The Lands
Contents
Tenrimere: The Empire
The Tenrimere empire is forged of all walks of life unified in primarily harmonious purpose. A coalition of Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Orcs, and even Sprites comprises its membership with territories spanning across the continent. The capital city of which is often named simply for the empire itself as The City of Tenrimere. Unlike empires that may have come before it, Tenrimere is ruled not by a single emperor, but a council. The Council of Lords oversees the management of the empire and the rule of law within its borders. The council is comprised of representative nobility residing within The City and traditionally spans membership across the constituent races.
The exact nature of the rules governing leadership are best understood by scholars and the aristocracy, suffice to say that it is considered the nobilis oblige of the nobility of Tenrimere to safeguard its sovereignty and prosperity from forces that would seek to tear down all that patience and virtue has built.
Though Tenrimere counts many smaller villages within its borders, it has at best an uneasy relation with others. The denizens of Myeara's Crossing within the Ironwood grove hold their lands sacred and regard visitors with no better than cautious observation. The Ironwood of the grove is said to be quite valuable and it isn't uncommon for industrious thieves to attempt to sneak in and harvest the branches unbidden. This is often met with a headless corpse being left at Kael's Reach as a warning to future poachers so the council in past has advised citizens of the empire to be mindful of diplomatic decorum when passing near those lands.
Equally vexing to the empire is the vast jungle range spanning the westernmost extent of the continent, all expeditionary forces sent through the jungle have failed to report back within weeks of setting out, so either it is a profoundly deadly territory or the explorers have decided to take up permanent residence in a fetid humid swampy jungle. The council has generally favored the former probability and cautions citizens from approaching.
Drochmor: The Rebellion
It began with the elves. When they first sought to understand how time could shape life it had noble intentions, Bring peace and wisdom to the races of the world. Within several hundred generations of Orcs they had refined them into a breed they called Keen-edge. Orcs were short lived when compared to elves as all races are, a new generation born every 15-20 years. An incomprehensibly quick breeding cycle to the elves. After all, with no natural mortality and no constant hormonal onslaught demanding reproduction in the brief span before their mortality, elves had children and families with startling rarity. Perhaps a coupling once or twice a decade would result in an offspring, no true concept of "generations". You see, despite elves living such unfathomably long lives, memory is an imperfect thing at best. And what use is there in counting the years when they lead to nothing in particular, certainly not an inevitable mortality.
All of this must be understood to understand how deeply shaken the elven culture was when it was set upon to embark on the same breeding principles placed on the orcs to elves as well. Children born every 20 years or so in increasingly large population pools. Each new generation of elves raised by the architects of the program in the ideals of pursuing greater wisdom and clarity, applying these same principles that created Keen-edge to elven kind to produce Celestial Elves.
It's unclear how many generations it took, or how many years. But at some point the Celestial elves themselves assumed control of the project. After all, who better to lead the efforts to exalt elven kind to new perfection than those most perfect among them, they who were created for that very purpose. Slowly but surely, the elven population began to thin of those original elves, despite their natural immortality. Fearing what had been unleashed, those few elves remaining prior to the project fled to their sacred ironwood grove taking the name of Wood Elves and rejecting the notion of nominal advancement repulsed by this entire eugenic project.
With the old elves absent from elven society, the Celestial Elves soon found themselves less capable of harmonious coexistence than their ancestors. A rift grew between elvenkind on the issue of the other races. All Celestial elves agreed that it was right and good to exalt elf-kind to new perfection using the discoveries that Tenrimere afforded them, but what of the Orcs and humans? A faction within the elves thought it madness to equally exalt these other races, they were ruled by irrational humors, sudden fickle desires, and given the benefits of Tenrimere could rise up as a unified force to destroy all elf-kind if they were given a mind to. And so even as the Celestial elves sought to more and more deeply unify the cultures of Elves, Dwarves, Humans, and Orcs into one whole society, these repulsed and fearful elves departed, believing it would be only a few scant centuries before the dogs that Tenrimere had tamed rose up and devoured their masters.
Seeking refuge and a new kernel of elf kind after this inevitable apocalypse, some elves fled into the caves and down into the heart of the world, where they discovered the long absent dwarves of the Deep. Deep Dwarves formed an easy enough alliance with these elves and so their project began again far from the light of day, forging more and more perfect elf-kind, they would now be known as Night Elves. It was here that Drochmor was born from this alliance of Dwarf and Elf, though it would not be given a name until a count from the city of Tenrimere would discover the purpose and history of his culture and rally forces to rebellion some years hence.
Cities
Stonepeak
Hidden in the mountains, Stonepeak is isolated by more by circumstance than by choice. Once, the dwarves traded heavily with the nearby human city. It was only with the war and it's fall that the Mountain Dwarves were cut off. Stonepeak's distance from the capital leaves them largely removed from the turbulence of the war, or even petty concerns like raiders or wild animals.
