Hinterland

The Bastollan Hinterland is a natural region in the loosest possible sense, as its layout and ecology is shaped by the consciousness of the few people who live there. Essentially, these Hinterlands exist on the margins and edges of Bastollan civilization, constantly adapting to the shapes of the country's borders throughout the ages. In these regions, where the borders of Bastollo start to give way to the wilds of other neighbouring countries, the land begins to slip away into the dream, becoming suffused with the liminal magic of the fey.
In the old days of the frontier, during Bastollo's colonial ascendency, the Hinterlands used to be even larger. They existed in all places that had been left untouched by civilization. Even once Bastollo had secured a geopolitical position resembling the one it holds today, some parts of the country's interior were still hinterland because of vast sizes and/or fearsome reputations. Now, such places have faded into tiny pockets, and are on the verge of disappearing entirely.
Hinterlands are strange places subject to a lot of abnormal living conditions due to their proximity with the dreaming world. It becomes difficult to eke out a peaceful living here. One finds themselves subjected to incursions from all sorts of fey, some malicious and almost all mischevious in nature. Communities must remain strong in the face of such hardships, lest they fall victim to Ill Winds, or Dark Clouds, or any other such psycho-natural maladies that have plagued these regions for generations.

Geography

While it is often referred to as though it were a single region of Bastollo with its own distinct geographic features, the Hinterland is moreso defined by whatever/wherever Bastollo is not. Due to the nature of their existence on the nation's borders, where the edges of Bastollan nationality naturally begin to fray, the cultures of neighbouring countries bleed into the Hinterlands, creating several distinct locales within the Hinterlands as a whole.
In between the Lombraides and the arid Catavarran Desert, the sandblasted canyons and windswept grasses of the Northern Hinterlands are in some ways regarded as the quintessential image of the Hinterland in the Bastollan public consciousness. They are favoured stomping grounds of many great beasts from the Imperial Steppe. Myths of such beasts and the ill omens they present go on to create Dream Beasts, spirits of nightmarish size whose fearsome presence always looms large over the remote logging communities of the West Loudon Ranges and other such locales. The dreams of this region are built off of fears shared by many a Bastollan about the Empire of Lights, namely its size, foul weather, and military dominance.
The Eastern Hinterlands span the Sabelseide range from foot to tip, making them some of the oldest border regions in Bastollo's history. While many Bastollans are at least passingly familiar with the New Voltaic Republic, hinterland is hinterland, and the influence of the eastern nation is still felt throughout this region.
The Western Hinterlands run the length of Bastollo's oldest border, from the opening of the Western Maw all the way down to the Black Coast. Despite their age, the national leadership of Bastollo has stoked fear and contempt of Zarayadin for centuries, which holds the Western Hinterlands in a nightmarish state of wartime tension. Nightmares rumble across the rolling hills and Hellhounds stalk the wetlands, while even more infernal abominations born from nothing more than feverish imaginations stalk the night in search of the weak and desperate.

Type

Magical Realm