Hel's Maw

To the north of the Great Desert of Skulls and to the west of the Odsier range lies the area know as Hel's Maw, covering large swathes of the northern coast of central Arcadia.

The land is largely made of coves, beaches and rocky bays, swept by fierce storm winds, with poor soil and hardly any natural resources.

The few poor crop fields that exist are plowed by indentured, men and women captured in raids and forced into servitude, mainly Odsier.

The harsh storm winds that howl through the massive bay makes the area fairly cold and inhospitable. It is often rainy, overcast and dim, earning its denizens, the title of Greymen.

In such precarious conditions, the inhabitants of Hel's Maw, the Zadrid, rely heavily on the fruits of the sea, and on raiding, along the northern coasts of Arcadia.

As one of the few seafaring races in the land, the Zadrid, enjoy great mobility due to their ships and they have a unique culture, centered on coastal raiding and pillaging, that sets them apart from every other race in the continent.

Hel's Maw society is divided among clans known as Gens, with each holding sway over their own settlements and villages and
its surrounding lands. Their houses are often build with thick walls made from stone and mud and the roofs layered with thick turfs of grass or thatched with branches and reeds. Wood being scarce and considered a great commodity is often designated for the construction of fishing and raiding vessels.

The Gens have a warlike culture and often fight with each other, with pillaging a common occurrence across their territories. Over the centuries, they developed a reputation as hated reavers who preyed on the weaker settlements on the mainland.

It is said that if the waters surrounding Hel's Maw were not so abundant with marine life the Greymen would have starved long ago.

They are as superstitious as they are ferocious and all Gens worship 'The Beast from the Deep'. Each Gen has its own name for their God, whom they believe dwells in the underwater city of Kil'dri. A great undersea metropolis out in the Ocean, filled with the souls of the dead.