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<blockquote data-quote="Arkhandus" data-source="post: 6057827" data-attributes="member: 13966"><p><strong>The western continent of Rhivia</strong></p><p></p><p>More details on the main continent (Rhivia) will be added later.</p><p></p><p><u>Lands of Rhivia:</u></p><p></p><p><strong>Anas'arequi:</strong> The westernmost country on the Crimson Tors, Anas'arequi holds a dozen towns and villages scattered across the Anas'uqi Canyon, centered on the capitol city of Xequ'anas. With well-built structures of stone or mud-brick, the Anas'arequi (as the people are also known) are sophisticated and possess great knowledge of mathematics, engineering, and astronomy. They use windmills to grind their grains, telescopes to observe the heavens, and mechanical water-clocks that track the time even more precisely than Baratti clocks. Although still somewhat primitive by other Rhivian standards, working with wood and stone rather than metal in most cases, the Anas'arequi are an old and wise collection of tribes that have managed to maintain peace with most of their neighbors. They still have conflict with their western neighbors, however, who have been converted to Dosaredios over the years and begun fanatical invasions of other Toran tribes like the Anas'arequi. This puts a strain on Anas'arequi warriors, but the Anas'arequi Nation remains steadfast and devoted to the Great Spirits of the ancient Toran faith. Like other Torans they have a healthy respect for nature, and their spellcasters tend to be shamanic sorts.</p><p></p><p>The people of Anas'arequi are mostly Toran humans of tan complexion with dark hair and dark eyes, tall and lanky in stature. They speak their own dialect of the Toran language mixed with elements of Auran, as their ancestors once maintained good relations with the djinn who ruled part of what's now Dejarinnar, and modern Anas'arequi contnue to have peaceful dealings and alliances with air-elemental creatures like arrowhawks, sylphs, and air weirds. Anas'arequi also maintains friendship with giant eagles from nearby eyries. Local wisemen and wisewomen always learn the Auran tongue and sometimes Sylvan, before learning any others besides Common and Toran. The Anas'arequi Nation occupies a thin strip of fertile fields, rocky caves in the canyon walls, and lightly-wooded hills at either end of their territory, while the mighty Chehuaqotl River runs the entire length of the canyon. Their houses often have rooftop gardens, making the most of their limited space in the Canyon. Watch-towers and observatories mark the edge of their territory atop the Anas'uqi Canyon walls. Each Anas'arequi tribe is lead by elders and a chieftain, with a great chief chosen among them having limited authority over their town. The Nation as a whole is simply governed by chieftain councils.</p><p></p><p><strong>Barattegia:</strong> A fairly-large, predominantly-human country in the northwest of Rhivia, the Sterling Kingdom of the Glorious Barattegia has held power over that region since the fall of the Rhivian Empire. Founded and ruled by a family of aasimar, the Barattegia clan, this kingdom expanded rapidly at first and gathered many Rhivian colonials as well as native barbarians to its banner. The Barattegian dynasty mixed Rhivian culture with the native culture of the region to assimilate the varied northwestern peoples with a single identity as the new center of high culture, upward mobility, progress, equality, and enlightened ideals. While the reality of Barattegian rule was far less than what was promised, it nonetheless brought many people into the fold and attracted many immigrants from destitute or war-torn parts of the collapsing Rhivian Empire. The Barattegian kingdom has had its own share of troubles between periods of growth and prosperity, but has been a bastion of civilization and progress in the frosty northlands.</p><p></p><p>This country occupies the northern edge of the Rhivian continent west of Vanderheim, including the western banks of the Bitterbrine River and Bitterfrost Sea, and even a few habitable islands in the northern Sea of Eternal Ice. Barattegia also stretches along the western edge of Rhivia, southward into the Greenvale Mountains, a short mountain range with lush valleys and many fine Baratti vineyards. The southeastern border is rougher and more of a crescent, with the hobgoblin realm of Hozgrakorix spearing deep into Barattegia's southeast, slowly gouging out more territory from the Barattegian kingdom while enslaving more of its people. Bloody wars have wracked the southeastern parts of Barattegia as well as its coastlines, with Vanderheimer vikings striking out each summer along the seas and rivers. These wars and barbarian raids have severely depleted Barattegia's dwindling military resources and manpower, leaving only a dozen or so capable defenders in each Baratti city, town, or outpost, with a few more in the last few Baratti castles yet to crumble under siege.</p><p></p><p>The capitol city is Lantereaux, built within and around the ever-expanding castle of the ruling monarchy, Chateaux Barattegia. More of a palace than a castle, the inner walls and main keep of Chateaux Barattegia is a marvel of engineering and opulance, with high, fluted towers, gold- and silver-capped minarets, painted white and green walls, a legion of masterfully-carved and individually-unique marble gargoyles carved along each crenellated stretch of wall, vast arrangements of stained-glass windows depicting various religious and historical scenes, elaborate arches and flying buttresses, massive halls, large and beautiful gardens, and over a dozen artfully-crafted fountains both indoors and out. Several long, outer walls surround the keep from centuries of urban expansion, each designed with a more defensive purpose in mind. Lantereaux sprawls around part of the Saint Clemens River that flows north from the Greenvale Mountains, namely the river-system along the Bellesaire Plains.</p><p></p><p>The rest of Barattegia covers the White Stag Forest in the southwest, the Torrent Hills near the western coast, the Silver Hills of the north, the Bleak Precipice canyon of the southeast, the Bitterswell Floodplains near the middle of the country, the Windlash Tundra in the northeast, parts of the Frostweb Forest in the east, the Bastion Islands of the north, and the Stark Islands of the northwest. The kingdom's citizens include humans, gnomes, halflings, elves, and even a few dwarves. Local humans are fair of skin but have widely varied features, hair, and eye color, due to a mix of Rhivian, Vanderheimer, and other bloodlines. The dominant religion is Rhivian Pantheism, with Hevelior's church as the most-powerful force in the country besides the crown. However, the Golarion Pantheon also has a small but notable following in the northern and western parts of the country.</p><p></p><p>The ruling monarch is always a king of the Barattegia aasimar clan, though their bloodline has severely thinned over generations of interbreeding with humans. Rumors abound of Barattegian clansfolk seeking out azata, archons, guardinals, or devas to mate with and strengthen the clan's semidivine bloodline, even seeking out half-celestials in other parts of the world to mate with, but the royal family vehemently denies such rumors. The current ruler is King Laurent Barattegia, a handsome middle-aged man of blue eyes, fair skin, and blond hair, with traces of sterling silver in his hair and thin mustache as the only apparent signs of his distant aasimar heritage. His wife is Queen Cecilia Duvalle-Barattegia, a slightly younger and better-looking woman of similar complexion, eyes, and hair, rumored to be a distant relative. They have two young children, their daughter Lauretta and son Raphaello. Various lesser lords and ladies of human, elven, dwarven, or gnomish families rule over the other provinces of the kingdom, but the King has supreme authority in most matters of state, controlling a larger military and the most-powerful port-city in the nation.</p><p></p><p>The people of Barattegia are known as Baratti and speak the Baratti tongue, which draws heavily from the Celestial, Elven, Gnome, Rhivian, Sylvan, and Vanderglotten languages but with its own distinct differences. Some words are recognizably close to those in the base languages, but so many northwestern lingos and dialects were used in Baratti's development that it's impossible to understand more than a few fragments without properly learning the Baratti language itself. Those regional dialects and lingos were subsumed into Baratti, so they're no longer used in their original forms. Everyone in Baratti territory now just speaks the Baratti tongue itself, the Common tongue on occasion, and sometimes a racially-specific language they picked up again from foreigners or old writings. Baratti has its own script, though loosely based on Rhivian script and bits of others.</p><p></p><p><strong>Cenebrelhuin:</strong> A wood elf country spanning the Greater Fogwood forest of northeastern Rhivia, bordering some of the former Zanjinhon territories to the east and Vanderheim territories to the west, while bugbears, orcs, and trolls menace their southern border in the Lesser Fogwood. The Greater Fogwood is a massive thicket of brush, pines, oaks, and yews, so it's a great source of bowmaking and carpentry material, but also quite chilly for most of the year. The Cenebrelhuin Principality is a reclusive society of loosely-allied wood elven clans, living up among the trees and generally distrustful of outsiders, though more welcoming to elven visitors.</p><p></p><p>While their lifestyle is somewhat primitive, living in small communities lead by the elders of each family with one noble family at the head of each community (the noble families are simply those with a trace of divine heritage in their ancestry), Cenebrelhuin elves are fairly civil with one another and with any guests. They trade food, furs, and occasionally lumber or crafts for metal goods, primarily trading with other elves but occasionally gnomes, halflings, or other nature-respecting races. A few Cenebrelhuin clans make their homes near the forest's edge and have slightly greater contact with humans, but the general attitude of Cenebrelhuin is somewhat hostile to nonelven trespassers. Cenebrelhuin elves venerate Alvaryn to some extent, but also worship Mhavara and a variety of minor elven deities. Some near the border with Zanjin territories revere Morigami and practice a loose form of Zantaoism. Some in the western edges of the Greater Fogwood have taken up worship of Cayden Cailean, Erastil, Shelyn, Gozreh, Nethys, and Gorum from the Golarion pantheon.</p><p></p><p><strong>Corinaitus:</strong> The small Corinaitus Kingdom of central Rhivia dominates a few old Rhivian cities and towns along the Bright Plains between Kalynyral and the ruins of Rhivalius. Corinaitus is ruled by King Sevalius Tomarius Corinaitus III, a stern and practical half-elven man of middling years, average looks, and little grace. His wife Phenesaria died when the capitol city, Centrava, was suddenly invaded by magic-wielding bugbear assassins from Voregranixor, the goblinoid country to the east. Several key military and political leaders in Centrava were slain that day, including several members of the royal family and their staff, before royal guardsmen and the court wizard finally cornered and slew the assassins. Lacorinaios Desyrynion is the King's trusted advisor and court wizard, an elf from Kalynyral, with distant familial ties to the King's elven ancestors.</p><p></p><p>However, the Corinaitus ruling family is not predominantly elven, nor is the country's populace. Most residents are humans of Rhivian descent, while the ruling monarchy was founded by human descendants of an ancient Rhivian senator from this region. Though the kingdom was only founded a few hundred years ago, with three ruling kings and two ruling queens so far, it was the Corinaitus clan who united the feuding people of this old Rhivian province after centuries of disorder in the wake of Rhivia's fall. Before the first King Sevalius Tomarius Corinaitus, the family had some other name, now long abandoned. The last ruling Queen, Valeserian Aleata Corinaitus, fell in love with an elven bard from Kalynyral several decades ago and bore him a son from their short tryst, though the bard later departed when he grew tired of the old and poorly-maintained city of Centrava. While the Queen wrangled him into a brief marriage, the bard has never returned from his travels and is presumed dead. The laws of the country require the ruling monarch to be of the original King Corinaitus' bloodline, so only a human, or a half-elf like the current King, can take the throne. Sevalius III has ruled for decades now, since his mother passed away.