Geography of Feyworld
The world of Baltheron is known to possess at least three continents, situated around the Betshaban Ocean. The continent of Duria lies to the northeast, Aurea to the northwest and the continent of Gallorea across the south. There are rumors of other continents to the east and south, but there are no truly reliable reports of travelers reaching those lands and returning to tell the tale.
Baltheron is about 60% larger than our own and the known world spans from arctic climates to the Equator, which runs just along the southern shores of Gallorea. The northern hemisphere, at least in the known world, tends to be a bit more temperate than our own world, with only a few rainforests along the southern side of Gallorea and a thin band of taiga along the northern continents.
The tallest mountains are in the Peaks of the Wyrm in southeastern Gallorea, though very few, if any, travelers have found the mystic peaks that rise so high to the firmament. The largest swamp is Vagorosh along the southern shore of Gallorea and the longest mountain range is a combination of the Janos Mountains and the Hshron Mountains. The largest forest are the forests of Ywys on the cold northern shores of Aurea.
Volcanic activity tends to be rare; there are volcanoes on the islands of Tamerynd, Stormward and Harshwind near Duria. The Greenmist Mountains and the Peaks of Dreg'nor have several active volcanoes. There have been volcanoes elsewhere, but scholars believe that most of those were the result of magical or even deital intervention.
Baltheron's crust tends to be cracked and honeycombed with extensive tunnels and caverns, particularly in mountainous regions. There are six regions that are particularly porous, each of which is inhabited by a dwarven kingdom: Derlos beneath the Cambrecian Mountains, Eisenhallen beneath the Paelusian Mountains, Gundag beneath the Divian Mountains, Nuithone beneath Valtaan, Unterreich deep beneath the Antasian Mountains and Valdal beneath the Janos Mountains (which also now claims Valduran on the surface as part of its kingdom). Somewhere, now lost even to the dwarves, is the ancient kingdom of Karazan. There are rumors of other places beneath the surface that have extensive cavernworks, some of which are inhabited by strange sentient creatures, some by even more terrible monsters or even dragons.
Continents
Aurea
Aurea is the second largest continent in the known world on Baltheron. Prevalent winds tend to come from the west, with cold winds blowing southerly in the northern reaches and warm winds blowing northerly in the southern regions. The northern coastlines are primarily taiga, particularly in the western reaches, including the Plains of Tazgrat and Kadach. Central Aurea is dominated by deciduous forests and open grasslands, which become chaparral along the southern shores.
The Challieann Mountains is the longest mountain range on the continent, though the Antasian Mountains are taller. The only other range is the frozen Reg'thul Peaks in the northwest. The world's largest forest lies along the northern coast, in Ywys and into the Challieann Mountains. Several other large forests dot the continent, though only the Greywood and the Glistening Weald on the Anclean Peninsula are known to be inhabited by elves.
Aurea is bordered by the Betshaban Ocean to the east, the White Ocean to the north, the Eternal Ocean to the west and the Aebasan Sea to the south. Numerous small seas provide deep harbors, including the Aurean Sea, the Tangar Sea, Sonat Bay, Tanos Bay and the Valtaani Sea. Four large freshwater lakes, called The Brothers separate the bulk of the continent from the wilds of the northwestern regions.
The island of Dresta is generally considered a part of Aurea, as is Valtaan and the Green Isle in the far north. Two dwarven kingdoms lie beneath Aurea: Nuithone beneath Valtaan and Unterreich deep beneath the Antasian Mountains. The dwarves of Unterreich have very little contact with the humans above, despite the restoration of the Treaty of Gundagor. It is unknown how much contact the dwarves of Nuithone have with the human raiders who live on the surface of the island, though there are rumors that their kingdom spans under the Valtaani Sea and has gates hidden somewhere in eastern Donnagh Saoristat.
