[WIP] Bakarria, A Brave New World of Adventure

[jkat718]

BACKSTORY:
I'm starting up a Dungeons & Dragons campaign (fifth edition, levels 1-20, for those who care), and I'm finishing up the world that my players will (hopefully) be exploring over the course of their adventures. Here is the current state of the continent, Bakarria.

WARNING: Large image, open at your own risk!
Bakarria 11-29-14.png

DESCRIPTION:
The party landed in Helmport, on the eastern shore. They took the trail that leads west from there to Stormfast (where they will spend most of their time, working as the auxiliary Guard). The large gray blob on the left is the Underdark, where the Drow rule and the Archmage dwells (that's the castle towards the top). The dark brown region is a goblinoid-infested mountain range, ruled over by Hobgoblin warlords, from their wintry castles. Along the top edge are the Northern Wastes, where few live save for the Orcish Winter Clans. In the glacial extremities of this region lies the outpost of an ill-fated expedition from an alternate dimention/an alien wreck/I DON'T KNOW, I JUST WANT TO USE THE FUTURISTIC WEAPON RULES, OKAY? *ahem* The forest below this, claimed by the settlers of Stormfast, is currently inhabited by the (again, Orcish) Autumn Clans. Buried in the heart of this ancient wood lies the newly-settled town of Stormfast (this will grow as the campaign progresses, with the party playing an active role in its development). East of Stormfast, along the coast, is North Hold, one of the two Dwarvish colonies. To the south is Helmport, a Human enclave with lofty goals and loftier prospects. Southwards lies Hightown, the home of the Halflings. Perched at the mouth of the <NAME> River, the Halflings dominate trade in Bakarria, a quite profitable position indeed. Farther up river lies the fledgling community of River Rock, also under Human control. Passing Shard Lake (name subject to change) farther upstream, we find ourselves in the formidable Elvish stronghold of Plainsfort, a fortified city upon a hill, with a fleet of horses to match (think Rohan). The Spring Clans make their home midway between Plainsfort and Stormfast. Directly to the east of Plainsfort is Crag Keep, the other Dwarvish foothold in Bakarria. Across the as-of-yet unexplored UNAMED Hills stretches the SOMETHING-SOMETHING Desert, bounded on the west by a thick jungle. At the heart of this jungle lie terrors untold, and monsters long-forgotten (READ: dinosaurs. gotta love dinosaurs).

GOALS:
I know I want to put a marsh/swamp/mire thing in somewhere, probably somewhere in the triangle formed by Stormfast, North Hold, and Plainsfort. Also, I know I want to have some islands of the coast, and have more room for settlements to grow. I will probably redo this entire map at some point, making the mountains stop farther north, with the plains extending westwards through the gap. I want more forests, and I definitely want more water.

Your mission Cartographers, should you choose to accept it, is as follows:

1. Names! As you can tell from my description of the land, I haven't named much of Bakarria. I'm very bad at coming up with names, and could use quite a bit of help here.
2. Versimilitude! Does my land make sense? I know the coast is too straight for too long, but I wasn't sure of how to give my players a whole bunch of room to play in without having to make a whole continent (which I suppose I could do, but then...I could not).
3. Ideas! I don't know what else to put where, and this map isn't interesting enough the way it is!
4. Encounters! This one's for the D&D folks out there. I want to populate this entire world beforehand, and just have the PCs run into encounters that were already there. Unfortunately, I'm not too familiar with the D&D ecology. I could use a few pointers as to what to stick where, and maybe some other D&D-specific tips.

Btw, I'm using Hexographer Pro to make the hex map, and I know that there are a few mistakes in the map above (e.g. Hightown is labelled Plainsfort), but I'm working on a newer, less vertical version, where everything here will change at least a little, so this map is really just a planning sketch.