Adding more setting detail...
A Brief History
[sblock=Brief History]
The crash of the surf pounding the skerries and rocky shore thousands of feet below was faintly heard when Ursolm Sixshields and Heorje Skelrjade first set eyes out upon the tumultuous Gods' Wrath Sea from the top of what was to become the Rice Bluffs. The two Norsan explorers claimed the dizzyingly high spur of land, Oka Kjurama, for their kith and kin, and over generations built not one, but two startling wonders of architecture - The Keep of Last Sight and the Great Twilit Bridge.
The town of Kjuriyo grew up around The Keep of Last Sight, peopled with stonemasons and carpenters, rice farmers and bamboo harvesters, and a few artisans who discovered and perfected the brewing of the rice beer known as sake. High up on the cliffs overlooking the roiling and frigid sea, winter attacked savagely, and even on the brightest summer day, fierce winds threatened the unwary, but Kjuriyo prospered and grew as trade came and went across the Great Twilit Bridge that led back into Norsa proper.
Throughout the years, when the Norsan kingdom would be raided by the Kangel orc hordes, Oka Kjurama was left untouched due to the defensibility of the Great Twilit Bridge and the Trollwall Mountains. The town of Kjuriyo's own tragedy finally struck with the death of the Atheling, Heurssen and his immediate family, and a curse fell upon the lands, personified by the tyranny of Kamidottr, an eldritch troll that has evermore lived beneath the Great Twilit Bridge, all but isolating Oka Kjurama from the outside world.
Now the lands around Kjuriyo and The Keep of Last Sight are referred to as the Trollfed Aerie, for it is only when Kamidottr allows caravans to pass over her Great Twilit Bridge that outside trade reaches Oka Kjurama. As a result of their isolation, the people of Kjuriyo and its environs are a somber folk who struggle for joy, and go about their lives with a pragmatic minimalism, even as their wise teach a spiritual hopefulness.[/sblock]
Gazateer of Oka Kjurama
[sblock=Oka Kjurama]Norsan for Great Point Beneath Kjur Peak, Oka Kjurama is a fantastically high rocky promontory cut out from the massive mountain range known as the Trollwalls on the mainland by two incredibly steep-sided fjords, uncrossed and wild Svardikawa to the north and hauntingly beautiful Fryjisaki to the south, the latter of which has long since been spanned by the Great Twilit Bridge. The northeastern portion of Oka Kjurama is dominated by the long-sleeping, but not entirely dormant, volcano Kjur Peak, whose foothills, scree, and past debris extend throughout the rest of the peninsular plateau, and the southern regions of the plateau are primarily covered by the Aelfkami Woods.
Cold and clear waterfalls, streams, ponds and lakes can easily be found, with most having their source somewhere upon the slopes of Kjur Peak. Several hot springs are also known on the volcano, but few are easily accessible. The top of Kjur Peak is actually a great caldera lake, called Derakjur by those few to have ever visited its eeriely still waters. Only one true river exists on the peninsula, Iyofryjkami River, cutting a deep cleft from upon Kjur Peak, down through parts of Aelfkami Woods, and then shooting west, until finally ending in the great waterfall, Iyofryjkawa, dropping far into the Gods' Wrath Sea a short way south from Kjuriyo.
A poorly maintained road splits Oka Kjurama west-east from the town of Kjuriyo to the Great Twilit Bridge, cutting through the middle of the grassy dell, Kjurama Field, that is flanked by Kjur Peak to the north and Aelfkami Woods to the south. Excellent campsites can be found along the road - congregations of erupted igneous rocks and copses of ash or bamboo groves - but it is only at the fording bridge of the Iyofryjkami River that anything resembling true accommodations can be found, in the crossroad village of Fryjjarwa. From there, lesser paths lead off the main road, one north leading up on Kjur Peak itself and the mining village of Durel-dor-shima and the other south into the Aelfkami Woods, although only the finest woodsmen can follow its lead to the near-hidden village of Kawasiddr. Throughout Kjurama Field, small thorps and hamlets - often consisting of little more than a longhouse or two - can be found, although few, if any, have names, and they all rely on the main communities for most supplies.
Most of the arable land is found in the west, where The Keep of Last Sight was built and the town of Kjuriyo founded, but even there most crops tend to be the rices that grow easily in flooded paddy terraces. Pine and fir trees exist on the upper slopes of the volcano, but the plateau forests tend to be of yew, ash, cherry, wild apple, mulberry, and giant bamboo. Winter jasmine and daisies grow unchecked in the fields, and within Kjuriyo, well-maintained orchid gardens are a source of pride.
Few large animals live within Oka Kjurama. Hulking cave bears dwell about the higher foothills of the volcano, and their smaller cousins can be found wandering about in Aelfkami Woods. Deer roam the forested areas, led by a seemingly immortal black stag. Untamed horses graze in the eastern portions of Kjurama Field, remnants of long escaped Kjuriyon steeds. Wolf packs and drakes hunt mountain goats, although both usually stay away from the settled areas. Foxes and tanuki are extremely common, and can often be seen wandering brazenly through the villages, and even Kjuriyo. Hawks, falcons, and owls are the sole raptors in the area, but numerous smaller birds sing in the trees. Ravens are plentiful, with the hardiest ones used by the Thegn of the Keep as messengers to the thorps and hamlets of Oka Kjurama and even unto the outside world. Most of the waterways have freshwater fish within, and there's a longstanding belief that a particular species of salmon climbs up the Iyofryjkawa waterfall from the Gods' Wrath Sea to reach its spawning grounds.[/sblock]
Great Twilit Bridge
[sblock=Great Twilit Bridge]The eastern border of the lands nominally under the rule of The Keep of Last Sight is marked by the Great Twilit Bridge; however for many generations now, it has been the troll Kamidottr who in truth rules the bridge, and some say, all of the peninsula, for she has the only say on who enters and leaves the Trollfed Aerie. The bridge is named for the golden fey light reflected into the area in the evening from the impossibly blue waterfall, Aelfnjet Falls, that drops from the heights of Kjur Peak into Fryjisaki Fjord that leads south and then west into the roiling seas.
