Minaria RPG

Hothior

Last update: February 8, 2007

Introduction: Hothior is a rugged land, with a variety of terrains from high mountains to deep swamps, from dry grasslands to wet moors. Although centrally located in the Coastal Heartlands, it is an untamed land, where frontier farmers exist side by side with trapper and miners, and monsters are never far away. The former seabed  has transformed the southern coastal regions into fertile farmland with numerous unnamed hamlets, but little of the land elsewhere is irrigated and settled save within a day’s ride of the urban centers, where exists what little high culture available in Hothior.

 Capital: Port Lork

 Population: approximately 900 000 (humans 82%, Ercii 9%, Dwarves 2%, others 7%)

The human population is a mixture of native Soraskier barbarian stock, a Zefnarite minority, and a smattering of Mueta and Mivioran blood, dating to the days of foreign cultural influences. Ercii can be found mainly in northwestern Hothior, and Trolls in the southwestern quarter.

 Religions: Anshar (as Lork), Huisinga, Sankari, Taquamenau, Mnugu, Tanaro

 Government: Monarchy

 Hothior has a fairly strong centralized monarchy, but the regionalism of the subjugated barons lingers beneath the surface. The country has a rich barbarian history, but has spent many centuries struggling for freedom from various conquerors, both from within and from without. Following a century of insulation, the last hundred years have seen a flowering of Hothior’s culture and geopolitical aspirations. Alas, this prosperous land remains coveted by its many neighbors.

 Hothior is ruled by the Mandoran dynasty, a noble family originally from the small frontier village on the Muetaran border. Established in 1098 by King Walkhort, the dynasty has ruled from the traditional capital of Port Lork (Rocazha) with varying degrees of control over the fractious barons. Hothior has a long tradition of independence, and as its disparate parts do not often see eye to eye with the Crown. King Boarhort and his father Melwert II have carefully chosen earls to control the four fiefs from families supportive of the Mandoran dynasty. They have had recent troubles with resurgent Luwman covens (1354 AC). 

Ruler: King Boarhort of Mandora (unkindly referred to in private as “the Braggart”) has benefited from the safe and secure realm he inherited from his father, Melwert II. Boarhort (Fighter 15) grew up as heir to the throne, and despite a fine record of military service, has a bit of a reputation as a wastrel in peacetime. Fortunately for the dynasty, he was paired by his father to Unno Amocar, daughter of the old Earl of Wend. The marriage has proven a great boon to the kingdom, as Unno is every bit the able ruler that Boarhort is not.

 The King is also counseled on important matters of state by a Diet composed of the Earls, Barons, religious leaders, and selected members of the burgeoning merchant class. The Diet elects the Royal Chancellor, and has a limited veto over his actions. Because so much judicial and day to day control resides in this position, the Chancellor must be balanced and checked by an agency like the Diet. The current Royal Chancellor is Warz Nemeqi  (Wizard, L11). Nemeqi is the a fine counselor, who must maintain a delicate balancing act between working to uphold the royal rule without seeming to dominate the government like the black mage, Monard , did over a century ago.

 The Mandoran dynasty maintains tight control over most economic matters of the kingdom, particularly horse breeding and leather work. A modest merchant marine is based in Port Lork, while the royal Navy is based in Lapspell. While most centers have some sort of keep, outside of the major cities (Port Lork, Tadafat and Lapspell) only the town of Nazlon can be considered a walled town. Port Lork has the old port of Rocazha walled, and in Lapspell the ancient Soraskier hill fort is similarly enclosed, but in both cases the sprawling suburbs cannot be contained by the antiquated fortifications.

 Major Geographical Features

 Darmiyane province:         Click here for a MAP of the province.

 The northeastern fief of Hothior is a bisected by a ridge of broken lands and rolling hills and by the two great rivers of the land, the Floodwater and the Big Fork River (also known as the Ebbing). The only two urban centres in this rough terrain are Fursten, a market town at the limit of navigable waters of the Floodwater, and the northern village of Mandora, ancestral home of the ruling dynasty. A few hamlets dot the banks of the Floodwater and Ebbing Rivers, most located in the grasslands and delta.

The eastern end of the Kudurru Hills, a range of dusty dry hills, falls away sharply with the Steigan Escarpment. This 80 foot drop in elevation has a wide span of broken rocky terrain at its base, but eventually smoothes out into open grasslands in the delta of the two great rivers and the Solrag marsh at the Floodwater’s edge. A series of tombs of the ancient Soraskier barbarian chiefs was recently discovered by a group of adventurers in a cave complex, cutting into the escarpment some two days west of Fursten.

