Bay 12 Games Forum

Before one can begin to tackle the horrors we have borne witness to along the barrial river these past few days, they must first come to understand how, exactly, we arrived here today.

As is the nature of all things, what was one would inevitably become two. The Lakefolk, for reasons unknown, divided and left the most peaceful landscape of The Vale for the extreme ends of the world. To the north: air and water. To the south: earth and fire.

In Monsoon Point, tribesfolk settled where they found washed up remains of the Lightning Whales that regularly migrated through the region. These beasts all bore unique characteristics, but each of them, as the name suggests, had a very obvious relationship with lightning. This was most obvious when they’d die - if the end was peaceful, their bodies quickly decomposed and left useless materials behind, but if the death was traumatic (like a madman slamming a stone axe into their side repeatedly), the cetrical energy would violently explode out of the wound. The benefit to this method of death was that the materials of the Lightning Whale would maintain their curious properties. Solid bones for homes, nutritious meat, flammable blubber, and insulative hide all proved to be great boons for the tribe of Monsoon Point. These “Rituals of Harvest” were often fatal, but survivors would have their scars ceremoniously tattooed over with whale blood. This, shockingly [GM Note: ah fuck I didn’t even intend that], resulted in a dramatic increase in survivability among WhaleSlayers. The more ornately decorated WhaleSlayers found themselves able to function as lightning rods, using themselves as protectors of their villages from the worst a storm could offer while suffering no more than a mild tingle themselves. The WhaleSlayers who became Storm Dancers were seen at the time as paragons of self-sacrifice, and were also the world’s first flash mobs.

In the South, completely unlike the North, the tribesfolk found the true bounty of the land laid in the curious wildlife that inhabited the area - specifically, within the caves of the Shadowscale Lizards. Originally terrifying creatures of imposing size and aggressive temperament (comparable to the saltwater crocodile, but with legs built for land), these beasts competed with the tribe for the relatively scarce prey animals in the region. Their thick scale and dense muscle made them lethal killers and almost impossible to kill with the tribe’s stone tools, but eventually one was felled and in their nest was discovered the first supply of Shadowglass. These translucent black stones seem to swirl when one stares into them for too long, whispering out to those who touch them and, more unsettlingly, they absorb blood. The Shadowglass proved to be impossibly sharp but painfully brittle, slicing through living material with ease but shattering uselessly against the unliving and unthinking parts of the natural world. This strange material could only ever be found where Shadowscale Lizards slept regularly.

A Will Within The Rock presented itself to the tribe through the Shadowglass and revealed to them the true nature of the universe. The Eye walks The Worn Road mercifully blinded by The Bright Scale, trusting completely in the warm comfort of The Guiding Light. The Shadow Scale, an influence of lunacy in every sense of the word, offers Truth In Mind should one offer themselves to it in turn (through the sacrifice of blood to feed a stone). When The Eye is Unblinded by The Voice, it may pass through The Shadow Within The Light and become Light Twice Reflected.

In simpler, saner, human terms, the southern tribe found themselves drawn into The World Without Barriers, a realm beyond flesh and bone, rock and stone.

The tribe tamed the Shadowglass Lizards by embracing the ties they had already unknowingly formed through using Shadowglass. Continuous oversight of a selective breeding program resulted in the four core subspecies of Lizard: the slovenly yet productive Livestock Lizard, the skittish but agile Riding Lizard, the stout and blind Burrowing Lizard, and the small, aggressive (to anything but lizards and humans), and insatiable Pet Lizard.

Animal husbandry provided the Beeples society the leg(s) up they needed to further develop their civilization. The Riding Lizards in particular allowed High Priests of Todd and the Hypno-Todd Sect, all considered Eyes Unblinded, the opportunity to spread the core tenets of their faith: It Just Works, Good Games Are Played Not Made, and All Glory To The Hypno-Todd. Stone blocks were laid out between developing City-States to create a vast network of paved roads that helped facilitate the travel of the High Priests and their spreading of The Voice. A protected class of merchant and trader arose thanks to the comprehensive road infrastructure - the Quarter-Master, named such as they were held in high regard and could express great power and influence, but held no actual leadership position. Shadow Brass was also developed in this time. While the original creator passed into The World Without Barriers upon forging the first ingots into the vessel for The Legionnaire, others were able to replicate the material without dying from fervent possession thanks to proper use of protective equipment.

People who work with materials made of Shadow Brass find themselves connected to the devices over time as if cursed to never be allowed to part for long. This “curse” also came with the gift of very, very momentary prescience that stemmed from the material’s natural state as a physical representation of The Shadow Within The Light forced into the world by Blind Eyes. Besides the prescience, Shadow Brass also held an edge much like Shadowglass without the vulnerability to shattering or the thirst for blood.

The Legionnaire was, in part, a man at some point. With an Unblinded Eye, a citizen-soldier donned the armor and found himself entirely undone. The Beeple had managed to manifest into The Bracketed World the personification of The Shadow Within The Light.

Armed with a Shadow Brass Greatsword, The Legionnaire wordlessly embarked on a crusade to unite the scattered City-States under a single Cargonian banner. The armies of The Painted Lands surged forth, rolling over budding empires in bloody conquest until they reached the shores of the river dividing the world north and south. The conquest in these lands was remarkably easy, thanks in small part to the reputation of The Legionnaire and its armies. The larger contribution to the end of the war came as a result of the clouds of ash that had crept over the riverside lands of the south. An endless twilight, the terrible limbo between Light and Shadow, threatened to overcome the frontierlands bordering the growing Empire unless they submit to the Will Without The Rock and their amassed forces. Once the south was Unified, the ash withdrew, The Legionnaire vanished until the next great war [cough], and an era of peace and prosperity fell upon the Cargonian Empire.

Brightglass proved to be another enlightening discovery during this time that enhanced Beeple society. Found in pool of shadowglass-tainted blood gathered in a permanently lit pit beneath a gladiatorial arena, Brightglass immediately showed that it would violently explode if agitated by organic matter - such as a curious gladiator’s fingers. This resulted in an early literal and figurative explosion of the lumber and mining industries. Brightglass was also used to create great works of art, as each fragment was a beautiful but uniquely unpredictable color. Churches of Rock and Metal cropped up, built as they were to minimize the risk of organic material setting off a brightglass window. Interestingly, brightglass modulated noise that interacted with it, causing sounds to reverberate with bassier, angrier tones. The glass also happened to glow with an intensity based on the volume of noise it was experiencing, resulting in beautiful light shows during choral performances where many Voices joined as One.

The people of Monsoon Point had gone about their lives as beach scavengers, luring whales to the shore through use of volatile jars of cetrically charged whale blubber and the more stable Ichor mixture. The Storm Caller Priesthood rose from the Storm Dancers, preaching on the powers granted by the sea and sky, powers they were capable of manifesting. Powers they quickly realized they could monopolize. Massive structures were built as whale slaying, organized entirely by the Priesthood, expanded thanks to the feedback loop of whales -> whale parts -> whale lure -> whales proved fairly effective. These Ziggawatts were built with verticality in mind, as each megastructure was topped with a ceremonial platform used for calling down vast amounts of lightning. This let the Priesthood centralize their operations and led to the formation of the Ziggawatt-States. Stilt homes and artificial islands were the hallmarks of the inhabitants of Monsoon Point, and it appeared a golden age was at hand.