The bridge itself is a massive work of stone blocks, wooden beams, and arcane lore, fully as wide as four carts, and spanning the abyssal fjord below, requiring a human to walk for a day to cross. The parapets of the bridge are taller than a man, with tanuki and fox statues topping them every hundred feet, sheltering any crossers from the high winds that buffet the span, although a few gaps were built to allow a spectacular view of the deep icy blue waters and the magnificent waterfall that feds into them north of the bridge. The wild criss-crossing supports beneath the stone are believed to hide the actual lair of Kamidottr, although it has never been seen.
At either end of the bridge sit large stone gatehouses offering commanding views of the surrounding areas. Each contains a set of two thick and heavy iron and oak portcullises, always left down by their troll mistress. Built to barracks a small army, both structures have long sat empty, although their crafting was such that not even the wind has begun to wear at their masonry, even if their decorative cherrywood torii have been ripped out ages before by Kamidottr. For unknown reasons, she left a torii standing in a bamboo grove just south of the western gate, but it is rarely visited by anyone except a sole blind hermit.[/sblock]
Kjuriyo, The Lonely Town
[sblock=Kjuriyo]The primary community in Oka Kjurama is the town that grew around The Keep of Last Sight. At its peak Kjuriyo was far larger and more populated than it is now, but the isolating tyranny of Kamidottr has wore away at its people's enthusiasm, and as homes were abandoned, they were dismantled for their building materials.
The town proper stretches north from The Keep of Last Sight along the Rice Bluffs, although some farms stretch out east from the keep, and the mostly halfling-inhabited thorp of Jasmine on the southern bank of the Iyofryjkami River nearby is often considered part of the town. Just over two thousand people call Kjuriyo home; mostly humans, but dwarves, elves, and half-elves have significant populations as well, and the largest smithy is run by an extended family of dragonborn. A band of tieflings settled in the area after being denied exit by Kamidottr, and their descendants have become farmers, herders, and have even started an acting troupe, regularly performing plays in the town square. Most halflings in the area live in Jasmine, but commerce and trade finds many of them in Kjuriyo for extended periods. Only a handful of eladrin are known to the town, and they are often gone for weeks at a time, rare ambassadors from Kawasiddr.
Aside from the keep itself, there are a three main structures in Kjuriyo. Its religious and spiritual center is a sacred bamboo and winter jasmine grove named Horgr. Servants of all deities are welcome to pass through the bright vermillion torii into the grove, although none preach - the grove is a place of silent prayer and worship, where the kami Idunna resides within the silver mirror, Mimir. Horgr is tended to not by priests, but by gardeners, led by the dwarf Ulrik Brightvein and the half-elf Lia Nightbloom.
The social center of the town, and in truth, all of Oka Kjurama, is the great sake hall called Valhama. Few visitors come to Kjuriyo, so no inn is warranted within the town, but within the great sake hall all are welcome. Like most buildings within the town, Valhama is a single room, although in this case, it is massive beyond the others, and could easily house the town's people twice over. Ancient rib-bones, said to be taken from a dragon slain by Heorje Skelrjade himself, provide form and structure to the building, and many longtables are spaced around the huge firepit in the center of the floor. Sliding and portable paper screens provide some privacy for those choosing to sleep in the great common room. Valhama is communal property, but is maintained by servants from The Keep of Last Sight. Anyone is allowed to sell food or beverage there, but most often it is the local sake brewer, Mjor Thricebrewed, who does so.
The final structure of importance in the town proper is the tallest; a great windmill, powered by winds that are near constant this high up on the plateau of Oka Kjurama. It is one of the few buildings with multiple rooms, and the only one except the keep with multiple floors if cellar cold rooms are excluded. The great grindstone is used by many of the townsfolk to polish their rice, particular by Mjor, who ensures his sake reaches perfection. Mjor's sake brewery, in fact, is connected to the windmill, and the man has a terrible bark for those trying to sneak in to sample from the great vats where the sake ferments.
Few families have their own homes in the town; most live in great longhouses shared between three or four families. Paper screens are used for privacy if needed, but generally the families interact freely. Stores, workshops, and barns are detached from the longhouses, often arranged in a garden around the central shared house, making the town resemble more a group of hamlets than a cohesive whole. As with the longhouses, the rice paddies on the northern edge of Kjuriyo are not solely owned by one family, but instead are usually co-owned by multiple families, often those sharing a longhouse.
Kjuriyo has no administration apart from the Thegn of The Keep of Last Sight, and the keep's guard also doubles as the watch, patrolling the town's confines. No walls mark the outer bounds of the town, but the watch maintains a few sentry posts, and are usually quick to respond to any trouble, from local ruffians to goblin raiders or worse - even to the point of evacuating townsfolk into the Keep where solid stone walls can protect them. Although the Thegn is nominally the ruler of the land, most decisions are debated at community meetings known as althings, with the thegn serving as moderator and when needed, final arbiter.[/sblock]
The Keep of Last Sight
[sblock=Keep of the Last Sight]
Erected long before the founding of Kjuriyo on the northern bank of the Iyofryjkami River and overlooking its awe-inspiring drop into the storm tossed sea far below, The Keep of Last Sight is built of stone, iron, and it is believed, magic, as opposed to the bamboo, timber and thatch of most of the town's buildings.
The keep itself is surrounded by a large bailey divided into three, although only two are regularly used - the most northernly one is the main courtyard of the keep, and it is there the guard's barracks and the thegn's kennel of hunting dogs are found. The eastern area is a training yard and barracks for the much-depleted-by-time personal guard of the thegn, The Blood of Ursolm. The third area, in the south, has been closed to almost all for nealry a century - once a jasmine garden tended by Atheling Heurssen's wife, the sacred torii that marks its entrance remains in shambles, marked by the curse that befell Oka Kjurama.
