Haunted Hills
In the cold and barren Northlands lies a range of hills that have earned the
name of the Haunted Hills. These
desolate lands are home to many bears, wolves and other hostile creatures that
still see man as prey and there are very few people, even from the hardy
Northern tribes, who will dare to venture into the hills.
For more years than anyone can remember, these hills have had the
reputation of being haunted and their real name, the Cairnleas, has been
forgotten and replaced by the Haunted Hills.
Stretching
from the Wilds, across to the Northern Hill Peaks, the Haunted Hills cover a
large area of land within the Northlands and there are creatures that roam those
hills that are not found anywhere else in Shardar.
The Dire Wolf still hunts in the Haunted Hills, an ancient relative of
the modern day wolf, but much larger and much, much fiercer.
Gigantic cats are said to be found in the hills although there have been
no definite sightings of any for at least 20 years.
In general, the Haunted Hills are very much a land to themselves and they
are left to their own devices by the inhabitants and governors of Shardar.
The
Macallans are the only Northern Clan that will venture into the hills and even
they only go in in large numbers and well armed.
They will go into the hills to hunt the Dire Wolf and its smaller cousins
for their pelts which they will then trade with the merchants who come up from
the Southlands. They will be paid
as much as 5 Falcons for a Dire Wolf coat and the same thing will reach 40
Falcons or even more in the markets of Camber or River Run.
The danger involved in hunting these creatures down is great indeed and
the Macallan Clan see it is as sort of test of manhood.
Virtually every full adult male member of the Clan will have participated
in at least one Dire Wolf hunt, possibly more.
Also
dwelling in this wild area are the Golden Eagles that can often be found in the
Northern High Peaks. These noble
birds will occasionally make eyries in the more accessible Haunted Hills and the
Macallans will bring down eggs or sometimes even fledglings for sale to the
merchants. The price of these birds
varies greatly, depending on the state of the market at the time, but the
Macallans will never receive less than 10 Falcons for anything that they bring
down. The market price is much
higher, possibly ten times higher, but the Clansmen have to take anything that
they can get for their trophies.
There are
no human communities of any kind within the Haunted Hills and it is unlikely
that there ever will be. A fierce,
cold wind howls across the heather covered hills and the soil itself is very
poor for growing anything. At the
very Southern base of the hills there are a few tin deposits but the poor
quality of the ore that comes out of them doesn’t make it financially viable
to mine them. Humans avoid the
hills completely, leaving them to their own devices and letting the animals roam
free over them.
The Haunted
Hills have gained their evil reputation partly from the way the wind howls as it
blows across them. Often, the wind
sounds just like a human voice, crying out in anguish or pain and this has
caused the superstitious Clansmen to avoid the area.
Another possible reason for the hills reputation is the strange lights
that can sometimes be seen to flicker around the tops of the hills.
These lights are blue, red or green and seem to arc up from the hills
themselves, rather than coming from the sky down to the land.
There has been no satisfactory explanation for these lights but some
Mages have made it their business to go and investigate this strange phenomenon.
The Mages
that have returned have never been able to offer any explanations but most of
them have refused to go into the hills again, saying that there is a feeling of
evil or malice, evil that is just waiting for a chance to pounce.
This could simply be the reputation of the Haunted Hills affecting even
skilled Mages or maybe there is some other, unknown explanation for it.
On the
Northern edge of the Haunted Hills there is a start of a cave system that is
believed to run for many miles below the hills, but these caves have never been
properly explored. The wind will
often blow across the mouth of these caves, setting up a sharp, howling scream
that can scare off any but the bravest or most foolhardy of explorers and few
will venture into these dark caverns. Not
even the Macallan Clan will go anywhere near these caves and they are known to
be the bravest and least superstitious of all the Northern Clans.
The Haunted
Hills are not claimed by any Lord or Baron or even by any Clan, but it is
commonly assumed that the Macallans have control of the hills.
As with all the Northern Clans, the Macallans are wanderers and they have
no desire to be tied down to any one place, especially a place with as evil a
reputation as the Haunted Hills have. The
Hills are therefore open territory, just waiting to be claimed by anyone who
wishes to go up and take them. Of
course, while it is relatively easy to claim land in the Northlands, it is much
harder to keep it when the warlike, nomadic Clansmen may choose to make camp on
it at any time. Fortunately, anyone
claiming the Haunted Hills is very unlikely to be bothered by Clansmen and would
only have to guard their land from vicious animals, howling winds and mysterious
lights.