It was unfortunate timing when, due to a dispute over claims on a newly beached Whale, a newbie partaking in the Ritual of Harvest killed an experienced WhaleSlayer on the cusp of ascension to The Priesthood in Ixam of the 121 Ziggawatts (the largest and most prestigious Ziggawatt-State) as a comet passed overhead.

The cataclysmic impact ruptured the crust of the earth beneath the seas beyond the horizon. Shadows rose in the distance as fire and ash filled the sky, pushing the storms of the north away and replacing them with a dry, endless twilight. After a brutal sacrifice of the murderer in a process called Bloodyeeting revealed a capability to force lightning from the skies and temporarily clear the clouds of ash, the Priesthood fell on itself in a bloody era known as The Thirsting Wars. The Ziggawatt-States engaged in brutal conflict with one another, taking as many people alive as they could and using them for the increasingly “necessary” blood sacrifices that kept hope alive (for the people not being forcibly sacrificed) that this end of days would itself come to an end.

And indeed it would. The Twelve Armies that remained of the Ziggawatt-States had amassed for one great final battle. Before they engaged in their final act of selfdestruction, the earth violently shook, the ash clouds withdrew, and for the first time in two centuries, the storms came back to stay. Whether this was just an extinction event bracketed by celestial and geological events or because the Monsooners had expressed to the gods of the sea and sky a willingness to sacrifice themselves to the very extremes, none can say for certain. The peace that came resulted in the Bay Twelve Confederation, and the road to rebuilding had begun.

The Ziggawatt-States weren’t alone in enduring the Ashfall. Many Monsooners fled inland and, without access to many resources at all, turned to cannibalism (of the willing) to sustain themselves. This led to a growth in knowledge of the human anatomy, and soon they were attempting to use their own bodies to store excess harvest and reduce waste from the whales they now so rarely had access to (in their eyes, a form of self-sacrifice). Harvesters storing whale parts realized cetricity could be channeled through tattoos, if channeling meant “violently exploding” more often than not, especially in the more heavily tattooed individuals.

Being obsessed with self-sacrifice, this obviously spread rapidly throughout the stragglers of society that soon came to be known as Wovenmen. The Wovenmen built upon their augmented capacities when they accidentally discovered that the whale blood acted as a catalyst that would convert other materials, not just whale parts, into some kind of biological modification. Speed, reflexes, and an uncanny ability to cling to surfaces were all capabilities afforded to the Wovenmen once they began to centralize. And centralize they did, because they’d realized that the Priesthood had led society to the brink of collapse. Even after the Ashfall subsided, the stranglehold the Priesthood had was seen as a gross injustice by the Wovenmen, and so they set about rebalancing the scales.

In a series of rapid coordinated strikes all across the Confederation, Wovenmen infiltrated the highest chambers of the Ziggawatts and triggered the violent cetric explosion caused by rupturing the “Kill-Swatch” on their chests. The leadership of the Priesthood was decapitated, their reign of darkness ended by the light of the Wovenmen to be replaced not by the Wovenmen, but by whoever the Wovenmen didn’t kill for poor leadership. Or not providing the regular “self-sacrifice” of food and goods to their local Wovenman temple-tower. The self-righteous Wovenmen controlled the north through fear and assassination as a syndicate known as The Twelve Bays Cabal. Unbeknownst to them, the actions of the Cabal would manage to finally shine some light through the darkness, just not willingly.

Deep into the reign of the Twelve Bays Cabal, one temple-tower locked away Mimatqui, one of the greatest thinkers to ever exist on either side of the Interbarrial River. He maintained a network of communication to the outside world unbeknownst to his captors, leaking what he could of his discoveries in his incredibly well-stocked labs to people who could bring it to the greater population in “independent” discoveries. This included Orichalcum, a red alchemical alloy that could “tidally lock” a ferrous material along the magnetic “waves” the Orichalcum emitted when cetrically charged. He tied orichalcum pins to kite strings and found them to be highly cetrically conductive as well. These discoveries, when leaked to the secret society of Illuminators and subsequently leaked again to the rest of Cabal society, shook society to their core. A single small orichalcum pin would not only draw in Lightning Whales, but it would kill them when ingested in a manner that neither exploded nor ruined the quality of the harvest.

Orichacum foil was the greater upset overall, as it was used to create The Red Lines. The Red Lines were stone or metal rails covered in Orichalcum foil. Along these Lines were waystations that used collections of Ichor to provide power to the rails. Carts were hauled by hand or tethered to a beast of burden to be hauled along The Red Lines as they could not brake nor go uphill under their own power, but the ease of bulk transport of goods could not be understated.

The dominance of the WhaleSlayers, Priesthood, and Wovenmen, and their perceived near-divinity, were shattered as The Illuminators used The Red Lines to spread knowledge to the people. This shining light in the darkness brought about the Red Revolution, an almost bloodless uprising save for the well-known Massacre at Tlacotzin Square that saw dozens of civilians gunned down.

The impressive spread of information wasn’t unique to the Twelve Bays Confederacy, as the Cargonian Empire had their own society of critical thinkers. The Creation Club, all with Eyes Unblinded, basking in The Light Twice Reflected, toiled away in order to unfold the mysteries of The Bracketed World and The World Without Barriers. The Screamaphone and Wayglass Stones were the result of the inspired and combined madnesses of Doctors J. Black, D. Snyder, and R. Plant. Using Brightglass and Shadowglass respectively, these devices allowed Cargonians to communicate over long distances, and quite loudly, although the directed noise suffered from significantly less “bleed-off” than one would expect from, essentially, talking very loudly into a cone. It was very much against the nature of sound within The Bracketed World, but entirely in line with the mannerisms of The Voice throughout The World Without Barriers. The Wayglass Stones, paired with Screamaphones in Messenger Posts, allow Eyes Unblinded to Ping one another. They usually use this to inform a post of an incoming message so they can properly align their array to receive it, but can also be used to send other short but direct and non-interceptable messages. Madness was a side effect of working with the Shadow Glass and Shadow Brass used for the Wayglass Stones, so each Messenger was observed constantly by a Moderator of Discord.

This vast and expanding communications network led to an entirely figurative explosion of knowledge throughout Cargonia, facilitated almost entirely by the great works of The Creation Club. All aspects of Beeple life were affected, from the rise of the Lizherd Barons and Chupacaderos, to the vast libraries stored along The Web, to, crucially, the discovery of lizard blood causing brightglass to burn intensely as opposed to explode. Brightglass Furnaces sprouted up all across the Empire, clouding the skies with pillars of smoke that, if improperly ventilated, would Unblind an Eye before they were immediately consumed by The World Without Barriers.

