Southern Reaches

Overview

Geographical

In the deep south of Hyperborea lie the lands of the Seven Families - it is a beautiful land. Dominated by large mountains, the homes of dragons and their families. Beautiful snow covered peaks, sorrounded by lush jungles fraught with danger. Large swaths of bamboo gently sway in the wind, maybe it is not the wind but a darker creature stalking through the fields on the hunt for its next meal.
The Southern Reaches are pure contrast, the highest mountains sit next to the deepest cliffs and ravines, cutting deep into the world below. In the jungles you can sweat for days, when climbing the mountains you will feel your skin freezing. The coastlines are warmed by a gentle breeze, while the storms inland will rip you apart.
To the west are a few islands of seemingly little note, the people living there are simple fishers, unaware of the history of their home, the scholars of the Queng-Ho have been excavating there for a very long time. To the east lies Dragonfall, my guides tell me that it is a cursed place, until today have I only heard them speak of their lands in the highest regards. Now they speak in hushed tones and whispers, claiming that the guardian of the families there commited a great blasphemy and was punished by the Dragon Emperor for it. Now no sane person dares venture there, exept a few brave traders, adventurers and outcasts.
 

From the Report of Ambassador Adica Hohenstein

Geopolitical

The lands along the eastern coastline have been using their remoteness to slowly break away from the Seven Families, forming their own alliance and trying to revive the empire of the past, reclaiming the lost glory of the Dragon Emperor. Once again are they rising and banding together under the banner of the metallic dragons. Being very careful who to allow into their alliance, only accepting the strongest, for now, I foresee in the future that they will wrest power from the Seven Families if they static for long.
The cursed Dragonfall serves as a convenient place to exile all those you do not want to see in the cities. Rebuilt after their destruction, a city stands at the edge of a giant chasm. Looking down onto their doom has made them strange and wary of others. Strange magical energies rise from the chasm, luring in many to research those, without approval of the Seven Families, who chosen to conveniently ignore Dragonfall until something happens.
The region is in peace and stable for now. What goes on behind the scenes is hard to decipher for any foreigner, such as myself.
 

Common Cultural Phenomena

Everyone knows that the people of the Southern Reaches venerate the dragons of the lands as their guardians and hail them as great leaders in the times of need. In the ages past it used to be that every city of theirs was protected by a dragon, which is no longer the case, as their number have grown and expanded to mountains not of interest to the dragons. This proximity to the dragons and their natural magic causes a great uptick in children being born as Dragonborn, something considered to be a sign of luck and great wealth for any family that is blessed that way. This will automatically move the family up into the higher tiers of any given city.
The higher up the mountain any given family lives, the g´higher their wealth and status is as they are closer to the dragon residing on the peaks.
Each peak may serve as its own kingdom, but they tend to ally themselves with one of two larger alliances, either with the Seven Families, which have held the positions of power for the last 700-800 years or with the newly (re-)emerging Queng-Ho alliance.  

Countries & Alliances

The Seven Families

These families are currently the leading political force in the Southern Reaches. From the outside they appear as a singular cohesive unit. Never allowing for internal spats and rows to reach the ears of anyone else. I have spent decades as our ambassador to the Seven Families, only on the rarest of occasions have I seen them so much as argue with each other. My servants go unnoticed and have reported a very different picture, speaking of language used that would make our most experienced soldiers blush, directed at myself and other dignitaries, at each other and at their own servants.
The Seven Families are bound to each other through a multitude of means, chief among them are their patrons, the seven Gem Dragons ruling over their home peaks, giving them a common basis to work together. The other is that they are holding up each others power, when the Dragon Emperor died, the previous leading coalition fell into chaos and ruin, from which the Seven Families managed to wrest control, taking up arms, securing their regions and taking over administrative matters.
 

Claimed Borders

The Seven Families claim the entirety of the Southern Reaches as their territory, but are unwilling to accept the claims of other entities. Realistically, they rule over the entire northern and eastern portions of the Southern Reaches, with the Queng-Ho fighting them for control of the mountain range that seperates the Seven Families from the sea.
The land around Dragonfall is also technically claimed by them, but they refuse to control, regulate or poice it, claiming the curse which apparently lies on the land, choosing to use it as a prison and place for exile instead.
The northern border to the Free Cities is heavily unstable, some cities frequently flipping their allegiances depending on the current ruler of the city.
 

Relations to others

Gaining access to any of their documents and actual opinions is quite hard. What we know is that they will send their ambassadors to any kingdom willing to accept them, only replacing them upon death, a recall and replacement is incredibly rare.
Their intent seems to be to influence local politics in a way that steers their interest away from meddling with their own affairs. As long as the Southern Reaches are unaffected, their ambassadors won't care.
 

