BigRedRod
17th of August, 2004, 23:25
Work in Progress. If you want a specific area explaining hassle me and I'll stick it on top of the list. As it stands I'll be steadily ploughing through the remains as fast as I can while trying to keep it interesting
The purpose of this thread is simple, to provide information on the largest areas of the islands. Specific threads will pop up as necessary to detail information about specfic locals
Physical Geography of Aos
http://www.bits.bris.ac.uk/bigredrod/RedMoon_Terrain.gif
Water Features :
The Flow : So named due to the strong currents that make travel through this body of water near impossible. Visitos from the north arefew and far between, most arriving as shipwrecks
The Drawn Sea : For the most part this sea is calm, picturesque and as nondescript as bodies of water can come. If the name carries any more meaning than a simple convention then it is unknown to the vast majority
Jorakk Ocean : A vast ocean which is populated by far more than it's fair share of salt water welling beasts. The ocean's population makes the south coast of Bashir a dangerous place to spend extended amounts of time, the few towns that dot the southern coast are heavily fortified
There is little sea traffic in the area surrounding the Bashir Islands due to the distance between them and the nearest sizable body of land which could do trade.
Meet the Islands :
Bashir : The island from which the group take their name due its large size. The climate is chiefly temperate with the southern areas being rather warmer than the north for the most part. There are isloated regions which seem to sit outside any kind of weather pattern however.
Humans dominate this land with smaller pockets of Dwarves and Elves coexisting with little interaction. Monsterous races do prowl the island and without a swift mount travelling alone is not the best of ideas.
The men of Bashir are far from a united people. In general small collections of towns and villages with a larger settlement at their heart form into rough regions. The smaller settlements pay tribute to the larger settlement in the form of tax (usually a small proportion of goods from each family) and in exchange the smaller towns recieve protection from any threats that arise. In day to day issues the local mayor governs his own settlement, however, for larger issues the Lord (Baron, King or however the leader wishes to be known) makes the decision and hands his decree down to the smaller villages under his control.
There is some measure of equality between men and women for the most part in Bashir. People see women and men as having seperate sets of tasks, but aren't too suprised at the infrequent exceptions
Jedaart : The common view of this island is that it is a cold harsh land populated by dangerous creatures including savage humans. The common view isn't quite correct.
The only "civilised" occupants of the island are humans who refer to themselves as the Aart. The culture is rather different to the men of Bashir. Aart men tend to stand over six feet tall and have long full beards (beards that even dwarves could respect) and are a vibrant people both in the way they dress and the way th act.
A household is headed by its strongest male member, and the entire household tends to live in a single simple log longhouse. Men perform tasks of metal work, hunting, some farming and anything which requires vast amounts of physical strength. A daughter belongs to her father before she is married, when she becomes property of her husband. A woman must stay at home performing the tasks that would dishonour a man. A man who treats his wife (or wifes, there is no limit on the amount of wifes a man can obtain) badly will usually be put to death before the entire village.
Aart dress themselves in furs traditionally allow men enjoy showing off their wealth with coating themselves and their wives in as many shiny trinkets as they can find (the island has iron and copper deposist but little else. So gold, silver and platinum are obtained through trade with the mainland. As such few actual coins exist, as coins are hard wear)
Upon his sixteenth birthday a boy must begin his rite of passage into manhood. He must leave his household home for a season, living in the K'bes (Wilds). If he survives he is welcomed back and becomes a man of the household, otherwise he is forgotten.
Jedaart itself is a cold, dangerous land. Snow frequently falls and bands of orcs roam the wilderness fighting amongst themselves and anyone who stands between them. In the past an orc warlord managed to unit the tribes and lead an attack on the Aart that destroyed many households before the warlord was finally slain.
Hollowfaust : Necromancers are frequently presecuted for their craft, most see raising the bodies of the dead as a wicked practice. Hollowfaust is the island to which many wizards make a pilgramage to learn more of the craft free from the prejudices that accompany it elsewhere. Here is one of the only places where Elves, Men and even Dwarves find themselves on equal terms with one another. However the dwindling numbers of Elves and Dwarves mean that even this island remains dominated by human wizards.
