Nova Vaasa

Lands of the Core

Things, Creatures & Personnages of Legend

• Chezna the Blood-cat
• Eternal King Zaanji Højplads
• George Weathermay
• Nightmares
• The Black Duke
• The Centaur

Biology

Flora of Nova Vaasa

Grasses

• Dødmangraes ("dead man's grass") is found in the Ehrendton of Nova Vaasa. A fungus turns patches of the short and thin native grass from its yellow-green to an unhealthy white. It is said to be the sign of an unmarked grave.
• Havgraes is a tall a chest-high grass, the tallest in known world, which is perfect for a stalking plains cat. It is common in the Pommel.
• Hestgraes is a knee-high grass, in which the plains cat is certainly capable of crouching, with brown or white seeds. It is common in the Tordenmark ('Thundering Plain').
• Knivgraes is a razor-edged grass that thrives only in the Dommark ("Plains of Judgement").
• Vingraes is a short golden grass with royal purple seeds. It is common on the Kesjermark ("King's Plain)" and lends it the moniker of “Højplads’s Carpet”.

Cacti

• Catspaw

Crops of Nova Vaasa

• Wheat
• Oats
• Rye

Fauna of Nova Vaasa

Cats=

• Plains Cat

Snakes

• Bluffsnake
• Diamondback
• Goldenhood
• Ironwhips
• Kingsnake
• Sidewinder
• Vaasi garter snake
• Whipsnake

Horses=

• Gedfode ("goat-foots") is a breed of horses native to the rockier western reaches of the Kesjermark and of the Elendighedmark in Nova Vaasa. They stand from 13 to 15 hands high. Gedfode are used by the Vistani as pack animals. The Vaasi use them to carry freight to and from the docks of Guldstrand Beach and up and down the rock trail to Egertus perched on the cliff high above.

• Jernryge (“iron-backs”)
• Rødbuge (“red-bellies”)
• Vaamgaaer ("heat-walker")
• Vindhåre (“wind-manes”)

Fish

• Cod
• Herring

Native Horrors

Nova Vaasa is host to several species of monsters unknown elsewhere and closely related, symbolically at least, to horses. They include the tragic Doedridere, a marriage of horse and rider in undeath; the foul Hestdrikker, which feeds on the blood of horses; vicious Hestskærere, which slits open the stomachs of horses and crawl inside; and treacherous Niksiee, which captivates with its beauty before carrying off and drowning its rider, and the devilish nightmare, a fiend that has the form of a horse.

• Jermlaine
• The Bad Wind
• The Mud Monster
• The Red Bride of Nova Vaasa

Aberrations

• Broken One

Undead

• Bastellus
• Doedridere
• Geist
• Ghoul
• Ghoul Lord
• Ghost
• Shadow
• Skeleton
• Spectre
• Wight
• Dread Wight
• Wraith

Geography

The maximum length of Nova Vaasa on the north-south axis is 118 miles and the maximum width on the east-west axis is 68 miles. The surface area is 4518 square miles. These measurements include land, lakes and rivers but exclude the Nocturnal Sea.

Terrain

Plains

• The Dommark ("Plain of Judgement") is located in central east Nova Vaasa.
• The Ehrendton is located in northeast Nova Vaasa.
• The Elendighedmark ("Plain of Misery")
• The Kesjermark ("King’s Plain")
• The Pommel is narrowing pennisula of southern Nova vaasa south of the Saniset River.
• The Tordenmark ("Thundering Plain") lies between the Ivlis River and the Saniset River. To the north it is part of the Ivlis Duchy of the Rivtoff family and to the south it is part of the Pommel Duchy of the Chekiv family.

Hills

• The Altid Bluffs
• The Forgotten Hills are the southern foothills of the Mountains of Misery. They constitute, in effect, the north frontier of northwestern Nova Vaasa. Since 740 BC, they have become home to bandits who prey upon travellers on the East Timori Road between Liara and the Trished River and even beyond.
• The Howling Hills, called the Hills of Bleak Vistas by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian Balinoks. They are wolf infested, are rumoured to harbour werewolves and vampires, furnish inferior timber, and consequently are shunned by all but the most foolhardy.
• The Hvile Bluffs
• The Koshka Bluffs .... In their eastern shadow stands the Misbande Forest.
• The Stony Bluffs
• The Vaesen Foothills of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the Balinoks from vanished Markovia. They front the Shadow Rift.

