Эренланд: Центральный Эренланд

Центральный Эренланд

The lands between the seas of Eredane—the Sea of Pelluria and the lesser sea called the Ardune—are vast and sparsely inhabited grasslands. In the west bordering Erethor, they are dotted with patchy woodlands and laced with small streams. In the east, the tall grass and rich soils give way to the rocky ground and scrubby vegetation of the Kaladrun foothills. The grasslands of central Eredane are known as the noriam kedunni, or the “lands of the wandering people” in the halfling tongue.
Sword grass grows tall in this region, and the occasional panock trees form natural oases on the plains. These islands in the sea of grass are rich with life, attracting many species to the shelter and water they offer and serving as good hunting grounds for smaller predators. Boro herds range across the region, and prides of southern grass cats follow their seasonal movements.
The central plains are dry through much of the year, but the rains of early spring cause them to erupt with wildflowers and bright-green grass shoots. The halflings call this time the feyon ferran, or the “time of birthing.” By midsummer, the grass has passed gold
on its way to brown. In the fall, the constant winds whip up dust storms laced with biting fragments of dried sword grass. The storms can move quickly across the plains and endanger travelers, and the dust kicked up by riders or even those on foot can give away their locations over many miles. Winters are cool, and occasional icy showers precede the heavy spring rains.

История

The central plains have never been a place where history happened, but rather a grassy road along which history passed to where it would eventually occur. The central plains have been marched across and bloodied by every army in Eredane. When the Dornish invaders came up the Eren, they pushed the halflings ahead of their advance. They brought war to the fey and doused the plains in blood and death. The Sarcosans rode across the prairie first to battle the elves and then to conquer the Dorns. The Dornish knights later marched south to join the Sarcosans in their rebellion against the Old Empire. Then, at the end of the Third Age, the armies of Izrador swept across the undefended plains leaving a charred, broken, and bloody swath behind them.
When the halflings first wandered the central prairie, they lived in a bountiful wilderness unclaimed and unblemished by any human or other fey. Their small farming villages and nomadic camps stood in harmony with the natural cycles around them, and an initial peace lay across the land. When the Dorns and then the Sarcosans invaded, the halflings’ peaceful existence was first broken and then shattered by the brutality of the invaders. Though the wars always ended, and periods of social prosperity came between, the halflings never truly recovered their trust for humans and never again knew the ethereal peace under which they had once lived.
The halfling people resumed their lives in the high plains after each invasion, each time a bit more wary than the last. With Izrador’s invasion and the enslavement of the halflings by his minions, they were forced to finally abandon their ancestral villages and hunting grounds. The halfling people were driven east and west to the margins of the plains. Those who fled now stand divided by the Eren and the Shadow armies that patrol it. A few small tribes live as nomadic herders in the rugged rolling hills of the eastern plains, while several small farming villages have been established in the isolated regions of the southwestern savanna. Those who did not flee have been captured by goblin-kin slavers and forced to serve the Shadow and his minions from the Pelluria to the Kasmael Sea.
A new type of people have come to look on this central heartland as their home as well. While many orc warlords and legates marked the halflings out for enslavement due to their conspicuous stature, the Erenlanders are as commonplace as can be. Neither a shattered people like the conquered Dorns, nor an occupied people still struggling against the Shadow like the Sarcosans, the Erenlanders simply survive. While the halflings have been exiled to the peripheries of these lands, the Erenlanders have taken their place in the land’s heart as sturdy, practical people living as best they can in an occupied homeland.

Население

Most halflings live under horrible conditions as enslaved captives of the minions and cronies of Izrador. They have lived as such since the conquest of the south almost one hundred years ago. The halflings live in pitiful circumstances, forced to endure endless labor, malnourishment, brutal violence, and the constant threat of sickness, punishment, and death. The lot of the enslaved halfling is perhaps the foulest manifestation of Izrador’s vile war. Most of this suffering takes place elsewhere, however, in the regions to the north or south to which the halflings have been removed. Of the more than 160,000 enslaved halflings living in Eredane, only a small fraction of this number, perhaps 30,000, actually inhabit the orc legions’ camps and outposts of the central plains.
In the southwestern savanna, 25,000 free halflings still live along the borders of Erethor. They dwell in small villages, farming the land and raising livestock such as boro and sheep. Their traditional ways defy the Shadow, and they live under the constant threat of the raids and enslavement. There are powerful channelers among them, however, and these clever magicians offer their tiny villages arcane protection against discovery. In the eastern plains, where grasslands become the Kaladrun foothills, live many small, nomadic halfling tribes. They roam the rolling hills of the high plains, herding livestock and hunting. They protect themselves by staying forever on the move, making little impact on the land and carefully hiding their trails. Only 15,000 halflings still live this ancient lifestyle.
The central plains are also home to many humans. Erenlanders of mixed descent are the most common people in the region, living in small farming villages scattered across the grasslands. Among them are also many humans of primarily Dornish descent whose ancestors fled Izrador’s army and settled the plains as refugees of the war. About 250,000 Erenlanders and 50,000 Dorns live in the central plains.

