Saga V Lore
Factions
The Flameguard
After the War of Flame and Frost, The Flameguard were spent and without the capacity to contain all of their uildan prisoners, made peace, and aided them in recapturing The Nameless Kingdom from the giants, after Maharajah Sweetsong abandoned the city to them. However, they were able to prevent their true loses from spreading to their enemies, and promoted treaties that gave them a strategic advantage, such as an agreement that no battles shall be fought on farmlands between all major factions of Dormani. With these treaties and the Band of the Lion helping maintain a strict border, the Flameguard won enough time to rebuild themselves. Additionally, with the return of the great drakes, and the passing of command to Relimund Gaque, The Red Shadow, a sense of renewal, power, and destiny has been spread across Rei Majoris, Dormort, Doril, and the Flameguard occupied parts of the west Heartlands. The old faith, and support in the Flameguard uprising's mission has never been higher. Though they are still carefully watched over by concerned parties.
The Gaunts
Queen Hjeff Gaunt still rules, though now from the veiled lands. The Gaunts have been holding northern Dorunfye and the Southeast Heartlands now for decades, since 22,021, though publically, little is still known about their situation. They occupy the ruined cities in the deep forest, but the layouts of these cities are lost, and scouts sent to find out rarely return, even scrying seems ineffective due to the fey tampering in the woods. Though word of mouth has spread that The Grey Gaunt, Queen Hjeff, sits on a cold stone throne, in an otherwise empty citadel, in an otherwise empty district. Her aura of stagnation and despair now spreads so far as to make this a necessity. The Gaunts have lost contact with Uild, so look south to Rei Dorsot, and what seems like a much more achievable victory than if they were to go once more against the Flameguard as they are. But while the Gaunts have grown again in number, and their infrastructure has been restored in their new land, they still don't dare to risk their armies in open battle, so they continue to guard the forests and jungles, until the time is right.
The Nameless Kingdom
In return for Uild's cooperation against the Black Helms, The Nameless Kingdom was recaptured from giant occupation, and Uild have become a fully neutral state once more; with Palma Nobilis' rule coming to an end, her connections to the Gaunts have no influence on policy. Palma was permitted to return to the capital as a civilian to reunite with her daughter. Her successor is Callie Niburg, a minotaur aspirant who showed incredible natural ability. A suspected draconic bloodline made her popular with the Flameguard, and her dwarfish roots and upbringing made her popular with the Gaunts. She is closely councilled by Jorey Zealotous, Hiru Harmonworth, and Carl Lohic. The city has been repaired, and a large scale operation of tracking and retrieving stolen relics has begun. Additionally, focus has been given into researching the lost lands above Dormani, and the dangers of shadow magic. The Lore Clerics of Rekeal are leading this operation, to ensure no harmful rites can escape the investigation. It is theorised that the Titanic Coasts' ceased advances is due to this new research.
The Elindaals
The Elindaals continue their war with the Gaunts, however, both sides are refusing to engage in direct battles, due to concerns over troop numbers. The Elindaals fear that the Gaunts will soon come down from the veiled lands to take the elvish towns in Dorunfye, since the Elindaals can't afford to split their forces between two locations, and there is a bay and jungle between Rei Dorsot and Dorunfye. If the gaunts are successful then they would have a much easier time if they then decided to come down from the gaunt grounds and attack the borders and push in the elvish cities, such as Derindel. They are also greatly concerned that the Flameguard and Uild have made peace, as the Elindaal connections at Uild have been cut out. The Elindaals do have the benefit of time, with elven lifespans, and also the most significant trade agreements with The Orcis States. This include weapon supplies, mercenaries, and ships, for defending Drakedusk Bay.
The Titanic Coast
The Titanic Coast is the result of the Green Tide's invasion of Lohic. The giants from the Titanic Lands have built enough infrastructure in the form or trade routes, culture, and border agreements, that their invasion has officially ended, though their occupation is not overlooked by other parties. The factional name given to the giants changed to the Titanic Coast. This better describes the faction, and their culture, versus the Green Tide, while had also historically been used to refer to Orcs. The people under Titanic occupation are still hoping that they and their lands might be freed, but the land rights are complicated. Giants long ago lived on Lohic ground, though they were forced to abandon it due to shadow corruption. Halflings and gnomes then held residence for millenia, but very recently, the Maldur dynasty was uprooted by Saldon Lohic, and the province succeeded. So who owns the lands? Who has the right to Rule? For now, the strong, and The Storm Queen.
