THE
NARFOST
PLAIN |
The Narfost Plain is a wide
empty grass land, half arid, with low population and abundant wildlife. The
dominant plant is the alth‘ho grass, the
most the prominent animals the aj‘nuvic
and its smaller relative, the aka‘pi, the most feared however is
the oracua, a feline predator. Another famous animal
found at etn Narfost Plain is the jumping ellez‘ga, which is able, as its name
says, to jump high out of the alth‘ho grass
to have a view over its surroundings. The most hated however, is the tra‘mat or
mercarto fly, a
carnivourous flying beetles, sucking blood from other animals. The Narfost Plain is the
Shendar's northernmost hunting and
meeting place and the only settlement, Meh'met, is of
Shendar origin as well.
Description. The
alth‘ho grass is about to turn from a dark
green to a soft yellow, nothing else is seen for furlangs and furlangs. A gentle
wind coming from the northwest causes its dance, forms rolling wave after wave
and the traveller seems to traverse a golden sea as wide as the ocean seen at
Varcopas looking to the west. Nothing is disturbing the circles of an aguia, the
Ráhaz-Dáth eagle, is drawing into the sapphir blue sky, no noise other than the
booming of the wind in the high grass is heard in the width of the Narfost
Plain. The Injčrá is burning down and its
light is reflected in every shiny stalk of the
alth‘ho grass, producing an unreal shimmering of the air. Summer has
arrived...
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Coming from the Sharadon Forest the traveller may not meet anybody till he looks down from the plain's southern cliffs onto Bardavos. And though the land seems easy to travel, a guide is recommended if you don‘t want to use the one or two main trade routes which are secured so that you don‘t get lost in the wide land or even fall down in one of the suddenly appearing gorges or canyons.
The land is mainly flat, but rises slowly and continuously from the Sharadon
Forest to its southern borders, the so called Narfost Cliffs or Cliffs of
Bardavos which stretch nearly from the east coast to
the west coast and reach a height of up to two hundred peds above Occen‘s Lake
and the adjacent plains of the Ráhaz-Dáth. The highest point, called Occen‘s
Lookout is located near Bardavos and allows a
magnificent view to the southern plains of the Ráhaz-Dáth and the Nirmenith
Montains in the south east. Some sharp eyed people even say that on clear winter
days the white top of the far away Norong‘Sorno can be seen as well as the
Burning Sea to the east and the Herrings Bay to the west. Nowadays Occen‘s
Lookout is renamed by the youth of Bardavos to "The
Bard's Lookout", but the reason is still unknown to the elder population of the
town. Unproven rumors say that "Bard"‚ refers to a young woman who lived in
Bardavos some years ago, famous for her artistic,
well loved music and her friendly nature.
Cut into the flat plains are gorges and later canyons which lead all mainly from
north to south, though the smaller ones are often directed from east to west
till they finally join the big riverbeds. They are formed by three rivers and
their tributaries, two of them having their origin near the Sharadon Forests in
areas with damp, wet ground. The water emerging there forms soon small brooklets
which dig themselves in the ground to form later the two outer of the three main
rivers which divide the plains by forming deep canons at their southern point
where they leave the plain to fall finally down the last remaining peds into the
lower plains to fill up Occen‘s lake or in the east vanish under the sands of
the eastern Ráhaz-Dáth to supply the few oases and hidden waterholes. The river
however dividing the plain in its middle and cascading down to
Bardavos has its origin in the Sharadon Forest and is
therefore called the Sharadon. It is the only river which has water during the
whole year, though the amount changes drastically. Leaving the forest it flows
for a short time in green meadows, but soon the riverbed lies deeper than the
surrounding ground, draining the water away and causing the change to halfarid
plantlife.
There are only two other places to mention,
Meh'met, a small village in the
eastern part and Dasai, the former mercenary town as its
northwestern point.
The only two trade routes are the one at the western border of the Narfost Plain,
from Dasai following the coast till the foothills of the
cliffs, then dividing, one route leading to Uderza, the
other along the bottom of the cliffs to Bardavos. The
others follow coming from Dasai the border of the
Sharadon Forest and after crossing the Sharadon River bends down to
Meh'met,
the last place where the traveller is able to get over the Eastern River. From
Mehmetch the only safe route through the plain itself runs up to the Sharadon
Forest and down to Bardavos where the last part is
very difficult to master due to the descent into the canon the Sharadon has
formed. There the path leads over the famous hanging bridge of
Bardavos which some count as one of the world
wonders. This route is not recommended if the
horses are not used to steep paths, though this is the only well known way
down the Narfost Cliffs. There may be other known by the
Shendar, but they are not
recommended, even with a guide.