</p><p></p><p>The Corinaitus Kingdom is a mildly prosperous country with an agriculturally-driven economy, and strong remnants of ancient Rhivian influence, including language and religion. However, some elements of other cultures have been adopted over the centuries before and after this old province reunified into a country. Merchants and entertainers from other lands frequently pass through the Bright Plains. Militarily, the kingdom is of average strength, with just over a dozen experienced knights, a thousand or so militiamen, and a few mercenary companies with cavalry in reserve.</p><p></p><p><strong>Crathnorthog:</strong> A small Rhivian city at the southeastern edge of Vanderheim and alongside the Lesser Fogwood forest, Crathnorthog was renamed by an assembly of half-orcs from different tribes. These half-orcs conquered the few remaining residents of the ruined city (once known as Lanorinostica, according to old Rhivian maps) over a century ago and have managed to hold onto the ruiins for generations now. While full-blooded orcs from the Lesser Fogwood, and human clans from Vanderheim, occasionally strike at Crathnorthog, the resident half-orcs have held firm and reinforced the city's old fortifications. Other half-orcs occasionally hear about this one small haven for those of their kind, and sometimes manage to survive the journey to become part of this true-breeding half-orc community.</p><p></p><p>Though built on the Hellthicket marshland, Crathnorthog is fortified with stone walls and a few stone buildings, partially rebuilt with stones stolen from other towns several miles away. Most buildings in the city are old, fancy Rhivian timber structures or newer, shoddy wooden huts made by half-orcs. Some particularly-clever half-orc residents have figured out how to make new cement of the same kind once used in ancient Rhivia, so they've mortared the rebuilt stone walls fairly well, and they've also rediscovered the medicinal properties of local herbs. While trade is almost nonexistent between Crathnorthog and other communities, the half-orcs aren't hostile to merchants; their marshy home is just largely ignored by those who aren't trying to raid it. There's little of value in the city or its surroundings, anyway. Resident half-orcs generally speak the Orc language as well as Common and usually either Rhivian or Vanderglotten. They're mostly agnostic but some residents venerate Vanigor, Inahari, Lahurias, or Reveksor, and a few revere Torag, Gozreh, Pharasma, Gorum, or Rovagug of the Golarion pantheon.</p><p></p><p><strong>Dejarinnar Sultanate:</strong> This is the oldest remaining country of southern Rhivia, outlasting the Rhivian Empire but only due to its relative isolation, and it was founded a few centuries later than ancient Rhivia. Dejarinnar is a hereditary monarchy ruled by a male Sultan or female Sultana, based on who's born first (and survives long enough) to the reigning monarch in each generation. The current ruler is Sultan Zarif Mulhazarak al-Dejahi, an elderly man with dusky skin, bright blue eyes, long black hair and beard, now graying. Sultan Zarif is a bitter old warmonger with numerous battle scars, including a lame leg and one ruined eye now covered with an eyepatch. His potential heirs are more numerous than the women in his harem, and quite a lot of court intrigue in the capitol of Dejaruk revolves around the schemes of Zarif's offspring trying to eliminate one another as rivals.</p><p></p><p>The royal Dejahi family is descended from janni, nomadic genies who occasionally visit the region. Before the Dejarinnar Sultanate unified the region, it was split up among several other genies staking their claims on the Material Plane, ranging from djinn to efreet, even marid and shaitan genies, but this came to an end when their long conflict finally drew the attention of the gods, who banished the genies. This divine intervention only allowed most genies to remain on the Material Plane while called or summoned by other people there, and the gods destroyed most items or magic-wielders in the area who were capable of any significant summonings. This allowed the native humans to fight amongst themselves and eventually govern themselves, with the Dejahi family rising to power after a few centuries. Their mix of janni blood granted them slightly greater power and longevity than pureblooded humans.</p><p></p><p>Dejarinnar is the strongest military power in the south of Rhivia, but weaker than it has been in a long time thanks to Sultan Zarif's warmongering. Dejarinnar has few allies now, surrounded almost entirely by enemies. The country spans the length of the deadly Hashanavarya Desert in south-central Rhivia, as well as the Kheheshna Savannah near the eastern coast, and the Mugarafi Hills at the southern edge of the country. Dejaruk lies near the eastern end of the desert, along the banks of the Salakye River that serves as Dejarinnar's primary lifeline, supporting a vital strip of cropland amidst an otherwise-harsh and arid desert.</p><p></p><p>Dejarinnar trades mostly in salt, spices, metals, and precious stones, importing food, drinks, and lumber. Its military is almost exclusively comprised of cavalry forces, including pegasi riders as well as regular horsemen, but Dejarinnar also commands a few riverboats and seafaring ships, generally inferior to those of greater seafaring nations like Zanjinhon, Loricaea, Barattegia, or Vanderheim. They also employ a fair number of arcane spellcasters and a few psionicists, as well as a powerful order of assassins, mysterious and feared by many abroad. The Dejarinnar Sultanate also employs a type of land-owning noble mercenary unique to southern Rhivia, known as the jannisars, the closest southern equivalent to knights.</p><p></p><p>Natives of Dejarinnar and most of southern Rhivia are known as Dejarim, speaking the Dejarim language that originated in Dejarinnar. The Dejarim tongue has minor similarities to the elemental tongues spoken by genies, but mixed with old human tongues of the region that have since been forgotten. Most natives of the area are humans, with dwarves and ophiduans as small minorities in a few corners of the region. Kobolds are a common menace. Most Dejarim are not very religious seeing as it was the gods who banished their genie masters (who had treated them relatively well aside from using humans in battles between rival genies), but some follow Dosaredios Dualism or Rhivian Pantheism, and a few draconic cults are found here and there. Dejarim revere genies and consider them semidivine, but only Dejarim who devote themselves to a deity can wield divine magic.</p><p></p><p><strong>Estravico:</strong> The last pure remnant of the old Reino del Esarro, Principado del Estravico is a small country along the base of the Esarroccan Peninsula in southwestern Rhivia, bordering the Molten Sea to the northwest and the Shallow Sea to the southeast. Estravico spans the Campos de Maiz de Oro, a broad plain of corn fields just north of the peninsula, to the Colinas Carmesis hills northeast of the peninsula, as well as the Selva de Ebullicion, a hot and humid jungle on the peninsula itself. It is a hereditary monarchy closely tied to the church.</p><p></p><p>Estravico clashes often with its neighbors to the north, on the mainland, and on the peninsula in the southwest. Their last war was the Crusada de la Luz against the Calevarian Barony to the north, a small country that Estravico destroyed in their 'holy war' against the Rhivian pantheists of the Barony last year. Although Estravico won the war and left burnt ruins in their wake, they suffered heavy losses themselves and unexpectedly suffered an incursion from Diaborrosan cultists hiding deep in the Selva de Ebullicion. The cultists destroyed many homes and burned many crops before they, too, were defeated, leaving the Principado del Estravico in a fragile state. Even with the spoils of war, Estravico was short on food that year and many of its caballeros (noble-born warriors, skilled swordsmen and mounted lancers) and mosqueteros (riflemen, usually noble-born as well due to the high cost of firearms) came home to find nothing but ashes and rubble where their houses once stood.</p><p></p><p>This left the Principado in worse shape even as they spent their spoils on importing food and rebuilding homes. Now many of its soldiers are dispirited and living in squallor, while Principe Glorio Masenado is busy trying to fend off Loricaean pirates with his depleted navy so that he can try and bring in more food for his soldiers to retain their loyalty. The commoners are already on the verge of revolt themselves, as the Principe confiscates most of their remaining crops to feed his soldiers. Rivals to the south and northeast also threaten Estravico's fragile new peace.</p><p></p><p>Estravico holds true to old Esarroccan traditions and maintains what's left of the old kingdom's structures, including the old and extravagant Esarro capitol of Ciudad de Oro (now Estravico's capitol) along the Rio del Oro river at the edge of the Colinas Carmesis and Campos de Maiz de Oro. At the same time, Estravico has adopted newer technology from Barattegia, such as muskets, pistols, cannons, and mechanical clocks. Barattegia is one of the few countries Estravico trades with, despite the "heathen" practices of the Baratti people. Estravico trades gold, precious stones, iron, lumber, glasswork, art, and musical instruments for food and other goods, though it used to export food instead of importing it.</p><p></p><p>Like its predecessor, Principado del Estravico is a country of fervent devotees to the Dosaredios religion, namely the worship of Domirrodios the True Lord. Estravicoles (people of Estravico) are usually religious zealots and oppose other faiths with gusto, to the point of violence against followers of Diaborrosa or any other deities or spiritual philosophies besides Domirrodios. Residents of Estravico are primarily of the Esarroccan human ethnicity, with swarthy skin, broad faces, slightly large ears, black hair, and dark eyes, while the men tend to be rather hairy. Estravico also has many halfling residents across the plains and a few dwarven residents in the hills, as Domirrodios' faith urges the Esarroccans to treat other people well and spread the faith of Domirrodios to others. The primary language of the region is Esarro.</p><p></p><p><strong>Grandheim Kingdom:</strong> A small kingdom southeast of Vanderheim, founded by Rhivian humans with mixed Vanderheimer lineage. Grandheim Kingdom is only a few centuries old, now ruled by King Markos Eisenbracht, an ugly man of middling years made even uglier by the scars of war since the Grandheim invasion and conquest of the Weisslund city-state 10 years ago. Weisslund sits upon the edge of the Weissenstein salt flats at the southeastern edge of Vanderheim, providing a lucrative salt-trade for Grandheim now that they've taken over. King Markos has no heirs, except for his young cousin Duke Rickard Eisenbracht, who currently governs Weisslund for the King.</p><p></p><p>The capitol of Grandheim Kingdom is the city of Grandheim itself, several miles southeast of Weisslund, though several smaller towns and villages also lie under Grandheim's control. Besides the corner of Weissenstein they control, the rest of Grandheim Kingdom occupies lightly-forested hills and a few small farms. The Kingdom trades salt, precious stones, silver, and a small amount of lumber for imported foodstuffs, wines, ales, and iron. Grandheim Kingdom is a warlike country with a beautiful landscape and architecture as grand as its name, built upon older Rhivian structures and newer buildings funded by the spoils of war. The country has a small order of knights, the Grand Knighthood, with various noble titles, though numbering only about a dozen knights since the Weisslund war. Each of Grandheim's knights commands a force of two or three dozen militiamen at present, most of them green recruits. People of Grandheim generally speak Vanderglotten, with Rhivian considered the high speech of the nobility there. They have a few shrines and one temple to the Rhivian Pantheon.