 Looking south towards from atop the Steigen Escarpment

 The northern boundary of the kingdom is the Forest of Lurking, whose dark southern extension is full of heavy pines, with the distant Wizard Cap Mountains looming over the forest to the north. Darmiyane is bounded in the west by the Bitter Canyon, through which the River Ebbing runs, which is marked by sheer rocky cliffs for a span of twenty-plus miles. The eastern boundary of the fief lies in the Pakaln Hills west of Plibba.

 Hazibluut province: Click here for a MAP of most of the province.

 The northwestern fief of Hothior, bounded in the east by the River Ebbing and the Zaqaru Mountains to the west, is ruled from Tadafat on the River, a fortress town built upon the ruins of the ancient seaport of Bihestag. Hazibluut also contains the smaller villages of Hael and Wend, and the town of Coel, which has a ford across the Ebbing. Hazibluut is notable for being the least settled of the fiefs of Hothior. Other than the aforementioned centers, only along the west bank of the Big Fork River (Ebbing) north and south of Tadafat does one find a few small hamlets.

 The dominant feature of the area is the Simaal Gash, a largely unpopulated canyon leading through the western extension of the Kudurru Hills. The Gash connects Tadafat with the independent town of Willowik. To the south, the Mace Pass (also called the Stone Face Pass by the Trolls) provides similar access through the dangerous and desolate Zaqaru Mountains to the coastal lands of Mivior and the Trolls. The traditional southern boundary between Hazibluut and Milkyatae is the Mound of Branant, an ancient abandoned barbarian hillside redoubt, now overrun with brush and monsters.

 Milkyatae province:

The most populated fief of Hothior, this expansive southwestern province hosts the capital of the country, Port Lork. This large walled city is the home of the country’s largest exporters, particularly of horsehide. It sits inside the greatest protected harbour in Hothior, at the eastern tip of Zimri Bay. Nearby is the mouth of the great river Floodwater.  The heartland of the kingdom, Milkyatae contains large tracts of semi-settled territory, with numerous small hamlets in the grass lands and irrigated territory, and a variety of smaller centers including the villages of Maelg and Lerfald, and the towns of Vaugh and Farnot.

 Milkyatae contains the kingdom’s primary copper mines, at Copper Pond, situated in an eastern extension of the Shaker Mountains. This imposing range, pushed skyward by the Cataclysm, contains jagged peaks, and is prone to earthquakes every century or so. Milkyatae also contains the best part of the kingdom’s lumbering industry, with lumber camps nestled under the leaves of the Bad Axe Forest, a vast deciduous forest sitting astride the border of Mivior and Hothior. Most lumber and mining expeditions have to be constantly protected from the many monster attacks in this wild frontier.

 The northern portion of the province is less well developed, but still relatively prosperous, especially when compared to the frontier lands of Hazibluut or Darmiyane. Coel is home to the only ford across the Ebbing south of Tadafat, and also serves as a transport hub for lumber shipments from the Bad Axe forest.. The eddy pools below the ford are full in spring, summer, and fall with logs being shipped to the coast. A confluence of small rivers creates the Attrayne Mires between Coel and the union of the Floodwater and Big Fork rivers, necessitating Hothioran watch posts on small islands in the middle of the river.

 Heolster Woods, south of Coel, is a pleasant deciduous forest, albeit one with rugged terrain in stretches. It was here in 1098 AC, that Walkort’s army ambushed the larger Muetarian army, after luring them into the forest through a subterfuge. Today the forest is protected by royal edit as a symbol of Hothioran glories past, and,not inconsequently, as a private royal hunting preserve.

 The south side of Zimri bay, however, is much more pleasant, with grasslands, irrigated farms, and largely tamed woodlands. The Edin Triangle, as the land between Port Lork and Farnot is known, is the most prosperous area of the kingdom, with vast horse and cattle ranches and large tracts of planted grain. The Gudea Escarpment juts out along the southern side of Zimri bay, creating a cliff face protecting Boarhort’s Redoubt, a country retreat for the monarch.

 The wooded area at the tip of the peninsula is known popularly as “Cape Horror” after the centuries-old point where the Abominations landed in 949 AC. Deep in the heart of the woods exists a cleared area where no grass will grow. The surrounding countryside has been shunned by the Hothiorans for centuries., save for limited logging at the forest’s edge.

 Angula Point, a marshy spit of land between Farnot and Lapspell marks the eastern boundary of the province.