One massive gate faces north towards the town, with a pair of heavy iron-bound oak doors that remain open during most days, but that can be sealed shut to repel foes. Two smaller gates exit south, one from the kitchen area opens onto a sheltered but rough stair leading down the cliff onto a precipice overlooking the God's Wrath Sea that is used as an informal garden by the keep's servants, while the other, at the base of the keep's wall and sealed shut, leads into the cursed southern courtyard.
The keep stands three floors high, with a narrow bridge spanning northeast to reach a watchtower that rises up above the intersection of the outer bailey wall and the wall between the northern and eastern yards. The standards of the thegn's family and his personal crest both fly from the watchtower, but despite frequent cleaning and repair, their colors remain muted and faded since the curse befell the land. The entire first floor of the keep is a massive great hall, with almost as many longtables as Valhama in the town. A large fireplace dominates the eastern wall of the hall and a kitchen area is partitioned off with paper screens in the southeastern corner. The second floor is split between servant quarters on the north side and a great library on the south side. The top floor houses the thegn's family.
The most awe-inspiring structure of The Keep of Last Sight is the Heavenhung Tower. At one time, the tower rose impossibly from the stormy sea thousands of feet below, its foundatioin erected on the skerries at the base of the rocky promontory. With the curse befallen on Oka Kjurama, most of the tower crumbled away, but the upper floors still hang out over the cliff, precariously attached to the keep by a magnificiently built stone bridge. At one time, the Heavenhung Tower was the residence of the atheling's family, but it has been unused since Heurssen's time, and it is believed that all of his effects are still sealed within - no thegn since has successful dared to venture inside to recover the treasures therein.[/sblock]
Fryjjarwa, The Crossroad's Village
[sblock=Fryjjarwa]Located in the center of Kjurama Field and resting upon a small series of islands in the Iyofryjkami River, Fryjjarwa is a village that grew around the only major crossroads in the Trollfed Aerie. Four major roads leave Fryjjarwa in the cardinal directions – east to the Great Twilit Bridge, north to the lower slopes of Kjur Peak and eventually Durel-dor-shima, west to the town of Kjuriyo and the Keep of Last Sight, and south into the mysterious Aelfkami Woods, potentially leading to Kawasiddr, the Hidden Groves. The village acts as a trade and way station between the few major communities of Oka Kjurama as well as most of the nameless thorps that dot the peninsula.
Barely five hundred live in Fryjjarwa, but due to the trade that passes through, just about every race that can be found in the Trollfed Aerie can be found here. Most live in longhouses shared by numerous families, although several longhouses are rented out to merchants and the few travellers in Oka Kjurama that pass through the village. A few rice paddies are farmed on the southern banks of the Iyofryjkami River, and some goats are bred for both food and as beasts of burden on the northern banks, but most of the village’s food comes from fish taken from the fast flowing waters.
The Thegn of the Keep of the Last Sight is the official ruler of Fryjjarwa, although he lives days away in Kjuriyo. Orpik, one of the Blood of Ursolm – the personal guard of the thegn – acts as his representative in the village, although he does not see himself as a ruler; as in Kjuriyo, most decisions that affect the community are debated at monthly althings upon the islet of Westmoot. Fryjjarwa has no standing guard, although many of the elder sons patrol the outer farms on a nightly basis, watching for raiding goblins and preying wolves. Since the village rests on numerous islets in the river, its people defend themselves by drawing up the bridges, preventing most enemies – such as goblin raiders from the slopes of Kjur Peak – from even getting close.
Kensei’s Gate is the most developed of Fryjjarwa’s four gate islands because it connects the village to the road leading west to Kjuriyo. The drawbridge that crosses the river from Kensei’s Gate to Kjurama Field is over 100ft long, but can be drawn up completely to the islet, prevent all but the most determined raids on the village. A small rounded fort – little more than a guardroom – stands next to the base of the drawbridge, connected to a large winch that actually hauls up the bridge.
Orchid's Leap is the northernmost of the islets of Fryjjarwa, rising further out of the water than any of the others, which allows it to be a convenient height for its drawbridge that leads towards the trails of Kjur Peak. The islet also provides a magnificent view of the Orchid’s Rain waterfall that feeds the Iyofryjkami River from all its tributaries on the slopes of the volcano.
Tanuki Folly is a small, centrally located islet in Fryjjarwa primarily used as an extended portion of the shrine to the kami Reed and Rush. The vermillion torii that lead out to the jade, ivory, and ebony statue of Reed and Rush begin about five feet from Tanuki Folly’s southern shore, and lead out a hundred feet onto the sandbar that rests just below the flowing surface of the water, with more torii every fifteen feet. The only people who live on the islet are Tergan, the shifter who tends to the shrine, and his wife Kikira, who uses a hot spring on the island to run an onsen. The kitsune Fleeting, long a friend of Tergan and Kikira, is usually sleeping amid the orchids of the islet.
A series of islets running in a line near the southern bank of the Iyofryjkami River, the Sisters are a set of rounded islets where most of the longhouses for the rice farmers and their families are found. Several windmills also stand on these islets, two of which have had several additions – Eorwulf has built a fine sake hall onto one windmill, hoping to one day rival Mjor Thricebrewed’s sake in Valhama of Kjuriyo; and the personable wizard Susarito brews potions, writes scrolls, and performs rituals for a modest fee out of another – one whose grinding stone has become wedged solid and no longer turns. The middle islet of the Sisters houses the drawbridge that crosses south to Kjurama Field where the majority of the rice paddies are, and connects to the road that leads to the Aelfkami Woods. The easternmost islet houses the drawbridge that leads into the eastern region of Oka Kjurama, although it is much less used than the other three bridges, due to the daunting closeness of the Great Twilit Bridge and the eldritch troll Kamidottr.
