Mwangi Expanse
The Mwangi Expanse shrouds much of the continent of Garund in a prismatic sprawl. Within its boundaries lies a vast array of wildlife, arguably the most biodiverse of all Golarion. Primordial flora and fauna are as numerous as the towering trees that hide them from the wider world’s vantage—and that shroud wilder secrets. Ruins of old mysteries and forgotten cultures are near as frequent to encounter as the vast array of cultures that run through the Expanse like the rivers flowing from Lake Ocota.
The Expanse is remarkable for its richness of resources, but its impenetrability has thwarted the establishment of as many empires as it has forged. Many civilizations are nestled in their original homes, and twice that number exist in nomadic tribes and nations traveling through the wild sprawl, expanding their vast histories with each step. From Mzali to Jaha, ancient culture and even older tales run through the vast jungle of the Mwangi Expanse. The people and places of these myriad cultures aren’t waiting to be discovered or unearthed, but instead exist on their own terms without the whole of Golarion knowing.
The Mwangi Expanse has a way of keeping invasive outsiders humble. Wanton ambitions often prove no match for the beauty and cruelty of its nature, or the countless ancient secrets that lie within. The jungle hides enough ruins of past follies to deter even the most voraciously greedy of Golarion’s so-called civilized peoples, dating back before even Earthfall. The small number of coherent maps for such an old frontier is no coincidence. To venture this land unguided spells certain misfortune for all but the most expert of survivalists.
The region is far kinder to the well prepared and warmly curious. The myriad indigenous people who thrive within even the deepest parts of the region hold a more intuitive understanding of their surroundings’ geography and communities. In some of the Expanse’s better-known cities, such as Nantambu and Kibwe, the cultural depth matches the vast breadth of diversity that marks the whole of the Expanse, let alone the Inner Sea region. These communities are willing to share with those outsiders who listen.
The cultural variety within the Expanse is immense. More formal nations across the region don’t make the vastness of Mwangi’s cultural spread more digestible as much as they illuminate these experiences with sharper contrast. The wilds of the region possess an alternately fraught and flourishing relationship with the metropolitan depending on where one looks.
The most notable cities of the Mwangi Expanse pose a dizzying array of experiences for travelers, as well as rich backdrops for adventurers to hail from. The vast breadth of the Mwangi Expanse’s urban communities and infrastructure range from ancient, near-forgotten mysteries to massive, bustling meccas of trade and commerce. However impressive the cities are across the rest of the Inner Sea region, the Expanse is sure to have a match just as splendid—and twice as colorful.
Nantambu, founded by the legendary Old-Mage Jatembe, continues to thrive as an iconic haven of arcane scholarship. It houses the oldest, most significant school of magic across Garund (and some would argue Golarion)—the Magaambya. Equitable to its core, Nantambu sets a high standard in supporting its inhabitants, whether they are students of the Magaambya or skilled artisans residing in the city. Whatever their station, the elected officials of the city have stayed committed to providing a comfortable standard of life for the rest. The result is a wondrous, often uplifting community wrought of beautiful canals and adorned in blown glass, with many an arcane secret around each corner, and a lesson for the world not far behind that.
In comparison, the seedy, corrupt wealth of Bloodcove is generated by cutthroat politics and commerce alike. The notorious Aspis Consortium—a powerful international trading ring—is finding its once-uncontested hold over Bloodcove slipping away as Free Captains looking to claim a cut of the city’s prospects dilute the Consortium’s hold. Under the shroud of this commercial conflict, Sargava refugees hailing from the nation now known as Vidrian try to make a new life for themselves in a port city that makes life easy for no one. Bloodcove makes an ideal backdrop for a deeply fraught and political tangle of a tale.
The city-state Kibwe supports trade and all things mercantile across a massive canvas, with its byzantine markets acting as a bustling magnet and melting pot alike. For a particularly metropolitan setting, Kibwe’s sprawl fits the bill ideally. Nearly all of Golarion’s ancestries can be found tucked away in its dense alcoves, from gnomes to giants. Ancient, rune-inscribed walls encircle the city, and the culture clash within provides a dizzying tour of societies that reinforces the larger diversity of the Expanse.
Far quieter is the twice-deserted city of Jaha, whose obscure astrological past guides its third wave of inhabitants in growth and change. The breadth of Jaha’s populace is far less diverse than that of Kibwe, and the scope of its inhabitants’ story is a personal one between two groups inheriting old traumas and far older enigmas. Jaha’s secrets pull its possibilities from the soil and into the stars. For the adventuring party looking to discover unsolved historical riddles, Jaha proves a more than ideal scene. The urban possibilities are as dense as jungle soils, and these examples only scratch the surface of a world filled with cities ruled by the dead, communities rippling from overturned nations, and whole societies learning to redefine themselves in the wake of colonial turmoil.
