Nations

(click for full size)

As you can see, this is the Magic Sea, the continents and the islands, which only make up part of a world. Well, I suppose that's what happens when a certain goddess gets impatient and splits the world she's helping to create into several pieces. The Magic Sea is surrounded by the Mist, which only dragons (and gods) can get through, and in a sort of pocket inside the Mist there's Kandrazaal, the dragon kingdom. As a rule of thumb, the closer to the Mist you get, the warmer the climate is, so for example the Elven Lands and Vesia can get pretty hot, while the Trinity's a lot cooler.

Um. That's "cooler" as in "colder," not as in "awesomer."

With me so far? Okay, let's take a peek at the countries!

There are fifty-three nations on this map. Okay, technically there are fifty-four, but nobody except pedants and aristocrats count Engasal as one country anymore.

AGARDYN

Agardyn's the biggest and probably most powerful country in the world. I think it's also the most varied when it comes to different people and cultures; from old, Agardyn was a conquering nation and at one point covered the entire continent, with colonies on the other one. Nowadays, things are a little different, and Agardyn has taken upon itself the role as "world peacekeeper," and training Meddlers to send everywhere. Which sometimes works great, sometimes not-so-great, and sometimes doesn't work at all. Other countries swing between looking at them as stern dealers of justice and just big bullies.

Great place for sightseeing, though. Country's so big that they've got a little of everything, and a lot of some things. The people are friendly enough, long as you agree with them that their country is the best in the world. When they get too patriotic it's best to just smile and nod. Trust me, it'll save you a lot of hassle.

THE TRINITY

(TORGOS, BERUSIS and HYDRIS)

Torgos, Berusis and Hydris, were all once part of Agardyn, but after the death of Agardyn's last king, there was a civil war and, well, the end of it all was that several new countries were formed and Agardyn was less than half its original size and suddenly not the ruler of the world anymore. I don't really remember all the details. Anyway, these tree countries are among the ones that split off from Agardyn. They're still monarchies and really close allies of each other. Which is why they're called "the Trinity" and I lump 'em together like this, cause most of the world just see them as one country with three sub-countries.

The Trinity's got a culture a lot like Agardyn's, but less militaristic and they don't want to play world police the way Agardyn does. When it comes to difference between the three... I'm still not completely sure. I mean, they insist that they're totally different from each other, but most of the differences are, ummm... subtle?

HUNRIK

This place doesn't know if it wants to be water or land. I mean, it's an island, but it has like five thousand lakes and rivers, and they're always overflowing and flooding the entire country, and yeah. Unless you can fly like me, you'd better be a very good swimmer, or have a boat, if you want to get around in this place. But at least you won't die of thirst! Sea elves like this island, and it's easy to see why.

With me it's mostly noticable because I knew a guy named Henrik once, and I keep thinking of him whenever I hear this country's name...

SALDOR

Aww, isn't this a cute little island, all nestled between Agardyn and Hunrik? Well, don't be fooled. This is a pretty wild island with tons of unpredictable magic and weird creatures, and great risk of getting Spellstruck. It's mostly wilderness with only one city on the entire island... it's just called the White City, because, well, it's made almost entirely out of white stone. It's a pretty small city, but a lot of wizards and other magic-users come from there, and many of them are really enthusiastic about showing off how great and powerful they are. You can't throw a brick here without hitting some ludicrously powerful wizard who wants to curse you... and well, since you threw a brick at her in the first place you probably deserve it.

I'd avoid this place, unless you're a dragon or a powerful elven magic-user. Actually, I'd avoid it even if you are a dragon or a powerful elven magic-user, because then all the wizards show up and want to beat you up to prove how powerful and awesome they are... not that I can't fly fast enough to avoid them easily, but still. What a drag.

NERIKEN

Almost as magical as Saldor, but a lot safer to visit. Neriken's ruled by a very powerful Sorceress named Nerai, who's placed some kind of protection over the entire country. Don't know what the protection is, but it's kept the place rich and prosperous for centuries, and it's probably reason why Neriken's never been under Agardynian rule, not even back when Agardyn ruled the entire rest of the continent.

I've only been there once, and to be honest I left pretty quick. I mean, not that it's a bad place-- there's huge farms with golden crops, laid-back people, lazy sun-filled afternoons with children stealing pies from kitchen windows and all that. Okay, fine, it's boring.

