recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Dranurian Massif

The Dranurian Massif or Dranurian Highlands is a blanket term for the huge expanse of mountainous terrain that covers most of Dranuria. It is typically divided into two main portions: The Gated Fells to the west and the Uldau to the east, plus surrounding smaller ranges and hilly uplands. The Dranurian highlands join the Aghai Massif to the south, and the mountains of Sarpadia to the east; all are part of the gigantic chain of mountain ranges that run all the way across southern Orithea and up through Rhydain. The Vardic Highlands are essentially the northernmost extension of the Dranurian Massif, but any right-thinking Vard would take offense at the suggestion that his homeland is any way part of anything Dranurian.
Kharax

Kharax, the Cruel, the XXXXXXXX, malevolent and acquisitive, was one of the Aiyu-Atma; it is said that he was destroyed by Thaedon in the wars of the Old Gods when creation was young. After his teeth, his teeth were torn from his jaw and scattered upon the newborn earth, and from the places where they fell sprang up the first dragons; thus all dragon-kind are sometimes called the Children of Kharax or the Spawn of Kharax.
Krens

The Krens are a distinct human tribe characterized by their unusual dialect and religious customs, their seafaring traditions, a culture of fierce independence, and wide but sparse distribution stretching from eastern Rhydain to the Azarian archipelago, as well as to even more far-flung locales scattered all around the margin of the Emerald Ocean. They are renowned as mariners of great skill and as shrewd, intrepid oceangoing merchants; less flatteringly, they are often viewed as a race of pirates, cheats, and sea-gypsies, not to be trusted by sensible people.

Krennish settlements (often fishing villages) and pockets of Kren-populated territory are dotted all around the Sea of Pearls and down the coasts of Tythium and Alondria, especially around the Shreenwater, with a large Krennish population on the eponymous Kren Peninsula. Likewise along the coasts of Taijuria, especially the southern coasts, and eastwards from there throughout the Azarian isles. Krens can also be found along the Sornele’s coastal strip and the south shores of Sarpadia, and on the islands of Bel Bheru, Cothlis, and the Mojmiras. There are even Krennish colonies on Bel Shemra and Vhaluzia. In truth, a Kren might be found anywhere a ship can sail.

The Krens worship the Khreianoa first and foremost; obviously sailors of every race and nation offer prayers to the sea-goddesses, but they are the primary deities of the Krennish cult, to the extent that orthodox Vanir-Vaati often consider them infidels (which probably reinforces their reputation as untrustworthy swindlers and corsairs). Some scholars suggest that the name of the Krens may itself be derived from an archaic term for devotees of the Khreianoa, and that the tribe's very identity as a distinct group may have originally stemmed from their abnormal veneration of the sea-goddesses over the more typical Utara-Vaati practiced by their neighbors.
Bozuri

The Bozuri, sometimes called the Bozurs, the Bozuris, or the Bozur people, were a group of human tribes or a tribal confederation which inhabited large parts of the regions now known as Enyrion and southern Khadoa in millennia past. They were encountered by the ancient Kelim and Rhynnish (or proto-Daeya) settlers who emigrated into northwestern Orithea, coming up through the Medrenesse or back onto the mainland from the Western Isles, respectively, starting roughly three thousand years ago. At the time, the Bozuri confederation shared the region with a string of sizable Kulvaric tribal kingdoms dominating what is now northern Khadoa.

The Kelims and Rhynns who colonized northwest Orithea at that time considered the Bozuri (and the Kulvars) to be barbarians, particularly since these native groups practiced their own cults and knew nothing of Utara-Vaati. There was considerable conflict, but also trade and intermarriage, between the groups as more and more newcomers settled in the region and encroached on existing tribal domains. Ancient sources describe the Bozuris as “hawk-eyed”, formidable horsemen and charioteers, fierce warriors, worshipers of fire spirits, and speakers of an unknown language which fell harshly on civilized ears. Some scholars suppose the Bozuri tribes were related to the ancient Daare Karsha people, whose modern counterparts still inhabit the Kesh Karkhan. If this is true, perhaps the forerunners of the Bozuri had migrated all the way across the barren interior into Enyrion and Khadoa in the primordial days when the first kindreds of mankind scattered from Ulshanru, forgetting Utara-Vaati as they went, before the dawn of recorded history.

Regardless, it seems that those tribes were eventually either driven back into the Kesh Karkhan or converted to Utara-Vaati and assimilated into the kingdoms set up by the arriving settlers. Whatever remnants of the Bozuri people remained in Khadoa and Enyrion have long since mingled to the point of disappearance with the predominantly Kelim and/or Rhyndaeyu populace.
Jade River

The Jade River is a major river in southern Orithea, draining a large portion of the Sularian highlands and (via its tributaries) significant parts of Dranuria. It flows into the Sunken Sea and its extensive low-lying valley forms the southeastern arm of the Druune Basin, separating the Sularian and Dranurian massifs. Like most of the rest of the Druune Basin, the Jade River valley (also sometimes called the Jade River basin) is situated well below sea level, with a warm climate and substantial rainy season.
Great Cataclysm

The Great Cataclysm was a series of catastrophic events around the Sarpic Seas caused by the explosive eruption of the volcanic island of Alborak 1255 years before the present day (Year Zero in the Vathanalu Reckoning, which uses this disaster as the starting point for its numbering of years). It is sometimes called the "Second Cataclysm", in reference of the terrible events at the end of the Schism Wars much longer ago (which would thus be considered the "First Cataclysm"), but this is not common.

