Arianja is a multi-continent, multi-national world, so large that most of the cartographers on the central continents believe the world to be round. Those who live on the edges, however, know better. The central continent has been largely shaped by the conflict between the native Vyjsig, a warrior clan, and the invading sorcerers - from Gatanea and other worlds - who were collectively known as the "Khlaovi."
The denizens of the Turtle's Eye and the Rimward Continents developed without as great outside influence, thanks to the Sea of Salero, the Sable Sea, and the Zerineq - although no amount of water was going to stop the infighting, usurpations, alliances, and casual dominating between their own nations. Of all the Rimward nations, the people of the Jing-jang who received the good news from the Father's messengers, carefully cultivated a reputation for being particularly backward and barbarian, in order to protect the religion they'd received.
What follows are a few rough maps, such as they stand at present, of continents, countries, and cities.
The denizens of the Turtle's Eye and the Rimward Continents developed without as great outside influence, thanks to the Sea of Salero, the Sable Sea, and the Zerineq - although no amount of water was going to stop the infighting, usurpations, alliances, and casual dominating between their own nations. Of all the Rimward nations, the people of the Jing-jang who received the good news from the Father's messengers, carefully cultivated a reputation for being particularly backward and barbarian, in order to protect the religion they'd received.
What follows are a few rough maps, such as they stand at present, of continents, countries, and cities.
The Known Nations
A rude map of the main continents, as of the fall of the Third Khlaovi Empire, and a God's eye view of the continents of Arianja. The Central Continent (also known as Arianja), to the south-east, the Tortoise's Eye, and further down the Jing-jang.
Gyve
The provinces of Gyve, and the districts of her capitol city, Renquois: the setting for Elspeth. Because by the time of Elspeth the ruling class of vols or "The Invitiate" is obsessed with racial purity, they have since razed the original city of Renquois and built a highly stratified city in its place, with approved locations for every level of blood purity.
The Invitiate Circle even went so far as to raise the level of the street by one story - forcing every townhouse to build new doors where second floor balconies had been - so that the lowly suls (those with some taint of Khlaovi blood) who work for them can travel on the lower pavement unseen, while the vols can literally traverse above. Most of the suls live in East or West Penury, while the emerging bourgeoisie class have taken over the Eubyn, Cosgrove and Zea Districts, and the Wardens who govern the Factory keep domain of the southern Falgout District. Those known to have sorcerous blood from their Khlaovi lineage are either kept imprisoned in the basement of the Liberateur palace, or are left to starve in the Edges of Renquois. These unfortunates are branded on the back of their hand, so that guards know not to let them pass out of any of the six gates. The entire city was built upon hexagons, considered to be sacred to the gods, Rhinn and Trinia: represented by the sun and the moon respectively. There is some variation away from this strict grid, in those few places where the original city still stands, such as the streets near the Factory in Falgout, and the wilds of Khlaovi architecture still clustured near the Gate Crepescule. But otherwise, Gyve has clamped down to create order out of the chaos the sorcerers left behind. |
Lunadie
The nation of Lunadie, nestled between four other nations, and including the islands of Ile-vol-Cour and Te Toup, was originally settled by the Khlaovi as a series of jewel-boxed pleasure cities. Because of its central location, it became a home for a cross-stream of several religions, including the cobbled together pantheon that pays lip service to Rhinn and Trinia while incorporating any nearby pantheons besides, as well as finding room for the hyper-vigilant Reverendants originally from Dvorne, the hedonistic Mavyndeists imported from those who visited the Jing-jang and favored by the late Khlaovi, and even a brush of the zealous and bloodthirsty Simplists from the southern nation of Medina.
As the nation's name implies, however, most pay homage to the pantheon known as the Thirteen Laughing Ones, or the Lunatic Gods. And it is in this spirit that the harbor city was built, stretching along from the Lower through to the Upper Souvien, from the dockside districts of the Snuff and the Spores where the Elite go to slum it, through to the Crescents where the overthrown Khlaovi used to live and the Elite now inhabit. The city boasts a strong merchant class, made up of a thriving diversity of nationalities, and it's not unusual to hear a variety of languages as one walks through the city. Being at such a crossroads, Lumaison is often considered the linchpin in regards to agreed-upon legislation between the nations of the central continent. So while Gyve advocates the complete control of all with sorcerous Khlaovi blood, while the religiously motivated Dvorne advocates the eradication of the same, and the Western Republic of Quoyr offers the possibility of enslaving the children of those who had previously enslaved the nations, and Aurelia examples a means of living in harmony - the actions that Lunadie take, governed as they are through the might of the Palais Juste and the diplomacy of elected officials, often shape the future of the whole of Arianja. |
Explore the World of Arianja
A stand alone-chapter, exclusively on Patreon. Set in the world of Arianja, a young man and a wild woman journey to the edge of the world.
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(c) Emily C. A. Snyder