Important Features :
Bomen : A man of the Aart admits to fearing very little, yet even the bravest will not enter the Bomen without a very good reason indeed. Occasionally a rash youth will charge into the woods seeking honour, only to be devoured by the very forest itself.
To the druids of Aos, Bomen is a sacred place, the seat of the Elder Druid. An ancient man (or possibly elf, or possibly something else. Non-Druids aren't privy to this information and Druids do not tend to concern themseles with whatever the Elder was in the beginning, if ever he was something else) sits at the centre of the Bomen on a throne of living wood which was grown to seat him. So in touch with nature is he, that his body has grown roots with mingle with the trees of the forest.
K'bes : The eastern half of Jedaart is known as the K'bes. A varied terrain, but a pure wilderness occupied only by that which the Aart consider uncicilised. Into this region is where Aart youth's travel to become men. A land of orcs, trolls and some even say dragons.
To make a map of the K'bes is to make an enemt of the Aart, part of the trial of manhood specifies that all walk into the unknown. However, deep within the Hollowfaust vaults there is such a map, although it is no spoken about often, the last thing the city of Necromancers wants is hundreds of unwashed barbarians turning up on the island to destroy the blashemy.
Urthgar's Foothold : Certain tales are not shared by dwarves with outsiders and yet even so rumours begin to spread. The former territory of the Urthgar clan of dwarves is a vast location, the details of the clan's fate are known to few. Of the rumours concerning the area a few details overlap and are therefore more likely tohold some grain of truth. The King was an ambitious dwarf and when his miners uncovered an ancient artifact he set to work in uncovering its power and bending it to further himself and the Clan. Time with the artifact (some maintain it was a book, others say an axe forged from gold as hard as adamantine) began to take a toll on the king as his sanity slipped away and his obsession with the artifact grew. The Clan fell although stories have widely varying reasons as to why (the other dwarvern clans invaded due to the King's evil intentions, there was a civil war that left almost all the dwarves dead, the artifact was activated incorrectly, and a hundred more complicated ideas).
Bards still sing songs about the Fallen Kaer much to the chagrin of the dwarves of Dumuzi and Fafnir.
The area is laced with ancient dwarvern halls and mines, although common knowledge holds that the remenants of clan Urthgar still walk the halls, twisted by evil and insanity. Such an area is almost unresistable to treasure hunters however, although very few artifacts of the can have ever been recovered.
Needlewood : A vast evergreen forest containing trees which would seem to be more at home in the harsh climate of Jedaar, but still they prosper. The outskirts of the wood are heavily worked for it's high quality lumber.
On a fairly regular basis groups enter the wood to hunt the wild animals within, legends are rife about the various beasts which inhabit the needlewood. Most likely most of these tales are nothing more than idle tongues flapping, but the animals of the wood tend to be of superior size and strength. Most of the hunting groups simply seek one of these creatures to bring back as a trophy, while the more occasional group come in search of one of the legendary beasts such as Orcon, a monster that stands over two men tall with six arms (each clutching a different enchanted weapon) that can not be harmed by any blade crafted by the hands of man
Bashir's Scar : Clan Urthgar are blamed for this huge region of lifeless land. The dwarves attribute the land's destruction as a side effect of the evil ways of Clan Urthgar, although exactly how or why is not something ever made clear. Maybe the evil artifact required the life of the land, or perhaps the Dwarvern clans are ignorant and simply do not wish to appear so in the face of such a large question.
Surviving in such a bleak area is difficult for even the most competant survivalist. The new plants that do grow are largely poisonous and twisted forms of their more common cousins, while the animals of the land are starved and rabid.
Elrach Forest : A tranquil wood free from any of civilisation's trappings. Even the elves have no home here. This is the domain of the Fey and other sylvan creatures, creatures who do not wish to be disturbed and tend to react with distaste when their woods are violated
Odril Hills : The hills are small and rolling with reasonably fertilesoil. Small farming thorps are dotted about the landscape and in some areas there are iron and semi-precious stone mines.
