The thing about Creation is that the dominant species will just fill up the space where they don't exist and then it will be filled and the animals and monsters and stuff be damned, unless the monsters are way tougher or there are more than just monsters. Where the weather is pleasant, humans rule. Where the weather is not not always.
The region East of Thorns is better than most all the time, it is not as good as the Realm and the River Provinces, but it has no bad weather unless you don't like summer heat. The terrain and climate are very similar to Earth Anology Africa savanna.
The nations to the Grey River have been invaded by the Realm. Over the last 150 to forty years ago. It has been a long campaign where the goal was resource extraction, manse building and recovery of ancient artifacts where they existed. Each nation has an entry about what they were like before and what happened since and what the Realm is doing to it.
There are maps. Each hex is about 50km across and each hex contains about 3000 square km. Most of these nations is about the size of switzerland or greater to give you an idea how large they are. The largest are close to the size of Germany or California.
The savanna grass lands north of the jungles is mowed short by large roaming herds of herbivores: zebra, wildebeest, gazelle, antelope, buffalo and many others. Predators, great cats, wolves, hyenas, bears and humans keep these numbers down. Other animal like elephants and giraffe are abound and many of all these critters have been domesticated by Man.
DARIM
plains town with acacia forest to the south. Nomadic tribes that hunt gazelles and buffalo. The savanna contains a great number of normal creatures. The lands around are civilized and Wyld zones never got a solid footing and certainly never stayed. The great herds move over the boundaries and through the tribes. In addition to the Bison there are wildebeests and zebra, the last of which many have been domesticated for riding. The locals are protective of these creatures and never sell them to outsiders, but they have been known to offer them as gifts. Ahlat is worshipped here as they are I close proximity to Harborhead. In the Acacia trees elephants and giraffes are abundant. The savanna here is very large it stretches from the large Shadowland in the west to just shy of the coast. It heads north to the hills near Thorns east to the Giranza River.
What has changed since the occupation is a lot. First the demesne in the area have been capped except where Jade deposits have been found. There area a few of these locations. Mostly the Jade is red or green, but some white jade has been uncovered. There is a deposit of Orichalcum here as well. There is a strong Solar Dragon line running through here that goes to Thorns. There are also a strong Lunar lines through the region too. There is a strong line of wood and air hear too. Which means there are a few very powerful Demesne here at least three natural ones and a few that could be made through Geomancy, but the Realm does not do that, because they can't build appropriate Manses for them, so they stop at level threes. The region is dotted with manses now, about 600 of them, 300 level 1 manses, 180 level two and 120 level three, of which about 30 are capping demesne that are more powerful. The mines of the region are bringing out about ten talents of pure jade each year. Not to mention deposits of other materials like iron, silver, copper and gold. There are a few cities in this region that predate this age in ruins. One sits in the middle of the plains sitting pretty nothing to give a clue that there was anything there, except the level five demesne. The other level five demesne also have first age or shogunate towns, destroyed by contagion or in the Balorian Crusade.
The people have also been changed. They were a convenient resource that helped the Dragon Blooded construct the six hundred manses, and mine the resources. Additionally the people needed food to be grown and animals to be slaughtered. People were needed to entertain the people. Fortresses had to be built also. And the camps to house the people too. The people are not really free here, but it is not as bad as the slave states. There are latifundia in the working mines, and the latifundia that grew up around the Level three manses have become towns the people's way of life changed in a few generations. The wildebeests and the herds still roam, but the herds are smaller and the grass is longer than it was. There are still native people living the way they were, but they are reduced too, in number and quality. The Zebra god is still worshiped but only on the appropriate holy days. The Immaculate Order has claimed the region and pacified its gods. The civilized people's are more numerous than before, but as stated no longer the same people.
LIMGAR
plains town at the confluence of the Darim river and the Giranza River. They domesticated gazelles and buffaloes. They worshiped a Crocodile God. The nation is about 18k square km, not very big but culturally similar to Darim, but town based. They use agriculture and domesticated herds of the same herd animal. No zebras though. They were known for their Giraffe Cavalry with three riders, two with lances and one with a bow. The rivers over flow their banks in the rainy season, but more so on the Giranza river. Before the end of the dry season the trenches that line the fields near the river are dug out and the dirt is added to the edges of the river. When the river floods in the wet season the embankment is flooded and the fields submerged. The flood waters subside but the dykes hold the water in the fields. They are able to get two crops from the fields each year and the fields are highly productive with rice and wheat. The stalks of the crops are used as silage for the herd animal to supplement their feed, allowing denser numbers. The people used to trade food to the People of Darim for hides and used the hides to fashion finished goods. Limgar was a destination for the Guild and the Darim used to come there at that time too.
