Wastaru

Wastaru is the name of the western continent on most maps and globes of the world. This continent is analogous to the New World in our mythology.

Geography

The south end of Wastaru is characterized by a long tail of a peninsula, along which lie a string of active volcanoes. Cartographers have often noted the dragon-like shape to the land as they reach the end of the dot connecting the coastlines.

A central spine of geologically young mountains clusters in the center of the continent.

On the north end of the continent is a series of glacial islands. The water is cold, and travel by ship is often fraught with danger.

Bestiary

The creatures of the Wastaru (pronounced wa-STA-ru) differ from those of the Farghoal and other continents of the world. Loxodons replace elephants, tightly organized societies of prehistoric humans and demi-humans thrive, and in the vast subterranean passages, dark elves, deep gnomes, and twisted dwarves worship occult powers thought long dead and unimagined on other continents.

Orcs are replaced with gorks, a cross between gnolls and their pig-faced orc brethren. Gorks worship a dark power that gives them damage resistance, making them more fierce than their ancestors. A might-makes-right societal view means that only the most vicious survive kind enough to procreate. As such, the youngest gorks have an even stronger damage resistance.

Lizard men are represented by Sslahs. They are hunted down by gorks for use as meat, so they tend to stick to the deep swamps where they hatch, living off the small creatures there.

Hunders are more sinister than their normal kobold cousins, needing less sleep and having twice the appetite. They wander the surface at night and burrow into shallow caves or occupy hollow lava flows to escape the sunlight during the day.

In the gulf formed when the peninsula ripped off of the mainland. The water stays about 10 degrees warmer than the water out in the open oceans.

The Emerald Sea can be found off the southeast coast of the continent. The Litlos Islands can be found in the Emerald Sea.

Civilization

The southern peninsula and areas surrounding the Marsh Tides is occupied by three races of humans known as the Shal-shekti, the Kalah, and the Zhazune. These races vie for control of these lowlands.

(These three races will be detailed in a later post)

Other humans and races (seaworthy elves and dwarves) have colonized portions of the continent, though many of these have met with ill fates. There are remote colonies along the northern and eastern seaboards.