Поселения

Traditional halfling villages are unique in their architecture and make almost as little impact on their surroundings as the tree-cities of the elves. The buildings are half-buried, with wooden rafters supporting green sod roofs that are part of the surrounding turf. The floors and walls are tamped earth lined with river pebbles or mud stucco. Doors, window shutters, and other furnishings are typically made of boro hide worked into useful forms with beautiful designs by master halfling craftspeople.
Ensorceled gardens provide each household with a bounty of vegetables, and other fields are used to grow the herbs, spices, and tobacco the halflings still secretly trade with their elven kin and sometimes with the gnomes. Nearby streams provide water for domestic use, livestock, and irrigation. Wastes are used for fertilizer, and dried animal chips are used for cook fires and heat when hearthstones are unavailable. Livestock is left to wander about unpenned, but shepherding wogren keep the stock from straying too far and protect it from plains leopards and grass cats.
The nomadic halfling tribes in the east live in clever hide tents that are warm, windproof, and waterproof homes as cozy as any permanent dwelling. These shelters are spacious, at least for their small stature, and feature many pockets, hanging storage nets, and warm, fur-covered floors that serve double duty as soft beds. They are easy to put up and to take down and fold into small bundles that are easily carried on wogren.
The nomads’ preferred campsites are within the shelter of panock tree oases. Panock trees are squat, sprawling trees that grow in the hollows of the central plains. They have thick canopies that block both sun and wind and advantageous branches that grow as secondary trunks, so that one tree looks like a grove of fifty, all sharing a single crown. They are usually found near springs or seeps, and valuable forage grows sheltered beneath them. The water and forage also attract game animals, making the oases good hunting grounds as well.
The Erenlander settlements of the central plains are hybrids of the low brick architecture of their inhabitants’ Sarcosan ancestors and the stout limestone construction of their Dornish forebears. In some instances, the individual buildings are each one style or the other, arranged in clusters or districts that follow the cultural practices of either the north or the south. In other cases, where the Dornish and Sarcosan cultures are better mixed, the buildings are curious but practical combinations of the two styles. They might have walls of quarried limestone like those of Dornish dwellings, but plastered over with dark stucco and decorated with elaborate mosaics. Like Sarcosan buildings, the structures tend to be single-story, circular structures with open interiors, but as in Dornish settlements, the towns are often encircled by defensive walls and water-filled moats. Originally intended to keep out orc and goblin raiders, against whom any rebellion would be suicide, the defense works now protect settlements from human bandits, the Fell, and other monsters that wander the nighttime plains.
Large crop fields and open-range livestock pastures surround most Erenlander towns and villages. Though the abundant farmland means the residents are better fed than many humans, it also subjects them to higher food taxes and more frequent raids.

Язык

Halflings speak a language that elven scholars believe is a derivative of the tongue of the Danisil elves. Dialect differences have been increasing among the separate agrarian, nomadic, and enslaved halflings, but these amount to accents that only halflings themselves actually notice. Most halflings, and especially those who are enslaved, speak pidgin Orcish and Colonial. It is also not uncommon for them to speak a bit of High Elven, Erenlander, and Trader’s Tongue. Erenlander is the hybrid tongue born in the central plains as Dornish and Sarcosan cultures intermixed. The tongue was originally a pidgin glot of Norther and Colonial, but over time it became a true language of its own. Almost every Dorn and Sarcosan speaks a little Erenlander, just as most Erenlanders speak a little Norther or Colonial.

Правительство

Each village of agrarian halflings is guided by the wisdom of a small council of elders. This group, called the duah, or “wise kin,” makes most of the decisions about issues affecting the whole village and always takes pains to consider input from the younger members of the settlement. Membership in the duah is essentially a matter of age: in more peaceful days, a halfling who reached 120 years of age was expected to take their place on the council. Sadly, most councils today include only one or two such venerable individuals, the rest being as young as half that age. Work and resources that are needed for the community are contributed by the residents as a whole. This simple social ethic has served halfling farmers for thousands of years, and even in these desperate times, they see no reason for things to change.
Nomadic halflings are governed by a leader known as the basra, or “guiding one.” Every year, on the night of the spring equinox, the standing basra and any challengers to their leadership undergo a grueling series of traditional physical, mental, and magical challenges called the sohal. Whoever wins the competition is made basra for the upcoming year. The lifestyle of the halfling nomads is a hard one, especially in these days of the Shadow. It is therefore vital that the most able among them guide the tribes.
The halflings enslaved by the minions of Izrador have only the governance of their evil taskmasters, and they are forced to suffer wretched lives under their leadership. The idea of a fair or equitable system under such conditions is ludicrous. Erenlander settlements, meanwhile, suffer the same domination by puppet governors, orc warlords, and legate overlords as do all the human lands. While many Dorns and Sarcosans assume Erenlander towns must accept domination with little regret, having less cultural heritage to bolster them than the Dorns or Sarcosans, the truth is that they often chafe even more angrily beneath the fallen god’s yoke. Their loyalty to the Kingdom of Erenland, after all, is not diluted by older familial or cultural traditions; as the more invested children of Erenland, they could be said to have lost the most when their kingdom fell.
Most Erenlander settlements are small and lack the strategic importance to merit direct oversight or garrisons. As a result, they are often left to fend for themselves, and most now follow the old tradition of Dornish sheriffs. Dornish sheriffs were selected on the basis of house lineage, and the position was as much one of prestige as it was one of authority. Because Erenlanders seldom feel bound by the same traditions of social rank as either of their ancestral lines, Erenlander sheriffs are selected by popular nomination rather than social standing. As a result, many sheriffs serve reluctantly but well, typically abiding by the same strengths of character that recommended them in the first place. Erenlander sheriffs have more authority than their historical counterparts and are primarily responsible for defense administration, resource allocation, and dispute resolution. Most keep counsel with a group of elder advisors, including any previous sheriffs still among the living. By long-standing tradition, however, every adult member of a settlement has the right to be heard by its sheriff and at any time may call for a vote to remove, or reaffirm, the current sheriff.