When the Realm arrived they caused less changes to their way of life than the caused to the Darim, however there were significant changes. The Giraffe Cavalry was destroyed and abolished, and cut up for food. The herds were reduced and the people were enslaved to work on various projects like mines and manse erection. There were less manses here because of the smaller area, but the set up as a more civilized nation meant that many of the practices were continued. The planned road was altered so that it came close to the region. The excess silage was used to resupply caravans that moved down the road. The herds were therefore thinned significantly. The skilled crafts people were exported as slaves to the Realm and to Darim where they had less skilled workers. Latifundia were set up too, but as a reorganization of where the people farmed, mined and such.
There is one fortress here. Located in the town of Limgar itself. The guild still comes here, the road makes more easy travel, but the trade is more restrictive, however, the items the guild brings are often items that the Realm is not as concerned about and this trade keeps the area viable. There is a jade mine in the area and a latifundia that works it. There are other concerns, logging of the Acacia wood and other mines.
FALDUR
at the confluence of the Giranza and Pinto rivers. A town of break away Marukan horse lords who set up a town near Thorns. The town was destroyed utterly and the hinterland was stripped of its people and horses for the war. It is a barren land free of people and the horse herds are small. This is a land that shows how the land might look without human habitation. There are small bands of people and a few Marukan Horse lords, but this is not thier traditional area. The herds of bison, gazelles, antelope and a very large hopping rabbit. There are no tall grasses, they are grazed right down to stubble. The rains are more constant, so the grass is green year round. In time this area would have recovered on its own and the horse would come back and men would move in from Darim or Marukan, but in the wake of the war the Realm quietly moved in. They have moved latifundia from Darim to locations to set up Manses and mine jade and other resources. The expansion is recent and a quiet invasion, due to the lack or people. Any polite inquiries are met with answers that this is an expansion from Darim only. The Realm presence is understated.
The latifundia are located mostly in the south, but there area others. The area is large, nearly as large as Darim, and so the idea that there might be as much as 500 untapped demesne in the area is one of the prime reasons for expansion here. The Empress wisely kept expansion this direction discrete to keep everything quiet, but now at she is gone, the greed of expansion will be unabated. There are more first age settlements here than Darim as it is closer to the old River Provinces. Indeed, there is one intact level five Manse here, but the owners are not to be found. Plans exist on how to augment this manse to change its aspect, but these plans are cautious given the danger of doing so.
Additionally, deposits of jade have been found and these are being exploited first. Given the nature of how the Empress gifted the Satrapies to Houses, house Cynis is anxious to establish a beachhead here and to strip the area of
KAJALE
At the confluence of the Kajale and Giranza rivers. A group of Ahlat worshiping, cattle rustling warriors who are subject to raids from Harborhead and vice versa. They are vegetarians and raid for cattle only for to sacrifice the sacred cows to Ahlat. The small jungle contains rare woods and many fruit trees. As vegetarians, they are agrarian, herding cattle for milk only. They have a difficult boarder with Giranza, their warlike nature and their Warsteeds. The Giranza river is fast flowing and the soil eroded a long it's banks creating steep sides. The towns over looking the river graze goats and they warn impending attacks.
When the Realm came through here they did not change much socially. They used their flocks as meat, they cut down the rare woods, as the Satrapy was about to end, and they used the people to build manses in the area. The forest had a level
4 Demesne in its center, further there is a small cluster if lesser powered demesne here. In the first age this place was the site of a level 5 Wood Manse and when the usurpation occurred there was damage done to the Geomancy of the area. With the rare woods gone, the next Great house here capped that remaining demesne. The first age city that was here was uncovered too. This changed the direction of the acquisition and the focus of the exploitation of the region. Today there are a few manses here and the forest has been removed entirely, but the fields are amongst the most productive anywhere in Creation.
