Geography of the Land
Gardonia is a very vegetated land surrounded on all sides by tall mountains. Nestled within its ring of mountains the land is much like any other land with some hilly regions, some flatish regions, some valleys, some hills, some grasslands, some rivers, a lake, a swamp and a desert. Forests of deciduous trees cover much of the terrain. However, unlike most other lands, it also has many tall grass forests, where the grass, flowers and other plants grow upwards of twenty feet in height, there are also numerous regions of giant mushroom forests some growing up to thirty feet tall. In the north is a barren, desolate rocky valley called Donglemore that the gnomes prefer not to talk about. Nothing grows around Donglemore other than thorns, briers and hardy broom. See the section on Greensmore Valley/Donglemore for more. At the centre of the land is a very dense, lush forest, perhaps better described as a jungle, named The Good Garden and within it lies the gnomish capital city of Kingstown.
The Good Garden
During the gnomes initial expansion eastward, they came upon a very dense, jungly forest. This forest region had an enchanted feel to it and was found to be comparatively free from the large insects and pests that plagued the gnomes in the rest of the land they had thus far settled. This forest they named The Good Garden. When a small tranquil lake was discovered deep in the forest a settlement was built and named New Town and the former town of New Town was renamed Old Town. Many gnomes moved to The Good Garden where it was relatively safe and pleasant, but the forest was left as pristine as possible. Asides from small backyard gardens, the land outside The Good Garden was relied upon to grow crops for feeding the population. New Town became a hub for trading and markets and soon grew quite large. Eventually the king moved to New Town making it the new capital and renamed it Kingstown. Besides Kingstown, there are three larger settlements within The Good Garden. A cluster of very tall trees is home to the village of Wood Heart, in a particularly vibrant colony of giant fungi lies the village of Mushroom Deeps and the Village of Fernally is named for the grove of mammoth ferns into which it is nestled. A mysterious yet well preserved building was also discovered within The Good Garden, which the gnomes believed to be an old, overgrown brewery. The gnomes got to work restoring the facility aptly naming it the Ancient Brewery and a small village of brewery workers has sprung up around it. While the Good Garden is a relatively safe place for gnomes to live, it does grow quickly and it takes many gnomes constant work to keep the roads and communities from becoming overgrown.
The Great Carrot
The Great Carrot is a very large carrot. It’s depth has not been measured, but the diameter of the top is 587 feet. The carrot was discovered in the year 1822 in the mountains north of what was at that time called New Town. The gnome who discovered it, Dr. Hestrige Tupplemonger was investigating what he believed to be a very large fern bush at the top of a hill. As he was going back down the hill the moss under foot came loose and he slid to the bottom. When he looked back up there was a patch of orange where the moss had come clean of the surface where he had slid. Upon closer examination and after clearing away a larger section of moss, he believed himself to be onto something and went and reported his find in New Town. The top was cleared off and twenty feet of the carrot were eventually excavated and cleaned. The discovery is a large part of why the king moved to New Town making it the new capital, which was then named Kingstown. The Carrot became a symbol of the kingdom of Gardonia and is held in an almost reverent type of way. Today it has its own special company of highly trained and experienced Knights, called The Carrot Guard, who are devoted solely to the protection of the Great Carrot.
The Great Grass Forrest
In Gardonia, there are many regions of tall growing grass referred to as grass forests. As the gnomes expanded south from Kingstown they came upon a very vast grass forest to the south west of the Good Garden. Naming it The Great Grass Forest, this particular oversized lawn stretched for miles upon miles. Gnomes venturing into it found it to be quite dangerous and terrifying and many never returned. Those that did told of spiders ten feet tall, centipedes twenty yards in length and all sorts of larger than large specimens of various bugs and critters. They also told tales of carnivorous plants and unseen things that stalked them through the tall blades but also of great bounties of berries, tender mushrooms and other delicacies as well as all sorts of useful plants and harvestable materials from the various bugs. Still for the most part gnomes don’t venture into the Great Grass Forest and those that do make their livelihood foraging there are considered very brave or not quite right in the head, depending on who you ask. Fortunately, the creatures of the forest seldom venture out. However, there was one incident where an especially nasty and hungry plant plagued travellers along the stretch of road between Grand Caps and Hazelmere. The terror it brought resulted in a 200 yard wide buffer area being trimmed back along the entire stretch of road. Most of those gnomes involved in the undertaking moved far away from the area once the task was complete having been deeply shaken by creatures and events they witnessed the deeper into the forest they cleared.
The Great Grass Forest also acts as a natural barrier against marauding Furols in the east, as raiding parties of the hairy creatures seldom enter it and those that do have never been seen again.
The Old Road
Between the northern border of The Great Grass Forest and the south west edge of The Good Garden was found an old broken and overgrown road running east west. The Great Grass Forest stops roughly 100 yards south of this road. Similarly The Good Garden stops roughly 100 yards north of the road and the area in between is known as Green Gap. Heading east, the road was found to pass south of the hamlet of Hazelmere running along the southern border of The Good Garden for many miles before it veered north and was lost in the dense forest. Westward from Green Gap the road led to a wide plane where the soil was shallow and rocky and the area became known as the Pebbly Plane. At the end of the road upon a tall hill was the ruin of an old fortress which the Mushroom Knights repaired and manned despite it being remote and strategically irrelevant, naming it Lettuce Berg.
