Thrail is a diverse continent spanning across four
Bands and containing tropical rainforests, dry deserts, swamps, hills, and staggering mountain ranges. The geographical features of Thrail divide it into four regions each with unique climates, peoples, and cultures.
Southern Thrail
Geography
Southern Thrail, also sometimes just called the
Coricut, encompasses all regions surrounding the Coricut Sea and extends as far north as the Eighth Band and as far east as the Ambercrag mountains.
The temperature in the Coricut region is dictated more by altitude than by season, primarily due to its nature as the lowest gravity band on Halor. Contrasts between the lowland areas and the elevated plateaus and mountain ranges are stark. Lowlands around the Coricut Sea are hot and humid year-round, with frequent thunderstorms and monsoonal rain cycles. This creates lush tropical forests and wetlands, especially along the sea's eastern and western shores. The highlands, by contrast, are markedly cooler and drier, dotted with coniferous forests and grasslands.
The southernmost portion of this region dips into the Second Band and enjoys milder weather and climate all around. Its proximity to the ocean allows creates a warm maritime climate with winter rarely experiencing any snow. The humidity in summer can create strong storms, especially across the
Bristengotan Strait.
Culture
People in the Southern Region of Thrail are ethnically and racially diverse due to a long tradition and reliance on maritime trade around the Coricut Sea. Humans are the most populous in this region but often find themselves alongside Varath, Elvespians, and Stonehooves as well. Swarmlings are also common in this region, playing an important role in trade across the sea and serving as guides and protectors. While most of their kind prefer to dwell outside of city limits in their underwater shoalsteads, many have been known to choose a residence in one of the many larger cities. The long-standing diversity of races also means many
half-races are present within the cities.
Trade is also not limited to just those within the inner sea; profitable routes pass through the
Bristengotan Strait to reach the ports of
Ormyst and
Eofas across the
Sendilaic Ocean. A true menagerie of races and peoples can be found in the southern ports, from mysterious
Zurminians to the raucous
Cauchemérien. Each adds to the economic tapestry of Southern Thrail, as the region experiences a renaissance of arcane marvels and prosperity. Cities rise in architectural wonder and grand monuments to gods of the
Divine Quinternion are erected as a celebration of this time of plenty.
Adoption of one's nation and ideals is rising around the Coricut. National identity, often tied to a strong sense of religious zeal, fuels the various countries' political, economic, and military machinations.
Nelevar embraces a theocratic approach to government that advocates for the divine mandate of a rule, but allows for acceptance of other faiths;
Astravar sees its people recovering from a brutal civil war in which the won the right to elect their rulers; the
Sesekvar Tetrarchy upholds a authoritarian regime set on both racial and religious purity.
Central Thrail
Geography
More often called
Orcidia or simply
Hathrun after its primary nations, this region is a vast plain hemmed in by the Aglean and Fosturian Seas to the south, and mountains in every other direction. Many tributaries flow together within the plains to form two massive rivers that keep the land fertile.
Fully within the Eighth Band, these plains experience seasons in "reverse" with Winter as the warmest season and Summer as the hottest. However, due to cultural associations, people here still refer to summer in the warmer months, and winter during the cold. Thus a traveler from the first band leaving in Summer would arrive in Winter in Central Thrail.
The surrounding mountain ranges create a significant rain shadow effect, resulting in arid to semi-arid conditions across much of the plains. Precipitation is sporadic and primarily concentrated in short but intense seasonal storms, with occasional heavy rainfall near the southern border influenced by the inland sea. The overall temperature of the plains is cooler than many would expect due to the lessened insolation in the Eighth Band. During colder months, snowfall can accumulate several feet; a minor inconvenience for the many Varath in the region, but difficult for most normal folk to traverse. Near the mountains, this effect is exaggerated with biting, harsh winds tormenting the area due to the gravity differential of the northern Seventh Band.
Culture
This region's culture is broadly indistinguishable from the
Hathrun Empire and its various iterations.
Northern Thrail
Geography
Northern Thrail includes the surrounding Stonepeak Spires and all the lands to the north of the Ironfrost Peaks. The central portion of the region is dominated by a vast, frigid tundra of ice interrupted by massive blue glaciers called
The Talus of Gnashing Teeth. This area experiences permanent permafrost, with temperatures that rarely rise above freezing. Only during long summer days will weak sunlight reflect off the icy expanse. During the remainder of the season The Talus is plunged into an eternal, freezing night, bitter cold settles under a sky only lit by dazzling auroras.
