Fiction:The Firmament/Ogrelands

"Never a good day when you have to pass through the Ogrelands. The land is worthless and the natives are anything but friendly... look like humans, but are twice your size and aren't beyond eating you alive. Oh yes, you can find tribes of ogres pretty much everywhere in the damn continent, but this is where they all came from."

- Gusthiz Ietho, lizardfolk statesman

The Ogrelands are a region of badlands located at the central reaches of Dryadala. The homeland of the infamous ogre race, who live scattered across the land in fractured tribes, it is considered a hostile place to travel through due to its harsh climate and unsavory inhabitants.

History
During ancient times, the Ogrelands were sparsely scouted by the ancestors of the high elves, though their people did not live there due to it being considered uninhabitable by their people. The first records of the ogres date back from the days of the Great Eondrassana War between Eondrassana and Druacatakh, where the orcish horde skirmished with what they called 'badlands giants' who did not allow them to venture further south. It is believed these ancestral ogres were scattered across the land by these fights with the orcs, which has led to their people being found across all corners of Dryadala in the modern day.

Geography
The Ogrelands are a large extension of badlands which border the Sea of Sand. It neighbours Merovaren to the west, Arkhanset to the south and Aynach to the east, with the mountainrange known as the Starving Vale being a notorious landmark which makes up much of the region. The Ogrelands are known for its hoodoos, which are prominent near the base of the mountains and where ogres tend to congregate.

Government
The Ogrelands are not an unified nation, and likewise, no true countries consider it one. Hundreds of ogre tribes thrive in the region, and each dictates their leadership by whoever is the strongest and wealthiest among their tribesfolk. Often, these individuals rule through fear and are only ever challenged through duels to the death. Most tribes are at least partially nomadic in nature due to the Ogrelands' lack of natural resources forcing them to move to richer regions when they begin running low on food. The most powerful chieftain of the Ogrelands is Nugkroc Gorepunch of the Starcrusher tribe, the self-proclaimed "Great Chieflord" and ruler of the region, a title he has maintained by devouring all who attempted to wrestle it off of him.

Religion
Due to the primitive and violent nature of ogrekind, the worship of demon lords is notoriously rampant across the Ogrelands. The ogres' vile patron, Kurgram, is by the far the most worshipped deity of the Ogrelands, closely followed by Druacath and Hamoilles. The presence of Xitannoth in the region leads many of the ogres to worship him as a fearsome monster to be honoured by making sure no food ever rots away, and in return, the giant vulture demigod enjoys terrorizing the ogres and eating them in order to intimidate them into continuing their reverence.

Inhabitants
As their name implies, the Ogrelands hold the world's largest population of ogres. Beyond them, the few rivers of the region are known to be inhabited by crocodilians, who are among the only things the ogres tend to avoid whenever possible. Tribes of goblins also run rampant in the Ogrelands, either waging war on the ogre tribes or being conquered and enslaved by them.

Relations
As far as international laws go, the Ogrelands are technically unclaimed territory, though no nation has ever managed to take them due to the extremely heavy ogre presence; should their territory be under the threat of conquest, the tribes unite into a monstrous, angered horde to push the invaders away. Foreign travellers, such as merchants and explorers, must take caution when threading through the Ogrelands, for the ogres see them as easy pickings. They also launch infrequent raids to their neighbours whenever their resources run low or if they simply desire a fight.


 * Positive relations
 * N/A


 * Ambivalent relations
 * Skitterfall - Secretive deals of food, slaves and weapons have been done between the Starcrushers and Clan Gladius over the recent years.


 * Negative relations
 * Arkhanset - The ogres raid the land of Isem-Ankharset regularly, to prove their courage and might against its warriors.
 * Aynach - Ogres have raided the borders of Aynach for centuries, always eager to pick up a fight against their knights.
 * Eondrassana - Though the ogres love the taste of elf flesh, the wood elves are adept at cutting the brutes down.
 * Merovaren - Merovaren is the ogres' favorite raiding spot, as their caravans are always filled with things the ogres like to steal.

Notable inhabitants

 * Starcrusher Tribe
 * Nugkroc Gorepunch the Feared - chieftain of the Starcrushers and self-proclaimed "Great Chieflord" of the Ogrelands


 * Deities
 * Xitannoth - one of the forces of nature