Nations of Terria

The Kingdom of Larendar

The Kingdom of Larendar is the center of a great and ancient monarchy, headed by its King Monarch Steele XXVII. Larendar is ancient, its founding coinciding with the end of the Upheaval War. King Steele makes his home in his capital of Larendar (named after the kingdom), a sprawling and ancient city that has stood since before that ancient war that raged between the two opposing pantheons. The kingdom is home to many different races: humans, elves, dwarves, and gnomes chief among them, sparsely dotted with mixed breeds like half elves and half orcs or the rarer Tieflings. Steele is magnanimous if not just, his reign bringing Larendar through an era of relative prosperity and peace.

However, that peace’s fragility may soon be tested. Barbarian orc and human tribes threaten the outer fiefs of Larendar, some falling to frequent raids and ravages. Nobles and dukes that control the less well manned sections of the kindgom find their borders under constant pressure, unable to truly protect their homes. More monsterous is the threat of the great and ancient Red Dragon Bleiterghast, who has begun to scavenge further from his mountain home in the bleak and barren Badlands that divide Larendar from Diona.

Yet Diona may potentially be the biggest threat to the kingdom’s peace. An arranged marriage between the Crown Princess of Larendar, Steele’s only child, and the sole Heir to Diona ended in tragedy and horror. During the ceremony, the Dionan prince was revealed to have been impersonated by an ancient demon. The King’s chief spy, Krinklestein the Gnome, uncovered the plot on the Princess’s life and managed to drive the demon away. Diona, whose prince is now missing, believes that Larendar is somehow responsible or at the least involved in the plot. Tensions are high between the two great nations, with Larendarian ambassadors seeking to prove their kingdom’s innocence and get to the bottom of the demonic plot.

The Dionan Empire

As the land was divided up after the Upheaval War, splitting the multiple ancient kingdoms into newer and sometimes smaller governments, the land that became the Dionan Empire was the least united. Multiple city states formed around large holdfasts, keeps, and towns- independent from each other, though allied more through necessity than a mutual desire of friendship. The lands that became Diona were less bountiful than those of Larendar, instead mostly covered by sparse steppes, rocky mountains, and barren deserts.

Hundreds of years later, one warrior ruler finally sought to unite the many broken governments into a strong, centralized nation-. During a time of famine and fighting between the various factions, the first Dionan Emperor, a charismatic human warlord named Gorrin, assembled an army and conquered each of the separate yet local sub kingdoms- forcing every ruler, governor, self titled monarch, and chieftan to bend the knee and offer their fealty to a strong central power. When the most powerful rival fell, the Emperor’s dream was realized and Diona was born.

The harsh Dionan environment has bred a harsher, more self reliant people. Governors rule pieces of land in the name of their Emperor. Nobles and commoners both take part in the Empire’s government, working together more so than their Larendarian neighbors on a collective senate. A gladiatorial arena also provides the people with entertainment to offer reprieve from their harsh lifestyle. Humans are the most common race to be found in Diona. However, the land is also home to Dwarves, Dark Elves, and the rarer race of Dragonborn- descendants of the earliest of the great wyrms and serpents.

Veshi

The Veshi are an independent and sovereign oligarchy, foreign to both Larendar and Diona in both custom and manner. Having only made themselves known to their potential friends across the sea a mere 3 years prior, the Veshi possess magitechnology unfathomable to the rest of the world. Separated from and protected by other nations with a swelling, magical storm that surrounds their island, priests have heralded Veshi ambassadors as the favored people of Posiedon (which elicits a laugh or a friendly chuckle in reply from thee foreigners). They keep the secrets regarding their technology close to their chest, while simultaneously seeking to forge trade agreements with Diona and Larendar. The Veshi are made up entirely of humans, separated from the other races by the magical sea storm that continues to rage… begging the question as to just how they managed to navigate Podeidon’s eddys and torrents.

Larendarian Regions, Towns, and Cities

Larendar City

Larendar City is the capital of the Kingdom of Larendar. It it situated between a pair of rivers that help stimulate both trade to and from the kingdom's cities as well as a healthy agriculture. It is both the Kingdom's largest, most populous city and its center of culture. A temple to each of the Olympians can be found in its city, as well as most of the head priest/priestesses for the kingdom. The Larendarian court is not without its political schemes and betrayals, with various nobles maneuvering against each other. However, the Paladins of Apollo meet out justice and few murders or crimes fly under their nose without being solved. There are large faction of all Larendar's races that make the city their home.

Bad Wolf Bay

If there is any place in Larendar fit to be called a hive of scum and villany, it is the aptly named Bad Wolf Bay. Full of slums and wharfs that house rogues and cutthroats, the town has a seedy reputation throughout Larendar. Baroness Staceen Stormghal is the noble in control of its territory. While the noble quarters are well maintained and protected, residing anywhere else in the port town is at best a risk.

Sulcall

The Dwarven capital of Larendar, a city that sprawls from the valleys to the inside of the mountains that envelop them. Sulcall is one of Larendar's richest cities, made so by Dwarven merchants that peddle Gnomish built goods and technology. The nation's best weapons, armor, and tools are all made in Sulcall. The city is governed by a council of dwarves that come and go, mixing business and government into one function.

