Aldenia
Aldenia has had its troubles, but this beautiful emerald landmass wears its scars as a badge of honour.
Geography
A Brief Guide to Aldenia
Aldenia is largely a green continent, full of rolling hills and many forests. The land of the central and eastern regions of Aldenia is rich and fertile, ideal for farming, where the Humans prosper and the largest city of Aldenia, Dawnstone is located. In the south east, you would find the busy port of Brinewatch, the key link from Aldenia to other far off lands. To the south-west, a densely wooded area, known simply as the Elven Woods as that is where the Elves chose to build their capital and settle millennia ago. The northern and western sides are dotted with mountain ranges. The Mountains of Fury, which the ruthless red dragon Cieris once called home lie in the most northwestern corner of Aldenia. Just below, one would find the Anvil Mountains, so called in part due to the famous flat topped mountains that it comprises of and in part due to the nature of the settlements that grew there. Rich in iron and other metals, it became home to the Dwarf and Gnome factions. Further east is the Dragonborn city, Vox Dracon, nestled in the Dragon's Teeth, an uncompromising and dangerous-to-traverse mountain range. One of the great rivers originates in that heart and flows out through the Flatlands where Orc hordes live towards its final destination, the Willowbranch Delta, as it joins the sea there. In the centre of Aldenia is Widow's Peak, a singular mountain sprouting out lush green hills. It is not the tallest of mountains nor is it the most dangerous, but simply due the accessibility, many have tried to scale and many have died trying. The river Ull starts there and flows south east, splitting in two as one branch heads south, the other east.Scars of the Cataclysm
This is a land that has plenty to offer its citizens but it still remembers when a small group of individuals, some naturally evil, some twisted by the dark gods brought forth great evils from the Underdark and other planes. Patches of corrupted land, such as the Twisted Forest in the Elven Woods and the Blightlands, an uncharacteristically dry and arid area, to the north of Widow's Peak are a reminder of the evil of the great Lich, Vaedrin. However, it is the destruction caused by Mohzall , an Ancient Earthquake Dragon, that bears the greatest scars. The once prosperous island of Soloon now lies shattered into fragmented bits of land. What was once part of the eastern regions of Aldenia was torn from the mainland and now sits as a separate island with a wild and violent sea in between, too dangerous to sail. The success of that separation compelled Mohzall to become even more ambitious and the chasm that now bears his name stretches from the Dragon's Teeth mountains in the north and almost reaches the south coast. If Mohzall had not been vanquished when he was, he would have split this continent into two.Fauna & Flora
The flora and fauna of Aldenia are for the most part typical to what one would expect from grasslands and forests, which a few notable exceptions. The corruption caused by the great Lich Vaedrin warped part of the Elven Woods. In the centuries since the size of this area has been reduced thanks to the efforts of the elves in restoring the forest, but a significant portion of the Twisted Forest remains and the flora there are a little more desiring of the living than their regular counterparts. The Twisted Forest is also home to corrupted versions of the magical and fey creatures that inhabit the surrounding woods and these animals, fairies and nymphs are less inclined to friendliness.
It's a similar story in the arid Blightlands. What fauna that manages to grow there is incredibly hardy and there has been talk of unnatural monstrosities roaming those lands too, though no one that has an accurate description has ever survived to tell the tale.
Finally, possibly the most notable fauna in the entire continent is found between the Anvil Mountains and the Dragon's Teeth, where the druids of the Circle of the Ancestors call home. The Ancestral Tree, the largest tree ever recorded, is situated there. It is said to hold the memories of every person who has ever lived. Many people seek out its wisdom or to find some connection to family members that have passed.
Natural Resources
The land in general is rich in minerals and ores as well as being prime for farming. However, the most notable resource is 'whitestone', a stone uniquely found within the hills to the north of the Human capital of Dawnstone, such named due to its walls and palace building being built of this stone and the way its shines during every dawn. The export of this stone is one of the main economic boons for the Humans. In the Dwarven and Gnomish lands in the west there are vast deposits of metallic ores crucial to their strong smithing and tinkering industries, respectively.
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Aldenia
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