spreading corruption in the Hyperborean court of Tircople 
  compelled Daan (who still considered himself and his people loyal 
  subjects of the Hyperborean Empire) to raise his standard as polemarch 
  and rally his people to march upon Tircople and overthrow Trystecce, 
  the corrupt empress who had taken over the throne and the church. 
  In 2580 I.R., Daan’s ﬂ eet landed at Durwent and swept through the 
  Helcynngae Peninsula, utterly defeating any Heldring who rose against 
  him. As he continued his march north, the warriors of many Heldring 
  tribes ﬂ ocked to his banner and swelled his ranks. Daan spent the next 
  four years marching the length of Akados and across the Isthmus of 
  Irkaina, rallying thousands upon thousands to his cause.
  In 2584 I.R., his march ended at Tircople, and he besieged the 
  imperial city. He ﬁ nally managed to destroy the lich-queen Trystecce 
  but was slain in the process. With the empire liberated but in tatters, 
  Daan’s loyal men of Ynys Cymragh carried his body back home. Upon 
  their return, the island forever cut itself off from the rest of the world 
  and called all other realms “Lloegyr” (meaning the “Lost Lands”), and 
  took up the practice of calling themselves Daanites. Daan’s body was 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|259
  |259
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  interred either upon Ynys Wair or the mystical mountain of Mon Magni 
  (depending on which legend is believed). Many Daanites believe that 
  their lost high king will eventually return from the lands of the dead to 
  lead them again someday.
  In addition to the Daanites, many elves and gnomes live on Ynys 
  Cymragh, though they are fairly reclusive and never venture far from 
  their wooded homes. They maintain a closer relationship with the many 
  fey of the region than the humans. That being said, there is enough 
  contact that more than a few half-elves live among the Daanites.
  A colony of mountain dwarves also lives in the Strathclydes, but they remain 
  almost entirely in their mountain fastnesses and are almost never encountered 
  by other races. They follow Bilis, the Dwarf-King of the Otherworld.
  Today, Ynys Cymragh remains a land separate from all others. Few 
  Daanites travel off the island, and fewer foreigners are allowed on its 
  shores. Though the memory of Daan remains strong, the isle is again 
  divided into several petty kingdoms that continually bicker among 
  themselves, though outright conﬂ ict remains rare.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Many of the folk of Insula Extremis adopted the worship of Mithras 
  when the Hyperboreans conquered the island. The soldier-god remains 
  the most popular deity among the Daanites to this day, with his temples 
  found in nearly every city, town, and village on Ynys Cymragh. Among 
  the Hyperborean pantheon, Thyr also has adherents on the island.
  Despite the dominance of Hyperborean religion, many among the 
  Daanites, particularly outside the larger settlements, practice the Old 
  Way and revere a pantheon called the Tuatha Dé (“Tribe of the Gods”). 
  Some also worship one or more of the Heldring gods, such as Odin. 
  Among the dwarves of the island, Bilis is often venerated, while the 
  elves follow their usual fey pantheon.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The folk of Ynys Cymragh have little trade or commerce with those of 
  other lands. Foreign merchants are permitted to land only at Dunkelding, 
  where they may sell or buy after obtaining a license to trade. Trading 
  without a license, or leaving Dunkelding, are both capital crimes that 
  can be punished with permanent banishment or, in some cases, death.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  None of the kingdoms of Ynys Cymragh has embassies or formal 
  relations with any nations beyond their isle. And most other folk are happy 
  to leave them alone, if for no other reason than in recognition of their 
  sacriﬁ ce in freeing Tircople from the army of undead centuries ago. The 
  petty kingdoms scheme and bicker among themselves and occasionally 
  ﬁ ght skirmishes, but they otherwise ignore the rest of the world.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Ynys Cymragh is a land divided by rugged mountains into various 
  lowlands inhabited by various petty kingdoms ruled by “lesser kings” 
  who have warred with each other and the mainland Heldring on and off 
  for millennia.
  Today, the petty kingdoms of Ynys Cymragh are: Powynry, which 
  controls the ﬁ elds and forests east of the Strathclyde Mountains, with its 
  capital of Dunkelding; Gwynmet, which includes the island’s western 
  coastal region and the portion of the Strathclyde Mountains around Mon 
  Magni, with its capital of Demetae; Caer Cadwin on the northwestern-
  most point of the island which includes the vales of the Powyn 
  Mountains; Caer Cwm, with its domain over the northern reaches of the 
  Strathclyde Mountains; Noduminia, the harsh and barren southwestern 
  coast and upland vales in the Strathclydes, with its capital of Luggbroch; 
  and the mysterious druidical island of Ynys Wair in Rhos Bay.
  In addition to serving as the capital of Powynry, the strongest of the 
  petty kingdoms, Dunkelding serves as the island’s “public” capital, with 
  the only port at which foreigners are permitted to dock. Those foreign 
  merchants licensed to trade in Ynys Cymragh can land and sell their 
  wares in Dunkelding but they are not permitted to leave the city under 
  pain of death.
  Demetae, on the other hand, is the capital established by Daan during 
  his tenure as ardrigh and high king, and remains the spiritual capital of 
  the Daanite peoples. While the Gwynmet king rules from the palace of 
  Daan, by tradition he does not sit upon Daan’s throne. The druids of 
  Mon Magni hold the greatest sway in the court of Demetae and hold 
  their ancient rituals and vigils upon the sacred mountain.
  Thirty years ago, the king of Caer Cadwin died under mysterious 
  circumstances without an heir.  Since then, the town has descended into 
  chaos, as no one noble has been able to assert enough authority to seize 
  control. Many brigands, thieves, and pirates now make their homes in 
  Caer Cadwin as no one is powerful enough to evict them.
  The various kingdoms of the island are divided into townships and 
  administrative regions called cantrefs that are overseen by a Court of 
  Uchelwyr (assembly of prominent landowners). Individual villages that 
  are not considered the major towns and cities of the kingdoms are called 
  commotes. Cantrefs usually include two to six commotes.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Each petty king and noble keeps a house guard and can raise a militia 
  from local towns and farms that consists of all men and women of sword-
  bearing age. However, there is little or no coordination between any of 
  the kingdoms, or even among the settlements of any given kingdom. 
  Fortunately, it has been long years since any threat has arisen that would 
  require more might than a single king can bring to bear.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Many dark threats exist in the deep forests and peaks of Ynys Cymragh. 
  Mist dragons, wyverns, goblinoids, ogres, trolls, and giants roam here, and 
  hags haunt the lowland moors where they seek to exchange Daanite infants 
  for changelings. Firbolg clans are live amongst the peaks of the Powyns. 
  Even the fey of the forests can be of great peril to unaware humans.
  DUNKELDING, CITY OF
  DUNKELDING, CITY OF
  Ruler: The Honorable Gorlish “Stoneface” Yaargsgood
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 18,506 (17,300 Daanite, 1,105 half-elf, 101 human 
  mixed ethnicity)
  Monstrous: pirates and goblinoid races from the Strathclyde 
  Mountains
  Languages: Ogham, Common
  Religion: Mithras, Thyr
  Resources: ﬁ shing, shipbuilding, herding, mining
  Currency: all common currencies accepted
  Technology Level: Iron Age
  The capital of the petty kingdom of Powynry, the strongest of the 
  kingdoms of Ynys Cymragh, and the public capital-city of the island, 
  Dunkelding is the most cosmopolitan settlement on the isle and has been 
  growing at a respectable rate for many years. Because of the presence of 
  outsiders and their ideas, and the availability of revenue from licensing 
  foreign merchants and taxing trade, Dunkelding has a bustling merchant 
  quarter, a well-run harbor, and wide and well-kept streets. In fact, 
  Dunkelding is the only port at which foreigners are permitted to dock. 
  Those foreign merchants licensed to trade in Ynys Cymragh can land 
  and sell their wares in Dunkelding but may not leave the city.
  Although its primary source of wealth rises from its role as the only 
  gateway between Ynys Cymragh and the rest of the world, revenue also 
  comes from farming and raising cattle, shipbuilding, and, increasingly, 
  mining operations in the nearby Strathclyde Mountains. Dunkels are 
  quite proud of their prosperous growth and can be quick to anger over 
  even the slightest of insults targeted at their city or people.
  The worship of Mithras and Thyr, along with a few other Hyperborean 
  gods, predominates in Dunkelding. The old ways are little remembered 
  in town, though the old gods are recalled in the mountain valleys and 
  remote farms.
  Though denominated as a kingdom, Powynry is actually an autocracy 
  without a hereditary king. Rather, a single individual from one of the 
  100 original Daanite Dunkelding families serves a 25-year term before 
  personally choosing his or her successor. The honorable leader of the 
  city has complete control and jurisdiction in all matters of the city. The 
  
  260|
  260|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  Honorable Gorlish “Stoneface” Yaargsgood is ﬁ nishing up the last two 
  years of his term and is already contemplating his replacement. He 
  gained his nickname after facing down certain death with a battle-troll, 
  his face never changing to show emotion.
  The city can call upon 500 full-time soldiers and another 500 militia 
  to defend itself in times of need. A ﬂ eet of speedy longships patrols the 
  harbor and port while the town guard watches over the city streets day 
  and night. It has been some time since a great attack force ventured into 
  the city’s waters, and the last pirate ﬂ eet was sent to feed the carrion sea 
  creatures in the harbor’s sea bottom many years ago.
  With walls protected by well-trained archers and ballistae, 
  Dunkelding has little to fear from the occasional goblin raid from the 
  nearby mountains. However, the joined forces of several clans of trolls 
  and giants could challenge the city if caught unawares. It has been a 
  long time since enough mountain-dwelling foes gathered their forces 
  together to contest the strength of the city, however. Some say they have 
  been fortunate for too long and that their luck may run out at some point.
  DEMETAE, CITY OF
  DEMETAE, CITY OF
  Ruler: Righ (King) Yngardd
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 3,805 (3,553 Daanite, 201 half-elf, 51 human mixed 
  ethnicity)
  Monstrous: large clan raids from the Strathclyde Mountains
  Languages: Ogham, Common
  Religion: Old Gods, Thyr
  Resources: ﬁ shing, farming, herding
  Currency: all common currencies accepted
  Technology Level: Iron Age
  Demetae — or the City over Ynys Wair — overlooks the Strait of 
  Daan and sits nestled in the curve of the Strathclyde Mountains to 
  its south. An ancient city of winding streets and near-vertical steps 
  spanning several levels, a visitor can quickly recognize the unchecked 
  and unplanned growth of the city by the sea.
  One of the earliest settlements on the island of Ynys Cymragh, 
  Demetae has waxed and waned in power and inﬂ uence over the years. 
  At its zenith, it was the capital of Daan while he sat here as ardrigh and 
  high king. To this day, it remains the spiritual capital of the Daanite 
  people. Although King Yngardd rules from the same palace that Daan 
  once did, by tradition he does not sit upon Daan’s throne and leaves it 
  vacant for the eventual return of their ancient high king. In total acreage, 
  the lands ruled from Demetae, the petty kingdom of Gwynmet, are the 
  largest of all on the island, though much is empty moor or bog.
  The druids of Mon Magni in the nearby Strathclydes hold greater 
  sway in the court of Demetae than in any other city on the island, 
  performing their ancient rituals and vigils upon the sacred mountain 
  overlooking the city. As a result, though many do worship Mithras, the 
  veneration of the Old Gods is perhaps more prominent here than in any 
  other town on Ynys Cymragh.
  While the town does boast a harbor, foreigners are not permitted to 
  dock here, so trade is only with other Daanite settlements. Fishing is an 
  important source of foodstuffs and tradegoods, as several species of ﬁ sh 
  and shellﬁ sh are found only in Rhos Bay and nowhere else.
  The town keeps a modest guard to watch over its walls and streets. In 
  many ways, the biggest threat comes from Caer Cadwin, which is now 
  little better than a pirate fortress.
  CAER CADWIN, TOWN OF
  CAER CADWIN, TOWN OF
  Ruler: none currently
  Government: anarchy
  Population: 8,757 (4,997 Daanite, 3,760 various pirate and 
  nomadic races)
  Monstrous: pirates, slavers from the sea, and giant races from 
  the Powyn Mountains
  Languages: Common, Ogham, other mixed languages
  Religion:  no active, visible worship
  Resources: ﬁ shing, shipbuilding, trading
  Currency: bartering only
  Technology Level: Iron Age
  Unlike the rest of the Daanite lands, Caer Cadwin is an unsavory 
  place ﬁ lled with uncouth and ill-begotten individuals. Thirty years ago, 
  the king here died without an heir under mysterious circumstances. 
  Since then, no one noble has been able to assert enough authority to 
  seize control, and the town has descended into chaos. Brigands, thieves, 
  and pirates moved into the power vacuum and took root in Caer Cadwin, 
  including foreigners otherwise prohibited from living on the island.
  Sadly, Caer Cadwin has a long history of posing a threat to its 
  neighbors on Ynys Cymragh. It is said that, after the departure of the 
  Hyperboreans, a king of Caer Cadwin was responsible for importing 
  Heldring mercenaries to ﬁ ght his wars against the other island kings and 
  allowed them to settle in conquered lands as payment. While this led to 
  the town’s brief control over much of the island, in the end the Heldring 
  mercenaries overthrew their foolish patron and took his lands and began 
  a war to seize the whole of Ynys Cymragh. Only the return of Daan 
  likely prevented the complete conquest of the island.
  Even so, not long ago, Caer Cadwin was a respectable town with 
  a complement of doughty ﬁ shermen, dedicated shipbuilders, and 
  soldiers serving Thyr. The death of the last king and the chaos that 
  ensued wreaked havoc on the town and its countryside. The otherwise 
  honest citizens, with nowhere to turn, succumbed to violent ways, either 
  serving the bands of pirates or learning to coexist with the unsavory new 
  residents. Now decadent and unforgiving, Caer Cadwin’s proud past is 
  increasingly a distant memory.
  No form of government currently exists in the town. However, several 
  of the pirate clan leaders, recognizing that their freedom to reign is likely 
  to eventually be threatened by the other kings of Ynys Cymragh, are 
  reluctantly trying to work together to build a loose council or protectorate. 
  At present, the odds of the success of this endeavor seem slim, as several 
  pirate leaders instrumental in the formation of a council have recently 
  been assassinated. Pirate ships patrol the waters along the coast to protect 
  their new home from Daanites and Heldring warriors. More than 50 
  vessels now call Caer Cadwin their home port. Only a small group of 
  hired mercenaries patrol the southern lands beyond the citadel walls.
  While some dedicated followers of Thyr still exist within the community, 
  most gave up hope and turned to a godless existence. The temple of Thyr 
  has been closed for several years and looks to stay that way.
  As the chaos in Caer Cadwin starts to threaten the other kingdoms of 
  Ynys Cymragh, some of the other kings began to take notice. Nobles of 
  Demetae and Dunkelding are beginning to consider a joint attack force 
  to cleanse the northern village once and for all.
  CAER CWM, TOWN OF
  CAER CWM, TOWN OF
  Ruler: The Lord Paladin Lional Dresdanda
  Government: theocracy
  Population: 2,415 (2,034 Daanite, 381 human mixed ethnicity)
  Monstrous: pirate raiders, goblinoid, troll, and giant races from 
  the Powyn Mountains to the west
  Languages: Common, Ogham
  Religion: Thyr
  Resources: ﬁ shing, grains, cattle, religion
  Currency: barter
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Although similar in design, the citadel at Caer Cwm is half the size 
  of that found in Caer Cadwin. Even more unlike its western neighbor, 
  Caer Cwm supports a small force of paladins, monks, and priests who 
  are all devoted to Thyr. A training ground for new recruits and converted 
  holy men, Caer Cwm’s fortress sits upon a high cliff several hundred 
  feet above the sea. About a ﬁ fth of the Daanite population resides in the 
  stronghold, while the rest of the residents live in fortiﬁ ed stone homes 
  atop the cliff overlooking the seas north of Ynys Cymragh.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |261
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  After Daan’s return from Irkaina, a number of Hyperborean deities 
  took root on Ynys Cymragh, nowhere more so than here at Caer Cwm. 
  A follower of Daan’s took holy vows to Thyr while on campaign, and 
  before departing on the crusade to free Tircople, founded in the citadel 
  an order of holy priests and warriors to the god of law. Those orders 
  remain based in the fortress to safeguard several holy artifacts of their 
  god and send forth their best to protect and preach throughout Ynys 
  Cymragh and beyond. Statues of Thyr are found throughout the town, 
  and it seems that not a single soul intentionally skips worship services.
  The residents of Caer Cwn ﬁ sh along the small peninsula to the 
  southeast and bring back their daily catch to the docks where they trade 
  with other Daanite merchants for goods such as fruits and vegetables 
  from elsewhere on the island. Many blacksmiths of Caer Cwm are 
  extremely talented, but they are rarely willing to trade their wares to 
  outsiders. They spend most of their time working on gear for their 
  paladins and warriors to ensure their protection with well-crafted armor. 
  Work and trade are all performed in the name of Thyr to ensure that the 
  monks and warrior-priests of the citadel are well-fed and equipped. In 
  return, the paladins of the fortress patrol the region and dispatch raiders 
  and skirmishing humanoids.
  Cantrefs under the protection of Caer Cwn are spread over the coast 
  and into the Powyn Mountains. The paladins of the citadel take their 
  responsibility to their folk seriously and do not tolerate any threats to 
  the peace of their lands.
  A council of seven natural-born residents of Caer Cwm who have 
  taken vows to Thyr uphold laws, try criminals, and decide matters of 
  varying importance. By tradition, three paladins, two priests, and two 
  monks hold seats on the Council of the Seven, with each chosen for 
  a period of seven years by signs and portents shown to the council by 
  Thyr himself. One of the paladins is also chosen as lord of the citadel 
  and serves until the portents declare a successor.
  More than a third of the settlement’s residents can take up arms, from 
  the paladins and soldiers of the citadel down to the battle-seasoned 
  ﬁ shermen within the village. Surrounded by 30-foot-high, ﬁ ve-foot-
  thick walls at the top of a high cliff peak, the town is nigh impregnable. 
  Each paladin is trained in lance and sword, and is an expert at ﬁ ghting 
  upon horseback. Any small group facing 50 to 100 Caer Cwm paladins 
  in full armor baring down on them is likely to bolt.
  LUGGBROCH, TOWN OF
  LUGGBROCH, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Queen Brisen Gwenog
  Government: kingdom and council of ﬁ ve senior craftsmen
  Population: 5,985 (5,289 Daanite, 696 human mixed ethnicity)
  Monstrous: giants, orcs, and ogres
  Languages: Common, Ogham
  Religion: Old Ways, Mithras, Thyr
  Resources: ﬁ shing, shipbuilding, ironwork, furniture and 
  manufactured crafts, some mining
  Currency: barter primarily, some common currencies accepted
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Luggbroch, the southernmost settlement of the Daanites on Ynys 
  Cymragh, is the capital of Noduminia, the island’s harsh and barren 
  southwestern coast and upland vales in the Strathclydes. Despite its 
  remote location, the locals have made the town a warm and welcoming 
  place to those brave enough to descend the trails to the shoreline or ride 
  the violent waves of the southern Sinnar Ocean.
  Were it not for the stands of mighty pines found in the nearby 
  mountains that are ideal for shipbuilding, this town would likely have 
  never grown larger than a hamlet. But its renown for building vessels of 
  legendary seaworthiness led many craftsmen and merchants to make a 
  home here at the far end of civilization on Akados. The town’s attraction 
  is enhanced by a few mines in the mountains where deposits of coal and 
  the occasional diamond can be found. 
  Today, in addition to ﬁ shing and shipbuilding, Luggbroch boasts 
  some of the ﬁ nest craftsmen in the Daanite lands. With few passes 
  through the Strathclydes, most trade is via the ocean with other towns 
  on Ynys Cymragh, and particularly with Dunkelding to the north, the 
  only market on the island open to outsiders. 
  Many residents of Noduminia continue to follow the Old Ways. 
  Others, however, ﬁ nd solace in the hands of Tyr, bravest of the gods, 
  who understands the trials of folk so remote from their fellows, 
  including their sacriﬁ ces in the harshest of terrain and most unforgiving 
  of elements.
  The eldest member of ﬁ ve of the leading families of artisans sits on a 
  traditional council and advises the king or queen and approves all major 
  changes in local law.
  Luggbroch maintains a modest militia that guards the town walls 
  and patrols the small villages of Noduminia inland. But in the event 
  of a real threat, they would likely need to look to the neighboring city 
  of Dunkelding and the citadel of Caer Cwm. Every once in a while, 
  giants or other humanoids seek to raid from the mountain fastnesses. 
  Most settlements hunker down in those circumstances and wait for 
  the invaders to depart. Luggbroch itself, mostly at the base of high 
  cliffs overlooking the sea, is too hard a target for any but the most-
  organized bands. Occasionally, sea-raiders and pirates unfamiliar with 
  the southern shoreline have thought to plunder the town. However, swift 
  and punishing retribution from Dunkelding sailors has become common 
  knowledge to those who travel the southern shipping lanes, with less-
  reputable ships usually avoiding the shoreline town.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN 
  THE HELCYNNGAE PENINSULA
  THE HELCYNNGAE PENINSULA
  BRYON FIRTH
  BRYON FIRTH
  This is the largest ﬁ rth of Helcynngae Peninsula. Historically, this 
  has been the primary launching point of invading ﬂ eets of Heldring 
  longships in the last thousand years. The Oescreheit Downs lie along 
  its west coast.
  CUMORIAN MOUNTAINS
  CUMORIAN MOUNTAINS
  A massive range of tall peaks and jagged mountains cascades through 
  the entire western edge of the peninsula, effectively cutting off villages 
  and hamlets on the west coast from aid from larger settlements in the 
  central plains. Those separated by the dense ridge have learned to 
  survive on their own with little support from their distant kin.
  Countless tribes and clans of humanoid races populate the inhospitable 
  mountain range. Goblins, orcs, ogres, trolls, and giants are found in 
  large numbers throughout the Cumorians, which makes travel through 
  or under the range a deadly proposition. The Heldring of Thunderhelde, 
  with their veneration of Hel, pose a threat to any who might pass near 
  their lands.
  Rumors of ancient dwarven mines and tunnels made of gold beneath 
  the Cumorian Mountains are unfounded but widely believed by the 
  Heldring people. Numerous expeditions have resulted in failure — they 
  either never ﬁ nd the legendary locales or never return.
  EOREC HEIGHTS
  EOREC HEIGHTS
  The towering mountain range at the end of the Helcynngae Peninsula 
  once provided natural protection from the Daanites of Ynys Cymragh 
  years ago. The steep cliffs and near-vertical peaks make the Strait of 
  Daan a windswept, choppy waterway that tests the skills of even the 
  most experienced sailors.
  Giants and various humanoids call these peaks home. In addition, 
  the dwarven citadel of Erodgrimm is located here, though visitors are 
  not welcome.
  Small dragons have been known to lair in the Eorec Heights, primarily 
  ﬁ ghting among themselves to dominate the highest mountaintops. 
  Wyrm sightings below the clouds are rare, and the beasts are only brieﬂ y 
  
  262|
  262|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHEASTERN AKADOS
  witnessed as the large lizards grab up sheep, cows, or other cattle for a 
  quick meal.
  HATLU PEAKS
  HATLU PEAKS
  The eastern mountains of the Helcynngae Peninsula provide natural 
  protection for the central plains and the great city of Kingsgardt. Raging 
  storms along snowy peaks of the range are far away from the herders 
  and farmers of the plains below.
  Typical deep-dwelling creatures roam the mountain range and battle 
  with other foul foes over a few hundred feet of rock. Tribes of goblins 
  clash with orc clans while trolls and ogres butcher each other for better 
  lairs. Luckily for the Heldrings on the plains below, the dimwitted and 
  vile humanoids of the mountains are preoccupied with each other and 
  their own greedy needs. However, lycanthropes are also known to roam 
  these heights, and they are less easily fooled.
  THE HELWALL
  THE HELWALL
  See “Helwall” under “Geographic Features and Points of Interest in 
  the Sundered Kingdoms and the Sinnar Coast of Southeastern Akados.”
  MON MAGNI
  MON MAGNI
  The highest point on Ynys Cymragh, this mountain is considered 
  sacred and is home to a powerful druidic order that protects a large 
  ancient cromlech at the summit’s peak. From this location, the evil 
  ardrigh (high king) Crom Dubh ruled the island for a short time centuries 
  ago. Mon Magni is also believed by some to hold the tomb of Daan.
  OESCREHEIT DOWNS
  OESCREHEIT DOWNS
  This highland down, riddled with old stone circles of the Ancient 
  Folk, is where Overking Osbert II of Foere defeated the Heldring and 
  ﬁ nally brought about the conquest of the Helcynngae Peninsula by the 
  Foerdewaith. It is guarded by an ancient druidic order that use the local 
  quail as spies.
  POWYN MOUNTAINS
  POWYN MOUNTAINS
  This small secondary mountain range is an offshoot of the larger 
  Strathclyde Mountains on Ynys Cymragh. The mountain cantrefs of 
  Caer Cwm occupy its northernmost portions.
  RHOS BAY
  RHOS BAY
  The isle of Ynys Wair is in the midst of this bay on the west side of 
  Ynys Cymragh, on the shores of which is also the port city and old 
  Daanite capital of Demetae.
   STRAIT OF DAAN
   STRAIT OF DAAN
  This narrow waterway separates the island of Ynys Cymragh from the 
  mainland of the Helcynngae Peninsula. It has long been considered hostile 
  waters infested by sea serpents and worse, though it is true that invasion 
  ﬂ eets from Helcynngae and Ynys Cymragh have crossed its waters.
  STRATHCLYDE MOUNTAINS
  STRATHCLYDE MOUNTAINS
  This primary mountain range of Ynys Cymragh serves as a natural 
  barrier between the western kingdoms and eastern kingdoms of the 
  island. Foothills and nearby vales are often settled by those who give 
  allegiance to one of the nearby towns with their petty kinds. Most of 
  the range, however, effectively lies outside the control of any kingdom. 
  Mon Magni is claimed by Gwynmet. Many unusual creatures call these 
  mountain peaks home, including fey, mysterious mountain dwarves, 
  giants and goblinoids, wyverns, and an unusual concentration of mist 
  dragons around certain peaks.
  WEALDYKE
  WEALDYKE
  This manmade raised causeway and ditch running between Wirric 
  Bury and Aethelham was constructed in the middle of the last millennium 
  to provide a line of defense (which was ultimately unsuccessful) against 
  the invasions of the Daanites from Ynys Cymragh. Remarkable in the 
  swiftness of its completion, rumors say that it was raised upon the 
  remnants of a much older fortiﬁ cation. The histories of the Heldring, 
  however, do not tell of any earlier invaders of the peninsula, so if this 
  is the case, it is unknown who might have built it or for what purpose.
  YNYS WAIR
  YNYS WAIR
  This island in the Straits of Daan is shrouded in mystery. Traditionally, 
  it is considered one of the petty kingdoms of Ynys Cymragh, but in 
  reality, it has had little to do with the larger island. It is said that many 
  fey live on Ynys Wair, and that a stronghold of druids can be found 
  there as well. Some connection with the druids of Mon Magni in the 
  Strathclydes on Ynys Cymragh certainly exists, but the nature of that 
  connection is unknown. Despite the various wars and conquests fought 
  on the lands about the island, no navy has ever landed on its shores, nor 
  has any army ever attempted to seize its ground. Some legends say that 
  the tomb of Daan himself lies somewhere on the island. Whatever else 
  may be said about Ynys Wair, it is certainly a place of great — though 
  hidden — power.
  hidden — power.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  CENTRAL SINNAR COAST 
  CENTRAL SINNAR COAST 
  OF EASTERN AKADOS
  OF EASTERN AKADOS
  The central Sinnar Coast of eastern Akados is described in detail in 
  The Lost Lands: Borderland Provinces by Frog God Games.
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF 
  THE CENTRAL SINNAR COAST 
  THE CENTRAL SINNAR COAST 
  OF EASTERN AKADOS
  OF EASTERN AKADOS
  AACHEN PROVINCE
  AACHEN PROVINCE
  (AWK-in or AH-khin) 
  Capital: Vermis (32,500) 
  Notable Settlements: Aixe, Becqueril, Dlante, Elet, Gretspaan 
  Citadel, Taundre 
  Ruler: Lord-Governor Theriven the Leopard
  Government: feudalism (vassal of Foere) 
  Population: 2,238,000 (2,100,000 Foerdewaith, 105,000 
  halﬂ ing, 24,000 high elf, 9,000 hill dwarf) 
  Monstrous: goblin, giant animal (bear, dragonﬂ y, wolf, stag), 
  bugbear, fey, ankheg, gnoll, ogre, basilisk, cockatrice, giant, 
  manticore, peryton (near Cretian Mountains), tiger, undead, 
  treant, wyvern (Cretian foothills), unicorn 
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Elvish, Dwarven 
  Religion: Ceres, Freya, Thyr (declining), Mick O’Delving, 
  Archeillus, Darach-Albith, Jamboor, Solanus (badly declining), 
  Telophus, Belon the Wise, Kamien, Yenomesh 
  Resources: grain, wool, cloth, manufactured goods, cotton, furs, 
  gems, silver 
  Currency: Foere
  Technology Level: Medieval (cities), High Middle Ages (rural 
  areas) 
  Aachen Province remains loyal to the Kingdom of Foere and is ruled 
  by a lord-governor appointed by the overking. It is a relatively peaceful 
  province, but potential revolution is brewing among the nobility. Order 
  in the province is beginning to decay as outside trade dwindles due 
  to high taxes at the border, and the pressure of this decline is already 
  affecting the farmers and peasantry. 
  Aachen Province is found immediately to the west of Eastreach 
  Province, in the Aachen Gap between the Mons Terminus range and the 
  Cretian Mountains. Its boundaries are relatively well-established, with 
  the exception of the rural boundaries with Eastreach Province. Starting 
  clockwise from the Great Bridge, Aachen’s border cuts southeast in a 
  generally diagonal line to just south of the Estuary Road’s intersection 
  with the Wain Road. It is this boundary that gets vague as it circles around 
  farms and villages in the countryside. Thence, the line naturally follows 
  the edge of the Cretian Mountains westward through the town of Elet and 
  eventually to the city of Aixe. It is here that the boundary line crosses the 
  Aachen Gap and continues northwest to reach the southern extent of the 
  Mons Terminus just north of the ruins of Curgantium. The western border 
  is demarcated by the upper run of the Great Amrin River, where it hugs 
  the edge of the Mons Terminus Range northward to the Great Bridge. 
  These boundaries correspond closely to the older concept of “the 
  Aachenland,” although the old Aachenland culture extends a bit farther 
  south into Foere than the administrative boundaries of the province. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  The native Aachenlanders were absorbed into the Kingdoms of Foere 
  when King Macobert established the province in the year 2720 I.R. At 
  the time, the Aachenlanders were a loose afﬁ liation of tribes having been 
  previously united under the Hyperborean Empire, sharing a common 
  language and trading among each other fairly peacefully. The original 
  language of Aachen has entirely died out, ﬁ rst replaced by High Boros 
  and then by the common tongue, although it has left the Aachenlanders 
  with a still-recognizable accent in their Westerling speech, and several 
  idioms not found elsewhere, such as expressing “don’t wait too long” by 
  saying, “don’t let ﬁ sh eat you.” 
  Vast wildﬁ res spawned by the explosion of the Tower of Oerson in 
  2496 I.R. devastated the entire region south of the city of Vermis, with 
  the wind-blown wave of ﬂ ames eventually spreading all the way to the 
  Matagost Peninsula thousands of miles to the east. The city of Aixe was 
  spared only due to its huge, lake-fed moat, and might still have starved 
  to death in the ensuing famines if it were not sited directly upon a road 
  leading to areas not affected by the ﬁ res. Untold thousands died from 
  ﬁ re and famine in the rural areas of what would become the Province of 
  Aachen; scholars estimate that the population of the area took 300 years 
  to rebuild to its original numbers from before the ﬁ res. 
  Lord-Governor Theriven the Leopard is the veteran of several feudal 
  wars and the younger son of a noble Foerdewaith family, born in 
  Troye. Without any prospect of an inheritance, Theriven took service 
  as a mercenary and distinguished himself on the battleﬁ eld as a staunch 
  supporter of Foere. He is a grim and unﬂ inching man, intolerant of 
  dissent and difﬁ cult to read. As a widely-traveled warrior, he is enough 
  of a realist to see that even in the close province of Aachen, the Court in 
  Courghais is no longer offering much support in return for the revenues 
  it collects, and that the prosperity of “his” lands is slowly dwindling. He 
  is unnervingly quiet on this subject, a complete cipher. 
  A vast number of the landsgrafs in Aachen resent the unequal bargain 
  being given to them by the overking, which is to pay high taxes in 
  exchange for slight assistance. They hear of the power of the nobles in 
  free Suilley and look across the borders to see the riches of a predatory 
  nobility in Eastreach Province, and they compare it to their own role as 
  providers to a hungry, desperate, foreign empire. To most of them, the 
  reason for the difference is obvious: It is the hand of Foere that keeps 
  them weak. More and more they are talking behind closed doors, and 
  training their men-at-arms in case the need arises to take one side or 
  another in an armed resolution. So far, the situation cannot be described 
  as a volatile one, for most of the landsgrafs consider themselves to 
  be hereditary Foerdewaith, even if they are angered by their brethren 
  nobles to the west. 
  A few nobles, predominantly barons but also a few landsgrafs, have 
  begun to call their heritage “Fairdevaine” rather than “Foerdewaith,” 
  reﬂ ecting the local Aachenland dialect of the Westerling common 
  speech. These are the nobles to watch the most closely, for if the nobility 
  of Aachen begins to sever itself from the bloodlines of the Kingdom 
  of Foere, rebellion is nigh. At the moment, though, most of the nobles 
  perceive the situation as more of a family squabble among Foerdewaith 
  lords in the same empire, not as a dispute between two different 
  nationalities. In short, lines are being drawn, but they are still faint. The 
  pot simmers, but the heat remains low. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  As with the western region of Eastreach, Aachen is fairly well 
  populated, with numerous farming towns and trading villages. A fairly 
  EASTERN AKADOS AND
  EASTERN AKADOS AND
  THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  
  264|THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  264|
  264|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE CENTRAL & NORTHERN SINNAR COAST
  THE CENTRAL & NORTHERN SINNAR COAST
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  extensive network of passable roads in the province allows even the 
  smallest settlements access to large markets, so farms are generally 
  large and prosperous in the Aachen heartlands. Moreover, Aachen’s 
  internal governance is much better organized than its rather corrupt 
  northeastern neighbor Eastreach, with fewer so-called “tolls” being 
  extorted from travelers by petty nobles and pocket ﬁ efdoms. Many of 
  the small towns in Aachen hold great “fayres” during which peasants 
  from the surrounding regions and traveling merchants from other towns 
  congregate to buy and sell all manner of goods. Such fayres are often 
  held three or four times per year. 
  Unlike its neighboring province of Eastreach, Aachen does not enjoy 
  a lucrative ﬁ nancial relationship with Bard’s Gate (for which the lord-
  governors have been more than a bit resentful in the past). For this 
  reason, the lords-governor of Aachen charge fairly extortionate taxes 
  on foreign caravans heading to and from Bard’s Gate — which is in 
  turn one of the many reasons Bard’s Gate conducts so much trafﬁ c by 
  riverboat through Eastreach, skirting Aachen entirely. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  Aachen is connected by high roads almost directly to the overking’s 
  capital at Courghais and remains loyal to the Kingdom of Foere. As such, 
  a lord-governor administers the province on behalf of the overking. The 
  current lord-governor is a somewhat frightening individual by the name 
  of Theriven the Leopard. 
  GOVERNMENT 
  GOVERNMENT 
  The lord-governorship is not a hereditary title, being an appointment 
  granted in the Court of Courghais by the overking. Thus far, no lord-
  governor has refused to surrender the ofﬁ ce or establish a hereditary 
  succession; most of them are, in any case, anxious to return to the 
  civilized center of the Kingdoms of Foere once they accumulate a 
  modest fortune in the provinces. 
  As a general rule for understanding the government of Aachen: 
  • If it is a high road, a bridge, or a court of law, a regional governor 
  is in charge of it. 
  • If it is a city, the mayor reports to the lord-governor and to no one 
  else (although the regional governor still runs the court system). 
  • If it is a town, it either reports to the lord-governor as a city (a “free 
  town”) or is governed by a noble as part of the feudal system, although 
  the courts remain under the supervision of the regional governor. 
  • If it is a piece of land, a wagon-trail, or a village, a noble of some 
  rank is in charge. 
  The province has seven major partitions ruled by regional governors 
  who are appointed by the royal court in Foere in the same manner as the 
  lord-governor, each of whom administers the roads, courts, and some 
  of the towns across a wide region. Within the regional governorships, 
  but reporting directly to the lord-governor, are well-deﬁ ned feudal 
  landgraves, each ruled by a noble lord bearing the title of “landsgraf,” 
  who administers the countryside (but not the courts or roads) over an 
  area roughly 50 miles across. Local barons, in fealty to the landsgrafs, 
  govern at the lowest level of the hierarchy. Most barons have the double 
  responsibility of maintaining a court for the governor while owing 
  military and tithe duties to the landsgraf. These baronies can be of 
  wildly varying sizes; many are little more than a small castle surrounded 
  by a mile or so of dreary wilderness; others might encompass a small 
  town and several miles of fertile farmland. 
  The seven governorships of Aachen are: Aixe (containing nine 
  landgraves), Vermis (containing 13 landgraves), Gretspaan (containing 
  six landgraves), Tremonde (containing eight landgraves), Dlante 
  (containing four landgraves), Sauv Lar (containing seven landgraves), 
  and Basivaine (containing ﬁ ve landgraves). At present, no landsgraf 
  holds more than one landgrave, so there are 52 landsgrafs ruling the 
  land of Aachen, in fealty to the ofﬁ ce (but not speciﬁ cally to the person) 
  of the lord-governor. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  The relative stability of Aachen as a province should not be 
  understood to suggest that the countryside is nothing but a placid 
  expanse of fields and cheerful peasants, although many such places 
  exist, especially in the heartlands. Many forests spread through 
  the region harbor beasts dire and strange, and there are countless 
  areas in Aachen that have either never been tamed or that have been 
  allowed to return to the wild. In particular, the lower reaches and 
  foothills of the Cretians and the Mons Terminus mountain ranges 
  are home to bandits and monsters alike. Settlements in these remote 
  areas cling grimly to their existence in the face of these threats, 
  receiving only sporadic, halfhearted support from those who boast 
  of the province’s stability. 
  The wilder parts of Aachen are home to tigers, which can be a threat 
  to herding communities. The tigers of Aachen (often referred to as 
  “leopards”) are spotted rather than the striped varieties more commonly 
  found in lands of the East, most likely a strain that has survived from the 
  days when the land was covered with great forests. 
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: BORDERLAND PROVINCES
  VERMIS, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  VERMIS, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  (VIRM-iss, sometimes WIRM-us)
  Population: 32,500 (28,200 Foerdewaith, 3,000 halﬂ ing, 870 
  high elf, 385 hill dwarf, 45 other)
  Ruler: Mayor-Palatine Landour Sebat
  Government: overlord
  The great city of Vermis is the capital of Aachen Province and the seat 
  of the lord-governor of all Aachen. Vermis stands on the ruins of the old 
  Hyperborean city of Lecinium, which was burned and abandoned in the 
  wave of catastrophes that followed the planetary pole shift in the late 
  2400s I.R. Survivors began to rebuild the ruins in the early 2500s, and 
  the town — later, city — of Vermis was ofﬁ cially founded around 2575 
  I.R. Using building materials and wealth salvaged from the remains of 
  Lecinium, Vermis erected a sturdy wall to defend against bandit attacks 
  and increased its inﬂ uence over nearby commotes and farms. While most 
  Aachen communities remained independent, Vermis exercised considerable 
  inﬂ uence over the settlements along the western branch of the Great Amrin 
  River, while Aixe grew inﬂ uential in the south.
  The city’s northern location meant that raids by the Bandit King Rinos fell 
  most heavily on Vermis and its surrounding commotes. Vermis’ militia grew 
  into a professional and well-seasoned army, but its numbers and mobility 
  limited its effectiveness against Rinos. Like the leaders of Aixe to the south, 
  the mayor and other Vermis city ofﬁ cials realized that some sort of union 
  with the neighboring kingdom of Foere was all but inevitable. When the 
  time came to negotiate, the mayor-palatine swore fealty to the overking in 
  exchange for a fair amount of autonomy, as well as status for his city as 
  capital of Aachen, the newest ﬁ efdom of Foere.
  Vermis is a river-port city with a deep harbor in the Great Amrin River 
  protected from river-pirates by an island-tower in the river known as the 
  Harbor’s Bite. Vast quantities of food and trade goods travel down to Vermis 
  from the upriver farms and villages to feed the city’s population. Trade goods 
  ﬁ nd their way onto the city’s riverboats, their great yellow sails proudly marked 
  with the city’s black dragon to boldly warn pirates not to incur the city’s wrath.
  Two hills dominate the city: The High Mercha, crowned by the white-
  walled College of Vermis, and the Groldhill, dominated by the grim citadel 
  of Vermis Grold.
  Notable temples in Vermis include the Chapterhouse-Crypt of Jamboor 
  below the High Mercha Hill; the aging stone cathedral of Solanus; the newly 
  expanded temple of Mitra; the Twin-temple of Thyr and Muir; and the Great 
  Mill-Temple of Ceres.
  Vermis is a diverse city that hosts folk from all across Akados. Merchants, 
  travelers, diplomats, explorers, and adventurers rub shoulders along the 
  city’s docks, inns, and streets. Goods from all corners of the continent and 
  beyond pass through the city, making Vermis a major trading crossroads. 
  Many major trading houses maintain a presence in Vermis due to its vital 
  location — Houses Drenwal and Gastone-Sheshek of Reme have major 
  ofﬁ ces, while the inﬂ uential Foere houses of Iskane and Tulius have made 
  Vermis their eastern base of operations. Business for caravan masters 
  and guards is especially brisk, giving rise to several agencies providing 
  assistance and freelance work to those with the proper skills.
  
  266|
  266|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  The King of Oceanus
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|267
  |267
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  AIXE, CITY OF
  AIXE, CITY OF
  (ECKS, or ah-YEEKS-uh) 
  Population: 8,600 (7,650 Foerdewaith, 570 hill dwarf, 380 
  halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Bertolde Kavre, Mayor-Palatine of Aixe, Baron of 
  Tharhold and Kavredal
  Government: autocracy
  The city of Aixe is a pleasant sight with its walls whitewashed and its 
  towers ﬂ uttering with colorful banners, surrounded by a lake-fed moat 
  100 feet across. Drawbridges lead over the moats to the city gates, each 
  of which is crowned by a painted portcullis-and-key symbol. On the far 
  side of the moat from the city, buildings cluster near the drawbridges 
  like small villages outside the city walls. 
  The fortiﬁ ed city of Aixe describes itself as the “Gateway of Foere,” 
  and the rather self-important title has some basis in fact, for it is within 
  the walls of Aixe that the high road from Foere branches into the 
  province’s three main highroads: The Cross Cut, the Estuary Road, and 
  the Royal Vermis Road. Most of the province’s trade with Foere passes 
  through the gates of Aixe going one way or another. 
  Aixe is an old city dating back to the Hyperborean era, although it has 
  long outgrown the small area originally enclosed by the Hyperborean 
  walls (now torn down). Its prosperity from trade allowed it to build new 
  walls over a century ago, but the city has again outgrown them and 
  relies upon the open grounds beyond the city to provide needed space 
  for new housing and for assembling caravans. 
  Originally, the landsgraf of Peridor denied the city any taxes on the 
  lucrative business of providing open space to caravans, but some years 
  ago the mayor-palatine’s guardsmen hauled the current landsgraf’s 
  father from his residence in the city and declared him guilty within 
  the hour. They summarily beheaded him in the city center and placed 
  his head on a pike outside the merchant camp. The city then sent an 
  apologetic letter to the lord-governor claiming that the entire affair had 
  been a case of mistaken identity; they had thought the man was a pig 
  thief named Boden. In order to prevent future cases of mistaken identity, 
  the Peridors now pay the city a share of their proﬁ ts. 
  Boden Bristleback, the actual pig thief, was never captured. He escaped 
  the city, despite being grievously wounded, and ﬂ ed to the Alder Zerin 
  Forest, where a large pack of feral pigs attacked his pursuers. Routed 
  by the porcine assault, the guardsmen were forced to retreat back to 
  the city in disarray: emptyhanded, wounded, and deeply embarrassed. 
  The mayor-palatine died later in a mysterious hunting accident near the 
  Peridor lands, and the Peridor family sent a large basket of overripe 
  pomegranates to the city as a token of their respect. 
  As far as visitors are concerned, the city of Aixe is pleasantly friendly 
  to foreigners. An entry toll is collected by the governor’s guards at the 
  city gate, a small fee of 1 silver coin per non-citizen entering the city, 
  and since merchants absorb the city’s transaction taxes, visitors who 
  wish to sell gems or other treasure in the city can do so at good prices. 
  As described, all four of the entrance gates have small “outer cities” 
  on the far side of the drawbridges where buildings have been built to 
  avoid the crowding inside the walls. And within the walls, it is indeed 
  crowded. Half-timber buildings press close against narrow, twisting 
  streets, overshadowing them in many cases with built-out balconies. 
  Caravans and travelers passing through the city must force their way 
  through a pressing crowd of local wagons and citizens. To avoid 
  crowding, many arriving caravans are admitted through the city in the 
  early hours of the morning to begin their journeys before dawn breaks 
  and the city wakes to life. 
  The crossroad where the four high roads divide toward their respective 
  city gates is a vast market fronted by the Court of the Governor of Aixe 
  and the Hall of the Mayor-Palatine, as well as the city’s guildhall. The 
  city’s guilds are not as powerful as they are in free cities, for they are 
  ultimately subject to laws and decrees of the lord-governor in Vermis. 
  Rather than having much political power in the city, they serve mainly 
  to ensure that the city’s products are of high quality, and that citizens 
  are not cheated. However, there is a constant drumbeat from the 
  guildmasters that Aixe should seek the status of a chartered city under 
  its own government. The overkings have thus far utterly forbidden the 
  lord-governors from granting such a charter, so the efforts of the guilds 
  have had little effect.
  As with the other major cities of Aachen, the area within the walls is 
  ruled by a mayor-palatine who reports directly to the lord-governor over 
  the head of the regional governor. Just outside the wall, the situation 
  is a bit complex. The surrounding roads (and the city’s courts) are 
  maintained by the regional governor of Aixe. However, the lands off 
  the roads are part of the feudal system, held by the landsgraf of Peridor. 
  The Peridors maintain two “merchant camps” outside the city walls, 
  wooden-walled palisades where caravans can assemble without trying 
  to do so in the chaotic, crowded streets of the city. 
  BECQUERIL, VILLAGE OF
  BECQUERIL, VILLAGE OF
  (BEK-er-il)
  Population: 172 (Foerdewaith)
  Ruler: Baron Jauntir of Becqueril
  Government: overlord
  Becqueril is a village built around the ancestral castle of Baron 
  Jauntir of Becqueril, whose domain extends approximately ﬁ ve miles 
  in all directions from the castle. There are 15 knightly manor houses 
  in the barony, and two other villages about the same size as Becqueril: 
  the village of Oton and the village of Cthayr. The rest of the barony’s 
  population is scattered throughout the area in isolated hamlets.
  DLANTE, TOWN OF
  DLANTE, TOWN OF
  (de-LANT)
  Population: 5,329 (5,223 Foerdewaith, 106 halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Regional Governor Baroness Azile de Palaintre
  Government: overlord
  Dlante is the seat of the governor of the region of Dlante, which 
  reaches to the border of Eastreach Province 50 miles to the east along the 
  Wain Road. The regional governor is Azile de Palaintre, a noblewoman 
  of Foere appointed to her post by the overking’s court in the city of 
  Courghais. She is ill-tempered and rude to those of lower social status, 
  but she has the redeeming quality of being less rapacious than any of the 
  other regional governors in Aachen Province. She beneﬁ ts greatly from 
  local taxes and from her share of judicial bribery, but she keeps these 
  sources of income to a modest sum rather than amassing whatever she 
  can get. As a result, Dlante has managed to keep itself in good condition 
  despite the slow decline of trade on the Wain Road. This section of the 
  road is relatively well-patrolled, the milestones are maintained, and 
  roadside inns are careful not to charge exorbitant prices to travelers. 
  Dlante is well-regarded by the caravan merchants of Bard’s Gate, and 
  they always make stopovers here to re-provision and rest their horses.
  White-painted stone walls surround the town, with ﬁ ve pointed 
  towers, their conical roofs painted a bright red. The townsfolk of 
  Dlante are universally heavyset, and the wealthiest of them have a 
  deﬁ nite tendency toward corpulence. By custom, the town citizens 
  (and only the town citizens) wear blue cylindrical hats with a very 
  slight taper, essentially a fez without a tassel. The higher a citizen’s 
  social status, the taller the fez. Rich merchants strut around town in 
  hats more than a foot tall, spangled with semiprecious stones and 
  decorated with ostrich feathers, sometimes trimmed with blue-dyed 
  fur. Ordinary laborers wear a modest fez decorated with a guild badge 
  or a decorative copper button.
  ELET, TOWN OF
  ELET, TOWN OF
  (EL-et)
  Population: 1,540 (1,434 Foerdewaith, 73 hill dwarf, 33 
  halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Mayor Alisce Elevard
  Government: overlord (Karlat of Krevin, absentee landsgraf)
  
  268|
  268|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  Elet is a small, stone-walled town on the Estuary Road roughly halfway 
  between Aixe and Eastgate. It lies at the base of the Ghostwind Pass into 
  the Yolbiac Vale, a dangerous crossing utterly impassable due to snow and 
  terrifying winds during at least two months of the year. Trade with the strange 
  valefolk on the far side of the mountain pass is sporadic at best, and most of 
  Elet’s wealth (such as it is) comes from travelers on the Estuary Road.
  The town is relatively insigniﬁ cant other than for its strategic location at 
  the base of the pass into the Yolbiac Vale; it is no larger than several other 
  towns along the Estuary Road. Elet sees traveling druids from time to time 
  on their way to pay respect to one or another of the druidic holy sites in 
  Ghostwind Pass.
  GRETSPAAN CITADEL
  GRETSPAAN CITADEL
  Population: 1,167 (926 Foerdewaith, 102 halﬂ ing, 79 half-elf, 60 hill 
  dwarf)
  Ruler: Baron Auricard, Regional Governor of Gretspaan
  Government: overlord
  On the south bank of the Great Amrin River, just within the border of 
  Aachen Province, stands the fortiﬁ ed citadel of Gretspaan, seat of the 
  regional governor of Gretspaan. The citadel serves as a strong border 
  fortress, and also quarters the various customs ofﬁ cials who collect their 
  own tariffs on merchants entering the Province from Bard’s Gate. Travelers 
  are welcomed into the town, but are not permitted in the citadel unless they 
  have business with the regional governor or the garrison.
  TAUNDRE, VILLAGE OF
  TAUNDRE, VILLAGE OF
  (TAWN-druh)
  Population: 467 (433 Foerdewaith, 34 halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Mayor Norman Gant
  Government: secret syndicate
  Taundre appears an unremarkable village with sagging stone walls and a 
  sleepy, countryside atmosphere. There is a small market fairground outside 
  the walls, and a single guard lounging by the entrance gate. It contains no 
  temple or any other unusual feature to distinguish itself from dozens of other 
  small country villages. The ordinary appearance is deliberate, for the village 
  is actually the headquarters of perhaps the most far-ﬂ ung criminal empire in 
  the Borderland Provinces, a group called the Friendly Men.
  AMRIN ESTUARY REGION
  AMRIN ESTUARY REGION
  Capital: none (Bard’s Gate controls both major cities)
  Notable Settlements: Amrin Ferry, Eastgate, Telar Brindel 
  Ruler: none
  Government: semi-autonomy (suzerainty of Bard’s Gate who 
  controls the cities, the land is loosely governed by a League of 
  Estuary Lords, all freeholders)
  Population: 420,000 (378,000 Foerdewaith, 33,000 halﬂ ing, 
  6,300 half-elf, 2,700 high elf)
  Monstrous: giant snake, goblin, boggard, green hag, ogre, 
  cockatrice, catoblepas (coastal swamps); giant eel, giant gar, 
  koalinth, kelpie, scrag, sea hag (estuary); crab swarm, sand 
  snake, bugbear, giant crayﬁ sh, gremlin, sandling (shoreline)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Elvish
  Religion: Freya (countryside), Dame Torren, Pekko, Thyr, 
  Sefagreth (Eastgate), Vanitthu (Telar Brindel), Mick 
  O’Delving, Tykee (shipboard), Quell
  Resources: trade hub, ﬁ shing, foodstuffs, shipbuilding
  Technology Level: Medieval (cities), High Middle Ages (rural)
  The city of Bard’s Gate dominates the economic and political 
  landscape in the Amrin Estuary region. The giant metropolis effectively 
  controls the two major cities located here: Eastgate and Telar Brindel. 
  However, the cities’ authority barely extends beyond their walls, with 
  the exception of patrolling the major trade roads. Instead, the task of 
  safeguarding the balance of the Amrin Estuary other than the estuary’s 
  northern bank, which falls under the jurisdiction of Eastreach Province, 
  has been delegated to the local nobles who form the League of Estuary 
  Lords. These administrators operate with complete autonomy, provided 
  of course, that their actions do not adversely harm the interests of the 
  area’s two major cities or by proxy, Bard’s Gate.   
  Despite its proximity to a major body of water, the wetlands 
  surrounding the estuary only extend a few miles from shore with the 
  exception of the Half-Pickle Marsh on the northern bank. Otherwise, 
  much of the untamed grasslands have been transformed into farmland. 
  The temperate climate encourages the growth of numerous grain crops, 
  though the wild animal population in the region is surprisingly low. By 
  and large, the terrain remains level throughout the area with only mild 
  inclines and gradual swales.
  AMRIN FERRY, VILLAGE OF
  AMRIN FERRY, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 228 (203 human [103 local Foerdewaith, 100 
  Waymark cavalry], 25 halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Commander of the Amrin Ferry Garrison, Falzar 
  Kennick
  Government: autocracy
  Bard’s Gate established the settlement of Amrin Ferry primarily to 
  protect river barges ferrying local produce for sale in Eastgate. The 
  village boasts several fortiﬁ cations, including stone walls, a ballista, and 
  a catapult to repel invaders. A lone frigate from Bard’s Gate safeguards 
  the waters around the docks and piers that can simultaneously 
  accommodate four cargo barges. Peasants from the area east of the Great 
  Amrin River haul their crops, livestock, and timber to this waystation for 
  safe transport to various seaports along the Amrin Estuary and beyond 
  rather than risk an overland journey on the perilous Lowwater Road, 
  even though the 100 strong detachment of Waymarch cavalry stationed 
  here periodically patrol the hazardous thoroughfare. Amrin Ferry is 
  exclusively human save for the 25 halﬂ ings who live here.      
  EASTGATE, CITY OF
  EASTGATE, CITY OF
  Population: 18,900 (3,700 in winter) (15,350 Foerdewaith, 
  1,700 halﬂ ing, 800 half-elf, 620 hill dwarf, 430 high elf)
  Ruler: Commissary, Lord Lurmis Vergen
  Government: overlord
  The city of Eastgate is Bard’s Gate’s avenue to the sea and 
  effectively a distant annex of Bard’s Gate itself. It is a major market 
  and clearinghouse for upriver and downriver trafﬁ c to and from Bard’s 
  Gate, being the place where outgoing cargo is taken from riverboat to 
  ship, where goods from Telar Brindel are loaded onto riverboats or sold 
  to intermediaries, and where ship cargos from distant ports are sold 
  or consigned to merchants planning to make the extended journey to 
  Bard’s Gate. 
  The city is managed on behalf of Bard’s Gate by an administrative 
  commissary appointed by the high burgess of Bard’s Gate, and is 
  responsible for overseeing the logistics and scheduling of shipments on 
  barges upriver, overland caravans, and the veritable ﬂ eet of coasters and 
  galleons that trades here during the spring, summer, and autumn. 
  During these months, Eastgate’s walls are packed with merchants, 
  rivermen, ship captains, and traders of every conceivable kind of 
  commodity. Bills of lading for goods held in warehouses are traded back 
  and forth in shouted auctions, wagons piled high with vegetables creak 
  their way in from the countryside to collide in vast entanglements in the 
  streets, and the city’s year-round citizens drive themselves to exhaustion 
  looking after the needs of all these arrivals, making money hand-over-
  ﬁ st in the process. 
  In the winter, when the river sometimes ices over and the tidal 
  waters of the estuary become violent, the population drops to a ﬁ fth of 
  its summertime high, deprived of most of its waterborne trade in both 
  directions. The only mercantile activity in the winter city is the overland 
  caravan trade going east and west.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|269
  |269
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  Despite the distance separating the two settlements, Eastgate feels 
  more like an exurb of Bard’s Gate than a community in its own right. 
  The laws of Bard’s Gate apply here as if Eastgate were merely a distant 
  part of Bard’s Gate itself. Many of the city’s traditions, institutions, 
  and religions closely mirror those found in Bard’s Gate. The Temple of 
  Sefagreth is the largest religious structure in the city, and the most widely 
  worshipped deity, though shrines dedicated to other gods and faiths from 
  Bard’s Gate can also be found in other quarters of the city. The guilds 
  who dominate commerce in the large metropolis to the northwest also 
  ply their trades in Eastgate’s markets, docks, warehouses, and factories. 
  The powerful Wheelwrights’ Guild from Bard’s Gate and the Friendly 
  Men, the homegrown regional criminal organization, operate different 
  rackets within Eastgate, thus avoiding any conﬂ icts of interest between 
  the competing entities. On those rare occasions when they cross paths, 
  they adhere to strict professional courtesies to avoid escalating a minor 
  disagreement into a major gang war. 
  As part of the Suzerainty of Bard’s Gate, Eastgate’s defense falls 
  upon a small cavalry unit from the Waymarch and the impressive 
  stone walls surrounding its districts. In a pinch, the city can summon 
  reinforcements from Amrin Ferry to bolster its mobile-yet-undersized 
  military. A small volunteer militia drills outside the city gates once a 
  week, and a permanent “Towerguard” of soldiers keeps watch from the 
  towers of the city walls and guard the gates.
  Sheriffs and constables handle actual law enforcement within the city, 
  organized the same as their counterparts in Bard’s Gate. The “sheriff 
  of Eastgate” is also considered an “undersheriff of Bard’s Gate,” and 
  the “Eastgate chief of constables” is technically a “deputy chief of 
  constables of Bard’s Gate.” Of course, these are ﬁ ne distinctions when 
  seen from the perspective of an accused criminal facing prison, but vital 
  for arranging a banquet table by social rank. The sheriffs are responsible 
  for making arrests under warrant, and for maintaining jails and prisons, 
  but they do not investigate crimes; essentially, they work as instruments 
  of the courts rather than being ordinary police. The constables are a true 
  police force; they make arrests in the course of their duties, and without 
  a sheriff’s warrant. The constables are responsible for the investigation 
  of crimes, being the law-enforcement arm of the city’s government 
  rather than of the courts. 
  The installation of Meliandor Gane as the chief of constables has 
  signiﬁ cantly decreased crime, presumably because of his tremendous 
  talents in the arts of divination and deductive reasoning. Chief 
  Constable Gane is unorthodox in his methods and enjoys the intellectual 
  challenge of hunting down criminals. The constabulary holds him in a 
  certain degree of awe, and so do many of the city’s current prisoners. 
  Many believe his presence alone has caused spies and criminals from 
  rival Endhome to hastily pack their bags and return to their city, while 
  simultaneously forcing the Friendly Men and the Wheelwrights’ Guild 
  to deliberately maintain a low proﬁ le. Rumblings in the underworld 
  suggest one or both entities may be contemplating violently ending the 
  chief of constables’ tenure in Eastgate if his investigations signiﬁ cantly 
  impact their operations in the city.      
  TELAR BRINDEL, CITY OF
  TELAR BRINDEL, CITY OF
  Population: 8,800 (7,200 Foerdewaith, 850 half-elf, 437 hill 
  dwarf, 189 halﬂ ing, 73 high elf, 51 gnome)
  Ruler: Admiral of Telar Brindel, Sir Gowan Maulwin
  Government: overlord
  Lacking direct access to the sea, the city of Bard’s Gate realized it 
  needed a naval presence somewhere on the coastline of the Sinnar Ocean 
  to protect its interests abroad. In the aftermath of Oceanus’ founding and 
  rapid ascension to its status as a naval superpower, the opportunistic 
  representatives acting on behalf of Bard’s Gate pounced upon Foere’s 
  inattention toward the important seaport of Telar Brindel. Left to its own 
  devices, the city and its leaders quickly acquiesced to the metropolis’s 
  overtures and fell under its sway, becoming a member of its suzerainty, 
  much to Foere’s dismay. Bard’s Gate revitalized the rundown installation 
  that now supports the ﬂ eet of ﬁ ghting ships defending the vessels ﬂ ying 
  under the city’s ﬂ ag from pirates, aquatic monsters, and aggression from 
  the Kingdom of Oceanus. 
  Almost every industry within Telar Brindel supports the mission 
  of securing and maintaining the city’s ﬂ eet. Its imposing walls and 
  artillery pieces defend the harbor against incursions from sea, while 
  its ground forces of 500 Free Defenders and two full companies of 
  Waymark cavalry secure the installation and patrol the surrounding land 
  areas, especially Trader’s Way. Telar Brindel’s shipbuilding and repair 
  facilities enjoy a stellar reputation throughout Akados, far superior to 
  those at Eastgate, where the harbor is devoted to trade. In addition to 
  constructing and maintaining the ﬂ eet for Bard’s Gate, the shipwrights 
  also build merchant vessels and repair damaged ships. However, 
  captured ships or those suspected of engaging in piracy who seek repairs 
  in Telar Brindel’s famous shipyard face a battery of inquiries from the 
  local authorities if the captain cannot provide a letter of marque from the 
  admiral granting the skipper permission to legally hunt pirates.   
  The admiral of Telar Brindel has the ﬁ nal word on all civic matters 
  within the naval station, but he delegates its daily management to 
  the city’s council of elected burgesses. He prefers focusing his keen 
  attention on the men and women under his command. A stickler for 
  details, Sir Gowan gets involved in every facet of his naval operation, 
  regardless of how trivial it may be. Nonetheless, his marines admire the 
  revered knight for his sailing prowess, military mind, and local roots as 
  the second son of a landholding family only four miles away from Telar 
  Brindel. Despite the admiral’s diligence, rumors about saboteurs and 
  spies from Oceanus and Endhome abound in the shipyards throughout 
  the city.
  BARD’S GATE REGION
  BARD’S GATE REGION
  Capital: Bard’s Gate
  Notable Settlements: Byrn, Crimmor, Darnagal, Derindin, 
  Fairhill, Freegate, Glendovel Close 
  Ruler: High Burgess Cylyria and Bard’s Gate Council of 
  Burghers, local mayors and government bodies
  Government: oligarchy
  Population: 5,296,200 (4,940,000 Foerdewaith, 83,000 
  Plainsman, 55,500 Oceander, 49,000 half-elf, 37,700 hill dwarf, 
  33,800 halﬂ ing, 26,200 Riverfolk, 21,500 Heldring, 17,500 high 
  elf, 14,000 gnome, 8,200 Erskaelosi, 3,600 mountain dwarf, 
  2,250 wood elf, 2,050 street dwarf, 1,900 other)
  Monstrous: stirges, gnolls, orcs, worgs, ogres, undead, trolls, 
  manticores, owlbears, hill giants, ettins, dragons, gibbering 
  orbs (Stoneheart Valley); stirges, orcs, giant spiders, gnolls, 
  giant animals (badgers, bears, wolves), dryads, ogres, chike, 
  manticores, owlbears, fey, undead, treants, dragons (green, 
  black) (Stoneheart Forest); stirges, manticores, hoar spirits, 
  stone giants, revenants, lantern goats, banshees, murder-born 
  (Lost Boy Mountain); ant swarms, ankhegs, giant animals 
  (badgers, bison, wolverines), stirges, orcs, plague ghouls, will-
  o’-wisps, hippogriffs, axe beaks, perytons, kamadans (Plains 
  of Mayfurrow); bat swarms, giant bats, giant ants, chokers, 
  spiggans, rock trolls, cave ﬁ shers, wyverns, destrachans 
  (Glimmer Gorge); giant eels, giant gars, koalinths, kelpies, 
  scrags, sea hags (Amrin Estuary); crab swarms, giant 
  snapping turtles, giant eels, kelp devils, sahuagin (coastline); 
  goblins, orcs, giant animals (beavers, otters, and snapping 
  turtles), hobgoblins, ratfolk, lizard folk, giant crayﬁ sh, river 
  trolls (Binjerin River Valley); giant sharks, giant animals 
  (squids, octopi, ﬁ sh), sahuagin, sea spiders, merrow, nisps, 
  scrags, sea hags, coral giants, deck devils, undead, storm 
  giants, sea serpents (Gulf of Akados)
  Languages: Common, Kirkut, Dwarvish, Halﬂ ing, Helvaenic, 
  Elvish, Erskin, Gnomish
  Religion: Oghma, Dre’uain, Tykee, Sefagrath, Vanithu, 
  Telophus, Freya, Ceres, Mick O’Delving, Thyr (declining), 
  
  270|
  270|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  Belon the Wise, Pan, Darach-Albith, Orcus, Muir (declining), 
  Jamboor
  Resources: trade hub, grain, wool, banking, manufactured 
  goods, livestock, timber, quarry stone, copper, wine, tobacco, 
  dyes, silver
  Technology Level: Renaissance (Bard’s Gate), Medieval 
  (cities), High Middle Ages (rural areas), Iron Age (Freegate)
  The giant metropolis governs the lands and settlements in its 
  suzerainty as a calm, rational parent trying to placate a petulant 
  child. It uses reason, patience, and cajoling to bring its subjects into 
  line rather than brute force. Although the city boasts a professional 
  army that includes a small unit of skilled adventurers known as the 
  Lyreguard, its military forces are singularly devoted to defending 
  Bard’s Gate rather than expanding its territory through military 
  conquest. The men and women dedicated to this critical task are 
  primarily stationed atop and within the city’s walls and in two 
  critical strongholds — the Citadel of Ravens just beyond the walls, 
  and the Citadel of the Griffon in the neighboring valley. In addition 
  to the massive city, numerous smaller settlements and other points 
  of interest exist outside its stone walls, especially in the Lyre Valley. 
  This region features some of the Lost Lands’ most seminal locations 
  such as Stoneheart Valley, the Stoneheart Mountain Dungeon, and 
  the underbelly of Bard’s Gate itself.
  The Bard’s Gate region has some of the most diverse terrain in 
  Akados. The city proper sits atop a hill overlooking the valleys 
  beneath it. The Stoneheart Mountains to the metropolis’s north cast 
  a dark shadow across the foothills and the iconic valley beneath it. 
  West of Bard’s Gate lies the fearsome Stoneheart Forest, while the 
  road east crosses through the Forest Kingdoms. The region’s moderate 
  climate supports a vibrant savanna warm and humid enough to support 
  crucial food staple crops and herds of domesticated animals. Despite 
  the presence of civilization throughout the area, orcs, hobgoblins, 
  goblins, and other aggressive humanoids and monsters pose a constant 
  threat to the region.
  The region of Bard’s Gate is described in detail in The Lost Lands: 
  Bard’s Gate by Frog God Games.
  BARD’S GATE
  BARD’S GATE
  Ruler: Cylyria, High Burgess and Mayor of the Council
  Government: council (council of burghers) 
  Population: 125,000 (87,750 human [79,500 Foerdewaith, 2,800 
  Riverfolk, 2,500 Plainsmen, 1,300 Heldring, 1,000 Erskaelosi, 
  650 Ashurian], 14,000 half-elf, 8,000 elf [6,200 high elf, 1,800 
  wood elf], 6,000 dwarf [4,100 hill dwarf, 1,100 mountain dwarf, 
  800 street dwarf], 3,000 halﬂ ing, 2,250 gnome, 2,000 ratfolk, 
  1,750 half-orc, 250 other)
  Monstrous: small populations of wererats and ratfolk within 
  the sewers
  Languages: Common, Kirkut, Dwarven, Halﬂ ing, Helvaenic, 
  Elven, Erskin, Gnome 
  Religion: pious, tolerant
  Resources: trade hub, banking, manufactured goods, wool, 
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Renaissance 
  Bard’s Gate is one of the epicenters of trade in Akados. Merchants 
  travel here from far and wide to peddle their wares to buyers from 
  distant markets in perhaps the most business-friendly environment in 
  the world. Bard’s Gate projects its favorable commercial image through 
  its cadre of emissaries and diplomats who travel across the high seas 
  and trek over the network of overland highways traversing the whole of 
  Akados to forge economic ties with long-distance trading partners. The 
  city occupies several islands within the Stoneheart River and both sides 
  of the riverbank adjacent to the islands. Bridges connect the islands to 
  each other and the nearby mainland, while a massive wall surrounds the 
  entire metropolis.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Like most major settlements, Bard’s Gate owes its creation more 
  to circumstance than intentional design. Its story began with a river, 
  several islands within that river, and the great mountain range stretching 
  across the spine of Akados. The swath of ground that would become 
  Bard’s Gate stood at a critical juncture in the route between the lucrative 
  markets of Remenos and Curgantium to the south and the marvels of 
  Tsen to the north. The island chain within the Stoneheart River was 
  easily the most fordable location across the waterway. In 2717 I.R., 
  Rinos, the self-proclaimed bandit king, arrived at the Stoneheart River 
  crossing and constructed a bridge spanning from the western bank of the 
  river to the main island. Rinos naturally named the structure the King’s 
  Bridge in honor of himself. However, his reign and legacy were short-
  lived. The bard Turlin, whom Rinos previously condemned to death, 
  swept across the King’s Bridge with his peasant followers and wiped out 
  Rinos’ defenders in a surprise attack in the middle of the night. Rinos 
  soon met the same fate he reserved for Turlin, though unlike the latter, 
  the bandit king’s name quickly faded into obscurity. In the aftermath 
  of his revolt, Turlin commissioned the construction of the Lyre Bridge 
  connecting the central island to the eastern bank of the Stoneheart 
  River. To ﬁ nance the construction and protect the ﬂ edgling trademoot, 
  he struck an accord with the churches of Thyr and Muir granting them 
  the authority to lay the foundations for their churches on the river’s west 
  bank. In short order, the Foerdewaith Monarchy also decreed Turlin’s 
  new settlement as a free township unhindered by tax or fealty to the 
  Foerdewaith Monarchy. 
  Within 150 years, the trademoot had grown to be a sizable town for 
  merchants and vendors. East-west trade increased as Reme’s status 
  increased, and the churches of Thyr and Muir constructed temple 
  halls to meet the populace’s demands. The King’s Bridge, as the town 
  was called at the time, taxed every good passing through or across its 
  bridges. To circumvent these levies, canny merchants dug canals to 
  bypass the bridges. These canals remain to this day and give the city part 
  of its distinctive character. The trademoot continued to transform from a 
  trading center into a civic entity with government works and plans over 
  the intervening 300 years. During this time, the city ofﬁ cially adopted 
  the name Bard’s Gate in honor of Turlin. It established a formal military 
  known as the Lyre’s Guard, and created a town council of merchants to 
  run the city and the elected ofﬁ ce of Burgher to oversee the settlement’s 
  defenses and negotiate trade arrangements with foreign states. This 
  newly founded government came to the town’s defense when demonic 
  creatures began to appear in the Lyre Valley. Many adventurers and 
  citizens answered the call, including the bard Duquaene of Penmorgh. 
  Duquaene organized the resistance and defeated the threat, amassing 
  a great treasure in the process. With his newfound wealth, he founded 
  Bard’s College on North Island. 
  The college attracted the ﬁ nest minds and talents to the city as 
  well as adding to its afﬂ uence. Its founder soon ascended to the title 
  of high burgher during which time he uprooted corruption within the 
  mayor’s ofﬁ ce and enforced the rule of law within the city. Duquaene’s 
  reforms set the stage for the metropolis’s ascendency into the upper 
  echelon of Akadonian cities. Bard’s Gate played a prominent role in 
  the grand crusade against the temple-city of Tsar. The church leaders 
  of Thyr and Muir encouraged citizens to join the Army of Light in its 
  march against the demon prince and his minions amassing in Tsar. 
  When the army vanished into nothingness, the calamity left many of 
  the city’s sons and daughters orphans and took a signiﬁ cant toll on the 
  metropolis’s treasury. Naturally, many residents directed their anger 
  toward the church leaders who endorsed the campaign against Orcus 
  and his legions. In the aftermath of the Battle of Tsar, Bard’s Gate 
  underwent tremendous internal turmoil as various factions pointed their 
  ﬁ ngers in multiple directions. The disputes led to profound reforms, 
  including the formation of the Wheelwrights’ Guild from the remnants 
  of the Teamsters’ Accord, the construction of the Citadel of the Griffon 
  outside the city proper, and the creation of the free company named the 
  Lyreguard to defend the city. 
  Over the last 20 years, Bard’s Gate has faced several crises. Gnolls 
  descended into the Lyre Valley from a hidden fortress in the valley’s 
  
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  northern reaches. Only the concerted efforts of the griffon riders and 
  Lyreguard turned the tide of battle in the city’s favor. In light of these 
  attacks, city leaders voted to establish a small professional military 
  force including a formal River Watch. However, the military proved 
  useless during the next tragedy to befall the city. A mysterious, black 
  fog swooped down upon the city from Rogue’s Island and caused the 
  inhabitants of Slip-Galley’s Abbey to disappear along with several 
  random citizens. A few years later, the military force proved its mettle 
  when a strange foreign army appeared in the Lyre Valley. The army of 
  men known as the Huun had sacked Tircople on multiple occasions. 
  While the Huun swept through the valley with little resistance, the walls 
  of Bard’s Gate proved a worthy opponent. The Huun besieged the city 
  for 14 months until relief came in the form of a massive ﬂ otilla and a 
  combined army of Akadonians led by King Ovar that smashed the Huun 
  ﬂ eet and forced them to abandon the siege. The army pursued the ﬂ eeing 
  Huun for two years, pushing them as far north as the Vast Desert. Their 
  fate remains unknown.
  The city’s eclectic demographics demonstrates its diversity. Humans 
  of multiple ethnicities make up the majority of the population, with 
  those of Foerdewaith descent accounting for the largest group by a 
  vast margin. Half-elves and elves constitute a signiﬁ cant minority 
  within Bard’s Gate, giving these races increased clout among the city’s 
  leadership and upper classes. Dwarves trail behind them, followed 
  by halﬂ ings, gnomes, half-orcs, and a tiny segment of other assorted 
  peoples. The city’s ratfolk predominately dwell in the city’s sewers, out 
  of sight from the general population.  
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The devotees of numerous faiths may freely worship their chosen 
  deity within the city’s tolerant walls. However, it comes as no surprise 
  that the city’s primary religion is the worship of Oghma, God of Bards 
  and Protector of Bard’s Gate. His faithful gather in the Auditorium of the 
  Silver Hall, which functions more as a performance center than a formal 
  church. Dre’uain the Lame, God of Crafts, and Sefagreth, the ofﬁ cial 
  patron of the trade upon which the city is built, closely follow Oghma in 
  popularity. Other religions boast widespread followings among certain 
  segments of the population. Young people gravitate toward the worship 
  of Freya, Goddess of Love and Fertility, while many members of the 
  various city watches venerate Vanitthu, God of the Steadfast Guard. The 
  college crowd and the abundant arcane community belong to the church 
  of Yenomesh, the God of Glyphs and Writing. Tyree, Goddess of Luck 
  and Good Fortune, appeals to almost everyone in the city. Non-human 
  residents also keep their traditional faiths alive. 
  Some outsiders refer to Bard’s Gate as the City of a Thousand Gods 
  and with good reason. If one looks hard enough, it is possible to ﬁ nd a 
  temple or at least a shrine dedicated to almost every deity imaginable. 
  Despite the city’s tolerant views toward religion, its leaders prohibit 
  the open worship of deities who espouse evil ideals such as murder, 
  treachery, or thievery, or who partake in outlawed rituals, especially 
  human sacriﬁ ces. Nonetheless, these banned faiths endure in the city’s 
  nefarious underbelly. Some believe the Cult of Orcus has taken root 
  here, while rumors about the Cult of Set constantly circulate in the bars 
  and taverns scattered throughout the city.    
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Bard’s Gate owes its existence to its humble beginning as a trademoot. 
  Strategically located on the Stoneheart River, the independent city 
  avoided falling under the aegis of the Kingdom of Foere, which made 
  it an ideal stopover for states hostile to Foere who took advantage of 
  the shortest land route between the eastern and western seas. With the 
  nearly impassable Stoneheart Mountains looming to the north, the ford 
  at Bard’s Gate also served as the most expeditious means of reaching 
  the eastern continent while once again circumventing scrutiny from 
  rival nations. To ensure the safe passage of goods along these roads, 
  the city regularly patrols the Lyre Valley in an effort to prevent brigands 
  and monsters from harassing overland trafﬁ c that could jeopardize their 
  lucrative enterprise.
  In ﬁ rm command of overland trade, Bard’s Gate turned its expansive 
  eyes to the seas. To further its maritime ambitions, the city established 
  a naval base at Telar Brindel while controlling major ports in Freegate, 
  Eastgate, and at Cantyn Light. The metropolis’ ships receive a warm 
  welcome in every major port on the Gulf of Akados and the Sinnar Ocean 
  — with the exception of Endhome where they garner an indifferent 
  reception. Although its ships travel far and wide on the high seas, the 
  city ﬁ rst and foremost facilitates trade among numerous commercial 
  partners. While Bard’s Gate exports its fair share of manufactured goods 
  and locally produced commodities to distant lands across its roads and 
  aboard its ships, its economic fortunes depend upon providing a safe, 
  neutral ground for people of all types to exchange goods and services 
  without political considerations or national identities coming into play. 
  Its army and those of its allies safeguard the network of roads connecting 
  the city to far-off lands, while its navy and the ships under its ﬂ ag defend 
  the waterways against pirates and offer a reliable mode of transportation 
  to reach any port of call. 
  Multiple guilds keep the commerce humming throughout the city. 
  The Wheelwrights’ Guild, formed from the wreckage of the Teamsters’ 
  Accord, may be the wealthiest and most inﬂ uential. Duloth Armatige 
  leads the organization through a combination of coercion, intimidation, 
  quick wits, and fast talking. The union of wagon builders and freight 
  haulers has never been more prosperous, providing ample fuel to power 
  Duloth’s grand ambitions to take an even more prominent role among 
  the city’s leadership cadre while simultaneously keeping his greedy 
  ﬁ ngers in multiple pies. Other guilds operating within Bard’s Gate exert 
  lesser degrees of sway over the city’s affairs. The Beggar’s Guild hears 
  every word uttered on the streets. They trade their information and 
  secrets for the right price, much like the Harlots’ Guild which obtains 
  its sordid stories in a more compromising manner. The Gem Cutter and 
  Jewelers’ Guild, the Scribes’ Guild, and the Glassblowers’ Guild deal 
  in more conventional fare buying, selling, and creating items in their 
  specialized ﬁ elds. 
  DIPLOMACY
  DIPLOMACY
  Bard’s Gate ﬂ exes its muscles using coins and courtiers instead of 
  the more conventional cacophony of marching boots. Its diplomats 
  command respect wherever they travel, for they bring with them the 
  promise of great riches to those who share their mutual interest to 
  spread the wealth throughout the world. The metropolis’s diversity 
  also allows its ambassadors to appeal to foreign powers on a personal 
  level because its representatives may share the same lineage, language, 
  customs, or religion as their people or leaders. Whereas the members 
  of a homogenous society must learn the nuances of dealing with people 
  different than them, the city’s diplomatic corps practically hits the 
  ground running when its emissaries ﬁ rst set foot in a new court. 
  In addition to drawing upon an eclectic population, the metropolis 
  also affords its diplomats a top-tier education. While Bard’s College 
  enjoys a stellar reputation as a premier university for the study of music 
  and the arts, the learning institution also teaches oratory and diplomacy. 
  Many of its graduates go on to become great leaders and statesmen. 
  These pupils also receive a background in the study and application of 
  the mystical arts. In many respects, the city’s diplomatic envoys, spies, 
  and agents are better equipped to cow a hostile foe to their will than the 
  ranks of its small yet elite military forces.
  The august and powerful Dominion Arcane also lends its guidance 
  and support to the city’s diplomatic corps, though its expenditures in 
  time and resources reﬂ ect its mutual interest in seeing the city prosper 
  rather than being wholly altruistic. With this body’s backing and the 
  goodwill earned from the city’s massive treasury, the ambassadors 
  and negotiators make for formidable opponents when brokering deals. 
  Many foreign negotiators fearing the legendary prowess of the city’s 
  orators come to the negotiating table armed with dweomers to dispel 
  and detect any charms and magical inﬂ uences that may be in effect. 
  However, their efforts are in vain. The representatives of Bard’s Gate 
  are too sophisticated to resort to magically charming those interacting 
  with them. Magic and the discipline and training required to harness 
  and master it have far more subtle applications than crudely attempting 
  to directly enchant a prospective partner. Indeed, those who deal with 
  diplomats from Bard’s Gate often repeat the axiom, “Keep your eye on 
  
  272|
  272|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  your purse, not because they’ll steal it but because you’ll end up giving 
  freely.” This expression best captures the negotiating expertise of those 
  seeking a trade deal, a defense pact, or any other relationship with the 
  Suzerainty of Bard’s Gate. 
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The engine of enterprise powers the government of Bard’s Gate. 
  Regardless of its size or strength, the head of each guild who is commonly 
  called a burgher or burgess occupies a seat on the Council of Burghers 
  that controls the city’s purse strings. The burghers and burgesses select 
  one of their own to serve as the mayor of the council, who functions as 
  the group’s leader. Although the average citizens exercise no control over 
  the selection of burghers and burgesses nor the mayor of the council, 
  they directly elect the city’s political leader who assumes the title of high 
  burgher or high burgess. This peculiar power sharing arrangement has 
  sown more dissention than order. Throughout its history, the pendulum 
  has swung back and forth multiple times as the Council of Burghers and 
  the mayor of the council have vied for supremacy with the high burgher. 
  Weak high burghers often fall prey to the council’s machinations, as the 
  collective heads of the guilds subjugate the people’s elected leader to a 
  subordinate role. Adept high burghers assert their dominance over the 
  guilds and often simultaneously act as high burgher and mayor of the 
  council. Cylyria, the current high burgess, has accomplished the latter feat. 
  The city’s highly capable ruler simultaneously enjoys widespread support 
  from the populace and control over its robust coffers. Nonetheless, some 
  within the Council of Burghers, most notably Duloth, chafe under her 
  regime. They seek to once again separate the ofﬁ ces of the mayor of the 
  council and the high burgess, preferably with someone of their choosing 
  taking her place as the mayor.  
  For their part, the citizens of Bard’s Gate seem content to watch this 
  struggle unfold provided their government performs one critical task 
  — it ensures their personal safety. While those empowered to act on 
  the people’s behalf adopt a “live and let live” attitude, their retinue of 
  law enforcement personnel work diligently to eradicate street crime and 
  safeguard property. Of course, the populace expects the city’s sheriffs, 
  constables, and judges to administer the civic code in a fair and just 
  manner rather than use their authority to suppress the people of Bard’s 
  Gate. Despite their intensive efforts, some sections of the city remain 
  dangerous, even during broad daylight. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The elite Lyreguard and its standing army, the Free Defenders, whose 
  numbers dwindled to 1,500 after the recent crusade, protect the city. 
  The former entity numbers around 250 specialized troops and includes 
  the Griffon Riders, an aerial cavalry unit, the Gentlemen, the high 
  burgess’s personal bodyguards, a dozen war wizards, and 30 clerics 
  of various goodly faiths. The Free Defenders man the city’s outer 
  defenses, most notably in the towers, gatehouses, the keep, the walls, 
  and the metropolis’s two citadels — the Citadel of the Griffon and The 
  Citadel of the Raven. Three hundred men-at-arms, 20 heavy knights, 
  and 90 light cavalry troops of the Duchy of Waymarch reinforce the 
  Free Defenders. As the names suggest, the 75 Gatesmen and 150 Wall 
  Watchers defend the city’s gates and walls. The city divides its navy 
  into three branches, the Admiralty of Telar Brindel stationed at that 
  distant port, the Admiralty of the Fleet, anchored in the waters around 
  Bard’s Gate, and the River Watch, a small ﬂ eet charged with the task of 
  protecting the city’s commercial interests on the Stoneheart River. 
  Bard’s Gate can certainly ﬁ eld a highly-skilled and well-trained 
  ﬁ ghting force, but its sheer numbers appear to be disproportionate to 
  a city of its immense size. The metropolis’ status as a free city-state 
  and the epicenter of trade throughout Akados and Libynos reinforce 
  its importance to the global economy as exempliﬁ ed by the uniﬁ ed 
  response to the Huun invasion. Too many people have too much to lose 
  if Bard’s Gate fails. When faced with imminent danger, Bard’s Gate can 
  reliably call upon its numerous allies and business partners for aid. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The gnolls and orcs of the Stoneheart Valley pose a constant threat to 
  Bard’s Gate and the lands beyond. The gnolls under King Ga’awootarr’s 
  leadership grow more aggressive by the day. They recently sacked 
  several small villages and farmholds. The high burgess fears the gnolls 
  could directly assault the city in the near future if they secure a powerful 
  ally to support them. The orcs massing in the valley present an even 
  greater problem. Over the years, black orc tribes from Rappan Athuk 
  have poured into the area in increasing numbers. Although the chaotic 
  humanoids lack centralized leadership, powerful despots currently 
  vying for control over the disorganized hordes could unite them under a 
  single banner that would effectively signal an imminent invasion. 
  The city’s walls and outer defenses may repulse external invaders, 
  yet mortar and stone cannot protect Bard’s Gate from itself. The guilds 
  and their masters frequently clamor for a greater say in the city’s 
  administration or subtly hint at a change in regime when their demands 
  fall on deaf ears. These legitimate entities predominately operate within 
  the parameters of the current system, though some also partake in illicit 
  and underhanded activities to further their cause, Duloth being ﬁ rst 
  among them. The city’s illegal and secretive groups lurk in the shadows, 
  proliferating their schemes and machinations behind closed doors. 
  The most active and dangerous of these is the Cult of Orcus. Its agents 
  attempt to inﬁ ltrate positions of critical importance within the city and 
  then wield their inﬂ uence to corrupt it. Rumors circulating in the taverns 
  and shops speak of other depraved cults practicing their vile acts and 
  venerating their malevolent deities. Assassins, spies, and thieves also 
  ply their nefarious trades everywhere from the halls of power to the 
  city’s seedy underbelly. 
  The preceding threats have plagued Bard’s Gate for many years, 
  but the most imminent danger suddenly appeared on the metropolis’s 
  doorstep a few years earlier. The Huuns seemingly materialized out of 
  nowhere, besieging Bard’s Gate for 14 arduous months. The city dug 
  in until an allied Akadonian force repelled the invasion and pursued 
  the ﬂ eeing Huuns into the desert far from the city walls. Yet many 
  believe the Huuns placed clandestine military units in strategic locations 
  surrounding Bard’s Gate. With the allied army at least hundreds of miles 
  away, a surprise assault from these guerrilla regiments would pose a 
  signiﬁ cant peril to the depleted forces currently defending the city. 
  Furthermore, it seems doubtful that the metropolis’s allies could quickly 
  raise another force to beat back the Huuns again.
  CITADEL OF GRIFFONS
  CITADEL OF GRIFFONS
  This fortiﬁ cation 30 miles northwest of Bard’s Gate serves as 
  an important buffer against an attack from the Lyre Valley. A moat 
  surrounds the impressive installation’s 30-foot-high and 20-foot-thick 
  walls connected to four guard towers, a gatehouse with massive doors, 
  and a central keep. The Citadel of Griffons houses the crème de la crème 
  of the city’s military units. Sir Imril commands these crack troops who 
  stand on the frontline in their struggle to tame the unruly Lyre Valley. 
  A dozen Lyreguard Griffon Riders occupy the central keep along with 
  60 Lyreguard members, 200 Free Defenders, and a contingent of troops 
  from the Duchy of Waymarch. These brave men and women patrol the 
  surrounding area and man some of the siege engines positioned atop 
  the walls. The Griffon Riders perform aerial reconnaissance missions 
  and can warn Bard’s Gate of impending danger heading its way. During 
  the Huun invasion, the marauders put the citadel to the ultimate test, 
  which it passed with ﬂ ying colors after withstanding four months of a 
  prolonged siege.
  CITADEL OF RAVENS
  CITADEL OF RAVENS
  Situated atop a craggy hilltop just north of the city, this fortiﬁ ed tower 
  overlooks the Stoneheart River and the valley beneath it. The stronghold 
  functions as the city’s last line of defense, forcing the aggressor to 
  defeat the fortress’ defenders before making a run at Bard’s Gate proper. 
  While the Citadel of Griffons survived the Huun advance, the Citadel 
  of Ravens fared much worse. The invaders threw everything they 
  had at the citadel’s walls for two weeks until they ﬁ nally reduced the 
  reinforced structures into a smoldering heap of sundered stones. Two 
  years later, the citadel appears reborn. Built from newly cut stone, the 
  revitalized keep stands upon its original foundation where it soars above 
  the surrounding countryside. One hundred Lyreguards, ﬁ ve Lyreguard 
  Griffon Riders, 200 Free Defenders, 100 Waymark men-at-arms, and 
  
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  a contingent of war wizards and clerics maintain a vigilant watch over 
  the untamed wilderness beyond the complex’s walls. In light of recent 
  developments, most notably the Huun threat and massing humanoid 
  tribes in the valley, the citadel’s war wizards experiment on innovative 
  magical wards and weapons designed to stop attackers in their tracks. 
  Some rumors claim they possess long-lost tomes salvaged from the 
  ruins of Oxibbul or even Tsen. Armed with the knowledge presumably 
  gained from these forgotten works, the war wizards allegedly push 
  the boundaries of mystical power to new heights in their attempt to 
  safeguard Bard’s Gate and its people.
  BYRN, TOWN OF
  BYRN, TOWN OF
  Population: 123 (78 Plainsman, 45 Foerdewaith)
  Ruler: Lord Faragast Bronwasser
  Government: autocracy
  The small town of Byrn embodies Waymarch’s pastoral lifestyle. 
  Sheep are the town’s lifeblood as its industrious residents rely on the 
  beasts to produce some of the ﬁ nest cheese and wool products in the 
  entire region. Indeed, the town’s residents never sell their ﬂ ocks nor 
  slaughter their animals for personal consumption because a living sheep 
  reaps a far greater return on their investment than a butchered one. 
  Lord Faragast Bronwasser, the town’s ruler, leads a cavalry corps of 15 
  dedicated and experienced riders to safeguard the settlement’s livestock 
  from thieves and poachers as well as defend the community against 
  attacks from humanoid marauders descending from the nearby hills and 
  mountains. While the people of Byrn are generally kind and friendly, 
  their warm hearts instantly freeze for rustlers and aggressive humanoids. 
  The lord personally amputates the transgressor’s ﬁ ngers, toes, and 
  tongue with an intentionally dull blade for a ﬁ rst offense. Those foolish 
  enough to attempt a second offense forfeit their wretched lives after 
  several days of horriﬁ cally painful torture. However, Byrn’s residents 
  most fear a creature of legend who supposedly inhabits the prairie. The 
  horsemen refer to the monstrosity as “The Two-Faced Man.” No one has 
  seen the creature for more than a generation, though most people blame 
  every disappearance on the fabled abomination.       
   CRIMMOR, VILLAGE OF
   CRIMMOR, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 226 (178 Foerdewaith, 22 halﬂ ing, 11 Riverfolk, 8 
  half-elf, 4 gnome, 3 high elf)
  Ruler: Flendon (Wistus)
  Government: secret syndicate
  Formerly a friendly competitor and rival of Fairhill, the small village 
  of Crimmor has experienced a sharp decline over the past several years. 
  The ﬁ shing village farther east of Fairhill along the banks of Lake 
  Crimmormere welcomes few travelers from the Tradeway, even though 
  it is only six miles south of its outskirts. The only exception applies to 
  wagons in desperate need of repair. In these dire circumstances, the 
  caravan leader may divert from the road and visit Stipish, the town’s 
  resident wheelwright whom many consider to be the ﬁ nest mechanic in 
  the area. Otherwise, Crimmor has undoubtedly seen better days. The lake, 
  once renowned for its abundant stock of largemouth bass, appears to be 
  utterly depleted of the tasty ﬁ sh and any other marine life for that matter. 
  Fortunately, local residents still derive sustenance from the land 
  and can also purchase provisions from the occasional merchant who 
  ventures into town. When these rare visitors stop in Crimmor, Flendon, 
  the leader of the local merchant’s guild, races out to meet them. The 
  haughty gentleman passes himself off as the town’s ruler, though he 
  exercises no true authority within Crimmor. Instead, Wistus and the 
  thieves’ guild control Crimmor through their puppet Flendon. Wistus 
  and his underlings have their hands in every pie within the corrupt town. 
  To keep up the ruse, Wistus kicks back a tiny sliver of his proﬁ ts to 
  the cowardly and overmatched Flendon. Although crime is pervasive in 
  Crimmor, the guild’s illicit activities may be the least of its problems. 
  The ﬁ shermen speak of strange creatures inhabiting Lake Crimmormere. 
  To make matters worse, stirges beset the town every evening. No one 
  knows where either of these menaces dwells or what these creatures 
  seek, yet Wistus and Flendon seem disinterested in getting to the bottom 
  of these mysteries. 
  DARNAGAL, TOWN OF
  DARNAGAL, TOWN OF
  Population: 1,225 (985 Foerdewaith, 115 hill dwarf, 100 
  halﬂ ing, 25 Heldring)
  Ruler: Lord Mayor Holger the Gray
  Government: mayor appointed by Bard’s Gate
  Two trade routes — the Coast Road and Shepherd’s Crook — converge 
  at the coastal town of Darnagal. It is in a perilous neighborhood, between 
  the Shorsai Forest and the realm of Acregor to the north and the Great 
  Salt Marsh to the south. As a consequence, Darnagal maintains a standing 
  militia of over 100 soldiers and at need can call upon another 200 armed 
  members of its citizenry. The town is surrounded by 10-foot-thick earthen 
  and wooden palisades standing between 15 and 20 feet tall.
  In addition to caravans arriving and departing via the Coast Road and 
  Shepherd’s Crook, trade passes through Darnagal’s modest but well-
  maintained wharves.
  Lord Mayor Holger the Gray is regularly required to placate the 
  squabbling merchant houses that jockey for political and economic 
  advantage in the town. His hold on power is a delicate balancing act 
  between currying their favor without harming the competition, while 
  keeping the peace within the town.
  DERINDIN, CITY OF
  DERINDIN, CITY OF
  Population: 7,720 (6,555 Foerdewaith, 655 half-elf, 310 high elf, 
  200 halﬂ ing) 
  Ruler: Commissary Vronton Tweege 
  Government: commissary appointed by Bard’s Gate
  Like many other settlements on the Tradeway, Derindin owes its 
  existence primarily to geography. The waters of the Glimmrill Run 
  gouged the earth and stone to create a wide and deep canyon separating 
  Bard’s Gate from Freegate. At some unknown time in the distant past, 
  the elves erected a wondrous suspension bridge made from magically 
  reinforced cords that spanned the entire length of the intimidating 
  chasm. When they abandoned the crossing, bandits ﬁ lled the void and 
  controlled the bridge for several centuries until the combined forces 
  of elves and Freegate’s phalanxes severed the structure’s supports, 
  simultaneously wrecking the bridge and the brigands who controlled it. 
  With the bandits out of the way, the city of Bard’s Gate swooped in to 
  rebuild the span with the indigenous elves’ permission and assistance. 
  The engineers who designed the successor bridge recreated many of 
  the span’s original features as well as fortifying its ends to prevent 
  another entity from duplicating what the elves and Freegate had done to 
  sabotage the structure. Today, the city of Derindin occupies the bridge 
  itself as well as the land adjacent to each end of the crossing.
  Much like the bandit lords of old, Commissary Vronton Tweege 
  watches over the shops, tenements, and structures from his lofty perch 
  atop the tower at the bridge’s center rather than dwelling on solid 
  ground or at one of its secure ends. Although the span no longer sways 
  like its ﬁ rst incarnation, some observers believe the commissary tempts 
  fate by duplicating the error of its last bandit leader Ootmar the Short-
  Sighted who plummeted to his death in the canyon when his adversaries 
  literally cut the bridge’s cords on one end. Vronton believes his personal 
  safety relies more heavily on facilitating commerce in Derindin and 
  ensuring the safety of the Tradeway in his neck of the woods rather than 
  taking up a strategic position on the city’s bridge. Although ﬁ rmly part 
  of the Suzerainty of Bard’s Gate, the commissary wants to transform 
  Derindin into more than just another stopover on the Tradeway. To 
  attract merchants to the city, Vronton discreetly encourages the city’s 
  manufacturers to produce knockoffs of valuable goods and commodities 
  that they intersperse among the genuine articles at a discount price. The 
  creation of fake diamonds and other gemstones made from glass and 
  other worthless minerals has risen to such a level that jewelers deride a 
  
  274|
  274|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  poorly cut gemstone as a “Derindian trinket.” Metallurgists also get in 
  the fun, forging counterfeit weapons purportedly made out of legendary 
  steel. Those manufacturers and merchants who partake in this pastime 
  frequently worship the treacherous god Moccavallo in his temple not 
  surprisingly constructed on the moderately unstable northern precipice 
  of the bridge. Of course, not everything on Derindin’s shelves is a 
  fabrication. The real deals are out there for educated customers who can 
  spot the difference between the genuine article and a phony one.  
  The notion of dangling precariously above a chasm instills a sense of 
  bravado among its citizens who realize it only takes a hard shove to send 
  someone into a headﬁ rst freefall into the canyon below the bridge. The self-
  reliant residents take matters into their own hands rather than foist their 
  grievances onto the apathetic civic authorities. Obviously, they also expect 
  the same of those visiting their city, especially when it comes to someone 
  who was cheated in the unregulated marketplace. In Derindin, dueling 
  resolves every dispute. The parameters of this personal contest must be 
  agreed upon beforehand by both parties, including the types of weapons 
  used, the lethality of the affair, and the speciﬁ c date and time for the 
  potentially deadly rendezvous. Newcomers soon discover that Derindin’s 
  laws allow for the selection of a champion to take the combatant’s place in 
  this match. Not surprisingly, the city’s inﬂ uential Champions’ Guild ﬁ ercely 
  lobbied for this exception, which almost all of Derindin’s business owners 
  happily invoke when faced off against an angry customer.
  On those rare occasions when the commissary has no choice but to 
  intervene in a civic matter, he relies upon the settlement’s 43 handpicked 
  marshals to amicably resolve the situation, if possible. In keeping with 
  Derindin’s customs, those who refuse to come along peacefully or 
  disrespect the marshals’ authority get ceremoniously pushed over the 
  side of the bridge and into the canyon 110 feet beneath the span. The 
  fortunate few who survive the plunge face a lifetime ban from Derindin, 
  but no further retribution from Vronton and his marshals unless they 
  return. The city’s military forces include 10 Lyreguard ofﬁ cers who 
  command a volunteer force of 370 bowmen, spearmen, and men-at-
  arms. A contingent of 40 elven knights from Arendia and a phalanx 
  of 64 legionnaires from Freegate complement Derindin’s army, which 
  ultimately answers to its true masters back in Bard’s Gate.               
  FAIRHILL, TOWN OF
  FAIRHILL, TOWN OF
  Population: 420 (340 Foerdewaith, 30 mountain dwarf, 25 
  halﬂ ing, 15 high elf, 10 other)
  Ruler: Arlen the Magistrate 
  Government: autocracy
  The small town of Fairhill occupies the largest in a cluster of gently 
  sloping hills roughly 10 miles north of the Tradeway linking Fareme and 
  Bard’s Gate. The town’s residents are predominately human with small 
  pockets of elves, halﬂ ings, dwarves, and a handful of other races. Its 
  diverse population lives off the land farming in the fertile ﬁ elds beneath 
  the hills as well as providing goods and services to merchants and other 
  travelers venturing to either of the larger settlements on the nearby trade 
  route. Two taverns, an inn, a central market, and several boutique shops 
  cater to these visitors’ needs. Arlen the Magistrate, a retired captain in 
  the Lyreguard and former adventurer, rules the town with a just and 
  even hand. Shandril, the resident priestess of Freya, lends her aid when 
  needed to Fairhill’s capable leader. The cleric embraces her role as the 
  townsfolk’s spiritual guide and the earthly representative of the town’s 
  patron deity. Although she personally founded Fairhill 90 years earlier 
  at Freya’s direction, she happily defers all secular matters to Arlen as 
  she wants no part in governing over her congregation’s daily affairs.
  Arlen entrusts Fairhill’s defense to Baran the One-Handed and his 
  company of 25 guards. These soldiers primarily occupy the stone 
  watchtower in the town’s square, which gives them an ideal vantage point 
  to monitor activity within the settlement and beyond. The balance of 
  Fairhill’s military forces are stationed at other strategic locations scattered 
  around the town. At Shandril’s insistence, Fairhill lacks any walls or other 
  fortiﬁ cations and instead relies upon Freya’s blessing to keep its people 
  safe. Her passive defensive strategy represents one of the few bones of 
  contention between Arlen, Baran, and the revered priestess. A recent spate 
  of orc attacks on the Tradeway and the outlying farms and homesteads 
  suggests a greater enemy may be coordinating these raids for an unknown 
  purpose. Some townsfolk believe a vampire dwelling in a ruined keep 
  outside of town may direct their activities, whereas others blame the recent 
  killings on a witch Shandril exiled shortly after she founded Fairhill. 
  FAREME
  FAREME
  See “Fareme” under “The Lands of Reme — Grand Duchy of Reme 
  — Duchy of Waymarch.” 
  FOREST KINGDOMS (FOREST OF PARNA)
  FOREST KINGDOMS (FOREST OF PARNA)
  Population: 173,200 (72,744 high elf, 60,620 wood elf, 21,400 
  half-elf, 18,236 Foerdewaith, 200 other)
  Ruler: none
  Government: varies
  Centuries of human colonization and the great wildﬁ res of 2496 I.R. 
  were not enough to deforest this swath of the Great Akadonian Forest 
  that once covered most of central and southern Akados. High elves and 
  wood elves still hold sway within these woods, leading scholars to deem 
  it the last true remnant of the great elven kingdom despite the numerous 
  schisms and inﬁ ghting among the high elven houses and wood elves who 
  control the area. For many centuries, the indigenous elves tenaciously 
  beat back humans trespassing into their lands until they came to the 
  stark realization that they could not win a war of attrition against such a 
  proliﬁ c foe. They retreated deep into the twilit depths of the forest and 
  established the fabled Kingdom of Parnuble, while maintaining wary 
  eyes on the invaders. Much to their surprise, the humans treated the land 
  they settled with dignity, prompting the half-elves among them to reach 
  a peaceful accord with the newcomers, though some elves still clung 
  to their isolationist beliefs. The queen of Parnuble ultimately ended the 
  conﬂ ict by allowing the wood elves to maintain their own clans in the 
  forest’s interior. She also granted them the legal right to forcibly resist 
  human incursions. Conversely, the high elves entered into an era of 
  increased cooperation with their human neighbors. 
  The Kingdom of Parnuble, governed by Queen Tuiliar, controls the city 
  of Arendia, the forest areas bordering the length of the Tradeway, and 
  large interior portions of the woodland. Several smaller high elven houses 
  rule their own ﬁ efdoms within the realm, the most noteworthy being the 
  High House of Jarlax, which claims sovereignty over the northern section 
  of the forest at the headwaters of Glimmrill Run. These high elves hold 
  the queen and her house in contempt, deeming them to be traitors to their 
  race for collaborating with the humans. Their warriors occasionally raid 
  the Tradeway to express their displeasure, though their activities never 
  rise above the nuisance level. The emissaries of the queen and Bard’s Gate 
  remain committed to amicably solving these problems.
  Several self-proclaimed baronies and counties have taken root in 
  the forest’s southern and western edges near the Unclaimed Lands, 
  while free settlements, brigand holds, and at least one full-ﬂ edged 
  bandit kingdom occupy the woodland’s eastern fringes. These human-
  dominated territories avoid interfering in the affairs of Bard’s Gate and 
  the Kingdom of Parnuble. They instead focus their ire at the wood elf 
  clans scattered throughout the forest’s interior. Despite the wood elves’ 
  ﬁ erce independent streak and their dislike for humans, many still claim 
  allegiance to the high elf queen. The clans frequently clash with the 
  brigands and bandits in the region, accounting for the lion’s share of 
  blood spilt upon this lush green tapestry.
  ARENDIA, CITY OF
  ARENDIA, CITY OF
  Population: 7,230 (5,725 high elf, 810 half-elf, 670 Foerdewaith, 
  25 other)
  Ruler: Queen Tuiliar
  Government: monarchy
  The trade city of Arendia simultaneously unites buyers with sellers 
  and the humancentric culture of Bard’s Gate with the high elven 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|275
  |275
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  Kingdom of Parnuble. Queen Tuiliar who also rules the Kingdom of 
  Parnuble within the surrounding Forest of Parna founded Arendia to 
  serve as the ofﬁ cial meeting point between the two cultures. Arendia 
  seamlessly fuses elements of high elven architecture with traditional 
  building techniques incorporated from conventional human cities. 
  Towering spires and narrow arches combine forces with treetop bridges 
  and staircases arranged in a loose grid system occupying both sides of 
  the Tradeway, which passes directly through the heart of Arendia. High 
  elves outnumber human and half-elf residents by a ratio of roughly ﬁ ve-
  to-one, yet the majority graciously accepts the minority’s traditions, 
  cuisines, and religions despite some difﬁ culties understanding less 
  reﬁ ned and sophisticated ideas. Nonetheless, there is no mistaking 
  Arendia’s distinctly elven character. The elven builders deliberately 
  constructed the Temple of Darach-Albith in such a manner that its central 
  courtyard incorporates the Tradeway into its design, forcing travelers 
  using the route to pass through the holy site’s gardens, fountains, and 
  statues depicting the Father of the Elves’ wondrous countenance. 
  The architects also placed more emphasis on celebrating their natural 
  surroundings than focusing on worked stone. Precisely manicured trees, 
  shrubs, and other vegetation grow freely, while the city intentionally 
  incorporated natural ponds, brooks, and streams into its extensive public 
  works and water distribution system.
  Despite the tranquil surroundings, resentment still persists in some 
  pockets of the elven community. Queen Tuiliar sees the inclusion of 
  humans into Arendia’s society as an opportunity for the human settlers to 
  reciprocate the favor and grant the elves greater inﬂ uence among the elite 
  of Bard’s Gate. Some of her subjects strongly disagree. They view their 
  human and half-elf neighbors as a contagion contaminating the sanctity 
  of elven culture. Although no one publicly expresses these opinions 
  within earshot of Queen Tuiliar or her supporters, the underground 
  movement known as the Pristine Harp appears to be growing and gaining 
  important allies. They predominately target human-owned property 
  and businesses through intimidation, vandalism, and arson. While no 
  one has died at the hands of the Pristine Harp, even the queen and her 
  counselors demonstrate genuine concern that the organization seems 
  poised to add violence to its repertoire. The intelligence gathered by 
  her network of spies and informants tells her the group is homegrown, 
  but a nagging hunch leads her to believe someone outside of Arendia 
  instigates the Pristine Harp’s actions and funds their operations. She 
  personally suspects one or more of the guilds in Bard’s Gate lends a 
  helping hand to the Pristine Harp. However, she lacks any evidence to 
  support this conclusion. 
  Despite her inklings, the commercial, cultural, and most importantly 
  economic ties between her city and Bard’s Gate remains strong. Cylyria, 
  the current high burgess of Bard’s Gate, originally hails from Arendia 
  and is a distant cousin of Queen Tuiliar. The women cooperatively work 
  together to further each of their jointly shared or individual ambitions. 
  The Fellowship of Note deploys at least 12 covert agents within 
  Arendia. The operatives report their ﬁ ndings directly to Cylyria, who 
  in turn shares some of her information with her elven counterpart when 
  appropriate. The pair also conduct joint patrols of the Tradeway sections 
  passing through the Forest of Parna. For this task, Queen Tuiliar calls 
  upon roughly 100 of the city’s 1,100 mounted knights to partake in this 
  vital endeavor. These ﬁ ercely loyal soldiers are equally adept at ﬁ ghting 
  in the saddle or on foot. In addition to monitoring activities on the 
  Tradeway, her troops must also defend the city against incursions from 
  rivals within the Forest Kingdoms and fend off monstrous incursions 
  from the wilderness’s indigenous inhabitants.  
  FREEGATE, CITY OF
  FREEGATE, CITY OF
  Population: 18,600 (18,175 human [Freegate natives], 310 
  Foerdewaith, 45 halﬂ ing, 30 hill dwarf, 25 half-elf, 15 other)
  Ruler: Praetor Julius Marcinius 
  Government: imperial 
  Founded 3,500 years ago, the city of Freegate lies on the coast of 
  the Gulf of Akados at the mouth of the Talamerin River, making it a 
  vital seaport and an important trade hub for the sprawling metropolis of 
  Bard’s Gate to the west. While known as Freegate in most circles, some 
  residents still retain the title of Porta Librum as it is referred to in High 
  Boros. Freegate remains true to its Hyperborean roots, as evidenced 
  by the organization of its armed forces. The City Legion numbers 
  4,096 soldiers, roughly 1,000 men and women short of a full strength, 
  classical legion, but in times of all-out war, the city can levy additional 
  troops from the populace to form new legions with colorful names such 
  as the Death’s Head Legion. Praetor Julius Marcinius leads the City 
  Legion, making him the de facto commander-in-chief of Freegate’s 
  ground forces. Freegate’s ﬂ eet of six triremes under the command of 
  the navarch with a ploiarch captaining each individual vessel, protects 
  its interests at sea along with a small ﬂ otilla of ships from Bard’s Gate. 
  These forces came to the aid of their western ally during the Huun 
  invasion a few years earlier. High walls surround the city and provide 
  an added measure of protection against invasion. 
  In keeping with its Hyperborean traditions, citizens still speak High 
  Boros, and the city maintains an active arena district with a gladiatorial 
  circuit. Hyperborean currency also circulates among the populace, 
  though coins minted in Bard’s Gate are also commonly exchanged for 
  various goods and services within the city. Marble fountains sculpted 
  into the likenesses of historical ﬁ gures and revered deities abound 
  throughout the settlement, fed by the waters from a subterranean tributary 
  coursing through an extensive network of underground cisterns and 
  pipes. People routinely gather around these water distribution centers 
  to discuss daily gossip and also stump for political ofﬁ ce. Each fountain 
  represents an individual electoral district from which residents select 
  a local magistrate and a member of their ruling council, a legislative 
  body of 28 individuals who govern the city. Praetor Julius Marcinius 
  presides over the council’s meetings and serves as the deciding vote in 
  the event of a tie. Although he technically serves as an administrator 
  and advisor to the group, the undying support of his troops lends 
  great power to his voice and gives him tremendous inﬂ uence over 
  their decisions. The praetor remains dedicated to the principles of the 
  republic. He maintains a healthy respect for vigorous debate and the 
  right to disagree with his viewpoint, regardless of how misguided it may 
  seem to him. For their part, praetors negotiate trade agreements with 
  Bard’s Gate and other partners, appoint diplomats to project the city’s 
  interests in strategic settlements throughout the region, and codify the 
  city’s laws and doctrines. Commissary Helios Pousalaki, an aging wine 
  merchant and member of the council, holds the critical post of ratifying 
  all trade transactions for the city. On most nights, he can be found at The 
  Trireme outside the city. The 725 members of the city watch enforce 
  the council’s edicts within Freegate. Because of their close ties to the 
  Suzerainty of Bard’s Gate, outsiders erroneously relegate Freegate to 
  colonial or commonwealth status, yet Freegate retains its unique identity 
  of indigenous and Hyperborean culture. The city shares a reverence for 
  Thyr and Muir, though its people also worship Zadastha, the goddess of 
  love in her temple, which also houses a magniﬁ cent winery.
  The consuls currently have their hands full dealing with the lingering 
  effects from the unexpected Huun invasion. Intrigue always festers in 
  Freegate’s sewers, and rumors about wererats, snake people, and other 
  boogeymen from children’s stories hiding in the dank tunnels below the 
  streets circulate practically everywhere.  
  GLENDOVEL CLOSE, TOWN OF
  GLENDOVEL CLOSE, TOWN OF
  Population: 2,170 (1,675 Foerdewaith, 300 halﬂ ing, 85 
  mountain dwarf, 50 half-elf, 35 hill dwarf, 25 high elf)
  Ruler: Sheriff Beauregard Dufresne 
  Government: elected ofﬁ cial 
  Small streams pouring down from the heights of the Stoneheart 
  Mountains wash water, sediment, and other nutrients onto the ﬁ elds that 
  make up Glendovel Close. This fertile soil yields an abundance of grains 
  including wheat, barley, rye, rice, and oats that these farmers harvest for 
  their own sustenance as well as export to Bard’s Gate to the south and 
  Darnagal to the east. In addition, vast herds of livestock graze on the lush 
  
  276|
  276|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  pastures adjacent to the expansive farmland. The sprawling community 
  stretches across thousands of cultivated acres with isolated homesteads 
  separated by great distances from their closest neighbors. These parcels 
  of tilled earth have belonged to the same families for many generations, 
  which simultaneously forges the bonds of deep-seated friendships, often 
  solidiﬁ ed by arranged marriages, and bitter rivalries between ﬁ erce 
  competitors. Bard’s Gate has a vested interest in maintaining stability 
  within the boundaries of its northernmost ally and veritable bread basket. 
  Therefore, the metropolis garrisons 20 Waymark cavalry troops at the site 
  to help its homegrown militia of 120 men and women defend the crucial 
  agricultural hub against internal and external threats.
  Sheriff Beauregard Dufresne, the town’s elected leader, and the 32 
  deputies under his direction, discreetly and delicately keep the peace 
  within the farming community. They rarely interfere in personal 
  disputes or even patrol the outlying areas. They focus their attention 
  on the town’s bustling market district where farmers sell their crops 
  to purveyors from Bard’s Gate, Darnagal, and even distant Freegate. 
  While they keep a wary eye out for thieves and pickpockets, they 
  primarily strive to ensure fast-talking merchants offer the genteel folk 
  under their charge a fair price for their crops. They immediately notify 
  new traveling wholesalers about this simple rule and the repercussions 
  for disobeying it through permanent expulsion from the town’s market 
  square or several nights of lackluster accommodations in a prison cell. 
  Glendovel Close sits at the terminus for roads leading to and from 
  Bard’s Gate as well as Darnagal. For much of its existence, it functioned 
  as a mere provider and distribution center for foodstuffs heading to these 
  settlements. However, recent talk of reopening the Old North Road 
  through the Desolation and the lands beyond have rekindled interest in 
  expanding the town into a trading center linking the giant metropolis with 
  underserved markets in Apothasalos and the landlocked Northlands. The 
  great distances separating it from Acregor, the Desolation, the Azure 
  Mountains, and the Dragon Hills keep those dangers at bay for now, but 
  the sudden inﬂ ux of newfound wealth and prosperity could potentially 
  usher in a wave of envious outsiders seeking to claim a piece of the 
  action for themselves. In this case, Sheriff Beauregard and his underlings 
  would turn their gaze southward to Bard’s Gate for protection against 
  these combined menaces. At the moment, Glendovel Close retains its 
  bucolic existence, though the question of how long it can remain out of 
  the spotlight depends upon developments in the Desolation. 
  EASTREACH PROVINCE
  EASTREACH PROVINCE
  Capital: Carterscroft
  Notable Settlements: Drownboat Crossing, Eastwych, Florin’s 
  Cross, Oxmulch, Renderby, Zelkor’s Ferry
  Ruler: Lord-Governor Meridiac of Courghais
  Government: feudalism (vassal of Foere)
  Population: 1,222,000 (1,110,000 Foerdewaith, 73,000 halﬂ ing, 
  15,300 high elf, 9,800 half-elf, 6,050 wood elf, 4,200 gnome, 
  3,650 hill dwarf)
  Monstrous: giant animal (bear, wolf and stag), kobold, bugbear, 
  stirge, giant insect, worg, fey, giant spider, ratfolk, treant, 
  trolls, undead, decapus, wyvern, green dragon (Forest of 
  Hope); goblin, blood hawk, ogre, undead, ankheg, kenku, gnoll, 
  green hag, fey, manticore, basilisk, copper dragon, bulette, 
  (plains); giant snake, goblin, boggard, marsh jelly, hag, 
  cockatrice, will-o’-wisp, black dragons (coastal swamps)
  Languages: Common, Halﬂ ing, Elvish, Dwarven, Gnomish
  Religion: Sefagreth, Solanus (declining), Freya, Pekko, Kamien, 
  Telophus, Mitra (rising), Archeillus, Tykee, Thyr, Darach-
  Albith
  Resources: grain, foodstuffs, trade hub, livestock, ﬁ shing, salt, 
  shipbuilding, timber
  Technology Level: Medieval (Carterscroft, Eastwych), High 
  Middle Ages, Dark Ages (some remote areas)
  Eastreach Province is still loyal to the Kingdoms of Foere and is 
  governed by a lord-governor sent from the overking’s court. The 
  province has always suffered from fragmentation and decentralization 
  in a complex feudal system, and the social order is now suffering very 
  badly from corruption fueled by bribes from Bard’s Gate. Internal travel 
  is grinding almost to a halt due to tolls charged by petty barons, and as 
  rural settlements become more isolated, the wilderness is beginning to 
  creep back into civilized areas. 
  The ofﬁ cial boundaries of Eastreach are deﬁ ned as follows, beginning 
  with Eastwych in the northeast. From Eastwych, the border runs south 
  along the Sinnar Coast and the north shore of the Amrin Estuary. From 
  here, it runs north of the Amrin Ferry by some 50 miles, thence along 
  the Estuary Road to the crossroad with the Wain Road. From here, all 
  agree that the border extends somewhat diagonally northwest to the 
  Great Bridge over the Amrin, but the exact line has never been properly 
  established. From the Great Bridge, the boundary line follows the banks 
  of the Great River Amrin downriver to the southeast, then travels north 
  along the Glimmrill River almost to the coast, then eastward along 
  the shoreline back to Eastwych. Bard’s Gate controls the Amrin River 
  Ferry, all of the waters of the Amrin Estuary, and the Estuary’s entire 
  southern bank. 
  The lands north of the Great Amrin River, from the Glimmrill Run to 
  the Great Bridge, are an unsettled wilderness all the way to the edge of the 
  Stoneheart Forest, an expanse occupied by monsters, outlaws, and others 
  who choose to live beyond the reach of established authority. Neither 
  Bard’s Gate nor Eastreach claim these lands, as they are dangerous and 
  offer no measurable likelihood of tax revenues. From time to time, a 
  lord-governor has offered minor patents of nobility for anyone willing 
  to establish a freehold in the area beyond the Great Amrin. None of the 
  resulting settlements has lasted more than a generation, and most came 
  to a rather bad end. 
  The central and western lands of Eastreach are relatively populated 
  and stable, with several farming and trading towns along the major 
  roads. The northeast portion of Eastreach is likewise fairly well 
  populated, with the frequency of villages increasing as one draws nearer 
  to Eastwych. By contrast, southeast Eastreach is but lightly populated, 
  and in the Forest of Hope and along the coast of the Sinnar Ocean, there 
  are virtually no settlements at all. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE 
  In the year 2765 I.R., heralds at the Foerdewaith Court at Courghais 
  issued the royal “Decree of Full Provincial Status to the lands of 
  Eastreach, in Vassalage-Perpetual to the Overking in Foere.” A hundred 
  copies of the long document were painstakingly written to parchment, 
  seals were afﬁ xed, and Foere had ofﬁ cially launched a privately funded 
  invasion of the lands all the way from still-ﬂ edgling Aachen Province 
  to the shores of the Sinnar Ocean. In essence, the so-called “Eastreach 
  Decree” granted patents of nobility over lands not yet actually taken. 
  Responsibility for “pacifying any unlawful resistance to the overking’s 
  decree by subjects in such lands” was left to the knights and barons “upon 
  taking possession of their lawful demesnes in the province.” In other 
  words, if a Foerdewaith noble, or even a mercenary leader, could carve 
  out a piece of Eastreach, they owned it. However, and unbeknownst 
  to the overking of Foere, the Decree of Eastreach was accompanied 
  by a second, unwritten law: the law of unintended consequences. The 
  disorder and corruption of Eastreach Province clearly have their roots 
  in the decree. 
  In the same year as the Eastreach Decree, Foere also established 
  Pontus Tinigal on Pontos Island to form a base for the new Foerdewaith 
  navy. This was a long-planned maneuver Macobert had organized 
  years before, and already involved a decree that an admiral of Foere 
  and a town senate would govern the salt-producing town of Eastwych, 
  thus ensuring that the navy would have a supply port on the mainland. 
  Annoying as it might have been for the citizens of Eastwych to learn 
  they had been given away to a foreign navy, the town’s special status as 
  a naval possession spared it from the plunder and chaos the Eastreach 
  Decree caused in the rest of the province. Refugees from the countryside 
  streamed into the town during the invasion, and the admiral happily 
  pressed them into service and shipped them off to Pontus Tinigal 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|277
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  where they began reluctant careers as unpaid oarsmen on the poorly 
  constructed galleys of the new Foerdewaith navy. It is to be noted 
  that the shipbuilding skills of the Foerdewaith navy improved quickly 
  over the years, but due to this incident, its popularity among the native 
  Eastreachers took some time to repair. 
  Corruption and internal division are slowly eroding Eastreach 
  Province, although the process is too gradual to be obvious. The 
  ﬂ ow of money from Bard’s Gate pays the nobility well for their 
  cooperation with Bard’s Gate commerce, but little of the wealth 
  makes its way into the lives of the common folk of the province. The 
  rich grow richer; the poor grow poorer. As more of the petty nobility 
  try to get a place at the trough, they are creating more little borders 
  within the realm, all of which charge tariffs on farmers and traders 
  passing through. The result is a slow withering of overland journeys 
  in the areas not served by the ofﬁ cial high roads. As an example, 
  trade down the Canyon River is on the increase, with merchants 
  and traders becoming more willing to risk a long, dangerous circuit 
  around the much-shorter but exorbitantly expensive overland trek 
  through the country roads. 
  With the intense focus on money, the nobility is coming to see the 
  peasantry as a resource, instead of perceiving themselves as guardians 
  of the peasantry. More wilderness is encroaching upon the province 
  as the commonfolk lose their optimism and drive in the face of 
  irresponsible feudal lords, who are far more interested in collecting 
  taxes than in supporting the welfare of their tenants. Land is beginning 
  to go fallow in some places, forests are no longer patrolled, and the risky 
  business of smuggling is becoming more common than ordinary trade. 
  To foreigners, the creeping rot in Eastreach is fairly apparent, but the 
  solution is much less clear.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE 
  Eastreach Province, although it remains loyal to the Kingdoms of Foere, 
  is on extremely good terms with the mercantile and political emissaries 
  of Bard’s Gate. Gold ﬂ ows into the coffers of the province (and of the 
  lord-governor) to ensure that overland trade between Telar Brindel and 
  Bard’s Gate remains unmolested. The high sheriff of internal revenue in 
  Carterscroft oversees a force of sheriffs at the three main road-crossings 
  into the province, where they document the number of wagon axles, 
  people, and animals passing in and out, so the tax can be billed to Bard’s 
  Gate in the following year. Bard’s Gate travelers are given a special token 
  when they cross the border from Aachen on the Wain Road or the Cross 
  Cut, and at the Estuary Road just north of the Eastgate crossroad. The 
  same ofﬁ ce operates taxing-posts along the internal roads to levy tolls 
  upon anyone not holding one of the Bard’s Gate tokens handed out at the 
  borders. The position is a lucrative one, and an honest person has not held 
  the post in centuries, as far as anyone can tell. 
  While actual troops from Bard’s Gate are not allowed to travel the 
  Eastreach roads (oddly, military forces of the Duchy of the Waymarch 
  under contract with Bard’s Gate are a notable, if infrequent, exception 
  due to long-held treaties between Foere and Reme), river trafﬁ c down 
  the Amrin is neither stopped nor inspected by ofﬁ cials of the province 
  under the general trade agreements in place. This allows Bard’s Gate 
  to move soldiers and cargo down the Great Amrin River between the 
  Estuary and the Stoneheart River branch. In Eastgate, merchants and 
  river captains pay Bard’s Gate for access to the river, and these tolls are 
  used, in part, to fund the payments made to Eastreach Province. 
  Along the eastern coast, the Coast Road and Lowwater Road are far 
  worse maintained than the three great roads that intersect in Carterscroft. 
  Although Eastreacher patrols ride the northern half of the coast, and 
  Bard’s Gate sends riders from Eastgate along Lowwater Road, these 
  patrols are sporadic and unenergetic. The forces of Eastreach use the 
  duty to train junior ofﬁ cers, and Bard’s Gate uses it as punishment duty 
  for disgraced ofﬁ cers, so the patrols are particularly ineffectual. 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY 
  Eastreach Province loosely maintains its status as a province of the 
  Kingdoms of Foere and gives fealty to the throne in Courghais. As such, 
  Eastreach marks the northeastern-most extent of the Foerdewaith realms. 
  GOVERNMENT 
  GOVERNMENT 
  A lord-governor appointed in the Court of Courghais in Foere rules 
  Eastreach on behalf of the overking. Most governors serve for ﬁ ve years 
  and then resign or are recalled to Foere. The position is a lucrative one, 
  for the lord-governor takes a share of most of the province’s rampant 
  corruption. There are no regional governors below the rank of the lord-
  governor, as there are in Aachen. Rather, all of Eastreach Province’s 
  governance beneath the lord-governor is (theoretically, in any case) a 
  feudal pyramid with the overking of Foere at the top, dukes below the 
  overking, barons pledging fealty to the dukes, and knights, in turn, whose 
  feudal obligations are due to the barons. The lord-governor’s role is to 
  be the voice and proxy of the distant overking, which allows him to call 
  upon the dukes in the same way as the overking himself. A vast number 
  of barons captured their lands independently, however, and thus do not 
  report to any higher noble such as a duke. These highly-independent 
  nobles must be called upon individually by the lord-governor, which 
  is a monumental task for the central government. This highly unstable, 
  volatile arrangement is a holdover from the original frontier land 
  grants made to the nobles who led armies into the area, and the throne 
  has never successfully reorganized it. In consequence, Eastreach is a 
  patchwork of ﬁ efdoms and freeholds, with only marginal interference 
  by the greater nobles in the affairs of their vassals. The lord-governor 
  maintains a royal court of law only in the city of Carterscroft, although 
  the courts hear appeals from the judgments of ducal and baronial courts 
  that administer most of the criminal and civil cases of the province. As 
  one might expect, the application of the laws varies wildly from one 
  barony to another. 
  The system works poorly, is riddled with corruption and graft, and is 
  the direct result of the original “Eastreach Decree” of 2765 I.R., which 
  granted lands in Eastreach based on the vagaries of military conquest. 
  When the dust of that conquest settled, it became apparent that the 
  Eastreach Decree had created a province carved into an impossible 
  number of ﬁ efdoms with overlapping and disputed borders, no provision 
  for maintaining a centralized government, and no means of changing 
  the system. Another factor that tended to protect the new barons and 
  lords of Eastreach was that the Eastreach Decree assembled a particular 
  sort of noble in the province. These were not parade-ground soldiers or 
  tournament knights who had responded to the overking’s offer of lands 
  that were not his to give. Rather, every siege-battered stone castle and 
  fortiﬁ ed manor house in Eastreach now housed a complement of battle-
  hardened veterans: armed, trained, blooded, and considerably more 
  loyal to their commanders than to the overking. The overking wisely 
  decided that sweeping changes to the prerogatives of this particular 
  group of nobles could wait a generation, and each overking has made 
  the same decision since. 
  As a province of the Kingdom of Foere, Eastreach is required by the 
  overking to maintain and shoulder most of the expenses of the Royal 
  Navy of Foere, whose principal port on the eastern coast of Akados is 
  the port city of Eastwych. The ﬂ eet prevents any maritime advances that 
  might be made by the Empire of Oceanus onto the mainland. As a part 
  of the agreements made between Eastreach Province and Bard’s Gate, 
  the city of Eastgate maintains a second ﬂ eet, funded and commanded 
  by Bard’s Gate, to patrol and defend the Amrin Estuary on Eastreach’s 
  behalf. Courghais does not care for this perceived violation of their 
  sovereignty, but Eastreach makes sure that a signiﬁ cant portion of the 
  Bard’s Gate payments make it back to the royal treasury each year to 
  keep the overking’s court appeased. 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURE 
  Eastreach Province is no longer as productive as it once was 
  under the rule of Foere, and the wilderness is beginning to encroach 
  even upon areas once deemed completely safe. The eastern half of 
  Eastreach Province was never particularly safe to begin with, and small 
  communities in the east are actually ﬁ nding themselves isolated from 
  trade and protection, left to fend for themselves. This is particularly 
  true in the belt of land between the Great Amrin River and the Forest 
  of Hope, but the newfound phenomenon of the “widowed hamlet” is 
  growing more common in the entire region from the central rivers all 
  
  278|
  278|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  the way to the eastern seaboard. In addition to the obvious adventurers’ 
  destination of Rappan Athuk, the whole of eastern Eastreach offers 
  plenty of scope for wandering adventurers to ﬁ ght monsters, rescue 
  villages, and even for higher-level characters to take a village under 
  their wing as a freehold. New castles are needed, for the old ones lie 
  neglected and crumbling as beasts prowl their walls; bandits are rife, 
  and predatory tax collectors often arrive with armed soldiers to take 
  even more than the bandits would. It is an area that cries for heroes, and 
  ﬁ nds none to answer the call. 
  REFERENCE SOURCE: RAPPAN ATHUK  
  CARTERSCROFT, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  CARTERSCROFT, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Population: 17,721 (14,130 Foerdewaith, 2,025 halﬂ ing, 1,463 
  half-elf, 82 gnome, 21 high elf)
  Ruler: Former Lord-Governor of Eastreach, now styled as 
  Mayor Lord-Governor Hormengarde the Fat
  Government: mayor elected by landowners
  Carterscroft is a large walled city at the intersection of three main 
  high-roads. A fourth major road, the Tantivy, leads from the city gates 
  to the northeast, but it is an ordinary packed-dirt thoroughfare, not one 
  of the stone-paved Hyperborean roads. The city towers ﬂ y the banner of 
  Eastreach, a black ﬂ ag showing a scroll and four coins below a purple 
  crown. 
  The city of Carterscroft is the capital of Eastreach. This is the 
  headquarters of the provincial government’s corruption, engineered 
  by the merchants of the city of Bard’s Gate for their own safe passage 
  through the region. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Carterscroft emerged as a large trading town in the days of 
  Hyperborea, a staging ground for traders and armies preparing to make 
  the long journey between the core of the empire to the distant lands of 
  the Isthmus of Irkaina, and even to distant Libynos beyond. The city 
  is named for the massive fenced crofts that have always been set aside 
  to form and organize caravans that often number a hundred or more 
  travelers. 
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  A mayor elected by the city’s landowners governs the city of 
  Carterscroft. While it is unusual for a Foerdewaith Provincial Capital to 
  be self-governed, the law dates back to the original invasion of Eastreach 
  by the Kingdoms of Foere. When the ragged but energetic invasion of 
  Eastreach began in 2765 I.R., the mayor of Carterscroft impounded all 
  caravan cargoes inside the city walls to provide a large emergency store 
  of food to withstand a siege. By the time the vanguard of the Foerdewaith 
  invaders arrived at the city walls, they found a well-defended and well-
  provisioned stronghold facing them. For a while, the Foerdewaith barons 
  and their forces contented themselves with seizing the lands around the 
  city, but without a large army to invest the city, food supplies continued 
  to be smuggled in, and it became clear that any siege would be prolonged 
  and costly. Eventually, some of the more inﬂ uential Foerdewaith nobles 
  struck a deal with the city: In exchange for surrendering, Carterscroft 
  would remain self-governed by its own citizenry, and only small numbers 
  of Foerdewaith soldiers would be allowed in the city walls at any given 
  time. The second part of the agreement was mutually forgotten once the 
  province’s lord-governor was installed in Carterscroft; even the worst of 
  the invading barons would hardly pillage the lord-governor’s own capital 
  city. The ﬁ rst part of the agreement, entitling the city to elect its own 
  mayor, has remained in place. 
  Any offense committed in the city walls, even treachery to the crown, 
  is tried by the city’s urban courts. The lord-governor also has a Court 
  of Justice in the city that adjudges all crimes and offenses committed 
  outside Carterscroft from anywhere in the province. Because the lord-
  governor’s Court of Justice is the highest in the land, it is actually 
  considerably busier than the urban courts. 
  The Province of Eastreach is ﬁ lled to bursting with tiny baronies owing 
  their allegiance directly to the overking instead of to a higher noble, due 
  to the expansive “take-it-and-you-rule-it” provisions of the Eastreach 
  Decree. Such barons are entitled to bring their grievances and squabbles 
  directly to the lord-governor for resolution. If the lord-governor attempted 
  to address all these petty issues directly, it would utterly paralyze the 
  government of the province, burying it in local disputes. Fortunately, 
  the tool of bribery is available to the government, and offers a quick and 
  convenient way to resolve otherwise-thorny legal questions. 
  The urban and the provincial court systems are eminently bribable, so 
  wealthy individuals are unlikely to face any sort of energetic prosecution 
  as long as enough silver crosses the right palms. This has drawn the ire 
  of the priesthood of Thyr, as further described below. 
  Carterscroft is the seat of the high sheriff of internal revenue, a 
  lucrative posting appointed by the lord-governor to oversee payments 
  from the merchants of Bard’s Gate for safe passage through the province. 
  A signiﬁ cant portion of this money ﬂ ows into the hands of the lord-
  governor and the high sheriff, who take advantage of their short terms in 
  ofﬁ ce to amass personal fortunes before returning to Foere. The current 
  high sheriff is Sir Croaten Gui (pronounced “gwee”), a pleasant man 
  who has hanged more than a hundred peasants for failure to pay taxes. 
  RELIGION 
  RELIGION 
  Most of rural Eastreach Province worships the Hyperborean gods 
  and goddesses rather than the divine patrons of invading Foere, or the 
  fashionably newfangled deities whose worship is spreading from Bard’s 
  Gate. There is a developing split between the faiths of the peasantry and 
  the patron gods revered by the nobility and merchants, and this split is 
  reﬂ ected clearly here in the capital city. Archeillus, a god of nobility 
  imported by the Foerdewaith invaders, has gained considerable traction 
  among the nobility, and the worship of Sefagreth has begun to supplant 
  the worship of Tykee among the merchants. The peasantry continues to 
  worship Kamien, Freya, Solanus, and Telophus. 
  As a large city, Carterscroft is home to all sorts of small temples and 
  shrines, including all of the above and others, but the predominant faiths 
  are those of Archeillus, Tykee, and Sefagreth. 
  In recent years, the high priest of Thyr in Carterscroft has begun an 
  active campaign to ﬁ ght bribery and favoritism in the courts, issuing 
  stern sermons and dire warnings. The government and wealthy citizens 
  of the city have fought back actively against the high priest’s campaign, 
  cutting back or eliminating their donations to the temple, and even 
  levying special taxes on Thyr’s festival-days.
  DROWNBOAT CROSSING, TOWN OF
  DROWNBOAT CROSSING, TOWN OF
  Population: 4,287 (3,027 Foerdewaith, 961 halﬂ ing, 230 half-
  elf, 68 high elf)
  Ruler: Baron Owen Foundofter
  Government: overlord
  Strategically located at the intersections of Glimmrill Run and the Great 
  Amrin River, Drownboat Crossing specializes in ferrying passengers 
  across the wide river. Numerous cart tracks and dirt paths converge at this 
  point, which is one of the few upriver crossings in Eastreach Province. 
  The Tantivy Road, the only thoroughfare connecting the provincial capital 
  of Carterscroft with Florin’s Cross and other portions of northern and 
  eastern Eastreach Province, runs close to Drownboat Crossing. Humans 
  account for roughly 70% of the large town’s total residents, followed by 
  a signiﬁ cant percentage of halﬂ ings with half-elves and elves combined 
  making up less than 10% of the population. 
  Four large boats sailing under the town’s ﬂ ag shuttle farmers and 
  merchants alike back and forth at a reasonable cost. The town’s previous 
  ruler, the father of current leader Baron Owen Foundofter, handsomely 
  bribed the lord-governor for the exclusive rights to operate a ferry at this 
  critical river juncture. The concession put almost every ferry operator 
  within several miles of Drownboat Crossing out of business save for 
  two who duplicated the baron’s feat. For now, the baron tolerates the 
  presence of another operator in close proximity to the town, though 
  some of the town’s unscrupulous citizens claim the Foundofters have 
  solicited the services of several known saboteurs and provocateurs to 
  disrupt their rivals’ operations. There are no overt signs of trouble on the 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  waterfront, but the chatter about these clandestine activities continues to 
  increase with each passing day.   
  Like most noble families in Eastreach Province, bribery played a 
  critical role in the Foundofters’ rise to power. In addition to purchasing 
  a virtual monopoly of the river ferry service, the family’s control of 
  Drownboat Crossing rakes in enormous proﬁ ts from taxes and tolls 
  levied on goods passing across the river. The Foundofters intentionally 
  keep these fees reasonably low to retain popular support for their 
  corrupt regime, while still generating enough income to support their 
  lavish lifestyle. The baron openly offers favorable treatment to anyone 
  willing to pay him for the privilege of being spoiled, with one crucial 
  exception: Bribery is unacceptable when it pertains to the care of the 
  town’s ferry ﬂ eet. The Foundofters pride themselves on Drownboat 
  Crossing’s exceptional safety record, which contradicts the settlement’s 
  curious name whose origins have been lost to the annals of time.  
  EASTWYCH, CITY OF
  EASTWYCH, CITY OF
  Population: 26,204 (14,420 Foerdewaith garrison and sailors, 
  7,232 other human, 2,100 halﬂ ing, 1,862 half-elf, 580 high elf)
  Ruler: Baron Teonj of Thovre (Grand Admiral), various city 
  councilors
  Government: council (for the city); grand admiral (for the naval 
  base)
  Eastwych is a major port for the Kingdom of Foere and principal 
  headquarters of the Foerdewaith navy. The seaport is heavily fortiﬁ ed, 
  with massive towers overlooking a deep harbor crowded with armed 
  sailing galleons and long war-galleys, as well as merchant caravels and 
  cogs. Trebuchets are mounted atop the larger towers, and the smaller 
  towers bristle with mangonels and ballistae. 
  In addition to serving as the headquarters for the Foerdewaith ﬂ eet, the 
  bustling trade hub also hosts numerous merchant cogs and caravels that 
  import and export goods to and from countless destinations throughout 
  Akados. The city predates the Hyperboreans’ arrival and has been a major 
  producer of salt and brine springs throughout its long, illustrious history. 
  The metropolis also boasts a large garrison of Foerdewaith soldiers and 
  marines charged with the task of guarding the port itself, patrolling the 
  neighboring coastline, and serving as ships’ companies for any naval 
  expedition authorized by the overking. Indeed, these soldiers and marines 
  make up more than half of the seaport’s total population. The remaining 
  residents are predominately human, with roughly 2,000 halﬂ ings and half-
  elves and several hundred high elves rounding out the city’s numbers. 
  The Foerdewaith navy’s presence saddles the metropolis with a 
  complex set of laws governing civilian and military jurisdictions. 
  Eastwych’s elected municipal senate oversees a city court known as the 
  regular court. The 63 senators elected to this legislative body alternate 
  presiding over cases falling under their purview. The Citadel of Troops 
  operates a military court, while the admiral of the ﬂ eet oversees a court 
  dealing with maritime legal matters. These judicial institutions are not 
  as brazenly corrupt as most governmental ofﬁ ces in Eastreach Province, 
  though those wealthy enough to hire one of the city’s renowned 
  attorneys can purchase virtual immunity from prosecution if they keep 
  the severity of their offenses within reason. This concept abides with 
  Eastwych’s overarching philosophy that “anything that happens for the 
  sake of having a good time is ﬁ ne in our books.” 
  Eastwych’s numerous soldiers and sailors suffer from months 
  of sheer boredom interrupted by several compressed minutes of 
  tremendous stress while on the high seas or in combat. The pendulum 
  swing between the two extremes causes much of the city’s garrison to 
  spend their free time and loose coins numbing their senses in one of the 
  metropolis’ seemingly inﬁ nite taverns or pursuing more expensive vices 
  in the city’s seedier quarters. The inﬂ ux of visitors and traders from 
  other lands adds to the intrigue. Drunken brawls, gambling disputes, 
  and jealous arguments are common sights on Eastwych’s streets and 
  alleys. In the absence of any serious injuries, deaths, or signiﬁ cant 
  damage to property, the city’s ofﬁ cials generally allow the offenders to 
  sober up or amicably resolve the situation without further incident. This 
  approach frees the court system to address more pressing issues and also 
  boosts the troops’ morale knowing they will not get court-martialed or 
  disciplined for a good time gone awry. 
  Admiral Treston Artraguis, commander of Eastwych Naval Base, 
  oversees the facility’s day-to-day operations and is responsible for 
  keeping the soldiers and ships under his command highly motivated 
  and battle ready. His counterpart, Baron Teonj of Thovre, the grand 
  admiral of the Foerdewaith ﬂ eet, technically outranks Admiral 
  Treston, but has no real authority over the military installation by 
  intentional design. The overking refuses to commit the same mistake 
  his predecessor made centuries earlier when local nobleman Grand 
  Admiral Maximilian d’Varago Pontos successfully absconded with 
  Courghais’ ﬂ eet and declared himself Emperor of the Oceans Blue. 
  Baron Teonj, a local Eastreach noble, serves at the overking’s whim 
  and is subject to the crown’s orders in all matters concerning the 
  ﬂ eet. Admiral Treston, on the other hand, has no ties to Eastreach 
  Province or its local aristocracy. His loyalties lie solely with his 
  superiors’ best interests. The overking tasks him with protecting his 
  ﬂ eet against incursions from the neighboring Kingdom of Oceanus 
  and preparing his ships and soldiers to take back the renegade island 
  at a moment’s notice, though such ambitions are currently beyond 
  the military’s capabilities. 
  FLORIN’S CROSS, VILLAGE OF
  FLORIN’S CROSS, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 526 (480 Foerdewaith, 31 hill dwarf, 11 half-elf, 4 
  gnome)
  Ruler: Lord Crothian Barne
  Government: overlord
  The small town of Florin’s Cross lies at the terminus of the Tantivy 
  Road and a mere few miles from the more heavily traveled Coast 
  Road. The settlement is an ofﬁ cial possession of the lord-governor of 
  the province, administered by the lord bailiff of Florin’s Cross. Lord 
  Crothian Barne currently holds this appointed position, which allows 
  him and his family to reside in the castle known as Florinfort. The 
  fortiﬁ ed keep has a small outer bailey and is manned by a force of 10 
  archers and 15 footmen who always remain safely ensconced inside its 
  defensive outer walls. The aloof ruler and his men rarely venture outside 
  the secure conﬁ nes of the keep that feels as if it were a world away from 
  the townsfolk who established their own militia and town watch without 
  any aid from their disinterested Lord Bailiff. 
  Eastreach Province’s lack of oversight has allowed a ﬂ ourishing 
  smuggling operation to take hold within the sleepy settlement at the 
  intersection of two commercial roadways. The residents use the small 
  and shallow yet navigable Scaramouche River to hustle convicts, 
  heretics, and outlaws to safety, while also safeguarding large cargoes and 
  crops from inspection and taxation at the hands of Eastreach Province’s 
  greedy robber-barons and corrupt tax collectors. Although these illegal 
  activities are punishable by death, the townsfolk believe the province’s 
  onerous tax burden and oppressive policies leave them with no other 
  choice. Worse still, rumors suggest the Friendly Men, a local criminal 
  syndicate, wants their piece of the action as well.  
  Indeed, the seeds of rebellion sown in this small corner of Eastreach 
  Province have given rise to rumblings about taking more aggressive and direct 
  actions against the land’s most tyrannical knights and even its barons. Such 
  talk can sometimes be heard in the Beard Inn, the town’s only tavern and inn 
  where a group of local mimes known as the Tongue-Tied Fellows frequently 
  entertain the crowd. The troupe of players with strange mannerisms and 
  foreign customs seems oddly out of place in this establishment. Moreover, the 
  men, who presumably traveled here from a distant land, stammer to explain 
  why they came here or where they were going.
  GUMSPUR, VILLAGE OF
  GUMSPUR, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 363 (290 Foerdewaith, 45 halﬂ ing, 15 half-elf, 10 
  hill dwarf, 3 high elf)
  Ruler: Reginald Reed
  Government: overlord
  
  280|
  280|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  At the conﬂ uence of the Great Amrin River and Glimmrill Run lies 
  the village of Gumspur in the southeastern corner of the Unclaimed 
  Lands only a few miles away from the substantially larger town of 
  Drownboat Crossing. The town earned its name from the abundance 
  of blackgum trees along the riverbank, but it is more well known 
  for its two brands of pottery made by the Reed and the Larch 
  families. Although competitors, the rivals have a friendly working 
  relationship. The Reed family patriarch, Reginald Reed, functions as 
  the village’s mayor with the assistance of his constable Strom Levy 
  and his two deputies. 
  OXMULCH, VILLAGE OF
  OXMULCH, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 98 (97 Foerdewaith, 1 hill dwarf)
  Ruler: Reeve Charlo Monteague
  Government: overlord (the absentee baron appoints a village 
  reeve to oversee the village in his stead) 
  This small village built along the Cross Cut would remain 
  anonymous if not for the byproduct of its resident herds of oxen. The 
  grass growing within and around the village contains an anomalous 
  quantity of nutrients. The oxen devouring the organic matter defecate 
  an incredibly foul-smelling manure with exceptionally vigorous 
  fertilizing properties. The village transports and sells this literally 
  homegrown product by the cartload to the outlying farms and 
  neighboring settlements. The manure generates signiﬁ cant income for 
  the otherwise innocuous town, yet its prosperity comes with an added 
  price. The terrible stench lingers everywhere, clinging to the clothes 
  and bodies of anyone who spends even a few hours in Oxmulch. 
  Nothing can remove the awful smell except for leaving the area and 
  then thoroughly cleaning one’s body and destroying any garments 
  worn during the brief stay. Even in that case, the aroma persists for at 
  least another 24 hours before ﬁ nally dissipating.
  RENDERBY, TOWN OF
  RENDERBY, TOWN OF
  Population: 2,640 (2,422 Foerdewaith, 136 half-elf, 57 high elf, 
  25 halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Mayor Barth Lottenbandry
  Government: overlord 
  Renderby is the only signiﬁ cant settlement in the rural highlands 
  upriver from Zelkor’s Ferry at the mouth of the Canyon River. Its 
  prolonged isolation has allowed several quirky beliefs and practices to 
  take hold among its people. Through some misinterpretation of church 
  doctrine, the townsfolk believe a person’s sins are transferred to the 
  goods they produce and then by extension to anyone who buys their 
  products. Eager to cleanse their souls, these individuals offer discounts 
  based upon the severity of their transgressions to visiting merchants 
  who wear distinctive orange coats and have acquired quasi-holy status 
  within the community. A person desperately seeking penance for a grave 
  crime may even abduct a merchant and force that person to purchase 
  their products for virtually nothing. 
  In an even stranger twist, Renderby conducts most ﬁ nancial transactions 
  using chickens as a form of substitute currency. Records are kept of 
  partial chicken transactions, and the mayor has even crafted wooden half-
  chicken tokens to facilitate purchases made using this bizarre system. 
  The town is so odd, even the lord-governor and his barons ignore it, 
  preferring to forfeit their tax revenue than to try to make sense of this 
  weird place. Some merchants and residents alike speculate that those who 
  created these unusual ideas may truly be “crazy like a fox.” Although 
  their methodology leaves visitors scratching their heads, they avoid the 
  onerous tax burden foisted upon the rest of the province. 
  TURPIN, VILLAGE OF
  TURPIN, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 812 (422 Foerdewaith, 196 Erskaelosi, 123 half-orc, 
  37 hill dwarf, 24 half-elf, 10
  high elf)
  Ruler: Count Jonas Ranquin
  Government: overlord
  This walled town inside the Unclaimed Lands lies on the banks of a 
  small, navigable waterway named the Dwellerﬂ ow. The fortiﬁ ed keep 
  inside these 20-foot-tall stone walls serves as the county seat for the 
  self-styled “Count” Jonas Ranquin, a megalomaniac with delusions of 
  grandeur. He makes his fortune masterminding and ﬁ nancing piracy on 
  the Great Amrin River with his ﬂ eet of several small keelboats. The 
  ships under his ﬂ ag board any vessels they encounter on the bustling 
  waterway, taking exactly half of their cargo and allowing their captain 
  and crew to sail onward unharmed if the skipper immediately surrenders 
  without a ﬁ ght. Those who resist their peaceful overture forfeit their 
  entire hold and face their full fury. The loot seized during their sea raids 
  inevitably appears on the shelves in Turpin after the count takes his 
  ample share of the booty. The authorities in Bard’s Gate and Eastreach 
  Province know Ranquin’s name and his general whereabouts, but have 
  been unable to pinpoint Turpin’s exact location. So far, the count’s 
  naval forces have beaten back expeditions launched by the two states 
  to eradicate the river pirates. For now, the count’s operation qualiﬁ es as 
  a nuisance rather than an immediate threat to either power’s lucrative 
  trading enterprises. Any escalation of his activities may warrant a more 
  potent response from either or both of the aggrieved parties.    
  ZELKOR’S FERRY, SETTLEMENT OF
  ZELKOR’S FERRY, SETTLEMENT OF
  Population: 24 (Foerdewaith)
  Ruler: Mayor Odo Bristleback
  Government: autocracy
  Adventurers heading to Rappan Athuk frequently stop over at this 
  small fortiﬁ ed settlement surrounded by a stone wall and defended by 
  two guard towers. The Bristleback family founded the settlement roughly 
  300 years ago, well before Bofeld and his companions discovered 
  the mausoleum. The remote locate is a more popular destination for 
  adventurers aspiring to test their mettle within the Dungeon of Graves 
  because the nearby Mouth of Doom entrance is generally deemed to 
  be less dangerous than the more harrowing opening Bofeld and his 
  comrades found. 
  Zelkor’s Ferry proper consists of an inn, a smithy, a ferry for crossing 
  the adjacent river, and a trading post. Despite being so close to a place 
  of unimaginable evil in the proverbial middle of nowhere, the settlement 
  of Zelkor’s Ferry offers safety and refuge to explorers endeavoring to 
  ﬁ nd fame and riches inside the nearby dungeon. In addition to allowing 
  adventurers to restock their supplies before heading across the Canyon 
  River toward their destination, the settlement bristles with rumors about 
  Rappan Athuk brought back by heroes who miraculously returned from 
  their expedition to the deadly site. Ships venturing down the treacherous 
  Canyon River periodically stop at Zelkor’s Ferry to ofﬂ oad their cargo 
  for transport down the nearby Coast Road. The captains of these 
  vessels and caravan leaders also make a detour to the small town to 
  hire seasoned mercenaries to safeguard themselves and their precious 
  commodities. Naturally, these brave mariners and travelers also arrive 
  at Zelkor’s Ferry with tales of their own about the fabled dungeon and 
  its inhospitable surroundings.       
  GAELON RIVER VALLEY
  GAELON RIVER VALLEY
  Capital: none (though Endhome exercises the greatest 
  inﬂ uence)
  Notable Settlements: Beetlebridge, Deadfellows, Endhome, 
  Gaelon River Bridge, Grimmsgate, Mirquinoc 
  Ruler: local village leaders and family heads (the Endhome 
  senate holds great sway when it wishes to do so)
  Government: varies
  Population: 1,815,840 (1,265,000 Foerdewaith, 301,000 
  Gaeleen, 135,500 halﬂ ing, 61,000 wood elf, 28,800 hill dwarf, 
  21,660 high elf, 1,900 river giant, 980 Erskaelosi)
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|281
  |281
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  Monstrous: wolf, water moccasin, giant animals (beaver, otter, 
  and snapping turtle), lizardfolk, giant water strider, ratfolk, 
  gnoll, merrow, vulchling, lycanthrope, undead, rusalka, water 
  orm (river valley); goblin, kobold, giant scorpion, orc, ogre, 
  manticore, hippogriff, dragon (Duskmoon Hills); bugbear, 
  tiger, ﬂ ind, dire wolf, undead, ogre, troll, wyvern, cave giant, 
  bulette (Cretian foothills)
  Languages: Common, Gaeling, Halﬂ ing, Elvish, Giant, 
  Dwarven, Erskin
  Religion: Kamien, Telophus, Tykee, Pekko, Darach-Albith, 
  Solanus, Vergrimm Earthsblood, Mick O’Delving, Jamboor, 
  Narrah, The Horned God, Neriad
  Resources: trade hub, ﬁ shing, foodstuffs, grain, pottery, timber, 
  sugar, furs, dyes, gems, gold
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages (major population 
  centers), Dark Age (rural areas), Bronze Age (river giant 
  settlements)
  The Gaelon River Valley is a large area including the river’s tributaries 
  as well as the valley of the main river. It is a free land unclaimed by 
  foreigners, with no central government. Many of the river valleys 
  are inhabited, but the area also contains a considerable quantity of 
  completely untamed wilderness. The great trading city of Endhome sits 
  at the river mouth where it empties into the Sinnar Ocean.
  The river and overland trade between the city of Endhome and the 
  balance of the Gaelon River Valley deﬁ nes this region. The coastal 
  settlement’s economic inﬂ uence reaches deep into the entire area, 
  though its potency wanes in proportion to the settlement’s distance 
  from the river or another well-traveled overland route. Travelers 
  generally refer to these remote locales as the hinterlands. Regardless 
  of location, the neutral commercial powerhouse keeps its nose out 
  of local politics and allows these communities to govern themselves 
  without interference from Endhome. Although the large metropolis 
  garners much of the attention in the region, adventurers who travel 
  here often focus their interest on the Duskmoon Hills, the alleged site 
  of a lost city.   
  The many streams and tributaries branching off from the Gaelon 
  River carve a circuitous path through the rolling grassy hills and wide 
  valleys between the uplifted land masses. The elevation along the 
  Gaelon River steadily decreases from the waterway’s origins in the 
  western mountains until the end of its journey in Endhome. The river 
  valley’s main geographic feature is the Duskmoon Hills.   
  BEETLEBRIDGE, VILLAGE OF
  BEETLEBRIDGE, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 422 (human)
  Government: council of elders
  This small town near a bridge crossing the river Windyforth, a 
  tributary of the Gaelon River, would be unremarkable if not for its 
  unusual livestock. Outside the town’s gates, its residents raise and 
  breed massive giant beetles that they train to work as draft animals. 
  In a clever twist, the townsfolk use trained dire badgers to root up and 
  gather the beetles’ eggs before they hatch. They train these vermin, 
  which are larger than a horse, and then sell them to small villages in the 
  countryside to perform the tasks normally assigned to traditional beasts 
  of burden. The creature’s carapace functions as crude armor, giving 
  it natural protection against attacks and injuries sustained in the ﬁ eld. 
  The beetles can certainly hold their own in a ﬁ ght, yet the council of 
  elders seems edgy. They recently learned a plot is currently afoot to steal 
  the unhatched eggs from the breeding ground next season. They only 
  know scant details about the plan and nothing about the conspirators, 
  prompting some in their ranks to actively recruit investigators to unravel 
  the mystery. 
  DEADFELLOWS, TOWN OF
  DEADFELLOWS, TOWN OF
  Population: 1,240 (862 human, 316 hill dwarf, 62 halﬂ ing)
  Government: anarchy
  Anarchy reigns in the frontier settlement of Deadfellows, the highest 
  upriver community on the Gaelon River. West of the town, the waterway 
  transforms into rapids and shallows only navigable by small, highly 
  mobile craft piloted by an experienced sailor. Like the turbulent waters 
  outside its wooden stockade, the people who live and work here can be 
  highly unpredictable and dangerous, as is evident from the three heads 
  impaled on pikes outside the town’s main gate. Rugged outdoorsmen 
  rub elbows with an assortment of shady characters in Deadfellows’ 
  disreputable and lawless saloons. Sawdust spread across the ﬂ oor 
  in these establishments soaks up the blood, bodily ﬂ uids, and drinks 
  spilt onto the wooden surface during the frequent barroom brawls. The 
  most trivial incident or clumsy phrase can trigger a free-for-all, which 
  almost always spills out into the alleys and streets where more of the 
  participants’ friends and enemies join the melee. With no one legally 
  empowered to stop the carnage or punish the offenders, the donnybrook 
  usually ends when one or more of the combatants lies dead in a pool of 
  their own blood. Samuel Wesley Miller, a psychopath and professional 
  assassin who carries himself as a gentleman and devout worshipper of 
  Bowbe, is the most feared person in Deadfellows. Father Headbreaker, 
  the resident cleric of Bowbe, has futilely tried to rein in the vicious 
  man’s murderous inclinations, but to no avail. Anyone who runs afoul 
  of this calculating killer always winds up in a cofﬁ n much sooner than 
  they intended.  
  ENDHOME, CITY OF
  ENDHOME, CITY OF
  Ruler: Governor Ranlan Poole and 50-member senate
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 34,950 (22,000 Foerdewaith, 6,000 Oceander, 1,750 
  halﬂ ing, 1,750 half-elf, 1,750 hill dwarf, 1,000 wood elf, 700 
  other)
  Monstrous: carrion crawlers, gargoyles, ghosts, ghasts, ghouls, 
  goblins, golems, mummies, otyughs, shriekers, skeletons, 
  vampires, violet fungi, wererats, zombies
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Jamboor, Da-Jin, Solanus, Thyr, Muir
  Resources: alchemical reagent, ironwork, linen, magical 
  resources, manufactured goods, shipbuilding supplies
  Currency: Endhome
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The port city of Endhome is surrounded by a 20-foot-high stone wall 
  with parapets and towers that is split in two by the Gaelon River. Many 
  sailing ships are docked here or moored in the river awaiting cargo. 
  Endhome does not engage in the sort of far-reaching political machinations 
  that Bard’s Gate does, and over time, it seems likely that Bard’s Gate will 
  eclipse Endhome for the role of the continent’s trade capital. It is already 
  possible, and even quite likely, that Bard’s Gate’s far-ﬂ ung network of 
  investments and businesses, seen as a whole, represents a larger role in 
  commerce than Endhome’s role as a center of trade.
  This independent seaport conducts business with whomever it chooses 
  regardless of their political leanings or afﬁ liations. Its bustling docks 
  and warehouses teem with all manner of goods ranging from foodstuffs 
  and livestock imported from the surrounding countryside to exotic 
  materials shipped or hauled to the seaport from distant lands. Endhome 
  makes it fortune assessing a small tax on every product entering the city 
  regardless of whether it arrived here in a merchant’s purse, in a caravan 
  wagon, or in the hold of a massive barge. Nothing hits the shelves until 
  the city gets its fair share for providing a neutral forum for trade.  
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The city of Endhome was originally a small trading post on the eastern 
  coast of Akados, founded by the Hyperboreans at the site of a native ﬁ shing 
  village. A sleepy and relatively quiet place for much of the Hyperborean 
  
  282|
  282|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  Age, Endhome endured storms, pirates, and the occasional monster raid to 
  grow into a signiﬁ cant port by the end of the long Pax Hyperborea. By this 
  time, the city had gained the (possibly self-applied) moniker of the “Trading 
  Capital of the Continent,” and ships from a dozen realms made landfall here 
  to load and ofﬂ oad their cargos.
  Endhome experienced a streak of uncommon luck in the following years 
  as it survived the disastrous pole shift, the destruction of the Tower of 
  Oerson, and the massive ﬁ res that followed. 
  The departure of the Imperial Court in 2499 I.R. left Endhome without 
  any superior authority, and the nobles who were left behind agreed to form a 
  50-member senate to govern until the Hyperboreans’ expected return.
  Of course, the Hyperboreans did not return, and the senate became 
  a permanent ﬁ xture, electing a governor every six years and managing 
  a still-successful and prosperous port city. Endhome’s importance to 
  the sea trade helped keep it independent as King Macobert expanded 
  the Kingdom of Foere into a continent-spanning empire, and played 
  an important role as a transportation and supply hub from 2900 I.R. to 
  3100 I.R. as the Huun threat to Foere grew and the four great crusades 
  were declared. The fourth and ﬁ nal crusade that succeeded in freeing 
  the Sacred Table and Tircople in 3207 I.R. set sail from Endhome’s 
  harbor. Endhome’s cooperation and friendship helped save Foere and 
  cemented the city’s independence. All the same, the city was not entirely 
  free of Foerdewaith inﬂ uence, for a garrison and ﬂ eet were permanently 
  stationed there, ostensibly to protect the eastern coast from invasion and 
  to keep the region’s three vital roads — the Soldiers Road, the King’s 
  Road, and Trader’s Way — free from banditry. 
  The situation did not trouble Endhome unduly for a decade or so, until 
  the Foerdewaith Wars of Succession erupted. When the grand admiral of 
  Pontus Tinigal rebelled against Foere and founded the Kingdom of Oceanus 
  with him at its head as “Emperor of the Oceans Blue,” Endhome was caught 
  between warring factions. The disastrous Battle of Kapichi Point made 
  matters worse, increasing Oceanus’ inﬂ uence in the region. After long and 
  bitter debate, the Endhome senate declared its neutrality in 3217 I.R. and 
  expelled the Foerdewaith garrison.
  It was a slight that the overking could not ignore, and the following year 
  Foere marched on Endhome, intending to besiege and conquer the city. 
  Faced with destruction, Endhome entered into desperate negotiations with 
  the Kingdom of Burgundia. As the Foerdewaith army drew near Endhome, 
  a massive Burgundian force appeared on its ﬂ ank and forced its withdrawal. 
  The “siege” of Endhome was over before it began, and without bloodshed.
  Unfortunately, the respite proved brief, and the Oceanders exploited 
  the chaos, occupying Endhome and declaring it subject to the emperor’s 
  law. Fortunately, the Oceanders’ occupation proved brief, and an uprising 
  in 3221 I.R. forced the withdrawal of Oceanus’ garrison. Occupied by the 
  Burgundian revolution, the overking of Foere had no stomach for a two-
  front war and agreed to allow Endhome its continued independence.
  Endhome has remained in its role as a trading hub ever since, joining with 
  Sunderland, Suilley, and the Duchy of the Rampart to establish the trading 
  post of Grollek’s Grove in 3423 I.R.
  One of the city’s most famous institutions — the Endhome Academy of 
  Wizardry, Alchemy and Arcane Knowledge — is almost as old as the city 
  itself and has grown along with Endhome. Founded in the earliest days of 
  the Hyperborean Age by the wizard Basil Strom, the academy’s inﬂ uence 
  has much to do with the city’s continued neutrality, for its doors are open 
  to all who wish to learn the ways of arcane magic, and many arcane 
  practitioners make the equivalent of a religious pilgrimage to acquire 
  mystical knowledge and peruse its collection of tomes and rare writings. 
  Many consider the renowned magical institute to be the ﬁ nest training 
  program for wizards on the continent, though its vaunted library rarely 
  lives up to the hyperbole surrounding it.
  Outside the academy, Endhome remains a wealthy and inﬂ uential city, 
  though some fear that the governor and the system that keeps him in place 
  may be evolving into an effective oligarchy. Several inﬂ uential families, 
  including the Quinchinos, the Gaspars, and the Pulantis, have kept Governor 
  Ranlan Pool in ofﬁ ce for many years, though many rumors circulating about 
  these families accuse them of everything from banditry to demon worship 
  and everything in between. Much of Endhome is indeed corrupt and 
  decadent, but this corruption has yet to signiﬁ cantly impair the city.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Endhome’s religion is complex, with some following the teachings 
  of the Foerdewaith deities Thyr and Muir, whose priests maintain small 
  temples. Many Endhomers devote themselves to the neutral Jamboor, 
  God of Death, Knowledge and Magic. Jamboor’s is not an especially 
  morbid faith despite its god’s domains, for most adherents see death as a 
  part of the normal cycle of life. Spellcasters and scholars are especially 
  devoted to Jamboor’s worship. Solanus, the Gentle Goddess of the 
  Sun and Healing, is also venerated in the city, and her clerics are in 
  many of the communities surrounding Endhome. Solanus’ clerics are 
  often found as adventurers or accompanying the army into battle. Last 
  of Endhome’s deities is the fearsome Da-Jin, God of Death — though 
  of neutral alignment, this god has many evil worshippers, including 
  necromancers and assassins. Da-Jin has his good and neutral followers 
  as well, especially among morticians and even some doctors.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The city of Endhome proclaims itself “Trade Capital of the Continent.” 
  Even though Bard’s Gate is obviously a contender for the same claim, the 
  fact of the matter is that Endhome, as a seaport, moves more trade through 
  its docks on a daily basis than Bard’s Gate. Endhome merchants scour the 
  world for bargains, make long-term contracts, and jostle with the sharpest 
  traders in the Lost Lands, and by doing so they still manage to remain ahead 
  of Bard’s Gate as a trading hub.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Endhome maintains its historic neutrality, refusing to ally or ofﬁ cially 
  endorse any other kingdom. The closest it comes to this is in the 
  establishment of Grollek’s Grove along with Rampart, Sunderland, and 
  Suilley, a trading city that is maintained jointly by the three kingdoms. 
  Otherwise, Endhome remembers the consequences when it grew too 
  close to Foere and Oceanus, and today maintains distant, if relatively 
  friendly, relations with both kingdoms. Endhome’s military is small 
  but professional and strong enough to make any potential enemy think 
  twice before attacking.
  Diplomatically, Endhome tries to preserve good relations with every other 
  nation, keeping the peace through a network of beneﬁ cial trade agreements. 
  Endhome diplomats are present in Foere, Oceanus, Suilley, Sunderland, 
  Rampart, and Castorhage, and have actually begun to make inroads even 
  farther west, launching trade missions to the far lands of Xha’en.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Endhome is best described as an autocratic republic, with a 50-person 
  senate selecting governors from among their own numbers, and deciding 
  every six years whether the governor should continue in ofﬁ ce or be 
  replaced. Replacement rarely occurs, however, for the senators, who almost 
  exclusively hail from the merchant class, are not chosen democratically 
  — rather they are appointed by the governor, who invariably selects 
  political allies and toadies to ﬁ ll vacancies. From time to time, even this 
  self-perpetuating system fails and the senate removes a governor in what 
  is commonly called a “coup.” Nonetheless, the citizens seem satisﬁ ed with 
  their civic ofﬁ cials’ performance, which causes most people to overlook 
  these warts and contently move on with their daily lives.
  For the most part, however, the senate and governor function 
  relatively well, overseeing Endhome’s internal affairs and managing 
  its diplomatic and trade relationships with other nations. Endhome’s 
  government invests heavily in its infrastructure to maintain its 
  popularity. Clean-running water, a luxury in most communities, ﬂ ows 
  freely through the city, while its state-of-the-art sewers safely discharge 
  waste from the elaborate water distribution system. Although the city 
  routinely maintains the tunnels and pipes, animals and creatures drawn 
  to refuse populate the subterranean passages and chambers. Rats, 
  wererats, and other scavengers infest portions of the sewers, forcing 
  the city’s leadership to address these menaces. Aboveground, the 
  city encourages private investment to cater to its afﬂ uent visitors and 
  residents. Taverns, inns, and a host of other establishments service the 
  needs of their clientele, while buyers and sellers alike ﬂ ock to its fabled 
  open-air bazaar, where an astute customer can buy practically anything 
  if the individual knows where to look.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|283
  |283
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  As an independent republic, Endhome must see to its own defense, and 
  the city’s wealth makes it a ripe target for foreign invasion and criminal 
  activity. It maintains a 3,500-strong professional army of mostly infantry 
  and archers, with a small but elite core of cavalry. These soldiers occupy 
  posts atop the port’s 20-foot-high stone walls, man its artillery pieces, 
  patrol its streets, alleys, and roads, and keep the peace within Endhome. 
  Conscription can swell the regular army by more than 6,000, and the 
  addition of the spellcasters from the Wizard’s Academy makes Endhome’s 
  military a signiﬁ cant threat. Endhome’s navy is similarly small but 
  professional, and can be supplemented with corsairs, armed merchant 
  vessels, and mercenaries all paid for from Endhome’s wealthy coffers. 
  Despite the city watch’s diligent efforts, violent gangs still extort and 
  abuse its poorest citizens, while rumors of nefarious deeds committed by 
  the rich and famous circulate throughout the taverns and inns scattered 
  around Endhome. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Endhome has in the past run afoul of Foere and Oceanus, and maintains 
  a delicate relationship with both kingdoms, sometimes even managing 
  to play them off against each other to maintain the city’s neutrality and 
  independence. In the rest of the world, Endhome plays it equally safe 
  and does its best not to make enemies while keeping a neutral stance. Its 
  friendly relations with Rampart, Suilley, and Sunderland also help keep 
  the Foerdewaith at bay.
  Beyond these rival kingdoms, Endhome faces no major threats, 
  though banditry and monster raids in the surrounding countryside 
  — particularly those centered on the ancient lost city of Barakus — 
  continue to plague the city and its military.
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  WILDERNESS AND ADVENTURES
  Endhome is a place of intrigue and double-dealing, as trade houses 
  seek to outdo each other and steal each other’s secrets, while the 
  Wizard’s Academy provides facilities and learning to arcanists from 
  across the continent and beyond. The sewers beneath the city are a 
  marvel of advanced design but sections are also ancient and labyrinthine, 
  rumored to harbor hordes of ferocious rodents, wererats, slimes, and 
  other fearsome creatures. Work patrolling the sewers is among the most 
  onerous in the city.
  The lands beyond the city walls are hazardous and frequently 
  plagued by bandits and raiding monsters, but the most notable aspect 
  of Endhome’s environs is the ancient Lost City of Barakus. Built 
  12,000 years ago by the ancient Phoromyceaen civilization, the 
  city’s remains lie beneath the Duskmoon Hills. Most of the city’s 
  depths remain unexplored, but the Old Tusk orcs, followers of 
  Orcus, were driven out of the place 20 years ago. Terrible rumors 
  surround Barakus, including tales of demons, powerful undead, and 
  powerful magical artifacts — more than enough to draw adventurers 
  from far and wide, though so far it has swallowed up those who hope 
  to plumb its secrets.
  GAELON RIVER BRIDGE
  GAELON RIVER BRIDGE
  Population: 3,251 (3,110 human, 68 half-elf, 48 hill dwarf, 25 
  halﬂ ing)
  Ruler: Mayor Darius Bittersby 
  Government: autocracy (elected mayor)
  Ancient dwarven engineers constructed the massive stone bridge that 
  fords the width of the Gaelon River at the Trader’s Way crossing and 
  bisects the town bearing the same name. The dwarves who built the span 
  left the area long ago only to be replaced by humans with a smattering of 
  half-elves, halﬂ ings, and a few dozen hill dwarves. These people reside 
  in an unwalled settlement of timber homes, stone warehouses, inns, 
  and tanneries centered around an impressive wharf of wooden docks 
  along both riverbanks. The town’s tanneries enjoy a stellar reputation 
  for producing exquisite leather and vellum products, which are sold in 
  Endhome. The city’s bookbinders and scribes in the Wizard’s Academy 
  covet these materials for their texture and durability. 
  The bridge’s location on a major shipping intersection for river 
  barges and overland caravans brings a steady stream of merchants and 
  traders into the bustling community. For the most part, the docks of 
  “Riverbridge,” as it is locally called, run barges and keelboats up and 
  downstream, including some of the nearby tributaries, to collect grain 
  from the many granges lining the riverbanks and deliver it to Endhome 
  for sale abroad. The waterborne trafﬁ c predominately ships grain from 
  the local granges lining the river to Endhome for sale abroad. The 
  captains and owners of the vessels engaged in this enterprise joined 
  forces to create the “Keelcaptains’ Guild,” an organization that maintains 
  warehouses and ﬂ ophouses for their ships’ cargo and crew. When a 
  competing entity from Endhome attempted to establish a rival guild, 
  the buildings owned and operated by the Endhome outﬁ t burnt to the 
  ground on three separate occasions under inexplicable circumstances. 
  The newcomers apparently got the message, and they wisely abandoned 
  the endeavor.  
  Nonetheless, Endhome ofﬁ cially maintains a military and economic 
  presence in Gaelon River Bridge, even though the town elects its own 
  mayor to manage local matters. The current incumbent, Mayor Darius 
  Bittersby, settles minor disputes among the residents and handles small 
  administrative matters, but Pivion Partridge, the emissary of Endhome 
  stationed within the town, makes all major decisions. He and three 
  of his subordinates regulate the market to prevent price gouging and 
  other scams from disrupting commerce. Meanwhile, the 50 soldiers and 
  several engineers under his command maintain and protect the bridge, 
  the riverbanks, and the Trader’s Way to ensure the free ﬂ ow of trade 
  through the area. When his troops cannot disprove rumors circulating 
  through town, Pivion sometimes turns to adventurers for help, asking 
  them to check out the latest story making the rounds in the community. 
  Right now, Pivion seems concerned about a series of alleged vulchling 
  attacks in the area.
  GRIMMSGATE, VILLAGE OF
  GRIMMSGATE, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 46 (human)
  Ruler: none
  Government: none
  Grimmsgate is an isolated settlement on the now-unused trail that ran 
  between the Free City of Mirquinoc and the Town of Keot, before Keot 
  was destroyed in an earthquake. Now there is no more trade to sustain 
  Grimmsgate: What was once a village has shrunken to a mere thorp of 
  deteriorating buildings and dispirited inhabitants. According to rumor, 
  an old, abandoned temple is located somewhere near the settlement.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: GRIMMSGATE FROM QUESTS OF DOOM 2
  MIRQUINOC, FREE CITY OF
  MIRQUINOC, FREE CITY OF
  (MER-qwin-ock)
  Population: 7,647 (6231 human, 853 high elf, 233 half-elf, 187 
  gnome, 104 halﬂ ing, 39 hill dwarf, unknown number of fey)
  Ruler: Mayor Gandar Golson
  Government: autocracy (elected mayor)
  The Free City of Mirquinoc stands just beyond the borders of Suilley, 
  roughly a mile north of the King’s Road. A walled city, Mirquinoc has 
  been conquered several times in the wars that have swept through the 
  area, but no one has held it for more than a day or two without retreating 
  in disarray. Mirquinoc is located at an ancient, pre-Hyperborean 
  crossroad, so old that neither of the original roads can be seen. However, 
  the conjunction of these roads ﬁ xed the city of Mirquinoc squarely into a 
  shifting co-existence with the realm of a faerie queen and her fey court. 
  Throughout the city, the fey are often visible for a few moments out of 
  the corner of the eye, but seem to disappear when looked at directly. 
  Humans cannot cross the boundaries into the fey realm for the most part, 
  although it can happen by accident if a person trips off some fey spell, or 
  happens to walk into just the right place at just the right moment. Many 
  of the fey, on the other hand, are able to step through the barrier into the 
  
  284|
  284|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  human world of the city. For the most part, only the sprites of Mirquin 
  Shee actually come through the border, although on occasion a korred 
  appears in town to purchase or sell things.
  The sprites of Mirquin Shee are unpredictable and capricious, considering 
  themselves as the protectors of the city. Unfortunately, their view of what 
  constitutes protection is frequently not the same as that of the city’s ordinary 
  residents. The sprites are haughty and proud, and on occasion they react 
  badly to what they perceive as rude behavior to themselves. The city tries 
  to minimize these misunderstandings by requesting that visitors completely 
  ignore the sprites when encountering them.
  Mirquin Shee is ruled by the faerie queen Twylinvere, a tall, slender 
  ﬁ gure with dragonﬂ y wings who can occasionally be seen as a colorful 
  but ghostly ﬁ gure moving around in the city. She occasionally enters 
  the human world to make agreements with the mayor or complain about 
  certain humans that are behaving improperly.
  KINGDOM OF OCEANUS (PONTOS ISLAND)
  KINGDOM OF OCEANUS (PONTOS ISLAND)
  Capital: Pontus Tinigal
  Notable Settlements: Tros Zoas 
  Ruler: Roderigo d’Velas, Emperor of the Oceans Blue
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 458,160 (Pontos Island) (388,200 Oceander, 41,100 
  Foerdewaith, 18,800 halﬂ ing, 6,200 half-elf, 2,150 high elf, 
  1,010 hill dwarf, 700 other)
  Monstrous: wolf, water moccasin, giant frog, rusalka, 
  manticore, hippogriff, dire wolf, undead (inland); crab swarms, 
  bunyips, giant crabs, sahuagin, sea hags (coastline)
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Quell, Solanus, Jamboor; Dagon (in secret)
  Resources: trade, ﬁ shing, manufactured goods, foodstuffs, 
  grain, pottery, dyes, gems, gold
  Technology Level: Renaissance (Pontus Tinigal, Tros Zoas), 
  Medieval (elsewhere)
  The Kingdom of Oceanus practically sprang into existence overnight 
  when the grand admiral of Pontus Tinigal thumbed his nose at his former 
  king in far-off Courghais and absconded with his ﬂ eet in the process. 
  Despite the overking’s efforts to reclaim Pontos Island from his upstart 
  rival, the wily naval commander soundly defeated the Kingdom of Foere’s 
  ﬂ eet on the open seas. With its victory, Oceanus catapulted to the status of 
  naval superpower rivaled only by Bard’s Gate and Endhome. 
  Using diplomatic and military maneuvers, the Kingdom of Oceanus 
  expanded its foothold in Akados and now controls the Matagost 
  Peninsula, Southvale, much of Sunderland, and the lowlands of 
  Ramthion Island. In addition to its formidable ﬂ eet, it maintains the 
  peace through non-aggression treaties with its enemies and friends alike.  
  PONTUS TINIGAL, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  PONTUS TINIGAL, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Population: 26,023 (23,133 Oceander, 1,250 Foerdewaith, 825 
  halﬂ ing, 450 half-elf, 230 high elf, 100 hill dwarf, 35 other)
  Ruler: Emperor Roderigo d’Velas
  Government: autocracy
  Located at the northern tip of Pontos Island, the city of Pontus Tinigal 
  serves as the political capital of the Kingdom of Oceanus. It began its 
  ascendency to prominence in 2765 I.R. when the ruling Kingdom of Foere 
  established the province of Pontus Tinigal on the island, declaring the 
  city bearing the same name as its provincial capital. Shortly after issuing 
  the declaration, resources poured into the previously underdeveloped 
  settlement. Teams of architects and artisans constructed public works, 
  tenements, temples, and a host of other structures to reﬂ ect its lofty 
  status as a representative of the kingdom. Endeavoring to use Pontos 
  Island as a crucial port for its oceanic naval ambitions, the Foerdewaith 
  Navy expanded its shipyards and harbor to accommodate an immense 
  ﬂ eet within the safety of an inlet. The port’s increased capacity was put 
  to the test in 2970 I.R. when the crusader ﬂ eet and army gathered at 
  Pontus Tinigal and Tros Zoas before setting sail for Khemit. Because of 
  the great distance between Pontus Tinigal and Courghais, the overking 
  granted the grand admiral of Pontus Tinigal tremendous autonomy to 
  act independently of the Foerdewaith monarchy. This lapse in judgment 
  would come back to haunt the overking in 3215 I.R. when Maximilian 
  d’Varago Pontos, the grand admiral of Pontus Tinigal, withdrew from 
  Foere and declared himself Emperor of the Oceans Blue. He retained 
  his seat of power in the former provincial capital, and after a series of 
  naval engagements against his former Foerdewaith overlords, the newly 
  proclaimed ruler of the Kingdom of Oceanus crushed his adversary at 
  the pivotal Battle of Kapichi Point, ensuring his kingdom’s survival for 
  at least the foreseeable future. 
  Despite his resounding victory, the newly crowned emperor refused to 
  sit still and bask in the glory. Virtually overnight, he increased Pontus 
  Tinigal’s shipbuilding capacity threefold, reinforced its already formidable 
  20-foot-high walls and solid iron gates, laid down concealed obstacles 
  in the waters around the port to impede or puncture enemy vessels 
  attempting to navigate into the harbor, and conscripted thousands of able-
  bodied men and women into its vaunted marine corps. Three hundred 
  years later, almost 10,000 marines and sailors inhabit the city, though a 
  spate of non-aggression treaties and unofﬁ cial truces have eased tensions 
  among the rival naval powers allowing the city to no longer remain on a 
  constant wartime footing. Nonetheless, its shipyards operate around the 
  clock to build galleons, galleys, frigates, and other seafaring vessels for 
  military and merchant ﬂ eets alike throughout Akados and far-off Libynos. 
  The empire forbids guilds, yet the skilled craftsmen and laborers who toil 
  on the docks function as an unofﬁ cial labor organization policing their 
  own ranks and periodically demanding better pay and working conditions 
  from their disinterested emperor who detests the entity’s existence.
  Emperor Roderigo d’Velas oversees his dominion from atop the 
  Helmsman’s Throne within the heavily fortiﬁ ed Almanza Citadel in 
  the city’s central quarter adjacent to the outwardly inﬂ uential Temple 
  of Quell. Oceanus’ middle-aged emperor of 14 years seeks to maintain 
  the status quo for the time being on the international front, though he 
  has rolled out aggressive domestic reform policies during his tenure. 
  The city has made numerous long overdue infrastructure upgrades and 
  improvements over the last several years in a deliberate effort to distract 
  the common people from noticing the emperor’s harsh crackdown on 
  personal liberties within Pontus Tinigal and his increasing efforts to 
  conﬁ scate private property for real and ﬁ ctional crimes to ﬁ nance his 
  lavish expenditures and lifestyle. In addition to pleasing the expensive 
  tastes of Empress Luna Coralona, the philandering husband supports 
  13 mistresses in Pontus Tinigal alone. The shrewd Luna, the daughter 
  of a Southvale noble, leverages Roderigo’s affairs to her advantage by 
  feigning her love for the hopeless romantic while secretly detesting him.
  To a casual observer who looks past the bustling docks and seedy 
  wharfs, Pontus Tinigal more closely resembles a tropical resort city than a 
  military compound. As part of his beautiﬁ cation efforts, palm trees ﬁ ll many 
  courtyards and streets, while decorative wrought-iron tresses and gates 
  adorn most homes, windows, and outer walls. Yet behind the attractive 
  façade lies an ugly secret. Dagon, the demon prince of the sea, works 
  behind the scenes in Pontus Tinigal to further advance his alien causes. His 
  worshippers often abduct strangers from the city’s streets and sacriﬁ ce them 
  to their diabolic lord in bloody rituals carried out in the sewers or an isolated 
  stretch of beach. Some stories even claim the sahuagin join in with them to 
  consume the victim’s warm ﬂ esh. While Roderigo and his court publicly 
  profess their faith in Quell, they secretly pay homage to the foul being who 
  allegedly aided Oceanus in its hour of greatest need.      
  TROS ZOAS, CITY OF
  TROS ZOAS, CITY OF
  Population: 16,562 (16,247 Oceander, 220 Foerdewaith, 40 
  halﬂ ing, 25 half-elf, 15 high elf, 10 hill dwarf, 5 other)
  Ruler: Grand Admiral Lucrecia Lacibeles
  Government: autocracy
  This fortiﬁ ed seaport holds the distinction of being built on the 
  foundation of the oldest known city-state in Akadonian history — 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|285
  |285
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  Xantallan. The famed explorer and military conqueror Koshag of 
  Ur came to this island roughly 18,000 years ago aboard his ﬂ agship 
  and founded his capital on what would later be known as Pontos 
  Island at the site where he and the 1,200 soldiers who accompanied 
  him aboard 18 warships ﬁ rst landed. From this launching point, the 
  merciless warlord and his troops routed and enslaved the island’s 
  small population of indigenous humanoids. Koshag reigned over his 
  new kingdom for 19 tumultuous years. After his death and interment 
  on the mainland of Akados, the stronghold Koshag founded descended 
  into chaos and disrepair. A series of powerful storms leveled most of 
  its stone fortiﬁ cations and ﬂ ooded portions of the surviving buildings 
  beneath seawater. Less than a century after its creation, the citadel, 
  whose original name has been lost to the annals of history, was virtually 
  uninhabited save for a handful of stragglers occupying pockets of the 
  ruined fortress. 
  When the Hyperborean ﬂ eet set sail across the Pontine Straits to 
  bring Pontos Island under its heel, it encountered sporadic, disorganized 
  resistance. The remnants of Tros Zoas almost immediately succumbed to 
  their new conquerors who appreciated the value of a fortiﬁ ed seaport on 
  the island’s southern coast. They rebuilt the crumbling coastal fortress in 
  short order, bolstering its defenses and harbor in the process. After the 
  Hyperboreans left Akados, the Kingdoms of Foere stepped into the breach 
  and gained control of the citadel in what felt like a seamless transition 
  of power from a political and cultural standpoint. Tros Zoas stamped 
  its place in history when Overking Yurid gathered his crusader ﬂ eet in 
  the port in 2970 I.R. to set sail for Khemit. After Maximilian d’Varago 
  Pontos took command of a large portion of the Foerdewaith ﬂ eet in 3215 
  I.R., and declared himself Emperor of the Oceans Blue, Tros Zoas took a 
  prominent role in the Kingdom of Oceanus’ future ambitions. 
  The seaport’s location on the southeastern coast of Pontos Island 
  granted the emperor’s newfound state easy access to the Sinnar Ocean 
  near the Matagost Peninsula. Tros Zoas rapidly expanded from a fortress 
  of a few thousand to a heavily fortiﬁ ed naval installation boasting more 
  than 16,000 permanent residents, half of whom are sailors and marines 
  in the Oceanic navy. In addition to housing its naval forces, a garrison of 
  1,000 infantryman, archers, and cavalry rigidly maintains order within 
  Tros Zoas’ imposing walls and in the largely untamed wilderness outside 
  its 30-foot-high walls and outer moat. In keeping with the kingdom’s 
  maritime roots and traditions, the laws of the high seas also prevail on 
  land, especially in its most populous seaport. The captain of any ship in 
  the Oceanic navy has the legal authority to mete out justice regardless 
  of where the perpetrator committed the punishable offense, even if the 
  individual is outside the captain’s chain of command. However, in a 
  strange twist, Tros Zoas grants safe harbor to a handful of pirates the 
  Kingdom of Oceanus clandestinely ﬁ nances for a share of their ill-
  gotten booty. These discreet and savvy privateers predominately operate 
  in the Pontine Straits or on the open seas far from Oceanus. To ensure 
  their silence and loyalty, the kingdom requires their families to reside 
  within Tros Zoas under the veiled threat that some harm would come to 
  their loved ones if they betray their ties to the kingdom.
   Grand Admiral Lucrecia Lacibeles administers the fortress’s civic 
  and judicial branches as well as nominally commanding the portion of 
  the Oceanic ﬂ eet stationed here. She also occupies a religious position 
  as the Divine Mistress of the Seas. In this capacity, she serves as the 
  titular leader of the Church of Quell, Tros Zoas’ patron deity, whose 
  temple serves a dual role as a shrine dedicated to the sea god and a fully 
  functional lighthouse at the edge of the harbor. While Lacibeles openly 
  worships Quell, she secretly venerates Dagon in a small shrine tucked 
  away in a dark corner of her secure keep built above the city’s infamous 
  dungeons where prisoners languish and suffer under some of the most 
  unspeakable conditions in Akados. Despite the settlement’s emphasis on 
  crime and punishment, smugglers seeking to export Oceanus’ high-tech 
  equipment to foreign states frequently ply their trade on the docks and 
  wharfs alongside Tros Zoas’ longshoremen and shipwrights.  
           
