recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Thelbirs

Thelbirs are the human inhabitants of Thelbiron, a vast and diverse family of tribes spread out across the wild lands of the northern continent. They are almost universally regarded as barbarians or savages by the “civilized” peoples living to the south. Considerable numbers of Thelbirs are brought to Orithea and Achuirea as slaves; Tirnavon and the Sarcian Empire are the most dominant powers in this trade.
Shiankar

Shiankar is a blanket term for the whole western half of the Kesh Karkhan (as opposed to Shandara, the eastern portion). Much of Shiankar is exceedingly harsh and desolate terrain: It includes parched desert basins like the Kar Kadash and Kar Bharaz, vast stretches of forbidding mountains like the Tuzul Massif, volcanic regions like Jyord's Anvils and the Mountains of Thundering Flame, and perilous wastelands such as the Desolation of Xhan. It is inhabited by many strange and dangerous creatures, as well as the hardiest and most resilient tribes of the Daare Karsha.

There is a network of overland trade routes through Shiankar, winding their way around the most dangerous areas, with strings of fortified caravan towns spaced out along them; but even so, travel across these lands is a risky affair, undertaken only by the brave and well-prepared. It is not for nothing that these routes are collectively known as the Blood Roads.

Etymology: The name of Shiankar means "waterless wasteland" or "waterless deserts," from the old Tuvai roots "shian" or "shayan" (meaning parched, very dry) and "kar" (in this context meaning desert or barren place).
The Lokenmoor

The Lokenmoor is a region of rugged hilly uplands (interspersed with some relatively low, rolling mountain ranges) in east-central Rhydain, lying south of the middle Helvander valley, northeast of Rhyndara, and west of the Tythian Massif. Some would consider it part of the larger Taefemach region; others would say it is the northernmost part of Alondria; others still would consider it a distinct area of its own which forms part of the mountainous barrier separating the two regions. The native people of the Lokenmoor are the Lokes (obviously the root of the region's name), and for their part, they see themselves as having little in common with either the Alondrians or the people of the Helvander. To them, all lowlanders are soft and effete, whether they live in the river valley to the north or the coastal plains away to the south.

The geographical region of the Lokenmoor is nearly coterminous with the Lokenthaal, the collection of self-governing Lokish communities outside the domain of any greater power. The two terms may be used more or less interchangeably for the land of the Lokes.
Scarlet Sea

The Scarlet Sea is the western arm of the Thurnic Ocean, lying between Thelbiron to the north and Orithea to the south. Its major embayments include XXXXXX on the Thelbir coast, XXXXX and XXXXXX on the northeastern coast of Orithea, and, largest of all, the Sea of Jalmar (or Gulf of Jalmar) at its westernmost extent.
Sea of Dreams

The Sea of Dreams lies between the shores of Enyrion and Khadoa to the east, and the main arc of the Western Isles to the west. The northern tip of Azhir reaches its southern edge; via the XXXXXX Channel between Azhir and the Orithean mainland, the Sea of Dreams connects to the Sea of Wyrms. In the north, the Sea of Dreams adjoins the Bezvarian Sea.
Nemmaru

Nemmaru is a sizable kingdom with a majority human population, located in Khadoa. Much to the consternation of its neighbors, it has fallen under the rule of the dragon XXXXXXX One-Eye. The wyrm has bewitched and imprisoned (though some say devoured) the royal family along with a number of the kingdom's magnates and prominent nobles; he has set up a cruel parody of law and taxation, enacting tyrannical decrees on a whim and extorting tribute from this or that city as the mood strikes him. After the city of XXXXXX protested that his demands were unreasonable, it was razed by dragon-fire, and none others have repeated their mistake. A number of would-be dragonslayers have been captured alive in the attempt and then "sentenced" by XXXXXX for their crime of attempted regicide, after which they are typically burnt or devoured before a crowd of onlookers. XXXXXXX has also encouraged the growth of draconic cults, which worship him as a living god; a number of these have sprung up throughout the realm and in neighboring lands as well. He has even engaged in a bizarre sort of diplomacy with other Khadoan kingdoms, sending emissaries to deliver grandiose or menacing pronouncements to their courts. Thus far, he has shown a strange respect for their borders and not ventured outside the boundaries of "his" kingdom, but everyone knows that there would be little stopping him if he chose to.

Great speculation abounds with regard to where XXXXX came from, what stirred him up, and what events led to him choosing Nemmaru as the unhappy subject of his rule. A number of theories claim that he came from far to the south, from the far side of the Kesh Karkhan, and that he was dislodged from his old lair somehow by the disturbances of the Great Orcish Wars and their aftermath.
Tholomyra

Tholomyra is an extremely rugged, mountainous region in west-central Rhydain. It is dominated by the high, permanently snow-cloaked ranges of the Alimdars. Most of Tholomyra lies within the great Dwarven empire of Kuzul-Kadrin, and it is home to major Dwarven cities such as XXXX, XXXXXX, and XXXXXX.
Thiatia

Thiatia is a mountainous region extending as a large peninsula from the southern coast of Orithea into the Sarpic Seas. Together with the corresponding peninsulas of Puavea to the south, it separates the Sea of Pearls from the Saulean Sea (the channel connecting them, between Thiatia and Puavea, is called the Gates of Ghirn and was the location of Alborak and Qoss before their destruction in the Great Cataclysm). The northern edge of Thiatia is generally considered to be the valley of the River Adomos, which forms a long, sinuous strip of low-lying country separating Thiatia's mountains from the highlands of Istrium.

