The World

The Lay of the Land

The world has two great landmasses. The main continent holds the North and, below the mountains, the southern kingdoms of the Imperium. The Vale lies to the southwest, its own land across the Shattered Sea. The Whitefrost Ocean runs along the northern coast, the Westreach Ocean along the west, and the warm Amber Sea along the south.

In the east, the continent opens onto the Sundering Sea, a vast inland sea of fresh water about eleven hundred miles across, touching no ocean. Glacier melt from the Northern Ice Range feeds it, and two great rivers drain it, the Norcrest to the west and the Ashara to the south. It's cold and deep, it carries big freshwater ships and fishing fleets, and it divides the North from the Imperium. A large volcanic island sits out in it.

The Norcrest Mountains run east from the western coast and wall the North off from the southern heartlands. Two passes cross them: Frostscar Pass, the old main road, once held by Eldrhold, and Greywind Pass to the east, under Haldrenhold. Far to the northeast, the Northern Ice Range is all permanent glacier and bitter cold, and most of it has never been explored.

The North

A hard country. Inland, winter lasts five or six months, and snow covers everything. Rivers freeze solid and break up violently in the spring melt. Along the coast the weather comes off the sea in storms, fog and freezing spray. The western fjords stay partly open through winter, while the eastern waters freeze more and more toward the mountains.

Lake Vaelor (say VAY-lor) is the largest lake in the North, about two hundred and twenty-six miles east to west and a hundred and forty-five north to south. From one shore you can't see the other. It sits high on a plateau, fed by mountain snow, and it drains both ways: north down the River Skelda to the Whitefrost Ocean, and south toward Haldrenhold. In deep winter it freezes hard, and no boat crosses until spring.

South of Blackford lies the Dead Forest, a great stretch of bare, twisted trees that stay dead in every season. No ordinary animals live inside it. The ground is cold, the air is wrong and still, and every kind of undead has been seen there. Nearby settlements avoid it.

The North has no king. The title exists, but nobody has held it, and it can only be won by uniting the Jarls or conquering them. Instead the land is split among Jarldoms:

Vaelgard, ruled from Vaelorvik by Jarl Hakon Gormsson. Clan Vaelgard has held the shores of Lake Vaelor for generations and grown rich on the lake's trade, shipyards and merchant fleets.

Vargir, ruled from Blackford by Jarl Rurik Ulfsson. Clan Vargir is known for hard discipline and harder leadership, and its power rests on the river crossings at Blackford. Rurik destroyed Clan Eldr ten years ago.

Hrafn, ruled from Hrafnstrand by Jarl Eirik Gunnvarsson.

Haldren, ruled from Haldrenhold, a stone castle in the gold-rich foothills of the Norcrest. Since the coup, Varic holds the seat.

The old Eldr lands, claimed by Rurik but too far for him to govern. The settlements left there get by on their own.

The Imperium

The Valcaryian Imperium rules the south from its capital, Valcaris, on the central southern coast. Under it sit four kingdoms, each with its own king or queen:

Stone Vale, capital Stoneward

Velasira, capital Velora

Karveth, capital Korath

Cyranthia, capital Aurelion

The Imperium runs on law, bureaucracy, roads and taxes, backed by a standing military. Its climate is kind next to the North's: hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters, with rich river farmland. Near the Norcrest it turns cooler and foggy, and the eastern borderlands are dry country in the mountains' rain shadow.

Magic in the Imperium is licensed and regulated, and practicing without a license is a crime. The Conclave of Mages, a council of twenty-two seats, governs it, with the Emperor's seat breaking ties. Blood magic, raising the dead, tearing the life out of people, and binding souls without consent are all outlawed.

The Vale

The Vale is ruled by the Kharazai Dominion under the Khan, from the capital, Kharashan. It's a humid, rainy land of dense forest, misty highlands and rich fishing. The coasts stay cool and wet in winter while the mountain interior gets snow. Four Steel Houses rule its regions under the Khan.

About two hundred and thirty-eight years ago, the Vale lost a war to the Imperium. The Khan still rules his own people completely, but when the Emperor raises his banners, the Vale must answer. Its people haven't forgotten.

The Sky and the Sea

One sun, and one moon that hangs closer and larger than you might expect. That nearness makes the tides enormous. Tidal ranges along the coast are huge, currents through fjords and narrow straits can be ferocious, and low tide uncovers wide flats of open seabed. Every harbor and coastal town has to be built around them.

The Calendar

A year has thirteen months. Twelve have twenty-eight days, and the last, Aurenfall, has twenty-nine, for three hundred and sixty-five days in all.

Months: Auriel, Valeris, Castren, Lumenar, Solvar, Tiravel, Caelion, Merovar, Aldorin, Seraphel, Dominar, Virelan, Aurenfall.

Days of the week: Aurday, Valday, Casday, Lumday, Solday, Caelday, Aurensday.

Years are counted from the Founding of the Imperium: BF for Before Founding, AF for After. Older cities and kingdoms stood long before the Founding, and Auren himself lived and died centuries earlier. The story begins on the 6th of Auriel, 738 AF.