Trell Wan

______________

The largest of the continents on Trell, Trellwan is divided into three nations, Harlech, Northwind and Lyons. A large part of Trell Wan is covered in various mountain range, the longest being the Ringing Mountains, which runs from the elven kingdoms in Harlech, south west to where it joins the Stormgarde mountains, and down into Lyons. Most of the land on Trell Wan are grassland plains and scattered forests. The exceptions to this are of course the high mountains, and the two vast dense forests, the one in the elven lands at the top of the Ringing Mountains, and the Crysanden Forests, which spans almost the whole distance of the continent from east to west.

In addition to bounties offered by most cities on various creatures that plague the townships, there are also numerous rewards on bandits and highwaymen. The rewards and bounties vary from creature to creature, and in the case of bandits, the severity and frequency of their raids. The highest of the bounties lie on the living dead that somehow find their way from the Isle and onto the mainlands.

They are the two most common forms of income for most of the small mercenary troops. Those freelance soldiers who do leave regular house armies end up as one of few things, mercenaries, or bandits themselves mostly, though some do quit military life completely and settle into one of the many small villages.

Harlech;
The nation of Harlech has five major cities, in addition to the almost entirely subterranean dwarven kingdom and the two largest elven cities in the northern forests. In the mountains south of the smaller of those cities lies the mountain known as Dragon's Tooth. Its peak can be seen from as distant as Silver Spring, it is the legendary home of the ancient dragons, though it's passage is guarded by younger dragons and the power of the ancient dragon's magic. Harlech is the one nation that hasn't been in open war within the last 200 years, though it stands in the middle of the other two. It is the wealthiest nation because of it's open trade with the other two, and has a higher level of scientific knowledge and productivity, and a higher level of education in the general population.

Their lack of need for a large military force has let their number of forces dwindle to only strong garrison forces in their cities, with not much of a expiditionary force available, and so they tend to hire adventurers and mercenaries to do things that they normally would have troops do, but can't spare the numbers.

Major Personalities:

Archon Prince Phelan Avery, Duke of Harlech.
The Avery family has ruled the nation of Harlech since it's founding more than 700 years ago, Phelan is the son of Morgan Avery and Kivara Indrahar. Eldest of three, he has a sister, Korahna, and the youngest brother, Paul. He is one of the finest warriors to ever pass through the gates of the Drakken Academy, he was only 22 when Morgan Avery died of a heart attack.

Duncan Bowen-Avery, Duke of Coventry, Grand Marshal of the Armies of Harlech.
The son of the late Ryen Bowen-Avery, brother in-law of Morgan Avery. A man who's actions speak louder than words, he is steady and slow to anger. He was trained as a knight of the ancient code, from the time when the nation of Harlech was young, though now a lost religion.

Myndo Waterly, Primus of the Order of the Star.
2 years ago she replaced Charles Grayson, the last Primus, murdered some 14 years ago, when he died, the Order's military commander, Precentor Martial Werel Kanyek led the Order as regent until a suitable Primus could be found, when Kanyek went to Toku Kuni three years ago and didn't return, Myndo was appointed Primus. Myndo's first action as Primus was to promote an acolyte named Sharilar Mori to High Precentor of Lyons, Myndo's former posting.

Werel Kanyek, Precentor Martial of the Star.
Leader of the military arm of the Order, Werel is in control of the single largest organized military force on Trell. Werel is currently in Toku Kuni, so his exact whereabouts has been unknown since he left three years ago, and he has not been in contact since he left.

Major Cities:

Harlech.
The capital city and one of the oldest cities on Trell Wan. The warrior priests of the Order of the Star have their central cathedral here. It is the city of trade with the Lyons city of Kathil. Some decades ago, the people of Harlech started to see Mermen in the waters and on the shores around the city. In legends long past, it was said that before men settled into large cities, Mermen were a common sight around shallow waters, but disappeared suddenly ages ago. The priests of the Star could speak with the Mermen, and learned that they had gone down into the deep seas in small wars with Kuo-Toa and Sahuagin. Though the wars were not at all on a large scale, the fighting was widespread and fairly constant. Though withdrawn from the surface, the Mermen say that they were in continual contact with a city of aquatic elves, which they say lies in the deep waters only a few dozen miles north-east of Harlech even though the elves of Alarion will neither confirm or deny if they know of those elves or not.

Coventry.
Harlech's largest war college, the Drakken War Academy is in this city, and forms the basis of it's economy. Most of it's students are members of Harlech's regular army, though it is open to any who would seek training and afford for instruction. It is also home to the largest mining operation in Harlech.

