Western Synk’maa: Cities and Towns

The towering range of Beartooth Mountains divides the Western Synk’maa into two; the north and the south. Two regions geographically so near, yet almost completely different from each other in culture and customs.

The cold and unforgiving north, the only nation and territory not under the control of the royal family of Gallowmoor, is ruled by the Witch Queen and her husband, the Warlord King. Additionally, the Children of the Eternal Flame are absent in the north as well, giving full spiritual and religious sovereignty to the queendom and its habitants. The local folk, especially the barbaric wood clans and self-isolated witch covens, are openly suspicious and unfriendly towards foreigners, particularly the ones coming from Eastern Synk’maa. The authority of the Witch Queen and her family is unquestionable, and the northerners will defend her throne, and their homeland, to the death.

Throughout history, the people of the south of Western Synk’maa have been considered as strange and unreliable. Be it the strange influence of the Beartooth Mountains, or the supposedly maddening presence of the goddess Itkijätär, but the best word to describe the realm’s folk as a whole would be erratic. Even more so today, as the petty king of Gray Burg, Siegfried, has established his own end time cult, while trying to get rid of Gallowmoor’s grasping jurisdiction at the same time. The royal family of Gallowmoor isn’t taking any actions of mutiny lightly, and it might very well be that the ways of the mad petty king have to be corrected by the unforgiving force of Eastern Synk’maa’s armies.

Routatuuli - Frostwind Citadel

During the Age of Gods, certain people of Middle Synk’maa journeyed to the northern shores of Western Synk’maa and in time made a pact with the primitive folk living around the area. When the clan sages told the settlers about the Well of Verses and the great river originating from it, Ever-Tide, they started to build the city of Frostwind as near the Well as possible and with no delays.

Soon after the completion of Frostwind Citadel, an adept female mage from the ranks of the settlers drank from the Well of Verses, thus becoming so powerful that no sage nor witch in the north could surpass her newfound might. The female mage was then crowned as the Witch Queen of Frostwind and the whole north of Western Synk’maa, taking the mightiest clan warlord as her husband and the king of the north. From that day on, it has been so that the oldest living daughter of the sovereign family will inherit the title of the Witch Queen and when at a suitable age, she chooses a local warrior as her husband she cares for the most.

Lahdensyli - Gulf’s Cradle

A small, icy and windy port city inhabited by fishermen and woodland hunters. The town serves as a resting place for the adventurers, merchants and other passengers traveling between Frostwind and Corpse Shore.

Kalmoranta - Corpse Shore

Originally known as the Shore of Covenant during the times before the First War. The settlers of Middle Synk’maa met and befriended the local tribes in this coastal area before becoming allies with each other and founding the port city in question.

During the First War, the city’s name was changed when the Loyalists, as well as the Shadow Kin, strived to benefit from the resources and population of the north, and the local folk had to defend their freedom and land with violent force in numerous battles. The coastline was covered with the corpses of the fallen warriors and the then ruling Witch Queen decided to leave the bodies as a warning sign to possible new intruders, as well as a reminder for the locals to not trust outlanders anymore. Even today, the corpses haven’t decayed completely, and the waves haven’t carried them away, possibly due to the Witch Queen’s magic or some other supernatural force.

Itkevän Joen Kylä - Weeping River Village

A town residing upstream of the River of Tears, named after the woeful and lamenting voices heard from the river, was founded by conservatives who left Gray Burg after getting weary of life in a big citadel. Slowly, during the many passing years, the locals have, bit by bit, lost their minds, either over the influence of the spirits living in the River of Tears or the tall shadows cast by the Beartooth Mountains.

The villagers wish to be left alone, expelling all the outsiders without hesitation. However, during the summer and winter solstices, their otherwise cold attitude shifts into welcoming warmth, since the villagers seek foreigners to partake in their rituals dedicated to the spirits.

Harmajala - Gray Burg

The greatest city in the Kingdom of the southern Western Synk’maa, located upstream of Apatheia Rapids. During the First War, Gray Burg was in league with the Shadow Kin, and the warriors and mages of the citadel were widely considered exceptionally aggressive and reckless. Even before and after the war, the Gray Burg folk have been said to be more or less mentally unstable, most likely due to the various powers and forces around the Beartooth Mountains’ area.

Nowadays, the petty king of Grey Burg, Siegfried, and the surrounding aristocracy, has gone totally insane, as Siegfried has nominated himself as the End Time Prophet, encouraging his people to embrace extreme hedonism, deeply sinful and even self-destructive lifestyles. The people of Grey Burg, excluding the said inner circle of aristocrats, are forbidden to have their own family names, and are in turn forced to have the mad petty king’s name as their new surname.

Vähä-Harmaa - Lesser Gray Burg

A port city built downstream of Apatheia Rapids, serving as the access point to the sea from Grey Burg. Lesser Gray Burg acts as the center of trade as well, and dealers and merchants from all over the southern Western Synk’maa arrive to do business there. The city was almost completely destroyed in the First War, but is now built anew due to its high importance to the Kingdom of Gray Burg.

Vihuri - Squall

Another port city that, while small in scale and rather sparsely populated, is excessively visited by sailors and sea traveling merchants due to its easier accessibility compared to Lesser Gray Burg.

During the Age of Woes, about a fourth of the populus left the city and resettled themselves to the coastal area north of Squall, somewhere near the southern edge of the Whispering Forest. These emigrants are told to worship Aallotar and her sisters in ways that would be resented by the wider public. The citizens of Squall, albeit open-minded and kind, won’t say any appraisals to the emigrant folk in the north, nor will they say foul words about them either.

Etelänreuna - Southern Brink

Yet another port city, originally serving as an easily accessible meeting and trading place for the people of Gray Burg, Lesser Gray Burg and Squall. The port was supposed to be built further to the north of the western coastline, but those ideas were scrapped due to the area's sharp, rocky reefs and large shoals.

Even the current location has issues of its own, as the area has been attacked by beasts and monsters emerging from the unknown south of Western Synk’maa. Thus, during most of Southern Brink’s history, the city has been populated by only a few and at its worst the place was almost completely deserted. Luckily, today, the city has its own subdivision of Spellblade Mercenaries, who have kept the hostile creatures away. The folk of Southern Brink are advised not to travel south beyond Brimwood and if they still decide to do so, they will face the dangers alone and at their own risk.