KRUGA

Kruga's the opposite of Neriken, in many ways. It isn't actually one country, it's made up out of several smaller countries who all more or less keep fighting for dominance, or over resources, or different political ideal, or maybe because they just like fighting. Agardyn keeps sending Meddlers up there to keep the peace, but with limited success. There are just too many micro-nations and too much wilderness.

It's not a place I'd advice taking a longer vacation, with the constantly shifting enimities and alliances, unless you want a little extra danger in your spare time... or, hey, if you need a place to hide where you won't be found, Kruga's a good bet. Just watch your back and think twice before saying anything positive or negative about anything.

LEDUN

Ledun's a lot like Kruga, but more peaceful and organized. There are all these city-states that are more or less independent, but at least they don't wage war. Maybe because the country's mostly run by dwarfs, and dwarfs don't waste time fighting their enemies when they can make money off them. There's a lot of trade and business in Ledun; everything can be bought or sold. Or, if you're less moral, stolen. There's a rumor that a lot of world-spanning organized crime has its main seat in the city-states of Ledun.

Still, it's not really lethal like Kruga. I mean -- visiting Ledun, may lose your innocence, you may lose your possessions, you may lose your virginity, and you probably will lose your money... but you'll keep your life, cause dead people can't buy things and a corpse can only be robbed once.

ENGASAL

Okay. I know the Supreme Duke of Engasal keeps insisting otherwise, but as far as most people are concerned, Engasal is really two countries, Enga and Sal. Enga's on the mainland and Sal is an island. Both are riddled with aristocracy and Lords and Ladies and I don't know what, but Sal's the richer of the two halves, and this is where the Supreme Duke lives.

Actually, the fact that it's two countries that pretend to be one is probably the most interesting thing I can say about Engasal. But if you happen to go there, and you happen to stay at an inn called "The Smiling Boar"... don't order the soup.

KIMIRA

Kimira, however, is famous as the Nation of Love. I'm not kidding! They say that Senella, the Goddess of Love, favors the country, and her blessing makes everyone born in the country extremely beautiful. (No, I wasn't born there, but thanks for asking!) Helps that the island also has all these long sandy beaches for romantic midnight walks, there's a big lake where you can swim, there are pretty forests with beautiful streams where the birds sing and the grass is all soft and...

...yeah, you get the picture. Place is gorgeous, people are gorgeous, and it's very easy to get all lovestruck and swoony there.

KHILDARIN

It's the Guild Country! Okay, they don't like being called that, but this little country is known mostly for its craftsmen and tinkerers an inventors, and the various guilds that seem to rule the entire nation. It's a pretty flat and rocky country, with not much possibilities for farming and things like that, so I suppose that the people there just needed to find something else to do.

If you want an excellent craftsman or a good inventor, this is the country where they're all from. "Made in Khildarin" is like a guarantee of quality... But you should be warned that lots of salesmen lie and say they have goods from Khildarin, when in reality said goods haven't been within a hundred miles of the Khildarin border.

BERNIA

A lot of people say that Bernia is the original birthplace of the human race; that humans first showed up on the coasts of this island, eventually making boats to sail off to Agardyn and the rest of the world. They say that... but a lot of other people say that Selennia, on the other continent, is the original birthplace of humans. Which is typical humans; unlike us others they couldn't just have one place of origin. No, they had to have two. Which one's the real deal? I have no idea.

Bernia does have some very old settlements, though, and lots of ruins of old buildings. If you visit, I hope you're interested in old ruins. If not... well, then I hope you like fish, because the five thousand different fish recipes is the only other thing that's noticable about Bernia.

ARDACH

Ardach is a bit of a secret country. Well, not secret as in secret, I mean, everybody knows it's there, but most of its major cities are closed to outsiders, and there are lots of secret stuff going on in there that the Ardachians keep to themselves. What these secrets might be, I have no idea. That's why they're secrets, see?

You hardly ever see an Adrachian outside of Adrach, but they're... yeah, they're a secretive folk. And people say we dragons are bad, at least we get out and see the world.

VERONNIA

One of the oldest established nations, in fact it's agreed that this is where the dwarfs first showed up. (Vanadys can confirm this; she says she met them way back then!) Dwarfs still stand strong here, even if you find lots of humans too, and wights... Place used to be a bit of a conquerer and stuff, but nowadays Veronnia's just nice. Especially on the penninsula, where they have these great sunny beaches, and some places the water's so shallow that you can wade over to Agardyn.

