The old continent is divided into Nortgard, Contren and Xian, and east of that is the endless wastes.
These are just the (current) main nations, if you want stuff added for your character, that can be arranged.
The United People's Republic of Jernand The Republic is a national socialist oligarchy of highly xenophobic dwarven clans. A relatively young nation, it was formed after the dwarven clans banded together and slew the giants using new and deadlier weapons of adamantium. the newly formed nation claimed much mountainous lands of the Nortgard, pushing the giants out of the heartlands in towards the coast. Goliaths are killed on sight and anyone who's not a dwarf is watched with suspicion and harshly persecuted in any crime they might have committed, or even falsely accused. Surface cities of the dwarven republic extensively use human slaves many of whom were born into slavery and used to produce cheap labor in their sparse fields.
Almost all of the Republic's older cities remain buried under the mountains and are venerable fortresses built to withstand siege by giants. Their newer cities reflect this nature, and are often still built half underground and their above ground parts are surrounded by imposing walls. Having taken a note from the Virsil Imperium they have begun to build their own network of railroads connecting their cities.
Jernand has a monopoly on mining adamantium since the magic repelling ore is only found deep within the deepest mines. While the ore is traded away in small quantities, outside of the nation it is rare for it to be used for anything beyond small weapons (and usually only in bullets and blunt weapons due to how hard it is to work the material). Jernand has several sets of armor of this stuff expressly for the champions of their clans and a single steam powered warship plated in it.
- History
Since even the oldest of elven tales, the giants have always prospered in the mountainous region of Nortgard. Massive grey skinned humanoids who were a menace on the battlefield, especially those who wielded sorcerous powers. The exact cause of the conflict isn't certain, according to dwarves it's because the giants would capture them just to eat them, according to the giant the dwarves just always were angry little puntable ankle biters. There is some speculation that it might have been due to the giants raiding dwarven settlements for their ale.
Over centuries the dwarves would continue to be an underfoot and underground menace for the giants. The giants would continue to live above ground and largely go about their business of flexing at each other, arm wrestling, having slapping competitions with each other and drinking alcohol with the occasional raiding on their nearest neighbors. The dwarves on the other hand would delve deeper and deeper into the mountains, at first making pocket cities but eventually building entire connected underground kingdoms, these underground kingdoms would often come into conflict with each other over space and resources or the giants would find a way to destroy them. However a few managed to thrive and eventually drive the giants away from the highlands.
For the next few centuries the dwarves would war upon each other as the greedy clans at the top of their tiny little kingdoms would seek to claim territory and resources from the other kingdoms. The giants on the other hand would largely end up remaining in the low lands and on the coasts where they would develop skills as sailors and expand their raiding ways down the coast and up various waterways. Some of these giants would end up mingling with humans and some humans would end up mingling with the giants as mercenary work turned profitable as the humans could use the giants as shock troops and the giants could use the humans to raid dwarven holds.
After the discovery of adamantium was made, the dwarven clan wars escalated until it got to the point that a popular uprising would overthrow the dwarf kings and their clans. Without an internal conflict, the new United People's Republic of Jernand would realign itself to face the external threat of the giants and their human allies. With a united hatred the dwarves marched to war and began to systematically eliminate the giants and nearly eradicate the whole entire race in their pointed conquest of the lowlands. Although they have secured their "homeland" of the entirety of Nortgard, the Republic, a population boom has pushed the dwarves into continued expanse, pressing at the borders of Culad-Lin and lesser nations, while also seeding their own outposts and colonies in Wyldwest.
The Versil Imperium Once the center of civilization and spanning the length of Contren, this human-centric nation has dwindled down to a mere portion of its continent spanning size. The early Versilians built a massive empire threaded by roads and defended by their elite legions. Unfortunately for the empire they were never able to contend with the giants in Nortgard who's massive size allowed them to simply smash through their phalanx formations and fortress gates. Nor were they able to press far into Xian or else face the wrath of the Divine Protector.
Unfortunately a few centuries of decadence and push from invaders has left the Versil Imperium weakened and several regions and client states have broken away to form their own independent nations to varying degrees of success. A mere shadow of its former glory, the Imperium continues to this day to try to take back what it thinks is theirs to little avail and often resorts to diplomacy with its lesser neighboring nations.
