Maelstrom Campaigns: Continents of Roil


Belara: is a continent of striking terrain contrasts. It is nearly centered upon Roil's equator, though it spans to the north and south. Its equatorial region is dominated by thick, tropical rain forests, while the cooler extremities to the north and south are largely covered by dry, barren plains.; Belara's climate is predominantly sub-tropical, but it cools to become more comfortably temperate on the plains. The heavy equatorial rain forest cover at Belara's mid-region offers no respite. Instead, it maintains an almost insufferably high humidity which only contributes to the sweltering heat. The Yesaruc Sea brings the arctic currents from the Eilgoren Ocean and deposits them into the Jortirrien Ocean. The Yesaruc's cold waters merge with the Jortirrien, but split at the southern tip of Belara. The Multenan Sea flows along the entire western coastline, while the Jortirrien borders only the southeast. Nonetheless, both bring the cooling winds of the Yesaruc into southern Belara.; Northern Belara owes most of its temperate winds to the Shidek Ocean. The Multenan Sea quickly becomes sub-tropical as it crosses the equator, and the Salburi Channel which borders the northeastern coastline does very little to cool Belara. As the Shidek's currents flow down from the north, they are accompanied by cool air currents. While these temperate winds lessen the tropical climate, the clash of warm and cold ocean and air currents form devastating typhoons and hurricanes which ravage northern Belara.; The weather patterns of inland Belara are quite similar to that of the coastal regions. The hot equatorial jungles receive an enormous amount of rainfall in the form of sub-tropical thunderstorms. It is not unusual for downpours to occur several times in one day in the same portion of the jungles. The barren plains are a different case, however.; The coasts have a moderate supply of fresh water supplied by numerous underground springs which surface near the beaches. But the inland plains are little more than scorched deserts. Near the coasts, fresh water ponds and extensive salt marshes prevail. Farther into the plains, swamps and greenery succumbs to scrub brush. The hearts of the barren plains are infamous for their enormous black tar pits. The pits become hidden as films of desert sand are blown across them, and they readily swallow up the unwary who are unfortunate enough to accidentally travel into them.; "Of Belara's history prior to the War of the Winds, there is virtually nothing. Although this lack of substantial evidence renders little other than inconclusive speculation, it is highly unlikely that the Belaran populace developed any significant society or culture until very near the end of the First Age.; Dwarven historians of the pre-Winds era cite several encounters between Belaran sailors and the gnomish settlers of western Isvir. However, while these testimonies confirm the existence of Belaran civilizations for centuries prior to the Time of Rains, there is no evidence that Belaran explorers ever reached any of the continents other than Kaladia or ISvir before the War of the Winds. Thus, though they escaped extinction during the War of the Winds, they emerged from the Time of Rains as an altogether unremarkable race..." Nadamis the Legender; The First Age is an era which is not well chronicled by Belaran historians. The oldest accounts of Belara reveal the continent to have been the birth place of numerous diverse human clans. As early as five hundred years before the War of the Winds, Belaran clans began to settle the fertile lands to the north and south of their equatorial jungle. Some four hundred years before the end of the first age, they established cities in the northern and southern expanses. The cities quickly divided themselves into three different and distinct cultures. The clans of the north reduced themselves into savage barbarian tribes, while those remaining in the equatorial jungles continued their peaceful existence without notable change or advancement. The tribes which migrated south flourished. The strongest of them formed a single nation, and soon after began to undertake ocean voyages. Less than one hundred and fifty years before the War of the Winds, they discovered and began exploration of southwestern Kaladia.; The New Age brought radical change to Belara. During the War of the Winds, the Mists swept across much of the continent. Though the rain forests of the mid-region were left largely intact, the realms to the north and south were reduced into barren wastes.; The northern tribes were decimated by the devastation wrought during the War of the Winds. The typhoons, hurricanes and tropical thunderstorms which manifested during the Time of Rains wreaked havoc upon the northland. But even though the rains eroded the land, it was the volcanic activity deep beneath the surface which ruined the soil, and nearly destroyed the tribes.; Southern Belara contained a fairly extensive civilization prior to the War of the Winds. But the Mists swept harshly across the southland, leaving little trace of the Belaran society in its wake. The plains had been covered with lush vegetation, but the passing of the Mists left them nearly as barren as the northland. Belaran clans still survive in the southland, though their existence is not as pleasant as it once was.