Ichor Clubs: Wooden weapons coated with Ichor that discharge on impact, potentially incapacitating victims. [Cheap]

Wovenmen: People covered in whaleblood tattoos and filled with alchemical implants that provide unnatural speed, energy, reflexes, and climbing capabilities. They idolize self-sacrifice and will often explode themselves in a great cetrical blast triggered by pounding the Whale’s-Eye or Kill-Swatch over the heart in order to complete their goals. They now exist largely quietly at the fringes of society, watching silently. Low survival rate of implantation due to infection exacerbated by the no survival rate of their self-sacrifice leads to a limited population deployed in [National Effort] squads.

Integrated Cetric Arrays: Devices that house a number of Refined Ichor cylinders based on the requirements of the device(s) it’s powering, with the cylinders secured via the interrupted screw. Conductor pins are the piece of metal that gets pushed into the top flap when the ICA is turned on, and are removed once cetricity is no longer required. A cetric engine.

Cetric Chains: Sets of carts used to haul vast amounts of goods across the empire using the Red Line orichalcum-covered rail lines. Powered by Integrated Cetric Arrays.  [Cheap]

Charged Blubber Jars: Clay jars full of Lightning Whale blubber that has been charged via Sky Caller rituals. Explosive and unstable. Cost tied directly to Ziggawatt expense. [Cheap]
-Ichor: Blubber Jars stabilized with whaleblood. Discharge happens slowly relative to Charged Blubber Jars, resulting in safer handling and more control with a less impressive discharge. Cost tied directly to Ziggawatt expense. [Cheap]
--Refined Ichor: A more energy-dense resource than base Ichor made using whale oil refined from blubber. Stored in lead-lined steel cylinders.

Orichalcum: A shiny red metal with high ductility and malleability, and capable of conducting cetricity and emitting a close but powerful magnetic field. Made using an alchemical whale blood and bone mix while creating bronze. Has no directly associated cost.

Lightning Whales: Massive physiologically unique beasts that can be found migrating through waters off of the northern coasts. They build static through their teeth as they filter-feed, using the constant discharge to stun their wide range of prey. Excess buildup is discharged when they surface. When unable to process their buildup normally, such as when they are beached, the body builds up a potent amount of energy beneath the insulative skin. If allowed to continue without a "forced discharge", the buildup ruins the chances of any usable parts being harvested. The bones are large and strong enough to provide some shelter, the meat nutritious and ample enough to feed entire villages for weeks at a time, and the blubber a means of maintaining that ever-evasive but equally necessary fire. Easily harvested using Orichalcum as a bait/poison. [Cheap]
-Mutaxol: An alchemical reagent isolated from Lightning Whale blood. A tacky goop that allows flesh to painfully meld with inorganic materials. Useful as a catalyst for general biomodification.

Lightning Whales: Massive physiologically unique beasts that can be found migrating through waters off of the northern coasts. They build static through their teeth as they filter-feed, using the constant discharge to stun their wide range of prey. Excess buildup is discharged when they surface. When unable to process their buildup normally, such as when they are beached, the body builds up a potent amount of energy beneath the insulative skin. If allowed to continue without a "forced discharge", the buildup ruins the chances of any usable parts being harvested. The bones are large and strong enough to provide some shelter, the meat nutritious and ample enough to feed entire villages for weeks at a time, and the blubber a means of maintaining that ever-evasive but equally necessary fire. Easily harvested using Orichalcum as a bait/poison. [Cheap]
-Whaleblood Tattoos: Tattoos made with whale blood. Very electrically conductive, and capable of channeling energy through the body without harming it. [Cheap]
--Storm Dancers: WhaleSlayers who have survived enough to acquire an excessive amount of tattooing and volunteer to redirect the power of the storms and skies away from their people. Practically immune to everything cetrical but the most intense lightning. [Expensive]

Storm Caller Priesthood: The religious structure built off of the Storm Dancers which controls the aspects of the cultural faith ingrained in society. Priests are drawn from the population at large and are capable of cetric feats. Cheap

Wovenmen: People covered in whaleblood tattoos and filled with alchemical implants that provide unnatural speed, energy, reflexes, and climbing capabilities. They idolize self-sacrifice and will often explode themselves in a great cetrical blast triggered by pounding the Whale’s-Eye or Kill-Swatch over the heart in order to complete their goals. They now exist largely quietly at the fringes of society, watching silently. Low survival rate of implantation due to infection exacerbated by the no survival rate of their self-sacrifice leads to a limited population deployed in [National Effort] squads.

Ziggawatts: Large complex structures used for just about every aspect of life in the Bay Twelve Confederation. Used primarily for religious rituals and the creation of Charged Blubber Jars and Ichor. The Great Ziggawatt of Ixan is evidence of a cultural focus in Monsoon Point. [Cheap]

Charged Blubber Jars: Clay jars full of Lightning Whale blubber that has been charged via Sky Caller rituals. Explosive and unstable. Cost tied directly to Ziggawatt expense. [Cheap]
-Ichor: Blubber Jars stabilized with whaleblood. Discharge happens slowly relative to Charged Blubber Jars, resulting in safer handling and more control with a less impressive discharge. Cost tied directly to Ziggawatt expense. [Cheap]
--Refined Ichor: A more energy-dense resource than base Ichor made using whale oil refined from blubber. Stored in lead-lined steel cylinders.

Orichalcum: A shiny red metal with high ductility and malleability, and capable of conducting cetricity and emitting a close but powerful magnetic field. Made using an alchemical whale blood and bone mix while creating bronze. Has no directly associated cost.

Skyfeeders: Ballista-like slings used exclusively in the ritual practice of Bloodyeeting launching sacrificial remains into the clouds. One is available atop each Ziggawatt. [Cheap]

Whalelock Thunderarms: Weapons that utilize Orichalcum rails powered by a separate Ichor container to propel iron shot at targets. Large, heavy, and should be mounted on a forked post to aim. Technically capable of automatic fire. Provides the foundation for all firethunderarms and therefore has no associated cost.

Ichor Clubs: Wooden weapons coated with Ichor that discharge on impact, potentially incapacitating victims. [Cheap]

Cetric Chains: Sets of carts used to haul vast amounts of goods across the empire using the Red Line orichalcum-covered rail lines. Powered by Integrated Cetric Arrays.  [Cheap]

Integrated Cetric Arrays: Devices that house a number of Refined Ichor cylinders based on the requirements of the device(s) it’s powering, with the cylinders secured via the interrupted screw. Conductor pins are the piece of metal that gets pushed into the top flap when the ICA is turned on, and are removed once cetricity is no longer required. A cetric engine.

Mutaxol: An alchemical reagent isolated from Lightning Whale blood. A tacky goop that allows flesh to painfully meld with inorganic materials. Useful as a catalyst for general biomodification.

Dr. Welliam’s Singed Notes: All that survives of Welliam Toll’s work into fairly advanced prosthetics. Represents experience in prostheses without having functional equipment.

