Lloegyr-Gazetteer

Those Who Have Gone Before Us

The Gazetteer

The Isle of Lloegyr spans some 150 leagues north to south, and roughly 50 leagues east to west and is home to about a million, mostly Heorots, Aels, and Wahla. The vast majority of land is located south of Cullen's Neck, and less than one in twenty lives in the northern third. It has seen generations of blood wars, which have come to define its peoples, and its geography is littered with ruins and castles from its bloody history.

=Geography= Lloegyr is divided into two parts by a narrow strip of land called Cullen's Neck. At that point, it is less than 10 leagues wide, the Seaspur Mountains dominate all but about three miles of it. Below the neck is a majority of the land on the island, and to the north is a hundred league stretch of mountains with two major peninsulas jutting off to the East. The northern part is referred to as Aelia, while the southern part is again divided by the Great Moor (between the Red and Temese Rivers), which form a dangerous natural border. To the west, the land is called Wahla, whereas to the East the land is simply called "Lloegyr" and is synonymous with what foreigners consider the island. When a native speaker wishes to differentiate between Heorot lands and the isle itself, he or she refers to "The Lloegyr" to indicate the lands where the Heorots live.

Aelia stretches a hundred leagues North to South, but is not very wide. The entire western portion is dominated by the Seaspur Mountains, which form a veritable wall. Almost no people live on the rocky cliffs of the western shore apart from hermits and outcasts, and the Seaspurs (being the highest mountains in this part of the world, with some reaching almost 10,000 ft.) support no significant population. The majority of Aelia is covered by a high tundra called the Vendel Moor, which supports a small population of hunter-gatherer Aels. The majority of this population lives along the Fey River, the Conley and Eve's Ax peninsulas, or in the large forests that thrive to the west of North and Berthe's Bay.

Heorot lands begin south of the Neck. The Lloegyr is bordered by Berthe's Bay to the north, the Great Ice Sea to the east, the Vorgen Sea to the South, and the River Temese and the Mere to the West. The most notable terrain feature is the Ersrag Mountains that divide it into three regions: the Heorot Coast along Berthe's Bay, the Eastern Shore between the Ersrags and the Great Ice Sea, and the Heartlands of the interior. Another notable area is the peninsula of Lamark, which is about 15 leagues from Vincia across the Strait of Northmere.

To the west of the River Temese are the hinterlands of the High Moors and the Marsh of Windmere, which end at the Red River and the Holys (the mountains of Wahla). Wahla is a much more temperate area than the rest of Lloegyr, more like the continent in climate.

=Population= About a million and a half people live on Lloegyr. While this is greater than the population of either Kraki or Guthlund, their population density is much lower, and their population is roughly a third of that of Vincia. The vast majority of people are Heorots living south of Cullen's Neck, with a smaller population of Aels, and even smaller population of Wahla.

There are approximately 700 thousand people of Heorot descent who now live on Lloegyr, who are entirely the descendants of the warriors who invaded the isle during the Marching Times. They speak the Heorot language and are overwhelmingly part of the Faith of Arim. The Heorots generally dwell south of Cullen's Neck and east of the River Temese, an area that accounts for a third of the island's size and two-thirds of its population.

With a few exceptions, the Aels all dwell in the area known as Aelia, and mostly on the peninsula known as Eve's Hammer and around the Northern Bay. There are probably about 150 thousand Aels, although the number is quite difficult to count as most of them are extremely insular. There are seven larger tribes that account for a third of the population, with the following rough estimates made soon after the marriage of Jenevra and Castus: the Onellons (approximately 15,000), the Murress (about 10,000), the Conley, Lowder, and Skyric (all accounting for about 5,000), and the Ricker and Salmon (which are both between 1,000 and 2,000). Perhaps as many as another third dwell in the Vendel Moors, in small tribes of less than a few dozen people, however, most Aels belong to a small tribe of a few hundred (the minimum size to maintain a full priesthood of the Dunmar-Gog).

The Wahla account for the remainder of the population, and live in the western part of the island, protected by the Red River and the Hinterlands.

=Climate=

Generally, the climate in Lloegyr is dominated by the powerful southeastern winds that start in the late summer and last until the mid-spring (called the Dark Winds by the Heorots, and Okni and Parzel by the Aels), and then an ocean breeze from the northwest that comes over the mountains when it subsides (called the Goods Winds by the Heorots, and Geor and Ultan by the Aels). Note that the Aels name their winds opposite of ours, for the direction it blows rather than the direction it comes from. The results of winds and geography mean that there are four very distinct climates to be found on the isle.

