Archives: Region Pages

The western edge of the Brenwaite region is the rocky and largely treacherous coastline that extends from the River Waite in the south, to the Dragon, a river to the north. The eastern border runs through the foothills of the Southern Pillars. The Rift, a deep canyon that cuts through the heart of Hibaria, has its western terminus here.

The frontier along the mountains is rich in iron ore, gold, and lead, and several mining communities are scattered throughout the area. The largest of these is Droe. Dragons that live in the Southern Pillars occasionally target the mines and villages, which makes this a dangerous area to live. Nevertheless, the allure of wealth continues to draw prospectors and miners to the region.

To the south and on the banks of the River Waite lies the town of Wal Waite. Most of the traffic to Droe passes up the River Waite and through this town.

Aber Waite, a town on the northern border of the region, was originally founded as a military outpost by the armies of Arosil, a city to the south. Over time, however, traders and farmers migrated to the area and the soldiers returned to Arosil, abandoning their garrison. Travelers seeking the ruins of the Rentwatchers—a small and reclusive group of individuals that was once dedicated to watching and guarding the skies—also use the town as a staging point for their journeys.

The region as a whole is almost entirely made up of the Brenwaite—an immense forest of old growth oak and beech. Recently, the inhabitants of Droe witnessed a black cloud settle over the forest, and since then it has become a dark and dangerous place that even outlaws have come to avoid. Some say that Crows now inhabit the wood, but this is unlikely since the skeletal creatures that once served Augrind have not been seen for hundreds of years.

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The island of Sidyn lies two hundred and fifty miles due east from the city of Tarian. It is the largest of the Eastern Isles. The other three are Adryn, Alwen, and Mai.

Like many of the peoples that live along Hibaria’s coastline, most of the inhabitants of the Eastern Isles are fisherfolk. They hunt the deep, tracking bull whales and razorfish. It is notable, however, that they do not hunt the sea serpents.

These creatures—also known as snakes—live primarily in the waters around the Eastern Isles. The rulers of the Isles have for centuries claimed a unique connection with the snakes, though the nature of this connection is shrouded in secrecy. The result, however, is that the snakes live freely and without fear of harm among the Isles. And in turn, though they are powerful creatures, they do not attack the fisherfolk or the coastal villages of the islands.

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The Eastern Plains extend westward from the stormy waters of the Eastern Deep to the foothills of the mountains known as the Pillars, and southward from the borders of the Hornwood to the edges of the tangled Thicket and the vast inlet known as Little Deep.

The Plains contain two large city-states, Tarian and Aurian, as well as a smaller coastal city called Aber. Tarian is the seat of the Master of Tides and Aurian is ruled by the Lord of the Mists. Both rulers were given their powers by the Sky Lords seven hundred years ago during the Great War. Both have ruled well, though they are growing weaker as they age.

Between Tarian and Aber is the Fenwood, which is bounded by the Northern and Southern branches of the Blackthorn. The Fenwood is much smaller than the other forests that dominate Hibaria, but it is no less mysterious. The wood is woven with a thick forgetting magic that affects all who enter and because of this, very little is known about it.

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The Hornwood region is a sparsely populated area that includes the sprawling Hornwood forest, a broad plain called Coving Head, and the islands of Kelig Rock, Angor, Marddir, and Agendor.

The Hornwood is an ancient forest that has never been fully explored or mapped. It is a dark and frightening place, and it is said that its shadows swallow the unwary traveler. The Hornwood gives way to the Northern Pillars to the west and borders on the Eastern Plains and the Rift to the south. The Rift is an impossibly deep canyon that cuts through the heart of Hibaria. Augrind is imprisoned in its depths.

Coving Head is to the north and its windswept grasslands, like much of the Hornwood region, are a desolate place.

There are a few small villages scattered along the coast. The largest of these is Little Haile. Several of its merchants have managed to find a way through the Northern Floes to Rorus, but the location of the route has been kept a closely guarded secret.

These merchants have also recently brought word that they can no longer approach the islands of Agendor, Marddir, Angor, or Kelig Rock without rousing a fearsome red snake from the depths…

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Down the center of the main island of Hibaria and North of the Rift run the Northern Pillars. These are massive granite mountains with deep roots and deeper secrets. To the west is the Wild. To the east, the Hornwood.

Paledar, the legendary Hall of Seasons, is located in the northern foothills of the Northern Pillars. The embodiments of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter reside in the hall, sending forth the warmth and cold and the rain and snow according to the calendar. The Seasons generally live at peace with one another, though conflicts among them have been known to occur.

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A massive mountain range known as the Pillars runs down the middle of the main island of Hibaria. The Pillars are divided north and south by the Rift, a deep chasm that stretches from the Brenwaite in the west to the Hornwood in the east.

It is known that dragons inhabit the Southern Pillars because of their attacks on the mining communities on the eastern frontier of the Brenwaite. Their numbers and the locations of their lairs remain a mystery, however; most do not wish to provoke the monsters by hunting them.

The Augur Tree is said to be in a valley deep in these mountains. The Tree is as old as the islands and is almost as tall as the mountains that surround it. It is thought that the Rentwatchers once tended and protected the Tree, though how this would be possible is unclear. Most believe that the fate of Hibaria is tied to the fate of the Augur Tree…

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The Thicket is a dense and tangled wood that covers the entirety of the peninsula that extends below the cities of Aber and Aurian of the Eastern Plains region. The Thicket region includes the peninsula and the small island of Aber Rock off its southeast coast.

