Laurentia is a harsh landscape, with a hazardous climate and dangerous megafauna. Still, communities and tribes of humans, orcs, elves, 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 frost giants and Adgrukh to the orcs. As such, it is difficult to have one name to accurately refer to the region. In colloquial use, the term "Northlands" is frequently used.
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 reindeer herders of Akrayok. 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 and orc tribes, but others make their homes in the remote north as well. Reclusive elven communities, known as Zarzian elves, live in hidden retreats in the remote reaches of the Northern Wall, and a variety of giants, most notably taiga and frost giants, dwell throughout Laurentia.
Culture
Government
Laurentia has no central government. Individual communities and tribes govern themselves by long standing traditions and practices. There are many similarities between these, particularly among the human tribes, 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.