Humans

The 'older' races - the elves and dwarfs - claim the mankind is a recent arrival to the World. Human tribes first appeared in the north when the Elven cities were already millenia old. The dwarfs, ever curious, were the first to make contact with the newcomers, offering metal goods and learning the many tribal languages.

These ancient humans ressembled the beast-tribes of the modern north, in that each tribal group venerated a particular animal species. This gave rise to a widespread belief that the humans had originally inhabited the plane of Life and left or been expelled.

The elves were more circumspect at first, but later sent groups to learn about the tribes. They were received with awe by those tribes who followed bird totems, and when the elven ambassadors returned south, the White Eagle, Red Hawk and Pheasant tribes followed. From these tribes are descended those who lived with the elves before the coming of Night.

Humans and magic

Humans and the Gods

• Northern Barbarians
• Golden Empire
  • Pharsantia
  • Amairtia
• Salamander Peninsula
  • Tarantia
• Duchy of Bretanny
• Northern Baronies
• Sea-Fiefs
• Vale of Wizards

Northern Barbarians

The northern plains are home to many nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes. The nomadic tribesmen of the Northern Wastes worship animal totems, which differ between tribes. They believe that the World is filled with powerful animal spirits, usually giant versions of common animals. These spirits will help those who worship them by lending them their powers. Tribesmen identify with aspects of the animal they follow and shamen often dress in ceremonial gear which emulates them.

Many of the tribes are frequently involved in intertribal wars over sacred grounds and nomadic migration routes. A few of the more settled tribes, who herd animals rather than hunt for a living, have esablished semi-permentant settlements, where non-Barbarians who wish to trade for skins and other produce come. This trade brings metal weaponry to these tribes, which has allowed them to expand their territories at the expense of other more primative tribes.

Outside the north, the barbarians are often considered to be worshippers of the Eternal Night. However, this is not generally true. Those tribes who worship animal totems generally fear and hate the Dark as much as their more civilised southern neighbours. However, even amongst the totem tribes there are dark rumours of Shades and tribes who have turned from their animals protectors to worship blacker spirits.

Golden Empire

The Empire is the greatest nation the World has known since the destruction of the Elven Lords. It's fertile soils and rich mines produce wealth which is traded far beyond it's borders. The capital city of the Empire was moved over 200 years ago to Pharsantia, where both the Emperor and the the High Priest of the Eternal Emperor now live. This river city is also the trading center of the Empire and is probably the largest city in the World.

Pharsantia
Pharsantia is near the seaward end of the River Amair, which originates in the Vale and flows over the Shield Falls. Boats sail the length of the river, trading between Pharsantia, the Vale and towns inbetween. Trade on the river is tightly controlled by the Empire which reserves sole rights to tax water traffic in the Empire. This is a source of tension between the central government and the provinces, which are only allowed to levy road tolls.

The riches of the Empire come chiefly from is vast agricultural lands. Each year the field produce a huge surplus of grain, fruit and meat which is traded with the surrounding lands.

After humans threw off the yolk of their humanoid rulers a little over 800 years ago, many of the goblins and ogres fled the lands which now make up the Golden Empire. However, many were also retained as slaves by the humans of the area. This practise continued even after the arrival of the priests of Amairya. Today, much of the menial labour of the Empire is carried out by goblin slaves. There is no such thing as a 'free' goblin within the Empire; a goblin which does not have an owner is assumed to be a marauder from outside the Empire and is liable to be killed. Goblins may not own property, carry weapons or travel without the orders of their owners.

Heavy, unskilled work is left to the goblins. Heavy farm work

The Golden Empire is the only human land which tolerates the presence of goblins as slaves. The Duchy of Brettany forbade the entry of Empire slaves until their annexation by the Empire. Even now it is unlikely that any goblins brought into the Duchy would last lond enough to do any useful work.

Amairtia
Further upriver from Pharsantia the old capital, Amairtia, has remained the base of the Amairyan religion within the Empire. It is famous for it's warm mineral springs which are the center of the healing cult of Amairya of the Waters. The waters spring from a rare planar conjuction of Gates to the Water and Life planes, making them a powerful source of healing virtue. After the main Temple at Highcastle, Amairtia is the most important pilgrimage site for followers of the goddess. Many visit the site in search of healing, or to give thanks for intervention from Amariya.