Kearny.
A city built on the shores of a river in the heart of the deep forests, largely a trade city, it is Harlech's main source of trade with Northwind. Largely peaceful, only a rare large forest creature disturbs this quiet city.

Silver Spring.
The waters that flow out of the lake and rivers of Bracken Swamp shine with reflections of the large deposits of silver on it's bottom. The area around Bracken is one of the few places on Trell where silver can be found. The people in Silver Spring are close allies and trade with the advanced tribes of Lizard men who live in and around the Bracken Swamps and lake. Because of the extent of the trade, about half of the common people can speak the language of the lizards, as can most of the merchants and those in the staff of the ruling Duke.

Caliban.
Orignially a frontier stronghold, Caliban has become largely a fishing and mining city. In recent history, more and more Locathah have been seen in the coves around Caliban. At first the fishermen of Caliban were frightened of the Locathah and stopped going into the seas, but as time went on the people in Caliban learned that the Locathah were peaceful creatures and they have lived in peace with them since then.

Stormgarde.
The underground Dwarven kingdoms, the caverns run under the entire Stormgarde mountain range. The Dwarves, though not as hard to deal with as the reclusive elves to the north, they are hard to deal with still. They trade with the human cities of the kingdom of Harlech, being the most peaceful of the nations on Trell Wan. They trade their weapons and armor of high craftmanship for the metals and gems from the mines of Coventry and Caliban.

Alarion.
The largest of the two elven cities, and their seat of government, it was long thought to be a city of legend until shortly after the start of the great wars, the magical field that hid the city was dropped. Alarion is a city of life and beauty, built within the forest, buildings that aren't made of living trees are carved from marble and ivory. At night, when the moons are bright the city itself seems to glow. Though they are generally loathe to allow outsiders into their cities, many of the elves still live in family home within the forest itself, which allows a small amount of trade with other nations.

Tyr.
The lesser of the two citties, Tyr was never masked behind a wall of magic, and so was long thought to be the last of the great elven cities of the world. For most of the ancient past, they never allowed humans into their lands, except in the most extreme cases. Since the human cities began to flourish, and the war between Lyons and Northwind ebbed, the have allowed more dialogue with the humans, though still remain close hold of the majority of their knowledge of the past.

Northwind;

Largely a nation of mystics, their magic is largely violent and destructive in nature. Their longstanding war with Lyons has brought their magical power to an extreme level, and almost their whole society is based on the research of magic and as such, they are the most magically powerful of the nations of Trell. Though far from a wealthy nation, even with their lack of focus on money and resources, the mountains and forests in the northern part of their country are rich with the rarest of metals on Trell.

Major Personalities:

Chancellor Reyda Holley.
Elected ruler of the Northwind high council, the first female Chancellor of Northwind, she rules the semi-democracy because though young, her people adore her, and the council members who don't want her as Chancellor know that her support is beyond their ability to break.

Jerome Blake, High Magi of Northwind.
The senior and most powerful mage in Northwind, an elf, he is rumored to be 170 at least, though he outwardly appears to be still very young for an elf.

Countess Kali MacDougal, Director of Internal Security.
Known by the general populous as Lady K, or the Dark Lady, she is a powerful mage in her own right, but she is a more formidable warrior, and director of Northwind's conventional armies.

Major Cities:

Northwind.
The nation's capital city, Northwind was the first large settlement in the area. The Villichi lake, the shores on which the city was founded is the largest inland source of fish on Trell Wan, the deep water fish sometimes growing to beyond seven feet in length, and often whales follow fish inland from the Harlech river basin and reach the Villichi lake, where they stay until caught and killed by the fishermen of Northwind.

Twycross.
Northwind's single largest military fort, it stands in the south eastern edge of the Crysanden forests, a day or so north of the Bracken Swamps. Almost all of Northwind's limited regular army is trained in Twycross, and though limited in number, they are matched only by the highest graduates of the Coventry Academy.

Altaruk.
A city borne as the middle ground in the trade route from Northwind and Sarna, Altaruk is also renowned for the quality and purity of gems which come from the mines in the mountains just west of the city.

Sarna.
Isolated in the far end of Northwind, Sarna is where it's most reclusive, and most powerful magicians tend to live. It's only other industry is their extensive trade with the small Gnomish and Halfling villages in and around the mountains near Sarna. Too distant from the other nations, and without any settlements larger than a small town, they have virtually no trade or contact with the other nations on Trell, with the exception of the elves.