</p><p></p><p><strong>Huachiqatla:</strong> This small country of miners and fishers lies along the eastern edge of the Crimson Tors, in the Huali'pachu Hills and along the Qoachi'qapla Coast on the Sunrise Sea. Huachiqatla has few hunters and warriors but outfits them rather well with metal armaments, while selling iron and silver from their mines to make the Huachiqatla people rather wealthy on average. Although venerating the Great Spirits of the ancient Toran faith, the Huachiqatla tribes are not as devout as some other Torans and they see nothing wrong with major mining operations on their land. Their buildings are mostly built of stone and are quite well-fortified, while great stone walls protect their communities and of course their mines. The tribes have maintained a hold on half a dozen small towns since founding their country centuries ago, shortly after the fall of ancient Rhivia, and they have no capitol but instead pass leadership between their member-towns every generation as the previous generation's leader dies or retires. Each town is lead by the chief of its strongest tribe, and they hold great competitions every five years to determine who should have the right to lead. Huachiqatla's populace is comprised entirely of Toran humans, speaking their own region's dialect of Toran.</p><p></p><p><strong>Kalynyral:</strong> This high elven kingdom lies along an oxbow bend of the Lynwyveris river in central Rhivia, midway between Rhivalius and the southern edge of Vanderheim. An ancient elven territory, Kalynyral and its surrounding woodland, the Senralisan forest, has never been conquered though often invaded by neighboring goblinoids, orcs, and humans. Partly thanks to Kalynyral's diplomatic efforts and alliances with various other elven communities as well as a few human communities, Kalynyral also maintains a strong military specialized in archery and offensive arcana, albeit greatly diminished over thousands of years in conflict with enemies of the elven people.</p><p></p><p>While the kingdom managed to maintain its autonomy during the Rhivian Empire's reign over the surrounding countryside, Kalynyral was forced to pay tribute to the Rhivian emperors for several generations in order to avoid a disastrous war for the elves against overhwelming odds. Since that empire's decline and collapse, however, Kalynyral has prospered once more and fiercely maintained its independance. Recent wars with orcish hordes coupled with yearly raids by vikings from Vanderheim have worn down Kalynyral's military to a scant few dozen warriors and a handful of battlemages, though most residents of Kalynyral (numbering in the thousands) are trained in fencing and archery to at least a small extent. The current monarch is Queen Sorivalian Kalynyral, who has reigned for two centuries since her father, King Tavrynalyros Kalynyral, fell in battle against the last great hobgoblin invasion. Queen Sorivalian's consort is King Lowylyrian Arvestriex, the slightly-older patriarch of the Arvestriex noble family in charge of Kalrystryl's docks. Kalrystryl is the capitol city built around the center of the Lynwyveris river's oxbow.</p><p></p><p>Kalynyral maintains trade in food, wine, honey, silk, and lumber for various metals from human merchants and others in the region, even dwarves on occasion. The elven kingdom has several beautiful villages and cities scattered about the forest and riverbanks, with numerous bridges of exquisite craftsmanship. Most buildings in the kingdom are built of wood, but there are also several stone edifices as well. Kalynyral has a modest population of half-elves, but they are treated with a mixture of distaste and pity for their human heritage. A few half-elves manage to reach positions of respect and prestige in Kalynyral, typically by proving themselves among the Arcane Archers of Kalynyral or the Kalynyralin Eldritch Knights. Kalynyralins worship Alvaryn almost universally, with Alvarynite temples found in every Kalynyralin community, but a few venerate other deities, even Cayden Cailean, Erastil, or Nethys of the Golarion pantheon after contact with missionaries from the north.</p><p></p><p><strong>Loricaea:</strong> A small seafaring country scattered about the Loricaean Isles to the west of Rhivia, amidst the Molten Sea, so-named for its innumerable volcanic islands and underwater volcanos. Loricaea also occupies a small portion of Rhivia's mid-western coastline around the Naios Peninsula, and part of the Olympian Spires mountain range. The Federation of Loricaean Isles is a loosely-knit collection of independent city-states, towns, and villages who live by democratic principles. Each community is governed simply by popular vote of the local heads of household; although only land-owners in the Federation may vote, the country has fairly loose and simple laws that suit the freedom-loving Loricaeans.</p><p></p><p>While known all across Rhivia as some of the greatest seafarers around, so much so that ancient Rhivia copied their ship designs for its navy, Loricaeans are also some of the most notorious pirates ever seen. Their sturdy, well-armed ships are crewed by dozens or hundreds of men, employing both oars and sails for any weather. However, Loricaea also does a fair amount of sea trade in fruit, precious metals, obsidian, pumice, diamonds, fine art, and exotic dyes for lumber, marble, foreign foods, wine, spices, and iron.</p><p></p><p>The Loricaeans have little in the way of real military power, just a lot of seafaring marines, and their shortage of iron means they rely on brass or bronze for most weapons, armors, shields, and other metal instruments. Their primary soldiers are hoplites in medium or heavy armor with heavy shields and spears, short swords, or javelins, while Loricaean pirates tend to carry smaller shields and leather armor. Loricaeans often clash with sahuagin and other sea-monsters, while their volcanic homeland sometimes destroys their towns, forcing some islands to be abandoned for decades or centuries.</p><p></p><p>The largest city-states of Loricaea include ancient Lorica itself, which occupies an entire island by the same name, as well as Seronitoa, Hevarestes, Phauthos, Cerevales, Oclarens, and Naios on the mainland. Loricaeans are mostly humans, but they also include many halflings and a small number of gnomes. Loricaea is also one of the few countries to have peaceful relations with giants in their vicinity, trading and debating and partying with local giants. Cyclopes still threaten them on some islands, but Loricaeans are known to sometimes employ ogres or merrows on their ships, treated like regular crewmates. Loricaeans speak their own language, and Loricaean humans tend to be bronze-skinned with dark hair and eyes, often with a pronounced nose and brow, but not as hairy as most other humans. Loricaeans practice whatever religions they feel like, including whatever they pick up from sailing abroad, but most are fairly irreverent and free-spirited. Philosophy and debate are more common.</p><p></p><p><strong>Navaxaqotl:</strong> A country of tribal warriors and great hunters, Navaxaqotl lies at the eastern end of the Chehuaqotl River where it starts in the Himaxaqotl Mountains. The Navaxaqotl Nation has long been an ally of the peaceful Anas'arequi and some lesser tribes nearby, but has often been at war with tribes to the east, northeast, and southeast. Navaxaqotl holds several mountain villages and a few towns in the Qelaxa'chihaqua Plains to the south, with the small capitol city Navaqalichiqan based on Mount Xaqotl. With similar stone and mud-brick architecture to their friends in the Anas'uqi Canyon, Navaxaqotl are only slightly less advanced and prefer traditional lifestyles and hunting more than agriculture, though they still maintain a few corn farms and livestock herds. Like the Anas'arequi to the east, they have a fair supply of gold and iron from their territory but the Navaxaqotl are less inclined to mine for it, so they often trade with their neighbors while the Navaxaqotl hunters/warriors devote their time to more martial pursuits. The spoils of war tend to be a common trade resource for them, and Navaxaqotl often wear trophies of their victories. They favor axes, clubs, spears, and bows, wearing light armor or no armor but often carrying shields, and Navaxaqotl are skilled horsemen.</p><p></p><p>The Navaxaqotl Nation is organized like their western neighbors, though they have a high chieftain in Navaqalichiqan that rules like a monarch. Leadership is still based on the overall strength of each family and their chieftain, but the great chiefs of each town and the high chieftain of the capitol are mostly-hereditary positions with only rare opportunities for other families to seize control. Elders handle most bureaucratic and political matters while younger men and women do the fighting and physical labor, but most chieftains enter those positions in their prime while they're still capable of leading warriors into battle at the forefront. Most people of Navaxaqotl are humans of Toran lineage, and speak their own dialect of Toran, but it is not unknown for half-orcs and even half-ogres to live amongst them as respected warriors. The orcish and ogrish clans of the Himaxaqotl Mountains are almost attractive by human standards, some quirk or mysterious ancestry lending them a less-hunched and less-bestial appearance along with similarly less-savage temperament. Navaxaqotl are fervent believers in the ancient Toran faith of the Great Spirits, so their few spellcasters are generally shamanic in nature.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ochaqui'hotliqan:</strong> A Toran human nation of modest size in the eastern parts of the Crimson Tors, the Federation of Ochaqui'hotliqan is a collection of a dozen villages and nearly as many small towns loosely governed from the capitol of Ochapla'qachi upon Mount Ochala. The Federation spans several mountains in the Qahotli'chaqa range as well as the broad and fertile Pachu'qalatli'tichu Valley where vast cornfields grow. Largely peaceful and content with their territory, the Ochaqui'hotliqan are somewhat-recent converts to Dosaredios Dualism and the worship of Domirrodios. While they accepted Domirrodiosan missionaries from Estravico over a century ago, the Federation has maintained much of its old culture, governance, and traditions other than minor changes to suit their new religion. They have refused to go on the warpath for the Domirrodiosan church but do peacefully urge neighboring Toran tribes to convert for their own safety and religious salvation.</p><p></p><p>The Federation of Ochaqui'hotliqan relies on farming and modest silver-mining operations to maintain its strength and prosperity, hiring mercenaries to do most of the border-patrolling and keep rival tribes or other hostile groups from invading, while natives focus on their agricultural, mercantile, and artistic pursuits. They maintain only a small force of warriors and hunters, but with one mostly well-kept secret up their sleeves: the Ochaqui'hotliqan have an unusual number of sorcerers born among them, who can employ their magical powers in defense of the Federation if any foreigners or upstart mercenaries try to take over the seemingly-vulnerable country. The local populace is comprised of equal parts Toran humans, halflings, and gnomes. They use a mix of architectural, clothing, and artistic styles from their Toran heritage, halfling residents, gnome immigrants, Esarro traders, and Dejarim traders. They speak Toran only slightly more often than other languages.</p><p></p><p><strong>Rhivia:</strong> This ancient empire has fallen apart and all that remains of it now are ruins and cultural elements that remain among many of its former territories, including the Rhivian religion and the Common Calendar. The empire once covered much of the main continent, itself now called Rhivia. The former capitol is Rhivalius, now a haunted ruin at the center of the continent.