Istren Woods : Covering the shores of Lake Istren and far beyondm, the dense varied woods are heavily forested at their outskirts. Further inside bands of goblins and much much worse lurk. And yet, people are drawn to the forest due to two recurring tales.
The first is a tale of the The Sundered Man. His origins are unknown but many an enterprising bard has crafted their own tale concerning this mysterious figure. A figure clad in strange and exotic garments stalks the woods, the figure is but half a man, split from lengthwise down the middle. Stading on one leg and gripping a magical axe in his one hand. Those who disturb the split figure are quickly shredded by the might of his weapon. Most who seek out The Sundered Man do so for one of two reasons, either they believe he guards some site stocked with ancient treasures or his axe is actually Rai-Xeph. The God of Thunder (as the name of te axe translates from the ancient language of the skies) is a weapon of phenomenal power which is reputed to be very specific about how it allows itsle fot be wielded by, some see The Sundered Man as the challenge which must be faced to be found worthy of wielding Rai-Zeph.
The second and more famous tale is of a hidden village in the wood. Istren was a legendary warrior who fought the tides of darkness, stories of his life and times abound. Istren completed many of his adventures with his wife (whom he rescued from a den of terrible rat-like monsters). His wife was the powerful mage Oren (a Princess of a distant land according to some accounts) and together they left the world behind when their adventures were behind them. They retreated into these woods, where they had a score of sons and as many daughters. The descandants of Istren and Oren live on in a hidden village of heroic blood within the wood, no one has ever been able to locate the village but this does little to deter belief
Lake Istren : This gentle lake is filled with all manner of exciting life. Istren Eels are huge creatures which swarm at the lake surface during the evenings for a few days each summer. Creatures of up to thirty feet in length have been reported. During the Eel-fishing the lakeside villages hold a joint festival on the banks. Usually Eels are pickled or smoked and then traded with neighbouring lands.
There are many rumours about the contents of the lake, in particular what lies upon the bed. Some say that an ancient temple filled with lost secrets was sunk there to prevent them ever falling in to the wrong hands. Although this is just one among many stories. Those who dive into the lake have yet to find anything but report that it is very very deep
Kron Heights : These majestic mountains and hills form some truely breathtaking views
---------------------------------------------
Political Geography of Aos http://www.bits.bris.ac.uk/bigredrod/RedMoon_Town.gif
(Circles are important towns, usually between small and large town in the DMG. Circles within a circle are major settlements, usually with populations between small and large city in the DMG. Red marks in the circles mean it is Dwarvern, blue mean Elven)
Bashir :
Stubfort :
Munlim :
Odril : This large town is built atop and around a tall yet gentle hill. At the top sit three small estates of the noble families(Gentrin, Len, and Hecht) and a small fort which is home to Lord Odril. The town wall only encompasses this small area inhabited by the nobles.
Moving down the hill, one passes through a brief middle class of shop owners and then in to a sprawling jumble of peasant housing. Most able bodied men serve as miners, while most mines are owned by one of the three noble families.
The hill and surrounding lands are heavily mined (being rich is a wide variety of metal ores, an exception to the surrounding rolling hillside which offers only pockets of iron in terms of mineral wealth), some say it is a wonder that the whole town doesn't one day collapse from the maze of tunnels which lie beneath. The lower areas tend to suffer badly from great dust clouds caused by the intensive mining, although from higher up the hill the clouds can be quite attractive when the sun sets and golden-red light shines through them.
Edinway : This city is easily the most populated location in all of the islands and immigration from the smaller outlying towns and villages continues despite the efforts of the city guard to counter such acitives (Passage through the city gates requires answering questions about the intended length of stay and purpose, luggage is occasionally searched to prevent indivuals carrying all of their wordly possessions within to start a new life). The growing number of restless and murderous spirits drives more people to seek sanctuary here on top of the constant streams seeking to find a better life and their fortunes.
