Northern Reaches, 8 miles per hex

The landscape of the Northern Reaches is a tilted plane sloping down from the high southwestern mountains to the low northeastern coast and offshore islands. The climate ranges from a cool, moist, maritime-temperate clime along the coast, to a cold subarctic climate in the higher elevations of the southern and western mountain ranges.

About one-fourth of the land is suitable for agriculture, most of it in the Ostland Islands and along the mainland coasts, rivers, and fjords. Another one-quarter of the land is only suitable for grazing, primarily in the mainland interior of the foothills. Half of the land is raw wilderness entirely unsuitable for human habitation. The wilderness includes regions of rugged alpine, dense forest, and marshy terrain.

from GAZ7 The Northern Reaches, by Ken Rolston

Map (December 2020)

Sources

• GAZ7 The Northern Reaches (1988) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
• X1 The Isle of Dread (1981) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
• GAZ6 The Dwarves of Rockhome (1988) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)
• TM1 The Western Countries (1989)
• TM2 The Eastern Countries (1989)
• Rules Cyclopedia (1991) (PDF at DriveThruRPG)

Secondary Sources

• The Complete Domains of Ostland 1st Ed by Jacob Skytte
• Ramelin Mystara Ostland by Ignacio Ramos

Comments

This map combines the colour maps with descriptions and black and white maps given in the text of GAZ7. Additionally, it shows the forests of the region as predominantly evergreen, as described in GAZ7 and shown on the Wrath of the Immortals map.

Update 25th March 2018: Pages 13-14 of the GAZ7 Players Book list the clans and dominions of the Northern Reaches, including the name of the settlement where each clan has its Great Hall. Many of these are already marked on the map as towns; the remainder have now been marked as villages. Jacob Skytte’s excellent work on Ostland already included these, and Ramelin Mystara also incorporated them into Ostland in the same locations, so the Atlas references these works in placing Ostland’s villages. Soderfjord and Vestland villages have been placed in logical positions within their domains.

Also of note are the revised rivers: the Landersfjord and Vestfjord rivers have been revised to reflect their original locations on X1’s map.

Notes

• Angstrom — Ostland’s most north-easterly village was labelled as this on TM2.  However, GAZ7’s text and map both refer to it as Storm Bay.  This mistake likely crept in because the Storm Bay label on GAZ7’s map was placed a whole hex away, over the sea.  But the styling of the type indicates it is definitely a settlement label, not a sea label.  The updated map therefore reverts to Storm Bay.
• Bakkedyb — added from Jacob Skytte’s Complete Domains of Ostland.
• Battle of Bridenfjord — incorrectly labelled as the Battle of Bridleford on GAZ7’s map. Both GAZ7’s text and TM2 confirm the correct label.
• Coastal Waters — many Gazetteers didn’t show shallow and deep water. TM2 showed coastal waters for the first time for the Northern Reaches.
• Dominion borders — neither GAZ7’s poster map nor TM2 show the dominion borders for Ostland, Vestland and Soderfjord, although they are mapped out within GAZ7’s DM Book. (Some printings of the Gazetteer did not have numbers on the Ostland map, but others did.) Ostland is detailed on pages 10-11, Vestland on 14-15, and Soderfjord on 18-19.
• Forests near Wilmik — two forest hexes, one heavy and one light, shown on GAZ7’s map were changed to clear hexes on TM2. This change continued in the Rules Cyclopedia maps. The Atlas retains the original map’s forests.
• Fosterhed — this domain of Vestland is spelled “Fosterhead” in GAZ7 DM Book page 15’s table, but “Fosterhed” on page 14 of the Player Book. The Atlas assumes “Fosterhed” is correct, in line with another province, Namahed.
• Gudhjem — added from Jacob Skytte’s Complete Domains of Ostland.
• Havskum — added from Jacob Skytte’s Complete Domains of Ostland.
• Hex Art error — a hex on Noslo Island, four hexes due north of Zeaburg, had a forest symbol on a hills background colour on GAZ7’s map. TM2 corrected this error, replacing it with a standard light forest hex.
• Kobolds — two labels for these humanoids in the Hardanger Mountain Range were not shown on TM2, despite appearing on GAZ7’s map.
• Landersfjord — this name is shared by the fjord itself, a river, a town, and a dominion.  However, GAZ7’s map has the river taking a sharp bend south from the fjord instead of going west to meet the town.  Instead, the town sits on the river that feeds Marsfjord.  But GAZ7 DM Book page 17a-b states: “Landersfjord: This frontier and trade town on the Overland Trade Route is also a deep-water port on the Landersfjord River.”  Moreover, reference to X1’s Known World map shows that the rivers here were obscured by labels on the original map.  The Atlas concludes that Landersfjord River should indeed flow into Landersfjord itself, and the town should also be situated on that river.  The updated map therefore cuts Marsjord off at Haverfjord, instead connecting Landersfjord river and fjord.  See also the Klintest River entry for Rockhome’s updated map.
• Mountain names — TM2 added a new label for Odharjokull (Alt. 15,750 ft.) in the Hardanger Range, Soderfjord.
• Norstedt — added from Jacob Skytte’s Complete Domains of Ostland.
• Osterslo Island — this island is labelled as “Osterlo Island” on TM2. Although this is not necessarily a mistake (GAZ7’s text uses both names), the GAZ7 map uses “Osterslo”, which is in keeping with the names of the other Ostland islands. The Atlas therefore uses “Osterslo” as the correct name.
• Rhoona borders — the borders marked in GAZ7 suggest that this domain may be defined by the rivers to the north and east.
• Settlements on terrain hexes — GAZ7’s map put a number of towns on top of forest and forested hill symbols, rather than the usual coloured hex of the appropriate type.
• Shipping Lanes and Reefs — these were all added in TM2. GAZ7 shows none at all.
• Skovstad — added from Jacob Skytte’s Complete Domains of Ostland.
• Sodervirk Wall — GAZ7 DM Book page 19 references this wall under construction in “the southeast hill region”.
• Sorteklippe Monastery — added from Jacob Skytte’s Complete Domains of Ostland.
• Storm Bay — this village was mislabelled Angstrom on TM2, likely due to confusion caused by “Storm Bay” appearing over an actual bay on GAZ7’s map. See Angstrom for more details.
• Steingard — added from Jacob Skytte’s Complete Domains of Ostland.
• Vestfjord Gap — this label was missing from TM2.
• Villages — other than a few token villages, GAZ7’s map does not feature a lot of villages.  However, pages 13-14 of the GAZ7 Players Book list the clans and dominions of the Northern Reaches, including the name of the settlement where each clan has its Great Hall. Many of these are already marked on the map as towns; the remainder have been marked as villages. Jacob Skytte’s excellent work on Ostland already included these, and Ramelin Mystara also incorporated them into Ostland in the same locations, so the Atlas references these works in placing Ostland’s villages. Soderfjord and Vestland villages have been placed in logical positions within their domains.
• Vinterdal — added from Jacob Skytte’s Complete Domains of Ostland.

References

1. Ostland at the Vaults of Pandius
2. Soderfjord at the Vaults of Pandius
3. Vestland at the Vaults of Pandius
4. Northern Reaches map thread at The Piazza

Thanks to:

Jesper Andersen (Spellweaver), Mike (metal), Sheldon Morris (Hugin), Ignacio Ramos, Jacob Skytte, Andrew Theisen (Cthulhudrew)

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