Wild Northeast
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The Wild Northeast territory is bordered by the Colossus Ocean to the north, the Splinter Sea to the east, the Great Lowlands to the south, and the Central Fire and Icewall Bay to the west. It derives its etymology from its largely uninhabited and uncultivated areas.
Massive glacial ice shelves tower over either side of Icewall Inlet, which leads from the Colossus Ocean into Icewall Bay. Sometimes, chunks of ice will break off these shelves, creating icebergs that drift through the inlet and make passage hazardous for even the most skilled of navigators.
The Northeast Machair is a fertile, low-lying grassy plain that stretches from the northern coast to the Drybone Badlands in the south and the Sea of Karsts in the east. Its soil has a low mineral content, although it is rich in lime near the shore, which is oftentimes covered by a layer of kelp that forms a fertile compost bed where annual coastal flowers blossom and beach grass thrives.
Farther inland, the ground at lower elevations is mostly wet or marshy and contains a relatively large number of smaller lakes.
The Drybone Badlands is a semi-arid, wind-swept area composed primarily of eroded buttes and pinnacles. Although trees, shrubs, and herbaceous flowering plants are found in the area, it is mostly dominated by mixed-grass prairies able to support the farming of wheat, hay, and livestock.
The Sea of Karsts is a tropical landscape of massive, limestone towers formed as near-vertical joints, with fractures eroded downward by dissolution. The water table is relatively low, and rainfall is moderate, which contributes to the rapid downward movement of groundwater and promotes the dissolution of the area’s bedrock.
In addition to its limestone towers, the area’s karstification has resulted in majestic karst plains and valleys and a variety of other unique features, such as limestone pavements, flutes, runnels, and solution pans. Its terrain makes the Sea of Karsts extremely difficult to travel by foot. As a result, its ecosystem is relatively undisturbed which, combined with the soil’s high base content, has resulted in the proliferation of unusual species of flora and fauna.
Although its soil is fertile enough and rainfall is adequate, subterranean drainage limits surface water, with few rivers or lakes in the area, leaving the surface parched between rains and unsuitable for agriculture. Indeed, a complex underground drainage system and extensive network of caves lies beneath the surface of the Sea of Karsts, resulting in sinkholes, vertical shafts, disappearing streams, and reappearing springs.
As a consequence of the area’s permeability, water in the Sea of Karsts is often unsafe to drink, as it usually runs unimpeded from a sinkhole, through a cave, or otherwise bypasses the normal filtering that occurs in a stratum of rock, sand, or gravel.
Additionally, the area’s sinkholes can develop gradually as surface openings enlarge, but progressive erosion is frequently unseen until the entire roof of a cavern suddenly collapses, posing mortal danger to any inhabitants on its surface.
The Northeast Coastal Steppes is a flat, subtropical area characterized by its semi-arid climate, loamy soil, and xerophilous vegetation, which is composed mainly of shrubs and grasslands. It is predominantly treeless except near its rivers and lakes. The Northeast Coastal Steppes sees extreme fluctuations in temperature, both in the summer and winter as well as in the day and night.
Hunger Isle lies off the northeastern coast of the Northeast Coastal Steppes. Its shores have a steppe climate, which is cold with low humidity and little rainfall, and are dominated by a mixture of grasslands and deserts. As the altitude increases toward the isle’s interior, the humidity and temperature also increase, and here the area is dominated by broadleaf rainforests that receive significant amounts of rainfall. The moist conditions support an underlying layer of mosses, ferns, shrubs, berries, and other flora.
Hunger Isle is also home to a wide variety of fauna, with large herds of gregarious beasts roaming its exterior and dangerous predators inhabiting its interior.
Merfolk immigrants from Azmare’s Poseidar established the Kingdom of Mar Toren in the waters between Hunger Isle and the Northeast Coastal Steppes.
Feranon, the largest Azmarean city on Praetoria, spans across the Strait of Makiot, between the shore of the Northeast Coastal Steppes and an islet just off its coast.
Other Azmarean sovereignties in the Wild Northeast include: the nomadic tribes of Panopia in the Northeast Coastal Steppes; Alcantari, located on a group of islands off the territory’s eastern coast; the egalitarian and autonomous tribes of Anyu, located in the tundra area off the east coast of Icewall Bay; and Pimniq, located in the northern reaches of the Northeast Machair.
The Gloridax Empire has expanded from the northern portion of the Central Fire's Northern Highlands into the western portions of the Northeast Machair, establishing several garrisons and settlements on the kingdom’s frontier.
The waters off the coast of the Wild Northeast contain a high population of native piscine and sea naga, while various primitive tribes call Hunger Isle home. On the territory’s mainland, Stonetown is the largest native Praetorian settlement. It is home to the Drybone Anarchists, who have laid claim to much of the Drybone Badlands and often conduct raids against settlements in outlying areas.