First there is that of the Heartlands, which is probably the most habitable. The Dark Winds do not bring heavy storms or harsh winters inland, their fury blocked by the Ersrag Mountains, winters are generally very dry and, while cold, much more moderate than most of the island. The summers enjoy quite a bit of rain, and rarely very hot temperatures, making the area the best suited for farming. Generally, the area sees the most constant temperatures, and receives most of its rain during afternoon storms during the summer months. Most of the land here is quite temperate, with the land mostly cleared and some larger mixed leaf forests.

The Eastern Coast, however, bears the full brunt of the storms during the winter, first with terrible fall thunderstorms and then followed by blizzards. While the winters are not terribly cold compared to Aelia, they do have significant amounts of snow, and a very brief, hot, muggy summer. The soil here is also somewhat poor, and it gets little rain during the growing months, resulting in little in the way of the large forests found elsewhere.

Aelia is dominated by boreal forests in its lower areas, which get a great deal of snow and rain during autumn, winter and spring. It has an incredibly dry growing season, and the Aels are generally very poor farmers, living off of peat, fishing, and hunting. The temperature there is almost always colder than the rest of the island, with winters often bitterly cold. In the higher areas, very little grows, resulting in the tundra of the Vendel Moor.

Of all areas, the Wahla enjoy a direct ocean breeze during the summer, and are protected against the cold of the winter by their mountains, the Holies. They have the most temperate region, and are also very wet, allowing for their famous woods, full of large, tall trees. They have a reputation as a land of plenty amongst the other peoples of Lloegyr; at the very least, they have the best weather.

=Grand Tour= What follows is a tour of major locations in Lloegyr, and the people who live there.

Aelic Lands
Apart from the northernmost reaches of the Vendel Moors, high Seaspur Mountains in the west and the rocky shore beyond them, most of Aelia is populated, albeit sparsely. The Vendel Moor covers the northern third of the island, a high frozen plain whose tribesmen subsist on hunting and gathering. Their only real wealth is in pelts, which they bring down the Fey River every summer to trade for basic necessities, and above all, iron. The majority of the Vendel tribes roam the wasteland of the moor, traveling primarily eastern and western paths that are generations old. These paths, called trods, have religious significance to the Vendel clans, and they perform most of their religious ceremonies at crossroads. The Fey River also has significance to them, and they regularly celebrate it with a month-long celebration during Feytem. This "feast" is barbaric even by Aelic standards, with giant melees, debauched sexual rituals, and rumors of human sacrifice. The Vendel Moors are never safe to travel, and the Vendels are generally left alone.

The Fey River runs to the southeast into the Northern Bay, which is the center of Aelic life. The Samon clan controls the mouth of the river and much of its northeast back up to the Vendel Moors, and are known as craftsmen who trade both with the other major Clans and the Vendels. They maintain one small town at the mouth of the river (called The Town of Samon, as all Aelic place names are the same as the clan that lives there). To the east of them lies the Peninsula of Conley, whose people primarily live on the coast. They are fishermen and traders as well, and they are known as the finest sailors in all of Lloegyr. They control a significant amount of land, but as its soil is poor, most of it is unpopulated. The Town of Conley lies at the northern shore of the Dunmar Inlet, which controls access to the Northern Bay.

To the south and west of the Fey River lies one of largest forests on Lloegyr: the Ricker Woods, so named for the insular Ricker clan, who trade little and have no major towns. The Ricker Woods dominates the eastern shores of the Northern Bay, and the people there generally support themselves on the forest. To the south of the Ricker Woods are the Onellon Woods, just as large and home to the Onellon clan. The Onellons are the largest and most advanced of the the Aels: they trade extensively, and maintain the only fortified castle in Aelia, Trademeet. Trademeet is the de facto capital of Aelia, and the ancestral right of the High Queen.

Trademeet stands at the narrowest point on the Skaytem Penninsula, named for the Skaytem Mountains. The peninsula is the most fertile are of Aelia, and kept by the Skyric clan, strong allies of the Onellons and a clan of mostly farmers. The Town of Skyric stands on the northern shore of Berthe's Bay, and as such was the most vulnerable to the Guth invasions of the previous generation. It is said Queen Maegan, to save the the Skyric, gave up her daughter to Castus, which demonstrates the importance of this area. The eastern shore is generally acknowledge to be home of the Muress clan, which is the only clan to have any lands south of Cullen's Neck. Cullen's Neck is a small settlement at the narrowest point of Lloegyr, and inhabited by both Heorots and the Muress. Muress is also the historic site of the Scuttled Ships, where Aels and Heorots have met over the centuries to create treaties and settle disputes.

The Heorot Coast of Berthe
The Heorot Coast of Berthe's Bay has historically been the most stable part of Heorot lands, spared the majority of Guth raiding and war. Part of this is because there is little there. The Aels regularly settled in the Muress Woods long after the Heorots settled the area around it, and with the Muress Woods a large part of the area is covered by the The Kings Woods, south of Merlton. The two forests cover most of the interior of this region, which is bounded by the southern extent of the Seaspur Mountains in the west, the woods and the northernmost peaks of the Ersrag Mountains in the south and southeast, and Berthe's Bay in the north and northeast.