The eruption completely destroyed Alborak and the city of Qoss upon it, triggered a series of powerful earthquakes up to a thousand miles away, and sent gigantic tsunamis sweeping across the seas to devastate distant shores. It ended Qoss's previously unshakeable dominance of the Sarpic Seas in dramatic fashion, causing the immediate collapse of its empire and annihilating most of its major coastal outposts and colonies around the region. The great cloud of ash and dust thrown up by the eruption darkened the skies all over Rhydain and eastern Orithea for over a year, bringing cold weather in summertime, crop failures, and famine.

Together, these events ushered in a period of general chaos and upheaval all around the Sarpic Seas and beyond. War, anarchy, and the mass migration of whole nations ensued. The power vacuum left by the destruction of Qoss eventually paved the way for the rise of new powers in the Sarpic Seas, such as the Phyridian Empire, the Asgali Empire, and the major pre-Kirdan Uremite kingdoms to the north.
Dranurs

The Dranurs are a human tribal family or ethnic group who inhabit the region of Dranuria (which is named after them), and are also found as minorities, or intermingled with other groups, in Ojaum and the Druune Basin, the Sornele, XXXXX, and Pelenaia. A substantial Dranur minority existed in parts of northern Sularia prior to Gol Garga’s conquest of the region, but they have now mostly been expelled or wiped out along with the Suule majority.
Gujaaro

Gujaaro is an enormous island off the west coast of Ulthark; it is the second largest island in Urva, after Vhaluzia (or the largest if Vhaluzia is considered a small continent instead). Like the rest of Ulthark, Gujaaro is inhabited primarily by orcs, and the details of its geography beyond the coastlines are little-known to humans. Many of the orcs of Gujaaro seem to be of the same breed as the seafaring orcs of Ulthark-Irsha, although the interior of the island is presumably populated by other sorts.
Khalkus Mountains

The Khalkus Mountains are a set of high, snow-capped mountain ranges which make up the western arm of the Tuzul Massif, reaching over five hundred miles towards Enyrion before giving way to that region’s green lowlands. The dominant power in the Khalkus Mountains is the major dwarven kingdom of Dhuromanda.
Chomarra

Chomarra is a human language or family of dialects, widely spoken in Achuirea and Vhaluzia, which has evolved over millennia from the archaic Tuvai spoken by the People of the Ten Thousand Ships when they fled across the ocean at the end of the Schism Wars. This means that it shares a common root with the modern Tuvai spoken in Orithea, and ultimately with all other human languages originating from the proto-archaic Tuvai root. However, it diverged from those common roots so long ago that it has little in common with modern Tuvai, and is not at all mutually intelligible; they are two totally different languages.

Dialects of Chomarra are spoken as the primary language throughout Belekesh and most of the rest of human-inhabited Achuirea (as well as Vhaluzia and many parts of the Azarian archipelago), so Achuireans often simply call it “common” or “the common tongue,” just as Oritheans do with Tuvai. Mariners and merchants who have spent time on both continents may refer to the two tongues simply as “Orithean (or Western) Common” and “Achuirean (or Eastern) Common” instead of Tuvai and Chomarra.
Kirdai Ul-Tash

Kirdai Ul-Tash, later to take the title Tash-Teshivan, was the.... XXXXXXX

He ruled the Kirdan Empire from 931 CV (the year after his father Torkai's death, whereupon the great conqueror's lands were divided into three parts) until his own death 950 CV, whereupon the title of Tash-Teshivan passed to his son XXXXXX
Imperial Knights-Brethren of the Holy Beacon Oriflame

The Imperial Knights-Brethren of the Holy Beacon Oriflame, more commonly called the Oriflame Knights or the Oriflame Order, are an ancient and quasi-sovereign chivalric martial order who control the territory of Baltusraal within the Helvandrian League. Whereas most of the League member states originated in the anarchic period after the Asgali Empire's collapse, the history of the Oriflame Knights stretches back much further, to the early days of the Empire itself. They (and their control of the area more or less corresponding to contemporary Baltusraal) thus pre-date the League by many centuries, and they regard their current membership in it as only a temporary arrangement to be tolerated for the time being. The grand master of the knighthood holds the rank of a League Elector, and he and his councils rule Baltusraal with the same rights, duties, and prerogatives as the other magnates of the League states.

Although the Old Empire has been gone for centuries, and although they have accepted the political reality of the Helvandrian League, the knights retain an intense pride in their origins and still insist on all their traditional titles and honorifics. In their view, these were bestowed upon them by the Asgali emperor and can only be rescinded by his decree. The fact that there isn't currently an Asgali emperor, and hasn't been one for centuries, is no concern of theirs. Their ancient oaths bound them directly to the emperor, and since the Asgali collapse, they have (in principle) regarded themselves as obedient only to their own laws of martial virtue, League membership notwithstanding.