Lightning Whales: Massive physiologically unique beasts that can be found migrating through waters off of the northern coasts. They build static through their teeth as they filter-feed, using the constant discharge to stun their wide range of prey. Excess buildup is discharged when they surface. When unable to process their buildup normally, such as when they are beached, the body builds up a potent amount of energy beneath the insulative skin. If allowed to continue without a "forced discharge", the buildup ruins the chances of any usable parts being harvested. The bones are large and strong enough to provide some shelter, the meat nutritious and ample enough to feed entire villages for weeks at a time, and the blubber a means of maintaining that ever-evasive but equally necessary fire. Easily harvested using Orichalcum as a bait/poison. [Cheap]
-Whaleblood Tattoos: Tattoos made with whale blood. Very electrically conductive, and capable of channeling energy through the body without harming it. [Cheap]
--Storm Dancers: WhaleSlayers who have survived enough to acquire an excessive amount of tattooing and volunteer to redirect the power of the storms and skies away from their people. Practically immune to everything cetrical but the most intense lightning. [Expensive]

Storm Caller Priesthood: The religious structure built off of the Storm Dancers which controls the aspects of the cultural faith ingrained in society. Priests are drawn from the population at large and are capable of cetric feats. Cheap

Wovenmen: People covered in whaleblood tattoos and filled with alchemical implants that provide unnatural speed, energy, reflexes, and climbing capabilities. They idolize self-sacrifice and will often explode themselves in a great cetrical blast triggered by pounding the Whale’s-Eye or Kill-Swatch over the heart in order to complete their goals. They now exist largely quietly at the fringes of society, watching silently. Low survival rate of implantation due to infection exacerbated by the no survival rate of their self-sacrifice leads to a limited population deployed in [National Effort] squads.

Ziggawatts: Large complex structures used for just about every aspect of life in the Bay Twelve Confederation. Used primarily for religious rituals and the creation of Charged Blubber Jars and Ichor. The Great Ziggawatt of Ixan is evidence of a cultural focus in Monsoon Point. [Cheap]

Charged Blubber Jars: Clay jars full of Lightning Whale blubber that has been charged via Sky Caller rituals. Explosive and unstable. Cost tied directly to Ziggawatt expense. [Cheap]
-Ichor: Blubber Jars stabilized with whaleblood. Discharge happens slowly relative to Charged Blubber Jars, resulting in safer handling and more control with a less impressive discharge. Cost tied directly to Ziggawatt expense. [Cheap]
Orichalcum: A shiny red metal with high ductility and malleability, and capable of conducting cetricity and emitting a close but powerful magnetic field. Made using an alchemical whale blood and bone mix while creating bronze. Has no directly associated cost.

Skyfeeders: Ballista-like slings used exclusively in the ritual practice of Bloodyeeting launching sacrificial remains into the clouds. One is available atop each Ziggawatt. [Cheap]

Whalelock Thunderarms: Weapons that utilize Orichalcum rails powered by a separate Ichor container to propel iron shot at targets. Large, heavy, and should be mounted on a forked post to aim. Technically capable of automatic fire. Provides the foundation for all firethunderarms and therefore has no associated cost.

Ichor Clubs: Wooden weapons coated with Ichor that discharge on impact, potentially incapacitating victims. [Cheap]

Cargo Chains: Sets of carts used to haul vast amounts of goods across the empire using the Red Line orichalcum-covered rail lines. Run by Conductors. [Cheap]

The key defines the borders of the map first, then the river, and then describes each region North to South and East to West, like reading a book.

The Ice Wall (Eastern Barrier): While borders can be quite fluid in nature, the easternmost extreme of the land is harshly cutoff by a monolithic wall of pure ice, 3000 meters tall. The surface of the wall contains somehow fewer features than the barren cliff face: an everstretching plane of blinding white. No plant or animal dares to brave the blisteringly frigid, cutting winds driving ice and snow constant off the wall and toward the continent below.

The Desert of ‘Amit (Western Barrier): The desert of 'Amit shrouds the west in heaps of dazzling white sand. The evening winds stir up sharp, stinging sandstorms which scatter the light of the setting sun and blast the young Cholades Mountain Range separating it from the rest of the continent. Through the heat haze, you can sometimes glimpse the peaks of the Anti-Cholades mountain range, grasping at the far horizon and further reinforcing the rain shadow cast over the desert.


The Interbarrial River Network: The Interbarrial River Network is birthed from two points: the geysers and healthy water table in the Wild Savannah and the runoff and melt flowing off of The Ice Wall. These networks of streams join together to form large, slow moving rivers that steadily meander toward the center of the continent. A veritable (relatively shallow) inland sea forms where the rivers meet in the Vale of Waters and proceeds to divert both toward the north and south. Tributaries and distributaries line the entire calm, slow-flowing river, providing the only real navigational issue along the equally calm riverbanks. The arterial river flowing north and south empties into the Northern and Southern Oceans. The Great Lake manages to regulate flow during the wetter northern seasons, providing a steady and reliable flood pattern across the continent and keeping the extreme wet or dry seasons from impacting the reliability of the River Network throughout the region.


THIS IS YOU Monsoon Point (North Capital/Bay12): This area point is bounded by its impressive coast containing multiple natural harbours. Monsoon Point is so named because winds that come off of the coast, off of 'Amit north of the Cholades, and off of the Icewall contact to create a spectacularly broad storm network which ensures Monsoon Point is constantly lashed with rain. An extremely rainy season dominates nine months out of the year, followed by three months of the year that can't accurately be called a dry season as much as a "less rainy season". The landscape in Monsoon Point itself is surprisingly dramatic as a result - a hilly region has been carved out into a land of beautiful red cliffs, with intense and verdant greenery blooming across the slopes - the sole exception being the incredibly wide Interbarrial River Network and the gentle, flat lands that follow it.


Choladaic Rainforest (West Front, North):  This region is absolutely dominated by a tropical rainforest. While most definitely less waterlogged than the areas to the northeast and east, it is still a rainforest - you can still expect to get soaked. The tropical rainforest rolls across gentle hills, fed by the Monsoon Point rainstorms which gather here and bowl against the Cholades. While the rain is certainly an obstacle, the unsettling nearly endless twilight beneath the canopy should not be underestimated.

Evergreen Riverway (Center Front, North): The hills in the surrounding regions flatten immensely within the Riverway. The Evergreen Riverway is a temperate pine rainforest - unbelievably lush, unbelievably green, fed both by brunt of the rainstorms coming down from Monsoon Point and the wide, fast-flowing arterial continental river flowing up from The Vale of Water, central Evergreen Reach is... well, it's wet as hell. The riverine environment leads to plenty of mud, fallen logs, ponds, small lakes, and streams, but other than that it's actually quite a pleasant place to be in, if humid.

