The League is named after the sea on which most members rely on. The Arcadian sea is the small sea between the Cerenarian to the north and Great Southern Ocean to the south. The six members of the League are:
This kingdom is composed of several smallish farming communities along the River Skai, including Ulthar (site of the single major temple), Hatheg and Nir. The towns are mostly populated by Humans and Halflings with a mix of other races. Each town is co-ruled by a Magistrate and a Marshall. The Magistrate is generally a cleric and is responsible for matter of faith, economics, and civil justice. The Marshall is the ranking military officer of the town and is responsible for criminal justice, labor organization, schools, and all military matters. The King is the sovereign and military leader of this martial country with each succedding king chosen from the extended royal family. This land is a source of fruit, wine, cheese, and linen. It is also a land of soldiers - most of the human population have been raised by military academies since age seven and are members of military units. Most citizens eat communily in dining halls.
Ilek-Vad is the northernmost member of the Arcadian League which makes it a gateway to the strange and perilous lands north across the Cerenarian sea. Most of this rich and powerful coastal city-state is located inside its famous hollow cliffs. It is ruled by two royal families, one human and one dwarven. Ilek-Vlad is known as the "Twin Kingdom" due to it's dual royal houses. The kingdom is a source of iron, glass and pottery.
Celephais is situated in the land of Naraxa river bordered by the Tanarian Hills. It is a fantastic land ruled by the Priest-King Kuranes. Upon the retirement or death of the current Priest-King a new Priest-King is chosen from the clerics of the Olympian Pantheon. A Senate of nobles, artistocrats and merchant princes does much of the day to day governing with the assistance of a competent bureacracy. Coins of the League are minted here and Celephais is known for its many merchants. Much of the land of the Naraxa Valley is still a frontier and many of the farmers are warriors. The kingdom is a source of pearls, fish, marble, bronze, and precious metals.
The Naraxa River Valley
The center of the Theocracy of Celephais is the Naraxa river valley. This valley is defined by the tributaries of the Naraxa River, which flows out of the Tanarian Hills in the sourth and Mount Aran to the north.
Celephais is located at the mouth of the Naraxa. This gorgeous city has streets of dark basalt inlaid with onyx, and buildings of marble or whitewashed clay with metal-roofed domes and towers. Towering over all are the Pantheon, also called the turquoise temple. All the Olympians are worshipped here, but Zeus is the city's patron god. The wreathed and robed priests attend the faithful in the adjacent Palace of Seventy Delights. From the rose-crystal spires of the Palace the entire city can be seen.
Due east of the mineral rich Tanarian Hills lies (in sequence) the Weeping Wood, the Shadow Fens, and the rubble city of Gak. Beyond this city lie the Wastes. Only barbarians and monsters live there. To the south is the town of Nithy-Vash. North of the Celephais is Mount Aran. It's steep sides conceal many idyllic and dangerous valleys. It is rumored to be home to Oreads (mountain nymphs), Storm Giants, and a silver dragon. It is seven miles tall.
IkonIkon is a city ruled from Celephais, famous for it's Colossal Iron Colusus This one eyed Colussus faces north and it's presence keep the wary fire giants in their land.
Nithy-Vash
A seaside city devoted to pleasure. Twin temples to Aphrodite and Athena adorn this city.
Tanarian (Demon) Hills
The old hills south of the Naraxa are rich in minerals such as copper, silver, and gold. They resemble the Applachian mountains. These are home to many fantastic beasts, and rumors abound of strange magical gates deep within them.
Mount Aran
The great mountain to the north of Celephais is Mount Aran, the Mountain of the Gods Oath. It is seven miles tall.
The Oukranos River is the mightiest in the Dreamlands. Due the efforts of the river god, this valley is an earthly paradise, with both rich farms and wild natural beauty. Elves, Halflings, and Humans live here in equal numbers. The Republic runs the length of the river, excepting only the port of Hlanith at its mouth. The Republic is a source of oil, grain, and wines. The Oukranos is an Idyllic utopia guarded by it's more worldly neighbors in the League.
The city-state of Cuppar-Nombo lies within a high desert plateau west of the Skai, and depends on the nomads and the caravans for its prosperity. It was founded by the Gnome survivors of the ruined city of Golthoth. A related group, the gypsy-like Dark Wanderers, travel the western lands in their wagons. The city-state is a source of wool, minerals, crystals, and gems.
Kled is a jungle realm with no single ruler. Instead, each of the wood elf tribes has its own prince. Natives and caravans alike avoid the deserted ivory cities in the jungle's interior. The principalities were ruled by the Gray Elf King in Hlanth, but have long since achieved independence as the Gray Elves of Hlanith have become insular and decadent. The tribes are a source of ivory, incense, resin, beeswax, and wood.
While the Six Kingdoms of the Arcadian League is the center of the Campaign, it does not exist in isolation. There are a number of Realms that exist independent of, and sometimes rival to, the League.
Beyond the Tanarian Hills of Celephais to the northeast are the Forbidden Lands, a hellish wasteland of volcanoes and fire. Anyone caught trying to enter them is imprisoned. Ilek-Vad is situated on the far side of the Forbidden Lands, but may only be reached safely by sea, following the coast north then east. The Forbidden lands include many tribal ranges, but all pay tribute to Asteria, the Titaness of Fire and Queen of the Fire Giants. Most giants honor the boundaries of her treaty with the Arcadian League, but woe betides anyone who enters their land. The great fortress and Colossus at Ikon guards against invasion by the disciplined and warlike fire giants.
Hlanth, the City of the Gray Elves, lies along the Bay of Leaves on the Western shores of the middle Arcadian Sea. The city is built with granite walls, steep colored tile roofs, and numerous towers. Cloistered gardens surround it's many eccentric towers. In the past, it was the greatest port the world had seen. Now the third major port city of the world, it has been eclipsed by Dylath-Leen and Celephais. Hlanth is noted for its Wizards and Artists. The city itself is enchanted with a timeless quality. Materials do not age or decay and living things do not age. Children cannot be born in Hlanith and must be raised outside of the city lest they remain children forever. Sole source of Hlanith Purple, an extortionately expensive dye. The weather is always late summer or early autumn.
Conquered by orcs a generation ago, it is now ruled by a half-orc warlord. A third of the city has been rebuilt, starting with the wharves. A brutal place of great opportunity. Source of Barbarian slaves, spices, and wood.
This city is the greatest port in the world but has a sinister reputation. The Eyes of Argus is the name for the much feared and ever-present secret police. The surrounding countryside is well worked by slave plantations. The city itself is built of massive blocks of Basalt to withstand the fierce storms. Many parts of the city also sport thin angular towers that defy the typhoons. The warships of the Dylath-Leen are known as Black Galleys and rowed by unseen rowers, possibly undead. The city is ruled by a Queen and feuding Aristocratic houses. The original Queen was a consort of Zues, and Zues granted her and her descendents many blessings.The city is a major trade center but is also a source of sugar, cotton, yams and slaves of all sorts.
Rinar is an independent port-city, noted for the bravery of its sailors and their fierce tempers. Many of its sailors still sail using boats made from leather stretched over light wooden frames. Rinar is a source of whale oil, fish, and mercenaries.
City of the Jann that floats unmoving in the sky above the Arcadian Sea. A council of elders officially rule the city. The city is allied with Celephais but pointedly not a member of the Arcadian League.
A dark city, rife with thieves and strange dimensional gates. The weather of the city is consistently warm, moist and overcast giving the city and endless smell of mildew and rot. The city is noted for it's many temples and strange cults. There is no apparent ruler in the city itself, but a council of twelve barons rule their fiefs in the countryside with iron fists. The barons trade with the city and fear it. Hazuth-Kleg was founded by refuges from the Skai area six centuries ago when the Sarnath Empires invaded.
Yuth was founded by refugees from Sarnath. The Monastery was even older, and the refugees rebuilt and expanded it. Generations of monks have been born, raised, and died here. The Monastery itself is the size of a large town. The surrounding land is worked by haggard peasants. The peasants present their children to the Monastery, and the families of the chosen are elevated from their peers and become overseers and minor lords. People from Yuth are heavily tattooed.
Recently, the despotic rule of the Dragon Fist Monks was overturned by the Grand Master of the White Hand, a dwarven monk. Some factions of monks in the Monsterory are:
The Upper Naraxa river valley is claimed by Celephais. These claims are disputed by Zulan-Thek, Hazuth-Kleg, and Gak. These claims are ignored by the indigenous tribes. These tribes are nomadic hunters and pastorialists in the forests. Their religion is druidic and centered on appeasing the Titans. While the tribes acknowledge the Olympians, they do not worship them nor follow the Olympian Creed.
Some of the larger tribes are:
A wooded realm inhabited by Nymphs, Unicorns, Treants, and Dragons. Time runs fast here, with any man-made structures deteriorating in months or even days. It is rumored that the Wood is ruled by a Green Dragon.
A city ruled by Loremasters and peopled by those resembling central Africans. The Great Library of the World is here. Zakarion maintains it's neutrality but favors the League.
Known as the City of Horn and Ivory, built from same. A Jungle city of African myths. Hypnos is the state religion and many are partakers of Lotus drugs. The ruling aristocracy traces it's lineage unbroken from the Last Primarch of Sarnath.
Major source of Salt and importer of slaves. Salt springs emerge from hills east of the city and into the flat plain of Lhost. Generations of slaves have make the countryside into endless pools where the brine is evaporated into salt. The salt residue and sub-tropical sun make for terrible working conditions. Many slaves go blind working the salt pits.
A Mageocracy rules this baroque and polite city-state. The finest cloth comes from the looms of Zulan-Thek. Intermittent wars with Ilek-Vlad have resulted over the limited but fertile lands of the Thekos river.
Tropical Island realm on the Southern Ocean. Its greatest city is Bharna, a fantastic city of terraces, bridges, waterfalls, and fountains. The great beauty of Lake Yath is also notable. Also present on the island is the Accursed Valley and the great mountain Ngranek. The people here are distant but not unfriendly. They are of black skin and curly hair (negroid) and noted sorcerers. They worship an alien god nither Titan nor Olympian and their is a very high portion of Aasimir amonst the population. The island is a source of reptile hides, oil, spices, and silk.
A barren rock with a strange straight monolith of black stone. Named after the Xenophon, an Epic Wizard who might still be alive.
An underwater metropolis, capitol of the Kingdom of the Gnorri. The Gnorri are a tribe of Tritons that rule various subject tribes of Merman and other underwater races. They battle the Sahuaguin of the Southern Ocean.
Capitol of the greatest human empire, its founders helped the Olympians defeat the Titans. Rewarded well by the Gods, they soon made war on their neighbors and became a great empire. Sarnath was destroyed by the Gods on its one thousandth anniversary. Considered to be the first civilization by historians that ignore or downplay the ruins of the Valusian serpent-men.
This barren desert is covered in tombs, monuments, and architectural wonders - much of them in ruins. A stoic population of Stone Giants endlessly toils at building, perhaps under an ancient curse by the long dead Wizards of Sarnath or some edict of the Gods. Many lost or forgotten things hide in the ruins.
More later...