01 The Ashlands

  Geography and Circumstance: The Ashlands occupy the most volcanic inland regions of the continent, land-locked but for the few largely-acidic lakes and rivers that slowly leach their acidity before passing into the broken landscape of the Shattered Steppes to the north, and the Deadlands to the east. To the west and south of the Ashlands lies the Great Escarpment. Most of the potable water in this hellscape comes from subterranean water sources which pass through older, harder volcanic rock which blocks most of the sulphuric contamination that acidifies surface water. Other potable water can be made through laborious and time-consuming boiling processes involving ceramic or glass vessels.   Luckily for the Ashlanders, their native biome provides ample sources of heat, which they channel to provide the means of kilning their glass and ceramic works. One might wonder how raw volcanic heat could be harnessed safely, until they realise that a significant proportion of the Ashland population is made up of Dwarves, mostly of the Anvil, Fire Heart, and Forge varieties - those kindred most able to survive these nearly inhospitable lands.   Also due to this unique combination, the Ashlands are home to the only post-Calamity society capable of making steel in any real quantity - the secrets of its making being passed from master to apprentice, and kept by the Dwarven kindred in utmost secrecy.  

Races of the Ashlands:

Thanks to the ingenuity, sternness, and hardiness of their Dwarven co-survivors (they prefer the term ‘saviours’), a number of other races also call the Ashlands home:

• Cavern and Desert Elves.
• Gnomes of all varieties
• Charhide, Irongut and Unbreakable Goblins
• Smokeworker Hobgoblins
• Humans of all varieties
• Red, Brass, or Gold Dragonscaled Kobolds
• Sandstrider Lizardfolk
• Badlands Orcs
• Desert Rat Ysoki

  The most populous of these species are the Dwarves (30%) and Gnomes (20%), then Humans and Elves (15% each), with the other races making up the final 20%. The minority populations are more tolerated, rather than truly accepted, and are allowed sanctuary from the sure death of the Ashlands on the condition that they work hard and stir no trouble - an approach reinforced by the exile or execution of those that fail to uphold their end of the deal. The Ashlanders have no tolerance for dead weight.  

Ashlander Society:

The society of the Ashlands is one of strict adherence to rules, laws, and tradition, thanks in part to its large Dwarven population. Even the Gnomes follow these rules (most of the time). It is a society of harshness, and often cruelty, shaped by the necessities for surviving in the volcanic wastelands. Anyone incapable of shouldering their fair share of the burden is, at best, shunned. Those who are an active drain on resources are either banished or, rarely, executed outright.   Curiously, the Gnomish population of the Ashlands seem to have thrived, despite the conditions. Whether the constant struggle for survival keeps them from the Bleaching, or something of the Hell taint of the lands has reached into them and changed them, is up for debate.   The lower populations of the other species in the Ashlands can be attributed to a number of elements - low birth rates in the case of the Elves, brutal population controls for the Goblinoid species, higher mortality amongst the human population, etc. With the opening of trade with the surrounding Lands, food availability has improved, but not enough to warrant a relaxation of these rules - though the populations of the goblinoid and lizardfolk races have begun moving away from the stronghold to form their own settlements in recent years.  

Stronghold (Zaalgas):

The Ashlands stronghold, Zaalgas, lies nestled into the mountains to the southwest of the region. Zaalgas began as a series of dwarven mines, which had tapped into a deep mountain meltwater spring during its pre-Calamity operations. As the Calamity increased in severity, the depths of the mine were mostly unaffected by the Hellish taint on the surrounding lands, though the areas closer to the surface were still tainted.