EDRulebook: 20 Barsaive

The trolls raid the dwarfs,
The dwarfs dislike the elves.
The elves have no patience with humans,
and the humans war with each other.
But everyone hates the Therans.
-- Old Barsaivian proverb The following information is excerpted from the Throalic Encyclopedia, TH 1505, compiled by the Library of Throal between 1415–1505.

Barsaive is our land as well as the land of our ancestors. Wondrous discoveries and perilous dangers abound in its vast expanses, which stretch from the Death’s Sea to the Blood Wood, from the Aras Sea to The Wastes. Countless legends speak of Barsaive, yet much of our province remains unexplored and unexplained. Our ancestors call to us across a gulf of centuries, from the time before the Scourge. They tell us that the time has come for the heroes of Barsaive to rediscover the land, for us to rediscover ourselves. Our time is a time of legends, a time of courage, a time of heroes.

OVERVIEW

The province of Barsaive covers a huge expanse of land. Traveling from its southern boundary to its northern boundary would take a man 40 days on foot, 25 on horseback. Traveling from Barsaive’s eastern edge to its western boundary would take him 60 days on foot, 38 on horseback.

Though the exact borders of the province are not clearly defined, most Barsaivians accept the following landmarks as Barsaive’s boundary markers. The northern border ends at the Blood Wood, formerly called Wyrm Wood, where the Elven Queen Alachia presides over the Elven Court. The ocean of lava known as the Death’s Sea, where legend says that Death himself lies imprisoned, bounds Barsaive on the south. A blighted area known as The Wastes marks Barsaive’s western border. It includes the Poison Forest, a once-lush woodland blasted and corrupted by Horrors during the Scourge. The Aras Sea bounds Barsaive on the east, a saltwater ocean that connects Barsaive to other lands beyond the Kingdom of Throal and the Theran Empire.

Though most of Barsaive has recovered from the Scourge, many small mountain ravines and patches of land in the plains and jungles remain barren. Thriving towns and fertile farmland often surround these blighted spots, making their presence all the more peculiar.

THE LAND

The Scourge wrought terrible changes in the land of Barsaive, leeching forests and farmland of life and destroying cities, towns, and villages. In the century or so since the Scourge ended, few have dared to fully explore Barsaive’s vast, untamed tracts of land, and so much of the information recorded here comes from sources hundreds of years old. Though much of the world has fortunately recovered from the Scourge and returned to its natural state, none yet know for certain how much of Barsaive remains altered. These ancient accounts of Barsaive, therefore, may not be completely accurate.

LANDSCAPE

The landscape of Barsaive contains forests and jungles, plains, and hilly and mountainous regions. All three kinds of terrain can be found all over Barsaive. The plains and the hills and mountains both cover roughly a quarter of Barsaive, and jungles and forests cover the remaining half. The few roads that cross this rugged terrain wind up and down hills and around the province’s plateaus and mountains, making travel by even these established routes a difficult prospect. Traveling cross-country, off the main roads, poses a multitude of dangers to befall the unwary.

Plains

The plains of Barsaive stretch between the mountain ranges and jungles that cover most of the province. Low brush and small hills dot this vast expanse of land. Cities and towns have sprung up on the plains since the Scourge, and the countryside between the cities and mountains contains countless peoples, villages, and citadels.

Hills And Mountains

The hilly uplands of Barsaive stand well above the plains and forests. Smaller mountains rise from the uplands, to be dwarfed in turn by plateaus ranging from two to four times the mountains’ height. More massive mountain ranges, most notably the Throal Mountains and the Twilight Peaks, tower over the plateaus. These mountains penetrate the clouds and command an imposing view of the surrounding countryside.

Jungles And Forests

According to ancient texts, tall, broad-leafed trees covered Barsaive before the Scourge, blocking sunlight from reaching the ground and keeping the forest floors clear of underbrush. The Scourge devastated Barsaive’s woodlands, but natural growth enhanced by magic since the opening of the kaers and citadels has restored many of Barsaive’s forests. The land teems with tall trees and thick underbrush, whether nourished by sunlight or not. Magicians and questors have endlessly debated the precise cause of this magical growth, but no one has yet found an answer.

Today, Barsaive’s jungles and forests contain a diverse range of trees. The tallest reach a height of 300 feet, rarely growing close enough together for their crowns to touch. Other trees stand 100 to 200 feet high and grow much closer together. These two tallest groups of trees form a canopy that blocks most of the province’s forested regions from the view of airships.

Trees that stand 50 to 80 feet high form the most dense layer of Barsaivian forests, their trunks, branches, and foliage creating an almost solid canopy. The shortest trees, growing no higher than 40 feet from the ground, range from thin stands to impenetrable thickets. In areas with sparser growth a person can spot someone up to 160 feet away; in other locales, the foliage grows thickly enough to render invisible an object only feet away from an observer. Woody-stemmed vines, many with brilliantly colored flowers that bloom year-round, twine around the trees and cover the jungle floors. Countless mosses also thrive in the forests, growing on trees and dead plants.

The forests and jungles also contain clearings, many the sites of ruined cities dating from before the Scourge. The largest and most renowned of these ruins is Parlainth, the former provincial capital of Barsaive, but legends tell of several other such ruins as well.

