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Yacrana is a country of sweeping, rolling grasslands. It is divided by an ancient, worn down mountain range - to the west lie dryland plains, criss-crossed by seasonal creeks and streams. Buttes jut up from this flattened landscape, one of the few landmarks in evidence. Ringed by the Radback plateau to the west, the Songstone mountains to the north, and the Ehmranmir to the south, the western plainlands of Yacrana are sparsely populated by roaming groups of nomads, animal herders following the greenery, and the capital city of Redstone.
A great collapsed gash, some 100 miles long, mars the otherwise unremarkable lands. It is a remnant of the last great calamity to befall Yacrana, long before it united. A monster had slumbered beneath a dwarven kingdom-city, and upon awakening, and sundered the foundations underlying it so thoroughly that the whole complex fell down, deep into the Underdark.
In the east, even the low Labrador ranges are capable of blocking wind-blown rainclouds from the sea, and so a great forest grew, fed by nutrient-rich soil sloughing off the two intersecting mountain ranges and annual floods of snow-melt.
The Grenarht Forest is so vast, it rarely freezes, even in the worst of winter. It is rich in wildlife, and is known for supporting rare creatures like unicorns, and treants. A mix of coniferous and deciduous trees ensures that there is always some form of canopy, even in the lightless depths of the Deep Winter.
The rolling hills and coastal plains of the area around the great Galth Delta is some of the richest land on the continent, and produces a great surplus of produce every spring and summer - a surplus that is desperately needed, come winter.
--
To the south of these rich lands, lies the Tathaic pensinula. Once a site of intense volcanic activity, these massive basalt hills are rich in both wildlife and flora, yes, but it is also an incredibly difficult place to eke out a living. Unsurprisingly, tribes of wood elves have a heavy presence in the region, claiming massive tribal territories that can stretch far beyond what anyone in the plains would dare.
Through this mountainous land stretch trade routes which never see snow - a valuable thing to possess, and accordingly, are heavily taxed.
Once, these routes were busy all year round, rain, hail, and shine. Now, safer sea routes have seen a sharp decline in the traffic, and the inhabitants are beginning to buckle under the pressure.
---
The vast northern continent is sparsely populated, mostly by sturdy peoples like orcs, and goliaths. Ringing the edges are patches of ferny taiga, and beyond them, the tundra looms.
In the taiga forest, thick-furred leopards eke out survival alongside giant polar owls and herds of caribou that seem outrageously large for such a barren landscape. Across the tundra, plumes of steam indicate hunting remorhaz, and yeti howls echo almost endlessly in the constantly bright summer.
At the center of the continent, running for two thousand miles, lies a Rift into the Elemental Plane of Ice. This is the reason for Imikirr's six months of winter, and perhaps why the indigenous sentients lived under the ground, where the temperature is far more stable.
It seems odd, but the closer to the Rift you get, the less snow there is. Instead, snowless valleys around the massive Rift Mountains provide a habitat for some truly massive creatures.
Matriarchal herds of mastodon move between geothermally heated lichen and moss forests, as their mothers have done for generations before them. Feathered theropods stalk through the six months of darkness, always looking for their next meal.
---
The Radback Plateau is also known as the Spine of the World, rising up sharply from the vast grassy sea of Western Yacrana. It is a dangerous place to live, as Giants regularly roam the nearly-sheer slopes, and the weather seems to have a mind of it's own.
An expedition once climbed one of the higher peaks, located close to the Snowdrop Redoubt. In their scientific estimation, it was more than three miles tall, not including the height above sea level.
---
Samekh is a loose confederation of principalities, kingdoms, and traditional tribal grounds. In the south-west, Kalgan families retreat to traditional hand-carved boltholes every winter, bringing with them everything they own, including herds of livestock.
Around the vast, bowl-shaped Bay of Sun, fisherfolk spend nearly all their lives on the ocean, only treading on land when absolutely necessary. Island-living families speak their own unique creole, skin-diving for pearls and sea cucumbers.
A swathe of golden grass carves a path like a river through the middle of Samekh, and it is here that the horse-riding noble families wage polite war every summer for grazing rights. The Ummarth ends only where the taiga begins, and the contrast between the two cannot be missed, even during summer.