Trust in the Last Age

As free as they may be to raise their crops and defend their homes, no Erenlander is given leave to travel far beyond their community (nor would any but a wellarmed individual get far once night fell). Only fugitives are desperate enough to travel alone or in small numbers across Erenland without an accompanying guard of orcs. Thus, when a stranger comes calling at the outer fields of an Erenlander village, the reaction is often even more desperate than if a shambling corpse had come among them. Undead, monsters, and bandits can be fought, perhaps with some loss of life to the community…but the stain of having interacted with a fugitive can mean certain, inescapable death for every adult and child of a farmhold. Regardless of the villagers’ reaction to the stranger, legates and orcs might come to investigate, asking questions that would have no right answer. Where did the fugitive come from? Where were they going? Did they bear weapons? Did they know magic? If villagers knew much about the stranger, they would be asked why they spoke with the stranger at all and perhaps be accused of consorting with the enemy. If they knew little of the stranger, they would be asked why they didn’t find out more and be accused of being derelict in their duties. Worst of all is when such strangers evade capture completely, and the occupiers are left with only the villages upon which to vent their rage

Религия

Like their Danisil kin, halflings do not claim an organized system of religion or pray to higher gods, but they do pay homage to the various nature spirits that influence their daily lives. While their ancestors called on the spirits of the rainforest, halflings call on the spirits of the open plains. These entities are often personalized as more ethereal and unfocused than those of the forest, which seems in keeping with the vast and austere nature of the plains. Farmers make offerings of their own blood to the spirits of the soil and as fertilizer to plants they grow. Each farmer sacrifices a choice boro calf every spring by cremating it and spreading its ashes in the grass of the pastures. They believe this keeps the grass spirits from poisoning the rest of the herd.
The nomads pay homage to the spirits of the panock trees by burying their dead in their shade. They ask the panock spirits to aid their hunts and to hide their camps from spying enemies. Nomad hunters also fend off the feral plains spirits by leaving blood and a bit of meat at the site of each kill to assuage their hunger.
The Dorns have long been ancestor worshippers, and the Sarcosans pay homage to a pantheon of heavenly riders attended by the spirits of their forebears. Erenlanders, as with so much of their culture, have over the centuries combined aspects of both ancestral traditions to create a hybrid religious faith. It was natural for Erenlanders to meld tenets of both faiths into a single whole that focused on the accomplishments of their ancestors and their ascendance to the heavenly host.
Most Erenlanders now believe that the spirits of their deceased ancestors actively watch them from the stars of the night sky. They believe their every action, noble or nefarious, is judged against the inevitable day they will stand before the spirits of their ancestors, entreating them for admittance to the starry halls of the afterlife. Most also believe that though their ancestors cannot grant direct boons, they can provide insight and advice though portents and signs. It is therefore common for Erenlanders to see deep meaning and divine messages in what others might consider mundane, everyday events.
Erenlanders follow the human practice of cremating their dead but do not use ancestor rings like their Dornish ancestors, nor do they feed the ashes to their horse kin in the way of the Sarcosans. In their typically practical way, they instead spread the ashes on their family fields, both to add the blessings of their ancestors to their lives and to add good fertilizer to their soil.

Торговля и ремесло

Halflings are clever and unrivaled craftspeople when it comes to working leather and weaving cloth. For thousands of years, these skills were a mainstay of halfling trade. They used the gold they earned trading leather boots, saddles, armor, bolt cloth, blankets, and finished garments to buy the various metal tools and weapons they needed. Though the hides used to make most halfling leather goods are typically boro skin, they also use goat, rabbit, and grass cat pelts for special purposes. Most weaving is done with sheep’s wool, though boro hair and some prairie plant fibers are used to make special yarns and threads as well.

