THE OSTOYAN EMPIRE (OSTOYAN)
BEYOND THE GREY SPINE PEAKS LIES A LAND shrouded in mist and shadow. The hearts of the Ostoyan people are as cold and forbidding as the land they dwell in. Here the mages of the Ravencourt Sanctuary spin their nebulous plots, the Vampire Lords of the CRIMSON COURT devise plans to engulf Etharis in a tide of undead, and the hidden denizens of the City Below wait in the dark, hungry for the living.
LANDSCAPE
The lands east of the Grey Spine are a temperate, heavily-forested region filled with hills and valleys. The further one travels east, the more the land flattens into rolling plains, dotted here and there by treacherous heaths and bogs. At the easternmost edge of Ostoya, the terrain breaks into jagged cliffs that border a restless, ice-filled sea. Further eastward across the water, a magical fog surrounds an island that few have ever laid eyes on.
The terrain is not suited for heavy farming. The Ostoyans supplement what meagre crops they grow by hunting and herding. Coastal cities also employ fishing and whaling fleets to feed their burgeoning populations. The Ostoyan weather is typified by Nov Ostoya's skies, heavy rains, sudden snowfall, and endless mists. The sun is a rare sight, and most welcome when it breaks through the mantle of grey clouds.
What Ostoya lacks in hospitable environment, it makes up in tremendous amounts of ore, stone, and coal from the Grey Spine. Lumber is also plentiful, enabling the Ostoyans to build robust structures. These resources lend themselves to frequent trade with other nations, but also lead to violent border disputes with neighbours, particularly the Bürach.