Cleocadia

The heart of the South. Once the home of a great empire, now composed of remnant nations on a great, dark sea. Home to many islands, many folk, and many, many mysteries.

## Geography

Cleocadia is the name given to a stretch of sea between the Miasma  and Sulterland, spanning the central third of the South. No truly fixed borders have been drawn at the sea's edges, but what is and is not within Cleocadia's bounds has been generally agreed-upon by various governments.

Perhaps the most accurate depiction of Cleocadia's bounds can be found in 'A Revised Cartographic Rendition of the Known Isles of Cleocadia' (570 Edition). Authored by the infamous Sebastian Alabaster, the map's dedication reads:

*Consisting of the Cleothalassa and the Commons therein, including nations comprising the Coalition of Cleocadia, the southmost Sulterland, and the seafaring route of the Nakesvar.*

*Comissioned by the charitable Morden Hallory as a source of inestimable benefit to all folk of the world.*

*Taken from the travels of Sebastian Alabaster, Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Halholm.*

Due to the contraversy surrounding Alabaster, many cartographers are in the process of producing more up-to-date maps to replace his rendition, which is now almost a century out of date.

## Government: the Coalition of Cleocadia

The Coalition  is the principle governing force in Cleocadia. It consists of five allied nations which rule most of the Great Dark Sea. Its constituent nations are:

* The Republic of Alstice
* The Dwarven Hold of Titanbath
* The Unified City States of High Celsus, including the City State of Lucia
* The Stratocratic Republic of Sylvestris
* Vorsthalland

The Coalition's own founded nation, Imara, is seen as a territory shared between the other five.

Though the Coalition is governed by a council, its paramount leader is widely regarded to be Fleet Admiral Griselda Raleigh. She is known for leading the military campaign that lead to the downfall of Ulthir, and is often credited with founding the Coalition in the first place.

## The Commons

The Commons are the small, Coalition-controlled isles on the Great Dark Sea from which Cleocadia is built. These islands make up most of Cleocadia when put together, so 'the Commons' often refers to the area of sea controlled by the Coalition, or even just the civilisation on the Great Dark Sea. Each island in the Commons possesses different cultures and levels of education, technology and magic.

The language of the Commons is the predominant language spoken in Cleocadia: the Common Tongue, more often called 'Common'. Having developed and spread over many centuries, the Common Tongue is spoken in almost every corner of Cleocadia. While Coalition nations cater to their native languages first (Elven, Dwarven and so on) almost every Cleocadian can be expected to speak Common.

## Currency

The currencies of Cleocadia are a combination of commodity coins - the so-called Golden Bird (or 'Albie') - and representative paper notes - the Derring. These are minted and valued by the Coalition.

## Non-Coalition Nations

* Camanaida.
* The Shale.
* The Waterlands.
* Belliferi.
* The Kingdom of Rijk.
* Ostoja.
* The Nakesvar.