Geography of Shadow Star

Hover your mouse over various features on the map to see their names (may not work with Netscape or Mozilla). Click on the various cities, islands, and other places to learn more about Shadow Star's geographical features. Please note that this map is fairly old and therefore some elements may be out of date; don't hesitate to ask if you have a question.

General Geography

Shadow Star is an island on the planet Calacia. It is roughly the size of Georgia, with a mountain range running from the north of it to the south called the Sierac mountain range. Rivers, canals, and roads criss-cross it, running from villages to cities to towns. Shadow Star is surrounded by the Sea of Burunn'e.

On the world of Calacia, the sun rises in the west and sets in the east; the planet rotates the opposite direction of Terra. Calacia also has two moons, Luaris and Siraul. Luaris has a blue cast, and is sometimes called "Irotana's Eye", the "blue moon", and "light moon", as well as other names. Its opposite is the reddish moon Siraul, the "chaotic moon", the "blood moon," and the "Eye of Chaos".

Landmarks and Monuments

Nightglass Beach: From the southern foot of Starscape Mountain to the southern shore is the Nightglass Beach, blackened and backed to black, rippling glass from the heat of mages' battles in Chaos attacks.

Druidic Circles: In the forests at the foot of the Sierac Range, near Cascadia Falls but seperated by a few-mile long strip of woodland, is a druidic site. It's somewhat similar to Stonehenge, but not a full circle. These sites don't have names, but are scattered throughout Shadow Star and used for various rituals such as First Change. One is in the forest, as mentioned. Another is midway between Oceanica and Starscape, off the shore of SS, underwater. A third site is east of StarScape, but on land, and a fourth is on a tall mountain peak north of Kiridia.

Old Ruins: Shadow Star was once purely feudal, and so there are some old ruins of castles. In the east, there is a crumbling fortress half in ruins. A second ruins is in the mountains.

Altars of Chaos: There are a few altars of Chaos, in perfect shape as no one goes near them, with curses and shades within and around them. These sites are pure evil, tainted by humanoid sacrifices and Chaos. Their field of darkness extends on a 15-foot radius in every direction. One is a few miles east of the eastern ruins spoken about above, and one is a few miles north of the mountainous ruins. A third is north-west-west of StarScape.

Chaos Island: Shadow Star is a relatively solitary island, except that an island commonly reffered to as Chaos Island is near SS. This island is relatively small and not all that fertile- it's wild and somewhat barren desert land. That, and an intense hatred and resentment for their more prosperous, once controlled neighbors, spurs on attacks from the Chaos realm. It's south of Shadow Star with a rough coastline. See the Chaos page for more geographic info.

Major Cities

Cascadia Falls: Cascadia Falls is located in the center of the island, about a day's journey by a flying creature from just about anywhere. Cascadia Falls is named so because of a massive waterfall where the city touches the range. It is the heart of Shadow Star, the Calacian New York, containing the palace of the four realms, and so is often the target of Chaosian attacks. Because of this, it has been built very defensively, nestled against steep, tall cliffs and ringed on the eastern side by a tall, thick wall. The sprawl of the city falls from west to east, with upper-class places located closer to the palace, which is at the westernmost point, and it is estimated between 30,000 and 50,000 people live within its walls, and this number often increases during wartime, when country refugees flee to the city. See the page on Cascadia for more information.
StarScape Mountain: StarScape is a long-dormant volcano, honeycombed with many passages and rooms carved out hundreds of years ago. It is located about a day's flight south of Cascadia. The main hall has a connecting canal with the ocean and a large freshwater spring. It contains a hatching cavern, but as many of the recent hatchings have taken place solely in Cascadia, it has been abandoned. as well as guild-hall branches of the ones in Cascadia. At night, from the peak, they say you can see every star in the heavens.
Kiridia: Kiridia is a smaller city north of Cascadia. It is almost at the very northern end of the Sierac Mountain Range and is a resting place for travelers over the mountains. They do a lot of mining and it is home to many dwarves and gnomes. The finest jewelry and weapons come from Kiridia.
Oceanica: Oceanica is home to seadogs, fishermen, bards, crooks and swindlers. It is a small sea town on the west coast of the island where the water is always warm. The only guild halls they have are the healers' guild, the Knights' Guild, containing a small branch of the Patrol holding about fifteen people, and a small branch of the bards' guild, specializing in sea songs and culture. They produce pearls and fish to be transported all over the island and are a good source of economy, and also control much of the trade of Shadow Star, both between Calacia and other spots on the island, and with outside traders from Mat'cel, Sacoridia and even Chaos itself.
Nivoh: A small, self-sufficient keep hidden in the peaks of the Sierac Mountains on the edge of a lake, protected from all sides by physical as well as magical barriers created by Irotana, the Mother Goddess. This is the headquarters of the Guardian orders, the Ctsu and the Maugh Klarns and the location of the Klarn training complex, a temple to the Goddess, and home to all Klarns as well as those folk living here to support the orders. Impossible to find unless you know where to look and heavily protected.

Elsewhere in the World

Mat'cel: A large continent to the west of Shadow Star Island, largely unexplored. As far as Shadowstarians have been able to determine, it is sparsely populated by small villages of humanoids, such as humans and Amaane.

Sacoridia (Taerone): A large continent to the east of Shadow Star, dominated by Chaos until the Ryuuki Wars. A huge marsh known as the Marsh of Sacor seeps across its eastern half.

Corisian Islands: A large island chain to the west of Shadow Star.

Temple Island: A small island hidden in a shallow part of the sea, where many sandbars are. In fact, it looks just like the sand bars unless the gods wish the person searching for it to see it.

Tears of Eshye: A small island chain off the western coast of Shadow Star.

Map Key and Other Features of Note

A large city.

The Sierac mountain range, running the length of Shadow Star.

A horse ranch.

A town.

A village.