Westmoot is the largest islet of Fryjjarwa, and is the most western point of the village without counting the goat ranches on the northern bank of the river or the rice paddies to the south. It is almost exclusively used for the monthly althings, which take place in a large natural amphitheatre in the center of the islet, although a few fishing shacks sit on its western shore, where local fisherman have a crack at the salmon leaping over the rapids of the Iyofryjkami River.[/sblock]
Durel-dor-shima, The Ironbound Hall
[sblock=Durel-dor-shima]Kjur Peak itself was once home to great and savage red dragon that threatened the first Norsan settlers of Oka Kjurama. Kami spirits lived in awe and fear of Kjur – but an unstated agreement with him kept his ire, and his attacks, to a minimum – Kjur was primarily known for soaring great distances on his raids, leaving his own realm untouched.
After returning from one of his distant raids one day, Kjur saw a new building being erected on his cliffs – the soon-to-be Keep of Last Sight. Angered at the thought of someone else claiming dominance of his peninsula, Kjur attacked the workforce in a torrential fury of flame and claw – but he was driven off by Heorje Skelrjade and Ursolm Sixshields, who then hunted it back to its lair within the volcano. Ursolm was nearly torn to pieces, but Heorje’s mighty axe split the air, crackling with lightning, as it cleaved into Kjur’s skull.
Two prizes were drawn from Kjur’s massive body that day – his great rib bones were carted back to the village forming around the newly built Keep of Last Sight, where they became the main frame of the giant sake hall known as Valhama, and his heart settled into the pooling magma and lava at the bottom of the volcano. Such was the fiery passion of Kjur that his heart seemed to continue to beat even after his death, although now it was tempered by the furious bravery of the Norsans. Aided by their newfound kami allies, Heorje had his dwarven spellmasons begin to carve a great mine throughout the volcano now called Kjur Peak, using the Dragonheart of Kjur as a check against the ever-present heat of magma and lava.
The mining community of Durel-dor-shima grew out of those mines, and was one of the earliest communities founded in Oka Kjurama. Its isolated and dangerous location – on the lower slopes of Kjur Peak – has thus far prevented it from growing too large. It is the only real source of ores and gemstones within the Trollfed Aerie, and so the painstaking trip up the slopes of Kjur Peak continue after so many centuries, ores and supplies carried back and forth by specially-bred mountain goats.
Occasionally, perhaps once or twice a decade, the old rage of Kjur rises again, and even the Dragonheart of Kjur has difficulty containing the full force of his deathless anger. Kjur Peak – and all of Oka Kjurama – shudders; the volcano has yet to erupt, but rockslides and other debris cause plenty of damage to all corners of the peninsula. The wrath of Kjur is only waiting for its day, and the people fear that the curse upon Oka Kjurama will only make it worse when it arrives.
Life in Durel-dor-shima changed very little with the coming of the curse and the tyranny of Kamidottr. It provided sufficient ore and gemstones for the peninsula, but relatively little was exported to other reaches of Norsa, and only the hardiest provisions survived the trek up the volcano to reach the community – so the lack of trade across the Great Twilit Bridge affected it the least of all major communities in the Trollfed Aerie.
One change however, was the purpose of the outlying fort of Watchpoint Rock – half a day east of the main caverns of Durel-dor-shima. Ideally positioned to watch over the Great Twilit Bridge and the eastern and central stretches of Kjurama Field, Watchpoint Rock was originally built to act as a relay station for incoming caravans – the light of its great bonfires could travel much faster and safer than any caravan’s ravens to alert the communities along the main road of Kjurama Field. But with the arrival of Kamidottr, it is a forlorn place, a remote sentry post that watches with fading hope for an end to Kamidottr.[/sblock]
Kawasiddr, The Hidden Groves
[sblock=Kawasiddr]The wild and untamed Aelfkami Wood hides many of the ancient secrets of Oka Kjurama, and even those that are hinted at in the rest of the peninsula are hard to verify, due to the malicious kami and shadowy spirits that lurk in the gloom therein. The best known secret is the village of Kawasiddr, a village seemingly grown, nursed, manicured, spun, and decorated from the trees of the wood itself and the silk of the few friendly kami inhabitants. Known though the village is, the pathways that lead to it are hard to traverse due to the pranks and traps set by the other kami in the wood, and only the most resourceful guides lead trade between the Hidden Groves and the rest of Oka Kjurama.
Grown in a labyrinthine pattern, Kawasiddr spirals back and forth like orchids fluttering in the wind, but all centered around a sacred bamboo grove where the kami Silsenyaki lives, her spider form producing much of the silk used by the people of Kawasiddr. Such is the ability of the Kawasiddr growers, that even the torii that lead into Silsenyaki's garden are grown rather than carved, although the vermillion dye is added after.
Most of the population of Kawasiddr are fey and those who feel a deep link to the sylvan world, but a few other travellers have miracluously survived being lost in the woods and have found a home there, not wishing to test the woods again by leaving. A minotaur named Rajel Kanarune is the usual leader at the village's althings, and when needed, she knows rituals that let her communicate with the Thegn's agents in Kjuriyo.
A lack of land for rice patties leaves Kawasiddr with little access to the grains and sake those in the rest of Oka Kjurama enjoy; instead, they depend more on game from the woods, carefully balancing their needs against the wishes of the black stag kami, Laoric, and on golden apple orchards, from which they brew a spicy cider. Long ago, some of the eladrin residents of Kawasiddr discovered rare herbs in the woods which they use to brew a tart and warming tea, which combined with their ancient tea ceremony ritual, leaves imbibers refreshed and energized.