Frosthollows (East Front, North): Temperatures drop dramatically in this uneven, rough, but beautiful alpine forest terrain. Bitter snowstorms hamper that beauty, driven west by the powerful and biting wind blasting off of The Ice Wall. The deep valleys in this region tend to catch these winds, creating absolutely unbearable conditions within the crags and ravines that crop up in the area. These ravines open up into the foothills and lowlands that dot the area, pummeling them with frigid temperatures rivaled only by the surface of The Ice Wall itself. These Frosthollows, open areas where even the pines refuse to grow, are treacherous, but often the safest and most direct way geographically to navigate the region.


Wild Savannah (West Front, Center): Resting against the shadow of the Cholades and ‘Amit, the land is a savannah of tall wildgrasses and scattered acacia copses. The climate is warm here, but not prone to drought due to a high water table fed by geothermal heat. When one spots a little hillock on this savanna, it is a geyser as often as it is a termite mound. The biodiversity in this region is staggering: giraffes and dwarf elephants in the patches of thin forest, great wildcats and wildebeest patrolling the grasslands. A river cuts this land too, fed by the water table and rare torrential downpours, flowing west to east. The geological activity here has left behind kimberlite pipes, the source of elusive diamonds and other precious gemstones, as well as a fair few rare earth metals.

Vale of Waters (Center Front, Center): The Vale of Waters is where the fresh waters sourced from the east and west join to run north and south. A great lake sits here, relatively shallow but broad. Its waters are flush with freshwater fish and waterfowl. The terrain beyond the lakeshore of brown sand and clay beds is some of the most supremely fertile earth in all the world, a temperate country of low hills and beautifully green grass. The summers are warm but mild to crops, the winters thinly blanket the land in snow for a month or so before melting. Little of the wildlife is dangerous; foxes, burrowing rodents from shrews to beavers, hares and the like.

Glacial Taiga (East Front, Center): The freshest remnants of The Ice Wall’s glacial activity can be identified here; gravel beds, moraines and the like. This land is a taiga of warmly-colored shrubs and sedge grasses intermixed with the occasional copse of spruce and birch, grazed by herds of caribou that alternately can be found migrating to the Evergreen Riverway. In summer, multicolored wildflowers blossom from the earth, areas of which are warm enough to tolerate agriculture. The morning sun lights the crags of the Ice Wall like a bonfire, and sends a glut of meltwater to swell the banks of a river heading west. Beneath the permafrost are vast beds of anthracite coal and petroleum.



Great Dry Sea (West Front, South): Once an ancient inland ocean, the Great Dry Sea is a massive salt flat that exists in a depression stretching from the edges of the Painted Land outward toward the 'Amit desert, where the ground begins to elevate once more and transfers from salt into sand. While outwardly unremarkable, the Great Dry Sea holds a unique characteristic of a deceptively active groundwater environment, forming and dissipating subterranean rivers at will. This results in turning the Great Dry Sea into an invisible minefield where one false step can send a man plummeting into a thick brine pool if he's lucky, or a many dozen foot drop to his death if not. The reprieve for these hazards is the rises in the flats that ages ago were once islands surrounded by water but now are encased in salt, dotted across the Dry Sea like freckles.

Sandoras Thornsea (Center Front, South): This entrance to the Painted Lands is host to a myriad of cactus families and hardy flora that take advantage of the presence of running water - thousands of species ranging in size from a child's fist to taller than a man, interspersed among a splattering of cork oaks and stunted juniper trees. The cacti mainly stick to the banks of the river and the distributaries that break off from it, creating thick bands of cactus that form the main hazard in crossing this region.

Motoro Conelands (East Front, South): Volcanic energy in this region is just powerful enough to breach the surface before running out of energy and forming the squat towers of basalt known as “splatter cones”. Ranging from only one meter in height to over twenty, these miniature volcanoes pocket the land in the thousands. Many of them are still active, needing only a slight disturbance to ooze molten rock from the ground. Despite the danger, the Conelands have long been a source of intense mining efforts - splatter cones contain high concentrations of metals across the entire range of metals available beneath the surface. In the areas populated by inactive or dormant vents, there is a large coverage of greenery that feeds off the rich volcanic soil and the Interbarrial River Network.



Painted Lands (South Capital, BPL): The riverway flowing south from the Vale reaches its southern terminus in the Painted Lands. What began as a clear flow of babbling water has been transformed into an even wider, slower thing laden with sediment. Millions of years of river action have carved a canyon through the country's soft rock strata, sharp and jagged at first but growing as broad as the horizon by the time it reaches the sea. Wandering distributaries branch off of the river, leaving winding shallow bands of fertile soil behind when they inevitably wander off again or dry up between flooding seasons. The land takes its name from the bands of rock exposed by the river to form a panoply of color: white limestone, black shale, and sandstones in pink, red, yellow, and every color in between.

The fertilized highlands beyond the water-carved walls (a distinction less marked as one proceeds southward) are relatively arid, with hot summers and cool winters. Groundwater is exposed to the highlands by limestone sinkholes, or cenotes. Papyrus reeds and olive trees grow in abundance and alligators sun by the riverbanks with regularity as one travels further south. The coastal bay experiences a cooler climate, with sea breeze coming off the ocean to regulate temperatures year-round and provide gentle winter rains.

The sedimentary rock of the Painted Land bears countless karst caves, connected by underground rivers and home to strange species of eyeless fish and cave-adapted lizards.

Lightning Whales: Massive physiologically unique beasts that can be found migrating through waters off of the northern coasts. They build static through their teeth as they filter-feed, using the constant discharge to stun their wide range of prey. Excess buildup is discharged when they surface. When unable to process their buildup normally, such as when they are beached, the body builds up a potent amount of energy beneath the insulative skin. If allowed to continue without a "forced discharge", the buildup ruins the chances of any usable parts being harvested. The bones are large and strong enough to provide some shelter, the meat nutritious and ample enough to feed entire villages for weeks at a time, and the blubber a means of maintaining that ever-evasive but equally necessary fire. [Expensive]
-Whaleblood Tattoos: Tattoos made with whale blood. Very electrically conductive, and capable of channeling energy through the body without harming it. [Cheap]
--Storm Dancers: WhaleSlayers who have survived enough to acquire an excessive amount of tattooing and volunteer to redirect the power of the storms and skies away from their people. Practically immune to everything cetrical but the most intense lightning. [Expensive]

Storm Caller Priesthood: The religious structure built off of the Storm Dancers which controlled every aspect of Confederacy life in some way, except it is now heavily overseen by Wovenmen. Like the Dancers before them, Priests are drawn from the WhaleSlayers and capable of great cetric feats. Replaces Storm Dancers. Expensive

Wovenmen: People covered in whaleblood tattoos and filled with alchemical implants that provide unnatural speed, energy, reflexes, and climbing capabilities. They idolize self-sacrifice and will often explode themselves in a great cetrical blast triggered by pounding the Whale’s-Eye or Kill-Swatch over the heart in order to complete their goals. Definitely not keeping an entire society crushed under their heels. Low survival rate of implantation due to infection exacerbated by the no survival rate of their self-sacrifice leads to a limited population deployed in [National Effort] squads.

