The Steppes

We're back!

After about a month's break, we're back and looking outside Sharoban...

Around the city of Sharoban and its fields, stretches the Steppes. A wide, wild expanse of flat ground that expands for thousands of miles, they are filled with tribes of nomads, groups of non-humans and, sadly, monsters. Battered by winds and snow, the ground is frozen for most of the year. The steppe is divided between praerie and cold desert, bound by perpetual snow north of the Red Vein Mountains. This extends up to the frozen sea, cordoned off by eerie black menhirs that form a sort of barrier against the demon rumoured to dwell beneath the shifting ice. Cultists of the dark make their way here in the winter, few return. To the south the Blasted Lands are ruled by the dragon Bright Wing, though he rarely takes a real interest in what goes on in his domain. As a result, the Blasted Lands have become a haven for the people who cannot even find a home in Sharoban. The low lying city of Avryda forms the hub of what passes for society in the region.

The tribes closest to the city have made some peace with Sharoban, uprisings against the city are rare and usually the work of hot-headed youths, desperate for recognition. They ride well established trails across their territories, trade horses and cattle and when they do stop they set up in tents or yurts, even in the winter. Whilst they nominally worship the Luminal Pantheon, far more reverence is reserved for the spirits of the Steppes, which are beseeched for aid.

Beyond the lands of the close tribes the Red Vein Mountains rise, which is the home of giant tribes, whilst to the south the Black Barrow remains the domain of the Hobgoblin tribes who have harried caravans for centuries. These creatures at one point were humans, but they made pacts that had unforeseen side effects.

Beyond this lie the lands ruled by the matriarchal Witch Tribes, who use magic as their chief weapon in all matters, and whose sons are forfeit if the weather turns too harsh. Their magical traditions are blood based and dependent on spirits. Whilst the western tribes only revere the little gods of wind and rain, the Witch Tribes use blood, bones and even sperm to allow spirits to take corporeal form for short lengths of time. Each tribe has its own patron spirit, bound by pacts by the witches. These are tightly controlled and any deviations within the structure of pacts are punished.

This is the last point before the walls that hem in the lands of the East block the way. The wall is punctuated by the Sun Gate, a huge entrance which provides entry to the lands beyond. Not that the merchants know anything about these lands, caravans are met and escorted to the trading camps. Once their trade is done, they are sent on their way, back to the west.

Next we go in focus to look at the tribes that live near Sharoban.