The eastern edge of Kawasiddr is a somber grove of barren sticks, each with a single crimson ribbon tied to it. Each represents one resident of Kawasiddr lost to the malicious spirits of the wood since the villages founding. Despite its openness, never has a wind blown through it and disturbed it, and even the kami of the Aelfkami Woods pay their respects to the fallen, choosing never to profane that land.[/sblock]
A Brief History
[sblock=Brief History]
The crash of the surf pounding the skerries and rocky shore thousands of feet below was faintly heard when Ursolm Sixshields and Heorje Skelrjade first set eyes out upon the tumultuous Gods' Wrath Sea from the top of what was to become the Rice Bluffs. The two Norsan explorers claimed the dizzyingly high spur of land, Oka Kjurama, for their kith and kin, and over generations built not one, but two startling wonders of architecture - The Keep of Last Sight and the Great Twilit Bridge.
The town of Kjuriyo grew up around The Keep of Last Sight, peopled with stonemasons and carpenters, rice farmers and bamboo harvesters, and a few artisans who discovered and perfected the brewing of the rice beer known as sake. High up on the cliffs overlooking the roiling and frigid sea, winter attacked savagely, and even on the brightest summer day, fierce winds threatened the unwary, but Kjuriyo prospered and grew as trade came and went across the Great Twilit Bridge that led back into Norsa proper.
Throughout the years, when the Norsan kingdom would be raided by the Kangel orc hordes, Oka Kjurama was left untouched due to the defensibility of the Great Twilit Bridge and the Trollwall Mountains. The town of Kjuriyo's own tragedy finally struck with the death of the Atheling, Heurssen and his immediate family, and a curse fell upon the lands, personified by the tyranny of Kamidottr, an eldritch troll that has evermore lived beneath the Great Twilit Bridge, all but isolating Oka Kjurama from the outside world.
Now the lands around Kjuriyo and The Keep of Last Sight are referred to as the Trollfed Aerie, for it is only when Kamidottr allows caravans to pass over her Great Twilit Bridge that outside trade reaches Oka Kjurama. As a result of their isolation, the people of Kjuriyo and its environs are a somber folk who struggle for joy, and go about their lives with a pragmatic minimalism, even as their wise teach a spiritual hopefulness.[/sblock]
Gazateer of Oka Kjurama
[sblock=Oka Kjurama]Norsan for Great Point Beneath Kjur Peak, Oka Kjurama is a fantastically high rocky promontory cut out from the massive mountain range known as the Trollwalls on the mainland by two incredibly steep-sided fjords, uncrossed and wild Svardikawa to the north and hauntingly beautiful Fryjisaki to the south, the latter of which has long since been spanned by the Great Twilit Bridge. The northeastern portion of Oka Kjurama is dominated by the long-sleeping, but not entirely dormant, volcano Kjur Peak, whose foothills, scree, and past debris extend throughout the rest of the peninsular plateau, and the southern regions of the plateau are primarily covered by the Aelfkami Woods.
Cold and clear waterfalls, streams, ponds and lakes can easily be found, with most having their source somewhere upon the slopes of Kjur Peak. Several hot springs are also known on the volcano, but few are easily accessible. The top of Kjur Peak is actually a great caldera lake, called Derakjur by those few to have ever visited its eeriely still waters. Only one true river exists on the peninsula, Iyofryjkami River, cutting a deep cleft from upon Kjur Peak, down through parts of Aelfkami Woods, and then shooting west, until finally ending in the great waterfall, Iyofryjkawa, dropping far into the Gods' Wrath Sea a short way south from Kjuriyo.
A poorly maintained road splits Oka Kjurama west-east from the town of Kjuriyo to the Great Twilit Bridge, cutting through the middle of the grassy dell, Kjurama Field, that is flanked by Kjur Peak to the north and Aelfkami Woods to the south. Excellent campsites can be found along the road - congregations of erupted igneous rocks and copses of ash or bamboo groves - but it is only at the fording bridge of the Iyofryjkami River that anything resembling true accommodations can be found, in the crossroad village of Fryjjarwa. From there, lesser paths lead off the main road, one north leading up on Kjur Peak itself and the mining village of Durel-dor-shima and the other south into the Aelfkami Woods, although only the finest woodsmen can follow its lead to the near-hidden village of Kawasiddr. Throughout Kjurama Field, small thorps and hamlets - often consisting of little more than a longhouse or two - can be found, although few, if any, have names, and they all rely on the main communities for most supplies.
Most of the arable land is found in the west, where The Keep of Last Sight was built and the town of Kjuriyo founded, but even there most crops tend to be the rices that grow easily in flooded paddy terraces. Pine and fir trees exist on the upper slopes of the volcano, but the plateau forests tend to be of yew, ash, cherry, wild apple, mulberry, and giant bamboo. Winter jasmine and daisies grow unchecked in the fields, and within Kjuriyo, well-maintained orchid gardens are a source of pride.
Few large animals live within Oka Kjurama. Hulking cave bears dwell about the higher foothills of the volcano, and their smaller cousins can be found wandering about in Aelfkami Woods. Deer roam the forested areas, led by a seemingly immortal black stag. Untamed horses graze in the eastern portions of Kjurama Field, remnants of long escaped Kjuriyon steeds. Wolf packs and drakes hunt mountain goats, although both usually stay away from the settled areas. Foxes and tanuki are extremely common, and can often be seen wandering brazenly through the villages, and even Kjuriyo. Hawks, falcons, and owls are the sole raptors in the area, but numerous smaller birds sing in the trees. Ravens are plentiful, with the hardiest ones used by the Thegn of the Keep as messengers to the thorps and hamlets of Oka Kjurama and even unto the outside world. Most of the waterways have freshwater fish within, and there's a longstanding belief that a particular species of salmon climbs up the Iyofryjkawa waterfall from the Gods' Wrath Sea to reach its spawning grounds.[/sblock]
Great Twilit Bridge
[sblock=Great Twilit Bridge]The eastern border of the lands nominally under the rule of The Keep of Last Sight is marked by the Great Twilit Bridge; however for many generations now, it has been the troll Kamidottr who in truth rules the bridge, and some say, all of the peninsula, for she has the only say on who enters and leaves the Trollfed Aerie. The bridge is named for the golden fey light reflected into the area in the evening from the impossibly blue waterfall, Aelfnjet Falls, that drops from the heights of Kjur Peak into Fryjisaki Fjord that leads south and then west into the roiling seas.