Most of Thiatia is notionally under the rule of the Phyridian Empire, although in practice Amran's grip on the region is tenuous outside of the major cities. The biggest Phyridian city in Thiatia is Malakiros, located on the northwestern coast, which serves as the center of imperial administration for the whole peninsula.
Mabulzikar

Mabulkizar is a sizable dwarven kingdom located on the great island of Taijuria. It dominates the northern limb of the island (Charnan) along with a large part of the central section, and also controls some strongholds in Peiramia and the northernmost corner of Lesharea. All of these regions are mountainous, or at least made up of rocky highlands. The narrow low-lying coastal areas, even around the shores of Charnan, are outside the borders of Mabulzikar.

The Mabulzikaru are is more reclusive and xenophobic than the major dwarven states of Rhydain, having only limited interest in trade with humans and no interest at all in relations beyond the commercial. In the past, the Sarcian Empire (striking from their provinces in Lesharea) fought two unsuccessful wars against the dwarves of Mabulzikar, attempting to subjugate them and gain access to their mineral riches. The Sarcians lost badly both times and doubtless only reinforced the Mabulzikaru view of humans as greedy, untrustworthy thieves and graspers.

Nevertheless, some humans do live up in the mountains of Mabulzikar. They are few in number and, to outsiders, seem almost as insular and unfriendly as the Mabulzikaru themselves. Whatever alliance they have made with the dwarves to allow them to dwell there is peculiar to their kind and seems to have been in place for centuries. They have no large towns, just scattered villages in the high dells cradled by the snowy peaks. By appearance and dialect, they come from Ullyrian stock.

The capital of Mabulzikar and seat of its royal clan is XXXX XXXXXXXX, in the high peaks of southern Charnan, near the island's center point.
Ojaumites

The Ojaumites are the human inhabitants of the land of Ojaum, which lies in the Druune Basin between Kelimaria and Dranuria. As one might expect from their geographic location, the Ojaumites are largely of mixed Kelim and Dranur stock, although with some Vardic and, perhaps, Suagir ancestry as well.

There was a series of unified Ojaumite kingdoms in the distant past, but in more recent centuries, the Ojaumites have been either divided into an assortment of small (often feuding) states under various local potentates, or else subject to the domination of greater powers such as the Kelimarian sultanate, the Dranurian kingdoms to the east, or the dragon Shekondar. They have a reputation as a pugnacious, warlike, and vengeful people who pursue grudges to the bitter end and never forget a slight. Outsiders may respect their fighting prowess (they are often sought after as mercenaries), but may also view them as hot-tempered troublemakers with an inclination towards banditry.
The Anvil

The Anvil is an imposing fortress built into the western walls of Torrune's Low City. It is a major component of the city's defenses, but even more vitally, the trade road from Sillport enters the city via the Anvil's primary gate: The aptly named Portage Gate, through which all river trade being moved around the Helvander cataracts must pass. Thus its primary purpose is as commercial chokepoint where all goods going in or out are inspected, assessed, and taxed by the agents of the Archon's Portreeve. The courtyards enclosed between the Anvil's high walls are perpetually crowded with oxwains, mule-carts, wagon-trains, masses of pack animals, and all their assorted drovers and teamsters and porters, milling about loudly as the merchants argue with the levy-men over the value of their goods. As a result, traffic usually backs up far out onto the Portage Road to the west, and along the major boulevards converging on the Anvil from the east in the Low City's Millstone Quarter.

The Anvil is large, formidable, and well-designed, but is no dwarf-built engineering marvel like Beklagard. It is of much more recent construction, having been built as part of the enlargement of the city walls in the 1000s CV (at which time the city was still under the rule of the Dukes of Charagma). Its name is a reference to its massive, squat appearance, the square-topped shape of its towers and keep, and the very dark brownish-gray stone from which it is built. Its proper name is Magdan's Fort or Magdagard, but this is almost never used. However, it is sometimes called the Toll Fort or the Toll Gate Fort.

The Anvil also houses a garrison of the Archon's soldiery, and it serves as a barracks and armory for the city guard. Part of it is used as a prison as well, especially for the accused waiting their turn at trial in the Portreeve's court.
Portage Gate (Torrune)

The Portage Gate, also called the Toll Taker's Gate or Portage Road Gate, is the biggest, busiest, and most important gate in the walls of Torrune's Low City. Through it runs the Portage Road up to Sillport above the cataracts; as the name of the gate (and road) suggest, all goods being portaged around the falls to or from Sillport must pass through here. It is a crime against the Archon's law to take trade goods into or out of Torrune via any other gate, if they are bound for Sillport or coming from there.

The reason for this restriction is that just inside the Portage Gate, in the bustling courtyards of the Anvil, the Portreeve's men inspect and levy taxes upon all goods coming and going. Here are collected the appropriate fees for passage around the cataracts via Torrune and Sillport; this revenue is the source of Torrune's great wealth and the reason the archon's coffers overflow with gold. It is also the motivation for all the smuggling and tax evasion that occurs in and around Torrune. The basic goal of all such activity is to get goods through or past the city, up or down the Portage Road, without going through this gate and paying the Archon his share.
Tefra

Tefra, the Huntress, the Victorious, XXXXXXXXXX, is a daughter of Touz and one of the goddesses of the Thaedonu-Vaati pantheon. Her consort is Kothaur.