Duria
Duria is the smallest of the three known continents, forming a triangle between the frigid White Ocean, the Betshaban Ocean to the southwest, and the Endless Ocean in the east. Prevalent winds generally coming from the west in the north and from the east in the extreme south. Wind patterns are heavily affected by the two large mountain ranges on the continent, with the Divian Mountains keeping the frigid northern winds from cooling the fertile lands south of it and the Cambrecian Mountains keeping the winds mild in the south. Lun Dorak, however, is generally unprotected and periodically experiences violent tornados, particularly during the spring stormy season.
The vast Divian Mountains are the highest mountains on the continent, with frozen peaks throughout much of the range. The Cambrecian Mountains in the south tend to be warmer and lower, as if age has eroded its once-sharp peaks. The only other mountains of any particular size are the Sapphire Mount in Lun Dorak and the Tamerynd Plateau on the island of Tamerynd. Duria is peppered with numerous woods, most of which were inhabited by elves at some point. The Webwood in the far north, has one of the largest concentrations of elves outside the elven homeland of Elarean, though their numbers were greatly reduced when the orcish horde burned most of the southern woods after the Mage War at the conclusion of the Third Age of Man.
Divia is bordered by several seas: the Valtaani Sea, the Pirate Sea and the Maroshan Sea along its southwestern shores. The Sea of Blades, the largest freshwater lake in the known world, dominates the northeast, emptying into the Endless Ocean through a strait called the Maraudine. There are several islands of various sizes considered part of Duria, from the frozen Trollstova Islands in the north to the Black Isle, Stormward Isle, Braregia, Tamerynd, Harshwind and Marosh in the Pirate Sea.
Gallorea
The vast continent of Gallorea is the largest and warmest of the three known continents on Baltheron. Winds tend to blow southerly and to the west, though wind patterns along the southern shore tend to be very mild at best, making wind-based sailing along the southern shores a dicey proposition at best. Vast, open grasslands tend to dominate the central areas of the continent, with chaparral on the northern shores and deciduous forests giving way to tropical rainforests in the south.
The Eternal Ocean lies to the west of Gallorea, with the Great Southern Ocean to the south, the Endless Ocean to the east and the Betshaban Ocean to the north. The Ygarlsed Sea and the Aebasan Sea lie along the northern coasts of the continent, while the Galek Sea and the Gray Sea dominate the central southern region. The largest swamp in the world, Vagorosh, lies along the southern shore, near the legendary Dragonlands.
The jagged Janos Mountains, the tallest mountains in the world, divide central Gallorea from eastern Gallorea. South of the Janos range, the Hshron Mountains and the Dreadspire Mountains cut off and protect the legendary homeland of the elven race, Elarean. Between the Dreadspire Mountains and the Peaks of the Wyrm lie the only known deserts, The Sands of Dawn and the Sands of Night. Western Gallorea is home to the ancient and mysterious Greenmist Mountains, the orc-infested Peaks of Dreg'nor and the rocky defiles of the Paelusian Mountains.
There are two dwarven nations under Gallorea: Eisenhallen in the west, deep beneath the Paelusian Mountains and Valdal in the east, beneath the Janos Mountains (with a colony on the surface, Valduran).
Ecology
Bodies of Water
The Aebasan Ocean
The Betshaban Ocean
The Endless Ocean
The Eternal Ocean
The Great Southern Ocean
The White Ocean
Deserts
The Sands of Dawn
No information.
The Sands of Night
No information.
Forests
Bartik Wood
The frozen Bartik Wood lies in the extreme north of the Divian Peninsula on the continent of Duria, bordered by Norlund to the east and the ruined wastes of what was once northwestern Koramia to the west. Bartik Wood is a boreal forest, with elk and caribou being the largest game in the region. Small game are plentiful, particularly foxes and rabbits, though there are some wild boar and goats in the hilly southern reaches of the forest. Seal and walrus are abundant on the rocky northern coasts of the White Ocean.
