Other civilizations

The Spiral Empire, though great, does not yet include all civilizations in the world. Makkadi merchants trade with some distant lands, Diao scholars intuited the locations of others based on rune density in the spiral, and travelers bring tales of strange worlds beyond the spiral wall.

## Ma'hea

Ma'hea travelers used to live in northern Kuan and some of their children are a part of the triple kingdom to this day, mostly in Ju and Dhi. They claim to hail from a great line of explorers who travel through the canopies of even the deep Forest. They can determine the direction and relative distance to an island based on size and species of tree. Avid singers, their songs tell of a great battle between the trees of the Forest and the lands of the island, as the tree roots grind up the islands and move inexorably forward in some places, and the trunks fall down and form the basis for islands in other places.

## Nachti

Makkadi merchants trade frequently with the city of Nachti and the surrounding countryside. Though it has a small army and little defense, it is allied with so many other countries through trade, few would risk attacking. According to the Makkadi, the city's walls are painted in gold and the palace has a twenty-foot long mosaic made only of different colors of precious gems.

## Uatla

Uatlans are a proud people led by a class of warrior-priests. Like Makkadi citizens, they feel strongly about the truth inherent in their religion and so relations between Makkada and Uatla are strained. The Uatlans attempted to invade c. 100 PS but most of the army died in the Forest on the way there.

## Tusei

The Tusei have a strong relationship with Makkada due to their shared religion: Sudhaism. Both countries consider an important role of their existence to be the spread of Sudhaism to other lands and despite the long distance, they trade frequently with one another and at excellent rates. Tusei has adopted some of Makkada's economic practices and Makkada imports books from Tusei's famous library.

## Pacha

Pachans are a mountainous people with a unique farming practice that involves digging terraces into the sides of mountains. Every Pacha citizen owns an equal share of land and its fruits.

## Cittá

Like Henesia, Cittá is a collection of city-states more than a country itself. The people there feel a shared sense of Cittá identity, though they squabble frequently amongst themselves. Rather than kings or emperors, cities are ruled by dukes, though three or four families hold most of the power.

### Vichelli

The gem of Cittá is the island city of Vichella, ruled by Duke Enzo and a beacon of prosperity in a bleak section of Forest.

## Nezshar

Nezshar is best renowned for its complex, tiered gardens and menageries. In recent years, a few Ju nobles have ventured across the Forest to visit them and Queen Paek and King Akkad have a tentative plan to trade fossils back and forth on Makkadi caravans.

## L'yeska

L'yeska is broken into multiple, large tribes who cooperate with one another more often than they fight. They are expert astronomers and hunters of large, aquatic whales. They claim many species of whales inhabit the Forest, swimming through the air as they do the water, but none of these species are still extant in the water.

## Corinth

The kingdom of Corinth is filled with proud and often stuck up people who surround themselves with complex layers of etiquette and courtesy. Makkadi traders venture there only because the king has expressed some interest in converting.