</p><p></p><p><strong>Seronaxica:</strong> A small but strong city-state controlling the tip of the Esarroccan Peninsula, Seronaxica occupies the southwestern corner of the Gran Selva jungle and has a massive shipyard in the middle of its long docks. Seronaxica commands a large navy of fast, well-armed ships that ply the Molten Sea and Shallow Sea in search of enemy ships to assault and plunder. They've stolen cannon and firearm technology from Estravico while whittling down the Estravicole navy, and even Loricaean pirates are hesitant to face down Seronaxican ships in a fair fight.</p><p></p><p>The Ciudad-Estado de Seronaxica is a sprawling, heavily-populated city of practical wooden structures, with a few key buildings constructed of stone during the reign of the old Reino del Esarro that once dominated the peninsula. While not as beautiful or opulant as Estravico's capitol, Seronaxica is well-supplied and well-guarded, with a large population of elves and half-elves lending magical support to its border patrols and naval vessels. Though still primarily human in population, of Esarroccan lineage, the Seronaxicans live mostly in harmony with their elven neighbors and respect the elves' dominion over the northern half of the Gran Selva.</p><p></p><p>Though devoted to worship of Domirrodios, Seronaxica is less fanatical than some of its northern neighbors, and more accepting of other faiths. While still opposed to cults of Diaborrosa and other evil cults, the Seronaxicans have a relatively small number of priests and follow a looser interpretation of the Palabra de la Santa than others on the peninsula. They still practice the militant aspects of the religion, but not so much in opposition to other faiths as instead a tradition of maintaining strong, active efforts against threats from other lands, sending out naval units or guerilla units to sabotage or "warn off" enemies by keeping them on the defensive. Seronaxica is only aggressive towards those who've tried to invade or raid it, however; primarily other Esarroccans and a few mainlanders.</p><p></p><p>Seronaxica was one of the first territories to rebel against the old Reino del Esarro, and its leaders have been elected from among the city-state's populace ever since. The current mayor, or Alcalde, is Ricardo Sancarlo of the Mariners' Guild. The city council is lead by representatives of each major local guild. The city-state trades a small amount of lumber, food, wine, and crafts, particularly carpenters' work, as well as the occasional ship, while importing metal for its forges. The official language of Seronaxica is Esarro.</p><p></p><p><strong>Toraniquatlihotl:</strong> The ancient Toraniquatlihotl Empire has been nothing but ruins for several centuries now, leaving only ruined cities and steppe-pyramids across the Crimson Tors. The origin of the Toran language that remains in use among all people of the Crimson Tors, Toraniquatlihotl had risen to power a few centuries before Rhivia only to fall as soon as the Rhivians grew strong enough to invade the region. They were unable to hold it effectively, however, and constant rebellions made the Crimson Tors a battleground until the Toran tribes finally freed themselves during the Rhivian Empire's decline.</p><p></p><p>Once free, the various tribes of the Crimson Tors claimed their own lands as separate communities, forsaking the old alliance that had formed the Toraniquatlihotl Empire originally. Since then they have remained disparate tribes with little unity, and much strife over grievances both old and new. All that remains of Toraniquatlihotl is a few ruined structures where great cities once stood, like the capitol Maruchi'toranitxu upon the great mountain Toraniquatl, tallest and broadest of the Crimson Tors, located between Navaxaqotl and Toraxaqehochitlan. While the region once dominated by Toraniquatlihotl is referred to as the Crimson Tors, it is actually several different territories linked by proximity and similar geological phenomena. Mostly a range of mountains, hills, canyons, valleys, and mesas, the Crimson Tors are marked by the distinct reddish hues present in their rock formations, resulting from a high concentration of iron ore and iron oxide (rust). The region is also notable for having substantial deposits of gold and silver. Humans and dwarves are the most significant residents besides monsters, orcs, and ogres.</p><p></p><p><strong>Toraxaqehochitlan:</strong> A powerful country along the central Crimson Tors, occupying the scrubland and woodlands of the Qehochitla Mesa as well as the Pechiqaratli Valley north of there, Toraxaqehochitlan rests upon gold-rich and iron-rich lands that they mine extensively. This makes them the wealthiest and best-armed country on the Crimson Tors, as most of their neighbors are less-advanced or simply unwilling to exploit nature so heavily. Converted long ago to the Dosaredios religion and worship of Domirrodios, Toraxaqehochitlan has been a scourge to its animist and pagan neighbors and was rather warlike even before that. With no decent farmland in their territory and only a few struggling farms, Toraxaqehochitlan raids neighboring lands for food quite regularly and uses gold to buy more food when necessary.</p><p></p><p>Although armed with weapons, armors, and shields of steel, including scalemail and breastplates for most of their warriors, Toraxaqehochitlan has never had a very large population across their half-dozen villages and even the small capitol that lends the country its name, built at the northern edge of Qehochitla Mesa. They build with stone and imported woods, mostly using the style of their Esarroccan allies in Estravico. A few steppe-pyramids remain nonetheless, converted to Domirrodios shrines with a few decorative additions, stone facades, and so on. The government of Toraxaqehochitlan is now a theocracy where the high priest of Domirrodios in each village runs his or her village with absolute authority, and the most-holy priest of Domirrodios in the capitol city has authority over all other high priests in the country. Holy warriors appointed by the church lead each village's military, and only holy warriors can lead each warband within those militaries. People of Toraxaqehochitlan speak the original Toran language but many also learn Esarro. The populace is comprised mostly of Toran humans, but includes a small number of dwarves.</p><p></p><p><strong>Vanderheim:</strong> This sprawling expanse of scrubland, marshes, forests, and highland moors is located in north-central Rhivia and borders various other countries. Vanderheim is inhabited by human clans, known collectively as the Vanderheimers, who have no real unity or formal government. Each clan wars with others in the region and occasionally allies with a few other clans to invade other countries for pillaging and expanding their territory. They live primitively in general, but have great skill at metalworking, smithing, and smelting, so their arms and armor are quite well-made. Vanderheim clans live in wooden longhouses or peat- and sod-built huts, with stone buildings for smithies and small castles. They trade occasionally with other clans or other countries, but mostly just raid and pillage whatever they need.</p><p></p><p>Their homeland makes for poor farming and hunting grounds, so they inevitably go a-viking downriver into other lands for pillaging. This, of course, makes Vanderheim rather unpopular with other countries and occasionally results in massive losses for one or both sides when the clans go a-viking. Vanderheimers are capable seafarers with their longboats, and sometimes make long voyages downriver into the eastern or western oceans to explore and plunder new realms where nobody expects such an invasion. They do, however, get along well with dwarves in the hills. The leaders in Vanderheim clans are simply the best warriors, titled Jarls if they control a large territory or Laird if they control only a single town or village. Vanderheimers are tall, often burly, free-speaking humans of fair skin, blue eyes, and blond or red hair, occasionally black or brown hair from intermarriage with foreigners. The men are often quite hairy and often sport thick beards, and wear their hair somewhat long (shoulder-length hair is common, while women often sport even-longer hair; both men and women have a tendency to braid their hair to some degree).</p><p></p><p>The Vanderheim territory includes much of the coast along the inland Bitterfrost Sea, at the northwestern corner of Vanderheim. A few clans near the southern edges of Vanderheim, amidst rivers and forests, have built small cities or taken over cities left behind by the Rhivian Empire of old. These cities are ruled by Grafs, if peaceful (though even those cities have at least a defensive militia, lead by a Herzog), or a Kaiser in the case of the military city-state Archenburg. People of Vanderheim or those who've migrated elsewhere from that land speak the Vanderglotten tongue, and typically venerate the Rhivian pantheon of deities, though a few practice other religions depending on where they live, such as the Rocha clans of southeastern Vanderheim who practice Esarroccan Dualism, while a few of the northernmost tribes, calling themselves Weissdrachenvolkers, worship white dragons and draconic deities. There's also a substantial number of Vanderheim clans that have been converted over the last few centuries to worship of the Golarion deities, mostly in the central and northern reaches of the country.</p><p></p><p><strong>Zanjinhon:</strong> The oldest of the eastern countries upon the continent of Rhivia, Zanjinhon is now but a shadow of its former glory, a small and fractured empire clinging to the last vestiges of greatness. Now surrounded by small feudal domains that once belonged to the Zanjnhon Empire, it is a war-torn coastal country that survives only on meager agriculture and a brisk sea trade with distant lands. Zanjinhon has a strong warrior tradition and strong naval tradition, but recent wars have dwindled its army down to a few hundred warriors, most of them peasant ashigaru, lead by a few dozen remaining noble samurai. The Zanjinhon navy is nothing more than half a dozen small warships now, and a dozen or so merchant vessels. The capitol city of Zanjinhon is Zantenkin Toshi, a heavily-fortified but beautiful city decorated with gold, in the eastern foothills of the Yama-no-Tenshi mountain range.</p><p></p><p>The ruler of Zanjinhon is the elderly Emperor Kaizan Hohiro, who has only one surviving heir, Kaizan Shugino, his youngest son. Shugino's older brothers and sisters perished in the last two wars of the region, the Kubarakonji prefecture's war of secession and the Arenogami Akujin war, in which cultists and their allies among the daimyos of what used to be southern Zanjinhon waged war on the Imperial family and their samurai, aided by conjured oni and other agents of Arenogami, in a bid to topple the empire and bring about a new age of "freedom and equality" to the region (but really just anarchy and free reign for oni to rampage in that corner of the Material Plane). The last major conflict before those was just the latest Vanderheim invasion, 20 years ago, which ended poorly for both sides.</p><p></p><p>Below the Imperial family are the few samurai families that still serve them, diminished in numbers by the many wars of recent centuries. There are also the kannushi and budoka, or priests and monks, who are considered to be of roughly equal status to the samurai but without any military or political ranks and privelages. Below them are the peasant ashigaru, families of militiamen with less wealth and less training than samurai but still quite formidable and respectable, serving under samurai commanders. Then there are the rest of the peasants, the heimin who work for a living. Honor, face, and the code of bushido are important in Zanjinhon. People of Zanjinhon and its former territories are known as Zanjin, and they speak the Zanji language. They are olive-skinned with dark hair and eyes, with a notable slant to their eyes that seems almost elven.</p><p></p><p>Zanjin peoples generally worship the Kami of the Zantao religion, but wars of the last few decades have lead many to lose some faith in the Kami. It is an animist religion and philosophy, quite different in its teachings, practices, and beliefs than the Rhivian religion (foreign deities are considered nothing more than rogue Kami to believers of Zantao). Most territory in the Zanjinhon region is mountainous or hilly terrain, though fertile from frequent coastal rainstorms. The lowlands are marshy floodplains, and forests dot the hill-country. A desert stretches across the southern plateau at the edge of Zanjin territory, where barbarians and outlaws dwell.