Illanik

**Illanik** orcish and goblinoid rangers live within evergreen and mountainous forests.

Blustvault and Lowlander

Illanik occupies territory that was described by Labremulyor Tactician and historian Marcus Foldernsheld as ‘land that is theirs for no one else would want it.’ While this is typical of the Labremulyor arrogance, it is partially true. Illanik is a nation on a steep forty five incline in certain points, very heavily forested in its east and the barren mountain tops of the Lumthonom mountain in its west. While there are little records of the origin of the territory, the Orcs and Bugbears that make up the majority of Illanik believe it was granted to them by Takamul and kushinda at the birth of the cog. Politically, Illanik is made of several factions of huntpeople and woodspeople, most of which occupy lodges hidden within the trees and mountains.

Lowlander is the most accessible town in Illanik, a series of wooden buildings arranged around one large street, wide enough for scores of cattle to be brought through. Over twenty or so buildings are dedicated trading posts, including the large and wealthy ‘lowlander concern’ three story emporium. The woodsmen and huntsmen of the various tribes come to lowlander and trade or sell their furs, meats and wood to businesses that have courted relationship with the chieftains. A tribesperson can tell which of the buildings are approved by their clan by intricate plaques of runes and symbols burned into wood that are hung on lintels. It is a great offence to try to profit from a trade that hasn’t been approved by a chieftain and a death sentence to attempt to forge a plaque. As Lowlander falls on several routes through and around the lowlander mountains, it is perhaps unexpectedly welcoming to travellers. There are several lodging houses, and the impressively stocked ‘Basuk merchandise’ owned by the orcish Basuk family that sells all the key adventuring and survival equipment. Lowlander has no mayor, and placing a tribal chieftain in charge has caused terrible friction and violence when it has been attempted. Lowlander has instead a singular position of authority, the Lowlander Sheriff, who collects sales taxes, upholds the law and listens to disputes. The current Lowlander Sheriff is a Bugbear named Vordamkk Notribe, who is entering her fourth year of the incredibly stressful positon. To maintain a impatial balance, Notribe supported by deputies. These deputies are various exiles and outcasts from the clans, as well as foreigners who have settled in lowlander such as Embek Bravestrike, a dwarf who left Lumthonom after being accused of murder.

Both due to the traffic from the Tribespeople and the trade routes that flow through it, Lowlander is flush with taverns and eateries for what is still technically a one street town. The graybuster ciderhouse, the millet chest, Grandmother’s hunt and the Forest’s call are all busy at all hours of the aether day.

Blustvault is a dwarven name, referring to the entrance to the Lumthonom undercity that has collapsed after a war with the elves long ago. The town that bears its name lives around these ancient Dwarven ruins, clinging to the side of the mountain. Blustvault in modern years is primarily an Orcish settlement, and it is only suited to the roughest and most hardy orcs at that. Colourful flags of the goddesses can be seen from miles around, buried in different parts of the clifftops to indicate which side of the mountain and how treacherous the next passages are. It is wide to learn these flags or hire a guide if an inexperienced person wishes to climb to Blustvault. Most of the homesteads are made of wood with a slate or shale roof and are borrowed into the mountain at odd angles, giving the illusion of flat houses or houses appearing to grow from cracks in the rock. Many contain small fenced farms of worrying elevations, where Blustvaultians keep Woolly cows and Goats for milk. Blustvault is known for its archers, who are trained at a young age to loose bows from almost impossible positions. The archers commonly train Lumthonom falcons as spotters and retrievers, these are often kept with the archer at all times.

In the minds of many Maligonians the true wonder of Blustvault is the vault itself. The caved in entrance to the undercity was excavated by the first orcs and goblins to live on the mountain, for both building materials and curiosity. After the first entrance ways were cleared of the fallen rock, it was noticeable that the structure seemingly didn’t match Dwarven accounts of what this was, or perhaps it had changed while isolated from the surface. Enormous halls, narrow chambers, strange art, wall carvings and spiralling staircases hint at some other culture deep beneath the lumthonom mountains that require a dangerous expedition to find.

Between the two solid towns of Illanik are the rain forests, large evergreen trees that cover every patch of soil that isn’t barren rock of the mountain beneath. The weather of this region is constantly buffeted by the chill Tempratures that have become known as the Caraniv winds for its impact on the development of that country. Three out of the four seasons have higher than average rainfall than most locations across the cog, extending to Urangso and the snowfall atop the Lumthnom mountains. Deep within the forests are the lodges of tribes that trap, cut lumber and hunt across Illanik. It is a crime to mark the location of these lodges on a map, and one that can be severally punished. Those who have travelled Illanik have said these lodges are anything but uniform, some within the mountain made of rock, some tall wooden structures on stilts and some being enormous O shaped tents hidden in the brush. The known tribes include the Izird Zrukh who wear dyed blue fur across their shoulders, the Broghark who design complex and nigh invisible traps, the Droggudh Dhag who seem to be in league with fey magic and the Hrovroth who spend most of their day high amongst the tree tops.

Illanik is blessed with a fertile and bountiful ecosystem. farmland around lowlander produces amply grains that make up a good portion of their exports and the rainforest is filled with fauna and forage foods. Bears, Owlbears, deer, elk, wolves, squirrels, muskrats, the Illanik tree octopus, otters, badgers and over fifty variants of song bird are known to live in the mountain forest.