Helltenen the Northern Continent
Helltenen lies north of the familiar realms of Warlderia, its southern shores linked by trade and settlement to the Divine Empire and the Successor States. In these southern-hemisphere lands, travelling north leads towards greater heat. Beyond Helltenen’s warm coastal provinces rise rugged mountains and dry uplands, giving way to immense deserts and, somewhere beyond them, kingdoms known chiefly through travellers’ tales. Southern knowledge of the continent remains largely confined to its coastal settlements and their immediate hinterlands. Merchants, colonists and imperial chroniclers have recorded these shores in some detail, but their accounts become less reliable with distance inland. Helltenen’s own peoples possess histories and knowledge of the land that have scarcely reached southern libraries.
The Southern Shores
The known southern coast enjoys a warm climate, with dry summers and seasonal rains. Sheltered bays support fishing communities and trading ports, while the surrounding countryside produces olives, grapes, figs and grain. Water determines where many settlements flourish, and wells, cisterns and irrigation channels are essential to local prosperity. The soaring Agras Mountains extend northwards from the southern coast, forming a formidable barrier between the western and eastern regions. Their branching ridges, valleys and difficult passes have encouraged the two sides to develop separately. Ships provide the most dependable connection, carrying goods, passengers and news around the mountainous coast. To the west lies Epulia, the Divine Empire’s northernmost and most remote province. Across the Agras lie the south-eastern colonies, whose coastal settlements and neighbouring territories have their own rulers, interests and histories.
Epulia and the Western Lands
Epulia occupies the lands around Palus Bay, whose deep, sheltered waters provide the finest harbour on Helltenen’s south-western coast. The city of Epulia serves as provincial capital, principal port and manufacturing centre. Its craftsmen import materials from the Divine Empire and the Successor States, supplying finished goods to the surrounding towns and countryside. Rich fishing grounds and productive farmland sustain the province. Olive groves, vineyards and fig orchards flourish where conditions permit, while Lake Decanter, an artificial lake supplied by a Decanter of Endless Water, feeds irrigation channels across the agricultural heartland. The province enjoys a comfortable prosperity and has acquired a reputation as a peaceful, somewhat sleepy imperial holding.
Its mixed population descends partly from the Free Folk who accompanied Casidron, the province’s founder. Humans, elves, dwarves, halflings and gnomes have lived alongside one another for generations, their communities connected by farming, fishing, craftsmanship and trade. Imperial authority also exists alongside older rights and traditions. West of the Pale Stone, the Talishari retain lands guaranteed to them by Casidron’s ancient agreement. A small trading settlement at the boundary provides a meeting place where Talishari communities and Epulians exchange goods and settle disputes. East of Prindis, the Tazhari Nomads, eastern cousins of the Talishari, move seasonally between grazing grounds and ancestral watering places. Their clans follow the Old Faith and gather at an ancient stone circle near the eastern limits of their territory. Trade connects them with Epulia, while shared interests in grazing, water and defence bind the clans together.
The Fury Mountains and Laematz
North of Epulia rise the Fury Mountains, long associated with humanoid incursions into the coastal lands. The Knights Audacious of Heironeous, based at Solemnguard Abbey, patrol the approaches and guard the province against renewed attacks. Although serious incursions have become uncommon, the mountains remain only partly known to the inhabitants of the plains. Among their ancient workings are the Tunnels of Laematz, a vast mine complex extending deep into the mountains. Dwarves and gnomes occupy parts of its uppermost levels, maintaining a community within the old excavations. Their settlement encompasses only a small portion of the complex; the lower workings remain unoccupied, and the full extent of the mines is unknown. The mountains themselves form an irregular landscape of ridges, sheltered valleys, broken uplands and difficult passes. Settlement and authority follow the usable ground, leaving considerable stretches beyond the effective control of any coastal ruler.
