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A Text Map of the Lands of Kraal Delving
 What follows is a description of the geography of the northern reaches of the lands of the Jotuni Delving. These lands in their entirety can be found in the far west of the world, to the north of the Great Rift Mountains and outside of the knowledge of most Men. You begin your adventure at the entrance to tpesh'shalamai, a shelter situated a short distance south of the Shalamai Hills. Where these hills are situated, and the overall layout of the terrain are described below.
For a traveller the Moss Plains of the western regions of the world are an inhospitable place indeed. Assaulted by heat and harsh storms in the warm seasons and buried deep in snow and blinding blizzards for the remainder of the year it is only the most hardy of the Oera'dim that venture to live there. These plains form most of what the Jotuni Delving call the Northreach, and it is within this region that this story is told.
Bordered in the north by an impenetrable Ice Cap and the Great Rift Mountains to the south the Moss Plains are an unbroken vista of green and red mosses that spread from the barren grounds that can be found near the foothills of the Great Rift to the frozen Tundra that spreads as a hard emissary of the ice caps in the north. It is well known to the Jotun of Kraal Delving that the borders of the Ice Cap are the feeding grounds of the Droge, a creature of immense size that is better left well alone. The Ice Cap itself has never been charted. It is said that upon its frozen skin a Jotun will find nothing but death.
At the eastern edges of the Moss Plains can be found the salt pans of Dahl'nemru, a vast lake system, once a haven for waterlife in the northern world, but since turned by some unknown force into a salted wasteland. At the borders of the lake stand the Crystal Forests, a terrain of gigantic crystal outcrops that have been measured at over thirty metres tall. It is said that within these stone giants can be found the lost souls of disgraced Oera'dim, though it is also said that they are nothing more than the wind playing its music within the crystals.
At the western borders of the Moss Plains can be found the mountains of Ul'ashma, also known as the Mountains of the Moons. As an outreach of the far Western Barrier these mountains are the home of the ancient Ell'adrim and the setting for the mythology of Hamulkuk and the Moon Dragons. Whether the Moon Dragons still live within the summits of Ul'ashma is a fact no Oera'dim has tested for many centuries, and for which none have seen the need.
Upon the Moss Plains the ground spreads as an undulating terrain of moss-covered earth. In some areas the mosses can grow to more than a half metre deep but in the main the coverage is about as thick as a Jotun's finger is long. In the face of the extreme weather conditions to be found in the Northreach mosses have proven the hardiest of residents and have remained the keystone to all life that finds its living there.
Within the Moss Plains there are are only four low ranges of hills. In the south stand the Three Assassins, further to the north the Iron Hills. At the centre of the plains rise the Shalamai hills and to the north again a series of hills unnamed but bordered by a region of misted earth known as the Naalgrounds. For all Jotun those hills that edge the Naalgrounds are a natural border that cannot be crossed. Only by staying close to the shores of Dahl'nemru can an Oera'dim find his way to the north-east and thence to the lands of Kraal Oldemai.
It is said the the true wealth of Kraal Delving is the Moss Plains and the vast Yunta herds that traverse its red-green coverage in the warm seasons of the year. In times of peace the Delving are herders, tending the enormous congregations of Yunta-Beasts that roam the endless plains. The Yunta are large and docile creatures, standing some two to three metres at the shoulder and equipped with wide, spade-like mouths that scoop up huge quantities of the native mosses. Generally camouflaged in skins of mottled red and green the creatures will turn completely black when panicked and in a stampede can kill anything that stands in their way.
To herd Yunta the Jotun have built an extensive network of tpesh, shelters and yards used by herders to weather the frequent storms that ravage the open plains. The most important of these tpesh can be found as a series of waypoints if a traveller wishes to find a path from Kraal Delving in the far south to the lands of the Oldemai in the north-east. Most notable amongst these tpesh is tpesh'dalma, tpesh'camat, tpesh'yuat, tpesh'souref and tpesh'shalamai. These shelters extend from the southern plains to the central hills of the Shalamai.
For a traveller wishing to journey further to the lands of the Oldemai tpesh can be found at tpesh'olan, tpesh'nemru, tpesh'dareen and tpesh'rabel. Many other shelters and livestock yards are spread about the plains but these are isolated structures and not well documented.
Unlike most other regions of northern Arborell, the Moss Plains have few ancient ruins. Most notable are the three neyus, or wells, built by the Trell'sara for purposes unknown to the Oera'dim. These huge pipe-like holes in the ground are surrounded by temple structures but remain a mystery to those scholars who attempt to uncover their purpose or origins. It is said that there are other ruins hidden upon the plains but these have not yet been thoroughly investigated.
It has been to the advantage of the Jotuni Delving to keep the true cartography of their lands little known and undocumented. Much of what can be found within their natural borders remains a secret known to just a few of their number, and found only by those who know where to look.
May you traverse these lands carefully.
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This site, and associated books and other documents are the intellectual property of the author, Wayne F Densley, and all rights are reserved by him. The Jotun of the West gamebook adventure series is a part of the Chronicles of Arborell. Any questions regarding the Chronicles can be answered by emailing the author at densleyw@shoal.net.au
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