</p><p></p><p><u>Organizations:</u></p><p></p><p>Only a few small temples and academies remain to provide formal religious or arcane training, scattered in remote places. And only a few other small organizations or academies remain to train warriors or assassins. These remaining organizations are as follows:</p><p></p><p>To be added at some point</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Arkhandus, post: 6057827, member: 13966"] [b]The western continent of Rhivia[/b] More details on the main continent (Rhivia) will be added later. [u]Lands of Rhivia:[/u] [b]Anas'arequi:[/b] The westernmost country on the Crimson Tors, Anas'arequi holds a dozen towns and villages scattered across the Anas'uqi Canyon, centered on the capitol city of Xequ'anas. With well-built structures of stone or mud-brick, the Anas'arequi (as the people are also known) are sophisticated and possess great knowledge of mathematics, engineering, and astronomy. They use windmills to grind their grains, telescopes to observe the heavens, and mechanical water-clocks that track the time even more precisely than Baratti clocks. Although still somewhat primitive by other Rhivian standards, working with wood and stone rather than metal in most cases, the Anas'arequi are an old and wise collection of tribes that have managed to maintain peace with most of their neighbors. They still have conflict with their western neighbors, however, who have been converted to Dosaredios over the years and begun fanatical invasions of other Toran tribes like the Anas'arequi. This puts a strain on Anas'arequi warriors, but the Anas'arequi Nation remains steadfast and devoted to the Great Spirits of the ancient Toran faith. Like other Torans they have a healthy respect for nature, and their spellcasters tend to be shamanic sorts. The people of Anas'arequi are mostly Toran humans of tan complexion with dark hair and dark eyes, tall and lanky in stature. They speak their own dialect of the Toran language mixed with elements of Auran, as their ancestors once maintained good relations with the djinn who ruled part of what's now Dejarinnar, and modern Anas'arequi contnue to have peaceful dealings and alliances with air-elemental creatures like arrowhawks, sylphs, and air weirds. Anas'arequi also maintains friendship with giant eagles from nearby eyries. Local wisemen and wisewomen always learn the Auran tongue and sometimes Sylvan, before learning any others besides Common and Toran. The Anas'arequi Nation occupies a thin strip of fertile fields, rocky caves in the canyon walls, and lightly-wooded hills at either end of their territory, while the mighty Chehuaqotl River runs the entire length of the canyon. Their houses often have rooftop gardens, making the most of their limited space in the Canyon. Watch-towers and observatories mark the edge of their territory atop the Anas'uqi Canyon walls. Each Anas'arequi tribe is lead by elders and a chieftain, with a great chief chosen among them having limited authority over their town. The Nation as a whole is simply governed by chieftain councils. [b]Barattegia:[/b] A fairly-large, predominantly-human country in the northwest of Rhivia, the Sterling Kingdom of the Glorious Barattegia has held power over that region since the fall of the Rhivian Empire. Founded and ruled by a family of aasimar, the Barattegia clan, this kingdom expanded rapidly at first and gathered many Rhivian colonials as well as native barbarians to its banner. The Barattegian dynasty mixed Rhivian culture with the native culture of the region to assimilate the varied northwestern peoples with a single identity as the new center of high culture, upward mobility, progress, equality, and enlightened ideals. While the reality of Barattegian rule was far less than what was promised, it nonetheless brought many people into the fold and attracted many immigrants from destitute or war-torn parts of the collapsing Rhivian Empire. The Barattegian kingdom has had its own share of troubles between periods of growth and prosperity, but has been a bastion of civilization and progress in the frosty northlands. This country occupies the northern edge of the Rhivian continent west of Vanderheim, including the western banks of the Bitterbrine River and Bitterfrost Sea, and even a few habitable islands in the northern Sea of Eternal Ice. Barattegia also stretches along the western edge of Rhivia, southward into the Greenvale Mountains, a short mountain range with lush valleys and many fine Baratti vineyards. The southeastern border is rougher and more of a crescent, with the hobgoblin realm of Hozgrakorix spearing deep into Barattegia's southeast, slowly gouging out more territory from the Barattegian kingdom while enslaving more of its people. Bloody wars have wracked the southeastern parts of Barattegia as well as its coastlines, with Vanderheimer vikings striking out each summer along the seas and rivers. These wars and barbarian raids have severely depleted Barattegia's dwindling military resources and manpower, leaving only a dozen or so capable defenders in each Baratti city, town, or outpost, with a few more in the last few Baratti castles yet to crumble under siege. The capitol city is Lantereaux, built within and around the ever-expanding castle of the ruling monarchy, Chateaux Barattegia. More of a palace than a castle, the inner walls and main keep of Chateaux Barattegia is a marvel of engineering and opulance, with high, fluted towers, gold- and silver-capped minarets, painted white and green walls, a legion of masterfully-carved and individually-unique marble gargoyles carved along each crenellated stretch of wall, vast arrangements of stained-glass windows depicting various religious and historical scenes, elaborate arches and flying buttresses, massive halls, large and beautiful gardens, and over a dozen artfully-crafted fountains both indoors and out. Several long, outer walls surround the keep from centuries of urban expansion, each designed with a more defensive purpose in mind. Lantereaux sprawls around part of the Saint Clemens River that flows north from the Greenvale Mountains, namely the river-system along the Bellesaire Plains. The rest of Barattegia covers the White Stag Forest in the southwest, the Torrent Hills near the western coast, the Silver Hills of the north, the Bleak Precipice canyon of the southeast, the Bitterswell Floodplains near the middle of the country, the Windlash Tundra in the northeast, parts of the Frostweb Forest in the east, the Bastion Islands of the north, and the Stark Islands of the northwest. The kingdom's citizens include humans, gnomes, halflings, elves, and even a few dwarves. Local humans are fair of skin but have widely varied features, hair, and eye color, due to a mix of Rhivian, Vanderheimer, and other bloodlines. The dominant religion is Rhivian Pantheism, with Hevelior's church as the most-powerful force in the country besides the crown. However, the Golarion Pantheon also has a small but notable following in the northern and western parts of the country. The ruling monarch is always a king of the Barattegia aasimar clan, though their bloodline has severely thinned over generations of interbreeding with humans. Rumors abound of Barattegian clansfolk seeking out azata, archons, guardinals, or devas to mate with and strengthen the clan's semidivine bloodline, even seeking out half-celestials in other parts of the world to mate with, but the royal family vehemently denies such rumors. The current ruler is King Laurent Barattegia, a handsome middle-aged man of blue eyes, fair skin, and blond hair, with traces of sterling silver in his hair and thin mustache as the only apparent signs of his distant aasimar heritage. His wife is Queen Cecilia Duvalle-Barattegia, a slightly younger and better-looking woman of similar complexion, eyes, and hair, rumored to be a distant relative. They have two young children, their daughter Lauretta and son Raphaello. Various lesser lords and ladies of human, elven, dwarven, or gnomish families rule over the other provinces of the kingdom, but the King has supreme authority in most matters of state, controlling a larger military and the most-powerful port-city in the nation. The people of Barattegia are known as Baratti and speak the Baratti tongue, which draws heavily from the Celestial, Elven, Gnome, Rhivian, Sylvan, and Vanderglotten languages but with its own distinct differences. Some words are recognizably close to those in the base languages, but so many northwestern lingos and dialects were used in Baratti's development that it's impossible to understand more than a few fragments without properly learning the Baratti language itself. Those regional dialects and lingos were subsumed into Baratti, so they're no longer used in their original forms. Everyone in Baratti territory now just speaks the Baratti tongue itself, the Common tongue on occasion, and sometimes a racially-specific language they picked up again from foreigners or old writings. Baratti has its own script, though loosely based on Rhivian script and bits of others. [b]Cenebrelhuin:[/b] A wood elf country spanning the Greater Fogwood forest of northeastern Rhivia, bordering some of the former Zanjinhon territories to the east and Vanderheim territories to the west, while bugbears, orcs, and trolls menace their southern border in the Lesser Fogwood. The Greater Fogwood is a massive thicket of brush, pines, oaks, and yews, so it's a great source of bowmaking and carpentry material, but also quite chilly for most of the year. The Cenebrelhuin Principality is a reclusive society of loosely-allied wood elven clans, living up among the trees and generally distrustful of outsiders, though more welcoming to elven visitors. While their lifestyle is somewhat primitive, living in small communities lead by the elders of each family with one noble family at the head of each community (the noble families are simply those with a trace of divine heritage in their ancestry), Cenebrelhuin elves are fairly civil with one another and with any guests. They trade food, furs, and occasionally lumber or crafts for metal goods, primarily trading with other elves but occasionally gnomes, halflings, or other nature-respecting races. A few Cenebrelhuin clans make their homes near the forest's edge and have slightly greater contact with humans, but the general attitude of Cenebrelhuin is somewhat hostile to nonelven trespassers. Cenebrelhuin elves venerate Alvaryn to some extent, but also worship Mhavara and a variety of minor elven deities. Some near the border with Zanjin territories revere Morigami and practice a loose form of Zantaoism. Some in the western edges of the Greater Fogwood have taken up worship of Cayden Cailean, Erastil, Shelyn, Gozreh, Nethys, and Gorum from the Golarion pantheon. [b]Corinaitus:[/b] The small Corinaitus Kingdom of central Rhivia dominates a few old Rhivian cities and towns along the Bright Plains between Kalynyral and the ruins of Rhivalius. Corinaitus is ruled by King Sevalius Tomarius Corinaitus III, a stern and practical half-elven man of middling years, average looks, and little grace. His wife Phenesaria died when the capitol city, Centrava, was suddenly invaded by magic-wielding bugbear assassins from Voregranixor, the goblinoid country to the east. Several key military and political leaders in Centrava were slain that day, including several members of the royal family and their staff, before royal guardsmen and the court wizard finally cornered and slew the assassins. Lacorinaios Desyrynion is the King's trusted advisor and court wizard, an elf from Kalynyral, with distant familial ties to the King's elven ancestors. However, the Corinaitus ruling family is not predominantly elven, nor is the country's populace. Most residents are humans of Rhivian descent, while the ruling monarchy was founded by human descendants of an ancient Rhivian senator from this region. Though the kingdom was only founded a few hundred years ago, with three ruling kings and two ruling queens so far, it was the Corinaitus clan who united the feuding people of this old Rhivian province after centuries of disorder in the wake of Rhivia's fall. Before the first King Sevalius Tomarius Corinaitus, the family