The North
From Thirdexalt
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== The Land == | == The Land == | ||
| - | Near the shores of the Inland Sea, the climate of this region is chilly grasslands and pine scrub. As one goes farther north, the cold becomes increasingly bitter, and the wind grows in strength, until the taiga stops and the tundra begins. Winters here are long and cruel, and the short summer barely gives the surface of the tundra time to thaw before the ice closes in again. Even in | + | Near the shores of the Inland Sea, the climate of this region is chilly grasslands and pine scrub. As one goes farther north, the cold becomes increasingly bitter, and the wind grows in strength, until the taiga stops and the tundra begins. Winters here are long and cruel, and the short summer barely gives the surface of the tundra time to thaw before the ice closes in again. Even in summer, this is a frigid and windy land, where freezing rain lashes herds of elk, mammoth and reindeer that eke a marginal existence in the bleak landscape. Tundra eventually gives way to a permanently frozen waste that runs to the foothills of the northernmost mountains. It is said that in the farthest North, past the mountains, there is nothing but a great expanse of snow and wind. |
| - | summer, this is a frigid and windy land, where freezing rain lashes | + | |
| - | way to a permanently frozen waste that runs to the foothills of the northernmost mountains. It is said that in the farthest North, past the mountains, there is nothing but a great expanse of snow and | + | Beyond even that lies the Elemental Pole of Air. |
| - | wind. Beyond even that lies the Elemental Pole of Air. | + | |
Exiles across all of Creation hide in the North, finding havens in manses too dangerous for the Realm to claim, lands too harsh for others to survive in, and places where no other human may set foot for years. | Exiles across all of Creation hide in the North, finding havens in manses too dangerous for the Realm to claim, lands too harsh for others to survive in, and places where no other human may set foot for years. | ||
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The North is sparsely peopled, with city-states and wandering tribes scattered piecemeal across its vast expanse of land and snow. Its people are pale skinned, with hair ranging from jet black to platinum blond. Given the extreme conditions, the people are hale and hearty, with large frames and heavy builds predominating. | The North is sparsely peopled, with city-states and wandering tribes scattered piecemeal across its vast expanse of land and snow. Its people are pale skinned, with hair ranging from jet black to platinum blond. Given the extreme conditions, the people are hale and hearty, with large frames and heavy builds predominating. | ||
| - | + | Even in cities, Northerners primarily make offerings to their ancestor cults and the dark spirits of snow and frost and hunger. Herders and hunters offer sacrifices to the herd animal spirits and the spirits of the hunt, respectively, but the vast majority of devotions go to the ghosts of the dead. In turn, their ancestors’ spirits protect them and guide them across the trackless snows, driving away evil spirits and bringing warnings of plagues and blizzards. Hidden tomb-mounds and cemeteries are guarded by the tribes’ finest warriors, and chieftains are buried with their weapons to use in the Underworld and are sacrificed beasts to serve as their herds there. | |
| - | + | There are no fixed customs for marriage in the North. Life is hard, and if the ghosts of one’s ancestors do not signal their disapproval, then the marriage is blessed and deserves prosperity. Given the lack of spare food and resources, Northerners typically abandon unwanted or deformed children. | |
| + | Civilizations in the North have accreted like nacre on pearls, with populations slowly gathering around defensible positions that have the food and shelter to provide for them. The nomadic icewalker tribes sweep across the plains in a constant wash of death and hunger, tending their herds and seeking war and plunder on their way. Wars between the city-states are rare, as it is difficult to support a standing army on the scarce supplies that the North provides. It’s easier to bribe the tribes to do the work for you and then attempt to pick over what’s left if they succeed. Hunting and gathering is the rule, and elk and mammoth herders follow the yearly migration of the herds from east to west and back again. | ||
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| + | Despite two Deathlords have their dwellings in the Northern lands —the [[Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears]] and the [[Bishop of the Chalcedony Thurible]] — tribes who pay proper | ||
| + | respect to their ancestors scorn these Abyssal cults. | ||
== The Past == | == The Past == | ||
| - | When the First Age ended and the Solar wonders crumbled, many of the glories of the North fell with them. No longer could chariots transport riders thousands of miles in bare hours, and no longer could enchanted gardens grow fruit that would feed hungry cities. While some of the Solar roads remain, such as the Traveler’s Road to Whitewall, most have been shattered by enemy armies or fallen to the corrosion of time. Cities drew in on themselves to survive, or they were lost to the snows, and the icewalker tribes picked over their bones | + | When the First Age ended and the Solar wonders crumbled, many of the glories of the North fell with them. No longer could chariots transport riders thousands of miles in bare hours, and no longer could enchanted gardens grow fruit that would feed hungry cities. While some of the Solar roads remain, such as the Traveler’s Road to Whitewall, most have been shattered by enemy armies or fallen to the corrosion of time. Cities drew in on themselves to survive, or they were lost to the snows, and the icewalker tribes picked over their bones. |
