The Northern Continent

Northern Continent, showing the nations of Kaspar, Rayshaun, and Vasilii

History

Some hundreds, perhaps a thousand, years ago the dwarfs of Lapisii commissioned the gnomish inventors of Gildenstar to create a series of crafts that would carry them across large bodies of water. No one knew why they did this, as dwarfs have never been a seafaring race before, or since. Regardless, they loaded the boats with hundreds of their kin, and set sail. The Northern continent was unknown up to this time, and no one knew where the dwarfs went. As years went by, and no word was heard of them, most assumed they'd drowned.

About one hundred years later, an emissary from the departed dwarfs returned, seeking aid against a hoard of orcs, on their (relatively) newly discovered land to the north. The human kingdoms, learning that there was indeed a new land to be explored, each sent a large force of men. The elves, never wanting to be seen as being outdone by the humans, also agreed to send a large contingent of mages and warriors. The gnomes constructed the warships needed to transport everyone across the Dirn Sea to the north, though they did not supply any gnomes for the actual fighting. The dwarfs of Lapisii took no part in the war. A smattering of the newly emerging races also joined in the war, fighting under either the human or elven banners.

Thus the War of Discovery began. The dwarfs had settled primarily in the mountains, but had also established numerous cities on the surface, much to the surprise of the humans and elves. The orcs had pushed the dwarfs back to their mountain strongholds, leaving the dwarfs surface cities abandoned. According to the dwarfs, the orcs had come from the north, streaming across the Egor Desert that, even to this day, no one has been able to navigate across to find its northern edge. How the orcs managed it is still a mystery.

The combined forces of dwarfs, elves, and humans were able to push the orcs back further into the desert until they finally retreated back from whence they'd come. The losses suffered by the dwarfs were so severe that they didn't have the population required to repopulate the surface, and so the humans and elves claimed the surface cities left by the dwarfs. The humans to the west and the elves to the east, separated by the Falling River.

Geography

The Northern continent is dominated by the river system that splits the explored regions in half. The Falling River has several branches and two lakes that it feeds into, before ultimately emptying into the Dirn Sea. The humans established a new nation, Kaspar, in the foothills of the Willow Mountains whereas the elves preferred the plains on the eastern side of the Falling River and established their own nation, Rayshaun. Both races have stayed primarily in the cities originally made by the dwarfs along the Falling River and its tributaries.

The northern reaches of the explored regions of the Northern Continent, between Rayshaun and the Egor desert, is known as the Nomad Lands. There are no cities in this region, though there are monasteries and temples scattered throughout. Many of the dragonborn and tiefling who came for the war settled in the Nomad Lands, preferring that to the alternatives of either returning to the Southern continent or else leading a similar life in the Northern continent. Many of the other races have since joined them in the Nomad Lands. Orc raids have occasionally been reported in the Nomad Lands but only in small roving bands and never in the hoards seen during the War of Discovery.

The Willow Mountains are rough and treacherous territory and the surface has not been explored beyond its eastern slopes. In addition to the terrain, trolls and giants roam the Willow Mountains in large numbers, making it extremely dangerous to travel over them. Humans continue to push outward in their explorations, but they're limited by the dwarfs of Vasilii as the humans must gain approval from the Low King to pass over their lands and the Low King only grants permission once every few decades.

The Egor desert has proven to be an effective land blockade and even the humans lost their desire to explore it. The gnomish hints at flying ships have reawakened this desire in some, but most are wary and are waiting to see how the ships turn out.