he County is not home only to western Kithain. The Nunnehi are strong here, and hold
numerous places of power for their own. The Countess has let it be known that Nunnehi holdings are not to
be encroached upon, on pain of banishment from her realm. For now, conditions are peaceful between the kithain and the Nunnehi.
Families found in the region include nanehi, yunwi amai'yine'hi, yunwi tsundsi, and thought-crafters. A representative
of the Nunnehi nation is said to have built a lodge somewhere on Buffalo Mountain, and to exchange information
with the Baroness of Ben Bison.
The Slow Empires of the inanimae also have a foothold here, although few changelings in the region know much about them, save perhaps Old Ben, who knows far more than he tells, or Master Coulkan, from whom the Dreaming has few secrets. Tales persist, however, of changelings wandering in the forest being aided, or hindered, by the trees themselves. It is even rumored that the Countess Rosamund has a dryad somewhere in her ancestry, and is in fact distantly akin to the roses which clamber about her bower.
The County has a growing immigrant Asian population as well, and the occasional rumor is heard of magical beings like yet unlike the western kithain. The countess has no hard information, however, so the presence of the hsien remains a matter of speculation. Few kithain have any ties with the Asian community, but as the concentration of Koreans, Laotians and Vietnamese grows, that is bound to change.
Chimerical creatures of the ordinary sort populate the region, but a few bear special mention. Foremost amongst these is a river-dragon, called the Ouivre, which makes is lair upon the stony bed of the New River. None know where this obviously ancient beast came from, but it has thrived on the nightmares of local children whose parents warn them away from the riverside with threats of drowning, and by those of the parents as well.
The Ouivre is legless and wingless, with a slimy coiling body and sluglike stalked eyes. It has bested several knights who have come against it, and is thought to have devoured the previous lord of Rowan-Oak, Count Vathek ap Gwydion, whose body was found on the river bank, a week dead from drowning, after he rode out to slay the Ouivre in single combat. Only the silver path along the northern and southern trods make river-crossings safe for local kithain, who even avoid mortal bridges out of wariness of this beast, although it has been quiescent for many years.
Less powerful but much more numerous and troubling are the feral chimerae which harry the south-western marches of the county. Some blame the problem on the destruction years ago of the Freehold of Baywood Hall by Reaving, and the rootlessness that has overcome the area in the absence of a ruling lord. Some suspect the involvement of Lord Clay ap Ailil, Baron of Iron Mountains, whose fief was sworn to Count Vathek in the days before Rosamund's rule, but now asserts its independance. Whatever the cause, the region is frequented by vicious, beastly chimerae which run in packs, occasionally invading neigboring fiefs to savage chimerical livestock, or harrying kithain who find themselves in the area after dark. The Countess has hopes that the recent reclamation presages an end to the difficulty. For now, however, the bestial incursions persist.
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