Editing Autia (section)

====Hagarta====

Hagarta is a small informal country of witches and warlocks living in the wastes between Gabaet and Sparticia.
They live in isolated covens (varying in size from a master and one apprentice to an hamlet) and avoid interacting much with each other to better stay hidden from the neighboring nations.
Almost all of them are able of magic because they kidnap children with magical talent and abandon, kill or sell to slavery their magicless biological children.
They know almost all forms of Nantic magic and practice many dark ones.
Their only export is talented magic users leaving to work for Westphallica, they tend to eventually come back to found their own coven.
Their religion is mostly similar to the ones in Gabaet and Falconhead, with the addition of the god Deadicorn and a more magical variant of Grumm.

People:

Most of the inhabitants of this region are Nantic humans, but harpies are fairly common, as well as the occasional hag, horseman, dwarf, amazon, goblin, orc, hiisi, troll, ogre, giant, dire bear or kobold.

Technically it is part of Gabaet, and most of its inhabitants consider themselves to be citizens of Gabaet, but many call the region Hagarta, which also the name of the loose organization of witches and warlocks hiding in the region along with the slightly more benevolent Briar Ravens and Blood Wolves.

Religion:

Most inhabitants have religious practices similar to that found in Gabaet and Falconhead but darker and more rural. Their gods are Gaelhalla/Ayalla (sex, fertility, also important god for harpies and amazon), Neir/Wyrn (farming, forests, nature), Gayin (for the few dwarfs in the area), Liik (ravens, crows, vigilance, protection, death, she far more prominent here than most parts of Gabaet), Shomdor (manages the punishment of evil souls in the underworld), and Ace (storms).

Grumm and Deadicorn are also worshipped by users of dark magic.

Magic:

Although technically a part of Gabaet, Hagarta is sparsely inhabited, ignored, and effectively lawless, which makes it the perfect place for the practitioners of questionable magic to gather.

There are three main rival magic traditions here:

The Hagarta are the most prominent. Made up of humans, harpies, and hags, they study any and all forms of magic, and pay tribute to many dark gods, though Deadicorn is by far the most important. They believe only magic users have a place in their society, and kidnap children (usually female) with magical talent, while killing, transforming, or selling into slavery any of their own children without magic talent. They live in small groups, and are often served by enchanted slaves, the more exotic the better.

The Briar Ravens serve Liik, and specialize in anti-undead operations, though they also hunt demons and other monsters. Like the Hagarta, they include humans, harpies, and a few hags in their numbers, and they use many types of magic, but shy away from flesh shaping and necromancy. They are highly skilled at divination, and their agents sometimes carry out morally dubious assassinations to alter future events.

The Blood Wolves serve Grumm, and consist of magic using cannibals (again humans, harpies, and hags) and lycanthropes. They don't seem to have any long term goals other than covering up each others attacks. They can use a wide range of magic, but prefer enchantments, curses, necromancy, and demon binding.

Military:

Hagarta doesn't really have a military. The non-magical locals tend to rely on militias and posses for law enforcement and killing wandering monsters. The magic users generally keep their identities hidden to prevent retaliation. Their immediate neighbors can usually guess which are magic users, but rarely know what affiliation they have. In return for not snitching to authorities in the more populated parts of Gabaet, even the Hagarta and Blood Wolves rarely carry out attacks on their immediate neighbors, instead sneaking into neighboring regions, particularly Sparticia and Gabaet proper.

Anonymity isn't their only defense however, many of the larger enclaves are located near portals to the fey world, allowing them to disappear entirely should major trouble approach.

History:

Long a small and overlooked region of foothills and valleys of little worth, Hagarta was part of the Nantic Empire, and later Gabaet, though it always had a dark reputation.

Economy:

Only the hardiest and most desperate folk try to scrap by a living in this monster infested region. Most are either outlaws, or poor, illiterate folk who are too clannish or ignorant to move elsewhere. Prospectors occasionally make major finds in this area, abandoned mines are everywhere (some of which make nice lairs) and most non-magic users can trace their origins back to a past mining boom.

Despite their magical ability, none of the three magic using organizations in this area seem to consider material wealth important. Some will get bored and work in Westphallica for a bit, but will eventually get bored of luxury, and spend their remaining money on rare magical components before moving back to primitive lairs and shacks in the Hagarta region.