Humanity within the region is often reduced to an inaccurate homogeneity of “Mwangi” by outsiders, but the range of human expression running through the Expanse is vast. The seafaring Bonuwat and Lirgeni; the Caldaru, who reside in the robust city-state of Senghor; the well-traveled Mauxi of the northern bound of the Expanse; the Sargavans of Chelaxian heritage who have spurned the colony of their descent; and the everpresent Zenj who form the common bulk of the Mwangi human population, all of whom illustrate a sliver of the humanity throughout the region.
Outsiders often mistake or frame the people and places here as new discoveries. In truth, many of the people of the region have preserved themselves and their lands well where nature hasn’t done the job for them. The ancestries of Golarion have some of their most primordial cultural and ethnic representatives running through the Mwangi Expanse.
The Expanse is remarkable for its richness of resources, but its impenetrability has thwarted the establishment of as many empires as it has forged. Many civilizations are nestled in their original homes, and twice that number exist in nomadic tribes and nations traveling through the wild sprawl, expanding their vast histories with each step. From Mzali to Jaha, ancient culture and even older tales run through the vast jungle of the Mwangi Expanse. The people and places of these myriad cultures aren’t waiting to be discovered or unearthed, but instead exist on their own terms without the whole of Golarion knowing.
The Mwangi Expanse has a way of keeping invasive outsiders humble. Wanton ambitions often prove no match for the beauty and cruelty of its nature, or the countless ancient secrets that lie within. The jungle hides enough ruins of past follies to deter even the most voraciously greedy of Golarion’s so-called civilized peoples, dating back before even Earthfall. The small number of coherent maps for such an old frontier is no coincidence. To venture this land unguided spells certain misfortune for all but the most expert of survivalists.
The region is far kinder to the well prepared and warmly curious. The myriad indigenous people who thrive within even the deepest parts of the region hold a more intuitive understanding of their surroundings’ geography and communities. In some of the Expanse’s better-known cities, such as Nantambu and Kibwe, the cultural depth matches the vast breadth of diversity that marks the whole of the Expanse, let alone the Inner Sea region. These communities are willing to share with those outsiders who listen.
The cultural variety within the Expanse is immense. More formal nations across the region don’t make the vastness of Mwangi’s cultural spread more digestible as much as they illuminate these experiences with sharper contrast. The wilds of the region possess an alternately fraught and flourishing relationship with the metropolitan depending on where one looks.
The most notable cities of the Mwangi Expanse pose a dizzying array of experiences for travelers, as well as rich backdrops for adventurers to hail from. The vast breadth of the Mwangi Expanse’s urban communities and infrastructure range from ancient, near-forgotten mysteries to massive, bustling meccas of trade and commerce. However impressive the cities are across the rest of the Inner Sea region, the Expanse is sure to have a match just as splendid—and twice as colorful.
Nantambu, founded by the legendary Old-Mage Jatembe, continues to thrive as an iconic haven of arcane scholarship. It houses the oldest, most significant school of magic across Garund (and some would argue Golarion)—the Magaambya. Equitable to its core, Nantambu sets a high standard in supporting its inhabitants, whether they are students of the Magaambya or skilled artisans residing in the city. Whatever their station, the elected officials of the city have stayed committed to providing a comfortable standard of life for the rest. The result is a wondrous, often uplifting community wrought of beautiful canals and adorned in blown glass, with many an arcane secret around each corner, and a lesson for the world not far behind that.
In comparison, the seedy, corrupt wealth of Bloodcove is generated by cutthroat politics and commerce alike. The notorious Aspis Consortium—a powerful international trading ring—is finding its once-uncontested hold over Bloodcove slipping away as Free Captains looking to claim a cut of the city’s prospects dilute the Consortium’s hold. Under the shroud of this commercial conflict, Sargava refugees hailing from the nation now known as Vidrian try to make a new life for themselves in a port city that makes life easy for no one. Bloodcove makes an ideal backdrop for a deeply fraught and political tangle of a tale.
The city-state Kibwe supports trade and all things mercantile across a massive canvas, with its byzantine markets acting as a bustling magnet and melting pot alike. For a particularly metropolitan setting, Kibwe’s sprawl fits the bill ideally. Nearly all of Golarion’s ancestries can be found tucked away in its dense alcoves, from gnomes to giants. Ancient, rune-inscribed walls encircle the city, and the culture clash within provides a dizzying tour of societies that reinforces the larger diversity of the Expanse.
