Ilkatu

In the Southeast corner of the known surface world lies the continent of Ilkatu, home to many unique and peculiar places, peoples, and monsters. Some of these oddities are attributed to the work of The Ancients, while others are credited to the various factions that control the land, but they all have an impact on what has been the continual source of both great opportunity and conflict: the continent's Starstone known only as the Redrock.

The Power of Gravity, Harnessed

One cannot fully understand the history and features of the continent without first understanding the Redrock that is responsible for much of the more peculiar aspects, for the Redrock is said to possess the ability to bend the very concept of gravity. Of course, understanding such an object becomes a challenge when no-one has ever seen the Redrock since before the Retribution. Still, it seems that the Ancients managed to harness the Redrock and its abilities through the use of Cradles. These devices vary wildly in size and complexity, but are almost always spherical and covered in near-illegible Ancient runes. It is these cradles that are responsible for powering the clockwork cities as well as creating the iconic floating islands that pepper the Ilkatan skyline.

Islands in the Sky

Across the entire continent, there are various islands suspended thousands of feet up into the air. Most are too high to reach with more accessable forms of flight, leading to expeditions being costly and seldom made. What is known about these islands predominantly comes from the ones that have crashed into the ground over the millennia. It is suspected that Ilkatu was originally far more flat in its topography than it is currently. Massive sections of earth seem to have been pulled out from the ground to create the islands, and while there are still dozens of islands still in the air today, perhaps hundreds of these islands have crashed into the ground, creating the various mountains. Directly below the Barren Expanse desert is the Jagged Stretch, a mountain range consisting entirely of these islands, many of which hold ruins buried deep under massive piles of rock and earth. It is generally believed that each island was suspended by its own Cradle imbedded in its center, but many of the fallen islands have no Cradle to be found, a discrepancy that troubles many scholars.
While most of the remaining islands are believed to be uninhabited, there are a few that are thought to hold cities atop their land. The one that regularly interacts with the surface world is Cypden, a smaller city consisting of a surprisingly tightknit collection of Halflings, Gnomes, Goblins, and Kobolds; it's also unique in that the Cypden residents have discovered how to manipulate their city's Cradle to move across the Continent by "falling" in whatever direction they need. The other island of note is believed to be the ascended city of Omniteras, consisting of the descendants of the foregone Etani Kingdom and devout worshippers of Serphala. This has never been entirely confirmed, as it is believed to be the highest island of them all, and the few that have claimed to have made the journey either cannot or will not describe what they encountered.

Biomes

Beyond the floating islands, Ilkatu is home to several different biomes from coast to coast. the eastern and western mainlands consist of grassy fields and generally flat terrain barring the occasional mountain or crater. Much of the land near the coast as well as some of the land surrounding the many rivers are various forests, with heavier jungle encompassing the southern peninsula, western coast and small patch of eastern coast.
Just north of the clockwork city of Pulsatum lies the Mahlee Wastes, a barren landscape filled with massive craters as far as the eye can see. Many suspect the majority of floating islands to have originated here, and while the land is now arid and useless, the craters have revealed massive veins of precious ore, including the extremely sought after Culon.
North of the Jagged Stretch is the Barren Expanse, a massive desert that is home to many of the most dangerous and exotic monsters in the entire continent. Most try to keep their distance from the desert, but some like the residents of the Kuna Bastion make their living from what lurks in, above, or under the sands.
Finally, there is the Whitelands, an absolutely inhospitable and lifeless area that not even the mindless beasts dare claim. The Parch, having extensive knowledge and records of the land, claim that the Whitelands are slowly expanding and reducing more and more land into unusable nothingness. It has only been in the last century that there has been definitive proof that the cause of its existence and expansion is from the Heartwood, and that it's been unnaturally draining the land above it of all possible nutrients for millennia.

Brief History

The control over the vast regions of Ilkatu as well as the unique technology and resources found here has changed hands several times in the millennia to follow the Retribution. In the centuries following the creation of the first humanoids in the region, the two gods Serphala and Legaku were believed to take special interest in the continent and make their presence more known among the people. There, the two are credited for creating the first major civilization and the first wave of new and terrifying monsters respectively. This civilization would come to be known as the Etani Kingdom, and over the next few hundred years they would embark on a great diaspora across the continent to gather Ancient technology to build the first clockwork cities from their ruins. This would not last however, as the humanoid tribes cast out by the Kingdom would join with the monstrous armies of Legaku to launch an assault on the Kingdom's major cities, starting the War of Wing and Fang. The people of the Etani, now under the rule of the newly founded Yarran Kingdom pushed back the monsters into the desert and jungles while incorporating many of the outcast tribes into their new kingdom. This peace would last until the sudden and unexplained arrival of extraplanar invaders known as the Invaders War. After a century of bloodshed, it is said that Serphala and Legaku worked together for the first time to eradicate and push back the invaders and then seal away the gates permanently to prevent future disaster.
Very little of note occurred in the following millennia, but in 5523 AR a large group of Dhulwinite settlers landed on the western coast and begin to expand eastward. Around the turn of the 57th century, the first clockwork ruins were discovered and mapped by the settlers, and by 5675 AR they officially gained independence from Dhulwin, establishing the Ilkatan Confederation. From there, they would continue to grow and innovate on their discoveries, allying with the knowledgeable and wise record-keepers known as the Parch to build and complete the modern clockwork cities. In response to the rapid expansion of the Confederation, the tribes of the Northeast would consolidate under the Sondo Tribe, while the town of Urqoa was founded by Confederation discontents and organized the surrounding tribes to create the Urqoan Territories. All the while, the sudden burst in non-native population led to many unprepared settlers being attacked by monsters, necessitating a response. Thus, the Kuna Bastion was established as a home to mercenaries and monster hunters that help protect the populace- for the right price. Now, the most renowned houses of the Bastion have staked territory across the surrounding plains, establishing the region now known as Bastion Pass.

Factions and Cities

Ilkatu is home to several different factions. Some have existed under one banner or another since some of the first humanoids to walk the land, while others have really only come into the fold in the last few hundred years. These more recent developments include the Ilkatan Confederation, the largest and most populous governing body containing the 4 clockwork cities as well as several other villages and towns across the western region, as well as the Bastion Pass, a small region protected by the mercenaries and monster hunters from the Kuna Bastion. The other factions: the Parch, the Urqoan Territories, and the Sondo Tribe all existed in more loose forms before the Confederation's formation, but have since better defined their territories in order to not be absorbed into their fold. Much of factions relations revolve around the Confederation; the Parch and Bastion Pass are on amicable terms with them, while the Urqoan Territories and Sondo Tribe are less receptive to trade and negotiation. Still, after initial misunderstandings and proxy battles during the Confederation's formation, a stable peace has been established between the factions.
Beyond each faction and their major cities, there also exists a few outliers that answers to no faction outside of themselves. The aforementioned Cypden, the lost Etani city of Omniteras, and the mysterious and mythical city of Uttokapi, a supposedly underwater city filled with dangerous followers of Legaku. Any other city or society found on a sky island or within the unclaimed territories would also join these three.