The Rift Canyon and the Barrens

The Rift Canyon is probably unique in all Oerik. This huge, near-200 mile long fissure is over a mile deep in places, with great sheer rock faces, scrub-wooded screes, paths which only the most agile can clamber down, honeycombs of caves, caverns, and warrens, and dark things slithering in its deepest recesses. In this unpromising place, nearly 6,000 bandits manage to survive in the caves and passages. The original 2,000 settlers have been joined by 4,000 exiles who have promised faithful service to the self-proclaimed Plar of the Rift, Durand Grossman. The exiles are mostly Reyhu men, angry at their displacement from rulership by Iuz's priests. They have joined an extraordinary society.

The way in which the bandits negotiate and travel within the Rift Canyon is astonishing enough in itself. Virtually all are effectively expert rock-climbers, have the Rope Use proficiency for group travel and belaying, and have become skilled in the use of slings, sling-staffs, light crossbows, lariats and similar hillsmen's weapons. They have developed a very complex system of signs, involving rock-marking, scratches on moss and lichen patches, and the use of plant stains and such to signal safe and unsafe paths and the presence of Iuz's forces. The bandits have shown real resilience by surviving here.

The Plar doesn't just have humans to call upon, either. Hobgoblins, orcs and half-orcs native to the Rift have allied with him, and the Plar has some other monstrous aid too. A pair of trained adult hippogriffs are sent aloft with agile riders to spy and the Plar himself has almost a dozen "pet" displacer beasts. Most startlingly; the Plar is able to call on the services of a deep-laired gorgimera in times of real need. A handful of hell hounds, kept well away from the displacer beasts, are used to protect tunnel entrances which lead to major caves and caverns around the Rift. The loyalty of these creatures may in part be due to the services of the ex-Aerdi mage Menfri Rauveen, who is researching the magical secrets of the Rift. He is also good for morale. Seeing an invading warband of orcs toasted by chain lightning is an awesome sight for bandits, many of whom have never seen such mighty magics before.