Laurentia (pronounced lore-ENT-ee-ah) is a harsh northern landscape, with a hazardous climate and dangerous megafauna. Still, communities and tribes of humans, orcs, and giants manage to survive and thrive.
There is no consistent name for this part of the world. The various populations that call it home use a number of names - to most humans it is Laurentia, while it is referred to as Larrstr by the taiga giants and Adgrukh to the orcs. As such, it is difficult to have one name to accurately refer to the region/
Geography, flora, and fauna
Well over one thousand miles across, Laurentia stretches across a massive expanse of the coldest region of the world. The hardy inhabitants of the north call the plains, forests, hills, and mountains alike home. Permanent snow cover characterizes at least part of the region, and in places with a growing season it is quite short.
The Wurihian Forest covers much of Laurentia, a taiga of tall spruces and pines. Farther north, the trees cannot grow and the taiga is replaced by tundra.
Four major elevated regions are within Laurentia. The Northern Wall, the massive mountain range across the high latitudes of the continent, stops all but the especially brave or hardy. To the east, the Ialgrike Peaks separate Laurentia from the Invelaust Ocean. Within Laurentia is the Runewith Mountains, full of dangerous and marvelous ancient dwarven ruins, and the Whispering Hills, the primary domain of the giants.
While a number of shallow seasonal rivers flow through Laurentia, the Garmurud River remains year round, fed by magical springs within the Ialgrike Peaks that prevent the water from freezing no matter the time of year. In addition to the magical properties, the Vadrilai Springs are naturally heated by geothermal means.
Despite the bitter cold, Laurentia is teeming with animal life. Both small and large herbivores wander the forests, plains, and hills, including elk, moose, reindeer, and rabbits. These are preyed upon by a variety of other animals, including bears, wolves, and foxes.
More than anything else, however, Laurentia is known for the megafauna and magical creatures that live there. Mastodons, mammoths, woolly rhinos, ground sloths, steppe bison, and megaloceros wander throughout, as do smilodons, cave lions, dire wolves, and arctotherium. Some communities of Laurentia have become skilled in taming these massive animals, turning these dangerous creatures into helpful allies. Those without luck or care on their side may also encounter ice drakes or even linnorms.
A variety of fey dwell within the Wurihian Forests, and trolls are common in the hills and mountains.
History
The inhabitants of Laurentia generally care little for written history, preferring oral stories as a method to pass origin stories and traditions through generations. Detailed chronologies are of little use to these hardy peoples either, as information worth remembering tends to be far more practical in nature, more concerned with communicating how to survive in the harsh landscape than with recalling the past. Few from outside have cared to brave the dangers of the north to chronicle the stories that can be learned and as such the detailed history of Laurentia remains shrouded in mystery to outsiders.
Demographics
Laurentia is inhabited by a large variety of peoples. Greatest in number are the largely nomadic human, orc, and half-orc tribes, but others make their homes in the remote north as well. A variety of giants, most notably taiga giants, dwell throughout Laurentia. Individuals of other ancestries, particularly kobolds, goblins, elves, and half-elves can be found in Laurentia as well, though they are much less common.
Culture
Religion
In part due to their relative isolation, the people of Laurentia have developed their own pantheon of gods that tend to focus on concerns central to life in the frigid and rough north. In particular, the importance of strength and hardiness in their landscape has caused the tribes to venerate Nemedaz and Vihansa above all other deities. Austron is also highly regarded. The Orcish pantheon aspects of the gods are also common throughout Laurentia. While there are few permanent temples in Laurentia, there are a number of ritual and religious sites that tribes visit as they migrate.
Many Laurentians venerate natural spirits and/or their ancestors, either in addition to or instead of other gods. Other traditional beliefs in the region include soul-dreaming and ghost worship, though these have begun to decline in recent years. These practices vary widely by tribe and region.
The taiga giants worship the spirits of their ancestors, who they regard with a great sense of reverence. Animism and ancestor worship are widespread amongst all peoples of Laurentia, sometimes instead of and sometimes in addition to the veneration of deities.
Society
Laurentian tribes are almost entirely nomadic and have traditions that reflect this. Individuals are expected to contribute everything they can to the tribe, and generally have few only a few prized personal possessions as a result. Tribe members look to respected elders or warriors for guidance, depending on the situations in which they find themselves.
Most Laurentian tribes are a mix of human, orc, and half-orcs - very few tribes consistent of individuals of a single ancestry.
Tribal shamans are key to the social structure and the very survival of the tribes. These shamans provide magical guidance and healing, and their connections with the lands are seen as a powerful blessing.
