Zyla Gora

**Zyla Gora** is a low mountain surrounded by villages. The tallest of these peaks is home to The Great Hollow, a hollowed out oak tree with a series of twisted branches and roots that lead deep down the earth's crust.

Every year, many witches of the Bog Witch travel to Zyla Gora from the Bog Witch dominion, where every village offers two children (one girl and one boy) to the witches. The Witches then hold their Sabbath, which takes places several days, where they dance and have sex with succubi and incubi without resting for a single moment.

It's said that once every 13 years the daughters of the Bog Witch visit Zyla Gora, holding a feast beyond every imagination.

## History

The history of the Zylani is very similar to their Platani cousins. However, the fugitives from the Orange Marquisates and Florinth that settled these lands found them more hospitable than the swamps and bogs of the Platanus Bog. As a result, their settlements were larger and more sophisticated, and at times, a rudimentary feudal system even developed. Unfortunately for the Zylani, certain locations in their nation are considered to be sacred by witches and hags serving the Bog-Witch. As a result, the servants of the Bog-Witch have long kept this region under their thumb.

## Government

Each Zylani village has a spokesperson, who also has authority over outlying homesteads and hamlets. There is also usually at least one resident spellcaster in each village, sometimes a local shaman, other times a hag or witch from the Dominion.

Each village is a vassal of the Dominion, and is expected to pay a tithe in children, as well as other resources.

## Economy

Zyla Gora is a rough, hilly area, not particularly well suited for agriculture, though many try anyways. Vegetable gardens are common, and some land can even grow wheat, but goat herding tends to be the most common occupation. There are also some small mines for coal, iron, and occasionally gold. A few coastal villages also fish.

## Foreign Relations

### **Dominion of the Bog-Witch**

Zyla Gora is essentially a vassal of this nation. Aside from paying tithes and allowing free movement within their territory for sabbaths and other rituals, some Zylani also operate within Dominion territory as merchants or craftsmen. The Festerroot Tree, located in the heart of Zyla Gora, is one of the most sacred sites of the Dominion.

### **Platanus Bog**

The Zylani see themselves as more civilized than the Platani, as well as higher up within the hierarchy of the Dominion. The Zylani often travel through Platani territory, though the reverse rarely occurs.

### **Bayukman Marsh Kingdom**

The Bayukmen see the Zylani as fully fledged servants of the Dominion and kill them when they can. However, the two races rarely interact.

### **Orange Marquisates**

The Zylani do some trade with the Orange Marquisates, but not as much as the Platani. This is due to the fact that the Zylani are more closely associated with the Bog-Witch, which makes even the greediest of merchants reluctant to deal with them. The fact that many Zylani are mentally unbalanced doesn’t help either.

### **Glutton Island**

The Zylani rarely visit Glutton Island. Aside from the fact it is the territory of a rival demon lord, there really isn’t much there unless you are able to somehow reach the alternate dimension it contains.

### **The Fungest**

The Zylani sometimes visit, or even deliberately raid the northern reaches of The Fungest. Unlike the Platani, some Zylani have no qualms about eating sentient flesh.

## Geography

Zyla Gora is made up of a series of low mountains and plateaus, in between which are barren hills, forests, and some wetlands, ponds, and small lakes. Although well inhabited by the standards of the wider region, it is still nearly empty by the standards of developed nations, and large stretches of uninhabited land separate the pastures, fields, homesteads, and hamlets found near the villages.

It has an unpleasant climate, prone to rain, dense fog, and wet, sleety winters.

## Additional Geography Notes

Zyla Gora is small and sparsely populated. The largest communities are the seventeen villages who are acknowledged vassals of the Dominion. There are also several dozen other communities, mostly small hamlets and isolated homesteads who usually acknowledge the authority of the nearest village.