Spice of Life

Halfling farmers were once famous across Eredane for both their spices and their pipe tobacco. Halfling cooking is even spicier than Sarcosan fare, and the herbs and other savory blends halflings once traded were valued commodities. Halfling farmers also produce a variety of prized pipe weeds that were coveted from Caradul to the Kaladruns. They range in taste and effect from fruity, after-dinner digestives to bitter, hallucinogenic smokes that users claim allow them to see the presence of the Lost.
These products were also key elements of the halfling trade economy and were sold all over Eredane. Now halfling leather, textiles, and agricultural goods are seldom available anywhere but in Erethor. Halfling craftspeople still trade with the Danisil, running secret caravans to the edge of the rainforests several times each year to deliver stockpiled goods. In exchange, they receive steel tools, hearthstones, herbal brews, and even occasionally, enchanted items.

Tilling the soil

The Erenlanders’ Dornish ancestors may have come from a warrior culture, and their Sarcosan forebears may have been nomadic horse lords, but the Erenlanders have always been farmers. Even before the fall of the kingdom, Erenlanders worked the soil and raised livestock, and it was through their labors that most of the great cities of the south were fed. Now, it is through this skill that they survive in the Last Age.
The soils of central Erenland, especially along the Eren, were once the richest in Eredane. The mild climate made them excellent farm and pasture lands. For centuries, Erenlanders tilled the land, growing wheat, corn, and barley and, in the river valleys, rice, root vegetables, and fruit. They raised boro, sheep, goats, and pigs. The food they produced not only fueled their limited economy but provided over half the flour, meal, and salted meat that fed the cities of Alvedara, Cambrial, and Sharuun.
Then the wave of Izrador’s minions—mostly orcs and goblin-kin, with a few giants—tramped southward, destroying everything in their path and absorbing all of the farmers’ stores for the coming war effort against the fey. Enough Erenlanders survived, however, whether by hiding or surrendering, to begin their lifestyles once more, to repopulate the areas that had been decimated. For decades, the Erenlanders worked the savaged land, subsisting on what little the tithe-masters would leave them. As the Last Age enters its hundredth year, finally, the land has begun to recover, and families have begun to lay aside stores of surplus. The hard work that has provided such bounty is both their salvation and their bane. They are able to produce and consume more than most other humans in Eredane, but it is only a matter of time before the minions of the Shadow realize how much more they can supply. If the tendencies of the tithe-masters of the past can be used as an indication, they will soon begin to demand higher and higher quotas in a race to appease their masters, eventually presenting demands that will be impossible to meet. The Erenlanders will then have a choice: to let the minions of Izrador bleed them dry and watch their children die of starvation, or to withhold enough food to feed their families only to watch them be slaughtered in retribution.

Пути и традиции

Many of the traditions of central Erenland were established by the first halfling tribes to live on the plains. Others were initiated by the humans who later settled there.

Way of the Wogren

Most humans think they are simply big dogs, and the elves believe they are descended from dire wolf packs that migrated from Erethor to the open plains, but the halflings know otherwise. They know the wogren are the kin of spirits, and that they choose to live among the halflings as a debt of honor and friendship.
The legends say that long ago, in the Time of Years, Keela, the Spirit Mother of the Plains, was attacked by a zeedrith, a foul sort of entity older than the plains themselves that survives by hunting and consuming other spirits. Utham, the Hunter in the Tall Grass, witnessed the attack, and without thought, threw himself into the fray. His tiny stature and wooden spear were small distraction to the fell creature, but enough that Keela was able to bite its throat and kill the demon.
Utham was mortally wounded and beyond the power of even the Spirit Mother to heal. In gratitude for his help, Keela took Utham back to his people and delivered the dying halfling to his mourning family. Keela wept along with them, and where her tears dropped onto Utham’s body, they mixed with his blood. From those pools of blood and tears, born of sorrow and of honor, sprang seven small pups akin to those of wolves but formed of both spirit and the flesh. Keela told Utham’s tribe that these pups were wogren, spirit creatures that in ages past had watched over them. She bid them care for the pups and promised that for as long as they showed the wogren the same loyalty and friendship Utham had shown her, they would serve the halflings as their closest friends.
Whether the tales of their origins are true or not, wogren have been an integral part of halfling culture since before the First Age. They are often mistaken for large wolves, but there are distinct differences. Wogren are stouter, with thicker bodies, larger feet, bigger eyes, and longer tails. Their jaws and teeth are formidable, and like those of cats, their claws are sharp and retractable.
Wogren are friends, allies, and servants to the halflings. They are playmates and nurses to the young and companions to the old. They shepherd flocks and protect villages from predators and Shadow raiders. They serve as mounts, messengers, scouts, and hunters. All they seem to want in return is the same loyalty and friendship they offer. As a culture, halflings are dedicated to their wogren companions and feel an abiding and vital kinship with the creatures.
Wogren are so long-lived that many believe they are immortal. Fertile wogren may whelp only a few times in a century, and a wogren birth is cause for great celebration in the community. Wogren are not owned by the halflings they befriend. Instead, they are true allies that live in a sort of symbiotic relationship with the diminutive fey. Every free village or nomadic tribe typically has eight to twelve adult wogren and perhaps two or three juveniles that are part of the community. Individual wogren often form closer bonds with certain halflings, and most such pairs are inseparable. Though they come and go as they please, wogren seldom travel far and are always close at hand in times of trouble.
Wogren seem at first glance to be animals, but they are uniquely intelligent. Their senses are almost preternatural, and many believe they truly do have spirit blood. Though they can bark and howl, they seldom make any noises at all and seem to communicate with each other without sound; halflings who spend enough time around them seem to learn whatever body language or signs allow for the feelings and tones being communicated, if not the exact meaning. Wogren, on the other hand, seem perfectly able to comprehend halfling words as well as being uncanny readers of their emotions.
Wogren populations suffered badly during Izrador’s invasion. Every halfling village or tribe that was enslaved had been protected by a pack of wogren, and every one fought to the death to protect their fey kin. For every group of halflings taken, an entire pack of wogren was exterminated. Now the wogren are even rarer than the small bands of halflings among which they live.

