Codex Geographica Armorica

[CaptainPenguin]

Exemplary and deeply appreciated partakers of literature mine,

In my haste to pen this, my volume dearest, a project mine since long times past, I had forgotten to add in a proper and suitable and respectfully lengthy introduction. Thus, I have penned this outrageously inadequate and tackily short prolougia in order that I may not be judged some low-born, dirt-squatting proletarius. Read and enjoy this volume mine, and learn of the lands which compose these lands of ours.

By hand his own,
Royal Scribe of the King, Benthelus Orlad Brinn the Seventeenth, of Marcosia,
Herrenius Dabbor

[CaptainPenguin]

The grand, white-spired City of Arcturus is the capitol and center of the great and mighty Empire of Arcturus, and its grandeur is nestled amidst the Latifundian Hills, some of the most fertile of all the croplands in the Armorican Kingdoms.
The Polis is a huge, sprawling city, with its origins in the misty beginnings of the Empire, when Arcturus showed Caesar, the First Emperor, a sign in the form of a great white fire that burst from the top of the hill which is now occupied by the Imperial Palace and the surrounded by the Capitoline District. It is said that there, Caesar constructed his home, with a shrine to Arcturus within, and it is from this that the Imperial Manse spread.
The center of the Polis is the Arcturan Hill, over which sprawls the Imperial Palace. The Palace is an amazingly large structure, beautiful and brilliant in its architecture, that is so large that the majority of Emperors have held their entire courts and lives in only one or two sections of the Palace. It is, in fact, so large, that there are special servants of the Emperor's household who are trained to explore the structure and aid those who may be lost within.
Surrounding the Arcturan Hill and the Imperial Palace is the Wall of Eagles, a great cyclopean wall, and beyond that, the Capitoline Ring. This region is the district of the Polis containing the House of the Senate, the Polis Assembly Chamber, where the populace gathers on the most important of times, and other political structures and outbuildings of Imperial functions within the city, including the Arcturan Municipal Guard Headquarters.
Around the Capitoline Ring is the Old City This region contains the homes of the Patricians, as well as very well-to-do Plebeians, and many businesses and services catering to these upperclass folk. The Old City, as would be imagined, is the original Polis, and the wall surrounding it is called the Old City Wall. But of course, there is more beyond, for it is the way of cities to grow outward.
Beyond the Old City Wall are several districts known as the New City. The largest is the Municipalo, the living place of the common folk, the Plebeians. It is the largest and most densely-populated residential area in the Armorican Kingdoms. Next to the Municipalo is the Trade District, which, obviously, contains shops, restaurants, banks, Guard Posts, stables, inns, taverns, brothels, and great markets selling all manner of goods. It is fitting that we come last to the Malecello (the "Little Evil"), the black district of the city. This is the poorest and most dangerous district, full of thieves and murderers and swindlers, home of the Capite Censi and other poor-folk, and a place of black markets and dark alleys, and even darker men.

[CaptainPenguin]

The Latifundian Hills are the bounteous land that surround the Polis, a large region of hills and vales, grassy swards and crop fields, where the very rich have their villas.
The Hills supply crops to the entire Polis, though meat grazers are camped further away. They are some of the most bounteous soils in the entirety of the Armorican Kingdoms.
In the Latifundian Hills, one can find the villas of the rich and powerful, and the farms and huts of the very poor, side by side. However, one can generally judge the value of a house by altitude. The villas of the rich, like that of the infamous Yellow Priest, Baza, mostly occupy the crowns of hills.

[CaptainPenguin]

In the south of the Empire, bordering on the arid Cumberland, the Vindocladia Tablelands are a region of deep canyons and rocky, dusty plateaus.
It is a dry land, with the majority of water concentrated in the multitudes of rivers which continue to carve deeper and deeper canyons, in turn making the plateaus, referred to as tables, even higher.
Many of the rivers in the Vindocladia are tributaries of the mighty Aelor, which rolls through the center of Arcturus.
Vindocladia is known as a dangerous and difficult place for travellers. The terrain is not at all suited for journeying, being arid, rocky, and having few charted paths to travel over and between the tables. It is also a nest for bandits and outlaws, who prey on the rare visitor, and escape over the nearby, nebulous border between Arcturus and Nermalia.