Far quieter is the twice-deserted city of Jaha, whose obscure astrological past guides its third wave of inhabitants in growth and change. The breadth of Jaha’s populace is far less diverse than that of Kibwe, and the scope of its inhabitants’ story is a personal one between two groups inheriting old traumas and far older enigmas. Jaha’s secrets pull its possibilities from the soil and into the stars. For the adventuring party looking to discover unsolved historical riddles, Jaha proves a more than ideal scene. The urban possibilities are as dense as jungle soils, and these examples only scratch the surface of a world filled with cities ruled by the dead, communities rippling from overturned nations, and whole societies learning to redefine themselves in the wake of colonial turmoil.
Humanity within the region is often reduced to an inaccurate homogeneity of “Mwangi” by outsiders, but the range of human expression running through the Expanse is vast. The seafaring Bonuwat and Lirgeni; the Caldaru, who reside in the robust city-state of Senghor; the well-traveled Mauxi of the northern bound of the Expanse; the Sargavans of Chelaxian heritage who have spurned the colony of their descent; and the everpresent Zenj who form the common bulk of the Mwangi human population, all of whom illustrate a sliver of the humanity throughout the region.
Outsiders often mistake or frame the people and places here as new discoveries. In truth, many of the people of the region have preserved themselves and their lands well where nature hasn’t done the job for them. The ancestries of Golarion have some of their most primordial cultural and ethnic representatives running through the Mwangi Expanse.
Geography
The environments of the Mwangi Expanse are as varied and interesting as the people that inhabit it. From the stark heights of the Barrier Wall’s mountains, to the mysteries surrounding the immense Lake Ocota, to the verdant life of the Mwangi Jungle, the region contains an immeasurable number of sites, scenes, and experiences to encounter. There lie many ruined cities littered throughout the Mwangi Expanse, remnants of disaster, tragedy, or simple pride unchecked.
Lake Ocota is the central lake nestled inside the Mwangi Jungle and is connected to all the major rivers throughout the Expanse. An enormous sheer white structure known as the Spire of Destiny juts out from the middle of the lake, but its base is surrounded by a dense, impenetrable fog that prevents any from approaching it. The lake itself has a vast ecosystem of dangerously large animals, the most notable of which is a giant water orm known as the Fetid God. On the southern shore of Lake Ocota is Usaro, the city home to the River of Blood where the Gorilla King once ruled before meeting his end at the hands of adventurers.
To the north lies the Barrier Wall, an expansive mountain range that separates the Mwangi Expanse from Osirion. The passageway to the legendary alchemist Artokus Kirran’s citadel is rumored to be hidden within the range, drawing prospective students for miles around. In the southern mountains lies the Tomb of a Thousand Tusks, a labyrinthine crypt built to house a stray Asura’s grisly prize.
In the northeastern corner of the Barrier Wall lie the Ruins of Kho, nestled within the Kho-Rarne pass. Kho was the first flying city raised by the Shory Empire, and many of its magical secrets still lie buried in the earth. The nearby Uomoto people are the only ones adept at traversing the varied and extensive dangers that lie within the ruins. At the northernmost tip of the Barrier Wall lies Haldun, the headquarters of the Rainwall, a network of sentries that prevents creatures from the Sodden Lands from wandering north past the Barrier Wall. The Sodden Lands occupy the northwestern edge of the Mwangi Expanse and are the result of two kingdoms felled by the formation of the Eye of Abendego, a perpetual hurricane that rages off the coast.
Terwa Lake and the Terwa Uplands can be found to the south of the Sodden Lands. Terwa Lake houses many fallen cities on its shores, perhaps owing to the volcanic gas that erupts from its depths every so often. The mysterious city of murals, Bloodsalt, and the Ghol-Gani city Egregzia rest on the shores of Lake Terwa, both uninhabited for generations. The Terwa Uplands sits on the western end of Garund, and is home to the Mbe’ke dwarves.
Just south of the Terwa Uplands lie the Kaava Lands, a forested region named after kaava, tree-dwelling creatures with short feathers that resemble fur. The Kaava Lands are generally difficult to navigate due to kaava’s territorial demeanor and aptitude for intimidating coordination.
The dry, mountainous region known as the Bandu Hills lies in the southeast of the expanse, connecting the Mwangi and Screaming Jungles and the Kaava Lands. The foremost location of interest here is the ruined city of Arzikal, known as the City of Hungry Spires, and named for the upturned and ruined structures that resemble haphazard teeth. Precarious and prone to falling, the spires are always found upright again the next day, albeit in different locations.
Finally, beyond the Bandu Hills lie the Screaming Jungle, at the southernmost point of the area considered the Mwangi Expanse. The jungle is named so for the constant screaming of monkeys that gives the area its iconic soundscape. It houses Dbede, a 100-foot-tall structure home to millions of termites, and Elokolobha, a large eloko city.
