If you don't know my name, Dagger-Smile, count yourself lucky.  I have hunted bounties in the region for decades, from the Warring Principalities to the Halidom of Stars.  As I head into an uncomfortable retirement, I intend this text to be a collection of wisdom and experience for the novice traveler of the Temislis Sea.

The Warring Principalities - a collection of small countries on the northwest of the Sea - are where the Humans of the region call home.  Bordering on the Elven Forest and Oznig, the Principalities have also expanded to include Gnomish enclaves and Halfling communities as well.

As uniquely open and accepting as the Humans are of the different races of the region, they are less tolerant of anyone who swears oaths to other royalty.  The Warring Principalities have been in one level of conflict or another for at least a few hundred years.  It's not much to the neighboring peoples, but multiple Human generations have been born and died during these conflicts.

Let me just get this out of the way now - my mother is an elf.  I fucking hate elves.  They're pretentious, head-up-their-ass, arrogant sons of bitches.

With that out of the way, the Elven Forest is north of the Warring Principalities and northwest of the Dwarven Colonies.  For the sake of space and reader patience, I'm just going to refer to it as the "Elven Forest" rather than its full name, which would take about five pages for the short version.

The Dwarves got it hard in the Age of Shadow.  Now denied the underground life they prefer, and with their numbers greatly reduced, the Dwarves are centered around the fortress-city of Oznig.  Colonies throughout the mountain valleys pay tribute to the city, and thousands upon thousands of slaves labor to support the remaining Dwarves.

Oznig and its colonies are northeast of the Warring Principalities, and east of the Elven Forest.

The western continent of Cretac is home to a massive empire known as the Halidom of Stars.  Spanning jungles, plains, steppes, and more, the Halidom is led by a priestly caste of saurials who have slowly expanded their influence over dozens of distinct peoples.  While not all of Cretac is under their control, saurial leadership within their borders is unquestioned.  The only real challenge to the Halidom's power is the Kercpa Dominion, which rules through brutal military domination.

Millions upon millions of beastfolk live in the Halidom of Stars, including Lizardfolk on the rivers and swamps, savannas home to Giff and Gnoll, and many others as well..  Most live their lives relatively untouched by the priesthood; every so often, though, a saurial priest comes to a community to pick someone (or someones) and brings them into a new life to serve the church.  These recruits are far more capable than the usual servants the church employs.  Usually their lives are rough and rewarding, trained by the Halidom's elite to serve in special capacities.

People in the Halidom bear multiple names.  Church custom allows for the various beastfolk to have names within their own communities.  Once a young member completes a coming-of-age ritual though, they earn a "deed name" that is used in the Church and with anybody outside their community they run across.  Deed names are descriptive and generally follow the same format, something along the lines of Fears-No-Fire, Swims-Deep, or Towers-Above-All.

Before the Age of Shadow, the Warring Principalities and their neighbors were under assault by the fleets and armies of the Greenkith Clans.  It wasn't the mighty Human warriors or Dwarven smiths who ended the crisis, though; it was the ascension of their now-legendary warrior-queen Jundekanh.

Jundekanh unified the disparate races of the Temislis Sea's southern continent and established a political legacy that has survived to this day.  Now, the clanheads elect monarchs who prove their worth not only with physical power but also with mastery of the spoken word.  I'm not trying to say Greenkith lands are a peaceful utopia; just as many political disputes are solved by duels to the death as they are political debate.  But the transition from outright murder to formal dueling rituals did a lot to stabilize these lands.

The Old Faith dominates in Greenkith territory.  Many revered clergy guide and lead their people and maintain the traditions of the Greenkith.  The Druids, the Wardens, and the Manteis hold nearly the same power as political leadership.  Seasons are marked by ritual and ceremony.  The War of Shadow did not touch Greenkith lands, so the Church of Wyyr, like the foreign Church of Sun, Moon, and Stars, has little influence here.

Glau Stad is a deadly mystery.  Sitting in the center of the Temislis Sea, it's surrounded by a perpetual hurricane and deadly waters.  Few have made it to the land itself and those fewer who came back report seeing hordes of undead.

No sage seems to know what happened to cause this situation, but just about everybody knows well enough to stay away.

We don't talk about what goes on down there.  Pray that whatever you believe in saves you from ever finding out.

Every so often, refugees from there make their way to the surface.  Sometimes you might be able to trust them.

I'll admit that I never learned how to swim.  It's never cost me a bounty.  But the world beneath the waves, from what I hear, has a few pockets of civilization surrounded by vast leagues.  In the dark, cold water you may find simple sea life, hostile fish-folk, or vast leviathans bigger than you can imagine.

There is a small but reliable trade with underwater communities, managed largely by Liminals.  Sea folk offer exotic goods like coral, huge pearls, and many unusual alchemical ingredients in demand by magic users.  Wise ship captains also contract with the sea-folk to advise and guide their ships through dangerous waters.  In return, the sea folk have a constant need for weapons and other goods made of bronze or brass.  These exchanges never involve currency - nobody underwater cares about surface economics, and we don't even know if they use money.

The Church of Wyyr, the most powerful organization in the Temislis Sea region, operates out of the Cathedral-Palace of Wyyr.  The massive building is a day's ride east of Wreswich, the most prosperous capitol in the Warring Principalities.  The Primus of the Church lives here, served by legions of functionaries and guarded by legions of well-armed soldiers.

The Church wields power through its churches found throughout the Warring Principalities as well as the Elven Forest and Oznig.  Wyyran bishops exist alongside princes, dukes, and colonial governors.  It's only in the Forest that power is nebulous and ephemeral and you find Wyyran beliefs mixed alongside The Old Faith.