* **Ashville** – This village is known for having frequent destructive fires, and as a result it usually contains more burnt out ruins than functional buildings. But even the inhabited buildings are mostly fire damaged. Most of its inhabitants are resigned, melancholy, or depressed, sometimes even borderline catatonic. But others are manic or outright lunatic. Unlike in other villages, this isn’t just because of the Sabbaths and the deep evil taint of the region, but also due to frequent use of mushrooms and other hallucinogens. The original settlers were mostly radicals from Faarowt, and aside from drug use, some other cultural traditions still remain like the popularity of dreads and knee length shirts among some of the more lively inhabitants. Ashville is a farming village, as are several hamlets and isolated homesteads to the south. Bog spelt, mushrooms, carrots, gourds, pumpkins, pigs, and goats are the main crops and livestock. The area has a large number of wisplings who share the demeanour of their human neighbors. Usually only a few younger inhabitants attend Sabbath at a main site, and when they do it is in the nude with animal masks and carrying torches.
* **Athura Menhirs** **and** **The Old Road** – The Athura Menhirs are a cluster of large rune-marked standing stones that straddle an ancient road of uneven stones that seems to go from Ashville to Chanterelle, though many parts of it are missing so it was likely once longer. Both are likely linked to the Choinnigh culture, but both their purposes are long forgotten.
* **Attilmhic** – This village is a fairly standard Zylani agricultural village other than the fact that it is the first stopping point for Platani merchant caravans doing the Attilmhic-Kilfort-Lonburn-Yoski route.

