Howling Plains

The Howling Plains, in the central north of the Darklands, take their name from the packs of wolves that stalk the grasslands from the north banks of the Longwater to the citadel of Sithis in the Ophionic Empire, preying on herds of large game and the cattle of unwary farmers. The Orcs of the Plains are largely nomadic, travelling with their herds and living in harmony with the dire wolves and worgs of the region to hunt large game.
The king of the Howling Plains is the Wolf Lord, whose court travels with the great pack known as the Wind that Bites. The oldest worg in the Wind that Bites is known as the Echo, and shares authority with the Wolf Lord over the hunters of the Plains. When the Echo dies, their successor devours the corpse of their predecessor, symbolically ingesting a legacy of unbroken knowledge and rule stretching back to the worgs' participation in the Uprising. The Wolf Lord, the Wind and the Kingsguard, as well as the other hunters of the kingdom, are responsible for rooting out and destroying the lingering influence of the Dark Lords, and for reclaiming the land for orcs and wolves alike.
The Grey Queen and her wolf cavalry, meanwhile, gather in a compound on the outskirts of Empty Tomb, arguably the most holy site in the Darklands, with its great monument to the fallen of orc culture, the Heart of All. As the warriors of the Howling Plain favour dire wolf mounts, the Queen does not share power with a worg, but the pack which supplies the steeds of the Queensguard is considered untouchable, even beyond a blanket ban on hunting a wolf within the Howling Plains. The defence of the Heart is the greatest of the Grey Queen's duties, greater even than the defence of the Howling Plains as a whole.
Watching, as it does, over the Black Desert, Empty Tomb is also home to the Fatherhouse of the Orders of Purity.

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom