Nedermark

Nedermark is the northernmost peninsula on Archaea. Its thin, stony, icy soil is peopled by dual-caste civilization of Orcs and Goblins which is divided up into clans living in barracks-style longhalls. Unsuitable for farming, most of the region subsists upon fishing, supplemented by foraging and raiding culture. Nederian Longhall society is divided up into two castes: warrior and artisan. The large and sturdy orcs serve as warriors, defending the peninsula from lizard invasions and securing loot and plunder for the settlements. The small and nimble goblins produce the craftwork and labor of society, notably skilled in the making of wooden longships to ply the waves as either fishing or raiding vessels.

Geography
Nedermark is a land defined by frigid plains. Over 90% of its area is made up of frosty, rocky plains with thin soil and very little vegetation. These plains are broken up only by the occasional stand of pines, and several genuine forests near the southern border. The western coast of Nedermark is dominated by the north-most stretch of the Whitespine Mountains, which serve as a windbreak to shelter the peninsula from storms off the Adwenian Sea. To the east, the Shivering Sound north of Dungard serves as a gathering point for the longships between raids, where they can be used to ply the waters of the bay for fish. The bay is thawed year-round, and too shallow for the great beasts of the sea to ply--beasts which are already more uncommon in the frigid Northern Awdenic.

Ancient History
Far back in the mists of time, beyond the reach of human record, and nearly beyond the reach of elven memory, the Lizardfolk ruled a massive civilization from the heart of the Nederian Steppe. The lizards built their empire upon the backs of slaves, bringing humanoid chattel from near and far to satisfy their greed. The orcs and goblins were two such targets, considered cousins to one another in their native land across the sea. The Lizardfolk Legions engaged in a series of expeditionary campaigns to kidnap and carry them back to Archaea en masse, putting the larger orcs to work as slave soldiers and hard laborers, while the goblins were sentenced to work which required more agile hands and nimbler minds.

During this time, the peninsula of Nedermark was untamed wilderness, considered by the Lizardfolk to be an uninhabitable wasteland. The only settlements in this region consisted of the occasional mining camp, seeking veins of copper and tin hidden beneath the Whitespines. This made it an attractive retreat for orcish and goblinoid slaves on a strange continent seeking freedom from their brutal lives in servitude. The first longhalls were established in these times, and the roots of the oldest Orc clans laid. The escapees, however, only came in trickles while the power of the Lizard Empire was still great. This all came to an end when a mysterious catastrophic event laid waste to the heart of the Lizard Empire and warped the minds of the surviving Lizardfolk. The remaining orcs and goblins, freed by the fall of Lizard civilization, were able to make it out to the frigid safe havens of their kindred.

By now, of course, all knowledge of their home continent had been lost in the destruction of the Temple Cities, and so the Orcs and Goblins resigned to hewing out a new life on Archaea, in the uninhabitable wasteland they called home.

The Modern Era
Since that time, the culture of the Nederian clans has remained in a sort of stasis, held in place by the harsh demands of survival. The Longhalls, originally used as efficient shelters against the cold, became the centers of their settlements. The martial leanings of Orcish society remained relevant as the Lizardfolk fell under the thrall of the Parasite, causing them to come into frequent conflict with their northern neighbors. The goblins honed their skill in woodcraft, making more and more elaborately carved wooden architecture, as well as finer and finer ships to ply the waves. Orcish warbands sail the coasts and range the Whitespines looking for villages to raid and plunder. The city of Dungard began on the shores of the Shivering Sound as a mere fishing village, which sprawled larger and larger as the population came to rely on its bounties, eventually becoming the de facto capital of Nedermark, by virtue of being its only settlement large enough to be considered a town. In more recent years, the Clan Shamans have been disturbed by persistent Dreams of the Lizardfolk and their sufferings under the Parasite. After communing over the meaning of these dreams, it was eventually decided that the Clans must seek to free those who once enslaved them. The Shamans discovered a brutally intensive ritual capable of freeing individual Lizardfolk from the Parasite's thrall--however it required them to come within hailing distance to cast. Thus began a series of skirmishes led by the Shamans to free individual Lizardfolk warbands and take them North to lands too cold for the Parasite to spread and survive. The Lizardfolk have begun to gather amongst the longhalls, and there have reached a level of uneasy companionship with their liberators.

Settlements

 * Dungard - Once a fishing village, this settlement has grown to become the sprawling "capital" of Nedermark. It is the center of economic activity, where the clans come to meet and trade during the Midwinter Festival of Lights, a market holiday marked by the period of year in which the sun does not break over the horizon for weeks at a time. The market squares of Dungard are packed with revelers, decked out in glittering lights, and filled with the sounds of music and shouting until the sun finally rises again. The city is located on the shores of the Shivering Sound, an inland bay teeming with fish, and safe from predators.

Civilizations

 * The Orcish Clans - The Orcish Clans began in Nedermark as refugee camps filled with escaped slaves from the Lizard Empire. These encampments grew over time into fully fledged warrior societies, peopled by a dual-caste system of Orcs and Goblins. The society is divided by labor and vocation, with the Orcs forming a Warrior caste, devoting their lives to training for battle, defending the borders, and engaging on raiding expeditions in foreign lands. The Goblins pursue craftsmanship, taking on much of the economic burden of the society. The leadership of these clans is formed of a bilateral partnership between Orcish Warchiefs and Goblin Shamans, who are co-equal in authority but generally assume different aspects of leadership according to their specialized skills.

Notable NPCs

 * Knut Gurdsson - An Orcish warrior in his twilight years who found himself in a menial job running security for a shoreside warehouse in the Southern Lychwood. After a whirlwind several days, Knut found himself in charge of making some order out of a recently vacated Lich's stronghold, and responsible for the safety of a number of forest dwellers in an increasingly hostile Wood.