Food's good, too -- they have the best chocolate in the world. Mmmm... I should fly there again sometime...

WELMARK

Um. Okay. Hope nobody from Welmark heard me praise Veronnia, because... well, you really shouldn't speak too highly about Veronnia if you ever visit Welmark. You see, Welmark used to be under Veronnia, but broke loose, and even if it's several hundred years ago, the Welmarkians and Veronnians don't get along too well. Of course Agardyn's hovering over them and making sure they don't start fighting, but yeah... not exactly a loving relationship there.

But, Welmark's nice too! Yeah! Um... nice wetlands, some cool mountains. Oh! They have some pretty good apricot pastries!

CALDERMARK

Caldermark's really mountainy. They got the highest mountains in the world, and the settlements are usually smaller and on the plains, though there's rumors that some dragons who don't like to take on non-dragon form have caves in the highest mountain peaks. I can neither confirm nor deny this. But maybe there is a reason why you don't see as many mountain goats around as before.

It's sparsely populated and the people usually keep themselves to themselves.-- and some of those settlements are hard to find. You can wander this country for months at an end and never meet anyone, and then it turns out you actually passed three towns that you never knew were there.

VOGDAL

It's Caldermark, except warmer, slightly smaller mountains, and you actually meet people. Not that there are that many people living in Vogdal, but the ones who do at least live out in the open where you can see them. Lots of wights here, and it's not all that uncommon to meet elves. Usually visiting from Atalya. They're only a nation in the loosest sense really; some guy in one of he towns declared himself ruler of the country and nobody bothered to contradict him,

In fact, quite a few of them still don't know they're one country. They don't get out much in Vogdal.

CROMDAS

Another mountainy country, but it gets flatter the closer you get to Gobar. Like Caldermark and Vogdal, it's pretty sparsely populated and is mostly wilderness, but it does have one actual city, by the coast, named Grodale. People here are very class-conscious and the city-dwellers look down on people who live utside the city... well, okay, I mean, lots of city people everywhere look down on people who don't live in cities, but in Grodale they kinda take it to the extreme, treating non-city-dwellers with a mix of strong contempt, intense suspicion, and quite a bit of pity. Could perhaps be because the wilderness has a lot of magical energies in it, leaking from Gobar no doubt, and while Grodale's pretty shielded people outside do run a risk of becoming Spellstruck.

Oh well. Grodale's got luxury and everywhere else has got danger, so thrill-seeking people who like luxury should be right at home in Cromdas!

GOBAR

Gobar is the most magical place on the continent, especially in wild and unpredictable magic. Just why that is, isn't quite clear, but lots of legends blame the Fallen Goddess for it. It's mostly on the plains and steppes in the center of the country; the coasts are calmer, and that's where the people live. I mean, it's okay for us dragons, we're pretty much immune to becoming Spellstruck, but unless a miracle happens, any human getting too close to the plains or even crossing them is not going to be the same afterwards, mentally or physically. So of course, some people make it a sport to dare each other to get as close as possible to the plains without changing. Um... yeah. You might already have guessed that people in Gobar are a little weird. (Fun at parties, though!)

This is, without question, the reason why the Agardynians never went through with their idea of building a road that went straight across the continent, no matter how much more convenient that would have been for the journey to Chandal: The road would have to pass through Gobar. And if you have the choice between taking a ship and risking a pirate attack, and traveling on land through Gobar... Go for the pirates. At least there's a good chance to avoid them.

KROGALIA

Krogalia gets a bit of the wild magic from Gobar as well, but not as much as Cromdas does; Spellstrucks aren't too common, and when they happen the change is usually minor. The biggest effect the magic has on Krogalia is that... somehow everything just seems a little grander and bigger, including people's gestures. Yeah, there are a more people living in Krogalia than in Gobar, Cromdas and Caldermark put together, and they tend to be, um, a little pompous and melodramatic.

Like, I swear, they react to the slightest bit of bad news like some foretelling of doom. Tell them that you accidentally ripped your dress, and they'll look as if a shadow falls over their face and mutter "these are indeed ill news." But, I suppose it's their way,

ATALYA

Hey, more elves! Atalya's the biggest elven settlement outside the Elven Lands; apparently a few elves once went on a little trip around the world, and after having sailed around with no real purpose for a few centuries, they discovered the then-uninhabited island of Atalya. Deciding they liked the place, they settled down there, invited a few friends over, and before you knew it they'd established a small elven nation. And I gotta say, Atalya's kinda like the Elven Lands in miniature. It's not as hot there, and the forests not as deep as the jungles of the Elven Lands, but all in all it must kinda feel like a home away from home for the elves.

