Editing Daily Life Under the Shadow (section)

===The Loss of Knowledge===
The forces of the Shadow in the North raided and
burned, killing all who opposed them, and laid waste to the
land. They destroyed whole cities, wiped entire cultures from
the face of the earth, and plunged the world into a dark age
out of which there is little hope of crawling. The legates of the
Order of Shadow have continued to drive this descent into
darkness by outlawing literacy, writing, and science, arresting
or killing outright those found with books or teaching others
to read.
With the destruction of the accumulated knowledge of
centuries and the brutal punishment of anyone caught pursuing
such knowledge, the Order of Shadow has forced the
human lands into a pit of ignorance and sealed it over with
fear, suspicion, and hate. Trade routes have been broken and
the flow of information severed along with the flow of goods.
Without the natural exchange of ideas and knowledge, the
human lands have fragmented into isolated pockets of mistrust
and prejudice. Art has ceased to exist and only the basest
of necessary crafts continue. The common tongue, once
widespread, is fragmenting into incomprehensible regional
dialects, further alienating humans from each other. The sciences
of alchemy, healing, and metalworking stagnate and
slowly revert to more primitive forms.
Now, even if the fey were free to openly walk the land,
they would find nothing but fear and prejudice awaiting them
in the human lands. Suspicious peasants and fearful city
dwellers alike would hand them over to the legates’ spies,
with no respect for the memory that their peoples once stood
together against the Shadow.
Even in the lands of elves and dwarves, where books
and literacy are cherished legacies, there has been an
inevitable academic decline. Under the reign of the Shadow,
trade with the fey is punishable by death and therefore only
vital goods are smuggled into their lands. Unfortunately, little
science or philosophy comes with them. As one by one
settlements near the borders of their lands fall to the Night
Kings’ raids, great thinkers are murdered and libraries of irreplaceable
tomes are burned. One idea, one thought, one story,
or one scroll at a time, the collective enlightenment of the
world is falling prey to the fire and hate of the Shadow.

====Occupied Erenland====
The Shadow has divided Erenland into 22 districts, creating
a system of regional viceroys that have their own troops
to enforce the laws, root out resistance groups, and ensure the
smooth flow of supplies, slaves, and sacrifices. The viceroys
are responsible for vast areas, much of which is sparsely populated
and not easily accessible. The major communities all
have permanent garrisons and the old trade roads and navigable
rivers are well patrolled, with fortified guard posts at fairly
regular intervals. Minor roads, game trails, and lesser
rivers and streams are rarely patrolled, however, due mostly
to the sheer scope of each garrison’s patrol zone and the limited
returns to be gained. Indeed, the vast distances between
population centers and major roads, especially in the Dornish
north, are the major reason why the resistance has survived
for a century against overwhelming odds.
Not all humans are enemies of Izrador; many are active
collaborators. The Order of Shadow, for instance, is almost
exclusively human. In addition, thousands of humans serve in
the Night King Jahzir’s armies or as guards for legates, as
loyal retainers of the traitor princes and false sussars, and in
mercenary units. While each racial group accuses the others
of providing the greatest percentage of traitors, the truth is
that Dorns, Erenlanders, and Sarcosans have all turned willingly
to the service of the dark god. Many of these are not evil
warlords or malevolent rogues, but rather simple craftsmen,
farmers, and woodsmen who betray their friends and neighbors
out of fear or desperation. Collaborators can appear anywhere
and in any guise. The old healer that acts as the local
midwife is the same woman that identifies children who bear
the spark of magic to the local legate. The neighbor that has
shared bread for years reports blasphemies against Izrador to
see former friends hung. The fear that anyone could secretly
worship or serve the dark god has sapped the will of most of
the subjugated people of Eredane to resist the Shadow.

====Northern Erenland====
While all of the traditionally Dornish lands have been
ravaged and plundered over the last 100 years, there remain
vast distances in which to avoid the gaze of the Shadow or the
wrath of his legions. Much of this area has been raped of what
resources it has to offer, however, and is cursed by foul
weather, the restless souls of the Lost, or dangerous creatures
that have followed the orc hordes down from the north. The
region north and east of Bastion, though covered in tall sword
grass and subject to the full fury of the winter storms from the
north, has few orc garrisons, and those are tied to key villages
and old Fortress Wall keeps. In the barren wilds north of Steel
Hill, nearly feral Dorn tribes subsist on wild boro herds and
scavenge what wild roots and edible vegetation they can
gather, and may never see an orc legion. While marginally
free, the Dorns of these areas live such miserable and harsh
existences that one might question whether slavery would be
better.
Farther south, in the more fertile lands, most of the
Dornish villages are under the Shadow’s control. A few, isolated
by dense forests or extremely rugged terrain, have
escaped the Shadow’s notice. The only other free areas in
which the Dorns cower are along the eaves of Erethor and in
the foothills of the Kaladruns. There, with sanctuaries close at
hand, the Dorns can mount raids and hide refugees, building
villages in isolated clearings or forgotten valleys.

====Central Erenland====
Along the Pelluria, in the heartland of the shattered
Kingdom of Erenland, the Shadow’s grip is absolute. From
orc infested Fallport in the west past Highwall, Port Esben,
and Davindale, and even to the fearsomely garrisoned town
of Chandering, the Shadow dominates all facets of life. Only
the few fishing villages built in marshy areas or without easily
accessible landing spots can avoid the tithe and therefore
live with marginally less fear. Along the southern coast, the
Shadow’s grip loosens. Free human and elven villages still
dot the coastline in the Green March, but with the ongoing
Shadow offensive in Erethor their days are numbered. Farther
east, rumors persist that the leaders of House Baden escaped
the fall of the city and still fight a hidden battle against those
who occupy their city, trying to provide some protection from
the worst abuses of the occupation. The once numerous villages
that farmed the rich land around Baden’s Bluff are now
ruined ghost towns, inhabited by those too afraid or too weak
to leave. The only other city on the southern shore, Erenhead,
is controlled by the orcs, who use the human population as
slaves to offload supplies for the wars. The plains around
Erenhead are covered in slave-worked farms and pastures to
provide for the growing garrison and the massive numbers of
orcs who pass through the city.

====Southern Erenland====
Life in the Sarcosan lands is far freer than in the north,
as the densely populated major cities have smaller mixed orc
and human garrisons that are nominally under the command
of the false sussars. Alvedara and Sharuun still have vibrant
markets, and the people don’t have the lean and hungry look
so prevalent in Dornish lands. Most of the great plains are
still the realm of the daring freeriders and the pitifully few
remaining bands of nomadic halflings. Small sailing vessels
and hundreds of smaller fishing boats still sail the Gulf of
Sorshef and the Pale Ocean. Some boats risk crossing the
churning waters and the Shadow’s naval patrols to reach
Stormhold and Asmadar. The one blight on the landscape is
the city of Cambrial, home to the Night King Sunulael.
Cambrial is a city of the dead, where the living stay close to
their homes, shutter their windows, and pray that the unliving
are well fed by their master. Travel within 50 miles of the city
is extremely dangerous and only fools or the truly desperate
go anywhere near it.
While the Shadow’s armies occupy much of Eredane,
the war against the fey and the human resistance continues.
To support the war, an almost constant stream of orcs, goblinkin,
and the foul spawn of the breeding pits flows from the
frozen north into the northern Kaladruns, through the
Highhorns into the Veradeen, or down the Ishensa River and
across the Pelluria to join the Fey Killer’s armies in southern
Erenland. Outside the Ishensa River valley, the ports on the
Pelluria, and the northern Eren Plains, orcs are far less
numerous and less involved in hunting down resistance
groups.