The Blue Mages
The Blue Mages are the central power in Majesty, an order of mages from all four Majesty cities, centred in Blue City. They are not the same as the ancient order of the Blue Wizards, but contains many families who were part of that order. The main driving force for the creation of the Order of the Blue Mages, was the firing of the Blue Tower, by Merut Neramore. His associates, Barlead Adraeda, Barney Moon, and Yuki Derindel, all came together with the blessings and resources of the Flameguard, to train wizards about responsibility and the dangers of magical superweapons. They attempt to offer a more philosophical magical practise, than the academia and divine roots of Uild. Their political motives are aligned with Uild however, as the Blue Mages, like Uild, were held up by the Flameguard, yet do not shy away from expressing that great drakes pose to mortals. They have also begun the restoration of the historic fleet of Majesty, which is wholly under their control.
The Orcis States
The States of Orcis have united and declared themselves a sovereign country, with Gulthias as their capital. The only region of Orcis not a part of this deal are those on Kroatorut, as they believed their culture was far closer to that of Majesty that the other Orcis states. As ever, trade and growth are massively important here, however policies are beginning to be put in place, now the states are cooperating, to restore the ecosystem that was devastated in the chaos storm that left Orcis desertous. This includes geomancy to carve new rivers, much like what was once done in Rei Majoris, long ago, and additionally, druidic promotion of fertility and plant growth. Culturally, a new rift is being created, where some feel that restoring someone else's ancestral lands will lead to a future conflict if people try to return, and some think, the efforts should be token to reclaim Dorunfye, which many believe was once the site of an ancient orcish and goblin community. However, the Gaunts are currently restoring Dorunfye for themselves.
The Nightguard
The Drow of Blue City, Mount Gtana, the City of Spiders, Mantol, Jerun'eth, and Earthrift Dregs have formed a peace treaty and defence alliance to resist the rising of great evil in Undorun. They take action against demonic incursions, Illithid probes from the Aberrant Archipelago, and man catchers from the Cove of Collaring. The Agents of the Nightguard can be found across Dorun and Undorun taking action against wherever demonic or infernal worship appears, wherever slavery is tolerated, and wherever creatures from afar try to claim land in Dorun. The agents wear silver armour, covered in talismans and wards, though, due to their sunlight sensitivity, they only move at night. For the people of Dormani, the Nightguard are ephemeral vigilantes, who have been known to intervene if they happen on muggings, robberies, or assaults, on their travels. The organisation is associated with the Grey Masons, but most agents will have their own faiths. The Nightguard symbol is a crescent moon shield.
The Heartlands Coalition
The Heartlands Coalition (THC) has brokered a deal between the farming cities of the Heartlands (Rei Dorm), and the warring factions of Dormani. It has been agreed, that in the interest of all, and whoever is victorious, the Heartlands must not be the site of anymore battles, lest the other signees' of the agreement be compelled to join the conflict, and the Heartlands be compelled to withhold produce from the lands of the aggravating party. The Flameguard, The Uildans, The Gaunts, The Elindaal Council, and even a representative of the Storm Queen signed this treaty on the 8th Autumn 22,029, in Murdoch. This has allowed the Heartlands Coalition to act as they have historically, as a regulatory agency who help resolve disputes between the farming cities, help prevent flooding, droughts, and plagues, and in the event any of these should happen, the THC manage the resolution. When lands must be flooded to prevent crop destruction, the THC has the final say as to who is least important, and when pests or diseases spread.
The THC control which sites are burned to control the spread.
The Friendly Tides
The Friendly Tides is the ambassadorial sector of the Sprectus coalition, a coalition of genasi, tritons, merfolk, sea elves, and other aquatic folk living in the great underwater trench 'Sprectus', for which the surrounding sea is named after. The Friendly Tides can be met with in Northern Sprectus to aid in the crossing of the sea to Nurod, the journey would otherwise take twice as long and be far more perilous. The aquamancers here hold many secrets of the seas unknown to the land folk. To access the friendly tides, travellers must make a 1km dive down through the sunlight and twilight zones, with the help of magical currents and pressure wards. At that point, Seafolk agents should held guide travellers the rest of the way down to the ocean basin at 6km down, on the edge of the trench, which itself extends down an additional 6km. Beyond the bureau, tourists might come to see the sea grass fields, the kelp farms, the fish pens, and the museums, with their collections of fossils and carapaces of ancient creatures that dwarf humans.
