Caledonia

## Geography

The land north of Hadrian's Wall has been known as Caledonia since Roman times. It is surrounded on the east by the North Sea, on the north by the Icelandic Sea, and on the west by the North Channel. It is a wild land - full of adventure.

Physically, Caledonia divides into four regions: the Highlands (subdivided by the Great Glen into the northwestern Highlands and the Grampians), the Northeast, the Central Lowlands and the Southern Uplands.

### Settlements

People live in cities, towns, hillforts, villages and hamlets. Cities are much rarer than in Logres. Towns are usually in the lowlands and are often clustered around a castle for protection. Hillforts are much more widespread than elsewhere in Britain. Though most are long abandoned, many are still occupied and in effect form small towns - especially for the wild Picts. Villages cluster around the towns in farming areas. Hamlets are the seasonally used huts in the hills and Highlands. They are the homes of the tribes who herd their animals in the high pasture land in summer. They are always small as the lands cannot support many.

### Castles

Castles are not as widespread as they are in Logres. They are mostly found in the south of the region and few are impressive or modem. Most are flimsy motte and baileys. Even these, though, are better than the hillforts which serve as defenses for many, especially the Picts. The Picts have hardly a castle to their name. They also use strange towers, called brochs, which are cold, cramped and cheerless.

### Settled Areas

These are almost the same as those found throughout Britain. Towns and villages throughout the lowlands are surrounded by ploughed fields. The earth is less fertile than that of Logres and the crops grow thin and sickly. In the Highlands, settlements are clustered in the river valleys but their fields are smaller and poorer still.

### Forests

Vast, thick forests cover Caledonia. The greatest single forest is the massive Caledonian Forest. It is extremely dense and virtually impassable to knights, who would struggle to even walk their horses through. Like the forests in Logres, the heartlands of the forests are within the demesne of Faerie. Unless one wants to provoke a confrontation with the denizens of the Otherworld they should be avoided.

### Valleys

The hills and mountain ranges have many valleys winding through them. These sheltered valleys (known locally as glens or straths) provide the best living conditions in a harsh landscape. It is in such valleys that the sparse Highland population can be found. These valleys provide the easiest and safest route into and through the hills and mountains.

### Lochs

Hundreds of fresh-water lakes exist in the north of Britain. In addition the west coast is cut across by numerous fjords. These lochs, as they are called by the locals, are teaming with fish and other wildlife and serve as a natural supply of food for the settlements which cluster around them.

Many of the lochs house vicious sea serpents who have a taste for human flesh. Others are within the influence of Faerie and tales abound of strange water horses drowning unwitting travelers.

### Hills and Mountains

Caledonia is a land of hills and mountains. Pine-covered hills, rolling heather-clad moorland and (in the north) jagged, snow-capped mountains are the dominant features of the Caledonian landscape. Some of the gentler ranges can be safely negotiated, but it is a brave (or foolhardy) knight who ventures into the hills unguided. The ground can tum rugged and treacherous very quickly, making a horse and armor a hindrance rather than helpful. The weather can change in an instant with mist, rain and snow coming from nowhere to make conditions uncomfortable or dangerous. Also, in the Highlands, the rugged land provides cover for savage Picts who delight in ambushing knights struggling over the terrain.

In the Highlands the main mountain range, called Drum Alban by the Picts, is an impenetrable barrier. It prevents any travel from east to west, or vice versa, save along the Great Glen and a few other glens known only to locals.

### The Highlands

The Highlands are the wildest country in the whole of Britain. Vast tracts of uninhabitable mountains and moorland, broken by steep-sided valleys and sea lochs, make up almost the whole of this region. The western Highland coast is cut across by countless long, narrow sea lochs. The mainland slopes steeply into the sea and is fronted by groups and chains of islands. Virtually the whole coastline is rocky, with steep cliffs towering above the sea, although there are some strips of lower ground in the bays.

In the less mountainous regions, the Highlands in the west are predominantly heather moorland. There are few trees along the coast, except in sheltered bays where small forests of birch, oak and pine exist. In the east, heath and moorland are interspersed with more frequent pine forests.

The watershed in the Highlands is mostly within a few miles of the west coast. Consequently, the rivers flowing west out of the Highlands into the Icelandic Sea are short, whereas those which flow east are much longer. Of these the Spey, Don, Dee and Tay rivers are the greatest.

The population of the Highlands is extremely small and scattered. The region has no mineral riches so the population is principally agricultural and is, therefore, concentrated upon the limited cultivatable areas. This land is only productive enough for the people to exist at subsistence level. Those living by the ocean can improve their lot by fishing. Most of the population is clustered around the west coast. The chief lines of communication between the settlements are by water.

The Highland population tends to easily outgrow the limited resources of the region. It is for this reason that the Picts of these lands are so inclined to raiding as a means of supplementing these resources. This frequent fighting also has the effect of keeping the population down to a sustainable size.

### The Northeast

In the south of this region (east and southeast of the Moray Firth) the principal rivers ~ Spey, Deveron, Ythan, Don and Dee ~ drain long valleys separated by extended spurs of the Highland mountains. The hills sink into wide valleys sloping gently to the North Sea. Numerous small bays provide shelter for shipping.

To the north, the coastline is broken by the Firths of Moray, Cromarty and Dornoch. Beyond these the coastal lowlands reduce to a narrow strip before broadening to include Caithness. Caithness is a wide, rolling moor which terminates in a range of imposing cliffs lining virtually the whole coast.

Much of the region is fertile land which supports a fairly large agricultural population. Moorland and pasture is mixed with woodland and areas of arable land. The denser areas of population are around the coast where there are sizable towns and even a small city ~ Inverness. It is from these coastal towns that the Picts have launched their seaborne raids as for south as Malahaut. These raids have made them feared since pre-Roman times.

### The Central Lowlands

The Central Lowlands are a belt of flat, mostly wooded land broken only by isolated hills and crags. Three important river valleys make up much of this region. The Forth and Tay rivers flow eastwards out of the Highlands to the North Sea. The River Clyde flows northwest out of the Southern Uplands into the North Channel.

This region is the most fertile in Caledonia and has a sizable population. Woodland dominates much of the region; the famous Caledonian Forest is especially thick where the Tay and Forth rivers flow out of the Highlands. Enough open land exists to support a large agricultural population and even a few cities. Much of the woodland has been cut back so that even more of the area can be settled.

### The Southern Uplands

The land rises sharply out of the Central Lowlands into a belt of hilly ground. Much lower than the Highlands, the region is dominated by smooth rolling moorland interrupted by many river valleys. Only the very highest places are as bleak and rugged as the Highlands. Elsewhere, the smooth hills form excellent pasture land for sheep farming, whilst many of the river valleys, especially those of the Tweed, Nith, and Tyne, are farmed for crops. In the north of the region, the high ground extends to the sea where high cliffs flank the coast. To the south the ground sinks more gradually to lowland around the coast.

The region is capable of supporting a fairly large population. It is much denser than the Highlands. The population generally clusters in the river valleys and on the lower ground by the coasts.

## Climate

The climate of Caledonia varies, but it is mostly harsher than that of Logres. On the west coast the climate is relatively warm, wet and windy. On the east coast the climate is much less extreme and generally much better than anywhere else in Caledonia, except for the extreme west coast and islands. Rainfall is frequent throughout the region. The winters are usually severe in Caledonia, except again on the west coast and islands. In the Highlands the winter is treacherous. In some regions of the Highlands the snow does not melt even in summer.

## Population

As so much of Caledonia is wild and inhospitable, the population is relatively sparse. Only in the Central Lowlands, in the valleys of the Clyde, Forth and especially the Tay River, does the population density rival southern Logres. Another small area of dense population exists around Inverness and the Moray Firth.

Elsewhere are small clusters of population around the coasts, rivers and lochs. The Irish are colonizing the west coast and islands, causing the population to increase in this area, especially around Arran, Bute and the Kintyre peninsula.

Much of the Highland region is so bleak that even in summer huge areas are completely free of human habitation. The Picts use the more accessible areas as summer pasture, so the land is not completely empty all year round. Such seasonal land use is much more widespread in the more hospitable Southern Uplands.

## Politics

Caledonian politics are of two types: feudal and tribal. Many of the tribal kingdoms are slowly adapting to feudalism. Likewise many of the feudal lands remain closer to their tribal origins than any in Logres. This is largely accounted for by the fact that Caledonia was never Romanised. Even in those areas where the Romans maintained a long presence the people never adopted their ways as they did in Logres. When the Romans left the people continued as if the invaders had never been there.

Feudal Caledonia includes Garloth, Lothian, Strangorre and Dalriada.

Tribal kingdoms include Gorre, Surluse, Benoic, Escoce, Caithness and Orkney. Of these Gorre, Surluse and Benoic are most civilized. There feudalism is slowly replacing the old tribal politics.

### Feudal Lands

Only four feudal kingdoms exist in Caledonia. In these lands a knight can be confident that the people follow most of the normal customs found in Logres. Thus their lords swear fealty to other lords. However, even in these lands differences to Logres are marked. Only Dalriada is Christian. In the other lands most of the people are Heathen. The land is, for the most part, wilder and the commoner's life is harsher. Cattle and sheep herding is the main type of farming; little of the land is arable, so few towns or cities exist.

### Tribal Lands

Apart from those relatively normal feudal lands, the kingdoms of Caledonia follow an older, less sophisticated way of life. The people live in a way which has remained unchanged for hundreds of years. Life is bleak, harsh and dangerous. Commoners do not farm. Instead they herd cattle and sheep from pasture to pasture.

A few kingdoms are at least beginning to accept and adopt the ways of feudalism. Feudalism is not yet widespread in Caledonia. Even where it exists, it is a much more recent development than in Logres. While this may be expected of the Picts and the Irish, some find it surprising that many of the Cymric people live at a more primitive level than those of Logres. The tribal culture still predominates in large areas of Gorre, for example. This is a result of the harshness of the terrain and also because the land was never conquered by the Romans in the way Logres was. Even the land between the walls never really became part of the Empire; people never adopted the civilized ways of the occupiers.

#### The Cymric Tribes

The tribal lifestyle of the Cymric people is exactly the same as that in Cambria. Briefly, society consists of four types of people: princes, free men, bondsmen and slaves. The basic social organization among the tribe is the bro (the extended family group) who live on common land called the tref. These trefs are then organized into other larger groups, called commotes, and greater still the cantref which is generally the equivalent of a dukedom or small kingdom. Commotes and cantrefs are ruled over by a tribal chieftain.

Even in areas which are now feudal the old tribal ways are not forgotten. In areas like Lothian and Garloth, which lack a powerful feudal leader, people look to the old tribal leaders for leadership and guidance.

## History

**439:** There are inter-tribal disputes resulting in bloodshed.

**440:** The blood spilt last year continues and other tribes are becoming involved.

**441:** The defeated tribes are harassed by the victorious ones, raided constantly and even driven from their best lands. Late in the year, they are approached by men from the South, sent by Dux Vortigern, telling tales of a land freshly abandoned by war. Lots of forests with good hunting, and a fertile soil, at least compared to Caledonia. In return, they will have to defend their new lands against any invaders, particularly the Irish. Given the blood feud and the desperate situation in Caledonia, your tribe and another minor tribe decide to move to Jagent.

## People

* ??, the Abbot-bishop of the Fort of the Britons

## Kingdoms

* Benoic
* Caithness
* Escoce
* Garloth, ruled from Garloth
* Gorre
* Lothian, ruled from Lothian
* Orkneys
* Out Isles
* Pictish Highlands
* Strangorre
* Surluse
* Western Coast