The Cimmeron

Petrified forests, strange beasts, and Fear itself is said to take corporeal form and stalk the person who dares this dangerous region. The Cimmeron bears a nasty name among the local people and is viewed as a source of evil and danger. The Aranara who live around the highlands pride themselves in their custom of sending their young men into the Cimmeron as their coming of age. Those from other nations blame this custom for the violence and brutality of Aranaran warriors.

Geography

The Cimmeron is a highland at the southern end of the Sarco Mountains. It is fifty miles long by around thirty miles wide. The northern and eastern edge is bordered by the Drathune River. The hills here are rolling and habitable. As one moves further south, the terrain grows more rocky and treacherous, cut through with ravines. The craggy hills are dotted with caves of varying sizes and unknown depth. The headwaters of the River Nanmur are at the center of the Cimmeron, and other rivers and their tributaries have their sources here as well. The waters are safe for drinking, but the steep inclines and narrow canyons make the water impossible to navigate. A steep cliff of red granite marks the southern edge of the highlands. On the west, the hills taper off into the western grasslands.

Weather

The natural climate of the Cimmeron tends to be dry and windy - as far as anyone can tell. The region is beset with peculiar weather patterns and freak storms.

Roads

A few roads wind their way through the Cimmeron. Most keep to the edges of the highlands, but one - the Blackroad - cuts through the center, and is said to lead to the headwaters of the Nanmur.

Settlements

The settlements in the Cimmeron are rendered essential by the Aranaran tradition of sending boys into the Cimmeron for their coming of age. They can be found on the edges of the region, and support themselves through trapping, herding, and farming. They work to maintain the roads the skirt the periphery of the Cimmeron, keeping them cleared. A brave guild of Lamplighters maintain lighting along the roads at all times. Their inns - and graveyards - are disproportionately large for the local population. Unique among the Aranara, the people here think little of the coming of age ritual, do not require it of their young men. Those cannot bring themselves to complete the ritual often remain here and spend their lives as Roadmen or Lamplighters. Gamas is barely in the Cimmeron, tucked between the northern rolling hills and Drathune River. Of the settlements, it is the most peaceful.
Myrmagus is found in the northwestern hills, slightly deeper in the Cimmeron. It is home to some of the most gifted healers in Aranar - and perhaps the world - as the Blackroad begins (or ends) in this village, making it an escape point for young men returning out of the Cimmeron.
Milarae is in the south of the Cimmeron, about a day's journey away from the village of Amararae. They are tiny outposts perched on the edge of the southern cliff, and work bravely to maintain the cliff road and the road between Milarae and Myrmagus.
Selken is the village deepest in the Cimmeron, some 50 miles east of Myrmagus. Its in usually the last stopping point for adventurers journeying into the Cimmeron.

Fauna & Flora

Despite is rough terrain, the Cimmeron is well-watered, supporting a range of cedars and pinyon pines in its far reaches. The trees towards the center of the Cimmeron are leafless, but not dead, and the stories those who claim to have been to the very center of the region say that there, the trees are made of living, growing stone. The shrubs - which seem to be normal - are abundant, and provide a food source for the herbivores of the land.
The keepers of the Bestiaries agree that no other place in the world is home to such a wide array of dangerous and peculiar monsters. Tribes of gnolls roam the hills, and all manner of creatures lurk in the caves and leafless trees. They form a contained ecosystem, and appear to prey on each other for food rather than making incursions into the surrounding grasslands. Few true prey animals remain in the Cimmeron; the predators seem to feed on each other.

The Spectre of Fear

Fear itself is said to walk the Cimmeron. Some claim that it only one's own fear, while others believe that wights or ghouls are the culprit.

Show spoiler

There is a creature in the Cimmeron, wary and clever, that no one has ever seen, which stalks travelers. Its presences induces terror, and it is known to paralyze and kill its victims with their own fear.

Natural Resources

Brave trappers obtain exotic hides here, and monster hunters keep the Temple of Wedros supplied with creatures for festival games and other fights. If there are mineral resources in the Cimmeron, no one has ever attempted to seek them out.

Type

Highlands

Owner/Ruler

Gaveron Vesinderash

Owning Organization

Empire of Aranar