The northern seas surrounding the shattered icy coast of Samekh are shallow, but that merely means that winter sends floes of ice flooding onto shore when the winds are right.
---
In Telbara, civilisation seems almost entirely restricted to massive church-fortresses known as Catedara. This is not entirely true, but a concerted propaganda effort has been made to ensure the deception sticks.
In the Tablelands, which rise up sharply from the plains of Marlthara, on the south-eastern coast of Telbara, countless tiny villages and hamlets nestle against the network of creeks and rivers that flow down, through, and around this complex of sandstone bluffs.
Along the Ehmranmir mountains are openings to the Deep Roads, a dwarven engineering project that once linked a thousand sunless cities. Some are closed, some have been lost, others deliberately forgotten. Others lead to still-populated holds that were old when Elves and their like first set foot onto Imikirr's soil.
In the west lies the Naurteema, a geologically active area filled with volcanoes, geysers, geothermal vents, and frequent earthquakes. It is also a bastion against the constant testing strikes of Fire Giants.
Accordingly, Mirhold Catedara does not at all resemble her more eastern, delicately elven counterparts. Her walls are chunks of columnar basalt, mighty enough that even a concerted assault cannot shift them - and within, harvested volcanic soils helps to feed a standing army some thirty thousand strong.
---
Across the open ocean lies the Shattered Land - what remains of the once-mighty Elven empire. It lasted for ten thousand years, before a cataclysm turned what was a subcontinent into an archipelago of a thousand islands.
Rumours of it still persist in high elf enclaves; some are cautionary, others are wistful. The story of the Exodus, however, is far more widespread.
No one has yet been neither brave nor fool enough to try and return.
---
Further east from the Shattered Land lies the third great continent. Even less is known about it than is known about the Shattered Land, save that it must exist.
---
There are rumours among Samekhi fishers that the lands past the Radback Plateau never know snow. That their forests grow lush and impenetrable, all the way to the coast. That creatures exist there that are indistinguishable from plants, that are larger than their boats, that are terrifyingly beautiful to observe.
Of course, these are just rumours, merely a good tale for a cold winter's night in the tavern. Or at least, they will stay rumours until someone funds an expedition, and returns safely.
A great collapsed gash, some 100 miles long, mars the otherwise unremarkable lands. It is a remnant of the last great calamity to befall Yacrana, long before it united. A monster had slumbered beneath a dwarven kingdom-city, and upon awakening, and sundered the foundations underlying it so thoroughly that the whole complex fell down, deep into the Underdark.
In the east, even the low Labrador ranges are capable of blocking wind-blown rainclouds from the sea, and so a great forest grew, fed by nutrient-rich soil sloughing off the two intersecting mountain ranges and annual floods of snow-melt.
The Grenarht Forest is so vast, it rarely freezes, even in the worst of winter. It is rich in wildlife, and is known for supporting rare creatures like unicorns, and treants. A mix of coniferous and deciduous trees ensures that there is always some form of canopy, even in the lightless depths of the Deep Winter.
The rolling hills and coastal plains of the area around the great Galth Delta is some of the richest land on the continent, and produces a great surplus of produce every spring and summer - a surplus that is desperately needed, come winter.
--
To the south of these rich lands, lies the Tathaic pensinula. Once a site of intense volcanic activity, these massive basalt hills are rich in both wildlife and flora, yes, but it is also an incredibly difficult place to eke out a living. Unsurprisingly, tribes of wood elves have a heavy presence in the region, claiming massive tribal territories that can stretch far beyond what anyone in the plains would dare.
Through this mountainous land stretch trade routes which never see snow - a valuable thing to possess, and accordingly, are heavily taxed.
Once, these routes were busy all year round, rain, hail, and shine. Now, safer sea routes have seen a sharp decline in the traffic, and the inhabitants are beginning to buckle under the pressure.
---
The vast northern continent is sparsely populated, mostly by sturdy peoples like orcs, and goliaths. Ringing the edges are patches of ferny taiga, and beyond them, the tundra looms.
