Hârn Wilderness Peran

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Making a comprehensive list of Hârn Kingdoms, Shires, Hundreds, and Manors. All listed from the Kingdom Modules.


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Peran COL5891

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Peran is an extensive wilderness in northwestern Hârn. Primeval forests cloak this land of mysteries so densely that the ill-prepared may be swallowed by the trackless wilderness. Penetrating damp rots everything it touches in the day and chills the bones at night. The hills are steep and animal trails are more likely to lead to traps than prey. Here the outsider is more often the hunted than the hunter. Evils here are best left undisturbed. There are ancient Khuzan and Corani ruins, and snakes and Ivashu of every type are so common that some say Ilvir tarried here on His way to Araka-Kalai.

Here, too, are the fierce Kubora and Urdu tribes, whose enmity has lasted two millennia. Living off the hunt and patches of cultivation they hack out of the wilderness, these savage warriors have defied an empire and conquered a kingdom, which they may now be ready to take back. They jealously guard the rich natural bounty of Peran from those who seek it.

Orbaalese and Ivinian whalers and sealers prowl the coasts in their longships, trading where they must, taking what they can. Beware, too, the Agrikan warriors who, for more than a generation, have coveted what Peran has to offer. The Warriors of Mameka in the west have tried once and failed in conquest, but they will try again. In the east, the Red Shadows of Herpa call for a crusade against the Kubora.


CREDITS

Writer: Alun Rees

Art Director: Richard Luschek

Contributor: Daniel Bell

Map: Alun Rees

Editors: Brent Bailey, Grant Dalgliesh, John Sgammato

Layout: Thomas Shook


HISTORY

On Yaelah of each Larane, the council of all Kuboran Hanuhn meet at Kustan. By tradition, the eldest among them sings the “Song of the Fallen God.” The same song is sung at the Nuzyael moot of the Urdu. This ancient tale tells of the origins of Peran as a rugged wilderness in which the “Old Ones of the Forest” lived for an eternity. Then there was a great battle in the skies and a god was cast down. His iron club fell to earth at the head of the River Denia. The impact created the marsh and raised up the Rayesha Mountains. Kemlar saw the turmoil in the heavens and chose Peran as the sacred place.

When Kemlar led the first humans here, they found the Khuzdul hunting in the foothills of the Rayeshas and as far west as the Hand of Crador, which they shunned. The Kubora and Urdu feared the “men under the mountain” and kept their distance. Today, intact Khuzan structures are rare; typically only a few dressed stones signal where once a sturdy hunting lodge sat. These ruins are commonly the lair of bear or lynx and exert a strange attraction to Ivashu. Little remains that would remind the traveler that these were once Khuzan lands.

With Lothrim’s fall, his Foulspawn despoiled Kiraz and swarmed into Peran. For centuries, the tribes fought to drive them from the forests. When the Foulspawn were finally confined to the Rayesha Mountains and their foothills, the Kubora found that the Jenath tribes had taken the lower Denia and Perath valleys. Weakened from resisting the gargun, the Kubora left the lowlands to the newcomers and returned to their ancient feuding.

At the start of the fifth century, the Corani legions absorbed the Jenath and took the river valleys. Some remains of their settlements, decorated with tiles and mosaics, can be found today in the open oak and beech woods of the valleys. These settlers explored many of the limestone caves they discovered in the forest and established mines in the river valleys that were abandoned and lost with the collapse of the empire. The wild tales of river gold were not lost and draw adventurers to this day.

The destruction of the legionary fort at Kustan in 477 marked the end of Corani interest in Peran. Until the coming of Arlun, the Kubora warred among themselves or against the Urdu and occasional gargun swarms. They were content to be the undisputed custodians of Kemlar’s legacy.


Peran Today

Animal collectors scour Peran for bears, lynx, and rare Ivashu, which are drugged, caged, and sent south to the arenas. Trappers tend long traplines for mink and beaver pelts, and the musk glands of beavers and Peran civets are in great demand by the perfumers of Coranan and Shiran. The plentiful seals along the rocky coast are a source of great wealth. Peran is an herbalist’s larder; almost every herb of value can be found in the forests and hills of Peran, as well as some that are still unknown to the apothecaries of civilized lands. Each summer, traders attend the Beast Fayre at Emesa to trade for these wonders and for slaves taken by the Warriors of Mameka in their raids against the Kubora. Adventurous traders travel to the annual Kuboran moot at Kustan.

