Campaign World – Mundo 

Using Rich Burlew’s outline which rocks so hard he has twenty divine ranks.

Purpose and Style
The Eleven Assumptions according to Rich Burlew 
•	Humans dominate the world – keep 
•	Gods are real and active – keep 
•	Magic is real and can be used by anyone who learns it – keep 
•	Opposite alignments fight each other – trash alignments, use allegiances 
•	Arcane and divine magic are inherently separate – would prefer to use BCCS magic, but probably won’t be able to. 
•	The wilderness is separate enough from the cities to justify three wilderness classes – keep 
•	There are hundreds of intelligent species of creatures, but 99% of them are “monsters.” – unknown how to deal with it 
•	Arcane magic is impersonal and requires no “deal” with a supernatural being. – wary 
•	Beings from other planes try to influence the mortal world, often on behalf of gods and alignments. – keep 
•	Magic items are assumed to be available, and game balance proceeds from that. – magical items were be as rare as Black Company 
•	Magic is consequence-free. – hell no. 

Dynamic forces of the world 
•	Yin (female, dark, moon, yielding) & Yang (male, light, sun, aggressive) 
•	All magic will be some sort of usage of yin & yang manipulation at its root level, though there may be intermediaries such as spirits and other magical energies. 
•	Note: Scrapped this part of the outline, disavow any knowledge of it, etc.

Class Decisions
•	If using the Black Company spellcasting system.
•	This effectively gets rid of Bard, Cleric, Druid, spellcasting Ranger, spellcasting Paladin, Sorcerer, and Wizard.
•	Magic is a usage of yin & yang manipulation, through the use of ritual objects, symbolic gestures, and symbols.  Though some spells will use the actions of spirits, magical energy itself is impersonal, a mere energy source seized and controlled by the will of sorcerers.  
•	Some nations may see magic as an evil craft, others as a respectable profession.
•	Fighters, Rogues, Barbarians, Monks, pretty much the same, with cultural influence.
•	Using the non-spellcasting variant of the Paladin from Complete Warrior.  Paladins will only be available to Neustrian characters.  
•	No spellcasting 
•	Blessed Weapon (Su): Any melee weapon wielded by a paladin of 6th level or higher is treated as good-aligned for overcoming DR.
•	Divine Might (Su): At 11th level and higher, the paladin can use a standard action to add a +4 bonus to Strength, Wisdo, or Charisma.  This may be used 1/day and its effect lasts for 1 min/class level.
•	Tend to Mount (Su): A paladin of 13th level or higher who uses lay on hands to heal her mount cures 5 points of damage per point of healing spent.  In addition, the paladin may use her lay on hands ability to end any one of the following adverse conditions affecting her mount, at the cost of 5 points of healing per condition unless otherwise noted: ability damage (costs 1 point per ability point restored), blinded, confused, dazed, dazzled, deafened, diseased, exhausted, fatigued, feebleminded, insanity, nauseated, sickened, stunned, or poisoned.  The paladin can remove adverse conditions at the same time she heals damage, but any points of healing spent to end adverse conditions don’t also cure hit points.
•	Holy Sword (Sp): At 16th level, a paladin gains the ability to use holy sword once per day, as a caster whose level is equal to ½ the paladin’s class level.
•	I never liked the spellcasting Ranger; will be using BCCS variant.
•	I need to do something about Bards.  Probably something violent.
•	Clerics, will have to consolidate all the religions and domains.  They speak to various spirits and spirit-deities for their power.
•	Druids are fine as they are, but only born in Galicia and Chane.  They tap the energies of the world and lose power when they are away from the untapped wilderness.
•	Sorcerers will have acquired their powers due to spirits from the Spirit World entering their bodies when they were in the womb and charging their spirits with planar energies.  
•	Wizards will be the usual study and manipulate power guys, utilizing special words, gestures, and ritual objects.  
•	The elemental Bender classes will be available only to the Hanyu; thread here: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28763 
•	From Black Company: Academician, Noble, Scout, Weapon Master, Zealot; PrC: Deceiver, Great General, Night Stalker, Oracle, Siege Engineer, Sword Master, Topkick, Veteran.

Prestige Class considerations 
•	See separate Prestige Class file.

