The Highlands
Haggis and kilts and bagpipes is the usual image of the Highlands, though the latter two are for formal occasions (a Scotsman wears a kilt as often as an American wears a tux), and haggis is far less peculiar than is generally perceived. The Highlands comprise the mountainous regions to the very north of Great Britain, with several mountain ranges, deep lochs, enchanting glens, and plenty of old historical castles. The Highlands were once more heavily populated, but the Clearances drove most of the Scottish Highlanders into the Lowlands, and today the entire area has a population of not-quite a quarter million, giving it the lowest population density in the UK. The only reason Highlands culture (kilt and bagpipe and all) survived was due to the efforts of Romantic poets, most notably Sir Walter Scot, who did much to turn the Clans into symbols of romantic exoticism. These days, the Highlands basically survive economically due to Sir Walter Scot's efforts, with tourism an important economic driver. The people also tend to be among the most religious in the UK, with the Kirk, as the Church of Scotland is known, a powerful force in peoples' lives.
It is something of a debate in the Freehold of Elphame as to whether their system likewise owes itself to Sir Walter Scot, or whether it predates him. In any case, the Freehold of Elphame is the dominant organized force in the Scottish Highlands, with numerous changelings and some few mages and werewolves swearing allegiance to it. The Freehold is divided up into Clans of differing sizes (the largest, Clan McCulloch, numbers over fifty, while the smallest, Clan Nevoy, has three members), each of which claims a specific geographic area in the Highlands. They meet in Inverness once a year in order to debate matters of pan-Freehold importance, but otherwise the Clans have near-complete autonomy. In fact, violent conflicts between the Clans are common, and between inter-Clan battles, fights with ghosts (who are nearly as common here as in the Lowlands), and the occasional Fomorian and High Court of Éire incursions, the Elphame Clans have some of the highest turnover of 'organized' supernatural society in the British Isles. On the other hand, all that violence means that the Elphame Clans know how to fight very well, which stands them in good stead against their foes.
Inverness
Sometimes called the 'Capital of the Highlands', Inverness is the largest city in the Highlands at just over 50,000 people, and is situated at the mouth of the River Ness (this being quite literally what its name means, 'Mouth of the Ness'). Historically, it was a site of battles, castles, and was the home of the historical Mac Bethad Mac Findláich, the 11th century king better known as the inspiration for Shakespeare's MacBeth. Today, Inverness gets by on the reputed healing abilities of its many local springs and a very healthy tourist industry from Brits fleeing the smoked choked south.
As such, Inverness is a fitting capital for the Freehold of Elphame, or it would be if most of them dared use it regularly. Ever since Mac Findláich's murders nine hundred years ago, the Greater Inverness area has been Wyrd-Cursed. No simple hex, this curse is powerful, intelligent, and malign, twisting and tempting anyone in its path to evil acts, and then ensuring that they spiral rapidly out of control. Envy spirals into hatred and thence to murder, only to prompt bloody revenge in return, spreading misery all about. The curse is not above possessing peripheral members of its 'drama', to force them to forward its plot, but the central scheme is always a self-inflicted descent into murder and madness. The curse tends to ignore mortals, as one might gather from Inverness's generally happy existence, but it treats the supernatural as fair game, as well as anyone too closely associated with them. Under the circumstances, one might reasonably ask why the Elphame Clans insist on holding their annual clan-meetings in Inverness Castle. According to the Freehold, it's a way to demonstrate their mental, physical, and moral fortitude. According to most everyone else, it's a sign of their stubbornness turning into insanity. A few bloody-minded supernatural beings actually attempt to live in Inverness year-round, though few last longer than five years.
Loch Ness
Famous around the world, few outsiders have a good grasp of just what Loch Ness is. It's a deep, freshwater lake southwest of Inverness, which happens to be a very large lake. It runs for twenty-three miles from end to end, and at its deepest point is 750 feet deep. By surface area, it is the second largest in Scotland after Loch Lomond at just over 21 square miles, and by volume it is the largest. Due to the high level of peat in the water, there is almost no visibility below the surface. Loch Ness is surrounded by a ring of small towns, the largest of which is Fort Williams, and is actually a fairly important shipping lane, being a part of the Caledonian Canal that links the east and west coasts of Scotland.
Loch Ness is also home to the British Isles' largest and most organized cult of water-horses, a group of Each Uisge called the Cult of Demeter Aganippe. For centuries, the Each Uisge have sacrificed people to the spirits of the Loch, but the modern era and the advent of 'Nessie' tourism has been an astonishing boon (if the Each Uisge had known that being seen by mortals would bring more mortals, they'd have done it much earlier!) Nowadays, the Each Uisge sacrifice more frequently to the spirits of the Loch, as making tourists disappear is the simplest thing. Today, the cult numbers over a dozen Each Uisge and almost a hundred mortal henchmen, many of them raised in the cult by families that had worshiped Demeter Aganippe for generations. As if that were not enough of a problem, by this point the spirits of the Loch have gotten quite used to their bloody meals, and should the Cult ever be destroyed, these dread spirits are liable to start hunting for themselves.