Padera Island

Description

Mountain

Overview

An island continent mostly occupied by elves from Mauveria, an elvish kingdom from a continent north east of the island, and orcs from Gorath, an orcish kingdom from a continent west of the island, alongside the remaining humans from the Siege of N'awanes . There are residents of other races, but they are minorities, and most of them are hired hands or prisoners from either kingdom to work in mines or as food producers within the territories of Mauveria and Gorath while an eloquent few are privileged merchants to sell goods produced on the island in the marketplace of what used to be the city of N'awanes in the northernmost region. The rest are those who have lived on the island since long before the Invasion by the orc-elf coalition took place, including halflings--who now have hidden away in the woods--and monsters which remain in inhabitable areas. Dwarves are also invited by both the orcs and the elves to work with metal, so they are found in forges throughout the island.

A great degree of mining and trading take place on the island, thanks to its abundant mineral deposits. Most miners are orcs regardless of territory since Cainomos the elvish king had agreed to trade knowledge in exchange for laboring hands before the siege; however, there have been some complaints from the elvish side about having to work with hot-headed orcs or simply having them around in their territory. Collected ores are transported to the forges for the blacksmiths to produce goods, which are then transported to the marketplace to be sold there. Travelling merchants of different races come to the marketplace to buy weapons, jewelry and other things of metallic craftsmanship which use precious stones, due to the abundant supply of ores, but among the buyers is a moderate percentage of tourists since some merchants set exorbitant prices for the goods. Despite the island being in the control of the orcs and the elves, only a small percentage of them are seen in the marketplace during the day as an average orc's unattractive body features plus unsophisticated speech and an average elf's unapproachable bearing make them unfitted for being a shopkeeper; those who are there are either shoppers or guards.

It is also home to many a legend including that of a human warrior named Faraken Bel Lafoncè who is thought to have fought and defeated the invaders single-handedly in order to defend his homeland. A talk of this legend is prohibited around the orcs and the elves, and considered as an act of blasphemy, a capital crime.

This island is the main setting location of the campaign The Champion of the Lost Kingdom.

Geography

The island is divided into 7 regions, of which three are governed by the orcs and three by the elves. The remaining one region, which is managed by both parties as a hub of commerce and a harbor for all residents and permitted visitors, is in the north where the city of N'awanes used to be. The orcs control the western half of the island, and the elves control the eastern half. A long mountain range runs through the middle of the island in a way that it completely divides the western and the eastern regions while bordering some of them, and therefore the commercial region is the only safe passage between the territories.

Terrains differ from region to region, but mountainous areas with thick forests take up a large portion of the land up towards the center, where there are remains of an abandoned castle. The ground, on which it stood, is a clearing which had just enough space for it. Beneath the clearing is a cliff all around the castle, except on the northern side, on which there is a trail leading all the way down along the cliff to the foothills below. The terrains of habitable areas between the foothills and the coasts are mostly fertile, but vary in wetness from marshes to grasslands.