Time Worn Plains
"So many battles won and so many lives lost. The echos of history are etched into her gentle hills of a time long past, a perfect place for any new adventurer to pick up a rusty old sword and make a name for themselves."
Geography
The rolling hills of the Time Worn Plains are an expanse of peaceful human settlements and several large cities. Being the central-most region in all of Ardras, this area of the world has seen a lot of trade, conflict, and cultural exchange. Many human settlements and small city-states rose and fell across the war-torn fields where their ruins can still be found and explored today by the fledgling adventurer. The plains here roll on for hundreds of miles, making up a significant portion of the empire of Aristolia. In the western portion of the region several ruins of ancient city-states and small portions rest upon the rising cliffs leading into Lithos. To the southwest, the arid badlands of Lizard's March leads into the lawless territories of The Drylands further beyond.
In the north, the main road straddles the Daggerwood Forest leading up into the northern reaches of Aristolia, several burned out villages from the Era of Dusk sit lying in silent ruin. As one travels eastward through the plains, they flatten out into the Malo'o Savannah and the Crystcrown Desert beyond. Small hamlets and isolated cottages dot the landscape surrounding the larger cities. Along the southern coast the megapolis of Mandas sits like a beacon connecting land and sea trade throughout the empire.
Ecosystem
The majority of land throughout the Time Worn Plains is unforested, small communities of humans dot the hills and hamlets across the vast landscape. Wild horses race across the plains in family groups, evading wranglers who capture and domesticate them for use in trade and transportation. Crops and orchards provide plenty of food for humans and animals alike, providing for the larger cities such as Mandas and Scholarguard.
Mines built all throughout the grasslands provide plenty of stone, minerals, and other underground resources from which the empire of Aristolia was built on. Subterranean creatures hide away from humans and tend to be hostile to unwanted guests within their domeciles. Well patrolled roads connect the various cities and villages in this region to the city of Mandas and to lands far beyond.
Ecosystem Cycles
The plains are blessed with beautiful partly cloudy to clear weather all year round, with hot humid sea breezes blowing through during the hot months, and crisp cool air during an all but almost unnoticed cold season. The large clouds, which slowly drift across the plains, cast shadows on the earth in a wonderful aesthetic that the empire is best known for. Every so often it will rain, but storms are few and far in between, with enough annual precipitation to keep the soil fertile and prosperous.
Fauna & Flora
Wild horses, foxes, and various kinds of deer reside in groups amongst the plains, they graze on the plentiful grasses available to them before moving on to greener pastures, typically rotating around the north to east during the hot months and to the south and west during the colder months. Small burrowing animals make their homes amidst the mounds living off of seeds and grains found on the grasslands or in human settlements.
Certain hillsides are said to grow uncommon and rare flowers, often used to crush into valuable dyes or to be used in medicinal practices. Some of these flowers only bloom under certain conditions.
Natural Resources
Many farms grow several different crops that change depending on which part of the region one is in. Outside of the food and animal husbandry, tobacco leaves are grown along the southern coasts, Aristolian cigars are luxury export good which built the backbone of the Empire of Blackhearth's rapid growth. Fox furs are also a luxury export used in expensive fashions, hunted down from the many burrows across the plains.
History
Long ago in the Era of Light, this widespread territory was referred to as the Plains of Man on account of the abundance of small city-states made up of various groups of people seeking to escape the chaos following The Sundering. Many of these city-states names have been lost to history, as tribal warfare and an innate desire for conquest drove many people into battle and loss of life. However it was not until the end of the Second Age of Hadanguard that humans would begin to settle these lands en masse.
During the height of the kingdom of Hadanguard's power, one city-state began to prosper and grow to rival theirs. The city-state of Blackhearth, situated on the banks of the Ravgaros River would begin consolidating power via conquest, growing into a mighty empire that prospered through the cruel exploitation of the underclass. This prosperity would only grow until Blackhearth became a legitimate threat to the other world powers.
Though eastward expansion would stop at the edges of the Meino'ng Jungle and Swamp of Forgotten Dreams, the entire cultures of the nomadic Crystander were absorbed into Blackhearth, who put the conquered nomads to work architecting the empire and producing various trade goods at exploitative wages.
This would last well into the Fifth Age until Hadanguard's final capture and defense of Redrook, a city beseiged by Lithosian mage-warriors and the final bastion of the kingdom of Arrisdra. The subjugated peoples of the empire would begin to revolt under the reign of Emperor Nefaros, a cruel villain who had discovered the secrets to immortality, whose rule seemed to be unending. It was not until the heroic efforts of Arushala Ivorcoat and his companions that the empire dominated the landscape.
After the defeat of the emperor, the Empire of Blackhearth had all but fallen. Chaos in the city streets and societal disorder was met by opportunistic individuals all seeking their chance at the power vaccuum left in its wake. The city of Mandas would be founded on the promise of "being a land of opportunity for everyone who lived there." Led by the Merchant's Guild and the Church of Helios, the empire of Blackhearth would crumble away into the annals of history as the newly founded empire of Aristolia would take its place.
Today, the hillsides and plains are scattered with the ruined remains of small settlements and ancient battlefields, the idyllic atmosphere underscores the generations of death and grief that have long plagued the denizens of this region.
Tourism
The Time Worn Plains is most commonly associated as the backdrop to the great city of Mandas, with its stretching hills and serene atmosphere it feels as though there is no safer place in all of Ardras. The people who reside here come from all kinds of backgrounds, and many different festivals from different cultures are celebrated year-round.
The Time Worn Plains are a vast grassland expanding across central Ardras filled with small ruins.
Type
Plain
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Owning Organization