The Old Empire
Geographic Features
Aebasan Sea
Antasian Mountains
The ancient and towering Antasian Mountains split east central Aurea. Even though the range was once claimed entirely by the Great Empire, except for four major passes through the range, the Imperials never truly tamed the deep valleys and high mountains. Recently, giants and their goblin slaves have been raiding the foothills on both sides of the Antasian Mountains. Some believe these raids are highly organized over relatively vast distances, suggesting that some ruler has risen among the giants there, preparing to send his armies into the lowlands of Aurea to ravage the isolated human communities in the foothills.
Deep beneath the sharp peaks of the Antasian Mountains lies the dwarven nation of the Unterreich. Unlike other dwarven Kingdoms, the dwarves of the Unterreich remain isolationists, despite the establishment of a treaty between humans and dwarves in the waning years of the Third Age of Man and the only contact with these dwarves are through the criminals that they exile to the surface world.
Aurean Sea
Betshaban Ocean
The Betshaban Ocean lies between the continents of Aurea, Duria and Gallorea and includes the Pirates' Sea and the Maroshan Sea near Duria and the Yglarsed Sea on the Gallorean coast. The ocean is dominated by the clockwise Betshaban Stream, which is fed by warm waters in the west from the Aebasan Ocean and warm waters from the Endless Ocean in the east. The Betshaban Stream tends to cool somewhat along the Durian coast, feeding into the Endless Ocean south of Danas. Prevailing winds in the southern Betshaban Ocean tend to move from the east, with the current, making westerly travel particularly easy for most ships and easterly travel extremely difficult. In the northern reaches, winds tend to move from the west, also with the current, making travel from Aurea to Duria particularly easy, though the converse more difficult. The currents and prevailing winds create a large calm area southwest of The Island of Tamarynd known affectionately as "Betshaba's Bosom". Ships who drift into Betshaba's Bosom are rarely heard from again. The northern reaches of the Betshaban Ocean are known for its legendary storms, particularly in autumn and winter. Hurricanes are a constant threat during the storm season, particularly along the Aurean coast and the northern Pirate Isles.
Though all oceans are claimed by Betshaba, the Betshaban Ocean is, obviously, considered particularly blessed (and cursed) by the Wave Queen. Though the Pirate Sea is considered by many to be appropriated by her greatest enemy, Taltos, the Deep Dweller. Most aquatic creatures, monstrous and sentinent, can be found in the Betshaban, though the most legendary creature known to travel Betshaba's ocean is the Leviathan, an impossibly huge whale said to be her personal eyes and ears in the mortal realm.
Black Swamp
The Black Swamp in central Aurea is a long stretch of swampy forest between Waldavia and southern Murgosia. The humans who live in the Black Swamp refer to themselves as Szarne and speak a dialect of Murgosh that is almost incomprehensible to the Murgosh themselves. The Szarne tend to be highly territorial and superstitious, though few have reason to risk the mires of the Black Swamp to bother them overmuch.
Dracian Wood
Though settled and worked by the peoples of both Dracia and Drussa, the Dracian Wood still has its primeval depths, where the forest itself seems unwelcoming to human intrusion. Rumors persist of all sorts of creatures inhabiting these wilds, from wolves that can take the shape of men to giants living off the forest to sentient trees standing watch for some unknown cause. Local villagers, of course, are more than willing to embellish these stories to keep outsiders from stealing the natural resources they rely on.
Glistening Weald
Ancient homeland of the elves on Aurea, the Glistening Weald is a deep, primeval forest cultivated and protected by its inhabitants. Humans and most half-elves from neighboring nations are unwelcome here and the elves are more than willing to enforce their claim to the forest with a flight of arrows. For reasons that have long confounded human sages, the forest glows with an eerie bluish light when the leaves and wet with morning dew, hence the name given it by humanity.
Greywood
Forming a formidable border between Murgosia and the nations of Dreluria and Anclea, the Greywood contains a small enclave of elves who have long been friendly to their human (and, as a result, half-elven) neighbors to the south. Though humans are still unwelcome in their sacred groves, the elves of Greywood tend to be much less xenophobic than their kin in the Glistening Weald. Recent deforestation by the Murgosh in the northern reaches of the forest, however, may change their attitude or, at the least, lead to an alliance between the elves of the Greywood and their neighbors to the south, who are no friends to the Murgosh.