Location. The Narfost Plain is a wide empty
grass land, half arid, with low population and abundant wildlife. It's the
Shendar's northernmost hunting and
meeting place, located on the Southern Sarvonian
Continent, in the midst of the Santharian
province of Brendolan, between the Ráhaz-Dáth in the southwest (starting at the
artists' city Bardavos) and the Sharadon Forests in
the north.
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Map description. The location of the Narfost Plain in southern Santharia, located between the Ráhaz-Dáth desert in the southwest and the Sharadon Forests in the north. |
People.
The true inhabitants of the vast, lonely Narfost Plain are the animals, which
are living there in abundance, though they are not always easily seen.
There is only one small settlement, Meh‘met, a village of
Shendar origin. Its people live from
their aka‘pis and from growing some vegetables for their own needs. They only
trade with the products they gain from the aka‘pi like cheese and wool, dried
herbs and sometimes furs of wild animals which they sell in the nearby
Bardavos. The Salt People of the
Shendar come to Meh‘met for an annual
meeting and to find the aj‘nuvics for their children who have come in the
bonding age.
The only other people apart from the
Shendar who can be found in the plain are travellers from
Dasai, Bardavos or very
seldom from the Sharadon Forest, who at most times keep strictly to the road.
Occasionally lonely hunters or wanderers try to cross the plain where no path is
to to be found, but nobody expects to see them again, may it be that the Narfost
Plain is really so dangerous or the
Shendar spread rumors to keep the other people away.
Climate. Spring is the time when - for a
short period - the rain falls in abundance and often very heavy. This is the
time when the alth‘ho grass starts to grow
again after a frosty winter, when the gorges and canyons fill with water and the
cascades at Bardavos are at their highest level. The
temperatures are agreeable , though the nights may be still cold. Later in the
year the rainfalls get more and more scarce till there are none till late in the
winter when heavy snowfalls can occur. The temperatures rise in the summer to
uncomfortable heights, though of course it is nothing compared to the desert to
the south. In winter they fall below the freezing point and snow is possible in
the late winter.
Sometimes clouds are drifting south coming from the north or northwest without
releasing rain. But they are low and cover now and then the southern parts of
the plains giving moisture to the plants even without raining. These clouds
dissolve as soon as they are drifting past the cliffs and so the cliffs have a
strange appearence when seen from the hot, dry south.
Flora. According to the rainfall, the plains
are green and in some places very colourful in the spring and early summer, but
due to the light soils, the water is drained away soon and so for the most part
of the year the plains are half arid and dry. There are no waterholes except
near the Sharadon Forest where the Furze is growing and therefore you find only
plants and animals which are used to conditions where only little or no water is
available or are able to climb down into the gorges and canyons to find the last
open water there on the bottom.
The predominating plant on the plains is the
alth‘ho grass, with its light green in the spring, the changes to the darker
green in the early summer and to yellow and brown in the autumn, to an
occasionally black in winter it shapes the appearance of the Narfost Plains.
There is not a single tree the roaming eye can focus on.
But there are can be found a variety of other grasses and plants as well. So the
loriv grows on the steep hills of the
canyons as well as some smaller bushes and where it is too steep for the
loriv the
lythien takes over, sometimes however they are growing in the same place
painting an irresistible picture of a golden carpet with black dots and small
red points woven in the black. The yahrle
likes the shadier, wetter bottom. In not too exposed areas the
icemilk can be found as well and several
other plants which the Shendar use
for healing purposes.
The lorahough doesn‘t grow on the plain
itself for it is supressed by the alth‘ho
grass, but it lines sometimes the upper parts of the canyons and gorges,
which inspired poets to describe the plains as having put on clothes with
coloured hems. As beautiful as the lorahough
looks with its orange leaves in contrast to the dark green of the
alth‘ho grass, it is the cause of many
fires ravaging over the plain in autumn, due to its oily seeds which burst in
flames when it gets very hot.
