Region qualities
Overview
Each region in a territory may have one or more qualities that describe key aspects or features, which may have important economic, strategic or magical considerations.
Some negative qualities have specific methods that the Empire can use to remove them. Without that, it is not possible to create, remove or change the quality of a region without an opportunity or an appraisal - they reflect the essential nature of the land.
Geographic Qualities
These qualities occur frequently and represent simple aspects of physical geography.
Coastal
A coastal region does not simply border the sea or other large body of water, but has a sufficiently accessible shoreline to allow the construction of a shipyard. Such regions are also, by consequence, vulnerable to attacks by navies. Coastal regions can be found in places such as the sprawling islands of Free Landing, the smooth and fertile foothills of Naris, and the storm-riddled clay slurries of North Fens.
Forest
A forested region features large amounts of distinctive, often dense woodland. Whether the great stands of ancient oaks in Goldglades, the dense pine forests of Solvihill or the once-tainted vegetation of Westwood, the presence of large forests allows for casting of rituals such as Forge the Wooden Fastness and enables an Imperial guerilla army to execute a hit and run order if the Empire controls the region.
Hills
A hills region is mountainous, home to sharp inclines, rough escarpments or similar forms of difficult terrain. Although this does not limit the ability of armies to traverse the territory, it has important implications for strategic magic such as Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canae, and enables an Imperial guerilla army to execute a hit and run order if the Empire controls the region. Examples include the cave-filled slopes of Altis, the magnificent peaks of Kalpamark, and the rugged valleys of Braydon's Jasse.
Marsh
A marshy region might contain swamps, bogs, fens, or similar wetland, sufficient for the casting of rituals such as Dripping Echoes of the Fen, or for an Imperial guerilla army to execute a hit and run order if the Empire controls it. These marshes can have tremendous diversity - compare the murky mangrove swamps of East Ashes to the misty bogs of Rundhal Marsh or the eerie grey meres of Grey Fens.
Historical Qualities
These qualities reflect the political or magical history of a region; they are generally the by-product of human, orc or other creatures enacting their will upon the area.
Accursèd
The presence of Black Plateau in Screed, Spiral has left the region accursèd. The Black Plateau appears to feed on negative emotions and amplify them, burgeoning the mind with hallucinations and oppressive, malign thoughts causing people to dwell on past failures, insults, and suspicions. Since the Black Plateau was fully awakened shortly before the Spring Equinox 382YE, this quality has the following effects on Spiral:
- Every army fighting in the territory takes 25% additional casualties
- It is impossible to receive natural resupply in the territory
- Any army that spends the season in the territory will lose 5% of its maximum fighting strength over the course of that season even if it is not engaged
- Fleets, military units, businesses, and farms have their production reduced by a quarter
- The upkeep of Bourse resources is doubled
Burnt
Through a boon provided by the eternal Surut, the forests of West Ranging in Liathaven were consumed by an irresistible fire that left naught but grey ash in its wake.
Foreigners
Some Imperial regions have large populations of foreigners living there.
Haunted
The sites of massacres and the sacred resting places of myriad heroes can develop a haunted atmosphere, where unquiet spirits restlessly stalk the land. These ghosts are not necessarily malign, but they often require specially trained individuals - such as the stewards of the dead in Highguard - to safely keep them restful.
Nightwoven
The Druj have tainted the marshes of Proceris in Zenith with Night magic. As a result, any casting of Dripping Echoes of the Fen that targets the region is significantly enhanced in strength.
Poisoned
A region might become poisoned through the working of foul magics, tainting the land with venomous creatures, treacherous foliage and the like. Each Imperial campaign army that moves through, or fights in, such a region suffers 250 casualties during that season of campaigning. The ritual Why Sulemaine Walked Away From The Baker would halve this effect on an army, but orders will have no effect to reduce these casualties. Historically, the Druj have inflicted this quality on regions of Holberg and attempted to do the same to Proceris in Zenith, but at present no Imperial region has this quality.
Ruined
The cruel reality of war can leave a once-prosperous region with little but ruins. Such regions often bear a melancholy air, with the echoes of past glories fading with the further passage of time. Despite this devastation, such regions can be crucial for the casting of rituals such as The Basalt Citadel.
Under-developed
Under-developed regions lack critical infrastructure. There are few roads or bridges over important rivers, and those that do exist are in poor condition or completely ruined. While the area may have natural resources, little has been done to develop them and there are few prosperous farms or businesses in the region. The presence of each under-developed region adds one-fifth to the costs of any commission in the territory. At present, only the region of Bittershore in Ossium has this quality.
Under Threat
Regions that are under threat are threatened by insurgent forces that are hostile to the controlling power. These partisans engage in acts of sabotage or carry out attacks designed to undermine whoever rules the area. If the region is attacked by a force aligned with the partisans, then the attackers are considered to have a beachhead - that is they do not suffer the usual penalties for supply lines. The regions of Drownbark Forest, Echofell and the Webwood in Ossium are currently under threat from Druj insurgents.
Underpopulated
There are relatively few inhabitants in an underpopulated region. While hostile geography may limit the number of people who dwell in a mountainous or barren region, this quality reflects a history of depopulation in an area that means it sustains far fewer people than it otherwise might. Any territory cannot support an Imperial army while it includes any regions that are underpopulated. At present, Nearweld and Echofell in Ossium have this quality.
Vallorn
The Spring-fuelled vallorn, spawned from the disaster that ended the empire of Terunael, can infest regions with its rampant fecundity. Any such region falls out of Imperial control - it is not possible for civilisation as the Empire understands it to coexist with the overgrowth, miasma and strange monsters that the vallorn exudes.
Watchful
The Heart of Peytaht in The Barrens has the watchful quality. Anyone who presses into the dense woodland feels uneasy, and reports the sense of being unwelcome and watched by an unseen force. Rumours abound that the forest is possessed by some sort of dark spirit, perhaps akin to the sovereigns of Varushka.
Attempts to explore the inside of the Heart of Peytaht have been met with failure. Any army moving through the region can expect to take significant casualties in doing so - it has been some time since a great force of Druj marched through it in 376YE, but corpses from it are still found hung by their entrails or huddled by the boles of massive trees, having died in great agony and terror.