The continent of Tulerebor. Spread out across the southern hemisphere, the Plains of Azruth cover the continent in tall grasses, from east to west, from the northern coast to the south where it meets the forest of Thaeth'meir. The plains are home to the Sha'ala'karn, a fierce people who have recently settled into an agrarian society, leaving their nomadic roots behind them. They have forged a stable and seemingly lasting alliance of the various tribes and under the guidance of the tribal chiefs, one over-chief has been elected. They have built many homes, ranging in size from small villages up to great cities. Roads have been crisscrossed over the plains and give travelers easy access to the sights, and easy passage to the south. The law of the plains is straightforward and simple. To gain the hospitality of each town, one must present the chief with a gift. Any gift is accepted, as long as it is given freely and has at least a measure of personal wealth. Though not every chief is as accommodating as the next, travelers are a welcome sight everywhere. To the south, the great deciduous forest of Thaeth’meir dominates the land. The cities of the mixed nation of Raesth’lo’al are stepping-stones across the front of the forest. They have carved out portions of the forest to make way for roads and lumbering industry. They trade wood out into the plains where trees are sparse when they exist at all. Far on the south side of the forest, a half dozen more towns eke out existences mining and cutting timber. Well-built roads carry the goods far and wide, ensuring prosperity to all within the scope of the trade routes. High up in the mountains of the range known as the Stairs of Heaven, the mysterious Ava'kaar, a people gifted with wings and the ability to fly make their home. The peaks of this mountain range stretch higher than any other in the World. It is said that to climb to the tops of the highest peaks will rob a person of their breath and pull them into the sky, sending them into the heavens. Deep in the massive range of unscaleable mountains lies the dark Peak of Woe. Thousands of years ago, the people known as Ka'ala'druun made the mountain their home. The hollowed out peak of a long dead volcano, the peak is a massive library. Years of accumulated knowledge are stored with care and reverence. The people acting as guardians and keepers of the history of the world. The Halls of Knowledge contain over ten thousand years of accumulated history, magically preserved and stored against the ravages of time. The Ka'ala'druun guard their home from all who would seek to steal the knowledge within, however, scholars, wizards and their like make pilgrimages to the mountain in hopes of learning and studying the history and lore of the World under the careful eyes of the Keepers.
Deep in the vast plains of Azruth lie many small farming communities. The communities generally hold themselves apart from one another. They had all grown out of nomadic societies and had only recently (try about 500 years) settled into a sedimentary lifestyle. It was to their credit that they did so, though they peoples had remained slightly warrish in nature. It had been even more recent that an over-chief had arisen amongst the settlements. For the past one hundred years, there had been an over-chief, and it had been the first who had commissioned the vast network of roads that now lay across the plains. The provisions for traveling through the plains were simple. A traveler had only to bring with him or her something of value with which to gift to the chief of each settlement he or she wanted to stop in. The arrangement worked in a most beneficial way. The over-chief retained power by pitting the other chiefs against each other in a war of tourism and commerce. The internal hierarchy of the chiefs’ council was based entirely on how many travelers stayed in each chiefs town. Few places in the plains offer much in the way of shelter, and though the roads did often run next to streams or along the small copses of woods that sprouted up here and there, on the large, there was only an open, tract less sea of waist-high grass, that shimmered and waved in the relentless wind that swept across this part of the known world. Our story takes us too the small community of Grevhearth. Ruled by the chieftain Klar, Grevhearth boasted a very comfortable Inn that contained within its premises an opulent pub, replete with bar and stage and an opium den. There was a sizable stable with an outdoor paddock to allow the animals some room to roam. The well had been stoned over and turned into a fountain, complete with a statue of Klar himself. There was a gambling hall that sat directly opposite of the town's council chambers. A solidly built smithy sat alongside the Stables and general goods shop was located just inside the town gate, right before one reached the Inn. Nearly a dozen homes sat in a cluster behind the Gambling and Council Halls, while close to three-dozen farming cottages ranged about outside the town palisade. The town itself boasted a fair number of guards that patrolled regularly and faithfully throughout the day and night. It was a testament to Klar's ability to manage a successful farming operation, a decent militia and a booming tourist trade. a large sign sits just inside the gate. It reads: Visitors. Should You Need Any Aid In Your Travel Plans, Make Note That Local Information, As Well As Guides Are Provided At The Town's Council Chamber. Welcome to Grevhearth.