Monday, April 30, 2012

Akoth-Skae - Locations of Note Part 2


The Forest of Illsu: The largest forest on the island, Illsu is a semi-tropical dry forest that supplies Akoth-Skae with most of its lumber. Ruins and tombs also lie within the forest's shadowy confines.



Shorrani Savannah: These grasslands lie between the Illsu Forest to the south and the Akoth Highlands to the north. Shorrani is home to antelope, bush pigs, hyenas, lions, gnolls and zoanthropes.

Lion and cheetah hunting is a popular pastime for the nobility of Akoth-Shaln. Nobles hunt the big cats from chariots, using compound bows and hurled lion-spears to make their kills. Lion and cheetah-skin cloaks are highly valued marks of status within the city.



Maentor's Rise: A small, lonely hill some thirty miles south-east of Akoth-Shaln, Maentor's Rise overlooks the lush Rezuliea Oasis. On the Rise's summit is an odd religious site known as the Shrine of Humility. Traditionally neglected due to the island's decadent and evil culture, it has recently acquired a caretaker – a foreigner named Elthar Bassius. Once a knight, Bassius has forsworn the traditions of chivalry and the fields of honor to become a humble anchorite devoted to meditation and self-examination. Since his arrival the Shrine of Humility has started to attract the curious and the occasional sincere pilgrim.

A dungeon lies beneath Maentor's Rise, a place of evil magic that serves as a dark mirror to the Shrine of Humility's tranquility. This dungeon – called alternately the Pits of Pride and Sinbleak – is host to both devils and dangerous sorcerous phenomena. Rich treasures have occasionally been wrested from it in the past, but the wealth has often brought nothing but grief to its finders.



Cliffs of Caphus: The north-east coast of Akoth-Skae is a range of sea-cliffs running some thirty miles in length. A great ruin, the Villa of Caphus, overlooks the Cliffs. Legend says that the Villa was once a leisure estate for the Ultimate Tyrant, Typhon, who perished centuries ago during the cataclysm that created the Shattered Coast.

The grasslands and forests around the Cliffs are home to large, dangerous birds such as axebeaks, swordbeaks, and arrowhawks.



Akoth Highlands: These stark hills rise up north-west of Akoth-Shaln. The south-eastern portion of the hills are controled by the city and hold much copper, iron and granite. The rest of the hills are quite dangerous, being home to ogres, cyclopskin and hags.



The Harsh Coast: The northern coast of Akoth-Skae is a bleak waste of rocky coves and salt-marshes. Several tribes of orcs lead precarious lives on the Harsh Coast. Sullen and insular, these orcs are preyed upon by slavers form Akoth-Shaln and by ogrekind from the Akoth Highlands.

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