Spitzbergen

Spitzbergen is the spine of a massive submerged mountain range in the middle of the great southern ocean. It is home to several communities of enterprising Ros humans, some reclusive dragons and drakes, and various cold-loving and heat-loving native creatures.

Geography and lifeforms
The weather in Spitzbergen is often pretty extreme - "ice and fire" isn't too far from the truth. The islands' landmass is small and far from most other large continents, so weather patterns can change rapidly. Dragonheart and several of the smaller islands are still actively volcanic, which means geothermal heating is pretty common in dwellings along the island chain.

Tussock grasses, tundra, shaggy lichen and squat, salt-hardy shrubs feature heavily in the landscape. Spitzbergen is known for its alien, baobab-like trees - the only really large plant that grows here. They store rainwater in massive fleshy trunks and have succulent-like leaves with vivid metallic flowers. Firebrand bushes grow near volcanic areas: their branches are stained yellow with encrusted sulfur and their leaves are a rusty colour. Many islands feature areas of both permafrost and hot volcanic rock; this leaves the soil broken and rough. As a result, only goats and a few hardy camelids tend to thrive as livestock.

Spitzbergen's native creatures include several species of drake, hordes of seabirds, the Fenric (a small white-furred fox) and the Silvereye, a large armoured coelacanth-like fish. Salamanders dwell on some of the islands: these amphibious lizards have evolved to cope with saltwater and that shelter in hot springs and volcanic mud. Salamander leather is prized for its damage-resistant properties and delicate texture. Fenric tails often adorn nobles' vestments on the mainland.

Drakes versus Dragons
Spitzbergen's drakes come in almost every colour under the sun; they mostly eat fish, though they will attack goats and birds in leaner years. Drakes tend to have two hindlegs, a long tail and very short forelegs. The dragons of Spitzbergen appear to have settled there from Voyivod and the deep south, and aren't directly related to the drakes, treating them more like pets or familiars. Young dragons can be told apart from drakes by their long forelegs, intelligence, magical aptitude and breath weapon.

Spitzbergen's place in the world
Much like Voyivod, Spitzbergen's position near the bottom of the world places it under magical and geological strain. The islands are often rocked by small earthquakes. A massive, jutting slab of continental shelf to the very south of the island causes the sea to cascade downward in a bizarre oceanic waterfall formation known as The Drop. The whole area is highly volcanic, featuring undersea flood basalt and lava formations, and makes a whole section of sea very difficult to navigate.

Travel distances from Spitzbergen to the Terranuovan continents are mostly long - except for the journey to Ros or Eastern Voyivod. However, when you cohabitate with dragons, it gets a little easier to maintain contact with other countries.

Politically, Spitzbergen comes under the dominion of Rosland, though in practice this doesn't mean much to the local humans. Dragon worship is such a vital part of island life that mainland affairs tend to come second to the interests of the most influential dragons. Voyivod influence is another fact of life - Spitzbergen trades heavily with Eastern Voyivod and has elected to keep that country's secrets well hidden in return for its patronage.

Dragonheart
An active volcano, the beating heart of Spitzbergen both geologically and politically. Here be dragons, specifically the kind that enjoy taking lava baths. On the outer rim of Dragonheart, Freybyen is the main human settlement. Houses and jetties line the western seabord of the entire island, and there are smaller fishing huts and tanneries to the east, all using the heat of the volcano as a power source.

North of Dragonheart but south of Nordtoppen is where most of the Salamanders live.

Nordtoppen/The Dragon's Teeth
Many small pointy islands to the north of Spitzbergen. Nordtoppen is an especially large craggy island, pocked with dragon caverns. The less important dragons of Spitzbergen often reside here, and there are plenty of fishing villages dotted among the Teeth. Ros fishers often use drakes to help them find shoals or avoid reefs.

Drakensbard
This is the southern part of Spitzbergen, flatter than the other islands but also colder and full of magical strangeness. This is the best place to hunt Fenric foxes.

Svalfjoert
The waters between Drakensbard and The Drop - an eerie place, not suitable for fishing, said to be full of kraken and other unpleasant critters. At times, the salt spray from The Drop hits the morning sun to create incredible rainbows.