* **Auntie Lush’s Hut** – Auntie Lush is a powerful witch from Mutaa’s coven who shares her master’s love of taking down the rich, powerful, and/or attractive according to some sadistic karma code. She frequently travels to the Orange Marquisates to hunt for “spouses” who she makes increasingly dependent on her for magical, financial, pharmaceutical, romantic, and/or psychological support, pushes them to commit increasingly dark deeds, then convinces them to join her in exile in Zyla Gora (or perhaps a more appealing location, but takes them to Zyla Gora anyways). Once trapped in Lush’s remote hut, they are subject to a range of psychological manipulation, torture, and physical alterations until Lush gets bored with them.
* **Ayamonn** – This hamlet is one of the largest not to have village status. It is located in a small damp valley which is good for growing bog spelt and certain vegetables. Many goat herders who work the surrounding hills also either live here or frequently visit. It is a vassal of Ebonmourne along with several other hamlets and homesteads, and provides much needed crops in an area which is otherwise too hilly to be good for much other than goat herding.
* **Baolm Pass** – The remains of a large wall of crude cut stone spans this kilometer wide pass between two steep outcrops. The Choinnigh eventually decided it was too wide to defend against larger foes and instead relied on foul magic to destroy armies laying siege to Baolmhuir. It has been a long time though since the last time anyone has marched an army into Zyla Gora though. History has proven time and time again that such forces either meet a bad end or are corrupted from within.
* **Baolmhuir** – The piles of large boulders that surround this small village were once the fortress of ancient culture known as the Choinnigh. One of the so called Swamp-Men cultures (despite not living in a swamp) their ancestors were likely Westerlings who chose to settle in this inhospitable area instead of continuing the migration further east. The Choinnigh fought many battles against Khenomeric settlers and later the independent cities of The Fungest. Many of the smaller boulders are said to be grave markers, leading some to say Baolmhuir’s graveyard is even larger than Piggot’s. Migration from the outside world gradually diluted the Choinnigh culture to the point where only a partial language and a few minor cosmetic differences separate the remaining “Choinnigh villages” from others in Zyla Gora. Modern Baolmhuir mostly survives by herding goats, but will sometimes equip themselves with ancient looking weapons and armor to raid The Fungest or other Zylani villages (particularly when one or more witches accompany them). Wisplings are relatively rare here. The stronger inhabitants generally attend Sabbaths at one of the main locations, and do so wearing just traditional body paint, painful piercings, and perhaps a few heirloom bits of armor.
* **Baokbheir** – This large barrow complex is one of the largest outside the Piggot cemetery. It is a maze of large burial mounds, menhirs, grave markers, and low walled enclosures surrounding a large obelisk that marks the entrance to several deep crypts buried deep into a cliff.
* **Bara-Bara** – This small cave goblin community worships Gogotha but doesn’t get along well with the Zylani and is beneath the notice of the hags and witches. They occasionally cause problems for Uilideadha, but also sometimes sell them slaves or maritime salvage they find along the coast.
* **Bareridge** – One of the more tainted of the villages. Many of its inhabitants are individuals who attended a Festerroot Sabbath but became too disoriented or insane to return to their “normal” lives. At any given time, several powerful witches and hags dwell in the village, and most of the village’s inhabitants act as servants and/or harem members to one or more powerful spellcasters. Random murders, orgies, hauntings, feasts, demonic manifestations, unusual deaths, or wild celebrations are an almost daily occurrence. Many individuals wear their Sabbath garb almost all year round. In addition to humans, a wide range of swamp creatures and demonspawn can be found here, either servants to a particular witch, or just drawn to the evil of the place. Not much happens here in terms of farming or mining, but the witches ensure food is sent from other villages.
* **Bucklet** – The original settlers of Bucklet were criminals from Chanterelle and Gertrumum who set up an illicit gold mine about a day’s march across the border. Despite frequent losses, the mine made a few men very wealthy and it stayed in operation for several years until a hag slew most of the miners, enslaved the rest, and kept the mine going for several more decades. The remaining miners became cannibals and rapists, relying on raids across the border for nearly everything. Eventually enough women were captured to stabilize the population, and some pig and fungal farms were set up in the old mines to keep people fed. The inhabitants still raid the Fungest occasionally for sentient meat for certain rituals (mushroomite or human), and also for slaves to bring to the Sabbaths. The inhabitants wear only crude masks made of burlap sacks to Sabbaths, which is also their attire for a range of other ceremonial hunts, feasts, and orgies. Most of the inhabitants are humans and dwarves, but a few wisplings live here, plus usually at least one witch or hag.
* **Casamir** – This village was first founded by an exile from the Orange Marquisates, who left with some followers due to a petty religious schism. They tried to travel to The Fungest, but were blown off course by a storm and landed in a sheltered bay. Taking this as a sign from their patron god Mirslava, they attempted to build a temple to the Northman Pantheon at this site. But they were unaware of this site’s dark history, including two major massacres of Khenomeric settlers and being the site of a summoning of a powerful demon in ancient times. Work had barely begun before a particularly long and harsh winter set in. After five long months of insanity, ghostly possessions, murder, and cannibalism, the surviving inhabitants were persuaded to dedicate their mostly finished temple to a new god instead, Gogotha. Since then Casamir has become a beacon of sorts to persecuted Gogotha followers fleeing the Marquisates, the Fungest, Florinth, and sometimes further east. At first glance, the village seems more wealthy, worldly and diverse than other Zylani villages, but in reality, most inhabitants are long-time residents who live in the crushing poverty typical of the region. Most new arrivals head to the core villages to attend one of the orgy-festivals that frequently occur in Bareridge, Piggot, Emberhelm, or Nyley, after a few such events (or just one Sabbath), they are often to insane to return. It is tradition for the wealthier new arrivals to attend their first Sabbath or similar festival in the most scandalous costume they can think of. Poorer new arrivals typically attend nude. Locals to the village usually do Sabbath at the village temple, nude, overseen by a few preachers of the Witch Church and/or witches. The lead preacher wears a flamboyant parody of Northman religious garb.