As a fierce and warlike goddess, Tefra has sisterhoods of holy warriors dedicated to her service, often (but not always) in subordination to her priestesses. These are the Tefranite Orders.
Ziva River

The Ziva is one of the two largest rivers that flow generally north to south across the Cesynian plain. Its tributaries come down from the vantagelands on the eastern edge of the high Suagir steppe. Roughly a hundred miles before it reaches the Saulean Sea, it converges with the Ontos to form the so-called Zivontos River.
Emir

Emir is a title of nobility used in southwestern Orithea (particularly Kelimaria) and the Western Isles, roughly equivalent to a prince or arch-duke. Archaically, its meaning is less precise and may be used as a title for any chieftain, commander, or local ruler. The domain of an emir is called an emirate.

The title of emir may be the origin of the similar Suagir title of tamir or tamyr; since eastern Kelimaria runs up to the edge of the Suagir steppe, vocabulary and other cultural influences may have passed from the Kelims to the Suagirs in ages past.
Qorro's Bridge

Qorro's Bridge, also called the New Bridge, is one of the two viaducts spanning the River Helvander to connect the High City and Low City districts of Torrune (the other is the Fortress Bridge or Dwarven Bridge a short distance downstream). The third bridge to cross the Helvander at Torrune, the Nyrrian Bridge running from the Low City to Fenside, is another half-mile upstream.

Unlike the ancient Fortress Bridge, Qorro's Bridge is of relatively recent construction, dating only back to the early years of the Helvandrian League. It was completed in 1050 CV and is named for the chief mason and architect who oversaw the project, Qorro of Temsevar. It was built to alleviate chronic and worsening congestion on the overcrowded Fortress Bridge, which was, up until then, the only way to cross between the High and Low Cities without getting on a boat. As Torrune grew ever bigger and more prosperous in the boom time of the early League years, the Fortress Bridge alone was no longer sufficient for the daily horde of wagon and foot traffic moving back and forth across the river.

Although an impressive feat of engineering, Qorro's Bridge is not as architecturally sophisticated as the dwarf-built Fortress Bridge. Its arches are lower, narrower, and more numerous, limiting the size of boats that can pass between them. The flow of water between the arch piers can sometimes be dangerously quick, especially when the river is high and thus running swiftly; when the Helvander is in flood, the gaps between the piers practically resemble whitewater rapids, and only the most daring boatmen will attempt to pass under the bridge.

The south end of Qorro's Bridge meets the High City's riverfront wall at the XXXXXX Gate, and its north end comes ashore in the Low City at the tip of XXXXX Point, just west of the [Floating Village].
Qali Matra

The Qali Matra are the deities of the four seasons: Aeylea, the nymph of spring; Voridis, the XXXXXX of summer; Thuraeya, the XXXXX of autumn; and Nimravis, the crone of winter. They are children of Epheos and thus are numbered among the Aiyu-Thani. Qali Matra means "contending siblings" or "argumentative siblings" in archaic Tuvai (cf. Qali Danu)

The Qali Matra are closely associated with the gods of the winds, who are children of Klython: Turomë, Iraolis, Nabhiru, and Uatha. Each of these wind-gods is said to cause the changing of the seasons by chasing away one of the Qali Matra and heralding the one who comes after. For instance, Turomë, the north wind, brings winter by driving away Thuraeya at the end of autumn and ushering in Nimravis after him.

Like the wind-gods born of Klython, the Qali Matra are not often worshiped in formal cult by the "civilized" people of Urva. They are generally little concerned with the affairs of mortals. However, they are often prominent deities in druidic or shamanic traditions, and among the wood-elves and wild-elves.
Sabertooth Mountains

The Sabertooth Mountains are one of the major ranges of the Kesh Karkhan, lying in south-central Shandara with the Kar Gemesh and Kar Zahak to their north. Their southern slopes give way to the edge of the Suagir steppe. Their northeastern reaches are more or less contiguous with the Irontooth Mountains and the Greycairns.
Tordynnar

Tordynnar is a very large region of Thelbiron which is generally considered to stretch from the Gulf of Yrsa in the west to the Trickster's Sea in the east. It takes the form of a huge lobe or wide, rounded peninsula nearly 1500 miles wide, extending down into the Thurnic Ocean to the south. It is mostly low-lying and covered in vast expanses of taiga or coniferous forest, though it does also include some more elevated or mountainous areas.

Like Haothana, the definition of Tordynnar as a distinct region is a contrivance of explorers and settlers from Orithea and Achuirea; it is not reflective of any particular regional affinity or shared cultural identity among the Thelbir tribes who live there. Outsiders from the south may collectively refer to all the tribes of the region as “the Tordynnari” but the tribes themselves have no such sense of common identity versus other Thelbirs from outside the region.
Sea Elves

The Sea Elves are the kindred of elves who most love the sea and dwell upon it or near its shores. They are mariners and shipwrights of peerless skill, who are said to cross the Encircling Ocean itself (which no human seafarer has ever done) on their wing-sailed vessels. The Sea Elves build their havens in secret places, on islands hidden far out in the trackless ocean or on remote stretches of uninhabited shoreline, and weave spells of concealment around them to prevent their discovery by outsiders.

Unsurprisingly, the Sea Elves make up a large portion of the inhabitants of the Elven Isles, and it is their ships that bear elves of other kindreds to and from those fabled islands.

