Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #171

Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #171 

June 20th, 2023 

• Number: 171 

• Name: Regions, Capitals and Notable Leaders of the Wastelands: The Hidden Thorps of Cloudshire 

• Location:  North slopes of the Ulu Maug, south of the Danthas and west of the Saut. 

• Population (approx.): 10,000 inhabitants over 2,500 square miles 

• Brief: As the Ta’arnan Empire collapsed, the wizard-seer Inari Limid sat in their tower of Cloudshire and watched the disaster unfold from afar. Touched by Corruption, so subtle that only a few sensitives like Limid could detect it, the Churches of the Six turned upon each other. The Empire shed control of cities and territories as an onion shed layers. They saw the ordinary folk fleeing into the wilderness, huddling in caves and dells in the hills about them. Inari Limid gathered their magics and covered a wide swath of the Ulu Maug in a protective fog, forming the Enshrouding Mists (#32). They descended from Cloudshire and with magics of calming about them, met each group of refugees, brought them cheer and bid them welcome to remain in the Mists. They assisted with construction of settlements, guidance in setting rules and picking leaders and instilled a strong sense of secular self-sufficiency. These “hidden thorps” were soon established and growing so Inari Limid returned to the heights of Cloudshire to watch and protect, appearing only where needed. The populace of Cloudshire are wary folk, carefully watching their borders, rarely trading outside except at well-known sites such as Danthas Crossings (#70). 

• Geography: Cloudshire the realm covers about 2,500 square miles of the northern Ulu Maug slopes (about 80 miles west to east, 40 miles south to north). Its northern border is about 40 miles south of the Danthas River and easternmost point about 70 miles west of the Saut River and Sauville (#137). No census is ever taken, but Inari Limid “sees” fourteen unique settlements under the mists at present day. They survive by farming, hunting in the hills and mining the underearth. In the centuries since casting the Enshrouding, Limid has refined the enchantment of the Mists so that it deflects view of the area by others, but still permits light to bathe and warm those living underneath.