(For inspiration as to what it looks like, think of the lands around the Grand Canyon, with all the mesas and huge canyons with rivers at the bottom and so on.)

[CaptainPenguin]

Lake Brilliant, more properly termed the Mare Iridia, is a very large lake on the border of Arcturus and Thasar. Both Thasarites and Arcturans lay claim to it, but thus far, it has caused few conflicts, for it is so large that Thasarites can use one side, Arcturans can use the other, and neither will ever see each other in the process. Lake Brilliant is the source of River Swift, a river that feeds into the Aelor River.
The namesake of Lake Brilliant becomes obvious only at night. When the sun does not shine, the lake does. The surface of the water glows with soft, mind-calming light in many colors, as if swarms of particolored fireflies flitted just below the surface. The light has a soothing effect and a tendency to put many to sleep or at least make them very somnolent. The plants that grow on the edge of the tarn likewise share this aura. Cat-tails shine red, lilies emanate purple, et cetera, et cetera.
Many have theories about Lake Brilliant's glow. Some will not go near it, speaking of "sorcery" and "the fey", but the majority of folk believe that the Mare Iridia is a small gift from the Gods. Others say that Lake Brilliant is the place where the Sun sleeps while the Moon is awake. Many Imperial scholars hold the notion that during the day, the Sun (which Discus throws into the air) shines down on the lake, which, through some strange property of the water, collects the rays and illuminates itself in the night.

[CaptainPenguin]

The Free City of Malsheg is the second-largest city in all of the Armorican Kingdoms, second only to the Polis of Arcturus. Lying on the border between Arcturus and Marcosia, this famously independent city-state is a nexus of people from all over the Armorican Kingdoms.
Malsheg is constructed atop a large granite bluff, with its back against the high cliff-wall that soars above it, called the Wall by Malshegites. It is arrayed in concentric half-rings, called Hemicircinates, spreading out from the center of the Wall, where a small waterfall splashes down into a pool around which the original settlement was constructed.
Malsheg was founded around this pool and cataract as a haven for travellers by Renatus Malsheg, a Helvetian merchant. The first inhabitants were Renatus' sons and daughters, as well as his two wives. Soon, more and more people came to the settlement, a bastion of civilization in the wilderness, and it was decided that a leader was necessary. Rhadamanthus Malsheg, the eldest son of the late Renatus Malsheg, was deigned the most worthy of Malsheg's inhabitants, and in this way, the first Aetlord of Malsheg was crowned.
Every two years, a new Aetlord is crowned to reign over Malsheg, leading the Citizen's Assembly in the governing of the Free City. The eight Hemicircinates of Malsheg elect one representative for the Citizen's Assembly as well.
The First Hemicircinate, also called the Aetlord's Hemicircinate, is the central circinate, with the oldest wall. It is the sight of the Malsheg Pool, where the waterfall crashes down from its journey down the precipitous cliff. The original settlement of Malsheg has long since crumbled, and has been replaced with the opulent estate, manse, and gardens of the Aetlord. Every year, the Aetlord stages the Aetlord's Symposium, during which folk of all manner swarm the Aetlord's Hemicircinate in their finest clothes, dining and dancing and enjoying the Aetlord's hospitality.
The Second and Third Hemicircinates are the Noble Hemicircinates, where the rich and noble of Malsheg dwell.
The Fourth and Fifth Hemicircinates are the Market Hemicircinates, where anything can be bought that is possible to acquire in the Armorican Kingdoms.
The Sixth and Seventh Hemicircinates are the Proletarian Hemicircinates, where the less-prosperous and more common dwell.
The Eigth Hemicircinate is the Rat's Hemicircinate, the slums and black markets of the Free City, where one can find the famed gambling dens.