 Zimri Bay from the top of the Gudea Escarpment

 Rolstaag province: 

 The dominant physical feature of Rolstaag is the great river, known as The Deep. This extension of Kartika Bay into the interior of the continent has been an ancient gateway of commerce, and is undergoing a renaissance in recent years as Muetar attempts to widen the river as far as Lake Carth. The southeastern fief, Rolstaag, is dominated by the port of  Lapspell and its famous castle. Its satellite is Nazlon, a river town. There are a number of small hamlets, like Axtar, in the settled parts of this fief, especially along the banks of the Deep.

 Kartika Bay marks the boundary between the increasingly arid lands to the south of the kingdom and the temperate lands of Hothior. The mouth of  The Deep is a marshy region, and the western boundary of the fief is dominated by the Fens, a treacherous swamp and home to many humanoids. Settlement perseveres around Lapspell, protected on three sides by a high cliff face, and around Nazlon, the first ford on the Deep. The western Fens have recently seen a surge in the activity of Troll marauders. In the northern mires of the Fens sits an ancient shipwreck, the Ship-in-the-Fens now entombed in centuries of dirt and silk.

 The other high point of land in central Rolstaag is the Standing Stone, an ancient religious site to the Earth Mother, now largely abandoned save for the druids. Adding to the site’s shunning is the historical fact that the Standing Stone was also the site of one of Hothior’s great military defeats in 905 AC, when the Wisnyo invasion destroyed the native army.

 Important Sites:

 Axtar (Hamlet, approx 150)

 Axtar is a tiny crossroads, west of Lapspell and ruled from the great castle. The hamlet is primarily known for its dairy cattle, but wheat fields surrounding the hamlet provide enough grain for a small trade to Lapspell and Vaugh. The only large public building is a tavern, colourfully known as a the Muddy Bell, which is run by a innkeeper named Greis and his daughter, Iola. Until recently Axtar was administered by a Warden, Adamar Lasonin, local hero and a veteran of the 1351 war who held the Lapspell city gates against a mercenary uprising during the war and was appointed Warden by Earl Brennan afterwards. Lasonin and his wife Helena were slain under mysterious circumstances by Trolls and the post is currently vacant. Their son, Adamas, left town shortly afterwards.

 Lerfald (Village, approx. 650):

 King Boarhort has a fondness for hunting in the Royal preserve south of Vaugh. With a delightful chalet retreat in a forest along the cliffs of Zimri Bay, he can stay in a day’s proximity to the Royal Court, while indulging his well-known taste in good foods, ales, and sport. The village of Lerfald is ruled in the monarch’s name by Baron Forvalter (Cleric of Lork L4), a conscientious steward who smoothes over the king’s rough edges with his subjects.

 Cellon (Hamlet, approx 100)

 Cellon is a tiny hamlet in the middle of the Kudurru Hills, about halfway between Tadafat and Fursten. The hamlet survives as a defensible stopover between the larger centers. It is ruled by the hottempered Armus Bristleburn (Fighter 4), who has Soraskier barbarian blood in his veins.

 Coel (Small Town, approx. 2500):

 This riverside town is one of the best agricultural centers in the realm. It sits at the edge of the delta of the confluence of the Big Fork and Floodwater Rivers, in the shadow of the Mound of Branant. Coel has been occupied by Soraskier barbarians for hundreds of years, and is ruled by descendants of the Nashadu tribe. Earl Snowmantle (Bard and Forri Knight, L10) is a boisterous and vigorous man. The ford at Coel is one of the few crossing points along the river. It also represents the limits of navigable waters of the Floodwater/Ebbing from Vaugh. The town’s patrols extend into the nearby Atrrayne Mires. The Earl’s men operate a series of watch posts on islands in the middle of the sprawling morass of waterways, ensuring lighthouse capacities and keeping shipping from going aground. The watchposts however can do little to impact other travelers crossing the marshes and river.

 Copper Pond (Village, approx. 800):

 Copper Pond is the site of the smelting operation from the mines in the nearby Shaker Mountains. Copper ore is treated here and then shipped to Port Lork. A small castle, built over several hundred years of Hothioran occupation, overlooks the lake (referred to whimsically as a “pond”), the village, and a small area of cleared farmland. Copper Pond, which is fed by the fast-moving Bifian Springs, was the site of a major Hothiorian victory during Boewenn’s War. In 1304 AC a Troll invasion was turned back by a mix of Forri Knights and levies. There are still a series of mounds in the nearby Bad Axe Forest that were the final resting place of hundreds of the creatures. Copper Pond also contains the one concentration of dwarves in the kingdom, as dwarves operate the smelting operations. 

