[PurpleXVI]

Origins

To truly understand where you are going, and why, you must understand where you have come from.


The Where: Names, Races and Places.

Like every prime, your homeworld has a plethora of names. Some with meaning, some without. Generally the humans call it Achen[Ah-chen], a corruption of an ancient, considerably more long-winded name, supposedly meaning "Garden of the Lords."

For the known part of the world, it is a fitting name, as every part of Known Achen tends to be lush with vegetation except where it has been cleared or where some disaster has destroyed it. Known Achen is a faintly crescent-shaped continent, extending south-west to north-east, populated mostly by humans and the short races. It's a land of rolling hills, temperate climate and dark forests. For the better part of human memory, it has been at peace, with the various nations finding more to lose from war than trade, and with the monstrous races either being destroyed or with the only remaining members being the ones who understood what the human kings did(Like the Orc lord Mulgam who is as respected as any human ruler by most.).

South of Known Achen there supposedly lies another continent, or an archipelago of islands, from whence the elves come. The few humans who have seen it, either from a ship or through scrying magics, say it is covered in snow and ice, with barely any sign of civilization. This would explain why so many elves leave it for Known Achen. They call their home corner of the world Pryssenda. Sages say that in the old languages, it would translate to something along the lines of "The Land of Trials." The elves are notoriously private about their homeland, but what diplomats and interrogators have weaseled out of them over the ages would suggest that it is a fitting name. While it is a harsh land, it breeds a strong people, and it's citizens take pride in surviving there, looking down on the ones who settle in Known Achen.

Dwarves and the other short races are said to come from another land, like the elves do, but the ones living in the human lands in present times have no memory of it. If they truly did, it was something far back in the mists of time. They use the human name for their world.

The elves are all members of one great nation, and none of the short or demi-human races have their own nations, all being citizens of primarily human nations, though they will often gather in their own enclaves within those borders to practice their own traditions, religions and, occasionally, laws.

Though the humans are tolerant of these subjects, it is rarely out of any higher ideal, they merely recognize that orcs and half-orcs make better soldiers, halflings make better scouts and dwarves forge better steel. While Known Achen might seem like a peaceful paradise, it has it's share of crime and villainy, it is just not of the overtly destructive kind that other primes have to contend with. Mostly it takes the form of beaurocracy, corruption and crime. Adventurers still have the occasional wyvern or band of ogres to fight, but for the most part they are pawns of local lords, or stuck hunting down bandits who are merely farmers that cannot pay the rent. It leaves few with a truly heroic disposition, and many end up becoming mercenaries, numb to great causes and ideals.

While there are many minor baronies and coastal countries scattered about, the major, and generally the most influential, realms are Rhost, the Shivercoast, Pur-Bien, Elesia, Kasdek and Angor's Haven.


Next: More names and places, after that, some people.


(I will, of course, add some more information on these lands, this is just a first post. Feel free to throw in requests for certain things, maybe more information about the elves or dwarves, or a specific part of Known Achen, maybe what monsters lives where, etc. Additionally, you may choose to let us know what nation or even(When I get that much written.) what city your character is from. You should also feel free to invent something, if you want your character to come from a crime-ridden, filthy, overpopulated city in Rhost and I have not specifically state that Rhost is almost purely small villages, then go for it, go ahead and invent it. As long as it does not contradict something I have written or is patently insane, go ahead and invent something about Achen.)