* **Ebonmourn** – Following the War of Burnt Incense in the Marquisates, and major unrest in Florinth around the same time, there was a large (by Zylani standards) wave of migration from those nations to Zyla Gora. Some were secret Gogothans, others simply wanted to conquer new lands to replace those they had lost. The failure of the Khenomeric colonies was largely forgotten by this point, and these new settlers were able to overwhelm the remnants of the Choinnigh culture and other rabble who were living there at the time. However, things soon started going wrong. Disease, famine, disappearances, large outbreaks of madness. Fighting broke out between the Gogothanites and their secret backers, those who were (relatively) pure, and those who were completely insane. The surviving nobles, warlords, and wealthy merchants began forming alliances and a rudimentary feudal society formed. The Ebonmourn family from Florinth were one of the few with enough sway to build a proper fortified manor. This feudal system soon collapsed, and was only briefly revived a few times in the following centuries. But the one of the Ebonmourn daughters became a powerful witch, and her granddaughter (also a witch) still rules the manor-castle and nearby village. Malina is a vain and cruel individual who likes to be surrounded by her version of beauty. She regularly sends her followers to kidnap those who interest her to bring back as playthings. She always attends Sabbaths at Festerroot, and brings along her current batch of paramours, of whom, usually a few will be lost during the festivities. The rest of Ebonmourn’s inhabitants aren’t very religious, though a low-key Sabbath is held in the village square each year for locals to keep Malina happy. Most of the villagers are human, but Malina has a few goblins and wisplings she uses as spies, and a large flock of harpies live in the upper levels of the castle who serve her as spies, couriers, and kidnappers.
* **Emberhelm** – This village was settled by exiles from Florinth who mostly wanted to farm in peace and quiet, but they settled too close to Zyla Gora’s most tainted area, which gradually turned them into some of the region’s most flamboyantly insane communities. Back in Florinth, the settlers had several festivals honoring a fey being known as the Pumpkin Man, and these tradition has spread to most Zylani villages as the Pumpkin Man is secretly one of Gogotha’s intermediaries. However, the inhabitants of Emberhelm take these festivals to extremes. Carved pumpkins are ubiquitous in the village and outlying farms for the months between late summer and early winter. During this time, most inhabitants forgo clothes and wear carved pumpkins on their heads, and several wild festivals involving feasts, orgies, and sacrifices occur in the village in the weeks leading up to Sabbath (which most villagers head to Festerroot or The Great Hollow for). During Sabbath, usually at least one person is turned into a unique form of demonspawn where the pumpkin becomes their actual head. Assuming the demonspawn isn’t taken by a witch or hag as a pet, such individuals are brought back to the village where they are treated with great honor. The villagers are mostly human, but many wisplings live in the surrounding area, and there are usually at least a dozen witches, hags, or demonspawn either living in the village or nearby. Like most agricultural villages, the main crops and livestock are bog spelt, assorted vegetables, pigs, and goats, though obviously pumpkins have far more focus than in other villages. There is a high percentage of shamans given the size of the population, most of whom have an affinity for fire.
* **Kilfort** – This agricultural village is located in one of Zyla Gora’s more fertile and populous regions (relatively speaking). It is one of the more industrious and functional communities. They don’t take the Gogothan faith particularly seriously and sometimes purchase slaves to be sent to main Sabbaths ceremonies to meet minimal attendance requirements if no locals can be found that year who want to willingly attend. The local Sabbath ceremony is relatively low key. Some traces of Choinnigh culture still exist here, but most descend from more recent settlers. They have close ties to the mining community of Lonburn who they supply food to, and they also trade with Attilmhic and the Platani.
* **Lonburn** – This village is the centre of Zyla Gora’s only active mining region. They mine coal and iron, and forge iron tools and weapons, most of which is sold to other parts of Zyla Gora, but sometimes also to the Platani. The village and the outlying mines are relatively untainted, though many inhabitants seem to possess unnatural stamina and/or recklessness, and it is hard to say how much of this is cultural, and how much of it is some form of mania. Most inhabitants are human, but there are a few dwarves, goblins, wisplings, fairies, and mushroomites around. The local Sabbath is relatively tame, but some young folk will attend one of the main Sabbaths at The Great Hollow or The Festerroot.
* **Mawbrooke** – This mine was one of the largest in the area’s history before the miners were mysteriously wiped out. Occasionally groups will try to explore or reclaim it, but each time they do, groups of undead will drive them out. Accounts of what types of undead live here are contradictory, some believe that in addition to the spirits of the dead miners, there is something else haunting the mine, perhaps an old tomb complex the mine cut into.
