Rashemen
The northern lands of Rashemen were predominantly barren, ravaged by strong, harsh winds, while the south was cooler with a more placid environment that was considerably more hospitable for habitation. It was surrounded by numerous other mountain ranges along with vast lakes and rivers, all of which provided strong natural fortifications. These features made Rashemen an ideally defensible region against the forces of Thay to the south or the nearby great barbarian tribes.
Rashemen was considered to be more closely connected to the Feywild than any other location in Faerûn.
Geography
Rashemen is about the same size as Cormyr, running approximately 330 miles from its southern border at Lake Mulsantir to its northern reaches at the Icerim Mountains, and 270 miles from Lake Ashane, its western border, to its curving eastern border that ends at the southeast arm of the Icerims. The Sunrise Mountains and two small but thick forests divide Rashemen's lower third from the rest of the country, and most of its citizens inhabit this smaller portion. Although its size is comparable, Rashemen's harsh climate and remote location mean its population is less than half that of Cormyr.
The lower third of Rashemen is a cool, hilly land of pine forests and heather-grown downs. The land climbs toward the east, quickly becoming quite rugged as one approaches the Sunrise Mountains. The northernmost reaches of the Sunrise range are lower and snowier than the southern portion bordering Thay, and from these well-watered peaks, innumerable rivers and streams flow west to Lake Ashane. Ages ago, glaciers scarred this land, carving deep U-shaped canyons in the mountains and trapping hundreds of tiny lakes behind moraines.
The North Country, Rashemen's upper two-thirds, is mostly bleak, windswept plains with little vegetation other than hardy grass and scrub. The southerly reaches of this area consist of knife-edged rocky ridges with steep ravines covered with a thick pine forest, but the landscape flattens as one moves north, becoming a vast cold steppe unbroken for more than a hundred miles before the foothills of the Icerims rise up from the plains. The North Country lies 3,000 feet above sea level, as does much of the rest of Rashemen, and this altitude contributes to its harsh winters.
On Rashemen's western flank is a veritable inland sea, the great lakes of Ashane and Mulsantir. Stretching over 500 miles in length and more than eighty miles wide at their broadest point, these lakes occupy deep rift valleys between the high plateaus. of Ashanath, Thay, and the North Country. Rivers from the surrounding elevations drain into these lakes, which have no surface outlet. However, they are freshwater, not salt, which suggests that one or both are linked to seas or subterranean rivers in the Underdark.
Magic has sculpted Rashemen's geography as much as wind and weather. Caught between the warring nations of Narfell and Raumathar long ago, Rashemen is a place of ancient wizardry and powerful spirits (called telthors) tied to the features of the land. Spirits guard the forests, mountains, and waterways against defilers - in some places, every stone and sapling has its own guardian. The local folk respect and take care to not offend the spirits, which are said to punish those who are callous toward them and bear grudges against communities for years.
ALTERNATE:
Rashemen is divided into two regions. The smaller, but far more heavily populated, lies east of Ashane, the Lake of Tears, and runs east to what the Rashemi call the High Country, the northern arm of the Sunrise Mountains. Rashemen’s capital city, Immilmar, lies in this area, as do most of its towns, villages and fortresses. The Mines of Tethkel in the High Country provide Rashemen with much of its wealth. In the south, along the Mulsanyaar Plateau, Rashemen has fortresses and defences against Thayan invasion, although the southern end of the plateau has been given over to goblin tribes hostile to both Rashemen and Thay, who act as a buffer. The geography of the region forces most Thayan attacks through the Gorge of Gauros, where it is possible for the usually-outnumbered Rashemi to hold their own.
To the north and north-east, Rashemen’s territory suddenly opens out into what it calls the North Country, a vast swathe of open, lightly-settled countryside which extends all the way north to the Falls of Erech and Icerim Mountains. The eastern boundary of Rashemen has never been formally set, as east of Nathoud it simply, amorphously blurs into the far north-western tracts of Taan, the so-called “Hordelands” whose eastern regions are claimed by the Tuigan. The great fortress of Citadel Rashemar guards Rashemen from attack from that direction, although even the battle-hardened Rashemi were not prepared for the sudden onslaught of Tuigan invaders in late 1359 that left the fortress in ruins. The Rashemi continue to hold the site of the fortress, but have only been able to moderately repair it since the invasion.
Climate
The northern lands of Rashemen were predominantly barren, ravaged by strong, harsh winds, while the south was cooler with a more placid environment that was considerably more hospitable for habitation.
Rashemen isn’t just shaped by wind and snow—dormant spells from ancient battles sometimes awaken, causing earthquakes, freak storms, and strange phenomena.
Freezing temperatures & unpredictable weather best describe the climate here.
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