The Shey Lands. The freezing North. The home of the wuyon’mari. Vast tundras and tall ice-capped mountains. The land is harsh and the people, harsher.
Government: Multiple City-States
Ruler: None
Common Languages: Sheyn, Ist’kris’nak’ja
Patron Deity: Shen-Bahan
Population Breakdown
- 40% humans (30% Shey, 10% Tarithian)
- 30% wuyon’mari
- 25% Little Folk
- 5% rukh-shami
Geography
Capitol City:
Warm-Fire-in-Hollow-Sun (largest city-state)
Square Mileage: 201,000
Primary Land Types: Arctic, Mountain, Caves
Major Cities
Creak Watch
Creak Watch is a small frontier town that is famous for its logging industry. Creak craftsmen will frequently contract out to Tarith to build ships for their navy.
Durrock
Durrock is a cold and storm-beset castle that was originally built by Tarithian magi trying to escape the prejudice of their home country, decades ago. It’s since become a common way stop for traders making the trip north to Creak Watch, and a village of magically-inclined humans and ‘mari have sprung up along the coastline.
Firesdeep
A sister city to Steinheim in Avaliet, Firesdeep is run primarily by Little Folk. It rests at the top of a fjord valley with four main gates, shaped like animal heads, that lead down into its underground regions. The Little Folk maintain peaceful trade relations with the humans living further down the fjord.
Warm-Fire-in-Hollow-Sun
The real name of this city is much longer, derived from the complicated language of Ist’kris’nak’ja. For centuries, Hollow-Sun was a gathering place for the wuyon’mari and not a major settlement. Since peace was made between the ‘mari and the humans, the ice buildings have been replaced with ones of marble and Sheyn humans have moved in, much to the consternation of the wuyon’mari.
Windblown
Windblown is a lonely town of human fishermen who carve out a living along the Sira Fjord. Unlike most of the Shey Lands, the most common ethnicity is Tarithian, not Sheyn.
Major Landmarks
The Ice Fields
The tundra of the Shey Lands is home to many wuyon’mar tribes as well as Sheyn humans. The wuyon’mari keep to themselves so thoroughly they are considered like legends to the humans, who subsist by hunting and herding the native reindeer.
Northwood
Also sometimes called the Northern Forest or the Icewood, Northwood is a boreal forest of mostly spruce and fir trees.
Sira Vale
The western coast of the Shey Lands is riddled with fjord valleys. The largest and longest of these is called the Sira Vale.
The Tabletop Plateau
The central highlands of the Tuthei Shey are jokingly given the name of the Tabletop Plateau, as much of the land is almost as flat as a table’s top. The altitude makes the place uninhabitable for all but the native rukh-shami.
The Tuthei Shey
The Tuthei Shey are the massive mountain range that dominates half the Shey landscape. They are comparable in height and climate to the Himalayas of Earth.