Duilghlam

In 1192 TR, this small village (whose name is pronounced dool'-glam) harbored centaur families from fiendish centaurs who sought to capture and enslave them. Eilanitha (pronounced ee-len-nee'-the), a paladin of the Knights of Divine Justice, convinced the villagers to fight off the fiendish creatures. Many villagers gave their lives that first night, including Eilanitha. The fiends were driven back and sought to regroup and attack the following night. In desperation, the druid Oranthes, seeking to restore the flagging morale of the decimated villagers, attempted to reincarnate the fallen paladin. Perhaps Rytha chose to work a miracle through the aging druid, for Eilanitha returned as a winged half-celestial centaur and the fallen villagers, who could not and were not included in the spell, reincarnated as centaur warriors at her side. When the attack came, the rallied villagers and their new allies obliterated the attacking fiends.

From then on, the centaurs and humans of Duilghlam have lived in harmony, and one centaur in each generation is born a winged half-celestial to serve as a protector and advisor to the village.

Elyzhar

A hot land of jungle and mountains that lies south across the Seaborn Straights from Kartag and Ninetowers, Elyzhar is not so much a nation as a collection of tribes. The Elyzhain venerate dragons, and the leaders of each tribe are invariably sorcerers or dragon disci-ples, and all Elyzhain learn draconic as their native language.

Elyzhain sorcerers and dragon disciples typically wear nothing but tattoos and elaborate body paint with dragon motifs. They disdain clothing; since dragons don't wear it, neither do they. If they are traveling in lands with nudity taboos, they may wear a very small loincloth (and a bandeau, if they are female) if they absolutely must. Very powerful ones will simply ignore the foreign laws or taboos and dare anyone to do anything about it.

While all Elyzhain venerate dragons and regard them as superior beings, different Elyzhain tribes have come to different conclusions of what that means. These philosophies are collectively called the Paths of the Dragon.

Gashtaan

Gashtaan is a large, volcanically active island and home of a small nation of fire giants. The fire giants allow pirates of the Pyro Sea (which largely gets its name from Gashtaan and smaller volcanic islands near it) a haven here for a generous cut of any booty they gain. It is not a safe place, especially for the law-abiding. The fire giants destroy any ship that attempts to attack the pirate havens, raining fiery rocks down on its deck.

Gembright

One of the few towns that boasts a majority gnome population, Gembright is a bustling town sitting near the Sparkletoes diamond mines. Fools with Magic is thought to be based here, so visitors should expect to see (and be the victim of) outrageous practical jokes.

Harvale

The largest settlement in the Twenty Vales, the village of Harvale is the closest thing to civilization there. The surrounding land is too rough for regular farms, but the natives raise sheep and goats and plant orchards and vineyards. Twenty Vales red wines are popular in cities as far away as Tarenkoth.

Heskeldaf

Heskeldaf is the most important port in Kartag, and is a twin city to the more sedate Larêt across the Ocaderio River. Much trade passes from Kartag to Hesperonia through Larêt and ships from the carry goods to Ninetowers and places beyond.

The town is a sinner’s paradise, and almost any sexual or chemical pleasure can be bought here. It’s a seedy city full of life, much in the same way a three-day corpse is flyblown.

Kartag

Kartag, probably the oldest nation in the region, is essentially an oligarchy that uses a complex set of tax and property laws to keep much of its population in indentured servitude--but since there is no practical way of working one's way out of debt, the indentured are essentially peons. One sure way to irritate a Kartag oligarch, however, would be to refer to the indentured class as slaves, no matter the resemblance.

Despite this social inequality, there is still something of a middle class, since certain professions don't lend themselves to being filled by peons.

Kefeshé

An island duchy of Hesperonia, Kefeshé is warm and idyllic. Some Hesperonian nobles keep small country estates here when they want a warmer clime in which to winter.

The Duchess of Kefeshé, Amalla Mysallar, is a second cousin to the current Queen of Hesperonia, and it was she that introduced Eshalei to the king those many years ago. The Duchess is not a harsh taskmaster, and she allowed missionaries of Rytha to come to the island some thirty years ago. Worship of that Psenellar goddess is now the majority religion in Kefeshé.

L’raigh

L'raigh is a nation of dwarves with a fairly large gnom-ish minority in the Kulorm Mountains to the northwest of the Crimson Plains. They export metal, ore, gemstone, jewelry, weapons and armor and import food, liquor, textiles and timber.

