Also included in the most recent update to the Shroud of the Avatar website was another excerpt from the game’s backstory. Here’s a little taste:

The Hidden Vale has been a land apart from Novia for generations now. The Oracle still seems to be aware of events there, as much as anyone can tell, but the people there hold no love for her. Most have migrated to the lands of the Vale because of their status outside the Oracle’s dominion over the years, and the affirmation chambers, so much a part of Brittany’s landscape, are absent here, though you still might be able to find a ruined one from the last time the Oracle’s servants attempted to build such. The people of the Vale believe themselves to be free, and they are quietly proud of this.

You can find the rest of this story excerpt at the Ultima Codex’s Shroud of the Avatar story reference page.

Additionally, this story excerpt was accompanied by two map puzzle pieces, which together have given us more details about the north-eastern region of the Island of Novia, including the names of a few more points of interest and geographical features:

You can check out the up-to-date map of Novia, with puzzle pieces and English translations of runic text, at the Ultima Codex’s Shroud of the Avatar map reference page.