One of the main achievements of the Versil Imperium is their expansive network of roads spreading outwards from the city of Versil. Their roads also lay down the groundwork for the railroads that would later come. The modern Versil Legion is highly mechanized, employing large quantities of very expensive to operate mechanical armor which were originally supposed to be an answer to the threat of giants from the north. Due to the expense of operating the the mechanical armor and a rarity of artificers who have a knack for building and repairing them, these mechanical behemoths are rarely deployed and almost always used to defend their current border.
The Kingdom of Culad-Lin Situated in the the area between Nortgard and Contren and with mixed feelings with both the United Republic of Jernand and the Versil Imperium. Previously a part of the Imperium however separated while the empire crumbled and under the the constant threat of giant raiders, the precursors to the kingdom made a deal with the giants to work with them as mercenaries to fight the dwarves (mostly in unsuccessful attempts at breaking into their fortress cities). Because of this deal the giants and the people of the region intermingled with each other as mercenaries and eventually the kingdom was formed. Enough co-mingling would happen to have the half-human half-giant goliaths become a common sight within the kingdom.
Eventually the giants would be pushed out of Nortgard entirely as the dwarves secure their claim over the entire region and a large portion of the remaining giant population would move to Culad-Lin. Culad-Lin's national culture has shifted away from the much more rigid and decedent Versil, yet keeping a good chunk of the innovation the old nation used to have. The people of Culad-Lin are usually considered a rowdy bunch from outsiders, excessive drinking and "friendly" fist fights are embraced as part of celebrations.
The wandering spirit of the giants and the wits of the humans has since merged into an spirit of innovation. The kingdom would eventually become the new hub of innovation as they are the first to build their own skyships and use a combination of artificery and wizardry to build the flying marvels. With their flying ships they manage to build a trade fleet that would be untouchable for many decades that could travel the entire continent with ease allowing wealth, knowledge and new inventions to flow into the kingdom.
Although latecomers in comparison to the giants and goliaths, half-elves have also been making Culad-Lin their home over Versil where often enough they are second class citizens due to not being fully human.
The Divine Alliance This is a smattering of sects and and city-states (who are usually under the protection of one or another sect) under the divine protector (who's main job is really to act as a mediator and commander in chief should outside powers attack). The sects of the Divine Alliance are large schools of wizardry, although many of them tend to have a very narrow focus in what aspect of wizardry they teach and master.
While the use of firearms is vastly lower in the alliance, their mastery of combat wizardry is nothing to scoff at and they have developed rocket artillery to great effect.
Due to Xian having much denser magic then the rest of the continent, the creatures are much more varied and powerful there as well, necessitating much more powerful individuals to defend the pockets of civilization there, which a broader and deeper pool of sorcerous bloodlines has allowed (many of which are provided from ancient creatures who can take human form and let the human form do its weird magic that nobody's been able to explain).
The Divine Protector is a halfhuman of unspecified non-human origins, often thought to be part dragon or kirin. The Divine Protector has antler horns and a tail covered in feathers and or scales. While they do have a family and a handful of relatives who keep their half human traits, only one Divine Protector will emerge per generation and only they are capable of passing on their traits to their children, any others only bare full humans (although the humans born of such a union almost always have strong sorcerous bloodline).
Sects, Cities and Bloodline Families. There are three types of powers within the Divine Alliance, the cities tend to have little to no true political power and are beholden to the sects that serve as their protectors in return for using them as their recruiting grounds for promising talent. Sects are best described as warrior-scholar schools, most set out to train battle wizards in their particular style of combat (sects teaching wizardry aided swordsmanship is nearly ubiquitous to the point where they have tournaments specifically for swordsmanship) but the variety of them are near endless. Lastly there are bloodline families which hold power through tradition and through ensuring that the next generation of their family continues to bear a strong sorcerous talent. Fighting between various powers within the alliance is common and basically expected while in times of peace, with the Divine Protector stepping in should things get out of hand.
The Desolate Wastes This place is a wasteland where only the toughest live great planes of jagged rocks as far as the eye can see (when ash clouds aren't blinding you) with distant volcanoes looming over the horizon. Constant quakes shift the land and make mapping any routes through it impossible. Expeditions into the wastes are a certain death, even the few attempts done with skyships have either barely gone into the region for less than a day or never show back up again.