Boats from Emesa Hundred compete with Kuboran fishermen in the Gulf of Pendos and the Perath estuary. The whales that migrate through the gulf are sacred to the Kubora, but not to Rethemi whalers.

The military road to Kustan built by the Corani legions, known as the Scarlet Ribbon, has eroded to a dirt trail above the Perath River. Some ruined legionary block houses survive along the trail, generally at mountain passes and fords. The remains of forts and lesser roads can be found in many parts of Peran, as far east as abandoned Mejetus in the lands of the Urdu. These Corani ruins are ignored by some tribes while others, such as the Suyari, treat them with reverence. The bog iron mine at the mouth of the River Perath was abandoned by the retreating Corani, but reopened with the coming of the Warriors of Mameka in 699. It is now operated by the Miners’ Guild on behalf of the Agrikans, who have also discovered silver east of Bedenes.

The Warriors of Mameka trace their history to priests who accompanied the legions to Kustan. The fortress has religious significance to them. The order marched north in 718, seeking a sacred treasure said to be buried at Kustan. Agrikan bones now litter the approaches to the site of the Kuboran moot, and Agrikan weapons arm Kuboran warriors.

The Agrikans at Menekai have recently begun to seek support from the Apalankh for a holy crusade. Their goal is to reach Fort Mejetus and recover the lost treasure of Emperor Mejenes the Great. They are eager to expand their holdings and actively raid the nearby Kubora to acquire slaves for their mines and forges.


GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATE

The warm currents of the Haonic Ocean bring winds heavy with rain; precipitation is an almost daily occurrence in Peran. Except in the higher elevations of the Rayesha foothills, snow is very rare. In the northern coastal plain, clear skies are virtually unknown. On warm days, even when cloud cover is light, mists form that seldom disperse before dusk.

Sea storms break on the rugged hills and massive trees. Even when the wind blows strong in the forest canopy, its effect is always much reduced at ground level. The rugged ground is so dominated by rocks and exposed roots that most trails do not get very muddy, but there is a constant peril of flash flooding after a heavy rain.

Peran has five natural regions:

The Northern Coastal Plain is a rugged fogbound land of ancient mosshung trees. The coast teams with fisheries and seal colonies. The mysterious Old Ones observe all intruders.

The Western Highlands, birthplace of Arlun the Barbarian, are a place of drenching rains and the site of the Corani Fort Kustan, built on the holy grave of the Kuboran prophet, Kemlar the Guide. The sabre-toothed Dracofelas is said to hunt beneath the enormous redwoods here.

The River Valleys were settled and fought over for centuries and are now the base for the Warriors of Mameka and their quest to recover Kustan, which is holy to the Agrikans.

The Broken Lands, source of the River Denia and its marshes, are home to the degenerate Denal Kubora and the twisted pinnacles of the Hand of Crador, home of the fallen god of Kuboran myth.

The Rayesha Foothills are the site of ruined Khuzan lodges that hug the hillsides under the shadows of soaring wyverns, the ruins of Corani Fort Mejetus and the bones of its lost emperor, and of Urdu and Kubora tribesmen pursued by slavers from the smoking forges of Menekai.


The Old Ones of the Forest

Kuboran legends name these reclusive, intelligent creatures as the original inhabitants of Peran. Bigger than a man by more than half, they sport a ruddy brown pelt of stringy hair often tinged with moss. Their faces are human-like but with flatter noses and deeply set, attentive eyes that see as well at night as during the day. They live in nests built high in the forest canopy; their unique five-toed tracks often come to an abrupt end where the creature pulled itself up into a tree. They are equally at home moving silently through the forest undergrowth or swinging from branch to branch in the canopy. They are likely to flee if confronted, but tales tell of men decapitated by one sweep of the clawed hand of an Old One roused to anger.

The Urdu say the Old Ones are the spirits of tribal chieftains returned to guard the sacred hunting grounds. The Kubora believe them to be spirits that watch over the forests. The Old Ones are herbivores but are rumored to consume their fallen foes after battle. During festivals, Kuboran mothers leave baskets of vegetables at the edge of the village to ensure the Old Ones leave them in peace. Tribal elders say the Kubora practice facial scarring in imitation of the deep creases and folds of skin that mark the faces of the Old Ones.

