Map A.04 - Kara Sea

Arctic region reaching from 82.34°N south to 72.51°N. A frozen sea and continental enclave in the extreme north of Asia. The region is occupied by the Samoyeds, a gnoll people who are progenitors to the gnolls of Bjarmaland, west of the Ural Mountains. A lightly used trade route rounds the Yamal Peninsula from the west, advantaging the passages the Ob and Yenisey rivers offer into the heart of Siberia. The gnoll settlement of Dik'Don is the most northern market place in the world. The lands of Biyetia and Jotunheim verge on the map's western edge.

Hexes are 20 miles in diameter. Total area depicted equals 366,450 sq.m.

Physical Features

The lands here bend in a great, uneven ring around the Kara Sea, a country of slow rivers and frozen marsh, of hills that hold the cold and plains that stretch unbroken to the horizon, shaped by seasons that never fully loosen their grip.

Byranga Highlands

These stretch across the northern reaches of Samoyadia, a vast and desolate expanse where the land rises into a broken maze of windswept ridges and barren plateaus. The earth here is hard and unyielding, covered in patches of rough grass, lichen, and low shrubs that cling stubbornly to the rocky soil. In the brief summer, the hills soften with green moss and tangled roots, but for most of the year, they are locked beneath ice and snow, swept by relentless winds that roll in from the northern seas.

The rivers that cut through these highlands are shallow and swift, carving narrow channels through the stone, their waters dark and cold even in the heart of summer. They twist and vanish beneath the ice when winter grips the land, leaving only the sound of the wind to break the silence. Pools gather in the low places, where the ground, frozen beneath, turns soft and treacherous, swallowing hoof and foot alike in wet, shifting mire. Few people travel these highlands, and fewer still make their home here. The land is too poor for farming, and the cold lingers too long for most creatures to thrive. Those who pass through know the dangers well—the sudden storms, the hidden ravines, the beasts that wander the slopes, lean and hungry.

North Siberian Lowland

Here, the land stretches wide and empty, flattening into a vast and desolate expanse. The ground is low and uneven, marked by shallow depressions filled with standing water, frozen for much of the year but turning to thick, clinging mud in the brief summer. The rivers that cross this land flow sluggishly, their banks crumbling where the permafrost melts, carving new channels as the earth gives way beneath them. The trees grow thin and stunted, their twisted limbs black against the pale sky. In some places, the ground is too poor even for these, and nothing grows but coarse grass, moss, and creeping lichen. The land is riddled with bogs and pools that never fully dry, their surfaces covered with a skin of floating vegetation that quakes underfoot. In the winter, these fill with drifting snow, hiding their dangers beneath a frozen crust that shatters at a single misstep.

The sky above this plain is vast and unbroken, stretching in every direction with nothing to catch the wind. The air is thick with the damp chill of the land, carrying the scent of wet earth and decay where the ice has pulled back, exposing the ground beneath. The rivers run black and cold, and in the spring, when the thaw begins, they rise and break their banks, turning the plain into a wide, shallow sea where land and water become one. For most of the year, the cold rules here. Ice grips the rivers, frost crusts the ground, and the wind sweeps unbroken across the land. When summer does come, it arrives suddenly, melting the ice in a matter of weeks, turning the hard ground into sucking mud, waking clouds of biting insects that fill the air with their constant hum.

Gyda Peninsula

East of the Yavey Peninsula, the Gyda juts out between the great northern seas, a land of sweeping tundra, endless winds, and a sky that seems to stretch wider than anywhere else. It is a cold and desolate country, where the ground lies frozen for most of the year and only the hardiest life can endure. The land is low and rolling, broken by shallow river valleys and wide, open plains. Lakes and bogs dot the surface, trapped beneath ice through the long winter, thawing only briefly in the summer when the land softens into a patchwork of wet earth and standing water.

The rivers here are slow and meandering, winding through the lowlands in wide, lazy bends. In the spring, when the ice breaks, they swell and spill over their banks, turning large stretches of the land into a temporary marsh. When the waters recede, they leave behind a landscape carved and reshaped by the force of the flood, its channels shifting with each passing year. Unlike the highlands to the east, the Gyda Peninsula lacks sheltering hills or ridges. The wind moves unchecked, sweeping across the tundra in great, rolling gusts that carry with them the cold of the northern seas. Snow drifts endlessly, piling in hollows and against the banks of frozen rivers, shifting with the seasons but never truly disappearing. The summer is brief, barely enough time for the land to turn green before the frost returns, bringing the long, dark months of winter once again.

Islands of Buyan

These rise from the northern seas, a scattered chain of wind-lashed tundra, ice-clad shores, and barren rock. The land is hard and broken, its soil thin, its rivers sluggish and choked with ice for most of the year. In summer, the low hills and flat expanses bloom briefly with moss and hardy grasses before the frost returns. The seas around the islands are cold and restless, shifting with ice and storm, treacherous to all but those who know their ways.

According to legend, the Buyan Islands are able to appear and disappear. Three brothers, demi-gods of the northern, western and eastern winds, dwell here. The three largest islands, Bolshe, Nauk and Oktyab, are named for them. The Zoryas, solar demi-goddesses who are the daughters of the solar god Dazhbog, also dwell here.

Hydrographic Features

Kara Sea

This

Pyasin Gulf is a bay at the mouth of the Pyasina River that drains western Samoyadia. The climate in the area is severe, with long and bitter winters and frequent blizzards and gales. The gulf is frozen for nine months in a year; in summer, vessels are never free of ice floes. Further east, the Tallya Gulf remains frozen most of the year; it has never been penetrated successfully by shipping, though multiple efforts have been made.

Provinces

Biyetia

The Haftsmark of Biyetia is the northernmost land of the Kingdom of Magloshkagok, a goblin realm in western Siberia. The Haftsmark is a military league of forts scattered south of the Kara Sea. The haftsmark is huge, covering 599.9 hexes, with a very sparse population of only 11,223; nearly every inhabitant is goblinish in race. Expanses of tundra are broken by the mouths of huge rivers (not shown on the map). A harsh climate, a permanently frozen subsoil and a sparse population preclude economic activities apart from hunting and fishing.

Samoyadia

The Kingdom of Samoyadia is a gnoll realm and homeland of the gnoll people, in the furthest north of Siberia. Temperature ranges from very cold in the winter to chilly in July. The population is largely gnoll in race, but some bugbear clans can be found in the south and a scant number of grimlocks dwell northwest of Lake Taymyr in the Byranga. Fauna includes reindeer, wolves, polar bears, ermine and migratory birds; transhumance is practiced among huge reindeer herds that move to the Byranga Plateau in summer and south in the winter. Dik-don is an important port of call and market; the Taymyr River is a source of gold and sulphur. The immense kingdom has an area of 730.7 hexes and a population of 15,625.

Adjacent Maps

A3: Jotunheim	A4: Kara Sea	A5: Yukaghir Sea
B4: Ob Gulf	B5: Lower Yenisey	B6: Tunguska

See Sheet Maps