Canyons

• The Katsmund Canyon
• The Storrokke Canyon

Forests

• The Dyrskov ("Beastwood") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the Old Svalich Road to the edge of the Shadow Rift and fronts the Shadow Rift to a little south of the Borchava River. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.
• The Graenseskov ("Borderwood") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the Balinoks in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of Nova Vaasa beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the Hills of Bleak Vistas and to the Nova Vaasans as the Howling Hills. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the Old Svalich Road where the beech-firs of the Old Svalich Woods resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into Hazlan itself.
• The Skyggeskov ("Shadowwood") straddles, just south of the Saniset River, the eastern Hazlani frontier with Nova Vaasa, fronting the Misty Border. It begins in earnest east of the Felgmøsge ("Mistmoss River").

Woods

Note: wood are usually less than 1 mile square.

• The Abentaage Forest stands a few miles north of Arbora.
• The Briarweed Forest stand between Kantora and Egertus, a little south of the East Timori Road.
• The Misbande Forest stands in shadow, to the east, of the Koshka Bluffs.

Lakes

• Lake Kronov
• The Three Sisters

Rivers=

Dnar River System

• The Sydligdnar ("South Dnar River") is navigable, although not without difficulty in both directions owing to its current, with small ships between the Nocturnal Sea and the docks at Kantora. With the right winds, the Sydligdnar can be sailed. Otherwise it must be rowed. The Vaughn Dnar and the Dnar are too deep to be forded as they merge to form the Sydligdnar. Bridges consistent with small ships pose a manifest engineering problem, but none are mentioned, so ferry service for river crossings would make sense. A ferry service is known to exist between the docks of Kantora and the port of Guldstrand Beach on the sea at the foot of Egertus.
• The Vaughn Dnar River is navigable, although surely with progressively smaller craft as one climbs past the Borchava River and the Trished River on the way to Liara. The Vaughn Dnar is not navigable in Tepest as its waters plunge through shallow but sinuous and boulder strewn gorges.
• The East Timori Road remains on the south shore of the Vaughn Dnar from Kantora until just after the Trished River, inviting the hypothesis that at that point either the Vaughn Dnar becomes fordable or has a bridge thrown across it that doesn't greatly harm river traffic. To reach that point, the East Timori Road crosses the Borchava River, suggesting that the Borchava is either more fordable than the Vaughn Dnar or that a bridge thrown across the Borchava would do less harm to river traffic than one thrown over the Vaughn Dnar. In Liara there is at least one bridge over the Vaughn Dnar. There are four ancient stone bridges built over the Vaughn Dnar between the Tepestani frontier and Lake Kronov.
• The Sydligdnar ("South Dnar River") has as its tributaries the Dnar River and the Vaughn Dnar River.
  • The Dnar River
  • The Vaughn Dnar River has as its tributary the Borchava River and the Trished River.
  • The Borchava River has as its tributary the Little Borchava River
  • The Little Borchava River
  • The Trished River

Ivlis River System

The Ivlis River and its tributaries are essentially unnavigable, which is not to say that it cannot be done, only that it cannot be done reliably and safely enough for it to be economical. The Volgis River may be used, at least seasonally, to float logs individually to Bergovitsa however.

The Ivlis River has as its tributaries the Volgis River and Ulvand River

• The Volgis River
• The Ulvand River

Saniset River System

The Saniset River is navigable from the Nocturnal Sea to Sly-Var and beyond, certainly not all the way to Immol, but perhaps to the shadow of the Barovian Balinoks where the climb to Immol begins. Craft are very likely smaller than small ships however. Otherwise chuul, when they rear their ugly selves, wouldn't be able to make a mess of transport on the river.

The Genspejle is navigable from Sly-Var to the frontier with Nova Vaasa and with greater difficulty some distance beyond.

Fording the Saniset River seems unlikely, even above Sly-Var. The Iron Road crosses the Saniset two-thirds of the way to Toyalis. This would be the disembarkation point for goods carried by water to Toyalis from both up and downriver, so throwing a bridge across the river here would do no exceptional harm to river traffic. Additionally, one could imagine Hazlik insisting upon a bridge as it would also service his private estate of Veneficus. The Iron Road crosses Genspejle at Sly-Var. A bridge here would allow the town to straddle both banks and would be a boon to commerce. And a ferry across the Saniset would make sense too. The Vaere Bange Road crosses the Saniset near the Nocturnal Sea. Again a ferry would make sense.

