Outmarks | Secret Locations

Take note, Khelim!

This page contains SPOILERS from Book of Travels.

Jade Urn Pavillion • Mountain's Secret • The Underbelly

Culture

Braided Shore comprises the western peninsula of a mostly uncharted continent. The lands east of the Braided Shore are blocked by cliffs and an ancient wall and remain unexplored. The Braided Shore itself is a fertile land characterized by its many waterways, islands and rugged shorelines. The land is divided roughly in three. The southern lands are separated from the northern reaches by the wide Fumes river which empties into the Duct of the Alef and out into Deep Water Bay. The northern region is split in half by the great sea inlet of The Verve. The climate is generally temperate, with cold spells being rare and the local winds being warm. The landscape is very fertile, though a few small desert areas do exist.

The current inhabitants of the Braided Shore are known as the Asken, the ancestors of whom are said to have arrived as boat dwellers who brought with them a practice of complex knot crafting. The name Braided Shore was given to the land by these people whose search for a homeland brought with it a yearning for the order and harmony symbolized in braids.

Clues and artifacts to the history and former residents are scattered across the Braided Shore. A rudimentary industrial infrastructure points to a legacy left by inhabitants who lived in a culture marked by a moderate degree of manufacture and travel known as the Machine Age. These mechanical relics and the mechanized society that produced them are the subject of much research but, at present, remains little understood by today’s inhabitants. Machine parts, made of a foreign material known as Master Iron, have never been replicated or reworked. Local mineral deposits, while plentiful, have proven unable to match the quality of Master Iron.

Thought to come after the Machine Age is the Varhim period, the key artefacts of which are a scattering of busts made of an unknown composite. The busts and their shadow are considered bad portents and so remain untouched. Several large structures sharing similar sculptural characteristics are also attributed to the Varhim era. Most scholars agree that it was the Varhim era that saw the destruction of much of Braided Shore’s industrial infrastructure, although contradictory theories also abound.

Much of the Braided Shore is yet to be known, an exciting prospect for willing explorers and adventurers.^[1]

References