Geography Update

Pearl Ocean- While not a province of Kallendaros, the Pearl Ocean is the only major seaway near the region and the sole provider of saltwater fish and precious pearls in such abundance that mariners named the Ocean in honor of the bounty. The Pearl Ocean provides quick travel and is a vast lane of traffic for merchants, soldiers and bandits. The water is always crystal in color with choppy waves that tend to have a northern wind blowing upon them. The southern more reaches of the Pearl Ocean are darker and moodier in nature than the ocean that surrounds northern Kallendaros.

The Dead Ring- Hundreds of years ago a circle of water near the shores of the Lorewood Forest became black as pitch and stagnant, with no living things dwelling in them. Mariners fear the Ring as an evil omen and won’t travel over it if it can be helped. Bandits skirt the Ring knowing that military vessels won’t sail too close, but some of the bandit ships seem to vanish without trace, only to be found a time later, wandering aimlessly and bereft of cargo and passengers…if they are found at all. The sky above is often bleak or overcast, while storms of violent proportion haunt the region of black water on a frequent basis. Legend goes that the Dead Ring creates a vacuum of water that drags a vessel down and strips it of its goods before ejecting it back to the surface. Most scholars look down on this theory as pure rubbish, but it has never been proved whether that may be the reason so many vessels have met their end in this cursed patch of ocean. There is a small, swamp encrusted island within the Dead Ring whose heart is clustered with broken rock and barren earth. For much of the year an unnatural cover of snow and ice cover the small island in the heart of the Dead Ring, which was once a prison for notorious prisoners during the height of the kingdom of Telaine.

           

Gorgaroth Mountains- This underwater chain of mountains has three volcanoes that protrude from the surface of the Pearl Ocean. This sometimes gives the eastern horizon a dim red glow, or a false sun as the mariners named it. There are in actuality hundreds of mountainous peaks below the surface of the Ocean, but only a handful are high enough to protrude from the water. Unfortunately most of the mountains are high enough to become a dangerous obstacle to mariners and their sailing vessels, as they can tear holes clean through a hull. The three volcanic mountains are well known by mariners and have been named the Red King, Red Queen and Red Prince in order of their relative size. The wide channel between the Gorgaroth Mountains and the mainland happens to be a route of high maritime traffic in Kallendaros. It is said that giant beasts live on the Gorgoroth, residing in mountainous plains and valleys where copses of trees and cavern complexes choked with seawater can be found. It is believed by sages that the Gorgoroth Mountains were once connected to Kallendaros until the cataclysmic earthquake that tore the land asunder. The great valley between the mountains and the mainland sank, leaving the Gorgoroth isolated and slowly sinking in the vast depths of the Pearl Ocean. All along the southern reaches of the mountainous caverns, the ghostly whistling of Malignant Harpers can be heard for miles off. It is the largest known region where Harpers gather for food and for a den.

           

Arnor Desert- This vast Desert is a great body of sand, heat and despair. It spans weeks in every direction and is painfully hot any time of the year. The Desert plays host to little but the hardiest survivors and nomadic tribes that wander the sands in search of its secret treasures. It is home to sandstorms that are so severe that they can strip the flesh from a Human within seconds if they happened to be caught outside. The Desert also houses Mount Drake, a fiery mountain that protrudes from the desert floor like a crown of stone and lava. The mountain spews volcanic ash and rivers of red fire periodically, turning the land to dust around it. An ancient Dragon is said to dwell within the mountain, descended from Gildaryss the Tyrant Wyrm. The mountain is also infested with gatherings of Gorgon and Ebon. Streaks of sulfur and ash from the mountain can fall upon the Arnor Desert for miles around, turning the sand darker colors. A great gray/black cloud of sulfur and smoke hangs over the mountain, and the rare rain that falls from the sky is stained with its acidic tones, burning anyone caught beneath the cloud. There is also Thunder Road, a gathering of storms and wind on the eastern brink of the Arnor Desert. The land is dug in a desolate trench of stony earth where gypsies travel to avoid the heat of the Arnor, while risking a new danger in the Thunder Road, which manifests storms with alarming speed. The Road measures hundreds of miles long. The Abysmal Trench resides on the northern edge of the desert, a long, jagged break of earth where sand and seawater pour into a black, seemingly endless pit. The sound of the water and sand falling is tremendous, and a man could go deaf if he were there for more than a short while. The Trench spans for hundreds of miles, and exhales a cloud of choking steam mixed with desert sand that swirls and sweeps the barren cliffs and desert plains. The pull of both sides is quite strong and sea faring or desert dwelling folk take care not to stray too close to either side for fear of being drug into a deep, unknown death. Sharp, straight cliffs of red sandstone line the desert walls of the Abysmal Trench, as sand leaks through breaks in the cliffs like great white waterfalls. On the northern most brink of the desert where the ocean brings respite from the unbearable heat lay the Dwarven city of Deep Rock. Though the city delves deep into the earth, deeper than any other Dwarven city, it is the only known habitation that is not nestled in a mountain face. It is said that intricate canals of seawater were diverted from the Pearl Ocean to feed the bowels of the city, and that the water irrigates vast chambers of food stuffs for the Dwarves.