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE CENTRAL 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE CENTRAL 
  SINNAR COAST OF EASTERN AKADOS
  SINNAR COAST OF EASTERN AKADOS
  AMRIN ESTUARY
  AMRIN ESTUARY
  The freshwaters of the Great Amrin River combine with the saline 
  waters of the Sinnar Ocean to form a churning pool of brackish water 
  within this long, narrow inlet on the southern coast of Eastreach Province. 
  While the waves constantly pound the beaches facing the Sinnar Ocean, 
  the estuary’s geography lessens the tidal impact on its shorelines. 
  However, the same circumstances protecting it from the angry crests also 
  intensify the impacts of storm surge pouring into the estuary from high 
  winds and major weather events. Fortunately, the Half-Pickle Marsh on 
  the north shore absorbs much of the excess water spilling into the sheltered 
  inlet diminishing the threat of ﬂ ooding but not the dangerous rip currents 
  swirling beneath the surface. The seemingly calm waters can easily lull 
  inexperienced sea captains into a false sense of security, causing them to 
  capsize or run aground in the shallow estuary.    
  Bard’s Gate under the auspices of Eastgate and its naval installation at 
  Telar Brindel dominates this body of water, though its ships allow those 
  of rival nations to freely pass into the neighboring ocean or upriver on 
  the Great Amrin. Although no longer as unruly as it was in the past, 
  some privateers still ply their nefarious trade on the open waters preying 
  on slow-moving barges and small vessels they easily outgun. Sea hags 
  also plague the Amrin Estuary, with most residing close to the coasts to 
  hunt ﬁ shermen on land and sea.  
  BARAKUS
  BARAKUS
  Long before the Hyperboreans swept across Akados, a prehistoric 
  people known as the Phoromyceaens dominated portions of the 
  continent during the Age of Kings. While primitive by today’s standards, 
  the Phoromyceaens were remarkably advanced for their time. Although 
  many of their people still farmed and hunted on the land above the 
  surface, they were renowned for building sprawling subterranean cities 
  ruled by potent sorcerer-kings and occasionally priest-kings, many of 
  whom refused to accept death as a predetermined outcome. To defy 
  the constraints of mortality, these power-mad rulers became liches or 
  another form of sentient undead. Despite their efforts to live forever, 
  the Phoromyceaens disappeared from Akados at the dawn of the Age 
  of Silence. One of their great abandoned cities, Barakus, lies beneath a 
  network of caves in the Duskmoon Hills outside of Endhome.
  Prior to 20 years ago, the Old Tusk orc tribe infested these caverns 
  until Endhome’s military forcibly expelled the evil humanoids who 
  worshipped the Demon Prince Orcus. After their removal, other 
  monstrous denizens moved in to inhabit the cave system’s upper levels, 
  though the “Lost City of Barakus” beneath the caverns remains largely 
  unexplored and undisturbed. Ancient legends predating recorded history 
  suggest great mysteries and treasures lie in the presumably abandoned 
  ruins deep beneath the caves. Tales spread among Endhome’s 
  academicians claim that a legendary magical blade still resides within 
  its unhallowed halls, while logic would suggest its undead rulers may 
  linger on in Barakus’ forsaken depths.
  CANYON RIVER
  CANYON RIVER
  Water runoff from sources in a highland range of scattered hills gathers 
  steam as its ﬂ ows through several shallow canyons before beginning its 
  trek through the Forest of Hope and ultimately ending its journey as 
  it empties into the Sinnar Ocean. Although several small villages and 
  hamlets are in the surrounding area, only two settlements of note lie on 
  the banks of this scarcely traveled river — the village of Zelkor’s Ferry 
  within the Forest of Hope and the town of Renderby in the highlands. 
  The latter produces a sufﬁ cient quantity of gems and furs to warrant 
  some merchants risking the dangerous downriver journey through the 
  
  286|
  286|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  unruly Forest of Hope to transport these commodities for ofﬂ oading on 
  the docks at Zelkor’s Ferry or a longer sea voyage to ports on the Sinnar 
  Ocean. Teamsters who make this choice must decide whether the added 
  danger of the sea route compensates for avoiding the extra ﬁ nancial cost 
  of paying numerous taxes to a patchwork of baronies and governors 
  while traveling on the overland route. Those who opt for undertaking 
  this harrowing trek down the Canyon River speak of many hazards 
  along the way, especially a great troll mound near a gorge deep within 
  the Forest of Hope.  
  COAST ROAD
  COAST ROAD
  As the name suggests, this highway hugs the coastline from the town 
  of Darnagal through Freegate and Eastwych into the Forest of Hope past 
  the fabled dungeon of Rappan Athuk before merging into the Lowwater 
  Road culminating at Amrin Ferry. It is the primary overland trade 
  route linking the preceding settlements together, and it surprisingly 
  offers a safer alternative than sailing across the stormy seas and the 
  pirate-infested waters of the Pontine Straits. Nonetheless, merchants 
  and travelers trekking over the Coast Road always stick to the well-
  worn thoroughfare rather than stray into the surrounding wilderness. 
  Small villages and inns line the sides of the road at regular intervals, 
  offering shelter, security, and a warm meal to anyone willing to pay a 
  handsome price for these valuable amenities. Seasoned explorers make 
  haste while the sun shines and wisely hunker down when night falls. 
  Only Eastwych and Amrin Ferry routinely patrol the stretches of road 
  under their jurisdictions; otherwise anyone walking along the Coast 
  Road must go it alone. For this reason, caravan leaders typically hire 
  experienced adventurers to accompany them on the long slog down the 
  Akadonian shoreline. 
  Brigands are a recurring nuisance on the Coast Road. Concerted 
  efforts to permanently eradicate the threat proves useless, as two 
  rufﬁ ans spring up to take their deceased or captured predecessor’s place. 
  Worgs and ordinary wolves plague the route as well, especially when 
  darkness falls across the land within the conﬁ nes of the Forest of Hope. 
  Meanwhile, ogres and their bugbear minions pay little attention to when 
  and where they attack creatures moving across the Coast Road. Various 
  bog dwellers stalk sections of the highway close to the Great Salt Marsh, 
  while rumors about a vampire haunting the stretch of road through the 
  forest circulate through every inn and tavern along the way.
  CURGANT (RUINS)
  CURGANT (RUINS)
  The ruins of the city of Curgantium, once the magniﬁ cent capital of 
  the Hyperborean Empire, are found on the southern tip of the Mons 
  Terminus, just southwest of Vermis. Now known as Curgant, the site is 
  a vast desolation of broken stone, overgrown with strange ﬂ owers and 
  long grasses. The history of the ruins dates back a thousand years to 
  when the city was destroyed in the explosion of the Tower of Oerson, 
  which housed the imperial throne. The inconceivable power of the blast 
  and the subsequent conﬂ agration utterly eradicated the city and gave 
  rise to raging wildﬁ res that devoured their way across the dry plains, 
  killing countless more by ﬂ ame and famine.
  Curgant is well known as a cursed place, and all give the ruins a wide 
  berth. Rivermen passing down the Great Amrin past the ancient stone 
  wharves of the city spit and cross their ﬁ ngers to ward off bad luck. 
  Many swear that the river waters around Curgant sometimes run red 
  as blood or as black as night. No boat docks there even in the most 
  inclement weather.
  It is unknown to the world at large that the sewers beneath Curgant 
  are still intact and serve as the headquarters for the continent-spanning 
  master thieves’ guild of vampires known as the Underguild. Such 
  matters are given more detail in the adventure Sewers of the Underguild
  in Quests of Doom Volume 1.
  DEEP WAKE
  DEEP WAKE
  Sir Eldrad Lassetter built this castle 240 years ago after retiring from 
  Endhome’s navy. When he died intestate six years after the castle’s 
  completion with no living spouse, parents, or children, his surviving 
  aunts, uncles, and cousins squabbled over the castle’s ownership. 
  Nineteen years of vicious ﬁ ghting ﬁ nally settled the thorny legal 
  issues surrounding the land’s title. The damage had been done by then, 
  however. Nearly 20 years of neglect and pillaging by roaming bands 
  of evil humanoids left the property in shambles. Unwilling and unable 
  to pay for the costly repairs, Eldrad’s heir walked away from the castle 
  emptyhanded, condemning it to its current state. 
  The castle’s walls almost entirely lie in ruins with none measuring 
  more than three feet in height. Only a single tower survived mostly 
  intact, though portions of the crenellations from its ﬂ at roof now litter the 
  area around the tower’s base. However, the damaged structure remains 
  stable and now serves as the lair of the self-styled “Carrion King,” an 
  intelligent vulchling who has forged an alliance with a manticore and a 
  small band of gnolls. These monsters and the Carrion King’s vulchling 
  cohorts conduct coordinated attacks on rafts and ﬁ shing vessels sailing 
  on the Gaelon River 10 miles from Deep Wake. The local authorities 
  identiﬁ ed the vulchlings as the culprits, but their investigation has not 
  revealed where the vulchlings are hiding. Worried ofﬁ cials now seek 
  adventurers to locate the vulchlings’ hideout and destroy them.
  DRAGONSPIRE
  DRAGONSPIRE
  The red dragon Bezzalt has lived in this conical-shaped hill within the 
  Duskmoon Hills for centuries. Although he covets Endhome’s riches, 
  the shrewd monster fears the Wizard Academy’s tremendous magical 
  might. For this reason, he always heads north when he ventures out of 
  his lair to hunt. On those rare occasions when he leaves his treasure 
  behind, the massive beast leaves his home through a 30-foot-wide ﬂ ue 
  that extends from the top of his cave. A natural angled lid on top of the 
  ﬂ ue keeps water and snow from penetrating into his abode. Seventy-
  ﬁ ve years ago, a contingent of industrious dwarven miners and thieves 
  attempted to circumvent the stronghold’s lone access point by boring a 
  tunnel into the hill’s eastern face. However, the greedy burglars came 
  to blows over how to divvy up Bezzalt’s treasure hoard. The wild 
  ﬁ ght left several of them dead and forced the group to abandon the 
  endeavor before they could complete the passage. No one has mounted 
  a serious expedition to Dragonspire since the dwarves’ aborted attempt. 
  Adventurers contemplating a trek to the locale frequently hear rumors 
  about the dragon’s purported minions, which include a ﬁ re giant, an 
  efreet, or an elemental being wreathed in ﬂ ames.       
  DUSKMOON HILLS
  DUSKMOON HILLS
  Clusters of trees and shrubs cover the tracts of relatively ﬂ at ground in 
  these high, jagged hills reined with small creeks due north of Endhome. 
  A portion of the Trader’s Way carves a path through this natural 
  impediment. Patrols dispatched from the city of Endhome ensure the 
  safety of merchants and caravans traveling along this thoroughfare. 
  A narrow, seldom-used shortcut known as the Fool’s Road carves a 
  more direct route through the obstacle than the popular Trader’s Way, 
  yet as the name appropriately implies, expediency sometimes comes 
  at a hefty price. The city’s military units never set foot on the Fool’s 
  Road or anywhere else in the Duskmoon Hills other than the Trader’s 
  Way, leaving explorers to fend for themselves in a hostile environment 
  bristling with savage orcs, hobgoblins, goblins, grimlocks, and other 
  monstrosities. Many of the adventurers who trek to these hills search 
  for a network of caves previously inhabited by a band of orcs whom 
  the city forcibly removed 20 years earlier. Although new horrors 
  moved into the vacated premises, rumors suggest greater treasures and 
  foes lie somewhere beneath the complex. The infrequent discovery of 
  ancient pottery, bronze weapons, and primitive jewelry from a bygone 
  civilization lends some credence to this theory. 
  ESTUARY ROAD
  ESTUARY ROAD
  This road, which intersects with the Wain Cut, Trader’s Way, and the 
  Cross Cut among others, denotes the southern boundary of Eastreach 
  Province. While it may fall within the borders of Eastreach Province, 
  the Waymark cavalry stationed out of Eastgate regularly patrols the 
  moderately traveled thoroughfare. Because of their diligent efforts and 
  
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  the ﬁ nancial investments made by Bard’s Gate, the sections of the road 
  closest to Eastgate and the other settlements along the route are reliably 
  safe and well-maintained. More isolated portions of the road far from 
  civilization are most commonly subject to attacks from bandits, gnolls, or 
  goblins. Local baronies may also set up toll collection centers in remote 
  corners of the road, though their builders quickly disassemble these 
  makeshift barriers when confronted by soldiers from any established 
  city-state along the route. Inns, taverns, general stores, hamlets, and 
  small villages appear at semi-regular intervals for the majority of the 
  journey, especially near Eastgate. One such inn, The Leavened Baker, 
  serves a delicious sourdough bread with a homemade cheese spread that 
  makes it a popular stopover for traveling merchants, cavalry ofﬁ cers, 
  and dignitaries.
  FOREST OF HOPE
  FOREST OF HOPE
  Few places bear a more inappropriate name than this insidious cluster 
  of gnarled trees and overgrown shrubs. The forest earned its moniker 
  not based upon its disposition, but rather in honor of a long-forgotten 
  princess named Hope. Most believe its original name, the Forest of 
  Horrors, feels inﬁ nitely better suited for this swath of hellish wilderness. 
  “Flirting with Princess Hope,” given her association with the forest, 
  is a widely used expression used to indicate that a person is about to 
  do something not only stupid but also highly dangerous. Since this is 
  exactly the province of many adventurers, they may hear it quite a lot.
  Three hundred years ago, the Army of Light pursued Orcus’ demonic 
  minions into this forest from which they never emerged. Despite the 
  efforts of numerous adventurers and expedition parties, their ultimate 
  fate remains a mystery to this very day. The handful of fortunate souls 
  who return from such excursions occasionally retrieve rusty equipment, 
  moldy leatherware, tarnished talismans, and other gear left behind by 
  a human army and diabolical hordes, but they never come back with a 
  viable explanation for their sudden disappearance. 
  In an event that seems inextricably linked to the Army of Light’s 
  presumed destruction, explorers searching the forest’s eastern edge near 
  the Coast Road stumbled upon Rappan Athuk, the dreaded Dungeon of 
  Graves, in 3400 I.R. Since its discovery more than a century ago, many 
  adventurers have ventured to the remote site to plunder its fabled riches 
  and test their mettle in one of the deadliest locations in all of Akados. 
  The forest’s deserved reputation for mayhem fails to dissuade everyone 
  from entering into its terrible, woody embrace. The depths of the forest 
  are choked with dens of giant spiders and other deadly predators such as 
  trolls, stirges, and worgs. Outlaw bands take refuge in the tree-shadowed 
  reaches, and each year ushers in a new hatching of young green dragons 
  to plague the scattered settlements of the forest’s western verge. Dragon 
  season along the forest edge is a common testing-ground for young 
  knights of Eastreach hoping to prove themselves, offering up battles 
  with very small dragons whose size will necessarily be exaggerated in 
  later retellings of the heroic tale.
  FOREST KINGDOMS (FOREST OF PARNA)
  FOREST KINGDOMS (FOREST OF PARNA)
  Centuries of human colonization and the great wildﬁ res of 2496 
  I.R. were not enough to deforest this swath of the Great Akadonian 
  Forest that once covered most of central and southern Akados. Now the 
  Kingdom of Parnuble, high elves and wood elves still hold sway within 
  these woods. 
  FORTUNATE TOWER
  FORTUNATE TOWER
  This ordinary tower stands atop a hill where nothing stood less than 
  50 years ago. Despite being made from earth and stone, no one in the 
  surrounding villages can recall laboring on the project or even hearing 
  anything about its clandestine construction. Indeed, the local residents 
  know nothing about its alleged inhabitant other than the name Lord 
  Tyberis. Unbeknownst to them, the purported nobleman is a rakshasa who 
  traveled across the land robbing anyone who piqued his interest. Several 
  decades of getting the lay of the land has now taught the avaricious 
  creature that he can amass a greater fortune through landholding and 
  peasant labor than simple larceny. To test this theory, the ambitious Lord 
  Tyberis has bewitched several knights in neighboring manor houses to 
  determine whether his subjects and their minions can trace his treachery 
  back to him. If the experimentation phase proves successful, he plans to 
  roll out his ambitious pilot to controlling the minds of the local barons 
  in addition to the minor nobility.
  GAELON RIVER
  GAELON RIVER
  Stretching from the Sinnar Ocean near the city of Endhome to the 
  mountains far west of the city, the Gaelon River is a vital trade route 
  between the sprawling metropolis at its mouth and the smaller settlements 
  lining its banks. These farming communities along the water’s edge 
  trade their crops, livestock, and other locally produced goods for more 
  exotic fare imported from distant Endhome. The slow-moving, wide 
  river can easily accommodate keelboats and river barges until it reaches 
  the town of Deadfellows west of Gaelon River Bridge. At this juncture, 
  numerous cataracts and shallows cause watercraft larger than a rowboat 
  to run aground or crash into the rocks protruding from the rapids. In 
  addition to the river basin, numerous small tributaries and streams 
  branch off from the main body of water, though these waterways are 
  typically too shallow and narrow for vessels larger than a ﬁ shing boat 
  to navigate. The well-stocked river supports a wide variety of marine 
  animals such as pike, catﬁ sh, bass, and some crab species that are prized 
  for their sweet, tasty meat. One local ﬁ sh tale claims a prehistoric turtle 
  as large as a typical residence dwells in the deepest part of the river. 
  However, no one has reported seeing this oversized reptile for more than 
  50 years. Nonetheless, residents playfully refer to the mythical beast as 
  the Great Shell.          
  GLIMMRILL RUN
  GLIMMRILL RUN
  This tributary of the Great Amrin River runs almost due south from the 
  edge of the Forest Kingdoms, through the gorge beneath Derindin, before 
  emptying into its larger counterpart on the western boundary of Eastreach 
  Province. The Unclaimed Lands form much of its western bank south of 
  the Tradeway, while minor baronies and fortiﬁ ed estates connected by a 
  patchwork of neglected roads litter the eastern bank. Piracy plagues almost 
  the entire length of the waterway south of Derindin. The buccaneers 
  signiﬁ cantly curtail trade along the river as Eastreach Province is either 
  unwilling or unable to dispatch vessels to patrol the river. A few towns 
  along the banks take matters into their own hands and arm their ships with 
  a small contingent of mercenaries. While these precautions safeguard 
  their cargo and crew, no one has mounted an organized offensive against 
  the brigands who receive safe harbor from petty landholders along the 
  river’s edge in exchange for a share of their ill-gotten loot.
  GRAYWASH RIVER
  GRAYWASH RIVER
  Fed by the countless tributaries tumbling off the northern slope of Mons 
  Terminus, this waterway winds a circuitous path from Lost Boy Mountain 
  toward the Tradeway followed by a sharp turn southeast where it ultimately 
  converges with the Stoneheart River. The river, which is forded only near 
  the Tradeway and a few other isolated locations for a lack of demand, 
  predominately serves as a political boundary separating Bard’s Gate from 
  the Duchy of Waymarch. Hill dwarves reside in the foothills overlooking 
  the waterway; otherwise, large stretches of the Graywash are deserted 
  or sparsely inhabited. The river derived its name from the high sediment 
  content in the water undoubtedly accumulated during the opening foray of 
  its mountainous journey. The mineral concentration keeps ﬁ sh populations 
  low and gives the water a foul taste that discourages humanoids from settling 
  around its banks. Some prospectors pan for gold and other precious metals 
  in the shallow waters near Lost Boy Mountain. The occasional discovery of 
  a large nugget of gold or copper sparks moderate interest in the river, but the 
  enthusiasm soon wanes when the lucky strike turns out to be an anomaly. 
  Local legends claim a rare species of ﬁ sh acclimated to the conditions in the 
  Graywash River roots out and eats metal fragments found on the riverbed. 
  Because the ﬁ sh cannot digest the particles, the material accumulates in its 
  digestive tract. To date, only two specimens of this unusual carp known as 
  the shiny carp have ever been caught and examined. Each contained several 
  ounces of gold and copper in its distended belly.
  
  288|
  288|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  GREAT AMRIN RIVER
  GREAT AMRIN RIVER
  Beginning in the Star Sea, the Great Amrin River winds a course 
  through the Kingdoms of Foere’s heartlands, where it eventually joins 
  forces with the Stoneheart River for its ﬁ nal march to the Sinnar Ocean. 
  Although it falls under the overking’s territorial jurisdiction, treaties 
  forged with representatives of Bard’s Gate give that metropolis’ ships 
  unfettered access to the waterway from its conﬂ uence with the Stoneheart 
  River to Eastgate and the Amrin Estuary. The wide, slow-moving river is 
  naturally conducive to river trafﬁ c, though the seemingly placid nautical 
  route deftly conceals several sections of rapids and undertows that have 
  wrecked the vessels of many novice river captains. 
  Numerous small ﬁ shing hamlets and villages along the water’s edge 
  haul in sizable catches of pike, bass, and other freshwater ﬁ sh they cook 
  to feed their families or sell to wholesalers who frequent their docks and 
  piers. These settlements also cater to the needs of the crewmembers and 
  passengers of the ships sailing on these waters. They offer provisions, 
  accommodations, entertainment, and many other services typically 
  found in a maritime community to these transient visitors. The village of 
  Pluffton on the southern bank north of Carterscroft is a popular stopover 
  for river barge trafﬁ c as it offers one of the fanciest inns, The Ravenous 
  Mariner, and the services of Madame Jocelyn Prudeau, a gorgeous 
  fortune-teller renowned for her accurate readings and matchmaking 
  success. Many lonely sailors beseech their skippers to make a brief 
  detour to her establishment. 
  While most of these dockside enclaves operate legitimate enterprises, 
  some petty ﬁ efdoms and baronies on the Great Amrin’s northern banks 
  engage in river piracy to fatten their coffers. These brigands use their 
  sleeker and faster keelboats to pursue and commandeer the slower 
  unarmed merchant barges. If they succeed in this endeavor, they share 
  the loot with the nobleman who harbored them before moving upriver 
  or downriver to enter into a similar arrangement with another lord or 
  lady in the area. Bard’s Gate occasionally deploys troops to burn down 
  the manor homes and crops of aristocrats sponsoring these activities, 
  but their token efforts only make a small dent in the problem. Likewise, 
  adventurers hired to root out the pirates merely displace them for a short 
  time rather than eradicate them.
  THE GREAT BRIDGE
  THE GREAT BRIDGE
  An early Hyperborean imperator built the massive construction known as 
  the Great Bridge to accommodate the movement of the legions northward.
  Since the rise of the city, Bard’s Gate has maintained the Great Bridge, 
  which remains in excellent repair.
  Two fortresses stand on the north and south banks of the bridge. To the 
  north is Amrinbridge Fortress, an outpost of Bard’s Gate. On the southern 
  bank stands the Gretspaan Citadel, Foere’s most distant possession on the 
  Royal Vermis Road, the far edge of the overking’s empire.
  THE GREAT SALT MARSH
  THE GREAT SALT MARSH
  This stretch of coastline between Darnagal and Freegate has been a salty 
  marshland for thousands of years. Within are trackless miles of peat bog, 
  deep mud, stagnant water, and high, thick grasses. The smell of rotten eggs 
  hangs like a shroud over the marsh. 
  Within the marsh can be found stone structures with elegant arches that 
  are nearly submerged in the muck. These are the ruins of the ancient elven 
  city of Varagost. When that city fell, the tales say, the magics used to bring 
  it down also caused the land here to sink, which allowed the gulf waters to 
  ﬂ ood in, thus creating the marsh.
  A tribe of lizardfolk successfully carved out a small piece of territory in 
  the southern portion of the Great Salt Marsh, keeping an uneasy peace with 
  a young black dragon and a spirit naga dwelling in the north. Other aquatic 
  monsters and animals such as crocodiles, alligators, giant frogs, and hags 
  also dwell within the bog. No humanoid settlements are within the Great 
  Salt Marsh, though adventurers and explorers occasionally venture into the 
  festering wetland to harvest peat or search for treasure within Varagost’s 
  submerged ruins.
  HALF-PICKLE MARSH
  HALF-PICKLE MARSH
  When noted cartographer Abner Thornswallow drew his ﬁ rst map 
  of Eastreach Province, he spontaneously commented that a narrow 
  marsh on the province’s southeastern coast greatly resembled a halved 
  pickle. The curious name oddly stuck, though most travelers just refer 
  to it as “The Pickle.” Most travelers swear the expression to “be in 
  a pickle” stems from getting caught in this malodorous and perilous 
  wetland from where few ever return. When the Lowwater Road is the 
  safest place in the Half-Pickle Marsh, that tells most people everything 
  they need to know about the forsaken landscape. Bloated, shambling 
  corpses wander aimlessly through the mud and vegetation seeking to 
  exact revenge on the living, while hosts of demented creatures that 
  include multiple ﬂ ights of harpies and several prides of manticores 
  hover above the muck preying on creatures bogged down in the 
  damp soil. Bandits and fugitives seeking refuge from the authorities 
  in Amrin Ferry and Eastgate sometimes take refuge in this festering 
  marsh, though most outsiders quip that a lengthy prison stay is more 
  accommodating than a single night in this disgusting place. These 
  fearsome inhabitants share one common characteristic — they all 
  avoid the marsh’s apex predator, Deathroll, a spiteful, temperamental 
  old black dragon who dwells in a submerged aquatic lair a few miles 
  from the Amrin Estuary. Despite the allure of tremendous riches, no 
  adventurer has so far dared to tangle with the malicious reptile on his 
  home turf.
  LAKE CRIMMORMERE 
  LAKE CRIMMORMERE 
  This roughly circular lake encompasses a 40-square-mile area directly 
  northeast of the town of Crimmor in the Stoneheart Valley. For much 
  of its history, the townspeople of Crimmor came to this lake to cast 
  their lines and nets into the water to retrieve the bountiful largemouth 
  bass who ﬂ ourished here. However, the ﬁ shermen’s luck appears to 
  have run out as of late. A catch is extremely rare these days, and the 
  handful of ﬁ sh hauled back to shore are universally much smaller than 
  normal. Some locals now believe the lake may be haunted by the spirits 
  of ﬁ shermen who drowned in its waters or died in boating accidents. 
  The true culprits behind the decline in the ﬁ sh population are a band of 
  freshwater locathahs who reside in an underwater lair on the northern 
  end of the lake. Residents who have seen the creatures mistake their 
  dark silhouettes for apparitions or other ghostly beings. The locathahs 
  cautiously befriend any surface dwellers who approach them in a 
  peaceful manner. On the other hand, humanoids openly brandishing 
  weapons receive a chilly reception. If the locathahs are outnumbered or 
  appear overmatched, they ﬂ ee beneath the surface. Otherwise, they ﬁ ght 
  back against anyone who attacks them.
  LOST BOY MOUNTAIN
  LOST BOY MOUNTAIN
  At the northern tip of the Mons Terminus, towering more than 6,000 
  feet over the foothills below, Lost Boy Mountain is a place of great 
  natural beauty, its ﬂ anks marked by cold streams cascading down 
  rocky, forested glens from snow-capped heights. Such appearances 
  are deceiving, unfortunately, as the tales told of this peak suggest that 
  something sinister is present amid the trees and crags.
  The earliest conﬁ rmed story about Lost Boy Mountain is from the 
  13th Century I.R. A cousin of the Hyperborean imperator was exploring 
  the northern Mons Terminus with his family and a retinue of soldiers. 
  One evening, they camped on the shoulders of the peak. In the morning, 
  the youngest son of the noble was missing. His bedding was undisturbed, 
  and no tracks could be found. A week’s searching turned up no sign of 
  the boy, though a few of the soldiers claimed to have heard the sound 
  of a laughing child echoing from the mountain. This event might have 
  otherwise been forgotten, except that some 80 years later, an old man 
  arrived at the gates of Curgantium, claiming to be the lost child. He had, 
  however, no memory of how he had become lost, or even of his life 
  over the intervening decades. Eventually, he was sent to a monastery 
  in what is now Cantelburgh to live out the rest of his days. It is said 
  that he ﬁ nally recalled what had happened to him, but would only tell 
  
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  the archdeacon at the cathedral. Upon hearing the tale, the old priest 
  saddled a horse and rode out of the city, though no records tell of what 
  then became of him. 
  Strange and inexplicable events continued to occur at what was 
  thereafter referred to as Lost Boy Mountain. Over the ensuing centuries, 
  many others have vanished from the slopes and valleys here, never to be 
  seen again. Others say that an ancient civilization of dwarf-like beings 
  lives under the mountain, and that Oerson himself lives with them. 
  In a recent story making the rounds in Bard’s Gate, it is said that an 
  adventuring party came upon a group of Hyperborean soldiers taking 
  shelter in a cave on the mountain’s side who claimed to be on their way 
  to a battle at Lake Crimmormere.
  As a result of these tales, few locals are willing to brave the mountain’s 
  ﬂ anks. The folk of Byrn occasionally travel the paths they know, but always 
  make sure to make proper prayers before venturing forth. Some prospectors 
  pan for gold in the region, but they usually do not stay the night.
  In addition to whatever power exists in Lost Boy Mountain, other more 
  mundane perils also live in the region, including stirges, manticores, 
  stone giants, revenants, and banshees.
  LOWWATER ROAD
  LOWWATER ROAD
  The Lowwater Road hugs the northern edge of the Amrin Estuary 
  where it passes through the Half-Pickle Marsh until it turns into the 
  Coast Road farther north. Waymark cavalry stationed in Amrin Ferry 
  occasionally patrol the unruly thoroughfare, yet their minimal efforts 
  make no difference at all. This overland highway may be the most 
  perilous in Akados. Many portions of the neglected road are buried 
  beneath mud and marsh water, especially when heavy rains saturate the 
  land. The ghost stories and legends pertaining to the Lowwater Road 
  tally well over 100, which is far fewer than the number of unexplained 
  disappearances that have occurred during its long history. The tale of 
  Bartholomew the Blasphemer ranks among the most famous. In this 
  story, a down-on-his-luck paladin who recently experienced a spate of 
  horriﬁ c tragedies culminating in his young son’s murder renounced his 
  faith in Thyr and pledged his loyalty to a being he called The Whisperer. 
  In short order, he realized the terrible consequences of his impulsive act. 
  Unable to carry the burdens of his guilt and grief, the fallen servant of 
  good leapt into the marsh and drowned himself in his heavy plate armor. 
  The story also claims that the sound of sobbing heralds the arrival of 
  his angry ghost. To ward off his spirit and bestow any modicum of 
  good luck, travelers foolish enough to embark on the Lowwater Road 
  traditionally spit three times and dance a few steps from a lively jig 
  before taking their initial step onto the road.
   MONASTERY OF THE STANDING STONE
   MONASTERY OF THE STANDING STONE
  The serene Monastery of the Standing Stone lies nestled within a valley 
  surrounded by foothills. Master Kala of the Yellow Robe is the master of 
  this domain and leads the brothers and sisters under his tutelage toward 
  the path of enlightenment and oneness with the universe. She teaches her 
  pupils honor and duty are the ultimate expressions of a living creature, 
  while suppressing their emotions. One’s achievements are not measured 
  by the outcome of their actions, but by their faithfulness to the preceding 
  tenets. Through meditation, the monk communes with the inner being, 
  placing integrity and obligation above personal satisfaction. 
  The monastery’s pastoral setting encourages such introspection. Its 
  décor and accommodations represent an exercise in simplicity, from its 
  dirt-ﬂ oored dojo where Kala and her fellow monks train, to the caves 
  housing the remains of deceased monks and honored ancestors. The 
  monastery derives its name from the perfectly-aligned standing stone 
  in the midst of a grove surrounded by foothills. A small garden planted 
  around the stone enhances the locale’s serenity. Visitors who make their 
  way to the monastery receive an aloof yet respectful reception from Kala 
  and the resident monks. A pervasive myth in the region claims the stone 
  has a special connection to the divine forces that created the neighboring 
  Stoneheart Mountains. The exact nature of this link remains unknown, 
  but its precise alignment to the surrounding foothills and trees lends a 
  modicum of credence to this popular belief. 
  MONS TERMINUS 
  MONS TERMINUS 
  The Mons Terminus mountain range is the southernmost point of the 
  Stoneheart Mountains beyond the Stoneheart Valley. The old imperial 
  capital of Curgantium was built just to the south of the Mons Terminus 
  on the Great Amrin River to symbolize the city’s position as the core of 
  the empire. The haunted Lost Boy Mountain is at the northern tip of the 
  Mons Terminus.
  The lower reaches and foothills of the Mons Terminus are home to 
  bandits and monsters alike. Settlements in these remote areas cling 
  grimly to their existence in the face of these threats, receiving only 
  sporadic, halfhearted support from those who boast of Aachen’s stability.
  According to rumor, the dark elf city of Thoth Kathalis lies underneath 
  the mountains of Mons Terminus. At least one avenue from that Under 
  Realm city exits into the tunnels beneath Bard’s Gate, with other points 
  of access in the Stoneheart Forest and southern foothills of the valley.
  OLD PIRATE FORTRESS
  OLD PIRATE FORTRESS
  Seven hundred years ago, an upstart Foerdewaith baron deﬁ ed the 
  might of his nation’s royal navy and extended his reach into the coastal 
  waters bordering his ﬁ efdom, where he annexed a tiny island in the 
  Sinnar Ocean. The ambitious noble then built an imposing fortress on the 
  small tract of land in the middle of the water. In an even bolder move, he 
  doubled down on his aggressive wager by declaring his self-proclaimed 
  right to engage in piracy on the high seas. His royal navy superiors 
  in Pontus Tinigal begged to differ with his misguided opinion. They 
  dispatched a ﬂ otilla of galleons and, off the shores of his island, the king 
  of Foere taught him a fatal lesson. The baron and his vessels sank to the 
  bottom of the ocean that day, never to be seen again. After his demise, 
  several new generations of pirates occupied the fortress until the royal 
  navy routed them from the premises. The old, crumbling fortress has sat 
  abandoned for many years now. The neglect has taken a signiﬁ cant toll 
  on the walls and interior buildings, which are now in a state of terrible 
  disrepair or ruins. Some stories claim the baron buried his larcenous 
  treasures in a secure vault somewhere on the island. However, no one 
  has found any evidence to substantiate these fanciful tales. 
   PENPRIE FOREST
   PENPRIE FOREST
  Excessive logging reduced this deciduous forest that once stretched 
  from the Gaelon River to the edge of the Duskmoon Hills to a fraction of 
  its former size. Humans eventually abandoned the site, leaving its wild 
  beasts and monstrous denizens to establish ﬁ rm control over most of 
  the woodland with the exception of the areas abutting the well-traveled 
  Trader’s Way, which passes close to the forest’s eastern edge. The armed 
  patrols defending this commercial thoroughfare make occasional forays 
  into the forest’s perimeter to ferret out meddlesome creatures or bandits 
  conspiring to attack traveling merchants and their caravans. Naturally, 
  their efforts keep the forest’s perimeter comparatively safer than its 
  rowdy interior. In the heart of the forest, giant spiders weave their 
  webs amid the trees in the hopes of ensnaring an unfortunate victim, 
  while gnolls, ogres, and goblins ﬁ ght for dominance within the forest. 
  Endhome’s soldiers and adventurers are currently searching the Penprie 
  Forest for a notorious local band of highway robbers known as the Green 
  Tree Bandits who supposedly take refuge here alongside their presumed 
  monstrous allies. The former do-gooders once sought to redistribute the 
  city’s wealth from its well-to-do citizens to the downtrodden but greed 
  got the better of them. They kept their ill-gotten gains and now solely 
  commit their crimes to beneﬁ t themselves. The resourceful cutthroats 
  have robbed a dozen different merchant trains over the last six months, 
  making their capture a priority in Endhome’s merchant houses.
  PLAINS OF MAYFURROW
  PLAINS OF MAYFURROW
  Numerous hamlets and villages ﬂ ourish in the roughly rectangular 
  swath of prairie delineated on all sides by a road or forest. The towns of 
  Glendovel Close and Darnagal respectively occupy the northwestern and 
  northeastern corners of this four-sided boundary, while the metropolises 
  of Bard’s Gate and Freegate respectively sit atop the southwestern 
  
  290|
  290|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  and southeastern corners of this geometric shape. The inﬂ uence of the 
  preceding cities spreads far and wide across the vast grassland as many 
  small towns and villages fall under the Suzerainty of Bard’s Gate to 
  varying degrees. The settlements scattered throughout the region almost 
  exclusively rely upon currency minted in Bard’s Gate. 
  Although no individual settlement produces anywhere near the output 
  of agricultural products as Glendovel Close, their combined yields 
  vastly outnumber the preceding community’s harvest. Many refer to 
  this stretch of peaceful countryside as the Gulf of Akados’ breadbasket. 
  Its prosperity may be attributable to its rich soil, temperate climate, and 
  long-term tranquility. While armies have crossed the Plain of Mayfurrow 
  in the past, it has been long years since any such event occurred, leaving 
  the folk of the region in peace. 
  Nonetheless, roving bands of gnolls, orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins 
  sometimes raid farming communities or assault travelers and explorers 
  traversing the verdant landscape, mostly humanoids from Acregor or 
  the Shorsai Forest looking for an easy target. In addition, vast herds of 
  bison, deer, horses, and sheep roam the wilderness, leisurely grazing on 
  the plentiful grasses and grains protruding from the ground. These game 
  animals inevitably attract humanoid hunters as well as other predatory 
  beasts, most notably foxes, coyotes, and mountain lions. 
  PONTINE STRAITS
  PONTINE STRAITS
  This wide body of ocean separates the Akadonian mainland from 
  Pontos Island. Its notoriously shallow, choppy waters have claimed 
  many ships over the years, littering the seabed with numerous wrecks 
  still bristling with their lost treasures. Nonetheless, the Pontine Straits 
  keep their secrets well hidden. With an average depth of only 50 feet in 
  most spots, it would seem the briny deep’s riches would be ripe for the 
  taking. However, the murky water beneath the surface limits visibility 
  to only a few feet in many locations, which makes it difﬁ cult to spot the 
  wooden skeletons concealed beneath thin layers of silt. To make matters 
  worse, sea hags and the waterlogged, animated corpses of deceased 
  mariners lost at sea plague undersea explorers at every turn. On the 
  surface, pirates frequently menace ships sailing through the Pontine 
  Straits, though some may grant safe passage to vessels ﬂ ying under 
  certain ﬂ ags who grant them safe harbor or provide logistical assistance 
  with their illicit operations. Surprisingly, none of the major naval 
  powers in the region regularly patrol these waters for various reasons. 
  Some may clandestinely support the privateers, while others wish to 
  avoid giving any pretense to their enemies to respond to a perceived 
  attack or imaginary incident if ships under both ﬂ ags somehow meet on 
  the open waters. 
  PONTOS ISLAND
  PONTOS ISLAND
  Prior to Koshag of Ur’s arrival more than 18,000 years ago, Pontos 
  Island was a virtually uninhabited feral wilderness dominated by wild 
  animals and a small population of megafauna. Sea hags freely roamed its 
  coastline, while other aquatic and amphibious monsters dwelt along its 
  beaches and rolling grasslands. Its few humanoid inhabitants lived along 
  its shores in small, isolated ﬁ shing villages. Although his settlement 
  at the present-day site of Tros Zoas was short-lived, the ambitious 
  conqueror indelibly stamped his identity on the island. Humanoids who 
  learned of the settlements began migrating from the mainland of Akados 
  to the island in search of a better life. 
  Today, Pontos Island is a shadow of its former, wild self. Most 
  residents live in small ﬁ shing villages near the lush beaches. While 
  sea hags and other ocean dwellers still pose a hazard to these people, 
  Oceanus’ navy and marines keep these threats in check by routinely 
  patrolling the waters around the island for all enemies. The sprawling 
  grasslands still remain on many parts of the island’s interior, but the 
  Oceander people who live here have tamed large swaths of the unruly 
  landscape, converting unkempt savannas and prairies into farmland 
  and pastures for their livestock. The moderating effect of the Sinnar 
  Ocean gives most of the island a temperate climate throughout the 
  year except for the western shoreline, which experiences seasonal 
  temperature variations. Despite their efforts at subduing the wilderness, 
  nature deﬁ es progress in some remote areas. Ancient legends speak 
  of primordial, vaguely humanoid creatures who inhabit underground 
  caves and feral lands overrun with vegetation. Some believe they are 
  the undead descendants of Koshag who reverted to cannibalism to 
  survive in the aftermath of his death. Others believe they are minions 
  of Dagon who migrated to the island to perform their vile rituals long 
  before Koshag’s arrival.    
  RAPPAN ATHUK
  RAPPAN ATHUK
  Despite its enormous size and complexity, the dungeon known as 
  Rappan Athuk, or the Dungeon of Graves in some vernacular, is a relative 
  newcomer to Akados. Not coincidentally, the massive complex sprang 
  up in the same general locale where the demonic minions of Orcus and 
  the Army of Light vanished more than 300 years ago — the Forest of 
  Hope. The disciples of Orcus who survived the battle against the forces 
  of good came upon an isolated hillside that concealed a vast network of 
  subterranean tunnels and chambers. They secretly began construction in 
  earnest and repopulated the dank underground complex with hordes of 
  demons, undead, and other evil monstrosities. For almost two centuries, 
  the demon prince’s servants covertly toiled in the darkness until 3400 
  I.R., when Thyr’s high priest Bofred and his companions came upon the 
  hidden entrance to a gargantuan mausoleum while investigating a rash 
  of disappearances in the area. What he and his fellow adventurers saw 
  in the labyrinth terriﬁ ed him. Rappan Athuk’s seemingly inﬁ nite layers 
  of forbidden temples, crypts, tombs, and other horrors reminded him of 
  the sinister Abyss where the ﬁ endish Orcus and countless other demons 
  revel in wanton bloodlust. Although some of Bofred’s companions 
  survived their trek into Rappan Athuk, they never set eyes on the priest 
  of Thyr again. He was presumably lost somewhere in the catacombs 
  within the cursed mausoleum. 
  Over the next century, the brave adventurers who journeyed 
  to Rappan Athuk realized Bofred had found just one of many 
  entrances into the Dungeon of Graves. Since then, numerous other 
  adventurers have delved into the labyrinth seeking glory and riches 
  or in pursuit of a nobler goal to rid the world of this terrible blight 
  forever. Many have tried their luck in this endeavor, yet most failed 
  in their quest, adding their name to the dungeon’s innumerable list 
  of victims. Those who survived the harrowing trek escaped with 
  something perhaps more valuable than treasure: knowledge. Much 
  to their dismay, they also discovered that the evil beacon lured 
  numerous other sinister creatures into its disgusting embrace. The 
  devotees of Tsathogga, the Frog God, slowly and steadily inﬁ ltrated 
  the sprawling complex along with a host of other insidious beings 
  from this plane of existence and from other worlds. To make matters 
  worse, a handful of daring souls who ventured far into its depths also 
  learned stranger, alien worlds existed in the bowels of the earth far 
  beneath the desecrated cemetery.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: RAPPAN ATHUK, 
  CYCLOPEAN DEEPS VOLUME 1 AND VOLUME 2
  RUINED FORT
  RUINED FORT
  Before the Foerdewaith invasion, this fortiﬁ cation defended the 
  intersection between the Coast Road and the Lowwater Road as well as 
  monitoring coastal activities. However, during their war of conquest, the 
  Foerdewaith pummeled the keep and its defenders into submission with 
  their battery of siege engines. The stones and ﬂ ames lobbed during their 
  offensive reduced the formerly imposing stronghold into a smoldering 
  mound of shattered stone and scorched wood. The lord-governor refuses 
  to spend any money from his treasury to rebuild the badly damaged 
  structure in such a remote and frankly underused corner of his province. 
  In the absence of any state action, terrible creatures now infest the ruins. 
  The most popular rumors suggest evil cultists have taken control of the 
  sundered complex to perform their wicked rites and sacriﬁ cial rituals. 
  Many believe they worship an unknown arch-devil seeking to restore a 
  semblance of order to the chaotic forest around them. 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|291
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  RUINED KEEP
  RUINED KEEP
  Ninety years ago, the wizard Eralion used his burgeoning magical 
  powers derived from newly acquired scrolls to conjure a stone keep into 
  existence in the shadow of neighboring Fairhill. As he grew older, the 
  good and righteous man let the fear of death seep into his soul. Mortality 
  terriﬁ ed him and, in his desperation, he beseeched Orcus to grant him a 
  profane existence as an undying lich. The cruel demon prince knew the 
  wizard lacked the mystical power to successfully complete the ritual, 
  yet he deceived him into attempting it. In his ﬁ nal moments, Eralion 
  realized Orcus had betrayed him, but it was too late. His life essence 
  faded from him, resigning him to languish in the depths beneath his 
  keep as a lowly shadow of his former self. 
  Upon his earthly demise, the magic holding the keep together slowly 
  and steadily crumbled. Bandits inhabited the deteriorating stronghold 
  for several years until a small unit of Waymarch soldiers expelled 
  them from the keep. In the process, they dealt signiﬁ cant damage 
  to the already decrepit structure. After their removal, the crumbling 
  ediﬁ ce remained abandoned save for its lone occupant holed up 
  deep beneath its foundation. However, fresh tracks and other signs 
  of activity conﬁ rm that the keep is no longer empty. Local rumors 
  in Fairhill suggest a vampire dwells within the keep, though more 
  reliable witnesses assert a band of orcs terrifying the area now take 
  refuge in Eralion’s former abode. It remains uncertain whether they 
  are aware of the keep’s past history or whether its undead host knows 
  of the trespassers within his midst.
  SHEPHERD’S CROOK
  SHEPHERD’S CROOK
  This sparsely traveled overland route connects the agricultural 
  center of Glendovel Close to Darnagal with a stopover point in the 
  tiny village of Palmer’s Field. Stone mileposts erected along the sides 
  of the well-worn path clearly delineate the road from the pervasive 
  grasslands ﬂ ourishing beside it. Despite or perhaps because of hosting 
  only light trafﬁ c, the road remains relatively safe for nearly its entire 
  length except for pockets of trouble close to the southern edges of the 
  Shorsai Forest where bands of hobgoblins, gnolls, goblins, and orcs 
  occasionally venture outside the woodland to try their luck at seizing 
  a merchant caravan or butcher explorers traveling across Shepherd’s 
  Crook. Darnagal occasionally dispatches a small unit of mounted 
  soldiers to patrol the area as a reaction to news of a recent attack or 
  increased monstrous activity. According to legend, the road acquired its 
  name when Cyril Wynbrush led his ﬂ ock of 650 sheep from Glendovel 
  Close to Darnagal. Some local residents who travel along the road swear 
  they periodically hear a young lamb bleating, even though no animals 
  are present. Many whisper silent prayers to Cyril when walking on 
  Shepherd’s Crook, hoping he watches over them and their companions 
  during their journey.
  STONEHEART FOREST
  STONEHEART FOREST
  Two major trade arteries, the Tradeway and the Stoneheart River, 
  carve a path through the otherwise pristine wilderness. Trafﬁ c hustling 
  across these thoroughfares rarely encounter any resistance from the 
  indigenous denizens who have learned too many hard lessons about the 
  severe consequences for disrupting the ﬂ ow of goods to and from Bard’s 
  Gate. Those who stray from these patrolled and defended routes undergo 
  a more harrowing ordeal. The section north of the Tradeway is less dense 
  than its swampy counterpart to the south, but no less dangerous. Stirges, 
  wolves, manticores, giant spiders, and several types of giants infest this 
  portion of the woodlands. The stirges are so proliﬁ c in this area that 
  many natives refer to the Stoneheart Forest as the Stirge Wood. Rumors 
  insist an evil wizard living within the forest breeds and controls these 
  creatures. The stirges and other indigenous denizens periodically leave 
  the conﬁ nes of the forest to descend upon the neighboring Stoneheart 
  Valley or even make their way toward the more distant Lyre Valley. 
  There is a long-standing belief that a group of elven rangers known as 
  the Farseekers of Twilight maintains a hold within the forest’s northern 
  reach, though any concrete evidence of their existence remains elusive. 
  The region known as Kayden’s Swamp is the most noteworthy feature 
  of the forest south of the Tradeway. The wetlands developed around a 
  cluster of islands in the center of the Stoneheart River. No one can say 
  whether natural events or humanoid intervention created the malodorous, 
  pest-ridden bayou, but all generally agree on one fact: The swamp’s 
  namesake dwells somewhere within its stinking conﬁ nes. For the most 
  part, the reputed necromancer allows river trafﬁ c to pass through his 
  territory unharmed, provided they stay on course. Waterborne vessels 
  deviating from the designated path encounter terrifying illusions, traps, 
  mists, and other annoyances to keep the wayward traveler from venturing 
  close to his secret island base. Those who refuse to turn back risk a personal 
  encounter with the reclusive magician. For this reason, most ships sailing 
  through the Stoneheart Forest hire one of the Riverfolk to lead them 
  through the morass. The Riverfolk, who still dwell in small hamlets where 
  they eke out a meager existence as eel hunters or peat harvesters, know 
  the waterway’s backchannels like the backs of their hands.
  In addition to Kayden, the Stoneheart Forest also teems with 
  oppressive mosquito swarms, crocodiles, alligators, frogs, and 
  crocodilian humanoids known as chikes (croc folk). These bipedal 
  horrors typically dwell in huts built onto soggy ground on the swamp’s 
  outskirts and the forest’s interior regions near ponds and streams. Trolls, 
  hobgoblins, goblins, and the assorted ranks of the undead as well as 
  hosts of other malevolent creatures inhabit the forest’s interior. While 
  dimwitted, these monstrosities generally steer clear of the road and river 
  and instead direct their anger and hunger at one another. Of course, 
  travelers who veer away from the preceding thoroughfares are fair game 
  in their eyes. According to some tales, an ancient green dragon named 
  Weeping Cloud dwells within a tangle of thickets at the heart of the 
  forest. The legends claim his lineage dates back to the bygone days when 
  the Stoneheart Forest was a small parcel of the Great Akadonian Forest. 
  The stories also say Weeping Cloud enforces the edict against attacking 
  trespassers sticking to the road and the river. The dragon’s perceived 
  merciful stance derives from the annual tribute he reputedly receives 
  from a consortium of interests afﬁ liated with the various guilds and 
  merchant houses reaping the ﬁ nancial rewards of Akados’ international 
  commerce. Less prevalent legends also claim a hidden portal within the 
  Stoneheart Forest leads to a subterranean drow city, though these myths 
  remain unconﬁ rmed.   
  STONEHEART MOUNTAIN DUNGEON
  STONEHEART MOUNTAIN DUNGEON
  In the foothills of the Stoneheart Mountains, just north of Bard’s Gate, 
  lie the ruins of twin shrines dedicated to the virtuous deities Thyr and 
  Muir. During their heyday, pilgrims traveled from far and wide to visit 
  these holy sites. Yet over the passing centuries, the gods’ popularity 
  steadily waned as new gods captured the hearts and souls of eager 
  followers. The shrines fell into neglect and then disuse after Abysthor, 
  the last of the shrines’ great priests, vanished 20 years ago. The absence 
  of good creatures in the area allowed the forces of evil deep beneath the 
  forgotten shrines to surge back to the forefront.
  The devotees of Tsathogga, the vile Frog God, long inhabited a religious 
  complex far below the ground. There in the darkness, his deranged 
  tsathar servants conducted their wicked blood rituals and paid homage 
  to their chaotic, demonic entity. However, after centuries of isolation 
  and solitude, they learned they were no longer alone. Ten years ago, the 
  followers of Orcus joined them after the demon prince imparted a vision 
  to his high priest commanding him to also erect a temple in the depths of 
  the Stoneheart Mountain Dungeon. The competing forces quickly struck 
  an uneasy truce as both sought the same end. Each set out to locate the 
  Black Monolith, a potent construct with the power to open a permanent 
  gateway to the Abyss. However, unbeknownst to either party, the dungeon 
  also contains another secret. Even farther below the temples, the spirit 
  of the Stoneheart Mountain can be found in a chamber of earth blood. 
  A lone guardian vigilantly defends both locations until the time comes 
  when other righteous beings stand beside him to forever eradicate the evil 
  infesting the Stoneheart Mountain Dungeon once and for all. 
  Those who dare venture to the Stoneheart Mountain Dungeon 
  encounter a multi-tiered complex. The dilapidated shrines occupy the 
  uppermost level and are accessible from the surface. Undead and carrion 
  
  292|
  292|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  feeders took the place of clergy members and worshippers on this level. 
  A network of caves connects the shrines with the temples and chambers 
  beneath the Stoneheart Mountain Dungeon. At its lowest depths, many 
  believe the tunnels and passageways in its allegedly bottomless pit 
  connect the dungeon to Rappan Athuk and the Cyclopean Deeps.
  STONEHEART RIVER
  STONEHEART RIVER
  The waters ﬁ lling the Stoneheart River begin their journey in the 
  upper elevations of the mountain range bearing the same name. Rainfall 
  and melting snow winds its way down the peaks and collects in the 
  waterway bisecting a critical gap in central Akados. The water escaping 
  the mountain tumbles in great falls and rapids until it calms down north 
  of Bard’s Gate where it widens and deepens at a signiﬁ cantly slower 
  pace. The river’s gentle demeanor facilitates the transportation of goods 
  between Bard’s Gate and destinations along the Great Amrin River and 
  distant seaports on the Sinnar Ocean. Despite its dimensions, engineers 
  forded the river at the site of the great metropolis, giving the city mastery 
  of the overland route connecting east and west as well as direct access to 
  the Stoneheart River. 
  The river is navigable from Bard’s Gate until it reaches the northern 
  edge of the Stoneheart Forest to the south where it narrows and 
  transforms into shallow rapids again. Even the Riverfolk who were 
  intimately familiar with the river’s hidden sandbars and unpredictable 
  currents could not overcome a series of cataracts known as the Stoneheart 
  Falls. To circumvent this daunting obstacle, city administrators 
  expended tremendous ﬁ nancial resources and amounts of manpower 
  to construct and maintain portages around this location. More recently, 
  the dwarven engineer Karling constructed an ingenious boat-lift using 
  hydraulic pressure harnessed from a massive waterwheel. Embraced 
  wholeheartedly by the Riverfolk who initially resented it, this device 
  known as Karling’s Contraption plucks the vessel completely out of the 
  water and moves it past the cataracts to safety in a matter of minutes. 
  From here, the Stoneheart River widens to a breadth of one mile and 
  deepens to 120 feet at its lowest point as it meanders a slow, dangerous 
  path through the Stoneheart Forest. The trickiest and most perilous 
  spot is a stinking morass known as Kayden’s Swamp. The patch of 
  mosquito-infested wetland acquired its name from the archmage of 
  questionable character who allegedly dwells in this forsaken realm. 
  Travelers making their way through this uncompromising stretch of the 
  waterway typically hug what passes for the eastern bank of the river 
  to avoid becoming hopelessly lost among the stagnant bog waters and 
  marshy islands convoluting the correct route through the clusters of 
  trees, shrubs, and other aquatic vegetation. Crocodiles, giant frogs, and 
  other horrors lurk in these secluded spots. Almost every ship negotiating 
  these confusing waters hires a Riverfolk guide or pilot to safely lead 
  their vessel through the confounding network of dead-ends. Despite 
  these difﬁ culties, the Stoneheart River remains a relatively safe and 
  reliable means of transportation due in large part to the interests who 
  beneﬁ t from the river trade. 
  STONEHEART VALLEY
  STONEHEART VALLEY
  Foothills, swales, and nadirs mark the buffer zone between the 
  massive Stoneheart Mountains to the north and the ﬂ atter grasslands and 
  forests to the south. The valley is a study in ﬂ ux and transition. Where 
  the soil is fertile, lush grasses, pine trees, and other vegetation ﬂ ourish. 
  In regions dominated by exposed stone, the land appears lifeless and 
  barren. The rocks embedded into the earth often feature sharp edges and 
  jagged protrusions that make travel through the region slow and tedious. 
  Despite its desolate appearance, the valley boasts a reliable water supply 
  fed by frequent precipitation and runoff from the snowcapped summits 
  of the neighboring Stoneheart Mountains. Small hamlets and lone 
  farmsteads dot large portions of the landscape, though most residents 
  dwell alongside the Tradeway running through the heart of the valley as 
  well as the larger towns of Fairhill and Crimmor.  
  Hawks, falcons, eagles, and other birds of prey nest in the rocky 
  nooks and crannies atop the foothills. These predators frequently circle 
  the clear skies while scanning the bare stone for their next meal. Rodents 
  such as mice, rats, squirrels, and other small mammals are their typical 
  fare. Wolves are the dominant land-based predator species in the region. 
  Their larger and more vicious worg relatives frequently accompany the 
  pack during their hunts for deer and other game animals. Gnolls are the 
  dominant disruptive force in the region, spreading havoc wherever they 
  go. Orcs have also begun to make inroads into the area, most notably in 
  the Ruined Keep and the wilderness surrounding Fairhill. Rumors even 
  claim wormholes in the northern section of the valley burrow into the 
  earth, where they ultimately lead to the Cyclopean Deeps.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: STONEHEART VALLEY
  STORMSHIELD
  STORMSHIELD
  When Captain Aldrin Shaw deserted the royal navy and absconded 
  with one of its cutters in 3436 I.R., the city of Eastwych saw ﬁ t to seize 
  Stormshield, his private estate, as recompense for his traitorous actions. 
  After decades of legal wrangling and bureaucratic delays, the city ﬁ nally 
  auctioned off his property to the highest bidder. However, the purchaser 
  and every subsequent owner thereafter soon fell upon ﬁ nancial ruin or 
  suffered a terrible tragedy almost immediately after buying Stormshield. 
  The spacious residence is now considered to be cursed by bad luck, 
  leaving it neglected and unoccupied for more than a decade. Indeed, 
  the property’s title became so clouded, even Eastwych lost track of 
  who currently possesses a deed of ownership to the property. Those 
  in the know claim a notorious swindler named Romar Sourwine may 
  have acquired Stormshield’s deed through some nefarious scheme or 
  subterfuge. The wily conﬁ dence man was last seen embarking on a 
  vessel heading up the Stoneheart River.
  TALAMERIN RIVER 
  TALAMERIN RIVER 
  This gentle, languidly ﬂ owing river diverges from Glimmrill Run just 
  outside the border of the Forest Kingdoms and empties into the delta 
  overlooking The Trireme and Freegate. Merchants from the latter city 
  transport goods to and from the elves dwelling within the last vestiges of 
  the Great Akadonian Forest. Small ﬁ shing villages line the riverbank near 
  well-known ﬁ shing holes coveted for their reliable supplies of catﬁ sh, 
  walleye, and bass. Freegate’s elite residents ﬂ aunt their luxurious pleasure 
  crafts on this calm waterway rather than risk a rendezvous with pirates or 
  a vicious storm on the open seas. These magniﬁ cent yachts must navigate 
  around the numerous ﬁ shing kayaks, rafts, and rowboats clogging the 
  congested waterway. Fortunately, the Talamerin River can accommodate 
  the trafﬁ c with an average depth of 30 feet and an average width of 70 feet. 
  Only a bridge built into the Coast Road just north of Freegate fords the 
  river. In ancient times, the river cut a path through the Great Akadonian 
  Forest that covered large swaths of the continent. Divers and salvagers 
  scavenging on the riverbed occasionally retrieve elven objects from the 
  distant past, which they sell to collectors and historians for further study. 
  TANTIVY ROAD
  TANTIVY ROAD
  This long trail of packed dirt and occasional corduroy where the 
  ground frequently becomes soggy is the only viable overland route from 
  the capital of Carterscroft to the northern and eastern sections of the 
  province. Despite offering a fast and reliable means of reaching remote 
  locations, the prohibitive costs make Tantivy Road a less attractive 
  option. As with most of rural Eastreach, numerous local barons and 
  nobles demand tax money for entering their lands. In addition to 
  contending with the rightful owners of these areas, travelers must also 
  confront countless hucksters posing as tax collectors who impose levies 
  of behalf of a real or imaginary landowner. According to a popular 
  idiom, “one could leave Carterscroft with a full wagon and a full purse 
  of gold and arrive at the road’s terminus with nothing but a single shoe.” 
  In addition to being plagued by greedy local authorities, bugbears, 
  gnolls, tigers, and even manticores periodically harass travelers making 
  their way along the Tantivy Road. Needless to say, the real and alleged 
  landowners take no actions whatsoever to address the monstrous 
  denizens freely moving across their property.   
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|293
  |293
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  THE TRIREME
  THE TRIREME
  Established 180 years ago in the woods on the outskirts of 
  Freegate, this renowned tavern caters to epicurean tastes and serves 
  some of the ﬁ nest wines in the known world. During its illustrious 
  history, the two-story building has changed owners on four occasions 
  and it has incredibly burnt to the ground seven times only to be 
  rebuilt almost immediately afterward. Local dreamers and nascent 
  philosophers make up the bulk of the business’s clientele. On most 
  nights, these gregarious fellows vigorously converse about mundane 
  and esoteric topics in the tavern’s common room, though on some 
  nights the burgeoning thinkers take over a private drinking room or 
  engage in stimulating debates in the famous symposium provided 
  the participants generously spread their wealth and knowledge with 
  the servers and elite patrons. Foremost among these may be Helios 
  Pousalaki, an inﬂ uential commissary from neighboring Freegate. The 
  older gentleman fancies himself as the quintessential intellectual on 
  any subject. He speaks with such authority and dignity that depending 
  on the mood every word parting from his lips feels as if it were the 
  most profound or wittiest utterance ever. 
  With so many characters in play at the bustling enterprise, the 
  Trireme is the place to be seen and heard not only to gain exposure 
  to Freegate’s rich and famous but to also pick up some interesting 
  pieces of information. The current rumors circulating among its patrons 
  mention an ancient bottle of wine stored somewhere on the premises, 
  the haunting of the upper levels by one of the Trireme’s former owners, 
  a self-proclaimed priest of Bacchus challenging patrons to a drinking 
  contest in exchange for a priceless wine goblet, and a story about a 
  visiting wizard taking an acute interest in one of the staff members.    
  UNCLAIMED LANDS
  UNCLAIMED LANDS
  The Unclaimed Lands are the uncontrolled feudal lands north of the 
  Great Amrin River and west of the Glimmrill Run until it reaches the 
  Forest Kingdoms to the north. 
  When the Hyperboreans retreated from Akados, the forces of 
  civilization abandoned this vast swath of territory bordering Eastreach 
  Province. The region quickly descended into chaos as countless 
  warlords, barons, and other self-professed nobles rushed in to ﬁ ll the 
  political and economic vacuum left in their wake. These despots ruled 
  over their tiny ﬁ efdoms from the safety of their castles and fortiﬁ ed 
  manor homes. Inexplicably, the Foerdewaith stopped their advance 
  into central Akados at the edge of the Great Amrin River, depriving the 
  Unclaimed Lands of any stabilizing inﬂ uence derived from the presence 
  of a developed, centralized state. 
  From a technological and cultural standpoint, the people of the 
  Unclaimed Lands underwent a slow regression from the lofty ideals 
  of the Hyperboreans to the petty squabbles of backward boors ﬁ ghting 
  over a worthless tract of fallow earth. A sizable population of nomadic 
  Erskaelosi also wander across the mostly untamed wilderness, though 
  they are careful to avoid the more numerous small villages and hamlets 
  inhabited by their Foerdewaith counterparts who greatly outnumber 
  them. The inﬂ ux of these displaced barbaric peoples adds further 
  volatility to the Unclaimed Lands’ muddy political situation. However, 
  the Unclaimed Lands’ humanoid residents, whether they are humans, 
  half-orcs, orcs, or gnolls, universally agree on one thing — to avoid 
  the Court of Loom Ché under all circumstances. The massive ediﬁ ce 
  constructed from dinosaur bones belongs to its denizen of Leng 
  namesake. Within this compound, the enigmatic visitor from another 
  world entertains an equally eclectic crowd of strange supernatural and 
  alien beings.  
  VARAGOST
  VARAGOST
  Ages ago, Varagost was a city of the elves, a magniﬁ cent citadel of 
  towering pinnacles, graceful arches, glistening fountains, and courtyards 
  of fruit trees. The sister of the city of Aranost to the northwest, Varagost 
  was home to poets, singers, and musicians said to have been without 
  equal in Akados.
  But even among the long-lived elves, death eventually comes, and 
  so it came to Varagost and Aranost. Each was sacked by the armies 
  of Hyperborea as they sought to carve out an empire for themselves 
  on Akados. The forests surrounding the cities were cut and burned to 
  permit the legions easy passage. The cities were unwalled, since no 
  enemies had ever before threatened their realms, but magic surrounded 
  them, suffused them, and protected them. And so the invaders had to 
  use magic as well, which brought down the foundations of the cities. 
  In the case of Varagost, it also caused the lands about it to sink, which 
  permitted the waters of the gulf to ﬂ ood in and cover over the ruins of 
  the elven city with a salt marsh.
  Today, the Great Salt Marsh remains, and just the tops of a few towers 
  of Varagost rise over the muck and water. Occasionally, adventurers 
  enter the marsh to seek what treasures the elves might have left behind 
  when they ﬂ ed the destruction of their city. If any have returned with 
  such treasure, no tale has yet been told.
  THE WAIN ROAD (NORTH-SOUTH RUN)
  THE WAIN ROAD (NORTH-SOUTH RUN)
  Merchants traveling overland from Bard’s Gate to Eastgate prefer 
  taking this moderately safe highway, especially if they carry a token 
  exempting them from paying local taxes while traveling along this 
  road. Otherwise, the lord-governor’s sheriffs collect tolls at irregular 
  intervals from those who are not fortunate enough to beneﬁ t from one 
  of the many trade agreements the metropolis of Bard’s Gate brokered 
  with the Kingdoms of Foere. Built by the Hyperboreans, the paved 
  highway ideally suits wheeled vehicles as well as foot trafﬁ c. Like 
  many roads in Eastreach Province, real and illegitimate landholders 
  attempt to collect tolls from passing travelers. However, the lord-
  governor harshly addresses those poaching money otherwise destined 
  for his coffers. When his sheriffs capture a scoundrel posing as one of 
  their own, they mete out immediate justice by beheading the offender 
  and impaling their decapitated head atop a pike imbedded into the side 
  of the road as a warning to others inclined to follow down the same 
  path. Bandits are the most common threat to travelers venturing along 
  the Wain Road, though goblins, stirges, and other monsters also plague 
  some isolated stretches of the Wain Road. For this reason, mercenaries 
  typically accompany merchant caravans heading to or from Bard’s 
  Gate or Eastgate.
  WILD EDGE RIVER
  WILD EDGE RIVER
  A vast triangular stone pedestal in the southwestern corner of Eastreach 
  Province bifurcates the Great Amrin River into a smaller channel known 
  as the Wild Edge River. This waterway then carves a path into the Forest 
  of Hope, where it once again splits in two at the triangular base of a huge 
  stone idol depicting a presumably ancient forgotten goddess. Hundreds of 
  giant water snakes unseen anywhere else in Akados dwell in a network 
  of passages underneath the statue’s stone foundation. When darkness 
  falls, the nightmarish creatures emit eerie warbling cries throughout the 
  night. Both stone statues at the forks on the Wild Edge River predate 
  the Hyperboreans’ arrival in Akados. Despite being partially submerged 
  beneath running water for several thousand years, the stones still appear 
  freshly cut and show no telltale signs of erosion. Although connected 
  to one of the busiest waterways in Akados, few vessels ever purposely 
  venture down the Wild Edge River. Its banks are largely uninhabited, 
  and it is forded at only one known location on the northern fork near the 
  mausoleum. According to legend, a righteous general perished in battle at 
  this spot. His grieving troops interred his body in a tomb along the river’s 
  edge to commemorate his sacriﬁ ce. 
  
  294|
  294|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  NORTHERN SINNAR COAST OF 
  NORTHERN SINNAR COAST OF 
  EASTERN AKADOS
  EASTERN AKADOS
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS 
  OF THE NORTHERN SINNAR COAST 
  OF THE NORTHERN SINNAR COAST 
  OF EASTERN AKADOS
  OF EASTERN AKADOS
  ACREGOR
  ACREGOR
  Capital: Aranost
  Ruler: Sagriss Bloodﬁ st, King of Acregor and the Dragon Hills 
  Government: absolute monarchy
  Population: unknown (ogres, goblins, gnolls, trolls, orcs, 
  kobolds)
  Monstrous: wolf, giant animal (beaver, otter, and snapping 
  turtle), lycanthrope, undead, manticore, hippogriff, dragon 
  (southern Dragon Hills)
  Languages: various humanoid tongues
  Religion: none
  Resources: raiding
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Various elven, human, and humanoid peoples have lived in this 
  area of the Dragon Hills over thousands of years. The elves originally 
  were here, but then the Hyperboreans sacked their city of Aranost 
  and drove the elves south into the deeper forest. Then for a time the 
  Hyperboreans were here, and they even rebuilt Aranost in their own 
  style. Eventually, their empire fell as well so that by 2514 I.R. the city 
  was again abandoned.
  Over the next several decades, various bands of orcs, goblinoids, 
  trolls, and ogres moved into the Dragon Hills. Although settlements 
  of humans were in the region, other forces were also present, and the 
  departure of the Hyperboreans left a power vacuum. The humanoids 
  found the hills to be open and welcoming, and provided good, rugged 
  land in which to hide and make their camps, and from which they could 
  raid nearby farms, ﬁ elds, and wayward travelers.
  Then in 2740 I.R., a half-troll by the name of Acregor Ironclaw 
  arrived in the Dragon Hills with a band of ogres. Finding the humanoids 
  of the hills in disarray, he set out to unify them into a single nation. 
  It was a propitious time: The Hyperboreans were long gone, and the 
  Foerdewaith were just beginning their path to empire. Acregor easily 
  brought all of the tribes of the Dragon Hills under his banner, and for 
  another 80 years, they became the terror of the plains. In this time, he 
  reoccupied Aranost as his capital and built an enormous tower to act as 
  his burial monument so that even when he was gone, he would continue 
  to watch over his realm.
  It is probably no surprise, however, that as he ﬁ nally reached old age, 
  Acregor’s grip on his nation (which by then he had named after himself) 
  began to break. Challengers arose until eventually he was assassinated 
  in 2822 I.R. After three years of internal ﬁ ghting, one of Acregor’s ogre 
  lieutenants claimed the mantle of Acregor and named himself king. The 
  so-called Kingdom of Acregor has existed since that time, sometimes 
  under an aggressive king who sought expansion and other times under 
  weak rulers who faced continual civil war. But none has ever held the 
  Dragon Hills as tightly as did the original Acregor, nor has any had his 
  vision. Which is certainly something the neighboring human realms can 
  be thankful for.
  Today, Acregor is an annoyance and, at times, a grave danger to those 
  passing near the Dragon Hills, but at least for now poses no real threat to 
  Darnagal, Glendovel Close, or the other major settlements of the Plains 
  of Mayfurrow.
  The humanoids of Acregor are wary when they are in the southern 
  Dragon Hills, as the family of blue dragons living there does not always 
  take kindly to intrusions, whether accidental or intentional.
  ARANOST, CITY OF
  ARANOST, CITY OF
  Population: 3,178 (mostly orcs and half-orcs, with varying 
  numbers of other humanoids)
  Ruler: King Sagriss Bloodﬁ st
  Government: absolute monarchy
  Ages ago, Aranost was a city of the elves, a magniﬁ cent citadel of 
  towering pinnacles, graceful arches, glistening fountains, and courtyards 
  of fruit trees. The sister of the city of Varagost to the southeast, Varagost 
  was home to poets, singers, and musicians said to have been without 
  equal in Akados.
  But even among the long-lived elves, death eventually comes, and 
  so it came to Varagost and Aranost. Each city was sacked by the armies 
  of Hyperborea as they carved out an empire for themselves on Akados. 
  The Hyperboreans cut and burned the forests surrounding the cities 
  to allow the legions easy passage. The cities were unwalled since no 
  enemies had ever before threatened their realms, but protective magic 
  surrounded and suffused them. And so the invaders had to use magic as 
  well, which brought down the foundations of the cities.
  Afterward, the Great Salt Marsh covered Varagost, making it 
  uninhabitable. The Hyperboreans, however, decided to rebuild Aranost 
  in their own style, and they held it until 2514 I.R. when it was abandoned 
  along with the rest of Akados as the Hyperboreans withdrew across the 
  sea to Libynos.
  When Acregor Ironclaw ﬁ nally took control of the humanoids 
  inhabiting the Dragon Hills, he decided to make a capital on the ruins 
  of Aranost. When he learned the city’s original name, he retained it, 
  thinking it amusing that a half-troll was now the lord of an elven city.
  Today, Aranost remains the capital of the humanoid Kingdom of 
  Acregor and sits atop a hill overlooking the ridges, valleys, and crags of 
  the Dragon Hills. From here, generations of kings have looked out over 
  the Plains of Mayfurrow and planned ways to seize the lowlands. As of 
  yet, all such plans have come to naught. In the meantime, what was once 
  a magniﬁ cent city of the elves is now a bleak, crime-ridden settlement 
  of overcrowded shanties, ramshackle hovels, and omnipresent ﬁ lth. 
  The predominately orcish and half-orc population adequately adjusts to 
  wallowing in this disgusting squalor festering with death and disease. 
  They survive on a meager diet of grains, wild berries, and game foraged 
  from the surrounding wilderness or sold in Aranost’s cutthroat markets.
  THE CAMP
  THE CAMP
  Population: 355 (244 human, 36 orc or half-orc, 21 dwarf, 18 
  goblinoid, 11 halﬂ ing, 10 gnome, 7 elf or half-elf, 7 other, 1 hill 
  giant)
  Ruler: The Usurer
  Government: anarchy 
  The Camp sits on the edge of oblivion overlooking the barren 
  wasteland known as the Desolation. While it technically qualiﬁ es as a 
  settlement, it completely lacks any sense of community. The riff-raff, 
  ne’er-do-wells, and miscreants who live here personify the axiom, 
  “every man for himself.” Desperation rather than opportunity drove 
  many of these individuals to this forsaken place. They live here by the 
  seat of their pants, devising schemes to get ahead, usually at the expense 
  of someone else. The Camp’s residents live in ramshackle buildings 
  cobbled together from salvaged scraps of wood, loose branches, bundled 
  thatch, and practically any other material suitable for construction. In 
  many respects, they merely survive instead of truly live. 
  Although the Camp has no formal government, some individuals 
  enjoy more status than others. The Usurer stands out above all others. 
  Many believe he founded the Camp, as he has always been here to the 
  best of everyone’s knowledge. This cunning man performs multiple 
  functions within the Camp and serves as the settlement’s moneychanger, 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  blacksmith, and de facto leader. The Usurer exclusively mints the only 
  recognized currency in town: iron bits. Therefore, anyone wishing to 
  purchase food, drink, livestock, or equipment must ﬁ rst exchange their 
  money for his iron bits. For an otherwise lawless society, this is the 
  only regulation the locals universally enforce. None of the Camp’s 
  establishments accept any other form of currency. 
  The Camp may offer shelter and services, but it cannot guarantee 
  safety, especially at night. Those who wander outdoors during the 
  evening tend to disappear with alarming regularity, while those who 
  stay indoors almost always awaken the following morning barring 
  some unforeseen tragedy. Residents attribute the disappearances to 
  the activities of a death church, though there is no credible evidence 
  to support the assertion. For many years, no one outside the Camp 
  cared about the town’s missing people, but a new effort to reopen the 
  north-south trade route through the Desolation has rekindled interest 
  in the remote town. The locals warn visitors never to travel into the 
  Desolation without a guide, and that the Camp itself presumably harbors 
  many secrets not meant to be discovered. Some believe intelligent 
  undead creatures walk among them, while others speak of strange 
  folk walking abroad also seeking to venture into the Desolation. Most 
  residents candidly discourage newcomers from setting foot in the barren 
  wasteland at their doorstep. Those who openly talk about going to Tsar 
  mysteriously vanish shortly thereafter, regardless of whether they freely 
  walked about the settlement or hunkered down in one of its fragile 
  buildings.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE SLUMBERING TSAR SAGA
  CANTYN LIGHT, TOWN OF
  CANTYN LIGHT, TOWN OF
  Population: 1,550 (680 Foerdewaith, 310 other human 
  ethnicity, 190 half elf, 150 hill dwarf, 100 halﬂ ing, 85 gnome, 
  35 other)
  Ruler: Sea Lord Sir Argus Hamille
  Government: sea lord appointed by Bard’s Gate 
  Cantyn Light refers to the 170-foot-tall lighthouse overlooking the 
  entrance to the Binjerin River as well as the town of Cantyn Light nestled 
  in the shadow of the limestone tower. Experienced mariners recruited 
  from Bard’s Gate’s navy operate the lighthouse under the direction 
  of a representative from the city’s Wizards’ Guild. These individuals 
  serve Sea Lord Sir Argus Hamille, the town’s ruler. The blowhard naval 
  ofﬁ cer constantly toots his own horn, regaling bored listeners with his 
  fanciful accounts of his daring exploits on the high seas. The young man 
  in his mid-30s attributes his premature retirement from active naval duty 
  to the amputation of his lower right leg from a wound suffered during 
  a sea battle. However, truth be told, he lost the limb to gangrene after 
  neglecting to care for an infected toe. Furthermore, the sea lord’s stories 
  only took place in his imaginative mind. After less than six months 
  in command, the high admiral grew tired of Hamille’s cowardice and 
  incompetence. He relieved him of his duties and relegated the braggart 
  to his current backwater assignment. 
  Bard’s Gate maintains a signiﬁ cant naval presence at the mouth of 
  the Binjerin River. At any time, at least one frigate patrols the waters 
  around the important harbor. The metropolis also stations a sizable 
  contingent of ship’s marines and Waymark cavalry in the town. Cantyn 
  Light serves as the port of call for oceangoing vessels as well as the 
  scows and swoops in the River Watch that patrol the Binjerin River. In 
  keeping with the town’s maritime tradition, the town of Cantyn Light 
  has numerous warehouses, ﬁ sh markets, ship repair facilities, taverns, 
  and less-reputable establishments that cater to these professions. The 
  town also boasts an ancient library that pales in comparison to the one 
  found in Elise, yet still attracts its share of scholars and researchers. In 
  another local cottage industry, stories about ghost ships sailing on the 
  waters beyond the lighthouse and shipwrecks littering the sea ﬂ oor spur 
  sales of souvenirs, memorabilia, and guided tours of these areas. The 
  Blue Mermaid, a caravel that vanished 250 years ago during the Night 
  of the Deathly Fog, is the most famous and celebrated of these haunted 
  vessels. Sculptors sell miniature replicas of this ship to curiosity seekers 
  and collectors alike. According to legend, the ship appears on the 
  horizon on moonlit nights when the ghostly spirits aboard the vessel 
  walk atop the sea as they presumably search for lost crewmembers or 
  the lighthouse’s obscured beacon. 
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: BARD’S GATE
  CARTER’S FERRY, VILLAGE OF
  CARTER’S FERRY, VILLAGE OF
  Population: 42 (26 Foerdewaith, 8 half-elf, 6 halﬂ ing, 2 dwarf)
  Ruler: none
  The Carter family found itself between a rock and a hard place. When 
  hordes of hobgoblins and orcs overran Oxibbul, Jeremiah Carter, his 
  wife Eva, and their six children followed in the frenzied footsteps of 
  countless others toward the Fingers. At some point during their harried 
  journey, their paths diverged, leaving the Carters to go it alone for the 
  rest of their trek. As they approached the riverbank, wild, bloodcurdling 
  screams rose up behind them. Jeremiah, a devout worshipper of Freya, 
  offered a silent petition to his beloved deity while he and Eva cradled 
  their children in their arms in a ﬁ nal act of parental love. The frenetic 
  war cries drew closer. At that moment, a ferry boat suddenly appeared at 
  the edge of the riverbank. The vessel’s pilot calmly beckoned the family 
  to come aboard. With a single sweep from his oar, he pushed the family 
  to safety as a throng of befuddled orcs helplessly watched them escape. 
  The pilot never spoke, and each family member’s description of this 
  person wildly differed. Some swore he was a man, while others stared 
  upon a woman. Eva and her daughter testiﬁ ed they saw an angel’s face; 
  Jeremiah and the others claimed the pilot was an ordinary man. 
  When the Carters ﬁ nally joined the others in Elise, their fantastic 
  tale of hope and salvation quickly spread far and wide. A simple stone 
  shrine sculpted into the likeness of an oar now stands at the spot where 
  Jeremiah and his family stood roughly 1,600 years earlier. A small town 
  — better described as a waystation for merchants and caravans traveling 
  along the Frenzied Crossing — also grew up around this locale. The 
  42 permanent residents of this tiny settlement make a living offering 
  a variety of goods and services to these travelers, including a ferry 
  service across the river. Taverns, inns, general stores, and other shops 
  selling specialized equipment cater to the whims and needs of visitors 
  and adventurers, especially those heading to the ruins of Oxibbul to 
  unearth previously undiscovered treasures. A popular rumor circulating 
  through the bars and common rooms claims that a renegade wizard 
  from faraway Ghue Island spends his days poking around the rubble in 
  Oxibbul searching for an abandoned relic left behind by a wizard from 
  the Gray Tower.     
  ELISE, TOWN OF
  ELISE, TOWN OF
  Population: 605 (320 Foerdewaith, 90 other human ethnicity, 
  80 half-elf, 45 halﬂ ing, 30 gnome, 20 hill dwarf, 10 high elf, 10 
  other)
  Ruler: Elisa
  Government: autocracy
  When Oxibbul fell to goblinoid marauders roughly 1,600 years ago, its 
  surviving residents ﬂ ed across the Fingers where they founded the sister 
  settlements of Elise and Glaivr. Unlike its counterpart, Elise celebrates 
  intellectual achievements and strictly enforces the numerous laws on 
  its books. The wizard Elisa, the town’s ruler, defers the adjudication of 
  Elise’s legal code to her three subordinates, Sarah, Joyce, and Sabrina, 
  all of whom serve as judges and are also accomplished wizards in their 
  own right. They and the 150 men-at-arms enlisted in the town guard 
  keep the peace within Elise.
  Although the sister settlements differ in their outlooks toward law 
  and order, they remain on friendly terms. Elise exports its agricultural 
  products to its larger trading partner, while Glaivr reciprocates with furs 
  and timber. While Elise beneﬁ ts greatly from its economic relationship 
  with Glaivr, the same cannot be said about its romantic entanglements. 
  Elisa continually rebuffs the unsolicited advances from Glaivr’s leader 
  
  296|
  296|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  Lord Bertrand, whom she thoroughly despises. Elisa’s blatant disinterest 
  in marrying him fails to curtail his relentless interest in her. 
  Elisa instead focuses her attention on the town’s renowned library, 
  which contains many works from Oxibbul’s repository of books and 
  tomes. The library occupies a stone complex near Elisa’s central tower 
  inside the wooden palisade encircling the settlement. The library 
  has acquired additional resources over the years to add to its already 
  impressive collection and offers to purchase any noteworthy items that 
  would interest Elisa or her apprentice wizards for a fair price. Visitors 
  may access the library for a substantial fee or even hire a sage to assist 
  with their research. The library may be one of the ﬁ nest sources of 
  esoteric knowledge in all of Akados. Adventurers considering a trek 
  to Tsar or Tsen often stop here ﬁ rst to understand the history of these 
  fabled locales and to get a preview of what horrors await them in these 
  forbidden realms. Rumors also speak of a lost manuscript hidden or 
  concealed in another tome somewhere within the library. The writing 
  known as Chaos Reigns is supposedly the handiwork of none other than 
  Orcus himself. Despite Elisa’s extensive efforts and those of several 
  other arcane practitioners, no trace of the document has ever been 
  found, if it even exists in the ﬁ rst place.  
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  GLAIVR, TOWN OF
  GLAIVR, TOWN OF
  Population: 2,073 (820 Foerdewaith, 308 other human 
  ethnicity, 250 half-elf, 225 halﬂ ing, 220 gnome, 180 hill dwarf, 
  50 high elf, 20 other)
  Ruler: Lord Bertrand
  Government: autocracy
  A large, log palisade surrounds a rough-and-tumble town of rowdy 
  loggers, trappers, and adventurers who play just as hard as they work in 
  the chaotic taverns and brothels. Not surprisingly, the copious tankards of 
  alcohol and raging libidos fuel brawls that spill out of the establishments 
  and onto the streets where they spread like a virulent epidemic. Lord 
  Bertrand, the town’s ruler, rarely interferes in these disputes, preferring 
  to allow his citizens to sort these issues out for themselves unless the 
  matter devolves into a full-scale riot. In that case, Bertrand deploys his 
  200-strong town guard to break up the donnybrook. Glaivr’s wild and 
  wooly character deviates greatly from its original laidback demeanor. 
  Founded in the aftermath of Oxibbul’s collapse, the people who ﬂ ed 
  across the Fingers and into the lands beyond were predominately artisans 
  and craftsmen rather than loggers and trappers. Over time, necessity 
  and opportunity transformed generations of tradesfolk into lumberjacks 
  and outdoorsmen. Glaivr’s original settlers wisely chose the location 
  for their new community at the intersection of two roads heading to 
  Legion’s Bay that also sat on the banks of the Binjerin River. Barges 
  sailing to Bard’s Gate and destinations farther inland load and unload 
  their cargo and passengers on the massive wharf on the city’s northern 
  outskirts. These ships transport timber and fur from the neighboring Eng 
  Wood and Kurz Wood to distant markets. The captains of these vessels 
  frequently hire mercenaries and guards from the ranks of the town’s 
  burly woodsmen and rugged outdoorsmen. Many of these individuals 
  worship the barbarian god Bowbe, who has a major temple in the 
  city. The clerics in his service frequently tend to the injuries sustained 
  during one of Glaivr’s frequently melees, though they vehemently 
  protest raising anyone killed in combat during one of these free-for-alls. 
  Someone seeking those services must obtain them from the Temple of 
  Freya that is also found in Glaivr.
  As previously discussed, Lord Bertrand takes a hands-off approach 
  to intervening in the affairs of others. He never metes out justice except 
  in plainly evident cases of theft where ownership of the stolen item can 
  be deﬁ nitively proven, and obvious instances of premeditated murder. 
  Glaivr’s ruler prefers spending his days wooing Elisa from neighboring 
  Elise and seeking bounty hunters to capture the fugitive Duncan who 
  supposedly ﬂ ed to the Hazed Canyon. To date, his efforts on both fronts 
  have failed miserably. 
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS 
  OF INTEREST IN THE NORTHERN SINNAR 
  OF INTEREST IN THE NORTHERN SINNAR 
  COAST OF EASTERN AKADOS
  COAST OF EASTERN AKADOS
  BINJERIN RIVER
  BINJERIN RIVER
  The Binjerin River ﬂ ows from the eastern edge of the Stoneheart 
  mountains through the Stoneheart Foothills and the Black Forest and 
  eventually into the Gulf of Akados. Barges transporting raw materials 
  from areas farther upriver sail along this waterway on their journey to 
  distant markets. In 2214 I.R., Glaivr and Bard’s Gate established the 
  River Watch to safeguard commercial trafﬁ c along this vital trade route. 
  These armed patrols and troops from Bard’s Gate work in tandem with 
  the individual vessel’s security forces to ensure the safe transport of 
  goods and commodities. Fishermen drop their lines into the freshwater 
  system, while crabbers, lobstermen, and mollusk harvesters troll the 
  brackish estuary where the river meets the gulf. According to popular 
  ﬁ sh stories, the estuary contains oysters that produce green pearls while 
  a seemingly immortal eight-foot-long freshwater bass named Big Jim 
  swims in the Binjerin River. 
  REFERENCE SOURCES: THE LOST LANDS: BARD’S GATE,
  THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  THE BLACK FOREST
  THE BLACK FOREST
  This deciduous forest boasts a wide variety of tree species, though it 
  earned its name from the dark color of its iconic oak trees. The forest’s 
  thick canopy reaches a height of 200 feet in some places. The leaves 
  prevent sunlight from reaching the ground, leaving the forest ﬂ oor mostly 
  barren, which allows creatures to move uninhibited across the forest ﬂ oor 
  in most areas. The Binjerin River carves a path through the western part 
  of the Black Forest and allows loggers and woodsmen to easily transport 
  timber downriver. These logging communities tend to be clustered around 
  the river area as well as the forest’s edges. Villagers and woodsmen fear to 
  delve too deeply into the forest because many never come back. Folklore 
  attributes their disappearances to a race of sentient spiders that purportedly 
  dwell in a massive web complex. Woodsmen occasionally speak of an 
  evil treant or an overgrown, sentient tree living within the forest. The only 
  motivation to go into these remote reaches of the forest lies in the prospect 
  of ﬁ nding celestial cap mushrooms, an addictive narcotic illegally sold in 
  Bard’s Gate or legally purchased in High Karst.  
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  DEARTHWOOD
  DEARTHWOOD
  The Dearthwood is a coniferous forest in the shadow of the Stoneheart 
  Mountains. Brambles and briars grow in the thin, alkaline soil riddled 
  with ponds and lakes tainted with lye. Contrary to popular wisdom, 
  the safest drinking water comes from murky, bug-infested waters — 
  provided the drinker ﬁ rst boils the liquid to kill any pathogens. The 
  source of the toxic material remains a mystery, though some druids and 
  rangers speculate runoff from the neighboring Stoneheart Mountains 
  transports the metal hydroxide into the small streams and groundwater 
  supply. Others counter that its roughly equal distribution throughout 
  the Dearthwood conﬁ rms the lye leaches up to the surface from an 
  underground source. Regardless of its origins, the contamination stunts 
  the trees’ trunks and needles, causing them to shed their spiny leaves at 
  an accelerated rate. Because the trees and undergrowth grow close to the 
  ground, moving through the Dearthwood often requires hacking through 
  the brush with a sharp blade or other suitable tool. The proliferation of 
  living and dead vegetation makes the forest vulnerable to forest ﬁ res 
  from lightning strikes or carelessness. 
  The Dearthwood is sparsely populated by man and beast alike. The 
  handful of villages scattered around the Dearthwood rarely number 
  more than 100 individuals. Trolls and ogres prowl the woods searching 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  for elusive game animals or wayward humanoids. Small populations of 
  goblins, hobgoblins, gnolls, and orcs also paradoxically band together in 
  search of prey. Adventurers periodically poke around the Dearthwood’s 
  hills, which some believe are wild elf burial mounds dating back to the 
  age when the Great Akadonian Forest covered much of the land.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  THE DESOLATION
  THE DESOLATION
  For two years, two massive armies waged a titanic struggle in and 
  around the city of Tsar. Thousands of creatures — good and evil, mortal 
  and extraplanar, abyssal and celestial — perished in this epic conﬂ ict. 
  Carnage of this unspeakable magnitude leaves an indelible mark on 
  the land. To inﬂ ict such mass casualties, both sides unleashed horriﬁ c 
  new weapons against their foes. Potent spells, supernatural abilities, 
  experimental technologies, and godlike powers sundered ﬂ esh, bone, 
  stone, and earth, laying waste to everything within their reach. More 
  than 300 years have passed since the Battle of Tsar, yet even time cannot 
  heal these wounds. The Desolation remains true to its name to this very 
  day. It is an ashen, gray wasteland still desperately trying to recover 
  from the hell rained down upon it. 
  The Desolation is bone dry save for the rare torrential downpour in 
  late autumn. The breezes routinely whipping across the sere earth lift 
  up tiny particles of dust and sand, leaving a noticeable gray haze in the 
  air. Water is scarce, and the terrain is predominately ﬂ at and fallow. 
  Any hills or other elevations were likely blasted into oblivion during the 
  great battle, though the Stoneheart Escarpment to the Desolation’s west 
  remains intact. 
  Although the landscape seems monotonous, the handful of explorers 
  who trekked across the Desolation divided it into four quadrants roughly 
  corresponding to the east-west and north-south roads bisecting it. The 
  southeastern quadrant is the bleakest of the four. Ash covers every square 
  inch of ground, and undead monstrosities left behind from the battle freely 
  walk the earth. A vast canyon ﬁ lls the northeastern quadrant. Numerous 
  caves cut into the walls of this obviously unnatural gorge harbor strange 
  creatures and frightening abominations presumably summoned from the 
  depths of the Abyss. The northwestern quadrant features a pockmarked 
  landscape that witnessed the ﬁ ercest ﬁ ghting during the Battle of Tsar. 
  Countless geysers, craters, pits, and boiling pools of mud and sulfur 
  scar this portion of the Desolation. Although water is more plentiful 
  than elsewhere in the Desolation, toxins contaminate the overwhelming 
  majority of water sources. Bizarre creatures formed from desecrated earth 
  haunt this steamy domain. War reduced the formerly fertile southwestern 
  quadrant into a hardened crust of dry earth teeming with the bones of the 
  dead. It is nearly impossible to walk across the solidiﬁ ed ground without 
  stepping on decomposed or mummiﬁ ed remains. While many still lie 
  underfoot, a signiﬁ cant portion of the departed still walk the earth as 
  vengeful apparitions or shambling corpses.     
  The only humanoid settlement of note within the Desolation is the 
  Camp, a wild, rowdy place on the road passing through the barren 
  wasteland. Before Tsar’s fall, the vital trade route linked the isthmus 
  with Foere. Indeed, the evil city reaped a tremendous windfall levying 
  tariffs on goods and commodities passing through its territory. Once 
  again, renewed interest in reopening this overland highway has rekindled 
  interest in exploring the Desolation and clearing out any monstrous 
  inhabitants who would threaten this endeavor.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE SLUMBERING TSAR SAGA
  DRAGON HILLS
  DRAGON HILLS
  The Dragon Hills span a section of the eastern coast of Akados south 
  of Glaivr and Elise and north of the Shorsai Forest, and stretch from the 
  ruins of Tsar and the Desolation to the west to the shattered remains of 
  Oxibbul to the north. The hills are generally scrubland with a few trees 
  dotting the slopes. Large rocky outcrops and eroded gullies pockmarking 
  the landscape impede travel, especially vehicular trafﬁ c. The Dragon 
  Hills derived their name from the two families of dragons who dwell 
  here, one blue and one green. Fortunately for the hills’ other inhabitants, 
  the covetous monsters spend their waking hours trying to steal treasure 
  from their rival family or better yet, slay one of their adversaries in the 
  process. Trolls, ogres, gnolls, goblinoids, orcs, and dire animals infest 
  the Dragon Hills in surprisingly large numbers as well. Glaivr and Elise 
  send armed patrols into the hills to keep these creatures’ numbers in 
  check and simultaneously monitor the activities of the dragons who 
  periodically raid livestock from the towns’ farmers and ranchers. 
  The Dragon Hills contiguously stretch to the boundaries of the 
  Shorsai Forest, yet the dragon’s hegemony over the land roughly ceases 
  just past the midway point between its northern and southern borders. 
  The Kingdom of Acregor rules over much of the Dragon Hills, exerting 
  its inﬂ uence over its domain from the capital city of Aranost — other 
  than the southern reaches, which are the hunting grounds of the dragons.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  ENG WOOD
  ENG WOOD
  Loggers and trappers from the neighboring riverbanks as well as 
  Glaivr frequently venture into this deciduous forest teeming with plant 
  and animal life. Birches, oaks, and walnuts are the most common trees, 
  though numerous other species ﬂ ourish alongside these stalwarts. Game 
  animals are also in abundance, with deer and rabbit topping the list. Small 
  enclaves of orcs, hobgoblins, goblins, and kobolds also inhabitant the 
  forest alongside a ﬁ ercely protective colony of elves, who defend the Eng 
  Wood against any who would deﬁ le it. Fearful of the elves and unwanted 
  attention from Glaivr, the badly outnumbered humanoids typically ﬁ ght 
  among themselves. They rarely attack woodsmen or hunters. 
  Although most people venture into the Eng Wood in pursuit of their 
  livelihood, some trek into the forest seeking a mischievous leprechaun. 
  According to the popular yet largely discredited story, the sly fey offers a 
  lucky holy relic to anyone who can solve his riddle. In the tale, the trickster 
  also claims the deity Mick O’Delving personally gave him the item for his 
  assistance to a drunken halﬂ ing in need. The legend says the leprechaun lives 
  in a small yet cozy cottage whose chimney bellows colorful orange smoke.     
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  THE FINGERS
  THE FINGERS
  These tributaries of the Binjerin River subdivide into ﬁ ve smaller 
  branches, thus earning the waterway its distinctive name. In like 
  fashion, each bears the name of a digit on a human right hand. The 
  Thumb portion points due south, followed in clockwise order by the 
  Index, Middle, Ring, and Little Fingers. The predominately human 
  population inhabiting this region dwells in small ﬁ shing villages and 
  farming communities lining the banks of each of these shallow rivers. 
  People living on the banks of the Thumb frequently venture into the 
  neighboring Eng Wood or more distant Kurz Wood to harvest timber 
  from these largely tranquil forests.
  The Fingers’ residents take great pride in their stretch of the river. 
  They greet friends, family, and strangers alike by displaying the digit 
  corresponding to the section of river they call home. For instance, a person 
  dwelling along the banks of the Index Finger presents their index ﬁ nger. Of 
  course, gestures can have different meanings in other cultures. Therefore, 
  these unconventional signals sometimes accidentally cause disagreements 
  depending upon how the observer construes the outstretched ﬁ nger. 
  Despite their strong feelings about their homeland, most residents only 
  playfully needle their rivals hailing from other tributaries. 
  Over the years, the Fingers have witnessed mass crossings, most 
  notably when the surviving residents of Oxibbul ﬂ ed across the rivers and 
  established the towns of Glaivr and Elise to the south, and when humanoid 
  tribes crossed the waterways several hundred years later to disappear into 
  the Dragon Hills. Otherwise, the rivers witness little trafﬁ c other than 
  loggers transporting timber down river for transport to distant markets and 
  the occasional pleasure craft leisurely sailing atop the peaceful waterway. 
  FRENZIED CROSSING
  FRENZIED CROSSING
  This road once connected the Old North Road to Oxibbul, but after the 
  latter’s demise centuries ago, the thoroughfare turned southward toward 
  
  298|
  298|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  the settlements of Carter’s Ferry, Glaivr, Elise, and Cantyn Light, which 
  were founded in the aftermath of Oxibbul’s descent into chaos. The 
  road primarily links the preceding settlements to the ports at Cantyn 
  Light and the city of Apothasalos to the north. To protect their economic 
  interests, Glaivr and Elise regularly dispatch patrols to protect overland 
  commercial trafﬁ c and keep encroaching monsters and wild animals at 
  bay. Despite their efforts, a band of outlaws sometimes dispossesses 
  travelers of their goods and wealth. Locals refer to the group as the 
  Dastardly Troupe, whom many believe originally hail from Glaivr based 
  upon their expertise using trapping devices implanted just beneath the 
  road’s surface to ensnare creatures walking atop the Frenzied Crossing. 
  A handful of residents even believe the bandits previously belonged 
  to Glaivr’s town guard. With the exception of these brigands, the road 
  remains relatively safe save for the occasional rare encounter with orcs, 
  goblins, hobgoblins, gnolls, or trolls.
  THE GRAY FEN
  THE GRAY FEN
  Streams ﬂ ow from the Stoneheart Mountains and drain into a low-
  lying basin east of the mountain range to create the Gray Fen, a dank 
  wetland teeming with stagnant ponds layered with striated moss and 
  clusters of hardy trees. The moderately alkaline environment supports 
  numerous species of wild berries, carnivorous plants, and a healthy 
  population of moose. The hobgoblins and dwarves from the neighboring 
  strongholds sometimes venture onto the soggy terrain in pursuit of these 
  massive beasts, though the Gray Fen’s dangerous reputation dissuades 
  many hunters from setting foot in this forsaken realm. Will-o’-wisps 
  haunt these malodorous lands, feasting on the souls of the living who 
  trespass into their territory. Marsh gas is also a constant menace along 
  with mosquitoes and other insect pests who hound travelers at every 
  turn in the Gray Fen. Humanoids who perish here often rise up from the 
  muddy soil and assume an undead existence as partially mummiﬁ ed, 
  waterlogged corpses. 
  The dwarves and hobgoblins alike believe many fugitives or 
  conspirators ﬂ ed into the watery morass to escape their pursuers and 
  well-deserved justice. Rumors abound claiming these individuals 
  founded a refuge within the fen for other individuals facing a similar 
  predicament. Second- and thirdhand accounts describe the settlement 
  reportedly known as Liberation as a wild, lawless mixed community 
  of renegade dwarves, hobgoblins, and any other creatures seeking 
  a new beginning far from civilization and the long arm of the law. 
  Whether Liberation actually exists fuels heated debates in dwarven 
  and hobgoblin circles, though no one has mustered enough courage to 
  personally investigate the stories.  
  HAZED CANYON
  HAZED CANYON
  Hydrothermal springs scattered around the base of a massive 
  depression ringed by 300- to 600-foot-high cliffs continuously generate 
  a hazy fog and keep temperatures within the basin at a balmy 90° 
  Fahrenheit regardless of the season, time of day, or weather conditions. 
  These warm waters form the river Harange, a swift-moving stream 
  with dozens of small cataracts ranging in height from three to 12 feet. 
  The water temperature in this hot river ﬂ uctuates between 100°–200° 
  Fahrenheit. The Schindle River also courses through the area, but it is 
  much cooler than its sweltering counterpart. The steamy vapors rising up 
  from the springs and Harange obscure all vision in the area, especially 
  along the rim, which is nearly impassable except for a treacherous path 
  on the canyon’s south side that ultimately leads to the bottom. However, 
  few souls venture into the depths of the Hazed Canyon anymore. During 
  its heyday, wealthy citizens from Tsen and Tsar visited the Tannesh 
  Hot Springs and its reinvigorating baths for their reputed curative and 
  rejuvenating properties. Loggers from Elise and even Glaivr ventured 
  into the depression to hew the valuable teak and ironwood trees growing 
  in the primordial forest in the Hazed Canyon’s interior. Several citadels 
  also lie at the bottom of the depression, though their architects and 
  occupants are the subject of rampant speculation. Some believe the 
  fugitive Duncan may reside within one of these complexes. Other stories 
  claim a mad sorcerer built one of these towers to perform experiments 
  on steam technology. Legends also speak of two gargantuan beasts who 
  skulk through the Hazed Canyon preying on the unwary.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  ISLE OF THE BLESSED SERPENT
  ISLE OF THE BLESSED SERPENT
  A warm southern current and the Tropic of Arden moderate the 
  island’s climate, keeping it constantly balmy and humid regardless of 
  the season. These inﬂ uences make the island’s weather unpredictable 
  and frightening. Torrential downpours can spontaneously erupt and 
  roll across the sweltering forest in the blink of an eye. From shore, the 
  Isle of the Blessed Serpent seems to be a tropical paradise with pristine 
  sandy beaches, lush palm trees, swaths of arable farmland, and a dense 
  jungle in its interior. Getting ashore can be perilous, however. The Great 
  Serpent Reef surrounds the entire island save for a small breach in the 
  living barrier on the northwest side of the island. The coral almost always 
  tears through the hull or blocks the passage of any ship attempting to 
  negotiate a path through or over the treacherous obstacle.
  Those who reach the island encounter a primordial wilderness teeming 
  with overgrown insects such as massive ﬁ re ants, beetles, dragonﬂ ies, 
  and hordes of blood-sucking mosquitos. And, as the island’s name 
  suggests, many varieties of snakes, a substantial portion of which are 
  poisonous. As a result, those few who do make the shore tend to spend 
  little if any time on the island, which seems to be actively seeking to 
  drive visitors away.
  That being said, tales are told in the taverns along the wharves 
  of Darnagal that lights are seen inland on the island at night, and 
  sometimes, the ruins of stone towers can be seen through the forest 
  canopy far inland.
  Around the island, ﬁ sh are plentiful, and many ﬁ shing boats come 
  to the area to seek a full catch. If the winds begin to change, however, 
  they head back to shore, since being blown upon the reefs would almost 
  certainly be fatal.
  KURZ WOOD
  KURZ WOOD
  A mere stone’s throw from nearby Glaivr, the Kurz Wood would likely 
  qualify as the most heavily developed forest in the region. Sawmills line 
  the Kurz Wood’s northern perimeter, giving Glaivr’s merchants easy 
  access to its lucrative timber products. Trappers and loggers take up 
  residence in small villages scattered throughout the forest’s interior. 
  Crude paths cutting through the undergrowth form a network of routes 
  connecting the settlements to one another and the main road leading to 
  Glaivr. The rugged men and women who live off the land in the Kurz 
  Wood consider this stretch of wilderness safer than a typical city block 
  in a bustling metropolis. Nonetheless, they are careful to avoid contact 
  with the dryads who defend their sacred oaks and a band of centaurs 
  who can be easily riled to anger. Despite peaceful outward appearances, 
  some settlers have been expressing alarm over a rash of unsolved acts 
  of sabotage against the forest’s timber and fur industries. A growing 
  number of trappers are complaining about someone or something 
  destroying their traps, while the irate woodsmen gripe about missing 
  equipment, dull saw blades, and frayed ropes. In each of these incidents, 
  someone carved the likeness of a smiling rabbit with disproportionately 
  large upright ears onto the nearby trees. The images perplex local 
  residents and authorities alike who seem unsure what to make of these 
  actions or speculate who or what could be behind them. 
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  LONELY COAST
  LONELY COAST
  This stretch of shoreline on Legion’s Bay earned its name after 
  a wayward Boros trireme ran aground on the coast after escaping 
  capture during the Battle of Hummaemidon. Other than this brief brush 
  with history, the rocky, mostly uninhabited span of beach wallows in 
  anonymity. Anglers who venture to this stretch of coastline hurl their 
  baited hooks into the surf in the hopes of catching ﬂ ounder or salmon 
  bottom feeding on the sea bed. Divers occasionally visit the area 
  searching for shipwrecks in the shallow waters around the Lonely 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|299
  |299
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  Coast. Those embarking in this risky endeavor must avoid the sea hags 
  who dwell here, especially the wretch known as the Briny Mistress.
  MERCHANT’S ROAD
  MERCHANT’S ROAD
  Despite the name, the Hyperborean Empire built this ancient 
  thoroughfare to facilitate military transport to the Pass of Hummaemidon 
  and eventually to the Plains of Mayfurrow and Bard’s Gate. The road fell 
  into disrepair after the Hyperborean retreat but has experienced a recent 
  resurgence since the proposed reopening of the trade route through 
  the Desolation. The road links the city of Apothasalos to Bard’s Gate 
  via the Old North Road. Not surprisingly, the increased trafﬁ c along 
  the long-abandoned route attracts attention from gnoll marauders and 
  highwaymen looking for a quick score. Likewise, hucksters sometimes 
  pose as soldiers from either city to collect tolls on the metropolis’s 
  behalf. Bard’s Gate has been cracking down on this scam for several 
  years, though frontier justice usually deals with this problem more 
  effectively than the tedious court system ever could. 
  MOUNT MOFFAT
  MOUNT MOFFAT
  Nothing lives within 20 miles of this constantly belching volcano, 
  which at 13,043 feet is unusually large for a cinder cone volcano. Mount 
  Moffat continuously spews forth ash, toxic gases, and occasional lava, 
  but its activity level presents a geological anomaly. It is too far from 
  The Molten Flow or The Spine of Fire to be associated with those 
  active volcanoes, which also differ in their structure and output. While 
  the mountain could be a hotspot, scholars suspect the most likely 
  explanation for its existence lies with an unnatural or supernatural 
  cause. The general belief is that something stirs beneath the mountain, 
  and it is likely associated with the forces that created the Stoneheart 
  Mountains in the ﬁ rst place. The few souls who explored the mountain’s 
  inner workings found bizarre runes etched onto the stone walls and 
  upside-down humanoid skeletons suspended from the ceiling by strange 
  ﬁ laments wrapped around their ankles. Not surprisingly, these accounts 
  dissuaded others from visiting the rocky behemoth. The tales date back 
  several centuries. Therefore, it is impossible to tell whether the carvings 
  and the killings represented current activities or were left behind by past 
  civilizations. 
  THE NORTH CUT
  THE NORTH CUT
  This tributary of the Binjerin River has an average width of 30 feet 
  and an average depth of 12 feet. Its crystal-blue waters cut a relatively 
  straight path through the surrounding grasslands. Many species of salmon 
  return to this river to spawn, which brings hungry predators such as 
  bears and otters to these shores during these seasonal events. Numerous 
  small ﬁ shing villages, wharfs, and piers also line the riverbank. These 
  anglers compete with their bestial rivals for the proverbial catch of the 
  day. The most prominent manmade structure on the largely pristine river 
  is a bridge known as the Outstretched Hands. This unusual span crafted 
  from cut stone and concrete resembles an arch with two interconnected, 
  outstretched hands. Based upon its architectural design, most experts 
  believe the Hyperboreans built the bridge. The most plausible 
  explanation for its odd construction techniques lies with its intended 
  purpose. Although obviously erected to span the river, its strange design 
  suggests it represents a truce or a lasting peace between two forces on 
  opposite sides of the river. While the forgotten ideals that birthed the 
  bridge to life have been lost to the annals of time, it is still a popular 
  destination for ﬁ shermen and most especially divers. Anyone who dives 
  into the water and retrieves a scallop shell supposedly receives good 
  luck for the next seven days. Only one in 50 tries ends in success. 
  OLD NORTH ROAD
  OLD NORTH ROAD
  Once a popular trade thoroughfare, the Old North Road hosts little 
  trafﬁ c nowadays. It runs from Glendovel Close to the south and through 
  the Desolation until it forks just past The Fingers into the Merchant’s 
  Road to the north and the Frenzied Crossing to the east. Naturally, the 
  sharp decline in use has left the route in a state of neglect and disrepair. 
  Its popularity waned because of its passage through the dangerous and 
  sparsely inhabited Desolation and its proximity to the hostile Kingdom 
  of Acregor. Nonetheless, there has been some renewed interest in 
  reopening the northern leg of the Old North Road passing through the 
  environs around Tsar. A ramshackle settlement known as The Camp sits 
  close to the road and acts as a gateway to the wasteland beyond it. These 
  efforts aside, the Old North Road witnesses a disproportionate number 
  of muggings, robberies, and attacks committed by a cast of characters 
  ranging from bandits and orc raiders to Orcus’ deranged minions and 
  fantastical creatures rarely seen in Akados.
  OXIBBUL
  OXIBBUL
  In 8 I.R., the Hyperborean legions founded the city of Occibolos at 
  a strategic location at the convergence of the Binjerin River, the North 
  Cut, and an overland roadway. The city rapidly expanded over the 
  course of the next several years from a frontier settlement to a bustling 
  trade hub. Occibolos’ prosperity naturally attracted the interest of the 
  invading Hundaei who poured across the Stoneheart Mountains and into 
  Hyperborean lands. After withstanding several sieges, the city ﬁ nally 
  fell to the invaders in 494 I.R. The Hundaei burned the settlement and 
  razed most of its structures to the ground. Occibolos sat vacant and 
  unwanted for the next 1,000 years until 1494 I.R. when refugees from 
  the surrounding area resettled the abandoned city. Its new occupants 
  christened the settlement with a name — Oxibbul. Less than 10 years 
  later, wizards ﬂ eeing the cataclysm at Tsen established the Gray Tower 
  as a magical academy and guild hall. For the next three centuries, 
  Oxibbul ﬂ ourished in the shadow of the mystical structure. However, 
  orcs and goblinoids from the Black Forest launched a wave of attacks 
  against the city. The assaults continued almost unabated for the next 
  century until even the mighty wizards could no longer hold back the 
  surging tide. The remaining settlers and the wizards abandoned Oxibbul 
  in 1915 I.R. Many retreated across the Fingers and established the towns 
  of Elise and Glaivr.
  The unenterprising orcs and hobgoblins rested on their predecessors’ 
  labors and allowed the town to slowly and steadily decay until it was no 
  longer habitable, even by their lowly standards. By 2390 I.R., the utterly 
  deserted Oxibbul lay in ruins. It remained that way until 2599 I.R. when 
  the Kingdom of Foere rebuilt portions of the city while also temporarily 
  restoring its original name of Occibolos. The revitalized town enjoyed a 
  ﬂ eeting revival before petering out again when the Kingdom of Foere’s 
  power waned decades later. By 2880 I.R., Oxibbul regained its former 
  name and status as a desolate, ruined settlement bereft of inhabitants.
  Oxibbul’s ideal location at the crossroads of several important trade 
  routes would seem to bolster its fortunes as a settlement, yet time and 
  again the city inevitably decayed into rubble. The descendants of its 
  former residents now living in Glaivr and Elise swear the ruins must be 
  cursed. Some ancient chronicles claim the Hyperboreans who ﬁ rst laid 
  Oxibbul’s foundations felt nervous and uneasy while excavating the site. 
  An ancient tapestry depicts the ﬁ rst builders accidentally disinterring 
  skeletal remains dipped into molten lead. According to legend, everyone 
  depicted in the artwork mysteriously died less than one week later as 
  blood relentlessly poured out of their swollen eye sockets. If the tale 
  is true, the whereabouts and identity of the skeleton wrapped in lead 
  remain unsolved. Likewise, its history and its relationship to the city are 
  still shrouded in mystery.
  PASS OF HUMMAEMIDON
  PASS OF HUMMAEMIDON
  On this hilly grassland, the legions of Hyperborea and Boros clashed 
  in a climactic battle that forever changed Akados. After a titanic struggle, 
  the Hyperboreans earned their independence and laid the foundations of 
  their empire. On this day, the humans and the high elf descendants of 
  the wild elves of the Green Realm reconciled. The alliance between men 
  and elves put one old grudge to rest, but the actions of the Hyperborean 
  legions gave birth to an enmity that still endures after 3,500 years. In 
  an act known as the Great Betrayal, the dwarves’ human allies turned 
  against their former friends. The horriﬁ c slaughter ended only when the 
  last mountain dwarf fell at the hands of their human betrayers. Although 
  
  300|
  300|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  numerous generations have come and gone since this fateful day, the 
  mountain dwarves never forgot nor forgave the traitorous act. 
  The passage of time has not erased these old memories nor the 
  scars from the land. To this day, salvagers periodically unearth metal 
  fragments, old bones, and other personal effects from the freshly 
  tilled soil. Hobgoblins, hill giants, or ogres sometimes interrupt these 
  excavations while hunting or scavenging for scraps themselves. Worse 
  yet, the restless spirits of the mountain dwarves who perished in the 
  battle refuse to let death inhibit their thirst for revenge. These angry 
  souls take their ire out against any humans, half-elves, or elves who cross 
  their path. While vengeance seems to be their primary goal, scattered 
  ﬁ rsthand accounts also report seeing these undead monstrosities 
  actively seeking something buried underneath the ancient battleﬁ eld. 
  Their objective remains unknown, though some of the witnesses claim 
  to hear the apparitions utter the word “Dweram.” No such word exists in 
  the Dwarven language, which leads many to believe it may be a proper 
  name or a contraction of two or more separate words.        
  SHORSAI FOREST
  SHORSAI FOREST
  A remnant of the oldest forests in all of Akados, this primeval 
  woodland once belonged to the Great Akadonian Forest in ancient times. 
  A dense canopy of tightly-clustered deciduous trees keeps the forest 
  immersed in twilight throughout the daytime hours while plunging the 
  forest into pitch darkness when night falls. The tangle of protruding 
  tree limbs, branches, and undergrowth covering the forest ﬂ oor greatly 
  impede travel through the woodland. Once, long ago, the ancestors of 
  the elves, newly arrived in the world, lived in this area. While there may 
  be remains in the deep forest of the elven domain, today the forest is 
  given over entirely to evil humanoids and patches of forest haunted by 
  dark things that even frighten the orcs and goblins.
  Throughout the forest, various humanoid tribes, including bands of 
  orcs and gnolls, vie for supremacy over their small ﬁ efdoms. Recently, 
  however, envoys from Acregor arrived in the forest seeking to bring the 
  tribes under the banner of Aranost.
  A small, 50-foot-wide waterway meanders through the Shorsai Forest 
  from the Dragon Hills. It is never a swift stream, and it breaks into 
  many small distributaries before ﬁ nally reaching the shores of the Gulf 
  of Akados in a boggy area of forest.
  STARCRAG FOOTHILLS
  STARCRAG FOOTHILLS
  The Starcrag Foothills, like the nearby Starcrag Range, fall outside 
  the dominion of the great mountain dwarf clans who rule over the 
  balance of the Stoneheart Mountains.
  Instead of dwarves, roving bands of hobgoblins infest caves burrowing 
  into this range of hills, some of which are oddly shaped. Some scholars 
  speculate that the strange conﬁ gurations may not be of natural origin. 
  The most prevalent theory implies they are Hyperborean or Hundaei 
  burial mounds, though several excavations in the region have yielded no 
  evidence of any ancient tombs. The hobgoblins inhabiting the area pay 
  titular fealty to the masters of Exor, Smashed Skull, and Bone Hollow 
  in the nearby mountains. Although a handful of hobgoblin outlaws still 
  roam the area seeking recruits to further their ambitions to reclaim their 
  former glory or establish a new hobgoblin dynasty, the vast majority 
  of these individuals are the descendants of deserters, fugitives, and 
  mutineers. An aggressive and slightly unbalanced hobgoblin named 
  Hroggar currently seeks recruits for just such a cause. The traitorous 
  Hroggar foolishly attempted to stage a coup against King Teth Khan of 
  Exor. The ill-conceived plot quickly unraveled and left the rebellious 
  hobgoblin and his loyalists in a tricky spot. Hroggar ﬂ ed in the aftermath 
  of the catastrophe; his followers were not as lucky. The last sensation 
  they experienced was the executioner’s cold steel blade slicing through 
  their outstretched necks.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  STONEHEART ESCARPMENT
  STONEHEART ESCARPMENT
  These sheer cliffs protrude from the Stoneheart Mountains in a roughly 
  convex shape to form the backdrop for the temple-city of Tsar. Portions 
  of the metropolis consist of terraces cut into the base of the mountain at 
  varying elevations. The escarpment is surprisingly uniform for what is 
  presumed to be a natural topographical feature with a consistent height 
  of 5,500 feet and almost completely vertical, smooth surfaces. Even an 
  experienced mountaineer faces a tremendous challenge attempting to 
  scale up or rappel down these treacherous cliffs. The Southern Pass is 
  the only negotiable path through the escarpment, though the route feels 
  like a tricky spiral staircase in some stretches. Even worse, many believe 
  any remaining guardians left behind in Tsar still keep a watchful eye on 
  the formidable yet not impassable rocky barrier. According to the lyrics 
  of The Dirge of Gerrant, a popular ballad, the Stoneheart Escarpment 
  contains a secret passage that leads directing into the dungeons beneath 
  where the Citadel of Orcus once stood in nearby Tsar.
  TOWER OF ACREGOR
  TOWER OF ACREGOR
  The Tower of Acregor was originally constructed for Acregor 
  Ironclaw, the half-troll king of Acregor who ﬁ rst uniﬁ ed the humanoid 
  tribes of the Dragon Hills. He intended it to be his burial monument.
  Built of white marble, the blocks for the tower were scavenged from 
  the ruins of the elven city of Aranost. Though now nearly 1,000 years 
  old, it seems brand new. The tower itself is 50 feet tall and has no 
  windows and only a single entrance — a pair of massive doors carved 
  from ivory. No tales are told of what may be inside the tower. It is, 
  in fact, unknown if Acregor is even buried here, as the chaos after his 
  assassination left the fulﬁ lment of any such plans in doubt.
  TSAR
  TSAR
  For centuries, Tsar embodied evil and hate. Orcus, the demon prince 
  of the undead, delights in leading the righteous down the path of 
  corruption, and the circumstances surrounding the genesis of Tsar are no 
  different. The city began its existence more than 4,000 years ago as St. 
  Harul’s Hold, a bastion of good that housed the High Altars of Thyr and 
  Muir. For centuries thereafter, the holy place, now known simply as St. 
  Harul’s, drew pilgrims from throughout Akados, including Polemarch 
  Oerson who bestowed gifts upon its patriarch when the Hyperboreans 
  ﬁ rst arrived in Akados. However, St. Harul’s virtuous façade concealed 
  a terrible secret. Over the course of several hundred years, the disciples 
  of Orcus steadily inﬁ ltrated the shrine’s political and ecclesiastical 
  hierarchy like a malignant cancer. The end came in 2462 I.R. when 
  Tam Xaverik, a clandestine priest of Orcus, became the Protector of the 
  Hold. In less than 10 years, Tam successfully wiped away all remaining 
  vestiges of Thyr and Muir including their clergy and followers, and 
  renamed the debased city Tsarul. 
  Within a century, the small shrine and town expanded into a festering 
  metropolis. Like a siren’s call, the great temple city beckoned foul beings 
  of all sorts into its diabolical embrace, including hordes of humanoid 
  tribes from the Dragon Hills and hosts of evil men and monsters from 
  every corner of Akados. There, in its wicked arms, Tsar sucked every 
  iota of goodness and compassion from its subjects until only darkness 
  and malevolence dwelt within the being’s loathsome heart. At its center 
  stood the great Citadel of Orcus, the epicenter of demonic worship in the 
  mortal world. Within its wicked conﬁ nes, the demon prince’s deranged 
  worshippers committed heinous atrocities and schemed to unleash even 
  greater horrors against all who deﬁ ed their master’s baleful call. 
  Despite its stain upon the world, the great empires of Akados and 
  beyond cast their eyes away from the terrible blight tainting their lands 
  for hundreds of years. The Grand Cornu, Orcus’ earthly representative, 
  grew rich and complacent from their collective apathy and malaise. He 
  levied stiff tariffs against goods passing over the roads crossing through 
  his lands to the east. With the aid of the indigenous non-humanoid 
  tribes, he established a foothold at a southern port to further expand his 
  inﬂ uence. It seemed no one would dare to challenge the Grand Cornu’s 
  machinations — until an opportunity for revenge reared its head. 
  Keen for a chance to settle the score for expelling them from St. 
  Harul’s centuries earlier, the weakened yet still potent churches of Thyr 
  and Muir gathered a delegation of good- and neutral-aligned faiths to 
  
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  petition the newly-crowned Overking Graeltor to lead a crusade against 
  Tsar. Buoyed by the success of his predecessor’s crusade and Tsar’s 
  growing threat to the lucrative trade routes between the Isthmus and 
  Foere, the new monarch assembled his own military force he dubbed the 
  Army of Light. In 3208 I.R., Zelkor, a powerful archmage who served 
  as Graeltor’s most trusted advisor, led the Army of Light out of Bard’s 
  Gate to march against Tsar.
  Zelkor’s forces punched through Tsar’s outer defenses, laying 
  the land and the enemy to waste in horriﬁ c fashion. After a year of 
  ferocious battles, the Army of Light now stood in sight of their goal — 
  the depraved city of Tsar. The forces of good besieged the metropolis 
  for months without any breakthroughs and a tremendous loss of life on 
  both sides of the walls. Reinforcements from the depths of the Abyss 
  continuously poured into Tsar, while celestial beings bolstered the ranks 
  of Zelkor’s demoralized army. Then without warning, the Grand Cornu 
  and the entirety of Tsar’s defenders inexplicably vanished from the city. 
  When Zelkor caught sight of the force behind the Army of Light, he 
  pursued Orcus’ disciples into the Forest of Hope, where both sides were 
  never seen nor heard from again. 
  Meanwhile, the paladin Bishu and a small contingent of knights 
  entered the abandoned city, encountering only sporadic resistance 
  on their way to the Citadel of Orcus. When they entered the demon 
  prince’s earthly stronghold, the structure inexplicably disappeared into 
  nothingness, presumably taking Bishu and his cohorts with it. All that 
  remained of Tsar and Orcus’ minions were a handful of stragglers and 
  the sundered ruins of a broken and abandoned city. While Graeltor 
  could theoretically claim victory over Tsar, the heavy price in men 
  and materiel left Foere in disarray. The Hyperborean monarchy of the 
  Foerdewaith soon collapsed under the heavy weight of rebellion spurred 
  primarily by the crusade’s tremendous costs when measured in spent 
  resources and lost lives.
  Although Tsar technically had been defeated, few ventured to the 
  shattered metropolis to claim the spoils of victory. The confrontation 
  between the Army of Light and the minions of Orcus transformed Tsar and 
  its surroundings into a desolate wasteland. Furthermore, many terrifying 
  mysteries remained. No one could explain what happened to the Citadel 
  of Orcus, the Army of Light, and the demonic hordes they chased into 
  the Forest of Hope. For the most part, Tsar remains unchanged from that 
  fateful day. Although some monstrous denizens streamed into the city to 
  dwell amid the rubble and some guardians remain sequestered somewhere 
  within the city, the settlement is now a far cry from its former, inglorious 
  self. Rumors persist that many of Orcus’ devotees still reside in the 
  undercity below the broken streets and razed buildings. Others believe an 
  even more ancient force predating all recorded history and legend played 
  a role in deciding the battle’s outcome for better or worse. Regardless of 
  the truth, only the hardiest adventurers even dream of making the long, 
  arduous slog to Tsar’s desecrated ruins.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE SLUMBERING TSAR SAGA
  STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  Known as the Spine of the World in many circles, the Stoneheart 
  Mountains stretch from the frozen Northlands to the north to the outskirts 
  of cosmopolitan Bard’s Gate to the south. Despite their impressive size, 
  the mountain range is relatively new, having been magically raised 
  atop the Keltine Barrier roughly 10,000 years ago. Most of the range’s 
  formidable peaks reach heights of 14,000 feet and higher, though the 
  summits of many mountains in the northern and central portions of 
  the range climb into the proverbial death zone of 26,000 feet, with the 
  highest exceeding 30,000 feet. At these dizzying heights, temperatures 
  routinely dip far below the freezing point. Few creatures can withstand 
  the low oxygen levels and frigid temperatures in these areas, leaving 
  them sparsely inhabited. Dense glaciers, sometimes hundreds of feet 
  thick, cover the slopes and summits of the tallest peaks. Below these 
  heights, sheep, oryxes, llamas, and other animals adapted to life at 
  elevation thrive in this rocky, arid environment.
  Mountain dwarves are the most dominant military and political 
  force in the Stoneheart Mountains, though the hobgoblins occupying 
  the citadels along the eastern edge of the Stoneheart Mountains and 
  the neighboring Starcrag Mountains also vie for supremacy. Several 
  dwarven clans hold sway over this vast region, with Clan Craenog 
  being generally recognized as the strongest and most inﬂ uential of 
  these, though the other clans would certainly disagree. Although none 
  of the mountain dwarves hold humans and elves in high regard, several 
  of these clans at least tolerate their former adversaries.
  In the northern regions of the Stonehearts, the only vestiges of 
  civilization are a handful of small mountain dwarf villages, hobgoblin 
  enclaves, and goblin cave complexes. Ogres, trolls, yetis, and other 
  monstrous denizens also inhabit these tall, frozen peaks. Clan Tusov 
  wields nominal control over the northern section of the Stoneheart 
  Mountains, though its inﬂ uence wanes signiﬁ cantly outside the friendly 
  conﬁ nes of their capital city of Icarros. 
  The more hospitable portions of the central Stoneheart Mountains 
  host numerous mountain dwarf villages and goblinoid settlements. The 
  territories of four mountain dwarf clans overlap across this area. Clan 
  Duhnbeyl rules over the Spine of Fire and portions of the Vingotha and 
  Telegotha Plateaus. After centuries of civil disturbances and political 
  machinations, this resurgent clan’s power is rapidly spreading from the 
  epicenter of Halmarr, its political capital. Clan Koth wields its magical 
  and technological might over the western Stoneheart Mountains. These 
  dwarves seem content with their holdings, striving to maintain the status 
  quo rather than confronting neighboring clans. Clan Craenog stands on 
  the frontline against the hobgoblin citadels of Exor, Bonehollow, and 
  Smashed Skull. From its strategic vantage point of Erod Flan, Clan 
  Craenog boasts the largest and most experienced military force in the 
  Stoneheart Mountains. They also claim the Feirgotha Plateau and most 
  of the Eragotha Plateau for their own. After their expulsion from the 
  Shengotha Plateau 500 years ago, Clan Krazzadak’s foothold in the 
  central Stoneheart Mountains has substantially diminished. Other than 
  its capital city of Abad Durahai, the clan tenuously clings to a few 
  isolated towns and villages scattered throughout the region. Despite 
  Clan Krazzadak’s decline in the central Stoneheart Mountains, this 
  clan dominates the southern Stoneheart Mountains. Only the cities of 
  Dun Eamon and Alesardin rival their power in this region. The former 
  community on the western edge of the Stoneheart Mountains boasts a 
  predominately human population while the latter city of Alesardin is 
  almost exclusively inhabited by the svirfneblin.
  Warfare is a near constant reality throughout much of the Stoneheart 
  Mountains. Goblins and hobgoblins almost perpetually struggle against 
  their mountain dwarf neighbors for supremacy. Although rival clans are 
  apt to ﬁ ght each other when an ideal opportunity presents itself, a loose 
  alliance exists among the mountain dwarves. Secret “high-ways” carved 
  into the highest elevations serve as clandestine networks to connect the 
  cities and towns of opposing clans. So-called “low-ways” cut below the 
  ground link the individual clans’ citadels together. However, goblins and 
  hobgoblins are not the only creatures to menace the indigenous dwarves. 
  Old myths and legends claim the Stoneheart Mountains themselves are 
  not just inanimate earth and stone. The tales say the mountains are living 
  entities with minds of their own. Other stories speak of long-forgotten 
  deities waging a titanic struggle against an unspeakable evil on the land 
  that eventually became the Stoneheart Mountains. In this version, the 
  divine being’s dying essence coalesced into the rocks that form the 
  chain. Not surprisingly, adventurers frequently scour the mountains 
  searching for evidence to support one or more of these theories, though 
  to date, no one has found anything to substantiate these accounts.
  
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  THE LOST LANDS
  THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE 
  STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
   ABAD DURAHAI, CITY OF
   ABAD DURAHAI, CITY OF
  Ruler: Thorgrim Firebeard, the King in Exile
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 26,094 (25,684 mountain dwarf, 410 gnome) (city); 
  38,200 mountain dwarf in surrounding mountains 
  Monstrous: small populations of svirfneblin, minotaurs, and 
  goblins (within the mines); dragons, giants, goblinoids, orcs, 
  ogres, svirfneblin, wolves, wyvern (mountains)
  Languages: Dwarven, Gnomish
  Religion: Barator, Dwerfater (though many are agnostic)
  Resources: mining, fungi
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval, Renaissance 
  Today, Abad Durahai is the capital of the dwarven Clan Krazzadak 
  and the most populous settlement in the Stoneheart Mountains. For 
  much of its existence, however, it was a bit of a backwater on the 
  outskirts of the Shengotha Plateau. Then, 500 years ago, the snows came 
  and buried the Shengotha Plateau and the old capital of Bryn Tuk Thull 
  under a glacier of ice 500 feet deep. The dwarves were forced to ﬂ ee 
  what became known as the Stoneheart Ice Plateau, with many seeking 
  refuge in Abad Durahai, the nearest Krazzadak settlement.
  The architects who transformed the rapidly expanding Abad Durahai 
  from a small community into a bustling city incorporated the cavern’s 
  natural stone walls into their plans, while using dwarf-made devices to 
  further subdivide the space into smaller structures and buildings. Stone 
  doors encased in bronze and embossed with mithral and silver grant 
  access to the city proper. Networks of tunnels branch out from the main 
  city and burrow into the rock and stone beneath Abad Durahai.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  Abad Durahai was founded approximately 3,000 years ago by a 
  family of Clan Krazzadak. Arriving from their nearby homeland in the 
  Shengotha Plateau, they found a complex of natural caverns, and, more 
  importantly, a vein of mithral. Many came here to mine, and soon it was 
  a small but growing community. 
  When the glacier came to the Shengotha Plateau, Abad Durahai was 
  a natural place for refugees to head. It was far too small to house so 
  many, however, so architects quickly set to designing an expansion of 
  the natural caverns, planning a much larger city and citadel. Tunnels and 
  chambers were dug and soon ﬁ lled with those seeking refuge, at ﬁ rst 
  temporarily, but they soon settled in and became permanent residents. 
  The last king of Clan Krazzadak was lost with the coming of the 
  ice, so a new king was declared from among the surviving royalty. The 
  new king, Argrim Longhair, provided the leadership the shocked and 
  stricken dwarves desperately needed, and soon their new capital was a 
  thriving community. Argrim’s grandson Thorgrim is the current king, or 
  as the dwarves say, the King in Exile, as they intend one day to return to 
  Bryn Tuk Thull and reclaim their legacy and homeland.
  Despite the clan’s perseverance, the many hardships heaped upon these 
  dwarves give them a glum disposition and a suspicious outlook toward others.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The Battle of Hummaemidon and the destruction of their homeland 
  on the Shengotha Plateau causes many of Abad Durahai’s residents to 
  Humanoid servants of Count Perﬁ dium of Kainus 
  return to his Ice Palace on the Stoneheart Ice Plateau.
  
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  take a lackadaisical approach to religion. Among trusted company, some 
  dwarves sarcastically quip that “they will give to the gods, what the 
  gods gave them — nothing.” Nonetheless, roughly half of the city’s 
  dwarves still pay homage to their patron deities. Foremost of these is 
  Barator, the God of the Forge. While this lost god has fallen out of favor 
  with the other dwarven clans, the Krazzadaks maintain a strong afﬁ nity 
  for him. Indeed, Abad Durahai hosts the god’s exalted high altar. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  With hostile neighbors to the north and south, Abad Durahai’s 
  commercial partners remain limited. The city’s mines produce 
  signiﬁ cant quantities of diamonds and mithral as well as iron and 
  silver ore that they export to other dwarven clans or to merchants in 
  Bard’s Gate. Unlike most of the great mountain clans, the dwarves of 
  Clan Krazzadak deal directly with humans and other humanoids when 
  absolutely necessary, though they still prefer dealing with non-human 
  middlemen when possible. In addition to selling raw materials, Abad 
  Durahai’s craftsmen enjoy a stellar reputation among the buying public. 
  Weapons and armor forged in the Temple of Barator rank among the 
  most coveted in all of Akados. Many circles refer to these valuable 
  items as “Durahai Steel.” Genuine products fetch a handsome price in 
  many cities and towns throughout Akados, though their value also spurs 
  counterfeiters to manufacture cheap knockoffs of the real article. 
  DIPLOMACY
  DIPLOMACY
  Over the past ﬁ ve centuries, Abad Durahai has engaged in multiple 
  skirmishes with the svirfneblin city of Alesardin to the south and the 
  barbegazi to the north. Some residents refer to this geopolitical stalemate 
  as the “Gnomish Vice,” a reference to being sandwiched between two 
  factions of equally devious gnomish offshoots. Not surprisingly, the 
  dwarves of Abad Durahai have no love for gnomes of any ilk and hold 
  them in equal disregard as humans. While the dwarves can muster a far 
  greater military force than either of their potential opponents, they are 
  also reluctant to ﬁ ght these foes on their terms in their own backyards. 
  Abad Durahai’s leadership is content to maintain the status quo on these 
  fronts rather than go to war against either adversary.
  King Thorgrim enjoys widespread popularity within Clan Krazzadak, 
  though the same cannot be said for their ambivalent relations with Clan 
  Craenog. The King in Exile endeavors to change this situation, but his 
  diplomatic efforts have generated little progress on this front. A handful 
  of voices within his court suggests normalizing relations with Bard’s 
  Gate. However, this tiny minority never presses the issue beyond a few 
  comments about the potential economic beneﬁ ts of such an arrangement. 
  If the mood sours, the person immediately drops the matter. To date, the 
  king shows no signs of softening his stances toward humans — or any 
  other non-dwarves for that matter.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Abad Durahai serves as Clan Krazzadak’s capital city. From his seat 
  of power atop the Mithral Throne, King Thorgrim Firebeard rules over 
  the clan’s holdings in the southern and western portions of the Stoneheart 
  Mountains. His territory includes the range’s southern tip as well as 
  the lands due east and west of the Stoneheart Ice Plateau. Entering his 
  150th year, the charismatic and seasoned leader exudes a palpable aura 
  of conﬁ dence and strength. He carefully deliberates on most decisions 
  with input from the six-member council of appointed advisors and 
  administrators known as the Mithral Seats. These individuals manage the 
  city’s daily affairs from its most vital operations to its mundane matters.
  King Thorgrim governs in a stern yet fair manner. The monarch personally 
  presides over all civil and criminal matters within the city. Thorgrim enjoys 
  a strong reputation for honesty and impartiality. However, he rarely shows 
  mercy when rendering a judgment or passing sentence. In his mind, logic, 
  reason, and the letter of the law take precedence over personal feelings. His 
  harsh attitude spurs some grumbling among the friends and families of the 
  aggrieved, yet so far no one has openly spoken against the city’s ruler. 
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  For a city of its size, Abad Durahai’s troop strength is comparatively 
  small. In an emergency, the king can ﬁ eld an army of roughly 1,800 
  trained and experienced soldiers. However, only 600 soldiers are 
  typically on active duty at any time. The city instead devotes much of its 
  energy and industry to supporting each individual soldier with the best 
  instruction and technological advancements rather than mass producing 
  equipment and conscripting desperate young men and women. Clan 
  Krazzadak believes one highly skilled, motivated, and well-equipped 
  infantryman is worth more than 10 frightened, poorly-armed civilians 
  pressed into service. Equally adept at close-quarters ﬁ ghting with an 
  axe or ﬁ ring a crossbow from a distance, a dwarf in the king’s service 
  is a versatile killing machine. During their last major engagement with 
  the svirfneblin in 3508 I.R. at the Skirmish of the Iron Intersection, 
  King Thorgrim’s charges killed 88 deep gnomes while sustaining only 
  14 casualties in a pitched subterranean battle. 
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  Abad Durahai need not look far to ﬁ nd enemies at its gates. The 
  svirfneblin city of Alesardin relishes an opportunity for revenge 
  against their hated foes. Turning north, the dwarves would conversely 
  jump at the opportunity to land a devastating blow to the barbegazi 
  inhabiting their former homeland on the Shengotha Plateau or exact 
  some retribution against the ice gnomes. Human incursions as well as 
  territorial disputes with Clan Craenog also periodically challenge Clan 
  Krazzadak’s hegemony over the region.
  ALESARDIN, CITY OF
  ALESARDIN, CITY OF
  Ruler: Council of Mystics
  Government: oligarchy
  Population: 5,596 svirfneblin
  Languages: Gnomish (svifneblin)
  Religion: unknown
  Resources: trade, magic, mining
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval, Renaissance 
  The origins of Alesardin are known only to the deep gnomes who live 
  there, and they do not tell outsiders. The dwarves of Abad Durahai say 
  the city can be found in their records dating back at least 2,000 years.
  Most deep gnomes, or svirfneblin, are of a relatively neutral outlook. 
  Those of Alesardin are different, however. They are of a more sinister 
  disposition, and it is said they worship dark deities in their mountain 
  halls. They continually war with their dwarven neighbors and have been 
  said to have sought alliances with other powers of evil in the world. 
  Why the deep gnomes here are different is unknown, but some suspect 
  something within the lowest reaches of their city is the source.
  Fortunately, the numbers of svirfneblin in Alesardin are too small to 
  pose a true threat to Abad Durahai, though this has not stopped them 
  from the occasional raid or attack on a dwarven party in the mountains 
  too close to their city. They also send agents to human settlements such 
  as Bard’s Gate for purposes that remain mysterious.
  The city itself has portions both above and below ground. The 
  architecture is elegant, though in a somber fashion. Dark colors with 
  small, shining highlights, usually from gemstones, predominate. Trade is 
  mainly with races found within the mountains, some far deeper than the 
  halls of Alesardin. The city has a bustling central market, cosmopolitan 
  residential districts, and a ﬂ ourishing academy for magical research. 
  There is great peril for outsiders, however; unless they have been 
  invited, the xenophobic svirfneblin attack visitors on sight.
  Rulership of the city is held by a council of mystics from the academy, 
  where they use magic to divine portents and make sinister plans against 
  the dwarves and folk of the surface.
  BURVAADUN, GARRISON OF
  BURVAADUN, GARRISON OF
  This remote garrison lies on the frigid southeastern corner of the 
  Feirgotha Plateau where it overlooks the Southern Pass. Although Clan 
  Craenog publicly insists the installation serves a vital defensive purpose, the 
  neglected fortress serves as a proving ground for exiles and misﬁ ts seeking 
  redemption or anonymity. Its commander Foran Rockfeller oversees 
  
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  a meager force of 40 mountain dwarves, which includes 15 marginally-
  trained and equipped conscripts. Varus Broadshield, the garrison’s resident 
  cleric of Dwerfater, tends to the soldiers’ spiritual and personal needs within 
  the Temple of Dwerfater’s welcoming conﬁ nes. Varus’ comforting words 
  and divine inspiration could not come at a better time as the besieged 
  garrison has witnessed an unexpected uptick of undead activity presumably 
  originating from the long dormant Library of Arcady several miles away.
  EROD FLAN, CITADEL OF
  EROD FLAN, CITADEL OF
  Ruler: High Thane Kaelan 
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 11,505 (11,200 mountain dwarf, 305 gnome) (city); 
  16,200 mountain dwarf in surrounding mountains
  Monstrous: dragons, giants, goblinoids, orcs, ogres, svirfneblin, 
  wolves, wyvern
  Languages: Dwarven, Gnomish
  Religion: Dwerfater
  Resources: mining
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval, Renaissance
  The dwarven citadel of Erod Flan functions as a military installation 
  and the seat of power for Clan Craenog, the dominant political force 
  in the region. The stronghold’s ﬁ rst construction phase consisted of a 
  fortiﬁ ed keep and a reinforced perimeter wall. The city rapidly expanded 
  over the next several decades in response to the escalating threats from 
  the neighboring Kingdom of Arcady to the west and the hobgoblins 
  to the east. Fortunately for the dwarves, the two rivals turned against 
  each other, ultimately resulting in their annihilation. Nonetheless, 
  Erod Flan has successfully repulsed six hobgoblin assaults during its 
  long, illustrious history, the most recent taking place shortly after King 
  Kroma’s disappearance at the Battle of Tsar.
  Under the rulership of High Thane Kaelan, the clan’s inﬂ uence 
  stretches across much of the central Stoneheart Mountains. The 
  citadel sits atop an elongated mesa roughly 7,500 feet above sea 
  level that grants its defenders an ideal vantage point for observing 
  the area surrounding the secure fortress. In addition to its elevation 
  and panoramic view, Erod Flan’s defenses are impressive. Sheer rock 
  walls and cliffs make up much of the slope surrounding the elevated 
  structure. Two mountain passes grant access to the dwarven citadel 
  through the rugged terrain, though these routes are intentionally 
  winding with numerous tight turns, twists, and narrow stretches 
  designed to prevent an enemy from lugging siege equipment close to 
  its gates and walls. 
  To enforce his rule, the thane has an army of 2,500 disciplined 
  professional soldiers at his disposal as well as an auxiliary force of 
  1,000 crossbowmen and swordsmen. In addition to asserting their 
  authority over other mountain dwarf clans, Erod Flan’s military also 
  safeguards the region against the hobgoblins from Exor, Bonehollow, 
  and Smashed Skull. While Kaelan’s mind is up to the challenges, his 
  frail body is in no condition to lead a campaign against the dwarves’ 
  many enemies. These tasks fall upon his older son Thron, who is 
  also his likely successor, and Minchain Redash, the captain of Erod 
  Flan’s guards. Both men realize not all of the dwarves’ threats are 
  external. Matters of succession can be dodgy within the clan, as 
  Kaelan’s two brothers and Thron’s younger sibling could lay claim 
  to the throne when Kaelan passes into the next world. Kaelan’s father 
  Om experienced the same intrigue when he ascended to the throne 
  following the death of his father Kroma two centuries earlier. Om’s 
  boorish cousin Garnock vigorously protested being passed over for 
  his more capable younger cousin. Despite his brooding, the clan 
  almost unanimously accepted Om as its leader. Still, the passage 
  of time has failed to quell rumors of discontent simmering in some 
  circles regarding Garnock’s claims.
  More recently, tales are swirling about clandestine activities in the 
  sealed quartz mines beneath the city. Sixty years earlier, Kaelan himself 
  led an expedition into the tunnels to root out the dark folk some say 
  may be making a resurgence along with their grimlock servants. The 
  inherently xenophobic dwarves also cast a wary eye upon the small 
  community of gnomes living within their capital. The dwarves respect 
  their smaller humanoid counterparts for the remarkable ingenuity and 
  technological prowess, though they never fully trust them. 
  In addition to its status as a military complex, Erod Flan also 
  features many of the amenities found in a typical metropolis. Within 
  its protective walls, farmers grow crops and raise livestock. Granaries 
  store vast quantities of food in preparation for a protracted war or siege. 
  Merchants, craftsmen, and professionals sell their wares and services in 
  a bustling marketplace, while the soldiers sworn to defend Erod Flan 
  reside in two massive barracks complexes on its grounds. Twelve taverns 
  serve the needs of the city’s population and provide accommodations for 
  its infrequent visitors. Erod Flan’s small gnomish quarter also produces 
  and sells alchemical substances and a host of other curious odds and 
  ends to various customers. The high thane and his family occupy a 
  keep in the city’s southeastern corner. Although primarily a residence, 
  the keep also functions as an administrative and religious center. High 
  Thane Kaelan also doubles as a cleric of Dwerfater, though his inﬁ rmity 
  severely limits his ecclesiastical duties.  
  The dwarves inhabiting the small villages and settlements scattered 
  throughout the region surrounding Erod Flan almost universally share some 
  lineage with Clan Craenog. Although many of these common ancestors 
  date back several generations, even the tiniest drop of blood from a distant, 
  common relative cements the bonds of fraternity among members of Clan 
  Craenog. These dwarves sometimes skirmish against the other dwarven 
  clans surrounding them and the hobgoblin or orc marauders.   
  REFERENCE SOURCE: MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS
  HALMARR (THE CALDERA)
  HALMARR (THE CALDERA)
  Ruler: The Mountain Hammer Talcum Duhnbeyl
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 9,720 (9,600 mountain dwarf, 120 gnome) (city); 
  11,910 mountain dwarf in surrounding mountains
  Monstrous: dragons, giants, goblinoids, orcs, ogres, svirfneblin, 
  wolves, wyvern
  Languages: Dwarven, Gnomish
  Religion: Dwerfater
  Resources: mining
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval, Renaissance
  Sometimes, nature accomplishes more than the grandest schemes 
  of humankind. Halmarr may be the greatest example of this principle. 
  Instead of constructing massive walls and imposing fortiﬁ cations, the 
  dwarves of Clan Duhnbeyl built their capital city within the emptied 
  magma chamber of an extinct caldera. The dead volcano’s 8,673-foot-
  high steep slopes and unstable surfaces make it nearly impossible for a 
  lone individual to scale. Any potential invader would be hard pressed 
  to penetrate Halmarr’s impressive defenses. Meanwhile, lava tubes and 
  tunnels carved into the mountain’s belly grant its residents access to the 
  outside world beyond the mountain’s exterior. 
  Since its last eruption expelled its ﬁ ery guts more than 8,000 years 
  ago, Halmarr has remained stoic and silent. Although its magma 
  chamber sits empty, ﬁ ssures in the earth surrounding the city burrow 
  several miles down into the rock where magma and steam still reside. 
  These natural heat sources function as forges for the city’s metalworkers 
  and engineers who travel on primitive rail cars from their comfortable 
  abodes on the surface into the sweltering caverns beneath the mountain. 
  Halmarr’s architects incorporate the metals forged in these volcanic 
  furnaces into their building designs. Worked iron gates, trusses, and 
  arches adorn homes, civic buildings, and temples.    
  The dwarves of Clan Duhnbeyl ﬂ ed into the Spine of Fire in the 
  immediate aftermath of the Great Betrayal. They settled in small, 
  isolated villages along the slopes of the numerous stratovolcanoes 
  bisecting the region. These ﬁ rst settlers farmed the fertile soil in the 
  shadow of these smoldering behemoths while residing in caves carved 
  
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  306|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  into the sides of these stony behemoths. For much of its formative 
  history, Clan Duhnbeyl remained scattered and leaderless until the ﬁ rst 
  great Mountain Hammer Basal Duhnbeyl united the divided villages in 
  2045 I.R. Seven years later, he founded the city of Halmarr inside the 
  lifeless crater. The ﬁ rst test of Halmarr’s defenses came three centuries 
  later in 2389 I.R. when an army of 1,000 orcs and ogre allies attempted 
  to attack what they believed to be a defenseless city. The dwarves, armed 
  with sophisticated siege equipment and explosive lava bombs, easily 
  repelled their overmatched enemies. Clan Duhnbeyl experienced little 
  difﬁ culty crushing an external foe yet its internal adversaries proved 
  more daunting. For the next 1,500 years, intrigues, scheming, and bitter 
  family rivalries tore the city and clan apart in a series of brutal civil wars 
  known as the Eruptions. The inﬁ ghting ﬁ nally died down one century 
  ago, but the damage was already done. Near-constant warfare and strife 
  relegated Clan Duhnbeyl to bit player status until Mountain Hammer 
  Talcum Duhnbeyl rose to power six years ago.
  Under his leadership, the clan experienced a rapid resurgence. Its 
  industrial output tripled practically overnight, political inﬁ ghting ceased, 
  and its borders expanded into previously unclaimed territory. The 
  previously downtrodden dwarves of Clan Duhnbeyl display a swagger 
  not seen for centuries. Their newfound conﬁ dence comes with a price. 
  Despite being blessed with boundless energy, a sharp tongue, and a keen 
  mind, Talcum’s amorality tempers some enthusiasm within the dwarven 
  camp. The irreligious Talcum show no deference to Dwerfater’s clergy 
  who wielded tremendous inﬂ uence over Felspar, his predecessor and 
  inept older brother. The clan’s former leader spent most of his days 
  praying in Dwerfater’s temple, solidifying the priesthood’s control over 
  the clan’s temporal leader. Indeed, many dwarves viewed Halmarr’s 
  High Priest Garn Tousanem as their spiritual and secular leader. Not 
  surprisingly, Garn and his subordinates suspect the ambitious Talcum 
  played a role in his older sibling’s sudden and unexpected demise. 
  In the current climate, even Garn fears to challenge Talcum’s authority. 
  The previously ﬁ ckle military is now re-energized and fanatically loyal 
  to their benefactor, who showers them with increased pay and improved 
  equipment. His metalworkers secretly toil on a massive iron “ﬁ restick” 
  in the ﬁ res deep below Halmarr. With this weapon, the ambitious dwarf 
  allegedly sets his sights on expanding his kingdom into neighboring realms, 
  most notably Clan Craenog’s dominion over the Feirgotha Plateau. Sensing 
  his growing bravado, rival clans and even the hobgoblins keep a wary eye 
  on the smoldering furnace in the heart of the Stoneheart Mountains. 
  HOBGOBLIN CITIES
  HOBGOBLIN CITIES
  Three cities of hobgoblins live — and ﬁ ght — among the southern 
  peaks of the Starcrag Range and the eastern eaves of the Stonehearts.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: Mountains of Madness, 
  The Lost Lands: Sword of Air
  BONE HOLLOW, CITY OF
  BONE HOLLOW, CITY OF
  Ruler: Sahka Khan
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 9,482 goblinoid; unknown thousands in nearby 
  mountains
  Bone Hollow’s greatest advantage in its wars against its hobgoblin and 
  dwarven rivals is its strategic location. While Exor and Smashed Skull 
  are sandwiched between two enemies, potentially forcing each citadel 
  to engage two different foes on separate fronts, Bone Hollow’s great 
  distance from the dwarven heartlands signiﬁ cantly lessens the threat from 
  the great clans. Furthermore, Bone Hollow boasts the ﬁ nest fortiﬁ cations 
  in the region. Reinforced stone buildings, walls, and towers immediately 
  test the mettle of any potential invader, while their contingent of ballistae 
  and catapults challenges the attacker’s fortitude. Despite these impressive 
  bulwarks, the hobgoblins allow travelers and merchants to pass through 
  their gates into the valley below Bone Hollow if they pay a hefty toll. 
  Circumventing the toll is an offense punishable by death or worse. Non-
  hobgoblins may pass through the gates, but they are never allowed to 
  enter the city proper or camp anywhere within its walls.  
  In addition to its impressive defenses, Bone Hollow can muster 
  a mighty hobgoblin army 3,700 strong. Its warlords can call upon an 
  auxiliary mounted force that includes a wyvern, a gray render, a six-
  headed hydra, two chimeras, four owlbears, four hell hounds, six cave 
  bears, and a legion of wolves. The battalion’s leader rides atop a fearsome 
  blue dragon. Under the leadership of Sahka Khan, Bone Hollow either 
  commits almost everything it has to a military campaign or its military 
  stays safely ensconced behind its ramparts. Bone Hollow may not boast 
  the largest army, but its cohesive force is the best-trained and best-
  equipped goblinoid army in the Stoneheart Mountains. To showcase 
  its martial prowess and gain experience for its seasoned troops, Bone 
  Hollow annually attacks its southern neighbor Smashed Skull in what 
  feels more like a rite of passage than a realistic attempt to conquer the 
  hobgoblin citadel. Sahka Khan’s army routinely beats its adversaries 
  into a bloody pulp on the ﬁ eld of battle, though the gains realized from 
  these conﬂ icts are minimal. Sahka Khan primarily participates in these 
  exercises to satisfy his people’s lust for carnage. Left to his own devices, 
  he would happily bide his time and watch his hobgoblin adversaries and 
  their dwarven rivals destroy each other. 
  The hobgoblins rely heavily upon slave labor to provide materiel 
  and logistical support for their organized and disciplined military force. 
  Dwarves and humans captured during one of their rare raids toil in the 
  silver mines beneath the citadel, entertain the masses in gladiatorial 
  games, or become unwilling sacriﬁ ces to their depraved deities. In 
  turn, the hobgoblins use the silver ore to ﬁ nance their wars of conquest. 
  A handful of escaped slaves claim to have seen ﬂ eeting glimpses of 
  dread horrors in the tunnels beneath Bone Hollow. Stories of tentacled 
  monstrosities, amorphous mounds of blistered ﬂ esh, and skinless beasts 
  represent just a sampling of these fantastical tales. 
  EXOR, CITY OF
  EXOR, CITY OF
  Ruler: Teth Khan
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 15,043 goblinoid; unknown thousands in nearby 
  mountains
  The hobgoblin city of Exor sits between a rock and a hard place. The 
  dwarves of Clan Craenog and their imposing citadels of Erod Flan and Tyr 
  Whin loom to the south. To the north, Exor must contain the ambitions of 
  Smashed Skull and Bone Hollow, their hobgoblin rivals. Nonetheless, Teth 
  Khan and the roughly 10,000 hobgoblins under his command are up to the 
  challenge and ready to take on any enemy. Tall, jagged peaks wreathed in 
  ice surround Exor, which lies at the nadir of a mountain valley, 4,892 feet 
  above sea level. A ring of coniferous trees along the city’s perimeter encircles 
  the massive citadel. Only a single road of Hyperborean origin leads past the 
  forested tree line and into Exor proper. Instead of constructing a massive wall 
  to protect their city, the hobgoblins constructed countless concealed pitfalls 
  and other devious booby traps to ensnare potential invaders. Sentries posted 
  at higher elevations also maintain a vigilant watch over the surrounding area. 
  Despite its more welcoming outward appearance, Exor feels more like 
  a military base than a settlement. Barracks scattered across hundreds 
  of acres offer its soldiers the crudest and most basic accommodations. 
  The remainder of its population not under arms devotes its energies to 
  feeding and equipping its troops in addition to cobbling together the 
  settlement’s overtaxed infrastructure. Vast mess halls, smithies, and 
  other industries dedicated to manufacturing arms and armor operate day 
  and night under the bleakest conditions. Even the hobgoblins’ hardy 
  constitution is no match for the virulent epidemics that constantly rage 
  through the city because of the unsanitary conditions and overcrowding. 
  Many hobgoblin commanders prefer to be in the ﬁ eld hunting game, 
  conducting patrols, or skirmishing against their neighbors than 
  languishing in squalor in Exor. The only assignment they would rather 
  avoid is delving into the caverns beneath the city from which few ever 
  return. The hobgoblins refer to these dark, foul passages as the Festering 
  Chasm. Unearthly slimes, oozes, worms, and other mindless vermin 
  infest the damp chambers and corridors. Ancient hobgoblin legends also 
  speak of the Denizen, a mysterious, otherworldly being who performs 
  grim blood sacriﬁ ces at the bottom of the Festering Chasm.  
  
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  In the surface world, Exor’s Teth Khan believes in quantity over 
  quality. His massive army looks unstoppable from afar, but a closer look 
  reveals that his malnourished, poorly-equipped, and moderately-trained 
  soldiers look more impressive than they truly are. The hobgoblin king’s 
  complacency has ﬁ ltered down through the ranks, though a newcomer 
  aspires to shake Exor out of its slumber and smite its enemies once and 
  for all. A young warlord named Grugdour sets his ambitious sights on 
  the dwarven citadel of Tyr Whin. Accompanied by 3,000 handpicked 
  troops, Grugdour plans to march across the Stoneheart Mountains and 
  wrest control of the citadel from Clan Craenog. Rumors claim Grugdour 
  has a network of spies and informants within Clan Craenog’s capital city 
  and frontier outpost. 
  SMASHED SKULL, CITY OF
  SMASHED SKULL, CITY OF
  Ruler: Gothar Khan
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 6,549 goblinoid; unknown thousands in nearby 
  mountains
  Smashed Skull is the least populous of the three great hobgoblin 
  citadels in the Stoneheart Mountains. To compensate for their lack of 
  hobgoblin manpower, the militaristic goblinoids open their ranks to 
  hill giants, ogres, and even orcs. Gothar Khan views this alliance with 
  these undisciplined barbarians as a necessary evil when considering 
  their current predicament. Their hobgoblin foes to the north and south 
  vastly outnumber or outclass their army. The inclusion of chaotic evil 
  humanoids adds an unexpected wild card to the mix when combating 
  their enemies. Although hobgoblins typically crave order and discipline, 
  the weaker yet unorthodox adversary sometimes proves more dangerous 
  than the marginally inferior but predictable opponent. 
  Gothar Khan recognizes the tempestuous nature of his newfound 
  allies. Thus, he diverts much of his city’s limited resources to 
  maintaining their hedonistic and expensive lifestyle even if his citizens 
  must ultimately pay the price for their loyalty. He makes sure the ale 
  ﬂ ows freely and the servants are comely in the orcish quarter of the 
  city. Some sources claim his forces include a signiﬁ cant number of half-
  orcs as well as human mercenaries happy to extract a pound of ﬂ esh 
  from their dwarven enemies. While some of his subordinates grumble 
  about this situation, they realize Smashed Skull would quickly crumble 
  without the giants and the orcish shock troops. Gothar Khan mainly 
  ﬁ ghts on the defensive, falling back on the city’s outer defenses of 
  moats, palisades, and earthworks to keep their enemies at bay.
  Gothar Khan is an average tactician. Instead, his abilities to motivate 
  his troops and foster cohesion within the ranks of his diverse army prove 
  to be his strengths. He also excels at reading his opponents, a skill he 
  acquired playing games involving varying degrees of skill and chance. 
  Gothar Khan willingly engages his adversaries in small skirmishes 
  and minor battles, but when matched against a vastly superior force, 
  the cagey hobgoblin boasts about his secret weapon — a otherworldly 
  creature of terrible might and power contained within a magical prison 
  beneath his citadel. To date, no adversary has ever challenged the wily 
  Gothar’s boast, leading many to speculate whether the being exists at all 
  or is merely a ﬁ gment of his vivid imagination.  
  ICARROS, CITY OF
  ICARROS, CITY OF
  Ruler: Her Exalted Highness Mother Edele Wargawn Tusov
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 5,280 mountain dwarf (city); 8,030 mountain dwarf 
  in surrounding mountains
  Monstrous: dire wolves, dragons, giants, goblinoids, orcs, ogres, 
  wyvern, yeti
  Languages: Dwarven
  Religion: Dwerfater
  Resources: mining
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Medieval, Renaissance
  Icarros differs greatly from the other dwarven strongholds scattered 
  across the Stoneheart Mountains. Built atop the remnants of an ancient 
  Hyperborean outpost, which in turn rested upon the ruined foundation 
  of a shrine dedicated to a deity lost to the annals of time, Icarros lacks 
  the thick walls and imposing defenses found in Erod Flan or Abad 
  Durahai. Instead, the city entrusts its defenses to its elevation and the 
  mountain’s natural protections. The city’s residents occupy a network 
  of chambers and tunnels carved into the mountainside. At a staggering 
  height of 19,223 feet, it takes most humanoids several weeks to 
  acclimate to the dizzying altitude, making it impossible to simply march 
  up the mountain, which is accessible by several well-worn passes. 
  Constantly buffeted by strong winds and bitter cold, Icarros’ residents 
  rely upon their resourcefulness and cleverness to survive under these 
  brutal conditions. For a few brief months during the mild summer, the 
  dwarves farm the terraced landscape while making hunting forays in 
  the valleys and foothills surrounding the mountain. For the remainder 
  of the year, Icarros’ inhabitants hunker down within their mountain 
  halls, subsisting on their stores from the ﬂ eeting growing season as 
  well as lichens, mushrooms, and other plants harvested from artiﬁ cial 
  greenhouses within the heart of their mountain. 
  Icarros is the northernmost bulwark of dwarven civilization in the 
  Stoneheart Mountains and the political capital of Clan Tusov. Isolated 
  from their dwarven brethren to the south, Icarros’ residents share few of 
  the cultural traits of their counterparts. Indeed, these mountain dwarves 
  are slightly taller than average, which leads many of them to believe 
  they possess some Nûklander lineage. They usually attribute their unique 
  physical characteristics to the clan’s brief interactions with the Hundaei, 
  which makes them exceptionally wary of any Hyperborean resurgence in 
  the area or settlements that emulate their traditions and practices. 
  The dwarves of Clan Tusov place more emphasis on loyalty and 
  ﬁ delity to their leaders than familial bonds. They live by the motto, 
  “One’s deeds outweigh their blood.” The ideology stems from the fact 
  that Icarros began its existence as a remote frontier outpost for dwarves 
  who caused trouble within their own clans. In time, dwarves who fell 
  out of favor with their clans and those seeking a higher status voluntarily 
  migrated to the mountaintop settlement. The city’s ruler, Her Exalted 
  Highness Mother Edele Wargawn Tusov, rewards subjects who embrace 
  this philosophy rather than tout their family’s accomplishments. The 
  prevailing outlook works hand in hand with her patronage of Grox 
  who also extols the virtues of personal gain over the public good. Her 
  exalted highness embodies these principles and uses her control of the 
  legal system to funnel more riches into her coffers at the expense of 
  others. Those who run afoul of her grand ambitions face her retinue 
  of devious judges and ﬁ ery prosecutors, disparagingly referred to by 
  many as the Immutable Gavels. To avoid her legion of solicitors, many 
  dwarves quietly lead anonymous lives in what outwardly appears to be 
  an oppressive society. Others see opportunity in a domain where talent 
  supersedes birthright. The sky is the limit as long as one’s interests do 
  not conﬂ ict with those of her exalted highness.      
  Despite Icarros’ impressive altitude, the mountain’s summit towers 
  an additional 12,000 feet above the city. Rumors insist yetis and an 
  unknown offshoot race of humanoids live among the clouds at these 
  dangerous elevations. While these tales circulate through the city like 
  seeds on the wind, ﬁ nding anyone who has seen either of these creatures 
  proves nearly impossible.     
  KROAKSENK, CITY OF
  KROAKSENK, CITY OF
  Ruler: King Snogg
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 6,532 goblinoid
  Tunnels boring into the base of a nameless mountain just north of the 
  Telgotha Plateau lead into the overcrowded goblin city of Kroaksenk. 
  The horrid stench emanating from the ﬁ lthy streets and disgusting 
  communal hovels ﬁ lters through the passageways and out to the surface. 
  The goblins and their handful of dwarven slaves live in utter squalor. 
  They scratch out a miserable existence in the dark caverns far below the 
  
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  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  earth, where they primarily subsist on a diet of fungi and lichens scraped 
  off the walls and ceilings of their malodorous abode. When the goblins 
  crave fresh meat, they venture into the world in full force. At least 100 
  of them emerge from the ground to hunt fresh game, raid a nearby 
  village, or scavenge for other predators’ scraps. They occasionally tag 
  along with their hobgoblin kin during one of their forays into a dwarven 
  village or serve as auxiliary troops in one of their military campaigns, 
  though the goblins’ morale quickly breaks in the face of adversity. 
  For his part, King Snogg is content to safely manage his small ﬁ efdom 
  from the secure conﬁ nes of his subterranean lair. The snarky monarch 
  often quips that no dwarf or hobgoblin in his right mind would ever want 
  to rule his underground cesspool of want and deprivation. Most tribe 
  members decry their leader’s deliberate efforts to worsen rather than 
  better their lives, but all lack the courage to supplant the uncaring yet 
  physically strong Snogg. Any revolution would require overthrowing 
  him and also disposing of the King’s Fists, his personal retinue of 
  overgrown bodyguards, and a mysterious warlock in his service. Many 
  believe the enigmatic ﬁ gure known only as the Pall is a human or dwarf 
  exile using the goblins as his instrument of revenge against his kin. 
  Regardless of the stranger’s motivations, Snogg’s oppressed subjects 
  believe he can see the future and thus snuff out any uprising before it 
  even starts.         
  MINERS’ REFUGE, TOWN OF
  MINERS’ REFUGE, TOWN OF
  Rulers: Councilors Falgar Bazdag, Duurk Hammerfell, 
  Haamman Dinzak, Maximilian Stroud, and Rosie Festmacher
  Government: council
  Population: 773 (387 mountain dwarf, 271 human [215 
  Uplander, 56 other human ethnicity], 56 hill dwarf, 39 gnome, 
  12 elf, 8 other)
  Languages: Dwarven, Common
  Religion: Dwerfater, Sefagreth
  Resources: trade, iron, limestone, clay, some precious gems and 
  metals, agricultural products
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  The town of Miners’ Refuge lies near the headwaters of the River 
  Eamon some 200 miles east of the fortress of Dun Eamon. Because 
  of its location near the Eamonvale Trade Road, the town sees more 
  commercial trafﬁ c than the typical mountain settlement. Though 
  known predominately as a mining community, Miners’ Refuge also 
  produces agricultural products, especially food crops, textiles, and 
  livestock. Streams fed by melting snows at the highest elevations of the 
  neighboring mountain chain and minor tributaries of the River Eamon 
  provide an ample supply of fresh water to support farmland, grazing 
  animals, and a thriving humanoid population.
  The majority of the folk of Miners’ Refuge are dwarves of Clan 
  Krazzadak who were displaced some 500 years ago when their homeland 
  was destroyed when the ice covered the Shengotha Plateau and 
  transformed it into the frozen wasteland now known as the Stoneheart 
  Ice Plateau. Today, they mostly work as miners or merchants. The 
  miners employed here make a comfortable living extracting mundane 
  yet important commercial products such as rock salt, iron, limestone, 
  and clay from tunnels bored into the sides of the foothills on the edge 
  of town. They occasionally strike small veins of precious metals such 
  as platinum, gold, and silver along with a rare, fortuitous deposit of 
  rare minerals and gems. The town’s smaller human population and a 
  handful of gnomes, elves, and half-elves survive by tending the ﬁ elds 
  and raising livestock. 
  In spite of the perceived racial tolerance, Miners’ Refuge is a segregated 
  town in many respects. The mountain dwarves control all aspects of 
  daily life within the community and own title to all of the land, even 
  the land farmed by those of other races. A council of three mountain 
  dwarves and two non-dwarves rules the town. This arrangement allows 
  the humans to have a say in local affairs, though ultimate authority still 
  rests with the dwarven majority. Dwarves appointed to the council serve 
  a 20-year term, whereas non-dwarves are limited to spending 10 years 
  on the council. At the end of their tenure, the outgoing councilmember 
  appoints a successor.
  Over the years, the ruling dwarves have instituted several reforms 
  aimed at lessening the racial hostility between the rival factions. The 
  oldest of these is the “trustee” program. Humans can purchase this 
  status on an annual or lifetime basis. A trustee may carry weapons, but 
  the person must always wear an azure cloak while doing so. However, 
  the cost to purchase this honor is beyond the limited means of most 
  downtrodden humans. A more recent measure created a council of 
  ﬁ ve people to rule the town. Of course, three of these individuals 
  must be dwarves to ensure the dwarves retain the majority on all 
  decisions. While these changes have bettered the lives of many humans, 
  resentment lingers in some circles, especially in the human-dominated 
  Silver Nugget Inn. Dwarves never venture inside the hotbed of intrigue 
  and scheming. If a revolt were to take place, the seeds of the rebellion 
  would undoubtedly be sown here. Nonetheless, most people have little 
  time and energy for political wrangling. Most spend their days farming 
  or exploring the surrounding foothills for gems and precious metals. 
  Local folklore also speaks of a forgotten tomb hidden somewhere on 
  the edge of town. However, the town is currently abuzz over a prophet 
  who led a pilgrimage to reclaim the fabled Mithral Mountain from 
  the mutinous dwarves who expelled Thane Ilger Ogradmek from his 
  mountain stronghold roughly ﬁ ve centuries earlier. 
  The towering peak of Mithral Mountain — said to be the location of 
  fabled dwarven mines — is east of Miners’ Refuge in the Stonehearts 
  and visible from anywhere in the town.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS
  OG-BRETHOS, SETTLEMENT OF
  OG-BRETHOS, SETTLEMENT OF
  Ruler: Drogg Thumbuster
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 1,402 orc and half-orc
  The Stoneheart Mountains’ orcs clearly play second ﬁ ddle to the more 
  numerous goblin and hobgoblin adversaries, yet these aggressive and 
  chaotic humanoids are more than capable of wreaking havoc throughout 
  the region. Orcs under the command of Chieftain Drogg Thumbuster 
  occupy the fortiﬁ ed settlement of Og-Brethos north of Dun Eamon 
  and west of the Stoneheart Ice Plateau. A great earthen wall defends 
  the residents’ crude huts. The barbarous humanoids periodically attack 
  merchants traveling to and from Dun Eamon as well as small, isolated 
  dwarven and hobgoblin settlements on the sparsely-populated frontier. 
  The orcs who serve under him include a substantial number of ghost-
  faced orcs and half-orcs. Despite Drogg’s violent nature and bloodthirsty 
  ways, he has proven to be a remarkably shrewd leader. He recognizes 
  his people’s limitations and makes sure not to undertake an action likely 
  to provoke a concerted response from any of his more sophisticated 
  neighbors. He believes his efforts are better served trying to locate a 
  fabled lost orcish city supposedly buried beneath the Stoneheart Ice 
  Plateau. His scouts recently found a crevasse in the ice close to the 
  settlement’s rumored location, spurring hope they may be close to 
  ﬁ nding the entrance to the fabled locale.     
  TYR WHIN, CITADEL OF
  TYR WHIN, CITADEL OF
  Ruler: Truvvan Blackgranite
  Government: military
  Population: 1,089 mountain dwarf (city); 320 mountain dwarf 
  in surrounding mountains
  Like Erod Flan, its larger counterpart, Clan Craenog built this imposing 
  citadel more than 2,000 years ago in response to the growing threats 
  from the Kingdom of Arcady on the neighboring Feirgotha Plateau and 
  the hobgoblin strongholds of Exor, Bonehollow, and Smashed Skull 
  in the Starcrag Range. Tyr Whin sits atop a small plateau surrounded 
  by defensive earthworks and moats. A 30-foot-high, 1-1/2-foot-thick 
  wall constructed from ﬂ at, interlocking stones reinforced by hardened 
  
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  gypsum completely encircles the military compound. Its artillery 
  includes six trebuchets. Two gates guarded by towers and secured by 
  massive iron doors grant access to the citadel’s interior. The soldiers 
  grow crops and raise livestock to feed and clothe the self-sufﬁ cient 
  troops. Dwarves make up the entirety of the citadel’s population.
  As the clan’s northernmost outpost, Tyr Whin witnesses more than 
  its fair share of battle. Its current commander, Truvvan Blackgranite, 
  the son-in-law of the clan’s High Thane Kaelan, regularly leads patrols 
  into the neighboring foothills to search for hobgoblin scouts, rival 
  dwarven clan members, or human incursions. Skirmishes between the 
  warring parties occur with frequent regularity. Dwarves who want to 
  make a name for themselves within the clan often volunteer to serve 
  at the distant fortress. Rumors of increasing hobgoblin activity abound 
  within Tyr Whin’s mighty walls, and some reports even suggest a full-
  scale hobgoblin attack is imminent. Furthermore, stories of human spies 
  disguised as dwarves inﬁ ltrating the citadel also circulate among the 
  troops, fueling rampant paranoia in many circles.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS
  UHL RENNAL, CITY OF
  UHL RENNAL, CITY OF
  Ruler: Grand Magister Arnuld Koth
  Government: oligarchy
  Population: 10,045 mountain dwarf (city); 18,620 mountain 
  dwarf in surrounding mountains
  Clan Koth’s capital city in the western Stoneheart Mountains can 
  be found inside of the tunnels and caves boring into a nearly-sheer 
  terraced cliffside overlooking a mountain valley from a staggering 
  vantage point of 11,750 feet above sea level. The clan’s members use 
  a bank of magical elevators at the mountain’s base to slowly ascend to 
  their virtually impregnable mountain stronghold. As an added measure 
  of defense, the elevators are attuned only to transport dwarves to the 
  complex’s six entrances. These portals bore into the mountain and lead 
  to Uhl Rennal’s residential blocks, its religious center (the Temple 
  of Crugas, the city’s divine patron), and the city’s focal point, the 
  Academy of Arcane Arts and Sciences. This grand structure houses a 
  vast repository of rare, mystical works, fabled magical weapons, and 
  state-of-the-art technological wonders. Despite the mountain dwarves’ 
  profound xenophobia, the citadel’s dwarven arcane practitioners often 
  work in tandem with gnomish artiﬁ cers to create these astounding 
  objects. The dwarves’ trove of magical wonders naturally piques the 
  interests of thieves and adventurers alike. Therefore, Uhl Rennal’s 
  wizards safeguard their items with potent wards and defenses that 
  reportedly include a sophisticated, mechanical draconic construct.
  Grand Magister Arnuld Koth exerts ultimate authority over all events 
  in Uhl Rennal and Clan Koth in general from the Hall of Mages. From 
  his seat atop the Arcane Dais, the masterful wizard and his ﬁ ve-member 
  Veiled Council oversee the city’s daily operations as well as help direct 
  magical research. In a unique twist, the Veiled Council members always 
  use magical disguises to conceal their true identities. Each individual 
  serves a 10-year term after being selected in a secret, random lottery. 
  Anyone aspiring to be a member of the Veiled Council must use a 
  speciﬁ c spell that only wizards of extraordinary ability can cast to enter 
  the drawing.
  Uhl Rennal attracts prospective students and scholars from the clan’s 
  outlying villages and towns scattered across the western Stoneheart 
  Mountains. Promising youngsters who display an afﬁ nity for magic 
  must demonstrate their magical prowess before the Veiled Council. 
  Those who pass the test enter into the academy, while those who fail 
  must wait ﬁ ve years to try again. Although the system has been in 
  place for centuries, a vocal minority insists that some human and elf 
  moles walk among them as dwarves and gnomes. Fortunately for Clan 
  Koth, real intrusions are exceedingly rare. The last occurred in 3487 
  I.R., when two rakshasa wizards fooled the city’s defenses and stole 
  an experimental prototype of an electromagnetic gyroscope. Although 
  the object’s purpose remains top secret, popular consensus believes the 
  presumably magical item could theoretically alter the fabric of time and 
  space in a localized area. Despite a frantic search for the culprits and the 
  object, their fates remain a mystery. 
  The grand magister rightly fears the ramiﬁ cations that could be 
  unleashed if someone were to improperly use the magical device. Worse 
  yet, he knows what terrors lie in the ruins deep beneath his city. Long 
  ago, before recorded history, a Doomspire stood where Uhl Rennal 
  now stands. From atop this towering fortress of burning skulls and 
  calciﬁ ed human remains, Osenkej the Witch King spread his baleful 
  inﬂ uence across the land. For 2,700 years, the Doomspire cast its vile 
  shadow upon its people until an alliance of benevolent deities joined 
  forces and destroyed the Doomspire within the city of Krezzel Dul. The 
  dwarven deity Crugas entrusted the Koth Clan with the crucial task of 
  safeguarding the razed city. In exchange for their service, the god also 
  imparted the secrets of arcane magic to the clan, which they use to this 
  very day.           
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  INTEREST IN THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  AZURE MOUNTAINS
  AZURE MOUNTAINS
  Like the Starcrag Mountains, the Azure Mountains are technically part 
  of the greater Stoneheart Mountains. These peaks along the southeastern 
  edge of the range stretch from Alesardin to the eastern edge of the 
  Stoneheart Ice Plateau. Giant eagles and griffons can sometimes be seen 
  circling in the skies above the roughly 8,000-foot-tall peaks, which are 
  often shrouded in fog. On the ground, the indigenous goblins vie with 
  the mountain dwarves for supremacy in the region. Although the smaller 
  goblinoids enjoy numerical superiority over their humanoid adversaries, 
  the better organized and equipped dwarven villages still possess enough 
  manpower to keep the unruly goblins in check.       
  BAEN’S KEEP
  BAEN’S KEEP
  Named after the dwarven lord Baen, this heap of smashed rubble 
  overlooks the pass that also commemorates the celebrated dwarven lord. 
  Although it bears his name, Hyperborean conquerors laid the building’s 
  foundations roughly 1,500 years before Baen Halfhammer’s demise. 
  Throughout its history, the strategically located keep maintained a vigilant 
  watch over the mountain route beneath it. The Hyperboreans and later the 
  dwarves ﬁ nanced their operations by collecting tolls from travelers and 
  merchants using the pass to facilitate trade with the gulf region. 
  In 1494 I.R., Aka Bakar and the Kingdom of Arcady seized control 
  of Baen’s Pass, slaying its caretaker Baen Halfhammer in the process. 
  To eradicate any vestiges of the dwarves’ inﬂ uence in the region, 
  the mighty wizard razed Baen’s Keep to the ground, burying Baen’s 
  skeleton beneath the upturned stones and mortar. However, his death 
  failed to relieve him of his solemn duties. His undead spirit stirs again 
  each night at midnight and slays any creature who strays too close to the 
  ruined stronghold he oversaw in life.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  BAEN’S PASS
  BAEN’S PASS
  This pass across the Stoneheart Mountains begins in the foothills east 
  of the range and ends at its intended destination on the Feirgotha Plateau. 
  The gently-sloping mountain route passes underneath the shadow of 
  the ruins of Baen’s Keep and along the Silent Lake’s southern shore. 
  The dwarves of Clan Craenog still patrol the pass on an irregular basis, 
  keeping a close eye on any human incursions into their territory or the 
  activities of the undead monstrosities haunting both of the preceding 
  locations. In addition to these dangers, the dwarves and other mountain 
  travelers sometimes run afoul of ogres, trolls, and bandits hunting for 
  easy victims. While the opportunistic monsters may dissuade some 
  from traversing the pass, the alternative of tediously scaling steep 
  mountains seems worse to most explorers. At its highest point, the pass 
  only reaches an altitude just above 3,000 feet, where it gains access to 
  
  310|
  310|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  the Feirgotha Plateau through a remarkably low gap in the otherwise 
  formidable escarpment.   
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  THE BLACK FIELDS
  THE BLACK FIELDS
  This expansive swath of land in the Vingotha Plateau earned its 
  moniker from the black, volcanic soil covering the ground. Farmers 
  covet the fertile earth deposited in the Black Fields, but the chilly 
  conditions and thin air make the land less conducive to agricultural 
  endeavors. Instead, the mountain dwarves quarry basalt from the site 
  and use the cooled volcanic rock as a construction material and an 
  artistic medium for master sculptors. Enmel Stoutchisel, a hermetic 
  dwarf artist, maintains a studio adjacent to a partially exposed lava 
  tube. The xenophobic eccentric and his six apprentices exclusively craft 
  commissioned artworks for Clan Craenog, which likely represents the 
  only organized commercial endeavor on the Vingotha Plateau. The High 
  Thane’s representatives travel to Enmel’s studio once per year to pick 
  up his completed artworks and give him the speciﬁ cations for newly 
  commissioned pieces. Despite his genius and his incredible skill, even 
  the clan’s interactions with the quirky and hot-tempered misanthrope 
  may quickly go awry, as the old, cantankerous coot frequently instigates 
  a heated verbal exchange with his rare visitors for no comprehensible 
  reason. Nonetheless, the clan continues its testy relationship with Enmel 
  for as long as his artistic abilities remain unsurpassed.
  The mountain dwarves undisputedly wield absolute mastery 
  over the Black Fields and the Vingotha Plateau at large, yet periodic 
  disappearances in the area imply they are certainly not alone. Lava tubes 
  cut into the bedrock beneath the ﬁ elds are reputed to contain several 
  communities of dark folk who harbor an ancient grudge against their 
  dwarven adversaries. In a similar vein, dwarven folklore speaks of a 
  clan of ﬁ re giants who built an extensive subterranean complex beneath 
  the lava channels that empty into the Black Fields. Along with an efreet 
  in their service, they purportedly travel to the surface on occasion to 
  sift through the lava ﬂ ows in search of an unknown anomaly in the 
  discharged volcanic material.  
  BURGOTHA PLATEAU
  BURGOTHA PLATEAU
  The northernmost of the Stoneheart Mountains’ great plateaus seems 
  forgotten. At an average elevation of 8,000 feet, the Burgotha Plateau 
  lies 10,000 feet and sometimes even 20,000 feet below the summits of 
  the tall peaks surrounding it. The Hyperboreans and the Hundaei used 
  the strategic location as a staging area during their wars of conquest 
  throughout the region. Even today, salvagers have little difﬁ culty ﬁ nding 
  relics such as a broken spear, splintered arrows, a rusty helmet, and 
  archaic coins from this age. The ruins of abandoned garrisons, corrals, 
  and military camps also litter the gravel-strewn landscape. Despite the 
  obvious signs of humanoid habitation, these settlements were always 
  transitory in nature. With the exception of a brief, summer thaw, the 
  weather is generally chilly and raw. Snowfall is possible for roughly 
  nine months of the year as runoff from melting snow and precipitation 
  feeds the Xircos River. To make matters worse for permanent residents, 
  pulverized stone and alkaline mineral make up its dusty soil and renders 
  it incapable of supporting plant life. 
  At the present time, Clan Tusov and Clan Duhnbeyl claim hegemony 
  over the barren plateau, yet neither exerts any effort to establish 
  a permanent foothold on the mostly lifeless expanse. Even the 
  Hyperboreans and Hundaei appeared hesitant to take up roots in this 
  desolate land for reasons beyond the foul weather and the poor soil. 
  The soldiers who camped here began experiencing an inexplicable 
  unease after a few months on the plateau. Images of gruesome 
  humanoid sacriﬁ ces and rivers of blood plagued their nightmares, 
  causing many to experience long, troubling bouts of insomnia and 
  depression. Some chose to stay awake and suffer the scourges of sleep 
  deprivation rather than subject their weary minds to these terrifying 
  thoughts. Most others either ﬂ ed the area never to return or stayed and 
  perished by their own hand.
  COBALT PASS
  COBALT PASS
  Access to the Feirgotha Plateau from the east was long provided 
  by the Southern Pass, which led over the Stoneheart Escarpment and 
  thence into the mountains to the plateau. When Tsar fell into darkness, 
  leaving the entrance to the Southern Pass in the midst of the Desolation, 
  merchants and traders sought a different route to the plateau, and to the 
  Eamonvale Trade Road beyond to the western eaves of the mountains. 
  Thus the Cobalt Pass was carved through the high peaks. Named for 
  some of the beautiful blue rock formations rising above the route, it 
  is a treacherous road, often very narrow, with challenging switchbacks 
  and substantial elevation changes, often running along precipitous cliffs 
  that drop off into deep voids. Wyverns and other great airborne beasts 
  seeking easy prey are known to hunt along the road. Were it not for the 
  Desolation blocking entrance to the Southern Pass, few of right mind 
  would use the Cobalt Pass.
  ERAGOTHA PLATEAU
  ERAGOTHA PLATEAU
  The westernmost of the plateaus of the Stonehearts, Eragotha stands 
  alone and solitary, with no routes up its escarpment. No tales tell of any 
  fortresses or settlements on its heights, nor have the dwarves, gnomes, 
  or humanoids of the mountains ever settled here. There are no stories of 
  caverns or other entrances here to places below the earth, or of any ores 
  or gemstones to be found.
  The top of Eragotha can be reached only by the most-experienced 
  mountain climbers. Once upon the plateau, a visitor is greeted by what 
  may be the oddest of lands in these peaks. Although the air here is 
  cold and thin, stumps of petriﬁ ed trees from a warm, wet clime dot the 
  landscape. What appears to be the now-dry riverbed of a mighty river 
  bisects the land, running from the northwest to the southeast right across 
  the plateau. In places, bones of long-dead creatures of great size lie 
  exposed to the elements. Some scholars theorize that Eragotha may be 
  a relic of the land before the Stonehearts were raised, a region that, for 
  some unknown reason, was not destroyed in that cataclysm, but instead 
  was simply raised skyward as the earth heaved up. Why this land would 
  have been preserved is the subject of some speculation, but no answers 
  have yet arisen.
  FEIRGOTHA PLATEAU
  FEIRGOTHA PLATEAU
  During its tumultuous history, the Feirgotha Plateau has been known 
  by several names. Ancient texts sometimes refer to the frigid landscape 
  as the Vastness, a moniker it earned because of its seemingly endless 
  expanses of cold, alpine desert. The desolate wasteland experiences 
  its most frigid temperatures closest to the escarpments surrounding 
  the plateau whose elevation ranges between 5,000 feet at its nadir near 
  Toh Kristael and 15,000 feet along the sheer, vertical cliffs surrounding 
  the mesa. The nearly impassible rock walls, cliffs, and the pervasive 
  threat of an avalanche make for an extremely challenging climb up 
  the escarpments. Indeed, attempting to scale any of the escarpments 
  demands tremendous mountaineering skill and experience. Fortunately, 
  three mountain passes grant access to the elevated mesa. Pelivar Pass 
  enters the plateau on the west, Baen’s Pass provides access on the east, 
  and to the south are the entrances to the Southern Pass and the Cobalt 
  Pass. Those who reach the plateau encounter frigid tundra at its highest 
  elevations and a cool alpine desert in its most hospitable spots. Strange 
  rock formations abound throughout the Feirgotha Plateau. Some ascribe 
  the creations to natural processes, though most scholars believe them 
  to be ruined vestiges of past civilizations or feeble attempts at artwork 
  by forgotten cultures or creatures. The most likely candidate for these 
  pieces is the Kingdom of Arcady. However, several of these odd 
  structures serve as the entrance to subterranean tunnels burrowing into 
  the ground into manmade and natural abscesses beneath the ground. 
  During its brief halcyon days 2,000 years ago, the legendary wizard 
  Aka Bakar transformed the Feirgotha Plateau into a vibrant, ﬂ ourishing 
  civilization known as the Kingdom of Arcady. Eighty years after its 
  founding, hordes of orcs and hobgoblins swarmed onto the Feirgotha 
  Plateau. Although they failed to conquer the nascent kingdom, their 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|311
  |311
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  aggression and the acts of its deranged ruler plunged the realm into 
  anarchy and chaos. Nearly all of the surviving residents abandoned the 
  plateau and ﬂ ed to neighboring regions, which once again returned the 
  plateau to its former anonymity. By default, the Feirgotha Plateau fell 
  under the sway of Clan Craenog, which monitors the activities in the 
  wasteland from several outposts scattered across the sprawling landscape. 
  Burvaadun, the most noteworthy of these defense installations, sits close 
  to the Southern Pass and the presumably abandoned Library of Arcady, 
  which is said to have been built by Thanopsis the Learned during the 
  kingdom’s heyday. Foran Rockfeller, the garrison’s competent leader, 
  commands a force of 40 troops largely composed of misﬁ ts and others 
  who fell out of favor with Clan Craenog’s most inﬂ uential members. 
  They closely monitor activities in the region, especially the library’s 
  rumored resurgence.
  Although it has experienced a few renaissances throughout its 
  existence, the Feirgotha Plateau, like its neighboring counterparts, today 
  stands barren and nearly uninhabited. A few remnants of the orc and 
  hobgoblin armies who marched against Arcady still linger in the harsh 
  domain. Meanwhile, Clan Craenog periodically dispatches organized 
  patrols to the area to seek out and destroy any burgeoning humanoid 
  settlements attempting to take root in the parched soil, including those 
  of their hated foes, the humans. The Feirgotha Plateau has a well-earned 
  reputation for being inhospitable, yet there are some havens of life 
  amid the pervading desolation. The handful of oases scattered across 
  the wasteland boast clean, refreshing waters and palm trees during 
  the condensed summer months. Naturally, the former inhabitants also 
  sought out these refuges, where they sometimes left an indelible mark 
  on these isolated lands in terms of discarded relics or abandoned sites.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR, 
  MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS
  THE ICE FLOW
  THE ICE FLOW
  This enigmatic sliver of ice stretches from the Stoneheart Ice 
  Plateau to the lowlands of the Waymarches. While glaciers normally 
  move very slowly, this one is comparatively swift, having appeared 
  only recently, with a tower of ice at the head of the ﬂ ow. It has moved 
  precipitously through a narrow pass of the Stonehearts toward the 
  plains of Waymarch.  
  In fact, the Ice Flow is a magical ﬂ ow of icy waters from the River 
  Cocytus itself that broke through from , a realm of the Nine Hells. 
  Created when the Ice Palace of Perﬁ dium broke through into the mortal 
  realms in the southern part of the Stoneheart Ice Plateau, the Ice Flow 
  brings atop it the Accursed Ice Tower of Kal-Tior on a march down to 
  the plains of Waymarch and, eventually, the Grimburg. The route of the 
  Ice Flow is the only access from the plains to the Stoneheart Ice Plateau 
  beyond, but it has become a hellish trek haunted by spirits escaped from 
  the underworld, frost men, yetis, ice worms, and other horrors of the 
  Icy Hell of , in addition to the threat of natural hazards such as jagged 
  ﬁ ssures and ﬂ esh-freezing Hell-borne winds.
  For more on the Ice Flow, see Cold as Hell, forthcoming from Frog 
  God Games.
  THE ICE PALACE (ICE PALACE OF PERFIDIUM)
  THE ICE PALACE (ICE PALACE OF PERFIDIUM)
  The Ice Palace, also known as the Ice Palace of Perﬁ dium, is a towering 
  fortress seemingly made entirely of ice that recently appeared atop the 
  Stoneheart Ice Plateau. It is, in fact, an incursion into the material plane 
  from , a realm of the Nine Hells.
  Entry to the palace is indeed a step into a passage to Hell itself. The 
  incursion was created through the summoning rituals of the warlock 
  Kal-Tior as he called upon the strength of his patron Count Perﬁ dium of 
  , a high prince in the Court of the Nine Hells. On the spot of a collapsed 
  ancient dwarven empire, Kal-Tior sacriﬁ ced more than 600 members of 
  an ice gnome tribe upon the glacier. Their blood was mixed with the icy 
  waters of Cocytus, which caused a thunderous crack heard as far away 
  as Reme and Bard’s Gate.
  The rent in the fabric of reality allowed a mirror duplicate of 
  Perﬁ dium’s Palace to break into the mortal plane. The palace is guarded 
  by a contingent of ice devils, white dragons in service of Perﬁ dium, ice 
  mephits, frost giants, winter wolves, and an army of ice goblins formed 
  from the soulless husks of the sacriﬁ ced ice gnomes.
  The palace sits upon a vent of Hell itself and is both cold as ice and 
  boiling with hellﬁ re at the same time, giving the region around it an 
  unholy glow. It appears in the form of a stack of massive snowﬂ akes 
  with crystalline edges of indescribable beauty silhouetted against the 
  sulfurous nightmare glow of the Infernal Realms.
  During the deepest coldest months of the year, Count Perﬁ dium can 
  gate a powerful avatar of himself onto the Stoneheart Ice Plateau and 
  occupy the mirror throne. It is at this time that his servant Kal-Tior is at 
  his most powerful.
  Count Perﬁ dium is sworn to free his ancient mistress from her prison 
  in Grimburg and has inﬂ uenced Kal-Tior to do his bidding in the 
  execution of Perﬁ dium’s ancient quest.
  For more on the Ice Palace, see Cold as Hell, forthcoming from 
  Frog God Games.
  ICE TOWER
  ICE TOWER
  See “The Ice Tower” under “The Lands of Reme — Grand Duchy of 
  Reme — The Duchy of Waymarch.”
  MITHRAL MOUNTAIN
  MITHRAL MOUNTAIN
  As one of Clan Krazzadak’s most inﬂ uential vassals, Thane Ilger 
  Ogradmek and his ancestors ruled over Mithral Mountain for more 
  than 1,000 years. However, a fateful event 500 years ago ended the 
  Ogradmeks’ control over the mountain. The surviving accounts claim the 
  thane and his supporters perished during an uprising inspired by a new 
  deity named Dwer-Bokham, a name that translates to “dwarf of mithral” 
  in their native tongue. The dwarves who fell under the divine being’s 
  sway have mithral-colored skin and eyes. Over the years, the surviving 
  Ogradmeks and their descendants have mounted numerous expeditions 
  to retake the mountain from its upstart occupiers. However, every effort 
  ended in failure. Over time, the dwarves came to realize the futility of 
  their cause. They ceded dominance to Dwer-Bokham’s servants and 
  allowed Mithral Mountain to fade into legend. Some dwarves believe 
  the deity is a cobaltog, a creature from ancient dwarven folklore who 
  resembled living mithral and could exercise mental control over other 
  creatures’ minds. Many dwarves attribute the mountain’s name to its 
  rumored cobaltog resident as the mountain’s mines predominately 
  contain salt and coal rather than the priceless metal. However, the 
  mountain’s reputation for containing rich veins of the valuable material 
  was reputedly enough to spur the alleged huckster Bargus Farmud to 
  lead another assault against the mountain.  
  REFERENCE SOURCE: MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS
  THE MOLTEN FLOW
  THE MOLTEN FLOW
  The lava runoff from Mount Daergyd in the northern Vingotha Plateau 
  rolls down its southern slope, where several tubes and channels funnel 
  into a single river of lava known as the Molten Flow. The viscous liquid 
  material meanders a circuitous path across the plateau until it disperses 
  into a cluster of tributaries before ﬁ nally pouring into the Black Field 
  where it eventually cools. Some metallurgists and blacksmiths who call 
  themselves the Brotherhood of Magma often venture to this isolated 
  open-air forge to craft armor, weapons, and other metallic objects. This 
  reclusive band of mountain dwarves dwells in tiny villages and caves 
  dotting the plateau. They claim the magma imbues their handiwork with 
  special properties, including the ability to wreath its metallic surface in 
  bright red ﬂ ames on command. Chas Delacroix, the group’s founder, 
  allegedly forged the Steel Flame in the ﬁ ery soup, though the blade’s 
  purported abilities as well as its very existence remain speculative at best. 
  Despite the brotherhood’s convincing boasts and wondrous yarns about 
  their accomplishments, there are no veriﬁ able accounts conﬁ rming their 
  stories. Indeed, the mountain dwarves who also trek here from more 
  “civilized” areas scoff at their metalworking prowess, telling potential 
  customers the brotherhood is too incompetent to fashion a hole in a ring. 
  
