Teredahar Locales - Koldar & The Shifting Desert

Location

The southern portion of Teredahar's interior houses the region known as Koldar. It's bordered by the Torran Spine and Northern Torran Spine mountains to the south and west, the Syldar-Koldar border just south of Ilama to the north, and the Koldar River and Balsan River to the east. It has a border with every major region on Teredahar except for Rime. Clockwise from the north its neighbouring nations/regions are Syldar, Ashdar, Din, Kurudar, and Tefalas.

Landscape & Climate

Most of Koldar is staggeringly flat with a few rolling hills. The weather is dry, becoming more arid the farther west you go as forests and plains give way to badlands and finally rocky desert in the shadow of the mountains. Koldar's end of the Shifting Desert is rockier and much less windy than the Syldarri end. The only prominent features of the terrain are the mountains to the south and west, and the broad, gentle Koldar River that flows through the region's northeast. A large plateau is perched at the intersection of the Torran Spine and Northern Torran Spine mountain ranges which features high-elevation scrub-land.

People & Commerce

Koldar is the continent's crossroads. Virtually all overland and river trade on north-south or east-west routes passes through cities in Koldar, with much of the goods bound for the great market-houses of Ardan Castle, a fortress-city in the region's east and its de-facto capital. The few large city-states that control Koldar are made wealthy and profitable by taxes on this trade. Koldar is inhabited primarily by Dwarves. At either end of the western plateau sit the great halls of the Mountan Dwarves at North Point and South Point, which provide passage under the mountains for traders willing to pay for it. The fortress-city Ardan Castle, its port, and many of the smaller settlements in the east have been built by Plains Dwarves during the second settlement. Heavy dependence on trade means that all of these cities are mixing-pots for races and cultures from all over Teredahar.

Voltac, in the heart of the desert, is a notable exception. It is the last bastion of the Drakoni race on Teredahar. Ruled by the Great Blue Wyrm Kezzadraz, its people are insular and untrusting of strangers but generally willing to take their gold at the betting tables. Voltac is home to the largest and most famous fighting arena on the continent. Twice a year the Drakoni invite outsiders into their city to take and lose fortunes at the betting tables or take and lose lives on the arena sand. Arena fighting is serious business to Kezzadraz's people. They deal fairly and punish thieves and cheaters extremely harshly.

Government

Koldar is a federation of city-states. Each of the major settlements: Ardan Castle (and its port-city), North Point, South Point, and Voltac have a pact to defend one-another from external threats and ensure the unimpeded flow of goods through the territory. Mostly this consists of hunting down bandits and protecting supply-lines against external conflicts and sabotage. In all other matters the federation's members do not interfere with one-another. That includes infighting between rival clans within the mountainhomes.

Next Time

This is the final Teredahar Locales article, which means next week I'll be revealing the entire map composite so you can see how it all fits together. Merry Christmas!