The Continent of Tymora
More actions
Tymora is the largest continent on Carcer, a vast and varied land surrounded by countless islands and seas. Its landscapes range from fertile kingdoms and ancient forests to frozen tundra, endless grasslands, burning deserts and towering mountain ranges.
It is also an old land, shaped by the many peoples who have called it home. Ancient roads cross forgotten borders, ruins lie beneath forests and deserts, and many modern settlements have been built upon the remains of those that came before.
The Dworn were among the first free peoples to explore and settle much of Tymora, and their mark can still be found in old roads, bridges, fortresses and the foundations of cities that are still inhabited today.
The Forsaken split from the Scions after their civil war.
Now Tymora is home to countless cultures and peoples, spread across great kingdoms, isolated settlements and wild lands where borders mean very little.
Much of Tymora has been mapped, but there are still plenty of places waiting to be discovered.
The Dragonspire Mountains
The most imposing geographical feature of Tymora is the Dragonspire Mountains, an immense mountain range running across almost the entire width of the continent.
The Dragonspires divide Tymora into northern and southern lands. Their peaks are so formidable that crossing them overland is difficult and dangerous, with only a handful of heavily fortified passes providing reliable routes through the mountains. For many travellers, going around them by sea, or for those fortunate enough to have access to it, by air, is preferable.
The mountains themselves are far from empty. Ancient ruins, forgotten roads, mines, caves and settlements can be found throughout the range, some still inhabited and others abandoned so long ago that even their names have been forgotten.
The Ironcrag Mountains are another significant mountainous region. It was near the Ironcrags that the early human explorers known as the Karns first reached the strange floating land that would eventually become Tengri-Uul.
The Oakwood Forest
Stretching along both sides of the Dragonspire Mountains is the enormous Oakwood Forest.
The forest is ancient, appearing almost as though it was once a single woodland split apart when the Dragonspires rose between its northern and southern reaches.
Its borders touch several different lands, and different sections of the Oakwood have developed identities and names of their own. Settlements, old roads, ruins and hidden communities lie beneath its canopy, and not everything living within the forest recognises the borders drawn on the maps of kings.
The Kingdom of Valendor
Much of eastern Tymora is occupied by the Kingdom of Valendor, the largest human population on the continent and, according to Valendorian tradition, the homeland of the first humans of Carcer.
Valendor stretches from the Dragonspire Mountains towards the frozen north, from the Grass Sea and Plain of Bones in the west to the long eastern coastline. Its landscape includes fertile valleys, forests, mountains, marshes, rivers and coastal regions.
The kingdom is divided into eight duchies surrounding the Crown Lands, which are ruled directly by the King.
Auravell and the Crown Lands
At the centre of Valendor stands Auravell, the kingdom's capital and seat of the Crown.
The lands surrounding Auravell contain some of the most important places in the kingdom, including the Argentwood, the Northern Oakwood Forest, and the legendary Well of Life.
The Well lies within a ring of five great volcanoes known collectively as the Flames of Creation. To the people of Valendor, this region is both geographically and spiritually the heart of their kingdom. The Well is considered one of the most powerful and revered places in Carcer.
Iceveil
At the northern edge of Valendor lies Iceveil, a region of frozen tundra, glaciers, snowfields and long winters.
Its capital, Frostmarch, watches over the northern approaches and the ancient frozen connection between Valendor and Vintergard.
Highwall
Along Valendor's eastern coastline rises Highwall, a dramatic region of enormous red cliffs, narrow ledges and high plateaus overlooking the sea.
Its capital, Starhaven, sits atop the cliffs and has become a major centre of magical study, astronomy and air travel.
Verdantmere
The fertile lands of Verdantmere form much of Valendor's agricultural heartland.
Golden fields, orchards and ancient woodland spread across the region, its capital is Greenglen, a city built amongst groves and gardens rather than over them.
Emberholme
Between the colder north and the fertile lands further south lies Emberholme, a volcanic country of fire, mineral wealth and fertile ash.
Its capital, Ashreach, is built along the slopes of Mount Varthuun amongst obsidian, lava flows and geothermal vents.
Goldspire
Goldspire is one of Valendor's great centres of wealth and commerce.
Its capital, Aurithal, commonly called the City of Gold, is famous for its markets, financial houses, palaces and enormous stores of wealth.
Ironkeep
Between the Dragonspire Mountains and Valendor's central forests lies Ironkeep, the military heartland of the kingdom.
Its capital, Shieldhaven, is a fortress city built around the Citadel of Vaelgard, with roads and strongholds extending outward to protect the approaches to Valendor's heartlands.
Shadowfell
Shadowfell is a country of forests, mist-covered valleys, marshes and hidden paths.
The Veilwood dominates much of the region before joining the greater Oakwood Forest. Through it winds the dark Black River, while scattered Shadowed Glades and hidden valleys make travelling without local knowledge difficult.
Its capital, Duskmire, lies concealed deep within the Veilwood.
Driftmire
The wetlands of Driftmire occupy a landscape of swamps, mangrove forests, rivers, tidal marshes and mist-covered coastline.
Waterways serve as roads through much of the duchy.
Its capital, Azureport, stands on Sapphire Bay and serves as one of Valendor's great maritime centres.
Vintergard
Beyond the northern reaches of Valendor lies Vintergard, the island homeland of the Thalkir.
It is a harsh country of frozen fjords, jagged cliffs, pine forests, violent seas and long winters. The Thalkir have adapted their entire culture around surviving these waters, hunting the enormous creatures that inhabit the northern seas and trading their valuable remains throughout Tymora.
Between Vintergard and the mainland lies Skagmir, the great frozen crossing connecting the two lands.
