Innistrad

Innistrad is not a place for the faint of heart. Home to a few huddling villages of frightened humans, the plane is a nexus of creeping dread. Vampires collect blood tithe from their fortresses in the high mountains of Stensia. In the vast forests of Kessig, werewolves hunt and howl under a silver moon. Nephalia's coast is plagued by spirits and tides alike. Outsiders are understandably looked upon with suspicion (it is highly recommended for non-human travellers disguise their true nature). And yet, despite the shadow, hope still endures.

Thraben is the steadfast ward of the people, a shining city on the Lake of Herons. The parishes of Gavony huddle close to its blessed walls, which number in the hundreds. From here, the archangel Avacyn holds the darkness at bay, at least for now. Her church, the flights of angels, and the cathars that charge forth in her name bring hope to the most hopeless. And yet, all that may not be enough to keep safe: who knows what may be watching you?

## Provinces of Innistrad

### Gavony

Innistrad, or at least, the populated portion of it, is divided into four provinces. Gavony is the largest of these, a land of misty moors and gently rolling hills. It is also the safest of the provinces, although such a term is always relative on Innistrad. Small villages cluster together into parishes, and some even approach such positive descriptors as "quaint" and "rustic". Danger still abounds, however, and woe betide the person caught alone on the moors on a moonless night.

### Nephalia

Nephalia is the most populated province, a long, thin, snaky strip of land dotted with storm-lashed cliffs and silver sand beaches. A few major sea ports dominate the landscape, most notably Havengul and Selhoff, which trade in goods from further-flung Drunau and Rivstalt, as well as a great deal of more criminal enterprises. Nephalia is deeply haunted: the salty mist tide of the Nebelgast brings with it the souls of a thousand shipwrecks, and the caravan routes are littered with the corpses of those who neglected to bring appropriate blessings and wards. Still, there's very few places on Innistrad where one can get quite so filthy rich.

### Kessig

Eternal autumn lies over Kessig. Its capital, Avabruck was once a thriving metropolis, but repeated attacks from lycanthropes have reduced it to cursed rubble. Now, its small farming villages are tucked away between dominating russet-hued oaks and ash, stretching across the land in a vast forest called the Ulvenwald. To travel through Kessig, one must make the Breakneck Ride, a swift and dangerous gallop along the few narrow tunnels under the trees. It is theorised that the forest covers the majority of the plane, but few have penetrated more than a few dozen miles into it: worse things than roving werewolves dwell in the deep shadows of the ancient woods.

### Stensia

Stensia is Innistrad's darkest province, both metaphorically and literally. Little explored, it is ruled by aristocratic vampires, who do not look kindly upon explorers. But the determined adventurer will find a land of haunting beauty: the indigo mountains of the Geier Reach that rise into the clouds, sinister swamps that conceal unknown pasts, and forests covered in purple-hued fog. And perhaps most surprisingly, ragged but stoic humans that live in its shadowed valleys, eking out a living under the blood tithes. But be cautious: there are foul things that lurk in Stensia, spat out by the Ashmouth. Do not let them find your scent.