It is Sophidas, 20th of the Month of Cinder, in the year 95
The Map - Awenasa
The Map - The Nahas Frontier
This little region of the New World is known as the Nahas Frontier. Though humans and the various natives of Awenasa have scrambled across most of the continent, this area was untouched until recently. Once, perhaps thousands of years ago, it had been a hub of Elven life; but after a tragedy befell the region that left the air unbreathable, the soil dead, it has been uninhabited and unclaimed for a small eternity.
Now, however, the dust has settled and life begins anew. In recent years civilisation has began to bud here again, and you find yourself one of the eager settlers, ready for a new life, and perhaps to lay claim to some fresh ground.
Here are the features that most locals would become acquainted with; and what little history is known of these old marks in stone, sand, and hill.
"Oh, its just like home, up there! Feel like I'll walk around a bend and bump into the old cobbler!"
- A Dumanon settler, talking about the moors.
The Highlands
Spanning from grassy mountains to where the snow begins to fall, the highlands has become a favourable location for many to settle. Mild weather, freshly fertile soil, and plenty of resources dictate this span as the place for the more easygoing of settlers.
Due to the considerable size of this region, it of course bares many scars of history; many places of interest; many impressive sights. Here are the perhaps the most well known.
The Redwoods And The Evertrees
In the lowlands of this region, towering Redwoods make up for the flat ground. A ground covered with ferns, thick grasses, and the occasional mushroom is divided by old cobble-paths.
Though these trees are all mighty, there are a particular three known to the locals as The Evertrees. These grow from a squat crater, yet reach higher than the rest into the sky - they are the oldest of the redwoods, and have offered shade to countless travellers through the ages.
In this region, one would also find a pool fed with falls from the cliffside, with glistening and brisk waters.
The Maple Forest And Ciel's Crater
North and overlooking the redwoods is the sprawling maple forest. Densely wooded, its best to stick to the paths, but off them you'd find sprawling fields of heather and the occasional ruin, suggestions of a bygone era.
At the very centre of the forest, there are two great pools of water - lifegiving, crystalline. Within the westernmost lays the remnants of an ancient meteorite - a star, Elves say, given to the ground by the Goddess Ciel. The specifics of its fall are lost to history, but it was significant enough that the name echoes through time.
The Moors
Where the grass turns brown, the light dim, and the ground damp, you find the old Moors. With many secrets, caves, and coal-black ruins, there is much to explore in this region. Swords of stone tower 'pon the skyline, and there are many cradles perfect for new homes. The remnants of an old town, with crumbling brick walls, can be seen the west - will you bring new life to it?
"Any man with sense would look upon The Gift and see the power of the spirits."
- Rising Wolf, A Komanali Medicine Man
The Desert and Savannahs
With its unique location, the ground soon turns dry to the south. Nahas connects to the northernmost sands of the Deshret, an almost infinite desert that harbours the Amura far from harm. Cracked earth and savannah border it and mark the transition into the fertile highlands, but this unnamed desert has many beauties of its own.
Often attractive to the snakefolk who have made their way south, as well as Sasanshahr settlers, this offers a more challenging landscape despite its vast views.
The Unnamed City
If Nahas had a heart, it would've once been this; a city of magnificent proportions reduced to a sand-logged ruin. It has spent hundreds of years in a smog of red air, with tainted rock and silt, but finally burgeons with new life. Grass struggles free between the old bricks, remains of the lost civilisation have degraded away, and blue waters are shaded by palm trees who are adamant about thriving.
These areas still lay in the shadow of a lost world, and there are plenty places for scholars and adventurers to explore. The most common theory of what lead to the demise of this region is that it fell victim to a particularly perilous eruption of the volcano in the north. To some, it must've been an act of the Gods, to others, a natural disaster.
Will it house new life? Perhaps Elves, seeking redemption and their rightful seat on the frontier? Or perhaps it is not yet its time, and more than golden sands are needed to entice folk within the cursed walls.
The Gift
Most local regions are named by or of the Great Houses. Their greats, their Gods, their history. But The Gift is best known by Komanali - and shows very little sign of previous civilisation at all.
Spouting from the grasslands in the shade the great grey mountains, this spring of sparkling water provides rest and peace to the many animals of the wilds. The way it comes forth from the ground with shimmering golden grass and bubbling, gleaming falls is said to be a testimony to the strength and beauty of nature.
The Komanali believe it to have been a gift from their spirits, their ancestors; a defiant upstart of life in a region that had been heavily clouded and starved of such things for a long time. It stands as an untouched stage - will you make good use of it?
