Geographical Points of Interest
From Myth-Wiki
- The Valley
The Kingdom as a whole is sometimes referred to as 'the Valley,' though the kingdom stretches about seven hundred and fifty miles across. With properly prepared remounts, a rider can cross from one border to the other in about seven days, though a more ordinary trip would take closer to three weeks riding. Barges carry heavy goods over canals and rivers take almost six weeks.
The land is generally flat, though there are areas with gentle rolling hills. The kingdom is hot, humid, and wet. The myriad canals serve to keep trade moving, control floods, and drain marshlands. Farmland now covers almost the entire land, with rice and corn being the two most common crops, though other grains and fruits are in abundance. Jungle and forest hunting preserves also dot the land.
The whole population numbers approximately twenty million. Most of those numbers are peasants and farmers, though there is a sizable population of noble horsemen and priests control the land. There are approximately two million nobles, half of which generally capable of fighting and riding in combat. There are also about half a million priests.
The Kingdom
- Ripmesh's Lands
Quite a bit warmer and drier than most of the Kingdom. It's primary crops include corn and barley, though rice is grown near canals and riverways. It sits on the extreme southern edge of the Kingdom. Sun priests are the most common order here, and there is little dissent or turmoil in this region.
- King's Lands
A small patch of jungle and forest near the center of the kingdom. It is the only land in the valley ruled directly by the king, and is populated only with a small number of foresters. It is reserved as a hunting preserve, and is kept stocked with a wide variety of game.
- The Divine Mountains
Not any more mountainous than any other bit of land in the Kingdom, the Divine Mountains is a city of temples. Functioning almost as a capital to a land without one, nearly one hundred thousand priests live among the massive temple city. Total population of the city is just under three hundred thousand, the non priests are almost entirely farmers and laborers. Every priestly order has a temple here, and the hierarchy leadership all remain here, with the exception of the King's High Priest.
Outside the Kingdom
- The Sands
A desert which makes up most of the kingdom's southern border. Unpopulated by thinking men, it is hot, dry and filled with spirits and monsters. A man standing on one of the taller dunes just inside the desert can almost make out what appears to be massive mountains in the distance.
- Mahonri's Wilderness
The northern portion of the Valley rises into steep hills and mountains. The people of the Valley do not stray into the mountains - like all wildernesses through history, there are numerous stories about spirits and monsters; it is Taboo for the people to wander into the mountains.
- Sunlands
On the western border of the Valley the rivers spread out, and the land dries out as well. With fewer rivers, and no rain, the land is unlivable to the people of the valley, though there are a scattering of barbarous tribes and rumors of ancient cities in it's depths.
- ????? (Need a good name still)
The eastern valley is marked by wide rivers and an expanding lake system. Here, most of the marshes and wetlands have not been drained, and so the farmers of the Kingdom have not yet came. A few tribes live here as well, with an especially powerful one living in floating cities on the lakes.
Cosmology and Mythology
- Plains of the Moon
It is believed that the moon is where souls go after death. Believed to be a dark and barren reflection of the valley, the Plains are a desolate place reserved for oath breakers and other sinners. Sometimes referred to simply as the 'Moonlands.'
- Eternal Forests
Heaven to the worshipers of the Sun & Moon. Ride, hunt, and feast forever in silvered glades.
- Nod's Lands
This is where the nobles say they originally came from. In their nomadic histories this was supposed to be some sort of paradise to the north, though legends differ regarding why the riders left.