  312|
  312|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  To add insult to injury, they allege the band’s bloodline is contaminated 
  by some human ancestry, which they assert can be conﬁ rmed by their 
  slightly taller stature and untrustworthiness.
  MOUNT DAERGYD
  MOUNT DAERGYD
  Lava continuously ﬂ ows down multiple channels along Mount 
  Daergyd’s southern slope, while glaciers still coat the highest elevations 
  of its northern and western faces. The 28,450-foot-tall shield volcano 
  encompasses an area of roughly 125 squares miles, while its gargantuan 
  magma chamber extends miles below the surface. The approach to 
  the constantly shifting summit its steep and perilous. Climbers must 
  dodge the copious outﬂ ow of lava to scale the peak’s southern route 
  or negotiate treacherous glacial outcroppings to reach the top of the 
  smoldering cauldron of lava beneath it. Although none disputes Mount 
  Daergyd’s current classiﬁ cation as an active volcano, Hundaei and 
  dwarven historical accounts indicate the mountain exhibited no signs of 
  volcanic activity until it ﬁ rst erupted roughly 2,000 years ago in sudden 
  and spectacular fashion. The prevailing myth claims that Dargoth, a 
  wizard who ﬂ ed Tsen, came to this remote site to open a gate to the 
  Plane of Fire to summon a fabled salamander army from the realm’s 
  ﬁ ery depths. Dargoth successfully opened the portal but with disastrous 
  consequences. Intense heat poured through the ﬁ ssure, instantly melting 
  the mountain’s rocky innards while also burrowing deep into the 
  ground to puncture a hole through the planet’s crust. The conﬂ agration 
  consumed Dargoth and immediately transformed Mount Daergyd into a 
  roiling shield volcano, which may be the most active hotspot in Akados.
  PELIVAR PASS
  PELIVAR PASS
  Pelivar Pass winds a circuitous route across the western portion of the 
  Stoneheart Mountains before reaching the elevated Feirgotha Plateau. 
  Although it offers a viable alternative to laboriously climbing over 
  numerous treacherous mountains, the pass is not for the faint of heart. It 
  features multiple switchbacks, terrifying precipices, and steep inclines, 
  all at elevations of 10,000 feet and higher. Because the western stretch is 
  incomplete and predominately uninhabited, few travelers use this route 
  which leads to widespread neglect throughout the highway. Scree from 
  falling stones covers portions of the pass, while conspicuously placed 
  boulders still block the path at obvious yet abandoned ambush sites. 
  The dwarves exert little inﬂ uence in the area, concentrating their efforts 
  on more valuable assets to the north and east. A small clan of hill giants 
  led by their oaﬁ sh chieftain Ah-uhm rules in their stead. However, the 
  oversized humanoid displays no interest in the affairs of others while his 
  drinking goblet and belly are full.     
  THE SILENT LAKE
  THE SILENT LAKE
  Water runoff from the surrounding mountains and even the distant 
  Feirgotha Plateau trickles down streams and brooks before ﬁ nally 
  ending its journey at the Silent Lake. The freshwater repository sits at 
  the nadir of a conﬂ uence of mountains, yet it still rests 8,420 feet above 
  sea level. The shallow lake encompasses a wide area, though on average 
  it is only 20 feet deep in most spots with a maximum depth of 45 feet 
  near its eastern shore. Long ago, freshwater bass and trout abounded in 
  the virtually pristine lake until an adventurer’s careless act altered the 
  lake forever. 
  Fresh from their exploits in Rappan Athuk, a party of explorers 
  could not help but wonder why legions of the walking dead constantly 
  followed them. After some deliberation, they ﬁ nally placed the blame on 
  a piece of an evil stone they recovered from the Dungeon of Graves. To 
  rid themselves of the vile fragment, the party’s cleric hurled the chunk 
  of stone from the dread artifact into the water here, where it lies roughly 
  60 feet from the northern shore at a depth of eight feet. Hordes of 
  undead now coalesce along the lake’s shores, drawn to the power of the 
  Zombiestone of Karsh lying at the bottom of the lake. All of these lifeless 
  monsters are of the corporeal variety, as the artifact exerts its inﬂ uence 
  over decaying ﬂ esh and bone rather than wicked spirits. Mindless 
  zombies, skeletons, and other lesser undead, most notably ghouls, make 
  up the overwhelming majority of the Silent Lake’s deceased residents. 
  However, some of these creatures also serve the vampire siblings Carina 
  and Edmund Lashae, the lake’s latest newcomers. The pair dwells in a 
  small cave near the western shore among a small herd of oryxes who 
  serve as their mounts and defenders. Indeed, many believe they travel 
  across the mountain disguised as one of these beasts. 
  REFERENCE SOURCES: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  THE SPINE OF FIRE
  THE SPINE OF FIRE
  The cluster of four stratovolcanoes bisecting the Telgotha Plateau 
  and the Vingotha Plateau as well as the Feirgotha Plateau represents 
  a geological anomaly. Far from any subduction zone or any other 
  prevalent volcanic activity, the four mountains making up the Spine 
  of Fire appear to be an unnatural phenomenon possibly linked to the 
  range’s creation 10,000 years ago. The 12,560-foot-tall Mount Ezrabor 
  is the southernmost peak, while the 14,329-foot tall Mount Helcor is 
  the northernmost peak. The 13,543-foot-tall mountain Acramon and 
  the 15,002-foot-tall peak Phoetton make up the remaining two peaks. 
  Despite their variations in height, all four mountains share the same 
  general characteristics. The volcanoes intermittently erupt twice per 
  decade, spewing columns of ash and pumice into the heavens. The 
  mountains release lava and pyroclastic ﬂ ows only during their most 
  intense episodes, which generally occur once per century. Phoetton 
  accounts for the last major eruption during 3482 I.R., when the volcano 
  buried the ﬁ ve-mile radius around the mountain in 10 feet of ash, while 
  its columns of ash and pumice were visible from as far away as the 
  hobgoblin citadel of Exor. Indeed, Phoetton’s discharge even coated the 
  fortress with a thin ﬁ lm of debris. 
  Some scholars and theologians believe the Spine of Fire functions as 
  a gateway into the heart of the Stoneheart Mountains. The tremendous 
  quantities of energy required to create the range vent through these four 
  portals to the outside world. The theory contends the passages found 
  in the Spine of Fire may lead directly to the Stoneheart Mountains’ 
  underbelly, where the mysteries surrounding its creation may lie. 
  However, individuals who have tested the hypothesis by venturing into 
  the volcanoes during their dormant periods rarely returned. The few 
  who made it back to safety spoke of encountering a previously unknown 
  race of goblinoids deep beneath the mountains. 
  STARCRAG RANGE
  STARCRAG RANGE
  The Starcrag Range, as an offshoot of the Stoneheart Mountains, is 
  relatively young, as evidenced by its razor-sharp peaks and steep, sheer 
  sides. Passes through the mountains are rare, and only those knowing 
  their way have a reasonable chance of crossing them. The mountains 
  rise to 12,000 feet above the plains below, with an average of 8,000 
  feet. The greatest heights bear glaciers, while even lesser peaks are 
  snowcapped for most of the year, with the tree line at about 6,000 feet. 
  The range is intercut by valleys and rivers, all ﬂ owing out and away 
  from the mountains. A misty haze often covers the Starcrags, and all fear 
  the things found in this mist.
  This spur of the Stoneheart Mountains is typically classiﬁ ed as its own 
  chain, though largely for political reasons rather than geographical. The 
  Starcrag Range and its foothills are outside the control of the great mountain 
  dwarf clans who rule over the balance of the Stoneheart Mountains. 
  While the mountain dwarves can hardly be considered a united entity, 
  their hegemony over the region warrants a separate distinction between 
  the Stoneheart Mountains and their lesser brethren, the Starcrags, which 
  are instead dominated by the dwarves’ hobgoblin adversaries.   
  SOUTHERN PASS
  SOUTHERN PASS
  On the eastern eaves of the Stonehearts, the Southern Pass to the 
  Feirgotha Plateau starts as a road that meanders across the Desolation 
  of Tsar and the Stoneheart Escarpment before entering the Stoneheart 
  Mountains proper. The ﬁ rst stretch across the plains and lowlands 
  remains neglected and unused. The dwarves of Clan Craenog and others 
  often refer to this portion of the route as the “Dark Path.” Only the 
  foolhardy and those with an unrequited death wish venture into this 
  
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  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  foreboding locale. Instead, most travelers link up with the Southern Pass 
  at some location in the mountains or avoid it entirely and take the more 
  treacherous Cobalt Pass to the south. After crossing over the Stoneheart 
  Escarpment, the Southern Pass remains fairly level throughout the 
  remainder of the journey, where it reaches a maximum elevation of 
  6,000 feet at the foot of the Feirgotha Plateau, literally a stone’s throw 
  away from the dwarven garrison of Burvaadun. Beyond the plateau, 
  the route west continues with the Eamonvale Trade Road, which leads 
  past Miners’ Refuge to Dun Eamon, and eventually Broadwater on the 
  western eaves of the Stonehearts.
  The soldiers manning the isolated outpost of Burvaadun rarely venture 
  more than 10 miles from their mountain stronghold onto the Southern 
  Pass, leaving travelers to fend for themselves. Furthermore, the dwarves 
  patrolling the area apply the same brand of frontier justice to humans 
  that they mete out to their hated adversaries the orcs and goblinoids. 
  Beyond the dwarves’ limited reach, anything goes. Renegade dwarves 
  and those unafﬁ liated with the ruling Clan Craenog ply their trade as 
  highwaymen and bandits while fending off incursions from ogres, hill 
  giants, trolls, and the occasional manticore. A creature known only the 
  “Winged Death” is the most-feared denizen of the Southern Pass. No 
  ﬁ rsthand accounts exist about any encounters with this supposedly 
  otherworldly being, though rumors and myths claim an impenetrable 
  shroud of darkness surrounds the entity. The stories also trace the 
  creature’s genesis to the Battle of Tsar.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR, 
  MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS
  STONEHEART ICE PLATEAU (SHENGOTHA PLATEAU)
  STONEHEART ICE PLATEAU (SHENGOTHA PLATEAU)
  The Stoneheart Ice Plateau is one of the highest and coldest spots in 
  central Akados. Within the plateau, a massive glacier of ice covers more 
  than 60,000 square miles to a depth estimated at as much as 500 feet. 
  Surrounding the plateau, which lies at an elevation of roughly 9,000 
  feet, is rugged, trackless mountain, with towering peaks reaching up 
  to 12,000 feet or more. The only means of access to the plateau, other 
  than crossing the mountains, is via a narrow pass on the southwest, but 
  that is now ﬁ lled by the cursed Ice Flow, and is a route best avoided by 
  the sane.
  Toward the southern end of the glacier, bathed in an unholy glow, is 
  the Ice Palace of Perﬁ dium.
  Despite the enormity of the glacier and the entirely barren wasteland 
  that now ﬁ lls the plateau, not long ago this was a fertile and hospitable 
  place. Before 3035 I.R., this was known as the Shengotha Plateau. 
  Despite the altitude, winters were chilly yet not oppressive, while 
  summers were brief and warm. This was the ancient homeland of the 
  dwarven Clan Krazzadak. They had built four strategically positioned 
  strongholds known as the Four Siblings about the plateau to defend the 
  clan’s lands against human migration, orc and goblinoid invasions, and 
  their dwarven rivals. Yet these fortresses paled in comparison to the 
  splendor of their capital city of Bryn Tuk Thull which they raised on a 
  small hill in the middle of the plateau, and which shined brighter than 
  any other star in the dwarven heavens. Gold, silver, rubies, and other 
  precious metals and gemstones poured into the cosmopolitan metropolis 
  from the mining operations in the nearby mountains. At its zenith, the 
  Shengotha Plateau was known as the Stoneheart’s Precious Jewel. 
  And then one day, everything Clan Krazzadak accomplished came to a 
  sudden and calamitous ruin.
  No one can say whether the dwarves excavated something not meant to 
  be found deep beneath the earth or committed some other transgression. 
  It is said that a great wizard imbued with nearly godlike powers cursed 
  the homeland of Clan Krazzadak. An unrelenting storm of snows struck, 
  and within days an unnatural glacier entombed Bryn Tuk Thull, the Four 
  Siblings, and the rest of the high plateau beneath hundreds of feet of 
  compressed ice and snow. The dwarves had no choice but to ﬂ ee (most 
  heading to their nearby citadel of Abad Durahai), leaving their cities 
  and much within them behind. They were soon replaced by frost giants, 
  winter wolves, gelid beetles, and other creatures of cold who found 
  the new climate of the plateau to their liking. A tribe of barbegazi (ice 
  gnomes) also arrived. They established a strong niche atop the glacier 
  and burrowed tunnels into the abscesses within the now-frozen world.
  Surviving members of Clan Krazzadak periodically venture back to 
  the Ice Plateau seeking to reclaim some of its lost glory. Undoubtedly, 
  many great treasures of the dwarves remain entombed under the ice. 
  In addition, Thull XII, the last king of Shengotha, was lost along with 
  members of his household and personal guard when the ice covered the 
  plateau. Though now more than 500 years have passed, some wonder 
  whether some of those dwarves or their descendants might yet live 
  somewhere in the Stoneheart Ice Plateau.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: THE LOST LANDS: BARD’S GATE,
  MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS
  TELGOTHA PLATEAU
  TELGOTHA PLATEAU
  Winds chilled by ice as they swirl around the surrounding peaks 
  constantly buffet this desolate plateau, scouring away the earth until 
  only heavy gravel and bare rock remain, nearly incapable of supporting 
  any but the hardiest plant life. As a consequence, the Telgotha Plateau 
  is virtually uninhabited save for a few wandering bands of dwarf 
  scavengers searching the abscesses carved into the exposed rocks for 
  any artifacts from a past age. Over the years, salvagers have managed 
  to retrieve Hundaei relics from their brief passage onto the plateau 
  during their conﬂ icts with the Hyperboreans, along with small objects 
  of Khemitite origin along the plateau’s southern edges, likely left behind 
  during exploratory missions from the Kingdom of Arcady’s ﬂ eeting 
  heyday 2,000 years ago.
  At an average elevation of 16,200 feet, the elongated mesa towers 
  over its neighbor to the east, the much lower yet more viable Vingotha 
  Plateau, and its neighbors to the extreme south, the Eragotha Plateau and 
  Feirgotha Plateau. The escarpments surrounding the plateau’s edges are 
  littered with dangerous rockfalls and nearly vertical surfaces. A handful 
  of mountain dwarves claim to have found an extensive tunnel system 
  accessible through cave entrances carved into the sheer rock face, 
  yet these individuals are virtually impossible to locate. Not even the 
  dwarves know who excavated the underground network of passageways 
  and chambers, though a popular theory suggests they existed before the 
  Stoneheart Mountains sprang into existence eons ago. The only object 
  ever purportedly brought to the surface from the subterranean complex 
  was a small alder wood statue of a grotesquely pregnant mother with a 
  demonic face and a pair of claws digging their way out of the woman’s 
  womb. The horriﬁ c totem is currently said to be in the possession of a 
  collector of ancient artifacts in Bard’s Gate. If any have delved back into 
  the site to further investigate the discovery, no tales of their success or 
  failure have yet been told. 
  TOH KRISTAEL
  TOH KRISTAEL
  This saltwater lake at the heart of the Feirgotha Plateau deﬁ es most 
  natural laws. No rivers, streams, or other tributaries ﬂ ow into the lake, 
  and the arid climate generates insufﬁ cient precipitation to replenish any 
  water lost to evaporation. To further cement its unnatural origins, Toh 
  Kristael is reputedly bottomless. Some believe the legendary wizard Aka 
  Bakar magically created the lake shortly after his arrival in Akados. In 
  further support of this theory, scholars point to the fact he erected his 
  capital city of Deepharbor on the lake’s northern shores. Unfortunately, 
  after the city’s ruination at the hands of orc marauders, Toh Kristael 
  claimed the razed metropolis as its own, submerging the rubble beneath 
  its waters. However, the dwarves of Clan Craenog vigorously dispute this 
  hypothesis. They insist Toh Kristael was here long before the Kingdom of 
  Arcady sprang into existence. Instead, the dwarves trace the lake’s origins 
  to the foundation of the Stoneheart Mountains themselves, claiming the 
  forces that gave birth to the peaks beget Toh Kristael as well.
  The lake’s only possible purely natural effect is its moderation of the 
  prevailing climate surrounding it. The air here remains crisp and dry, but 
  the temperatures are milder than in most parts of the Feirgotha Plateau. 
  Salt and gypsum formations protrude from portions of the lake’s surface 
  along its shallower edges, while the gravel and salt pan bordering the 
  lakefront stiﬂ es almost all ﬂ ora other than a few tufts of grass and 
  
  314|THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  cacti tenaciously clinging to isolated clumps of arable topsoil amid the 
  infertile earth. 
  In 3343 I.R., the explorer J’acu Niimo assembled a salvage team to 
  probe the depths of Toh Kristael to learn more about Deepharbor’s fate 
  and to recover valuable relics. The fabled human druid and his associates 
  dodged the vindictive dwarves patrolling the plateau’s perimeter and 
  arrived at the site two months after setting out from Glaivr. To his 
  dismay, the lake’s saline waters took a heavy toll on the ruins, corroding 
  metallic objects and damaging stone and wood. Disappointed, J’acu 
  expanded his operation to the lake’s southern shore, where he discovered 
  a lone island dominated by a tower. To his surprise, thick vegetation 
  and vines covered the structure’s exterior. J’acu and four of his most 
  able colleagues could not resist the opportunity to personally examine 
  the only standing manmade building that presumably survived the 
  cataclysm that laid waste to Deepharbor and the Kingdom of Arcady. 
  They swam out to the island and were soon engulfed by dozens or 
  perhaps even hundreds of animated corpses. J’acu barely escaped, but 
  the undead monsters devoured his four friends. He abandoned the effort, 
  though the autobiographical account of his expedition, The Anomalous 
  Lake, survives to this day and may prove useful to adventurers aspiring 
  to follow in his illustrious footsteps.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  VINGOTHA PLATEAU
  VINGOTHA PLATEAU
  Nestled along the Stoneheart Mountains’ eastern edge, this narrow 
  plateau has an average elevation of roughly 13,000 feet. It sits in the 
  shadow of the Spine of Fire along its southwestern edge and adjacent 
  to the neighboring Telgotha Plateau on its western border. The Vingotha 
  Plateau is home to Mount Daergyd, the Molten Flow, and the Black 
  Fields. Although the air is thin at this elevation, the fertile volcanic 
  soil from the neighboring peaks allows some plant life to grow in this 
  challenging environment, including a hardy species of coffee plant 
  with yellow ﬂ owers reputed to invigorate the drinker with increased 
  energy and greater resistance to altitude sickness at these dizzying 
  heights. Fauna, on the other hand, proves less resilient than their green 
  counterparts in this difﬁ cult domain. Yaks are the dominant animal 
  species in the area. The 36 small and remote mountain dwarf villages 
  scattered across the plateau raise yaks as livestock and beasts of burden. 
  The majority of these settlements are concentrated along the plateau’s 
  borders with the neighboring peaks.  
  Over the centuries, the hobgoblins who hold dominion over the 
  citadels of Bonehollow, Exor, and Smashed Skull to the southeast have 
  periodically attempted to establish a foothold on the Vingotha Plateau 
  to expand their inﬂ uence northward. Their most recent attempt in 3420 
  I.R. failed when the mountain dwarves repelled their invasion with the 
  help of reinforcements from distant Tyr Whin. Fortunately, the plateau’s 
  impressive defenses and limited strategic importance may be sufﬁ cient 
  to keep future hobgoblin incursions at bay.
  314|
  314|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN AKADOS AND THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS
  
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  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  XIRCOS RIVER VALLEY
  XIRCOS RIVER VALLEY
  This vast area stretches from the edges of the Stoneheart Mountains 
  in the west to the Vast Desert to the east, and encompasses the ruins 
  of Tsen, the Burning Wastes, the cities of High Karst and Apothasalos, 
  the village of Tanuil, and a number of tributary rivers ﬂ owing into the 
  main waterway of the Xircos River. Fertile grasslands support numerous 
  small farming communities through the interior regions and ﬁ shing 
  villages along the banks of the Xircos and its larger tributaries. These 
  small communities also hunt for herds of game animals grazing on the 
  abundant plant life. Several forests also dot the landscape. 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF 
  THE XIRCOS RIVER VALLEY
  THE XIRCOS RIVER VALLEY
  APOTHASALOS, CITY OF
  APOTHASALOS, CITY OF
  Ruler: Harmost Gaelanicus Prescis
  Government: imperial
  Population: 10,274 (7,199 human mixed ethnicity, 1,050 half-
  elf, 910 hill dwarf, 870 halﬂ ing, 105 high elf, 90 mountain 
  dwarf, 50 other)
  Languages: Common, High Boros, Elven, Dwarven
  Religion: Hyperborean pantheon
  Resources: trade, grain, livestock, manufactured goods, 
  metalwork, armor and weapons, glass, stonework
  Currency: Apothasalos, Bard’s Gate, other common currencies
  Technology Level: Renaissance
  Once the northern regional capital of the Hyperborean Empire, the 
  city of Apothasalos is now an independent city-state whose inﬂ uence 
  extends well beyond its heavily fortiﬁ ed walls.
  Apothasalos sprang from humble roots as a frontier outpost on an 
  ancient military road predating the Hyperboreans’ arrival. When Oerson 
  and his legions came upon the settlement in –90 I.R., he decreed the 
  location to be the ideal site for a regional capital. Construction began in 
  earnest, and within six years a team of masons and artisans erected the 
  massive outer walls and battlements that became the city’s hallmark. 
  These impressive defenses faced their ﬁ rst test in 14 I.R. when the 
  Hundaei besieged the city in an assault known as the Month of Raining 
  Arrows. Despite suffering extensive casualties, the beleaguered 
  citizens withstood the onslaught. Relief came after 40 days when the 
  Hyperborean commander Gnassus arrived on the scene. His legions 
  defeated the Hundaei in spectacular fashion and ended the immediate 
  threat to the exhausted city. 
  The city witnessed steady growth over the next 1,500 years as its 
  proximity to neighboring Tsen made it a popular waystation for the 
  bustling City of Wonders. However, that metropolis’s utter destruction 
  in 1491 I.R. shook Apothasalos’ walls and foundation to the core. 
  Fortunately, the Barrier Hills absorbed the brunt of the blast that laid 
  waste to Tsen, though Apothasalos did not escape the apocalypse 
  unscathed. Frightened by what they had witnessed, the city practically 
  emptied overnight as terriﬁ ed citizens ﬂ ed their homes in a mad scramble 
  to safety. When the initial chaos ﬁ nally died down one year later, 
  Apothasalos’ leaders returned to the badly damaged yet still standing 
  metropolis. Over the next several years, its residents slowly trickled 
  back into their homes and businesses to resume their former existence.
  With the destruction of Tsen, Apothasalos once again returned to its 
  roots on the frontier’s edge, though the imposing citadel was now a 
  far cry from its previous incarnation as a crude outpost. Apothasalos 
  functioned as a vital cog in the Hyperborean military machine. Yet 
  with the Hyperborean decline and retreat 1,000 years later, Apothasalos 
  underwent another metamorphosis from a defensive citadel into 
  a commercial center. Nonetheless, its citizens still maintained the 
  Hyperborean traditions and considered themselves to be a continuation 
  of that bygone empire rather than its successors. Today, the city 
  maintains a signiﬁ cant standing army of 1,910 infantrymen and cavalry 
  troops known as the Knights of Apothasalos. Despite retaining some 
  of its former traits, the city is now more celebrated for its markets 
  than its military prowess or Hyperborean character. The metropolis 
  extensively trades locally produced goods and commodities with the 
  distant cities of Bard’s Gate and Endhome. Its drovers’ guild brings 
  livestock to the markets, while its mercantile guild buys and sells nearly 
  every imaginable product. Indeed, Apothasalos’ knights primarily serve 
  commercial interests, defending caravans and trade routes against 
  incursions from the gnolls in the neighboring hills and the K’Haln riders 
  to the north. Apothasalos maintains peaceful relations with Tanuil, the 
  nearest notable settlement to the south.
  Apothasalos’ fortunes depend heavily upon its economic might, setting 
  the stage for a power struggle between its political leader Harmost 
  Gaelanicus Prescis and the potent guilds who seek greater autonomy and 
  a larger role in the city’s administrative and civic affairs. In addition to 
  its legal enterprises, the city’s small yet inﬂ uential underworld syndicates 
  also aspire to keep the harmost and her subordinates out of their business. 
  Although violent, Apothasalos’ criminal elements enforce a strict code 
  prohibiting killing or seriously injuring innocent civilians. These rogues 
  burglarize homes and businesses, smuggle contraband into the city, and 
  sell illegal goods, most notably illicit narcotics purchased or manufactured 
  in distant High Karst. They also rummage through the ruined portions 
  of the city that were never rebuilt after the cataclysm at Tsen. Firsthand 
  accounts claim that mutated humanoids, animals, and monsters roam the 
  unstable passages and chambers in the city’s ruined underbelly.  
  TANUIL, VILLAGE OF
  TANUIL, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: council of six women and one man
  Government: oligarchy
  Population: 307 (282 mixed human ethnicity, 11 half elf, 9 
  halﬂ ing, 5 hill dwarf)
  Languages: Common
  Religion: Diana
  Resources: trade in exotic items and creatures
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  Hundreds of gargantuan mushrooms grow on the outskirts of this 
  small village located in a bowl depression amid ﬁ elds about 100 
  miles north of the Legionnaire Bridge. The enormous fungi reach an 
  extraordinary height of 40 feet and each weighs roughly 1,000 pounds. 
  The mushrooms are harmless and radiate a continuous protection from 
  evil aura while embedded in the ground. The mushrooms lose all their 
  mystical properties once they are removed, however. Such an event is 
  a rare occurrence indeed, however, since the women who inhabitant 
  Tanuil execute anyone attempting to steal one of their prized fungi.
  Tanuil is a matriarchal society where the women are trained in the 
  sword, lance, spear, bow and riding horses as soon as they can walk. 
  In fact, their riding prowess and accuracy with a bow are virtually 
  unsurpassed, which leads some to speculate that some Hundaei blood 
  must ﬂ ow through their veins.
  Kaylaa, the resident high priestess of Diana, and ﬁ ve other 
  distinguished women sit on the ruling council along with a lone male 
  representative relegated to the sole task of settling ties among the 
  women. Although the society believes men to be inferior, by tradition 
  they treat everyone, regardless of gender, in a just and fair manner. Their 
  outlook derives from a belief that men cannot control their emotions and 
  require protection rather than an inherent superiority complex. In their 
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  
  316|THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  316|
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  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  
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  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  minds, the man’s place is at home. The women, meanwhile, defend the 
  village from aggressors.
  These ferocious warriors also keep the peace in the village’s thriving 
  marketplace. Under their watchful eye and within the aura of the 
  magical mushrooms, some of the strangest and most exotic items and 
  creatures change hands. Merchants dealing in such oddities venture here 
  from great distances to ﬁ nd curiosities absent from the shelves of the 
  largest cities in Akados. Visitors sometimes also pay homage to Diana, 
  the village’s patron deity, in the temple that honors her.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE XIRCOS RIVER VALLEY
  INTEREST IN THE XIRCOS RIVER VALLEY
  Although dominated by grasslands, the Xircos River Valley boasts 
  an eclectic collection of biomes that include deciduous and coniferous 
  forests, uninhabitable wastelands, a searing hot desert, and a formidable 
  mountain chain.
  THE BARRIER HILLS
  THE BARRIER HILLS
  From a technical standpoint, the Barrier Hills, which once were known 
  as the Piedmont Highlands, qualify as mountains. However, when 
  compared to the soaring Stoneheart Mountains to their west, the Barriers, 
  with maximum elevations ranging from 2,500 to 5,000 feet, seem much 
  more like bumps in the landscape than full-ﬂ edged mountains. They 
  became known as the Barrier Hills after the explosion that destroyed Tsen 
  immolated and permanently defaced their eastern slopes. The range took 
  the brunt of the blast, which helped spare the city of Apothasalos from 
  certain destruction and thus earned the highlands their new name. Like 
  the nearby metropolis, the western slopes rebounded relatively quickly 
  from the devastation. However, the eastern side remains rocky and barren. 
  Few humanoids venture here. The intrepid souls who throw caution to the 
  wind to explore these peaks trudge across a desolate landscape teeming 
  with deranged cultists, ogres, trolls, and bandits. Furthermore, explorers 
  also frequently suffer from puzzling burns and inexplicable hair loss after 
  spending only a few days in the area. Some attribute these ailments to 
  temporal anomalies caused by an unnamed monster that stalks the hills. 
  The majority place the blame squarely on the ruined city of Tsen to the 
  east, claiming that whatever force razed the city still possesses the same 
  destructive power it had thousands of years ago. 
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  THE BENT WOOD
  THE BENT WOOD
  The thick weeds and undergrowth covering the heavily overgrown ﬂ oor 
  of the Bent Wood pose signiﬁ cant challenges for travelers who attempt 
  to negotiate a path through the region. The dense foliage appears so 
  monotonous that even the most skilled woodsmen sometimes get lost amid 
  the tangled vegetation. The only vestige of civilization to be found in the 
  Bent Wood is an unmarked path rutted almost to the axle by decades of 
  passing carts. Otherwise, the wilderness here reigns supreme. Giant spiders, 
  wolves, worgs, and other beasts dominate the forest’s wildlife. Gnolls and 
  trolls hunt alongside these animals within the forest, which is also known as 
  the “Forest of Horrors” in some circles. Stagnant ponds scattered throughout 
  the Bent Wood teem with mosquitoes, leeches, and other bloodsucking 
  pests. A document of dubious authenticity claims the Grand Cornu of Tsar 
  secretly constructed a temple of Orcus somewhere within or beneath the 
  Bent Wood, though no one has found any trace of his clandestine structure 
  or the demon prince’s devotees within the forest.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  A Hyperborean legion crosses Legionnaire Bridge.
  
  318|
  318|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  THE BLOODY RUN
  THE BLOODY RUN
  The waters in this broad, shallow stream originate in the hills above 
  Chlestea Lake at the base of the Howling Fortress before ending their 
  journey in the Xircos River. The stream, which has an average width 
  of 30 feet and a maximum depth of three feet, earned its name from 
  the reddish tint in the water. Popular folklore suggests blood from the 
  Howling Fortress stains the Bloody Run, though most people attribute 
  the unusual color to high concentrations of copper in the streambed. 
  However, no one debates that the crawﬁ sh inhabiting the stream are 
  among the tastiest in Akados, a realization that lures ﬁ shermen and 
  connoisseurs to the banks of this otherwise ordinary freshwater stream.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  CHLESTEA LAKE
  CHLESTEA LAKE
  Water runoff from the neighboring Barrier Hills pours into two shallow 
  lakes separated by a freshwater swamp overrun by shrubs and small 
  trees. Although Chlestea Lake consists of two distinct bodies of water, 
  locals refer to the entire water system as Chlestea Lake. Blood Clan 
  gnolls from the Howling Fortress frequently hunt for game and potential 
  sacriﬁ ces in the malodorous wetland alongside trolls, ogres, lizardmen, 
  crocodiles, and other predatory animals. Pluff mud — otherwise known 
  as quicksand — is a common feature in the swamp, especially in areas 
  devoid of trees or tangled shrubs. Although only a few feet deep in most 
  spots, Chlestea Lake is well stocked with an assortment of ﬁ sh as well 
  as crustaceans and aquatic insects. Even the hungriest beast avoids the 
  lair of Helcraw, the ancient black dragon who lords over the area. This 
  massive reptile dwells in an underwater cavern accessible only through 
  a 200-foot-long submerged tunnel. The sadistic monster lines the walls 
  of this passageway with grisly trophies from her past victims. Severed 
  heads, dismembered limbs, and personal mementoes simultaneously 
  function as dire warnings and macabre décor for Helcraw’s prospective 
  visitors. Some travelers believe the wily dragon also uses the pluff mud 
  to trap her prey or drag them into her lair. A growing belief in some 
  circles is that the Blood Clan gnolls now worship the ancient black 
  dragon as a deity.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  DELAMARRA SALT PAN
  DELAMARRA SALT PAN
  During the vernal equinox, wealthy camel owners from every corner 
  of Akados gather at the Delamarra Salt Pan on the northern verge of 
  the Vast Desert for an entire week of festivities centered on a full day 
  of camel racing on the ultrafast racetrack. The event culminates in the 
  grand El-Ashad Invitational Stakes Race with a 5,000 gold piece purse 
  to the winner. Naturally, the revelry involves extensive gambling among 
  owners and spectators alike who hail from many of the continent’s most 
  renowned families. Even the most conservative estimates place the 
  track’s handle at 50,000 gold, making the racetrack a hotbed for other 
  illicit activities as well as a target for enterprising thieves. 
  The racetrack has operated since 3314 I.R. under the management 
  of the Millazzi family. They provide security for the events, oversee 
  all pari-mutuel wagering, and ensure the integrity of the races for the 
  betting public. The Millazzis enjoy an impeccable reputation for being 
  incorruptible, though they also indulge in hard living and wild partying. 
  Ambitious people trying to make a name for themselves covetously 
  seek an elusive invitation to one of the Millazzis’ legendary and 
  raucous celebrations. When the festivities ﬁ nally end, only a skeleton 
  crew remains behind to maintain the racecourse and keep unwanted 
  trespassers at bay.
  GHUE ISLAND
  GHUE ISLAND
  Despite its proximity to the coast, Ghue Island feels as if it is a 
  different world from a bygone era. Dinosaurs and other megafauna, 
  including giant condors and clubneks, freely roam across the 
  mountainous landmass in Legion’s Bay. Primordial grasslands 
  and rainforests cover the slopes of its peaks, which include several 
  active cinder cone volcanoes. Nestled atop one of these 4,500-foot-
  tall mountains lies the Unspoken City, a settlement said to house 888 
  human wizards who conduct bizarre experiments and magical research 
  that would be deemed unethical in the vilest mystical academies. A 
  race of gaunt, undersized goblins known as the Depraved serve their 
  deranged masters without question. The prevailing evidence would 
  suggest Ghue Island’s arcane practitioners twisted these unfortunate 
  creatures into their present incarnation through magical means, 
  selective breeding, or a combination of both. 
  The secretive cabal of mages has lived on the island for countless 
  generations. In fact, all of these wizards share some common heritage, 
  though males outnumber females by a whopping ﬁ ve-to-one ratio. Ghue 
  Island’s human residents place some inexplicable signiﬁ cance to the number 
  888. Therefore, whenever their population exceeds this number because of 
  a newborn’s arrival, they sacriﬁ ce and devour their oldest resident to restore 
  balance to their community. While the wizards devote much of their time 
  and energy to expanding their eldritch knowledge and mastering new spells 
  and incantations, the urge to commit ritualistic murders and indulge in 
  cannibalism remain foremost on their disturbed minds. When they cannot 
  butcher one of their own, the wizards periodically look to Legion’s Bay for 
  fresh victims. Most mariners steer well clear of the island’s bloody shores, 
  yet some invariably sail into the mages’ devious nets.
  Several decades ago, Ghue Island’s mages commandeered The 
  Swimming Hen, a cog sailing out of Ustran Pazeel. In typical Ghue Island 
  fashion, the wizards mercilessly slaughtered the crew and passengers. 
  They then devoured their raw ﬂ esh and gnawed on their bones in a 
  sickening feast. When word of the atrocity reached civilization, Captain 
  Madrock Fist led the mercenary Company of Severed Steel in an assault 
  against the Unspoken City. The mages brutally beat back the invasion, 
  killing and sacriﬁ cing more than half of the company’s members in the 
  process. Captain Madrock’s troubled mind never recovered from the 
  horrors he witnessed on Ghue Island. He swore the mages had stitched 
  animal limbs and heads onto animated humanoid torsos, though he 
  never produced any evidence to support his testimony. However, those 
  who survived the ordeal conﬁ rm his statements regarding the physical 
  deformities plaguing Ghue Island’s human population and the gruesome 
  cannibalistic rituals he saw the wizards perform immediately after their 
  attack failed. Several survivors also recall seeing a giant golden egg 
  atop a pedestal on the summit of the mountain where the Unspoken 
  City stands. These accounts may explain the pervasive rumors about 
  giant condors dwelling on the island as well as conﬁ rm these birds’ 
  importance to the resident wizards.
  HOWLING FORTRESS
  HOWLING FORTRESS
  Near the headwaters of the Bloody Run, this ancient fortress is carved 
  some 350 feet up on the side of a granite crag that rises 600 feet above 
  the neighboring Bent Wood. From the ruins of a gatehouse at its base, a 
  causeway runs from the forest ﬂ oor up the side of the cliff to a gaping 
  stone maw in the massive walls, all that remains of the fortress’s once 
  mighty gates. Through the opening and delving deep into the earth is 
  a complex that, over long years, has been used as a dwelling place, a 
  citadel, and a prison. 
  The site dates back thousands of years to the Age of Dragons when 
  titans and their giant servants walked the land. These massive beings 
  are thought to be the original builders at this location, dwelling in grand 
  galleries far below the surface. No one now knows the titans’ purpose 
  in delving here, though it is known that the deepest halls lead to natural 
  caverns and tunnels which, according to rumor, connect to the world-
  spanning depths of the Under Realms. They abandoned the site for some 
  unknown reason, and millennia later, a group of paladins devoted to 
  Muir repurposed the ancient abode and transformed it into a fortress 
  they called Muirgaard. They built their cloister here and incarcerated 
  some of their world’s most dangerous creatures deep beneath the 
  citadel. Villains, monsters, and ﬁ ends bided their time in the paladins’ 
  escape-proof cells. However, the construction of Muir’s temple in the 
  Stoneheart Valley eventually rendered the prison here obsolete. The 
  god’s disciples transferred the inmates elsewhere, leaving Muirgaard 
  unoccupied once again. 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  Within a few years, creatures from the unending caverns beneath 
  Muirgaard began to repopulate the forsaken site. At some point, the Blood 
  Clan gnolls made the old citadel their new home. Recently, the clan fell 
  under the baleful inﬂ uence of a bloodthirsty wyvern they worship as a 
  god they call Yulanupior. The monster’s insatiable lust for carnage spurs 
  the gnolls to perform nightly sacriﬁ ces to the vile entity. The sound that 
  occurs during these ghastly rituals earned the Howling Fortress and its 
  environs its current name. To meet Yulanupior’s surging demand for 
  fresh souls, the gnolls expanded their base of operations to include 
  waylaying passing caravans and travelers from nearby Apothasalos. 
  The city has taken keen interest in the recent spate of disappearances in 
  the vicinity of the Howling Fortress, which has prompted some of the 
  metropolis’s business enterprises to urge the harmost to take decisive 
  action to address the rising threat. 
  While the gnolls undoubtedly pose a signiﬁ cant menace in the region, 
  legends speak of far greater evils in the depths below the Howling 
  Fortress. Few believe the titans simply walked away from their former 
  home countless eons ago without leaving some trace of their presence in 
  the ruined galleries. Likewise, while the paladins never acknowledged 
  any successful escapes, it seems plausible that at least one of their 
  prisoners outwitted Muirgaard’s security and made a dash to freedom 
  somewhere within the apparently bottomless chasm beneath the fortress. 
  And deeper still are the ceaseless tunnels that may lead to the Under 
  Realms below Akados. It is safe to say that the gnolls and their erstwhile 
  deity represent just the tip of the iceberg of what awaits adventurers who 
  dare explore the depths beneath the Howling Fortress.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE LOST LANDS: SWORD OF AIR
  LEGIONNAIRE BRIDGE
  LEGIONNAIRE BRIDGE
  Few architectural wonders have stood the test of time as well as 
  Legionnaire Bridge. Although records say that the Hyperboreans 
  constructed it, some scholars speculate that the 600-foot-long stone 
  bridge actually predates even that ancient empire. In any case, the 
  structure vehemently deﬁ es the forces of entropy working to destroy 
  it. Its material components show no signs of erosion and can even 
  withstand the mightiest blows without sustaining a tiny scratch. Some 
  individual stone pieces weigh 500 tons, leaving observers to wonder 
  how the builders transported these massive objects to the site and how 
  they moved them into place. Despite its durability and exceptional 
  properties, trafﬁ c across the bridge is relatively light. Some attribute the 
  low volume to the disproportionate number of suicides that occur at the 
  bridge. The few merchants who venture across the bridge report hearing 
  unsettling sobbing, crying, and screams while trekking across the span. 
  XANGES RIVER
  XANGES RIVER
  This tributary river branches off from the wider Xircos River toward 
  the eastern edge of the Stoneheart Mountains. The shallow waterway 
  sees little trafﬁ c or usage as its banks are sparsely populated. The few 
  small ﬁ shing villages along the river live off the plentiful trout and bass 
  swimming in the murky water as well as farming the fertile soil alongside 
  it. Humans make up the majority of these settlements’ residents. They 
  welcome strangers into their homes, which sharply contrasts with their 
  staunch territorial outlook toward their neighbors. Bitter, longstanding 
  family feuds are common throughout the area, with the most famous 
  being the Browne-Ravene conﬂ ict that has raged on for three centuries. 
  No one can accurately remember how or why it started, though some 
  claim the dispute erupted over something as trivial as a prized ﬁ shing 
  hole. Despite the foggy memories surrounding the feud’s origins, both 
  sides distinctly recall the number 279 — the number of lives lost on both 
  sides to the constantly simmering grudge. 
  XIRCOS RIVER
  XIRCOS RIVER
  The slow-moving waters of the Xircos River roll into the Gulf of 
  Akados through this wide and deep waterway. The natural obstacle is 
  forded only at Legionnaire Bridge. Otherwise, ferries and barges shuttle 
  passengers across the barrier. The city of Apothasalos also uses the river 
  to ship goods to and from Bard’s Gate to the south. Although the areas 
  around the Xircos River are well-populated, crocodiles, lizardmen, and 
  aquatic trolls also reside in this area. The belligerent creatures primarily 
  feast on the giant catﬁ sh and crayﬁ sh inhabiting these waters, but hunger 
  or bloodlust sometimes drives them to taste humanoid ﬂ esh rather than 
  their traditional prey. The settlers they target live in small villages 
  scattered throughout the fertile Xircos River valley. Fortunately, the 
  commercial trafﬁ c navigating the river keeps such attacks to a minimum. 
  The ﬁ shermen’s nets occasionally snag pottery shards, cut stones, 
  and other objects from the river. Most of these people attribute these 
  artifacts to shipwrecks, but a growing circle of skeptics refutes these 
  claims. They assert that the gray ceramic items and stones are not 
  indicative of any known civilization. They speculate that an ancient, 
  prehistoric settlement must lie somewhere beneath the river’s brackish 
  waters. This conjecture also posits the question as to how the settlement 
  ended up at the bottom of the Xircos River. Did a natural event such 
  as an earthquake alter the river’s course and submerge the city beneath 
  the water, or did a divine hand play a role in its destruction? To date, 
  no one has found any trace of this lost metropolis on the riverbed, if it 
  even exists at all.
  VAST DESERT AND 
  VAST DESERT AND 
  THE IRKAINIAN PENINSULA
  THE IRKAINIAN PENINSULA
  SEA OF GRASS REGION
  SEA OF GRASS REGION
  The Sea of Grass is a vast steppe land that stretches from the 
  Northlands in the north to the verges of the Vast Desert and the Xircos 
  River Valley in the south, from the Stoneheart Mountains in the west 
  to Seagestreland in the east. The long, slow Vindelsalven River runs 
  through its northern reaches and provides a means of transportation 
  from the Stonehearts and Lake Hargos all the way to Seagestre Gulf in 
  the North Sea.
  Roaming the Sea of Grass are the K’Haln tribes, the Mongat tribes, 
  and the Lundhargo tribes, the descendants of the Hundaei who once 
  settled these lands during their campaigns against the Hyperboreans. 
  Great beasts also traverse the plains, tracing ancient migratory paths. 
  There are dangers within the Tanomir Fens, which are said to be the 
  home of strange men with the heads of lizards, great black wyrms that 
  can break a ship in half, and worse.
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF 
  THE SEA OF GRASS REGION
  THE SEA OF GRASS REGION
  HIGH KARST, CITY OF
  HIGH KARST, CITY OF
  Ruler: Mayor Thanicles Aenimeus
  Government: republic
  Population: 5,274 (4,134 mixed human ethnicity, 345 half-elf, 
  290 halﬂ ing, 210 high elf, 165 mountain dwarf, 110 gnome, 20 
  other)
  Languages: Common, Elven, Dwarven, Kirkut (Sea of Grass 
  dialects)
  Religion: Hyperborean pantheon
  Resources: hallucinogenics, grain, livestock, composite bows
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Isolated and alone, High Karst has developed an independent spirit 
  and unique culture unmatched almost anywhere else in Akados. High 
  Karst beneﬁ ts from a strategic location on the banks of the Shimmering 
  River in a remote tract of land in the shadow of the Stoneheart 
  Mountains to its west. It traces its origins to an unusual bargain between 
  
  320|
  320|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  the xenophobic mountain dwarves and their human adversaries. In 478 
  I.R., Clan Tusov ceded a slightly elevated plateau to a band of Hundaei 
  warriors in exchange for the horse warriors’ support against the hated 
  Hyperboreans. After fulﬁ lling their end of the pledge in a battle against 
  the Hyperborean legions, the surviving Hundaei pitched their yurts 
  and took up what they believed to be temporary residence on the lush 
  pasture. They and their subsequent generations peacefully remained in 
  this remote corner of the world for the next 2,000 years, though over that 
  time their Hundaei heritage became increasingly diluted as they adopted 
  more Hyperborean customs and became acclimated to a sedentary 
  lifestyle. Their transformation became complete when a mutinous 
  cohort of Hyperborean soldiers joined forces with their old enemies to 
  formally found the city of High Karst in 2390 I.R.
  During the ﬁ rst few years of High Karst’s existence, political 
  wrangling between the Hundaei old guard and the Hyperborean 
  commanders, particularly their leader Oeanicus, threatened to unravel 
  the fragile alliance between the old foes. However, in shocking fashion, 
  the headstrong Oeanicus agreed to a power-sharing arrangement 
  with the Hundaei. The turmoil slowly died down, and within three 
  generations the lines between the Hundaei and the Hyperborean blurred 
  into nothingness. The inﬂ ux of elven and Nûklander blood over several 
  centuries erased any traces of the Hundaei’s former lineage and created 
  one of Akados’ most diverse gene pools.
  Today, High Karst revels in its eclectic traditions and origins. In 
  homage to its Hundaei roots, the sprawling city has no defensive walls, 
  fortiﬁ cations, or battlements. Instead, 100 mounted archers stand at the 
  ready to defend High Karst against any enemy. Another 645 professional 
  spearmen and 300 cavalry troops complement this mobile unit along 
  with four siege engines (three ballistae and one trebuchet). However, 
  stone and wooden structures replaced the old leather tents centuries ago. 
  Although most of High Karst’s 1,277 acres are devoted to agriculture 
  and animal husbandry, the city is best known for the few small quarters 
  catering to a seedier industry, the manufacture and sale of hallucinogenic 
  agents, especially celestial cap mushrooms and peyote. These narcotics 
  are legal and easy to ﬁ nd in High Karst provided they are used under the 
  supervision of one of the licensed dealers scattered throughout the city. 
  Mayor Thancles personally issues these licenses to merchants. In addition 
  to passing the mayor’s character assessment, these individuals must also 
  undergo basic medical training. Because of these stringent requirements, 
  some unscrupulous entrepreneurs who cannot pass muster attempt to 
  illegally sell these products in back alleys and other discreet locales. 
  Thancles’ agents often successfully root out these illicit establishments 
  and treat their operators to an extended stay in High Karst’s notoriously 
  brutal prison system. The punishment for transgressing Thancles’ laws 
  can be severe, but some believe the rewards outweigh the risks, even 
  if they only engage in the highly lucrative business for short periods 
  of time. Wealthy clientele from Apothasalos and Bard’s Gate who 
  make the trek to distant High Karst can spend ungodly amounts of coin 
  indulging their appetites for such earthly pleasures for days or even 
  weeks at a time. Indeed, the city’s name is a double entendre referring 
  to its elevation above the surrounding lowlands on one hand and the 
  legal use of narcotics on the other. This perception is so pervasive that 
  even the neighboring mountain dwarves refer to the humans inhabiting 
  the city as unmotivated stoners who pose no serious threat to their 
  hegemony over the Stoneheart Mountains.  
  Despite the laissez-faire attitude toward the use of hallucinogens, 
  High Karst’s authorities have no tolerance for most other vices. The 
  city frowns upon prostitution and gambling, while tightly regulating 
  the distribution and sale of alcohol. Visitors sometimes fret that it is 
  easier to ﬁ nd a peyote den than it is to locate a tavern within the city. 
  Those who seek the latter often venture here to acquire one of High 
  Karst’s renowned composite bows that are made using traditional 
  Hundaei components and techniques. The bowyers who manufacture 
  these weapons personalize each bow to their owner’s height and weight 
  speciﬁ cations as well as their personality, making them a popular gift for 
  Akados’ elite warriors and citizens. 
  PLAINS TRIBES
  PLAINS TRIBES
  When the Great Khan Jaganga of the Hundaei ﬁ rst crossed the 
  northern Stonehearts to make war on the Hyperboreans, his folk soon 
  discovered the vast Sea of Grass east of the mountains, a grassland plain 
  of thousands of square miles that was much like their homeland on the 
  Great Steppes to the west. Many Hundaei moved into these lands, where 
  they found good grazing for their horses and other supplies for their 
  armies as they fought their enemy. As is told elsewhere, the conﬂ ict 
  lasted many years. At the end of campaign seasons, when most Hundaei 
  returned to their homeland over the mountain, some chose to remain 
  on the Sea of Grass. Over time, many came to view these plains as 
  their new homes. The khans supported these migrations, as making 
  permanent their presence solidiﬁ ed supply lines and ensured a northern 
  threat to the Hyperboreans even during the winter months.
  Between 681 I.R. and 683 I.R., the Hundaei of the Great Steppes fought 
  a terrible civil war, at the end of which their empire for all intents and 
  purposes ceased to exist. Some refugees ﬂ ed over the Stonehearts and joined 
  their kinfolk in the Sea of Grass, while others ﬂ ed farther, even to Libynos. 
  Fortunately, the strife left those in the Sea of Grass untouched. But now with 
  their homeland in ruin, they were left to themselves in their new lands.
  Over time, the descendants of the Hundaei in the Sea of Grass 
  developed their own culture and way of life and divided into three main 
  tribal groups: the K’Haln, the Lundhargo, and the Mongat.
  K’HALN TRIBES
  K’HALN TRIBES
  Ruler: none
  Government: tribal chieftains
  Population: 203,200 (human tribesfolk [Hundaei descent])
  Languages: Kirkut (K’Haln dialects)
  Religion: animism/ancestor
  Resources: raiding, grains, horses, livestock, trade
  Currency: barter (some currencies of precious metal accepted)
  Technology Level: Iron Age
  The largest of the tribal groups of nomadic horse riders on the Sea 
  of Grass, the K’Haln range from Lake Hargos and the lands near High 
  Karst all the way to the northern verges of the Vast Desert. 
  More so than their Lundhargo and Mongat cousins, the K’Haln recall 
  their origins across the Stonehearts as the remnant of the ancient Hundaei. 
  They carry themselves proudly and tell stories of the days when their 
  ancestors brought terror to even the great Hyperborean Empire. They 
  are scrupulous in adherence to their traditions and customs and consider 
  the other tribes to be degenerate and far too forgetful of the old ways.
  The K’Haln venerate their ancestors as exemplars of the ancient 
  traditions, honoring their memory and seeking their advice through holy 
  priestesses who act as oracles. Though chieftains and great warriors are 
  now laid to rest in the Staked Lands, in ancient times the greatest of 
  their leaders were buried in chambers in mounds on the plains. Anyone 
  desecrating the Staked Lands or a burial mound will be slaughtered 
  on sight without opportunity to explain or atone. In addition to their 
  ancestors, the K’Haln honor the forces of nature and consider the One 
  Tree in the Sea of Grass a place of unique holiness.
  The K’Haln roam the plains in tribal groups of various sizes ranging 
  from a dozen to a hundred or more. Many are connected via marriage, 
  and chieftains will meet when the seasonal ranges of one or more bands 
  brings them together. This often occurs at the Stones of Kashimir, where 
  the ranges of many of the tribes intersect. If there is a need for all of 
  the tribes to gather (to elect a chieftain of chieftains, for example), they 
  gather at the stones. Even when separated by vast distances over the 
  Sea of Grass, the chieftains maintain contact with each other through 
  messages carried by trained plains hawks. As a result, in times of need 
  the K’Haln can act in concert to a remarkably high degree.
  The K’Haln are on good terms with their Lundhargo and Mongat 
  neighbors and will travel to the former’s settlements at the times 
  when the markets gather. Others who encounter the K’Haln on the 
  Sea of Grass will usually be attacked for plunder and, if captured, 
  sold to the Lundhargo.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  LUNDHARGO TRIBES
  LUNDHARGO TRIBES
  Ruler: none
  Government: tribal theocracy
  Population: 101,700 (human tribesfolk [Hundaei descent])
  Languages: High Lundo (dialect of Kirkut)
  Religion: animism/ancestor
  Resources: horses, livestock, grain, trade (including slaves), 
  raiding
  Currency: barter (some currencies of precious metal accepted)
  Technology Level: Iron Age
  The least numerous of the people of the Sea of Grass, the Lundhargo 
  are a nomadic folk who move with the seasons in a range that extends 
  along the lower portion of the Shimmering River and the upper reaches 
  of the Xircos River.
  Unlike their K’Haln and Mongat cousins, the Lundhargo have 
  established semi-permanent settlements. Always built near the banks of 
  a river, each of these settlements contains several timber constructions 
  upon stone foundations, including a great hall, several lodges, and 
  temples where ancestors or the forces of nature may be venerated or 
  placated. The only year-round residents are priests who tend to the needs 
  of the ancestors while the tribes are upon the plains. At several holy 
  times during the year the tribes return to their traditional settlements to 
  make sacriﬁ ces and receive instructions from the priests. The Lundhargo 
  arrive with their families, horses, and ﬂ ocks, setting up vast ﬁ elds of 
  colorful tents around the settlements. Though gathering for religious 
  service, these are also times for celebration as distant relations greet 
  each other, and the people contest in horse riding and strength of arms, 
  arrange marriages and engage in trade and commerce.
  Lundhargo traders travel widely throughout northern Akados to 
  bring their goods to market at these times. In addition, merchants from 
  Pelshtaria, Apothasalos, Bard’s Gate, and even far Libynos are welcomed 
  into the sprawling and chaotic market area, where it is said most anything 
  that can be bought or sold can be found. This includes some trade of the 
  less-than-savory sort, including an active market in slaves. Some of these 
  unfortunates are captured by Lundhargo raiders, while others may have 
  been purchased from their K’Haln or Mongat kin.
  The Lundhargo think of themselves as the most “civilized” of the folk 
  of the Sea of Grass. Each tribe is led by a patriarch or matriarch who 
  wields secular authority and a priest or priestess who was apprenticed at 
  the tribe’s traditional settlement. Ultimate authority resides in the priest 
  or priestess, however, 
  MONGAT TRIBES
  MONGAT TRIBES
  Ruler: none
  Government: tribal chieftains
  Population: 127,900 (human tribesfolk [Hundaei descent])
  Languages: Kirkut (Mongat dialects) 
  Religion: animism/ancestor
  Resources: raiding, grains, horses, livestock, trade (including 
  slaves)
  Currency: barter (some currencies of precious metal accepted)
  Technology Level: Iron Age
  The Mongat are a loosely related group of nomadic tribes that roam 
  the Vastmir Plains, the portion of the Sea of Grass west of Seagestreland. 
  They are feared throughout the Northlands, and frequently raid in search 
  of cattle and gold, and take hostages either to ransom or to sell to the 
  Lundhargo for their slave markets to the west.
  While the K’Haln and the Lundhargo each possess something of a 
  collective identity, the Mongat barely consider themselves one people. 
  Two Mongat tribes are as likely to ﬁ ght as talk should they meet on 
  the plains. And while they possess herds of livestock and harvest wild 
  grains, the preferred activity of the Mongat warrior class is raiding other 
  people for their provisions and possessions.
  PRANDAYA, TOWN OF
  PRANDAYA, TOWN OF
  Population: 193 (human mixed ethnicity)
  Ruler: Abaya Mael Tirkonian
  Government: autocracy
  For the overwhelming majority of its 1,200-year history, the isolated 
  town of Prandaya languished in obscurity. The settlement lies near the 
  northwestern corner of the Vast Desert, close to a deep aquifer that 
  provides its thirsty citizens a semi-reliable source of potable water. 
  The sleepy, remote community normally attracts no attention from 
  the outside world, but a chance event recently thrust Prandaya into the 
  limelight. According to scattered yet seemingly reliable reports, the 
  armies of Bard’s Gate and other powers in eastern Akados recently 
  engaged in a battle or series of battles against the Huun invaders within 
  or on the outskirts of the town. The conﬂ ict’s outcome remains in doubt 
  along with the fates of those who fought in and around Prandaya. 
  Not surprisingly, this news led some adventurers and military units 
  to trek toward the Vast Desert to conﬁ rm or refute these reports. Those 
  who reach Prandaya discover a small, organized settlement of farmers 
  irrigating their otherwise parched land with water hoisted out of nearby 
  wells and onto the arid soil. While innately friendly, the wary residents 
  have little to share or sell to strangers setting foot in their lands. 
  Abaya Mael Tirkonian agrees with their sentiments, and grants shelter 
  and provisions only to those visitors who offer his people and, most 
  importantly, him, far more than they receive in return. In addition to 
  his being a shrewd bargainer, astute observers also sense that the abaya 
  appears to be hiding something about his tiny enclave, a secret he seems 
  absolutely unwilling to reveal to anyone under any circumstances. 
  Logic would deduce that his coyness must pertain to the missing armies, 
  but the shifty Mael appears capable of perpetrating almost any intrigue.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE SEA OF GRASS REGION
  INTEREST IN THE SEA OF GRASS REGION
  BLUE ESCARPMENT
  BLUE ESCARPMENT
  The Sea of Grass is not the featureless waste outsiders assume it 
  is. There are a few places where the rolling plains give rise to other 
  landscapes. The blue escarpment is one such place. In eons past, the 
  Vindelsalven River cut a different course and sliced through the topsoil 
  to expose the blue stone bedrock beneath. For millennia, the waters cut 
  away, yielding the canyon that shelters travelers and bandits alike. When 
  the course of the river changed upstream of the blue escarpment, the 
  canyons were left dry. Seasonal showers, usually in the spring, combine 
  with snow melt to create a ghost of the once-mighty river that ﬂ owed 
  through here; a ghost with teeth, for spring ﬂ oods can easily come up 
  suddenly and carry away man and horse.
  The blue escarpment poses other dangers than seasonal ﬂ oods. Wild 
  animals congregate here, as do people, both seeking some relief from the 
  sun and the wind of the plains. Water pools here from time to time, but 
  outside of the spring rarely forms anything but a trickle. In the summer 
  months, the canyons of the blue escarpment provide shade, though that 
  hot season sees little water on the surface. Besides the many wandering 
  animals and monsters, bandits and K’Haln tribes visit the canyon lands 
  from time to time.
  GRAND PORTAGE
  GRAND PORTAGE
  No permanent settlements exist in the Sea of Grass, but if one were 
  to ever develop, it would likely be at the place of the grand portage 
  between Lake Hargos and the Shimmering River. Merchants — mostly 
  Northlanders — transport their ships or boats overland between these 
  waterways, which permits trade between the North Sea and the Gulf 
  of Akados. The feat is impressive and requires a certain ﬂ air for 
  engineering as the ships are loaded onto framework beds and moved on 
  rollers. The work is horrendously brutal, and few undertake it, yet one 
  or two ships seem to make the journey every year. Livestock or slaves, 
  
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  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  both of which are abandoned once the goal is reached, pull the rolling 
  cradles. A bold crew can save months of time reaching the rich lands of 
  the far south, trading and plundering to their heart’s content, and then 
  simply sailing home.
  The K’Haln roam the lands about the lake and river, and sometimes 
  demand a payment for safe travels over the portage. They also tend to 
  seize any livestock or slaves left behind once the ship achieves its goal 
  waterway. Not all are scooped up by the mounted raiders though, and 
  small bands of escaped slaves or herds of oxen live out meager lives 
  along the path of the grand portage.
  LAKE HARGOS
  LAKE HARGOS
  Lake Hargos is a body of chill water fed by ice melt from glaciers in 
  the Stoneheart Mountains. The Vindelsalven River enters the lake in 
  the north and exits in the east, where the water meanders through the 
  shallow and boggy Tanomir Fens for 200 miles before resuming its way 
  to the Seagestre Gulf.
  Fish are plentiful in the lake and folk of the K’Haln tribes will often 
  come here to supplement their usual diet of milk, meat and grains. 
  There are no settlements, though in a few places ruins of farmsteads 
  or the broken walls of buildings of unknown purpose rise above the 
  grasses near the shore. Between the western shore of the lake and the 
  Shimmering River to the west is the Grand Portage. Each year, one or 
  more vessels will pass through Lake Hargos on their way to, or after 
  having crossed, the Grand Portage.
  ONE TREE
  ONE TREE
  A lone tree on a small ridge might not seem like much, but when 
  featureless grasslands in every direction surround you, this lonely tree 
  stands out for all to see. The K’Haln tie prayer strips, small metal bells, 
  and shards of mirror to the tree’s branches. All of these make One Tree 
  easy to ﬁ nd in the dark, during storms, and in the early morning mist. 
  Since it serves as such a prominent landmark for its part of the Sea of 
  Grass, One Tree has become a sacred place of hospitality to the K’Haln. 
  No person may be murdered in sight of it; nor may ﬁ res be lit.
  OSEN’S SEEP
  OSEN’S SEEP
  The grasslands are not dry per se, but surface water is fairly scarce. 
  The underground aquifer rises in places, usually where there is a basin 
  of sand over a cracked rocky substrate. One such place is Osen’s Seep, 
  which is named after the Northlander who dwells there. Seeps are sacred 
  places of hospitality to the K’Haln horse nomads, and it is forbidden to 
  kill within sight of one. Each seep has its own set of restrictions speciﬁ c 
  to it, and Osen’s Seep gained one that prohibits walking backward. 
  For his part, Osen was captured along the Grand Portage, managed to 
  escape, and ﬂ ed to the seep. Despite his weakened condition, he fended 
  off those who tried to take him and now lives here in a crude grass 
  shelter. Some of the local K’Haln consider him a shaman of some sort 
  and provide Osen with food from time to time. Meanwhile, Osen waits 
  and bides his time, knowing he might be murdered if he leaves sight of 
  the seep.
  SEA OF GRASS
  SEA OF GRASS
  The Sea of Grass is an enormous prairie east of the Stoneheart 
  Mountains that spans 1,500 miles across northeastern Akados. Tallgrasses 
  dominate the western regions, where prevailing winds off Legion Bay 
  bring moisture north, while the eastern areas, particularly those bordering 
  the Vast Desert, are largely covered by shortgrasses. In places, the land 
  undulates in gently rolling hills, while in others, the terrain is entirely 
  devoid of features, a vast and ﬂ at plain stretching to the horizon.
  Surface water is fairly scarce in these plains. Scattered throughout the 
  Sea of Grass, however, are isolated spots of wetland formed around one 
  of the many seeps that leak underground water up through sandy soil to 
  the surface. Such seeps are sacred places of hospitality to the K’Haln 
  horse nomads. It is forbidden to kill within sight of one, and most have 
  some odd and unique restrictions applicable to those who visit there. 
  While most seeps are little more than pools surrounded by denser 
  grasses and perhaps a few trees, some are larger, up to a few miles 
  across. Never truly a bog or swamp, such seeps can give rise to fens 
  supporting cattails, bulrushes, and other water plants as well as small 
  pools ﬁ lled with ﬁ sh, turtles, and waterfowl. Many birds stop at these 
  places on their great migrations north and south to feed on the fen’s 
  plant and animal life before taking ﬂ ight in great ﬂ ocks. The K’Haln 
  hunt the margins of the fens but rarely venture into their depths. 
  While there is wild talk that a water serpent lives at the heart of 
  each of these wetlands, the trepidation of the horse nomads is more 
  prosaic. While never more than a few feet deep at any one point, the 
  fens can be quite muddy and wet, which makes it difﬁ cult for horses 
  to traverse.
  SHIMMERING RIVER
  SHIMMERING RIVER
  The Shimmering River ﬂ ows from its source in the Stoneheart 
  Mountains south along the eastern eaves of the mountains until it 
  empties into the Xircos River, which in turn runs to Legions Bay and 
  the Gulf of Akados far to the south. By taking this route, those wishing 
  to travel between the gulf and the North Sea can cut off the months it 
  would otherwise take to sail around the Isthmus of Irkaina.
  Not all travelers on the Shimmering River are simply passing by, 
  however, for it was recently discovered that the river carries gold 
  down from its mountain origins. The local Lundhargo tribes — horse 
  nomads related to the K’Haln — have long draped ﬂ eeces in the water 
  to collect gold. Hedin Armondson learned this and tried it himself, 
  dragging a series of ﬂ eeces behind his longship as he sailed for the 
  distant gulf. It certainly worked, and the moderate amount of gold he 
  strained out led others to come to the Shimmering River to ﬂ eece for 
  their own fortunes.
  STAKED LANDS
  STAKED LANDS
  The most sacred of places to the K’Haln in the Sea of Grass, the 
  Staked Lands lie near the center of the plains. The chieftains and great 
  warriors of the tribes are laid to rest here on tall wooden platforms. 
  Vultures are common in this area, as are other scavengers, and the smell 
  or sight of the dead is never far away. Strips of prayer cloths snap in 
  the wind and the normally hot grasslands seem to always be cool and 
  overcast. Outsiders are often tempted to raid these burials as they are 
  said to contain the greatest treasures these heroes bore in life. Those 
  who contemplate such desecration should know that not just the K’Haln 
  defend the Staked Lands, but the very spirit of the Sea of Grass is said 
  to watch over it.
  STONES OF KASHIMIR
  STONES OF KASHIMIR
  Not far from the Staked Lands are seven stones cut from the distant 
  mountains and carried in ages past far out onto the plains. These stones 
  serve as a meeting place for the K’Haln tribes and is where they elect 
  their chief of chieftains, when they have one. The post is currently 
  vacant, and has been for generations. The stones are a sacred place, 
  and no killing can be done within their bounds or in sight of them. 
  Other taboos include a ban on sex, drinking blood, or drawing weapons. 
  During the year, various tribes come here to meet and trade, lending at 
  times a festival air to the stones. The rest of the time, the stones stand 
  empty and forlorn amid the tall grass.
  THE STUMPS
  THE STUMPS
  Not far from the edge of the Vastmir Plains lies a failed attempt by 
  Northlanders to settle on the Sea of Grass. Twenty years ago, Jarl Erp 
  Danson settled here with his family and a small band of followers. After 
  building a stout stockade, the jarl gathered wild cattle to form a herd 
  and cut the thick prairie sod for farming. The work was laborious, and 
  Erp’s followers slowly deserted him for better prospects. One night, 
  the K’Haln came and burned the ﬂ edgling hall, killing all inside. All 
  that remains is a part of the wall and a fragment of roof, as well as the 
  charred stumps of the palisade.
  
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  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  TANOMIR FENS
  TANOMIR FENS
  As the waters of Lake Hargos empty to the east, they ﬂ ow into a 
  lowland known as the Tanomir Fens, some 200 miles of swamp and bog. 
  The current is slow here, and interrupted by brackish pools and sandbars. 
  During the short summers, those who choose to take a ship between the 
  North Sea and the Gulf of Akados via the Grand Portage must take this 
  route. With care, a knowledgeable captain can usually pick out a route to 
  permit a longship to pass, but depending on the season and the amount 
  of rainfall in the mountains, there may be no way to avoid bottoming 
  out, which requires backtracking or disembarking and towing the ship 
  forward by hand. Such a process can be laborious and unpleasant, as 
  the fens breed hordes of mosquitoes and many varieties of incessantly 
  biting ﬂ ies.
  In the winter, the Tanomir Fens freeze over and are covered by ice and, 
  often, great drifts of snow. This makes travel here even more perilous, 
  as the ice may not support the weight of a person, and those who break 
  through the ice ﬁ nd themselves soaking wet in sub-zero conditions, and 
  potentially stuck in the unfrozen muck beneath.
  Eventually, at its eastern end, the waters of the fens coalesce into a 
  single stream, and the Vindelsalven River reforms and continues its path 
  to Seagestre Gulf on the North Sea. 
  The Tanomir Fens are home to the Bog Walkers, a tribe of 
  Seagestrelanders who made it up the Vindelsalven generations ago and 
  now eke out a meager existence here among the fens. In their watery 
  fortress, they do not fear Northlander or K’Haln attacks. But that does 
  not mean they are safe, and they pay a price for their security from attack.
  Any captain — and even the Bog Walkers — passing through the fens 
  know that they must always take care, for the fens host many dangers. 
  Hags and wyrms hunt here, and it is said that a race of strange folk with 
  the heads of lizards can be found in the deepest parts of the swamps. 
  What these monsters don’t slay may fall instead to one of a dozen 
  diseases passed on by brackish water and biting insects.
  VASTMIR PLAINS
  VASTMIR PLAINS
  The forests of Seagestreland slowly give way on the west to the 
  Vastmir Plains, the eastern region of the Sea of Grass. Small clumps of 
  trees grow where the aquifer rises, or along small streams wandering 
  toward the coast. The Seagestrelanders sometimes hunt this region, 
  seeking aurochs and giant sloths and other plains-dwelling creatures. 
  They must take great care, however, as this region is also home to 
  the Mongat tribesfolk, horse-riding nomads who are not above taking 
  prisoners and selling them as slaves in faraway markets.
  VINDELSALVEN RIVER
  VINDELSALVEN RIVER
  Arising on the eastern eaves of the Stoneheart Mountains, the 
  Vindelsalven River ﬁ rst pours into Lake Hargos, then meanders through 
  the Tanomir Fens, and ﬁ nally ﬂ ows east until it empties into Seagestre 
  Gulf in the North Sea at the small trading village of Stavie. For the 
  Northlanders, this watercourse is their main means of traveling out 
  onto the Sea of Grass, and is easily navigable until it reaches the fens. 
  Even so, travelers rarely stop along the way, for few make the plains 
  their destination and instead seek the Grand Portage and passage to the 
  Shimmering River and the rich lands to the south.
  VAST DESERT REGION
  VAST DESERT REGION
  The Vast Desert is a climatological anomaly. This hot and dry 
  wasteland stretches across terrain neighboring the cold Northlands. 
  According to Hyperborean records, in the past this land was merely a 
  dry, steppe grassland. But upon the destruction of Tsen, the temperatures 
  in the region began to rise and rainfall became even more scarce, which 
  resulted in the sandy, arid landscape of the Vast Desert today.
  Scholars who consider the matter largely believe that the event that 
  destroyed Tsen and created the Burning Wastes interacted with the 
  Tropic of Arden in a manner that caused these climate changes to occur. 
  Others, however, speculate that an additional factor may be a heat 
  source lying deep beneath the desert’s surface.
  The ﬁ ne particles of sand in the Vast Desert are hot to the touch, as 
  many travelers can attest (and prove by producing at least one pair of 
  sandals or shoes scorched by prolonged contact with the searing ground). 
  The explanations for this phenomenon run the gamut from natural 
  occurrences such as a subterranean river of lava or an underground peat 
  ﬁ re to the fantastical as exempliﬁ ed by the legends of the sprawling 
  efreeti city to the totally bizarre theory about a perpetually burning 
  crematorium. Supporters of these theories point to the Vast Desert’s 
  temperature data. While daytime highs are fairly normal for the biome’s 
  standards (110° Fahrenheit during the summers and 80° Fahrenheit 
  during the winter), nighttime lows rarely drop more than 20° Fahrenheit 
  overnight, suggesting the dry air either retains more warmth than it 
  should or an alternative heat source keeps the night air downright balmy.
  Details of the Vast Desert region and Tsen can be found in The Lost 
  Lands: Sword of Air.
  BURNING WASTES
  BURNING WASTES
  When ruin came to Tsen in 1491 I.R., the Barrier Hills to the west 
  partially absorbed and deﬂ ected the shock waves south and east, 
  spreading the devastation across a vast swath of territory now known 
  as the Burning Wastes. The blast seared the land, though the impacts 
  incrementally diminish based upon the distance from the epicenter in 
  Tsen. The areas closest to the razed city suffer the greatest. Virtually 
  nothing grows on the outskirts of Tsen. The soil is dry, mostly gravel 
  and dust, and supports little in the way of either animal or plant life. 
  What survives in these wastes tend to be mutated animals, carnivorous 
  plants, and strange creatures that seemingly thrive in this arid and toxic 
  environment. Even humanoids are a rare sight in this rugged terrain. 
  The Dead Lake is the only reputed and reliable water source within 
  the Burning Wastes. Many of the buildings surrounding this body of 
  water withstood the devastation. Nonetheless, they remain abandoned 
  and are almost certainly haunted. However, some historians believe 
  more buildings may lie beneath the waves. Debates rage about whether 
  the lake predates the city’s founding, thus suggesting the presence of 
  an older civilization in the region, or whether the lake is a byproduct of 
  Tsen’s utter devastation. It seems likely that centuries of erosion took a 
  terrible toll on any stone structure in the briny deep, yet some believe 
  an expertly crafted building could endure prolonged exposure to water.
  TSEN, RUINS OF
  TSEN, RUINS OF
  At its zenith, Tsen was the undisputed crown jewel of the Hyperborean 
  Empire. The Hyperboreans founded the city to commemorate the 
  eradication of the Hundaei and celebrate their transcendence to 
  superpower status. The victors built their grand metropolis in 689 I.R. 
  on ground sacred to the faith of Arden, securely nestled in a valley 
  surrounded by the Piedmont Highlands (as they were known at the time). 
  Tsen rapidly expanded, swelling from a population of a few thousand 
  souls to roughly 500,000 inhabitants within a few decades. Wealth 
  and knowledge also poured into the city, elevating Tsen into rariﬁ ed 
  air among Akados’ greatest marvels. To acknowledge its growing 
  sophistication and ascendance onto the world stage, it became known 
  as the City of Wonders. Tsen thrived for 800 years and kept the world 
  continuously awed over the next arcane or technological breakthrough 
  to emerge from its laboratories and classrooms. Yet eight centuries of 
  unparalleled achievements and magniﬁ cent accomplishments were 
  undone in a single day. 
  Even the wisest could not foresee Tsen’s total annihilation. While 
  bloodthirsty humanoid marauders and inhuman monstrosities seemingly 
  sprung from the ground around Tsen during the decades before its 
  collapse, the city’s potent military easily kept the swelling tide in check. 
  Yet despite one victory after another, the enemies’ numbers never 
  abated. Year after year, the relentless hordes kept coming, pillaging the 
  estates and villages beyond Tsen’s imposing walls and fortiﬁ cations. 
  Tsen’s oblivious citizens took notice of the escalating conﬂ ict only when 
  a force of giants and their war machines ﬁ nally punched a hole in the 
  city’s outer defenses. In response to the breach, the city’s leaders ﬁ nally 
  assumed a wartime footing to completely eliminate the monstrous threat 
  
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  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  once and for all. Within a matter of weeks, Tsen conscripted thousands 
  of able-bodied men to bolster the ranks of its already impressive army. 
  In glorious fashion to the bluster of pomp and circumstance, columns of 
  troops poured out of the city to face the enemy in a climactic battle on 
  the ﬁ elds surrounding Tsen. And in an instant, these best laid plans were 
  irrevocably foiled.
  It began with a portent of a white, feathered serpent rising from the 
  Gulf of Akados to the south and soaring into the skies above Tsen. The 
  exact mechanism responsible for what happened next and the winged 
  beast’s role in these events remain enduring mysteries to this day. 
  However, there is no disputing that shortly after the feathered serpent 
  appeared in the heavens, Tsen ceased to exist in an apocalyptic blast that 
  leveled everything for miles around it. Nothing survived the unspeakable 
  carnage. The cataclysm transformed Tsen and the surrounding area 
  into a forsaken wasteland. Those who ﬂ ed Tsen before its destruction 
  resettled in other areas, most notably the Gray Tower in Oxibbul. 
  Most people believe nothing short of a god — and an exceptionally 
  powerful one at that — could have wrought the devastation visited upon 
  Tsen on that fateful day. Some speculate that the city’s scholars and 
  arcane practitioners were on the verge of a profound discovery that would 
  have altered the balance of power between mortals and the divine beings 
  lording over them. Others believe the witnesses mistook the feathered 
  serpent for a comet, meteor, or an asteroid that crashed into Tsen and 
  utterly pulverized it. Whatever the cause, the effects still endure. 
  At the present time, Tsen resembles an abandoned ghost town 
  seemingly frozen in time. Some of its grand stone structures withstood 
  the devastation, though years of exposure to the elements further eroded 
  their already scarred surfaces. The detonation reduced the remainder of 
  its stone buildings to rubble, while the conﬂ agration that followed the 
  explosion transformed its wooden buildings into charred ash. Although 
  the ground no longer trembles and the ﬂ ames burned out long ago, 
  Tsen remains inhospitable. The soil, the air, the water, and virtually 
  everything else in Tsen is poisonous. The melted sand and ﬁ ne rocks 
  making up the ground retain almost no moisture and cannot support 
  even the simplest form of plant life. Although short term or prolonged 
  exposure kills most living creatures who venture here, those who can 
  survive in this toxic environment mutate in ways sometimes beneﬁ cial 
  and sometimes detrimental. Some change so drastically that they 
  become unrecognizable, while others develop terrifying powers that 
  make them far more dangerous than ordinary members of their species. 
  Of course, the undead, constructs, and some other creature types suffer 
  no ill effects from Tsen’s toxicity. 
  It is speculated that the lucrative mines beneath the city may have also 
  survived predominately unscathed from the cataclysm. Tsen’s founders 
  erected the metropolis on this site to provide the expensive city with 
  a consistent source of lead, gold, silver, and other valuable metals to 
  ﬁ nance construction expenditures and as a commodity to export to its 
  neighbor Apothasalos or distant Bard’s Gate. Speculation abounds that 
  some of Tsen’s population, including its ruling elite or its researchers, 
  may have ﬂ ed into the mines at the ﬁ rst sign of trouble, bringing their 
  riches or their wondrous discoveries with them. Nonetheless, anyone 
  who escaped the initial cataclysm would have also had to adapt to living 
  underground for an extended period of time with any other creatures 
  that cohabitate the mines. To date, no one has ventured to the mines to 
  conﬁ rm or refute any of these theories.
  THE BUNTESVELDT
  THE BUNTESVELDT
  Capital: none
  Notable Settlements: Alkis Anvil, Bliski, Capra, Karedorn, 
  Morborg, Shinvi, Stavropol, Ustran Pazeel 
  Ruler: none
  Government: loose confederation of independent (sometimes 
  rival) city-states; each has seat on Veldtrada council
  Population: 337,410 (288,000 Irkainian, 21,300 Foerdewaith, 
  12,700 Erskaelosi, 7,760 hill dwarf, 3,850 half-orc, 3,800 
  Ashurian)
  Monstrous: wild dogs, bat swarms, orcs, ankhegs, blood hawks, 
  gnolls, lions, ghouls, death dogs, worgs, giant scorpions, ogres, 
  wights, apparitions, bog hounds, sword wights, mummies, 
  will-o’-wisps
  Languages: Common, Semuric, Erskin, Dwarven, Orc
  Religion: Chernobog, Belun, Svarog, Matsyra, Morozko, Mah-
  Barek
  Resources: foodstuffs, wool, horses, livestock (sheep, cattle), 
  furs, pit ﬁ ghters, mercenaries
  Currency: mixed
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  The land known as the Buntesveldt stretches from the borders of 
  Brounthia in the north to the coast of the Gulf of Akados to the south, 
  and between the harsh Vast Desert to the west and Irkainian Desert to 
  the east. In the local tongue, its name means “colorful grassland.” 
  Most of the Buntesveldt is indeed grassland, primarily tallgrass prairie. 
  Why it is fertile in the midst of two deserts is a bit of a mystery. No 
  major rivers run through these lands, but it receives plentiful rainfall on 
  winds blowing from the Gulf of Akados to the south. Most scholars who 
  consider the matter believe that this weather pattern, so different from 
  that in the neighboring deserts, is the result of interaction of the Tropic 
  of Arden with the cold currents in the gulf heading east to west offshore.
  The Buntesveldt has been a crossroads of wars for thousands of years, 
  as armies ranged from the centers of Akados in the west to Libynos in 
  the east. The grassland conceals many burial mounds, necropolises, and 
  ruined hill forts; some of which are reputed to be inhabited by undead.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  HISTORY AND PEOPLE
  The lands of the Buntesveldt were originally the home of various 
  tribal folk related to the Erskaelosi of Akados. These tribes roamed 
  throughout the Irkainian Peninsula for thousands of years, likely only 
  disturbed on those occasions when Hyperborean armies used the 
  peninsula on their campaigns east and west through their empire. Some 
  Hyperboreans undoubtedly decided to settle in this region, and many of 
  the current cities and towns appear to have foundations that go back to 
  those ancient days.
  Over time, the folk of the Buntesveldt settled increasingly in towns 
  and then cities, though many stayed on the plains, preferring a nomadic 
  life like their ancestors. Eventually, ﬁ ve cities came to dominate the 
  grasslands: Bliski, Karedorn, Morborg, Stavropol, and Ustran Pazeel. 
  At various points in history, one or another of the cities managed to 
  conquer one or more of the others, but such times have seldom lasted 
  long as the folk of the Buntesveldt tend to be disorderly and often 
  unwilling to accept outside authority (while, by contrast, often deferring 
  without question to their city’s leadership). Over the years, cities forged 
  various alliances with the nomadic tribes in the region to either enforce 
  or overthrow conquests, but the allegiance of the nomads can be a ﬁ ckle 
  thing, and anyone who relies upon it is likely to live a short life.
  At various times, the folk of the Buntesveldt were forced to ﬂ ee to 
  other lands or otherwise saw their population plummet, particularly 
  during the Great Darkness and at the time of Daan’s campaign to 
  Libynos when many of the warriors of the grasslands joined his legions. 
  In each case, however, they returned to their ancestral homeland.
  About a thousand years ago, following the fall of the Hyperborean 
  Empire, the Ammuyad Caliphate of northern Libynos crossed the 
  Mulstabhin Passage and seized lands in Pelshtaria. The caliph’s 
  representatives eventually found their way to the cities of the Buntesveldt, 
  where they introduced the worship of their god, Mah-Barek, and 
  suggested that paying tribute to the caliph would be a wise choice. The 
  response by the cities varied, with some paying nominal tribute, while 
  others tied up the foreigners in webs of delay. The preferred state of 
  chaos among the folk of the Buntesveldt was inﬁ nitely frustrating to the 
  caliph’s people, and undoubtedly plans were being made for a military 
  solution. But after 150 years or so, plague in the caliphate’s capital city 
  and rebellion in the Antioch City-States drew the caliph’s attention 
  away. When the Pelshtarians ﬁ nally threw off the foreign yoke, some 
  in the Buntesveldt breathed a sigh of relief that the threat from afar had 
  passed; others failed to notice, as they had already gone back to the old 
  
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  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  ways of undermining other cities of the grasslands.
  Outside of the cities, most of the settled folk of the Buntesveldt 
  live in small fortiﬁ ed settlements, towns, or ranches that are generally 
  called klaches.
  Though nomadic tribes continue to roam the plains, over the years 
  they have been driven back by repeated campaigns by the city-states. 
  Caught between the two deserts and their settled cousins, many of the 
  nomads have taken to trading more the raiding, and have even adopted 
  foreigners into their ranks. Ironically, the comparative peace and the 
  arrival of foreigners have seen the nomadic population grow, putting 
  some pressure on the resources of the veldt. A critical mass is growing 
  and there are those who fear that it may only be a matter of time before 
  someone decides that becoming a warlord of howling plains nomads 
  would be a good career move.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Most folk of the Buntesveldt revere a pantheon of gods unique to the 
  region, likely the original gods of the tribes. These include Chernobog, 
  He Who Schemes in Darkness, Belun the Comforter, Svarog the Fire in 
  the Sky, Matsyra, the Mother, and Morozko, Grandfather Frost. They 
  also venerate (or at least placate) various spirits of nature and the home. 
  There are no organized churches for these deities; rather, smaller shrines 
  can be found in settlements and in natural locations where the presence 
  of the god is particularly acute.
  The worship of the Ammuyad deity Mah-Barek took hold to some 
  extent in some of the cities of the Buntesveldt. Particularly among certain 
  people living in the port cities on the Gulf of Akados, taking a foreign 
  religion can be seen as a sign of sophistication, which aids in matters of 
  trade with the caliphate. Small temples of the Church of Fatimashan and 
  the Church of Marwen can be found in most major cities. Their clerics 
  remain frustrated, however, that even their adherents continue to placate 
  nature and home spirits, at least in private. 
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The port cities of the Buntesveldt do a bustling trade with merchants 
  from all over the Gulf of Akados and the Sinnar Ocean. Foodstuffs, 
  textiles and horses, and commodities (such as amber) brought from 
  the Northlands are exchanged shipside or in markets for spices, silk, 
  manufactured items, and other foreign goods.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Separated by deserts on the east and the west, and a plain inhabited by 
  nomads to the north, the Buntesveldt is isolated, and as a result faces little 
  in the way of foreign threat. It tries to remain on good terms with all of 
  the nations with which it trades, including its neighbors on the Irkainian 
  Peninsula, but also the merchants of Foere and Bard’s Gate, Castorhage, 
  Reme, the Ammuyad Caliphate, and even far Khemit. The relationship 
  with the caliphate can be a bit tense at times, but local adherents of Mah-
  Barek act as middlemen to ensure that matters do not escalate.
  Locally, the relations among the city-states of the Buntesveldt itself 
  varies from time to time, even sometimes day to day. Alliances are 
  regularly made and broken, threats are delivered and ignored, and 
  occasional skirmishes even occur.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  No uniﬁ ed government oversees the Buntesveldt. Each city-state 
  rules itself and its region (the boundaries of which are largely agreed 
  upon through ancient tradition, though that isn’t to say disputes never 
  arise), with no input from outsiders. However, each of the ﬁ ve major 
  city-states sends a representative to a body known as the Veldtrada, a 
  council of the cities that normally meets at Bliski. It is not a legislative 
  body in any sense and has no authority to make laws or bind any city-
  state or other residents of the Buntesveldt. Rather, it provides a forum 
  for discussion so that the leaders of the city-states can peacefully meet 
  for mutual planning, treaties, and the administration of Alkis Anvil.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Each city-state raises its own army (and navies in the case of the port 
  cities) for its own protection. These armies are usually under the command 
  of the city leader. The only exception is the citadel of Alkis Anvil, to which 
  each city-state is required to send a complement of soldiers.
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS 
  OF THE BUNTESVELDT
  OF THE BUNTESVELDT
  ALKIS ANVIL, CITY OF
  ALKIS ANVIL, CITY OF
  Ruler: Field Marshal Velis Skander
  Government: military governor
  Population: 5,879 (human [Irkainian])
  Alkis Anvil is a military city on the verge of the Irkainian Desert 
  whose purpose is to defend against raids and other incursions by the 
  dwellers of the desert, humanoid and otherwise. The city is supported 
  and administered cooperatively by all ﬁ ve city-states through the 
  Veldtrada, the council of the city leaders.
  Alkis Anvil sits on top of a hill overlooking the desert to the east, 
  and is surrounded by a high stone wall. It hosts more than 2,500 
  soldiers of the ﬁ ve city-states, and more than that in civilians who 
  provide the various necessities required by the troops. While a town 
  for many of the civilians has grown up around the citadel on the hill 
  slopes, in times of trouble there is more than enough space for all to 
  ﬁ t within the walls. A deep well provides good water, and supplies are 
  held in sufﬁ cient amounts to permit Alkis Anvil to withstand a siege 
  of many months.
  As is tradition, a marshal from Bliski commands the forces within 
  Alkis Anvil. The current commander is Field Marshal Velis Skander, 
  a relatively no-nonsense soldier who views his post as a solemn duty. 
  However, he has now served in Alkis Anvil for 13 years and is beginning 
  to look forward to a reassignment (or, if necessary, retirement) back to 
  Bliski. As a result, some note that his attention wanders at times, and 
  discipline among the troops suffers accordingly.
  As small village called Wadi Pradyma stands southeast of Alkis 
  Anvil, where it provides some trade with outlanders. It also marks the 
  beginning of the Sandrun Track, the old Hyperborean Road that crosses 
  the desert and leads to the Isthmus of Irkaina.
  BLISKI, CITY OF
  BLISKI, CITY OF
  Ruler: Herzog Volger Werbrüten
  Government: hereditary lord
  Population: 28,262 (23,412 Irkainian, 2,110 Foerdewaith, 1,030 
  hill dwarf, 900 Erskaelosi, 460 half-orc, 350 Ashurian)
  Bliski is the second-largest city in the Buntesveldt. Much trade passes 
  through its large and well-managed harbor, which hosts vessels from 
  nations around the Gulf of Akados and the Sinnar Ocean. Bliski is also a 
  convenient trading location for merchants from Morborg and Stavropol 
  in the north, whether they wish to sell in the city’s markets or to the 
  ships at port.
  The city’s herzog (equivalent to a duke) is a hereditary ruler, though 
  new laws require the advice and consent of a council of landed nobles 
  that meets quarterly in the grand hall of the palace. Herzog Volger 
  Werbrüten is the 11th of his family to hold the title, and in many ways 
  sees Bliski as he might a child: to be nurtured, protected, and promoted. 
  He is relentless in his efforts to make the city not just the ﬁ nest in all 
  of the Buntesveldt, but also a leading city on the whole of the Sinnar 
  Ocean. He anxiously seeks out travelers from afar who can tell him of 
  other lands, and of the sights and sounds of other cities and realms. Much 
  more so than his conservative peers, Volger is prepared to adopt foreign 
  ideas that might enhance his city and its prosperity and reputation.
  The towns of Shinvi and Capra are vassals of Bliski.
  
  326|
  326|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  The Veldtrada meets in Bliski, and by tradition the herzog 
  serves as the council’s speaker. Meetings have been increasingly 
  tense of late as friction between Bliski and Ustran Pazeel grows. 
  Fortunately, the Veldtrada decides few issues of import, and those 
  that are within its purview are those where the interests of the two 
  cities tend to align.
  CAPRA, TOWN OF
  CAPRA, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Burgrave 
  Government: burgrave appointed by the herzog of Bliski
  Population: 3,122 (2,593 Irkainian, 330 Foerdewaith, 102 hill 
  dwarf, 85 half-orc, 12 Ashurian)
  Capra is a town of the Buntesveldt and a vassal state of Bliski inland 
  from Shinvi. It sits on the main trade route north to Morborg. 
  At various points in its history, Capra has been independent of Bliski 
  and, in fact, of all the other city-states of the Buntesveldt. The town’s 
  leaders are typically traditionally-minded sorts with ﬁ ne estates who 
  maintain a strong martial pride in having carved out a town in the midst 
  of the steppes and nomadic tribes. They usually seek to take no part in 
  the political maneuverings of the larger settlements. 
  About 60 years ago, the grandfather of Herzog Volger Werbrüten of 
  Bliski found himself in one of his city’s periodic disputes with Ustran 
  Pazeel and sent representatives to Capra to ensure their support in the 
  conﬂ ict. Content with his town’s little corner of the world and the rights 
  ceded to them by law and custom, the burgrave of Capra planned to 
  weather this new storm as it had all others. Namely, by ignoring it and 
  staying studiously neutral.
  Unfortunately, several leading families of Capra attempted to make 
  an arrangement with Ustran Pazeel, the terms of which eventually 
  found their way via whispers to the herzog. Within short order, a 
  military detachment from Bliski was at the gates of Capra demanding 
  the surrender of the leaders of the plot. When the burgrave was not 
  forthcoming, a siege was set that lasted about two weeks before the 
  annoyed leaders of several of the more prominent families of Capra 
  opened the gates and handed over the decapitated heads of the traitors.
  Since that time, Capra has been held carefully under the dominion of 
  the larger city on the coast. The herzogs now appoint the local burgrave, 
  though they take care to select locals who can be expected to satisfy the 
  leading families of the town as well as the demands of Bliski. 
  KAREDORN, CITY OF 
  KAREDORN, CITY OF 
  Ruler: Graf Volya Naraden
  Government: hereditary lordship
  Population: 9,600 (7,700 Irkainian, 765 Foerdewaith, 610 
  Ashurian, 275 half-orc, 100 hill dwarf, 150 other)
  Karedorn is a small city at the end of the peninsula at the southwestern 
  end of the domains of the Buntesveldt. For all of its history, its leaders 
  have come from a single, ancient tribe of nomads known as the Naraden 
  that once lived on this peninsula. The genealogy of the current graf goes 
  back more than a thousand years, and if one takes the semi-legendary 
  names before that time at face value, for 2,000 years further back.
  As a result, there is much about Karedorn that is both ancient and 
  traditional. The various religious festivals are taken very seriously, as 
  are a number of fairly archaic customs. Visitors to a home are expected 
  to make a small sacriﬁ ce to the household spirits. The obligations of 
  hospitality are strictly enforced. Wearing a red-colored item of clothing 
  is forbidden, unless one is heading off to battle or is an executioner 
  performing ofﬁ cial duties.
  On the other hand, in many ways the city of Karedorn is far more 
  open, both to foreigners and new ideas, than any other settlement 
  in the Buntesveldt. The large, well-kept port sees much trafﬁ c from 
  around the Gulf of Akados and the Sinnar Ocean. A sizable population 
  of foreigners resides in the city seasonally or all year round. In fact, 
  several foreigners made permanent homes in the area around Karedorn, 
  and two were granted landed titles and serve in trusted positions as 
  advisors to the graf. 
  In addition to the sea trade, vineyards and olive groves cover the hills 
  behind Karedorn and produce wines and oils sought in many other ports 
  of call.
  Graf Volya is currently seeking ways to attract ships to visit her 
  port rather than Ustran Pazeel or Bliski farther up the coast, including 
  offering tariff holidays and a certain amount of free maintenance from 
  her shipbuilders. However, she is aware of the acquisitive glances 
  toward her city by the atabeg of Ustran Pazeel, and so is careful to 
  cultivate the friendship of Herzog Werbrüten as a counterbalance to her 
  dangerous neighbor.
  MORBORG, CITY OF 
  MORBORG, CITY OF 
  Ruler: Boyars, led by Town Burgher Tarl Redsson
  Government: oligarchy
  Population: 21,811 (18,011 Irkainian, 1,330 Foerdewaith, 1,250 
  hill dwarf, 820 Erskaelosi, 220 Ashurian, 180 half-orc)
  Morborg is the third-largest city in the Buntesveldt and the primary 
  settlement of the lands inland from the coast (at least until one reaches 
  Stavropol far to the northeast). It boasts high, thick walls as it has had to 
  fend off assaults by its nomadic cousins from time to time.
  Unlike the other cities of the Buntesveldt, Morborg is ruled by a 
  council of local wealthy landowners known as boyars who together 
  are known as the oligarchs. They elect another person to be the town 
  burgher, who administers the city and is granted full membership and 
  rights as an oligarch. The current burgher is Tarl Redsson, a grandson of 
  immigrants who came from the Northlands, who owns several taverns 
  and warehouses in the city. Before being appointed as burgher, Redsson 
  was a captain in the city guard, where he developed a reputation as an 
  excellent pugilist, deadly with a sword.
  A small woodland of oak and pine once stood outside of Morborg, 
  one of the only forests of these otherwise grass-covered plains. 
  Unfortunately, it was logged until almost no trees are now left 
  standing. As with the rest of the region, wood now must be imported 
  to Morborg.
  Morborg is famous throughout the Buntesveldt for its dark beers, 
  and in particular Darkdale Bogwheat Ale, which is named for a boggy 
  lowland area east of the city.
  SHINVI, TOWN OF 
  SHINVI, TOWN OF 
  Ruler: burgrave
  Government: burgrave appointed by the herzog of Bliski
  Population: 2,018 (2,005 Irkainian, 9 Foerdewaith, 4 Ashurian)
  Shinvi is a small ﬁ shing village that grew into a larger town partly 
  because its harbor is not deep enough for large ships. The farms and 
  ranches inland and along the coast as far east as the edge of the Irkainian 
  Desert bring their goods to trade here. Small coastal lighters carry goods 
  south to Bliski and bring cargoes back. Shepherds bringing their herds 
  from Capra to the north come down the Fold Road and stop at Shinvi to 
  fatten up a bit before the big push to Bliski.
  For most of its history, Shinvi has been a quiet and almost forgotten 
  town. It sees enough wealth pass through to keep it aﬂ oat, the ﬁ shing 
  is good, and the farms outside of town boast groves of almonds and 
  olives, ﬁ elds of wheat and barley, and some small herds of sheep. The 
  population has grown, but slowly, as most immigrants to the region seek 
  out the larger cities.
  Shinvi is also a vassal of the larger city Bliski down the coast and has 
  been for as long as folks here can remember. That being said, they keep 
  their heads down, pay just the amount that Bliski seeks, and in return 
  are pretty much left alone. Recently, however, pirates and corsairs off 
  the coast began troubling the ships and boats sailing in or out of Shinvi’s 
  harbor. The town has no navy and is thus a much easier target than the 
  other fortiﬁ ed ports on the coast. As a result, some town leaders are 
  thinking about sending a delegation to Bliski for aid. But they fear what 
  the herzog might ask for in return.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|327
  |327
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  STAVROPOL, CITY OF 
  STAVROPOL, CITY OF 
  Ruler: Graf Ingevni Plutovsky
  Government: hereditary lordship
  Population: 7,580 (6,105 Irkainian, 620 hill dwarf, 400 
  Erskaelosi, 220 Ashurian, 135 half-orc, 100 Foerdewaith)
  Stavropol, the northernmost city of the Buntesveldt, sits at the end 
  of the long trade road from the port towns on the Gulf of Akados far 
  to the south. The footprint of the city is much larger than needed for 
  its resident population, which provides for ample room should the 
  people of the countryside need to take shelter here. It boasts high, thick 
  walls to defend against any nomadic marauders who might assault the 
  city. Some 900 miles from the nearest city of Morborg, the people of 
  Stavropol know that in the event of an emergency, no help will be able 
  to arrive quickly, if it arrives at all. That fact has led to a high degree 
  of self-sufﬁ ciency among the people here, in addition to the creation of 
  careful alliances with nearby nomadic tribes and a different perspective 
  on security than the other cities near the coast.
  Outside the city, large estates held by boyars grow various crops and 
  provide pastureland for sheep and cattle. Trade routes run from here 
  to the north, and it is not uncommon to see traders from Brounthia, 
  Monrovia, and even farther to the north arrive in laden caravans at the 
  city gates.
  Graf Ingevni Plutovsky rules the region with an iron will. He is well 
  aware that the wealth that passes through his city via trade, which ﬁ lls 
  his coffers, also presents an attractive target to those with the ability to 
  take it. He is constantly scheming to ensure that Stavropol gets the best 
  of any arrangement. And in point of fact, he is not above exaggerating 
  the risks and perils to the city in order to strengthen his grip on the reins 
  of power.
  The northern verge of the Irkainian Desert is not far from Stavropol, 
  and occasionally creatures of the deep sands ﬁ nd their way this far 
  north. A small keep is maintained close to the desert to watch for any 
  incursions and to mobilize the army should such an event arise. The 
  keep is also used as a base for certain explorers and adventurers who 
  seek things that may be hidden in the desert, or who need a place to rest 
  before continuing a journey farther to the east or up to the north.
  USTRAN PAZEEL, CITY OF 
  USTRAN PAZEEL, CITY OF 
  Ruler: Atabeg Viskar Kurgan
  Government: hereditary lordship
  Population: 73,021 (68,091 Irkainian, 1,280 Ashurian, 1,210 
  half-orc, 1,090 Foerdewaith, 1,000 hill dwarf, 250 Erskaelosi, 
  100 other)
  Though a city of the Buntesveldt whose atabeg sits on the Veldtrada, 
  Ustran Pazeel is different from any other city of the region. For one, it 
  used to be known as Graffa. Some 200 years ago, the herzog of Graffa 
  married a noblewoman from Pelshtaria, whose father was from the 
  Ammuyad Caliphate. Their son became an adherent of Mah-Barek and 
  in his youth traveled to the capital of the caliphate at Hava. Eventually, 
  he took an Ammuyad name (including the new family name of Kurgan) 
  and made the town welcome to merchants from Pelshtaria and the 
  caliphate, many of whom ended up settling in the region. Eventually, its 
  leaders chose to rename it Ustran Pazeel (Pelshtarian for “source of blue 
  waters”), and for themselves adopted the title of atabeg.
  Over time, the city has grown substantially, both from internal growth 
  and from immigration, though unfortunately without much forethought. 
  In addition, a number of its leaders ended up being less-than-virtuous, 
  taking bribes and seeking ways to make gold, whether legally or 
  illegally. As a consequence, today Ustran Pazeel is a sprawling mass of 
  alleys, markets, and slums, with gladiator pits (a tradition taken from 
  cities in southern Libynos) and other vices. It is also the largest port city 
  of the Buntesveldt, with a large portion of the sea trade (particularly 
  from the caliphate) passing through its harbor.
  Ustran Pazeel and Bliski have a long-standing rivalry as the two 
  largest cities. More than political, this can be personal, as many on 
  the Buntesveldt treat the citizens of Ustran Pazeel as foreigners, no 
  matter how long they or their families may have lived here. In addition, 
  Bliski continues to host the Veldtrada, its herzog is the speaker of the 
  Veldtrada, and a captain of Bliski is always commander of Alkis Anvil 
  — all privileges that the atabegs believe should be shared with their 
  city. So far, however, bureaucratic corruption has robbed Ustran Pazeel 
  of the ﬁ nancial and military power to challenge Bliski, even though the 
  latter is smaller.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE BUNTESVELDT
  INTEREST IN THE BUNTESVELDT
  DESERT ROAD 
  DESERT ROAD 
  The Desert Road runs from Bliski to the edge of the Irkainian Desert 
  and then heads north along the verges of the desert until it meets up 
  with the Great Veldt Road. It knits together the many small villages, 
  farmsteads, ranches, and ﬁ shing hamlets along the eastern edge of the 
  Buntesveldt. The road is wide enough for two wagons to pass each 
  other. It is constructed of dressed sandstone, and features road markers 
  and a drainage system. Sadly, a century of neglect has led to broken 
  stones, ﬁ lled ditches, lost markers, and a pair of deepening wagon ruts 
  in the soft sandstone roadbed.
  FOLD ROAD
  FOLD ROAD
  Running from Morborg to Shinvi and connecting the Desert Road 
  with the Great Veldt Road, the Fold Road brings sheep from the interior 
  of the Buntesveldt to market.
  THE GREAT VELDT ROAD
  THE GREAT VELDT ROAD
  Stavropol is where the road ends and begins. From here, one can 
  journey south along the paved road as far as distant Karedorn on the 
  Gulf of Akados. Going north is open grassland, though a couple of 
  trodden paths show the routes taken by merchants and travelers heading 
  to and from the nations to the north. 
  THE KURGAN WAY
  THE KURGAN WAY
  A project of the atabegs of Ustran Pazeel, the Kurgan Way runs from 
  that city to Bliski. It is somewhat surprising that it was ever completed, 
  as it was undoubtedly intended by the atabegs to provide an easy route 
  for a conquering army to take on the way up the coast. The herzogs of 
  Bliski may have permitted the construction as it would make it easier to 
  monitor troop movements from the south, and to outﬂ ank them if they 
  chose to take a route more inland. In any case, it has proven a boon to 
  trade, and has not yet been used for a military campaign.
  THE WITCH’S TAIL
  THE WITCH’S TAIL
  This lone mountain rises up out of the grasslands to a snowcapped 
  peak that can be seen from as far away as the Irkainian Desert. Natural 
  philosophers have long pondered how this unusual geographic formation 
  came to be, for there is no reason there should be a mountain here. The 
  plains do not roll up to it in foothills, there are no mountain ranges 
  nearby that the Witch’s Tail could be an outlier of, and the land lacks 
  any great waterway that could have eroded down hills or mountains 
  around the Tail.
  Even before natural philosophers pontiﬁ cated about the mountain’s 
  origins, the local people had stories to explain it. One tale claimed that 
  a powerful witch lived there. This witch, who tradition says should 
  never be named so that her wrath is never brought down, is said to curse 
  people with illnesses. Those who know her name risk falling sick, but 
  also may use that knowledge to bring her magical powers to themselves. 
  Knowing the witch’s name is a sure sign of complicity in witchcraft, and 
  local witch hunters go to great lengths to see if their suspects know one 
  of the 107 names of the witch of Witch’s Tail.
  
  328|
  328|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  The folk of Ustran Pazeel believe that the mountain is the product of 
  a battle between two djinn. They fought to raise a mountain into the sky, 
  with one bringing it up and the other bringing it down. As it would be 
  unfair to do this where other mountains could get in the way, they chose 
  the grasslands as a neutral stage. The pair struggled and fought, and the 
  mountain rose up to touch the stars and was dragged down until it was a 
  great hole in the ground. After many years of this, the djinn grew bored 
  with their sport and abandoned the mountain where it was.
  To local nomads, the story of the mountain is that it rose up one day 
  out of the grasslands because it wanted to. The spirit of the mountain 
  had lived underground since the world was made and had heard stories 
  from gophers, moles, and other burrowing creatures about the sun. The 
  mountain wanted to see this strange thing, but could not through all the 
  dirt and grass of the plains. It pushed and pushed, wiggled and jiggled, 
  and after much effort poked through into the sky. 
  PRINCIPALITY OF PELSHTARIA
  PRINCIPALITY OF PELSHTARIA
  Capital: Irith Kel
  Notable Settlements: Abernord, Alton, Ezerdúrum, Imazon, 
  Izmirtzaçg, Jem Karteis, Mérsíni
  Ruler: Prince Adem and Princess Adelet, and locally elected 
  councils
  Government: feudal with a competent local bureaucracy and 
  elected councils
  Population: 2,592,000 (1,911,930 human Pelshtarian ethnicity, 
  221,100 hill dwarf, 110,550 other human ethnicity, 99,250 
  halﬂ ing, 71,120 Erskaelosi, 52,210 Ashurian, 41,200 Berrini, 
  34,990 half-elf, 26,200 half-orc, 18,650 gnome, 2,800 high elf, 
  2,000 other)
  Languages: Semuric, Dwarven
  Religion: Mah-Barek
  Resources: trade, manufactured goods, stonework, artwork, 
  grain (wheat, barley), cattle, textiles (woolen), gold, gems, 
  olives, oil, fruit
  Currency: Pelshtarian
  Technology Level: Medieval (cities), High Middle Ages 
  (smaller settlements), Dark Ages (outlying areas)
  Once the distant western edge of the Ammuyad Caliphate — and 
  still is today depending with whom you speak — the Principality of 
  Pelshtaria is a contradiction. According to the records of the caliphate, 
  these lands constitute their province of Irkaina, a loyal taxpaying part 
  of their domains. Such is not the understanding of those who live in 
  the Principality of Pelshtaria, which is ruled by princes who ignore the 
  caliph, though diplomatically so as to avoid damaging trade.
  Five centuries ago, the land that is now Pelshtaria was inhabited 
  by nomadic tribes likely related to the Erskaelosi of Akados and their 
  cousins on the plains of the Buntesveldt. For long ages, armies passed 
  through these lands on their way between Akados and Libynos, but the 
  arid plains, steppes, and deserts of the Isthmus of Irkaina were left largely 
  unsettled. Caliphate traders crossing the Mulstabhin Passage and the 
  Sea of Spice told tales of these empty lands, which drew the attention of 
  the caliph. After the departure of the Hyperboreans, the caliphate began 
  an expansionist period during which it seized lands in the Antioch plains 
  of northern Libynos. Finally, they looked here to the far northeastern 
  corner of Akados. An expedition landed, fought the scattered horse and 
  camel tribes, and pushed on along the northern coast.
  After 10 years of campaigning, the armies reached the mouth of 
  the Ilanos River. Behind them they had left a series of fortiﬁ ed towns 
  to protect the overland route and to serve as bases for further thrusts 
  into the interior. At the mouth of the river they built a large city that 
  they named Irith Kel. Decades passed, and colonists from the caliphate 
  swelled the ranks of the soldiery, occasionally intermarrying with the 
  remnants of the local nomadic tribes.
  The land between the Büyük Dâg Mountains and the Irkainian Desert 
  was fertile, and the population rapidly soared. Living on a frontier, far 
  from home, the people learned to be self-reliant, largely independent of 
  their parent nation. Every year saw new farms and villages founded, the 
  local tribes having been subdued through warfare, trade, and absorption.
  Settlements were eventually founded as far as the shores of the Gulf of 
  Irkaina and through much of the interior of the Isthmus of Irkaina. The 
  satrap of Irkaina sent out further expeditions, reaching as far as the cities 
  of the Buntesveldt beyond the Irkainian Desert, with which trade was 
  opened (and at least initial moves toward a conquest were contemplated). 
  This humble frontier province was turning into a wealthy and powerful 
  polity, one that wielded disproportionate power in the caliphate. Other 
  satrapies eventually became envious of the resources being diverted from 
  their own projects to further the expansion and growth of Irkaina.
  Fearing a revolt among his nobility, the caliph sent his youngest son 
  to replace the satrap. This turned the province into a royal demesne 
  directly administered by the caliph’s family, and so removed it from 
  the politics of the satrapies. Within a few generations, it became the 
  traditional post for the youngest sons of the caliphs for whom no better 
  assignment was available. Not all such sons had a talent for governing 
  a far province, however, and a century of inconsistent administration 
  took its toll. The expansion ground to a halt. In the meantime, the wealth 
  of Pelshtaria passed directly into the royal treasury and more than a 
  few princely administrators made sure to not only take their cut, but to 
  surround themselves with friends and supplicants seeking little more 
  than wealth and luxury.
  Some 150 years after the initial expansion of the caliphate’s empire, 
  plague struck at cities within its homeland, including the capital of Hava. 
  The Antioch city-states took advantage of the situation and declared 
  their independence from the caliphate. As the conﬂ icts continued, 
  administration of far Irkaina became unbearably burdensome, especially 
  now that the province no longer was the source of great wealth it once 
  had been. In 2773 I.R., the prince of Pelshtaria died and named his eldest 
  son as heir without consulting the caliph. The nobles of the Irkainian 
  Peninsula held their breaths and waited for the arrival of naval ships or 
  soldiers to enforce a different succession. The invasion never came; the 
  caliph, facing other more pressing matters, barely noticed the events in 
  the far province.
  Over the ensuing centuries, rule of the principality has passed by 
  descent to the prior monarch’s eldest child. Contacts with the caliphate 
  dwindled to a point that the only relationship between the two realms is 
  one of trade. The caliph in far Hava continues to stylize himself suzerain 
  of Pelshtaria, but all now know this is just a title.
  Even with the effective independence of Pelshtaria from the 
  caliphate, the comparatively poor and corrupt rule of the princes largely 
  continued unabated. Fifty years ago, however, a new prince named 
  Kemal ascended the throne with radical ideas. A younger son, he was 
  not expected to become prince and had traveled to the caliphate to study 
  at its schools, where he learned much about law and governance. Upon 
  the death of his elder sister, he returned to Irith Kel. As one of his ﬁ rst 
  actions, he swept out the complex system of tax farmers, bureaucrats, 
  and other leeches that held hereditary positions of little work and great 
  pay. He then replaced these ofﬁ cials with people he knew, even some he 
  had met while at school in the caliphate.
  Links with the sprawling western parts of the province were 
  strengthened, and a standing army was built to replace the underfunded 
  and ill-equipped border patrols that so often failed to protect towns in 
  the countryside from nomadic tribes. For the ﬁ rst time in centuries, the 
  Northlanders were fended off when they came south past Monrovia to 
  raid and pillage the northern coast.
  After 30 years of reform, Kemal died and left behind a thriving 
  and growing principality whose riches were being used to build 
  infrastructure, universities, and hospitals, and to fund the defense of 
  the land. He also left behind two children, the twins Prince Adem and 
  Princess Adelet, who elected to govern jointly.
  For the past two decades, Adem and Adelet have ruled Pelshtaria. 
  They managed to continue their father’s work of good governance and 
  investing in the nation, kept the barbarians safely beyond the frontiers, 
  and are much beloved by the populace. The increasingly obvious wealth 
  of the nation, however, has drawn attention from others, including some 
  
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  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  within the caliphate who note that the principality is, in fact, a province 
  of the caliphate even though it pays no taxes to the royal treasury. 
  Some in far Hava are beginning to speak openly about changing those 
  circumstances, perhaps at the point of a sword. Others, particularly 
  among the trading houses, see the peaceful and open principality as a 
  source of wealth they wish to leave undisturbed.
  Most localities, whether a city, town, or other holding, in Pelshtaria are 
  governed in part by a Council of Worthies. These bodies are chosen by a 
  vote of all landholding citizens of good standing. In practice, this means 
  that the wealthy elect their own to serve on the council, using the middle 
  classes to round out the vote. These councils have limited powers and 
  must report to the local feudal lord, who more often than not has a few 
  friends or retainers on the council. Their role is to administer to local 
  issues, adjudicate non-capital crimes (murder, arson, rape, kidnapping, 
  and treason being the primary capital crimes in the principality), and 
  pass laws with the consent of the feudal lord.
  The principality boasts a sizable population of hill dwarves. While 
  some reside in the larger cities where they make a living crafting, 
  smithing or trading, most live in small villages or communities in the 
  Ágaç Hills. Under a longstanding arrangement with the princes, the 
  dwarves living there are largely left to govern themselves. As far as 
  anyone knows, none of their communities holds more than a few hundred 
  dwarves. Scholars believe that the ancient Hyperboreans learned the 
  secret of steel from hill dwarves who lived here in ancient times. As a 
  consequence, treasure hunters are often seen hunting through the Ágaç 
  Hills in search of lost dwarven cities. The hill dwarves themselves will 
  not comment on such speculation, and watch any who scour the hills 
  with a degree of bemusement.
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF 
  THE PRINCIPALITY OF PELSHTARIA
  THE PRINCIPALITY OF PELSHTARIA
  IRITH KEL, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  IRITH KEL, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Prince Adem and Princess Adelet, and Council of 
  Worthies
  Government: feudal 
  Population: 279,410 (192,540 human Pelshtarian ethnicity, 
  22,780 other human ethnicity, 17,320 hill dwarf, 13,500 
  halﬂ ing, 12,230 Ashurian, 9,120 Berrini, 6,100 half-elf, 5,240 
  half-orc, 250 gnome, 180 high elf, 150 other)
  The capital of the Principality of Pelshtaria and seat of power for the 
  twin prince and princess, Irith Kel is one of the oldest cities in the region. 
  It serves as a major port where merchants from the Ammuyad Caliphate, 
  the Northlands, the Buntesveldt, Abernord, the interior of the Isthmus 
  of Irkaina, and even the Sea of Grass meet. As a major governmental 
  and economic center, Irith Kel is the main focus of the region and what 
  happens here affects the fortunes and lives of the entire principality.
  Built ﬁ ve centuries ago by an expedition from the caliphate, Irith Kel 
  is a well-planned city. The center is dominated by the palace and the 
  barracks of the royal guard, both of which are surrounded by an inner 
  wall. Between this center and the ﬁ rst outer wall are broad avenues, plazas 
  with fountains and gardens, the houses of minor nobility, the University 
  of Irkaina, the massive ediﬁ ce of the Palace of Justice and Administration, 
  and the old souk where goods of the highest caliber are bought and sold.
  The city’s growth was a planned affair, and concentric walls enclose 
  orderly neighborhoods that mimic the city center but on a less grand 
  scale. Some of these quarters are reserved for foreign residents, some 
  of whom have lived in Irith Kel for generations. There is a raucous 
  Brounthian district, as well as districts that are home to folk with ties 
  to other provinces of the caliphate. Yet other districts are devoted to 
  a speciﬁ c type of commerce, thus keeping the tanners on the edge of 
  the city downwind of other districts, the metal workers’ district (which 
  also includes alchemists) where its ﬁ res can be contained, and the camel 
  markets away from anyone with a nose. Sewers run beneath the streets 
  of all the districts, and aqueducts bring water in from the distant Büyük 
  Dâg Mountains.
  Despite this good planning and (recent) good governance, Irith Kel 
  is not without troubles. A thieves’ guild operates within the city, and its 
  tendrils stretch across the principality and into areas the principality once 
  ruled. Revolutionaries are common, especially around the university 
  and in the many coffee shops that dot the residential neighborhoods. 
  Not everyone is happy with the open disloyalty to the caliphate. Street 
  violence is not uncommon. Holding the wrong views and walking into 
  the wrong coffee shop can be dangerous, possibly deadly.
  ABERNORD, CITY OF
  ABERNORD, CITY OF
  Ruler: Council of Worthies
  Government: oligarchy
  Population: 35,821 (21,111 human Pelshtarian ethnicity, 8,990 
  Berrini, 2,850 Ashurian, 1,475 other human ethnicity, 1,100 
  halﬂ ing, 285 half-elf, 10 other)
  This city-state ofﬁ cially declared its independence from the 
  Principality of Pelshtaria last year. It had never been tightly bound to the 
  principality largely due to distance and cultural inﬂ uence. The nearby 
  Kingdom of Brounthia is often wracked by civil strife, and refugees 
  from its internecine conﬂ icts often ﬂ ee south along the coast or make 
  the perilous crossing of the northern plains of the Buntesveldt to reach 
  Abernord. This has left the city-state with a large Brounthian population.
  The city is a blend of local nomadic, Irkainian, Ammuyad, and 
  Brounthian cultures. Architecturally, the old city shows the inﬂ uence 
  of the caliphate with its broad avenues, large open-air markets, and 
  stonework. The outer city that grew beyond the old city walls is largely 
  Brounthian in origin, with stone and timber buildings thrown up with 
  little central planning, unpaved streets, and many tight alleyways. Fires 
  are common in the outer wards, and the city watch despairs of keeping 
  these boroughs in order.
  While this merging of cultures is behind the split from the rest of the 
  principality, internal divisions are also great. The wealthier merchants 
  and older families live in the walled old city, while the descendants 
  of refugees dwell in the warrens outside. The Brounthian population 
  tends towards skilled artisans with a large class of urban poor. This has 
  spurred more than one riot against the “foreign” higher classes in the 
  city. It is the middle classes of petty merchants, artisans, scholars, and 
  military ofﬁ cers who have successfully blended the two cultures and 
  from where the impetus for independence comes.
  Increasing the strife is the sheer number of impoverished and outcast 
  Brounthian nobility who make the city their home. It seems that nearly 
  every Brounthian can claim descent from one nearly extinguished noble 
  house or another, and no small few pretend to have royal blood. Plots 
  and intrigues abound that hope to put some distant claimant back in 
  power. Many of these are little more than fantasies, but some manage to 
  gather enough power to present trouble for the city and their neighbors.
  ALTON, TOWN OF
  ALTON, TOWN OF
  Ruler: none
  Government: none
  Population: 6,390 (3,355 human Pelshtarian ethnicity, 1,560 
  other human ethnicity, 612 hill dwarf, 465 half-elf, 210 half-
  orc, 138 gnome, 50 other)
  Less than a year old, Alton is a gold rush town that lies in unclaimed 
  land deep in the Büyük Dâg Mountains. It is a wild place without law, 
  and some locals say without mercy or other noble sentiments. In its 
  short existence, it has burned down twice and been relocated to the 
  conﬂ uence of the Kisa and Porphyra Rivers.
  Alton is a polyglot town as the gold seekers come from across the world. 
  Merchants followed them and nearly anything the rugged adventurers 
  might want from tools, food, and supplies to liquor and prostitutes can be 
  found here. Rumors that the pasha of Ezerdúrum plans to send a company 
  of soldiers and a bey to take control of the town have been ﬂ ying since the 
  
  330|
  330|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  town was ﬁ rst established. So far, nothing has happened, but agents loyal 
  to the pasha have been seen drinking, gambling, and taking long rides 
  through the mountains to just look at things.
  EZERD
  EZERDÚRUM. CITY OF
  RUM. CITY OF
  Ruler: Pasha Sohret Ozgen and Council of Worthies
  Government: feudal and council
  Population: 67,820 (30,425 human Pelshtarian ethnicity, 
  21,100 other human ethnicity, 7,725 hill dwarf, 3,300 halﬂ ing, 
  1,800 Ashurian, 1,625 half-elf, 1,350 half-orc, 350 gnome, 65 
  high elf, 80 other)
  The city of Ezerdúrum lies at the mouth of the Porphyra River where 
  it empties into the Gulf of Irkaina. A major trading port, Ezerdúrum has 
  long sought to rival grand Mérsíni as the primary wool center for the 
  principality. Cut off from the Ilanos basin by the Ágaç Hills, Ezerdúrum 
  has only ever managed to draw in folks from the southeastern edges of 
  the hill country. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the nobility and 
  merchants of Ezerdúrum are even more prideful and arrogant than the 
  famed beys of Ágaç. Many of the beys who trade in Ezerdúrum run 
  smaller farms than those to the north, but they claim their wool is of 
  higher quality due to the nature of their south-facing hill country.
  Gold was discovered last year in the neighboring Büyük Dâg 
  Mountains. This led to thousands of fortune seekers ﬂ ooding into the 
  city, with some from as far away as Akados. This swelled the sleepy 
  city’s population and a large tent city grew up outside the walls. Pasha 
  Sohret Ozgen welcomes the needed income as well as the boom in trade, 
  and is collecting a tax on every ounce of gold that passes through the 
  city. The Council of Worthies are less pleased by this turn of events 
  and, although willing to make fortunes off of the gold rush, they do 
  not hesitate to pass laws that hamper the newcomers. A growing feud 
  between the locals and the gold rush followers is growing, and already a 
  few physical altercations have occurred in the city’s streets.
  IMAZON, CITY OF 
  IMAZON, CITY OF 
  Ruler: Pasha Ceren Syﬁ  and the Council of Worthies
  Government: feudal and council
  Population: 25,380 (20,695 human Pelshtarian ethnicity, 3,210 
  other human ethnicity, 500 halﬂ ing, 330 Ashurian, 265 half-
  elf, 200 hill dwarf, 150 half-orc, 30 other)
  Of all the cities of Pelshtaria, Imazon has the Council of Worthies 
  with the greatest power. Other cities might have inﬂ uential councils, but 
  in Imazon the pasha is clearly there to do little more than sign anything 
  the council passes. The Council of Worthies appoints all ofﬁ cials, makes 
  and passes all laws, and decides criminal cases by circumventing the 
  courts and feudal rights in place of trying cases itself.
  This does not mean that the old feudal system is gone, just that the 
  power is now in the hands of the lower nobility: the beys. All the seats 
  on the council are held either by the beys themselves or by their toadying 
  hirelings. Even the powerful merchants’ guilds of the city are beholden 
  to the beys, for if those nobles decide not to sell their wool in Imazon, 
  they might just ship it to another port.
  It is the trade in wool, wheat, and other agricultural products that 
  drives the economy of Imazon. The interior of the Pelshtarian Peninsula 
  is rich land. There are few sources of mineral wealth, but there is plenty 
  of room to ranch and farm, as well as centuries of farmsteads evolving 
  into estates, and estates merging into larger affairs. Wool, both raw 
  cloth and that cut and dyed by the city’s artisans, is the main export, but 
  wheat, barley, olives, oil, and fruit are loaded into waiting vessels for 
  shipment around the Sinnar Ocean.
  IZMIRTZAÇG, TOWN OF 
  IZMIRTZAÇG, TOWN OF 
  Ruler: Pasha Ozakar Vural and the Council of Worthies
  Government: feudal and council
  Population: 3,740 (3,285 human Pelshtarian ethnicity, 255 
  other human ethnicity, 100 hill dwarf, 65 halﬂ ing, 35 other)
  Izmirtzaçg is the only major settlement on the Beyaz River, but even 
  so it is a small town that offers little to visitors. Founded two centuries 
  ago to serve the petty ranches along the river, Izmirtzaçg is laid out 
  like other towns and cities in the principality with a clear urban area, 
  surrounding wall, broad avenues, large plazas, and much planning and 
  foresight. Sadly, the region never developed economically and thus did 
  not attract many settlers. Izmirtzaçg does not even hold a wool market 
  of its own, but instead ships its produce to Ezerdúrum for foreign trade.
  As a result, the town is not fully occupied and whole neighborhoods lie 
  unused by all save vagrants and vermin. The great plazas stand empty most 
  of the time except for a few tired vendors or sun-toughened farmers in from 
  the countryside. The beys of the region are equally poor, but hold their titles 
  with great pride even if they have to work their pitiful estates themselves.
  MÉRS
  MÉRSÍNI, CITY OF
  NI, CITY OF
  Ruler: Pasha Iltas Uçar and Council of Worthies
  Government: feudal and council
  Population: 159,341 (107,161 human Pelshtarian ethnicity, 
  15,985 other human ethnicity, 13,900 hill dwarf, 9,200 
  halﬂ ing, 4,350 Ashurian, 3,100 Berrini, 2,775 half-elf, 1,900 
  half-orc, 870 gnome, 100 other)
  Spanning the conﬂ uence of the Ilanos and  Çayusk Rivers, Mérsíni is 
  the second city of Pelshtaria. The fertile Ágaç Hills provide much of the 
  city’s wealth, and outside the walls are hundreds of estates worked by 
  slaves. These estates are the homes to the beys of Ágaç, minor nobility 
  descended from the original pioneering settlers. Smaller farmsteads lie 
  on the edge of the hill country on less-secure and less-fertile land.
  Sheep are a main agricultural product of the region, and Mérsíni 
  has become a major wool-producing and manufacturing hub. Every 
  household maintains at least a small carding and spinning operation; 
  even the wives of the beys traditionally spin some wool. Cloth is 
  manufactured in large facilities inside the city and provides work for 
  a large class of laborers. Wool merchants come from as far away as 
  the caliphate to trade in the golden domed Grand Suk of Mérsíni, their 
  cargoes easily ﬂ oated down the Ilanos to Irith Kel.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN 
  THE PRINCIPALITY OF PELSHTARIA
  THE PRINCIPALITY OF PELSHTARIA
  ÁGAÇ HILLS
  GAÇ HILLS
  This semi-arid highland runs between the Norwold Gulf and the 
  Gulf of Akados. The western edge of the hills slowly slopes down into 
  grassland in the north and the Irkainian Desert in the south. 
  In the north, the Ágaç Hills provide prime land for grazing, with small 
  farms ﬁ lling the valleys. Most of the principality’s population of hill 
  dwarves make their homes in this region, living in small villages or 
  communities. Some legends suggest that one or more ancient dwarven 
  cities were once located in these hills, where the ancient Hyperboreans 
  ﬁ rst learned the secret of steel from the hill dwarves who dwelt there.
  The south is a different story. As the Ágaç Hills run to the southwest, 
  they become increasingly more arid until they are little more than a hilly 
  extension of the Irkainian Desert. After crossing the Lesser Porphyra 
  River, sheep ranches and farms become scarce and the land less inhabited. 
  This part of the hills is an abode of monstrous creatures, many of whom 
  make regular forays north to feast on sheep and shepherds alike.
  
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  |331
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  BEYAZ RIVER
  BEYAZ RIVER
  Along with the Ilanos and Porphyra rivers, the Beyaz River drains 
  from the Ágaç Hills. A small river whose ﬂ ow is shallow and sluggish 
  at best, the Beyaz runs from the southeastern edge of the hills to the 
  Gulf of Irkaina. It has seen little settlement or development aside from 
  the town of Izmirtzaçg at its mouth. Along the river’s course are small 
  stands of cottonwood trees and willows, but beyond that the grasslands 
  are dry most of the year. A few nomadic tribes roam the areas between 
  the Ágaç Hills and the sea, though they steer clear of the Beyaz River.
  A wild and rugged place, the Beyaz River is rumored to be the 
  abode of a water serpent. Known as the Ejderha by the locals, this 
  serpent is said to attack small isolated farmsteads as far as a hundred 
  miles from the river. While there is some truth that outlying farms 
  have been burned and their residents slaughtered in gruesome ways, 
  there is no proof that the cause is a water dragon and not nomadic 
  raiders or other bandits.
  BÜYÜK D
  BÜYÜK DÂG MOUNTAINS
  G MOUNTAINS
  The soaring Büyük Dâg Mountains dominate the southern coast of 
  the Isthmus of Irkaina. The highest peak, Aryat, stands 13,400 feet 
  tall, and a half dozen lesser peaks are barely 1,000 feet below that. The 
  range is an extremely rugged land of high bluffs, knife-edge canyons, 
  and snowcapped peaks. In the spring, streams course down the slopes 
  and ﬁ ll the valleys before feeding the Porphyra River. Winter brings 
  powerful storms that blanket the mountains in snow and freezing rain, 
  and thunder snowstorms are common.
  The Büyük Dâg Mountains are uninhabited; at least they have been 
  for the past thousand years. A millennium ago, the mountains were home 
  to a kingdom of giants that have passed beyond memory, though there 
  are some slight references to them in ancient tomes. These giants were 
  never very numerous, and their kingdom was little more than a single 
  fortress and outlying homesteads or wandering tribes. The last king, 
  Hakality the Fell Eyed, sought sorcerous power to extend his life, but 
  found only thralldom to a vampire. This led to the wholesale slaughter 
  of his people. All that remains today of the kingdom are cyclopean ruins 
  deep in the mountains and things that haunt the jagged peaks.
  Now, gold seekers are ﬂ ooding into the Büyük Dâg Mountains along 
  the Porphyra and Kisa rivers, a few of whom report seeing ruins high 
  on the slopes.
  ÇAYUSK RIVER
  ÇAYUSK RIVER
  A tributary of the Ilanos River, the Çayusk drains from the middle 
  portion of the Ágaç Hills. It ﬂ ows roughly northwest until meeting with 
  the Ilanos at the city of Mérsíni. Like most of the central and northern 
  parts of the hills, the banks of the Çayusk are fertile and lined with the 
  estates of the wool beys. Water rights in the hills are a complex affair, 
  and feuds between families tend to have their roots in access to water 
  for irrigation and grazing sheep. This has led to a bizarre system of legal 
  challenges and sanctioned dueling.
  FOREST OF ORMAN
  FOREST OF ORMAN
  At the eastern end of the Isthmus of Irkaina, not far from the shores 
  of the Sea of Spice between Akados and Libynos, is a towering forest of 
  gigantic pines with heights reaching as much as 600 feet. By all rights this 
  should not be here, since there is no break in the ﬂ at terrain and no body of 
  water or other geographic feature that would support a forest in the midst 
  of the grasslands, much less one composed of such enormous trees. 
  In fact, the Forest of Orman is not a natural feature, and would not 
  exist but for powerful magic. A kingdom of elves and fey dwells within 
  the forest, and their arcane rituals carved into standing stones lining the 
  forest’s edge keep it intact. This magic alters the climate in the region so 
  that rain falls daily, though always in a light drizzle that provides enough 
  moisture for the forest to remain. Cool breezes waft mists between the 
  giant trees and deposit a glistening coating of jewel-like dew. Grass 
  ﬁ res stop at the edge of the stones, unable to touch the trees beyond. 
  The enchantment is so powerful that time passes differently within the 
  forest: it is always midsummer, days pass in endless sunshine or under 
  rainbow-producing showers before becoming equally long nights, and 
  a day is as long as a month outside. This magic is ancient and beyond 
  the ken of the free-spirited and wild inhabitants of the Forest of Orman. 
  Early in the days of the conquests by the caliphate, soldiers of the 
  caliph heard stories of the forest from the local nomads. After a few 
  expeditions were lost, the land within the standing stones was forbidden 
  to the army and later colonists. This prohibition lasts to this day and 
  is enforced by the forces of Pelshtaria, even though they do not fully 
  understand the reason.
  GULF OF IRKAINA
  GULF OF IRKAINA
  This northern arm of the Sinnar Ocean is bordered by the mainland 
  of Irkaina to the west, the Isthmus of Irkaina to the north, and the 
  Pelshtarian Peninsula to the east. It is a quiet gulf that is well protected 
  from winds and has a stable current that runs along its inner coast. The 
  gulf does see a good deal of sea trafﬁ c as a result of the three large cities 
  along its coast, Izmirtzaçg at the mouth of the Beyaz River, Ezerdúrum 
  at the mouth of the Porphyra River, and Imazon at the mouth of the Nehir 
  River. Ships come from the caliphate to the east, as well as travelers 
  from the Buntesveldt and the cities of the Gulf of Akados to the west.
  All of this trade attracts roving sea bandits, including Northlanders 
  who either take the Mulstabhin Passage or ﬂ oat down the rivers of 
  the Sea of Grass to reach the Sinnar Ocean. To protect against piracy, 
  Pelshtaria commissioned a small ﬂ eet of ships to hunt down these 
  vagrants. So far, they have had little success; the gulf is large and the 
  merchants are too numerous to defend.
  ILANOS RIVER
  ILANOS RIVER
  Fed by hundreds of small streams from the Ágaç Hills and the 
  smaller Çayusk River, the Ilanos River is the heart of the Principality 
  of Pelshtaria. More people live in the vast grasslands of the Isthmus of 
  Irkaina and the Pelshtarian Peninsula farther east, but the citizens of the 
  Ilanos valley are far more concentrated. Here, urban life has developed, 
  and the princes who have ruled the land have always had their capital at 
  the mouth of the river.
  The Ilanos itself is a slow but wide and deep run, languid in its 
  course, and rarely overﬂ ows its banks even during the spring rains. 
  This allows river barges to make their way from the interior to the 
  sea to bring wool and grain to Irith Kel. The river’s passage has cut a 
  deep valley into the hills, and there are many places where the bluffs 
  are too steep to get a goat down. The feeding streams tend to run off 
  the high hills in wondrous cascades. Where the river can be reached, 
  small towns have developed. The principality’s troops regularly patrol 
  the valley, and the Ilanos and the hills it passes through are some of the 
  safest parts of the realm.
  IRKAINIAN DESERT
  IRKAINIAN DESERT
  The Irkainian Desert covers almost 500 miles of the Irkainian Peninsula, 
  from the eastern edge of the Buntesveldt to the western eaves of the Ágaç 
  Hills. This desert consists of a rocky arid highland amid the peninsula’s 
  mighty grasslands. There are few oases, and those that exist are heavily 
  guarded by the desert nomads who roam these wastes. Travel across the 
  rocky desert is difﬁ cult, as stony ground quickly shreds both feet and 
  hooves, and the lack of water and burning sunlight soon sap all strength. The 
  only safe routes are seasonal watercourses that have cut their way through 
  the cracked rock, but these limit travel to the directions their courses run. 
  During the summer, temperatures during the day can rise to more than 100º 
  Fahrenheit. After the sun sets, the warmth quickly leaves the rocks, and the 
  chilly air can plummet to less than 50º Fahrenheit. In the winter, the cold is 
  severe enough that travelers without proper clothing risk freezing to death.
  Despite this harsh climate, people do live in the Irkainian Desert. Local 
  nomads eke out a meager living from the land by raising small amounts 
  of crops and fruit in the few oases, and by herding sheep, camels, and 
  goats through grass-ﬁ lled valleys. This subsistence is augmented by 
  trade, rare as it is. For the people of the Isthmus of Irkaina, it is far easier 
  to send goods by sea around the southern edge of the desert than across 
  
  332|
  332|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  it, but this has not always been the case, nor is it always safe. Certainly, 
  bulk cargos sail out of the Gulf of Irkaina to the Buntesveldt or travel 
  by wagon to Stavropol. Smaller, high-value cargos can, for appropriate 
  consideration, be carried by the nomads from one oasis to another using 
  routes and centuries-old tribal alliances. While the nomads themselves 
  are vicious ﬁ ghters (and once poured out of their desert homes to raid 
  neighboring lands), many merchants seeking routes through or around 
  the desert hire their own guards.
  ISTHMUS OF IRKAINA
  ISTHMUS OF IRKAINA
  The Isthmus of Irkaina is the wide neck of land between the western 
  half of the Principality of Pelshtaria and the Kalithid Peninsula, and the 
  eastern half, which includes the Pelshtarian Peninsula. These lands are 
  fairly well-settled by the folk of Pelshtaria.
  KALITHID PENINSULA
  KALITHID PENINSULA
  Jutting out into the Great Ocean from the Isthmus of Irkaina, the 
  Kalithid Peninsula has a rocky coast that slopes gradually toward where 
  it joins with the isthmus and the Pelshtarian Peninsula.
  Wandering over the lands of the peninsula are tribes of lion centaurs 
  that refer to themselves as the Kalithi (thus giving the peninsula its 
  name). The centaurs defeated the caliphate’s soldiers in a series of 
  battles early in the colonization of Irkaina, and eventually a border 
  between the two was agreed upon. The princes of Pelshtaria have been 
  careful to continue to honor the agreement, which lasts to this day. On 
  occasion, a lion centaur leaves its lands and searches for adventure 
  elsewhere in the world. One of the marshals of the principality’s 
  cavalry is a Kalithid warrior.
  KISA RIVER
  KISA RIVER
  This short river ﬂ ows from between two peaks of the Büyük Dâg 
  Mountains to join with the Porphyra River in a hundred-foot waterfall. 
  It is a fast river with many rapids that becomes a torrent of water in the 
  spring as the snow melts off the mountains. Gold has been found nearby, 
  and a small gold rush is growing, bringing people into the mountains 
  and into contact with the giants and trolls that live there.
  LESSER PORPHYRA RIVER
  LESSER PORPHYRA RIVER
  Draining from the eastern edges of the Ágaç Hills, the Lesser Porphyra 
  River meets the Porphyra River at a small town on its northern bank. 
  The Lesser Porphyra sees a fair deal of river trafﬁ c from its origin in the 
  hills as it heads to Ezerdúrum. The river thunders through cataracts and 
  rapids in places, and requires boats to be carried over a portage beyond 
  the rough waters. Even so, along much of its length it is far easier to 
  send goods down the river to the Gulf of Irkaina than over the hills to 
  the Çayusk and on to Irith Kel on the Great Ocean.
  NEHIR RIVER
  NEHIR RIVER
  Fed by two steams, the slow-moving and prosaic north fork and the 
  enchanted south fork, the Nehir is a wide waterway that serves as the 
  main means of travel from neighboring farms to the port city of Imazon. 
  Where the two forks join, a great rainbow is thrown up and one can hear 
  the sound of falls, though none can be seen. This is no doubt due to the 
  enchanted nature of the south fork, and locals have grown accustomed 
  to hearing not just the falls but strange noises coming from within the 
  thundering waters. Below these “falls,” the water of the Nehir is safe to 
  drink, the magic of the south fork either being diluted or disappearing 
  into the spectral falls.
  NEHIR RIVER, NORTH FORK
  NEHIR RIVER, NORTH FORK
  Draining from the rich grasslands of the Pelshtarian Peninsula, the 
  north fork of the Nehir River is a shallow, meandering waterway that 
  does not have enough ﬂ ow to supply irrigation, move large boats, or 
  power waterwheels. All that it seems able to provide the people who live 
  along it is a place to water their ﬂ ocks and themselves.
  NEHIR RIVER, SOUTH FORK
  NEHIR RIVER, SOUTH FORK
  With its source somewhere in the Forest of Orman, the south fork of 
  the Nehir river is an odd stream. Its ﬂ ow is unpredictable, and sudden 
  ﬂ oods as if from snow melt or spring rains can come in any season. 
  While it provides abundant water and moves with enough volume to 
  ﬂ oat boats and enough force to drive waterwheels, the people who live 
  along it prefer to get their water from deep wells.
  The south fork of the Nehir is a magical stream. The water is not always 
  enchanted, but one can never be too careful. A hundred buckets might 
  have no effect, but one drink could be disastrous. According to local talk, 
  drinking from the stream can changes one’s hair or eye color or cause the 
  growth of horns or other cosmetic alterations, or even result in changing 
  the drinker into another creature entirely. People have been turned into 
  sheep. Sheep have been turned into dragons. In one memorable tale, a 
  passing dragon rampaging through the region drunk deeply from the river 
  and turned into a squirrel. True, a ﬁ re-breathing squirrel that took three 
  days to hunt down and slay, but a squirrel nonetheless.
  PELSHTARIAN PENINSULA
  PELSHTARIAN PENINSULA
  It may seem odd that the Pelshtarian Peninsula is on the other side 
  of the principality than the capital and the rivers that form the heart of 
  the nation, particularly one that is lightly populated and consists mainly 
  of savannah broken only by occasional watering holes and ridges. 
  However, the people of this region are descendants of the earliest settlers 
  from the caliphate, and the name of the peninsula in fact predates the use 
  of the term for the entire principality. 
  Today, the beys, all descendants of the leaders among the original 
  settlers, own nearly all the land. When the caliphate ﬁ rst began the 
  process of colonizing the peninsula, it handed out huge land grants of 
  hundreds of square miles. The lucky settlers who managed to land one 
  of these grants became a bey overnight with a larger holding than many 
  of the oldest noble families in the caliphate. These holdings were just 
  rugged wilderness, and the process of turning them into subsistence 
  level farms was arduous.
  Yet they did this, for the soil was fertile, the local nomads easily dealt 
  with, and the people of the caliphate had generations of experience 
  growing crops in arid environments.
  The peninsular beys live on large estates separated from each other 
  by miles of dusty dirt roads. Each is its own little kingdom with the bey 
  and their family ruling without oversight and with the backing of law 
  and custom. They tend to be a fractious bunch much infatuated by their 
  independence and thwart any attempt to build a city or found a town 
  larger than the trading hub of Imazon on the Nehir River.
  Between these scattered estates, or technically on them as the beys 
  claim large tracks of land, are vast wildernesses of wild animals, 
  lurking monsters, and the few remnants of the nomadic tribes that 
  once inhabited the peninsula. For the most part, each bey maintains a 
  sufﬁ cient standing army of men-at-arms, not to mention the mounted 
  warriors of their family retinues, to keep these threats at bay. Even so, 
  from time to time when some danger does threaten, it may be easier and 
  more proﬁ table to hire outsiders to take on the risk.
  PORPHYRA RIVER
  PORPHYRA RIVER
  Thundering down from the Büyük Dâg Mountains, the Porphyra 
  River drains from the mountains and races along their edge to the sea 
  where it is joined by the Lesser Porphyra River at a small town. This 
  river does not see a lot of trafﬁ c since the land it ﬂ ows through is 
  rugged and unsettled. Even if there were people living along it, the 
  river ﬂ ows over so many falls and through hundreds of cataracts that 
  travel would be impossible for any large boat. However, thanks to 
  the growing gold rush, some people are now using the river to enter 
  the mountains, but they must do so in light boats that they can easily 
  portage over or around obstructions.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|333
  NORTHEASTERN AKADOS
  MULSTABHA AND THE MULSTABHIN PASSAGE
  MULSTABHA AND THE MULSTABHIN PASSAGE
  Krivcycek Island sits in the middle of the Mulstabhin Passage, the gap 
  between the northeastern-most corner of Akados and the northwestern-
  most extent of Libynos. The island is the homeland of the nation of 
  Mulstabha, a mysterious folk unlike any other known people in the 
  world in appearance or culture. They are the people of the Land of the 
  Bull from the Sea, so named for their founder, a Libynosi minotaur and 
  pirate who founded the citadel of Jem Karteis. Somewhat confusingly, 
  the island is also sometimes referred to as Mulstabha, which is also the 
  term for the leader of these people.
  In addition to the Mulstabhins, nomadic bands of people known as 
  the Ghazaks also wander Krivcycek Island. They are few in number, 
  rarely seen, and bear no resemblance whatsoever to their neighboring 
  Mulstabhins. Unlike any other people, for reasons unknown the 
  Ghazaks are able to move unhindered through Mulstabhin territory 
  with impunity.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: THE NORTHLANDS SAGA COMPLETE
  JEM KARTEIS, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  JEM KARTEIS, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: The Mulstabha
  Government: council
  Population: 28,360 (17,010 Mulstabhins, 3,780 foreign slaves, 
  3,475 Huun, 1,680 common giants, 1,270 hobgoblins, 647 
  dwarves, 378 lizardfolk, 120 other)
  The bull-shaped city of Jem Karteis — which is protected by stout 
  walls and fortiﬁ cations and sits in the middle of an island surrounded 
  by swampland — has deﬁ ed conquest by princes and caliphs for 
  centuries. The city began as a simple pirate fortress but has grown over 
  the centuries into a bustling, but bizarre, place where the people and 
  goods of Akados and Libynos meet. The city segregates its residents and 
  foreign visitors with physical walls and cultural taboos. The ﬁ ve castes 
  interact under strict auspices, and their interactions with outsiders are 
  equally controlled. 
  KRIVCYCEK ISLAND
  KRIVCYCEK ISLAND
  This large island sits in the middle of the Mulstabhin Passage between 
  the Great Ocean Ûthaf and the Sea of Spice. It comprises the island 
  nation of Mulstabha, a hilly interior, and swamp lands along the edges, 
  and offers few places for ships to land.
  A rough stony path crosses the island which, at low tide, can be used 
  to cross between the continents, skirting the worst parts of the salt ﬂ ats. 
  Though often in poor repair and in some places washed out by tides, 
  the road — constructed long ago by the Hyperboreans to connect their 
  eastern and western empires — remains passable.
  MULSTABHIN PASSAGE
  MULSTABHIN PASSAGE
  The Mulstabhin Passage is the only means for ships to pass between 
  the Great Ocean Ûthaf and the Gulf of Akados and Sinnar Ocean beyond. 
  At low tide, the water drains away leaving a vast saltmarsh surrounding 
  Krivcycek Island. But at high tide the waters of the Great Ocean Ûthaf 
  and the Sinnar Ocean rush in and mingle to turn it into a true island and 
  create the legendary Mulstabhin Passage between those two oceans.
  Even at such high tides, the ways are treacherous for any other than 
  ﬂ at-bottomed boats, and vessels frequently ﬁ nd themselves grounded on 
  mud bars. For this reason, the Mulstabhins have marked passages with 
  withies — long, ﬂ exible willow rods — for generations. These long rods 
  are stuck upright in the mud on either side of the deeper-water channels, 
  and when high tide comes, the tops of the rods remain visible above 
  the surface of the water. These serve as guides so that ships can pass 
  between them and avoid grounding themselves in the shallows. A whole 
  series of these withy channels extend between the island and isthmus, 
  and between the oceans to the north and south.
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  |333
  walls and fortiﬁ cations and sits in the middle of an island surrounded 
  by swampland — has deﬁ ed conquest by princes and caliphs for 
  centuries. The city began as a simple pirate fortress but has grown over 
  the centuries into a bustling, but bizarre, place where the people and 
  goods of Akados and Libynos meet. The city segregates its residents and 
  foreign visitors with physical walls and cultural taboos. The ﬁ ve castes 
  interact under strict auspices, and their interactions with outsiders are 
  equally controlled. 
  and between the oceans to the north and south.
  
  334|
  334|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE NORTHLANDS
  The Northlands are not one homogenous region of the world, but are 
  instead eight separate regions united by common culture and history. 
  To outsiders, a Northlander is a Northlander, but the people of heavily 
  settled and peaceful Vale are a far cry from the hardy frontiersmen of 
  Estenﬁ rd. To tell a Gat that he is the same as a Hrolf is to ask to be 
  brought violently into their generations-old feud. This is especially 
  true considering that not all of those native to the Northlands are 
  Northlanders, for the Nûklanders and Seagestrelanders are different 
  cultures entirely, and the Nûklanders aren’t even humans! It is not just 
  the people, but the terrain, even the environments, that are different. The 
  frigid tundra of Nûkland is a far cry from the boggy forests and moors 
  of Hordaland, and both are strange and alien in comparison to the rocky 
  volcanic mountains of Vastavikland.
  HISTORY OF THE NORTHLANDS
  HISTORY OF THE NORTHLANDS
  The ﬁ rst folk who lived in the Northlands are known to history as 
  the Andøvan. Very little else other than their name is so known. They 
  left behind only barrow mounds, earthen hill forts, and enigmatic rings 
  of standing stones upon the heights. The ancients who once dwelt in 
  the Northlands are still held in a mixture of awe and fear by modern 
  Northlanders, their barrow ﬁ elds still haunted by the specters of their 
  civilization that walk the night-darkened hills and forests.
  The next to arrive were the Nûk, a tribe of wild elves seeking refuge 
  from the Hyperborean wars in the south. Their descendants live in the 
  Northlands to this day.
  Next came the Uln, a wandering tribe of Shattered Folk, remnants 
  of the Hundaei of the Haunted Plains far to the west and south. They 
  founded cities in the Far North, but it is said they fell under the sway of 
  a demonic cult and eventually were destroyed.
  Barely a century and a half after the rise and fall of the Uln in the 
  Far North, a third migration of humans began for the Northlands. At 
  the far southern end of the continent of Akados, on the aptly named 
  Helcynngae Peninsula lived the Heldring, a people of feared warriors 
  of great size and martial prowess who sold the soul of their people to 
  the goddess Hel in exchange for might and protection from the invading 
  legions of the Hyperboreans. This contract served them well, for the 
  Hyperboreans were never able to conquer these tribes and ultimately 
  had to wall off the entire peninsula with a defensive breastwork known 
  as the Helwall. It was from this ruthless and bloodthirsty people that the 
  ﬁ nal migration emerged.
  Not all of the tribes among the Heldring were as devoted to the Lady 
  of Pestilence and, at a time when her cult’s power was waxing among 
  the Heldring, one thegn called Swein Sigurdson turned his back on the 
  wicked ways of Hel and sought an escape for his people. Swein gathered 
  his family and related clans and headed north to cross the Helwall. The 
  clergy of Hel, however, learned of his defection and sent an army in 
  pursuit. Unable to reach the Helwall, Swein retreated into the Cumorian 
  Mountains to ﬁ nd safety. The Helite council’s army pursued doggedly 
  and drove them ever deeper among the jagged clefts. Finally, Swein and 
  his people were forced to seek shelter in a cave and await the arrival 
  of their imminent executioners. However, even as the Helite raiders 
  charged up the valley and Swein formed his shieldwall across the mouth 
  of the cave, an earthquake struck the valley. The cliff face above the 
  cave mouth collapsed, sealing it off and trapping Swein’s people within 
  while killing many of the charging Helite warriors.
  Saved by seemingly divine intervention, Swein nevertheless despaired 
  at the prospect of his people dying trapped within the collapsed cavern. 
  However, when torches were lit, it was found that the back of the cave 
  had likewise collapsed to reveal a series of natural tunnels that ran deep 
  beneath the earth and into the Under Realms. For two years, the clans 
  following Swein survived and forged their path through the darkness 
  of the Under Realms on what they came to call the Neimbrall Trail. 
  At some point during that journey, the Æsir gods of their ancestors, 
  long forgotten when Hel became the dominant deity of the Helcynngae 
  Peninsula, reappeared to them. Swein received a vision from Wotan 
  the All-Father of a distant land of snowy peaks and timbered forests 
  far from the Helcynngae Peninsula, a land where they could hack their 
  homes out of the wilderness and live as a free people.
  Swein Sigurdson became the ﬁ rst godi and led his people toward 
  this promised land. For nearly three years, the clans of Swein stumbled 
  through the dark, being forged by the hardships they faced and tempered 
  by the foes they fought until ﬁ nally one day he led them into the light of 
  day from beneath the chain of mountains in a wide valley they named 
  Storstrøm. Across the vale at the foot of another mountain range they 
  found the Stone of Andøvan, which gave cryptic clues to the people 
  who had lived in the valley long before, and named these mountains for 
  them as a result. Unfortunately for Swein’s people, the lands they found 
  were not unoccupied; a troll-blooded people known as the thrydreg 
  held sway in the lowlands around the North Sea. But the Æsir favored 
  Swein’s people and provided them with a stone fortress built upon a 
  river from which they could defend themselves and begin their own 
  expansion. Thus, with the might of their faith in the Æsir behind them 
  and the tempering they had endured on the Neimbrall Trail within them, 
  Swein’s clans made war upon the thrydreg. No longer as numerous 
  as they had once been due to the faltering resources since the climate 
  shift, and with most of their true troll overlords long since relocated into 
  the mountains, the thrydreg fell before the onslaught of Swein and his 
  people. In a few short years, the thrydreg had been driven from the Vale 
  and the new society of Northlanders had been established.
  Over the following decades, the Northlanders continued to push the 
  thrydreg back. They mastered the art of crafting swift longships with 
  which they could launch raids all along the coast, and soon the last 
  pockets of thrydreg were destroyed or in hiding among the wildlands. 
  Swein was named the ﬁ rst køenig of Storstrøm Vale, and what became 
  the ﬁ rst modern nation of the Northlands was begun.
  For more information on the Northlands, see The Northlands Saga 
  Complete from Frog God Games.
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF 
  POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF 
  THE NORTHLANDS
  THE NORTHLANDS
  KINGDOM OF BROUNTHIA
  KINGDOM OF BROUNTHIA
  Capital: Cymilard
  Notable Settlements: Chadwick, Craghold, Cymilsport, Hesten 
  Down, Landisport, Monrovia, Tylival
  Ruler: Queen Ivérna IV
  Government: feudal
  Population: 976,900 (903,029 Berrini, 31,200 Foerdewaith, 
  14,220 Northlander, 11,955 other human ethnicity, 9,211 
  mountain dwarf, 4,100 halﬂ ing, 1,675 half-elf, 1,510 other)
  Languages: Hibor, Common, Nørsk
  Religion: Hyperborean pantheon
  Resources: grain, ﬁ shing, gold, silver, iron, tin, coal, livestock, 
  trade, timber, fruit, wine, honey
  Currency: Brounthian
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  The Kingdom of Brounthia lies along the coast of the Great Ocean 
  between the Northlands and the Principality of Pelshtaria to the south 
  and the Sea of Grass to the west. Brounthia has enjoyed relative internal 
  peace but has fought off numerous invasions from the north, east, 
  and west. Northlanders raid the coast, though these attacks have been 
  THE NORTHLANDS
  THE NORTHLANDS
  
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  THE NORTHLANDS
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  THE NORTHLANDS
  THE NORTHLANDS
  
  336|
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  THE LOST LANDS
  THE NORTHLANDS
  decreasing thanks to a combined political strategy of appeasement and 
  playing the Northlanders against one another, and a system of coastal 
  watchtowers. The rule of Prince Kemal of Pelshtaria, the father of the 
  current prince and princess, put an end to the border skirmishes that 
  once plagued relations between the two lands. However, the K’Haln 
  tribes of the Sea of Grass still raid the western marches and have in the 
  past swept as far as Cymilard.
  A series of queens have ruled Brounthia since its founding. The nobility 
  is mostly male though, and most of the culture is male dominated. The 
  queen is not just a monarch, but is seen as a divine ﬁ gure, a living 
  goddess. The cult of the queen is the dominant religion and worship of her 
  as divine protector, and of past queens as a pantheon ready to intercede on 
  the behalf of supplicants, is entrenched in Brounthian society.
  The queen is always a relative of her predecessor, but as divine 
  queens they do not lay with mortals, and thus do not produce daughters 
  to ascend to the throne. Shortly after coronation, the queen selects a 
  number of sisters, nieces, or cousins to form her court. Their ages do not 
  matter, and sometimes an aunt is selected as well. Brought into the court, 
  these aspirants to the throne are educated in politics, natural philosophy, 
  religion, art, music, and magic. Those who pass a brutal series of exams 
  and remain celibate can compete for the throne when it becomes vacant. 
  None knows what happens during these competitions, for all qualiﬁ ed 
  applicants are locked in the Tower of Testing until one exits as either the 
  sole survivor or the one that the other survivors acclaim as the only one 
  worthy to be queen. Those who fail and are not slain in the Tower often 
  bear marked injures that are both mental and physical.
  The current queen, Ivérna IV, was old when she ascended to the 
  throne ﬁ ve years ago. Now nearly 70 years of age, she has seen three 
  Tests of the Tower, always surviving but never coming out on top. 
  Five years ago her niece, Autona III, broke her vows and laid aside her 
  divinity by becoming involved in a sexual relationship with one of her 
  knights. The scandal rocked the kingdom and led to a hasty round of 
  ﬁ nal examinations of aspirants. The testing went on for 12 days, and at 
  the end only Ivérna and three others survived, none of them unscarred. 
  Despite her age, the queen has taken an active hand in ruling her nation. 
  Where younger queens often foster a courtly romance and many knights 
  and nobles behave as lovestruck fools in their presence, Ivérna rules 
  more as a wise and kindly ﬁ gure. Less-pious knights push the bounds of 
  blasphemy by referring to her as the grandmother queen, but the allusion 
  is not without merit. Brash young knights who would scoff at listening 
  to an old woman ﬁ nd themselves dreading attracting her disappointment. 
  The old courtly romance seems to survive only in the hearts of older 
  knights, most of whom had retired but chose to ride out once more 
  in service to Ivérna. These elderly knights make up a new order of 
  chivalry, the Grey Guard, and commit their last acts of heroism in her 
  name — though only if they have a chance to rest up from the long ride 
  and maybe take a hot bath. A little mulled wine would not be refused. 
  Maybe some liniment, for the joints are as creaky as the armor on these 
  cold mornings.
  CYMILARD, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  CYMILARD, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Queen Ivérna IV
  Government: feudal
  Population: 67,590 (54,495 Berrini, 4,950 Foerdewaith, 3,600 
  other human ethnicity, 1,900 halﬂ ing, 1,375 mountain dwarf, 
  900 Northlander, 250 half-elf, 120 other)
  The grand capital of the Kingdom of Brounthia, Cymilard is a 
  gleaming city that sits on an island in Lake Berring. The heart of the 
  city is the Palace of the Queens, a soaring ediﬁ ce that seems to ﬂ oat 
  out of the lake mists. The palace and most of the older buildings at the 
  
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  THE NORTHLANDS
  city’s center are composed of white dolostone mined from the nearby 
  Andøvan Mountains. Every day, 100 peasants polish the stone of the old 
  city to a gleaming sheen. Surrounding the palace and nearby buildings 
  is the High Wall, a tower and bastion studded with red granite brought 
  from the distant World’s Edge Mountains.
  The city has spread from its original walls to cover the entire island, 
  forming the Lower City of tile-roofed houses and shops, paved streets, 
  and open squares. A causeway links the island to the shore of the lake 
  where sits the New City, the much larger unplanned metropolis of 
  commoners who support the nobles, merchants, and burghers on the 
  island. The houses here are made of wood, the nicer ones of stone for the 
  ﬁ rst ﬂ oor with wooden upper ﬂ oors. The streets are not all paved, and 
  the buildings tend to lean or cram together to form twisting alleyways 
  and dead-ends. The New City is ringed by a wall of gray stone cut from 
  the World’s End Mountains and, although in good repair, it not nearly as 
  pretty as the High Wall.
  Cymilard is the personal demesne of the queen and a great source of 
  her income. Lake Berring is rich in ﬁ sh and the Upper and Lower Red 
  Rivers bring trade, gold, and silver to the city. An overland road leads 
  to Hesten Down on the Great Ocean, making Cymilard the kingdom’s 
  main trade nexus. The shores of the lake are rich farmland, and most of 
  this is also owned by the queen.
  As the feudal lord of the city and the kingdom, the queen has a great 
  deal of power in Cymilard. She personally holds court to hear the 
  concerns of her people and sit in judgment of crimes. Most criminals, 
  being both violators of civil and religious law in Brounthia, face harsh 
  sentences. Being a nation with a highly stratiﬁ ed class system, there are 
  different laws for nobles and commoners. The former face the stripping 
  of their titles and lands followed by public humiliation and execution. 
  Commoners are simply sent to mines in the Andøvans or the World’s 
  End Mountains.
  CHADWICK, TOWN OF
  CHADWICK, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Lord Paval d’Luc
  Government: feudal
  Population: 4,300 (3,570 Berrini, 310 Foerdewaith, 275 other 
  human ethnicity, 95 halﬂ ing, 40 half-elf, 10 other)
  The most southwestern of the kingdom’s towns, Chadwick lies on the 
  very edge of the Sea of Grass. A few generations ago, it was just a small 
  village of pioneers willing to break the thick sod of the grasslands and 
  face off with nomadic raiders. For a time, the town was even outside of 
  Brounthia and beyond the bounds of feudal law. The ﬁ rst Lord d’Luc 
  came 50 years ago and claimed the land for himself and his heirs, backing 
  up these bold assertions with royal writ. He brought with him carts full of 
  seed, tools, and his peasants, and soon displaced the freesteaders.
  The freesteaders headed deeper onto the grasslands, setting up the 
  next wave of expansion for the kingdom. Lord d’Luc gained land and 
  established a large estate that specialized in rearing warhorses, and soon 
  became the most famed horse rancher in the kingdom. His successes 
  drew other young nobles who did not stand to inherit wealth and were 
  unwilling to take up a life as a royal warden or knight errant. This pushed 
  the freesteaders further back, but also attracted the attentions of nearby 
  nomadic tribes. Today, Chadwick sits well within the settled and safe 
  band bordering the kingdom, and new territory out on the grasslands is 
  opening up.
  CRAGHOLD, CITY OF
  CRAGHOLD, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lord Vernet
  Government: feudal
  Population: 14,370 (10,680 Berrini, 2,050 other human ethnicity, 
  805 mountain dwarf, 450 halﬂ ing, 300 half-elf, 85 other)
  Sitting at the conﬂ uence of the Silver and Ruby rivers, Craghold is 
  one of the major cities of the kingdom. It is a walled city built on a bluff 
  that towers over the conﬂ uence and provides a refuge when the local 
  nomadic tribes attack, though with the border pushing farther out onto 
  the Sea of Grass, these attacks are increasingly rare. Even so, the city 
  remains ready to defend itself and the surrounding lands.
  Craghold sends goods down the Silver River to Landisport and 
  receives foreign goods for distribution to the nobles of the region as 
  well as sending imports north to Cymilsport. The lords of Craghold 
  traditionally levy a tax on all goods that pass through the city. Most of 
  this wealth is spent supporting knights in the ﬁ eld to defend the border, 
  while a small portion is set aside and donated to the Queen’s Own 
  Marchers (who maintain a barracks here), and the rest goes into the 
  coffers of the lord. Even though the percentage kept in the city is small, 
  the amount of trade passing through results in a city of splendor that 
  nearly rivals the capital in its grandeur. Towers of polished stone rise 
  up from nobles’ homes, the streets are safe and clean, and the court is 
  majestic in silk and samite.
  All this wealth and the taxes that create it have led to crime. While the 
  streets of the city are safe, smugglers have long used the many caverns 
  beneath the Crag to hide and move goods. Blacked-out barges approach 
  from the river and unload cargos in the dead of night. Hidden entrances 
  lie beneath noble houses and merchant emporiums alike. For decades, 
  the smugglers of Craghold have labored under the authority of the 
  Purple Man, an underworld ﬁ gure who makes sure that all illicit trade 
  passes through his hands, and that crime never reaches the point where it 
  hurts the city’s income. To deprive your protectors of what they need to 
  defend the realm would be bad business. Smugglers operating without 
  sanction are often found in the river with their faces cut off.
  CYMILSPORT, CITY OF
  CYMILSPORT, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lord Andreu
  Government: feudal
  Population: 11,340 (8,850 Berrini, 1,640 other human ethnicity, 
  425 halﬂ ing, 200 half-elf, 135 mountain dwarf, 90 other)
  Sitting across Lake Berring from Cymilard, Cymilsport is a ﬁ shing 
  village that has grown into a city. Originally simply a place where river 
  boatmen gathered to take on cargo brought overland from Craghold to the 
  south, the natural harbor attracted free ﬁ sherfolk to settle here. Many of 
  the bargemen came as well, and the village began to grow. Within a few 
  generations, it eclipsed the other landing points along the southern shore.
  Fearing one of the fractious nobles of the region would lay claim to 
  this growing free holding, the people of Cymilsport petitioned the queen 
  to become a royal demesne. For a century they enjoyed direct royal rule 
  and an appointed mayor, usually a former aspirant to the throne who had 
  retired and married.
  Twenty years ago, a massive nomad raid broke through into the interior 
  of the kingdom. Cymilsport had never had a wall, and the town lay directly 
  in the path of the wild horsemen. Many panicked, and the mayor ﬂ ed with 
  her entourage. Andreu the Bold, one of the common boatmen, rallied the 
  town’s defenders and encouraged them to build a hasty barricade. As the 
  assault came, this band of rabble were unable to hold back the nomads, 
  but they did hold them off long enough for many to escape the city. As 
  the day ran short, the barricades failed and Andreu led a desperate battle 
  in the city’s streets. Rumors ﬂ ew that help was coming from the east, but 
  the defenders could ﬁ ght for only so long against experienced warriors. 
  Driven to the docks, the citizens of Cymilsport readied for a last stand and 
  died keeping the nomads away from the river barges. When the defense 
  at last collapsed and only a few remained, Andreu set the barges alight, 
  denying the enemy the chance to cross the lake to the capital. He died 
  in the inferno, shooting arrows at the nomads even though pierced by a 
  dozen of theirs, and was last seen yelling threats from a ﬂ aming barge. 
  The next morning, a large force of knights arrived and easily dispatched 
  the weary and now-drunken raiders.
  In recognition of this heroism, the queen elevated Andreu’s eldest 
  child to the nobility, granting him the title for the city his father died 
  defending. The people of Cymilsport supported one of their own as their 
  new lord, even if the child was only 11 years old. Now approaching 40, 
  Lord Andreu has proven to be well suited to the task, and the city has 
  recovered from the calamity that took his father and changed his stars.
  
  338|
  338|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE NORTHLANDS
  HESTEN DOWN, CITY OF (BARONY OF HESTEN)
  HESTEN DOWN, CITY OF (BARONY OF HESTEN)
  Symbol: A tower on a black ﬁ eld
  Ruler: Baron Hesten
  Government: feudal
  Population: 35,910 (31,970 Berrini, 2,700 other human 
  ethnicity, 1,065 mountain dwarf, 145 halﬂ ing, 30 other)
  The second-most busy port of the kingdom, Hesten Down is also 
  the seat for the Barony of Hesten. As such, it serves as a major 
  governmental and trade hub for the Great Ocean coast for the kingdom, 
  especially as Northlanders so often raid the Duchy of Monrovia. Some 
  raids reach as far south as Hesten Down, but these are usually small 
  affairs that are seeking out easy pickings. They do not ﬁ nd any in the 
  baron’s lands.
  Much like the coast of Monrovia to the north, the coast of the Barony 
  of Hesten is lined with watchtowers. In the event of an attack, signals 
  would be sent along the line to Hesten Down to alert the nobles and 
  call out the militia. A good road, unpaved but well-maintained, runs the 
  coast and links up with a similar road in Monrovia. When longships are 
  spotted, a small army can be rapidly gathered and sent to intercept. At 
  the same time, Royal Galleys launch from Hesten Down and cut the 
  Northlanders off from escape to sea. Rarely does this result in a ﬁ ght, 
  for the Northlanders are wise enough to see when they are outclassed, 
  and there just might be easier pickings elsewhere.
  Hesten Down itself has never been attacked. The harbor is protected 
  by a long breakwater studded with towers that juts out into the sea. The 
  city defenses face the ocean, though a sturdy wall protects the landward 
  side as well. With the wealth he has accumulated from the trade that 
  passes through his city, the baron is able to maintain hundreds of men-
  at-arms and scores of knights.
  It is this well-protected trade that supports Hesten Down, and to a 
  lesser extent the entire barony. True, feudal rights and levies help 
  and the land is rich, but they are dwarfed by the amount of gold that 
  passes through the harbor. The current baron seeks to increase this and 
  has converted most of his holdings into cash crops. So far, the bound 
  peasants haven’t starved, but their food supply is becoming precarious.
  LANDISPORT, CITY OF
  LANDISPORT, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lord Lafôret
  Government: feudal
  Population: 52,780 (39,565 Berrini, 7,210 Foerdewaith, 3,300 
  other human ethnicity, 1,250 mountain dwarf, 995 halﬂ ing, 
  300 half-elf, 160 other)
  Brounthia’s main seaport, Landisport sits at the mouth of the Silver 
  River where it ﬂ ows into the Great Ocean. While a great deal of trade 
  leaves Hesten Down, most of its imports come through Landisport, 
  up the Silver River to Craghold, and then overland to Cymilsport. 
  This might seem an awkward and laborious route, but it has the twin 
  advantages of saving days or weeks at sea and avoiding the worst of the 
  Northlander raiders.
  The World’s End Mountains create dangerous weather conditions in 
  the northern parts of the Norwold Gulf. When a storm blows in, ships 
  can be driven off course, or worse, lost entirely. The mountains run 
  down to the sea in a series of tablelands that do not permit any easy 
  landing and certainly no harbors. To run goods north to Hesten Down 
  can be a dangerous undertaking; sending those same goods up the river 
  and overland is safer, but slower.
  The city itself is a bustling hive of activity. Products of the estates 
  along the Silver and Ruby rivers come from upriver. Goods from such 
  faraway lands such as the Ammuyad Caliphate arrive at the harbor. 
  This great wealth is used to support the Royal Galleys as one-ﬁ fth of 
  all commerce goes into the royal treasury. This steep tax keeps most 
  foreign goods out of the hands of the common folk, something the 
  nobles are more than happy to support. After all, how will you know 
  who is common if not by their dress?
  The Royal Galleys are six warships crewed by trained sailors and 
  commanded by nobles holding hereditary rights to the position. While 
  this does allow for a great deal of nepotism, to the Brounthians this is 
  right and proper. A noble ﬁ rst learns war at the feet of their parents, and 
  to the largely land-focused people of the kingdom, naval warfare is such 
  a rare specialization that only those who grew up with it can be trusted 
  to serve as ofﬁ cers.
  MONROVIA, DUCHY OF 
  MONROVIA, DUCHY OF 
  Ruler: Duke Jean d’Auberville
  Government: feudal
  Population: 146,000 (122,710 Berrini, 18,100 other human 
  ethnicity, 2,950 Northlander, 1,100 mountain dwarf, 500 
  halﬂ ing, 350 half-elf, 290 other)
  Monrovia is the northernmost duchy in Brounthia and the one most 
  often raided by Northlanders. Duke d’Auberville has spent tens of 
  thousands of coins on defense of the coast, establishing watchtowers 
  and maintaining knights in the ﬁ eld all through the summer and well 
  into fall. This has bankrupted him and caused much friction between the 
  duchy and the queen. Taxes have been raised, new ﬁ nes implemented, 
  and many freemen and some petty nobles have seen their fortunes 
  disappear into the duke’s hungry coffers.
  This has led to a revolt by the southern nobles, most of whom do not 
  see the value in giving up so much treasure and blood to defend a coast 
  they hardly ever see. The duke has responded in force, even trading land 
  to the Northlanders to gain mercenaries to put down this revolt. That 
  this is a revolt and not simply a border skirmish between two rulers is 
  something the duke is trying to keep outsiders from realizing, especially 
  the Northlanders who might take this as an opportunity to raid or, worse, 
  colonize the coast.
  The seat of the duke is at the city of Monrovia, which sits ﬁ ve miles 
  from the coast. Other than the watchtowers, the duchy no longer has any 
  ports to its name; just last year, the duke transferred the town of Ceaster 
  Pool into Jarl Magnus Hrolfson’s hands as part of a payment for nearly 
  5,000 Northlander mercenaries who served in the duke’s wars against 
  his southern nobles.
  TYLIVAL, FORTRESS OF
  TYLIVAL, FORTRESS OF
  Ruler: Lord Marshal Isarn de le Haché
  Government: military
  Population: 10,150 (Berrini)
  Tylival is a massive fortress standing deep within the World’s End 
  Mountains. It is owned by the queen and manned not by the usual feudal 
  levies but a combination of the kingdom’s two standing armies, the Royal 
  Wardens and the Queen’s Own Marchers. The fortress is the headquarters 
  of both forces and serves as the main recruiting, training, and logistics 
  center of the kingdom. The walls are high and strong, the troops stationed 
  there on alert, and most assume the fortress is impregnable. The walls 
  form a ring that encompasses not only the fortress but also ﬁ elds and 
  pastures. With deep cisterns and sturdy bastions, Tylival is a difﬁ cult siege 
  prospect. The center of the fort is an unnaturally tall tower whose upper 
  levels are closed off to all but the lord marshal.
  The Royal Wardens are the senior force at Tylival and their 
  commander, the lord marshal, governs the fortress. Charged with 
  patrolling the World’s End Mountains and keeping the peace in the 
  region, the Royal Wardens are as much law enforcers as soldiers. They 
  are a heavily armed and armored force, the younger sons of nobles and 
  landless knights, and maintain a high level of readiness. If the kingdom 
  is ever threatened, nearly 3,000 knights and their supporting squires can 
  be called in to the ﬁ eld.
  Standing as a direct opposite in nature and mission are the 
  Queen’s Own Marchers. These light horseman patrol and defend the 
  southwestern border of the kingdom. Riding the edges of the Sea of 
  Grass, the Marchers ﬁ ght nomadic tribes and monsters coming off the 
  steppe lands.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|339
  |339
  THE NORTHLANDS
  Membership is limited to those the queen personally selects, and 
  a great selection feast occurs every spring. Mostly these are freemen 
  of some kind, though foreigners who are willing to take and uphold 
  their oaths are welcome. By long standing tradition upon joining the 
  marchers, a person forsakes their name, heritage, and nationality, and 
  adopts a new identity for the length of their lifetime oaths.
  It might seem odd to station so many soldiers here, as well as base 
  the Marchers so far from the border they are tasked with patrolling. 
  The queens have long been aware of the danger beneath the World’s 
  End Mountains. However, the kingdom needs the gold, iron, tin, and 
  coal found there. The fortress of Tylival was built in case something 
  awakens. In dire need, the entire fortress can be turned into a weapon, 
  with the tall lord marshal’s tower serving as the focal point of a ritual to 
  drain the souls of all within the fortress as it burns the rampaging horror 
  to ash.
  ESTENFIRD
  ESTENFIRD
  Capital: Three Rivers
  Notable Settlements: Nieuburg, Risør, Úlmer, Vöss
  Ruler: Althing of Estenﬁ rd and local Things
  Government: democratic
  Population: 22,200 (22,200 Northlander, small number of 
  dwarves and Nûk)
  Monstrous: giants, drakes, wyverns, linnorms, dragons 
  (Wyrm Fang Mountains); dire animals, barghests, worgs, 
  fey, vlkodlak, megafauna, grimmswine, ajatars, erdhenne 
  (woodlands); trolls, ice trolls (Troll Axe Pass); yeti, remorhaz, 
  vlkodlak (Bloody Pass)
  Languages: Nørsk, Common, Dwarven, Nûk
  Religion: Æsir, Vanir, Ginnvaettir
  Resources: timber, furs, foodstuffs, copper, gems
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  As one of the newest Northlander colonies, Estenﬁ rd is a wild land on 
  the frontier of what the Northlanders call civilization (and considering 
  that the rest of the world thinks of the Northlands as the frontier, that is 
  saying something about its ruggedness). Less a nation than a quarrelsome 
  collection of independent-minded settlers, Estenﬁ rd does not have a 
  køenig or jarl, leaving the local Things and the Althing of Estenﬁ rd as 
  the only semblance of government in the region. Estenﬁ rd ranges from 
  the tip of the Skagerrok Peninsula northwest along the Ice River as far 
  as Nieuburg. Few settlers have pushed beyond Nieuburg, as the climate 
  becomes far too cold for agriculture and the Nûk, although not violent, 
  have made it known that they do not appreciate people moving into 
  their lands. Many brave words are said in the halls of Estenﬁ rd about 
  pushing the Nûk out of the way, but so far none have dared to confront 
  that enigmatic and mystical race.
  The average Estenﬁ rder is a rugged and forthright person inured 
  to hard work and dangerous environments. They are often stern and 
  taciturn, slow to speak, but quick to act. Few Estenﬁ rders go a-viking, 
  as they have plenty of adventure at home. In the southern portions of 
  the region, along the many rivers and on the coast, agriculture takes 
  precedence, and many Estenﬁ rders are farmers or herdsmen. The rivers 
  of Estenﬁ rd are rich in ﬁ sh, but the surrounding waters yield only a poor 
  catch, making this region one of the few that sees little in the way of 
  maritime activity. Inland and in the mountains, fur trapping and logging 
  are the primary industries. In the spring, fur trappers and hunters come 
  down the rivers and gather at Three Rivers and Nieuburg to sell their 
  season’s catch. In the fall, the loggers come down in huge ﬂ otillas of 
  cut timber to sell lumber to merchants from throughout the Northlands 
  and beyond.
  Estenﬁ rders are notorious for their independent ways, a factor that 
  causes worry in the more dictatorial jarls of other regions. There are 
  no jarls in Estenﬁ rd, and to even suggest such a thing is to invite harsh 
  words if not a duel. Many who come to the region do so to escape crimes 
  or feuds or to live as free men and women beholden to and reliant upon 
  none. The local Things meet once a year, drawing in people from the 
  scattered farmsteads and logging camps. The Things of Estenﬁ rd are 
  unique in that they do not have a landholding requirement — there is so 
  much unclaimed land in the region that all a person has to do to become 
  a landholder is to point at a place and say “mine.” Instead, to speak or 
  vote in the Thing, a person must be free and have the sponsorship of 
  anyone who has spoken before at that Thing. The Althing of Estenﬁ rd 
  works in a similar way, only the requirement is that the sponsor has 
  already spoken or voted in the regional Althing. 
  In addition to Three Rivers, Nieuburg, Risør, Úlmer, and Vöss, a 
  number of permanent settlements are scattered throughout Estenﬁ rd. 
  These include the seasonal whaling village of Bräcke on the eastern 
  shore of the Skagerrok Peninsula; the settlement of Hörby, a logging 
  camp established by a native of Storstrøm Vale; the village of Ørsa in 
  the High Vale; and the village of Struer, which sits on the edge of the 
  large pool of water in the Savage River beneath a steep waterfall known 
  as the Maiden’s Tears.
  Estenﬁ rd suffers from several threats, in addition to the long cold 
  winters and general ruggedness of the land. Giants are common in 
  the Wyrm Fang Mountains, as are drakes and wyverns. The general 
  lawlessness of the region promotes independence, but also encourages 
  attacks by outlaws, bandits, and even Northlanders from other regions 
  a-viking along the shore. The gravest threat to date has been the growth 
  of the Beast Cult of Shibauroth, foul worshippers of a demon-god 
  dedicated to bestial violence and mayhem. 
  THREE RIVERS, TOWN OF (CAPITAL)
  THREE RIVERS, TOWN OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: none
  Government: council (Thing of Three Rivers, Althing of 
  Estenﬁ rd)
  Population: 1,640 (1,450 Northlander, 50 elf [Nûk], 40 dwarf 
  100 other)
  The conﬂ uence of the Ice, Wrath, and Savage rivers forms a triangular 
  peninsula of land that is the site of Three Rivers, the largest settlement 
  in Estenﬁ rd. Most of the year, Three Rivers is an almost desolate town, 
  but during the fur trade rendezvous in the spring and logging festival in 
  the fall, the town swells to three times its normal population. Every ﬁ ve 
  years the Althing of Estenﬁ rd meets here and brings in more people as 
  the freeholders of the region gather to conduct trade, hear legal cases, 
  and debate critical matters.
  As beﬁ ts a frontier settlement, Three Rivers is one of the better-
  defended towns in the Northlands. A stout wooden palisade blocks off 
  the landward side, and the militia of the town hirth is one of the most 
  active and best trained in the Northlands. In its short history, giants, 
  werewolves, beast cultists, bandits, vikings, and even a wyrm have 
  attacked Three Rivers. Although the town has been burned to the ground 
  several times, the Althing of Estenﬁ rd has consistently voted to rebuild 
  it each time, and even managed to collect enough donations to make it 
  larger and stronger.
  NIEUBURG, TOWN OF
  NIEUBURG, TOWN OF
  Ruler: none
  Government: anarchy
  Population: 156 (150 Northlander, 6 elf [Nûk])
  Sitting far up the Ice River, Nieuburg represents the farthest extent 
  of Northlander territory. It lies on the very edge of the area claimed 
  by Estenﬁ rd and the lands claimed by the Nûk and acts as a center of 
  commerce and the major point of contact between these two peoples. 
  Every spring, fur traders and trappers gather here to bring in the 
  previous year’s take and to pick up supplies for the next year. In the late 
  summer, loggers gather their ﬂ otillas of cut timber to ﬂ oat downriver 
  to Three Rivers. Nieuburg is a wild frontier town and shows it, with a 
  transient population, ramshackle buildings, and a general ambivalence 
  to authority of any kind. Some ﬁ nd it the freest settlement in the 
  Northlands; others see it as barely contained anarchy.
  
  340|
  340|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE NORTHLANDS
  RISØR, VILLAGE OF
  RISØR, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: none
  Government: anarchy
  Population: 867 (832 Northlander, 34 dwarf)
  Halfway between Vöss and Three Rivers, Risør is a walled village 
  that is rapidly growing into a small town. It is a common stopping point 
  for overland and river-borne trade, and its people have begun to make 
  noise in the local Thing about building a permanent warehouse as well 
  as housing for merchants.
  ÚLMER, VILLAGE OF
  LMER, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: none
  Government: anarchy
  Population: 134 (Northlander)
  This small ﬁ shing village enjoys a deep fjord that affords it a protected 
  harbor. Although not as popular as Vöss, Úlmer does see some trafﬁ c. 
  Most of these are adventurers and other heroes, and the village has 
  become somewhat cosmopolitan in its outlook, assuming the strangers 
  in question have plenty of money and don’t cause trouble.
  VÖSS, TOWN OF
  VÖSS, TOWN OF
  Ruler: none
  Government: anarchy
  Population: 1,367 (1,009 Northlander, 302 other human 
  ethnicity, 56 other)
  As the main port of Estenﬁ rd, Vöss is rapidly growing from a small 
  ﬁ shing hamlet into a town whose size may one day surpass Three 
  Rivers. The local Thing has even voted to construct a breakwater in 
  the Southlander fashion in order to encourage larger merchant ships 
  from those soft (but rich) kingdoms. The people of Vöss are warm 
  and inviting, knowing that only the trade of merchants, whalers, and 
  lumberman provide the wealth their community needs in order to grow.
  GATLAND
  GATLAND
  Capital: Nakøbin
  Notable Settlements: Javik
  Ruler: Jarl Ljot Gatson
  Government: Northlands feudal with an Althing and local 
  Things
  Population: 17,800 (16,900 Northlander, 900 Seagestrelander 
  thralls; small number of dwarves)
  Monstrous: giants, jotund trolls, vlkodlak, dragons, linnorms, 
  primal dragons, grendels, shantaks (Northern Olf Mountains); 
  ogres, giant snapping turtles, draugs, dragonships, fjord 
  linnorms (coastline); whales, reefclaws, trow, sea drakes, brine 
  dragons (Virlik Bay)
  Languages: Nørsk, Common, Dwarven, Seagestrelander
  Religion: Æsir, Vanir
  Resources: furs, coal, iron, plunder
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Three centuries ago when the tribal moots of the Northlanders evolved 
  into the system of government known today as the Thing, not everyone 
  was in favor of the change. True, the Things do not have much power per 
  se, but their social might is very high, especially in Hordaland, Storstrøm 
  Vale, and Estenﬁ rd. One of the leading groups that opposed the growing 
  power of the Things was the Gat clan, who took themselves and their 
  followers and settled a harsh and distant region, naming it Gatland.
  Gatland is ruled by its jarls, all of whom are connected to the Gat 
  clan in some way. Each jarl is a king in his own domain, the undisputed 
  ruler of a piece of territory that contains only those who offer allegiance 
  to him. Even Jarl Ljot Gatson, the eldest of the Gat clan, has no true 
  authority over these petty tyrants, though his economic and military 
  might means that his word is often heeded.
  The land itself supports this sort of locally focused government. The 
  interior of Gatland is dominated by the Olf Mountains, leaving only a 
  coastal fringe capable of supporting farming. Even there, the soil is poor 
  and rocky and forces the people of Gatland to rely on the sea for much of 
  their sustenance. To the sea they have turned, becoming the best ﬁ shers 
  and whalers in the Northlands but also crossing the whale road to trade 
  and raid. In fact, trading/raiding is such an integral part of Gatlander life 
  that some have entirely given up farming.
  NAKØBIN, TOWN OF (CAPITAL)
  NAKØBIN, TOWN OF (CAPITAL)
  Government: overlord, council (Thing of Nakøbin, Althing of 
  Gatland)
  Ruler: Jarl Ljot Gatson
  Population: 1,800 (1,780 Northlander, 20 dwarf)
  Though the dispersed and complex political situation among the Gats 
  means there is no true ruler or capital, the town of Nakøbin — since it 
  is the ancestral home of the leading family of the Gats — is the de facto 
  capital of Gatland. Originally merely the hall of the eldest of the ﬁ ve 
  siblings who founded Gatland, Nakøbin has grown over the generations 
  to become a thriving and prosperous town, complete with a wooden 
  stockade and a permanent wharf/waterfront. The town has grown 
  organically, spreading out from the old town centered on the Five Halls 
  and the Field of the Althing. Merchants and travelers are welcome, and 
  the town even boasts a few inns (actually little more than public hostels) 
  to serve the needs of strangers.
  The Althing of Gatland meets in Nakøbin every year at midsummer. 
  Outsiders derisively call the Althing of Gatland the Allhen Thing, though 
  never in the hearing of any Gats. This is because the Althing of Gatland 
  is almost entirely composed of female representatives. Although the 
  Gats have more than their share of spear maidens and other warrior 
  women, it is the tradition for married women to give up their wandering 
  ways and remain at home to tend their family’s lands while the jarl and 
  menfolk are off a-viking. As the best season for voyages is the summer, 
  the laws of Gatland, as well as legal affairs, are nearly entirely in the 
  hands of the women.
  JAVIK, TOWN OF
  JAVIK, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Granny Ǽstrid
  Government: overlord
  Population: 1,850 (1,245 Northlander, 605 Seagestrelander)
  Gatland’s second city — though really just a large town — Javik is a 
  fortiﬁ ed jarl’s hall that has grown into a full-ﬂ edged settlement thanks 
  to several generations of sound management by the sons and daughters 
  (as well as grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandchildren, etc.) of the 
  legendary Jarl Ǽstrid Gatsdottir. Granny Ǽstrid, as she is known, is 
  still alive, though she does not take part in the day-to-day affairs of 
  her jarldom. Decades ago — how many none really know — Granny 
  Ǽstrid decided she was too old for going a-viking when she lost her last 
  tooth in the sands of the distant Ammuyad Caliphate. Since then, she 
  has turned her genius and energy to cultivating her domain, establishing 
  trade and alliances throughout the Northlands, and watching her horde 
  of progeny grow and, in many cases, grow old.
  The town itself ﬂ ows down toward a wide fjord from the High Hill 
  upon which the sprawling Hall of Ǽstrid stands. Although the size of a 
  town, and functioning much like one in many ways, Javik is governed 
  as if it were a simple jarl’s hall, and nearly everyone in Javik is related 
  by blood or marriage (save the thralls of course). Merchants and other 
  travelers are welcome, but ﬁ nd that the workshops are not storefronts 
  and anything to be purchased must come from the jarl herself or one of 
  her many, many representatives. The prices may be high and often in 
  the form of barter, but travelers should take comfort that Granny Ǽstrid 
  holds the laws of hospitality in high regard and will not turn away the 
  
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  THE NORTHLANDS
  needy, the honorable, or the desperate. There may be no inns, but there 
  is always space for strangers in the hall’s common room.
  HORDALAND
  HORDALAND
  Capital: Halfstead 
  Notable Settlements: Galvë
  Ruler: Køenig Leif Ragison, Regent Gudrid Ragiswif
  Government: Northlands feudal with local Things
  Population: 78,200 (73,100 Northlander, 5,100 Seagestrelander 
  thrall, small numbers of dwarf, giant-blooded, troll-blooded)
  Monstrous: reefclaws, kelp devils, sea spiders, mudmen, 
  trow (coastline); oozes, will-o’-the-wisps, wights, bog hags, 
  shadows, devil dogs, witchﬁ res, catoblepas, bog horses, bog 
  hounds (moors); blood hawks, fey, dire animals, spriggan, 
  grimmswine, vlkodlak, lycanthropes, tatzylwyrms, ajatars, 
  woldgeist (Forest of Woe)
  Languages: Nørsk, Common, Dwarven, Seagestrelander
  Religion: Æsir, Vanir
  Resources: trade hub, shipbuilding supplies, foodstuffs, whale 
  oil, ambergris
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages
  Hordaland is a loosely governed kingdom that is on the brink of 
  collapsing into warring jarldoms. The former køenig, Ragi Steinson, 
  passed away last year after a lengthy illness, leaving behind a 10-year-
  old son as his heir. Young Køenig Leif Ragison rules through his regent 
  mother, Gudrid Ragiswif. The jarls are divided as to their loyalty, with 
  some supporting the køenig, some throwing their might behind Ragi 
  Steinson’s bastard son Amundi the Blond, and still others being courted 
  by the Gats and Hrolfs.
  The Hordalanders are more cosmopolitan than most of the other 
  Northlanders, while remaining true to their Northlander ways much more 
  so than the Hrolﬂ anders. This is in large part due to the city of Halfstead, 
  the Northland’s largest settlement and biggest trading center. Hordalanders 
  are used to seeing strange travelers from distant lands, many of which 
  come and stay for an entire season before sailing off for home. It is not 
  unusual for a Hordalander jarl to host one or more strangers from the 
  Southlands or even the distant Ammuyad Caliphate for the winter, and to 
  do so is often considered a great boon and sign of status.
  However, the people who settled Hordaland came from the Storstrøm 
  Vale, the very heart of Northlander culture. Hordalanders cling tightly 
  to their traditions, seeing every freeholder as his own ruler and giving 
  the jarls only enough power to organize the hirth and see that the 
  kingdom is well managed. The local Things are very popular, and most 
  Hordalanders treat the rulings of the Things as being more law than 
  suggestion.
  HALFSTEAD, TOWN OF (CAPITAL)
  HALFSTEAD, TOWN OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Jarl Olaf Henrikson
  Government: overlord
  Population: 4,750 (4,050 Northlander, 400 Seagestrelander, 
  300 dwarf)
  The capital of Hordaland, Halfstead sits on the end of the Hord 
  Peninsula, practically in the middle of the Northlands. The town is a 
  mixing pot of eastern and western Northlands, as well as one of the few 
  places that dwarves can be seen in any number. The largest settlement 
  in the Northlands, Halfstead is the primary destination for foreigners 
  entering the area, and especially for merchants wishing to trade in 
  furs and timber from Estenﬁ rd, amber from Seagestreland, linen and 
  wool from the Storstrøm Vale, gold from Hrolﬂ and, iron and exotic 
  goods (often loot taken in viking raids) from Gatland, slaves from 
  Seagestreland, or rare reindeer products from Nûkland.
  Halfstead is the closest settlement to being a city in the Northlands. 
  It is a walled warren of streets, shops, and houses that has grown 
  organically and without any attempt at urban planning. Unlike the 
  cities of the south, Halfstead has no urban poor or massive underclass; 
  everybody here either works, starves to death, or leaves. What it does 
  have is a large population of transient sellswords, wanderers, riffraff, 
  and scum. These so-called “adventurers” ﬂ ock to the town in the warm 
  months to supply themselves before setting off across the Northlands 
  in search of their fortunes. Those who make it back often spend their 
  money at shops geared toward the adventuring trade before departing 
  on another wild scheme to make it rich.
  GALV
  GALVË, TOWN OF
  , TOWN OF
  Ruler: Jarl Hrodi the Bald
  Government: overlord
  Population: 1,350 (1,250 Northlander, 100 Seagestrelander)
  Halfstead and Trotheim are the two largest trading centers in the 
  Northlands, and Galvë serves as a safe stopover on the Halfstead to 
  Trotheim voyage. This small settlement is well protected with a stout 
  earthen embankment and wooden palisade, and the jarl of Galvë often 
  sends his warriors out to hunt the surrounding water for vikings, as 
  opposed to raiding themselves. This serves to enhance the town’s value 
  as a stopping-over port, which brings in more-proﬁ table trade. Galvë is 
  a hospitable place, and the jarl is happy to feast merchants who come 
  to visit and even sell goods back to them that were taken from them by 
  vikings — and at fair prices as well. Hrodi is the father of the regent, 
  Gudrid Ragiswif, the mother of young Køenig Leif Ragison. As such, 
  he has a vested interest in seeing the child-køenig maintain his rule and 
  has placed himself and his men at the køenig’s disposal.
  HROLFLAND
  HROLFLAND
  Capital: Osløn
  Notable Settlements: Burgenheim, Ceaster Pool, Tallsinki
  Ruler: Jarl Magnus Hrolfsblood the Bold
  Government: Northlands feudal
  Population: 76,000 (60,900 Northlander, 10,800 
  Seagestrelander thrall, 4,300 other human ethnicity; unknown 
  number of other human in mountains)
  Monstrous: giant crabs, bunyips, merrow, brine zombies 
  (coastline); dire animals, leucrotta, giant pike, grimmswine, 
  giants, trolls, bog hags, vlkodlak, bog horses, bog hounds, 
  erdhenne (Fangerøm River Valley); giants, glacier toads, 
  thrydregs, trollhounds, gargoyles, trolls, nachtjäger, 
  dracolisks, yeti, thunderbirds, blood eagles (Andøvan 
  Mountains)
  Languages: Nørsk, Common, Seagestrelander
  Religion: Æsir, Vanir, Southlander gods
  Resources: foodstuffs, slave trade hub, gold, wool, timber, tin, 
  manufactured goods, silver, quarry stone, whale oil
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages (Stone Age in mountains)
  The Hrolfs, one of the two most widespread and powerful of the many 
  families of the Northlands, exert tight control over this area. The family 
  is vast, and no one member has been able to convince the others to 
  name him køenig and thus establish a third kingdom in the Northlands. 
  Covering the entire Jarvik Peninsula from the Andøvan Mountains to the 
  south to the Straits of Half, lies Hrolﬂ and. The Hrolf clan rules this land 
  with an iron ﬁ st, having either clan members or allies in every region in 
  a position of power. Furthermore, the more powerful family members 
  have begun attempting to institute more feudal systems of government 
  and land management, even going so far as to dissolve local Things and 
  outlaw the formation of an Althing of Hrolﬂ and.
  In order to shepherd their resources and stave off the land-greedy 
  Gats, the Hrolfs have imported ideas and strategies from the Southlands, 
  including employing Southlander mercenaries to ﬁ ght fellow 
  Northlanders. In Hrolﬂ and, one can ﬁ nd the beginnings of a true feudal 
  system, the use of crossbows and siege engines, and nobility who have 
  taken to ﬁ ghting from expensive (and imported) warhorses.
  