These are just the (current) main nations, if you want stuff added for your character, that can be arranged.
The United People's Republic of Jernand
The Republic is a national socialist oligarchy of highly xenophobic dwarven clans. A relatively young nation, it was formed after the dwarven clans banded together and slew the giants using new and deadlier weapons of adamantium. the newly formed nation claimed much mountainous lands of the Nortgard, pushing the giants out of the heartlands in towards the coast. Goliaths are killed on sight and anyone who's not a dwarf is watched with suspicion and harshly persecuted in any crime they might have committed, or even falsely accused. Surface cities of the dwarven republic extensively use human slaves many of whom were born into slavery and used to produce cheap labor in their sparse fields.
Almost all of the Republic's older cities remain buried under the mountains and are venerable fortresses built to withstand siege by giants. Their newer cities reflect this nature, and are often still built half underground and their above ground parts are surrounded by imposing walls. Having taken a note from the Virsil Imperium they have begun to build their own network of railroads connecting their cities.
Jernand has a monopoly on mining adamantium since the magic repelling ore is only found deep within the deepest mines. While the ore is traded away in small quantities, outside of the nation it is rare for it to be used for anything beyond small weapons (and usually only in bullets and blunt weapons due to how hard it is to work the material). Jernand has several sets of armor of this stuff expressly for the champions of their clans and a single steam powered warship plated in it.
- History
Since even the oldest of elven tales, the giants have always prospered in the mountainous region of Nortgard. Massive grey skinned humanoids who were a menace on the battlefield, especially those who wielded sorcerous powers. The exact cause of the conflict isn't certain, according to dwarves it's because the giants would capture them just to eat them, according to the giant the dwarves just always were angry little puntable ankle biters. There is some speculation that it might have been due to the giants raiding dwarven settlements for their ale.
Over centuries the dwarves would continue to be an underfoot and underground menace for the giants. The giants would continue to live above ground and largely go about their business of flexing at each other, arm wrestling, having slapping competitions with each other and drinking alcohol with the occasional raiding on their nearest neighbors. The dwarves on the other hand would delve deeper and deeper into the mountains, at first making pocket cities but eventually building entire connected underground kingdoms, these underground kingdoms would often come into conflict with each other over space and resources or the giants would find a way to destroy them. However a few managed to thrive and eventually drive the giants away from the highlands.
For the next few centuries the dwarves would war upon each other as the greedy clans at the top of their tiny little kingdoms would seek to claim territory and resources from the other kingdoms. The giants on the other hand would largely end up remaining in the low lands and on the coasts where they would develop skills as sailors and expand their raiding ways down the coast and up various waterways. Some of these giants would end up mingling with humans and some humans would end up mingling with the giants as mercenary work turned profitable as the humans could use the giants as shock troops and the giants could use the humans to raid dwarven holds.
After the discovery of adamantium was made, the dwarven clan wars escalated until it got to the point that a popular uprising would overthrow the dwarf kings and their clans. Without an internal conflict, the new United People's Republic of Jernand would realign itself to face the external threat of the giants and their human allies. With a united hatred the dwarves marched to war and began to systematically eliminate the giants and nearly eradicate the whole entire race in their pointed conquest of the lowlands. Although they have secured their "homeland" of the entirety of Nortgard, the Republic, a population boom has pushed the dwarves into continued expanse, pressing at the borders of Culad-Lin and lesser nations, while also seeding their own outposts and colonies in Wyldwest.
The Versil Imperium
Once the center of civilization and spanning the length of Contren, this human-centric nation has dwindled down to a mere portion of its continent spanning size. The early Versilians built a massive empire threaded by roads and defended by their elite legions. Unfortunately for the empire they were never able to contend with the giants in Nortgard who's massive size allowed them to simply smash through their phalanx formations and fortress gates. Nor were they able to press far into Xian or else face the wrath of the Divine Protector.
Unfortunately a few centuries of decadence and push from invaders has left the Versil Imperium weakened and several regions and client states have broken away to form their own independent nations to varying degrees of success. A mere shadow of its former glory, the Imperium continues to this day to try to take back what it thinks is theirs to little avail and often resorts to diplomacy with its lesser neighboring nations.
