The Borderlands
Isolated within the northern bays of Aulder's Reach, is the area known as The Borderlands.
Long left untouched due to its dangerous wildlife, desolate salt flats, and densely packed forests, it was eventually settled by a small mining company and a fishery from Grimdahl. The Whittenshire Mining Company founded the port town known as Wyrestone, and a fishing dock and eatery known as Treacher's Landing was opened. Both are located in the eastern bay of The Borderlands.
There was a time of prosperity, as more hopeful settlers looked to make a buck off the mining, fishing and beast hunting. Despite the sudden influx of humanoids, The Borderlands had long been wild. In order to protect their investments many merchants, The Whittenshire Mining Company, and even Treacher's Landing hired armed protection. Many tales of enormous beasts, deadly flora, and desolate wastelands drew just as many would be adventurers as it scared away.
The dense and humid wood to the south of the bay is known as The Rusting Forest. The forest is immense, and rarely tread by humanoids, meaning that many large beasts find their homes here, along with many poisonous and hallucinogenic plants. Notable beasts that dwell here are the Rakk Hives and Rakk.
To the west lies the Arid Woods. A standing dead forest seemingly growing from dry, cracking earth. Not much is in this region but Threshers, Spiderants, and Skags. After The Fall of Wyrestone, the last Earl of Whittenshire remained in the Arid Woods, and is said to be raising Skags. He is a notable mage as a graduate from The Domdaniel Institute of Arcane Study, known for his arcane powered siege weaponry.
Even farther west rests the expansive Salt Flats. During the mining boom, a private military force known as The Crimson Axe Mercenaries were based here. After The Fall of Wyrestone, this force remained, and many of the survivors of the fall formed a rival clan of bandits and thieves who made their camp within the flats. The mountain range to the north of the flats has no name, but it contains a long abandoned arcane vault. This vault was sealed by D'ziriak mages to contain a beast from The Shadowfel they could not contain, known only as The Destroyer.
The final region of The Borderlands is to the north west, a mine known as The Tombstone Mines. While there was salt being mined out of the flats, The Tombstone Mines were more of an excavation. The discovery of a D'ziriak tomb lead to finding several more, and ancient warnings of a vault which held immense power. Upon discovering this, The Whittenshore Mining Company hired experts in the field of The Plane Of Shadow, and eventually found the location of the vault.
Geography
The area known as The Borderlands is a collection of near-uninhabited areas on the northern coast of Aulder's Reach .
Set into a natural bay, the entrance to The Borderlands is the town of Wyrestone.
Accross the bay is the fishing port of Treacher's Landing.
To the north west are The Tombstone Mines.
Just past Wyrestone to the west are the Arid Woods followed by the Salt Flats.
To the south of the bay is The Rusting Forest.
Fauna & Flora
Rakk are flying creatures native to The Rusting Forest. They do not have beaks. Instead, they have a flat, fleshy head ending with a pointed snout, with a brightly colored, bony plate on the top, and hooked, rasping barbs lining a soft, slit-like mouth on the bottom. Rakks do not have grasping claws or lower limbs, and instead have a set of curved, razor-sharp talons upon a flexible tail that they use to adhere to rocky surfaces.
Rakk Hive are gigantic quadruped beasts with four pearl-like eyes and multiple holes spread across their backs. These holes are home to flights of rakk, which themselves will swarm to attack anything that gets near the Hive.
Threshers are stubborn, tentacled creatures that come in many different sizes and colors. They tend to live in soft ground, especially along ocean shores or river beds.
Spiderants are viciously territorial creatures that bear a passing resemblance to insects. The most striking features of these creatures are their elongated heads, four limbs, and abdomens. Their heads are thickly armored as are their strong, dangerously sharp forelimbs. The abdomen, however, is unarmored and is the creature's weakest point.
Skags are large, dog-like creatures, easily identified by their strong bony armor plates, aggressive behavior, and distinctive three-jawed mouths.
The Destroyer was a massive, interplanar monstrousity from another plane, sealed within a D'ziriak vault. It appeared as a gargantuan, one-eyed creature with a massive mouth and several tentacles. The D'ziriak, at the cost of many of their kind, moved The Destroyer from The Shadowfel and imprisoned it within the vault thousands of years ago. It was released by The Crimson Axe Mercenaries but was killed by an unknown group of adventurers.
Natural Resources
Salt from the Salt Flats. Fish from the Duin Sea.
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