Other Mechanics 
•	Feats: Probably all the ones in the typical d20.  Certain feats will only be learnable in certain locations, such as phalanx fighting (Hellas), chariot warfare (Mitanni), certain martial arts (Hanyu), certain esoteric feats (Mahajanapadas, Phayul), etc.

Race Decisions 
•	The oldest variety of the elves will have been the Wise Guys, the Ahura-Mazda, who originated in the China-land and went in the West-ward direction, eventually leaving the continent.  The timeline is dated at the time of their disappearance from the main continent when they left the shores of Galicia, as “Post Leave,” or “P.L.”
•	The ones that do remain in this world will be the Phoenicians of the world, the premier naval and mercantile expertise that keeps international trade going between the nations.  Elven “lands” will center almost entirely on their capital city and on the central hub of trade in the world (the “Byzantium”, Chalcedeon), with few broad swathes of land.  The elves, when outside of Chalcedeon and Tarshiish, dress in long, flowing green robes with white lining, and their most revered mystics often wear silver masks to show their mastery and honored position in society.  
•	Dwarves, of Kiengir, will have cut themselves off from civilization and have not been seen in several human generations and are already regarded as myths and “those who raised those weird monuments.”  I’ll be keeping their set of being the unparalleled masters of earth and stone.
•	Scratch Halflings.  I hate those bastards.
•	Likewise Half-Orcs.  What did they ever do for me?  
•	Gnomes, the Parsains will be one of the races that has since vanished off of the face of the earth.  They were known as the greatest of sorcerers, but on the eve of the activation of their greatest magical device, the Apotheosis Key, every gnome seems to have vanished off the face of the earth.  This occurred twenty years ago, and empty gnomish villages are still found today, with scorch marks on the ground where it is believed gnomes once stood.
•	Beyond the areas of influence in the “wild barbaric lands” will be mostly orcs, human chiefdoms, and so forth.  Most monsters will be virtually mindless, though some may be trainable.
•	The humans will have their various nations.  See below.  

“The Right Tool for the Right Job”
•	Magical items will be almost entirely eliminated except for small personal items created with the Embed Spell feat (or something similar) for the personal use of spell-casters, and the doomsday garbage left behind by the ancestors of the Phoenician-Elves.  No trace of gnomish magical objects survive except for certain rare texts.  
•	With the rarity of magical items comes the BCCS masterwork object system.
•	Various professions and birth-caste should influence starting wealth, such as the Legends of the Samurai RPG does; outcaste, farmer, artisan, merchant, noble, noble-warrior.  Perhaps this can be simulated with the Background feat system of BCCS.