Boros of Burden

The halflings long ago domesticated the boro, and though the species they now herd is far more docile and not nearly so large as its wild cousins, it is still strong enough to serve the halflings as beasts of burden and draft animals. Halfling farmers use their boros to plow fields, tow small wagons, and power their millstones. Nomadic halflings use elaborate harnesses to support pole-and-leather frames slung between pairs of boros. These sedan-like transports serve to carry cargo and passengers slowly but surely across the plains.

A Magical People

Like their elven cousins, the halflings are an inherently magical people. Nearly all halflings have a limited ability to use minor cantrips, and some halflings are known to become powerful wizards and druids. Their daily lives are made far easier by their use of simple magics, and halflings were once known for their constant magical fiddling and experimentation. In fact, the sheer variety of elementary spells known across Eredane is due primarily to a long history of halfling magical development. The most powerful halfling channelers have a tradition of taking on apprentices from among those who show the greatest potential. The skills they pass on ensure that there are always able magicians among their kind.
Under the reign of the Shadow, the pervasive nature of halfling arcana has become a danger, as it attracts the unwanted attention of Izrador’s legates. Many of the most powerful magics cast by halfling channelers are intended to hide the scent of lesser magics from these witch takers. Additionally, wogren seem uniquely sensitive to the presence of the legates’ strange familiars, called astiraxes, which in turn seem to particularly fear the halflings’ canine kin. As a result, unless they are accompanied by more formidable forces, astiraxes rarely approach settlements protected by wogren.
Magic is even common among the enslaved halflings. As long as they limit their magic use to simple cantrips and minor spells, the enslaved halflings’ arcana goes unnoticed and does much to ease their suffering. With these tricks, they can ensure that their food and water will keep them healthy, that their wounds will heal without infection, and that the young among them will have a greater chance at fending off the heat or cold. Without these simple spells, the life of the enslaved halflings would be much shorter, and much less bearable.

More than Walls

The orcs grudgingly recognize the value of Erenlander farm communities and, other than punishing those who fail to make their tribute quotas, usually leave the villages and their inhabitants alone. Most Erenlander settlements are left to their own devices, however, to fend off wild beasts, bandits, Fell, demons and other threats that stalk the plains.
To protect themselves, most Erenlander communities carefully maintain any aging defense works their villages have or build new ones if there were none before. They carefully patrol these walls and moats, and every villager who can contribute to it is part of the militia. Those who can fight regularly drill with axes, hoes, scythes, other improvised weapons, and their bare hands. Old soldiers among them train the young, and some of the most skilled human defenders have been forged in the skirmishes these villagers are frequently forced to fight simply to protect their homes.
Though the fields and pastures are scattered outside the defense works, every villager lives within the walls. When danger threatens, watchers on the walls sound bells or horns, and every villager retreats into the town. The children herd as many animals into the village as they can before the gates close, while the adults take up arms and defend the walls. A small reaction force gathers in the town center to reinforce where needed, and a brigade of teenagers fills water buckets with which to fight any potential fires.
This frequent training and constant readiness accentuate the typical Erenlander ethic of practicality, open-mindedness, and self-reliance. Centuries ago, they learned that the ways of their ancestors were not always best, and that to survive they had to adapt to meet the challenges of their unique lands and lineage. Now, in the darkness of the Shadow, this principle serves them well.

Plainsmeet

Traditionally, the nomadic halfling tribes gathered twice each year around the time of the zeniths of Doshram in the spring and Obares in the fall. They would meet to visit with relatives, pass on news, court potential spouses, share magics, and celebrate weddings. These plainsmeets, as they were called, would last many days and were holidays that often attracted agrarian halfling participants as well.
Now, under the reign of the Shadow, plainsmeets have become clandestine affairs orchestrated by secret messengers and scheduled for unexpected times. They occur in distant, lonely reaches of the grasslands and last only a few days. Though the risks of such gatherings are high, the nomadic halfling culture would surely die without the renewed alliance, improved morale, and flow of new blood such meetings allow. If any one plainsmeet were to be compromised and raided by Shadow soldiers, the attack might very well put an end to the nomadic halflings as a free people.