The Saragriff Bureau
The Saragriff Bureau was established by an anonymous benefactor in Red Orchard, to protect the interests of tieflings in Red Orchard, Mediocros, Stadium, and beyond. They help to restore infrastructure in Infernal Ruins, help spread anti-hate sentiment, protect tieflings from unfair & unreasonable persecution and prosecution, and lastly, to get financial and criminal justice when tieflings are wronged. Since their founding, in 22,035, they have received further support, financial and political, from The Nameless Kingdom, The Gaunts, The Flameguard, The Blue Mages, and the States of Orcis (In particular Kret). It is rumoured that the founder was one of the first to help the tieflings rebuild their ruins, and improve living conditions, long before the bureau was even conceived. The current head of the Saragriff Bureau is one Lucion Duskdew, who rarely appears publicly, but is said to be a good man, who always tries to help, no matter how hopeless. There is nothing better the tieflings could wish for.
The Band of the Lion
The Band of the Lion are the most prominent military subset of the Flameguard, after the core army. They are the most famous and renowned of the Honoured Corps of Martyrs. Their founder, Ser Setep Mewtril, began life as a slave, but rose to save Dormani and has become immortalised as a saint who stands against slavery and exploitation. Their sigil is the black outline profile of a lion on a red field, when worn as a tabard, the edges are often lined with golden thread. While they were most popular during The War of Flame and Frost, their operations have continued under Jeanbec Lance and Council, furthermore, they have expanded to have retainers in the tens of thousands, though exact information is confidential. The permanent guild members, many of which are tabaxi, tieflings, and dwarves, work as monster slayers. The retained armies are used to guard Flameguard borders and maintain peace, in addition to large scale operations, such defending Majesty, Rezmire, and Orcis, from attack. Their base is the Lion's Den.
Homelands
Wyn
Knappstone Hills
The Knappstone Hills are the border hills between Lohic, Dormort, and Uild. They're home to hill dwarves, gnomes, goliaths, and is the source for the goldstreams, shiny rapids, and river combe. Major settlements include the gnomish city Shallot, on the edge of the hills, Karak Dongliz, a dwarven town near the base of the hills, Frume is a dwarven city in a basin within the hills, and Leililalah is a mixed city of dwarven rule, in a valley carved by the River Combe. The Knappstone hills, in particular, Shallot, and Karak Dongliz, are under the occupation of the Titanic Coast, after their Green Tide invaded Lohic. Frume has resisted occupation with support from Uild, while Leililalah has been on the receiving end of a lot of plundering. The region is a cultural and geographical region, but has no political unity, with each settlement being aligned with the the region they are closest to. Records suggest that Frume may have once may have been a seat for power, but since the rise of the Dormani Empire, the House of Frume has lost national relevance, with the Cecil Family of Leililalah becoming seers for the Gaunts.
Leililalah
Leililalah (lay-lee-lah-lah) is a city built into the walls either side of the valleys carved by the River Combe. The main valley, Tollenbar Valley, has a fast flowing, wide, river passing through the middle, and as such industry happens at the top (west) of the valley, and goods are transported downriver to Leililalah's ports, but, the docks are no trade centre, merely a means of shipping to the great port of Stormy Bay in Thundermok.
The seat of power is Ileragland (dwarvish for river sword), an arrow shaped hill that stands in the way of top of the river, and cuts the stream into the different valleys. Within is the holding of the Lords of House Cecil. Isleragrand resists the current, as the sandy banks were scorched into cold glass that resist erosion. As a result of this, and the Cecil families notoriety as seers, stereotyped as peering into crystal balls, glass has become a very important symbol for the family and city.
Leililalah is also known for its clocks, due to the gnomish population, and proximity to resources. Lords from across Dorun come to the clockwork district for the big profile brands, such as Scheppenson, Zielmorn, and Grosskrank. Rogue modrons may also eventually find their way here for repairs, and a small amount stay, forming a district in one of the drier northern valleys, known as Coggsford. They are a very closed off community, but do work as loaders, guards, and mercenaries.
The city was a contested territory in the struggle for stormy bay, during the Green Tide's third invasion of Dorul (now Lohic), but, while plundered, was not occupied, due to the Titanic Coast's disinterest it's glasswork and mechanics.
