Kestramore Tundra

An island just to the west of the mainland, Norrika is a gorgeous if isolated city. With it's elegant stone buildings and dreamy landscape, the streets feel as if they were birthed from the pages of a romantic novel.

Norrika has a split temperate and tundra environment, causing the landscape to have a misty ethereal quality. The city specializes in fishing and the arts, having been the home town of several famous poets and song writers. The general populace of Kestramore sees Norrika as out of touch and frivolous due to their "softer" nature.

The largest city of Kestramore, Isolde is the shinning beacon of the north. It is a city of progress and science, housing some of the brightest minds the Empire has ever seen.

While the more rural areas of Kestramore scoff at Isolde's embrace of modern technology and innovation, viewing it as a slight to their proud history, there is no bad blood between the communities.

Isolde is built from metal and stone, and is covered in a blanket of snow most of the year. Every so often, a random heat wave will thaw the frozen city, and blossom into a beautiful summer.

One of the older cities in Kestramore, the sea side Kezlyn is a site to behold with it's historic stone buildings and surrounding forest. It is a place baked in tradition, with a very proud people.

The city lays in-between a valley along The Devil's Backbone, with an old aspen forest circling it's perimeter. The plains of the tundra make it's western border, while it's eastern border faces Cazimere Bay.

The city is known for it's incredible talent with masonry and metal work. Blacksmiths across the Empire flock to Kezlyn, hoping to apprentice under a master who imbues metal with Arcane power.

A mountain chain that discretely connects to Raygar's Reach, The Devil's Backbone goes far into the north of Caledonia. While these peaks aren't as imposing or impossible to navigate as The Reach, do not underestimate them. The Devil's Backbone has rather sheer slopes and steep cliffs in certain areas.

The mountains are rich with mineral and ore deposits, and provides the literal backbone to Kestramore's mining operations. Fuel sources and precious gemstones make up the bulk of the trade, with the ever hard to find Arcane Crystals popping up less and less often.

A great icy expanse to the north of Kestramore, the Frozen Fields are filled with thermal caves housing hot water pools and a maze of frozen tunnels. Many fossils and skeletons have been discovered in this area, as such it's a popular research site with the archeological and geological community.

While the Frozen Fields are a historical goldmine, they also provide multiple spas and wellness centers for relaxing hot water soaks. Some even theorize the waters to have Arcane properties that aid in recovery and healing, that has yet to be proven.

Between the Kestramore Tundra Flats and The Devil's Backbone, lies a scattering of rather large lakes. This area is referred to as Mirror Lakes, and it plays host to several lakeside communities.

While the lakes usually freeze over in the winter, during the summer the waters are so deep and calm they reflect the night sky like a perfect pane of glass, inspiring the name.

The locals who live on the shores of Mirror Lakes live a rather sleepy and slow life style. The town specializes in livestock and fishing, with the occasional artisanal trade popping up.

Past Isolde, the hard to predict currents of Cazimere's Bay meet a fjord that carves further into the mainland. The deep river ebbs and flows with life, with seals and whales commonly seen from it's shores. At the end of the river, one meets a large wall of ice.

River's End is a gargantuan glacier, theorized to have been around since the Great Freeze. The glacier produces multiple icebergs and the cleanest fresh water as it melts and refreezes with the seasons.

Several towns and ports are scattered along the sides of the river, it is a major boating and fishing hot spot.

One of the rare stone beaches of the world, Eagle Point is a local spot in Kestramore. During the summers, you will find residents from all over enjoying life and having fun in the crisp 77.9°F / 25.5°C waters.

In the winter, the annual Polar Bear Plunge takes place. Locals will line up on the shore and strip down to their undergarments and/or swimsuits before jumping into the frigid 34°F / 1.1°C waters. The goal is to swim out to a raft and back in the quickest amount of time.

No one is quite sure how this beloved tradition got its start, but every year it gets bigger and bigger with even more ridiculous outfits.

An ocean bay that stays frozen the majority of the year. Ferries and cargo ships are constantly breaking through the frosty waters, causing echoing groans of steel and cracks of ice to carry for miles.

The bottom of the bay is host to innumerable ship wrecks, perfectly preserved due to it's frigid temperatures. The bay was so infamous for it's bad weather and nasty reputation, that it earned the nickname "Death's Door" due to it's indiscriminate ship sinking nature.

The coast guard of Cazimere Bay is the most highly trained in all the Empire. There are many lighthouse stations across it's rocky borders.