The North Coast of the Daarita Peninsula is often called the Karya Coast, the "Disputed Coast" — by tradition it is part of Mataga as the whole of the outer peninsula is; but the north coast has no University, and the ridge of mountains that runs down the center of the coast is steep and the few roads that cross it are unmaintained and unsafe.
Nor does Quumla have any great interest in this coast, beyond the occasional punishment of smugglers, pirates, and outlaws. The coast itself is rugged, and the waters rough. The few sheltered ports are often protected by deadly reefs and unpredictable waters. Of all the storm-swept lands of Quumla, the Karya Coast receives the worst of it.
At times one or the other of the Queendoms has attempted to subdue the Karya Coast, and for all that there are the ruins of two different attempts to establish University outposts, and the land and the waters are sharp with the bones of Quumla warriors. The land is fertile, the mountains rich with wealth, the sea teems with schools of fish, but none have found it profitable to bring the Karya Coast to heel.
Here you will find brigands, smugglers, pirates. Those who want not to be found.
In some of the fiercer courts, those who play the game of power and lose have been known to take their retirement in the Karya Coast. It is rumored that some of the more notorious of Queendoms-wide factions have their secret enclaves here. Too, the refugees from other planes and other worlds who find no welcome in the Queendoms have been known to carve out a life in the rough and rugged lands of Daarita North.
Without Law, but not Without Order
The Karya Coast is held to neither Mataga nor Quumla law, but neither is it a bloody free-for-all.
Pirate queens, chieftans, warlords, and beings of power protect their own valleys, towns, and ports. Relationships between these local powers can vary from leader to leader and from time to time as dramas drive some to alliance and others to fight over resources and matters of pride. Moreover, there often newcomers arriving to upset the precarious balance. All in all, however, there is little gained by mindless bloodshed, and adventurers and travelers can make their way from one "safer" locale to the next. The travel itself, however, is rarely safe. Travel by sea requires an expert captain with skilled and experienced sailors; the roads, such as they are, are rough and often pass through wilderness both environmental and metaphysical.
The Karya Coast is also thick with factions that ally common interests across localities, some of which are well organized, and some of which are loose affiliations at best.
The Free Township of Mahadasa
Something of an anomaly within the anomaly that is Karya is the Free Township of Mahadasa.
In the highlands, this town is situated in a sheltered valley with good clean water. It has layers of fortifications, physical and arcane. It grew up at the crossroads of the Highland Road and the Svaanita Pass. The Highland Road along the base of the Daarita is the primary merchant corridor for travel by land, although not the only road along the base of the Daarita. Svaanita Pass is one of the less terrible roads through the mountains. A broad, well-maintained road continues the Svaanita Pass road down to the coast, ending at the Port of Sorrows, which is a somewhat better port than the name implies.
The Free Township, on the other hand, is ruled by The Mayor. This is not an elected position: the reclusive old elf rarely leaves the Mayor’s Manor, and when he does it is usually to parley with would-be enemies. There is a staff of diverse guards who maintain order in the town and all report directly to The Mayor.
Of note: Mahadasa has few laws, but those simple guidelines are rigorously maintained. Mahadasa is a common meeting ground for rogues, thieves, and assassins, but it is not where such folk practice their craft. Theft, assault, and murder are all punishable by death, and both citizenry and guards of the township are quick to ensure this is enforced.
Because it is such an anomaly, it is something of safe-haven for the the region known as Sakura, or the mid-outer coast, and many independent merchants and adventurers make it their base; and it is often a neutral meeting ground for faction negotiations.
Legend has it that neighboring warlords have at times been suspicious that The Mayor is an agent of Mataga, but time has shown that the Mayor has little interest in what goes on beyond the small valley of Mahadasa, no appetite for tales or gossip, and has never participated in any of the rare actions by Mataga or Quumla.
The Adventure Begins
All members of the campaign will begin as individual adventurers, each landed in Mahadasa for some reason of their own. Some may be locals who are not content with the quiet life, some may be travelers or refugees from other circumstances.