Phoenix Rising (56 page)

GAZETTEER FOR ZARATHAN

Overview

Zarathan (more properly Zahr-a-Thana, World of Magic) is a planet of generally Earth size and composition. It is presumed to be the source of all magic in all universes. The main continent (and the only continent commonly known) stretches approximately four thousand, eight hundred miles north to south and, at its widest, is about the same east to west (it averages between two and three thousand east-west over most of its extent, however). It can be generally divided into three regions: Southern Zarathan, which is most of the continent south of the Khalal mountain range; Northern Zarathan, which is everything north of the Khalals plus the very large island/miniature continent of Artania; and Elyvias, a subcontinent peninsula shaped something like a gigantic Cape Cod and separated from Southern Zarathan by the Barricade Mountains.

The history, geography, and peoples of Zarathan are all affected greatly by the apparently cyclical “Chaoswars,” which bring periodic conflict to the world and are associated with massive mystical/deific disturbances which, among other effects, distort or erase memories and even records of prior events—up to and including those of the gods. Thus, while the generally known history of Zarathan stretches back over half a million years, clear records are rarely available for anything older than the most recent Chaoswar.

Countries

There are several countries on this continent, but it should be made clear that “country” on Zarathan is not quite the same as “country” in the modern civilized world of Earth. Most of the area claimed as a country’s territory is actually relatively wild and untamed and dangerous; only cleared areas around cities and major roads tend to be safe for travel. The overall population of the countries is therefore much lower than might be expected, given that the average standard of living is closer to that of twentieth-century Earth in many ways than it is to the medieval era that one might first assume, seeing no factories and noticing that the sword is still a common weapon.

Following is a list of the important countries in
Phoenix Rising
:

STATE OF THE DRAGON GOD

Called variously the
State of the Dragon God
,
The Dragon-King’s Domain
,
The State of Elbon Nomicon
, and other appellations, the actual name for this country is a very long string of Ancient Sauran words that, boiled down, means something like “The Country founded in the days of the Dragon-God’s First Creation, That Endures Eternally.” It is the largest country on the planet, stretching from the western edge of Southern Zarathan all the way to the Barricade Mountains in the east, and from the southern coast all the way to the Ice Peaks in the north. In a governmental sense, the State of the Dragon God might best be described as a theocratic libertarian state.

The capital of the State of the Dragon God is called in Ancient Sauran
Fanalam’ T’ ameris’ a’ u’ Zahr-a-Thana T’ikon
, but commonly (and to the Saurans and Dragons, painfully) called simply “Zarathanton.” It is the most ancient city, and the largest on the continent, with some buildings over five hundred thousand years old, and a population of roughly 200,000 inside and immediately outside its walls. Other important cities within its borders include T’Tera (also called the Dragon God’s City); Artani (a city of trade with the
Artan
of the Forest Sea); Dragonkill; Bridgeway; Odinsforge (also the name of the mountain range in which it is set); Salandar; Thologondoreave (an independent city of the Children of Odin); Shipton (known to the Saurans as
Olthamian’ a’ ameris
); and Hell’s Edge.

THE EMPIRE OF THE MOUNTAIN

Nearly as large as the Dragon God’s country, the Empire of the Mountain actually straddles the Khalals, claiming much of the territory north of the Ice Peaks to the Khalals and some territory to the north and east above them. Ruled in unbroken power for hundreds of thousands of years by the God-Emperor Idinus, the most powerful wizard ever to live, the Empire has always had an uneasy relationship with its neighbors. While God-Emperor Idinus is not, strictly speaking, evil, he has motives and goals that are unclear to others, and this has led, on occasion, to war on a titanic scale. The capital of the Empire of the Mountain is Scimitar’s Path, at the base of Mount Scimitar—tallest peak of the Khalal range at sixty thousand feet. There are several other cities, the most important of which are Kheldragaard to the west and Tor Port in the east. It is an ironclad theocracy, ruled directly by the Archmage himself from atop Mount Scimitar—where he remains virtually always.