Much of the eastern edge of the forest is heavily harvested by the humans of Norlund, mainly for building materials as the rest of Norlund tends to be somewhat bare of wood strong enough to be used in construction. Though there are some hobgoblin tribes lurking in the western and northern reaches of the forest, they rarely wander far enough east to come into conflict with their human neighbors. There are rumors of giants living deep within Bartik Wood, though there have been no reliable reports of giants in the region for generations.
Bloodwood
Remote and semi-legendary, Bloodwood lies on the northern peninsula of the Island of Drallia. Those who are even aware of its existence believe it to be infested by goblin and troll tribesmen scurrying in the strange, overgrown ruins of some long-forgotten empire.
Dracian Wood
Though settled and worked by the peoples of both Dracia and Drussa, the Dracian Wood still has its primeval depths, where the forest itself seems unwelcoming to human intrusion. Rumors persist of all sorts of creatures inhabiting these wilds, from wolves that can take the shape of men to giants living off the forest to sentient trees standing watch for some unknown cause. Local villagers, of course, are more than willing to embellish these stories to keep outsiders from stealing the natural resources they rely on.
Farnham Wood
Nestled in the northeastern Calmerian Marches on the continent of Duria, Farnham Wood has long stood as a bulwark between the Gaelish clans of the Marches and the depredations of the Magocracy of Lun Dorak to the east. Farnham Wood is a magical place, viewed with reverence and awe by the Gaelish clans and decried as a place of wild, dangerous magic and Otherworlders by the Dorakians. Though all forests have at least some Fey activity, Farnham Wood is considered to have the strongest connection to the Fey. Legends suggest that there are no small number of Fey hill forts and portals to Otherworld scattered throughout the wood and more than a few unwary traveler has entered the wood never to return (or to return a century later, believing himself to have been gone for only a day).
The Great Northern Forest
Great Northern Forest info.
Greywood
Forming a formidable border between Murgosia and the nations of Dreluria and Anclea, the Greywood contains a small enclave of elves who have long been friendly to their human (and, as a result, half-elven) neighbors to the south. Though humans are still unwelcome in their sacred groves, the elves of Greywood tend to be much less xenophobic than their kin in the Glistening Weald. Recent deforestation by the Murgosh in the northern reaches of the forest, however, may change their attitude or, at the least, lead to an alliance between the elves of the Greywood and their neighbors to the south, who are no friends to the Murgosh.
The Imperial Forest
Imperial Forest info.
Karian Wood
Once part of the Gadoran Wood, the Karian Wood has been reduced in size from centuries of deforestation by humans in the region. Though there are some remote villages cut off from the rest of the nation during the Dark Times, the human nation of Karony has resumed its harvesting of the wood to build a grand navy to protect shipping in the region from Camarian pirates.
Mistwood
Situated south of the Sea of Blades and east of Enesia on the continent of Duria, Mistwood is believed to be an ancient haven of elves, though there are no reports of contact with the elves of the Mistwood for centuries, even among other elven nations. Though the forest is primarily an old, mixed temperate forest, there is relatively little harvesting along its western edge, despite the proximity of several villages to the forest. Most of the humans of Enesia have an almost religious reverence for the forest and many stories would indicate that it is haunted, though no one seems to know what event may have lead to such a preponderance of spiritual activity.
The forest is often shrouded in a dense fog that seems to descent from the Cambrecian Mountains to the south, which sometimes encroaches on the grasslands east and west of the forest. There are legends of "something" living in these thick mists that will take away the unwary traveler and even a rumor that some time in the ancient past, an entire town disappeared to the fog.
Volasci Forest
Volasci Forest lies in northern Cambrecia in central Duria. It is primarily a mixed temperate forest, with broadleaf trees predominant in the western lowlands and conifers more present in the eastern highlands. The forest was relatively tamed by humans by the end of the Third Age of Man, with several logging communities throughout, though the chaos of the Dark Times has left many of those communities empty or cut off from civilization and the forest has reclaimed much of the land that was once cleared. Reports of hobgoblins and giants migrating down from the mountains also suggests that Volasci Forest has become much more forbidding and dangerous.
