Antravarcian Continent (Zenith)
((Much of my work on Zenith focuses on this continent. As the nations grow and develop through bursts of inspiration or gameplay, I expand outward from there. A decade ago all I had written on these places was a bare paragraph and the most basic of concepts [this is my gothic country, this is my arabian-themed country, etc]. I found it fascinating as they grew how they evolved to fit in neatly with one another to form a more organic world. –GM))
Scions of Antravarcia
Much of human society in Zenith is built upon the bones of the Antravarcian Empire, from whom many of the ancient heroes hailed. Though the empire was effectively and irreparably sundered in the aftermath of the war with the Nameless Dark, which culminated in a nearly year-long campaign known by modern historians as the Battle of the Fall, the legacy of the old empire can still be felt across the continent.
- Al’Hasier – Once the rich, flourishing heartland of the Antravarcian Empire, the lush prairies and dense forests have long since succumbed to a supernatural wasting, burying much of the old empire beneath tons of unforgiving sand. Though the people here are Antravarcian by blood, their new environment forced a massive shift in culture and mannerisms which persists to this day.
- Avalon – The island nation of Avalon also bears the forests of the elven homeland Qel’Oris and for centuries after the Battle of the Fall was banished to a separate dimension removed from the rest of Zenith. Unaffected by the centuries of impeded magic that befell Zenith after the Battle of the Fall, the humans of what would become the Enduring Kingdom of Avalon made great strides in advancing magical theory while also subjugating what was left of their world. Their (relatively) recent return to Zenith has created tension with other survivor states from Antravarcia, most notably Mortannia.
- Mortannia – Before the Battle of the Fall the land that is now known as the Undying Kingdom of Mortannia was considered the backwaters of the Antravarcian Empire. A home for the disgraced, the disenfranchised, and criminals. It is the ancestral home of Aleksandr Mortav, the great hero whose holy blade struck down the Nameless Dark; and until the recent return of Avalon to Zenith, the undisputed inheritor to the glory of the empire.
- Schattenburg – The youngest nation state to flourish on the Antravarcian continent and the result of ambitious expansion by desperate Mortanians seeking a less hostile environment. They found a land less tainted by the influence of the Nameless Dark, but only marginally less dangerous. A valley populated by disparate and often violent gnoll tribes and overseen by proud and fickle dragons, the people of Schattenburg took to conquering their new home with an eager intensity that had not been witnessed since the height of the empire.
Nations of Old
- Arna – According to oral histories, Arna was an old nation before the Antravarcian Empire even existed. Ruled for millennia by the wise priest-kings of the Jambayana, humans are a minority here amidst the myriad catfolk races that make up the majority of Arnan society. Though they fought against the Nameless Dark alongside the Antravarcians, Arna shuttered its doors to refugees in the aftermath, remaining a reclusive nation for many centuries. A certain amount of disdain for outsiders, particularly those of Antravarcian descent, remains prevalent throughout the savannas and jungles of this old, and proud country.
- Kentaku – Historians agree that the far western country of Kentaku was populated during Antravarcian times possibly by the ancestors of the denizens of Shang Fuo, but little else is known of its proto-history. In the time after the Battle of the Fall, the reclusive nation flourished in an age of reduced magic by honing a fierce warrior ethos and drawing power from spirits of the natural world. Of particular curiosity is the legend of Shokuzen Tenkae, a mysterious elven refugee who united the disparate warrior clans for the first time and laid the groundwork for modern Kentakan society.
- Orlind – The northernmost reaches of the continent were barely known to the old Antravarcians but in the aftermath of the Battle of the Fall a significant number of survivors struck out for the harsh northern lands intent on forging a new society. Even centuries later much of the land remains unclaimed and unconquered. Native Danjir tribes and giants remain a constant presence.
Untamed Wilds
- Sea of Shrouds – Once thought to be a lake, this expansive inland sea is perpetually covered in a thick layer of low-hanging mist. In addition to obscuring vision, the mist also obscures all forms of magical divination and teleportation. A few daring adventurers from Schattenburg have discovered islands within the mists which contain ruins of a civilization that matches no other known culture on Zenith or Penumbra, leaving scholars perpetually confounded.
- The Hidden Vale – Definitive proof of the existence of the Hidden Vale was not proven until just a few short decades ago. Surrounded on three sides by nearly insurmountable mountain ranges and by the Sea of Shrouds on the last remaining side, the Vale is a place of mystery and old power. Any Antravarcian records that still exist do not make mention of this place, leading most to believe it remained unknown to them, or simply didn’t exist at the time. A few tiny settlements, mostly of folks who shipwrecked in the Sea of Shrouds dot the coast, few have dared to venture further in where massive dinosaurs and beings older than even Arna call home.
- Sea of Broken Fangs – In the final throes of the Battle of the Fall, the Nameless Dark sundered the Antravarcian continent and empire. The sea that now rests between the coast of Al’Hasier and Avalon was once the political and cultural heart of the ancient human nation. A tempestuous place filled with craggy jungle islands, many of which remain unexplored and house mysteries from the days of Antravarcia. It is rumored that the cities of the empire still rest mostly intact at the bottom of the sea, shunned by aquatic life and beckoning with the siren call of adventure.