Semhinter

This remote realm consists of seven interconnected shards, a broken reflection of a land long lost to time they each fit together around a crown of mountains. Hoisting an enormous glacier, hundreds of riverlets are sired from the peak and unite into raging rivers which denote the shard's edges.

Edges

The edges of the shards in this plane all touch together, manifesting as the great riverbeds of the realm. Outer limits of this plane form misty hinterlands. These very disorienting runs of land make it incredibly difficult for bands to find their way back, and conversely make it easy for travelers in the astral voids to stumble inside. Overall, there are far more people wandering out than people wandering in, and there is never enough for a consistent connection or trade route to crop up.

Geography

Semhinter is comprised of rocky highlands, crowned by a circuitous mountain range. The environment is acutely affected by the range as such- the realm is home to a small desert, swamp, tundra, rainforest, woods and flatlands. Rocky cliffsides and rivers dilineate rough barriers throughout the hinterlands, which the tribes use as territorial markers in political disputes. This ecotopia lends all of it's wisdom to the tribes of Semhinter, this small land lacks many of the essential soil requirements required for large scale farming. Hosting to several hunter gatherer tribes, the political geography shifts as populations do- with great frequency.

Land here is affected too by the divine nature of the realm's inhabitants. Peppered by the domains of small gods, these little clearings break the pattern of the environment around them. The rainshadow of the great mountain range has a great oasis enshrined within it. Serene groves within the forests of the land lay nested and pruned, just as enshrined buttes erupt from the flats around them. Hosting great shrines, ceremonial grounds and marketplaces, the gods of this realm offer refuge and guidance from the wilds around them.

Diversity of climate is the great mark of Semhinter, and has done much to effect the cultures it provides for. The high altitude of the Crowned Precipice blocks rains from reached one side of the realm while piling on rain on the other side. Glacial valleys between the peaks reach extreme lows as cold air systems quickly freeze the life out of what remains in them. In the desert side, largely uncovered sands reach super heated highs baking the unready. Higher elevations suffer blizzards and hails, which manifest as great deluges in the rainforests at the base of the land. Much that is unanchored travels through the plane on the wings of climate and weather: flora, fauna and the tribes of the place.

Religion and Magic

    The wilds of Semhinter do not have much anchorage for sedentary life, providing little room for institutional power. Many of the gods of the realm live among the mortals, several of them leading great tribes. More of these minor gods however, live in their sanctuaries in humble halls or shrines and provide an alternative to the life of a nomad. Magic does not exist in a form that is confined to the pages of books or universities, for there are none to be found in Semhinter. It is tradition that is written in the blood, in the land and in the stars. It is an art handed down from father to son, mother to daughter and from god to man.

The Primal and Divine traditions remain the most popular forms of magic in the planar hinterlands here. With a strong preference to the more unstructured magics, many of the gods teach their elemental lessons to the people here- becoming powerful kineticists in their own right. Drawing power from the land and then in time, from themselves, these artisans weave together the purest elements to defend their clans and aide in times of great famine and hardship. More structured mages draw primal spells and draft up formalized druidic orders across the plane, learning what they can from the bountiful and strange variety of microecosystems that exist here.

In the darkest caves and etched into stone in the most remote areas of Semhinter, witches and wizards make their trade secreting spells to those that are daring. Crossing the borders of territory into hostile enviornments these mages will often makes ties with tribal enemies in the pursuit of arcane knowledge. Creating runestones etched with spells or tomes of etched and bound leathers, these craftsmen make due with what they have, while Druids and Kineticists thrive in prestigious clan positions.

In smaller sedentary environments, the clerical orders of smaller gods make up some of the only permanenent settlements on the plane. Dedicating their monastic life to the maintainence of the grounds and veneration of the divine spaces that dot the lands, the clergy of these places tend to live their lives radiating not too far from their god's home. Forming tribes of their own, they grow slowly in number as tribal bands come and go. Either left there by a decision of the tribe- or by personal choice the clergy form found families and loose monastic orders.

History of Divinity

It is not fully known why the minor gods of Semhinter remain here. Numerous and content, they mill about as the humans do. When questioned, they state simply that they have always been here. They speak of a land much larger than their own- of floating mountains and primeval forests. A humanity that has never quite emerged from the darkness of the wilderness. In many ways it suits them. They share the fate as mortals do- to eat, sleep, fight and die as they do.

They claim to represent a primal secret, uncovered by mortality, mastered by mortality and thusly cannot die. Embodying the spirit of these secrets, they still act in mortality's favor and live humbly among them living contrarily to the gods who represent high minded things like "Love", "War" and "Discipline." No longer secrets, held by every people that have survived the ancient days, "Hearth", "Grain", "Path" and "Spear" exist in perpetuatity. Theologians who peddle such essentialiasms would state that most concepts are derived from a singlular simple one.

Intrusive Forces

 

Serpent Henge Chronicle

Recently, a ring of standing stones in a remote vista have begun to glow under the light of the full moon. The sounds of war drums, foreign tongues and the rattling of large stone weapons warned us of their attack. Now several tribes have gone missing from their herding grounds surrounding the Serpent Henge Stones. Under the guidance of the Spear God, a raiding party forms to provide a swift counter attack before they can leave through what he suspects is a portal into another world.

Sanctuary

Semhinter is home to the Hearthlight Hall. It is a longhouse constructed of logs and furs, it stands in the at the foot of the Semhinter Peaks. Commonly it is used to host divine rituals by the tribes that use it as a neutral waystation. Placing their tents and huts around the place in a ring, the people of this hall are skilled in the arts of healing: surgical and magical. The goddess of the hearth has a shrine central to the hall, a monolithic disc with a carved out pit. She sits there by the fire, stoking the flames and providing hot cakes for those who bring offerings to her.
Now that this place has more interplanar travelers, the locals are more than a little unfriendly- but the goddess' presence heels both man and beast to heel before her sacred grove. Despite this, a tame revelry happens once a week for the guests of the Hall, and more than often one of the small gods of the realm visits to pay their respects to their divine sister.