Beyond the Pershamon Empire

The Naraka Desert is an elevated highland roughly three thousand miles long, and two thousand miles wide at its widest point. It is dotted by several large mountain ranges, and the southern region is watered by the Ecmedad River. This river marks the western boundary of the Pershamon Empire, and is the edge of human civilization in this part of the world. In the forgotten past, there seems to have been other great civilizations here, as ruins and even somewhat intact structures can be found. Little is known about these structures or their builders. The Naraka is usually imagined as an endless sea of dunes, but it is in fact quite varied in terrain and climate... though it is all very hot. The desert landscape is home to all manner of life; anything that could be thought of as a creature of Earth, Air, or Fire might be found in the Naraka, though not in large numbers. The Genies, whether Dao, Efreet, or Djinn, make their homes in the many small mountains and caves, though they often appear to be palaces of some sort. Relatively few humanoids live in the Naraka, as they find the heat and sunlight of the day oppressive. Instead, small groups of vicious Gnolls, enigmatic Thri-Kreen, and a strange sort of desert-dwelling Lizardfolk make their homes here, eternally warring for territory and prey. Blue Dragons, Sphinxes, and Lamia live here in small numbers, haunting the ruins left by previous eras. 

The Five Kingdoms of the West are a collection of human kingdoms on the westernmost edge of the "Known World", five states unlike others in a variety of ways. Little is known about them with certainty beyond the fact that they are human dominated states. Their ways are strange, their languages are mostly unrelated to any in the Known World, and their forms of government seem bizarre to both Keller and Pershamon alike. All of the Five Kingdoms share the same complex system of ideograms, though the spoken forms are wildly divergent, sometimes even within a single country. When necessary for international communication, most who are able will use High Persha as a Lingua Franca. Each state uses its own currency, though the coins and values are roughly comparable.

The Silent Clericy of Rabo-Thosaen is the northernmost kingdom. It is ruled as a theocracy by a council of the highest ranking clerics of their god Thosaen. The religion demands human sacrifices, and the economy is based on slavery. As the entire culture is steeped in the religion, sacrificial victims are honored with reanimation as undead guardians of the cities and temples, and the subjects have little fear of death or the undead. Rabo-Thosaen has a large, fearless, and utterly loyal army protecting it. Slaves are directly owned by the Cult of Thosaen, but are "loaned" to the landholding noble caste which makes up the bulk of the kingdom's military. Rabo-Thosaen maintains friendly but infrequent relations with the Uthman nation of Bantsoro Wuri, which shares a similar (but secular) attitude towards death and the dead.

The Kingdom of Hazhonta faces the Ejdeha Sea, but is only barely a kingdom. It is more properly described as a territory ruled by an assembly of warlocks and their minions. Each part of Hazhonta is effectively independent, but the warlocks have come together to defend their interests and territories from invasions, especially by nearby Rabo-Thosaen and Maithu. A non-warlock is selected as the "King", handling matters that the warlocks cannot be bothered with until killed or replaced. The warlocks of Hazhonta have all made pacts with a bewildering array of beings, some of which would certainly be considered demons, devils, Mahravaiyna or worse by outsiders. In fact, it is not uncommon for one of these being to be physically manifested in the presence of the ruling caste. Despite this, Hazhonta is a relatively safe place for travelers, so long as certain odd taboos are obeyed. Many Hazhontans are Tieflings, perhaps the only place on Aestas where they can be found in numbers. Despite consorting with devils, Hazhonta has a zero tolerance policy regarding the undead, destroying them with a fervor matched only by paladins. 

The Great Communion of Maithu recently overthrew its monarchy and sorcerous nobility in a bloody revolution that saw several sorcerous entire bloodlines sacrificed in bloody public rituals. In place of the former magocracy, Maithu is now a communalist theocracy. A small group of clerics preaching the dogma of a deity called "Watlautrai the Liberator" convinced the population to revolt a century ago. In the process, the kingdom rid itself of all mages, wizards, and warlocks, as well as nearly all social classes. Maithuans refer to one another as "brother" and "sister". Social order is maintained by bodies of monks associated with the Cult of Watlautrai. Politics aside, Maithu is organized as a series of agrarian communes run by monks and clerics. Overall, the country is poor but stable, with a growing population. It is believed that the Maithuans will eventually attempt to unify the Five Western Kingdoms under their rule; prophecy and scripture proclaim that eventually Watlautrai will liberate the entire world from bondage. Sages who study the region believe the cult is an offshoot of Zovkanism, brought by Taohuan traders in the past. 

The Principate of Darlzacha devotes most of its energies toward defending itself from Maithu, but it remains the most accessible of the Five Kingdoms to the outside world. Other than sharing in the unfortunately common religious practice of human sacrifice, Darlzacha is relatively sane. It is a trading nation, with rule divided between the princes of six great trading houses. The traders use locally constructed airships of Taohuan design, and do business with both the Taohuan and the Pershamon Empire. The most noteworthy custom to most outsiders is the custom of wearing masks. Anyone above the commoner caste wears a mask, but the mask is designed to announce rather than to conceal one's identity, status, and even purpose. Personal names are rarely used by nobles and the wealthy, as it is considered vulgar to do so. 

The Kingdom of Y'dhaoth is closest to the Pershamon Empire, though still a thousand miles away by sea. It controls the mouth of the Ecmedad River as well, a common gateway to the Five Kingdoms for those not taking the sea routes. It is a relatively conventional kingdom, sufficiently powerful and isolated to remain unconquered by the Pershamon. Its economy is mostly self-sufficient, based mainly on agriculture and the export of silver and rare gems through Darlzachan traders. The ruling Hashrutta dynasty is fearful of all of its neighbors, and generations of defensive policy has rendered the residents mostly xenophobic. Y'dhaothi religion is complex even by Pershamon standards, with many layers of monks, priests, and even paladins arguing doctrinal points at great length. The most intriguing and inexplicable aspect of Y'dhaoth is that the local language is related to Sevastin, though written in the strange Five Kingdoms script.