Middlelands

Overview

Geographical

The Middlelands are dominated by soft rolling hills and gently flowing rivers, cutting through the landscapes. There are no mountains here, no deep chasms, nothing that would make you fear for your life. The forests are wide and open, a gentle breeze blowing through them. Here the world is teeming with life, the forests grow fast, game is plenty and the rivers so full of fish that nobody ever knows hunger - then why is it that every city in these lands has walls as thick as entire houses, enchanted with every rune of protection you could find?
It is the land where death and life dance their eternal waltz. Where birth and decay romance each other until the end of time.
This has the result of the borders being muddled in these lands. The dead walk easily among the living, be it vampires subjugating villages, spectres of the dead returning to the world they once inhabited, the dead rising as mindless zombies or archmages that decide that unlife is their true way to power.
This has shaped the land beyond measure, you see it in the cairns and graveyards, you see it in the  

Geopolitical

The relations in the Middlelands are complicated. Due to the nature of the land they live in, large scale wars are rarely seen, as they can be incredibly devastating. Such is that politicians and intrigue thrive in these lands. Were we fight a war, they send a knife in the dark, some poison slipped into a drink or an accident that was a bit too convenient.
The people in the north bunch together in small villages in great alliances while the larger cities in the centre are competing with each other, all while the secretive Order of the Rose conducts unspeakable acts within their impenetrable fortress.
 

Common Cultural Phenomena

What is common to all the people living in the Middlelands is their worship of their ancestors and a strange and unnatural penchant for necromancy and the undead.
 

Countries & Alliances

The People of the Clanlands

In the northern parts of the Middlelands the Clanlands beginn. The landscape is scattered with seemingly unconnected villages, only a few roads lead from the larger villages to others and back into the centre. Only those that already know the secret routes may be able to find their way through the land.
The clans exploit that by being handsomely paid to guide traders, diplomats and other dignitaries through their territories.
The villages are usually dominated by one family that has lived there for centuries, the spirits of their ancestors are guiding them, providing defense and wisdom. The political connections between the clans are hard to understand, friends and foes change frequently. If someone marries into another clan, they are expected to completely discard their old allegiances, which is obviously only a formality and not proper practice. A strong tradition of inter-marriage ensures that all leaders of a clan have a real interest in avoiding war as they might hurt a potential grandchild, cousin or even sibling.
 

Claimed Borders

Their borders intersect with the Lords and Ladies of the Border, in the dark forests nobody truly knows where the actual borders lie. This results in frequent raids from the clans as they claim that caravans are "unsanctioned" and still need to pay the toll. As they strongly oppose needless deaths, they tend to take hostages instead.
In the south the clanlands end shortly before the Lake known as Lovers Death.
 

Relations to others

Each clan leads their own negotiations, their continued existence is provided only by their southern neighbours disinterest and the exceptional hardships that would be brough on by having to navigate an entire army through their chaotic lands.
 

Specialties

The clans are adept at navigating their lands, seemingly finding villages where none should be. Their people have an innate understanding of life and death, many of them are able to speak with the remnants of dead souls, something that is usually reserved for clerics and powerful wizards.
 

Noteworthy Historical Events

the soul plague

The Free Cities

The free cities are not a cohesive unit. All of them are just a single, heavily fortified city that lays claim to as much land around them as possible. Their talent and trade has brought them great wealth which they enjoy spending on master artisans, actors and every hedonistic pleasure their minds can come up with.
Often these cities are ruled by one specific guild, specialising and monopolizing the craftsmen. These guilds often declare war on each other, before completely forgetting what they just did and never actually fighting or even preparing their armies.
If ever they are attacked, they show their worth by banding together and defending their own, before returning to their petty squabbles among each other.
 

Claimed Borders

In the north their territories are just beyond Lovers Death, while in the south they intersect with the lands claimed by the Seven Families and their tributaries. Clashes on this border are quite frequent.
Their last border is shared with the Order of the Rose and usually nothing more than a formality, as the Order is not a part of the coalition but will ally itself with them.
 

Specialties

Whatever craft is your choice, you will find the master artisans within the Free Cities. Art is what makes them special, their military is sub-par at best and they are to fickle to be decent politicians, but their art is what makes them truly great.
 

The Order of the Rose

Little is known about the order. Outsiders are not allowed to even know its purpose, our spies and diplomats were also unable to unearth anything of value. They seem to have dedicated themselves to the collection and preservation of knowledge in general with a specific focus on history.
Reports have reached us describing the necromantic practices used to extract knowledge from corpses and the souls of the dead. If we ever have the chance to eradicate the Order, we should take it...
 

Claimed Borders

The only border shared is with the Free Cities, which is mostly peacefull and dominated by trade.