The Rift and Grasslands

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“Talking about all this foreign chaos has made me homesick. Hence, if you allow it, my Liege, I will move from the land of Knights and Barons to that of trade and discussion. I shall speak of home, of its shining towers and ever-moving ships, of Karltown and its glorious days. Although, and I hate to say it, we are part of the Grasslands region, and therefore I shall also have to speak of the barbarians up north, those nomadic horse-lords traveling from pasture to pasture, spawning the occasional conqueror and hero.”

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“Travelling west, one arrives at the great wild. Such is the beauty of this landscape the inhabitants dare not build upon it. But a few towers and hamlets adorn this most empty of regions. The Grasslanders roam their land ceaselessly with herds aplenty. They have cows, sheep, goats, dogs, swine, and even this most disagreeable animal we call cat. If not roaming the land, then a Grasslander is bound to one of the few shore settlements, where he fishes endlessly or sails off to trade. Somehow, despite being so isolated, the Grasslands have produced many of Speros’ finest. Great heroes have come out of this land, and even greater glassblowers, masons, carpenters, and potters. People of the region have a natural skill for craftsmanship. Yet, their region is torn. For on the few roads there are, one will often find skirmishes between knights and locals, as the knights try to tame this most wild of lands. If ever the riders of the Grasslands are tamed, one will still have to deal with all sorts of mystical beings. Druids, sorcerers, necromancers and pyromancers, all these practicers of ill-magics hide out in the Grasslands, where the Raphalian Inquisition cannot find them. I myself did manage to find some, and all I can say is that it was the most surreal experience possible. I spent weeks speaking to wise owls nestled in trees. I spotted a man so tall, chest bare, that he could walk over mountains. At night, I saw stars battling each other, and some come crashing down into the ocean. It is only after seeing this that one understands why Ythmeer worship receded in the region. It is too unusual, too unnatural, to follow the cross.”