There are more recent rumors that suggest a mysterious group of people identified as druids have formed a community somewhere deep within the Volasci forest and have allied with some giants in the area. Traders skirting the northern reaches of the forest have reported seeing giants lugging huge stones quarried from the Cambrecian Mountains that some scholars suggest are for a new Great Henge deep within the forest. It is unknown if these druids are allied with the Great Henge of the Calmerian Marches or if they are a break-away sect seeking to establish their own Archdruid.
The Webwood
The mysterious Webwood lies north of the Sea of Blades, east of Illyria and Dakra and west of Vor Midal. The forest is primarily boreal in the north, though the forest quickly shifts into a temperate broadleaf forest in the south, where the cold northern winds have less sway over the climate. Elk and caribou are fairly common in the north, particularly along the edges of the forest, near the grasslands of Illyria. Walruses are common along the rocky northern coast and whales are often seen near the coast in the summer months. The southern forest is dominated by great grizzly bears, usually found along the floodplains of the Danural River, and hives of giant spiders along the forest edge that give the forest its name. These giant spiders are the apex predators of the Webwood... wolves are extremely rare and there are rumors that those wolves who did live in the Webwood were
The Webwood is one of the remaining hereditary territories of the elves, though the forest itself was almost wiped out in recent memory. After the defeat of Lun Dorak at the conclusion of the Mage War, the orcs of Vor Midal turned on their allies and began a conquest of the Divian Peninsula. Unfortunately, the elves of the Webwood were directly in the path of the orcish horde. Much of the forests south of the Danural River were burned as the horde moved through and most of elven civilization in the Webwood was destroyed. Many of those elves who survived began a diaspora into neighboring human nations that were at least semi-friendly with the elves. Though some stalwarts remained in the Webwood and have worked to regrow their ravaged woods, it is generally believed that about three fifths of the surviving elven population chose to leave their ancestral lands and have yet to return.
Mountains
The Antasian Mountains
The ancient and towering Antasian Mountains split east central Aurea. Even though the range was once claimed entirely by the Great Empire, except for four major passes through the range, the Imperials never truly tamed the deep valleys and high mountains. Recently, giants and their goblin slaves have been raiding the foothills on both sides of the Antasian Mountains. Some believe these raids are highly organized over relatively vast distances, suggesting that some ruler has risen among the giants there, preparing to send his armies into the lowlands of Aurea to ravage the isolated human communities in the foothills.
Deep beneath the sharp peaks of the Antasian Mountains lies the dwarven nation of the Unterreich. Unlike other dwarven Kingdoms, the dwarves of the Unterreich remain isolationists, despite the establishment of a treaty between humans and dwarves in the waning years of the Third Age of Man and the only contact with these dwarves are through the criminals that they exile to the surface world.
The Black Mountains
No information.
The Challieann Mountains
The rolling, frozen Challieann Mountains cut through northern Aurea, diving the Gael lands to the north from the formerly Imperial territory to the south. Much of the Challieann Mountains are inhabited by Gael clansmen considered savage and strange even by their kin in the lowlands to the north. There are a few pockets of goblin tribes in the south of the range and a few isolated orcish settlements in the deep valleys of the northern part of the range, remnants of the orcish horde that ravaged the region late in the Third Age of Man. Deep, glacial valleys among the northern peaks are believed to be inhabited by strange, blue giants who somehow survive in the frozen wastes that neither man nor orc even tries to settle in.
The dwarves of the Kingdom of Nuithone have deep mines beneath the Challieann Mountains and have recently opened a route into the western extent of the range, establishing the colony of Schweinholz on the surface world.