Originally, the religion of the Empire was that of the Undying Light. The word of Amairya was spread by men of the Vale when they turned the men of the outer lands away from the worship of the Dark. She was venerated as the Protectress of the Empire and thus she is depicted above the entrance of her magnificent temple at Amairtia, holding the gilded Sun-Shield to defend the Emperor from a great Black Dragon.

For nearly 500 years Amairya was the major deity worshipped in the central part of the Empire. However, just over 300 years ago the worship of a new god was introduced. The Eternal Empire is a religion of trade, law and conquest. It's temples, called Courts, were also places of transactions and the dispensing of justice. The worship of the Empire as a living Power was begun by Jerantin VI. A sickly and childless man, he sought to strengthen the unity of the Empire and avert the civil war he feared after his death.

Although he failed in this ambition, this new religion proved well suited to the tastes of the expansionist and avaricious ruling classes of the Empire who rose to power after the First War of Succession and was soon adopted as the official religion of the Emperor. Now, the Eternal Empire is widely worshipped throughout the Empire, especially in the cities although more rural areas still follow Amairya.

Many in the Vale are dismayed by these changes in the Empire. Under the guidance of the priests of the Eternal Emperor, the Empire has become more harsh in it's dealings with smaller states on it's boarders. Where it was once content to spread the word of the Undying Light and bring peace and trade, the Emperor is now more interested in conquest and exploration. There are many rumours about the increase in the size of the Imperial armies. Some of the Knights are worried that the Empire will soon turn it's acquisitive eyes to the rich and peaceful Vale.

The law of the Eternal Empire has brought increased trade and prosperity to the Empire, but there has been a price. The increase in the size of the army has brought about an increase in taxes and tariffs. The bureaucracy of the Empire has also grown in size and power, resulting in corruption and bribery. Poverty, unemployment and crime are increasing. To combat this, as well as to enlarge the army, the Emperor has introduced compulsory military service. The rights of citizens have been eroded; there is law at the expense of justice.

Currently, unrest is growing in the Empire. The Emperor Jerantin VII, of the Therasine noble family, is coming to the end of his long life (unnaturally long, it is rumoured). Despite being one of the most powerful and materially successful of the Golden Emperors, he is popularly known as Jerantin the Cursed, because of the misfortunes of his wives and children.

His betrothal in 1794 (and subsequent marriage in 1796), to Rowany 'the gentle' of Bretanny, united the Empire with the great Duchy of Bretanny and brought about the end of the Second War of Succession. However, the marriage proved barren. Rowany's death in 1804 at the age of only 25 was widely rumoured to be due to poison and provoked a rebellion in Bretanny which was put down by force. Jerantin was subsequently betrothed in 1807 to the Duke of Bretanny's infant half-sister, who caused a great scandle by eloping with a Sea Fief pirate-duke in 1819 on the eve of her marriage to Jerantin.

Jerantin finally married again in 1822. The five children of his second wife, Helan of the renowned Relantine family, all died in infancy. She was eventually beheaded in 2031 for adultery with her cousin and her family name subsequently disgraced by the revelation of their plot to overthrow Jerantin. Several of the family, including Helan's father, were executed but the alleged ring-leaders of the plot, her three brothers, fled to the Salamander peninsular. At least one of them is rumoured to be alive.

His third marriage, to his own cousin Illita in 1834, proved at first more successful, with the successive births of three sons, all of whom survived infancy. However, the two younger sons died duing the Great Plague of 1849. His oldest surviving son, Berantin, died in a hunting accident at the age of 19 in 1854, closely followed by his grieving mother. Jerantin married again for a fourth time in 1859 to a daughter of the Duke of the Sea Fiefs almost 70 years his junior, but the union was only recently blessed by the birth of twin daughters, now only two years old.

Jerantin has no surviving male children, or close male relatives. Consequently, the question of the succession to the Golden Throne is wide open. In theory, the next Emperor can be chosen simply by consulting the Annals of Succession, which will give the name of the next in line. In practice, the Annals are a collection of over ten dozen large and thick volumes, most of which trace, in minute handwritten detail, the family trees of the noble houses of the Empire over the past 600 years since the founding of the empire and far beyond. Merely reading, never mind interpreting, the Annals is a mammoth task. Worse, there are several copies in existence, which are said to differ somewhat in precise detail.