The Continents

Isvir: is not actually a chain of islands at all, though it is called "the Broken Isles" for good reason. During the War of the Winds, Isvir was shattered by the Mists. What remains now are only the sad remnants of the once great and proud continent of dwarves, gnomes and halflings. Those who remain on Isvir are reluctant to leave their home. Though many of the canyons and valleys have fallen to the erosion of the two oceans, the legendary granite mountains still peak several thousand feet above the ocean surface. Despite all its misfortunes and disasters, Isvir still boasts a vast wealth of raw ores and metals. But the richest of the veins stretch deep into the hearts of the mountains - far beneath the surface of the murky Jortirrien Ocean.; Isvir's climate is a haphazard one. The Adralenk Sea keeps the southern coast cool throughout the year. The northwestern coastline is inundated by the warm prevailing winds of the Jortirrien Ocean, and remains much more temperate. During the spring and summer months, the heated air currents sweep across the inland mountains and collide with the cooler winds from the Adralenk. The resulting turmoil creates a dense cloud cover which shrouds much of southeastern Isvir, making it gloomy and overcast for most of the summer.; The northern islands remain temperate during much of the year, but become very hot in the summer months. The central mountains are nearly tropical at their bases, but the temperature decreases with the elevation, and they are nearly always snow-capped. Most of the northern coasts of the Broken Isles receive ample rainfall, though rain is rare in the high central mountains. Isvir's southern coasts experiences violent rainstorms, especially during the early summer. The storms continue inland over the southern plains, though they are rarely sufficient in strength to pierce through the mountains to reach the northland.; The First Age was a time of prosperity and expansion for the dwarves, gnomes and halflings of Isvir. The great mountains, the deep forests and the vast rolling plains were their homes, and they seemed content to dwell within them forever. But their isolation from the remainder of the world ended abruptly, when sailing ships containing elven explorers landed upon Isvir's eastern shores.; Ultimately, an armada of ships was commissioned. The first ocean expedition delivered the dwarves, gnomes and halflings to the southern shores of Kaladia. But the fleet had been almost completely destroyed by storms, and they were unable to return to Isvir. Late in the First Age, a second armada set sail. This fleet managed to traverse the entire northern Ultanic Ocean before entering the hostile waters of the Olgarn. Though several of their ships were lost, the flotilla survived the violent north arctic ocean, and landed in the Northern Reaches of Kaladia.; "The folk of Isvir are most peculiar. Though they profess to a passionate abhorrence of ocean travel, they have sailed through two oceans to explore the newly discovered continent. Though they affirm a love for Isvir in preference to all other lands, they assembled the largest armadas described within their recorded history to transport their numbers from their homeland to another continent. Though Isvir contains an incredible wealth of precious metals and minerals that is said to be rivaled by no other known source upon Roil, they claim to have journeyed across the oceans to learn of all the treasures of the world.; The unanswered question which remains is why did they come to Kaladia. Did they harbor unmentioned aspirations to walk upon all the lands of Roil? Did they aspire to possess all the metal and mineral wealth of the world for themselves? Or did they truly seek out all the wonders of Roil simply for its own reward. Perhaps their words are sincere. And yet, it is conceivable that all of their effort to come to Kaladia was borne simply because the elves found it first..." Nadamis the Legender; The New Age heralded a time for change. The War of the Winds nearly drove Isvir into the ocean. But the ensuing Time of Rains did little to harm its inhabitants. While muchof the world suffered through plagues and famines brought on by the Rains, the dwarves, gnomes and halflings survived in reasonable comfort within their underground cities. For this reason, they were able to recover from the disasters wrought by the War of the Winds somewhat more quickly than races dwelling above ground. When the rains ceased, they emerged from the strongholds to assess the damage to their homeland, and to commence the reconstruction.
