Kessig
The province of Kessig consists of rolling farmlands surrounded by grasping fingers of dense, dark woods. The woods hide werewolves, ghosts, and other supernatural menaces, while the farmlands support a hardscrabble rural livelihood for Kessig's humans.
Kessig has been largely unaffected by the fluctuating fortunes of Innistrad over the past hundred years. The reach of the church and it's cathars only extend so far, and Kessigers have long relied on folk charms and superstitions to protect them from the evils of the forest.
Culture
Kessigers are hardheaded and unpretentious people, and the face-to-face realism of the Avacyn religion fits right into their worldview. Kessigers believe in "the worked earth below us, the hand-hewn stone walls around us, and the angel above us." However, they don't trust the shiny boots of big-city cathars, the pristine fingernails of Gavony ghost-hunters, or the out-of-touch decrees handed down from the aristocrats of the High City of Thraben. Kessiger's don't purchase tools from the general store; they forge their tools themselves. They don't learn arithmetic or memorize the names of important Luarchs or prominent families; they learn harvest dates and the shapes of edible weeds. They don't quote great works of literature; they call it like they see it, in their own plain words. Superstition and fear of supernatural creatures has woven its way into etiquette in Kessig. When you meet someone for the first time, it's polite to show that you are wearing an item made from silver (even though silver can easily be counterfeited, and only blessed silver has real protective power). Wreaths of living wood are commonly given as gifts, and are often placed on the door of a home where a child has just been born, a gesture meant to protect the child's life from vampires (even though the wood and its effectiveness die after a few days). It's customary to eat sour root soup before traveling, or to fast for up to a day before a long trip, habits that are thought to make one less appealing to werewolves and other hungry beasts.The Breakneck Ride
There are a few main paths that lead into Kessig from the other provinces. Each crossway is fraught with peril, leading travelers through the Ulvenwald and over treacherous slopes, so those who make the journey do so at as brisk a pace as possible. Kessigers sometimes collectively refer to these paths as the "Breakneck Ride."Hairpin Road
One path into Kessig winds down from Getander Pass in the cloud-ringed Stensian mountains and around bat-plagued precipices. The road switches back over and over again, climbing and declining, always keeping the rider or carriage dangerously close to a sheer drop. Falkenrath vampires keep a careful eye on this road as they haunt the pass above it.Bower Passage
Another path takes the traveler from Gavony straight through the heart of the Ulvenwald, the werewolf-infested forest. This dirt road follows a twisting path through tree branches that arch overhead like the ceiling of a cathedral. In the daytime the sun streaming through the cathedral trees can be quite beautiful - but it's still foolish to be stingy with the whip. Dryads and nature spirits are said to haunt the Passage, and werewolves can track horses by scent.Briarbridge
The final main thoroughfare into Kessig comes from Nephalia through the rolling, autumnal hills that surround many of Kessig's farm communities. A ticket of thistles and tall, thorny grains flanks the road. Where the road intersects a sleepy river, the path crosses over a covered wooden bridge. The bridge is a sturdy way across the river, but it is also a dark place prone to ambushes, and one of the only routes by which a vampire can cross into Kessig while the moon glistens on the water.Werewolves in Kessig
Several howlpacks hunt in Kessig, as do many lone werewolves. The Mondronen howlpack is dominant here during most seasons, but during the New Moon season, the Leeraug howlpack terrorizes Kessiger villages. Smaller, nameless howlpacks also claim dominion of some fingers of the Ulvenwald, waning and waxing with the moon. The elder of Gatstaf once famously declared, "In Kessig, the werewolves outnumber the priests." Many lone werewolves live in secret among the Kessigers, too afraid of retribution to reveal themselves but too attached to their families and Kessig roots to leave. Suspicion and speculation run rampant among Kessig's commoners, fueled by frightened exaggeration and misremembered anecdotes. Kessigers hold conflicting views about how to detect, hunt, or cure werewolves, how many exist, what keeps them at bay, and what it all means for humanity.Geists in Kessig
Ghostly apparitions are second only to werewolves in terms of danger to the Kessigers, and geists may cause even greater psychological damage. The geists in Kessig are wild spirits of nature, prone to taunt or terrorize civilized life. They can be cold-burning geistflames made of surreal fire, mischievous poltergeists that shove at the physical world through the power of their outrage, or blood mists that envelop and devour the living. They can be beautiful nature spirits tressed in vine and thorn, beast-possessing geists that shimmer through the mouths and eyes of feral animals, or vindictive crop-spoilers that vex farmers and druids alike.Other Supernaturals in Kessig
Kessig is so ravaged by werewolves that many other supernaturals have been squeezed out, although rare individuals occasionally appear. Kessig has experienced few devils or demons, but a smoking fissure called Devils' Breach lies in the tall stone hills at the edge of the province, and threatens to boil over with demonic activity soon. Alchemically created zombies (skaabs) have become a kind of symbol of the evils of the big city; Kessigers often equate necromantic alchemy with black market trade, prostitution, religious heresy, and murderous conspiracy. The average Kessiger has a double-edged opinion of vampires. In public the vampire families are spoken of as the height of urbane evil, but in private, Kessigers' salacious whispers betray fascination with vampires' refinement and celebrity. Few actual encounters with vampires have occurred in Kessig to date, so word spreads quickly whenever someone comes along the Hairpin Road in an elegant, shaded coach.
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