The Pebbly Plain
The Pebbly Plain begins at the Green Gap and runs west to the mountains that mark the edge of the Kingdom of Gardonia. Its eastern border ends at the Great Grass Forest and its north and south boundaries are marked by lower mountains spurring east from the larger western mountains. In spite of the difficulty of growing vegetables in the shallow soil, farms and a few settlements popped up in the Pebbly Plane to work the land until such a time as the Furgols were discovered. Since the awakening of the Furgols the region has been ravaged many times and its settlements all but destroyed and abandoned. The fortress of Lettuce Berg has also been restored to its former ruined and abandoned state, though the building of a better situated replacement fortress is underway and is the beginning of the latest initiative to take back the region. There is also a small fortress located in Green Gap to act as a last line of defence to keep Furgols from rampaging out into the kingdom.
The Taterlands
The central western region of Gardonia, the area in which the gnomes first settled, from New Old Town east to the Good Garden is known as the Taterlands. After the gnomes began expanding and found that certain vegetables grew more abundantly in certain areas, it was noted that potatoes and other nightshades grew better there than other plants and so the region was named for the potato and many potato farms have sprung up since. The Taterlands having been settled long ago and cleared of most major threats, provide a moderately peaceful environment to live in.
The Leafy Green Flats
The Leafy Green flats are a flattish region in the mid-east of the Gardonia where much of the land has been cleared and larger farms established. Much lettuce, cabbage, spinach, Chard and the like are grown in this region of the kingdom. There are many issues with deer, bunnies and slugs nibbling away at the beloved produce and the Cabbageford garrison has its work cut out keeping the region’s fields and gardens safe. The clearing of such large tracts of land has given rise to the very serious threat of Dire Bunny frenzies and rampages as they are drawn together by the delicious greens. The Great Mollusks, giant slugs and snails, have also been an issue in the region, though thankfully they are not common.
The Golden Valley
Just north of the Good Garden and named for the many golden fields of grains grown in the area, this small region of the kingdom grows much of the barley and hops for making beer, as well as wheat for bread and more beer. Several Master Brewers live in the region and the local inns and taverns always have an exceptional selection of brew on tap.
The Cornlands
The Cornlands is a region of gently rolling hills, dotted with short mushroom groves and pockets of sparse, stunted trees in the north west of Gardonia that grows a whole lot of corn. Crop stealing Cobbies are a big problem in the region, often raiding fields and gardens for corn cobs and all manner of produce they can get their clammy little hands on. Because they cause strange irrational behaviour in Cobbies—similar to gold fever in humans, turnips—while not forbidden, are not recommended to be grown in the region. The Cornlands boasts the largest number of Vegetable Holds per capita in the entire kingdom.
The Tangled Plateau
The Tangled Plateau in the north east is not really a plateau, though it has the highest elevation of any farming region in Gardonia. Vine plants grow particularly well in this region and there are many beanyards in the plateau. Peas, cucumbers and squash are also grown in abundance. Deer are the biggest nuisance for the farms of the area though being near Donglemore the area is sometimes plagued by terrifying monsters that slip past the Mushroom Knights keeping watch over the evil pit. It takes a bold and hardy gnome to live in the Tangled Plateau so close to Donglemore and most of the towns and villages have palisade walls around them. In the Tangled Plateau can also be found most of the mining that is done in Gardonia, Northsouth Town being the chief mining town in the kingdom.
The South Carrot Mires
The South Carrot Mires are a swampy region in the east central part of Gardonia, bordering on the west side of the Blueish Lake. The swamps were home to all manner of pesky insects, long legged birds and a few water loving rodents. Discovered in the mires were a reclusive yet intelligent swamp people, called the Bogwits. Weary at first some of the Bogwits eventually befriended the gnomes, but long ago they withdrew deeper into the swamps and are all but forgotten now. The accidental introduction of Bellow Toads into the swamp saw the creatures’ successive offspring grow to enormous size and take over the mires in very short order, decimating the native creatures populations. A handful of gnomes live in the South Carrot Mires in stilted mushroom huts, foraging the various plants and hunting Bellow Toads for their meat and skins, which have become popular export commodities.
The Bluish Lake
Located in the east of Gardonia, the Bluish Lake is the largest lake in the land. A few fishing villages and a popular vacationing town were settled along the lake’s northern shores, but for the most part the lake is wild and untouched. Shortly after the lake was discovered the king at the time, King Wilcog, decided to visit the lake for himself where he took a rowboat out into the lake, wanting to be the first gnome to row across. To the great dismay of the onlookers on shore, when the king and his boat were far out in the distance, a giant fish popped up and swallowed them whole. Since then no gnome in a rowboat has dared to venture into deeper waters.
The Tri-Villages
The Tri-Village area is a small pocket of land in the south west that is quite flat, centred around three main villages. Short grassy fields predominate the landscape dotted with tall mushroom groves. Herbs grow quite well in this part of the kingdom and are grown in abundance. Besides the smaller, non-aggressive species of bunnies and a few deer, not much bothers the gardens of the Tri-Village region.
Map
My terrible scratches aren’t worth showing. A more professional version will hopefully be made sooner than later. Until then, enjoy this stock picture of a treasure map.
