The City of Najask

Najask is one of the four cities of the Walrus Freehold. It sits across the Walrus Channel on the large island of Cortacus, up the Crayspawn River. Najask was officially founded in BY 1466 and is still the largest human settlement on Cortacus. Although cold (and dangerously so in winter), the river valley is still fertile, and during the summer months the farms in the surrounding countryside produce a healthy amount of oats, barley and root vegetables. Wandering herds of caribou, musk-oxen and woolly rhinos provide much-needed meat, leather and wool (though unlike sheep, woolly rhinos cannot be sheared while alive). The Crayspawn river is also famous for the amount of crayfish that appear during the spring, swimming upstream against the rush of melt water flowing down from the Cortactus Mountains.

Najask (population 6400) was attacked by raiders from Bursia sailing up the river during the Wars between the Empires. The count and his noble family fled the town to the hills, taking a large number of the town guards with them. The two groups who took command were lawful churches and the college of magic. The mages managed to persuade or bully the clerics to take second place, and now an uneasy alliance exists between the two. Najask is effectively a magocracy, ruled by the council of the College of Magic, but backed up and (usually) supported by the churches of Rhondus, Sestarna and Sturnornel.

Teryxton (pop 2200) was raided several times during the wars. However, the last attempted raid resulted in Bursian soldiers and sailors mutinying and getting shipwrecked off the coast. The survivors made their way to Teryxton and were held prisoner until the end of the wars, after which they were released. Most of them decided to settle in Teryxton. The town now has a  multicultural feel about it.

Untheris (pop. 1430) is mostly human, with 230 dwarves. The town is the closest human settlement to the Goldseeker Clan of dwarves in the Cortacus mountains, and as such it serves as a trading post with the dwarves. Untheris is also the town closest to the mineral wealth of the Orgrist Hills to the south, and so hardy prospectors of different races (usually dwarves and humans) will use the town as a base for their expeditions.

Fjordport (pop. 3100) is reliant on fishing, with some sheep and reindeer farming. The baron of the town is desperately trying to find heroes, mercenaries or the like to fend off attacks by a band of frost giants and their ogre footsoldiers and polar bear pets. The giant raiders attacked and slaughtered an outlying village two years ago and last year attacked two other farmsteads. This year it is feared they are brave enough to attack the actual town.