[CaptainPenguin]

Somewhere in the eastern reaches of Licuria, on the edge of the Black Morass, there is a singular marsh, one which the Licurians call the Cleddwyn Marsh, but which is usually called the Fen of Fear.
The Fen of Fear never seems to occupy the same region, but it is always found somewhere in the eastern borders of the Morass. Its edges can be discerned by the briar hedges, dry and black and razor-thorned, that slither and gnarl around it. There are gaps in the briar wall, large stone arches around which the briars curl,  which the Licurians name the Deadmen's Doors. When one passes through the Deadmen's Doors, it is said, one feels a chill, and then has entered the Fen of Fear.
Travellers say that it is a foetid place, more of a shallow lake than a marsh, with islands of reedy mud rising from its stagnant, grey-brown surface. The plants that grow there are all of a purplish-black hue, and the islands have stunted, gnarled trees with crusty, thorny black bark.
But this is not the namesake of the Fen.
When one enters the Cleddwyn Marsh, one will immediately behold the Deadfires, small, multicolored flames that float about the marsh. They pass through the hand that attempts to touch them, and seem to dance in strange, unalterable arcs.
But that is not all. When the Deadfires shine their brightest, at midnight, one can look into the waters of the swamp, which become crystal clear, revealing beneath the corpses, with eyes of flame, reaching from the foul ooze to carry travellers down to join them. Travellers who have braved the Fen of Fear say that they are withered, horrible mummies, wearing tattered ancient vestments and rusting armors, and many speak their own names in their ghastly voices.
Rational minds question if this tale is true. Likely, it is merely a tale, born in fear of an eerie and uncanny place by some half-soaked, jittery Licurian Swamp-Rover.
But, there are strange things in our Land, and who knows? Perhaps there is more truth than tale in the Fen of Fear. But what God would create such a horrible fable, I know not.

[CaptainPenguin]

The Great Mountains are a massive bulwark against the sky, forming the southern portion of the border between Arcturus and Zinaldia. It is said among Arcturans that if one climbs to the top of their highest peak, one can touch the gates of the Aerie of Arcturus himself.

Mount Entellius- This peak is considered to be the northern end of the Great Mountains. It is a bluntish, square mountain with little vegetation except for shrubs and grasses adapted to the dry, hot conditions of the region. Somewhere on the slopes of this mountain is the source of the swift Zingor River, which forms the rest of the Zinaldian-Arcturan border.

Mount Zaltennia- It is said that, long ago, the Zinaldian hero Dommingo the Mace slew a mighty dragon, and that its corpse plummeted to the ground and formed this peak. It is a jagged, ill-omened mountain, that does, indeed, look like a sort of dragon if viewed from the right angle. Its lower slopes are heavily forested, and local legend says that ogres, born from the dragon's spilled blood, live in the forest, and capture travellers who pass through their woods. Whether or not there is truth to this story, it is true that many travellers who wish to climb Mount Zaltennia skirt the woods and climb the more difficult southern face of the mountain.

Bodo's Mountain- Nobody remembers just who Bodo was, or why this mountain is his, but many do know that it is the site of the haunted Salazar Castle, built in the early days of Zinaldian independence by the bandit-baron Escelor Salazar, also called the Green Slayer. It is said that, when Salazar was finally killed by the forces of the Good Duke, Dommingo the Mace, the Green Slayer's spirit refused to pass into the Underworld, and haunts the castle to this day. Bodo's Mountain is a low, heavily-forested mount, and it is a popular place to visit for those looking for a bit of nature, though they tend to stay away from Salazar Castle and its grounds.

The Paladin's Mount- This towering peak, somewhere in the center of the range, is so called because it is said to be the last resting place of Laddoban, the Omnius of the Paladin Brotherhood who led the famous War of Bulls against the barbarian chieftan Hakkor of Zucchara. This mountain is the site of the final battle of that war, as well as the tomb of Laddoban.

Mistwreath Mountain- Legends say that atop this fog-shrouded mountain there is a sorceror who will grant any wish. However, few ever try to find him, because legends also say that strange monsters dwell in the eternal mist of the mount.