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THE NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN

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A heavy cloak of old-growth temperate rainforest extends from Cape Vikod in the west to the Pemetta River in the east. The very size of the trees makes passage through the forest difficult and travelers are further slowed by fallen tree trunks many feet across, rocky outcroppings, and poor lines of sight caused by the thick growth of moss hanging from every bough. The coastal fogs and mists that develop here can be trapped and sustained for days on end, even quite far from the sea. Everything is damp to the touch. Food and clothing quickly perish and metals corrode in this humid atmosphere. The inquisitive Old Ones rarely leave visitors unobserved for long from their perches high in the canopy.

In such close terrain, it is no surprise that the Kuboran and Urdu tribes produce exceptional hunters, keen of eye and ear. The forest is difficult to clear and the damp climate does not favor cereals plagued by rots and wilts. Cultivation is more often of native fruits, gourds, and beans grown in small plots hacked out of the forest.

The Kadag Strait and the rivers that flow into it teem with fish and fur-bearing mammals. The furs brought the first Ivinians to these waters and now Orbaalese traders are regular visitors to the northern coast in search of beaver, seal, and other pelts for which they offer trade goods. This is rapidly becoming more important than the traditional trading at the annual Kubora and Urdu moots.

The Urdu tribes live in the coastal plain east of the Chetul River, while the Kubora occupy the lands to the west.

  • INSERT NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN TABLE


The Urdu Oath Ground

Representatives of the Urdu tribes gather near the mouth of the Chetul River during Nuzyael each year for a tribal moot. The moot includes a religious purification of the “People of the Oath,” as the Urdu call themselves. There is ritual bathing in the Chetul River, the “Waters of the Oath,” and a collective rededication to Kemlar’s Oath.


THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS

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The Obodu Hills, named for the tribe of Arlun the Barbarian, lie within the western highlands, which encompass the ranges of many other Kuboran tribes as well. The rugged hills shield the coastal plain to the north, catching the rains that rise from the warm currents of the Haonic Ocean to the west. This rain collects in the river Nej in the north, the Perath in the east, and the many small rivers that rush steeply south into the Gulf of Pendos.

Heavy rainfall encourages the most majestic tree growth on Hârn. Here are found the towering Hârnic Redwood and numerous species of fir and pine. Such monsters shade out the underbrush, so walking through the Obodu Hills can seem like a journey through an endless, dimly lit natural cathedral. Typically, the only sounds are of water dripping from on high, the rush of steeply falling streams, or the hoot of the Peran Spotted Owl as it swoops through the lofty spaces on its five-foot wingspan.

The highland tribes make use of the redwood stands as redoubts in war, building platforms high above the forest floor from which women and children rain down a lethal shower of rocks to deter even the most tenacious of invaders. Drums are used to alert neighboring tribes, with a variety of rhythms used to communicate different messages.

The Dracofelas, standing almost four feet tall at the shoulder, is a feared predator. The “Dragon Cat” is thought to be a myth around the hearths of Rethem. On ceremonial occasions, the Hanuhn of the Obodu Kubora wears a Dracofelas skull that has been handed down through the generations.

Also feared are the Yelgri, as even treetop strongholds are not proof against these aggressive carnivores. While no match for a healthy warrior, a Yelgri is quite capable of carrying off an infant or harassing a climber.

The coastal lands between Cape Kobeo and the mouth of the River Perath have been subject to more agriculture than the inland forest wilderness. This has opened up the canopy and replaced some first growth with second growth forest not unlike that of the river valleys. The Kobean and mainland Tiraen Kubora who live here also benefit from abundant game, particularly the small black-eared forest deer and a teeming fishery of mackerel, herring, and salmon. Such is the bounty of these lands that the Kobean are thought lazy by other tribes, and men from Bedenes now fish these waters unchallenged.

  • INSERT WESTERN HIGHLANDS TABLE


Kustan

Kuboran oral history says that Kustan is the site of Kemlar’s burial mound. Pilgrimage to that mound may be the origin of the annual tribal moot.

Corani scholars who explored the neighboring hills identified the ruins of no fewer than 11 abandoned Rathiri villages, suggesting that today’s Kustan has not always been the site of the Moot.

