Setting Introduction - The Four Kingdoms

Let us start with Spring

The Spring Kingdom lies to the West. The cool winds coming in from the bay flow past the capital city of Vivaria, through the Gleaming Wood, past acres of grassland and farming plots, until they are stopped by the towering peaks of the Spring Rim and settle down to keep the crops company. The steady weather and temperate climate make for ideal agricultural activity and the Springish know it. Coupled with the ridge of mountains surrounding the kingdom that dissuade both monsters and invading forces, the Spring Kingdom enjoys a measure of peace and prosperity that the other nations of this continent do not. The small towns and settlements throughout the kingdom take pride in their work and hospitality.
Some would call the Spring Kingdom “easy.” Easy living, easy trading, easy loving. The society values kindness and goodness, making it the only kingdom to be good rather than neutral, as something so complex as a kingdom ought to be. But Springish folk are defiant in their chaotic goodness, doing good deeds where they can. They promote pastoral welfare within their borders, and good values without. The rest of the kingdoms generally scoff at the culture of the Springish as simplistic at best and idiotic at worst, but they cannot deny the bounty traded from Spring farms as the richest of the four kingdoms. Springish folk ignore this scoffing and go about their business. It isn’t their fault they’re the best kingdom.
Settlements of note include the capital city of Vivaria, home to the ruler of the Spring Kingdom, the Primrose Monarch. Just about the only large city in Spring, but one of the biggest cities in the four kingdoms, Vivaria is home to a rich array of cultures and species. It is a hub of trade with its bay-sheltered port and Springish farmers gathering to sell and trade their crops. There is also Herselton, one of the biggest towns found inland, known for its annual Gimmer Fest. According to sheep farmers, it is the event of the year. There are a number of mansions clustered about the kingdom, built by the nobility and the prosperity of various kingdoms. They flock to Spring for its gentle climate and gentle people, but they don’t necessarily belong to the Spring Kingdom or ascribe to its values. There are more than a few native Springish who are disgruntled by their gaudy presence in the middle of prime pastureland. Of course, there is also the rumored halfling village that is nestled somewhere in the Spring Rim. If only anyone knew exactly where…

Next, there is Winter

The Winter Kingdom lies to the North. Hiking across the Spring Rim into Winter is a harsh transition. You could stop in the brewing town of Tiloord on the way, but even the hillswill mead that is famous across the continent does little to warm against the sudden biting chill that sets in as you descend into the forests blanketing the northern slope of the Rim. The forests that almost feel alive. As though the trees themselves were watching you… Beyond the Live Edge Forest and the towns tucked precariously at its boundaries, you must travel miles of snowy wastes before you reach another hint of civilization. The border shared with the the Summer Kingdom isn’t any better, sand turning to large swathes of rocky nothing before giving way to ice and snow and wind. But don’t worry, the foxfire lamps favored by Winterian settlements will help you find your way. Just don’t expect to be welcomed once you get there.
As with so many places that are frozen almost year-round, the Winter Kingdom is a harsh place. The beasts that roam the lands are out to kill, and while plenty of folks have found ways to profit off their hides, plenty more have not survived to teach their children how. Perhaps this is what makes the people of the Winter Kingdom band together the way that they do. The people there are hard-edged and trial-worn and conditioned to supporting one another without hesitation or reservation. Finding yourself at home in a Winterian community is finding yourself amongst family. Of course, the hard part is finding yourself a home amongst such a tight-knit community. Winterian folk work hard and they play hard and they love hard and that way they navigate the hard, dark winters.
Settlements of note include the capital city of Zolotanka, where the Ledyanoy Parliament presides over the kingdom with the leadership of the Winter “King” who is democratically elected but still called a king for some reason and is called that regardless of the gender of the actual leader it’s all very strange and the rest of the kingdoms are judging them for it. Zolotanka is nestled in the heart of the Kingdom, and as such is harder to reacher than other capital cities. However, as the most important city in Winter, it still manages to draw a wide variety of people to its streets. The Sineye Znaniye (also called the University, mostly by non-Winterians) is also a huge draw, as intellects from across the kingdoms gather to learn and investigate and share knowledge. Covalac is another notable settlement, located on an island to the northwest of the Winterian shore. With the Winter Kingdom so dicey to navigate, its landlocked borders difficult to traverse and its shoreline too rocky and glacier-scattered to sail comfortably, the island city of Covalac serves as the trading base for the Winter Kingdom. A long, carefully maintained bridge connects it to the mainland, allowing the brave scavengers, hunters, and gatherers of the Kingdom to bring their wares and trade them for the resources scarce in their neck of the woods. There is also The Tovgarten located near the borderlands, but… well, no one wants to go there.

Let's move on to Summer, shall we?