| - | + | A large number of petty kingdoms and city-states fringes the coastlines of the Inland Sea and the more northerly White Sea. The southward areas are tributaries and puppets of the Realm; some ruled by scion families, such as the city-state of [[Cherak]], under the patrician Jerem family, but the cities become progressively more independent as one travels north. Northern states are often rude affairs, usually consisting of an enthroned strongman propped up by a table full of well-fed thugs with swords and axes. Only [[Whitewall]], [[The Haslanti League]] and [[Gethamane]] are states of truly notable power. In the barren spaces between the seas, the kingdoms shrink to towns and the city-states to isolated hamlets, and people band together to scratch out a living as shabby democracies. | |
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A number of other city-states of varying size lie around Whitewall, spokes to its central hub. While traders can journey to them directly, Whitewall serves as a convenient staging post and base, and many caravans would rather plot their trek via Whitewall and take the extra days that such a journey requires, rather than risk the Fair Folk and the walking dead on lesser roads and across the snow. | A number of other city-states of varying size lie around Whitewall, spokes to its central hub. While traders can journey to them directly, Whitewall serves as a convenient staging post and base, and many caravans would rather plot their trek via Whitewall and take the extra days that such a journey requires, rather than risk the Fair Folk and the walking dead on lesser roads and across the snow. | ||
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Southwest of Whitewall, scattered along the mountain peaks, are the tiny but independent silverholds, a collection of forts, mining camps and goat-herding villages that barely survive from year to year but have done so for centuries. Some of them are said to leave sacrifices for airborne demons or to make candles that have the power to summon and control spirits. | Southwest of Whitewall, scattered along the mountain peaks, are the tiny but independent silverholds, a collection of forts, mining camps and goat-herding villages that barely survive from year to year but have done so for centuries. Some of them are said to leave sacrifices for airborne demons or to make candles that have the power to summon and control spirits. | ||
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| + | == Major States == | ||
[[Gethamane]]: The City under the mountain | [[Gethamane]]: The City under the mountain | ||
| + | [[The Haslanti League]]: A collection of | ||
[[Whitewall]]: Named for its massive enchanted perimeter, | [[Whitewall]]: Named for its massive enchanted perimeter, | ||
| - | [[ | + | == Minor States == |
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| + | [[Cherak]] lies southeast of Whitewall. It is affiliated with the Jerem scion family but haunted by infestations of the undead. While House Jerem has appealed to its Imperial connections, none of the Great Houses have the spare forces to cleanse the lands once and for all, and the state grows weaker with every passing month. | ||
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| + | [[Fella]], City of Broken Walls, lies North-West of Whitewall. Here no stone will remain atop another for more than an hour before casting itself down. All of its standing buildings are wood or ivory, and the inhabitants have cruel laws controlling where fires may be lit. | ||
| + | [[Shanarinara]] is Northeast of Whitewall; a would-be expansionist democracy hemmed in by the Haslanti League and Gethamane and by Whitewall’s own interests but without the strength to go further. It is pondering an alliance with one of the Deathlords. | ||
[[The Ice Walkers]]: | [[The Ice Walkers]]: | ||
Revision as of 05:02, 29 September 2014
Contents |
The Land
Near the shores of the Inland Sea, the climate of this region is chilly grasslands and pine scrub. As one goes farther north, the cold becomes increasingly bitter, and the wind grows in strength, until the taiga stops and the tundra begins. Winters here are long and cruel, and the short summer barely gives the surface of the tundra time to thaw before the ice closes in again. Even in summer, this is a frigid and windy land, where freezing rain lashes herds of elk, mammoth and reindeer that eke a marginal existence in the bleak landscape. Tundra eventually gives way to a permanently frozen waste that runs to the foothills of the northernmost mountains. It is said that in the farthest North, past the mountains, there is nothing but a great expanse of snow and wind.
Beyond even that lies the Elemental Pole of Air.
Exiles across all of Creation hide in the North, finding havens in manses too dangerous for the Realm to claim, lands too harsh for others to survive in, and places where no other human may set foot for years.