Lake Ocota is the central lake nestled inside the Mwangi Jungle and is connected to all the major rivers throughout the Expanse. An enormous sheer white structure known as the Spire of Destiny juts out from the middle of the lake, but its base is surrounded by a dense, impenetrable fog that prevents any from approaching it. The lake itself has a vast ecosystem of dangerously large animals, the most notable of which is a giant water orm known as the Fetid God. On the southern shore of Lake Ocota is Usaro, the city home to the River of Blood where the Gorilla King once ruled before meeting his end at the hands of adventurers.
To the north lies the Barrier Wall, an expansive mountain range that separates the Mwangi Expanse from Osirion. The passageway to the legendary alchemist Artokus Kirran’s citadel is rumored to be hidden within the range, drawing prospective students for miles around. In the southern mountains lies the Tomb of a Thousand Tusks, a labyrinthine crypt built to house a stray Asura’s grisly prize.
In the northeastern corner of the Barrier Wall lie the Ruins of Kho, nestled within the Kho-Rarne pass. Kho was the first flying city raised by the Shory Empire, and many of its magical secrets still lie buried in the earth. The nearby Uomoto people are the only ones adept at traversing the varied and extensive dangers that lie within the ruins. At the northernmost tip of the Barrier Wall lies Haldun, the headquarters of the Rainwall, a network of sentries that prevents creatures from the Sodden Lands from wandering north past the Barrier Wall. The Sodden Lands occupy the northwestern edge of the Mwangi Expanse and are the result of two kingdoms felled by the formation of the Eye of Abendego, a perpetual hurricane that rages off the coast.
Terwa Lake and the Terwa Uplands can be found to the south of the Sodden Lands. Terwa Lake houses many fallen cities on its shores, perhaps owing to the volcanic gas that erupts from its depths every so often. The mysterious city of murals, Bloodsalt, and the Ghol-Gani city Egregzia rest on the shores of Lake Terwa, both uninhabited for generations. The Terwa Uplands sits on the western end of Garund, and is home to the Mbe’ke dwarves.
Just south of the Terwa Uplands lie the Kaava Lands, a forested region named after kaava, tree-dwelling creatures with short feathers that resemble fur. The Kaava Lands are generally difficult to navigate due to kaava’s territorial demeanor and aptitude for intimidating coordination.
The dry, mountainous region known as the Bandu Hills lies in the southeast of the expanse, connecting the Mwangi and Screaming Jungles and the Kaava Lands. The foremost location of interest here is the ruined city of Arzikal, known as the City of Hungry Spires, and named for the upturned and ruined structures that resemble haphazard teeth. Precarious and prone to falling, the spires are always found upright again the next day, albeit in different locations.
Finally, beyond the Bandu Hills lie the Screaming Jungle, at the southernmost point of the area considered the Mwangi Expanse. The jungle is named so for the constant screaming of monkeys that gives the area its iconic soundscape. It houses Dbede, a 100-foot-tall structure home to millions of termites, and Elokolobha, a large eloko city.
Climate
Most of the Mwangi Expanse has the climate of a tropical rain forest, including steaming hot weather and frequent precipitation. The terrain in the area consists mostly of jungle, though mountains and savanna plains can be found in the interior, and swamps dominate the lakes and the Sodden Lands along the coast. When considering the weather in any given Mwangi location, it’s most likely on any given day to have mild heat and precipitation. Fog is also common in the mornings, and can often linger for weeks at a time in certain jungle areas. During the rainy seasons, downpours and storms are common, and areas along the coastline remain at risk for powerful storms (namely, windstorms, waterspouts, and hurricanes). A few regions—such as the Sodden Lands, where the sun has not pierced the clouds since the day Aroden died—remain unusually cold in comparison to the rest of the Expanse, and some of Mwangi’s highest mountains are frigid and capped with snow.
As with all wild places, nature can create dangerous circumstances for travelers and residents alike. Floods can occur near any large bodies of water during the rainy seasons. Pockets of quicksand dot the shores of lakes, especially Lake Ocota. Treacherous scree can coat the mountains, especially on the eroded faces of the Bandu Hills. A few rare areas have deadly volcanic vents that have wiped out civilizations. The verdant jungles can also hide more bizarre natural hazards, including carnivorous plants, such as titanic flytraps.
As with all wild places, nature can create dangerous circumstances for travelers and residents alike. Floods can occur near any large bodies of water during the rainy seasons. Pockets of quicksand dot the shores of lakes, especially Lake Ocota. Treacherous scree can coat the mountains, especially on the eroded faces of the Bandu Hills. A few rare areas have deadly volcanic vents that have wiped out civilizations. The verdant jungles can also hide more bizarre natural hazards, including carnivorous plants, such as titanic flytraps.
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