* **Moaning Crevasse** – This small but deep gorge has many zombies trapped at the bottom. It is a coming of age ritual for Lonburn youth to urinate into the gorge, but occasionally some fall in, adding to the zombies. Although usually seen as accidental, this is actually often due to a local ghost who sometimes gets bored and tries to knock people into the gorge.
* **Mumely’s Cottage** – This cottage is home to three hags who are noted seers. They use their abilities to defend the Sabbath locations from anyone foolishly enough to meddle with them.
* **Mutt’s Lair** – This cave is home to a solitary werewolf. Geas placed by local witches prevent him from attacking inhabitants of Zyla Gora, but he will sometimes sneak deep into The Fungest to attack lone travelers or isolated farmsteads.
* **North Swamp** – This swamp is home to a small group of kikimori led by witch. For the past few centuries, the witch has been using selective breeding and magical tampering to produce her interpretation of the perfect specimen of that species. Zylani avoid the swamp due to some past event that happened here, though no one seems to agree on what the actual event was.
* **Nyan’s Cottage** – It would be easy to assume this collapsed shack in a remote gully in the Witch Hills is abandoned, but in reality it is still sometimes used by Baba Nyan, a witch who uses magic to spend most of her time in the shape of a house cat. Cats are already treated with respect in Zyla Gora since some witches uses them as spies, but villages in this area are extra respectful lest they anger Baba Nyan.
* **Nyley** – This village is the closest to The Great Hollow, as well as The Festerroot Tree. Similar to Bareridge, many of the inhabitants are too insane and physically twisted to do anything particularly productive, but the witches and hags who live here ensure other villages send them supplies. Attendees of Sabbaths at The Great Hollow gather here to begin the long parade up Mount Zyla Gora.
* **Old Mathi’s Hut** – Some inhabitants of Zyla Gora have innate magical abilities that weren’t gained by learning witchcraft or demonic pacts. They are usually referred to as shamans, wise men/women, etc. No one is sure how they get their powers, though they appear to be a mix of druidcraft and curses. As long as they don’t interfere with interests of witches and hags, most such individuals are left alone. Old Mathi is one of the oldest and most powerful of them, but he is a solitary wander who spends most of his time on the road.
* **Papin Lighthouse** – Several centuries ago, the city of Chanterelle built this lighthouse to try and keep people from accidentally landing in Peggle’s Marsh at night. At first no incidents occurred, however, as the lighthouse neared completion, things went poorly fast. Within the span of two days, a single brawl had escalated to several murders, which escalated to a series of violent orgies, suicides, and other destructive behavior. The incident ended with everyone involved being petrified (and some turned to demonspawn beforehand). Only a messenger who was sent back to the city to report on the deteriorating situation survived, and only a few updates in the captain’s journal plus the statues themselves provide clues to what happened in the last few hours. Another lighthouse was eventually built much closer to the city but it is not as effective. People are sometimes reporting missing near the Papin Lighthouse and the number of statues seems to grow. File:11 - Piggot.jpg
* **Peggle’s Marsh** – This salt marsh seems to be particularly tainted with evil. It is home to a tribe of insane, physically deformed goblins who seem to exist to torment anyone who somehow become stranded in the marsh (sometimes shipwreck survivors, or lost fishermen, but often individuals deliberately marooned here). There are also some wisps, wisplings, and corrupted mushroomites, who seem to enjoy luring people into sadistic traps set by the goblins.
* **Piggot** – One of the larger and more organized of the villages. They are infamous for their fanatical need to immortalize the dead with elaborate gravestones. Many other villages bring their dead to be buried here too. As a result, the village is surrounded by several square kilometers of graveyard, some of which date back to ancient times. Many styles can be found here including Choinnigh barrows, Khenomeric cenotaphs, and wispling rock piles, though most are elaborate headstones in the style popular in the Marquisates, plus a few twisted variants of the statue-markers and large crypts favored by Florinthian nobles. The inhabitants of Piggot are also fanatical followers of the Witch Church, and a large temple to that religion sits in middle of the most elaborate part of the cemetery. Orgy-festivals frequently occur in the cemetery, as does a large festival for the main Sabbath, though many inhabitants travel to The Festerroot or The Great Hollow instead. The insanity of the inhabitants tends to manifest itself in morbid humor and an unhealthy obsession with the dead. Masks for Sabbath are often fashioned from real skulls molded and fused with magic. Most of the inhabitants are human, but there are a handful of witches, hags, and demonspawn in the village, as well as many morbid wisplings in the cemetery.
* **Rupa Manor** – This large manor house was built by an exiled Gogothan Florinthian noble who hoped to create ties with between Zyla Gora and The Fungest. However, this never occurred and the manor was abandoned before eventually becoming home to a powerful witch who transformed her own child into a demonspawn to ensure its longevity. She controls a network of particularly sadistic wisplings who spy on villages across the border and occasionally kidnap individuals for her or her daughter to “play with”.
* **Sermore** – This rustic fishing village was once the lair of a sadistic pirate captain who made the mistake of trying to manipulate a local witch. The captain met a bad end, and the witch took over the crew for several generations before eventually growing tired of piracy. Since this time, there has been no pirates based in Zyla Gora, and only a handful have been foolish enough to try to hid in its many secluded coves, or even worse, raid its villages. However, the inhabitants of Sermore are proud of their pirating roots, and the tattered remains of the pirate flag hangs in the local tavern to this day. The inhabitants of Sermore are now fishermen and crabbers for the most part, though a crude brewery makes grog from fermented seaweed and bog spelt, and is considered one of the best breweries in Zyla Gora. The inhabitants sometimes hold ad hoc orgy-festivals anytime shipwrecked, lost, or marooned individuals are captured along the coast (such individuals are seen as gifts from Gogotha). However, they are lax about attending the main Sabbaths, only sending a small number of attendees, some of whom are often recent captives should any be available.