Nys

The home of the Wood Elves and their mystical druids. Nys is a giant palace that towers above the trees, its exterior made entirely of magical crystal in hues of pinks and blues and greens. The Palace has stood since before the Upheaval War, and is surrounded by smaller treetop settlements for the less wealthy or privileged elves. Those who try and find Nys unheralded are unwelcomed, the elvish magic keeping a close eye on all who travel through their sacred wood.

Helewyn

A Drow citadel to the south and east of the capital, found amid the most dense and dark parts of Larendar's woods. The landed Drow nobility (females) all hold lands in this section of Larendar, due to their extreme discomfort of sunlight and bright areas. It is here that Larendar's most lavish parties and deadliest intrigue take place in the dark of the night. Hera's Temple and her order of Clerics also reside mostly in the city, though they have smaller temples elsewhere (including the capital).

Lake Paradise

The largest fresh water body in Larendar, isolated from rivers and the sea by extension. Many smaller fishing villages have popped up around the lake, staying small in spite of the amount of catch that lives in its waters. Most interestingly, a half-orc barabarian named Arthur Wharf has recently taken over as Baron of Lake Paradise and its villages after the death of its former Baron, who passed heirless.

Mount Olympus

The throne of the Olympians. Mount Olympus is guarded by legions of Cloud and Storm giants, who halt any trespassers or curious sorts that want to visit the Gods. The fields that surround the mountain are bountiful and plentiful, as is the lake to its immediate west. There are no towns within leagues of its base, no daring to live close by out of respect and reverence for Zeus and his family.

Dionan Regions, Towns, and Cities

Karsen

The capital of the Empire of Diona, a dusty, spartan, yet populated city. The large castle that houses the Dionan Emperor and his immediate family seems to loom large over the city, casting a shadow over many of its districts. The people of Karsen are always on the move, always busy working or doing something for the greater good of themselves and their country. If the castle itself does not serve as large enough a reminder of the Empire's strength, two other landmarks surely will. The first is the Dionan Coliseum, where daily gladiators gather in the Arena to prove their martial prowess and perhaps get noticed by a wealthy patron. The second is the giant skeletal husk of an ancient dragon that rests in the warrior district, the first enemy the first Dionan Emperor Gorrin slayed in his quest for unification.

Sordesto

Sordesto is the center of trade with the Larendarians, where many of the dwarves of Diona make their home in order to make a profit via their mercantile interests. Most who travel back and forth on land between the two nations come via the city's western road, as it is the safest and most well defended passage through the Badlands. Most who defend the city and its various roads are merchants, paid well to protect both goods and travelers alike. After all, the Dionans do not enjoy any signs of weakness.

Port Diona

Another of the more prominent locations found in Diona, amidst the smaller kingdoms and states that were brought to heel by the first Dionan Emperor. Port Diona is notable for it is the center of much of the kingdom's food production. Fish is a staple of the Dionan diet, much of them caught from the Eastern Sea and sent throughout the Empire. Diona's most fertile fields for agriculture also lie just to the south of the large city, producing various fruits and vegetables native to the region that the Empire trades with its neighbor.

Great Dune Sea

A vast, mostly empty desert that stretches from the borders of the Badlands and though Diona. The harsh weather has bred a harsh people, and the warriors born from the few Dionan provinces in the great desert are some of the finest and bravest the Empire has.

Dionan Wastes

The Dionan Wastes are rocky, hilly steppes that stretch across much of Terria's eastern coastline. The land is too rough to be fertile, yet even so, a majority of the Empire's people are settled in this subregion of the continent. Small towns, holdfasts, and keeps dot the landscape as a reminder of the land's history before it became unified.

Other Regions, Towns, and Cities

Great Terrian Mountains

A barrier of mountains that spans across the entirety of Terria's northern coasts. The peaks of the mountains are the coldest points of Terria, which is otherwise a fairly mild to moderate warm climate. The mountains were once home to many of the dwarves and gnomes of the land, until they migrated closer to civilization. Now, they are filled with trolls, orcs, barbarian tribes, knolls, and other various species of humanoids and monsters.

Kresia

Kresia is the base of operations for Xyphon, the self proclaimed mercenary king. Kresia was once an independent city state of kobolds and gnolls and other creatures, until Xyphon brought the distant city to heel. Rumors say that an army is gathering here, but which direction the gathering could head is anyone's guess at this point in time.

Castle Stroheim

The keep of an old, cursed former monarch, that has stood since before the Upheaval War. Legend says that the lord of the castle refused to bend the knee t or worship the new kings and gods of the land after the great war ended. For his pride and arrogance, he was cursed by Hades, God of the Underworld, and granted eternal undeath. Some merchants and warriros who travel between Diona and Larendar have claimed to see vampires traveling through the lands close by, though none have been so brave to investigate the land further....

Bleiterghast's Lair

The home of perhaps the most powerful mortal being in all of Terria, an ancient Red Dragon named Bleiterghast. None who approach his mountain survive, or live to see any sort of freedom at best. Many people believe his horde contains mysterious artifacts from before the Upheaval War, though none have made it out of his abode alive. The dragon currently has an agreement of no aggression with both Larendar and Diona, keeping to himself and ranging for food only in the badlands. A breach of that pact could be devastating to either of the two great nations.