Nor'rend
Nor'rend is one of eight regional territories of the Realm of Talevir.
The territory is administered out of Howe, along the southern shore of Timber Bay.
The territory lays claim to and controls the northwest of Talevir, from the Woodland Gate hills and the mountains around Delver's Gambit in the south to the Ragged Coast, Timber Bay, and the Rondway Strait in the north, and west from Hardwood Bay and the Ragged Coast to the Rounder's Sea, Norsails Bay, and Rustlands at Frithe March in the east.
The western peninsula of Nor'rend presents gentle low hills and valleys of dense mixed woodland to the east, facing Timber Bay and jagged rocky crags to the west, projecting out towards the Fog Bound Sea. The western coastline north of Hardwood Bay is known as the Ragged Coast, and it is only truly accessible overland from the east by experienced mountaineers with climbing gear. Attempts by the regional capital to contract Dwarves to tunnel underneath have been met with failure, thus far, due to the fragile rock and water seepage. The Ragged Coast has remained under control of pirates despite the best efforts of Howe and the Realm. Most shipments from the territory are sent east, all the way around Talevir, because losses from piracy and shipwreck are just too great to risk the shorter journey southwest. Still, enough travelers and merchants take the risk (or ignore warnings) to keep the bands of seafaring marauders afloat and established in the region.
The eastern peninsula of Nor'rend is dominated in the center by the Dee'wald Shee ("The Deepwood Knolls" to those from the south or from outside the region). Travelers save untold journey time by bypassing the forest in a great arc to the north. Attempting to cross through the Shee without an Elf, Forest Gnome, or experienced Druid/Ranger local to the forest is a near guarantee of wandering endlessly until attempting to head back out from where you entered. Years or decades can be spent walking in a straight line through the forest between Fir Run and Shee Run and never reaching the other side. Frontiersmen and timber cutters keep to the outside of the two rivers, lest they face retribution by the forest for felling trees. Scholars from the south suggest that the forest is not the sentient, vengeful spirit locals make it out to be, and rather that their superstitions are being fueled by encounters with mischievous creatures or encounters with Fey Crossings.
Folk north of Dee'wald Shee have a history of using their mouths as an extra hand in scraping hides, tying cordage, weaving reed baskets, and work as sailors. The wear on the lips and front teeth of Nor'renders has produced a local dialect that tends to drop consonants requiring use of lips, especially bilabials. Wealthier people in the territory will sometimes use the pejorative "Split Lip" with hard emphasis on the "p" to derisively refer to far-northerners with a term they have difficulty pronouncing. The the harbor city of Roundhaven ("Rondhawen"), town of Mosswood ("Osswald"), and other settlements in the far north have local pronunciations that differ from what outlanders may expect due to the different dialect. The lake town of Fenspeck ("Ens'eck" to the northerners) shows the greatest mixing of southern and northern speech, as there is relatively little class divide in the poor-yet-prosperous town.
As of 920 PS, Rustlands and Nor'rend have come under the consolidated control of Lord Charles Tallyrand, High Lord of the Northern Territories, operating out of Norsails off the mainland of Rustlands as the de facto seat of power for the region. As an officially governed, sizable city far from the mainland, the culture of Norsails is quite different from the inland of the north and there is essentially no voice for the folk who dwell in either of the two territories. While this has had little effect on the lives of many inland folk in Rustlands other than those downstream of Iron Haul Mountain, Nor'rend has been a very different case. Maintainable permanent roads and ample timber, coal, slate, and pitch resources combined with a potential conscriptable labor pool of people familiar with cordage, ropes, and sailing makes the subjugation and exploitation of the region a real concern for the realm. The regional capital Howe is little more than a walled harbor fortress client-city being run by the Northern Army to ensure materials continue to flow from Timber Bay to the south via Norsails and Rangefort. Nor'rend has seen concerted efforts by bands of guerrilla rebels rising up against the Northern Army over the years of subjugation and oppression. With the Realm's vastly superior numbers, however, many of the northerners have had to flee across the Rounder's Sea to Ervos, even farther north. Larger settlements, like Roundhaven, have considerable presence of garrisoned troops, so remaining rebels in these towns operate as hidden cells with their bases of operations farther afield in small villages (such as the settlement Bricks, several miles west of Roundhaven, and hidden in the highlands between the Red Shales and Nor'rend Crags). Many of the actual skirmishes between rebels and the Northern Army border the Dee'wald Shee, where locals can escape into tree cover and pursuing soldiers may easily become lost in the terrain or in one of the many Fey Crossings.
The territory is administered out of Howe, along the southern shore of Timber Bay.
The territory lays claim to and controls the northwest of Talevir, from the Woodland Gate hills and the mountains around Delver's Gambit in the south to the Ragged Coast, Timber Bay, and the Rondway Strait in the north, and west from Hardwood Bay and the Ragged Coast to the Rounder's Sea, Norsails Bay, and Rustlands at Frithe March in the east.