The Talus splits expansive boreal forests stretching across the northern and western edges of Thrail. These forests are dense and rugged, comprising hardy conifers adapted to the heavy gravitational pull, which results in shorter and sturdier trees with thick trunks. Summers are brief but bring near-constant daylight, mild temperatures, and explosive plant growth; an effect exacerbated by proximity to The Talus. Winters, by contrast, are long, dark, and unforgiving, with heavy snowfall and bone-chilling winds funneling down from the polar ice strip. Streams and rivers carved by glacial meltwater crisscross the region, forming an intricate network that nourishes both the forests and the tundra's edges. These sources of freshwater draw most of the population in this harsh region to only a few areas, leaving most of the land rugged and unexplored.
Culture
Given the harsher environments of Northern Thrail, this region tends to be filled with tight-knit communities and towns with fewer large urban centers like cities. Primarily, Stonehooves and Varath inhabit the north, with
Fosturia being an example of a collaborative kingdom where these races treat one another as equals. Humans in the north are mostly found as part of one of the many Clans of Styrioc.
Amongst those in the north, regardless of race, many heavily value mysticism over organized religion possessing a unique reverence and propensity for prophecy. While they do not reject
Divine Quinternion's existence, many question its exclusivity in favor of various gods, myths, and legends. This is concentrated most in those living near The Talus which for many is a symbol of powerful divinination and prognostication. Beyond The Talus, the isolated people of
Koruna celebrate these principals further by choosing all their leaders by prophetic means they believe to be handed down by a deity who resides within The Talus whom they refer to as "The Gelid Bliss".
Eastern Thrail
Geography
Eastern Thrail includes all lands to the east of the Ambercrag mountains. It's a rugged and arid landscape defined by its expansive deserts, rolling hills, and the vast inland lake known as the Glimmerdeep. The lake’s surface sparkles with a mesmerizing effect due to the lower gravity in the southern half, causing waves and ripples to behave in unique, almost hypnotic patterns. The shores of the Glimmerdeep support narrow bands of lush vegetation, including hardy shrubs, palms, and other desert-adapted flora. Desert hills encircle the Glimmerdeep; these areas experience slightly cooler temperatures and occasional rainfall, fostering sparse grasslands and hardy scrub. Seasonal rains in the hills often funnel into the deserts below, temporarily transforming dry riverbeds into rushing streams that replenish the Glimmerdeep.
Temperature is unpredictable, and outside the hills, its sudden changing can be hazardous. Both extreme heat and cool can manifest regardless of season, and intense sunlight coupled with high winds creates a challenging yet. Further east, the deserts give way to sprawling savannahs and badlands. Largely empty of civilization, these strikingly beautiful environments attract many adventures and collectors pursuing its plethora of unique flora and fauna.
Culture
The land and people to the east of Thrail still bear the scars of the Age of Demons as fighting tore the land asunder. Occasionally, those born in the sands or next to the streams of the Glimmerdeep express strange powers, wielding strange magic. These children are either raised with reversed as protective magi or slain in their sleep as an omen of demonic influence. There is a general distrust of outsiders amongst the many nations of the east, and outsider is often defined as little more than the Varath from the next dune over. Nations such as
Entoshire have structured their entire society around the scrutiny of outsiders, and in some cases, their own citizens, in the pursuit of unveiling demonic presence.
Yet, while the people often live in the shadow of the past, they also celebrate the light present in their history. Rich traditions and ceremonies involving the preparation of food as a storytelling medium have kept ancient myths and legends alive and well to this day. A general wariness lends itself to a competitive spirit in times of peace and the creation of an ardent passion for sport. Besides competition, most people, even across many nations, adhere to the worship of "The One" or
Qor. A heretical belief to most westerners on the continent, those on the other side of the Ambercag reject the authority of the
Divine Quinternion and instead appeal to their creator.
Further away from the Glitterdeep, on the fringes of the continent, lands of mysterious natures, marred from great wars of the past, draw inquisitive adventurers and treasure hunters from the many bands of Halor. Some seek the ghosts of dead loved ones in the depths of the Mournsong Forest; others delve into the Bleakfire Wastes to recover artifacts of demonic origin from history's most brutal battles. Whatever the motivation, in the wilderness of the deserts or the heights of Suncut, the adventurer must recognize both the beauty and danger that shaped the sands.
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