The setting for the fantasy story I'm still working on, revolving around a large island known as Nalbin.
As currently known, Nalbin is about 1.1 million square miles in area, has a population of about 5 million and sits north of a massive strait from the Continent. The island is a home to various races from the Continent who have sought refuge here and proceeded to displace their predecessors. The oldest dominant race were the Sabines, the mysterious small wood folk who worshipped the forests that were their home. These were displaced almost a millenia ago by the Duregaren, the stone folk, who favored the hills and mountains and were known for their skills in crafting and mining. Then came the Trasgu, the people of the snow, though after the arrival of humans to Nalbin everyone called them the Other Men. The warlike Other Men conquered most of Nalbin, dominating it for centuries until the human migrations. Other races include the tribally organized pixies, sprites, trolls, minotaurs, goblins, Ixionidae (centaurs), Caprinae (satyrs), Cynocephali (dog-men), as well as dragons, gryphons, manticores, harpies, and all matter of creatures from bestiarum vocabulum.
And then the humans arrived.
There were at least five human migrations to the island, including the Silures, the Iazyges, the Mouro and the Sihai, each arriving at different points, falling into conflict with the previous inhabitants and eventually assimilating into the culture. Gradually a dominant fusion culture emerged from the chaos and established the people known as Auxians.
Like all human civilizations the Auxians were expansionary, and far more than any race earlier. In centuries of conflict, the Duregaren were driven to the mountains, the Sabines across the mountains into the Great Back Valley, and most other races and creatures were thrown into the peripheries and marginal lands by the violent continuously growing human population. The greatest fight however was with the Other Men. In the bloody War of Nalbin, the Other Men united and nearly succeeded in driving the Auxians back, but they were ultimately overwhelmed, and only managed to contain the human counterattack from the mostly inhospitable Northern half of Nalbin. And there the situation statemated.
In that war, the humans had unified to face the Other Men threat, creating the Kingdom of Auxia under the most powerful human kingdom then present, Ardea. Due to its nature as a voluntary union of independent kingdoms and societies, the Kingdom of Auxia operates under a satrap system of loosely autonomous states that pay homage and tribute to the royal family. This has not always been the most stable of situations, and the satraphs were infamous for their bickering and occasional disloyalty.
A century later, a final human migration, the Tulusculum, arrived and after several wars carved out a large territory to the South of the island. Nearly alone among the humans, the Tulusculums were proudly distinct and generally distrustful of the Auxians, with the Auxians returning the favor.
The Other Men eventually unified into several major kingdoms, the most powerful being the Kingdom of Tassure. There are major conflicts in these kingdoms between the reformers, eager for adapting the technology and culture of the humans, and the conservatives eager to hold on to the old but rapidly disappearing shamanic warrior culture of the Trasgu. In recent decades, shamans and prophets among the Other Men had begun to rally for a return to the old ways and destroy the corrupting human influence once and for all.
At the beginning of the story, it is the year 1324. The human Kingdom of Auxia is tottering, having suffered through poor governance, a succession of weak, incompetent rulers, and mismanaged wars. Always a difficulty to handle, the Satraphs had taken advantage to gain more autonomy and launch acts of rebellion. In the hopes of keeping a tighter grip, the King of Auxia has recently moved the capital from the ancient city of Caldern in Ardea to the new city of Santium closer to the new centers of human growth. Tulusculum remains independent, but is now joined by the Plains Alliance of Horse Lords and the new human settlements in Northern Nalbin known as the Northern Colonies. Having dominated the Tidewater and the Piedmont, humans had begun expanding towards the mountains, moving into previously unsettled areas known as the Wilds. This had sparked a war and a humiliating defeat a decade ago aginst the remnants of the Sabines, who have formed into a city-state coalition in the Back Valley, and more recently this has also sparked a war with the goblin tribes living in the Southern and Betakinin Ranges.
In the North, a new, ambitious generation from the Kingdom of Tassure has succeeded in imposing a neo-traditional, militaristic school of thought into the land. In one generation, Tassure swallowed the other Other Men states, including its traditional rival Mercia. The new Tassurian Empire had observed the current weakness of the humans and was planning to take advantage by destroying the Northern Colonies and sweeping the Plains Alliance, before perhaps setting is sights on the weakened Auxia itself.
Meanwhile on a mountain near one remote, isolated human settlement on the periphery of the Kingdom of Auxia, where some of the preceding races were still occasionally observed, a young dragon decided to move in.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Various Artists-Medieval Music Hardcore Party Mix
This is mainly for my personal reference. I love maps.
Made by Azgaar's Fantasy Map Generator v 0.80b. It's pretty cool.
