The World: the Places Database

Izath
A more complex example of an accepted land is the following:

Region: Izath (eh-zath)
-Singular: Izathien (eh-zah-thee-in)
-Plural: Izathi (eh-zah-thee)

Naming Conventions:
(Servants and slaves have short, singular names without surnames. Lords and other highborn (reborn) undead favor lengthy names, and consider failure to pronounce them a punishable offense.)
-Male lowborn/slave: Tho, Val, Thost, Beel, Ven, Plha, Ruhl, Xon
-Male Lord/Reborn: Xeeliotharen, Thrulanndosti, Rhet’vankarrost. Villrathendariose.

-Female lowborn/slave: Shen, Ava, Lae, Tilli, Jeen, Steya, Nelf
-Female Lord/Reborn: Strixtallia, Vezzenatherosa, Challendrissadess, Calendessiava.

Direction from IOV:
Unknown

Overview:
Wartorn landscape of horror, under the thrall of undead lords.

Description:
The ancient and scarred wasteland known as Izath to those who hail from it, goes by many names in many cultures. The Nightmare Lands, the Hungering Plains, the Palescar to name a few. Izath is known to many conceptually, but virtually unknown to all geographically. What few explorers have ventured to these lands and returned report of a common sky and constellation configuration through the murky clouds that hang over the realm, yet the sickly and nigh constant cloud cover and omnipresent dangers have thus far kept anyone from learning of its location.

Travel in and out of Izath is a matter of chance or ill fortune. Through means unknown, portals occasionally rip open to the foul kingdom, allowing uncertain passage to those willing to brave them. The length of time these fissures remain open is as seemingly random as their appearance. Sometimes lasting for months on end, other times mere minutes. The portals incite much in the way of terror, as they often enough disgorge opportunistic agents of Izath who gleefully drag away mortals back to their domain to be livestock or worse.

Izath is a withering land of seemingly endless war, the broken and frigid landscape pockmarked by the remains of great battles and dark mountains jutting up out of the blackness like jagged lances. Wicked cathedral fortresses of titanic proportions crawl across the landscape on insectoid legs, pregnant with the hymns of dark worship and the screams of slaves.. The Izathi Lords venerate undeath religiously, whispering black prayers to a largely unknown patron. Different Lords venerate different aspects of their unholy patron, and war with one another to prove the purity of their particular version of the faith. As all of the Lords are either undead or powerful necromancers, these wars churn eternal, with the slain simply being cobbled back together to fight on.

Occasionally portals to Izath will open to allow refugees to escape, or the rare trader to do business with those few corrupt enough to ply it. Largely however, they serve as a means for Izath to send raiding parties wherever their portals open, to drag back more living flesh to either serve on the front lines, or their larders.

Terrain:
-Warped, freezing landscape.
-Very little flora, but what does grow is often as dangerous as the fauna.
-Very little fauna, what does exist is often undead, diseased, or both.
-Jagged mountain ranges.
-Pitted calderas and valleys.

Imports:
-Slaves
-Corpses
-Weapons
-War Magic

Exports:
-Necromantic Magic/Items
-Undeath
-Alchemy
-Wealth (For which they have little interest or use.)

Religion/Government:
All worship in Izath is dedicated to The Black King/Queen. (There is dispute as to the actual gender of the being, some venerate them as one or the other, or both. In which case they are simply referred to as The Black Crown) All other religion is considered heresy and is punishable by that which makes death an envious prospect. The Lords of Izath all follow different aspects of His/Her portfolio, seeking to adulate and prove its importance over the others with subjugation of the others. The different Lords and their spheres of Worship are as follows-

Spheres of Worship: Eternal Life/Hunger/Slavery/Necromancy/War

Countess Sheezerethi Lestovirvincia:
-Lady of the Festering Stitches. (Eternal Life)
The ghost Countess Sheezereth and her twisted monasteries are unique among the Lords in that they do not actually fight in the wars, nor are they attacked. Upholding the importance of Undeath and Eternal Life, their nuns and shepherds ply the wastes and battlefields of the fallen and re-fallen, stitching back those unable to be conventionally resurrected with whatever parts are available. As such, several dead soldiers may be reanimated into one larger construct. Though they do make efforts to pay deference to the various sides by not combining opposing combatants into a singular monstrosity, gleeful accidents happen. The Nuns and Shepherds of Izath are often those most likely to be friendly or helpful to travelers, especially those seeking blessed unlife. Provided they do not attempt to undo unlife in any irrevocable way, they may even find solace in their monasteries.

Duke Valenskshaddei Hindristotheddri.
-Lord of the Bloody Maw. (Hunger)
Obscene and obese beyond the limitations of mortal forms, the vampiric Duke Valenskshaddei is a mountainous creature of blood bloated flesh, known for the massive feasts his corpulent form lords over. Known to give safe passage to travelers through his region or make trade with those who can provide him with exotic and often disturbing new indulgences, the Duke is a disgusting cannibal, who cherishes nothing more than the idea of eating his fellow Lords at the first opportunity. He gleefully spreads the gospel of indulging upon all things forever, the more craven the better.

