District of Sunderland
(SUND-er-lund)
Considered by Courghais to comprise everything between the King’s Road/Trader’s Way and the sea, the District of Sunderland proper primarily encompasses the plains and hills between the Gaelon River to the north, Old Burgundia to the south, and the peninsula to the east. Hundreds of villages and farmsteads are scattered across the district, most with no more than a few dozen inhabitants and many without even a name. The folk are primarily native Foerdewaith, though the Marg have moved in from the west and control much of the northwestern parts of the district, primarily along the Soldier’s Road. They do not extend their reach north of Soldier Stone because they do not wish to agitate Zobeck, who they see as a valuable trading partner. To the east Sunderland extends to the King’s Road and Trader’s Way, and to the south it reaches the Burgundian Road in places. These lands are under no sovereign in general, though mercantile interests from other lands have made forays in some strategic locations.
Most of Sunderland is dry, rolling plains covered in low grasses and rocky outcroppings. Rivers are usually seasonal, appearing in the rainy springs and drying up over the summer. Winters can be harsh with no mountains and few trees to break the bitter north winds. Horses are still bred on these plains as they have been for hundreds of generations, though it is no longer the primary source of horseflesh as it once was in the days of Foere. Shepherds and their flocks are frequently seen on these grasslands. The plains’ two chains of hills are low, but rugged in places, and often tree covered. On the gentler slopes of these hills, the soil is often good for vineyards and orchards.
Assets
Foodstuffs, wool, livestock (horses), wine, timber, copper, tin, silver, gems (common, semiprecious, and precious), mithril.
Demography and Population
Territories
The sprawling eastern hills of Sunderland are considered the safer of the plain’s two highlands. There are more villages in the vicinity of these hills and their proximity to the Trader’s Way and King’s Road than elsewhere, though the eastern portion of the hills is much less populated and wilder. The western hills have many orchards and is fine vineyard country, though many of these are overgrown, having been abandoned after wars and skirmishes in the past. Bats are a nuisance at nigh due to their occasional tendency to swarm, but the dire bats and stirges that hunt the more desolate regions and are capable of carrying away a goat or peasant are much more of a problem. Violent humanoids roam the western hills in small packs but have yet to gather into any groups large enough to pose a threat to anything but isolated farmsteads.
Technological Level
Type
Geopolitical, State
Demonym
Sunderlander
Location
Neighboring Nations
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