Among all the elves, the Sea Elves most mourn Khreus and love the moon, and they also worship Nyra and Shenoa alongside the Aeiuradris, but they hate and shun Sherian. Unsurprisingly, they also love Bahaorir most dearly out of all the Aeuiradris, and revere her cult with special devotion.
Canals of Torrune

The canals of Torrune are a network of man-made waterways extending up from the north bank of the Helvander into the Low City's southern half. They provide a means of moving cargoes around the riverfront districts without having to use the city's perpetually congested streets and thoroughfares. They also provide outlets for the Low City's sewers, ultimately draining the wastewater down into the river itself.
Nysseia

Nysseia, the XXXXXX, XXXXXXXXXXX, is one of the Aiyu-Atma. She is the consort of Aurhion and the mother-goddess of the elven pantheon, the Aeiuradris, as well as of the elven race itself, which she created from a drop of her blood. Epheos is her sister, as was Khreus, mother of the oceans. Elvish legend tells that the stars of the night sky are tears which she shed for Khreus, who was destroyed during the old gods' war against primordial chaos, and for whom the moon was made by Aurhion as a funeral-vessel to set among the stars.

Nysseia is the name by which she is known to mortal men, originating as a rendering of her name (or rather a shortened version) in proto-archaic Tuvai. The elven rendering might more accurately be "Niossae," and it would only be a part of the longer name by which the elves call her, since their tradition is to treat sacred epithets as a part of the deity's proper name and append them accordingly.
Sarcian Emperor

The Sarcian Emperor is the hereditary ruler of the Sarcian Empire and the inheritor of a dynastic bloodline stretching back more than twelve hundred years to the empire's founder, Kerestes of Mimyran (at least officially; in practice, complex sequences of political marriages and palace coups have led to several different families or branches of families holding the senior dynastic position over the centuries, so the idea of a single unbroken lineage all the way back to Kerestes is semi-fictitious).
Vorian Knot

The Vorian Knot is a geographical feature in central Tholomyra where the main ranges of the Adhemars, Dramengars, Helgremars, and Alimdars converge in an imposing mass of extremely tall, permanently snow-covered mountain peaks. These peaks are among the most majestic, and inaccessible, in the world. It is also known to nearby human populations as the Roof of the World or the Pillar of Heaven due to its immense height; folktales in the region say that its summits touch the sky and hold up the firmament above Urva, and that from its pinnacle rises a bridge that pierces heaven’s vault and runs to the gate of Aenuvion.

Such tales are scoffed at by the actual inhabitants of the Vorian Knot, who are the dwarves of Kuzul-Kadrin. The Knot's central group of peaks are called the Dhurgunvili or Nine Crowns, which truly are the highest in the world, and beneath them lies the gigantic underground city of Kuzulnizam: capital of Kuzul-Kadrin, seat of its High King, the greatest stronghold in dwarfdom and therefore probably in all of Urva. Thus the Vorian Knot and the Dhurgunvili in particular are both the symbolic and political heart of Kuzul-Kadrin, as well as its geographic center in that all the major mountain ranges of the kingdom converge there.

The Vorian Knot takes its name from the semi-mythical dwarven hero Voro Trollhammer, who supposedly had a hand in the founding of what would become Kuzulnizam millennia ago.
Sarpic Seas

The Sarpic Seas are a series of interconnected bodies of water lying between Rhydain and Taijuria to the south, and Orithea proper to the north. They are ultimately a marginal extension of the Inner Oceans, connecting to the Emerald Ocean via the Dragon's Jaw and to the Thurnic Ocean via the channels north and south of the Mojmiri Isles. However, they are normally considered their own distinct group of seas rather than a part of the Inner Oceans.

From east to west, the seas comprising the Sarpic Seas are: The Dawn Sea, the Sea of Kaikesh, the Sea of Surna, the Sea of Tyrus, the Sea of Pearls, and the Saulean Sea.
River Rhanna

The River Rhanna is the huge river which meanders across the Great Plain of Tethas. It and its many tributaries drain most of eastern Orithea: The rains that fall on Urem, Thyria, Kamuria, most of the Suagir steppe, northern Istrium, and southeast Shandara all eventually find the sea by way of the River Rhanna. It empties into the Bay of XXXXXX on Urem's northeastern coast, and thus to the Scarlet Sea.

The Rhanna has historically been the backbone of trade, commerce, and civilization throughout Urem. It provides a watery highway for goods from all over the north (Thelbir lands, Tirnavon, etc.) to be easily moved as far south and west as Cesynia (and thus on to the Sarpic Seas and Rhydain), and vice-versa. The Kirdan Empire's modern heartlands, richest provinces, and biggest cities mostly lie along the Rhanna or its major tributaries, as did the biggest pre-Kirdan Uremite kingdoms. These cities include Baribur, Kathakaion, Suradis, XXXXX, XXXXXXX, and XXXXXXX.

Major tributaries of the Rhanna include the Vauxa, XXXXXXX, XXXX, XXXXX, and XXXXXXX rivers.

