Alana Gazetteer: Field Edition - Northern Lands
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The northern realms of Alana are a place of wind-bitten tundras, frost-coated peaks, and the raw endurance of people who refuse to yield to cold and stone. People often refer to these lands as the world's roof, a vast expanse of white where only the cracking of ice, the howling of beasts, or the occasional warhorn can break the silence. Yet even here, cultures flourish, ancient traditions persist, and mysteries lurk beneath the frost.
WFRP4e: Consuming Moonlace tea restores 1 Fortune Point once per week (GM discretion). Harvesting requires a Very Hard (-30) Outdoor Survival Test.
Cypher: Moonlace can be brewed into a potion that allows the user to reroll a single die once per day. Difficulty 6 task to harvest safely.
WFRP4e:
Traits: Size (Large), Armour (Natural 2, crystalline plates), Night Vision, Terrifying (1)
Skills: Perception (65), Athletics (55)
Attacks: Bite +8, Claw +9. Damage: SB+6
Cypher: Level 6 creature. Armour 3. Attacks with claws (8 damage). Crystal shards reflect light, hindering ranged attacks unless in shadow.
GM info / spoilers / plot hooks. Mouse-over to read,
WFRP4e: Brewed petals grant +10 to Channelling Tests for a day.
Cypher: Consuming a Stormbloom infusion grants +1 Effort for casting spells for one hour.
WFRP4e: Size (Large), Armour (1), Trample (SB+5).
Cypher: Level 5. Antlers inflict 7 damage, with an additional 2 lightning damage on a roll of 18+.
GM info / spoilers / plot hooks. Mouse-over to read,
WFRP4e: Burning Bloodpine resin in a hearth gives a +10 bonus to Endurance Tests vs. Disease.
Cypher: Carrying Bloodpine resin allows the user to ignore the first failed Might Defence roll against poison or sickness. Single use.
WFRP4e: Size (Medium), Pack Tactics (+10 WS when outnumbering prey), Fear (1). Bite: SB+4.
Cypher: Level 4. Attacks as a pack for 6 damage, hindering the target’s Speed defence by one step when at least three wolves surround them.
GM info / spoilers / plot hooks. Mouse-over to read,
WFRP4e: Armour crafted with Jade Bamboo grants +1 AP vs. ranged attacks.
Cypher: Equipment made from Jade Bamboo reduces Speed-based task difficulty by one step due to lightness and resilience.
WFRP4e: Size (Enormous), Flight, Fear (2), Breath Attack (Mist: all within 10 yards must pass Average (+20) Endurance Test or be Blinded for d10 Rounds).
Cypher: Level 7. Armour 2. Attack blinds all within short range for one round unless Intellect defence succeeds.
GM info / spoilers / plot hooks. Mouse-over to read,
Geertruud Smallbottom’s Journal
"The world of Alana is far too big for any sensible person to walk across, yet here I am, tripping from frozen cliffs to steaming swamps with a notebook, a leaky pen, and the faint hope someone will pay for my words. North, there’s so much snow and ice that even the bears wear overcoats. South, the ground sweats under your boots, the air smells like boiled vegetables, and the insects look at you as though you’re dinner. Between those extremes you’ll observe mountains stuffed with dwarves, elves sighing about their lost glory, rabbitfolk who seem determined to feed you until you burst, and gnomes tinkering with things that should probably remain untinkered.
Alana is the sort of place where you can wander into a library and find yourself knee-deep in secrets, or take the wrong turn in a village and discover it isn’t a village at all but a hole in the ground filled with rabbits. There are volcanoes pretending to be mountains, towers pretending not to fall down, and ruins that glow when they shouldn’t. If you’re very lucky, you’ll come away with a story. If you’re unlucky, you’ll come away with bite marks, scorch marks, or indigestion. Either way, it’s never dull."