 Farnot (Small Town, approx. 2000):

 The fishing centre of Hothior, Farnot is a highly independent town with a fierce self-sufficient pride. Centrally located in Milkyatae fief, Farnot has always lived in the shadow of the rivalry between Port Lork and Lapspell. Earl Mahig Sharden oversees the second best harbour in the kingdom.

 Fursten (Small Town, approx. 2500):

 This river town, the main way stop between Tadafat and Plibba, has slowly emerged from Nazlon and Lapspell’s economic shadows. Fursten is the last ford on the Floodwater and has fine ranches in the vicinity. The town has a proud history, and is currently ruled by the even tempered and just Earl Sagin Olstigan (Paladin of Lork 12), Fursten seems poised for great things. Click here for the Map of Fursten.

 Hael (Village, approx. 400):

 This tiny settlement is most notable for its geography. Hael is built on and around “the Giant’s Grave”, a high hill with a distinctive stone ridge backbone, which doubles as a curtain wall for the pallisaded village. A relatively young village, Hael was founded during the reign of Monard, as one of the frontier challenges to the Trolls. Hael is also known for  the proclivity of Ogres in the area, many of whom seem to be making a pilgrimage to the site.

 Lapspell (Small City, approx. 10 000):

 This center of trade in south eastern Hothior, is the gateway to the interior of the continent. Not only does Lapspell primarily work the Shucassami trade lanes for the kingdom, but it also handles a volume of river traffic from Muetar and most of illicit trade from the Banished Lands. Lapspell is dominated by the greatest castle in the realm, which sits atop the edge of a cliff face overlooking the Deep. Dikes have expanded the marshes east of the city, protecting that vulnerable flank and allowing new wetland crops to be planted profitably in what was before but poor pasture land. Castle Lapspell provides a great deal security for the surrounding yeoman farmers from the dangers of the nearby Fens. Ruled by the youthful Earl Daric Brennan (Fighter 10, Rogue 3), a covetous man, who assumed the post after the untimely death of his father during a mercenary revolt during the 1351 war. Brennen is eager to expand his family’s holdings, even at the expense of the Crown, but manages to stay just this side of treason to ensure the monarch doesn’t dispossess his family of the fiefdom. As Admiral of the Hothioran Royal Navy, he has plenty to keep him busy, with privateers from Freeport a constant threat.

 Click here for an expanded description of the port of Lapspell.

Click here for the MAP of Lapspell.

 Mandora (Village, approximately 1100):

 This tiny eastern outpost of Hothior is notable mainly because it is the home of the ruling Mandoran dynasty. A backwater village, Mandora caters largely to traffic coming west from Plibba, Muetar, and survives on the mining of small ore deposits in the nearby Paklan hills. A small keep controls the high land near the village, and a richly appointed manor house of the Mandoran family dominates the mains square. Ruled by Earl Haer Hind (Fighter 6), a  cousin of the king, who shares many of Boarhort’s self-indulgent tendencies.

 Maelg (Village, approx 800):

 Maelg is a crossroads town, dependent on trade coming from Serpent’s Bay and the Stone Face. Maelg was founded in 1249 AC by Chancellor Monard, using settlers from Coel. The colonists began settling on Troll sacred land southwest of the Mound of Branant. There is still a Troll influence to the village, personified by an unusual shrine to Mnugu. A minor lumber industry thrives in the nearby Bad Axe Forest.

 Farmlands of Milkyatae province, southwest of Maelg

 Nazlon (Large Town, approx. 4000) :

 This river town marks the first ford on the River Deep and the traditional break-and-bulk point for trade with the south. Formerly an energetic town under the Trelaine family, Nazlon has declined economically over the last half century. Nazlon sits at the mouth of the nearby Pise River, a muddy slow-moving waterway that has a shallow delta where it joins the Deep. It is one of the few walled towns in Hothior, but its fortifications are in poor repair due to damage during the Meutaran invasion of 1351 AC. Its slovenly ruler, Earl Sukkal Shukura (Fighter 8), is a poor administrator and a lackluster military man who was appointed to the post on the basis of his financial “indulgences” to the Royal Court in the aftermath of the 1351 war. Click here for an expanded description of the town of Nazlon. Click here for the MAP of Nazlon.