Etymology: The River Rhanna's name is ancient, and comes from an archaic Tuvai root meaning simply "the great" or "the great one" (possibly related to the root "rhanta," which means "on high" or "the higher one," as in the Rhantaseppa). It could be interpreted to mean "the great river" or "the king of rivers," or more straightforwardly, "the biggest river."
Thuldaran

Thuldaran was a large and powerful dwarven kingdom in Vastemar, which had played a substantial role in guarding the Ulthark Marches since time immemorial. It was finally overrun and destroyed by Gol Garga's horde during the recently concluded Orcish Wars. A great many of Thuldaran's people were killed in this conquest; the survivors were taken into slavery by the orcs, or else fled northwards as refugees along with so many other former inhabitants of Vastemar. Some displaced Thuldaranu have made their way up through Kelimaria into the Medrenesse and settled in the handful of majority-dwarf cities there; others have gone east to Kuzul-Kadrin.

Like Umuzmatin and Thubala, and the human kingdoms of Vastemar, Thuldaran's former lands are now divided among various orcish warlords.
The Uldau

The Uldau is a large expanse of rugged hill country and rolling mountain ranges covering most of eastern Dranuria, and is typically considered one of the two major regions of the Dranurian massif (the other being the higher Gated Fells to the west). Its ranges are separated by meandering upland valleys which often contain long, narrow lakes. In some areas, the landscape displays extensive karst features, riddling the hillsides with caves and crevices. It’s name has an archaic Tuvai origin and means “abode of wolves,” from the roots “ul-” or “uldh-” (abode, dwelling place) and “aowh” or “haowh” (wolf).

True to its name, the wooded highlands of the Uldau have always been home to a great many wolves, large and aggressive as well as numerous, which menace the flocks of local shepherds and can pose a serious danger to unwary travelers. Some speculate that these beasts are descended from common wolves that interbred with a strain of orcish wolves, perhaps left in the region following some long-ago incursion by the orcs up through Sularia. Strings of protective inns, to provide safe havens for wayfarers to spend their nights, are dotted at intervals of a day’s travel along most of the mountain roads that wind through the Uldau.

The highest peaks of the Uldau, and the exception to the general rule that its mountains are lower and more rolling than the Gated Fells, are the Bhodevars that run along its northern edge. Only a handful of passes allow travel through the high and jagged ranges of the Bhodevars, most famously the pass called Crow's Gorge, where the orcish horde of Gol Garga faced its final defeat in 1253 CV.
Yhendorn

Yhendorn is a large, mostly mountainous, peninsula projecting into the Stormclaw Sea from the north coast of Orithea. The Bluecairn Mountains run its entire length, forming a jagged spine which dominates Yhendorn’s geography. Where its southern end joins the Orithean mainland, the icy ridges of the Bluecairns descend to the wind-raked hills of the Arkenmoors. Yhendorn’s northeastern coastline faces the Stormclaw Sea; here the mountainsides drop down precipitously to the shore, with forbidding cliffs and sheer rocky headlands notched by deep fyords. The opposite shore of the peninsula, facing southwest and separated from Khadoa by the Fyrdenglin, has more gradually sloping terrain with the Bluecairns’ foothills running down to forest-covered coastal lowlands in many areas.

Yhendorn’s shores along the Fyrdenglin are ruled by the kingdom of Uldaegu, and in many areas its borders extends up into the foothills and the forest valleys along the Bluecairns’ southwestern face, but the mountains themselves are beyond the authority of Uldaegu. The people living in the mountainous parts of Yhendorn are fair-skinned Kulvars (believed to be of Thelbir stock) who inhabited the whole peninsula and the northern coast of Khadoa before the arrival of the Rhyndaeyu long ago.
Ullyrs

The Ullyrs are a human tribe or ethnic group distributed across Taijuria (where they make up a majority of the human population), the coastal regions of northeast Orithea (especially Tirnavon and Eatheus), and parts of the Azarian archipelago. A branch of the Ullyr tribal family is also found to the west of Tirnavon, beyond Belgoroth's mountains, distributed across the Halasar and parts of Um-Gerat. In these lands, they make up a minority overall but the majority in certain areas.

The Ullyr people are characterized by dark, straight hair, medium-toned to fair skin, and sharply defined features; many find their aspect suggestive of Thelbir ancestry, while others claim that they (like the Azars) interbred with elves in the distant past and still have traces of elvish blood in their veins. It is commonly believed that they originated in the land called Ullyria in northern Tirnavon. The region’s name simply stems from this long-standing supposition, so it signifies nothing with regard to the truth of the claim; that said, Ullyria’s proximity to the Thelbir frontier would lend credence to the suggestion that at least some of the ancestral Ullyrs came down from Thelbiron long ago.
Sea of Knives

The Sea of Knives is a small marginal sea, almost but not completely landlocked, which forms the easternmost embayment of the Stormclaw Sea (to which it is connected by the Voesenglin). It’s name comes from the countless jagged shoals and half-submerged reefs scattered along its mountainous shores, whose sharp rocky edges can tear open a ship’s hull as easily as a blade slices into an apple. These, combined with strong currents and notoriously bad weather almost year-round, make sailing on the Sea of Knives a dangerous proposition.
Sorcerer-Kings of Qoss

The Sorcerer-Kings of Qoss were the dynastic line of powerful mages who ruled that imperial city-state up until its annihilation in the Great Cataclysm. A number of them were unnaturally long-lived and folklore holds that they prolonged their lives with strange magics and were seeking the secret of immortality. One popular explanation for the Great Cataclysm is that the last Sorcerer-King, XXXXXXXXX, unlocked this secret and was preparing to ascend to godhood; that he intended to command all the peoples of the Qossite empire to worship him over the Thaedonu-Vaati; and that the gods, unwilling to accept another great schism after the Tarquenian heresy, smote Qoss with their divine wrath to prevent a mortal man from rising to the status of rival deity.
Suule

The Suule are a human ethnic or tribal group who mostly lived in Sularia and from whom the region originally took its name. Over time, many Suule became fairly admixed with Dranurs, Vastemards, and other peoples of nearby lands. A great number of Suule were killed when Gol Garga’s horde overran Sularia; the survivors (those not toiling in orcish slavery) have been dispersed as refugees across various other parts of Orithea and Rhydain.