Stories and maps disagree on some details of Skagmir. To travellers from Valendor it is commonly spoken of as an ancient bridge of ice, while Thalkir accounts describe the region as a vast and treacherous frozen waterway filled with shifting ice.
Either way, crossing it is not undertaken lightly.
The Great Grass Sea — Ötgön Tal
West of Valendor stretches the Great Grass Sea, known to its people as Ötgön Tal.
It is an enormous expanse of tall grass, wandering rivers and scattered oases. From a distance the grass moves beneath the wind like waves upon an ocean, giving the region its common name.
The plains are home to the Salhichin, nomadic people who travel alongside the great herds upon which much of their society depends.
Tengri-Uul — The Sky Mountain
Above the Grass Sea drifts one of Tymora's greatest wonders.
Tengri-Uul, the Sky Mountain, is an enormous floating island upon which the Tengri-kharn have built their moving city.
Unlike a ship, Tengri-Uul maintains a constant height above sea level as it travels. Its earliest human inhabitants discovered that even considerable weight did not cause the island to sink or tilt, and exactly what keeps such an enormous mass suspended remains one of its enduring mysteries.
Today its towers, palaces and bridges move above the plains while the Salhichin and their herds travel below.
The city and the nomads beneath it together form one of the greatest travelling trade networks on Tymora.
The Plain of Bones
North of the Grass Sea, the fertile plains give way to the Plain of Bones.
It is a hostile region of burning desert, rocky badlands and ancient ruins. Few travellers willingly enter its interior without good reason.
Somewhere within those wastes, early human explorers discovered an ancient sealed tomb. Twelve survivors of that expedition would eventually establish the society now known as the Arcane Federation.
Eldanost — The Eternal Spire
Rising from the Plain of Bones is Eldanost, the Eternal Spire, capital of the Arcane Federation.
The city was constructed directly above the ancient tomb discovered by the Federation's founders. Magic has allowed civilisation to survive where ordinarily little could, with arcane storms and magical barriers surrounding the city and protecting it from the desert.
Beyond Eldanost are the domains and places of study belonging to the Federation's great magical houses, including strange places such as the Crucible of Ascension.
Much of the Federation remains closed to outsiders, and reliable maps of its territory are uncommon.
The Free City of Tanyth
South of the Dragonspire Mountains, across the warm river-delta lowlands, lies the Free City of Tanyth.
Tanyth stands apart from the great kingdoms. No king or duke openly rules it, and its gates welcome people from across Tymora.
Dworn craftsmen, Scion enchanters, scholars from Highwall, Tengri-kharn philosophers, Goblin merchants, Kir'Ko travellers and Fey performers can all be encountered within its markets.
That diversity has made Tanyth one of the great crossroads of the continent.
It has also made it a place where almost anything can be bought, sold, discovered, or hidden.
The Draken Lands
Not every civilisation of Tymora has attempted to build a sprawling kingdom.
The Draken inhabit some of the continent's most unforgiving environments, including deserts, jungles and volcanic wastelands. Their settlements tend towards heavily fortified communities capable of surviving the land around them.
Two great cities stand at the centre of Draken civilisation.
The best known is Ashkarak, the Fortress of the Scorched Bones, a former Dworn fortress deep within the sun-scorched desert. Its blackened walls stand above ancient tunnels, wells and underground reservoirs first constructed by the Dworn before the stronghold was abandoned and later claimed by the Draken.
The Wild Lands
Not every part of Tymora belongs neatly to a kingdom.
Orcs and Goblins have roamed the continent since long before the rise of the human nations. Their clans adapted to almost every environment Tymora could offer, including frozen tundra, forests, deserts and mountains. Some still follow this wandering existence, while others have settled within the cities of other peoples.
The Saen, Timur and Garlu, collectively called the Deschani by outsiders, can likewise be found in dramatically different environments. Saen clans in particular make their homes in forests, plains, deserts, mountains and jungles, adapting their settlements to the land around them rather than attempting to reshape it.
The Kir'Ko favour places that other peoples find difficult to reach. Their settlements can be woven into sheer cliffs, mountain peaks and the canopies of enormous forests, with great nest-like dwellings built into the landscape.
The Fey are harder still to place upon a map. They can be found throughout Tymora, sometimes living in isolated communities and sometimes amongst the cities and settlements of other peoples. Their unpredictable nature and tendency to adapt to their surroundings makes the idea of a single Fey homeland difficult to define.
Tavaru — The Ever-Wandering
Somewhere beyond the shores of Tymora travels Tavaru, homeland of the Konganese.
Calling Tavaru an island is accurate, but incomplete.
Tavaru moves.
It travels unpredictably across the oceans, sometimes following currents and tides, sometimes apparently moving against them, and occasionally disappearing beneath the surface entirely before emerging days or weeks later.
The Konganese call it Tavaru, the Ever-Wandering, and their oldest traditions describe their ancestors finding the island after fleeing their original jungle homelands across the sea. In time they realised that the land beneath them was travelling with a purpose of its own.
Where Tavaru can be found at any given time is another question entirely.
A Continent Still Being Discovered
For all the kingdoms, cities and roads marked upon the maps, Tymora remains a continent filled with unknown places.
The Dworn travelled it before many modern nations existed. Orcish clans crossed lands before human borders divided them. Cities have risen upon the ruins of older cities. Fortresses have changed hands so many times that their original builders have been forgotten.
There are ancient ruins in the Plain of Bones, forgotten tunnels beneath the mountains, hidden settlements within the forests, unexplored islands beyond the coast and places known only through the stories of travellers.
Tymora is not a continent that has been completely mapped and explained.
It is a place people are still discovering.
And beyond every road, mountain pass and familiar border, there is always somewhere else to go.