[CaptainPenguin]

Somewhere in eastern Seduria are the fabled Mist-Fields of the sorceror, E'grole. Fifteen square miles do they span, the unnaturally thick, eerie fog instilling a sense of dread in even the most hardy of adventurers. Though E'grole has long passed on, his magics remain to this day, therefore retaining this fog throughout the centuries. Even the brightest day cannot pierce through its murkiness, and the living are unable to see more than some twenty meters in front of them at the best of times. Torches will be snuffed out in seconds after their lighting due to the moisture in the air, and breathing is more a task than a leisure.
The terrain within these fogs are smooth, straight, the damp, brown grass always an inch high. Though some may find this a good thing (easy travelling) It's, in actuality, very dangerous - there are no landmarks to trak back too unless you mark one of the sparse trees in the area, and therefore it is very simple to get lost.
It is said that any being slain within the marge of the Mist-Fields rises as one of the walking dead within a day.
The fog itself can be a danger to those who travel within it - open wounds will quickly become infected with a wasting disease, Causing bruising around the site of the wound, and intense pain with pressure applied to it. It is not lethal, but can be quite detrimental.
It is rumoured that somewhere within these fogs lie the Mansion of E'grole, and within it lie his many secrets, spells and discoveries. Of course, Once someone has managed to get in there, they will be safe. After all, E'grole died long ago, did he not?

[CaptainPenguin]

In the eastern reaches of Daaldag, somewhere near the border of Seduria, there is an ancient place that is shunned by all, where strange things creep through the shadows of a tumbled ruin. This place is the ancient City of Phanorion. Sitting on a dry plateau that is swept constantly by wind and which is overgrown by thick dry grasses, the antiquated ruins hulk like the white stone bones of some forgotten titan.
Of old, the towers of Phanorion, now leaning and crumbled, were the pride of a glorious kingdom which reigned over this area. It is whispered among the Sedurians that the king of Phanorion, though he ruled a mighty and beautiful kingdom, yearned for a woman to help in his rule. No maid suited him, and he rejected all brought before him. But, by chance one day, as he hunted in the forests of his kingdom, he spied a beautiful maiden picking wildflowers. Consumed with sudden passion, he dropped his weapons and called out to her, but she would not reply. When he approached, she looked up, and, seeing him, began to run through the forest. He gave chase, and, after a long pursuit, caught her, and dragged her back to Phanorion as his unwilling wife. But little did he know that the maiden was actually Miede, daughter of the god Rieger.
The god's anger was terrible, and he leveled against the king, and against Phanorion itself, a curse, that shattered the kingdom and drove the king mad.
The Sedurians say that some horror dwells in the city, and it is so that none have ever returned that have entered the ruins. But the Sedurians also say that perhaps the king's treasure still lies in those shadow-haunted ruins, and thus, it draws many a foolish adventurer.

[CaptainPenguin]

Consuming the northern portion of Arcturus and the southern of Marcosia, the Black Forest is the most primeval wood in all the Armorican Kingdoms, a vast, untamed wilderness, home to barbarians, bandits, and darker things best not spoken of.
The Black Forest is a vast region, thick and untamed. In the south, the Forest is composed mostly of oak, twinleaf, and other southron trees, while on its northern marches one will see only dark pine and evergreen, with the occasional aspen. Two small mountain ranges run through the center of the Black Forest, the aptly named Black Forest Hills and the Scar of Agelastus. Their lower slopes are clad in the prehistoric forest, but their upper peaks rear sharp and black into the aether.
Several tribes of barbarians dwell in the Black Forest, as it is so large that it can be comfortably occupied by them all. The Braethonii, the Scellutii, the Betorii, the Getorii, and the Ascolii are the primary tribes, while the minor tribes are so small that they are not worthy of note.
It is said among the peasant-folk that dwell on the marches of the Forest that somewhere in the deep fastnesses of that wood, there is a swampy lake, and upon the shores of that pool is a huge, dark, ruined villa, overgrown with ivy and crawling-arm. The peasants say that this place is the home of the infamous Tenebrio, a dhampire of Marcosian legend. Indeed, those brave adventurers who have beheld the villa and the lake say that there is a certain feeling of unreality about the place, and that out-of-place shadows, and similarly ghostly lights, haunt the place. One tale brought by a visitor claims that he entered the walls of the huge villa and found himself within the same villa, but curiously restored to glory. Within, he said, he found a feast-hall set as for a great symposium, but all of the goblets were filled with blood and that the main platter was the half-flayed head of some hideous creature. Certainly embellished though the tale is, it is fantastic enough that it is quite popular among the peasant-folk.
Legends also speak of the Black Foresters, a shadowy people, neither barbarian nor civilized, who dwell in the depths of the forest, but information is scant on that subject.
One thing that is sure of the Black Forest, however, is that it is a dangerous place to travel through. Poor fortune seems to strike any who chance the journey. The horse drops a shoe, the horse trips over a root or hollow, a blasted hulk of a tree smashes a wagon, a sword-belt snaps and the blade falls beneath the hoof of the oxen, snake-bites, diseases...There is no end. In addition, bandits dwell in the forest preying on the unwary.
Truly, the Black Forest is an inauspicious place.