The Continents

Kaladia: is the largest continent of Roil, and is the only one populated by all the known races of humans and humanoids, along with a significant number of different races of non-humans. Kaladia has a great variety of climates and terrains, as its lands reach from the equatorial tropics to the lowest latitudes of the northern arctic.; Kaladia has its healthy share of deserts, jungles, mountains, and plains. Its entire northern coastline receives the full brunt of the freezing currents of the Olgarn, and the arctic winds. While the north coast is quite cold, inland temperatures quickly warm to become temperate. The southern coast skirts along the equatorial tropics, and is appropriately hot and humid. The temperate winds which blow with the currents of the Ultanic Ocean offer some respite to southeastern Kaladia, where the Ultanic merges with the Tracene.; The expanse of Kaladia extends nearly to the sixtieth latitude, but does not quite enter the North Arctic region. Nonetheless, the northern area of Kaladia sees bitterly cold winters. The heartland of the Corlennian Empire suffers greatest from the ice and cold of the north breath, as it is closest to the Arctic Circle. The other northern expanses are far more fortunate. The high forest of Elven Tree protects the elves from much of the winter chill which dominates nearby lands. The collection of lands known as the Northern Reaches sees its fair share of the winter season, but even it is spared the greatest of Olgarn's winter wrath. The people of the northern lands are separated from the warmer, southern civilizations by the great chain of the Silverpeak Mountains, and rarely do they see weather equalling the hot climate which dominates the plains of southern Kaladia.; Kaladia's lands are vast, and largely untamed since the destruction wrought by the War of the Winds. The people here are a tough folk, hardened by their difficult lifestyle and resourceful by sheer necessity. But Kaladia is a harsh land, and the effort required to civilize it demands more than most can muster. And yet, many individuals forsake their homes and countries to set out into these new, frontier lands. These are realms of grave dangers, with fabulous rewards for those who succeed against the odds, but they contain little remorse for those fail.; Its wall were blue, not of stone but of ice. Great blocks of dark ice, cut from the glaciers deep in the heart of the north arctic. Upon the shores of the Rhul Nugath the blue tower stood against the cold, harsh winds of the Olgarn, it alone breaking the bleak, gray horizon. From high in the tower, Robatalor stared into the storm clouds, willing their tempest to bring the fury he needed. As the thunder rolled in response, the sorcerer turned from the window and walked to the center of the room. His staff was black, carved from obsidian and enchanted. As he scraped its tip upon the floor, the ice hissed and melted from its fire. The diagram complete, Robatalor thrust the sword into the blue flames of the cold hearth and began to recite the incantation. As the metal began to soften in the cold, the dwarven smith drew forth his hammer, ready to forge a weapon of true power.; The First Age of Kaladia saw its change from a predominantly unsettled land to a continent populated by all of the known races. The only known indigenous race of Kaladia was human tribes of barbarians which roamed its lands prior to the War of the Winds. Elves were the first to discover Kaladia, though they did so largely by accident. Dwarves, gnomes, and halflings from Isvir later arrived and settled upon Kaladia. Human explorers from Tulmaria and Belara discovered and settled into southern Kaladia only a few years before the beginning of the War of the Winds.; The New Age of Kaladia is a marvelous era for all of its lands and peoples. The War of the Winds scattered the Mists across the continent. Wherever the Mists of Kaichea flowed, the land was changed and its inhabitants altered. Many of Kaladia's populace did not survive the Winds and the Time of Rains. Entire civilizations were erased from the face of the land, while others were shattered into fragments of their former glories. And yet, some nations emerged unscathed.; All in all, the continent of Kaladia is a reborn realm which retains some familiar remnants of its prior self. Regions once settled have become harsh, renewed frontiers. From the depths of the oceans, the Mists had dredged new lands, and breathed life into them. Old powers have faded from the land, and new states have emerged. It is a time of new awakening.