The name of the order comes from their most cherished treasure, a wondrous banner or battle-standard said to have been gifted to the order's founder by the temmataiyu of Tefra. This forked, triple-tailed oriflame was made of pale yellow silk, marvelously worked and reputedly impossible to rip or tear, emblazoned with a rampant she-tiger (the sacred emblem of Tefra) worked in lustrous white and sky-blue silk thread. When flown in battle it was said to shine with a golden-white radiance, serving as a beacon of valor for the knights and a signal of doom for their enemies. The white tiger is consequently also a symbol of the knighthood, used in their heraldry and seals and so forth, and the order is also sometimes called the White Tiger Knighthood or White Tiger Order. The knights themselves may be called White Tigers or Tiger's Claws, the latter being something of a pejorative with connotations of rapaciousness and aggression towards common people.
Enyrion

Enyrion is a large, mostly low-lying region in northwestern Orithea. It is adjacent to the hillier and more elevated region known as Khadoa, and their two names together ("Enyrion and Khadoa") are typically used to collectively refer to all of northwest Orithea on the far side of the Kesh Karkhan from Urem, the Sarpic Seas, Rhydain, etc.

Geographically, Enyrion may be divided into the land of Corumir (its southern half) and the lower Amparûn (its northern half), both of which are predominantly flat and low-lying, with a belt of somewhat hillier terrain running between them and extending to the western coastal highlands of XXXXXX. The western foothills of the Khalkus Mountains and the northwesternmost fringes of the Snowcairns are typically considered to lie on the edges of Enyrion; the ranges proper lie beyond it.

Belverus and Ilodor are the two biggest kingdoms in Enyrion. Braal, which mostly lies along the coast of Khadoa, also has a sizable southern portion extending down into Enyrion.
Elves

Elves are an ancient, magical, and extremely long-lived race whose hidden realms are scattered here and there across the remote places of Urva. Unlike humans, orcs, or dwarves, they are few in number. Though once they were much more numerous and were masters of the world before the younger races were born, today they do not dominate whole continents or control great empires. They are secretive and reclusive, and rarely show themselves to outsiders. Most humans will go their entire life without ever seeing an elf, and indeed many consider them no more than a folk-tale.

The elves are the first and eldest of the mortal races (though the dragons came before them), and so are sometimes called the Firstborn or the Elder Race. They were created by the Aiyu-Atma deities Aurhion and Nysseia, whose seven daughters are also the goddesses of the elven pantheon, the Aeiur Aedris.

Physically, elves are tall, slender, and graceful, with long limbs and beautiful, fine-boned features. Their hair, eyes, and skin vary considerably.The elves are divided into many kindreds or tribes: The High Elves who dwell in hidden vales among snowcapped mountain peaks; the Wood Elves who live in deep forests, and the Wild Elves who are their savage cousins; the Sea Elves, peerless mariners who dwell on remote isles and make their havens on uninhabited coasts; and the Dark Elves, cursed outcasts, the most notorious and feared of whom are the Drow, worshippers of vile Yllith.
Belekesh

Belekesh is a vast geographical region covering the west-central portion of Achuirea, dominated by major human states and forming the heartland of human civilization on the eastern continent. It has been inhabited by humans for over five thousand years, since the arrival of the People of the Ships after the end of the Schism Wars; these exiles from Orithea crossed the Emerald Ocean and landed somewhere on the Achuirean coast (supposedly at Tel Kiren), establishing themselves along the seaboard before gradually moving inland over the following centuries. Eventually their descendants spread across all of Belekesh and into lands beyond.

Major states of Belekesh include Zuranthus, Sharu-Tur, Khanshoban, Tuladhar, and Xyre. The people of Belekesh are collectively known as Beleks.

Etymology: The name of Belekesh derives from the archaic Tuvai roots "bel-" (in this case meaning coast or shore) and "akash" (salvation, deliverance, safety, or refuge). It is easy to imagine why the People of the Ten Thousand Ships gave such a name to the land they reached after their long and perilous flight from Orithea. Note that the "bel-" root is the same that is found in the names of islands like Bel Bheru and Bel Shemra; in ancient days it referred to a coastline (cf. Belverus) but its meaning in Chomarra has shifted over time to mean an island instead.
Harunnas

The Harunnas or Harunna people, also sometimes called the Harounnes, are the human inhabitants of the land of Harumau. Since much of that region is controlled by the Sarcian Empire, many Harunnas are Sarcian subjects, and they make up a sizable minority of the empire's total population. Like the Beleks to the south, and unlike the ruling caste of the Sarcians, the Harunna are descended from the People of the Ten Thousand Ships who settled in Achuirea after the Schism Wars. Thus they speak Chomarra and are mostly adherents of the Rhantashannu cultus.
High King (Dwarves)

A High King, as the dwarves use the title, refers to a paramount ruler or over-king who has secured the fealty of multiple other rulers who themselves hold royal rank. The domain of such a ruler can thus be understood as a union or confederation of kingdoms bound together by the mutual loyalty of their kings to their common overlord, the High King.

Humans often conflate this position with that of an emperor (or an emperor by another name, such as the Kirdan Tash-Teshivan, "King of Kings"), but for the dwarves, High Kingship is properly attained by alliance-building and diplomatic maneuvering, not conquest. A High King gains his position via reciprocal oaths, marriage alliances, inter-clan pacts, and above all, lawful dynastic seniority. Subjugating other kingdoms and turning their rulers into vassals by force makes one a tyrant and scarcely better than a manling or an orc (which is not to say it is unheard-of in dwarven history).

