Shorn Wastes

The outer half of the island of Vittania has become known over time as the Shorn Wastes. Ripped apart thousands of years ago by underground magma bubbling to the surface, the landscape is dotted with volcanic rock, active and dormant volcanoes, sulfur pools, and burned forests. The endless ashfall has rendered the sea directly to the north toxic and deadly. Largely inhospitable, those brave enough to venture into the Wastes don't tend to stay for long.

Raining Fire

Day and night are hardly different in the Shorn Wastes. The sky is grey and thick with ash, blocking sun and star light, while glowing bursts of embers or newly-erupted lava cast light below suddenly and irregularly. There's a very real danger of being killed by falling volcanic rocks here - some have been recorded flying miles through the air before crashing to the surface. An established mining camp was annihilated by stones from an eruption they never even heard only a few decades ago.
The never-ending ash and smoke that billows from the volcanic fissures and vents across the surface travels on the northern winds before plumetting into the sea and choking it of life. A twelve-mile stretch outwards from the northern shore is entirely toxic to sea life and acts like a poison if ingested. Ships crossing between Gordunni and Ranesh will sail far out of the way to avoid the Shorn Wastes; either south along the Vittanian coast, or further north into the differently dangerous Silent Sea.

Wouldn't it be Nice?

By all reasoning, the Shorn Wastes should be a beautiful and bountiful natural landscape. There are rivers and hot springs everywhere, but they're poisoned with ash and sulfur. The rolling hillsides and majestic peaks have ruptured and been blasted apart by eruptions and magma flows. What remain of the forests that used to cover its surface are graveyards of charcoal and cinders. Those who come to the Wastes - to collect ash for fertilizer, mine the rare metals, or seek adventure - can't help but wonder what it used to look like, and what it might if the fire beneath ever stopped flowing. Archeological records indicate that the native cervids and kenku used to inhabite this land just as they did the southern half of the region. One can only imagine their horror when their homeland exploded with flame so suddenly.

Hidden Depths

The volcanic tubes left behind from thousands of years of eruptions have connected and formed a vast and expansive cavern network, rivalling those of Oroi. Legend says there are safe havens deep in these tunnels, places where clean water has pooled and life has been allowed to grow, but those are wishful thinking at best according to most experts. You're just as likely to find water poisoned with sulfur and volcanic debris as you are to suddenly be enveloped by magma being thrust to the surface. Still; many an adventuring party have ventured into those networks of tubes, looking for long lost treasure or a natural beauty to stake their names to.