The Cambrecian Mountains
The Cambrecian Mountains rise sharply in central Duria and run southward towards the Endless Ocean. They are substantially higher and rockier than the more northerly Divian Mountain range, averaging about 12,000 feet about sea level. The Throne of Balthor, the tallest mountain on Duria, rises over 15,500 feet into the sky. Much of the surface of the Cambrecian Mountains are wild, with giants, goblins and strange creatures lurking in its deep valleys. In contract, the dwarves of the Kingdom of Derlos have built expansive caverns and cities beneath the mountains, with a large fortification dominating the one known pass through the mountain chain. There are rumors of other dwarven settlements on the surface, though few human scholars or merchants are willing to brave the wilds of the mountains to confirm these rumors.
The Divian Mountains
The rolling mountains that bisect the Divian Peninsula on the continent of Duria.
The Dreadspire Mountains
No information.
The Greenmist Mountains
No information.
Hshron Mountains
No information.
The Janos Mountains
No information.
Paelusian Mountains
No information.
Peaks of Dreg'nor
No information.
The Peaks of the Wyrm
No information.
Swamps and Wetlands=
The Black Swamp
The Black Swamp in central Aurea is a long stretch of swampy forest between Waldavia and southern Murgosia. The humans who live in the Black Swamp refer to themselves as Szarne and speak a dialect of Murgosh that is almost incomprehensible to the Murgosh themselves. The Szarne tend to be highly territorial and superstitious, though few have reason to risk the mires of the Black Swamp to bother them overmuch.
The Dragonmire
The Dragonmire is a large swamp that lies between the elves of the Webwood forest and the orcish grasslands of Vor Midal. Legend claims that a dragon was slain by orcs somewhere deep within the mire and that its undead form still haunts the crooked trees and stagnant water. There are also rumors that the Dragonmire was once a shallow lake that was somehow drained into the depths of the world.
Frostmire Swamp
Located north of Ciritasnia on the northwest coast of the Divian Peninsula on the continent of Duria, the Frostmire Swamp is the frigid delta of the Galforth River where it spills into the Valtaani Sea. Despite being frozen for almost half the year, the Frostmire quickly floods in the summer as glacial melt in the Divian Mountains swells the banks of the Galforth, often changing its course in the delta.
The swamp is dominated by birch and alder (which look much like skeletal hands grasping at the grey northern sky in the winter), with some spruce along the northernmost shore. Most of the local game are small, such as rabbits and foxes, though caribou are not uncommon in the northern months. Since the defeat of the orcs of Vor Scheral, small herds of wild Midalan horses sometimes wander into the areas of the Frostmire that border the surrounding grasslands. When the orcs of Vor Scheral first defeated the Koramians of the region, there were no real predators in the Frostmire, but worgs have been lurking in the depths of the swamp since they were abandoned by the orcs' hobgoblin cavalry.
There are rumors that there was once a city deep within the Frostmire, before the orcs came after the end of the Mage War. It was protected from the chaotic changes of the Galforth by great levees and is rumored to protect the treasures and secrets of the Third Age of Man. None are known to have ventured into the Frostmire since the dawn of the Fourth Age of Man, though most presume the city was consumed in the cold, frozen grip of the Frostmire.
Vagorosh Swamp
No information.
Veloktoi Swamp
No information.
Zaralan Marsh
A large saltwater marsh on the southeastern shores of the Sea of Blades, Zaralan Marsh was long a hiding place for rebels and escaped criminals from Lun Dorak. After the conclusion of the Mage War, in which the refugees of Zaralan provided some assistance in defeating the Mage King Lucasa, the rebels formed the nation of Stenoa on the plains to the west of Zaralan Marsh, using the tangled swamplands as something of a physical buffer against the Dorakian armies. The swamps today are even more dangerous than in ages past, with some independent raiders still trying to eke out an existence on the salty wetlands, fighting against the terrible creatures (some of which created by Dorakian mages) that lurk in the deeper recesses of the swamp.
| This article is part of the Feyworld Sourcebook | |
|
Introduction · Geography · History · Culture · Races · Magic · Religion · Rules | |
| Geography of Feyworld | |
|
Bodies of Water · Deserts · Forests · Mountains · Swamps |