The Continents

Lornkira: is the continent which lies at the heart of the northern arctic circle. It is an iceland region whose endless, frozen facade rarely changes. Yet, it is a land which is never the same. Lornkira is a true land mass, and not just solid ice. At least, this is true in the lower latitudes. Nearer the polar north, the ice has never been penetrated sufficiently to uncover any earth beneath. The humans who dwell upon Lornkira are an incredibly resourceful people. They have learned not only how to survive in the arctic tundra, they have prospered in the frozen wasteland. To outsiders, their culture appears savage. But while their society can be harsh, their civilization is far from barbaric.; Lornkira is an absolute and untamed wilderness. It is unforgiving and without mercy to any who dare to trespass upon its stark terrain. In any case, few people ever journey to the north arctic. Its coastline is completely surrounded by the Olgarn Ocean, and ships which attempt to sail to the continent must overcome the most violent storms of Roil. And the vessels which successfully reach the northern arctic can rarely find safe harbor in the harsh, sheer icy bluff which dominates the coast. Some of the southernmost portions of Lornkira which do not have a perpetual ice layer experience mild seasonal changes.
The Continents

Tirringir: is the elven continent of beauty, resplendent in its wooded magnificence. Forests of unmatched splendor and majesty span from coast to coast. Great trees, unrivaled by any other on Roil, rise far into the sky above as sunlight bathes the thick, green grass of the forest floor. At the coastlines, pure white sand beaches ring the continent, and separate the grassland from the clear blue waters of the Selindawn Ocean and the Nyn' Luryncian Sea.; Tirringir is the wooded paradise of the faerie folk. They live in harmony with their homeland, complimenting their natural surroundings rather than working to overwhelm them. This is a land which has never seen the vast stone strongholds nor the widespread clearing of woodlands which mark the advancement of the realms of most civilizations.; Tirringir has an unremarkable seasonal change. The summers are mild, scarcely much warmer than the spring. The winters are also mild, hardly any colder than the cool autumn nights. The few mountains which rise above the tree lines are capped with snow during the winter months. But the warmth of early spring quickly thaws the snow into icy and refreshing mountain streams which race down the mountains into the fertile lands below.; The continent of Tirringir is the homeland of the elven people, and it is to Tirringir that all the elves eventually return. But the elves have successfully enshrouded their land in magic, hiding it from those who would seek out the legendary nation. While it is rumored that no non-elf has ever travelled to this land, scholars unanimously agree that Tirringir is no fable. Elven ships sail from their homeland, and bring many of their native wonders to trade in human and non-human societies.; The First Age was a golden, if not seemingly timeless, era of Tirringir. The elven historical ballads sing of thirty-seven elven kings and queens who ruled the royal court during this time of renaissance. Early in the reign of the thirty-seventh king, fleets of elven ships sailed forth upon the Selindawn Ocean to seek other lands. Before the end of the age, the elves had discovered all of the known continents, but had settled only upon Kaladia.; The New Age brought an end to a dark time of elven history. Though the Mists of the War of the Winds had never blown across the elven continent, the Time of Rains devastated much of the elven farming communities. The process of recovery would be slow before the new age could signal a new era of growth and renewed exploration.
The Continents

Tulmaria: is home of the oldest known human civilization. Tulmaria's northern extreme skirts the equator, and most of northern Tulmaria is sub-tropical. Southern Tulmaria is somewhat cooler, owing to the lower latitudes and the chilling air and ocean currents provided by the Ildaric Sea.; Tulmaria is completely surrounded by the South Tracene Ocean. The Tracene is a warm, equatorial ocean, and its hot, slow-moving air currents do little to cool northern Tulmaria. While there are scattered forests, most of the northland is arid plains and rocky mountain ranges. The climate is predominantly dry and hot, though the temperatures become more moderate in the high mountain plateaus.; The cold waters of the Ildaric Sea empty into the southern Tracene Ocean. There they invigorate the slowing ocean currents and push the cooled, revived waters vigorously along the southeastern coast. Cool air currents accompany the Ildaric's cold waters, and blow along much of the southern half of the continent. Though the winds quickly diminish against the long, southeastern mountain chain, they keep the coastal expanses comfortable during all but the most severe of summer months, and help to provide an extended, though mild, winter season.; The First Age holds many