The Spike

''Bright sands to the south, cold stark mountains to the north, separated by a blanket of green. Dragons and wyverns soar over the steppes of Dragomir, carefully watching over the green fields that funnel food into their harsh mountains. But in the hot south, innovation and trade casts a curious eye towards the rich lands of the Withering Wood. Tension is growing, and soon wing and weapon will clash.''

--

The Spike is a temperate coastal region that makes up the eastern area of Faronne. It is home to the nations of Dragomir, the Withering Wood, Cliffset Cities, and Southsandrin.

Geography
The Spike is divided into four geographic areas, the Steppes of Dragomir, the Withering Wood, Southsandrin, and Cliffset.

Steppes of Dragomir
The northern area of the Spike is known as the Steppes of Dragomir. These wild flats are primarily inhabited by elves and dragons, who live cooperatively.

The elves of Dragomir are known for breeding wyverns. Wyvern husbandry is sanctioned by dragons, and wyvern mounts give the elves of Dragomir a prowess in battle that has been unmatched for hundreds of years. The mithril mines of Dragomir offer artisans, warriors, and inventors unmatched access to rare materials.

The Withering Wood
The Withering Wood stretches from the Yellow Ridge to the Stairs of Bjorn. A variety of small townships are scattered throughout. It's primarily agricultural, but a few larger towns have shops, artisans, craftmasters, and, in some cases, schools.

The few green forests found here are home to the last remnants of the Green-Moon druids. A careful eye can sometimes spot hidden relics and buried reminders of the green age of the Goddess.

Southsandrin
Southsandrin is the southernmost area of the Spike. Hot sands to the east have been starved of water by high mountains. To the west, humid jungles mix with green, oil-rich plains. Once mostly home to warring tribes, Southsandrin has consolidated into a powerful, technologically ambitious principality.

Officially, the Yellow Ridge marks its border with the Withering Wood, but Southsander influence has been stretching increasingly northwood. A number of settlements and colonies have started to crop up north of the Ridge.

Cliffset
Cliffset runs fifty miles in from the eastern coast of the spike, from Inset Bay to the south to the Lighthouse of Golden Glen, a days walk from Easglen-on-the-Rocks. In an effort to increase trade with their mysterious eastern neighbors, Cliffset is an anarcho-capitalist string of coastal cities and ports.

History
The history of the Spike covers a roughly 2000 year period. There was a period before written record, but it is unclear exactly when civilization in the Spike began. Current historians divide the years into four ages: the Time of Legend, the Age of the Green-Moon, the Age of Ancient Scales, and the Era of New Flame.

The Time of Legend
In ancient years, the Spike was home primarily to firbolgs, nature spirits, and elves.During this time, legend said that the fey and the goddess walked the earth with the folk. A great celebration was had every day, and the trees danced with the joy of life.

Age of the Green-Moon
Written history began with the Age of the Green-Moon. Druids began to write in druidic, and elvish script was developed for those who weren't inducted into the Goddess's order.

Nature-worship, aimed at the Goddess of the Green-Moon, was the primary social structure. Clerics and Druids to the Goddess were held in high esteem, and directed much of the activity, expansion, and daily life in the Spike.

For many years there was no way up into the steppes north of the Withering Wood, and a multi-generational project was begun, to carve a great set of stairs into the cliffs. In year 1042 of the Age of the Green-Moon, The Stairs of Bjorn, named for Bjorn Bjornsson were completed under the watchful eye of Verna Bjornssonssonssonlass, a descendant of the original Bjorn.

Exploration into the Steppes revealed a mostly empty land, ruled over by a clan of dragons. Overcome by reverence, the explorers offered the dragons tribute, in exchange for knowledge, protection, and more.

Dragon worship became prominent among the elves. Under the tutelage of the dragons, elves began developing new crafts and technologies, and developing precision sciences.

As dragon worship increased, worship of the Green-Moon decreased. Without her usual supply of reverence, the Green Goddess went silent. This caused more worshipers to flock the the Dragon Temples than ever before, and the age of the Green-Moon was declared to be over.

The Age of Ancient Scales
As elvish society centered itself around Dragon worship and discovery, the firbolgs withdrew to the forests, focusing on the preservation of nature and the hidden shrines to the Green-Moon Goddess.

The Goddess was said to be missing, and the hearth to be kept ablaze in expectation of her eventual return. From time to time a druid or cleric would claim to have seen the goddess in their grove, or that they had received a message from her spirit in dreams. These claims were found to be false in each instance.

More and more faithful lost their ardor and became either non-believers or followers of the Chrysalis Sect, a group of druids who believed that the Goddess had transformed, and that, somewhere out there, she had become the Dragon Goddess, a new, more powerful version of herself.

The Green-Moon Druids, the Dragon-Souls, and the Chrysalis Sect weren't openly aggressive towards each other, but, as time went on, the Dragon-Souls, as a result of their interest in development and technology, began to gain power, influence, and capabilities. Tensions mounted.

In the year 391 of the Age of Ancient Scales, a terrible storm passed over most of the spike. The Withering Wood, once a great forest that covered the entirety of the plains between the Stairs of Bjorn and Yellow Ridge, was struck by many branches of lightning, and a wildfire raged across the area, burning away much of the forest.

With the woods nearly 75% burnt, many of the Green-Moon temples and groves were destroyed, and their druids along with them. Rumors persisted that the storm was no storm, but an attack from the smoke by dragons, but this was dismissed as gossip and political deceit.

In the next decades, dragon worship shifted from religious to political. Dragons were still revered for their intelligence and power, but were no longer seen as divine. The dragon temples remained places of distinction, but elves, humans, and citizens of the Dragon-Cities were allowed to hold positions as local officials, reporting to the Matriarch of the Steppes. As dragon worship declined, the Age of Ancient Scales was declared over, and the Land of the Dragons became known as simply Dragomir.

Era of New Flame
In the Era of New Flame, the Spike has been primarily under the guidance of Dragomir, as an unofficial protectorate.

Their influence below the Stairs of Bjorn is unofficial, but the cities of Dragomir, now a cosmopolitan mix of folk, have controlled technology, education, and other vital resources for decades. The small, disorganized townships of the Withering Wood benefit from the protection and research of Dragomir, while Dragomir benefits from the agricultural exports of the Withering Wood.

To the south, a new power began to develop. Southsandrin, once a small collection of tribes below the Yellow Ridge, won the race for eastern contact. While the Druids and Dragon-Souls chafed at each other, the Southsandrin developed their sea-craft, and established trade with the land of Torrovion, far to the east.

With the arrival of new technologies from the east and the subsequent expansion of Southsandrin, the Spike has been thrown into disarray. The agrarian people of Withering Wood could not prepare for the growing influence and interest of Southsandrin. Armed with new technology, Southsandrin has been pushing north.

The Army of Steel and Smoke is the unofficial first wave of Southsandrin maneuvers. This army, emboldened by their technology and new magicks, has swept across the Withering Wood and made a series of jab attacks against Dragomir.

Dragomir forces have occasionally returned the favor, but know that controlling the stairs of Bjorn is key to the defense of their territory, and expansion below that would put their forces at great tactical risk. The only reason to intervene, in the eyes of the Dragon-Souls, is to protect their agricultural imports. Dragon scouts and Wyvern riders, as a result, patrol and drive back the AoSaS whenever their food sources are threatened, but have left the southern fields to the mercy of Southsandrin forces.

Meanwhile, the "free" cities of Cliffset have continued to be hotbeds of iniquity, protected from the interference of other nations by the need for zero-tax trade and a place for people to let loose without legal consequences.