The position has been further complicated by Jerantin's last marriage to the daughter of the Duke of the Sea Fiefs, who is not even considered nobility in the Annals, thus rendering the position of the Duke's infant granddaughters rather obscure. There is a persistant rumour of an secret arrangement over the future of the Empire between Jerantin and his old enemy in the Sea Fiefs. It is no secret that Jerantin despises the 'weak and treacherous' nobility of the Baronies and Golden Empire. The noble families in the Empire, Bretanny, the Baronies and the Sea Fiefs are all said to be taking a keen interest in the matter, along with many exiles in the Salamander peninsula.

Golden Empire Dates

Salamander Penisula

The Salamander Peninsula as it now stands was created by tremendous volcanic upheavals as the last elven ships fled the coming of Endless Night. Before the coming of the Night the Peninsula was a chain of islands of varying sizes. Many were empty but some were inhabited by scattered elven communities. As far is it is known, all these inhabitants fled east to the Elven Isles or were destroyed in the cataclysm of ash and lava which swallowed the fertile lands. The Penisula remains active in places and clouds of ash are still spewed out over the Sea of Ashes and the Black Coast. However much of the land is now no longer active and has become, or been made, habitable.

The first recolonisation of the Peninsula began not long after the escape of the last armies of elves and men into the Vale. They were refugees or escaped slaves fleeing the armies of night. Life on the Peninsula was harsh and dangerous, but preferable to the petty humanoid kingdoms which grew up on the mainland. However, it is believed that it was during this period that the first contact with the Salamanders was made and Fire-Worship began on the island.

During the early period of the Empire following the exile of the priests of Endless Night, the Peninsula suffered something of a depopulation as people moved back to the more prosperous mainland. The next large influx of humans came after the first War of Succession in the Empire and the breakaway of the Sea-Fiefs from Imperial control. Refugees from the defeated sides in the first War of Succession and the subsequent War of the Hundred Heirs fled to the Peninsula, repopulating the ruins of abandonned settlements.

The Peninsula is now one of the richer areas of the continent, despite it's poor agricultural lands. The inhabitants and especially the Fire-Worshippers of the various city-states trade information about the world with the Salamanders of the volcanoes in return for gold and gems. The cities are mostly ruled by the Fire-Priest classes, because it is on the goodwill of the unpredicatable Salamanders that the safety of the cities depends. However, some of the cities are ruled by descendants of the various noble families who have fled the Empire. The Peninsula cities are often accused by the Empire of harbouring traitors, troublemakers, thieves and murderers. However, for obvious reasons, they are unwilling to risk a punitive war.

Tarantia

The Peninsula city perhaps most notorious throughout the Empire is that of Tarantia. It was here that the defeated Prince Tarantin (also called Tarantin the Fair) fled after his unsuccessful bid for the Golden Throne. Despite his defeat and rumours of dealings with Shades, he eventually married the daughter of the city's ruler. Tarantin inherited the throne after his bride's father, her three brothers, and several others of the royal family drowned in three tragic shipwrecks. He renamed the city in his own honour, and his descendants have ruled ever since.

Popularly (but not loudly) called the City of Assassins, Tarantia is supposed to be a base for assassins and mercenaries of all kind, to whom the current Prince, Tarantin VI, gives his full support and protection. The city is nominally administered by a council of merchants who represent the trading interests of the city. Tarantia is strategically placed at the base of the Peninsula and benefits from rich trade routes between the Penisula city states, the Sea Fiefs and the Empire. In addition it is one of the city-stats of the Peninsula which is lucky enough to have a reasonable amount of land which can be used for farming.

The city is rich enough to maintain a large, well-equipped and highly trained navy which patrols the sea routes to protect the financial interests of the Prince. Their primary opponents are the 'independtant traders' of the Sea Fiefs. The close protection of the fleet is available to any traders who pay a premium to the Tarantian merchant council; a form of insurance. The council will reimburse captains for the value of cargoes lost to piracy, the amount depending upon premiums paid. Insurance fraud against the merchants of the City of Assassins is not recommended.

If tales of ruthless assassins were not enough, wilder rumours of dark sorcery and Shade worship have clung to the city since Tarantin's accession. Even worse, a persistant tale, which has gained the status of legend, declares that the current Prince is no other than Tarantin the Fair, who sold his soul to Darkness in return for immortality.