OUNOM
located on the plains by the river of the same name. Above the falls they live a top a great escarpment. They have expanded into Faldur lands before the Realm pushed north during the war. They are a peaceful nation who herd the savanna animals. Above the escarpment the two rivers are quite peaceful and broad, the Ounom and Puyo rivers. They are easily fordable the neighbours are very hostile to the North, but the escarpment keeps them very far away. To the south Ginga often raids them, but only for cattle and only at night. The savanna is very open and it is difficult to sneak up in people here. Wild cattle and others are plentiful and easy to capture. They often trade with the Ginga, but captured cattle are more important culturally for the Ginga.
When the Realm came the area was added quickly to the conquest and the uniqueness was lost. The escarpment was decreed a perfect boarder from the river provinces, had to scale and the natives at the base were particularly nasty.
GINGA
nomadic people with no towns. They rove between the Puyo and Ounom rivers all the way to the hills and the Giranza river. They raided north into Ounom and Faldur, but would never cross the sacred hills. They worshiped the god of the Fiery mountain. Their Fiery patron demands captured trophies for sacrifice each year from able members of the group. Bought sacrifices mean nothing. The sacrifices are taken through the hills and thrown alive into a valley filled with boiling lava. Successful hunters receive blessings and e nation as a whole is protected. Was protected.
The Immaculate Order had a difficult time subduing this god, but subdue they did. The Savanna was not fit for much agriculture other than herding. The expansive size of the area had other uses, mines, manses and the road bisects the region now. The heathens were placed in latifundia after they were captured bringing sacrifices to their God. The trap was extremely effective, it took only one year to enslave the entire population. The hills are actually part of the Giranza nation.
BUÔN
small well fortified town, controls the south bank of the Ounom river from Ginga raiders, does not enter the Sacred hills as it provokes the Ginga. The northern border is The small semitropical forest. Beyond the town there is little else. There are villages but they are fairly large so that the cattle can be brought together inside the palisade. The herds are smaller than people would like and they practice more agriculture than they would like. The woods to the north provide good strong building wood for the nation and a good defense from the warlike Ulihm
Taken at the same time as the Ginga, this area was created as a boarder area from the River Provinces. The woods were taken as a whole. The wood therein was cut and used in the initial bridges that the road took as it cut across the land. The timbers were especially straight, long, strong and resistant to weathering. Over half of the forest is now gone. Its people suffer a similar fate to that of the other nations mentioned. The land is also used for other purposes.
GIRANZA
controls the space between its namesake river, the Kigorojo river and half of the Sacred Hills. Including the Fiery Mountain. They have successively beat off the Ginga several times and they won't go there for that reason. They herd gazelles as goats but no cattle, as they border Kajale and Harborhead, and this fact makes them unappealing targets, that and the fact that their Gazelles are the size of horses and they ride them quite effectively. They were the dominant force in the region before the Realm came. Their Capitol is located far from the rivers and its boarders. Considering that, it was still quite advanced with stone walls that they did not build, it was a redoubt built in the Shogunate period.
They worshiped the god of Fiery Mountain and they worshipped Ahlat too. The high price of sacrifices meant this nation is almost always on the warpath. When the Realm came they became wise to the tactics used against the Ginga, and they retreated in the face of the Realm to their Capitol. There they engaged in attacks that defeated the first two forces set against them, but not the third. The people were enslaved to work the mines and build manses. There were no major ruins, but the two large volcanoes sit on a major fire Dragon Line and both represent powerful Demesne. The Red Jade that comes from Giranza is particularly valuable as it often contains streaks of Green Jade and Orichalcum, the impurities actually grant special properties to the jade. There is one first age ruin. It is a single structure in the southern Volcano, a smelter of Orichalcum— which is intact and undiscovered, the lava here has a large amount of gold.