Lyons;

The western-most nation on Trell Wan, is has the most contact with the nation across the sea on Toku Kuni, while Harlech has limited contact with them, and Northwind has had none at all. It's economy is primarily devoted to war, forming the basis of their life, industry, and trade.

While their troops aren't always of the highest training, they make up for that in sheer number of their forces. There is no single large military school in any one city, though in Lyons there is a school larger than the others, each of the cities has a war academy of it's own, often teaching their own styles. In large battles, it creates logistic problems, though in smaller scales, where single units from one city work well on their own. Due to the large military buildup, a lot of the soldiers who become bored with their relegation to rear assignments or civilian support duties leave and become soldiers for hire in other nations. Most of those soldiers who remain are then rather fanatical or devoted to Lyons.

A former democracy, during the early wars with Northwind, Lyons Parliament passed Resolution 115, which assigned the Captain-General at the time, Kenyon Morgaan extraordinary power for the duration of the war. When Morgaan died in 692, he still had the power granted to him by Resolution 115, before his death he appointed his son, Ryan Morgaan as Captain-General, thus inheritting the authority the Resolution granted Kenyon. Ever since then, a Morgaan has ruled as Captain-General of Lyons.

Major Personalities:

Captain-General Dane Morgaan.
Current leader of Lyons, Dane is approaching his 60's, and with the death of his son from disease only a year ago, he has been forced to recognize his illegitimate daughter Varanna so that the Morgaan family will continue carrying the Captain-Generalship.

Field Marshal Triv Sandoval, Lord of Kathil.
The highest ranking officer in Lyons, Marshall Sandoval commands the extensive armies stationed in Kathil and the garrison posts in the area.

General Esmeralda Nightsbane.
Dane Morgaan's advisor on things magical in nature, very little is known of her until approximately four years ago when she first appeared in Morgaan's court.

Major Cities:

Lyons.
The capital city, built at the fork in the river running south at the bottom end of the Ringing Mountains, within the Crysanden Forest. Home of the largest war school in the nation, though most of it's troops are sent to other cities or one of the many small border garrison towns. Probably the city with the strongest economy on Trell Wan, it's weapon and armorsmiths are matched only by the dwarves of Stormgarde. It also gains benefits of the resources of the forked river, and the purest steel from its mines in the Ringing Mountains. The quality of the steel from it's mines is beyond even the dwarven steel, though still surpassed by the mystic metal in use by the elves.

Kathil.
Lyon's ambassadorial city with Harlech, Kathil has the distinction of having the single largest military force on Trell Wan. Most of the troops are relegated to policing or work on the city proper, as only a small percentage of the men are actually needed to maintain a very strong garrison. As a result, the city of Kathil has buildings of quality that is beyond even the capital cities of the other nations, a testament to the devotion of the soldiers to their nation. Sitting at the end of the northern arm of the Villichi river puts Kathil in a position that, strategically, is almost useless, but in trade with Harlech, the river route makes the travel to Harlech, though not as direct, a quicker and easier journey, and safer from raids by bandits or wayward creatures.

Joppa.
The southernmost outpost of Lyons, Joppa began as little more than a wayside bar and weapons works. Since then it has grown mostly larger. Its weaponsmiths create some of the finest bows in the land, from the wood of agafari tree. With strength that rivals some metals, but as flexible as the soft oak, a bow made of agafari is a great prize for a fine archer, but the small forests around Joppa is the only place on Trell that the small greyish trees grow. That is the single saving grace of Joppa, but the Captain-General's staff believe this requires Joppa to have a heavy garrison, and since it's the quietest and most backwater of Lyon's large cities, a lot of the errant soldiers on Trell Wan come from Joppa.

Skye.
A past city of legend, the original city of Skye was destroyed and sank at nearly the same time as Avalon City, though in the case of Skye, not all of the city sank into the seas. Ruins of the old city lie along the coast and extend a fair way into the city. Not much is known of the old Skye, though many have ventured into the seas to search the sunken remains, very little is there to be found. The modern Skye, for reasons unknown, draws people of magical nature to the city. What they find there is a large fishing and farming town, renowned for the speed and strength of its horses.

Turtle Bay.
The largest trade city on Trell Wan, it is the only city that is in constant contact with the overly mysterious people on Toku Kuni. Turtle Bay is the one place where the influence of the Hachiman empire has started to spread onto Trell Wan. Turtle Bay, originally settled as a fishing village. Their seas had a bounty of giant turtles unlike any other place on Trell, the small turtles being at least four feet in length, and reported sightings of turtles more than one hundred feet long in the deep southern seas.

BACK!!