Gazetteer (revised and expanded)

Some places in very short hand:

Picardia: The Steward of the Picar River valley was an early convert to Love and Reason, or so legend has it. The people rejected his gifts, and in return, he rent their language into a thousand dialects, leaving them squabbling and at the mercy of Ashreggi, Quintillicans, and the Holy Church. Most Picardians live in slavery, either bound to the soil of valley plantations, or scattered throughout the Quintillican city-states. The Holy Church fights as much against the Picar as to rescue them. Savacions and Lemmites aid in these crusades. The area is known for its dyes, cloth, and spicy food. Ndapé is from the Picar, along with a small number of other Order magi. Picardians are black.

Quintillica: Powerful city state controls north-south trade off maps to north. Dominates alliance of city states (mostly off map to the north). Quintillicans are polytheistic and theocratic. They are also far more cultured than the Holy Church lands. Perdyx's hash supply was imported from here. People here are roughly semitic in appearance. The covenant of Lords of Misrule (founded by a Bethelion class) is located in one of the confederated city states.

Sybelia and Chyloryssa: Coastal city states independent from Chaeronia and Picardia. These cities are hostile towards the Quintillicans, who push against their independent status, and are hated by the Chaeronians, who are dependent on them for trade, and view them as being part of the Quintillican Confederacy. Tydfal (at Isrillion) is from here. People here are roughly semitic.

Chaeronia: Northernmost and least organized of the 3 Kingdoms, the borders of this country are only vaguely determined. The northern border is a porous war zone of crusaders. The Twilish and Eastern edges blend into less populous zones. The Northern border is clearly defined by the Lun, a huge river running down from the vast plains past Andaria and the fabled Shru Kephas. This area is similar in climate to Greece and Italy. Many Lemmite covenants are located here (including Argutator Purpureus and Quintus Opacus). Gi, Jerry, and Sonata are all from here.

Sophia: Located at the mouth of the Lun, this is the only coastal city state that is strongly allied with the Holy Church. Founded by the Tympanians during the Golden Age, it became independent during the Andar conquests and the ensuing dark ages. The covenant of Domus Octobris is located here as an annex of the University of Sophia (it was founded by a recent Bethelion class 422(?)).

Tyr: Most recognizably feudal of the Three Kingdoms, Tyr has knights and barons and dukes. It has three major cities (none of which are huge). Evasendia is the seat of the University of Evasendia (home of Bethelion). Tyr was heavily settled by the Andar (tribes of horse barbarians who swept down the Lun in the late second century) and has only recently restored any degree of centralized power. There are numerous covenants in Tyr, and the Order has a huge degree of influence with the King. Perdyx, Nils and the Manu Tenereans all trained here. Tully lived here at the covenant of Acus Doris until around 400 (25 years ago). The climate of Tyr is roughly French.

Rowen: Rough coastal moorland known for its horses and its eccentric version of the Holy Church (which has a strong Quintillican influence). The covenant of Nonae Fidelitatis (center point of the Nonae Fidelitatis incident) is located here, as is Nox Facis Caelestis.

Rhythnor: Low but sharp mountainous region. Once home to the Rhythnorian Wizards and Griffons. The remaining Chalycideans live mostly along the coast here. The covenant of Annalum is located here.

Ballacastra: Not labeled on the map, Ballacastra is the high marshy moorland between Ventria and Tyr inland of Rhythnor. It is dominated by unpleasant faerie creatures with a strong association with cattle. Faerie cursed leather bags made from Ballacastran cows caused great havoc at Isrillion during the trial of Tenellus.

Ventria: Most traditionalist of the three kingdoms, Ventria was not conquered by the Andar during the dark ages, and retains much of the Golden Age culture. Ruled by a bottom-up hierarchy of councils, with an elected prince, a village militia-based military, communal land ownership, and a strong tradition of collectivist agricultural practices and flood control, Ventria is very different from the feudal Tyr or clannish and unstructured Chaeronia. Ventria is primarily focused around agriculture along the great An river (comparable in size to the lower Mississippi). Since the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period, Ventria has begun to turn outward, constructing a new port at Prima Porta, and extending its control into the disorganized villages of the An Valley inland of the confluence with the West River. Ventria is the least friendly of the three kingdoms towards order mages, a hostility which was increased in 400, when a magical attempt to influence the succession led to the assassination of the most popular candidate, and immediately thereafter to the execution of several mages and the dissolution of the covenant "Council of 198".

Vestra: Ancient seat of the Theocratic Priest King of Tympania, the city of Vestra is situated on a small plateau overlooking a beautifully gardened valley. A river running down from the Rhythnorian mountains flows out onto the plateau and cascades down through a massive staircase at the center of the upper city. The upper city is largely abandoned, except for the acolytes of the Vestran Oracle.

Lyridice: Another of the independent coastal city states, Lyridice is the last of the Chalycidicean cities, and the only one not drowned at the end of the rule of Iam. The secretive and ancient culture of the Chalycidiceans is little known and generally distrusted by Holy Church people.

Prima Porta: The best port in Ventria, Prima Porta has been carved from the cliffs of the Ostian Hills over the past 50 years. It is still not an impressive port, with poor protection against storms and a difficult entrance for rough weather, but it has allowed Ventria to enter into the world of sea trade. It is also the major port for the developing southern trade with Gaetan.

Orsinia: A region of impenetrable marshland forming a strange trapped delta for the river An. The local tribes are extremely hostile to outsiders and have an extensive magic of obfuscation and misdirection. Ventria is blocked from its most effective sea trade route (down the An to the sea) by this region. The Orsinians had their own priest king at Orsa (at the mouth of the An), but the seat of Orsa was an abandoned ruin long before the Fall of the Theocracy. Some claim that the Priest King experimented with granting sentience to his populace and was destroyed by the God Emperor, but no one knows for certain. The Wide Valley probably also belonged to the Orsinian PK. Eventually, a great hero will arise among the Orsinians and he and his descendants will conquer nearly the entire known world, but that will not happen for hundreds of years.