In the taiga forest, thick-furred leopards eke out survival alongside giant polar owls and herds of caribou that seem outrageously large for such a barren landscape. Across the tundra, plumes of steam indicate hunting remorhaz, and yeti howls echo almost endlessly in the constantly bright summer.
At the center of the continent, running for two thousand miles, lies a Rift into the Elemental Plane of Ice. This is the reason for Imikirr's six months of winter, and perhaps why the indigenous sentients lived under the ground, where the temperature is far more stable.
It seems odd, but the closer to the Rift you get, the less snow there is. Instead, snowless valleys around the massive Rift Mountains provide a habitat for some truly massive creatures.
Matriarchal herds of mastodon move between geothermally heated lichen and moss forests, as their mothers have done for generations before them. Feathered theropods stalk through the six months of darkness, always looking for their next meal.
---
The Radback Plateau is also known as the Spine of the World, rising up sharply from the vast grassy sea of Western Yacrana. It is a dangerous place to live, as Giants regularly roam the nearly-sheer slopes, and the weather seems to have a mind of it's own.
An expedition once climbed one of the higher peaks, located close to the Snowdrop Redoubt. In their scientific estimation, it was more than three miles tall, not including the height above sea level.
---
Samekh is a loose confederation of principalities, kingdoms, and traditional tribal grounds. In the south-west, Kalgan families retreat to traditional hand-carved boltholes every winter, bringing with them everything they own, including herds of livestock.
Around the vast, bowl-shaped Bay of Sun, fisherfolk spend nearly all their lives on the ocean, only treading on land when absolutely necessary. Island-living families speak their own unique creole, skin-diving for pearls and sea cucumbers.
A swathe of golden grass carves a path like a river through the middle of Samekh, and it is here that the horse-riding noble families wage polite war every summer for grazing rights. The Ummarth ends only where the taiga begins, and the contrast between the two cannot be missed, even during summer.
The northern seas surrounding the shattered icy coast of Samekh are shallow, but that merely means that winter sends floes of ice flooding onto shore when the winds are right.
---
In Telbara, civilisation seems almost entirely restricted to massive church-fortresses known as Catedara. This is not entirely true, but a concerted propaganda effort has been made to ensure the deception sticks.
In the Tablelands, which rise up sharply from the plains of Marlthara, on the south-eastern coast of Telbara, countless tiny villages and hamlets nestle against the network of creeks and rivers that flow down, through, and around this complex of sandstone bluffs.
Along the Ehmranmir mountains are openings to the Deep Roads, a dwarven engineering project that once linked a thousand sunless cities. Some are closed, some have been lost, others deliberately forgotten. Others lead to still-populated holds that were old when Elves and their like first set foot onto Imikirr's soil.
In the west lies the Naurteema, a geologically active area filled with volcanoes, geysers, geothermal vents, and frequent earthquakes. It is also a bastion against the constant testing strikes of Fire Giants.
Accordingly, Mirhold Catedara does not at all resemble her more eastern, delicately elven counterparts. Her walls are chunks of columnar basalt, mighty enough that even a concerted assault cannot shift them - and within, harvested volcanic soils helps to feed a standing army some thirty thousand strong.
---
Across the open ocean lies the Shattered Land - what remains of the once-mighty Elven empire. It lasted for ten thousand years, before a cataclysm turned what was a subcontinent into an archipelago of a thousand islands.
Rumours of it still persist in high elf enclaves; some are cautionary, others are wistful. The story of the Exodus, however, is far more widespread.
No one has yet been neither brave nor fool enough to try and return.
---
Further east from the Shattered Land lies the third great continent. Even less is known about it than is known about the Shattered Land, save that it must exist.
---
There are rumours among Samekhi fishers that the lands past the Radback Plateau never know snow. That their forests grow lush and impenetrable, all the way to the coast. That creatures exist there that are indistinguishable from plants, that are larger than their boats, that are terrifyingly beautiful to observe.
Of course, these are just rumours, merely a good tale for a cold winter's night in the tavern. Or at least, they will stay rumours until someone funds an expedition, and returns safely.
