Elleswere
Elleswere—the "Mannish Lands" may have once been an accurate demographic depiction, but today they are Manfall epitomized. Only small mannish kingdoms now cower in the corners a continent almost wholly under elfish rule.
Elleswere, also known as Aelfara in Kadish, Mann in Nakhazi, and Sivasia in Twinnish, is one of seven commonly accepted continents on the planet Valan. It is a contiguous landmass joined with the larger continent of Soddam. For much of its history, it has been divided into six regions until the Caublin Cataclysm resulted in the surfacing of the Younglands.
The name "Elleswere" was the Nalemonic word for the in lands between the northern Palisea and Odjosean oceans on the planet of Valan. Its name means "the Mannish Lands," an old name given by the elfs of the island of Nalislos during the Mannish Age to the Sunlands, then mostly inhabited by mannish peoples, which has come to refer to the entire continent north of the Yutzan and White Mountains. The land is today dominated by the Nalemonic Empire, although it remains mostly populated by mannish, rather than elfish peoples.
Regions
Elleswere is traditionally divided into seven regions: the Sunlands, Heartlands, Coastlands, Northlands, Reachlands, Younglands, and Twinlands. The majority of these have names associated with major geographic features, while the Younglands and Twinlands are named culturally.
Sunlands
The Sunlands are defined by its central semi-arid plain, the mediterranean climate on its coast and the sun-bleached White Mountains of Erlejek. The lack of any major geographic obstacles beyond the rivers flowing into Verïavodosï, and the way the plain bleeds into the Yutzuni Steppe to the south and the Heartlands to the north makes the plain a natural route for migration or invasion, posing challenges to Sunlanders.
Under the rule of the Nalemonic Empire, this issue has abated somewhat, although warbands from the goblin tahnates to the south remain a persisting threat. The region is now mostly inhabited by mannish and elfish peoples, although a wide variety of peoples make their homes along the rivers, and advances in magical improvements to dryland farming under the empire have resulted in a booming population.
Heartlands
The Heartlands are dominated by the large grasslands and forests of the Sïvasavo river basin, characterized by large lakes, many tributaries, and rich soils indicative of the longest river on the continent. The natural wealth of the region makes it home to an abundance of flora and fauna, attracting a range of monsters that typically would be reticent to make their homes near so many towns and villages.
The Heartlands are the breadbasket of Elleswere, and home to a wide variety of peoples, although in recent ceturies, elfish colonization from Verïa and the Sunlands has greatly expanded the already substantial elfish presence. This has led southern Heartlands, even before the Nalemonic Empire, to become known as the "Elfish realms" for the prevalence of principalities and other polities that keep mannish, dwarfish, and other settlements geopolitically marginal.
Coastlands
The northwestern coast of Elleswere, between Elysian and the Gulf of Sororitus can be divided broadly into four subregions: dry highlands near the Elysia Mountains and the Red Hills that form a broken semi-circle about the region; temperate wetlands and forest along the Brokoman river and headwaters; a slow transition to cold taiga north of the Brokoman; and an unusually warm temperate forestland in Elysian.
The Coastlands are a centre of north-south trade, with the city-states of the Three Sisters and the Republic of Elysian acting as hubs between trade centres in Norvissen and Ironmaster in the North, White Harbour and the Twinlands to the South, and the Brittle Isles and Kadeh across the North Sea and Palisea. It is home a many mannish or gnomish merchant republics or principalities along the coast, while the interior is much more untamed, dangerous, and sparsely populated.
Northlands
Elleswere reaches nearly to the polar north of Valan, and the Northlands are the arctic and taiga that to the on both slopes of the massive Worldspine Mountains. The southern slope of the Worldspine is defined by great taiga plains and deep boreal forests, while the north of the range has some taiga along the slope, but quickly transitions to tundra and polar desert, with country-sized glaciers covering much of the region. The Worldspine itself is home to great glaciers and inhospitable alpine tundra.
The vast majority of the region's population lives south of the mountains, around the many tributaries flowing into the Sïvasavo. This is a mostly mannish population, with some gnomish and other groups. Dwarfish, orcish, and some goblin populations inhabit the great mountains themselves, while the population north of the Worldspines mostly restrict themselves to the small river systems in the tundra, primarily in Icewind Dale and Icenia.
Reachlands
The Reachlands are cold and extremely inclement. Large storms off the Sea of Violets batter the coast as strong winds blow warmer air westward from the Younglands where it meets colder air from the Worldspine. The Violet Coast is characterized by fields of wild violets and bright green grasses, becoming gradually less vivid as one moves inland along the Viole River to the foothills and taiga south of the Worldspine. It is bounded by the River Modaenish that demarcates the regional border with the Northlands.
Almost all of the populations are clustered on the Violet Coast. Inland storms can be catastrophic, so inhabiting the Upper Viole River basin is extremely difficult, leading most there underground or to the Flower Forests that provide some shelter. The Farreach Hills in the northeast is similarly a stormridden alpine tundra that is inhospitable for most, with the majority of its population clustered in the lowlands.
Younglands
The Younglands is by far the largest region in Elleswhere, and can generally be divided into two halves, the northern Riverlands and southern Verïa. The Riverlands are dominated by vast tracts of mostly unexplored deep forest, with large quanities of water feeding into the Sea of Violets from glaciers in the Mountains of Nal and the Arfes Highlands. Verïa is the Younglands' southern coast, more temperate than the Sunlands that is renowned for battering storms and the famous blue-glowing wiltthrush weed.
The Younglands is a land that only emerged during the Caublin Cataclysm, an unnaturally massive tsunami millenia ago that covered vast swathes of the continent brought an end to the dominance of goblins in Elleswere. When the waters finally receded, the Younglands, previously beneath a shallow sea, had been revealed. The majority of settlement has occurred only along the coast, with a range of natural and monstrous dangers making incursions into the region's core a difficult prospect.
Twinlands
The Twinlands is a diverse region, with a temperate and wet western coast facing the Palisea, while weather disrupted by the Twinhills in the centre of the peninsula creates a rainshadow in the east that ranges from arid to mediterranean in climate. The foot of the Red Hills, by contrast, is home to Redmarsh, a deep and largely unexplored coastal marsh characterized by forests of the reddish reeds along the shores of its rivers and streams that give the region its name.
The Twinlands is the centre of mannish power in Elleswere. The Twinnish Kingdom has remained united in keeping elfish colonists and Nalemonic influence relatively limited. Other populations, such as dwarfish and gnomish groups have substantial populations in the region, but are broadly confined to the Red Hills or Lok Salé.
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