One of the main achievements of the Versil Imperium is their expansive network of roads spreading outwards from the city of Versil. Their roads also lay down the groundwork for the railroads that would later come. The modern Versil Legion is highly mechanized, employing large quantities of very expensive to operate mechanical armor which were originally supposed to be an answer to the threat of giants from the north. Due to the expense of operating the the mechanical armor and a rarity of artificers who have a knack for building and repairing them, these mechanical behemoths are rarely deployed and almost always used to defend their current border.
The Kingdom of Culad-Lin
Situated in the the area between Nortgard and Contren and with mixed feelings with both the United Republic of Jernand and the Versil Imperium. Previously a part of the Imperium however separated while the empire crumbled and under the the constant threat of giant raiders, the precursors to the kingdom made a deal with the giants to work with them as mercenaries to fight the dwarves (mostly in unsuccessful attempts at breaking into their fortress cities). Because of this deal the giants and the people of the region intermingled with each other as mercenaries and eventually the kingdom was formed. Enough co-mingling would happen to have the half-human half-giant goliaths become a common sight within the kingdom.
Eventually the giants would be pushed out of Nortgard entirely as the dwarves secure their claim over the entire region and a large portion of the remaining giant population would move to Culad-Lin. Culad-Lin's national culture has shifted away from the much more rigid and decedent Versil, yet keeping a good chunk of the innovation the old nation used to have. The people of Culad-Lin are usually considered a rowdy bunch from outsiders, excessive drinking and "friendly" fist fights are embraced as part of celebrations.
The wandering spirit of the giants and the wits of the humans has since merged into an spirit of innovation. The kingdom would eventually become the new hub of innovation as they are the first to build their own skyships and use a combination of artificery and wizardry to build the flying marvels. With their flying ships they manage to build a trade fleet that would be untouchable for many decades that could travel the entire continent with ease allowing wealth, knowledge and new inventions to flow into the kingdom.
Although latecomers in comparison to the giants and goliaths, half-elves have also been making Culad-Lin their home over Versil where often enough they are second class citizens due to not being fully human.
The Divine Alliance
This is a smattering of sects and and city-states (who are usually under the protection of one or another sect) under the divine protector (who's main job is really to act as a mediator and commander in chief should outside powers attack). The sects of the Divine Alliance are large schools of wizardry, although many of them tend to have a very narrow focus in what aspect of wizardry they teach and master.
While the use of firearms is vastly lower in the alliance, their mastery of combat wizardry is nothing to scoff at and they have developed rocket artillery to great effect.
Due to Xian having much denser magic then the rest of the continent, the creatures are much more varied and powerful there as well, necessitating much more powerful individuals to defend the pockets of civilization there, which a broader and deeper pool of sorcerous bloodlines has allowed (many of which are provided from ancient creatures who can take human form and let the human form do its weird magic that nobody's been able to explain).
The Divine Protector is a halfhuman of unspecified non-human origins, often thought to be part dragon or kirin. The Divine Protector has antler horns and a tail covered in feathers and or scales. While they do have a family and a handful of relatives who keep their half human traits, only one Divine Protector will emerge per generation and only they are capable of passing on their traits to their children, any others only bare full humans (although the humans born of such a union almost always have strong sorcerous bloodline).
Sects, Cities and Bloodline Families. There are three types of powers within the Divine Alliance, the cities tend to have little to no true political power and are beholden to the sects that serve as their protectors in return for using them as their recruiting grounds for promising talent. Sects are best described as warrior-scholar schools, most set out to train battle wizards in their particular style of combat (sects teaching wizardry aided swordsmanship is nearly ubiquitous to the point where they have tournaments specifically for swordsmanship) but the variety of them are near endless. Lastly there are bloodline families which hold power through tradition and through ensuring that the next generation of their family continues to bear a strong sorcerous talent. Fighting between various powers within the alliance is common and basically expected while in times of peace, with the Divine Protector stepping in should things get out of hand.
The Desolate Wastes
This place is a wasteland where only the toughest live great planes of jagged rocks as far as the eye can see (when ash clouds aren't blinding you) with distant volcanoes looming over the horizon. Constant quakes shift the land and make mapping any routes through it impossible. Expeditions into the wastes are a certain death, even the few attempts done with skyships have either barely gone into the region for less than a day or never show back up again.