continent
Score: 858 | 5/30/18 |
Syran is one of the four continents that comprises the majority of landmasses of the planet Jarinthia. It inhabits the northwestern hemisphere of the planet with its southern edge just skimming the equatorial line. Syran measures roughly 10 million square miles (slightly larger than North America) and contains the highest population density of all of the known continents (excluding Dragon’s Head). It is home to mostly Humans (70%) with a mixture of other races filling out the remainder of racial diversity; including Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, Orcs, Raptorans, Illithid, Yuan-Ti, Catfolk, Wemics and a few other minor races. There are nineteen countries that call Syran home. These countries include Accobo, The Hordelands, Jozar, Sharassar, Feriyar, Lorosh, Krinshar, Gyristan, Malicar, Tribia, Nybia, Cheelo, Freehold, Larshold, Juneria, Valetta, Lichtenfar, Lyshidia and Granisar.
Syran was a continent lightly populated by dragons before their withdrawal to their own continent. It was populated mostly by a mixed population of demi-humans, humans and monstrous humanoids from the time that the world was still in its Stone Age. As time went on, the native humans became the more dominant species on the continent. Thousands of years later, when the Arkaiun Empire finally arrived on the scene to expand their empire, they took over the local populations located along the southern coast of Syran. When they did, they brought art, technology and advanced magic to the lives of the locals and taught them a more civilized way to live. Over the next few centuries, the Ancient Arkaiuns established a “northern kingdom” among the mostly Human areas of the continent, mostly in what became modern day Krinshar, Gyristan, Lorosh, Lichtenfar, and Malicar. The rest of the continent remained the domain of the other races. Near the twilight of the Arkaiun Empire, most Arkaiun people were withdrawn from the northern lands to return home and help deal with the political issues going on at home. The native peoples of the north took this opportunity to carve up the remaining kingdom structure for themselves. It was at this time that Krinshar, Malicar, Lorosh and Lichtenfar were founded.
Lichtenfar was founded due to the many mage’s colleges left behind by the Arkaiuns. The Ancient Arkaiuns had founded most of the mage colleges in such a small area that many of the local inhabitants were arcane spellcasters. This led to the formation of a mageocracy in which the leaders of the country were chosen from among the various schools and branches of arcane spellcasters. The size and shape of their country did not change until the most recent Gyristan-Krinshar War in 1601, when Gyristan took the northwestern corner of the country in retaliation for Lichtenfar’s participation in the war on Krinshar’s side. Lorosh, on the other hand, has remained mostly the same since its foundation. The peoples of Lorosh were a hardy bunch, mostly made up of adventurers, explorers and mercenaries at the time. They have not changed much since then. When Lorosh was founded, the people decided to elect the leader of the strongest mercenary company as King. That tradition has lasted until this day, where the leader of the strongest mercenary company gets to sit on the throne until their death. It just so happens that the current king’s family has retained the strongest mercenary company for the last 400 years. Lorosh quickly became known as a country of mercenaries and adventurers who would hire out to whomever had the coin. The reality is that the laws governing Lorosh are much more intricate that most believe when it comes to whom they can and cannot sell their military might to. Since their foundation, Lorosh has always been in constant border disputes with both of their northern neighbors, Feriyar and Sharassar, resulting in a constantly shifting northern border but never more than a few dozen miles at a time. Malicar has been unlucky in the fact that it has the Hordelands bordering its northern edge. Since its founding, Malicar has been attempting to be the biggest dog on the block but has never been more than its yappy little cousin. Malicar has no one to blame other than itself. Ever since the days of their first King, Malicar’s nobles have been executing political plot after political plot to try and seize the throne for themselves. The only thing that has kept the country from completely falling into a warring collection of city-states is the constant threat of hordes of Orcs, Goblins and other creatures from the Hordelands. Till this day, Malicar is still a land of intrigue and political maneuvering. Krinshar was the country that benefitted the most in the initial formation immediately following the departure of the Arkaiun Empire. Their people were already a large faction among the Arkaiun controlled cities and holdings of the central portion of Syran. They just took over the cities and lands when the Arkaiun people vacated, which gave them a massive amount of land which included what is now modern day Krinshar and Gyristan. Their control of this vast amount of territory lasted a mere 150 years, until Krinshar decided to “cleanse” the world of “inferior” races, starting with the Gnomes. It took a scant 20 years for Krinshar to bring most of the Gnome race to the brink of extinction. The only reason they did not completely eradicate the Gnomes was because a good portion of their own nobles disagreed with this genocide and started a rebellion, mostly based in the northern reaches of the country. This rebellion eventually led to Krinshar losing control of their northern territory and the formation of Gyristan by those that led the rebellion.