The bridge itself is a massive work of stone blocks, wooden beams, and arcane lore, fully as wide as four carts, and spanning the abyssal fjord below, requiring a human to walk for a day to cross. The parapets of the bridge are taller than a man, with tanuki and fox statues topping them every hundred feet, sheltering any crossers from the high winds that buffet the span, although a few gaps were built to allow a spectacular view of the deep icy blue waters and the magnificent waterfall that feds into them north of the bridge. The wild criss-crossing supports beneath the stone are believed to hide the actual lair of Kamidottr, although it has never been seen.
At either end of the bridge sit large stone gatehouses offering commanding views of the surrounding areas. Each contains a set of two thick and heavy iron and oak portcullises, always left down by their troll mistress. Built to barracks a small army, both structures have long sat empty, although their crafting was such that not even the wind has begun to wear at their masonry, even if their decorative cherrywood torii have been ripped out ages before by Kamidottr. For unknown reasons, she left a torii standing in a bamboo grove just south of the western gate, but it is rarely visited by anyone except a sole blind hermit.[/sblock]
Kjuriyo, The Lonely Town
[sblock=Kjuriyo]The primary community in Oka Kjurama is the town that grew around The Keep of Last Sight. At its peak Kjuriyo was far larger and more populated than it is now, but the isolating tyranny of Kamidottr has wore away at its people's enthusiasm, and as homes were abandoned, they were dismantled for their building materials.
The town proper stretches north from The Keep of Last Sight along the Rice Bluffs, although some farms stretch out east from the keep, and the mostly halfling-inhabited thorp of Jasmine on the southern bank of the Iyofryjkami River nearby is often considered part of the town. Just over two thousand people call Kjuriyo home; mostly humans, but dwarves, elves, and half-elves have significant populations as well, and the largest smithy is run by an extended family of dragonborn. A band of tieflings settled in the area after being denied exit by Kamidottr, and their descendants have become farmers, herders, and have even started an acting troupe, regularly performing plays in the town square. Most halflings in the area live in Jasmine, but commerce and trade finds many of them in Kjuriyo for extended periods. Only a handful of eladrin are known to the town, and they are often gone for weeks at a time, rare ambassadors from Kawasiddr.
Aside from the keep itself, there are a three main structures in Kjuriyo. Its religious and spiritual center is a sacred bamboo and winter jasmine grove named Horgr. Servants of all deities are welcome to pass through the bright vermillion torii into the grove, although none preach - the grove is a place of silent prayer and worship, where the kami Idunna resides within the silver mirror, Mimir. Horgr is tended to not by priests, but by gardeners, led by the dwarf Ulrik Brightvein and the half-elf Lia Nightbloom.
The social center of the town, and in truth, all of Oka Kjurama, is the great sake hall called Valhama. Few visitors come to Kjuriyo, so no inn is warranted within the town, but within the great sake hall all are welcome. Like most buildings within the town, Valhama is a single room, although in this case, it is massive beyond the others, and could easily house the town's people twice over. Ancient rib-bones, said to be taken from a dragon slain by Heorje Skelrjade himself, provide form and structure to the building, and many longtables are spaced around the huge firepit in the center of the floor. Sliding and portable paper screens provide some privacy for those choosing to sleep in the great common room. Valhama is communal property, but is maintained by servants from The Keep of Last Sight. Anyone is allowed to sell food or beverage there, but most often it is the local sake brewer, Mjor Thricebrewed, who does so.
The final structure of importance in the town proper is the tallest; a great windmill, powered by winds that are near constant this high up on the plateau of Oka Kjurama. It is one of the few buildings with multiple rooms, and the only one except the keep with multiple floors if cellar cold rooms are excluded. The great grindstone is used by many of the townsfolk to polish their rice, particular by Mjor, who ensures his sake reaches perfection. Mjor's sake brewery, in fact, is connected to the windmill, and the man has a terrible bark for those trying to sneak in to sample from the great vats where the sake ferments.
Few families have their own homes in the town; most live in great longhouses shared between three or four families. Paper screens are used for privacy if needed, but generally the families interact freely. Stores, workshops, and barns are detached from the longhouses, often arranged in a garden around the central shared house, making the town resemble more a group of hamlets than a cohesive whole. As with the longhouses, the rice paddies on the northern edge of Kjuriyo are not solely owned by one family, but instead are usually co-owned by multiple families, often those sharing a longhouse.
Kjuriyo has no administration apart from the Thegn of The Keep of Last Sight, and the keep's guard also doubles as the watch, patrolling the town's confines. No walls mark the outer bounds of the town, but the watch maintains a few sentry posts, and are usually quick to respond to any trouble, from local ruffians to goblin raiders or worse - even to the point of evacuating townsfolk into the Keep where solid stone walls can protect them. Although the Thegn is nominally the ruler of the land, most decisions are debated at community meetings known as althings, with the thegn serving as moderator and when needed, final arbiter.[/sblock]
The Keep of Last Sight
[sblock=Keep of the Last Sight]
Erected long before the founding of Kjuriyo on the northern bank of the Iyofryjkami River and overlooking its awe-inspiring drop into the storm tossed sea far below, The Keep of Last Sight is built of stone, iron, and it is believed, magic, as opposed to the bamboo, timber and thatch of most of the town's buildings.
The keep itself is surrounded by a large bailey divided into three, although only two are regularly used - the most northernly one is the main courtyard of the keep, and it is there the guard's barracks and the thegn's kennel of hunting dogs are found. The eastern area is a training yard and barracks for the much-depleted-by-time personal guard of the thegn, The Blood of Ursolm. The third area, in the south, has been closed to almost all for nealry a century - once a jasmine garden tended by Atheling Heurssen's wife, the sacred torii that marks its entrance remains in shambles, marked by the curse that befell Oka Kjurama.
