Borra is a chain of mountain valleys nestled in the Yaer mountains, a roughly circular region about a hundred leagues across. The two major valleys are Nital Beresh and Nital Calam, divided by the Tinoni, an east-west range of small peaks running through central Borra.
Nital Beresh is the southern of the two great valleys of Borra, running from rocky western Borra to the marshy southeast. At its center is the great lake of Beresh, fed from all directions by numerous cold streams flowing from the mountains.
On the northern shore of Lake Beresh the Taur built the first settlements in Borra. Over the centuries the character of the town has changed considerably, and it is now a bustling, walled city of nearly thirty thousand inhabitants from all walks of life. Just outside the town walls, many Seree noble families have their estates.
Boats cross the lake daily, heading west to Gusasi, and downriver to Tanason. A well-travelled road leads north, through the foothills of the Tinoni to the high city of Tinoni, and beyond to Nobina and the rest of Nital Calam.
Gusasi is the westernmost city of Beresh, situated where the lowlands give way to the steady rise to the rocky foothills of the outer boroughs.
Tanason, in times past known as the gateway to the east, stands at the edge of the marshlands where the waters of the Missa end their eastward journey from lake Beresh. Before the borders of Borra were closed, this was a busy port, where boats come and go between here and the province of Boroden.
Beyond Gusasi lie the outer boroughs, a series of upland districts dotted with small towns, villages and hamlets. When they first came to Borra in numbers, the Seree came through these parts as they left the west, and here, unlike other parts of Borra, there are as many Seree as Taur families.
Now that the pass has closed, this is a relatively peaceful part of the realm.
Tinoni is the name of the ridge of mountains that separates Nital Beresh from Nital Calam, and also the name of the small walled city constructed at its midpoint. The city of Tinoni stands at the midpoint of the mountain range, near the geographical center of Borra, and is the site of a great palace that guards the pass between the two valleys, from Beresh to Nobina.
Originally built by Seree lords, as were all the mountain palaces, the Hantosha claimed it as their own when they arrived in Borra, and moved the seat of Borran government there in 242.
The palace was burned by rebels from Beresh in 298, The Hantosha family rebuilt it over the following decade, but modestly, without much of its former grandeur.
Nital Calam is the northen of the two great valleys. It contains a much greater proportion of rocky, upland areas than Nital Beresh, and these foothills are dotted by small spring-fed lakes and pools.
Most of the Mirese living inBorra make their homes in the southern regions of Nital Calam.
Hiotica stands in the foothills of the Yaer at the eastern end of Nital Calam. Originally constucted as a Seree garrison town, its old stone walls guard a winding pass to Boroden.
Many of the families living here are Yoboran, the descendants of mercenary chiefs made wealthy in the days of the Mirese conquest.
The city of Nobina stands on the southern short of Lake Calam. Its busy textile and dye industries were once legendary throughout the southern empire, although with both trade and the supply of wool from upper calam restricted
Numerous fishing boats trawl the lake at night, in the Mirese way, bringing their hauls to the markets for sale in the morning.
The White Palm maintains their primary abbey here, on a hilltop overlooking the city from the northeast.
The rocky foothills of the Yaer, in north and western Calam, were once the Since the warding stopped, however, the forests have reclaimed much, and the many small villages and towns are now only reachable along forest tracks darkened by enclosing branches.
The recent goblin attakcs have made life here even more dangerous and unpredictable, and the sheep farming that once supplied much of Nital Calam with clothing and mutton has been drastically reduced.