Giant communities tend to be more settled, usually moving between seasonal villages. Smaller folk of Laurentia understand not to enter these villages even when unoccupied in the off-season, as they are frequently trapped to dissuade looters and opportunists.
In the last couple centuries, the inhabitants of Laurentia have begun to adopt more of the traditions and customs of outsiders, as more foreigners venture into Laurentia. Some tribes have adopted these changes wholeheartedly, while others remain more traditionalist and suspicious of outside influence.
Traditionalist Laurentian tribes tend to be wary of outsiders, especially practitioners of unfamiliar magic, but not outright xenophobic.
Some of the human and orcish tribes adopt taiga giant children, usually those that have been orphaned or abandoned. These giants are then raised as if they were part of the rest of the tribe, though they are almost universally treated as esteemed members. Most communities see great value in having giants on their side for their great strength, even at the cost of feeding them as they grow to adulthood. A very few tribes take this practice a step further and kidnap the giant children, though most understand this is a terrible idea.
Languages
A multitude of languages are spoken in Laurentia. Among humans and orcs, Aurignacian is the primary language, an old tongue still used to convey the earliest oral traditions. Orcish is widely spoken by orcs and humans as well. With increasing contact with outsiders to the south, some individuals within Laurentia have begun adopting Common or Hellean as well. The giants are, predictably, known to speak Jotun.
Music and arts
Laurentian music heavily uses animal horns as instruments, both for musical purposes and for long-range communication. Harps and drums are also popular.
Traditions
Laurentian communities have a shared practice of taming and riding the great beasts that wander the tundra and taiga. In particular, the human, orc, and half-orc tribes are well known and feared for riding into battle atop their trained mammoths, and using predators, specifically smilodons, as attack animals. The giants maintain similar practices, running down their prey with packs of winter wolves. Megafauna are generally only hunted as part of ritual events, as they are too dangerous and useful to pursue most of the time.
Food and cuisine
Animals are hunted for both meat and fur, and this diet is supplemented by fish and foraged plants like berries, root vegetables, and greens. Pine needle tea is also commonly consumed, and many tribes have ritual tea ceremonies. Near the conclusion of winter, some tribes also tap maple trees for their sap, which is then refined into a delicious sugar.
Despite the relative simplicity of the ingredients, Laurentian cuisine is much greater than the sum of its parts. Especially for special occasions, many dishes are laboriously prepared and involve significant work from the entire tribe. As with many other aspects of their life, food is a highly communal endeavor in Laurentia.
Migration and urbanization
There are few permanent settlements in Laurentia. Most tribes migrate to follow herd animals or to follow favorable weather, and leaving this nomadic lifestyle usually leads to food shortages. There are few exceptions to this among the humans, orcs, and half-orcs, but a handful of permanent sites do exist. Most commonly these take the form of collections of sod houses or hide tents, frequently with some sort of exterior wall around the settlement. Additionally, some orcs live within the dwarven ruins of the Runewith mountains, though rarely venture too far underground due to the ancient dangers known to exist there.
Many sites are not inhabited year round, but rather are visited seasonally. Some, like Yawrai and Ukha, are located in areas that become more verdant in the short summer months. Tribes migrate to these sites to forage the food that becomes more plentiful in these times, then move out again once the weather turns colder.
Immigration and emigration
People from outside Laurentia have begun to settle farther within in recent centuries, primarily driven by Asteria and Koritan. Adventurers have long seen Laurentia as a challenging land in which to seek danger and treasure, and some Laurentians leave the region to adventure elsewhere in the world as well.
Travel
Travel within Laurentia is a continuous process - few tribes remain in place for long. Travel is either done on foot or by use of a variety of tamed animals. Mammoths, mastodons, and elk are generally the most commonly used animals for this purpose, but few can be picky, and if another animal can be tamed then it will be put to use as well.
Government
Laurentia has no central government. Individual communities and tribes govern themselves by long standing traditions and practices, usually strongly valuing the advice of elders and experienced individuals. There are many similarities between these systems, but they vary by location and the particular history of the community.
Economy
Laurentia does not have an organized or extractive economy. Most who live there are hunter-gatherers adept at acquiring what they need to survive. Some international traders are interested in the megafauna of Laurentia, usually seeking the pelts or other body parts of the large creatures.
Relations
The settlers of Asteria have begun encroaching on the traditional hunting grounds of some of the tribes of Laurentia. While some have reached an uneasy understanding, others remain hostile to the settlers. The Asterian town of Drelin is a point of contention in particular. The town was founded on an ancient inter-tribal meeting site, and the settlers have begun disturbing the nearby burial grounds. Asterian attempts to settle the Whispering Hills have been thwarted by the giants, who are both highly unfriendly to the newcomers and easily have the force to keep them at bay.