Duchy of Bretanny

Largest semi-independant Duchy, situated to the south of the Golden Empire. It occasionally allies itself with the northern Baronies in their bids for independance but it's support is limited because it has no land contact with them.

Bretanny is often called the oldest human kingdom in the world, especially by it's own people. It's dark-skinned inhabitants are believed to have entered the known lands from the south, rather than the north, ousted from their homelands by some unknown calamity. Certainly their language is distinct from that of all the other human peoples. Entering what is now Bretanny, they encountered the dwaves who worked the nearby hills. Awed by the Dwarves' power and sophisticated crafts they settled the lands around the dwarven cities and, in exchange, took the dwarves as their overlords.

When the Endless Night swept over the world, the Bretanny people declined to accompany their friends into the security of the underground. Here, over the next miliennia, the Bretanny people resisted the Endless Night. They became a hunted people, living in the hills and forests around the fringes of Bretanny, but they refused to surrender. Still in contact with the Dwarfs, they pitted cunning, superior weapons and sheer willpower against the vast numbers of the Night. The revolt of the humans to the north against the ogres and goblins caused further hardship for Bretanny, as some of the creatures fled south.

Finally, the beginnings of the Golden Empire under the guidance of the Vale signalled the renaissence of Bretanny. Although many of the exiled priests of Endless Night tried to turn south, the Bretans persuaded the dwarven armies to march out to battle and, aided by help from the north, the last open stand by the priests of Endless Night was broken. Many fled into the Forest of Rivers and were destroyed by the elves there, the rivers from the forest running red for several days.

Since then, the Bretans have grown in power, uniting under a Duke shortly after the destruction of the priests of Endless Night. They are a proud people, united after a long struggle. Although they acknowledge the role of the Golden Empire in the destrution of the Endless Night they have remained stubborny independant until recently. The only child of the last Duke, a popular girl named Rowany, was betrothed and married to the Golden Emperor. Bretanny was united with the Empire under a treaty which provided for allegiance to the Empire with a great measure of indendance for the dukedom. After Rowany's death in 1804, supposedly of poison, Bretanny rose against the Empire and was crushed.

Since then, the situation has been generally peaceful, especially sicne the devastation of the Great Plague of 1849. However, few people believe that the strongly independant Bretans will be content to reamain subject ot the Golden Throne. The majority of the population worship Duanna, the Dwarven goddess, and that alone has been enough to cause constant friction with the Empire.

Northern Baronies

Sea-Fiefs

The people of the Sea Fiefs are known throughout the civilised world as the greatest sailors and boat builders, second only, perhaps, to the Elves of the Isle of Winds. The economy of the Fiefs revolves around the sea, with the most famous export being the smoked flesh of the giant salt-water Gar of the Sea of Ashes. The ports of the Sea Fiefs are a wonderful place to meet a complete cross-section of humanity, although they make for a rather dangerous night out. The Fiefs' 'capital' (in fact, the largest harbour) is Ty, where the largest church of Typhon is located.

Even under the rule of the Lord of Endless Night, the lands which now constitute the Sea Fiefs were difficult to control. With little arable land, the region was forced to reply on the sea for it's survial, which bred an independance of mind not appreciated by the Shades. The humans of the Sea Fiefs were enthusiastic members of the rebellion which drove out the humanoid rules, although they were slower to accept the peaceful teaching of the Vale folk. They eventually settled on the worship of Typhon, learned from the Elves of the Isle of Winds, and this kept the Sea Fiefs peoples culturally distict from the rest of the Golden Empire for centuries.

During the first War of Succession within the Empire, the Sea Fiefs seized the opportunity to declare their independance, and somehow, the Empire has never got round to expending the resources required to reconquor the windswept peninsula. Since then, the Sea Fiefs have united, disunited, fought several civil wars, but remain ready to coalese instantly in the face of outside aggression.

The current Duke Alfaevan, who succeeded in uniting the quarelling fiefdoms by sheer force of personality, is the father of the Empress of the Golden Empire. He and his son Daraevan, a figure of no less standing than his father, are widely rumoured to be deep in Imperial intrigues. It remains to be seen if their alledged foreign ambitions will prove to be the ruin of their control over their own quarrlesome lands.