  342|
  342|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE NORTHLANDS
  The common people of Hrolﬂ and are little more than thralls at best, 
  kept in bondage to the Hrolfs by vows of obligation. Even the townsfolk 
  owe much of what they produce to their local jarl, who is always a 
  Hrolf. The entire network of related jarls is ofﬁ cially ungoverned; 
  however, Jarl Magnus Hrolfsblood is the predominant member of the 
  clan and exerts a great deal of inﬂ uence. Jarl Magnus fancies himself a 
  king (not the less-powerful Northlander køenig), though he has yet to 
  openly claim that title.
  OSLØN, TOWN OF (CAPITAL)
  OSLØN, TOWN OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Jarl Magnus Hrolfsblood and Jolier Magnuswif
  Government: overlord
  Population: 3,350 (2,500 Northlander, 850 other human 
  ethnicity thrall)
  Osløn is the capital of Hrolﬂ and, and the home of the Hrolf clan. It is 
  also a town rapidly growing into a city and in the process of changing its 
  cultural makeup from that of the Northlands into a fusion of Northlander 
  and Southlander cultures. A large fortiﬁ cation — called a “castle” by 
  the Southlanders — is under construction just south of Osløn, though 
  the process is slow and labor intensive. When completed, it will stand 
  as tall as any Monrovian keep and be the strongest fortiﬁ cation in all 
  the Northlands. The town itself is replacing its log palisade with stone 
  walls, as well as paving its streets with cobblestones. A sewer is planned, 
  but so far digging the necessary trenches has proven problematic in the 
  sodden North Sea climate. 
  Nearly a dozen powerful members of the Hrolf clan live here, mostly 
  in townhouses built to replace the more traditional halls and longhouses. 
  Thralls abound and outnumber freemen two to one, an unusual 
  proportion. In fact, the largest thrall market is here and accepts slavers 
  from Seagestreland, as well as those from distant lands far to the south 
  or across the Great Ocean. The Thing of Osløn still sits, but for the most 
  part has lost what little power it had to the jarls of the Hrolf clan.
  BURGENHEIM, TOWN OF
  BURGENHEIM, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Lord Bothvar
  Government: overlord
  Population: 1,545 (1,200 Berrini, 250 other human ethnicity, 
  95 Northlander)
  Halfstead may be the most cosmopolitan town in the Northlands, 
  but Burgenheim is by far the most developed, at least by Southlander 
  standards. The wooden palisade that surrounds the town is slowly being 
  replaced by one of soaring stone in the Southlander fashion, the local 
  Thing has been replaced by a council of lords (the local term for a jarl) 
  overseen by Lord Bothvar, the jarl of Burgenheim. Serfs work the farms 
  in the area, and freemen are limited to the craftsmen of the cities.
  Trade is the major business of Burgenheim, and the Council of Lords 
  hopes to attract all trade coming to and from the Northlands through 
  their port, which they hope will eclipse Halfstead and the smaller trade 
  moots or towns. Toward this end, they hired engineers from Monrovia 
  to improve the port and docks, build warehouses, and even construct a 
  stone house of worship to Wotan in the fashion of Southlander temples.
  CEASTER POOL, TOWN OF
  CEASTER POOL, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Jarl Nafni Hrolfsblood 
  Government: overlord
  Population: 1,785 (970 Berrini, 615 Northlander, 110 other 
  human ethnicity, 90 other)
  Ceaster Pool, named for the natural lagoon formed behind the town’s 
  bay, was nearly raided and looted into oblivion before the Monrovians 
  developed their watchtower and militia system. Faced with readied, 
  massed crossbow-wielding peasants backed by armored knights, 
  vikings set their sights elsewhere and the town was able to rebuild, 
  becoming a popular stopover for longships heading for easier prey. Over 
  the generations, the people of Ceaster Pool learned that trade with the 
  fearsome Northlanders was beneﬁ cial and so came to welcome the sight 
  of longships pulling into the bay.
  In 3516 I.R., the Duke Jean d’Auberville of Monrovia transferred 
  the town into Jarl Magnus Hrolfson’s hands as part of a payment for 
  nearly 5,000 Northlander mercenaries who served in the duke’s wars 
  against his southern nobles. Due to political inﬁ ghting within the Hrolf 
  clan, rulership of Ceaster Pool passed to Jarl Nafni, a rather traditionally 
  minded Hrolf. Jarl Nafni has since set about turning the town and its 
  surrounding lands into a Northlander jarldom, freeing some serfs, 
  establishing a Thing, and in general upsetting the local culture — 
  especially the local nobility. Rebellion is brewing among all the classes 
  as Jarl Nafni has gone so far as to tear down the “womanly and weak” 
  Southlander churches and build godi houses in their place.
  TALLSINKI, TOWN OF
  TALLSINKI, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Jorund, Jarl of Tallsinki 
  Government: overlord
  Population: 560 (500 Northlander, 60 Seagestrelander thrall)
  Facing Kulding Bay, Tallsinki is a small trade town largely ignored by 
  the leaders of the Hrolf in favor of Osløn and Burgenheim. As such, it is 
  the last bastion of traditional Hrolfs in the Northlands, people who prefer 
  their own ways to that of the Southlanders and the freedom that being 
  a Northlander provides. It is a town of dirt streets built around a central 
  longhouse that is the home of the ruling Jarl Jorund and surrounded by 
  an earthen rampart and palisade wall. The land around Tallsinki is not 
  terribly fertile but provides enough to support a small community.
  NÛKLAND
  NÛKLAND
  Capital: none
  Notable Settlements: none known
  Ruler: none known
  Government: tribal
  Population: unknown
  Monstrous: dire animals, megafauna, adlets, taiga giants, cold 
  fey, moss trolls, winter wolves, sasquatches, grimmswine, 
  bandersnatch, forest drakes, vlkodlak, treants, humbabas, 
  linnorms, ajatars (taiga forest); megafauna, dire animals, 
  winter wolves, hoar spirits, linnorms (tundra); ice trolls, 
  glacier toads, frost giants, cave giants, vlkodlak, yeti, frost 
  worms, sleipnirs, linnorms, dragons, drakes, ajatars (Harﬁ n 
  Mountains)
  Languages: Nûklander
  Religion: nature spirits (primarily Landvaettir)
  Resources: reindeer, gems, timber (unharvested)
  Technology Level: Stone Age
  Beyond the Northlands, indeed at the edge of the world, lies the vast 
  evergreen forests and open tundra of Nûkland. How far it stretches north 
  of its beginnings along a line running from the conifer forest of the 
  Frozen Taiga just north of the Wyrm Fang Mountains to the far ice of 
  the Endless Glacier, no one knows. Nûkland is at least several thousand 
  square miles in extent, and likely more.
  The taiga is home to a variety of large fauna such as saber-toothed 
  tigers, giant beavers, cave bears, and huge palmate-racked deer. The trees 
  of the taiga slowly give way from towering pines and spruces to stunted 
  versions of these evergreens and eventually to clumps of dwarf trees 
  sheltering in any nook or cranny the land provides. The terrain changes 
  from soft pine needle-covered forests to boggy tundra, frozen throughout 
  most of the year and providing fodder only in the short summer.
  On the tundra itself, only the hardiest animals such as arctic 
  wolves, musk oxen, reindeer, giant bears, and the legendary woolly 
  mammoth thrive. Other megafauna have been reported, but many 
  in the Northlands dismiss tales of tigers the size of horses, woolly 
  rhinoceroses, and even giant sloths as just stories. What is known is 
  
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  THE NORTHLANDS
  that strange beasts unlike those found in more southerly climes can be 
  found here, and returning with the claws, fangs, or pelts of such a great 
  beast would put a hero well on the way to having his own saga sung in 
  the mead halls of the Northlands.
  In these lands roam tribes of folk known to the Northlanders as 
  Nûklanders, despite their claims that this name is a mistranslation 
  (a more correct translation would be “People of the Reindeer”). The 
  Nûklanders are a different race than the human Northlanders, a race that 
  foreigners would describe as elven. 
  The Nûklanders are hunters and herders of reindeer, and supplement 
  their diet by gathering wild plants. They are nomadic, traveling as far 
  south as Three Rivers in the winter and heading to the edge of the Endless 
  Glacier in the summer. In addition to providing food and hides, their 
  reindeer are also used as mounts and beasts of burden. Many of the tribes 
  follow a migration route that takes them along the coast, where they prey 
  on seals, walruses, and other sea life that spends its summer on land.
  Although famed basket weavers and leatherworkers, the Nûklanders 
  do not work metal, make pottery, or build permanent structures. Their 
  tools are made from bone, wood, and stone, though trade with the 
  Estenﬁ rders and other Northlanders has introduced metal tools and 
  ceramics into the Nûklander culture. Their homes are conical lodges 
  made of hide with wooden supports, and a whole family from the 
  youngest child to the most respected elder shares one dwelling.
  It would be easy to say that the Nûklanders lack governments of any 
  kind, and for the most part this is true. The idea that one person can 
  command the obedience of many is foreign to them, as it is largely 
  foreign to the Northlanders as well. There is no Nûklander equivalent of 
  a jarl, much less a køenig. Decisions are made in councils that include 
  all adult members of a tribe, and once a decision is made, it is up to the 
  individual if they are going to follow it or not. Beyond the tribe, there is 
  no higher authority, and no one speaks for the Nûklanders as a whole.
  The Nûklanders turn to the spirits of the land for divine aid and 
  spiritual comfort. To a Nûk, the gods turned their backs on them, but 
  the simple spirits of the natural world will never forsake them. Animism 
  is very strong in this faith, and every type of animal or plant, as well 
  as natural features and events, have their guardian spirits. These spirits 
  generally keep to their own spheres; a wolf spirit is concerned with wolf 
  things, not bird things. The tribes’ shamans are tasked with interceding 
  with these spirits in order to placate them or request their aid, though 
  every Nûklander knows some simple prayers (these are not spells, just 
  minor forms of worship).
  SEAGESTRELAND
  SEAGESTRELAND
  Capital: none
  Notable Settlements: Dnipirstead, Stavie
  Ruler: none known
  Government: tribal
  Population: unknown (many Seagestrelander, few Northlander)
  Monstrous: ogres, dire animals, winter wolves, lycanthropes, 
  giants (coastal forest); giant crabs, giant vermin, quipper, 
  carnivorous plants, hags, lizardfolk, trow, shambling mounds, 
  ajatars (Dnipir Delta)
  Languages: Seagestrelander
  Religion: Seagestrelander tibaz
  Resources: slaves, foodstuffs, gems (amber), furs, gold, timber 
  (unharvested)
  Technology Level: Stone Age
  The southwestern coast of Seagestre Gulf is a wild region known 
  as Seagestreland, the home to the savage barbarians known as the 
  Seagestrelanders. These people are not Northlanders, and live by herding 
  and farming in the rich forestlands along the coast. For generations, 
  there has been a mixed relationship between the Northlanders and the 
  Seagestrelanders. Longships come to trade, bringing iron tools and 
  luxury goods to exchange for gold, furs, amber, and slaves. Sometimes 
  the Northlanders arrive and just take what they want, which causes the 
  Seagestrelanders to be very wary of the approach of a longship.
  Numerous temporary trading posts along the Seagestreland coast are 
  inhabited for a few weeks or months during the year. Only one of these 
  is a permanent settlement that sees trafﬁ c year-round and, even then, the 
  winter population is small. 
  DNIPIRSTEAD, VILLAGE OF
  DNIPIRSTEAD, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: Jarl Alvi Gyrdson
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 136 (125 Northlander, 11 Seagestrelander thrall)
  For those embarking on a journey up the Dnipir River, Dnipirstead 
  serves as the jumping-off point, the last Northlander settlement before 
  the wilds of Seagestreland and the Sea of Grass beyond. The land around 
  the village is very fertile, and several families have settled here, building 
  small walled farmsteads and beginning the core of a growing colony. 
  It is not just Northlanders and their thralls that can be found here, for 
  the peoples of the Sea of Grass have learned that trade is better than 
  being raided, and come here around at midsummer for a general trade 
  moot. Some years, there are even travelers from the distant Ammuyad 
  Caliphate, though as yet no true merchants have arrived from that far-
  off land.
  STAVIE, HAMLET OF
  STAVIE, HAMLET OF
  Ruler: none
  Government: council
  Population: 45 (40 Northlanders, 5 Seagestrelander thrall)
  Stavie is a poor, rustic affair of crude wooden buildings surrounded 
  by a far-sturdier palisade and ditch. It is a jumping-off point and small 
  trading post for merchants and vikings working the Seagestreland coast. 
  During the summer, it is a bustling marketplace where fur, amber, and 
  thralls are unloaded, bought, and loaded onto ships bound for larger 
  markets, especially at Halfstead and Trotheim. Overseeing this activity 
  is Knut the Lame, a Hordalander who had his left leg crushed by a giant 
  bear in Estenﬁ rd many summers ago. Knut owns Stavie and takes a cut 
  from all trade conducted there, but he also manages the trading post and, 
  alongside his thralls, is the only winter resident.
  STORSTRØM VALE
  STORSTRØM VALE
  Capital: Trotheim
  Notable Settlements: numerous villages, steadings, and 
  jarldoms
  Ruler: Althing of Storstrøm Vale with individual jarls and local 
  Things
  Government: Northlands feudal
  Population: 119,000 (112,000 Northlander, 7,000 
  Seagestrelander thrall, unknown number of Mongat raiders 
  along the Hardöen River, small number of dwarves)
  Monstrous: giant crabs, gulper eels, reefclaws (coastline); giant 
  pike, leshies, monstrous crayﬁ sh, bog mummies, bog hags, 
  bog horses, bog hounds, erdhenne (Storm River Valley); giant 
  scorpions, amphisbaena, giants, ogres, bhuta, nachtjäger, 
  yrthaks (Waldron Mountains); dire animals, giants, thrydregs, 
  glacier toads, trollhounds, gargoyles, trolls, nachtjäger, 
  dracolisks, yeti, thunderbirds (Andøvan Mountains)
  Languages: Nørsk, Common, Dwarven, Seagestrelander
  Religion: Æsir, Vanir
  Resources: foodstuffs, wool, Trondheim ponies, silver, iron, 
  linen, chalk, ironwork, gems (primarily alabaster)
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  The long valley of the Storm River runs from the lower slopes of the 
  Waldron Mountains to the North Sea. It is the longest-inhabited and most 
  heavily-populated area in the North, and as such is often considered the 
  heart of the Northlands. There is currently no køenig of Storstrøm Vale, 
  
  344|
  344|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE NORTHLANDS
  but in times past, one or another jarl amassed enough power to claim the 
  crown. Today, Storstrøm Vale is divided into a host of petty jarldoms, 
  each vying with the others to become powerful enough to claim the 
  title of køenig. The local Things exert a great deal of authority, often 
  challenging the jarl for power. Many of the Things’ jurisdictions cross 
  the boundaries of more than one jarldom. The Althing of Storstrøm Vale 
  meets once every 10 years, and is the scene of some of the most heated 
  political battles in the Northlands, for it is the vote of the Althing that 
  decides who shall wear the crown. More than once over the years, these 
  votes have resulted in spilled blood.
  Storstrøm Vale is the cultural heartland of the Northlands, the place 
  where the Northlanders’ society as it exists today originated and where 
  Northlander social mores ﬁ nd their greatest expression. While the coasts 
  of the Hord Peninsula are nearly as densely settled, and the Gatlanders 
  are the epitome of the viking ethos, the Vale-folk are the standard by 
  which all others are judged. The largest godshouses and the burial cairns 
  of some of the Northlands’ greatest heroes can be found here, and it is 
  the setting for many of the most popular ballads sung by the skalds.
  A wealthy and industrious land, Storstrøm Vale is rich in good 
  farmland and pasturage for their famed sturdy ponies, has plentiful 
  ﬁ shing offshore and in the Storm River, and even has access to iron and 
  silver in the Waldron Mountains. The land is deﬁ cient in only two things: 
  true wilderness (though the foothills of the mountains are somewhat 
  wild) and room. Every generation sees individuals or entire families 
  leave Storstrøm Vale seeking their own land in less-crowded regions.
  Several generations ago, a band of heroes fought a sect of the Beast Cult 
  in the heart of Storstrøm Vale, defeating the vile cultists and freeing the 
  upper reaches of the Storm River from the grip of the God of Blood and 
  Beasts. The center of the cult’s worship was a great stone idol depicting 
  Shibauroth sitting atop a massive runestone, images of his bestial 
  followers and their victims coiled below him like the scales of some huge 
  wyrm. The totem disappeared after the cult leader was slain, but has since 
  appeared time and again where the Beast Cult ﬁ nds a new home. After a 
  local sect of the cult is defeated, the totem again vanishes, only to appear 
  again in some out-of-the way location. Every appearance seems to draw 
  in new cultists, calling to fell beasts and perverted souls alike.
  TROTHEIM, TOWN OF (CAPITAL)
  TROTHEIM, TOWN OF (CAPITAL)
  Government: jarl and council (Thing of Trotheim, Althing of 
  Storstrøm Vale)
  Ruler: Jarl Gyrthyr the Even-handed
  Population: 3,980 (3,663 Northlander, 212 Seagestrelander 
  thrall, 105 dwarf)
  Sitting on an island at the mouth of the Storm River is the town of 
  Trotheim. The second-largest settlement in the Northlands, Trotheim 
  serves as the economic and political center of the Storstrøm Vale. Here, 
  the Althing of Storstrøm Vale meets and, when there is a køenig, where he 
  holds court. The Hall of the Køenig dominates the center of town, which 
  although grand in scale, has fallen into disrepair over the decades. Every 
  year the Thing of Trotheim brings forth a motion to have it refurbished, 
  but each time the vote either fails to pass or no one acts on the decision. 
  The remainder of the island is crowded with marketplaces, storehouses, 
  and the “city” dwellings of the most powerful and inﬂ uential people in 
  Storstrøm Vale.
  Although not as populous or cosmopolitan as Halfstead, Trotheim 
  sees merchants from across the Northlands and beyond. The harbor is 
  not the greatest, and the location is out of the way for most west-to-
  east trafﬁ c, but the economy is in some ways more robust. Storstrøm 
  Vale is a rich agricultural land, shipping away a surplus of grains, 
  fruits, processed foods, ﬁ sh, and wool. Likewise, the many jarls are 
  constantly squabbling and jockeying for social position. Having grander 
  halls, ﬁ ner clothes, and better retainers can elevate a middling jarl to 
  greater importance, or bankrupt a social climber and force him back 
  into the pack. These two factors — economy and wealth — bring in 
  the merchants, and many who stop at Halfstead proceed on to Trotheim 
  with their most expensive and luxurious goods.
  THE HALL OF JARL ANUD CURSESPEAR
  THE HALL OF JARL ANUD CURSESPEAR
  Population: 1,550
  Ruler: Jarl Anud Cursespear
  Government: overlord
  The hall is grand and well-placed. It sits in the Storstrøm Vale on the Ume 
  River, a lesser tributary of the great Storm River. The hall also lies near the 
  sea, and Jarl Anud’s land reaches inland from the coast for a fair distance. It 
  is a rich land, with many well-tended farms, expanses of wooded land, and 
  prosperous ﬁ shing villages. The people are generally happy and content, 
  and Jarl Anud is strict but fair and rules his people well.
  The hall itself is a large and ornate affair, with the main hall and several 
  outbuildings encompassed by a wooden stockade and surrounded by a 
  shallow trench. The stockade is made from well-dressed timber brought 
  from Estenﬁ rd at great expense, stands 30 feet high, and has a covered 
  walkway around the outside. The stockade sits on a low earthen mound 
  eight feet in height fronted by a shallow trench six feet deep with a 
  bottom of mud and water. The water level is only ﬁ lled by periodic 
  rains or snow melts, and thus the trench is dry in the summer, contains 
  approximately 15 inches of water most of the year, and becomes topped 
  off by snow in the winter.
  The main hall towers over the stockade, its central support a single 
  ancient tree cut in Estenﬁ rd 20 years ago. The beam is nearly eight feet 
  thick and runs from the front of the hall to the back, nearly a hundred 
  feet in length. The hall rises 50 feet above the ground, a remarkable 
  height for a building in the Northlands. The roof is of thatch, but the best 
  thatch available, and is replaced twice annually. Every exposed surface 
  is adorned with carvings of the gods, animals, the jarl’s more honorable 
  exploits, fantastical beasts (many of which the jarl has slain), and 
  famous scenes from the sagas. The best of these carvings are accented 
  in gold and silver, obvious displays of the jarl’s wealth and power. 
  The hall is divided into four main sections, a main hall that reaches 
  up through two stories and is surmounted by a balcony that runs the 
  entire interior of the hall, several rooms off the main hall that are used 
  to host important guests, rooms for servants to prepare food and drink, 
  and ﬁ nally the second ﬂ oor, where the jarl, his family, and his closest 
  retainers have their rooms. Such luxuries as private rooms are almost 
  unheard of in the Northlands, and a sign of the jarl’s wealth.
  Beyond the Great Hall, the settlement consists of several outbuildings, 
  barracks, workshops, and other assorted structures. Although only a 
  jarl’s hall, the population and industry rival that of small towns and 
  forms not just the political center of the jarl’s domain, but the economic 
  as well. 
  THE HEARTH STONE
  THE HEARTH STONE
  The Storm River splits into two branches roughly halfway along 
  its length and reforms again several miles farther downstream. At the 
  split stands a great stone of pitted black rock that is as hard as iron yet 
  seems to ﬂ oat and bob upon the waters like a giant cork. This rock is 
  known as the Hearth Stone, for legend holds that it was the home of the 
  ﬁ rst Northlanders following Swein Sigurdson, the mold and forge from 
  which the gods made them, and the center of the Northlands. If this is 
  true, it happened so far back in the distant past that none can truly call it 
  naught but legend, save those who come there to call upon the gods, and 
  the godi who have built a mighty godshouse that spans the river.
  The Hall of the Hearth Stone is the most sacred shrine of the Northlands. 
  If Storstrøm Vale is the heart and guardian of Northlands culture, then 
  the Hall of the Hearth Stone is the heart and guardian of Storstrøm Vale. 
  It was here that the beginnings of Northlander culture took shelter as it 
  fought off the troll-kin that inhabited the vale, and from here that the ﬁ rst 
  køenig of Storstrøm Vale and eventually the ﬁ rst and only high køenig 
  of the Northlands was acclaimed. It is said if there is ever to be a high 
  køenig again, then it will be when a worthy hand wields the sword of 
  Kraki Haraldson, entombed only a few miles upstream from this hall. The 
  wyrd of the Northlands has always centered upon this place. 
  From one side of the mighty Storm River to another, a massive 
  construction of wood, the only bridge that crosses that great river, 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  THE NORTHLANDS
  straddles both forks of the waterway and brings pilgrims to stand 
  directly above the Hearth Stone. A clan of godi whose ancestors spent 
  40 years constructing it manages this godshouse/bridge. Pilgrims are 
  allowed entrance provided they give an acceptable donation. Once 
  inside, they see one of the wonders of the Northlands, for every inch of 
  the structure is carved with depictions of the gods, as well as monsters, 
  villains, and heroes. The entire history of the Northlands can be seen 
  here, and as new events of import occur, they are added, even if a new 
  room needs to be constructed. Young members of the Hearthsons clan 
  spend the early years of their adulthood traveling the Northlands to learn 
  of — and often participate in — important events. Oddly, although so 
  much of the history of the Northlands can be learned from studying the 
  carvings inside the godshouse, the room that once held the origins of 
  the Gat-Hrolf feud collapsed into the river and was washed away many, 
  many generations ago, leaving that a mystery to the current generations.
  THE TOMB OF HIGH KØENIG KRAKI HARALDSON
  THE TOMB OF HIGH KØENIG KRAKI HARALDSON
  On a manmade hill overlooking the Storm River, not far from the 
  Hall of the Hearth Stone, sits the tomb mound of Kraki Haraldson, 
  the ﬁ rst and only high køenig of the Northlands. Well before the 
  Northlanders expanded far beyond the borders of the vale — for in that 
  time Hordaland, Gatland, and Hrolﬂ and were the far frontiers — one 
  jarl rose up and united the entire Northlands under his banner. Kraki 
  Haraldson was a fearsome warlord, a feared sea reaver, and a brilliant 
  politician. His might united even the feuding Gats and Hrolfs, as well as 
  hundreds of independent jarls. 
  Not all were happy with this state of affairs and, following a decade of 
  rule, a cabal of oath-breakers who styled themselves as freedom ﬁ ghters 
  assassinated the high køenig. The families of these assassins ﬂ ed and 
  settled the land that is now Vastavikland. The high køenig was laid to 
  rest in a magniﬁ cent tomb that was in turn buried under tons of earth in 
  order to keep his wight safe or, as some say, safely inside. To date, none 
  has dared to open the barrow, despite the legends that speak of untold 
  riches and, more alluring, Kroenarck, the sword of the high køenig — a 
  weapon that some say would make its owner the second high køenig of 
  all the Northlands.
  VASTAVIKLAND
  VASTAVIKLAND
  Capital: Smølsünd
  Notable Settlements: Volskøl (varies)
  Ruler: Kol the Redhanded, Køenig of Vastavikland 
  Government: Northlands feudal
  Population: 22,400 (Northlander)
  Monstrous: barracuda, devil kelp, sea hags (coastline); dire 
  animals, ﬁ re giants, megafauna, mountain trolls, thrydregs, 
  nachtjäger, thoqqua, devils, volcano giants, grendels, red 
  dragons, blood eagles (Olf Mountains); whales, kelpies, trow, 
  sea hags, dragon turtles (Bornhølm Sound)
  Languages: Nørsk, Common, Dwarven
  Religion: Æsir, Vanir
  Resources: plunder, gold, gems
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Harsh, rugged lands breed hard, strong people, and no land is as harsh 
  and rugged as Vastavikland. Estenﬁ rd may have its deep forests and tall 
  mountains, and Nûkland its vast snow-covered tundra, but Vastavikland 
  surpasses them all in natural wonders that can kill. The Olf Mountains 
  do not so much roll toward the sea as march down to do battle, forming 
  steep cliffs cut only by narrow fjords. Small holdings ﬁ ll every habitable 
  and arable inch of these valleys, but even so there are always more 
  mouths than the land can support. Thus, the Vastaviklanders have 
  developed a culture centered on raiding and trading the steady but tiny 
  trickle of gold that ﬂ ows down melt-water streams from the glacier-
  choked mountains.
  To say that Vastaviklanders are violent is an understatement; jarls 
  and køenigs are chosen by ritual combat. Men and women are raised 
  to become warriors, and even the few thralls are trained to ﬁ ght. Every 
  spring, hundreds of longships set sail; those that come back bring much-
  needed supplies; those that don’t reduce the number of mouths to feed 
  during the winter.
  SMØLSÜND, TOWN OF (CAPITAL)
  SMØLSÜND, TOWN OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Kol the Redhanded, Køenig of Vastavikland 
  Government: overlord and althing
  Population: 780 (Northlander)
  This town is the largest settlement in Vastavikland and is the traditional 
  seat of the køenig, as well as the Althing of Vastavikland. It is little more 
  than a grand hall and supporting structures, all built on top of a great 
  earthen mound originally constructed by the ancient Andøvan. A stout 
  stockade surrounds the settlement, for in Vastavikland even the seat of 
  the køenig is not immune to attack.
  The current ruling monarch is Kol the Redhanded, a huge brute of a man 
  who has spent the years before and since his ascension to the throne as one 
  of the most-feared vikings to ever sail out of the North Sea. Kol does not 
  so much rule here as he favors Smølsünd as his wintering port — when he 
  does return for the winter, that is. This suits the people of Vastavikland, as 
  they are not ones to accept an overly active or intrusive køenig.
  In the absence of their monarch, most of the regular governance 
  — what little there is — falls to the Althing. Like other lands in the 
  Northlands, the Althing of Vastavikland is made up of all freemen of the 
  region and has very little authority to enforce its decrees. This suits the 
  Vastaviklanders well, as most issues can be handled by duels or ongoing 
  feuds. Even when a lawsuit or other issue is brought before the Althing, 
  the coastal-dwelling freemen dominate attendance, and thus control the 
  ﬂ ow of debate.
  VOLSKØL (SEASONAL TRADE MOOT)
  VOLSKØL (SEASONAL TRADE MOOT)
  Ruler: none
  Government: anarchy
  Population: 1,000–1,500 (varies)
  For most of the year, nothing is here but an open ﬁ eld and the remains 
  of last year’s Grand Festival. In the late summer months, people ﬁ lter 
  in and set up tents, and by harvest time, Volskøl becomes a thriving 
  tent city of traders, farmers peddling their harvest, skirmishing bands of 
  warriors, and vikings fresh back from the raiding season. All manner of 
  folk come to Volskøl from across the Northlands and even far beyond. 
  Like most of Vastavikland, the law here is based on force and might, 
  though open theft and brigandage (at least within Volskøl) is generally 
  met with violence from all and sundry. The Grand Festival ends with the 
  ﬁ rst harvest moon and a huge bonﬁ re party where the tents of this season, 
  as well as a portion of every trade or deal made, is burned in offering 
  to Wotan for his wisdom and might. This, of course, is followed by a 
  three-day revel of drunkenness that sees many of the non-Northlander 
  visitors quietly slipping away before the jovial mood changes, as well as 
  the thorough destruction of the camp.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS 
  OF INTEREST IN THE NORTHLANDS
  OF INTEREST IN THE NORTHLANDS
  ANDØVAN MOUNTAINS
  ANDØVAN MOUNTAINS
  Separating Hrolﬂ and from the Kingdom of Brounthia and its Duchy 
  of Monrovia and from Storstrøm Vale, these tall mountains act as a 
  natural barrier between the Northlands and the Southlands. At their 
  eastern edge, they descend into rolling hills that permit some overland 
  trade between the Hrolfs and the peoples of Brounthia and Monrovia. It 
  is said that in ages past, the ﬁ rst Northlanders explored these mountains 
  and fought wars against the tribes that held them. Ruins of the Andøvan 
  
  346|
  346|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE NORTHLANDS
  peoples can be found in the mountains, as well as the remains of ancient 
  battles and possibly the burial places of mighty heroes or powerful 
  artifacts. The mountains are still home to some wild, savage humans, 
  though no one has seen them in recent years. Giants and trolls abound, 
  but have learned to give the slopes facing Hrolﬂ and, Brounthia, and 
  Storstrøm Vale a wide berth.
  BORNHØLM PENINSULA
  BORNHØLM PENINSULA
  Most of Gatland lies on the Bornhølm Peninsula, a steep, cliff-faced 
  peninsula cut by many small fjords. From the sea cliffs, the land rises 
  sharply up to form the Olf Mountains, which leaves little or no room for 
  ﬂ at or arable land. Small villages and halls can be found in nearly every 
  fjord, and the headlands frequently house lookout towers. In general, 
  the Bornhølm Peninsula is a dreary, fog-shrouded place of dangerous 
  waters, hidden rocks, and small bays teaming with those who either are 
  a-viking, returning from a-viking, or are soon to be a-viking.
  DNIPIR RIVER
  DNIPIR RIVER
  The Dnipir River, which ﬂ ows down to the North Sea through the 
  Sea of Grass and onward from a source far south, is the Northlanders’ 
  main highway into Seagestreland and beyond. It is a wide, lazy, and 
  meandering stream, the mouth of which is a tangled delta of shifting 
  islands and swamps. Strange creatures lurk here, including animals 
  of great size and ferocity, hordes of ﬂ esh-eating frogs, and deadly 
  snakes as long as three spears. The river itself is not without peril, for 
  despite its broad expanse, it is very deep in the center and home to ﬁ sh 
  of extraordinary size. Among these ﬁ sh is the famed river sturgeon, a 
  monster of the depths that can grow to more than 300 pounds and whose 
  salted eggs are considered a delicacy in the Northlands and beyond.
  Deep in the marshes that form the delta of the Dnipir River is a simple 
  cottage inhabited by a kindly, but somewhat mad, old woman. This 
  woman, one of the three daughters of the Norn Skuld and a mortal hero, 
  exists to offer aid and comfort to heroes on glorious quests. Those daring 
  enough to brave the dangers of the swamp may ﬁ nd aid, information, or 
  just a warm place to sleep — provided, of course, that she doesn’t kill 
  them ﬁ rst.
  FANGERØM RIVER
  FANGERØM RIVER
  Thundering out of the Andøvan Mountains and plunging down a 
  series of stony hills and steep waterfalls, the Fangerøm River was long 
  thought to be too wild for travel and too unpredictable for agriculture. 
  A generation ago, the Hrolfs hired Southlander engineers to come in 
  and build dams, canals, and irrigation networks to allow the rich ﬁ elds 
  alongside the river to be farmed. These engineers are still at work, 
  turning the lower expanses of this thundering river into arable land. 
  However, the area has so long been uninhabited that it has become 
  home to giants, trolls, and other monstrous creatures. In order to keep 
  the project going, the Hrolfs must continually contend with the threat of 
  attack, a prospect that threatens to drain the coffers of the Northland’s 
  wealthiest clan. Recently, the Hrolfs began offering hacksilver bounties 
  on the heads of giants and trolls, encouraging would-be monster slayers 
  from the Northlands and beyond to ﬂ ock to the area.
  FOREST OF WOE
  FOREST OF WOE
  Though much of central Hordaland is lightly forested, at the southern 
  end of the Hord Peninsula is a deep, dark ancient forest that separates 
  Hordaland from Storstrøm Vale. It is a haunted and dangerous place 
  ﬁ lled with monsters of every description, ruined Andøvan hill forts, 
  and wild fey. The Forest of Woe is avoided by all sane people, and its 
  existence cuts overland travel between the two neighboring regions. 
  Despite a reputation for danger and evil, small handful of settlements 
  are found along the forest’s edge. Freesteaders cut and burned pocket 
  farms, each surrounded by stout palisades and home to rugged and ever-
  watchful folk. Outlaws often ﬂ ee into the forest, though few live long 
  enough to form permanent settlements. Rumor has it that a settlement of 
  freeholding giant-blooded and troll-blooded outcasts exists somewhere 
  in the depths of the forest, but its existence has yet to be veriﬁ ed.
  FORTÖN RIVER
  FORTÖN RIVER
  The Fortön River ﬂ ows out of the Waldron Mountains to join the 
  Hardöen and thus form the Storm River. Its upper reaches are a series of 
  cascades fed by springs and melting snow, but the river quickly tames 
  as it descends into the vale proper. The mountain slopes it ﬂ ows over 
  are high in iron ore that tinges the river a reddish color. After the milky 
  waters of the Öster join the Fortön, the combined water becomes a 
  light pink. This odd coloration disappears shortly after the Fortön ﬂ ows 
  together with the Hardöen.
   HARDÖEN RIVER
   HARDÖEN RIVER
  One of the three rivers draining from the Andøvan Mountains, the 
  Hardöen is a sluggish stream that provides fertile farmland along its 
  widely space banks. However, it lies far from the heart of Storstrøm Vale 
  and is a deﬁ nite frontier. Bandits, fell beasts, trolls, and giants are not 
  unknown, and the people are more rugged than the Valers from farther 
  downstream. Five years ago, a large horde of mounted Outlanders called 
  the Mongat found a pass through the mountains from the Sea of Grass to 
  the southwest and terrorized the region until the hirth of the vale formed 
  up and marched against them. A few survivors of these Mongat raiders 
  still survive and harry the outlying farmsteads.
  HARFIN PENINSULA
  HARFIN PENINSULA
  This unsettled peninsula juts out into the North Sea, shifting the 
  winds and currents, and sending cold weather south into Hordaland and 
  Storstrøm Vale. The Harﬁ n Peninsula is covered in steep mountains, 
  dotted with hot springs, and home to several volcanoes, among them 
  Mount Helgastervän, which is also known as the Mountain of the Great 
  Serpent. None live here, not even trolls and giants, and mad, wild beasts 
  roam at will. Legends say that some of the beasts are so bizarre that they 
  have ﬂ esh and blood of living ﬁ re.
  HORD PENINSULA
  HORD PENINSULA
  Centrally located on the North Sea, the Hord Peninsula is sometimes 
  considered the heart of the Northlands despite the cultural prominence 
  of neighboring Storstrøm Vale. The coastal areas slope gently down 
  to the sea and are dotted with hundreds of tiny anchorages. These 
  coastal lands are also very fertile and crossed by several small streams 
  that ﬂ ow from the interior. As a result, they are densely settled and 
  cut up into nearly a hundred jarldoms, some rather petty, some grand 
  (such as the jarldoms of Halfstead and Galvë). The central portion of 
  the peninsula is lightly wooded, though only in the southern regions 
  where lies the Forest of Woe can it be truly considered a forested area. 
  As a result of the presence of this ominous woodland to the south, 
  most of the settlements are concentrated in the central and northern 
  areas or along the coasts.
  In the center of the peninsula, the trees become sparse in a marshy 
  upland that is called the Moors. A portion of these moors is dry with 
  ﬁ rmer footing and holds the area known as the Barrow Lands, which 
  are generally considered a haunted and evil place. Beyond the settled 
  lands, a thin fringe of forest, either not yet cleared or intentionally left 
  wild, permits hunting and logging without venturing into the forest to 
  the south.
  Toward the northern end of Hordaland lies a series of low hills 
  that resemble the knuckles of a gigantic troll pushing its hand out 
  of the ground. These stony and barren hills are home to bandits 
  and monsters. Lying outside of the boundaries of any jarl, the 
  Trollﬁ st Hills are often the refuge of outlaws cast out of Northlander 
  civilization. A small path winds its way through the hills and leads to 
  the Barrowlands beyond.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  THE NORTHLANDS
  ICE RIVER
  ICE RIVER
  Flowing out of its source somewhere in the distant tundra of Nûkland, 
  the Ice River is the main artery of Estenﬁ rd. For most of the year, the 
  river is a frozen sheet of thick ice that thaws for only a few months in 
  the spring and summer before refreezing in early autumn. Even during 
  the winter, the river serves as a means of transport as skiers, skaters, and 
  sleds move up and down between villages. In the early spring, the river 
  begins to thaw starting from the south and working its way north, with a 
  simultaneous thaw occurring near Three Rivers as the Savage and Wrath 
  rivers help break up the ice. During the thaw, the river is impassable as 
  house-sized blocks of broken ice ﬂ oat toward the sea.
  JOMSBURG ISLAND
  JOMSBURG ISLAND
  The lair of the feared Jomsvikings, Jomsburg is a fortress-city perched 
  high above the North Sea. Tall, thick walls surround the city, even on the 
  seaward side, and the Jomsvikings spared no expense in the construction 
  of their defenses, even going so far as to import priceless siege equipment 
  from the Southlands. These siege engines throw stones large enough to sink 
  a ship or shatter a shieldwall. The city proper is on the cliffs; however, a 
  second city exists in a network of caves that lead from the main fortress 
  through the cliffs to the sea caves below. It is in these sea caves that the 
  Jomsvikings bring their longships and beach them in safety. The sea caves 
  are strongly defended with underground fortiﬁ cations and massive chains 
  that can be stretched across their mouths in order to block attacking ships. 
  A further defense is the nature of the caves themselves, for their entrances 
  are difﬁ cult to spot and their passages are a maze of narrow winding watery 
  tunnels. They are also allegedly home to the mysterious Jomsbeast.
  The Jomsvikings themselves are notorious vikings and mercenaries 
  who terrorize the Northlands and beyond with impunity. They are a 
  tightknit brotherhood that swear blood oaths to each other and to their 
  master, Jarl Ut the Fat. These pirates and cutthroats refuse to abide by 
  any law but their own and live a life of debauchery and slaughter, taking 
  what they want and crafting no goods, growing no food, and providing 
  no useful services themselves — other than rapine and slaughter. Only 
  the most desperate jarl would dare hire the Jomsvikings, and so most 
  of the brotherhood spends at least part of the year in the service to the 
  nobles of the Southlands or the distant Ammuyad Caliphate.
  The Jomsburg is home to more than just the Jomsvikings and the 
  Jomsbeast, for in a series of caverns on the southern cliffs of the island 
  lives Old Meg, one of the three daughters of the Norn Skuld. Old Meg 
  is a wizened, insane hag who offers deadly challenges to prove the 
  mettle of those who come to her seeking aid. Those who pass receive 
  information, items of magical potency, and respect from a half-divine 
  entity. Those who fail are never heard from again, for not only do they 
  lose their lives, but their very souls as well.
  KULDING BAY
  KULDING BAY
  This large bay sees a great deal of shipping, and thus is prone to 
  raiders and vikings. However, this threat is well known and the jarls 
  that border its waters know to take precautions. Ships travel between 
  Storstrøm Vale, Hordaland, and Hrolﬂ and, the three most prosperous 
  of Northlander regions. The presence of so many ships belonging to 
  the Hrolfs draws in raiders from Gatland, and they do not always ask 
  allegiance before attacking a vessel.
  Sven Oakenﬁ st was a notorious raider and viking of the previous 
  generation who was slain in a raid by a stripling boy (the boy grew 
  up to be Jarl Arnud Cursespear). The vikings buried their chieftain in 
  a massive three-part barrow along Kulding Bay. Legends say that the 
  wight of Sven Oakenﬁ st sleeps uneasy, but they also tell of the great 
  fortune buried with him.
  LAKE BERRING
  LAKE BERRING
  The center of Brounthia is the region around Lake Berring. This 
  fertile land watered by the Red Rivers is divided into hundreds of noble 
  estates, some not much larger than a farmstead in other nations. Bound 
  peasants — commoners whose service and labor has been given to a lord 
  in exchange for protection and care — work most of these. However, 
  along the lake’s edge are many small villages of ﬁ shermen who are by 
  law and tradition freemen.
  The ﬁ shermen of Lake Berring are a hardy bunch. The water is cold, 
  and the lake often wracked by storms blowing in off the Great Ocean. 
  No shallow puddle this, Lake Berring is as deep as the sea and large 
  enough to produce large waves.
  In addition to the natural dangers of working on the water, Lake 
  Berring is also home to ﬁ sh of gargantuan scale. Catching one of these 
  deep-dwelling giant sturgeons is a battle worthy of song, a deed that 
  makes the deep-water ﬁ shermen more like whalers than anglers. Should 
  one bring up such a leviathan and get it safely to market, then one’s 
  fortune and fame are set, as are the fortune and fame of one’s children 
  and grandchildren.
  LØLN RIVER
  LØLN RIVER
  One of three rivers of Storstrøm Vale that drains from the Andøvan 
  Mountains, the Løln River is also one of the ﬁ ercest. Dropping out 
  of the mountains, it falls rapidly toward the Storm River over six 
  high waterfalls that each form a deep pool at its base. Between these 
  waterfalls, the river is swift but still provides more than enough water 
  for the surrounding villages. Twenty years ago, the jarls of the Løln 
  River gathered together with the local Things to bring in waterwheels 
  from the Southlands to harness the power of the falls and the river. This 
  led to a boom in the area as mills and other water-powered devices 
  began to alter the local means of production. All the jarls and Things 
  that invested in their construction own these mills jointly, and the cost 
  of their maintenance is borne by a similar contract. Use is free to any of 
  the signing Things or jarldoms.
  LOWER RED RIVER
  LOWER RED RIVER
  This long river winds down out of the World’s End Mountains to 
  empty into Lake Berring. The spring ﬂ oods overﬁ ll the banks and spread 
  fresh soil across the ﬁ elds of the nobles who dwell here. It is on this great 
  ﬂ ood plain that the wars of the nobles are fought. These ceremonial and 
  religious conﬂ icts allow land to change hands, rights to pass from one to 
  another, and disputes to be settled in an organized manner.
  There are laws to the War of Banners, rules that deﬁ ne who may ﬁ ght 
  and who may not. The queen or her agents set numbers, equipment, date, 
  and location. These are designed to make the ﬁ ght fair, but also to limit 
  the trampling of crops and destruction of the land. Most often, battles 
  take place on prepared land set aside for the purpose, and many nobles 
  maintain a small ﬁ eld just for the War of the Banners. On the day of battle, 
  each side defends its banner against attacks. Should a banner be captured, 
  the issue is decided. Often weapons are rebated for these conﬂ icts; no 
  sense in anyone getting killed, at least not any one important.
  MOUNT HELGASTERVÄN
  MOUNT HELGASTERVÄN
  This towering volcano sends forth a constant cloud of smoke and ash 
  that can be seen for miles out to sea. The land surrounding it is rent with 
  ﬁ ssures that pour forth colored smoke and steam, rife with hot springs 
  bubbling with sulfurous water, and prone to earthquakes that level 
  ridges and rend the earth. Legend says that the Great Serpent, a wyrm 
  of enormous size and age, lairs somewhere in the mountain. These same 
  legends tell of a great store of treasure taken from passing ships and the 
  ancient Andøvan, but what hero is brave (or foolish) enough to venture 
  into the Gates of Hell to retrieve it?
  MOUNT JURDERHEIM
  MOUNT JURDERHEIM
  The tallest mountain in the Northlands, Mount Jurderheim is in the Olf 
  Mountains, and is said to be unscalable by a mere mortal. Many heroes 
  and would-be heroes have tried, and all died on its slopes, their frozen, 
  
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  348|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE NORTHLANDS
  wind-scoured corpses eventually found by the next group of fools. It is 
  well known that some great wyrm lairs near the summit and does not 
  take kindly to intruders into its domain. Still, the promise of fame and the 
  chance at one of several lost treasures said to be either in the beast’s lair or 
  elsewhere on the mountain attract new victims every generation.
  MOUNT REIK
  MOUNT REIK
  Mount Reik, an active volcano in the Olf Mountains, while dwarfed by the 
  nearby Mount Jurderheim, is still notable for the constant plume of smoke 
  that rises from its gaping maw of a peak. The surrounding land is famous 
  for its hot springs and sulfurous waters, as well as frequent earthquakes. 
  Although other volcanoes exist in the Olf Mountains, Mount Reik is the 
  largest and most active. It has rarely erupted in recent memory, but this just 
  seems to mean that such an eruption is likely long overdue. The raw blood 
  of the earth ﬂ ows beneath Mount Reik’s slopes and draws wizards and other 
  less-savory types from across the world that seek to capture some of this 
  lava for use in their magic. It is said that a great beast of living ﬁ re dwells 
  within the mountain, but none has ever claimed to have seen it.
  NORTHERN OLF MOUNTAINS
  NORTHERN OLF MOUNTAINS
  Like the southern arm of the Olf Range, the northern arm is a rugged 
  collection of steep mountains that slope precipitously down to the sea 
  to form narrow fjords and high valleys. Unlike the southern range, the 
  north is less prone to volcanism. The land is still dangerous and home to 
  all manner of fearsome beasts as well as trolls, giants, and some of the 
  largest wyrms seen in the Northlands.
  NORTH SEA, THE
  NORTH SEA, THE
  Part of no speciﬁ c land, but central to all, the North Sea is the 
  lifeblood of the Northlanders. The whale road of the Great Ocean Ûthaf 
  and the infamous Northern Passage ﬁ nds its terminus in the North Sea, 
  and the waves that lap upon the rocky shores of the Seal Coast ﬁ nd their 
  genesis in those same cold waters. For the Northlanders whose culture 
  and sustenance relies upon the tradition of going a-viking, the North 
  Sea is their highway and their escape route. The lives and livelihoods 
  of a great portion of the population of the Northlands rides in longships 
  upon the eddies and currents of the North Sea, and as its tides pull so 
  too does their fate.
  While the waters and cold are capable of quickly killing those that 
  fall in for long, that is not the only danger that the dark waters hold. 
  Storms are swift and sudden on the North Sea, and these gales have left 
  the wreck of many a longship of doughty warriors upon some desolate 
  shore or at the bottom of Rán’s domain. As a result, ghost ships crewed 
  by draug and worse haunt the campﬁ re tales of many a stalwart sword 
  brother, and it is not unknown for brine zombies to rise from the surf 
  on a foggy coastal night. In the deeper waters, brine dragons, devilﬁ sh, 
  grindylows, sea drakes, sea serpents, dire sharks, dragon turtles, gigantic 
  specimens of octopi and squids, and even the legendary krakens pose 
  hazards for the merchants, ﬁ shermen, and raiders alike that ply the sea’s 
  steel waves and freezing spray. The sea is a ﬁ ckle mistress, from the 
  secrets she holds to her deadly children, and even the mightiest køenig 
  dares not forget to pay her homage.
  OLF MOUNTAINS
  OLF MOUNTAINS
  These rugged mountains stretch from the forests of Seagestreland in 
  the south well into Gatland in the north, and possibly beyond. For the 
  most part, they are tall and steep, with tops capped with snow year-round. 
  Between the mountains are thousands of small valleys fed by melt water 
  and springs. In these dells dwell the hardiest of the Vastaviklanders, 
  hardworking souls who don’t mind living far removed from the rest 
  of Northlander society. Each vale has its own jarl that gives grudging 
  obedience only to the køenig in Smølsünd (if they give even that). The 
  people of the mountains are freemen one and all, and often deride their 
  coastal cousins for keeping thralls.
  All of Vastavikland is subject to earthquakes and other seismic 
  activity, but no part more so than the depths of the Olf Mountains. Hot 
  springs are not unheard of, nor for one of the mountains to suddenly 
  show itself to be a sleeping volcano, in addition to the many already-
  known volcanoes. This, combined with long winters (long even for the 
  Northlanders), giants, wyrms, and other deadly creatures, makes the Olf 
  Mountains one of the most-dangerous regions in an already deadly part 
  of the world.
  ÖSTER RIVER
  ÖSTER RIVER
  The shortest river in Storstrøm Vale, the Öster is considered by many 
  to be the least desirable of the rivers in the region. Its ﬂ ow is rendered 
  milky and opaque by the gypsum it picks up as it tumbles down out 
  of the Waldron Mountains — that is, when it is ﬂ owing at all. A very 
  seasonal river, the Öster River often dwindles to a trickle during the 
  summer months, is a thundering tangle of trees and animal carcasses 
  in the spring melt, and has been known to disappear completely during 
  droughts.
  RUBY RIVER
  RUBY RIVER
  Flowing down out of the southern end of the World’s End Mountains, 
  the Ruby River carries red-tinted silt down from those eroding heights 
  to meet the broad ﬂ at gleam of the Silver River beneath the heights of 
  Craghold. The Ruby is a small river whose rapid pace and low banks 
  often lead to overﬂ ow during the spring rains and snow melt. This ﬂ ood 
  fertilizes the ﬁ elds along its length, though at some risk of carrying 
  away livestock and homes.
  By longstanding tradition, the Ruby River is not divided up into 
  noble estates. Instead, it has the largest collection of freeholdings in 
  the kingdom. These small farmsteads have grown over the generations 
  and although not true noble estates, marriages and outright purchase of 
  land has merged many of the small farms into larger bodies. These are 
  not worked by bound peasants, the owners are not nobles after all, but 
  landless freemen.
  Trolls, giants, and other monsters occasionally wander into the Ruby 
  River valley from the World’s End Mountains. Those living along the 
  river have learned to be vigilant and to defend themselves as there are 
  no knights ready to ride out, and the people tend toward hardy self-
  reliance. This sense of independence permeates all of the Ruby River 
  freeholdings, and the people here never seem to be able to organize in 
  any way that might put their common needs ﬁ rst.
  SAUDB RIVER
  SAUDB RIVER
  Flowing along Storstrøm Vale’s western border, the Saudb River is 
  a quiet, peaceful stream whose banks are dotted with small jarldoms 
  and freemen farmsteads. It can be said that the people living here have 
  lost much of what other Northlanders consider the true nature of the 
  Northlands, for the wilds of the Saudb have been tamed, the land is 
  fruitful, and even the winters are mild. However, this region does tend 
  to breed an unusual number of heroes and would-be heroes who ﬁ nd the 
  contentment of the vale too much and thus leave to ﬁ nd new fortunes in 
  more dangerous lands.
  SAUØK RIVER
  SAUØK RIVER
  This short river serves little purpose other than to fall out of the 
  Waldron Mountains and feed the Storm River. Few people live along 
  its length, for the river is too narrow and too ﬁ lled with rapids and 
  cataracts to be navigable. The surrounding mountains are still mostly 
  wild and unexplored, home to fur trappers, hardscrabble farmers, and 
  the occasional troll or giant band. Rumors of ancient dwarven cities and 
  mines near the headwaters of the Sauøk have long drawn those seeking 
  glory and fortune, but as yet, none have found anything other than tree-
  ﬁ lled valleys and rocky slopes.
  
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  THE NORTHLANDS
  SAVAGE RIVER
  SAVAGE RIVER
  Tumbling down from the Wyrm Fang Mountains, the Savage River 
  lives up to its name with white-capped ferocity. Despite its speed 
  and many rocky stretches, the spring ﬂ oods tend to smooth out the 
  rapids and allow loggers to ﬂ oat large rafts of timber down to Three 
  Rivers. The rest of the year, the river is unnavigable but does have 
  the distinction of being the only free-ﬂ owing body of water during 
  Estenﬁ rd’s long winters.
  SEYDIFORD PENINSULA
  SEYDIFORD PENINSULA
  A near twin of the Bornhølm Peninsula to the north, the Seydiford is 
  a wild and rugged place largely unsuited to human life, and inhabited 
  by giants, trolls, and worse. Of course, it is also the homeland of the 
  Vastaviklanders, and few people call it by its proper name, conﬂ ating 
  the entire Peninsula with Vastavikland. This is not quite true, as 
  Vastavikland is much larger than just the one peninsula.
  SILJØN RIVER
  SILJØN RIVER
  This river runs from the Andøvan Mountains, through the fertile 
  plains that make up the heartland of Hrolﬂ and, and on into the North Sea 
  in several lazy loops and turns. Along its route, it is fed by the Tynseid 
  and Fangerøm rivers, gaining strength if not speed as it twists toward 
  its mouth at the Bay of Osløn. Due to the Siljøn River’s slow crawl 
  and gentle nature, it is a favorite waterway for the interior of Hrolﬂ and 
  and also serves to bring stone and timber down from the Andøvan 
  Mountains in order to feed the many construction projects underway in 
  and around Osløn.
  SILVER RIVER
  SILVER RIVER
  Flowing from one of the larger seeps in the southeastern part of the 
  Sea of Grass and fed by the Ruby River to the north, the Silver River 
  empties into the Norwold Gulf at Landisport. Along its journey to the 
  sea it passes by noble estates, small freeholds, and the city of Craghold. 
  A wide ﬂ at river, the Silver sees many rover barges carrying the products 
  of the land to Landisport and the goods from across the Great Ocean 
  back up to Craghold.
  SKAGERROK PENINSULA
  SKAGERROK PENINSULA
  Most of Estenﬁ rd lies on this peninsula bordered on the west by the 
  North Sea and the east by the Great Ocean. High cliffs and rocky reefs 
  protect nearly the entire coastline, allowing entrance into the interior 
  only at three points. At the tip of the peninsula lies the mouth of the Ice 
  River and the small village of Vöss. The seasonal whaling village of 
  Bräcke is on the eastern shore. The eastern cliffs are broken by a long 
  pass called the Gap that runs down from the valley of the Ice River to 
  the sea at the village of Úlmer.
  STORM RIVER
  STORM RIVER
  The mighty Storm River, so named for its annual spring ﬂ oods, is the 
  heart of Storstrøm Vale, and thus in the minds of many, the true wellspring 
  of the Northlands. It is along these banks that Northlander culture ﬁ rst 
  developed, and today this river’s banks are covered with the farms and 
  ﬁ elds of jarldoms and clans that are many centuries old. There is not 
  one scrap of true wilderness along the entire length of the river, though 
  carefully managed woods allow for hunting and the gathering of forest 
  resources. Travelers are advised of two facts: First, the people along this 
  river hold the customs of hospitality to a high standard and thus welcome 
  worthy travelers into their halls and homes. Second, there is not a piece 
  of land that does not belong to someone, and trespassers are not welcome 
  — indeed, they are unworthy sorts who don’t have enough honor to 
  understand the rights of property. Stick to the roads or the river and be on 
  your best behavior when you journey along the Storm.
  TYNSEID RIVER
  TYNSEID RIVER
  This tributary of the Siljøn is much like its master, slow and curving, 
  and more than fertile enough by any standards. The entire length from 
  the foothills of the Andøvan Mountains to the mouth of the river as 
  it ﬂ ows into the Siljøn is farmed. In generations past, the jarls of the 
  Tynseid raided overland into Monrovia, but today they are content to 
  enjoy the proﬁ ts of their thrall-worked farms and the peace their clan 
  enjoys with their southern neighbors. Most of the farms are large affairs, 
  as the jarls of the Tynseid have absorbed lesser landholders over the 
  years to create huge plantations worked by thralls bought at the market 
  in Osløn.
  ÚME RIVER
  ÚME RIVER
  This small river ﬂ ows out of the Andøvan Mountains and into the 
  Storm River. It plunges rapidly down to Storstrøm Vale and ambles its 
  way pleasantly through lush ﬁ elds and small wooded lots until gently 
  easing itself into the greater stream. Some of the prime jarldoms and 
  holdings in the vale are here, especially along its northern banks, as one 
  could easily lay claim to land that stretches from the Úme to the shores 
  of the North Sea.
   UPPER RED RIVER
   UPPER RED RIVER
  The Upper Red River ﬂ ows in a series of falls and cataracts down 
  from the craggy Andøvan Mountains to ﬂ ow a short rapid length into 
  Lake Berring. It is much too fast of a river to make water travel easy for 
  all but its last few miles. Those nobles who live along it have long been 
  seen as somewhat rustic compared to the ﬁ nery of the Lake Berring 
  nobility of the cultured martial tempers of the Lower Red River nobles.
  Despite lying well within the borders of the kingdom, the Upper Red 
  River has always been a more rugged place. The nobility here often 
  work their own land, and freemen farmsteads are common. Where the 
  rest of the kingdom has strict class divisions, the Upper Red nobility 
  are used to working closely with their vassals and often side-by-side in 
  the ﬁ elds.
  VINDELSALVEN RIVER
  VINDELSALVEN RIVER
  Like the Dnipir River, this river ﬂ ows through the forests of 
  Seagestreland and off into the Sea of Grass. Its source is far to the west 
  across the Sea of Grass. Some Northmen and, in particular, Vikings 
  from Vastavikland use the Vindelsalven and the Grand Portage between 
  Lake Hargos and the Shimmering River to travel to the Gulf of Akados 
  for trade or plunder.
  WALDRON MOUNTAINS
  WALDRON MOUNTAINS
  These great snow-capped peaks and the rain-deprived lands in their 
  shadow act as a barrier between the Northlands and the Sea of Grass. 
  They are also the source of the many rivers that ﬂ ow through Storstrøm 
  Vale, including the mighty Storm River that forms on their lower 
  slopes where the Fortön and Öster meet. The mountains themselves are 
  forested on their northern slopes, but the south-facing parts of the range 
  fall within the mountains’ rain shadow. Indeed, one of the wonders of 
  the Northlands is that despite all the rain that falls upon the Waldron 
  Mountains, it all seems to run off to the north, leaving the area beyond 
  the range a desolate wasteland of cold desert until reaching the fertile 
  lands along the Dnipir River.
  Trolls and giants, as well as other monstrous creatures, inhabit the 
  mountains. Long ago, before the coming of even the ancient Andøvan, 
  the Waldron Mountains were home to a dwarven kingdom of some 
  magniﬁ cence. According to Northlander legends, it is through this 
  kingdom that some of the wandering tribes that were the ancestors of 
  the Northlanders came, following a great tunnel beneath the mountains 
  to the light of Storstrøm Vale at the other end. This tunnel, and all the 
  lost dwarven holds and mines that are said to be in the Waldrons, have 
  never been found.
  
  350|
  350|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE NORTHLANDS
  WHALING BAY
  WHALING BAY
  Several varieties of whales can be found here during the summer 
  months, and whalers from as far away as the Ammuyad Caliphate come 
  to hunt the mighty beasts. A rare few Nûklanders have been known to 
  take to the sea in their curious skin boats in order to harpoon a leviathan 
  and drag it on shore, a feat many Northlanders view as being very brave 
  (and which they have not managed to successfully emulate). In recent 
  years, some small skirmishes between the Estenﬁ rder whalers and 
  interlopers from other lands have occurred.
  WORLD’S EDGE MOUNTAINS
  WORLD’S EDGE MOUNTAINS
  Legends hold that in the farthest extents of the north, far beyond even 
  Nûkland or the fabled wonders of the Far North, lies the very edge of the 
  world, a vast wall of mountains beyond which there is nothing. It is also 
  said that if one were to travel to these distant peaks and cross them, one 
  can take off and set sail among the stars, even to the very abodes of the 
  gods. Of course, if one were to do this, one would rank among either the 
  greatest fools or greatest heroes of the Northlands. Either way, no one 
  known has made this journey and returned to tell of it.
  WORLD’S END MOUNTAINS
  WORLD’S END MOUNTAINS
  These ancient and worn-down mountains stand at the southeastern 
  edge of the Kingdom of Brounthia along the coast of the Norwold Gulf. 
  The tallest of the World’s End Mountains stands a mere 10,000 feet 
  high, not nearly as impressive as the Andøvans to the north. Even so, 
  these mountains present a rugged barrier that prevents overland travel to 
  the Principality of Pelshtaria.
  The mountains are rich in gold, granite, and other useful minerals. 
  Iron mines delve deep beneath the mountains, as do others seeking tin 
  and coal. These mines are owned by lords from Brounthia and worked 
  by a mixture of condemned criminals and freemen. It is illegal under 
  royal law to employ bound peasants in mining, and the Royal Wardens 
  frequently patrol the area looking for transgressors, illegal mining 
  operations, and dangerous monsters.
  The World’s End Mountains are not rich in monsters, though trolls, 
  giants, and other threats can be found here. The true danger lies not 
  on the surface but deep beneath the stunted peaks. In the earliest days 
  of the world, the gods had many failures in their quest to create life. 
  These failures were entombed beneath what was at that time the greatest 
  mountain range in the world. As eons passed, these towering mountains 
  slowly eroded. The terrors trapped there have not been released, and if 
  left alone might not until the end of the world. However, the Brounthians 
  mine deeper and deeper every year, and as mining technology improves, 
  it is only a matter of time before one of these tombs cracks open and the 
  world meets an early end.
  WRATH RIVER
  WRATH RIVER
  If the Savage River is furious, the Wrath River sets a new deﬁ nition 
  for angry water. At no time, and at no place, is this river navigable, 
  from its source high in the eastern Wyrm Fangs until it reaches the Ice 
  River at Three Rivers. This rapid-ﬁ lled ﬂ ow plunges down countless 
  waterfalls, tumbles over several cataracts, and only occasionally forms 
  small pools where the water slows from thundering to merely fast. Were 
  it not for its remote location, the Wrath River would be an excellent 
  location for Southlander-style water mills.
  WYRM FANG MOUNTAINS
  WYRM FANG MOUNTAINS
  Estenﬁ rd is loomed over on all sides by the Wyrm Fang Mountains, 
  towering snow-capped peaks that might as well have been carved out of 
  gigantic blocks of granite and dropped onto the Skagerrok Peninsula. 
  Below the perpetual snow is a wide band of windswept rock that drops 
  steeply down to the mountains’ shoulders. It is on these shoulders that 
  a fortune in timber grows among the many hanging valleys and hidden 
  dales formed by the interlocking lower slopes of the mountain range. 
  The forests also abound in game with red deer, moose, wolverines, 
  bears, and other animals being common, as well as the rare megafauna 
  that Estenﬁ rd is so well known for. These mountains are also home to 
  wicked creatures such as giants, trolls, wyrms, and all manner of deadly 
  and vicious monsters. Those foresters who hunt and lumber here are 
  hardy souls, their bodies hardened by the harsh winters and steep slopes, 
  and their hearts calloused by the deaths of so many friends and loved 
  ones. It should be no wonder that the Beast Cult of Shibauroth has taken 
  root in this isolated and punishing land.
  WYRM FANG ROCKS
  WYRM FANG ROCKS
  Sheer cliffs and the stony reefs of the Wyrm Fang Rocks protect the 
  western coast of Estenﬁ rd. These reefs are large tooth-like rocks that 
  just up above the high tide mark, or just below it. Many ships have 
  been driven onto the rocks over the years, and rumors hold that brave 
  men might be able to salvage great treasures from these frigid waters. 
  Rumors also speak of undead and sea trolls populating the wrecks, so 
  it would be wise to be wary and stout of heart in equal measures when 
  exploring these locales.
  BEYOND THE NORTHLANDS
  BEYOND THE NORTHLANDS
  YRSA’S ROCK
  YRSA’S ROCK
  Out on the Great Ocean, not far from where the North Sea ﬂ ows out to 
  join the world sea, lies the fabled abode of Yrsa the Fair, one of the three 
  Daughters of Skuld the Norn. Yrsa waits on this pillar of stone jutting out of 
  the sea, chained at the summit and guarded by a fearsome beast. She lives 
  as a test of the courage, heroism, and good manners of would-be heroes and 
  rewards those who rescue her with boons and wisdom. Those who fail are 
  consumed by the wyrm that guards her. Much is to be gained from rescuing 
  Yrsa, but be warned, she only rewards those who come to her for the best of 
  intentions and who treat her with utmost grace and respect.
  The location of Fair Yrsa’s Rock is not common knowledge, but those 
  steeped in wisdom and learning maybe able to piece together its general 
  location somewhere in the Cymu Current far south of the Cymu Islands 
  but nearly due east of Halfstead.
  CYMU ISLANDS
  CYMU ISLANDS
  The Cymu Current is a warm-water current that ﬂ ows past the mouth 
  of the North Sea and heads northeast toward distant and unknown lands. 
  The Oestryn Isles are said to lie in that current, but many hold them to 
  be just a legend, or a confusion of the real Cymu Islands with a dream of 
  ﬁ ction. The Cymu Islands are a small chain of volcanic islands that lie 
  in the middle of the Cymu Current. They are lush gardens, heated from 
  the warm waters of the sea and from the boiling rock within their hearts. 
  Strange animals are known to inhabit these islands: lizards and snakes 
  of grotesque size, birds that have no feathers, and even lizards that walk 
  like men. The Northlanders rarely visit the Cymu Islands, though their 
  location is well known and often used as a place of refuge for those 
  blown far out to sea or who have chased whales or merchant vessels too 
  far from more regularly traveled sea lanes.
  BIG BAY ISLAND
  BIG BAY ISLAND
  Capital: none
  Ruler: The Lizard Queen
  Government: theocracy
  Population: unknown number of lizardfolk
  Monstrous: snakes, poisonous frogs, giant lizards, animated 
  trees and plants
  Languages: Reptilian
  Religion: Worship of Lizard Queen
  Resources: game, ﬁ shing, fresh water, anchorage
  Technology Level: Stone Age
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|351
  THE NORTHLANDS
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  |351
  THE CYMU ISLANDS
  THE CYMU ISLANDS
  
  352|
  352|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  THE NORTHLANDS
  The island that most Northlanders are familiar with, Big Bay Island 
  is named for its large protected bay that lies along its eastern edge. The 
  opening to Big Bay is deep and clear of obstruction, making it easy 
  to navigate and nearly impossible to close off. A broad beach ﬁ lls the 
  interior arc of the bay and provides plenty of room to bring longships 
  ashore and set up camps. Streams of fresh water runoff from the 
  mountainous interior of the island, the jungles are ﬁ lled with game, and 
  fruit trees grow along the margins.
  All in all, Big Bay Island is a perfect oasis for sailors. So ﬁ ne is the 
  anchorage that whalers often speak of making a visit part of their regular 
  trade as opposed to an occasional place of refuge. However, something 
  always seems to cause such talk to sputter out. No ship that has put into 
  the bay has tarried longer than necessary, nor have merchants thought to 
  set up even the crudest of settlements to see to the needs of Northlanders 
  and other whalers.
  Unbeknownst to the human visitors to the island, Big Bay Island is 
  home to a group of lizardfolk.
  HARSSST VILLAGE
  HARSSST VILLAGE
  Ruler: High Priest Lorrsst
  Government: theocracy
  Population: 738 (lizardfolk)
  Sitting at the base of the Quiet Mountain on Big Bay Island, Harssst 
  is a small village of lizardfolk dedicated to the worship of the Lizard 
  Queen, their ruler and deity. The village is situated on a large lagoon 
  that connects to Big Bay via a narrow channel. This places them in fear 
  of discovery by visitors coming to the bay, but so far, the thick jungle 
  that the lizardfolk encourage to grow between their village and the bay 
  has deterred investigation and concealed the village from casual view.
  IOISSIK VILLAGE
  IOISSIK VILLAGE
  Ruler: High Priestess Gahssst
  Government: theocracy
  Population: 1,419 (lizardfolk)
  This village lies deep in the jungles of Big Bay Island, far from the 
  few trails that visitors frequent. It sits atop a small stream that rolls 
  down from a ﬁ ssure in one of the mountains in the island’s heart. A 
  peaceful village, the lizardfolk of Ioissik spend their days hunting the 
  jungles, tilling their ﬁ elds of cassava, and praying to the Lizard Queen.
  NATHSSIK VILLAGE
  NATHSSIK VILLAGE
  Ruler: High Priest Ssirossik
  Government: theocracy
  Population: 1,312 (lizardfolk)
  Not the largest village on Big Bay Island, but by far the most highly 
  organized. Nathssik sits near the Temple of the Sinking Waters on the 
  western slopes of Quiet Mountain. It is an outlier for the followers of 
  the Lizard Queen, as it is both the westernmost of the villages and the 
  one hardest to reach. A long spur of the mountain prevents easy travel, 
  and only one pass is seasonal at best. When the rains come in the spring 
  and fall, the pass is ﬁ lled with rampaging water. During the winter, ﬂ ash 
  ﬂ oods are common.
  TEMPLE OF SINKING WATERS
  TEMPLE OF SINKING WATERS
  Ruler: The Lizard Queen
  Government: theocracy
  Population: 291 (lizardfolk)
  The caldera of Quiet Mountain is home to a sprawling temple 
  complex built by some long-dead civilization. The lizardfolk of Big Bay 
  Island have long used the site as their capital, naming it the Temple of 
  Sinking Waters after the extinct volcano’s receding lakes. Only a small 
  part of the temple is inhabited, while walls of rubble serve to keep at bay 
  whatever strange things lurk in the shadowed depths.
  The Lizard Queen rules her domain on Big Bay Island from a throne of 
  giant reptile bones and other totemic trinkets. She is an old and powerful 
  sorceress, and her people worship her as a god. However, the Lizard 
  Queen is getting long in tooth and fears one of her many children might 
  try to move along their succession. To prevent such an end, she has 
  begun researching a means to gain immortality, or failing that, lichdom.
  BIG BAY
  BIG BAY
  This large protected bay sits on the eastern coast of Big Bay Island 
  and provides a ﬁ ne natural harbor. It is much frequented by Northlander 
  ships in distress or those seeking a respite from whale hunting, or for 
  those seeking a place to render their catch. Food and fresh water are 
  plentiful, and the shore slopes well for pulling a knorr onto the beach.
  QUIET MOUNTAIN
  QUIET MOUNTAIN
  Quiet Mountain was once a volcano as active and ﬁ erce as any other 
  in the Cymu Islands, but it has been millennia since the mountain last 
  erupted. Few quakes rattle its slopes, and it is a rare and terrible day 
  when gases or ash spew forth. The caldera at its peak holds a large lake 
  that drains away in the dry season only to reﬁ ll when the rains come. 
  Where the water goes none knows, but to the lizardfolk who live there, 
  this is as it has always been. 
  STINKING PLAINS
  STINKING PLAINS
  A massive break in the jungle formed by the Stinking Plains extends 
  northeast from Quiet Mountain. A ﬁ nal eruption before the volcano went 
  quiescent left a large lava plain that cut its way nearly to the sea. Beneath 
  this ﬁ eld of broken igneous rock and scattered obsidian patches lies a 
  new hotspot that boils waters from deep in the earth and sends them up 
  as geysers of steam, sulfurous pools, and the occasional burst of lava. 
  The lizardfolk of the island rarely visit here, but the same civilization 
  that built the ruins they named the Temple of Sinking Waters dwelled in 
  this land and stumps of their towers protrude out of the plains.
  THE CLAW
  THE CLAW
  Capital: Vasten’s Hall
  Ruler: Jarl Vasten the Fat
  Government: overlord
  Population: 23 (Northlander)
  Monstrous: none
  Languages: Nørsk
  Religion: none
  Resources: none
  Technology Level: Iron Age
  Nine years ago, Vasten the Fat was leading a deep-sea whaling 
  expedition when a sudden storm of unprecedented ﬁ erceness blew his 
  knorr far out to sea. Damaged and taking on water, the ship limped 
  along back toward Estenﬁ rd, but a second storm came along and tossed 
  the crippled ship onto the Claw, a Cymu Island named after its rough 
  shape of a three-ﬁ ngered hand reaching across the sea.
  One of the lowest lying of the islands, the Claw presents a poor place 
  to make a home. With their ship destroyed and the island lacking in tall 
  trees suitable for crafting another, Vasten the Fat ordered his crew to 
  set up a new home here. The living is poor, as the soil is unsuited for 
  agriculture and passing storms regularly rip across the rocky island.
  VASTEN’S HALL (CAPITAL)
  VASTEN’S HALL (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Jarl Vasten the Fat
  Government: overlord
  Population: 12 (Northlander)
  Jarl Vasten is mad. He rules over a hall that is not much more than 
  a lean-to of driftwood timbers laid against a stony hillside. Those of 
  his crew who remain are either as mad as him or captives to the terror 
  inﬂ icted upon them. Cannibalism is common, and the jarl and his 
  followers are not above hunting the narrows and straits around the Claw 
  for other castaways. These they take back to their refuse-ﬁ lled home 
  for torture and consumption. When no other meal is in the ofﬁ ng, they 
  subsist on crabs, mussels, rats, and each other.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  THE NORTHLANDS
  SHIPWRECK BAY
  SHIPWRECK BAY
  Tucked inside one of the peninsulas that give the Claw its name, Shipwreck 
  Bay is a trap laid by the gods or some demon, at least in the minds of the 
  sailors who have heard of it. From the outside, the bay looks inviting, deep, 
  and not too narrow, with a stone shore that slopes gently up to a break in the 
  cliffs that line the island. The deception is quickly discovered upon entering, 
  for the current is swift and varies as it runs across the sunken boulders that 
  line the bay’s bottom. These boulders are well rounded by the currents, but 
  nonetheless are massive enough to stave in the hull of any ship that attempts 
  to make the passage. Even the beach is a trick, for the rocky slope lies over 
  an underground stream and proves a treacherous purchase for foot or keel. 
  PINE ISLAND
  PINE ISLAND
  The most northern of the Cymu Islands, Pine Island is not warmed as 
  much by the current as other islands in the chain. That being said, it is still 
  much warmer than an island at its latitude should be, and sports a large 
  forest of tall pines that covers all but the highest reaches of the towering 
  Dragon Mountain. What visitors come to the island seek the tall pines or 
  hunt the seals that rest on its gravel beaches. Several small inlets provide 
  a sheltered anchorage, though none as deep or safe as Big Bay.
  SIGIRD’S CAMP
  SIGIRD’S CAMP
  Ruler: Sigird Bjorgsdöttir
  Government: council
  Population: 8 (Northlander)
  Refugees from the hall of Jarl Vasten the Fat, Sigird’s Camp on Pine Island 
  is tucked into one of the valleys carved by small streams running off Dragon 
  Mountain. It is a well-ordered camp, but just a camp, and the dwellings are 
  log-and-canvas cabins that the residents are constantly improving. Sigird led 
  a group of the jarl’s crew away one night in a canvas and pitch-bottom boat. 
  They hoped to make for Big Bay, but the waves and current carried them 
  north. Landing at last on Pine Island, the small band moved inland to escape 
  recapture and sought protection from the mighty storms that plague the 
  islands. They established a small camp there with a few gardens but not much 
  else. Sigird hopes to one day build a seaworthy vessel and escape back to 
  Estenﬁ rd, but the rigors of simple survival leave little time for other projects.
  DRAGON MOUNTAIN
  DRAGON MOUNTAIN
  Named for the shape of its peak and the plumes of smoke that 
  occasionally boil out of it, Dragon Mountain is an active volcano that sits 
  along the northern edge of Pine Island. Taller than the other mountains 
  that dot the Cymu Islands, Dragon Mountain can be seen from miles out 
  to sea and is often used as a landmark for navigation. Old sailors say that 
  if you can see Dragon Mountain you have gone too far, for past it lies the 
  open ocean and the unknown of the Far North.
  SMOKING ISLAND
  SMOKING ISLAND
  All of the Cymu Islands have volcanoes, but many are either dormant 
  or extinct. The one that stands above Smoking Island is neither, as 
  evidenced by the constant plume of smoke and ash that rises from its 
  summit. The slopes of this mountain are riven by cracks that spew forth 
  hot, acidic water and occasionally rivers of lava. The island is subject to 
  frequent quakes, sinkholes, geysers, and other seismic activity.
  The jungles of Smoking Island are some of the richest and densest in 
  the Cymu Islands. Strange creatures live here alongside giant reptiles, 
  insects of incredible size, and primitive ape creatures. The Northlanders 
  avoid the place despite tales of lost cities and great treasure.
  T’KUMEL, CITY OF
  T’KUMEL, CITY OF
  Ruler: Prince Havrash
  Government: overlord
  Population: 23,491 (grey apes)
  Smoking Island is home to more than just animals and primitive 
  ape people. A civilization, said to be ancient, dwells in the interior and 
  struggles to survive against eruptions, quakes, and the hungry jungle. 
  T’Kumel is the city of the gray apes, tall simian humanoids unknown 
  elsewhere in the Lost Lands. Their city is composed of massive blocks 
  of stone cut from ruins found across the island, polished to a smooth 
  glassy surface, and then decorated with reliefs chronicling their culture, 
  history, and gods.
  The rulers of T’Kumel do not claim kingship, nor do they sit upon the 
  gold and ivory throne that lies at the heart of their palace. Instead, princes 
  chosen from among the great warriors of the people and proclaimed 
  to be regents for the return of the king rule the city. Strangers are not 
  welcome in T’Kumel, but legends and prophecies say that one with 
  smooth hairless skin the color of the night sky will come and bring the 
  king back from beyond the stars.
  JASTRIJ, RUINS OF
  JASTRIJ, RUINS OF
  These ruins extend from the foot of the Smoking Mountain to 
  Whiteﬁ sh Bay on the southern coast. They are towering cyclopean 
  buildings, towers, and walls of stone that date to a time before man, 
  massive ediﬁ ces whose size hints at architects larger and broader than 
  any human could hope to be. While not continuous, the ruins run for 
  miles in tumbled clumps with full or mostly intact buildings rising up 
  out of the jungle canopy.
  THE KING OF LOST MINARA
  THE KING OF LOST MINARA
  To the north of the Smoking Mountain is a valley formed by two high 
  ridges of igneous rock that ﬂ owed down some time ago. This valley 
  is rich in smaller trees, hot springs, and a few scattered small ruins, 
  but the main feature is a 100-foot-tall plinth upon which rests a pair of 
  sandaled simian feet. The feet end at the ankles, and no other remains of 
  whatever gargantuan statue once stood there can be found. The gray apes 
  of T’Kumel say the statue was their long-lost king and the valley once 
  housed the city of Minara, but there is no proof to back this wild tale.
  WHITEFISH BAY
  WHITEFISH BAY
  This deep bay on the western side of Smoking Island is the breeding 
  ground for certain species of pale whales. In the summer months, the 
  whales swim in, battle, and mate. The white whales would be easy 
  hunting during this time, but prudence keeps whalers away during the 
  mating season less their greed destroy the catch of future years.
  THE SPINE
  THE SPINE
  Not one island but a chain of rocky protuberances that jut out of the 
  sea like the spine of some sunken corpse, these islands present little of 
  interest, at least on the surface. Each jagged rock is but a peak of a larger 
  landmass that sank beneath the waves in ages past. Below the water, 
  hundreds of feet down into Cymu Current, lies a sunken city whose 
  scale and construction mimic those on Smoking Island.
  THUNDER ISLAND
  THUNDER ISLAND
  The wind and waves fashioned the remains of this extinct volcano 
  into a series of arches and shoals. As water and air moves through these, 
  they set up a loud humming that builds until it bursts with a cacophony 
  of sound. The waters around Thunder Island are treacherous with many 
  subtly-hidden currents, jagged rocks just below the tide, and underwater 
  passages that suck at passing ships. A rare few Northlanders visit the 
  island, for the arching cliffs are home to nesting seabirds, some of which 
  are valued for their eggs and plumage.
  WYRM ISLAND
  WYRM ISLAND
  Sitting in the middle of the Cymu Islands, Wyrm Island is feared 
  by the Northlanders, and for good reason. Washed by the warm Cymu 
  Current and home to three active volcanoes, landing on the island is 
  dangerous in the extreme. The jungles here are teeming with life, nearly 
  all of it predatory in some degree, for on Wyrm Island even the plants 
  eat meat. Legends say that those who land here, all with ships wrecked 
  by storms or otherwise desperate, never return. Most of these sailors’ 
  tales lay the blame at the foot of the rocky coast and high cliffs, though 
  some speak of a great dragon that wishes not to be disturbed, or worse, 
  seeks slaves for some insane task.
  
  354|THE LOST LANDS
  THE NORTHLANDS
  THE FAR NORTH
  THE FAR NORTH
  The Far North is a land little-known even by the folks of the 
  Northlands, of ice and tundra that lies well within the Arctic Circle. 
  It lies to the north and northeast of the Northlands, on the edges of the 
  unknown continent of Boros.
  Legends hold that somewhere northeast of Estenﬁ rd lies an arm of 
  land that is rich in gold, silver, and ivory. A place where whales are 
  plentiful, seals abundant, and the people weak and fearful. No one alive 
  has sailed there, for the voyage across the Great Ocean is dangerous 
  and the reward could merely be a myth. Also, the same tales tell of a 
  land of verdant green and warm winters far across the Great Ocean, but 
  again no living man or woman has been there and returned. In general, 
  although great sailors, the Northlanders are not ones to travel far out on 
  the lonely expanse of the Great Ocean, for there live monsters of great 
  size, masses of seaweed that can swallow ships, and strange and fell 
  currents. No one is afraid of making the journey, but none sees the proﬁ t 
  in chasing down riches found only in tales. 
  THE SEAL COAST
  THE SEAL COAST
  This cold and rocky coast supports hundreds of thousands of seals, 
  walruses, and seabirds during the summer months. Cliffs rise up along 
  the coast, broken here and there by beaches that tend to be more rock 
  than sand. The cliffs are home to hosts of seabirds, including gulls, 
  ospreys, cormorants, frigate birds, pufﬁ ns, and terns. Fur-bearing seals, 
  as well as elephant seals, walruses, and sea lions, cover the shores. Fish, 
  crabs, squid, krill, whales, and porpoises ﬁ ll the seas. 
  A number of villages are perched on the shores of the Seal Coast, 
  where folk descended from the original Uln live to this day, and so are 
  sometimes referred to collectively as Ulnataland. These villages are 
  called Alcanavt, Gualivik, Hranavik, Intulvik, Laquirv, and Norvagak. 
  Long ago, the Cult of Althunak held sway over the Uln, but its grip was 
  broken before the Heldring arrived in the north. Some say, however, that 
  the cult’s adherents remain somewhere even farther north, deep in the 
  tundra, where they plot their return.
  Some scholars believe that the Seal Coast is not in fact part of the 
  continent of Akados, but instead the shoreline of lost Boros, the 
  homeland of the Hyperboreans, lost under the ice for thousands of years.
  TUNDRA
  TUNDRA
  The interior of the Far North is a vast tundra dotted with small 
  microclimates that support stunted and twisted trees and shrubs. The 
  wind is strong and a constant force that man, beast, and plant must 
  contend with. During the day, the temperature slowly rises to slightly 
  more than 50° Fahrenheit, and at night, it dips into the upper 30º 
  Fahrenheit (and approaches freezing by morning). Mosses, lichens, and 
  heath cover the ground. These low-lying plants often grow in clumps 
  separated by small rivulets of melt water. Boggy areas are common 
  around the lakes and are often the breeding ground of all manner of 
  nasty little ﬂ ying things such as mosquitoes, black ﬂ ies, and no-see-um 
  (a very tiny biting ﬂ y).
  WAILING MOUNTAINS
  WAILING MOUNTAINS
  These high and imposing mountains are composed of gray stone and 
  rise suddenly out of the tundra, inland from the Seal Coast (two weeks 
  by dogsled, or so they say). There are no foothills or general upslope 
  in the approach to the Wailing Mountains, just a sudden springing of 
  towering masses of stone. The mountains themselves are sheathed year-
  round with a thick layer of ice from their peaks to halfway down their 
  steep ﬂ anks. The mountains support no life, as the wind whips from the 
  west and scours even the shale and scree from the stony slopes.
  At one point, the Uln are said to have founded settlements on 
  the slopes of the Wailing Mountains. If they did so, all must have 
  been abandoned ages ago. The White Fields of Death are beyond the 
  Wailing Mountains.
  WHITE FIELDS OF DEATH
  WHITE FIELDS OF DEATH
  The White Fields of Death are a vast plain of snow and ice that 
  extends from the Wailing Mountains to the far horizon. No living soul 
  has ever been known to cross them, and their extent is unknown. It is 
  said ruins of the Hyperboreans of Boros lie here, cities crushed by the 
  onslaught of ice and buried by snows as the world changed.
  From the eastern peaks of the Wailing Mountains, the City of the Lord 
  of Winter within the White Fields is visible 50 miles away on the opposite 
  horizon. This is the ancient home of the terrible Cult of Althunak. To the 
  north beyond the city, the plains continue to unknown realms. 
  354|
  354|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  Some scholars believe that the Seal Coast is not in fact part of the 
  continent of Akados, but instead the shoreline of lost Boros, the 
  homeland of the Hyperboreans, lost under the ice for thousands of years.
  From the eastern peaks of the Wailing Mountains, the City of the Lord 
  of Winter within the White Fields is visible 50 miles away on the opposite 
  horizon. This is the ancient home of the terrible Cult of Althunak. To the 
  north beyond the city, the plains continue to unknown realms. 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  AMMUYAD CALIPHATE
  AMMUYAD CALIPHATE
   Capital: Hava
  Notable Settlements: Bhutan, Cordival, Ethbosy, Kullar, Salt 
  Springs, Tarasunah
  Ruler: Grand Caliph Rayan bin Azhar Al Ammu
  Government: monarchy 
  Population: 2,986,255 (2,921,899 Ashurian, 8,137 marshfolk, 
  about 50,000 desert tribespeople, 6,219 other human ethnicity)
   Monstrous: gnolls (near the Painted Canyons), grippli 
  (marshes), genies, girtablilu (desert)
  Languages: Semuric
  Religion: Churches of Mah-Barek
   Resources: trade, spices, crops, ﬁ shing, mercenaries
  Currency: Ammuyad
  Technology Level: Medieval (cities), High Middle Ages 
  (outlying settlements), Dark Ages (tribal areas)
  The Ammuyad Caliphate is in northwestern Libynos, between the 
  towering Zakros Mountains and the shore of the Sinnar Ocean. Most of 
  the land is deep sand desert that is sparsely populated by nomadic tribes, 
  while the rest of the population is concentrated on the large peninsula 
  in the central part of the coast. The caliphate itself is nearly 3,000 years 
  old and has been ruled for close to 2,000 years by various branches of 
  the House of Ammu.
  The desert is divided into the Western Erg and the Great Eastern 
  Erg. The western desert is comparatively small; the Eastern Erg, on 
  the other hand, is hundreds of miles in width and length and makes 
  up the large majority of the caliphate’s land area. The two similar 
  deserts are separated by the Great Desert Wall, a range of mountains 
  that curve completely around the landward side of the populous area 
  of the caliphate. Other than the desert area, the western peninsula is 
  hilly and semi-arid except along the western coast where the climate 
  is excellent. The other exception is the low-lying tip of the peninsula, 
  which has marshes.
  The best way through the Desert Wall for most people is to travel 
  along the bank of the Havari River, which makes its way through the 
  mountains via a badlands area called the Painted Canyons. The river’s 
  route provides a road for the frequent trade caravans as well as individual 
  travelers. The caliphate trades its own products and those that come by 
  ship from the west, for items and materials from Jaati and the Crusader 
  Coast, through the city-states of Istaﬂ umina.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLES
  HISTORY AND PEOPLES
  The caliphate has the privilege of encompassing the area in which 
  the deity Mah-Barek ﬁ rst came to mankind, and where his four 
  disciples walked with him on the earth. At that time, northwestern 
  Libynos was under the nominal rule of the Hyperborean Empire but 
  the area had been in dangerous confusion for centuries. Once a region 
  of well-watered ﬁ elds, a series of volcanic eruptions and a change 
  in prevailing winds led to hot, dry winds that blasted the Ashurian 
  Plains into the Ashurian Desert. Only the intervention of powerful 
  genies enabled the people of the region to survive. They lived mostly 
  in small villages, with nomadic tribes roaming in between, and warred 
  constantly over resources and authority.
  The Hyperboreans were little concerned with a new religion and did 
  not object even when Karram, eldest grandson of Mah-Barek’s First 
  Disciple Fatimashan, founded a new realm in 534 I.R. and was declared 
  caliph, the secular protector of the religion. However, the Hyperborean 
  authorities did require Karram to swear fealty to the empire. Soon, 
  worshippers of Mah-Barek ﬂ ocked to the territory dedicated to his 
  veneration, and cities grew and prospered in the Karramid Caliphate. 
  When Karram’s line failed in 1610 I.R., the burden was taken up by 
  the descendants of Ammu, another of the ﬁ rst disciple’s grandsons. 
  The caliphs of today continue to be of the line of Ammu, for whom the 
  caliphate is named.
  The power of the Hyperboreans waxed and waned over the centuries 
  as the caliphate continued to grow. The end for the empire came 
  quickly after the shift of the planet’s poles and the destruction of the 
  imperial capital of Curgantium in 2496 I.R. At ﬁ rst, the Hyperboreans 
  withdrew into Libynos, abandoning all of Akados by 2516 I.R. When 
  Polemarch Daan marched on Tircople in 2584 I.R., many soldiers of the 
  caliphate were part of his force that brought down the undead Imperatrix 
  Trystecce. The Hyperborean Age was over, and within 50 years, the last 
  of that race abandoned Libynos as well.
  Into this vacuum, the caliphate spread. It had long traded with its 
  neighboring provinces of the empire, but now it saw the opportunity to 
  make a new empire under the banner of Mah-Barek. The region of the 
  Antioch City-States was the ﬁ rst to come under its sway in 2611 I.R. 
  This was followed in 2619 I.R. by a colonization effort in the Irkainian 
  Peninsula of northeastern Akados, where the caliphate founded the 
  Principality of Pelshtaria.
   Unfortunately, this period of expansion was not destined to last. 
  After 150 years or so, the Antioch City-States became restless, 
  wishing to form a league of independent city-states without the 
  oversight of the caliphate. When a great plague struck the trade 
  city of Bhutan and its vicinity in 2768 I.R. and the capital city of 
  Hava in 2769 I.R., all resources inside the caliphate were engaged 
  to deal with the disease and to maintain food production and such 
  trade as could still go on. The city-states took this opportunity to 
  sever their ties with the caliphate. The plague years also broke 
  down communications with Pelshtaria. By the time those were re-
  established in 2772 I.R., the colonists had learned they could do 
  quite well without the caliphate’s assistance. In 2773 I.R., a new 
  prince of Pelshtaria was chosen without the consent of the caliph and 
  the empire of the caliphate came to an end.
  In many ways, this was a good result for the caliphate, which was 
  no longer required to devote resources to administering foreign lands. 
  Instead, the government concentrated on the growth of trade, and 
  messengers focused on proclaiming the religion of Mah-Barek. Wealthy 
  nobles sponsored groups of settlers in the great Maighib Desert of 
  central Libynos, which eventually resulted in the establishment of the 
  independent Sultanate of Khartous and the spread of the worship of 
  Mah-Barek to Caddesh and Guurzan.  
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  All followers of Mah-Barek are welcome in the caliphate. While 
  other worship is not forbidden, no other obvious temples are permitted. 
  Although the churches of Hafaz and Koua have no public centers of 
  worship, the Church of Marwan has active worship facilities in all the 
  major cities and many smaller locations as well. However, the hearts of 
  most people are given to the Church of Fatimashan and following in her 
  path of benevolence.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Trade is key to the prosperity of the caliphate. This is exempliﬁ ed 
  by Bhutan, where ships arriving from distant parts of the world meet 
  caravans that made their way across the Great Eastern Erg with goods 
  from northern and eastern Libynos. The Great Caravan Road is a true 
  economic accomplishment; after centuries of work, the Ammuyad 
  Caliphate developed caravanserais about a day’s march apart for most 
  of the more-than-900-mile journey from Bhutan to the Empire of 
  Assuria. The caliphate maintains good trade relations with dozens of 
  countries around the world and cautiously proﬁ table connections with 
  many more.
  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  
  356|THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  356|
  356|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |357
  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The Ammuyad Caliphate exchanges embassies with most of the 
  countries of northern and central Libynos, as well as those along the Sea 
  of Baal. Representatives from many royal or ducal courts in Akados can 
  also be found in Hava. Although the kingdoms of the western Maighib 
  Desert are co-religionists of Mah-Barek, no formal treaties of mutual 
  defense exist with them.
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  Grand Caliph Rayan bin Azhar Al Ammu is the hereditary monarch of 
  the caliphate. He encourages court intrigue among his nobles, partially 
  because as long as they are intriguing against each other, they will not 
  be inclined to ally together against him. 
  In general, rather than the rule passing to a minor child, a caliph 
  designates an adult relative such as a brother or even an uncle as his 
  heir, and then changes his heir when his sons are grown. Several times 
  the monarchy has passed through all of a family of brothers before 
  being handed on to the next generation. Rayan bin Azhar himself 
  caused some controversy when he took the throne. His father was the 
  last of a generation of brothers but not the oldest, so some thought the 
  throne should have gone to one of the current caliph’s cousins. Caliph 
  Azhar bin Husni clearly designated Rayan as his heir, though, and the 
  inheritance was clearly within the law, so the situation was eventually 
  resolved. However, the caliphate’s authority was damaged among some 
  of its more distant settlements, and Caliph Rayan bin Azhar faced a 
  difﬁ cult few years with fractious tribes and lesser nobles before peace 
  was achieved. 
  No woman has ever served as caliph, though women can be sultanas 
  and amiras.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  Much of the Ammuyad military is employed in defense of the 
  caliphate’s lucrative trade. The navy, headquartered at Cordival, 
  actively patrols for pirates and keeps watch for any sign of an invasion 
  by sea, however unlikely that may seem in this day and age. The most 
  persistent pirates are the Northlanders, whose longships slip through 
  the Mulstabhin Passage. Sometimes they come peacefully to trade or 
  enjoy the amenities of the cities; other times, they raid the north coast or 
  western extremities of the caliphate and dash back to their home waters.
  A primary responsibility of the Grand Army is protecting the Great 
  Caravan Road from bandits and from dangerous creatures of the 
  desert that may be beyond the capabilities of caravan guards. Another 
  is securing the border of the caliphate. However, since borders with 
  neighboring areas are nearly all nebulous and drawn in shifting sand, 
  this can call for diplomacy as much as vigilance. 
  Given the distances the army travels, it is understandable that there 
  are no true infantry units. The common soldiers are camel riders, and 
  a company’s equipment is all planned to be transported by camel-back. 
  The elite units ride strong, light horses that are also trained to ﬁ ght, and 
  the troops are some of the best cavalry in the world. Another notable 
  achievement by the Grand Army is its development of high-quality 
  crossbows that it issues to all its troops. All soldiers are trained to use 
  the weapon, and some units develop exceptional skills with it. Some 
  Ammuyad soldiers, after the close of their seven-year enlistment, join (or 
  form) mercenary organizations where their skills command high prices.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The greatest threat at this time to the peace of the caliphate is the 
  lightning raids of the Northlanders. When several ships attack together, 
  The Great Caravan Road in the Ammuyad Caliphate of northern Libynos.
  
  358|
  358|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  they can threaten the food stores of a local area or even supplies 
  intended to feed the population of one of the large cities. The navy deals 
  severely with any Northlander pirates they catch to discourage others 
  in the future.
  HAVA, GRAND CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  HAVA, GRAND CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Grand Caliph Rayan bin Azhar Al Ammu
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 253,785 (mostly Ashurian, but many other human 
  ethnicities as well)
  The grand city of the caliph gleams white in the sun, but the ﬂ owered 
  courtyards and tinkling fountains hide a world of cutthroat competition for 
  power and prestige. Nobility and the wealthy vie with each other in their 
  clothing and their palaces, their entertainments, and their affectations. 
  Sometimes they even compete in their charities, which means that the 
  Church of Fatimashan wins as hospitals, schools, and other beneﬁ ts are 
  funded by nobles whose names they then prominently display.
  Hava is on the east coast of the Bay of Bhutan near the mouth of 
  the Havari River. It has good port facilities and a ﬂ eet of ﬁ shermen 
  who supply sea delicacies for the tables of the nobility and cheap, 
  common ﬁ sh for the rest of the people. Those merchants who want to 
  trade directly with the capital city put in here, as do diplomatic vessels 
  from around the world. Some merchants also come south from Bhutan 
  along the Coast Road, which diverges from the Great Caravan Road at 
  Walbah. The proximity of the Havari River allows irrigated cultivation 
  of crops and orchards for miles around the city of Hava, which supplies 
  part of the food for the capital. 
  The Grand Army of the caliphate is headquartered in Hava, so the 
  caliph can have his generals nearby. In fact, Commander of the Grand 
  Army General Fadila ibnat Aamir is one of his closest advisors as 
  well as having become a good friend of Calipha Jalila. The Grand 
  Army’s troops, however, are scattered in fortresses and desert outposts 
  throughout the caliphate. 
  BENI-HADITH, SATRAPY OF
  BENI-HADITH, SATRAPY OF
  Ruler: Effendi Lutﬁ  ibn Harith
  Government: governor appointed by the caliph
  Population: 249 (Ashurian)
  This oasis town is a caravan stop just west of the Painted Canyons. 
  Being so close to the badlands, the town has a strong wall and an alert 
  guard force. The town is crowded inside the wall, as the population has 
  grown since the wall was built; they have started to stockpile stone for 
  a new wall but it will be several years yet before it is ﬁ nished. The 
  caravanserai is built against the outside of the town’s west wall where 
  caravans have good access to the oasis and a guarded gate directly into 
  the town for any who desire to do business. The town and caravanserai 
  walls are made of stone from the nearby Painted Canyons, so they are 
  each a patchwork of color. Because many caravans hire extra guards in 
  Salt Springs solely for the nearly 150-mile trip through the badlands, 
  Beni-Hadith usually has several people looking to hire on with groups 
  going the other way so they can make a little money on their trip home.
  BHUTAN, SULTANATE OF
  BHUTAN, SULTANATE OF
  Ruler: Sultan Qusay ibn Zaahir al-Bhutani
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 119,371 (almost all Ashurian)
  Bhutan is primarily a market city writ large. It thrives on trade, and 
  merchants of every stripe can be seen here from time to time. Those from 
  Istaﬂ umina or Jaati usually arrive by caravan, while those from Baalthaaz, 
  Khemit, or the cities of the far south or west arrive by ship. The docks 
  can accommodate many ships at a time, and workers for hire are always 
  available. Very little of the city is beautiful, but instead of parks it has 
  marketplaces, and instead of civic buildings it has merchants’ guilds. Its 
  crowded streets are confusing to the uninitiated, but logical to experienced 
  buyers and sellers. The animal and meat markets are on the west, from 
  the wharf out. Next come things such as wool and leather, which diverge 
  into clothing or armor and weapons. So it goes across the city, with the 
  things of highest value (such as the heavily protected Jewelers’ Guild, or the 
  Moneychangers’ Hall where gold and silver are bought and sold) being to 
  the east. Other nobles sometimes view the sultan of Bhutan as being slightly 
  grubby for associating so closely with so much trade, but the wealth he 
  demonstrates (received from his small share of every transaction in the city) 
  is more than enough to show their criticisms are pure jealousy.
  One ﬂ aw in this otherwise excellent city is the existence of the Zuma 
  Qulldishi, a complex criminal organization. The Zuma mostly engage 
  in smuggling operations and robbery, and occasionally branch out into 
  banditry or take on contracts for murder. Any goods that arrive from less-
  than-reputable sources go into the Zuma’s network and make money in 
  the markets in the underside of the city. The rumor is that the “Shadow 
  Sultan” of the Zuma claims he has nearly as many people working to 
  make money for him and his organization as Qusay al-Bhutani has 
  for him. As long as the Zuma Qulldishi are not too blatant about their 
  operations, the sultanate troops generally leave them alone; attempts in 
  the past to squash the organization did not turn out well, so for now an 
  unrecognized, uneasy truce exists.
  CARAVANSERAIS
  CARAVANSERAIS
  Ruler: see below
  Government: governor appointed by the caliph, either a bey 
  or the more-prestigious satrap; some may also be pashas 
  (military commanders)
  Population: varies (from 250 to 1,000+ depending on day and 
  season)
  Each caravanserai on the Great Caravan Road has a solid stone wall, 
  a large open courtyard, and covered areas where people and animals can 
  crowd together in case of a sandstorm. Every caravanserai has a reliable 
  source of water (whether an oasis, a deep well, or some magical source), 
  and they work hard to keep supplies of food on hand for animals as well as 
  people. The sole purpose of some caravans is to resupply the caravanserais.
  Being separated from each other by a day’s journey, and being 
  separated from their titular lords by an even farther distance, the 
  local rulers possess great leeway in the exercise of their authority. A 
  caravanserai whose governor is also a pasha (military commander) has 
  a unit of the caliphate’s Grand Army stationed there to provide security 
  against threats too large for the guards of a caravan or caravanserai to 
  handle. These mounted units patrol up and down the caravan route.
  CORDIVAL, SULTANATE OF
  CORDIVAL, SULTANATE OF
  Ruler: Sultana Masuma ibnat Ghufran al-Cordavi
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 91,595 (mostly Ashurian, but many other human 
  ethnicity as well)
  The city of Cordival sits at the very tip of the peninsula of the 
  caliphate, surrounded by a half-circle of water. Its location at the 
  entrance to the Bay of Bhutan makes it the ideal location for the 
  caliphate navy’s headquarters, as it protects the other cities against any 
  sea-borne attack. Grand Admiral Faysal ibn Haidar Al Ammu keeps a 
  tight rein on the navy’s section of the city, including setting guards at its 
  internal wall. This does not severely restrict interaction between town 
  and headquarters; many people from the city work in support of the 
  ships and sailors, and many sailors have families in the port, or other 
  important people to visit when off duty.
  Cordival’s harbor also serves a ﬂ eet of ﬁ shing boats and numerous 
  merchant traders. Many ships coming from far-off Akados put in at 
  Cordival on their way to Bhutan, needing a day or two in port after so 
  long at sea.
  The Sultanate of Cordival controls some of the most arable land in 
  the caliphate. North of the Bhethos Marshes and along the west coast, 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  CARAVANSERAIS FROM BHUTAN IN THE WEST TO MAAHRI IN THE EAST:
  CARAVANSERAIS FROM BHUTAN IN THE WEST TO MAAHRI IN THE EAST:
  Caravanserai Name
  Governor
  Typical High Season 
  Population
  Notes
  Tirwal, Satrapy of
  Sharifa Nura ibnat Tabassum
  400
  al-Laqant, Satrapy of
  Sharif Burhan ibn Khalid
  300
  Walbah, Satrapy of
  Sharifa Rajiya ibn 
  Zaahir al-Bhutani
  400
  Coast road goes south to Hava
  al-Hadra, Satrapy of
  Pasha Akram al-Hava
  500
  Saris, Satrapy of
  Effendi Ridwan ibn Umran
  400
  Wasqah, Beylik of
  Begum Nimat ibnat Rahat
  400
  Martulah, Satrapy of
  Pasha Khayrat al-Junayd
  400
  Sammurah, Emirate of
  Amira Fathiyaa ibnat Malak
  5,000
  Beni-Hadith, Satrapy of
  Effendi Lutﬁ  ibn Harith
  250
  See “Beni-Hadith”
  Gaiyan, Ruins of
  None
  0
  See “Gaiyan”
  Salt Springs, Satrapy of
  Pasha Hari Abubakkar
  3,500
  See “Salt Springs”
  Qunkah, Beylik of
  Bey Esmail ibn Shahnaz
  500
  Laridah, Satrapy of
  Effendi Yunus ibn Dana
  300
  Nagirah, Beylik of
  Bey Shadi ibn Ilyas
  350
  Uryulah, Satrapy of
  Pasha Bassam Nurulrad
  400
  Ethbosy, Emirate of
  Emir Mehmet ibn Sayid
  5,000
  See “Ethbosy”
  Basit, Satrapy of
  Sharif Ikram ibn Irfan
  350
  Sokolla, Satrapy of
  Effendiya Ghada ibnat Afzal
  325
  Marida, Satrapy of
  Sharif Wafai ibn Sheddad
  375
  Tutilah, Satrapy of
  Effendi Qadir ibn Omar
  200
  al-Yussanah, Satrapy of
  Sharif Nabil ibn Hisham
  475
  Kemaleddin, Beylik of
  Bey Canim ibn Husrev
  300
  Als, Satrapy of
  Pasha Anisa ibnat Qamar
  250
  Ubbadah, Satrapy of
  Sharifa Fayruz ibnat Makram
  375
  Garundah, Emirate of
  Amira Izdihar ibnat Rasul
  3,250
  Tarifah, Satrapy of
  Sharif Amjad ibn Munir
  250
  Rundah, Satrapy of  
  Effendiya Basira ibnat Shukri
  425
  Istiggah, Satrapy of
  Pasha Haroun ibn Akram
  175
  Arnit, Beylik of
  Bey Galal ibn Samad
  300
  Qarmunah, Satrapy of
  Sharif Jinan ibn Najim
  350
  Tarasunah, Emirate of
  Amira Zubaida ibnat 
  Farah Al Ammu
  4,750
  See “Tarasunah”
  Arkus, Beylik of
  Bey Rifat ibn Ephrikan
  300
  Turgut, Satrapy of
  Sharif Parlak ibn Fahd
  500
  Saqaban, Beylik of
  Bey Topal ibn Solih
  200
  Al-Bunt, Satrapy of
  SharifaTahira ibnat Talib
  400
  Lawraqah, Satrapy of
  Pasha Mazin al-Rasheed
  550
  See “Lawraqah”
  Liyyun, Satrapy of
  Sharifa Nashwa ibnat Amani
  675
  See “Liyyun”
  
  360|
  360|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  the land is watered by rain off the ocean. The clement temperatures 
  allow for growing many types of fruit, grains, and vegetables. Despite 
  the good land, Cordival alone cannot grow enough food for the entire 
  peninsula although they do trade a large amount to Bhutan and Hava. 
  The Bhethos Marshes also produce a good quantity of edible products as 
  well as reeds and grasses for weaving baskets, mats, and more.
  ETHBOSY, EMIRATE OF
  ETHBOSY, EMIRATE OF
  Ruler: Emir Mehmet ibn Sayid
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 4,923 (mostly Ashurian)
  Despite being located along the Caravan Road in the desert instead of 
  in the more “civilized” western part of the Ammuyad Caliphate, the emirs 
  of Ethbosy have long been known for being educated and wise. They are 
  also well-traveled, the current emir having made a trip not only to Jaati 
  but also to Khartous in his youth. This means Ethbosy is home to not 
  just a prominent caravan stop, but also a schola where people seeking 
  knowledge learn literally at the feet of many educated men and women. 
  Ethbosy’s cosmopolitanism extends outside the human realms as well; the 
  deep pool that ﬁ lls the fountain of the caravanserai is said to be the long-
  time home of a marid scholar who came to the schola once and appreciated 
  the interactions so much that he just stayed. Caravans often stop here for 
  a day or two, and those with more esoteric goods may display their wares 
  in the marketplace and stay a week or more if their sales are going well.
  GAIYAN, RUINS OF
  GAIYAN, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  This caravanserai stands empty, and caravans seldom stop nearby, 
  even though it is mostly intact. Rumor says the place is haunted by 
  the souls of all those who died here, though tellers cannot agree on the 
  cause. Some accounts say sand giants attacked the building and tore the 
  gaping rent in the back wall and ate the inhabitants. Others say a plague 
  took the people and the wall fell apart later. Whatever the case, no one 
  takes refuge inside except in dire need. The compound still has its well, 
  but sand has sifted in despite the worn wooden cover on top. There is 
  nothing with which to draw up the water.
  KULLAR, SULTANATE OF
  KULLAR, SULTANATE OF
  Ruler: Sultan Barakat ibn Tamid al-Kullari
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 67,921 (mostly Ashurian, but many other human 
  ethnicities as well)
  Kullar lies on the western coast of the caliphate where the Kula River 
  runs down out of the mountains of the Desert Wall. One of the few rivers 
  in the country, the Kula has one thing the others do not: freshwater ﬁ sh. 
  The quantity harvested is generally only enough to provide for the 
  immediate area, but sometimes ﬁ sh are shipped live to Hava for the 
  caliph’s table. Fishing boats also go out from the port to do the usual 
  saltwater ﬁ shing, though they are troubled sometimes by pulling up 
  strange, ugly ﬁ sh that no one is willing to eat and which attack the hands 
  trying to throw them back.
  Being far from the trade route to Bhutan, comparatively few ships 
  come speciﬁ cally to Kullar. The sultan spends much of his time at the 
  court of the caliph in the capital city of Hava. One thing that draws certain 
  people to Kullar, though, is the wizards’ consortium headquartered here. 
  It is sponsored by the sultan himself, who is very interested in magic 
  though seemingly he has no talents in that direction. This group doesn’t 
  mind being off the beaten track, and Hava is not too far if they need 
  some esoteric supplies or information. They study the magic of the sea 
  and the desert, and try to understand the strange magic of spellcasters 
  of the Istaﬂ umina region. Some members of the group also specialize in 
  knowledge of genie-kind, and they have seekers from around the world 
  wanting to learn from them.
  LAWRAQAH, SATRAPY OF
  LAWRAQAH, SATRAPY OF
  Ruler: Pasha Mazin al-Rasheed
  Government: governor appointed by the caliph
  Population: 547 (Ashurian)
  Lawraqah is at the eastern edge of the Ammuyad Caliphate. The 
  caliphate’s nebulous border with the Empire of Assuria lies somewhere 
  in the desert between the satrapy and Liyyun.  The pasha’s troops 
  actively patrol the area but avoid coming into conﬂ ict with Assurian 
  units on the same mission. If the caravanserai of Liyyun calls for help, 
  the garrison sends a small unit under the command of an experienced 
  (and it is hoped, diplomatic) soldier. It is important to avoid offending 
  the Assurians — who are rather touchy — but both groups know how 
  important the Caravan Road is to their respective countries and do their 
  best to keep the peace in the area.
  LIYYUN, SATRAPY OF
  LIYYUN, SATRAPY OF
  Ruler: Sharifa Nashwa ibnat Amani
  Government: governor appointed by the caliph
  Population: 682 (Ashurian)
  This is the last caravanserai before travelers arrive at the crossroads 
  of Maahri in the Empire of Assuria. Technically, it is within the 
  borders claimed by Assuria, but traders from the caliphate built it 
  centuries ago and continue to maintain it. If military assistance is 
  needed for any reason, the satrap calls for the caliphate’s troops 
  stationed at Lawraqah rather than contacting the Assurian authorities. 
  Travelers here are a combination of those exhausted by weeks of 
  traversing the desert and those who are just getting started on their 
  long journeys west. The sharifa frequently makes herself seen and 
  sets aside time to hear the complaints or compliments of the caravan 
  masters, serving as the ﬁ rst (or last) representative of the caliphate to 
  these travelers from many countries.
  SALT SPRINGS, SATRAPY OF
  SALT SPRINGS, SATRAPY OF
  Ruler: Pasha Hari Abubakkar
  Government: governor appointed by the caliph
  Population: 3,476 (mostly Ashurian)
  This caravanserai is unusual in that it is a rough oval instead of a 
  rectangle, and most of it is protectively roofed rather than just the 
  perimeter. It is also built atop the Great Caravan Road rather than next 
  to it, so caravans must perforce enter the town. Of course, nearly every 
  traveler would do this anyway, as Salt Springs is the last place for a 
  protected stop before more than 140 miles of dangerous journey, and it 
  is also well known for providing almost anything a caravan could need. 
  Situated as it is only about 40 miles east of the Painted Canyons, Salt 
  Springs always has many guards looking for jobs as caravan escorts to 
  the distant town of Beni-Hadith. The pasha also has troops that provide 
  general protection in the area, but they patrol for bandits and watch for 
  enemies attacking out of the badlands; they do not go into the canyons.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: ONS2 ONE NIGHT STANDS: DEATH IN THE PAINTED 
  CANYONS, DEATH IN THE PAINTED CANYONS FROM QUESTS OF DOOM 2
  TARASUNAH, EMIRATE OF
  TARASUNAH, EMIRATE OF
  Ruler: Amira Zubaida ibnat Farah Al Ammu
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 4,887 (mostly Ashurian)
  No simple caravanserai, Tarasunah is a sizable town built around 
  several deep wells. It is an inconvenient distance from the caravanserais 
  on either side, so people must start early and arrive late when traversing 
  either of those sections of the Caravan Road. That also means caravans 
  almost never arrive one day and leave the next; instead, they take this as 
  an opportunity to rest for a couple of days before pressing on.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  In addition to providing support for passing caravans, Tarasunah hosts 
  a thriving marketplace of its own where those caravans can interact with 
  townsfolk and the people of nearby tribes. The desert wanderers come 
  from some distance to see the merchants here, and tribes stop on their 
  way north or south to buy things they cannot glean from the desert. 
  TRIBAL LANDS
  TRIBAL LANDS
  Population: unknown; perhaps 50,000 (almost all Ashurian)
  Ruler: varies; usually a sheikh or sheikha
  Government: varies; most at least pay lip service to the 
  caliphate
  Tribes of nomads wander throughout the Eastern Erg, their camels 
  or horses transporting them from oasis to oasis, or on the hunt, in 
  an ongoing endeavor to provide for their people and maintain their 
  independence. These are primarily of the same ethnicity as the more 
  settled people of the caliphate to the west but they do not care to settle 
  down as farmers or take to city living. A few wanderers are bandits and 
  prey on the caravans traveling the trade road, although both the caravans 
  and the Grand Army patrols make that an uncertain method of proﬁ t. 
  Most tribes are content to lay claim to an oasis for a few years or carry 
  on in a routine of visiting speciﬁ c oases at certain seasons. Each tribe 
  is ruled by a hereditary leader or “sheikh.” In some cases, several tribes 
  with ties of blood are under the control of a “malik” or king.
  Some of the nomads worship one or more of the deities of Assuria, 
  but the tribes in general worship Mah-Barek and so honor Caliph Rayan 
  bin Azhar Al Ammu as the secular leader of that religion. The people 
  themselves almost never visit the cities of the western caliphate to pay 
  their respects to their ruler in person, but the sheikhs are expected to pay 
  a certain amount of tribute each year. This is usually handled by paying 
  it to one of the emirs or the military pashas who are easily located 
  along the Great Caravan Road. The wandering tribes prefer to visit at 
  Tarasunah, where the caravans often stop for a few days and lay out their 
  wares, and the Amira’s people treat them with respect.
  Once in a while, one of the desert tribes happens across ancient ruins 
  temporarily uncovered by the wind, and those who are brave enough 
  enter the structures and return with stories of what they have seen, or 
  even samples of stones with unknown carvings. The caravan merchants 
  always pay a good price for those, as do the wealthy city-dwellers in the 
  west. No one has yet had any luck in getting the nomads to ﬁ nd the ruins 
  again, though, because the wind brings back the dunes as fast as it swept 
  them away in the ﬁ rst place.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE AMMUYAD CALIPHATE
  INTEREST IN THE AMMUYAD CALIPHATE
  ASHURIAN DESERT
  ASHURIAN DESERT
  The Ashurian Desert is a deep sand desert between the Zakros 
  Mountains and the Sea of Spices or the Ammuyad Caliphate’s Desert 
  Wall. In the southeast, it blends into the arid lands in the southwest 
  of the Istaﬂ umina region. Its primary inhabitants are nomadic tribes, 
  though several permanent settlements exist around oases, especially 
  along the Great Caravan Road across the caliphate.
  The area is named for the ancient Empire of Assuria to the east, which 
  held sway over the area thousands of years ago when it was fertile 
  farmland. Following the creation of the Tropic of Arden 180 years 
  before the arrival of the Hyperboreans, violent earthquakes and volcanic 
  activity in the western Zakros Mountains drove the Assurians out of 
  their cool mountain villas. On the plains, weather patterns changed and 
  the rains ceased to fall. Within a generation, the entire area became as 
  dry as dust, and the Assurians were forced to abandon the cities they 
  had built and return to their protected homeland. Gradually the sand 
  rose and covered the ruins and continued to rise until great dunes blow 
  constantly. Sometimes when the wind is persistent in an area, enough 
  sand moves to uncover the houses or ziggurats of the ancient ruins.
  The dunes have dried out and covered all the rivers but the fast-
  moving Havari, which begins deep in the Zakros Mountains. However, 
  some of these river beds still serve to transport moisture from mountain 
  runoff or the occasional desert rainstorm into the earth where it provides 
  water for oases or wells.
  BAY OF BHUTAN
  BAY OF BHUTAN
  Focused on the city of the same name, the Bay of Bhutan is usually 
  busy with ships: vessels of diplomats and pilgrims for the beautiful 
  capital city of Hava, naval craft from Cordival on patrol, and of course 
  the many merchant ships heading for the trading city of Bhutan itself. 
  Three of the four major cities of the Ammuyad Caliphate are on the bay, 
  and it protects both Hava and Bhutan from all but the worst storms of 
  the Sea of Spices. Fishing in the bay is good, and ﬂ eets go out from all 
  three cities as well as many coastal villages. Several spots along the bay 
  also have oyster reefs; the caliphate’s upper classes consider oysters a 
  particular delicacy, so harvesting them can be lucrative if the harvester 
  has good contacts. The water in the bay is deep, so it sometimes receives 
  unwelcome deep-sea visitors, but the caliphate’s navy has so far always 
  dealt with them.
  BHETHOS MARSHES
  BHETHOS MARSHES
  The low-lying area between Bhutan and Cordival is a salt marsh called 
  the Bhethos Marshes, which are within the domain of the Sultanate of 
  Cordival. This uninspiring landscape has gray-green grasses that go on 
  for a hundred miles, with occasional spots of high ground indicated by 
  clumps of spindly trees. Some of the high areas are large enough to 
  support a few huts, and the marshfolk live on these isolated hills. They 
  make a living hunting frogs, turtles, and ﬁ sh in their ﬂ at-bottomed boats, 
  taking marsh birds or their eggs, and catching crabs. All of these are 
  sold into the great markets in Bhutan or, from the western marshes, into 
  Cordival. Sometimes the folk bring in unusual specimens of strange 
  plants or animals with odd markings and weird changes. They have 
  trouble selling these in the food markets, but wizards or scholars are 
  often interested in acquiring them. Some marshfolk are skilled with 
  herbs and gather (or cultivate) healing and culinary herbs to be found 
  nowhere else in the caliphate. Marshfolk are pale-skinned, tight-lipped 
  people who keep to themselves and rarely interact with the “drylanders.” 
  They are more likely to have neutral relations with the little grippli — 
  small frog-like creatures with the same intelligence as most humans — 
  that also live in isolated communities in the marsh.
  DESERT WALL
  DESERT WALL
  Separating the caliphate’s populous western peninsula from its great 
  eastern desert is the range of mountains known as the Desert Wall. It 
  curves along the landward side of the peninsula, with high peaks in the 
  middle and lower mountains toward the coast on both ends. The pattern of 
  the islands near the caliphate in the Sea of Spices and Sea of Baal suggests 
  the curved range continues out into the ocean for 100 miles or more. Many 
  of the peaks show indications of volcanism in the past, though there is no 
  evidence of any active volcanoes now or any suggestion of them since 
  the formation of the caliphate almost 3,000 years ago. The easiest route 
  through the Desert Wall is to follow the valley of the Havari River, and 
  that is the route taken by caravans. Other passes do exist, though, for those 
  who are willing to take a more difﬁ cult way.
  GREAT CARAVAN ROAD
  GREAT CARAVAN ROAD
  The Great Caravan Road of the eastern desert runs from Bhutan on the 
  coast in the Ammuyad Caliphate and across the desert to Maahri in the 
  Empire of Assuria in Istaﬂ umina. From there, caravans travel south to the 
  great city of Ur, where trade is done with merchants from all across the 
  continent. The Great Caravan Road is well marked and has caravanserai 
  (small walled communities that provide safe locales for the caravans to 
  rest and resupply) at oases all along the route. Being separated from each 
  other by about a day’s journey and being separated from their titular lords 
  by an even greater distance, the local rulers possess great leeway in the 
  
  362|
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  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  exercise of their authority. Most traders prefer to become familiar with 
  one or two stages (which may be several days’ journey) and keep to the 
  area that they know, but sometimes merchants are concerned about being 
  cheated or believe others are not adequately representing their wares, and 
  so they make the entire journey themselves. Thus it is common to have 
  merchants from Istaﬂ umina or Jaati on the Caravan Road, and traders 
  from even farther away are not an unusual sight.
  GREAT EASTERN ERG
  GREAT EASTERN ERG
  Part of the Ashurian Desert, this vast dune sea has waves of sand that 
  are moved by the wind and interrupted only by the occasional oasis. 
  The Erg may be as much as 400 miles wide, and perhaps 1,000 miles 
  north to south, although no one has ever measured its true extent. The 
  dunes begin near the southern tip of the Desert Wall, just north of the 
  hill country claimed by the Antioch City-States, and continue nearly 200 
  miles past the north end of the wall. In the east, the Great Erg is limited 
  by the Zakros Mountains, though part of it continues into the Empire of 
  Assuria itself. On the west, the sand runs right down to the coast of the 
  Sea of Spices, where it is not contained by the Desert Wall.
  Only the fast-moving Havari River can keep from being covered by 
  the dunes, and even it collects a great deal of sand on its way through the 
  desert. Relics of an earlier empire are known to be buried beneath the 
  sands, from a time when the area was farmland rather than desolation, 
  but the wind seldom reveals them, and no one has been able to chart 
  their locations. The Eastern Erg is dotted with oases, and a well-traveled 
  caravan road follows the most-efﬁ cient selection of these. Other routes 
  across the desert are possible but may be more difﬁ cult or dangerous.
  GULF OF HUUN
  GULF OF HUUN
  In the northwest, the Ammuyad Caliphate meets Krivcycek Island across 
  the Mulstabhin Passage. The body of water on the northern side of the 
  passage is the Gulf of Huun, part of the Great Ocean Ûthaf. In contrast to the 
  warm currents of the Sea of Spices south of the passage, the Gulf of Huun is 
  primarily cold and it chills the extreme northwestern tip of Libynos, which 
  the caliphate does not claim. Some of the caliphate’s merchant vessels travel 
  through the gulf on their way to trade with the strange Northlanders, but 
  more often Northlander ships make their way south to bask in the warmth 
  and the exotic (to them) locations and foods of the caliphate.  
  HAVARI RIVER
  HAVARI RIVER
  Starting as a great waterfall in the Zakros Mountains, the Havari River 
  runs northeast to southwest across the entire Eastern Erg. It loses much 
  of its moisture to the desert but continues to run strongly as it passes 
  through the Painted Canyons and enters the Bay of Bhutan at the caliph’s 
  city of Hava. Few people have ever tried to travel the Havari; its canyon 
  through the Eastern Erg makes it difﬁ cult to access, and nothing has 
  been discovered around its headwaters that would make developing it 
  into a water route worth anyone’s while. Certain visionaries, though, are 
  convinced the river could be a viable means of transportation if something 
  valuable lay upstream, so explorers and prospectors keep looking. 
  Coming through the Eastern Erg, the Havari picks up a great deal 
  of sand and carries it to the coast. It forms a wide, changing delta as 
  the river drops the debris where it enters the ocean. Every so often the 
  mouth of the Havari must be dredged to keep its channel from moving 
  too close to the wall of the caliph’s city.
  PAINTED CANYONS
  PAINTED CANYONS
  These badlands of torn, rocky canyons split the Desert Wall east of 
  the city of Bhutan. The multiple colors of rock displayed in the deep 
  ravines give the area its name. Although still dangerous, these low-
  lying canyons provide the only route through the mountains for most 
  people. Travelers and caravans primarily follow the valley of the Havari 
  River, which runs east to west most of the way across the badlands at 
  a point where they are only about 100 miles wide. The canyons are 
  said to harbor gnolls, bandits, and criminals hiding from the caliph’s 
  justice, so caravans going through the area need to be well-guarded. 
  Stories suggest that somewhere in the canyons one can ﬁ nd the ruins 
  of the fabled city of Omlach Tur. Rather than being primitive, the cliff-
  dwellers of that ancient city are said to have been the rulers of an empire 
  that predated the caliphate by thousands of years.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: ONS2 ONE NIGHT STANDS: DEATH IN THE PAINTED 
  CANYONS, DEATH IN THE PAINTED CANYONS FROM QUESTS OF DOOM 2
  SEA OF SPICES
  SEA OF SPICES
  The Sea of Spices is the northernmost extent of the Sinnar Ocean. 
  It gets its name from the trade in rare spices that crosses it from the 
  Ammuyad Caliphate and Far Jaati. The sea connects the Sinnar Ocean 
  to the Great Ocean Ûthaf through the Mulstabhin Passage around 
  Krivcycek Island. A warm current ﬂ ows north along the western coast 
  of Libynos and into the Sea of Spices, bringing a clement or even hot 
  climate to the caliphate and the Irkaina Peninsula. This warm water 
  meets the cold water of the Gulf of Huun around Krivcycek Island and 
  often causes rough seas and bad weather in the Mulstabhin Passage.
  WESTERN ERG
  WESTERN ERG
  The Western Erg, an area of moving sand dunes roughly 200 miles 
  in each direction, lies at the foot of the Desert Wall. It starts a little 
  north of the Caravan Road going to Bhutan and runs right up to the 
  edge of the Sea of Spices in the north. If anything, it is more desolate 
  than the eastern desert as the more-livable lands around it allow people 
  to bypass and ignore the western desert in a way they cannot do in the 
  Great Eastern Erg.
  ZAKROS MOUNTAINS, WESTERN
  ZAKROS MOUNTAINS, WESTERN
  The western mass of the Zakros Mountains is somewhat different in 
  character than the sections farther east. Not only are they prone to small 
  earthquakes, several peaks up and down the range are active volcanoes. 
  Nothing more than smoke has been noted in centuries but the earliest 
  records of the caliphate indicate that, several hundred years before the 
  country’s foundation, these mountains experienced large explosions of 
  ﬁ re and ash. Some legends do say that once, long ago, the lands of the 
  caliphate were rich and watered, not desert. Whether this was ever the 
  case, and whether the volcanic eruptions so noted had anything to do 
  with the change in climate, is the subject of much speculation.
  ISTAFLUMINA
  ISTAFLUMINA
  Istaﬂ umina is a region of fertile river plains and rolling hills bounded by 
  the deep Ashurian Desert on the west and the high Zakros Mountains on 
  the east. Isolated by these barriers, this region has changed more slowly 
  than other parts of Libynos. As a result, it is the location of some of the 
  most ancient cities in the world, now developed into city-states supported 
  by the plentiful agricultural resources of the area. The fertile plain around 
  the central rivers combines with the protecting mountain range to yield 
  bountiful harvests, enough to feed the heavily urbanized populations. 
  Being home to civilizations whose roots go back to ancient times, 
  ancient stories are told here and, in several cities, records of long-ago 
  ages are carefully maintained. They recall a time when the empire of 
  the Assurians reached far to the west, including the lands now covered 
  by the sands of the Ashurian Desert. In those days, these western lands 
  were much wetter than they are now, with grasses and crops growing 
  amid cities and settlements. But then, more than 3,600 years ago, the 
  Tropic of Arden was created and the lands changed. The western Zakros 
  Mountains exploded with volcanic activity. The winds also changed, 
  and with that the lifegiving rains ceased to fall in those western lands. 
  Those grassy plains where the Assurians forged an empire dried up 
  and were covered with ash, and later, sand. They had no choice but 
  to withdraw to their original homeland in the valley of the two rivers 
  where conditions were much better.
  The rivers there ran more strongly, with plenty of water to irrigate 
  crops. In these new circumstances, fewer people were needed to farm 
  
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  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  and they were able to produce food for many more people. The city-
  states grew much larger, and the kings had people available to build 
  beautiful civic buildings and strong walls, and to ﬁ eld large armies. 
  The various kingdoms of the area rose and fell as empires: Zumarians, 
  Assurians, Hakhadians, Adenians, Ealimites, Parphelonians, and more. 
  About 1,000 years ago, the poles of the world shifted, and the climate 
  took another change. This time, Istaﬂ umina became cooler, and farming 
  became slightly more difﬁ cult. The land is still mostly good and well-
  watered, but crops do not grow as quickly and more hands are needed to 
  grow enough food for everyone. This is probably part of the reason that 
  no empire is currently ascendant throughout the region; more people 
  needed for farming leaves fewer available as soldiers. However, the 
  balance is always subject to change.
  ADENIA, EMPIRE OF
  ADENIA, EMPIRE OF
  Capital: Mithkethrin 
  Notable Settlements: Athrina, Majoor, Masadizyn, Merchant’s 
  Bluff, Ruzhan, Terezernah
  Ruler: Emperor Daraya-vaus III
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 1,805,485 (1,287,311 Ashurian, 483,817 Jaata, 
  16,881 Zakros Mountains tribe, 15,431 ratfolk, 2,045 other)
  Monstrous: lizardfolk (coasts), tigers and weretigers (northern 
  provinces), giants (mountains), ﬂ ying lizards (Tyrnos Island)
  Languages: Hakhadian, Merruwhan
  Religion: Annunaki pantheon
  Resources: trade, wool, excellent woven rugs, crops, oak wood, 
  almonds, wine, mining, iridescent lizard feathers
   Currency: Parphelonian
  Technology Level: Medieval (largest cities), High Middle Ages 
  (other towns), Dark Ages (rural areas)
  Adenia has its origin in the high plateaus of the Zakros Mountains, 
  between the range’s line of high peaks and the sea to the east. It did 
  not have the advantage of warm climate and fertile land held by most 
  of Istaﬂ umina, but its people have always been strong and determined. 
  Using the river valleys as guide and transport, the Adenians conquered 
  the lowlands to the west but after 10 generations were forced out of the 
  area. More than 800 years ago they spread north in the mountains and 
  east down to the sea. This means the Adenians now control the entire 
  eastern coast of Istaﬂ umina. Their domain runs from where the Zakros 
  Mountains meet the coast of the Sea of Tyre in the south, north past 
  the Vistaspa River and into the southern part of Jaati, where they have 
  ruled part of the area for more than 500 years and expanded into a new 
  province as recently as 100 years ago.
  Having learned the value of sea trade during their years of power along 
  the Gulf of Ur, the Adenians were quick to move into oceangoing ventures 
  of their own when they took control of the eastern coastal areas. The 
  Adenian Empire has the strongest navy in northern Libynos and uses it to 
  maintain communication and control in their empire, which reaches barely 
  more than 200 miles from the coast but is more than 1,000 miles long. In 
  addition, they explored east, motivated by ancient tales in the city of Ur 
  which is named after a great explorer who supposedly traveled far to the 
  east and eventually founded a city on the other side of the world. During 
  their search, the Adenians discovered Tyrnos Island and a few others but 
  were eventually turned back by the violent line of storms blocking passage 
  across the sea and reaching as far north and south as they dared sail.
  The capital of Adenia, formerly at the mountain city of Masadizyn, 
  was moved about 400 years ago to a new city built along the coast. The 
  new capital was named Mithkethrin after Emperor Kethmanis, the ruler 
  at the time. Adenia has settled into a series of provinces, each with its 
  own satrap, a viceroy of the emperor who has a great deal of power in his 
  or her own area. Three of the provinces are in the region of Istaﬂ umina 
  and two are in the southeast part of Jaati. 
  While Istaﬂ umina has a generally accepted set of deities, and Adenia 
  itself focuses primarily on Mitra (god of the sun, oaths, and justice), Jaati 
  has a conglomeration of hundreds of deities from dozens of cultures. In 
  some cases, the cultures may be lost, but their gods are still worshipped by 
  some in Jaati. In order to have a successful empire, though, the emperor 
  traditionally expects satraps to allow subject peoples their chosen methods 
  of worship as much as practicable. This results in a mixture of beliefs in 
  Adenian provinces that is not seen throughout the rest of Istaﬂ umina.
  MITHKETHRIN, IMPERIAL CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  MITHKETHRIN, IMPERIAL CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Satrap Trophernes of Capital Province
  Government: provincial satrap under the direct supervision of 
  Emperor Daraya-vaus
  Population: 283,621 (272,189 Ashurian, 5,250 Jaata, 3,051 
  ratfolk, 2,090 Zakros Mountains tribe, 1,041 other)
  This beautiful city was built speciﬁ cally as an imperial capital, with 
  avenues and approaches perfect for receiving foreign dignitaries and 
  accommodating nobles of the empire who come to pay their tribute to the 
  emperor. Its docks are large and easily accommodate many oceangoing 
  vessels at once, including an area for diplomatic ships to put in far from 
  the odorous ﬁ shing docks or the chaotic warehouse district. Satrap 
  Trophernes handles the details of the city itself and its surrounding 
  lands, so the emperor is free to focus on the issues affecting the entire 
  nation, or progress to various provinces, or travel to his summer palace.
  The capital city also features a well-designed temple district built 
  around an impressive temple to Mithra (the same deity as the Jaata god 
  Mitra). It includes temples to Tammuz and Ishtar, popular deities from 
  Parphelonia, and a Shrine of All Gods as a courtesy to visiting diplomats. 
  This round, pillared hall has a dozen niches with altars, where appropriate 
  symbols can be placed and different deities venerated temporarily.
  Mithkethrin is on the River Turperin, which comes from deep in the 
  Zakros Mountains. This is useful for moving people and cargo from 
  the coast to the foothills and for transporting things such as logs down 
  from the mountains, but the river from the mountain plateau down to 
  the lowlands is too rough for boats. Individuals and caravans traveling 
  to and from Masadizyn must make their way on the winding track that 
  runs generally along the river.
  ATHRINA, CITY OF
  ATHRINA, CITY OF
  Ruler: Satrap (viceroy) Parushti of Tazhmaspada Province
  Government: Provincial satrap appointed by emperor
  Population: 93,101 (55,392 Jaata, 35,248 Ashurian, 2,211 
  ratfolk, 250 other)
  Athrina sits on the bank of the Khulen River in what is usually 
  considered the southeastern part of Jaati. It has been the capital of 
  the Adenian province of Tazhmaspada for the past century. Under the 
  rulership of the Adenians, the caste system is not so strongly enforced 
  as it is through most of Jaati, so many unsatisﬁ ed people ﬁ nd their way 
  here. The province also has a wide variety of religious adherents, from 
  those who worship some of the deities of Khemit to a few who honor 
  ancient gods of the old Hyperborean Empire, whose inﬂ uence can still 
  be felt even though it has been dead for nearly a thousand years. The 
  Adenians also expanded the worship of Mitra in the area, and other 
  Annunaki deities; some citizens dutifully pay their respects to the new 
  gods, but the religion has not really become popular.
  One of the main products of Tazhmaspada Province — and an 
  important moneymaker for the satrap — is the harvesting of sandalwood 
  in the mountains in the west. Wood is shipped down the Khulen River. 
  Some is left for craftspeople, but most is exported, either to Mithkethrin 
  for use in the imperial city or for sale to other merchants.
  MAJOOR, TOWN OF
  MAJOOR, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Shahrbain (lord mayor) Ali Ashar
  Government: shahrbain (may be elected or appointed) who 
  reports to the provincial satrap
  Population: 4,582 (2,255 Jaata, 2,117 Ashurian, 210 other)
  
  364|
  364|THE LOST LANDS
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  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  A large town in Tazhmaspada Province, Majoor is a respectable trading 
  hub and port on the Celestean Sea. Its citizens aggressively recruit ship 
  trafﬁ c as well as caravans from the province’s farming areas. One focus 
  of the city’s trade is the bazaar, which features a changing selection of 
  eager vendors. Majoor recognizes that Jaati in general and the southeast 
  provinces in particular have residents with a variety of beliefs. The 
  city’s primary Temple of the Eternal Sun is dedicated to Mithra (Mitra) 
  but also to deities of the sun from other cultures.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K4 THE COILS OF SET
  MASADIZYN, CITY OF
  MASADIZYN, CITY OF
  Ruler: Satrap Ritvarziya of Zakros Province
  Government: provincial satrap appointed by emperor
  Population: 58,447 (54,250 Ashurian, 4,097 Zakros Mountains 
  tribe, 100 other)
  Once the capital city of the Adenian Empire, Masadizyn lost its 
  title to the coastal city of Mithkethrin about 400 years ago and is 
  now merely the capital of Zakros Province of the empire. The city is 
  located not far from the River Acina (a tributary of the Turperin) in 
  the eastern part of the Zakros Mountains, which gives travelers a good 
  route to Mithkethrin. Although the emperor’s ofﬁ cial residence is in 
  the new capital, the old palace is maintained as a summer home. It also 
  still contains most of the historical records and government archives 
  of the Adenian Empire, and scholars can now study here without 
  being interrupted by government bureaucrats, which they consider 
  an improvement. Another important ediﬁ ce is the ancient temple of 
  Mithra (or Mitra), who for centuries was the only deity worshipped by 
  the Adenians although they came to revere a few other deities during 
  their years of supremacy in the valley of Ur.
  Despite these important locations, some city ofﬁ cials and area nobles 
  feel that Masadizyn has become very unimportant to the empire since 
  it is no longer the capital, and they resent their consequent lack of 
  power. The common people tend to view themselves as the ones truly 
  of Adenian heritage since they maintain the mountain traditions of the 
  empire, and are therefore superior to the “lowlanders.” 
  Wool is an important product of Zakros Province, woven into both 
  cloth and into intricately patterned rugs that are in great demand as 
  exports. Another big crop is pistachio nuts, which are harvested and 
  exported in large quantities.
  MERCHANT’S BLUFF, CITY OF
  MERCHANT’S BLUFF, CITY OF
  Ruler: mercantile council
  Government: council of guildmasters approved by the 
  provincial satrap
  Population: 9,117 (4,583 Ashurian, 3,911 Jaata, 623 other)
  Part of Fradavarenah Province, this city lies on the southern shore of 
  an inlet of the Celestean Sea, on high ground overlooking lowland ﬁ elds. 
  By establishing a series of dams and accommodating for the occasional 
  ﬂ ooding, area farmers are able to regularly produce good crops; this is 
  proﬁ table for them as well as the traders in Merchants’ Bluff. Lumbering 
  is also popular, with valuable hardwoods in the area. Religion here 
  emphasizes interaction with the ocean. One temple is dedicated to the 
  pantheon of all gods on behalf of sailors who may be lost at sea. Another 
  temple is to a very ancient sea deity, the god Poseidon. 
  Unfortunately, Merchants’ Bluff has been having problems in the past 
  year or two, both with respect to the friendliness to outside traders (in 
  this case, the lack thereof) and in the failure to keep the docks in good 
  repair. Some captains are talking about no longer stopping here, but so 
  far the city seems to still be in business.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: K4 THE COILS OF SET
  RUZHAN, CITY OF
  RUZHAN, CITY OF
  Ruler: Satrap Haxmanis of Aspacan Province
  Government: provincial satrap appointed by emperor
  Population: 87,159 (48,910 Jaata, 36,449 Ashurian, 1,800 other)
  Ruzhan is an old city on the coast of the Celestean Sea at what is 
  considered to be the southern end of the Jaati region. It fell to the 
  Adenian Empire, which made over the core parts of the city in its own 
  image. The architectural style of the public buildings and temples is 
  certainly different than anything in Jaati proper, and the variations give 
  the city a distinctive feel. The religious district of Ruzhan holds temples 
  to Mithra and other deities of Istaﬂ umina as well as temples to several 
  holders of the Thirteen Thrones, noble deities, and guardian deities and 
  spirits of the Gohtra pantheon.
  A harbor and fortress constructed near Ruzhan serve as a northern port 
  for the imperial navy. Ships patrol from here north past Athrina, south 
  to Mithkethrin, and in the Celestean Sea in general. They discourage 
  any possible pirates and keep an eye on the shipping of countries from 
  outside northern Libynos, particularly Castorhage.
  As part of Aspacan Province, the empire claims a large part of the 
  northern Zakros Mountains along the River Vistaspa. Very few bother 
  to challenge this, but every few generations the barbarous Zethian tribes 
  try to move out into the lowlands along the coast and have to be taught 
  a lesson. The province has large oak forests in the mountainous areas, 
  and almonds also grow well. The area is also well-known for its wine.
  TEREZERNAH, CITY OF
  TEREZERNAH, CITY OF
  Ruler: Satrap Bycithras of Fradavarenah Province
  Government: provincial satrap appointed by emperor
  Population: 91,246 (87,955 Ashurian, 1,478 ratfolk, 1,813 other)
  Terezernah, the capital of Adenia’s Fradavarenah Province, sits at the 
  mouth of the River Risma in the southern part of the Adenian Empire. 
  Nothing but a small ﬁ shing village was here before the Adenian conquest, 
  but its replacement has become a major city and home to the empire’s 
  growing navy. Ships from Terezernah patrol the southern approaches of 
  the empire, the capital, and Tyrnos Island, while vessels from a secondary 
  base at Ruzhan patrol in the north. Naval ships seldom go far into the Gulf 
  of Ur, as Parphelonia regards them as a threat, but they do protect Adenian 
  merchants as necessary against any pirates in the area.
  Fradavarenah is more conservative in its religion than the northern 
  parts of the empire. Although worship of other deities is not forbidden, 
  in public Terezernah has only a temple of Mithra.
  Mining is an important business in the province and much metal is 
  shipped to Mithkethrin to help equip the empire’s military.
  TYRNOS ISLAND
  TYRNOS ISLAND
  Ruler: Naurapati (naval commander) Xinthra-tasim
  Government:  military dictator as appointed by the emperor
  Population: 1,852 (almost all Ashurian)
  The Adenian Empire lays claim to Tyrnos Island, which sits about 
  150 miles off the eastern shore of northern Libynos. It has forested 
  lowlands around the coast, but a short way inland, all around the island, 
  are mountains so steep that even the peak-savvy Adenians could not 
  explore them successfully. Full exploration was not necessary, though, 
  to discover the incredible ﬂ ying lizards that lived among the peaks. 
  Unique to Tyrnos Island, these lizards have iridescent feathers both 
  beautiful and magical. Like many lizards, though, they molt their 
  skins on a regular basis and then the feathers can be gathered in good 
  condition if people with the necessary skills are on hand at just the right 
  time. The valuable feathers are sold to a select few merchants and traded 
  at high prices in northern and eastern Libynos, but are almost unknown 
  in the rest of the world.
  The Adenians have built fortresses at key places around the island to 
  protect their interests from intruders. The Castorhagi Far East Company 
  
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  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  and the Alcaldrich Imperial Navy have encroached more than once in 
  the past three decades, though now that Castorhage and Alcaldar are 
  practically at war, they may leave Tyrnos alone. Adenian ships patrol 
  around the island regularly, although it is possible a small boat might 
  ﬁ nd a place to put in that would be unnoticed.
  Vigilance against intruders has been increased dramatically in the 
  past few years. After mining various metals in the outer mountains 
  for centuries, a vein of adamantium was discovered and a mine is 
  now in operation. Work there accidentally led to another discovery, 
  one that is being held in even greater secrecy: It seems the mountains 
  do not cover the interior of the island. Instead, they ring a deep, 
  round valley.
  The few sages aware of the valley’s existence speculate that it could 
  be the remains of the caldera of a truly ancient volcano. Whatever 
  its origin, the valley is ﬁ lled with plants and animals unlike any ever 
  encountered by any of the sages. The hot, damp atmosphere has caused 
  ferns to grow high above a person’s head, with thick trees towering over 
  those. The animals seem even less likely than the ﬂ ying lizards: one type 
  has a body as big as a house and a tail as long and thick as a downed 
  cedar tree. Another has a protective ruff or frill to guard its neck and a 
  pair of vicious long horns, plus a third on the nose with which it can 
  gore or toss a creature it feels is threatening it, as unfortunate explorers 
  discovered. Flying lizards have been spotted among the tall trees, but 
  these are a dozen feet long or more, rather than three to four as the 
  ones in the outer mountains. Explorers and sages are certain there must 
  be a way to use this discovery to showcase the might of the empire or 
  increase the wealth of participants, but they have not yet determined 
  what it might be.
  ASSURIA, EMPIRE OF
  ASSURIA, EMPIRE OF
  Capital: Asshur  
  Notable Settlements: Arbail, Channa, Dul-Tharrudin, Erappa, 
  Kalakh, Kutsana, Maahri, Mineffeh, Pardisu, Perqa
  Ruler: King Nabuzerukin II
  Government: royal dictatorship
  Population: 1,341,777 (1,312,978 Ashurian of Istaﬂ umina, 
  13,817 Ashurian of the Caliphate, 14,237 desert and mountain 
  tribe, 745 other)
  Monstrous: gnolls (often raid farms), ant lions, lamias (desert)
  Languages: Hakhadian
  Religion: Annunaki pantheon
   Resources: stone, sculptures, iron, tin, crops, trade, glass, 
  horses, wool cloth
  Currency: Parphelonian
  Technology Level: Dark Ages, Medieval (Kalakh, Maahri)
  Assuria is hilly throughout most of its area, running from the foothills 
  of the Zakros Mountains to the fertile river plain south of the capital 
  city of Ashur. Its golden age as an empire has passed, but it is still a 
  collection of strong cities that work together in defense and trade. The 
  Assurians are feared by all for their savage and bloodthirsty tactics 
  on the battleﬁ eld, skills which led them to conquer the entire area of 
  Istaﬂ umina and hold it for 300 years. 
  Certain nomadic folk also reside inside the territory claimed by 
  Assuria. In the northern hills, past the city of Kutsana, are the Thurrians. 
  Southwest, toward the great desert, are the Arramians who attack from 
  the desert at sunset, hit a city or caravan, and then fade back into the 
  desert with their plunder. Important campaigns were carried on against 
  the Arramians in the past, and some suggest they have strongholds 
  hidden in the desert, which is how they are able to survive such assaults 
  by the Assurians time after time.
  ASSHUR, CITY-STATE OF (CAPITAL)
  ASSHUR, CITY-STATE OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: King Nabuzerukin II
  Government: bureaucracy under royal dictatorship
  Population: 95,174 (almost all Ashurian)
  As ﬁ rst among equals of the cities in the Empire of Assuria, the walls 
  of Asshur itself are hung with the skulls and bones of defeated enemies. 
  The city’s highly skilled army consists of mailed archers, spearmen, and 
  charioteers. A ziggurat temple to Ishtar in her aspect of goddess of war is 
  in the center of the city. (She is also worshipped in her aspect of goddess 
  of love, but in Asshur that is done in a smaller temple separate from the 
  great ziggurat.) 
  King Nabuzerukin II has his court here, making the city the gathering 
  place of inﬂ uential people, and those who wish to be so. The king’s court 
  is the central location for the skilled astronomers and stargazers who use 
  observations of the night sky and celestial phenomena to predict the 
  future. The court astrologers advise the king on all matters of the state, 
  and lesser astrologers are consulted avidly by the people for information 
  on their own decisions.
  ARBAIL, CITY-STATE OF
  ARBAIL, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Paehutu (governor) Sharrizukup
  Government: governor appointed by king
  Population: 30,193 (almost all Ashurian)
  Arbail is a rather small city located where the hill country of Assuria 
  becomes the steep foothills of the Zakros Mountains. It is the site of an 
  important quarry, with ﬂ atboats carrying stone downstream to the River 
  Saan where it is eventually transported on to Asshur. The city also has 
  some notable sculptors, including Ibbi-Rimush, the master of his own 
  carving school.
  CHANNA, CITY-STATE OF
  CHANNA, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Paehutu Libbisharamat
  Government: governor appointed by king
  Population: 48,298 (almost all Ashurian)
  Channa is a typical city-state of farmers and herders. The land is not 
  quite as ﬂ at and not quite as fertile as the area farther along the River 
  Yugraetes, but the smaller towns and settlements which are subject to 
  Channa still do well for themselves and their city. The city is surrounded 
  by canals and irrigation channels that funnel water from the river out to 
  the farmlands. Channa has a small but adequate dock area on the river; 
  some traders stop here on their way downriver from Perqa or Maahri, 
  but most elect just to go on down the river to the great city of Parphelon. 
  A professional guard force of several thousand troops is ready to 
  protect the city-state, or join the army of the king under the leadership 
  of the paehutu. The thick, mud-brick walls of the city are large enough 
  to allow those from the surrounding lands to take shelter in case of an 
  attack on the area. An inner wall surrounds a ziggurat temple to Tammuz, 
  god of fertility and rebirth. A processional way (paved with stone, unlike 
  most of the dirt streets) leads from the main city gates to the gate in the 
  temple wall and on to the steps of the temple itself. Thousands of people 
  line the processional way and thousand more participate in the regular 
  festivals to celebrate Tammuz and his mate Ishtar, who has her own 
  temple just on the other side of the great one to Tammuz.
  DUL-THARRUDIN, CITY-STATE OF
  DUL-THARRUDIN, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Paehutu Nasidrigira
  Government: governor appointed by king
  Population: 31,186 (almost all Ashurian)
  Dul-Tharrudin was originally built as a fortress to protect the capital 
  city of Mineffeh and other cities in the triangle between the River Pykeris 
  and River Saan. Assuria has been threatened over the years by its rivals 
  
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  in Hurardu, and the most important city-states of that kingdom are in 
  the mountains about 100 miles north of Dul-Tharrudin, so it maintains a 
  strong army ready to ﬁ ght. The city has also been used as a starting point 
  for attacks into Hurardu. After the capital was moved to Asshur, Dul-
  Tharrudin was expanded to hold a summer palace for later kings, who 
  found the foothills cooler in the hot seasons than the current capital city.
  ERAPPA, CITY-STATE OF
  ERAPPA, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: King Urbatushara, advised by Qepu (delegate) Ketti-
  ramat, representative of King Nabuzerukin II
  Government: vassal state of Assuria
  Population: 71,296 (almost all Ashurian)
  Erappa has been allowed to maintain some of its independence from 
  Assuria, primarily because it serves as a point of attack and defense 
  against the barbaric Kouthian tribes in the nearby Zakros Mountains. It 
  has a standing army of 5,000 troops and sends strong patrols through the 
  foothills in its area to push back on any encroachments by the Kouthians. 
  The other value of Erappa is that its people raise ﬁ ne horses, many of 
  which it sends in tribute to the Assurian Empire.
  KALAKH, CITY-STATE OF
  KALAKH, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Paehutu Pobanilassur
  Government: governor appointed by king
  Population: 34,588 (almost all Ashurian)
  Kalakh was capital of Assuria for a time several hundred years ago, 
  but eventually diminished in importance when King Sardanopoleser 
  built a new capital at Mineffeh. It sits at the conﬂ uence of the River Saan 
  and the River Pykeris and is sometimes troubled by ﬂ ooding when both 
  rivers run high. Kalakh is an important center of glass-making, known 
  especially for pale green and deep blue glass. Vessels are sometimes cut 
  from solid blocks of colored glass, a rare technique used thousands of 
  years ago but still seen in Assuria today.
  KUTSANA, CITY-STATE OF
  KUTSANA, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: King Hadasnadinshi, advised by Qepu Iddin-resuwa, 
  representative of King Nabuzerukin II
  Government: vassal state of Assuria
  Population: 45,996 (almost all Ashurian)
  Kutsana does good business cutting valuable timber throughout its 
  hilly area and sending it down one of the tributaries of the River Shapur 
  to the cities downstream, partially for proﬁ t but also as part of its tribute 
  to Assuria. Its professional army is well-drilled and alert, as this city-
  state’s area is most vulnerable to attacks by the Thurrians. That tribe is 
  often aided by Hurardu, a rival kingdom of Assuria to the north.
  MAAHRI, CITY-STATE OF
  MAAHRI, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Paehutu Ishkunduramat
  Government: governor appointed by king
  Population: 87,863 (almost all Ashurian)
  Maahri is the eastern anchor of the Great Caravan Road where it 
  sets off into the desert of the Great Eastern Erg and on to the city of 
  Bhutan along the shore of the Sea of Spices. Caravans come from the 
  west across the Ashurian Desert or from the south (from Parphelon, the 
  ports at Ur, or other cities) and meet here. Most desert travelers prefer 
  not to make the trip all the way to the plains’ cities; instead, they want 
  to trade their goods and head back into the familiar desert. Likewise, 
  the Istaﬂ umina merchants prefer not to risk the dangerous journey all 
  the way to the western sea. As a consequence, Maahri is the place for 
  the transfer or trade of large amounts of goods. The people of the area 
  facilitate these deals (with inns, markets, commodity exchanges, private 
  meeting houses, and more), and the Assurian Empire receives a small 
  amount from each transaction. In addition, Maahri’s troops actively 
  patrol the area within a day’s journey to ward off any attacks near the 
  city by any desert tribes that might be inclined to harass the caravans.
  MINEFFEH, CITY-STATE OF
  MINEFFEH, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Paehutu Esadurimin
  Government: governor appointed by king
  Population: 61,892 (almost all Ashurian)
  Mineffeh is another former capital city, having been favored by 
  Assuria’s kings for several hundred years. At its height, it had more 
  than 150,000 inhabitants, was the largest city in the region, and received 
  water via an elaborate system of canals and aqueducts. Revolt by a 
  group of subjugated cities resulted in Mineffeh being sacked and largely 
  abandoned for centuries. It has been restored by the current dynasty of 
  kings, though they have not made it their capital; common houses have 
  been rebuilt, but ruined palaces and temples abound and the current 
  population by no means ﬁ lls the area inside the expansive walls. When 
  King Humban-Sharruken ordered the ancient city repopulated 300 years 
  ago, his representatives discovered the library of the last ruler, King 
  Ashur-Shuleriba, was largely intact thanks to magical protections set by 
  that king’s seers. This library became a royal concern and is overseen 
  personally by the paehutu of the city, currently Esadurimin. 
  One issue with Mineffeh is that it is prone to earthquakes, with 
  memorable ones occurring every generation or two and large ones 
  happening every century or so. (While it was the capital, one quake 
  leveled most of the city and required massive rebuilding.) Currently, 
  no large quakes have been recorded going back ﬁ ve generations, so the 
  seers of Mineffeh are concerned that one could happen in the next few 
  years. Mineffeh is a major center of worship of the goddess Ishtar, and 
  her temple was the ﬁ rst thing to be rebuilt by Humban-Sharruken as he 
  sought her favor for his later conquests. 
  PARDISU, CITY-STATE OF
  PARDISU, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Paehutu Ashurmentarah
  Government: governor appointed by king
  Population: 29,106 (almost all Ashurian)
  Pardisu is in the north-central part of Assuria in some of the higher 
  hills near the Zakros Mountains, and the farthest north city-state on the 
  River Pykeris. It lays claim to some mines that produce iron and tin, 
  very valuable commodities for the Assurian Empire. Because of their 
  location, the mines have been the subject of raids by northern enemies 
  from Hurardu, so a small fort has been built near the mines, and troops 
  from Pardisu are stationed there at all times. In addition, its extensive 
  sheep herds produce large quantities of wool so it is known for its cloth.
  PERQA, CITY-STATE OF
  PERQA, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Paehutu Ubibneshezer
  Government: governor appointed by king
  Population: 34,547 (almost all Ashurian)
  Being the westernmost of the city-states of Istaﬂ umina, Perqa and 
  Maahri have been most subject over the years to depredations by 
  desert tribes. As a result, both cities have allied themselves for mutual 
  protection for thousands of years. To an extent, the raids from the desert 
  decreased with the establishment of the Great Caravan Road, which is 
  well-patrolled by the army of the Ammuyad Caliphate. However, since 
  Perqa is not on that road, it has had to expand its own guard patrols to be 
  sure aggressive nomads didn’t consider it an easy target. 
  The city’s location on the upper part of the River Yugraetes means 
  local merchants can easily transport wares all the way down the river to 
  the great city of Parphelon and even Ur on the Gulf of Ur. In addition, 
  the city is near where the River Shapur joins the Yugraetes, bringing 
  would-be traders down from the north to take part in the city’s markets. 
  The conﬂ uence of the two rivers also makes the area a good one for 
  
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  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  freshwater ﬁ shing, and many peasants put nets in the river and then 
  sell their catches in the city. Perqa is an important center of worship for 
  Dagon, God of the Deep; he is viewed in the city as a god of water and 
  the underworld.
  EALIM, EMPIRE OF
  EALIM, EMPIRE OF
  Capital: Shushin 
  Notable Settlements: Khundeshlikur
  Ruler: Emperor Nakhante-Khushinak
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 1,435,392 (1,423,347 Ashurian, 12,045 other)
  Monstrous: giants (mountains), lizardfolk (coasts), hippocampi, 
  kelp devils (ocean) 
  Languages: Hakhadian
  Religion: Annunaki Pantheon
  Resources: trade, crops, ﬁ shing, scholarship
   Currency: Parphelonian
  Technology Level: Renaissance (Shushin), Medieval 
  (Khundeshlikur), High Middle Ages (other settlements), Dark 
  Ages (rural areas)
  The Empire of Ealim lies at the foot of the Zakros Mountains and 
  currently holds the land all the way to the eastern bank of the River 
  Pykeris. It also claims the entire eastern side of the Gulf of Ur around 
  to and including the Ghutirshan Peninsula. The Ealimite culture has 
  produced great works of literature, architecture, and sculpture. The 
  empire is divided into a number of powerful princedoms, with each 
  paying lip service to the emperor in Shushin. The Ealimites are 
  masters of diplomacy and manipulation, and play a complex game of 
  vassalage, political intermarriages, intrigues, and assassinations. Such 
  internal conﬂ ict has generally prevented Ealim from dominating its 
  western neighbors.
  SHUSHIN, IMPERIAL CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  SHUSHIN, IMPERIAL CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Emperor Nakhante-Khushinak
  Government: City-Lord Kutir-amar, advising the emperor
  Population: 211,254 (almost all Ashurian)
  Shushin is a beautiful city situated on the River Murrani as it 
  runs toward the Gulf of Ur. Its region produces an abundance of 
  crops to support the city’s large urban population. As the capital 
  of the Ealimite Empire, the city is full of palaces (both royal and 
  noble), temples, gardens, markets, elite craftspeople, and everyday 
  folks going about their business. After the royal palace, the greatest 
  building in the city is the ziggurat temple to Shushinak. The patron 
  deity of Shushin is known as the Lord of Secrets, an appropriate 
  choice for a city full of political turmoil. The court itself is rife with 
  palace intrigue and assassinations as people try to put themselves in 
  positions of wealth or power.
  GHUTIRSHAN, PROVINCE OF
  GHUTIRSHAN, PROVINCE OF
  Capital: Khundeshlikur
  Ruler: Prince Lagana-Shilkhamru
  Government: monarchy; vassal of Empire of Ealim
  Ghutirshan is on the peninsula of the same name, east of the Gulf 
  of Ur. It is an ancient realm with a long history of civilization, though 
  not quite so long as the cradle of the two rivers of Istaﬂ umina. Prince 
  Lagana-Shilkhamru reigns from the capital city of Khundeshlikur, but 
  rule of the city itself is given over to the city-lord. Being on the coast of 
  the sea, the province is exposed to damaging weather from which Ealim 
  proper is protected by the Gulf of Ur. However, the land is still abundant 
  and supports a large urban population. It is also a good location for trade 
  though the ships of Ghutirshan are coasters rather than seagoing vessels.
  IBNATH, RUINS OF
  IBNATH, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  Ibnath was once a city of wealth, full of temples to the gods, and more 
  temples and shrines to strange foreign gods. It is said that the priests 
  dwelt in such magniﬁ cence that the gods became angry and turned 
  against them. The gods cursed the city and sent a demon to destroy it, 
  killing the highest priests and turning the people out to wander in the 
  desert. The ruins of the city are now lost to the sands, though some 
  desert folk still tell its tale and claim to recall where it sat.
  KHUNDESHLIKUR, CITY OF (PROVINCIAL CAPITAL)
  KHUNDESHLIKUR, CITY OF (PROVINCIAL CAPITAL)
  Ruler: City-Lord Shukunde-Khutiru
  Government: city-lord appointed by the prince of Ghutirshan
  Population: 122,138 (almost all Ashurian)
  This ancient city in Ghutirshan welcomes scholars from around 
  the world to the great Academy of Khundeshlikur. It is a center of 
  theological and scientiﬁ c thought in Libynos, and also a key location 
  for research into medicine, astronomy, and mathematics. Sadly, due to 
  its distant location, and the narrowminded tendencies of the scholars of 
  Akados to discount the wisdom of the eastern continent, the academy 
  is little known west of Khemit. The prevalence of scholars in the city 
  does not mean the city emphasizes the esoteric to the detriment of the 
  material. It has a thriving sea trade with the city-states on the Gulf of Ur 
  and up the east coast to Jaati, as well as having a sizable army to protect 
  it from incursion by land or sea.
  HURARDU, KINGDOM OF
  HURARDU, KINGDOM OF
  Capital: Vurushma 
  Notable Settlements: Dusathir
  Ruler: King Balatshinu
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 858,518 (830,361 Ashurian, 28,157 Zakros 
  Mountains tribe)
  Monstrous: giants, ogres, thunderbirds
  Languages: Hakhadian
  Religion: Annunaki pantheon
  Resources: trade, ﬁ shing, highland crops
   Currency: Parphelonian
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages (Vurushma), Dark Ages 
  (other towns), Iron Age (rural areas, tribal villages)
  Hurardu is a mountainous kingdom without the food and water 
  resources of the plains’ cities. Its people are tough, however, and get 
  along well with what they have. The kingdom is a long-time enemy of 
  Assuria and makes attacks on that empire from time to time. (It has to 
  deal with reprisals as well, although at least the famed chariots of Assuria 
  are not useful in Hurardu’s mountainous territory.) The kingdom is also 
  bothered by attacks from the Kymmurean tribes to the north. A people 
  of ﬁ erce warriors, the Kymmureans have to be beaten back on a regular 
  basis to keep Hurardu cities secure.
  DUSATHIR, CITY OF
  DUSATHIR, CITY OF
  Ruler: City-Lord Diuresu
  Government: city-lord appointed by king
  Population: 25,642 (almost all Ashurian)
  Dusathir is located on a relatively quiet inlet of Lake Fahn. Its docks 
  carry on a thriving lake trade. Its ships cross to settlements on the other 
  sides of the lake and transport goods from one to another, as well as back to 
  its own markets and to Vurushma. The city has a small dock area but does 
  not really emphasize water travel. Fishing is another activity of Dusathir’s 
  ships. The city has a standing army to protect against roving mountain 
  tribes, but it has been decades since the city (as opposed to some outlying 
  
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  settlement) came under serious attack, so the army has been allowed to 
  decrease in numbers and fall out of practice in the past few years.
  VURUSHMA, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  VURUSHMA, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: King Balatshinu
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 38,876 (almost all Ashurian)
  The capital of Hurardu, the city of Vurushma lies on the shore of Lake 
  Fahn. Located in a valley of the Zakros Mountains, Vurushma has a 
  much-cooler climate than the lowland cities, and there are seasons when 
  little food grows. The people of the area cultivate different crops than 
  those in the warm river valleys and do some trading for other goods. The 
  royal palace is built on a series of terraces overlooking the lake. The other 
  grand building in the city is the Temple of Sin, the god of the moon. The 
  clear mountain air is excellent for observing the night sky, and astrologers 
  travel some distance to make readings of the stars at the Temple of Sin.
  PARPHELONIA, EMPIRE OF
  PARPHELONIA, EMPIRE OF
  Capital: Parphelon 
  Ruler: Kingpriest Apullunedizu
  Government: theocracy
  Population: 3,065,054 (2,923,182 Ashurian, 12,248 desert tribe, 
  128,324 other human ethnicity, 1,300 other)
  Monstrous: jackalweres gray renders, marsh beasts (Black 
  Marshes), girtablilu (desert), lizardfolk (coasts), hippocampi, 
  reefclaws (Gulf of Ur)
  Languages: Hakhadian
  Religion: Annunaki pantheon
   Resources: religion, history, magic, crops, ﬁ shing, logging, 
  herbs, trade
  Currency: Parphelonian
  Technology Level: Medieval (Parphelon, Ur), High Middle 
  Ages (Ippur, Vorsiphe, Zibur), Dark Ages (Erethu, Gessh, 
  Irrech, Kuuda), Iron Age (rural areas)
  The Empire of Parphelonia is led by Apullunedizu, who is at once king 
  and also the archpriest of Tiamat. The entire empire is not as dedicated to her 
  worship as is the city of Parphelon (nor does the kingpriest require that), but 
  it colors all interactions with the kingpriest and the capital city. Currently, the 
  empire consists of the countries of Hakhad and Zumaru, but it has been larger 
  in the past, and the kingpriest has plans to make it be so again in the future.
  HAKHAD, KINGDOM OF
  HAKHAD, KINGDOM OF
  Capital: Parphelon
  Notable Settlements: Gessh, Kuuda, Vorsiphe, Zibur
  Ruler: Kingpriest Apullunedizu
  Government: part of Empire of Parphelonia
  Hakhad is in the central part of Istaﬂ umina where the Pykeris and 
  Yugraetes run close together. It is a land of hills and fertile plains 
  dominated by the grand city of Parphelon. Hakhad in the past ruled all 
  of Istaﬂ umina and more, and in fact its language is still the common 
  tongue of the entire area. Now, however, Hakhad is joined with Zumaru 
  as part of the Empire of Parphelonia.
  PARPHELON, CITY-STATE OF
  PARPHELON, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Assistant Archpriest Ekurzakir
  Government: theocracy under Empire of Parphelonia
  Population: 502,230 (468,830 Ashurian, 31,200 other human 
  ethnicities, 2,200 other)
  Parphelon is the greatest of the Istaﬂ uminan city-states. The mighty 
  city is famed for its towering blue gates guarded by sculpted dragons 
  and winged bulls. It is thoroughly devoted to the worship of Tiamat, the 
  dragon-queen of chaos, with all other deities being relegated to minor 
  status. Parphelon is ruled by the blue-bearded priests of Tiamat, who in 
  turn serve the kingpriest, mightiest of all rulers in Istaﬂ umina.
  Its urban population is supported by agricultural settlements from 
  miles around, as well as supplies purchased from the nearby city of 
  Vorsiphe. The streets of Parphelon are crowded with people conducting 
  their business, engaging in trade, and visiting the great city. The court of 
  the kingpriest is full of intrigue, but nobles and courtiers are a bit more 
  cautious than most places because a seriously wrong step can result in 
  not just banishment, but instead becoming a sacriﬁ ce to Tiamat.
  GESSH, CITY-STATE OF
  GESSH, CITY-STATE OF
  Population: 52,496 (almost all Ashurian)
  Ruler: City-Lord Marappla-iddin
  Government: city-lord under Empire of Parphelonia
  Gessh is an ancient city, of such antiquity that only Erethu has a clear 
  claim to being of greater age. It was once the seat of a mighty dynasty 
  of kings, but now is a minor city of primarily religious signiﬁ cance. It is 
  only a day’s journey east of Parphelon and features an elaborate temple 
  to Inanna (now known as Ishtar) as well as the remains of some of the 
  earliest palaces and other buildings constructed in all Libynos, which 
  bring many religious pilgrims and other travelers to the city.
  KUUDA, CITY-STATE OF
  KUUDA, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Archpriest Mushezibti
  Government: theocracy under Empire of Parphelonia
  Population: 45,638 (almost all Ashurian)
  The center of a death-cult serving Nergal, Erishkigal, and other gods, 
  Kuuda is said to be always shrouded in the gloom of darkened skies. 
  It is dominated by huge mortuary temples aboveground, and endless 
  black halls and maggot-ridden mausoleums underground, where the 
  dark-hearted archpriest is rumored to command legions of the dead. The 
  work of the city is done by low-ranking members of the cult because any 
  non-members abandoned the area long ago.
  VORSIPHE, CITY-STATE OF
  VORSIPHE, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: City-Lord Aregalshu
  Government: city-lord appointed by kingpriest
  Population: 99,306 (almost all Ashurian)
  Vorsiphe is effectively the “sister city” of Parphelon. Only a few miles 
  away from the capital, its business is mostly supporting the business of 
  Parphelon. Even the temples are lesser than the temples in Parphelon; 
  before the coming of the priests of Tiamat, the greatest temple in Parphelon 
  was dedicated to Marduk, beneﬁ cent deity of strength and law. Vorsiphe’s 
  greatest temple was built to Utu, the sun god, who is a lesser god of law. A 
  few generations ago, the aged temple of Utu was updated and ornamented 
  with rich blue glaze, similar to certain buildings in Parphelon. Temples 
  now mostly act as archives of legal, administrative, and astronomical 
  texts and perform fewer ceremonies, as they are anxious not to attract 
  attention from the priests at Parphelon. The villages and settlements 
  around Vorsiphe send their products into the city, but from there, a large 
  part is shipped directly to Parphelon to support its population.
  ZIBUR, CITY-STATE OF
  ZIBUR, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: City-Lord Gashansunu
  Government: city-lord appointed by Kingpriest
  Population: 127,863 (almost all Ashurian)
  Zibur sits on the eastern bank of the River Yugraetes, at the point at which 
  that river and the Pykeris most closely approach each other. It is a stopping 
  place for caravans or travelers who are traveling between the rivers, and is a 
  crossing for those who so far have been on the west bank but need to move 
  
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  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  to the east to go on to Parphelon. The city of Zibur is dominated by the great 
  ziggurat temple of Ea, god of healing and knowledge, and also of magic. 
  Many of the priests of Ea are also magicians, and his temple is a center of 
  teaching in that area. It is also a place where petitioners come to beg healing 
  from the deity, with gifts as rich as they can afford.
  ZUMARU, KINGDOM OF
  ZUMARU, KINGDOM OF
  Capital: Ur
  Notable Settlements: Erethu, Ippur, Irrech, Ur
  Ruler: Kingpriest Appullunedizu
  Government: part of Empire of Parphelonia
  Zumaru is the site of the most ancient civilization in the world. The 
  tales say that thousands of years ago, explorers from Zumaru traveled 
  to other parts of the world and founded the ﬁ rst cities there. Lying 
  primarily in the great delta of the Rivers Pykeris and Yugraetes, much of 
  the country is a swampy jungle crisscrossed by subsidiary streams and 
  channels. Having been the seat of an empire in millennia past, Zumaru 
  is joined with Hakhad as part of the Empire of Parphelonia, and is now 
  little more than a regional designation.
  ERETHU, CITY-STATE OF
  ERETHU, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Priest-King Iaazipaa
  Government: theocracy under Empire of Parphelonia
  Population: 149,817 (almost all Ashurian)
  This ancient city claims to be the oldest in the world. Some say that 
  when the ﬁ rst farmers, ﬁ shers, and herders gathered and built homes 
  here, under the very ﬁ rst king of Zumaru, the god Ea came to them 
  and taught them how to have a civilization. Others claim the city was 
  founded by a mystic ﬁ sh-man who crawled ashore from the deep ocean 
  and taught the people about letters and sciences, and arts of every kind. 
  From him the people learned to build cities, to found temples, to compile 
  laws, and to master geometry and mathematics. 
  After the ﬁ rst ﬁ sh-man returned to the sea, others of his kind came secretly 
  and continued to teach select people things such as sorcery and powers of 
  the mind. Originally built along the southern bank of the River Yugraetes, 
  the city lost easy access to water when the river changed its channel 
  hundreds of years later. Although the drier land requires more people to 
  work it, Erethu is still able to have a large urban population through the 
  power of magic; the city is known today as a realm of sorcerers and demon-
  summoners. These dark magicians live in tall towers of red stone that are 
  visible from miles away and are a recognizable landmark of Erethu. 
  IPPUR, CITY-STATE OF
  IPPUR, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Archpriest Numunia
  Government: theocracy under Empire of Parphelonia
  Population: 112,618 (almost all Ashurian)
  Ippur is one of the earliest city-states founded in Zumaru, but its age 
  had not led it to stagnate. The holiest of all Zumaran cities, Ippur is the 
  site of the great ziggurat temple of Enlil, the deity who is now also known 
  as Marduk, the divine general in the war against chaos. Other temples to 
  beneﬁ cent deities ﬁ ll the city center and are the site of much worshipful 
  activity. Many soldiers come here brieﬂ y for religious ceremonies, but 
  being in the army of Ippur is also considered very prestigious and it is 
  larger than usual for a city of its size, with nearly 20,000 troops.
  IRRECH, CITY-STATE OF
  IRRECH, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: City-Lord Nikanuur
  Government: city-lord appointed by kingpriest
  Population: 148,636 (almost all Ashurian)
  One of the oldest cities of Istaﬂ umina, Irrech is built around a core of 
  temples. The oldest and greatest ziggurat is to Inanna (now known as Ishtar), 
  goddess of love and war, but almost as great is the ziggurat temple to Anu, 
  distant god of law and protection. Many other gods are also represented in 
  the temple district, some of which have few worshippers these days. Irrech 
  has a great archive, though it is not well known, that contains primarily legal 
  and scholarly tablets (though the archivists keep almost anything given into 
  their care), some of which were inscribed thousands of years ago.
  UR, CITY-STATE OF
  UR, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: City-Lord Enhedanu
  Government: city-lord appointed by Kingpriest
  Population: 321,483 (306,448 Ashurian, 14,210 other human 
  ethnicities, 825 other)
  One of the oldest cities of Istaﬂ umina (though not quite as old as 
  Irrech), Ur ﬂ ourishes today as a port city on the Gulf of Ur. Merchants 
  bring products from throughout the river valleys, as well as from far-away 
  places such as the Ammuyad Caliphate, to Ur. Here they trade them for 
  goods from Jaati, Khemit, or even the jungles far to the south. During one 
  of its periods of empire, a mighty ziggurat was built at Ur that can still 
  be seen today. From the apex of the Ur ziggurat, the ancient stargazers 
  surveyed the night sky and observed the passing of comets, and the birth 
  and death of stars. It is said that these astronomers chronicled their ﬁ ndings, 
  and the esoteric knowledge they gleaned from them, on cuneiform tablets 
  so that the knowledge could be passed on to later generations. If this was 
  done, however, the tablets have been lost to the centuries. The ziggurat is 
  now dedicated to the worship of Ea, the god of wisdom. 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN ISTAFLUMINA
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN ISTAFLUMINA
  ASSURIAN PLAIN
  ASSURIAN PLAIN
  The central plain of Istaﬂ umina is commonly called the Assurian 
  Plain after the Assurian Empire, who used it to such great advantage in 
  conquering the rest of the area many hundred years ago. It begins near 
  the city of Asshur and broadens where the two great rivers approach 
  each other only 50 miles apart. It increases to more than 200 miles wide 
  as the rivers ﬂ ow to the southeast, and surrounds the delta formed by 
  the great rivers. The entire plain is very fertile; with water supplied 
  by irrigation from the River Yugraetes and the favorable weather, the 
  land is able to produce crops twice a year and so feed the large urban 
  population of the region.
  BLACK MARSHES OF NAMMAT
  BLACK MARSHES OF NAMMAT
  An offshoot of the Zumaran swamp delta, close to the great River 
  Pykeris, the loathsome marshland known as the Black Marshes of Nammat 
  is avoided by most travelers, even if it means traveling upriver to make the 
  difﬁ cult crossing of the Pykeris. The marshes are known to be inhabited 
  by giant poisonous insects and blood-sucking bats, and many claim they 
  are home to tribes of dangerous jackalweres that worship the demon-god 
  Baal-Zag. Unconﬁ rmed rumors also speak of a sunken tower deep within 
  the marsh that was once the home of a powerful wizard, no doubt long dead.
  CELESTEAN SEA
  CELESTEAN SEA
  The warm Celestean Sea is part of the Great Ocean Ûthaf, along the 
  east coast of both the Istaﬂ umina region and Jaati, and gets its name 
  from its vivid sky-blue color. The warm current ﬂ owing north along the 
  coast makes ship travel from the south convenient, though return trips 
  are not as easy; a ship must either hug the coast or travel far out to sea.
  GULF OF UR
  GULF OF UR
  The Gulf of Ur is a protected inlet of the Great Ocean Ûthaf that 
  stretches north from the Sea of Tyre. It is most notable for being the 
  access to the sea of the Istaﬂ umina region and is the outlet of its two 
  major rivers, the River Pykeris and the River Yugraetes.
  
  370|
  370|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  KHULEN RIVER
  KHULEN RIVER
  The Khulen River (which is fed by a tributary, the Hema) runs from 
  the southern part of the Jungteran Mountains into the Celestean Sea. 
  It forms the northern border of the Adenian Empire, at least in the 
  lowlands. The Adenians have fortiﬁ cations along the southern side of 
  the river and the small countries along the northern side have built their 
  fortiﬁ cations as well, but they are aware that if the Adenians decide to 
  annex another new province (as they did a century ago), those defenses 
  are unlikely to hold them back for long.
  LAKE AMONI
  LAKE AMONI
  West of the River Yugraetes and about 30 miles west of the city-state 
  of Zibur in Parphelonia lies Lake Amoni. The lake is deep and perhaps 
  fed by an underground source because the water seems to be perpetually 
  cool. It supports several small ﬁ shing settlements around its shores.
  LAKE FAHN 
  LAKE FAHN 
  This large mountain lake sits in the Kingdom of Hurardu on the 
  northern edge of Istaﬂ umina, and in fact that kingdom’s two major 
  city-states, Vurushma and Dusathir, are on its southeastern bank. Travel 
  on the lake is easier than travel through the mountains, so the cities 
  and settlements on it use that method primarily. It is still dangerous, 
  however, especially in the storm season when a storm come up quickly 
  and roil the lake wildly. In addition, there are rumored to be two or three 
  large creatures that live deep in the lake, though that may just be a tale 
  to account for boats lost unexpectedly.
  LAKE SHUMA 
  LAKE SHUMA 
  About 50 miles northwest of the Gulf of Ur, the steep bank of the 
  River Pykeris has a break on the western side and waters ﬂ ow into 
  Lake Shuma. The lake’s banks are low enough to allow the water to be 
  used for irrigation, and many ﬁ sh carried down the Pykeris on its long 
  journey end up in Lake Shuma so some local settlements are able to 
  support themselves by ﬁ shing.
  LAKE TURMIA
  LAKE TURMIA
  Among the high crests of the Zakros Mountains is a long valley with 
  a deep, cold lake. Fed by the river of the same name (which comes from 
  the high mountain peaks), Lake Turmia is not home to any cities, but 
  wandering mountain tribes such as the Nallaeans or Kouthians often 
  spend months living in the caves to be found around its shores.
  ORDABA RIVER
  ORDABA RIVER
  The Ordaba River runs from high in the southern Jungteran Mountains 
  down to the foothills, where it joins the Vistaspa River on its way to the 
  Celestean Sea. As its upper reaches are actually farther north than the 
  upper part of the Khulen River, the Adenian Empire uses the Ordaba to 
  delimit its claims in the mountains.
  PLATEAU OF ONG
  PLATEAU OF ONG
  The frigid plateau of Ong is said to be located among some of the 
  highest peaks of the Zakros Mountains. Stories trickling from some 
  of the mountain tribes claim a huge building located there houses 
  veiled, yellow-robed mystics. Some say they have seen it, but only 
  from a distance and only when they discovered it by accident; no one 
  knows where it is, or no one has ever been able to ﬁ nd a way back 
  to it. More accounts exist of tribespeople encountering the mystics in 
  high mountain passes, but they seem peaceable, going about their own 
  unknown business.
  RED WASTE
  RED WASTE
  Located in the area of Ealim, the Red Waste is a desert area 
  extending from the base of the Zakros Mountains almost to the edge 
  of the River Pykeris. It is an expanse of red sand dunes and barren 
  rock outcroppings, with a scattering of small but vital oases. The 
  Red Waste is home to the Saramite tribe, desert raiders not numerous 
  enough to threaten a city-state but who often trouble outlying 
  settlements and caravans.
  RIVER ACINA
  RIVER ACINA
  This tributary of the River Turperin winds north and west through the 
  eastern Zakros Mountains and past Masadizyn, the old capital of the 
  Empire of Ademia. Much of the river is navigable until the conﬂ uence 
  with the Turperin, with only a few places where rapids make travel a 
  bit more treacherous. Many summer days, boats can be seen ﬂ oating 
  through the calm waters, bearing nobles from Mithkethrin escaping the 
  lowland heat of the capital.
  RIVER ALSIKARU
  RIVER ALSIKARU
  This river rises in the Zakros Mountains east of Ealim and ﬂ ows 
  through the lowland into the east edge of the Gulf of Ur. It has a lesser 
  branch slightly to the west (known locally as the River Dasikaru) which 
  roughly parallels the River Murrani for more than 50 miles before 
  turning east and joining its parent river.
  RIVER AZAMU
  RIVER AZAMU
  Istaﬂ umina’s southernmost river of any notable size is the River 
  Azamu. It ﬂ ows through the Zakros Mountains for some distance before 
  dropping to the plain of Ealim until it empties into the eastern edge of 
  the Gulf of Ur. South of this point, any signiﬁ cant rivers rising in the 
  mountains ﬂ ow south and join the ocean outside the gulf.
  RIVER LESSER SAAN
  RIVER LESSER SAAN
  The Lesser Saan is a tributary of the River Pykeris of Istaﬂ umina. 
  It ﬂ ows about 50 miles south of the River Saan and joins the Pykeris 
  south of Asshur. It is fordable at several points, allowing travel along the 
  eastern side of the River Pykeris.
  RIVER MINALA
  RIVER MINALA
  The River Minala ﬂ ows from the heights of the Zakros Mountains 
  southwest into the River Pykeris east of Zibur. Its banks are not steep (as 
  those of the Pykeris are) so it can be used for irrigation, although fewer 
  city-states are near it than along the larger rivers. It can also be forded 
  at places, so caravans can cross it if they want to travel the east bank of 
  the Pykeris instead of the west bank.
  RIVER MURRANI
  RIVER MURRANI
  Running from the high Zakros Mountains into Ealim, the River 
  Murrani ﬂ ows by the Ealimite capital city of Shushin before ﬂ owing 
  directly into the Gulf of Ur. It is usable for irrigation and provides 
  plentiful water to and around Shushin.
  RIVER PYKERIS
  RIVER PYKERIS
  This river has its source north of Assuria, at the edge of the Zakros 
  Mountains, and zigzags over 700 miles through the lowlands of 
  Istaﬂ umina to the Gulf of Ur. It is a rough and fast-ﬂ owing river; 
  its high banks make it difﬁ cult to cross and unsuitable for irrigation. 
  Its major tributaries (the River Saan, the Lesser Saan, and Minala) 
  run out of the Zakros Mountains. The great cities of Assuria are 
  concentrated along the Pykeris, though fewer cities are on the river 
  farther south.
  RIVER RISMA
  RIVER RISMA
  The River Risma is a comparatively short river with its headwaters 
  in the southeastern part of the Zakros Mountains. It ﬂ ows primarily 
  eastward and empties into the sea at Terezernah, where a large harbor 
  provides docking space for dozens of ships.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|371
  |371
  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  RIVER SAAN
  RIVER SAAN
  The Saan is a relatively short tributary of the Pykeris that ﬂ ows 
  down from the edge of the Zakros Mountains and joins the larger 
  river near Kalakh. It can be forded, thereby allowing caravans from 
  the city-states on the eastern bank of the Pykeris to travel that side as 
  far as they choose rather than being forced to cross the Pykeris at any 
  speciﬁ c location.
  RIVER SHAPUR
  RIVER SHAPUR
  The River Shapur starts in three branches in the hills of northern 
  Assuria, the main one being the west branch, near the City-State of 
  Kutsana. (The others are known as the Middle Shapur and the Lesser 
  Shapur by people who live in the area and need to refer to them.) It has 
  a strong current and is useful for river transportation as well as having a 
  good amount of ﬁ sh. The River Shapur joins the River Yugraetes a few 
  miles north of Perqa.
  RIVER TURPERIN
  RIVER TURPERIN
  The River Turperin winds through the peaks and high valleys of 
  the eastern Zakros Mountains for a few hundred miles before it drops 
  quickly to the lowland and meets the Celestean Sea near Mithkethrin. 
  The last hundred miles or so could be traversed by boat, but not enough 
  people live or labor along its route to make that a frequent occurrence. 
  River trafﬁ c does come from Masadizyn in the south up to where the 
  tributary, the River Acina, meets the Turperin. It is feasible to take a 
  boat or barge from Masadizyn to the conﬂ uence of the rivers, but from 
  there down to the lowlands, the river is too dangerous for humans. 
  Important travelers are met at the conﬂ uence by trains of litters and 
  bearers for the winding trip down through the mountains to the coastal 
  plain. Others must provide their own transportation or simply go on 
  foot. Since the travel down would require transferring cargo from 
  a barge to some type of animal train, many merchants forgo river 
  transportation on the Acina in favor of just bringing a caravan the 
  entire distance.
  Logging is done along the mountain reaches of the Turperin and the 
  logs sent down the river to the capital city. At the time Mithkethrin was 
  being built, modiﬁ cations were done to the river in several spots to make 
  the traverse smoother and to remove large rocks or other impediments 
  that caused snags. Regular maintenance along the river means even now 
  intervention by loggers is seldom needed to get the trees down to the 
  city markets.
  RIVER VISTASPA
  RIVER VISTASPA
  This long river runs for hundreds of miles through the northern 
  Zakros Mountains in a generally easterly direction before ﬂ owing into 
  the Celestean Sea at Ruzhan. Most people who view the river on a map 
  accept it as the line of demarcation between the Istaﬂ umina region and 
  that of Jaati. The situation on the ground is more complicated, but since 
  exact regional divisions are of most concern to the mapmakers, no one 
  in the area is likely to argue the issue.
  RIVER YUGRAETES
  RIVER YUGRAETES
  The Yugraetes starts in the hill country of far-western Assuria and 
  wends its way through Hakhad and Zumaru as well before emptying 
  into the Gulf of Ur. It has lower banks than the River Pykeris, which 
  makes it usable for the irrigation that provides water to the fertile ﬁ elds 
  of the Assurian Plain. It is also navigable by ﬂ atboats as far north as 
  Perqa, which makes it useful for merchant travel. Only a few cities of 
  Assuria sit on the banks of the upper Yugraetes, but most of the major 
  cities of Hakhad and Zumaru are along this river.
  ZAKROS MOUNTAINS
  ZAKROS MOUNTAINS
  The Zakros Mountains form the eastern barrier of the valley of the 
  two rivers, protecting most of Istaﬂ umina from the wild storms and 
  changeable climate of the Great Ocean Ûthaf. Some peaks near the 
  Gulf of Ur rise more than two miles high. The mountains are home to 
  several tribes of nomads and barbarians. Near the River Saan and the 
  Lesser Saan live the Kouthi people, who eke out a poor living in the cold 
  climate of the high mountains. From time to time, a chieftain rallies all 
  the Kouthi clans to descend upon the decadent plains’ cities to loot and 
  plunder. East of the Kouthians, where the peaks are not quite so high and 
  the valleys broader, live the Nallaeans in the vicinity of Lake Turmia. 
  Farther south, the Empire of Adenia has its homeland, and they are able 
  to protect themselves quite well against the wild warriors. 
  The mountains also form a barrier to the north and the northwest that 
  stretches for hundreds of miles and reaches more than three miles in 
  height. In the midst of the peaks are glaciers perhaps thousands of years 
  old, which are the ultimate sources of many of the rivers that ﬂ ow from 
  the Zakros range. 
  Highland rumors talk about isolated strongholds found among the 
  peaks — a handful of impregnable fortress-cities situated along the 
  river valleys of the interior Zakros Mountains. These fortresses are 
  supposedly home to exiled warlords, tyrannical princes, or strange 
  cults, depending on who is doing the telling. When asked for speciﬁ cs, 
  though, the mountain people are unwilling (or unable) to provide 
  details, so the people of the city-states tend to view these accounts as 
  mere ﬁ reside tales. These high and hostile mountains might be avoided 
  altogether by civilized peoples except that in season, the mountain 
  slopes abound with rare and wondrous — and costly — herbs useful 
  to healers or magicians.
  JAATI
  JAATI
  The region of Jaati occupies the northeastern corner of the continent 
  of Libynos. It extends as far north as many parts of the Northlands 
  (located far to the west), but the warm currents pulled up the eastern 
  continental coast from the equatorial ocean, along with the mysterious 
  effects of the Tropic of Arden, heat the climate far beyond what might 
  normally be expected from its latitude.
  Jaati is not one single country, though it has been in the past. Instead, 
  its many domains are ruled by rajahs and ranees, lords and princes, 
  human and otherwise. It stretches from the warm coasts of the eastern 
  ocean to the steep mountains of the west, from deep forest to rolling 
  ﬁ elds of wheat. People crowd its coastal cities, and villages line the 
  rivers, while much of the interior is sparsely populated. Because of its 
  isolation from much of Libynos, not to mention the rest of the world, the 
  land is called “Far Jaati” by almost everyone except the people of the 
  caliphate and the Istaﬂ umina region.
  Many cultures have spread back and forth over the region through 
  the millennia, and inﬂ uences have mixed and changed each other. Some 
  locations are still very focused in a single culture and others continue 
  to be inﬂ uenced by a speciﬁ c heritage, but overall the areas of Jaati are 
  more similar than they are different. 
  The people of Jaati usually appear exotic to people from other 
  countries. Silk is produced and woven in so much of the country that it is 
  the usual fabric for clothing, especially among women. What would be a 
  luxury almost anyplace else is a colorful commonplace in Jaati. Jewelry 
  of gold and silver is a symbol of status but also a way to carry one’s 
  wealth, so most people wear some all the time and even more on special 
  occasions. Coins are often attached to chains or sashes or fastened to 
  skirts or vests, and it is not surprising to see garments sewn with coins 
  of empires of the past as well as many of the present kingdoms.
  Some residents of the region truly are exotic, as they are not even 
  human. For example, the ebony-skinned vishkanyas with their solid-
  white eyes are rarely seen in the cities; if they have villages of their own, 
  the common person is unaware. Prevailing wisdom says that their skin is 
  poisonous, though others refute this and say the vishkanyas merely craft 
  poisons for assassins — or perhaps they are the assassins themselves. 
  Many Jaata consider crossing paths with a vishkanya to be a sign of bad 
  luck or possibly even impending death, and they change their route to 
  avoid the encounter or completely look the other way to be able to say 
  they never saw a vishkanya in their path.
  