Suule people tend to be of medium to tall height, with dusky skin, grey or brown eyes, and dark straight hair.

Some scholars speculate that the names of the Suule people and the Saulean Sea may share a common linguistic root, since the latter’s name appears in chronicles going back to ancient days but its etymology is not known. They theorize that the ancestral Suule may have once lived much further northeast, somewhere along the shores of the Saulean Sea, before migrating towards what is now called Sularia in one of the mostly-unrecorded tribal movements of the archaic or early post-Schism eras. According to this theory, the sea was named after the tribe living around its shores prior to their migration, and retained the name afterwards. The truth of this is unknown.

Further speculation holds that the ancestral Suule were closely related to the forebears of the Brecai people of Rhydain, and that both may have once been part of a common tribal family living in a wide area all along the southern shores of the Sarpic Seas, from modern-day Pelenaia up through eastern Rhydain. This is likewise unconfirmed but it is certainly true that there are notable similarities, both physical and in their dialects, between the two groups.

The Suule are Tuvai speakers and almost universally worship the Thaedonu-Vaati.
Sea of Wyrms

The Sea of Wyrms is the sea lying between the great island of Azhir and the west coast of Orithea. A considerable amount of trade flows back and forth across the Sea of Wyrms between Azhir and the other Western Isles, the city-states of the Medrenesse, and the various ports of Dobrotea, Elacreon, and Kelimaria. This means it is also a favored hunting ground for pirates, especially with Gol Garga’s invasions having just caused the collapse of the Kelimarian Sultanate (which was previously the dominant naval power in the region and played a major role in keeping the sea-lanes safe from buccaneers). Combined with the increase in orcish piracy after the fall of Vastemar, sailing the Sea of Wyrms has become considerably more risky in the past several years.

The Sea of Wyrms is named after the multiple varieties of dragon-kind that can be spotted in or over it: The winged sea-drakes that roost on its shores and islands and are often seen soaring on the thermals by mariners, and also the wingless, legless sea-serpents (some growing to enormous size) that can be found swimming in its warm blue-green waters. These creatures may strike terror in the hearts of those who see them for the first time, but the truth is they are mostly fish-eaters and rarely molest ships. Experienced sailors on the Sea of Wyrms know that they are much more likely to be viewed as prey by human corsairs or orcish freebooters.
Serrapine Quarter (Torrune)

The Serrapine Quarter is the easternmost district of Torrune's High City. It encompasses the Hart's Hill and, on its western edge, Okhtar's Hill and the palace of the Archons.

The name of the Serrapine Quarter comes from an old-fashioned Tuvai word, *serap* or *serapa*, denoting either the enclosed grounds of a palace or grand household, or the actual wall encompassing the same. Locals disagree on whether the name originally referred to the grounds of the archonal palace itself, or to the various walled gardens, courtyards, and terraces of the rich merchants' houses clustered on the Hart's Hill. Either explanation is plausible, and whatever the origins, the name could easily now refer to both.
Yazhurene Quarter (Torrune)

The Yazhurene Quarter, also sometimes called the Yazhurites' Quarter, is one of the largest districts of Torrune. It makes up most of the Low City's northeastern quadrant. It is predominantly composed of poorer and lower-class neighborhoods, many of which are outright slums, although it also includes some middle-class areas. Its name stems from the fact that it contains the House of Awakening, Torrune's major temple of Yazhur, along with three of the city's known Yazhurite lodges. In the popular imagination, many of the quarter's poor inhabitants are followers of Yazhurene mystery cults, although in reality the proportion of such devotees is probably not much higher than in other parts of the city.
Wild Elves

Wild Elves are those among the Wood Elves who have altogether forsaken or forgotten the worship of the Aeiuradris, and given themselves over completely to the gods of the forest: Epheos (whom the elves call XXXXXXX), Borghu (whom they call XXXXXXXX), XXXXXX, and all the nature-spirits of the Ephesu-Vaati (XXXXXX to the elves). Their ways seem savage and strange to other elves, and some consider them halfway to the fallen state of the XXXXXXX, whose great crime in the elder days was to reject the Aeiuradris completely. Of course the Dark Elves turned to the gods of the underworld, not to Epheos and her offspring, whom other elves love as well; nevertheless, the fact that the Wild Elves no longer venerate their ancestral pantheon makes them seem sinister and untrustworthy to their cousins.
Water System of Torrune

Torrune's sophisticated water system carries water from the city's several natural springs (located mostly on the Syrennian Hill, Hart's Hill, and the Hill of Okhtar) via aqueducts and covered channels out to a network of public cisterns in the city's various quarters. It provides much of the city's populace with a reliable source of clean water for drinking, cooking, and washing.

Some of the most notable public cisterns fed by the system are the Pool of Parth, Aothon's Pool, and the Silk Market Cistern in the High City, and the XXXXXX, XXXXXX, XXXXXX, XXXXXX, and XXXXX in the Low City. The Archon's Palace, the Carnelian Baths on the Hart's Hill, the XXXXXX Baths atop the Syrennian Hill, the various temples on the city's tessaraon, the portage gate fortress, the Beklagard citadel, and the Hall of XXXXXX in the Dwarven Quarter also all have their own substantial cisterns.

