Western Shield Island
"I won't stop you from goin' out there, but I'm warning you now, there's nothing but nutty elves, savage orcs, and hungry critters in those jungles. If you don't get ate, yer just as likely to get holes poked in you or, worse, have to talk to an elf."
Overview
The western reaches of Shield Island, known to the dwarves as "the Shielded Lands" are in many ways a land forgotten by time. The magical backlash from The Cataclysm was stopped in its tracks at the Shield Mountains, leaving the land untouched and the reptilian species residing there alive and un-vanished. Little is known of these mysterious lands, as the Shield Mountains are a near impenetrable barrier and the dwarves guard access to them zealously.
History
The shielded lands have been claimed and protected by the Shield Mountain Dwarves for as far back as their histories record, and has both allowed them to exist totally independant of the outside world and been the source of their greatest tragedy.
Before the Serpentfolk
At the peak of their civilization, the Shield Mountain Dwarves had settlements spread throughout the Shielded Lands. They built large ranches where they raised and tamed the mighty thunder lizards and forts from which they mined, logged, and generally took advantage of the resource rich land.
The reign of the serpentfolk
It was the lure of the Shielded Lands and the thunder lizards within which brought the might of the serpentfolk down on the Shield Mountain Dwarves. After sacking the Thunder Road and the holds surrounding it, they established their own city deep within the Shielded Lands. Despite the best efforts of the dwarves, they would maintain this city until the cataclysm.
After the Cataclysm
Spared the magical backlash from the cataclysm, the serpentfolk residing in the Shielded Lands weren't spared the wrath of their lizardfolk slaves once it became clear that their empire had fallen. After the serpentfolk were wiped out, the Shield Mountain Dwarves began to reclaim what they could of their former territory, but were hindered in their efforts by their greatly reduced population.
Modern Times
Today, the Shielded Lands have reclaimed most of the settlements and other signs of civilization which once existed within them. The Shield Mountain Dwarves, drastically reduced in number, have rebuilt few of their former holdings outside of The Sunset Citadel, and the savage orcs and elven tribes have flourished.
Geography
The Shielded Lands enjoy a hot climate much like the The Shattered Sea, and as such are covered in tropical forest, thick jungle, and lush grasslands. Closest to the shield mountains the land is covered in tropical forests, transitioning to thick jungle around the northern and southern coasts, and grasslands to the south-west. Around The Sunset Citadel the forests are thinner, a legacy of dwarven logging operations in the area. As distance grows from the citadel, the forests get older and thicker, more primeval, with the top levels of the forest hundreds of feet above the ground and supported by tree trunks dozens of feet across. These ancient forests are where the elven tribes make their homes.
The south-east of the island is mostly forested hills, rugged terrain covered in thick vegetation. Orc tribes infest this area, and have proven near impossible for the dwarves to stamp out despite their best efforts. Where the hills give way to flatter ground sits the ruins of a serpentfolk city, entirely overgrown but largely intact. At the south-western tip of this jungle is a large area of marshlands home to some of the lizardfolk tribes which make the Shielded Lands their home.
At the south-western end of the island are vast grasslands, filled with herds of grazing thunder lizards and their predators, and as one approaches the forests at its edges, the grasslands become dotted with more and more trees until they seemlessly merge into the jungle. Between the grasslands and the south-eastern jungles is a massive lake sixty miles across, with a large section of marshlands across its eastern coast.
Occupants
The Shield Mountain Dwarves may claim the Shielded Lands as their own, but they are not the only people who reside within these lands.
The Dwarves
While the dwarves might once have had holdings across the Shielded Lands, today they control little outside of the Sunset Citadel. They maintain herds of thunder lizards in the area immediately outside of the citadel and send scouts out to keep and eye on the goings-on in the Shielded Lands, but other than the occasional orc suppression raid, they have little influence on the territory which they claim to control.
The Elves
The elven tribes of the Shielded Lands have been there as long as the dwarves have, and view the dwarves claims of ownership of Shielded Lands with bemusement, as to them, the lands are too wild to be owned by anyone. They reside in the densest, oldest sections of forest and tend to build their villages in the oldest, largest trees. Some of the elven tribes maintain relations with the Shield Mountain Dwarves, exchanging goods and information about the movement of thunder lizards herds or the local orc tribes for high quality metal items and exotic goods from the outside world.
The Orcs
Despite the best efforts of the dwarves over the ages, the Shielded Lands are home to a sizable population of orcs. Their population is densest in the hilly jungles of the south-east, but they are present in every corner of the region and their population is at an all-time high. With the serpentfolk gone and the dwarven population too low to manage the orc population to the extent that they once did, their population has exploded and attacks on the Sunset Citadel are at an all-time high.
Unlike the orcs elsewhere in The Shattered Continent, a lack of exposure to other cultures and constant disruption of their attempts to form larger, more organized societies by the dwarves have left the orcs of the shielded lands technologically stunted. Iron or steel weapons are rare and prized, fought over and usually in the hands of the strongest, most powerful orcs, and armor made with these materials is nearly as rare, although makeshift banded or splint armor made from scavenged scraps is somewhat less so.
The orcs revere powerful carnivores, and have made many attempts to tame or otherwise make use of them, most of which have not ended well for the orcs in question. One notable exception is megaraptors, as a number of clans have managed to tame them, or at least get the clan druid to convince them to accept riders. Trained or not, it isn't uncommon for the orcs to keep larger predators caged or otherwise restrained to unleash on their enemies, or just for clout, but actually utilizing these creatures results on them turning on their captors more often than not.
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