| The Politics |
| Eastern Islands | The rocky islands off the eastern coast of the great northern continent are home to hearty seafaring men and women known as Reavers. The Reavers strike a balance between living off the sea through fishing and whaling and kelp farming, and living off the wealth of their neighbors in the coastal duchies through piracy and raids. The Reavers largely stayed free of the Serpent Wars, but they continued to raid targets of opportunity on both sides of the war. Their presence has deterred trade between the North and the rest of the world for centuries. |
| Coastal Duchies | Several duchies dominate the eastern coastline of The North. The southernmost duchy is called Gulstom. This province is just far south enough to avoid the worst of the winter ice, and just far north enough to avoid the worst of the summer storms of hail and rain. Other duchies north of Gulstom are not quite as prosperous, but they are also less likely to be targeted by the Reavers. Several merchant families came to dominate local politics in the last few decades, and their calls for increased defense of trade routes have resulted in skirmishes between the Gulstom duchy and its neighbors, especially the Reavers. |
| Centaur and Nomads | Although some enterprising humans do live nomadic lifestyles on horseback in the rolling plains and plateuas of the White Steppes, most have been pushed out of their homes by the wild and violent centaur. Because the most aggressive nomads were made into centaur by The Serpent, and because the remainder have largely been culled, most of the remaining nomads are cunning horsemen who prize speed, efficiency, and stealth. Although outsiders must often cross these lands, the journey is not undertaken lightly and trade between the eastern coast--and therefore the world beyond the North--and the rest of the continent is even further limited. |
| Pioneers and Berserkers | Living deep in the forested wilderness to the south are brave pioneers, enigmatic dral, frightening monsters, and the berserker tribes. The pioneers travel into the forest either to escape the laws of their home nations, or else they are forcibly transplanted as settlers. The berserkers, on the other hand, are quite happy with their wild and wooded home. They practice primal warfare and witchcraft, and they hunt and raid only slightly more discriminately than gnolls. Many outsiders speculate that the dral suffer the presence of the berserker tribes because those tribes worship dral as gods. |
| The Kindgom of Iso | The hot lakes in the center of the continent are home to a splintered monarchy called the Kingdom of Iso. The Kingdom was formed during the fall of the ancient Empire of Kaddegh, and was split into several principalities, unified under a new king, and splintered again during the Serpent Wars. After the Serpent Wars, one of the Dragonsaint's closest companions established what has become the premier college for runesmithing and general magical theory. The new warmage colleges of Iso grew out of this original school. Although it currently has no king or regent, Iso's people insist that their land is still a kingdom. |
| The Old Cities | The ancient city-states of Kaddegh (pronounced KAH-def) were once the heart of an empire that spanned the entire continent. Civil disorder and primitive magical experiments gone out of hand led to rebellion, famine, and the disintegration of the empire just a few short years after it claimed the whole of the North. Now, two of the three cities are abandoned ruins and the third is the site of an underground war between beings of power from another world and dozens of guilds caught up in their conflict. Since the end of the Serpent Wars, a powerful guild has seized control of many libraries and cultural sites and established neutral safe zones within Kaddegh. |
| Mountain Clans | The Earthspine Mountains are harshly cold and foreboding. Aside from the northern deserts, the mountains represent the least hospitable place on the continent. And yet, several scattered clans of humans survive among giants, grimlocks, mountain beasts, and worse. Several ancient mines and abandoned mining settlements left over from the years of imperial power in neighboring Kaddegh provide shelter for the the clans and monsters alike. The majority of kith clans live under the peaks and valleys of these mountains, and their recent traffic with the surface world has drawn attention to this part of the continent. |