The most prominent dwarven realm ruled by a High King is Kuzulkadrin, a huge state which dominates most of Rhydain's mountainous regions. In their typically ignorant way, humans often call it a "dwarven empire" and refer to its High King as the "emperor of the dwerrow" or similar such misnomers.
Exaltants

Exaltants, also called Ascendants, Exemplars, Calanthaiyu (“those beloved of the gods”), or Suradhisu (“divinely favored ones”), are mortal humans chosen by the Thaedonu-Vaati for elevation directly to paradise. They are typically people who carried out some supremely virtuous act, served the gods in a superlative way, or faced martyrdom for their unflinching dedication to Utara-Vaati. An exaltant may be granted this reward upon their death, in which case their soul is spared the judgment of Kaephus and enters Aenuvion straightaway, or they may be elevated bodily to the realm of the gods in the moment just before their death (often sparing them a grim martyr's fate which they had proven ready to accept).

Exaltants dwell in Aenuvion along with the gods, their temmataiyu, and the souls of the righteous, and are venerated as holy beings or great spirits, forming a sort of lesser tier to the pantheon. Temples or shrines are sometimes dedicated to them. They may intercede in mortal affairs, be sent by the gods to fulfill special tasks or deliver messages, or may answer the prayers of mortals in certain matters.
List of Deities

The Old Gods (Aiyu-Atma)

* Thaedon
* Klython
* Kharax
* Epheos
* Xhura
* Ymuz
* Chogorus
* Khyron
* Touz
* Khreus
* Kordan
* Aurhion
* Nysseia

The Young Gods (Aiyu-Thani)

* The Thaedonu-Vaati
	+ Kothaur
	+ Gyrion
	+ Thrygon
	+ Telaon
	+ Kaephus
	+ Sidra
	+ Tefra
	+ Deinoa
	+ Auruu
	+ Nevaea
	+ Adhanu
* The Zhabd-Aoun (offspring of Klython and Xhura, together with them comprising the Rhantaseppa]
	+ Tecla
	+ Fimra
	+ Erkala

* The Touzu-Vaati
	+ Yazhur
	+ Qadira
	+ Tulkhur
	+ Garhanu
	+ Auzha
	+ Sidra, Tefra, and Deinoa, who are daughters of Touz but also numbered among the pantheon of the Thaedonu-Vaati (see above)
* The Sons of Kordan
	+ Urugan
	+ Korgul
* The seven daughters of Aurhion and Nysseia, who along with them make up the Aeiur Aedris, the Elven pantheon:
	+ Eirris
	+ Iomhaire
	+ Ylyndar
	+ Utlatande
	+ Tethyris
	+ XXXXXXX
	+ Bahaorir
* The Khreianoa
	+ Sherian
	+ Nyra
	+ Shenoa
* The Children of Epheos
	+ Borghu
	+ XXXXX
	+ XXXXXXXX
	+ XXXXXXX
	+ XXXXXXX
	+ XXXX
* The Gods of the Underworld
	+ Yllith
	+ Akhua
	+ Thulth
* Udhran
Arrakoth

Arrakoth is the easternmost part of Ulthark; it consists of the lands lying at the end of the continent’s long southern curvature, separated from Vhaluzia by the Gates of Barossus and the Sanctuary Sea. Arrakoth is one of the perennial battlegrounds between humanity and orcdom; many times over the centuries, the frontier between them has fluctuated back and forth across Arrakoth’s landscape, as the Redhawk Empire expanded westwards or orcish invasions pushed back to the east.
Echevaria

Echevaria is a duchy and a member state of the Helvandrian League located in the north-central Taefemach. Its lands straddle the lower Helvander and are situated entirely within the flat, fertile river bottomland of the Helvanderûn. The section of the Helvander running through Echevaria is very sinuous and meandering; the name of Echevaria itself is derived from an old Tuvai name for this stretch of river and the surrounding area, meaning “the land of the twisting waters.”

Echevaria is also home to an unusually large population of Chabaari people, who dwell along the meanders of the river. A few live in permanent settlements on the riverbanks, but most inhabit water-villages with stilted houses rising from the shallows, or live on the river itself in their boats or floating huts. These Chabaari are in high demand as guides for river boats traversing this part of the Helvander, since the meandering course is wide, shallow, and slow with ever-shifting sandbars on which an unwary steersman can easily run aground.

Echevaria is ruled by duchesses practicing mother-to-daughter succession in the Sarino'atma mode. The duchess’s court and residence are in the walled town of XXXXXXX, which is also the most important river-port on the lower Helvander between Lamasar and Temsevar. Like many of the major cities of the League, it has absorbed a large number of refugees from the recently-concluded Great Orcish Wars, causing various sorts of tension and unrest in the area.
Dark Elves

Dark Elves is a blanket term for all of the elves who rejected the Aeiuradris and turned to the cruel gods of the underworld during the ancient wars between the elven kindreds. The most infamous of them are the dreaded Drow, worshippers of Yllith, but there are also many others who serve other lords of Karkharos. Like the Drow, some kindreds of Dark Elves were outwardly marked for their betrayal, but there are also some that remain indistinguishable from other elves.
Baltusgard

Baltusgard is the ancient stronghold of the Oriflame Knights, located on a high, sheer crag overlooking the Upper Waeth valley in the knighthood's territory of Baltusraal (which takes its name from the fortress). Baltusgard was the base of the order for centuries during the Old Empire period, although it is now semi-ruinous and has been supplanted as their primary stronghold by XXXXXX, located just a few miles away.

