Southern Shield Territory

Southern Shield Territory

The Southern Shield spans the hard south of Oblivion Vale. Rivers and lakes are gone, so open water is not part of travel or farming. The crown treats roads, wells, and quarantine lines as the true borders of the realm. Heat, wind, and disease risk slow movement more than distance. Many miles are not settled at all. They are controlled through patrol routes, watch posts, and marked cordon land.

Terrain and climate

Most of the territory is cracked flats, dry riverbeds, and low stony ridges. The ridges give short sight lines but little real cover. Dust lifts with any wind and settles into eyes, locks, and food. Old river channels cut the land in long, exposed runs that funnel caravans into predictable lines. In the southeast, ash grit blows down from the Ashcrown Ramparts and leaves a gray film on armor, wagons, and skin. Breathing becomes harder during strong ash winds, and wounds foul faster.

Nightfen edge conditions

Toward the Nightfen edge, the ground turns soft and sour. Seepage rises from buried aquifers and collects in peat and shallow bog hollows that shift week to week. Fog pockets form in low ground and can hide movement until it is too late for a warning bell. Insect swarms are constant in warm months. They bite through cloth, carry blight between camps, and ruin rest. Patrols treat this edge as a slow hazard that can become a fast outbreak.

Water control and daily survival

Life in the Southern Shield is built around deep wells and sealed cistern yards. Aquifer maps are guarded like military records. Most wells are ringed with cordon stakes, ditch lines, and posted rules that forbid camping, tanning, and open butchery near the rim. Water is measured by token, stamped tally, or ration note. Theft is punished as a crown crime, not a local dispute. Food production is small and guarded. Dry plots fail often, so fungus pits and insect beds support the poor. Ration yards store dried fungus, grain, salt mix, and preserved meat in sealed casks. Each yard is built like a small fort because a single breach can starve a district.

Roads, forts, and safe lanes

The Southern Shield holds its territory through escorted roads. Main routes follow old stone grades along dry channels, because those roads were built for river travel long ago and still drain well. Gate towers and road forts stand at regular intervals, linked by cleared lanes and marker stakes. Each fort maintains bell codes for dust storms, raids, and quarantine alerts. Patrols clear scrub near the road to deny ambush cover. Where the land cannot be cleared, travel is forced through narrow pass-gates with controlled locks. Many ruins are used as watch posts until they collapse, then replaced with timber towers and stone revetments built from scavenged blocks.

Cordon zones and quarantine practice

Large tracts are kept as cordon zones. These are burned clearings, ditch lines, and marked tracks where any stray camp is treated as a threat. The state assumes that an unrecorded group may be raiders, plague refugees, or smugglers carrying tainted water. Quarantine patrols act fast. They burn abandoned wagons, collapse makeshift shelters, and destroy spilled stores to prevent scavenger swarms. Near the fen edge, "fen wards" are set around seep hollows with salt lines, smoke pots, and insect nets. Death order priests are often present to certify burn actions and burial handling, which gives the cordon work religious cover as well as legal authority.

Faction presence: Southern Shield

The Southern Shield is a militarized human realm. Fort commands control roads and escort schedules. Well-wardens and reservoir guards control water access and audits. Quarantine patrols control movement, stamp crossings, and decide who can pass cordon lines. The law is simple and public. Curfews are normal near wells and ration yards. Travel requires written marks and stamped seals. Inspections are frequent and harsh. Punishment is meant to be witnessed, because fear keeps ration lines stable.
The southeast frontier faces the Ashcrown Dominion across high passes and ash roads. Even in quiet seasons, the crown plans for skirmish pressure, convoy disruption, and border sabotage. The state trains citizens early for patrol duty, ration discipline, and quarantine drill. Leadership is judged by control, not comfort.

Faith and rare magic

Death faith holds strong influence because burial and quarantine are daily work. Life orders run heal houses and field medics, but they operate under military oversight and must report sickness signs to fort clerks. Fate orders certify oaths and witness marks, but the crown limits their access to core well records and convoy tallies. Magic is rare and watched. Licensed casters are used to seal casks, check wards on gate locks, and search for sabotage signs. Plague-touched power is treated as a hazard and is often forced into border service or exile.

Monsters and why they appear here

Monsters are treated as fixed hazards tied to known ground. The Southern Shield posts threat lists at forts and ration yards and plans routes around known lairs. Scarcity still forces travel through dangerous ground. The following threats shape how the territory functions.

Wolves and dire wolves

Wolves follow caravan lines and outer farms because food is scarce and bodies are common. Packs test fences at night and take the weak, the lost, and the wounded. Dire wolves are fewer but can break a horse and drag a guard down in seconds. Both learn bell patterns, torch habits, and the sound of ration crowds. After raids, burn actions, or border fights, packs gather on the edges to feed on bodies and refuse. This turns burial control into a security matter, not only a rite.

Minotaurs in dry works

Minotaurs claim tunnel grids, quarry cuts, and old cistern works in the southern flats. Many of these works were built before the Drying and now sit as sealed pump halls, collapsed culverts, and half-buried service routes. A minotaur treats these spaces as a maze it controls, and it knows every dead end. It marks turns with broken lanterns and blood and attacks anything that enters without a recognized escort mark. Warbands sometimes try to use a minotaur as muscle to seize a well line. Control fails often, and the beast ends up owning the tunnels while both sides bleed out above.

Infernal hunt beasts: nightmares and hell hounds

Nightmares and hell hounds appear in the Southern Shield more than most regions because commanders and contract brokers use them during panic seasons. Hell hounds are used for border hunts, runaway searches, and well theft investigations. They track by blood, fear, and fresh water, and they do not tire once set on a trail. If they are starved, they turn on handlers and attack the weakest first. Nightmares are used as pursuit mounts by infernal collectors and by officers who have taken quiet contracts. Their hooves can shatter road stone and start fires in dead grass, which makes them a threat even when no rider is seen.

Palecoil crossings

Palecoils live along broken bridges and dry river cuts where caravans must cross on narrow paths. They sweep low to knock wagons into empty beds, then wait while water runs out. They also gather chain, nails, and bridge iron for their nests, which makes repair work a constant loss. Fort engineers add chain rails, low screens, and false crossings. The dragon learns patterns over time, so routes must shift or accept steady attrition.

Nightscar pressure

Nightscar is not seen often, but it still shapes Southern Shield policy because it targets sealed sites. It nests in ruin fields and abandoned fort districts and tears open old doors and collapsed chambers. This can release trapped threats and drive people from positions without a direct fight. It targets ward crews and record keepers who can restore seals. When Nightscar moves, forts lock down, burn stores, and close crossings rather than risk a breach inside a ration yard.

The Grimwood Glade belt

The Grimwood Glade is a broken belt of scrub, thorn, and scattered tree stands inside the Southern Shield reach. Warbands use it to hide and watch convoys. Wolves den in the brush, and minotaurs sometimes push into its stone cuts. The crown keeps burn lines and cleared lanes through the glade, but regrowth is fast and patrols are thin. This belt produces most ambush losses, which then feeds predators and keeps the roads expensive to hold.

Current condition

The Southern Shield holds because it spends lives to keep systems intact. Each year, more land becomes "managed" instead of lived in. Cordon rules expand after sickness seasons. Road forts grow stricter as supplies shrink and ash winds worsen travel. The crown fears border war, but it also fears the slow collapse of trust in stamps, tallies, and patrol promises. When people stop believing the system can protect a well, they break order first and run.