The current site has been continually inhabited since the Corani invasion, but the abandoned villages are also surrounded by a significant number of burial mounds. This raises the intriguing possibility that, while the Kubora believe Kemlar to be buried at Kustan, his barrow may be at one of the other locations.

The abandoned villages serve as hunting camps for the hundreds of Kubora who visit the Moot each year.


THE RIVER VALLEYS

The Perath and Denia rivers flow through gently sloping limestone valleys swathed in broadleaf forest beneath the mixed and needle-leaf forest of the surrounding hills. This is a fertile land that lends itself to cereal cultivation. The tribes have domesticated the wild descendants of the stocky cattle introduced by the Corani. These placid beasts provide milk and meat.

A combination of scholarship, greed, and sheer ambition attracted the Corani Empire to Peran in the late 4th century, but now it is the Rethemi who are interested in the forest and its tribes. Clan Lynnaeus of Tormau has maintained good relations with the Kubora and the clans of the Asawne Kubora have been encouraged to allow seasonal logging camps along the north bank of the Denia. Timber is cut within easy reach of the river and floated downstream to Quyn manor. The Asawne village 10 leagues upriver from the manor marks the northern boundary of this agreement and is where deliveries of trade goods and weapons keep the Asawne pliant.

Relations with the Suyari on the south bank of the Denia are less cordial, but traders wearing Tormau’s colors are usually allowed to pass unmolested. The earl extends this privilege to the Sheriff of Hohnam and his agents, but those found wearing his colors without permission are crucified on trees on the edge of Suyari lands.

The Agrikan Warriors of Mameka from Bedenes seek slaves and glory more than trade. The north and south banks of the River Perath are held by the Piri and Uld Kubora, respectively, and the Uld and neighboring Asawne suffer particularly from Agrikan raids.

Despite these tensions, there are trappers based in the valleys and hardy traders who make the annual trip along the Scarlet Ribbon to the Kuboran tribal moot at Kustan, returning in time for the Emesa Beast Fayre.

The Perath is too broad to ford below the head of the valley. It is here, beyond the lands of the Oncade and Garao Kubora, that the Scarlet Ribbon crosses the river before climbing the fringe of the highlands on its way to sacred Kustan.

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The Scarlet Ribbon

The lower reaches of the Scarlet Ribbon remain in good condition for a road built more than 150 years ago. The flagstones become increasingly cracked and worn as the trail continues toward the banks of the River Perath, some 15 leagues north across the rolling, forested Uldan Hills.

The Corani legions built blockhouses every five leagues along the Scarlet Ribbon. Low enclosures of dressed stone about seven paces square are all that remain of most of them. A largely intact blockhouse stands where the trail descends to meet the River Perath.

After crossing the headwaters of the Perath at a natural ford, the trail turns northwest to climb steeply beneath the intimidating firs and redwoods of the highlands. From here, the roadway has been largely broken up by the forest and eroded by flash floods. Occasional stones carved with Kuboran whorls are the only sign of the ruined blockhouses. Many stones have been incorporated into the extended earthworks and menhirs of the “Shawls of Kustan,” where Kemlar first declared the four tests of the Kubora.

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THE BROKEN LANDS

The Broken Lands are limestone karst eruptions, the source of the numberless springs that feed the Denia Marshes. Deep gullies cut into the limestone by these streams are often completely hidden beneath a canopy of trees that mostly obscures the sky. The high ground is equally treacherous as the sinkholes, and thinly covered crevices that score the land can produce deadly falls into gullies up to 100 feet deep. In places, the paths cut by the streams disappear underground through dark, slippery tunnels with only the hint of daylight ahead. In other places, collapsed caves create natural amphitheaters with sides tens or hundreds of feet high.

The Hand of Crador, near the center of the Broken Lands, is a complex of limestone pinnacles rising hundreds of feet into the air. They are weathered and twisted, as if grasping at something just out of reach. Yelgri nest among the highest of the pillars.

Hunters say the fresh water spring that flows from the Hand taints those who drink from it. According to Denal legend, following the spring upstream leads to a maze of passages, some open to the sky, others dark and enclosed; at the spring’s source lies a cavern with great treasures and a lurking evil that does not brook disturbance.