In the last decade most of the nobles have left Edinway to find a home in a less poverty stricken area.Their old property has been taken over by the wealthier merchants and exists in a sealed city quarter (with its own set of guards and gates). Tensions are mounting between the rich and poor while the city slowly degrades.
Lord Edinway is a compassionate man, some would call him an idiot for his slow reaction to the swelling population and falling standard of living and see his current measure of attempting to turn away obvious fortune-seekers as far too little much too late. His son, Malphus, does not share his ideals and should anything happen to the Lord, it is likely that rather drastic measures would be taken to resotre the faded glory of the city.
Krondhold :
Birmoor :
Ceness :
Disgow :
Harton :
Jedaart :
Settlements in Jedaart tend to be little more than clusters of longhouses, each marking a distinct Aart household, spread over a fairly large areas. The population densities are quite small as a result and towns are more akin to provinces
Odajaaa : If the Aart have a capital it is Odajaaa. This loose cluster of log longhouses is marked by something resembling a traditional town at it's centre, with locations such as shops, inns and the like. The Hall of the Fathers stands at the very centre of Odajaaa, an oddity in it being contructed from stone. The huge two floor building has an enormous stone statue of an Aart warrior before it, the statue is known as
"The Father" (or "The King" on occasion), men ask the statue for advice and during the day it is usually surrounded by at least a dozen men in silent prayer. The building itself houses the current leader of the Aart, the Czar and his body of advisors. The Czar is chosen by a tournament of unarmed combat, before the Hall of Fathers, held each year on the first day of Spring. The current Czar is K'jaan Emberholt.
K'umenn : The isle of Jedaart's harsh weather makes for meager farming opportunities. This is not the case in the few dozen square miles known as K'ummenn. Some unknown, but most likely magical, effect gives this area very little annual snow and a fairly warm sunny climate. The households here are devoted farmers, although their produce is transported to all edges of the Aart to keep stomachs full these households tend to be looked down upon by their neighbours.
Hollowfaust :
Hollowfaust : The only settlement on the island of Hollowfaust is that which from it takes it's name
The purpose of this thread is simple, to provide information on the largest areas of the islands. Specific threads will pop up as necessary to detail information about specfic locals
Physical Geography of Aos
http://www.bits.bris.ac.uk/bigredrod/RedMoon_Terrain.gif
Water Features :
The Flow : So named due to the strong currents that make travel through this body of water near impossible. Visitos from the north arefew and far between, most arriving as shipwrecks
The Drawn Sea : For the most part this sea is calm, picturesque and as nondescript as bodies of water can come. If the name carries any more meaning than a simple convention then it is unknown to the vast majority
Jorakk Ocean : A vast ocean which is populated by far more than it's fair share of salt water welling beasts. The ocean's population makes the south coast of Bashir a dangerous place to spend extended amounts of time, the few towns that dot the southern coast are heavily fortified
There is little sea traffic in the area surrounding the Bashir Islands due to the distance between them and the nearest sizable body of land which could do trade.
Meet the Islands :
Bashir : The island from which the group take their name due its large size. The climate is chiefly temperate with the southern areas being rather warmer than the north for the most part. There are isloated regions which seem to sit outside any kind of weather pattern however.
Humans dominate this land with smaller pockets of Dwarves and Elves coexisting with little interaction. Monsterous races do prowl the island and without a swift mount travelling alone is not the best of ideas.
The men of Bashir are far from a united people. In general small collections of towns and villages with a larger settlement at their heart form into rough regions. The smaller settlements pay tribute to the larger settlement in the form of tax (usually a small proportion of goods from each family) and in exchange the smaller towns recieve protection from any threats that arise. In day to day issues the local mayor governs his own settlement, however, for larger issues the Lord (Baron, King or however the leader wishes to be known) makes the decision and hands his decree down to the smaller villages under his control.
