WORLD OVERVIEW:
Glaast is roughly 40% water and 60% land. It is very rich in life and rife with magic. The land is made up of four main landmasses, and three notable collections of islands. Largest to smallest:
The Northern Continent holds a massive polar ice-cap, an expansive stretch of tundra that gives way to two massive mountain ranges, that in turn give way to steppe, semi-arid high desert, and finally a massive sand desert before terminating at the ocean However, The westernmost reaches of the southern shore are heavily forested. The Northern continent is by and large the frontier of the world, with mind- boggling swaths of land either sparsely, or utterly uninhabited by ‘civilized’ races. However, A few notables are based here, the High kingdoms (Western mountains and forests and central steppes), The House of Kham (The tundra), and the Someid Dispatriots (Desert dwellers). There are no native sub-races of elves here, and most of the sentient population is human (or Kham), but there are no restrictions on who might come from here. After all, it IS the frontier. The Northern continent is prime for prospecting, homesteading, mercenaries, explorers, hermits, and roving traders.
Teresh is nearly as massive as the Northern continent, and the climate runs to sub-arctic at the southernmost reaches. In the north-west there is a patch of blighted land where magic, life, and reality itself is corrupted and chaos infused. East of that, the blight gives way to stone plains and salt flats, which eventually rise up to mountains again. These mountains are not as large as those on the northern continent, but are unrivalled in elevation, some rising to heights where they breach the actual, discernible atmosphere of the world. Along the entire eastern side of the continent, they run unbroken to the southern ice-cap. South of the blighted lands and the stone plains lies a massive swamp some six hundred miles across east to west, and four hundred north to south.. and those distances are average, not maximum. West of the mountains, the land falls sharply into a vast, lush plain that spans from temperate, to tropical, and back before the land rises in many hills, and marches in a hook of a narrowing peninsula south-west out to sea. Teresh is by FAR the single largest player in the economy of the world. It produces over half the goods traded worldwide, and since being united as a single, free land under the emergence of the Blackstar faction, controls up to 75% of the material wealth and currency. So important is this region to the rest of the world, that once the last of the barons was crushed in the south, every single non- isolated government signed a treaty with the Blackstar, or risk being cut off from the greater economy. Diverse in culture and races, Teresh is where most non-elven scholars hail from. In the larger cities, one is likely to find representatives of nearly every race in the cosmos.
Vinewood dominates the western hemisphere south of the northern continent, but doesn’t run nearly as far north to south as Teresh, though it is comparably as wide east to west. Known as the homeland of the elves (Vinnish elves, at least) Vinewood is much what one would expect. Heavily forested from shore to shore to shore to shore. In the Northernmost point, it stands only two days by sail from the forested shores of the south-western reaches of the northern continent. There are no known permanent Gates that link Vinewood to the rest of the world, and as such, much of the interior is a mystery. Airship technology came from here originally, but has since evolved far beyond the graceful, deadly, elven wind-cutters of a hundred years ago. The shores are well documented, but not many non elves have travelled the bulk of the landmass. There is a range of mountains here, but they are more akin to earth’s moderate ranges, than to the Ragshaws of Teresh, or the Gromcrags of the North. There is also a massive inland ‘sea’, though being of fresh water, it is actually a lake. Most Glaasian elves were born, or have ancestral roots here.
Infernus is the smallest of the actual continents. A quarter of the mass of Vinewood, Infernus is a series of volcanic basins surrounded by rugged coastal cliffs and ridges, many of black volcanic glass. The appearance from the sea is deceiving, because while it appears hostile and lifeless, the interior holds deep forests, lush rolling grasslands, and varied riparian ecosystems. East of Teresh, and south of Vinewood, it is rather cold in the southern reaches, but mostly temperate, and almost sub-tropical in the far north. Most of the natives here are Demonkin. While not demonic properly, they are not known for tolerance or charity. Outsiders are not openly rejected by violence or law, but find it difficult to be accepted socially. There are several sub-types of elves that come from here, as well as the seat for the only known Dwarven government. Even though the land itself can easily be considered a paradise to some, it is quite subject to random earthquakes, slides, and terrible squalls, including Devil- Dances (Hurricanes that reach to the innermost points). Many goods from here are highly prized, and sport hunters drool at the very name of the continent. Any weapon made here is highly prized for export, and the limited quantities of volcanic glass-goods exported fetch insane prices in the global market.
The Fist Islands are not one, but a series of archipelagos that form a loose spiral in the otherwise open waters a thousand miles off the east coast of Vinewood. The farthest flung islands are either uninhabited, or contain mere outposts of the Marque Nations. However, as one traverses towards the larger islands towards the center, large port cities and many ships are encountered. Some nations encompass several larger islands, some only a portion of a smaller island, but all are overseen by the Marcon, who is effectively the high king of the region. Even with the growing proliferation of airships around the world, the watercraft fashioned by the nations are still highly sought after and are unparalleled by any shipwright’s products. In fact, many airships are retroactively outfitted ships bearing the ‘MN’ stamp indicating they were built here. Peerless fishermen, navigators, cartographers, and sailors, the peoples of the area ply their skills worldwide. While the majority are Goblinkin, there are nations of Humans, Elves, Demonkin, and even Merfolk that fall under the sway of the Marcon. Well to-do visitors seeking trade, lodging, and sightseeing are welcomed openly, but those outsiders without currency to spend can find the reception here less than welcoming.
The Scatter is a vast stretch of waters south of Vinewood and West of Teresh. These islands are as the name implies, widely scattered. While many are of notable size, some are no more than large rocks rising above the surface of the sea. If the northern continent is the frontier, the Scatter is the Beyond. Tales of strangeness, and beings of both blessing and curse abound from here, but the area is very much a mystery to the wider world beyond the few well-traveled and intricately charted trade routes. It stands to reason there are races, creatures, materials, and perhaps even entire cultures here that are unknown, or little known to the rest of the world. Countless expeditions both by air and sea have gone off to chart the region in total, only to never return.
Whitelake is small, but is a key island in the history, culture, and economy of Glaast. Considered the center of the world. It is an independent city-state set on an island that is only forty-nine miles at the widest point from the north-west peninsula to the south-east corner. The island is thick with dense jungle, where many unique creatures thrive. Along the western, southern, and eastern shore, a massive city has sprung up, cutting inland from four to seven miles and been able to also thrive. This is due to having two of Glaast’s prime Gates within its borders. These Gates provide a shortened route connecting two of the largest cities on the planet to one another. By sea and horse, it could take six months to traverse this route under ideal conditions. Even in the most powerful and modern airships, the record is twenty-two days. Use of the Gates, on foot, the average travel time is five days. Whitelake is the center if the known world not only in geography, but culture as well. Every notable nation has holdings here, and it is an excellent neutral ground for summits and negotiations. It has several natural harbors that make the island a popular and important stopover for both air and sea ships. If it exists on Glaast, it can be found in Whitelake.