There are several independent nation-states on the continent of Aver, and we shall give you information on each of them here.

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Dragon's Den

Dragon’s Den is an independent city located south of Trademeet, near the only safe pass from the west to the east.  Loosely allied to Xulin and Trademeet in what is called the Northern Alliance, Dragon’s Den fights to keep Nephidia in check as best they can.

• Leadership – Dragon’s Den is ruled by the Lord’s Council, consisting of five adventurers who founded the city.  They are:

  • Regis – Oversees the intelligence gathering efforts of the land.

  • Ugg – Runs the Coliseum as well as the irregular forces Dragon’s Den brings to bear.

  • Illiana – Leads the Arcane College of Dragon’s Den and commands all magical forces of the city.

  • Thurman Vorthath – A quiet and pious man, Lord Vorthath commands the military might of the city.

  • Arexies – Loud and often brash, Arexies oversees the Druid’s Grove and commands the Scouts.

  • Secondary Leadership – The Lord’s Council is supported in the operation of the city by the City Council.  The City Council consists of members, voted into power by the populace, from the following:

    • 1 Member of the Military

    • 4 Members from the Merchants

    • 4 Members from the Population

    • 1 Speaker of the Council is chosen from among them, based strictly upon age alone.

• Population – Approximately 20,000 Humans, 200 Elves, 500 Half-Elves, 50 Halflings, and 50 Dwarves make Dragon’s Den their home.

• Shops – Full.

• Defense – Dragon’s Den is defended in multiple ways, to include the following:

  • City Guard - The City Guard is headed by the Paladin, Lord Thurman, one of the Lords of the Den.  There are currently 4000 troops that defend the city, with a leadership of another 150 members.

  • AARP - In times of dire need, the City Guard can be augmented further by calling up the AARP cadre and students to serve as needed in the defense of the city.  There are currently 37 cadre members of various levels and capability.  Each has three or four students at any given time.

  • Gladiators - In desperate times, those few gladiators who live at the Arena will join in the defense of the city.  They currently only number 49 members… but each is battle-hardened and ready to spill the blood of the enemies of their beloved city.

• Local Lore – Once a month, the Half-Ogre Ugg will take the proceeds from the Arena, and hire a merchant to purchase as many slaves from Nephidia as they can.  Upon leaving the lands controlled by Nephidia, these slaves are released and given the choice to return to their homelands or continue on to Dragon's Den to start a new life.  Over the course of time, many talented craftsmen and warriors have been set free... many of whom return to Dragon's Den.

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Giant's Roost

Surrounded by wooded hills, the mountains of Giant’s Roost, located in the southern portion of the western mountains, is a place of danger to anyone venturing there.  A great cloud city floats above the mountains and plays home to Cloud and Storm Giants of a rather foul disposition indeed.  The small island north of Trademeet is ruled by Giants with Goblinoid servants.  While they are relatively small in number, they are Giants after all.  The high reaches of the island are lorded over by Cloud giants, with hill and stone giants at lower altitudes.  Recently, the Giants helped the Goblinoids to overcome the small village of Ice Shoals, taking it for themselves and installing the Goblinoid races as “in charge” of the small village.  While the Alliance of Nations could easily overtake the village again, there are dozens of Giants at the higher altitudes to battle against as well… making the prospect of taking the island back a difficult one indeed.

• Organization: Giant’s Roost is populated by a large amount of Giants, all led by one they call simply the Cloud King (detailed below).  The Cloud King rules over the entire northern island off the coast of Aver now that his Orcish and Goblinoid subjects conquered Ice Shoals.  The forces that can be mustered by the Cloud King include the following: Cloud Giant tribe in the cloud city, the Storm Giant tribe that lives atop the mountain below the city, the Stone Giant tribe that commands the central portion of the mountain below the city as well as the tunnels throughout, and the Hill Giant tribe that guards the hills to the south of the city.  In addition, there is a tribe of “lessers” that reside in Ice Shoals and the surrounding area… all Orcs and Goblinoids. 

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Ice Shoals

The town of Ice Shoals was a small fishing village primarily populated by Gnomes, a few Halflings, and Dwarven Exiles from Earth Home, a smattering of Humans, a few Tieflings and a lot of Half-Orcs.  Recently Ice Shoals was conquered by the Goblinoid tribes from Giant’s Roost.  It had become a necessity that the tribes conquer a new location for food.

