Antarctica

**Antarctica** is one of two continents located on the planet of Landonia. It is the smallest of the two, being about 1/3 of the size of Felrun. It is generally split into Eastern Antarctica and Western Antarctica. As of 2023 CE, Eastern Antarctica is ruled by Archmage Yukon Frostmantle, and Western Antarctica is made up of hundreds of various sovereign goliath, ice genasi, ice dragonborn, and penguin aarokocra tribes.

## Geography

Antarctica is centered around the south pole of Landonia. It is bordered by several large, temperate islands to the north. It is approximately 1/3 of the size of Felrun, and is characterized by its extremely low temperatures and near inhabitable environment for those not prepared for the harsh weather.

### Geograpical Features

##### Ice Caps

A majority of Antarctica is made up of extremely thick ice caps, which many races are completely incapable of inhabiting. This ice sheet makes up nearly 85% of the surface of Antarctica, and contains only 5% of the entire population.

##### Mountains

Many of the "mountains" seen on the surface of Antarctica are actually made of compacted ice. However, one range, known as the Transantarctic Mountains, does exist. It is made of primarily sedimentary rock and spans the length of the entire continent, splitting West Antarctica from East Antarctica. This range marks, generally, the separation of the ice caps from the tundra of Antarctica.

##### Tundra

The Antarctican tundra, dubbed the Yukon tundra by Archmage Yukon Frostmantle in 1857 CE, is a tundra which makes up about 15% of the surface of Antarctica, and holds 95% of the entire population. It is sparsely populated by small, cold acclimated vegetation, and several small rivers flow through it, with small settlements being located almost exclusively on the banks of said rivers.

##### Rivers

The River Aichen is the largest river, which flows from the Transantarctic mountains down to Cape Aichen in Western Antarctica. It is quite slow moving and calm, and is able to support trade in the warmer months. In the colder months, the river often freezes over. While multiple other smaller streams feed into the River Aichen, none are quite wider or long enough to be noteworthy.

##### Roads

The roads of Antarctica, while once numerous and new, fell out of use as the use of magic became more widespread. Many have fallen completely out of use, and have disappeared off the map almost entirely. The major exception was Platinum's pass, which led from the capital city of Kavadoriel to the mining village of Arcata, which is nestled within a passage between two of the tallest transantarctic mountains.

### Climate

All seasons of the year were quite harsh, with winters being especially frigid. Farming is completely pointless, apart from occasional magical agriculture. Antarctica is very arid, and snow is not commonplace. When it is, it often stays put for hundreds of years, unless cleared via manmade means.

## Government

Antarctica has always been inhabited by the ice elves of the east, as well as the tribal societies of the west. However, as time passed and technology progressed, the elves drove most of the tribes which once inhabited the tundra onto the ice sheets. Only some of the goliath tribes remained on the tundra, having successfully fought off the elves enough to sign a white peace and hold onto their tribal territories.

* Sovereign nations
	+ Magocracy of Valorir
	+ Various tribal societies

## History

### Prehistory

Extensive archeological evidence of groups of nomadic genasi, dragonborn, aarikocra, and goliaths have been discovered, preserved in ice, and have been dated as far back at 50,000 BCE. At some point before 10,000 BCE, a group of high elves travelled across the Lemming Ocean on a glacier. They are believed to have, at some point, diverged from high elves as a new subrace know as ice elves.

### Early History

Antarctica's capital city of Kavadoriel was founded by King Aaroveil of the Rawlins dynasty. In the year 859 CE. From this point onwards, the realm of Valorir slowly expanded and grew into a feudal society, with Aaroveil ruling for well over 600 years. Aaroveil was extremely loved by denizens of Valorir, and is still held in great respects, being known as the man who founded and united the region of Eastern Antarctica.

### Magocratic Coup

In 1494, Aaroveil died of old age, and was replaced by his eldest son and heir, King Aarowynn. Aarowynn, unlike his father, proved to be an incredibly incompetent ruler. Not only was he incapable of the powerful magic his father wielded, he was also a party animal and, instead of dealing with the problems of his country head on, he constantly held feasts and parties, and let his royal court single handedly do all of the work for him. After only 7 years of ruling, he was assassinated by his spymaster William Vassaan, and was left without an heir, leading to the War of Valoririan succession.

Multiple minor factions which sprang up as a result of this war were, by 1503, crushed by Yukon Frostmantle and his force of extremely powerful mages. Yukon's faction took control, instating a Magocracy in which only the most powerful mage held the throne. As of 2023, Yukon has ruled for over 500 years, crushing any challengers to the throne, in an era of harmony for those who live in Eastern Antarctica.

### Trail of Frozen Tears

Throughout the 500 year reign of Archmage Yukon, the peaceful tribes which once inhabited the eastern tundra were forced out of their native lands and onto the western ice sheets. Many tribes were unable to make a living on the ice sheets, the ice dragonborn in particular, and were lamost completely wiped to extinction.

While the dragonborn and goliath tribes fought back against their oppressors, the aarakocra and ice genasi willingly left their lands for the ice sheets. The aarakocra fled to the surface of the ice sheets, relying on advanced ice fishing techniques, as well as hunting beasts to get by, while the genasi fled beneath the ice sheets, setting up massive colonies submerged in the frozen sea.

In 1732 CE, after 200 long years of back and forth battle and thousands of casualties, the autonomous tribes of goliaths and Valorir signed peace deals, which allowed the goliaths to continue living alongside the ice elves in the tundra. Since then, the two races have gotten along quite well, with the ice elves giving goliaths access to advanced technologies traded to them by merchants from Felrun.

## Fauna

Antarctica is home to a diverse array of creatures, most of which have heavy fur and are generally piscivorous, or if in the tundra, herbivorous.

### Common Fauna

* Ice Mephits
* Yetis
* Banshees
* Frost Salamanders
* Frost Dragons
* Mammoths
* Ice Crabs
* Polar Bears
* Narwhals
* Otters
* Seals
* Giant Walruses