The Land

Rugged hills, high passes and one road worth holding. Beneath Blæcwyrm Tor the ground itself decides who eats in winter and who marches in spring.

Beneath the towering shadow of Blæcwyrm Tor lies the Barony of the Black Hills, a rugged land of ancient forests, rocky highlands, and deep valleys. It is the last barony before the Wilds of Orkheim, a gateway between the settled lands of Caedland and the wilderness beyond. Here, narrow roads wind through mountain passes, villages shelter in valleys, and old stone fortresses guard the frontier.

Life in the Black Hills is shaped by stone and weather. The ground itself decides who eats in winter and who marches in spring. Fields are wrested from stubborn soil, forests offer both shelter and danger, and harsh winters isolate settlements for months at a time. In this barony, age is measured as much by the number of winters survived as by the passing of years.

Those born beneath Blæcwyrm Tor learn to read the land before they learn much else. They know which streams swell with the spring thaw, which trails vanish beneath the snow, and where to find shelter when storms descend from the mountains. Such knowledge passes from one generation to the next, for survival in the Black Hills has always depended upon understanding the land and respecting its dangers.