Timeline 
•	Prehistory: Chalcedeon and Tarshiish established.  Abydos rises and falls.
•	-600 P.L.: Mitanni ancestors land at Taite, begin expansion. 
•	-400 P.L.: Mitanni chieftain Shaushtatar establishes dominance over Mitanni and founds Wasshukanne.  
•	0 P.L.: Last recording of the Ahura-Mazda on the continent, seen as the standardization point of the calendar.
•	205 P.L.: Founding of Changan in Hanyu.
•	213 P.L.: Changan is looted, beginning of Warring States Era in Hanyu.
•	650 P.L.: Han Dynasty established in Hanyu, Kong jiao made state philosophy.
•	996 P.L.: Unknown army marches on Chalcedeon, wiped out; last known attempted invasion of Chalcedea proper.
•	1090 P.L.: First recorded battle between Hanyu and Khenbish.
•	1100 P.L.: Han Dynasty falls, taken over by the Xia Dynasty.
•	1273 P.L.: Xia Dynasty falls, taken over by the Shang Dynasty.
•	1276 P.L.: Shang Dynasty falls, taken over by the Ming Dynasty.
•	1295 P.L.: Hellas kingdom collapses, individual Helladic city-states form.
•	1495 P.L.: Neustrian ancestors migrates over Zugspitze Mts.  Underground  earthquake cuts off Skaoans from the mainland due to the creation of the Eitri Strait.  Founding of the five Mahajanapadas kingdoms.
•	1520 P.L.: Founding of Tusci kingdom, subjugation of present day Narbonesians and Parsains. 
•	1549 P.L.: First true steel forged by Neustrians.
•	1695 P.L.: King Tobias Amberg of Hessen & Neustria begins war on Galicians.  Last recorded year of Kiengir.
•	1700 P.L.: Beginning of Helladic large-scale merchants traveling abroad.
•	1720 P.L.: Castle Auerbach completed, rise of Enste family.
•	1735 P.L.: Ming dynasty falls, taken over by the Tang Dynasty.
•	1740 P.L.: Tuscian governor of present day Narbonesis, Lucius Tolumnius of Veii, takes power.  
•	1745 P.L.: Parsain/Narbonesian alliance destroys Tusci kingdom
•	1753 P.L.: Current Emperor of Hanyu, Tang Taizong, assumes throne..
•	1755 P.L.: Narbonesus dies, current First citizen, Ancus marcius, invested.
•	1759 P.L.: Hands of Gold University established in Abydos.  Reunification of the Khitan Great Tribe of Khenbish.
•	1770 P.L.: Parsains all vanish.
•	1780 P.L.: Current Great Reaver, Skjoldr the Fierce, becomes Great Reaver.
•	1789 P.L.: Battle of crimson Rivers, wherein Siegfried Enste, lord of Castle Auerbach, annihilated the Logan clan of Galicia.
•	1790 P.L.: Arhat Shakyamuni begins teaching his new religion.  Monks of the Vajrayana sect reach Phayul, which makes Vajrayana the state religion. 
•	1794 P.L.: Great Reaver of Skaoan, Skjoldr the Fierce, sends emissaries to Chane.
•	1792 P.L.: Current Mitanni Great King, Tushratta, assumes throne.
•	1793 P.L.: Monks of the White Lotus Sutra arrive at Yongheng Monastery in Hanyu.
•	1795 P.L.: Current date. 

Languages 
•	Abydosian
•	Chalcedean
•	Chane 
•	Galician 
•	Hanyu  
•	Helladic
•	Khenbishan  
•	Mahajanapadan
•	Mitannian 
•	Narbonesian 
•	Neustrian 
•	Parsain 
•	Skaoan 
•	Phayul 