* **Sherry Cave** – This large cave network has a persistent infestation of giant spiders, which probably explains why there are no settlements nearby. Bored witches and hags capable of flight, as well as the local harpy flock, will sometimes drop captives near the entrance of the cave just to see what will happen.
* **Talaitha House** – This large house was probably built by a relatively wealthy outsider with some skilled craftsmen in their entourage, though no one remembers the details. The few who travel past the house on a regular basis agree it is likely haunted and is also home to some giant spiders. According to some rumors, the house is built on a cave network that connects to the house via the cellar, which perhaps explains why the local is so popular with giant spiders.
* **Tarrom** – The most southern village. Although some believe that a village that far from the main sources of corruption should be the most normal of the Zylani villages, if anything, Tarrom is one of the most bizarre. Some say this is because the tomb of an unseelie prankster faerie lord is located somewhere in the hills south of the village, perhaps yet another of Gogotha’s emissaries as certain foreign mystics and wizards have detected some demonic corruption in the area in addition to pockets of wild fey magic. Either way, the inhabitants have always been a little too strange and too dedicated to Gogotha to be lumped in with the Platani, so it is considered to be a Zylani village, one of the seventeen required to pay tribute to the Dominion. The village survives by hunting, foraging and fishing in the nearby Tarrom Swamp. As they spend large parts of the day wading through water, it is customary not to wear pants except in the coldest weather. Less easily explained is their tendency to wear buckets on their heads during ceremonies and Sabbaths. In the center of the village is a large statue of Gogotha in the form of a beautiful female satyr holding the leashes of a nude man and woman with buckets on their heads, which seems to sum up how the inhabitants see their relation with Gogotha, that although some of them may not like it, they are bound to Gogotha forever. The inhabitants are mostly human, but with some swamp gnomes and wisplings as well. The origins of the humans is unclear, but they seem to have been there for a while. In addition to the peculiar argot spoken by most Zylani, they also speak their own language, which seems unrelated to others in the area. There are frequent festival-orgies, and many villagers travel for several days to visit The Festerroot or The Great Hollow for the main Sabbath. The insanity of the villagers is more pronounced than in most villages, and usually takes the form of manic, erratic behavior.
* **Tarrom Marsh** – This large swamp is the foraging grounds of the village of Tarrom. It is also home to a number of swamp gnomes. Due to the fey magic and the demonic taint in the area, these gnomes come in several different shapes, sizes, and behaviors. However, although some of them enjoy playing cruel pranks on others, they almost never slay a local. Like the inhabitants of the village, they seem to regard themselves as forever bound to Gogotha whether they like it or not.
* **Tawni Town** – This strange village was originally founded by an obscure cult popular with pirates and smugglers from the Marquisates and Florinth. The original cult was to a lobster-like creature named Inothl’ro, but it seems Gogotha subverted the cult and turned it into one dedicated to her. A large statue stands in the middle of the town depicting Inothl’ro/Gogotha as a nude woman with lobster claws for hands. The Inothl’ro cult as greatly increased in popularity ever since Gogotha subverted it, and is now popular with a wide range of folk who make their living from the sea. Only the most hardcore believers find out about Tawni Town though. They are encouraged to visit it during a sacred event, which ends up being the local Sabbath. Those who are driven insane by the Sabbath typically end up staying. In addition to fishing and crabbing, Tawni Town is one of the main source of slaves into Zyla Gora, many of whom are brought as tribute by followers of Gogotha or Inothl’ro from the Marquisates or Florinth.
* **Taw’oag Forest** – Due to poor soil conditions, few forests in Zyla Gora are more than a few kilometers wide, and rarely contain anything of note other than a few wisplings, rogue mushroomites, or maybe a stray ghost or wisp. Foag Forest is one of the exceptions though. The few who live in this area all say something dark and cruel (even by Zylani standards) lives here, and avoid it at all costs.
* **The Festerroot Tree** – This Sabbath location is considered one of the most sacred in the world, and the second most sacred in Zyla Gora. There are many conflicting theories on its origin, but it is clear that great evil emits from the tree and its surroundings. Only the most devote, reckless, or insane of Gogotha’s Zylani followers attend Sabbath here (along with witches and hags from the Dominion, and unwilling slaves from various lands). Although many attendees claim there are major differences in how they feel during Sabbaths at The Festerroot Tree versus at The Great Hollow, the ceremony is essentially the same with frenzied chanting and dancing leading to orgies and other acts of degeneracy. Demons often appear to join the festivities and mortals are sometimes temporarily, or even permanently turned to demonspawn. Afterwards many weaker individuals become too mentally unbalanced to function for weeks, or even years.
