The Plains of Kataru

The Plains of Kataru sprawl from The Jagged Wastes of the north to the Ba-Adenu Forest and the Lambent Fields in the south. Rolling, fertile lands that have somehow not drawn huge numbers of settlers, Kataru is instead dotted with small towns and aldeias, crisscrossed by nomadic tribes of traders and raiders, and sometimes visited by caravans from the Steadfast on their way to Augur-Kala Beyond the Clock in the far east.   One such community - your community - is Phrygia-by-the-Gap, a small aldeia of about a hundred families and a handful of Aeon Priests in a nearby hermitage. While the Phrygians are mostly farmers growing cereals and hardy vegetables, a handful of families make a good living mining synth from The Gap, a series of caverns and old world ruins below Phrygia. Life in Phrygia-by-the-Gap can be rough, but the families have the blessings of the spirits, fertile fields, ample rains, and a strong will; they live well and are accustomed to seeing their hard work turn into rewards they can share with one another.   There are dangers to the Phrygians: angry, giant callerail threaten to devour the unwary, the spring brings terrible storms, and the hideous, four-armed abhumans called the dzaal are rumored to be looking for a new home. The dzaal don't build - they only steal, kill, and destroy. These threats are constant, and the Phrygians are accustomed to them, and well-practiced in dealing with such dangers when they arrive.   But change on the plains threaten the Phrygians' idyllic pastoral lifestyle. The Phrygians have nomadic ancestors, and many of their cousins remain nomads. Sometimes traders, sometimes hunters, and sometimes raiders, many of them are uniting under Milaconi and her Dark Riders - plagues on the peaceful folk of the Kataru, they ravage the countryside, raiding villages and waylaying travelers. While they are far to the north now, who knows when Milaconi's eyes will turn south the fertile lands and rich ruins?