Nations of the World 
•	Mitanni 
•	Inspiration: Mitanni
•	Capital: Wasshukanne 
•	Status: In existence.  
•	Rule: Great King rules from Wasshukanne who has his own personal domain and keeps in check seventeen minor kings who owe him loyalty and chariotry.  The privileged elite are the maryannu, elite chariot warriors.  Current Great King is Tushratta. 
•	Location: Northwest portion of main land mass.  Traditional borders end at the linking point of the Orontes and Khabur Rivers at Zagros Mountain.
•	Geography: Mitanni is composed mostly of very agreeable plains, with approximately one quarter of the land set aside for agriculture, among them grains and, in certain places, grapes.  The plains are set aside for 
•	Natural Resources: The lands of Mitanni are moderately fertile, providing for enough grain to feed the kingdom with enough of a surplus to bother with international trade.  Plentiful gold, copper, and tin mines make up for the mineral wealth the Mitannians command.  
•	Economy: Grain makes up the most of Mitanni’s exports, though those willing to pay a high price can earn the expertise of Mitannian military engineers who are unparalleled in the art of chariot warfare, and their bowyers are considered to be among the finest in the world.  What Mitanni lacks, however, is iron, and by extension, steel enough to revolutionize its military machine, which still relies heavily on bronze.  
•	Locales of Note: Wasshukanne is the capital of Mitanni, a great walled citadel from where the king, currently Tushratta, rules over the seventeen lesser kings and countless nobles, each lesser king based at his own walled citadel.  Wasshukanne, as befits a political capital as well as personal domain of a military king, is walled with brick and stone and arrayed in a circular formation, its residential districts nearest the walls and arrayed in such close quarters and winding streets as to confound a large invading army.  Four great gates of bronze-reinforced wood protect the city, outside of which are the famous chariot fields of Mitanni, rigorously maintained by the Mitannian king to ensure ideal terrain for Mitanni’s favored form of warfare.  Inside the city’s outer wall and beyond the residential district is the inner wall which leads to the Mitannian king’s personal citadel and place of court.  
Zagros Mountain is the most holy site of the faith of the Ten Thousand Spirits, with a temple at the northern base of the temple, one half-way up the mountain on its east and west face, and one at the temple’s summit.  The temples are all carved deeply into the mountain, and staffed by priests wearing predominantly sky-blue robes and bearing bronze icons of their favored spirit patron.  Every few years, the king at Wasshukanne is expected to make generous offerings to the temples of Zagros to keep religious sanction and to appease the Ten Thousand.
•	Religions and Philosophies: The Mitannian king is political as well as theological ruler, recognized by the Ten Thousand Spirits who are said to watch over Mitanni, bless its people, and ensure contracts and treaties are followed.  A priesthood exists to revere all of the Ten Thousand Spirits, many of whom are believed to be the spirits of former kings and heroes, others whom are believed to be primordial creator spirits.
•	The People: The Mitannian people tend towards the average human height and virtually everyone, from commoner to noble, has a tanned complexion that comes from long hours spent outdoors, be it hunting, farming, or military drills.  The people are roughly divided into the commoners (all considered roughly equal, though artisans who directly contribute to war efforts such as horse-masters and weapon-smiths are given more merit) and nobility (the charioteers, the maryannu), with the priesthood standing apart, based for the most part at Zagros Mountain.  Commoners typically dress in cloth and hemp tunics and pants, wearing sandals, more out of cost, as there are no sumptuary laws in Mitanni.  Men and women both wear their hair long, sometimes tied back with leather bands, and men more often than not wear close cropped beards.  The nobility are almost as pragmatic as their underlings, dressing simply, though adding more silk and leather garments.  Many have the deep and wide stance needed to maintain their balance when fighting from a chariot, and wear their hair in braids to more quickly tuck them beneath helmets and flick them out of the way, though beards are often allowed to grow long.  
The nobility is for the most part hereditary, though it is possible to advance from conscripted infantryman to the lower ranks of the charioteers with notable service.  Both commoners and nobles enjoy sports and activities such as wrestling, archery contests, and chariot racing, though unless a commoner has the funds to finance his own chariot and team, the chariot races are more noble’s games.  
Virtually every week has a ritual or celebration to one of the Ten Thousand Gods, which includes sacrifices and games to the gods, making Mitanni a very lively nation.
•	Past History: Mitanni’s oldest historical records declare that the Mitannian people sailed in from some continent to the far north, the survivors of a great cataclysm that wiped out their previous lands some six centuries ago.  They landed at Taite, and from there began gradually expanding, not wiping out the indigenous peoples but inter-marrying and using political alliances lasting generations until those of newcomer bloodline were indistinguishable from those with indigenous bloodlines.  Gradually, power began shifting towards chieftains who commanded military power, and after two centuries of on-and-off fighting, wherein the chariot style of warfare was created and honed to a mastery seen no where else in the lands, the chieftain Shaushtatar defeated his rivals and was graced with the title Great King and built a grand capital at the current site of Wasshukanne.  After Shaushtatar’s death, his eighteen sons each took one of their father’s citadels and ruled from there, the oldest son, Artatama, being first among brothers, taking Wasshukanne.  The bloodline of each of Shaushtatar’s sons has provided the lesser and Great Kings of Mitanni since. 
