The Province of Haravde shares a border with the Kingdom of Rivermark, and the Tomarrans have learned to be wary of the Cairnfolk of the Taela Thir. The Haravdans and Taelians have raided each other off and on for much of the region’s history, and both peoples have developed a grudging respect for the other’s capability for warfare and honorable behavior. In the more peaceful modern times, the two peoples trade regularly, and the border city of Sázatov in particular has grown wealthy on the regular and uninterrupted exchange of goods.
Haravde is a chilly and sprawling sea of grass dotted by large and moving islands of gnarled and magical forests. These Stranniklesa (STRAN-ick-LESS-a, singular Strannikles), or Creeping Woods, are a natural wonder, but not always a welcome one; the trees somehow crawl across the ground, with each forest moving a few tens of miles every year like a great herd of beasts migrating in slow motion. The Spirits who dwell within the trees are violently territorial, but over the centuries the Tomarrans have made bargains to be able to enter and harvest some of the forests’ resources in exchange for tribute and sacrifice to the guardian Spirits. No mortals live within the Woods; any who spend more than twelve hours or so inside are never seen again. There are few permanent settlements within the Province, as the forests will happily trample over and destroy any village or town that finds itself in their path; only those built within the mesas scattered across the plains are able to avoid the forests’ inexorable advances.
The grasslands of Haravde are fertile and well-watered, easily supporting large herds of bison, elk, sheep, and horses which are watched over by nomadic Kiths. The Haravdans have also developed a unique style of agriculture, setting up temporary farms in the pathways behind the Stranniklesa’s passage, taking advantage of the churned-up and highly fertile soil left behind by the wandering woods to grow their crops before they must inevitably move out of the way of another Strannikles’ path. The winters are cold and the winter winds can be brutally frigid to those caught out without shelter or proper winter clothing; like the peoples of the other northern Provinces, the Haravdans are well known for wearing lots of furs and sheepskins over their thick woolen coats and kaftans.
The folk of Haravde are an optimistic blend of carefree and wary, trained to keep an eye on the horizon for incoming threats but always maintaining a positive outlook towards the future. Their warriors constantly train not for any particular war or conflict, but so that they might be at their best whatever conflict comes. The Haravdan people in general have a reputation as being the most cheerful of all Tomarrans, seeming to believe that so long as they stay true to the Great Balance and their traditions the future will always be bright, no matter how dark the present may be. The sides of the mesa cities are painted with enormous murals of sunrises, blooming flowers, and flowing lines of gold, green, orange, and blue, symbolizing the Great Balance and the ever-blooming optimism that burns in burns in every Haravdan’s heart.