Ezira
Humming Grove
The Humming Grove is a humid cavern, primarily by Myconids and the Sarnid Tribe of goblins. It is known for its densely built small homes, each built by the Housing Guild, as a small ecosystem. The houses have mossbeds, blue caps for food, barrellstalks for water, and all waste is returned to the house. While on the surface, above the grove, is frozen Uild, the humming grove is wet, from the cold streams, and hot from lava pockets below the shelf the grove was built on. These conditions make the cavern the perfect environment for all kind of fungi, including fungi that can't be seen anywhere else in Dorun.
Sights around the grove include the Hot Springs, the Mycelial Library, the Warding Monuments of Zuggtmoy, and the namesake of the colony, the Humming Grove. The Humming Grove is used to refer to the cavern, town, and environs, but within the town, is the true Humming Grove. A druidic grove to the circle of spores, and the seat of power in the colony. It is situated in hollowed out, dead, mycelium stump of 'The Great Blue Mast', one of the mythical Saprophytes, central to the culture of the Sarnid Tribe. It is said to have once been a towering blue mushroom, the first to grow in the cavern, and that which helped populate the grove, but more importantly, guard over it, as it grew around. The Circle of Spores believes this was once a druid, as their spirit still watches over the cavern. The Sarnids believe that the spirit has passed, but the power lies within the Sarnids. Other mythical saprophytes include: The Baker's Beast, The Agaroc, The Mending Mould, and The Titan's Orchid Corallorhiza.
Contemporary issues the grove faces, are nomadic or travelling druids bringing diseases to the native fungus, or bringing competition for it in the form of non native fungus. It also becomes harder to maintain the careful ecosystem with more humanoids. Uildan traveller's have offered aid in resisting Urbanisation, but what they can do without coming and contributing to that urbanisation is limited. The Myconid Sovereign Eyel, is conflicted on policy, due to his, and his people's interest in archeological mycology, and anthropology, regarding the colonies histories and legends. It is known that Uild are a great asset in regards to that, and seem to have benevolent intentions; however, opening ways to Uild won't just bring the scholars. Another issue is the temperature, in the last decade, Drow and Duergar expansions have changed the flow of subterranean water, and activity in the Deep Underdark has created more heat below the colony, so upper and lower regions of the cavern experience opposite, but equally troubling changes in heat and humidity. The Sarnid Chief, Ossvish Gholon, has recently begun to speak of a worst case scenario, wherein for the good of the ecosystem, the goblins may need to begin gradually relocating, or controlling their population growth. The hope is that this will redirect some overworld traffic, and negate some of the harm in predicted droughts.
Dahlia
The Farsky
In the lower atmosphere of Dorun, there are many collections of floating islands, cloud countries, and beast bound cities. There currently isn’t a map of the farsky for the same reason there isn’t a map of Nurod, air currents move clouds around, and beast bound cities fly wherever their attached creature goes. There is a high population of aasimar, air genasi, other celestials, lesser dragons, aaracockra, and other elementals. Because of the raw elemental power, some ancient giant communities have not descended to their heaven below, in the titanic lands and instead live a simple tribal life. This is mainly primordial cloud, hill, and storm giants.
Nimbretton
Nimbretton is one of many cloud countries, hundreds of miles of land, floating on clouds that have come formed over aeons from enchanted water sources. This can be from Magical springs, blessed water, or dead elementals, all evaporated, and drawn together by the magic within it. All the impurities become small metal deposits that are then buried as asteroids crash into the clouds, creating a geological outline not too alien from that of Dorun’s surface.
Nimbretton is a large cloud country, where cloud giants war with frost spirits and frozen debris from wildspace. Skyejotun’s access to unique materials, mixed with their creativity and intelligent nature, has lead to their societies having a varied and wondrous culture; this can be seen in their architecture (which is similar to greco-roman architecture found in the ruins of Orcis), their warfare (often fought as a fierce battle of wits, strategy, and arms races), and their society, which, while adhering to the Ordning of all giants, more closely resembles modern Goliath tribes in their flexibility and adaptivity,
The landscapes are characterised by snow covered wilds, plains and mountains. The evergreen trees that have spread here were carried over during a rare convergence of skies, where a city on dragonback floated closeby, allowing travelling between for a little over a week.
Ulykke Valley
The Ulykke Valley is so named for the Ulykke tribe of Cloud Giants, a proud, creative, and ancient kin, who are very small in comparison with other tribes, and employ very strict defensive strategies to compensate, including rigorous scouting.
