Korsythe

Welcome to Korsythe! While the rest of the world was occupied with petty squabbles and fights over kingdoms, Korsythe was quietly hidden away. A continent left entirely undisturbed and undiscovered by the other races of the world has much history of its own, and the inhabitants don't take well to newcomers. Three hundred years ago, men and elves received mysterious word of this new world and raced to be the first to inhabit it. Neither of these two mighty races could have foreseen what would be awaiting them there...   From the west came men; bold, intrepid, and adaptable, men were accustomed to settling new lands. The kingdom of Fluvia was the first to send explorers to Korsythe. Initially making landfall on the island of Orim, the Fluvians came back a year later to find their initial colony destroyed and the settlers massacred. This began the Fluvians' ongoing feud with the dark creatures of that island, though presently all men stay far away from there. The many smaller colonies that Fluvia initially settled eventually merged into one larger nation: Curtil. With its newly granted independence from Fluvia, Curtil operates as the wealthiest and most populous country on Korsythe. A decade after Fluvia's settlers made landfall, the Republic of Trovia sent a large landing party to settle north of Fluvia's colonies. This large Trovian colony was named Gemaine, and though centuries have passed and it has grown since its founding, Gemaine still operates as a vassal state of the Republic. Recently, within the last 40 years, dissenters from the two major states of men on Korsythe have split with their countries and headed to the east to found the city of Terroglade and the Galeo Freehold, an independent association of city-states who desire to break free from the shackles of rules and laws holding them back in the west.   From the south came the elves; ancient, wise, and pretentious, elves have seemingly been in the world for as long as the world has been spinning. From their great southern home continent, the mighty wood elves of the Volodar Dominion sent forth their sleek ships to Korsythe and made landfall at the mouth of the Irograve River; this is where they founded their first city, Lahtano, and the capitol of their colony, the New Dominion. The elves saw Korsythe as a low-hanging fruit tree ripe for the picking, with bountiful resources and land begging to be claimed. These elves had lost the way of their ancestors, who called for natural preservation and cooperation above all else. There was still a small sect within the New Dominion who advocated for these ideals, but they were outnumbered and outfunded by the more vicious Volodar aristocrats. The elves have mainly focused on settling and taming the forests and woods of the Irograve and the jungles of Madascus. Their proclivity to the trees caused the wood elves to leave the Balikan Plains to the east mostly untouched. Unlike men, the elves went many years without first encountering another race on Korsythe. It was in the twisted Forest of Madascus they eventually stumbled upon the ruins of a mighty ancient structure from a race living on the continent for eons.   The settlers of these two races had been warned to expect some kind of life on Korsythe, that much is certain. But nothing could have prepared them for what they found. Civilizations, beasts, races, monsters, cities, and wonders untold awaited those bold enough to seek them out, and many have, but few have ever returned. The most prominent and familiar races the men and elves encountered were the dwarves and goblins. Both of these races lived mainly underground within the mountains, and both had vast cities and were fiercely territorial. They have been both ally and enemy to all the newcomers at one point, with the country of Curtil presently holding an uneasy alliance with the Free Dwarven Republic. Goblins have mostly been a hindrance to both man and elf, but they have been known to help at different periods through the colonial history. To the north, in the Feywood, strange creatures only heard of in myth have been reported: fairies, centaurs, shapeshifters and more. Men avoid this wood at all costs. North of the Feywood, across the Boiling Bay lie the Plains of Fidelia. Few have ever ventured here, and even less have returned to tell the tales. Great beasts are said to roam here, and beyond in the Northern Marshes are said to be a civilization so powerful they are akin to gods.