Karian Wood
Once part of the Gadoran Wood, the Karian Wood has been reduced in size from centuries of deforestation by humans in the region. Though there are some remote villages cut off from the rest of the nation during the Dark Times, the human nation of Karony has resumed its harvesting of the wood to build a grand navy to protect shipping in the region from Camarian pirates.
Sonat Bay
A large bay in central Aurea, Sonat Bay is dominated by shipping between Anclea, Drussa and rising Scalaro. Murgosia long ignored the small fishing villages along the Sonat Bay that paid homage to its King, but recently the Murgosh have been building shipyards and a proper trading city on their shore to compete with (and possibly use as a base to attack) their neighbors.
Tangar Sea
A remote stretch of water connecting the Aebasan Ocean and the Eternal Ocean along southwestern Aurea, Tangar has a reputation for being a wild and dangerous body of water, with unexpected doldrums, chaotic winds and surprisingly heavy storms, particularly in the autumn months. Recently, there are rumors of strange, black ships plying her waters and even more alien vessels with odd, ribbed sails. As most respectable merchants have little reason to cross the Tangar, these rumors are as yet unconfirmed.
Tanos Bay
Situated in central Aurea, Tanos Bay is a large, deep bay with shores well-suited to several deepwater docks. Primarily used by Cordosan, Drussan and Scalaran merchant vessels, the central dangers come from privateers of those various countries attacking merchant ships of their enemies. There are rumors of an unmarked island, perhaps a floating island, somewhere in Tanos Bay with a tower on it. Though there are several legends about this tower, none have been substantiated as no one can lay claim to have visited the island more than once.
Nations
Aescalapea
Once part of the Great Empire, Aescalapea has long been known as the province of merchants and sea traders. Its ruling class was devastated during the rule of the last Emperor, Lucius "the Heretic" and much of the nation rose in revolt even before the Emperor's death. The subsequent ravages of the Crimson Plague hit Aescalapeans harder than most other regions of the Great Empire, killing more than half its population as the Third Age of Man waned.
At the dawn of the Fourth Age of Man, Aescalapea has reorganized itself as a collection of city-states ruled by the powerful Syndics. While they have a Senate that meets irregularly to adjudicate matters for the region, the Senate is relatively powerless and most Aescalapeans very much prefer to keep it that way.
Anclea
Once a remote, pastoral nation, Anclea has risen in the Fourth Age to become a fiercely independent nation, resisting attempts by neighboring Murgosia to conquer it. Because of its remoteness and an alliance with the elves of the Glistening Weald, Anclea was not as devastated by the Dark Times and is quickly becoming an economic powerhouse in central Aurea. Anclea has long been known to have a large population of half-elves and more than a few have risen to positions of prominence in the recently-founded Republic.
Camaria
Despite a long history as a peaceful agricultural nation, Camaria was one of the last subject territories to become independent from the Great Empire, after a bloody internal civil war that resulted in the destruction of much of its nobility. Camaria has since become a chaotic nation, known for its corrupt nobility more interested in personal gain than ruling effectively. Many of the coastal merchants have recently turned to piracy to supplement their incomes, paying off local nobility to provide them safe haven when not at sea. It is rumored that worship of Taltos, the Deepdweller, is on the rise in the region and the Church of Betshaba has been debating a Crusade to cleanse the coast of his adherents.
Cordosia
Formerly a client-state of the Great Empire (and one of the few allowed to retain its own monarchy), Cordosia suffered deeply during the reign of Lucius the Heretic in the waning years of the Third Age of Man. As Cordosia climbed out of the turmoil of the Dark Times, the clergy of Meliboea, the Farseer, gained in prominence as monarchy was re-established in the region. Cordosia has become prosperous, with a growing navy and powerful merchant fleet, despite an often cut-throat political culture as various newly-established noble families vie for prominence. Despite promises by the Mages Guilds and priesthood of Abaris, practicing Hermetic Magic in the region has been prohibited and there are periodic pogroms, usually lead by the priestesses of Meliboea, to find and burn at the stake wizards who use their arts in the Kingdom.
