A Rabbitfolk woman wearing a thick dress and an apron stokes a large hearth fire just as a cloaked Tabaxi enters the inn letting in a gust of icy wind and snow. A black-haired male minotaur helps untie the ropes of a floating barge of freshly felled pine trunks where the scent of pine drifts across the glacial-carved lake southward to where he knows the logs will be received at their next portage. A stark white rabbitfolk woman padded in warm furs fires an arrow towards a large, white-scaled beast as it emerges from a portal of light.
The Northern Wastes Overview
This section will detail the key aspects of the Northern Wastes, like it’s races, military, economy, culture, and religions.
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Government: Confederacy Military: Militia and Rangers Economy: Trade and Tourism Culture: Individualist Religion: Atheism or tolerant
Races of The North
Races of the Northern Wastes primarily include the following:
- Minotaur of Wilder - Minotaur make great residents in the Northern Wastes because of their natural constitution. Their strength comes in handy as well, especially for many logging companies. Minotaur make up a large portion of the working class in the north, but these Minotaur are treated as the pillars of Waste-rn civilization.
- Rabbitfolk of Wilder - Rabbitfolk are surprisingly well adapted to the Northern Wastes.
- Many rabbitfolk who live up north have thicker fur to help them keep warm, and even if they aren’t the strongest creature on the food chain, they more than make up for it with their cunning and charisma to talk themselves out of danger. You will find many Rabbitfolk guiding travelers and explorers through the harsh region, or running small businesses in small localities.
- Tabaxi of Wilder - Like rabbitfolk, Tabaxi are equally well adapted to the north, often having thicker coats to keep them warm in the winter months. Tabaxi find it much easier to traverse through difficult terrain with their increased mobility. Therefore, Tabaxi often function as guides through the forests, tundras, lakes, and mountains of the north. They also help in the transport of goods across the north.
- Other races, like Firbolgs of Wilder and Triton of Wilder, can be found in the Northern Wastes too.
Government
There’s little need for government in the Northern Wastes. There is no national leader of the Northern Wastes as the Northern Wastes isn’t truly a nation. Instead, localities all have an elected leader called a Commissioner. These leaders aren’t dictators, but have the final say when making decisions for localities/provinces.
Military
Again, the Northern Wastes is not a country or nation and doesn’t have a set military like other nations might. However, the threats in the Northern Wastes are vast, so there are precautions set in place to defend many northern villages and settlements. The Commissioners gather a militia but there also exists a squadron of rangers, and a small cabal of extraplanar protectors.
The militia is completely voluntary, and they act as the Northern Waste’s central policing force when there’s no call for war/combat. There are almost no requirements to join the militia, so any class could join as long as they can fight in some capacity. The militia is managed locally where a Commissioner appoints a Marshal to oversee all militia men and women. Marshals coordinate their divisions together as needed.
The group of rangers called the Wintertide work independently from the Commissioners and Marshals and instead are their own organization. They seek to give safe passage to travelers by protecting roads and acting as escorts as needed. They operate both in the forests and the tundras of the Northern Wastes.
A small subdivision of the Wintertide is located deep in the north. There lies a portal to the Frostfell, or plane of ice, and this division called The Diamond Conclave guards the portal and keeps it from expanding its wintry touch too far southward. They keep the portal present to protect the natural environment it has created because while seemingly desolate, the Frostfell has created diverse ecosystems in the northernmost reaches of the Wastes. The Diamond Conclave is made up mostly of Horizonwalkers, but also a few Druids with extraplanar knowledge. Additional fighters are called upon when necessary when threats inevitably do wander through the portal.
Economy
The Northern Wastes support a small economy. The largest natural resource the Northern Wastes possesses is lumber, and there is a large logging industry. Logging companies make use of the numerous rivers and lakes strewn across the north to transport these goods south. Still, there is a large fur trade as well, and occasionally, loggers share portions of their boats to transport furs as well. Regardless of the goods, most everything goes to Estazia where it is distributed across Wilder and sometimes even gets shipped to Terra.
There is also a small Tourist trade in the Northern Wastes. In the lower portion where there are still seasons, travelers venture to the woods for camping, rafting, and staying at quaint local taverns as a means of getting away even from the civilizations of Wilder.
Culture
The Northern Wastes itself has two cultural groups: those who live in the seasonal areas, and those who live in what is believed to be uninhabitable winter. The culture of the forests southward that still experience seasons is much more laid back, though the environment is still dangerous to live in. The culture of the difficult-to-inhabit winter region is more serious in comparison as fighting for survival is a constant. Both regions have an individualist culture where survival is a “free-for-all.” That isn’t to say the people of the Northern Wastes are treacherous and backstabbing, but only that there’s little reason to risk your own survival for the survival of another. That is why it’s important that rangers and druids in this region provide help to travelers and locals alike. Here are some common cultural trends:
- The Northern Wastes Flag is used to mark civilization when travelling through wilderness. The orange tent is meant to stick out amongst the natural colors, where the green, white, and blue represent the trees, snow, and sky respectively.
- The Watcher of the Woods either protects travelers or sabotages them: the watcher is a wild thing and should be respected, and some have even turned this into a regional religion.
- The Watcher of the Woods never allows themselves to be seen: they are the hunter, and we are either their prey or their children.
- The Watcher of the Woods can befriend and control plants, so always treat plants kindly because you never know when it will reach the Watcher.
- Some think the Watcher of the Woods works and hunts in the tundra and polar regions as well, and can sometimes call them Winter’s Watcher.
- Swear words are used less frequently up north, and people swear by/on the Watcher.
- When traveling, it’s always every man for himself. It’s not expected that anyone should risk their own survival for a stranger’s.
- Whether you risk your life for someone you love is up to you, but some choose it is better to die together than to let one survive bearing the loss of the other.
- For one’s survival, it’s pivotal to listen to Rangers and Druids when they offer help. Refusing a Ranger/Druid’s help is extremely rude, and after denying their help, Rangers/Druids are no longer required to help.
- People in the Wastes have little use for fashion. All fashion is function:
- People often wear animal furs that were hunted.
- Cloaks, coats, and other jackets are the most vital part of any outfit as it serves to keep one warm and dry. Without a good outer layer, you’re not a true Northerner.
- Waterproof boots are vital, but also snow shoes are common in snowy areas.
- It’s customary to be kind to travelers even if you don’t wish to offer them help.
- If offered help, it’s often not a true gesture of help, but of politeness. If a person offers help more than once, they truly want to help. Therefore, it’s often the case that one must refuse help multiple times.
- Pointing out the negative is a way to highlight the positive. A response of “could be worse,” is a highly positive response, but a “I’m doing great” is often sarcastic even if it doesn’t sound so.
- Always say please and thank you.
- If you don’t agree with something, don’t say so outright.
Religions
The Northern Wastes is a vast and wild environment to travel through, much less live. Many of its residents turn to faith to brave the wastes. Because faith can mean the difference between having the willpower to survive or not, one will find that people in the north are accepting of many of the world’s religions. These include the following:
The most popular belief amongst Northern Wastes residents is the existence of a single watcher, who they most commonly refer to as the Watcher in the Woods.