It's certainly a very pretty place, and the elves are friendly long as you don't start ruining their forests or what have you. I think Atalya elves are the most open and company-seeing elves out there; they certainly wander around more and are more inclined to visit new places. If you meet an elf outside traditional Elven Lands, chances are good it's an Atalya elf.

VETLAND

Vetland's mainly run by dwarfs. but there doesn't seem to be the big "organized crime" deal here that they're struggling with in Ledun... at least not on the surface. Well, okay, usually organized crime isn't that visible from the surface either, but you know. The Vetland dwarfs seem to spend more time energy competing in between themselves, there are like five different dwarf clans here that are struggling for power, and of course the wights and humans who live in Vetland take the side of one clan or the other, and feuds might do on for decades. They call it "healthy competition." Yeah. Maybe I just don't get it cause I'm not a dwarf.

Good news, though: As a visitor to Vetland, you're viewed as an outsider and not expected to take sides in the "healthy competition." Businesspeople might even try to take advantage of it by playing the clans up against one another to get better deals.. buuuut, you know the saying. "Never try to out-dwarf a dwarf."

MAKENIA

Makenia isn't actually a country. It's mostly wilderness but there are some smaller settlements spread over a large island. They have little to do with each other, and less to do with the outside world -- there have been ships and such, cause the island isn't exactly remote, but there's never been a real trade route or any type of notable war or diplomatic allianches; truth is, Makenia's not that interesting. It pretty much has all it needs, and it doesn't really have anything that other countries would be interested in that they couldn't much more easily get from somewhere else.

So for now, let's just say that Makenia doesn't bother anyone, and nobody bothers Makenia.

CLEMIRA:

Pretty much the only thing that separates Clemira from Makenia is that Clemira is an actual country. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that it's closer to Beldyn and "civilization," but people there seem a little more interested in being an actual nation. Not exactly a superpower, but then I don't think they really want to be one.

VIRIDIAN ISLANDS

There are a lot more of the islands than are depicted on the map, but most of them are too small to show up on a world map... besides, some of the islands are tricky. There's definitely some strange magic on them, in that some of them move about, some of them only exist half the time, some of them change size. The islands that have made it to the map are pretty consistent in size and shape, though.

You'd think islands that have all this weird magic would be dangerous or at least very interesting, but in truth... not much seems to happen on these islands. You can easily take a several-week vacation there, and nothing worse would happen to you than getting a sunburn.

BELDYN

Beldyn started out as an Agardyn colony, but I think we can safely say that it isn't anymore. Beldyn is essentially the richest and the snobbiest country around. Even the poorest people there have more money than anyone in the rest of the world. and they live in absolute luxury. Only Chaford even comes close to how rich these people are. Being so rich, they can afford the best of everything, including magical protections and defenses.

In other words: If you don't have a personal invitation to Beldyn, you don't get to Beldyn. The most you can hope for is to get to New Asmary, which is under Beldynian rule and where most of the actual trading with other countries takes place.

NEW ASMARY

New Asmary is actually part of Beldyn, but most people just think of it as a separate nation. This is the "lower-class" Beldyn, as it were; the people here are still very wealthy and live very comfortable lives, but it's here you find the commoners, the merchants and the tradesmen. This is where you go if you want to trade with Beldyn, or want elusive Beldyn goods, but don't have a personal invite to the country. And then you can either do the trading there, or hope that you impress or befriend some higher-up enough that you get that invitation.

Not a bad place to go, really, though it's still really expensive.

THE ELVEN LANDS

Most of the countries have a nice mix of the Five Known People; humans, dwarfs and wights mix pretty freely in all countries, and there are sometimes dragons too. But the elves tend to stick to themselves. They aren't very big fans of separating the land into countries and nations; you get sun elves and moon elves and sea elves, and that's all the distinction there is. As such, the Elven Lands aren't kingdoms or countries, they're just these big areas where elves live; there's the mainland which is mostly made up of wilderness and tropical forests, and there's the islands all around it.

It's a really pretty place, with all sorts of plants and animals that you can't find anywhere else, and green jungles and deep valleys and big rivers and all sorts of stuff, but mostly the elves want to have it to themselves. Not that non-elves aren't allowed to visit or anything, it's just that... yeah, the elves are pretty firm that only elves actually get to live in the Elven Lands, and they do have their subtle ways of letting people know when they've overstayed their welcome.

