South Manmarch

If you descend from the Steplands to the southeast, you'll find yourself on a rolling prairie. The ground slopes gently down toward the east, to the banks of the Dread River.

Travelers and merchants aplenty cross these plains. They come north, from Lygos and the civilized south, heading north to the Highway and from there to Marshedge.

Or they head the other way, bearing herbs and textiles, metals and gems, back to the southern cities. Or they come from beyond the Highway, from the North Manmarch, to hunt or trade or raid.

But for all those who pass through the South Manmarch, few call it home. Sure, the Hillfolk graze their herds here in the warmer months. And some new settlement is always popping up. But the land is dotted with burnt-out homesteads and ruined forts: a mute testament to those who have tried to settle here before. Tried, and failed.

Impressions

Always

• The eternal, unresponsive sky
• Shallow, rocky soil broken by outcrops of white limestone and gray shale
• Smoke from a lone homestead, overlooking a watercourse
• A stream or dry gully, winding lazily down toward the Dread River
• An abandoned, collapsed longhouse
• A Hillfolk horseband, watching from higher ground

A long-disputed land

Before the Cataclysm the Dread River formed the eastern border of Stone Lord territory. After the Stone Lords fell, the Barrow Builders fought each other back and forth across this expanse, grinding themselves down, like shards of shale abraded to dust over time.

Now, the South Manmarch is the border between the civilized south and the hinterlands of the World's End. It's a lawless place, full of dangerous beasts and even more dangerous people. Nomadic Hillfolk claim much of the region, and bandits are a constant threat.

And yet, the lure of the prairie is great.

Every year or so, someone tries to carve out a piece of for themselves. A new settlement might be:

• A family from Marshedge or the North Manmarch, starting their own farm
• An ambitious Lygosi merchant, investing in a new trading post or caravansary
• Some would-be chief or warlord from the Manmarchers, building a new hamlet or hillfort
• The conquering armies of the South, establishing a foothold Such settlements rarely last. They fall prey to natural disaster or roving beasts, to rivals or bandits, or to the certain wrath of the Hillfolk who claim these lands as theirs.

Or perhaps, if you believe the stories, there's something darker afoot. Perhaps these lands really are haunted. Haunted by the numerous souls who've died here. Or by foul things, slithering out of the Dread River. Perhaps the land is cursed, and no settlement can ever survive. Perhaps.

The Flintwash

Draining out of the Steplands and into the Dread River, this watercourse draws thickets, copses of cottonwood, wildlife, and wanderers to its gentle banks. The Hillfolk call it Maengwalc in their own tongue—"Flintwash," after the stony plateau from which its headwaters spring.

Hundreds of rills and brooks feed the Flintwash, and in its lower reaches, it's quite broad and difficult to cross. Yet ways do exist. How might a traveler get from one side to the other? Ask a PC who would know, but perhaps there is…

• an old bridge from the time of the Makers;
• a newer bridge, built at great expense by some southern merchant or noble;
• a shallow ford; wide, rocky and usually safe;
• a ferry, run by enterprising souls;
• some combination of the above; or
• something else entirely.

Questions

• Who did you know who tried to settle in the South Manmarch? What fate befell them?
• What bandit crew is currently the most feared? Who leads them, and what makes them so dangerous?
• At what landmark do merchant caravans typically encamp? Why do they stop there?
• What landmark does everyone who travels these lands know to avoid? Why?

Hooks

• Someone has seized the Flintwash crossing, and is charging exorbitant tolls
• An ambitious chief from the North Manmarch is sending settlers south of the Highway
• The PCs eagerly await a caravan, but it gets waylaid by bandits
• A ruin in the region becomes a place of pilgrimage, drawing the faithful of Helior/Aratis from all over

Terrain

Pick 1 or combine 2, or have someone roll the Die of Fate (d12) once or twice.

Discoveries

For any one of these, pick 1 or have someone roll the Die of Fate.

Dangers

Hazards

• Baking sun, no shade for miles
• Nasty turn in the weather: lashing wind, bitter cold, blistering heat, sleet/ hail/rain/snow; lightning
• Flash flooding in valleys/on slopes
• Lack of shelter, water, or wood for a long-burning fire (try dried aurochs dung, if you can find it)
• Hidden holes/burrows, twisting an ankle or worse
• Prairie fire

Monsters

• Predators: cougars, kleztigr, pack drakes, or wolves
• Big ornery beasts: aurochs, boar, or a thunder drake
• Spirits of the wild
• Ghosts or revenants, lurking near ancient battlefields or ruined settlements

People

• Hillfolk, if they're of a mind to do violence
• North Manmarchers, heading south or defending a new settlement
• Merchants from Marshedge, heading south or coming home
• Southern merchants and their caravan guards, plus those traveling with them, like adventurers or an antiquarian
• Armies of the south, coming north to exact vengeance, secure a resource, establish a foothold