• Leadership – Lord Vhamin (1/2 Ogre; CN – Barbarian 18/Eye of Gruumsh 10/Frenzied Berserker 10) rules over Ice Shoals, even if he answers to the Giants for now.  It is something he chaffs against, and one day will rise against them.

• Population – 5,200 Goblinoids make up the true residents of Ice Shoals, with another 2-300 pirates often making port call there still

• Shops – Partial.

• Defense – 200 troops have been trained up to defend Ice Shoals, though most spend the majority of their days building boats or fishing, only serving as a soldier in times of need.  Instead 20 of them at a time are rotated into the Watch, serving as law officers of Ice Shoals, enforcing the Lord’s Decrees.

• Local Lore – It is said that Ice Shoals serves as a base of operations for a group of extra-planar beings seeking to spread their influence throughout Solinar, but this cannot be confirmed.

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Orkal

Orkal is a vast valley within the Bastion Mountains that is controlled most fiercely by Orcish tribes.  Originally, the area played home to many different tribes of independent Green Orcs, supported by Gray Orcs kept in the immediate Dark regions below them.  It is not known what the catalyst was, but eventually the Gray Orcs rose up against the Green Orcs, escaping their hold for the most part.  Some Grays remain of course, but they are far fewer in number than in times lost.  After Gruumsh’s avatar appeared, the Greens have consolidated to a single kingdom supported by Clan Council representing the Chiefs of every tribe of Greens present.  Those that serve the Throne do not identify as members of any traditional Clan, instead identifying as Gruumsh’s Children.

 

No map of the area exists outside of the holding as none have escaped who have attempted to map the lands.  It is known that numerous towns and villages exist in Orkal, along with the great temple to Gruumsh and the Emperor’s Keep.

• Leadership – Emperor Gruuhan (GreenOrcM; LE – Fighter 14, Cleric 3, Blessed of Gruumsh 10) leads the Kingdom of Orkal and serves as the head of Gruumsh’s Children.

• Population – Roughly 1,000 slaves inhabit Orkal along with the over 500,000 Green Orc men, women, and children.  There are approximately 2,000 Gray Orcs that remain enslaved to the Greens.  Additionally, other Goblinoid races reside there as well and their numbers are unknown.

• Shops – Unknown, but presumed to be average in nature.

• Defense – Thousands of Green Orcs inhabit this enormous valley and even the women and children can be fierce warriors if provoked.

• Local Lore – It is assumed that the lore of the area runs deep indeed, but outsiders do not known enough about it to really talk about.  It is known that Gruumsh sees the area as sacred to his children and is rumored to be able to rise up and defend it.

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Shadowmere

Now called Shadowmere from the influence of Planar effects, Xulin was the home of former Human slaves of the Lich King of Nephidia.  In 392 U.C. a seemingly impenetrable faceted dome was placed over Xulin. Most assume it was the work of Nephidia, but none can be sure. The MoonStone Dragons, the adventuring band that reestablished Westreach, attempted to enter the area but were repelled by the nature of the lands they found with.  It seems that a pocket dimension had been opened underneath the dome, allowing the Plane of Shadow and the Negative Material Plane to leak into Solinar, blending together and corrupting all that lived within it. Survivors of Xulin, those outside of the dome when it was raised, have retreated to Westreach.  These refugees work to integrate with the Dwarves, Felians, and Werebears of the area to rebuild the town and start new lives.  Those that remain within the area of Xulin’s ruins have become Shades and other entities of purest evil.

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Ssilass Swamp

The Swamp has recently ended an enormous war between Dragons and Yuan-Ti with the Dragons coming out on top, even with a Merilith Demon leading the Yuan-Ti.  The Swamp is now a location where lizardfolk and Dragonkin work to reestablish themselves as a power in the region.  Though the fighting was fierce and many were lost, these being breed quickly… it will only be a matter of a generation in which three generations of the Swamp Folk have bred… and probably probing for expansion well before this time. At first it was hoped that the Black and Green Dragons would turn on each other, further dwindling the numbers in the Swamp… yet the unthinkable has happened instead.  The two Dragons have fallen for each other.  Now, with their combined forces and a unified Swamp, it is only a matter of time before they strike out at their northern and southern neighbors.

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Stormtree

The Stormtree is home to a family of Centaurs as well as the Wolf Tribe of Barbarians.  Stormtree seems to be perpetually in conflict with Ssilass Swamp normally, though now with the forces remaining within the Swamp, their time in the forest may be over soon.  The Wolf Tribe has resided in Stormtree the same amount of time as the Centaurs as the two groups travelled together when the more civilized Humans moved into what is now the Kingdom of Raran.  Though their numbers barely top 3,500 combined, the two groups form a formidable presence in the area.