Drainage from the Hand of Crador collects in the fetid marshlands above the Denia Cataract, which marks the end of the navigability of the River Denia ten leagues upstream from the Asawne trading camp. The marsh is the result of the restricted flow of the River Denia through a narrow defile in the surrounding limestone.

This lethal labyrinth of reedbeds and quicksand is home to the Denal Kubora and their strange villages built on stilts above the dark marsh waters. The xenophobic Denal have a deserved reputation for being suspicious of outsiders and doing things “their way.” Inbreeding may be the cause of the unusual traits many Denal exhibit, including the gigantism that has given rise to the myth of “marsh ogres.”

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Legend of the Fallen God

The origin of the Song of the Fallen God is unknown. The Kubora may have learned it from the Khuzdul of Kiraz or it may describe real events from the time of their ancestors’ arrival in Peran. It may simply be a means to explain the strange formations of the Broken Lands.

The Hand is named for Crador the Blind, a Kuboran deity seen by some tribes as a jester-god who brings good luck. Tribes with ranges nearer to the Hand attach a more sinister nature to Crador, calling him "Bringer of Nightmares" and "Twister of Luck." Others believe him a bastard god fathered by a southern deity who led the Corani into Peran.

The Corani first heard of the Hand of Crador and the Song of the Fallen God in the 450s. The Agrikan priests at Kustan sought out the Hand, having drawn a parallel to the claws Agrik lost to Larani in the epic Battle of Khamar. What they found is unknown, but strange mosaics in the ruined walls of Kustan may disclose secrets to one clever enough to interpret them.


THE RAYESHA FOOTHILLS

This range of hills rises between the Gomisen and Denia river valleys and sweeps northeastward into the Urdu highlands. They begin as gentle undulations in the forest floor before rising to 2000 feet at the base of the Rayeshas. The deciduous forests of the river valleys give way to mixed broad and needleleaf cover as they climb, finally merging into the dusky blue of the Rayesha Pine forest of the mountains. The Delerni and Sangic Kubora hunt here, as well as many Urdu tribes. Lynx and bear are common, as are the cougars that make the Rayeshas their home. Reports of hirenu and wyverns in these hills may be the stuff of myth. Certainly real are the majestic Northern Eagles. Golden-brown in color and with wingspans near 20 feet and talons almost a foot across, the eagles nest high in the Rayeshas but range over much of Peran. They are enormously strong and can carry away a sheep or foal. The tribes revere them and an eagle feather constitutes a great heirloom.

The gargun of the Rayeshas feel at home in the foothills and range particularly widely in the Urdu highlands. Additional risk arises from the Red Shadows of Herpa. From their base at Menekai, these Agrikans regularly send highly trained, well-equipped patrols out into the hills in pursuit of the Delerni, Sangic, and Suyari Kubora as slaves for the mines and for sale into the Pamesani arenas. The order has extensive mining and logging interests in the southern foothills and considers the extermination of the Kubora both theologically and economically advantageous.

The Corani fort at Mejetus was home to the doomed legion that was cut down on its long retreat to Coranan following the death of Emperor Mejenes the Great. Survivors swore the bones they returned for burial were those of their commander but rumors persist that he was entombed at Mejetus. The Agrikans of Menekai watch the actions of their brothers at Bedenes. They scheme to take Mejetus before the Warriors of Mameka can re-take Kustan for the glory that would bring their order.

  • INSERT RAYESHA FOOTHILLS TABLE

Tribal encounters south of the Chetul River are with Kubora, north with Urdu.

Ruins of Fort Mejetus

Mejetus was occupied for less than a decade. Many of its structures were still of wood when it was abandoned in 465. These have rotted back into the forest, making it impossible to identify the fortress except from very close quarters. It is an eerie place now, home to bats and snakes of all sorts. The local tribesmen avoid the place they call the “Haunt of Night.”

The Equani tribes across the Pemetta River revere the ruins of Mejetus almost as much as the Urdu abhor them. It has taken on a particular importance for the Shevrach, the Equani war cult. This may explain why the Equani apply such pressure on the Urdu tribes that occupy the valley of the River Suthen.

The fort was never sacked but it is likely that the legionaries took everything of value with them when they left Mejetus. Those valuables may now be scattered along the route of their retreat. No one knows what may lie waiting to be discovered there, perhaps guarded by the restless ghost of an emperor frustrated by death during his most ambitious campaign.

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