Imaria
Geography
Aesheba – A corruption of the
original name Hersheba, a debased land of ruins and wrecks. Though seaward
facing against the Mountains of the Sun and abutting Stygia. Aesheba relies on
seasonal rivers. Ancient colonists repeated the mistake of logging the
centuries-old stands of trees which kept the soil in place and bringing war.
Since then, Aesheba remains little more than a series of desolate ruins. The
creation of the Gnolls was here and the interior is home to the Desert of
Desolation and its treasures.[i]
Akpara River – One of the great rivers on Imaria, it
flows from the jungle mountains to the Endless Blue. It separates the Night Men
from the Kingdom of Lokossa and gives them warning when they attack. In the
higher reaches though, local tribes use it as their primary means of sustenance
and at the sources stand the ruined cities of the Dawn Age. Long-dead ape men
built these with the first carvings before the Yellow Plant Empire swept
through. Even now their surviving trees and associated clans thrived without
authority in pockets along the banks.[ii]
Arabo – A small and empty city in Lokossa, near the
opening of the Akpara River. Once the capital of Nibomay, an empire that
preceded blood-soaked modernity. Having sprung from the cleansing of the Kosan,
the iron-wielding women of the city carved trade routes and oaths of fealty
across the Bloodtangle, the savannah of the Meru and into the Weeping
Mountains. The coming of the Night Men ended that order, though the female
bodyguards of the Ahonsu harken back to that age.[iii]
Bashar’ka
– An anomaly with the land of the Kirsi. A small tribal kingdom which allows
queens, ruled by fire-priests and not the Sun Faith. This is due to its unfavourable
position beyond the Iteru along the border with old Deshur, where it is
too much effort to bring the horses across. Abandoned during The Long War, it
has been reoccupied with vigor, as a market center. Founded by a dragonslayer,
the people call themselves Xon’mo, or “fire eaters”.[iv]
BIda
Rainforest – The
great jungles of the Three Lands are divided into Lokossa north of the Akpara
River, the realm of the Night Men to the south and in the heart and headwaters
is the Bloodtangle. Only those of Nyambe are so tautological, for the way west
and north is long silent. The night men are kept at bay from the mountains by
furious fighting from the Wakyambi, rumored diminutive Nghoi and the Imbulu. In turn
this has allowed the Meru exiles south, thought they cursed the horse-killing trees.
Again, in turn, Mabwe and east coast traders can enter with only some fear.[v]
Black Harbor, The – Off the eastern coast of Imaria,
where few sail due to the Narrow Passage, is a small tropical island. About
equidistance along Kaya Vua Samaki. This place is not too far from where the Islands
of the Uttermost South are said to lie. Planar pirates, strange ships and
practitioners of the High Trade fill the docks, taverns and flophouses. The
weak boundaries even allow a common captain to try and brave the planes in an Earthly
ship and correct knowledge.[vi]
Bloodtangle – To cross the Akpara River means death at
the hands of the Night Men, but above the lands of Lokossa, the fecund jungle
grows wilder and mountainous. There the dubious safety extends to both banks.