DALTHUNIA

Dalthunia used to be an ally state to the Dragon God, a modest-sized country which broke away from the Empire due to a very bad set of missteps by some of the Empire’s local rulers, eventually triggering a local revolution. For some reason the Archmage—after a short demonstration of his power that showed that if he wished, he could take Dalthunia back at any time—allowed Dalthunia to remain independent. At the time of the story, however, Dalthunia has been a conquered state—whether by internal revolution or some subtle external invasion is unclear—for a couple of centuries, and very little is known about it, other than that they do not welcome visitors. They clearly have powerful magic and probably deific patrons, because scrying and ordinary espionage have not been effective. The capital of Dalthunia is Kymael, named after the instigator of the revolution.

EVANWYL

A small country between the northeastern portion of Hell’s Rim, the Khalals, and the Broken Hills, Evanwyl is an almost forgotten country at the time of
Phoenix Rising
; its great claim to fame used to be its connection to the civilization that lay on the other side of Heavenbridge Way, the winding but only useful pass through the Khalals. But that was before something happened during the last Chaoswar, something that turned the other side to the monstrous Moonshade Hollow and turned Heavenbridge Way into Rivendream Pass. Now Evanwyl’s only function is keeping the things that exit
 
Rivendream Pass from entering the larger world. Governmentally, Evanwyl is a monarchy (ruled by the Watchland) with the monarch’s power moderated by his subordinates and advisors the Eyes and Arms, and by the powerful influence of the faith of Myrionar, the Balanced Sword, especially as embodied in the Justiciars of Myrionar and the high priest called the Arbiter. The city of Evanwyl is the capital; its population is between four and five thousand people in total.

SKYSAND

Situated on the far northeast corner of the continent, Skysand is a country that is mostly desert with considerable volcanic features and with some interior and coastal oases (around which are built its few cities). A theocratic monarchy, Skysand is ruled by the Silverun family under a complex set of rules administered and watched over by the temples of Terian, the Mortal God. The capital is also named Skysand and is situated in a natural harbor with a periodically active but generally harmless volcano on the southern side. Cut off from the rest of the land by the high and volcanic Flamewall Mountains, Skysand trades by sea with other countries around the continent, its most prominent exports being magical gemstones, which are found in great quantity and diverse assortments in the desert and mountains.

ARTANIA

A huge island or small continent a thousand miles long and a few hundred miles wide, Artania is the claimed homeland of the youngest of the major species on Zarathan, the
Artan
(sometimes called Elves). Few other than the
Artan
are allowed beyond the capital city, Nya-Sharee-Hilya (which means “Surviving the Storm of Ages”); this city is run on rather militaristic lines but it is uncertain as to whether this reflects the overall government, or the fact that the city is often the focal point of invasion attempts.

WHITE BLADE STATE

Located in a circle of mountains in the far northwest of the main continent, the White Blade State is a rotating monarchy, with rulership cycling regularly between the ruling families of the five main cities. How the individual cities determine their ruling families varies, making governmental changeovers . . . interesting at times. Naturally, this also means the capital city changes with regularity. The “White Blade” is a symbolic, but extremely powerful, sword which is held by the current ruler; it is said to be the gift of the patron god of the White Blade, Chromaias, and each of the five cities are devoted to and named after one of the five gods of that faith: Chromaias, Stymira [Thanamion], Amanora, Taralandira [Mulios], and Kharianda.

AEGEIA

A small country walled off from the rest of the continent by the mountain range called Wisdom’s Fortress, Aegeia is a theocratic state which is ruled much of the time by a council of twelve nobles, but at other times by the literal incarnate Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, in the capital city of Aegis.

ODINSFORGE RANGE/THOLOGONDOREAVE

The Children of Odin claim this as their homeland, and politically the entire mountain range is treated as neutral ground with the Children of Odin having priority in disputes. The area immediately surrounding the general location of Thologondoreave (“Cavern of a Thousand Hammers”) is acknowledged to be sovereign territory of the Children of Odin; as the exact location of Thologondoreave is a well-kept secret from most people, complete with powerful enchantments and even deific protection, in practice this makes most of the Odinsforge Range their country, an island in the middle of the State of the Dragon King.