Baltusgard's monumental central keep is still mostly intact, but the surrounding bastions, outer works, and most of the towers are now crumbling or half-collapsed and overgrown with ivy. The Oriflame Knights still use the old keep's massive, high-vaulted great hall (and, it is said, hidden chambers in the catacombs below) for their member's initiation rites. These are of course kept secret from outsiders.
Bywater (Torrune)

Bywater is a long, narrow riverfront neighborhood running along the north edge of Torrune's High City, in the strip of land between the city walls and the banks of the Helvander. Because of these constraints, it is no more than a few blocks wide at any point, but it stretches for over a half a mile from east to west. Most of Bywater is devoted to handling river-trade and boat traffic; the riverfront itself is completely lined with docks and piers, with rows of tall, multi-storied warehouses rising immediately behind them. Bywater handles less cargo than the Low City's sprawling waterfront district, but this is only because it is smaller; it is no less crowded and bustling for that.

The Market Gate in the High City walls opens out directly into Bywater, providing the main connection between the waterfront and the walled city proper. West of that, the Griffin's Gate and the abutment of the Fortress Bridge loom over the neighborhood. Flights of broad stairs ascend the embankment on both sides of the abutment, so that traffic from the waterfront level can easily move up onto the bridge's south end to either cross over into the Low City or pass through the Griffin's Gate into the High City.
Greywine River

The Greywine River is a river in the central Taefemach and a tributary of the great Helvander. It flows generally south to north; its headwaters arise in the highlands of the Lokenmoor and it eventually meets the Helvander just below the larger river’s cataracts. The confluence of the Greywine and Helvander is the site of the important mercantile city of Torrune.

Most of the Greywine’s length lies within the Helvandrian League principality of Huareb, although part of it forms that state’s boundary with its western neighbor, Lucidar. It is an important subsidiary trade route feeding into the main commercial artery of the Helvander. Wine, oil, and other goods from the productive lands of Huareb and Lucidar, as well as wool from the Lokenmoor and other commodities coming north across the highland passes from Alondria, are rafted down the Greywine to Torrune and the Helvander.
Koerdia

Koerdia is a region of north-central Rhydain, generally considered to include all the mountainous country north of the Adhemars between the Modrinian lowlands to the east and the River Streva in the west. Across the Adhemars to the south lies the Helvander river valley and the Taefemach. The Koerdian landscape is mostly high and rugged but the mountains slope down to a narrow strip of fertile coastal plain along the Sea of Pearls and the Sea of Tyrus.

A large part of Koerdia lies within the domain of the great dwarven empire of Kuzul-Kadrin, especially along the north slope of the Adhemars and the adjacent ranges. As elsewhere in Kuzul-Kadrin, the human inhabitants in their above-ground towns are allowed a good deal of autonomy by the mostly subterranean dwarves, provided they remain peaceful and don't interfere in dwarven business. Much of this region is encompassed by the Koerdian Freehold, a peculiar sort of quasi-client state which contains most (but not all) of the Koerdian human settlements inside Kuzul-Kadrin's borders, and also extends beyond those borders to include a substantial area of Koerdian territory outside dwarven rule.
Bent Bow River

The Bent Bow River is a major river in eastern Tordynnar. Its estuary widens into the Bay of Orhan, which in turn opens to the Trickster's Sea. Sarcian slave traders often sail up the Bent Bow River to capture or buy Thelbir slaves from the tribes that live around it, and have established a number of outposts along its course, most notably the fortified slave-port of Shevarash near the estuary's mouth.
Kar

Kar is an archaic Tuvai word originally meaning simply “pit”, which over time came to have various connotations such as a sinkhole or cavern, a dump for waste and garbage, an inhospitable or undesirable place, a desert or wasteland (especially one surrounded by mountains, cliffs, or other higher terrain), or a place of suffering and punishment. It is found as a component in place names for regions such as the Kesh Karkhan and the various desert basins which make up that area (where it has the connotation of an arid, inhospitable wasteland), and in the most common Tuvai word for the underworld, Karkharos, which means “Pit of Pits” (in the sense of the ultimate or most terrible of all pits).
Gol Garga

Gol Garga was the mastermind and supreme commander of the massive orcish invasions of southern Orithea which lasted from 1231 to 1253 CV, ending just two years before the present day. He is widely considered the greatest and most dangerous orc warlord in recorded history, and many believe that his hordes would have continued their rampage northwards and eastwards if he had not mysteriously disappeared on the eve of the decisive Battle of Crow’s Gorge.

Whether he is alive or dead, none can say with certainty; a thousand rumors circulate and countless sightings of him have been claimed since his disappearance, but of course that is to be expected of any infamous figure who suddenly goes missing. None of these rumors have been born out, none of the alleged sightings confirmed. His fate remains an enigma.
Aeiur Aedris

The Aeiur Aedris, sometimes Aeiuraedris or Aeiuradris, are the gods of the elves: Aurhion, Nysseia, and their seven daughters Iomhaire, Ylyndar, Eirris, Tethyris, XXXXXXXXX, Utlatande, and Bahaorir. The name Aeiur Aedris means “deities of the true kindred” or "gods and goddesses of the true kin," but the elves often refer to their pantheon simply as the Aeiur, meaning gods or deities (this word is probably the root of the Tuvai “Aiyu,” also meaning gods, a rare example of an outside loan-word entering Tuvai's closly guarded religious lexicon).
Archaic Era

The Archaic Era is the period of human history lasting from newborn mankind's first emergence from Ulshanru until the Schism Wars roughly five thousand years before the present day.