had some other name, now long abandoned. The last ruling Queen, Valeserian Aleata Corinaitus, fell in love with an elven bard from Kalynyral several decades ago and bore him a son from their short tryst, though the bard later departed when he grew tired of the old and poorly-maintained city of Centrava. While the Queen wrangled him into a brief marriage, the bard has never returned from his travels and is presumed dead. The laws of the country require the ruling monarch to be of the original King Corinaitus' bloodline, so only a human, or a half-elf like the current King, can take the throne. Sevalius III has ruled for decades now, since his mother passed away. The Corinaitus Kingdom is a mildly prosperous country with an agriculturally-driven economy, and strong remnants of ancient Rhivian influence, including language and religion. However, some elements of other cultures have been adopted over the centuries before and after this old province reunified into a country. Merchants and entertainers from other lands frequently pass through the Bright Plains. Militarily, the kingdom is of average strength, with just over a dozen experienced knights, a thousand or so militiamen, and a few mercenary companies with cavalry in reserve. [b]Crathnorthog:[/b] A small Rhivian city at the southeastern edge of Vanderheim and alongside the Lesser Fogwood forest, Crathnorthog was renamed by an assembly of half-orcs from different tribes. These half-orcs conquered the few remaining residents of the ruined city (once known as Lanorinostica, according to old Rhivian maps) over a century ago and have managed to hold onto the ruiins for generations now. While full-blooded orcs from the Lesser Fogwood, and human clans from Vanderheim, occasionally strike at Crathnorthog, the resident half-orcs have held firm and reinforced the city's old fortifications. Other half-orcs occasionally hear about this one small haven for those of their kind, and sometimes manage to survive the journey to become part of this true-breeding half-orc community. Though built on the Hellthicket marshland, Crathnorthog is fortified with stone walls and a few stone buildings, partially rebuilt with stones stolen from other towns several miles away. Most buildings in the city are old, fancy Rhivian timber structures or newer, shoddy wooden huts made by half-orcs. Some particularly-clever half-orc residents have figured out how to make new cement of the same kind once used in ancient Rhivia, so they've mortared the rebuilt stone walls fairly well, and they've also rediscovered the medicinal properties of local herbs. While trade is almost nonexistent between Crathnorthog and other communities, the half-orcs aren't hostile to merchants; their marshy home is just largely ignored by those who aren't trying to raid it. There's little of value in the city or its surroundings, anyway. Resident half-orcs generally speak the Orc language as well as Common and usually either Rhivian or Vanderglotten. They're mostly agnostic but some residents venerate Vanigor, Inahari, Lahurias, or Reveksor, and a few revere Torag, Gozreh, Pharasma, Gorum, or Rovagug of the Golarion pantheon. [b]Dejarinnar Sultanate:[/b] This is the oldest remaining country of southern Rhivia, outlasting the Rhivian Empire but only due to its relative isolation, and it was founded a few centuries later than ancient Rhivia. Dejarinnar is a hereditary monarchy ruled by a male Sultan or female Sultana, based on who's born first (and survives long enough) to the reigning monarch in each generation. The current ruler is Sultan Zarif Mulhazarak al-Dejahi, an elderly man with dusky skin, bright blue eyes, long black hair and beard, now graying. Sultan Zarif is a bitter old warmonger with numerous battle scars, including a lame leg and one ruined eye now covered with an eyepatch. His potential heirs are more numerous than the women in his harem, and quite a lot of court intrigue in the capitol of Dejaruk revolves around the schemes of Zarif's offspring trying to eliminate one another as rivals. The royal Dejahi family is descended from janni, nomadic genies who occasionally visit the region. Before the Dejarinnar Sultanate unified the region, it was split up among several other genies staking their claims on the Material Plane, ranging from djinn to efreet, even marid and shaitan genies, but this came to an end when their long conflict finally drew the attention of the gods, who banished the genies. This divine intervention only allowed most genies to remain on the Material Plane while called or summoned by other people there, and the gods destroyed most items or magic-wielders in the area who were capable of any significant summonings. This allowed the native humans to fight amongst themselves and eventually govern themselves, with the Dejahi family rising to power after a few centuries. Their mix of janni blood granted them slightly greater power and longevity than pureblooded humans. Dejarinnar is the strongest military power in the south of Rhivia, but weaker than it has been in a long time thanks to Sultan Zarif's warmongering. Dejarinnar has few allies now, surrounded almost entirely by enemies. The country spans the length of the deadly Hashanavarya Desert in south-central Rhivia, as well as the Kheheshna Savannah near the eastern coast, and the Mugarafi Hills at the southern edge of the country. Dejaruk lies near the eastern end of the desert, along the banks of the Salakye River that serves as Dejarinnar's primary lifeline, supporting a vital strip of cropland amidst an otherwise-harsh and arid desert. Dejarinnar trades mostly in salt, spices, metals, and precious stones, importing food, drinks, and lumber. Its military is almost exclusively comprised of cavalry forces, including pegasi riders as well as regular horsemen, but Dejarinnar also commands a few riverboats and seafaring ships, generally inferior to those of greater seafaring nations like Zanjinhon, Loricaea, Barattegia, or Vanderheim. They also employ a fair number of arcane spellcasters and a few psionicists, as well as a powerful order of assassins, mysterious and feared by many abroad. The Dejarinnar Sultanate also employs a type of land-owning noble mercenary unique to southern Rhivia, known as the jannisars, the closest southern equivalent to knights. Natives of Dejarinnar and most of southern Rhivia are known as Dejarim, speaking the Dejarim language that originated in Dejarinnar. The Dejarim tongue has minor similarities to the elemental tongues spoken by genies, but mixed with old human tongues of the region that have since been forgotten. Most natives of the area are humans, with dwarves and ophiduans as small minorities in a few corners of the region. Kobolds are a common menace. Most Dejarim are not very religious seeing as it was the gods who banished their genie masters (who had treated them relatively well aside from using humans in battles between rival genies), but some follow Dosaredios Dualism or Rhivian Pantheism, and a few draconic cults are found here and there. Dejarim revere genies and consider them semidivine, but only Dejarim who devote themselves to a deity can wield divine magic. [b]Estravico:[/b] The last pure remnant of the old Reino del Esarro, Principado del Estravico is a small country along the base of the Esarroccan Peninsula in southwestern Rhivia, bordering the Molten Sea to the northwest and the Shallow Sea to the southeast. Estravico spans the Campos de Maiz de Oro, a broad plain of corn fields just north of the peninsula, to the Colinas Carmesis hills northeast of the peninsula, as well as the Selva de Ebullicion, a hot and humid jungle on the peninsula itself. It is a hereditary monarchy closely tied to the church. Estravico clashes often with its neighbors to the north, on the mainland, and on the peninsula in the southwest. Their last war was the Crusada de la Luz against the Calevarian Barony to the north, a small country that Estravico destroyed in their 'holy war' against the Rhivian pantheists of the Barony last year. Although Estravico won the war and left burnt ruins in their wake, they suffered heavy losses themselves and unexpectedly suffered an incursion from Diaborrosan cultists hiding deep in the Selva de Ebullicion. The cultists destroyed many homes and burned many crops before they, too, were defeated, leaving the Principado del Estravico in a fragile state. Even with the spoils of war, Estravico was short on food that year and many of its caballeros (noble-born warriors, skilled swordsmen and mounted lancers) and mosqueteros (riflemen, usually noble-born as well due to the high cost of firearms) came home to find nothing but ashes and rubble where their houses once stood. This left the Principado in worse shape even as they spent their spoils on importing food and rebuilding homes. Now many of its soldiers are dispirited and living in squallor, while Principe Glorio Masenado is busy trying to fend off Loricaean pirates with his depleted navy so that he can try and bring in more food for his soldiers to retain their loyalty. The commoners are already on the verge of revolt themselves, as the Principe confiscates most of their remaining crops to feed his soldiers. Rivals to the south and northeast also threaten Estravico's fragile new peace. Estravico holds true to old Esarroccan traditions and maintains what's left of the old kingdom's structures, including the old and extravagant Esarro capitol of Ciudad de Oro (now Estravico's capitol) along the Rio del Oro river at the edge of the Colinas Carmesis and Campos de Maiz de Oro. At the same time, Estravico has adopted newer technology from Barattegia, such as muskets, pistols, cannons, and mechanical clocks. Barattegia is one of the few countries Estravico trades with, despite the "heathen" practices of the Baratti people. Estravico trades gold, precious stones, iron, lumber, glasswork, art, and musical instruments for food and other goods, though it used to export food instead of importing it. Like its predecessor, Principado del Estravico is a country of fervent devotees to the Dosaredios religion, namely the worship of Domirrodios the True Lord. Estravicoles (people of Estravico) are usually religious zealots and oppose other faiths with gusto, to the point of violence against followers of Diaborrosa or any other deities or spiritual philosophies besides Domirrodios. Residents of Estravico are primarily of the Esarroccan human ethnicity, with swarthy skin, broad faces, slightly large ears, black hair, and dark eyes, while the men tend to be rather hairy. Estravico also has many halfling residents across the plains and a few dwarven residents in the hills, as Domirrodios' faith urges the Esarroccans to treat other people well and spread the faith of Domirrodios to others. The primary language of the region is Esarro. [b]Grandheim Kingdom:[/b] A small kingdom southeast of Vanderheim, founded by Rhivian humans with mixed Vanderheimer lineage. Grandheim Kingdom is only a few centuries old, now ruled by King Markos Eisenbracht, an ugly man of middling years made even uglier by the scars of war since the Grandheim invasion and conquest of the Weisslund city-state 10 years ago. Weisslund sits upon the edge of the Weissenstein salt flats at the southeastern edge of Vanderheim, providing a lucrative salt-trade for Grandheim now that they've taken over. King Markos has no heirs, except for his young cousin Duke Rickard Eisenbracht, who currently governs Weisslund for the King. The capitol of Grandheim Kingdom is the city of Grandheim itself, several miles southeast of Weisslund, though several smaller towns and villages also lie under Grandheim's control. Besides the corner of Weissenstein they control, the rest of Grandheim Kingdom occupies lightly-forested hills and a few small farms. The Kingdom trades salt, precious stones, silver, and a small amount of lumber for imported foodstuffs, wines, ales, and iron. Grandheim Kingdom is a warlike country with a beautiful landscape and architecture as grand as its name, built upon older Rhivian structures and newer buildings funded by the spoils of war. The country has a small order of knights, the Grand Knighthood, with various noble titles, though numbering only about a dozen knights since the Weisslund war. Each of Grandheim's knights commands a force of two or three dozen militiamen at present, most of them green recruits. People of