The “northern shield” of Rivermark, Siatha Cre’achar (see-AH-thuh CREE-ah-KAR) has long had to deal with raids by Skaldings, and the coast features many castles, watchtowers, and other fortifications meant to dissuade raiding parties. While the land here is slightly hillier than the central valley of the Kingdom, the hills are gentle enough that it’s still very easy to farm. Rivers lead down the southern sides of the hill country to the Rothlin, allowing for the southern parts of the Province to easily trade with the rest of the nation, but those living on the northern, coastal regions must either trek up the hills or risk sailing along the coast around to the mouth of the Rothlin in San D’Louves in order to get their goods to a larger market.
The bedrock of the Province is host to a number of seams of silver, gold, and Mithryl, which has let the Province prosper despite its relative distance from the Rothlin’s heart. However, the riches of the earth also drew the greedy eyes of other Clanns and the far-off Skaldings, leading to the region being fought over intensely by multiple different kingdoms throughout its history. Even now, the MacCaibe and Leòideach Clanns are locked in a (mostly) bloodless struggle to see who will become the Duke of the Province and control its considerable mineral wealth.
The people of the Siatha are a hard-bitten folk, made up of miners, farmers, fisherfolk, and soldiers who have grown up in a land that has seen war and conflict for generations, and who still aren’t convinced that the relative peace of the last few decades wasn’t just a mirage. Though they appreciate the glimmering treasures of the earth, they also find equal beauty and worth in a strong stone fortress, having been taught since birth that gold and gems can only remain in your possession if you are able to protect them properly. They take pride in their Province’s warrior traditions, in the fact that the Siatha has never once failed to come to the defense of the Kingdom since it was unified in the Second Millennium, though many are also slightly bitter about how they were sometimes left to suffer alone at the hands of Skalding raiders who didn’t pose a threat to the rest of the nation.