The Icelands
Overview
The Icelands are a fractured land of glaciers, jagged ridges, and ice-choked fjords. The Shardlings - humanoids born of crystal and frozen stone - are its main inhabitants. They carve their lives from frost and ice, building their dwellings within caves of blue ice or into glittering crystal cliffs that shimmer with pale light when the sun rises low on the horizon, creating a stunning visual effect.Population and Architecture
The Shardlings themselves are enigmatic - shards of glowing crystalline structure woven into their flesh. Their villages are marked by angular, translucent huts cut directly into ice. When fires are lit within, the settlements glow faintly across the snow like lanterns in the night. Few outsiders can stand to live here for long, but hardy traders sometimes risk the journey for rare ice ores and enchanted crystals found only in these lands.Landmarks
Among the jagged peaks stands the Frozen Cathedral, a natural ice cave shaped like a massive vaulted hall, where the ceiling drips with icicles like chandeliers. Shardlings claim their ancestors first awakened here.Weather
The Icelands are The Icelands are locked in snow year-round, although the summer months bring midnight suns and long days when the ice melts just enough for hardy mosses and lichens to bloom.Flora
The most striking plant is the Moonlace Moss, a silver-tinted moss that grows across the cracks of glacial ice, glowing faintly under starlight.Moonlace Moss
Moonlace Moss by Tillerz using MJ
Fauna
The major predator here is the Frostfang Bear, a colossal beast with crystalline shards sprouting from its back.Frostfang Bear
Frostfang Bear
Skills: Perception (65), Athletics (55)
Attacks: Bite +8, Claw +9. Damage: SB+6
Cypher: Level 6 creature. Armour 3. Attacks with claws (8 damage). Crystal shards reflect light, hindering ranged attacks unless in shadow.
This is GM information
Geertruud Smallbottom’s Journal
"Imagine me - Geertruud Smallbottom, who once complained about a draught in her own cellar - standing in a hut made entirely of ice. The walls glowed blue like a gin bottle in the moonlight, and I could see my breath curl into the air like a dragon. The Shardlings served me something they called ‘melt soup’ which tasted suspiciously like boiled snow with a hint of moss. They swore it was an honour, so I smiled and slurped it down while my teeth chattered a symphony. Later, I went for a little walk and nearly got flattened by a Frostfang Bear. I had no idea something that sparkly could be that murderous. I’ve decided, for the record, that bears should never twinkle."
Norkon
Overview
Norkon is a high plateau of stone cliffs and windswept tundra. Here live the goliaths: towering, stone-skinned folk whose legends are as vast as their shoulders. Their land is marked by stone circles, cliff-side villages, and carvings that scar the rocks with the history of their clans.Population and Architecture
Goliaths live communally in longhouses of fitted stone, with roofs of turf to insulate against the cold. Each dwelling is decorated with runes honouring ancestors and spirits.Landmarks
The most famous site is the Skybreaker Spire, a jagged monolith said to be split by the gods themselves.Weather
Long winters grip Norkon, though the short summers bring carpets of alpine flowers across the tundra.Flora
The Stormbloom Thistle is a hardy purple flower that opens only during lightning storms. Its petals conduct a faint charge.Stormbloom Thistle
Stormbloom Thistle by Tillerz using MJ
Fauna
The mountains are home to the Thunderhorn Elk, a massive elk whose antlers crackle faintly with static during storms.Thunderhorn Elk
Thunderhorn Elk by Tillerz using MJ
This is GM information
Geertruud Smallbottom’s Journal
"The goliaths are big. When I say big, I mean they make wardrobes look dainty. I sat beside one by the fire and felt like a child at storytime. Their mead is strong enough to strip the paint off a waggon, and their songs are louder than the storms outside. One chap insisted on showing me his antler collection - ‘just the little ones’, he said, though each antler was longer than me. When lightning flashed across the plateau, the whole clan cheered, as if the heavens had performed a private show. I clapped too, but only to stop them from thinking me rude. Secretly, I was wondering how fast I could run if the sky decided to fall."