[CaptainPenguin]

The very bottom of the continent upon which the Armorican Kingdoms lie edges what we call the Southern Sea, a narrow, triangular slash of ocean that separates the sorcerous land of Cemitum and the South from the Armoricans. The shore of the Southern Sea, also called the Sea of Centrus, is also the southern border of such lands as Nermalia, Botheria, and the Empire's southernmost province, Sammeria.
Within the sea, there are many islands, including the dreaded Isle of the Cyclopes.

[CaptainPenguin]

The Olko Island chain stretches from the terminating peninsula of Orlonia into the shining Western Sea. From the Olko Isles, one can set out for the fabled Cassiterides, the Tin Isles, where, it is said, the wealth grows upon vines.
The Cassiterides are a roughly triangular group of five isles: Thensia, Alltus, Hennasis, Eki, and Taperus.
The Cassiterides are tropical in climate, heavily mountainous, with thickly forested shores. Thensia and Alltus are volcanically active, and Eki, northernmost of the isles, has an extinct crater atop its central peak.
The other name of the Cassiterides, the Tin Isles, comes from, what else, tin. The mountain peaks of the Cassiterides hold more tin than any other known mine in all the Armorican Kingdoms. In addition, the hills are laced with manifold other valuable metals and minerals, including gold, platinum, and iron. It was in the Cassiterides that the East Empire Trade Brotherhood began to harvest their vast fortune.
The Cassiterides are a semi-independent nation ruled by the King Akkra, who is really nothing more than a puppet ruler for the Imperials. The nation is a popular vacation spot for the richest of Arcturan rich.

[CaptainPenguin]

At the tip of the western arm of the Khossus Mountains, there is a small Sedurian settlement called Urdemelde. Urdemelde is not extremely notable, being merely a small village and holdfast for Sedurians. It is empty most of the year, though during summer months it is sometimes occupied by Sedurian clans. However, in the mountains behind Urdemelde, there are the many-storied caverns of Vog-Oth.
Not even the Oracle of the Khossus Mountains remembers who, or what, deemed these caves Vog-Oth. The meaning of those words is unknown, but they are fearful words, to be sure.
The entrance to Vog-Oth is a great, maw-like void, with jagged, overhanging fangs of stone. There is much rubble and ruinous construction about the mouth of Vog-Oth. Some of it is the tumbled remains of Vogenburg, a fort built by the Sedurians that was sacked during the Alsson Trouble. Other portions are much older.
Within the entrance of Vog-Oth is the long, vaulted passage that explorers have deemed The Throat. It is vast, rough-walled, and its floor has many deep channels and pools which are filled with chill, stagnant water. Despite the light that floods in through the entrance, it seems uncommonly easy to become lost in the Throat of Vog-Oth.
Beyond the Throat, the passages split into thousands of twisting chambers and tunnels, called the Maze of Vog-Oth by explorers. Many explorers have attempted to map the Maze, but the tunnels seem to shift and change with every visit. Maps are often incorrect, or lead the owners back to the Throat, though they claim to point downward. Explorers have claimed to find many strange things in the Maze. One man claimed to have stepped through an arch and found himself staring into the face of Mithras himself. Another found a gallery piled high with bones. The priest Sovanes wrote that he found a statue of gold and iron, half-buried in a tunnel collapse. Underground seas, huge skeletons, no matter what you name, it has been seen in Vog-Oth.
Only one explorer, the famous Renatus Renatus, Ranger of Helvetia,  has managed to bypass the Maze. In his journals of the journey, he claimed that the passages led further and further downward, becoming progressively warmer, until they converged and opened onto a wide ledge that looked down on a vast chamber.
In Renatus' accounts, the chamber vanished into gloom in all directions. Below, he and his fellow spelunkers could see a void-like chasm. Within the light of their torches, there was a stone bridge spanning the gap. He also says that on the other side of the chasm, they could just pick out cyclopean stoneworks, massive pillars, and a yawning open gate.
Many explorers have reported strange occurences and feelings within the caverns. Renatus Renatus claimed to have heard muffled shouts and eerie chuckles, and one of his fellow explorers disappeared and could not be found. Oti the Mule, a Sedurian explorer, claimed to have seen black figures skittering out of his torchlight, and hearing a droning song from far down the cave.
Vog-Oth has a great deal of superstition and black tales about it. The Sedurians call it the Black Mouth, or the Dragon's Mouth, and say that it is a passage into the Underworld. The Oracle of the Khossus Mountains seems singularly blind to the truths about Vog-Oth, and queries given him about it are usually met with sly dismissal or outright refusal. It is known that Scatha the Worm regards Vog-Oth with a great deal of fear, and refuses to go in the vicinity, which made Urdemelde village very popular during Scatha's years of great activity.

