7 Regions for Terrasquestone

Revisions for Terrasquestone and basic Geography

In the tradition of Melnibonea, and other high fantasy of that time period, Terrasquestone is set on the continent of Cridhedun. It is a massive continent on par with Eurasia. It can be divided into seven distinct regions/biomes. Massive mountains dominate the center. Orientation on the continent can be difficult, as it defies typical map-making conventions, and there is only one comparable continent on earth, Antarctica. Cridhedun occupies the top of the globe, and the highest peak in the central region is the northern pole, and the sun never completely rises or sets on Cridehedun because of this.

Climate: as a polar continent, it is predominantly a frozen continent. The center is permanent winter, but considering the size of the landmass, the edges extend down into the temperate zones, and this is where most of the population lives. The southern-most fringes extend into the tropical zone and are accordingly hot. As an anomaly of this continent's shape and orientation, there are no classic deserts, and no dune seas. There are technical deserts, but these are the cold northern plains.

Navigation: Most travel by ship is done in a coast-hugging fashion. There is an interior coastal current that circles the continent in a clockwise fashion and an exterior coastal current that circles counterclockwise, with a turbid boundary between those. Sailing clockwise, or sunwise, is relatively easy. Sailing in the other direction, or sunward requires sailing out past the interior current, and catching the opposite flow, and associated wind patterns.

Geography:

The current map of the Cridhedun was made by the High Fae thousands of years in the past, and they split the continent into seven major regions, using their own names and orientations. Many of these names remain, though the High Fae are no longer a thing. Elves remain, but these are the terrestrial cousins of something much more ancient and greater in power, and some archaic religions hold the High Fae as gods and the creators of Cridhedun.

Tir Lauchmhar, the Precious Land, also known as the Land of the Dawn. This is the most populated region of Cridhedun, and where Terrasquestone is located. The region is vast, and marked by rolling hills, low mountains, many rivers, and forests. It barely extends below the temperate belt, but the southernmost points do. The Precious Land in comparable to Westeros, or continental Europe, and is the most genre fantasy region. Most maps place Lauchmhar in the 3 o'clock position, and if there was a Prime Meridian, it would run through the ruins of Palisander, not horribly far from Terrasquestone.

The Castledom is a major power in Lauchmhar.

Castle Crocell is an abandoned stronghold surrounded by a parched waste.

Castle Agate and the orcs can be found here.

The Noil Ruins are somewhere around here, good luck finding them.

Tir an Nathracha, the Land of Snakes, is also known as the Land of Many Waters. It is well populated, largely maritime in perspective, and wet. Sunwise of Lauchmhar, ships move to and from it easily. The great hold of Krakenport is the largest political power in the region. Nathracha is smaller than Lauchmhar, and doesnt have a genre fantasy counterpart, and much of its biome is Louisiana, Florida, and Carolina coastal. Lots of swamps, mangroves, and barrier sand isles. Moving inland from the coast turns into vast pine barrens and then badlands before reaching the Arctic Circle. Daring ships can set out from Nathracha and reach many distant islands, and the domains of the underwater kingdoms of merfolk, tritons, the deep courts of the krakens, and beyond that, Far Vallermore.

The Narwatuine River Valley is near the border between Nathracha and Lauchmhar.

Azaughos was abandoned here.

The Dirdum Islands were settled by goblins here.

The Islands of the sapphire eyed maidens can be reached far from these coasts.

Tir an Fashach, the Land of Wilderness, the unclaimed land, the untamed green. The Wilderness is similar to Nathracha but it is larger. There are temperate forests bracketed by large rivers, and the greatest mountains outside the centerlands give Fashach a ruggedness and resilience unmatched in Cridhedun. In a literary sense, Fashach calls on the frontier writings of Gary Paulson (Hatchet) and harkens to Alaska, and other Pacific Coast regions in the US. The forests here are vast redwoods larger than anywhere in the world. The mountains are staggering in their beauty, and the wildlife is large. There is not a major population center, once a settlement gets too large something always seems to happen to it. Volcanic eruption, landslide, uncontrollable wildfire, tsunami, Fashach won't tolerate any sort of city.