Since the system is constantly being fed with a fresh supply of springwater, the cisterns are never left to stagnate, and the continual steady overflow can be channeled into the city's sewer network to flush through waste that might otherwise accumulate there. After running into the sewers, this overflow ultimately drains out to the Helvander (or, in parts of the Low City, first into the canal network and then out into the river from there).
Temple Quarter (Torrune)

Torrune's Temple Quarter is, as its name suggests, the district of the city centered around the Temple Hill and the holy precincts of the city's tessaraon. It is located in the southern part of the High City, south of the Dwarven Quarter and the Silk-Seller's Quarter. It is also sometimes called the Holy Quarter or the Sacred Quarter, or (rarely) the Tessara Quarter.

In addition to the Temple Hill itself, this part of the city includes many religious establishments adjunct to the temples, as well as some residential neighborhoods clustered around the foot of the tessaraon's northern slope.
Strakewater

The Strakewater is a wide, shallow tidal lagoon on the Modrinian coast, situated just west of the mouth of the River Helvander. The city of Hakoris, seat of the Helvandrian League's Prince-Palatine, stands on the strip of land between the Helvander's western bank and the Strakewater's eastern edge. This location makes the city highly defensible; prior to the founding of Hakoris and the League, the site was occupied by a large Asgali fortress which controlled the river mouth and the movement of ships up-river towards Thandrium.

The northern edge of the Strakewater is connected to Orphan-Bird's Bay, but a belt of rocky shoals and sandbars along the margin make it impossible for any but the smallest boat to enter it. Thus all ships coming to Hakoris must instead sail into the Helvander's mouth and approach the city from its eastern side, where extensive docks sprawl along the riverbank at the foot of the walls. However, fishermen from Hakoris and the surrounding area do use small, flat-bottomed boats to harvest the wealth of fish, crabs, oysters, eels, and mussels that can be found in the Strakewater. Along its southern, western, and eastern edges, the lagoon's shoreline is a mix of wide, sandy beaches and rockier areas pockmarked with tidepools.

The Strakewater is several miles wide but generally no more than ten feet deep. In many areas it is only hip-deep or even knee-deep at low tide. The exception to this is the so-called Titan's Tomb, an enormous and very deep circular depression on the lagoon's bottom. It is situated almost exactly in the lagoon's middle and is over a thousand feet wide and several hundred feet deep. This strange feature forms a dark blue abyss at the center of the Strakewater's shallow turquoise expanse. Its name stems from a popular legend that it was formed in ancient times before the Schism Wars when a great hero or demigod (or, some say, Kothaur himself) slew one of the Ghuludrim by smashing it down into the bed of the lagoon. Those who believe this legend claim that the primordial titan's huge bones, splintered and broken, still lie half-buried in the sandy silt at the crater's bottom. Whatever the truth, the fishermen who work the Strakewater regard it as an unlucky place and usually avoid it, although some are tempted by the huge groupers, ling-cod, sand bass, and other large fish that can be caught around its edges where the shallow waters suddenly give way to reef-encrusted underwater cliffs dropping down into the abyss.
Tokarea

Tokarea is a mountainous region in southwestern Shiankar, extending south of the Kar Bharaz and east from the very high Snowcairn range which separates the Medrenesse from the barren continental interior. Most of Tokarea's rugged topography is considered to be part of the mountain chain known the Horns of Hyuron. Its southernmost range, the Gorgonstones, thrust down towards the far western edge of the Suagir steppe.
Urugan

Urugan, the XXXXX, XXXXXXXX, is one of the two sons of Kordan and is in turn the father of the dwarven race, which he created. He is the primary (usually only) god worshiped by the dwarves, with the exception of the depraved Derro and Duergar. His arch-foe is his brother god, Korgul, father of the orcish race. Legend tells that Kordan created Urugan to work his mighty chthonic forges in the ancient days when Urva was still unformed.

His name is sometimes also rendered Uragan, or Urudan or Uradan due to the similarity of the hard 'g' and emphatic 'd' phonemes in certain dwarven dialects.
Portage Road (Torrune)

Torrune’s Portage Road is, as its name suggests, the roadway used to portage goods around the Helvander Cataracts from Torrune up to Sillport or vice-versa. It runs roughly five miles, southeast to northwest, from the Portage Gate of Torrune’s Low City up to the main eastern gate of Sillport. For most of this distance, it runs directly along the north bank of the Helvander and thus overlooks the cataracts, although in some places it curves away from the river shore and cuts through the wooded terrain beyond.