Larêt

Larêt (pronounced la'-ray) is an important Hesperonian port city and the sister city of Heskeldaf in Kartag across the Ocaderio River from it. It is more sedate than its hedonistic sister city, and many Hesperonian nobles have townhouses in Larêt to make it easier to visit the fleshpots of Heskeldaf. Larêt is also an artist’s colony, and many private museums can be found here patronizing one or more prominent artists.

The church of Hræyn has a huge cathedral here, and the high priest of that church is the leader of the church of Hræyn on Yön. The Sun Knights, a holy order affiliated with the church of Hræyn, are based here as well.

In addition to the cathedral, the church of Hræyn has a great library in Larêt, with comprehensive collections of books on law and Hesperonian history.

The Order of the Magical Arts also has a hall here, but not in nearby Heskeldaf. This was decided for a number of reasons: the great library of Hræyn was here, the crafting guilds here make better products, and the distractions in Heskeldaf might prove troublesome for apprentices.

While the city is nominally under the control of Count Lattant, he spends little time here, preferring the less cerebral pleasures to be had across the river. As a result, the church of Hræyn is the de facto ruler of the city, and the Sun Knights are charged with keeping order here.

Ninetowers

A heavily protected city built on and in a rocky promontory on a cliff overlooking the Pyro Sea, Ninetowers is the seat of power for the Veneficus Professio Ordo. It is here that the Order's syndics (representatives from each of the Order's guildhalls) meet and here that the Order's spellpool is found. The city is run by the Order's Syndic's Council, which is traditionally chaired by the Ninetowers Order's guildmaster. The guildmaster controls the agenda and breaks ties on votes of the Syndic Council.

Parnella

All of the wine trade from the Twenty Vales passes through this town, which was founded by the exiled Psenellar clan of Parn after a dreadful civil war in Psenella centuries ago.

Psenella

The folk of Psenella are independent, tough-minded and taciturn. They arose from a tribal nation to a something resembling a republic. It was here that the first churches of Rytha were founded, and it was the church of Rytha that helped unite the tribes of Psen with relatively little bloodshed. A council of tribunes rules Psenella, although clan leaders still select the tribune for their tribe.

Although Psenella as a nation only claims the land west of L'raigh and north of Hesperonia as their own, there are Psenellar colonies scattered through the north-ern Crimson Plains and the hills north of it, including Stellithorpe, Seannich, Annsne, Duilghlam, Achchadh, Parnella (which was settled by the exiled Parn clan) and Twenty Vales. People from Psenella have histori-cally traveled to settle away from invaders or to find new opportunities, so they tend to be more aware of the world outside their borders.

Psenella and Hesperonia have fought several wars as the nobles of the Hesperonian northern marches sought to expand their lands. Since her ascension to the Hesperonian throne, Queen Eshalei has made overtures of friendship to Psenella. So far, the reception of the tribunes has been non-committal.

Seannich

Seannich (pronounced shaw'-nik) is a mining town; the copper mines and brassworks provide most of the income here. The town was settled by Psellenar colonists.

Senger’s Mill

Recently razed by ghouls, this tiny settlement stands half-burned and abandoned.

Tarankoth

A major city-state in the northwest Crimson Plains region near L'raigh, Tarankoth is now under the control of the dwarves of L'raigh after the city leaders offered allegiance to them during the collapse of the Hrygen Empire. While the population is still largely human, dwarves have re-engineered the city to be more efficient and better protected.

The city is famous for its breweries, generating much of its trade with their dwarven neighbors--so much so that one can smell the city from just the breweries miles off. The city's new dwarven-designed double wall promises to make things interesting for the next would-be invader.

Tarenkoth has an Order hall of considerable size. Many of the members of the Order there have been hired to seek magical ways to further improve some of Tarankoth's more famous ales, lagers and beers.

Tarankoth also has a number of fine jewelers, weaponsmiths and armorers, many of them dwarves of L'raigh that have come to the city to ply their trades among humans.

Yrsingen

Yrsingen (pronounced er'-sin-gen) is an open city, aligned with neither Kartag nor Hesperonia. Many caravans traveling from all over the Crimson Plains meet here. Many cattle herds are driven here for slaughter, and the slaughterhouses and tanneries give the city a distinctive and very unpleasant smell. Still, with the help of the local Order of the Magical Arts to create refrigeration magic, including enclosed "cold wagons", the meat here is safer than meat butchered many other places and the taverns here serve the best steak dinners on the Crimson Plains. Unlike most cities, Yrsingen has a sewer system, largely maintained by hratts, who are a significant but ignored and oppressed minority in the city.