Category:The Northeast

The Northeast of Creation is a region where the forests growing from the Pole of Wood meet the frozen tundra descending from the Pole of Air, a place of cold temperatures and hardy plants.

Geography

The Northeast encompasses a vast array of terrain types, but two are dominant: furthest towards Creation’s edges, trees are plentiful, in thick forests as seen across the East, though here in boreal forests dominated by conifers rather than the central temperate forests or the jungles of the south. Still, though the acidic soils beneath conifers do not support the varieties of plants in other woodlands, the boreal forests are thick, their hearts home to truly towering trees. To the far north, the trees peter out into the open tundra of the North, while to the south the trees become deciduous.

Moving southwest towards the coast and the Blessed Isle, the boreal forest fades away into more open landscapes, wooded meadows streaked with long rivers, the largest being the Silver River that links the River Province with the northeastern boreal forests and the River of Tears which connects the Yanaze River to the White Sea. Though the land between the River of Tears and the Inner Sea is northeast of the Imperial Mountain, it is traditionally classified as part of the North rather than the Northeast.

The Northeast is home to a number of ruins and shadowlands, though those that remain uncleared by Scavenger Lords tend to be highly dangerous. Still, Creation’s artificers know that Northeastern markets are reliable sources of imperishable Adamantine Glass (the region’s output remains, of course, exceeded by the city of Chiaoroscuro and Blueflame Crystals

Flora and Fauna

Coniferous trees are widespread across the Northeast, ranging from massive redwood trees supporting whole human settlements to smaller trees such as spruce and pine. Moving further southwest, meadow terrain supports deciduous trees such as birch and oak. Ironwood is found in the southeasternmost forests of the region, and the eerie Black Ash can be seen in the region’s Shadowlands.

The rivers of the region leave many areas very fertile. Barley and buckwheat are the primary grains for agriculture, supplemented by corn likely transplanted from the Southeast in times long past. Fruit such as apples, pears, cherries, and numerous berries join squash and root vegetables on many tables amongst the meadow-dwellers. Deeper into the forests have access to a bounty of nutritious mosses, edible fungi, further berries such as Elderberry vines, thirst-quenching Water-Vines, and plentiful pine nuts.

The Northeast is well known amongst Creation’s alchemists for the presence of many rare and valuable plants. These include truffles, Soaring Hemp, Blood Berries, Coldvine, Succor Blossom, Liar’s Mushroom, Totem Leaf, Divine Red Mushroom, Ironbush, Bright Morning, Death Sap and the components of Young Monkey Tea. The creeping fungus of the Goldwood is eagerly sought as an ingredient for the valuable concoctions Sweet Cordial and Age-Staving Cordial.

The meadows of the Northeast are home to deer and a variety of rodents. Native birds include White Eagles and Seven-faced Birds. The rivers of the land support plentiful freshwater fish, the largest waterways home to River Whales and Pygmy Orcas. The forests support an equally extensive (though very different) variety of fauna, including Giant Arboreal Sloths, Tree Pards, Forest Baboons, Emerald Monkeys, Giant Bats, Diving Herons, Great Owls, Hatra, and Giant Wolf Spiders. Though horses are more plentiful further south, the Northeast is home to a distinctive breed, known widely as the ‘Forest Pony’: a short, stocky horse with silver coat and green mane, tail, and hair around the hooves, growing long and shaggy. They are neither large not fast, but are surefooted and able to bear great loads, making them popular animals for trade caravans braving the forest floor.

Religion

Two deities loom large over the Northeast, their conflict the division between its two disparate terrains: Caltia the Eternal, god of boreal forests, wars through her proxy Halta with the Linowan Nation serving Golden-Eyed Jorst, god of temperate forests. Many gods in the region have taken one side or the other, depending on their purviews or their personal interests, though others attempt to remain neutral. Regardless, the gods of the East are by and large willing to be involved in human affairs, directly ruling tribes or kingdoms, extorting worship for those who use or pass through their domains. The Immaculate Order has a presence near the banks of the River of Tears, and again in the lands surrounding Greyfalls, but even though numerous states of the Northeast are aligned with the Realm few are willing to fully abandon their local spirits to adopt the Perfected Hierarchy in full..