This tour will start on the west coast. Here you will find cliffs running nearly the entire length of the shoreline, with a vertical drop that can reach up to 100 feet at points. These cliffs are surprisingly smooth, as though a massive knife simply sliced off the edge of the continent. There are few settlements along this edge, except where the occasional river runs by and drops off the edge into the ocean.
Moving north, the shoreline gradually returns to beaches, but it also gets colder. By the time the shore is back to normal, the ground is covered in snow and ice nearly year-round. Somewhere around this point, the Northlands begin. Along Attarnon’s northern border are a series of towers, each one within Illusionist messaging distance of the next two on each side. This is the official border line, and squadrons of Quis and Madmen man these towers in rotating shifts to repel Northman raids. No roads extend beyond this point, and only a fool would journey there. Between the cold and the roving bands of Northmen, the chance of survival is slim at best.
To the south, Attarnon shares a once-violent border with Lianti, who split off into their own country some time ago. While there were – and still occasionally are – some minor border skirmishes, the war was not particularly bloody, for the most part. At the time, Attarnon did not have the control of their Madmen that they now do, nor the support of the Quis. By the time Attarnon became as powerful as they now are, public opinion no longer supported a war, and Lianti became a hesitant trading partner. Some battle sites were lost, and the bodies are still out there somewhere.
To the east are the Mountains, though Attarnon’s border ends somewhere in the foothills. Towns here tend to be rougher than elsewhere, particularly in the southeast. This is likely due to the ease with which criminal types can disappear into the mountains should they be pursued. Closer to the northern border, a large river runs from the mountains and all the way through the country, passing the capital city of Insen and eventually emptying into the ocean. This is a major trade route between the mountain kingdom and Attarnon.
Central Attarnon is forested. Almost entirely, except where the trees have been cut down to build villages, or burned down in the occasional forest fire. The trees are mixed, with a higher concentration of coniferous trees to the north, and more deciduous trees to the south. Slightly rolling hills cover the landscape. The city of Insen was built near the river, about two span’s march from the mountains, slightly more north than south. It sits on a large hill, with walls that reach out of the ground itself to embrace the buildings within. The King’s palace sits on the peak of the hill, and the Asylum is nearby, but closer to the river.
In total, it would take somewhere around 6 to 8 span to walk from the western border of Attarnon to the eastern, depending on walking speed and the number of hours a day spent walking. On a good Attarnon horse, it could be as little as a single span, whereas with a Druid-bred Ganyan horse, it could take as little as two days. From north to south would be about 20% less.
Editing update: planning on finishing up that scene today, then we’ll see what I need to do with the Asylum scenes.