Still, nature-lovers and people who are fascinated by wild magic should definitely pay these lands a visit, since you get both in abounds there, like in nowhere else in the world. The elven lands are wild, beautiful and extremely magical, and if you're already part of the magic you owe it to yourself to at least drop by and take a look at it.

LYNDELLIN

Lyndellin's famous for a lot of things! For one thing, it's the second biggest country of the magic lands, second only to Agardyn. It's sometimes known as "the Conflation," which is a fancy word for mixing together all sorts of people, cultures and ideas, until they become one gigantic, glorious, messy whole where nobody's sure what their differences are anymore.

A lotta people say Lyndellin's the magical capital of the world. It's where the strongest wizards and other magic-users live, but it's also the artistic and cultural center of the magic lands. Agardyn may be the biggest and most powerful country, but Lyndellin much older and more magical. Most of the cultures of the world are represented in some way -- Lyndellians like to say "if you can't find it in Lyndellin, it probably doesn't exist." Which is silly, because I know for a fact that my mother isn't in Lyndellin, but she exists. Oh well.

Another thing Lyndellin is famous for is that it used to be "Vanagard," the major domain and stronghold of a certain Dark Queen... but Vanadys is very sorry about that.

CHANDAL

Chandal, which is the most neutral country in the world, has been a popular trade center for the rest of the world for thousands of years. Many dwarfs (of course) have made this their home, and make pretty big money on trading goods and services from all over. Ships and caravans and other traders come to Chandal to buy and sell and trade, legally or illegally. The country isn't quite the conflation of cultures and ideas as Lyndellin, but it does get a lot of travellers and short-term visitors, and everybody's nice and friendly and polite -- at least in public -- united, however temporarily, under the banner of profit. (Wow, that was a pretty good line, I gotta remember that one!)

There's quite a bit of crime there too... well, after Agardyn started sending out their Meddlers and focusing a lot of its attention on Chandal, it's now fairly safe to walk the streets of its bigger cities at night -- though I still wouldn't, if I were you.

PAGARAY

Pagaray's interesting, in that this was the first place the wights showed up. Story goes that the wights just suddenly emerged from the savanna one day, and insisted they'd already been living there for centuries, and went on to spread all over the magic lands afterwards.

Before the wights, Pagaray was largely wilderness, plains and savannas with a few towns scattered around, united by a half-hearted ruler and trade arrangements, just keeping minimum effort to stay an actual country and not become like for example Makenia. Nowadays, however... it's still largely the same, except now there are wights there as well. Guess not everything changes.

LYSORIA

Like Pagaray, Lysoria is more wilderness than country, but it is better organized and managed. The settlings (there are no big cities) are closer together and work together better, all overseen by a surprisingly hands-on (and charismatic) Royal family and their Dukes and Duchesses, Lords and Ladies, Counts and Countesses... And there are a lot of them. Lysoria probably has fity percent of all the world's nobility living in it, and it's said you can't throw a brick there without hitting Duke Something-Or-Other, or His Lordhip Whowever, or Lady Whats-her-name. It's a little silly, if you as me, but it seems to work for the inhabitants, who almost unamously love their noble class and wouldn't have it any other way. So they probably do a good job, right?

CHAFORD

How 'chaford living in a place where everything costs a fortune? ...okay, fine, that was a bad one, but it's sort of the reputation this place has. It's pretty small, but it's also pretty rich. Not the richest country in the world or anything (that honor goes to Beldyn), but they happen to have a lot of resources and a lot of precious metals, and so pretty much everyone there's rich, compared to their neighboring countries.

Stuff and food from Chaford is usually viewed as very exquisite because it costs so much... really, though, if you ask me things from Chaford aren't really better, just more expensive.

NUBYLIA

Nubylia's... kiiinda weird. Not that it's the people's fault, mind! This island used to be a prison island, where prisoners from the old Vanagard empire were sent. After Vanagard fell, and people came to see if any of the prisoners survived, the whole island turned out to be full of Spellstrucks, and nobody could say what happened.