* **The Great Hollow** – This Sabbath location is the most sacred in Zyla Gora, and its function and effects are much the same as The Festerroot Tree. But there are some differences. The Great Hollow is a massive oak tree with many interconnected cavities in its trunk, branches, roots, and in caverns below the surface. Within these are rare hallucinogenic mushrooms that are of much interest to those with divination abilities. The mushrooms are burned during Sabbath leading to some people getting visions of the future, or at least hallucinations they think are visions. So sacred is The Great Hollow that even the daughters of the Bog-Witch will visit it once every thirteen years. The Great Hollow sits on top of a plateau at the top of Mount Zyla Gora. The mountain has been called Zyla Gora for much longer than the wider region, which has had many names over the millennia.
* **The Old Sign Post** – Zyla Gora is small and sparsely populated, which has led many to question why no one has ever conquered or purged it of trouble-makers. Aside from its long history of corrupting would be conquers from within, there is also the fact that those who travel into Zyla Gora looking to disrupt the activities of those dwelling there often come to very, very bad ends. For humans living in Chanterelle, the Papin Lighthouse incident is perhaps the most famous, but The Old Sign Post is also well known. This crude signpost of weathered planks nailed to a pole simply says “Keep Out”. Many of those who travel to Zyla Gora from The Fungest will come to a bad end regardless of whether they passed the sign on the way in, but travelling directly past the sign without some sort of invitation from the inhabitants seems to bring particularly bad luck. At least six people have been hit by lightning near the sign, and several caught fatal illnesses. A man who tried to set fire to the sign spontaneous combusted, and another who tried to chop it down embedded his own axe in his face. The most famous incident though was when a vigilante leader rode past the sign while chasing Zylani raiders back across the border. His eyes, teeth, finger bones, and testicles spontaneously exploded, and he died two weeks later with a constant parade of large centipedes magically crawling out his urethra.
* **The Wee Lad and the Buxom Lass (The Crossroads Statues)** – Two cultists from Florinth were travelling from Tawni Town to Emberhelm to attend an orgy there when they had the misfortune of crossing paths with a bored witch travelling south from Uilideadha. The man was turned to stone urinating against a tree, while the woman was petrified fleeing. Since then several more travellers have been petrified here under unclear circumstances. On the plus side, the statues serve as a marker for the side trail to Uilideadha, which is often hard to find in the dark.
* **Uilideadha** – This village isn’t particularly noteworthy other than it is one of the ones where the Choinnigh culture is the strongest. Several large battles were fought here during the Khenomeric invasion, and a few ruined fortifications can still be scattered around. It is otherwise a pretty “normal” Zylani farming community, with a particular emphasis on goats.
* **Violca Peak** – This isolated peak is mostly famous for being the lair of an unusually large and long lived harpy that has been kidnapping people for centuries.
* **Yaoghaire** – This village has a long and convoluted history. It was originally a settlement of the Choinnigh culture, and was one of the first places where Khenomeric explorers got a taste for what this region had to offer. For about a century, the Khenomeric Empire lost settlements and exploration parties along the coast of what is now Zyla Gora. Local authorities in Mareador were infuriated by the losses and sent thousands of conscript soldiers, slaves, indentured laborers, and convicts to establish coastal colony (known as Kinotep) through brute force. Eventually a number of coastal settlements were established, some of which grew to the size of towns and lasted nearly a century. The last settlement, and most westerly, was Yinhar, built on the ruins of Yaoghaire only a few months before the Battle of Empires. However, the dark forces of the region hadn’t given up, they merely changed tactics. Endless nightmares, bouts of madness, pestilence, and famine rocked the communities again and again while Gogothan cults wormed their way in, and tribal raiders and unseelie fey continued to fight with brutal terror tactics. Yinhar was seen as particularly cursed, as many of its leading inhabitants were Gogothans right from day one. Most people would have left if given the chance, but the local Khenomeric authorities were too stubborn to be driven out no matter how wasteful the colony became... It was only when the aftermath of The Battle of Empires forced the Khenomeric Empire to abandon many of their frontier regions that the dark forces of the area showed their true power. The Choinnigh tribes struck in large numbers, backed by unseelie fey, swamp ogres, witches and hags. Secret converts in positions of authority managed to get several communities to surrender without a fight, while in others they stirred up strife and confusion. Even where people managed to flee they often found they had nowhere to go as no nearby ports wanted anything to do with the “cursed colony”. In the end, the colony was wiped out, with most ending up as slaves to the Choinnigh tribes, or brought to what would eventually become the Dominion. “Yinhar” returned to being Yaoghaire, and most evidence that the colony existed was deliberately erased. Nowadays Yaoghaire is a small fishing village where most people descend from fugitives from the Marquisates. Inhabitants tend to be low energy and chronically depressed or disgruntled. It has been noted that inhabitants age quickly up until they reach forty or so, but slowly after that, with some living to over a hundred. This phenomenon has been seen occasionally in other villages as well, but it is most pronounced in Yaoghaire. Yaoghaire’s other claim to fame are the elaborate Khenomeric style hieroglyphics found in a hidden cave temple to Gogotha which dates back to the Khenomeric occupation period. Only a few other such sites exist in Zyla Gora, all of which are in much worse shape.
* **Yoski** – Most of the time this location is nothing but a few fenced in enclosures along a muddy stretch of trail, but on the rare occasions that Plantani merchant caravans do the asfd-Kilfort-Lonburn-Yoski route, this is the final stop before reaching the relative safety of the Platanus Bog. For one night a small community of tents forms for the merchants to relax after a long day on the trail.

