The Shatterlands

In the great wide expanses of the gold-front, no vista strikes a more unique profile than the wild and strange territory that is The Shatterlands

— Komius De Mako in Tserros Siira

Wide Savannah suspended miles in the air. Mountainous Islands with 35 mph winds. Jungle Archipelagos host flocks of pterosaurs screaming through the vines that hang below.
The Shatterlands is many things, monotonous is not one of them.
Comprised of nearly 350 miles of floating islands of various sizes suspended miles over a pock-marked surface, The Shatterlands is awesome in the literal sense. Many people spend lifetimes exploring its seemingly infinite expanse, climbing the sheer cliffside of the islands or gliding in the wind tunnels. Diverse biospheres connect these islands, forming a patchwork

Seek The Wilds by Anna Steinbauer

tableua as dangerous as it is beautiful.
Generally speaking, there are 3 biomes that make up the Shatterlands ecosystem. The dominant biome is the floating jungles, a tropical rainforest with islands connected by long twisting branches of elfear trees and clinging vines. The second largest biome is the Viridi Heights, a much less cohesive area of flat savannah and tinderfruit bushes. The last and smallest biome of the three is the Aedelo Mountains, an area of mountainous islands which floats much higher in the sky than the other islands.
The Shatterlands is also the site of the ancient Sunfey Empire, an old empire from the 3rd era that was formed by ancient Sun Elves who had fled from the Feywild. This empire grew to a massive size, overtaking many of the local cultures and developing highly advanced magic and technology for the time. Due to this, the Shatterlands are the site of the Relic Quest and holds an important spiritual presence for High Elven People. At any time of the year, one can find multiple travelling groups of High Elves climbing the sides of islands or swinging between the vast distances with their ropecasters. One might even find themselves travelling with these groups, gliding in the high-speed air currents on elvish gliders or clearing underbrush deep in the jungles

Geography

An essential factor in The Shatterland's geography to consider is that a vast majority of these islands are not static. They can shift height, position, and rotation depending on their location and type. This tends to happen over vast periods of time, but comparisons between current and ancient maps of The Shatterlands conclusively prove the phenomenon exists.
The geography of The Shatterlands varies from biome to biome but can be broadly categorized into 3 major areas: The Floating Jungles, The Viridi Heights, and The Aedelo Mountains.

The Floating Jungles

Forming the center and south-westernly sections of The Shatterlands, The Floating Jungles are the vibrant centers of life in The Shatterlands. Brimming with plants and creatures swept up in the floating island's genesis, these jungles are full of primordial life dating all the way back to the 2nd and 3rd eras. The natural splendor of this area is accented by its danger, with hilly terrain giving way to sheer drops.
Vast rivers also run from the islands, sourcing from large lakes that were lifted during the floating island formation. These lakes are usually replenished by runoff from other islands or by "underground" springs. Several of these lakes are formed by ancient Sunfey aqueducts, a phenomenon theorized to occur due to the Sunfey Empire's tendency to use elemental magic in their architecture.
The most famous landmark of the Floating Jungles is Bantseq Falls. The Bantseq Falls comprise a set of 3 lakes connected by a pair of gargantuan waterfalls flowing between two of the largest islands in the Shatterlands. Water originates from a massive Sunfey aquaduct at the top and cascades down into Seredzheva Lake on the highest island. Water from the lake flows down through connected rivers to the much larger Vesteka Lake. Afterwards, the fresh water spills directly out and off the islands to the lands below. The water from the falls, after falling several miles, disperses into the wind to form a thick misty fog which blankets the lands below. The mist is often described as one of the most beautiful aspects of the region, creating a prismatic sheen which reflects rainbow colors up onto the bottom of the islands.

The Viridi Heights

Forming the edges of The Shatterlands, facing the expansive gold front, is the tropical savannah of the Viridi Heights. A dense chain of chaotic floating plateaus and tilted flatlands, the Viridi Heights mainly exist as the breeding ground for the descendants of Sunfey livestock and crops. Herds of Aurochs leap between fragments of land, Tlakas Piff munch on Tinderfruit and hunt the Emmer Wheat fields for mice and other pests. Towering ruins of ancient cities and shrines to gods long past cast cutting shadows.

Brightclimb Pathway by Johan Grenier

The Viridi Heights are unique to the Shatterlands in that many of the islands possess a unique gravitational property. Many of the islands pull living beings on them to weird angles, with a few islands even reversing gravity on their surfaces.
Although a few rivers cut through the heights, water tends to have a much harder time retaining due to the fragmented nature of the Heights. Several large oasises exist in the vast fields, but the lack of water has caused much of the Heights to desertify.
Towering above the eastern edge of the Viridi Heights is The Stacks, a set of 13 massive chalk and sandstone pillars that circle a massive temple embedded in the side of a floating island. This temple, Te Sērēdzhatsa Ignatsa, is thought by most scholars to be the single largest religious compound in recorded history. Recently uncovered, it is the centerpoint of a massive archaeological expedition being undertaken by the Vision Academic Institute of Higher Learning. Many theories guess as to the internals of the temple, ranging from a true historical record of the era to an answer as to the origin of The Shatterlands.