  372|
  372|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  Also native to Jaati are the ratfolk. Thought by many to have been 
  created by the goddess S’Surimiss (Queen of Rats), others attribute the 
  race’s origins to uncanny experiments by some ancient master of magic. 
  Although in some areas humans treat them as if they were no better than 
  rats themselves, ratfolk are apt to be clever and quick, with a nose for 
  acquisition that makes many of them good merchants. Ratfolk tend to 
  live in large families in some of the warrens of alleys and buildings that 
  make up the lower-class neighborhoods of Jaati’s bigger cities, even 
  living underground in places where that is a possibility.
  In contrast to the ratfolk, the rakshasas of Jaati often live in luxury 
  in large cities, being among people without anyone realizing it. Their 
  ability to change shape and also to magically inﬂ uence the humans 
  around them allows them to come and go as they please while also 
  having servants to see their needs.
  One important cultural aspect of Jaati is its caste system. Although not 
  obvious to outsiders with only short experience, the caste system exerts a 
  strong inﬂ uence on the living situations and career choices of the Jaata. In 
  the Jaati region, people are born to a certain station in life (whether that be 
  as a descendant of generations of warriors, part of a family of weavers, or 
  a member of the nobility), and they are expected to spend their lives doing 
  what their ancestors did before them. It is not impossible for people to rise 
  in caste during their lifetimes, but it is not easy either.
  Part of the reason for that difﬁ culty is that the caste system is an 
  important part of the religion in Jaati. According to their beliefs, it 
  is the destiny of each soul eventually to ascend to godhood, but they 
  must earn that ascension by actions in life: good deeds, works of 
  charity, and self-sacriﬁ ce. To make this possible, each soul is born and 
  reborn, hopefully each time moving farther up the coil. Eventually, the 
  sufﬁ ciently ascended soul is welcomed into the Gardens of Heaven 
  as one of the guardian deities. These thousands of spirits watch over 
  springs, mountains, and rivers, villages, and city street corners. Such a 
  minor deity may, over the long course of time, aspire to become one of 
  the nobles in the Court of Heaven, or ultimately even one of the 12 who 
  sit on the Thirteen Thrones.
  AVUNTA, CASTORHAGI COLONY OF
  AVUNTA, CASTORHAGI COLONY OF
  Capital: Hethwarp 
  Notable Settlements: Chikheni
  Ruler: Colonial Governor Thertina Lorwin
  Government: The Far East Company of Castorhage
  Population: 2,811,813 (2,057,111 Jaata, 326,515 Castorhagi, 
  408,726 ratfolk, 19,261 other human ethnicity, 200 other)
  Monstrous: lizardfolk, river trolls (jungles), sea serpents, 
  locathah
  Languages: Westerling, Meeruwhan
  Religion: Castorhagi pantheon, Gohtra pantheon
  Resources: cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, ebony wood, teak wood, 
  rice, fruit, trade
   Currency: Castorhagi, old Avunta
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages (Hethwarp), Dark Ages 
  (cities), Iron Age (rural areas)
  Avunta is in the northeast part of Jaati, on the broad plain where the 
  Dhobe River ﬂ attens out and widens. The country is entirely under the 
  control of a Castorhagi mercantile group, the Far East Company, and 
  has been for 57 years. Technically, Avunta is a royal colony of the City-
  State of Castorhage, but company people only bother with that detail in 
  ofﬁ cial reports. The company’s main focus has been on some high-value 
  spices that grow well in this area, as well as expensive hardwoods such 
  as ebony and teak. The spices are more quickly renewable; the ebony 
  especially is becoming scarce despite local foresters conscientiously 
  replanting. Very little wood is designated anymore for local crafters; 
  most of it goes back to cabinetmakers and woodcarvers in Castorhage 
  or is sold at high prices in the large cities of Akados.
  As for spices, cloves and nutmeg are those most emphasized by the 
  factors, although cinnamon is also pushed where it will grow well. The 
  spice plantations are mostly worked by slaves, either debt-slaves or 
  criminals. With the company in charge, there is plenty of opportunity 
  for both those populations to grow.
  The Far East Company has not bothered to interfere in the religious 
  practices of the native Jaati. The locals are not in the habit of taking 
  a holy day to rest every week, so even the frequent religious festivals 
  amount to an improvement over work habits in much of the rest of the 
  world. The company does maintain appropriate worship facilities for 
  its own employees; just because they are far from home does not mean 
  they should be deprived of the comfort of the Church of Mother Grace, 
  for example.
  HETHWARP, CITY OF (CAPITAL) 
  HETHWARP, CITY OF (CAPITAL) 
  Ruler: Chief Factor Colethan Steard
  Government: The Far East Company of Castorhage
  Population: 124,928 (77,450 Castorhagi, 31,800 Jaata, 8,330 
  ratfolk, 7,283 other human ethnicity, 65 other)
  The city of Hethwarp started out as a small port town, then became a 
  trade mission, and then was built into a bustling city when the Far East 
  Company took control of the country of Avunta. The most important 
  parts of the city are the trade market, the harbor, and the walled 
  Company Quarter where company ofﬁ cials from the colonial governor 
  on her estate down to mid-level managers live in luxury (or at least 
  comfort) brought about largely by the labors of closely supervised locals 
  who live primarily in the warrens of the Native Quarter.
  The trade markets deal in grains (especially the ubiquitous rice), 
  fruit, hardwoods, fabrics such as muslins and silks, and many more 
  things. Plantation managers negotiate tightly with ship captains or 
  trade intermediaries for the best prices for their goods; they know they 
  probably have only ﬁ ve or 10 years to accumulate as much as they can 
  pinch from the commodities that pass through their hands before they 
  might be rotated to another station and have to learn a new system from 
  the beginning.
  The harbor is a busy place, with large oceangoing vessels sailing out 
  of Castorhage calling here and smaller ships running up and down the 
  coast to other Castorhagi stations. Although most large ships do travel 
  all the way to Baragibra (because after a ship has come all the way 
  from Castorhage, why not sail another hundred miles or two), they use 
  Hethwarp as their location for shore leave before heading out on the 
  long trip home. Resources come here from capable, aggressive factors 
  who have made inroads along the Dhobe, as well as some who have 
  stations on the Tusora River to the west, and others who managed to 
  establish themselves in villages on the west side of the Ukshauka Hills. 
  Hethwarp has been a great success for the Far East Company and the 
  business is actively exploring extending its ofﬁ cial reach farther up the 
  Dhobe and north along the coast into what is now the Kingdom of Tola.
  CHIKHENI, CITY OF
  CHIKHENI, CITY OF
  Ruler: Chief Factor Priseth Harnar, on behalf of Mehtar 
  Shantinath Talarom
  Government: The Far East Company of Castorhage
  Population: 142,701 (93,300 Jaata, 27,320 ratfolk, 19,810 
  Castorhagi, 2,241 other human ethnicity, 30 other)
  Chikheni, on the lower Dhobe River, was once the capital of the 
  Kingdom of Avunta. With the country under the control of the Castorhagi 
  Far East Company, the hereditary ruler (now a mere mehtar, or prince) 
  is reduced to ruling his own estate and advocating for his people while 
  the company’s factor controls everything else in his name. Chikheni still 
  has many beautiful temples, and wide marble steps lead down into the 
  river so huge crowds of people can simultaneously immerse themselves 
  in the water for the various holy festivals. Other than during the colorful 
  spectacles of festival times, though, the city feels rundown and the 
  people dispirited.
  For three generations, many young people of Chikheni have gone 
  to work in the Castorhagi city of Hethwarp (a name considered ugly 
  
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  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  by the local Jaati). Others, listening to the blandishments of the royal 
  army recruiters, go to take training as warriors. For some, this provides a 
  way to improve their lives, while for others, desperate enough, it means 
  taking on the work of a lower caste. (As the saying goes, “you can’t eat 
  caste.”) Of those who remain in Chikheni, the majority now are forced to 
  work for the company for the beneﬁ t of Hethwarp or Castorhage itself. 
  Few have been able to continue to live their lives in the traditional way.
  For example, the city was once home to a lively community of expert 
  woodworkers, but now only a handful are permitted to practice that 
  trade anymore. The cabinetmakers of Chikheni once were renowned for 
  their ebony pieces intricately inlaid with lighter woods and bits of ivory 
  and mother-of-pearl, with the inlays in elaborate patterns of ﬂ owers 
  and vines, or repeating geometry. Now only one or two such items are 
  crafted a year on the entire Ebony Street; most of the wood goes to 
  foreign carvers to make their own furniture.
  KHADHALAYA, KINGDOM OF
  KHADHALAYA, KINGDOM OF
  Capital: Jalebas 
  Notable Settlements: Elogong
  Ruler: Rani (Queen) Jaimathi Leporing
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 2,741,160 (2,283,117 Jaata, 334,581 ratfolk, 95,524 
  Castorhagi, 26,285 other human ethnicity, 1,653 other)
  Monstrous: giant snapping turtles, reefclaws (coast), spider 
  eater, jaculi (land)
  Languages: Merruwhan, Westerling
  Religion: Gohtra pantheon
  Resources: crops, muslin cloth, teak wood, wood carvings, 
  furniture, trade, silk
   Currency: Khadhalayan, Castorhagi
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages (cities), Dark Ages (rural 
  area)
  Khadhalaya is on the east-central coast of Jaati. Warm currents 
  ﬂ owing from the south give this area some of the warmest climate in the 
  region, which is reﬂ ected in the nearly tropical trees and crops that grow 
  there. The small farmers of Khadhalaya grow plenty of food to support 
  the cities and for export, along with cotton for ﬁ ne muslin cloth. One of 
  the country’s most important products, though, is the teak wood grown 
  on plantations around the Gengba River. It supplies the raw material 
  for local craftspeople for the manufacture of furniture, chests, carved 
  statues, and other ﬁ ne products. The wood is also desired by builders 
  and crafters outside of Khadhalaya. The easiest way to transport large 
  pieces of wood or whole logs would be to send them down the river 
  to Jalebas and on to Elogong. However, since all trade in Elogong is 
  controlled by Castorhage’s Far East Company, some producers do not 
  believe they receive good prices there. The cost of land transportation 
  to one of the smaller ports along the coast is also signiﬁ cant, though, so 
  most end up just going through Elogong.
  JALEBAS, CITY OF; 
  JALEBAS, CITY OF; 
  CITY OF NINETEEN BRIDGES (CAPITAL)
  CITY OF NINETEEN BRIDGES (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Nawab Hiranya Tolipur
  Government: bureaucracy; city governor appointed by Rani
  Population: 385,239 (258,670 Jaata, 105,230 ratfolk, 6,269 
  Castorhagi, 14,210 other human ethnicity, 860 other)
  The capital of the Kingdom of Khadhalaya, Jalebas is one of the 
  largest cities in Jaati. Within its walls may be found many temples 
  and many marketplaces, with caravans from the north, south, and west 
  passing through its gates. 
  Jalebas is built at the conﬂ uence of the Chetta River and its tributary 
  the Gengba. Where they meet, the two rivers split into multiple streams 
  before rejoining into the single Chetta past the city. As the city has 
  grown, it has spread over the multiple islands formed by these streams, 
  which has required 19 bridges to be built over the waters to connect 
  the larger streets that run the length of more than one island. As this 
  occurred over time, it is certainly unlikely that the pattern of bridges 
  was conceived with any plan in mind. However, after the last one was 
  constructed, a mapmaker discovered that it was possible to trace a path 
  in the shapes of certain religious or lucky symbols by walking around 
  the city and crossing the bridges in particular patterns. Since then, 
  hundreds of pilgrims each week come to the city to “walk the symbols” 
  in the hope of gaining favor from the gods, or to accrue luck, or to 
  develop personal merit to advance on the coil in the next life. 
  This complicates the life of the city, because any obstruction on a 
  street that is part of one of the “symbols” gives rise to angry complaints 
  from the pilgrims. That in turn distresses the merchants who make 
  good money selling food and remembrances to them. As a result, the 
  administration has designated special patrols in different parts of the 
  city to respond quickly in case a street becomes blocked. Repairs to the 
  streets in the patterns must be done late at night (to avoid hampering 
  the pilgrims) and most importantly, no more bridges can be built. When 
  the city made plans to do just that about 30 years ago, people rioted in 
  the streets because they claimed an additional bridge would ruin the 
  patterns and bring ill luck for anyone who walked the streets. Since 
  then, the city has continued to grow but residents must deal with any 
  inconvenience in how far they must travel to cross the rivers.
  ELOGONG, CITY OF
  ELOGONG, CITY OF
  Ruler: Nawab (governor) Nephzu Laruri
  Government: bureaucracy; city governor appointed by Rani  
  Population: 95,921 (68,900 Jaata, 21,100 ratfolk, 2,500 
  Castorhagi, 3,101 other human ethnicity, 320 other)
  Elogong is a major port city at the mouth of the Chetta River in 
  eastern Jaati. Due to the quantity of teak wood available from the 
  interior of Khadhalaya, the city has many woodworkers who export 
  many beautiful woodcarvings and furnishings. One specialty is pieces 
  with inlaid patterns of ivory. Although their work is in great demand, 
  the craftspeople of Elogong compete with the woodworkers of Chikheni 
  for sales, and as a result both groups end up with prices lower than they 
  might see otherwise.
  The port of Elogong, and thus all its sea trade, is controlled (per 
  contract) by the Far East Company of Castorhage. The company favors 
  its own ships over those of other nations; traders from Khadhalaya do 
  not even own ships because some previous rajah contracted all shipping 
  of cargo — private as well as public — to the Castorhagi company. This 
  policy has produced unrest before but, at least so far, without leading 
  to any change. Recently, local traders, farmers, and craftspeople have 
  become somewhat more agitated because they believe the Castorhagi 
  are buying goods at signiﬁ cantly lower prices than others might be 
  willing to pay, and charging much-higher prices for shipping. The 
  second 99-year contract will be up in about three years, so the time for 
  change may be coming. 
  However, some fear the Far East Company will attempt to renew its 
  agreement by force. Sirdar Shardul Umswai, commanding general of the 
  royal army, had been quietly conducting training exercises inland away 
  from the notice of the foreigners, and increasing the number of recruits. 
  Building his force has been a gradual process, however, as he also has to 
  compete with the Far East Company, which recruits many young people 
  of Khadhalaya’s lower castes to train as soldiers and then travel to new 
  and strange parts of the world as company guards. Since this experience 
  could allow them to aspire to the caste of warriors upon their return, 
  service to the company continues to attract many local youth.
  KREY, PRINCIPALITY OF
  KREY, PRINCIPALITY OF
  Capital: Enfama 
  Ruler: Varambani Council currently led by Prince Ypaka 
  Langlut, Defender of the Center
  Government: council of ﬁ ve varambani (princes and defenders)
  
  374|
  374|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  Population: 3,378,679 (3,226,218 Jaata, 114,832 ratfolk, 35,103 
  Castorhagi, 2,526 other)
  Monstrous: lizardfolk, rakklethorn toad, giant owl
  Languages: Merruwhan
  Religion: Gohtra pantheon
   Resources: cotton, muslin cloth, dyes, crops, livestock, trade
  Currency: Kreyik, Castorhagi
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages (Enfama), Dark Ages 
  (rural areas), Medieval (Inurha Island)
  The Principality of Krey is in northeast Jaati, north of the Surchal 
  River. It is primarily agricultural country and grows many types of food 
  and cotton for the production of ﬁ ne muslin cloth. The country is ruled 
  by a Council of ﬁ ve princes (called Defenders, or Varambani) in charge 
  of the various geographic regions of the country. About 200 years ago, 
  representatives of the Far East Company, a mercantile concern from 
  the City-State of Castorhage, approached the council with a request to 
  open a trade mission in the city of Enfama. Somewhat persuaded by the 
  three heavily-armed ships in their harbor but not favorably impressed 
  with the company’s representatives, the Varambani Council declined 
  their request to build their mission in the government sector of Enfama. 
  Instead, with the excuse that the space would be too crowded for the 
  company’s needs, the council offered the foreigners space on the island 
  of Inuhra.
  Over the past decades, the Castorhagi Far East Company gradually 
  took over all the land on Inuhra and for the past 10 or 12 years they have 
  been pressing again for a plot of land — larger, this time — in the capital 
  city of Enfama. Prince Hazzar-ash-Makesh, Defender of the West, is 
  currently in Castorhage at the invitation of the Far East Company, 
  ostensibly to conduct talks about an additional trade location. While 
  Prince Hazzar usually goes to some lengths to keep his colleagues and 
  the servants from becoming uncomfortable due to his appearance, he 
  traveled to Castorhage in his true guise as a tiger-kin rakshasa with a 
  retinue of his close relations. Apparently, this caused some consternation 
  in the city and among the ofﬁ cials of the Far East Company, and the 
  Varambani Council is waiting to hear how the negotiations are going.
  ENFAMA, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  ENFAMA, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Princess Kirana Naghavel, Defender of the East
  Government: Varambani Council
  Population: 148,632 (109,282 Jaata, 36,200 ratfolk, 2,050 
  Castorhagi, 1,100 other)
  Enfama, the capital of the Principality of Krey, is a coastal city 
  several miles north of the Surchal River in northeastern Jaati. Although 
  not large as Jaata cities go, Enfama is a busy place and trades the area’s 
  agricultural products and livestock for transport to other cities in the 
  region and to foreign merchants for export. Especially lively is the cloth 
  market where spinners, weavers, and dyers of muslin make exchanges 
  and purchasers bid on bulk sales. Enfama is also a religious center; 
  sailors from the north and east coasts stop here to leave offerings at 
  the temple of the noble deity Nagtel, god of rivers and oceans and the 
  rains that ﬁ ll them. Enfama has for centuries also been the meeting place 
  of the ruling Varambani Council. This puts extra pressure on Princess 
  Kirana, as she responsible for the welfare (and possible defense) of the 
  city and for the safety of the council members and staff from other areas 
  of the country.
  INURHA ISLAND
  INURHA ISLAND
  Ruler: Chief Factor Asonia Silvestre
  Government: Castorhagi Far East Company
  Population: 30,388 (24,100 Castorhagi, 4,820 Jaata, 1,220 
  ratfolk, 248 other)
  Inurha Island is one of dozens of islands up and down the southeastern 
  part of Krey and near the mouth of the Surchal River. At one time an 
  additional dock area for trading ships, it is now entirely given over to 
  the trade station of the Castorhagi Far East Company. The company 
  has ﬁ lled the island with docks, repair facilities, multistory warehouses, 
  barracks, and elegant manor houses for the local company ofﬁ cers, all 
  surrounded with defensive fortiﬁ cations. The Far East Company uses 
  the island as a primary trading facility and also as a storage and repair 
  location for all the organization’s ventures in the Jaati region. The docks 
  at Inurha could hold more than enough vessels to entirely blockade the 
  port at Enfama if that were the company’s intention. The Varambani 
  Council may or may not yet be aware of this risk, but the chief factor 
  plans to point it out at an opportune moment.
  NYASLAN, KINGDOM OF
  NYASLAN, KINGDOM OF
  Capital: Zuniu 
  Ruler: Shaasak Sesshaan
  Government: dictatorship
  Population: 1,860,838 (1,828,162 nagaji, 25,945 nagas, 6,531 
  other human ethnicity, 200 other [0 ratfolk])
  Monstrous: tangtal, iron cobras, sepia snakes
  Languages: Meeruwhan
  Religion: Gohtra pantheon, especially Hassith-Kaa, The Great 
  Serpent
  Resources: crops, fruit, nuts, spices (no silk)
   Currency: any country of Jaati
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  The kingdom ofﬁ cially named Nyaslan is in the western part of Jaati 
  in the thickly forested area between the Dhobe and the Mahur rivers. 
  Almost no one outside the kingdom uses that name, though; nearly 
  everyone calls it Nagaland. Ruled by the great Shaasak of Serpents, 
  the country is an organized population of the magical, human-visaged 
  snake-people. Sesshaan himself is unique in his country: a huge naga 
  with ﬁ ve heads. Even those who disagree with him in many ways show 
  him a great deal of respect.
  Inhabited by many different types of nagas with different moral 
  viewpoints and areas of interest, Nyaslan is as calm and united as most 
  human kingdoms, which is to say, not all that much. The main topic on 
  which the nagas do agree is that all nagas are superior to humanoids. Some 
  view humanoids as useful servants; others consider them a source of food; 
  while more benevolent nagas see them as lesser beings to be protected.
  The most common servants in and around Nyaslan’s cities are the 
  ubiquitous nagaji, ophidian humanoids developed by ancient nagas 
  speciﬁ cally as a slave race. They venerate the nagas and even worship 
  the Shaasak as a god. The nagaji do most of the work of the kingdom, 
  generally only being allowed to pay enough attention to their own needs 
  to continue to work efﬁ ciently for the nagas. Over the years, a few nagaji 
  have broken away from their slavery and managed to escape, but those 
  are few and far between. The nagas don’t bother to hunt down escaped 
  slaves, because they have plenty. Those who stay and upset the natural 
  order, though, are dealt with harshly.
  A few other humanoids also live in Nyaslan’s cities and serve the 
  nagas, though as servants or useful tools rather than as slaves. A few 
  may even believe they are partners with nagas in something, but they 
  eventually realize they are mistaken. Not all nagas have the ability to 
  magically deceive or beguile humanoids, but the many that do have 
  no qualms about using any means to gain the help they might need, or 
  things they might desire.
  The country of Nyaslan has good-quality soil and it is well watered, 
  with many natural streams and pools for the convenience of the 
  serpent-people. The nagas of Nyaslan do not conﬁ ne themselves to the 
  bounds of their country, either. Some travel through the thick forests to 
  neighboring kingdoms to explore or to interfere. Others use the Mahur 
  or Dhobe Rivers to swim far downstream to visit coastal cities or to 
  travel elsewhere in Jaati.
  
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  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  ZUNIU, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  ZUNIU, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Shaasak Sesshaan 
  Government: dictatorship 
  Population: 124,055 (118,210 nagaji, 2,921 nagas, 2,844 other 
  human ethnicity, 80 other [0 ratfolk])
  The capital of Nyaslan, Zuniu lies just south of the Mahur River. 
  The core of the city is constructed mostly of dark gray stone from the 
  foothills in the western part of the country. The stone holds the warmth 
  of the sun and many nagas bask on various ledges and perches much of 
  the day. Paths are smooth, and upper levels are reached by ramps rather 
  than stairs. Pools and canals are interspersed among the land routes for 
  those nagas that prefer to travel by (or rest in) water. All these areas 
  are maintained in top condition by the nagaji slaves for the enjoyment 
  of their masters. Nagas generally transport themselves throughout the 
  city, but some are pulled by nagaji in wheeled carts or carried in litters. 
  Many nagas choose to live in buildings but others simply lair in grassy 
  bowers or in ponds. The shaasak has a palace with public rooms that can 
  hold crowds, but also private rooms with doors where he can store his 
  valuable items or spend time in solitude.
  Around the city’s core is an area where merchants and craftspeople 
  are allowed to trade with the nagas. Most of those trading in this area 
  are humanoid, though a few nagas set up locations to offer knowledge or 
  skills to other nagas. Outside that is the area where the humanoids live. 
  This includes visitors, merchants, and servants on one side, and on the 
  other side, the nagaji in their cramped wattle-and-daub huts. The entire 
  focus of the city is on, ﬁ rst, the comfort and service of the shaasak and 
  his people, and then the oversight of the entire country for the beneﬁ t 
  of the nagas. The humanoids are useful tools that would be missed if 
  they were unavailable, but their welfare is not considered in any plans 
  by the nagas.
  SIX POOLS OF THE MOON MAIDENS
  SIX POOLS OF THE MOON MAIDENS
  In the deep forest outside Zuniu is a clearing. Here, a tower stands, 
  apparently built for naga as it has a sloping ramp in front and no door. To this 
  tower often come a group of observers: nagas with a fascination for the two 
  moons, who study their movements and see in them indications of history 
  or portents for the future. Even older than the tower are six pools in the 
  clearing, outlined by circles of stone. The edges are cracked and overgrown 
  with moss and weeds, and the pools choked with slime and algae.
  Some of the nagaji, or perhaps one or two of the humanoids who 
  serve the naga, may know the story: These six pools were made to honor 
  six moon maidens. When the six pools each reﬂ ect the two moons side 
  by side, the six maidens will return to dance again and grant the wish of 
  any petitioner brave enough to join them.
  TOLA, PHILOSOPHICAL KINGDOM OF
  TOLA, PHILOSOPHICAL KINGDOM OF
  Capital: Baragibra 
  Ruler: Scholar-Queen Yamini Onapurma
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 3,462,101 (3,042,386 Jaata, 418,337 ratfolk, 1,242 
  Castorhagi, 136 rakshasas)
  Monstrous: lizardfolk, summoned outsiders, constructs
  Languages: Merruwhan, Semuric, Westerling
  Religion: Gohtra pantheon
  Resources: silk, gold, platinum, other precious metals, 
  knowledge, research, magic
   Currency: Tolan, Castorhagi
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages, Dark Ages (only isolated 
  rural areas) 
  The Philosophical Kingdom of Tola on the northern coast of Libynos 
  is a country that values the intellect above all things. Here, intelligent 
  discussion and even lively debate are said to be always welcome. At 
  least 11 colleges are located throughout the kingdom, and each city and 
  town boasts a square where scholars and locals regularly meet to discuss 
  issues of philosophy, science, ethics, and history. 
  On the other hand, the life of the mind does not put food on the table. 
  The queen, although she prefers scholarly pursuits, is very realistic when 
  it comes to ruling her kingdom. She knows that agriculture and trade, 
  although largely physical, are crucial to the survival and well-being of 
  her subjects. Fortunately, Tola is blessed with many natural resources, 
  and the queen turns all of those — gold, platinum, other valuable ores, 
  silk by the bale, and much more — to preserving her country, guarding 
  it securely, and encouraging all the citizens to be educated enough that 
  they can engage in research or experimentation of their own, no matter 
  how rudimentary.
  Diplomacy has also proven to play an important role in Tola, especially 
  when dealing with representatives of the very down-to-earth City-
  State of Castorhage and its predatory Far East Company. The scholar-
  queen’s chief minister, an unimpressive-looking fellow by the name of 
  Eshaan Gabharu, has been able to outthink and fast-talk the Far East 
  representatives in every encounter they have had in nearly 20 years. So 
  successful has he been, in fact, that Queen Yamini has begun to worry 
  that the company might try to have the chief minister assassinated so 
  they don’t have to deal with him anymore.
  BARAGIBRA, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  BARAGIBRA, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Sages’ Council
  Government: council of sages (and other scholars), with consent 
  of the queen
  Population: 164,862 (134,735 Jaata, 29,690 ratfolk, 416 
  Castorhagi, 21 rakshasas)
  Baragibra is well known as a home of sages and scholars, archivists 
  and alchemists. Over the millennia, they have expanded the scope of the 
  information they seek, from coveting all the knowledge of Jaati, to that 
  of all of Libynos, to that of the entire world. Upkeep of the city tends 
  to be a bit on the sloppy side, in part because the supervisors are more 
  interested in their own personal research than maintenance, and also 
  because the laborers themselves prefer to attend to projects of their own. 
  This lack of attention extends to other mundane tasks as well; two eating 
  houses have closed recently after patrons became severely ill, in one 
  case because the cook tried an unsuccessful (and unwise) experiment 
  with the food, and in the other because the cook failed to notice that the 
  food being served was rotten.
  However, the city takes ﬁ re very seriously. With so much valuable 
  knowledge stored as paper or in other ﬂ ammable forms, any out-of-
  control ﬁ re — even brieﬂ y — is a threat to everyone. Anyone who causes 
  an accidental ﬁ re once is prohibited from future use of ﬂ ames. The penalty 
  for a second offense is exile. A third, should one ever occur, means death. 
  Purposely setting an uncontrolled ﬁ re is punished by a long imprisonment; 
  in that situation, death is the sentence for a second offense. Anyone with a 
  treasured collection tries to get a magical ﬁ re suppressant of some type to 
  protect their possessions in a worst-case scenario.
  This fear of ﬂ ames makes Baragibra’s culture somewhat different than 
  that of other Jaati cities. Businesses such as bakeries, blacksmiths, or 
  laundries that use ﬁ re are all located in the “Stone Circle” — a district 
  surrounded by stone walls where all the buildings are stone or brick and 
  even the streets are paved. No trees or other plants are grown in the area. 
  People who need to cook usually put something together in an iron pot 
  and then pay a small amount to have it put in the side of the bakery’s 
  oven for the day. If one cannot afford the launderer’s fee, one can at least 
  rent a tub of heated water for an hour and so not need one’s own ﬁ re. In 
  another approach, some of the best inns for scholars have magical candles 
  or stones that continually produce light or heat — one more way to avoid 
  the risk of ﬂ ames. In addition, for activities that might cause an explosion 
  or have a strong risk of ﬁ re, a section of the ocean beach has been set 
  aside. Small huts, constructed of stone transported for this purpose, offer 
  experimenters a distant location as ﬁ re-resistant as possible.
  The knowledgeable people of Baragibra worship many deities, but in 
  general, a few are particularly revered by most of the population. One 
  
  376|
  376|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  is Thindawl, a guardian who is the god of truth. Others are Jengpata, 
  a noble deity who is the goddess of speech and wisdom, and the 
  Istaﬂ umina god Yenomesh, said to be the inventor of the written word, 
  which is so important to the scholars of Baragibra.
  The Academy of the Nine Great Wizards once stood inside the walls of 
  Baragibra. The preeminent school of magic in the entire region, its training 
  is restricted to those of the Great Wizard caste. It is run by a council of 
  nine masters who hold chairs named for the academy’s founders. It was 
  not long after its establishment before the practice of certain spells and 
  experimentation brought the masters and their students into conﬂ ict with 
  the archivists and collectors of Baragibra. For several hundred years now, 
  the academy has rejoiced in the ownership of an excellent, large stone 
  building with surrounding gravel ﬁ elds and stone walkways located just 
  over two miles outside the west gate of Baragibra.
  YAT-KIRMAN, KINGDOM OF 
  YAT-KIRMAN, KINGDOM OF 
  Capital: Goplakh 
  Ruler: Rao Indhragudem Zhawnvawn
  Government: dictatorship
  Population: 1,347,826 (1,342,266 Jaata, 4,871 rakshasas, 579 
  vishkanyas, 110 other [0 ratfolk])
  Monstrous: cockatrices, pyrolisks, cobra ﬂ owers
  Languages: Merruwhan
  Religion: none
  Resources: silk, crops, herd animals, spices
   Currency: Kirmani
  Technology Level: Dark Ages, High Middle Ages (Goplakh)
  This country in the interior of the Jaati region is isolated by the deep 
  gorge of the upper Dhobe River. Access appears to be completely cut 
  off; from the east side of the river, all that can be seen are broken bridge 
  abutments and mist rising from the river, obscuring the other side. 
  This is all an illusion, however, designed to better protect a kingdom 
  that wants to be left alone. In reality, an elaborate stone bridge crosses 
  the river, centuries old and narrow but strong. The far side of the bridge 
  is heavily guarded, though the watchers are posted where they cannot 
  be seen by those approaching. (After all, if the bridge is broken, there 
  should be no need for armed guards.)
  Yat-Kirman is ruled by a noble rakshasa who welcomes refugees 
  from the caste system and even fugitives from “justice,” as long as they 
  can proﬁ tably contribute to the orderly welfare of the kingdom and the 
  wealth of the rao. Thieves, brawlers, or others who would disturb the 
  peace are not welcome and are ejected from the kingdom — though not 
  necessarily at the bridge.
  Citizens are expected to work hard to produce as much as possible to 
  meet the kingdom’s needs and to provide such trade goods as the rao may 
  need to obtain things he desires that the kingdom cannot itself create. 
  Although the residents of Yat-Kirman work hard, most are no doubt 
  better off than they were in their homelands, and a lower population in 
  Yat-Kirman means that the residents are not crowded together as much 
  as in the great river cities. Even in Goplakh, most folk here have an 
  opportunity to grow food for themselves, which is unheard of in the 
  alleys and warrens of the large cities.
  The power of the rao over the kingdom here is greater than what is 
  seen in even the most dictatorial regimes in Jaati. For example, the rao 
  has the right, over all residents of Yat-Kirman, to decide who is allowed 
  to grow or make or buy or sell anything. He seldom interferes if all goes 
  well, but if conﬂ ict arises, he often makes arbitrary decisions by which 
  everyone must abide. Moreover, most religious activity is forbidden 
  within the kingdom. Although the rao acknowledges the existence of 
  gods and that they do have some degree of divine power, he rejects any 
  authority they might have over himself, his domain, or his people. From 
  the perspective of the rao, if his people wish to worship a divine ﬁ gure, 
  they may pray to him. The rao has not actually claimed himself divine, 
  but there are those who point out that he has obviously ascended past the 
  common souls still on the coil and thus must be a deity of some caste. 
  (This is true, from a certain point of view.)
  GOPLAKH, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  GOPLAKH, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Rao Indhragudem Zhawnvawn
  Government: dictatorship
  Population: 34,771 (33,286 Jaata; 1,330 rakshasas; 145 
  vishkanyas, 10 other [0 ratfolk])
  The capital of Yat-Kirman, Goplakh sits not far from the Dhobe 
  River gorge. It is a well-organized city with streets laid out in spokes 
  with the royal palace at the center. Some residents live in houses made 
  for only one family, though most live in multistory buildings with six 
  residences or more. A market is distant enough from the palace that the 
  rao is not disturbed by the noise. A few inns are allowed to operate, 
  primarily for the convenience of locals acquiring prepared food and 
  beverages. However, visitors do arrive from time to time, and the 
  existence of inns quickly solves any question about where they may 
  stay. Any work animals such as forest elephants or the rare horse are 
  kept near the edge of the city in the direction that is usually downwind 
  from the palace.
  The people are reasonably happy, though the emphasis placed 
  on keeping their rao satisﬁ ed at all times can cause them stress. One 
  important responsibility of his people is keeping a supply of food for the 
  rao to hunt when he gets hungry. He sometimes takes the form of a tiger 
  to make his kills himself and then dines immediately. At other times, 
  he orders a meal of 20 courses or more and eats with the sophistication 
  of the greatest maharajah. Both of those options emphasize the power 
  of the rao, though the ﬁ rst reminds local people of the likely negative 
  consequences of ever angering their ruler.
  Supplying servants for the rao’s palace takes the efforts of many 
  residents of Goplakh. In addition to food preparation, cleaning, guard 
  duty, care of the royal menagerie, and other mundane tasks, he requires 
  specialized servants such as archivists, translators, librarians, historians, 
  musicians, artists, and others. Any who cannot be found already within 
  his kingdom must be persuaded or, as a last resort, hired to do his 
  bidding. Zhawnvawn also has a full complement of body servants for 
  those times when he wants to be bathed or massaged, but several have 
  scars, evidence of the rao’s occasionally terrible temper.
  The women of the rao’s harem are technically not servants, though he 
  often treats them as such. Most were brought from outside the country 
  and may even have been slaves purchased for the rakshasa or kidnapped 
  by his kinsmen. Zhawnvawn seldom chooses members of the harem 
  from his own people, though some women persuade him to do so. It is 
  known that one sure way to wealth and inﬂ uence inside the kingdom is 
  to bear one of his offspring and though his preferred mates seem to be 
  other rakshasa, at least one or two women in every generation bear him 
  children and survive to enjoy the prestige it brings.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN JAATI
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN JAATI
   CHETTA RIVER 
   CHETTA RIVER 
  The Chetta River runs from the Ukshauka Hills southeast to the 
  Celestean Sea, where the trade city of Elogong sits near the mouth of the 
  river. Two tributaries draining from the same range of hills join it on its 
  way to the sea: closer to the source (or to the north) is the Zema River, 
  while the Gengba River ﬂ ows into it farther downstream. The Chetta is 
  the largest river in the Jaati region that ﬂ ows east rather than north.
  DHOBE RIVER
  DHOBE RIVER
  The Dhobe is the longest river in Jaati. It starts in the southeastern 
  part of the Jungteran Mountains and ﬂ ows north and a little east to the 
  Great Ocean Ûthaf. In its upper reaches, the Dhobe runs through a steep 
  gorge, but the rocky walls drop away as it is joined by the Laramis River 
  and the land becomes lower and smoother, and also more easily ﬂ ooded. 
  The river itself widens a great deal in the lowlands and then divides and 
  divides again into a number of distributaries as it approaches the sea.
  
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  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  The Dhobe is called the “Mother of Jaati” because it and all 
  its little tributaries water so much of the region. In that way it is 
  considered sacred to Eoya, the Mother, one of the thrones and ﬁ erce 
  defender of her children. People dip themselves into the Dhobe River 
  during rituals in the worship of Eoya. Also, as she is the Destroyer of 
  Evil, submerging in the Dhobe is said to be a sure way to remove a 
  curse. Towns and villages along its banks often have wide stairs that 
  descend into the river to make it easier for people to dip themselves 
  in the Dhobe.
  JUNGTERAN MOUNTAINS
  JUNGTERAN MOUNTAINS
  The range of massive peaks running north and south on the western 
  side of Jaati is the Jungteran Mountains, which are thought to be more 
  than 1,000 miles long. The high altitude of the summits has given rise to 
  several glaciers throughout the mountains; this permanent icecap on the 
  range and moisture caught by the mountain peaks are the source of most 
  of the rivers of Jaati. Many unusual species of animals are found in the 
  high range and also farther south in the contiguous Zakros Mountains 
  of Istaﬂ umina. The Jungterans are so high and dangerous that the only 
  people of Jaati said to have crossed them are the champions of the hero 
  stories of old.
  LARAMIS RIVER
  LARAMIS RIVER
  The Laramis River is generally considered to be the northern border 
  of Yat-Kirman. The land drops abruptly at the river, which results in the 
  south side of the river being a high, nearly impassible rock wall while 
  the north bank is only a dozen feet higher than the river. (This results 
  in ﬂ ooding nearly every year during the spring thaw.) The walls of the 
  gorge holding the Dhobe River also drop sharply at the conﬂ uence of 
  the two rivers.
  MAHUR RIVER
  MAHUR RIVER
  Flowing north through the foothills of the Jungteran Mountains, the 
  Mahur is a strong river that travels nearly 400 miles before it pours into 
  the Dhobe about 100 miles from the northern coast of Jaati. Its own 
  tributaries, such as the Tusora, increase the water it carries. When the 
  snow in the mountains melts in the spring, the Mahur and Tusora are the 
  cause of many ﬂ oods for at least 50 miles around its conﬂ uence with 
  the Dhobe.
   SURCHAL RIVER
   SURCHAL RIVER
  On the east side of Jaati, the Surchal River ﬂ ows through the 
  Principality of Krey to join the Great Ocean Ûthaf. It has its source in 
  Lake Sura, the largest freshwater lake in Jaati.
  TIMABUR RIVER
  TIMABUR RIVER
  The Timabur River is the most northern major river in Jaati. It runs east 
  and a little south from the northern reaches of the Jungteran Mountains 
  before turning to the north and ﬂ owing into the Great Ocean Ûthaf. The 
  city of Baragibra sits near the mouth. The river’s main tributary, the 
  Mynsin, also comes from the mountains but runs northeasterly to join 
  the Timabur about 50 miles from the coast. 
  UKSHAUKA HILLS
  UKSHAUKA HILLS
  This line of hills runs generally north and south, roughly 300 
  miles from the east coast of Jaati. It is responsible for sending 
  the large Dhobe River on its northerly course, while providing a 
  source for several smaller rivers that flow to the east. People who 
  live west of the Ukshaukas, in the “shadow” of the high mountains 
  or near rivers that run from them, generally consider the hills to 
  be inconvenient to cross but not impressive. Coastal residents, 
  however, who are used to the flatter lands to the east tend to regard 
  the hills as a serious barrier and often do not consider crossing 
  them for travel or trade.
  NORTHERN WILDLANDS
  NORTHERN WILDLANDS
  BHITIRAM
  BHITIRAM
  On the west side of the Jungteran Mountains runs a long coastline 
  100 to 200 miles wide with towering trees, many over 300 feet high. 
  They are so tall that shorter trees grow below them and small trees and 
  bushes below those. The people of northern Jaati who have even heard 
  of the area call it the Giant Coast because of the height of the trees. Tales 
  told to children say the people and animals of the forest are as large as 
  the trees. However, the area is generally considered to be uninhabited. 
  People of Jaati do not travel there — a prohibition on traveling around 
  the mountains is one of their oldest taboos — so that assumption has not 
  been veriﬁ ed for many generations.
  The climate to the west of the mountains is noticeably cooler than 
  the climate of Jaati proper, and different types of trees grow well there. 
  Giant redwoods are common in the moist, humid climate along the 
  coast. Giant sequoia trees grow inland along the western slopes of the 
  Jungteran Mountains. They are not so tall as the redwoods (though they 
  can still reach over 300 feet), but in girth they far outdo the lower trees. 
  Both types can live for millennia.
  Unbeknownst to those on the eastern side of the mountains, the 
  forests to the west are indeed inhabited, including by some humans. 
  The people in Bhitiram are mostly worshippers and guardians of 
  nature who for thousands of years have revered and cared for the 
  giant trees. That is to say, they have assisted the giants living in 
  the area to care for the ancient trees. These giants of the rainforest 
  and woods generally stand two to three times the size of the human 
  inhabitants, yet they are still tiny compared to the trees. Giants and 
  humans live peacefully in villages near each other, or in some cases 
  even in the same villages.
  One strange thing about the populations of giants and humans in 
  the area is that they tend to be shapeshifters. Many humans have the 
  magical ability to change shape and use this to roam through the forests 
  with more freedom than their two-legged forms would permit. Most 
  giants, on the other hand, are some type of were-creatures. Werebears 
  are the most prevalent, with boars also frequently encountered. Giants 
  dwelling on the mountain slopes are often were-raptors and prefer the 
  heights for their soaring wings.
   SAMUNDAR PATRANCA
   SAMUNDAR PATRANCA
  This coastline of northwestern Libynos, south of Bhitiram, is labeled 
  Samundar Patranca on certain maps in the archives of the Ammuyad 
  Caliphate, though the origin of the name is unknown. Neither those 
  archives nor the records of the various seafaring peoples of the Sinnar 
  Ocean seem to contain reports of visitors to these shores. Certainly, the 
  desolate stretches between Samundar Patranca and the populated regions 
  of Libynos discourage exploration. Perhaps the absence of information 
  is due to the lack of travelers to this area, or the failure of any who have 
  visited to return; or perhaps information has been suppressed for some 
  reason as yet to be discovered.
  The lands of Samundar Patranca are cooler and drier than in the 
  rainforest to the northeast. The trees that are so prevalent along the 
  coast and in the mountains toward the east become sparse, with little but 
  patches of scrubland and rocks the farther one goes west. 
  Along these shores, colonies of penguins ﬁ ll the sheltered bays. They 
  can be heard for miles, if anyone is there to hear them. The waters 
  offshore are often visited by sea lions and orcas, which come to feed on 
  the penguins. The water birds do have allies, though; the coast is also 
  home to many groups of selkies. The seal-people like to make pets of 
  these birds that can swim with them, and frequently hunt the penguins’ 
  sea predators so the population is not threatened.
  The selkies have enemies of their own at the border of their range. 
  Farther to the west lives a great colony of crabpeople, and if the ﬁ shing 
  becomes slim, competition for food may develop into open warfare.
  On land, the landscape may be rough but it is well watered both 
  
  378|THE LOST LANDS
  NORTHERN LIBYNOS
  by runoff from the mountains and by water from underground. 
  Other than animals, the area is primarily populated by various types 
  of water fey and some elemental creatures that live in the many 
  freshwater pools and streams along the coast. In the hills and the 
  mountains themselves are fey or elementals of the air, though they 
  stay far from the great forests to the northeast; in no way do they 
  want to come to the attention of the raptor shape-changers that live 
  in the mountains there. This prevalence of fey creatures carries 
  on farther south into the mountains; great disturbances of the past 
  have uncovered molten lava there in open volcanoes. Far from the 
  knowledge of any humans, twisted ﬁ re fey and elementals that enjoy 
  the lava make themselves at home. These volcanoes have been quiet 
  (but for a little smoke) for millennia, so hopefully the ﬁ re creatures 
  will be content in their igneous homes and not feel a need to stir 
  themselves to greater activity.
  So far as anyone knows, no people have made homes along these 
  shores or inland. 
  RUKMUBIR PENINSULA
  RUKMUBIR PENINSULA
  The northwest corner of Libynos, stretching out to the Isthmus of 
  Irkaina, this peninsula is a wild region with dry, stony soil; scouring 
  winds; harsh, rainy winters; and parched summers. The soil is thin and 
  sandy and does not support much plant life. Soldiers of the caliphate’s 
  Grand Army patrol here from time to time, but their horses will not 
  eat the scrubby grasses of the area so they never stay long. The “dusty 
  corner of Libynos,” as they call it, has been largely uninhabited for as 
  long as records have been kept in the caliphate. Explorers have reported 
  the crumbled remains of ancient stone buildings, so there may have been 
  some settlements made under the Assurians but the ruins are not enough 
  for there to have been anything more than a few small towns. In recent 
  years, some Northlanders have tried to settle in the extreme northwest 
  corner of the peninsula but no one from the caliphate is aware of this.
  HROLFSBERG, TOWN OF
  HROLFSBERG, TOWN OF
  Ruler: jarl appointed by the køenig of Hrolﬂ and
  Government: colony of Hrolﬂ and
  Population: 521 (Northlanders)
  Hrolfsberg is a successful colony town on the Villr Shore of far 
  northwestern Libynos, an important location for the Northlanders on a 
  lucrative trade route. 
  REFERENCE SOURCE: NS10 THE BROKEN SHIELDWALL
  VILLR SHORE
  VILLR SHORE
  On the northwestern peninsula of Libynos, the most northwestern 
  coast was named the Villr Shore (or “wild shore”) by the Northlanders 
  who explored and later settled it. The town of Hrolfsberg is located at 
  its northwestern tip.
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  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  ANTIOCH CITY-STATES
  ANTIOCH CITY-STATES
  Capital: none 
  Ruler: none
  Government: varies
  Population: 1,844,783 (1,835,017 Antiochian, 4,559 Ashurian, 
  3,694 Baalathite, 972 Khemitite, 419 other human ethnicity, 
  122 hill dwarf)
  Monstrous: ravager beetles, giant ants (hills), gnolls, 
  manticores (grasslands) 
  Languages: Antiochian
  Religion: Hyperborean pantheon, Churches of Mah-Barek, 
  Anumon
  Resources: trade, ﬁ shing, hot springs, copper, iron, marble, 
  sculptures, glass, porcelain, steel weapons, shipbuilding, 
  tobacco, cabb’e,
  Currency: Ammuyad, Parphelonian
  Technology Level: Renaissance (Kinnereth, Mirsim, Shilon, 
  Tarresh), Medieval (other city-states), High Middle Ages (rural 
  areas)
  The Antioch City-States are a league of trade cities in the warm plains 
  and hill country between the northern shore of the Sea of Baal and the 
  Scythirian Mountains to the northeast. The city-states have negotiated 
  treaties and other mutual arrangements addressing such matters as 
  the availability of raw materials, transportation, and the distribution 
  of ﬁ nished goods. The object of the arrangements is to coordinate the 
  cities’ mercantile activities and to minimize, as much as possible, the 
  inﬂ uence and control of outside countries or organizations. Internal 
  conﬂ icts are carefully concealed in order to better present a solid front 
  to their trading partners and other outsiders. 
  For most of the Hyperborean era, these cities were a part of the 
  empire and subject to its legal regime and trade policies. The empire’s 
  dominion over Libynos was broken when the undead Imperatrix 
  Trystecce of Tircople was slain by Daan in 2584 I.R. Attempts by the 
  cities at independence thereafter were only brieﬂ y successful, as the 
  then-ascendant Ammuyad Caliphate quickly swept in to take advantage 
  of the power vacuum left by the end of Hyperborea. After about 150 
  years, organized resistance began to grow in the city-states. Taking 
  advantage of two years of plague in the caliphate, the cities ousted the 
  local governors and installed their own leaders and defensive forces. 
  At last, the Antioch City-States were free of outside domination and 
  quickly arranged terms for an alliance for mutual defense and proﬁ t.
  For the past several hundred years, the city-states have been renowned 
  as leaders in the expansion and innovation of trade, from the sourcing of 
  raw materials to the processes of reﬁ nement, as well as the manufacture 
  and transportation of ﬁ nished goods. Most people in the region learn 
  to ﬁ gure well as children, and the merchants have developed advanced 
  methods of accounting for expenses and income in trade to be sure 
  they maximize their proﬁ ts. A large percentage of the population is 
  literate, which fosters better communication over long distances as well 
  as accurate recording of contractual agreements between parties. The 
  money ﬂ owing into the region has also enabled some of the wealthiest 
  merchants to sponsor musicians, artists, and philosophers, so the arts are 
  ﬂ ourishing in the city-states in parallel with its many crafts and trades.
  The territory of the Antioch City-States extends in the northwest 
  to where the Desert Wall meets the Sea of Baal, and in the southeast 
  to the near shore of the Palena River, which deﬁ nes the border with 
  Baalthaaz. In the north and the east it reaches into the foothills of the 
  Scythirian Mountains where the cities of Kinnereth, Mirsim, Shilon, and 
  Shiamun hold sway. Somewhere beyond those cities is the border with 
  the dwarven kingdom of Shamash Kush; while the boundary line may 
  be ill-deﬁ ned amid the hills, the dwarves ﬁ rmly let trespassers know 
  when they cross into dwarven lands.
  The roads between the city-states are well-maintained and well-
  patrolled to ensure the safe and swift transport of raw materials and 
  ﬁ nished goods. The ships of the trading league are solidly built and 
  well-armed, with plenty of marines for protection against the privateers 
  of Numeda or the aggressive navy of neighboring Baalthaaz. As a 
  general matter, the merchants of Antioch prefer to trade with other free 
  cities such as Endhome or Bard’s Gate but are willing to send their ships 
  anywhere that is safe and proﬁ table.
  Most of the city-states are communal republics wherein the citizens 
  of each city and its respective surroundings have sworn themselves to 
  mutual defense. They also elect leaders or representatives to look after 
  the business of the city-state, though this process takes several different 
  forms throughout the region and sometimes wealthy families hold more 
  power and inﬂ uence than a strictly democratic system would suggest.
  The primary religion of the Antioch City-States is the pantheon of 
  the Hyperborean Empire, though some other deities of Libynos and 
  even Foere also have a place. The desert religion of Mah-Barek, pressed 
  strongly by the Ammuyad Caliphate during the period of its hegemony, 
  continues to attract worshippers in the region. In particular, the low-
  key, charitable Church of Fatimashan is common, with its orphanages 
  and hospitals in every major city and most towns. The more exuberant 
  Church of Marwan is also accepted, though it has temples in few 
  locations.
  ANTIOCH, RUINS OF
  ANTIOCH, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  The city of Antioch was named after Antiocham Solinius, an ancient 
  Hyperborean trade ofﬁ cial who ﬁ rst identiﬁ ed the cities of this region as 
  being in a prime location for the development of speciﬁ c commodities 
  and goods and the expansion of trade, as a counterweight to the 
  merchants of Khemit. 
  The city was built in a hilly area near an underground deposit of salt. 
  Mining that salt was the basis for hundreds of years of prosperity until 
  one day when a tremendous earthquake or possibly an explosion from 
  somewhere in the mines rocked the city. It shook the foundations of 
  the town and opened great rents in the earth. Much of the city literally 
  crumbled into the salt mines below, and a huge portion of the population 
  was killed. Many people simply ﬂ ed, never to return. Eventually, a 
  number of the more-determined survivors moved as a group farther into 
  the hills to the little town of Peleth, where copper had recently been 
  discovered. To this day, the ruins of Antioch are avoided as extremely 
  dangerous, although other earthquakes in the past two millennia could 
  have settled the loose stone by now.
  ELNATHAN, CITY-STATE OF
  ELNATHAN, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Podest Thuras Zinelloh of Ostegli
  Government: podest and council
  Population: 34,509 (almost all Antiochian)
  Hot springs are common in the hill country of the Antioch City-
  States. Many towns and even villages among the hills boast a mineral 
  spring if not an actual bathing house. Only the area of Elnathan, though, 
  has genuine Hyperborean bathing houses built by the empire and 
  conscientiously maintained ever since. The elaborate tile mosaics (both 
  on the walls and in the pools), the steam rooms, and pools of various 
  temperatures set the Great Baths of Elnathan far above those of any 
  other hot springs of the region.
  Millennia ago, a pilgrim road was built from the far west to the holy 
  city of Tircople, and one of its last stages ran through the area that is now 
  occupied by the Antioch City-States. After the growth of Elnathan, the 
  pilgrim road was changed to pass through the city, which allowed tired 
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  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  
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  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  
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  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  and dirty worshippers of Muir a chance to rest and purify themselves 
  before the ﬁ nal difﬁ cult trek into the mountains. Today, the pilgrim road 
  is gone over most of its length, but the roads to Elnathan are of course 
  still maintained as part of the city-states’ systems. Modern travelers can 
  easily get to the city itself to try the restorative properties of the mineral 
  waters as well as other health beneﬁ ts.
  Under the Hyperborean Empire, Elnathan was a site where imperial 
  merchants and ofﬁ cials in the area could go to relax. It was also a place 
  for imperial soldiers to rest and relax during their long assignments 
  far from home. It was an easy step from rest to recuperation, and the 
  empire started sending injured soldiers (and sailors) here for treatments. 
  Facilities were started to train more people to care for the affected 
  personnel, which eventually developed into full-ﬂ edged colleges of 
  healing. A single consolidated institution is active still, passing on 
  thousands of years of accumulated knowledge. In addition, a line of 
  healers began studying plants and herbal treatments from the local area, 
  the Istaﬂ umina region, and Jaati. They combined this research with the 
  knowledge of Hyperborean specialists and expanded it even more. This 
  Herbal House inside the Grand Academy of Life and Healing continues 
  to collect information on plants in general and herbal remedies in 
  particular from throughout the world, and those who know of it consider 
  it one of the greatest repositories of plant information in Libynos, if not 
  the whole world.
  The highest authority in Elnathan is the podest (a title derived from 
  the ancient Hyperborean word for “power”), who has nine elected 
  consuls to advise her. The podest is most often nominated by the 
  advisors but is voted on by the citizens. Given the podest’s supreme 
  power in the government, a neutral party is often desired and so the 
  position frequently goes to a foreigner who is less likely to favor one 
  guild or political faction above others. (Notable people from Ur are 
  often chosen, as are people of Ifthaaz, for different reasons.) The podest 
  serves a one-year term, though the position can possibly be renewed.
  Religious observance in Elnathan is largely focused around deities of 
  healing. In fact, at one time a great temple of healing was built where 
  each deity could have a chapel and they could all be worshipped together. 
  Even such compatible priesthoods still had signiﬁ cant differences, 
  though, and it was not too long before individual temples were again 
  built and the one-time temple became another building for the grand 
  academy. The people of Elnathan worship such deities as Bablukar, Lord 
  of the Golden Sword; Ceres, goddess of midwives as well as healing and 
  home; Solanus, who gives the healing light of the sun; and Zadastha, a 
  deity of Jaati who also embraces healing.
  Near the Great Baths outside the city of Elnathan are some chapels 
  devoted to other deities who do not focus on healing. One is to the 
  goddess Kamien, the patron of both springs and travel. Another is to 
  Muir, goddess of virtue, that dates back to when the pilgrim road was 
  ﬁ rst diverted to Elnathan. Enameled copper medals with the name of the 
  goddess, and miniature versions of her holy sword symbol, are still sold 
  in the area to travelers.
  KINNERETH, CITY-STATE OF 
  KINNERETH, CITY-STATE OF 
  Ruler: Chief Magistrate Gregorio Luppi
  Government: great council
  Population: 44,916 (almost all Antiochian)
  The northernmost of the Antioch City-States, Kinnereth is located 
  in the hills to the north of the Gamberale River. It is best known for 
  the beautiful porcelain made by its artisans. Not only is it ﬁ ne and 
  elegant, but due to the availability of special dyes from Jaati, Kinnereth 
  porcelain is decorated with amazing colors seldom produced elsewhere, 
  especially reds and purples. It is available in many shapes, from large 
  Four adventurers look upon the ruins of the holy city of Tircople on the Sacred Table.
  
  382|
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  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  tureens and pots for household use to dinnerware and ﬂ asks to tiles of 
  various sizes to lidded boxes and tiny rouge pots. The various porcelain 
  houses employ people not only to do the shaping and glazing of the 
  many different items offered, but also scores (or even hundreds) of 
  painters to decorate all those in a variety of patterns. Some craftspeople 
  also produce heavier ceramics, but these are not shipped as widely as 
  is the ﬁ ner work; Kinnereth porcelain is found in wealthy households 
  throughout the world. The long-time production and distribution of 
  such fragile goods also necessitated the development of methods of 
  transporting them safely over long distances. In conjunction with the 
  merchants of Mirsim (who sell ﬁ ne glassware), they have an excellent 
  reputation for intact deliveries.
  Kinnereth’s government is handled by a great council consisting of 28 
  representatives elected from seven sections of the city and its area, with 
  each section electing one person per year. The great council in turn elects 
  a chief magistrate from among their number, usually for a four-year term.
  The people of Kinnereth are not highly religious, but many do 
  worship Sefagreth, god of trade and travel, as well as Yenomesh, god 
  of knowledge, symbols, and magic. In addition, every town and village 
  in this area has at least a shrine to Ceres as the goddess of community.
  MIRSIM, CITY-STATE OF
  MIRSIM, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Caterina Cialdoni, Presiding Consul
  Government: community council
  Population: 43,674 (almost all Antiochian)
  Sitting on the shore of Lake Valbruna, Mirsim is a colorful city with 
  full windows of colored glass in civic buildings and the homes of the 
  wealthy, and smaller hanging designs of bright glass in many windows. 
  Some artists also seem to make a business of crafting mosaics of small 
  glass chips, as they glitter from the walls of several buildings.
  Glass-making is the focal business in Mirsim, and includes stained 
  glass, mirrors, vessels, decorative items of many types, and, of course, 
  window panes. The merchants have also devised excellent methods 
  for shipping such breakable things, although debate still goes on over 
  whether merely washed wool is best as padding or whether it needs to 
  be carded as well.
  Another related craft is enameling. The most popular items to enamel are 
  those of copper from Peleth, such as jewelry and the iconic pot-and-cup sets 
  used to prepare and serve cabb’e and other hot drinks. However, enameling 
  is also done on glass items such as vases, containers, and decorative pieces, 
  and of course on gold and silver jewelry and items. Enameled religious 
  emblems from Mirsim were a traditional acquisition for travelers to the city 
  of Tircople, and even though the pilgrim road is rarely traveled these days, 
  devotional emblems for many deities are still made in the city.
  Mirsim is governed by a community council of 18 consuls who are 
  elected on a rotating basis of six each year to three-year terms. The 
  presiding consul is elected separately to a four-year term, for a total of 
  19 council members.
  The most-beloved deity in the area of Mirsim is Solanus, goddess of 
  the sun, who shines on all the glass and makes the city beautiful. Also 
  popular is the deity Rhiaan, goddess of air and travel, whose worship 
  was brought from Jaati by merchant devotees. Others worshipped are 
  Telophus, who has in his purview all the elements which go into the 
  making of glass, and Thasizier, a god of protection as well as of magic. 
  The Mah-Barek sect of Marwan has a temple here that is ﬁ lled with 
  color and song.
  PELETH, CITY-STATE OF
  PELETH, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Banner Holder Orsina Torelli
  Government: council of patricians
  Population: 41,676 (almost all Antiochian)
  The City-State of Peleth is best known for its production of copper 
  and brass items. The area has a large open copper mine and other 
  smaller mines that produce some copper and also zinc. The copper is 
  used to make all sorts of items for trade from household goods to cabb’e 
  pots and burners to pieces of jewelry. The brass made here is used for 
  such things as musical instruments, locks and keys, astrolabes, vessels 
  and fonts, and large cast decorative objects. In the past, metalmasters 
  of Peleth have traded to places in Jaati for tin and thus made bronze, 
  including casting monumental statues for the Hyperborean Empire. 
  There has been little call for such monuments in the past millennium 
  or more, though, so the current masters have no experience with that.
  Although most of the initial smelting goes on nearer the mines, the city of 
  Peleth is full of metalworkers, and the city usually smells strongly of smoke 
  and hot metal. Despite the sometimes-uncomfortable atmosphere, the people 
  are proud of their work and their city. Many buildings are ornamented with 
  bright brass or rosy copper and fountains ring in metal basins. Some crafters 
  work in partnership with enamelers in Mirsim to produce highly decorated 
  base items (including jewelry) and then send them on to the enamelers to 
  add color, thus increasing the value substantially. 
  The City-State of Peleth does have one quirk: for an area so full of ﬁ re 
  and forges, it is remarkably intolerant of alchemists. Any person who 
  seems to be an alchemist is likely to be met with remarks such as, “We 
  don’t serve your kind here” and “You’d be better off just getting out of 
  the area altogether.” If queried, citizens’ responses include “They’re just 
  dangerous” and “Everyone knows they can’t be trusted,” although no 
  one points to any speciﬁ c proof.
  The governance of Peleth is handled by a council of patricians. The 
  various towns and guilds of the city-state nominate members who are 
  educated, reliable, and local leaders or upstanding guild members, to 
  a list of eligible persons. Every two months, nine people are chosen 
  randomly from the list to serve as patricians. No one ever has to serve 
  more than two months at a time, so this civil service is not too great a 
  hardship on businesspeople. The list itself is refreshed every ﬁ ve years. 
  The leader of the council is also chosen by lottery and is called the 
  banner holder — literally the person in charge of the city’s banner for 
  the next two months. The banner holder has the right to represent the 
  city-state by making proclamations, entering into agreements, and so 
  on. Other ofﬁ ces are elected by the citizens.
  The primary deity worshipped in the area of Peleth is Dre’uain, god 
  of smiths and crafters. Another one is Note, who is a god of stringed 
  instruments and music in general, and the instrument-makers often 
  invoke him in their work and performances. The Church of Marwan 
  (a sect of the Mah-Barek religion) also has a temple here that often 
  features instrumental performances, both at the temple and impromptu 
  ones in public locations.
  SHIAMUN, CITY-STATE OF
  SHIAMUN, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Marin Saltarellis, presiding member
  Government: Consilium Sapientium
  Population: 36,474 (almost all Antiochian)
  Shiamun is located in the northwestern extent of the Scythirian 
  Mountains. Its main source of wealth is iron found in several mines 
  located in the area, and its top product is bars of processed iron traded to 
  Tarresh for use by the steelcrafters in that city-state. As part of the price, 
  Tarresh returns a certain amount of steelwork, so on average people in 
  Shiamun are better armed than most. (This helps to keep people safe in 
  a comparatively wild part of the city-states.) Shiamun does have some 
  steel production of its own; while it does not turn out the high-quality 
  weapons done in Tarresh, it provides the entire city-state area with good 
  tools and affordable standard armor.
  Transporting iron bars is easier than moving all the raw rock, so 
  most of the processing is done near the mines rather than in the city of 
  Shiamun itself. Most of those who work the iron or steel are in the city, 
  so it has more than its share of forges and the sounds of the hammers 
  ring out all day long.
  The city-state is governed by the Consilium Sapientium, a council of 
  the wise (the title was passed down from the Hyperborean Empire). The 
  council has 27 members who are entirely re-elected every three years. Each 
  year, the group elects one of its members to preside over its deliberations 
  and, effectively, become the spokesperson for the city-state for that year.
  
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  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  The most prominent deity of Shiamun is Dre’uain, the gnomish god 
  of smiths and metalworking. Along with him, shrines are built to the 
  Libynosi elemental goddess Ninevah. Those more in the merchant 
  professions, or in charge of relations with the hill dwarves, tend to 
  worship Sefagreth, the god of commerce, and Anumon, a god of 
  protection and travel whose worship was introduced from Numeda a 
  few centuries ago. They may also call on Zadastha, who grants aid to 
  those needing personal charisma or help in diplomacy.
  SHILON, CITY-STATE OF
  SHILON, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Podest Tishri Vizqorseh
  Government: podest and great council
  Population: 39,511 (almost all Antiochian)
  This city-state’s area is primarily in the high foothills of the Scythirian 
  Mountains, at the edge of Shamash Kush, where two large marble 
  quarries are maintained. One is a surface quarry along the sides of 
  several tall hills, where the revealed light marble stands out among the 
  dark trees. Switchback roads allow workers and wagons to travel up and 
  down to cut the great pieces of marble and then bring them down from 
  their high locations. This is called the Kileab Quarry, after the village at 
  the base of the earliest hillside quarry.
  The other is called the Dofﬁ  Quarry, and it is entirely underground. 
  It has the same switchback roads, and a village at the base of a hill, 
  but little else on the surface indicates the existence of a quarry there. 
  Underground, though, the quarry has branches, turns, and drops that 
  take it over a mile deep inside the hill.
  Given the proximity of all that marble, Shilon is also home to many 
  sculptors. In the days of the Hyperborean Empire, some of the best 
  sculptors in the world lived and worked in the city-state. They produced 
  large statues, busts of kings, architectural carvings, and many other 
  elegant works in marble. In fact, Shilon developed one of the few arts 
  academies in the world whose teaching is primarily sculpture, with 
  drawing and painting receiving less emphasis. The Antioch Academy of 
  Sculpture and Arts also has a sculpture museum that includes examples 
  of antique marble statuary and items from Khemit, Jaati, and other 
  places. Today, in addition to plain marble as well as sculptures being 
  sold around the world, marble from other places is transported to the 
  academy to be carved by the master sculptors there.
  Shilon is close to the dwarven kingdom of Shamash Kush, and the 
  depth of the Dofﬁ  Quarry has fueled rumors of a connection between 
  the two, though nothing certain has been proven. In general, relations 
  with the dwarves are good, and from time to time the people of the city-
  states and Shamash Kush have been known to cooperate where their 
  interests align.
  The city-state is governed by a podest (or “power”). He oversees 
  a great council of 17 representatives elected from various districts 
  of the city-state to communicate and implement the podest’s plans. 
  The great councilors in turn elect six of their number to form a minor 
  council that directly advises the podest. The podest serves a one-year 
  term, though the position can possibly be renewed; he is most often 
  nominated by the advisors but is voted on by the citizens. Given the 
  podest’s supreme power in the government, a neutral party is often 
  desired, and so the position frequently goes to a foreigner who is less 
  likely to favor one guild or political faction above others. Notable 
  people from Ur or Ifthaaz are often chosen; the current podest is from 
  Gibbathon in eastern Ifthaaz.
  The people of Shilon worship several deities whose aspects include 
  knowledge or art such as Yenomesh, Thyr, Jamboor, and Dre’uain. The 
  Mah-Barek sect of Marwan is also very active here, worshipping with 
  colorful paintings, displays of what they call “living sculptures,” and 
  even demonstrative dance.
  TARRESH, CITY-STATE OF
  TARRESH, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Banner Holder
  Government: council of citizens
  Population: 59,275 (almost all Antiochian)
  The City-State of Tarresh is situated near the mouth of the Gamberale 
  River. It is the most populous of the city-states and has the largest city. 
  Outsiders sometimes consider Tarresh to be the “capital of Antioch,” 
  though anyone from the other city-states will disagree. Tarresh is known 
  for its steelwork and weaponsmithing, especially the superb quality of 
  its blades. Its only rival in Libynos is the city of Cadua in Alcaldar, 
  which is also known to do some good work.
  The city-state gets almost all its iron directly from Shiamun, and as 
  part of the price returns a certain amount of steelwork to that mountain 
  city. Most of what ﬂ ows back is in common daggers and long or short 
  swords, but those “common” weapons are of a quality higher than what 
  many nobles in distant Akados can ever boast.
  In addition to the weaponsmithing, Tarresh has a large and active 
  harbor, the largest in the city-states. Ships from Akados and other parts 
  of Libynos usually come here to trade unless their owners are more 
  interested in agricultural goods, in which case they go to Turkad.
  The government of Tarresh is handled by a council of citizens. The 
  various towns and guilds of the city-state nominate members who 
  are upstanding guild members, businesspeople, or leaders in their 
  communities. They must also be educated, reliable, and ﬁ nancially 
  sound. The names are placed on a list of eligible persons and, every 
  two months, nine people are chosen randomly from the list to serve as 
  council members. No one ever has to serve more than two months at a 
  time, so this civil service is not too great a hardship on businesspeople. 
  The list itself is refreshed every ﬁ ve years. The leader of the council 
  is also chosen by lottery and is called the banner holder — literally 
  the person in charge of the city’s banner for the next two months. 
  The banner holder has the right to represent the city-state by making 
  proclamations, entering into agreements, and so on. Other ofﬁ ces are 
  elected by all the citizens.
  With so many weapon-makers, the city of Tarresh is also a center for 
  warriors, with mercenary groups coming here to bargain and train, and 
  many individual ﬁ ghters coming and going. All these have made the 
  temple of Mithras, the warriors’ god, one of the most popular in the city. 
  Vanitthu is another militaristic god with a good following and even the 
  rough Thursis, god of destruction in battle, has enough devotees for a 
  chapel in an out-of-the way quarter. The merchants and traders, on the 
  other hand, favor Sefagreth, patron of trade and commerce but also a 
  god of travel, and of luck. Alongside him, they also worship Quell, the 
  Akadian god of the sea.
  TURKAD, CITY-STATE OF
  TURKAD, CITY-STATE OF
  Ruler: Chief Magistrate Psalome Sfondrati
  Government: chief magistrate and great council
  Population: 52,228 (almost all Antiochian)
  The City-State of Turkad is the southernmost of the Antioch City-
  States, sitting a few miles north of the mouth of the Palena River 
  that serves as the border with Baalthaaz, and controlling a large 
  area inland. The main product of the Turkad region is tobacco. It 
  is grown on great plantations and processed, then boxed or baled 
  and shipped out of the city’s port. Most tobacco produced here is 
  the common type known locally as Libynos Blue. However, certain 
  areas with favorable soils may instead grow the Numedan Blond or 
  other varieties.
  In order to produce this important crop as inexpensively as possible, 
  Turkad enlists convicted criminals as workers. Citizens of the city-
  states are forbidden to own slaves, so convict labor is the next best 
  thing. When criminals in the Antioch region are sentenced to hard labor, 
  in some places it means hauling mine tailings or scooping and sorting 
  stone chips. In Turkad, it means working the plantations. Convict labor 
  is so valuable to Turkad, in fact, that judges are sometimes suspected 
  
  384|
  384|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  of increasing (or decreasing) sentences to hard labor for the beneﬁ t of 
  plantation owners.
  Another popular trade good from Turkad is cabb’e. Cabb’e is made 
  from tree seeds (known as “beans”) harvested in Far Jaati, transported 
  by ship to Ur then by dwarven caravan through the underground 
  kingdom of Shamash Kush, and ﬁ nally down the Palena River to 
  Turkad. These beans are roasted by a process which the Brewers’ Guild 
  teaches to only a select few, and used to brew a dark, strong drink that 
  is popular throughout the city-states and many neighboring countries. 
  Surprisingly, Turkad’s cabb’e is also popular in the City-State of 
  Castorhage, which is almost all the way around the world. Castorhage is 
  known to have colonies right in Jaati, and rumor says some people have 
  been experimenting with roasting their own beans, but despite this they 
  keep returning to Turkad to buy their cabb’e, as well as the mechanical 
  grinders sold to reduce the roasted beans to an easily brewable state and 
  the enameled copper pots, cups, and burners to actually boil the liquid.
  Shipbuilding is another important industry in Turkad. The same 
  tall trees grown in Baalthaaz and used for ship’s masts and planking 
  also grow in the southern part of the Antioch City-States. The great 
  logs are transported to the Palena River and ﬂ oated down to Turkad. 
  Unlike in Baalthaaz, the wood is not traded outside the region. Instead, 
  shipbuilders use it in great yards along the coast to build the merchant 
  vessels and occasional other ships needed by the city-states.
  The City-State of Turkad is governed by a chief magistrate and a great 
  council of 25 members who serve for ﬁ ve years each. Council members 
  are elected by the citizens from a slate of nominees proposed by the 
  council. The chief magistrate serves until she is subjected to a vote of no 
  conﬁ dence by the council members, at which time they elect one of their 
  own to serve as the new chief magistrate.
  In the area of Turkad, the god Telophus, Lord of Crops, is very 
  important to the many products for trade. Other deities worshipped 
  include those who favor travel, such as Kamien of the Rivers; Rhiaan, 
  a Gohtra deity of birds and more; Sefagreth, the god of trade and travel; 
  and Anumon of the Numedans, protector of travelers and the law.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE ANTIOCH CITY-STATES
  INTEREST IN THE ANTIOCH CITY-STATES
  GAMBERALE RIVER
  GAMBERALE RIVER
  This river ﬂ ows west and southwest from the hills of Shamash Kush 
  through some of the most-populated areas of the Antioch City-States. It 
  ﬂ ows into the Sea of Baal, and the city of Tarresh sits on its north bank 
  at the mouth of the river.
  LAKE VALBRUNA
  LAKE VALBRUNA
  This large lake, biggest of the multitude of lakes in the Antioch 
  City-States, is in the north-central part of the city-states; a small river 
  connects the lake to the Gamberale River. The city of Mirsim is located 
  on its southeastern shore.
  PALENA RIVER
  PALENA RIVER
  The Palena River ﬂ ows southwest out of the northwestern part of 
  the Scythirian Mountains into the Sea of Baal. It is the southern border 
  of the Antioch City-States and divides that area from the Kingdom of 
  Baalthaaz. The city of Turkad is on the northern bank of the river where 
  it enters the sea.
  SHAMASH KUSH, 
  SHAMASH KUSH, 
  DWARVEN KINGDOM OF
  DWARVEN KINGDOM OF
  Capital: unknown 
  Ruler: King Gedek VII, “The Hammer”
  Government: monarchy
  Population: unknown
  Monstrous: gnolls, lupins (surface), lizardfolk (coast)
  Languages: Dwarven
  Religion: dwarven deities
  Resources: trade
  Currency: Shamish; Parphelonian used in trade
  Technology Level: unknown
  This strong kingdom of hill dwarves is located northeast of the Antioch 
  City-States and southwest of the Gulf of Ur. They claim a large area of 
  the northern foothills of the Scythirian Mountains and occasionally have 
  border disputes with the city-states when those expand too far in the 
  direction of the kingdom.
  The dwarves are not entirely isolationist and do trade with the humans 
  in the surrounding areas. For many generations, they preferred the 
  humans to come to them, but just recently (in the last 200 years or so), 
  dwarven traders have gone out seeking to buy and sell for themselves. 
  In part, this is a response to a few unscrupulous humans who didn’t give 
  fair value for dwarven goods. More than that, though, it is a conscious 
  policy to be more aware of what is going on in the world outside the 
  dwarves’ sturdy but rather restrictive walls.
  The hill dwarves have two towns — locations where they allow humans 
  to enter and trade. In the direction of Ur is the underground market town 
  known as Ark-Nazm, and in the southwest toward Shiamun is Onz-
  Khadam. The towns are similarly constructed, with great defensive gates 
  and fortiﬁ cations, an entry cavern (with stabling for merchants’ animals), 
  and another strong inner gate. Through that is a long passage into the hill 
  to an open area with booths and even wooden buildings — the trading 
  town itself. Those going there, though, should remember that even when 
  friendly, these dwarves are never off their guard. 
  One merchant, on his ﬁ rst visit, spent two days in cordial and 
  proﬁ table trading. As he described later, he was leaving when he was 
  horriﬁ ed to discover that the roof of the long tunnel — which appeared 
  so solid from beneath — was actually nothing but a slab holding up 
  tons of loose rock that could become a deadfall trap at any time. The 
  dwarves of Shamash Kush made no effort to hide the trap from those 
  in the market town; it was clearly visible from the inside of the trading 
  cavern as he approached the tunnel again. It is details like this that 
  remind humans that the dwarves can get along without them just ﬁ ne 
  and are prepared to do so at any moment.
  BAALTHAAZ, IFTHAAZ, 
  BAALTHAAZ, IFTHAAZ, 
  AND THE SEA OF BAAL
  AND THE SEA OF BAAL
  BAALTHAAZ, THE FIVE CITIES OF
  BAALTHAAZ, THE FIVE CITIES OF
  Capital: Perazim 
  Notable Settlements: Eshcol, Laishah, Zephathel, Zeruin
  Ruler: High King Zimri
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 1,663,331 (1,657,007 Baalathite, 3,297 Ashurian, 
  2,849 Antiochian, 178 Khemitite)
  Monstrous: gnolls, pegasi (plains), giant ants, ﬂ ame drakes 
  (hills) 
  Languages: Baalathite
  
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  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  Religion: Kehna pantheon
  Resources: crops, wine, ﬁ sh, tobacco, cedar wood, ﬁ nished cedar 
  goods, pine ship masts, shipbuilding, weapons and armor, trade
   Currency: Baalathite, Ammuyad
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages, Medieval (Perazim)
  The country of Baalthaaz is on the warm eastern coast of the Sea 
  of Baal, north of Ifthaaz and south of the Antioch City-States. Once 
  a group of separate city-states, it has long been uniﬁ ed into a single 
  kingdom but some of the previous independence persists. Together they 
  are known as the Five Cities, and are ruled by the Five Crowns. In order 
  of founding, the cities are: Perazim, Laishah, Eshcol, Zephathel, and 
  Zeruin. The country is hilly but fertile, when plenty of rain comes.
  In fact, the fertility and productive capability of the land (and sea) are 
  the major focus of the Baalathite religious observances. Although many 
  new deities have been introduced to the coast of the Sea of Baal in the 
  past few millennia — the Hyperborean deities, Mah-Barek, Anumon 
  — the people of Baalthaaz (and Ifthaaz) hold strongly to the ancient 
  Kehna pantheon. They attribute the continued prosperity of their lands 
  to this constancy and continue to make worship of their gods the center 
  of their culture. 
  The people of Baalthaaz tend to make bragging claims about their 
  ancestry, many of which can neither be proven nor disproven. They say 
  they are descended from the Sea Peoples, ancient explorers who sailed the 
  coasts of Libynos and beyond. This may be true; no records exist that would 
  show this, but within the region the Sea Peoples are generally thought to 
  have originated in the eastern part of what is now the Sea of Baal.
  The Baalathites also claim that in ages past, angels and demigods 
  found their men and women so beautiful that the divine beings left 
  the palace of Illion, King of the Gods, and instead resided for a while 
  on Boros where they took humans as their spouses. That may be truth 
  or legend, but it is certain that from time to time people of Baalthaaz 
  demonstrate exceptional height, strength, beauty, or aptitudes.
  Baalthaaz is primarily an agricultural country, with some other 
  industries. Many areas have excellent vineyards, so much wine is 
  produced, some of which is exported.
  The most important exports of Baalthaaz, however, are its trees. The 
  eastern hills and mountains have tall pines grown speciﬁ cally for ship masts 
  and great cedars that are harvested for their strong and fragrant wood. The 
  foresters of Laishah and Zeruin are very particular about the trees for masts; 
  these take regular cultivation and years to develop, so only a limited number 
  are available each year. The Five Crowns of Baalthaaz always have a list of 
  countries or shipbuilding companies that are waiting to receive masts, and 
  can sometimes be inﬂ uenced to move one up (or down) the list.
  Inﬂ uence is a large feature of both business and government in 
  Baalthaaz, and bribery and extortion are common. Ofﬁ cially, neither is 
  condoned but it hard for an individual to raise a large enough fuss to 
  have a minor government bureaucrat disciplined, much less a powerful 
  person censured. Power, achieved by any means possible, is the general 
  goal of individuals in Baalthaaz.
  When the Hyperboreans conquered the ﬁ ve kingdoms that later 
  became the country of Baalthaaz, they deplored the decadent way of 
  life and what they saw as the personal immorality of the people of the 
  area. The bribery and buying of inﬂ uence were also offensive to the 
  majority of the Hyperboreans, although even in imperial service there 
  were always a few people willing to enrich themselves. Attempts to 
  transplant the Hyperborean deities were a failure; temples were built, but 
  no one ever attended them except the few Hyperboreans in the area. The 
  Baalathites were willing to concede that the deities of the Hyperboreans 
  were real; those gods simply had nothing to do with the people of the 
  Five Cities, who stayed true to their own pantheon. With the building 
  of Tircople, the Hyperboreans levied heavy taxes on the region in the 
  form of foodstuffs to support the city, but in general the Five Cities 
  experienced little hardship during the hegemony of the Hyperborean 
  Empire. As the empire declined and abandoned fortresses in the quiet 
  central areas of its jurisdiction, the various crowns took control. Those 
  fortresses saw a great deal of use in the struggles for supremacy among 
  the Five Crowns, but today mostly lie in ruins.
  ESHCOL, CITY OF
  ESHCOL, CITY OF
  Ruler: Queen Talmaia
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 46,681 (almost all Baalathite)
  Eshcol is a port in northwestern Baalthaaz, a few miles south of the 
  Palena River that marks the northern border of the country. The river 
  between Baalthaaz and the City-State of Turkad is supposed to be a 
  neutral area so vessels are (in general) allowed to pass unmolested. 
  Cedar is transported from the area of Zeruin, both as planks of wood and 
  as ﬁ nished wood products, and logs for the masts of ships come down 
  the Palena tied together as rafts. Sitting on the edge of a large farming 
  region, Eshcol also ships out a lot of agricultural products such as food 
  grown for export and wine from the central hills.
  In the ﬂ at lands along the Palena River, farmers cultivate tobacco. 
  Most is used inside the country rather than sold in foreign trade and 
  locals are more willing to experiment so more varieties are grown, 
  including some that have stronger or different effects than the plantation 
  tobacco produced by the bale around Turkad to the north.
  The city is home to several successful commercial ﬁ shing operations, 
  and sells ﬁ sh to interior towns as well as exporting many varieties of 
  smoked or preserved seafood. The devout people of Eshcol attribute 
  this to the presence in their midst of the high temple of Dagon, god of 
  the sea. The temple is built on piles in the harbor and at high tide seems 
  to ﬂ oat on the surface of the water. Inside, a great statue of the ﬁ sh-
  tailed deity stands on a platform behind a bronze altar. Smoke from the 
  burning of offerings rises through many small openings near the roof 
  and wafts out over the city. These offerings are usually land animals, but 
  may also be land birds. 
  Another method of sacriﬁ ce is to take a creature out on a boat into deep 
  water, truss it up, and drop it into the sea; the larger, more intelligent, 
  or more exotic the creature, the more it is hoped Dagon will value the 
  sacriﬁ ce. When a ﬁ shing boat puts to sea with a dog or goat aboard, it is 
  likely the crew is planning on this sort of offering. If the boat carries a 
  sheep or calf, it probably means the owner has severely offended the deity 
  and is trying to make reparations before a tragedy occurs. Foreigners do 
  occasionally disappear from the dock area, but no one has ever proven 
  one of the ﬁ shermen (or the priests of Dagon) is responsible.
  Other than the large temple to Dagon, the city also has the usual 
  temples to Baal and to Athera, and many shrines or small chapels to 
  various of the Seventy Gracious Gods. The queen also has a personal 
  shrine to Illion inside her palace.
  Queen Talmaia rules her city and its area with a tight grip. Her 
  beautiful speaking voice tends to make people want to agree with her, 
  because everything she says sounds pleasing and reasonable. Even her 
  own advisors sometimes have trouble disagreeing with her because her 
  voice distracts people from their thoughts. The queen is known to be 
  diplomatic, but also ruthless with enemies and competitors.
  LAISHAH, CITY OF
  LAISHAH, CITY OF
  Ruler: Queen Hacalia
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 44,985 (almost all Baalathite)
  Laishah is a city in eastern Baalthaaz, up the Zanosh River from the 
  capital of Perazim where the river is joined by one of its tributaries. The 
  area around Laishah produces ship masts and cedar wood, and forestry 
  is one of the region’s most common occupations. Another is mining; the 
  foothills of the high Scythirian Mountains have a great deal of mineral 
  wealth. The city takes in the smelted metals or raw materials, and sends 
  much of it downriver as ﬁ nished products. The city of Laishah is known 
  inside the country for producing good weapons and armor, but the wealthy 
  prefer to purchase theirs from Tarresh, one of the Antioch City-States.
  Laishah has its quota of temples to the major deities and shrines to 
  many of the Seventy Gracious Gods, but it also has one most cities 
  lack. In the hills outside the city stands a major temple to Agamid, god 
  of ﬁ re, who in most places is represented only by a small, out-of-the-
  
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  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  way temple or shrine. Rumor claims that Queen Hacalia is a devotee 
  of this uncomfortable deity, and that this is one source of her personal 
  inﬂ uence and wealth. The motto of the priests of Agamid is that “great 
  power requires great sacriﬁ ce,” and Agamid demands blood — that of 
  a thinking being and preferably with a long life ahead of it, which is 
  cut short. Not many people are willing to make the sacriﬁ ces required 
  by the deity, but in times of great trouble in Baalthaaz, the crowns have 
  been known to come to Laishah ready to sacriﬁ ce whoever is necessary 
  to protect the country.
  Queen Hacalia has ﬁ rm control of her region of the kingdom, but she is 
  widely known for her beauty. Taller than many men, she has rare golden-
  blonde hair that falls in ringlets about her shoulders, and eyes the blue of 
  gathering storm clouds. Rumor says that she is always on the lookout for 
  a new man who can stand up to her, to replace her current fancy.
  PERAZIM, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  PERAZIM, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: High King Zimri
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 84,222 (almost all Baalathite)
  The capital of Baalthaaz, the decadent city of Perazim sits on the coast 
  of the Sea of Baal at the mouth of the Zanosh River. The largest city in 
  the country, it also boasts the largest harbor of the Five Cities, so much of 
  the country’s trade passes through its wharves. The harbor is also home 
  to a series of busy shipyards; while most navies buy their raw material 
  from Baalthaaz and build their ships themselves, commercial purchasers 
  would rather just pay for a completed vessel and the shipbuilders here 
  are happy to oblige. There are enough eager customers along the coast 
  of the Sea of Baal to keep the yards full all the time.
  Most of the produce from the agricultural region around Perazim goes 
  to feed the people of the city and the sizable military forces stationed 
  there. Ostensibly for national defense, the standing army ﬁ rst and 
  foremost protects the capital and the high king against possible attacks 
  by one or more of the other crowns. Baalthaaz has been uniﬁ ed for 
  centuries, but the high throne does not always pass peacefully from 
  parent to child. Perazim has wide gates to welcome trade and travelers, 
  but its walls are high and strongly fortiﬁ ed. Unbeknownst to most, the 
  city has extensive stores in case of a siege and quantities of simple 
  weapons available to arm the citizens. The current high king actually 
  listened to the history taught by his tutor and vowed not to make the 
  mistakes made by the people his ancestors defeated for the high throne.
  The navy of Baalthaaz protects Perazim against attacks from the sea, 
  guards the country’s shipping (against acknowledged pirates as well 
  as the Numedan privateers), and collects a fee from other vessels to 
  let them pass unmolested. The navy patrols up to about 100 miles off 
  the coast and keeps the Numedans out of that area; in return, they feel 
  entitled to a gratuity from any ships they ﬁ nd sailing in their area of 
  protection. The fee is steep, but since it is still considerably less than the 
  amount that would be taken by the Numedan privateers (which would 
  be everything), most ships grudgingly pay it.
  Within the city of Perazim is the high temple of Baal. It is a great 
  pillared building entered up a long ﬂ ight of wide steps, and each day at 
  dawn and at sunset the great pairs of kettledrums ring out from the broad 
  porch at the top, praising the god of storms and battle. However, Baal is 
  also Lord of the Earth, whose rains water the ground and bring fertility 
  to the land. Men throughout the country worship that aspect of the god 
  by taking their turns in his temple; masked in the guise of the deity, they 
  act as his representatives and engage in ritual prostitution with women 
  who come to worship Baal, their own faces masked to emphasize the 
  religious rather than personal nature of the interaction.
  Illion, King of the Gods, also has a temple in Perazim. He is generally 
  honored in shrines within each crown’s palace, as rulers and judges are 
  those who most owe him homage, but the city of Perazim has the one 
  temple that anyone can attend to try to entreat a favor of the distant god. 
  The tasteful building is made of gray stone in a reserved style. A few 
  priests, generally known for their wisdom, live in the ediﬁ ce and are 
  in charge of the occasional sacriﬁ ces. They spend the rest of their time 
  studying the books of the national archives, which are kept in the library 
  of Illion’s high temple.
  The goddess Athera, of course, has a large and busy temple in 
  Perazim but her high temple is actually in Zephathel. Dagon, god of the 
  sea, is worshipped at a temple at the harbor. The building is surrounded 
  by a moat connected to the ocean, so the waterway is usually full of 
  ﬁ sh. Rumor claims that the streets of smithies and metalworkers 
  have a hidden chapel to Agamid, the evil god of ﬁ re, but he has no 
  ofﬁ cial temple in the city. Scattered everywhere, it seems, are shrines 
  and chapels to various of the Seventy Gracious Gods. Ift (Last of the 
  Seventy and the patron of Ifthaaz) actually has a temple, but it is located 
  in the foreign quarter and so is out of mind to most people of the city.
  ZEPHATHEL, CITY OF
  ZEPHATHEL, CITY OF
  Ruler: King Reshiem
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 66,679 (almost all Baalathite)
  The city of Zephathel is in central Baalthaaz on the Zanosh River 
  about halfway between the seacoast and the Scythirian Mountains. Its 
  region is the most productive of the entire country, with ﬁ elds full of 
  several types of grain and vineyards bursting with luscious grapes, 
  source of some of the best wines in a thousand miles. Many bottles of 
  wine are exported, most through the port of Perazim. However, some 
  wine and foodstuffs are shipped upriver to Laishah, where they are 
  traded with merchants coming down the Zanosh from the other side of 
  the Scythirian Mountains who are willing to pay a premium for high-
  quality goods.
  Zephathel has a prominent temple to Baal, a large temple to ﬁ sh-
  tailed Dagon in his aspect of provider of grain, and of course chapels 
  and shrines to many of the Seventy. The greatest feature of the temple 
  quarter, though, is the beautiful high temple of Athera, consort of Illion 
  and goddess of fertility. Her participation in the ongoing fruitfulness of 
  the land is incredibly important to Baalthaaz, and accordingly all citizens 
  are expected to actively engage in her worship. Garlands of ﬂ owers and 
  ribbons wrap the tall freestanding pillars at the top of the exterior stairs 
  and services are held each afternoon and evening involving entrancing 
  singing in parts and exotic dancing by trained priestesses.
  Outside the cities, worship of Athera throughout Baalthaaz (joined 
  with that of Baal as Lord of the Earth) generally takes place in the 
  countryside near such ﬁ elds as the gods are asked to bless. A tall pole 
  is erected on a hilltop or in a grove, and votaries kiss it, bedeck it 
  with ﬂ owers, and leave fruits (such as apples, oranges, or pears) at its 
  base. Couples — even married ones — frequently engage in personal 
  offerings at these locations.
  Reshiem, king of Zephathel, is somewhat taller than most men but 
  broad and very strong; his highly muscled torso, arms, and legs are 
  emphasized by his usual mode of dress in a golden pectoral piece, 
  crimson cloak, and heavily-embroidered kilt. Such a man is obviously 
  expected to be a warrior, which he is, but Reshiem is also a strategist 
  and a diplomat; when his deep voice speaks softly, people listen to what 
  he has to say.
  ZERUIN, CITY OF
  ZERUIN, CITY OF
  Ruler: King Shabbethai
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 39,553 (almost all Baalathite)
   Zeruin is in northern Baalthaaz on the Dura River, a tributary of the 
  Palena. It sits in the foothills of the Scythirian Mountains at a higher 
  altitude than most of the country. Goods are shipped down the Palena 
  River to the port of Eshcol, just a few miles south of the river’s mouth. 
  The Palena is the ofﬁ cial border between the country of Baalthaaz 
  and the northern city-states of Shiamun and Turkad and so (ofﬁ cially) 
  neutral territory. 
  The most important products of the Zeruin region are trees — tall 
  pines for ship masts and cedars for a variety of uses. Forestry is a much-
  
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  honored profession, and the men and women who cultivate the great 
  trees and select those for harvesting are generally considered both 
  knowledgeable and wise. Sometimes the crowns try to inﬂ uence them 
  to increase the harvest, but except in times of war the foresters have not 
  allowed overcutting in many generations. The area around Zeruin has 
  many excellent carpenters and woodcarvers who craft ﬁ nished products 
  from the cedar, but much is also exported as lumber.
  The lord of the earth and lady of fertility are worshipped in this tree-
  growing area as strongly as in any of the lower agricultural regions. 
  The city and towns have the usual temples and shrines. However, the 
  foresters raise a pole to Athera and Baal in every grove that is planted and 
  perform fertility rituals to call the favor of the deities to the new trees. 
  Dagon, as god of grain, has a small temple in Zeruin and is worshipped 
  in the farming communities in the region; chapels and shrines to many 
  of the Seventy can also be found throughout the area.
  King Shabbethai appears ﬁ t for a man of middle age, but other than 
  that he seems to be nothing out of the ordinary physically. People give 
  him great deference, though, and the high king consults him frequently 
  for his advice. King Shabbethai claims to be descended from angels 
  and it seems this might be true, as his insight into people is almost 
  frightening. He is said to be impossible to deceive, because even as one 
  lies to him, the person’s body shouts their falsehood in many tiny ways 
  and he notices every one.
  IFTHAAZ 
  IFTHAAZ 
  Capital: Ostegli 
  Notable Settlements: Arbel, Bicri, Diblatham, Ephron, 
  Gammad, Gibbathon, Hamor
  Ruler: Sopira, Great Matriarch of Ifthaaz
  Government: ruling council
  Population: 1,447,097 (1,442,033 Baalathite; 2,785 Ashurian; 
  2,193 Antiochian; 86 Khemitite)
  Monstrous: ankhegs (plains), gnolls, hobgoblins, velvet ants 
  (hills) 
  Languages: Baalathite
  Religion: Kehna pantheon
  Resources: cork, wine, crops, herd animals, dyes, dyed cotton 
  cloth, poppy syrup, bardic school, translators, mining, 
  weapons, trade
   Currency: Baalathite, Ammuyad
  Technology Level: Medieval (cities), High Middle Ages 
  (smaller towns and rural areas)
  The country of Ifthaaz lies on the eastern shore of the Sea of Baal, 
  north of Numeda and south of Baalthaaz. It claims all of the Nerodim 
  Hills to the north, and to the south, the portion of the Taanach Hills north 
  of the Erto River.
  Ifthaaz enjoys some of the best climate in the area, with sea 
  breezes warming and watering its fertile ﬁ elds. This is essential to the 
  country, because most of the inhabitants prefer to live in cities, and 
  the fertility of the land makes it possible to support the population 
  with fewer farmers than might be necessary in other places. Inland 
  are the open lands where the cork oaks grow; the country of Ifthaaz 
  produces the cork to stop the wine bottles of fully half the world. 
  In the hills are vineyards where the Ifthazites produce the country’s 
  own wine and lay claim to a good share of those corks. To the east, 
  the land rises to the high Scythirian Mountains, which provide 
  mineral resources.
  Ifthaaz is not necessarily a powerful country, but it is subtly supported 
  by Baalthaaz, which sees it as a buffer against Numeda. The country’s 
  patron deity is a god of thieves and treachery, and most outsiders view 
  the entirety of its people as liars and cheats. They don’t cheat everyone, 
  though; they are very reliable to their own groups. Family over others, 
  countrymen over strangers; contracts are rare but inviolable.
  All business here depends on the payment of gratuities. While it is 
  considered rude to ask for one, it is very rude (or insulting, depending 
  on the circumstances) not to offer. Only the crudest, lowest boors would 
  demand a consideration, and if they did, a knowledgeable businessperson 
  would probably turn them down. A slightly less rude person might hint. 
  A powerful boss never even mentions it, but very likely refuses to treat 
  with anyone not offering. A brash assistant might point out that gifting 
  the boss is a good idea. A really suave assistant would get the message 
  across without saying it. Ifthazites give foreigners a chance to learn the 
  expectations, but they are expected to learn quickly.
  Though Ifthaaz was certainly a part of the Hyperborean Empire 
  while it lasted, the empire never managed to truly incorporate these 
  lands into its hegemony. In Khemit, the Hyperboreans found people 
  after their own hearts — lawful, organized, and bureaucratic. In 
  Baalthaaz, they found people they despised — immoral, personally 
  violent, and pirates. In Ifthaaz, the Hyperborean authority died the 
  death of a thousand cuts as they were distracted, lied to, worked 
  around, and organized against by a people with a strong code of honor 
  that embraced almost everything the Hyperboreans opposed. The 
  Hyperboreans never even bothered to recruit Ifthazites as troops; they 
  considered them too underhanded to use.
  The Ifthazites, for their part, despised the Hyperboreans for their 
  hypocrisy. They told shining stories of heroes but their deeds were 
  petty. Ifthazites are usually petty and they know it, but they do have 
  stories of heroes who rise above being petty to have their shining 
  moments. (These usually involve someone who risks life and limb to 
  fulﬁ ll a contract, or who gets the better of an opponent after having 
  made an unwise agreement; a smuggler who cleverly gets a needed 
  or extravagant item past a watchful guard; or a person who goes to 
  the utmost to obey a command of the family or clan leader.)  Having 
  rejected the Hyperboreans, the Ifthazites were no better pleased by 
  their successors of Foere. Fortunately, being away from the land 
  route from Curgantium to Tircople, and not a large power at sea, 
  Ifthaaz was largely ignored by both empires, which allowed it to 
  quietly prosper.
  The populace in Ifthaaz is organized into various clans, some large and 
  some small, a custom their cousins in Baalthaaz abandoned millennia 
  ago. Ties of family are highly valued here, and form the basis of the 
  code of honor (such as it is) that deﬁ nes Ifthazite society.
  Ifthaaz is governed by a ruling council that consists of representatives 
  of its clans. Each great clan has a member on the council at all times. 
  The lesser and minor clans have rotating representation according to 
  a schedule that has been laid out for more than 400 years. In total, the 
  ruling council has 15 members, from whom they elect their own leader, 
  who is known as the great matriarch (or patriarch) of Ifthaaz. 
  Each clan — even the minor ones — has a clan fortress, a traditional 
  stronghold. However, since the large clan wars are far in the past, most 
  are now just the core of a town or area, rather than a fortress actually 
  able to shelter the entire clan. (One exception is the immense fortress-
  city of the Noascai at Ephron, which guards the border with Baalthaaz.) 
  A clan’s area usually includes a town with a rural area around it, but 
  even the farmers tend to cluster in villages rather than on isolated 
  homesteads; most Ifthazites just seem to like being able to interact with 
  people whenever they choose. The people of Baalthaaz look down on 
  their cousins in Ifthaaz as being stiff, provincial, and generally boring 
  because their lives are centered much more around time spent with clan 
  and family rather than in the self-indulgent, licentious pursuits common 
  among Baalathites.
  Ifthazites primarily worship Ift, god of deception. They also 
  actively worship other deities of the Kehna pantheon, with temples 
  to Baal and Athera in the major cities, although those tend to be less 
  busy than comparable locations in Baalathite cities. The coastal cities 
  have appropriate temples to Dagon. (Agamid is worshipped only in 
  secret in Ifthaaz, if at all.) Shrines to members of the Seventy seem to 
  be everywhere, however; as their patron deity is Last of the Seventy 
  (youngest and most favored of his divine parents), the people of Ifthaaz 
  tend to look more to those than to the great gods.
  
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  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  OSTEGLI, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  OSTEGLI, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Sopira, Great Matriarch of Ifthaaz
  Government: ruling council
  Population: 65,779 (almost all Baalathite)
  Ostegli is on the coast of the Sea of Baal, in the central portion of 
  Ifthaaz’s coast. Many of the civic buildings are made of white marble, 
  some at the core dating back to the days of the Hyperboreans. After the 
  rule of the western invaders dwindled away, the Ifthazites took a smug 
  pleasure in repurposing the government buildings, fortresses, temples, 
  and palaces for their own use. The harbor here is in good condition but 
  not as large as those at Gammad or Diblatham, which handle more cargo. 
  The small ships of the coastal patrol are based here and go out in pairs to 
  try to keep Numeda’s privateers away from merchants headed for Ifthaaz.
  This is also the headquarters of the country’s military, known as 
  the Council’s Guard; it has its own ofﬁ cers and is ofﬁ cially under the 
  control of the council rather than the great matriarch (or patriarch). 
  However, the great matriarch has her own personal guard consisting of 
  the best of the best from throughout the country, each of whom is sworn 
  to serve and protect the leader, even against her own clan or the council 
  if necessary. (Members of the matriarch’s guard tend to ﬁ gure relatively 
  frequently in the hero tales of Ifthaaz.) 
  Sopira, the current great matriarch, has served already for three years 
  and is still a favorite among the council and clans, so she is likely to serve 
  several more. She uses her elaborate hairstyles and colorful clothing 
  to seem intimidating, or sometimes quite shallow, but is actually very 
  down-to-earth and highly intelligent. Sopira is an excellent negotiator 
  and something of a linguist, speaking several languages.
  ARBEL, CITY OF CLAN TAVILAN
  ARBEL, CITY OF CLAN TAVILAN
  Ruler: Palmolis, Matriarch of Tavilan
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 29,318 (almost all Baalathite)
  Arbel sits near the southern border of Ifthaaz in the Taanach Hills, 
  at the conﬂ uence of the Erto River with its tributary, the Millo. The 
  area is full of vineyards, and Arbel is home to the Wine Consortium, a 
  multi-clan organization focused on exporting wines. The group works 
  to increase the exposure of vineyards of small clans. It also acquires 
  sample wines and vines from other parts of the world and analyzes them 
  to improve local wines. The vine-growers here use advanced methods of 
  crossbreeding and propagation to produce excellent vintages.
  Being near the border with Numeda, the area of Clan Tavilan is used as 
  a training headquarters for the troops of the council’s guard. New recruits 
  get some seasoning patrolling the southern border at the Erto River 
  before they are assigned elsewhere. The northern part of Numeda is one 
  of the few food-producing areas of the country and the people there are 
  not normally inclined to cause conﬂ ict with the neighbors. However, on 
  occasion some rowdy young people head into the hills looking for trouble. 
  The ﬁ rst line of defense is a variety of traps along the likely routes, so 
  most invaders call it quits before the guard has to get directly involved.
  Matriarch Palmolis is a gray-haired, motherly type of woman who 
  likes to have a cup of cabb’e with visitors to put them at ease for her 
  seemingly casual questioning. She was also a trap specialist with the 
  Council’s Guard in the past and is always pleased to hear when one of the 
  types she invented is put to good use around Arbel. People whisper that 
  she upgraded the traps on the clan fortress after she became matriarch, 
  but no one has actually attempted to verify that.
  BICRI, CITY OF CLAN MAGELAH
  BICRI, CITY OF CLAN MAGELAH
  Ruler: Jamnia, Matriarch of Magelah
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 47,621 (almost all Baalathite)
  Located where the Calno joins the larger Fara River, Bicri is one of 
  three cities on the north side of the Fara. It has issues with ﬂ ooding when 
  all the snow melts upriver, so buildings on the lower side of town tend 
  to be built on high foundations.
  Because of its convenient location at the conﬂ uence of the rivers, 
  Bicri has become a trade city for goods ﬂ owing toward and from the 
  Scythirian Mountains. The smaller clans in that area provide much of 
  the metal used in the country, and a large portion of the metal weapons 
  and tools.
  Magelah, the ﬁ rst patriarch of the clan and the founder of Bicri, is said 
  to have been a renowned bard. In the city, he also established a notable 
  bardic school for music and performance, the only one in Libynos that 
  specializes in teaching satire. At the school, bards (and sometimes other 
  students) are taught how to gather intelligence from their audiences 
  and the use of codes and cyphers, including the use of code words or 
  songs to communicate information secretly to other bards. Musicians 
  from this school are welcomed throughout eastern and central Libynos 
  and usually well-received even farther aﬁ eld, but they tend to travel to 
  places of interest to their clan rather than just wandering.
  Jamnia, the clan matriarch, always has musicians present on formal 
  occasions and knows all the musicians’ codes, though she is not herself 
  musically inclined. She is very interested in codes and code-breaking, 
  however, and has translated two coded messages from historical 
  documents that had been unbroken for centuries. Matriarch Jamnia tends 
  to be rather brusque with people she views as taking too much of her time, 
  as she has a wide range of responsibilities and interests she could pursue 
  instead. She believes life is too short to waste it in polite conversation.
  DIBLATHAM, CITY OF CLAN GUELMIN
  DIBLATHAM, CITY OF CLAN GUELMIN
  Ruler: Hacmon, Patriarch of Guelmin
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 52,657 (almost all Baalathite)
  Diblatham is on the coast of the Sea of Baal at the mouth of the Fara 
  River. It is one of the two largest ports in Ifthaaz, and large quantities 
  of wine, cork, and other products are shipped from its harbor to many 
  far locations. One specialty here is cotton cloth dyed in bright colors.  
  Ifthazites tend to dress in combinations of these eye-catching fabrics, so 
  that a group of people on a street appears more like a bouquet of ﬂ owers 
  or a ﬂ ock of bright birds. The seacoast between Diblatham and Ephron 
  is the habitat of rock snails, from which the dye the Hyperboreans 
  called “imperial purple” is made. Several villages along the coast make 
  the purple dye, which became the foundation of a many-hued dyeing 
  industry and made Diblatham an important location in the trade of dye 
  itself as well as colored cloth.
  A specialty of the local sailors is smuggling. Several of the merchant 
  ships take on special cargo for delivery from and to various places along 
  the coast of the Sea of Baal, from the caliphate around to Guurzan. They 
  may even smuggle things back into Ifthaaz, although that is almost 
  pointless; some do it just to stay in practice. 
  Diblatham is ruled by Patriarch Hacmon, a distinguished-looking man 
  of middle years. He takes his responsibilities to his clan very seriously and 
  has retained the leadership for over a dozen years. However, he also enjoys 
  the occasional prank and has been known to do elaborate preparations 
  taking weeks or months to set up a joke or a prank on someone.
  EPHRON, FORTRESS-CITY OF CLAN NOASCAI
  EPHRON, FORTRESS-CITY OF CLAN NOASCAI
  Ruler: Zohar, Patriarch of Noascai
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 62,556 (almost all Baalathite)
  The fortress-city of Ephron, on the coast of the Sea of Baal, marks 
  the border of Ifthaaz with Baalthaaz. From Ephron, the border ofﬁ cially 
  runs northeast along the northern edge of the Nerodim Hills and into 
  the Scythirian Mountains to where it meets the upper part of the Fara 
  River. Although the border was hotly disputed in the past, it has been in 
  approximately its current location for centuries.
  Ephron is located in a good farming area; rural hamlets beholden to 
  the city raise plentiful food and the patriarch also encourages rooftop 
  
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  gardening by the fortress’s inhabitants. The city does not have a port, 
  despite being on the coast; clan leaders have long felt that would 
  introduce an unnecessary vulnerability. Instead, two or three villages 
  nearby have larger dock areas than the average ﬁ shing community, and 
  any sea travel or trade is conducted through these.
  The Noascai clan has held the border with Baalthaaz for more than 
  800 years. The clan’s fortress has grown to a walled city, and the warriors 
  of the clan are effectively the northern border army of Ifthaaz. They 
  patrol throughout the Nerodim Hills to watch for encroachment or for 
  smuggling attempts by foreigners. Any smuggling that is permitted in 
  the area is done by fellow Ifthazites. The southern portion of Baalthaaz 
  is not heavily populated, however, so to be really proﬁ table smugglers 
  must travel to one of the Five Cities, or through Baalthaaz altogether 
  and into the Antioch City States beyond. Some smugglers manage to 
  make their way to Shamash Kush to trade with the dwarves there, which 
  can be lucrative indeed.
  Patriarch Zohar was a captain in the border patrol until a decade 
  ago, but resigned to pursue his intense interest in strategy. He is an 
  acknowledged expert in the wars of northern and eastern Libynos over 
  the past few hundred years (including the ultimately failing strategies 
  of the western religious crusades) and has collected and preserved 
  any material he could ﬁ nd on the Hyperborean military in the eastern 
  continent. A man of but medium height, with a salt-and-pepper mustache 
  and beard, he nevertheless has a commanding presence that helps him 
  control his sometimes-fractious people.
  GAMMAD, CITY OF CLAN REZIM
  GAMMAD, CITY OF CLAN REZIM
  Ruler: Lisco, Patriarch of Rezim
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 42,353 (almost all Baalathite)
  Gammad is at the mouth of the Erto River where it enters the Sea of 
  Baal. It has a large trade port with an active ﬁ shing industry. Although 
  not at the southern border of Ifthaaz, it is the closest coastal city. 
  Gammad is well-fortiﬁ ed to protect against attacks by the privateers of 
  Numeda, and against any attack by a Numedan land force. A large force 
  of the Council’s Guard is headquartered here, but most of the troops 
  are stationed in the areas of lesser or minor clans farther to the east. 
  The city has its own militia and a small naval force that patrols nearby 
  waters against the Numedan corsairs. The warriors of Gammad have the 
  reputation of being vicious ﬁ ghters, so the cowardly corsairs generally 
  avoid contact with their ships.
  Clan Rezim also has other specialties, however. Many of its people 
  seem to have a knack for languages and tend to pick them up easily, 
  with good accents. Just listening to foreigners at the docks can be a 
  good experience, but the clan also brings in teachers from many places 
  and often arranges for the clan’s students to travel and practice their 
  speaking or to pick up new tongues. As a result, multilingual citizens 
  of Gammad are often in demand as translators, since not everyone can 
  afford magical translation and there are those who prefer to not employ 
  magical means in any case. Some of the more talented clan members are 
  even able to pick up the body language of other cultures. That makes it 
  easy for them to blend in with foreigners in Ifthaaz or with the native 
  culture when they are visiting other countries. Combined with training 
  and practice in disguises and certain other techniques, this allows 
  particular members of Clan Rezim to act as excellent spies.
  Lisco, the patriarch of Rezim, is said to have been a sailor in his youth. 
  A story is told that he sailed for two years as a Khemitite on a ship out of 
  Akados and even made himself at home in the Khemitian community in 
  the great western city of Bard’s Gate with no one ever suspecting he was 
  not what he claimed. Other stories whisper of secrets Lisco discovered 
  while in that guise, and point to packages he receives from Khemit on 
  a regular basis. If these rumors have ever reached the patriarch’s ears, 
  however, he has shown no sign of it. Instead, his greatest concerns 
  seem to be his three granddaughters, the safety of ships coming into 
  the area (for what city can carry on proﬁ table trade if all its partners are 
  attacked), and his elaborate formal garden, in that order.
  GIBBATHON, CITY OF CLAN DORISIO
  GIBBATHON, CITY OF CLAN DORISIO
  Ruler: Hamath, Patriarch of Dorisio
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 32,589 (almost all Baalathite)
  Gibbathon is on the plain of eastern Ifthaaz, in the heart of the cork-
  producing area. The cork oaks require careful husbandry, with trees 
  needing years of cultivation before any cork can be harvested and 
  then more years before they produce top-quality material. A majority 
  of the population of the eastern part of the country is involved in the 
  cork industry in one way or another, whether in husbandry, harvesting, 
  processing, or transportation.
  Another important crop in the area of Gibbathon is poppies. Acre 
  after acre of them are grown, and Clan Dorisio specializes in processing 
  them, mostly into the syrup that is so popular in Baalthaaz. While some 
  oldsters in Ifthaaz take poppy for joint pain, taking it just for pleasure 
  is frowned upon because it dulls the senses. As a result, little of the 
  syrup is sold inside the country; the majority is exported to be used 
  by the hedonists of Baalthaaz, especially in the great temples. The 
  clan processes other types of plant material as well and makes other 
  medicinals for pain. However, a few knowledgeable alchemists also 
  make plant-based poisons that are quietly sold into certain markets. 
  These craftspeople take charge of many apprentices in the Dorisio 
  clan so this knowledge will be passed down and always continue to be 
  available to the clan.
  Hamath, the patriarch of Dorisio, is unusually young for his position 
  but he would not have come to it if he did not have the conﬁ dence of his 
  clan. In one change from the policies of his predecessor, he is sending 
  out clan personnel with samples of the poppy syrup. They are taking it 
  to demonstrate to potential clients, especially in cities along the west 
  coast of the Sinnar Ocean, to increase the market for the clan’s high-
  quality products.
  HAMOR, CITY OF CLAN NALCHIDEM
  HAMOR, CITY OF CLAN NALCHIDEM
  Ruler: Tebak, Patriarch of Nalchidem
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 27,452 (almost all Baalathite)
  Hamor is at the edge of the hill country of central Ifthaaz, in a good 
  wine-producing area. As the largest city in the region, goods such as 
  wine and grain are usually collected in Hamor and then transported by 
  road to Ostegli or possibly Gammad. In many ways, central Ifthaaz is a 
  stereotypical farming area, and Hamor is the center of that, with sheep-
  shearing competitions, milking championships, and country dances to 
  pass the time.
  However, there is another side to Hamor. Being in a vulnerable area 
  and tramped over more than once by invading foreigners, millennia ago 
  locals opened up a cave system below what is now the city where the 
  entire population could live for an extended time while ﬁ ghting raged 
  above. This hideaway is recalled only by a few sages except for one 
  group: a very specialized organization that trains skilled assassins 
  and sends them out in support of the clan or country. For the past few 
  centuries, they have called themselves the Reapers, in a play on the 
  bucolic area in which their facility is located. The order is almost entirely 
  restricted to members of Clan Nalchidem; sometimes an outsider will be 
  accepted for training, but only after the execution of an ironclad contract 
  and the receipt of other sureties. 
  Tebak, the patriarch of Nalchidem, is whispered to have been 
  among the assassins in his younger days, though he has been a staid 
  part of the city’s government for decades. Some claim he was even 
  personally involved in a coup in Ammuyad nearly 40 years ago. If 
  asked privately, Tebak neither conﬁ rms nor denies this rumor. If asked 
  publicly, he roundly excoriates the scoundrel who makes such an 
  accusation and makes sure the person has trouble doing business in 
  Hamor henceforth.
  
  390|
  390|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN BAALTHAAZ, 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN BAALTHAAZ, 
  IFTHAAZ, AND THE SEA OF BAAL
  IFTHAAZ, AND THE SEA OF BAAL
  AZAADIPUR, MINES OF
  AZAADIPUR, MINES OF
  Situated among the mountainous cliffs in the western Titian Isles, 
  the mines of Azaadipur are old by even those who have studied the 
  Hyperborean Empire, dating back to the earliest civilized human 
  occupation of the region. Rumor says that more than ﬁ ve miles of 
  twisting tunnels run beneath the surface of the largest island, some of 
  which are so narrow that ancient Khemit used small demihuman and 
  child slaves to be able to access them.
  Freegate conquered the islands around the mines several years ago, 
  and the mines have now been reﬁ tted and are actively being worked 
  again, producing abundant copper. 
  BLISS, ISLE OF
  BLISS, ISLE OF
  In the eastern part of the Sea of Baal, about 100 miles south of the city 
  of Perazim, the Isle of Bliss is the largest of a group of dozens of small 
  islands. Perhaps 50 miles from tip to tip, the island is home to small 
  ﬁ shing villages and not much else. The inhabitants are the descendants 
  of island natives and the crews of ships that wrecked in the islands. 
  CALNO RIVER
  CALNO RIVER
  A tributary of the Fara, the Calno River ﬂ ows out of the Scythirian 
  Mountains across the northeast part of Ifthaaz. A large part of the cork 
  production of eastern Ifthaaz is transported to the Calno and shipped 
  downriver to Diblatham for export.
  DURA RIVER
  DURA RIVER
  The Dura River runs from the Scythirian Mountains through 
  northeastern Baalthaaz. It is a tributary of the Palena River, which 
  serves as the border between Baalthaaz and the Antioch City-States. The 
  Baalathite city of Zeruin lies on the Dura River
  ERTO RIVER
  ERTO RIVER
  The largest river in the southern part of Ifthaaz is the Erto, which 
  ﬂ ows out of the Scythirian Mountains and through the Taanach Hills 
  to enter the Sea of Baal at Gammad. The Erto River is considered the 
  border between Ifthaaz and Numeda to its south.
  Groups of rash youth from Numeda will on occasion attempt to 
  challenge the border by dashing on horseback out of the hills, crossing 
  the river, and looking for someone to attack to prove they are helping 
  their country. Ifthaaz uses the border area to train its new guard troops, 
  so the young Numedans almost always encounter a patrol of soldiers 
  better armed than they are and also more familiar with the territory. The 
  Ifthazites are generally content with chasing the miscreants back across 
  the river, and as long as neither side has to contend with actual troops 
  crossing the border, tolerable neutrality is maintained.
  FARA RIVER
  FARA RIVER
  The Fara River is the main river in Ifthaaz and ﬂ ows through the 
  northern part of the country to the sea at Diblatham. Half its length 
  runs through the Scythirian Mountains and foothills before it reaches 
  the city of Bicri and is joined by its tributary, the Calno. The Fara and 
  its tributaries water fully half of Ifthaaz, and the river also acts as an 
  important trade route for goods from northeast Ifthaaz.
  FREE MAIN
  FREE MAIN
  A name sometimes used in Akados for the Sea of Baal. (See “Sea of 
  Baal” below.)
  MARE LIBRUM
  MARE LIBRUM
  An archaic name sometimes used in Akados for the Sea of Baal. (See 
  “Sea of Baal” below.)
  MILLO RIVER
  MILLO RIVER
  Flowing out of the Scythirian Mountains through southeastern 
  Ifthaaz, the Millo River is a tributary of the Erto, which it joins near the 
  city of Arbel. In the spring, when snow melts in the lower part of the 
  mountains, both the Millo and Erto run high and the lower parts of Arbel 
  have problems with ﬂ ooding, as do other towns and villages in that area.
  NERODIM HILLS
  NERODIM HILLS
  This line of hills extends west from the foothills of the Scythirian 
  Mountains to about 50 miles from the Sea of Baal. It is considered 
  to be the northern border of Ifthaaz, which claims the entirety of the 
  Nerodim. Although the terrain is rough, caravans of traders (or more 
  likely smugglers) are able to make their way through the area.
  QUORRK
  QUORRK
  In the midst of the Sea of Baal, this rough island’s mountain peaks 
  rise from dry, lightly-wooded land at their base. Located atop a 
  windswept spur of rock among the mountains is a small settlement of 
  vulture-like bird-men who can often be seen soaring and circling above 
  the island. There are no reports of the vulture-men attacking ships, but 
  sailors tell horror stories about what happens to people who land or are 
  shipwrecked on the island.
  SARMAD YAZDG-OR, ISLE OF
  SARMAD YAZDG-OR, ISLE OF
  In the Sea of Baal, about 200 miles south of Tarresh, lies the strange 
  Isle of Sarmad Yazdg-or. Passing ships often avoid it due to the weird 
  nature of the cult found there. Among the boulder-strewn hills of that 
  isle stands the monastery called the House of Three Mysteries, where 
  dwell shaven-headed seers with supernatural insights brought on by 
  consuming the often-deadly purple lotus. The multistory building is 
  surrounded by a 25-foot wall and the gate is guarded, but it is opened 
  for those willing to pay for their far-seeing divinatory powers.
  SEA OF BAAL
  SEA OF BAAL
  The eastern arm of the northern Sinnar Ocean is known in Libynos as 
  the Sea of Baal. It is warmed by currents drawn up from the equatorial 
  south so the climate around its shores ranges from balmy and pleasant 
  to very warm. Major storms such as hurricanes are almost unknown. No 
  one has actually measured the sea’s distance, but those who have sailed 
  it many times shrug and give a guess of about 700 miles from Al-Ibbos 
  to Turkad, and more than 1,600 miles from the northern tip of Caddesh 
  to the eastern shore.
  THRONE OF BAAL
  THRONE OF BAAL
  The meaning of the name Baalthaaz is “Throne of Baal,” and the 
  country has a holy site with that name carved into a sheer mountain cliff 
  in the western Scythirian Mountains, north and east of Laishah. While 
  it was originally a natural formation, over many years, devotees have 
  worked the surrounding rock into elaborate decorations such that it does 
  indeed have the appearance of a gigantic throne, with arms that look 
  like giant bear paws and a mass of misshapen demons writhing beneath 
  the seat. The view is impressive; if Baal truly sat there, he would be 
  able look right across his country to the sea that bears his name. A 
  curse would supposedly come to anyone else who dares sit there, but 
  people sometimes make the journey to pray at the throne’s foot when 
  beseeching their deity for a special favor.
  THRONE OF IFT
  THRONE OF IFT
  As Baalthaaz means “Throne of Baal,” so Ifthaaz means “Throne of 
  Ift.” A stone throne was supposedly cut into a mountain long ago as a 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|391
  |391
  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  mockery of the Throne of Baal. However, the Throne of Ift is now barely 
  more than a legend. No one knows where it may be, and worshippers do 
  not seek it, as it has no importance to Ift at all. However, some legends 
  say that behind the false Throne of Ift, if one can ﬁ nd it, is a secret 
  chamber with the true Throne of Ift, and one who can pass the guardians 
  to the true throne will earn a great reward. Stories of the greatest thief 
  who ever lived claim he “took a gem from the throne of Ift”; further 
  tales claim a few others managed to emulate him since then.
  TITIAN ISLES
  TITIAN ISLES
  Across a thousand miles, the Sea of Baal is dotted with islands 
  referred to as the Titian Isles for their golden-auburn color. The majority 
  of the islands are arid and volcanic in origin, though the volcanos that 
  forced them from the bottom of the sea are long extinct. Sailors stop at 
  the small ports throughout the isles to resupply, trade, and take on fresh 
  water. Ownership of the islands has traded hands over the millennia 
  as various powers sought to control the islands’ mineral resources and 
  strategic positions. 
  REFERENCE SOURCE: CITY OF BRASS
  WINDS, ISLE OF
  WINDS, ISLE OF
  For centuries, a great storm has blown around the Isle of Winds, 
  drawing in ships to wreck upon its shores and stranding sailors upon its 
  rocky beaches. From a distance, a great tornado can be seen ever grinding 
  against the barren stone beach, its vortex reaching into the lightning-shot 
  blue-black skies that glower above it. Stripped bare of its vegetation and 
  soil, the isle is a forbidding place. Those survivors who claim to have set 
  foot upon the Isle of Winds were driven mad for their experience, or drink 
  heavily in an effort to forget the things they saw there.
  ZANOSH RIVER
  ZANOSH RIVER
  The Zanosh River runs through central Baalthaaz, rising in the 
  Scythirian Mountains to the east and running west and southwest 
  through hilly country to the Sea of Baal. Perazim, the national capital, is 
  situated near the mouth of the river.
  CRUSADER COAST
  CRUSADER COAST
  Capital: none
  Ruler: varies
  Government: varies
  Population: unknown
  Monstrous: dragon turtle, renzer (aquatic), inphidians, nues, 
  kamadans (Malagro)
  Languages: Westerling, Bhanakhat, Alcaldrich (islands); tribal 
  languages (Malagro) 
  Religion: Muir; Paramountcies pantheon (islands); tribal spirits 
  (Malagro)
  Resources: medicines, crops, tobacco, hand crafts, trade 
  (islands)
  Currency: Foere, Bhanakhiran, Alcaldrich, other (islands); 
  barter (Malagro)
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages (Ber Ga Ma, Lycania), 
  Dark Ages (other islands), Stone Age (Malagro)
  The Crusader Coast refers to a portion of the eastern coastal lands of 
  Libynos, from the mouth of the Gulf of Ur in the north to the southern 
  end of the Jungle of Malagro in the south. Bordered on the west by 
  the Scythirian Mountains, the region includes the plateau of the Sacred 
  Table where lie the ruins of the holy city of Tircople, as well as the chain 
  of islands running along the coast, from the isle of Cyproean in the north 
  to Lycania in the south. 
  At the time of the First Great Crusade in 2960 I.R., the Foerdewaith 
  of Akados used what is now the Crusader Coast as a staging area for 
  their attempts to retake the Sacred Table and hold it from the Huun. 
  After that crusade, they built fortresses and established colonies that 
  came to be known as the Crusader States. Over two and a half centuries, 
  the Foerdewaith and the Huun clashed in four great crusades. Each time 
  after the armies from Akados retook the Sacred Table, they eventually 
  became complacent, which permitted the Huun to attack Tircople 
  and put the coastal Crusader States to the torch. Finally, the Huun 
  were deﬁ nitively beaten in 3207 I.R. at the Battle of the Sickles by a 
  Foerdewaith army aided by dwarven allies from Shamash Kush, yet 
  even this victory would be short-lived. 
  Ironically, it was not the Huun who would drive Foere from the 
  Libynosi mainland but the Mguru tribe from the Jungle of Malagro, 
  who sacked Tircople and left it a ruin in 3209 I.R. With the beginning 
  of the Foerdewaith Wars of Succession only four years later, no further 
  crusades were declared. The coastal Crusader States, destroyed by 
  the Huun in 3169 I.R., were never rebuilt. Tircople would remain 
  uninhabited, and as Foere’s internal dissension sapped its strength, 
  one by one most of the island Crusader States fell from its control. 
  Of their island fortresses, some have been repurposed, becoming 
  merchant centers or pirate havens, and others have deteriorated and 
  been abandoned. Today, only the island of Cyproean remains under 
  even nominal Fordewaith control, and only the lone tower on Aretas 
  still ﬂ ies the banner of the church of Muir.
  ARETAS, ISLAND KEEP OF
  ARETAS, ISLAND KEEP OF
  Ruler: Sir Tirath
  Government: feudal
  Population: 63 (mainly Foerdewaith)
  South of Cyproean in the Sea of Tyre is the island of Aretas. A simple 
  keep stands near the western side of the isle, with a ﬂ oating dock 
  extending from the rocky shingle out into the sea. The area around the 
  keep is tended farmland and orchards but the rest of the island is wild 
  jungle. From the highest peak of the tower ﬂ ies the white and red ﬂ ag 
  of the church of Muir.
  This isolated location is the home of Sir Tirath, knight of Muir, along 
  with his family and their vassals. Sir Tirath is the latest representative 
  in a longstanding line of knights who have held this watchtower as 
  their duty. He came to the place through his marriage to the daughter 
  of the previous knight, Lady Daria. That woman came to the island 
  after dreaming someone needed her, and indeed the elderly knight then 
  overseeing the tower had needed someone to take his place.
  Muir has blessed the island with abundant water and fertile soil, so 
  life is not too onerous for any of the residents. Lady Gerasa, who learned 
  healing from her mother, oversees a large, long-established garden of 
  medicinal herbs. She concocts many healing powders and teas, and her 
  medicines are the most common reason ships stop at Aretas.
  Although the crusaders have long abandoned the Crusader Coast, 
  Sir Tirath carries on the tradition of his predecessors, maintains the 
  knowledge of the goddess in the area, and keeps records of the history of 
  her city and its environs. He hopes perhaps one of his own children will 
  succeed him some day, but trusts that Muir will provide his replacement 
  at the appropriate time.
  BARKOS ISLAND
  BARKOS ISLAND
  Ruler: Captain Lucien Delamain
  Government: autocracy
  Population: unknown
  Lying in the Sea of Tyre off the coast of eastern Libynos, Barkos is a 
  small island, yet has two small harbors, one on its north shore and one 
  on its south. Each of the harbors is partially concealed from the sea by 
  tall cliffs, and the approaches to each are rocky, making it likely that a 
  captain unfamiliar with the island would ground his ship or rip its hull. 
  These factors made the island difﬁ cult for the crusaders to use, although 
  they did so anyway. On the other hand, they make Barkos an excellent 
  base for pirates, and so it has been now for many years.
  
  392|
  392|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  Pirate Captain Lucien “the Black” Delamain claims control over 
  the south harbor and leadership over the pirate band that calls itself 
  the Merry Marauders. They are more vicious than their name would 
  indicate, and ships (and villages) go to great lengths to resist them 
  because those taken alive invariably wish they had died instead.
  The north harbor is controlled by Captain Romike Hildrsdottir and 
  her Sea Rovers. They are an offshoot of the Marauders and formed 
  when Captain Romike (as she prefers to be called) saw a diplomatic 
  split as the best way to avoid bloody rebellion. The Sea Rovers plan 
  their own operations and choose their own targets, but pay a portion of 
  their take to Lucien the Black in order to be left alone. Ships from each 
  group have the right to put into each other’s harbor in case of emergency. 
  The Sea Rovers almost never take advantage of this, though, while 
  the Marauders do so more often than would seem necessary. Captain 
  Romike just accepts that Lucien the Black has his people checking up 
  on her, and keeps preparations for the Rovers’ future plans well away 
  from prying eyes in their harbor.
  One drawback to the rocky entrances to each of the harbors is that 
  just a few ships could bottle up those inside. To counter this risk, both 
  harbors have placed siege engines in high places where they can strike 
  ships at sea.
  Over the years, the pirates have done some desultory cultivation of 
  fruit trees and berry bushes (which were probably ﬁ rst started by the 
  crusaders), so there is food on the island, and ﬁ sh in the sea if they are 
  inclined to catch them. Captain Romike encourages her group to smoke 
  some ﬁ sh and set it aside in case of future need, along with some of 
  the dried or preserved foods from ships they take. This is one of the 
  preparations the Sea Rovers don’t report to Lucien the Black, who sees 
  no reason for any such precautions.
  BER GA MA, ISLAND OF
  BER GA MA, ISLAND OF
  Ruler: Hexarga Sisak Roi Raichat of Gold
  Government: Kachan Yala Inter-Faction Mercantile League
  Population: 1,118 (mostly Bhanakhiri)
  Known as Bergama in the records of Foere and the Crusader States, the 
  pronunciation of this busy island’s name has changed under its current 
  ownership. Situated near the center of the Crusader Coast, it is claimed 
  by the Kachan Yala Inter-Faction Mercantile League of Bhanakhiri, and 
  the port welcomes merchant ships of all nations, for a reasonable fee. 
  The harbor and docks were restored and upgraded when the league took 
  over about 180 years ago. 
  The town of Amnas Chakaio has grown up around the old keep and 
  provides for the needs of ships and their crews, from minor ship repairs to 
  limited amounts of fresh food and water to taverns and shops for sailors 
  who just want to be ashore for a few hours. Some trading is done here, 
  by ships that might not cross paths somewhere else, but it is not a major 
  activity as this is primarily a stopover for ships on their way elsewhere. 
  Since Amnas Chakaio was built as a town of Bhanakhiri, it seems 
  strange to most of the crews who come here. Just the colors and 
  styles of the townspeople’s clothing are peculiar to them; the faction 
  colors and markers, gilded spirit houses (with an especially large one 
  outside the centuries-old keep), strange temples to unusual gods, and 
  of course gladiatorial competitions in the arena, make the island seem 
  very foreign and exotic to people from northern or central Libynos or 
  distant Akados, and make it a popular calling place for those ships. (For 
  more information on this culture, see “Southern Libynos — Southern 
  Paramountcies — Bhanakhiri, Ottiarky of.”)
  The island’s top authority is Hexarga Sisak Roi Raichat of the Gold 
  Faction of Bhanakhiri, appointed by the Kachan Yala. The hexarga is a 
  master merchant in her own right, so she understands the concerns and 
  struggles of the traders who come to the island, but she was selected 
  primarily for her skill in diplomacy and her facility with languages. 
  She is ably assisted by several specialists in translation, but she 
  speaks enough of several different languages to at least hold a polite 
  conversation with many of the merchant captains who call on her. Sisak 
  Roi Raichat is below average height, and less plump than her position 
  and wealth would warrant, but her staff and citizens treat her with great 
  respect. Ship captains who have had the poor judgment to bring their 
  quarrels into her presence also spread their esteem for her; many years 
  of training in hand-to-hand combat have given the hexarga the ability 
  to quiet a disagreement with a few sharp blows, leaving both sides to 
  repent of their errors.
  CRUSADER STATES, RUINS OF
  CRUSADER STATES, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  The Crusader States were a group of domains under the auspices of 
  the Hyperborean Monarchy of the Foerdewaith that were established to 
  guard and support the holy city of Tircople. Records of the various states 
  certainly still exist in some archive in Courghais, and perhaps even in 
  the capitals of some nations in Libynos. However, the states themselves 
  are now all gone and forgotten by all but a few scholars.
  Originally established after the First Crusade, the Crusader States 
  lie along the coast of the Sea of Tyre on several of the islands offshore 
  and, on the continent, in the northern part of the Jungle of Malagro. The 
  mainland states were the County of Rheguim, the Barony of Talbrimmon, 
  and the Barony of Ithamar. On the islands were the Barony of Cyproean 
  and the fortresses of Aretas, Bergama, Tyropean, Nevalla, and Lycania. 
  The Crusader States provided support to the holy city of Tircople, a 
  place for pilgrims to arrive if traveling by sea, and bases for merchants 
  of Akados optimistically seeking to trade with the nations of Libynos. 
  Before the Fourth Crusade, the island barony of Cyproean became 
  a staging area for the armies of Foere. The coastal States also kept 
  watch on the nearby Jungle of Malagro, whose inhabitants were not 
  friendly to the crusaders but were not overtly hostile either, perhaps 
  being intimidated by their advanced armor and weapons. So long as the 
  Foerdewaith did not venture too far into the interior, the tribes of the 
  jungle left the crusaders alone. As a result, the Crusader States judged 
  the tribes to pose little threat to their people, much less to Tircople itself.
  Twice, the Huun attacked the coastal Crusader States. The ﬁ rst time, 
  only 10 years after the First Crusade, the Huun were able to seize the 
  fortresses and towns of Rhegium as they laid siege to Tircople. This led 
  to the Second Crusade, which saw the Foerdewaith eventually retake 
  the Sacred Table and the lands of Rhegium. The Crusader States were 
  substantially strengthened, and for 200 years they prospered. Then in 
  3169 I.R., the Huun again attacked, overrunning the mainland Crusader 
  Coast and burning to the ground the fortresses and towns of the three 
  onshore Crusader States, before moving on and devastating the proud 
  city of Tircople. Only the island Crusader States survived, and all they 
  could do was watch in horror as their brethren cities ashore were ﬁ red 
  to light up the entire coast at night in a ghastly spectacle. It took almost 
  40 years, including the loss of the Third Crusade at sea, before Foere 
  retook the Sacred Table in the Fourth Great Crusade. By that point, the 
  settlements of the coastal Crusader States had been lost to the jungle. 
  Though some consideration was given to re-establishing them, the 
  subsequent sack of Tircople by the Mguru tribe of the Jungle of Malagro 
  just two years later and the beginning of the Foerdewaith Wars of 
  Succession shortly thereafter meant that all such plans came to naught.
  From the sea, however, the ruins of some of the largest of the fortresses 
  of the coastal Crusader States can still be seen. Visible in the north is 
  the fortress of Galbanum, which was part of the County of Rhegium; it 
  stands at the edge of the Wasted Desert, just south of the Zoar River that 
  falls from the heights of the mountains to the west. Next is the massive 
  castle of the Counts of Rhegium itself, followed by the great tower of 
  Mithredath. Farther south, one can make out the extensive remains 
  of Castle Talbrimmon, once headquarters to the barons of that name. 
  Farthest to the south, the substantial castle of the barons of Ithamar can 
  be discerned from the top of a ship’s mast at sea despite the jungle’s 
  attempts to swallow it whole.
  All these fortresses are considered unpopulated by the ofﬁ cials of 
  Foere and those western merchants who travel this way. However, such 
  useful fortiﬁ cations are unlikely to be completely unoccupied, even in 
  their ruined condition.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  CYPROEAN, ISLAND BARONY OF
  CYPROEAN, ISLAND BARONY OF
  Ruler: Baroness Avvia Malthace
  Government: protectorate of the Kingdom of Foere
  Population: 10,743 (mostly Foerdewaith)
  Cyproean is the northernmost, and largest, island of the Crusader 
  Coast. It has high, rocky hills in the center and no fewer than three good 
  harbors for ships. Each of these harbors has a protective fortress, with 
  Fortress Aven on the harbor to the west being where most of the trafﬁ c 
  arrives, now and historically. To the southeast is Fortress Shan, and on 
  the north is Fortress Perath. Rivers run from the central ridge down to 
  the sea in every direction, watering the land well. With the warm climate 
  produced by southerly currents along the coast, growers on Cypyroean 
  can even cultivate tobacco (or “pipeweed” as it is known in parts of 
  Akados) and ship it west as an exotic type that brings a high price.
  Cyproean is technically a protectorate of the Kingdom of Foere. The 
  connection goes back to the Hyperborean Monarchy of the Foerdewaith, 
  which claimed the island after the First Crusade on the Sacred Table 
  and set up a fortress here to protect the holy city of Tircople. More 
  fortiﬁ cations were built throughout the Crusader Coast after the Second 
  Crusade, which stood guard successfully for more than 200 years until 
  the third Huun attack on not just the holy city but the Crusader States 
  as well. The baron and knights at Cyproean could do nothing to help 
  their land-borne comrades during that assault, or during the tragic 
  loss of the laden ships of the Third Crusade. However, as the Fourth 
  Crusade approached, they opened their fortresses and their island and 
  played host to nearly all of the gathering crusaders, until their numbers 
  were sufﬁ cient to ﬁ nally begin the assault to retake Tircople. So much 
  of the island was required for the assembled armies that some units 
  of crusaders were forced to fortify and camp in caves in the hills, 
  and isolated locations can still be found with remnants the soldiers 
  inadvertently left behind.
  After the success of the Fourth Crusade, some crusaders elected to 
  stay on Cyproean and join those who had been part of the island barony 
  for generations, though most of the soldiers from Akados returned 
  home. With the commencement of the Foerdewaith Wars of Succession 
  shortly thereafter, though, the inﬂ uence of Foere waned and the hand 
  of Courghais touched the inhabitants of Cyproean only lightly. Despite 
  their great distance, however, the folk of the island still ﬁ nd a beneﬁ t in 
  naming themselves loyal citizens of the kingdom. 
  Today, merchant ships from Foere travel to Cyproean and sometimes 
  even beyond, making their way all the way to Jaati. A few ships 
  headquartered at Fort Shan occasionally make trips down the eastern 
  coast of Libynos to trade with the denizens of the southern part of the 
  continent. Colonists from Foere boosted the island’s population and it 
  now raises enough food — and makes enough products — to trade for 
  most of what it needs to be self-sustaining.
  LYCANIA, ISLAND OF
  LYCANIA, ISLAND OF
  Ruler: Exarch Ana-Paterna of Hacienda Almoster
  Government: controlled by Empire of Alcaldar
  Population: 947 (mostly Alcaldrich)
  The southernmost island of what is traditionally considered the 
  Crusader Coast, Lycania is now a colony of the Empire of Alcaldar. 
  About 100 years ago, Alcaldrich explorers found the nearly intact keep 
  on the western shore empty, abandoned by the Foerdewaith who had 
  once inhabited the island. Seeing an opportunity, Alcaldar immediately 
  sent engineers, masons, and settlers, even though the journey was long 
  and difﬁ cult. With the opening of the Channel Lakes 18 years ago, 
  however, and the growing population at the east end of the canal system, 
  Lycania has become a perfect steppingstone for Alcaldar’s increasingly 
  lucrative trade with Istaﬂ umina and Jaati.
  The colony, small but growing, is governed by Alcaldrich Exarch Ana-
  Paterna of Hacienda Almoster and a staff of advisors and assistants. A 
  company of imperial marines protects the island from pirates and other 
  enemies, and also accompanies the island’s naval vessel, the Princesa 
  Adrianna, on patrols. (The pirates of Barkos sometimes give the small ship 
  trouble, but they have learned to leave the island alone.) The small number 
  of settlers has increased enough that there are now three small towns spaced 
  around the island, each with a strong wooden palisade and a town hall 
  where weapons are stored in case the locals need to protect their home while 
  waiting for reinforcements. The harbor offers a sturdy dock that can hold as 
  many as a dozen ﬁ shing boats, or four ocean-going vessels.
  Exarch Ana-Paterna maintains a luxurious residence inside the keep, 
  primarily to show passing merchants and ofﬁ cials of other nations the 
  wealth and splendor of Alcaldar. In keeping with the tradition in the 
  Channel Lakes area (and much of southern Libynos), the exarch always 
  keeps a supply of gifts on hand for visitors. These are usually ﬁ gures 
  hand carved from wood produced on Lycania, in the form of one of the 
  island’s beautiful native birds or elaborate local ﬂ owers.
  While the exarch’s primary duty is to ensure the safety and growth of 
  the colony on Lycania, almost as important is diplomacy and spreading 
  a favorable impression of the empire. In support of the mission of 
  diplomacy, the island’s tiny navy actively patrols the area for pirates 
  and will intervene anytime they see a ship attacked. The single vessel 
  also does search-and-rescue operations; after large storms, the island’s 
  ﬁ shing ﬂ eet aids it in looking for damaged ships in nearby waters.
  Fernán Giraldino of Iber, the leading priest of Muir on Lycania, 
  looks after the religious needs of the people but is alert to opportunities 
  to spread the worship of Muir — or at least knowledge of her — to 
  travelers as well as the rest of the Crusader Coast. He puts particular 
  effort into trying to convince Sir Tirath of Aretas Island that the Church 
  Militans is the logical place for him and that oversight of Aretas by 
  Alcaldar would increase the glory of Muir as well as improving the lot 
  of everyone on that island. So far, Sir Tirath remains unconvinced but 
  not to the point of being rude to the priest when they meet.
  NEVALLA ISLAND
  NEVALLA ISLAND
  Ruler: none
  Government: none
  Population: unknown
  An island of the Crusader Coast, Nevalla has a row of three mountains 
  as its spine, one of which is a dead volcanic cone. On the western end 
  sits a strong fortress, probably the largest along the coast after Fortress 
  Aven on Cyproean. The front (western) side of the citadel has a high 
  wall and strong gate that is approached by a road winding up from the 
  sea, while the back wall is the sheer face of a towering cliff.
  Although the fortress appears from a distance to be in good condition, 
  the same cannot be said for the rest of the island. At the western shore, 
  the remains of a small village are strewn about, and a few stone piers 
  are all that are left of the docks. Elsewhere, the trees stand close and 
  underbrush chokes the areas in between, broken only by the occasional 
  stream ﬁ nding its way out of the interior. And yet, the island is known to 
  be inhabited — by a dragon.
  Many ships sailing in the area have seen the dragon come and go 
  from the courtyard of the fortress. Common wisdom is that the beast 
  has taken over the great hall as its lair. It may have killed the former 
  inhabitants, or driven them away, or simply found the island nearly 
  abandoned and moved in; none now seems to know which may have 
  been the case.
  One detail upon which no one can agree is the color of the dragon. 
  Reports include red, green, black (which some point out could merely 
  be a silhouette of some other type against the sun), copper, brass, 
  bronze, and even gold. No reasonable explanation has been offered for 
  this discrepancy; certainly, multiple dragons would not be sharing the 
  keep! All do agree that the dragon has been on the island for hundreds 
  of years, that the few attempts to dislodge it in the past have been abject 
  failures, and that it must be very old and powerful by now, making it 
  even more dangerous. The dragon seems to mostly hunt in the Malagro 
  Jungle or directly in the sea, and for whatever reason does not molest 
  nearby shipping. As a result, none of the local powers has found any 
  incentive to accost the dragon in its lair.
  
  394|
  394|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  Unbeknownst to outsiders, the old dragon (which does indeed use 
  the great hall as at least part of its lair) is a copper dragon in the habit 
  of using illusion to cloak its true form in public. Also unknown is that 
  the island has a humanoid population: a community of nagaji, escaped 
  by ones and twos from their serpentine masters in Jaati. They have been 
  able to live here with impunity due to the dragon’s success in keeping 
  interlopers away and spectators at a safe distance.
  TIRCOPLE, RUINS OF
  TIRCOPLE, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  Located on a high plateau in the northern part of the Scythirian 
  Mountains, Tircople lies ruined and abandoned. A broken road runs 
  across the dry, rocky landscape to its shattered gates and tumbled walls. 
  The view into the city is nothing but broken buildings. On a hill within 
  the city are the remains of what may have been the high temple of Muir. 
  Fluted columns rise far enough to be seen from the gate, but the entire 
  roof is gone, and the walls are crumbling. Sometimes wandering folk of 
  the desert come into the city for shelter, but since water is hard to ﬁ nd 
  among the ruins, none stay long.
  According to legend, this ancient city was founded by the brother of 
  the very ﬁ rst imperator of the Hyperborean Empire. Built to honor the 
  Hyperborean goddess Muir, it was for centuries a pilgrimage destination 
  and a bastion for the cause of good in the world. A pilgrim road was 
  maintained from the Hyperborean capital of Curgantium, all the way 
  across the Isthmus of Irkaina to the Sacred Table, and thousands made 
  the trek each year.
  Tircople was the capital of the Hyperborean Empire for a time 
  after the tragic destruction of Curgantium. Later, the Hyperboreans 
  abandoned the city, and it was only restored when claimed by Macobert, 
  ﬁ rst overking of the Hyperborean Monarchy of the Foerdewaith. Under 
  that kingdom’s auspices, pilgrimages resumed, much to the relief of 
  towns and villages along the route who served the travelers.
  Tircople was the focus of the various crusades by people of the 
  western kingdoms against the Huun, who attacked the area for religious 
  reasons. (See “Sacred Table” below.)
  TYROPEON, ISLAND OF
  TYROPEON, ISLAND OF
  Ruler: Sir Jules Tyropeon, owner
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 327 (275 Foerdewaith, 52 other human ethnicity)
  Tyropeon Island lies along the Crusader Coast; it is the second-largest 
  island in the chain, after Cyproean in the north. The fortress on its 
  western shore looks like it has seen better days, but the nearby villages 
  are well-kept, with good stone houses to stand against the ocean storms. 
  The island is owned by Sir Jules Tyropeon, but he makes most of his 
  decisions with input from a group of trusted advisors, so he is hardly the 
  autocrat that rumor would make him.
  Many people think Sir Jules is a charlatan and with good reason, as 
  he spent many years at that occupation. However, “Sir” Jules really is 
  the descendant of Sir Micah Tyropeon — who was granted this island 
  by the monarch of Foere — and he has the old papers to prove it. Sir 
  Jules decided to try to make a go of living in his distant ancestor’s tower 
  when things got quite hot for him in Foere and the surrounding area. He 
  gathered up a group of settlers who likewise were seeking better fortune 
  or needed to get out of Akados for an extended period, and set sail for 
  the Island of Tyropeon. Life away from a city brought a lot of surprises 
  to him and some of his settlers proved the value of their early training 
  in hewing wood, starting ﬁ res, and setting snares for animals. Twenty 
  years has given the group a chance to get on their feet, and Sir Jules 
  really has proven to be a decent leader.
  Their recent goal has been to start attracting ships to Tyropeon as 
  a stopover on merchant routes along the east coast of Libynos. This 
  is somewhat hampered by the Bhanakhiri town of Amnas Chakaio on 
  Ber Ga Ma Island to the north, and the Alcaldrich fortress on Lycania 
  Island to the south. However, while some western sailors ﬁ nd Amnas 
  Chakaio exotic and attractive, others ﬁ nd it weird and repelling; Sir 
  Jules and his people plan to capitalize on the latter. He convinced a 
  bardic friend back in Akados to frequent some captains’ taverns and 
  places where merchants gather to sing of the joys of Tyropeon as a little 
  piece of home in the strange waters of Libynos, and this is beginning 
  to have an effect. The fact that most Akadian crops grow amazingly 
  well in the much warmer climate of Tyropeon means the island has 
  more foodstuffs to offer than the smaller Ber Ga Ma, and that also 
  attracts some ships. The competition may yet become ﬁ erce, but Sir 
  Jules and his people are determined to grasp some of the lucrative 
  business for themselves.
  One thing that has kept Sir Jules safe from some of his rougher settlers, 
  and Tyropeon in general safe from the pirates in the area, is Sir Jules’ 
  wife, Lady Taerentym. A gray elf, her presence with Sir Jules increases 
  the respect others have for him, and her sorcerous abilities strike fear in 
  the hearts of area pirates. (The stone statue of one miscreant who was 
  slow to retreat during an attack stands ﬁ rmly placed near the dock as a 
  warning to others.) Knowing that his half-elven children will be long-
  lived is one thing that encourages Sir Jules to build for the future.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST OF THE CRUSADER COAST
  INTEREST OF THE CRUSADER COAST
  MALAGRO, JUNGLE OF
  MALAGRO, JUNGLE OF
  The Malagro Jungle stretches along the east coast of eastern Libynos, 
  between the Scythirian Mountains and the sea. At least three distinct 
  major tribes are attested to in the archives of the Crusader Coast, with 
  many sub-groups said to exist. In the south is the Mintaya tribe, which 
  is largely isolationist and seldom has contact with westerners. In the 
  central part is the Mettubo tribe, a strong group with good weapons. 
  Those are necessary to protect themselves against the more-numerous 
  Mguru, which are in the north.
  All the tribes are known to practice cannibalism, though whether it is 
  done only as a sign of victory in battle or whether it is a regular habit 
  is undetermined. All three tribes also hold to the practice of taking the 
  heads of those they vanquish, removing the bones by some method only 
  they know, and then shrinking the skin so that the whole head could 
  belong to a child’s toy but is still recognizable as that of a defeated 
  enemy. Powerful warriors and tribal shamans often sport strings of these 
  heads to show their prowess.
  The Mguru tribe had the most contact with the Crusader States but 
  generally left the settlers from Akados alone. It was only at the very 
  end, when most of the crusaders had left Tircople and gone in search 
  of glory elsewhere, that the Mguru came boiling out of the jungle and 
  overran the city. They put all the inhabitants to the sword and ﬁ nished 
  the complete destruction of that once-mighty city. Why they did so 
  remains a subject of much debate among scholars, and no satisfactory 
  reason has yet been discovered.
  Today, the Mguru and the other tribes of the Malagro carry on their 
  lives in much the same way as their distant ancestors. Inhabitants of the 
  islands of the Crusader Coast seldom go ashore near the jungle, and 
  people of the tribes are seldom seen out from under the trees, so there 
  is little conﬂ ict between the two. Occasionally, however, explorers or 
  exploiters try to search for ruins of the Crusader States or acquire other 
  resources of the jungle, and they are often in jeopardy because the tribes 
  are alert for intruders.
  SACRED TABLE
  SACRED TABLE
  The Sacred Table is a high plateau in the northern part of the 
  Scythirian Mountains. According to legend, it was once a green valley 
  among the towering peaks, but today it is a desert, ﬂ at and hot in the 
  glare of the sun with no shade except the shadow of the surrounding 
  mountains. Toward the eastern part of the plateau are the ruins of the 
  ancient and sacred city of Tircople. Near the edges of the plateau on 
  the north, south, east and west are the ruins of four other fortresses 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  built after the First Crusade to protect the holy city from attack from 
  any direction. Their names are still recalled by a handful of priests, 
  sages (especially in the Antioch City-States), and a few of the island 
  inhabitants of the Crusader Coast.
  In the west, overlooking what was once the eastern end of the pilgrim 
  road, stands the ruined Tower of the White Lady. The Tower of the 
  Silver Star — the most intact — guards the northern edge. In the east, 
  the Tower of the Scarlet Hand appears almost intact when seen from the 
  Wasted Desert below, but the western side is crumbled to a pile of rock. 
  To the south, rubble is all that is left of the Tower of the Upright Deed; it 
  was practically razed by the Huun when they held the plateau for almost 
  a decade before the Fourth Crusade.
  Also on the plateau stand the remains of the Yellow Keep. Built by 
  the Huun during their siege of Tircople before the Second Crusade, it 
  was not only the headquarters of their interdiction but also a way to 
  taunt the frustrated defenders by torturing prisoners and hanging them 
  from its ramparts. The Crusaders completely destroyed the walls but 
  the foundations are still visible, although part seems to have fallen into 
  some sort of pit or sinkhole below.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: PIT OF DESPAIR FROM QUESTS OF DOOM
  SCYTHIRIAN MOUNTAINS
  SCYTHIRIAN MOUNTAINS
  The Scythirian Mountains dominate eastern Libynos. Their 
  northeastern extent reaches nearly to the Gulf of Ur while the southern 
  end touches the Ruby Sea between Numeda and Imya, over 2,000 
  miles away. Unbeknownst to most of the world, the mountains actually 
  separate in the middle. There, the east and west ranges are little more 
  than 50 miles wide, between which are more than 200 miles of wasteland 
  known as the Desert of Oreb. Few are aware of the existence of the 
  desert, and fewer still have seen it, as the height and ruggedness of the 
  surrounding mountains discourage all but the most relentless, expert, 
  and lucky mountaineers from even considering crossing them. The 
  Huun, of course, live in the Desert of Oreb and know the routes — some 
  over the mountains and some under — that permit them to travel to the 
  Malagro and to Ifthaaz, whether for trade or for other purposes.
  The eastern and western edges of the mountain range are high; perhaps 
  they are not the highest in the world, but they cut off the moisture rising 
  in the clouds. Consequently, the western slope near Baalthaaz and 
  Ifthaaz gets a great deal of rain that waters those countries. The eastern 
  slope along the Jungle of Malagro cuts off clouds from the ocean, giving 
  the jungle plentiful moisture to go with the warmth provided by the 
  southerly sea currents. The region between the two arms of mountains, 
  then, is entirely in rainshadow and receives almost no moisture at any 
  time of the year. It is thus a dry, sandy desert inhabitable only by the 
  most adaptable of people and creatures.
  TYRE, SEA OF
  TYRE, SEA OF
  The Sea of Tyre lies off the coast of eastern Libynos, north of the 
  Boiling Sea. The Gulf of Ur empties into it from the north. It holds the 
  chain of islands known as the Crusader Coast.
  WASTED DESERT
  WASTED DESERT
  The Wasted Desert is dry and rocky, with the Sea of Tyre to its east 
  where the stones and gritty sand run right down to the sea. To the west, 
  a steep escarpment rises to the high plateau known as the Sacred Table 
  and to the south runs the Zoar River, dropping down from the high 
  mountains and running along a rocky path to the sea, barely moistening 
  the ground along its high banks. Dry streambeds in the desert are prone 
  to ﬂ ashﬂ oods during violent spring storms, but even when rain comes it 
  evaporates quickly, giving little sustenance to the few plants that grow 
  in this harsh climate. Those that do are tough, twisted, and thorny, and 
  even the spiny cacti that are edible are terribly bitter to the taste.
  Oral tradition among the natives of the Malagro Jungle to the south 
  suggests this area was once green and growing. Whether due to a curse 
  or a change in weather patterns, it is now a barren and unpleasant place. 
  However, it has played an important part in the history of the Lost Lands, 
  as three of the crusades for the city of Tircople landed (or attempted to 
  land) in the Wasted Desert to gain a foothold in Libynos.
  The most obvious legacy of that history is the great Crusaders’ Road 
  that rises straight from the desert ﬂ oor to the plateau of the Sacred Table 
  high above. Its surface is smooth (or nearly so) even today, though its 
  edges have become chipped and worn. Four horsemen side by side can 
  ride safely, or eight if they go shoulder to shoulder in a thundering charge. 
  Solid stone supports the road as it climbs higher and higher. Rather 
  than being the creation of any Hyperborean technology, the road was 
  fashioned through the power of great spells worked by the mages of the 
  First Crusade. Calling upon ancient magics, they pulled stone and earth 
  together into a causeway that allowed the crusaders to access the Sacred 
  Table from an unexpected direction and defeat the Huun invaders.
  After that crusade, towers were built near the top and bottom of the 
  causeway to guard it. Both were taken brieﬂ y in the attacks before the 
  Second Crusade but then stood their duty nearly 200 years before the 
  fortiﬁ cations were destroyed in the events that precipitated the Third 
  Crusade. From the vantage of the desert ﬂ oor, the high Tower of the 
  Scarlet Hand appears heartbreakingly intact but is in fact a broken shell, 
  and nothing but a circle of rubble on the desert remains of the Fortress 
  of Parvalim that once guarded the lower extent of the road.
  ZOAR RIVER
  ZOAR RIVER
  The Zoar starts high in the mountains and falls fast over a steep drop 
  to the ﬂ atter land below. It forms the southern boundary of the Wasted 
  Desert. When the snow melts on the lower slopes of the mountains, it 
  runs very fast and cold and sometimes even overﬂ ows its lower north 
  bank. During the rainy season, multiple dry streambeds throughout the 
  desert ﬁ ll with ﬂ oodwaters, all pouring into the Zoar. Later in the year, 
  when the snowmelt diminishes and the rains come to an end, the Zoar is 
  much less full and can even be forded in spots.
  HUUN IMPERIUM
  HUUN IMPERIUM
  Capital: Sin’shar 
  Notable Settlements: Paho’t-mab, Shuul
  Ruler: King of Kings Ossimandius the Undying
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 2,951,188 (all Huun)
  Monstrous: karkadanns, sand giants, dune horrors (desert), 
  crag giants, black trolls (mountains)
  Languages: Huunic
  Religion: Huun pantheon
   Resources: limestone, sandstone, granite, marble, quartzite, 
  iron, gold, silver, gemstones, medicinal plants
  Currency: Huun (internal only), Baalathite, Ammuyad, 
  Khemitian
  Technology Level: Medieval, Dark Ages (villages and rural 
  areas)
  The homeland of the Huun Imperium is the Desert of Oreb, a high, 
  isolated desert plateau in eastern Libynos. With rain-bearing clouds 
  blocked by the high Scythirian Mountains to the west and the even 
  higher Tirzhakah Mountains to the east, the Huun are largely dependent 
  for water on sources in and from the mountains. The high mountains 
  also have odd effects on the wind, which swirls strongly between the 
  mountain ranges and can create powerful sandstorms that race across 
  the desert with incredible speed.
  The isolated location of the Desert of Oreb has resulted in the 
  development of some strange plants and creatures found nowhere else, 
  many of which have been adapted by the Huun to further their own 
  needs. For instance, the plateau at one time had a small population of 
  karkadanns, a muscular, rhino-like creature only rarely seen in other 
  deserts of the world. The Huun increased the beasts’ numbers and trained 
  them for riding, giving the imperium an alternative to the camels they 
  also imported for transportation across the hundreds of miles of desert 
  
  396|
  396|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  they call home. Less easy to work with were the monstrous creatures the 
  Huun now call “war beasts,” but eventually ways were found to train 
  them and methods developed to use them in warfare.
  The Huun do not permit intruders to the imperium; those caught 
  trespassing should best hope for an immediate death, as the only 
  alternative is painful (and ultimately fatal) questioning regarding their 
  business and intentions in the Imperium. Most who encounter Huun 
  outside the high desert meet only armored warriors in battle. Very few 
  (typically limited to merchants or traders from Ifthaaz or the Malagro) 
  can claim any other relationship with the folk of the Imperium, and 
  they do not discuss such things. As a result, the Huun have been able to 
  remain a mystery to most of the world, and much of what is said about 
  them is little more than wild speculation or unsubstantiated rumor.
  HISTORY AND PEOPLES
  HISTORY AND PEOPLES
  The Huun people are content to have outsiders believe that their origins 
  are shrouded in myth and legend. Akadonian scholars have pieced together 
  enough to conclude that year 1 of the Huun Chronicle corresponds with the 
  year 2496 I.R., a year remembered for the ﬁ ery destruction of Curgantium 
  and the beginning of the end of the Hyperborean empire. This seems to be 
  the year the Huun organized the scattered settlements in and around the 
  Desert of Oreb into a uniﬁ ed kingdom. 
  Many foreigners, based on little more than proximity, have assumed 
  the Huun are an Ashurian folk. However, the history and stories of the 
  imperium describe their descent from the ancient Hundaei clans of the 
  Great Steppes of Akados, making the Huun the inheritors of an ancient 
  legacy of enmity to Hyperborea. Physical similarities between the Huun 
  and the other known descendants of the Hundaei make this claim quite 
  plausible, though the same histories indicate some intermixing with 
  other peoples of Libynos. How the Huun’s ancestors found their way 
  from the Haunted Steppes to the far reaches of Libynos is a topic of 
  Huun myth little shared with outsiders, though the involvement of their 
  great peacock deities is strongly implied.
  For long years, the Hyperboreans occupied a plateau north of the 
  Desert of Oreb, which they called the Sacred Table, and on which 
  their city of Tircople was located.  After the fall of their empire, they 
  abandoned Tircople in 137 H.C. (2632 I.R.), an event greeted by the 
  Huun with satisfaction. Unfortunately, the Akadonian kingdom of Foere, 
  which viewed itself as the spiritual successor of Hyperborea, decided to 
  lay claim to the Sacred Table in 249 H.C. (2744 I.R.). 
  In the year 463 H.C. (2958 I.R.), the god Nergal (who was then in 
  ascendance) sent a vision to Ossimandius, the Huun king of kings, 
  revealing the plateau as sacred to Nergal’s faith: It conceals an 
  entrance to the Underworld, the realm of Nergal’s consort Erishkigal. 
  Ossimandius duly declared a holy war against the Foerdewaith. The 
  Huun armies swept over the mountains and slaughtered the inhabitants 
  of Tircople and the plateau around it. Imperium soldiers were proud 
  to say that they caught and killed both the pontifex, or religious 
  leader of the city, and the purported ﬁ rst high lord of Tircople who 
  was in charge of the military. They also put to the sword all of the 
  Foerdewaith knights guarding the city, supposedly half of their total 
  number in the entire world. 
  As is told elsewhere, this led to the so-called First Great Crusade and 
  almost 250 years of warfare (and three further crusades) between the 
  distant Foerdewaith and the imperium. The last such crusade ended with 
  a Foerdewaith victory at the Battle of the Sickles in 712 H. C. (3207 
  I.R.), though it was only possible with the aid of an attack by dwarves 
  of Shamash Kush on the Huun rear. This would likely not have been 
  the ﬁ nal struggle between the two, but future conﬂ ict was preempted 
  when ﬁ erce ﬁ ghters of the Mguru tribe of the Malagro attacked the 
  Sacred Table, slaying the entire remaining population of Tircople and 
  destroying the city. The Mguru did not remain, and the Akadonians have 
  never returned. Though the imperium has seen no need to reoccupy the 
  plateau to date, Huun scouts patrol the area to ensure that future visitors 
  do not believe it unprotected.
  In addition to their homeland in the Scythirian Mountains, the 
  Huun left a mark on other parts of Libynos, such as the Gulf of 
  Huun off the continent’s northwestern peninsula, so-called even 
  on modern maps made in Akados. Yet other than the conﬂ ict over 
  the holy plateau, the imperium has not openly sought to dominate 
  peoples outside the Desert of Oreb for most of its existence. 
  Recently, however, the priesthood of Nergal has been urging more 
  active engagement with the outside world, following which an army 
  of the imperium made a surprise attack into the heart of Akados. 
  Marching to the very walls of Bard’s Gate in 1019 H.C. (3514 I.R.), 
  the army besieged the city for more than a year before making a 
  calculated retreat ahead of the approaching forces of the overking 
  of Foere. In addition, Huun warriors are now stationed at the great 
  citadel of the Mulstabhins on Krivcycek Island in the midst of the 
  only land passage between Libynos and Akados. Though the nuances 
  of the plans of the priests and generals are not widely known even 
  among the Huun, their armies — both in the desert and abroad — are 
  prepared to bring glory to the imperium.
  Throughout the years in their homeland, the Huun have spent much 
  time traversing the sand and rocks of Oreb, and thus consider themselves 
  people of the high desert rather than of the mountains. However, Oreb 
  lacks the oases or wells usually found in hot sandy deserts (such as in 
  Khemit or the Ashurian Desert), so the vast majority of the population 
  is concentrated on the outskirts of the desert, near the mountains, rather 
  than in the center. In addition, a sizable percentage of the Huun live and 
  work in and under the mountains themselves.
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  The Huun worship a pantheon of gods, though the one most in 
  ascendance today is Nergal, deathbringer and god of plague. His consort 
  is Erishkigal, the gentle amasser of souls, who gives souls a place to 
  rest until the destruction comes. Also venerated are Aku’te Selissa, the 
  uncaring mother (called the White Lady); and the Peacock God Maas 
  Tal’ek, destroyer of the universe and the end of all things.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  The Huun go to substantial lengths to be entirely self-sufﬁ cient, despite 
  the harsh environment of the high desert. The imperium’s engineers 
  and wizards worked to make water supplies more accessible, creating 
  and expanding channels for snowmelt from the mountains and tapping 
  underground water sources. The courses of certain rivers have even 
  been changed to ﬂ ow toward the desert or at least to mountain valleys 
  where the water is available to the Huun. This enabled the irrigation of 
  terraces built along the mountainsides and furnished reliable sources of 
  food for the nation.
  Given the difficulties of travel over the mountains, exploration 
  underground has sought to find usable routes to the lands beyond 
  the peaks. This has been largely unsuccessful in locating easy 
  means of travel north or south. However, several cavern systems 
  were discovered that, with modification, opened routes east to 
  the Malagro Jungle and west to the various nations along the Sea 
  of Baal. Some trade occurs via these routes, primarily with the 
  jungle peoples of the Malagro and with some discreet merchants 
  in Ifthaaz and Baalthaaz. Only the most-trusted Huun are given 
  the opportunity to travel to these lands outside the mountains. The 
  routes themselves are kept secret even from most Huun and are 
  zealously protected from any outsiders. 
  The mountains themselves provide many resources. Stone, of course, 
  is readily available and many types have been quarried. The Huun 
  have also been mining the mountains for hundreds of years, ﬁ nding 
  everything from iron ore to silver and gold to gemstones. Some miners 
  believe such rare substances as diamond, adamantine, and even mithral 
  may be found deeper under the Tirzhakah Mountains and exploration is 
  continuing in that direction.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  The imperium has no embassies in any other country, nor do any other 
  nations have formal relations with the Huun. Mutually cautious trading 
  relationships, sometimes conducted at one remove, are maintained with 
  a select group of countries.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |397
  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The imperium is ruled by an absolute monarch known as King of 
  Kings Ossimandius the Undying. This happens to be the same name 
  used by the king who ﬁ rst sacked the city of Tircople in 463 H.C. (2958 
  I.R.). As a result, outsiders are forced to speculate whether the current 
  king of kings is indeed the same individual or if the name and title are 
  always taken by the ruler of the imperium. The Huun are content to let 
  them wonder.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The Huun are among the most feared warriors in all of the Lost 
  Lands. The infantry is ﬁ erce and the cavalry are excellent in the saddle 
  or dismounted, riding camels, horses, or karkadanns, as the situation 
  demands. The infantry on foot are supported by mounted archers that 
  ﬁ re clouds of arrows in swift attacks and then withdraw. The armies 
  of the imperium are most renowned for their fury in combat and their 
  nearly unbreakable morale.
  Huun warriors typically wear steeply pitched conical helms of 
  burnished steel that cover the back and sides of their neck with steel 
  scales, and have bronze nasal guards. The lower part of the face is 
  protected against blowing sand or dust by a veil of black silk and 
  the small portion of the face that is still visible (namely the eyes and 
  cheeks) is darkened with kohl. Opponents ﬁ nd this gives a sinister, 
  otherworldly appearance that has shaken more than one foe facing 
  the Huun in battle. Soldiers of the imperium use lamellar armor made 
  of overlapping steel plates covered in black lacquer and trimmed in 
  polished brass.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  For hundreds of years, the sand giants in the southern part of the 
  Desert of Oreb were the major threat to the Huun. In the past decades, 
  the king of kings ﬁ nally reached an accommodation with the leaders 
  of all the giant tribes and despite a few incidents, the peace seems to 
  be holding.
  Although the risk of outside invasion is negligible, the Huun stay 
  vigilant. However, the desert has its own risks, including various 
  monsters of both sand and mountain. In addition, some places in the 
  desert are said to be haunted by the dead or worse, and the Huun shun 
  such places of ill repute. It takes knowledge and experience to read the 
  signs of the desert well enough to know where such places are and to 
  avoid them, though, and few other than the desert scouts have that skill.
  SIN’SHAR, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  SIN’SHAR, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: King of Kings Ossimandius the Undying
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 84,759 (all Huun)
  The capital of the imperium, Sin’shar lies along the eastern edge of 
  the desert near a natural basin at the foot of Mount Zadak. A river has 
  been diverted to ﬁ ll the basin as a lake, and the city is built near and 
  around it. A planned city, the main roads fan out neatly with the most 
  important buildings near the center. However, the centuries have taken 
  their toll on the intended organization; winding alleys, dead-end streets, 
  and hidden courts can be found in Sin’shar just like in every other large 
  city in the world.
  The palace of the king of kings is of granite, sturdy and imposing 
  rather than elegant. As with most Huun buildings, its large windows 
  have carved screens to let in any breeze while keeping out most of the 
  sun. The windows also have strong coverings and heavy hangings that 
  are put in place in case of a sandstorm or when the temperature drops 
  drastically at night, as it often does. Interior hallways have no windows, 
  which makes them stuffy but also a possible shelter should a very bad 
  storm blow up. Besides housing the palace staff and the assistants and 
  guards of the king of kings, the building also includes enough bedrooms 
  to accommodate the many people who might need to be at court at the 
  same time. Despite being in the palace, these rooms are not luxurious, 
  as luxury and softness have very little place in the life of the Huun. In 
  addition, the rooms tend to be all very similar; the Huun have no nobility 
  to expect special treatment, only those deserving of more respect due to 
  experience, profession, or skill.
  The public rooms of the palace are likewise less ornamented than 
  most such ediﬁ ces in other kingdoms, although the throne room itself 
  is decorated around the edges with murals of peacocks in larger-
  than-life size. The throne of the king of kings is barely larger than 
  an average chair, though its workmanship is exceptional and it is 
  well-cushioned.
  One feature of the palace known only to the most senior ofﬁ cials and 
  quite well hidden is the Room of Travel. Set in the walls of this room are 
  magical doorways to other cities in the imperium, guarded by a group of 
  the Huun’s best warriors lest some enemy ever access one and try to use 
  it in an attack. Primarily for use by messengers and for the transportation 
  of small cargo, they also are occasionally employed by the king of kings 
  or other important government ofﬁ cials to visit other Huun cities.
  Other civic buildings in Sin’shar are built of granite quarried nearby 
  in the Tirzhakah range, and their architecture is primarily practical. 
  Exceptions are the four temples in the city, which are each built of stone 
  particularly chosen to please and represent each deity and which vary 
  in style. 
  The most popular temple in recent years is the black basalt temple 
  of Nergal the Deathbringer, who sends war, plague, and other forms of 
  devastation. Some worship to pray for his wrath on their enemies, while 
  many try to propitiate him and turn his attention away from themselves. 
  His consort is Erishkigal, who allows the souls of the dead to abide in 
  the Underworld so they are not forced to roam the earth after death. 
  Her temple is built of marble, gray with swirls like the mists of the 
  Underworld.
  The Garden of the Mother holds the temple of Aku’te Selissa, the 
  uncaring mother, who is also known as the White Lady. Using irrigation 
  from the lake, a large garden area has been built with many exotic 
  ﬂ owers, fruits, etc. An army of gardeners takes care of the grounds 
  while a corps of beautiful young men and women play and perform for 
  the delight of the goddess. Sometimes they learn and execute elaborate 
  dances or musical pieces; other times they play the games of children, 
  though often with an element of danger added. 
  In the center of the garden is a special area called the White 
  Garden. It has only plants which bear white ﬂ owers and is built 
  around a white marble statue of the goddess, with her hard eyes, aloof 
  expression, and diadem, cloak, and train of white peacock feathers. 
  Peacocks of all types roam the outer garden freely, but only white 
  ones are allowed in the White Garden; others are violently chased 
  out. Someone is on duty in the White Garden at all times, so a person 
  is always near if the goddess desires to speak. Such a server always 
  dresses in white, of course. Nearby is the actual temple to the White 
  Lady. Made of pure white marble, it seems to have been inspired by 
  certain ancient temples of Jaati; it has a clean, pleasing shape with 
  the walls elaborately carved and pierced. Inside it includes living 
  areas for the lady’s priests and attendants as well as plenty of space 
  for worship.
  The ﬁ nal temple stands opposite the city on the far side of the lake, 
  in a desolate, rocky area. A road to it is paved with black granite but 
  it is impossible to tell what type of stone was used to construct the 
  temple because it is entirely covered in colorful mosaics composed of 
  bits of gemstones set in geometric patterns and in swirls of peacock 
  feathers. Inside, the single great room is almost dark but the faint light 
  shows more mosaics covering the walls completely. At the front of 
  the room, lights illuminate a tall mosaic of a beautiful, blue-skinned 
  man with solid black eyes. He wears a diadem of small feathers and 
  is feathered himself, beginning at his cheeks. He has feathered arms, 
  like a peacock’s wings, and he wears a robe of feathers the same blue 
  as his skin and a cloak with a long train of peacock feathers. This is 
  the temple of the Peacock God Maas Tal’ek, destroyer of the universe 
  and the end of all things.
  
  398|
  398|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  PAHO’T-MAB, CITY OF
  PAHO’T-MAB, CITY OF
  Ruler: High Administrator Perrizz Qos
  Government: bureaucracy under the guidance of King of Kings 
  Ossimandius
  Population: 41,881 (all Huun)
  This city is located near the headwaters of the Zoar River, some 
  miles from where it cascades down a waterfall to the Jungle of Malagro 
  far below. It is also the nearest Huun city to the plateau known to the 
  people of Akados as the Sacred Table. This is the only Huun city that 
  has ever come under attack by the foreign armies calling themselves 
  crusaders, although several of their lesser fortresses and outposts have 
  been destroyed. Paho’t-mab is built around a palace smaller but more 
  elaborate than that of the king of kings in Sin’shar, as well as a temple 
  to Nergal in a stereotypical style. These and a few government buildings 
  help convince outsiders that Paho’t-mab is the capital of the imperium 
  so that they don’t venture into the desert to search for something more. 
  The ground below the city is rock that is honeycombed with caves 
  developed centuries ago into underground shelters to house most of the 
  populace in case of attack. One cave beneath the false palace contains 
  a Room of Travel connected to the real palace of the king of kings so 
  that, in the worst situation, people could evacuate to Sin’shar. This has 
  never been necessary, and only a handful of the most trusted people 
  even know the room exists.
  People living in Paho’t-mab generally understand that they are 
  decoys; it is either a great honor or a punishment to be sent there to 
  live. On one hand, the city is still at risk even though it has been a few 
  hundred years since any warfare has occurred in the region. On the other 
  hand, residents of Paho’t-mab have the opportunity to go down to the 
  jungle and possibly even to the sea. Exposure to other people and places 
  is good background for becoming a diplomat — a person chosen to 
  represent the Huun in another nation, whether that is as a negotiator or 
  as a stealthy observer.
  While the king of kings is occasionally in residence at Paho’t-mab, 
  governing the city is left to High Administrator Perrizz Qos. Military 
  units stationed in the city are part of the Northern Command under 
  General Second Class Hulek Shar-Ishkun and decisions regarding trade 
  issues fall to Master Tradesman Raba Shebitku. A signiﬁ cant percentage 
  of the population spends most of its time farming small terraces around 
  the city and one of the duties of the high administrator is to be sure the 
  city has enough food and water stored at all times to sustain the entire 
  populace through a year-long siege. 
  SHUUL, MILITARY CITY OF
  SHUUL, MILITARY CITY OF
  Ruler: General First Class Uluk Zamzummin
  Government: military bureaucracy under the guidance of King 
  of Kings Ossimandius
  Population: 83,839 (all Huun)
  Located far to the south in the Desert of Oreb, Shuul is the military 
  headquarters and training center of the Huun Imperium. Almost the 
  entire present-day population of the imperium has passed through here 
  in their youth. Those who were unﬁ t may have spent only a brief time 
  training in the desert, but it is still an experience that uniﬁ es more than 
  it divides the people. 
  Since the dispersed nature of the resources of the imperium has 
  resulted in towns and villages being scattered around the desert, many 
  people grow up without ever meeting a person from more than a few 
  miles away. Certainly, Eastholders near the Tirzhakah Mountains 
  would almost never see a Westholder from the far side of the desert. 
  Meeting during military training helps bring the various people into an 
  appreciation for each other. It also provides a large trained force for the 
  defense of the imperium, or to add to the active roster for an exceptional 
  international foray.
  The Fortress of Shuul has a very high, strong wall that was built for 
  defense before the imperium concluded its peace with the sand giants at 
  the south end of the desert. Most of its supplies are brought by caravan 
  from villages on the outskirts of the desert but the fortress has a secret 
  magical means to supply water if they are ever truly desperate. In 
  addition, deep within the fortress is a Room of Travel with a doorway 
  that connects it to Sin’shar. The training, though, takes place at a camp in 
  the desert rather than inside the walls of the fortress; indeed, unless the 
  sand giants abrogate the strong oaths their leaders swore, most military 
  trainees at Shuul will never even see the inside of the fortress. The city 
  and the training camp are entirely run by the military; the only civilians 
  in the area are some who travel with the supply caravans.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST OF THE HUUN IMPERIUM
  INTEREST OF THE HUUN IMPERIUM
  OREB, DESERT OF
  OREB, DESERT OF
  The Desert of Oreb lies between the two arms of the Scythirian 
  Mountains, or between the Scythirian and Tirzhakah Mountains for 
  those who use the name given to the eastern range by the Huun. This 
  region, at a high elevation between the two arms of mountains, is 
  entirely in rainshadow and receives almost no moisture at any time of 
  the year. It is thus a dry, sandy, and cold desert.
  Various creatures acclimated to such arid conditions make their home 
  here, including several tribes of sand giants in the southern end of the 
  desert. It is also the home of the Huun Imperium, which used technology 
  and magic to ﬁ nd water, build cities, and make a life for their people in 
  a place no one else wanted.
  When the Hyperboreans ﬁ rst arrived at the Sacred Table, several 
  expeditions were mounted to explore the mountains of the region, and 
  at least one party is said to have made it to the Desert of Oreb. Their 
  report indicated that they waded through the dunes for a handful of 
  days, seeing no sources of water or sign of habitation, though they did 
  catch distant glimpses of what they simply called “strange creatures.” 
  Eventually they turned back and reported that they found nothing more 
  than desolation. No further expeditions were sent to the area and, until 
  the sack of Tircople that led to the First Great Crusade, most memory of 
  the land between the mountains was lost.
  TIRZHAKAH MOUNTAINS
  TIRZHAKAH MOUNTAINS
  Tirzhakah is the name the Huun give to the range of very high 
  mountains east of the Desert of Oreb. Most people other than the Huun 
  believe the Scythirian Mountains continue all the way from Baalthaaz 
  and its neighbors on the west to the Malagro Jungle on the east, and so 
  call all those mountains Scythirian. As far as the Huun are concerned, 
  the Tirzhakah Mountains begin south of the Zoar River and its waterfall 
  and continue all along the east side of the desert. Where the desert 
  ends and the two mountain ranges join again, the single range is the 
  Scythirian Mountains.
  IMYA AND SHABBIS
  IMYA AND SHABBIS
  IMYA OF AXUUM
  IMYA OF AXUUM
  Capital: Saphar 
  Notable Settlements: Bahrkela, Fereshan, Namran, Talatem, 
  Yamnat, Yuhaqbiz
  Ruler: Nem-Mulya (royal governor) Mehadis
  Government: royal governor appointed by the king of Axuum
  Population: 956,225 (951,751 Merowen, of Imya and Axuum; 
  4,474 other human ethnicity)
  Monstrous: blood hawks, gnasher lizards (mountains), sea cats 
  (coast), retch hounds
  Languages: Khemitian; Imyan still spoken in rural areas
  Religion: Pharaonic pantheon
   Resources: gemstones, pearls, silver, gold, adamantium, 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|399
  |399
  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  cane sugar, cocoa beans, spices, myrrh, frankincense, ivory, 
  rosewood, cedar, wood products
  Currency: Axuumite
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages (Saphar, Bahrkela), Dark 
  Ages (other cities), Iron Age (rural areas)
  Imya is in eastern Libynos, on a broad peninsula between the Boiling 
  Sea and the Ruby Sea. Separated from Numeda to the northwest by 
  the Karaman Mountains, the country has very different terrain than its 
  desert neighbor. The northeast has verdant woodlands while the central 
  plain is well-watered and lightly-wooded savannah. Coastline makes up 
  about two-thirds of the country’s border, and sea industries provide a 
  livelihood for many people.
  For most of its history, Imya, secure behind the barrier of the Karaman 
  Mountains, was left largely alone by the great powers of Libynos. It 
  has long traded with other peoples, largely through the sea lanes via its 
  major ports, but otherwise has been a bit of a backwater. Then, about 
  250 years, ships of the Kingdom of Axuum from central Libynos landed 
  in Imya’s coastal cities, bearing marines and siege equipment. The 
  complacent Imyans had but a small army that the forces of the invaders 
  completely overwhelmed. In less than a year, Axuum had secured all 
  of the major settlements of Imya and began the process of stripping the 
  land of as much wealth as possible.
  Today, Imya is ruled by a royal governor (known as the nem-mulya) 
  appointed by King Urtigaddi of Axuum. Governors (or mulyas) with 
  authority over cities and regions within Imya are appointed by the nem-
  mulya at Saphar from the local population, but are expected in return to 
  pay tribute to the nem-mulya and to pay the requisite tributes and taxes 
  required by the king. Axuumite traders have a monopoly on exports; 
  Imyan merchants or craftspeople can sell quantities of goods only within 
  the country or to an Axuumite, not to any foreign traders. (Personal sales 
  to foreigners are grudgingly permitted, though ofﬁ cials often check up 
  on businesses that seem to attract a lot of foreign customers.)
  Of course, the Axuumite monopoly has led to efforts to circumvent 
  these restrictions. 
  Fishing villages line the Imyan coast, and a ﬁ shing boat during the 
  day can easily become a smuggler’s boat at night. This requires contacts 
  outside the country, though, because a small boat needs to meet another 
  boat or ship at sea, not try to sail hundreds of miles to the nearest country 
  that is not Axuum. One place where smugglers have found good success 
  is along the far northern coast of Imya. From a sheltered bay or cove, 
  a small boat can transport cargo to one of the mountainous islands in 
  Cinnabar Bay, where another boat can pick it up and carry it on to the 
  markets in Shabbis. Such smuggling is dangerous, as the nem-mulya 
  is known to employ spies, but some Imyans are sufﬁ ciently angry or 
  desperate to take such risks, particularly if it allows them to strike back 
  at those who are siphoning off the wealth of their country.
  Other Imyans express their displeasure with the Axuum dominion 
  by contacting Numedan corsairs with information on the day and time 
  of the departure of richly-laden merchant ships, anticipating that the 
  corsairs will be willing to reward such useful information, or at least pay 
  something for it the next time.
  In addition to establishing a trade monopoly, Axuum has made other 
  changes in Imya to increase the amount of wealth taken from the area. For 
  example, the criminal code in Imya was modiﬁ ed to ensure an adequate 
  supply of convicts sentenced to serve in the adamantium mines in the 
  Karaman Mountains. Also, about 30 years ago the king of Axuum decided 
  to introduce great elephants into Imya’s central savannah to increase the 
  availability of ivory. Several towns and villages were displaced to give the 
  elephants plenty of room to roam; now only the smallest villages are left 
  in what has come to be called “Elephant Country.”
  At least outwardly, most of the people of Imya worship the deities of 
  Khemit, which were introduced by the Axuumites with the conquest. In 
  many locales, temples and shrines to the old gods were simply allowed 
  to fall to ruin while larger, more elaborate temples to the new gods were 
  built. Despite the risks of discovery, some Imyans managed to pass 
  down knowledge of the old ways and continue to worship the old gods, 
  though in secret. After two and a half centuries, however, fewer Imyans 
  recall the ancient prayers and rituals.
  The changes imposed by Axuum have been backed up by a strong 
  contingent of the Royal Army, which has been stationed in Imya since 
  the conquest. (The king feels it does soldiers good to have a chance to 
  be active outside the country, and it keeps them sharp in case Axuum 
  should ever be threatened.) Each city has at least one company of 
  soldiers billeted there in a fortress or reinforced barracks, and even 
  some towns are required to host a contingent of Axuumite troops.
  SAPHAR, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  SAPHAR, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Nem-Mulya Mehadis
  Government: royal governor appointed by the king of Axuum
  Population: 28,921 (mostly Merowen)
  Saphar is on the south coast of Imya at the mouth of the Seydi River, 
  with an excellent harbor that was expanded and improved only about 
  20 years ago. It is an old city and, before the conquest, was the capital 
  of Imya. Now it is the headquarters of Axuum’s authority, and the old 
  king’s palace has become the luxurious residence of the nem-mulya, 
  with Axuumite administrators and magistrates using the rooms that 
  were once frequented by Imya’s nobility. Since Nem-Mulya Mehadis 
  believes anything worth doing is worth doing to excess, he also has a 
  substantial country estate nearby and a villa at a beautiful location on 
  the coast about a day’s journey east.
  Nem-Mulya Mehadis is a connoisseur of excellent food and takes 
  advantage of his position in Imya to get fresh spices, and seafood 
  directly from the ocean. He is always interested in hiring another cook 
  who is the master of some new cuisine. (Currently, Mehadis desires 
  the services of someone who can cook him genuine Kaldilooran food, 
  which he has heard is distinctive.)
  Despite the distractions of the table, however, Mehadis does not 
  forget his duty to Axuum. He employs several regional experts who 
  advise him on ways that Imya might produce even more income for the 
  beneﬁ t of Axuum, and has his deputies (all of whom are from Axuum) 
  look into any likely possibilities. Recently he has been mixing business 
  with pleasure by having people experiment with ways to keep ﬁ sh alive 
  on board a ship for extended periods of time so that unusual types such 
  as swordﬁ sh could be taken locally and sold to gourmands in other parts 
  of the continent.
  An important industry in the Saphar region is the harvesting and 
  processing of myrrh and frankincense. Although those are also produced 
  in certain other countries, the total yield in Saphar is greater than in 
  other areas and is primarily of good quality.
  In the city of Saphar, the Axuumite conquerors actually pulled down 
  the temples to the country’s previous gods, and in their place built 
  majestic new ediﬁ ces dedicated to such deities of Khemit as Ra, Osiris, 
  Isis, Thoth, and Set. Those who objected were put to hauling great stone 
  blocks for the building of the new temples; within short order, at least in 
  public, the worship of the old gods vanished, and the veneration of these 
  foreign gods became universal. 
  BAHRKELA, CITY OF
  BAHRKELA, CITY OF
  Ruler: Mulya (governor) Zergaz
  Government: local governor appointed by Nem-Mulya Mehadis
  Population: 10,382 (mostly Merowen)
  Bahrkela is a port on the east coast of the Ruby Sea that predates the 
  conquest by Axuum.  Using gemstones and metal mined in the Karaman 
  Mountains and brought to town via riverboat, the renowned craftspeople 
  at Bahrkela produce cut gems, silver jewelry with set stones, worked 
  pieces of silver, and plain silver ingots. The mountains in the area also 
  yield some good-quality iron. The smiths here are not as skilled as those 
  at Cadua in Alcaldar or Tarresh in Antioch, but they do produce sturdy 
  steel tools and weapons that are sold by Axuum throughout the Central 
  Kingdoms and into Khemit.
  Most of the merchandise from Bahrkela, however, goes directly to 
  Axuum to be exported through its trade network. The harbor here is busy 
  
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  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  with ships carrying goods to Axuum or directly to other destinations, 
  alongside ﬁ shing boats going out to the Ruby Sea. Many Axuumite 
  merchants have representatives here to look after their interests and it is 
  a popular post, as the local seacoast has an excellent climate.
  FERESHAN, CITY OF
  FERESHAN, CITY OF
  Ruler: Mulya Lathial
  Government: Local governor appointed by Nem-Mulya Mehadis
  Population: 17,678 (mostly Merowen)
  The city of Fereshan is located on the east coast of the Ruby Sea, 
  about 150 miles from where that body opens into the great ocean, at the 
  mouth of the small Tahir River. For many generations a small town with 
  a mediocre harbor, Fereshan was forced to make many improvements to 
  suit the needs of the Axuumites. As the Imyan port closest to Axuum’s 
  capital of Mazaber, it has become the base of the Axuumite military in 
  Imya. Many people are employed transporting supplies for the Royal 
  Army of Axuum, and in supporting its headquarters and camps. Not 
  everyone is happy about the presence of the army in the area, but 
  the Mulya has people alert for dissent; her spies usually ferret out 
  troublemakers before they inconvenience the troops and cause difﬁ culty 
  for the entire city.
  Fereshan is also the port where great elephants captured by Axuum 
  for release in Imya’s interior disembark. The king’s animal speakers, 
  who are able to command the cooperation of the huge beasts, prefer 
  to let the creatures off the ships as close as possible to their eventual 
  home. Most of the folk of Fereshan are in awe of the great beasts, and 
  some are so enchanted that they follow the elephants out of the city to 
  the savannah, where they settle in to watch them for long periods of 
  time. A few have even sought to become animal speakers in Axuum, 
  but at best have ended up as servants; they exchange the onerous task 
  of keeping the transport ships clean for the privilege of caring for the 
  majestic beasts for the short time they are in captivity.
  In contrast, some residents of Fereshan are among those previously 
  displaced from the country’s interior to make room for the new herds 
  of elephants. They resent the creatures and occasionally try to harm 
  them, or advocate against cooperating with the animal speakers 
  whenever they bring more. This has resulted in more than a little 
  tension in the city, and the mulya and her ofﬁ cials work hard to keep 
  the situation under control lest it come to the attention of the local 
  Axuumite commander, General Fer’am of Jarmi, also sometimes 
  known as Fer’am the Grim.
  NAMRAN, CITY OF
  NAMRAN, CITY OF
  Ruler: Mulya Hutar
  Government: Local governor appointed by Nem-Mulya Mehadis
  Population: 11,583 (mostly Merowen)
  On the east coast of Imya, Namran sits at the mouth of the Yuhanem 
  River where it enters the Boiling Sea. The surrounding region supplies 
  primarily agricultural products, but among these are cane sugar, cocoa 
  beans, and several types of spices, so it provides its share of wealth for 
  Axuumite merchants. Mulya Hutar is often under pressure to increase 
  production to meet the demand in various markets, but he is wise enough 
  to realize that the land needs care in order to maintain its abundant yields 
  for future years. He works with expert growers to ﬁ nd ways to mollify 
  the traders without exhausting the land.
  In addition, ingots and ﬁ nished goods from the adamantine mines and 
  smithies around Yamnat come down the river to the docks at Namran. 
  These shipments are always accompanied by a contingent of royal 
  soldiers and remain under guard whether at a warehouse or on the dock 
  until they are loaded aboard a ship and on their way to Axuum. Most 
  locals know to avoid the docks when a shipment is ready to be loaded, 
  since the soldiers view anyone in the area as a likely thief and often 
  take extreme action to defend the shipment from anyone they may 
  suspect of ill intent, on even the slightest suspicion, and no matter the 
  reasonableness of an offered explanation.
  TALATEM, CITY OF
  TALATEM, CITY OF
  Ruler: Mulya Yazil
  Government: local governor appointed by Nem-Mulya Mehadis
  Population: 12,471 (mostly Merowen)
  Talatem, on the southeastern coast of Imya, lies at the mouth of the 
  long Damat River, which ﬂ ows into and out of Lake Gevegi near the 
  Karaman Mountains. The river provides a way to transport goods from 
  roughly one-third of the country to the port of Talatem, where Axuumite 
  traders purchase them at favorable prices to sell elsewhere at a good 
  proﬁ t. This includes foodstuffs, wines, and raw cotton, as well as 
  gemstones and gold from mines in the mountains.
  One source of wealth available in the area of Talatem is the pearl 
  oysters to be found up and down the coast. Talatem is at the edge of the 
  Boiling Sea and something about the qualities of the water there means 
  that oysters tend to produce more pearls with golden coloration, which 
  are quite rare elsewhere, as well as many pink pearls. Authorities have 
  a process by which only certain beds can be harvested in a year while 
  others are rested, and pearl divers in the approved beds need to register 
  with an administrator from the mulya’s ofﬁ ce. Of course, any enforcers 
  will go only so far aﬁ eld from Talatem, so any oyster bed more than 
  about 10 miles from the city might be harvested by unapproved workers 
  and not all the pearls might get back to an ofﬁ cial trader.
  YAMNAT, TOWN OF
  YAMNAT, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Mulya Ayzur
  Government: local governor appointed by Nem-Mulya Mehadis
  Population: 6,916 (mostly Merowen)
  Built on a bend of the upper Yuhanem River on the shoulders of 
  the Karanam Mountains, Yamnat is less than 20 years old, having 
  been established for the sole purpose of controlling and supporting 
  the adamantium mines in the nearby mountains. While the town is 
  surrounded by a sturdy stone wall, its buildings are all constructed from 
  rough-hewn local wood, and it lacks many of the amenities one might 
  expect in a town of its size. This is partially due to a lack of demand, as 
  most of the miners are convicts who receive no pay for their labor and 
  have little time for leisure. However, enough others work in the area to 
  sustain a modest number of establishments catering to their needs for 
  drinking, gambling, and private recreation.
  More than just a mining town, Yamnat has the facilities and craftsmen 
  to process the ore from the ground into ingots and even to manufacture 
  some ﬁ nished goods. This avoids the labor of transporting the bulky 
  ore to one location for smelting and another location to have it worked. 
  To ensure the town’s success, Axuum encourages experienced smiths 
  as well as mine workers to move to Yamnat, though any sales must of 
  course go through approved Axuumite merchants or agents.
  The rare metal is much more time-consuming to mine than iron or 
  gold, and more difﬁ cult to work than steel, so progress is slow. King 
  Urtigaddi of Axuum takes a personal interest in the adamantium mines, 
  and so Nem-Mulya Mehadis does as well. Mulya Ayzur paid a pretty 
  penny for his governorship and sees this as his big chance to break into 
  more lucrative levels of government service, as well as putting away 
  something for himself from the proﬁ ts of the mine. That means he is 
  constantly pushing the miners to work faster and the smelters to get 
  every bit of the metal out of the raw ore. He tried pressuring the smiths 
  but that didn’t go well, as any smith with the ability to craft adamantium 
  can easily ﬁ nd work in other places. Ayzur was bluntly told to leave 
  them alone or they would all quit and he would have to explain the 
  situation to the nem-mulya, so he stays strictly away from the smiths 
  except for inspecting their work and keeping the occasional dagger for 
  himself “as a sample.”
  Ayzur is also a bully to others in town, constantly expecting free 
  services and threatening anyone who crosses him. He is disliked by 
  most and outright hated by a few, but the company of the Royal Army 
  in place “protecting the mines” keeps him safe until he crosses a person 
  with nothing left to lose.
  