Roughly once a year, the valley reaches its lowest point in its flight path, above Grandmont of Heavenspire. At this low altitude, the icey pools that line the central path through the valley become natural hot springs, as rare minerals in the ground react with the warmer air. It is the most culturally important event to the Ulykke tribe. Every year they carve very specific grooves and tunnels in the mountain that, when the steam is funnelled through, illustrate the most important event of that year. The stoneworks are incomprehensible until steam is added, and provides the additional shapes to the art. This way they have recorded thousands of years of history, lining half of the entire valley.
Hunting in the valley is done with inventive and bespoke (for their prey) traps, that are set along a ranging path, collected, moved, and reset. Prey can depend on the season, the sky currents and migrations to other islands, all things that young cloud giants learn to interpret and consider into their plans. However, more common prey includes Aurochs, Polar Bears, Owlbears, Rocs, Giant Owls, Rothés, Boars, and Goats. Other than meat, the giant’s nutrition comes from vegetation such as onions, carrots, potatoes, and fungal shelves that grow in the valley, though they do little farming themselves. Stone and Hill giants in servitude to the Ulykke tribe often do this work, though they mostly gather vegetation rather than farming it. The only farming practised is done on a small scale, and for the purposes of satisfying the Cloud Giants desire to invent and innovate, ultimately, the tradition and order wins out.
Nera
The Great Dream
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Marneiar
Marneiar is a town in northern region of Uild. Until the stewardship of Lord Commander Palma Nobilis, these people were largely isolated and lived a simple life, focused on enduring the cold. Now, they are a transport hub. Marnier is situated on the River Celeste, which Uildan water mages travel backwards up to trade and travel with the far reaches of Dormort. Mages arrive in the town along Palma Nobilis' railway, a highly advanced mechanical system of transport utilising warpstone, that connects Marniear to The Nameless City. In the 221st century there are plans to connect to the Coggford Valley in Leililalah through mountain tunnels. No other such system exists in Dormani, and it is an endeavour to maintain. There are many vocational opportunities and incentives for forge clerics and steel hearts to contribute to this town. The layout is sparse, but still some comforts of Uild travel up the tracks, such as gas powered streetlights. In the harsher days of winter when the snows blow thick, these lights help townsfolk stay along the main roads. The houses are stone and lumber, and face fierce weathering that makes them as regularly in need of repair as the railway is. The people here are proud and passionate, and only fear the frozen forest, and the gifts of winter.
Yskanda
Dawnspace
Wildspace, the pockets of void inside crystal spheres, as opposed to the phlogiston outside, is given a different name depending on what lies within their space. The forgotten realms are realmspace, Dragonlance/Krynn is Krynspace, Greyhawk/Oerth is Greyspace. Dorun and Farrond’s crystal sphere is called dawnspace, though that is only how it known to those who come from beyond it, as Dorun is not a major player in the cosmos.
Dorun and its moon orbit far from the spheres centre, and it’s sun; But while it shares it’s full solar orbit time with the aberrant world of Farrond, Farrond is always on the opposite side of the sun with Dorun.
The spaces between house many asteroid belts, meteoric debris fields, and other such celestial objects with places to land a spelljammer and meet some interstellar travellers, but Dorun itself has only one starport, due to its unusually thick atmosphere, and the cloud societies above the surface. The starport is located far far above one of Dorun’s great whirlpools, but can only be accessed (without flying there) from somewhere deep underground.
Astral Sea
The Astral Sea is an infinite plane between everywhere else, it is where you are when you’re nowhere else. The area that can reasonably be said to coincide with Dorun’s place on the material plane has its own unique cultures and societies, celestials, fiends, abberations, but most prominently, githyanki, ruled by the Kithrak Adlishar, Af Ithatha, and Islo Ekru.
V'rith: V'rith is a god-isle built on the corpse of a god, she is presumed to have been in a domain of life, as her body is fertile ground for the g'lathk, the farming caste. It is a fungal heaven that shines the brightest of all gith cities, and whose light would be the most missed, if consumed by the dark.
Yaraikto: Yaraikto is a series of drifting towns that have been bound together by the m'lar's arcane constructions. The place is like a shanty town, more appropriate for the raiding lifestyle than some grand industrial city like Godanaath.
