VosgaardVosgaard

[top]Introduction

The most desolate and remote region of Cerilia is called Vosgaard. It lies in the north-eastern reaches of the land, beyond the Drachenaur Mountains and north of the Rhuannadaraight. The cold waters of the Leviathan's Reach form the northern border of Vosgaard, and to the east lie the stormy waters of the Sea of Dragons.
Vosgaard is a land of stark natural beauty, with impassable mountains and glaciers, vast belts of northern taiga, and bitter wind-swept plains. Much like the Rjurik lands, Vosgaard suffers from extremely cold winters and is haunted by monsters of all varieties. Life is difficult and violent in the lands of the Vos. Consequently, they are a fierce people who believe that might makes right.
The other human races of Cerilia are inclined to view the Vos as evil barbarians, savages, and marauders, but this isn't an entirely truthful assessment. The Vos, once followers of Vorynn who were corrupted by Azrai, have their cities and kingdoms, and there are heroes of noble bearing among them. It's important to remember that by their own standards Vos warriors are acting with honor when they raid and pillage the lands of the Brecht or the Khinasi. And while no one will ever accuse a Vos berserker of subterfuge or subtlety, it's also true that a person always knows where he stands with a Vos warrior.
The code of courage and violent tendencies of Vos warriors and rulers have made north-eastern Cerilia a battlefield for the settling of their differences and feuds. The Vos hold "weaker" cultures in contempt and view the other peoples of Cerilia as potential slaves or enemies, but they absolutely hate each other. Travelers in Vosgaard should go to great lengths to avoid associating themselves with any particular chieftain or baronet -- it's dangerous to take sides, even by placing oneself under a chieftain's protection.

A map of VosgaardA map of Vosgaard

[top]The Nona and the Torva

Although few outside Vosgaard would realize it, the Vos people are split between the nona ('New' or 'Upstart') Vos and the torva ('True' or 'One') Vos. The nona Vos desire to turn the fantastic energies of the Vos people towards progress and unity. They want prosperous strong realms and will tolerate, to a limited degree, foreign gods and ideas. The torva are backed by a culture soaked in blood and fury for centuries and the worship of two powerful deities. They cling to clan loyalties, follow their temples, and see the ways of the nona as soft and cowardly.

[top]Feral Lands

Untamed and largely unsettled, the Feral Lands of Vosgaard will be conquered only through extensive adventures and heroic endeavors. These lands harbor creatures and dangers that naturally oppose settlement. The Feral lands are dominated by the vast Grovnekevic Forest which provides some respite from the chill winds. The lands making up the Feral Lands are:
  • The Icemarch. The march is the term used to describe the near empty lands of the ice-plains and the northern parts of the Grovnekevic Forest. The land is home to brutal ice goblins, savage gnolls, cannibalistic nomads known as Zegraki and, increasingly, the sidhe of dread Tuar Annwn.
  • The Mistmoor. Chill mists swathe the land for much of the year, and an unnatural shadow seems to hang in the air even during the brief summer, some claim that Azrai's essence yet lingers in the cursed land. Traders travel between Rovninodensk and Rzhlev swiftly and in large numbers, or do not emerge from the haunted mists.
  • Tuar Annwn. No Vos explorer has returned from the silent forest of Tuar Annwn in all the centuries since Mount Diesmaar, the doughty proud warriors of the Vos shun to speak of the land and none boast of the plunder that might be found in it, there is a wrongness about the forest that goes deeper than any sidhe witchcraft. Worst of all, as the gnolls to the east have recently discovered to their chagrin, the wrongness is spreading...

[top]Orlenaskyy Uplands

The Orlenaskyy Uplands are amongst the coldest of the Vos lands, and made only harsher by the Orlenaskyy mountains for which they are named.
  • Lutkhovsky. The land is home to the notoriously vicious Surzek goblin clans in the west and recent Vos settlers in the east. For ten months of the year snow lies on the ground and the shores are choked with ice, long a refuge for bandits some merchants have recently begun lumbering operations but the land remains mostly empty.
  • Melyy. Quiet sleepy Melyy was long a back water even by Vos standards, then silver was found in the mountains and prospectors began arriving from as far away as Brechtur transforming the villages into mining towns.
  • The Sword Rust Tribes. The Orogs were long a disparate people who raided but rarely threatened the people of the land. Then a great Orog leader called Tolzimkur united the orog clans and welded them into a powerful army that drove out the Vos and goblin nomads leaving the Orogs unquestioned masters of their forests and mines. Today the Orogs raid their neighbors regularly and are a growing menace in the region.
  • Velenoye. A realm of raiders and seafarers, few of its inhabitants can scrape a living from the land itself. The cult of the winter witch is strong here and few dare the wrath of her high priestess Lida Marnorin.