## Demographics

### **Humans**

The humans in the area are known as the Zylani, and they mostly descend from fugitives of the Orange Marquisates and Florinth. They are an unfriendly lot, distrustful of outsiders, and with a skewed sense of morality that tolerates acts of evil in return for survival. Repeated exposure to dark rituals has unbalanced the psyche of most of them, leading to a wide range of behavioral disorders, including mania, chronic depression, paranoia, and assorted obsessive behaviors.

### **Wisplings**

A name used to describe a wide range of small, weak fey. Unlike their cousins in the Platanus Bog, the Zyla Gora wisplings tend to be more humanoid, as well as melancholy rather than impish.

### **Hags and Witches**

Some hags and witches of the Dominion travel to Zyla Gora for their sabbaths. A few stay all year round, keeping an eye on sacred sites and/or lording it over local villagers.

### **Miscellaneous Fey**

Other fey in the region include harpies, cave goblins, gnomes, kikimora, and mushroomites. Some are servants of the hags and witches, others semi-feral independents, barely more civilized than animals.

## Religion

The Zylani worship Gogotha (often known locally as Gorgotha). Zyla Gora is seen as sacred territory of Gorgotha, and the Zylani see it as entirely natural to worship her, given her power over their lands.

Zyla Gora is one of several locations where sabbaths happen. These wild celebrations are said to honor ancient pacts made between Gorgotha and certain fey like the Bog-Witch. The sabbaths in Zyla Gora are known for being particularly wild. Villagers who are healthy enough dress in painstakingly crafted costumes of various demon-like creatures and have frenzied dances and orgies around bonfires or sacred trees or menhirs. Often succubi and incubi will be attracted to these rituals, and occasionally the villagers themselves will be temporarily transformed into demon like creatures.

## Military

The villagers will put together militias when needed. Sometimes the local hags and witches will also assist against threats if they feel it is in their interest.