secrets for this ancient continent of humans. The nations of Tulmaria, at their peak, undoubtedly contained many fabulous achievements now lost to mankind. It is known that the great marble sphinxes of the High Plateau were constructed over a millennium before the start of the War of the Winds. The exact method of their construction, however, remains unknown.; Ancient Tulmarian writings give insight to a great exodus from many of the Tulmarian cities just prior to the terrible wars between rival noble factions. For years, many Tulmarians confined themselves to the inner sanctuaries of the great sphinxes. While this allowed them to survive their times of devastation, it was not without its consequences upon their culture.; The aristocratic social circles which dominated the heart of Tulmarian lifestyles grew to gargantuan proportions. As the wars neared their end, the Tulmarian people had become segregated into rigid social and economic circles of the extremely poor and the enormously wealthy. Human injustices wrought upon the poor and unfortunate worsened and festered in the close confines of the sphinxes.; When their wars drew to a close, the Tulmarians were quick to venture back into their world. They had scarcely begun to realize their newfound freedom, when the social unrest which had seethed within their collective society unleashed itself as a massive civil revolution. Tulmaria's poverty-stricken outnumbered the wealthy by a ten to one majority, and the attacks they launched soon escalated into full scale warfare. The richest and most powerful houses of Tulmaria brought themselves together into a single domain, calling themselves the Ruthanland Empire. The poor of Tulmaria were soon defeated by Ruthanland's War Wizards, and they retreated from the High Plateau into the harsh and unsettled coastal regions.; During the three hundred years of the Ruthanland Empire's golden era, Tulmaria became a continent of many wondrous achievements. But their advances were not restricted only to Tulmaria, for great advances in astronomy, navigation and shipbuilding prompted many ocean expeditions. It was during this renaissance that they discovered the continent of Kaladia, naming it for Ruthanland Emperor Kaladin III. And it was not soon thereafter that Tulmarians began to settle this new land.; The source of much of Tulmaria's advancements was a group of sages, scholars, and wizards known as the Magarium. Their study and research benefited nearly all the populace of the Ruthanland Empire, but they also held even greater power. The Grand Magarium of Ruthanland was, in this beginning, a wise council which advised and guided their emperor. The Magarium continued in this capacity for many generations, and the Ruthanland Empire prospered from the knowledge which the Magarium shared with its populace.; But despite the rewards reaped from the Magarium's efforts, many of its members slowly and unknowingly began to isolate themselves from the common folk and their concerns. And as their efforts turned to darker studies, the War Wizards began to incorporate their numbers into the Magarium. Eventually, the Magarium had little interest with the common affairs of Tulmaria.; Using the name of their emperor, the Magarium began assuming greater roles in Tulmaria's government. But as the less fortunate of Ruthanland's populace began to suffer from the Magarium's callous and uncaring actions, Tulmaria began its decline. When the Magarium's scholars began to question the actions of some of its wizard members, they too were removed. Finally, the Magarium split as its strongest radical members lashed out against their opposing peers. Ultimately, the deterioration of the Magarium led Tulmaria into a civil war which brought their empire to a close and gave birth to the Ruthanic Imperium.; For a century, the Ruthanic Imperium ruled over both northern and southern Tulmaria. But their corruption escalated, and theirs was a civilization of decadence and perversion. The Imperium could not regain any of the splendor of the Ruthanland Empire, but its noble families lived in extravagance as its poor suffered in famine and poverty. Their decline could not be averted, and only years before the Mists descended, the Imperium collapsed as barbarian hordes from coastal Tulmaria swarmed through the weakened nation.; The New Age unveiled the new Tulmaria to be much like the Tulmaria of old, but only geographically. The grand Ruthanland Empire and Ruthanic Imperium are but ruins. The nomadic barbarians who dwell in the land now are little more than savage remnants of their once highly developed cultures.
The Continents

Yindurin: is not unlike its northern counterpart. While Yindurin is slightly smaller than Lornkira, in comparison, the south arctic is literally teeming with life. The arctic continent is an unstable region of high volcanic activity. Deep in the polar cap, great mountain chains house lush, temperate valleys filled with thick, tropical forests. Vast underground lakes and rivers surface throughout these protected basins as hot springs, warming them into a hot, humid paradise.