Viar-Hoon (or “Viar”) is a rusted out district of Hoon Province.
Landscape
Viar is criss-crossed with barbed wire (aka “Viar-wire”). It’s everywhere. Sometimes it tangles up into vast balls, which are blown across the land before they get tangled up into something else or crushing it outright.[pms-restrict subscription_plans=”40705,40706,40707,40708″] Other times, the wire seems to come up out of the red soil itself, tangling your boots like angry snakes. Some say that the is alive, and grows out of the land here.[/pms-restrict]
The earth of Hoon is a rusted red color, rich with iron, lead, and other war-minerals.
The Rust-wastes
Vast swaths of rusted land, some burned and sooty, are found throughout the Viar. Not much of anything grows here, besides the Viar-wire, and even water is scarce. Bones, pieces of armor and other war-craft are the only evidence that life ever existed here. (Long ago.)
Viar Roads
Viar is a horrible place to hike, which is why folks stick to known roads which have been systematically cleared over the centuries. Smart Rangers always stick to known Viar roads, and pay any road tolls happily.
Rust Mills
Here and there one might encounter the Rust Mills which grind wire and scrap into iron shavings which are sold throughout Obscuria. While most are family operated, Bandits have been been aggressively taking them over as an easier form of income.
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A smaller number of millet mills can also be found, grinding the grass-grains into flour. These family-run operations often bake their flour into bread, which is picked up by enterprising traders.
Still fewer mills have been converted to charging Dynamo Cells, which can be sold in the larger cities and trade-ports. [/pms-restrict]
Weather
The weather of Viar is warm during the summer, even hot some days, with infrequent rainfall.
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The Spring and Autumn have chilly mornings and often warm afternoons. The Viar Winters are extreme, with freezing rain and layers of ice covering most everything for months at a time. If you need to go out during a Hoon Winter, you might find yourself in trouble.[/pms-restrict]
No matter the season, Viar is subjugated to powerful winds which never cease blowing.
Flora
Beggar’s Thistle
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A variety of flowering thistles tend to do well in Viar-Hoon, including the “Beggar’s Thistle” who’s purple flowers produces a nutritious flower pod which can keep folks alive. The flowers can be made into a “thistlemead” alcoholic beverage, which is valued throughout the Province. The Vaesil brew a much stronger “thistlegrog” from a mixture of both Beggar’s and Blailthistle.[/pms-restrict]
Blailthistle
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Blailthistle is a very similar looking plant to the Beggar’s variety, but its flower pods are sickening to most beasts. However, Trolla find them to be both delicious and healthy.[/pms-restrict]
Wild Millet
Millet grasses grow in between the rusted hulks, providing nutrition to the Gulgot bird, Viarlings, and voles.
Iron Bush
A rather tough and slow growing bush, the imaginatively named “iron bush” is one of the most common plants found in Viar. While it IS made of iron, it also burns, emitting a grayish smoke. Bandits often look for this gray smoke, when looking for folks to rob.
Larch-hook Tree
This is the most common tree found in the region, growing 20-40 feet tall, with sharp needles on the branches.
It naturally grows chain-vines which are ended with large, barbed hooks. The Larch-hook will hook and reel up anything that disturbs its base, pulling the victim up into the upper branch needles, where it is sucked dry of all fluids. Bones (and sometimes gear) is often found at the base of the trunk.
Fauna
Gulgot Bird
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Red, flightless birds with iron beaks, they eat metal flake scraps, and can run at great speeds. While they may not be the smartest creatures, they can be very deadly, so I’d avoid them whenever you can. The metallic feathers of the Gulgot are sometimes used as impromptu weapons, and some have even used them to make armor. The famed Gulgot Iron Eggs are prized because the yolks have fantastic healing properties. Old Gulgot eggs are known to explode, so make sure that any you find are less than 200 years old.[/pms-restrict]
Blath Hounds
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A rather ugly relative of the wolf, the Blath Hound is considered more ill-tempered and more dangerous than their earth-bound cousins. They commonly travel in packs of 10 to 20 and do not hesitate to attack any they perceive as weak. They get their name from their bark, which sounds more like a cough, but emits a small cloud of ash. Blath Hounds can be trained to guard, haul loads, or even draw wagons. They are about the size of a small pony, with charcoal grey scales, and rat like tails. Their bites typically cause blood poison, which can be healed with Blailthistle flowers.[/pms-restrict]
Voles
These small ground squirrels are found throughout the Province, and survive on the millet grass seeds.