Trees tower above streams that flood without waning. Hostile, predatory or
poisonous life flourishes among aggressive natives. They are those who dared to
deny the Kingdoms of the lowlands. Those Wakyambi who dwell among the remnants
of the Yellow Plant Empire. And the few Humanoids armies which have been
spurred from the Sea of Ships to trek the Primal path beyond prying eyes.[vii]
Boha-Boha – A cautionary tale. In early Antiquity,
mighty people turned back the Dragons of Maru-Qet with the Wakyambi. Flushed
with victory they undermined the warrior-women of Arabo. For they spread
bronze, when Nibomay relied on holy iron. Nibomay swept across Meru, killing
all and were in turn attacked by demons from the mountains. Mighty deaths were
had and when entering the capital, Chuku, they found warriors impaled as
offerings on every crossroad. Then commoners, down to the children. The palace
was empty as well. Though some remote boha-boha survived for a time, their
bronze was forever.[viii]
Boroko – The name the Sultanate of Akota is known
among the Three Lands and Nyambe, see Akota, The Land of.[ix]
Desert of Desolation – Despite the abuses suffered by
Aesheba, the edge of the desert remained watered plains and from there the home
of great Arkhosia during the later parts of Antiquity. With the destruction of
the Arkhosian-Bael Turathi wars though, the land was rendered lifeless with
magic and neglect. The only people now are nomads and the missionaries of The
Enlightened Faith. This blasted landscape gives way to bone-dry foothills of
the Mountains of the Sun. The ancient passes there to Deshur mean many
cartographers confuse the two deserts into a single bisected one.[x]
Deshur – The sixth kingdom of the Three Lands, Deshur
abutted the Weeping Mountains and so was closer to the overland trade and
genealogy with the Stygians. The people of Deshur strove to uphold their
ancient and forgotten traditions until war with Nyala drove the Pharoah to
reopen the lore forgotten from Zannad. This transformed the willing people into
Eternals, a form of undead that must consume warm Demi-Human flesh to maintain
their almost-living forms. After 190 years of war, they were defeated at their
capital, Deshuret and remain shadowy threats. The area is known beyond as the
Desert of Desolation.[xi]
Dogar Plateau – At the edge of Nyambe, where the Entare roam, is
an enormous mass of rock. Unnatural springs rise to the flat top large enough
for the city to have been built. Stairs and ladders are the only way from below
and keep the small city of scholars and exiles safe. Such a place was raised by
unknown forces and arcane means. With the sigils of Dogar, great spirit of
laziness and greed are chiseled into the rock. Some Planar travelers come here,
but the city is felt by many to be a trap or enticement of some kind.[xii]
Gomala, Lake – A strange lake that marks the edge of
Sokone patrols. Mysterious, every few hundred years, all living creatures
within five miles suddenly perish. It is said to be the result of the spirit of
the lake. A lion who guards a magic egg and attacks when someone discovers its
lair. Few believe that even mighty holy and magical people could be overcome by
a single spirit. But still, such an egg would be very valuable if it was true.[xiii]
Igwe – The seaward entrance to The Three Lands where
foreign merchants from Zakhara, Adventia and the world-servicing Elven Merchant
Fleets trade for goods bought to Sokone. This is as far as most foreigners see
and it is a whirlwind of color, smells, and sound. Many factors who are not
local clans are from the Adretia. Ill-tidings, as the ambitions of The Iron
Circle seek to extend to the slave markets of Turu, capital of Lokossa, Igwe
would make for a fine resupply port.[xiv]
Iteru – The mighty river which defines the Three Lands.
Named by Deshur, the river is actually named after the river network in nearby
Stygia, but that name has since shifted. The river is the main artery of trade,
with the surviving kingdoms coming to its banks to exchange with the canny Sokone
people. This has been made much harder since the war destroyed many towns and
villages along it. Even the great capital now lies empty as The Silent City.
The Elven Merchant Fleets tend to stop at the estuary and rely on factors to
arrange for cargo to meet them.[xv]
Kaya Vua Samaki – The name means fish-catching towns,
but the Elven Merchant Fleets reports many city-states, grown quickly and
richly on trade with Akota and the interior. The fleets rarely sailed in that
direction, with the Narrow Passage eliminating the need to circle Imaria. The
Zakahran merchants thereby dominate trade and can reach into the previously
difficult interior. It is unknown how the Land of Akota responses. It is also
reported to be a source of rare medicine for the lands of eastern Nangia.[xvi]
Kirsi – The best horsemen in the Three Lands, the
Kirsi were threatened and tempted into swearing oaths of loyalty to ancient Nyala.