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Trademeet

Trademeet is an independent city, once ruled by an archmage of incredible power.  Some say that the archmage was the descendant of an outer planar being, but no one is sure if this rumor is true or not.  It is known that his power alone kept Nephidian forces at bay, and sometimes people were witnessed bursting into flame where they stand, as the archmage had determined them to be a spy or assassin.  The people of Trademeet did not question this heavy-handed justice, seeing it as a small price to pay for safety.  Now they must look to the Council of Guilds for leadership as Goldsun died after defeating Askoni with the Divine Heros.

• Leadership – Trademeet is ruled by the Council of Guilds.  This 12 seat Council with one Guildmaster voting only in cases of a tie, ably directs trade, defense, and public works throughout Trademeet.

• Population – Approximately 50,000 Humans, 300 Elves, 800 Half-Elves, 100 Halflings, and 100 Dwarves make Trademeet their home.

• Shops – Full.

• Defense – The City Watch, numbering approximately 1500, keep order on the streets of Trademeet, man the walls of the city, and guard the gates.  They are led by Constable Marrooth (Half-ElfM; N; Fighter 17).

• Local Lore – Not much is known about Trademeet to people east of the Mountains, but the truth behind some persistent rumors has begun to come out, showing that they are real indeed.  Trademeet was established long before man came to live on Aver, and the people of Trademeet are said to be the true descendants of the ancient culture that once made this land their own.  It is also known that the Lich King truly fears Goldsun, and ensures his forces go nowhere near to the city lest they provoke the archmage into retaliation.  /even though it is said Goldsun has died, the Lord of Nephidia does not want to risk it. It is also known that a vast deposit of minerals lies in the mountains directly east of the city, providing it with the wealth and resources needed to remain strong and independent.

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Westreach

Villika was a ruin on the north shores of the Ishtishia’s Chalice that dates to well before the founding of the current Human realms. Now called Westreach, it is a growing area in the northern portion of the Bastion Mountains. An enterprising group of adventurers called the MoonStone Dragons came across the ruins of the ancient Earth Genas’si town of Villika and set up shop there.  Dubbing the area “Westreach”, the MoonStone Dragons have begun the process of bringing this ancient holdfast back to the world.  Freeing a small clan of Dwarves discovered there, the MoonStone Dragons have since allowed others to reside there such as the refugees from Xulin. 

• Leadership – Westreach is led by the MoonStone Dragons ultimately.  They are supported by the Stonehearth Clan of Dwarves which happily work the mines of the region, keeping to themselves and providing 30% of their yearly intake to Westreach.  The MoonStone Dragons consist of:

  • Ryukane Jurou: Dragon IslanderM (Rogue / Spellthief)

  • Demitrri: LeoninM (Druid of Earth)

  • Ardel: WerebearM (Cleric)

  • Tiewaz: ½ Copper DragonM (Sorcerer)

• Population – Westreach has an interesting population.  Founded by an adventuring band, populated at first by Dwarves and now Humans and Half-Orcs from Xulin, the diversity of the region is interesting to say the least.

  • Dwarves: The Dwarven hold that serves as the base of Westreach’s strength is made up of the Stonehearth Clan.  They are led by Lord Stonehearth (DM, LN – Fighter 19). The General of the Dwarven army is Thorgrimm Hammerforge (DM, LN – Fighter 5/Cleric 5/Dwarven Avenger 10). Both remain solid allies with Westreach.

  • Xulin Refugees: Xulin refugees numbered only 131 people, but are a welcome addition to the area, led by the retired Hexblade named Yufi Ardono (1/2 GrayOrcM – Hexblade 16), Though definitely outside of his physical prime, Yufi still has a significant amount of power.

  • Felians: The Felians of Dunthal, from higher in the mountains and distant relations to Demitrri, number 114 currently.  They have thrown their lot in with their Kin and are staunch allies of Westreach.

  • Werebears of Elanna: The 25 Werebears of Elanna who resided south of Westreach when it was still a ruin have moved north of town, throwing their power behind one of their folk and making Westreach that much stronger.

• Shops – Currently there are very few true shops within Westreach as the area is only now being resettled.  It is common for individuals to barter amongst themselves for items needed or will trade with the limited (though growing) shops of the Dwarves.  Recently the Dwarves have begun a market outside of their stronghold to better barter/sell their goods and to keep the non-Dwarves out of Stonehearth.

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