The Tome of Lore: Table of Contents
Sryth™ Expanded Info EntryArkyndar - The Fabled North
Behold, adventurer, the perilous wonder that is Arkyndar!
Arkyndar is the name given to the vast, frozen reaches of far Northern Sryth -- a region more commonly
referred to as "The Fabled North".
'Arkyndar', a word of ancient Aldvarian origin, roughly translates to "realm of ice and death".
The 'Scar of Arkyndar', a claw-shaped symbol enclosed in a triangle, is found all across the Fabled North, etched or emblazoned
onto various surfaces or objects. Its meaning remains unknown.
Legends tell of Mordragarn , a vast kingdom lost beneath the ice long ago -- a kingdom said
to have been more grand than any that currently exist in the known world.
Countless adventurers have braved the Fabled North throughout the ages, but apart from a few scattered
clues and a handful of odd relics, little evidence exists to support the tenets of the kingdom's existence.
Rimehaft , an ancient walled city on the southern coast of Arkyndar, serves as the region's lone seaport and only
true bastion of civilization.
Arkyndar is not governed in any traditional sense and indeed knows no central source of authority, though a confederation of
loosely-aligned merchants known as the Rime Council oversees law, order, and commerce in and around Rimehaft.
The small, permanent populace of Arkyndar is largely made up of an equal mix of
Tysians , Phiadonese , and Ryorsilians who have chosen to dwell and seek
out an existence in the inhospitable Fabled North for a wide variety of reasons.
Arkyndar's two chief exported commodities are durekryn oil and small quantities of
ravenbone that are mined from several mines still in operation around Rimehaft.
In particular, the commerce involved with trading and shipping durekryn oil makes for a constant day and night bustle in
Rimehaft's wide, fathomless harbour.
Beyond the gates of Rimehaft, Arkyndar is a bleak, desolate, forbidding realm, populated by strange and dangerous creatures, seemingly
immune to the region's deadly cold, and countless natural perils.
A few small, scattered, permanent settlements are known to exist beyond the bounds of Rimehaft as either outposts for
durekryn hunters or in support of an operational ravenbone mine.
Adventurers who have explored far and wide across the Fabled North (and lived to tell) have reported many curious things, including
encounters with strange and deadly beasts, the existence of a race of three-eyed humans seemingly unaffected by the frigid clime,
and crumbling, ice-covered ruins.
Passage to and from Arkyndar by ship is frequently a perilous endeavour, as vessels must first
brave the wild, storm-ravaged waters of the Sundren Sea -- a daunting prospect for even the most experienced mariners.
Most ships making the journey do so as part of small fleets known as 'packs' in an effort to dissuade attacks from brigands whose
feared pirate hulks roam the waters around the lawless island state of Kiast . Some ships, however, whose captains
and crews have ties (commercial or otherwise) to Kiast will stopover on the trek to or from Arkyndar to illegally trade goods, restock supplies,
or to make repairs.
It should be noted that ships sailing from ports anywhere in the North Broadlands are forbidden by various decrees from
traveling to Kiast or participating in trade with the outlaw island nation. However, no such law forbids ships leaving Rimehaft from harbouring
at Kiast.
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