There is some measure of equality between men and women for the most part in Bashir. People see women and men as having seperate sets of tasks, but aren't too suprised at the infrequent exceptions
Jedaart : The common view of this island is that it is a cold harsh land populated by dangerous creatures including savage humans. The common view isn't quite correct.
The only "civilised" occupants of the island are humans who refer to themselves as the Aart. The culture is rather different to the men of Bashir. Aart men tend to stand over six feet tall and have long full beards (beards that even dwarves could respect) and are a vibrant people both in the way they dress and the way th act.
A household is headed by its strongest male member, and the entire household tends to live in a single simple log longhouse. Men perform tasks of metal work, hunting, some farming and anything which requires vast amounts of physical strength. A daughter belongs to her father before she is married, when she becomes property of her husband. A woman must stay at home performing the tasks that would dishonour a man. A man who treats his wife (or wifes, there is no limit on the amount of wifes a man can obtain) badly will usually be put to death before the entire village.
Aart dress themselves in furs traditionally allow men enjoy showing off their wealth with coating themselves and their wives in as many shiny trinkets as they can find (the island has iron and copper deposist but little else. So gold, silver and platinum are obtained through trade with the mainland. As such few actual coins exist, as coins are hard wear)
Upon his sixteenth birthday a boy must begin his rite of passage into manhood. He must leave his household home for a season, living in the K'bes (Wilds). If he survives he is welcomed back and becomes a man of the household, otherwise he is forgotten.
Jedaart itself is a cold, dangerous land. Snow frequently falls and bands of orcs roam the wilderness fighting amongst themselves and anyone who stands between them. In the past an orc warlord managed to unit the tribes and lead an attack on the Aart that destroyed many households before the warlord was finally slain.
Hollowfaust : Necromancers are frequently presecuted for their craft, most see raising the bodies of the dead as a wicked practice. Hollowfaust is the island to which many wizards make a pilgramage to learn more of the craft free from the prejudices that accompany it elsewhere. Here is one of the only places where Elves, Men and even Dwarves find themselves on equal terms with one another. However the dwindling numbers of Elves and Dwarves mean that even this island remains dominated by human wizards.
Important Features :
Bomen : A man of the Aart admits to fearing very little, yet even the bravest will not enter the Bomen without a very good reason indeed. Occasionally a rash youth will charge into the woods seeking honour, only to be devoured by the very forest itself.
To the druids of Aos, Bomen is a sacred place, the seat of the Elder Druid. An ancient man (or possibly elf, or possibly something else. Non-Druids aren't privy to this information and Druids do not tend to concern themseles with whatever the Elder was in the beginning, if ever he was something else) sits at the centre of the Bomen on a throne of living wood which was grown to seat him. So in touch with nature is he, that his body has grown roots with mingle with the trees of the forest.
K'bes : The eastern half of Jedaart is known as the K'bes. A varied terrain, but a pure wilderness occupied only by that which the Aart consider uncicilised. Into this region is where Aart youth's travel to become men. A land of orcs, trolls and some even say dragons.
To make a map of the K'bes is to make an enemt of the Aart, part of the trial of manhood specifies that all walk into the unknown. However, deep within the Hollowfaust vaults there is such a map, although it is no spoken about often, the last thing the city of Necromancers wants is hundreds of unwashed barbarians turning up on the island to destroy the blashemy.
Urthgar's Foothold : Certain tales are not shared by dwarves with outsiders and yet even so rumours begin to spread. The former territory of the Urthgar clan of dwarves is a vast location, the details of the clan's fate are known to few. Of the rumours concerning the area a few details overlap and are therefore more likely tohold some grain of truth. The King was an ambitious dwarf and when his miners uncovered an ancient artifact he set to work in uncovering its power and bending it to further himself and the Clan. Time with the artifact (some maintain it was a book, others say an axe forged from gold as hard as adamantine) began to take a toll on the king as his sanity slipped away and his obsession with the artifact grew. The Clan fell although stories have widely varying reasons as to why (the other dwarvern clans invaded due to the King's evil intentions, there was a civil war that left almost all the dwarves dead, the artifact was activated incorrectly, and a hundred more complicated ideas).
