Japrait

Japrait is the name of the collective security alliance between many of the city-states that declared independence from Garanain when Isthor split from Liowa. Its two most significant members are Baingrove and Krancastle.

## Armistice

### **City**

*"You ask me, Alador's a bit optimistic. I agree with his ideas and I love him; he's my big brother, but that doesn't mean he's right about everything. It's only a matter of time before we run into a problem peace can't solve. But until then, for me, for him, for all the Ghror... Peace is a nice change of pace." - Othmuun, Prince of Ghro*

Born out of a hate for hatred and a desire to grow, Armistice is the newest settlement within Japrait's borders under the leadership of the Ghror prince Adalor. having grown tired of life in the Ghror bandit tribe and feeling destined for something greater, Adalor led an uprising against his father's leadership of the Ghor, bringing his followers out of the Ashen wood and into the grasslands of central Ishtor where in 102 AM they built a new town pledged to cooperation and peaceful living with their Japraitian neigbors. though Adalor's settlement, Armistice, has been met with support from Baingrove and cautious engagement by the small towns and villages in the central plains, Krahncastle remains hostile and skeptical towards Adalor, citing Armstice's composition of former thieves and killers: people who, though claiming reform, have wreaked terror upon Krancastle mere years ago. Furthermore, raids by Adalor's father Kriam and his loyalist Ghror Wilders have become increasingly frequent and increasingly brutal in light of their new weakness, enhancing Krani resentment of the Ghror generally and slowly pushing the groups further towards conflict.

## Krahncastle

### **City**

*"A little bit like Shimmervale, but not quite as rich. A little bit like Drachoria, but not nearly as artsy. A little bit like Iganara and Varr, but somehow i'm even more scared to step out of line. But it's also got its own sense of sould unlike any of those other places. A sort of proud but anxious new-kid-on-the-block feeling: a little bit out of place in the world, but willing to do anything to stay." -Overseer Thrame*

When Western Garanain first split from the mainland after Jaekka's abdication. Krahncastle seized its opportunity. For centuries, the city had developed withing Garanain, but separately from it; the Krani had their own culture, their own economy, and their own desire for sovereignty. When the Worldseam split Ishtor from Garanain and made swift naval passage between the continents nearly impossible, Krancastle took mere months to declare its independence as a city state, and when the Krani entered a common alliance with Baingrove and the minor towns of Ishtor, Garanain hardly resisted. Along with Baingrove, Krancastle entered a neww era as a leading member of the Japraitian alliance. Japrait's formation did not bring peace to Krancastle though; disputes with New azletsu to the north ended with bloody conflict in the border town Arrix and subsequent creation of the Arrak, and Krancastle has suffered ongoing raids from the Ghror to the west for generations, leading to increased militarization of the city guard force and skepticism of the would-be japraitian newcomer, Armistice.

## Scarlet Marsh

### **City**

*"Whatever's plagueing that place turns everything red. trees are red. Dirt's red. rabbits even, or what's left of 'em. Sometimes you step in something red and wet. You check your boot. You hope it's just water; it's red too. But ain't no telling in the Marsh. So you just keep steppin' and hopin' until you get out of there." -Yôor*

Perhaps the people of Japrait could have stopped the Marsh once. Now, they settle for slowing its creeping growth. Binding spells, temporal distortion fields, and curtains of necrotizing magic hold back the spread of Scarlet Marsh's infecting influence any further inland, but wherever it finds a crack in the Japraitian's defences, the Marsh crawls onward. efforts to find whatever presumed chroma led to the Marh's creation have all failed. Now, most research on the region is performed by scientists fruitlessly searching for a way to push its infestation back permanently or by intrepid alchemists at the border who use its exotic flora, fauna, and fungi as unique ingredients. But the Marsh does not care about who is within it or why. it corrupts -absolutely, universally. Those who become lost within and do not fall to the toxic fumes or brutal wildlife eventually become part of it, claimed by the same scarlet fungus that controls all of the swamp.