Deepforge Mountains
A geologically young mountain range, this length of steep and jagged stone isolates the northern shores of Upper Andus from the, now, mostly human realms to the south.
The StoneKin arrived in these mountains, emerging from breaches between Andrus and the plane of elemental earth. They began to mine, burrow and carve their way through the stone and dirt building vast settlements, seeking rare minerals and prized metals. This range is the only source for Deep Steel in both its raw and processed forms. Many legendary weapons and armors are created from this naturally black metal.
The rolling foothills around this mountain range are home to settlements of less rugged and more sociable StoneKin that operate as trade posts for refined materials and supply grains and meat to the deeper communities throughout the range.
Bloodfire Forest
This isolated peninsula is home to a strange forest of pale, smooth barked trees that bear blood red, broad leaves year-round, even when the winter winds cover the ground in deep snows. It is rumored that when a tree is cut, it bleeds. The wood is soft and useful only for decorative purposes but even this use is rare due to the belief that the land is haunted or cursed.
This region once acted as the homeland for the FlameKin. Long abandoned villages dot the landscape. Slowly being reclaimed by the wilderness and weather. These clusters of structures make the stillness in this haunting, frigid blight even more eerie. The FlameKin capitol city still stands on the isle at the western most reach of this region. It too appears abandoned. The surviving FlameKin do not speak of their home.
River Wilds
The RiverKin settled this sprawling region of cold wetlands building small clusters of family communities throughout. Some larger settlements were created to facilitate trade and keep other people from wandering the treacherous fens, bogs and marshes.
As the seasons pass this realm changes dramatically. During the cold season the ground can become deceptively solid. In the warm seasons the water flows freely and gathers in ponds and lakes often covered in great reed beds making visibility difficult over long distances. In the transitional seasons the region turns deep and shallow as rain and drought take their turns.
The RiverKin are well versed in the ebb and flow of their realm, especially their ancestral territories. They hunt, trap, farm, and harvest all manner of good throughout the seasons.
Zephyr Plateau
The large, jagged cliffs along the western side of this realm provide some of the most impressive wind gusts. These are the lands across which the winter winds roar off the ocean toward the River Wilds. Weather here tends to be very volatile.
High in the massive Wyre tree groves on the plateau, the WindKin build their villages and homes. Accessible by either climbing or flight, these communities are secure from most ‘plodders’ as these feisty Fae call land bound creatures. These aeries are often attributed to a founding family.
Wyre are massive, ancient trees and weather the tempestuous winds that howl across the plateau all year long by growing in groves and intertwining their massive upper branches to support one another. These trees can reach heights of nearly three hundred feet with trunks measuring between ten and thirty feet wide.
WindKin construct shelters by flexing and weaving smaller branches over time into secure shelters that become part of the canopy ecosystem or even suspending these shelters below the canopy. These aeries often shelter successive generations.