Bestiary (Lands, People and Creatures)

[Phoenixguard09]

The first post in a thread detailing the world and its inhabitants.

CONTENTS
Norbayne
- The Highland Moors and Midland Forests and Valleys
- The Southlands and Oso Montanya
- The Airddeal Bailte (The Wardenfells)
- The Boltmoors
- The Icebay of the Selkye, Deighlas Mountains and Northern Wardenfells
- The Merigund

Unterguardt
- Southreach and Other Southern Lands of Unterguardt
- The Vestlig Bight and Raven Isle
- The Nordlig Tundra and the Svartryggrad (The Blackspine)
- The Deepwood
- The Isle of Varr

Sothbayne
- The Sjeverni Coast and Other Northern Lands of Sothbayne
- The Vasaris Ranges and Other Southern Lands of Sothbayne
- The Black Fens
- The Lemarian Archipelago
- The Nizina Kosci (Plain of Bones) and the Wispaniyali Range

The Westrand
- Zariste
- The Kandsza Isles

Arlend
- The Blue Mountains and Khaliros
- The Three Kingdoms of Gyre, Murai and Taeran
- The Akira Plains

[Phoenixguard09]

The Midlands
Stretching all the way from the northern coast of Norbayne to the foothills of the Wardenfells in the east and to the Dragain's Tail in the south, the Midlands cover a lot of territory. It is temperate in climate, with scattered forests and meandering rivers. In this day and age though, the majority of the Midlands seems to be wide grasslands and farmland around pockets of civilisation.

PEOPLES
The Midlands are home to a diverse range of peoples, but the most common are the people who take their name from the region, the Midlanders. Adaptable and tough, Midlanders have thrived in the relatively friendly conditions after arriving from a distant land far to the east, over the sea. The majority of settlements  in the region are predominantly inhabited by Midlanders, with a multitude of small kingdoms and republics rising and falling over the years.

Others do make their homes in the Midlands however. Much like the Midlanders themselves, the old Bovus Empire was established in the region by the mighty Bosavir, themselves fleeing an unnamed and unknown menace to the east. It has been many years since the Bovus Empire fell, but signs of their dominance can still be found all over the Midlands, with ancient ruins in the woods and sophisticated roads and long-disused aqueducts all relatively common sights. Many descendants of the Bosavir still dwell in the Midlands, some as the Krowavir, savage monstrosities more animal than person, others as the Feartarbh. Enclaves of Feartarbh still exist deep in the woods, trying to keep the old ways alive, but most Feartarbh have assimilated into Midlander society.

The descendants of the Fyrst-Dynion can also be found in the Midlands. In the north-east, tucked in between the Northshield and the Wardenfells, one can find the Icebay. The inhabitants of that land are called the Selkye, a small people known for their love of stories, parties and the ocean. To the south of the Icebay, lies the Wardenfells, and stretching across the foothills and then away, further to the west, lies the gloomy expanse of the Gwyrai Woods, a thick forest. The Woodsmen of the Gwyrai too, are descendants of the ancient Fyrst-Dynion.

CREATURES
Small Herbivores: Rabbits, possums, deer, boar, capaill
Large Herbivores: Mhor, elk, horses
Small Carnivores: Woodwolves, raptors, tahlun
Large Carnivores: Marcwolves, krowavir

[Phoenixguard09]

The Southlands and Oso Montanya
A much smaller region stretching south of the Dragain's Tail and incorporating the Oso Montanya on the southern coast, the Southlands are a warm region, almost sub-tropical in climate. Here the forest gives way to vast grasslands between the two mountain ranges.

PEOPLES
Midlanders too are the most common peoples of the Southlands, their skin, hair and eyes generally darker, an adaptation to suit their warm, sunny home. They are not alone however.

The Oso Montanya is the ancestral home of the Bruin, a short, stocky race, known for their cunning stonework. Many Bruin are afflicted by wanderlust, and so leave their home in search of new sights, and as such are a common sight all through the Southlands and beyond.

Roanfaille from Sothbayne are also a common sight, whether it be the settle Roanfaille who dwell in the great cities of the south, or the nomad clans which roam the grassy plains with their herds.

