Terraconensis, the Wilderness of Iberia
Iberia sits on the extreme southwest of the mainland, south of the Barbaric Wilds and the Path of the Sun, and west of the Shattered Peninsula holding the Eternal City. The eight mountain ranges that circle the peninsula are low and gentle, and the central plain of the peninsula subtropical and lush with fruit trees. Scattered here and there are the abandoned ruins of what were the summer homes of the indolent wealthy of the Eternal City.
Terraconensis takes up the northern two-thirds of the Iberian peninsula, leaving two small slivers of civilization along the southern coast of the peninsula, isolated not only from Terraconensis but from each other. The vast wilderness of Terraconensis is filled with dwendi, a diminutive people who inhabit the ruins and are fearful of strangers and incapable or unwilling to invest time in maintenance or cleaning.
When the Eternal City claimed it's independence from the Empire (an odd event considering the Eternal City was once the capital of the Empire) and marshaled it's forces to cast the rest of the Empire out, Valeria and her dwendi sealed the Peninsula, driving out the inhabitants and claiming all for themselves. Legend has it that during the Eternal Secession, Terraconensis shook as the creature Valeria, Mistress of All Evil, arose and drove the people to the ports south and east or fleeing the peninsula entirely, a ravening horde of dwendi behind her. She was only seen on subsequent attempts to invade Terraconensis, when she proved more than capable of destroying invaders and feeding them to her pets. Thus far, she has rebuked all armies from all directions, even the ports thriving in her shadow, cowering from her might.
Terraconensis is now a dwendi land, and they greet invaders with open teeth and appetites.
Geography
The irregular, roughly octagonal shape of the peninsula is compared to an ox-hide by the most geographers.
About three quarters of that rough octagon is Terraconensis, a vast plateau ranging from 610 to 760 m in altitude. It is ringed by mountains and contains the sources of most of the rivers, which find their way through gaps in the mountain barriers on all sides. The terrain is largely mountainous, with the chain stretching across it's northern border separating the peninsula from the mainland entirely save where the diagonal Path of the Sun stretches from it's extreme southwest point to the pass carved at the peninsula's furthest northeast point, where it meets with the Path of the Eagle, which crosses the foothills north of Terraconensis, connecting the Great Sea coast at Fiveport with the Eternal City. Bisecting the peninsula is the Path of the Sun, a Celtic road far older than the Roman roads that still cross the peninsula. An ancient compact between the Punics and the Dwendi places the Path of the Sun under Punic control, and the Kaisar Legion maintains it and secures it as the division between Punic and Dwendi land. Kaisar patrol the Path continually, granting the hazard of bribing them for safe passage in addition to Dwendi practices.
Imperial crews keep the Path of the Eagle in good repair, but these crews are usually carefully programmed animated dead and barely sentient, just wandering their ancient routes, stopping only to gather materials and make repairs. It should be noted groups of animate skeletons supply and restock various caches stashed in the region with ammunition for catapult crews who protect the Path of the Eagle.
The Great Ocean on the west coast provides even temperatures with relatively cool summers, while most of the peninsula is more affected by location and altitude as far as precipitation and temperature go than the Mare Nostrum or Great Ocean.
Natural Resources
Almost any mineral may be mined here, but the Dwendi consider the mines and the underground theirs, and are VERY hostile to any seeking to plunder the good earth, which they perceive as being Valeria's entirely. The surface is rich in oranges and other fruit trees, which the dwendi do cultivate, sometimes bringing them to the Path of the Eagle trading posts for such goods as their peninsula does not produce.
Type
Peninsula
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Characters in Location
Inhabiting Species
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