Militaristic and quarrelsome, they fought the Deshurites first to preserve
their hilly borderlands and eventually for their very lives, since Nyala could
never fully commit to the Long War. Eventually they renounced their oaths and
fought the Nyalans too, allowing the undead to creep over. Emperor Kaday
treated them equally and routed Deshur. Allowing them to return to a state of
constant clan raiding, glory-seeking, and increasing convergence to the Sun
Faith brought from Meru.[xvii]
Lokossa – The green lands are called colorful,
fever-hot and life there is cruel. Lokossa is ruled by bloodlines of sorcerer
nobility and the greatest is the Ahonsu. Likewise, even foreign magic-users are
treated with respect. Long pressed by the Night Men across the southern Akpara
River and the hostile jungle itself, Lokossa makes great use of slave labor,
and human sacrifice at calendar times to fuel its magic. This draws fear and
scorn, but they believe themselves to be the shield of The Three Lands. Life is
correspondingly autocratic; commoners serve nobles who serve the state. Few
live to sixty years.[xviii]
Mabwe - The most southern of the kingdoms of the
Earth. It dwells where the Weeping Mountains end, a center of copper, gold and
ivory. Supplying the cities of Kaya Vua Samaki and even distant Akota. No doubt
many of its treasures end up in Igwe or Stygia for it is the richest in Nyambe.
Said to have a mighty palace to keep out its many enemies. Otherwise, friends
of the Wakyambi.[xix]
Maru-Qet – A land shrunk and left out of time. So that
even serpent-haunted Stygia is but it’s common child with Zannad. When the
Desert of Desolation was green, there arose the first empire of Dragons. They
say they clutched the world for a thousand centuries. Humanoids served dragonspawn,
in turn chromatics and the brown dragons of the Qetian Dynasty in the name of
Tiamat. Nefermandias
the forsaken pharaoh overreach though and the prehistoric monuments, fertile
valley and savannah were blasted into sand, bringing forth the desert. Stygia
grew from those who served it and chose a different God.[xx]
Maru-Qet,
The Tombs of – Nefermandias the forsaken pharaoh of Maru-Qet and all his family
dwell in their own tombs. As so they may live in the same comforts in life and
death. With the fall of their empire and the growth of snake-worshiping Stygia,
their tombs are now little more than lairs within militarised temples from
which they may extract tribute from those upstart civilisations. Urum-Shar, his
surviving daughter is particularly infamous for she lavished all her excess on
her own tomb and gathers more incessantly. Such temple-complexes ironically
became the centres of resistance to throw of the last Zakharan conquest.[xxi]
Meru – During the Long War with Deshur in The Three
Lands of Imaria, bands of rebels and refugees fled the undead kingdom to the
savannahs. There they interbred with the native inhabitants and proved
instrumental in the destruction of eternal Deshur. But now the city-clans of
Meru have no enemy and not enough water or pastures for the people. Those who
refused to intermingle lived as bandits or rode beyond the Weeping Mountains to
find new lands. Raids are becoming feuds and two of the clans push west into
Sokone and Lokossa.[xxii]
Mountains of the Sun – The sweeping range which
separates The Three Lands from the Desert of Desolation. Virtually none can
cross the tops as a race of nearly gone, bitter Giants hold sway. Only the
height of Ogres, these giants claim to have been handcrafted by the spirits in
the Dawn Age, the templates for Humans. Master craftsmen and possessing fiery
hair and polished skin, these brooding immortals lurk in their excessive,
trap-filled palaces with their subservient retinues when once they taught secrets.
