Regions of the Valley (4) - Sildur Reaches

[This is the introduction to the region of the Sildur Reaches, a mapping and some hex details have been posted already].

The Sildur Reaches describes the region of the valley that lies north of the Great River, south of the Destriel Mountains, and between the Fa'Ars River on the eastern border, and the Greywater River on the western border.

The central terrain of this region is dominated by the patchy pine forests that together make up the massive Shadow Woods.  The pines of this region include the mighty Giant Cloudwood pine trees, that can reach as much as 400 feet tall, and as big around as 25-30 feet.  Some Cloudwoods are as old as 2,500 or 3,000 years, according to some Wood Elf sages that have been tending them as a life project.  Other pines in the area include the gnarleycone pine tree, the bristlecone pine tree and also the thinwhistle pine tree.

The whole region was once heavily, heavily forested, but it is believed that during the time of the Old Ones that it was deforested.  The reason is unknown, but occasionally massive fields full of the stumps of Cloudwood trees are still encountered.  These are often home to packs of dire wolves, giant badgers, and frequently swarms of giant burrowing insects (mostly giant beetles of different types, some as large as 10 or 12 feet long; and also a peculiar type of ground dwelling giant tick that are the bane of the dire wolves).

The name of the region, the Sildur Reaches, comes from the name of a Frost Giant warlord, or king as he preferred to be called, that ravaged the region during the time between the departure of the Old Ones and the arrival of the Westroners.  Some of the incredible crusading campaigns waged by the early bands of Westron knights in this region were against the armies of Frost Giants, and their ogre and bugbear allies.  Once the Giant Crusades were over, the Giants were confined to the mountainous lands to the north east, around the Tears of Heaven.

The road that extends from the city of Botts southwest to the city of Na Kram passes over the King's Highway.  Actually it passes under the King's Highway, but it does so through an area that is a flooded bog.  There is a vast tunnel through the mound of the Highway at this point, approximately 200 yards wide, and 30 yards high at the center, through which punt boat traffic frequently travels.  This boat traffic is one of the activities of the swamp town of Wall Morton.  This is a Westron town that is built all on pillars in the bog, and almost all movement in and around the town is by punt boat.  The swamp itself, called simply The Morton is about 75 miles wide, but this is spotted throughout with islands and high areas where trees grow, but the region is generally boggy and covered in fetid waterways.  A number of black dragons make their home here, and there is a order of Knights of the White Lady (paladins) who dwell in Wall Morton, and they patrol the region on the back of great hippogriffs.

Paladin of the White Lady fighting a Black Dragon for a captured maiden.

In addition to the swamp town of Wall Morton, there are a number of other independent towns, that are not part of either the Barony of Botts or of the Barony of Na Kram.  These are Willow (in the east, a river trading town on the Fa'Ars River), Gavaar and Roesen (two rival ports on the Great River), Jinette (trade town on the road between Na Kram and Huygen "The City of Lights" - which is across the Greywater River in the Darkearth Plains) and Haaksen (walled trade town on the road between Na Kram and Wall Morton).