River Kingdoms
The River Kingdoms of northeastern Avistan have long been a haven for inland pirates, anarchists, exiles, and anyone else who does not fit into the more "civilized" nations. The Kingdoms are by no means a unified nation, but rather a constantly shifting group of small city-states and fiefdoms (never larger than a few thousand souls), each at odds with the others, both to gain more power and prevent their own demise.
Government
There is no central government in the River Kingdoms, save a loose affiliation of city-states called the Outlaw Council, which meets annually in Daggermark. The amount of different kingdoms that form this council is in constant flux as kingdoms are often destroyed, conquered, or new kingdoms formed. Beyond the council, each city is ruled by its own smaller council or despot, and the warfare between the nations makes the Outlaw Council often little more than a technicality.
Civil war is another common threat to stable governments here, with assassination and betrayal a simple fact of life in these tumultuous kingdoms. The most vicious of these wars occur when powerful lords, paid vast sums to act as mercenaries in distant wars, return to find their kingdom taken from them. The only thing that unites the various River Kingdoms is a serious threat from their neighbouring nations. Even then, every lord vies to be in charge of whatever ramshackle army is assembled to thwart the outsiders. The organization of these rare conglomerate armies is almost as chaotic as the kingdoms themselves, with each petty lord trying to outdo his rival with feats of battlefield heroism. Outside of politics and war, the River Kingdoms are also bound together by the River Freedoms, six tenets they universally hold as close to laws as one will find in the lawless land.
History
During the Age of Legend, the land encompassing much of the River Kingdoms was a hunting reserve for the elves of Kyonin known as Telvurin or the "Shifting Lands." For thousands of years after the elves' exit to Sovyrian just before Earthfall, humans moved in to explore the area, often running afoul of the indigenous lizardfolk, grippli, and fey.
The modern history of the River Kingdoms is almost impossible to track; each year contains enough war, conquest, death, destruction, and betrayal to fill an entire book. With such events occurring so frequently, few try to keep track of the comings and goings of the petty tyrants and their small kingdoms. The only events in the history of the River Kingdoms that have a noticeable effect on the outside world are when one of the kingdoms becomes big and stable enough to be considered a nation in its own right. This is quite a rare occurrence, as most kingdoms fall to infighting and treachery long before they become that powerful. The only two nations formed this way are Numeria, once considered just another series of squabbling tribes, and Razmiran, conquered by the arcane might of the Razmir, the Living God.
Climate
The River Kingdoms are located in the marshy lowlands of the Sellen River basin, where its three branches flow together in their journey south to the Inner Sea. The region borders Numeria and Brevoy in the north, Galt and Kyonin to the south, and Razmiran and Ustalav to the west. There are few roads throughout the land, and the branching web of the Sellen and its tributaries provide the primary means of transportation throughout the region. City-states and fortresses of various sizes and populations are spread across the region, some of which seem to appear overnight, and many that are wiped off the map just as quickly in the constant feuding between settlements
Type
National Territory
Related Reports (Primary)