They cannot breed among themselves but can with humans.[xxiii]
Nyala – Past glories mark tall and artistic Nyala, now
a realm of bitter nobles squabbling over the scraps. The Mais of old Nyala long
struggled against Giant raids from the Mountains of the Sun, only ending when
the first emperor, Mai Mansay forged the first legions and convinced the giant
king Musa to make pacts. Though the giants ended them a hundred years later,
the next four hundred marked an empire that covered Krisi and Sokone. Nyala
fought the eternals with only one hand, dealing with rebelling nobles until
Emperor Kaday gave it all and his title for victory.[xxiv]
Nyambe-tanda – The term means Land of the Overpower in
the related togues of the ancient Meru and Lokossa. It or the shortened form of
Nyambe could be seen as an alternative name for Imaria, except that it holds
little sway in the Three Lands. It is used more beyond the Weeping Mountains by
meru conquerors trying to stamp out the wild animists of the horse-killing
south.[xxv]
Paraku – A Lokossan city where the jungle fades into
the golden savannah of Meru. Recently rent with civil strife as generations
long ethnic tensions boil over. The Nebeti, a pure Deshurite people who
migrated here in service to their undead masters, live in their own impoverished
quarter but increasingly have fallen under the command of a crime lord, causing
great ill-will. The animist head priest plots against them and the Meruan Sun
Faith gathering strength. The Oba will do nothing until peace is restored and
then enact his own scheme. And
the tomb-palace of horrors remains beyond the walls.[xxvi]
Silent City, The – Once the last settlement of Zannad
in the Three Lands, it’s Yuan-ti inhabitants, called Umthalu were slain by the
first Sokone as they pushed up the Iteru River to the desert. Retaining only the
city-name Chakari. Now their capital, it was overrun by the undead forces of
Deshur during the Long War and made their capital in turn. Hideous things
occurred there by the flesh-hungry Eternals and the coalition under Emperor
Kaday razed it and left it abandoned. Now it is a ruin, inhabited by unquiet
ghosts, terrifying monsters and the ever-hungry undead that could not be first
found.[xxvii]
Stygia – Also known as
Nehekhara or Djelibeybi, Stygia is a land which has exerted much effort in
remaining the same as it did from Antiquity, when it arose out of the influence
of Zannad. Though invaded by Midani from Zakhara several times. The ancient
curses and mysticism of the Gods has kept Styiga independent after varying
lengths of cultural diffusion. It is here the Enlightened Faith of Zakhara
filtered through to become the Sun Faith of the Three Lands. The dead do not
take kindly to robbers here, no matter how lucrative the pyramids and tombs
could be.[xxviii]
Sokone – Along the mighty Iteru are the people chased
from expanding Nyala and hunted by Lokossa as slaves. In the swamps and
lowlands, they formed a bond in suffering and resistance. Outsiders were a
greater threat and too much effort was spent quarrelling over patches of farms
when they could be settled by negotiation and trade. The conquest of The Silent
City pushed them into Nyala’s embrace for a time, but the merchant-princes of
the cosmopolitan river continue to thrive. Spreading their wealth down the web
of social obligations and debts. The Elven Merchant Fleets and outsiders deal
with them first.[xxix]
Taumau-Boha – Once the core lands of the Boha-Boha
people, in the dry lands beneath the Three Lands and against the stumps of the
Weeping Mountains. Long isolated by the ravages of the Night Men, it has
recolonised by a fair-Meru related people. It is not known if they still live
there, or if the Humanoids have driven them back to Mabwe.[xxx]
Three Lands, The - The center of Imaria, this region
holds most of the indigenous civilizations and trade. The first land is the
green land of the old kings; the coastal, rain-receiving portions of the
Mountains of the Sun in Nyala, the great Iteru river of Sokone and the hot
jungles of Lokossa. The Yellow land is the savannah where the Meru people
dwell, the thrice-accused Silent City along the Iteru and the dry foothills
where the Kirsi ride. Last is the dreaded black deserts of Deshur. There were
once twice as many cities before the Long War.[xxxi]
Tyrath – Once a great city in Stygia, built in honor
of Ioun and Erathis. The city was most famous for its library, which contained
many magical texts. Unfortunately, it drew the attention of the Circle of the
Dark Wing, a Druidic Circle who pledged to hunt the blasphemy of undeath. For
the priests of Ioun had taken in several text from the legendary city of Moil.