Bahis' Rest
Bahis' Rest, named after The World from the Elven pantheon, is yet another echo of past lives. However, this one is a little more peculiar.
Unlike the nameless city, this great plateau is carved entirely out of local stone. Perhaps even chiselled away from a great mesa or rise, whittled by expert hands into a hollow home. Pillars, stairs and even windows have been sculpted to create this monument.
In recent years, areas that have fallen away have been connected by rickety wooden planks, steps and bridges - it is generally known that this has been done by followers of The World, rangers and striders that ensure places exist in the vast wilderness for travellers to find shade, safety, and shelter. Though these are normally little nooks, this one is more like a great wonder of the New World.
"Oh, the Dwarves have left their mark all over the north - but be wary up there, for Banen'Rhun stalk the ice."
- A local historian, on the northern structures.
The Northern Reaches
Just as the south turns to sand, the north turns to snows. Huge blankets of white sheltered by the looming, passive threat of the darkclad volcano. That slumbering giant doesn't remove from the beauty of the frosty slopes, however.
What few structures are entrenched in the north, seem to largely be of Dwarven make. There is the occasional crumbly rock wall in the wilderness, but the titanic tunnels and structures of Dwarf craft remain with impressive survivability. In recent years, however, a dwindling Dwarven population has been replaced by ambitious settlers and white-haired raiders who take advantage of the remote locations.
Boegin's Folly
Boegin's Folly sits at the end of a long, icy bridge across the half-frozen lake of the far north. It overlooks the highlands from its perch, but the halls have been long empty. Many of the bricks from the old stages and platforms have crumbled away in the wake of a great seige once held against a Dwarven cult within.
It is said, that before the air had cleared in the south, this was built by a Renegade-Worshipping clan of rogue Dwarves. They harried what was left of the local population, and eventually, a force of Dwarves and Elves came together to starve out the company in the icy halls of their fortress. It is difficult to distingush battle-damage from the cracks of old age now, but you can practically smell the history when treading the frozen slabs.
A surprisingly warm spring lays within Boegin's Hall, at the very highest point of the fortress; along with old rooms, filled with old ghosts. Perhaps someone else will turn this keep into a home.
The Shallow Road
The Shallow Road, as named by the Dwarves, is a small glimpse into the magnificence of Ancient Dwarven architecture. It cuts through one of the western mountain lines, which without this skillfull interruption, becomes an impossible summit. Though empty, frosty and echoey, this long tunnel acts as easy access between the two frozen valleys.
People have been known to travel or march through with full caravans - and there is a chamber within, that might someday be more than a brief resting place on the long path.
"Do you remember, when Rudyard fired off that cannon from the fort with those Dumanon lads?"
- A Port Prophet Resident, recalling Rudyard celebrating a deal struck.
The Eastern Coast
Though there are plenty of secrets to the Eastern Jungle, and an abundance of Elven ruins, the most distinct things about it are most likely the marks of more recent civilisation. Pirate and castaway wrecks litter the shoreline, but the gem in the jetsam crown is undoubtedly Port Prophet. The last and first stop of civilisation, outlasting everything else that has ever held a foothold in Nahas.
Certainly there is more to explore, though. What might you find where the mire grows thick?
Port Prophet
The first successful colonial town in the region, Port Prophet already has a lot of history crammed into its years. Once an Asturian naval port, it was ransacked and raided by pirates - which in combination with the killer air of Nahas mainland at the time, lead to the Asturian's abandoning it.
Since then, the deed passed to once-Captain Rudyard, a gold-minded Governor with his own loyal guard policing the island town. It thrives off of commerce, with global trade budding from the barnacle-clad planks. The Governor is known to be a bit underhanded, and surprisingly neutral for a man hailing from the far-off shores of Dumanon.
Here, one can find everything they need to begin their lives in the New World; trade, a bank, a post office and a tavern! Well, amongst other things...
'The Tunnels'
Tunnels sprawl under almost all of Nahas - dark, dank, old corridors that run for miles. The most recent renovation, perhaps hundreds of years newer than the rest of it, lays on the same island as Port Prophet. Governor Rudyard has connected these passages to the town, and so most find their way through them via the east.
These can be used to travel great distances in reduced time - but they are dark and deep below the surface, so much risk comes with traversing them. Still, there's more than there seems to be down there, and shifty places like this certainly have their uses, so remember to keep a lantern on you.
Keep an eye out for mossy old structures, as they may new entrances and exists to the tunnels, and who knows might come out of them?
Author: Oakbug
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