the Northern Stretch
The northern stretch is a huge expanse of land. Its sometimes also called "the stretch leading north", because its not so much about being really northern, but rather that its the path along land to go to the northern parts of the continent. It also gets its name from its relatively lack of civilization, with a very small population mostly only in small villages that if lucky are within a days travel of the next village.
The weather, while not as harsh as further north, is also not forgiving. Winters here are incredibly harsh and long. On average the stretch isn't great for farming, as large areas are infertile or get very little rain. As such close to the coast and along rivers is where most of the population lives.
The areas close to the coast are dotted with Coniferous forests, while the more inland areas start become drylands of shrubbery and grass due to its lack of rain. Most of the stretch is incredibly hilly, with only areas along the coast and 1 large valley being relatively flat.
The relative lack of civilization means many a creature thrives here. Many dangerous monsters which roamed the world during the collapse have been exterminated in places of civilization. The northern stretch however still holds these monsters in its hills. Travel is seen as dangerous for that reason.
There are various nobles which do lay claim to large swathes of land from the occasional larger town that does exist in the stretch. In practice most often these nobles cannot control what they lay claim to. Internal fights between these many nobles cause any semblance of larger authority to be completely absent.
Most of the stretch follows the old gods, the Aesir and Vanir. In a recent incursion of witchunters some years back, a piece of the stretch ended up earnestly converted to the Angel's faith. The witchhunters didnt get far however before being beaten back in a series of violent clashes
The human people of the stretch live relatively far apart as such each village has its own unique little cultural quirks. But still there are similarities across the stretch.
For 1 there is often a deep respect for the natural world, it being untamed here. This also extends to a kind of reverence and its not uncommon to view the world itself as a kind of holy being or at least tie the gods and the natural world together. This does not mean they don't hunt or cut trees, rather that the people understand the world can be dangerous and respect it to survive. Another shared element is being very tight knit in their communities, these communities are often wary of outsiders initially but once people see you as part of their community, you are like family to them.
Next to the various human towns described there are also the following humanoids in the stretch:
- There are some goblinoid villages, feared and kept at a distance, even if they didn't do anything
- Hill giants, ogres, ettins, trolls and other giants like that dot the stretch, both roaming or having found their own spot.
- In the mountains to the north-east there are also some dwarven holds. Most of the holds of the north are however even further up.
- Hidden to the point most people don't even know they live in the stretch, this place has a decent population of kobolds
On old times before the collapse of Myrea, though life was still hard here, there lived many more people than there do here now. These peoples have not left much signs of them due to the lang of stone-long lasting architecture and similar signs.
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