Bishop Huuldrastethan Belshadrathell.
-Lord of the Endless Chain (Slavery)
Few beings aside from Countess Sheezerethi observe such religious diligence in their ministrations as the Lord of the Endless Chain. Devout beyond questioning, the meticulous Lich tallies the coming and going of all slaves moving in and out of Izathi lands. The bishop is also the only Lord who cares about wealth to any real degree, understanding that potential buyers and sellers through the myriad portals remain interested in it. It is said there is not a single bit of trade within the foul realm that is not magically tallied in his endless books, mathematical prayers to maintain an unhindered line of slaves both willing and unwilling.

Lord Futhradell Shalensh
-Lord of the Bleeding Sigil (Necromancy)
Curiously the only mortal member of the Lords. Lord Futhradell is a Necromancer of outlandish potential that dethroned the last occupant of his position with the simple truth of how much better necromancy functions /against the undead/ rather than living mortals. The conflict was visible enough to leave non doubting the mage’s power in the dark arts, a display profound enough to buy him time with the other Lords who make no attempt to hide their disdain for his continuing mortality. Only Countess Sheezerethi displays any affection for the man, courting him down the path of his eventual Lichdom as both a lover and a tutor.

Princess Tallendranathis Ceelvanathessa
-Lady of the Hungering Scythe (War)
The only remaining Princess of the original ancient dynasty, Tallendranathis’ continued survival is something of continued speculation. Given that her purview is that of furthering The Black King/Queen’s hunger for war and that she prefers to remain on the front lines of any conflicts she is involved in, the insane Princess should have perished eons ago. Seen as almost a deified figure herself (Though never overtly spoken, as such blasphemies do not go unpunished), the ancient vampire exults in bloodshed and combat with a fervor that borders on insanity. Witnessing her horrific and beautiful presence on the battlefield has been said to move even the pure of heart to tears and desire, attributing her more to a force of nature than a single being. For all of this, the Princess cares nothing- desiring only the perpetuation of endless war. As such, Tallendranathis and her armies act as an eternal balance, focusing those that grow the most powerful and ignoring those who are weakened and thus less of a challenge.

*It is with little surprise, that worship of The Black King/Queen is outlawed in almost all civilized lands. Worship of this unfathomable deity is punishable by execution in most. Cultists and Necromancers take great care in their subterfuge as a result, plying their trade in secret and seclusion.

Character Concepts:
The most common kinds of characters that might hail from this region are escaped slaves or refugees who took advantage of one of the open portals to dive through towards potential salvation. Slavers and necromancers who were trapped by a portal closing too early are also a strong possibility. Largely, anyone with a desire to weave in high horror concepts or oppression into their backstory could find their origin in Izath, as the random portals allow others to escape to virtually anywhere (such as the sim).

The Kingdom of Vulforin

Region: The Kingdom of Vulforin
- Singular: Vulforin
- Plural: The Vulforin

Direction:
Far North, East of the Dread Isles and North of Sar'skri.

Overview:
Frigid tundra for three quarters of the year; sodden bog the remainder.

Description:
Vulforin has a steady climate - seven to nine months out of the year it snows. A lot. The remaining three to five that are, blessedly, without snow tend to be soggy and muddy from all the melted snow rain. Without any proper resources to cultivate their land, given all the rain and snow, the natives of Vulforin instead chose to carve out a specialty service that they freely sell to neighboring kingdoms and lands.  Their economy thrives not only for the services that they provide, but also for the discretion they guarantee.  For the very best assassins, spies, and saboteurs can be found within the Vulforin Kingdom and it's considered a civic duty for a captured Vulforin to cut out their own tongues to avoid giving any information to their client's enemy.  In return, the client kingdom or land pays a hefty bonus to the individual or their family, a lucrative tradition long upheld.  The capitol of Vulforin is the city of Delse, home of the famous, or infamous, University of Delse - a school dedicated to the arts of assassination, spycraft, and saboteuring, as well as other more esoteric studies, including one very odd class dedicated to determining the combined weight of the worlds' oceans and seas.

Government/Society:
The people of Vulforin are as varied and odd as their national pasttimes. Walking down the streets of any city, one is sure to run into humans as well as elves, dwarves, fae, and even the rare halfling. Aside from the occasional flareup, the varied races generally co-exist peacefully with each other, their darker craft turned towards those of other nations.  They are governed by a ruling family, surrounded by court politics and intrigues of daring intricacy and depth - a thing that should be unsurprising given the trades they train themselves in.  The pantheon of gods they follow are a polyglot blend suitable to the people who make up the kingdom, but the god that reigns above all others is rarely known outside Vulforin, clouded in secrecy equal to their chosen trades.