One massive gate faces north towards the town, with a pair of heavy iron-bound oak doors that remain open during most days, but that can be sealed shut to repel foes. Two smaller gates exit south, one from the kitchen area opens onto a sheltered but rough stair leading down the cliff onto a precipice overlooking the God's Wrath Sea that is used as an informal garden by the keep's servants, while the other, at the base of the keep's wall and sealed shut, leads into the cursed southern courtyard.
The keep stands three floors high, with a narrow bridge spanning northeast to reach a watchtower that rises up above the intersection of the outer bailey wall and the wall between the northern and eastern yards. The standards of the thegn's family and his personal crest both fly from the watchtower, but despite frequent cleaning and repair, their colors remain muted and faded since the curse befell the land. The entire first floor of the keep is a massive great hall, with almost as many longtables as Valhama in the town. A large fireplace dominates the eastern wall of the hall and a kitchen area is partitioned off with paper screens in the southeastern corner. The second floor is split between servant quarters on the north side and a great library on the south side. The top floor houses the thegn's family.
The most awe-inspiring structure of The Keep of Last Sight is the Heavenhung Tower. At one time, the tower rose impossibly from the stormy sea thousands of feet below, its foundatioin erected on the skerries at the base of the rocky promontory. With the curse befallen on Oka Kjurama, most of the tower crumbled away, but the upper floors still hang out over the cliff, precariously attached to the keep by a magnificiently built stone bridge. At one time, the Heavenhung Tower was the residence of the atheling's family, but it has been unused since Heurssen's time, and it is believed that all of his effects are still sealed within - no thegn since has successful dared to venture inside to recover the treasures therein.[/sblock]
Fryjjarwa, The Crossroad's Village
[sblock=Fryjjarwa]Located in the center of Kjurama Field and resting upon a small series of islands in the Iyofryjkami River, Fryjjarwa is a village that grew around the only major crossroads in the Trollfed Aerie. Four major roads leave Fryjjarwa in the cardinal directions – east to the Great Twilit Bridge, north to the lower slopes of Kjur Peak and eventually Durel-dor-shima, west to the town of Kjuriyo and the Keep of Last Sight, and south into the mysterious Aelfkami Woods, potentially leading to Kawasiddr, the Hidden Groves. The village acts as a trade and way station between the few major communities of Oka Kjurama as well as most of the nameless thorps that dot the peninsula.
Barely five hundred live in Fryjjarwa, but due to the trade that passes through, just about every race that can be found in the Trollfed Aerie can be found here. Most live in longhouses shared by numerous families, although several longhouses are rented out to merchants and the few travellers in Oka Kjurama that pass through the village. A few rice paddies are farmed on the southern banks of the Iyofryjkami River, and some goats are bred for both food and as beasts of burden on the northern banks, but most of the village’s food comes from fish taken from the fast flowing waters.
The Thegn of the Keep of the Last Sight is the official ruler of Fryjjarwa, although he lives days away in Kjuriyo. Orpik, one of the Blood of Ursolm – the personal guard of the thegn – acts as his representative in the village, although he does not see himself as a ruler; as in Kjuriyo, most decisions that affect the community are debated at monthly althings upon the islet of Westmoot. Fryjjarwa has no standing guard, although many of the elder sons patrol the outer farms on a nightly basis, watching for raiding goblins and preying wolves. Since the village rests on numerous islets in the river, its people defend themselves by drawing up the bridges, preventing most enemies – such as goblin raiders from the slopes of Kjur Peak – from even getting close.
Kensei’s Gate is the most developed of Fryjjarwa’s four gate islands because it connects the village to the road leading west to Kjuriyo. The drawbridge that crosses the river from Kensei’s Gate to Kjurama Field is over 100ft long, but can be drawn up completely to the islet, prevent all but the most determined raids on the village. A small rounded fort – little more than a guardroom – stands next to the base of the drawbridge, connected to a large winch that actually hauls up the bridge.
Orchid's Leap is the northernmost of the islets of Fryjjarwa, rising further out of the water than any of the others, which allows it to be a convenient height for its drawbridge that leads towards the trails of Kjur Peak. The islet also provides a magnificent view of the Orchid’s Rain waterfall that feeds the Iyofryjkami River from all its tributaries on the slopes of the volcano.
Tanuki Folly is a small, centrally located islet in Fryjjarwa primarily used as an extended portion of the shrine to the kami Reed and Rush. The vermillion torii that lead out to the jade, ivory, and ebony statue of Reed and Rush begin about five feet from Tanuki Folly’s southern shore, and lead out a hundred feet onto the sandbar that rests just below the flowing surface of the water, with more torii every fifteen feet. The only people who live on the islet are Tergan, the shifter who tends to the shrine, and his wife Kikira, who uses a hot spring on the island to run an onsen. The kitsune Fleeting, long a friend of Tergan and Kikira, is usually sleeping amid the orchids of the islet.
A series of islets running in a line near the southern bank of the Iyofryjkami River, the Sisters are a set of rounded islets where most of the longhouses for the rice farmers and their families are found. Several windmills also stand on these islets, two of which have had several additions – Eorwulf has built a fine sake hall onto one windmill, hoping to one day rival Mjor Thricebrewed’s sake in Valhama of Kjuriyo; and the personable wizard Susarito brews potions, writes scrolls, and performs rituals for a modest fee out of another – one whose grinding stone has become wedged solid and no longer turns. The middle islet of the Sisters houses the drawbridge that crosses south to Kjurama Field where the majority of the rice paddies are, and connects to the road that leads to the Aelfkami Woods. The easternmost islet houses the drawbridge that leads into the eastern region of Oka Kjurama, although it is much less used than the other three bridges, due to the daunting closeness of the Great Twilit Bridge and the eldritch troll Kamidottr.