During this period, early humans spread out from Ulshanru (wherever it lay), colonized the lands around the Sarpic Seas, and migrated further out into other parts of Orithea as well. Some of these early, unrecorded migrations must have covered great distances, for in this time it is speculated that the forebears of the Thelbirs reached the northern continent, and the ancestors of the Daare Karsha settled in the arid Kesh Karkhan. Both groups eventually forgot Utara-Vaati and the Tuvai tongue, and lapsed into what the civilized Oritheans today call barbarism. Who can guess how long it took for this regression to unfold, or what strange influences were worked upon these most far-ranging wanderers as they left familiar lands behind?

Scholars know very little about the events of the Archaic Era; even the period's duration is unknown, since no one can say when exactly the first humans came forth from Ulshanru. Conjecture ranges from just over a thousand years before the Schism Wars, up to nearly ten thousand years before them. Unknown centuries, or millennia, passed between that emergence and the earliest written records that are known today.

It is at least known that during this period, humans learned the arts of masonry and metal-working, for by the time of the Schism Wars, bronze implements were in wide use, and great cities of stone construction stood all around the region of the Sarpic Seas. Some say such arts were revealed by Tulkhur, others that they were taught by (or copied from) the dwarves.

This ignorance is due not just to the remoteness of the age, but also to the widespread destruction of records which occurred during the Schism Wars. Many great temples and libraries were lost as cities burned, especially in the devastating upheavals of the wars’ final phase. Perhaps before that destruction, the ancient libraries preserved manuscripts going all the way back to the time of Ulshanru itself, or just afterwards; perhaps the scholars of that lost time knew much more about what is now called the Archaic Age. But if so, their knowledge is lost forever.
Aozmat

Aozmat XXXXX was the sixth and youngest recognized son of Torkai Ul-Tash. He was renowned as one of his father's most capable war-leaders, a skilled fighter and brilliant tactician despite his youth. However, he died under mysterious circumstances in 929 CV. The cause may have been illness, or he may have been assassinated by poison or magic.
Klythonu-Vaati

The Klythonu-Vaati, meaning simply "offspring of Klython" in archaic Tuvai (cf. Thaedonu-Vaati), is a term variously used for all, or just some, of the wind-deities and elemental spirits of sky and storm which are the children of the elder god Klython. It may sometimes refer to all such beings, down to the weakest zephyr-spirit, but it is more often used specifically for the gods of the four seasonal and directional winds: Turomë, Nabhiru, Uatha, and Iraolis, gods of the north, south, east, and west winds respectively. These four are so much more prominent than any of the others that the "Offspring of Klython" is commonly understood to refer to them alone. They are the only ones that may be considered gods (and thus numbered among the Aiyu-Thani) rather than lesser elemental spirits. They are closely associated with the Qali Matra, the seasonal goddesses who are children of Epheos; each of the 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.

The Klythonu-Vaati (meaning the four wind-gods) are generally revered in Rhantashannu as a minor part of their father's cult, lacking temples or full-fledged priesthoods of their own. Their offerings and rituals will be conducted at subordinate altars in the temple of Klython, and their praises will be chanted alongside Klython's on his holy days. There are some exceptions to this, however; for instance, Iraolis is revered as the patron deity and protector of the city-state of XXXXX and has a huge temple dedicated to him in the city's center, and there is an important shrine of Nabhiru on the island of XXXXXX in XXXXX, attended to by a whole order of priests who dwell around it.

Outside Rhantashan Achuirea, the worship of the Klythonu-Vaati in any organized fashion is rare. They are sometimes propitiated by sailors and seafarers, but without much in the way of a formal cultus, and never ahead of the Khreianoa. In the lands of the Vanir-Vaati, they are regarded more as mere folkloric personifications of the wind if they are recognized at all. For instance, someone might say “Turomë is rushing down from the north” when the first cold gusts of winter are felt, but there are not temples or established priesthoods for them (indeed, such would be viewed with hostility and suspicion, given the prominence of Klython in the cult of Rhantashannu).

However the Klythonu-Vaati are often highly regarded by druidic cults, such as those of the Vards, and some shamanic traditions among the Suagirs place great importance on them. The Suagirs call them the Tasharok in their language, which means "Rulers of the Four Winds", derived from the same root "tash", meaning king, seen in "Tash-Teshivan". This gives a sense of the reverence accorded to them. Nabhiru and Uatha are most prominent in their cults, unsurprising given the importance of the spring and summer grazing seasons to the livelihoods of the steppe-riders.
Drow

Drow are the most feared and hated of all the kindreds of the Dark Elves; they are the elves who gave themselves to Yllith, in whom the vileness of abominable Ymuz lives on, and worshipped her to the exclusion of all others. For this they were driven from the face of the earth, deep underground into lightless places, where they dwell to this day.
Batur

Batur was a martial state with a mixed human and dwarven population, ruled by a council of elders chosen from both communities, located in the mountains of central Sularia. Its redoubtable warriors had long formed part of the bulwark holding back the orcish menace along the old Ulthark Marches, but Batur was finally overwhelmed and destroyed by Gol Garga's conquering horde.
Empire of the Red Hawk

The Empire of the Red Hawk, also called the Redhawk Empire, the Vhaluzian Empire, or the Great Southern Empire, is a huge imperial state which controls most of Vhaluzia, parts of far southwestern Achuirea (including a narrow coastal strip on the Emerald Ocean which extends up to the south edge of Belekesh), and sizable holdings in Arrakoth (the easternmost portion of Ulthark). The Redhawk Empire is a tough, martial society with a long history of constant warfare against the orcs of Ulthark. Its borders have fluctuated greatly over the centuries, sometimes extending deep into Arrakoth as the frontier of orcdom is pushed back, other times retreating drastically as orcish invasions have crossed the Gates of Barossus and overrun parts of western Vhaluzia. The imperial succession is matrilineal according to the Sarino'atma law (and claims descent from Myrru Xhuramensu, Tarquenus’s eldest daughter and one of the original high priestesses of the Rhantaseppa), so the empire is ruled by an empress who is also its highest-ranking priestess.