The Summer Kingdom lies to the East and is the largest of the four kingdoms. Once you cross through the Canvas Valley and past the Spring Rim, the grass and flowers of Spring melt into the sands and the heat. Summer is similar to Winter in that vast portions of it are just about uninhabitable, but the Desert of the Shifting Sands manages to sustain some life. Life that doesn’t mind the sun beating down like a waterfall, unrelenting and unswayable. The nomadic peoples moving from oasis to oasis and tending the lizard herds. The Forest of Spines that grows both delicious fruits and dangerous predators. However, on the other side of the Desert lies the true heart of the Summer Kingdom. The Coast of the Satioun Shore stretches out into the ocean, populated by a chaotic jumble of towns and city states, most of them thriving hubs of trade in their own right.
Summerian folk bend and adjust to their elements, the unpredictable sand flurries of the desert or the crashing waves of the ocean. Their values prioritize passion and its fuel for life, change and its inescapability, creation and destruction in all their forms. Summerians can be rather...intense. And although their enthusiasm is formidable, it is somewhat tempered by the kingdom’s relative lack of organization. Do they have a monarchy? Yes. Do people respect it? Sure. Are they the only kingdom with both a postal system and a library system? You bet. But each settlement has its own independent governing body that listens to the monarchy only tangentially and will throw down at the slightest provocation. The nobility of the Summer Kingdom hold a large amount of sway over events, possessing the resources from the rich trade of the Coast to set up city-states within the kingdom. Despite the internal bickering and external bristling, the Summer Kingdom is respected for its skilled artisans and excellent cuisine. And there’s nothing like watching the Sun set to the east into the broad open sea.
Settlements of note include the capital city of Halitara, with a bustling port district and one of the greatest markets on the continent. The temple district of Sunhaven is likewise a sight to behold, with almost every well-established underworship of The Four Deities represented. Halitara is also, naturally, home to The Quinseat, the stronghold of the Summerian monarch, the Quintessence. The Quintessency is essentially a normal monarchy but with a rigid structure of advisors and power chains that is somewhat at odds with the Summerian nature as it is viewed by the rest of the continent. The Quinseat has hosted some of the greatest royal dramas of the last century and surely will host many more. Further up the coast is Felimandoo, which hosts the Feast of Tricks, a three-day festival celebrating the Woman of Woe and a time at which you must watch your pockets and your patience and possibly your sense of humor. The rest of the year, it is home to the contentious Ember Tower , though why a city of the Summer Kingdom would allow a nest of mages to practice this openly, no one knows… Further south is the fishing settlement of the Gaidarans, spoken of in the multiples because it is actually a series of villages that started as isolated fisheries and grew until they bled together into a haphazard string of civilization. As one of the last big settlements before reaching the Autumn Kingdom, it is a frequent stopping point for infrequent travelers and caravans. And it can always use people willing to help with clearing up the sea monsters. They swear, they breed like rats.

Last, there is Autumn

To the South lies the Autumn Kingdom. The smallest of the kingdoms, dwarfed by the desert that lies below it and the southern curve of the Spring Rim that looms, rocky and treacherous, above it. The shade of hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of trees help to keep the cities of the Autumn Kingdom in shadow. Or perhaps it is something else that keeps the fourth and final kingdom such an unknown entity. People do enter the forest, this is known. The villages on the Spring side of the Spring Rim report skilled mountain climbers that emerge from the high cliffs of the Autumn side. And shipments of lumber arrive regularly to ports in every kingdom. Yet, the Cliffs of Willow Rain leave the Autumn Kingdom inaccessible by boat. The Spring Rim on that border is the most difficult section to traverse. And the traders who bring wood of all sorts to markets on the other side of the world, well. They never seem to be from Autumn. Or to be willing to divulge where they got the wood from.
And has anybody actually seen someone who went in... come out again?
So, what we know about Autumn is largely rumor. Everybody knows somebody who knows somebody from the Autumn Kingdom. Some say their monarch has lived and ruled for thousands of years. Some say that cutting down a tree before its time is punishable by death. Some say that only people below a certain height are permitted to leave the nation or that anyone who enters must stay forever. Some say to never eat Autumnal berries or that their aunt’s second cousin was lost to the trees. The peoples of the Autumn Kingdom are insular and loving, they are open-armed but vicious, they are knowledgeable and they are ignorant, they are tolerant and they are bigoted, they are complex underground civilizations and they are just a bunch of elves squatting amongst the trees.
Has anybody ever returned from the trees? They whisper. And their eyes turn to the south.
So, the Autumn Kingdom is secretive. And that is that.

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Beyond the kingdoms? Beyond the continent without a name? Beyond the sailors that hop from port to port and call no kingdom home, the bay of the Spring, the coast of the Summer, the cliffs of the Autumn, the glaciers of the Winter, beyond the land that is all you and your grandparents and your grandparents’ grandparents have ever known… who knows?
These are the Four Kingdoms. They co-exist as only four kingdoms with wildly varying cultures and resources can. They thrive in their distinct ways, always mindful of the history between them, as stark as the peaks of the Spring Rim that touches them all as it cranes towards the sky. Working and trading together as peacefully as they can. For the failure of one kingdom, or the fear, or the rage, could lead to the downfall of them all…