Istin hills

Istin hills is the name of a long range of mountains in the central western region of the Subcontinent, just south of the Ore Mountains. Some even consider it a part of the Ore Mountains, but the ridge is nowhere near that rich in resources as the northern neighbourhood is. Similar in buildup or height as the Ragod foothills, it has been a major source of wood and charcoal for the furnaces of the Ore Mountains. The ridge runs east to the west, being gently bent towards the middle, where it reaches the southernmost locations before curving back to the north. Almost eighty miles long, it is a border area to the Manlisan Kingdom, inhabitated by Westerner tribes who are vasalls and mercenaries to the rulers. Red Šyul flows in its immediate northern vincinity, while in the southeastern portion the Dalam river borders it. The confluence of both systems are near to the eastern edges of the chain, even visible from the higher local summits. Ragod Foothills end just on the other side of the same river resulting in a choke point that restricts east-west movement along the Dalam. As this way was extensively used to reach and pillage the inner areas of the Subcontinent up until the confluence of the Šyul, great care has been taken to reinforce and patrol the area.

Few things are known about the original inhabitans of the Istin hills. They are theoretised to have been Lifili just like the entire Wild woods, as the mountainers called the foreigners. The region stood under direct imperial rule only during the campaigns of Kharan II between 581-594 and were given up immediately thereafter as the region was a monetary sinkhole. Sometimes between the campaigns and the start of the Deluge in 757 the Manlisan tribe moved in and lived there for decades in relative concord with the Ore Mountains. After they were hired as mercenaries in 757 they toppled imperial rule to their north establishing their state instead. Efforts from Ahargan and Panidutne to remove them somehow remained futile, instead the Manlisan invited their kinsmen to wreak havoc along the major river systems of the Subcontinent. Raids only receded with the nineth century, when trading interest turned out once again as superior.

From that time, the rulers of the Ore Mountains enacted strict regulations in the hills and along the river, effectively militarising the region through vasallage, bribery and direct control over the leaders. Clashes between the border guards and trespassers are more common than in the March, as the area isn't that well denoted. Nonetheless it serves the purpose just as fine, delivering timber and security for the more valuable northern core it defends.