Ziggawatts: Large complex structures used for just about every aspect of life in the Bay Twelve Confederation. Used primarily for religious rituals and the creation of Charged Blubber Jars and Ichor. The Great Ziggawatt of Ixan is evidence of a cultural focus in Monsoon Point. [Very Expensive]

Charged Blubber Jars: Clay jars full of Lightning Whale blubber that has been charged via Sky Caller rituals. Explosive and unstable. Cost tied directly to Ziggawatt expense. [Very Expensive]
-Ichor: Blubber Jars stabilized with whaleblood. Discharge happens slowly relative to Charged Blubber Jars, resulting in safer handling and more control with a less impressive discharge. Cost tied directly to Ziggawatt expense. [Very Expensive]

Skyfeeders: Ballista-like slings used exclusively in the ritual practice of Bloodyeeting launching sacrificial remains into the clouds. One is available atop each Ziggawatt. [Very Expensive]

Ichor Clubs: Wooden weapons coated with Ichor that discharge on impact, potentially incapacitating victims. [Cheap]

The key defines the borders of the map first, then the river, and then describes each region North to South and East to West, like reading a book.

The Ice Wall (Eastern Barrier): While borders can be quite fluid in nature, the easternmost extreme of the land is harshly cutoff by a monolithic wall of pure ice, 3000 meters tall. The surface of the wall contains somehow fewer features than the barren cliff face: an everstretching plane of blinding white. No plant or animal dares to brave the blisteringly frigid, cutting winds driving ice and snow constant off the wall and toward the continent below.

The Desert of ‘Amit (Western Barrier): The desert of 'Amit shrouds the west in heaps of dazzling white sand. The evening winds stir up sharp, stinging sandstorms which scatter the light of the setting sun and blast the young Cholades Mountain Range separating it from the rest of the continent. Through the heat haze, you can sometimes glimpse the peaks of the Anti-Cholades mountain range, grasping at the far horizon and further reinforcing the rain shadow cast over the desert.


The Interbarrial River Network: The Interbarrial River Network is birthed from two points: the geysers and healthy water table in the Wild Savannah and the runoff and melt flowing off of The Ice Wall. These networks of streams join together to form large, slow moving rivers that steadily meander toward the center of the continent. A veritable (relatively shallow) inland sea forms where the rivers meet in the Vale of Waters and proceeds to divert both toward the north and south. Tributaries and distributaries line the entire calm, slow-flowing river, providing the only real navigational issue along the equally calm riverbanks. The arterial river flowing north and south empties into the Northern and Southern Oceans. The Great Lake manages to regulate flow during the wetter northern seasons, providing a steady and reliable flood pattern across the continent and keeping the extreme wet or dry seasons from impacting the reliability of the River Network throughout the region.


THIS IS YOU Monsoon Point (North Capital/Bay12): This area point is bounded by its impressive coast containing multiple natural harbours. Monsoon Point is so named because winds that come off of the coast, off of 'Amit north of the Cholades, and off of the Icewall contact to create a spectacularly broad storm network which ensures Monsoon Point is constantly lashed with rain. An extremely rainy season dominates nine months out of the year, followed by three months of the year that can't accurately be called a dry season as much as a "less rainy season". The landscape in Monsoon Point itself is surprisingly dramatic as a result - a hilly region has been carved out into a land of beautiful red cliffs, with intense and verdant greenery blooming across the slopes - the sole exception being the incredibly wide Interbarrial River Network and the gentle, flat lands that follow it.


Choladaic Rainforest (West Front, North):  This region is absolutely dominated by a tropical rainforest. While most definitely less waterlogged than the areas to the northeast and east, it is still a rainforest - you can still expect to get soaked. The tropical rainforest rolls across gentle hills, fed by the Monsoon Point rainstorms which gather here and bowl against the Cholades. While the rain is certainly an obstacle, the unsettling nearly endless twilight beneath the canopy should not be underestimated.

Evergreen Riverway (Center Front, North): The hills in the surrounding regions flatten immensely within the Riverway. The Evergreen Riverway is a temperate pine rainforest - unbelievably lush, unbelievably green, fed both by brunt of the rainstorms coming down from Monsoon Point and the wide, fast-flowing arterial continental river flowing up from The Vale of Water, central Evergreen Reach is... well, it's wet as hell. The riverine environment leads to plenty of mud, fallen logs, ponds, small lakes, and streams, but other than that it's actually quite a pleasant place to be in, if humid.

Frosthollows (East Front, North): Temperatures drop dramatically in this uneven, rough, but beautiful alpine forest terrain. Bitter snowstorms hamper that beauty, driven west by the powerful and biting wind blasting off of The Ice Wall. The deep valleys in this region tend to catch these winds, creating absolutely unbearable conditions within the crags and ravines that crop up in the area. These ravines open up into the foothills and lowlands that dot the area, pummeling them with frigid temperatures rivaled only by the surface of The Ice Wall itself. These Frosthollows, open areas where even the pines refuse to grow, are treacherous, but often the safest and most direct way geographically to navigate the region.


Wild Savannah (West Front, Center): Resting against the shadow of the Cholades and ‘Amit, the land is a savannah of tall wildgrasses and scattered acacia copses. The climate is warm here, but not prone to drought due to a high water table fed by geothermal heat. When one spots a little hillock on this savanna, it is a geyser as often as it is a termite mound. The biodiversity in this region is staggering: giraffes and dwarf elephants in the patches of thin forest, great wildcats and wildebeest patrolling the grasslands. A river cuts this land too, fed by the water table and rare torrential downpours, flowing west to east. The geological activity here has left behind kimberlite pipes, the source of elusive diamonds and other precious gemstones, as well as a fair few rare earth metals.

Vale of Waters (Center Front, Center): The Vale of Waters is where the fresh waters sourced from the east and west join to run north and south. A great lake sits here, relatively shallow but broad. Its waters are flush with freshwater fish and waterfowl. The terrain beyond the lakeshore of brown sand and clay beds is some of the most supremely fertile earth in all the world, a temperate country of low hills and beautifully green grass. The summers are warm but mild to crops, the winters thinly blanket the land in snow for a month or so before melting. Little of the wildlife is dangerous; foxes, burrowing rodents from shrews to beavers, hares and the like.

Glacial Taiga (East Front, Center): The freshest remnants of The Ice Wall’s glacial activity can be identified here; gravel beds, moraines and the like. This land is a taiga of warmly-colored shrubs and sedge grasses intermixed with the occasional copse of spruce and birch, grazed by herds of caribou that alternately can be found migrating to the Evergreen Riverway. In summer, multicolored wildflowers blossom from the earth, areas of which are warm enough to tolerate agriculture. The morning sun lights the crags of the Ice Wall like a bonfire, and sends a glut of meltwater to swell the banks of a river heading west. Beneath the permafrost are vast beds of anthracite coal and petroleum.