Godanaath: Godanaath was a god-isle city state built on the corpse of an entity known as The Waiting One. A fallen god who died in the dawn war, their domains unknown, beyond a fear that can be felt radiating from its bones, of something yet to come. The city itself appeared industrial and gothic, with towering ornate structures, and a fleet of star skiffs, made useless by the tear.
Israth: A god-isle with a thick gaseous surface that was colonised with scaled trees, elegant marble gith barracks, and slime lakes. It was abandoned after the crusade, but some restoration has begun, by Gith, and Foo Creatures.
Seng'thaza: The body of a dead titan of water, inhabited by Giff, Sea Elves, and Genasi, in the swamps, seas, and cloud islands. The Giff are the most prominent, holding a strong industrial city in the bogs of Maktor. Their affinity for artificiery makes them a difficult target for Illithid and Gith attacks.
Retterther: A comet of magic material closely guarded by the Astral Elves that live there. Mithril chains link the comet to a cluster of astral condiuts.
Lucille
Heartlands
The Heartlands is a pseudonym for Rei Dorm, the central province in Dormani. It is characterised by rolling plains, farmland, and woodland, it also features the largest swamp in Dormani, Mangrove Grove. It was held consistently by the Dormani Empire, ruled by smaller governance in the form of the THC, The Heartlands Coalition, who help maintain the peace between the mega-farm cities, such as Campbell’s Farm, Ember’s Farm, Murdochs Farm, Rodden’s Farm, and Wellsfarm. The land is very fertile, and is bordered by the heart hills, the veiled hills, and Grandmont of Heavenspire, a mountain that reaches to the edge of the Farsky. It also features the longest river in Dormani, The Artery, the cause of the nickname ‘Heartlands’.
It faced an invasion from The Order, during the Murdoch Massacre, which ended with The Battle of the Artery in Lastford, however since then, the Murdochs’ Farm has recovered and is arguably the largest colony once again. When the giants invaded Lohic, they headed south and raided the coasts of Rei Dorm, causing damage and loss to scillingtonshire, ardshire, and Campbell's farm. They also did battle twice to take Esterlon, and then Wellen Down. However, once the giants learned the carefully balanced order of production and agriculture in Rei Dorm, they ceased their attacks.
In parts of Rei Dorm, outsider gods find their worship, such as Eldath and Talos, however, widely, the old faith is practised.
Last Ford
Last Ford is a westerly town in Rei Dorm, famously established as a war camp by Abies Nobilis on the eve of the Battle of the Artery. Due to this, the town widely embraces the old faith, and has several shrines to Great Drakes old and new, but it also has a notable Eldath following, and an Eldathi Temple close to the river, by the site of the battle. The Eldathi temple predates the town being established, and remained from an aasimar town thought to date back to the Lost Age. Records in the temple show it was once called ‘La Fort’, meaning ‘the strong’ in the archaic material celestial language. Over time this became ‘Lafor’, which sounds like La For, which in modern celestial means ‘the river crossing’. Due to this, some people still refer to Last Ford as Lafor. After the permanent settlement of humans, the meaning was adapted for the common tongue, and to reflect the historical context of being the final crossing before the battle that ensured Dormani had a future; thus it became Last Ford.
Streams from the river feed into the town, which is, as a result, decorated with many small wooden bridges. The wetlands are perfect for growing sugar cane, rice, and berries. And thus signature dishes of the town include Lafor Cake, a sweet cake with berry jam filling. There is also an ample supply of freshwater fish in the river, though fishing is very regulated. The fish population includes Plum-salmon, Pike, Thistle-Rudd, Mulberry Trout, River Eels, and Minnow.
Local issues include flooding, poaching, koa-toa tribes, water elementals, and disputed taxation between Gaunts and Flameguard, due to being neutral territory.
Lady
Volrek
Volrek is a drow settlement in central Undorun. It was built on the plundered ruins of a svirfneblin city. The palaces, merchants guild, and slums, all reside on different layers of a great blackstone cavern shelf. The wet, dense, and poor regions lie at the bottom, where the cavern stretches out to the east, in the territory of Spiders, Quaggoth, Derro, and Hook Horrors. The high up palaces are ruled by a council of matriarchs known as The Sisters of Sorrow, they are said to have wondered the mists of the dread domains, and returned with their sadistic palette left wanting. Any drow who grows up here must learn the legends of their journey, two-hundred years ago, and the new flavours of pain they innovated. Naturally, this leads to the lower classes fearing those who live on top, so they're left to wander: If their own matriarchs above are so cruel, be it Sister Vierya, Sister Morkal, Sister Hael, or Sister Jiryll, then what must the people of the surface be like, how cruel must they be.