Против Тени

Much of the ongoing war against the Shadow takes place on the edges of the plains, where bands of free Erenlanders and halfling nomads raid isolated camps and supply convoys. But resistance to Izrador can be found in every corner of Erenland.

Enslaved but Unbroken

Perhaps the greatest wrong yet perpetrated by the forces of Izrador is the enslavement of the halfling people. The leaders of the Shadow’s armies saw these small but hardy folk and assumed they would be an easy population to subjugate and enslave.
Since the early years of the invasion, goblin and bugbear slavers have raided halfling villages and dragged their captives to occupied cities and army encampments. In these places, the Shadow’s vicious taskmasters run work crews that perform all kinds of labor. The conditions under which the captives are forced to live are horrifying, and starvation and disease are rampant. Punishment for disobedience ranges from beatings to death.
Most enslaved halfling captives now serving Izrador’s minions were born into slavery. Yet somehow, even under these crushing circumstances, most manage to maintain their dignity and strong sense of community. They refuse to betray each other, they help their fellows when they are sick or hurt, and they shield each other as best they can from the wrath of their enslavers. And whenever possible, they act from within to resist the reign of the Shadow. For although the swaggering legates and overconfident warlords saw a people that could be easily cowed into submission, it turned out they had significantly underestimated the halflings.
Food that makes officers sick to their stomachs, tack and armor with severed straps, weapons that go missing, warehouses that burn accidentally, medicines that are suddenly poisoned—these and more are the battle tactics of the enslaved halfling. Often individuals are caught and punished, but just as often, their actions cost enemy lives or save halfling ones. Halflings who are killed become martyrs to the cause and inspire others to keep up the fight. Without the hope such activities and heroes provide them, the captive halflings would likely have all slipped into despair and perished long ago.

The Liberators

In the enclaves of enslaved halflings, tales abound of the exploits and promise of the Liberators. The Liberators are rumored to be a pair of halflings who escaped their captivity and dedicated their lives to freeing other enthralled halflings. Known only by the unlikely names of Smidge and Copper, they are rumored to be honorable heroes of great power who have even served the Witch Queen herself.
The Liberators are said to hide among the halfling nomads of the eastern plains. From there, they make their raids against enslavers along the Eren. The tales tell of how they sneak invisible into slaver camps and break the chains of the enthralled with only a touch. They tell of how the Liberators secret away each prisoner in tiny pockets within their magic cloaks and then steal back into the trackless plains. The stories also tell of the slavers always found some days later, dead to the last, looks of terror frozen on their lifeless faces.

Freedom’s call

Many of the halflings who still live free on the plains attempt to avoid the Shadow’s forces whenever possible. Farming villages are built far away from any remaining trade routes or legion camps, and the nomadic tribes stay on the edges of the plains. However, in recent years a small number of halfling nomads have begun to advocate taking the fight to the Shadow. These doughty warriors have begun to raid supply caravans taking the tithe collected by the Shadow to Izrador’s bastions in the north and ambushing small parties of orc legionaries. More importantly, they have begun to seek out places where halflings are used as enslaved labor and attempted to free their cousins.
Thessala is one halfling nomad at the forefront of these raids and has proven one of the most successful. The Amber Spear, as she is called, has personally led four successful attacks on the Shadow in the past few years, and killed four orc legionaries in single combat. Her raids have freed at least two dozen halflings, all of whom have since joined Thessala’s tribe. One freed halfling, Beren, has since managed to befriend and bond with a young wogren, and now rides with Thessala as her most trusted companion.

The Storyteller

While central Erenland is not nearly as vast and open as the Northlands, its settlements are still widely scattered. With the Shadow’s prohibition on travel, this isolation would keep news of the outside world from ever reaching most of the towns and villages of the region if it were not for the Storyteller.
The Storyteller is an old Erenlander who apparently wanders the ancient King’s Roads, making their way from settlement to settlement. They appear once every year or two, walking in from the plains with an air of deliberate purpose and quiet calm. No one seems to know their name, instead simply calling them Storyteller, to which they happily respond. In exchange for a place to sleep and some supplies for their journey, they tell captivating tales to all who will listen, compelling stories that are as much descriptions of recent events in the wider world as they are admonitions against the Shadow.
The Storyteller seems immune to the normal veins of mistrust and defensiveness the Erenlanders have cultivated regarding visitors. Perhaps this is because of the supernatural air they carry about themself or the fact that the Shadow’s enforcers never seem to be aware of the Storyteller’s travels and rarely come sniffing after them. Though town elders know if their village was discovered harboring the traveler, the town would certainly be razed, the hunger for news is so great they simply cannot turn the Storyteller away. The Storyteller spends only a day or two and then is gone again. The strange thing is that most of the eldest villagers remember the Storyteller from their younger days—and they remember that the Storyteller was quite old even then.

