The Scarp (House Setting)

Possible Starting Location

The Monastery

The Scarp is what locals call the small hidden Glen between the mountains in the peninsula and the bone bluffs on the Misty sea side. Because of its height from the sea, it can’t be seen from the water and it is often not mapped in most common Ninth World Maps. The scarp is mostly grasslands and it is constantly buffeted by high winds from the sea or the mountains, making it somewhat cold for its latitude and humid. Every year and sometimes more than once a year, an Iron Wind storm crosses nearby or through the Scarp, making it a precarious place to live in.

Beyond the north wall is the the sabkha, the arid planes and the mountain pass and beyond it, around the mountains, beyond the crystal sky fields, civilization, Steadfast.

The Shepherds of the Scarp

The Shepherds trade their wool once a year with a caravan from Steadfast, aside from that they live a simple live. Shepherding the yol

Steel Wool

The wool from the grey yol of the scarp is particularly hardy and called steel wool, clothing made from it is like light armor with the same weight as normal clothing.

The Iron Wind Storm Season

The Grasslands

The (Mostly) Abandoned Monastery of the Scarp

There is a lone Aeon Priest living in the monastery. He’s relatively young, and has been there only ten years or so, and is still exploring all the monastery. The monastery was once used by the Aeon Priests but they left many years ago, presumably because of the frequent Iron Wind events.

The Misty Sea

The sea beneath the Bluffs is often filled with fog. Thus it is typically called the Misty sea. It is very dangerous to navigate not only because of the strong currents and waved and the fog hiding sand bars and rocks that can crash a boat but also because it is full of giant ghost crabs and massive orca-like predators that feed on the crabs. If you shipwreck, your chance of survival is very low.

The Underground Bunker

Below the grasslands is a network of tunnels where the shepherds make their houses. These were clearly part of some sort of living quarters from a previous age. The cubbies that are used as beds are small, like for children and the present occupants build extensions with wood and dirt, yet beyond that, no markers of signs of any kind point to what the previous habitants of the bunker may have been.

The bunker is the main reason living in the Scarp is even possible as when the Iron Wind runs over the grasslands the inhabitants and their sheep can seek refuge below ground inside the air-tight seals of the bunker. Not all the bunker has been explored and not all of it is air-tight so only a few areas are deemed safe for habitation. Nobody has returned from exploring the flooded lower levels of the bunker so those areas are sealed off or blocked.

Image Source: Photo by Rafik Wahba on Unsplash