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  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  YUHAQBIZ, CITY OF
  YUHAQBIZ, CITY OF
  Ruler: Mulya Germa
  Government: local governor appointed by Nem-Mulya Mehadis
  Population: 8,849 (mostly Merowen)
  Yuhaqbiz sits at the mouth of the Zarik River on a protected bay on the 
  north coast of Imya in the larger Cinnabar Bay. Once, the city was the 
  capital of the independent kingdom of Yeera until it fell to the kingdom 
  of Imya some four centuries ago, which of course was later conquered 
  by Axuum. Mulya Germa can trace her lineage back to the Yeerian royal 
  family. (She would not be considered the heir, though, as at the time of 
  that kingdom’s demise it still only let males inherit the throne. Her son, 
  should she have one, would qualify.) Yuhaqbiz was once a much-larger 
  city but has diminished with each successive conquest. The section of 
  the city toward the sea has been maintained, but inland the buildings 
  have been allowed to fall to ruin, including temples that predated the 
  conquest by Imya, and the royal palace of Yeera, which was badly 
  damaged when the city ﬁ rst fell over 400 years ago.
  The well-watered woodlands of northeastern Imya produce rosewood 
  and cedar as timber for export along with wood products produced by 
  local craftmasters. However, the most valuable industry of Yuhaqbiz is 
  pearl diving for the black oysters along the coast. Black pearls seem to 
  occur more frequently in Cinnabar Bay than anywhere else in the world 
  and provide a great deal of wealth to Axuum. On the other hand, they 
  are easy to smuggle and a good quantity make their way eventually to 
  Shabbis. There, certain Imyans have a standing arrangement to sell the 
  black pearls to a representative of the Huun Imperium, which pays a 
  good price for them.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN IMYA
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN IMYA
  BOILING SEA
  BOILING SEA
  The Boiling Sea is part of the Great Ocean Ûthaf along the coast 
  of eastern Libynos near Imya and the Jungle of Malagro. Although the 
  water is warm due to strong currents from the south, it is not boiling hot. 
  However, bubbles the size of a hand or larger rise from it as if from the 
  surface of a boiling pot. No reliable witnesses have demonstrated any 
  harm from being immersed in the water or eating ﬁ sh taken from the 
  sea, so experienced sailors treat it as a mere curiosity and as a basis for 
  tall tales to credulous landlubbers.
  CINNABAR BAY
  CINNABAR BAY
  Off the Boiling Sea just north of Imya, Cinnabar Bay is most notable 
  for its large, mountainous islands. It is possible to sail through the maze 
  of islands and rocks to the western coast, but the danger is too great 
  for any but the most desperate merchants. The coast has a few villages 
  containing folk who prefer to be left well alone, and who support 
  themselves by ﬁ shing, only occasionally making the trip out through the 
  islands to the larger bay. People in Imya and in the city of Shabbis tell 
  stories about famous pirates of the past who sailed out of Cinnabar Bay 
  and had refuges among the islands. These accounts could have a degree 
  of truth to them, but it is more likely that they are merely local stories.
  DAMAT RIVER
  DAMAT RIVER
  The Damat River rises in the Karaman Mountains, ﬂ ows into and 
  out of Lake Gevegi, and then ﬂ ows east and south. Its many tributaries 
  drain from about a third of the country, from savannah on the west and 
  agricultural land on the east. It provides a transportation network south 
  to the coast at the city of Talatem.
  LAKE NASHA
  LAKE NASHA
  About 50 miles in diameter, Lake Nasha has several small villages 
  along its shore that survive by ﬁ shing in the lake as well as doing small-
  scale agriculture and raising animals such as goats and chickens for 
  food. The area of Lake Nasha has also become home to several herds of 
  elephants, which causes competition for resources. The villagers don’t 
  dare kill the elephants, as that would bring severe reprisals on all the 
  settlements in the area. They are trying to ﬁ nd a way to convince an 
  animal speaker (from somewhere other than Axuum) to come and lead 
  the herds farther east and north away from the inhabited area. From 
  Lake Nasha, the Veli River runs southeast and joins the Seydi River on 
  the way to the sea, making it easy to travel from the lake to the coast.
  LONG TEETH, THE
  LONG TEETH, THE
  This group of islands in Cinnabar Bay is named for the jagged peaks 
  that dominate most of them. The southerly currents swirling into the bay 
  give the Long Teeth a warm climate, and the islands are covered with 
  vegetation everywhere except the rockiest slopes. Although generally 
  considered to be uninhabited, a few hardy souls might be living in 
  splendid isolation without being noticed by the rare visitors. The west 
  coast of Cinnabar Bay is cut off from the rest of the Boiling Sea by the 
  Long Teeth, as few ships large enough to sail the ocean can get past the 
  islands. Only ﬁ shing vessels from a few small villages on the western 
  shore, or some who set out from the northern coast of Imya, regularly 
  sail among the Teeth.
  SEYDI RIVER
  SEYDI RIVER
  This river ﬂ ows from the southeast side of the Karaman Mountains, 
  south to the sea at Saphar, the capital of Imya. The river is large enough 
  that it effectively limits the portion of the savannah used by the elephants 
  imported to Imya. Since even the animal speakers never check up on the 
  herds after transporting them to Imya, no one has yet realized this but 
  it is beginning to be an issue as more elephants are captured from the 
  Yingozi Woodlands and released here.
  SHABBIS, GREAT CITY OF
  SHABBIS, GREAT CITY OF
  Ruler: Rumina Vihode, First Lady of the Council of Merchant 
  Lords
  Government: oligarchy; run by a group of 14 merchant lords 
  who control the districts of the city
  Population: 266,232 (126,660 Jaata, 51,600 Numedan, 23,930 
  Antiochian, 20,560 Baalathite, 8,100 Reaping Coast, 6,390 
  Bhanakhiri, 3,510 Castorhagi, 1,020 Foerdewaith, 21,262 
  other human ethnicity, 3,200 other)
  Languages: Meeruwhan, Bhanikhat, Westerling, others
  Religion: Gohtra pantheon, Paramountcies pantheon, 
  Castorhagi pantheon, others
  Resources: trade, manufactured goods, gems, arms, slaves, 
  crime
  Currency: Shabbisian
  Technology Level: Medieval
  The Green City of Jasper, as Shabbis is poetically named, lies in the 
  Gulf of Shabbis on the coast of the Boiling Sea, north of Cinnabar Bay. 
  Three rivers converge at the city. The Laisong River runs along the north 
  side of the city, and aqueducts from it provide water for most of the 
  Upper Districts. To the south, the Chuba and the Jeikhan Rivers merge 
  and spread into a mire of slow streams and muddy hummocks before 
  they eventually ooze into the Gulf of Shabbis. Lower parts of the city 
  are prone to ﬂ ooding during the rainy season, or even at high tides.
  This city of a thousand wonders is literally built of jasper, at least 
  in part. Centuries ago, an earthquake exposed an amazing deposit of 
  the material commonly known as Khemitian jasper in the Scythirian 
  Mountains near the headwaters of the Chuba River. City engineers were 
  able to quarry it like marble, and most of the palaces and civic buildings 
  located on a hill in the center of the city are made of the lustrous green 
  stone. Other important buildings or wealthy residences are at least faced 
  
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  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  with the material. In addition, the walls are another type of green stone 
  and have been polished by hundreds of years of convicts and slaves, so 
  they also gleam in the sun.
  The walled holdings of the merchant lords who dominate the city 
  are at the highest reach of land between the rivers. The government 
  center of the city is slightly lower, with the Merchants’ Hall claiming the 
  most prominent place. Beneath that are the districts of merchants and 
  markets, then the craftspeople, and then the warehouses and crowded 
  tenements of laborers. Near the docks and outside the walls, along 
  the rivers, are slums that teem with people trying to get along in any 
  way they can. Each merchant lord controls a district of the city; some 
  districts are also oddly shaped as a result of negotiations for control and 
  proﬁ t. Merchant lords are almost sovereign in their own districts, as 
  long as they do nothing to hurt trade.
  Along with its “thousand wonders,” the Green City is also known 
  as the source of a thousand plagues. Its swampy lowlands and dismal 
  slums are infested by swarms of rats and insects known to carry many 
  types of diseases, which range from the common threat of malaria to 
  the unusually virulent Shabbisian Plague. The rats are impossible to 
  keep off the ships in the harbor, so most countries of Libynos refuse 
  to do business in Shabbis or allow Shabbisian ships into their ports for 
  fear of spreading the plague. Ships from distant Akados still call here, 
  though; the governments of their distant countries have not heard about 
  the disease threats, and the traders themselves choose to take risks for 
  the sake of proﬁ t.
  Originally started by settlers from the Jaati region, the citizens of 
  Shabbis now claim ancestry from dozens of countries and many types 
  of people, including some whose forebears were not even humanoid. 
  Languages abound, although Meeruwhan is most commonly spoken, and 
  much bargaining in the markets is done by gestures. Of course, with the 
  din of people in the market districts, sellers and buyers are unlikely to be 
  able to hear each other anyway. (The Upper Districts are slightly quieter.)
  Religion in the Green City is a jumble of beliefs, calling on deities 
  and powers from Jaati in the north to Bhanakhiri in the far south to the 
  remote City-State of Castorhage in the distant west. Aside from a large 
  temple to the combined Ghotran gods located in the city center, temples 
  and shrines are crowded in wherever they can ﬁ t and may not match the 
  average worshipper’s expectations. Lacking the space for freestanding 
  buildings, deities might have a shrine in an alcove of a workroom or 
  tavern, or a temple in part of an upper ﬂ oor of a mercantile building.
  NUMEDA, KINGDOM OF
  NUMEDA, KINGDOM OF
  Capital: Kirtius 
  Notable Settlements: Balgrimmon, Dawaad, Saruca
  Ruler: King Massini
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 1,195,281 (1,170,804 Numedan, 24,332 other 
  human ethnicity, 145 dwarf)
  Monstrous: hobgoblins, harpies (desert), bugbears (anywhere), 
  lantern goats (mountains) 
  Languages: Khemitian
  Religion: Anumon
   Resources: crops, livestock, horses, gold, iron, gemstones, 
  marble, trade
  Currency: Khemitian and Baalathite; also silver or gold trade 
  bars 
  Technology Level: Medieval (Kirtius), High Middle Ages (other 
  towns), Dark Ages (tribes)
  The country of Numeda may be the largest kingdom of the Greater 
  Maighib Desert, at least by land area. Occupying over half of the Numedan 
  Peninsula in the south part of eastern Libynos, it is bounded on the west 
  by Tahmakht (a possession of Khemit), on the southwest by the Ruby Sea, 
  on the south and east by the Karaman Mountains, and on the north by the 
  Kingdom of Ifthaaz. Numeda is a country of many parts, from the dry 
  coastal regions along the Sea of Baal and Ruby Sea, to the arable areas of 
  the north, to the deep sands and rocky ﬂ ats of the Eastern Maighib Desert, 
  to the hills and mountains forming the country’s eastern border. These 
  different regions mean the folk of Numeda vary substantially in their lives 
  and livelihoods, with large cities near the sea of Baal, tribespeople in the 
  desert, and prosperous mining settlements in the Karaman Mountains. 
  Certain features serve to keep them united, however.
  The people of Numeda tend to be ﬁ ercely independent, since the 
  country developed as a culture of nomads based on the camel and the 
  horse. For hundreds of years they survived by relying on their tightly-
  knit clans, having no long-term, permanent cities but only a few 
  settlements around strategic oases or important religious sites. Then, 
  more than a thousand years ago, a prophet walked out of the desert and 
  gradually changed their civilization. Signiﬁ cant populations are now 
  gathered in a few cities and many villages, and even Numedans who still 
  live nomadic lifestyles in the desert visit the cities from time to time.
  Sulymon the Prophet has inﬂ uenced Numeda for hundreds of years. 
  As the primary advocate of the deity Anumon (god of gates and keeper of 
  laws), he encouraged the people to move toward the acknowledgement 
  of national laws and a way of life that accepts the need for the presence 
  and cooperation of others rather than just one’s own small clan.
  Numeda has some excellent natural resources, though they are not 
  evenly distributed throughout the country. The northern hill country has 
  enough grass for cattle and supports other crops, and the foothills to 
  the east get enough moisture to raise sheep and grow grain. The eastern 
  hills also have a great deal of mineral wealth found in various places 
  along their length. Towns or individuals who can afford to fund a mining 
  operation have become very wealthy, and the government has received 
  its share of the abundance. Just because Numeda is a country of riches 
  doesn’t mean its people are rich, though. The wealth is concentrated 
  in the hands of a few powerful people or clans, so others may turn to 
  banditry or piracy to try to get their share. 
  However, when the government sanctions the piracy (for a share of 
  the proceeds, of course), then criminals become upstanding privateers, 
  naval heroes to the lowly people of the country. This is the situation 
  with the mariners of Numeda: nobles sponsor ships and crews who 
  “patrol” the waters around Numeda watching for ships “encroaching 
  on Numeda’s sovereign waters.” Westerners named these ships corsairs 
  (from the Hyperborean term “coursaros,” which meant pirate), but the 
  crews proudly adopted the pejorative term as their own. 
  In their small, fast ships, the corsairs of Numeda can’t stand up to most 
  armed ships in a ﬁ ght, but they can easily overtake a laden (and lightly 
  armed) merchantman or run away from the heavier naval vessels. Several 
  fortresses along the coast of the Sea of Baal provide bases for these vessels. 
  A smaller ﬂ eet of corsairs is also active in the Ruby Sea to the west of 
  Numeda. The greatest enemy of the corsairs of Numeda is the Royal Navy 
  of Khemit; their greatest competition is the navy of Baalthaaz.
  Although the involvement of the nobility (and thus the government) 
  with the Numedan privateers is widely known, most countries in 
  Akados are not ready at this time to get into a naval war with a power so 
  far away, so they conﬁ ne their protective efforts to vigorously guarding 
  their own merchants against the corsairs. Some private merchant houses 
  or trade organizations, however, have taken matters into their own hands 
  and hired forces to stage attacks on individual privateer fortresses in 
  Numeda. Occasionally, those making such an assault even land and 
  move inland in an effort to interrupt supply lines for the privateers. Such 
  actions risk falling afoul of Numeda’s Royal Army, however, and thus 
  are kept strictly limited in time and scope so the attackers may swiftly 
  return to their ships before encountering opposition.
  The Royal Army of Numeda is primarily occupied patrolling the coastal 
  road that runs from Khemit north to Ifthaaz and beyond. It is not much 
  of a road, physically speaking, but is a common route for caravans and 
  travelers. It is to the kingdom’s beneﬁ t to minimize the number of bandit 
  attacks along that track so Kirtius (and the country as a whole) can proﬁ t 
  from the fees and taxes levied on the caravans. There was a time when 
  merchants and traders refused to traverse Numeda due to the extensive 
  banditry, and the treasury (and the populace as well) suffered as a result.
  The army does run patrols into the interior of Numeda but unless they 
  
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  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  are actually chasing a group of bandits, the chance of a military unit 
  casually encountering a band of roving marauders is negligible. They 
  do try to contend with the hobgoblin warbands that roam the desert, as 
  those present an ongoing threat to any human villages or encampments. 
  (Certain desert tribes have reached their own accommodations with 
  hobgoblins in their area, in places where resources are scarce enough 
  that all the tribes either need to share or ﬁ ght to the death.)
  As a result, caravans to and from the east and south rely on strong 
  contingents of their own guards, sometimes even including magical 
  support. For some parts of the country, transporting goods by sea is an 
  alternative, but then travelers have to contend with the privateers. The 
  corsairs might avoid Numedan ships ﬂ ying the ﬂ ags of certain powerful 
  people but others tend to be considered fair game. Many merchants 
  prefer to stay with a situation they can perhaps control and choose 
  overland travel except for cargos with more bulk and less value.
  KIRTIUS, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  KIRTIUS, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: King Massini
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 52,212 (47,220 Numedan, 4,986 other human 
  ethnicity, 6 dwarf)
  Numeda’s capital city of Kirtius is located midway up the coast 
  along the Sea of Baal and is the country’s largest port. As the focus 
  of all the caravan routes from the interior of the country, Kirtius is a 
  center for trade in the jewels and precious metals mined from the Murat 
  Hills beyond the desert. Goods ﬂ owing the other way are picked up by 
  caravans for transportation east or south, and trains of pilgrims seeking 
  the Holy City of Dawaad often begin their travels here.
  From the Sea of Baal, Kirtius is recognizable by its twin lighthouses. 
  The harbor area is host to the warehouse market, which teems with 
  throngs of travelers and visitors from other kingdoms. Foreign traders 
  deal in silk, jewels, rare herbs, spices, and other sundries, while 
  Numedans sell the production of their mines and craftspeople.
  The walled foreign quarter of the city is dangerous at the best of 
  times; the constant ﬂ ow of new people in and out of the city makes it 
  easy for crime to ﬂ ourish. Sleeping quarters are often on upper ﬂ oors 
  above gambling dens, taverns, or hookah lounges. Other parts of the 
  city are higher quality, especially as the streets approach the garden-like 
  walled neighborhood of the nobles’ quarter, with its palatial estates.  The 
  royal palace itself is on a private island, reached by a bridge from the 
  nobles’ quarter.
  The throne room of King Massini is a marvel, with replicas of date 
  palm trees crafted in red marble and hung with jewels as fruit. The ﬂ oor 
  is covered with an inlaid map of central Libynos, the Sea of Baal, and 
  even part of the coast of distant Akados. The king is often attended by 
  his son, Prince Nidjal, who is learning statecraft. Another frequently 
  with the king is his personal friend Emir Yama, who is also the country’s 
  highest-ranking general. Yama started his career as an ofﬁ cer in the light 
  cavalry and takes every opportunity to speak highly of the units. The 
  Numedan light cavalry are considered some of the best light horse in 
  Libynos, and King Massini occasionally hires out their services to other 
  Libynosi countries or city-states as mercenaries. 
  Just outside the southern gates of the city is the Oasis Aljania. This is 
  a common stopping place for caravans that reach the city after the gates 
  are shut for the night, or for those who may want to get started before 
  the gates open in the morning. In addition, people who are low on funds 
  and don’t want to pay for a place to sleep inside the city often make 
  their way out to the oasis for the night. This can be dangerous, though, 
  as thieves often target unwary sleepers so it is best to be part of a group 
  for mutual protection.
  BALGRIMMON, TOWN OF 
  BALGRIMMON, TOWN OF 
  Ruler: Emir Ratip
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 21,994 (20,641 Numedan, 1,345 other human 
  ethnicity, 8 dwarf)
  Located on the east coast of the Ruby Sea, Balgrimmon is the largest 
  Numedan port on that sea and handles most of the cargo trade for the 
  southern part of Numeda. Ships sailing in and out of Balgrimmon make 
  sure to ﬂ y the ﬂ ag of any powerful merchant group or noble patron they 
  can claim to put off the unwanted attention of any corsairs. Ships with 
  no such sponsor hire as many marines as they can afford and pray to the 
  gods for protection. 
  Several wealthy noble families live in the southern part of Numeda, so 
  Balgrimmon does receive visits by ships from Axuum as well as distant 
  places such as Far Jaati and Ur, bringing exotic, expensive products for 
  the palaces of emirs and the tents of sheikhs. From here, caravan routes 
  run north and south along the coast as well as to many mining towns in 
  the Murat Hills.
  Balgrimmon has a prominent temple to Anumon, and many people 
  from the surrounding area travel here to attend the rituals. The truly 
  ancient building has tall pillars holding up the ceiling, which is carved 
  inside and out with storm clouds and bolts of lightning, and a large hall 
  for the devotees to chant together in community.
  DAWAAD, CITY OF
  DAWAAD, CITY OF
  Ruler: Sulymon, Prophet of Anumon
  Government: theocracy
  Population: 7,886 (all Numedan)
  Dawaad, a city in the desert of Numeda a few days’ travel from the 
  capital of Kirtius, has stood for many centuries as the center of worship 
  for the god Anumon. The prophet Sulymon, a mortal possessed of a 
  lifespan beyond that of normal men, rules this as a theocracy with the 
  help of trusted assistants to see to the mundane details of the city while 
  he looks after the spiritual training of its people and the many visitors 
  who come to learn from his wisdom.
  A twisted ramp rises 300 feet from the desert ﬂ oor and winds up to 
  the gates of the city, which are guarded by a massive gatehouse and a 
  pair of guard towers. Just inside the gates is the foreign quarter, with 
  merchants’ warehouses, casbahs, taverns, and inns for those who may 
  not be in the city for religious reasons. Past that is the city’s great souk, 
  or open-air market. Farther in is a section with lodging for large numbers 
  of visiting pilgrims, and a district just outside the temple grounds for the 
  many priests of Anumon. Called the khoury, these priests primarily live 
  contemplative lives reading the prophecies of Sulymon and the other 
  sacred texts of their faith. They are also permitted to have families, with 
  in some cases both parents being priests and children even following in 
  the footsteps of their parents in the church of Anumon.
  The high temple of Anumon is surrounded by lush gardens, and 
  many people walk here for pleasure or for religious contemplation. The 
  temple itself is a mighty ediﬁ ce to the power of law and order, with its 
  main feature being a large assembly hall for mass services of worship. 
  The focal point is a large stone statue of Anumon himself, who appears 
  as a noble king with a plaited beard, and bearing a huge bronze scepter.
  SARUCA, TOWN OF
  SARUCA, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Amira Piyala
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 3,963 (2,121 Numedan, 1,810 other human 
  ethnicity, 32 dwarf)
  Saruca is a mining town in a rich part of the Murat Hills. The mines 
  bring in various types of gemstones, gold, and iron, while marble is 
  also quarried in the area. Mines in some other areas have trouble 
  ﬁ nding people in Numeda willing to do the work, as many natives are 
  
  404|
  404|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  EASTERN LIBYNOS
  uncomfortable underground. Amira Piyala avoided this by following the 
  policies of her predecessors and hired people from other countries to 
  work in the shafts. Mines around Saruca are staffed by laborers from 
  Khemit, Aethiope, the Channel Lakes region, some of the Antioch City-
  States, and even dwarves from some underground kingdom near Ur.
  Towns in the amira’s area try to treat these foreign miners well; 
  market stalls even stock foods from their own cultures to make them 
  feel at home. Some Numedans from tribes of the southern desert sneer 
  at the miners as “ground grubbers,” but mining townspeople are quick 
  to correct them. Rather than being mere diggers, these people are mostly 
  specialists whose work produces wealth for the Numedans. The mines 
  have connections with traders who have connections with merchants 
  who have connections with gemcutters, sculptors, or others who can 
  craft the raw materials into valuable items.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN NUMEDA
  INTEREST IN NUMEDA
  EASTERN MAIGHIB DESERT
  EASTERN MAIGHIB DESERT
  The terrain of the great Maighib Desert crosses the Ruby Sea and 
  continues on into Numeda. The central part of the country has deep 
  desert like that in central Guurzan or southwest Khemit. Like Khemit, 
  it has a number of oases in the desert, which makes it possible for tribes 
  or travelers to survive there. It primarily consists of sand dunes, but 
  portions to the south and northwest are dominated by rocky desert or 
  barren hills.
  GHOBAD-USK, OASIS OF
  GHOBAD-USK, OASIS OF
  About 35 miles southeast of Kirtius, this oasis is a strategic point 
  between competing desert tribes and has changed hands many times 
  over the centuries. It is currently occupied by the Ahishkali tribe, which 
  has defended its claim now for three years. The oasis has a healthy 
  supply of date palms, and other fruit and olive trees grow under the 
  shade of the taller trees.  
  KARAMAN MOUNTAINS
  KARAMAN MOUNTAINS
  This range of mountains runs across the center of the Numedan 
  peninsula along the southeast edge of the nation of Numeda, separating 
  it from Imya farther south. Geologically, it is an extension of the 
  Scythirian Mountains, though separated from the northern part of the 
  chain by Cinnabar Bay in the Boiling Sea. The Karaman peaks are much 
  lower than the heights of the range farther north. The mountains have 
  many buried resources such as gemstones, gold, and more. Some mines 
  are located on the west side of the range, though the miners may be 
  hired from foreign countries, as the descendants of the desert-dwelling 
  Numedans usually do not take well to the mountainous terrain. On the 
  eastern side of the range, Imya maintains a sizable number of mines, at 
  least one of which produces high-quality adamantium.
  MATI-ALAMUL, RUINS OF
  MATI-ALAMUL, RUINS OF
  This large statue of basalt has the body of a sphinx, but the ﬁ gure’s 
  face has been blotted out by wind-blown sands, as if the gods had wiped 
  it out. The 40-foot-tall statue is surrounded by the eroding remains of a 
  low, crumbling wall. The ﬁ gure is known as “The Moaning King” due 
  to horrible, droning wails that emanate from within the ruin on certain 
  nights. These harrowing moans carry across the silence of a desert night 
  to frighten tribes camping miles away. No one has any idea how the ruin 
  came to be here, but it is spoken of only in hushed voices, and the place 
  is almost universally avoided. Only harpies or creatures such as death 
  dogs are ever reported in the area.
  MURAT HILLS
  MURAT HILLS
  The Murat Hills run along the entire eastern side of Numeda. They are 
  merely foothills of the mountains farther east, but the Numedans consider 
  the hills to be part of their country, while the mountains in most places are 
  thought of more as a border. Iron and silver are mined in the northern hill 
  country, while gemstones and gold can be found in the south. The hills 
  are less dry than the rest of the country, watered by rainfall and runoff 
  from the Karaman Mountains to the east. The moisture is sufﬁ cient for 
  grazing ﬂ ocks of sheep as well as raising grain to provide food for most 
  of the country. The moisture is not enough to produce rivers, though; 
  the streams that do exist vanish underground in the desert, where they 
  probably supply the water for various oases or wells.
  TAANACH HILLS
  TAANACH HILLS
  These hills lie primarily in northern Numeda, although parts extend 
  into Ifthaaz. The Erto River, which ﬂ ows through the hills, is the border 
  between the two countries. This area receives more water than the desert 
  just a short distance south, so people can raise enough fodder to keep 
  cattle and can produce other farming crops. One crop that does well in 
  the region is tobacco, and the variety known as “Numedan Blond” is 
  grown almost exclusively in the Taanach Hills.
  The terrain of the great Maighib Desert crosses the Ruby Sea and 
  continues on into Numeda. The central part of the country has deep 
  desert like that in central Guurzan or southwest Khemit. Like Khemit, 
  it has a number of oases in the desert, which makes it possible for tribes 
  or travelers to survive there. It primarily consists of sand dunes, but 
  portions to the south and northwest are dominated by rocky desert or 
  About 35 miles southeast of Kirtius, this oasis is a strategic point 
  between competing desert tribes and has changed hands many times 
  over the centuries. It is currently occupied by the Ahishkali tribe, which 
  has defended its claim now for three years. The oasis has a healthy 
  supply of date palms, and other fruit and olive trees grow under the 
  This range of mountains runs across the center of the Numedan 
  peninsula along the southeast edge of the nation of Numeda, separating 
  it from Imya farther south. Geologically, it is an extension of the 
  Scythirian Mountains, though separated from the northern part of the 
  chain by Cinnabar Bay in the Boiling Sea. The Karaman peaks are much 
  lower than the heights of the range farther north. The mountains have 
  many buried resources such as gemstones, gold, and more. Some mines 
  are located on the west side of the range, though the miners may be 
  hired from foreign countries, as the descendants of the desert-dwelling 
  Numedans usually do not take well to the mountainous terrain. On the 
  eastern side of the range, Imya maintains a sizable number of mines, at 
  This large statue of basalt has the body of a sphinx, but the ﬁ gure’s 
  face has been blotted out by wind-blown sands, as if the gods had wiped 
  it out. The 40-foot-tall statue is surrounded by the eroding remains of a 
  low, crumbling wall. The ﬁ gure is known as “The Moaning King” due 
  to horrible, droning wails that emanate from within the ruin on certain 
  nights. These harrowing moans carry across the silence of a desert night 
  to frighten tribes camping miles away. No one has any idea how the ruin 
  came to be here, but it is spoken of only in hushed voices, and the place 
  is almost universally avoided. Only harpies or creatures such as death 
  grown almost exclusively in the Taanach Hills.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |405
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  KHEMIT, TRIPLE KINGDOM OF
  KHEMIT, TRIPLE KINGDOM OF
  Capital: Thybos 
  Notable Settlements: many
  Ruler: Pharaoh Tuthmosis IX, third ruler of the 39th 
  (Wahibren) Dynasty
  Government: monarchy and bureaucracy
  Population: 5,816,434 (5,618,146 Khemitite, about 150,000 
  Desertfolk, 48,288 other human ethnicity)
  Monstrous: kobolds, dwarves (mountains), gnolls, ommoths, 
  sand krakens, sphinxes (desert)
  Languages: Khemitian
  Religion: Pharaonic pantheon
   Resources: crops, beer, wine, olive oil, gold, silver, copper, iron, 
  salt, alum, natron, knowledge, history, sandstone, limestone, 
  marble, granite, porphyry, semi-precious gems, antiquities, trade
  Currency: Khemitian
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages (metropolises), Dark 
  Ages (other cities), Iron Age (rural areas)
  The Triple Kingdom of Khemit is one of the oldest human countries, 
  having been in continuous existence for over 5,000 years. It lies in the 
  northeastern corner of the southern half of the continent of Libynos, 
  where the two parts of the continent meet, with the Ruby Sea to the east 
  and the Kingdom of Guurzan to its west. The majority of the country is 
  desert, with ranges of hills and a central river (the Stygian) that waters a 
  large part of the country in its annual ﬂ oods. Khemit considers itself to 
  be three kingdoms joined together; hence the term triple kingdom. Upper 
  Khemit, which is farthest upstream on the Stygian River, is in the south; 
  its capital is Elephantine. The Middle Kingdom (or Middle Khemit) is 
  the central portion of the country and has its capital at Thybos, which is 
  also the current royal capital. Lower Khemit (or the Lower Kingdom) 
  is the farthest north, in the area where the Stygian fans out into a delta 
  and then ﬂ ows into the Sea of Baal. Its capital is at Menefet, one of the 
  largest cities in the world. 
  HISTORY AND PEOPLES
  HISTORY AND PEOPLES
  The history of Khemit begins more than 8,000 years ago during a 
  time when the nomadic tribes of the region ﬁ rst began settling into 
  small agricultural communities on the banks of the Stygian River. Over 
  time, those communities grew, and by about 6,800 years ago, petty 
  kingdoms had formed throughout the area, engaging in trade, conﬂ ict, 
  and colonization. More than 5,000 years ago (1,500 years before the 
  birth of the Hyperborean Imperial Record), Narmer — the ﬁ rst pharaoh 
  — united many of the small kingdoms into what became known as 
  the Conjoined Double Kingdom of Khemit. This was the time of the 
  building of the great pyramids, symbols of ancient Khemit to this day.
  Over the centuries, different families founded dynasties, and times of 
  trouble came and went. During the 10th Dynasty, most of the southern 
  land of Nubara was added to what then became the Triple Kingdom 
  of Khemit. The 13th Dynasty, under Menkamin I, followed a troubled 
  period, and as a result the Triple Kingdom was unable to resist the 
  conquest of the Hyperborean Empire in 4 I.R. Khemit ultimately became 
  the cornerstone of Hyperborean power in Libynos, and the pharaohs were 
  able to govern their people under Hyperborean leadership. The Canal of 
  the Pharaohs was constructed in the 15th dynasty with the assistance of 
  Hyperborean engineers. More land was even added in the 17th Dynasty, 
  as the eastern peninsula called Peleshtia was brought into the kingdom 
  and renamed Tahmakht. However, no country cares to be controlled by 
  another forever, and when the weakened Hyperboreans ﬁ nally withdrew 
  from Libynos in 2632 I.R., Pharoah Amyrtalos V declared a new start to 
  a modern Khemitian calendar with that year becoming year 1.
  In 328 New Khemit Reckoning (2960 I.R.), a great ﬂ eet of ships 
  from Akados came to the Canal of the Pharaohs and sought passage 
  to the east in a crusade to liberate their Sacred Table and the holy city 
  of Tircople from the Huun. After lengthy debate among his advisers, 
  some of whom were concerned about antagonizing the Huun, the 
  pharaoh eventually permitted the ﬂ otilla to pass. The delay, however, 
  angered the Foere leaders, and when a second crusade was launched 10 
  years later, the Akadians landed in Khemit, intent on using the nation 
  as a staging ground for their forces. Although the Triple Kingdom was 
  much stronger than it had been in the past, it was not strong enough 
  to resist the Foerdewaith. The harbor of Pyrameses was taken by the 
  overwhelming force of the crusader navy and, after a massacre in the 
  city, it was used as the major supply hub for the entire army on its 
  march to the east. The invaders occupied the metropolis of Menefet 
  and much of Lower Khemit for about six years. The pharaoh, then 
  ruling from Elephantine, was never threatened by the invaders, but the 
  incident remains a point of resentment among the Khemitites to this 
  day. Though now more than 500 years in the past, the occupation is a 
  frequent topic of stories, and foreigners who seem to be from Akados 
  may face hostility as a consequence. The Huun are also a target of 
  anger, however, as they endangered Khemit by using the area to spy on 
  and plot against the western invaders. As a result, any suspected Huun 
  are likely to be seized and taken to the authorities at once.
  Khemit is a productive country with many large urban populations. 
  The cities are supported by the annual inundation by the Stygian River, 
  which provides the fertile soil and water needed for thriving agriculture. 
  The vast majority of the population lives on or near the river, with some 
  cities along the Ruby Sea or one of the lakes in the northwest, and the 
  few remaining located at oases, on trade routes. Khemit has a structured, 
  highly-organized society where people know their places and most 
  agree on the importance of working for the good of society as a whole. 
  Army units are a reassuring presence in every city but are especially 
  important for those on the frontier. 
  RELIGION
  RELIGION
  Khemit follows its own complex religion, where good and evil deities 
  are worshipped in their proper spheres and the pharaoh is considered 
  to be nigh unto a god himself. Temples and shrines are found almost 
  everywhere, with only the most prominent being listed here. People 
  tend to be suspicious of those who worship foreign gods, but as long as 
  they do not disrespect the pharaoh, the Khemitites are likely to just mind 
  their own business.
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Trade is an essential activity of the Triple Kingdom as it is the crossroads 
  of Libynos. Khemit has an avenue to the east coast of Libynos through 
  the Ruby Sea, while the Sea of Baal gives access to the entire western 
  side of the continent as well as the cities of Akados. Caravans can enter 
  Khemit by land from the west, south, or northeast, and leave in any of 
  those directions or deliver goods to a ship for ocean transport. Traders 
  of other countries haul their goods through the kingdom, and merchants 
  of Khemit do brisk business in imports and exports themselves. Nearly 
  any type of good available in Libynos can probably be found for sale 
  in Khemit, especially in the markets of Menefet. Khemit’s suns-and-
  sheaves currency is used by several countries along the Sea of Baal and 
  is generally accepted throughout Libynos.
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  LOYALTIES AND DIPLOMACY
  Khemit has good diplomatic relations with most countries in 
  Libynos and a few in Akados. Representatives are usually not available 
  in countries that were part of the Hyperborean Monarchy of the 
  Foerdewaith, although sometimes particular merchants may be able to 
  facilitate communications with the Khemitian government. 
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  
  406|THE LOST LANDS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  406|
  406|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|407
  |407
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  GOVERNMENT
  GOVERNMENT
  The Triple Kingdom is a monarchy governed by Pharaoh 
  Tuthmosis IX. He is the third ruler of the 39th (Wahibren) Dynasty, 
  following his father Wahibre III and his brother Rameses XVIII to the 
  throne. The monarchy is supported by the able efforts of thousands 
  of government bureaucrats, who see to all the details that keep the 
  kingdom functioning.
  MILITARY
  MILITARY
  The navy of Khemit has two primary bases in the Sea of Baal. One 
  is on the Island of Karpathos, about 20 miles northwest of Rashad. The 
  other is at Pharos where the navy makes use of the excellent berthing 
  and repair facilities originally constructed for the Hyperborean navy. 
  In the Ruby Sea, Ipret-Isus is the home port of a signiﬁ cant ﬂ eet that 
  patrols not just inside the Ruby Sea but up and down the coast outside 
  the mouth of the sea. The army has units stationed in Thybos near the 
  pharaoh and in other major cities, but much of the military is scattered 
  among the towns and oases of Khemit to provide protection against 
  bandits and (in the desert) nomadic tribes.
  MAJOR THREATS
  MAJOR THREATS
  The country of Numeda is usually considered the greatest threat to 
  Khemit. Its navy, though mostly just privateers, often threatens trade 
  in Khemit by attacking merchant shipping. A ground attack by the 
  Numedan military is less of a concern, but forces stay alert in Ascalon 
  and other cities of Tahmakht near the border with Numeda. To the 
  southwest and west, nomadic tribespeople of the Maighib Desert 
  sometimes attack caravans or even villages. However, attackers just 
  fade back into the deep desert so unless troops are stationed in the 
  locations that come under attack, it is very difﬁ cult to pinpoint the 
  culprits and exact justice. 
  REFERENCE SOURCE: ALTHOUGH MANY NAMES HAVE BEEN 
  MODIFIED AND ADDITIONAL DETAILS ADDED, MUCH OF 
  THE MATERIAL FOR THE TRIPLE KINGDOM OF KHEMIT IS DERIVED FROM 
  GARY GYGAX’S NECROPOLIS BY NECROMANCER GAMES.
  AARTUAT, VILLAGE OF
  AARTUAT, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: Fifth Lieutenant Hamephat, Khemitian military
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 158 (mostly Khemitite)
  Aartuat lies at the halfway point of the caravan route from Farnoc 
  to the oasis of Dakla-Amun. It is basically a large caravanserai with 
  a few houses around it, though the caravanserai is strongly built and 
  has a military presence to guard against bandits. (A village so small is 
  not assigned an administrator, so the young military commander ﬁ lls 
  that function, assisted by the unit scribe.) Aartuat’s most notable feature 
  is what they call the Pool of Hapy, a pleasing little pool just south of 
  the village that is ﬁ lled by a small waterfall and supports intensive 
  gardening by the locals. 
  ABYDOS, CITY OF
  ABYDOS, CITY OF
  Ruler: Principle Administrator Hophra-anu-tep
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 44,865 (mostly Khemitite)
  Abydos is a large city of Middle Khemit, which is known for its 
  several major temples and burial grounds. The most important temple 
  Archon Gelvira-Resuela of Hacienda Zapardiel rides forth from 
  the citadel in Cadua in the Empire of Alcaldar.
  
  408|
  408|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  is the high seat of the temple of Isis, Khemitian mother-goddess of life 
  and magic. Her temple includes an important school for kheri-hebu, or 
  priest-mages. Also present is the high seat of the temple of Anhur, god 
  of war and the hunt; many soldiers passing through the area take time to 
  make a sacriﬁ ce at his altar. The city has a secondary temple to Horus 
  (whose main temple is in Edefu) and a major temple of Thoth, though 
  his high seat is in Hermopolis.
  Although the high seat of Osiris was moved to Menefet several 
  hundred years ago, the Osiris temple in Abydos is still much used. For 
  one thing, it includes the symbolic tomb of Osiris, who according to 
  Khemitian theology was killed and then resurrected and now dwells in 
  the Underworld. When this temple was primary, the area was the burial 
  place of many of the ruling class; nobles of the Middle Kingdom are 
  sometimes still buried in the historic necropolis here, which is known 
  as Umm Alkhah.
  ADUN-HASTUR, TOWN OF 
  ADUN-HASTUR, TOWN OF 
  Ruler: Administrator Shaphat
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 1,172 (mostly Khemitite)
  Adun-Hastur is located at an oasis on the southern edge of the Harh-
  Ahu-Ra Hills. Not far from the oasis is the remains of a serpentine quarry. 
  The bits of stone left are not large enough to use for architectural purposes 
  and not high enough quality to use as gems or ﬁ ne carvings. However, a 
  few people make a business of getting useful pieces out of the quarry. 
  They either carve them into undetailed items (such as cups or bowls) or 
  sell the pieces directly to the small caravans that pass the oasis.
  AHUR-PTAH, TOWN OF
  AHUR-PTAH, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Administrator Tappuah
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 1,731 (mostly Khemitite)
  This small town is at an oasis on one of the most-convenient caravan 
  routes to Bahaadur, the capital city of neighboring Guurzan, so many 
  caravans (especially those coming from Middle Khemit) stop here. It 
  has a large caravanserai that is well-supplied with last-minute items that 
  might be needed before caravans turn west to cross part of the Khemitian 
  desert on the way to Guurzan. Ahur-Ptah is also the location of a small 
  temple of Geb, god of the earth and a protector deity. Although it is 
  not impressive, many caravan masters make a brief visit to pray for the 
  safety of their caravans before traveling into the desert.
  AKHETATEN, CITY OF
  AKHETATEN, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Heptup-zur
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 25,298 (mostly Khemitite)
  Akhetaten lies on the east bank of the Stygian in lower Khemit. It 
  is important as the high seat of the temple of Min, a god of fertility 
  and power. It also hosts a temple to Anumon, god of gates and keeper 
  of laws, whose worship spread from Numeda. In addition, the city has 
  another major temple to the foreign deity Mah-Barek. The temple is 
  run by the sect of Marwan (an important teacher of antiquity), and the 
  priests welcome all to walk in the extensive temple gardens and enjoy 
  the singing and dancing that are part of the worship. It seems chaotic 
  to most Khemitites, as people tend to break out in song or spontaneous 
  dance at odd times, not only during an established ritual. Apparently, 
  there are also other sects of Mah-Barek, and the priests are willing to 
  direct visitors to a location of the sect of Fatimashan. That sect has 
  calmer observances and emphasizes work of charity rather than art, 
  although the priests of Marwan characterize the others as boring.
  One group of devotees at the temple of Mah-Barek is a community 
  of artists with a distinctive style. They avoid the strict formality of 
  most Khemitian art and instead depict subjects more realistically and in 
  informal settings. That style has affected other artists in the area around 
  Akhetaten and is spreading farther aﬁ eld.
  AMUT, TOWN OF
  AMUT, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Second Lieutenant Balebuk-zobah, Khemitian military
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 1,537 (mostly Khemitite)
  Amut is the farthest west of all the populated places in Khemit. It is 
  near the acknowledged western border of the land, which is the edge of 
  the Qarrasat Hills that lie in neighboring Guurzan. Caravans stop here 
  for a last rest in relative safety before pushing through the long pass in 
  the dangerous hill country and going on to Bahaardun, the capital of 
  Guurzan. The town has a caravanserai that also serves as a fortress, as 
  well as a strong town wall — something seldom seen in the peaceful 
  eastern regions of Khemit. An army unit has been stationed here for 
  many years to guard the caravans against bandits and to guard the frontier 
  against the weird things that come out of the hills. Its commander acts in 
  place of a civil administrator.
  ANUBIS, CITY OF
  ANUBIS, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Anath-lebo
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 10,962 (mostly Khemitite)
  The city of Anubis is on the west bank of the Stygian near the second 
  cataract. (See “Stygian River” below for more information on the cataracts.) 
  River trafﬁ c moves north of the cataract to the place where the Astebera 
  River joins the Stygian just south of the ﬁ rst cataract; small ships can make 
  it up the Astebera to the towns there. There is also some river trafﬁ c south 
  on the Stygian to near Suleb where the third cataract is located.
  The largest structure in the city is the truly ancient temple of Anubis, 
  the high seat of the jackal-headed god of the dead in Khemit since the 
  7th Dynasty and the only temple dedicated to him. Despite repairs 
  over the millennia, it is still slowly decaying. A great well called the 
  Jackal Well for the carvings around it is also dedicated to Anubis and 
  sits in the plaza in front of the temple. It is a properly maintained 
  public water source, available for city dwellers and for those who 
  travel to visit the temple. A short distance from the temple itself is the 
  underground necropolis known as the Dog Catacomb. This extensive 
  set of narrow stone tunnels is used for the burial of mummiﬁ ed animals 
  of many types — beloved pets, or sacriﬁ cial creatures intended to 
  carry a worshipper’s prayers to a deity. At least one prior set of tunnels 
  had been ﬁ lled and blocked off; no one is sure if there were earlier 
  ones or not, or how many animals might have been buried here in the 
  past 4,000 years.
  ASCALON, CITY OF
  ASCALON, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Saadia Afdal
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 24,153 (mostly Khemitite)
  Ascalon is a proﬁ table port in the Khemitian Governate of Tahmakht, 
  the eastern-most city along the coast. It is built on a bluff overlooking 
  the Sea of Baal, with a huge semicircular fortiﬁ cation protecting it 
  on the land side and the port at the base of the bluff. Ascalon’s port 
  provides an eastern location for launching Khemitian merchant or 
  warships into the Sea of Baal, but it gives only a little protection 
  against storms. This sizable fortress lies directly on the land trade route 
  from Khemit to Numeda and points beyond. It is the headquarters for 
  a large body of troops whose stated purpose is to protect the eastern 
  trade from bandits. Their unstated purpose, however, is to protect 
  the border of Khemit against incursions from Numeda. Having an 
  excellent underground water source, Ascalon is able to withstand long 
  sieges and held out for several months at the time Khemit fell to the 
  Hyperborean conquest.
  
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  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  ASHMEMNON, CITY OF
  ASHMEMNON, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Qandil-gad-arat
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 18,592 (mostly Khemitite)
  Ashmemnon lies on the west bank of the Stygian River in Lower 
  Khemit, at the end of the caravan road running through the nearby major 
  city of Hermopolis. Ashmemnon is an important supplier of food for the 
  population of Hermopolis and is also known for the beautiful temple of 
  Mert, the goddess of music and song. This is a fairly new temple, built 
  early in the 37th Dynasty, and it is always full of music. The priests 
  actively work to create new music (to praise Mert but also the other gods 
  of Khemit) and have a small school where they teach the traditional 
  songs and musical instruments and also how to create new music. Many 
  musicians in the courts of the pharaoh and the viziers are either priests 
  of Mert or were trained in her school.
  ATEN-SEYAL, TOWN OF
  ATEN-SEYAL, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Administrator Haluza Hadid
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 3,924 (mostly Khemitite)
  This town lies in the curve of the Astebera River, separated from 
  the Ruby Sea by the Geb-el-Mardikh Mountains. A system of canals 
  provides water for agriculture, but the ground is not as fertile as the 
  valley of the Stygian so more work is required to supply the needs of the 
  area. Aten-Seyal is the headquarters and supply center of two different 
  mining operations that mine for diorite (for statues, memorial vases, and 
  similar carvings), and possibly other minerals in the nearby foothills. 
  Materials are shipped downriver by barge but must be transshipped at 
  the ﬁ rst cataract on the Stygian, just below the river’s junction with the 
  Astebera. Tales have been told for years about the riches that can be 
  found in the mountains, but whatever may be there doesn’t seem to be 
  making its way into this small town.
  AZUL-SEPTE, TOWN OF
  AZUL-SEPTE, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Third Lieutenant Mawas-heqt
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 1,183 (mostly Khemitite)
  Azul-Septe is an oasis town in the western desert of Khemit, a crucial 
  stop on the primary caravan route from Middle Khemit to Guurzan. 
  Isolated as it is, the town is protected by a sturdy mud-brick wall and a 
  military unit (stationed at the fortiﬁ ed caravanserai) whose commander 
  also acts as the town administrator. In addition to producing the food 
  they supply to the caravans, the people of Azul-Septe mine a nearby 
  supply of alum, an important additive for the dye process, where it is 
  used to ﬁ x color to ﬁ bers for cloth.
  BAQI, TOWN OF
  BAQI, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Administrator Mudir Avva
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 9,818 (mostly Khemitite)
  Baqi is near the northern border of Upper Khemit, southeast of 
  Elephantine. It sits on the small North Branch of the Astebera River 
  and is a nexus of caravan routes that run on the east side of the upper 
  Stygian River. This convenient location has led to prosperity for Baqi, 
  as it is the main supply point between Keruma and Nhut, a distance of 
  about 400 miles. Although Elephantine could easily supply caravans, 
  the rough terrain between the North Astebera and the Stygian makes 
  traveling through that area difﬁ cult.
  Between Baqi and the city of Luqsor to its west lies the Valley of the 
  Gods, a deep sandstone canyon several miles long into which are carved 
  massive temples and the tombs of many of the southern pharaohs. In 
  Baqi itself is the high seat of the temple of Meretseger, the cobra-headed 
  goddess who is the special protector of the Valley of the Gods. (See 
  “Valley of the Gods” below for more information.)
  BASTUS, CITY OF
  BASTUS, CITY OF
  Ruler: Principal Administrator Nabila-e-qamat
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 41,214 (mostly Khemitite)
  Bastus is in Lower Khemit, on the easternmost branch of the Stygian 
  delta. It is a thriving trading center, an important stop for caravans 
  headed to or from the area of Tahmakht, and was the capital of Khemit 
  in the 30th Dynasty. It is also near the beginning of the Canal of the 
  Pharaohs, which runs from the Stygian to Lake Trophimus and then to 
  the Gulf of Mafket, where it connects to the Ruby Sea. This increases 
  the amount of trade in Bastus as boats from the south transship their 
  goods for transit through the canal to the sea, and vice versa.
  The feature most visitors to Bastus notice immediately is the multitude 
  of cats wandering the streets, unmolested except for the occasional swat 
  with a straw broom. The reason, of course, is that the city is the high 
  seat of the temple of Bast, goddess of beauty and cats. While not the 
  only temple in the city, that of Bast is the largest and by far the most 
  beautiful. Canals run from the river along each side of the approach to 
  the entrance and then around the temple and on through the city. Some 
  cats are speciﬁ cally raised within the temple grounds but all cats are 
  welcomed there. The annual festival to Bast is one of the most popular 
  in the country and draws hundreds of thousands of people to the city. 
  The necropolis outside the city includes an area for cat burials, which at 
  this point is larger than the area for burying people.
  BUHEN, TOWN OF
  BUHEN, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Administrator Thanuro
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 4,653 (mostly Khemitite)
  Buhen is located on the west bank of the Stygian, between the river’s 
  second and third cataracts. It has been a source of copper, which is found 
  in the southern Harh-Ahu-Ra Hills, since the 4th Dynasty. Its primary 
  function now, however, is to defend against invasions from Qesh. The 
  fortress of Buhen was originally built in the 7th Dynasty as a protection 
  against Nubara. After the uniﬁ cation of the Triple Kingdom at the start 
  of the 10th Dynasty, that possible enemy was (largely) neutralized and 
  military commanders in Upper Khemit turned their attention to Qesh. 
  Buhen is the northernmost in a line of eight fortresses along the Stygian 
  toward Qesh. The fortiﬁ cations have changed hands from time to time, 
  but the frontier conﬂ ict has been mostly conﬁ ned to skirmishes since 
  the 32nd Dynasty. Even so, a large military unit stationed in Buhen 
  aggressively patrols the hills and border area.
  BUTO, CITY OF
  BUTO, CITY OF
  Ruler: Principal Administrator Nin-khamen Nazlit
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 98,158 (mostly Khemitite)
  The city of Buto is very proud of its great temple to the goddess Buto, 
  cobra-headed protector of Khemit in general, but pharaoh (and Lower 
  Khemit) in particular. The theme of the cobra is found throughout the city, 
  in carvings and paintings and in personal jewelry. The people are not so 
  welcoming of actual cobras, however. The creatures are considered holy 
  here and few kill them except in an extreme situation; instead the snake-
  catchers pick them up and carry them to the temple where they are kept in 
  special enclosures. The temple also houses the oracle of Buto, who gives 
  prophecies from the goddess. In addition, the city has a major temple to 
  Osiris located at some distance from Buto’s holy place.
  The city of Buto is located in the northern part of the delta of 
  the Stygian where the main and eastern branches of the Stygian 
  
  410|
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  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  reconnect before moving on to the sea. It is not as large a port or 
  trading center as some other delta cities, but it has major shipbuilding 
  facilities. Huge logs of cedar imported from Baalthaaz are made into 
  the seagoing vessels that guard the coast and carry on Khemit’s trade 
  with cities on both continents. Some logs are also used for the barges 
  that ply the Stygian.
  DAHRA, CITY OF
  DAHRA, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Paran-mot
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 14,852 (mostly Khemitite)
  Dahra is a major port on the Ruby Sea, the closest to the large population 
  of the Lower Kingdom. Many merchants transfer their goods to caravans 
  here for the trip up the coast and over to Hermopolis and nearby cities. 
  Those heading to the area of Menefet may choose to sail through the 
  Canal of the Pharaohs and then travel south from Bastus, but that may also 
  involve transferring goods depending on the size of the ship involved.
  At one time, ships intended for use in the Ruby Sea were built near 
  the Sea of Baal and sailed up the Stygian, then taken apart and carried 
  to Dahra where they were reconstructed. Since the construction of the 
  canal in the 15th Dynasty, any ships other than the largest can simply 
  travel from one sea to the other. In addition, due to the increase in 
  trade with countries farther south, appropriate wood for shipbuilding 
  is available through trade there and the large oceangoing ships for the 
  Ruby Sea and the Great Ocean Ûthaf are built at Ipret-Isus.
  The area around Dahra is also the source of porphyry, a rare deep purple 
  stone used in sculptures and architecture. The Hyperboreans called it 
  imperial porphyry and used it in many of their important buildings and 
  statues in Libynos. (It is unknown if they used it elsewhere; it has not yet 
  been identiﬁ ed in any other areas.) The stone is used in special locations 
  in Khemit, of course, but is also exported to Baalthaaz and even to Jaati. 
  No other source of imperial porphyry is known.
  DAKLA-AMUN, TOWN OF
  DAKLA-AMUN, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Administrator Fayruz
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 1,327 (mostly Khemitite)
  Dakla-Amun is located at the oasis of the same name, west of the 
  Harh-Ahu-Ra Hills. The town has a high mud-brick wall as protection 
  against bandits from the hills, but such attacks are infrequent enough that 
  Dakla-Amun rates only a single squad of soldiers under the command 
  of a young sergeant. Some caravans choose to travel through the town 
  on the way to the western oasis at Amut and on to Guurzan, but it is not 
  the most popular route. One key aspect of the oasis is a large deposit of 
  alum in the area, which is mined for use as a dye ﬁ xative for cloth. It is 
  important not only in Khemit but also in trade.
  DASAT, CITY OF
  DASAT, CITY OF
  Ruler: Principal Administrator Maneth-a-zebib
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 49,351 (mostly Khemitite)
  The city of Dasat is on the east bank of the Stygian in Lower Khemit. 
  It lies almost opposite the teeming metropolis of Menefet, and that has 
  been the single factor that most affected the growth and progress of the 
  city. Wealthy people who wanted to be out of the crush of the metropolis 
  built homes in Dasat, and gradually businesses grew to supply their 
  needs. While no longer a small town nor housing only the wealthy, 
  much of Dasat is still spacious thanks to the wide boulevards and plazas 
  built by the city’s architects. It is also a place used to thinking well of 
  its citizens. This means that some criminals who enjoy the trappings of 
  wealth (such as antiquities smugglers, for example) hide here in plain 
  sight while their neighbors remain unaware, because they can’t believe 
  anyone from Dasat could do something like that.
  DJANET, METROPOLIS OF
  DJANET, METROPOLIS OF
  Ruler: High Administrator Lael Timnath
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 101,447 (mostly Khemitite)
  Djanet is in the northwest corner of Tahmakht on Lake Trophimus. At 
  one time, it had access to the sea because a distributary of the Stygian 
  River ﬂ owed through the area, but the mouth of the river silted up and 
  left only the lake. The construction of the Canal of the Pharaohs in the 
  15th Dynasty again opened the possibility of water travel to the Sea of 
  Baal and also to the Ruby Sea and the Stygian. This made Djanet a major 
  trade center, the crossroads of routes by land to Numeda, Baalthaaz, and 
  Antioch to the north, and by sea along the Ruby Sea and to the eastern 
  coasts of northern and southern Libynos.
  The city was the royal capital of Khemit during the 22nd Dynasty. 
  Djanet is now the capital of the governate of Tahmakht, though in times 
  of tension with Numeda the governor moves the military headquarters 
  to Ascalon. The primary temples here are a set of three dedicated to the 
  triad of Amun, Mût, and Chons. (See “Thybos, Metropolis of” below 
  for more information on these deities.) The city also has the high seat of 
  the temple of Heru, the hawk-headed god of law and order and patron 
  of the pharaoh. 
  DUNQAR, TOWN OF
  DUNQAR, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Administrator Nhu-Ahmose
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 1,641 (mostly Khemitite)
  Dunqar is an oasis town in the southern part of the Western Desert, 
  east of the Harh-Ahu-Ra Hills. It sits on a trade route that goes from 
  Middle Khemit and Elephantine into Qesh, or up through the Western 
  Desert into southern Guurzan. Troops patrolling out of the military 
  headquarters at Buhen discourage bandits, but nothing can keep them 
  away completely. Of course, Dunqar has its own small military unit 
  stationed out of a fortiﬁ ed caravanserai, so the town itself is generally 
  safe. The oasis area also has a population of wild sand cats that roam the 
  area, similar to the oasis town of Kurkar. (See “Kurkar, Town of” below 
  for more information.)
  EDEFU, CITY OF
  EDEFU, CITY OF
  Ruler: Principal Administrator Qalanas-Iqbal
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 57,581 (mostly Khemitite)
  Edefu is on the east bank of the Stygian, about 35 miles south of 
  Thybos. The oldest part of the city is thought to date back to the 6th 
  Dynasty, and at times it has been an important administrative center, 
  especially for the Hyperborean Empire when it had a presence in 
  Khemit. The city’s most important feature, though, is the high seat 
  of the temple of Horus, the falcon-headed god of law and war and 
  protector of the pharaoh. A new temple was built during the 33rd 
  Dynasty to replace one that had stood for millennia. The red sandstone 
  building has been maintained in excellent condition, and many travel 
  to see the carvings on the interior walls and the 50-foot-tall statues 
  of Horus as a falcon wearing the crown of the triple kingdom. The 
  temple’s scale is impressive, with a 50-foot-high arched gateway 
  leading into the 400-foot-long main building. The area is surrounded 
  by a 20-foot-high wall that is probably superﬂ uous in this civilized 
  day but may not have been when the temple was built more than 
  1,000 years ago.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  ELEPHANTINE, METROPOLIS OF
  ELEPHANTINE, METROPOLIS OF
  Ruler: High Administrator Intef Bakenamon
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 162,368 (mostly Khemitite)
  Elephantine is the capital city of Upper Khemit and is located north of 
  the ﬁ rst cataract of the Stygian River. It was also the royal capital during 
  the 26th and 27th Dynasties, and again during the 36th Dynasty when 
  pharaohs of Nubiar ancestry had the throne. 
  The city is built partly on a wide island in the Stygian and partly 
  on the eastern bank of the river. The name of the city is thought to 
  refer to a group of large gray stones on the island, which from a 
  distance look vaguely like a herd of elephants. Legend says they 
  were such creatures at one time, but they were too costly to feed so 
  the great sorcerer who owned them turned them to stone until he had 
  need of them again.
  While various deities are honored with temples on the mainland, 
  the island has one major temple to the god Khnemu, deity of creation 
  and invention. Near his temple stands a clever ancient invention: a 
  stygometer used to measure the height of the river at ﬂ ood season. It is a 
  stone corridor into which the river can ﬂ ow; stone steps go down to low-
  water level with each calculated step numbered with both Khemitian 
  and Hyperborean numbers. Elephantine also has a large university. 
  While it gives the usual teaching in subjects helpful to Khemitian civil 
  servants, its faculty includes instructors from the former area of Nubara, 
  Meroë, and other parts of central Libynos. This means its philosophies 
  and methods can be very different than universities in Thybos and 
  northern areas of the country.
  FARNOC, CITY OF
  FARNOC, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Nektnebe-hezir
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 10,620 (mostly Khemitite)
  Farnoc lies 60 miles west by caravan track of the great city of Thybos. 
  Centrally located among several important caravan routes, the city has a 
  regiment of the army’s cavalry posted to it as well as hosting an ofﬁ ce of 
  the Utchatu, the criminal investigatory arm of the government’s security 
  service. In addition, rough, rocky hills somewhat north of the town are 
  a source of basalt. The dark stone is used for statues and vessels, and 
  sometimes for paving stones in necropolises.
  GARZUL, CITY OF
  GARZUL, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Shum-Ukin
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 29,327 (mostly Khemitite)
  Garzul is on the northern coast of Tahmakht, between Raffe and 
  Ascalon. At the shore is a port on the Sea of Baal, with some warehouses 
  and other buildings around it, but the city proper sits about a mile inland. 
  Garzul is well fortiﬁ ed, being only a few dozen miles from the nebulous 
  border between Khemit and the country of Numeda. A strong army unit 
  is stationed here for security and to provide support to the primary border 
  units in Ascalon. The wind off the Sea of Baal brings the area enough 
  moisture to support brewing and winemaking as proﬁ table industries, 
  for export to the rest of Khemit as well as other parts of Tahmakht.
  GEARA, CITY OF
  GEARA, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Zalmon Kebar
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 26,575 (mostly Khemitite)
  Geara is located on the Heshbon River in southern Tahmakht. It is near 
  the eastern extent of Khemitian control and, being subject to occasional 
  attack by roving bands from Numeda, boasts a high, thick city wall. The 
  strong military unit stationed here is responsible for protecting both the 
  city itself and the nearby mines and their workers.
  Despite having access to the river’s water, the rocky soil about Geara 
  makes for poor cropland. Many locals herd goats and sheep in the hills. 
  Others work in the nearby copper and iron mines, which provide the 
  region’s major trade exports. The copper mines are quite old, and having 
  been worked over hundreds of years, are on the verge of depletion. 
  From the products of the iron mines, the Tahmakhtim produce various 
  types of bladed weapons, breastplates, and tools. They are able to send 
  goods by caravan to Djanet or ship them from Geara’s small port on the 
  Heshbon, which is served by small boats that come up through the Gulf 
  of Tahmakht from the Ruby Sea.
  Residents of Geara have a temple to Sekhmet and one to Menu, and 
  some shrines to Khemitian deities such as Tuart for personal protection, 
  but they are not a pious people. They do have a lot of superstitions, 
  though, and invoke unspeciﬁ ed blessings or protections by their use. 
  Close study would show that many of these superstitions seem related 
  to the old gods of ancient Peleshtia. The Khemitian authorities are 
  unaware of the old temples cut deep into the Jeshennin Mountains and 
  are oblivious to the fact that some still worship there.
  GEBIT, TOWN OF
  GEBIT, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Administrator Ezek-minya
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 5,842 (mostly Khemitite)
  Gebit sits east of the Stygian in Middle Khemit near the large easterly 
  bend in the river north and east of Thybos. It is an important caravan 
  stop at the intersection between the road along the east bank of the 
  river and the route to the Ruby Sea at Mersa Gawasis. As such, a strong 
  military unit is stationed here to protect the numerous caravans from 
  bandits in the Ruby Hills. The city is also the headquarters for some 
  mining expeditions into the Eastern Desert. 
  Gebit was an important religious center during the Old Triple Kingdom 
  (14th to 17th dynasties), but was later overshadowed by Thybos. It was 
  previously the high seat of the temple of Min, and although that seat has 
  since moved (to Akhetaten), Min is still popularly worshipped here as a 
  sky god as well as a fertility deity. 
  GETHE, CITY OF
  GETHE, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Adni Rezin
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 22,594 (mostly Khemitite)
  Gethe is in the interior of Tahmakht, which is located in an oasis 
  area where canals are used to water its ﬁ elds. As one of the cities on 
  the border of Khemitian control, it has a high strong wall to protect 
  it against incursions from Numeda. The declared mission of the 
  military unit stationed here is to patrol against bandits, but everyone 
  knows its real purpose is to scout the border and protect the city from 
  Numedan raids.
  Gethe has designated speciﬁ c areas for industry and production in 
  accordance with careful planning at the time the city was built. It is 
  surrounded by huge olive groves and possesses scores of facilities for 
  pressing olive oil and storing and sealing it in ceramic jars. The oil is 
  shipped through Garzul to cities of the delta. 
  In the city is a temple of Isis, goddess of fertility and magic. Although 
  the current priestess performs all the proper rituals for the land and crops, 
  rumor has it that she is much more interested in esoteric types of magic 
  than in more common kinds of service. The other priests at the temple 
  would seem to conﬁ rm this, as they are constantly doing research and 
  often unavailable to help any but the most generous patrons.
  
  412|
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  GHIZEH, CITY OF
  GHIZEH, CITY OF
  Ruler: Principal Administrator Khersa-es-menre
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 41,787 (mostly Khemitite)
  A dozen miles north of Menefet, Ghizeh (or, rather, its necropolis) 
  possesses the most-recognizable monuments in all of Khemit. On a 
  plateau west of the city stand several mighty pyramids of pharaohs from 
  the 4th through 8th dynasties, making them more than 4,000 years old. 
  The pyramids are surrounded by other tombs of royal family members 
  and nobles. The largest tomb is the Great Pyramid of Udimu, founder 
  of the 6th Dynasty. Not to be outdone, Pharaoh Teti of the 7th Dynasty 
  built a pyramid and also a huge sphinx that is thought to have his face. 
  The pyramids and the sphinx have been depicted many times in 
  artwork and seen by people thousands of miles away, who otherwise 
  know nothing of Khemit. When conquerors from the Hyperborean 
  Empire ﬁ rst saw the Great Sphinx, they were awed and adopted it as 
  a symbol of faraway places. It was used as the ofﬁ cial symbol of the 
  Imperial Mercantile League, a worldwide organization of traders who 
  designated it the “Sphinx of Boros.” Although the Great Sphinx has 
  nothing at all to do with the ancient northern continent of Boros (and 
  it seems doubtful that area has ever been visited by a real sphinx), the 
  widespread use of the symbol made the Great Sphinx probably the best-
  known monument in the world.
  Ghizeh is not only a city of the dead, however. It has its share of 
  markets and temples and one other thing that brings people to the city 
  — a zoological collection. What began as a pharaoh’s menagerie now 
  includes creatures from all over Libynos as well as a rare few native to 
  Akados. They are mostly housed in displays purporting to be similar 
  to their natural environments, which are sustained by a combination of 
  expert design and magical power.
  HAATH-GENURIT, TOWN OF
  HAATH-GENURIT, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Fifth Lieutenant Sherr-avva
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 821 (mostly Khemitite)
  Haath-Genurit, the westernmost oasis in Khemit, is located just 
  outside the northwest edge of the Assal-Aat Depression. The suspicious, 
  insular people of this fortiﬁ ed town (including many of the soldiers 
  assigned to the local army unit) are more closely related to the tribes of 
  southern Guurzan than they are to most Khemitites. The oasis is used 
  infrequently by caravans; most choose the more easterly route through 
  Dakla-Amun. When given the opportunity, the inhabitants trade in a 
  very white, ﬁ ne-grained salt.
  HAMI, TOWN OF
  HAMI, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Administrator Antara
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 9,813 (mostly Khemitite)
  This town in the Eastern Desert near the southern Ruby Hills is known 
  as an excellent source of alabaster. Carvings dedicated to Bast have been 
  especially popular over many years (and there is a small temple to her 
  here), but alabaster is most often used for canopic jars and other burial 
  objects, sometimes even things as large as a sarcophagus. It is mined 
  in blocks, then cut and worked at workshops in the town and shipped 
  throughout Khemit. Hami is also a military center for its section of the 
  Eastern Desert and has been since the 3rd Dynasty, with several units 
  headquartered here to patrol the caravan routes as protection against 
  bandits. The high seat of Menu, falcon-headed god of war, is a small 
  but elaborate building constructed and maintained over the years by the 
  soldiers of the garrison.
  HELIOPOLIS, CITY OF
  HELIOPOLIS, CITY OF
  Ruler: Principal Administrator Jeren Dar-mennas
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 96,676 (mostly Khemitite)
  When the Hyperborean Empire conquered Khemit during the 13th 
  Dynasty, they went about integrating it into their empire. The royal 
  capital was moved to Menefet, and the Hyperboreans built a city for 
  themselves nearby on the east bank of the Stygian. They named it 
  Heliopolis and built a temple to Ra as well as those to their own gods. 
  A century later, that temple started an academy to teach the youth of the 
  Hyperboreans side by side with exceptional youth or nobles’ children 
  from Khemit to help develop understanding between the two disparate 
  cultures. Seeing the success of the academy, the Hyperboreans founded 
  a university in the city.
  The Academy of Ra at Heliopolis and the Hyperborean University 
  of Khemit remain in existence to this day. As it did in the days of the 
  Empire, the academy continues to educate the children of foreigners and 
  Khemitites side by side. The university, which is not afﬁ liated with any 
  temple, teaches a wide range of topics and accepts students from all over 
  the world, though few attend from outside Libynos.
  HERMOPOLIS, METROPOLIS OF
  HERMOPOLIS, METROPOLIS OF
  Ruler: High Administrator Rifa’a Kagemni
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 115,906 (mostly Khemitite)
  The city of Hermopolis is located at a conﬂ uence of the River Stygian 
  and the Bakhari tributary in Lower Khemit. During ﬂ ood season, this 
  convergence makes the river a muddy expanse more than two miles wide 
  that attracts tens of thousands of storks and ﬂ amingoes. Their cacophony 
  can be heard more than a mile from the river.
  Hermopolis is widely known as a center of learning and sophistication. 
  It has the high seat of the temple of Thoth, ibis-headed god of knowledge 
  and magic. It is overseen by Shemsi Neteru-f, high priest of Thoth and 
  also archpriest of all Khemit. The temple includes a major library called 
  the Thocaenum, which claims to rival the one at Pharos in the size of its 
  collection, though its content is more religiously oriented. The temple also 
  runs a major university in the metropolis that produces scholars highly 
  sought after by the royal court of Khemit and by administrators throughout 
  the kingdom. In addition, Hermopolis is the high seat of the temple of 
  Khnemu, god of creation and invention.
  IKKOR, CITY OF
  IKKOR, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Mose-ky-nebu
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 17,665 (mostly Khemitite)
  Ikkor is located on the west bank of the Stygian, just south of the 
  conﬂ uence with the Astebera River and of the ﬁ rst cataract. It is the ﬁ rst 
  stop on the westbound trade route out of Elephantine, but it is so close 
  to the origination point that few caravans stop long enough to proﬁ t the 
  city much.
  The bucolic peace of Ikkor has been disturbed in the past year or 
  so by an inﬂ ux of strangers from the north and south. Many of them 
  claim to be prospecting in the rough land around the cataract, but they 
  don’t seem to be showing any results for that. Given that strangers 
  dressed in outﬁ ts of black have been seen slipping in and out of town 
  after dark, citizens are suspicious but can point to no actual criminal 
  activity; not even any chickens have gone missing. One rumor is that 
  these dark strangers are assassins with plans to kill the pharaoh or 
  perhaps just the vizier. Another is that they have a hidden temple to 
  the evil spirit Aapep, the black serpent and destroyer, and it is only a 
  matter of time before they start kidnapping people as sacriﬁ ces to their 
  dark lord.
  
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  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  INHY, CITY OF
  INHY, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Shuna-wiris
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 21,472 (mostly Khemitite)
  Located on the Stygian River just a few miles northwest of the royal 
  capital of Thybos, Inhy is home to many of the people who speciﬁ cally 
  serve the pharaoh (such as craftsmen or laborers), and to the priests who 
  tend the great Necropolis lying outside the capital city. It is also the high 
  seat of the temple of Anqet, goddess of water and rivers — the Stygian 
  in particular. Many Khemitites all along the great river pray to her for 
  the fertility of their crops. The temple has an elaborate stygometer, a 
  structure for measuring the level of the Stygian River during its ﬂ ood 
  season and predicting a coming famine or disastrous inundation. This 
  involves a channel that runs from the river into a deep cistern inside the 
  temple. Stairs descending along the inside of the well allow access to 
  the measuring column set in its center. It is read by the priests of Anqet, 
  though the pharaoh himself has been known to view it on occasion.
  IPRET-ISUS, CITY OF
  IPRET-ISUS, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Hamat-silsa
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 27,727 (mostly Khemitite)
  Ipret-Isus is a major port, the ﬁ rst reached by ships coming to Khemit 
  via the mouth of the Ruby Sea. It is a transshipment location for materials 
  going to and from Upper Khemit and much of the Middle Kingdom, as 
  well as the major shipbuilding center on the Ruby Sea. The city is the 
  home port of a signiﬁ cant force of the Khemitian navy, although few 
  naval ships are in port at any given time. The force patrols inside the 
  Ruby Sea to keep merchant vessels safe from Numedan pirates on the 
  east coast. However, it also looks out for the safety of Khemitian ships 
  and the pharaoh’s interests along a lengthy part of the coast north and 
  south of the mouth of the Ruby Sea. 
  Ipret-Isus sits on the shore of a sheltered bay, with the Isle of Scorpions 
  offshore. The bay is home to a large group of dolphins that usually stay 
  out of the way of moving vessels; they are thought to bring luck to ships, 
  so few threaten them in any way. Individual dolphins do occasionally 
  splash or otherwise annoy smaller boats, however.
  Unseen by the foreigners who crowd the port and unknown even by 
  most of the Khemitites traveling through, an ancient temple is hidden 
  among the hills a short distance from Ipret-Isus. It is dedicated to the 
  group of deities collectively known as the Okdo-ad, the personiﬁ ed 
  essential forces of nature. Four male-female couples represent the 
  primordial waters, the invisible powers of the air, darkness itself, and 
  inﬁ nity. These forces, worshipped in what is now Khemit before the 
  kingdom was founded 5,000 years ago, are acknowledged by few today 
  except in times of natural crises. They do still have active priests, some 
  of whom leave the temple here to wander the countryside of Khemit. 
  These priests are not part of the ofﬁ cial pharaonic religious hierarchy, 
  and any powers they have seem to come directly from nature.
  ISHANTAR, CITY OF
  ISHANTAR, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Caphtos-min
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 18,542 (mostly Khemitite)
  The city of Ishantar is a prosperous community on the east bank of the 
  Stygian about 35 miles south of Menefet. Few barges stop at its docks, 
  however, and boatmen are very careful as they pass through its waters due 
  to the high number of crocodiles in the river here. Ishantar is the high seat 
  of the temple of Sebk, crocodile-headed god of water and evil, so merchants 
  with goods for Ishantar generally transport them by caravan rather than 
  going by river and risking a confrontation with the sacred crocodiles.
  Much of the temple of Sebk is built with no stairs — only ramps 
  — to make it easier for holy crocodiles to enter. Within the temple, 
  however, are stairs behind closed doors, to lead priests and adherents to 
  altars where they can worship without the presence of the god’s hungry 
  children. (In actual fact, the crocodiles around the temple are kept well-
  fed by the priests, and so, unless harassed, typically leave people alone.) 
  The temple has been rebuilt and expanded over the years. The oldest 
  portion was built on a rock foundation into which crypts have been 
  carved for interring the remains of priests of Sebk. Also buried in the old 
  section are the mummiﬁ ed remains of hundreds of sacred crocodiles, 
  from those barely over a foot long, which rest in groups in lidded jars, 
  to one that exceeds 12 feet.
  The entire city seems to be affected by the presence of the temple 
  and the example of its priests. The people tend to be callous and 
  spiteful, and the soldiers of the local garrison are bullies. Even the 
  city’s administration is corrupt — something otherwise quite rare in the 
  Khemitian bureaucracy.
  KARPATHOS, CITY OF
  KARPATHOS, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lord Gyges Tefre, Admiral Governor of Karpathos
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 13,143 (mostly Khemitite)
  The city of Karpathos lies on the bay at the east end of the Island of 
  Karpathos in the Sea of Baal, and is the island’s primary settlement. It 
  hosts a critical naval base for Khemit and protects the nation’s shipping 
  and makes possible coordinated movement against enemy ships. The 
  admiral who governs the island reports jointly to pharaoh and the marshal 
  of Khemit (who is also the minister of war), and answers only to them. 
  Although a few civilian ﬁ shing boats sail from the southern edge of the 
  bay, and there is a provision for merchant ships in the northernmost 
  piers, most of the facilities in the bay are directly in support of the navy.
  KERENUS, CITY OF
  KERENUS, CITY OF
  Ruler: Principal Administrator Amenemope
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 31,507 (mostly Khemitite)
  Kerenus sits on the shore of Lake Sekhem in the Makir Hills of 
  northern Khemit. The primary industry here is quarrying and carving 
  red sandstone for temples and monuments. The stone is shipped down 
  the river on barges and used as far south as Elephantine and Luqsor. In 
  addition, the area produces some celestite, an unusual mineral named 
  for its pale blue color and used as a gemstone or for carvings. Kerenus 
  is also the high seat of the temple of Geb, god of the earth and one of the 
  most important deities of Khemit. His temple is constructed primarily 
  of the local sandstone, but its architects also employed stone from other 
  areas of Khemit, including white limestone from near Ghizeh, serpentine 
  from the west, and marble, granite, diorite, and porphyry from the hills 
  and mountains along the Ruby Sea.
  KERUMA, TOWN OF
  KERUMA, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Administrator Sennefer
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 7,482 (mostly Khemitite)
  Keruma lies on the east bank of the Stygian River where it curves 
  through the southern Harh-Ahu-Ra Hills. It is the most southerly town 
  in Khemit proper. (Nampata, which is farther south, is ofﬁ cially in the 
  Nubiar Oversight.) At one time, Keruma was the capital of the Kingdom 
  of Nubara, but since that country was largely incorporated into Khemit 
  almost 4,000 years ago, the city has been slowly but inevitably 
  dwindling in importance. The old city was surrounded by a substantial 
  wall that encompassed a palace and several nearby mansions, as well as 
  houses and workshops for the common people. Today, only the northern 
  part of the old city is still occupied. Most of the original buildings were 
  made from mudbrick and, in the unoccupied sections, have deteriorated 
  signiﬁ cantly over the ensuing millennia. The old palace and mansions 
  
  414|
  414|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  were constructed of mudbrick on stone foundations, so large parts of 
  them remain standing.
  Outside Keruma are two unusual structures the locals call deffufas, 
  large buildings once apparently used for religious purposes. One is 
  southwest of the city, not far from the river, up against a cluster of 
  hills. Built of mudbrick, though much better preserved than the smaller 
  buildings in the old city, it looks as if it could be used as a fortress. 
  Overall, it is about 160 feet by 80 feet, though it does not deﬁ ne a 
  regular rectangle. In places, the structure seems to be only one story 
  tall (about 20 feet), while elsewhere the roof is as high as 60 feet. Parts 
  seem to have been built right into the hillside. The roof is ﬂ at and could 
  have been used for either ceremonies or defense. No one in Keruma 
  will admit to having been inside the structure; while an outsider might 
  be eager to explore, the locals have an aversion to the place and try to 
  hinder anyone who publicly discusses going there.
  The second deffufa, smaller than the ﬁ rst and built east of the old 
  city, appears to be in part one story tall and in part two stories, about 40 
  feet at the highest. It sits at the north end of an extensive necropolis that 
  contains tens of thousands of burials. Some of these are truly ancient, 
  being (as the locals claim) much older than the Kingdom of Khemit 
  itself. The pattern shows large graves — apparently those of important 
  people — surrounded by groups of smaller ones. The oldest ones are 
  covered with mounds of black and white pebbles, while later tombs are 
  surmounted by pyramids in the Khemitian style. At the southern end of 
  the necropolis are four very large, elaborate mounds which the people 
  of Keruma say are the tombs of the last four kings of the free Kingdom 
  of Nubara.
  KHARKHA, TOWN OF
  KHARKHA, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Administrator Agaw-begawe
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 1,432 (mostly Khemitite)
  Kharkha is the largest of the oases in the western desert. The town is 
  built around some of the dozens of springs within an area about ﬁ ve miles 
  wide and 10 miles long, in a valley about 10 times that size. Kharkha is a 
  major caravan crossroads, and the valley shows the results of millennia 
  of use. One example is a ruined temple nearly 2,000 years old (possibly 
  built for the worship of Amut, Mût, and Chons) with palm-frond pillars 
  supporting what remains of the roof, walls shaped like papyrus scrolls 
  and covered with ancient carvings, and a long hallway lined with statues 
  of ram-headed sphinxes. A ruined fortress of the Hyperboreans sits on 
  a raised plateau within the valley, its wall gradually crumbling but its 
  numerous guard towers still mostly intact. 
  KURKAR, TOWN OF
  KURKAR, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Administrator Hebt-Keﬁ a
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 6,109 (mostly Khemitite)
  Kurkar is located at an oasis in the Western Desert, between Elephantine 
  and the Harh-Ahu-Ra Hills. It is the site of a former tributary of the 
  Stygian that is now merely a series of shallow watering holes supplied 
  by a slow underground spring. The land rises west of the Stygian, so 
  Kurkar is on a plateau that continues to rise toward the hills to the west. 
  The oasis area is well-supplied with date palms and other crops that can 
  be grown in poorer soils. The town itself has a sturdy wall and a military 
  unit to guard it, and a fortiﬁ ed caravanserai for travelers. The oasis 
  attracts gazelles and other wild animals, including small rodents, and 
  those rodents seem to have attracted the elusive small felines known as 
  sand cats. These wild cats, barely larger than a domesticated cat, drink 
  very little since they get most of their liquid from their prey. Having 
  a ready source of prey close at hand is not something to reject in the 
  desert, though, so the evasive sand cats have made themselves at home 
  around the edges of the oasis. The town of Dunqar to the southwest 
  along the trade route is also known to have a population of sand cats.
  KURNEK, CITY OF
  KURNEK, CITY OF
  Ruler: Principal Administrator Enumahotep
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 39,130 (mostly Khemitite)
  On the eastern bank of the Stygian, opposite the capital city of Thybos, 
  lies the temple city of Kurnek. Begun in the 19th Dynasty, it has been 
  expanded by nearly all of the 20 dynasties since until now the temple 
  complex/city sprawls more than a mile in each direction. It is crowded 
  with temples or shrines to nearly every deity of Khemit, plus pillared 
  walks, rows of statuary, and other religious venues. If that maze of building 
  wasn’t enough, Kurnek is also a busy city with little markets ﬁ lling up 
  courtyards, rows of small houses built along the backs of noble temples, 
  and people everywhere offering food, lodging, or religious trinkets to the 
  thousands of visitors. Most notable of the religious ediﬁ ces is the temple 
  of Amun, with 70-foot-tall pillars in its great hall.
  LUQSOR, CITY OF
  LUQSOR, CITY OF
  Ruler: Principal Administrator Nefersekheru
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 42,284 (mostly Khemitite)
  The city of Luqsor is south of Elephantine in the rocky desert east of 
  the ﬁ rst cataract of the Stygian. Watered by canals, it is populated mostly 
  by priests, artisans, and workers of the government in Elephantine. It is 
  best known, though, for its temples to important gods of the Khemitian 
  pantheon. Built of sandstone from the surrounding canyons, the dozen 
  large temples that ﬁ ll the city have a uniﬁ ed look despite having been 
  ﬁ nished over hundreds of years. Most are credited to pharaohs of the 
  26th or 27th dynasties, when pharaohs of Nubiar heritage ﬁ rst moved 
  the royal capital to Elephantine. Deities honored are Ptah, Isis, Osiris, 
  Ra, Nephthys, Thoth, Horus, Set, Amun, Geb, and Apis. (Due to 
  superstitions surrounding the ﬁ rst god of the dead, Anubis has no true 
  temples other than the ancient one at the city of Anubis.) Other deities, 
  or lesser aspects of these primary deities, are represented at rock-cut 
  temples in the walls of the sandstone canyons between Luqsor and Baqi.
  MENEFET, METROPOLIS OF
  MENEFET, METROPOLIS OF
  Ruler: High Administrator Amte Numhotep
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 1,973,888 (mostly Khemitite)
  Menefet has been the capital of Khemit several times over the 
  thousands of years. In particular, when the Hyperborean Empire took 
  control of Khemit, they established Menefet as the royal capital because 
  it gave them easier access to the native government. Furthermore, as 
  the capital of the Lower Kingdom, Menefet has been a seat of power 
  even when the royal capital was elsewhere. It is a huge city, one of the 
  largest in the world, and is the most likely place in Khemit to encounter 
  people from throughout the Lost Lands. Its commercial port area is 
  incredibly busy, as it is a primary distribution point for food and other 
  goods entering and leaving the kingdom.
  Menefet is the ﬁ nancial center of Khemit and the entire desert region 
  of central Libynos. Markets exist here for the trade of commodities 
  that will never pass through Menefet but are for delivery elsewhere in 
  Khemit, in other nations of Libynos, or beyond. The city includes large 
  markets in gems and other valuables, and trades raw materials as well 
  as worked stones. It goes without saying that a city of this size has a 
  huge underworld, and the black markets in Menefet thrive almost as 
  well as the ofﬁ cial markets. One big underground enterprise in Menefet 
  provides for the trade in antiquities. Authorization to acquire the ancient 
  relics of past dynasties and empires comes and goes based on the whims 
  of the pharaohs, but the desire for them by collectors seems never to go 
  out of season.
  As might be expected for a city with such a distinguished history, 
  several religious hierarchies have their high seats in Menefet. The most 
  
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  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  important of these is the god Ptah, creator of the universe and of the other 
  gods, and the patron deity of Menefet. Great bulls are raised near the city 
  and sacriﬁ ced during his ceremonies. Of second importance is the high 
  seat of the temple to Osiris, lord of the underworld and judge of souls. 
  Other deities of Khemit whose high seats are in Menefet are Amun, the 
  ram-headed god of sky and sun; Hathor, the beautiful goddess of music, 
  dance, and other arts; Seker, hawk-headed deity of light and dark, life 
  and death; and Sekhmet, lion-headed goddess of war and retribution. 
  The city also has temples of one size or another to the full pantheon of 
  Hyperborean gods; a good-sized temple to the desert deity Mah-Barek; 
  one to Anumon, god of gates, whose worship originated in neighboring 
  Numeda; and religious ediﬁ ces of various types to many deities from 
  throughout Libynos as well other parts of the world.
  The Necropolis of Saghara, a few miles south of Menefet, was the royal 
  burial ground beginning in the 2nd Dynasty when Menefet was the capital 
  of the Conjoined Double Kingdom of Khemit. These early burials took 
  place in underground galleries, but in the 4th Dynasty, kings began to build 
  pyramids here, ﬁ rst a step pyramid and then several others. (These ancient 
  pyramids are in poor condition, so few people come to view them; most 
  visit the slightly later pyramids at Gizeh, which are more impressive.) 
  Later, nobles were also buried here, primarily in rectangular tombs called 
  mastabas. During dynasties when the royal capital has been elsewhere, 
  the necropolis has been used for burial of non-noble (but usually wealthy) 
  people, and specialized religious ceremonies.
   MERSA GAWASIS, CITY OF
   MERSA GAWASIS, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Qattam-uk
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 23,919 (mostly Khemitite)
  Mersa Gawasis is a port city on the Ruby Sea, but it is best known for 
  its natural beauty and excellent climate, and so is a popular location for 
  wealthy Khemitites (or even foreigners) to have a second home when 
  they want to be away from the city or desert. The city stretches along the 
  sea, with docks for pleasure boats to the north and those for merchant 
  vessels and ﬁ shing boats more to the south. The water along the coast is 
  very clear and such underwater sights as coral reefs and octopi can be 
  viewed from the cushioned comfort of a hired boat. Many people from 
  inside and outside Khemit come to spend time in one of the city’s many 
  guesthouses, enjoy the pleasant climate, and marvel at the splendors of 
  the sea. The city has a beautiful, modern temple to Hamehit, goddess of 
  water, ﬁ sh, and the seas, and its carved fountains and tiled pools with 
  their ﬁ sh playing are considered a must-see for all travelers.
  NAMPATA, CITY OF
  NAMPATA, CITY OF
  Ruler: Principal Administrator Kemheribsen
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 75,063 (mostly Khemitite)
  Nampata lies on the Stygian River, two days’ travel east of the 
  conﬂ uence of the Stygian and the Setesh River, west of where the 
  Stygian curves around the northern margins of the Mutabar Hills. It is 
  the capital of Khemit’s southernmost possession, the Nubiar Oversight, 
  and the royal seat of the prince who governs it. (See “Nubiar Oversight” 
  below for more information.) 
  The city has a prominent temple to Amun and a temple to Hapy; the 
  god of the waters is as important to Nampata as he is to other cities north 
  along the Stygian. A university, sponsored by the pharaoh, provides the 
  training necessary to be a successful government scribe or scholar as 
  well as instruction in a wide range of general knowledge. Being, as it 
  is, at the end of a very long communications chain, Nampata is well-
  supplied with military units to protect the city in case of incursions 
  by Qesh or Meroë, or rebellion by the local population. However, 
  Nampata has been mostly peaceful for almost 100 years. Under those 
  circumstances, it has grown prosperous from trade, including gold 
  mined in the southern portion of the Geb-el-Mardikh Mountains and 
  exotic items from Meroë, Aethiope, and other parts south.
  NAQT, CITY OF
  NAQT, CITY OF
  Ruler: Principal Administrator Makkedah Geb-ibil
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 63,194 (mostly Khemitite)
  The city of Naqt sits where a major distributary leaves the Stygian in 
  the delta. The capital of Khemit during the 31st Dynasty, it is now the 
  military center of northern Khemit and the headquarters of the units in 
  cities along the Stygian, scattered throughout the Western Desert, and in 
  Tahmakht. It also has the responsibility of overseeing the protection of 
  the coast and delta from invasion. Military personnel make up a large 
  proportion of the population, and many of the businesses cater to the 
  soldiers. Temples in the city honor several different Khemitian gods of 
  protection or war, plus Mithras, the soldiers’ god of the Hyperboreans. 
  Southwest of the city is an extensive necropolis that includes the burial 
  sites of many high-ranking ofﬁ cers.
  The Necropolis of Terenouti southwest of Naqt has been in use since 
  about the 19th Dynasty. Many important military leaders are buried in 
  the vaulted tombs here and some common soldiers as well, especially 
  those of the Hyperborean Empire. During the time of its inﬂ uence over 
  Khemit, this was the ofﬁ cial military cemetery for those who wanted to 
  be buried in the place of their service. A temple to the goddess Solanus 
  overlooks the Hyperborean section. Smaller temples to Isis, Tuart, and 
  Bes are also found in the necropolis.
  NEKHEB, CITY OF
  NEKHEB, CITY OF
  Ruler: Principal Administrator Horem-Gerizon
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 75,176 (mostly Khemitite)
  This bustling city stretches for more than two miles along the eastern 
  bank of the Stygian, about 50 miles south of the capital city of Thybos. 
  Steep sandstone cliffs border the city on the north and south, and the same 
  sandstone is easy to recognize in Nekheb’s temples and civic buildings. 
  The city is dedicated to Nekhbet, the vulture goddess, a deity of protection 
  and war, and the high seat of her temple is found here. This temple is 
  home to the goddess’s oracle, the oldest ofﬁ ce of oracle in all Khemit. 
  Nekheb is an ancient city that dates back to before the founding of 
  the conjoined double kingdoms. It has been a prominent administrative 
  center during several dynasties, and many important ofﬁ cials are buried 
  in the rock-cut tombs of its necropolis, including regional governors, 
  archpriests of Khemit, and one well-known admiral whose ships saved 
  the country from an invasion. Parts of the sandstone cliffs are covered 
  with carvings, some of which seem to be very old and of uncertain 
  origin. It has been several generations since anyone cared to investigate 
  them, so there may or may not be anyone now who recalls the purpose 
  of the carvings.
  NEKHEFT, CITY OF
  NEKHEFT, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Tahpanhes
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 23,599 (mostly Khemitite)
  Nekheft is in the Eastern Desert, on the trade route from Nekheb 
  on the Stygian River to Ipret-Isus on the Ruby Sea. The city has an 
  important temple of Horus, who is sometimes said to be the consort 
  of Nekhbet, the region’s preeminent goddess. The city is surrounded 
  by a mudbrick wall some 38 feet thick that encompasses a space about 
  three times the area currently occupied by its residents. This is the third 
  wall built over the millennia the city has been in existence, and this one 
  (set on a foundation of the previous walls) was intended to provide for 
  plenty of growth. This has been quite convenient for caravans, as they 
  are able to camp inside the wall without crowding any area of the city. 
  As a result, Nekheft is a popular overnight stop, and the city’s people 
  have developed additional services to gain as many coins as possible 
  from travelers.
  
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  Near the edge of the city is an ancient structure built during an early 
  dynasty, though its original purpose has been long forgotten. In form it 
  could almost be a fortress, 30 feet tall and about 250 feet square, with 
  thick mudbrick walls pierced by only a few scattered openings high in 
  the walls. None recalls who might have been its original inhabitants, but 
  today this is the home of a group of monks calling itself the Monastery 
  of Nekheft. They dress in plain clothing and spend their time in scholarly 
  pursuits, though they occasionally hire themselves out as scribes to earn 
  money to support their organization. In fact, and unknown to the residents 
  of Nekheft, this monastery is actually a group from the Church of Hafaz, 
  a sect of the religion of Mah-Barek. Representing the purely intellectual 
  side of that religion, these adherents are residing in Middle Khemit in an 
  attempt to learn some of the esoteric secrets scattered about in various 
  Khemitian temples, and to ﬁ nd any connections between those and the 
  origins and powers of the world as taught by Mah-Barek. The church 
  of Hafaz is nonviolent though quite secretive; as most of the monks are 
  native Khemitites, there is little evidence that they are anything other 
  than religious scholars devoted to a native god.
  NHUT, CITY OF
  NHUT, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Hakkatan
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 10,728 (mostly Khemitite)
  Nhut sits at the crossroads of two trade routes through the Eastern 
  Desert — one from Nekheb on the river to Ipret-Isus on the Ruby Sea, 
  and the other running south to the city of Baqi and beyond to Keruma at 
  the edge of the Nubiar Oversight. Its location means its people can make 
  some coin serving the needs of the caravans, and also that they often get 
  an early look at what is soon going to be trading in the capital city of 
  Thybos and the great cities of Lower Khemit.
  Nhut is known for its magniﬁ cent double temple, the only one of its 
  design in the country. The eastern entrance is dedicated to Nefertem, 
  lion-headed lord of the sunrise and god of healing. The western 
  entrance is given to Duamutef, the god of funerary rites, who appears 
  as a tall, hawk-headed man. Each half of the interior of the temple has 
  carvings and decorations appropriate to the applicable deity, with sun 
  motifs and medical instruments on the east side while funeral barges 
  and scenes of mummiﬁ cation are on the west. The entire arrangement 
  of courts, rooms, and pillared halls is symmetrically duplicated, with 
  passageways from one side to the other, and the novelty of it has 
  attracted many worshippers.
  ONA, METROPOLIS OF
  ONA, METROPOLIS OF
  Ruler: High Administrator Nuzi-um-resen
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 140,288 (mostly Khemitite)
  Ona is an ancient city whose origins date back nearly to the foundation 
  of the kingdom of Khemit. It was, and has been, the high seat of the 
  temple of Ra, the hawk-headed god of the sun. Although there are many 
  other temples to the Pharaoh of the Gods, the primary temple has always 
  been here. The proximity of this powerful temple led the Hyperboreans 
  to name their own city of Heliopolis, built nearby, after the sun. 
  Ra’s temple is not the only one in the city; among others, Ona also 
  holds the high seat of the temple of Atmu, a creator deity and god of the 
  setting sun. Most who visit Ona come for the temples, and these visitors 
  support many guesthouses, eating establishments, and other businesses. 
  In addition to religion, Ona is also an important agricultural trade center 
  as it aggregates crops from villages along both sides of the river for 
  further shipment down to the delta.
  PERMEJHED, CITY OF
  PERMEJHED, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Adyut-hobab
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 21,783 (mostly Khemitite)
  Permejhed is about 25 miles west of the Stygian on the Bakhari River. 
  The city is far enough from the Stygian that its agricultural production is 
  watered by canals rather than by the river itself, and keeping those clear 
  is a major duty of the town’s leadership. Its river port allows caravans 
  from the Western Desert to transship here and then travel a good part of 
  their route by water — and similarly in the other direction — so it is an 
  important hub of trade. Founded during the 20th Dynasty, Permejhed has 
  also been an administrative center, both for the Khemitian government 
  and for the Hyperboreans during their period of inﬂ uence. According to 
  rumor, 1,000 years of Hyperborean (and other) records were dumped and 
  left to rot somewhere in the desert outside of town, but because the desert 
  is so dry, they are still out there, merely covered by several feet of sand.
  Within Permejhed is the high seat of the temple of Set, jackal-headed 
  god of evil and night. Despite his evil reputation, Set still has his duties 
  to fulﬁ ll in the pantheon of Khemit: Every day the Black Serpent, Aapep, 
  tries to devour Ra’s Sun Boat as it moves across the heavens, and it is 
  Set’s task to battle him. Each evening, the serpent ﬁ nally succeeds and 
  plunges the world into darkness. Set must then cut open the belly of 
  Aapep to allow the Sun Boat to escape and dawn to come to the world 
  once again. Every morning when the sun rises, the people of Khemit 
  know that Set is still doing his duty, and so the god receives a share 
  of worship from most people even though they are certainly not his 
  followers. Most such worship takes place at small shrines, though, and 
  few common people ever visit Set’s primary temple, where poisonous 
  serpents are allowed to roam free, and each priest carries a staff in the 
  shape of a cobra, which (it is said) will bite an offender on command. 
  PHAROS, METROPOLIS OF
  PHAROS, METROPOLIS OF
  Ruler: High Administrator Manetes Hept-anathoth
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 401,926 (mostly Khemitite)
  Although believed to have been founded in ancient times by the Sea 
  Peoples and a center of learning for millennia, this city and its famous 
  port were primarily built up by the Hyperboreans during the rise of their 
  hegemony over Khemit in the 13th Dynasty. Located on the coast of 
  the Sea of Baal in the Western Desert, near the border with what is now 
  Guurzan, Pharos has long been a key part of Khemit’s defense against 
  tribes from west of the Qarrasat Hills. Its immense lighthouse, whose 
  light can be seen for as much as 35 miles, was also the ﬁ rst and greatest 
  of a line of smaller signaling towers along the coast to Rashad in the 
  delta of the Stygian. The port itself is its own marvel. Entered just east 
  of the lighthouse and oriented east and west, it has a straight portion that 
  offers berths for merchant ships, with enough space for 50 ships on each 
  side of the channel. Past that is the interior portion of the port, which 
  the Hyperboreans constructed for their military ships only. It is circular, 
  built around a manmade island, and offers covered slips for more than 
  200 ships around its outer perimeter.
  The city itself is a cosmopolitan mix of standard Khemitian 
  architecture with the elaborate stone structures of the Hyperboreans. 
  This blending is also seen in religious ediﬁ ces; the city has temples in 
  the Hyperborean style to Osiris, Isis, and Horus, one of the powerful 
  triads of the Khemitian gods. Of course, the Hyperborean gods are also 
  well represented. The great deities have impressive temples, many of 
  which are still active locations of popular worship. The minor gods 
  also have their places, though; it is said that every deity of Hyperborea 
  had a temple someplace in Pharos, and most still have someone to 
  light their altar ﬁ res.
  In addition to religious locations, Pharos is full of civic works. Even 
  just providing water for the city is an engineering achievement and is 
  accomplished through a series of very deep cisterns whose long sides are 
  supported by worked stone. Another landmark institution was a school, 
  
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  started during the 5th Dynasty by priests of Seshat, goddess of writing 
  and knowledge. That small school grew to be the massive University 
  of All Knowledge, which claims to teach all branches of learning. Its 
  growth eventually drew it away from its religious roots, but it is said 
  that sculptures from the original temple still remain inside one of the 
  university buildings (no one is quite sure which one). The high seat 
  of Seshat is in a larger temple that was built during the 14th Dynasty, 
  facing the Great Library.
  More notably, those early priests began a collection of writings in 
  honor of their goddess. They gathered writings not just from Khemit but 
  from all over Libynos. By the time the Hyperboreans arrived, the Great 
  Library of Pharos had become a separate institution, and the librarians 
  were thrilled to discover the existence of more cultures whose writings 
  could be collected. The Hyperboreans assisted the library by donating 
  copies of all ofﬁ cial documents and many personal items, which resulted 
  in explosive growth of the collection and (of necessity) the building. 
  These days, scholars from the Great Library travel throughout Libynos, 
  and to other parts of the world to gather writings and to transcribe 
  histories and lore where that has not yet been done.
  PYRAMESES, METROPOLIS OF
  PYRAMESES, METROPOLIS OF
  Ruler: High Administrator Lerapekt Shahm-es
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 111,774 (mostly Khemitite)
  Pyrameses is in the Stygian Delta between two branches of a 
  distributary. It is Khemit’s major trading port and capable of handling 
  dozens of large ships at a time. It is also near the entrance of the Canal 
  of the Pharaohs, which runs from the Stygian River to Lake Trophimus 
  and then to the Gulf of Mafket, where it connects to the Ruby Sea. 
  Oceangoing vessels transship their cargo to river boats or to smaller 
  ships that can travel through the canal and then to the sea again.
  The city is full of guesthouses, storehouses, and stables, as well as 
  palaces and temples, and is the largest city in Khemit by land area. 
  Pyrameses was also the capital of the triple kingdom during the 29th 
  Dynasty. Just more than 500 years ago (in the 36th Dynasty), the 
  Foerdewaith of Akados invaded and its inhabitants were forced to labor 
  in support of a great religious crusade the overking was conducting in 
  eastern Libynos. This incident lingers still in local legend, and foreigners 
  who look like they could be from the hated Kingdom of Foere may be 
  treated badly by some.
  RAFFE, CITY OF
  RAFFE, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Maacah
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 10,196 (mostly Khemitite)
  Raffe is on the coast of the Sea of Baal in north-central Tahmakht. 
  It has some port facilities on the coast and supports a small ﬁ shing 
  industry. However, the city itself is located about half a mile inland, 
  with strong walls and a military force to patrol the trade route 
  through the area. Watered by moisture from the Sea of Baal, Raffe 
  has extensive vineyards and wineries, and also ﬁ elds of grain and 
  breweries for beer. Most of the production is sent west to the larger 
  cities in Lower Khemit. 
  The city has a temple to Geb, Khemitian deity of the earth, and a 
  few shrines to other personal-protection deities, but they are generally 
  attended by only a small portion of the population. More popular is the 
  temple to Anumon, god of gates and keeper of laws, whose worship 
  spread from Numeda. Claiming authority over admitting souls to 
  the afterlife, Anumon calls into question the authority of the many 
  Khemitian deities with responsibility for some aspect of death. The 
  personal qualities of the god’s priests can seldom be faulted, however, 
  so the religion receives grudging acceptance by the religious hierarchy 
  of Khemit.
  RASHAD, METROPOLIS OF
  RASHAD, METROPOLIS OF
  Ruler: High Administrator Melqa-at-umran
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 135,442 (mostly Khemitite)
  Rashad is another important port in the Stygian Delta and exports 
  foodstuffs from Lower Khemit and transships goods for Menefet and 
  other cities from oceangoing vessels to river ships. The patron deity of 
  the city is Hapy, god of rivers and seas, and the high seat of the temple 
  of Hapy is in Rashad. It sits on a stone foundation overlooking the Sea 
  of Baal and the Stygian Delta, and is elaborately carved with ﬁ shes 
  and birds. Hapy is revered almost equally with Ra, because without his 
  life-giving waters, the entire land of Khemit would die; consequently, 
  his temple is wealthy and his priests inﬂ uential. Farther inland, inside 
  the city, Rashad also has an important temple to Horus, deity of law 
  and retribution.
  SALIS, CITY OF
  SALIS, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Faras-keft
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 27,665 (mostly Khemitite)
  Salis sits on a slow-moving branch of the Stygian in the delta. The 
  people of the city take advantage of the brackish condition of the 
  distributary by using the water to make salt by the evaporation method. 
  This provides a local source of salt, rather than having to get it from 
  some of the larger sources in the Western Desert. 
  Salis is also the high seat of the temple of Neith, the beautiful and 
  ancient goddess of war and wisdom and arbitrator among the gods. In 
  Salis, the goddess is also revered as a creator, and the one who gives 
  birth to Ra (the sun) every day. Other places assign these roles to 
  different deities, however, which sometimes causes strife at religious 
  councils. Every year, a great celebration called the Feast of Lamps is 
  held for the goddess, and the sky over the whole city shows the light all 
  night in her honor.
  SELLEH-FASHAR, TOWN OF
  SELLEH-FASHAR, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Administrator Ateneru
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 1,552 (mostly Khemitite)
  This isolated oasis, covered with miles of date palms, is part of 
  the caravan route from Upper Khemit and other southern countries 
  north to Pharos or to Guurzan. It trades in dates, olives, and oil, and 
  the townspeople are said to know the locations of silver mines (in the 
  southern Harh-Ahu-Ra Hills) they try hard to keep secret from outsiders. 
  If queried, the locals say they get the silver from Qesh or Meroë, but 
  oasis natives casually wear enough silver jewelry to make that claim 
  very questionable. The small population here is closely related to the 
  desert tribes of Guurzan, and a few don’t even speak Khemitian but only 
  their own obscure language.
  A notable structure is a temple of the Oracle of Amun, the ram-
  headed god of sky and sun. Believed to have been built early in the 10th 
  Dynasty, even leaders of the Hyperboreans could attest to the veracity 
  of its predictions, for they were known to consult it from time to time. 
  (Its existence was hidden from the hated crusaders, however, as the 
  priests reasonably feared its destruction by those single-minded folk.) 
  Consulting oracles is not much in vogue in recent centuries, though, and 
  the temple has deteriorated from lack of support.
  
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  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  SHEIRBAH, CITY OF
  SHEIRBAH, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Esh Tibni
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 14,982 (mostly Khemitite)
  Sheirbah is on the west coast of Tahmakht along the Gulf of Mafket, 
  but it is primarily a Khemitian settlement. Fishing supplements the 
  available agriculture, as this part of the coast is fairly dry. The city 
  features an ancient temple to Hathor, usually known as the goddess 
  of music and other arts, but sometimes in the past also thought of as a 
  patroness of miners, and a protector of desert regions. Sheirbah is the 
  location of an important turquoise mine, one that has literally been 
  worked for millennia. The mining had gotten trickier over the years 
  because workers have to follow narrower veins and work in areas 
  that are difﬁ cult to access. Two other mines are near enough that 
  the mining companies are headquartered here. A fairly recent ﬁ nd 
  of turquoise in a new location means a new mine is being developed 
  about halfway between Sheirbah and Wadi Mafket, but farther into 
  the mountains.
  SINWORHET, CITY OF
  SINWORHET, CITY OF
  Ruler: Principal Administrator Medeba-iz-ghufran
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 60,966 (mostly Khemitite)
  Sinworhet is located in the Makir Hills of northern Khemit, on 
  Lake Bakhari where the river of the same name ﬂ ows out to the south. 
  Although the hills are rocky in general, and populated mostly by herds 
  of goats, fertile soil is found around the shores of the lake. Settlement 
  at this location goes back to the time of the double kingdom (probably 
  in the 6th Dynasty) but the population of Sinworhet grew signiﬁ cantly 
  during the Hyperborean period, when soldiers who had spent their 
  careers in Khemit decided to retire in the area. This lakeside city was a 
  popular choice for retirees and much of the populace has at least some 
  Hyperborean ancestry. Several temples to Hyperborean deities can still 
  be found here, especially the soldiers’ god Mithras, and Telophus, lord 
  of crops. 
  SULEB, CITY OF
  SULEB, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Neb-Kenamon
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 13,105 (mostly Khemitite)
  Suleb is on the west bank of the Stygian River, just north of the third 
  cataract on the river. It is the most southern city on the western side 
  of the river and has a strong wall and organized city guard to protect 
  against attacks from the country of Qesh and from the creatures of the 
  Harh-Ahu-Ra Hills. The hills are not just a source of peril, however; 
  they also produce beautiful marble that has been used in buildings 
  throughout upper Khemit, and valuable iron ore. 
  During the 23rd and 24th dynasties, the pharaohs of Thybos built 
  a large temple to Amun in Suleb as part of establishing the deity’s 
  superiority throughout Khemit, and several traveled to Suleb for 
  ceremonies. The walkway approaching the temple is paved with 
  patterned marble pieces and guarded by marble ram-headed sphinxes 
  to honor the ram-headed deity of the sun. Inside, the corridor that 
  shows the pharaoh deiﬁ ed, with ram horns, is warded by statues 
  of lionesses — symbols of the goddess Sekhmet who protects the 
  pharaohs. Two pharaohs of the 24th Dynasty are buried in Suleb’s 
  extensive necropolis, as are other members of the royal family, court 
  nobles, priests, ofﬁ cials from the south, and wealthy commoners who 
  could afford to be buried with the nobility. These subterranean tombs 
  are topped by pyramids with those of the pharaohs of course being 
  the largest, although the size still does not come close to the older 
  funerary pyramids in the north.
  TALAM-QEDISH, TOWN OF
  TALAM-QEDISH, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Administrator Baiti-shobi
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 1,512 (mostly Khemitite)
  This oasis town is currently best known as the home of Numhotep 
  Orsi’a, a popular modern writer of poetry and of history, especially that 
  of the Lower Kingdom. A less exciting, but more important, aspect of 
  the town’s economy is its ongoing mining of natron, a key component in 
  the mummiﬁ cation so crucial to all Khemitian burials. While natron can 
  also be found at other sites, that of Talam-Qedish is easiest to extract and 
  closest to the population centers of Lower Khemit. It is also a center of 
  caravans from and to Pharos and the country of Guurzan, with several 
  routes converging. A strong wall protects against bandits, and two 
  military units patrol the area with the town as their headquarters.
  TANI-TERU, CITY OF
  TANI-TERU, CITY OF
  Ruler: Principal Administrator Ater-Shebma
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 32,611 (mostly Khemitite)
  Tani-Teru is southwest of Thybos on the caravan route that parallels 
  the Stygian River to its west. A route from the oases of the Western 
  Desert intersects the other here, going on to Nekheb on the east bank 
  and farther on to points on the Ruby Sea. The city is a prominent 
  military location, headquarters to units that patrol the southern portion 
  of the Western Desert, between the Stygian and the Harh-Ahu-Ra Hills. 
  Tani-Teru is the location of the high seat of the temple of Upuat, god of 
  war and protection. This wolf-headed deity is often depicted with blue 
  or gray hair to distinguish him from Anubis, and is said to go ahead of 
  pharaoh in war or the hunt and be the “opener of the way.”
  Another prominent temple is one to the goddess Hathor. Although her 
  primary worship center is in Menefet, the temple here (from the 23rd 
  Dynasty) is also large and well-known. The ceiling in one of its shrines 
  is carved as a circular zodiac and shows the positions of the stars at 
  different times of the year and also allow astronomers to predict eclipses 
  of the moons. A decorated obelisk stands outside the temple and serves 
  as the pointer of a giant sundial; the courtyard in which it stands is inlaid 
  with a pattern of bronze lines, which make it possible to tell the time of 
  day depending on the season of the year.
  TET, CITY OF
  TET, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Ahmose-mot
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 23,750 (mostly Khemitite)
  The city of Tet is on Lake Sekhem in the Makir Hills of northern 
  Khemit, and the people of Tet gain much of their livelihood from the 
  lake. They ﬁ sh and make most of the papyrus in the hill area from the 
  reeds in the lake. Tet is also the high seat of Tefnut, goddess of storms 
  and rivers. She is one of the deities of Khemit’s all-important water, 
  along with her brother Hapy. The people of her city make sure to always 
  pour out a libation of water to her before eating or drinking, and at least 
  sprinkle some water from their ﬁ ngers before going about an activity, to 
  gain her favor in their undertakings.
  THANY, CITY OF
  THANY, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Meketari
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 21,684 (mostly Khemitite)
  Thany lies east of the Stygian River in Lower Khemit, roughly 
  between Ishantar and Akhetaten. Located about 10 miles into the 
  Eastern Desert, Thany is a training ground for military recruits. Not all 
  new military personnel attend training here; some in distant parts of 
  
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  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  the country are trained by local units. However, those who do attend 
  this military school are generally considered better soldiers and more 
  professional, and some may even eventually be promoted to ofﬁ cers. 
  Not surprisingly, the city has a major temple of Anhur, god of war 
  and the hunt. In addition to priests who minister to and encourage the 
  soldiers in training, the temple also has hunters who range the Eastern 
  Desert and even into the Ruby Hills to keep predatory animals away 
  from settlements. Sometimes the hunters are hired by wealthy people 
  from Menefet or Thybos to lead them on thrilling expeditions in pursuit 
  of dangerous game.
  THYBOS, METROPOLIS OF
  THYBOS, METROPOLIS OF
  Ruler: High Administrator Ghadir Shamramut
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 503,446 (mostly Khemitite)
  Thybos is the traditional capital of Khemit’s Middle Kingdom and 
  the current royal capital. It has been the royal capital since the 37th 
  Dynasty, as well as other times throughout the history of the country. 
  It is a huge, sprawling city that is sometimes referred to as the City 
  of a Hundred Gates, and is built on the west side of the Stygian River 
  where it makes a curve to the east. Many pharaohs have lavished their 
  wealth on it, building plazas, shrines, civic buildings, a major university, 
  and temples to its patron deities. The Royal University (founded during 
  the 11th Dynasty) has the pharaoh as its special patron. Even when the 
  royal capital is in a different city, graduates of this university are often 
  selected for good positions in the civil service and for serving directly 
  in the pharaoh’s court.
  The primary deity of Thybos is Amun, the ram-headed god of the sky 
  and sun. He is depicted as having blue skin and being crowned with two 
  ostrich feathers. Thybos holds the high seat of the temple of Amun, as 
  well as the high seats of the temples of Mût, consort of Amun, and of 
  Chons, their son, the hawk-headed god of the silver moon and knowledge. 
  This trinity of deities has been venerated in Thybos for millennia. The 
  worship of the Thyban Triad has been so strong throughout Khemit that 
  at times the priests of Amun have rivaled the pharaohs in wealth and 
  inﬂ uence. This has caused tension when the royal capital was in other 
  locations in the country. When the royal capital is in Thybos and the 
  pharaoh can keep a personal eye on the priests, their inﬂ uence is not so 
  disruptive.
  Mût is the great mother goddess and queen of the gods, and she 
  is usually depicted as holding an ankh of life and wearing the triple 
  crown of Khemit. Her temple lies in the curve of a specially-built lake 
  shaped like a crescent moon, and the annual Festival of Mût includes 
  placing one of her statues on a boat and navigating around the lake while 
  celebrations take place. (Although priests can be involved in temple 
  administration and may be oracles, all rituals in the temples of Mût are 
  handled by priestesses only, with the duty of chief priestess belonging 
  to the queen of Khemit or her eldest daughter.) Another important 
  ceremony takes place during the festival of the New Year, when the 
  great statue of Amun is carried in a procession through the long line of 
  guardian sphinx statues to visit the statue of Mût in her temple, thereby 
  ensuring fertility for the city and country for the coming year.
  The city of Thybos is also the high seat of the temple of Tuart, 
  goddess of fertility and protection. She is represented as having the 
  head and body of a pregnant hippopotamus, standing upright, with the 
  legs of a lioness and the tail of a river crocodile. Tuart provides the 
  ﬁ erce protection of the deadly mother hippopotamus combined with the 
  features of other dangerous predators. As a riverine goddess, she is also 
  linked to fertility (of crops as well as people) and plays a role in the 
  annual inundation of the Stygian. Her image is carved on household 
  items (especially furniture) and is worn by mothers and children on 
  protective amulets.
  The massive Necropolis of Thybos is outside the city to the northwest. 
  It includes large private cemeteries, royal cemeteries (which hold the 
  tombs not just of pharaohs but also royal families and high advisors), 
  and other buildings erected for funerary purposes. Numerous pharaohs 
  have built mortuary temples here and dedicated them to various gods of 
  death in the hopes that their own afterlives would be easier. Khemit has 
  at least 10 deities who oversee some aspect of death or guard the dead, 
  and temples to all of them can be found in this necropolis. Many people 
  who work in the necropolis in some way, or serve in the temples, live 
  in the city of Inhy as that is actually closer for most than Thybos itself.
  UM, CITY OF
  UM, CITY OF
  Ruler: Administrator Katenatin
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 8,424 (mostly Khemitite)
  Um is a southern port on the Ruby Sea. When the capital of Khemit 
  was at Elephantine in the Upper Kingdom (during the 26th and 27th 
  dynasties), Um was a major trading location, and even today remains 
  convenient for trading in the south. However, the city is much smaller 
  than it was at the time and has not had the money to keep up its large 
  docks, so most bigger ships go on to Ipret-Isus. Um is also much hotter 
  than the coastal cities farther north, and during certain times of the 
  year needs to get its water from sources in the nearby Geb-el-Mardikh 
  Mountains. Because of how close the mountains are to the coast, Um 
  is the southernmost port of Khemit that is larger than a ﬁ shing village. 
  Several sources of gold are located in the rocky Eastern Desert between 
  Um and Elephantine, so the city serves as headquarters for some mining 
  groups. Um is also a frequent base of operations for people who explore 
  into the mountains or the Ruby Hills looking for resources they could 
  proﬁ tably extract.
  WADI MAFKET, CITY OF
  WADI MAFKET, CITY OF
  Ruler: City Administrator Shu-amgar
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 10,569 (mostly Khemitite)
  Wadi Mafket is a port on the Gulf of Mafket on the southwestern 
  edge of the Governate of Tahmakht. It is a prominent ﬁ shing town and 
  also a travel destination for people from Tahmakht who want to visit 
  the coast, having similar climate beneﬁ ts as the Ruby Sea. It is also a 
  location where large oceangoing ships transship cargo headed through 
  the Canal of the Pharaohs and eventually on up the Stygian or to the Sea 
  of Baal. In addition, traders go from here in smaller river-ships to the 
  Gulf of Tahmakht and up the Heshbon River to Geara. They are willing 
  to risk encounters with the pirate ships of the Numedan corsairs to move 
  Geara’s metal goods to market more quickly. 
  The city has moderate weather, receiving rain from the Gulf of 
  Mafket, and is watered by a seasonal river from the mountains. Wadi 
  Mafket holds a temple to Anqet, goddess of rivers and water, and also 
  one to Geb, god of earth. It is a Khemitian settlement, rather than native 
  Tahmakhtim, and has been on this site since the time of the conjoined 
  double kingdoms.
  Mining turquoise from the western Jeshennin Mountains is the most 
  valuable local industry. A nearby valley leads to two important turquoise 
  mines on facing sides of different mountains. Called the Valley of Caves, 
  the approach to the mines has been ﬁ lled with monuments to various 
  pharaohs from the 5th to the 33rd dynasties, and small shrines to deities 
  such as Horus and Thoth.
  
  420|
  420|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE 
  TRIPLE-KINGDOM OF KHEMIT
  TRIPLE-KINGDOM OF KHEMIT
  ASSAL-AAT DEPRESSION
  ASSAL-AAT DEPRESSION
  Assal-Aat is a teardrop-shaped lowland in western Khemit more than 
  50 miles long and about 30 miles at its widest point, whose bottom of 
  salt pans, seasonal dry lakes, and salt marshes is more than 400 feet 
  below sea level. The eastern side of the depression drops off 700 feet 
  from a rocky plateau. In contrast, the western side gradually rises to 
  the Great Sand Sea, a huge area mostly ﬁ lled by wave after wave of 
  sand that goes from here west to Olappo in Guurzan and southwest an 
  unknown distance.
  ASTEBERA RIVER
  ASTEBERA RIVER
  The Astebera River ﬂ ows out of the Geb-el-Mardikh Mountains west 
  into the Stygian River, joined by the Small Astebera (to the south) and 
  the North Branch. It meets the larger river just south of the ﬁ rst cataract 
  of the Stygian. (See “Stygian River” below for more information.) The 
  town of Aten-Seyal lies in the curve of the river before it reaches the 
  Small Astebera, and the town of Baqi is located on the North Branch.
  BAKHARI LAKE AND RIVER
  BAKHARI LAKE AND RIVER
  Lake Bakhari in the northern Makir Hills is the primary sources of the 
  Bakhari River. It is fed by an underground spring powerful enough that 
  water from the lake ﬂ ows south and east over 150 miles to join the Stygian 
  River. The city of Sinworhet lies at the juncture of the lake and river.
  BASWUN DAM
  BASWUN DAM
  This massive dam is a feat of early Khemitian engineering. Locals say 
  that it once controlled the ﬂ ows of three rivers, staving off dangerous 
  ﬂ ooding and watering ﬁ elds 50 miles from the Stygian. It was the center 
  of a thriving population. Then the deserts changed, and the rivers were 
  cut off. Now the dam stands alone in the desert, with rocks at its base 
  where waters once ﬂ owed. Sometimes caravans use it as a landmark, in 
  the distance.
   CANAL OF THE PHARAOHS
   CANAL OF THE PHARAOHS
  This canal runs from the delta of the Stygian River east to Lake 
  Trophimus and then south to the Gulf of Mafket where it connects to 
  the Ruby Sea. Locks designed by Hyperborean engineers during the 
  15th Dynasty keep the seawater from contaminating the fresh waters of 
  river and lake. However, the canal is still subject to silting and becomes 
  impassable if long-term maintenance is neglected, as has happened 
  several times over the centuries. Some large oceangoing vessels have 
  too deep of a draft for the river and canal, and so transship cargoes at 
  one end or the other. Pyrameses or Bastus are the usual choices at the 
  Sea of Baal end; Dahra or Wadi Mafket in Tahmakht are the best options 
  in the Gulf of Mafket.
  GEB-EL-MARDIKH MOUNTAINS
  GEB-EL-MARDIKH MOUNTAINS
  This mountain range runs north and south along the Ruby Sea, along 
  the east coast of Upper Khemit and on through the Nubiar Oversight. 
  (See “Nubiar Oversight” below for more information on that area.) It 
  has almost no passes through it, and none large enough for a caravan 
  to travel, so the coastal villages to the east have contact with the rest 
  of Khemit only by water. The mountains are full of caves and are said 
  to be populated by many underground species, including dwarves who 
  never come to the surface, and kobolds. Any deep dwellers very rarely 
  venture out of the caves, although sometimes an isolated coastal village 
  is found destroyed with no sign of the attackers. The range also has 
  many dangerous creatures aboveground, of course. 
  The mountains have some valuable mineral resources, but the distant 
  location makes them troublesome to mine. Silver, marble, and garnet 
  are available, among other things. Gold and silver are found together 
  in some rock; rather than trying to divide the two (a complicated task), 
  the metals are simply combined into electrum and used that way, so 
  electrum is more common in Khemit than most areas.
  GORGE OF OSIRIS, RUINS OF THE
  GORGE OF OSIRIS, RUINS OF THE
  The Gorge of Osiris is a small canyon in the Harh-Ahu-Ra Hills, so 
  named for the temple of Osiris at its mouth. The walls of the gorge 
  were once used for shrines and burial places, but they fell into disuse 
  centuries ago and now only a small group of priests tends to the temple.
  GREAT COLUMNS
  GREAT COLUMNS
  These two columns, each about 100 feet tall, are believed to date to 
  the 1st or 2nd dynasty. They were supposedly built to commemorate the 
  place where two angels touched their feet to the earth. One column is of 
  brick, and the other is stone. A narrow exterior stair winds to the top of 
  each, but the one on the brick pillar is crumbling and considered unsafe 
  to climb. The tops of the pillars are now weathered and nondescript, 
  but locals claim they once held altars to the angels (or whatever type of 
  beings they were), or possibly to Thoth.
  GULF OF MAFKET
  GULF OF MAFKET
  This narrow gulf of the Ruby Sea lies between Lower Khemit on the 
  west and the Khemitian Governate of Tahmakht on the east. The cities 
  of Sheirbah and Wadi Mafket are on the Tahmakhtim side while the 
  port city of Dahra sits on the western shore near the mouth of the gulf, 
  between the sea and the Ruby Hills. The Gulf of Mafket connects the 
  Ruby Sea to the Sea of Baal through the Canal of the Pharaohs, which 
  runs north to Lake Trophimus and then west to the delta of the Stygian 
  River near the city of Bastus.
  GULF OF TAHMAKHT
  GULF OF TAHMAKHT
  This short, narrow gulf lies between the southern part of the peninsula 
  of Tahmakht and the Kingdom of Numeda. Tahmakht has no major 
  cities on the gulf itself, though there is one on the Heshbon River that 
  ﬂ ows from the Jeshennin Mountains into the gulf. This occasionally 
  leads to Khemitian trade ships skirmishing in the gulf with Numedan 
  corsairs, but the pirates generally prefer the easier pickings on the Ruby 
  Sea itself.
  HARH-AHU-RA HILLS
  HARH-AHU-RA HILLS
  This line of rough hills and rocky plateaus runs more-or-less north and 
  south through Khemit’s Western Desert, with the southern end of the 
  range curving and extending into Meroë. It is interrupted at several places 
  by gaps of a few miles but is considered to be a single set of hills. The 
  point where the Harh-Ahu-Ra meet the Stygian is generally considered 
  the border between Khemit and Qesh. Caravans from Middle Khemit 
  usually travel east of the hills while those from Upper Khemit, Meroë, 
  or points south sometimes cross through one of the southern passes and 
  travel west of the hills. Bandits threaten travelers on either side, though 
  robbers in the Western Desert tend to be bolder as sources of authority are 
  farther between. The Harh-Ahu-Ra Hills contain mineral resources such 
  as different types of valuable stone (marble and granite, for instance), and 
  possibly also silver or gold, depending on who one believes.
  HESHBON RIVER
  HESHBON RIVER
  The Heshbon River ﬂ ows around the eastern slopes of the Jeshennin 
  Mountains and into the north end of the Gulf of Tahmakht. It has an 
  underground source, ﬂ ows all year round, and is deep enough for 
  riverboats to navigate up to the city of Geara. The Heshbon is generally 
  considered to be the border between Khemit and Numeda. Since there 
  is little but deep desert on the Numedan side of the border, it goes 
  uncontested for long periods of time.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  ISLE OF SCORPIONS
  ISLE OF SCORPIONS
  This island in the Ruby Sea off the coast of the city of Ipret-Isus is about 
  20 miles at its widest point and 35 miles long with a central peak that is 
  a long-dormant volcano. The sea breezes keep the climate pleasant. It 
  is home to a major temple to Maftet, goddess of protection and healing, 
  and its supporting villages. The large temple complex includes houses 
  of healing and of training for healers, and also specializes in providing 
  antidotes for injuries such as snakebites and scorpion stings. 
  IZDIHAR LAKE AND RIVER
  IZDIHAR LAKE AND RIVER
  One of a group of spring-fed lakes in the rocky Makir Hills of 
  northern Khemit, Lake Izdihar is the smallest and southernmost of the 
  three lakes. From it the Izdihar River ﬂ ows south into the Bakhari River.
  JESHENNIN MOUNTAINS
  JESHENNIN MOUNTAINS
  This range covers about half of the Tahmakht Peninsula, from 
  foothills on the eastern side to high peaks in the center and west. 
  The mountains are a source of copper and tin (for bronze), as well 
  as iron in the east, and copper, iron, and turquoise in the southwest. 
  They provide pasturage for goats and sheep, but the isolated peaks 
  are also home to dangerous animals and strange creatures that may
  be only stories.
  KARPATHOS, ISLAND OF 
  KARPATHOS, ISLAND OF 
  Karpathos is a long, slender island in the Sea of Baal about 20 miles 
  northwest of Rashad in Khemit. Its primary settlement is on the eastern 
  end where there is an excellent bay; the rest of the island has a rocky 
  spine and supports a few villages of farmers and shepherds, which 
  in turn support the Royal Navy’s base there. A few other rocky little 
  islands are grouped around it, each with a tiny population. About 300 
  feet from the western end of Karpathos is a small island called Mikrin. 
  When Khemit ﬁ rst established a naval base on Karpathos in the 29th 
  Dynasty, the two were a single island but they split apart during a strong 
  earthquake in the 33rd Dynasty. Now only a few dozen shepherds call 
  the smaller island home, and they strictly avoid the ruined city there. 
  Ancient already when the city of Karpathos was built, the remnants are 
  said to be those of a city of the Sea Peoples, though that doesn’t explain 
  the taboo against it among the local people.
  KHEMIT, LOWER
  KHEMIT, LOWER
  Roughly considered to lie between the Sea of Baal and the 
  junction of the Stygian and Bakhari rivers, Lower Khemit is the most 
  populous area of the triple kingdom. It is governed by a vizier who 
  is a member of pharaoh’s high council and is expected to manage the 
  territory as its ruler, doing so in pharaoh’s name. Lower Khemit was 
  strongly inﬂ uenced by the Hyperborean Empire during the centuries 
  of its power, so the cities here tend to be more cosmopolitan, and 
  aware of the world outside Khemit, than places farther south. This 
  extends to religion; temples to the Hyperborean deities are still fairly 
  common in Lower Khemit and are sometimes attended by locals as 
  well as foreigners.
  During the military event known in parts of the continent of Akados as 
  the Second Great Crusade, Lower Khemit was invaded by the so-called 
  Hyperborean Monarchy of Foerdewaith. Pyrameses and its harbor were 
  taken by the overwhelming force of the crusader navy, and the city was 
  used as the major supply hub for the entire army on its march to some 
  location of religious signiﬁ cance in eastern Libynos. The invaders also 
  occupied the metropolis of Menefet speciﬁ cally, and Lower Khemit in 
  general, for about six years. Having taken place barely more than 500 
  years ago (during the 36th Dynasty), it is still a frequent topic of stories, 
  and foreigners who seem to be from Akados may face resentment on the 
  topic of the crusade. Those stories also support hatred of the Huun for 
  the way they endangered Khemitites by using the area to decoy and spy 
  on the western invaders. Any suspected Huun are likely to be grabbed 
  and taken to the authorities at once.
  KHEMIT, MIDDLE
  KHEMIT, MIDDLE
  The area known as Middle Khemit (or the Middle Kingdom) is 
  considered to lie approximately from the Bakhari River in the north to 
  just north of the city of Elephantine, or about even with the southern end 
  of the Ruby Hills. It is not as densely populated as the land farther north, 
  but it contains several important cities, including the royal capital. It 
  is also a crucial farming area. The region is governed by a vizier who 
  is a member of pharaoh’s high council and is expected to manage the 
  territory as its ruler, doing so in pharaoh’s name. During the centuries 
  of Hyperborean ascendancy, military units and traders from that empire 
  left their inﬂ uence on Middle Khemit, though it is less strong than in 
  the northern part of the country. Much of the underground wealth of 
  the country — especially gold and semiprecious gems — can be found 
  (with some difﬁ culty) in the Eastern Desert of Middle Khemit.
  KHEMIT, UPPER
  KHEMIT, UPPER
  The area known as Upper Khemit runs from the city of Elephantine 
  south to the Nubiar Oversight, although its southern border is somewhat 
  nebulous across most of the distance. It is much less densely populated 
  than the northern parts of the country; the majority of the people live in 
  or near the upper capital of Elephantine. However, the perimeter areas 
  (such as the Geb-el-Mardikh Mountains) contain most of the valuable 
  mineral resources of the region. Caravans travel through Upper Khemit 
  from the south, bringing trade from farther south. Most of Upper Khemit 
  was once part of the Kingdom of Nubara, which was conquered and 
  largely incorporated as the third part of the triple kingdom. (The balance 
  of Nubara now comprises the Nubiar Oversight.)
  The region is governed by a vizier who is a member of pharaoh’s 
  high council and is expected to manage the territory as its ruler, doing 
  so in pharaoh’s name. During the centuries of Hyperborean ascendancy, 
  traders and explorers from that empire traveled through Upper Khemit 
  and other countries of central Libynos, but the area was never really 
  occupied by its military or controlled by its extensive bureaucracy. 
  Although the entire country of Khemit was an acknowledged part of 
  the Hyperborean Empire, the empire’s inﬂ uence on the southern area 
  was weak. The culture of Nubara has been much more inﬂ uential on 
  southern and even central Khemit, especially during periods under 
  pharaohs of Nubiar descent.
  LAKE TROPHIMUS
  LAKE TROPHIMUS
  This lake, east of the Stygian River delta, is an integral part of 
  the Canal of the Pharaohs. Djanet, the capital of the Governate of 
  Tahmakht, sits on its northeastern shore. Lake Trophimus is named after 
  the Hyperborean noble who took the canal from a vague idea of the 
  Khemitites (for several hundred years) to a working water route between 
  seas. A memorial obelisk to Aristides Trophimus is visible from where 
  the canal enters the lake from the west. The reverse side of the obelisk 
  memorializes Trophimus as well as Drusilla Phileta, the engineer who 
  designed the lock system, and Casiphia Tartessa, the architect who 
  oversaw the building of the canal.
  MAKIR HILLS
  MAKIR HILLS
  These hills are a rocky upthrust in north-central Khemit. Underground 
  springs form lakes among the hills and make it possible to raise food for 
  cities. Rivers run from the lakes south and east toward the Stygian, but 
  the hard, rough desert south of the hills supports only a small population 
  outside the Stygian’s river valley. To the north, the land slopes down 
  sharply toward the edge of the Sea of Baal.
  NUBIAR OVERSIGHT
  NUBIAR OVERSIGHT
  The Nubiar Oversight is the portion of Nubara not incorporated into 
  the Triple Kingdom of Khemit, but governed by it. The borders of the 
  Nubiar Oversight are somewhat vaguely deﬁ ned given its remoteness 
  and the relatively thin populations in the region. The northern border, 
  between the Oversight and Upper Khemit, begins somewhere south 
  
  422|
  422|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  of Keruma (which is within Upper Khemit), includes the north bank 
  of the Stygian as it heads east (including Nampata, the capital of the 
  Nubiar Oversight), and continues to the east beyond the point where the 
  Stygian turns south around the Mutabar Hills all the way to the shores 
  of the Ruby Sea, including the Geb-el-Mardikh Mountains. The Uashta 
  Hills, east of the Geb-el-Mardikhs, however, are held by Axuum. On 
  the south, the border is generally accepted to be the north bank of the 
  Stygian and its tributaries, the Lapis River and the River Aeth, through 
  the southern end of the Geb-el-Mardikh range.
  The area is governed by the prince of the Nubiar Oversight; the 
  position is effectively that of a vizier but is traditionally held by the 
  designated heir to the pharaoh. Currently, this position is held by Prince 
  Tutemheb, oldest child of Pharaoh Tuthmosis IX. The position is not 
  administratively onerous, but the fractious population can make the 
  area difﬁ cult to manage. When peaceful, the Nubiar Oversight tends to 
  be prosperous, being a key location for trade into the southern part of 
  central Libynos.
  RUBY HILLS
  RUBY HILLS
  The Ruby Hills are named for their proximity to the Ruby Sea rather 
  than any rubies to be found in them. They are rich in minerals, though, and 
  at various places have copper, gold (at several locations), iron, assorted 
  semi-precious gems, and such stone as granite, sandstone, limestone, 
  marble, porphyry, and others. The hills run north and south along the coast 
  intermittently for about 375 miles, and also separate the slightly better 
  climate of the seacoast from the extremes of the Eastern Desert.
  RUBY SEA
  RUBY SEA
  The Ruby Sea is a warm sea more than 1,000 miles long that separates 
  North Libynos from South Libynos. The sea is 100 to 150 miles wide, 
  with most of that distance being relatively shallow. However, it has 
  a deep crevasse that runs approximately along the middle of the sea 
  and in places is more than a mile deep. The country of Numeda lies 
  along almost the entire eastern bank of the Ruby Sea. Khemit lies along 
  two-thirds of the western bank, with the country of Axuum along the 
  southern third. The Ruby Sea teems with life, having impressive coral 
  reefs along the coast, hundreds of types of ﬁ sh (including some found 
  nowhere else), porpoises, sharks, octopi, giant turtles, and many other 
  types of marine creatures.
   SEKHEM LAKE AND RIVER
   SEKHEM LAKE AND RIVER
  Lake Sekhem is a spring-fed lake among rocky hills in the northern 
  part of Khemit. It is the largest of a grouping of three lakes in the Makir 
  Hills, being about 35 miles at its longest point. The Sekhem River ﬂ ows 
  into the Izdihar River shortly before the latter joins the Bakhari. The 
  cities of Tet and Kerenus are along the shore of the lake.
  STYGIAN RIVER
  STYGIAN RIVER
  The Stygian River is central to the life and society of Khemit. First 
  and foremost, it waters a large part of the country in its annual ﬂ oods, 
  which is referred to as the “inundation.” The Stygian also provides easy 
  transportation north and south through Khemit; travel downriver (north) 
  is carried by the current, and travel upriver (south) is powered by the 
  strong winds that blow south from the Sea of Baal. Ships can sail from 
  the sea to the city of Elephantine, but after that point the river experiences 
  the ﬁ rst of its cataracts, where the river channel is dangerously shallow 
  and rocky, and the water runs fast and chaotically. The cataracts are 
  effectively impassable for shipping, though some smaller vessels can be 
  carried via a portage around the rapids. 
  Cataracts are not just dangerous to ships; they have rocky shores for 
  miles along the river so farming cannot be done in those areas either. 
  On the other hand, places where the banks are high and cut by the 
  river often provide easy access to different types of stone. In addition, 
  temples have been cut into the stone faces along the river at various 
  places to honor several major gods of Khemit. Some of the most ancient 
  rock temples in the far south may originally have been built for other 
  non-Khemitian deities, though their use was converted to the accepted 
  pantheon long ago.
  About 200 miles upriver of Elephantine, near the city of Anubis, the 
  river passes through a second cataract, with a third another 100 miles 
  farther south near Suleb. Beyond that is Keruma and the southern border 
  of Upper Khemit. Farther to the south, the Stygian crosses the Nubiar 
  Oversight, past Nampata and around the Mutabar Hills, upriver to the 
  conﬂ uence of the Opal and Lapis Rivers. There is the beginning of the 
  Stygian, and the effective limit of the triple kingdom. Farther south are 
  the lands of Meroë and Aethiope.
  TAHMAKHT
  TAHMAKHT
  Tahmakht is a small peninsula east of Khemit and west of Numeda 
  that links the northern and southern parts of the continent of Libynos. 
  It has a small area of land in the northeast suitable for dryland farming, 
  but most is either desert or mountainous. Politically, it is a governate 
  of Khemit and has been since at least the 17th Dynasty. The current 
  governor general is Lord Ergol Zigith; his rank is higher than the viziers 
  of the three divisions of Khemit, though not as high as the prince of 
  the Nubiar Oversight. For Khemit, Tahmakht represents a conquered 
  area and an important buffer zone against any possible invasion from 
  Numeda to its east. Olive oil is an important product of the northeast area, 
  as are wine and beer. Although the Takmakhtim all speak Khemitian, 
  some still keep their own ancient language alive. Likewise, Khemitian 
  deities are worshipped throughout Tahmakht (which is no surprise, after 
  3,000 years in that country’s control), but the old gods of the ancient 
  kingdom of Peleshtia are still quietly venerated in small pockets, mostly 
  in isolated rural areas.
  VALLEY OF THE GODS
  VALLEY OF THE GODS
  The rocky terrain that forms the ﬁ rst cataract of the Stygian continues 
  through the approximately 35 miles to the North Branch of the Astebera 
  River. This area provided plenty of sandstone for the temples in the 
  city of Luqsor, and the stone canyons were also used for other, rock-
  cut temples and the tombs of the southern pharaohs and other ofﬁ cials. 
  The Valley of the Gods is actually a series of canyons that contain the 
  temples (to the west) and the tombs, which are toward the east. It is 
  watched over by the goddess Meretseger; her primary temple is in 
  the town of Baqi, but she is also represented by one in the valley. The 
  Valley of the Gods has dozens of temples cut directly into the rock to 
  honor even some fairly obscure deities. Some gods have more than one 
  temple, being dedicated to different aspects of the deities’ powers. For 
  example, one temple venerates Neith as a guardian of the dead; another 
  recognizes Chons as god of time; and yet another celebrates Anqet in 
  her aspect of goddess of pleasure and mistress to all the gods. 
  When the annual inundation of the Stygian begins, the temples of 
  all deities with a fertility aspect (including those in the nearby city of 
  Luqsor) hold a huge festival together, doing their part to ensure the 
  fertility of the rest of Khemit along the entire length of the Stygian.
  In the portion of the valley given over to tombs are burials of 
  pharaohs from the 26th, 27th, and 36th dynasties, plus many viziers 
  who were given the rule of Upper Khemit, and some governors of 
  the Nubiar Oversight. The area also includes lesser tombs of court 
  ofﬁ cials, chief artisans, and overseers. Although small, some of the 
  tombs of the artisans are as elaborate as those of the viziers and 
  governors, showing their skill in the carving and decorating of their 
  own eventual resting places.
  THE DESERT KINGDOMS 
  THE DESERT KINGDOMS 
  The Desert Kingdoms is a collective name for the kingdoms of the 
  western Maighib Desert: Caddesh, Khartous, and Guurzan. The people 
  of the desert in central Libynos are most likely to worship Mah-Barek 
  but may also worship Anumon (whose center of worship is in Numeda), 
  local spirits, or other obscure deities. The Empire of Alcaldar (farther 
  south along the west coast of central Libynos) is currently attempting to 
  
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  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  conquer the Desert Kingdoms and add them to its empire and convert 
  everyone to the worship of Muir, but their progress has been slow. They 
  began at the Gulf of Caddesh and are stalled in that area because of the 
  mutual resistance of the three kingdoms more than 200 years ago.
  CADDESH, KINGDOM OF
  CADDESH, KINGDOM OF
  Capital: El-Marresh 
  Notable Settlements: Jebel, Lixus, Mogda, Zataftown
  Ruler: Prince-Regent Adul VII, vassal of Queen Leonore-Alcia of 
  Alcaldar
  Government: ruled by the Empire of Alcaldar in the person of 
  Sebastos (Imperial Governor) Gregoria-Teresa, Duquesa of 
  Esterquel
  Population: 1,328,640 (1,304,926 Ashurians of Caddesh; 22,917 
  Alcaldrich; 797 other human ethnicity) 
  Monstrous: eblis (islands west of Zataf), strangle weed (gulf), 
  trolls, troll dogs
  Languages: Alcaldrich, Semuric
  Religion: Muir and Thyr; some secretly worship Mah-Barek
  Resources: crops, ﬁ sh, fruit, medicinal herbs
   Currency: Alcaldrich
  Technology Level: Medieval (El-Marresh), Dark Ages
  The country of Caddesh is on the northwestern peninsula of central 
  Libynos. Its most-heavily populated region is along the coasts of the 
  Gulf of Caddesh, where moisture from gulf breezes brings needed 
  water. In contrast, the interior of the country is dominated by rocky 
  desert and high badlands. While the populous coastal areas lie under 
  the sway of Alcaldrich governors, the parts of the country that lie 
  east, near the Maighib Desert, or north toward the Jekkibet Hills, are 
  effectively outside the empire’s inﬂ uence. Off the west coast are three 
  islands, the largest of which — Zataf — is part of Caddesh. The other 
  two combine coastal swamps with steep, rocky interiors, for conditions 
  so inhospitable that Caddesh doesn’t even bother to claim them. The 
  northern border of Caddesh is roughly denoted by the Kader River and 
  the Arahm Pass through the Jekkibet Hills; to the east of the hills, the 
  border is less well-deﬁ ned.
  EL-MARRESH, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  EL-MARRESH, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Abaya (governor) Yakub Delkrim, appointed by Prince-
  Regent Adul VII
  Government: ruled by Empire of Alcaldar
  Population: 63,879 (mostly Ashurian)
  El-Marresh has been the capital of Caddesh for thousands of years. 
  This can be seen in its well-developed Old City area and in the number of 
  very old buildings tucked along tiny alleys. That history gives context to 
  the impression visitors receive that the city has recently been conquered 
  by the Empire of Alcaldar, even though it happened more than 250 
  years ago. A temple to Muir has had a prominent place in the city for 
  two centuries, and people still speak of going to “the new temple.” The 
  venerable university Al-Ulasham, known for millennia as an important 
  source of teachings on magic and philosophy (among other things), 
  closed its doors and dispersed its scholars and their libraries rather than 
  be threatened by the conquerors; people speak as if it has been closed for 
  a few weeks and might open again at any time. The populace appears to 
  give genuine service to Muir and Thyr (or hides any dissent well), but 
  the occasional attitude that Muir’s worship is just one more in a series of 
  religions introduced by outsiders annoys some of the Alcaldrich church 
  leaders very much.
  Although the city has been known for generations for its scholarship 
  and the creativity of its magic, with the closing of Al-Ulasham those 
  have both severely diminished under the Empire of Alcaldar. There 
  are still sages and scribes to be found in the city, but they are cautious 
  about what topics they address, to avoid falling afoul of Alcaldar’s Holy 
  Ecclessia Inquisitorial.
  JEBEL, TOWN OF
  JEBEL, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Abaya Ghallab al-Fihri
  Government: ruled by Empire of Alcaldar
  Population: 3,972 (mostly Ashurian)
  The town of Jebel lies at the mouth of the Karkkaru River. It receives 
  some moisture from the ocean winds in the Gulf of Caddesh, but less than 
  areas farther south, so the water carried by the small river is important 
  for irrigation. Excess food produced by agriculture and ﬁ shing along the 
  coast is largely traded inland for iron or rare medicinal herbs from the 
  Jekkibet Hills.
  LIXUS, TOWN OF
  LIXUS, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Abaya Mehdia Hespren
  Government: ruled by Empire of Alcaldar
  Population: 8,075 (mostly Ashurian)
  Lixus would be just another coastal village except for an accident of 
  geography: It is due west of the city of Olappo in Guurzan. One day, 
  centuries ago, a handful of explorers from the nation to the east rode out 
  of the desert. They eventually established mutually beneﬁ cial trading 
  relationships with various merchants of Lixus. Aside from an increase in 
  the amount of goods traded and the arrival of the Alcaldrich conquerors, 
  not much has changed in hundreds of years. 
  The trip from Olappo to Lixus is fairly easy to navigate, but the return 
  trip is trickier. Going either due east or due west takes about the same 
  amount of concentration, but missing the direction on the trip west 
  means a caravan ends up at some other point on the Gulf of Caddesh 
  and can then make its way to Lixus. Missing the direction going east, 
  however, means a caravan must ﬁ nd the relatively small dot that is 
  Olappo or be lost in the depths of the Maighib Desert. Caravaners travel 
  the route many times before they become willing to risk their lives on 
  their own skills, and anyone heading up an east-bound caravan is likely 
  to be a very experienced guide.
  MOGDA, TOWN OF 
  MOGDA, TOWN OF 
  Ruler: Abaya Claado Mehrut
  Government: ruled by Empire of Alcaldar
  Population: 2,427 (mostly Ashurian)
  Mogda is an old town originally founded by ancient seafarers from 
  what is now Baalthaaz, but it lost its importance as a port over the 
  centuries. Its people still do some sea ﬁ shing, but caution rather than 
  exploration is the norm. Mogda sits at the mouth of the Kader River 
  on the west coast of Caddesh and suffered from being largely isolated 
  from the rest of that country. Once the Empire of Alcaldar discovered its 
  existence, they established contact with Mogda by sea, and ships began 
  to call there from time to time. As a result, Mogda is one town that has 
  deﬁ nitely been more prosperous under Alcaldar than before, and this 
  shows in the generally positive attitude of its populous to the empire 
  and to Muir.
  SALA, RUINS OF
  SALA, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  Built on the ruins of a walled city abandoned centuries ago, Sala 
  holds the tombs of the royalty of Caddesh. Some say Sala was the 
  original capital of Caddesh, which is why the kings were buried there. 
  Others say it was merely the original hometown of the royal family or 
  perhaps a religious stronghold. It was (variously) lost to enemy attack or 
  depopulated by a plague. In any case, the ghost of an assassinated king, 
  or maybe a wronged heir, deﬁ nitely wanders the ruins — or perhaps 
  not. The tombs are built aboveground inside the mostly intact city wall. 
  The necropolis is not strictly limited to royalty; other noble or powerful 
  people have also been buried here, as well as those whom the kings 
  desired to honor. Since the conquest of Caddesh by the Alcaldrich, the 
  
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  church ecclesiast of Muir has tried to discourage burials here, ostensibly 
  because of the rituals of other religions practiced in the necropolis in 
  the past. So far, the royal family (now reduced to regency status) has 
  refused to be persuaded and holds to their tradition.
  ZATAFTOWN, TOWN OF
  ZATAFTOWN, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Abaya Nat’an Reymuun
  Government: ruled by Empire of Alcaldar
  Population: 5,198 (mostly Ashurian)
  The prosperous little town of Zataftown sits on the southern end 
  of the island of Zataf. The residents harvest (or arrange to have 
  gathered) the bounties of the island and ship them to towns in the 
  Gulf of Caddesh in exchange for ﬁ nished goods such as cloth or metal 
  tools. Zataftown is one place that has signiﬁ cantly prospered since the 
  conquest of Caddesh by the Empire of Alcaldar. Not only has the call 
  for the island’s products increased, but shipping has become much 
  easier with the bigger and better Alcaldrich ships than with the shaky 
  coasters previously used by Caddesh.
  GUURZAN, KINGDOM OF
  GUURZAN, KINGDOM OF
  Capital: Bahaadur 
  Notable Settlements: Al-Ibbos, Khaajir, Olappo, Qiraam
  Ruler: Queen Gathbiyya Nasur-fumin
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 2,197,892 (1,993,863 Ashurians of Guurzan and 
  Ammuyad; about 200,000 Desertfolk; 2,837 Khemitites; 1,192 
  Merowen)
  Monstrous: kamadans (Qarrasat Hills), genies, ant lions, sand 
  krakens, sand dwarves
  Languages: Semuric, ofﬁ cially; many desert tribes speak 
  traditional languages
  Religion: Churches of Mah-Barek
  Resources: crops, herd animals, ﬁ shing, linen
   Currency: Ammuyad
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages (Bahaadur), Iron Age
  Guurzan lies on the southern coast of the Sea of Baal. It is bordered 
  on the east by the Qarrasat Hills, beyond which lies the kingdom 
  of Khemit. To the west is Khartous, with whom Guurzan is able 
  to maintain a moderately cordial trading relationship as they are 
  separated by hundreds of miles of desert. To the south is the great 
  Maighib Desert. Guurzan claims a large portion of the deep desert, at 
  least in name, but doesn’t pretend to control it all. The southern part 
  of the Maighib is primarily given over to nomadic tribes that roam 
  freely from southwestern Khemit to the Gulf of Caddesh and back, 
  occasionally traveling so far north as the markets at Olappo to trade 
  with the cityfolk. Oases exist but are less frequent than in the north, 
  and harder to ﬁ nd. That makes controlling an oasis — or even knowing 
  of one — an important instrument of power. A number of years ago, 
  a tribe of sand dwarves undermined a group of oases claimed by the 
  Sahoduin tribe. That led not just to warfare between that tribe and the 
  dwarves, but to a conﬂ ict that eventually lasted 20 years and involved 
  tribes throughout the desert.
  The country as a whole ofﬁ cially follows the religion of Mah-Barek 
  and has made common cause in the past with its religious fellows in 
  Khartous and Caddesh. However, many people, especially outside the 
  cities, still worship older deities or local spirits instead of (or in addition 
  to) Mah-Barek. A large portion of the population, even among the 
  upper classes, can trace their ancestry back to the Omaruri people who 
  once lived in the northern Maighib Desert, which perhaps explains the 
  general attachment to older forms of religion.
  BAHAADUR, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  BAHAADUR, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Abaya (governor) Arrij Teret-hesen
  Government: governor appointed by queen
  Population: 98,275 (mostly Ashurian)
  Bahaadur is the capital city of Guurzan and sits at the tip of Juurkelion 
  Bay on the east bank of the Torilaan River. Using the system of irrigation 
  introduced by the city of Khaajir, Bahaadur and its environs are able to 
  raise a large quantity of food. The city trades the surplus to interior cities 
  such as Olappo that cannot grow enough for their own needs. Bahaadur 
  has a small merchant shipping industry, but its port is mostly used by 
  foreign ships from Khartous, Khemit, or more-distant points. Most of its 
  trade is done by caravan, to western Khemit and the interior of Guurzan. 
  The court of Queen Gathbiyya is much less formal than royal courts 
  in other nearby countries, unless ambassadors from another nation come 
  calling, in which case all involved try to be as ceremonial as possible. 
  Some see this informality as dangerous, but the queen has a traditional 
  honor guard of warriors from the deep desert (some say actual Omaruri, 
  but others say differently) who have guarded her family for eight centuries 
  with no injury to any member of the royal family, so she is unconcerned.
  AL-IBBOS, CITY OF
  AL-IBBOS, CITY OF
  Ruler: Abaya Ibtissam Fari-duluun
  Government: governor appointed by queen
  Population: 12,448 (mostly Ashurian)
  Al-Ibbos is a small port city on the northern coast of Guurzan, but it 
  is primarily important for being a stop on the trade route from the huge 
  city of Pharos in northern Khemit to the Guurzani capital at Bahaadur. It 
  sits on the southern bank of the Orrisniheccht River, and a ferry service 
  is available for caravans to cross the river, if needed. However, the river 
  is shallow enough near the mouth that most livestock can swim, if the 
  drovers are willing to risk the crocodiles. Al-Ibbos is the one city in the 
  country to have a signiﬁ cant amount of ﬁ shing, but a good portion of 
  its production is consumed locally; certainly, very little makes it any 
  farther away than Bahaadur.
  DENYALLU, RUINS OF
  DENYALLU, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  Deep in the desert stands a fortress. It is almost as far south as Set’s 
  Kingdom, or farther, but perhaps more in the direction of what are now 
  called the Nazarre Mountains, or perhaps not. There, the desert is rocky, 
  and a plateau stands above it. Upon the plateau, a great stone platform 
  has been built, said to be 100 steps high, and on this stands the fortress. 
  Its towering walls are made of clay, but they have been reinforced with 
  logs so they are still strong though they are ancient. The walls are high, 
  but no one patrols them. Towers stand at the corners, but no one stands 
  guard. In the front, a gatehouse stands ready, but no gate pierces it; no 
  one may enter. The singers lament for Denyallu, the lost city where gold 
  paved the streets and jewels grew like ﬂ owers, but no living person has 
  ever found Denyallu and returned to tell the tale.
  KHAAJIR, CITY OF
  KHAAJIR, CITY OF
  Ruler: Abaya Djamilla Fayru-iiz
  Government: governor appointed by queen
  Population: 18,229 (mostly Ashurian)
  Khaajir sits on the seacoast where the Myonaardia River empties into 
  the ocean. Using a series of canals for irrigation, and the plentiful water 
  coming from the Qarrasat Hills, Khaajir and its associated villages are 
  major agricultural producers for the country of Guurzan. This includes 
  ﬂ ax for cloth, and the city produces linen for making clothing in the 
  manner of Khemit. Khaajir also has a port and ships often stop here on 
  their way to or from Bahaadur, but much commerce just goes by caravan 
  between the two cities.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |425
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  OLAPPO, CITY OF
  OLAPPO, CITY OF
  Ruler: Abaya Naziik Nuh-rhuuthan
  Government: governor appointed by queen
  Population: 6,366 (mostly Ashurian)
  Olappo is the farthest south of the major cities of Guurzan. It started 
  out as an oasis community, but the use of magic to construct several 
  deep wells in the past means its area now can support a population in 
  the thousands. Olappo is at the end of a caravan route from Bahaadur, 
  and also one extending to Lixus in Caddesh.  That means that through 
  this isolated city pass goods from some of the largest communities in the 
  world (such as Pharos, in Khemit, and other cities of the triple kingdom) 
  to the villages on the Gulf of Caddesh, and then back. It is also the usual 
  starting place for expeditions heading south into the deep desert, so its 
  merchants and even individuals have items available for sale that are not 
  usually seen except in much larger cities. Most of these are genuinely 
  useful, but sometimes a fast talker with a good story is able to pass off 
  something strange as an item of “important equipment.”
  QIRAAM, CITY OF
  QIRAAM, CITY OF
  Ruler: Abaya Muuqin Hudeyythin
  Government: governor appointed by queen
  Population: 8,671 (mostly Ashurian)
  About 100 miles southwest of the capital, Qiraam has become 
  a minor center of trade. Merchants from Khartous were persistent 
  about making a route for caravans from their Pesha River to 
  Guurzan, and it continues to be in use. (Enough oases were found 
  that livestock can even be transported this way.) Much trade 
  between Khartous and Khemit goes by ship, but when political 
  issues mean those navies are at odds, merchants can still move their 
  goods by the desert trade route.
  KHARTOUS, SULTANATE OF
  KHARTOUS, SULTANATE OF
  Capital: Khartous 
  Notable Settlements: Qamara, Xamesh, Zakkesh
  Ruler: Sultan Faud Umarr
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 2,342,919 (2,190,658 Ashurians of Khartous and 
  Ammuyad; about 150,000 Desertfolk; 2,261 Khemitites)
  Monstrous: genies, ant lions, sand krakens, sphinxes
  Languages: Semuric
  Religion: churches of Mah-Barek
  Resources: crops, herd animals, silver, lead, trade
   Currency: Ammuyad
  Technology Level: Medieval (Khartous), High Middle Ages 
  (Qamara and other cities), Iron Age (rural areas)
  The Sultanate of Khartous was founded hundreds of years ago by 
  the Khartisines, worshippers of Mah-Barek who came across the Sea 
  of Baal and displaced the nomadic folk living here previously. They 
  primarily claimed the area along the coast, but built trade routes through 
  the interior wherever they could ﬁ nd water sources to support caravans. 
  The fertile Pesha River delta supplies most of the food for northern 
  Khartous. The northern cities and towns are generally prosperous, with 
  even most villages and individual farmers being well off compared to 
  their counterparts in other lands. Many city-dwellers have a sophisticated 
  lifestyle with luxuries brought from distant places by the aggressive 
  trade policies of the kingdom. Much of the rest of Khartous, all the way 
  to the ocean on the west, is deep sand desert. Valuable resources such 
  as lead and silver have been found along the coast and to the west, but 
  the desert to the south is largely unexplored, at least by the kingdom’s 
  present inhabitants.
  CHASS, RUINS OF
  CHASS, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  A large, oddly-shaped building sits atop a plateau in the desert. 
  Dozens of small oases are located within a mile or two of its base. 
  Despite seeming like a logical stopping place for travelers, caravans 
  speciﬁ cally avoid the area. Rumors say that the ruins are the home of 
  many vicious monsters that attack any caravans that come too close, but 
  a few knowledgeable people suggest it is instead home to only a single 
  huge, very dangerous, creature.
  KHARTOUS, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  KHARTOUS, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Abaya (governor) of Khartous Region, Jibril Waqar
  Government: regional governor appointed by sultan
  Population: 129,763 (mostly Ashurian)
  The capital city of the sultanate of the same name, Khartous sits on 
  the eastern bank of the Eastern Branch in the Pesha River Delta where 
  it ﬂ ows into the sea. The city is focused on two things: trade and the 
  court of the sultan. Although supplies for the city come down the river, 
  it is the ocean trade that brings exotic luxuries and more wealth to the 
  already wealthy merchants and nobles of Khartous. Their acquisitions 
  tend to the ostentatious side, and are mostly used in making displays of 
  power and vying for inﬂ uence in and around the royal court. While the 
  upper class compete with each other, the rest of the city exhibits all the 
  activities and vices seen in crowded cities around the world.
  Most people know the capital city was built on the location of a city 
  conquered by the ﬁ rst sultan, but few have any idea how old that city 
  actually was or how deep it went. Strange occurrences in the city that 
  are superstitiously said to be the work of evil spirits may actually have 
  completely different causes.
  QAMARA, CITY OF
  QAMARA, CITY OF
  Ruler: Abaya of Basuuma region, Salamun ibn Saddesh 
  Government: regional governor appointed by sultan
  Population: 9,397 (mostly Ashurian)
  This small city is the seat of the region’s governor, but it is best known as 
  the location of Hamsha University. The university’s reputation for excellent 
  scholarship and training in the medical and magical arts makes it a popular 
  destination for upper-class youth who want to expand their abilities in these 
  areas. Qamara sits at the western edge of the Pesha River Delta.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: DUNES OF DESOLATION,
  CHILD’S PLAY FROM QUESTS OF DOOM 3
  RABAKKA, NECROPOLIS OF
  RABAKKA, NECROPOLIS OF
  Population: 0
  More than 100 miles from the city of Khartous, deep in the Maighib 
  Desert, is the large Necropolis of Rabakka. Its distance into the desert 
  means that a burial requires an extensive processional, and thus it is usually 
  the burying place only of the elite. Originally founded for the family of the 
  sultan and other nobles of the kingdom, it became the necropolis of choice 
  as well for people of wealth or those who want to do particular honor to 
  their dead. This includes families from cities across the kingdom, not just 
  those in Khartous. Common people, and those of less wealth, must make do 
  with a minor necropolis only a day’s journey or so from their hometowns.
  RAMAASHTA, VILLAGE OF
  RAMAASHTA, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: Administrator Aramses Ottama
  Government: administrator appointed by regional governor
  Population: 183 (mostly Ashurian)
  This small village sits near the Pesha River, not far from where the 
  Eastern Branch splits off in the Pesha River Delta on its way to the 
  
  426|
  426|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  nearby sea. It is known for producing excellent grains and ﬂ avorful 
  meats. Purveyors of gourmet beers, breads, and meats buy the products 
  to serve to food connoisseurs in Khartous. Unfortunately for sellers in 
  Ramaashta, most of its products go through middlemen located in the 
  town of Xamesh, 35 miles downriver on the Pesha, for resale to buyers 
  in Khartous or elsewhere. The village is not far from the beginning of 
  the trade route from the banks of the Pesha to far Qiraam in Guurzan 
  across the desert, but the leaders of Ramaashta have yet to ﬁ nd a way to 
  take advantage of this proximity.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: DUNES OF DESOLATION,
  KING OF BEASTS FROM QUESTS OF DOOM 3
  XAMESH, CITY OF
  XAMESH, CITY OF
  Ruler: Abaya of Yamun region, Iskandar Rahat
  Government: regional governor appointed by sultan
  Population: 15,444 (mostly Ashurian)
  Xamesh is about a day’s caravan travel upriver from Khartous on 
  the Eastern Branch in the Pesha River Delta. The regional capital, it is 
  a popular stopping place for travelers or caravans going to or from the 
  capital city. Sometimes people who need to leave Khartous for whatever 
  reason (getting low on money, needing to get out of sight for a while) 
  but who don’t want to go far from the city, move to Xamesh for an 
  extended period.
  ZAKKESH, TOWN OF
  ZAKKESH, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Administrator Touﬁ k Bulus
  Government: administrator appointed by regional governor
  Population: 8,684 (mostly Ashurian)
  Zakkesh, about a day by boat upriver from Xamesh, is on the western 
  bank of the Pesha River. A slightly smaller town than the regional 
  capital at Xamesh, Zakkesh is an excellent place for craftspeople who 
  need large establishments but don’t want to pay the prices for places in 
  Khartous, or even in Xamesh. A lot of products are ﬁ nished here and 
  then taken down the river from the extensive docks at Zakkesh to be 
  sold in the markets of Khartous.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE DESERT KINGDOMS
  INTEREST IN THE DESERT KINGDOMS
  AL-MARAK, OASIS OF
  AL-MARAK, OASIS OF
  This massive freshwater spring is the largest source of water for the 
  Kingdom of Khartous. It lies about 75 miles east of the city of Khartous 
  and is an important stop for any caravans traveling east from the capital 
  — which means the vast majority of caravans.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: DUNES OF DESOLATION, 
  MY BLUE OASIS FROM QUESTS OF DOOM 3
  GULF OF CADDESH
  GULF OF CADDESH
  The Gulf of Caddesh is an excellent ﬁ shing ground as well as 
  providing the country of Caddesh protection from most ocean storms; 
  only the worst roil the gulf’s waters to an extent that might endanger 
  ships. Unfortunately, the gulf also provides seagoing enemies excellent 
  access to the most-populated areas of the country.
  JEKKIBET HILLS
  JEKKIBET HILLS
  The Jekkibet Hills are a large region of high badlands that runs 
  north and south through the western part of Khartous into north-central 
  Caddesh. The Kader and Karkkaru Rivers in Caddesh have their sources 
  in those hills, as does the Pesha River in Khartous. The Arahm Pass is a 
  narrow but relatively easy path through the badlands. It is little traveled 
  due to the sparse population in the area, but it does serve as part of the 
  casually accepted border between Caddesh and Khartous. Old stories 
  tell of gold mines in the hills, but those were apparently lost before 
  Alcaldar occupied the country.
  JUURKELION BAY 
  JUURKELION BAY 
  An inlet from the Sea of Baal (and ultimately the Sinnar Ocean), 
  Juurkelion Bay provides access to the sea for the major cities of 
  Guurzan. Its east coast is fairly ﬂ at, with three rivers ﬂ owing into it. 
  Its west coast rises rapidly just a few miles north of Bahaadur until it is 
  almost 2,000 feet above the water, and it remains high and rocky some 
  distance after again meeting the sea. The west coast takes a long turn to 
  the west of almost 50 miles before again turning north. About halfway 
  along this distance, it is interrupted by a powerful waterfall ﬂ owing 
  from an opening in the cliff and thundering into the sea. As no river 
  ﬂ ows into the bay from this area, the source of water for the waterfall 
  is unknown, but scholars attribute it to an as-yet-undiscovered aquifer 
  deep below the earth.
  KADER RIVER
  KADER RIVER
  This river runs from the badlands of the Jekkibet Hills west to the 
  Sinnar Ocean. It is generally considered to be the northwestern boundary 
  of Caddesh, where it meets Khartous. The Kader is a fast-ﬂ owing river 
  that begins in a series of narrow waterfalls and runs most of its length 
  through a steep canyon.
  KARKKARU RIVER
  KARKKARU RIVER
  The Karkkaru River is barely worthy of the name, being only a small 
  river that trickles out of the Jekkibet Hills. However, it does manage to 
  carry enough water to the coast to allow farming in the area of Jebel, 
  which is much needed by the folk in the region since the ocean breezes 
  here bring much less moisture to the northern end of the Gulf of Caddesh 
  than farther south.
  MAIGHIB DESERT
  MAIGHIB DESERT
  Extending from the Sinnar Ocean to Numeda, and south hundreds 
  of miles inland from the Sea of Baal, the Maighib Desert in central 
  Libynos is one of the great deserts of the world. While most is huge, 
  shifting dunes of sand, some parts are rocky and others are salt ﬂ ats. 
  The whole area is dotted with lifesaving oases and a few strong rivers 
  make their way through to the coast. The majority of the population 
  lives around the edges of the desert — near the sea — or along one of 
  the determined rivers. Nomadic tribes do wander the interior, oasis to 
  oasis, following wild animals or leading herds of their own, but they are 
  seldom seen by outsiders.
  MYONAARDIA RIVER
  MYONAARDIA RIVER
  Coming from high in the Qarrasat Hills in eastern Guurzan, the 
  Myonaardia runs into the sea in Juurkelion Bay near the city of Khaajir. 
  Its plentiful water used for irrigation allows the local inhabitants to farm 
  extensively, providing much of the surplus of crops needed to support 
  the capital city.
  ORRISNIHECCHT RIVER
  ORRISNIHECCHT RIVER
  This river runs from the Qarrasat Hills into the Sea of Baal on the north 
  coast of Guurzan. Al-Ibbos sits on the west bank of the Orrisniheccht, 
  and some farming villages use its water for irrigation. There is very little 
  river trafﬁ c, though, and the irrigation is done very carefully, because 
  the river in known to be crowded with crocodiles.
  PESHA RIVER
  PESHA RIVER
  The Pesha River of Khartous gets its start in the high badlands of 
  the Jekkibet Hills and runs through a canyon in the harsh, rocky waste 
  nearby to where the land ﬂ attens out to open desert. It is a strong-
  ﬂ owing river, but where the land is very low, as it approaches the sea, 
  it spreads into a delta. The current becomes slow and small streams 
  
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  |427
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  trickle off and rejoin the main channel, but it still averages 80 feet wide 
  and the channel is 20 feet deep, so it cannot be easily forded. It has one 
  signiﬁ cant split where the Eastern Branch of the Pesha makes its own 
  way to the sea. The fertile river delta is heavily farmed, with villages 
  and towns scattered throughout, and is the main source of food for all 
  of northern Khartous.
  QARRASAT HILLS
  QARRASAT HILLS
  The edge of the Qarrasat Hills has been accepted for millennia as the 
  western boundary of Khemit; the hills themselves are wholly claimed 
  by Guurzan. The Qarrasats are steep and rough and riddled with caves. 
  Aside from the caravan route to the north of the hills, and one through a 
  pass near the center of the range, people do not travel in the area unless 
  they are looking for trouble. The hills are inhabited by a strange array of 
  monsters, some quite weird and all dangerous. Young warriors looking 
  to make a name for themselves, or mature hunters looking for a rare 
  prize, may hunt in the hills for what they seek. Some ﬁ nd it, and some 
  even return to tell about it.
  RRESH RIVER
  RRESH RIVER
  About two-thirds of the watershed of the western part of the country 
  drains into the Rresh, which empties into the Gulf of Caddesh at the 
  capital city of El-Marresh. Despite its volume, however, the Rresh 
  is not deep nor is it particularly fast. It is useful for barges or small 
  sailboats, but not larger ships. As a consequence, the Empire of Alcaldar 
  was unable to use the Rresh as a pathway to the interior in its conquest 
  of Caddesh, and so the empire’s control is still largely conﬁ ned to the 
  nation’s coastlines. 
  TORILAAN RIVER
  TORILAAN RIVER
  Beginning in the southern portion of the Qarrasat Hills, this river runs 
  down into the tip of Juurkelion Bay where the capital city of Guurzan sits. 
  It provides plenty of water for the land around Bahaadur and allows some 
  outlying villages to ship their crops to the city by barge instead of caravan.
  ZATAF, ISLAND OF
  ZATAF, ISLAND OF
  Off the west coast of Caddesh, the island of Zataf is rich in fruit 
  trees and other woods. The center of the island, however, is a narrow 
  chain of high mountains that includes a line of three volcanoes. The 
  largest cone, in the center, has been dormant for a thousand years. The 
  north and south volcanoes have been known to give off smoke for short 
  periods every 20 to 30 years, not necessarily at the same time. Zataf 
  is said to be populated by a tribe of reclusive people who worship the 
  volcanos as deities. They have not been seen in the area of Zataftown 
  for generations, though, so most locals assume the tribe has died out.
  ZATAF SOUND
  ZATAF SOUND
  Running roughly 300 miles between Zataf Island and mainland 
  Caddesh, Zataf Sound is deep but with large protruding rocks and many 
  odd currents. It is tricky, but possible, to navigate in something the 
  size of a ﬁ shing vessel and almost impossible to get through safely in 
  anything larger. The rocks of the Sound, and the rocky mainland coast 
  along it, are home to several colonies of seals. This draws sharks to the 
  waters, making them even more dangerous.
  ALCALDAR, EMPIRE OF
  ALCALDAR, EMPIRE OF
  Capital: Mhalta 
  Notable Settlements: Alicantato, Cadua, Iber, Perona, Ruente
  Ruler: Queen Leonore-Alcia
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 1,983,808 (1,975,723 Alcaldrich, 4,614 
  Foerdewaith, 2,165 Ashurians of Caddesh, 432 Antiochians, 
  146 Khemitites, 592 other human ethnicity, 136 elf)
  Monstrous: orcs (south), hill giants, ronus, griffons (mountains)
  Languages: Alcaldrich
  Religion: Muir and Thyr
   Resources: iron, silver, alabaster, stone, blackwood, salt, crops, 
  medicinal herbs, ﬁ sh, cattle, horses, leather goods, parchment, 
  wool, shipbuilding, high-quality weapons
  Currency: Alcaldrich
  Technology Level: Renaissance (Mhalta, Cadua); High Middle 
  Ages (other cities, noble households); Dark Ages (rural areas)
  Alcaldar is located on the west coast of central Libynos, separated by 
  the sheltering Nazarre Mountains from the southern part of the Maighib 
  Desert. Its largest cities are built on the shores of Iber Bay but its 
  holdings go well inland. Alcaldar was founded as an early Hyperborean 
  colony. The colonists mixed bloodlines with the local plains- and 
  mountain-dwellers for thousands of years, though noble families (and 
  especially the royal family) have more Hyperborean heritage than 
  others. The Alcaldrich favor the traditions and mannerisms of their 
  Hyperborean (and later Foerdewaith) forebears but have also picked up 
  many Libynosi customs that are thought strange in Akados.
  One thing that sets Alcaldar apart from its Libynosi neighbors is its 
  intense and exclusive worship of the goddess Muir and her attendant 
  deity Thyr; it is the ofﬁ cial, and only, religion of Alcaldar. King Alcoa, 
  who decreed the country’s conversion, also established the Holy 
  Ecclessia Inquisitorial to protect the integrity of the faith. Shortly after 
  that, the high ecclesiast of the temple of Muir in Perona formed the 
  Church Militans as the active hand of the church. The two organizations 
  are enthusiastic in spreading the worship of Muir (and Thyr) and in 
  upholding the beliefs of the faithful.
  About 275 years ago, King Istobal-Alcacé began the series of 
  conquests and expansions that took Alcaldar from a kingdom to an 
  Empire. He saw Alcaldar as the natural successor to the Hyperborean 
  Empire, since the Hyperborean Empire of the Foerdewaith had 
  disintegrated into squabbling kingdoms after the end of the Fourth 
  Crusade. This led to the subjugation of the Kingdom of Caddesh, north 
  along the Sinnar coast, and the acquisition of the area now known 
  as the Channel Lakes. Exceptional resistance in northern Caddesh 
  stalled the Alcaldrich conquest of the Desert Kingdoms, but the 
  exploration and development of the Channel Lakes more than made 
  up for it. Opening a navigable water connection through central 
  Libynos allowed Alcaldar to build a colonial empire on the east coast 
  of Libynos as well as the west.
  Though its monarch could legitimately call herself an empress, 
  Alcaldar is modestly governed by Queen Leonore-Alcia. The queen is 
  fairly young and still unmarried; after she took the throne, the council 
  and noble houses nearly tore themselves apart jockeying for a chance to 
  have her marry into their families. They ﬁ nally agreed she should marry 
  a foreign noble to avoid internal conﬂ ict. Now the factions are each 
  looking for a wealthy noble who will favor their group. (Good-looking, 
  diplomatic, wealthy knights-errant might also be good candidates.) The 
  queen herself is looking for a spouse, not a co-ruler. The older men of 
  her council already think she should be ruled by their opinions; she is 
  not going to share the authority of her position with a consort as well. 
  MHALTA, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  MHALTA, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Archon Aven-Carlo, Marqués of Tamora
  Government: archon appointed by monarch
  Population: 35,924 (33,746 Alcaldrich, 1,022 Foerdewaith, 819 
  Ashurians of Caddesh, 101 Antiochians, 35 Khemitites, 186 
  other human ethnicity, 15 elf)
  The city of Mhalta is on the east coast of Iber Bay at the mouth of the 
  Luena River. The east end of the bay is relatively shallow, so the docks 
  at Mhalta are able to handle many types of ships, but not oceangoing 
  vessels with a deep draft. The city does have a good-sized ﬁ shing ﬂ eet 
  whose boats have Iber Bay mostly to themselves, as the other cities on 
  the bay host relatively little ﬁ shing.
  
  428|
  428|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  Mhalta was the capital city of the Kingdom of Alcaldar for over 3,000 
  years, and has been the capital of the empire now for nearly 300 years. 
  As the country has grown in inﬂ uence and power, so the capital city has 
  increased in population and activity. It has a beautiful temple to Muir, 
  and a smaller one in the same style to Thyr, surrounded by a garden of 
  ﬂ owers. (It also has smaller chapels in other neighborhoods, so those 
  who attend at the principal temple do not have to rub shoulders with the 
  entire city.) Mhalta has its own university, an expensive school attended 
  mostly by scions of the noble families of Alcaldar and by students from 
  very wealthy houses whose parents hope to see them serve at court 
  rather than go into trade.
  Mhalta’s most important function is to house the palace and the 
  imperial court. That means it also welcomes hundreds of foreign visitors 
  and plays host to all sorts of pageantry. The imperial court of Alcaldar 
  has always been very formal, so the Clothing Workers’ Guild of the 
  city (which makes most of the court attire for the nobles present) is 
  extremely important and well-off. Another important group right now 
  are animal trainers, as the court is experiencing a recurrence of the fad 
  of nobles having exotic animals as pets. Whether it is a cheetah on a 
  gold leash, one of the grassland cats called pajeros, a tiny monkey from 
  the southern jungles, or a brightly-feathered bird that can be taught to 
  talk, many nobles keep unusual pets in their homes and some even show 
  them off in public.
  The queen’s court is full of gossip and rumor, as everyone — high 
  and low — tries to get information to better their own position or ﬁ nd a 
  way to exert a little power. Though some degree of dissent is tolerated 
  (at least, in certain matters), with the high ecclesiast often at the queen’s 
  shoulder, those who disagree are very careful about it. For instance, 
  some traditionalists in her court complain quietly that the queen favors 
  women when appointing people to positions of authority, and that she 
  gives overly much attention to the noble families of southeast Alcaldar 
  where she spent many summers with her mother’s relatives at Estancia 
  Galdames. However, no one has had the temerity to bring these whispers 
  to the queen’s attention.
  The common people of Mhalta may as a whole be a bit better off 
  than most of the rest of the country; plenty of visitors means plenty 
  of opportunities for folks to earn a little coin and possibly to have a 
  little excitement in life. Even the poor have it slightly better; with many 
  nobles in town eager to prove their piety, almsgiving is high and the 
  churches are often able to help those down on their luck. (Residents 
  of haciendas and estancias are discouraged from moving to the cities, 
  though, so relatively few countryfolk come to Mhalta to try to improve 
  their lot in life.) The holdings of the high-born and wealthy take up so 
  much space inside the city that middle-class residents are cramped into 
  small living spaces ringing the city center and the lower class is mostly 
  located outside the wall entirely. The lower quarters stretch from the 
  docks around the north and south sides of the city, but very few settle 
  outside the city toward the east. Even though the Nazarre Mountains 
  proper are several miles from the Mhalta, strange things are said to 
  come down and prowl the inhabited area between the mountains and 
  the city wall.
  ALICANTATO, TOWN OF
  ALICANTATO, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Archon Mereni-Raul of Hacienda Almoster
  Government: archon (city governor) appointed by monarch
  Population: 4,340 (mostly Alcaldrich)
  The town of Alicantato lies south of the eastern edge of the Navarre 
  Mountains, between the rich farmlands of western Alcaldar and the 
  Grasslands of Wahm. It started as a trading center where merchants from 
  the coastal cities could deal their wares and in return buy the products 
  of the grassland tribes: cattle and sheep for meat, cow hides for leather 
  and sheep or goat skins for parchment, wool, medicinal herbs, and most 
  importantly, horses. Over the years, many crafters moved to Alicantato 
  and produce ﬁ nished goods there rather than shipping raw materials, 
  especially since the plains’ city has plenty of space to separate some of 
  the messier professions from the town center. 
  Alicantato has the privilege of providing horses to the royal household. 
  Every two years in late summer, the Great Equine Exhibition takes place 
  involving Alcaldrich horse breeders and grassland tribes with their wild 
  horses. The Equine Captains of Alicantato examine all the horses and 
  then purchase the very best to be schooled and gifted to the crown. This 
  includes a pure white horse when available to be the royal parade horse 
  of the queen herself. The last three royal parade horses (over a 12-year 
  span) were selected from among the wild horses brought by members 
  of the Maqhawe tribe, and plans are now afoot by some of the empire’s 
  horse breeders to acquire pairs of these “moon horses” themselves to 
  earn the prestige of breeding the most important horse in the empire. 
  The gathering is made more exciting by the tradition of young people 
  from afﬂ uent families coming to select their own ﬁ rst horse of adulthood, 
  one that they may break or train themselves, or at least oversee its 
  training. Young men have done this for more than a thousand years; few 
  young women came until the past two or three centuries. However, with 
  the example of a warrior goddess before them (as well as valiant women 
  among the founding knights of the Holy Ecclessia), many girls want to 
  have a more active life rather than living as traditional pampered ladies. 
  Youth from poor families seldom have the chance to participate in this 
  gathering, but some work diligently to be able to afford a horse — any 
  horse — and see this as giving them a start in a different life.
  About 300 years ago, Alicantato was subject to increasing raids by 
  evil creatures out of the Kufa Mountains and the Eberro Wastes. A 
  knightly order (formerly from the Sacred Table) received a grant of land 
  in exchange for their protection of the eastern region of the nation. The 
  knights built a strong fortress near a saltmarsh outside Alicantato; they 
  shortly discovered underground deposits of salt on their property, and 
  also found opals in the area. Alicantato became a very prosperous city as 
  local people were employed to mine, and the products were bought and 
  sold in the town. Shockingly, after more than 200 years of local service, 
  the order was accused of blasphemy and demon worship, with the 
  Church Militans discovering proof of their perﬁ dy beneath the order’s 
  primary chapterhouse in Perona. Some of the knights from Alicantato 
  were arrested by the Church Militans and ultimately executed, but many 
  were away at the time and avoided capture by going into exile. Locals 
  are hesitant to say anything about “the vanished knights,” but if pressed, 
  people state that the knights hid their evil behavior from the town at the 
  time. For some unknown reason, no one says anything bad about them.
  The Church Militans took over the fortress and the salt mine, which 
  has since been worked by penitents (religious prisoners) instead of 
  employing locals. (Although the Church Militans has had people search 
  extensively, the opals appear to be exhausted.) The salt mine still makes 
  large proﬁ ts, but they all go to Perona or Mhalta, and Alicantato has 
  dwindled in size.
  CADUA, CITY OF
  CADUA, CITY OF
  Ruler: Archon Gelvira-Resuela of Hacienda Zapardiel
  Government: archon appointed by monarch
  Population: 12,397 (11,940 Alcaldrich, 220 Foerdewaith, 112 
  Ashurians of Caddesh, 31 Antiochians, 10 Khemitites, 72 other 
  human ethnicity, 12 elf)
  Cadua is located on the northwestern shore of Iber Bay and is well-
  known for producing high-quality edged weapons, especially various 
  types of swords and daggers. Under the Hyperborean Empire, Cadua 
  was one of the ﬁ rst places that not only produced iron (in the nearby 
  Nazarre Mountains) but also other minerals that improved the alloy 
  of iron into steel. These minerals were later found in or traded from 
  other locations, but Cadua had a head start on developing better steel. 
  Its smiths (many of whom could really be considered metallurgists) 
  continued to experiment with making steel and forging weapons. 
  The steel-makers and weaponsmiths of Cadua keep their proprietary 
  knowledge safe through the 977-year-old Alliance of Steel, which 
  requires oaths of secrecy and special training before their conﬁ dential 
  techniques are revealed. The group’s greatest competitors in Libynos 
  are the weaponsmiths of Tarresh, one of the Antioch City-States.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |429
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  Cadua is also known for its dueling academies. Once focused 
  speciﬁ cally on preparing people for success in the tradition of dueling 
  for one’s honor, or to prove oneself right, the academies have now 
  branched out into teaching all types of blade work. This has been 
  necessary since Alcaldar has expanded into an empire, because 
  restless people are inclined to go out seeking increased opportunity in 
  new places rather than stay home and look for excitement by taking 
  umbrage at other people’s remarks. In addition, dueling was always 
  more a practice of the afﬂ uent — insults among the lower classes 
  tended to be settled with ﬁ sticuffs or a blade in the dark — but over the 
  centuries it has become ritualized in ways that have increased the cost. 
  (For example, to correctly execute a duel, the challenger must rent an 
  arena or dueling ground and hire a referee and at least a healer, if not a 
  full cleric.) This means dueling is now largely restricted to the nobility 
  and the wealthy, and they tend to have instructors come to them rather 
  than attending an academy.
  Many masters (such as the eminent swordsman Camos Gemarin) 
  teach with no more than a studio and a handful of students. Of the major 
  schools, the Meruelo Academy of the Crossed Swords is the most well-
  known; its dozen instructors handle probably 20 times that number of 
  students. Of course, all these gallant institutions are the subject of much 
  discussion and comparison, not to mention gossip. It is said that one of 
  the larger schools (it varies which one in the telling) once had a temple 
  to the war-god Mithras as part of its facilities. Obviously, that was 
  closed when Alcaldar came into the worship of Muir 300 years ago, but 
  rumor says there is a secret way that someone could again access it and 
  look on the ancient altar built by the Hyperboreans themselves.
  Encroached upon as it is by the Nazarre Mountains, Cadua has only 
  a few haciendas surrounding it. These include the noble estates of the 
  Duquesa of Esterquel and the Conde of Isavana.
  IBER, CITY OF
  IBER, CITY OF
  Ruler: Archon Argilo-Lucia of Hacienda Rispanis
  Government: archon appointed by monarch
  Population: 23,120 (22,414 Alcaldrich, 350 Foerdewaith, 185 
  Ashurians of Caddesh, 52 Antiochians, 15 Khemitites, 99 other 
  human ethnicity, 5 elf)
  Iber is the oldest city in Alcaldar and has a strong Hyperborean feel 
  in its aged stone buildings. It is easily accessible to the largest crop-
  producing area of Alcaldar proper as well as the ranching estancias of 
  the southeast. Possessing an excellent deep-water port, it is a center 
  of sea ﬁ shing and has dry-dock facilities for the repair of oceangoing 
  vessels. It is also a place where passengers going to Mhalta or Cadua 
  may change to a smaller ship that can ﬁ t right up to one of the shallower 
  docks in those cities. 
  In the Hyperborean tradition, Iber has an ancient university that is 
  now nearly 3,000 years old. Although it has some competition from the 
  more-modern facility in Mhalta, the Universitas Iberensis is generally 
  considered to be the leading educational center of the entire west coast 
  of Libynos. Since the enthusiastic conversion of Alcaldar to the worship 
  of Muir and Thyr three centuries ago, Iber has also become the home 
  of two knightly orders: the Knights of Our Lady of the Sword, who are 
  dedicated to the protection of the empire, and the Brotherhood of the 
  Gauntlet, who specialize in bringing lawbreakers to justice.
  Furthermore, Iber is a major trading city. Many wealthy merchant 
  families such as the houses of Aldover, Meroma, Pezzuoli, Wreldan, 
  and Ziruela hail from Iber. Noble estates in the fertile western area 
  of Alcaldar ship their agricultural products and the other goods their 
  haciendas produce through the port of Iber to Mhalta, or north to the 
  dominion of Caddesh. Estates in western Alcaldar include those of the 
  duquesa of Rebollar, the marquesa of Ophelo, the marquesa of Rispanis, 
  the conde of Micia, and the condesa of Almoster.
  PERONA, CITY OF
  PERONA, CITY OF
  Ruler: Archon Eldonza-Isabel, Marquesa of Navalcán
  Government: archon appointed by monarch; bureaucracy
  Population: 7,562 (7,392 Alcaldrich, 120 Foerdewaith, 50 other 
  human ethnicity)
  Built on an island in Iber Bay, Perona was originally just a fortress to 
  guard the sea approaches to the capital city of Mhalta. Later, the city of 
  Perona grew around the fortress, but the city is mostly focused on the 
  island itself rather than becoming a signiﬁ cant port. This is primarily 
  due to the island being high and rocky with sheer cliffs on most sides — 
  excellent for defense but poor for mooring ships. It does have a section 
  of rocky shingle beach facing the mainland on the south that has docks 
  for shallow-draft vessels. Oceangoing ships calling at Perona must lie 
  at anchor in the deeper water and send their smaller boats in to shore.
  Much of the stone for the fortress and the city’s prominent buildings 
  was quarried on the island. A number of now-spent quarries are now 
  used as storage, or shelters in case of severe weather. Some are walled 
  off for private use, such as the burial chambers beneath the temple 
  of Muir. Because of the lack of coordination — and the existence of 
  competition — among various stonecutters in the past, the underground 
  quarries are a maze of spaces and narrow connecting passages, though 
  at least the support of the city above does not seem to be in danger.
  Perona is blessed to be the home of the Temple of Muir in Alcaldar 
  and the seat of High Ecclesiast Aitona-Trevisse Pezzuoli. (The priestess 
  is of the opinion that the temple here should actually be the high altar of 
  Muir given the sad state of the goddess’s church in Akados, but she feels 
  the time for pressing that issue has not quite come.) Personnel handling 
  administrative and temporal matters relating to the temple have largely 
  been moved to Mhalta where the high ecclesiast spends most of her 
  time at the royal court, although she returns to Perona for holy services 
  on a regular basis. The gleaming white temple of Muir (including the 
  sizable chapel to her attendant deity, Thyr) is a popular destination for 
  pilgrims from all over Alcaldar. The city of Perona does its best to serve 
  their needs, from providing plentiful opportunities for housing persons 
  of all sorts, to crafting jewelry and other small items that make suitable 
  mementos of such an important journey.
  RUENTE, CITY OF
  RUENTE, CITY OF
  Ruler: Archon Toril-Enrique, Duque of Clariana
  Government: archon appointed by monarch; bureaucracy
  Population: 15,412 (14,508 Alcaldrich, 524 Foerdewaith, 210 
  Ashurians of Caddesh, 45 Antiochians, 14 Khemitites, 106 
  other human ethnicity, 5 elf)
  Ruente lies on a natural harbor on the south shore of Iber Bay. Its 
  port’s conﬁ guration means that it can dock 40 to 50 vessels while still 
  having room for no fewer than three shipbuilding companies along the 
  water. The facilities are almost entirely given over to the manufacture 
  of ships for Alcaldar’s Imperial Navy, with any extra capacity taken up 
  by building merchant vessels for the great trading houses. However, one 
  of the companies has some dry docks it uses primarily for repairs and 
  maintenance. It keeps a waiting list of clients, but a ship that needs urgent 
  repairs can usually be worked into the schedule for an appropriate fee.
  The extensive space for docking large ships means Ruente is the port 
  of choice for landing large cargoes intended for Mhalta, or embarking 
  those from the eastern part of Alcaldar. Speciﬁ cally, this means horses 
  from the estancias or from Alicantato are shipped out from Ruente, and 
  any group of people arriving with their own mounts is very likely to 
  disembark at Ruente and then travel overland to the capital city.
  East of Ruente and south of the Navarre Mountains lie the large plains 
  estancias of such nobles as the duque of Pinilla, the marquesa of Sorueno, 
  the marqués of Tamora, the marqués of Vellone, the conde of Galdames, 
  and the condesa of Urrimi. Their primary products are the long-horned 
  cattle for which the Grasslands of Wahm are famous, as well as many 
  types of leather goods, and of course the excellent plains’ horses.
  