Although only a few miles long, the Portage Road is one of the most important roadways in the whole League, since it enables river-borne trade to bypass the unnavigable cataracts on its way up or down the Helvander. It is almost perpetually crowded with countless carts, wagons, pack animals, drovers, teamsters, and porters, carrying huge quantities of every imaginable goods in both directions. To avoid hopeless jams, the roadway is double-wide and paved with enormous limestone slabs, with regular upkeep at the Archon’s expense. Nevertheless it is typically noisy, congested, and chaotic. Rainy weather makes it twice as bad. In principle, traffic from Sillport to Torrune is supposed to keep to the left side of the road and opposing traffic to the right, but this is scarcely obeyed except when a squadron of the Archon’s guards are on hand to beat and curse the crowds into compliance.
New Guildhall (Torrune)

The New Guildhall is, as its name suggests, the more recently built of the Torrune Merchants' Guild’s two major meeting-halls. It is located on the southern edge of Aulgu’s Market in the Low City, very close to the Court of the Portreeve, which is the center of Torrune’s day-to-day governance (especially in matters of trade, taxation, and commercial dispute, which are of primary concern to the Guild). It was built to supplement the Old Guildhall in the High City when such matters became less often handled in the Archon’s own court, and the office of the Portreeve took on its current significance. Thus the New Guildhall is used to conduct most official Guild business, and the Old Guildhall is more of a ceremonial venue (and a site for celebratory gatherings, feasts, festivals, etc.).
Sultanate of Azhir

The Sultanate of Azhir, also called the Azhiri Sultanate or (rarely) the Shyrrik Sultanate, is the domain ruled by a series of dynasties whose heads have claimed the title Sultan of Azhir. The seat of the Azhiri sultans has usually (but not always) been in Shyrrik since the early 900s CV; prior to that, it was in the city of Tevril. The extent of this domain and the power of the sultans have both varied considerably over the centuries. Some scholars would argue that there have actually been a series of Azhiri Sultanates (with the current incarnation being only the most recent), since, as with the Kelimarian Sultanate, it has been disestablished and reestablished under different dynasties on several occasions.

At its heights of power, the Azhiri Sultanate has dominated most or all of Azhir itself and also extended suzerainty, or even direct control, over large parts of the Western Isles, the Medrenesse city-states, and the Kelimarian coastline. Such times have typically coincided with nadirs of Kelimarian strength, when there was no sultan (or a very weak one) on the Topaz Throne, and the various states of Kelimaria were engaged in power struggles with each other. At other times, the holdings of Azhiri sultans have dwindled to the immediate hinterland of Shyrrik (if even that) and despite their high title, their actual status has been reduced to that of just another minor emir of the isles. During certain periods, they have been forced to swear fealty to strong Kelimarian sultans, making them client-kings and their domains an extension of Yhimir’s. At other times, weak Azhiri sultans have been pressured into disadvantageous trade pacts or tributary arrangements with strong alliances of Medrenesse city-states which have cooperated to dominate trade in the Sea of Wyrms.

At present, the power of the Azhiri sultan is relatively limited but seems to be growing. Prior to the collapse of the most recent Kelimarian Sultanate during Gol Garga’s invasions, Shyrrik was firmly subordinated to the Topaz Throne. The father and grandfather of Zemune III, the current Azhiri sultan, had both been obliged to send yearly tribute to Yhimir and supply provisions from their own storehouses for Kelimarian ships that entered their ports. With Kelimaria now in disarray and the Topaz Throne vacant, Zemune is clearly seeking to reestablish Azhiri power. Most believe that if Rouam the Younger’s claim to the Topaz Throne does result in the reestablishment of a Kelimarian sultanate, Zemune will refuse to renew the tributary oaths to which his predecessors were forced to submit. He likely hopes that even if a new sultan does take power in Yhimir, the challenges of recovering from Gol Garga’s depredations and fortifying the new frontier with orcdom will divert most of Kelimaria’s resources.
Vitra

Vitra is a large Phyridian fortress-city on the northwestern edge of Pelenaia, where the north branch of the River Mera runs below the vantagelands of the Suagir steppe. It has historically been a key link in the chain of border defenses that have held the Phyridian Empire's frontier against the threat of Suagir invasion. Consequently, in addition to its massive fortifications, it usually boasts a large garrison force (including many squadrons of cavalry) and a contingent of battle-mages.
Ulusvaati

Ulusvaati, meaning roughly "Holy dwelling-place of the divine offspring", is the realm within Aenuvion, or Paradise, inhabited by the gods and goddesses of the Thaedonu-Vaati pantheon. This is a distinction little known to common devotees of Utara-Vaati, who generally simply think of their gods as dwelling in Aenuvion, and will use that same term for their domain. Only priests and religious scholars are apt to be familiar with the distinction.
Silk Market Cistern

The Silk Market Cistern is a public water supply in Torrune's High City. It is located in the eastern neighborhood of the Silk-Seller's Quarter near the foot of Okhtar's Hill, and fed by a many-stepped rill channel running down the side of that hill. The water itself ultimately comes from the spring of the Carnelian Baths atop Hart's Hill; it is carried from there across the Tirasval by the Greenstone Span, where some is diverted to the archon's palace cisterns and the rest flows down to this cistern and the Pool of Parth.

The cistern is located several blocks away from the edge of the actual Silk Market for which it is named.

See also: Water System of Torrune.
Forvirad

Forvirad is an enormous peninsula, a subcontinent in terms of its size, which extends south towards Achuirea from the main landmass of Thelbiron. It forms the eastern boundary of the Thurnic Ocean, separating it from the Encircling Ocean. Its western shore is dotted with a string of Sarcian colonies, which mainly serve as entrepots for the shipment of Thelbir slaves back to the empire’s main provinces.

The tip of Forvirad is known as the Cape of Woe, a name bestowed by mariners on account of the dangerous waters around it. Between it and the northern coast of Achuirea is Durrak's Passage, one of three waterways where the Inner Oceans connect to the Encircling Ocean (the other two being the Myrrenian Channel and the Gates of Barossus on the eastern and western sides of Vhaluzia respectively).