The initial playtesting takes place in a region of Ashkara known as the Great Untamed Wilderness. On the continent of Threa, this region is largely unsettled and full of danger, the perfect place to start an adventure.
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Untamed and Unclaimed
The great barriers of the Hearthstone Mountains and the vast forest of Cymerdrys have prevented the kingdoms of Beritania and Aerath as well as the Mercandian City States from making anything more than a cursory attempt to explore the untamed wilderness known as the Great Untamed Wilderness. Similarly, the Protectorate of Dyss have been preoccupied with their conflict with the hobgoblin realm of Gardaroth and other aggressors on their western borders to send any significant expeditions into this wild land. Recently, the Sonmar have made brief forays into this wilderness, their ancestral hunting grounds blocked by Beritanian expansion.
Geography
Rolling hills, shadowed valleys and large swathes of coniferous forests dominate the region. The foothills of the Hearthstone Mountains to the east and south of the region are lightly forested for the most part and the small mountainous areas around Three Peaks Hold and to the north are isolated instances of such geographical features. The Tyranny of Bragor to the south and the Protectorate of Dyss, along with the vast and dense Daggerpine Forest mark the other extremes of the region.
The forests of the region are mainly deciduous, with pine, spruce and giant sequoia being the dominant species, though there are also larch, birch and cedar growing throughout the area. The grasslands in between these large forested areas are home to herd animals like caribou, moose, yurak and in the northern extremes, small numbers of woolly mammoth and shovelhorn. Predators such as bear, wolves and wolverines can also be found here.
Besides the more mundane animals, there are a plethora of monsters that pose a threat to the unprepared adventurer. Creatures such as chimaera, drakes and wyverns can be found here and there are many others that have found plentiful prey in the untamed lands. Of course, at the top of the food chain are the dragons that have made this region their hunting grounds.
Besides the Wyldwater there are no large waterways in the Untamed Wilderness, though there are numerous small streams, natural springs and small freshwater lakes, though none of these are large enough to be used to travel any significant distances. These minor waterways do support a population of freshwater fish and some shellfish however, with salmon, trout, pike and crayfish.
In the summer time, temperatures in the open can reach 30c, while the winters here can be harsh, often temperatures dipping to a bone chilling -50c with snow carpeting the land for several months of the year.
Culture and Kin
The larger forested areas are home to small bands of kithari as well as goblin, kujak and woffen. These groups are usually isolated and move with the seasons, much like the animals of the region, though the kujak largely stick to the area around their den. Urrok and human settlements are scattered around the region, though there are no significant populations here, with farmsteads and small mining and hunting communities being the norm for human populations. There are a small number of dwarves in the area, though their population seems centred around the area of Three Peaks Hold and the small valley between that range and western portion of the Hearthstone Mountains.
Of particular note are the ogres, urrok and gnolls that have recently begun to plague the isolated communities across the region. The Tyranny of Bragor has recently been established to the southwest of the wilderness and Bragor, the self-proclaimed Great Maw, has begun sending scouting parties into the wilderness to forage for food and other resources to fuel his growing armies. These ogres have also been taking slaves from settlements close to their borders, displacing smaller communities as they flee the area in fear of their lives.
Gnolls have been an increasing threat in the wilderness more recently. Living in large packs, these hyena-like kin seem motivated only by the need to feed and mate, their attacks on settlements characterised by leaving buildings and belongings relatively unscathed, but only bloody rags and broken weapons of their victims. They seldom linger in one area for more than a few days before moving on. Perhaps only enough time to recover from their injuries, or more horrifying, to fully digest their meals before leaving in search of more prey.
Perhaps more of a threat than either gnoll or ogre, the urrok have been more active in recent seasons than ever before. While they are usually tribal and fractious in nature, the urrok appear to have been gathering under the banner of a particularly cunning and fearsome warlord, an urrok of prodigious strength named Karlak One-Eye. It has been said that Karlak has come from the wastelands to the west, having already sacked several dwarven holds and is intent on wiping out the remaining holds of the Hearthstone Mountains.
When Three Tribes…
While the majority of settlements are small and isolated, there are a small number of human settlements that have endured for long enough to have become something of an influence on the surrounding areas.
The Davoshi tribe have a fearsome reputation among those who count them as enemies, though they trade with most of their neighbours. Furs, meat and lumber are traded for iron ores, gems and other trade goods. While the Davoshi trade willingly with those they consider friends, they have a fearsome reputation among their enemies. When it comes to war, their fearsome looking red and black war-paint and their ferocious looking battleaxes strike fear in the hearts of their enemies.
The Killiath on the other hand, are cannibalistic savages, worshipping an unseen demon-god and carrying out blood sacrifices to Killi-A-Kalli in order to appease their patron. According to rumour, the Killiath believe that their god will only permit them to live so long as they pay the blood price for their continued existence, this bloody harvest can either be paid with their own, or with that of those they are able to bring to the blood altar. Only the Blood Queen, the cruel and unforgiving woman who leads the Killiath claims to know the true motives of Killi-A-Kalli, but whatever they may be, the folk under their rule do not question why, they only strive to bring more blood to the altar of the blood god.
The other influential human settlement is that of BlackWall Keep, the stronghold of Warlord Altarus Wroth. From his hillside keep, slavers have been raiding local settlements of all kin, taking captives and putting them to work in the small silver mine overlooked by the walled keep. Rumoured to be build on the ruins of a dwarven stronghold, its position makes it an idea base from which to raid nearby farms and villages. Warlord Wroth is rumoured to be gearing up for a protracted conflict with one of the other human tribes, but at the moment has not made any major attacks against any of the other established powers.
Rumours of a cult of dragon worshiping bandits calling themselves the Children of the Scaled God have recently surfaced, though there have only be isolated instances of this and the rumours have not been verified by other travellers in the region.
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