The empire’s name is derived from the sign of the crimson hawk (often shown in a threefold or ninefold arrangement), which is considered the imperial insignia of state and the symbol or emblem of the empire as a whole. The origin of this lies in an auspicious omen, nine red hawks sent by Fimra as a sign to Nayalla the Unflinching, the paladin-priestess and warrior queen who launched the conquest of Vhaluzia against the orcs who once occupied it. Upon receiving the omen, she decreed that the red hawk would be her personal insignia, and swore that all that her forces conquered would be ruled in the name of the Rhantaseppa under the standard of the red hawk. The full or formal name of the empire is “The Rhantashani Empire of Vhaluzia and the Dominion of the Sacred Banner of the Red Hawk.” Likewise the Empress’s full title is "The Serene Rhantashani Empress of Vhaluzia and of all the Dominions of the Sacred Banner of the Red Hawk". She is typically referred to as the Serene Empress (in Vhaluzian lands) or the Redhawk Empress, the Vhaluzian Empress or Empress of Vhaluzia, or the Great Southern Empress (in foreign lands).

Inhabitants of the empire, or especially members of its soldiery, are frequently called simply “Redhawks” by outsiders. The imperial capital is Macharadus, in Myrrene.
Lokes

The Lokes, or Loke-men, are the native inhabitants of the rough, hilly country known as the Lokenmoor in east-central Rhydain. Here they maintain a set of independent, self-governing communities called the Lokenthaal. The Lokes speak a Tuvai dialect (with a very distinctive accent) and practice Utara-Vaati, although according to their own age-old customs which may differ from those followed in the big temples of the lowland cities. The cults of Garhanu, Tulkhur, and Touz are also popular among the Lokes.

The Lokes have a reputation as exceptionally tough, stubborn, and belligerent people. They are known as good warriors and are often hired as mercenaries in other lands throughout Rhydain. The rulers of nearby cities, such as Torrune, also prefer to recruit them as guards and enforcers, for their actual merit as fighters but just as much for their intimidating reputation and the fact that, as outsiders, they won't have preexisting loyalties to any particular faction or clique.

In surrounding lands it is common for Lokes to be known as Larches, Larchers, or Larch-men after the forests of larch trees that cover much of the Lokenmoor. The inhabitants of the region make great use of the larch tree's wood in constructing their houses. In certain parts of the Helvanderûn they are also pejoratively called "mountain goats," a snide commentary by the civilized lowlanders on the supposedly poor grooming and overdeveloped sexual habits of the moor-dwellers.

Another nickname for Lokes is "tarkers" or "tark-drinkers", this one coming from a stereotype that is certainly rooted in truth. It stems from their love of a liquor called ‘tark’, a rough and fiery distilled spirit which most lowlanders cannot stomach. Tark may be made from fermented highland apples or other fruit, or from a mash of barley, meaning there are actually several different varieties; "tark" is just the broad term in the Lokish dialect for all their distilled spirits. They have their own specific terms for the different types and styles made in different ways. Non-Lokes generally only find it tolerable if weakened by mixing with water or wine, and often also sweetened with honey, a practice the Lokes sneer at and would never engage in. Many lowlanders assume a Loke-man is never without a leather flask of reeking, pungent tark tucked into the waist of his breeches.
Dwarven Quarter (Torrune)

The Dwarven Quarter is the westernmost district of Torrune's High City, situated northwest of the Temple Quarter and across the Greywine River from Fenside. It is so-named because it has long been the preferred dwelling-place of Torrune's dwarven population, and a disproportionate number of its inhabitants are of that race.
Mithril

Mithril, also sometimes called true-silver, true-steel, or elf-steel, is a rare and precious metal with nearly miraculous properties. It is as strong as the best steel (or even stronger), but much lighter, with a silver-white luster that never tarnishes, and it takes to enchantment exceptionally well. It is mined exclusively by the dwarves, who consider it one of Urugan's sacred gifts and who alone know how to find hidden veins of its ore deep in the roots of the mountains. Dwarven smiths preserve many secret techniques for the working of mithril and the making of various alloys from it, and use it to forge arms and armor of wondrous quality.

However, it is also loved by the elves, who buy it at great price from the dwarves and have their own methods for its use. The best elven artificers can create mithril objects of no less workmanship, and arguably even greater beauty, than those of the dwarves. It is because of the elves' love for mithril that some call it elf-steel, despite the fact that they do not produce it themselves.
High Elves

The High Elves are those kindreds of the elven race who often make their dwelling-places in high and hidden vales amidst mountain peaks, or on their slopes or even their snow-capped summits (this is the origin of their name). Some of these places are large enough to be called cities, but most are smaller. Like the havens of the sea-elves or the forest homes of the wood-elves, they are often protected by spells of warding and illusion that conceal them from non-elven trespassers.

