Jotunar
From World of Kralis
Jotunar (Joo-tun-ar) is more a land with a name than it is a true nation. It is the home to many different races, from various backgrounds, all with a single thing in common: they are running from something or someone. It has come to mean a land of exile, and the place easily fulfills this.
It is a cold, dark land filled with harsh, steep mountains and cold plains that see very, very few days of good sun. The winds of Iztalik constantly blow in whipping the cold snows and ice in violent tornado like storms. Even at the peak of its midsummer there is a soul-chilling fog that blows off the Sea of Tears and across the hard, cold mossy tundra. The sun becomes muted, dulled out make the whole land shine in a greying light. The hard ground does not give way easily, and when it does it is strewn with broken grave markers, and bits of wooden shacks that have become bleached as gray as the bones of the dead that erupt from the earth in many places.
There is very little greenery or forests in this northern wasteland what few trees there are, they are scattered in small valley pockets of the Kultak Mountains that dominate the landscape.
It is a land that is filled with danger, from the land and the cold to the various groups of bandits and gangs that roam the land praying on the weak and those that have come here to escape one danger, only to find another.
[edit] Life and Society
Just like the weather and the environment life in Jotunar is extremely harsh. There are no major cities, no towns and very few villages through out the land most of which are made up of an inn, a tavern and a few homes. There are no farms, no managed herds of sheep or cattle. Life here is based on survival of the fittest.
Most individuals get swallowed up into a number of groups each lead by an individual that seems to think that they are the Ice King. These groups often clash when they come in sight of each other, each trying to take what little the other group has in order to survive. These tend to be very bloody battles that can rage for several days.
Fortunately, at least for the few villages that do exist, the villages themselves are seen as vital for survival in this harsh part of the world and are considered zones of peace, at least until the tension becomes so high that one group cracks and attacks another.
Trade routes are kept free from attack (those that do attack trade lines are often fell upon by other Ice Kings) and are allowed to exist in order to allow trade to happen between the mines in the Kultak’s where coal and the raw ore that is used in the creation of Dark Dust is mined.
These mines are constantly working, and are worked by slaves that are brought up from the Southern Realms.The mining is done in harsh conditions, there is very little rest, those that do find themselves at the wrong end of the taskmaster of the mine. Slaves that are sold into slavery here, rarely live for more than a few months.
It is difficult to say if the Ice Kings could or would allow a greater amount of trade or a surge of populace, if the new arrivals could stand the weather. The Ice Kings tend to be dominating individuals that see the land as their territory and when you settle on that land you owe them.
[edit] Major Features
Dominated singularly by the great Kultak Mountains, there is very little in way of major features of this wasteland. To the north, the land is defined by the great ice glaciers of Iztalik. There are number of glacier “islands” that extend out from these great glaciers and have some interesting qualities, particularly the ice tunnels and caves.
Kultak Mountains
Jagged, sharp, inhospitable. These are some of the common words used to describe the Kultak Mountains that dominate the land of Jotunar. They are high mountains with ragged peaks, steep slopes, and sheer cliffs that give the mountains a number of odd angles. The whole of the mountain range is dark grey with patches of green forest that seem to vanish into deep crevices and over cliffs.
While the mountains are rugged and sharp, a number of creatures, particularly dracos ictus, make their home in these gray mountains. These mountains are littered with caves and tunnels that are said to extend into the realms of DeepEarth as well as lakes of lava and rivers of ice.
The mountains, particularly the lower foothills of the mountains, are dotted with large mining operations that run at full speed through out the year. Even in the coldest months of the year thick columns of steam can be seen rising from the mouths of these mines as workers toil under grueling conditions through forced labor under the direction of task masters.
Great Glacier Islands
This is a dangerous area, hidden deep in the Wild Lands, legend holds that these caverns are the upper portion of a lost natural mine of raw red steel ore, but the legend also states that those that attempt to take the ore from its home will never find rest.
[edit] Important Sites
Despite the cold, blistering winds and the cold mist from the Sea of Tears, there is evidence that the land of Jotunar was once the home of an ancient kingdom. Whatever the kingdom once was, there is strong evidence that the civilization that once existed here was indeed something of a small power. There are a number of sites through out the land that stand out more than just the Kultak Mountains.
