Bandit Kingdoms

The Bandit Kingdoms stretch across a wide region of scrublands, forests, and hills, dotted with ruined strongholds and makeshift fortresses. The land is fertile in places but poorly tended, riddled with the scars of constant warfare and pillaging.

• To the north lies the Riftcanyon, a terrifying chasm over 180 miles long, forming a natural barrier and spawning ground for monsters and bandits alike.
• The eastern reaches approach the Artonsamay River, beyond which lies Tenh.
• The southern lands border the broken remnants of the Shield Lands and the sinister influence of the Horned Society—both of which pose threats and opportunities for the bolder bandit lords.

Travel through the Bandit Kingdoms is perilous. Roads are few, and tolls—often extortionate—are enforced by armed riders loyal to local despots.

The Riftcanyon, which looms over the northern frontier of the Bandit Kingdoms, is a geological and metaphysical scar. A mile-wide chasm plunging to unimaginable depths, its cliffs are riddled with caves, strange ruins, and monster lairs.

• Bandits and warlords have tried to establish strongholds on its rim, using it as a natural barrier or prison.
• Some legends claim powerful beings dwell at the bottom, or that the canyon was created by a falling star or a god’s wrath.

The canyon is a magnet for treasure-seekers and the deranged alike—many enter, few return.

The Bandit Kingdoms are not truly united. They are divided into a shifting number of territories, each ruled by a bandit lord, petty king, or tyrant with private armies, mercenary troops, and little interest in diplomacy. These lords rise and fall with brutal regularity, seizing land, betraying rivals, and selling loyalty to the highest bidder.

• Typically four to six major warlords dominate the region at any given time.
• Feuds are frequent, and temporary alliances collapse as quickly as they are forged.
• Most rulers are brutal opportunists, caring little for their subjects beyond conscription and taxation.

Some strongholds resemble crude fortresses; others are barely fortified camps. Yet each commands enough power to rule its domain by force, fear, and manipulation.

Life for common folk in the Bandit Kingdoms is harsh and uncertain. Villages and towns exist under the shadow of constant conflict and plundering. The people are tough, suspicious, and self-reliant, having learned to survive despite the chaos.

• Loyalty is fleeting, but family and clan ties remain strong among rural folk.
• Religion varies wildly; some follow benevolent faiths in secret, while others serve darker powers openly—especially in lands nearer the Horned Society.
• Trade is conducted with caution and often at swordpoint. Smugglers, slavers, and black-market dealers thrive here.

Adventurers sometimes find employment among the bandit lords or pursue treasure in the Riftcanyon or the ruins of fallen fiefdoms—but always at great risk.

While the Bandit Kingdoms prey on one another, they pose a constant threat to nearby lands:

• Furyondy and the Shield Lands have suffered from their raids for decades.
• Tenh regards the Bandit Kingdoms as a festering wound on its border, though internal strife has prevented serious retaliation.
• The Horned Society has, at times, manipulated or even dominated some bandit rulers, spreading evil influence through cults, mercenaries, and dark magic.

Meanwhile, Iuz, the Old One, has sought to bring many of the Bandit Kingdoms under his iron rule—sometimes through conquest, other times through dread pacts.