So, the Circle burned down the library. Without it, it was a mere port, fit
only for grain and looted treasures.[xxxii]
Vumerion,
Black Tower of – Before the forces of the Raven Queen could level the den of
necromancy, terrible horrors spilled from the tower. One was the semi-corporal
undead known as Nighthaunts and the corpse-weed that makes them. Corpse-weed
gives strength and joy at the cost of foul nightmares. Spreading through the
Shadowfell and the Earth, any consummation is said to transform the person upon
death as their soul is interrupted across the Shadowfell with hunger.
Nighthaunts suck the life from the young in preference. Later spreading the
corpse-grass curse to other vegetation when full.[xxxiii]
Weeping Mountains – Great peaks, enclosing the black
sand of Deshur stretch down the coast of Imaria. This canyon-scared landscape
holds ruins; some of Zannad, some of Stygia and deserted outposts of a dozen
civilizations. It was here ancient Io was split in twain during the Dawn War
and Bahamut and Tiamat were born, hence it may be the genesis of the Dragonborn
as well as forgotten humanity. Its most important features are the southern
passes, which has admitted invaders and explorers and Meru conquerors out into
the animist south.[xxxiv]
Zahnshahan
– The slithering city. A Yuan-ti city-state in the bIda Rainforest. One of the
few places in the world where they rule openly as they did in the ancient days
of Zannad. It is careful to keep up appearances of alliances and friendliness
with Lokossa and any trader who comes up the Akpara River.
But many suspect their hidden hand in many plots and occurrences, aimed to
destabilise other regions and seize control.[xxxv]
[i] The name Aesheba was
from an obscure and not very good setting supplement by Frank Mentzer and
associates. Hersheba is a pun-named nation from Discworld.
[ii] Frequently
referenced in Spears of the Dawn
[iii] See Nyambe
African Adventures p.19
[iv] Adapted
from Nymabe African Adventures p.20, 142
[v] See Nyambe
African Adventures p.134
[vi] See Revenge
of the Giant p.78
[vii] See Primal
Power p.130
[viii] See Nyambe
African Adventures p.20
[ix] Adapting
Nyambe African Adventures, pp.142-143
[x] From the
AD&D series I1-I3 and the mention in the Dragon Articles about the Points
of Light setting.
[xi] See Spears
of the Dawn pp.67-69
[xii] See Nyambe
African Adventures p.127
[xiii] See Nymabe
African Adventures p.137, based on several real-life lakes
[xiv] See Spears
of the Dawn
[xv] Summarized from several different
text elements in Spears of the Dawn. This is the Ancient Egyptian
word for the Nile, which is difficult because it serves as the stand-in for the
Gambia/Senegal/Volta River.
[xvi] See Nyambe
African Adventures p.22, 144-145
[xvii] See Spears
of the Dawn pp.82-83
[xviii] See Spears
of the Dawn pp.84-85
[xix] See Nyambe African Adventures
pp.21-22, pp.145-146
[xx] See Draconomicon: Chromatic
Dragons pp.240-241
[xxi] See Draconomicon: Chromatic
Dragons pp.142-149
[xxii] See Spears
of the Dawn pp.86-87
[xxiii] See Spears
of the Dawn pp.128-129
[xxiv] See Spears
of the Dawn pp.88-89
[xxv] See Nyambe
African Adventures pp.5-6
[xxvi] See Spears
of the Dawn, The House of Bone and Amber
[xxvii] Summarized
from several different texts within Spars of the Dawn
[xxviii] It’s Egypt,
but with the Pathfinder 1E Golarion twist about Osirion becoming independent
from Kelesh/Qadira.
[xxix] See Spears
of the Dawn pp.90-91
[xxx] Adapted
from Nyambe African Adventures
[xxxi] See Spears
of the Dawn
[xxxii] Inspired by
the textbox in Primal Power p.92, clearly based on the Library of Alexandria
[xxxiii] See Open Grave p.171
[xxxiv] See Spears
of the Dawn
[xxxv] See Monster
Vault p.289
