All of the lands west of the Zerua Mendi and north of the Bikialurra mountains used to be one kingdom, Galicia. The last king died over 200 years ago and the kingdom splintered in civil war. The Grand Duchy of Mendedalde was the southeastern province of Galicia. It has been independent since the end of the kingdom and the ducal line has ruled for the last 180 years. Mendedalde is currently facing the possibility of war with its northern and southwestern neighbors as they both are claiming to be the rightful king of all Galicia.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:13, Thu 14 Apr 2016.

Aizto pass lies in the southeast corner or Mendedalde. The mountains of the Zerua Mendi run north from the pass and the Bikialurra mountains run west and southwest.

The great desert of Zabala Mortu lies to the east of Hai-Itzal and the Zerua Mendi. Caravans cross the Zabala Mortu to the fabled spice lands of Rajastan.

To the south and southeast lies Iresten Lur, the cursed desert home to haunted ruins and fierce monsters. Rumor has it that magic works oddly in Iresten Lur.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:18, Mon 03 Apr 2023.

Aizto pass lies between the mountains of the Zerua Mendi to the north and the Bikialurra mountains to the west and southwest.

It's shaped like a sideways Y with the two forks to the west. It is about five miles long west to east, two miles wide at the eastern end, and six miles north to south on the western end. The western end is split by a craggy mesa that is the beginning of the western branch of the Bikialurra mountains.

The northwestern fork opens out to the rest of Mendedalde and the Urzuri river runs into it from the north. The Urzuri is not navigable except in short stretches. The smaller southwest fork leads to the Baserriko valley which supplies most of the food for Hai-Itzal. The higher elevations of the valley are forested and home to several elven communities. The Tziki river drains the valley and runs into the Urzuri in the pass. The Tziki river (and the Urzuri downstream - east - of the Tziki) is navigable for smaller river boats all the way to Hai-Itzal.

The northern wall of the pass is a sheer cliff ranging from 300 to 800 feet in height. The southern wall 200 to 600 feet on the western half, dropping to 150 to 300 feet on the eastern half, and only about 100 feet along the southern edge of Ilunur lake.

Ilunur lake lies at the eastern end of the pass against the southern cliffs. It is about a mile and a half from west to east. It is only a quarter of a mile north to south between the city and the cliffs but widens out to almost a mile southeast of the city.

Across the eastern end of the pass lies the Wall.  Seemingly made of a single unbroken slab of stone it is eighty feet wide and runs arrow straight from the northern cliff south to the narrows of Ilunur lake and 60 feet further out into the lake. The center is 40 feet wide, 25 feet high, and rises in 5 foot steps to both sides (east and west), reaching to 45 feet high. There are five openings in the Wall. One close to each end, one in the exact center and one halfway between the center and each end. Each opening is 40 feet wide, 15 feet tall in the center with the roof sloping down to 10 feet high at the sides. There no surviving original towers or gates at the openings but gates and gate-towers have been added.

At the northern end of the Wall the dwarfhold of Zamek lies inside the northern cliff. The city of Hai-Itzal is at the southern end around the southern gate and along the Ilunur lake on the western side of the Wall.

Hai-Itzal sits at the eastern end of the Aizto pass on the eastern border of the Grand Duchy of Mendedalde. The people in the capital and the western cities of the duchy consider it to be rather provincial.

The city is bordered on the east by the Wall, and on the south and southeast by the Ilunur lake. A modest wall on the west and north separates the city from the floor of the Aizto pass. The Urzuri river runs from the northwest to the southeast and empties into the Ilunur lake.

"No law beyond the Wall." There is no legal authority with jurisdiction east of the Wall. So anything goes and you're on your own.

An Explorers Badge can be acquired. This exempts you from paying taxes on goods brought into the city but does subject you to call up as part of the militia. (Militia service applies to anyone living in the city anyway).
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:50, Tue 25 Dec 2018.

This message was last edited by the GM at 20:12, Thu 23 Mar 2023.