As I discussed on the Themes page, it's important to me that Ythra be dedicated primarily toward facilitating adventure, so I want it to have some similarity to D&D 4e's Points of Light setting, where the world is primarily wilderness and ruins dotted here and there with settlements carving out little pockets of civilization. On the other hand, there are some countries that have appeared in various incarnations through multiple stories and settings I've developed, so those "points of light" aren't just faceless places to rest and reequip, but fleshed-out locations with adventure possibilities in their own right.
That said, a setting filled with powerful kingdoms is at odds with the kind of world I want Ythra to be: a venturesome wilderness where explorers and heroes don't have to wander too far to get into dangerous, unsettled territory. Thus, the countries of Ythra, at least in the regions I'm developing initially, are relatively small city-states, typically groups of farming communities clustered around a larger settlement that provides them with defense in exchange for them keeping it supplied with food. These city-states are connected via patrolled trade roads. However, even these trade roads can be dangerous, so merchants and travellers are advised to travel via armed caravan.
There may be larger, more powerful nations elsewhere in the world, but if so, those are a subject of future development.
Separating these city-states that are tenuously tethered together by trade roads in various states of defense and repair are vast swaths of untamed wilderness, teeming with bandits, hostile savages, and monsters. Why would anyone venture into these dangerous wilds? Many reasons are possible: Performing missions for patrons, seeking to push back the darkness and carve out a new chunk of civilization, or perhaps the most common reason: exploring the ruins that dot the landscape everywhere in search of ancient wisdom or treasures -- especially mysterium, that magical substance that powers spellcraft and enables the city-states to survive in a hostile environment.
The focus of my initial setting development will be a tiny sliver of the Folthenor super-continent, the peninsula that juts into the Dralith Sea, known as the Grythmar Peninsula. Within this peninsula lie five realms that have carved pockets of civilization out of the wilds of Ythra. Note that while the map below shows borders for each realm, it is far from the case that the extent of each territory is fully settled and secure. Rather, these borders show the maximum extents to which each realm has founded tentative settlements. But even within each realm's nominal borders, most areas are dangerous and poorly explored. Only the zones of control around the largest settlements (capital cities and major ports, shown with colored circles below) can truly be said to have been tamed.
Finally, note that this is all tentative material and subject to change if I come up with better ideas.
Capital city: Elandor
Main races: Humans (60%), halflings (20%), elves (10%), dwarves (10%)
A beautiful kingdom characterized by valleys of rich farmlands and lush woodlands, where power is shared between a hereditary monarchy and a council of nobility. Thanks to its access to rich natural resources, trade, and a fairly non-repressive regime, Vantia is a relatively free and prosperous country, although power struggles in the halls of power threaten to upend that dynamic.
The current queen is young and inexperienced, having prematurely come to power when her father died under suspicious circumstances. The royal council has made unsuccessful attempts to control and manipulate the young queen, who has enlisted the aid of powerful allies against the dissident council: Marshal Kendrick Garam, lord-commander of the army; and Sir Axl Endran, captain of the royal guard. The dissident councillors, who resent Anri's policies that prioritize the safety and prosperity of the commoners over enriching and empowering the nobility, have drawn the council's ire, and they seek to depose Anri if they can.
Marshal Kendrick commands an army composed of a core of professional knights, including a squadron of gryphon riders, as well as a larger force of militia reservists (each settlement has a quota of reservists who must undergo regular training and be available to be called up in the event of war). Although not a major maritime power, Vantia also maintains a small navy for deterring piracy and coastal defense. However, the navy is under the command of a different councillor.
The most prominent religion in Vantia is Luminism, which reveres Luminar, the god of light.
Vantia's emblem is a golden gryphon on a blue field.
Capital city: Drakenscar
Main races: Humans (70%), dwarves (15%), darklings (10%), draconians (5%)
Composed of a mixture of rocky, xeric terrain and swampy lowlands, Rikenfald is a sprawling land divided between impoverished villages and the wealthy capital city, Drakenscar, where the monarch, the Witch-Queen Malvoria, rules from her seat of power, the Grand Citadel. Built on a rocky hill and surrounded by thick, high walls and imposing towers, Drakenscar is divided between an impoverished Low Quarter where dwell visitors, workers, servants, and criminals; and the exclusive High Quarter, surrounded by another inner wall, where Rikenfald's decadent elite live.
Queen Malvoria has ruled Rikenfald for centuries and is said to be a powerful dark sorceress who has unlocked the secrets of immortality. Some whisper that she is actually a lich who conceals her true undead form with illusions. Whatever the truth, Malvoria rules her domain with an iron fist, utilizing sorcerous secret police and mercenaries recruited from savage humanoids like orcs and gnolls both to keep order among her subjects and to protect the kingdom's borders. Malvoria has also absorbed several neighboring fiefdoms through military conquest. Her next logical target would likely be Vantia, but that would prove a more difficult target than the feeble realms she has conquered in the past -- unless, of course, it weakens itself through internal conflict.
The official state religion of Rikenfald is Lamatism, which reveres Lamat, the goddess of chaos.
