Your First Comprehensive Guide to the Known World

The Known World encompasses the regions of the world known to the inhabitants of the Centrelands, stretching from Peshwamanar in the far southwest to Shaoming in the far east. This guide aims to introduce you to the major nations of the Known World and key elements of their society, culture and history.

Published by the University of Pembleton Press, based in Pembleton, a city in the Commonwealth of Pem.

## The Centrelands

The Centrelands is a large, topographically and ecologically diverse geographical region and one of the most populous and well developed areas of the Known World. It is home to the Commonwealth of Pem, a sprawling semi-democratic country, and the independent nation states of Rubellium, Archpolonia and Eparchia.

Owing to two millennia of cross cultural settlement and intermingling between several major civilisations, the Centrelands is a melting pot of cultures and features complex political, cultural and military relations between its peoples.

### The Commonwealth of Pem

Commonly referred to as Pem, the Commonwealth is one of the largest countries in the world, featuring numerous cities and settlements and covering more than half of the Centrelands. Pem is bordered to the west by the Inland Sea to the north by the city-state nations of Rubellium, Eparchia and Archpolonia, to the east by the Eastern Sea and Hansea, and to the South by Pem's geopolitical rival, the kingdom of Aleuria.

Pem is well known for its railways, pubs and steam-power technology. It is the birthplace of the Guild system, whereby powerful institutions called Guilds hold legal rights to trade and technology in their respective industries (for example, all pubs in Pem must be licensed by, and pay dues to, the Guild of Publicans).

Pem is governed at a regional level by locally elected mayors and town councils, with regional administrations split into historic counties, called freeholds. Pem's head of state is the Lord Protector, and its legislative body is the Undercourt; a parliament consisting of a largely elected Lower House and an unelected Upper House. Pem also controls the semi-autonomous territory of Prydow, a forested region in the west of Pem dotted with mostly small settlements and steeped in ancient history and tradition.

Pem's administrative capital is Ridgely, a city nestled half-underground in a large natural ridge and specifically designed as an administrative and defensive hub for the Commonwealth. Its biggest city is Pembleton, one of the largest cities in the world by landmass and population and a center of industry, education and culture. Other notable cities include the western port city of Port Auburn, home to Pem's Inland Sea naval fleet and shipyards; the financial hub of Coltar nestled in the mountains to the east; the northern city of Woleseat, famed for spearheading Pem's canal network and technology; and the affluent southern city of Waysouth, a holiday retreat for the affluent and a key link to the nation of Alueria to the south.

#### A brief history of Pem

The lands in Pem have been settled for over two thousand years. Through much of the ancient era, the northern and westerly regions of Pem were part of the Prydowan Kingdom. Meanwhile, the southern militaristic Kingdom of Okar expanded northwards and warred against Prydow, leading to the receding of the Prydowan Kingdom. When the kingdom of Okar's capital, the eponymous city of Okar, was destroyed by earthquakes in 1135BGE, its former colonies and frontier towns grew to become independent Mayorates, with similar cultural values and both conflict and trade between them.

In 970BGE of the Lesser Kingdom of Pem was formed from these Mayorates, with an elected "high king" chosen from the Mayors. This system persisted until 757BGE, when the theocratic-military city state of Paramacca destroyed the Pemblish city of Ruba (on the site of the modern city-state of Rubellium) using a divine super-weapon, the Eye. This act triggered a 30 year period of political and military tension known as the Northern War, during which Paramacca controlled the northern Centrelands and the Lesser Kingdom of Pem.

In 720BGE, the destruction of Paramacca and loss of of the Eye ended their control over Pemblish territory and ended the Northern War. After a decade long conflict between Pemblish cities in the War of the Banners, a marriage between the Mayoral families of Pemblish cities Pembleton and Coltar lead to the founding of the Greater Kingdom of Pem and ascension of Tentavius I.

In 418BGE, king Fabius VII of Pem declared war on the Tall Kingdom to the north-east with the intention of expanding Pem's territory and prestige. The 18 year conflict, the First Tall Kingdom War, was a disastrous affair for Pem and lead to the Pemblish Civil War in 401BGE, in which Fabius VII was deposed and executed. Following the Civil War, the Commonwealth of Pem and its legislative body, the Undercourt, was formed by political and military leaders in 400BGE. The systems and legislature that we were formed at this time are similar to the political institution we know today, although it has been refined over the years to meet the needs of the nation.

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