The Frontier Lands

The Coastal Frontier Lands

The region north of the Oakwood Forest is referred to as the Coastal Frontier. This land has been mostly converted to farmland or grazing lands, though the effects of the Wasting still linger. Farming is difficult, and while the grasses growing wild are sufficient for some livestock, herds must be moved often. Most of the surplus food produced here goes to feed the populations of the cities, towns, and villages along the cost itself.

Those settlements are primarily devoted to sea-based activities: fishing and trade. Foremost among the settlements is Endmere one of the Free Cities that control trade between the Farsea to the east and the bays (Icefell and Clearwater) to the west.

The Oakwood Forest

The Oakwood Forest exists thanks to the concerted efforts of the druids and the priests of Berdea, but their efforts have not exactly produced what they were hoping for. While trees are growing here despite the Wasting, they are twisted, gnarled, and dark. The Wasting seems to have taken on a new aspect here - poisoning the spirits of whatever tries to live beneath these trees. Many dark creatures make their homes here. As for the Fey, the nymphs have abandoned this region to the gremlins. These twisted mockeries of Berdea's creation take delight in tormenting those who attempt to pass through the Oakwood, making the two north-south roads that traverse the wood very dangerous indeed. Orc and Goblin tribes dedicated to the Imprisoned Gods can also be found in the Oakwood.

The Meadows

The grasslands south of the Oakwood are a different matter. These regions did not suffer the full effects of the Wasting, and so while trees are sparse, the grasses have at least returned. Some determined members of the Folk have even established farms and grazing lands here. They find that coaxing life from the ground is at least as difficult as it is in the Coastal lands, but at least there is room to expand.

Only a few settlements dot the Meadows; most notably Meadow's End and Four Rivers. Four Rivers thrives on trade between Endmere and the Ironhill Delve, which can be reached via a long, treacherous, but at least well-marked road leading west from the town. Meadow's End is the center of the small farming community in the Meadows.

The Feywood

The lands south of the central plains are dominated by one major natural feature: the Feywood. This huge expanse of woodland is one of the major forests name by the Elves long before even the Dwarves were awakened. The Feywood today represents the portion of that forest that was not touched by the Wasting. In years past, the forest extended much farther to the South (and encompassed much of the lands northward to the coast as well.

But the Feywood was not completely untouched by the Great Strife. In addition to being home to the Elves and nymphs that have lived here since Berdea Awakened them, there are a good number of gremlin Fey as well as other dark creatures within the woods. Over the past one hundred fifty years or so, others of the Folk have started to make their mark on the Feywood as well. The first settlments were near the large lakes, but more recently, settlements and trade roads have begun to appear deep within the woods.

The South Wastes

South of the Feywood lies a rocky, dusty, broken wasteland - the product of the Wasting. The trees used to thrive here; now one will find nothing growing in the ground until reaching the narrow isthmus south of where the Iron Mountains and Teeth of the Sea almost meet. But even this isthmus is tainted - it is a marshland home to many fell creatures, including trolls. The remnants still remain of a two thousand year old trade road that once linked the dwarven citadel now called the Lonely Delve with Ironhill Delve and the Glitterhold. This track allows those brave enough to attempt it to at least blaze a path through the drier parts of the marshland.

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Before the Elves and Fey were awakened, the trees of the Feywood covered the entire basin between the Iron Mountains and the Teeth of the Sea, from the isthmus in the south to the coast in the North. By the time of the Great Strife, though, much of the coastal region had been converted to the farmland of the Folk as the First Kingdom extended its reach eastward.

The Great Strife saw the First Kingdom retreat before the Dark Armies, abandoning the settlers their to their fates. Many fled with the FIrst Kingdom's armies; others fought to defend their homes. Most of these perished. Then the Wasting was brought to the region, and much of the land in the northern and southermost section of the basin were poisoned. But the Elves and Fey within the forest fought back, and kept the Wasting from claiming the entire Feywood.

In the two thousand years since the Great Strife, the Elves and Fey have worked - mostly unsuccessfully - to restore their treasured home forest. Efforts in the south have yielded no success at all. In the north, however, at least the hearty grasses were restored. And, in an experiment gone wrong, the trees of what is now the Oakwood were also restored, though the wholesomeness of the lands beneath these twisted trees was not returned.

The settlements along the coast re-established themselves. Some, like Endmere, are more powerful now than ever before. At the extreme eastern edge of the coast, the mostly dwarven city of Cliffport established, giving the Seafarer Dwarves a powerful home base. In the past one hundref fifty years or so, the Folk have started to venture south as well, establishing settlements, farms, and trade roads as they go.