Area #1: Kelevest - Land of the Masquenfolk
Overview:
The Realm of Kelevest holds Yurtevan, the main peninsula jutting into the northern sea, and the frozen island of Thurovine (Thur-o-veen) even further north.
Yurtevan includes several different terrains - permafrost and tundra to the north, boreal forests in the middle, and fertile plains in the south. There are few mountains, the land having been scoured nearly flat by glaciers ages past. All of the lands major cities lie within the warm band in the south, with a few chains of towns stringing north.
The people of Kelevest are a superstitious lot, with most folks wearing ornate wooden masks and clothing dictated as much by ritual as practicality.
Locations:
Thuorvest
This nearly glacial island would be uninhabited were it not for its rich deposits of coal that lie just beneath the perpetual permafrost. Life clings to a thin warm ribbon, with the exception of the hellish mine-towns that brave deeper into the lands.
The Charred Valley
Perhaps the warmest spot in Thuorvest, this valley is home to a very long-running underground coal fire. It is snow-free at its lower elevations and the thin river that runs through the valley is quite warm. Clouds of smoke perpetually drift about, and the soil is quite contaminated with various substances including heavy metals. Worse still are areas where the ground is quite thin, and an unwary soul could plunge through into the smoke-filled inferno below. While there may have been little to be gained here, several parties of well equipped explorer have not returned from here. Rumors speak of things worse then the natural hazards of this region.
Items
Lifeforms
The Voxanini - the Devourers of the Wastes
NPC's
TBA
Plots
The people of this land wear the masks out of necessity, though they would never tell outsiders their secret. The Grey Spirits walk these lands, and those without masks risk their attention. Their attention ranges from simple bad luck and illness, to possession. Those possessed invariably take the Long Walk north, and are never seen again. Rumors speak of a city hidden deep within the northern boreal forest that is inhabited by raving madmen - the survivors of long walks past.
Society/Organizations
The kingdom is a very weakly organized - the king only holds the title by virtual of his military power and alliances with the two dozen chiefs that control the lands. The primary ties between the various holds is ethnicity and religion.