-Regarding The Terrors-
The great northern and eastern region of Nhearn is separated from the world by tall mountains at all sides. Nüdland rarely finds paths through the Bay of Teeth to arrive at the dangerous western coastline, and traders from the south do not dare traverse the Great Sea so far east of friendly places. The lands of the Terrors are completely isolated from the world, and this is how the people of those lands would prefer it.
Homeland: There a few times throughout the histories of the Terrors where pleasant things ever grew. Most of the people who reside in the land of the Terrors travel the wide open steppes in nomadic caravans, offering trade between the more established holds of the warlords. The main city, considered to be at the heart of the land, is Trovania, and it is used as a major landmark as its immense central tower guides people through the featureless landscape. In the northern and western region of the Terrors is a land known as the Barrens, a broken world where lava churns into rivers through the crevices of strange sharp angled basalt rock. In the northern and eastern region of the isolated land are the dunes of a merciless desert known to the locals as The Grit. Along the shores of the southern coast is a region known as Dead Iron, a forest whose trees are as hard as metals and seem as lifeless as the grave. It is a harsh world with dangerous monsters, feuding warlords, and destructive powers that all seem to bend to the very wills of Annabel herself.
Names: The people of the Terrors are untrusting of anyone except close friends and proven heroes of the realm. Because of the treacherous powers that reside in the Terrors, it is considered dangerous to share your true name and most never share it with anybody within their lifetime. A true name is made in three parts. The first name is your spoken name, which alone may be shared without concern of a greater power stealing your purpose, but it is against the advice of elders to even share this for fear that the rest of your names may be discovered. The second name is a family name to determine one’s lineage which can be shared to elders to determine any relatives by the matchmakers within a clan. The third name is given during a ceremony into adulthood, a time when innocence is lost. It is shared only to the individual and it is given only by the elder of the clan who may never speak it again.
People who do share their true name are not seen much longer after it is uttered, though the reason for this legend is not entirely known. People who are captured into slavery are not given names and to call them by a name would be to recognize a status above their station, giving them a semblance of humanization that gives them free will and acknowledgment of identity by their masters. Because of the separation of named and unnamed peoples within the Terrors, the sharing of a name leading to disappearance is often a subject of much speculation, even the rumors of such events may lead to the nomadic tribes altering course to avoid such dangerous places.
Religion: There is only one allowable religion in the Terrors. Secret cults are destroyed mercilessly and the paranoia among the warlords keeps hunters of such cults on high alert. The only church allowed is that of Annabel, the purest evil. Shrines are dedicated to her servants and dark apostles, but even these small acknowledgments must offer their praise to Annabel utmost.
Within the cities, homes, and fortresses, Annabel is worshipped as she intended; out of fear. She is known for offering those who worship her great power, and with a life of devotion she can even offer transcendence after life. Commonly among the caravans of the steppes, Annabel is worshipped and given sacrifice as deemed proper to the practices taught by Annabellan temples, but the purpose of offerings from the nomads is often to appease her and avoid conflict with the powers of evil rather than to satisfy any desire or intent.
Age: The people of the Terrors grow up quickly. The passage into adulthood is done through the ceremony of Broken Innocence, in which a child becomes aware of mortality, either of their own selves or of others. There is no defined age for this ceremony, but the rite is significant and binding. Annabel considers this passage to be the breaking of the spirit into an impure form and at this passage the child is given their third true name. People of the Terrors may live up to a century, although there are those who call upon the dark powers of the land to imbue them with much longer lives which may come at a steep cost.
Alignment: The people of the Terrors answer to the whims of Annabel, the purest evil. Those who wish for her boons are self-serving, willing to sacrifice others, and seek power. The ideals of the realm seek triumph and the absolute destruction of opposition. Most people within the Terrors, especially those who serve the warlords or the Temples of Annabel, lean towards Evil. Others who may seek appeasement, mercy from scorn, and who offer sacrifice to endure, may not be evil in spirit, but the cultures of the Terrors do not drift far from the teachings of Annabel. There is little in the way of true goodness that can be made from the land of the Terrors, but humans always have a choice.
Size: The people of the Terrors tend to be a bit shorter than those of the Empire, standing at just above a height on average. They typically weigh approximately ten stones.