Scattered across the vast, wooded expanse of the Northern Reaches are a network of minor monarchies, fiefdoms, and tribes loosely united as the Northern Kingdoms. Though none of the individual states are exceptionally populous or powerful, their united might can be considerable.
The Northern Kingdoms are ruled by a supreme warrior king or queen, chosen either by trials among competing claimants or by the sheer strength of a single dominant claimant to command the loyalty of a majority of the northern peoples. The efficacy of the alliance rests almost entirely on this individual's abilities: weaker or more divisive rulers struggle to keep the members coordinated, while strong leaders hold nearly the entire Northern Reaches at their command.
The kingdoms' populations are predominantly human but include significant numbers of halflings, orcs, and gaks, as well as smaller numbers of more exotic races. Settlements tend to be widely scattered, connected by dirt roads that wind through the thick northern forests.