PONDSPARKLE

Possibly the smallest country in the world, Pondsparkle consists of one small city and the surrounding area near a small lake a few miles in extent. Pondsparkle is the permanent home for a large number (several thousand) of the Intelligent Toads and the site of the first and still primary temple to their god, Blackwart the Great.

Other Locations

ELYVIAS

Not, strictly speaking, a country, but a subcontinent, Elyvias used to be a larger portion of the continent, with additional area extending up nearly to Tor Port; according to legend, a battle between Elbon Nomicon and the Archmage Idinus caused a cataclysmic restructuring of the whole area, sinking a large chunk of the continent and creating the distorted conditions within. Elyvias has several countries and significant cities within its borders (Firestream Falls, Shuronogromal, Thunder Port, Thelhi-Man-Su, Zeikor, Artilus), but is severely cut off from the rest of the world both by the physical barriers of the Barricade Mountains, Blackdust Plateau, and Cataclysm Ridge, and by the mystical disruption called the Maelwyrd which surrounds the entire peninsula to a range of up to forty miles, with only a mile or two of clear-sailing space inside the Maelwyrd, near land. Magic also tends to work differently in Elyvias, and the civilizations there have developed differently in the last several thousand years.

THE FOREST SEA

Stretching from the Great Road and the Odinsforge Range in the east to the Barricade Range in the east, the Forest Sea presses against the Ice Peaks and surges around them in the east, up into the Empire of the Mountain. Stretching for three thousand miles, the Forest Sea is broken only by tiny enclaves within it and by the narrow clear-cuts around the cities and Great Roads. Somewhere within is hidden the Suntree, which the
Artan
on the main continent use as temple and center, but most of it is utterly unexplored, filled with danger and possibility.

“HELL” AND HELL’S RIM

Created, it is said, from a cataclysmic mystical confrontation between the powerful Demons and the Great Dragons in the days before human beings walked the planet, the region called “Hell” is a place of twisted, distorted magics, impossible conflicting terrain, and monsters found nowhere else. No coherent picture has emerged of the place within, and few even attempt to go there; passing Hell’s Rim, a steep barrier of high peaks, would be too much effort for most anyway. The only pass through those peaks is sealed off by the fortress city of Hell’s Edge.

ICE PEAKS

Like “Hell” and Elyvias, the Ice Peaks are a reminder of one of the conflicts of history, though long enough ago that the precise nature of the event isn’t known. The Peaks are magical, solidified ice for the most part, meaning that they are beautiful, transparent or translucent, and very, very hard to pass, given they have nothing growing on them. They form one of the natural borders between the State of the Dragon God and the Empire of the Mountain.

People of Zarathan

Many different species share this continent—many relatively peacefully, others . . . somewhat less so. Following is a summary of the most significant peoples of this world.

HUMANS

Human beings on Zarathan are basically the same as they are on Earth. Generalists, humans are something of the chameleons of the civilizations, showing up in any profession, any part of the world, in large numbers. They are probably the most common of the intelligent species.

INTELLIGENT TOADS

Called the
Sylanningathalinde
, or “Golden-eyed,” by the Saurans, the Toads claim to be the oldest of the intelligent species, even pre-dating the Dragons and Demons. They are in general a fun-loving but insular people, and mostly stay near to the pond they are born and raised in. Toads are given one name in their larval (tadpole) stage and, when adults, choose a significant second name. They vary tremendously in size, from dwarfed individuals a few inches long up to some four feet from nose to rump and weighing two hundred pounds.

SAURANS

Averaging eight feet in height with massive bodies, armored tails, heavy, clawed feet and arms, and a head sporting a very large fanged mouth, Saurans resemble nothing so much as a miniature Godzilla. They claim to be direct descendants of the Great Dragons, and the Ancient Saurans—somewhat larger and clearly superior in many ways—are supposedly ranked as equals with the Dragons. There are very few Ancient Saurans left. They are generally even-tempered, and a good thing, since when angered, they are terribly dangerous.