The city doesn't have any ties to the rest of the underdark, only trading in slavery, extortion, and murder. As a result, the merchant class act much more like servants for the matriarchs, creating, stealing, inventing, and innovating new ways to satisfy, with food, clothes, and luxuries. This leads to the aristocratic having a culture which is a smashing together of duergar, svirfneblin, and drow cultures. Anything the Sisters of Sorrow like, is appropriated and assimilated. Meanwhile in the poor districts, everyone is fighting and scheming for themselves, and food and coin is everything. There are no jobs, so theft, butchery, and raiding of other colonies is the only way to survive. Though, with the houses being on the cave floor, leaving the dense slums makes you vulnerable to monsters.
Earthrift Dregs
A few centuries ago, a farming community in the Heartlands was wiped off the face of Dorun, for classified reasons; the crater revealed a new section of the underdark, even bigger than before, and a new wave of travellers ventured into Undorun, but some things from below came up too. Earthrift Dregs is a city built in the sides of the spiralling quarry roads leading from the surface down into Undorun.
The population consists of drow, duergar, svirfneblin, and surface dwellers, since the Gaunt's helped establish order, got Eartherift Dregs to become a part of The Heartlands Coalition. After this, they began exporting deep resources to the surface world, such as rare ores, rare beasts, and rare plants.
Some of the legacy families from the former town remember what was once there, but clerics of Rekeal prowl the area, ready to smite anyone who reveals the closely guarded secrets as to why the attack happened. Remembrance happens alone, and with utmost privacy.
Peace is easy with so much diversity, so a manner of small cultural districts are able to coexist and help one another. Some will always try and break the peace, but the wound in the earth where the city is built, acts (to some) as a warning, that greater powers with greater weapons could destroy their way of life in an instant, so the peoples must be a united front.
Dolly
Freninham
Until the third invasion of Lohic, Freninham had been a serene place, a halfling town in the heart of (what was then known as) Dorul. Wealth flowed from the mountains down the goldstream and shiny rapids, leading to a long history of panning and prospecting. The fertile plains of Lohic provided beautiful green pastures, paddocks, and ponds. The ground was disturbed only by the earthen homes of halflings. Freninham saw little war in its history, little strife, until 22,003, when the people watched in confusion as the nearby capital, Grazen went up in flames, and had entire streets flattened by artillery boulders. It was shortly afterwards, that the invasion force of giants, the green tide, would go on to do the same to Freninham, in their campaign that established the Titanic Coast of Lohic. Now the earth is ruptured and furrowed with the excavation of ancient stones of importance to the giants. Little wealth flows down from the Knappstone Hills, as giants have created panning canals in Kharak Dongliz, on the two provincial rivers. The peoples now each farm their own small plot, and must keep their livestock locked up, for fear of being abducted by hungering lesser giants. The arrival of the new lords has disturbed the functional and cultural foundations that once made this town as place that a halfling would never have to leave, and yet the giants have brought some advantages. The earth is more fertile, the waters more pure, people are healthier, and rogue magics are heavily punished. Yet hunger for the freedoms of old is insatiable. Such a diminutive people living with such great figures, is impractical, and while the giants recognised this, they failed in their attempt to move to Uild, and understood the importance of letting the heartlands grow. So, at this time in history, the towns of Lohic remain occupied, until the giants move again, or conclude the ancient business for which their people returned. Freninham is still structured in sparse clusters of partially subterranean houses, connected by winding paths that follow the natural shape and flow of the ground, but the spaces between are now broken up by more and more long halls, cabins, and tents. Few of the giant occupants live a domestic life here; most oversee the continuation of production, and commitment to the Ordning, that or as soldiers. Those who do work amoung the town, are often residents of the Knappstone Hills, White Hills, or children of the invasion force.