The Saniset River has as its tributaries the Genspejle ("Mirror River") and the Felgmøsge ("Mistmoss River")

• The Genspejle ("Mirror River")
• The Felgmøsge ("Mistmoss River")

Musarde River System

The East Musarde River could conceivably be used for a bit of transportation back and forth across the southern Pommel. Only the Vistani or a captain of the Mists could, however, hope to use the East Musarde River to reach southwestern Hazlan or the Musarde River to reach the southwestern Pommel of Nova Vaasa.

The Musarde River has as its tributary the East Musarde River.

• The East Musarde River

Roads

The East Timori Road runs from Egertus, through Kantora and Liara, and into Tepest where it is cut short by the Shadow Rift. The distance by this road from Egertus to Kantora is 30 miles, from Kantora to Liara is 46 miles, and from Liara to Kellee is 10 miles.

The Old Svalich Road begins just south of Bergovitsa and joins Nova Vaasa to Barovia and the lands beyond, crossing the Balinoks. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to the Village of Barovia is 47 miles.

The Prince’s Road joins Bergovitsa and Kantora. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Kantora is 50 miles.

The Vaere Bange Road joins Bergovitsa and Arbora. The distance by this road from Bergovitsa to Arbora is 92 miles.

The Iron Road joins the Pommel to Sly-Var and Toyalis. The distance by this road from Arbora to Sly-Var is 59 miles.

Note: Efforts, subject to continual sabotage, are underway to cut a road through Tepest and Keening to the Strigos Road in Darkon.

Mistways

The Bleak Road (poor reliability, two-Way) from the Misty Border south of Arbora in southern Nova Vaasa to northern Vorostokov. This Mistway is little known as such, although inhabitants south of Arbora have probably seen strange things.

The Serpent's Coils (moderate reliability, two way) from eastern Nova Vaasa to Paridon. This Mistway is little known as such, but those living in eastern Nova Vaasa have noticed a corellation between disappearances and individuals being out on foggy nights during the dark of the moon. Subsequently revisited by the FoS, presumably in the Paridon Gazeetteer.

The Unending Sleep (one-way, excellent reliabiliy) from The Clinic for the Mentally Distressed outside of Egertus to the Nightmare Lands. This Mistway is unknown as such.

Landmarks

The forventetaarn ("watchtowers")

Frontiers

Barovia

The Old Svalich Woods is a small forest of old growth beech-firs along the Old Svalich Road in Barovia from the Village of Barovia to the Nova Vaasan frontier.

The Howling Hills, called the Hills of Bleak Vistas by Barovians, are the eastern foothills of the Barovian Balinoks. They are thickly forested by the Graenseskov ("Borderwood"). It, however, comes to an end before the Old Svalich Road where the beech-firs of the Old Svalich Woods resolutely hold their ground.

The Graenseskov ("Borderwood") grows thickly on the lower slopes of the eastern foothills of the Balinoks in Barovia and well out onto the flatter land of Nova Vaasa beyond them. Its upper reaches are known to Barovians as the Hills of Bleak Vistas and to the Nova Vaasans as the Howling Hills. The northern boundary of the forest lies a little south of the Old Svalich Road where the beech-firs of the Old Svalich Woods resolutely hold their ground. The southern limit extends at least to the border of Hazlani frontier but perhaps continues into Hazlan itself.

Darkon

• The Mountains of Misery
• The Forgotten Hills

Hazlan

The Graenseskov ("Borderwood")

The Høj i den Safdrede Sti-Naavne ("Hill of the Hundred Paths") stands in northeastern Hazlan close to the border with Nova Vaasa at the limit of the Ufrugtbarlan ("Barren Lands"). It is shunned as a place where ghosts walk and kill those who put a foot wrong.

The Skyggeskov ("Shadowwood") stradles just south of the Saniset River the eastern with Nova Vaasa, fronting the Misty Border. It begins in earnest east of the Felgmøsge ("Mistmoss River").