As currently known, Nalbin is about 1.1 million square miles in area, has a population of about 5 million and sits north of a massive strait from the Continent. The island is a home to various races from the Continent who have sought refuge here and proceeded to displace their predecessors. The oldest dominant race were the Sabines, the mysterious small wood folk who worshipped the forests that were their home. These were displaced almost a millenia ago by the Duregaren, the stone folk, who favored the hills and mountains and were known for their skills in crafting and mining. Then came the Trasgu, the people of the snow, though after the arrival of humans to Nalbin everyone called them the Other Men. The warlike Other Men conquered most of Nalbin, dominating it for centuries until the human migrations. Other races include the tribally organized pixies, sprites, trolls, minotaurs, goblins, Ixionidae (centaurs), Caprinae (satyrs), Cynocephali (dog-men), as well as dragons, gryphons, manticores, harpies, and all matter of creatures from bestiarum vocabulum.
And then the humans arrived.
There were at least five human migrations to the island, including the Silures, the Iazyges, the Mouro and the Sihai, each arriving at different points, falling into conflict with the previous inhabitants and eventually assimilating into the culture. Gradually a dominant fusion culture emerged from the chaos and established the people known as Auxians.
Like all human civilizations the Auxians were expansionary, and far more than any race earlier. In centuries of conflict, the Duregaren were driven to the mountains, the Sabines across the mountains into the Great Back Valley, and most other races and creatures were thrown into the peripheries and marginal lands by the violent continuously growing human population. The greatest fight however was with the Other Men. In the bloody War of Nalbin, the Other Men united and nearly succeeded in driving the Auxians back, but they were ultimately overwhelmed, and only managed to contain the human counterattack from the mostly inhospitable Northern half of Nalbin. And there the situation statemated.
In that war, the humans had unified to face the Other Men threat, creating the Kingdom of Auxia under the most powerful human kingdom then present, Ardea. Due to its nature as a voluntary union of independent kingdoms and societies, the Kingdom of Auxia operates under a satrap system of loosely autonomous states that pay homage and tribute to the royal family. This has not always been the most stable of situations, and the satraphs were infamous for their bickering and occasional disloyalty.
A century later, a final human migration, the Tulusculum, arrived and after several wars carved out a large territory to the South of the island. Nearly alone among the humans, the Tulusculums were proudly distinct and generally distrustful of the Auxians, with the Auxians returning the favor.
The Other Men eventually unified into several major kingdoms, the most powerful being the Kingdom of Tassure. There are major conflicts in these kingdoms between the reformers, eager for adapting the technology and culture of the humans, and the conservatives eager to hold on to the old but rapidly disappearing shamanic warrior culture of the Trasgu. In recent decades, shamans and prophets among the Other Men had begun to rally for a return to the old ways and destroy the corrupting human influence once and for all.
At the beginning of the story, it is the year 1324. The human Kingdom of Auxia is tottering, having suffered through poor governance, a succession of weak, incompetent rulers, and mismanaged wars. Always a difficulty to handle, the Satraphs had taken advantage to gain more autonomy and launch acts of rebellion. In the hopes of keeping a tighter grip, the King of Auxia has recently moved the capital from the ancient city of Caldern in Ardea to the new city of Santium closer to the new centers of human growth. Tulusculum remains independent, but is now joined by the Plains Alliance of Horse Lords and the new human settlements in Northern Nalbin known as the Northern Colonies. Having dominated the Tidewater and the Piedmont, humans had begun expanding towards the mountains, moving into previously unsettled areas known as the Wilds. This had sparked a war and a humiliating defeat a decade ago aginst the remnants of the Sabines, who have formed into a city-state coalition in the Back Valley, and more recently this has also sparked a war with the goblin tribes living in the Southern and Betakinin Ranges.
In the North, a new, ambitious generation from the Kingdom of Tassure has succeeded in imposing a neo-traditional, militaristic school of thought into the land. In one generation, Tassure swallowed the other Other Men states, including its traditional rival Mercia. The new Tassurian Empire had observed the current weakness of the humans and was planning to take advantage by destroying the Northern Colonies and sweeping the Plains Alliance, before perhaps setting is sights on the weakened Auxia itself.
Meanwhile on a mountain near one remote, isolated human settlement on the periphery of the Kingdom of Auxia, where some of the preceding races were still occasionally observed, a young dragon decided to move in.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Various Artists-Medieval Music Hardcore Party Mix
This is mainly for my personal reference. I love maps.
Made by Azgaar's Fantasy Map Generator v 0.80b. It's pretty cool.
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Any
Size 1280 x 647px
Interesting map. Looks pretty close to the south-west region of England actually. With Brekshire and Antium being where Cornwall is. Volschia where Bristol is etc..
Really like the background information for this land and the characters that live in it.
Really like the background information for this land and the characters that live in it.
You are in fact the first person to figure that out! I'm impressed!
I wanted to include a thinly veiled Wales somewhere as the only extant nation centered around a Western dragon, and the Bristol Channel was most similar geographically with my arrangement of kingdoms.
Thanks!
I wanted to include a thinly veiled Wales somewhere as the only extant nation centered around a Western dragon, and the Bristol Channel was most similar geographically with my arrangement of kingdoms.
Thanks!
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