Great Dry Sea (West Front, South): Once an ancient inland ocean, the Great Dry Sea is a massive salt flat that exists in a depression stretching from the edges of the Painted Land outward toward the 'Amit desert, where the ground begins to elevate once more and transfers from salt into sand. While outwardly unremarkable, the Great Dry Sea holds a unique characteristic of a deceptively active groundwater environment, forming and dissipating subterranean rivers at will. This results in turning the Great Dry Sea into an invisible minefield where one false step can send a man plummeting into a thick brine pool if he's lucky, or a many dozen foot drop to his death if not. The reprieve for these hazards is the rises in the flats that ages ago were once islands surrounded by water but now are encased in salt, dotted across the Dry Sea like freckles.

Sandoras Thornsea (Center Front, South): This entrance to the Painted Lands is host to a myriad of cactus families and hardy flora that take advantage of the presence of running water - thousands of species ranging in size from a child's fist to taller than a man, interspersed among a splattering of cork oaks and stunted juniper trees. The cacti mainly stick to the banks of the river and the distributaries that break off from it, creating thick bands of cactus that form the main hazard in crossing this region.

Motoro Conelands (East Front, South): Volcanic energy in this region is just powerful enough to breach the surface before running out of energy and forming the squat towers of basalt known as “splatter cones”. Ranging from only one meter in height to over twenty, these miniature volcanoes pocket the land in the thousands. Many of them are still active, needing only a slight disturbance to ooze molten rock from the ground. Despite the danger, the Conelands have long been a source of intense mining efforts - splatter cones contain high concentrations of metals across the entire range of metals available beneath the surface. In the areas populated by inactive or dormant vents, there is a large coverage of greenery that feeds off the rich volcanic soil and the Interbarrial River Network.



Painted Lands (South Capital, BPL): The riverway flowing south from the Vale reaches its southern terminus in the Painted Lands. What began as a clear flow of babbling water has been transformed into an even wider, slower thing laden with sediment. Millions of years of river action have carved a canyon through the country's soft rock strata, sharp and jagged at first but growing as broad as the horizon by the time it reaches the sea. Wandering distributaries branch off of the river, leaving winding shallow bands of fertile soil behind when they inevitably wander off again or dry up between flooding seasons. The land takes its name from the bands of rock exposed by the river to form a panoply of color: white limestone, black shale, and sandstones in pink, red, yellow, and every color in between.

The fertilized highlands beyond the water-carved walls (a distinction less marked as one proceeds southward) are relatively arid, with hot summers and cool winters. Groundwater is exposed to the highlands by limestone sinkholes, or cenotes. Papyrus reeds and olive trees grow in abundance and alligators sun by the riverbanks with regularity as one travels further south. The coastal bay experiences a cooler climate, with sea breeze coming off the ocean to regulate temperatures year-round and provide gentle winter rains.

The sedimentary rock of the Painted Land bears countless karst caves, connected by underground rivers and home to strange species of eyeless fish and cave-adapted lizards.

Lightning Whales: Massive physiologically unique beasts that can be found migrating through waters off of the northern coasts. They build static through their teeth as they filter-feed, using the constant discharge to stun their wide range of prey. Excess buildup is discharged when they surface. When unable to process their buildup normally, such as when they are beached, the body builds up a potent amount of energy beneath the insulative skin. If allowed to continue without a "forced discharge", the buildup ruins the chances of any usable parts being harvested. The bones are large and strong enough to provide some shelter, the meat nutritious and ample enough to feed entire villages for weeks at a time, and the blubber a means of maintaining that ever-evasive but equally necessary fire. [Expensive]
-Whaleblood Tattoos: Tattoos made with whale blood. Very electrically conductive, and capable of channeling energy through the body without harming it. [Cheap]
--Storm Dancers: WhaleSlayers who have survived enough to acquire an excessive amount of tattooing and volunteer to redirect the power of the storms and skies away from their people. Practically immune to everything cetrical but the most intense lightning. [Expensive]
Storm Caller Priesthood: The religious structure built off of the Storm Dancers which controls every aspect of Confederacy life in some way. Like the Dancers before them, Priests are drawn from the WhaleSlayers and capable of great cetric feats. Replaces Storm Dancers. Expensive

Ziggawatts: Large complex structures used for just about every aspect of life in the Bay Twelve Confederation. Used primarily for religious rituals and the creation of Charged Blubber Jars and Ichor. The Great Ziggawatt of Ixan is evidence of a cultural focus in Monsoon Point. [Very Expensive]

Charged Blubber Jars: Clay jars full of Lightning Whale blubber that has been charged via Sky Caller rituals. Explosive and unstable. Cost tied directly to Ziggawatt expense. [Very Expensive]
-Ichor: Blubber Jars stabilized with whaleblood. Discharge happens slowly relative to Charged Blubber Jars, resulting in safer handling and more control with a less impressive discharge. Cost tied directly to Ziggawatt expense. [Very Expensive]

Skyfeeders: Ballista-like slings used exclusively in the ritual practice of Bloodyeeting launching sacrificial remains into the clouds. One is available atop each Ziggawatt. [Very Expensive]

Ichor Clubs: Wooden weapons coated with Ichor that discharge on impact, potentially incapacitating victims. [Cheap]

The key defines the borders of the map first, then the river, and then describes each region North to South and East to West, like reading a book.

The Ice Wall (Eastern Barrier): While borders can be quite fluid in nature, the easternmost extreme of the land is harshly cutoff by a monolithic wall of pure ice, 3000 meters tall. The surface of the wall contains somehow fewer features than the barren cliff face: an everstretching plane of blinding white. No plant or animal dares to brave the blisteringly frigid, cutting winds driving ice and snow constant off the wall and toward the continent below.

The Desert of ‘Amit (Western Barrier): The desert of 'Amit shrouds the west in heaps of dazzling white sand. The evening winds stir up sharp, stinging sandstorms which scatter the light of the setting sun and blast the young Cholades Mountain Range separating it from the rest of the continent. Through the heat haze, you can sometimes glimpse the peaks of the Anti-Cholades mountain range, grasping at the far horizon and further reinforcing the rain shadow cast over the desert.


The Interbarrial River Network: The Interbarrial River Network is birthed from two points: the geysers and healthy water table in the Wild Savannah and the runoff and melt flowing off of The Ice Wall. These networks of streams join together to form large, slow moving rivers that steadily meander toward the center of the continent. A veritable (relatively shallow) inland sea forms where the rivers meet in the Vale of Waters and proceeds to divert both toward the north and south. Tributaries and distributaries line the entire calm, slow-flowing river, providing the only real navigational issue along the equally calm riverbanks. The arterial river flowing north and south empties into the Northern and Southern Oceans. The Great Lake manages to regulate flow during the wetter northern seasons, providing a steady and reliable flood pattern across the continent and keeping the extreme wet or dry seasons from impacting the reliability of the River Network throughout the region.