Serpent River

The Serpent River passes through all of Barsaive, winding its way from the far north to the Death’s Sea in the south. Four miles wide at most points, the Serpent can only be crossed by magical means or in a well-designed ship. The Serpent’s banks contain the most fertile soil in Barsaive, and countless villages and towns dot the long, wide river valley.

The reptilian t’skrang, who live in underwater towns and sail the Serpent in their riverboats, control and conduct most of the trade on the river. Many t’skrang have trade agreements with the dwarven Kingdom of Throal and work to promote unity among the people along the Serpent. Other t’skrang captains turn pirate, using their ships for raiding.

Death’s Sea

The Death’s Sea, an ocean of molten stone, forms Barsaive’s southern border. Sand dunes line the shore, and the sea’s intense heat prevents anyone except elementals, Horrors, and the magically protected from traveling over it.

According to legend, Death itself resides in the sea, where the Passions imprisoned it ages ago. These same stories warn that Death’s terrible thirst will one day be quenched when enough blood has been spilled on the earth, turning the ocean of fire to water and freeing Death to roam the land.

CLIMATE

The Scourge caused Barsaive’s temperatures and rainfall to shift drastically and frequently, leaving the landscape devoid of living vegetation. Once the Scourge ended, the land’s flora began regenerating at a phenomenal rate, and the climate stabilized to its current temperate state. The average annual temperature in the province remains moderate, rising to somewhat uncomfortable levels during the warm season and dropping only slightly during the cool season. The higher mountain regions experience cooler temperatures than the rest of the land, though the lower hill areas experience temperatures much like those in the plains and forests.

This stable climate has caused concern and speculation among Barsaive’s scholars. The lack of a true “winter” season remains a mystery, and many believe it is the last vestige of the Scourge. However, the present climate has its benefits, as it enables farmers to grow crops year-round.

The first six months of the year comprise Barsaive’s rainy season. Most of the province receives moderate rainfall of 40 to 60 inches per year, though southern Barsaive receives heavy rains. Most regions experience some precipitation throughout the year, except for areas along the Death’s Sea that suffer from constant drought.

POPULATION

The so-called Name-giver races are scattered across Barsaive, with some members of each race gathered in enclaves and others living in areas of mixed racial populations. The table below lists the approximate distribution of the races throughout Barsaive, based on estimates garnered through years of traveling. As yet, no complete census of Barsaive exists.

RACIAL COMPOSITION OF BARSAIVE

Race	Percent of Population
Dwarf	32
Ork	19
Human	16
Troll	13
Elf	10
T’skrang	8
Obsidiman	1
Windling	1

Population Distribution

In terms of population distribution, the province of Barsaive comprises three broad areas. The first, the Kingdom of Throal in the Throal Mountains, includes that kingdom’s recently constructed cities and contains roughly 33 percent of Barsaive’s population. On the slopes of the Throal Mountains, outside the gates of Throal, nomadic tribes eke out a living hunting game. Legends contend that some of these primitive peoples worship Mad Passions and Horrors. The lowlands, which include most of the province’s jungles and plains as well as the Serpent River valley, provide a home to about half the population. The highlands include all of Barsaive’s mountains and plateaus, except for the Throal Mountains that make up part of the Kingdom of Throal. The mountain regions shelter approximately 17 percent of Barsaive’s people, including the troll crystal raiders of the Twilight Peaks who pilot magically crafted airships through Barsaive’s skies in search of villages to raid and Theran airships to plunder.

Of the people living in the lowlands, about a quarter live in the cities of Haven, Kratas, Iopos, Jerris, and Travar. Outside the cities, the great lowland jungles and plains of Barsaive contain only one fourth of the province’s population. Ork scorchers, nomadic riders who travel the land on massive beasts, roam across the plains in primitive hunting bands and in organized, mercenary ork cavalries who sell their talents and strength to the highest bidder. Although the Scourge ended nearly one hundred years ago and people may freely travel the land, most prefer to gather in large population centers. As a result, the population distribution of Barsaive remains fairly static.

GOVERNMENT

Formerly a province of the Theran Empire, Barsaive comprises several self-governing cities and towns, many of which have increasingly come under the influence of the dwarf Kingdom of Throal. Perceived as benevolent because the Council Compact by which they govern renounces slavery and espouses individual rights, the growing dwarven influence does not trouble most Barsaivians, though some question the dwarven kingdom’s motive for gathering power in the province. Despite having lost in their first attempt to take over since the Scourge ended, the Therans insist that Barsaive still belongs to their empire. Throal provides Barsaive’s strongest counterweight to renewed domination by the hated Therans.

Though the individual practices of governments in Barsaive’s cities, towns and villages may vary, most follow the guidelines of the Throalic Council Compact. Written in 1270 TH at the height of the Scourge, the Compact set out guidelines for a just and orderly post-Scourge society in which all races could conduct fair and peaceful trade. The widespread use of Throalic currency in Barsaive also illustrates the powerful influence of the kingdom, whose traders spearheaded the recovery of Barsaive when they reopened trade routes following the Scourge. Only a few Barsaivian municipalities continue to use Theran currency.