Kriegsherrenwald was an attempt at a kingdom in Fashach and it went poorly.

Taranis is in the northern part of this region

Sgriob Island and its distilleries are off the coast.

Tir an Scathanna, the Land of Shadows, the broken land, where evil dwells. The region is vigorously active on a geological level, with plenty of volcanoes, geysers, boiling springs, and salted plains. The reverse mountains are a special terror. This region is also infested with dragons, and other monsters, as well as noisome dungeons like Doomguard, Ashfall, and others. There are people in Scathanna, who are brutish and rude, and a good number are irredeemable cultures, like the Karkos. The most prominent feature of Scathanna is the citadel of Lichelight, on the shoulders of the polychromatic Mount Ruin, a volcano known for producing flames and lava of many different colors.

Belgar Nakaleth, the dungeon of mimics and dopplegangers is here.

Slumgullion Bog can be avoided here.

The Palace of Profits sits here, made all the more dissonant with its gold walls gleaming against a hellish background.

Tir an Bas, the Land of Death, the Frozen Wastes. Tir an Bas is a vast cold land, and while it shares an indomitable will akin to Tir an Fashach, where Fashach is vibrant and green, an Bas is grey and white, cold and dead. The inspiration for an Bas is Siberia and Canada, Greenland, and Imperial Russia. The people live along the coast and are well acquainted with their hostile and warsome neighbors to the east. This is a land of coal, iron, and giant animals. Notable cities include Mammothguard and Gianthome.

The Abbey of Rubblefort remembers incursions from distant Saerith as the Witch-Queens of that land learned how to cross the Sundering Sea to invade and make war against Tir an Bas.

Slaughter Rock and the Kaulder Monastary are both in Tir an Bas, with the sealed Hellmouth under the monastery being an sealed infernal dungeon.

Auchtermucht is located near the border with Tir an Beithigh

the ruined crater of the first dungeon remains a mausoleum here.

Tir an Beithigh, the land of beasts, the endless green, the forest home. Tir an Beithigh is a continental forest that remains unbroken. Most sylvan races call this region their home, the most famous being the wood elves, but they are by no means alone. The great forest of Chimerawood is the most potent region in terms of monsters and foes.

Stump Villages can be found here.

The Tanwar Forest grows its exotic foliage in Beithigh

Limberlost slumbers here.

Ormiros and its school and mountain clan conflicts are here.

Tir Artach, the frozen land, the center of the world, the deathless realm. Tir Artach is the center of the continent and contains vast mountains, jagged and raw in their power. There are also high frozen plains, lakes and rivers of ice, and frozen forests where life has adapted to the great altitude and terrible cold. The mythical realm of Candenheim is said to exist somewhere deep in the interior, but Leng might be there too. The dungeon of Stormfort is close enough to the edge of the encircling mountains that it can influence things in the outer realms, notably Lauchmhar, and Beithigh. 

Epoa can be reached by leaving the Axis Mundi in an airship and traveling up for six days.

The Ice Volcano is located here.

Ilar Harjor, the mountain of snow bunnies is a danger here.

Some things to be aware of:

The DungeonVerse, Cridhedun, and the rest is NOT a sphere, it is not a planet, and modern astronomy has no application in the setting. Cridhedun is a plane, and the counter-rotating waters surrounding it are part of the Astral Sea AND the Numinous Road. Hence, a ship can cross the sea and end up in Acqua, Tarrod, or Saerith.

When someone uses a magic spell to call a burning mountain to fall from the heavens, it is not an allegory for a meteor, it is a flaming mountain.

Cridhedun is the center of the DungeonVerse, and Tir Artach is the axis of the DungeonVerse.