  430|
  430|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE EMPIRE OF ALCALDAR
  INTEREST IN THE EMPIRE OF ALCALDAR
  EBERRO WASTES
  EBERRO WASTES
  This set of badlands is about 200 miles from north to south and about 
  100 miles east to west between the Nazarre Mountains of Alcaldar and 
  the Kufa Mountains. Though it is possible to ﬁ nd one’s way through, 
  either from the Nazarre to the Kufa Mountains or from the Maighib 
  Desert to Alcaldar, it is difﬁ cult even for one who knows the territory 
  well. The narrow, dead-end canyons and rocky deﬁ les can be very 
  confusing, and it is easy for a traveler to become fatally lost. A few 
  small streams and pools are supplied by underground water sources, but 
  the area is generally very dry.
  IBER BAY
  IBER BAY
  The waters of this bay are protected from the worst vagaries of the 
  Sinnar Ocean and allow for safer travel in small boats. It isn’t quite deep 
  enough on the north and east sides for oceangoing vessels to dock directly 
  at either Mhalta or Cadua, although both ports can ﬁ t dozens of smaller 
  boats. However, the depth at the south shore accommodates large ships, 
  and towns along the coast have shipbuilding and repair yards. The bay 
  usually has a good supply of ﬁ sh and ﬁ shing is a signiﬁ cant industry. 
  Other larger ﬁ shing vessels are based out of the city of Iber and ﬁ sh out 
  into the Sinnar Ocean.
  LUENA RIVER
  LUENA RIVER
  The Luena River has its headwaters deep in the Nazarre Mountains, 
  and runs fast and cold along its entire length into Iber Bay, though it 
  ﬂ attens out somewhat as it approaches the coast next to the city of 
  Mhalta. Its rocky bed makes boating down the river perilous, but its 
  upper reaches produce some very tasty cool-water ﬁ sh so sport ﬁ shers 
  stalk its banks in search of delicacies, either for their own tables or for 
  those of the wealthy in Mhalta. The river also occasionally produces 
  strange creatures from the mountains, which it spits out on its banks 
  near Mhalta, much to the consternation of the city’s guards and those 
  living outside the wall on the north.
  NAZARRE MOUNTAINS
  NAZARRE MOUNTAINS
  These mountains cover more than a third of Alcaldar proper and 
  provide it with bountiful natural resources. There are minerals such as 
  the iron and other metals found near Cadua, alabaster in the east-central 
  area, and silver in the southeast. (The metallurgists of Cadua speculate 
  that more of the same materials might be found in the Kufa Mountains 
  because their similar appearance suggests both sets of mountains may 
  at one time have been part of the same range. So far no one has cared 
  to try to drive the humanoids out of the Kufas and explore for valuable 
  metals.) The mountains also provide tall, sturdy blackwood trees for 
  shipbuilding and stone for building in the cities, as well as being home 
  to wild mountain goats and sheep and other more exotic creatures.
  GRASSLANDS OF WAHM
  GRASSLANDS OF WAHM
  Capital: none
  Notable Settlements: Caaddan, Ubuka, Wahm
  Ruler: none
  Government: tribal
  Population: unknown
  Monstrous: orcs, kathlin, gambado
  Languages: Alcaldrich, tribal languages
  Religion: Father Sky, Mother Earth, and other grasslands 
  spirits
  Resources: horses, herd animals, leather, wool, crops
  Currency: Alcaldrich, barter
  Technology Level: Bronze Age (nomadic tribes), Iron Age 
  (settlements)
  The Grasslands of Wahm are wide open plains stretching hundreds 
  of miles in each direction, extending from the Kufa Mountains 
  in the north to the region of the Channel Lakes in the south, and 
  from the Central Uplands on the east all the way west to the Sinnar 
  Ocean. Though portions of southeastern Alcaldar and southwestern 
  Meroë are also plains, they are not typically considered to be parts 
  of the grasslands.
  The largest river in the region is the Wambatu, which runs through the 
  southern portion of the grasslands. Other rivers also ﬂ ow through the 
  area, of course, but none pulls from such a large area as the Wambatu.
  Throughout the grasslands are rolling hills, some of which can be 
  rather steep, dropping sharply into one river valley or another. Rivers 
  and streams in the grasslands are fairly easy to locate, since among the 
  ﬁ elds of grasses reaching to the horizon, lines of trees follow along the 
  edges of any water source. Some areas have rocky hills and occasionally 
  entrances to caverns where underground water has worn away the 
  rock, though these are not evident from the surface; they are usually 
  discovered by accident if at all.
  The grasslands are populated in the north by various nomadic and 
  semi-nomadic tribes, such as the Maqhawe, Mkuntho, and Moglai, 
  and by the more-settled Metwano and Mwandu tribes south of the 
  Wambatu River.
  In the south, the Metwano tribes are farther west and so they have 
  had the most contact with the Alcaldrich near the Channel Lakes who 
  explore north from their base at San Caseo. Many villages have set up 
  proﬁ table trading relations with the city, sending their wool and woolen 
  goods, and getting leather from the Moglai and Maqhawe that they then 
  trade to the merchants at San Caseo. The Mwandu tribes are farther 
  east and tend to stay close to the Wambatu. They are proliﬁ c farmers 
  and do some trading with people from across the river, but they prefer 
  to let the traders come to them rather than seeking out opportunity in a 
  strange area.
  North of the river are the Moglai, who range along the Wambatu and 
  some distance north. The Moglai are more proﬁ cient farmers than the 
  two tribes farther north and tend to herd in a more restricted range, but 
  they are considered to be among the semi-nomadic grasslands tribes 
  as they leave their homes for months at a time to ﬁ nd good pasturage. 
  Farther north, the Maqhawe in the west and the Mkuntho in the east range 
  through huge areas with their ﬂ ocks and herds. The Maqhawe especially 
  come into contact (and sometimes conﬂ ict) with the Alcaldrich in their 
  home country, particularly the city of Alicantato. The Mkuntho do trade 
  at Alicantato, but they also range far to the east and trade with those in 
  the country of Meroë.
  All the tribes of the Grasslands of Wahm have some similarities. 
  They tend to have close-knit communities, without entering into active 
  rivalries with other related tribes in the area. They all enjoy a good song 
  or story, with most of them being naturally good singers. Their basic 
  system of belief is fairly simple: Father Sky and Mother Earth, Brother 
  Horse, Little Pajero the trickster, and Hungry Fire who sometimes seems 
  to threaten the whole world. To this the northern tribes have added a 
  few deities they learned from the Hyperboreans, such as Kamien of the 
  Rivers and Telophus, who turns the seasons.
  The northern tribes differ from those south of the Wambatu in that 
  they are much less settled. Although they have home territories, they 
  travel widely with their herds and ﬂ ocks and depend on their strong 
  horses in many ways. Animals they herd include sheep as well as the 
  longhorned cattle, and sometimes horses. Most horses run in wild 
  herds, and the plains’ tribes make it a point of pride to capture and 
  tame horses for their own use and also to sell to appreciative buyers. 
  Currently, the Maqhawe have the best reputation in this area, though 
  many people from each tribe are excellent horse trainers. Given that 
  most people of the tribes have a chance to ride horses even before 
  they can walk, almost all are good riders and many are superb. Some 
  horsemen from the estancias of Alcaldar may ride as well as the plains’ 
  people, but very few.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|431
  |431
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  CAADDAN
  CAADDAN
  Ruler: Chieftain Stolen Tongue
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 154 (orcs)
  At some time in the past, a few small tribes of orcs apparently migrated 
  north to the central plains of the Grasslands of Wahm, where they live 
  in comparative harmony with their human neighbors. One of their small 
  settlements is Caaddan, though it is more in the nature of a gathering 
  place than a permanent community. A circular earthwork surrounds its 
  perimeter, while inside, residents live in huts or lean-tos. The exception 
  to this is the chieftain’s residence, which is a sturdy, wooden one-room 
  house. This village is half a dozen miles from a human town and the two 
  have managed to live with only occasional skirmishes for the 20 years it 
  has been there. The orcs raise sheep for food and wool, and use the wool 
  to make felt coverings for their meager houses, among other things. 
  They also breed dire boars, but keep only a half-dozen or so adults at 
  any one time.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: FIELDS OF BLOOD,
  RED WEDDING FROM QUESTS OF DOOM 3
  UBUKA, TOWN OF
  UBUKA, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Mayor Sukh Bittumur (11 years in ofﬁ ce)
  Government: annual elections for mayor; group of inﬂ uential 
  people may act as informal advisors
  Population: 475 (Lagish)
  This is a town of the Moglai tribe and is typical of many small towns 
  of the grasslands. It has a handful of permanent buildings (in this 
  case, an inn, a tavern, and a combination ofﬁ ce and residence for the 
  mayor) and several transient merchants who have set up shop in tents or 
  wagons. The rest of the town consists of a score of large farms and a few 
  dozen smaller residences spread over 15 square miles. The town has no 
  established property lines but residents generally recognize which areas 
  are farmed by which household, or where a family’s animals are kept. 
  Many owners take their ﬂ ocks of sheep or herds of cattle far aﬁ eld to 
  graze, returning to the home area from time to time.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: FIELDS OF BLOOD,
  RED WEDDING FROM QUESTS OF DOOM 3
  WAHM, VILLAGE OF
  WAHM, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: Elders Baako Iwabu, Mosi Umagga, Uzoma N’Dou
  Government: three elders acting as counselors and caretakers 
  of tradition
  Population: 85 (Lagish)
  This Mwandu village is built around a core area (called the Square by 
  residents, though the common area is not square at all) with a couple of 
  shops, a bakery, an inn, and a meeting hall. This center is surrounded at 
  a little distance by the homes of the villagers, most of whom are farmers. 
  Although the houses are relatively close together, the farm ﬁ elds stretch 
  out all around the village and are planted mostly with various grains. 
  Locals also raise sheep and goats, although they seldom raise the larger 
  beef cattle herded by tribes to the north of the Wambatu River.
  Wahm has the advantage of being just a few miles from the newest 
  bridge over the Wambatu River, so the villagers have an easy way to 
  travel north if they want to trade with tribes on the other side of the 
  river. (Few care to get that far from home, of course.) Sometimes, 
  itinerant traders from the Moglai or other northern tribes come south 
  and set up shop temporarily in Wahm because of its convenient location. 
  Also, people from neighboring villages and outlying regions must pass 
  through the area of Wahm to get to the bridge, so that has made it a 
  central village in the area though it is certainly no larger than the others.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: FEAST OF FURY FROM FIELDS OF BLOOD
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE GRASSLANDS OF WAHM
  INTEREST IN THE GRASSLANDS OF WAHM
  IWAKKARANDA
  IWAKKARANDA
  Also known as the Field of Bones, this was the site of a bloody battle 
  a century ago. People say those who fought the battle were horriﬁ ed by 
  what they had done and swore off combat forever. The battle was so 
  large that it is easy still today to ﬁ nd remnants of armor or repairable 
  weapons by just walking across the battleﬁ eld, and some have actually 
  found coins or gems. However, they say if you try to take anything 
  away, the spirits of the dead rise up to stop you. That is likely just a tale 
  to scare children, though.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: FEAST OF FURY FROM FIELDS OF BLOOD
  WAMBATU RIVER
  WAMBATU RIVER
  The Wambatu River stretches for more than 1000 miles from a spring 
  high in the Central Uplands west to the Sangre Sea. For most of its 
  length it is 80 to 100 feet across, rough, fast-moving, and surprisingly 
  deep. The only way to cross is to use a bridge or to take one’s chances 
  with a small boat. Several bridges have been built over the centuries so 
  that presently, bridges span the river every 45 to 55 miles. (The newest 
  one is about 300 miles upriver from the coast and has armed guards on it 
  at all times to prevent anything from happening to it.) Enterprising souls 
  are also known to keep small boats near areas where there is no bridge 
  or where the bridge might be restricted or inconvenient in some way. 
  (For instance, one bridge is badly deteriorated in spots though much of it 
  is ﬁ ne. Some travelers would rather not take their chances on that bridge 
  and would instead trust a stranger in a small boat.)
  The river has a very different character in the last 100 miles or so 
  before the sea. Instead of running in a narrow cut, it spreads out and its 
  bed becomes shallower and smoother. The river can be forded there with 
  ease, though it becomes wider as it becomes shallower.
  ZABLADAI, RUINS OF
  ZABLADAI, RUINS OF
  The outlines of an exterior wall are still visible, though it has been 
  reduced to piles of rock. Scattered remnants remain inside what was 
  once the wall; they have apparently been subject to a century or more 
  of neglect and erosion, but outlines of individual buildings can still be 
  seen. Supposedly, this was once a mighty city of the orcs 100 years ago 
  or more. Rumors are not clear as to what destroyed the city, but it is now 
  considered to be haunted.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: FIELDS OF BLOOD, 
  RED WEDDING FROM QUESTS OF DOOM 3
  CENTRAL KINGDOMS
  CENTRAL KINGDOMS
  The Central Kingdoms of Libynos lie south of Khemit down to the 
  Channel Lakes (now claimed by the Empire of Alcaldar) and west of the 
  Ruby Sea. They include Qesh, Meroë, Aethiope, Axuum, and Kazania 
  in the Central Uplands. Most of these kingdoms have signiﬁ cantly 
  inﬂ uenced and been inﬂ uenced by Khemit over the centuries. However, 
  they were little inﬂ uenced by the Hyperboreans, who invaded Khemit 
  for a time but had scant contact with the countries to the south.
  AETHIOPE, KINGDOM OF
  AETHIOPE, KINGDOM OF
  Capital: Adeffa 
  Ruler: Negus (king) Radem
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 1,665,938 (1,656,180 Merowen, 6,227 Khemitites, 
  3,021 other human ethnicity, 510 other)
  Monstrous: dire apes, viper vines, couatls
  Languages: Khemitian
  
  432|
  432|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  Religion: Pharaonic pantheon, traditional deities
  Resources: obsidian, copper, gold, platinum, jewelry, magicians
   Currency: Axuumite
  Technology Level: Dark Ages
  Aethiope is a country of southern Libynos located south of Khemit. 
  It is bounded on the east by the River Aeth, its border with the country 
  of Axuum. On the other side, the west edge of the Hills of Strabo is 
  generally accepted as the border with Meroë. Through the center of the 
  kingdom ﬂ ows the Lapis River, which ﬂ oods after the summer rains in 
  the Central Uplands, effectively providing water for the entire country. 
  The Aethiopans use the Lapis to travel north and south inside their 
  country and also to trade with Meroë and Khemit farther downstream.
  Aethiope has both forest and cropland, and important resources in the 
  Hills of Strabo such as obsidian, copper, and gold. Even more valuable, 
  though, is platinum. At this time, the platinum mines are somewhat 
  depleted and are not producing as much as they were even 20 years ago. 
  Diviners and other specialists are seeking new veins, but until some are 
  found, the kingdom’s income is slightly reduced.
  Many people in Aethiope, especially in the north, worship the deities 
  of Khemit, though some do still revere the old gods of the area.
  ADEFFA, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  ADEFFA, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Mulya (governor) Samet
  Government: governor appointed by the king
  Population: 42,372 (41,232 Merowen, 850 Khemitites, 235 
  other human ethnicity, 55 other)
  Situated on the west bank of the Lapis River, Adeffa is still an easy 
  distance from the mines in the south part of the Hills of Strabo. Although 
  other towns on the Lapis have small docks, Adeffa is the primary 
  location for launching or landing large river boats or barges. Jewelers of 
  Adeffa are known for their pieces using ivory and obsidian in striking 
  patterns of black and white, either set in platinum or with the obsidian 
  set directly into carved ivory pieces.
  BAOBAB SCHOOL, THE
  BAOBAB SCHOOL, THE
  Ruler: Senior Scholar Ezba Harbe
  Government: believed to be run by a group of elderly magicians 
  who have retired from active teaching
  Population: unknown 
  Located a few miles outside the city of Adeffa, the Baobab School 
  is known for training many magicians in the ancient traditions of 
  Aethiope. Lectures are held in the hollow portion of a great baobab tree, 
  one nearly 2,000 years old and fully 40 feet across. The academy has 
  no walls outsiders can see, merely a ladder set up next to a low spot for 
  people to climb up into the hollow of the tree. It is said, though, that 
  without an invitation it is impossible to enter the tree. In fact, over the 
  centuries, outsiders who have tried to attack the tree have had no real 
  success; apparently, despite its lack of walls, the school (and its tree 
  home) is well protected.
  No one knows how many scholars and students belong to the Baobab 
  School. Sometimes, no one comes out of the tree for weeks, with a single 
  student receiving supplies at the ladder. Other times, the tree seems to 
  be almost as busy as an anthill, with people coming and going in all 
  directions. When asked, locals shrug and guess that a hundred people 
  (or maybe a few more) live inside the tree. This would seem impossible 
  even for so large a tree; again, locals shrug and simply say it must be 
  bigger on the inside.
  Magicians from the Baobab School frequently become important 
  residents of towns and cities in the Central Kingdoms and areas farther 
  south. With experience, some advance to become prominent advisors 
  at the court of the negus in Adeffa and at other royal courts in the 
  area. A few move to Khemit and may even rise to be inﬂ uential in that 
  royal court; rumor says that each pharaoh of Khemit has had a Baobab 
  magician as an advisor for four dynasties now.
  AXUUM, KINGDOM OF
  AXUUM, KINGDOM OF
  Capital: Mazaber 
  Notable Settlements: Jarmi
  Ruler: King Urtigaddi
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 2,158,276 (2,151,566 Merowen, 4,623 Khemitites, 
  2,087 other human ethnicity)
  Monstrous: bulettes, couatls, manticores
  Languages: Khemitian
  Religion: Pharaonic pantheon, traditional deities
  Resources: gold, emeralds, salt, tortoiseshell, ivory, trade, 
  grains, fruit, wine, herd animals
   Currency: Axuumite
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages (Mazaber), Dark Ages
  The Kingdom of Axuum controls lands along the southwest coast 
  of the Ruby Sea, from the Uashta Hills in the north to the southern 
  end of the Tekle Mountains, and west to the banks of the River Aeth. 
  The southwestern part of the country, between the western verges of 
  the mountains and the river, is at the edge of the Central Uplands of 
  central Libynos.
  The entire coastal region is given a pleasant climate by the proximity 
  of the Ruby Sea. Farmers in the Uashta Hills and the lowlands east of 
  the Tekle Mountains raise large amounts of wheat and barley, and herd 
  cattle and sheep. West of the mountains, farmers cultivate groves of fruit 
  trees and vineyards, and herd goats and camels. 
  Axuum has a mountainous spine with its highest peaks in the south, 
  but with plenty of valleys and passes allowing travel from east to west. 
  Keeping roads in good repair is an important responsibility of each 
  town and village, and one thoroughly enforced by the crown. The 
  west side of the Tekle Mountains is drier than the seacoast but also 
  generally higher in elevation, so the temperature is only slightly hotter 
  than the coast.
  In addition to its homeland on the eastern coast of central Libynos, 
  Axuum also controls the southern part of the Numedan peninsula, an 
  area known as Imya, which it conquered some 250 years ago.
  Axuum is well-known for its trading. The country imports goods 
  from the other Central Kingdoms and sometimes even southern 
  Guurzan or Khartous, and sends ships along the coast of Libynos as 
  distant as Far Jaati. The port of Sallavinera (at the east end of the 
  Channel Lakes) receives ships from far-off Akados and Axuumite 
  merchants trade there for exotic goods from that distant continent. 
  Axuum mints is own currency and the gold “stars,” silver “moons,” 
  and bronze “little stars” (or just “littles”) are used extensively along 
  the east coast of Libynos.
  The bureaucratic structure of the government of Axuum is well-
  developed and hierarchically organized, though not as extensive as 
  that of Khemit. Citizens are expected to do their part in accomplishing 
  the work of the kingdom, and much government effort is expended to 
  ensure that this is the case. Control over the conquered territories in 
  Imya is quite a bit stricter, however; despite being part of the kingdom 
  for nearly 250 years, Imya’s people sometimes still fail to appreciate the 
  beneﬁ ts of Axuumite dominion. 
  Axuum enforces a monopoly on trade in Imya and requires all 
  imports and exports be made through authorized Axuumite traders. 
  This monopoly has long been unpopular among Imyans. Other 
  colonial obligations, such as requiring towns to support units of 
  Axuumite soldiers (for their own protection, of course), have also 
  resulted in some unrest among the populace. Nevertheless, the low 
  density of Imya’s population, and its isolation behind the Karaman 
  Mountains, has made it easier for Axuum to maintain its control 
  over Imya.
  Many Axuumites worship the gods of Khemit, though some 
  (especially in the south, or far from the cities) continue to worship 
  traditional deities of the region. This veneration of the Khemitian deities 
  was spread to Imya after its conquest and is enforced strictly there while 
  it is not in Axuum itself.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|433
  |433
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  MAZABER, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  MAZABER, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Mulya (governor) Zaqarnas
  Government: governor appointed by the king
  Population: 56,691 (54,204 Merowen, 1,811 Khemitites, 676 
  other human ethnicity)
  The capital of Axuum and the country’s largest city, Mazaber is a port 
  city on the west coast of the Ruby Sea less than 200 miles from where it 
  joins the ocean. Most of the country’s imports and exports pass through 
  the docks in Mazaber. The most valuable exports are tortoiseshell, salt, 
  and gold and emeralds from the Tekle Mountains. Ivory from the herds of 
  great elephants in the Central Uplands south of Axuum and Aethiope is 
  also brought to Mazaber by caravan for export. However, the local ivory 
  trade has gradually diminished since Alcaldar seized the Channel Lakes 
  and built the canal system through the continent, which has prevented 
  the herds wandering their traditional north and south migratory routes. 
  To counter this, Axuum has attempted to expand the herds under their 
  control by transporting elephants to new ranges in Imya.
  JARMI, CITY OF
  JARMI, CITY OF
  Ruler: Mulya Nezana
  Government: governor appointed by the king
  Population: 22,978 (21,415 Merowen, 1,122 Khemitites, 441 
  other human ethnicity)
  Located on the western border of Axuum on the River Aeth, Jarmi has 
  a river port and is a primary location for shipping trade goods on barges 
  downriver to Khiertuom and on to locations in Khemit. The country’s 
  access to the Stygian River and the Ruby Sea is one of the factors that 
  has made Axuum a center of trade. Recently in Jarmi, competition 
  between rival organizations of dockworkers and carters turned violent 
  and threats were made against traders and boat captains who are or are 
  not using particular groups to do their work. An alliance of warriors has 
  been offering to protect nervous traders from both sides, for a stiff fee.
  KAZANIA, KINGDOM OF 
  KAZANIA, KINGDOM OF 
  (kah-zah-NEE-uh)
  Capital: Mussa 
  Ruler: Queen Bahati
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 2,326,267 (2,320,803 Merowen, 5,464 other human 
  ethnicity)
  Monstrous: bulettes, manticores, krenshars
  Languages: Kazanian
  Religion: ancestor worship, traditional deities
   Resources: ivory, myrrh, incense, exotic animals, hides
  Currency: Axuumite
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages (Mussa), Dark Ages
  Kazania is a nation on the east coast of central Libynos, south of 
  Aethiope and Axuum and north of the Channel Lakes. The meandering 
  Uphar River denotes the northern border with Axuum. The southern 
  border is indeﬁ nite and could become an issue of dispute with the 
  Empire of Alcaldar, which now controls the Channel Lakes. The 
  kingdom’s lands also include coastal plains (where the vast majority 
  of its population lives) from the seacoast in the east to the escarpment 
  of the Central Uplands in the west, along with an indeterminate portion 
  of the Central Uplands themselves. As the plateau is only sparsely 
  populated, the borders with the other Central Kingdoms in that region 
  remain largely undeﬁ ned.
  Kazania is said to be a very wealthy country, and it exports many rare 
  things, though the merchant ships and naval vessels of the country are not 
  advanced enough to undertake long ocean voyages without putting into 
  a port every few days. The country has relatively easy access to ivory, 
  though most of that is traded through merchants of Axuum. Kazania also 
  produces myrrh and other incense, and does a thriving business in the sale 
  of exotic animals and their hides. Alcaldrich ships, in particular, often call 
  at the port of Mussa to acquire exotic animals, because they are apparently 
  a fashion right now in the cities of their empire. 
  The relationship with Alcaldar is somewhat tense, however, as there 
  is no deﬁ ned border between Kazania and the empire’s lands around the 
  Channel Lakes. Due to the tension, Kazania has been growing its army 
  in size for many years, and Queen Bahati has given standing orders to 
  increase the numbers of soldiers on the walls of the city and on the walls 
  of the palace fortress to show the country’s vigilance. Patrols along the 
  southern border area remain infrequent, however, as the army does not 
  have enough troops to regularly monitor the area.
  Unlike the other Central Kingdoms — or perhaps any other country in 
  Libynos — Kazania is a matriarchy with the crown going to the eldest 
  daughter of the queen and nobility, and property in general passes down 
  from mother to daughter. It is possible these days for a son to inherit 
  noble status, or even the crown, but only if the family has no daughters. 
  Fortunately, Queen Bahati has three healthy daughters so having a male 
  inherit will not be a problem in this generation.
  The people of Kazania revere the spirits of their ancestors and leave 
  spirit-gifts regularly on tombs to placate them, and also generally 
  worship the traditional deities of the Central Kingdoms region.
  MUSSA, CITY OF
  MUSSA, CITY OF
  (MUU-suh)
  Ruler: Queen Bahati
  Government: administrators under the direction of the queen
  Population: 63,298 (61,055 Merowen, 2,243 other human 
  ethnicity)
  Mussa has a good harbor that accommodates many ﬁ shing boats and 
  also has plenty of room for trading ships. The docks were expanded 
  12 years ago in anticipation of increasing the number of Kazanian 
  ships going out from Mussa, but that has not actually occurred due 
  to the outmoded local shipbuilding capability. On the other hand, the 
  expansion has made room for many large merchant vessels of other 
  nations to come to the city to trade, including ships from Alcaldar, Far 
  Jaati, and even the distant city of Castorhage.
  MEROË, KINGDOM OF
  MEROË, KINGDOM OF
  Capital: Meroë 
  Notable Settlements: Khiertuom, Kur
  Ruler: Kandake (queen) Maleqora
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 2,908,955 (2,877,661 Merowen, 25,315 Khemitite, 
  4,179 Lagish, 1,800 other human ethnicity)
  Monstrous: krenshar, hobgoblins, gnolls
  Languages: Khemitian
  Religion: Pharaonic pantheon
   Resources: ironwork; iron or steel weapons, armor and tools; gold
  Currency: Axuumite
  Technology Level: Dark Ages, High Middle Ages (Kur)
  The Kingdom of Meroë is in central Libynos, south of Khemit. To its 
  east is the Kingdom of Aethiope, where its border is the western edge of 
  the Hills of Strabo. To the west are the Khael Hills, and beyond that the 
  lands of Qesh. Meroë’s northern border is the south bank of the Setesh 
  and Stygian rivers. To the south, it claims the territory as far as Lake 
  Targania in the Central Uplands, the source of the Opal River. The Opal 
  runs through the midst of Meroë’s territory, past the city of Kur and the 
  capital Meroë and thence to Khiertuom, where the Opal and Lapis join 
  to form the Stygian River.
  The northern part of the country is generally dry, similar to southern 
  Khemit, but the central part is lightly wooded. In the south are the 
  Central Uplands and vast grasslands that stretch hundreds of miles to 
  the west and south.
  
  434|
  434|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  The Khael Hills on the western edge of Meroë are rich with iron and 
  gold and are therefore sometimes disputed between Meroë and Qesh. 
  The people of Qesh are ﬁ erce but undisciplined, whereas Meroë has 
  an excellent, well-trained army that has been able to defend the hill 
  border now for more than 300 years. The kingdom possesses a strong 
  and sophisticated iron industry that supplies iron and limited amounts of 
  steel for most of the Central Kingdoms.
  Nearly all the people of Meroë worship the pantheon of deities from 
  Khemit, though a few still pay homage to the old gods of the area. For 
  generations, the rulers (and sometimes other nobles) have been buried in 
  pyramids similar to the rulers of Khemit, although the style of pyramids 
  has changed over the centuries. The oldest style is the step pyramid, 
  which was used much longer in Meroë than in Khemit. Eventually, the 
  slant-sided pyramid was adopted but with a ﬂ at top, similar to the top of a 
  step pyramid. In the past 300 years, the fashion has been to use a pyramid 
  with a pointed top, but with a base much smaller than is usual in Khemit. 
  This results in a steep-sided pyramid that appears tall for its width. Since 
  the kings and queens of Meroë have seen no need for the wide spaces 
  required by most pyramids in Khemit, all these types of pyramids can 
  be seen in relatively close proximity in the royal burial areas a few miles 
  outside of Meroë. The burial site of the qores (kings) is northeast of the 
  city, while that of the kandakes (queens) is to the southeast.
  MERO
  MEROË, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  , CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Princess Sakaye
  Government: administrator reporting directly to the kandake
  Population: 46,286  (44,756 Merowen, 1,230 Khemitite, 300 
  other human ethnicity)
  The city of Meroë is on the Opal River about 100 miles south of 
  Khiertuom. It functions very much as an administrative center for the 
  kandake, who prefers to make as many decisions as possible for her 
  country. She is willing to delegate to trusted subordinates, but only 
  after she hears a thorough explanation of a situation and gives careful 
  instructions on the actions she wants carried out. There is no doubt that 
  sometimes Kandake Maleqora feels that a situation could be handled 
  better if she could only deal with it herself. Her servants (which is what 
  they all are, even those who are quite important in their own right) go to 
  great lengths to avoid disappointing the kandake. She does not resort to 
  anything so crude as execution (or has not yet done so), but she has ways 
  of making her displeasure strongly felt.
  Meroë has a river dock, though it is not as large as the one in 
  Khiertuom. It has a separate section for diplomatic visitors and for 
  deliveries to the palace of the kandake so that such arrivals need never 
  be delayed due to common trafﬁ c in the area. The city also has a wide 
  stone bridge to allow caravans to cross the Opal River even during the 
  annual river ﬂ oods.
  KHIERTUOM, CITY OF
  KHIERTUOM, CITY OF
  Ruler: Prince Kernabes
  Government: administrator reporting directly to the kandake
  Population: 53,027 (49,092 Merowen, 3,110 Khemitite, 450 
  Lagish, 375 other human ethnicity)
  This city is an important trading center where the Lapis and Opal 
  rivers join to form the Stygian River. Boats go down the Stygian to the 
  city of Nampata in Khemit and even farther north, as well as upriver on 
  the Opal and Lapis. This beneﬁ t of Khiertuom’s location, however, is 
  offset by the ﬂ ooding that occurs during the summer rainy season. Many 
  of the buildings in the city are built on raised foundations to keep from 
  being inundated every year, and most storage areas are up under the roof 
  instead of at ground level to keep everything dry.
  Khiertuom also receives caravans traveling south, either from the 
  north through Khemit’s Nubiar Oversight or ones from the northwest 
  that may have crossed the Stygian at Nampata. In either case, these 
  caravans nearly always want to stop in the great city of Khiertuom, 
  so the city has ferries that operate across the rivers during all daylight 
  hours. Some enterprising boatmen also take people across in the dark, 
  but they charge a much higher fee for their cooperation in doing so.
  KUR, CITY OF
  KUR, CITY OF
  Ruler: Prince Harsiotef
  Government: administrator reporting directly to the Kandake
  Population: 23,719 (almost all Merowen)
  Kur is the center of ironworking in Meroë. A good road leads from 
  the important iron mines in the Khael Hills to the city, and a strong 
  bridge across the Opal River allows heavily-laden drays to cross directly 
  without having to unload onto a barge. Many ironworkers have smelting 
  facilities on the north side of the city, and some have the knowledge and 
  expertise to make steel.
  Smiths in the area turn out iron tools and weapons and ironwork such 
  as gates, scrollwork to cover windows, and more. In addition, some of 
  the smiths use the steel to make good weapons and armor and high-
  quality tools. The ironwork and goods are traded throughout the Central 
  Kingdoms and some end up even farther away.
  TEMELPA, RUINS OF
  TEMELPA, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  Once a bustling trade city built around the burial ziggurat of an 
  important vizier and wizard to Qore Ergamenes of Meroë, about 200 
  years ago Temelpa gained a reputation as being a dangerous area for 
  merchant caravans. When the trade routes moved elsewhere, the 
  population did as well. The city was eventually abandoned and has 
  fallen into ruins.
  QESH, KINGDOM OF
  QESH, KINGDOM OF
  Capital: Tungul 
  Ruler: Qore (king) Naqrin
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 1,473,428 (1,441,336 Merowen, 2,092 Khemitites, 
  about 30,000 Desertfolk)
  Monstrous: leucrotta, dust digger, gambado
  Languages: Khemitian
  Religion: Pharaonic pantheon
   Resources: gold, stone, herd animals
  Currency: Axuumite
  Technology Level: Dark Ages, High Middle Ages (defense and 
  weapons)
  Qesh is a nation of poorly deﬁ ned borders located in central Libynos 
  south and west of Khemit. In the north, its land continues beyond the 
  Setesh River for an uncertain distance into the wastes of the Maighib 
  Desert. Its eastern border is at the Khael Hills, over which Qesh 
  occasionally enters into armed disputes with Meroë. In the south, its folk 
  occasionally travel as far as the northern plains of the vast Grasslands of 
  Wahm. The kingdom also claims the Kufa Mountains to the west as part 
  of its territory, but the prevalence of violent humanoid tribes there make 
  it impossible to exercise any control except at the periphery. 
  Qesh is a land of warriors, many of them semi-nomadic, who move 
  their various herds from place to place. A few settled towns sit along 
  the Setesh River, but most population centers are around oases. In most 
  ways, the government of Qesh is at best loosely organized. Clan chieftains 
  acknowledge the authority of the Qore, pay due tribute, and come readily 
  to any call to war. On small matters, though, the clans may disregard royal 
  statements if they conﬂ ict with how the clan wants to handle things.
  One matter on which the clans are united, however, is the need to keep 
  the humanoids of Set’s Kingdom conﬁ ned in their mountains, ideally 
  deep enough that the miners of Qesh can maintain safe access to the 
  gold deposits known to be in the northeast part of the Kufa Mountains. 
  The exceptional archery of the Qeshites (aided by their unusually keen 
  
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  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  eyesight) has been useful in this over the years. Forts with good wells 
  have been built at oases with deep groundwater (in addition to such 
  pools as may be on the surface) as rally points in case of an attack by the 
  humanoids. Maintenance of the forts is given over to the local clans, so 
  the quality is not uniform, but all know someday that their lives could 
  depend on them so the strongholds are generally in good condition.
  Despite maintaining a relationship with the country of Khemit that 
  swings from ally to adversary and back again over the course of years, 
  most of the citizens of Qesh worship the Khemitian deities.
  TUNGUL, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  TUNGUL, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Qore Naqrin
  Government: ofﬁ cials reporting directly to the qore
  Population: 22,846 (almost all Merowen)
  Tungul is located on the south side of the Setesh River in the eastern 
  part of Qesh. The palace of the qore is here, and much of his clan tends 
  to stay in the northern part of the country either north or south of the 
  Setesh. The city is old and made primarily of stone quarried from 
  the Kufa Mountains and ﬂ oated downriver on barges. Carvings and 
  sculptures are gilded or inlaid with colorful mosaics, but most of these 
  are many years old. Recent generations of qores have put less emphasis 
  on the palace and more emphasis on their tombs. Royalty in Qesh are 
  buried in tombs marked with pyramids; the bases are much smaller than 
  those in the Khemitian style but the pyramids are nearly as high, which 
  results in a tall, slender appearance.
  MONASTERY OF LIGHT, RUINS OF
  MONASTERY OF LIGHT, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  For thousands of years, the reclusive monks of the Monastery of Light 
  practiced their secret disciplines deep in the Maighib Desert. For the past 
  century, though, the monastery has fallen completely silent. In the absence 
  of any actual knowledge, the consensus among those in the region is that 
  the monks must have fallen victim to some plague. Difﬁ cult to ﬁ nd at 
  the best of times (because the monks located themselves in the desert 
  speciﬁ cally for the isolation and did not wish casual visitors), its location 
  is now completely lost. Any marking on a map has to be speculation at 
  best, but it is known that the monastery was located somewhere in the 
  deep desert between Qesh, Khemit, and Guurzan.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: PYRAMID OF AMRA FROM QUESTS OF DOOM
  SET’S KINGDOM
  SET’S KINGDOM
  Capital: none 
  Ruler: varies; usually none
  Government: none
  Population: unknown
  Monstrous: hill giants, cave giants, gnolls and ﬂ inds, ogres, 
  orcs, bugbears 
  Languages: Khemitian, humanoid languages
  Religion: Set, humanoid deities
   Resources: unknown; possibly gold
  Currency: Khemitian, Ammuyad, Alcaldrich
  Technology Level: Iron Age
  The evil humanoid groups of the Kufa Mountains are commonly 
  referred to as Set’s Kingdom, though in reality they are usually far 
  from uniﬁ ed. Set’s Kingdom has at times been an organized kingdom, 
  sometimes for hundreds of years. During those times, it swept across 
  parts of Qesh and Meroë, the southern Maighib Desert, and even 
  sections of Khemit. Ultimately, though, the kingdom has never been 
  able to grow into a continent-wide empire, as any organization among 
  the humanoids typically dies with any leader able to unify them. 
  One challenge facing anyone who would attempt to claim dominion 
  over Set’s Kingdom is the eventual opposition of all of the human 
  nations surrounding it. Each time such a uniﬁ cation has occurred, 
  the folk of Qesh, Alcaldar, Meroë, and even Khemit have intervened, 
  usually killing the uniﬁ er and bringing an end to the new regime 
  while simultaneously inﬂ icting enough casualties on the humanoids to 
  discourage any new attempts for several generations at least.
  Moreover, the various groups in the mountains — orcs, gnolls, ogres, 
  hill and cave giants, and more — tend to be innately chaotic and difﬁ cult 
  to control as a group. They may want an evil kingdom, but not if they 
  have to work together to achieve it. More than a few efforts by powerful 
  leaders to seize control have ﬂ oundered in the face of the chaotic 
  tendencies of those who dwell among and under the mountain peaks.
  What is not widely known outside the mountains is that the name of 
  the kingdom is not merely colloquial.  In fact, priests of Set have a large 
  temple within the Kufas and are one of the forces that have attempted to 
  unite the humanoids. The priests adhere to the principle of lawfulness, 
  as does their deity. (Though evil in nature, Set has a responsibility in the 
  cycle of the gods, which he faithfully fulﬁ lls every day.) Unfortunately 
  for them, the chaotic monsters of the mountains have proven highly 
  resistant to the institution of any semblance of organization or order. 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE CENTRAL KINGDOMS
  INTEREST IN THE CENTRAL KINGDOMS
  CENTRAL UPLANDS
  CENTRAL UPLANDS
  The Central Uplands are an enormous plateau of eastern central 
  Libynos, more than 600 miles from its western edge to the Tekle 
  Mountains on the east, and at least as far from its northern extent to 
  the south. Meroë and Kazania lay claim to most of the territory in 
  the plateau, with Aethiope and Axuum each claiming a small portion. 
  Within the Central Uplands are Lake Targania and Lake Sulys, the 
  sources of the Opal and Lapis Rivers, respectively. The Wambatu River, 
  which runs south and west through the Grasslands of Wahm, also has its 
  origin in a spring high on this plateau.
  The Central Uplands are covered with savannah and open woodland, 
  and are the home to such creatures as the great elephant and the giraffe. 
  These animals tend to avoid the lower grasslands because there are too 
  few of the trees and plants on which they like to graze. More of the 
  populations are found in the Yingozi Woodlands on the south side of 
  the Channel Lakes, but the groups are unable to mix now due to the 
  deepened rivers and canals in that system.
  HILLS OF STRABO
  HILLS OF STRABO
  This stretch of hills is in Aethiope, and its western edge is usually 
  understood to be the border between that country and Meroë. Among 
  the hills are two or three long-extinct volcanoes where prospectors have 
  found obsidian. Also located in the hills are deposits of gold and copper 
  and a mostly depleted vein of platinum for which a replacement is most 
  urgently being sought.
  KHAEL HILLS
  KHAEL HILLS
  Acting as the border between Meroë and Qesh, the important 
  resources in the hills have also made them a source of contention. The 
  two most prominent are gold and iron. While the gold is very valuable, 
  the iron is the base of a signiﬁ cant industry in Meroë, especially around 
  the city of Kur. A rough road runs north and south along most of the east 
  side of the hills but a good road runs east to Kur to allow easy delivery 
  of raw materials to the smelting facilities there.
  KUFA MOUNTAINS
  KUFA MOUNTAINS
  The Kufa Mountains of south Libynos are located south of the Maighib 
  Desert, north of the Grasslands of Wahm and northeast of Alcaldar, and 
  separated from the Navarre Mountains by the Eberro Wastes. The range 
  is primarily inhabited by monsters and humanoids and is home to the 
  so-called Set’s Kingdom. The humanoids of the Kufas do not often raid 
  
  436|
  436|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  into Alcaldar, having been taught the danger of doing so over many 
  years by Alcaldar’s Royal Army and more recently the Church Militans. 
  It does happen from time to time, however, so those who live anywhere 
  near the mountains are always on watch.
  LAKE SULYS
  LAKE SULYS
  This lake in the eastern half of the Central Uplands is the source of the 
  Lapis River. It is smaller than Lake Targania, its counterpart. Whether 
  it is deep or shallow has not been conﬁ rmed, as a local nomadic tribe 
  views entering the waters of the lake as taboo and attempt to kill anyone 
  who so much as approaches its shore. It has been noted — from a 
  distance — that the waters of Lake Sulys seem to rise and fall with 
  those of Lake Targania in some sort of pattern, as if they are connected 
  in some way deep underground.
  LAKE TARGANIA
  LAKE TARGANIA
  This lake in the western half of the Central Uplands is the source 
  of the Opal River. While not the largest lake in south Libynos, it is 
  reputed to be the deepest; in fact, several expeditions have plumbed its 
  depths but none have been able to conﬁ rm a bottom. The clear waters of 
  Targania are particularly cold, especially once one descends to a point 
  below which sunlight can penetrate. 
  During the rainy season, the lake rises considerably, though some 
  scholars note that the rise seems, in fact, out of proportion to the amount 
  of rain that has fallen. As a result, it is believed that an underground 
  source to the lake contributes to the waters that ultimately cause the 
  inundation in Khemit. In some years, a greater rise in Lake Targania 
  seems to correspond to a lesser rise in Lake Sulys, while in other years 
  both seem to exhibit a consistent rise, which leads some to speculate that 
  there may be an underground connection between the two.
  LAPIS RIVER
  LAPIS RIVER
  The Lapis River runs through Aethiope and has its source in Lake 
  Sulys in the Central Uplands. Groundwater combines with the summer 
  rains to ﬂ ood the Lapis, which joins with the Opal near Khiertuom to 
  become the Stygian River of Khemit. It is generally navigable, though 
  less easily so than the River Aeth farther to the east.
  MUTABAR HILLS
  MUTABAR HILLS
  These rolling hills are largely covered in dense grasses and stunted 
  oak trees and interspersed with rocky outcroppings. The Stygian River 
  passes around the northern margins of the hills on its way to Nampata. 
  The Mutabar Hills see few travelers and, as far as anyone knows, no 
  people make their permanent homes here. Starting at nightfall, great 
  ﬂ ocks of a species of large, carnivorous bat pour forth from cavern 
  openings among the rocks and rise into the dark sky to wheel over the 
  hills in search of prey.
  Scattered throughout the Mutabar Hills are enormous, cyclopean 
  blocks of worked stone of obvious antiquity. The presence of the blocks 
  gives rise to rumors that a city of giants was once located deep in the 
  hills, in the extremely distant past.
  OPAL RIVER
  OPAL RIVER
  Flowing from Lake Targania in the Central Uplands, the Opal River 
  is the main tributary of the Stygian River. The Opal and the Lapis 
  River, which join at Khiertuom, together are the source of much of the 
  ﬂ oodwater that causes the Stygian’s annual inundation, which in turn 
  provides the fertility of Khemit. The Opal is navigable along much of 
  its length as it runs through Meroë, which allows that country to use it 
  as a corridor for trade down into Khemit.
  RIVER AETH
  RIVER AETH
  Marking the border between Aethiope and Axuum, the River Aeth 
  ﬂ ows from the western margins of the Tekle Mountains into the 
  Lapis River and ultimately into the Stygian and north toward the 
  sea. This connection allows Axuum to trade goods from the Central 
  Kingdoms and places in southern Libynos hundreds of miles down 
  the river into Khemit.
  SETESH RIVER
  SETESH RIVER
  The Setesh River has its origins deep in the Kufa Mountains. Little is 
  known of its source, as anyone wishing to explore it must contend with 
  the humanoids and other monsters of Set’s Kingdom. Legend says that 
  the waters of the river emerge from a cave high on a sheer cliff that is 
  ﬂ anked by enormous carven statues of solid gold.
  After passing out of the mountains, the Setesh ﬂ ows east through the 
  verges of the Maighib Desert of northern Qesh, and then north of Meroë, 
  where it joins up with the Stygian River on its way north to Khemit.
  TEKLE MOUNTAINS
  TEKLE MOUNTAINS
  This line of mountains runs through the middle of Axuum, from the 
  coastal Uashta Hills in the north down south to the northern reaches 
  of the Kingdom of Kazania. The southern part of the range, with the 
  highest peaks of the range, is well inland from the coast and abuts the 
  eastern side of the Central Uplands. The range is broken by several 
  valleys lined with well-maintained roads. The mountains are known for 
  producing gold and emeralds for the country of Axuum, but strangers 
  are not permitted around the mines so outsiders have only a vague idea 
  of where they might be.
  UASHTA HILLS
  UASHTA HILLS
  The Uashta Hills lie between the Geb-el-Mardikh Mountains to the 
  west and the shores of the Ruby Sea to the east, and mark the northern 
  extent of the Kingdom of Axuum. To the south, the hills rise into the 
  northern spur of the Tekle Mountains.
  Receiving rainfall from winds blowing off the sea to its east, and well-
  watered by multiple streams running down from the Gel-el-Mardikhs, 
  these rolling hills boast forests in the valleys and excellent farmland 
  and pastures for grazing many sheep and cattle. Prior to its conquest 
  of Imya, Axuum relied on these hills for much of its food. This still 
  remains an important agricultural region for the kingdom.
  Lone obelisks of stone are scattered throughout the Uashta Hills, and 
  farmers occasionally ﬁ nd strange stone ﬁ gurines or clay tablets when 
  working new lands. Local legend tells that, long ago, these hills were 
  home to a fey race which, upon the coming of humans, was driven either 
  into the sea or beneath the nearby mountains. Whether there is any truth 
  to this is unknown, but those who live here point out that each time any 
  such relics turn up, priests from the temples of Mazaber arrive soon to 
  seize them “for further study.”
  CHANNEL LAKES 
  CHANNEL LAKES 
  Capital: San Caseo 
  Notable Settlements: Arenzana, Caduvar, Munigua, Ortís, 
  Sallavinera, Syat
  Ruler: Sebastos Eva-Gracía, Duquesa of Rebollar
  Government: ruled by Empire of Alcaldar, represented by the 
  Sebastos (Imperial Governor)
  Population: 859,376 (857,815 Alcaldrich, 1,561 other human 
  ethnicity)
  Monstrous: tengus, dwarves (mountains), orcs (certain tribes 
  occasionally attempt to raid canal system)
  Languages: Alcaldrich
  Religion: Muir and Thyr
   Resources: trade, crops, ﬁ sh, abalone and shells, beef, wool, 
  parchment, leather goods, leather armor, saddles, horses, gold, 
  copper, canal system
  Currency: Alcaldrich
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages (cities and fortresses), 
  Dark Ages (small towns, rural areas)
  
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  |437
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  The Central Lakes were a group of connected lakes and rivers about 
  halfway down the west coast of southern Libynos that formed a girdle 
  most of the way across the continent. They are now known as the Channel 
  Lakes, a territory founded 275 years ago by the Empire of Alcaldar when 
  it conquered the Kingdom of Ka’dufaar and other small groups of the area.
  The empire’s great undertaking was to use the lakes already present to 
  build a water route right across the middle of south Libynos, thus freeing 
  much shipping from having to travel all the way around the southern coast. 
  This feat of engineering involved dredging the lower parts of the Sangre 
  River to allow for the passage of large, oceangoing vessels, constructing 
  locks on the Upper Sangre River where it ﬂ ows down from the Zorinos 
  Mountains, expanding the River of Gold between Cordona Lake and Lake 
  Aur to also accommodate large ships, and ﬁ nally building the River of 
  Gold Locks to join Lake Aur with the Great Ocean Ûthaf.
  Before the locks were begun near Lake Aur, some argued for cutting 
  a path from Cordona Lake straight through the Seniaro Hills since that 
  would be an even shorter route to the ocean. However, the simpler 
  prospect of building through the less-severely sloped, open lands east 
  of Lake Aur meant the southerly plan eventually prevailed. A land route 
  exists through the Seniaro Hills, though, and was used before the river 
  connection was completed.
  Traveling through the Channel Lakes is not a trivial matter; it is a 
  journey of about 1,700 miles, and it is made slower by traveling against 
  the current of the rivers at some portion in every traverse. It also requires 
  going through two series of locks, up to and down from Cordona Lake 
  and Lake Aur. However, since the alternative is sailing more than 9,000 
  miles around the southern coast of Libynos, many merchants great and 
  small are willing to pay the fees and go through the channel instead. 
  The Empire of Alcaldar put forth great amounts of effort and funds to 
  complete the Channel Lakes. They make it clear to all who pass through 
  that using the channel is a privilege granted by the empire to its allies 
  and trading partners, and not available to all comers as are the open 
  oceans. Unfortunately, the country of Castorhage abused that privilege 
  eight years ago when Castorhagi ships attacked an Alcaldrich vessel 
  in the neutral waters of the Boiling Sea. Since that time, the Channel 
  Lakes have been closed to Castorhagi shipping, a consequence that they 
  continue to dispute even after all these years.
  Alcaldar itself uses the channel to move its merchant ships and 
  military vessels more quickly to points in eastern Libynos, which allows 
  them to be where they need to be faster than was possible in the past. 
  In general, Alcaldrich traders proceed through the channel in their turn, 
  just like all the others, but the empire’s warships receive priority over 
  any other shipping.
  The entire territory of the Channel Lakes is under the rule of a 
  sebastos, a title derived from an ancient Hyperborean term for an 
  imperial governor. The sebastos has authority over the entire Channel 
  Lakes region but is assisted by two exarchs who oversee sections of the 
  channel itself. The sebastos herself is directly responsible for everything 
  from the east end of Lake Istobal west to Caduvar and Ortís on the 
  Sangre Sea.
  SAN CASEO, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  SAN CASEO, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Sebastos Eva-Gracía, Duquesa of Rebollar
  Government: sebastos (regional governor) appointed by queen 
  of Alcaldar
  Population: 18,075 (17,380 Alcaldrich, 695 other human ethnicity)
  San Caseo was built by the Empire of Alcaldar to be the capital of 
  its new region of Channel Lakes. For more than 200 years it served 
  primarily as a support center for explorers, engineers, military units, 
  A lock along the Upper Sangre River opens to permit passage of ships 
  heading west to the town of Munigua on Lake Odraga.
  
  438|
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  THE LOST LANDS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  and the hundreds of laborers who built the route through the center 
  of Libynos. Now it has ﬁ nally come into its own as an administrative 
  center for the entire Channel Lakes and a trading city in its own right. 
  It is governed by the sebastos, or imperial governor, who represents the 
  queen in all administrative and legal matters, though of course nobles 
  still vow their allegiance to the queen herself.
  Although trafﬁ c on the Channel Lakes goes past San Caseo, that 
  doesn’t necessarily make the city a big trading center. It has good docks 
  and serves as a port for some transshipment of goods, but most ships that 
  go through the Channel Lakes are taking their cargoes to somewhere 
  speciﬁ c to trade at the end of the route. Some captains, especially those 
  from large merchant groups or ones who expect to transit the channel 
  frequently, prefer to have their customs inspections in San Caseo 
  because that gives them a chance to call on authorities there and get 
  their names known, perhaps even by the Sebastos. Many people of the 
  Channel Lakes have adopted the custom of the grasslands people who 
  habitually give courtesy gifts to people they meet; a small non-monetary 
  gift for the harbor master or some imperial administrator (or a slightly 
  larger gift for the sebastos) is considered polite and appropriate.
  San Caseo receives goods and materials from the settled areas around the 
  Channel Lakes, and trades with merchants from Alcaldar and other points in 
  central and southern Libynos. It exports materials produced in the Channel 
  Lakes area such as salted beef, wool cloth, parchment, and leather goods 
  — especially good armor and saddles (including high-end saddles chased 
  with silver) but many other leather items as well — and high-quality horses. 
  Sometimes horses from the Grasslands of Wahm may go as far as Akados to 
  collectors or breeders looking for something unusual.
  ARENZANA, TOWN OF
  ARENZANA, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Archon Francisca Ybanes of Ortís
  Government: archon (city governor) appointed by queen of 
  Alcaldar
  Population: 692 (almost all Alcaldrich)
  For more than 200 years, Arenzana was the ﬁ nal link in the primarily 
  land-borne trade route across Libynos at the Channel Lakes. The town 
  rests at the bottom of a steep drop on the ocean side of the Seniaro Hills 
  at the end of the Coast Road from Cordona Lake. With the completion 
  of the River of Gold Locks almost 20 years ago, and the opening of 
  the water route across the continent, the land trade has almost entirely 
  disappeared. Arenzana now remains as the foothold of a small Alcaldrich 
  colony on the coast of the Great Ocean Ûthaf. It has large docks that 
  were built at the height of the land trade, but they are aged now and used 
  almost solely by local ﬁ shing boats, a few traders, and the occasional 
  small vessel of the Imperial Navy.
  Besides ﬁ sh for local consumption, the ﬁ shers of Arenzana harvest 
  abalone. They sell the meat fresh when customers are available, but 
  otherwise salt it or smoke it and sell it that way. Of most value are the shells, 
  which are primarily sold to Alcaldrich traders and used for decorative 
  purposes in the wealthy households of Alcaldar and its possessions.
  CADUVAR, CITY OF
  CADUVAR, CITY OF
  Ruler: Archon Lope-Ederono, Conde of Sorzano
  Government: archon (city governor) appointed by queen of 
  Alcaldar; bureaucracy
  Population: 9,127 (almost all Alcaldrich)
  Caduvar is usually considered the gateway to the Channel Lakes, a 
  water route cutting through southern Libynos. Most of the city is less 
  than 250 years old, having been rebuilt after Alcaldar’s conquest of 
  the Kingdom of Ka’dufaar. Formerly built almost entirely of wood, 
  government, commercial, and religious buildings, as well as the homes 
  of the wealthy (and the city wall), are now made of imported stone; this 
  makes them less vulnerable to the ﬁ re that ravaged the old city during 
  the siege.
  A major port city, Caduvar is also home to a ﬂ eet of the Imperial 
  Navy. The ﬂ eet has been deployed close to the city for the past year, 
  providing protection against warships of the Castorhagi Navy that 
  have been anchored off the coast for that entire time. (Happily, these 
  warships have yet to try to interfere with ships entering the Channel 
  Lakes system.) The port sees relatively little trade; it is primarily a ﬁ rst 
  stop for ships coming from afar and heading through the channel, or a 
  last stop before ships head out along the coast or (more likely) across 
  the Sinnar Ocean to Akados. The port also provides protection from the 
  wild storms that sometimes form in the southern part of the ocean. 
  Although San Caseo was founded as the capital of the Channel Lakes, 
  it was in a relatively unpopulated area while Caduvar was in an area 
  of established farms and small villages. Several exceptional soldiers 
  were ennobled and granted the lands in the region of Caduvar, resulting 
  in that now being an area full of haciendas; while some are the usual 
  size, others are smaller than those of nobles with older titles. Nobles 
  in this area include the duque of Texedor, the marquesa of Benifallim, 
  the marqués of Tormos, and the conde of Millena. Abandoned, though, 
  is the coastal hacienda of the duquesa of Berrocal that had half its 
  population butchered by orcs more than a decade ago, and the other half 
  stolen away as slaves. Even though the village and some farms were still 
  habitable, any people who survived or managed to return had no desire 
  to stay. Most of them moved to Alcaldar (or even farther) to be far away 
  from the scene of the slaughter and the unlucky estate has been allowed 
  to fall into ruin.
  CHANNEL FORTRESSES
  CHANNEL FORTRESSES
  Ruler: See below
  Government: military commander, usually a teniente or 
  capitán, but as high as a comandante at key locations
  Population: 30–100
  The Channel Lakes are protected by a series of military fortresses 
  along their length. Located at key transition points, these fortresses 
  claim to provide protection for ships traveling the channel — against 
  wild animals or wandering tribes, one would suppose, but there are 
  very few of the latter and the animals are unlikely to be a danger 
  to ships. In truth, the soldiers stationed along the route are more 
  to protect the channel from sabotage by keeping the ships moving 
  and knowing where all the vessels in transit are located and when 
  they should arrive at the next fortress. They also keep anyone from 
  getting too close of a look at the workings of the locks. After all, 
  Alcaldrich engineers learned about river locks by careful study of 
  the Canal of the Pharaohs in Khemit; the government does not want 
  other nations who might desire canals to have the advantage of 
  stealing the Alcaldrich developments.
  Each fortress has a stone wall surrounding a keep of at least two stories, 
  as well as barracks, stables, and support buildings. They are armed with 
  a mix of ballistae or catapults and keep plenty of ammunition on hand 
  in case they need to deal with a recalcitrant ship. The soldiers are also 
  well armed to deal with smaller threats such as wild animals or sailors 
  getting drunk while waiting for their ship’s turn at a lock. The fortresses 
  near the locks have larger contingents because they are responsible for 
  providing the guard forces stationed at each lock. Every fortress has a 
  handful of small, fast ships to carry messages and to do inspections of 
  traversing ships if necessary. In addition, each location is well-supplied 
  with horses, as those are easy to come by in this area. Independent 
  farmers settled near some of the fortresses (especially those east of Lake 
  Odraga), and the commanders do not discourage this, as it increases the 
  resources available for the troops. The fortresses from west to east, as 
  well as the names of their commanders, are found on the table on the 
  following page.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|439
  |439
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  Fortress 
  Name
  Commander
  Location
  Altzaga
  Capt Arias Ximon of 
  Alicantato
  south bank of strait on 
  Sangre River by Sangre 
  Sea
  Elduain
  Cmdte Damian-
  Gonsalvo of Estancia 
  Galdames
  south bank of Lake 
  Istobal next to Sangre 
  River
  Gabiria
  Ten Gelmiro-Martín 
  of Estancia Urrimi
  north bank of Lake Odraga 
  where Sangre River leaves 
  it
  Itsaso
  Capt Ana-
  Enderquina of 
  Hacienda Tormos
  south bank of Upper 
  Sangre River to the south 
  of the highest lock
  Lizarta
  Capt Manuela-Ildaria 
  of Estancia Vellone
  west bank of Lake 
  Cordona to the north 
  of where Sangre River 
  leaves it
  Olaberria
  Ten Margarida 
  Natalez of San Caseo
  southeast bank of Lake 
  Cordona where River of 
  Gold leaves it
  Orexa
  Ten Bianca Hordonez 
  of Cadua
  northeast bank of Lake 
  Aur where River of Gold 
  enters it
  Ubidea
  Capt Ansuro Telles of 
  Arenzana
  southeast bank of Lake 
  Aur where River of Gold 
  Locks leave it
  Zerain
  Cmdte Visturio 
  Bernal of Ruente
  northeast bank of River 
  of Gold Locks where it 
  enters the Great Ocean 
  Ûthaf
  A note on abbreviations: Ten—teniente (lieutenant); Capt—
  capitán (captain); Cmdte — comandante (commandant). 
  MUNIGUA, TOWN OF
  MUNIGUA, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Exarch of Sangre-Odraga Alvar-Julian, Marqués of 
  Vellone
  Government: exarch (regional governor) appointed by queen of 
  Alcaldar
  Population: 1,574 (almost all Alcaldrich)
  The town of Munigua is located on the eastern shore of Lake Odraga 
  where the Upper Sangre River enters the lake; it is the seat of one of the 
  two exarchs of the Channel Lakes system, the exarch of Sangre-Odraga. 
  He is the administrator of the lakes, the lock system, and the associated 
  population, from the east end of Lake Istobal to the west edge of Cordona 
  Lake. The authorities of Munigua oversee Fortress Elduain in its ship 
  inspections and fee collections from ships entering the channel from 
  the west. They also protect the Upper Sangre Locks and oversee those 
  keeping the locks in good working order. The foothills of the mountains 
  are the one area where imperial troops really may be called out to defend 
  the locks and shipping against wild animals and fell creatures.
  The exarch at Munigua is the closest potential Alcaldrich ambassador 
  to the dwarves of the Zorinos Mountains and their trade contacts at Syat. 
  He is occasionally called upon to intervene with the dwarves on behalf 
  of someone who falls afoul of their policies or to represent the Empire 
  of Alcaldar to the dwarves on some matter.
  ORT
  ORTÍS, TOWN OF
  S, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Archon Beatriz-Elvyra of Estancia Clariana
  Government: archon appointed by queen of Alcaldar; 
  bureaucracy
  Population: 4,319 (almost all Alcaldrich)
  The town of Ortís was built after the Alcaldrich conquest of the 
  Channel Lakes to provide a secondary guard on the entrance to the lake 
  system. Ortís has good docks and several ships of the Imperial Fleet are 
  based here. In the past year, they have been busy providing security for 
  the merchant shipping in the area as the naval vessels in Caduvar have 
  been guarding that city against threatening Castorhagi warships.
  Unlike the steep, rocky coast south of Caduvar, the seacoast in the area 
  of Ortís has beautiful white sand beaches. Many of the wealthy people 
  in the western Channel Lakes region have villas in the area to get away 
  during the hot months to where they can enjoy ocean breezes and some 
  sea bathing. An ofﬁ cial seaside residence for the sebastos is maintained 
  here year-round. Although the current ofﬁ ceholder rarely uses it herself, 
  it often hosts visiting diplomats and is the site of occasional informal 
  government meetings.
  After the establishment of San Caseo and the growth of the Channel 
  Lakes as a corridor for trade, many noble estates were granted in the 
  area between Ortís and the capital city for the purpose of supplying 
  agricultural products to the growing communities. A maintained road 
  winds through the haciendas between the two cities, the only city-to-
  city land route in the region. Noble estates in the area include those 
  of the marqués of Zapardiel, the condesa of Fresneda, the condesa of 
  Lanzuela, the condesa of Saldón, and the conde of Yebra.
  SALLAVINERA, CITY OF
  SALLAVINERA, CITY OF
  Ruler: Exarch of Cordona-Aur Ynes-Urracia, Marquesa of Iruela
  Government: exarch (regional governor) appointed by queen of 
  Alcaldar
  Population: 5,304 (almost all Alcaldrich)
  The city of Sallavinera is located on the Great Ocean Ûthaf at the east 
  end of the River of Gold Locks. It is the seat of one of the two exarchs of 
  the Channel Lakes, the exarch of Cordona-Aur. She is the administrator 
  of the lakes, the lock system, and the associated population, from the west 
  end of Cordona Lake to the Ocean Ûthaf. The authorities of Sallavinera 
  are in charge of ship inspections and fee collection from ships entering the 
  channel from the east. They also protect the eastern end of the channel, 
  with the assistance of Fortress Zerain on the north bank of the river.
  Sallavinera is home port to the ﬂ eet of the Imperial Navy in Oceanus. 
  The navy sometimes escorts Alcaldrich merchants on their voyages, but 
  is primarily responsible for the security of Alcaldar’s various colonies 
  in Oceanus. The port has become an active trade center, as ships from 
  up and down the coast of southern and central Libynos come here to 
  interact with each other, as well as ships from Far Jaati, and traders 
  of Akados looking to pick up some exotic cargo from Libynos before 
  heading through the channel and then west. For the Libynosi traders, 
  Sallavinera is effectively a neutral port, one that is patrolled enough to 
  keep violence to a minimum. Since it is an Alcaldrich port, it is more 
  organized and somewhat more under control than many in southern 
  Libynos, but it gives merchants from Akados good exposure to the kind 
  of colorful chaos they can expect elsewhere.
  The city is less than 50 years old, so it looks a bit raw compared to 
  most in Libynos and is still growing. It was built speciﬁ cally to be a 
  large port and administrative center, which means the streets are neatly 
  arranged in a grid that fans out from the port. The primary buildings 
  and the city wall are strong stone, but most of the buildings are made 
  of wood from the forests to the south. To those at a distance — such as 
  the nobility in Alcaldar — Sallavinera is an isolated village practically 
  on the far side of the world. To those who call it home, though, it is a 
  vibrant and fast-growing city that is the anchor of Alcaldar’s power in 
  eastern Libynos.
  
  440|
  440|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  SYAT, TOWN OF
  SYAT, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Archon Sarracino Durán of Munigua
  Government: archon appointed by queen of Alcaldar; 
  bureaucracy
  Population: 1,735 (almost all Alcaldrich)
  The town of Syat lies in a valley in the Zorinos Mountains where the 
  waterfall that is the origin of the Odraga River pours out of a high, rocky 
  face. Its isolation has caused Syat some growing pains as it has received 
  sporadic support from the empire. While work was done on the Upper 
  Sangre River, Syat had good population growth and trade with the cities 
  downriver. When work moved to the vicinity of Lake Aur, however, 
  travel to Syat waned and the people there grew disenchanted with the 
  empire. Alcaldar had to exert a very ﬁ rm hand for about 25 years to 
  convince the citizens of Syat that a little distance did not absolve them 
  of any of their responsibilities to the empire.
  When the army of Alcaldar ﬁ rst arrived in the valley, the people 
  of Syat put forth the ridiculous claim that the cozy little stone town 
  had been built by dwarves hundreds of years before for the purpose of 
  trading with humans in the surrounding lands. Despite some supporting 
  evidence, this was not given any credence until 11 years later when 
  a large delegation of dwarves marched out from behind the waterfall. 
  They were quite put out to discover the changes wrought in the town 
  in less than a dozen years. After some quick diplomacy, a different 
  residence was found for the local archon and the mansion of the head of 
  the dwarven merchants’ guild was reserved for dwarven use only. With 
  dozens of months-long market days over the past two centuries, town 
  leaders and dwarven merchants now usually maintain a cautious respect 
  rather than hostility. This does not extend to humans doing any actual 
  mining in the mountains, however.
  Syat is home to some Alcaldrich traders who buy goods from the 
  grassland tribes whether or not the dwarves are going to be trading soon. 
  If no market day is coming up, the traders send the goods downriver 
  to San Caseo. Some area residents mine the hills west of the Zorinos 
  Mountains, being careful to stay far enough away from the mountains 
  themselves to be within the letter of the dwarven restrictions. These 
  prospectors have uncovered a little silver in the hills, but mostly they 
  have found copper.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE CHANNEL LAKES
  INTEREST IN THE CHANNEL LAKES
  CORDONA LAKE
  CORDONA LAKE
  This long lake is the highest point of elevation of the Channel Lakes, 
  located on a plateau on the eastern edge of the Zorinos Mountains. 
  Just to the west is a low pass through the Zorinos Mountains, along 
  which the Upper Sangre River begins a descent to the hills and plains 
  beyond. Alcaldar engineers dug a winding channel through the pass so 
  the waters of Cordona Lake could empty to the west to join the Upper 
  Sangre River. Here they built a water gate and the ﬁ rst of the locks 
  providing passage for ships. To the west, more locks were constructed 
  along the course of the Upper Sangre, which eventually empties into 
  Lake Odraga.
  Water also ﬂ ows out of the lake to the south via the River of Gold into 
  Lake Aur. Beyond that, another series of locks completes the connection 
  to the Great Ocean Ûthaf. Part of the genius of the Alcaldrich engineering 
  is ensuring that the waters of Cordona Lake are always sufﬁ ciently high 
  to keep water ﬂ owing through both the Upper Sangre and the River of 
  Gold. This is helped by the fact that the lake is fed by many streams 
  ﬂ owing from the northern Zorinos Mountains. Several small villages 
  along its shores ﬁ sh as well as grow crops, but they do not produce a 
  tradable surplus.
  An overland trade route exists from Cordona Lake to the Great Ocean 
  Ûthaf, which was built and used for 140 years before Alcaldar gained 
  the engineering knowledge and experience necessary to build the river 
  locks that make the Channel Lakes so valuable. The Coast Road takes 
  the shortest route from a tiny port village at the east end of the lake to 
  the cliffs leading down to the sea. A series of tight switchbacks takes 
  the road down to sea level where the small port town of Arenzana still 
  clings to the edge of the ocean.
  KINGSBARROW GATE
  KINGSBARROW GATE
  This circle of tall standing stones is missing a single stone at its 
  eastern point; nothing indicates that a stone ever stood there. Two pairs 
  of stones each have another stone over the top like a lintel, one at the 
  north point of the circle and one at the south. Each of the lintel stones is 
  elaborately carved, although the two sets of carvings are very different; 
  some of the symbols on each seem to represent animals while others are 
  more abstract. Nearby to the east is a small hill or mound that rumor 
  says was the burial place of the rulers of the Kingdom of Ka’dufaar, 
  although it seems rather small to hold the bodies of nearly 800 years 
  of kings. Supposedly, a king would be buried in the mound and then 
  his spirit would go through the gate provided by the standing stones to 
  reach the afterlife.
  LAKE AUR
  LAKE AUR
  Lake Aur is the ﬁ nal lake in the chain that became the Channel Lakes. 
  The River of Gold ﬂ ows into it from the north, and from here the River 
  of Gold Locks complete the link to the Great Ocean Ûthaf. It was named 
  after the gold that was discovered in its northern end by engineers 
  surveying prior to dredging the river from Lake Cordona. Apparently, 
  tiny bits of gold had been carried by streams ﬂ owing from the Zorinos 
  Mountains, probably for centuries, and much of it precipitated out of 
  the water to the bottom of Lake Aur. This led to a big recovery effort 
  before any more work was done on the channel system, which involved 
  hundreds of people digging and washing to separate out the bits of gold. 
  Now some prospectors pan for gold directly in the mountain streams, 
  but it is not a large enterprise as much of the free gold seems to have 
  been collected already. 
  A few small communities lie on the northeast edge of the lake between 
  the two sections of the River of Gold, because the land is generally good 
  and some ﬁ sh are available. Lying as it does at the far end of the Channel 
  Lakes, though, the population has expanded very slowly in the past 20 
  years, and no nobles have ever been granted land to establish haciendas 
  in this area.
  LAKE ISTOBAL
  LAKE ISTOBAL
  Named for King Istobal-Alcacé, who led Alcaldar in its ﬁ rst steps 
  to empire, Lake Istobal is home to the capital city of San Caseo and 
  the beginning of the channel. Here ships stop for inspection and to pay 
  the necessary fees, and then begin their journeys up the Sangre River. 
  They may stop either at the dock at San Caseo or at Fortress Elduain at 
  the entrance to the river. Patrol boats carry inspectors who stop every 
  ship entering the channel to be sure everything is in order and give 
  them tokens that allow them passage through the locks. At night, a 
  chain is raised across the river entrance (or exit, for ships traveling 
  west) to be sure that no one passes through without the empire’s 
  knowledge and authorization.
  LAKE ODRAGA
  LAKE ODRAGA
  The second lake in the channel system, Lake Odraga was named for 
  the Alcaldrich general who led the successful conquest of the Kingdom 
  of Ka’dufaar, paving the way for the empire’s eventual control of the 
  entire Channel Lakes’ region. Lake Odraga has the most ﬁ sh of any of the 
  Channel Lakes and sustains a small ﬁ shing industry. Much of the catch 
  feeds people around the lake but some is shipped down to San Caseo for 
  the larger population there. The lake has a current that ﬂ ows west, but 
  usually ships can catch enough wind in their sails to make an easterly trip 
  without much difﬁ culty. At the east end of the lake, customs boats out of 
  Munigua take a passage token from each ship before allowing it to enter 
  the Upper Sangre and the system of locks there.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|441
  |441
  CENTRAL LIBYNOS
  ODRAGA RIVER
  ODRAGA RIVER
  The Odraga River begins at a waterfall in the Zorinos Mountains and 
  ﬂ ows quickly on its way down to Lake Odraga. The river ﬂ attens out as 
  it makes a wide curve approaching the lake, making it possible to ford it 
  at some places in the last 50 miles even though the current is still fairly 
  strong. It has not been improved as the Sangre has, so it is only navigable 
  by small boats. Northwest of the Odraga is mostly grassland with some 
  small farming communities, while to the southeast, between it and the 
  Upper Sangre, are miles of hilly country rising to the mountains. Those 
  foothills were patrolled during the time the locks on the Upper Sangre 
  were being constructed, but in the past 50 years the hills have once again 
  become the home of many dangerous creatures.
  RIVER OF GOLD
  RIVER OF GOLD
  The River of Gold ﬂ ows from Cordona Lake into Lake Aur and 
  descends slightly along its length. Streams ﬂ owing to it from the southern 
  section of the Zorinos Mountains carried small amounts of gold into the 
  river, which were discovered when the waterway was expanded as part 
  of the channel system. Many people from the poorer quarters of Mhalta, 
  Cadua, and San Caseo, and some inhabitants of the local area, spent 
  months (if not years) sluicing for gold in the mud dredged out of the 
  river, in return for a small percentage of anything they found. Travelers 
  these days still keep an eye out for a glint of gold in the water, but since 
  anything found technically belongs to the Empire of Alcaldar, people 
  don’t usually go to great effort to retrieve anything they may see.
  RIVER OF GOLD LOCKS
  RIVER OF GOLD LOCKS
  Before the construction of the locks, the river that ran from Lake Aur to 
  the sea ran shallow and ﬂ at for nearly 40 miles before it wound a circuitous 
  route down, dropping several hundred feet over its course through rocky 
  rapids and steep-sided channels. Using techniques developed from 
  studying the Hyperborean-built Canal of the Pharaohs in Khemit, the 
  engineers of Alcaldar cut a new path for the river, straight to the sea, via a 
  series of locks. They named this the River of Gold Locks.
  Using this new route, ships can be raised from the level of the Great 
  Ocean Ûthaf to the plateau of Lake Aur. From there they can sail (or 
  be rowed or towed) against the current into Cordona Lake, and then 
  downriver to the west where they enter the Sinnar Ocean. An adjoining 
  set of locks serves the needs of ships traveling east, making it possible 
  for trafﬁ c to ﬂ ow in both directions at the same time. Small villages 
  along the canal house people with the expertise to work the locks (and 
  repair them if necessary) and small military forces to guard the locks 
  (and the engineers), as well as a few people who cater to ships’ crews by 
  providing food and sundries while they wait through the slow process 
  of traversing a lock. Entrance to the lock system is controlled by the 
  authorities at Sallavinera, and they also have protective chains they raise 
  each evening over the entrance to the locks so that no ships can pass 
  through without authorization.
  SANGRE RIVER
  SANGRE RIVER
  The name Sangre River now refers only to the portion of the river 
  that ﬂ ows west out of Lake Odraga, through Lake Istobal and then via 
  a narrow strait into the Sangre Sea. (The river east of Lake Odraga 
  is known as the Upper Sangre.) Its south bank has good land for 
  farming, and many noble haciendas have been granted between Lake 
  Istobal and Lake Odraga. These include the estates of the marqués 
  of Hervias, the conde of Ollauri, the condesa of Zarratón, and the 
  conde of Sorzano.
  SANGRE SEA
  SANGRE SEA
  Named because its color at sunset is supposedly the color of blood, 
  the Sangre Sea is a wide bay of the eastern Sinnar Ocean along the 
  western coast of central Libynos. The Sangre River ﬂ ows into it through 
  a series of intervening lakes that have together been named the Channel 
  Lakes. These Channel Lakes and their connecting rivers as a whole 
  provide a water route to the Great Ocean Ûthaf across a narrow width in 
  the southern part of the continent of Libynos. This water route is entirely 
  in the control of the Empire of Alcaldar.
  SENIARO HILLS
  SENIARO HILLS
  These rocky, rugged hills lie between Cardona Lake and the Great 
  Ocean Ûthaf. On the eastern side, they drop precipitously toward the 
  sea. Hunters and soldiers keep the wild animals down close to the 
  Channel Lakes, but they are plentiful deeper in the hills.
  A road (called the Coast Road) runs as straight as possible from the 
  east end of Cordona Lake to the coast. Although the road is no longer 
  well-maintained, it is still passable. The east end of the road is a steep 
  descent to the town of Arenzana. The descending switchback road is 
  well built and has been kept in much better condition than the road 
  through the hills.
  UPPER SANGRE RIVER
  UPPER SANGRE RIVER
  The upper portion of the Sangre River twists and curves as it falls 
  from the plateau of Cordona Lake to the ﬂ atter lands to the west. Three 
  locks have been built where the river loses the most elevation, making 
  it safe for ships heading west to sail downriver. Ships heading east, 
  upriver, typically must be rowed or towed from the shore. Villages 
  next to each of the locks house the engineers who keep the locks 
  working and other families who offer amenities to the crews of ships 
  waiting on the lock system, as well as soldiers to guard the locks and 
  the ships in them. 
  The Upper Sangre River is subject to hazards not found on the lower 
  Sangre or the River of Gold. For example, sometimes rock falls from 
  the surrounding cliffs block part of the river and make it too narrow 
  for two oceangoing vessels to pass each other. In such a situation, a 
  small herald boat is sent to warn oncoming ships, and captains must take 
  turns passing through the narrowed area until it can be cleared again. 
  Rumor says that the river through the mountains was originally widened 
  and smoothed by an incredibly powerful wizard who had an afﬁ nity 
  for earth magic. He now lives in a tower somewhere in the mountains 
  nearby where he can keep an eye on ships using his channel, and to this 
  day he earns a certain amount of coin every time one does.
   ZORINOS MOUNTAINS
   ZORINOS MOUNTAINS
  This range of mountains in the Channel Lakes region falls off into 
  rough hills toward its southwest. It is split by the Upper Sangre River, a 
  gap that was widened when the river was modiﬁ ed as part of Alcaldar’s 
  Channel Lakes system. The excavation done to widen and smooth the 
  river’s channel coincidentally uncovered silver in the rock. In addition, 
  streams on the southeast side of the mountains deposited gold in Lake 
  Aur. However, neither of these valuable minerals is being mined at the 
  present time.
  An unexpected feature of the mountains was their inhabitation by 
  a large clan of dwarves. After a brief period when it appeared conﬂ ict 
  might be inevitable, the Alcaldrich came to an accommodation with 
  the dwarves that permitted the excavation necessary to create the 
  Channel Lakes system, so long as the humans otherwise left the 
  mountains alone. In particular, mining was prohibited anywhere in 
  the mountains proper. (The hills to the west, at least, are not subject 
  to the restrictions.)
  So far, the empire has honored its agreement with the dwarves, despite 
  its suspicions that large veins of gold and silver must be contained in 
  the mountains. Panning for gold is permitted, but Alcaldrich authorities 
  swiftly punish anyone they discover trying to prospect. That being said, 
  frustration with these restrictions waxes and wanes over the decades, 
  and at the moment it seems to be on the upswing again.
  The wild foothills of the mountains between the Odraga River and 
  the Upper Sangre are the habitat of many dangerous beasts but have 
  also been found to have some of the valuable metals the prospectors 
  covet. As long as the miners stay away from the mountains proper and 
  don’t let their mines wander in that direction, the dwarves have raised 
  no objection — so far.
  
  442|
  442|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  KUNG, KINGDOM OF
  KUNG, KINGDOM OF
  Capital: Town of Kung
  Ruler: King Joran the Vanquisher
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 2,139 (Kungish)
  Monstrous: orcs (central hills)
  Languages: Kaduvahn; Bhanikhat
  Religion: primarily none; a few worship gods of the Woodslands 
  tribes
  Resources: ﬁ shing
  Currency: barter, Bhanakhiri
  Technology Level: Iron Age
   A hilly, rocky island off the west coast of the Yingozi Woodlands 
  is home to the Kingdom of Kung. The capital (such as it is) is a town 
  of a few hundred people near a small harbor on the eastern side of the 
  island, built near the king’s castle that is really just a fortiﬁ ed tower. The 
  population does some farming and the climate would be good for it, but 
  the soil is so poor that harvests are barely at subsistence level. Fishing 
  is somewhat better but still doesn’t produce much to export, so people 
  have just enough food but are always short of coin.
  The lives of the common people are made more difﬁ cult by the orcs 
  that live in the central hill country. Although the island is large enough 
  that the orcs and humans are not in constant conﬂ ict, it is not big enough 
  for the humans to avoid the orcs indeﬁ nitely. King Joran comes from a 
  long line of great warriors, and he and his soldiers beat back the orcs 
  from time to time. However, the king can be bothered only with issues 
  that affect his own comfort — such as threats to his food supply — so 
  many of the unpleasant things in Kung go on unhampered.
  One shady character the peasants call the Dread Warlock is rumored 
  to be a necromancer or a vampire, or perhaps someone who can read 
  minds and enjoys seeing people frightened. He has a tower on the 
  western side of the island and seldom goes to the village; a few rough 
  servants who stay with him get things from the village when needed. 
  Every now and then peasants disappear, only to be found dead later 
  with looks of horror or terror on their faces. However, no one has 
  had the temerity to suggest that the Dread Warlock is at fault and the 
  king should do something about him, because the king has not been 
  inconvenienced by his actions.
  YINGOZI WOODLANDS
  YINGOZI WOODLANDS
  Capital: none 
  Notable Settlements: Fortress Castrobal, Lanza Dorada, 
  Fortress Leza, Varcial
  Ruler: none
  Government: tribal
  Population: unknown (mostly tribespeople, 3,771 Alcaldrich)
  Monstrous: orcs (in the west), chupacabras, raggoths
  Languages: tribal languages, Bhanikhat; Alcaldrich
  Religion: Father Sky and Mother Earth; nature spirits
   Resources: exotic animals, pelts
  Currency: primarily barter; Bhanakhiran, Alcaldrich
  Technology Level: Stone Age (tribes), Dark Ages (Alcaldrich 
  settlements)
  South of the Channel Lakes, the land becomes open woodlands 
  interspersed with clear areas as well as patches of actual forest. Rather 
  than horses, the area is grazed by antelope, gazelles, and other grass 
  eaters, as well as large animals such as giraffes and the great elephants. 
  Their predators are here, too: lions, cheetahs, hyenas, wolves, and more.
  The people of the woodlands are organized into tribal groups rather 
  than nations. Villages are usually located in more thickly-wooded 
  areas near streams, for the resources and any protection against the 
  elements. Houses are generally made of logs or branches with grass 
  roofs, but some tribes that move often use pole frames covered with 
  hides. For transportation, some locals are able to acquire horses from 
  the Channel Lakes haciendas, often by trading pelts. Others herd 
  the antelope and might tame them for riding, though most aren’t as 
  sturdy as horses. Many youths enjoy the thrill of raising and training 
  ostriches to ride, something that can also be a choice for slender 
  adults. The tribes tend to be superstitious, and they venerate the spirits 
  of their ancestors as well as worshipping nature deities or spirits. They 
  see Father Sky and Mother Earth as the great creators, and believe 
  each part of creation has its own spirit at some level. For example, a 
  grove may have a guardian spirit, or a single tree, or an entire forest. 
  They also fear the hungry ﬁ re that can sweep through the woodlands, 
  burning everything in its path; to them the symbol of a burned tree 
  represents evil.
  The human tribes inhabit primarily the central and eastern parts of the 
  woodlands, while the western portion has a larger number of humanoids, 
  especially orcs. Pressure by the Alcaldrich gradually moving south from 
  the Channel Lakes, and the humanoids spreading toward the east, is 
  slowly pushing more human tribes south toward the Kanderi Desert and 
  its very limited resources.
  CASTROBAL, FORTRESS
  CASTROBAL, FORTRESS
  Ruler: Commandante Alfonzo-Gudesteo of Hacienda Esterquel
  Government: military commander
  Population: 178 (Alcaldrich)
  Fortress Castrobal was founded to give Alcaldar a foothold among 
  the humanoid tribes of the western woodlands. That being the case, it 
  is much stronger than the forts of the Channel Lakes, or even those of 
  its colonies on the eastern coast. It has a stone wall, and the roofs of its 
  buildings are slate to ward off attacks with ﬁ re. It also has a larger guard 
  force, with more than 170 soldiers present. The fortress has an excellent 
  well and deep cellars where the troops store enough supplies for a siege 
  of months, though they could not withstand years. A rudimentary pier 
  allows ships to dock and vessels of the Imperial Navy stop by on a 
  regular basis, as Castrobal is considered important in Alcaldar’s eventual 
  program of expansion.
  FORTRESS IULIANES, RUINS OF
  FORTRESS IULIANES, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  Although the original builder of this old stone fortress is unknown, a 
  succession of humanoid forces occupied it for decades. They used it as 
  a base to gain power over each other and to launch quick attacks into 
  the Channel Lakes area. After some particularly violent raids a dozen or 
  more years ago, the fortress was completely cleaned out by a combined 
  force of the Imperial Army and Alcaldrich marines and the surrounding 
  area cleared as well. For some unrecorded reason, the two wizards with 
  the group insisted it would be a bad idea to completely demolish the 
  structure. Instead, the pair stretched their resources to establish wards 
  and magical traps. So far, the precautions seem to have prevented 
  another band of humanoids from settling in, but it is likely only a matter 
  of time before that happens.
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  
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  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  LANZA DORADA, TOWN OF
  LANZA DORADA, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Archon Osoro-Antonio of Estancia Galdames
  Government: archon appointed by queen of Alcaldar; 
  bureaucracy
  Population: 3,198 (almost all Alcaldrich)
  Lanza Dorada was founded about 75 years ago by a paladin of Muir 
  who was sent to the frontier to do penance for sins that were, in point 
  of fact, just poor political choices. Lady Sancha Justenianes (and some 
  companions who also were due for a few years away from court) built a 
  handful of rough buildings, attracted residents, found resources to support 
  the growth, and protected the hamlet, then village, then town, until it 
  had the walls and guard force necessary to protect itself. Lady Sancha 
  ultimately retired and passed away without ever returning to Alcaldar 
  proper, and the town square features a noble statue in her memory.
  The centerpiece of the town is the Frontier Temple of Our Lady of 
  the Golden Lance, which is built of stone from the southern Zorinos 
  Mountains although other civic buildings are local wood. The town is 
  on a protected bay, so docks were built early on. Merchant ships as well 
  as the Imperial Navy call here on their way up and down the coast. This 
  is a prosperous town full of proud people, most of whom are also very 
  devout. They are no longer quite on the edge of civilization, but they 
  have a tradition of vigilance, and nearly everyone is trained to wield 
  some type of weapon in defense of their community.
  LEZA, FORTRESS
  LEZA, FORTRESS
  Ruler: Capitán Menendo-Adulfo of Hacienda Ophelo
  Government: military commander
  Population: 122 (Alcaldrich)
  Built about 50 years ago during the construction of the River of Gold 
  Locks, a settlement has grown around the fortress but it is not actually 
  a village. It has no community buildings nor have the residents shown 
  an interest in taking over the organization of matters for themselves. 
  Instead, they consider themselves as support for the fortress; they rely 
  on the fortress commander for leadership and go to the sergeants when 
  they need any assistance. The present capitán has been tasked with the 
  speciﬁ c duty of putting the settlement on the path to becoming a viable 
  town. The protected harbor has docks for supply ships and the Imperial 
  Navy uses the location as a stopover when convenient, but merchant 
  ships very seldom call here. Developing resources for trade as well as 
  local use is a high priority for the commander in his quest to forge this 
  conglomeration of people into a town. 
  VARCIAL, TOWN OF
  VARCIAL, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Commandante Felipa-Jimena of Estancia Sorueno
  Government: military commander
  Population: 273 (almost all Alcaldrich)
  Varcial was founded a mere 18 years ago, its military force aboard 
  only the eighth ship to pass through the newly completed canal 
  system. The excitement for progress can still be felt here, as a small 
  town quickly grew up around the initial fortress. Despite the increase 
  in population, the dangers to this isolated community mandate that the 
  Boats cluster at mid-day in the Floating Market of Anggah.
  
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  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  military authorities retain control for some time yet. Although the town 
  is walled, the fortress complex is large enough that the entire population 
  can take shelter inside if absolutely necessary, thus reducing the space 
  that must be defended. Varcial has an adequate port and is trying to 
  develop new trade. Some of its people have found mineral deposits 
  in nearby hills and are working to develop mines there that can bring 
  income to the town.
  REAPING COAST 
  REAPING COAST 
  Capital: none
  Ruler: none
  Government: varies
  Population: uncertain
  Monstrous: sea urchins, brine drakes (coast), froghemoths, 
  hanunagas (jungle), bugbears, rocs, barbegazi (ice gnomes), 
  mountain dwarves (hills/mountains), sand elves (desert)
  Languages: Westerling, tribal languages, Zenzin, Alcaldrich
  Religion: Hyperborean pantheon, Castorhagi pantheon, nature 
  spirits
  Resources: nutmeg, spices, tropical foods, antiquities, mining, 
  lumber, handcrafts, trade, written material
  Currency: Jah Sezain, Castorhagi, Axuumite, Alcaldrich
  Technology Level: Renaissance (Jah Sezar), High Middle Ages 
  (other cities), Iron Age (villages and rural areas), Stone Age 
  (tribes of the forest or jungle)
  The Reaping Coast makes up the southeastern region of the continent 
  of Libynos where it meets the Reaping Sea. It runs from the Ambicuaria 
  Jungle in the north, past the folds and features of the Hollow Spire 
  Mountains in the center, to the genuine rainforest of the Seething Jungle 
  far to the south. Records elsewhere suggest that much of this region was 
  at one time colonized by the Hyperboreans, but little evidence is left to 
  support that. Following the Great Crusades, settlers and traders from 
  the lands of Foere and Castorhage developed outposts along the coast, 
  many of which have become signiﬁ cant towns or even cities. Some are 
  still deﬁ nitely colonies, but others have long been independent of their 
  distant founders.
  ABHOR BRAZIER, TEMPLE OF
  ABHOR BRAZIER, TEMPLE OF
  Population: unknown
  Ruler: High Priestess Dealyn Rhó
  Government: theocracy
  This great temple sits on the side of the volcano Phrygia at 
  about 14,000 feet above sea level in the northern Hollow Spire 
  Mountains. The temple is built of black obsidian and appears to 
  be a solid block 100 feet high with a single pair of brass doors. 
  Four smokestacks rise 300 feet at each of the four corners of the 
  structure. The temple is said to be dedicated to some evil deity of 
  fire but was thought abandoned until recently, when great gouts of 
  flame visible from miles away erupted from the temple’s stacks. 
  People claim flames burn there constantly these days, a sure sign 
  that the temple is again occupied.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: SPLINTERS OF FAITH 9: DUEL OF MAGIC
  AL-SIFON, RUINS OF
  AL-SIFON, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  This ancient ruined city lies at the eastern edge of the Seething Jungle, 
  near the foothills of the southwestern spur of the Hollow Spire Mountains. 
  Locals claim it is cursed, but the few adventurers who have been there 
  speak of the extent of the ruins. A few main structures are discernable, 
  including an 80-foot-tall cone-shaped structure and an equally tall step 
  pyramid made of gray stone interspersed with rows of massive boulders 
  carved to resemble skulls. The majority of the city is overgrown with 
  vines and towering trees, mostly lost to the expanse of jungle.
  The death-priest Akruel Rathamon rose to power in Al-Sifon in –613 
  I.R. and marched the Cult of Aurikas from the ancient city against cities, 
  towns, and homesteads throughout the coastal regions of the Reaping 
  Sea. After decades of  bloodshed, the Khemitian priest Shah Rasalt and 
  his gathered forces fought Akruel’s death cult to a standstill during the 
  War of Divine Discord. After Shah Rasalt defeated Akruel in the little 
  homestead of Lessef in –579 I.R., he marched his army to Al-Sifon 
  and laid siege to the city of evil cultists. When Shah Rasalt ﬁ nally 
  left the Seething Jungle, very few structures of the ancient city were 
  left standing. Unfortunately, evil never really seems to die, and some 
  intrepid jungle explorers now claim the ancient city stands anew, rebuilt 
  stone by stone, despite the encroaching jungle that surrounds it. Undead 
  wander afresh through the paved streets and lurk in the haunted halls.
  Several small settlements along the Quell River are located south of the 
  ruins of Al-Sifon, and range from a few dozen huts to larger villages with 
  names such as Ceza’ Atan and Cata Luawn. Their inhabitants lead a simple, 
  peaceful life unbothered by any supposed curse on the nearby ruins.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: SPLINTERS OF FAITH 10: REMORSE OF LIFE
  ANVIL PLUNGE, TEMPLE-HAMLET OF
  ANVIL PLUNGE, TEMPLE-HAMLET OF
  Ruler: Patriarch Brovok Ashenchisel
  Government: Church of Dargath
  Population: 91 (dwarf)
  Anvil Plunge is in the hill country near the northern end of the valley 
  that holds the Sin Mire Swamp. The temple is an aboveground complex 
  dedicated to Dargath, the craftsman god of the dwarves. The hamlet 
  is surrounded by a tall, thick stone wall with guard towers at both the 
  north and south gates. Visitors are admitted easily during the day, but 
  the gates are closed at dusk and absolutely not opened again until dawn. 
  Warehouses and stables line most of the inside of the wall; a general 
  store is also located there. Barracks and houses sit in an inner circle of 
  buildings. The shrines that make up the temple itself are in the center of 
  the compound. Everyone in town is either a clerical follower of Dargath 
  or at least a laborer in the service of the temple.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: SPLINTERS OF FAITH 2: BURNING DESIRES
  BARGARSPORT, CITY OF
  BARGARSPORT, CITY OF
  Ruler: Mayor Berkoff Keleston
  Government: mayor and city elders
  Population: 10,484 (6,839 various human ethnicity, 840 dwarf, 
  730 half-orc, 630 half-elf, 525 orc, 420 gnome, 400 halﬂ ing, 100 
  high elf)
  Bargarsport is a trade city located on the delta of the Wahr River along 
  the Reaping Coast. Originally founded by settlers from Castorhage, an 
  earlier version of the city drowned when a powerful tsunami rushed 
  ashore and covered the people and structures in layers of silt and sludge. 
  The trading company abandoned its investment at that point, deeming it 
  pointless to throw good money after bad. 
  However, several years later the city was rebuilt, bit by bit, by 
  residents determined to have their home back regardless of the opinion 
  of a soulless company of Castorhage. The survivors built over the ruins 
  of the earlier city that was now hidden in the soft mud of the delta, but 
  they didn’t completely forget that older city. Instead, they put the buried 
  buildings to good use as the new city’s sewers. Sunken buildings now 
  carry the waste from the aboveground structures out to sea through an 
  elaborate sewer network formed from homes, temples, and warehouses 
  that stretches under much of the city.
  Bargarsport is now once again bustling, though it is not as 
  prosperous as it was previously. Instead, after its chaotic interlude, 
  it has become a nearly lawless city where almost anything goes. No 
  questions are asked, but much information is available — for a price. 
  Many whisper that the powerful Alantyr family, which controls most 
  
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  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  of the importing and exporting, has its hand in the illegal trade as 
  well. The ofﬁ cial government is said to be on their payroll, and the 
  only signiﬁ cant opposition is from the clergy of Ayianna, a minor 
  goddess of luck who has been the city’s patron deity. Her worship is 
  literally underground, in a temple hidden somewhere in the inundated 
  undercity where a host of worshippers gather to report on the goings-
  on in the city above.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: SPLINTERS OF FAITH 3: CULVERT OPERATIONS
  BUCKFORT
  BUCKFORT
  Ruler: Viobella Alivan, Factor
  Government: Sun Coast Company agent
  Population: 789 (630 Castorhagi, 135 other human ethnicity, 
  24 other)
  Buckfort was founded by Castorhage’s Sun Coast Trading 
  Company to provide a port for large ships to dock and receive goods 
  from the smaller ships needed to make port at the narrow, rocky 
  harbor of Hillport. Both Sun Coast ships and others (for a fee paid 
  to the company) use Buckfort for this purpose, making Buckfort a 
  reasonably busy transshipping location. However, some ships still 
  bypass Buckfort and anchor near Hillport, using that town’s small 
  ships to load and unload cargo at sea. This has reduced the proﬁ ts the 
  Company had hoped to make. They are currently looking for a way 
  to take over the shipping business directly out of Hillport or perhaps 
  even gain control over the town itself.
  CHISELKNOLL
  CHISELKNOLL
  Ruler: Factor Malorette Berdmarstan
  Government: administered by Royal East Libynos Trading 
  Company
  Population: 564 (488 Castorhagi, 65 other human ethnicity, 11 
  other)
  This heavily fortiﬁ ed town sits near the top of the escarpment that 
  separates the high Kanderi Desert from the Ambicuaria Jungle below. 
  The height of the cliff here is about 500 feet, and steps and ledges carved 
  into the stone wall — apparently using magic — facilitate climbing 
  from the jungle below. For more than 300 years, Castorhagi expeditions 
  have gone out from Chiselknoll to explore the ruins scattered across 
  the desert. In some cases, these have comprised extensive archeological 
  investigations that carefully uncovered and catalogued the remnants of 
  people long gone. Under other supervisors, they have been little more 
  than a quick toss for anything of current value. In all cases, most items of 
  interest, of whatever size, have been removed to Castorhage, where they 
  now decorate a public building or the home of some wealthy sponsor or 
  purchaser. Expeditions from Chiselknoll never enter the desert without 
  a large guard force and abundant supplies. When that is not possible 
  (for ﬁ nancial or other reasons), explorers instead spend time studying 
  and analyzing their ﬁ ndings or revisiting the area between Chiselknoll 
  and Sowbury.
  CHOLOGADI, TOWN OF
  CHOLOGADI, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Council Leader Mareatha Parkamlan
  Government: council of ﬁ ve
  Population: 1,871 (1,130 Foerdewaith, 553 other human 
  ethnicity, 35 halﬂ ing, 20 dwarf, 18 gnome, 15 half-elf, 100 
  other)
  Foerdewaith explorers established Chologadi centuries ago to serve 
  as a frontier fort at the edge of the Ambicuaria Jungle. The town now 
  primarily serves explorers, trappers, and traders. It has a decent port, 
  and local traders are actively searching for a wider variety of goods to 
  offer to counter the dangers experienced by ships sailing in the area. The 
  council has arranged alliances with some local tribes, but the ties are 
  tenuous. They are strengthened when, from time to time, several of the 
  region’s cannibalistic groups band together and try to eradicate any who 
  refuse to join them; such circumstances remin d both town and tribes of 
  the value of combining resources.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: ONS1 ONE NIGHT STANDS OR 
  JUNGLE RUINS OF MADARO-SHANTI FROM QUESTS OF DOOM 2 
  CROMBLEHOLME, VILLAGE OF 
  CROMBLEHOLME, VILLAGE OF 
  Ruler: Governor Alcarascu 
  Government: typically a conclave of village elders, now ruled by 
  the governor
  Population: 90 (81 human, 5 half-elf, 4 elf [all female?])
  Nestled just at the treeline in the Hollow Spire Mountains is the 
  small village of Crombleholme, which is built upon small cliffs around 
  cascading waterfalls about a half mile below the horrid structure of 
  Abhor Brazier. A switchback road leads from the verdant valley to 
  Abhor Brazier’s brass gates. Dilapidated stone buildings lie mostly in 
  ruin, and gardens of artichokes, ﬁ g trees, and grape vines surround the 
  quiet village. The inhabitants tirelessly cultivate the crops and ferment 
  the succulent grapes to produce a ﬁ ne local wine.
  Nearly forgotten by those outside the Hollow Spire Mountains, 
  Crombleholme’s out-of-the-way, idyllic setting turned into a nightmare 
  when the ﬁ res of Abhor Brazier were re-lit. Now, the village is ruled by 
  a merciless governor and cleric of Hecate that some claim is not human 
  at all (although no one has seen her to conﬁ rm this tale). The villagers 
  (all women now, as the men were put to death when the governor took 
  over) tend to their assigned chores with little say in the matter. Some say 
  they seem to be lost in a trance. 
  The village’s one claim to fame is the abundance of hag stones — 
  small rocks with holes bored naturally through them — that are found 
  in the area. Many wear these small stones on leather straps around their 
  necks to ward off evil hags.  
  DOAN, TOWN OF
  DOAN, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Mayor Greda Piltar
  Government: mayor, by acclaim
  Population: 832 (670 human, 125 half-elf, 25 halﬂ ing, 12 high elf)
  This small town lies on the edge of an active caldera near the southern 
  end of the Darikeer Peaks, a spur of the Hollow Spire Mountains. After 
  the nearby supervolcano exploded — with the blast ripping upward 
  out of the land since no one knew of the volcanic activity going on 
  under their feet — the land dropped into the volcano’s crater to form the 
  current caldera. 
  Unfortunately, the edge of the dropoff ran through the middle of 
  Doan, which resulted in half the town falling into the crater. The 
  remaining town of Doan now leads a precarious existence as it 
  balances on the edge of oblivion on the rim of the crater. Abandoned 
  half-buildings still stand along the edge of the sinkhole in Doan, and a 
  stair built of broken stones from the ruined portion of the town allow 
  people to go up and down the side of the caldera. A wooden palisade 
  guards the small town on the land side. The mayor, Greda Piltar, is a 
  tough former adventurer who threatens to toss troublemakers into the 
  sinkhole, and she looks more than capable of following through with 
  this threat.
  The city offers what aid it can to support the nearby temple to 
  Ninevah, Goddess of Elements, that was re-founded among the geysers 
  spewing upward throughout the dangerous caldera. A remarkable statue 
  of shifting mercury stands in the middle of Doan and depicts Ninevah. 
  The statue is composed of mercury that ﬂ ows and changes shape 
  throughout the day. The statue’s most common form shows Ninevah 
  standing atop a spur of rock surrounded by an ever-changing cloud of 
  steam and spraying water.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: SPLINTERS OF FAITH 8: PAINS OF SCALDED GLASS
  
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  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  ESTALLIA ISLAND
  ESTALLIA ISLAND
  Capital: Goullave
  Ruler: Exarch Madelena-Guntroda of Hacienda Texedor 
  Government: exarch (regional governor) appointed by queen of 
  Alcaldar
  Population: 28,250 (19,800 Littoric, 6,090 Alcaldrich, 2,060 
  other human ethnicity, 300 other)
  An island in the Reaping Sea off the coast of the Ambicuaria Jungle, 
  Estallia is a colony of the Empire of Alcaldar. After one of Castorhage’s 
  ships accidentally found its way to the small island during a storm 
  and the company members aboard the vessel pressured the islanders 
  to become a holding of the city-state, the people of Estallia Island 
  instead responded positively to overtures from Alcaldar. It has been 
  more than 90 years since the hereditary chieftain resigned and Estallia 
  came under the empire’s protection. Although there has been friction, 
  the people of the island believe things certainly would have been 
  worse if one of the trading companies of Castorhage had taken charge 
  instead. Formerly known as Ixtal’a, the island’s name was smoothed 
  into something more harmonious to Alcaldrich ears after its annexation.
  Nutmeg has long grown on Estallia, and since joining Alcaldar this has 
  become the island’s primary export. Connoisseurs claim Estallian nutmeg 
  has a distinctive ﬂ avor, which has made it both popular and valuable. The 
  island nation’s secondary means of support is, of course, ﬁ shing.
  The capital of Goullave is a town of more than 3,000 people at the 
  southern end of the island, and Estallia has a few other towns and 
  villages as well. The Alcaldrich started a small port town of their own 
  at the northern end of the island. Granvilla, as they named it, has about 
  500 residents.
  FORT WALLBERG, RUINS OF
  FORT WALLBERG, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  The rubble of Fort Wallberg lies near the top of a 2,000-foot-tall 
  dry waterfall, with switchback steps and ledges carved into the stone 
  apparently by magic. The fort was used for many years as the base for 
  proﬁ table Castorhagi exploration of the ruined cities in the Kanderi 
  Desert before it was overrun and taken by a coalition of desert bands. 
  Eventually, the Castorhagi took it back with much loss of life, but just a 
  few years later the desert-dwellers attacked again and this time utterly 
  destroyed it. Without that base and given the strenuous opposition by 
  the desert bands, the Castorhagi abandoned their exploration of the 
  central desert and concentrated on approaching at Chiselknoll from the 
  north instead.
  HANGING GARDENS OF ISELEINE
  HANGING GARDENS OF ISELEINE
  Ruler: High Priest Jernigan Chimel
  Government: Church of Iseleine, Matron of Peace
  Population: 109 (various human ethnicity)
  The Hanging Gardens of Iseleine are a center of worship consisting 
  of vast gardens located in the north-central part of the dense Kajaani 
  Forest. The primary temple, a sparkling ediﬁ ce of glass and stone, sits 
  among carefully cultivated gardens atop a granite pillar. The pillar itself 
  rises from a steep chasm a quarter-mile deep and a quarter-mile wide in 
  the forest, and the entire ﬂ oor of the sinkhole is ﬁ lled with verdant plant 
  life. Even from the rim of the chasm, it is easy to see that the gardens 
  below must be cultivated as well, because there are masses of single-
  colored ﬂ owers, and patterns appear in the interplay between the green 
  and the blooming colors. A single stone bridge arches the 600 feet from 
  the plateau to the western rim of the chasm. A long, carved stairway is 
  also visible and winds around the granite pillar until it is lost in the mist 
  rising from the lower garden.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: SPLINTERS OF FAITH 4: FOR LOVE OF CHAOS
  HILLPORT, TOWN OF
  HILLPORT, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Mistress Norallo Edameme, Head of the Traders’ Council
  Government: oligarchy of merchants, the Traders’ Council
  Population: 3,024 (2,875 various human ethnicity, 110 
  Castorhagi, 39 other)
  Hillport sits at the conﬂ uence of the Rodenno and Quell rivers in the 
  rough foothills that run from the Hollow Spire Mountains down to the 
  sea. It lies on a small bay, protected by the rocky hills from the storms 
  that pound the Reaping Sea. The town has a standing guard force and 
  a strong volunteer guard, and is also surrounded by a strong wooden 
  palisade. A regular sentence for any prisoners (for being drunk and 
  disorderly, for example) is to spend a certain number of hours outside 
  the palisade clearing brush from the town’s perimeter.
  Hillport was built primarily to allow traders access to products from 
  the interior of the Kajaani Forest, the Hollow Spire Mountains, and the 
  Seething Jungle. Unfortunately, the small bay near the rivers’ mouth is 
  almost as rocky as the surrounding foothills, which makes navigation 
  to the port difﬁ cult. The town provides guide boats, but still only small 
  ships are willing to come in to the port and they are never frequent 
  enough for the amount of trade the town desires. The Traders’ Council 
  has a plan to encourage more ships to call at Hillport; they hired a bard 
  (Grenhenbe Woribo) to travel to other area ports (such as Bargarsport, 
  Jah Sezar, and Storm Haven to the east, and Buckport, Sunport, and 
  Ollanshire to the south) and talk up the advantages of Hillport to the 
  captains there. 
  JAH SEZAR, ISLAND CITY OF
  JAH SEZAR, ISLAND CITY OF
  Ruler: Governor Ghajden Shyd
  Government: Church of Thasizier, with the high priestess, 
  Ayire Jaysa, Master Scholar of the Mystic Erudite
  Population: 43,118 (23,750 various human ethnicity, 12,950 
  high elf, 4,300 half-elf, 1,300 dwarf, 430 gnome, 358 halﬂ ing, 
  30 other)
  The city of Jah Sezar covers the majority of an island in the 
  Reaping Sea. Long piers extend off the island to allow a multitude of 
  ships to dock during the sometimes-violent storms that sweep over 
  the waters. The center of the island rises in a peak that reaches more 
  than 2,500 feet above sea level. Buildings perch on the slopes of the 
  massive peak amid a lush, tropical setting while cobblestone streets 
  provide ample walkways up and down the hill. The people are very 
  welcoming and kindhearted.
  Sitting atop the central peak is the city’s most famous landmark: the 
  Theurgist Seminary of Thasizier. The temple’s dome lights each night 
  and can be seen for many miles out to sea; it casts a warm glow over the 
  city and acts as a beacon to passing ships.
  Crime in Jah Sezar is almost nonexistent thanks largely to the presence 
  of the temple’s priests working with the city’s populace. During the day, 
  apprentices and volunteers fan out through the city to assist the poor 
  and to clean the neighborhoods that spread down the massive peak like 
  sprawling ivy. Apprentices clean the seminary’s walls using spells and 
  offer their magical talent to keep other buildings sparkling as well. The 
  city’s residents appreciate the apprentices’ efforts and feel a great deal 
  of loyalty toward the clergy. In addition, the majority of the seminary’s 
  occupants are skilled spellcasters with years of adventuring under their 
  belts, and they are very fond of the city of Jah Sezar. Most have little 
  tolerance for evil deeds or discord within the beautiful city.
  The island gets most of its supplies by ship, though careful 
  householders are able grow a good deal of produce. Trade goods from 
  Jah Sezar tend to be specialized or skilled items such as maps and 
  charts, copies of rare books, or sheets of music. The population also 
  includes many scholars and sages who can be hired (in person or by 
  writing) to do research on particular topics in the seminary’s extensive 
  library. In fact, spellcasters of all races and types travel from hundreds 
  of miles away to pay homage to the mage of divinity and to peruse the 
  
  448|
  448|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  immeasurable underground library housed in halls and chambers that 
  honeycomb the island’s peak, and catering to their needs is an important 
  industry on the island.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: SPLINTERS OF FAITH 9:  DUEL OF MAGIC
  LESSEF, HAMLET OF
  LESSEF, HAMLET OF
  Ruler: none; guided by Almery Burgand, priest of Freya
  Government: none
  Population: 24 (mixed human ethnicity)
  Lessef sits beside a dirt road connecting the cities of Storm Haven and 
  Bargarsport, not far from the coast of the Reaping Sea. The hamlet lies 
  at the base of a knoll, the only peak for 20 miles in any direction in the 
  ﬂ at farmland, upon which sits a small, whitewashed church, Lessef’s 
  only true landmark. Called Poverty’s Bethel, the shrine to Freya serves 
  as a community center, temple, and shelter from the occasional dangers 
  of the plains. A cemetery dating back hundreds of years surrounds the 
  church with the broken monuments littering the hillside; the priest’s 
  house stands behind the shrine.
  Several years ago, some of the elders hired an out-of-towner to help 
  keep the town safe. Sheriff Dreng is more of a bully than anything, 
  however, and makes up laws on a whim to keep residents in line. In the 
  absence of a real government, most townsfolk turn to Almery Burgand 
  for guidance.
  A one-room tavern named the Pebble (but known locally as Scaby’s 
  Shack) is the only business left in town and survives by selling only the 
  cheapest ale. A few farmers hide stills in abandoned houses, but Sheriff 
  Dreng turns a blind eye to these if he’s paid a fee to look the other way. 
  A massive — and decisive — battle during the War of Divine Discord 
  was fought on the land that eventually became Lessef. Farmers still turn 
  up truly ancient weapons or tools as they till their ﬁ elds.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: SPLINTERS OF FAITH 1: IT STARTED WITH A CHICKEN
  LUNDALE
  LUNDALE
  Ruler: Senior Factor Marvisa Toralino
  Government: administered by Royal East Libynos Trading 
  Company
  Population: 10,088 (7,785 Castorhagi, 1,250 Littoric, 950 other 
  human ethnicity, 103 other)
  Located at the mouth of the King Prudus River, Lundale is the oldest 
  Castorhagi city still active along the Reaping Coast. When Castorhage 
  ﬁ rst began to build colonies in the area, many trading companies started 
  settlements but not all were able to keep them up at such a distance. 
  The most effective was the Royal East Libynos Trading Company, and 
  even it had its setbacks. Lundale is now the largest city along the coast 
  of the Ambicuaria Jungle and a major port of call for Castorhagi ships 
  traveling up and down the east coast of Libynos.
  MADARO-SHANTI, RUINS OF
  MADARO-SHANTI, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  Madaro-Shanti was once a powerful city-state that was highly 
  advanced in magic and other arts. Jealous of its prosperity, a nearby 
  tribe of sorcerers plotted its downfall. Within a few weeks, the city’s 
  inhabitants and its opponents killed each other off, most say with deadly 
  magics. Any survivors ﬂ ed the area, and the ruined city was left to the 
  jungle. That was more than 100 years ago. Rumor is that many of the 
  city’s greater magic items were too difﬁ cult to carry off and so the 
  survivors left them behind, but some explorers who have gone that way 
  claim Madaro-Shanti is now cursed. In any case, no veriﬁ ed ﬁ nds have 
  yet shown up in the nearby port town of Chologadi.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: ONS1 ONE NIGHT STANDS OR 
  JUNGLE RUINS OF MADARO-SHANTI FROM QUESTS OF DOOM 2 
  MAGADIPAN, TEMPLE-CITY OF
  MAGADIPAN, TEMPLE-CITY OF
  Ruler: High Hanu-priest Bezdionis
  Government: Church of Pertikudeo 
  Population: 989 (521 Littoric, 310 half-orc, 135 hanu-naga, 23 
  awakened ape)
  Until the fall of the nearby city of Madaro-Shanti a century or more 
  past, the sect of the evil monkey-god Pertikudeo had remained hidden 
  for fear of that city’s wizards. The sect grew in the last hundred years 
  — ﬁ rst quietly and then more openly — in the venerable temple-city 
  of Magadipan, until now a town of almost 1,000 creatures spreads 
  through the jungle around the ediﬁ ce recently claimed by the monkey-
  god’s worshippers. The population is mostly human or half-orc but also 
  includes a signiﬁ cant group of hanu-naga and several awakened apes 
  who act primarily as guards. One resource that supports the population 
  is a deep well that taps into a seemingly endless underground spring. 
  The temple itself is ancient and towers above the low buildings of 
  the town, but there is no doubt its carvers were friendly to monkeys as 
  those animals can be seen peeking around columns and between leafy 
  vines, and lines of carved monkeys march across the lintels of the doors 
  and windows. The interior suggests that the temple may originally have 
  been dedicated to a different power, as an ornate wall mosaic in the 
  main room has been partially broken so all that remains is the lower part 
  of a blue robe with a dark hand resting on a knee and several monkeys 
  cavorting around a sandaled foot.
  Recently the priests gathered several of the local tribes into the area 
  by performing “miracles,” supposedly by the power of their vile trickster 
  deity. The rare traveler who manages to both ﬁ nd the town and also leave 
  again can only speculate whether this gathering presages a substantial 
  building program, upcoming mass sacriﬁ ces, or preparation for war.
  MELLIMARI, TOWN OF
  MELLIMARI, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Song-elder Arzanic Tojembe
  Government: elder appointed by previous elder
  Population: 895 (620 Littoric, 210 Foerdewaith, 65 other 
  human ethnicity)
  The small town of Mellimari sits on the Lesser Vahari River close to 
  where the river divides into two branches on its way to the sea. The town 
  is a mixture of indigenous inhabitants and descendants of Foerdewaith 
  settlers who wanted to be out of their fortress and more part of the 
  jungle. The townspeople cut timber and send huge logs downriver to the 
  town of Chologadi, where it is processed for sale to traders from distant 
  locations. They use some of the softer woods to produce elaborate 
  carvings such as stylized jungle animals, exotic blossoms, and fantastic 
  creatures from their ancestral stories.
  Mellimari is led by an elder who sings the traditional stories while 
  the others work, and gives judgments on conﬂ icts based on nuggets 
  of wisdom found in the stories. Arzanic Tojembe, the current elder, is 
  22 and has been in his position for only two years, so he is somewhat 
  unsure of his leadership and may be intimidated by forceful strangers. 
  His people consider him wise for his age and their legitimate leader, and 
  encourage him to make good decisions for the town.
  Although not a wealthy town, Mellimari is in an advantageous 
  position for easy access to food and water so its people are generally 
  well-fed and satisﬁ ed. This also makes it a good location for resupply 
  on trips farther into the jungle.
  OLLANSHIRE
  OLLANSHIRE
  Ruler: Adecolm Ollantyr, or Maret Sutley, his adjutant
  Government: autocracy
  Population: 278 (215 Castorhagi, 63 other human ethnicity)
  Ollanshire is an attempt by Adecolm Ollantyr, an extremely wealthy 
  investor in the Castorhagi Sun Coast Trading Company, to found his own 
  town and develop it exactly as he wanted. The start was favorable, and he was 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  able to convince many from Castorhage to move to this new location. Not 
  everyone was happy with the arrival of the foreigners, however, including 
  two nearby tribes of the Seething Jungle. In the past 10 years, Ollantyr has 
  invested signiﬁ cantly more than he had planned in fortiﬁ cations and guards 
  for his town (which is barely bigger than a village), but at least the soldiers 
  are happy to bring or start families, which increases the population. Ollantyr 
  was hoping to see a proﬁ t by now, but despite his excellent port facilities, 
  trying to ship the area’s plentiful fresh fruit hasn’t gone well. He now has his 
  townspeople ﬁ nding ways to preserve or use the fruit such that the products 
  are still inexpensive to make but can easily be shipped back to Castorhage. 
  (Exotic fruit liqueurs are his favorite result so far.) Ollantyr is also hoping to 
  recruit some people to explore the interior of his colony, but so far word of 
  the hostile tribes has kept people away.
  QUAWNOT, VILLAGE OF
  QUAWNOT, VILLAGE OF
  Ruler: King Waldron
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 135 (barbegazi)
  This village of barbegazi (ice gnomes) used to live in pueblo-style 
  homes built in caves inside the wall of the Wailing Glacier, high in the 
  Hollow Spire Mountains. The small glacier’s recent increased melting 
  rate devastated the ice village when a large portion of the wall broke off. 
  The gnomes now live in a makeshift community of stone and mud that 
  is subject to the elements and vulnerable to attack by some of the large 
  ﬂ ying creatures that also live in the area. Scouts have been sent to search 
  for a suitable new location in the mountains, but until they return, the 
  villagers scour the muddy plain in front of the glacier for anything they 
  can use and get under cover at the sight of any threat. If approached in a 
  peaceable manner, the barbegazi willingly trade for food or weapons, or 
  provide local information in return for any help.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: SPLINTERS OF FAITH 6: MORNING OF TEARS
  SHIELDFANE, CITY OF
  SHIELDFANE, CITY OF
  Ruler: Mayor Kintus Hallete
  Government: overseen by high priest of Shield Basilica of Muir, 
  currently High Priest Lord Romel Sandusk
  Population: 6,309 (3,915 various human ethnicity, 885 high elf, 
  505 dwarf, 380 half-elf, 255 gnome, 245 halﬂ ing, 124 half-orc)
  The city of Shieldfane is built against the southern wall of the Shield 
  Basilica of Muir. Those hoping to join the order of paladins, or those 
  desiring the protection of a patrolled area in the middle of a wilderness, 
  congregate here. It is primarily a trading post, with companies providing 
  supplies for the Shield Basilica but also for adventurers, prospectors, 
  and others eking out a living in the area. A small defense force protects 
  the city from domestic troubles, with most members hoping to gain the 
  positive attention of Muir’s paladins through their actions.
  The Shield Basilica of Muir was founded to protect the more-settled 
  areas of the south from repeated invasions of humanoid armies from 
  the Kanderi Desert. With the fortress physically blocking the way for 
  armies (though small groups of travelers can still get through), the 
  Shield Basilica has not had to go to war in many years. It is gradually 
  transitioning to a training center for Muir’s faithful.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: SPLINTERS OF FAITH 7: THE HEIR OF SIN
  SOWBURY
  SOWBURY
  Ruler: Factor Warthan Harlix
  Government: administered by Royal East Libynos Trading 
  Company
  Population: 4,563 (4,018 Castorhagi, 230 Littoric, 210 other 
  human ethnicity, 105 other)
  Founded after the destruction of Fort Wallberg to support Castorhagi 
  expeditions into the northern part of the Kanderi Desert, Sowbury is 
  more than 400 years old, but never grew beyond about 5,000 people, 
  and even diminished in the last several decades. Its presence enabled 
  the Royal East Libynos Trading Company to spread smaller settlements 
  north along the coast. The city has a modest harbor and trades antiquities 
  from the desert as well as products from the nearby settlements and the 
  natives of the jungle, but Sowbury has never been the major port that 
  Lundale is now.
  STORM HAVEN, TOWN OF
  STORM HAVEN, TOWN OF
  Ruler: Mayor Anton Sidhall
  Government: elected mayor
  Population: 597 (525 various human ethnicity, 72 other)
  The small town of Storm Haven is a port on a river delta fed by the 
  Goltray River. Just two miles upriver, the river exits the Canyons of 
  Arcuri through which it runs for more than 20 miles between 500-foot-
  tall stone cliffsides that surround the waterway.
  While not a major trade stop, frequent storms along the coast force 
  many ships into port here to seek shelter or repairs. Storm Haven is 
  protected from the high waves of the ocean by an offshore coral reef, 
  and is usually home for 15 to 30 ships that ply the dangerous waters of 
  the Reaping Sea. Piers extend throughout Storm Haven, with the biggest 
  along the seafront to anchor merchant vessels. Other piers along the 
  delta entrances allow smaller vessels to moor safely inland. Overall, 60 
  ships can moor at the piers.
  Throughout town, 20-foot-tall spikes rise from buildings and jut 
  up from the streets. Townsfolk erected the spikes after a roc from the 
  nearby canyons snatched a small boat and dropped it on the inn. The 
  spikes and ballistae around town prevent the giant birds from snatching 
  away sailors, cattle, and more small boats.
  Storm Haven is a place where no one cares what you did previously 
  in life; they only care about what you can do to help the town now. The 
  community values ﬁ shing, net mending, and ship repair, and some of 
  the best at these skills hang signs on pier-front businesses. Would-be 
  laborers wander the docks when new ships arrive and offer to unload 
  a current catch or seek work on the voyage out. A handful of arrivals 
  seek riches, and legends of diamonds as big as a ﬁ st to be found in the 
  canyons up the Goltray River are common. However, most treasure 
  seekers who enter the narrow region between the imposing cliffs fail 
  to return.
  REFERENCE SOURCES: GLADES OF DEATH OR 
  CANYONS OF ARCURI IN QUESTS OF DOOM 3
  SUNPORT
  SUNPORT
  Ruler: Mayor Malagar Kydrolin
  Government: mayor and advisory council
  Population: 1,012 (855 various human ethnicity, 130 
  Castorhagi, 27 other)
  This port at the mouth of the River of Fortune in far southern Libynos 
  is in the process of trying to grow from a fort and small settlement 
  (tightly run by a trading company for more than 50 years) into an actual 
  town, and the process is full of growing pains. The elected mayor ﬁ nds 
  his authority undermined by the local factor of the Sun Coast Trading 
  Company, who is annoyed that independent trading ships calling at the 
  recently improved port occasionally crowd out scheduled Sun Coast 
  vessels. In the meantime, residents newly arrived from other parts of 
  the Reaping Coast resent how much inﬂ uence Sun Coast has over many 
  aspects of life. Both the company and the long-term residents agree, 
  though, that things will go more smoothly if the company doesn’t have 
  to look after all the town’s issues anymore. Meanwhile, the years of 
  development have settled into a steady stream of valuable products 
  shipping out from the port.
  
  450|
  450|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  ZENDETH-JAN, RUINS OF
  ZENDETH-JAN, RUINS OF
  Population: 0
  Northeast of the Hollow Spire Mountains, in the southern part of the 
  Kanderi Desert, Zendeth-Jan is typical of the ruins that lie scattered 
  about the region. The remains of certain large buildings can still be seen, 
  while other sections of the once-great city may either be revealed by 
  the scouring winds, or buried deep beneath hard-packed dirt or shifting 
  sand. One notable structure is the partial wall of a large building with a 
  domed roof, possibly an arena or other type of public venue. Another is 
  a six-sided ziggurat that looks as if it has been fought over several times. 
  One low area collects water in the rainy season and supports enough 
  plant-life to hold the moisture longer than other places; this watering 
  hole attracts herd animals and the occasional predator. Otherwise, 
  the ruins are inhabited by a variety of desert creatures, most of them 
  dangerous, and sometimes roving bands of humans or humanoids.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: SPLINTERS OF FAITH 5: ECLIPSE OF THE HEARTH
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE REAPING COAST
  INTEREST IN THE REAPING COAST
  AMBICUARIA JUNGLE
  AMBICUARIA JUNGLE
  Found at the eastern extent of southern Libynos, the Ambicuaria 
  Jungle includes thickly forested hills and swamps along 600 miles 
  of coastline from the shore of the Reaping Sea inland for more than 
  200 miles. It receives severe rains during the summer monsoon season 
  and tends to be drier during the winter, but is hot at all times of the 
  year. Its inhabitants are mostly scattered tribes of indigenous people in 
  small towns and villages in the interior. The population becomes even 
  more sparse in the western part of the jungle, where it nears the steep 
  escarpment falling from the cursed Kanderi Desert. This escarpment 
  reaches 3,000 feet at the southern extent, where it separates from the 
  Eastern Spire Peaks, but decreases to a mere 100 feet at the other end, 
  400 miles north.  Along the coast are towns and settlements that have 
  been developed as colonies of other countries, including Castorhage and 
  the westerners of the Crusader Coast. Having a long history of human 
  habitation (apparently going back to some advanced civilizations 
  thousands of years ago), ruins are plentiful and draw explorers. 
  BEHARREL VALLEYS
  BEHARREL VALLEYS
  North and east of the Quell River, the Seething Jungle intersects 
  with the badlands that are the western foothills of the Hollow Spire 
  Mountains. This area is littered with deep crevasses and plagued by 
  volcanic activity, and the heat and humidity push the temperature to 
  dangerous levels. This primordial section of the Seething Jungle teems 
  with creatures and plants, some lingering from the untold past. It 
  appears that some locations must be also tainted with evil, as stories are 
  sometimes told of vile, twisted beasts that roam the jungle.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: SPLINTERS OF FAITH 10: REMORSE OF LIFE
  CANYONS OF ARCURI 
  CANYONS OF ARCURI 
  Over centuries, the Goltray River and its tributaries carved the 
  Canyons of Acuri through rock as the river approached its mouth on 
  the Reaping Sea. The waterway now runs for nearly 20 miles between 
  500-foot-high cliffs that are just 40 feet apart in some places. In wider 
  areas of the canyon (where the walls are around 600 feet apart), the 
  rushing river ﬁ lls much of the canyon ﬂ oor. The Goltray ﬁ nally exits the 
  canyon just two miles west of the town of Storm Haven where it empties 
  into the Reaping Sea.
  Within the canyon, paths along the sides of the river are hidden in the 
  shadows of the high cliffs and thick jungle trees that rise to heights of 150 
  and 200 feet from the canyon ﬂ oor. A secondary canopy of trees about 60 
  feet tall is below the higher treetops, and vines hang thickly from the stout 
  branches. The double canopies and high cliffs leave the river and canyon 
  ﬂ oor in perpetual near-darkness. The thick foliage also traps moisture as 
  it creates a dense hothouse of humid air along the surface of the Goltray 
  River. Most of the canyon ﬂ oor is in twilight during the day and complete 
  darkness at night, and a person under the canopy may not even be able to 
  see the canyon walls because of the thick trees. 
  Along the river (and in openings in the canopy where the sun reaches 
  the ground), palm shrubs and bamboo palms grow thickly, as well as 
  many other jungle plants that thrive on moisture. The dense growths 
  along the river and in the canopy are also home to multitudes of wild 
  creatures, some of which are rarely seen in other areas. The high walls 
  of the canyons are said to be riddled with caves, and the rumor in 
  Storm Haven is that an explorer found diamonds inside a certain cave, 
  including one the size of his ﬁ st.
  A small village called Arden’s Grove is built among the branches of 
  massive trees in a side branch of the canyon. The village is many centuries 
  old, and its people stay to their high paths due to the dangers found on the 
  canyon ﬂ oor below. The folk of the town believe that it is named after a 
  nearby tree spirit. Once the village had two parts spanned by a mighty tree 
  bridge, but the other half was lost a few years ago to a clan of bugbears. 
  These creatures continue to inhabit the portion they conquered and look 
  for ways to force the humans out of the rest of the village. With so much 
  of their attention taken up guarding against the bugbears, the people of 
  Arden’s Grove are reduced almost to subsistence living.
  REFERENCE SOURCE: GLADES OF DEATH 
  OR CANYONS OF ARCURI FROM QUESTS OF DOOM 3
  DAGLAROKE MOUNTAINS
  DAGLAROKE MOUNTAINS
  This small cluster of mountains sits off the Reaping Coast in the 
  Ambicuaria Jungle north of the town of Chologadi. The steep slopes 
  undergo frequent rock falls that make living in the area dangerous. It 
  is the home mostly of goatherders and intrepid souls who climb the 
  peaks looking for raptor eggs and other rare substances. Prospectors 
  also traverse the mountains as they search for veins of valuable minerals 
  or sources of gems. Rumor says that the mountains held a source of 
  sapphires in the distant past, but that has been lost (or possibly mined 
  out) for generations. The peaks are honeycombed with caves, some 
  large enough for entire villages. Within these mountains is a high-
  altitude lake whose waters pour over a 300-hundred-foot high waterfall, 
  the source of the fast-ﬂ owing Yenbe-le River.
  DARIKEER PEAKS
  DARIKEER PEAKS
  The  Darikeer Peaks are a spur of the Hollow Spire Mountains that 
  lies between the Kriegh Forest to the west and the Kajaani Forest to the 
  east. The peaks are distinguished by their shale and granite cliffs. The 
  area was at one time known for its deep coal mines but they have been 
  abandoned now for hundreds of years. The town of Doan, which sits 
  on the edge of a volcanic caldera, can be found at the southern end of 
  these peaks.
  EASTERN SPIRE PEAKS
  EASTERN SPIRE PEAKS
  This range of mountains is an eastern spur of the Hollow Spire 
  Mountains and forms the southeastern boundary of the Kanderi Desert. 
  The southern slopes are home to various types of mountain goats 
  and predatory birds, including eagles and hawks, and give rise to the 
  headwaters of the Wahr River. The northern slopes, facing the desert, 
  are largely barren and wind-scoured. 
  FORTUNE, RIVER OF
  FORTUNE, RIVER OF
  This river found in southern Libynos runs from the Kulgera Ridge 
  through the southern part of the Seething Jungle and enters the 
  Reaping Sea at the Castorhagi town of Sunport. Despite frustrating 
  setbacks and even tragedies during implementation, well-protected 
  supply depots for traders and prospectors are set about every 50 
  miles along the river, the better to enable proﬁ table exploitation of 
  the jungle interior.
  
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  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  GOLTRAY RIVER
  GOLTRAY RIVER
  The Goltray River ﬂ ows from deep in the Va’apor Foothills into the 
  Canyons of Arcuri on its way toward the Reaping Sea. Small tributaries 
  run from narrow side canyons to join the main branch, which widens to 
  300 feet at its widest point. Leaving the canyons just two miles from the 
  coast, the Goltray branches out into a multi-streamed delta at its mouth, 
  where the town of Storm Haven sits on islands among the stream. 
  The Goltray is sometimes called “The River of Veins” because of its 
  numerous tiny tributaries, but also because the clay and silt in the water 
  turn it a muddy red.
  HOLLOW SPIRE MOUNTAINS
  HOLLOW SPIRE MOUNTAINS
  The Hollow Spire Mountains are in the heart of southern Libynos. 
  To the east of the range lies the Ambicuaria Jungle. To the north is the 
  Kanderi Desert, and in the south are the Kriegh Forest and the Kajaani 
  Forest, each between arms of the mountain range. To the west and 
  southwest is the Seething Jungle. 
  In general, these mountain peaks are high and cold, despite their 
  southerly location, and the high elevations are inhabited by many 
  cold-loving creatures. The strong storms that lash the jungle become 
  snowstorms among the peaks and produce heavy snowfall that never 
  really melts, making travel at high altitudes very difﬁ cult. The Hollow 
  Spires get their name because the entire range is riddled with caves, 
  chambers, and passageways. Rumors say these caverns are home not 
  only to clans of dwarves, but also to rock-dwelling gnomes and many 
  darker groups of creatures.
  JELEMBUL VOLCANO
  JELEMBUL VOLCANO
  Jelembul is a peak in the Daglaroke Mountains. It lets off steam or 
  smoke at irregular intervals, often enough that the locals pay attention 
  but not so often that they seriously think the volcano is ready to 
  erupt. People rarely go onto the ﬂ anks of the cone, as noxious (and 
  sometimes dangerous) fumes vent from frequent cracks. Once in a 
  while at night, lightning can be seen in the dark cloud over the peak; 
  superstitious locals explain this as the ﬁ re demon in the volcano 
  ﬁ ghting off an attack by the sky god. Others claim some type of 
  huge ﬂ ame creature has a forge inside the volcano, and those are the 
  sparks struck off its anvil.
  KAJAANI FOREST
  KAJAANI FOREST
  The Kajaani Forest is located between two arms of the Hollow Spire 
  Mountains, its verges reaching up the slopes to the treeline. At higher 
  elevations, conifers and other evergreens predominate, while the lower 
  elevations consist of subtropical forest. The land between the mountain 
  spurs slopes down in ridges toward the center, falling off even more 
  quickly at it approaches the Reaping Sea at its southern end. On the west 
  lies the Rodenno River, and on the east are the Wahr River and one of its 
  tributaries. To the north, a long, dangerous pass through the mountains 
  leads to the Kanderi Desert.
  KANDERI DESERT
  KANDERI DESERT
  The Kanderi Desert was once a well-watered area, as evidenced by 
  its numerous dry watercourses. One deep riverbed runs for hundreds 
  of miles across the desert, all the way to its eastern edge where a deep 
  escarpment drops to the jungle below. What happened thousands of 
  years ago to cause this once-fertile plain to deteriorate to badlands and 
  barren desert is unclear, but the ruins of abandoned cities and villages 
  that dot the landscape suggest it was swift and severe. Some rain does 
  fall in the desert in certain seasons, but any waterholes in low-lying 
  places dry up quickly, and as a consequence the locations where water 
  is available from underground (in a few small lakes, or some deep 
  wells) are zealously guarded and vigorously fought over by the bands of 
  people that do still call the Kanderi home. (Stories say the deep desert 
  population includes an extremely reclusive tribe of sand elves, but most 
  think that just a legend.) The Kanderi Desert is considered to be part 
  of the Reaping Coast, though the hundreds of miles of the Ambicuaria 
  Jungle to its east separate it from the ocean.
  KING PRUDUS RIVER
  KING PRUDUS RIVER
  This river is named after the Castorhagi king who supported the First 
  Crusade for Tircople and received in thanks the right to colonize the 
  eastern coast of Libynos. It runs from the eastern edge of the Eastern 
  Spire Peaks northeast across the Ambicuaria Jungle to the coast of the 
  northern Reaping Sea and the colony of Lundale. About 250 miles from 
  the ocean, the King Prudus breaks into the deep bed of an ancient river, 
  one that apparently once fell from the desert high above but is long dry, 
  and follows that to the sea.
  KRIEGH FOREST
  KRIEGH FOREST
  This forest is in the western part of the Hollow Spire Mountains, 
  between the spur called the Darikeer Peaks and the western branch of 
  the mountains. It lies on a high, cool plateau and so consists mostly of 
  varieties of pine trees. The forest is isolated enough that it is almost 
  unknown to outsiders, and the northern part of it has many ancient trees 
  and groves.
  PHRYGIA VOLCANO
  PHRYGIA VOLCANO
  The massive volcano known as Phrygia stands in the northern Hollow 
  Spire Mountains and serves as the location of Crombleholme (at its base) 
  and the insidious temple of Abhor Brazier (14,000 feet above sea level on 
  the side of its smoldering cone). Phrygia shakes and shudders occasionally 
  (more frequently now, it seems, after the horrible ﬁ res of Abhor Brazier 
  were re-lit) but few can remember the last time the volcano erupted. Visitors 
  to Crombleholme claim that searing streams ﬂ ow out of cracks at the base 
  of the volcano, waterways that eventually cool and provide nutrient-rich 
  water for the surrounding land. Many say the water tastes funny, however, 
  although they can’t remember why they feel that way.    
  QUELL RIVER
  QUELL RIVER
  The Quell River rises deep in the Seething Jungle and wends its way 
  through the foothills and badlands of the Hollow Spire Mountains on its 
  way to the Reaping Sea at the town of Hillport.
  The river boasts a variety of freshwater ﬁ sh, but due to the numerous 
  water snakes, the ﬁ sh are not as plentiful as they are in some tropical 
  rivers. Travel on the Quell offers an easy and comparatively fast route 
  through the jungle (upstream as well as down), and many villages are 
  located on its banks. The Quell is the route most used by explorers 
  and adventurers trying to travel farther into the jungle, but the dangers 
  overall mean that few get farther west than the fork where the river 
  comes from the north and meets its main tributary, the Totono, coming 
  from the south.
  REAPING SEA
  REAPING SEA
  This sea curves around the east and southeast coasts of southern 
  Libynos and is part of Mother Oceanus, the great southern ocean. The 
  sea is prone to storms and frequently lashed by hurricane-strength winds; 
  those who wish to trade along its coast must choose their seasons for 
  travel carefully to avoid the worst of the weather. Its southern waters are 
  calmer, with hurricanes being practically unknown along the Reaping 
  Sea’s equator-spanning west coast.
  RODENNO RIVER
  RODENNO RIVER
  The Rodenno River arises from melt from the glaciers capping the 
  central Hollow Spire Mountains and ﬂ ows south along the eastern 
  eaves of the Darikeer Peaks, where it is joined by numerous tributaries 
  draining the main valley of the Kajaani Forest. The Rodenno tends to be 
  thick with plants and full of ﬁ sh. In general, the area along the river is 
  lush and fruitful until it leaves the forest and passes through the rough 
  foothills to the south on its way to its mouth, where it joins the Quell 
  River at the town of Hillport on the Reaping Sea.
  
  452|
  452|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  SEETHING JUNGLE
  SEETHING JUNGLE
  This jungle lies in southern Libynos, to the west of the Hollow Spire 
  Mountains and along the southwest coast of the Reaping Sea. Most of 
  the interior is unknown to any but local tribes, though rumors exist of 
  vine-covered ruins deep in the jungle, suggesting the existence of an 
  advanced civilization in ancient times. 
  The tree canopy is continuous, or nearly so, and allows little sunlight 
  to reach the ground. The verdant canopy is full of animal life, including 
  hundreds of types of birds, dozens of varieties of monkeys and other 
  small climbers, and the ubiquitous tree snakes. Wild boar and deer are 
  plentiful on the jungle ﬂ oor, as are the jaguars that prey on them, but 
  there, too, snakes are abundant. In fact, the disproportionate population 
  of snakes is part of what gives the Seething Jungle its name, and also 
  makes it so dangerous. Many types are not venomous, but with so many 
  varieties not even the locals can be said to know all of them.
  The indigenous people in the eastern part of the Seething Jungle live 
  simple lives in small, rudimentary villages and are generally peaceful. 
  The east-central area of the jungle has an ominous reputation, though, 
  so in reality these gentle people have established themselves in an area 
  where they are unlikely to be pressed by other tribes. Farther south and 
  west, toward the Kulgera Ridge, the tribes are more aggressive, and 
  likely to live in more-sophisticated villages or even towns. They have 
  more contact with travelers from Kaldiloora or Tulyamin and actively 
  participate in trading relationships with these countries. The farthest 
  western portion of the jungle, in the upper part of the Totono River, is 
  home to several groups of tabaxi. The cat-people’s range extends across 
  the Kulgera Ridge, where more tabaxi can be found living among the 
  River Peoples.
  SIN MIRE SWAMP
  SIN MIRE SWAMP
  The Sin Mire sits in a low area surrounded by an arc of the Va’apor 
  Foothills. In most of the swamp, the silty waters are about ﬁ ve feet 
  deep, but deeper holes, small islands, and ﬂ atter ﬁ elds of grass-covered 
  wetlands are common. Tall trees draped with hanging moss ﬁ ll the 
  swamp. The Sin River runs out of the mire (and becomes a tributary of 
  the Wahr). The Sin Mire grows a bit more every year, and many believe 
  it is fed by some underground source of water. In actuality, the long-
  standing dwarven community of Anvil Plunge is the true culprit behind 
  the growing Sin Mire, as a magical decanter used to cool their forges has 
  been draining down the hill from the temple for centuries. Ironically, the 
  dwarves completely fear the dangers of the deep swamp around them, 
  even as they add to its expansion.
  Over the years, the Sin Mire swallowed several villages or smaller 
  settlements, and these ruins are scattered throughout the swamp. Rumor 
  says that one of these drowned villages is inhabited by the dead, and that 
  a dragon has taken up residence in another. Travel through the swamp is 
  dangerous and slow and is really best done by boat.
  VAHARI RIVER
  VAHARI RIVER
  The Vahari is a slow-running river that starts in the central part of the 
  Ambicuaria Jungle and ﬂ ows southeast to the Reaping Sea. At some 
  point in the river’s past, an earthquake thrust up a sharp promontory of 
  hard rock in the middle of the river, like a ship’s prow parting the waves. 
  Rather than turning its channel to one side or the other, the river divides 
  50 miles from the coast and ﬂ ows two different directions. The Lesser 
  Vahari runs on the north side of the pinnacle and is joined by a few small 
  tributaries before it reaches the sea near the town of Chologadi. The true 
  Vahari runs south and curls among hills until the land ﬂ attens out 20 
  miles from the sea and its motion slows even further. The water ﬂ ows 
  into and eventually out of a long swamp on its way to the Reaping Sea 
  through a small delta. 
  VA’APOR FOOTHILLS
  VA’APOR FOOTHILLS
  These hills rise along the southeastern slopes of the Eastern Spire 
  Peaks, and then cover more than 400 miles to the Reaping Coast. In 
  the north, the hills merge into the Ambicuaria Jungle, while the range 
  surrounds the Sin Mire to the south and southwest. These hills are the 
  source of several rivers of the Reaping Coast, including the Wahr and 
  the Goltray rivers.
  WAHR RIVER
  WAHR RIVER
  The Wahr River runs down from the southeastern side of the Eastern 
  Spire Mountains, through a valley between the mountains and the 
  Va’apor Foothills, and along the eastern boundary of the Kajaani Forest, 
  to its mouth on the Reaping Sea at Bargarsport. The Sin River (from the 
  Sin Mire) also feeds into the Wahr.
  WAILING GLACIER
  WAILING GLACIER
  Local legend says that during an ancient time of evil and darkness, 
  unnatural snow and ice fell high in the Hollow Spire Mountains and a 
  river of ice came down from the peaks, moving faster than should be 
  possible for such a thing. It covered the land all the way to the Reaping 
  Sea and lasted for centuries even after the darkness passed. Eventually 
  it melted, leaving behind strange land formations and boulders the size 
  of huts in the Kajaani Forest. Whether the legend is true or not, the 
  remains of a glacier are still to be found in the heights of the mountains. 
  It is relatively small, and recently its decreased size has caused it to 
  melt even faster, much to the consternation of creatures who make their 
  homes on the ice. Intrepid travelers who have visited the glacier claim it 
  moans when the wind blows, hence its name.
  YENBE-LE RIVER
  YENBE-LE RIVER
  The Yenbe-le falls out of the steep Daglaroke Mountains and moves 
  fast all the way to the Reaping Sea. Daredevil traders gather loads of 
  the valuable products of the mountains and ﬁ ll small, agile boats for 
  the dangerous but exhilarating trip down the river to the sea. They sell 
  their goods and their boats at the town of Chologadi, just a short journey 
  south along the coast. The traders then purchase lowland supplies and 
  donkeys to carry them, and make the long return trip along the river 
  rather than on it.
  SOUTHERN PARAMOUNTCIES
  SOUTHERN PARAMOUNTCIES
  The so-called Southern Paramountcies hark back more than 2,000 
  years to the time when the exotic lands of extreme southern Libynos 
  were the most distant of the far-ﬂ ung provinces of the Hyperborean 
  Empire. By the time their soldiers and sailors reached so far, the empire 
  was stretched thin indeed. At that point, they were content to control 
  strategic locations on the coastline and have their subject peoples bring 
  them the riches of the interior. Being the latest settled, the area was also 
  the ﬁ rst abandoned when the times of trouble began later.
  Once ﬁ ve imperial provinces, two have been completely lost and 
  the other three are changed beyond all recognition. All that is left 
  of Hyperborea in the region are stone ruins and traditions whose 
  origins have been long forgotten. Only a few people in the area even 
  recall that it was once part of an empire, and none there think of it as 
  “Southern Paramountcies” (that designation survives only in a few 
  former Hyperborean areas outside of Libynos). Instead, the people of 
  the region refer to the “ancient ones” who built their buildings and 
  taught a little of their language, and then left before having a strong 
  impact on the local cultures.
  Bordered on the west by the Sinnar Ocean and Mother Oceanus, 
  and on the east by the Reaping Sea, this region encompasses the vast 
  majority of southern Libynos. The terrain varies from clement coastal 
  areas to deep tropical jungle to the high, cold peaks of the Hollow Spire 
  Mountains. One major feature of the west coast is called simply the Delta. 
  The outlet of an extensive network of rivers, it is home to thousands of 
  people who live on or around the water. Both Bhanakhiri and Kaldiloora 
  tried to annex this region in the past but it had no major population center 
  to conquer; when threatened, whole communities just ﬂ oat away. It has 
  been useful enough as a neutral area between the two countries that it 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|453
  |453
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  now survives unthreatened and at least semi-permanent settlements have 
  developed. The entire Delta is effectively a free-trade area where someone 
  of perseverance truly could buy or sell almost anything.
  Castorhage has colonies on the Reaping Coast that were awarded for 
  its assistance in the First Crusade against the Huun at the Sacred Table, 
  and others from Akados also built settlements during the 250 years of 
  the crusades. The degree of integration between colonizers and people 
  indigenous to the area varies, with Castorhage in particular having seen 
  unexpected setbacks in their interactions with some desert and deep 
  jungle tribes.
  BHANAKHIRI, OTTIARKY OF
  BHANAKHIRI, OTTIARKY OF
  Capital: Dunchamba  
  Notable Settlements: Gai Zai Yok, Gamphen, Khon Sama, 
  Klah Bakham, Klaung Song, Panaet, Surthani, Tolanua, 
  Varindra, Xonburi
  Ruler: Council of Ottiarks: Sasithorn Wi Gom of Jewel, Intira 
  Chana Sing of Silk, Ubon Phrae Savan of Sword, Klahan Tak 
  Jiern of Iron, and Prasert Yok Khla of Gold.
  Government: oligarchy
  Population: 3,740,796 (3,724,941 Bhanakhiri, 15,627 other 
  human ethnicity, 228 dwarf)
  Monstrous: inphidians, tentamorts (jungles), quicklings
  Languages: Bhanikhat; Gonidal in the Mengamuk Forest
  Religion: Paramountcies pantheon
   Resources: silk, cotton, shipbuilding, iron, weapons, precious 
  metals, gems, jewelry
  Currency: Bhanakhiran
  Technology Level: Renaissance (Dunchamba, Panaet), 
  Medieval (cities and towns), High Middle Ages (rural) 
  Bhanakhiri is in southern Libynos west of the Hollow Spire 
  Mountains. Its primary cities are along the coast, but various towns and 
  villages dot the interior. The country is run by a group of factions that 
  compete to control various aspects of life and government. Bhanakhiri’s 
  currency, the bhan, is readily accepted in most of the surrounding areas.
  Bhanakhiri’s political and mercantile inﬂ uence is divided among 
  ﬁ ve factions: Gold, Jewel, Silk, Iron, and Sword. These factions might 
  have begun as guild alliances, but they are much more than that now. 
  The ﬁ ve leaders of the factions form the Council of Ottiarks, which 
  governs the country. The individual ottiarks rule their speciﬁ c areas of 
  responsibility through their bureaucracies. As corpulence is considered 
  a sign of prosperity and power in Bhanakhiri, most of the ottiarks (and 
  many other rulers or wealthy merchants) are extremely plump. The 
  exception is the unfortunate Prasert Yok Khla, who despite his wealth 
  still practically has the body of a poor farmer. Another way people show 
  their position is through their clothing. The ottiarks (and others who 
  have assistants or servants to do their work for them) usually dress in 
  expensive, colorful outﬁ ts with full sleeves, elaborate headpieces, and 
  shoes with exceptionally long toes.
  The factions are not concentrated in particular regions of the country; 
  instead towns of various factions are interspersed to give the groups 
  a degree of control in many areas. Cities or regions are governed by 
  factional hexargs who answer to the faction’s ottiark. Towns or villages 
  too small to have their own hexargs are part of an area hexargate. (This 
  is not to be confused with a regional hexargate, which is much larger 
  and more prestigious.) Each faction has its own faction city, which holds 
  the faction headquarters and arena and the estate of its ottiark. The city 
  is ruled by the faction’s chief hexarg as the ottiark is away most of the 
  time at the council.
  Individuals are born into a faction but can move into a different faction 
  in adulthood. Members of factions may participate out of loyalty, or they 
  may be hired to do a job. Those who are loyal to a faction are generally 
  rewarded by trust from faction leaders and responsible (and proﬁ table) 
  positions within the faction. Those such as mercenaries or gladiators who 
  joined a faction for money are not considered to be traitors when they 
  change factions for a better offer, provided they are straightforward about 
  their plans and do their job for a faction the entire time they are being paid. 
  People expected to be loyal may get more privileges than mere hirelings, 
  but if they violate trust — even trust they didn’t want — they could be in 
  great danger. One way a loyal member might show allegiance to a faction 
  is to have a faction symbol tattooed on his or her body. Most-common 
  locations are on the arm, chest, hand, or face, depending on how loudly a 
  person wants to announce faction membership. Gladiators may get tattoos 
  representing a faction or a sponsor; this can result in top gladiators having 
  several tattoos as they change sponsors over the course of a career.
  One of the popular pastimes in Bhanakhiri is attending the arena. Ancient 
  stone arenas exist in Gamphen, Dunchamba, and Panaet, and others have 
  been built in the past in other cities. In addition, each faction has its own 
  arena in its faction city. The primary attraction is to watch duels between 
  sponsored gladiators who ﬁ ght for a rich purse on behalf of their sponsors. 
  Those duels usually go only to ﬁ rst blood, so the best gladiators have 
  learned to put on a good show while they protect themselves. The audience 
  is encouraged to throw coins or other tokens after a good performance; 
  some also throw other things after a poor performance, despite guards at the 
  doors who are supposed to keep those things out. 
  Combat by single gladiators is not the only entertainment at the 
  arenas. Faction mercenaries ﬁ ght each other in various conﬁ gurations, 
  usually with blunt weapons but sometimes with live steel. In addition, 
  there are various types of footraces and the wildly popular ostrich races. 
  The swift birds are trained speciﬁ cally to race, often by the very youths 
  who ride them. They race faction against faction, and winning is one 
  way young people can hope to come to the attention of a faction leader 
  or a wealthy sponsor.
  DUNCHAMBA, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  DUNCHAMBA, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Hexarga Wattana Buri Zai of Gold
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 203,149 (199,456 Bhanakhiri, 3,693 other human 
  ethnicity)
  Dunchamba is the capital city of Bhanakhiri and the location of 
  Ottiarks’ Hall, the meeting place of the Council of Ottiarks. It is a large 
  city, full of bureaucrats and the people who serve and support them. 
  Bureaucrats of all ﬁ ve factions run the various parts of the government, 
  according to the currently negotiated division. Happily, it is not necessary 
  to bribe ofﬁ cials to get something done. However, in important matters, 
  a little gift as thanks in advance seldom goes amiss.
  While the Council of Ottiarks is led by the senior member (currently 
  Sasithorn Wi Gom of Jewel), the capital city is governed by a hexarg 
  named every ﬁ fth year by the council’s then-most-junior member to 
  achieve a better balance of power. Each ottiark’s city estate is of course 
  served by faction personnel. The great hall, on the other hand, is staffed 
  by hereditary servants who value the council as a whole more than they 
  do any particular faction.
  As the largest city, Dunchamba is well stocked with great temples, 
  their carved, gilded spires glowing in the sun. The most popular of these 
  is the temple of the god Sifkra, Who Loves Coins. Only a little less 
  popular, though, is that of Anana, the Lady of Luck and Gold. Some 
  city-dwellers also worship at the temple of Serena, the Peaceful Lady, 
  while others attend the temple of Ahtizerr, The Magic One, or any of the 
  numerous other locations.
  One notable feature at each public building — hall, temple, inn, 
  tavern, or shop (and even many private houses) — is the carved spirit 
  house outside the entrance. Intended to attract the attention of wandering 
  spirits who might otherwise enter the structure and cause trouble, spirit 
  houses tend to resemble temples in their carved details and spires. One 
  large inn that has stood in the same place for hundreds of years and seen 
  many deaths inside its walls has a gilded spirit house nearly 10 feet tall 
  to provide for all the spirits that might instead haunt its spaces.
  The arena in Dunchamba is a marvel. Local people claim it is more than 
  2,000 years old, and it possesses an amazing system of chains and pulleys 
  that can lift gladiators or pieces of setting right up into the middle of the 
  
  454|
  454|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  ﬂ oor. With all the factions represented in the city at all times, and many 
  wealthy people living here much of the year, sponsored events take place in 
  the arena several days a week. In addition to gladiatorial duels and battles 
  between faction mercenaries, the area regularly hosts races. These include 
  foot races of various lengths, dog races, and the ever-popular ostrich racing.
  Ostrich carts are also popular in Dunchamba these days. With the 
  right type of harness, a fully-grown ostrich can pull an adult in a lightly 
  built cart, or even a sparse carriage with a driver and passenger. The 
  Ottiarks consider themselves above such nonsense, but common gossip 
  says that the wealthy faction leaders know they are too heavy for an 
  ostrich, even with the lightest cart. The exception is the rail-thin Prasert 
  Yok Khla of Gold, who seems quite pleased to drive himself around the 
  city with a servant riding in the back.
  A well-maintained road runs south from Dunchamba to Surthani, and 
  also north to Xonburi. No government roads run into the interior; roads 
  going east from the coast are built and maintained by various factions, 
  and travelers must pay a fee to use them. There is no fee to use the rivers 
  for transport, though there may be fees for the convenience of docking 
  at a town or village along the way.
  Just outside Dunchamba is a harbor built by the ancient ones, which 
  was repaired and put back into use several centuries ago as the main base 
  of Bhanakhiri’s navy. The navy is commanded by Nayokoei (admiral) 
  Arthit Lam Narathat. He has ships patrolling all along the coast, but the 
  number of ships that can be stationed in Surthani is regulated by treaty 
  with Kaldiloora. Negotiations are going on to increase that number 
  temporarily, to deal with the pirate incursions in the area. 
  GAI ZAI YOK, CITY OF; CITY OF IRON
  GAI ZAI YOK, CITY OF; CITY OF IRON
  Ruler: Chief Hexarga Anong Bhan Surat 
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 43,613 (43,464 Bhanakhiri, 111 dwarf, 38 other 
  human ethnicity)
  The Faction City of Iron is located near the faction’s ﬁ rst mine, at 
  the northwestern extent of the Hollow Spire Mountains. Although the 
  faction has widespread interests now, it has never changed the location 
  of its city, where its colors of red and black appear everywhere. Being 
  near the source of the Nakchon River makes it fairly easy to ship raw 
  materials and great forged items down to the coast and other cities. 
  Gai Zai Yok is as far away from the capital as it is possible to get 
  and still be within Bhanakhiri, which means that the Iron bureaucrats 
  have a great deal of freedom to be practical in their administration, 
  not necessarily following every tiny regulation put out by the Council 
  of Ottiarks. Because the area around the city is mostly unsettled and 
  sometimes dangerous, Ottiark Klahan Tak Jiern has his house and 
  gardens safely inside the city wall. If he wants a change of scenery while 
  in town, he goes out to one of the mines for a few days.
  The city has a gilded temple to Sifkra, Who Loves Coins, but the 
  largest ediﬁ ce in the city is dedicated to Newan, Lady of Fire and Water. 
  Her worshippers are mostly found in Iron, though she has adherents 
  among Sword and Gold as well. Most smiths have at least her symbol 
  near their forge for a blessing.
  Being so far from other large cities means the faction’s arena is a major 
  source of entertainment. With no other factions to provide regular competition, 
  the Iron arena sometimes invites people from tribes in the region, and even 
  dwarves from the mountains have been seen from time to time. 
  The distance from Gai Zai Yok back to Dunchamba sometimes 
  makes the other ottiarks think they can agree on proposals without the 
  participation of Klahan Tak Jiern because he is away at his faction city. 
  However, he always manages to show up at crucial times, as did his 
  predecessors before him. This ability is due to a secret that is closely 
  guarded within the faction: a teleportation circle set up from Gai Zai 
  Yok to the Iron faction estate inside Dunchamba. It has the ability to 
  transport up to ﬁ ve people once per hour, as long as each time it is used 
  by someone who knows the control words. Legend has it that Iron once 
  saved the life of a great wizard named Muargaun in the Hollow Spire 
  Mountains, and this magical circle represents his unending thanks.
  GAMPHEN, CITY OF
  GAMPHEN, CITY OF
  Ruler: Hexarga Malai Daun Phet of Sword
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 34,489 (almost all Bhanakhiri)
  Gamphen is one of the locations with an ancient arena; it uses the 
  events staged there to draw people in to the city. They welcome traveling 
  gladiators to events with purses provided by local sponsors and invite 
  faction-sponsored gladiators to special bouts. Once in a while, the arena 
  hosts local faction mercenaries competing against foreigners, but the 
  outsiders sometimes don’t understand the rules of the arena so those 
  events occasionally end badly — which of course makes them wildly 
  popular. The spirit house outside the arena is tall and highly carved to 
  tempt away possible trouble from any resulting spirits.
  Gamphen is also a center of cotton production, with most of the cloth 
  woven here being sturdy fabric that goes to the army for uniforms. The 
  city boasts an elaborate temple to Lohfa, Who Makes Things Grow, and 
  one near the arena to Anana, the Lady of Luck and Gold.
  KHON SAMA, CITY OF; CITY OF SILK
  KHON SAMA, CITY OF; CITY OF SILK
  Ruler: Chief Hexarga Kanda Patham Et
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 55,932 (almost all Bhanakhiri)
  The Faction City of Silk is a beautiful sight, draped as it is in the 
  faction’s signature fabric and with the colors of purple and white 
  worked in throughout the city. Some of the public buildings are 
  structures built by the ancient ones, and are of such quality that minor 
  repairs have kept them usable after all this time. Located inside the 
  jungle almost 200 miles from the coast, Silk is the one faction that 
  does not have easy water transport from its faction city. On the other 
  hand, the actual silk is not woven in Khon Sama; that is handled in 
  fortiﬁ ed villages throughout the area and shipped to the coast by 
  caravan or on local waterways. Instead Khon Sama is merely an 
  administrative and merchant center, not just for the silk trade but for 
  the faction’s wide variety of interests. The city has popular temples 
  to Sifkra, Who Loves Coins, and also to Lohfa, Who Makes Things 
  Grow; more than any other faction, the main products of Silk are 
  vulnerable to natural disruptions.
  While Silk manufactures other types of cloth such as linen and cotton 
  (and also builds ships, and participates in many other ventures), it has 
  a monopoly on the production of silk in Bhanakhiri. It also tries to 
  enforce its monopoly in the surrounding area, which in the past has led 
  to raids on villages outside the country that had the temerity to offer 
  even inferior wild silk.
  The silk facilities are carefully guarded, and most people know only 
  a few steps of the entire process. Those who grow up in one of the silk 
  villages and learn the trade may ﬁ nd themselves nearly trapped by the 
  strictures of the Silk Faction. Traveling to Khon Sama to see the city and 
  attend the arena may be as far as most silk workers are ever allowed to 
  go. It is unclear whether the other ottiarks know that Intira Chana Sing 
  and generations of her predecessors have enforced such careful controls 
  on her faction people. Even if they did, they would probably refuse to 
  interfere in another faction’s business as that could be a bad precedent 
  for their own future interests.
  KLAH BAKHAM, CITY OF
  KLAH BAKHAM, CITY OF
  Ruler: Hexarg Thaksin Ban Kulok of Silk
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 67,619 (almost all Bhanakhiri)
  One primary product of Klah Bakham is the army. The headquarters 
  is nearby, the uniforms are made here, and most of the area’s agricultural 
  production goes toward its support. Another important product is ships. 
  Silk has large shipbuilding facilities here, with logging and forestry 
  interests upriver to support the construction. The Chana River also 
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|455
  |455
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  brings trade from the interior to the seaport for shipment elsewhere.
  Although Silk controls the city, it by no means controls the military. 
  The headquarters of the army is at Fortress Chengsang, a stronghold 
  of the ancient ones built just outside the city, where Pholema (supreme 
  commander) Kamon Trat Uthai of Gold and his general staff supervise the 
  units around the country. The plains in front of the fortress are often ﬁ lled 
  with marching troops practicing their group maneuvers in case of war.
  Because of the number of soldiers in the area, temples to Gonthor, 
  Who Grumbles in the Sky, and Orgim, Who Loves War, are more 
  popular in Klah Bakham than in most cities.
  KLAUNG SONG, CITY OF; CITY OF SWORD
  KLAUNG SONG, CITY OF; CITY OF SWORD
  Ruler: Chief Hexarga Ratree Gam Lang of Sword
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 52,197 (almost all Bhanakhiri)
  This is the Faction City of Sword, and the colors of black and orange 
  are seen everywhere. In keeping with its name, weapons of all types are 
  crafted here, and young people or foreigners who think they desire a 
  career as mercenaries for any faction receive their basic training in Klaung 
  Song. The faction arena is an important part of this training regimen, 
  and the locals often ﬁ nd amusement in the fumbling efforts of would-be 
  mercenaries. The largest temple here is to Gonthor, Who Grumbles in the 
  Sky, as he is the god of strength and war as well as the storms.
  Although Sword is a political and mercantile organization as much 
  as any of the other factions, people tend to look to it for leadership in 
  times of military need. This annoys the generals of the country’s actual 
  military and has resulted in some spectacularly bad decisions. However, 
  Sword likes to encourage this to a degree, as it increases the faction’s 
  prestige, and they include a little bit of military perspective in their 
  merchants’ training. (They consider questions such as, “How would you 
  defend a caravan traveling through this location?”) Sword does seem to 
  furnish an above-average number of soldiers to the army, though, and it 
  is the largest military supplier overall.
  The current ottiark of Sword, Ubon Phrae Savan, has a hobby of 
  studying the history of battles so she is truly knowledgeable in the areas 
  of strategy and tactics. She is also very interested in historical foreign 
  battles and would be happy to hear accounts of those or to acquire new 
  books to study.
  PANAET, CITY OF; CITY OF JEWEL
  PANAET, CITY OF; CITY OF JEWEL
  Ruler: Chief Hexarga Pakpao Khun Nop of Jewel
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 48,894 (almost all Bhanakhiri)
  Panaet is the Faction City of Jewel as well as having one of the 
  ancient arenas, with carvings around the top only wizards and sages 
  can read. Jewel took over Panaet about 50 years ago and has since used 
  the ancient arena in place of the inferior facility in its previous faction 
  city. Panaet is considered beautiful; the faction colors of blue and 
  silver decorate the public buildings, including a few still standing from 
  the time of the ancient ones. Mosaics of tiny chips of semi-precious 
  stone adorn the temples here, especially those of Selena, the Peaceful 
  Lady, and Sifkra, Who Loves Coins. Ottiark Sasithorn Wi Gom has an 
  impressive mansion inside the city, but she also has a country estate a 
  few miles to the northeast where she spends a great deal of her time.
  The faction arena is a popular attraction that brings in plenty of coin 
  for Jewel. In addition to sponsored gladiatorial duels, organizers bring 
  in groups to do shows with trained animals, including elephants from 
  deep in the forest. They also feature faction youth in ostrich races and 
  sometimes invite teams from other factions to compete.
  There has been some talk in the area of banning the ostrich racing. In 
  the past few months, travelers on the road from here to Xonburi have 
  been plagued by attacks from ostrich gangs. These are groups of armed 
  youth on fast ostriches who swoop down on a caravan, take anything they 
  can grab or cut away from a saddle, and then dash away. Certain people 
  blame the racers. Others reasonably point out that the young people who 
  do the ostrich racing are certainly not involved in the crimes as they are 
  very serious about their birds and would never subject them to such hard 
  usage, and that canceling the racing would do nothing to stop the bandits.
  SURTHANI, CITY OF
  SURTHANI, CITY OF
  Ruler: Hexarg Suchart Hin Saun of Iron
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 56,621 (almost all Bhanakhiri)
  This city is the headquarters and launching place for merchants who 
  want to trade with the great markets of the Delta. Each faction has 
  warehouses and waystations here, but public inns are also available. It 
  is also one of the nearest ports for those who come from a distance; the 
  Delta itself is too shallow for oceangoing vessels, so the city’s great 
  docks do a brisk business. Surthani seems to have imbibed some of the 
  free spirit of the Delta, because it is the most chaotic of the cities of 
  Bhanakhiri, which are usually quite staid.
  A unit of the army is stationed here, ostensibly to guard against attacks 
  from Kaldiloora or from the River People. Since no such attacks have 
  taken place in over 200 years, the posting has been considered a very 
  soft duty. In the past two years, though, pirate raids have taken place on 
  both Surthani and nearby Delta areas and the military has been called on 
  to defend against those.
  This is a city where Sifkra, Who Loves Coins, is worshipped but also 
  important is Ghamia, the River Lady. Many of the less-lawful people 
  in the area also worship Erka, Who Moves in Shadows; Surthani is the 
  only city where a temple to her is publicly available.
  TOLANUA, CITY OF
  TOLANUA, CITY OF
  Ruler: Hexarg Sakchai Ubol Thani
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 21,179 (almost all Bhanakhiri)
  Tolanua was the faction city of Jewel until about 50 years ago, when 
  the faction took over the coastal city of Panaet, and the colors of blue and 
  silver continue to be used here. The city still has many of the jewelers 
  and gem specialists that originally gave the faction its name, so the city 
  is protected by a strong wall and mercenary forces. The hills nearby once 
  yielded several types of semi-precious gemstones. However, when the 
  supply here grew scarce and easier sources were discovered elsewhere, 
  the mines were eventually abandoned.
  VARINDRA, CITY OF; CITY OF GOLD
  VARINDRA, CITY OF; CITY OF GOLD
  Ruler: Chief Hexarga Lawan Pit Ji of Gold
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 48,256 (almost all Bhanakhiri)
  Although nearly all towns and cities of Bhanakhiri are walled, the 
  Faction City of Gold is exceptionally well-protected. Its wall is unusually 
  thick and high, and many faction troops patrol inside and outside. It has 
  been more than three centuries since one faction attacked another’s faction 
  city, but the historians of Gold are not going to let their leaders forget. 
  Inside, the city is as beautiful as mere money can make it and lavishly 
  adorned with the faction colors of gold and green. The temples here 
  are covered with even more gold than in other cities, if that is possible, 
  and the temple of Sifkra, Who Loves Coins, is especially elaborate. The 
  faction headquarters itself has gilded “gates of welcome” at its complex, 
  and the arena is built of white marble. Varindra is generally rather clean, 
  with the daily rains washing street trash into the well-built sewers and 
  carrying it to the sea. The city and its wall are large enough that the 
  estate of Ottiark Prasert Yok Khla is entirely enclosed.
  Not only does Gold work precious metals, it mines them in the hills 
  and distant mountains. The faction has a transportation network to 
  support the mines, and others traveling to the interior can use the roads 
  and waystations for a fee — one that gets higher the farther from the 
  coast one travels.
  
  456|
  456|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  XONBURI, CITY OF
  XONBURI, CITY OF
  Ruler: Hexarg Somchai Map Hua of Jewel
  Government: bureaucracy
  Population: 45,313 (almost all Bhanakhiri)
  Xonburi is the northernmost city in Bhanakhiri, with the Nakchon 
  River representing the country’s ofﬁ cial border. Settlements have spilled 
  over the river, however, and since there is not another single country that 
  claims that area, they will probably continue to grow. Just east along 
  the river is Fortress Munkulok, which houses a military unit to protect 
  the border from invasion. However, the army is not responsible for the 
  defense of the cross-border settlements. Instead, the settlers hired the 
  usual mercenaries and also trained to take part in their own protection.
  The merchants of Xonburi carry on a great deal of trade with the 
  tribes that inhabit the forest and savannah areas north of Bhanakhiri. 
  The good port also brings opportunities for trade, with ships calling 
  from the Empire of Alcaldar to the north as well as ships from the far 
  west. Furthermore, the Nakchon River allows factions (especially Iron) 
  to ship raw materials and valuables to the coast for transport by sea to 
  other parts of the country. Overall, Xonburi is a very active city where a 
  purchaser can ﬁ nd goods of many types.
  The primary temple in Xonburi is to Ghamia, the River Lady, but the 
  city also has a prominent temple to Vreenon, Who Loves Birds. The 
  temple to this nature-related goddess has proven to be a diplomatic boon 
  when dealing with the less-sophisticated people of the wide region north 
  of the river. Of course, Sifkra, Who Loves Coins, is also represented.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN BHANAKHIRI
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN BHANAKHIRI
  BURILAN HILLS
  BURILAN HILLS
  The Burilan Hills run north and south through central Bhanakhiri, the 
  northern section of a long ridge that continues through Kaldiloora. East 
  of the Burilan Hills, water runs down into the system that ﬂ ows toward 
  the Quell River. To the west, most of the hills drain toward the Lenggor 
  River or the Chana River in the extreme north. The hills have some 
  mineral resources, but long-term mining in certain areas has depleted 
  the supply in those spots.
   CHANA RIVER
   CHANA RIVER
  The Chana runs from the northern end of the Burilan Hills to the sea at 
  Klah Bakham. It is a source of freshwater ﬁ sh, but more importantly it is 
  a convenient way to transport materials from the interior of Bhanakhiri 
  to the seaport at Klah Bakham.  
  NAKCHON RIVER
  NAKCHON RIVER
  The Nakchon River rises in the Hollow Spire Mountains and runs 
  roughly northwest to the sea at Xonburi. It is useful for transportation 
  from the mountains and is generally considered to be the northern 
  border of Bhanakhiri. 
  DELTA, THE
  DELTA, THE
  Capital: none 
  Notable Settlements: Anggah, Daskaken, Eburu, Nyelang
  Ruler: none
  Government: local only, if any
  Population: unknown; mostly River People, small numbers of 
  Bhanakhiri, Kaldiloorans, and other human ethnicities
  Monstrous: tabaxi, fae, inphidians, golden grippli, jungle 
  treants
  Languages: Delta Speech; Gonidal or River Speech inland
  Religion: riverine spirits, ancestor worship, Paramountcies 
  pantheon
   Resources: ﬁ sh, rare plants, exotic animals, skins, handcrafts
  Currency: barter; Bhanakhiran, others
  Technology Level: Iron Age (Delta); Stone Age (River Peoples)
  Separating the countries of Bhanakhiri to the north and Kaldiloora 
  to the south is the Delta.  No one calls it anything else; it has never 
  had another name. In the Delta are villages on stilts and villages made 
  of hundreds of boats tied together. Marketplaces exist that are nothing 
  but more boats. Some areas of dry land have existed long enough to 
  have people build homes on them, but none last long. The Delta is 
  always changing, and what is here today may be gone next month, or 
  this afternoon.
  The Delta developed from the ﬂ ow of the Lenggor River. As it reaches 
  the low, ﬂ at lands near the coast, the river broadens, slows, and separates 
  into many long ﬁ ngers that make their own ways to the sea through the 
  surrounding forest. Some branches are met by the tide coming in and 
  form a brackish mangrove swamp. Others ﬂ ow out of the forest, wide 
  and still deep enough to ﬂ oat rafts of boats.
  The Delta is part of the land of the River Peoples. Between the Ular 
  River to the north and the Lenggor River to the south, the tribes of the 
  River People live isolated lives with their own strange language and 
  their own traditions and superstitions. The inhabitants of the Delta are 
  usually those who have left the seclusion of the deep jungle to deal 
  with the outside world. They live in the Delta, perhaps returning upriver 
  to obtain more goods to trade, or deliver new acquisitions. What these 
  reclusive people might want with many of the things available from 
  traders is anyone’s guess, but things do make their way back into the 
  secretive enclaves. 
  Another secluded group living among the River Peoples is the 
  tabaxi, or cat-people. Having little use for ﬁ xed villages, families of 
  tabaxi prowl the area between the Ular and Lenggor as well as over 
  the Kulgera Ridge into the eastern part of the Seething Jungle. They 
  sometimes interact with traders who can get them new and interesting 
  weaponry, as weapons are nearly the only possessions of value to tabaxi.
  The language of the Delta is a trade tongue (called Delta Speech) 
  that uses a debased version of the speech of the River Peoples and is 
  combined with many words learned from the ancient ones and handed 
  down for generations, and some terms borrowed from its neighbors. A 
  person who speaks Bhanikhat or Kaldilooran can probably understand 
  a third of what is said, while someone who speaks the ancient language 
  could likely comprehend more than half and communicate the rest 
  through gestures. Most people now on the river speak some form of the 
  Delta trade tongue; the only people who truly speak the language of the 
  River Peoples are the tribes far upriver.
  The deities of the River People are as strange as anything else. Most 
  prominent among them are the Night Sisters — the powers represented 
  by the moons. Noh-ro the Guardian, also called the Pale Sister, is 
  worshipped by many, and is probably the favorite among the tribes. Less 
  popular is Be-Le the Witch, the Dark Sister, but she is very important 
  to some formidable people. The veneration of ancestors is also essential 
  to the culture. The River People appear to have spirit houses similar in 
  nature to those of Bhanakhiri, if less sophisticated in construction. The 
  little buildings are speciﬁ cally for the spirits of the ancestors, though, 
  and people make daily sacriﬁ ces at these spirit houses, putting out food 
  and drink to satisfy their ancestors and keep them from becoming angry 
  with the descendants who are still alive.
  Other beliefs are even more unusual. In a certain part of the deep 
  forest, homage is given to some of the great powers among the fey. 
  (See “Weirdling Forest” below for more information.) In addition, 
  some among the River Peoples commune with powerful spirits called 
  loa. Although some seem to be spirits of nature such as the sky, sea, 
  and earth, they do not appear to be linked to the Kaldilooran creator-
  spirits. (People of both cultures emphatically deny any relation.) These 
  loa choose to be caretakers of humanity and purveyors of justice, but 
  rarely intervene unless properly invoked. The River People often 
  entreat the loa in various daily matters, but that is in the nature of 
  hoping perhaps something might go their way rather than expecting 
  divine assistance.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|457
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  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
   ANGGAH, FLOATING MARKET OF
   ANGGAH, FLOATING MARKET OF
  Population: varies
  Ruler: none
  Government: none
  Several ﬂ oating markets are scattered across the Delta, but the one 
  called Anggah is without doubt the largest such collection. Scores or 
  even hundreds of ﬂ at-bottomed boats ﬁ ll the water of one quiet inlet off 
  the main ﬂ ow of the river. Although the sellers vary from day to day, 
  the things sold are usually about the same. People sell directly off their 
  boats and offer many kinds of fruit, ﬁ sh, clothing, woven hats, ﬂ owers, 
  household items, cloth, and handcrafted or rare items from the River 
  Folk far upstream. Of course, food is always available; cooks grill or 
  boil over tiny ﬁ res and serve noodles, rice, various kinds of seafood, 
  sweets, hot drinks, and much more right from their boats. The boats 
  of buyers are forced to interpenetrate through the mass of sellers, with 
  lanes of clear water opening only occasionally to let the purchasers 
  through. When a person wants to buy an item from a vendor a few boats 
  away, the seller often uses a lightweight pan or basket tied to a long pole 
  to reach across and collect the payment and then to deliver the goods.
   DASKAKEN, STILT TOWN OF
   DASKAKEN, STILT TOWN OF
  Ruler: none; Takul speaks out for the people
  Government: informal spokesperson
  Population: 574 (almost all River People)
  The town of Daskaken sits on one ﬁ nger of the Delta where the trees 
  spread out and the water is more open. Wooden houses with high-pitched 
  roofs stand over the water on tall stilts, varying in height. Each has a 
  walkway in front and a wooden ladder leading down to the water where 
  one or more ﬂ at-bottomed boats are tied. Some houses are built near 
  each other, close enough that a plank can be laid from one to another for 
  people to cross. Most are at a distance, though, and seemingly randomly 
  placed. Townspeople cross back and forth in their small boats, dodging 
  the piles and each other and occasionally slipping right under a house 
  that doesn’t have ﬁ shing nets or rope lines dangling around the edges. 
  Some places sell cooked food, and boats go from one to another to 
  collect up a meal; usually a child lets down the food in a bucket or 
  basket and collects the payment the same way. Other places appear to 
  be actual shops, or at least homes where people sell things. These places 
  may have several boats tied up outside, and people emerge with bags 
  or bundles that they stow in their own boat before casting loose and 
  rowing away.
  Daskaken has no ofﬁ cial government. However, Takul is an older 
  man who is generally considered wise and is usually to be found at his 
  house, so any strangers with questions are directed to him. The stilt-
  town is typical of many semi-permanent towns or villages that have 
  developed in the Delta, although some are slightly more organized 
  than Daskaken. One was even built on a plan, with speciﬁ c waterways 
  between houses to help get boats in and out more easily. This level of 
  detail was generally considered excessive, though, so it is unlikely to 
  be repeated.
  EBURU, ISLAND ORCHARD OF
  EBURU, ISLAND ORCHARD OF
  Ruler: none
  Government: none
  Population: 32 (all River People)
  While most food sold in the Delta is grown around the edges or 
  upstream, this orchard stands on a plot of land high enough that the river 
  actually went around it rather than simply wearing it down. It is large 
  enough to hold stands of several types of fruit trees that are cultivated 
  by many different growers. To protect the valuable fruit against thieves 
  or vandals, most of the owners live in small huts on the island or in 
  houseboats tied up alongside. Some competitors claim that the reason 
  the island is so fertile is that in the past, criminals were executed and 
  buried here since it is high ground, but this attempt at scaring customers 
  away from the island’s produce has been largely ineffective.
  NYELANG, WATER TOWN OF
  NYELANG, WATER TOWN OF
  Population: uncertain 
  Ruler: none
  Government: none
  While everyone in the Delta uses small, ﬂ at-bottomed boats to get 
  around, some denizens possess larger versions that they use as their 
  actual homes. These houseboats are built with a covered wooden 
  structure in the central section that is high enough that a person would 
  merely need to stoop to enter. These usually have long, low windows 
  that can be shuttered, or opened to let in air.
  Hundreds of these houseboats gather at the place called Nyelang. In 
  many cases, dozens or scores are lashed together, effectively making 
  large platforms. People can step from boat to boat for hundreds of feet 
  before needing to cross open water. The composition of boats is always 
  changing as new people arrive and other owners decide to head for a 
  new location. Those in the middle of a formation might consider selling 
  their houseboat rather than trying to work it free, but those on an edge 
  or untethered to a larger group can simply ﬂ oat away. 
  This changeability can offer a certain degree of anonymity to those who 
  desire that. While boat dwellers might be interested in their neighbor’s 
  business when the person is nearby, in general they neither know nor care 
  whence that neighbor came nor where the person might have gone next.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE DELTA
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE DELTA
  LENGGOR RIVER
  LENGGOR RIVER
  This river runs from the Kulgera Ridge northwest to the Sinnar 
  coast. Many other rivers ﬂ ow into the Lenggor from the north and east, 
  increasing its volume. Its steep banks make it difﬁ cult to cross along 
  much of its route through the rainforest, which isolates the peoples on 
  one side from those on the other. In the low-lying lands toward the coast, 
  the Lenggor broadens immensely and ﬂ ows into a wide delta. Most of 
  the delta area is forested, and part of it is mangrove swamp. 
  MEMATIKAN, DRY VILLAGE OF
  MEMATIKAN, DRY VILLAGE OF
  In the mangrove forest, whole villages of little houses have been built 
  supported by the roots of the trees. Residents come and go in their ﬂ at-
  bottomed boats, and traders can come right up to each house to buy and 
  sell. When the Delta changed, however, one such village on the south 
  edge of the Delta was left high and dry. Mematikan was once a thriving 
  small community where residents made handicrafts and special foods 
  that the traders would sell to outsiders farther down the Delta. When 
  their channel started to dry up a few months ago, people packed their 
  things and moved on. Many of the trees are now dying, watered only by 
  the rains. Not everyone is aware of the change, of course, and some still 
  come here looking for people from the former community but possibly 
  ﬁ nding trouble. A few of the houses have already deteriorated but many 
  still stand, well enough at least for other things to move in.
  MENGAMUK FOREST
  MENGAMUK FOREST
  This tropical rainforest extends for more than 1,800 miles along the western 
  side of southern Libynos. The character of the forest changes somewhat 
  over that distance, becoming more jungle-like south of the Lenggor River. 
  East of the Kulgera Ridge, the jungle is even thicker and more tangled; 
  that portion is known as the Seething Jungle and is usually considered by 
  most observers to be a separate area even though the rainforest is actually 
  contiguous from the Quell River and Hollow Spire Mountains in the east to 
  about 100 miles from the western coast. The Mengamuk has some creatures 
  almost unheard of elsewhere, such as the sturdy forest elephants and the 
  little halﬂ ing elephants, which are no taller than a man’s chest.
  
  458|
  458|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  SEDILI, DROWNED VILLAGE OF
  SEDILI, DROWNED VILLAGE OF
  Sedili was once a bustling village on stilts until a powerful windstorm 
  and ﬂ ood knocked down the houses. Residents piled their boats with 
  what they could salvage and moved on. Few have returned to try to 
  recover more possessions; the people of the Delta have little time for 
  looking back. Others came behind, of course, to search for missed 
  valuables. What they found was that the water dwellers had been even 
  quicker. Alligators had moved in as well as other aggressive predators, 
  which deterred most of the human scavengers.
  A few former residents of Sedili have been heard to regret the loss 
  of ancestral items in the tragedy — one a necklace, one a sword, and 
  perhaps others — and they might pay good money for someone to deal 
  with the dangerous interlopers and to conduct a good search for the 
  missing items.
  ULAR RIVER
  ULAR RIVER
  Starting well north in the Kulgera Ridge (in the area the Bhanakhirin call 
  the Burilan Hills), the Ular snakes its way south and then west. Joined by 
  tributaries also coming from the Kulgera, it eventually meets the Lenggor 
  and becomes part of that strong river. The wide Ular has long formed a 
  natural barrier against expansion by the usually aggressive Bhanakhirin, 
  leaving the River People to continue in their traditional lifestyle.
  WEIRDLING FOREST
  WEIRDLING FOREST
  East of the conﬂ uence of the Lenggor and the Ular, hard up against 
  the Kulgera Ridge, is an area different from the rest of the Mengamuk. 
  It is a center of power for the Green Lady, Who Loves Trees, and the 
  Ancient Boy, Who Leads the Hunt. It has not always been so — the 
  tales of the ancestors tell of a time when the River Peoples lived here in 
  peace — but for many centuries now the fey have dominated this area.
  The small fey may be annoyances, or even allies; usually they can 
  be propitiated by gifts of bread, honey, or fermented fruit juices. Some 
  are evil and must be warded off by protective hexes, so each house has 
  woven signs above the door, and villages place them in rock around 
  their fences. The great fey, though, are capricious, and dangerous in 
  their uncaring. Those who wish to gain their favor must offer sumptuous 
  gifts. The great spirits are not be impressed with a little food or drink; a 
  banquet might be the least thing that could hope to win their approval. 
  One reason the River Peoples need to trade with outsiders is to gain gifts 
  lavish enough to draw the attention of the ancient fey.”
  KALDILOORA, GREAT HOUSE OF
  KALDILOORA, GREAT HOUSE OF
  Capital: Morongle 
  Notable Settlements: Birriwa, Mernmerna, Tallimba, Werai, 
  Yarrunga, Yullundry
  Ruler: Prince Jarrah
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 1,236,759 (1,232,598 Kaldilooran, 4,161 other 
  human ethnicity)
  Monstrous: assassin vines, phookas, tigerrillas
  Languages: Gonidal
  Religion: Kaldilooran spirits
   Resources: trade, spices, cabb’e and cocoa beans, linen, cotton, 
  mining
  Currency: Bhanakhiran
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages (cities), Dark Ages (towns 
  and villages), Iron Age (rural areas)
  Kaldiloora is at the westernmost extent of south Libynos, on the coast 
  of Mother Oceanus. It has a fertile, if narrow, coastal plain and dense 
  rainforest in the interior. The country is named after the chieftain who 
  united many related tribes into a single group, making them all part of his 
  “house” and doing away with the clan warfare that was devastating the 
  people. All people are considered to be part of the family of the prince, 
  with chieftains being cousins who are in charge of smaller houses under 
  the great house. As infants, people are given facial tattoos that designate 
  their house, so later in life it is possible to recognize where people were 
  born if one knows a great deal about the tattoo patterns. However, the 
  population of Kaldiloora is mobile enough that even knowing a person’s 
  birth town tells the observer very little. A person with no facial tattoos, 
  though, is immediately revealed as an outsider. Towns and even cities 
  are often named after famous local people, with those living there proud 
  to claim to be part of that person’s house. In fact, towns and villages have 
  been known to change their names when a native person does something 
  particularly notable; the smaller the village is, the less notable the action 
  would have to be to cause a name change.
  After uniting the nation, the ﬁ rst prince realized he needed something 
  to keep his energetic people busy if he was to keep them away from their 
  clan wars. He took an idea from the country to the north and instituted 
  a series of gladiator games using the ancient stone arenas still standing 
  in Morongle, Yarrunga, and Birriwa. Eventually, this developed into 
  an ongoing set of elaborate competitions, with local winners going on 
  to regional games and eventually nationwide championships. These 
  competitions generated a great deal of excitement without the ill-will 
  that led to previous conﬂ icts and became extremely popular.
  The people of Kaldiloora don’t have deities as most people think of 
  them. Instead, they pay homage to a variety of creator-spirits. These 
  spirits were themselves created by the now-distant Sky Father, who 
  gave them responsibility over various parts of creation. Rather than 
  worshipping in temples, devotees of the creator-spirits acknowledge 
  their inﬂ uence in the many small ways of life, with shrines in the home 
  or in common areas. For more serious occasions (such as weddings 
  or coming-of-age ceremonies), people may travel to ritual locations. 
  Many places in nature could honor one or more creator-spirits, so such 
  locations are not hard to ﬁ nd.
  MORONGLE, HOUSE OF (CAPITAL)
  MORONGLE, HOUSE OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Chieftain Alkawari
  Government: chieftain appointed by prince
  Population: 61,513 (60,485 Kaldilooran, 1,028 other human 
  ethnicity)
  The capital of Kaldiloora, Morongle is also the largest city, sitting near 
  the mouth of the Kulumali River where the coastal road crosses the river 
  over an arched bridge. The chieftain is a woman of about 40 years and 
  several of the city ofﬁ cials are relatives of hers, as would be expected. This 
  is no sinecure for them, as it might be in other countries; instead it shows 
  the responsibility of the family as well as the chieftain to the house and its 
  people. (Although chieftains are appointed by the prince, many locations 
  have had the chieftainship in the same family for several generations.) 
  The city bustles with all sorts of craftspeople and merchants, as well 
  as foreign visitors and diplomats here to see the prince. Morongle also 
  has one of the ancient arenas and hosts local, regional, and sometimes 
  national gladiator competitions at various times in the two-year cycle. 
  For the larger events, the city is packed with people supporting the 
  individuals and teams from various houses.
  The prince’s castle is east along the river a short distance outside the 
  city. Another bridge crosses the Kulumali here, so the prince can send 
  messengers or envoys to either side of the river without needing to go 
  downriver to the capital ﬁ rst. The castle is built around a fortress of 
  the ancient ones, carefully restored to provide extra protection for the 
  castle’s inhabitants in case of attack. Jarrah and his staff keep careful 
  track of the events and needs of the country. However, he is not a formal 
  person, and his meeting room, with its large table and open windows, 
  gets much more use than his throne room.
  South of the city is a newer fortress that is the headquarters of 
  Kaldiloora’s military, both army and navy. The army has small units 
  stationed at small forts throughout the country, mostly to keep the peace 
  and to assist villagers against dangerous animals and the strange creatures 
  that are sometimes found in the Mengamuk Jungle. The navy, on the other 
  hand, primarily patrols against pirates and any possible foreign attack on 
  the coast. While peaceful traders and diplomats from other countries are 
  welcomed, Kaldiloorans prefer to keep them only to occasional visits.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |459
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  BIRRIWA, HOUSE OF
  BIRRIWA, HOUSE OF
  Ruler: Chieftain Jarli
  Government: chieftain appointed by prince
  Population: 16,611 (15,970 Kaldilooran, 641 other human 
  ethnicity)
  Birriwa sits on the coastal road at the bridge across the long 
   Bindegandri River that runs all the way from the Kulgera Ridge in the 
  east. This makes the city a stepping-off place for merchants willing to 
  take a risk for a proﬁ t, and for explorers who want to travel far into 
  the jungle. Excellent woods, ivory, and sometimes diamonds from the 
  Kulgera Ridge are among the trade products that come down the river 
  to the coast. Sometimes strange items from the deep jungle or even 
  the east side of the Kulgera make their way to Birriwa. Certain ship 
  captains make a point of stopping here from time to time to acquire 
  items for collectors far away who are willing to pay a premium for 
  rare things. 
  Another feature of Birriwa is the ancient arena, which was repaired 
  in the past and, with careful maintenance, is still sturdy enough to hold 
  hundreds of on-lookers for the various gladiator games held here. Last 
  year’s team combat champions came from a small town near here. The 
  team was not favored to win, so when the members became champions, 
  the town renamed itself House of Gilbanung in their honor.
  MERNMERNA, HOUSE OF
  MERNMERNA, HOUSE OF
  Ruler: Chieftain Yannathan
  Government: chieftain appointed by prince
  Population: 6,514 (almost all Kaldilooran)
  Mernmerna is located on the southern bank of the Eora River where it 
  reaches the sea. The city is responsible for maintaining the Eora bridge on 
  the coast road. River access to the Kalkadoon Hills means merchants can 
  travel back and forth easily, bringing products from villages as far east 
  as the Lenggor River including ivory tusks from the forest elephants so 
  prevalent in the central part of the jungle. The Kalkadoon Hills also have 
  some precious metals and iron, though they have been mined enough that 
  the remaining minerals are not so easy to get to as they once were.
  One special thing about the Eora River is that its northern branch 
  comes out of the hills in a fairly tall waterfall. This constant spray of 
  water shows rainbows anytime the sun is out, and so it is a well-known 
  ritual location for Rainbow Boa, creator-spirit of mountains and rain. Of 
  course, a person may ﬁ nd a rainbow any day when there is sun following 
  the afternoon rain, so people only make the journey all the way to the 
  waterfall for especially important invocations.
  TALLIMBA, HOUSE OF 
  TALLIMBA, HOUSE OF 
  Ruler: Chieftain Menindee
  Government: chieftain appointed by prince
  Population: 31,821 (30,756 Kaldilooran, 1,065 other human 
  ethnicity)
  Tallimba is primarily a trading port that serves as a base for merchants 
  and travelers who trade with the Delta and also a place where goods can 
  be shipped south or to other countries. However, the port is neither as 
  large nor as well constructed as the port in Surthani to the north, so it 
  does not get as much trafﬁ c from foreign ships. Menindee often acts as 
  a diplomat to try to increase the reputation of the city; she invites the 
  ofﬁ cers of any foreign ships to dinner with her and is sometimes able to 
  convince merchants from the Delta to visit as well.
  A tabaxi scout looks out upon a vale of the Kulgera Ridge.
  
