Great Tome of Ansheme

[Catriona]

The world of Ansheme.

A dark world with thin planar bounds. Largely unexplored, the known world consists of three major nations, two city states, and a lot of water.

The five nations are spread over two continents with a narrow sea in between. This Teyalith Sea, or more commonly, Channel of Blood, has been the stage of many a naval battle and the road for many an army. It only takes about four or five days to cross.

The countries of Esamura, Tal-Harat and the Bishopric Kuanous Lithidion are on the continent of Cae-Dakru. This massive stretch of land is shaped roughly like a tear, with Kuanous Lithidion at the top, Esamura in the south-west, and Tal-Harat in the south-east.

The Princedom Ostraka and the country of Merian Antha lie on the continent Zeron Anudra, which consists of two islands. The northern-most island is Ostraka, the southern island, which is much larger, is Merian Antha. Both islands are long stretched, but not very wide.

Zeron Anudra lies to the east of Cae-Dakru.

[Catriona]

The political stage of the five nations is ever shifting. Currently the allegiances are as such:

Ostraka and Merian Antha, after a fifteen-year-war which ended five years ago, have largely put aside their differences and are now officially allied and at peace.

Esamura and Kuanous Lithidion have a weak alliance, which is always being challenged by one or both of the countries. Urgent negotiations and diplomatic emergencies are a common sight, to the point of being proverbial.

The two alliances view each other with mutual suspicion, but not with outright hostility.

Tal-Harat is allied to none and hated by all.

[Catriona]

Tal-Harat did not used to be a city-state, and it is not counted as one even now. However, the name would be appropriate, seeing as the land is all covered by one big city. The streets are narrow, the stones of the tall buildings are dark. There are designated areas for farms, right in the middle of town, and the inhabitants eat a lot of fish.

While officially a kingdom, it is never clear exactly who reigns Tal-Harat. There are families, factions, organisations, interest groups, and powerful individuals. The city is a dangerous one, both for the powerful and the powerless, as the crime rates are high and ever climbing.

Tal-Harat uses a lot of technology, albeit often constructed with in-built magical properties. It is also a very militaristic nation, and the combination of these two make it to where none of their neighbours trust this smoky, dark nation, even though the last war they fought was sixty-nine years ago, against Merian Antha.

Geographically, the country is separated by a large mountain range from all the rest of the continent, which is probably the only reason they have not been invaded lately. The climate is rather cold, and very wet. There are a lot of little rivers running through the city, the largest of which is the River Ithis. Through most of the year, and most of the city, there seems to be a perpetual fog.

Culturally, Tal-Harat is a mish-mash of people, beliefs, habits. Overall, people tend to be reserved, keeping themselves to themselves. Being outside is not a favourite past-time. While anyone is free to settle here, the nation has a rather superior attitude towards all other nations. Tal-Harat rules supreme, and if you do not realise it, you are inferior.

You will be happy to find that Tal-Harat will be the starting location for this game.

[Catriona]

Esamura.

On the other side of the mountains of Tal-Harat lies a country that is far less urbanized, but even less hospitable. The mountains never truly go down again: the entire land west of these tops is rocky, with high tops, deep narrow vales. The ground is red rocks here, black rocks there, but truly fertile it is never. Towards the coast, these rock hills get somewhat less steep, less sharp, but they literally continue up until the sea. Not even there is fertile land.

As a consequence, there are a lot of little villages scattered around the country. The people are simple and fierce. Officially an empire, the Emperor is in effect the strongest of the several dozen warlords, most of whom pay some sort of tribute to the emperor. But not all do.

The emperor's keep (it is more of a fortress than a palace) lies in the nation's capital, which is also the only city more or less deserving of that name, the city of Nezer, located on and between the hills by the south-western corner of the continent.

The culture of this place is very much focussed on war. The strong take care of the weak, and in return the strong deserve to rule. The lower in rank pay tribute to their direct chief, who pays homage to an overlord, who pays homage to the area's warlord, who pays tribute to the emperor... The feudal system, in other words.

These people are very, very poor. Even the rich, even the emperor live in circumstances that would seem crude at best. Etiquette is not an issue. Most people in the inland get by herding goats, the people on the coast get by fishing.

Clothing tends to be simple. The high and mighty tend to be recognisable by the better and more decorative armour. Weapon motifs are an often-used means of decoration.

This society is very patriarchal. Women are a man's lesser in any circumstance. While a man may, in theory, have multiple wives, the poor cannot afford to do so. Poor women have to work as hard as their husbands, but richer women are kept at home. Women are not allowed to wield weapons or hold any position of responsibility or authority.

Also, love is not an issue in this society. All marriages, down to the poorest of the poorest, are arranged.

The climate in Esamura is wet, as it is in Tal-Harat. While not as foggy, it tends to rain. And rain.

[Catriona]

The Bishopric Kuanous Lithidion.

This city-state lies north of Esamura and Tal-Harat, in the very tip of Cae-Dakru. The city is spread over five cliff peaks, the houses perched up there like bird's nests. The streets are narrow and winding, and in a lot of places they are stairs rather than flat streets. The five peeks of Kuanous Lithidion are linked by five massively strong stone bridges.

