Wintermark territories

Wintermark lies in the north-west of the Empire. It is significantly colder than the lands around the Bay of Catazaar, marked by high peaks, rolling tundra and great freshwater lakes. The four territories are scattered with settlements and criss-crossed by a network of watchtowers and beacons that allow the Winterfolk to maintain vigilance against barbarian attacks. Many of these beacons are isolated, but halls have sprung up around several of them, often taking their names from the beacons or watchtowers they protect.

The wilderness between halls is often trackless, but there are many well-known routes between settlements. The land is known for it's natural beauty; while it is cold, it is by no means an arctic wasteland. In summer particularly the plains and woodlands of Wintermark teem with animal life. It is a hardy land, however, that breeds hardy men and women. It is also a prosperous land - there is a great deal of hunting, fishing, herding. agriculture, mining and trade between halls and the rest of the Empire.

While three of the four territories are viewed as the "spiritual home" of one of the three peoples, all WInterfolk are welcome in all territories. While the halls of Kallavesa tend to have more Kallavesi members than Suaq or Stienr, it is a rare hall that consists only of folk from one of the three peoples.

Hahnmark

The territory of Hahnmark is spread along a series of treacherous mountain passes, the rolling foothills beneath and the wide plains that stretch toward Sermersuaq and Kallavesa. In ancient times was the centre of the troll kingdom, but today is considered the ancestral homeland of the Steinr in Wintermark. The other passes through the mountains are likewise protected by fortified halls, preventing access to the rolling hills that drop down towards fertile plains.

Kallavesa

This is the ancestral home of the Kallavesi, a land of cold stagnant bogs. The land changes through the seasons, but always has a feeling of brooding stillness. In the warmer months it is a boggy marsh cut through with streams and fjords. In the winter the waterways freeze over and the whole land is covered with frost and snow. The marsh serves as the national graveyard and this is a place of ancient secrets and mysticism. The stories of the mystics say that in ancient times a flight of crows flew over the marshes scattering feathers into the waters below. Where each feather landed, a Kallavesi emerged from the marshes.

Sermersuaq

Sermersuaq is the ancestral home of the Suaq people. The forests and tundra of this territory are rich with animal life that sustains the Winterfolk, ranging from great furred beasts to small game and hunting birds. The northern waters are home to seals and penguins, and full of fish and whales. As one travels further north, the land becomes colder and colder until a traveller comes to transient ice floes that mark the the farthest extent of the land claimed by the Winterfolk. This fertile territory is under constant threat from both the Thule and the Jotun whose hunting parties also seek to exploit the profusion of life here, regularly engaging in skirmishes with the Winterfolk who live here.

Skarsind

Lost in 373YE, recovered in 377YE. Skarsind is a place of alpine slopes and valleys, pine forests and rising mists, set in what's known as the Great Vale, a bowl of mountains that holds both Skarsind and the forest of Hercynia. Gildenheim in the east was the second largest settlement in Wintermark. Founded by Gilda Heimssdottir, it stands over the entrance to a frozen underworld cavern into the walls of which are carvings in a mysterious alphabet that are said to be the source of the magical runes used throughout Wintermark.