Rikenfald's emblem is a black dragon on a red field.
Ruler: High Archmage Thalos
Capital city: Zarath
Main races: Humans (70%), loxin (20%), darklings (5%), draconians (5%)
Primarily located within the rain shadow of the Aetherian Peaks, Thyria is primarily a desert realm ruled by an aloof council of archmages which is presided over by the "first among equals," High Archmage Thalos, a messenger who was originally a human. In Thyria, mages are privileged over all others, and are always granted priority access to positions of power, wealth, and influence. Despite this discrimination, the "mundanes" (non-spellcasters) of Thyria otherwise enjoy considerable freedom, existing in a state of benign neglect.
Thyria is largely lacking in natural resources, relying on trade with its neighbors to meet its needs, save one: the fine substance that powers magic, mysterium. The rocks and sand of Thyria teem with the substance, which may in part explain why sorcery has risen to such prominence in this realm, and why it has more spellcasters than all the other lands of Grythmar combined. Thanks to its abundance of wizards, Thyria enjoys the most magical enhancements and enchanted devices of all the realms of Grythmar, including golems and a small fleet of airships, which makes up for its dearth of resources and concomitant economic weakness.
Thyria's emblem is a silver sphinx on a purple field.
Ruler: Council of merchant-lords
Capital city: Gildenspire
Main races: Dwarves (30%), humans (30%), loxin (30%), halflings (5%), draconians (5%)
Originally the dwarven kingdom Thurak which existed entirely beneath the Aetherian Peaks, over time Thurak peacefully absorbed the surrounding surface settlements through economic and political domination and became a combined terrestrial/subterranean realm. As the realm expanded, evolving and absorbing the cultures of the surface settlements, the position of the dwarven monarch devolved into that of a mere figurehead, and true power over the realm's affairs was transferred into the hands of a council composed of the wealthiest and most influential merchant-lords. Now Thurak is merely the subterranean dwarven province of the larger mercantile empire today known as Nenthar.
A rocky and mountainous realm, Nenthar has access to vast mineral resources. This, combined with aggressive trade policies, has made Nenthar the wealthiest of Grythmar's nations. Ironically for a realm that started as a subterranean dwarven kingdom, today Nenthar's heavy focus on trade means it is the greatest maritime power of Grythmar, with a large merchant fleet and a well-funded navy for deterring piracy. Its mountainous terrain and strong dwarven fortifications also make it nearly impossible to invade. However, its lack of arable land means it is dependent on other nations for food imports, so in the event of an invasion, it could potentially be vulnerable to starvation through blockades.
Nenthar's emblem is a golden hammer-anchor on a cyan field.
Ruler: King Lorandil
Capital city: Thaloria
Main races: Elves (35%), loxin (35%), darklings (10%), humans (10%), halflings (10%)
Predominantly encompassing the isthmus that separates the northern and southern parts of the Grythmar Peninsula, Verdanal is a realm of vast jungles and savannas. Originally an elven kingdom, as Verdanal expanded, it absorbed settlements from other races as well, particularly encompassing numerous loxin tribes and darkling clans.
The most reclusive of Grythmar's five realms, Verdanal engages in relatively little commerce with the other nations, although it does maintain one port town called Airenlanta. Isolationist in nature, Verdanal is a peaceful realm, harboring no expansionistic ambitions. At a glance it might seem to lack the strength of the other realms, but it is not bordered by any hostile nations and in fact, even if it were attacked, its wild tribes possess ferocious fighting prowess and its terrain is perfectly suited to guerrilla warfare.
In other circumstances, encompassing tribes of elves, loxin, and darklings, Verdanal would be at risk of becoming a highly fractious kingdom. However, under the wise rule of King Lorandil, all tribes are allowed to select representatives to visit the elven court in the beautiful forest capital of Thaloria so that their interests can be heard, and Lorandil rules with a light touch, juggling the needs of his subjects -- who are treated more like partners -- and finding compromises so that no faction feels slighted.
Because it is so accepting of highly disparate cultures, Verdanal has acquired a reputation as a haven for the dispossessed. It is a long journey to Verdanal from the two nations most likely to have discontented refugees (Rikenfald and Thyria), but those who can afford to will book passage on ships through the Emerald Gulf and Crescent Bay. Verdanal's lone port of Airenlanta sees a slow but steady influx of refugees from these nations, but all are carefully vetted and those who seem like troublemakers are turned away.
Verdanal's emblem is a white unicorn on a green shield.
A vast wilderness south of the Five Nations, into which all attempts to form settlements have failed to date. Teeming with monsters and savage tribes of orcs, hostile loxin, and worse, the wilds of the Primeval Expanse are always threatening to swallow the southernmost nations, held at bay only by constant vigilance, well-defended border forts, and armed patrols.
The wilderness region that stretches from the northern borders of Nenthar and Thyria to the northernmost tip of the Grythmar Peninsula, the Sandswept Abyss is the Primeval Expanse's sibling but worse, sporting an inhospitable desert climate that can defeat even the most hardened explorers, to say nothing of the vicious and powerful monsters that inhabit the seemingly endless wastes.