Dracia
Once known as the "Errant Son" of the Great Empire because of the wily and deceptive nature of its people, Dracia was one of the first regions of the Great Empire to gain its independence from the Empire during the Fourth Succession War. With the dawn of the Fourth Age of Man, Dracia was positioned to become one of the few organized powers of the region, but for the last decade they have suffered under the iron grip of their Ivory Queen, a sorceress who worships the last Emperor, Lucius "the Heretic", as a god and she as his successor to the glory of the Great Empire.
Drallia
A somewhat lawless region even in the height of the Great Empire, Drallia is now a chaotic frontier ruled over by a myriad of robber barons. The bandit chiefs are more than willing to fight with one another, but the land itself is relatively poor in resources and there's often little to fight over. The few port towns that once dotted the eastern shore have mostly fallen to ruin and become little more than fishing villages.
Drussa
A former client province of the Great Empire, Drussa is the last bastion of House Servilis, one of the Great Houses of the Empire. Though House Servilis has long surrendered any pretense to reconstructing the Empire, Drussans have a reputation as an industrious and hard-working, if somewhat dim, people. Drussa has numerous swamps and bogs along the Temesh River and the river-folk who live in these wetlands tend to be independent and suspicious of outsiders unless, of course, these strangers come with full coin purses.
Ganesia
An ancient people who once served as the breadbasket of the Empire, Ganesia was ravaged in the final stages of the Fourth Succession War. Ganesia is still dotted with decaying fortifications manned by ill-trained soldiers led by various Legates and scions of various Great Houses who raid and pillage farming villages already struggling to scrape sustenance from the dying land. Many have come to believe Ganesia to be cursed and merchant vessels tend to avoid the few port towns that can still accommodate them.
Medalia
Formerly a client province of the Great Empire, Medalia has recently had a resurgence of interest in its pre-Imperial culture. Despite the powerful presence of the remnants of House Valerius, Medalia recently crowned its first hereditary King in centuries. With a strong agricultural base and growing military, both on land and at sea, neighboring countries worry that Medalia is on the rise to become a powerful and potentially aggressive nation in the region, looking to found its own Empire on the ruins of the old.
Milosia
A rising power in eastern Aurea and rival of Narbonne, Milosia was a client province of the Great Empire. The nation is still nominally under the control of a Proconsul, though the position is appointed by the powerful Legate of the Sixth Legion in the name of the Emperor, despite there having been no clear Emperor for a century. Despite the chaos and dissolution in Aescalapea, the Milosians still bear an ancient hatred towards Aescalapeans, for reasons long since lost to time.
Mitaria
Once the northernmost outpost of the Great Empire, Mitaria suffered greatly in the waning years of the Third Age of Man as an orcish horde devastated the region. Though the horde was eventually beaten back, there are still a number of remnant orcish tribes terrorizing what few humans remain in the region. More recently, several Clans from the Challieann Mountains have relocated into the region, integrating into the local populace and founding a few strong towns. Surprisingly, most of the Gael clansmen have pledged loyalty to the Mitarian King and several have been raised as nobles.
Murgosia
Though the Murgosh have long enjoyed a reputation as merchants and excellent smiths, the nation is home to the powerful Order of St. Drogomir, the Dun Knights. Dedicated to Galea, the Triumphant, the Dun Knights directly control over half the territory in Murgosia. Though the Knights are respected for their ability to combat the periodic orcish raid, when the orcs are quiet they tend to invade nearby nations looking to spread their influence and control over the region. Currently, Murgosian troops lead by the Dun Knights are invading both Anclea and Rigania and most believe they will eventually conquer both regions.
Narbonne
Narbonne was one of the few client states of the Great Empire that retained its monarchy, though that monarchy was historically very weak and controlled by the nation's nobility. During the Dark Times, the Dacourt Dynasty was founded when one of those powerful noble families converted to the Koramian Heresy and took the crown in a brief and almost bloodless civil war. The most recent scion of that dynasty, King Phillipe II Dacourt, is a young, vibrant and generally admired King who easily commands the loyalty of his subjects. Narbonne is again on the rise in Aurea, the flower of chivalry and one of the most influential cultures on the continent.
| This article is part of the Player's Guide to Aurea | |
|
Introduction · Economics and Trade · Legends and History · Religion · Regions and Realms | |
| Regions and Realms on Aurea | |
