Theros

The Ancient world of Theros is brimming with magic, ruled by an awe-inspiring pantheon of gods. Mortals tremble before them, feel the sting of their petty whims, and live in terror of their wrath. It is a plane where barbaric, cave-dwelling minotaurs descend on wayward travelers. Giants stalk the land, drawing strength from the terrain on which they tread. At sea, massive krakens prowl its depths, and sirens lure its sailors to their demise. Yet amid such colossal perils, mortals have found a way to endure, and it is here that the hero's mantle is raised highest.

Not only have the mortals endured, they have managed to thrive, for Theros is also a plane where civilization is protected behind the walls of great poleis, each city-state a bulwark against the raging monsters that roam the more savage places of Theros. The heart of mortal civilization lies in and around three poleis—cities and their surrounding territories. Together the three poleis, Akros, Meletis, and Setessa, encompass most of the human population of Theros. Meletis covers the whole territory of the southwestern peninsula, Akros forms the northern frontier, and Setessa lies at the northern edge of the wild Nessian Wood.

To the north, the coastal lands become a barren region of badlands crossed by a labyrinth of arid canyons, with minotaur lands beyond. The minotaurs speak of impenetrable mountains rising amid a dark forest to the north.

The Siren Sea is studded with islands large and small. The largest cluster near the mainland, called the Dakra Isles, is poorly charted, and even those sailors who attempt to explore the isles return with contradictory information. Westward from those islands, some have successfully sailed to the edge of the world, though no one can say for certain how far it is—the journey never unfolds in a straight line. In theory, it is equally possible to sail south to the edge of the world, but those waters are stormier and more forbidding.

Two bands of centaurs—the Lagonna and the Pheres—roam the hills and grasslands between the three poleis. The leonin hunt in the valley of Oreskos, nestled between the two mountain ranges. Satyrs dwell in a smaller Skola Vale northeast of the Nessian Wood. And tritons live primarily in the coastal shallows of the Siren Sea, though some manage to make comfortable homes among the humans of Meletis.

The badlands of Phoberos, northwest of Akros, are the frontier where Akroan soldiers clash with minotaurs. Farther north is the minotaur city of Skophos, little known to humans.

The necropoleis of Asphodel and Odunos are home to the Returned—zombie-like beings who have escaped the clutches of the underworld at the cost of their identities. The lands around these cities are bleak and barren, as if the Returned brought the pall of the underworld out with them into the mortal realm.