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During the life of my grandfather’s father, Brom was a hard, but fertile land, not the blasted wasteland it has become. A demon invaded from the frozen wastes to the north. The men of Brom were proud and strong, even though they worshiped their violent pagan gods. But the demon was stronger, and the men of Brom fell back before him.
The men of Brom did not worship the Lord of Light as we do, and they hadn’t been taught not trust necromancy and dark sorcery. The made a foolish pact with necromancers who lived among them. They gave their first-born children as sacrifice in return for their aid. You can imagine what happened next. The necromancers betrayed their patrons, and instead served the demon. Brom fell to darkness and remains a horrid, blasted land to this day.
Exiles from Brom live among us. Some hold to their pagan ways, but most have learned to accept the rule of the Lord of Light. They dream of retaking their homeland from evil.
Brom is a blasted broken island to the far north. Humans live there, but they are enslaved by a dark cult of necromancers who worship a powerful demon. Ice elves live to the north on the frozen wastes.
Surrounded by perpetual mists and forbidding cliffs, Calbeck is completely unknown in the remaining world. Any number of mysterious tales are told by sailors who have drifted near to the island.
A small island between Stirling and Shorwall, it is the last remaining bastion of Etheling self-rule, via the Haldor clan. On the western reaches of the island paganism is still practiced by primitive fisherman living among the rocky wastes. A powerful, but mysterious entity, protects them.
These are Negashi lands, where they still resist the worship of the Lord of Light and cleave to their primitive Lunar religion. Powerful sorcerers help resist the incursions of the northern peoples.
Glasswall is the largest of the Southern islands. Long ago it was colonized by Veralian sailors, but the Negashi hold equal rights. The shipbuilders of Glasswall are among the best known, although they largely must import their lumber. It is ruled by a council with representatives of the major families.
Haille and its neighbors is an ancient land built on top of a lost Negashi civilization. There is very little central authority among the Negashi natives, but the Lindite colony of South Port has effective control.
Hutton has two faces. To the west is the strongest of the Veralian states, ruled from Slaver’s Bay. The east is a rugged land of savages and beasts. A thin truce exists between the two peoples. The men of Hutton sell slaves.
Lesser Brom is a land blasted by war. The surviving residents live a savage existence.
This largely arid island does hold the southern most known settlement, itself of Lindite colonists.
A rugged, mountainous island is home to some small Veralian settlements.
… to be completed later …
Bromites dwell here, although they now live under the rule of the High King of Stirling. They are rugged and proud.
The home of the Etheling people, now under the rule of Lindite overlords, exiles from Stirling. The old Etheling magic still holds sway in the central regions of the island. No Lindite settlements can take root there, but neither can the Etheling resistance maintain settlements versus the Lindite raids.
The greatest kingdom in the world, Stirling is the home of the Lindite people. It is ruled by the High King in Dalston, although even its lesser lords claim the title of King for themselves. It is a rich and fertile land, particularly in its eastern reaches.
A Veralian land, smaller than Hutton, but more fertile, and better governed. Slavery is not permitted there.
… to be completed later …
The men of Hutton are the chief merchants of slavery. It is banned in Stirling and Sullick, as well as Glasswall and South Port. The men of Penning will own slaves, but keep it limited so not to offend their Lindite overlords. It is openly practiced in Hutton, Shorwall, and the Eldons.
There is chaos in the city of Eli on the isle of West Eldon. A new messiah has been found. She has the power to heal, she preaches with inspiration for freedom and justice, and her followers have all but taken over the city, driving the royal guard behind the walls of the citadel. The dread sorcerer Adecia, it is rumored, tried to summon a demon against her, but failed and he found his magic no longer works. He is in hiding. What this messiah plans to do next is unknown.
People divide themselves into the Bromites, Etheling, Lindites, Veralians, Negashi, and Ice Elves.
A rugged northern people acclimated to a harsh life of war and wizardry. Currently they are exiled from their homeland.
An older race, practitioners of nature magic. Their homeland lives under the thumb of Lindite exiles.
A young, dynamic race who follow the god The Lord of Light. They are natural sailors, scholars, and soldiers. They are very expansive and evangelical.
An ancient race who dwell in the Southern Islands. Their powerful, ancient civilization has largely been eclipsed, but remnants of their power remains in the Eldon Isles.
Another older race, who live among the middle islands. They have largely accepted the Lord of Light worshiped by the Lindites, although their approach to the religion is more pragmatic.
Strictly speaking, these beings are human, but they all (when coming of age) attune themselves to their own peculiar brand of ice magic, which warps them significantly. They cannot breed true with normal humans. A child, however, if denied their crude initiation, will grow to be a normal human in most respects.
There hasn’t been a living dragon for 200 years. In fact, but for
the remaining bones and skulls, one could easily doubt they’d ever
existed. But there have been too many reports from sailors seeing
dragons flying just over the horizon to ignore. Most of the sightings
have been in the western sky and in the mid latitudes.
