Sangar-Nay

A small archipelago nestled within the Ice Wastes, Sangar-Nay is a small patch of ocean filled with a few modest islands. The land is populated, but scantly so, both intelligent and unintelligent life unable to become bountiful due to the harsh conditions of the area.

## Geography

Sangar-Nay is an archipelago of modest size, an area of ocean ringed by the ice wastes with some small landmasses dotted about, their sizes combined not enough to be considered even the size of a small nation by other continents. Most of Sangar-Nay is made up of sea, and much of its islands are made up of water, being incredibly swampy. There are five known populated islands, and many more rocks and landmasses only inhabited by beast and bird. The archipelago is horrifically cold, windy and rainy. In winter, parts of the sea freezes over.

## Islands (and other Civilisations)

### Central Sangar-Nay

Somewhat confusingly named, Central Sangar-Nay is not the geographical centre of Sangar-Nay. It is however, the most populous region of Sangar-Nay and its cultural centre. It is made up of two islands, as well as a group of sea-faring traders.

#### Sangar

The largest and most populous landmass of Sangar-Nay, with two major towns, numerous villages, and scores of druids who worship amongst the stone circles of the island. The most populous peoples of Eln who reside here are humans, dwarves, goblins, orcs and tengu, who all live in harmony and comradery.

#### Nay

An island not far off the coast from Sangar, this small landmass is completely covered in one large port-town, who make their living through fishing and trade with the mainland. Despite being made up of the same peoples and cultures as Sangar, the Sangar tend to view the Nays as odd and somewhat 'fishy.' The Nays think this is ridiculous and with no awareness of their hypocrisy, view the Fengan traders as odd and somewhat 'fishy.'

#### Fengan Traders

A group of traders who make their homes on boats, living on the ocean sea. Each ship sticks with other ships of their fleet, which travel and trade with the various seaside villages and towns of Sangar and Nay, and sometimes even leaving it to trade with civilisations of Outer Sangar-Nay. Each ship is lead by a captain, typically a tengu, and each fleet lead by a lord/lady admiral of the waves.

There is a strong culture of worship for the typically tengu deity Hei Feng among all the peoples of the Fengan Traders. The traders are seen as odd and somewhat 'fishy' by the Nays who interact with them, something the Fengans think of as preposterous. Despite their similar cultures of drinking, partying and celebration of life in spite of hardship, the Fengans think the Sangar are somewhat odd and somewhat 'fishy.'

### Outer Sangar-Nay

A larger, but less densely populated region of Sangar-Nay. It is a more dangerous region for sailing, owing to the kuru raiders, dense fogs and sharp spikes of stone, as well as the surplus of large aquatic predators, like giant crabs.

#### I Lóna, Aut

Or, in common, "The Island, Lost", or, in its full common name, "The Island, Once Paradise, Once Home, Once Land of Warmth and Grace, Our Island, Now Lost, Land of Wailing and Weeping and Remembrance of All That Is Kept From Us". The elves who comprise this island have lifespans long enough to remember when their home was not the ugly, fetid swampland it now is, but was instead a glorious tropical paradise, a land of unparrelled beauty and luxurious heat. The truth of this claim is hard to verify, as no elf alive today was alive during this hypothetical time, nor even were the parents of the oldest elves.

Regardless, they have a culture of dour mourning, of songs that tell of beauty long faded and champions long dead. While their island is the same marshland as the rest of Sangar-Nay, their homes are elaborate, and would be considered beautiful by the residents of Central Sangar-Nay. Rarely do they choose to visit, however, as the few travellers to the elven halls say the beauty is not worth the constant depressing misery.

#### Monastery of Trudd

A small group of warrior monks, clerics and paladins, who live holed up in their fortress temple. Almost all of the monastery are dwarves, worshipers of Trudd, the dwarven god of bravery, defense and strength. The monks are secretive, and keep to their own islands, but rumour has it they have sworn to protect some ancient relic, hiding it in one of the remotest habitable parts of Eln. Other rumours suggest they set out on some quest, but the ice wastes froze around the most ancient of their order, leaving them trapped.

The fortress temple is built across three small islands, three towers of iron and steel, connected by bridges shielded with the toughest metal, so none can snipe the worshippers as they cross from one building to another. Despite this, the buildings are not all plain and hardiness. Coloured the holy brown of Trudd, and adorned in his symbol of rune-carved thrones, each tower with an elaborate carving of three dwarven heroes, one cleric, one paladin, one monk, each wielding a warhammer.

The fortresses have no doors. Only one group of Fengan Traders know of the secret underground tunnels, connected to a fourth island, miles from the main three, something the dwarves considered a neccessary risk, as they, unfortunately, need food.

#### Blood Island

All sailors know to avoid Blood Island, home of the kuru. As such, little is known of what this land is like, but everyone knows of the cannibalistic kuru raiders, bloodthirsty cannibals who raid ships and settlements to partake of sapient flesh. Only the kuru know their island is the driest and easiest to grow crops on, something the carnivores find immensely funny.

#### The Centre of Sangar-Nay

Known to those of Central Sangar-Nay as The Isle of Mist, to the elves as The Last Paradise, to the Monastery of Trudd as The Unholy Lands, and known to the kuru as simply Death. This island lies in the geographical centre of Sangar-Nay, completely covered by mist making it inaccessible to sail to, except one month, every 50 years, when a path through the fog opens.

What lies on this island is a mystery, each culture with different ideas. In Central Sangar-Nay, rumours abound of great treasures, be they of gold, or knowledge, or some other nameless wealth. The kuru believe similar, but they believe the island itself is a test for warriors, the treasure being some great reward. The elves believe hidden in the islands centre is the last hope of the elves, a lake within which is the last desert island, protected by magic. The druids and monks believe it is the site of some great danger, something unholy or unnatural depending on the group.

The land dwells so completely in the realm of myth, and with no one returning from the path that was alleged to reach the island, that no one knew for certain whether the island even existed. That is, until recently, when someone finally returned with evidence of the islands existence, whipping all the people of Sangar-Nay into a frenzy.