Tepest

The Wormwood stands south of the South Dnar River in southeastern Tepest and reaches across the frontier into Nova Vaasa where it gradually thins and ultimately gives way to the Elendighedmark ("Plain of Misery"). It harbours goblins, Hala's witches, Vaasi bandits (near its eastern fringes), and the three hag sisters (at is heart) who are the Darklords of Tepest.

The Shadow Rift

The Vaesen Foothills of northwestern Nova Vaasa are the foothills of the Balinoks from vanished Markovia. They front the Shadow Rift.

The Dyrskov ("Beastwood") fronts the Barovian frontier a little north of the Old Svalich Road to the edge of the Shadow Rift and fronts the Shadow Rift to a little south of the Borchava River. It covers the southern half of the Vaesen Foothills that themselves fronted the Balinoks of vanished Markovia.

The Mists (the Misty Border)

• The Skyggeskov ("Shadowwood")

The Nocturnal Sea

• The Fortress Coast

The Great Upheaval

Nova Vaasa was significantly altered by the Great Upheaval. To the northeast its frontier with Markovia became one with the Shadow Rift, with positive consequences for the Dyrskov ("Beastwood"). But the Shadow Rift also ended trade with the western Core via the Timori Road, which could not have been good for Liara in particular although it may have helped Bergovitsa a bit. A comparison of the rivers, in particular, before and after the Great Upheaval suggests that Nova Vaasa effectively annexed the former territory of the Nightmare Lands, but a comparison of the subsequent position of the cities suggests that this was a stealth annexation, with Kantora and Egertus simply being relocated to the east and Arbora likewise being relocated to the southwest. The disappearance of the Nightmare Lands was itself a boon and even more so was the eventual appearance of the Nocturnal Sea, which has not only lent Egertus and Arbora considerable importance, but given Nova Vaasa a possible direction for expansion. The former territory of Hazlan was also annexed, as that land reformed along what had been the frontier with Bluetspur. This greatly altered the locations of Sly-Var and Arbora relative to each other, but perhaps improved the prospects for trade, as the navigable Saniset River could now carry goods between the two lands.

Population Distribution

Cities

• -- Arbora
• -- Bergovitsa (pop. 6640)
• -- Kantora (pop. 16520)
• -- Liara (pop. 7590)

Towns

• Arbora (pop. 4610)
• Egertus (pop. 3940)

Villages

• Drataan was a village in northern Nova Vaasa in the Ehrendton, probably near the Darkonese frontier which was the Arakian frontier prior to the Great Upheaval. In 685 BC, it was razed by the Black Duke and his Brotherhood of the Whip. There were probably one or two survivors, spared to spread word of the Black Duke's terrible deeds. The village was not rebuilt.

• Guldstrand Beach is the leading port in Nova Vaasa. It lies on the Nocturnal Sea just south of the mouth of Sydligdnar. It is joined to Egertus by a steep path, to Kantora by a ferry, and almost certainly to Skibbygger Beach by a ferry.
• Haaldam is the largest settlement on the Ehrendton in northwestern Nova Vaasa with a population of roughly 200 people.[18]
• Mavalga is a small fishing port on the Nocturnal Sea that harbours a population of 209 souls. It is not far south of Rutledge which itself stands on the border of Darkon and Nova Vaasa. This is to say that Mavalga lies on the edge of the Ehrendton in northeastern Nova Vaasa. It was assaulted by the Bad Wind in 755 BC.
• Mel Fira was a large village in northern Nova Vaasa. It was razed in 735 BC as part of an attempt by adventurers to put to an end a conspiracy led by a wererat. The village was not rebuilt and its site is shunned.
• Rutledge is a port harbouring roughly 250 souls on the Nocturnal Sea that straddles the border between Darkon and Nova Vaasa. It has, as yet, been claimed by neither. Its lifeblood is fishing but it also serves as a pirate haven.
• Skibbygger Beach is the leading ship building centre in Nova Vaasa. It lies on the Nocturnal Sea just north of the mouth of Sydligdnar. It should be joined to Guldstrand Beach by a ferry.

Towns

• -- Draatan
• -- Hornwood

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Sites of Infamy/Interest

• Castle Chekiv
• Castle Drakkir
• Castle Faerhaaven
• Blacktower Heights
• Koshka Bluffs
• Stonegard
• Saniset Forest
• Three Sisters

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