  460|
  460|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  A road runs from Tallimba along the coast all the way south to 
  Yullundry, a distance of more than 1,600 miles. Keeping the road in 
  good condition and maintaining its safety is one of the primary duties 
  agreed to by the cities, towns, and villages along the way when the road 
  was ﬁ rst built. The distance helps explain why so much travel is done by 
  ship; even small vessels that must hug the coast can move along faster 
  than a single traveler or a caravan.
  Tallimba has its own arena, a wood-and-stone structure that it built 
  several generations ago and keeps in good shape. It is one of the few 
  areas to regularly welcome outsiders to local matches. Recently, foreign 
  sailors challenged some local athletes to a race up the rigging of their 
  ship; now the arena’s administrators are trying to ﬁ gure out how to add 
  a similar feature to its contests.
  WERAI, HOUSE OF
  WERAI, HOUSE OF
  Ruler: Chieftain Kuparr
  Government: chieftain appointed by prince
  Population: 23,429 (22,560 Kaldilooran, 869 other human 
  ethnicity)
  Werai is just north of the tip of land that is the westernmost point 
  of Kaldiloora. To the north side of the city is the port, and beyond that 
  beautiful beaches that the people use for recreation. South of the city, 
  though, the beach is unspoiled as it is a spot sacred to Barramundi, 
  creator-spirit of oceans and rivers. Here, supplicants may stand with 
  their feet in the ocean and their backs to all the land there is, and call on 
  Barramundi for their intention. 
  The people of Kaldiloora have always been curious and 
  adventuresome, and Werai is the port most often used to go exploring 
  to the west. Ships from Kaldiloora were happy to establish trade with 
  the Aizanes Isles several hundred years ago and later traveled all the 
  way to the Razor Coast. The latter distance is so far, though, that 
  regular trade was never established. Kuparr has encouraged businesses 
  in his city that support long distance travel, such as ship repair and 
  reﬁ tting, outﬁ tters that can provide supplies for long journeys, and 
  the like. This is not only a beneﬁ t to Kaldilooran ships heading west; 
  foreign ships circumnavigating southern Libynos, or those heading off 
  to distant Akados, can stop at Werai and be sure they will be able to 
  acquire necessary supplies.
  YARRUNGA, HOUSE OF
  YARRUNGA, HOUSE OF
  Ruler: Chieftain Yarran
  Government: chieftain appointed by prince
  Population: 21,747 (21,120 Kaldilooran, 627 other human 
  ethnicity)
  Yarrunga sits on the coast at the mouth of the Imapa River, which runs 
  west from the Kalkadoon Hills. In addition to the coastal road, a road 
  passes through the jungle directly from Morongle to Yarrunga, cutting 
  the distance between those two locations roughly in half. Yarrunga was 
  built around a set of buildings of the ancient ones — a fortress, arena, 
  public buildings, a bathing house, and others whose function can no 
  longer be determined. Some of them were easily restored; others took 
  a great deal of effort but were eventually ﬁ nished. Now sages from all 
  over southern and central Libynos come here to study the buildings and 
  argue over the meanings of the interior mosaics and the words carved 
  in the walls.
  As a relatively central location, Yarrunga is where the national 
  gladiator competitions are held. The games include a variety of 
  athletic events as well as feats of agility, strength, and endurance, 
  and individual and group combats. The mixed groups and women’s 
  team combats are particularly popular right now, and speculation is 
  high about which contestants will actually make it through to the 
  national competition.
  A tall, open hill outside the city is a popular location for rituals 
  invoking Great Eagle, the creator-spirit of wind and storm. About 
  10 miles from the city is an area people avoid: the ruins of a village 
  from the clan wars, burned and salted so that even now little grows 
  there. No one would ever admit to it, but from time to time people use 
  the village as a ritual location for Crook-beak, the creator-spirit who 
  brought covetousness, jealousy, and taking into the world in his envy 
  of the other Eagle spirit, who was created ﬁ rst while Crook-beak was 
  created last.
  YULLUNDRY, HOUSE OF
  YULLUNDRY, HOUSE OF
  Ruler: Chieftain Parara
  Government: chieftain appointed by prince
  Population: 9,289 (almost all Kaldilooran)
  Yullundry is at the southern end of the coast road on the northern 
  bank of the Tailamuli River. The river ﬂ ows out of the Milkapiti 
  Hills, which have become well-known in the past decade for their 
  ores and gems. Many miners work in the hills and ship their results 
  down to Yullundry.
  The area between Birriwa and Yullundry is some of the best cropland 
  in the country, and many people make a living producing cabb’e beans 
  and cocoa beans, which are the basis for popular drinks in Kaldiloora 
  and other, more-distant, places. Some villages instead concentrate on 
  spices, such as cloves and nutmeg, and trees are logged for their wood. 
  Parara has encouraged more trading ships to stop in Yullundry, and her 
  efforts to get the port in good condition, with ofﬁ cials and workers to 
  see to the ships that come in, are having a good effect on the town’s 
  popularity and the income of its residents.
  A grove of fruit trees in a valley a few miles from the town is used 
  as a ritual location for Possum, creator-spirit of earth and plants. It is 
  particularly popular for local weddings, but each group takes care to 
  leave the grove no different than they found it so all can appreciate its 
  sumptuous beauty. Another area nearby is full of ﬂ owering trees and 
  many locals make the trek out to it to invoke Parrot, the trickster, who is 
  the creator spirit of all strange and colorful things.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN KALDILOORA
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN KALDILOORA
  BINDEGANDRI RIVER
  BINDEGANDRI RIVER
  This river is about 700 miles long and runs from the Kulgera Ridge 
  southwest to Birriwa. A bridge carries the coast road across the river 
  there. Although not deep near its headwaters, all its feeder streams 
  combine to make it fairly deep and fast by the time it reaches the ﬂ atter, 
  open lands east of Birriwa. It has plenty of ﬁ sh along its length, though 
  the type varies depending on location.
  From the headwaters of the Bindegandri, it is only about 50 miles 
  across the Kulgera Ridge into the Seething Jungle, which is much wilder 
  than the western tropical forest. Furthermore, explorers have found that 
  the top of the Bindegandri is less than 100 miles from the beginning 
  of an eastern river that ﬂ ows all the way down to the Reaping Sea. Of 
  course, those are some of the most difﬁ cult miles to traverse in the entire 
  jungle, and the same destination could be reached by sea in just a few 
  months. Nonetheless, there is occasional wild talk about developing an 
  overland route from Kaldiloora to the Reaping Sea.
  EORA RIVER
  EORA RIVER
  The Eora River is a fairly short river ﬂ owing from the Kalkadoon 
  Hills down to the sea at Mernmerna, where the coast road crosses it at 
  a bridge. It has two branches, both of which probably form just from 
  the quantity of rainfall in the forest. However, the northern branch 
  falls in a nice waterfall, while the southern branch just runs quietly out 
  of the hills. After the two join, the river becomes rather fast, making 
  it difﬁ cult to row a small boat upstream through that area. It also has 
  different types of ﬁ sh than other rivers in the country, with those that 
  prefer faster water dominating.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |461
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  IMAPA RIVER
  IMAPA RIVER
  The Imapa ﬂ ows from the Kalkadoon Hills west to Yarrunga, where a 
  bridge carries the coast road across it. Since it comes from underground, 
  it is cool upstream. It warms up eventually and has plenty of ﬁ sh farther 
  downstream. Explorers following the river discovered it ﬂ ows out of 
  a series of caverns. The ﬁ rst is a squeeze to enter, but once inside the 
  others are larger with incredible rock formations. Since that discovery, 
  the caverns have been used as a ritual location for Bat, creator-spirit 
  of the night and underground places. Of course, a person could invoke 
  Bat on any night when the moon is gone and the sparkling footprints of 
  the Sky Father can be seen across the sky, but caverns seem to have a 
  special power for people that the night sky itself does not usually have.
  KALKADOON HILLS
  KALKADOON HILLS
  The Kalkadoon Hills are a set of hills about 300 miles east of 
  the seacoast in Kaldiloora. They are not rough, but are high enough 
  that waters to the west of them ﬂ ow to the sea rather than joining 
  the Lenggor River or ﬂ owing into the Bindegandri. The hills do have 
  mineral resources but those that were easily accessible have been 
  mined already, requiring more effort and possible danger to continue 
  to develop the area.
  KULGERA RIDGE
  KULGERA RIDGE
  This long line of rather rough hills separates the Seething Jungle 
  and the river basin of the Quell River to the east from the watersheds 
  of the Lenggor River and the Bindegandri in the Mengamuk Jungle 
  to the west. Although various valuable resources (including gold and 
  diamonds) have been found from time to time under the Kulgera, the 
  range is deadly enough that no sustained development has taken place. 
  Instead, mines come and go, and villages are abandoned as being too 
  dangerous. The gentler Burilan Hills are an extension of the Kulgera 
  Ridge in Bhanakhiri.
  KULUMALI RIVER
  KULUMALI RIVER
  This short river ﬂ ows from the northern end of the Kalkadoon Hills, 
  northwest to the sea at Morongle. Two bridges cross the river there: one 
  at the city itself and one slightly farther east near the prince’s palace. 
  The river is mostly collected rain, so the water is fairly warm and slow-
  moving. The river is full of ﬁ sh, and many villages eat well from it.
  MILKAPITI HILLS
  MILKAPITI HILLS
  Running approximately north-and-south about 400 miles east of the 
  coast of Mother Oceanus, the Milkapiti Hills are part of the geographical 
  separation between the country of Kaldiloora and Sensibar, its neighbor 
  to the south. The hills have mineral resources that have been discovered 
  relatively recently, so the two countries have not yet come into conﬂ ict 
  regarding them.
  TAILAMULI RIVER
  TAILAMULI RIVER
  This river is generally considered to be the southern border of 
  Kaldiloora. It ﬂ ows west-southwest out of the Milkapiti Hills to 
  the sea at Yullundry. Its source is underground, so it is cold at its 
  headwaters, making it unsuitable for tropical river ﬁ sh until it warms 
  up downstream.
  SENSIBAR, KINGDOM OF
  SENSIBAR, KINGDOM OF
  Capital: Ompeshi 
  Notable Settlements: Gulama, Kajoro, Masunga, Nadhani, 
  Sinda
  Ruler: Queen Lediana the Magniﬁ cent
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 1,177,186 (1,173,281 Equatorian, 576 Castorhagi, 
  3,329 other human ethnicity)
  Monstrous: ettercaps, decapuses, tri-ﬂ ower fronds, viper vines
  Languages: Zenzin
  Religion: Paramountcies pantheon
   Resources: spices, exotic woods, wood carvings, ivory, trade
  Currency: Bhanakhiran, Castorhagi
  Technology Level: Medieval (cities), High Middle Ages 
  (plantations), Iron Age (rural areas)
  Sensibar is on the west coast of extreme southern Libynos. It is a 
  wealthy country because of the easy cultivation of spices valuable to the 
  rest of the world. Cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon literally grow on trees 
  here, and black pepper is also commonly grown. Cultivation is most 
  often done on large plantations, though some smallholders produce their 
  own crops. Wealthy plantation owners purchase foreign slaves and put 
  them to work harvesting spices that are often worth more than the slaves. 
  Traders from places such as Khemit or Castorhage sell slaves and high-
  quality weaponry and, in exchange, purchase spices and exotic woods.
  Castorhagi merchants tried to convince the queen to grant them a 
  monopoly in trade with Sensibar, but she has not yet agreed. Queen 
  Lediana learned Castorhage has a monopoly on some of the same spices 
  in certain parts of Far Jaati so she is reluctant to do the same. However, 
  since they are one of Sensibar’s largest trading partners, she doesn’t 
  want to push them away until she has an alternative. Presently, the 
  queen has allowed Castorhage to establish a supply depot near the city 
  of Sinda on Ibeshi Isle. The depot includes a series of warehouses near 
  the port that the Castorhagi will build and own, where they can store 
  supplies for their far-traveling ships.
  The government appears to get plenty of money from taxing the 
  trade on spices, but the queen also has another very quiet source of 
  income. More than a century ago, a prospector found diamonds in the 
  Milkapiti Hills near the source of the Negovan River. The king at the 
  time hushed this up very thoroughly and then spent years having his 
  own people search for and develop working diamond mines. Unofﬁ cial 
  royal representatives sold the diamonds a few at a time through trusted 
  intermediaries, and very soon the mines went from making a proﬁ t to 
  bringing the royal family amazing sums of money. They have, perhaps, 
  spent more than could be accounted for by the spice trade, but there is no 
  one to call them to account, so the palace and the capital as a whole keep 
  getting more ostentatious. The rest of the kingdom is not suffering, but 
  neither are they living at the level of luxury found near the royal family.
  OMPESHI, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  OMPESHI, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Princess Kiumbwa the Dulcet, Cousin to Her 
  Magniﬁ cence
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 64,676 (63,210 Equatorian, 125 Castorhagi, 1,341 
  other human ethnicity)
  Sensibar’s capital city of Ompeshi is almost luxurious, with gardens, 
  beautiful fountains, and carriages pulled by exotic beasts to take 
  people even short distances. Essentially, all unpleasant work is done by 
  foreigners who are either paid and worked hard, or owned and worked 
  harder. The poorest citizens work at trades such as dressmaking or 
  innkeeping, and even then, they have hirelings to do any difﬁ cult work. 
  Life elsewhere in the kingdom is much better than most places but 
  not as good as in the capital. To keep it from becoming overcrowded by 
  people who think moving to Ompeshi would solve all their troubles, all 
  Sensibrite visitors (including merchants) must register with the guard 
  when they arrive and receive a pass that allows them to stay a certain 
  number of days. If they do not return their pass on time, visitors are 
  subject to magical search and arrest, followed by magically enforced 
  exile from the capital. Foreign travelers are not subject to the same 
  restriction, but they almost always stand out in the city so it is easy for 
  the guard to keep track of them and be sure they are not overstaying 
  their welcome.
  Ompeshi has several lovely temples, as does each city of the kingdom, 
  dedicated to the deities handed down by the ancient ones. Most important 
  to this trading country is Sifkra, Who Loves Coins, but Lohfa, Who 
  
  462|
  462|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  Makes Things Grow, is just as important, and chapels or shrines to him 
  can be found on nearly every plantation. Selena, the Peaceful Lady, is 
  popular with many, as is Ahtizerr, Who Loves Magic. Ghamia, the River 
  Lady, has a temple in Ompeshi but otherwise is mostly worshipped in 
  cities and towns on the rivers. Vreenon, Who Loves Birds, and Anana, 
  the Lady of Luck and Gold, have temples here because that it what 
  the capital city should have, but not many actively worship there. The 
  temple of Gonthor, Who Grumbles in the Sky, is mostly attended by 
  soldiers and naval personnel visiting the city, and a larger temple to the 
  god of strength and war can be found at the navy’s base in Gulama.
  The port at Ompeshi is up to date but not large, and it frequently 
  becomes crowded with ships. The solution that has been instituted is 
  to force ships to leave the dock after one day to make room for more 
  ships to conduct their business. Some captains elect to just lie at anchor 
  nearby in the bay, but any who plan to be in Sensibar more than a day or 
  two are encouraged to dock instead at Sinda on Ibeshi Isle. No ﬁ shing 
  boats are allowed to ﬁ ll up the docking space at Ompeshi; ﬁ shing boats 
  have their own separate harbor east of the city, which also happens to 
  be downwind.
  GULAMA, CITY OF
  GULAMA, CITY OF
  Ruler: Her Grace Lady Maua the Just, Second Cousin to Her 
  Magniﬁ cence
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 21,198 (20,830 Equatorian, 45 Castorhagi, 323 
  other human ethnicity)
  Gulama is located in a natural harbor near the western end of Ibeshi 
  Isle. When more merchants and traveling ships began to call at Ompeshi 
  and Sinda, the crown felt it best to move the naval facilities to a different 
  location, which became Gulama. Shipbuilding yards are here, as well as 
  the navy’s training facilities and enough anchorage for most of the ﬂ eet. 
  Active patrols keep foreign ships away from these waters. In the past 
  several years, the queen has instituted, and Lady Maua has overseen, 
  a signiﬁ cant increase in the size of the navy, including its force of 
  marines. Under Lord Admiral Tarab the Long-sighted, Uncle to Her 
  Magniﬁ cence, the navy has nearly doubled in size in 10 years and is 
  almost to the place where it could hope to defend Sensibar against an 
  actual attack by Castorhage — assuming most of that country’s ships 
  are busy elsewhere.
  Given the wealth of the kingdom, the navy’s facilities are more 
  comfortable than those of almost any other country in the world, but 
  participation is still more work than most other citizens ever do. The pay 
  and beneﬁ ts are excellent, though, and retiring from the navy is one of 
  the few ways to guarantee owning a home in Ompeshi.
  KAJORO, CITY OF
  KAJORO, CITY OF
  Ruler: Prince Ussi the Brave, Cousin to Her Magniﬁ cence
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 5,799 (5,695 Equatorian, 25 Castorhagi, 79 other 
  human ethnicity)
  Kajoro is built on the site of an ancient fortress and watchtower. The 
  fortress has become the palace in the heart of the city, enhanced of course 
  by gardens, covered walkways, and other changes over the years. The 
  watchtower on the point overlooking the sea is topped by a lighthouse 
  with a beacon that has supposedly been lit nightly for hundreds (some 
  even say thousands) of years. Repairs to the outside of the watchtower 
  have to be done — and then redone — as the new material weathers 
  away, but the inside and the supports remain in good shape. Prince Ussi, 
  who was a naval ofﬁ cer until an unfortunate injury ended his career, 
  takes the city’s responsibility to the watchtower very seriously and has 
  been known to personally conduct surprise inspections of the facility.
  The market of Kajoro gathers all the products of the east side of the 
  Bay, and the city provides a large port for use by interested merchants. 
  This resulted in the area being very prosperous. Only a little of the money 
  is spent in luxury for the city or its lord; most is spent on improving the 
  lives of the common people and also to a degree the lives of the owners 
  of the large plantations. Prince Ussi currently has people exploring the 
  cost and difﬁ culty of building a crown road inland from Kajoro about 50 
  miles and then north through some of the plantation areas. He is nearly 
  ready to send out exploration teams to determine the best route, and then 
  to start building out from the city.
  MASUNGA, CITY OF
  MASUNGA, CITY OF
  Ruler: His Grace Lord Feethan the Glorious, Second Cousin to 
  Her Magniﬁ cence
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 5,396 (5,286 Equatorian, 15 Castorhagi, 95 other 
  human ethnicity)
  This city lies on the west coast of Sensibar at the mouth of the 
  Nassoro River. It boasts an excellent port, and a good road also runs 
  from here to Ompeshi. Plantations as far inland as the Milkapiti Hills 
  ship their spices and other produce to Masunga to trade. In fact, many 
  plantation owners have mansions in the city and directly oversee the 
  sales of their goods. The crown puts certain limits on prices, however; 
  spices cannot be sold below a certain minimum to avoid undercutting 
  other Sensibrite producers. 
  Although Masunga is ostensibly at the limit of the kingdom, Lord 
  Feethan turns a blind eye to people who wish to explore or even establish 
  small settlements north of the river. He has so far been unwilling to send 
  in the army unit he has under his command, so two groups have recently 
  fared badly at the hands of tribes in the area.
  One site of interest on the north side of the river is the ruins of an 
  ancient fortress. It has long been a rite of passage for youth to sneak 
  across the river at night and explore, but a group of historians who want 
  to make a serious study of the place recently approached Lord Feethan. 
  They promised to write up their ﬁ ndings for the royal library, and he 
  offered them the protection of the military while they do their research.
  NADHANI, CITY OF
  NADHANI, CITY OF
  Ruler: Princess Mwajume the Glimmering, Niece to Her 
  Magniﬁ cence
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 17,921 (16,980 Equatorian, 67 Castorhagi, 874 
  other human ethnicity)
  On a wide plain at the mouth of the Negovan River, surrounded 
  by white beaches and clear blue sea, Nadhani is widely thought to 
  have the most beautiful setting of any of the kingdom’s cities. The 
  city is built primarily of white stone so it, too, gleams in the sun. 
  Unfortunately, Princess Mwajume has little interest in the upkeep 
  of the city. She is more interested in using tax money to beautify or 
  amuse herself and opens the public purse only for expenses (such as 
  the upkeep of the port) that will bring in more trade and thus more tax 
  money. After three years of ofﬁ cial neglect, the city is ﬁ nally starting 
  to lose its luster. 
  Riches pour into the city in the form of sacks and barrels of spices, 
  carvings and goods made of exotic woods as well as logs of the wood 
  for use in ships or building, and even the occasional shipment of 
  ivory from the forest elephants used as work animals far up the river. 
  A crown-sponsored road connects Nadhani to Ompeshi in the west 
  and all the towns and villages in between, and goods come from that 
  direction as well. Trade is brisk; sellers don’t dare undercut the ofﬁ cial 
  prices, but have no qualms about offering to throw in a little something 
  extra or offer a special gift to persuade a buyer. With the princess 
  looking the other way, an active slave auction system even developed, 
  rather than slave purchases being handled privately as they are in 
  the rest of the kingdom. Some people are starting to grumble about 
  the departures from previous rulers, but others with long memories 
  point out that things could be much worse. So far, no one is willing 
  to journey 300 miles to Ompeshi to complain to her magniﬁ cence the 
  queen, so the situation stays as it is.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |463
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  SINDA, CITY OF
  SINDA, CITY OF
  Ruler: Prince Salum the Erudite, Nephew to Her Magniﬁ cence
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 8,701 (8,346 Equatorian, 30 Castorhagi, 325 other 
  human ethnicity)
  Sinda is at the eastern end of Ibeshi Isle, approximately 50 miles 
  southwest of Ompeshi. Originally founded as a naval base, it now 
  focuses more on shipbuilding, although a few naval vessels are stationed 
  there. Since the port facilities at Ompeshi are rather small, foreign ships 
  are invited to dock at the island while they awaiting their turn in port, 
  waiting to pick up cargo, or ﬁ nishing any repairs or resupply. One of 
  the royal family’s improvements of the port at Ompeshi was to acquire 
  magical communications devices, so the harbormaster at the capital 
  can communicate with the harbormaster at Sinda rather than relying on 
  message boats or some other type of signals.
  One of Prince Salum’s most important duties is acting as diplomat 
  with pushy foreign merchants or ofﬁ cious envoys. That way, by the time 
  they actually speak with Queen Lediana, they understand what is or 
  is not proper for them to propose and she is not importuned by their 
  unreasonable requests.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND POINTS OF 
  INTEREST IN THE KINGDOM OF SENSIBAR
  INTEREST IN THE KINGDOM OF SENSIBAR
  IBESHI ISLE
  IBESHI ISLE
  Off the southwestern tip of southern Libynos, Ibeshi Isle is mostly 
  covered with plantations raising trees for the navy (a long-term 
  proposition, to be sure) and food to supply the naval base at Gulama. 
  A well-maintained road supported by royal funds runs from Sinda on 
  the east coast to Gulama through the middle of the island. This makes it 
  easy to get supplies to the navy and also for the noble plantation owners 
  to travel to Sinda for a ship to Ompeshi.
  NASSORO RIVER
  NASSORO RIVER
  The Nassoro ﬂ ows from the south end of the Milkapiti Hills west 
  and a little south to the coast of Mother Oceanus at Masunga. Its warm 
  waters are full of freshwater ﬁ sh. The Nassoro has historically been the 
  northwestern border of Sensibar, but several noble plantation owners 
  have been petitioning to expand their holdings on the north side of the 
  river. Although that side is not claimed by another country, it is not 
  empty and Queen Lediana expects some conﬂ ict if Sensibrites do move 
  into the area.
  NEGOVAN RIVER
  NEGOVAN RIVER
  The Negovan River and its tributaries run east of the Milkapiti Hills, 
  primarily ﬁ lled by all the runoff from the plentiful rains. It reaches the 
  sea at Nadhani, where it empties into the Bay of Pandu.
  PANDU, BAY OF
  PANDU, BAY OF
  The Bay of Pandu is at the southwestern extreme of Libynos, 
  surrounded on three sides by the Kingdom of Sensibar. Many people 
  around the bay live off its ﬁ sh. Along the east coast are many coves with 
  exceptionally clear water where jewel-like ﬁ sh, corals, and other sea 
  treasures are at hand for the taking. Large pieces of coral for carving — 
  worth little to Sensibrites but valuable in far-off countries — are often 
  harvested in the bay.
  TULYAMIN, PRINCIPALITY OF 
  TULYAMIN, PRINCIPALITY OF 
  Capital: Meziray
  Notable Settlements: Dodoma, Larrima, Mandemar, Teluvay
  Ruler: Prince Diodorus Momose
  Government: monarchy 
  Population: 1,041,327 (1,039,656 Equatorian, 93 Castorhagi, 
  1,578 other human ethnicity)
  Monstrous: leucrottas, nazalors, monstrous centipedes
  Languages: Zenzin
  Religion: Paramountcies pantheon
   Resources: exotic foods, spices, cabb’e and cocoa beans, ivory
  Currency: Bhanakhiran, Castorhagi
  Technology Level: High Middle Ages (Meziray, Larrima, 
  Teluvay), Dark Ages (cities and towns), Iron Age (rural areas)
  Tulyamin is located on the Reaping Sea on the eastern coast of 
  Libynos, at the very southern tip of the continent. The country is not 
  large or populous, but it does produce several valuable spices such as 
  cabb’e beans, cocoa beans, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper. The 
  late Prince Vedastus encouraged his people to start planting the two 
  types of beans when he saw how well they did in nearby countries, but 
  at the time many thought the drinks made from them were just a passing 
  fancy. Now those who cultivate either of the beans are doing quite well, 
  and others are starting to grow them also.
  Prince Diodorus has reigned for 17 years, and it has been a time of 
  stability and peace. But the prince is nervous nonetheless. Castorhage 
  has colonies only a few days’ sail north along the Reaping Coast, and 
  their merchant captains stop frequently in Tulyamin. Realizing the 
  country could never defend itself against a determined attack by the 
  city-state, Diodorus can only hope Tulyamin looks to be not worth the 
  effort. He has heard that Queen Lediana of Sensibar is being pressured 
  to grant Castorhage a trade monopoly and is afraid he would be unable 
  to refuse if such a thing were demanded of him.
  Tulyamin has a small army that is usually split between the northern 
  and southern outposts of the country. The intention is that it could move 
  quickly to wherever it might be needed, and the Prince’s Road, a coastal 
  road the length of the country, is kept in good repair to facilitate that 
  necessity. The navy is somewhat larger and actively patrols up and 
  down the coast out of its base at Larrima.
  The population of Tulyamin is not highly religious, but temples are 
  kept in each city to the most important of the ancestral deities. The 
  ﬁ rst would be Lohfa, Who Makes Things Grow, followed by Ghamia, 
  the River Lady. Vreenon, Who Loves Birds, and Selena, the Peaceful 
  Lady, also have temples. One of the closest friends of Prince Diodorus 
  is a wizard, Kabwe Mefume; his research discovered that the worship 
  of Ahtizerr, Who Loves Magic, is really a very old-fashioned form of 
  devotion to Thasizier, the god of goodness and magic, who is the patron 
  deity of an important wizards’ school on the island of Jah Sezar in the 
  eastern Reaping Sea. That being the case, Thasizier’s temples were 
  updated just a few years ago, and the priests were sent to learn anything 
  more they needed to know about the worship of their true deity.
  MEZIRAY, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  MEZIRAY, CITY OF (CAPITAL)
  Ruler: Lord Phares Momose
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 46,998 (46,628 Equatorian, 20 Castorhagi, 350 
  other human ethnicity)
  The capital city of Tulyamin, Meziray is at the mouth of the Amani 
  River where it empties into the Reaping Sea. The Prince’s Road crosses 
  the Amani just upriver from the city, on a bridge high enough that the 
  ﬂ at river ships can sail under it. The city is on a small inlet that gives it 
  a good location for a sheltered port, and the river and its feeder streams 
  mean that a lot of producers can transport their trade goods to the coast 
  fairly easily. The trade market is near the port, separate from the regular 
  city market so the population doesn’t have to ﬁ ght its way through the 
  trade goods just to buy bread. While merchant ships and their crews — 
  even foreigners — are welcome in the city, everything is arranged to 
  keep the regular people’s lives as peaceful as possible.
  The royal palace is on the west edge of the city, away from the 
  bustle and odor of the port. It is no higher than two stories and is built 
  
  464|
  464|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  around a central courtyard that allows the rooms to be open and still 
  be protected enough to please the royal guard. One long wing is given 
  over to the quarters of the family and other nobles, while the opposite 
  wing holds ofﬁ ces and public meeting rooms. Peace is important to 
  Prince Diodorus, but some think the palace has become too quiet since 
  the prince became a widower three years ago. He was left with only 
  one child, a young girl. It has been many generations since Tulyamin 
  had a reigning princess, and many people are uncomfortable with the 
  idea. The prince’s advisors frequently urge him to marry again, to give 
  himself some companionship and to secure the succession with at least 
  one more heir.
  DODOMA, CITY OF
  DODOMA, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lady Batilda Negovan
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 7,461 (7,306 Equatorian, 10 Castorhagi, 145 other 
  human ethnicity)
  On the coast of the Reaping Sea at the mouth of the Nitibende River, 
  Dodoma is the farthest north of Tulyamin’s cities. It is not the northern 
  border of the country, however; settlements run farther north along the 
  coast and also inland along the river, which is entirely north of the city. 
  The northern force of the royal army is stationed here in a refurbished 
  fortress thought to have been built by the ancient ones millennia ago. 
  Technically, Lady Batilda has the authority to order the army out, but 
  she can’t imagine ever needing it for anything unless some inland tribe 
  decides to attack one of the northern villages. General Harith Sindato is 
  not as optimistic as the lady, but is sure he can persuade her of her duty 
  should the need arise.
  As the northernmost port, Dodoma receives a lot of visits from 
  merchant ships (both Tulyamin and foreign) before they make the 
  several-days’ journey on up the Reaping Coast, or as their ﬁ rst stop 
  on the long southward trip. The city has a good port and a protective 
  harbor, so it is a preferred refuge in the face of the many wild storms 
  that brew up in the Reaping Sea. The fees are reasonable and the 
  people friendly, so though the beer is different from what northern 
  crews are used to drinking, Dodoma is a regular stop for many ships. 
  In addition to the many foodstuffs available in the other cities, Dodoma 
  sometimes also offers ivory from smallholders far up the river who use 
  forest elephants to help their work and copper from a small mine in 
  the Kulgera Ridge.
  LARRIMA, CITY OF
  LARRIMA, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lady Maida Kayanza
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 12,798 (12,690 Equatorian, 3 Castorhagi, 105 other 
  human ethnicity)
  The Lekule River comes down to the Reaping Sea at Larrima, and 
  the Prince’s Road bridges it where the road enters the city. The river is 
  an important water route for people to ship their goods to a trade center. 
  Despite its good port, Larrima doesn’t get the foreign trafﬁ c that other 
  cities do; ship captains ﬁ nd it faster to travel from Teluvay straight to 
  Meziray, bypassing Larrima altogether. Local merchants make the trips 
  back and forth from Larrima to the other two cities. 
  Residents of Tulyamin spread through about two-thirds of the 
  peninsula, as the Sensibrites on the west coast have never extended 
  more than about 100 miles inland. Other citizens live in towns and 
  villages along the southern coast. Great storms destroyed some of 
  those settlements at least three times in the past century, and those who 
  The lighthouse at Teluvay on the Drakon Strait is lit during a storm. 
  The lighthouse at Mandemar on Savelina Island is visible across the strait in the distance.
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |465
  SOUTHERN LIBYNOS
  live farther north can’t understand why the inhabitants don’t move 
  somewhere less dangerous. The coasters, as they call themselves, say 
  living in the area is worth the risk and just stubbornly rebuild.
  MANDEMAR, CITY OF
  MANDEMAR, CITY OF
  Ruler: Lord Rostam Momose
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 6,510 (almost all Equatorian)
  Mandemar sits on the northwest corner of Savelina Island, near an 
  ancient lighthouse that was rebuilt about 400 years ago after a series 
  of shipwrecks showed the renewed need for such a device. The town 
  was originally founded to service the lighthouse but grew into an active 
  port. It has long been popular to take sailing trips to catch some of the 
  great ocean ﬁ sh, and Mandemar, with its proximity to the open sea and 
  the great Mother Oceanus, is the best place for adventurous people to 
  hire ships for those activities. Naval vessels are also stationed here and 
  patrol around the islands and the southern coast of Tulyamin.
  As the ruler of Mandemar, Lord Rostam also oversees the welfare 
  of the population of Savelina Island. Since the smallholders on the 
  island are the main producers of the food for the people of the city, their 
  success is of vital interest to the city dwellers and their lord.
  TELUVAY, CITY OF 
  TELUVAY, CITY OF 
  Ruler: Lord Idris Haruna
  Government: monarchy
  Population: 11,446 (11,020 Equatorian, 21 Castorhagi, 405 
  other human ethnicity)
  Teluvay is at the southern end of the Tulyamin coast road. The 
  southern unit of the army is stationed here, in a fortress much like 
  the one built by the ancients in what is now the city of Dodoma. The 
  troops under General Jumanne Athuman stay alert for any threats to 
  the country or any threats to just the city that might come from (for 
  example) a foreign ship in port. However, the most action the unit has 
  seen in the past several years was rescuing people along the southern 
  coast of Tulyamin after some especially bad storms.
  Teluvay has an average port and is a stopping place for many 
  merchant ships, but its real importance lies in the lighthouse that stands 
  on a rocky spit east of the city. An ancient light tower was found in ruins 
  centuries ago on Savelina Island and painstakingly rebuilt, and then the 
  lighthouse at Teluvay was built to match. The lights guide approaching 
  ships to the entrance of the Drakon Strait, but even more they warn 
  southward-sailing ships of the land curved out in front of their path. 
  Although it has been about 400 years, sailors still talk about the three 
  shipwrecks that took place west of Teluvay in a single decade, when 
  night or storm put ships off-course.
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE 
  POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE 
  PRINCIPALITY OF TULYAMIN
  PRINCIPALITY OF TULYAMIN
  AMANI RIVER
  AMANI RIVER
  Flowing through central Tulyamin, the Amani River is ﬁ lled primarily 
  by the copious rainfall in the interior, which it carries to the coast of the 
  Reaping Sea at Meziray. The river’s dependence on runoff means that 
  at some seasons it is much lower and at others it is high and fast, so 
  villages that use it as an important means of transport must take those 
  changes into consideration.
  DRAKON STRAIT
  DRAKON STRAIT
  Drakon Strait lies between the southeastern tip of the Tulyamin 
  mainland and Savelina Island. It is about 30 miles wide and 60 miles 
  long and lighthouses at Teluvay and Mandemar mark the northern 
  corners. No one knows why it has the name it does; “drakon” is not 
  even a word in the Tulyamin language. However, the oldest maps have 
  the strait so marked, and later cartographers continued the tradition.
  LEKULE RIVER
  LEKULE RIVER
  The Lekule is a short river ﬂ owing from the interior of Tulyamin’s 
  wide peninsula and is fed by rainfall. The ease of travel given by the 
  river makes communication possible with the villages and smallholders 
  in the center of the peninsula. The river empties into the Reaping Sea 
  at Larrima.
  LITTLE IDD
  LITTLE IDD
  A slightly oblong island about 30 miles in the long direction, Little 
  Idd lies 50 miles northeast of Savelina Island in the southern part of the 
  Reaping Sea. The island is commonly supposed to be uninhabited, but 
  people tell each other all kinds of stories about what is really on Little 
  Idd. Parents tell their children that if they are not quiet at night, monsters 
  from Little Idd will swim over and eat them. Old hands at sea try to 
  frighten new sailors with tales of a murderer whose transport ship was 
  lost in a storm. They say the killer washed ashore on Little Idd and lives 
  there still, surviving on ﬁ sh and seaweed, hiding in the caves, and killing 
  anyone else who sets foot on the island.
  It is true that there are caves under the rocky hills that cover Little Idd, 
  and that someone could hide in them. Some stories claim that the island 
  is a hideout for pirates. Others whisper that an army is hiding on Little 
  Idd, on the far side where they can’t be seen by ships at Savelina, and 
  when they are ready, they will invade Tulyamin. This is one story that 
  Prince Diodorus takes semi-seriously; the navy has standing orders to 
  sail completely around Little Idd on a regular basis and to disembark for 
  a closer investigation if they see anything out of order. 
  Really, though, Little Idd is uninhabited and everyone knows it, even 
  though there is no way to actually prove it.
  NITIBENDE RIVER
  NITIBENDE RIVER
  The Nitibende ﬂ ows through the northern part of Tulyamin, through 
  deep jungle to Dodoma on the coast.  It begins in the southern part of 
  the Kulgera Ridge and runs south to the Reaping Sea. The villages and 
  other small settlements on or near the river and the streams that feed it 
  give Tulyamin a claim to much of the interior jungle along the Reaping 
  Sea, far past the country’s most northerly city along the coast.
  SAVELINA ISLAND
  SAVELINA ISLAND
  This island sits in the south part of the Reaping Sea, about 30 miles east 
  of the tip of the Tulyamin mainland. Other than the city of Mandemar 
  and the royal lighthouse, the island is only lightly inhabited, primarily 
  by people who grow food or ﬁ sh to supply some of the city’s needs. The 
  northern side is hilly, while the southern is low-lying, with mangrove 
  swamps to the east that are often ﬂ ooded during storms. Lord Rostam 
  declared that each of the inland villages have a common building large 
  enough for the coast dwellers to take shelter during storms if necessary. 
  One thing the island does have right now is a large population of 
  wild pigs. Left behind when the owner dies, or escaped from a pen in a 
  storm — one way or another, pigs got loose several years ago and are 
  now breeding in the wild. Islanders take extra care to protect gardens 
  or ground crops because the pigs certainly try to get into them. For 
  those who can hunt the pigs, the wild creatures provide plenty of meat. 
  Sometimes Lord Rostam gets together an expedition from Mandemar 
  for the purpose of decreasing the wild pig population and also providing 
  a great roast for the island’s people.
  
  466|
  466|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  The following sets forth a timeline of major events in the Lost Lands, as 
  currently recognized by leading scholars in Akados and Libynos. Needless 
  to say, not all events of import have been listed, and some may reﬂ ect 
  rumors or estimates based on such knowledge as is currently available.
  For simplicity, all dates are given by reference to the Imperial Record 
  of the Hyperborean Empire. Other calendars in common use can be 
  converted based on their date of origination (the elven Erylle Cycle has 
  its year 1 in –6484 I.R., the Khemitian Reckoning of Kings in –1518 
  I.R., the Xha’en Calendar in –1302 I.R., the Blessed Year of Mah-Barek 
  in 480 I.R., the Regis Castorhagi in 1741 I.R., and the Huun Chronicle 
  in 2496 I.R.).
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  The following sets forth a timeline of major events in the Lost Lands, as 
  converted based on their date of origination (the elven Erylle Cycle has 
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event
  AGE OF GODS
  AGE OF GODS
  c. 7 billion years ago
  Creation of the world of Boros
  c. 100 million years ago
  Arrival of the Great Old Ones on the world of Boros
  c. 30 million years ago
  Beginning of the Primordial War among the Great Old Ones
  c. 23 million years ago
  End of the Primordial War; many Great Old Ones decline in inﬂ uence, but survive in isolated locations
  c. 20 million years ago
  Fiery object from the skies called the Judgment of Xtu crashes into eastern Libynos creating Boiling 
  Sea and devastates the populations of the Great Old Ones’ nonhuman servitor races and the great 
  beasts inhabiting the world
  AGE OF DRAGONS
  AGE OF DRAGONS
  c. 19 million years ago
  Elemental and primal dragons arrive on Boros from Inner Planes and defeat unhuman races
  c. 5 million years ago
  Dragon Wars between the metallic and chromatic dragons
  c. 1.2 million years ago
  Giants arrive on Boros from Jotunheim and battle the dragons
  AGE OF MAN
  AGE OF MAN
  c. 100,000 years ago
  Neolithic human groups begin to spread over Boros
  c. 25,000
  Initial origins of communities that will become Khemit, Istaﬂ umina, and Jaati on Libynos, and Xha’en 
  in western Akados
  AGE OF STRIFE
  AGE OF STRIFE
  c. 18,000 years ago
  Oldest human cities founded, including Erethu, Gessh, and Ur on Libynos; the explorer Koshag of Ur 
  sails Sinnar Ocean and establishes city-state of Xantollan on Pontos Island
  c.17,000 years ago
  Elven god Wayland the Smith unlocks the secret to passing between the elven homeland of Alfheim 
  and the world of Boros; elves begin arriving on Boros
  c. 15,700 years ago
  Jaati colonists cross Mother Oceanus and establish city-state of Gtsang
  c. 15,000 years ago
  Beginning of Gods’ War
  c. 14,800 years ago
  War between the dwarves of Niðavellir and the elves of Svartalfheim (drow); dwarves discover secret 
  of gates of Wayland, and dwarves and drow arrive on Boros
  c. 14,500 years ago
  Thyr ends the Gods’ War
  
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS|467
  |467
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event
  AGE OF KINGS
  AGE OF KINGS
  c. 12,000 years ago
  Rise of Phoromyceaen civilization
  –7031
  Subterranean city of Barakus constructed by Phoromyceaen peoples under Duskmoon Hills
  –6671
  Arvonliet walks among mankind and elder races
  –6650
  Construction secretly begins on Arvonliet’s Abyssal gate
  –6627
  City of Barakus falls
  –6484
  Thyr, Muir, and Kel overthrow Arvonliet, driving him from Boros and casting him into the 
  Ginnungagap (where he becomes known as Orcus); Stoneheart Mountains raised over Keltine Barrier; 
  elves migrate from Alfheim to Boros in First Exodus; last Phoromyceaen city, Lyemmos, disappears in 
  a vast sinkhole
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  AGE OF SILENCE
  AGE OF SILENCE
  –6470
  Phoromyceaen Sorcerer-King of Tharistra, 
  Gremag, obtains lichdom and inters himself in 
  hidden caverns beneath Stoneheart Mountains
  –4891
  Beginning of Pre-Dynastic Period in Khemit
  –4483
  Harul of Estresia founds shrine in Stoneheart 
  Mountains above Keltine Barrier
  –4481
  Harul of Estresia martyred, sainted by Thyr and 
  Muir
  –4232
  Beginning of War of King-Chieftain Aracor in 
  Plains of Sull
  –4227
  Arrival of Obelisks of Chaos in Sull; destruction of  
  Broch Marfal; end of King-Chieftain’s War
  c. -2000
  Xha’en migration into the Plains of Xha begins
  –1520
  First conﬂ ict between the Xha’en and the Senge 
  tribesmen on Plains of Xha
  –1518
  Narmer crowned pharaoh of Conjoined Double 
  Kingdoms of Khemit; beginning of Ancient 
  Dynastic Period
  –1302
  Last Senge tribes driven from Plains of Xha; 
  founding of the city of Xha’ahan
  –1288
  Menes crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning of 
  2nd Dynasty
  –1138
  Semerkhet crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning 
  of 3rd Dynasty
  –1025
  Harul’s Shrine discovered in vision by Beward of 
  the Three Gods
  –1017
  Djoser crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning of 
  4th Dynasty
  –1013
  Beward establishes St. Harul’s Hold on site of shrine
  –943
  Beginning of 5th Dynasty of Khemit
  –833
  Udimu crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning of 
  6th Dynasty
  –722
  Rise of First Yaltic Dynasty in Hawkmoon region
  –691
  Teti crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning of 7th 
  Dynasty
  –629
  Cult of Orcus in guise of “Aurikas” rises in 
  southern Libynos
  –613
  Atrocities of Aurikas’s priest Akruel Rathamon 
  begin in lands along the Reaping Sea
  
  468|
  468|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  –604
  Arden rallies followers in Khemit under Shah 
  Rasalt to bring war to the burgeoning empire of 
  Akruel Rathamon; beginning of War of Divine 
  Discord
  –579
  Shah Rasalt of Arden defeats the armies of 
  Aurikas at Al-Sifon on Reaping Sea; Akruel 
  Rathamon slain; end of War of Divine Discord
  –573
  St. Harul’s Hold becomes High Altar of Thyr and 
  Muir
  –518
  Anendjib crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning 
  of 8th Dynasty: university and library founded in 
  Pharos
  –488
  Netrikare crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning 
  of 9th Dynasty; First Intermediate Period
  –450
  First reports of incursions of Shadow from the 
  Nam-i-Budhani (Lost Mountains) north of the 
  Great Steppe
  –408
  Menkare crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning 
  of 10th Dynasty; Early Triple Kingdom
  –360
  Amunenhat I crowned pharaoh of Khemit; 
  beginning of 11th Dynasty
  –187
  Construction of Lujhiran Dam on the Pantai River 
  in the Plains of Xha completed
  –182
  Tsathogga unleashes horde of demons in Irkaina; 
  the god Arden sacriﬁ ces himself to entrap horde 
  and stop the invasion; Tropic of Arden created
  –151
  Beginning of 12th Dynasty of Khemit
  THE HYPERBOREAN AGE
  THE HYPERBOREAN AGE
  –109
  Polemarch Oerson leads Hyperborean Legion out 
  of Boros and into Akados
  –107
  Oerson discovers St. Harul’s Hold and bestows 
  gifts upon its patriarch
  –102
  Wild elves drive Hyperboreans from forest; Legion 
  advances along forest’s edge passing through 
  region that will become the Sundered Kingdoms
  –92
  Elven high lords gather elven host; Oerson’s 
  Perilous March begins
  –91
  Elves defeated by human and mountain dwarf 
  alliance at Lake Crimmormere
  –90
  Oerson founds city of Apothasalos
  –88
  Oerson’s advance checked at Helcynngae 
  Peninsula; Legion withdraws into hills between 
  March of Mountains and Forlorn Mountains; 
  Stronghold Hjerrin erected in Lorremach 
  Highhills
  –87
  Remenos founded
  –83
  Construction of Helwall begun, Legion breeds 
  horses on plains east of Lorremach Highhills
  –73
  Helwall completed, Heldring contained on 
  peninsula; Exeter Province established, 
  foundations laid for forts at Albor Broce and 
  Sylvos
  –69
  Town of Sessilbridge established
  –28
  Death of Oerson
  –27
  Rise of Valenthlis; outbreak of elven civil war
  
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS|469
  |469
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  –26
  Wild elves withdraw to western Akados in Second 
  Exodus
  –17
  Monarchs of Boros send episcopi to Akados 
  demanding increased tribute
  –11
  Hyperborean Rebellion; construction begins on 
  Tower of Oerson in Curgantium
  –8
  Menkamin I crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning 
  of 13th Dynasty; Second Intermediate Period
  –3
  Polemarchs Crassin and Odontius march south 
  from Boros
  –2
  Tower of Oerson completed
  1
  Battle of Hummaemidon; birth of Imperial Record
  3
  First citadel of Castorhage constructed on Insula 
  Lymossus
  4
  Hyperborean expedition to Libynos; Khemitites 
  defeated at Battle of Phillistia; Khemit made 
  vassal kingdom, effectively bringing northern 
  Libynos into Hyperborean Empire
  5
  Porta Librum constructed at mouth of Talamerin 
  River
  Oeric receives vision of Sacred Table, begins 
  construction of Tircople
  7
  Great Khan Jaganga arises among Hundaei and 
  unites them into Invincible Horde
  8
  Hyperboreans found city of Occibolos on the 
  Binjerin River
  11
  Vengeful mountain dwarves show Hundaei secret 
  passes through Stoneheart Mountains; refugees 
  from Hundaei expansion begin to arrive on 
  Anaros Island and the Thousand Rocks
  Tircople completed; Oeric abdicates claim on 
  throne and appointed Pontifex; High Altar of Muir 
  moved from St. Harul’s Hold to Tircople
  12
  Oesson crowned as imperator of the Hyperborean 
  Empire; ﬁ rst Hundaei cross the Stonehearts and 
  appear in Hyperborean lands
  14
  Hundaei besiege Apothasalos, which is relieved by 
  Gnassus; beginning of Hundaei Wars
  52
  Queen Talith Harwood of Solis Alunaris and King 
  Reithon of Suomen Gron raise the Cinderhame 
  Mountains to defend the Green Realm from Vilik 
  Strad
  82
  Beginning of 14th Dynasty of Khemit; Old Triple 
  Kingdom Period
  128
  Hyperboreans colonize Insula Extremis, battle 
  Heldring on Helcynngae Peninsula
  145
  Jhohir and Rojhah in Plains of Xha join in a 
  confederacy
  212
  Hill dwarves of Irkaina teach ironworking to 
  Hyperboreans
  288
  Stratego Verin and his Legion destroyed by 
  Heldring in Peninsular Campaign; militias raised 
  from Helwall to Apothasalos fearing Heldring 
  attack; coastal forts erected south of Matagost 
  Range to guard against sea invasion, forts of 
  Albor Broce and Sylvos expanded
  325
  Rameses I crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning 
  of 15th Dynasty
  359
  Hyperborean engineers complete the Canal of 
  the Pharaohs in Khemit; opens travel from Sea of 
  Baal to Ruby Sea
  
  470|
  470|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  436
  Merikare crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning 
  of 16th Dynasty
  c. 480
  Religion of Mah-Barek founded in the Ashurian 
  Desert
  494
  City of Occibolos burned and razed to the ground 
  by the Hundaei
  515
  Followers of Mah-Barek split into four churches
  532
  Invasion of Thousand Rocks/Anaros Island by 
  Jhohir Confederacy is defeated by both weather 
  and Anari warriors
  534
  Karram, eldest grandson of Mah-Barek’s First 
  Disciple Fatimashan, founds Karramid Caliphate 
  on Libynos
  535
  Jhohir Confederacy collapses
  562
  Rameses II crowned pharaoh of Khemit; 
  beginning of 17th Dynasty
  678
  Hyperborean Legions push into Great Steppes
  680
  Hundaei settle near the Nam-i-Budhani (Lost 
  Mountains) due to Hyperborean pressure
  681
  Civil war erupts among Hundaei clans
  683
  Hundaei cease to exist as a people; survivors ﬂ ee 
  to Sea of Grass or Libynos, remainder becoming 
  the Shattered Folk of the Great Steppes
  PAX HYPERBOREA
  PAX HYPERBOREA
  687
  Djedkare crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning 
  of 18th Dynasty
  689
  City of Tsen founded
  712
  Humanoids raid south from the Great Steppes; 
  elven defense of Crynnomar Gap
  717
  Remenos extends marchlands north; old forests of 
  the elves cut for timber
  725
  Wild elves withdraw further to the west of Akados 
  in Third Exodus; Green Warder monoliths raised
  804
  Beginning of 19th Dynasty of Khemit
  872
  Antiocham Solinius, First Tradelord to 
  Hyperborean Imperator, begins policy of 
  strengthening the city-states west of the 
  Scythirian Mountains as counterbalance to the 
  merchants of Khemit
  908
  Sekhemkare crowned pharaoh of Khemit; 
  beginning of 20th Dynasty
  928
  Death of Antiocham Solinius; primary city west 
  of Scythirian Mountains renamed Antioch in his 
  honor; cities in the region become known as the 
  Antioch City-States
  968
  Beginning of 21st Dynasty of Khemit
  1020
  Thyrian clerics open ferry across Stoneheart River 
  and build chapel on central island
  1021
  Nûk tribe of wild elves ends its wandering among 
  forests along coast of North Sea and establishes 
  Nûkland far from human inﬂ uence
  1107
  Inyotef I crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning 
  of 22nd Dynasty; Third Intermediate Period; 
  capital moved from Menefet
  
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS|471
  |471
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  1228
  Amyrtalos crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning 
  of 23rd Dynasty; Middle Triple Kingdom Period
  1233
  Nepherities I crowned pharaoh of Khemit; 
  beginning of 24th Dynasty
  1300
  Amenemhat crowned pharaoh of Khemit; 
  beginning of 25th Dynasty; Fourth Intermediate 
  Period
  1328
  Plye I (ﬁ rst Nubiar pharaoh) crowned pharaoh of 
  Khemit; beginning of 26th Dynasty; Classic Triple 
  Kingdom Period
  1398
  Founding of the Xha’en Hegemony by the ﬁ rst 
  Ahra Emperor, Vaelos su Dis
  1444
  Nedjemibre crowned pharaoh of Khemit; 
  beginning of 27th Dynasty
  1491
  City of Tsen destroyed in a terrible cataclysm; 
  the Great Darkness covers the waters of the Gulf 
  of Akados region for three years; sea trade to 
  the north ceases; Aka Bakar’s tower appears on 
  Feirgotha Plateau, who establishes the Kingdom 
  of Arcady in the Stoneheart Mountains, and 
  commences war against dwarves of Clan Craenog; 
  Thyrian Stoneheart River ferry and chapel 
  abandoned, construction begun on shrines to Thyr 
  and Muir in upper Lyre Valley
  Aka Bakar’s tower disappears from city of Pharos 
  in Khemit along with a third of the Pharos Legion
  1494
  Following the end of the Great Darkness, land 
  route to the Irkainian Peninsula reopens; 
  Apothasalos reestablished but never regains its 
  former size and status; Occibolos reoccupied as 
  little more than a town, now known as Oxibbul; 
  Baen Halfhammer slain by Aka Bakar, Arcady 
  gains control of Baen’s Pass, establishes trade 
  with gulf region
  c. 1500?
  Huun arrive at Desert of Oreb in Libynos
  1503
  Wizards that escaped Tsen establish Gray Tower 
  in Oxibbul as academy and guildhall
  1543
  City of Rojhah falls to Ahra forces
  1544
  City of Jhohir joins Xha’en Hegemony
  1546
  Aban Rha and Thanalos join Xha’en Hegemony
  1548
  Hobgoblin raids from Deepfells Mountains 
  descend into northern fringes of Reme; survivors 
  report a new hobgoblin kingdom arisen among 
  the clans of Dragonbone Peak led by a seemingly 
  unbeatable warlord; armies of the Northmarches 
  fall back before the onslaught
  1554
  Earthquake and tidal wave devastate Xha’en 
  coast and the undersea kingdom of Caerulea; 
  raids on Xha’en shipping by Caeruleans begin
  1557
  Northmarches fall to hobgoblin armies; 
  everything north of the High Downs becomes part 
  of Hobgoblin Kingdom of the Deepfells; defensive 
  line is created between the High Downs and the 
  Green Mountains
  1558
  Open war between Xha’en Hegemony and 
  Caerulea
  1564
  Adventurers inﬁ ltrate Dragonbone Peak and 
  discover warlord to be hobgoblin demigod 
  Kakobovia
  
  472|
  472|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  1571
  Army of Deepfell hobgoblins and orcs invade 
  Arcady 
  1572
  Aka Bakar defeated and Arcady falls, but Deepfell 
  army is also destroyed in magical devastation
  1573
  Kakobovia gathers remaining forces of 
  Dragonbone and launches all-out attack on High 
  Downs; at Battle of Ironhill, Grand Duke Borell 
  I of Reme defeats hobgoblins of Dragonbone and 
  personally banishes incarnation of Kakobovia 
  from Material Plane; Reme begins to reclaim 
  Northmarches
  1576
  Peace treaty between Xha’en Hegemony and 
  Caerulea signed
  1581
  The Ophronya Dynasty of Djir seizes power and 
  moves capital of Xha’en Hegemony
  1602
  Nebirau crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning of 
  28th Dynasty; Fifth Intermediate Period
  1610
  House of Ammu gains control of Karramid 
  Caliphate on Libynos; renamed the Ammuyad 
  Caliphate
  1636
  Amasis VI crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning 
  of 29th Dynasty; Late Triple Kingdom Period
  1643
  Gtsang agrees to join Xha’en Hegemony as a 
  prefecture
  1740
  Harmost Demos Castorhage declares himself King 
  of Castorhage in deﬁ ance of Imperator Ivint III; 
  Lymossus Legion burned alive inside Castorhage 
  barracks
  1741
  Castorhage founded
  1751
  Recognized beginning of Eleventy Year War 
  between Castorhage and the Hyperborean Empire
  1760
  Boy Emperor Ziris su Dos Ophronya takes the 
  Xha’en throne
  1781
  Ziris su Dos Ophronya perishes in a “mysterious” 
  ﬁ re and Sarilla sa Dan Huris takes the Xha’en 
  throne as empress
  1861
  Castorhage and the Hyperborean Empire sign the 
  Eleventy Year War treaty
  1822
  Humanoid raids from Black Forest begin on city of 
  Oxibbul; Wizards of the Gray Tower turn them back
  1887
  Antef crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning of 
  30th Dynasty
  1915
  Oxibbul abandoned in face of ever-greater number 
  of humanoid incursions; remaining inhabitants 
  retreat across the Fingers and establish towns of 
  Elise and Glaivr; Oxibbul becomes a humanoid-
  occupied ruin
  1918
  Wizards of the Gray Tower largely depart region, 
  the few remaining establish the Library of Elise
  1921
  Imperial capital of Xha’en moved back to 
  Xha’ahan
  1922
  Southern Xha’en nobles rebel against the 
  Emperor Takar su Pan Huris
  1928
  Battle of Taode River ends in a victory for 
  Emperor Takar su Pan’s forces; rebels ﬂ ee into 
  the Utterends
  
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS|473
  |473
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  1930
  Port city of Penmorome established on Southvale 
  coast
  1932
  Evil treants from Fae Copse plague Penmorome 
  and surrounding settlements
  1943
  The Great Conﬂ agration; citizens of Penmorome 
  with soldiers of Parthos raze forests of Southvale 
  with iron axes and ﬁ re; treants retreat into Black 
  Wood and Fae Copse
  1944
  Towns of Southreach, Guildford, Marwood, and 
  Whitehaven founded; treants disappear from Fae 
  Copse; refugees and outlaws begin settling in area 
  of Hawkmoon, encounter kingdom of Seventh 
  Yaltic Dynasty
  1948
  Invasion from the sea as sahuagin strike the 
  west coast of Anaros Island; Anari and Caerulean 
  Kingdom join forces to defeat the attack
  1968
  Menes XX crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning 
  of 31st Dynasty
  2112
  Ghost Plague ravages Xha’en Hegemony, with 
  spirits of all sorts roaming the streets and 
  attacking innocents; monks, priests and other 
  specialists are dispatched to face the threat
  2114
  Ghost Plague in Xha’en Hegemony ends 
  mysteriously
  2143
  Earthquake strikes Insula Lymossus leaving 
  much of Castorhage in ruins
  2193
  Queen Coal of Castorhage comes to power; 
  beginning of Years of Terror
  2214
  Scouts report groups of humanoids crossing the 
  Fingers and traveling at night to disappear into 
  the Dragon Hills; River Watch established along 
  Binjerin River
  2228
  Djehuti crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning of 
  32nd Dynasty
  2251
  Queen Coal of Castorhage burned at the stake; 
  Years of Terror end
  2279
  Castorhagi explorer ship “Brave” makes landfall 
  in western Libynos
  2284
  Castorhage colonizes Tandril Island, and 
  establishes port of Trinidar
  2301
  Forest Coast work camps established by Queen 
  Malice of Castorhage as penal colonies
  2348
  King Lertis Tevoy of Castorhage decrees 
  construction of Great Road and supporting 
  fortresses “to pierce the secrets of the Green 
  Realm”
  2349
  Hostilities between Forest Coast wild elves and 
  Castorhagi work colonies begin
  2369
  Battle of Tevoy sees complete destruction of Royal 
  Army garrison by wild elf warband; Fort Tevoy 
  abandoned, informally renamed “Fort Toofar”
  2371
  Citadel of Tranith on Forest Coast destroyed 
  by earthquake, wild elf raiders slaughter the 
  survivors; outpost fortress of Fringe makes 
  separate peace with wild elves and refuses entry 
  to all Castorhagi soldiers and work parties
  
  474|
  474|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  2373
  Forest Coast Great Road abandoned; Ilber Nole 
  left as only fortiﬁ cation on Forest Coast
  2375
  Xha’en Emperor Amaran su Bha Huris begins to 
  experiment with necromancy, intending to cheat 
  death and live forever
  2376
  Beginning of Dragon Plagues in Utterends, 
  lasting 5 years
  2390
  Scouts report ruins of Oxibbul once again 
  abandoned; Dragon Hills rumored to be teeming 
  with humanoid tribes
  2395
  Xha’en Emperor Amaran su Bha Huris is revealed 
  to be a lich; calls up legions of undead to defend 
  his palace and begins the Immortal Dynasty
  2411
  Suserenre crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning 
  of 33rd Dynasty
  2471
  Last clergy of Thyr and Muir depart St. Harul’s; 
  High Altar of Thyr moved to Tircople
  2475
  Xha’en rebels besiege Amaran’s palace and, with 
  the aid of ancient Ahra artifacts, defeat Amaran 
  and bring the Immortal Dynasty to an end
  2476
  Tilgi Dynasty rises to prominence in Xha’en
  POLES OF BOROS SHIFT AND THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE
  POLES OF BOROS SHIFT AND THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE
  2491
  The poles of Boros shift; lines of impenetrable 
  storms called the Tempest Meridians arise far out 
  in the oceans east of Libynos and west of Akados, 
  beyond which is something called the Goitre; an 
  ice sheet begins forming over the continent of 
  Boros; Fimbulwinter begins in Castorhage
  Volcanic eruption buries Hyperborean city of 
  Clandestine on Reaping Coast
  2494
  Ulnat tribe of the Shattered Folk arrives in the 
  Far North and begins to settle beyond Wailing 
  Mountains in abandoned cities of lost Boros
  2496
  Hyperborea attempts to reverse the pole shift, 
  but disaster ensues; Tower of Oerson destroyed; 
  wildﬁ res ravage Curgantium and spread across 
  Akados burning Plains of Suilley and Matagost 
  Forest; refugees ﬂ ee across Dardanal Strait to 
  Ramthion Island; last Yalts depart Hawkmoon 
  and establish city of Coralis in Sinnar Ocean
  Nation of Huun founded in the Desert of Oreb
  2499
  Hyperborean Imperial Court relocated to Tircople; 
  western empire abandoned by Hyperboreans; 
  chaos descends among survivors of Suilley Plain 
  and Matagost Peninsula; Penmorome seals gates 
  against all travelers; Endhome elects Senate to 
  govern in absence of Imperial Court; Ramithi 
  pirates give aid to refugees of Ramthion Island
  Imperial Court relocated to Tircople; Khemitian 
  capital moved back to Menefet
  2506
  Fimbulwinter in Castorhage ends
  2507
  Qui Tai trading junk Bountiful Harvest makes 
  landfall at Castorhage, opening a trade route with 
  Xha’en Hegemony
  2509
  Twelve Bloody Nights; Hyperborean imperator 
  and pontifex roles combined; Trystecce the 
  Ageless becomes imperatrix; High Altars of Thyr 
  and Muir quietly moved to Lyre Valley
  
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS|475
  |475
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  END OF HYPERBOREAN AGE IN THE WEST
  END OF HYPERBOREAN AGE IN THE WEST
  2516
  Hyperboreans withdraw from Akados; Heldring 
  cross the Helwall, forts of Sylvos and Albor Broce 
  destroyed; Cult of Althunak rises to power among 
  the Ulnat in the Far North
  2517
  Heldring longships land on Ramthion Island 
  and subjugate the populace; Heldring land in 
  Southvale but cannot breach walls of Penmorome; 
  Heldring advance checked at Stronghold Hjerrin 
  in the south and withdraw to Exeter Province
  2521
  Unnamed local chieftain brings Heldring 
  mercenaries to Insula Extremis; Heldring 
  conquer all of Southvale but Penmorome; found 
  settlements of Wellesley, Weatherell, Freeport, 
  North Bay, Penn, and Pike Point but eventually 
  assimilate with local population
  2523
  Heldring invasion of Insula Extremis begins; 
  fortress of Farketh Knowe constructed for 
  Heldring to rule Ramthion Island
  2524
  Sea plague appears in Xha’en coastal provinces 
  and begins to spread inland; plot by dissident 
  nobles to trigger war with Caerulea is foiled and a 
  cure for the plague is provided by the merfolk
  2527
  Most Heldring in Exeter Province withdraw to 
  Helcynngae Peninsula to take part in invasion of 
  Insula Extremis
  2528
  Cult of Althunak begins enslaving Ulnat 
  settlements in the Far North; construction begun 
  on City of the Lord of Winter
  2533
  Binitis I crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning of 
  34th Dynasty
  2553
  The Cult of Althunak holds sway over the Far 
  North from the City of the Lord of Winter
  2560
  Daan forms his Cataphracts in service to 
  Hyperborea
  2566
  Daan acclaimed as Polemarch of Insula Extremis
  2576
  Daan defeats Heldring at Battle of Agedium
  2580
  Daan’s Legion lands at Durwent and marches 
  north to Tircople, following the coast of the Sinnar 
  Ocean through Akados and Libynos
  2584
  Cult of Althunak overthrown by Ulnat uprising in 
  Far North; City of the Lord of Winter abandoned; 
  Althunak imprisoned beneath Lake of Frozen 
  Screams; Ulnat tribes scatter along Seal Coast
  Siege of Tircople by Daan’s Legion; Daan falls as 
  he destroys the lich-queen Trystecce
  2585
  Daanites withdraw to Ynys Cyrmagh; Daanites 
  name the rest of the world as Lloegyr—the Lost 
  Lands
  2586
  The Twin Regents King Alar and Queen Elspeth 
  normalize Castorhage trade relations with Xha’en 
  Hegemony
  2611
  Ammuyad Caliphate asserts control over Antioch 
  City-States
  2619
  Ammuyad Caliphate begins colonization of 
  Isthmus of Irkaina, founding the Principality of 
  Pelshtaria
  Ammuyad Caliphate begins colonization of 
  Isthmus of Irkaina
  
  476|
  476|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  2623
  Archmage Jhedophar builds tower in Green 
  Mountains and creates school of advanced arcane 
  arts
  2632
  Last Hyperboreans quietly disappear from 
  Tircople
  2654
  Birth of Macobert of House Foere
  2690
  Knights of Macobert formed, mounted upon 
  destriers bred in eastern Suilley
  RISE OF THE FOERDEWAITH
  RISE OF THE FOERDEWAITH
  2698
  King Macobert begins uniting Akados as Kingdom 
  of Foere
  2720
  Province of Aachen established extending to the 
  Great Bridge
  2731
  Swein Sigurdson discovers the Neimbrall Trail 
  in Under Realms, leads his tribe of the Heldring 
  through tunnel away from Helcynngae Peninsula 
  to escape worship of Hel 
  2734
  Guided by vision from Wotan, Swein Sigurdson 
  leads his people to emerge in Storstrøm Vale; 
  colonization of Northlands begins; Swein 
  Sigurdson named Køenig of Storstrøm Vale
  2738
  Archmage Jhedophar’s school of magic disappears 
  and the location of his tower is lost
  2739
  Resarmun V crowned pharaoh of Khemit; 
  beginning of 35th Dynasty
  2740
  The half-troll Acregor Ironclaw founds the 
  kingdom of Acregor in the Dragon Hills, 
  reoccupying the ruined elven city of Aranost as 
  his capital
  2744
  Macobert marches his host across Irkaina to 
  Tircople, reclaiming the city, and clearing the 
  High Altar of Muir; he is crowned Macobert I, 
  Overking of the Hyperborean Monarchy of the 
  Foerdewaith
  2745
  Foerdewaith provinces of Suilley and Matagost 
  established; old Hyperborean forts at Salyos and 
  Parthos rebuilt
  2746
  King Prudus I of Castorhage gives fealty to 
  Overking Macobert; Castorhage granted status of 
  protectorate rather than vassal state
  2747
  King Prudus I and three Foerdewaith inspectors-
  general found consumed in their beds by swarms 
  of rats; Foere declines to send further inspectors-
  general to Castorhage
  2748
  Construction begun on Lyre Bridge over 
  Stoneheart River; Trademoot established at 
  King’s Bridge
  2751
  Province of Burgundia established to maintain 
  garrison forts at Salyos and Parthos; construction 
  begins on city of Trevi
  2762
  Overking Macobert and his Knights march on 
  sealed city of Penmorome, Primus of Penmorome 
  opens gates with welcoming celebration; city 
  renamed Penmorgh, Primus Ostephion appointed 
  Magnate of Penmorgh; Province of Southvale 
  created
  
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS|477
  |477
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  2765
  Death of Macobert; son Magnusson succeeds 
  to the throne; issuance of Eastreach Decree; 
  provinces of Eastreach and Pontus Tinigal 
  established
  2768
  Overking Magnusson completes imperial capital 
  at Courghais
  Plague strikes trade city of Bhutan in Ammuyad 
  Caliphate
  2769
  Plague spreads to Hava, capital of the Ammuyad 
  Caliphate
  2772
  Antioch City-States regain independence from 
  Ammuyad Caliphate
  2773
  A new prince of Pelshtaria is chosen without the 
  consent of the caliph, marking the end of the 
  empire of the caliphate
  2776
  Death of Magnusson I; grandson Magnusson II 
  succeeds to the Foerdewaith Throne
  2781
  Red Plague strikes Kingdoms of Foere; one 
  quarter of the population of the central lands dies 
  including Magnusson II; son Osbert I succeeds to 
  the Foerdewaith Throne
  2797
  Red Plague returns and strikes central Kingdoms 
  of Foere again; much of the kingdom’s central 
  territories are depopulated due to the high death 
  toll; plague claims Overking Osbert I who is 
  succeeded by his son Osbert II
  2801
  Heldring armies cross Helwall again and 
  roam along the March of Mountains, burning 
  settlements and slaughtering their inhabitants; 
  Overking Osbert II gathers a small army and 
  marches south from Courghais to meet the 
  Heldring in battle
  2802
  Mitra appears to Overking Osbert II and predicts 
  victory over the Heldring; Osbert builds a 
  shrine to the Sun Father, and defeats Heldring 
  at Oescreheit Downs; Helcynngae Peninsula 
  paciﬁ ed; Exeter Province split into Exeter and 
  Cereduin provinces; Trebes constructed on ruins 
  of Sylvos; war hero and nephew of Osbert II, 
  Claud Oberhammer, given rulership of Troye and 
  named Duke of the Rampart, Battle-Duke, and 
  Sword of the Foerdewaith 
  2803
  Ramithi overthrow Heldring warlords on 
  Ramthion Island; fortress of Farketh Knowe 
  thrown down; construction begun on garrison 
  town of Kingston; Keston Province established
  2805
  Ramthion Island petitions for entry into Kingdom 
  of Foere; Province of Ramthion created
  2822
  County of Vourdon created
  2840
  Foerdewaith settlers push through Crynnomar 
  Gap into the Great Steppes
  2843
  Twin royal heirs Kennet and Cale born to 
  Overking Paulus
  2854
  Trinidar and Forest Coast work colonies slip from 
  Castorhagi control
  2856
  County of Toullen established
  2858
  Cale abdicates claim to throne and given port of 
  Reme
  
  478|
  478|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  2859
  Prince Cale of Reme blocks Castorhage’s attempts 
  to resume control of Trinidar and Forest Coast
  2861
  Cale leads Colonization of Great Steppes
  2921
  Yakbam of Nubara crowned pharaoh of Khemit; 
  beginning of 36th Dynasty; capital of Khemit 
  moved to Elephantine
  2931
  Caleen settlers reach shore of Lake Hali; 
  humanoid attacks on the colonies begin
  2947
  Shadow walkers lead humanoid hordes from Lost 
  Mountains; Caleen colonies destroyed, Prince 
  Cale is lost; Wizard’s Wall raised at Crynnomar 
  Gap
  2955
  Alliance of the Elitan-i-pan Confederation 
  founded in the Haunted Steppes
  2956
  Long in decline, the Tilgi Dynasty of Xha’en is 
  replaced by the aggressive and militaristic Rachar 
  Dynasty
  2958
  Huun invade Tircople; the Pontifex and First 
  High Lord are slain
  2960
  First Great Crusade gathers at ports all along 
  Sinnar Coast and Crescent Sea
  Crusaders recapture Tircople and establish 
  Crusader States; in return for aid in the 
  crusade, Castorhage granted colonial rights in 
  southeast Libynos
  2970
  Overking Yurid gathers crusader army at Pontus 
  Tinigal and Tros Zoas and sails for Khemit on 
  Second Great Crusade; in the absence of forces on 
  crusade, the vampire lord known as the Singed 
  Man rises in the Duchy of Kear and conquers 
  it, ruling as its Infernal Tyrant; King Prudus II 
  of Castorhage caught traveling in Kear at time 
  of rising and slain; wife of Prudus, Constance, 
  crowned queen of Castorhage
  Huun besiege Tircople, overrun part of Crusader 
  States; crusader army of Overking Yurid lands 
  in Khemit and marches overland to Tircople; 
  Khemit remains occupied by Foerdewaith forces 
  for six years
  2971
  Second Great Crusade breaks siege of Tircople 
  and drives Huun from Sacred Table
  2977
  Battle-Duke Ormand of the Rampart charged with 
  freeing Kear from the Singed Man; Foerdewaith 
  army crushed by the Infernal Tyrant of Kear at 
  Seilo Ford, Battle-Duke Ormand slain and rises as 
  vampire spawn in the Singed Man’s service
  2983
  The vampire Ormand expands enslaved Realm of 
  Kear from Eber to Tarry; Foere and Castorhage 
  dispute political responsibility and neither raises 
  further forces to try and dislodge the Infernal 
  Tyrant
  3030
  Founding of trade city of Bard’s Gate at King’s 
  Bridge
  3035
  Shengotha Plateau covered in unnatural glacier, 
  decimating dwarven Clan Krazzadak; city of Bryn 
  Tuk Thull entombed by ice; Year of the Hard Cold 
  afﬂ icts Stoneheart Valley, ruining the harvest, 
  killing winter crops, and delaying spring planting
  3036
  Famine strikes Stoneheart Valley and 
  surrounding areas, starvation sets in across the 
  region; Bard’s Gate’s expanding trade connections 
  are able to import sufﬁ cient grain from the south 
  to support the city’s population; Bard’s Gate 
  council votes to provide their excess grain to the 
  mountain dwarf clan of Silverhelm
  
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS|479
  |479
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  3037
  Dwarven craftsman arrive in Bard’s Gate from 
  Halls of the Silverhelm and begin construction on 
  retractable canal bridges
  3039
  Silverhelm dwarves construct massive basilica 
  temples to Thyr and Muir in Bard’s Gate; High 
  Altars moved from Valley of the Shrines into city
  3048
  Turin the Pretender imprisons Overking 
  Oestemor and declares himself Overking Turin I
  3050
  Turin I defeats Battle-Duke Orferro at the First 
  Battle of Aixe, cementing his hold on the Crown
  3058
  Leothrand of Mitra rescues Overking Oestemor 
  and hides him in Yolbiac Vale to rally his loyalists
  3060
  Overking Oestemor brings Turin I to battle in 
  Second Battle of Aixe; Oestemor prevails with the 
  aid of Leothrand Cold-wielder
  3061
  First Shabbisian Plague outbreak in Bard’s Gate
  3073
  Castorhagi settlement of Fort Wallberg on the 
  margin of the Kanderi Desert overrun by desert 
  bands
  3081
  Fort Wallberg retaken by East Libynos Trading 
  Company
  3095
  Second outbreak of Shabbisian Plague in Bard’s 
  Gate
  3102
  Infernal Realm of Kear reaches largest extent, 
  stretching from Tarry to Tourne
  3106
  Castorhagi settlement of Fort Wallberg destroyed 
  by desert bands
  3114
  Nation of Yeera conquered by Kingdom of Imya
  3120
  Cult of Zaihhess constructs temple on Frontier of 
  Reme
  3123
  Third Shabbisian Plague outbreak in Bard’s Gate; 
  priests of Bast summon cats to destroy plague 
  rats
  3124
  Castorhagi settlement of Sowbury founded by 
  Swyne explorers on Ambicuaria Jungle coast
  3128
  Sir Varral the Blessed destroys the Singed Man 
  and Duke Ormand, freeing Realm of Kear; Duchy 
  of Kear reconstituted under Foerdewaith Crown 
  with nephew of overking given title in Eber; 
  Castorhage annexes port of Tarry
  3129
  Black-robed monks of the Brotherhood arise from 
  ashes of Kear and beginning distributing alms 
  and feeding the poor and displaced
  3133
  High Church of Foere ofﬁ cially sanctions Black 
  Brotherhood as a benevolent society, ﬁ rst 
  Brotherhood temple constructed in Nains
  3140
  Aaneterire crowned pharaoh of Khemit; beginning 
  of 37th Dynasty
  3149
  Castorhagi settlement of Chiselknoll founded in 
  margins of Kanderi Desert
  3160
  After years of declining population Hazad-Burgh 
  falls to giant invaders
  3164
  Duke of Northmarches leads army to throw down 
  temple of Zaihhess on Frontier of Reme, Zaihhess 
  imprisoned in Carceri
  
  480|
  480|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  3169
  Crusader Coast overrun by Huun; Tircople sacked
  3172
  Fleet gathers in Reme to transport Third Great 
  Crusade to Crusader Coast
  3173
  Third Great Crusader ﬂ eet destroyed by storm as 
  it attempted to land at Crusader Coast
  3176
  Black Brotherhood extends loans to Crown to 
  offset ﬁ nancial hardships of loss of crusader ﬂ eet
  3181
  Black Brotherhood becomes major banking 
  organization throughout Foere with chapterhouse 
  banks in every major city
  3190
  Dwarf lord Durand Strong-Arm discovers gold 
  and silver west of Blackﬂ ow River; establishes 
  Durandel mines under Fae Copse in Southvale
  3199
  Overking Oessum VIII calls for Fourth Great 
  Crusade; armies and ﬂ eet gather at Endhome 
  to sail for Crusader Coast; crown borrows 
  extensively from Black Brotherhood bankers
  3207
  Graeltor crowned overking after death of Oessum 
  at Battle of the Sickles
  Huun defeated by crusaders and their hill 
  dwarven allies of Shamash Kush at Battle of the 
  Sickles; Overking Oessum slain
  THE AGE OF BREAKING
  THE AGE OF BREAKING
  3208
  Army of Light marches on temple-city of Tsar; 
  Desolation of Tsar created
  Surviving knights of Muir from Crusader Coast 
  establish Holy Ecclessia at fortress of Perona on 
  Iber Bay
  3209
  Last Justicar of Muir slain at Battle of Tsar
  Tircople falls to Mguru tribes
  3210
  Army of Light defeats Tsar and pursues 
  Disciples of Orcus into Forest of Hope where both 
  disappear; Citadel of Orcus vanishes from Tsar; 
  King Worrn II of Castorhage orders exploration 
  for colonization of Bream Isles and Nether Sea 
  (i.e., the Caerulean Ocean); Castorhagi galleon 
  Brave sent on exploration mission
  3213
  Foerdewaith Wars of Succession begin; Ramthion 
  Island breaks from empire
  3214
  Displaced wizards from throughout Foere gather 
  in Bard’s Gate and form Dominion Arcane, found 
  Wizards’ Guild
  Holy Ecclessiast of Perona converts King Artoa of 
  Alcaldar to faith of Muir
  3215
  Grand Admiral of Pontus Tinigal withdraws from 
  Foere, declares himself Emperor of the Oceans 
  Blue; Kingdom of Oceanus established on Pontos 
  Island
  3216
  Earl of Swordport mockingly declares himself 
  Monarch of the Moonsilver Sea, assassinated by 
  agents of Oceanus
  King Artoa decrees Thyr and Muir as state 
  religions of Alcaldar and establishes Holy 
  Ecclessia Inquisitorial to protect the integrity 
  of the faith; King Artoa assassinated, High 
  Ecclessiast Roqemonte organizes Church Militans 
  to seek out the assassins and deliver Muir’s 
  justice
  3217
  Imperial ﬂ eet gathers at Highreach to attack 
  Kingdom of Oceanus; Foerdewaith ﬂ eet defeated 
  at Battle of Kapichi Point; city-state of Endhome 
  declares neutrality, Foerdewaith garrison expelled
  3218
  Foerdewaith army marches on Endhome; army 
  of Burgundia paid off by Oceanus and Endhome, 
  surprises imperial army with ﬂ anking maneuver; 
  imperial army withdraws to Troye without 
  bloodshed; Oceander army occupies Endhome
  
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS|481
  |481
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  3219
   The Day of Faith: 867 conspirators burned 
  alive in Mhalta by Holy Ecclessia Inquisitorial; 
  Istobal-Alcacé crowned King of Alcaldar by Holy 
  Ecclessiast Roqemonte
  3221
  Foerdewaith garrisons withdraw from Salyos 
  and Parthos; Kingdom of Burgundia declares 
  its independence; armies of Matagost besiege 
  Trevi; Burgundia sues for peace with Oceander; 
  Oceander army withdraws from Endhome; 
  Castorhagi colony of Farthest Point established 
  on Lesser Bream; Castorhage begins trading with 
  Gtsang Prefecture
  3222
  Kingdom of Suilley declares independence; 
  eastern region of Suilley erupts in civil war; Foere 
  attacks western Suilley
  3223
  Foerdewaith army defeated by Suilley at Battle of 
  Bullocks Bale
  3224
  Magnate of Penmorgh assassinated; Penmorgh 
  appoints duke and allies with Burgundia; 
  Southvale named a duchy of Burgundia; Duke 
  Oden of Kear declares Kingdom of Vast as 
  independent realm from Foere
  3225
  Matagost attacks Southvale; Dwarves of Durandel 
  aid army of Penmorgh and route Matagost army; 
  Margrave of Bret Harth declares Kingdom of the 
  North Heath across Meander River from Vast
  3226
  Siege of Trevi lifted by human and dwarven army 
  from Southvale; Matagost erupts into civil war; 
  Suilley armies withdraw from Gundlock Hills 
  drawing new eastern border at Trader’s Way; 
  Foerdewaith armies skirmish with Vast and 
  North Heath along Meander River; last Marquis 
  of Eauxe slain in battle
  3227
  Burgundia garrisons coastal forts of Salyos and 
  Parthos
  3228
  Castorhage recognizes independence of Vast and 
  North Heath and sends ambassadors to Eber and 
  Bret Harth
  3233
  Grand Duchy of Reme declares independence 
  from Foere
  3238
  Eamon Angus founds trading post in a valley 
  of the western Stoneheart Mountains that will 
  become the citadel of Dun Eamon
  3240
  Reme recognizes independence of Vast and North 
  Heath, sending ambassadors to Eber and Bret 
  Harth; Short War between Reme and Castorhage; 
  Castorhage capitulates after 7 months and agrees 
  to permanently absolve all claims to Forest Coast
  3241
  Tycho Free States founded on Forest Coast; the 
  Camp ﬁ rst established on border of the Desolation 
  of Tsar
  Holy Ecclessiast Arman-Diego issues Bulla Patent
  that Alcaldar’s divine destiny is to spread the 
  Holy Ecclessia throughout Libynos and the world; 
  King Istobal-Alcacé declares war on Caddesh and 
  invades Caduvar on the Sangre Sea
  3242
  Alcaldrich invasion of Gulf of Caddesh begins 
  while Alcaldar conquers Caduvar and establishes 
  city of San Caseo on Lake Istobal as ﬁ rst vassal 
  state of Empire of Alcaldar 
  
  482|
  482|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  3244
  Northern Alcaldrich invasion stalls in Maighib 
  Desert as Guurzan and Khartous aid Caddesh; 
  Alcaldrich forces push upriver from San Caseo
  3245
  Armistice signed between Foere and Vast and 
  North Heath kingdoms; former March of Eauxe 
  depopulated and left abandoned as buffer 
  zone; wandering companies of mercenaries and 
  deserters increase in number as wars of the 
  Sundered Kingdoms begin to wind down
  Ships of Oceanus and Alcaldar skirmish in 
  Sinnar Ocean
  3262
  Bream trader Provision makes landfall at the mouth 
  of the Devil’s Tail on coast of Haunted Steppes and 
  discovers the Elitan-i-Pan Confederation
  3263
  Alcaldar gains complete control of Sangre River 
  system and entirety of Cordona Lake creating 
  trade corridor across central Libynos
  3269
  Kingdom of Axuum conquers Imya; introduces 
  Khemitian deities to Imya
  3270
  Attacks by sea creatures from the Sea-Throng 
  disrupt Castorhagi trade from Bream Islands
  3272
  Shadow Masks founded in Bard’s Gate; Black 
  Brotherhood begins construction of monastery on 
  Hill of Mornay
  3274
  Castorhagi colony of Neer established on Lesser 
  Bream Island
  3282
  Heldring expelled from the Domain of Hawkmoon, 
  which becomes semi-autonomous under Bosworth 
  the Great
  3306
  Giants from Giantlands invade Southvale as far as 
  Guildford; Duke Artimus Traverthal slain in battle; 
  Burgundia refuses to give aid; men of the vale and 
  dwarves of Durandel drive giants back; Duchy of 
  Southvale secedes from Kingdom of Burgundia; 
  Burgundia threatens war but does not invade; Mayor 
  of Penmorgh becomes de facto ruler of Southvale
  3307
  Battle of Olivár between Alcaldrich and Oceanic 
  ﬂ eets in northern Razor Sea inconclusive but 
  costly to both sides
  3308
  Alcaldar and Oceanus agree to Doctrine of 
  Apportionment, under which warships of both 
  empires will keep to their respective sides of the 
  Sinnar Ocean and not interfere with the other’s trade
  3309
  Border Keep constructed in Southvale to guard 
  against further Giantlands incursions
  3311
  Castorhage begins establishing colonies in Jaati
  3312
  Kingdom of Oceanus demands fealty from 
  Burgundia, Southvale, and Ramthion Island; 
  Oceanus invades Matagost Peninsula, quickly 
  ending civil war and bringing its factions to heel; 
  Southvale surrenders; Ramthion refuses; Burgundia 
  agrees to pay tribute to Pontus Tinigal to avoid 
  invasion, calls to Foere for aid with promise of 
  fealty; Suilley attacks troops sent by Foere to assist 
  Burgundia; Foere withdraws beyond the Rampart 
  and names region east of Suilley the District of 
  Sunderland; assassins sent by Black Brotherhood 
  attempt to murder Overking Osment; Osment 
  closes all Black Brotherhood banks and orders 
  interrogation of all captured Brotherhood ofﬁ cials
  
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS|483
  |483
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  3313
  Three more assassination attempts on Overking 
  Osment; High Church inquisitors conﬁ rm Black 
  Brotherhood’s involvement with infernal powers
  3314
  Overking Osment leads army of Foere to 
  besiege Black Monastery on Hill of Mornay; the 
  monastery disappears in a massive conﬂ agration
  3317
  Torwatch Keep constructed to keep watch over 
  ruins on Hill of Mornay
  3329
  Duke of Listonshire’s bastard son allies with a 
  cult and attempts to overthrow duchy; defeated 
  and slain by uprising of peasants
  3330
  Church of Mitra constructs Morninghaven 
  Sanitorium in Hearthglen at Osbert’s shrine
  3333
  Burgundia and Oceanus reach peace agreement; 
  Oceanus ﬁ rmly controls Matagost, Southvale, and 
  much of Sunderland
  3336
  Keston Province and County of Toullen change 
  their allegiance to Kingdom of Suilley
  3337
  Oceander army marches from Matagost for Troye
  3338
  Foerdewaith army defeats Oceanders soundly 
  at Battle of the King’s Road; Oceander forces 
  withdraw back across Sunderland
  3339
  Oceanus and Foere sign non-aggression treaty
  3350
  Partisans of Southvale attempt to assassinate 
  visiting King Phillipe of Burgundia in Penmorgh; 
  plot is discovered and king escapes
  3351
  Burgundia attacks Southvale; Oceander ﬂ eet 
  lands at Parthos to aid Southvale; Oceanus 
  also marches from Matagost; Trevi besieged by 
  combined armies; King Phillipe slain in battle, 
  succeeded by King Marteir
  3354
  Trevi destroyed; King Marteir taken captive to 
  Tros Zoas; Burgundia falls and Oceander armies 
  lay waste to the lands, leave garrison at Parthos
  3377
  Hetherington Quarrus Mabe of Castorhage ﬁ rst 
  breaches Between
  3380
  Knightly Order of Macobert largely destroyed in 
  Courghais, the few survivors go into hiding
  3392
  Tower of Bone appears in Fae Copse; dwarven city 
  of Durandel falls
  3400
  Rappan Athuk: The Dungeon of Graves discovered 
  in Forest of Hope
  3402
  Alcaldar begins construction on Upper Sangre 
  River locks
  3408
  Anuphotet I crowned pharaoh of Khemit; 
  beginning of 38th Dynasty
  3412
  Baron Atredi of Martyn’s Nest raises ﬂ eet to 
  destroy pirates of God’s Tear Island
  3414
  Lyre Valley grows wild and dangerous, High 
  Altars of Thyr and Muir relocated back into city 
  after too many parishioners and priests in the 
  Valley of the Shrine go missing
  
  484|
  484|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  3419
  Tecrad Avorill forms the Lyreguard as a free 
  company of soldiers to serve as defenders of 
  Bard’s Gate, begins raising baby griffons and 
  training recruits to be griffon riders; foundations 
  of Citadel of Griffons laid
  3420
  Baron Atredi of Martyn’s Nest overthrown 
  in Reme civil wars and replaced by council of 
  ministers loyal to Grand Duke
  3422
  Doom of Greenpool on Ramthion Island
  3423
  Merchants of Endhome establish Grollek’s Grove 
  as trading post between four nation-states: 
  Endhome, Sunderland, Suilley, and Duchy of the 
  Rampart
  3425
  Shandril of Freya founds village of Fairhill in 
  Stoneheart Valley
  3436
  Captain Aldrin Shaw of Eastwych deserts from 
  the navy of Foere, relocates to Swordport; begins 
  to gather small ﬂ eet of freebooters; Shaw’s estate 
  at Stormshield seized by governor of Eastwych
  3439
  Conroi Expedition crosses Wizard’s Wall to begin 
  exploration of Haunted Steppe and makes contact 
  with the Campachi; unseasonal torrential rains 
  begin to fall on the eastern slopes of the March of 
  Mountains, causing extensive ﬂ ooding, washout of 
  roads, and undermining of city walls and building 
  foundations; Duchy of the Rampart, Kingdom of 
  Suilley, County of Vourdon, Keston Province, and 
  Count of Toullen are hardest hit
  3442
  Captain Shaw’s ﬂ eet driven from Swordport by 
  earl’s dragoons; ﬂ ees to Razor Sea
  3443
  The rains have continued for four years; 
  casualties from ﬂ ooding and mudslides have 
  reached the tens of thousands, the destruction of 
  property is on a massive scale, and trade on the 
  South Road has virtually been brought to a halt 
  causing economic recession in the lands east of 
  the mountains; the noted scholar and philosopher 
  Oscobar of Vermis declares the rains to be the 
  work of the forces of Darkness and calls them the 
  Fiend Rains, and predicts they will continue for 
  another 13 years; the strange blind mystic Lun of 
  the Mountain calls the rain Rynas’ Tears, but she 
  gives no explanation why; Lun says the rains will 
  end in 6 more years
  3446
  Captain Shaw destroys small Foerdewaith colony 
  on Razor Coast and founds Port Shaw
  3449
  After 10 years the Fiend Rains come to an end; 
  the Borderland Provinces begin to dry out and 
  dig themselves out of the mud; drainage to 
  the lowlands of the Hearthglen have become a 
  spreading marsh that is eventually known as the 
  Creeping Mire
  3451
  Last King of Castorhage, Worrn IV, dies in riding 
  accident; Alice crowned queen; Oceanus opens 
  trade relations with Port Shaw
  3452
  Oceanus prohibits Castorhagi ships from trading 
  on Razor Coast and attacks them on sight
  
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX I: TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS|485
  |485
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  3455
  The Creeping Mire continues to grow and 
  attracts dangerous inhabitants, making the road 
  to Morninghaven Sanatorium perilous; Mitran 
  pilgrims begin to disappear from the Swamp Road 
  en route to Morninghaven
  3461
  Founding of Ghon Complex in Xha’en for the 
  “humane” reeducation for family members of state 
  enemies by the Rachar Dynasty; Castorhagi ship 
  The Lady Ruin engages two Oceanic warships 
  north of Razor Sea and sinks both
  Alcaldar expands river between Lakes Aur and 
  Cordona in eastern Libynos, begin construction on 
  River of Gold Locks
  3462
  Castorhage and Oceanus open talks for Razor 
  Coast trade
  3466
  Unable to guarantee the safety of its pilgrims, the 
  Church of Mitra sells Morninghaven Sanatorium 
  to Baronet Wilbane Osterklieg who turns it into a 
  prison for the criminally insane
  3467
  Beginning of reign of Prince Kemal of Pelshtaria
  3471
  Battle of Quandary Deep sees total victory for 
  Castorhage over the sea-throng of the Sinking 
  Place
  3478
  Oceanus invades Ramthion and conquers 
  lowlands; construction begins on the Damerhold
  3483
  Ramithi resistance gathers in mountains at ruins 
  of Farketh Knowe, elects dux bellorum to drive 
  Oceanders into the sea
  3484
  Ramithi resistance successfully repels Oceander 
  army in Caterwaul Mountains; Oceanus turns 
  responsibility to garrison Parthos over to 
  Southvale; construction begins on Fort Kellstyn
  3485
  Gathos the Cruel executes garrison of Parthos; 
  renames city and declares himself ﬁ rst Tyrant of 
  Lowport
  3486
  Keston Province assumes control of 
  Mourninghaven Sanatorium after arrest of 
  Baronet Osterklieg
  3491
  Six Castorhagi ships attack the Kraken’s Teeth to 
  force passage to the Sinking Place; The Lady Ruin
  and three others sunk, the remaining two retreat 
  to Great Bream shipyards
  3496
  Beginning of 39th Dynasty of Khemit; Modern 
  Period
  3497
  Abysthor, High Priest of Thyr, disappears in the 
  Valley of the Shrines; death of Prince Kemal of 
  Pelshtaria, and ascension of his children Prince 
  Adem and Princess Adelet
  3499
  Bofred the Just raised as the High Priest of Thyr 
  in Bard’s Gate
  Alcaldar opens Channel Lakes creating water 
  route across central Libynos; Castorhage signs 
  lease for long-term rights of passage
  3500
  Gnoll hordes attack Bard’s Gate; Commander 
  Avorill slain, Imril given command of Lyreguard; 
  city’s standing army instituted 
  3506
  Humanoid and barbaric human raiders descend 
  from Wilderland Hills and burn village of 
  Byrnum; beginning of Wilderlands Clan War; 
  County of Toullen sends small contingent of 
  troops to assist Keston
  
  486|
  486|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  TIMELINE OF THE LOST LANDS
  Imperial Record (I.R.)
  Event in Akados
  Event in Libynos
  3507
  Kingdom of Suilley commits troops to assist 
  beleaguered army of Keston Province against the 
  Wilderlands clans; Exeter fortiﬁ es Albor Broce 
  against incursions by the clans; shrines of Thyr 
  and Muir lost to hordes of Orcus out of Stoneheart 
  Mountain Dungeon; Clan Silverhelm seals its 
  halls to outside world
  3509
  County of Vourdon and Exeter Province send 
  assistance to Keston and Suilley troops; General 
  Cormien wins Battle of Broch Tarna breaking 
  the strength of the hill clans and sending their 
  margoyle masters ﬂ eeing back into the Forlorn 
  Mountains
  Castorhagi and Alcaldrich ships skirmish in 
  Boiling Sea; Castorhagi ships barred from use of 
  Libynosi Channel Lakes
  3511
  Rogue North Heath admiral launches a naval 
  assault on the Tycho Free States, and is driven off 
  with heavy losses
  3513
  Calthraxus the Black attacks Bard’s Gate mines 
  and makes them his lair
  3514
  Armies of Huun lay siege to Bard’s Gate
  3515
  King Ovar defeats Huun in Gulf of Akados and 
  at Bard’s Gate and pursues them into Irkainian 
  Desert
  3516
  Castorhagi ship Devastator anchors in Sangre Sea 
  off Caduvar
  3517
  Current year; rumors of Ovar’s return from 
  Irkaina
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|487
  |487
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  The following lists the major gods in the pantheons of wide adoption in the Lost Lands. It is not intended to be comprehensive as to all of the 
  deities in any given pantheon, or of the many deities that are worshipped throughout the Lost Lands.
  GODS OF AKADOS
  GODS OF AKADOS
  FOERDEWAITH/HYPERBOREAN PANTHEONS
  FOERDEWAITH/HYPERBOREAN PANTHEONS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence
  Typical 
  Worshippers
  Notes
  Ades
  Greater
  LE
  Lord of the Underworld, The 
  Gatekeeper, The Unseen 
  One, The Host of Many
  Death, Law, 
  Repose
  The grieving, the 
  dying, death cultists 
  Created the Tower 
  of Bone with Orcus 
  and Demogorgon
  Archeillus
  Lesser
  LG
  God of Rightful Rule; 
  Protector of the Nobility
  Law, Nobility
  Nobles, Foere 
  traditionalists, 
  magistrates and 
  judges
  Arden
  Greater
  NG
  God of the Sun
  Air, Good, Sun, 
  War
  Not currently 
  worshipped
  Now dead
  Arn
  Lesser
  NG
  The Sunlord, Lesser God of 
  Sun
  Sun, Healing, 
  Good
  Good-aligned 
  arcanists and 
  celestials
  Bacchus-
  Dionysus
  Greater
  CN
  God of Wine and Madness
  Intoxicants, 
  Revelry
  Tavernkeepers, 
  decadent nobles, 
  those who produce 
  or sell wine, ale or 
  spirits, and those 
  who simply want to 
  have a good time
  Belon the Wise
  Lesser
  NG
  God of Travel; Wanderer in 
  White
  Knowledge, 
  Magic, Travel, 
  Trickery
  Rangers, bards, 
  wandering wizards, 
  those who make 
  their living traveling
  Originally, was a 
  god of Libynos
  Ceres
  Greater
  LG
  The Revered Mother, 
  Goddess of the Home 
  and Midwives, Goddess 
  of Healing, Mercy, and 
  Patience, Goddess of the 
  Millstone
  Life, 
  Community, 
  Healing, 
  Protection
  Human matrons 
  and mothers, 
  midwives, bakers, 
  millers, orphans, 
  the poor, farmers, 
  some civic leaders, 
  halﬂ ings
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  The following lists the major gods in the pantheons of wide adoption in the Lost Lands. It is not intended to be comprehensive as to all of the 
  
  488|
  488|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence
  Typical 
  Worshippers
  Notes
  Da-Jin
  Greater
  NE
  Lord of Death, Lord of the 
  Burning Skull
  Death, Repose
  Necromancers, 
  assassins, 
  morticians, nihilists, 
  murderers
  Dame Torren
  Lesser
  N
  Goddess of the Four Winds
  Animal, Air, 
  Weather
  Travelers, bards, 
  people of Reme
  Dame Torren is one 
  of the three patron 
  deities of Reme
  Diana
  Lesser
  NG
  Goddess of Fertility and the 
  Hunt; Lady of the Wilds; 
  Protectress of the Moons
  Animal, 
  Nature, 
  Weather
  Hunters, trappers 
  and those who live 
  or travel through 
  the wilds
  Dre’uain the 
  Lame
  Greater
  LN
  God of Craft and Smiths, God 
  of Industry and Hard Work
  Artiﬁ ce, Earth, 
  Creation, Fire, 
  Knowledge
  Human, gnome, 
  dwarven, and 
  halﬂ ing craftsmen, 
  inventors, laborers, 
  union organizers, 
  maimed workers, 
  wounded veterans, 
  beggars
  Adopted from 
  Gnomish pantheon
  Freya
  Lesser
  NG
  Goddess of Love and 
  Fertility; Freyja
  Earth, 
  Fertility, Plant, 
  War
  Human females, 
  farmers, midwives, 
  hunters, druids
  Adopted from 
  Heldring/
  Northlands 
  pantheon
  Grox
  Lesser
  LE
  God of Artiﬁ ce and Darkness, 
  The Deep Father
  Artiﬁ ce, 
  Darkness, Evil, 
  Knowledge, 
  Law
  Duergar, evil 
  dwarves, lawyers, 
  spies, scribes, 
  alchemists 
  Hecate
  Greater
  LE
  Goddess of Evil Magic, The 
  Arcane Mother
  Evil, 
  Knowledge, 
  Law, Magic
  Arcane spellcasters, 
  women, hags, 
  witches, crones, 
  remnants of lost 
  Arcady, some devils
  Jamboor
  Greater
  N
  God of Knowledge, Magic, 
  and Death; He Who Hears 
  the Secrets of the Dead
  Knowledge, 
  Death
  Arcane spellcasters, 
  sages, seers, 
  mediums, spies
  Kamien
  Lesser
  N
  Goddess of Rivers, Streams, 
  and Springs; The Sparkling 
  Maiden; Old Widemouth; The 
  Water Lady
  Animal, Travel, 
  Water
  Women, nymphs, 
  sprites, nereids, 
  other water 
  creatures and 
  fey, prostitutes, 
  boatmen, bargemen, 
  ﬁ shermen, river 
  giants
  Kel
  Greater
  LG
  Goddess of Self-Sacriﬁ ce; 
  Lady of Protection
  Good, Healing, 
  Law, Protection
  Not currently 
  worshipped
  Now dead
  Kudrak
  Lesser
  LG
  Lesser God of Guardians
  Community, 
  Good, 
  Protection, 
  Strength
  Farmers, 
  guardsmen
  Mirkeer
  Lesser
  NE
  Goddess of Shadows and the 
  Night
  Darkness, Evil, 
  Magic, Shadow
  Thieves, assassins, 
  sorcerers, those 
  seeking to hide for 
  ill purposes
  Mithras
  Greater
  LN
  Lord Storm; The Battle; The 
  Soldier-God; Mithrae Invicto; 
  God of War, Battles, and 
  Soldiers
  War, Law
  Soldiers, generals, 
  warriors, statesmen
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|489
  |489
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence
  Typical 
  Worshippers
  Notes
  Moccavallo
  Lesser
  CN
  God of Disguise and 
  Treachery, Trickster God of 
  Chaos and Disorder
  Chaos, 
  Trickery, Luck
  Thieves, scoundrels, 
  jesters, never-do-
  wells
  Muir
  Greater
  LG
  Goddess of Virtue and 
  Paladins
  Law, Good, 
  Protection, War
  Humans paladins, 
  Heldring soldiers, 
  Alcaldrich knights, 
  Justicars
  Also known as 
  Eostre by the 
  Heldring
  Note
  Lesser
  NG
  God of the Harp
  Travel, 
  Luck, Music, 
  Protection
  Bards, musicians, 
  travelers
  Serves and travels 
  with Oghma
  Oghma
  Greater
  CG
  God of Music
  Art, Music, 
  Travel
  Bards, musicians, 
  dancers and other 
  performers
  Patron god of Bard’s 
  Gate; adopted from 
  pantheon of the Old 
  Ways
  Pan
  Greater
  N
  God of the Wild, Lord of the 
  Flocks and the Hunt
  Animal, 
  Fertility, Music
  Bards, hunters, 
  certain fey races
  Quell
  Greater
  CG
  The Sea King; Lord of the 
  Blue
  Travel, Water, 
  Weather
  Explorers, sea 
  traders, sailors, 
  people that rely on 
  the sea for their 
  livelihood
  Sefagreth
  Greater
  N
  God of Commerce, Trade, and 
  Cities
  Community, 
  Commerce, 
  Wealth
  Merchants, traders, 
  shopkeepers, 
  bankers, caravan 
  guards, travelers
  Solanus
  Greater
  NG
  Goddess of the Sun and 
  Healing
  Sun, Light, 
  Strength, 
  Healing
  Rangers, bards, 
  healers, soldiers, 
  undead slayers
  Stryme/Strym
  Lesser
  NG
  Stryme the Mighty, God of 
  Strength
  Liberation, 
  Protection, 
  Strength, War
  Soldiers, warriors, 
  dwarves
  Adopted from 
  dwarven pantheon
  Telophus
  Lesser
  LN
  Lord of Crops and the 
  Seasons
  Nature, Plant, 
  Sun, Weather
  Farmers and 
  halﬂ ings, some 
  druids revering his 
  natural cycle aspect
  Thursis
  Greater
  N
  God of Battle
  War, Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Magic, 
  Strength
  Warriors, 
  mercenaries, and 
  warlords
  Thyr
  Greater
  LG
  God of Law and Justice; The 
  Lawgiver; Tiwaz; Tyr
  Law, Nobility
  Human royalty, 
  ruling and 
  legislative bodies, 
  some magistrates 
  and judges
  Tykee
  Greater
  CG
  Goddess of Luck and Good 
  Fortune
  Luck
  Bards, gamblers, 
  thieves, merchants, 
  anyone seeking good 
  luck
  Vanitthu
  Greater
  LN
  God of the Steadfast Guard, 
  The Gatekeeper
  Protection, 
  Law
  Barristers, judges, 
  guards, professional 
  soldiers, military 
  ofﬁ cers and nobles
  Yenomesh
  Lesser
  N
  God of Glyphs and Writing
  Knowledge, 
  Magic, 
  Protection, 
  Runes
  Wizards, scholars, 
  sages, students, 
  scribes, librarians
  Adopted from 
  Anunnaki pantheon 
  of Libynos
  
  490|
  490|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  GODS OF THE ANARI (THOUSAND ROCKS)
  GODS OF THE ANARI (THOUSAND ROCKS)
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Ni Araha
  Greater
  NG
  The Survivor, 
  The Lady of Peace
  Community, 
  Good, 
  Protection
  Anari of the Thousand Rocks
  Yisya Thun
  Lesser
  NG
  The Watcher
  Earth, Good, 
  Water
  Anari of the Thousand Rocks
  GODS OF CASTORHAGE
  GODS OF CASTORHAGE
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Ash Queen, The
  Greater
  CN
  Queen of Whores; The 
  Hunger; Goddess of Lust, 
  Nature, and Witchcraft
  Animal, Beast, 
  Chaos, Earth, 
  Plant 
  Druids, mothers, fertility cults, satyrs, 
  witches, hags, atavistic serpentfolk, 
  nocturnals, intelligent plant creatures, 
  rorkouns, gorynychs, bholes, dark young, 
  living monoliths, some mongrelfolk
  Baphomet
  Greater
  CE
  The Rage Storm; Demon 
  Lord of Anarchy, Beasts, and 
  Anger
  Animal, Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Fire, 
  Water 
  Minotaurs, lycanthropes, therianthropes, 
  chaaors, the Alcaldrich Order of Knights 
  Templar in Exile
  Brine
  Greater
  N
  Ocean’s Anger; Fish-Brother; 
  God of Sea and Unsea
  Animal, Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Water, 
  Weather 
  Briny, brine mothers, ﬁ shermen, 
  locathahs, some sahuagin
  Father Canker
  Lesser
  N
  Brother Choke; The Silent 
  Assassin; God of Poison, 
  Silence, and Smog
  Air, Death, 
  Trickery, 
  Weather 
  Beggars, grieving mothers and fathers, 
  belkers, some undead and psychotic 
  thieves/murderers
  Geryon
  Arch-
  Devil
  LE
  The Liar; The Great Serpent; 
  Lord of the Fifth; Patron of 
  Betrayal and Deceit
  Charm, 
  Evil, Law, 
  Scalykind, 
  Strength 
  Politicians, con artists, barristers, justices, 
  mongrelfolk, serpentfolk, lizardfolk, 
  inphidians
  Horseman, The
  Greater
  NE
  End of Days; Lord of Disease; 
  Supreme of Daemons; The 
  Oinodaemon
  Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Madness, 
  War 
  Daemons, doomsayers, the insane, plague 
  carriers, ghouls, some wererats
  Jubilex
  Demon 
  Lord
  CE
  The Faceless Lord; Lord 
  of Corruption and Decay; 
  Demon Lord of Slimes and 
  Oozes
  Chaos, Evil, 
  Water 
  Insane humans, lepers, intelligent oozes, 
  ooze demons, spawn of Jubilex, slime 
  nagas, some evil dragons
  Lord Shingles
  Lesser
  LN
  The Shadow on the Rooftop; 
  Sovereign of the heights; God 
  of Builders, Gables, Rooftops, 
  and the Sky
  Air, Artiﬁ ce, 
  Community, 
  Knowledge 
  Architects, builders, gablemaesters, 
  sprawlmasons, spider-hunters, daredevils, 
  some burglars and vigilantes
  Lucifer
  Greater
  LE
  Prince of Darkness; Prince 
  of Lies; The Adversary; The 
  Prince of Light; Lord of 
  Infernus; The Falling Tower; 
  Satan
  Charm, Evil, 
  Law, Strength, 
  War 
  Witches, corruptors, politicians, 
  revolutionaries, the disaffected
  Mammon
  Arch-
  Devil
  LE
  Lord of Avarice; Lord of the 
  Third
  Artiﬁ ce, Earth, 
  Evil, Law, 
  Trickery 
  Bankers, royalty, business owners, 
  thieves, swyne, many Castorhagers 
  (covertly)
  Mithras
  Greater
  LN
  Lord Storm; The Battle; The 
  Soldier-God; Mithrae Invicto; 
  God of War, Battles, and 
  Soldiers
  Animal, Glory, 
  Law, Repose, 
  Strength, War 
  Soldiers, generals, warriors, statesmen
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|491
  |491
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Mother Grace
  Greater
  LN
  The Holy Mother; Mother 
  of All; Goddess of Family, 
  Order, and Tradition
  Community, 
  Law, Nobility, 
  Repose
  Castorhagers
  Papyri
  Demigod
  N
  The Archivist; The Quiet 
  One; The Lost Apprentice; 
  The Thoughtful Silence; 
  Goddess of the Written Word
  Knowledge, 
  Magic, Runes 
  Scholars, teachers, wizards, arcanists, 
  alchemists, nagas, liches
  Sister Shadows
  Demigod
  CN
  The Unseen; Goddess of 
  Alleys, Streets, Piers, and 
  Pathways
  Artiﬁ ce, 
  Darkness, 
  Earth, Trickery 
  Beggars, thieves, dock laborers, street 
  sweeps, commoners, ratfolk, mongrelfolk, 
  skulks
  ETHTUWATE PANTHEON (HAUNTED STEPPES)
  ETHTUWATE PANTHEON (HAUNTED STEPPES)
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Cajusta
  Lesser
  CN
  The Mocking Jester, God 
  of Comedy, Festivals and 
  Mischief
  Chaos, Fire, 
  Travel, 
  Trickery
  Children, comedians, 
  performers, satirists
  Drethra
  Greater
  CE
  Mother of Mayhem, Goddess 
  of the Moon, Darkness and 
  Fire
  Chaos, 
  Darkness, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Fire
  Conspirators, 
  lycanthropes, murderers, 
  pyromaniacs, spies, 
  thieves
  Iluyugo
  Lesser
  NE
  The Parasite, Goddess of 
  Disease and Suffering
  Air, Animal, 
  Death, Evil, 
  Plant
  Diseased and disease-
  causing creatures, evil 
  humanoids, torturers, 
  sadomasochists
  Omay
  Lesser
  NG
  The Great Mother Corn, 
  Goddess of Fertility, Health 
  and Marriage
  Animal, 
  Community, 
  Healing, Plant
  Animal breeders, parents, 
  lovers, midwives
  Orlik
  Lesser
  LN
  The Rotting Limb, God of 
  Death
  Death, Earth, 
  Law, Repose
  Assassins, embalmers, 
  murders, soldiers
  Soncala
  Lesser
  LN
  The Horse Lord, God of War
  Animal, Law, 
  Nobility, War
  Diplomats, warlords, 
  generals, riders, soldiers
  Srishwa
  Lesser
  NG
  The Queen of Beasts, 
  Goddess of the Hunt
  Animal, Good, 
  Nobility, 
  Strength
  Butchers, druids, good-
  aligned magical beasts, 
  hunters, intelligent 
  animals, rangers
  Tunkaku
  Greater
  N
  The Great Giver, God of 
  Creation
  Air, Creation, 
  Earth, Fire, 
  Water
  Chieftains, mystics, 
  elemental spellcasters
  Dead, 
  voluntarily 
  divided into 
  the sun, sky, 
  gods, the 
  universe
  Thaka
  Greater
  NG
  The Golden Rider, God of the 
  Sun, Harvest, and Life
  Community, 
  the Sun, Water
  Chieftains, farmers, 
  shepherds
  Ugutis
  Lesser
  CN
  The Sin Master, God of Vices
  Chaos, Charm, 
  Darkness, Luck
  Addicts, gamblers, 
  hedonists, poisoners, 
  sadists, seducers, sots, 
  thieves
  Zuxaca
  Demigod
  CN
  The Serpent Trickster, 
  Demigod of Madness
  Animal, Chaos, 
  Madness, 
  Trickery
  Madmen, serpents, 
  tricksters
  
  492|
  492|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  GODS OF HAWKMOON
  GODS OF HAWKMOON
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Aletheia
  Greater
  LG
  Goddess of Wisdom and 
  Protection
  Community, 
  Law, Wisdom, 
  War
  Hunters, guardians
  Bylkalla
  Greater
  N
  God of Battle and Courage
  War
  Warriors and soldiers
  Cavacendo/
  Cavecendo
  Greater
  N
  God of Fire and Horses
  Animals, Fire, 
  Liberation
  Centaurs, dwarves
  Elmarran
  Greater
  CN
  God of Water and Change, 
  God of the Depths
  Chaos, Water
  Mariners, ﬁ sherfolk
  Gilyo
  Lesser
  CN
  God of Travel and Caprice
  Chaos, Travel, 
  Trickery
  Street dwarves
  Hanijma
  Lesser
  N
  God of Lightning and Beer, 
  God of the Revel
  Alcohol, 
  Dancing, Luck, 
  Revelry, Water
  Brewers, revelers, sailors in storms
  Igvys
  Lesser
  NE
  God of South Wind and 
  Decay
  Death, Decay, 
  Destruction
  Those seeking to avoid a terrible fate
  Inoska
  Lesser
  NG
  Goddess of Secrets and Hope
  Good, 
  Liberation, 
  Luck
  Knowledge, Magic
  Lusph
  Lesser
  N
  God of the Sea and the North 
  Wind
  Storms, Water, 
  Wind
  Fishermen, mariners
  Lyra
  Lesser
  LG
  Goddess of Language and 
  Creation
  Creation, 
  Healing, 
  Knowledge
  Craftsfolk, artists and bards
  Majium
  Lesser
  LG
  God of Magic and Mercy
  Magic, Mercy
  Magicians, sorcerers, residents of Coralis
  Nekeler
  Lesser
  CE
  God of Deserts and Lies, 
  The Desert Walker, Subtle 
  Deceiver
  The Sun, 
  Trickery
  Bandits and petty criminals
  Oon
  Lesser
  CN
  God of Nature and Storms
  Animals, 
  Weather, Wind
  Wild druids, wilderness scouts, nomads
  Pelora
  Lesser
  NG
  Goddess of Romance and 
  Tragedy
  Literature, 
  Love, Poetry
  Poets, bards, and wealthy folk
  Quooembla
  Lesser
  LG
  God of Wisdom
  Wisdom
  Scholars, teachers, students
  Ulremara
  Lesser
  N
  Goddess of Candles and 
  Desire
  Love
  Courtesans
  Zahm
  Greater
  LN
  God of Money and Business
  Commerce, 
  Trade
  Merchants
  GODS OF THE HELDRING AND NORTHLANDS
  GODS OF THE HELDRING AND NORTHLANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Balder
  Greater
  NG
  God of Bravery and Beauty
  Glory, 
  Strength, War
  Male heroes and kings 
  of good AL
  Also known as 
  Baldr
  Bragi
  Lesser
  CG
  God of Poetry and Song
  Chaos, Glory, 
  Travel
  Skalds, chroniclers, 
  travelers
  Also known as 
  Bragr
  Frey
  Lesser
  NG
  God of the Sun and the Hunt
  Animal, Plant, 
  the Sun
  Hunters, frontiersmen, 
  druids, some elves and 
  fey
  Also known as 
  Freyr
  Freya
  Lesser
  NG
  Goddess of Love and Fertility
  Animal, 
  Darkness, 
  Healing, Plant, 
  War
  Human females, 
  midwives, spear 
  maidens, hunters, 
  druids
  Also known as 
  Freyja
  
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  |493
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Frigg
  Greater
  NG
  Goddess of the 
  Home and Hearth
  Air, 
  Community, 
  Healing, 
  Protection
  Wives, mothers, 
  stewards, spear 
  maidens, spinners, hall 
  builders
  Hel
  Greater
  NE
  Goddess of Death; 
  Lady of Pestilence
  Air, Animal, 
  Darkness, 
  Death, Earth, 
  Evil, Plant, 
  Water
  Diseased and disease-
  causing creatures, evil 
  humanoids, evil druids, 
  evil women, evil skalds
  Member of 
  Ginnvaettir 
  (demons)
  Loki
  Greater
  CE
  God of Trickery, Fire,
  and Strife
  Chaos, Evil, 
  Fire, Luck, 
  Madness, 
  Trickery
  Thieves, con men, 
  gamblers, oathbreakers, 
  arsonists, madmen
  Also known as 
  Loptr
  Muir/Eostre
  Greater
  LG
  Goddess of Virtue and 
  Paladins; Queen of the Dísir, 
  Goddess of Spring and 
  the Dawn
  Law, Good, 
  Protection, War
  Paladins, warriors, 
  soldiers
  Also in 
  Foerdewaith 
  pantheons; in 
  decline; sister of 
  Thyr and Kel
  Njord
  Lesser
  N
  God of Seafarers and Winds
  Air, Luck, 
  Travel, Water, 
  Weather
  Fishermen, seafarers, 
  merchants, whalers
  Also known as 
  Njordr
  Norns
  Greater
  N
  Weavers of Fate: 
  Uror, Verdandi, and Skuld
  Artiﬁ ce, Death, 
  Fate, Glory, 
  Knowledge, 
  Luck
  Seers
  Odin
  Greater
  NG
  All-Father; 
  Father of the Gods
  Animal, Glory, 
  Knowledge, 
  Magic, Nobility, 
  Protection, 
  Runes, Travel, 
  War
  Jarls, warriors, 
  arcane spellcasters, 
  Bearsarkers, 
  Ulfhanders, fathers, 
  travelers
  Also known 
  as Wotan
  Rán
  Lesser
  CN
  Goddess of the Pitiless Waves
  Animal, 
  Chaos, Water, 
  Weather
  Druids, witches, sea 
  creatures, some sailors, 
  madmen
  Surter
  Lesser
  LE
  God of the Fire Giants
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Fire, War
  Fire giants, volcano 
  giants, some ﬁ re 
  creatures and other 
  giants
  Also known as 
  Surtr
  Thor
  Greater
  CG
  God of Thunder
  Air, Chaos, 
  Glory, 
  Strength, War, 
  Weather
  Heroes, warriors, ship 
  masters, farmers
  Also known as 
  Donar
  Thrym
  Lesser
  CE
  God of the Frost Giants
  Chaos, Evil, 
  Ice, Trickery, 
  Weather
  Frost giants, Jötnar, 
  jotund trolls, frost 
  dwarves, ice trolls, 
  some evil humans 
  living in arctic areas
  Also known as 
  Thrymr
  Thyr/Tyr
  Greater
  LG
  God of Law and Justice; 
  The Lawgiver
  Community, 
  Healing, Law, 
  Knowledge, 
  Nobility, 
  Protection
  Good-aligned jarls, 
  members of the Thing, 
  hirthmenn, orators, 
  peacemakers
  Also in 
  Foerdewaith 
  pantheon; in 
  decline; brother 
  of Muir and Kel; 
  Thyr and Tyr 
  and Tiwaz are 
  the same god in 
  different aspects
  
  494|
  494|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  XHA’EN PANTHEON
  XHA’EN PANTHEON
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Banra
  Greater
  LN
  Goddess of the Underworld
  Death, Law
  Mourners, families with lost loved ones, 
  funeral masters, morticians
  Dakhan
  Greater
  LN
  God of War and Justice
  Law, War
  Judges, soldiers, generals, nobles
  Noradu
  Lesser
  LG
  God of Nature
  Animal, 
  Nature, Plant
  Druids, farmers, priests of nature
  Jatan
  Greater
  LN
  God of the Sun and Moon
  Darkness, Light, 
  Moon, Sun
  Travelers, rogues, criminals, spies, 
  merchants
  Lainu
  Lesser
  LN
  Goddess of Lakes and Rivers
  Travel, Water, 
  Weather
  River-dwellers, ﬁ sherfolk, travelers, 
  bargemen
  Meita
  Greater
  LG
  Goddess of the Harvest
  Community, 
  Earth, Good, 
  Healing, Plant
  Farmers, villagers, herders, grain and 
  produce merchants
  Quana
  Greater
  LG
  Goddess of Love and Mercy
  Good, 
  Healing, Love, 
  Protection
  Lovers, poets, young married couples, 
  parents, those in need of mercy and 
  forgiveness
  Gorni
  Lesser
  LN
  God of the Mountains
  Earth, 
  Strength, 
  Travel
  Mountaineers, travelers, miners, 
  mountain-dwelling folk
  Estia
  Greater
  LN
  Goddess of the Sky
  Air, Nobility, 
  Weather
  Farmers, merchants, sailors, those 
  dependent upon the weather
  Oba
  Greater
  LN
  God of the Oceans
  Knowledge, 
  Water, Weather
  Villagers who dwell near the ocean, 
  sailors, ﬁ sherfolk, merchant captains
  Ara
  Greater
  LN
  The Supreme God, 
  Emperor of Heaven
  Creation, 
  Knowledge, 
  Law, Nobility
  Most Xha’en folk
  Yainda
  Lesser
  LG
  Goddess of Childbirth
  Community, 
  Family, Healing
  Doctors, parents, children, midwives
  Zakur
  Greater
  LG
  God of Spring Planting
  Earth, Plant
  Farmers, villagers, merchants
  OTHER GODS OF AKADOS
  OTHER GODS OF AKADOS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Bowbe
  Greater
  CN
  God of War and Slaughter, 
  Bowbe the Bloody, 
  Bowbe the Baleful, 
  Bowbe the Bearskin, 
  Bowbe the Berserker
  Chaos, 
  Strength, 
  Vengeance, War
  Barbarians, raiders, 
  reavers, and plunderers
  Cybele
  Greater
  NE
  Magna Mater, Black Goat 
  of the Woods, Goddess of 
  Fertility and Witchcraft, 
  The Dark Sister 
  (the smaller moon - Sybil)
  Creation, Evil, 
  Knowledge, 
  Magic
  Witches, 
  disenfranchised 
  women, lycanthropes, 
  degenerate cults, hags, 
  harpies, some medusas
  Mocham
  Greater
  LG
  The Earthpower, 
  Stone of Battle
  Good, Earth, 
  Law, War
  Formerly svirfneblin, 
  deep dwarves, shaitan, 
  earth elementals; Now 
  unknown 
  Believed lost or 
  dead
  Oinodaemon
  Greater
  NE
  End of Days; Lord of Disease; 
  Supreme of Daemons
  Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Madness, 
  War 
  Daemons, doomsayers, 
  the insane, plague 
  carriers, ghouls, some 
  wererats
  Known as the 
  Horseman in 
  Castorhage
  Orcus
  Demon 
  Prince
  CE
  Demon Prince of the Undead
  Chaos, Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, War
  Orcs, orogs, monsters, 
  undead, demons, evil 
  humanoids
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
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  |495
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  GODS OF LIBYNOS 
  GODS OF LIBYNOS 
  ANUNNAKI PANTHEON (ISTAFLUMINA)
  ANUNNAKI PANTHEON (ISTAFLUMINA)
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Anu
  Greater
  LG
  The Father and King 
  of the Gods
  Air, Law, 
  Magic, 
  Protection 
  Kings, nobles, exorcists
  Apsu
  Greater
  CN
  The Primeval Father
  Chaos, 
  Knowledge, 
  Magic, Water 
  Magicians, sages, 
  mystics
  Ea
  Greater
  N
  The God of Wisdom and 
  Magic
  Earth, Healing, 
  Knowledge, 
  Magic 
  Exorcists, healers, 
  craftsmen, wizards
  Erishkigal
  Greater
  LE
  The Queen of the 
  Underworld
  Death, Earth, 
  Evil, Law 
  Death priests, 
  assassins, evil 
  nobles, tomb robbers, 
  necromancers
  Ishtar
  Greater
  CG
  The Goddess of Love and 
  War
  Animals, 
  Destruction, 
  Protection, War 
  Prostitutes, concubines, 
  eunuchs, warriors
  Kingu
  Lesser
  CE
  The General of Chaos
  Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Strength 
  Evil warriors, kings, 
  raiders, slavers
  Marduk
  Greater
  LG
  The General of Law
  Air, Good, Law, 
  Strength 
  Warriors, generals, 
  charioteers
  Namtar
  Lesser
  LE
  The Herald of Evil Destiny
  Evil, Law, Luck, 
  Trickery 
  Judges, evil viziers, 
  oracles, sorcerers
  Nergal
  Greater
  NE
  The God of Plague, 
  Deathbringer
  Air, Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, War 
  Warlords, plague 
  priests, evil cultists
  Sin
  Lesser
  N
  The Moon
  Air, Knowledge, 
  Magic, Travel 
  Astrologers, scribes, 
  pilgrims, travelers
  Tammuz
  Greater
  NG
  The God of Fertility and 
  Rebirth
  Earth, Good, 
  Healing, Plants
  Farmers, peasants, 
  landowners
  Tiamat
  Greater
  CE
  The Primeval Mother
  Animals, Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil 
  Evil warriors, sorcerers, 
  nobles, evil dragons and 
  draconic creatures
  Utu
  Lesser
  LN
  The Sun
  Fire, Law, the 
  Sun, War 
  Holy warriors, judges, 
  government ofﬁ cials
  Yenomesh
  Lesser
  N
  The God of Glyphs and 
  Writing
  Knowledge, 
  Magic, 
  Protection, 
  Runes 
  Loremasters, wizards, 
  scribes, authors, 
  historians
  Adopted into 
  Foerdewaith 
  pantheon
  CHURCHES OF MAH-BAREK
  CHURCHES OF MAH-BAREK
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Church of 
  Fatimashan, 
  The Blessed 
  of Mah-Barek
  Greater
  NG
  Church of charity, good, and 
  the sun
  Charity, Glory, 
  Good, Repose, 
  Sun 
  Charitable humans, some humanoids; 
  only females are clerics
  Sect of Zahrahan
  Greater
  CE
  Sect of death, glory, and evil
  Death, Evil, 
  Glory, Nobility, 
  Strength 
  Revolutionaries, violent zealots, 
  would-be tyrants
  
  496|
  496|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Church of Hafaz, 
  The Light of 
  Mah-Barek
  Greater
  N
  Church of esoteric 
  knowledge, artiﬁ ce and 
  magic
  Artiﬁ ce, 
  Esoteric, 
  Knowledge, 
  Magic, Rune 
  Scholars, philosophers, sages, elitists
  Cult of Zargareth
  Greater
  CN
  Sect of artiﬁ ce, knowledge, 
  magic, and entropy
  Artiﬁ ce, 
  Entropy, 
  Knowledge, 
  Magic, Runes 
  Deranged inventors, anarchists, nihilists
  Church of Koua, 
  The Hand of 
  Mah-Barek
  Greater
  NE
  Church of intrigue, strength, 
  and war
  Intrigue, 
  Nobility, 
  Strength, 
  Trickery, War 
  Bureaucrats, dictators, bandits, spies, 
  thieves, assassins
  Children of 
  Abbashar
  Greater
  CE
  Sect of chaos, destruction, 
  and trickery
  Chaos, Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Trickery 
  Madmen, murderers, deviant hedonists
  Church of 
  Marwan, 
  The Mystic 
  of Mah-Barek
  Greater
  CG
  Church of performance, 
  magic, liberation, and luck
  Chaos, Magic, 
  Liberation, 
  Luck, 
  Performance 
  Performers, bards, musicians, orators, 
  artists
  The Poppy’s 
  Chorus
  Greater
  CN
  Sect of darkness, madness, 
  and chaos
  Chaos, Darkness, 
  Liberation, 
  Madness, Travel 
  Addicts
  GOHTRA PANTHEON (JAATI)
  GOHTRA PANTHEON (JAATI)
  THE TWELVE WHO SIT ON THE THIRTEEN THRONES
  THE TWELVE WHO SIT ON THE THIRTEEN THRONES
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Hangrum 
  the Wise
  Greater
  N
  First Among the Twelve; 
  God of Wisdom and 
  Leadership
  Knowledge, 
  Weather
  Rulers, judges, farmers
  Eoya the Mother
  Greater
  NG
  Destroyer of Evil; 
  Fierce Protector of 
  Family and Culture
  Family, Good, 
  Protection
  Heads of household, paladins, artists in 
  dangerous situations
  Biale
  Greater
  NG
  Creator of Worlds
  Creation, 
  Family, 
  Knowledge, Law
  Fathers, mothers, artists and artisans
  Vihode
  Greater
  LG
  Sustainer of Worlds
  Law, Nobility
  Most people to some degree, leaders, 
  guardsmen
  Sinenye
  Greater
  CG
  Judge and 
  Destroyer of Worlds
  Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Law, Knowledge 
  Rulers, judges, most people to some 
  degree
  Chammu the 
  Benevolent
  Greater
  CG
  Rhino-headed 
  Ruler of All Beings
  Knowledge, 
  Wealth
  Nobles, scholars, business owners, hopeful 
  people
  Mitra
  Greater
  LG
  God of Law, Justice, 
  and the Sun; God of Oaths
  Good, Healing, 
  Law, Protection, 
  War 
  Common folk, rulers, noble warriors, 
  magistrates, judges, healers, the sick and 
  disabled
  Mithras
  Greater
  LN
  God of War
  Animal, Glory, 
  Law, War, 
  Repose 
  Warriors, especially those who revel in 
  battle
  Rhiaan
  Greater
  CN
  Goddess of Air and Birds
  Air, Animal, 
  Chaos, Travel 
  Intelligent avians and ﬂ ying creatures
  Kal’Ay-Mah
  Greater
  LE
  The Black One; 
  The Black Mother
  Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Law, Knowledge 
  Assassins, religious scholars
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|497
  |497
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Gromm the 
  Thunderer
  Greater
  CG/
  CE
  God of the Storm
  Air, Destruction, 
  Strength, War, 
  Water
  Barbarians, bards, those who live in areas 
  with harsh weather
  Pandrume
  Greater
  CG
  The Child God; Protector 
  of Children; The Trickster; 
  Purveyor of Magic
  Air, Luck, 
  Magic, Trickery
  Children (more commonly told of in 
  stories than genuinely worshiped), 
  wizards and sorcerers
  NOBLE DEITIES, WHO STAND IN THE COURT OF THE THRONES 
   
   
   
   
   
  NOBLE DEITIES, WHO STAND IN THE COURT OF THE THRONES 
   
   
   
   
   
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Sphere of 
  Inﬂ uence
  Typical Worshippers
  Bablukar
  Lesser
  LG
  Lord of the Golden Sword
  Good, Healing, 
  Law, Protection, 
  Strength 
  Paladins, people who want to better the world
  Gaijeikhan
  Lesser
  N
  God of War and Victory; 
  Commander-In-Chief 
  of the Army of the Heavens
  Glory, Strength, 
  War
  Military commanders; warriors, especially 
  male; those who value masculine might
  Hassith-Kaa
  Greater
  NE
  The Great Serpent
  Evil, Scalyfolk, 
  Strength, 
  Trickery 
  Nagas, serpentfolk, inphidians, intelligent 
  serpents and reptiles, some assassins
  Jengpata
  Lesser
  NG
  Goddess of Speech; 
  Mother of Wisdom
  Art, Knowledge, 
  Music
  Artists, politicians, musicians, actors, 
  leaders
  Kremarra
  Lesser
  CE
  Dragon Goddess of 
  Death and Nihilism; 
  The Monkey Eater
  Darkness, 
  Death, Evil
  Cultists, dragonborn, half-dragons, 
  lizardfolk, other reptilian races
  Maitira
  Lesser
  N
  Goddess of Beauty, 
  Wealth, and Fortune
  Light, Beauty, 
  Luck, Wealth, 
  Love
  Women, poor folk, mothers, wives
  Nagtel
  Lesser
  LE
  God of the Heavenly 
  Fountain; God of Rain, 
  Justice and Night
  Air, Darkness, 
  Water, Weather
  Sailors, farmers, lawmen
  Orozim
  Lesser
  CN
  Acceptor of Sacriﬁ ce, 
  Messenger of the Gods
  Communication, 
  Destruction, 
  Fire
  Those seeking the gods’ attention; people 
  in extreme peril
  Owomarari
  Lesser
  NE
  Dark Earth Mother; 
  Mistress of 
  Monstrous Beasts
  Animal, 
  Darkness, Earth
  Cultists, evil summoners
  Rachiss
  Lesser
  NE
  Mogul of Parasites, 
  God of Pestilence
  Animal, Evil, 
  Plant 
  Evil druids
  S’Surimiss
  Lesser
  NE
  The Rat Queen, 
  Goddess of Rats
  Animal, Evil, 
  Destruction
  Wererats, some ratfolk
  Thindawl
  Demigod
  NG
  God of Truth and Virtue
  Good, Honor
  Most people other than criminals and 
  those who live dishonestly
  Zadastha
  Lesser
  NG
  Goddess of Love
  Charm, 
  Communication, 
  Good, Healing, 
  Trickery 
  Poets, romantic authors, bards, 
  lovelorn individuals 
  GUARDIAN DEITIES, WHO RESIDE IN THE GARDEN OF SOULS 
   
   
   
   
   
  GUARDIAN DEITIES, WHO RESIDE IN THE GARDEN OF SOULS 
   
   
   
   
   
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Zaihhess
  Demigod
  CE
  God of Death
  Evil, Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Death 
  Necromancers, cultists
  Zors
  Demigod
  CN
  Fortune’s Fool, Demigod of 
  Luck 
  Chaos, Luck, 
  Trickery 
  Gamblers, beggars, slaves, travelers, the 
  poor, and prisoners awaiting execution
  
  498|
  498|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  DEMONS
  DEMONS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Shartang
  Demon
  CE
  Demon King, 
  Enemy of the Gods
  Chaos, Darkness, 
  Death, Destruction, 
  Evil, Trickery, War
  Demons, cultists, evil wizards 
  GRASSLANDS SPIRITS (CENTRAL LIBYNOS)
  GRASSLANDS SPIRITS (CENTRAL LIBYNOS)
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Father Sky
  Greater
  NG
  He Who Sends the Wind and 
  Makes the Grass Grow
  Air, Darkness, 
  Law, Void, 
  Weather 
  Hunters, scouts, 
  judges, leaders
  Also known as 
  Tiabene
  Mother Earth
  Greater
  NG
  The Birth-Giver
  Community, 
  Earth, Plant, 
  Water 
  Common people and 
  growers
  Also known as 
  Osi, Ulagooro
  Brother/Sister 
  Horse
  Lesser
  CG
  The One Who Runs Across 
  the Grass
  Animal, 
  Protection, 
  Runes, Travel 
  Travelers, animal 
  herders, horse breeders
  Little Pajero
  Lesser
  CN
  The Red Cat
  Chaos, 
  Knowledge, 
  Luck, Trickery 
  Explorers, the 
  curious, those seeking 
  knowledge
  Hungry Fire
  Greater
  NE
  The All-Consuming, The 
  Stealer of Grass
  Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Fire 
  The angry, evil, and 
  those who desire 
  destruction
  Also known 
  as Komu
  HUUN PANTHEON
  HUUN PANTHEON
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Aku-te Selissa 
  Greater
  NE
  The Uncaring Mother; 
  White Lady
  Community, 
  Family, Fertility
  Mothers, children, young people; 
  common people
  Erishkigal
  Lesser
  NE
  Amasser of Souls, 
  Goddess of the Afterlife
  Death, Earth, 
  Evil, Law 
  Common people, relatives of those who 
  have died or are close to death
  Maas Tal-ek 
  Greater
  NE
  Destroyer of Worlds 
  and the End of All Things; 
  The Feathered God
  Destruction, 
  Rulership, War
  Rulers, generals; those who want 
  protection against enemies
  Nergal
  Greater
  NE
  The God of Plague, 
  Deathbringer
  Air, Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, War 
  Common people staving off death; those 
  who want revenge on enemies, military 
  leaders
  KALDILOORAN SPIRITS (SOUTHERN LIBYNOS)
  KALDILOORAN SPIRITS (SOUTHERN LIBYNOS)
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Sky Father
  Greater
  LN
  The Old Man in the Clouds; 
  The One Who Moves the 
  Sun, Moons and Stars
  Air, Earth, Law, 
  the Sun
  Those who are coming 
  of age, making 
  agreements, or wish to 
  show respect
  Barramundi
  Lesser
  N
  Creator Spirit of Rivers and 
  the Ocean
  Repose, Travel, 
  Water
  Those who travel on 
  water, ﬁ sh, or explore 
  the ocean
  Bat (fruit bat)
  Lesser
  N
  Creator Spirit of Night 
  and Underground Places; 
  He Who Flies at Night
  Darkness, 
  Earth, Ruins, 
  Void
  Those who shelter in 
  caves, or travel or hunt 
  by night
  Also known 
  as Goloban
  
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  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Crook-beak 
  (eagle)
  Lesser
  NE
  Creator Spirit of Jealousy, 
  Covetousness, Taking, and 
  Murder
  Charm, Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Trickery
  Those who resent 
  others and wish to 
  curse them, those who 
  wish to take prosperity 
  from others, and those 
  who seek revenge for 
  perceived wrongs
  Also known 
  as Wolokund
  Great Eagle
  Lesser
  CN
  Creator Spirit of Wind and 
  Storm
  Air, Fire, 
  Weather
  Those who want storms 
  to pass, those who fear 
  destruction and ﬁ re
  Also known 
  as Ewuti
  Parrot
  Lesser
  CN
  Creator Spirit of Colorful 
  and Strange Things; The 
  One Who Brings Color
  Artiﬁ ce, Chaos, 
  Luck, Magic, 
  Trickery
  Those who make crafts, 
  practice magic, trick 
  others, and those who 
  wish for color in their 
  activities
  Also known 
  as Nuluganna
  Possum
  Lesser
  NG
  Creator Spirit and Caretaker 
  of the Earth, Plants, and 
  Animals
  Animals, 
  Good, Earth, 
  Healing, Plants, 
  Protection
  Those who harvest 
  plants and animals, 
  those who wish for 
  protection for their 
  crops and livestock
  Also known 
  as Tua
  Rainbow Boa
  Lesser
  N
  Creator Spirit of Mountains 
  and Other Earth Shapes; 
  Sender of Rain
  Earth, 
  Scalykind, 
  Weather 
  Those who travel 
  through mountains or 
  work under them, those 
  desiring rain for crops 
  or drought
  Also known 
  as Arutu
  KEHNA PANTHEON (EASTERN LIBYNOS)
  KEHNA PANTHEON (EASTERN LIBYNOS)
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Athera
  Greater
  CN
  Goddess of Fertility; 
  Mother of the Seventy 
  Gracious Gods
  Community, 
  Earth, Plant, 
  Water
  Everyone desiring 
  fertility of the land
  Agamid
  Greater
  NE
  God of Fire; Provider of 
  Power through Sacriﬁ ce
  Death, Evil, 
  Fire, Strength
  Those who crave power, 
  rulers in times of 
  desperation
  Baal
  Greater
  LE
  God of Storms and Battle; 
  Lord of the Earth
  Air, Family, 
  Strength, War, 
  Weather
  Common people, rulers 
  in time of war
  Dagon
  Greater
  CN
  God of the Sea and of 
  Agriculture
  Animal, Plant, 
  Water, Weather
  Sailors, ﬁ sherfolk, 
  farmers, common 
  people
  Worshippers 
  insist that this 
  god is not the 
  same as Dagon 
  the Demon Lord
  Ift
  Lesser
  CN
  God of Deception; Last of 
  the Seventy
  Darkness, 
  Liberation, 
  Trickery
  Ifthaaz: everyone; 
  elsewhere: thieves, con 
  artists
  Illion
  Greater
  LN
  King of the Gods; 
  Cornerstone of Law and 
  Knowledge
  Community, 
  Earth, Law
  Rulers, judges, sages, 
  wizards
  Seventy 
  Gracious Gods
  Lesser/
  Demigod
  Varies
  Minor deities of the many 
  concerns of daily life
  Varies
  Common people
  More popular in 
  Ifthaaz
  
  500|
  500|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  GODS OF THE PARAMOUNTCIES (SOUTHERN LIBYNOS)
  GODS OF THE PARAMOUNTCIES (SOUTHERN LIBYNOS)
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Ahtizerr
  Greater
  LG
  He Who Loves Magic
  Good, Law, 
  Magic, 
  Protection 
  Good-aligned arcane 
  spell casters
  Equivalent 
  to Libynosi 
  Thasizer
  Anana
  Lesser
  CN
  The Lady of Luck and Gold
  Chaos, Luck, 
  Travel, Trickery, 
  Wealth
  Gamblers, rogues, 
  bards, those who live 
  by luck
  Equivalent 
  to Libynosi 
  Ayianna
  Erka
  Lesser
  NE
  She Who Moves in Shadows
  Darkness, Evil, 
  Magic
  Thieves, assassins, evil 
  wizards and sorcerers, 
  those who make their 
  living in darkness
  Equivalent to 
  Hyperborean 
  Mirkeer
  Ghamia
  Lesser
  N
  The River Lady
  Water, Travel, 
  Charm, 
  Community 
  Women, boat or barge 
  handlers, ﬁ sherfolk, 
  swamp-dwellers, water 
  creatures and fey
  Equivalent to 
  Hyperborean 
  Kamien
  Gonthor
  Greater
  CG/
  CE 
  He Who Grumbles in the Sky
  Air, Destruction, 
  Strength, War, 
  Water 
  Barbarians, bards, 
  mercenaries, 
  adventurers, those who 
  live in areas with harsh 
  weather
  Equivalent to 
  Gohtra Gromm 
  the Thunderer
  Lohfa
  Lesser
  LN
  He Who Makes Things Grow
  Animal, Earth, 
  Nature, Plant, 
  Sun, Weather 
  Farmers, growers, 
  druids revering the 
  cycle of nature
  Equivalent to 
  Hyperborean 
  Telophus
  Newan
  Lesser
  CG/
  CN
  Lady of Fire and Water
  Air, Chaos, 
  Earth, Fire, 
  Water 
  Humans, druids, some 
  artiﬁ cers
  Equivalent 
  to Libynosi 
  Ninevah
  Orgim
  Lesser
  LE
  He Who Loves War
  War, Evil, Law, 
  Magic 
  Evil monks, warriors, 
  wizards, and nobles
  Equivalent to 
  Hyperborean 
  Horgrim
  Selena
  Lesser
  NG
  The Peaceful Lady
  Healing, 
  Knowledge, 
  Plant, 
  Protection 
  Bards, monks, 
  artists and artisans, 
  gardeners, those who 
  desire peace
  Equivalent 
  to Libynosi 
  Iseleine
  Sifkra
  Greater
  N
  He Who Loves Coins
  Commerce, 
  Travel, Wealth
  Merchants, seafarers, 
  caravan masters, 
  aristocrats, diplomats
  Equivalent to 
  Hyperborean 
  Sefagreth
  Vreenon
  Lesser
  CN
  She Who Loves Birds
  Air, Animal, 
  Chaos, Travel 
  Intelligent avians and 
  ﬂ ying creatures, those 
  who wish protection 
  against birds
  Equivalent to 
  Gohtra Rhiann
  PHARAONIC PANTHEON (KHEMIT)
  PHARAONIC PANTHEON (KHEMIT)
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Aapep
  Lesser
  CE
  The Black Serpent; The 
  Destroyer
  Chaos, Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Serpent 
  Evil power-seeking humanoids, assassins, 
  cults
  Aker
  Lesser
  NG
  God of the Earth and Death
  Death, Earth, 
  Protection 
  Embalmers, guardians, kings
  Amemt
  Lesser
  CE
  The Devourer; Eater of the 
  Dead
  Chaos, Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Magic 
  Evil humanoids
  Amset
  Lesser
  LG
  Guardian of the Dead
  Animals, Death, 
  Law, Protection 
  Embalmers, guardians
  
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  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Amun
  Greater
  NG
  God of the Sky and Sun, Air, 
  Knowledge and Magic
  Air, Knowledge, 
  Magic, Strength, 
  the Sun 
  Rulers, kings, scholars, nobles
  Anhur
  Greater
  CG
  God of War and the Hunt, 
  Defender of Khemit
  Animals, Chaos, 
  Strength, War 
  Hunters, warriors, soldiers
  Anqet
  Lesser
  CG
  Goddess of Rivers and 
  Water, Goddess of Pleasure
  Chaos, Good, 
  Magic, Water 
  Sailors, ﬁ shermen, pleasure seekers
  Anubis
  Greater
  LG
  Guardian of the Dead
  Death [Good], 
  Law, Luck, 
  Protection, 
  Strength 
  Embalmers, guardians
  Apis
  Greater
  NG
  God of the Sun and Life, 
  Earth and Strength
  Bounty, Earth, 
  Good, Strength, 
  Sun 
  Farmers, midwives, expectant mothers, 
  pharaoh
  Apuat
  Lesser
  CG
  God of Messengers and 
  Battle
  Air, Strength, 
  Travel, War 
  Messengers, warriors, barbarians
  Aten
  Lesser
  N
  The Sun; The Sun Disc
  Air, Bounty, 
  Fire, Strength, 
  the Sun 
  Clerics, sages, wizards
  Bast
  Greater
  CG
  Goddess of Beauty and Cats, 
  Good Luck and Trickery
  Animals, Chaos, 
  Good, Luck, 
  Trickery 
  Nobles, women, those who desire luck
  Bes
  Lesser
  N
  God of Protection, 
  Happiness, Music, and War
  Luck, 
  Protection, 
  Strength, War 
  Fighters, rogues, bards
  Buto
  Lesser
  LG
  Goddess of Protection, Law, 
  and Travel
  Law, Protection, 
  Serpent, Travel 
  Guardians, ﬁ ghters, merchants
  Chons
  Lesser
  CG
  God of the Silver Moon, 
  Time, Knowledge, Travel, 
  and Trickery
  Chaos, Good, 
  Travel, Trickery 
  Musicians, bards, sages, merchants, 
  travelers, pranksters
  Duamutef
  Lesser
  LG
  God of Death, Funeral Rites, 
  and Protection
  Death, Law, 
  Protection, 
  Strength 
  Guardians, embalmers, anyone after 
  death of loved one
  Geb
  Greater
  N
  God of the Earth
  Earth, Plants, 
  Protection, 
  Strength 
  Farmers, druids
  Hamehit
  Lesser
  NG
  Goddess of the Water, Fish, 
  and the Seas
  Animals, 
  Bounty, Good, 
  Luck, Water 
  Sailors, ﬁ shermen
  Hapy
  Greater
  NG
  God of Rivers, Oceans, and 
  Streams; Lord of Fishes and 
  Birds
  Animals, 
  Bounty, Good, 
  Protection, 
  Travel, Water 
  Sailors, ﬁ shermen, those who depend on 
  the sea
  Hathor
  Lesser
  NG
  Goddess of Music and the 
  Arts; Giver of Inspiration
  Fire, Law, Sun, 
  War 
  Musicians, artists, women
  Herakhty
  Lesser
  NG
  God of the Morning and 
  Sunrise
  Earth, Good, 
  Protection, Sun 
  Farmers
  Heru
  Lesser
  LG
  The Watcher; God of Law, 
  Order, Rulership
  Law, Good, 
  Knowledge, 
  Strength, War 
  Rulers, nobles, lawyers, ﬁ ghters, warriors
  Horus
  Greater
  LN
  The Avenger; God of War 
  and Destruction
  Destruction, 
  Law, Sun, 
  Vengeance, War 
  Soldiers, warriors, ﬁ ghters, those seeking 
  vengeance and retribution
  Isis
  Greater
  NG
  Goddess of Fertility and 
  Magic
  Bounty, Good, 
  Healing, Magic 
  Women, mothers, wizards, clerics, 
  sorcerers
  
  502|
  502|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Khebsenef
  Greater
  LN
  Son of Horus; God of Death
  Death, Law, 
  Protection, 
  Strength 
  Guardians, surgeons, physicians
  Khnemu
  Greater
  NG
  God of Creation and 
  Invention
  Artiﬁ ce, 
  Creation, Earth, 
  Good, Healing, 
  Luck 
  Craftsmen, artisans
  Maat
  Greater
  LG
  Goddess of Truth and Law
  Good, 
  Knowledge, 
  Protection, Law, 
  Strength 
  Judges, city ofﬁ cials, paladins, monks
  Maftet
  Lesser
  CG
  Goddess of Protection and 
  Healing
  Good, Healing, 
  Serpent, 
  Strength, 
  Vermin 
  Healers, midwives, women, guardians
  Mekhit
  Lesser
  CG
  Goddess of War, The Eye of 
  Ra
  Glory, 
  Protection, 
  Strength, War
  Soldiers, mercenaries, ofﬁ cers, generals
  Menu
  Greater
  CN
  God of War
  Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Strength, War 
  Fighters, warriors
  Meretseger
  Lesser
  LG
  The Protector
  Good, Law, 
  Protection, 
  Serpent 
  Guardians, warrior, keepers of secrets
  Mert
  Lesser
  NG
  Goddess of Song and Joy
  Good, Healing, 
  Knowledge, 
  Trickery 
  Musicians, poets, artists, bards
  Min
  Lesser
  CG
  Protector of the Moon, God of 
  Male Fertility
  Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Good, 
  Knowledge, 
  Magic 
  Commoners
  Mût 
  Greater
  LG
  Queen of the Gods, Mother 
  Goddess, Provider of Life and 
  National Prosperity
  Fertility, Life, 
  Wealth
  Noblewoman, wives, mothers, growers, 
  common people
  Nefertem
  Greater
  NG
  God of the Sun; Lord of the 
  Sunrise; God of Healing
  Good, Healing, 
  Knowledge, 
  Plant, Sun 
  Healers, surgeons, women, sorcerers, 
  wizards
  Neith
  Greater
  CG
  Goddess of War and Wisdom; 
  Guardian of the Dead
  Death, Good, 
  Knowledge, 
  Law, War 
  Soldiers, hunters, ﬁ ghters, paladins, 
  loremasters, scholars, nobles
  Nekhbet
  Lesser
  LG
  Goddess of Protection and 
  War, Childbirth and Fertility
  Law, Protection, 
  Strength, War 
  Warriors, women, farmers
  Nephthys
  Greater
  CG
  Goddess of the Dead
  Chaos, Death 
  [Good], 
  Knowledge, 
  Magic 
  Women
  Nut
  Lesser
  NG
  Goddess of the Night Sky
  Air, Good, 
  Knowledge, 
  Protection, 
  Trickery 
  Rogues, bards, guardians, paladins
  Okdo-ad
  Greater
  N/
  CN
  Primeval deities of water, 
  air, darkness, and inﬁ nity
  Chaos, 
  Darkness, 
  Water, Air
  Nature worshipers, leaders in times of 
  great danger
  Osiris
  Greater
  LG
  God of Fertility and the Dead
  Death, Good, 
  Law, Protection 
  Nobles, rulers, farmers, commoners
  
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  |503
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Pakhut
  Lesser
  CG
  Goddess of Strength
  Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Good, Strength 
  Fighters, barbarians
  Ptah
  Greater
  LN
  Creator of the Universe
  Air, Bounty, 
  Earth, Law, 
  Magic, Sun 
  Craftsmen, artisans
  Ra
  Greater
  NG
  God of the Sun and Pharaoh 
  of the Gods
  Bounty, Good, 
  Knowledge, 
  Protection, Sun 
  Rulers, nobles, scholars
  Renenet
  Lesser
  CG
  Goddess of Protection and 
  Fortune
  Good, 
  Knowledge, 
  Luck, 
  Protection, 
  Serpent [Good] 
  Women, gamblers, guardians
  Sebk
  Lesser
  CE
  God of Evil, Betrayal, and 
  Water
  Chaos, Evil, 
  Trickery, Water 
  Sailors, ﬁ shermen
  Seker
  Greater
  NG
  God of Death and Light
  Death 
  [Good], Good, 
  Protection, 
  Strength, the 
  Sun 
  Commoners
  Sekhmet
  Greater
  CN
  Lady of Pestilence; Goddess 
  of the Sun
  Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Healing, War 
  Surgeons, doctors, healers, warriors
  Serqet
  Lesser
  LG
  Goddess of the Dead and 
  Strength
  Death [Good], 
  Good, Law, 
  Strength, 
  Vermin 
  Fighters, guardians, necromancers
  Seshat
  Greater
  NG
  Goddess of Writing, History, 
  Time, Knowledge and 
  Architecture
  Good, 
  Knowledge, 
  Luck, Magic 
  Record-keepers, scribes, sages, historians, 
  story-tellers, architects
  Set
  Greater
  LE
  God of Evil and the Night
  Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, 
  Knowledge, 
  Law, Serpent 
  Evil power-seeking humanoids, evil 
  monks, assassins
  Shu
  Lesser
  LG
  Lord of the Air
  Air, Good, Law, 
  Strength 
  Mystics, nobles, rulers, warriors
  Tefnut
  Lesser
  LG
  Goddess of Storms and 
  Rivers
  Good, 
  Protection, Sun, 
  Water 
  Farmers, ﬁ shermen, sailors
  Thoth
  Greater
  N
  God of Knowledge and Magic
  Knowledge, 
  Luck, Magic, 
  Travel 
  Scholars, sages, travelers
  Tuart
  Greater
  LG
  Goddess of Fertility and 
  Protection
  Good, 
  Knowledge, 
  Magic, Plant, 
  Protection 
  Women, expectant mothers, midwives, 
  farmers
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  504|
  504|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  RIVERINE SPIRITS (SOUTHERN LIBYNOS)
  RIVERINE SPIRITS (SOUTHERN LIBYNOS)
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Be-Le
  Greater
  NE
  The Witch; The Dark Sister; 
  Goddess of Knowledge, 
  Magic, Evil, and Creation
  Creation, Evil, 
  Knowledge, 
  Magic 
  Tribal shaman, witches, 
  those desperate for a 
  child, lycanthropes
  Equivalent to 
  Hyperborean 
  Cybele
  Noh-ro
  Greater
  N(G)
  The Guardian; 
  The Pale Sister; 
  Goddess of Protection, 
  Darkness, and Travel
  Darkness, 
  Protection, 
  Travel
  Tribal shaman, 
  common people, druids, 
  stargazers, those who 
  wish to know the 
  future, tabaxi, some fey, 
  lycanthropes
  Equivalent to 
  Hyperborean 
  Narrah
  The Green Lady
  Greater
  N
  She Who Loves Trees; Fey 
  Goddess of the Forest, 
  Animals, and Plants
  Life, Light, 
  Nature 
  Deep forest dwellers, 
  tabaxi, fey creatures
  Equivalent 
  to Old Way 
  Arialee
  The Ancient Boy
  Greater
  CN
  He Who Leads the Hunt; 
  God of Animals, Plants, 
  Chaos and Trickery
  Animals, 
  Chaos, Earth, 
  Liberation, 
  Plants, Trickery 
  Hunters, herders, 
  druids, musicians, 
  tabaxi, woodland fey, 
  hybrid creatures
  Equivalent to 
  Hyperborean 
  Pan
  Loa Aizan
  Lesser
  N
  Mistress of the Sea; 
  Patroness of Commerce
  Luck, Magic, 
  Travel, Water 
  Fisherfolk, river 
  travelers, traders, 
  explorers, users of 
  magic, those who desire 
  luck
  Loa Damballa
  Greater
  N
  Ruler of Air; Primordial 
  Creator of All Life; 
  Patroness of the Sky
  Air, Chaos, 
  Creation, Sun, 
  Weather 
  Common people, tribal 
  shaman, travelers, those 
  desiring good weather
  Loa Legba
  Lesser
  N
  Patron of Speech and 
  Understanding
  Animals, 
  Knowledge, 
  Law, Protection, 
  Strength 
  Tribal leaders, 
  storytellers, traders, 
  travelers, any engaged 
  in rituals
  Loa Oggun
  Lesser
  N
  Lord of the Earth; The 
  General; Patron of Smiths
  Animals, Earth, 
  Nobility, War 
  Tribal leaders, warriors, 
  hunters, those who work 
  in metal
  Loa Samedi
  Greater
  N
  Baron Samedi; Patron of 
  Death; Spirit of Fire
  Darkness, 
  Death, Fire, 
  Law, Luck, 
  Repose 
  Common people, tribal 
  shaman
  OTHER GODS OF LIBYNOS
  OTHER GODS OF LIBYNOS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Anumon
  Greater
  LN
  (G)
  God of Gates, Keeper of the 
  Laws, Overseer of Creation
  Creation, Law, 
  Protection, 
  Travel
  Rulers, lawmakers, jurists, public ofﬁ cials
  Ayianna
  Lesser
  CN
  The Damsel of Fate, 
  Goddess of Shadows, Luck, 
  Greed, and Wealth
  Chaos, Luck, 
  Travel, Trickery
  Travelers, gamblers, merchants, petty 
  criminals
  Iseleine
  Lesser
  NG
  Maiden of Peace, Goddess 
  of Art, Love, Beauty, and 
  Passion
  Healing, 
  Knowledge, 
  Plant, 
  Protection
  Physicians, healers, farmers, guardians
  Ninevah
  Lesser
  CG/
  CN
  Lady of Miasma, Goddess of 
  Elements
  Air, Chaos, 
  Earth, Fire, 
  Water
  Elemental spellcasters, builders, artisans
  
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  |505
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Thasizier
  Greater
  LG
  Master of Magic, 
  God of Good Magic
  Good, Law, 
  Magic, 
  Protection
  Good aligned spellcasters, scholars, 
  teachers
  Voard
  Lesser
  LN
  God of Anguish, 
  The End of Days
  Destruction, 
  Law, Strength, 
  Travel
  Warriors, soldiers, rulers
  OTHER GODS
  OTHER GODS
  GODS OF THE OLD WAYS
  GODS OF THE OLD WAYS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
   Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Agrona
  Lesser
  CE
  Goddess of Slaughter
  Chaos, Death, 
  Evil, Madness, 
  War
  Berserkers, warlords, 
  warriors
  Annawn
  Greater
  LN
  King of the Otherworld, 
  Lord of Autumn
  Darkness, 
  Earth, Law, 
  Repose
  Families of the departed, 
  preparers and guardians 
  of the dead
  Aranrhud
  Greater
  CG
  The Golden, Goddess of the 
  Dawn, Weaver of Destinies
  Community, 
  Death, Earth, 
  Family, Healing
  Parents, midwives, 
  healers, weavers
  Arialee
  Lesser
  N
  The Morninglight, Fey 
  Goddess of Nature
  Air, Animals, 
  Earth, Plants, 
  Water, the Sun
  Neutral and good fey, 
  druids, intelligent 
  animals, plant creatures, 
  some elves 
  Belenos
  Greater
  NG
  God of the Sun, The Shining 
  One
  Good, 
  Knowledge, 
  Light, 
  Protection, Sun
  The Ancient Ones, most 
  modern Daanites
  Also known 
  as Llywelyn, 
  Maponus
  Brigid
  Greater
  NG
  Goddess of Spring, The 
  Exalted One
  Animal, 
  Community, 
  Family, Fire, 
  Sun
  Bards, poets, smiths, 
  herders, farmers
  Also known as 
  Brigantia
  Callyc
  Demigod
  N
  Bel’s Toad-Lord, Saint 
  Toad, Callyc of the Held 
  Gate, The Cromulent 
  Keeper
  Animal, Earth, 
  Protection, 
  Trickery, Water 
  Grippli, intelligent 
  amphibians, some 
  lizardfolk, some mist 
  dragons
  Camulos
  Lesser
  CN
  God of War
  Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Glory, War
  Fighters, soldiers, war 
  leaders, martially-
  oriented rulers
  Chernobog
  Greater
  CE
  God of Blood and Sacriﬁ ce, 
  Old Bloody Head, The Black 
  God, The Lord of Slaughter
  Animal, 
  Darkness, 
  Death, Earth, 
  Evil, Plant, War
  Neolithic tribes (mostly 
  extinct), some Daanite 
  outlaws, occasional 
  murderers and madmen 
  Also known as 
  Crom Cruach, 
  Crom Dubh
  Danu
  Greater
  NG
  The River Goddess, The 
  Great Mother
  Community, 
  Earth, Healing, 
  Knowledge, 
  Plant, Water
  The Ancient Ones, most 
  modern Daanites
  Gofannon
  Lesser
  LN
  God of the Smithy
  Artiﬁ ce, Fire, 
  Knowledge, 
  Rune
  Armorers, blacksmiths, 
  weaponsmiths, 
  metalworkers
  
  506|
  506|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
   Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  The Green Father
  Lesser
  N
  God of the Wilds, 
  The Huntsman/Herne the 
  Hunter (Foerdewaith), 
  the Horned God (Erskaelosi)
  Animal, Earth, 
  Nature, Plant, 
  Spring
  Druids, rangers, hunters, 
  guides, trackers, 
  berserkers
  Also known 
  as Cernunnos 
  (Tuathe De)
  Lleullaw
  Greater
  LG
  God of Law and Truth
  Artiﬁ ce, Good, 
  Law, Nobility
  Fighters, smiths, 
  historians, lawmakers, 
  rulers
  Also known 
  as Lámfada, 
  Lugh
  Manawydan 
  fab Llŷr
  Demigod
  NG
  Singer to the Gods
  Music, 
  Knowledge
  Adventurers, bards, 
  performers, craftsfolk
  Myrddin
  Lesser
  N
  God of High Places, Lord of 
  the Wild Air
  Air, Knowledge, 
  Luck, Sun
  Druids, bards, poets, 
  seers, prophets, aerial 
  servants, creatures of 
  the air, intelligent birds, 
  some cloud dragons
  Narrah
  Greater
  N
  The Lady of the Moon, the 
  Pale Sister
  Darkness, 
  Nature, Magic
  Druids, stargazers, 
  lycanthropes, oracles, 
  bards, some fey 
  The Nameless One
  Greater
  N
  The Cloaked Goddess, Lady 
  of Secrets, Goddess of the 
  Crossroads
  Darkness, 
  Magic, Travel, 
  Void
  Magic-users, fortune-
  tellers, travelers
  Nodens
  Greater
  N
  God of the Sea and Healing; 
  Nuada Silverhand; Llud 
  Llaw Eraint
  Water, Healing, 
  Protection
  Hunters, sailors, 
  travelers, healers
  Oghma
  Greater
  CG
  God of Song and Bards, The 
  First Song
  Creation, 
  Good, Travel, 
  Knowledge
  Musicians, composers, 
  dancers and poets, 
  humans, elves, halﬂ ings.
  Sucellos
  Lesser
  NG
  The Vintner, the Plowman
  Earth, 
  Intoxicants, 
  Plant, Strength
  Brewers, coopers, 
  farmers, vintners, 
  revelers
  Taranis
  Lesser
  CN
  God of Thunder and 
  Lightning
  Air, Weather
  Farmers, sailors, 
  ﬁ sherfolk, those who 
  depend upon good 
  weather
  NEOLITHIC GODS
  NEOLITHIC GODS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Agrona
  Lesser
  CE
  Goddess of Slaughter
  Chaos, Death, 
  Evil, Madness, 
  War
  Berserkers, warlords, 
  warriors
  Baal-Zag
  Lesser
  CE
  The Howler in Darkness
  Animal, Death, 
  Strength
  Evil rangers, cannibals, 
  were-creatures
  Behemoth
  Greater
  LG
   The Celestial Dragon
  Air, Good, 
  Knowledge, 
  Law, Protection, 
  Scalykind
  Good-aligned dragons 
  and related species, 
  good and neutral 
  lizardfolk, human and 
  halﬂ ing paladins and 
  dragon cultists
  Chernobog
  Greater
  CE
  God of Blood and Sacriﬁ ce, 
  Old Bloody Head, The Black 
  God, The Lord of Slaughter
  Animal, 
  Darkness, 
  Death, Earth, 
  Evil, Plant, War
  Neolithic tribes 
  (mostly extinct), 
  some Daanite outlaws, 
  occasional murderers 
  and madmen 
  Also known as 
  Crom Cruach, 
  Crom Dubh
  
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  |507
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Cybele
  Greater
  NE
  Magna Mater, Black Goat 
  of the Woods, Goddess of 
  Fertility and Witchcraft, 
  The Dark Sister (the 
  smaller moon - Sybil)
  Creation, Evil, 
  Knowledge, 
  Magic
  Witches, 
  disenfranchised 
  women, lycanthropes, 
  degenerate cults, hags, 
  harpies, some medusas
  Dagon
  Demon 
  Lord
  CE
  Demon Prince of the Sea
  Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Water
  Aquatic humanoids and 
  monstrous humanoids, 
  evil human ﬁ shermen, 
  water nagas, shrroths, 
  hezrou, kraken, 
  aboleths
  Believed to be 
  different from 
  the god of the 
  same name 
  in the Kehna 
  pantheon
  Dajobas
  Greater
  CE
  The Shark God, 
  Devourer of Worlds
  Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Water
  Weresharks, sahuagin, 
  intelligent sea 
  predators, cannibalistic 
  pirates
  Demogorgon
  Demon 
  Lord
  CE
  Primal God of the Earth, 
  The Dark Creator, 
  Demon Lord of Fate
  Chaos, Creation, 
  Darkness, 
  Earth, Evil, 
  Knowledge, 
  Luck 
  Cultists, madmen, 
  derros, crag men, dark 
  folk, ropers, demons, 
  bodaks, baregaras, 
  demonic knights, the 
  Fates, genies, aeons, 
  black jinn 
  Ellashah
  Greater
  LN
  The Great Creator
  Air, Creation, 
  Earth, Fire, 
  Water
  Druids, elemental 
  spellcasters; some 
  isolated neolithic 
  groups
  Believed dead
  The Father
  Greater
  CE
  Father of the Sky, 
  God of Violence and 
  Warfare, The Demiurge
  Chaos, Creation, 
  Destruction, 
  Fertility
  Neolithic tribes (mostly 
  extinct), Vanigoths of 
  the Wilderland Hills, 
  some Wildmen of the 
  Mistwood, possibly 
  others
  Also known 
  as Boros, 
  Engur, Abzu, 
  Buri, Dyaus 
  Pitra, Nun, 
  Lir, Wakea; 
  imprisoned
  The Goddess
  Greater
  CG/
  CN
  Mother of Earth
  Animal, 
  Community, 
  Earth, Fertility, 
  Healing, Plant, 
  Protection
  Neolithic peoples, 
  mothers
  Also known 
  as Erce, Gaia; 
  sacriﬁ ced self to 
  imprison Father
  Keld
  Lesser
  CE
  The Wicked, 
  Lord of the Grimlocks
  Chaos, Evil, 
  War
  Evil underground 
  creatures, especially 
  grimlocks, derro, 
  morlocks
  Mocham
  Greater
  LG
  The Earthpower, 
  Stone of Battle
  Good, Earth, 
  Law, War
  Formerly svirfneblin, 
  deep dwarves, shaitan, 
  earth elementals; Now 
  unknown 
  Believed lost or 
  dead
  The Nameless 
  One
  Greater
  N
  The Cloaked Goddess, 
  Lady of Secrets, 
  Goddess of the Crossroads
  Darkness, 
  Magic, Travel, 
  Void
  Magic-users, fortune-
  tellers, travelers
  Ninevah
  Lesser
  CG/
  CN
  Lady of Miasma, 
  Goddess of Elements
  Air, Chaos, 
  Earth, Fire, 
  Water
  Elemental spellcasters, 
  builders, artisans
  Pan
  Greater
  N
  God of the Wild, 
  Lord of the Flocks 
  and the Hunt
  Music, Wild 
  Animals, 
  Dancing, 
  Fertility
  Bards, hunters, certain 
  fey races
  
  508|
  508|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Shupnikkurat
  Greater
  CN
  The Wild Mother of the 
  Thousand Young, 
  Goddess of Fertility, 
  Birth, and Wild Beasts, 
  The Mad Mother, 
  The Black Goat,
   Magna Mater
  Animal, Chaos, 
  Earth, Fertility, 
  Plant 
  Druids, mothers, 
  fertility cults, satyrs, 
  witches, hags, atatvistic 
  serpentfolk, nocturnals, 
  intelligent plant 
  creatures, rorkouns, 
  gorynychs, bholes, dark 
  young, living monoliths
  Yaazotsh
  Lesser
  N
  Eater of the Dead
  Air, Death, 
  Protection
  Neolithic tribes, some 
  modern healers and 
  morticians
  GODS OF THE TULITO (AIZANES ISLANDS/RAZOR COAST)
  GODS OF THE TULITO (AIZANES ISLANDS/RAZOR COAST)
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Dajobas
  Greater
  CE
  The Shark God, Devourer of 
  Worlds
  Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Water
  Weresharks, sahuagin, 
  intelligent sea 
  predators, cannibalistic 
  pirates
  Great Pele
  Greater
  CN
  Mother of Fire, Eater of 
  Land
  Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Earth, Fire, 
  Weather
  Tulita, ﬁ re giants, 
  menehune, creatures of 
  elemental ﬁ re, ﬁ re cults
  Lakua Mao
  Lesser
  LE
  The Red Misery
  Destruction, 
  Fire, Law, 
  Scalykind, War
  Underground 
  creatures, usually 
  evil, including goblins, 
  derro, mites and 
  grimlocks
  Imprisoned
  Paphu
  Lesser
  LG
  Dolphin, The Herald
  Charm, 
  Liberation, 
  Luck, Trickery
  Tulita explorers, 
  messengers, arcane 
  spellcasters, ﬁ ghters of 
  oppression, lovers
  Tohoraha
  Lesser
  NG
  The Whale, The Lore 
  Keeper, The Watcher, The 
  Great Traveler of the Waves
  Animals, 
  Knowledge, 
  Travel, Water
  Tulita whale riders, 
  totemic tribes, 
  ﬁ shermen
  Tumatenga
  Lesser
  LG
  Grandfather Turtle, Old 
  Angry Face
  Glory, Law, 
  Liberation, 
  Protection, 
  Nobility, War
  Tulita leaders, warriors
  GODS OF NONHUMAN FOLK
  GODS OF NONHUMAN FOLK
  DWARVEN GODS 
   
   
   
   
   
  DWARVEN GODS 
   
   
   
   
   
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Barator (Lost)
  Greater
  LG
  The Crafter and Master of 
  the Forge
  Artiﬁ ce, Earth, 
  Law, Strength
  Dwarven smiths, artisans, and craftsmen, 
  dwarves of Clan Krazzadak
  Bilis
  Lesser
  N
  Dwarf God of the 
  Otherworld, King of the 
  Hollow Hills
  Earth, Fire, 
  Glory, Magic, 
  Repose
  Isolated dwarven communities, dwarven 
  druids, recognized by Daanites and other 
  human followers of the Tuatha De, some 
  spriggans
  Crugas
  Lesser
  N
  God of Magical Crafts
  Artiﬁ ce, 
  Knowledge, 
  Magic, Runes
  Dwarven smiths and armorers, craftsmen, 
  and arcane spellcasters, Dvergar of the 
  Northlands
  
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  |509
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Dargath
  Demigod
  LG
  The Kingmaker, God 
  of Craftsmanship and 
  Creation
  Artiﬁ ce, Air, 
  Earth, Fire, 
  Law, Nobility, 
  Strength, 
  Travel, Water
  Dwarves of Libynos, some elementals
  Dwerfater/
  Dwurfater
  Greater
  LG
  Father of Dwarves
  Earth, Good, 
  Strength, 
  Creation
  All dwarves to some extent
  Grox
  Lesser
  LE
  God of Artiﬁ ce and 
  Darkness, The Deep Father
  Artiﬁ ce, 
  Darkness, Evil, 
  Knowledge, Law
  Duergar, evil dwarves, lawyers, spies, 
  scribes, alchemists
  Pekko
  Lesser
  CG
  God of Ale and Spirits, Lord 
  of the Abundant Harvest
  Chaos, 
  Community, 
  Good, Plants, 
  Travel
  Gnome, halﬂ ing, dwarven, and human 
  brewers, tavern keepers, bakers, some 
  farmers that raise hops and barley
  Father Poga
  Lesser
  LG
  God of Time, Lord of the 
  Yule
  Community, 
  Darkness, Good, 
  Time, Travel
  Mountain dwarves, candy makers, 
  Yuletide celebrants, chroniclers
  Snorri Horrnison
  Demigod
  CN
  The Swaggering Axe, Hero-
  God of the Targ
  Destruction, 
  Glory, 
  Liberation, Luck
  Mountain dwarves of Clan Targ, dwarven 
  adventurers and gamblers
  Stryme/Strym
  Lesser
  NG
  Stryme the Mighty, God of 
  Strength
  Good, 
  Liberation, 
  Protection, 
  Strength, War
  Dwarves, soldiers, barbarians, ﬁ ghters, 
  laborers
  Vergrimm 
  Earthsblood
  Lesser
  LN
  Keeper of the Mines, God of 
  Miners
  Artiﬁ ce, 
  Darkness, 
  Earth, Law
  Dwarven miners, architects, spelunkers, 
  deep cave explorers
  Yngret 
  Yellow-hair
  Greater
  NG
  Goddess of the Clanhold, 
  Mother of Accord
  Community, 
  Fire, Healing, 
  Law, Protection
  Dwarven women, matchmakers, city 
  guards, soldiers, and midwives
  ELVEN GODS
  ELVEN GODS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Darach-Albith
  Greater
  CG
  High God of Elves, 
  Firstborn; Father of the 
  Elves
  Plants, Animals, 
  Magic, War
  Elven and half-elven warriors, 
  wizards and rangers, a few drow 
  Queen of Spiders
  Greater
  CE
  The Spider Goddess
  Darkness, Death, 
  Earth, Evil, Magic, 
  Trickery
  Drow, troglodytes, spider-obsessed 
  humans
  Rialae-Aibaru
  Lesser
  LG
  Goddess of the Wandering 
  Star, Lost Queen of the 
  Elves, The Tear of Heaven
  Law, Good, Travel, 
  Magic
  High and wood elves, warriors, 
  wizards and rangers, some drow 
  Shae’loegn
  Lesser
  N
  God of Forests, Prophets, 
  and Seers; He That Walks 
  Unseen
  Animals, Darkness, 
  Knowledge, Plants, 
  Weather
  Fortune tellers, diviners, prophets, 
  mystics
  Wayland the 
  Smith
  Greater
  LN
  God of Craft and Smiths
  Artiﬁ ce, Earth, 
  Creation, Fire, 
  Knowledge, Magic
  Elven smiths, armorers, 
  swordmakers, a few dwarven and 
  human smiths
  
  510|
  510|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  GNOMISH GODS
  GNOMISH GODS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  The Dark Seer
  Lesser
  N
  God of Delving and Deep 
  Caverns, the Hooded Dark
  Animal, 
  Darkness, 
  Earth, 
  Knowledge, 
  Scalykind
  Svirfneblin, Under Realms fey (conshees, 
  fyrs, killmoulises, mites, pesties, 
  wechtleins), occasional troglodytes 
  Dre’uain the 
  Lame
  Greater
  LN
  God of Craft and Smiths, 
  God of Industry and Hard 
  Work
  Artiﬁ ce, Earth, 
  Creation, Fire, 
  Knowledge, 
  Magic
  Human, gnome, dwarven, and halﬂ ing 
  craftsmen, inventors, laborers, union 
  organizers, maimed workers, wounded 
  veterans, beggars
  Hammer 
  Mittelschmerz
  Greater
  CG
  God of Gnomes
  Animals, 
  Artiﬁ ce, 
  Chaos, Earth, 
  Protection, 
  Trickery
  Gnomes, pranksters, those seeking 
  vengeance 
  Iskardar
  Lesser
  N
  Master of Invention, God of 
  Gems and Wealth
  Artiﬁ ce, Earth, 
  Knowledge, 
  Runes
  Gnome jewelers, ﬁ nesmiths, scholars, 
  academics, mathematicians, explorers, 
  svirfneblin
  Kittail Hillcaller
  Lesser
  CN
  (G)
  The Wild One, The Wind 
  in the Hills, Goddess of 
  Freedom and Jest
  Chaos, Charm, 
  Liberation, 
  Trickery
  Gnome country folk, druids, hunters, 
  trappers, frontiersmen, slywallies, some 
  fey (mainly satyrs, korreds, and dryads) 
  Pekko
  Lesser
  CG
  God of Ale and Spirits, Lord 
  of the Abundant Harvest
  Chaos, 
  Community, 
  Good, Plants, 
  Travel
  Gnome, halﬂ ing, dwarven, and human 
  brewers, tavern keepers, bakers, some 
  farmers that raise hops and barley
  HALFLING GODS
  HALFLING GODS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Hester
  Lesser
  NG
  Goddess of the Hearthﬁ re, 
  Hester Full of Blessings, 
  Mother Hubbard
  Animals, 
  Community, 
  Earth, Fire, 
  Healing, 
  Protection
  Halﬂ ings, married couples, human 
  worshippers of Ceres
  Mick O’Delving
  Greater
  CG
  God of Halﬂ ings, The Little 
  Miner
  Artiﬁ ce, Earth, 
  Good, Luck, 
  Protection, 
  Trickery
  Halﬂ ings, some burrowing creatures, 
  drunks, Barefeet assassins
  Pekko
  Lesser
  CG
  God of Ale and Spirits, Lord 
  of the Abundant Harvest
  Chaos, 
  Community, 
  Good, Plants, 
  Travel
  Gnome, halﬂ ing, dwarven, and human 
  brewers, tavern keepers, bakers, some 
  farmers that raise hops and barley
  Sotheryn (Dead)
  Lesser
  LG
  Goddess of Fertility and 
  Death; Lady Suzanne
  Community, 
  Good, Healing, 
  Repose
  Sotheryn is no longer worshipped, but 
  is mourned and remembered by all 
  traditional halﬂ ing families.
  GOBLINOID GODS
  GOBLINOID GODS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Snuurge
  Greater
  NE
  Father of Goblins
  Earth, Evil, 
  Magic, Trickery, 
  Vengeance
  Goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears
  Kakobovia
  Demigod
  LE
  Hobgoblin Demigod of War
  Death, Evil, 
  Law, War
  Hobgoblins, some goblins, some humans
  The Destroyer
  Lesser
  CE
  Warlord of Bugbears; God 
  of Stealth, Violence, and 
  Slaughter
  Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Trickery, 
  War
  Bugbears, ogres, trolls, troblins, evil 
  barbarians
  
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  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  GODS OF THE GNOLLS
  GODS OF THE GNOLLS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Crocutus
  Lesser
  CE
  Eater of the Dead; Demon 
  Lord of Gnolls
  Animal, Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Trickery
  Gnolls, ﬂ inds, and some ghouls, ghasts, 
  and other intelligent eaters of carrion
  Alquemedak
  Lesser
  CE
  The Hyena God; Five 
  Aspects: Master of Fortune, 
  Taker of Slaves, Lord of 
  Carrion, Giver of Plentitude 
  in Exchange for Sacriﬁ ce, 
  Smasher of Skulls
  Evil, Trickery
  Gnoll, plunderers, slavers, those seeking 
  favor, those seeking to kill
  ORCISH GODS
  ORCISH GODS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Grotaag
  Greater
  CE
  God of Orcs
  Beast, Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, War
  Orcs, half-orcs, orogs, ogrillons, some 
  goblins and ogres
  Orcus
  Greater
  CE
  Demon Prince of the 
  Undead; King of the Dead/
  Thanatos the Fallen; 
  Deliverer of the Dead
  Chaos, Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, War
  Orcs, orogs, monsters, undead, demons, 
  evil humanoids
  AVIAN GODS
  AVIAN GODS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Myrddin
  Lesser
  N
  God of High Places, Lord of 
  the Wild Air
  Air, Knowledge, 
  Luck, Sun
  Druids, bards, poets, seers, prophets, 
  aerial servants, creatures of the air, 
  intelligent avians and ﬂ ying creatures
  Rhiaan
  Greater
  CN
  Goddess of Air and Birds
  Air, Animals, 
  Chaos, Travel 
  Intelligent avians and ﬂ ying creatures
  CAERULEAN GODS
  CAERULEAN GODS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Awalea
  Greater 
  Demon
  CE
  The Terror that Lurks in 
  the Depths, the Sea Witch
  Darkness, Evil, 
  Water
  Evil sea-folk, the corrupt, those who 
  desire to harm others
  Cehenasla
  Lesser
  NG
  Goddess of Mercy and 
  Healing
  Community, 
  Healing, 
  Protection
  Most Caeruleans, healers, physicians
  Eashae
  Greater
  LG
  The Sea Mother
  Community, 
  Good, Water
  Most Caeruleans, some surface ﬁ sherfolk 
  and mariners
  Taela
  Lesser
  NG
  Goddess of Plenty
  Animal, Plant, 
  Water
  Caeruleans of the upper depths, some 
  surface ﬁ sherfolk
  Tymannum
  Lesser
  LG
  God of Battle
  Glory, Law, War
  Caerulean warriors, generals, leaders, a 
  few surface mariners
  Udamata
  Lesser
  NG
  God of Art and Architecture
  Artiﬁ ce, 
  Creation, Good
  Caerulean artists, architects and builders
  DRACONIC GODS
  DRACONIC GODS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Behemoth
  Greater
  LG
  The Celestial Dragon
  Air, Good, 
  Knowledge, 
  Law, Protection, 
  Scalykind
  Good-aligned dragons and 
  related species, good and 
  neutral lizardfolk, human 
  and halﬂ ing paladins and 
  dragon cultists
  
  512|
  512|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Kremarra
  Lesser
  CE
  Dragon Goddess of Death 
  and Nihilism; 
  The Monkey Eater
  Darkness, 
  Death, Evil
  Cultists, dragonborn, half-
  dragons, lizardfolk, other 
  reptilian races
  Lakua Mao
  Lesser
  LE
  The Red Misery
  Destruction, 
  Fire, Law, 
  Scalykind, War
  Underground creatures, 
  usually evil, including 
  goblins, derro, mites and 
  grimlocks
  Imprisoned
  Moash-Sirrush
  Lesser
  NE
  Bloodthirsty Dragon God
  Destruction, 
  Trickery
  Evil-aligned dragons and 
  related species
  Tiamat
  Greater
  CE
  The Primeval Mother
  Animals, Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil 
  Evil warriors, sorcerers, 
  nobles, evil dragons and 
  draconic creatures
  Utechner
  Greater
  LE
  The Prime Wyrm, 
  God of Rightful 
  Ascendance of Dragonkind
  Air, Earth, 
  Fire, Magic, 
  Scalykind, 
  Water
  The Hykadrion Order, dragon 
  disciples, evil dragons, some 
  half-dragons, kobolds
  FEY DEITIES
  FEY DEITIES
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  King Oberon
  Greater
  CN
  King of the Fey, 
  The Erl-King, 
  Lord of the Wild
  Chaos, Earth, 
  Nature, Magic
  Fey creatures, druids, nature worshippers
  Queen Titania
  Greater
  CN
  Queen of the Fey, 
  The Fairest, 
  The Queen of Air 
  and Darkness
  Air, Darkness, 
  Nature, Magic, 
  Love
  Fey creatures, druids, nature worshippers
  GODS OF RODENTS/VERMIN
  GODS OF RODENTS/VERMIN
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  S’Surimiss
  Lesser
  NE
  The Rat Queen, 
  Goddess of Rats
  Animals, Evil, 
  Destruction, Vermin 
  Wererats, some ratfolk
  SERPENT/REPTILIAN GODS
  SERPENT/REPTILIAN GODS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Aapep
  Lesser
  CE
  The Black Serpent; 
  The Destroyer
  Chaos, Death, 
  Destruction, Evil, 
  Serpent 
  Evil power-seeking humanoids, 
  assassins, cults
  Gallinda
  Greater
  NG
  Lady of the Fountains, 
  Snake-Mother
  Healing, Scalykind, 
  Travel, Water
  Phoromyceaen healers, midwives, 
  travelers, water nagas, lizardfolk, 
  good water creatures, bronze 
  dragons, mist dragons
  Hassith-Kaa
  Greater
  NE
  The Great Serpent
  Evil, Scalyfolk, 
  Strength, Trickery 
  Nagas, serpentfolk, inphidians, 
  intelligent serpents and reptiles, 
  some assassins
  Set
  Greater
  LE
  God of Evil and the Night
  Death, Destruction, 
  Evil, Knowledge, 
  Law, Serpent 
  Evil power-seeking humanoids, evil 
  monks, assassins
   
   
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|513
  |513
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  DARK PANTHEONS
  DARK PANTHEONS
  ABYSSAL HORDE
  ABYSSAL HORDE
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Akanax
  Greater 
  Demon
  CE
  The Lord of Terror, 
  Beast of Slaughter
  Darkness, 
  Death, Evil
  Murderers, berserkers, 
  barbarians, evil 
  spellcasters
  Alyheedra
  Lesser 
  Demon
  CE
  Demon Princess of 
  Evil Water Creatures
  Death, Nature, 
  Water
  Evil druids, sea hags, 
  evil marids, elementals 
  and sea creatures
  Althunak
  Greater 
  Demon
  CE
  Demon Lord of Ice and 
  Cold, Master of Cannibals, 
  The Winter King
  Chaos, Earth, 
  Evil, Ice, Water
  Crazed cultists, 
  lycanthropes, cannibals, 
  ice daemons, snow 
  brides 
  Azazael
  Greater 
  Demon
  CE
  The Rebel, The First, He of 
  the Mountain of Sacriﬁ ce
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Magic
  Scholars, spellcasters, 
  researchers, historians
  Baphomet
  Demon 
  Lord
  CE
  Prince of Beasts, 
  Demon Lord of Minotaurs
  Animal, Chaos, 
  Evil, War
  Minotaurs, lycanthropes, 
  therianthropes, chaaors, 
  the Alcaldrich Order 
  of Knights Templar in 
  Exile 
  Beleth
  Greater 
  Demon
  CE
  King of the Abyss
  Chaos, Evil, Fire
  Cultists, ﬁ re-
  worshippers, arsonists
  Beliuri
  Greater 
  Demon
  CE
  The Temptress
  Chaos, Charm, 
  Evil, Trickery
  Faithless lovers, spies, 
  extortionists, power-
  hungry, evil sensualists
  Belphegor
  Greater 
  Demon
  CE
  Lord of the Gap
  Artiﬁ ce, Evil, 
  Knowledge, 
  Trickery
  The slothful, those who 
  desire wealth without 
  effort
  Caizel
  Greater 
  Demon
  CE
  Deposed Queen of the 
  Succubi
  Chaos, Charm, 
  Darkness, Lust
  Pleasure-seekers, 
  decadent wealthy, 
  corrupt nobles
  Crocutus
  Lesser 
  Demon
  CE
  Eater of the Dead, 
  Demon Lord of the Gnolls
  Animal, Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Trickery
  Gnolls, ﬂ inds, some 
  ghouls, ghasts and other 
  intelligent carrion-eaters
  Dagon
  Demon 
  Lord
  CE
  Demon Prince of the Sea
  Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Water
  Aquatic humanoids and 
  monstrous humanoids, 
  evil human ﬁ shermen, 
  water nagas, shrroths, 
  hezrou, kraken, aboleths
  Believed to be 
  different from 
  the god of the 
  same name 
  in the Kehna 
  pantheon
  Demogorgon
  Demon 
  Lord
  CE
  Primal God of the Earth, 
  The Dark Creator, 
  Demon Lord of Fate
  Chaos, Creation, 
  Darkness, 
  Earth, Evil, 
  Knowledge, 
  Luck 
  Cultists, madmen, 
  derros, crag men, dark 
  folk, ropers, demons, 
  bodaks, baregaras, 
  demonic knights, the 
  Fates, genies, aeons, 
  black jinn 
  Fraz-Urb’luu
  Demon 
  Lord
  CE
  Demon Prince of Deception
  Communication, 
  Chaos, Evil, 
  Knowledge, 
  Trickery 
  Evil human and 
  humanoid clerics, 
  politicians, aristocrats, 
  sorcerers, illusionists, 
  adepts 
  Jubilex
  Demon 
  Lord
  CE
  The Faceless Lord, 
  Demon Lord of Slimes 
  and Oozes
  Chaos, Evil, 
  Water
  Insane humans, lepers, 
  intelligent oozes
  
  514|
  514|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Kostchtchie
  Demon 
  Lord
  CE
  The Deathless,
   Demon Prince of Wrath
  Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Strength, 
  War
  Frost giants, aberrant 
  giants, ogres, ber serkers, 
  deformed creatures 
  Maphistal
  Greater 
  Demon
  CE
  Second of Orcus
  Chaos, Evil, 
  Protection
  Worshippers of Orcus, 
  evil ﬁ ghters and 
  spellcasters
  Mathribaunt
  Lesser 
  Demon
  CE
  The Mad, Demon Prince of 
  Insanity, Evil Music and 
  Orchestration
  Art, Evil, 
  Trickery
  Nihilists, insane 
  musicians, harpies, 
  debased satyrs and 
  korreds, redcaps, sirens, 
  exiled Leng-men, 
  shantaks, cambions, 
  gallu-demons, nabasu, 
  skitterdarks 
  Marchosias
  Greater 
  Demon
  CE
  The Wolf, The Deceiver
  Chaos, 
  Communications, 
  Evil
  Greedy and power-
  hungry, corrupt nobles, 
  evil spellcasters
  Orcus
  Demon 
  Lord
  CE
  Demon Prince of the 
  Undead
  Chaos, Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, War
  Orcs, orogs, monsters, 
  undead, demons, evil 
  humanoids
  Pazuzu
  Greater 
  Demon
  CE
  King of the Demons of 
  the Wind, Demon Prince 
  of the Middle Air
  Air, Chaos, 
  Evil, Protection, 
  Weather
  Nihilists, insane 
  musicians, harpies, 
  debased satyrs and 
  korreds, redcaps, sirens, 
  exiled Leng-men, 
  shantaks, cambions, 
  gallu-demons, nabasu, 
  skitterdarks 
  Semiazas
  Greater 
  Demon
  CE
  Father of Giants
  Destruction, 
  Evil, War
  Giants, warriors, 
  barbarians, berserkers
  Also known 
  as Samyaza, 
  Sahjaza
  Shibauroth
  Greater 
  Demon
  CE
  Demon Prince of 
  Beasts and Blood
  Animal, Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Madness
  Savage barbarians, 
  trolls, lycanthropes, 
  barghests, minotaurs, 
  beasts, evil druids
  Shur D’zhar
  Lesser 
  Demon
  CE
  Demon Lord of the Insane, 
  Lord of Insanity and 
  Murder
  Chaos, Death, 
  Evil, Madness
  Serial killers, insane 
  sadists, chaotic 
  bandit chieftains, evil 
  anarchists
  Sriasha
  Lesser 
  Demon
  CE
  Demon Queen of 
  Lust and Hate, 
  The Tempestuous Bitch
  Chaos, Charm, 
  Madness, Lust, 
  Trickery
  Serial killers, insane 
  sadists, chaotic 
  bandit chieftains, evil 
  anarchists
  Stonechard
  Demon 
  Lord
  CE
  General of Orcus
  Darkness, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, War
  Worshippers of Orcus, 
  evil ﬁ ghters, berserkers
  Tsathogga
  Greater 
  Demon
  CE
  Demon Frog God, 
  The Devouring Maw, 
  Demon Lord of Filth
  Chaos, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Water
  Human cultists, 
  aberrations, tsathar, 
  sentient frogs, greruor, 
  hezrou, evil water 
  creatures, the Violet 
  Brotherhood 
  Vepar
  Demon 
  Lord
  CE
  Duke of Dagon
  Darkness, Evil, 
  Water, Trickery
  Worshippers of 
  Dagon, evil mariners, 
  aquamancers, aquatic 
  demons, ﬁ endish merfolk 
  and tritons
  
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS
  CH. 6: GAZETTEER OF THE LOST LANDS|515
  |515
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Yiv
  Lesser 
  Demon
  CE
  Demon Lord of Treachery
  Chaos, Charm, 
  Evil, Trickery
  Evil chieftains or jarls, 
  lawyers, merchants
  Zelton
  Greater 
  Demon
  CE
  Demon Sultan of Sloth
  Chaos, Charm, 
  Destruction, 
  Liberation
  Rulers, the rich, con 
  artists
  BENTHIC/OCEANIC DEITIES
  BENTHIC/OCEANIC DEITIES
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Kunolo
  Lesser
  NE
  The Hungering Tide, 
  God of the Deeps
  Death, 
  Destruction, 
  Evil, Fear, 
  Oceans, Water
  Pirates, evil sea creatures 
   
   
  CTHONIC
  CTHONIC
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Camazotz
  Lesser
  CE
  The Bat God, Lord 
  Underbelly, He Who Takes 
  Blood in the Darkness
  Animal, Chaos, 
  Darkness, Death, 
  Evil
  sabosans, mobats, vampires, gugs, 
  werebats, cloakers, greenskin orcs, 
  chikes, evil lizardfolk, swamp trolls, vile 
  drakes, some black dragons 
  Jubilex
  Demon 
  Lord
  CE
  The Faceless Lord, Demon 
  Lord of Slimes and Oozes
  Chaos, Evil, 
  Water
  Insane humans, lepers, intelligent oozes
  Keld
  Lesser
  CE
  The Wicked, Lord of the 
  Grimlocks
  Chaos, Evil, War
  Evil underground creatures, especially 
  grimlocks, derro, morlocks
  Queen of Spiders
  Greater
  CE
  The Spider Goddess
  Darkness, Death, 
  Earth, Evil, 
  Magic, Trickery
  Drow, troglodytes, spider-obsessed 
  humans
  The Crawler 
  in Darkness
  Lesser
  CN
  The Eater, The Shadow 
  That Stalks
  Darkness, 
  Death, Void
  Underground creatures, usually evil, 
  including goblins, derro, mites and 
  grimlocks
   
   
  INFERNAL COURT
  INFERNAL COURT
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Alastor
  Greater 
  Devil
  LE
  Hell’s Executioner
  Death, 
  Destruction, Law
  Worshippers 
  of Asmodeus, 
  executioners
  Amon
  Greater 
  Devil
  LE
  Duke of Hell, 
  Vassal of Geryon
  Darkness, Evil, 
  War
  Worshippers of 
  Geryon, warriors
  Asmodeus
  Archdevil
  LE
  Monarch of Hell, 
  Lord of the First Circle
  Darkness, Evil, 
  Law, Strength
  Cultists, the greedy 
  and power-hungry, 
  decadent nobles, 
  corrupt or insecure 
  rulers
  Astaroth
  Archdevil
  LE
  Duke of Hell, 
  Judge of the Damned
  Evil, Law, 
  Trickery
  Judges, evil nobles
  Baalzebul
  Archdevil
  LE
  Prince of Hell, 
  Ruler of the Seventh Circle, 
  Prince of Lies, 
  Lord of the Flies 
  Darkness, Evil, 
  Law, Treachery
  Cultists, assassins, 
  politicians, corrupt 
  nobles, those who gain 
  wealth through guile 
  and treachery
  Also known as 
  Beelzebub
  Baaphel
  Greater 
  Devil
  LE
  Duke of Infernus, 
  General of Belial
  Death, Evil, War
  Worshippers of Belial 
  and Lucifer
  
  516|
  516|THE LOST LANDS
  THE LOST LANDS
  APPENDIX II: PANTHEONS AND GODS OF THE LOST LANDS
  Name
  Power
  AL
  Title
  Spheres of 
  Inﬂ uence 
  Typical Worshippers
  Notes
  Belphegor
  Greater 
  Devil
  LE
  Duke of Hell, Patron of 
  Fire Giants, The Disputer, 
  Lord of Sloth
  Artiﬁ ce, 
  Destruction, 
  Earth, Evil, Fire, 
  Law
  Fire giants, 
  salamanders, devils 
  (mostly barbed and 
  belier), some smoke 
  giants 
  Belial
  Archdevil
  LE
  Prince of Infernus, 
  Agent of Darkness
  Evil, Knowledge, 
  Magic, Nobility
  Evil magic-users, 
  seekers after 
  knowledge, cultists
  Caasimolar
  Greater 
  Devil
  LE
  Former President of Hell, 
  Master of Infernus
  Evil, Law, 
  Strength
  Worshippers of 
  Lucifer, corrupt 
  lawmakers and nobles
  Demoriel
  Greater 
  Devil
  LE
  The Twice-Exiled 
  Seductress
  Evil, Charm, 
  Lust, Trickery
  Worshippers of 
  Lucifer, those who 
  desire illicit love or 
  undeserved wealth
  Dispater
  Archdevil
  LE
  Lord of the Second Circle, 
  Master of the Fortress
  Charm, Evil, 
  Law
  Evil lovers, seducers, 
  adulterers, decadent 
  nobles, warriors, 
  jailers, solicitors
  Geryon
  Archdevil
  LE
  Lord of the Fifth Circle, 
  The Great Serpent
  Evil, Law, 
  Strength
  Serpentfolk, lizardfolk, 
  human cultists and 
  serpent-worshippers
  Gorson
  Greater 
  Devil
  LE
  The Blood Duke, 
  Mammon’s Lion
  Destruction, 
  Strength, War
  Worshippers of 
  Mammon, soldiers, 
  warlords, mercenaries
  Hutijin
  Greater 
  Devil
  LE
  Duke of Hell, 
  Marshal of Mephistopheles
  Death, Glory, 
  War
  Worshippers of 
  Mephistopheles, 
  warriors and evil 
  paladins
  Lilith
  Greater 
  Devil
  LE
  Queen of Infernus, 
  Former Queen of Hell
  Law, Evil, Lust
  Worshippers of 
  Lucifer, cultists
  Malphas
  Archdevil
  LE
  Lord of the Fourth Circle, 
  The Armorer, 
  The Great Crow
  Artiﬁ ce, Evil, 
  Fire, Madness, 
  War
  Armorers, 
  blacksmiths, soldiers, 
  evil ﬁ ghters
  Mephistopheles
  Archdevil
  LE
  Prince of Hell, 
  Lord of the Eighth Circle, 
  He Who Shuns the Light
  Darkness, Evil, 
  Law
  Evil rulers, cultists, 
  seekers of knowledge, 
  spellcasters, liches
  Moloch
  Archdevil
  LE
  Lord of the Sixth Circle, 
  Master of the Hunt
  Animal, Evil, 
  Strength
  Assassins, sorcerers, 
  bounty hunters, 
  schemers, spies, 
  Knights of Moloch
  Titivilus
  Greater 
  Devil
  LE
  The Confuser, Duke of Hell, 
  Chamberlain of Dispater
  Communications, 
  Evil, Law
  Worshippers of 
  Dispater
  Xaphan
  Archdevil
  LE
  Duke of Infernus, 
  The Burning Duke
  Evil, Law, War
  Worshippers of Lucifer
  
  The Lost Lands
  … the campaign world of Necromancer Games  
  and Frog God Games for almost 20 years …
  … home to locations now legendary in the  
  annals of roleplaying, from the depths of the massive  
  dungeons of Rappan Athuk, to the city of Bard’s Gate,  
  the Desolation of Tsar, the Blight, the demon-tainted  
  Sundered Lands, the chaotic tumult of the  
  Borderland Provinces, and the fabled Northlands.
  Between these covers is the definitive guide to  
  the world of the Lost Lands. Herein you will find  
  a description of the lands and seas and the skies above,  
  the people who populate the world, an overview of its history, 
  a summary of its religions, and an enormous gazetteer with 
  thousands of entries. Here can be found the locations of your 
  favorite adventures, all set into the historical and physical 
  context of the entire world, alongside new lands that have  
  never before been revealed.
  Welcome to the Lost Lands.  
  A lifetime of adventures awaits!
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/Frog God Games/Lost Lands - The World of the Lost Lands.pdf