•	Recent Events: The current Great King, Tushratta, assumed power three years ago at the age of thirty seven, and has not made any great moves to “rock the boat” yet, simply maintaining diplomatic ties with the usual people, keeping the economy afloat, making sure the military machine still works, etc.  One of his brothers, the lesser king Shaushtatar IV of Citadel Urkesh, has been sending merchants abroad with gifts of gold, bronze, and precious stones from recently discovered mines, all of them bartering for steel and the expertise to craft it, the largest and most expensive expedition signed by a Mitannian lesser king yet.  The northern border has been preoccupied with skirmishes against the Skaoans. 
•	International Relations: Neutral with all foreign powers except the Skaoans, which it is currently skirmishing against, but not declared a full state of war.
•	Names: Gilukhepa (f), Tadukhepa (f); Artatama (m), Biridaswa (m; “Possessing great horses”), Kikkuli (m), Mattiwaza (m), Parattarna (m), Sattawaza (m; “He who has won seven prizes [at the horse races]), Shuttarna (m), Tehiptilla (m), Tushratta (m).
•	Class Skill: Craft 
•	Favored Class: Fighter 
•	Prestige Classes: Mitanni Charioteer
•	Hellas 
•	Inspiration: Ancient Greece 
•	Capital: None; individual city-states
•	Status: In existence
•	Rule: Hoplite democracy 
•	Location: The archipelago to the south, with some territory on the continent.
•	Geography: The mainland is relatively flat and featureless, bearing fertile fields whose products are most often exported south to the archipelago.  The islands vary from rocky and nearly unsuitable for human habitation to the forested islands of Samothrace and Corinth to the south.
•	Natural Resources: The territory of the continent is incredibly fertile, providing a great deal of grain and olive yards.  The islands hold rich and seemingly inexhaustible mines of gold, silver, and iron.
•	Economy: The grain and olives of the mainland are traded to the islands for their inordinate wealth of minerals such as gold, silver, and iron.  The island states often send military forces abroad in equal measures for raids as well as working in the mercenary line.  Cattle and sheep are commercially farmed even on the islands, though fishing remains a far greater portion of islander’s diets.  Pottery incised with gold and blackened characters as well as statuary of various materials and poses make for popular exports to Narbonesis.  
•	Locales of Note: The islands of Hellas are: Megalopolis, Argus, Pelops, Miletus, Kythiera, Cupress, Argos, Samothrace, Corinth, and Deiphi.  The three coastal cities are Samos, Chios, and Ephesus, all coastal towns that are close to the expansive olive gardens and grain fields that are so vital to support the archipelago, each of which maintains a citadel except for Samothrace and Corinth, which only have small towns so as to not disturb the sacred cedar forests, and Delphi, which has a temple staffed entirely by blind seers and prophets and are believed by the Helladic world to be the finest diviners in the land.
•	Religions and Philosophies: There is a myriad of divinities worshipped by the Helladic people, the most powerful and revered of which is named Poseidon, the God of the Sea and Earthshaker, who has a great underwater kingdom, who deposed his brother, Zeus, who had in turn deposed their father, Cronos, who had in turn, deposed his father, Kaos.  Poseidon’s coup virtually wiped out the Helladic pantheon, leaving Poseidon and Hephaestus, the crippled God of the Forge, worthy of worship.  
•	The People: The people of Hellas are for the most part have an “olive” skin tone, and tend to be very well muscled from a lifetime of working farms, boats, or the heavy armour and weapons that make the repertoire of the hoplite phalanx.  Women and men both wear toga robes, with men of rank draping an additional cloth over the left shoulder and arm to show their importance.  
The hoplite phalanx is the governing body of the city-states of Hellas, with the dominant belief being that only those who actively fight and defend the city-state being eligible to make important decisions for the state.  Thus, to join the hoplite phalanx of a city-state, one must be able to provide one’s own armour and weapons of the phalanx; heavy bronze armour, shield, and a spear is considered the absolute minimum, with the wealthier hoplites who can afford more protective armour typically acting as shock troops and fighting in the front and center of the phalanx, earning more prestige that they bring back with them to the city-state.  
State decisions are made by the hoplites, with each hoplite receiving a single vote.  Skilled orators and writers of rhetoric can be found within the hoplite ranks, eager to sway the phalanx to their opinion.  Their armour and skills are what separate them from the mob, after all, which, in the past, has led to actually suiting up and marching outside city walls during siege to cast votes on key decisions.  
In Argos, however, the hoplite phalanx does not command total political and military power.  The rise of the navy in recent years has done much to give money and power to those who cannot afford to serve in the hoplite phalanx, and Argosian triremes sail as far as Hanyu to offer and bring back foreign goods that has raised Argos’ economy above that of its peers.  