Ever since the loss of half of its territory, Krinshar has been obsessed with getting it back. Gyristan has acted as a bit of a buffer for all of the other countries surrounding it, protecting them from the depredations of Krinshar. Gyristan also became home to many of the refugees who fled the destruction of the ancient Arkaiun Empire and the Gyristani Arkaiuns voluntarily entered a slave social standing in the kingdom. To the northwest, other Arkaiun refugees mingled with local Humans to push back the Orcs and other races of the Hordelands to carve out their own country and eventually became Accobo. The solidification of other countries also happened about this time. The Halflings, turned militaristic in response to Krinshar’s aggressive racist policy, carved out an area along the southeastern coast for themselves. At the same time, the Elves claimed the northeastern corner as their kingdom. Several other human factions carved out their own kingdoms along the east coast. Several less civilized cultures also grabbed land between Malicar and the east coast nations, forming several nations of barbarians. As the fires of started to wane, the solidification of the nations of Syran began to take shape. Most nations have not had much change in their borders since that time other than a few disagreements about where the actual border is located. The largest exception to this is the southern borders of Gyristan during the Gyristan-Krinshar War of 1601. At the conclusion of that war in 1603, Gyristan had taken several baronies from Krinshar and some land from Lichtenfar in retaliation for their aggressive policies during the war. Lichtenfar accepted the loss of territory without much fuss but Krinshar was furious and did not accept the claiming of their territories after the war. Skirmishes were common up until the year 1880 when Gyristan raised a mystical barrier around itself and Malicar in response to a demon-led Planar Incursion. This prevented all magical means of travel into, and out of, Gyristan. It also blocked physical travel until narrow passages through certain parts of the barrier were discovered by the Pony Express in 1882. Most of these passages are only known by the Pony Express and the Free Market. Others known by the nations affected, or the general populace, are not large enough to march an army through and are heavily guarded by the nations affected. Since the raising of the barriers, the continent of Syran has been relatively quiet in a military sense for the last 23 years.
Syran is a continent of various climates. In the south it is tropical, containing rivers, jungles, deserts and vast savannahs. In the north it is much cooler, with snow lasting all the way until late spring and filled with cliffs, forests and plains. In between is a large variance of land features and climates ranging from the normal to the magical. Good, arable land can be found all over the continent, leading to farming being a major contributor of each country’s economy. Two major rivers that span most of the length of the continent lead to heavy trade and fishing for most countries with smaller rivers here and there. The continent only contains on major mountain chain in the northwest but there is a massive chain of volcanic mountains about 300 miles off of the west coast of the continent. There several massive forests contained on the continent that range from cold-weather varieties in the north to dense jungles in the south.
Syran contains more cities than any continent other than Dragon’s Head. Every country has a different style of architecture and different needs from the buildings they produce. In the more tropical climates, the buildings are more open and breezy to dispel the heat of the day but have better roofs and water runoff due to the amount of rain the area sees per year. In the north, the barbarians build their homes out of wood and mud bricks with thatch style roofs or one made of wooden shingles. In the Halfling country of Valetta, the homes are built into the ground or into the trees of the forest. The Wemics of Juneria build massive mounds of earth to build their permanent structures into but their main shelter comes in the forms of tents carried by these semi-nomadic creatures. No matter the style of building, the cultural influence of each country can be seen in their architecture. Some countries, such as Gyristan, has seen the influence of many cultures in their building materials and styles. Each country of Syran, over the last 300 years, has been connected to each other by the roads built and maintained by the Free Market and the mail service provided by the Pony Express. Both entities provide services to every country without political motivation or interference. Their only rule is that aggression by any country towards their members results in an immediate withdrawal of services by both companies. The First Bank of Tuarnoc has also become a common sight among the cities and towns of Syran. Recent rumors suggest that the bank is dividing up its holdings so that each building is now owned and operated locally (under the Tuarnoc name or their own) to make things more decentralized. Many trade companies and shipping companies exist across the continent, doing business in one or even several counties. Every country has its own specialty products and spreads these products to other countries mostly through connections with the trade houses or the Free Market. All of this hustle and bustle has quickly earned Syran the title of “most civilized” continent on the planet (but that title actually belongs to Dragon’s Head).