Места и особенности

These are a few notable locations in the Eren Plains.

Al-Kadil

Hidden in the sword grass of the western Eren Plains is the dusty village of Al-Kadil. In the Third Age, the village was but one of a number of small trading posts scattered about the plains. When war came to the south, most of the trading posts were either destroyed by the advancing Shadow armies or abandoned. For a time, Al-Kadil survived due to its isolation and relative unimportance. As the Shadow’s grip on southern Erenland tightened, however, many Sarcosans fled into the plains and Al-Kadil rapidly expanded. In 56 LA, Othaeron’s armies tried to sweep the plains of freeriders; they poisoned wells, decimated boro herds, and occupied all sizeable towns, including Al-Kadil. Al-Kadil has since become the central supply point for Shadow forces’ raids into the plains. The town and the fight against the freeriders are both run by Hadah al-Mansur, once a freerider but now reviled throughout the plains as a false sussar.

Caderin

Caderin is a semipermanent walled settlement in the center of the Westlands plains. Crouched atop a short mesa-like mount of rock, Caderin is a dusty place whose squat, stone buildings are built without windows to protect its inhabitants from the fierce winds and dust storms that howl about the mount. A narrow trail winds around the mount and can be defended from apertures cut into the cliff face, opening from rooms that lie within the rock itself. These chambers are part of an enlarged natural cavern complex used by the original inhabitants to store food and water during the hot arcs and in which to shelter from the storms.
Nomadic bands of Sarcosan riders come to Caderin to trade and sometimes to wait out the worst of the winter weather if they are cut off from their traditional havens. Caderin is largely deserted for the rest of the year, inhabited only by those too old or infirm to accompany the riders. There is also a growing community of Erenlander merchants who, with permission from the legates, reside in Caderin for part of the year to trade with the horse-clans for steeds, boro meat, and artifacts taken from the ruins of Erenlander towns now lost in the grasslands. In return, they supply the riders with items from Baden’s Bluff and Erenhead: mainly salt and iron the riders use to shoe their horses and forge weapons with which to hunt and wage their “little” war.
The legates allow the merchants to continue their trade in part because they harbor a secret fear of the nomad bands’ capabilities should they be roused to battle—a small spark is often all that is needed to start an inferno, and the bands are a minor concern compared to their malign god’s anger should the offensive against Erethor be weakened in any way. Caderin also provides a useful means for the Order of Shadow to monitor the nomads’ activities, and its spies among the merchants are ever vigilant for clues as to the horse-clans’ activities and movements. The nomads, of course, know of the legates’ spies, but they play the game nonetheless. Like the legates, they wish to keep at least some of their enemy where they can observe them.

Eisin

The ruined elven city of Eisin is the command headquarters of the orc warlord Grial the Fey Killer. Eisin’s place along the Felthera River has turned this formerly multicultural trading town into a critical supply depot and transfer point. The town is thick with orcs and a frequent way station for gnome barge traffic to and from the front lines. The gnome trading companies draw lots to see who is able to stop at Eisin and go no farther, and who must step forward and volunteer to see the goods the rest of the way to Fachtendom—Grial’s fortress west of Eisin—through an ash-filled river cloaked by a smoke-covered sky, along lands that reek of death and the Fell. Eisin is also a frequent final destination for elven prisoners, who are subjected to Grial’s torturers and interrogators for months at a time to slowly break them and gain whatever information they have. Grial sometimes calls upon the legates to assist in this matter, but he only does so to appease their bloodlust, fearing that they would use the information they gain for themselves. His orcs’ more traditional methods seem to do the job just as well. Grial’s true purpose in keeping elven prisoners here is likely twofold, however: Allowing the warriors of Erethor to hear reports of their kin and loved ones so close is a maddening torture, and every year several brave but foolish elven scouts and assassins disobey orders and make their way to Eisin on rescue missions. The lucky ones are caught and killed before they even get close. The unlucky ones join their fellows in Grial’s dungeons.

Ghost tribe

Tales are told around nighttime watch fires of a wandering halfling camp that appears as the sun sets and then vanishes again with the morning mist. The stories say the camp is more than illusion and yet less than real. They say the camp was once that of a mortal tribe that was slaughtered when Izrador’s forces first came to the central plains.
The shades of the nomads supposedly appear in hopes of luring orc raiders to their doom. Legates are drawn to the ghost camp by the scent of powerful magic, bringing with them orc patrols. When the orcs descend on the camp, they are horrified to discover that their prey has turned ghostly hunter, and seldom does a single orc escape. It is also said that those not allied to Izrador who enter the camp are forever trapped and become part of the eternal ambush. The tales recommend that if a person ever stumbles upon a silent halfling camp in the dark of night, it is best to keep away until morning and see if it remains after first light. A few lucky survivors who have spent evenings in the ghost camp suggest that as long as visitor do not speak to the halflings therein or make eye contact, they will remain safe. None have yet had the temerity to test the truth of their stories.