THIS IS YOU Monsoon Point (North Capital/Bay12): This area point is bounded by its impressive coast containing multiple natural harbours. Monsoon Point is so named because winds that come off of the coast, off of 'Amit north of the Cholades, and off of the Icewall contact to create a spectacularly broad storm network which ensures Monsoon Point is constantly lashed with rain. An extremely rainy season dominates nine months out of the year, followed by three months of the year that can't accurately be called a dry season as much as a "less rainy season". The landscape in Monsoon Point itself is surprisingly dramatic as a result - a hilly region has been carved out into a land of beautiful red cliffs, with intense and verdant greenery blooming across the slopes - the sole exception being the incredibly wide Interbarrial River Network and the gentle, flat lands that follow it.


Choladaic Rainforest (West Front, North):  This region is absolutely dominated by a tropical rainforest. While most definitely less waterlogged than the areas to the northeast and east, it is still a rainforest - you can still expect to get soaked. The tropical rainforest rolls across gentle hills, fed by the Monsoon Point rainstorms which gather here and bowl against the Cholades. While the rain is certainly an obstacle, the unsettling nearly endless twilight beneath the canopy should not be underestimated.

Evergreen Riverway (Center Front, North): The hills in the surrounding regions flatten immensely within the Riverway. The Evergreen Riverway is a temperate pine rainforest - unbelievably lush, unbelievably green, fed both by brunt of the rainstorms coming down from Monsoon Point and the wide, fast-flowing arterial continental river flowing up from The Vale of Water, central Evergreen Reach is... well, it's wet as hell. The riverine environment leads to plenty of mud, fallen logs, ponds, small lakes, and streams, but other than that it's actually quite a pleasant place to be in, if humid.

Frosthollows (East Front, North): Temperatures drop dramatically in this uneven, rough, but beautiful alpine forest terrain. Bitter snowstorms hamper that beauty, driven west by the powerful and biting wind blasting off of The Ice Wall. The deep valleys in this region tend to catch these winds, creating absolutely unbearable conditions within the crags and ravines that crop up in the area. These ravines open up into the foothills and lowlands that dot the area, pummeling them with frigid temperatures rivaled only by the surface of The Ice Wall itself. These Frosthollows, open areas where even the pines refuse to grow, are treacherous, but often the safest and most direct way geographically to navigate the region.


Wild Savannah (West Front, Center): Resting against the shadow of the Cholades and ‘Amit, the land is a savannah of tall wildgrasses and scattered acacia copses. The climate is warm here, but not prone to drought due to a high water table fed by geothermal heat. When one spots a little hillock on this savanna, it is a geyser as often as it is a termite mound. The biodiversity in this region is staggering: giraffes and dwarf elephants in the patches of thin forest, great wildcats and wildebeest patrolling the grasslands. A river cuts this land too, fed by the water table and rare torrential downpours, flowing west to east. The geological activity here has left behind kimberlite pipes, the source of elusive diamonds and other precious gemstones, as well as a fair few rare earth metals.

Vale of Waters (Center Front, Center): The Vale of Waters is where the fresh waters sourced from the east and west join to run north and south. A great lake sits here, relatively shallow but broad. Its waters are flush with freshwater fish and waterfowl. The terrain beyond the lakeshore of brown sand and clay beds is some of the most supremely fertile earth in all the world, a temperate country of low hills and beautifully green grass. The summers are warm but mild to crops, the winters thinly blanket the land in snow for a month or so before melting. Little of the wildlife is dangerous; foxes, burrowing rodents from shrews to beavers, hares and the like.

Glacial Taiga (East Front, Center): The freshest remnants of The Ice Wall’s glacial activity can be identified here; gravel beds, moraines and the like. This land is a taiga of warmly-colored shrubs and sedge grasses intermixed with the occasional copse of spruce and birch, grazed by herds of caribou that alternately can be found migrating to the Evergreen Riverway. In summer, multicolored wildflowers blossom from the earth, areas of which are warm enough to tolerate agriculture. The morning sun lights the crags of the Ice Wall like a bonfire, and sends a glut of meltwater to swell the banks of a river heading west. Beneath the permafrost are vast beds of anthracite coal and petroleum.



Great Dry Sea (West Front, South): Once an ancient inland ocean, the Great Dry Sea is a massive salt flat that exists in a depression stretching from the edges of the Painted Land outward toward the 'Amit desert, where the ground begins to elevate once more and transfers from salt into sand. While outwardly unremarkable, the Great Dry Sea holds a unique characteristic of a deceptively active groundwater environment, forming and dissipating subterranean rivers at will. This results in turning the Great Dry Sea into an invisible minefield where one false step can send a man plummeting into a thick brine pool if he's lucky, or a many dozen foot drop to his death if not. The reprieve for these hazards is the rises in the flats that ages ago were once islands surrounded by water but now are encased in salt, dotted across the Dry Sea like freckles.

Sandoras Thornsea (Center Front, South): This entrance to the Painted Lands is host to a myriad of cactus families and hardy flora that take advantage of the presence of running water - thousands of species ranging in size from a child's fist to taller than a man, interspersed among a splattering of cork oaks and stunted juniper trees. The cacti mainly stick to the banks of the river and the distributaries that break off from it, creating thick bands of cactus that form the main hazard in crossing this region.

Motoro Conelands (East Front, South): Volcanic energy in this region is just powerful enough to breach the surface before running out of energy and forming the squat towers of basalt known as “splatter cones”. Ranging from only one meter in height to over twenty, these miniature volcanoes pocket the land in the thousands. Many of them are still active, needing only a slight disturbance to ooze molten rock from the ground. Despite the danger, the Conelands have long been a source of intense mining efforts - splatter cones contain high concentrations of metals across the entire range of metals available beneath the surface. In the areas populated by inactive or dormant vents, there is a large coverage of greenery that feeds off the rich volcanic soil and the Interbarrial River Network.



Painted Lands (South Capital, BPL): The riverway flowing south from the Vale reaches its southern terminus in the Painted Lands. What began as a clear flow of babbling water has been transformed into an even wider, slower thing laden with sediment. Millions of years of river action have carved a canyon through the country's soft rock strata, sharp and jagged at first but growing as broad as the horizon by the time it reaches the sea. Wandering distributaries branch off of the river, leaving winding shallow bands of fertile soil behind when they inevitably wander off again or dry up between flooding seasons. The land takes its name from the bands of rock exposed by the river to form a panoply of color: white limestone, black shale, and sandstones in pink, red, yellow, and every color in between.

The fertilized highlands beyond the water-carved walls (a distinction less marked as one proceeds southward) are relatively arid, with hot summers and cool winters. Groundwater is exposed to the highlands by limestone sinkholes, or cenotes. Papyrus reeds and olive trees grow in abundance and alligators sun by the riverbanks with regularity as one travels further south. The coastal bay experiences a cooler climate, with sea breeze coming off the ocean to regulate temperatures year-round and provide gentle winter rains.

The sedimentary rock of the Painted Land bears countless karst caves, connected by underground rivers and home to strange species of eyeless fish and cave-adapted lizards.