The Shatterlands
Geography
The Shattered Pensinsula is located at the Southwestern tip of Kornôgel, with the Mor Kreizdouar on its Eastern Coast, and the Mor Bras to the West. A narrow strait, the Gates of Ruin, connects the two bodies of water in the south. The Northern border ends at the Meneziou Pyrene and the Kingdom of Navarre, which controls the Northern Coast along the Pleg-mor Gwaskogn.
The Shatterlands have not been fully mapped since its creation, a result of its difficult terrain, hostile fauna and unstable reality. The majority of the peninsula is dominated by sharp canyons and chasms, rising from below sea level to the surface. These craggy fissures range in width from few dozen centimeters to, 1500 meters are the widest measured point, and has been estimated to be 3,000 meters at its deepest. The cliffs are typically formed with jagged bald rock, with occasional flora clinging to the sides. Far below is a maze of rivers flooding in from the sea, winding through canyons and caves across the entire peninsula. Surface rivers fall in waterfalls, draining into the subterranean world below.
Between these chasms are larger areas of land, ranging from flat grassy meadows and rolling hills to crystal protrusions erupting from the ground and floating islands drifting in the mists above. Stranger locations have been reported deeper inside the region. The landscape shifts and moves like a living thing, as the terrain rises, falls and warps to the chaotic and unpredictable rhythm of its chaotic magic.
Localized Phenomena
The Shatterlands is categorized as a major Bleed or rather a series of them, drawing its influence directly from the Faewylde. While individual pockets of the region may exhibit their own traits, a few common elements are found throughout the peninsula. High winds cut across featureless barren plains, creating dust-storms and whirlwinds, making both terrestrial and aerial travel in the area difficult. A nearly constant presence of Feth Fiada is found at various levels of elevation, most notably at sea level in the twisting maze of rivers beneath the region. Wyldstorms manifest at sea and make landfall.
Other areas are shockingly free of these anomalous effects, strange patches of stability or their own effects.
Some phenomena recorded in the Shatterlands include, among others:
- Ghostly cities or caravans of Envorad appearing in the Imperial Ruins
- Rain falling upwards, water emerging from the ground and entering the sky. Waterfalls and rivers have been observed to flow in reverse as well.
- Floating islands breaking apart and showering those below with rocks and debris. Seemingly grounded areas also break off from the mainland and float upwards in the air.
- Erratic passage of time
History
At one time, the Shatterlands was the centre of the Empire of Tarif, which controlled the known world from Albia to Pharos, establishing a technologically advanced society with roads, centralized trade and some level of alchemical prowess. The capital, Qurṭuba was heralded as the largest and greatest city of the world. Sadly, the events that followed have thrown much of the Empire's history into doubt.
What is generally agreed upon is that the Tear occurred in 0 SI, destroying the Veil between Faerie and Bedoaur. The entire peninsula was ravaged by an uncontrolled burst of magic not seen since, literally tearing the ground itself asunder.
Oral tradition indicates a giant gash of light appearing in the sky across Bedouar, the Gaoithe Sidhe spilling out into the mortal world in a violent outburst of colour. A series of Wyldstorms and massive earthquakes followed, sending waves of unparalleled destruction across Letha. The destruction of the region triggered powerful, magical infused tsunamis that destroyed coastal settlements throughout the region and birthed volcanoes that belched fire into the skies and unleashed the Wyrm.
Next came the Feth Fiada, the fog-like mist that rolled in from the sea, enveloping several regions around the Pleg-mor Gwaskogn for a year.
To make matters worse, the Tear altered reality itself, including the Empire's presence within it. Settlements vanished and new ones sprung up where none had, without knowledge of the Empire. Records were wiped out, and memories altered, leaving the veracity of Imperial History in considerable doubt. Chaos followed, and with the majority of Imperial power destroyed, three claimants declared themselves the successors to the Empire and a civil war erupted. Bedouar fell into a dark age, lasting until the foundation of Kernev and other consolidated sovereignties.
For much of its subsequent history, the Shatterlands has remained untouched by all but farmers, treasure seekers, scholars and tomb raiders, a curiosity and place of legend with little geopolitical standing. At times, the Duchy of Akitainia, the Kingdom of Navarre and the Petty Kingdom of Nekor have laid claim to the region, although of these, only Navarre has succeeded in colonizing it, with several small settlements along the stable northern coast.
It is believed that the Shivers originated in the region, potentially from an oristal or gagneg Bleed within the capital of Qurṭuba.
Tourism
The unusual properties of the Shatterlands, its vast holdings of Imperial riches and secrets and its isolated nature have made it a destination of numerous parties, although these very draws are also obstacles to long-term settlement.
Treasure seekers and scholars frequent the area in dangerous expeditions for a variety of reasons. Some see the lost riches of the Empire or unknown Faerie holdings deep in the ruins, seeking gold and jewels. Others see the lost technology and records as crucial to the furtherment of society and the understanding of a past largely wiped from memory by the reality-warping nature of the tear. These forces can operate in tandem or opposition to each other, depending on their cause and inter-group dynamics.
The region has taken on symbolic significance for a variety of groups. The Staunchist movement, a violent anti-fae human supremacist cause, has held up the Shatterlands and the destruction of the Empire as proof of the hostility and inherent evil of Faerie peoples, utilizing it as a political rallying cry to justify anti-fae pogroms.
Many Druidic and fae-sympathetic groups hold that the Shatterlands represents not the destruction of an old world, but the rebirth of a new one of both Bediz and Fae. The clash of ideaologies between these groups and Staunchist predecessors within the Faith was one of the leading causes of the Heresy of Albi.
Along the magically stable northern coast, the Kingdom of Navarre has settled small fishing communities to extend their holdings in the Pleg-mor Gwaskogn and circumvent the meddling of Akitania, which dominates the region to the North. This sparsely populated region, called Asturias, largely exists along the coast, but Bediz and Milliget nomadic peoples eke out a living in the interior.
Alternative Name(s)
The Shattered Peninsula, the Scars
Type
Peninsula
Included Locations
Included Organizations
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Contested By
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