Leadership
The Burgomaster of Viar is Grunold Post of Weeve, elected from the mayors of the five largest cities. (The winning Mayor is simply elevated to the role for the next decade.) Mr. Post is considered to be an adequate leader, though the roads have begun to decline under his watch. (He loves his Thistle Mead.)
Population
Viar-Hoon is thinly populated compared to most other Districts, mostly due to the difficult living conditions.
- 40% Viarlings – Small humanoid owls known for a strong work ethic and distrust of strangers. They operate most of the Rust Mills with their extended families, and gather together in small, regional festivals.
- 30% Tenna – Small humanoid crow folk
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- 20% Vaesil – Scavengers and gamblers.
- 10% Trolla / Ogra
- 7% Manlings – A small population of humans manage to eke out a living in Viar.
- 3% Broxa – Tall, antlered monks, seeking “Simplicity”. Don’t mind that they are disciples of the blade. They simply are looking for their next bowl of vegetables and grain.[/pms-restrict]
Towns and Cities
While scarcely populated, there are some settlements to be found in Viar-Hoon:
Economy
A variety of goods are exported from Viar:
- Iron
- Iron bricks (from Woad)
- Iron barbed wire
- Antique Iron weapons and armor
- Occasional ensorcelled antiques (found)
- Gulgot Eggs
- Beggar’s Thistlemead
- Blath pups
- Millet Bread and Millet Flour
Places of Interest
Gire Forest
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Imagine a large forest of trees which has grown with barbed wire tangled throughout the branches and trunks, and you have the Gire Forest. The only real reason that anybody would ever venture into the Gire Forest is to look for Gulgot eggs. This isn’t the ONLY place where Gulgot nest, but eggs are found more often there due to the difficulty traversing the forest.[/pms-restrict]
Gire is the largest forest in the District.
Castle Woad
Castle Woad was once an enormous iron keep, though long ago it collapsed into a deep sink-hole. Today, the edges of the pit host a shack-lined boom town, complete with cranes to lower and raise foolhardy adventurers.
This is the historic seat of the Vair-King, appointed by the Crow Queen, though
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it’s been occasionally occupied by various Bandit Kings before they’re driven out by the creatures that reside there. It is believed that the vault of the Vair-King is still somewhere in the castle, which tempts opportunists in search of some fast Obscuros.
Riches can be found in the lower levels of Woad, with successful adventurers sometimes emerging with Obscuros, antique Dynamo Cells and other oddities.[/pms-restrict]
Road Encounter Chart (d10)
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- A hunched over wire-merchant “Luton Vex” collecting an enormous spool of Viar-wire to be sold in some distant city.
- A Gulgot bird, standing in the middle of the road. It has a green tag clamped to it’s left leg and it is (choose 1): tangled in wire/protecting it’s nest/furious.
- A beggar and his family begging along the road, all weeping. (Fake tears.)
- A road-pruner team, using wire cutters to keep the road clear.
- A road-toll station, complete with an iron gate, plate mailed Trolla strong-arm, and a Viarling toll collector.
- A trio of Goblin Post Goblins, hauling the mail as fast as they might on motorized trikes. The buzz by at rapid speed, the Viar flags flowing behind them.
- A pit trap opens up beneath the party, with bandit’s brandishing iron crossbows popping up from iron bush cover. (The Gobol/Kitch/Rumbal Gang.)
- A Skoff Coach roars by, drawn by angry Blath hounds. The iron wheels dig ruts into the ground and stirs up big clouds of red dust, but the couch stops for nothing.
- The remains of a traveling group, is found on the road. The contents of luggage is strewn about, along with clothing, papers, and bodies.
- A down-on-his-luck Broxa monk, wearing threadbare gray robes and carrying a simple staff, fighting off a group of bloodthirsty Vaesil bandits.
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