Grandheim generally speak Vanderglotten, with Rhivian considered the high speech of the nobility there. They have a few shrines and one temple to the Rhivian Pantheon. [b]Huachiqatla:[/b] This small country of miners and fishers lies along the eastern edge of the Crimson Tors, in the Huali'pachu Hills and along the Qoachi'qapla Coast on the Sunrise Sea. Huachiqatla has few hunters and warriors but outfits them rather well with metal armaments, while selling iron and silver from their mines to make the Huachiqatla people rather wealthy on average. Although venerating the Great Spirits of the ancient Toran faith, the Huachiqatla tribes are not as devout as some other Torans and they see nothing wrong with major mining operations on their land. Their buildings are mostly built of stone and are quite well-fortified, while great stone walls protect their communities and of course their mines. The tribes have maintained a hold on half a dozen small towns since founding their country centuries ago, shortly after the fall of ancient Rhivia, and they have no capitol but instead pass leadership between their member-towns every generation as the previous generation's leader dies or retires. Each town is lead by the chief of its strongest tribe, and they hold great competitions every five years to determine who should have the right to lead. Huachiqatla's populace is comprised entirely of Toran humans, speaking their own region's dialect of Toran. [b]Kalynyral:[/b] This high elven kingdom lies along an oxbow bend of the Lynwyveris river in central Rhivia, midway between Rhivalius and the southern edge of Vanderheim. An ancient elven territory, Kalynyral and its surrounding woodland, the Senralisan forest, has never been conquered though often invaded by neighboring goblinoids, orcs, and humans. Partly thanks to Kalynyral's diplomatic efforts and alliances with various other elven communities as well as a few human communities, Kalynyral also maintains a strong military specialized in archery and offensive arcana, albeit greatly diminished over thousands of years in conflict with enemies of the elven people. While the kingdom managed to maintain its autonomy during the Rhivian Empire's reign over the surrounding countryside, Kalynyral was forced to pay tribute to the Rhivian emperors for several generations in order to avoid a disastrous war for the elves against overhwelming odds. Since that empire's decline and collapse, however, Kalynyral has prospered once more and fiercely maintained its independance. Recent wars with orcish hordes coupled with yearly raids by vikings from Vanderheim have worn down Kalynyral's military to a scant few dozen warriors and a handful of battlemages, though most residents of Kalynyral (numbering in the thousands) are trained in fencing and archery to at least a small extent. The current monarch is Queen Sorivalian Kalynyral, who has reigned for two centuries since her father, King Tavrynalyros Kalynyral, fell in battle against the last great hobgoblin invasion. Queen Sorivalian's consort is King Lowylyrian Arvestriex, the slightly-older patriarch of the Arvestriex noble family in charge of Kalrystryl's docks. Kalrystryl is the capitol city built around the center of the Lynwyveris river's oxbow. Kalynyral maintains trade in food, wine, honey, silk, and lumber for various metals from human merchants and others in the region, even dwarves on occasion. The elven kingdom has several beautiful villages and cities scattered about the forest and riverbanks, with numerous bridges of exquisite craftsmanship. Most buildings in the kingdom are built of wood, but there are also several stone edifices as well. Kalynyral has a modest population of half-elves, but they are treated with a mixture of distaste and pity for their human heritage. A few half-elves manage to reach positions of respect and prestige in Kalynyral, typically by proving themselves among the Arcane Archers of Kalynyral or the Kalynyralin Eldritch Knights. Kalynyralins worship Alvaryn almost universally, with Alvarynite temples found in every Kalynyralin community, but a few venerate other deities, even Cayden Cailean, Erastil, or Nethys of the Golarion pantheon after contact with missionaries from the north. [b]Loricaea:[/b] A small seafaring country scattered about the Loricaean Isles to the west of Rhivia, amidst the Molten Sea, so-named for its innumerable volcanic islands and underwater volcanos. Loricaea also occupies a small portion of Rhivia's mid-western coastline around the Naios Peninsula, and part of the Olympian Spires mountain range. The Federation of Loricaean Isles is a loosely-knit collection of independent city-states, towns, and villages who live by democratic principles. Each community is governed simply by popular vote of the local heads of household; although only land-owners in the Federation may vote, the country has fairly loose and simple laws that suit the freedom-loving Loricaeans. While known all across Rhivia as some of the greatest seafarers around, so much so that ancient Rhivia copied their ship designs for its navy, Loricaeans are also some of the most notorious pirates ever seen. Their sturdy, well-armed ships are crewed by dozens or hundreds of men, employing both oars and sails for any weather. However, Loricaea also does a fair amount of sea trade in fruit, precious metals, obsidian, pumice, diamonds, fine art, and exotic dyes for lumber, marble, foreign foods, wine, spices, and iron. The Loricaeans have little in the way of real military power, just a lot of seafaring marines, and their shortage of iron means they rely on brass or bronze for most weapons, armors, shields, and other metal instruments. Their primary soldiers are hoplites in medium or heavy armor with heavy shields and spears, short swords, or javelins, while Loricaean pirates tend to carry smaller shields and leather armor. Loricaeans often clash with sahuagin and other sea-monsters, while their volcanic homeland sometimes destroys their towns, forcing some islands to be abandoned for decades or centuries. The largest city-states of Loricaea include ancient Lorica itself, which occupies an entire island by the same name, as well as Seronitoa, Hevarestes, Phauthos, Cerevales, Oclarens, and Naios on the mainland. Loricaeans are mostly humans, but they also include many halflings and a small number of gnomes. Loricaea is also one of the few countries to have peaceful relations with giants in their vicinity, trading and debating and partying with local giants. Cyclopes still threaten them on some islands, but Loricaeans are known to sometimes employ ogres or merrows on their ships, treated like regular crewmates. Loricaeans speak their own language, and Loricaean humans tend to be bronze-skinned with dark hair and eyes, often with a pronounced nose and brow, but not as hairy as most other humans. Loricaeans practice whatever religions they feel like, including whatever they pick up from sailing abroad, but most are fairly irreverent and free-spirited. Philosophy and debate are more common. [b]Navaxaqotl:[/b] A country of tribal warriors and great hunters, Navaxaqotl lies at the eastern end of the Chehuaqotl River where it starts in the Himaxaqotl Mountains. The Navaxaqotl Nation has long been an ally of the peaceful Anas'arequi and some lesser tribes nearby, but has often been at war with tribes to the east, northeast, and southeast. Navaxaqotl holds several mountain villages and a few towns in the Qelaxa'chihaqua Plains to the south, with the small capitol city Navaqalichiqan based on Mount Xaqotl. With similar stone and mud-brick architecture to their friends in the Anas'uqi Canyon, Navaxaqotl are only slightly less advanced and prefer traditional lifestyles and hunting more than agriculture, though they still maintain a few corn farms and livestock herds. Like the Anas'arequi to the east, they have a fair supply of gold and iron from their territory but the Navaxaqotl are less inclined to mine for it, so they often trade with their neighbors while the Navaxaqotl hunters/warriors devote their time to more martial pursuits. The spoils of war tend to be a common trade resource for them, and Navaxaqotl often wear trophies of their victories. They favor axes, clubs, spears, and bows, wearing light armor or no armor but often carrying shields, and Navaxaqotl are skilled horsemen. The Navaxaqotl Nation is organized like their western neighbors, though they have a high chieftain in Navaqalichiqan that rules like a monarch. Leadership is still based on the overall strength of each family and their chieftain, but the great chiefs of each town and the high chieftain of the capitol are mostly-hereditary positions with only rare opportunities for other families to seize control. Elders handle most bureaucratic and political matters while younger men and women do the fighting and physical labor, but most chieftains enter those positions in their prime while they're still capable of leading warriors into battle at the forefront. Most people of Navaxaqotl are humans of Toran lineage, and speak their own dialect of Toran, but it is not unknown for half-orcs and even half-ogres to live amongst them as respected warriors. The orcish and ogrish clans of the Himaxaqotl Mountains are almost attractive by human standards, some quirk or mysterious ancestry lending them a less-hunched and less-bestial appearance along with similarly less-savage temperament. Navaxaqotl are fervent believers in the ancient Toran faith of the Great Spirits, so their few spellcasters are generally shamanic in nature. [b]Ochaqui'hotliqan:[/b] A Toran human nation of modest size in the eastern parts of the Crimson Tors, the Federation of Ochaqui'hotliqan is a collection of a dozen villages and nearly as many small towns loosely governed from the capitol of Ochapla'qachi upon Mount Ochala. The Federation spans several mountains in the Qahotli'chaqa range as well as the broad and fertile Pachu'qalatli'tichu Valley where vast cornfields grow. Largely peaceful and content with their territory, the Ochaqui'hotliqan are somewhat-recent converts to Dosaredios Dualism and the worship of Domirrodios. While they accepted Domirrodiosan missionaries from Estravico over a century ago, the Federation has maintained much of its old culture, governance, and traditions other than minor changes to suit their new religion. They have refused to go on the warpath for the Domirrodiosan church but do peacefully urge neighboring Toran tribes to convert for their own safety and religious salvation. The Federation of Ochaqui'hotliqan relies on farming and modest silver-mining operations to maintain its strength and prosperity, hiring mercenaries to do most of the border-patrolling and keep rival tribes or other hostile groups from invading, while natives focus on their agricultural, mercantile, and artistic pursuits. They maintain only a small force of warriors and hunters, but with one mostly well-kept secret up their sleeves: the Ochaqui'hotliqan have an unusual number of sorcerers born among them, who can employ their magical powers in defense of the Federation if any foreigners or upstart mercenaries try to take over the seemingly-vulnerable country. The local populace is comprised of equal parts Toran humans, halflings, and gnomes. They use a mix of architectural, clothing, and artistic styles from their Toran heritage, halfling residents, gnome immigrants, Esarro traders, and Dejarim traders. They speak Toran only slightly more often than other languages. [b]Rhivia:[/b] This ancient empire has fallen apart and all that remains of it now are ruins and cultural elements that remain among many of its former territories, including the Rhivian religion and the Common Calendar. The empire once covered much of the main continent, itself now called Rhivia. The former capitol is Rhivalius, now a haunted ruin at the center of the continent. [b]Seronaxica:[/b] A small but strong city-state controlling the tip of the Esarroccan Peninsula, Seronaxica occupies the southwestern corner of the Gran Selva jungle and has a massive shipyard in the middle of its long docks. Seronaxica commands a large navy of fast, well-armed ships that ply the Molten Sea and Shallow Sea in search of enemy ships to assault and plunder. They've stolen cannon and firearm technology from Estravico while whittling down the Estravicole navy, and even Loricaean pirates are