Continent: Dominarchus
Terrain: Shratan Mts, Cazmorin Jungle
Rivers: Udoki River, Manda River, Isade River, Ndowe Lake
Special Classes & Kits:
The Cazmorin Jungle is located below the Rharihu Plains, below the Jazerain (Ebikkuk, Arvale) Mountains, bounded by these mountains and the Scintillaer Passage. By rights, the jungle should be said to begin in the Imbadikini (Thanos) Forest, extending over the mountains and to the ocean, but the mountains form a natural border that most cartographers refer to as the jungle's boundary. The jungle itself is rather small, apparently once having extended along the Cappadocian Islands and on the southwestern tip of the Southern Continent. Three major lakes run from the Jazerain mountains and into the jungle; Udoki , Manda , and Isade River. The Isade River turns into Ndowe Lake. All of these rivers have smaller tributaries that wind through the jungle.
The jungle is primarily rainforest, constantly damp and, on the southern side of the Jazerain Mountains, humid. While within the center of the jungle temperatures can become almost tropical, along the mountaintops and the coast temperatures are more temperate, as breezes from the ocean tend to cool the air. There is regular rainfall from storm systems that develop over the ocean, keeping the numerous interlaced rivers and lakes full. Periodically, fierce tropical storms will lash the rainforest, driving all life into shelter, toppling trees and flooding lakes and rivers. The soil is poor for northern-style farming, since the near-daily rainfall leeches nutrients from the ground; if cleared, the ground becomes clay-like in a season or two. This dampness makes northern armor nearly useless, as it is both hot and liable to rust. Polearms and siege weapons are nearly useless in the jungle, and horses and mules tend to quickly contract jungle diseases and die.
The constant heat and dampness makes the jungle a hotbed of disease, to which foreigners are very sucseptible. Foreigners travelling in the jungle are very likely to contract some form of disease, especially if consuming unboiled water. The most common disease is called "Cazmorin Fever," causing a loss of strength, sweats, fever and nausea. Other diseases can be fatal, causing high fever, coma and death.
Navigation in the jungle tends to follow the rivers, since other landmarks tend to be lost beneath the jungle canopy (the mountains) or quickly overgrown by the native flora (chiseled marks). The Cazmorin ruins provide one stable point of reference.
The jungle is home to small antelope, deer, okapi, wild swine and various feral cats, monkeys and cold-blooded creatures such as snakes and lizards. There are a variety of parrots and brightly colored birds that fill the air with constant chatter. The rivers are home to crocodiles that feed on the abundant fish life, as well as to giant catfish, behemoth, and nzefu-loi. There are many insects and arachnids, mostly living in the jungle canopy but some (such as mosquitoes) around the rivers; notable among these are the giant dragonflies and mantises.
Giant versions of snakes and lizards commonly mark out a "territory" and feed in that area, driving away other competition; however, the giant killer and poisonous frogs are also dangerous. The most dangerous animals in the jungle are the hydrae and gorilla bears, although the boalisk and carnivorous apes are also feared.
There are several dangerous plants in the jungle, including the choke creeper, the hangman tree, the mantrap flower, tri-flower frond and giant sundew. Slimes and molds are also common. The jungle canopy stretches unbroken for hundreds of square miles, and plants tend to grow leaves with pointed tips that shed water quickly.
The Jazerain Mountains are wealthy, with gold, iron, copper and diamonds. The kobkode have crude copper and iron mines, but do not currently pursue mining for gold or gemstones very seriously for a variety of reasons, including shamanic admonitions that large-scale mining endeavours would anger the heshetani by defiling the jungle's integrity. The jungle, however, contains a variety of more easily harvested valuable spices, such as pepper, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and ginger. Resinous saps can be tapped from some of the trees to be made into incenses and perfumes. Mahogany and tropical cedar are also to be found in the jungle. The furs from some of the native animals are valuable, especially leopard, tiger and jaguar hides.
There are two intelligent races within the Cazmorin Jungle; the Imbade, who live on the northern side of the Jazerain Mountains in the Imbadikini Forest, and the Kobkode, who live on the southern side of the Jazerain Mountains and in the southern jungle itself.
