Hellcatch Valley

The Hellcatch Valley is a badlands region of harsh, dusty canyons near the center of Marquet.

Description
Because of its location, the Hellcatch acts as a hub between the mountain ranges, connecting the Rumedam Desert and Panagrip Sands to the northeast, Aeshanadoor to the southeast, the Taloned Highlands to the southwest, and the Oderan Wilds to the northwest within the Serpentwind Peaks.

The Hellcatch Valley was heavily impacted by the Calamity. There is a 300-foot drop from the lush jungles of the Oderan Wilds where the land simply fell, wiping out the vegetation in the formerly fertile valley and creating a desolate, pockmarked and ravine-carved landscape surrounded by broken mountains. It is covered in multitudes of nearly mile-wide sinkholes and unexpectedly collapsing and refilling tunnels.

The weather within the valley, with frequent high winds and dust storms, can be problematic for skyship travel, and the air trade routes therefore go around it rather than straight through. However, for ground travelers there are roads and bridges across the ravines.

Despite its desolate appearance, the Hellcatch is home to many animals and birds.

Society
Although the Bassur Republic centered in Gujjar-Serai nominally governs the entire area, the Hellcatch Valley is inhabited by multiple roving groups of scavengers known as "Crawler gangs" or "Crawlers", who live outside the centralized law. The various gangs, and independent cities and villages of the Hellcatch Valley compete with each other for territory and dominance, sometimes violently. The gangs ride constructs known as crawlers to travel rapidly across the dust-encrusted plains..

The Hellcatch Valley is home to Paragon's Call, a group of mercenaries well known for their involvement in the conflict between the Stratos Throne and the Court of the Lambent Path.

Locations

 * Bassuras
 * Dead Man's Crater
 * The Drowned City
 * Gujjar-Serai (the Green City), seat of the Bassur Republic
 * The Hungry Valley, so named because it has many sinkholes,
 * Kanak Gulf
 * King's Fall, seat of the Order of the Red Raja
 * Loonpur
 * Nadigarh
 * Rajarma
 * The Rift, a 300 foot cliffside marking the borders between the Valley and the Oderan Wilds.
 * Troll Ferry