Lathva
Lathva is a region north of the Great Tundra in northern Occident, past The Spine. It is a rumored place in much of the world; some say it is ruled by beautiful amazonian warrior-queens, giving it the popular name "Isle of the Amazons", or that it is ruled from a city made entirely of gold, which flows in its rivers instead of water, the people surviving off of snow-melt.
Geography
Lathva is located in the northern reaches of Stegaria , divided by The Spine from the territories of the Northern Alliance and the tribal societies beyond its borders. In the east, it is separated from Dyamotsiya by Lake Yagoda.
There are only two viable approaches to this mythical place. The Horned Pass splits the twin mountain ranges of The Spine evenly, and even in winter it is relatively easy and safe to travel. However, the native Lathvans are aware of this, and so it is heavily guarded. The second is by sea, for it is bounded by the Bay of Dreams on its western side. However, doing so risks the attention of harpy raiders, and even if one were to brave their endless advances, the waters of Lathva's shores are swathed in magical darkness that makes it almost impossible for those without darkvision to find their way -- many sailors who went too far north have found themselves suddenly struck blind, and without navigation either running aground on Lathva's craggy shores or sailing forever until they die of thirst or accident.
The southern reaches of Lathva are thickly-forested boreal taiga, but as one goes further north the trees eventually stop completely. This is known as the tree line, and further north of this point no trees grow, as the growing season simply no longer exists; the lands beyond the treeline are trapped in permanent winter. Much of Lathva is very sparsely populated by the native Lathvans, but there are a few great cities, almost all exclusively in the boreal taiga. The northern reaches of the country are largely only inhabited by military garrisons and wandering saumikar and catfolk. These fortresses of ice and steel are far from sparsely manned, and often serve as either stops or the launching points of expeditions into the wastes, which are launched with rare frequency to recover artifacts of Thule or for religious rituals.
History
Lathvan history is defined by the Rune Giants, who (according to Lathvan legend) originated even further north in a land called Thule. There they ruled for countless eons, but were eventually forced south by the arrival of the Blue Sun, whose strange burning light forced them to head further and further south to escape its call. Nothing grows in the Blue Sun's light, not even trees, and for this reason the furthest reaches of the north are completely barren except for those strange creatures that have adapted to life beneath the harsh sun.
Comments