There are some fishermen at the coast, which is at the foot of the tall cliffs, and there are some farmers in the mountains, but most of the food that is needed for this relatively large, crammed and crowded city is secured through trade- and, it is whispered, piracy. Because ships (not only the ones carrying food) travelling around the Teyalith Sea, and even as far as the Zeron Anudra islands, have a rather serious piracy problem, and Kuanous Lithidion has a strong harbour at the foot of their cliffs.

Most of the people of the Five Peeks are craftspeople or sailor-soldiers. The crafts of Kuanous Lithidion are legendary. They are famous smiths, weavers, carpenters, you name it, and all their products are decorated with the most beautiful intertwined patterns. The trade of these goods (and possibly their alledged piracy) have made the inhabitants of this interesting place very rich. Their chalk-white houses are often decorated with the same interlaced patterns in many colours.

On the highest of the Five Peeks stands the palace of the Bishop, the supreme ruler of the city-state, head of church and state alike. The Bishop, which might be male or female, leads worship as well as war. The worship is simply called the Faith. All the inhabitants of Kuanous Lithidion pay at least lipservice to the Faith, though most are devoutly religious.

The Faith is a complicated system of gods, demons, and lesser powers. It teaches that there are three superior gods: Pelas Helon, brave god of the sun, Mare Caris, kind but fickle godess of the sea, and Demilor, terrible god of the mountains. The three gods are being opposed by an army of devils and demons and witches, but they are helped by an army of angels and saints. There are good spirits and evil spirits that need appeasing, and the Bishop knows it all.

Climat-wise, Kuanous Lithidion is a good place if you do not like rain. The cliffs are too high to often get it. They are usually above the clouds.

[Catriona]

The Princedom Ostraka

Ostraka, northern-most island of Zeron Anudra, a city-state of which the inhabitants are said to have salt water and ink for blood. They are not tradespeople and pirates like the people of Kuanous Lithidion: these people trade with the sea itself. They trade with the creatures of the waters, and first and fremost, they explore.

Reigned by the Philosoper-Prince (an otherwise nameless Lord who has ruled this place since time before memory), Ostraka is obsessed with knowledge. This is the city of massive libraries and laboratories, both mundane and magical- magic is a science to them like any other. This is the city where it matters what you know more than who you know. These people are ever curious and calculating. Nice as the pursuit of knowledge may sound, they are certainly not averse to diving into the dark sides of science, which may partly explain how a state of scholars survives in such a militant world.

The pursuit of knowledge comes before everything in this culture. Art, romantic love or material gain is less of an issue, and strangers to the land will find its inhabitants manifesting a two-fold attitude- on the one hand, they will be ever-curious about his origin, his ways, his language. On the other hand, they are reluctant to share their own knowledge, up to being paranoid about spies and plagiarists.

The island is not very large, and it is a city state because the city of Ostraka is the only town of any significance there. The city is very clean and made of sandstone, with the Philosopher-Prince's Shell- a library-palace shaped like a shell- towering over the houses.

The climate of the city-state is less cold than in Cae-Dakru, as the island is passed by a warm gulf stream on its eastern shores. It tends to be rather windy, but not as rainy.

[Catriona]

Merian Antha.

Paradise. A large, warm island with large white beaches, palm trees, big flowers, bright parrots, the most beautiful waterfalls. Also, Merian Antha has three mountains on its north-south axis with tall peaks and glittering white snow, and with large caves of crystals and stalagtites at their foot. Climate-wise, it is a fine, fine place, and the land is rich in resources, from fruit and game and a rich soil to gold in the mountains and pearls in the sea.

Perhaps this has lead to the wealth-loving culture of the inhabitants. Most live in small towns scattered over the large island, but many are divided over one of the three main towns: Mar-galliti, the City of Pearl, on the north-eastern shore; Aurigan, the Golden Halls, on the western foot of the moutains; and Electra, the Amber Bridges, which is built on small islands in a large river in the south-west, and is also the capital of Merian Antha. This is where the Lady lives, the official ruler of the island.

However, official is the pivotal word there. Like in Tal-Harat, the schemes are many in this land of luxury. Perhaps it is because this land is so bounteous that it can never find peace. Rich and wealth-loving, these people love beautiful things more than the craftspeople of Kuanous Lithidion. A country of music and art, of jewellery, of lovely food, of fashion, and the finest architecture to match its natural wonders, the culture is mostly downright decadent.

[Catriona]

Racial make-up

Ansheme is the home of many creatures. All of the nations have at least some small minority of everything, but these are the main people and the greater minorities- of the "civilized" races, that is:

Esamura
Mainly: Humans, Dwarves
Minorities: (half-) Orcs

Kuanous Lithidion
Mainly: Gnomes, Humans
Minorities: Halflings, Elves

Tal Harat
Mainly: Everything and Anything

Ostraka
Mainly: Gnomes, Elves, Humans
Minorities: Halflings, Illumians

Merian Antha
Mainly: Elves, Humans
Minorities: Dwarves

In every country is also a rather significant portion of nasty critters, not to mention that considering how thin the planar veil can sometimes be, Outsiders are not terribly uncommon...

[Catriona]

The day is October 21st, and it is Autumn, though not yet as cold and icky as it can be around this time of year. The fog in Tal-Harat is heavy, though, and the seas are rather rough.