Even now, centuries later, there's just this... odd, almost dreamlike quality to this island. Step ashore and you'll find that weird things happen; directions turn upside down, maps become useless because the scenery changes and people behave weird. It's not like Gobar where the land itself twists you, or Saldor where you can't move for powerful and curse-happy wizards; it's more like something extremely magical happened a long time ago to change everything, and now it's almost like Nubylia lives half in the spirit realm and half in the physical realm. Going there can be a very strange experience... but you can't say it's boring, at least.

CRYSTAL ISLANDS

(TOURMALINE, SEPTARIAN, CITRINE and TOPAZ)

This is a pretty neat group of islands. They're kinda united, except each island has its own ruler and Royal family, and weirdly enough they get the most immigrants and crossovers from the mundane lands. Nobody knows why; seems that anyone who comes from the mundane lands, there's a good fifty-fifty chance they'll end up on the Crystal Islands.

As a result, hospitality is one of the most sacred things on the Crystal Islands; it's actually against the law to refuse anyone food or shelter. Good thing to know if you visit -- but don't overdo it, because it's also against the law to abuse the privilege, and if you take too many liberties while a guest in someone's home, you might find yourself at a more permanent residence. And yes, I mean prison, if that wasn't clear.

VESIA

Vesia is famous among countries for its thinkers and philosophers, and it should probably give you an idea how proud they are of this that the entire country is named after Ves, the Lorekeeper and Goddess of Knowledge. They say the greatest minds have all come from Vesia, but that's probably a bit of an exaggeration... Still, the land is largely ruled by philosophers, and Vesian thinkers are often employed even outside Vesia as advisors or lorekeepers or sages.

Vesia's also the home to the biggest and most famous school in the world: The Vesian College. The college isn't just one school, in fact, it's several schools dedicated to different branches of learning, and they are spread out through the country but for all intents and purposes are counted as one collective school. Even if most of them have nothing to do with one another. People come from all over the world to be educated at the Vesian College, and it's a real prestige to be accepted there.

STARNIA

Starnia used to be part of Vanagard. Now it's ruled by magic-users, but thankfully they're not as curse-happy as the ones over in Saldor. They have this weird law that magicians and wizards rule everything, but aren't allowed to own anything. At least nothing bigger than they can carry, I'm pretty sure they're allowed to own clothes and knapsacks and stuff like that. Mostly the law boils down to "You a magic-user? Can't own land or property! Lucky for you, that's not going to be a problem because you're going to be treated as a revered guest anywhere you go anyway."

Nice place to visit if you're a magic-user, except make really certain that you insist you're not as good as the Starnian magic-users. Huge point of pride there.

ANARKAY

Also known among people as "Anarchist Country" or "Akar-nay," with an accent on the "nay." Seriously, you'll never find any people more quarrelsome, disagreeable or eager to fight than the Anarks. Maybe it has something to do with being Vanagard's closest neightbor in the old times, or maybe it's something in the water, but I've never been in a place where people were more belligerent and eager for a fight. These people will fight anyone, at any time, but mostly they fight each other. There's a constant struggle going on between the "riverfolks" and the "inlenders," and woe to anyone who gets in between them.

Pity, really, because the country itself is really pretty, with the majestic rivers and the rolling hills and the valleys.

ELTHON

People of Elthon like to call their land "The Gate," 'cause it's like a gate between Anarkay and Zolmayr, see? They also view themselves as an oasis of culture and civilization between the humorless, quarrelsome Anarkay and the big, wild Zolmayr. Probably the main reason neither Anarkay nor Zolmayr ever tried to invade it is because then they'd end up sharing a border, and that would just be a disaster.

The capital of Elthon is Elthon Isle, which is that little island just off its coast. It's here you find the Elthonian College, which is the second most famous school in the magic lands, after the one in Vesia. It's kind of a sore spot with Elthon, but I don't see why. Runner-up isn't a bad place.

ZOLMAYR

The third largest nation on the continent... is really only a nation because of the Tyrant, Lord Lorenzo Zolmayr. Somehow, he managed to put himself as the authority over all the local governments and spread-out settlements in the area, then he named it after himself, and that's pretty much how it's been ever since. The country's pretty big and wild, and there are so many small towns and tiny communities that nobody knows the exact number. Nobody thought Lord Zolmayr would be able to keep the country together as one, but he did -- and his family, the head of which is always called "Lord Zolmayr" has ruled ever since.

Don't know how much people's day-to-day life is affected, mind. Most settlements in Zolmayr are small and isolated and tend to care only about themselves. And between them there's huge wilderness and lots of wild monsters and all sorts of fun stuff. Good survival training, if nothing else.