KIGOROJO
At the confluence of their namesake river and the Banradley river all the way to Harborhead. This area is not nomadic and nominally related to Banradley, Sernba, and Haraba. The four nations were once one but recently, about two hundred years ago split peacefully between four daughters of the Queen
The more modern four nations were related by intermarriage and cultural customs. They also supported each others military to allow them all to live in relative security in the area. The people here are visibly different. They are tall and very dark, but their hue is more purple than brown or black. The average height of these people is 2 meters tall. They are known for their running abilities and endurance. Also they are known for their spears that they use with spear throwers that often go as far as arrows. The old empire lasted for nearly four hundred years and they were a moderating influence in the area. The larger nation build many strong defenses and forts which are still in use today. The split if the empire was a myth, it had been splitting for a century before that, but the idea of the myth is strong in their culture
Kigorojorn are typically shorter than average, and they are more brown, but their eyes are uniformly bright blue. The old fortresses along the Banradley River and through the hills near the volcano kept the Giranza at bay for centuries. When the realm came here to invade a eighty years ago, they found this a tough area to crack. The people saw what was happening, provocateurs entering nations and building manses and later invasion. The alliance turned the Realm agents away and only let the Guild trade at the boarders.
After the long invasion of three years the lands were divided just like they were in the other lands.
BANRADLEY
Located between the Kigorojo, Banradley and Haraba rivers and the rainforests to the south including the third Volcano, the second largest and most active. This land is the largest of the three savanna lands. The ash plumes often cause the rains in the south to be grey or black. The fields in the south are also the most productive and produce three harvests every year. Crops are switched every time, only to reduce disease spread. The wealth of food means that this nation has ample time to devote to the arts. They are known through the region for stone work and metal work.
When the invasion came the people here were on the forward front protecting the area. They are less brown and more blue, with the same piercing eyes. The invasion was successful and the skills of this nation were exploited to make many manses in the south. The demesne in the south are mixtures of fire and wood as the volcano is at the intersection of a major Fire and Wood dragon line. The latifundia structure does not really work in this location as the land is too valuable to have open spaces. A few of the demesne were considered to valuable to be capped off as they increase the productivity of the area. It is also the most populous nation in the area and the four nations are very populous.
SERNBA
The old Capitol is here. This is where the nation began, back before Harborhead was really big in the area. It fills the region south of the other nations down to the Harborhead boarder. It is large and populous. The primary food sources are from the trees, fruit and animals. The long roads are cleared constantly and the nation has forest Elephant labour and hippopotamus cavalry, the Realm paid a heavy price when they took this nation. The people here are taller than the rest, over seven feet and dark purple with violet eyes. The rain of ash from the north makes this area just as productive as Banradley.
The rare woods, medicinal plants, fruit all make this place prime conquest material. The ancient cities are all occupied, but the hinterlands remain free even after eighty years of occupation, there are too many hiding places and too many dense regions. The area is rife with hidden first age towns and cities. There are Dragonking cities that remain untouched. Last year a patrol went off a well traveled road and discovered a new ruin, and a major base of resistance, a few dozen meters away.
HARABA
The smallest of the Nations. On the edge of the Haraba River to the jungles to the south and east. This nation was the furthest and the key to the victory for the Realm. The people are light blue in complexion with dark brown eyes. This populous region was filled with farmers and traditionally at its height went to the Grey River.
The Realm made a temporary alliance with Badé and while the troops were fighting in the West, Haraba lost much territory, causing the retreat of their forces from the field. Which precipitated into a total defeat at the boarders. The Realm treated their allies like kings until they expanded again as they could not hold the terrain with their numbers and used to forest type combat. Badé lost most of their army in these fields. Mostly the land is used as grazing land and herds of raving cattle live here. The south by the Haraba River receives the same ash rain and is just as productive. The mud from that river has medicinal properties and is very fertile too.
NASOU
Between the Banradley and Nasou rivers rests a warlike nation who battles in vain against the Ulihm. The people here battle as a matter of course with their blood enemies. Their focus was very single minded and they were nearly oblivious to the Expansion in the South by the Realm. They allied themselves with the Realm hoping to beable to use them to take care of their foe. The Realm was not concerned by the Barbarians and made the deal but used it to take them over.
DIFUT
Controlling the hills to Buôn north to Nasou, and south to the four sisters and Giranza, this nation of thin and tall people survives by having superior bow making skills and by ritually eating a crop of root vegetables found in the hills that creates their odd form and odor. The odor drives the Giranza away from them and makes their steeds bolt.
The Realm did not use Gazelles to invade here, the root diet did not help them and the realm took this area over.
LUNTAUKE
Rich fertile lands between Haraba and the river provide ample food for this people. Originally they were forest dwellers but they adapted to the sedentary life exceptionally well. They still have a rite of passage custom of entering the jungle and returning with an animal to prove their strength. The warrior instincts have allowed them to hold the land between the Jungles and the Grey River unchecked for decades, before the Realm came sixty years ago.