hesitant to face down Seronaxican ships in a fair fight. The Ciudad-Estado de Seronaxica is a sprawling, heavily-populated city of practical wooden structures, with a few key buildings constructed of stone during the reign of the old Reino del Esarro that once dominated the peninsula. While not as beautiful or opulant as Estravico's capitol, Seronaxica is well-supplied and well-guarded, with a large population of elves and half-elves lending magical support to its border patrols and naval vessels. Though still primarily human in population, of Esarroccan lineage, the Seronaxicans live mostly in harmony with their elven neighbors and respect the elves' dominion over the northern half of the Gran Selva. Though devoted to worship of Domirrodios, Seronaxica is less fanatical than some of its northern neighbors, and more accepting of other faiths. While still opposed to cults of Diaborrosa and other evil cults, the Seronaxicans have a relatively small number of priests and follow a looser interpretation of the Palabra de la Santa than others on the peninsula. They still practice the militant aspects of the religion, but not so much in opposition to other faiths as instead a tradition of maintaining strong, active efforts against threats from other lands, sending out naval units or guerilla units to sabotage or "warn off" enemies by keeping them on the defensive. Seronaxica is only aggressive towards those who've tried to invade or raid it, however; primarily other Esarroccans and a few mainlanders. Seronaxica was one of the first territories to rebel against the old Reino del Esarro, and its leaders have been elected from among the city-state's populace ever since. The current mayor, or Alcalde, is Ricardo Sancarlo of the Mariners' Guild. The city council is lead by representatives of each major local guild. The city-state trades a small amount of lumber, food, wine, and crafts, particularly carpenters' work, as well as the occasional ship, while importing metal for its forges. The official language of Seronaxica is Esarro. [b]Toraniquatlihotl:[/b] The ancient Toraniquatlihotl Empire has been nothing but ruins for several centuries now, leaving only ruined cities and steppe-pyramids across the Crimson Tors. The origin of the Toran language that remains in use among all people of the Crimson Tors, Toraniquatlihotl had risen to power a few centuries before Rhivia only to fall as soon as the Rhivians grew strong enough to invade the region. They were unable to hold it effectively, however, and constant rebellions made the Crimson Tors a battleground until the Toran tribes finally freed themselves during the Rhivian Empire's decline. Once free, the various tribes of the Crimson Tors claimed their own lands as separate communities, forsaking the old alliance that had formed the Toraniquatlihotl Empire originally. Since then they have remained disparate tribes with little unity, and much strife over grievances both old and new. All that remains of Toraniquatlihotl is a few ruined structures where great cities once stood, like the capitol Maruchi'toranitxu upon the great mountain Toraniquatl, tallest and broadest of the Crimson Tors, located between Navaxaqotl and Toraxaqehochitlan. While the region once dominated by Toraniquatlihotl is referred to as the Crimson Tors, it is actually several different territories linked by proximity and similar geological phenomena. Mostly a range of mountains, hills, canyons, valleys, and mesas, the Crimson Tors are marked by the distinct reddish hues present in their rock formations, resulting from a high concentration of iron ore and iron oxide (rust). The region is also notable for having substantial deposits of gold and silver. Humans and dwarves are the most significant residents besides monsters, orcs, and ogres. [b]Toraxaqehochitlan:[/b] A powerful country along the central Crimson Tors, occupying the scrubland and woodlands of the Qehochitla Mesa as well as the Pechiqaratli Valley north of there, Toraxaqehochitlan rests upon gold-rich and iron-rich lands that they mine extensively. This makes them the wealthiest and best-armed country on the Crimson Tors, as most of their neighbors are less-advanced or simply unwilling to exploit nature so heavily. Converted long ago to the Dosaredios religion and worship of Domirrodios, Toraxaqehochitlan has been a scourge to its animist and pagan neighbors and was rather warlike even before that. With no decent farmland in their territory and only a few struggling farms, Toraxaqehochitlan raids neighboring lands for food quite regularly and uses gold to buy more food when necessary. Although armed with weapons, armors, and shields of steel, including scalemail and breastplates for most of their warriors, Toraxaqehochitlan has never had a very large population across their half-dozen villages and even the small capitol that lends the country its name, built at the northern edge of Qehochitla Mesa. They build with stone and imported woods, mostly using the style of their Esarroccan allies in Estravico. A few steppe-pyramids remain nonetheless, converted to Domirrodios shrines with a few decorative additions, stone facades, and so on. The government of Toraxaqehochitlan is now a theocracy where the high priest of Domirrodios in each village runs his or her village with absolute authority, and the most-holy priest of Domirrodios in the capitol city has authority over all other high priests in the country. Holy warriors appointed by the church lead each village's military, and only holy warriors can lead each warband within those militaries. People of Toraxaqehochitlan speak the original Toran language but many also learn Esarro. The populace is comprised mostly of Toran humans, but includes a small number of dwarves. [b]Vanderheim:[/b] This sprawling expanse of scrubland, marshes, forests, and highland moors is located in north-central Rhivia and borders various other countries. Vanderheim is inhabited by human clans, known collectively as the Vanderheimers, who have no real unity or formal government. Each clan wars with others in the region and occasionally allies with a few other clans to invade other countries for pillaging and expanding their territory. They live primitively in general, but have great skill at metalworking, smithing, and smelting, so their arms and armor are quite well-made. Vanderheim clans live in wooden longhouses or peat- and sod-built huts, with stone buildings for smithies and small castles. They trade occasionally with other clans or other countries, but mostly just raid and pillage whatever they need. Their homeland makes for poor farming and hunting grounds, so they inevitably go a-viking downriver into other lands for pillaging. This, of course, makes Vanderheim rather unpopular with other countries and occasionally results in massive losses for one or both sides when the clans go a-viking. Vanderheimers are capable seafarers with their longboats, and sometimes make long voyages downriver into the eastern or western oceans to explore and plunder new realms where nobody expects such an invasion. They do, however, get along well with dwarves in the hills. The leaders in Vanderheim clans are simply the best warriors, titled Jarls if they control a large territory or Laird if they control only a single town or village. Vanderheimers are tall, often burly, free-speaking humans of fair skin, blue eyes, and blond or red hair, occasionally black or brown hair from intermarriage with foreigners. The men are often quite hairy and often sport thick beards, and wear their hair somewhat long (shoulder-length hair is common, while women often sport even-longer hair; both men and women have a tendency to braid their hair to some degree). The Vanderheim territory includes much of the coast along the inland Bitterfrost Sea, at the northwestern corner of Vanderheim. A few clans near the southern edges of Vanderheim, amidst rivers and forests, have built small cities or taken over cities left behind by the Rhivian Empire of old. These cities are ruled by Grafs, if peaceful (though even those cities have at least a defensive militia, lead by a Herzog), or a Kaiser in the case of the military city-state Archenburg. People of Vanderheim or those who've migrated elsewhere from that land speak the Vanderglotten tongue, and typically venerate the Rhivian pantheon of deities, though a few practice other religions depending on where they live, such as the Rocha clans of southeastern Vanderheim who practice Esarroccan Dualism, while a few of the northernmost tribes, calling themselves Weissdrachenvolkers, worship white dragons and draconic deities. There's also a substantial number of Vanderheim clans that have been converted over the last few centuries to worship of the Golarion deities, mostly in the central and northern reaches of the country. [b]Zanjinhon:[/b] The oldest of the eastern countries upon the continent of Rhivia, Zanjinhon is now but a shadow of its former glory, a small and fractured empire clinging to the last vestiges of greatness. Now surrounded by small feudal domains that once belonged to the Zanjnhon Empire, it is a war-torn coastal country that survives only on meager agriculture and a brisk sea trade with distant lands. Zanjinhon has a strong warrior tradition and strong naval tradition, but recent wars have dwindled its army down to a few hundred warriors, most of them peasant ashigaru, lead by a few dozen remaining noble samurai. The Zanjinhon navy is nothing more than half a dozen small warships now, and a dozen or so merchant vessels. The capitol city of Zanjinhon is Zantenkin Toshi, a heavily-fortified but beautiful city decorated with gold, in the eastern foothills of the Yama-no-Tenshi mountain range. The ruler of Zanjinhon is the elderly Emperor Kaizan Hohiro, who has only one surviving heir, Kaizan Shugino, his youngest son. Shugino's older brothers and sisters perished in the last two wars of the region, the Kubarakonji prefecture's war of secession and the Arenogami Akujin war, in which cultists and their allies among the daimyos of what used to be southern Zanjinhon waged war on the Imperial family and their samurai, aided by conjured oni and other agents of Arenogami, in a bid to topple the empire and bring about a new age of "freedom and equality" to the region (but really just anarchy and free reign for oni to rampage in that corner of the Material Plane). The last major conflict before those was just the latest Vanderheim invasion, 20 years ago, which ended poorly for both sides. Below the Imperial family are the few samurai families that still serve them, diminished in numbers by the many wars of recent centuries. There are also the kannushi and budoka, or priests and monks, who are considered to be of roughly equal status to the samurai but without any military or political ranks and privelages. Below them are the peasant ashigaru, families of militiamen with less wealth and less training than samurai but still quite formidable and respectable, serving under samurai commanders. Then there are the rest of the peasants, the heimin who work for a living. Honor, face, and the code of bushido are important in Zanjinhon. People of Zanjinhon and its former territories are known as Zanjin, and they speak the Zanji language. They are olive-skinned with dark hair and eyes, with a notable slant to their eyes that seems almost elven. Zanjin peoples generally worship the Kami of the Zantao religion, but wars of the last few decades have lead many to lose some faith in the Kami. It is an animist religion and philosophy, quite different in its teachings, practices, and beliefs than the Rhivian religion (foreign deities are considered nothing more than rogue Kami to believers of Zantao). Most territory in the Zanjinhon region is mountainous or hilly terrain, though fertile from frequent coastal rainstorms. The lowlands are marshy floodplains, and forests dot the hill-country. A desert stretches across the southern plateau at the edge of Zanjin territory, where barbarians and outlaws dwell. [u]Organizations:[/u] Only a few small temples and academies remain to provide formal religious or arcane training, scattered in remote places. And only a few other small organizations or academies remain to train warriors or assassins. These remaining organizations are as follows: To be added at some point [/QUOTE]
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