The Old Kingdoms
The humble collection of kingdoms northeast of Gisek are some of the oldest civilizations in the common recorded history. Due to their proximity to the mage’s continent they have not experienced war in millenia and so have become vastly more developed than other nations.
eography
The Old Kingdoms geography varies from flat swamps to towering peaks.
To the southwest, Carassus consists of low rolling hills inland, giving way to cold damp moors in the north and eventually rising into the Ulvar Mountains.
To the North, The Pear boasts impressively fertile farmland and groves, but then gives way to depressing swamp and bogs of north Mantigo. To the west, Spirit Bay is constantly packed with icebergs and freezing wind.
In the region of Pirova the landscape is hilly with giant forests, while Govia boasts some of the highest mountains in the known world. The lands northeast of Mare consist of a jarring change from the cold of Spirit bay to the burning sands of the Govian Wastes, a terrible desert full of death.
Off the northeast coast, the Anzar Islands are formed from the volcanic island of Purga, and the tropical paradise of Paradi.
ingdoms
Carassus
The Kingdom of Carassus is the southwestern-most region, with Gisek to the west opposite the Coast of Gifts, Mantigo across the Ulvar Strait to the north, and Lover’s Bay to the east. The landscape consists of thick peat bogs, moors, deciduous forests and farmland. To the north, the Ulvar Peninsula rises high into the high rocky Ulvar mountains. Two major cities exist in Carassus: The Trading City of Tir, a meeting place between the kingdom proper and the mountain clans of Ulvar, and Osai, the most populated city and capital.
Pirova
Pirova rests surrounded by the other kingdoms of old, with Carassus across Lover’s Bay to the southwest, Mantigo and Govia to the north, the Bottomless Bay to the east, and the Sea of Lost Dreams to the south. The landscape can best be described as heavily forested with giant old-growth forests, moderately sized hills and rugged canyons. The Pirovan shipyards are known to craft some of the best ships in the known world. The inland areas are even denser with gigantic trees so large you could span twenty or more men head to toe across their diameters. These are the result of an old religion the Pirovans have which worships these trees as gods.
Pira is the port capital of the Kingdom and hosts their famed shipyards and the great beacon of Pira, a twin lighthouse similar to that of the great beacon of Osai.
Govia
The serene and beautiful land of Govia lies between Pirova to the Southwest across Bottomless Bay, Mantigo to the West, and the Anzar Islands to the north east. Near the frozen coast of Spirit Bay, their capital Mare lies on a treacherous fault which is breaking a large portion of continent away from the mainland. Ingeniously, they use volcanic heat from geothermal vents to warm their city in the frost, as well as to fuel the forges of their workshops, deep in the underbelly of the city.
To the south Govia warms and becomes a mountainous landscape with a similar climate to Pira yet none of the abundance in timber. I’ve been told this dramatic loss of woodland was due to having long ago deforested much of the land in order to fuel their ambitious industrialization. The trees are re-growing slowly I’m told, but are nothing compared to what once covered the horizon. What remains are sparsely forested mountains which reach the clouds, running along the center of the kingdom, with deep flat valleys between that host many small mountain communities. Some of the oldest stone ruins can be found in these mountains and it is said there may be a famed abandoned city which is said to be the entrance to the underworld. Sadly this dungeon’s location has been lost to history.
Mantigo
Capitol: Sen
Anzar Islands
Information is not reliable yet. Scholars are currently studying and will flesh this out when we uncover the truth.
nique Aspects
Pocket Climates
A mystery as old as time, the climates of The Old Kingdoms tends to vary dramatically and suddenly depending on where you are. These changes in temperature, foliage, and fauna occur abruptly in fixed areas, over a hill here, across a stream there, and in certain areas a person can stand with one foot in freezing snow, the other in burning sand.
Why this occurs is unknown, but some suggest an influence from the great mage’s continent of Gisek to the southwest.