Nova Vaasa (NO-va VAH-sa), situated on a plateau on the southeastern Core, is a land dominated by sweeping grasslands and crushing urban poverty. The plains are rocky and trackless, but the grasses that cover them are short, tamed by the constant grazing of horses. The wind whistles eerily across the steppes, which are dotted with rocky uplands and copses. For the most part, however, the domain is exceptionally flat, stretching from the Balinok Mountains in the west to the Nocturnal Sea in the east. Crumbling stone ruins and humble horse ranches break up the landscape. Broad rivers meander across Nove Vaasa's steppes, cutting deep gorges through the plateau where they reach the Nocturnal Sea. The domain enjoys access to numerous important waterways, including the Dnar, the Borchava, the Ivlis, and the Saniset. The eastern coast is rugged and adequate natural ports are rare; the flat plateau drops down to the treacherous bluffs and narrow, rocky beaches.

Near settlements, the plains are cleared for vast farms needed to feed the domain's swelling population. The cities are nightmarish scenes of dreadful urban squalor. The streets throng with beggars, and the ditches are piled with refuse and plague-bloated corpses. The press of people and beasts of burden is positively suffocating. Buildings are constructed of reddish beige brick on foundations of rough gray stone, with tiny windows and gabled roofs of golden-yellow shingles. Nova Vaasa's weather can be brutal during the winter, but spring always brings mild warmth and wildflowers.

Major Settlements

Arbora (pop. 4,500), Bergovitsa (pop. 6,600), Egertus (pop. 3,800), Kantora (pop. 16,500), Liara (pop. 2,600).

The People

Population: Humans (91%), Halflings (5%), Gnomes (3%), Other (1%).

Languages: Vaasi*, Halfling, Gnome, Balok, Darkonese.

Religions: The Lawgiver.

Nova Vaasans are rugged people of average stature with wide hips and stout limbs gained through generations of horsemanship. Their facial features are distinctive, featuring angular chins, prominent cheekbones, and wide, full-lipped mouths. Skin color is generally fair to ruddy, but Nova Vaasans with pale olive or sallow skin aren't unusual. Eyes are commonly dark green or gray. Hair color ranges from dirty blond to black, though darker colors are most common. Women grow their straight hair exceptionally long, often past their waists, and young girls work these tresses into two long braids. Men, meanwhile, prefer to keep their hair cut to just below the shoulder. Men of all stations grow long mustaches, which they wax into stiff curls.

Nova Vaasan clothing varies greatly with social class. The garb of commoners is simple and often poorly maintained. Men wear trousers and long shirts, sometimes with a vest. Women wear blouses with culottes and often cover their heads with kerchiefs. Commoner clothing is never dyed, only natural dirty white or brown, and is patched repeatedly. Most commoners wear cloth wrappings instead of proper footwear. Aristocrats stand out from the unwashed masses in their brightly colored, meticulous vestments. Male nobles wear flared riding breeches with tall black boots and finely tailored coats trimmed with lace. Most men wear neckerchiefs bearing their family crests, and felt caps are popular among older men. Women go about in velvet riding skirts with black boots and billowing blouses. Noblewomen never wear hats, instead wrapping themselves in gauzy scarves trimmed with tinkling bells and coins. Clothing dyed in vibrant shades of red, blue, and purple predominates, and stripes and spiral patterns are quite popular. Jewelry is usually limited to thick bracelets and earrings.

The class divide in Nova Vaasa is wide and deeply entrenched. The poor make up the vast majority of the population. These people are truly destitute and miserable, afflicted by hunger, disease, and crime. The aristocracy, meanwhile, is comparatively tiny in size but extremely wealthy. Five families - the Bolshniks, Chekivs, Hiregaards, Rivtoffs, and Vistins - own nearly all property in the domain. A very small middle class has begun to emerge in recent years, composed of civil servants, merchants, and underworld types. Despite its wealth and size, Nova Vaasa has the feeling of a society on the brink of decline. Vice and violent crime are rampant in the overpopulated cities, while the nobles become wealthier each day on the backs of the poor. The commoners are concerned only with surviving and drowning their misery in vices. Most nobles dwell in their own arrogant, anodyne world, believing that commoners are subhuman beasts of burden to be used and abused at whim. Surprisingly, rebellion and unrest are unheard of, due primarily to the doctrines of the Lawgiver's church.

The Law

Nova Vaasa is a hereditary aristocracy. Prince Othmar Bolshnik, the patriarch of the Bolshnik family, currently rules Nova Vaasa. Traditionally, Nove Vaasa's leadership passed from the head of one noble family to the next every five years. Unfortunately, Othmar has not relinquished his mantle in over twenty-five years, a fact that has caused undeniable tension among the five ruling families. Such is Othmar's military and political power, however, that none dares attempt to oust him.

Othmar is a vain and ruthless ruler focused on cementing the Bolshnik's dominance among the noble families and maintaining the status quo in Nova Vaasan society at large. Each noble family governs its lands independently, however, and Othmar only rarely steps in to collect tribute. Nobles rule harshly and without pity, though the Hiregaard family treats the commoners in its lands relatively fairly. For the most part, law and justice don't exist in Nova Vaasan society as they do in other realms; there is no recourse for those who have been wronged criminally or privately. Nobles care nothing for issues that don't directly involve their interests. Thus, the streets and plains of Nova Vaasa are largely lawless. Settlements have only weak civic government, run by those who have proven themselves loyal to the local family. Each noble family maintains a small private army that includes cavalry, though the Bolshnik forces are by far the largest and best equipped.

Othmar's only rival as the master of Nova Vaasa isn't a fellow noble at all, but a mysterious criminal overlord known only as Malken. This shadowy figure is rumored to control all that occurs in the underworld of Liara and a good deal of illicit activity elsewhere in the domain as well. Malken is practically a bogeyman to the poor of Nova Vaasa. In the darkest alleyways of the domain, it is Malken's word, not Othmar's, that is the law.

Trade and Diplomacy

Resources: Wheat, corn, millet, barley, oats, rye, cabbage, beets, potatoes, apples, pears, sunflowers, hemp, flax, horses, chickens, cod, herring, wine, gypsum, amber, chalk, salt, leather goods, furniture, ships.

Coinage: Bridle (gp), spur (sp), horseshoe (cp).

Nova Vaasa is a significant economic power, though the wealth generated from its resources benefits only the five noble families. Thus, while trade with other lands expands, the crushing poverty that most Nova Vaasans endure only gets worse. Gambling, liquor, and flophouses have also begun to take their toll on the domain's productivity. Under the direction of Malken, underworld activity has become organized, and it may be only a matter of time until the nobles begin to feel its pinch.

Most trade is conducted with Barovia, Tepest, Hazlan, and the islands of the Nocturnal Sea. Demand for Nova Vaasan goods, however, spurs merchants to trek through the Balinoks each spring from the western Core. Nova Vaasa's most famous exports are its horses, prized throughout The Core for their strength, speed, obedience, and beauty. Although the noble families have legendary stables and lineages, the finest horses seem to come from tiny rural ranches.

Magic

Due to the squalor and misery of most of the population, Nova Vaasa doesn't have a tradition of magical practices.

Characters

Nova Vaasan heroes are usually clerics, fighters, or rogues.

Nova Vaasan heroes begin play with proficiency in firearms and black powder weapons.