Varasa

Varasa is a land of frozen peaks and green valleys, dotted with watchtowers and castles and isolated pockets of farming. Every valley is its own little microcosm here with its own local cultural and religious quirks. The land is heavily armed and fortified but rarely goes to war. Winding roads carry weary travelers through these enormous mountains and canyons, and ancient paintings of monsters and hunts mark the stone walls of the roadways. This is where the ancient splendor of Inahng meets the magical militarism of Stildane. 
There are four notable areas within Varasa:

• Old Varasa, the Eastern kingdoms of Varasa, which are much larger, more religious, and more structured than the rest of the region. These kingdoms mimic the grandiose style of Calazen sometimes, though they still usually respect the rights of the local holds
• Inner Varasa, the Western Kingdoms of Varasa, which are smaller, more decentralized, and more carefully defended. 
• Daimarta, a large and relatively centralized state clustered around the Rolden river. It is in constant, active war with the Solrolden Wastes, where it claims (and sometimes loses) land
• Ro-Varasa, a divergent subculture of prisms that tends to be rather reclusive. The Ro-Varasans are very much under siege by the Ederstone wastes. 

Geography

Varasa is 270 miles across East-West, and 400 miles North-South and is thoroughly mountainous. The mountains here are an outcropping of the Western Adira Mountains, and rise thousands of feet above sea level. The valleys here are lush but isolated, and the land is difficult to traverse (particularly in winter).
Varasa has few clear geographic defining lines, but rather refers to the areas of the Northwest Adira that are claimed by sedentary states.

Fauna & Flora

Tusked deer, snow leopards, blue sheep (or bharal), tahr goats, serow goats, and black bears are all native to Varasa. Several valleys even have pandas. There are hundreds of different kinds of pheasants and bats also found here.
On top of the naturally occurring wildlife, Ederstone-tainted species are common. Most of these are fairly small mutations, and many are difficult to notice. Some are more radical: giant horned bats have made their home in a few caves, and something known as "pheasant balls" - big balls of rolling, bouncing, rainbow-feathered flesh - can be found here. The native residents cannot hunt out the former and have selectively tolerated the latter as a decent source of food. At the edges of Varasa, the number of wild Ederstone creatures increases substantially.

History

The Varasan kingdoms were simple Prism-towns all through the Divine Era. It was the arrival of Ederstone at the end of the Divine Era that forced rapid change. Many towns were forced to band together, and all who remained in the region fortified. These remaining fortified towns took in many Starspawn immigrants in the 200s ME fleeing the chaos of the wasteland. These Starspawn were known as the Kedrazir, and many moved further East but some stayed behind to assimilate and live alongside the Prisms here.
Trade between these groups was rare and localized, and the land was virtually unknown to the rest of the world for centuries. That began to change when the famous Calazan explorer and writer Masaad of Etezja, explored and mapped out Varasa in the 550s. Trade brought much-needed assistance to the region, but not much of it. The Prism-holds slowly expanded and became a network of tiny kingdoms, all working together to try and survive. 
When Nedira moved West into the Adiras in the 800s and 900s, Varasa eagerly latched onto the religion and all assistance it might come with. This assistance was minor, but it helped, and a network of permanently magical circles were made in the largest Prism-holds to allow for easy magical travel from the East. These magical circles were then connected via wizardry to Eastern Eketen in 1380, allowing easy elite travel between Stildane and Calazen. Trade slowly, but surely, followed. And, with more trade and more investment from East and West, the Varasan kingdoms were able to grow, secure their lands, and thrive. They are still relatively isolated kingdoms, but they are much safer now for the effort.

Type

Mountain Range

Location under

Adira Mountains