Bards still sing songs about the Fallen Kaer much to the chagrin of the dwarves of Dumuzi and Fafnir.
The area is laced with ancient dwarvern halls and mines, although common knowledge holds that the remenants of clan Urthgar still walk the halls, twisted by evil and insanity. Such an area is almost unresistable to treasure hunters however, although very few artifacts of the can have ever been recovered.
Needlewood : A vast evergreen forest containing trees which would seem to be more at home in the harsh climate of Jedaar, but still they prosper. The outskirts of the wood are heavily worked for it's high quality lumber.
On a fairly regular basis groups enter the wood to hunt the wild animals within, legends are rife about the various beasts which inhabit the needlewood. Most likely most of these tales are nothing more than idle tongues flapping, but the animals of the wood tend to be of superior size and strength. Most of the hunting groups simply seek one of these creatures to bring back as a trophy, while the more occasional group come in search of one of the legendary beasts such as Orcon, a monster that stands over two men tall with six arms (each clutching a different enchanted weapon) that can not be harmed by any blade crafted by the hands of man
Bashir's Scar : Clan Urthgar are blamed for this huge region of lifeless land. The dwarves attribute the land's destruction as a side effect of the evil ways of Clan Urthgar, although exactly how or why is not something ever made clear. Maybe the evil artifact required the life of the land, or perhaps the Dwarvern clans are ignorant and simply do not wish to appear so in the face of such a large question.
Surviving in such a bleak area is difficult for even the most competant survivalist. The new plants that do grow are largely poisonous and twisted forms of their more common cousins, while the animals of the land are starved and rabid.
Elrach Forest : A tranquil wood free from any of civilisation's trappings. Even the elves have no home here. This is the domain of the Fey and other sylvan creatures, creatures who do not wish to be disturbed and tend to react with distaste when their woods are violated
Odril Hills : The hills are small and rolling with reasonably fertilesoil. Small farming thorps are dotted about the landscape and in some areas there are iron and semi-precious stone mines.
Istren Woods : Covering the shores of Lake Istren and far beyondm, the dense varied woods are heavily forested at their outskirts. Further inside bands of goblins and much much worse lurk. And yet, people are drawn to the forest due to two recurring tales.
The first is a tale of the The Sundered Man. His origins are unknown but many an enterprising bard has crafted their own tale concerning this mysterious figure. A figure clad in strange and exotic garments stalks the woods, the figure is but half a man, split from lengthwise down the middle. Stading on one leg and gripping a magical axe in his one hand. Those who disturb the split figure are quickly shredded by the might of his weapon. Most who seek out The Sundered Man do so for one of two reasons, either they believe he guards some site stocked with ancient treasures or his axe is actually Rai-Xeph. The God of Thunder (as the name of te axe translates from the ancient language of the skies) is a weapon of phenomenal power which is reputed to be very specific about how it allows itsle fot be wielded by, some see The Sundered Man as the challenge which must be faced to be found worthy of wielding Rai-Zeph.
The second and more famous tale is of a hidden village in the wood. Istren was a legendary warrior who fought the tides of darkness, stories of his life and times abound. Istren completed many of his adventures with his wife (whom he rescued from a den of terrible rat-like monsters). His wife was the powerful mage Oren (a Princess of a distant land according to some accounts) and together they left the world behind when their adventures were behind them. They retreated into these woods, where they had a score of sons and as many daughters. The descandants of Istren and Oren live on in a hidden village of heroic blood within the wood, no one has ever been able to locate the village but this does little to deter belief
Lake Istren : This gentle lake is filled with all manner of exciting life. Istren Eels are huge creatures which swarm at the lake surface during the evenings for a few days each summer. Creatures of up to thirty feet in length have been reported. During the Eel-fishing the lakeside villages hold a joint festival on the banks. Usually Eels are pickled or smoked and then traded with neighbouring lands.
