Terryth

Terryth is a large, northern continent on the world of Urrael. The northern reaches climb into the arctic latitudes while the southern islands and coasts are sub-tropical. It is a rich and variable continent with several major mountain ranges, great forests, a vast western desert, and numerous rivers and lakes.

The Midlands

The Midlands is the label applied to the large south-central portion of Terryth from the Sea of Storms to the northern edge of the Vallyrin Wood, east of the Raithos River and west of the Terralosa Mountains. Broadly flat and rich in water and earth, this part of the continent has been home to many of the great civilizations of Terryth. The roots of these peoples go very deep, beyond written memory, and there are many lost secrets here.

Forests

The Midlands are home to seven major forests of interest.

The Vallyrin Wood is the largest, deepest forest in Terryth. Its heart is surely as ancient as the Deepshadow, but it is not as dense or dark. Like many of the northern forests, it is a thorough mixture of deciduous and evergreens. The Raven River splits into component tributaries at its southern edge and link together a number of forest settlements inside. It is home to tribes of Aelfen and Allanyn, and hides the rough stone shrine to the Eternal Flame as well as a mighty, ancient ruin known as Ruach.

The Raven's Nest is a small, dense forest in the middle length of the Raven River. Its trees are tall, straight, and widely valued for use as ships' masts. The forest is therefore well guarded by local rulers, but also by a small and elusive Aelfen tribe called the Ayyari that works to strike a balance between harvesting trees and preservation of their home.

The Forest of Deepshadow is home to the Aelfen kingdom of the same name. As the name implies, it is a thick, dark wood whose mighty trees long ago grew together to create a high upper canopy, leaving the forest floor in a sort of perpetual twilight. The so-called Deep Aelfen, known in their own tongue as the Kor’lissen Rani, who live there are fearsome and xenophobic. They have long traded atrocities with neighboring Oriloth and Garreth.

The Old Forest is one of three named forests at the heart of the old Kingdom of Kensorros. It has always been associated with that civilization and plays many roles in their folk tales, legends, and identity.

The Highfire Forest is the second of the Kensorrosian woodlands. Unusual for forests, it is home to many rocky outcroppings and hills that are rich in minerals, especially silver. The Highfire was therefore a source of wealth and power for Kens nobles and kings and has been the site of many conflicts. Melbraun Keep is the chief fortification of the region, established centuries ago to control the mines.

The Erronath Forest is the last of the Kens forests, marking the northwestern edge of their historic borders. It is best known as being home to persistent Kens partisans, who lived in the forest for years as guerrillas resisting the Sindathi conquerors. It has maintained that association with heroic, and dastardly, outlaws ever since and has always remained a trouble spot for authorities.

The Dell Forest is also known as the Dell Kingdom or Sunset Kingdom. It is, like many other isolated forests at the edge of human domains, home to a residual kingdom of Aelfen. Visitation is discouraged by the hanging bodies of interlopers nailed to or impaled upon trees at its borders.

Darkwood is the last of the major forests in the Midlands. It has had that name for as long as written records exist, and has always been associated with dark deeds and monstrous horrors. Some of these tales are simply legends meant to entertain or frighten, but there is no doubt that bizarre and terrible creatures do live there. Most infamous are the Spider Queens, huge arachnids who feast upon men and horses the way common spiders do upon flies. Other dire beasts sometimes venture forth in the night for victims, if a harsh winter or overbreeding limit the foodstuffs in the forest itself.

Rivers

The Midlands have three major rivers and a number of smaller streams and tributaries.

The Raven River is the chief river of the Midlands. It penetrates north from the Sea of Storms to the heart of the Vallyrin Wood, bisecting the region. The Raven is a major avenue of trade and strategic lifeline. Access to its waters has begun and ended wars. Harreth, one of the ancient Grandfather Cities whose defenses were legendary, was finally conquered only after the river was diverted away to starve it of water and resupply. Its seat at the mouth of the river is what has historically given Tarsis its wealth and influence.

The Raithos River is the longest river in the Midlands and one of two western rivers to feed the fields of the Sindathi Empire. It marks the western boundary of the Midlands and runs from the southern ocean at Kharg north and east, past the Aggonavid Mountains, across the Andesian Plains, through tributaries and lakes all the way to the World's Crown Mountains where it is ultimately fed by the Starry Falls. Mighty and slow, the Raithos is easy to navigate and given to gentle flooding as often as not. Its river valleys are consequently some of the richest lands in Terryth.

The Shemali River is a much shorter, relatively faster river that almost touches the Raithos and flows from the Destin River tributary and Daios southeast to Arboth. It serves a similar function as the Raithos in that it waters great agricultural fields of the settled Sindathi and Jollarin. It also serves to indirectly connect Arboth to the Raithos by way of the roads between Daios and Naithos.

The Clearbrook is a lesser river that springs from the ground at Kor Arren and flows about two-hundred miles west to the city of Dell, at the edge of the Dell Forest.

The Borryl Stream is a minor river that flows south from Ilthar, at the southern edge of the Iron Hills, to Shield Lake and the settlement of Lorran.

Terryl Stream is a more westerly companion to the Borryl stream, near Westride and emptying into Gaer Lake.

Granitefall Stream descends from the Granitefall in the Terralosa Mountains and flows west into the lowlands at Thalia.

Hills and Mountains

The Iron Hills region is in the central Midlands and so-named for their many rocky hills that seem to be overflowing with minerals, chiefly iron. This makes the land difficult to farm, but the Garreth who settled here have always been rich in iron and bronze and led to the development of thriving industries in metalcraft and armaments. The Bloody Mines are home to one of Terryth's most easily accessed sources of Blood Copper.

The Fellstones are a rough area of tumbled stones and jagged hills, west of the Iron Hills. They have historically been home to savage Oriloth tribes who used this region's minerals, almost as rich and easily accessed as the Iron Hills, to arm their warriors with superior equipment. The Sindathi Empire long ago installed a fortress called the Crag to try to maintain some level of order here, but it has never been completely successful.

The Terralosa Mountains are high, rocky mountains that mark the eastern edge of the Midlands. Torreth populate the western foothills, but struggle against Oriloth who live in the higher places of the mountains.

Skyhome is a small, standalone mountain straddling the continental divide at the far western edge of the Midlands. Alone in the Andesian Plains, this mountain was considered by the native Sindathi to be a holy place, ascended only by priests, Emperors, and the most worthy heroes. Atop it is an ancient colony of priests called the Ovaeryn, or "Sentinels."

Plains and Expanses

Savage Moors Andesian Plains Middle Plains Coastal Plains