The Hearthlands

There are no great cities here. No ancient empires or legendary kingdoms. Just rolling fields and thick forests, small villages clustered around old stone wells, and roads that wind between holdings where families have worked the same land for generations.

This is the borderlands, where the wild places still hold sway. Where a good harvest is cause for celebration and a hard winter tests the bonds of community. Where everyone knows their neighbours' names, and strangers are met with equal parts curiosity and caution. Where the stories told around the hearth-fire aren't legends from distant ages—they're warnings about the woods beyond the fields, the ruins in the hills, and the things that move in the dark between settlements.

Life here is simpler, but not easier. The land provides, but it demands respect. Community is everything, because when trouble comes—whether it's raiders, famine, beasts from the forest, or stranger things—you'll need folk you can trust at your back.

You are bound to this place, whether by birth, choice, or circumstance. These are your people, this is your land, and when darkness gathers at the edges of the firelight, you'll be the one who stands between the hearth and the night.

Core Themes

• Community and Belonging - Relationships matter more than individual heroics
• Rustic Authenticity - Life is grounded in seasons, harvests, and simple truths
• Wild Places - Nature is both provider and danger
• Earned Heroism - No chosen ones or destiny, just ordinary people doing what's needed
• Small Stakes, Big Heart - Saving a village matters as much as saving kingdoms

Questions to Explore

• What threats emerge from the untamed lands?
• How do isolated communities survive and thrive?
• What old traditions and knowledge still hold power?
• When does the outside world intrude on the borderlands?
• What does it mean to protect home and hearth?