The Imbade are always swathed in hooded cloaks of heavy leather, faces covered by veils of a gauzy black material. However, they stand about 6' tall and are apparently bipedal, with two arms and one head; their hands are uncovered, black-skinned but humanlike. They apparently live in caverns within the Jazerain Mountains, trading occasionally with kobkode or rharihini. They are especially interested in purchasing gems and jewelry, and often sell poisons, potions and gases. Very little is known about them, as they are taciturn, preferring to use gestures in lieu of words when possible. They do not leave their land.
The Kobkode are much the opposite, wearing little clothing aside from decoration and utilitarian harnesses, standing about three feet fall, reptilian, garrulous and travel-oriented. While apparently "primitive natives," the swift efficiency with which the kobkode have adapted to foreign trade customs, and their canny political and mercantile dealings, gives the lie to this stereotype.
Although the kobkode find it useful for trade purposes to perpetuate an image of themselves as ignorant savages, in fact they have an advanced culture that, while not technologically based, is nevertheless comparable to the northern lands'. The Ish'kobkode is a union of kobkode tribes, its political seat a sheltered settlement in the natural river valley at the base of the Benkoto Mountain. They are led by the Oba, a combination of king, shaman and warlord, who is advised by a council of elders who appoints each new oba when the old ones dies or is incapacitated. Below the oba are various tribal chieftains who act as governors and law enforcers of their tribal lands. Tribes are divided into clans that owe allegiance to various heshatani spirits, and each clan has its shamanic leader and is linked to similar clans in other tribes by various political and religious alliances. In addition, there are guild-like social structures of kobkode warriors (noted for their archery skills and use of natural poisons), shamans (worshipping animistic heshetani), merchants (who travel extensively through and outside Cazmorin), artisans (noted for their bronze castings and ivory crafting), hunter-gatherers, and so on, all of whom contribute to the not-so-primitive tribal society.
Kobkode economy is largely governed by the barter system, with the oba ensuring by decree that tribes never want for the essentials necessary for survival if a tribe has a particularly unfortunate run of luck. There is money in the form of tally-sticks, each tally the equivalent of a week's worth of food (a food standard, much like this society's gold standard, which is almost as abstracted from reality as the gold standard became; that is, no kobkode merchant actually trades in the tally stick for its value in food). The kobkode may also use currency from other lands, with such currency coming from the merchants in exchange for labor or supplies, and eventually returning to the merchants in exchange for goods (with the exception of the currency that is made into jewelry). The exchange rate for outside currencies is sliding and tends to be precisely evaluated to favor the tribes but not impoverish the merchants who must deal with non-tribal societies outside Cazmorin.
The kobkode live close to nature, eschewing large settlements, agricultural clearings, and stone buildings that would imperil the natural organic and spiritual balance of the jungle. Villages tend to be formed of grass and wood huts that are destroyed in tropical storms - the kobkode, warned of an impending storm by their shamans, take cover in caverns or the village's stone storm-shelter, that also doubles as the village egg hatchery. Fences for gardens or herds are made of sharpened wooden poles bound by woven vines. Tools tend to be wood, stone, horn, copper or bronze, although some iron tools are forged and steel tools are brought in by merchants. Shamans often protect villages with magical fetishes or painted designs - the egg hatchery is always so protected. The merchants are the lifelines of the villages, bringing news and goods through the jungle, escorting visitors from one village to another, and sometimes acting as impromptu diplomats during intertribal strife.
There are a few ruins in the jungle, the most extensive and well-known of which is Cazmorin, wherein is the crystal pillar in which the White One is said to be imprisoned. Cazmorin is guarded by the Guardians of the Feathered Serpent, kobkode who live in the ruined city and are sworn to protect and serve the White One. A few other ruins also exist in various states of delapidation are are generally considered to be haunted by kobkode ancestors. Shamans may visit them on vision-quests, but most kobkode shun such areas, out of superstition and pragmatism, since ruins not only provide a home for ghosts, but also for hydrae and other fearsome beasts.
The kobkode greeted the invasion from the Shadowed Seas with interest and curiosity, and became a constant trial to the satamharanthu and their functionaries, who were barraged daily by requests and petitions from the kobkode to open trade routes into the Shadowed Lands. While these requests were always denied, and now the portals are closed, the kobkode have not lost hope and are gathering as much information about the Dawn Masters as possible. Foreigners who come into contact with the kobkode for the first time are likely to consider them amiable savages; this misapprehension is quickly dispelled after a few business dealings with them, however.