The Heorot Coast contains two earldoms. The first is Merlton, whose lands include the King's Woods, the coast from Merlton Town to Cullin's Neck, and any land north of the Muress Woods. Merlton has historically been a very weak, poor Earldom and the farthest extension of Heorot lands. It had some prominence when it was home to the Black Fleet, but a century it has been unable to recover from the loss of its ships. The Earldom of Timber, however, has grown very prominent in recent years, despite its small size (it can only claim the Murress Woods and a bit of land around them as its own). Timber has perhaps the best relationship with the Aels, and has grown quite wealthy bringing Aelic furs and goods south along the The River Temese to the Heartlands. Timber Castle now dominates the head waters of the Temese, and the Earl of Timber's son sits on the King's Honor Guard.

The Eastern Shore
No area of Lloegyr was more affected by the Guth than the Eastern Shore. It saw the bulk of war, and was occupied throughout the reigns of Reeve, Brandon and Gunter. Ruins dot the landscape, and the population has never quite recovered. It is bounded by the Great Ice Sea and the Ersrag Mountains, and once contained the bulk of the Heorot Earls. In the last twenty years, however, it has recovered somewhat, even if it is a shadow of its former self.

Matur the Weak said he would not defend any earldom east of Caerlot, so the Guth established holdings in Andel and Arderydd. While Andel held fast against King Castus during Olaf's time, Arderydd was the site of several battles, and changed hands numerous times. The Guth put it to the torch shortly before the Battle of Bruna, and it remains a ruin to this day. The City of Newton met a similar fate during Gunter's time, but Castus rebuilt it after the war. It sits on the mouth of the Doner River, upstream of the towns of Hangman's Bridge and Bruna (both famous battle sites).

South of the Donner River lies Farpont, the largest castle in all of Lloegyr and the site of several sieges. The Earl of Farpont also holds Grendon Hill and controls the Vorgen Sea. This area of the Eastern Shore is the site of the first Heorot landings in Lloegyr, and amongst the most important, strategically.

The Heartlands
The Heartlands saw both war and prosperity under Castus; with the coming of the Moorstepper, it also saw the most horror. It is bounded by the River Temese and the Mere to the west, the Vorgen Sea to the South, the Ersrag Mountains to the East, and the Murress Woods to the north, it is the most fertile area of the island. Vast farmlands belonging to the earls support the kingdom, and the terror of the Moorstepper plunged the entire realm into famine when it terrorized the countryside.

There are three main areas of the Heartlands. The first is the Lamark Peninsula, which was held by the Heorot Kings throughout the occupation. This is also the site of the Vincian County of Lamark in the days before the Heorots, and more people dwell in Lamark than in any three Earldoms combined, and it boasts more towns than any other part of Lloegyr (Berkley, Mereside, Wode, Narton, Tampton, and Seaton'). Castus and his ancestors doggedly protected Lamark, and it remains the most continental part of Lloegyr.

The area that suffered the most from the Guth was the Western Slope. Except for Kenton (which still knew battle in the nearby village of Thanet), all lands changed hands several times. Longmarch Pass saw both the death of Gunter and the triumph of his son, Castus, as it controlled the middle passage to the Eastern Coast. Bessex saw several sieges due to its strategic location at the southern tip of the Ersrag Mountains. However, in the twenty years since, all three earldoms have prospered, and were largely untouched by the Moorstepper.

The earldoms of the River Temese were not that lucky. Senton was spared as the Moorstepper had not yet made it that far south, and its neighbor, the village of Sennis was one of the few unprotected settlements to survive. Its neighbor, Lothan, shut its walls and let the villages of Shirer and Camden be slaughtered. More devastatingly, Moorstepper managed to sneak into the castle of Roost and slay every man, woman, and child in the city walls, over a thousand inhabitants. The River Temese was once the richest part of Lloegyr... now its Earls struggle to feed their people.

The Hinterlands and Wahla
The Hinterlands are a wasteland of the Marsh of Windmere, an endless bog that stretches along the coast from the River Temese to the Red River, and the Great Moor, from which the Moorstepper is said to have come. The vast majority of it is wild and inhabitable lands, and all sorts of monsters are said to have lived there. The Heorots did live along the coasts, in the small earldoms of Reardon and Carise... the Moorstepper's first victims.

Beyond the Red River lies Wahla, an almost mythical land that has never known war and has always been independent of the rest of the island. It is said the Wahla are related in some way to the Aels, but recent news speaks of the conversion of their new Prince, Pryd. Very few Heorots or Aels have met a man of Wahla, let alone visited this part of the island.

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