Semethe Forest
Shire: Semethshire Status: Wild forest hundred Administration: Nominally under Semethshire; effectively Kath homeland
The forbidding Semethe Forest and its Kathela Hills are home to the Kath. Dense woodlands and steep terrain make much of the area impenetrable on horseback. The Chelmarch Army seldom leaves the Salt Route in this area. Huge numbers of wild pigs grow fat on the abundant acorns, hickory nuts, and chestnuts. Competition for these succulent beasts is the usual cause of conflict between the weary Salt Route caravans and the Kath whose home they stagger through.
Like the other forest hundreds of western Semethshire, Semethe was settled during the era of the ancient kingdom of Kephira but was desolated by the Kath in the second century TR. The land has been wild ever since. The crown’s claim over the hundred is entirely nominal; no Kaldoran lord holds land here, no taxes are collected, and no royal officer dares venture far from the forest edge. The hundred gives its name to the shire, a reminder of a time when Semethshire encompassed far more civilised territory than it does today.