Gaz F10 The Kingdom of Kaarjala - Vaults of Pandius

GEOGRAPHYOver the ensuing centuries the watersreceded as the glaciers left the region,producing a landscape filled with manylakes and rivers, with margins dominatedby fens. Between the region’s continuingpost-glacial rebound and the warming ofthe Great Sampo, these lakes will befurther reduced.Kaarjala is defined by two major rivers– the Maanselkä (better known in thesouth as the Landsplit River) and theTukkijoki. The headwaters of theMaanselkä are located in LakeHämäräjärvi, from which it descendsrapidly for a few miles before starting tomeander along the swampy margins ofthe Autuasmaa Plain. It flows at amoderate pace until it enters a naturaldepression currently filled by LakeIsojärvi, where it is joined by hundreds oftiny tributaries. The water is slowed by anatural leveling of the terrain – withoutwhich the shallow lake would not exist.The Maanselkä meanders east of theIsojärvi until it merges with theTukkijoki, after which the river gathersstrength and depth for its final stretch tothe ocean.In addition to the two major rivers,there are three sizeable tributaries (theKesäjoki, Kalajoki, and Sinijoki Rivers)and countless streams and creeks – all ofwhich tend to be very shallow. Theprimary source of the northern TukkijokiRiver is Lake Pohjanjärvi. The earlywaters slowly strengthen, fed first by theriver Kalajoki and then the Kesäjoki.The Kalajoki is relatively strong and fastflowing, and it draws from numerousbogs to the north of Lake Pohjanjärvi.The coldest of Kaarjala’s waterways, theKesäjoki River is fed by seasonal meltingof permafrost in the Everwinter Lands.The river is very shallow and slow, andthe bed is dry for the winter and much ofthe fall.The Tukkijoki suffers a considerabledrop in momentum in an easterndepression. The river becomes sosluggish and shallow that it is hard todistinguish it from the surroundingswamps. At the edge of this region, theTukkijoki meets the faster-flowingMaanselkä River.The Sinijoki (“Blue River”) is not adirect tributary of the Maanselkä butflows from the Plain of Skulls into LakeHämäräjärvi. Owing to the unsavorynature of its place of origin, mostKaarjalans do not drink from it, nor willthey eat fish caught from the river’swaters.Kaarjala is blessed with over 1,000freshwater lakes that have been carvedout of the underlying bedrock by glacialaction. Most are less than ¼ square milein size, but three lakes – Hämäräjärvi,Isojärvi, and Pohjanjärvi – are numberedamong the largest lakes on the continent.Fens dominate the margins of many ofthese waterways and lakes.Located in the uplands around theRaatovaarat Mountains, Hämäräjärvi isKaarjala’s highest lake. It is also thedeepest, with an average depth of morethan 60 feet. Some portions near thewestern shores are more than twice thatmeasure.Although Lake Isojärvi is thesouthernmost of the big lakes, its watersare the coldest. Many people attributethis (correctly) to its proximity to theunsettlingly cold land of Tuonela. Forsimilar reasons, fewer fish live in thislake. The common and giant pike aretwo such fish that do, but most lifeconsists of worms, small eels andcrustaceans, and Kaarjalan crayfish. Theaverage depth of Isojärvi is 25 feet.Pohjanjärvi, the northern great lake, isconsiderably deeper than the Isojärvi withan average depth of 40 feet. Of all thelakes, this is the richest in terms of thenumber and variety of fish. It is alsohome to the rare Kaarjalan ringed seal.Surrounding LandsLocated in the sparsely populated north,Kaarjala does not share borders with anyother organized state, with the exceptionof Tuonela, of which the Kaarjalans areunaware that it is the personal domain ofthe Rimal Hag. Its closest officialneighbor, Littonia, lies roughly 300 milesto the southeast, and the civilized lands ofthe Great Bay are over 350 miles to thesouth.The intervening mix of steppes andtaiga between the Autuasmaa and theGreat Bay – known variously asViaskaland (home of the Viaskoda) bythe barbarians indigenous to the region,Ziemelnieks teritorija (“northernterritory”) by the Littonians, andKoleamaa (“bleak land”) by theKaarjalans. It is home to a large varietyof migratory animals, humanoids, andhumans. Viaskoda barbarians live nearthe northern shores of the Great Bay andwander north only to trade or war withthe southern Vaarana clans (the latterusually happens during lean years).North of Kaarjala are the frigidEverwinter Lands (also called Pohjola,or the Land of the North). They are adesolate complex of tundra, snowfields,and rock outcroppings that stretches tothe Norzee (also known as the FrosthavenSea). This region experiences extendedpolar nights with total darkness duringthe winter months. Areas to the southtypically experience twilight conditionsduring most of this period with only afew days or a week of complete night.The arctic willow and species of lichenare the only plants that can survive here –all of these thrive during the briefsummer, making the bleak plainsintensely colorful for a few weeks. It isduring the high summer that the northernVaarana clans live here, tending theirreindeer. Kaarjala makes no claim to theEverwinter Lands, but the nation doespay the territory close heed because ofthe presence of the nomadic Shonaks andthe frost giants of Frosthaven.The Frozen Moors constitute a changeof terrain in the Everwinter Lands duesouth of Frosthaven. This region was farmore hospitable during the period prior tothe Great Rain of Fire, when it possesseda more southerly latitude. Then it was acold-temperate marshland near theancient dwarven holdings. It wasinhabited by reclusive spellcasters andothers who resisted the technomantic andcultural influence of Blackmoor. Theregion acquired a decidedlyunwholesome aspect following the GreatRain of Fire. The shift in the planetaryaxis and the deepening freeze made theland less than hospitable. Foolhardyadventurers and Shonak nomads havelegends about “The People Before”whose angered spirits flit about the land.11