[CaptainPenguin]

A jagged talon of glittering white soaring into the clouds in the midst of the plains of Seduria, Mount Trothar is the highest peak in all the Armorican Kingdoms, higher even than fabled Mount Teubora in the Khossus range. Snowy-crowned year round, with lower slopes of barren, jagged, volcanic rock, split with great yawning chasms and razor delves, barrier cliffs and fields of talus, Mount Trothar has never been scaled, never been defeated, and indeed, no attempters have ever made it past the lower snowfields of the peak. The paths are treacherous and few, muddy and avalanche-prone in the spring, burning hot and water-less in the summer, and frozen and snowy in the autumn, and the bitterest of cold in the winter.
In the foothills around the mountain, there are forests of pine, rocky hills and dales where tough, black-haired tribesmen dwell. Many of these tribes, called the Trothi, worship the Mount as a god. The Trothi are fierce enemies of all outsiders, and even the women and children of tribes will throw themselves at interlopers on the sacred domain of Trothar.
There are many reports of supernatural encounters on Mount Trothar, including Wytches, sorcerors, the mysterious Huldra, demons, and ghosts. Previous expeditions to the lower slopes of Mount Trothar have found strange, unidentified ruins as well, and at least one sealed silver dome that is like those found in other inacessible regions of the land.

(OOC: The dome is krill city, sealed against all intruders. The mysterious ruins might be anything you want them to be.  The supernatural encounters could be real, or made up, or products of mountain sickness, or whatever. I'm not about to reveal the moutain's secrets, though, and it has a few. Don't all really big, unclimbed mountains?)

[CaptainPenguin]

Alba Longa was one of the most ancient Armorii cities, built by Sangrius Prato, the Shadow King, during the period in which the Artuurii were warring kingdoms. The Shadow King was a powerful warrior king, and the armies of Alba Longa were feared throughout the region, save by the fearless soldiers of Caesar. Sangrius Prato swallowed kingdom after kingdom, enacting horrific punishments against rebellious populaces, though some welcomed the order he brought. Alba Longa was rich and mighty, its black-basalt walls lined with the crucified bodies and staked heads of its enemies, its red tile roofs festooned with the pennants of Sangrius Prato.
Then, all of the Alba Longans disappeared.
The city is considered cursed. Alba Longa lies empty, its houses and streets decaying, the once-mighty palace of Sangrius Prato crowded with weeds. It lies within the dark and rumor-haunted province of Etruria, and no man dares enter its vine-spangled walls now, for fear of their immortal souls. There is one sign of whatever it is that happened to Alba Longa- there is a single skull that lies in the center of the wide-flung gates, gleaming pale as bone.