Molded from the receding glaciers of the last age, the Claws of Imystrahl ("The Claws" for short) are a region of fjordlands, where runoffs from the Starcrown Mountains meet curving inlets from the Atlantean Ocean. These inlets form the claw-shaped deltas and peninsulas that give this region its name.
Here, temperate jungles stand upon the misty slopes of mountain chains. These impassable wilds form natural barriers between the five major city-states: Marg the Crimson, Ren Shaar, Ruritain, Nith, and Imystrahl. The five are the oldest cities in Thule. They each have long histories shrouded in myths, the truths to which have been twisted or sealed away by ancient cults. They are all vehement rivals, but most conflicts between them are restricted to campaigns of politicking, espionage, and assassinations. The harsh geography of the Claws are a hindrance to large army movements, and most cities are built to last through long sieges. The Atlantean holdouts in Imystrahl, for example, have never been conquered.
Long after the 600-year period of Atlantean Expulsions nearly ended both the Atlantean terror and the Katagian hegemony, the Vrilerinnen civilization has come to dominate this portion of Thule. Rural population centers convene at the coastal plains, mere meters from sea level. These lowlands flood consistently, watered by jungle rains flowing into backwater rivers. Over a thousand years ago, the Vrilerinnen discovered that these floodplains were the ideal setting for growing crops, especially staple grains and industrial plants such as flax and papyrus. In effect, the Claws are the breadbasket of Thule.
But none of that is as nice as it sounds. All farmers in the Claws are at the mercy of the storm-bringing goddess, Tiamat. Her tempests and tidal waves come to salt their fields, sowing chaos and starvation. In the cities, rulers that are blamed for famines quickly fall out of favor and are usurped by fledgling regimes. During such chaotic transitions of power, brigands can rove the highways with no redress; they raid villages, hoard commodities, and rob refugees fleeing from starvation. Worst of all, the narrow farmlands are trapped between trackless seas and forbidding, mountainous wilderness. Most civilized places are sandwiched by the savage wilds. Many people live in these borderlands, and are easy pickings for monstrous beasts and mutants (of Atlantean experimentation) that dwell in waiting. Mountain ridges flank East and West, meaning the nights here are long and dark... and dangerous.