by Kris Kramer
On the History of the Lore Valley…
Let me now focus on the Lore Valley, where I spent a great deal of my time. The Lore Valley is a large U-shaped region in the center of the continent of Leranon. At the north end of the valley is the Marenon Bay, and the coastal home of the Himmittes, the sea-faring merchants that much of the Valley relies upon for outside trade. To the west are the desolate, treacherous Rhavidan Mountains, which separate the Lore Valley from the neighboring Senin Valley. Nothing lives in the Rhavidan Mountains and its foothills except for myths and legends of dangerous creatures and old cities. Those tales I will come to later. To the east are the Rhokan Mountains, home of the nomadic Halstatt Berians in the north and the barbaric Galatae Berians in the south. Closing off the southern end of the valley are the majestic Lore Mountains, home to Anzarins, Assarins and Happarans. The ring of mountains to the south, east and west, and the ocean to the north, effectively separate the Lore Valley from the rest of the continent, except for sea travel.