Hinterlands

The Hinterlands
The Hinterlands is the harsh rocky land on the southern threshold of the Black Forest of Gamb. It has never experienced widespread settlement, in part due to the difficulty of the environment there, but also due to its proximity to the Black Forest which teems with goblins and other dangers.

The Black Forest itself is situated on a large plateau, the Hinterlands then a gradual decline of rocky moorland. Shallow becks streak the landscape, snaking their way downwards, draining into the Poloy River.

Humans
Humans first began settling the region long before the arrival of the Faun in Tol. Due to the limited availability of arable land, these remained relatively small villages, better described as extended homesteads.

The pull of empty, unclaimed land has always spurned human expansion, even to the Hinterlands. However, it was the discovery of gold washing down through the many becks and streams that emboldened humans to stay, in spite of the many dangers. Panning within these streams became the mainstay of work, alongside tin mining which, whilst less lucrative, was certainly a steadier lifestyle.

These human inhabitants of the Hinterlands endured irregular night raids by goblins for centuries. Goblins rarely looked to actively kill humans; they were far more interested in pillaging food stores, livestock, and metal weapons. They were infrequent, and not enough to deter the hardy peoples who had made this their home.

Goblins
Although Imp-Goblins were known to live throughout the Hinterlands, covertly scavenging from humans, Goblin presence there was very limited. Humans frequently made expidutions to the Black Forest's treeline seeking wood, so most goblins were hesitant to make their homes too close. The mutual fear created a stand off, equilibrium, that lasted for hundreds of years, as goblins were content to stay in the forest, and humans outside of it.

Goblins arrived en masse in the Hinterlands much, much later. Driven from their Black Forest homes, they arrived in increasingly greater numbers.

The goblin name for this land is Taiguan-a-Pata which translates as 'Crest of Taigua' (Taigua being the goblin name for the Black Forest).