[top]Western Reach

The mountains of the Western Reach protect the Great Bay in the songs of Brecht bards, but the Vos have long raided through them nonetheless. Three human and one gnoll realms are found here, alongside many lands that are feral.
  • Hjorig. An anomaly amongst its neighbors the Rjurik land of Hjorig is sandwiched between the Gnoll fells to the east and the Brecht of Grevesmuhl to the west. Sparsely populated the land suffers for its tyrannical ruler, Jarl Einar Kuppel.
  • Molochev. Only Yeninskiy has a more barbaric reputation than this Vos realm, which only encourages Vos upstarts to travel to Molochev seeking glory. The Vos of Molochev often raid the Brecht of Berhagen and Rheulgard, and historically often allied with Kozlovnyy to sail south and raid the Khinasi lands of the Shining Coast. This latter route is now less traveled as Kozlovnyy has shed much of its barbaric past of late, but that merely gives the raider of Molochev a target closer to home...
  • Rzhlev is considered part of Brechtur by many civilized sages, but the land was conquered by the Vos long ago after the disaster of the Brecht League, and to this day it is ruled by the Vos.
  • The Gnoll Fells. The sole Gnoll realm in all Cerilia, here the Gnolls reign supreme over goblin, Vos and Brecht slaves. A growing power for the last few decades the gnoll fells have suffered lately due to the abrupt expansion of Tuar Annwn.

[top]The Dragon Coast

The Dragon Coast is a mountainous land of deep cold water and treacherous currents.
  • Morrinzavod, better known nowadays as the realm of the Manticore, Morrinzavod is a small realm that acts as a buffer between Ust Atka and Velenoye. The land is currently undergoing something of a civil war, as the awnsheghlien rouses himself from depression to battle the wizard who long used him as an unwitting pawn to rule the land.
  • Ust Atka. The Raven's Domain. The forested realm of Ust Atka was once one of the more peaceful Vos realms, goblins sometimes raided the east, but the land was relatively prosperous, mountains stopped raiders from the north and south, while the silent forest of Cwmb Bheinn seemed utterly empty. Then the realm underwent one of its periodic civil wars, and warlord Tusilov won a stunning series of victories to lead his clan to dominate the land. Then the Raven claimed the warlord's body as his own and the land became touched by shadow. Now the warmth has fled summer, crops are poor, and the people crushed beneath the awnsheghlien's inhuman dominion.
  • Yeninskiy. A realm of pirates and raiders the vikings of Yeninskiy raid the coasts to the south, and prey on shipping from Melyy and Zoloskaya.
  • Zoloskaya. This odd Vos realm seems touched by mysticism and the realm often trades with the Khinasi far to the south. Alone of the Vos lands the people still follow Lirovka as did their ancestors.

[top]Great Steppe

The Great Steppe is the most hospitable part of Vosgaard. Several of the southern realms show Khinasi influence but the locals are no softer for it, rather many are infamous for their raiding ways.
  • Kal Kalathor. A vast and populous goblin realm that bows to none of its neighbors, even the Raven has avoided conflict with the innumerable goblins of the land.
  • Cwmb Bheinn. Long believed to be an empty forest, the Sidhe of Cwmb Bheinn were revealed after an attack by the Raven tore away their ancient cloak of illusions and brought Shadow World sorcery to their lands. The Sidhe now trade with Yeninskiy and Kozlovnyy to keep the Vos to east and west from aggression and battle the goblins of Kal Kalathor to the north, the Lamia's charmed warriors to the south, and the Raven's forces to the north east.
  • Kozlovnyy. Part Khinasi, part Vos, long dominated by the Vos the current ruler is relatively benign and has ousted the corrupt and warlike priests of Belinik that long drove the realm to war and raiding.
  • Rovninodensk. Civil wars rack the land once or twice a generation, and the struggle between the ways of the nona and the torva Vos is at its most intense here. The land is slowly recovering from its most recent civil war, few expect the peace to last.

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