 Port Lork (Large City, approx. 16 000):

 The capital of Hothior combines a favorable harbour with fertile land along the coast. Sometimes known by its Zefnarite name of Rocazha, the capital is the centre of the kingdom’s horsehide industry and the predominant port for southern trade. Goods are unloaded at the docks of Port Lork and then shipped by wagon, either inland, or via short distance to shallow draft boats who carry the goods farther upriver along the Floodwater. Port Lork is also the cultural centre of Hothior, with playhouses and a great temple to the state god, Lork. Due to the vulnerability of their capital city of Port Lork, the Hothiorans have lately engaged the best engineers to construct a heavy chain on a boom to prevent the entry of unwanted ships. It is known as  "Boarhort's Boom". While Boarhort officially rules Port Lork, those wise in the ways of the government know that direct day-to-day control is wielded by his wife, Queen Unno Amocar (Cleric of Lork 15). Sometimes called “the Uncomely” in private, Unno is a sharp-tongued, very intelligent, and forceful woman, who exercises a great deal of decision-making on behalf of her occasionally self-indulgent husband.

 Tadafat (Small City, approx. 9 000):

 The third-largest city in Hothior is a military town and a centre of civilization in the rough north of the kingdom. Tadafat is dominated by a great keep that nearly rivals Castle Lapspell. The town is built in and on the ruins of an ancient Lloroi port, Bihestag, and for this reason the walls of the city buildings are, unusually, stone. More modern sections on the outskirts are wooden, but the heart of the frontier town is old beyond all else in Hothior. Rumours abound of pre Cataclysmic tunnels, connections to the fell places of the Underdark, and even to lost augeos ore mines. An impressive modern bridge spans the river here. The city is ruled by Earl Jared Sagain (Ranger 6 and Forri Knight 7), a veteran campaigner of the wilderness reaches, and his military attaché, Belum Amelu (Fighter 5, Forri Knight 4), a descendant of the Soraskier barbarian chiefs.

 House Sagain’s colours are a yellow vertical stripe and a single yellow horizontal stripe on the lower half on a sky blue background, with a black-bordered gray zig zag across the upper half of the shield. House Sagain rose to power a generation ago under Timon Sagain, the father of the current Earl, originally a bannerman of King Silvon.

 Click here for expanded description of Tadafat.

Click here for map of Tadafat (CC2 version) or here for the low res JPG version.

 Wend (Small Town, approx. 1200):

 Wend is a rarity in Hothior, an urban area dominated by non-humans. This lakeside town contains the largest concentration (about 750) of half-elves in the realm. The waters of Lake Kerze are warmed by underground hot springs that enter the Big Fork River here, together with a confluence of nearby hills that create a temperate pocket in this cold region of Hothior. The half elves, mostly Ercii exiles, have industriously built a tidy town similar to larger Willowik, but with distinctive human overtones. Earl Regar Amocar, a veteran military man with surprisingly liberal social views, rules the town on behalf of the Crown. Brother-in-law to the king, Regar is Boarhort’s eyes and ears to the common people, as the Earl is very close to his subjects.

 Vaugh (Small Town, approx. 4000):

 Vaugh sits at the mouth of the Floodwater River, and is the beneficiary of the river borne trade bisecting the kingdom. The river is navigable by shallow draft boats upstream from Vaugh and a ever shifting channel leads from the mouth inland.  Vaugh has never, however, become as large as the capital because it lacks a deep water harbour, and Vaugh’s exposed coastline and soggy delta area is vulnerable to storms in the Sea of Drowning Men. The surrounding farmland is well irrigated and productive, however, making Vaugh the primary breadbasket for the capital, Port Lork. It is home to several smaller merchant trading costers, who manage a well developed system of wagon trade to and from the larger harbour at Port Lork. Vaugh is ruled by Earl Cnut Nagir (Fighter 9), a celebrated river man, and his military attaché, Lord Kedu Teral (Fighter 5, Forri Knight 3).

 Other sites:

 The Standing Stone (Druidic circle, approx. 25 during holy days of the Earth Mother):

This tor, surrounded by swamps, nettles and small trees, is clear at the top, where a huge irregularly shaped stone sits. The west side of the hill was rocky and difficult, but the east side slopes gently down through a deciduous forest to the Lapspell-Nazlon road and a beach. The road curves around the base of the hill. Below the road, the ground slopes away quickly, ending in a long sandy beach and the waves of the Deep. The beach stretches for several miles in each direction, with bits of driftwood bobbing in the foam.

 The crown of the hill is a clearing. Arranged in a circle, invisible from the ground below, is a ring of flat rectangular stones. The skyward faces of the stones, etched with Old Vidaran runes, are worn and almost illegible, though the grass all around the clearing is closely cropped by the local Druids.  At the centre of the ring, balanced on its edge and seemingly defying gravity, sits the precariously perched Standing Stone.  The hulking megalith threatens to topple at any second.

Map

Click here for an official map of Hothior and surrounding region.

Click here for an expanded map of Hothior