Losainiti
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Kaincha
Unknown
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Unknown
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Ovein
Gulthias
The city of Gulthias is constructed of sandstone and granite, in blocks that have tarps run between rooftops to provide shade in the streets. The city is not in the more arid region of Orcis, but the tight streets and large population create a lot of heat to make it warm, and the extra moisture just worsens the humidity. Orcs, Elves, and other forest things live here. Unlike other cities named for the great woods at their hearts, Gulthias is not provided as bountiful shade as the rest, as the trunk of the tree extends first out of the cavernous ruins from which is first grew, before reaching over any surface folk. Instead there is a district of shade, under a home's height of the thick canopy of apple tree, whose fruits are closely protected. The Entwined within the roots of the Gulthias is a citadel, The Citadel. An ancient Iruni Empire, given new life in the era of the Dragonfall, by the colonisation of Orcish Lords. This city is most similar, of the location in Orcis, to the kind of civilisation Dormani and Majestic people are accustomed too, but is ultimately governed by a distinguishing decentralised moral body, codified in the ideals of honour. These ideals are dispersed across orcis, with the exception of Kroatorut, due to the unification of the Orcisian City States. The ancient runic ideals of harmony, while not reflected in the warring nomadic culture i central and southern Orcis, is remembered in the soil, and bleeds into the present through the Gulthias' connection to the feywild. As such, Gulthias produces and fosters geomancers, who aid in the restoration of the northern lands. Major exports of Gulthias include the fruits of its tree, resilient crops, and cuisine prefered by greenskin communities (those generally consisting of orcs and goblinoids).
Barchan
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Enanna
The Sandstraights
The Sandstraights are the easterly coastal areas of the Osaran Desert in Rezmire. They are made up of villages and tribes of primarily tortles, with a minor population of karokans and weresharks. The Drettle Tribe in the north are renowned for their net crawling in both the water (from floating platforms) and of desert fauna. They are a spiritual people who believe that the seas are a great frontier that their people will one day conquer by inheriting the memories of their ancestors. There is some truth to this in the way that technology is passed down, such as advanced netting and manoeuvrable pontoons, but the obsession with the "Ferystol'adar" (Elder Reclaimer in an Old Rezmiric language) is more derivative of myth, and prophecy. The Ferystol'adar is said to be born of the Sandstraights and will stop the cascading chaos that plagues Nurod. The southern Belflofin Tribe are most recognisable by their spined and pinned weapons and shells, scavenged sea creatures that wash ashore in an effort to escape predators in the Dune Gulf. They have a fierce rivalry with the neaby tribes of both the Marrash and Lizardmen, who would hunt stray Belflofin given the chance. Long ago, the loss of children to the hunger of those peoples is what has driven the defensive culture of the Belflofin people, and their deification of the young. They view children as gifts of the divine, and scores of Belflofin soldiers would sacrifice themselves for the sake of a single child. Additionally, these tortles are of a softer shell variety, so reinforcing their bodies and adorning their shells in barbs and armour is a rite of passage into adulthood with the tribe. Along the dunes where the Osaran Desert meets the Dune Wastes, lives the Jopharrv Tribe. These tortles are largely overshadowed by their sometimes allies, The Retishglim Tribe of Glimbank, but they are remarkable in their own right, on their own lands, for their long and ancient history. While many of the other tribes of the Sandstraights can be dated in centuries, the Jopharrv Tribe live in sandstone caves that their people have been maintaining for millennia. Rezmiric scholars have traveled here to try and discern greater insight into the history of Nurod, but all the cave markings recount is local history, the Jopharrv victory of many tribes than came and went. The victories of the past inevitably fade in the porous stone, and while the trive are attentive, over time, some stories are thusly changed.
Glimbank
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Anna
South Majesty
The southern regions are home to the peak of the mountains of majesty, but on the ground, along the coast, lies the Guardian Forest, Reach City, and Sand City. The Guardian Forest is a protected reservation that holds some of the oldest markings of civilisation in Dormani, including early shrines to the dawn three, stone foundations, and blessed sites of the first miracles conducted by channeling divinity. The positive energy created with those acts of devotion, while ancient, is potent enough that it keeps the lands fertile into the present, and wards away creatures of shadow. Reach City, site of the ruined Tower of Harvest, the smallest of the Majestic cities. It is governed by House Harvest, blue dragonborn whose sigil is an Imperial Ship pointed west, fitting with their words, 'Sail West', evoking the riches of Nurod. Harvest City is renown for their shipwrights creation of the Fleet of Majesty, and for having the largest agricultural sector on the island. The city is also occupied by House Hjarkin, Pink dragonborn, raised to lo lords by the Gaunts, and given dominion over the peaks. Due to the fact they cannot easily occupy the giant countries, they mostly occupy Reach City (with a detachment in Blue City), where there is old resentments with House Harvest.
Sand City
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