This nation was the historic expansion region of the old empire of the region. It did not share the look of the people, but it remained fairly peaceful and had a lot of public works. The people here strong sense of kinship with the four other kingdoms and while not allies they deal with each other peacefully and trade regularly. The Capitol was a large hub city for the Guild years ago it was reestablished there after the invasion in Port Harlot.
Being a nation on the Grey River, the area was handled differently than the other locations. There are a latifundia deep in the nation but the Capitol moved to Port Harlot has the appearance of free trade. The docks here are extensive. And there is a lot of foreigners here and the Realm presence is reduced outside the city and the road until travel deeper into the hinterland is done.
BADÉ
a jungle city, the wealth of the jungle to the Grey River, keeps this nation well fed, the jungle keeps them from bothering any one else and that was the state of things until their ruler was seduced by the Realm and they expanded into Haraba. They were severely over reached and the toll on their small army was miserable. The conquest of this region was quickly done, but in the manner that it had been done so often before: with merchants, prospectors, manse builders and archeologists. When the infrastructure was all improved the people woke up one day and found they were in a Realm Satrapy and them later a Realm State.
EMRUDOS
another jungle kingdom like Badé, except they do a lot of trade with the Guild, and they remain free from the Realm, for how long, is anyone's guess. It is a free city. The banks of the forest on the river are as thick as they are in the south near Jades. The docks are ancient in origin and that is the only reason why they penetrate the banks. The dock is also fortified with shogunate defenses. The forest is deep and impenetrable. There are walls in the forest that are twenty meters tall and the jungle is at its thickest there on both sides. The jungle produces enough food for the populous that they can survive a protracted siege.
The walls and dock actually predates the Shogunate. There is an ancient spell that causes the trees to grow so thick against the walls and should a tree be felled another would grow to replace it before fell. The location is secure, but the population is small the trade in rare woods and medicines keeps this place supplied.
METENIS
a regular stopping point for guild ships to resupply, before the Realm arrived. It was a free city in Luntauke and when the nation fell, it fell too the siege here was tough and long fought, although it did recover a bit in the years following, the walls were razed and the setting up of Port Harlot was made more attractive by the long road to the interior.
ULIHM
Wyld barbarians who blend in with the tall grass and run as fast as the cheetah, smart people leave them alone, but no one ever said the Realm was Smart. The only defeat was here afterwards they burned the grasses down to teach the people a lesson and then avoided them afterwards, but it should be noted that there are manses dotting the landscape here, part of their pact with the barbarians.
VARSI
warrior state similar to Lookshy allied with the same, recently conquered Lugwaal. They are refortifying their position against the Realm. They are members of the Federation of Rivers.
LUGWAAL
just conquered by Varsi
THRAZA
A free city from the Realm, they wonder for how long. The advance of the Realm stopped at Grita and Arcton, perhaps they are safe.
GRITA
A state from the Grita river to the Thraza river and the Acomb forest. This state marked the furthest most extent of the Federation of Rivers and since it was a not an active member and did not concern itself with the War with Thorns, their pleas for assistance fell on deaf ears. Some in the River Provinces thought that it was just what they deserved. Lookshy, on the other hand saw this as an area of deep concern, but nothing could be done as they were fighting Thorns.
The region is further to the north and the region was not just one nation, but a series of smaller town states that were bound together. The Realm used this structure to invade using one as a proxy. The entire region is held now and fortified. Perhaps one day they might turn the area into a few hundred latifundia, but for now it is just a holding. The demesne of the area have been capped quickly through the use of slaves and demons and much planning. The resources of the area are also being exploited to the fullest and much of a legion is sitting on this side of the Grey River. The area was well known by Scavenger Lords, so there was no ruin that was not exploited.
GIKOVO
North of Joraba, they were lost fifty years ago, just before Joraba.
This area was the Beach head of the invasion of the East bank of the Grey river, just opposite of Port Harlot. There is no bridge over the Grey river here, but the are plans for one. This area was taken in their traditional manner of sending the civilians first to build and exploit. Never part of the Federation of Rivers, the invasion here was the first clue for the river Provinces of a Realm presence close by, for the common people. The Guild had been telling people for years, but it had always been far away, near Thorns. Now it was in their minds.