The western peninsula of Nor'rend presents gentle low hills and valleys of dense mixed woodland to the east, facing Timber Bay and jagged rocky crags to the west, projecting out towards the Fog Bound Sea. The western coastline north of Hardwood Bay is known as the Ragged Coast, and it is only truly accessible overland from the east by experienced mountaineers with climbing gear. Attempts by the regional capital to contract Dwarves to tunnel underneath have been met with failure, thus far, due to the fragile rock and water seepage. The Ragged Coast has remained under control of pirates despite the best efforts of Howe and the Realm. Most shipments from the territory are sent east, all the way around Talevir, because losses from piracy and shipwreck are just too great to risk the shorter journey southwest. Still, enough travelers and merchants take the risk (or ignore warnings) to keep the bands of seafaring marauders afloat and established in the region.
The eastern peninsula of Nor'rend is dominated in the center by the Dee'wald Shee ("The Deepwood Knolls" to those from the south or from outside the region). Travelers save untold journey time by bypassing the forest in a great arc to the north. Attempting to cross through the Shee without an Elf, Forest Gnome, or experienced Druid/Ranger local to the forest is a near guarantee of wandering endlessly until attempting to head back out from where you entered. Years or decades can be spent walking in a straight line through the forest between Fir Run and Shee Run and never reaching the other side. Frontiersmen and timber cutters keep to the outside of the two rivers, lest they face retribution by the forest for felling trees. Scholars from the south suggest that the forest is not the sentient, vengeful spirit locals make it out to be, and rather that their superstitions are being fueled by encounters with mischievous creatures or encounters with Fey Crossings.
Folk north of Dee'wald Shee have a history of using their mouths as an extra hand in scraping hides, tying cordage, weaving reed baskets, and work as sailors. The wear on the lips and front teeth of Nor'renders has produced a local dialect that tends to drop consonants requiring use of lips, especially bilabials. Wealthier people in the territory will sometimes use the pejorative "Split Lip" with hard emphasis on the "p" to derisively refer to far-northerners with a term they have difficulty pronouncing. The the harbor city of Roundhaven ("Rondhawen"), town of Mosswood ("Osswald"), and other settlements in the far north have local pronunciations that differ from what outlanders may expect due to the different dialect. The lake town of Fenspeck ("Ens'eck" to the northerners) shows the greatest mixing of southern and northern speech, as there is relatively little class divide in the poor-yet-prosperous town.
As of 920 PS, Rustlands and Nor'rend have come under the consolidated control of Lord Charles Tallyrand, High Lord of the Northern Territories, operating out of Norsails off the mainland of Rustlands as the de facto seat of power for the region. As an officially governed, sizable city far from the mainland, the culture of Norsails is quite different from the inland of the north and there is essentially no voice for the folk who dwell in either of the two territories. While this has had little effect on the lives of many inland folk in Rustlands other than those downstream of Iron Haul Mountain, Nor'rend has been a very different case. Maintainable permanent roads and ample timber, coal, slate, and pitch resources combined with a potential conscriptable labor pool of people familiar with cordage, ropes, and sailing makes the subjugation and exploitation of the region a real concern for the realm. The regional capital Howe is little more than a walled harbor fortress client-city being run by the Northern Army to ensure materials continue to flow from Timber Bay to the south via Norsails and Rangefort. Nor'rend has seen concerted efforts by bands of guerrilla rebels rising up against the Northern Army over the years of subjugation and oppression. With the Realm's vastly superior numbers, however, many of the northerners have had to flee across the Rounder's Sea to Ervos, even farther north. Larger settlements, like Roundhaven, have considerable presence of garrisoned troops, so remaining rebels in these towns operate as hidden cells with their bases of operations farther afield in small villages (such as the settlement Bricks, several miles west of Roundhaven, and hidden in the highlands between the Red Shales and Nor'rend Crags). Many of the actual skirmishes between rebels and the Northern Army border the Dee'wald Shee, where locals can escape into tree cover and pursuing soldiers may easily become lost in the terrain or in one of the many Fey Crossings.
Type
Territory
by Thomas Smith
- Howe (Regional Capital)
- Roundhaven ("Rondhowen")
- Timberlades
- Fenspeck
- Mosswood ("Osswald")
- Firloch Harbor
- Shee Landing
Major Landmarks include:
- Delver's Gambit (Mountain)
- Prospect Spires (Mountain Range)
- Nor'rend Crags (Mountain Range)
- Arrowhead Ridge (Mountain Range)
- Salty Shales (Mountain Range)
- Woodland Gate Hills (Hill Terraces - Mountain Range)
- Dee'wald Shee (Forest Hills)
- Moss Isles
- Firloch (Lake)
- Greenloch (Lake)
- Rounder's Sea
- Ervos Sea
- Fog Bound Sea
- Timber Bay
- Norsails Bay
- Deepwood Bay
- Roundhaven Bay
- Lion's Maw Bay
- Ragged Coast Inlet
- Rondway Strait
- Harrier's Strait
- Shee Run (River)
- Fir Run (River)
Comments