The Families Themselves

Zi Jing

Their patron being an ancient amethyst dragon, they have specified on the collection and preserving of knowledge. Theirs are the students and masters currently excavating the western islands of the Southern Reaches.
 

Shujing

A rather young crystal dragon has recently taken over the patronage of this family, succeeding their father. The family is known for their devout life and managing the bridge the discrepancies between the poorest and richest in their home.
 

Zumu

A family apparently being led by an emerald dragon, although the reports are sketchy and unreliable. They are known for their interest in theater and entertainment.
 

Heiyaoshi

There are always those that slither in the shadows, those that scheme and plan. People who claim that this is what the family Heiyaoshi does, they tend to vanish quickly. Their dignitaries are often seen reinforcing their clothes with the scales of an obsidian dragon.
 

Hongbaoshi

Every state needs impartial lawmakers and justices. The ones the Seven Families trust with this are the wards of an ancient ruby dragon.
 

Lanbaoshi

The generals of the alliance, the others may send the armies, but they are led by the Lanbaoshi leaders. With the wisom of sapphire dragons, this family has conquered a large territory.
 

Huangyu

Dedicating themselves to a topaz dragon, they are known for a particular mindset. They do not seem to care much about their own deaths, seeing it as just another part of the great circle of life. This in turn leads to many of them becoming adventurers, or specialists in incredibly dangerous areas - often being proficient with explosives.
 

Noteworthy Historical Events

the death of the Dragon Emperor

The Queng-Ho Alliance

Centred around the burnt out cities of the most powerful empire the Southern Reaches had ever seen. After it fell to ruin with the discovery of the death of the Dragon Emperor the cities fell into a long civil war, leaving the Seven Families to pick up the pieces. After their civil wars petered out, they quickly realized that they now were under the control of a new empire. The metallic dragons guiding them never liked that and immediately started plotting their way back up to the top.
Hiding behind a chain of mountains, they are slowly rebuilding their former wealth, status and influence. Forming a strong mercantile coalition, consolidating their power all while doing their best to undermine the Seven Families.
 

Claimed Borders

The mountain chain seperating the cities of the alliance from the Seven Families serves as the border, the alliance's territory snaking along the eastern coastline of the Southern Reaches, sharing a small overlap with the cursed territories of Dragonfall.
 

Relations to others

Since their emergence as an open alliance they have tried sending ambassadors to different nations and countries, all of which have shown them the door, so as not to risk upsetting the Seven Families. They are working around this by establishing permanent trading posts in major cities and using these as unofficial embassies.
 

Specialties

The cities of the alliance excell at two things. Mercantile ventures and the aquisition of things they should have no access to. Be it their unofficial embassies, their savvy traders or the fact that they are conducting research among the ruins in the west without the Seven Families interfering.
 

Noteworthy Historical Events

Death of the Dragon Emperor

 

Dragonfall

The cursed city of Dragonfall has a tragic past. Once they were the centre of culture and learning in the Southern Reaches. Ruled by the wise and benevolent dragon Ranathax, who has since been stricken from the records. Scholars flocked to the mountain, to discover the secrets of the world and anything that lies beyond it, adventurers came to train with the great masters. Petitioners visited the best healers and were cured of curses and sicknesses that should have been fatal to even immortals.
Then came the day that the Dragon Emperor decided to punish Ranathax for a transgression only a dragon could understand. Inflicting her with a terrible madness that quickly ate away everything she ever had been, in the beginnings a few moments of lucidity were enough to send many people away before she started to attack and destroy her own city, raising the mountain it was built on, indiscriminately killing everyone that was still left in the city.
As the city and the mountain were destroyed beyond repair, a gaping chasm in the ground opened up and swallowed everything that was still left. Legend says that with one last deep roar Ranathax rose above the chasm locked her wings and fell into the darkness below.
Since then some of those that had been sent away had long returned and rebuilt the city, instead of up - it now goes down, clinging to the walls of the chasm as well as surrounding it. This event has caused all other citiziens to abandon the region, driving them away in fear of the curse that befell Ranathax. A curse that still lingers within the chasm and everything below. Children are still born as Dragonborn the same rate as before, some of them being a ghostly pale, others pitch black...
 

Claimed Borders

The entire eastern peninsula lies abandoned, except the city of Dragonfall. Nobody dares venture into these cursed lands, except the bravest of adventurers, the exiles and all those that think they might find something of use in the dark underbelly of the world.
 

Diplomatic Relations

No one keeps any official connection to Dragonfall. Many institutions however have sent delegations, some of them looking to rediscover what was lost in the initial destruction of Dragonfall, others try to claim the treaure they think lies below Dragonfall.    

Noteworthy Historical Events

Dragonfall