The People
The North is sparsely peopled, with city-states and wandering tribes scattered piecemeal across its vast expanse of land and snow. Its people are pale skinned, with hair ranging from jet black to platinum blond. Given the extreme conditions, the people are hale and hearty, with large frames and heavy builds predominating.
Even in cities, Northerners primarily make offerings to their ancestor cults and the dark spirits of snow and frost and hunger. Herders and hunters offer sacrifices to the herd animal spirits and the spirits of the hunt, respectively, but the vast majority of devotions go to the ghosts of the dead. In turn, their ancestors’ spirits protect them and guide them across the trackless snows, driving away evil spirits and bringing warnings of plagues and blizzards. Hidden tomb-mounds and cemeteries are guarded by the tribes’ finest warriors, and chieftains are buried with their weapons to use in the Underworld and are sacrificed beasts to serve as their herds there.
There are no fixed customs for marriage in the North. Life is hard, and if the ghosts of one’s ancestors do not signal their disapproval, then the marriage is blessed and deserves prosperity. Given the lack of spare food and resources, Northerners typically abandon unwanted or deformed children.
Civilizations in the North have accreted like nacre on pearls, with populations slowly gathering around defensible positions that have the food and shelter to provide for them. The nomadic icewalker tribes sweep across the plains in a constant wash of death and hunger, tending their herds and seeking war and plunder on their way. Wars between the city-states are rare, as it is difficult to support a standing army on the scarce supplies that the North provides. It’s easier to bribe the tribes to do the work for you and then attempt to pick over what’s left if they succeed. Hunting and gathering is the rule, and elk and mammoth herders follow the yearly migration of the herds from east to west and back again.
Despite two Deathlords have their dwellings in the Northern lands —the Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears and the Bishop of the Chalcedony Thurible — tribes who pay proper respect to their ancestors scorn these Abyssal cults.
The Past
When the First Age ended and the Solar wonders crumbled, many of the glories of the North fell with them. No longer could chariots transport riders thousands of miles in bare hours, and no longer could enchanted gardens grow fruit that would feed hungry cities. While some of the Solar roads remain, such as the Traveler’s Road to Whitewall, most have been shattered by enemy armies or fallen to the corrosion of time. Cities drew in on themselves to survive, or they were lost to the snows, and the icewalker tribes picked over their bones.
A large number of petty kingdoms and city-states fringes the coastlines of the Inland Sea and the more northerly White Sea. The southward areas are tributaries and puppets of the Realm; some ruled by scion families, such as the city-state of Cherak, under the patrician Jerem family, but the cities become progressively more independent as one travels north. Northern states are often rude affairs, usually consisting of an enthroned strongman propped up by a table full of well-fed thugs with swords and axes. Only Whitewall, The Haslanti League and Gethamane are states of truly notable power. In the barren spaces between the seas, the kingdoms shrink to towns and the city-states to isolated hamlets, and people band together to scratch out a living as shabby democracies.
A number of other city-states of varying size lie around Whitewall, spokes to its central hub. While traders can journey to them directly, Whitewall serves as a convenient staging post and base, and many caravans would rather plot their trek via Whitewall and take the extra days that such a journey requires, rather than risk the Fair Folk and the walking dead on lesser roads and across the snow.
Southwest of Whitewall, scattered along the mountain peaks, are the tiny but independent silverholds, a collection of forts, mining camps and goat-herding villages that barely survive from year to year but have done so for centuries. Some of them are said to leave sacrifices for airborne demons or to make candles that have the power to summon and control spirits.
Major States
Gethamane: The City under the mountain
The Haslanti League: A collection of
Whitewall: Named for its massive enchanted perimeter,
Minor States
Cherak lies southeast of Whitewall. It is affiliated with the Jerem scion family but haunted by infestations of the undead. While House Jerem has appealed to its Imperial connections, none of the Great Houses have the spare forces to cleanse the lands once and for all, and the state grows weaker with every passing month.
Fella, City of Broken Walls, lies North-West of Whitewall. Here no stone will remain atop another for more than an hour before casting itself down. All of its standing buildings are wood or ivory, and the inhabitants have cruel laws controlling where fires may be lit.
Shanarinara is Northeast of Whitewall; a would-be expansionist democracy hemmed in by the Haslanti League and Gethamane and by Whitewall’s own interests but without the strength to go further. It is pondering an alliance with one of the Deathlords.