Many of the world's foremost mercantile hubs are situated in the Southlands, and as such, it is not uncommon to see members of any race in the region.

CREATURES
Small Herbivores: Rabbits, possums, deer, capaill
Large Herbivores: Horses
Small Carnivores: Raptors, plains cats
Large Carnivores: Marcwolves

[Phoenixguard09]

The Wardenfells
The high mountain range stretching down the eastern coast of Norbayne, the Wardenfells are a dangerous place with a terrible reputation. High up in the rocky crags, it is cold, with thick snow, biting winds and little vegetation. Lower on the mountains, the snow and rock gives way to the dense forests, the canopy too thick for all but the most persistent sunlight to penetrate. It is cold and inhospitable, and the people who live there are even more so.

PEOPLES
Dwelling amidst the crags and trees are the Fell Clans of the Danann. They are a savage people, with a reputation to match. They are perfectly adapted to be hunters in the depths of their woodland home. Life amongst the Danann is hard, and those who fall afoul of tribal law find themselves exiled from their homes, forced to eke a living out in the less-forested foothills of the Wardenfells, sometimes preying upon, but sometimes living amongst the Woodsmen of the Gwyrai.

In the far north of the mountain range, legend tells of tall spire cities, built by the Danann and hidden from prying eyes. None can say for certain if this is true, but if it is, those who live there are considerably removed from the savage Fell Clans.

The southern stretch of the Wardenfells curves around to the west. This area is called the Dragain's Tail, and it is there, nestled in the valleys and woods, where the ancestral home of the Leathe sits. A small, slight people, marsupial and superbly adapted to an arboreal lifestyle, the Leathe are a reasonably common sight all through the Midlands, and in many places have assimilated into Midlander settlements and culture. There still remains many little tree-villages in the forests, and other clans exist in the high mountains.

The foothills of the Wardenfells is also home to communities of Woodsmen and, more rarely, enclaves of Feartarbh.

CREATURES
Small Herbivores: Rabbits, possums, deer, capaill, caorigh
Large Herbivores: Horses, elk, mhor
Small Carnivores: Raptors, crainn, warden eagle
Large Carnivores: Marcwolves, dragain

[Phoenixguard09]

Black Fen
A wide expanse of nearly impenetrable swamp on the north-western coast of Sothbayne. It is largely considered impossible to traverse safely, filled with a truly dangerous ecosystem.

PEOPLES
Linyati
Crogaille
"Red Devils"

CREATURES
Small Herbivores: 'dryosaurs', 'thescelosaurus', 'psitaccosaurus', tlilicuin ('black dogs')
Large Herbivores: 'hadrosaurs', 'scelidosaurus'
Small Carnivores: Mere-wolves, small crocodiles, giant spiders
Large Carnivores: 'Crotalid', 'carnosaurs', 'deinosuchus'

[Phoenixguard09]

The Boltmoors
An expanse of gentle, rocky hills, north of Black Fen, the Boltmoors, isolated as they are by the fens, possess an unusual ecosystem.

PEOPLES
The many petty kingdoms of the Boltmoors are predominantly inhabited by the Geardarr, or hill dwarves, descendants of those freed from slavery by Thorus Stormhammer during the final years of the Bovus Empire. Others make their homes in the hills however, with small colonies of Leathe and Woodsmen not an uncommon sight. To the south lies the kingdom of Arhaut, the northern borders of which encompass a portion of the Boltmoors in theory, but in practice, these borders are rarely enforced, and the relationships there tend towards the antagonistic. The underground city of Peostolorca is not far to the east of the Boltmoors, and as such, it is not unusual to see Dunscarth in the area, as colonies of the ash-folk stretch under the hills themselves. Lastly, the western coast is populated by scattered villages, not a few of which are inhabited by Jeleni colonists.

CREATURES
Small Herbivores: rabbits, small deer, small horses, possums, forbundsfelle (large, heavy goat)
Large Herbivores: Oksen (toxodon), kamelhest (macrauchenia),
Small Carnivores: hillkats, hawken
Large Carnivores: marcwolves