Beyond the Agras
Across the Agras Mountains, the south-eastern colonies maintain their own connections with the wider world. Ports, estates and trading settlements occupy the coast, while routes reach inland towards desert communities, ancient ruins and distant markets. The colonies and Epulia share an interest in maritime trade and the security of the southern shores. Nevertheless, the mountain barrier and their separate histories have left each region with a distinct character. Parts of the dry Agras country and the river valley along its eastern foot are dominated by gnoll clans. Here survive remnants of the old Grash Confederation, with goblin communities reduced to an enslaved labouring class. Their fields, herds and labour sustain gnoll overlords whose strongholds command watering places, river crossings and routes through the hills. Raiding brings these clans into conflict with neighbouring peoples, including the Tazhari across the mountain approaches. Their territories are unevenly held, with secure valleys giving way to disputed grazing grounds and dangerous stretches of road.
The Sand Sea of Serekh
Beyond the Fury Mountains, the land becomes increasingly dry. Sparse grazing and stony scrub give way to gravel wastes, bare rock and immense expanses of sand. These desolate lands form the approaches to the Sand Sea of Serekh, a vast desert whose harshest reaches are almost devoid of ordinary life. Water is scarce, and the distances between dependable sources make travel perilous. Routes skirt the worst wastes wherever possible, following scattered wells and whatever shelter the terrain affords. A failed watering place can destroy a caravan, while knowledge of a reliable route is jealously guarded. Accounts speak of lizardfolk and scorpion folk inhabiting parts of the desert country. Their territories, customs and relationships with the wider continent remain poorly understood by southern visitors.
The Unknown North
Beyond the desert is rumoured to lie a great and wealthy river kingdom. Other accounts speak of distant cities, unfamiliar peoples and fertile lands far removed from the southern coast. Such stories reach Epulia and the eastern colonies through travellers and merchants, often after passing through several languages and many retellings. Trade offers occasional glimpses of these distant lands. An unfamiliar object or costly material may reach a coastal market with little reliable account of its origin. Merchants protect profitable knowledge, travellers embellish their adventures, and scholars disagree over which reports deserve belief. The southern settlements occupy only a small part of Helltenen. Their harbours face familiar seas and their rulers maintain ties with familiar courts, but inland the maps grow sparse and the accounts uncertain. Beyond them lie peoples and kingdoms whose histories remain largely unknown to the southern world.
The Gnoll Clans of the Agras
The dry valleys and broken foothills of the Agras Mountains shelter gnoll clans descended from the old Grash Confederation. When imperial armies shattered its dominion over Epulia, some survivors withdrew into country too difficult to occupy permanently. Their descendants remain a danger along the eastern frontier, though the confederation that once united them has long since disappeared. Each clan holds its own strongholds, grazing grounds and watering places. Rivalries prevent lasting unity, but neighbouring chiefs will cooperate when a profitable raid or common threat offers sufficient reason. Beyond the mountain passes, gnoll influence extends into the river valley along the eastern foot of the Agras, where dependable water supports herds and cultivated land. Much of this work falls upon an enslaved goblin population, descended from communities once belonging to Grash. The collapse of the confederation left these weaker groups at the mercy of their former allies. Goblins tend livestock, cultivate riverside plots, maintain water channels and carry supplies between settlements. Their labour allows the gnoll overlords to support more warriors than raiding alone could sustain.
Relations with the Tazhari Nomads alternate between uneasy truces and open hostility. Both peoples value access to scarce pasture and water, and livestock theft can provoke reprisals lasting several seasons. Some chiefs accept negotiated arrangements, while others seek prestige through successful raids. Escaped goblin slaves occasionally reach Tazhari camps, creating further disputes when their former masters demand their return. For Epulia, the clans remain a frontier concern rather than an immediate threat to the settled province. Their divisions limit their strength, while the Tazhari lands and difficult mountain approaches separate most gnoll strongholds from the farms around Palus Bay. A chief capable of uniting several clans, however, would attract unwelcome attention at both Prindis and Solemnguard Abbey.