Kramar
Overview
Kramar lies south of the glacial barrens, a rugged country of pine forests, fjords, and highland valleys. It is a land of stoic humans who have adapted to thin soils, short summers, and a long tradition of carving out what life they can between sea and stone. Its villages cling to cliffsides or huddle in valleys where rivers cut through the frost.Population and Architecture
The Kramarites are hardy fisherfolk and foresters. Their homes are long, timber-framed houses with steep thatched roofs to shed heavy snow. In coastal towns, rows of wooden piers and boat sheds stretch into the icy waters, where cod and herring are hauled in daily. Stone watchtowers rise on cliffs, keeping watch for raiders or wandering beasts.Landmarks
The Redwood Shrine - a massive ancient Bloodpine that towers above the forest, hollowed into a shrine lined with charms and offerings - stands as a sacred site.Weather
Winters are fierce, bringing thick snow and frozen rivers, but the brief summers burst into green, with wildflowers covering the meadows almost overnight.Flora
The Bloodpine Tree dominates the forests, its reddish bark oozing a resin said to ward off sickness. The wood is tough but burns with a strange, fragrant smoke.Burning Bloodpine
Bloodpine Tree by Tillerz using MJ
Fauna
The Glacier Wolf is Kramar’s most feared predator - pale-furred packs that blend into snow, with eyes glimmering like ice chips.Glacier Wolf
Glacier Wolf by Tillerz using MJ
This is GM information
Geertruud Smallbottom’s Journal
"If you’ve never stood on a pier in Kramar during winter, I suggest you keep it that way. The wind strikes you with a force akin to an aunt's slap after you've consumed her last bun. The locals cheerfully haul fish as if the sea wasn’t freezing solid around them. I asked one fellow how they stand it - he simply said, ‘We grow thick skin, like the wolves.’ Speaking of wolves, one padded after me on the way back to the inn. Pale as moonlight, eyes like glass marbles. I bravely shouted ‘Shoo!’ - and then ran as if my life depended on it. Which, to be fair, it probably did."
Han
Overview
Han lies far to the northeast, where the land softens compared to the harsher northern realms. It is a wide and fertile country of terraced fields, bamboo groves, and mountain citadels, famous for its artistry, scholarship, and the unforgiving rule of its government. Han is often thought of as the cultural jewel of the northern lands.Population and Architecture
Han is home to humans, but also smaller minorities of foxfolk and river-spirits who dwell in rural areas. The architecture is refined: wooden halls with sweeping, curved roofs, painted in black and vermilion. Paper lanterns sway in the breeze, and bridges of carved stone arch across lakes filled with koi. In the cities, great dark palaces loom over the common folk, built upon vast platforms of fitted stone, austere and forbidding.Landmarks
The Obsidian Fortress, seat of the ruling dynasty, looms like a black crown above the capital Mo-Lung, its walls sheer and gleaming as though polished nightly. The Lake of Lanterns is another marvel - thousands of floating lanterns drift across it each New Year, a ritual said to carry prayers to the ancestors.Weather
Han’s seasons are generous. Winters are cold but not brutal; spring brings blossoms across the land; summers are humid and heavy with rainfall; autumns are golden and mild. Unlike the Icelands or Kramar, snow lingers only briefly.Flora
The Jade Bamboo is the pride of Han - slender green stalks with lush leaves. Entire villages are built from it, and it hums faintly in the wind.Jade Bamboo
Jade Bamboo by Tillerz using MJ
Fauna
The Cloud Serpent drifts through Han’s misty mountains, a long-bodied dragonlike creature that floats as if riding currents of air.Cloud Serpent
Cloud Serpent by Tillerz using MJ
This is GM information
Geertruud Smallbottom’s Journal
"Han is a land where even the chickens look elegant. The streets are lined with carved gates and bridges that seem designed purely to make you feel underdressed. I had a little trouble with the local palace guards, who didn’t approve of me sketching their fortress. I told them I was an artist capturing the moment - they told me I was an idiot and took my charcoal. On the brighter side, I tried tea infused with Jade Bamboo. It tasted like grass mixed with starlight, and for three hours afterwards, I was quite sure I could hear the furniture humming. Remarkably soothing, once I stopped worrying about my sanity."
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