The Great Seclusion

While many in the kingdom of Helder and in the surrounding countries care little for the world outside their lands, the scholars are hardly ignorant of the isolation their kingdoms experience. Many are greatly concerned with this, and several have persuaded nobles or aventureres to risk money and time into finding ways out of the known areas, but to little sucess.

To the north is a frozen plain of ice and snow, and few can penetrate into it very far even with the most powerful magic. Resources are none existent in the north, so people are limited by what they can carry with them. The few settlements that have tried to cling to the coast are almost always lost to starvation, wild storms, or even wilder seas.

To the south, the Great Waste extends as far as any living creature has traveled. There are known to be treasure and ruins in the waste, but most people who venture to far never return. The longest known expedition into the land was done by a dwarven party before the start of their civil war. less than half the party returned, and they appeared confused, their diaries and reports all stating that they had traveled south using all possible navigation techniques, but still came out on the northern coast of the continent after nearly a month of travel.

The only people that have made any profit on the waste are the Marmar (marble) tribe of the Goliath. Many among them are known for their stone shaping skills and they always seem to have an endless supply of the stone when asked to mine it. No one knows where they get it from, only that they disappear into the waste and return with their supply.

The the east, the dark forest keeps people out mostly by rumor and folk tales. There are known to be creatures living in the forest, but they are either too unintelligent or too uncivilized to do anything but kill intruders.

The oceans to the west are as big a mystery as the Waste to the south. the oceans are wracked with violent storms and while many ships survive, they onyl do so by turning back in the face of certain death. Whirlpools are also quiet frequent including a permanent on off the coast of the southern continent which makes even sailing around it's coast impossible.

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