The Pomarj

Capital: Formerly Stoneheim, now powers are disparate.

Major cities: Stoneheim, Highport, Blue

Ruler: Various

Racial make-up: Major strain: Orcs, goblins; minor strains: Humans, others

Major resources: Silver, electrum, gold, gems, slaves

Battle not with monsters lest ye become one;

for when you look into the Abyss, the Abyss looks into you.

The Pomarj proper is a peninsula dividing the Azure Sea from the Sea of Gearnat. It is bordered by the Jewel River to the west, the Suss Forest and Woolly Bay to the north, with the Straights of Gearnat to the east and the Azure to the south. The peninsula is dominated by the Drachensgrabs, a range of hills which ascend to the height of mountains at their highest point. The soil of the land is poor, making cultivation of crops difficult.

Before the Great Migrations, the Pomarj was mainly a desolate region populated by primitive Flan tribespeople who revered equally primitive deities of earth and sky. Eventually, small numbers of outcast Suel settled the region. The region received little notice from the rest of the world for centuries, remaining largely isolated.

In 295 CY, King Tavish I of Keoland and the Prince of Ulek, seeking to exploit the Pomarj's mineral wealth, raised an army to invade and subjugate the region, an endeavor which was accomplished in the span of a few years. The Pomarj was divided up into roughly a dozen small baronies, which were awarded to favored families of the Keoish throne. These subfiefs were administered by and under the protection of the Principality of Ulek. Over the next few decades, mining brought great wealth to these petty barons. In 305 CY, the town of Highport was constructed on the north coast to share these riches with the rest of the Flanaess.

In 461 CY, the Principality of Ulek had withdrawn from Keoland to gain palatinate status. The barons of the Pomarj at this time, being subjects of the Prince of Ulek, had no voice in the Council of Niole Dra. Dissatisfied with their position, the Pomarj barons broke with the Principality of Ulek in 463, declaring their own independence. The barons ejected the Prince's garrisons and declared Highport their capital. Despite this apparent unity, however, each baron ruled his state independently, and feuds were common. Many barons assigned themselves grandiose titles, such as archbaron, duke, or prince. The baron of Suderham, even went so far as to dub himself "King of the Drachensgrabs."

In 498 CY, the Hateful Wars began as an alliance between Celene and the Ulek States, who sought to drive the Euroz and Jebli hordes of orcs, goblins, and other humanoids, from Lortmil Mountains. The Prince of Ulek invited the former barons of the Pomarj to join the alliance, but the lords of the Pomarj refused, fearing reabsorption into the Principality and seeing little reason to involve themselves in what they viewed as chiefly a conflict between non-humans. By 510 CY, the Hateful Wars were over, but this conflict would have great repercussions for the Pomarj.

In 513 CY, hordes of surviving orcs, goblins, and other dark creatures from the Lortmils, having few places to hide from their elven and dwarven foes, fled to the Pomarj, emerging from the Suss and falling upon Highport in a destructive rage. In a matter of months, all of the other former baronies, save the hidden city of Suderham, also fell to the humanoid invaders.

Over the next few decades, the Pomarj became essentially a backwater filled with orcs, goblinoids, and other creatures, as well as a haven for bandits, pirates, slavers, and other criminals. Various humanoid tribes carved out territories. Many humans were enslaved, or else waged a losing guerilla war against the invaders.