Many high elves inhabit the Elven Isles in the midst of the Encircling Sea; here they are less concerned with staying concealed in such secret refuges. Of course many of them do dwell among the mountains that rise in the centers of these islands, but others raise their towers on high bluffs overlooking the ocean, or on the green plains and wooded hills, or upon the shores like their sea-elf cousins.
Azarian Archipelago

The Azarian Archipelago, also called the Azarian (or Azar) Islands (or Isles), or the Numberless Isles, is a vast group of several thousand islands spread out over a roughly triangular area of ocean (the Shimmering Seas) reaching from Taijuria’s eastern tip to the northwest coast of Achuirea. Most of these myriad islands are tiny, but hundreds are sizable, and several are over a hundred miles long or wide. The archipelago can be subdivided into a number of smaller island groups and chains, many very extensive in their own right. To the north of the archipelago lie the open waters of the Thurnic Ocean; to the southwest, the Emerald Ocean.

The native peoples of the Azarian Isles are the Azars, from whom the archipelago takes its name. However, over the ages, many different groups have migrated into and between the islands, mixing and interbreeding, colonizing and conquering creating a diverse and polyglot population.
Dobrotea

Dobrotea is the westernmost part of Kelimarian lands, extending as a westward-pointing triangular peninsula with the Sea of Wyrms to its north and the Sea of Faerod to its south. Geographically, it is an extension of the Plain of Tharsus or Kelimarian Plain, low-lying with a warm climate and lushly forested landscape. Its inhabitants are Kelims (with scattered halfling populations); the people living along its coastlines are noted fishermen and boatwrights.

Dobrotea is the heartland of XXXXXXX, one of the major Kelimarian kingdoms which recently reasserted its sovereignty following the collapse of the Kelimarian Sultanate during Gol Garga's invasions. XXXXXX, the biggest city in XXXXX (though not its capital), is situated on the southern coast of Dobrotea and is one of Kelimaria's major seaports for trade with Azhir and the Western Isles. It was attacked by a sizable force of orc corsairs in 1254 CV, just a year before the present time, but succeeded in repelling them.
Baajir

Baajir is a broad region of flat, predominantly marshy country lying on the northern edge of the Cesynian Plain. It is traditionally considered to form the boundary between those grasslands and the Great Plain of Tethas to the north. At its greatest extent it stretches over three hundred miles wide, from the vantagelands of the Suagir steppe in the west to foothills of Istrium's mountains in the east. The headwaters of the Ontos River arise in Baajir's wetlands, as do some of the tributaries which eventually feed north and east into the mighty Rhanna.

The size of the Baajiri marshes is variable, both seasonally and over longer timespans. In the dry seasons the waters are low and travel across the region is easier. In the rainy season, the meandering creekbeds fill to become maze-like networks of sluggish waterways, and the scattered pools swell and join together into huge shallow lakes filled with islands of reeds. Some usable routes still run through the area even in these times, but they are often difficult to follow and confusing for outsiders.

By far the most important settlement in Baajir is the large, fortified city of Bromokoray. It is well-positioned to control the most useful roads through the marshlands, an intertwined set of wide and relatively straightforward routes which remain passable even in the rainy seasons. Since Baajir creates a natural boundary between Phyridian-ruled Cesynia and the southwestern reaches of Kirdan-ruled Urem, it has long been contested as a frontier zone between the two empires. Bromokoray has thus changed hands several times over centuries of intermittent warfare; it has been under Kirdan control since 1195 CV and the conclusion of the XXXXXXXX War.
Chogorus

Chogorus, the Great Devourer, the Dweller in the Uttermost Pit, is one of the Old Gods or the Aiyu-Atma. He embodies the primordial and chthonic forces of darkness, entropy, negation, and annihilation. As his epithet suggests, his abode is the nethermost depth of Karkharos, the abyssal pit, beneath even the hellish domains of all the other gods of the underworld. He fathered many of those younger deities, and many lesser demons and monstrosities too, by the vile womb of Ymuz before he finally turned upon and devoured her; in his gullet the Mother of Abomination at last met oblivion. He cares nothing for the schemes and ambitions of his infernal offspring. Likewise he cares nothing for the affairs of mortals. Alone among all the gods, he is not venerated in cult, he hears no prayers, he has no priests, none worship him.
Myrrenian Channel

The Myrrennian Channel is a waterway separating the northeastern shores of Vhaluzia from the southwestern tip of Achuirea. It is one of the three places where the Inner Oceans (in this case, the Emerald Ocean) connect to the Encircling Ocean; the other two are the Gates of Barossus on the other side of Vhaluzia, and Durrak's Passage far to the north between Achuirea and Forvirad.

The Myrrenian Channel takes its name from the land of Myrrene, whose coastline forms its southern edge.
Malakiros

Malakiros is a major city of the Phyridian Empire. It is situated on the northwest coastline of Thiatia, near the mouth of the Adomos River, whose long, sinuous valley separates the Thiatian highlands from those of Istrium to the north.

Strategically speaking, Malakiros is doubly important to Amran. Firstly, it is the seat of imperial governance for all of Thiatia, a restive and unruly province where Phyridian control is becoming more and more tenuous by the year. Secondly, the Adomos valley also serves as part of the long frontier between Phyridian and Kirdan territory, meaning Malakiros is an important military garrison and a lynchpin for the defense of the empire's borders.