Sea of Grass
The Sea of Grass is a vast steppe land that stretches from the Northlands in the north to the verges of the Vast Desert and the Xircos River Valleyin the south, from the Stoneheart Mountains in the west to Seagestreland in the east. The long, slow Vindelsalven River runs through its northern reaches and provides a means of transportation from the Stonehearts and Lake Hargos all the way to Seagestre Gulf in the North Sea.
Roaming the Sea of Grass are the K’Haln tribes, the Mongat Tribes, and the Lundhargo Tribes, the descendants of the Hundaei who once settled these lands during their campaigns against the Hyperboreans. Great beasts also traverse The Plains, tracing ancient migratory paths. There are dangers within the Tanomir Fens, which are said to be the home of strange men with the heads of lizards, great black wyrms that can break a ship in half, and worse.
Tallgrasses dominate the western regions, where prevailing winds off Legion Bay bring moisture north, while the eastern areas, particularly those bordering the Vast Desert, are largely covered by shortgrasses. In places, the land undulates in gently rolling hills, while in others, the terrain is entirely devoid of features, a vast and flat plain stretching to the horizon.
Surface water is fairly scarce in these plains. Scattered throughout the Sea of Grass, however, are isolated spots of wetland formed around one of the many seeps that leak underground water up through sandy soil to the surface. Such seeps are sacred places of hospitality to the K’Haln horse nomads. It is forbidden to kill within sight of one, and most have some odd and unique restrictions applicable to those who visit there.
While most seeps are little more than pools surrounded by denser grasses and perhaps a few trees, some are larger, up to a few miles across. Never truly a bog or swamp, such seeps can give rise to fens supporting cattails, bulrushes, and other water plants as well as small pools filled with fish, turtles, and waterfowl. Many birds stop at these places on their great migrations north and south to feed on the fen’s plant and animal life before taking flight in great flocks. The K’Haln hunt the margins of the fens but rarely venture into their depths. While there is wild talk that a water serpent lives at the heart of each of these wetlands, the trepidation of the horse nomads is more prosaic. While never more than a few feet deep at any one point, the fens can be quite muddy and wet, which makes it difficult for horses to traverse.
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