The Aedelo Mountains

Carving a line through the south side of the Shatterlands, the alpine peaks of the Aedelo Mountains form freezing cliffs, turbulent valleys and wind tunnels that rip from the earth everything in their way. The mountains, originally simply the higher elevations of the area that became The Shatterlands, rose much higher than the other islands. Quickly, the newly formed mountains froze at their great heights. Tropical forests once hot and humid were suddenly encased in snow. Great lakes formed into solid ice. Glaciers grew like tumors off of the once verdant cliffs.
The Aedelo Mountains, due to their altered height in comparison to the other islands, pull much higher wind speed than their neighboring regions. This causes the region to be full of flying fauna. These flying fauna have formed a complex ecosystem which relies on the algae growing on the much warmer undersides of the mountain islands.
The ice on these mountains, when melted, tends to mostly seep through the island and leech out the bottom. This causes large caves to form in the bottoms of these islands that spill their water to the lands below. These mineral rich cave springs cause the large algae blooms, and are a vital source of water for the various flying fauna of the Aedelo Mountains
Although the area is much too hostile for any kind of comprehensive expeditions, there exist rumors of a facility deep in the mountains much older than even the Sunfey. Whispered tales speak of miles of cold metal blooming into almost organic alloy structures. Some even say this facility, whatever it may be, moves less like an automaton and more like a living creature.

Fauna & Flora

Although the ecosystems of the myriad islands vary wildly region to region (and sometimes island to island), generally the list of fauna that live in this region can be classified under the following groups:

Fauna

Pterosaurs

Many species of Pterosaurs fly through the tight treelines and rocky mountain passes of The Shatterlands. Ranging from the small algae and bug-eating Anurognathids to the larger predatory Dimorphidon. Most of these Pterosaurs have evolved to be excellent climbers as well as fliers, taking advantage of the large under island algae fields as well as the arboreal environments of the

Life reconstruction of Sinomacrops bondei by Zhao Chuang

Floating Jungles.

Archaeopteryx 

Although several bird species have migrated to and from The Shatterlands, none of them have been able to displace the many species of Archaeopteryx that roam the plains and rainforests. Mainly comprised of predators and scavengers, the Archaeopteryx feed off of the many large herbivores and keep the fields from being overrun by livestock from ages past. These species also populate the caves and algae fields of the Aedelo mountains, and feed off the large populations of smaller Pterosaurs.

Piff

Piff which roam The Shatterlands are the descendants of ancient pets once held in high esteem by Sunfey society. Their wily nature and quick reflexes make them agile predators of the Viridi Heights, and their intelligence rivals some of the great philosophers. Their lost ability of flight does handicap them in some regard, but even in their now purely terrestrial nature they sit supreme as apex predators.

Cervitaurs

Intelligent yet primitive Deer-like centaurs, these cultured people roam the rainforests and plains exploring ruins and worshipping gods formed from idols long past. Their culture has elevated the many statues of the Sunfey empire to almost mythical status, with each ruin being given its own tutelary deity. Shatterland-Born Cervitaurs hunt and live in the Viridi Heights and Floating Jungle regions of The Shatterlands, being unable to navigate the rough terrain of The Aedelo Mountains or make their way down from the intense heights they spend their lives on.

Cervitaur by IvyGM

History

The history of the Shatterlands extends all the way back to the 3rd Era. Being the territory of the Sunfey Empire, its history is intrinsically interwoven with the ancient society.
Although The Shatterlands history is better described in other places, one pervasive mystery that remains is what actually caused the land to form into floating islands. Theories range from a natural elemental phenomenon to divine wrath, but the primary theory held by scholars is that some kind of ritual performed by the Sunfey caused the Shatterlands formation. Evidence of this exists primarily in the arcane magic seeping from ruins and the islands themselves, as well as the altered gravity of some islands. 
Whatever the reason, hundreds of expeditions flock to the region each year to uncover its many secrets. Its the hope of scholars that with the new technology of the modern era they will finally be able to find the true cause of The Shatterland's myriad fractured expanses.

Alternative Name(s)

Elvish Highlands

Type

Subcontinent

Location under

Nevarine

Included Locations

• Aetera

Included Organizations

• Quester's Travel Guild

Contested By

• Free Human States
• Freymoor
• The Council of Ilve-Soone

Inhabiting Species

• Broadtooth Glider