Dependent on the plains-fires brought on by
the lorahough's propensity to combust,
the alrik'ran, a small woody bush
with tiny coin shaped succulent green leaves and medicinal roots grows on the
scorched lands where the fires of the
plains start and are at their coolest. Further out from the
lorahoughs, the
fire has grown in intensity and can even
damage the seeds if it gets too hot. The
alrik'ran is a somewhat uncommon
sight, but greatly in demand amongst the
Shendar women of that area.
As long as the alth‘ho grass is young and
small, flowering plants of any colour are found, their seed producing in time
short enough to reproduce as long as the
alth‘ho grass is not too thick and long to swallow all the light.
Fauna. The most prominent animal of the
Narfost Plain is the aj‘nuvic and its
smaller relatives. While the aj‘nuvic is
only seen in pairs or families, the smaller aka‘pi wander in small herds up to
twelve animals, the smallest variety however, the aka‘lol lives in marked areas
and digs holes in the ground to find shelter from flying or groundbound
predators. Preferably they live at the upper edge of gorges, digging their holes
in the sidewalls of the gorges. Another famous animal is the jumping ellez‘ga,
which is able, as its name says, to jump high out of the
alth‘ho grass to have a view over its
surroundings.
All animals, the above mentioned and the others as the family of rodents and the
predators, the birds and the insects are able to survive without water, though
the ones which wander around tend to visit in autumn the northern part of the
plains where there are most times a few waterholes left where the rivers have
its origin. The Sharadon is the only continuous watersource left, but accessible
only where it leaves the forest, later the riverbed is lying too low and the
walls are too steep. However, it is a dangerous place for most visitors, being
exposed to the predators which lie in wait for an easy meal.
Myth/Lore. There is lore, told on
Shendar fires why there is an old
small settlement of the Shendar in
the Narfost Plain, older than Uderza, older than
Bardavos. It tells that there once was a young
Shendar man hunting at the edge of
the Sharadon Forest. Shendar normally
keep away from the unknown wild forest, but he followed a beautiful jumping
ellez‘ga and didn‘t look where he went. And so he found himself at the border of
the forest where the light is dim and the shadows deep. Though he was still
standing outside, he was captured by the strange surroundings. The hunted animal
had vanished, but what he saw instead was a young
elven woman so beautiful and different in appearance from what he was used
to that he immediately fell in love. She vanished after a while, but when he
returned the next day he saw her again. Nobody knows if he ever spoke a word to
her, but he didn‘t want to leave the forest when his family was about to go back
to the south. Nobody could persuade him and because he was well loved his
nearest relatives decided to stay as well and settled down at...
But this is not the only story told in long desert nights: Even more fantastic
is the myth of the snow white aj‘nuvic
and its rider: Those who saw her, say she is as real as you and me, but who
wants to believe people who thought to be lost and dead and who came back when
all had given up hope?
There was the young man, who had lost his way in a late snowstorm who froze the
young flowers of the spring to death. Near death and with frozen bones he said
he saw a beautiful young woman, covered with a variety of white thin clothes,
with bare feet, sitting on a huge snowwhite
aj‘nuvic and riding without the help of any guiding ropes. She bend down,
took him in front of her and dropped him near his Dome...
Or the child who didn‘t find home when the clouds where sitting on the plain and
you couldn‘t see any further than a few peds? Out of the mist came a white aj
and its rider demounted to take the child in her arms and brought it back...
Or the traveller who lost his way in the vasteness of the
alth‘ho grass, without water left, the sun
burning down and the air shimmering? He told some
Shendar later he saw a white clothed
rider on a white aj‘nuvic who gave him
signs to follow and showed him where he could climb down into a gorge to find
water? - Just imagination born in despair?
By the way: It is also said that Faugar, the
artist famous throughout Santharia visited during
his stay in Bardavos the Narfost Plains very often,
drawing his inspiration out of the landscape by roaming it on his own for many
days, not fearing the dangers lonely wanderers have to face. Some people say he
got a little depressed during these days, others object to this by saying that
the desolate Narfost Plain inspired the artist even more.
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Song #2: "Theme of the Narfost Plains", composed and performed by
Ralrok Format: MP3, Length: 3:20, Original Title: "Strawquay" from the album "Elsidox: Volume One". Click here to download the song, use right-click and "Save as..." (3.1 MB) ![]() |
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Information
provided by Talia
Sturmwind
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