There are many rumours about the contents of the lake, in particular what lies upon the bed. Some say that an ancient temple filled with lost secrets was sunk there to prevent them ever falling in to the wrong hands. Although this is just one among many stories. Those who dive into the lake have yet to find anything but report that it is very very deep
Kron Heights : These majestic mountains and hills form some truely breathtaking views
---------------------------------------------
Political Geography of Aos http://www.bits.bris.ac.uk/bigredrod/RedMoon_Town.gif
(Circles are important towns, usually between small and large town in the DMG. Circles within a circle are major settlements, usually with populations between small and large city in the DMG. Red marks in the circles mean it is Dwarvern, blue mean Elven)
Bashir :
Stubfort :
Munlim :
Odril : This large town is built atop and around a tall yet gentle hill. At the top sit three small estates of the noble families(Gentrin, Len, and Hecht) and a small fort which is home to Lord Odril. The town wall only encompasses this small area inhabited by the nobles.
Moving down the hill, one passes through a brief middle class of shop owners and then in to a sprawling jumble of peasant housing. Most able bodied men serve as miners, while most mines are owned by one of the three noble families.
The hill and surrounding lands are heavily mined (being rich is a wide variety of metal ores, an exception to the surrounding rolling hillside which offers only pockets of iron in terms of mineral wealth), some say it is a wonder that the whole town doesn't one day collapse from the maze of tunnels which lie beneath. The lower areas tend to suffer badly from great dust clouds caused by the intensive mining, although from higher up the hill the clouds can be quite attractive when the sun sets and golden-red light shines through them.
Edinway : This city is easily the most populated location in all of the islands and immigration from the smaller outlying towns and villages continues despite the efforts of the city guard to counter such acitives (Passage through the city gates requires answering questions about the intended length of stay and purpose, luggage is occasionally searched to prevent indivuals carrying all of their wordly possessions within to start a new life). The growing number of restless and murderous spirits drives more people to seek sanctuary here on top of the constant streams seeking to find a better life and their fortunes.
In the last decade most of the nobles have left Edinway to find a home in a less poverty stricken area.Their old property has been taken over by the wealthier merchants and exists in a sealed city quarter (with its own set of guards and gates). Tensions are mounting between the rich and poor while the city slowly degrades.
Lord Edinway is a compassionate man, some would call him an idiot for his slow reaction to the swelling population and falling standard of living and see his current measure of attempting to turn away obvious fortune-seekers as far too little much too late. His son, Malphus, does not share his ideals and should anything happen to the Lord, it is likely that rather drastic measures would be taken to resotre the faded glory of the city.
Krondhold :
Birmoor :
Ceness :
Disgow :
Harton :
Jedaart :
Settlements in Jedaart tend to be little more than clusters of longhouses, each marking a distinct Aart household, spread over a fairly large areas. The population densities are quite small as a result and towns are more akin to provinces
Odajaaa : If the Aart have a capital it is Odajaaa. This loose cluster of log longhouses is marked by something resembling a traditional town at it's centre, with locations such as shops, inns and the like. The Hall of the Fathers stands at the very centre of Odajaaa, an oddity in it being contructed from stone. The huge two floor building has an enormous stone statue of an Aart warrior before it, the statue is known as
"The Father" (or "The King" on occasion), men ask the statue for advice and during the day it is usually surrounded by at least a dozen men in silent prayer. The building itself houses the current leader of the Aart, the Czar and his body of advisors. The Czar is chosen by a tournament of unarmed combat, before the Hall of Fathers, held each year on the first day of Spring. The current Czar is K'jaan Emberholt.
K'umenn : The isle of Jedaart's harsh weather makes for meager farming opportunities. This is not the case in the few dozen square miles known as K'ummenn. Some unknown, but most likely magical, effect gives this area very little annual snow and a fairly warm sunny climate. The households here are devoted farmers, although their produce is transported to all edges of the Aart to keep stomachs full these households tend to be looked down upon by their neighbours.
Hollowfaust :
Hollowfaust : The only settlement on the island of Hollowfaust is that which from it takes it's name