CERGAN

Cergan was founded by people who had come from Agardyn, and now it wants to be Agardyn. It has the same type of government and military, and the same basic attitude towards itself and its place in the world. Several cities in Cergan are devoted to the training and sending out of Meddlers -- yeah, the Meddlers have their main seat in Agardyn, but the way Cergan keeps on playing Agardyn Junior, they've managed to snatch up a cooperation so that they're the only other country where Meddlers are trained.

If you ask me, the entire country has a hero complex bigger than the Magic Sea, but at least they mean well.

MIGARDO

This is a curious country. They used to be part of Vanagard, but they gained their independence... by politely asking for it. I still have no idea why that worked. Maybe it's because the people of Migardo are overall so laidback and harmless; they're just no threat to anyone.. even if you'd think they had Elven blood in them for all their ability to keep deadlines or showing up on time for appointments.

If you visit Migardo, definitely visit Lake Midnight. It's the third biggest landlocked lake in the magic lands (the biggest is of course in Agardyn, the third biggest is the Sleeping Lake, between Lysoria, Pagaray and the Elven lands). They have some really cool fish and birds there that you won't see anywhere else in the world.

SELENNIA

Yeah, this is that other country that claims to be the birthplace of the human race, and they keep fighting with Bernia over it. Actually, as a country it's not that old -- it used to be part of Migardo, and before that it was part of Vanagard. The original "Selennia" was a settlement in the valleys, which is now a great city, and which has given name to the country.

Tell you one interesting thing about Selennia: My father, you know, the Dragon King, was born there. It was long before it as even a country, but that was where the King of Dragons grew up. If that doesn't make this place worth a visit, I don't know what does.

ZUNGADAL

Dragon Valley! Much of this country is taken up by a huge valley, and yes, lots of dragons have decided to live here. It's not really the dragon country, 'cause that's Kandrazaal, but it's kind of like... an annex, maybe? An extra country? Anyway, where only dragons are allowed in Kandrazaal, Zungadal's open to anyone, so you can visit if you like. It's a nice warm place with lots of vegetation and rivers, and it's not like only dragons live there.

I think there used to be a human kingdom once, actually, but it's long gone now,. and nobody knows what happened to it.

KABAR

Kabar is Zungadal's closest neighbour, and, um... it's nice, I guess? It used to be part of Zungadal, but it was made its own nation some time ago. Not many people live in Kabar, but there are a lot of apes there, for some reason...

...waaait a minute. Hold on.

DULANGAR:

I think I just realized something, Okay, follow me on this, right? Dulangar is also known as the country ruled by a sword.

No, I'm serious. The ruler of Dulangar is always the one who holds the famous Sword of Power, which gives you incredible powers but only within the established borders of the country. It's, uh. a different kind of place. Goes through a lot of rulers, and each one has a different idea of what Dulangar should be, and the country and its people change accordingly. Visiting this place is pretty much the same as trying to walk through Gobar, except the changes that might happen to you aren't random; they're all initiated and decided by whoever holds the Sword of Power. Long as you're within the borders of Dulangar and the ruler decides that you should be something or someone else. you become that something or someone else. Even we dragons aren't immune to this.

Now, given that Kabar lies between Dulangar and Zungadal, and nobody knows what happened to the human kingdom of Zungadal, and Kabar has all these apes... I'm not suggesting that the Sword of Power and the then-ruler of Dulangar somehow was involved here, but... actually, that's pretty much exactly what I'm suggesting.

If you ever feel like visiting Dulangar, I only have one piece of advice for you: Don't.

KANDRAZAAL

Home, sweet home! Kandrazaal is the home of the dragons, and, well, I'm not really allowed to tell you much about it. I can say that it is a very warm place, though. Almost a humid climate, with lots of water and lots of mountains. If you're a dragon, you have to come here sometime! ...no, I mean, you literally have to. It's the law.

SANCTUARY

I'll admit it -- the map's probably wrong about where Sanctuary is. A lot of people have seen the island, but only when they weren't looking for it. Story is that Sanctuary is a floating island and that's why it never seems to be seen in the same place twice. But that's not the most alarming thing about Sanctuary... everybody knows that it's the home of the worst pirates of the magic sea, and is ruled by the black-hearted Captain Nera.

Nobody who wasn't a pirate ever set foot on Sanctuary and lived to tell the tale... at least that's what my sister Shayna told me that one time.