Known just as much for its beer as its metal; Stonepeak is a cornucopia of riches. It is this wealth which has drawn the attention of the empire so strongly. Though the ancient city is not a part of the empire, they are treated as favored allies. The friendly nature of the Mountain Dwarves has encouraged the growing empire to reach out to them, sending settlers to live and work in the dwarven stronghold. The Dwarves and Gnomes of Stonepeak are a boisterous lot and accepted the more rigid Orcs of Tenrimere into their midst with an affable companionship. Lately the gestures of the alliance from Tenrimere have become more overt with the construction of a port at the foot of the mountain. The people of Stonepeak are happy to accept this new success; further vindication of the mountain dwarf ethos of reaching for the skies.
Summer's Rest
The sleepy village of Summer's Rest was created as a quiet retreat from the stressful politics of the capital. Although ostensibly a fishing village, Summer's Rest was built as a shield from the empire's conflicts; both within and without. Summer's Rest was built straddling the Longvine River, nestled gently into the Carpfin Forest. Though mostly populated by veterans of the imperial army, the local Fae have grown friendly with the inhabitants.
Summer's Rest is largely self sufficient, seeing little trade by road or river. In its early days, the township Summer's Rest saw little conflict; far removed from the excitement of the capital, or the arguments of the elves. Over the years, the wilds around the town have grown unruly. Bandits and beasts prowl in the depths of Carpfin, and the great road is no longer the traveler's sanctuary it once was. Though one would expect the growing danger surrounding the village to lower morale, the combination of a new generation trained by ex-soldiers and a environment rich in achievable challenges has exposed the taste for adventure held in the hearts of all who call Summer's Rest home. The elves original name for the settlement; 'Heroes Cauldron' seemed strange at first, but has come back into modern usage.
The Spire
The gargantuan structure that is it's namesake is only a part of the expanded campus of The Spire. Originally constructed in the days before Tenrimere; At the height of their arrogance, the Elves sought to pull back the veil of reality itself and found the void beneath. Only after they realized the depths of their folly did they ask the Dwarves for help stabilizing the lake of pure creation that pooled in the shadow of the great tower.
Those who prove their worth, either by value to the empire or raw talent are accepted into The Spire as students. It is from those students the great wonders of the empire are born. Now The Spire has grown into the apotheosis of arcane research in the empire; fueled by the mysterious vortexes which occasionally bubble up from the void. It was here that the first of the rune-gates was constructed and that force has left a mark on all those who call The Spire home.
Frostbay
At the furthest reach of the north wind lies the city of Frostbay. While the local human and orc tribes were happy to hunt the great kraken from their coastal villages, the great city built by the dwarves has begun a golden age for the otherwise dour northerners.
A stubborn people, the fishermen of Frostbay are slow to trust their new found bounty, preparing always for the next great winter. Kraken oil has proven a panacea for the developing industries of the empire. And a rising tide lifts all ships, the local people are adapting to the wealth of goods and ideas flowing in from far off ports. Great marvels of engineering and design are now common sights among the snowy streets. The city show no sign of slowing, assuming of course that the kraken ships bring in fresh hauls of oil each season.
Kael's Reach
The castle of Kael's Reach is the clenched fist of the empire, proof of their military might. From it's humble beginnings as a barricade against the Bloodrage Clan's siege of Tenrimere, the fortification nestled in the "shoulders" of the Worldspine mountain range has grown into a city all its own.
Though the legendary General Kael was an elf, the fort is now garrisoned by humans and orcs. The disciplined order of the KeenEdge Orcs is a shining example of the best successes of the Tenrimere experiment, producing the finest soldiers on the continent. Just as the Celestial Elves proved the worth of their grand experiment in the quality of their recruits, the Mountain Dwarves who dwell in Kael's Reach boast of their great work: a grand bridge spanning the length of the Worldspine.
Toward this end, the Dwarves toil alongside the orcs and humans, their natural boisterousness tempered by the rigid order of military life. Although many of the inhabitants are not enlisted soldiers, all who make the fort their home take pride in the traditions they keep.
Myeara's Crossing
Settled into the ancient and sacred Heartwood grove, Myeara's the crossing represents an act of defiance by the Terrestrial elven people against the encroaching influence of Tenrimere.
During the time of the great schism, Myeara guided those still untouched by the influence of the Celestial Elves to make their escape to a place that all elves would be loathe to make war in pursuit of them: the sacred grove of Heartwood Trees. Supplanting a small tribe of ogres which had begun to shape mounds there, Myeara's Crossing became a persistent political issue for the empire.
A pact made with the wild and typically nomadic Longtusk Orcs of the jungles helped to secure its strength militarily as a small independent force unto itself, and the arrival of the Fae into the grove seemed to give credence to the espoused naturalistic philosophy. It is advised that denizens of the empire stay clear of the crossing and the grove as it seems quite easy for good-natured misunderstandings to devolve into heated political situations.
The denizens of Myeara's Crossing within the Heartwood grove hold their lands sacred and regard visitors with no better than cautious observation. The Heartwood of the grove is said to be quite valuable and it isn't uncommon for industrious thieves to attempt to sneak in and harvest the branches unbidden.