The Thicket has always been strangely resistant to the encroachment of the peoples of Hibaria. Crumbling and abandoned ruins are scattered throughout the hilly forest, the scant remnants of failed and forgotten kingdoms laid low by the power that permeates the bramble and branch of the Thicket. One such ruin is Sophie’s Tower that stands on the eastern heel of the peninsula.

A new kingdom is being established in the shadowy wood, however. The Storm left many of the children on the eastern coast of Hibaria without parents, and a number of these orphans have found a new home in the Thicket. What was once a ragged band of children is now a growing tribe that roams and hunts, and, in its own way, rules the wood. The forest has not swallowed them. It has not pushed them from its borders. But the children of this tribe are not unchanged by their new home…

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The Wild is an area that is largely uninhabited, with the exception of some small coastal villages. The largest of these is Coving Swallow. The region borders the Hornwood region to the east, the Northern Pillars to the southeast, and the river known as the Dragon to the south. It also includes the islands of Val and Palla to the west.

For most of the year powerful winds laced with ice and snow blow from the Westwater and the Northern Floes, and these biting winds are the main reason the Wild is so desolate. A set of low hills called the Dark Fells stretches across the region and further isolates the northern forests.

Toward the end of the Great War Augrind retreated to the southern forests of the Wild. He had established a series of fortresses throughout the region and it was here that he made his last stand. It was from this place that he cursed the creatures of Erdyn for their role in the war, a curse that took their speech and reason.

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The Realm of the Bones, or the Bones, is an archipelago of eight islands to the east of the island of Marddir and south and east of Rorus. The Bones was once the seat of a now forgotten civilization. The remains of this empire are many, and include curiously massive stone towers containing rusted and decaying implements and tools. These broken things, made of brass and iron and glass, were likely used to observe the skies, though any written records have long since rotted or turned to dust. These observatories are on each of the eight islands and seem to have been built in locations that facilitate the observation of the same narrow section of the southern skies.

The cause of the fall of this civilization is a mystery. The cities, largely reclaimed by ivy and moss, tangled vine and creeping lichen, do not show evidence of siege or violence. Metal artifacts, though rusted by the rain and the salt air, are abundant, and weapons are not among them.

Perhaps the strangest aspects of this lost civilization are the statues. Men, women, and animals of stone fill the streets and buildings of the empty cities. And while the buildings around them have decayed and weathered, the statues have not…

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The northern islands of Rorus—Hilder, Werth, Kel and Rorus—are largely cut off from the rest of Hibaria. The icebergs and treacherously unpredictable winds of the Northern Floes isolate these lands even though they are not terribly distant from the mainland.

However, in recent years the merchants of Little Haile have gained the knowledge required to travel to Rorus and have brought back furs, whale oil, and hardened whale bone, along with scraps of information that have begun to reveal details about the people of these hitherto unknown lands.

The people of Rorus, due in part to the inhospitable climate that has shaped their lands, are primarily nomadic hunters. There are small permanent coastal villages, but these are few and exist to serve as staging points for hunting expeditions. The hunters regularly seek out bears and winterox, prized for their hides and fur, and bull whales, for their oil and bone.

With the opening up of trade with the mainland, demand for these goods has risen, and as a result, the people of Rorus are experiencing a rapid influx of wealth.

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The Atharian Islands lie to the west of Erdyn and to the south of the main island of Hibaria. There are eight islands—Atharia, which is the largest, Compass Hal, Katallia, Bardyn Rock, Acorn Island, Candlerock, Kilgar, and Door.

A thirst for understanding the past permeates the Atharian society. Many Atharians have given themselves to exploration and the study of lost civilizations, and over the centuries these explorers have amassed numerous collections of ancient writings and artifacts. It was the Atharians who first discovered the Sparrows, a small chain of islands far to the west, and to identify the Black Horizon.

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The Skilewood region makes up the southwestern corner of Hibaria. Like most of mainland, the region is heavily wooded, the dense Skilewood spreading over much of it. The Brenwaite is to the north and the Southern Pillars are to the east. The region extends below the Pillars and includes the Southern Plains.

The Deep, a mighty river that flows out of the Southern Pillars empties into the Westwater near Labryn Waite. Labryn Waite is a powerful city-state that has established the military outpost of Labryn Dun on Curyn Hal, an island positioned strategically to the south and west. Labryn Waite has also built two forts, Feldyn Dun and Feldor Dun that control all traffic into and out of the Little Deep. The city is currently allied with Aurian, which is fortunate for Aurian, given its geography.

Sentinel Rock lies just to the west of Curyn Hal and is the site of an old abandoned watchtower. Further to the north and west is Crow’s Head Island, home to numerous crows and ravens, but otherwise unoccupied.

Arosil is the Skilewood region’s westernmost city and overlooks the Westwater. In the midst of the city is the Hourglass, an ancient tower woven with dangerous magic and power. It is rarely approached, and even more rarely is it entered. Those who enter do not always come out again.

It is said that due west of Arosil—it is not certain how far—is the Black Horizon. This is the edge of the world and only one person has ever gone over the edge and returned to tell about it…

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