The Marches territories

Overview

The Marches lie in the western Empire. Mitwold and Upwold are largely made up of fertile farmland, while Bregasland is rich fenland and the Mournwold is a combination of wide grasslands and rolling hills. The territories are covered in a patchwork of farms, small villages, household estates, and the occasional small town. While much of the Marches is civilised, there are still plenty of wild lands - deep forests, lonely hills, and dour marshes alike can harbour greedy brigands, savage orcs, lost ruins, and hungry monsters.

Upwold, The Silver Chase

Upwold is where the Marchers first established themselves when they walked away from Dawn. The scattered orc tribes that dwelt here were no match for their determination to make a home for themselves; those that fled west or south would find themselves followed in short order as the Marchers pushed into Mitwold and Bregasland. Those that fled north found death at the hands of the Wintermark.

Today, Upwold is a wealthy territory in a wealthy nation - though unlike Mitwold a significant amount of its wealth comes from industries other than farming. While there are of course many farms in Upwold, the quick-growing silver birch woods on the eastern borders are the source of a great deal of income. Charcoal-burners live there, turning wood into easily transportable fuel for smith and hearth alike - the charcoal of Upwold provides pure fuel for the cities of the League and the forges of Wintermark alike. The birch bark is used in the tanning industry, to cure the hides of the cattle that graze on the river pastures.

Upwold is one of the few areas where anything other than beer is drunk. For centuries, the brewers of Upwold have made a drink from the sap of the birch trees that warms their hearts in the cold winter nights but brings strange dreams.

The people who live up here have closer links to the Navarr than many in the Marches, and more need for Beaters than most. Through the dark heart of those woods are paths no Marcher treads. From these secret ways come the painted Feni - uncivilised raiders, thieves, and rustlers who raid and steal from isolated settlements. To the north-west, cousins to these forests decay into the marshes that form the southern border of Kallavesa in Wintermark.

Mitwold, Pride of the Marches

More than in Upwold or Bregasland, the households of Mitwold engage in feuding and bitter rivalry. The closer two households are to one another in Mitwold, the more likely it is that they are engaged in a bitter feud. This is also the territory where many of the best known ball games are played, and it is a regular occurrence for some dispute to be settled by a savage game of rugby, football or rounders.

Mitwold's substantial coast, populated by small fishing villages along the shore, gives way to fertile chalk-soiled downs further inland, with rich game-filled woodland and larger farms and market towns beyond. There's gold in the soil of the north-western portion of the nation; the gold of summer's harvest.

Bregasland the Dour Fens

Sandwiched between the barbarian-held woods of Liathaven, the southern Jotun kingdoms, and the sea, lies Bregasland. The territory is primarily made up of freshwater fenland. Home to “Bregas” (fenlanders), this is a place of small islands of abundantly fertile soil, surrounded by seemingly endless marshes where eels are caught. There are several households here made up entirely of merrow, and several settlements populated by people who have been shunned but cannot bring themselves to leave the Marches.

Bregasland is home to partially sunken ruins, including several stone circles that pre-date Marcher possession of the land. For some reason the marshwalkers that are comparatively common in the marshes tend to leave these ruined structures alone. It is also home to dangerous man-eating lizards, giant insects, flesh-eating plants, bottomless bogs and strange lights that seek to lure the incautious into deadly situations. Those who explore the depths of the marshes here sometimes disappear without trace ...

Mournwold, the Mourn

This desolate land was known as the Mourn even before its final fall to the barbarian hordes in 349AE. Originally the name referred to the sound of the wind in the trees and across the craggy hills. Now it seems a more fitting name for the loss which Marcher folk feels at the March's passing. The conquest of Mournwold is fresh in the hearts and memories of many Marchers.

Whereas Upwold and Mitwold in particular are known for their sprawling farms, the rugged terrain of the Mourn is perhaps better known for its mines. The hills are riddled with rich veins of green iron, and with mine workings dedicated to extracting that ore. Prior to the invasion of the Jotun, there had been a growing tide of dissatisfaction among professional miners that all political power had been vested in the hands of those who owned farms. There were regular complaints that mine owners, like farmers and stewards, owned and worked land - the only difference was that the crops they raised was ore and stone rather than fruit, grain or vegetables. Most likely this dissatisfaction had its roots in certain sharp business practices by some of the lowland stewards, who set the prices for the food sold to the miners.