Some Geography

The Region

Our campaign takes place in a world called Vandacalcëa, in Keyelvassa (and the surrounding lands who have been influenced by them). In distant Pahlavi, it is called Vandakya.

The "Mainland"

The Mainland (as most people in this part of the world see it) comprises the most of the fallen kingdom Keyelvassa, occupying the central part of the north-western area of the continent known as Teleri to Keyel people. To west, stretching between the sea and the Old Ash mountains is the orcish land of Aravaddu.

Keyelvassa

Its capital is Parsus, founded some 1500 years ago on the shores Lake Nienna.

Alloraine, the holy city, nestled in the foothills of Orodayr a mountain sacred to the Synod, where Keyel and the other gods ascended after crafting the world. This is the seat of the Eminence of Light and, as they see it, the centre of the Synod faith.

Hyur & Sigrada

Hyur province is where the campaign begins, although province is perhaps an outdated term. Hyur and Sigrada were the two northernmost provinces of the Kingdom of Keyelvassa, before Keyelvassa broke into pieces some 70 years before the start of the campaign. Hyur and Sigrada themselves are part of a region once known as Hüirland before it was conquered by Keyelvassa about 400 years ago.

• Lastfort The town where our campaign will begin. Lastfort was originally built as a military output, guarding the passes through the Stoneteeth mountains. In the distant past, when Keyelvassa warred with the Ostrager Empire, it was an important town, but the Ostrager Empire is long gone. Lastfort, though, remains a bustling down because of nearby mines and adventurers seeking to explore the mountains and a number of ruins found nearby.
• Citadel Camber The seat of the Knights Emerald in Hyur and Sigrada, a might fortress although few knights remain to fill its halls.
• Osterwood A largely wild forest. There are a handful of small communities of loggers and woodcutters, but the deeper parts of the wood are said to be haunted by creatures known as blood wraiths, who hunger for the blood of the living.
• Hüirwood Remnants of an even larger forest and the refuge of the Hüirlanders who were never assimilated into Keyeltar. It houses numerous small villages of folk who follow the religion of the druids. They are considered odd and foreign by the Hyur and Sigradans.
• Scytha A small land ruled by the Scythans, descendents of a nomadic people who were cut off from their homelands to the north and east by the calamity that created the Wastes.

Fell Landing & Firstlight

The peninsula that forms the western part of Hyur stretches out to the south-west from the Stoneteeth, eventually tapering to Bastion Cape, where the free city of Firstlight houses the immense Bastion Lighthouse. Firstlight has maintained its independence for centuries, weathering many storms of would-be conquering armies. The August Mayors of Firstlight have from ancient times promised shelter and succour for all ships that arrive in its port under flags of peace and commerce.

From the tip of the peninsula extends an archipelago called the Orrim Stones, a dozen islands of small fishing villages and one medium-sized city called Fell Landing. Six hundred years ago, a flotilla of elves from a distant land were shipwrecked in what is now known as Newhome Bay, and rescued by water genasi from the underwater realm of Aulleélla. The elves settled in Fell Landing, and with their long lives and ancient lore came to rule the islands. The upper classes of Fell Landing and the larger villages are now made up predominantly of elven and half-elven folk.

The genasi of Aulleélla are water spirits, who keep mainly to themselves, only occasionally trading with the landfolk of the Stones and Firstlight. That said, it's not uncommon for an Aulleéllan to travel on the land in their youth for the sake of adventure. Rulership of Aulleélla is shared by two alternating monarchs, tied to the cyclical flow of ocean currents. From roughly the vernal equinox through the autumnal equinox, the dominating current flow north until slowly reversing themselves through the winter months. One monarch (currently of the Onuerra dynasty) rules during the period of the north flow and the other monarch (of House Wanorro) the rest of year. At this point in time, both monarchs are women and known, respectively, as the Summer Queen and the Winter Queen.

The Aulleéllans are great hunters of the ocean, both for food and for glory. As a kingdom, they have few enemies save for sauhagin raiders from the north who occasionally sweep down along the winter currents to attack and pillage villages.

Each year, in early spring, an embassy of Aulleéllans is invited to Fell Landing for a celebration of their people rescuing the elves who settled in Fell Landing.

More Distant Lands

Palvahi

Away to the southeast is the (nominal) kingdom of Palvahi, little known in Keyelvassa save for the occasional merchant or mendicant scholar. Palvahi is a land of traders and scholars, with most cities boasting both bustling markets and universities. It is rather in vogue for the noble and the rich to sponsor scholars and libraries as shows of prestige. The nation has enjoyed over two centuries of relative peace, beginning after a tumultuous period known as the Age of Lions.

The Age of Lions was marked by a line of monarchs devoted to Keyel and strict laws reflecting their interpretation of Keyel's call to bring order to the world. Students of arcane magic in particular were persecuted but society in general grew progressively more oppressive. Provinces grew resentful, rebellions broke out and even two sons of Albazi, last king of the old dynasty, took up arms against their father. After a decade of civil war, with the social order collapsing, the Order of the Path and the Stars (a religious order dedicated to Paroellen) restored order first in the capital Hafayah and then throughout the country. Since that time, the Order has acted as regents, until such time as a rightful monarch assumes the throne.

Palvahi is a predominantly arid land, with much of the eastern areas being true desert. Its cities hug the rivers that flow from the Aerlueyne, the central inland sea, and the coasts. It relies on trade for a sizeable portion of its food. In ancient times, Palvahi (or rather the earlier civilizations in this part of the world) were bordered by elven nations, and although they scattered ages ago, elvish remains a literary and scholarly language into the modern era, and a there is a sizeable minority of Palvahi citizens who are half-elven, or who can claim elvish ancestry.

The Petty Kingdoms

The collective name of a region of smaller, warring states that lays between Keyelvassa and Pahlvahi. Those bordering the two great empires may be considered vassal states, sending tribute and adopting some of their culture with their degree of independence varying throughout history. In the centre of the Petty Kingdoms are fluid borders and frequent coups, which some of the states being little more than territories controlled by bandits and warlords.

From time to time an especially powerful ruler will subjugate many of the fractious realms into a larger nation and cause military headaches for either Keyelvassa or Pahlavi. The most recent was 150 years ago when a barbarian king Tirellen the Flame conquered most of the western Petty Kingdoms and led his army into Southern Keyelvassa before being slain in battle with knights from the Oblate Fraternity.