Outremeer (ootreh-mere)

Outremeer is a region in the northern latitudes of the continent of Notios in the extreme south of the world. It is roughly 1,200 miles of coast and more than 50 large, inhabited islands. It is one of only a very few regions in Notios that is controlled by Humans and is vaguely known to scholars and sailors of the northern latitudes. First contact with the region for the peoples of eastern Thrae was made by Arian explorers more than 80 years ago. When the discovery was made, most of the areas and islands that the explorers found were given Arian names, purely out of convenience. In subsequent encounters, Gnomes have made extensive efforts to document and catalog native names, phrases, terms and descriptions to more accurately map and study the region, but many of the older Arian names and terms have stuck. The name outremeer literally means "overseas" in Arian.

The native Human population that was discovered nearly a century ago are a relatively primitive culture that refer to themselves as Harakaar, which is their word for "human beings". The Harakaar are a comparatively short people when compared to the Arian and Caldarian sailors that discovered them, and they were in a collective bronze-age level of advancement. Iron was known to them, but its production was very limited and quite expensive (locally speaking) when compared to the production of softer metals such as copper and bronze. In the intervening years since that first discovery, the Harakaar have seen a leap in technological ability beyond anything they had known for centuries earlier.

Geography

Roughly 120,000 square miles of mainland and more than 50 large islands constitute the region of Outremeer. The largest of the many inhabited islands off the Outremeer coast is Grande Ile, or Great Island in Arian.