The Realm

The world is a large and varied place, and the Realm is the civilized heart of it.
A number of trade roads connect it to other nations and city-states; the most lucrative route is the overland road through the eastern border to the caliphates and kingdoms of spices and gold. But the road passes through hundreds of miles of loosely-claimed and mostly untamed wilderness on the other side of the Border marches. The further one gets from the heart of the Realm, the more dangerous and less civilized things become.