Middle Tethas
Tethas is a world with essentially one main continent, which is divided up into five quadrants, North, South, East, West, and Middle. Middle Tethas has three main areas: the Aerh Valley, the Fringe, and the areas south of the Fringe, starting with the Humming Shanty, and the borderlands of Verdenca, the country land of the Dreg’num.
Nestled between two formidable mountain ranges – the Shief Highlands to the east, and the Scarlet Mountains to the west – Aerh Valley comprises many hills and plains, and Dragon Lake. Dragon Lake is so named because of its shape; explorers viewing it from the surrounding highlands felt it greatly resembled a dragon’s head. The ‘snout’ of said dragon faces east, pointing to a steep and treacherous pass through the Shief Highlands to the frosted regions beyond.
Established along the top or brow of the dragon, is the prosperous town of Krown. Krown has a significant role as one of the intermediaries between the northern region’s Kingdom of Tumnos and Kyrie, the unofficial capital of the region. Supplies and goods for trade, sometimes even travelers, make use of the lake as a means of transit to Kyrie’s docking outpost (Nape) and back to Krown. Both Kyrie and Krown have outlying shares of plains land worked, maintained, and inhabited by various families. Occasionally privy to encounters with the Wild, bandits, and any other sort of threat from without, each family must aspire to house and feed a protector or “sentinel” of their land. Sometimes this person (or persons if the family is well off) emerges from the household itself. Oftentimes though, the sentinel is taken on from one of the towns (i.e., Kyrie, Krown, or even from places in Tumnos). Some sentinels are mercenaries, seeking their own little piece of profit to set aside for an independent future. Others are looking for an honorable place of employ, and a place to live while they’re at it.
Leading south from the back of the dragon’s neck is Wyrm’s Fluo, the river leading into the Fringe.
So named because it essentially marks the edge of human settlement, The Fringe is a heavily wooded expanse of land, inhabited by a variety of seldom benevolent creatures. Over time, Wild savvy rangers have been able to penetrate its depths and explore the lands beyond. With the aid of trophy monster hunters, regular settlements have been set up along the Wyrm’s Fluo fork. The network of these villages, (Suborr, Shledd, Arwhey, and Burwhey) is often referred to as the Humming Shanty. The small outpost at the river’s fork is unnamed.
There is a notable section of the Fringe that is not comprised of dense forest. This is the westernmost section between the Scarlet Mountains and a yet unnamed body of mountains to the south. It is a bristly scrubland partially composed of many, many broken down rocks, boulders, and small pebbles. Some speculate that this is where the Wilderness of the Fringe collided with the high desert fury of the Blooded Wastes, pummeling the mountains in between to their present rock-strewn state. Also note that this part of the Fringe is never highly trafficked because it does not really go anywhere except for the Blooded Wastes.
Recently there have been reports of strange dark creatures moving among the westernmost portions of the Fringe woods.
Presently, Dreg’num raiding parties have torn up the villages of the Humming Shanty. Essentially the area has been razed, leaving the desolate remains of a tottering slum where human refugees unable to escape north through the Fringe hide, hoping the Dreg’num will not return anytime soon.