The populous was not enslaved. The region of the East Grey River has a status as Satrapy of the Realm, but it is not the same as the Satrapies of Harborhead, this is in name only.
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The conquest of theses regions flowed through the land sequentially. In the end much of the area was divided into Perpetual Satrapies, that is the house that conquered the lands controlled the lands and raised the taxes for the Realm forever. The Manses built are owned by the houses that built them, the mines by the House that invaded them. It a house controlled the Manse, they had the land forever. Just before the end of their tenure many houses stripped the resources from areas that they could not hold, extracting the last bit of resources that they could. It also meant that Houses were less likely to engage in a costly military campaign if they could not hold the land. Part of the reason why Kigorojo took so long to be conquered. When it did fall though, it was the richest satrapy of all if not in Manses. There are four traditional Satrapies though in the area because of their high profile nature. There are as follows: Grita, Gikovo, Joroba and Luntauke. The rest have permanent controllers.
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BEXL
Independent town on an island in a lake safe only because they are very small. Small lake, smaller island. The people eat a lot of fish and they also harvest rice from the shallows of island. There is not Even a hill on this low island. Winter snow melt often raises the lake and floods large sections of the land. The ice from the lake will often jam up the river exit too, but not for long. The ice is never thick enough to easily cross, so the people feel safe from invasion in the winter.
ACOMB
located between a river and the forest namesake, these people waged a long and bitter war against Lugwaal, only to see them collapse to Varsi. The Realm plunders the wood borders and they have switched to battling the Realm, but only to make the Realm feel like it is difficult to plunder the woods. They are worried that either Varsi or the Realm will just swoop in and grab them up.
STAWFORD
across the river from the Lookshy post in the area they feel safe as an Independant town in the middle of a ford. They control the river which forces trade across their bridges. They have a pact with the river god Staw,
IERCARI
a strong force south of the Grey river. They trade heavily with the Guild wood and minerals
ARCTON
The last conquest, the town and nation provides a large buffer between the republic of Chaya far the the East. Taken in the later days of the War with Thorns, this nation fearing what happened in the south would happen to them they did not send troops to fight against Thorns. Although they had a lot of cavalry, the conquest was a small footnote to the larger campaign. This nation was mostly open space and will provide jade and manses in the years to come, with much investment. The engineers have only begun to arrive in the past few years and the prospecting and construction has started, including roads to the river and to Jorba in the south.
PORT HARLOT
Terminus of the great Jade road that comes all the way to Thorns. Although the town was completed only a few decades ago, it has grown considerably. Most of the flow of goods goes up the road to Thorns. Mostly because they wish to keep the eyes off the amount of goods they are taking. It is a real port though, there are goods arriving here from the conquests that are not on the western side of the Grey River. Their are heavier goods like Jade and minerals that are easier to transport by water and there are people that would rather experience a trip in relative luxury on a boat than on the road. Some goods do not have a good market in the Realm and can be sold for better prices in Nexus too, so some goods go that way. The Guild also brings caravans this way as the road provides better service, thus Port Harlot is a bigger and better Guild Hub city than the previous one. Even here, the Grey river is too wide to be easily spanned, so there is a strong force of Guild, Realm and private ferry services based here.
There is a dragon of troops positioned here at this anchor of the road. The harbor includes a separate docks for the Wood Fleet of the Realm. They patrol the Grey River from Nexus to Jades. There are ten ships stationed permanently, including four triremes and six galleys, but has space to fit twice this number at any one time. The merchant marina rarely has less than three times as many ships as the military ones.
BY-BLOW
About half way between Port Harlot, Thorns and Bent Creek and at the cross roads between all these cities, it is sort of important as it provides another access to the sea from these areas. It is also important because it allows the flow of goods from Harborhead's hinterland if the state should rebel. Since it is deep into the lands, it is being used by the Guild as a minor Hub town. The guild resupplies the location and many small routes are run thought the region from here. The entire region is more productive now, producing food and minerals where before it only produced hides and mounts. There is still a market with those things but now there are more finished goods as well as resources.
The town is walled and has begun to attract a large number of settlers who have parked themselves under the walls. Many of these people are artisans who are out of work from the projects around the region. They are skilled as stone masons, Geomancy and other important skills.
