The Heartlands

The Heartlands are the grain plains, river meadows, hedgerows, orchards and oak and beech woods at the center of Aethorra, with mild winters and wet springs. They are the breadbasket of the continent: Crown wheat grown here feeds half of Aethorra, and Caelvenne above all. Before 178 R. they were split between the Kingdom of Vareth in the north and the Kingdom of Wessary in the south. Their wealth has drawn invaders, most famously in 206–212, when Castavar marched through the Tharaxi Gap to seize the western grain lands and was stopped at the Battle of the Gap. They have also suffered the Gray Cough of the 160s, which killed a fifth of the people, the Year Without Summer in 623, and the Black Autumn blight of 801, which forced Aldmere to borrow a fortune from Caelvenne for Kaishoni rice.

See also: Kingdom of Aldmere, Vareth, Wessary, River Wenvorm