Haatar-Baen

A map showing Haatar-Baen in southern Vaasa west of the Sunderland.
Haatar-Baen
Geography
Aliases	Bleak Steppes of Haatar-Baen
Type	Steppe
Region	Vaasa, Cold Lands

Haatar-Baen, more commonly called the Bleak Steppes of Haatar-Baen, was a region of treeless tundra in Vaasa. The area was almost completely uninhabited as of the late 15^th century DR.

Geography

Haatar-Baen was a cold, flat plain that sat at the base of the West Galena Mountains on the southern edge of Vaasa. Dead Man's Walk, the main east–west road through Vaasa, skirted its northern edges, and the trail through Gramble's Climb passed into Haatar-Baen before turning south into the mountains toward the Moonsea. The Granite Tower sat in the mountains overlooking the steppe.

Flora & Fauna

The only things that grew in Haatar-Baen were short grasses, all of which were poisonous. In fact, any plant that grew in the steppe, whether natural or cultivated, would be poisonous because of contamination in the soil.

Nevertheless, Haatar-Baen was known to be the home of big game animals. It also hosted two competing apex predators: roving clans of leucrotta and a strange species of large, black cats whose eyes and maws glowed emerald green when they attacked their prey.

A loose coalition of blue dragons was said to lay claim across the entirety of southern Vaasa, which included Haatar-Baen.

Inhabitants

Owing to the poisonous soil, the Bleak Steppes of Haatar-Baen were never the site of much settlement. Those wishing to brave the area in the late 15^th century DR were often directed to seek out Darlisan, an expert hunter, tracker, and guide.