The Great Still

Two or three days’ ride northeast of Wogren Moor lies a mysterious region that the halfling nomads avoid and the Erenlanders call the Great Still. The Still is an expanse of plains that seems to vary unpredictably in both border and size but is sometimes almost 100 leagues across.
As travelers cross into the Great Still, there is little initial sign that they have entered a hexed land, but as they continue into the region, eerie clues hint at something foul. What most notice first is the quiet: a growing silence that increases imperceptibly the deeper into the area they go. The sounds of rustling grass, birds, and animals slowly fade, and then the noise of travelers’ own footfalls and voices dampen and hush until there is almost total silence.
Another dread sign is the death of the wind. The plains are a windy land, the air forever on the march. Deep in the Still, however, even the eternal wind fails, slowing first to a gentle breeze then to a dead calm, as if the very breath of the world had stopped. Farther in, the air becomes stifling and hard to breathe, as if some great beast has already drawn all the value from its substance.
Animals seem to avoid the Still. No birds fly overhead, and vast herds of boro turn away long before crossing into the strange land. As a result, the grasses, trees, and other plants grow taller and thicker for lack of grazing.
Most disturbing to the halflings are the tales of errant magic within this cursed land. They claim that even simple enchantments are unpredictable there and can have dangerously random and powerful results. For this fear of uncontrolled arcana alone, the halfling nomads carefully avoid the Still, holding the region in strict taboo.
The Great Still is known to have existed only since the end of the Third Age, and there is every reason to believe it originated it the maelstrom of rampant magic that accompanied Izrador’s invasion of central Erenland. No one knows what the quiet place may be or what dangers it may hold. It is known only that the few brave souls who have entered the region with the intent of exploring its heart have never been heard from again.

The King’s Roads

The latter half of the Second Age was a golden time for the economy of the Kingdom of Erenland. The nation was finally at peace, and healthy trade brought gold into its coffers and drove the construction of great roads across the width and breadth of the kingdom.
Though the Eren River was the nation’s lifeblood, it was the roads that carried goods to and from the farflung settlements of southern and central Erenland. The roads looped out east and west from the cities and trade towns on the Eren, forming vast, wandering arcs that connected countless towns and villages and then swept back again to other settlements along the river. Seven of these great roads were planned, four on the western side of the Eren and three on the east. Five were completed and a sixth begun before the economic collapse and civil war in the Northlands at the end of the Third Age forced a halt to construction.
The King’s Roads were built by thousands of Erenlander and Sarcosan laborers, working under the direction of dwarven engineers. Formed of crushed limestone gravel in some places and cobble in others, the roads often ran along raised beds and crossed streams and rivers by stout stone bridges. The labor was massive and the accomplishment a stunning testament to the might of a nation.
The roads were foremost a means to support and promote commerce and secondarily a way to quickly move troops to strategic areas should the Shadow ever break out from the north. They were also a means of quick communication, as the monarch maintained a chain of couriers and stables of fast horses at all major junctions. Using these couriers, the rulers of Erenland and their vassals could exchange messages in half the time it would take a missive to make the trip by river. The roads were a great boon to trade. Hundreds of merchant caravans great and small traveled them in never-ending circles from the rivers to the southern communities and back again. On the outward trips they carried tools, weapons, spirits, and exotic items and magical goods from Erethor and the Kaladruns. They traded these things for halfling leather, cloth, spice, and tobacco as well as Erenlander grain, livestock, and riding horses, all of which they would then transport back to civilization and sell.
Along the main roads, usually three or four days’ march apart, the army built what became known as road towers. Not unlike the keeps of the Fortress Wall of the Northern Marches, albeit much smaller, these tower fortresses were intended to garrison troops in strategic regions to serve as both regional constabularies and as reaction forces against potential invasion. The forts were all of similar construction: short limestone towers containing the quarters, stores, and armory for between one and three hundred soldiers, with outbuildings acting as halls, smithies, stables, and kitchens. The forts varied in size and stature depending on the scope and security of the regions they watched over, but none were walled. They were intended to act more as lookouts, supply stations, and resting points than as actual islands of security during a siege. After all, the concept of laying siege to the entire vast plains of Erenland was laughable, or so the Erenlander strategists thought.
Now, in the grim days of the Last Age, the great roads of Erenland stretch across the countryside in silent ruin. Only those that lead to the current war fronts—the Burning Line of Erethor and mountain passes of the Kaladruns—are kept in good repair. Elsewhere, wind and rain have eroded away great sections and many bridges have collapsed into their crossings. Vegetation has grown over the thoroughfares almost everywhere, and in some places it is impossible to even see the remains of a road. Most road towers are abandoned or taken over by orc garrisons. Many were sundered in battle and lie in ruins, while a very few of the more remote have become havens for homeless villagers, bandit gangs, and other squatters, the towers offering at least some protection from an increasingly hostile world.