Westmoot is the largest islet of Fryjjarwa, and is the most western point of the village without counting the goat ranches on the northern bank of the river or the rice paddies to the south. It is almost exclusively used for the monthly althings, which take place in a large natural amphitheatre in the center of the islet, although a few fishing shacks sit on its western shore, where local fisherman have a crack at the salmon leaping over the rapids of the Iyofryjkami River.[/sblock]
Durel-dor-shima, The Ironbound Hall
[sblock=Durel-dor-shima]Kjur Peak itself was once home to great and savage red dragon that threatened the first Norsan settlers of Oka Kjurama. Kami spirits lived in awe and fear of Kjur – but an unstated agreement with him kept his ire, and his attacks, to a minimum – Kjur was primarily known for soaring great distances on his raids, leaving his own realm untouched.
After returning from one of his distant raids one day, Kjur saw a new building being erected on his cliffs – the soon-to-be Keep of Last Sight. Angered at the thought of someone else claiming dominance of his peninsula, Kjur attacked the workforce in a torrential fury of flame and claw – but he was driven off by Heorje Skelrjade and Ursolm Sixshields, who then hunted it back to its lair within the volcano. Ursolm was nearly torn to pieces, but Heorje’s mighty axe split the air, crackling with lightning, as it cleaved into Kjur’s skull.
Two prizes were drawn from Kjur’s massive body that day – his great rib bones were carted back to the village forming around the newly built Keep of Last Sight, where they became the main frame of the giant sake hall known as Valhama, and his heart settled into the pooling magma and lava at the bottom of the volcano. Such was the fiery passion of Kjur that his heart seemed to continue to beat even after his death, although now it was tempered by the furious bravery of the Norsans. Aided by their newfound kami allies, Heorje had his dwarven spellmasons begin to carve a great mine throughout the volcano now called Kjur Peak, using the Dragonheart of Kjur as a check against the ever-present heat of magma and lava.
The mining community of Durel-dor-shima grew out of those mines, and was one of the earliest communities founded in Oka Kjurama. Its isolated and dangerous location – on the lower slopes of Kjur Peak – has thus far prevented it from growing too large. It is the only real source of ores and gemstones within the Trollfed Aerie, and so the painstaking trip up the slopes of Kjur Peak continue after so many centuries, ores and supplies carried back and forth by specially-bred mountain goats.
Occasionally, perhaps once or twice a decade, the old rage of Kjur rises again, and even the Dragonheart of Kjur has difficulty containing the full force of his deathless anger. Kjur Peak – and all of Oka Kjurama – shudders; the volcano has yet to erupt, but rockslides and other debris cause plenty of damage to all corners of the peninsula. The wrath of Kjur is only waiting for its day, and the people fear that the curse upon Oka Kjurama will only make it worse when it arrives.
Life in Durel-dor-shima changed very little with the coming of the curse and the tyranny of Kamidottr. It provided sufficient ore and gemstones for the peninsula, but relatively little was exported to other reaches of Norsa, and only the hardiest provisions survived the trek up the volcano to reach the community – so the lack of trade across the Great Twilit Bridge affected it the least of all major communities in the Trollfed Aerie.
One change however, was the purpose of the outlying fort of Watchpoint Rock – half a day east of the main caverns of Durel-dor-shima. Ideally positioned to watch over the Great Twilit Bridge and the eastern and central stretches of Kjurama Field, Watchpoint Rock was originally built to act as a relay station for incoming caravans – the light of its great bonfires could travel much faster and safer than any caravan’s ravens to alert the communities along the main road of Kjurama Field. But with the arrival of Kamidottr, it is a forlorn place, a remote sentry post that watches with fading hope for an end to Kamidottr.[/sblock]
Kawasiddr, The Hidden Groves
[sblock=Kawasiddr]The wild and untamed Aelfkami Wood hides many of the ancient secrets of Oka Kjurama, and even those that are hinted at in the rest of the peninsula are hard to verify, due to the malicious kami and shadowy spirits that lurk in the gloom therein. The best known secret is the village of Kawasiddr, a village seemingly grown, nursed, manicured, spun, and decorated from the trees of the wood itself and the silk of the few friendly kami inhabitants. Known though the village is, the pathways that lead to it are hard to traverse due to the pranks and traps set by the other kami in the wood, and only the most resourceful guides lead trade between the Hidden Groves and the rest of Oka Kjurama.
Grown in a labyrinthine pattern, Kawasiddr spirals back and forth like orchids fluttering in the wind, but all centered around a sacred bamboo grove where the kami Silsenyaki lives, her spider form producing much of the silk used by the people of Kawasiddr. Such is the ability of the Kawasiddr growers, that even the torii that lead into Silsenyaki's garden are grown rather than carved, although the vermillion dye is added after.
Most of the population of Kawasiddr are fey and those who feel a deep link to the sylvan world, but a few other travellers have miracluously survived being lost in the woods and have found a home there, not wishing to test the woods again by leaving. A minotaur named Rajel Kanarune is the usual leader at the village's althings, and when needed, she knows rituals that let her communicate with the Thegn's agents in Kjuriyo.
A lack of land for rice patties leaves Kawasiddr with little access to the grains and sake those in the rest of Oka Kjurama enjoy; instead, they depend more on game from the woods, carefully balancing their needs against the wishes of the black stag kami, Laoric, and on golden apple orchards, from which they brew a spicy cider. Long ago, some of the eladrin residents of Kawasiddr discovered rare herbs in the woods which they use to brew a tart and warming tea, which combined with their ancient tea ceremony ritual, leaves imbibers refreshed and energized.
The eastern edge of Kawasiddr is a somber grove of barren sticks, each with a single crimson ribbon tied to it. Each represents one resident of Kawasiddr lost to the malicious spirits of the wood since the villages founding. Despite its openness, never has a wind blown through it and disturbed it, and even the kami of the Aelfkami Woods pay their respects to the fallen, choosing never to profane that land.[/sblock]