•	Past History: Millennia ago, it is said that Abydos was connected to the main continent by a land bridge.  However, Poseidon’s coup, kicked off with a tremendous wave, shattered the lands, nearly wiping out the Helladic’s predecessors, a people called the Minoans for their capital at Minos.  The death is numerous deities, their names long since forgotten, encouraged the abandoning of many old sites of worship, the old temples consumed by the sea.  The Minoans were plunged into a dark age until they reemerged as the Helladic people, named for a now lost city, Hellas, which had attained military hegemony of the islands, but collapsed five hundred years ago, opening the door for individual city-states and the subsequent love of freedom and hatred of dictators that pervades the Helladic people.  Each of the islands remaining after Poseidon’s War was under the rule of a warlord or king who named the cities as they were, though as historical records dating back to Poseidon’s War are few, their names, and the names of the kings and important persons dating to more than a century back are for the most part unknown.  The three mainland cities are said to be the same cities that existed back when the land bridge to Abydos existed, though culturally, they are entirely Helladic.
Recent Events: The king of Megalopolis, Old Nestor and Bearer of the Aegis, is said to have gone quite mad in his old age, and has been massing a huge sum of silver, the treasure of Megalopolis, and some say he is planning to import engineers from the mainland to construct a series of great wooden bridges to link all of the Helladic islands to one another, eliminating the need for boats.  As there have been no major conflicts between the Helladic islands in some generations aside from the usual raids now and then, there has been no stringent opposition, but neither has there been much commitment to the idea.  
In the past century, Argos’ navy has been exploring and making contact with a variety of foreign cultures, sailing as far as Hanyu, seeking trade ports for exotic goods.  Some of the other Helladics believe that Argos is losing its inner “Helladic spirit” for the lure of the exotic and foreign, but with the treasury of Argos gradually swelling and rising above and beyond that of its neighbors, the Argosians couldn’t care less.  
•	International Relations: The archipelago is not interested in much trade, mostly on account of their difficulty in navigating large stretched of water, though the mainland cities maintain a brisk trade in olive oil and wine with the Narbonesians to the north and the Neustrians to the west.
•	Names: See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_hero .  Remember that there aren’t any family names per se; people call themselves “X, son/daughter of Y,” and sometimes throw in things like “great-grandson of some famous hero or divinity.”
•	Class Skill: Diplomacy (mainland), Knowledge (navigation) (island)
•	Favored Class: Fighter 
•	Prestige Classes: Argosian Navy, Divine Oracle, Helladic Phalanx Bulwark.
•	Neustria 
•	Inspiration: Medieval Europe, linguistically German.
•	Capital: Hessen. 
•	Status: In existence, attempting to expand north and east.
•	Rule: Feudalism, nominal monarchy.
•	Location: West portion of the central continent, with its eastern border generally set at the line formed by the Zugspitze mountain range and the Elbe, though the Neustrians only reliably control lands up to perhaps the longitude line of the end of the Elbe.
•	Geography: Neustria’s landscape is dominated by sloping hills and flat plains that in some places enable the viewer to see nothing but flat, green lands from horizon to horizon with ease.  The middle of the country is cut up by the Obor, Mutte, and Boden Fluss rivers.  There are forests lining the eastern part of the country along the Zugspitze Mountains which provide the majority of Neustria’s “safe timber” (wood that can be harvested without fear of Galician raids) and hunting.  The northwestern part of Neustria holds its arable lands, wihle the southern coast is predominantly rocky and unsuitable for flat-land agriculture. 
•	Natural Resources: The forests along the Zugspitze Mountains provide Neustria’s “safe timber,” while the three rivers provide plenty of fish and a means to transport timber and other resources quickly towards Hessen and other craftsmen towns.  The Zugspitze Mountains are a veritable haven of mineral wealth, providing coal, iron, copper, and nickel.  Neustria’s abundant and well stocked mines make for a lucrative trade that provides nearly all the iron on the continent west of Chalcedon.
•	Economy: Neustria’s economy among the commoners tends towards a rough trading and bartering system with each village having its own “standard” for what goods are worth how many goods of another type.  The larger towns and cities that can afford banks use coinage, which in descending order include gold, silver, copper, and finally brass coins.  No coin is considered legal tender in Neustria without an official stamped imprint from one of Neustria’s royal mints.  
•	Locales of Note: Hessen is the capital of Neustria, an engineering marvel bearing five keeps within tremendous walls of stone, and bordered by the western portion of the Mutte river, allowing it access to resources and fresh water in the event of a siege.  The five keeps are the Keep of the Hammer (the center of the division of government that deals with foreign threats such as the war against the Galicians), Lance (which manages the affairs of knights and nobility), Flame (the center for alchemical and sorcerous studies), Mirror (the center of the office of internal affairs, maintenance of roads and communication, including the underhand), and Scale (the keep where officials maintain the nation’s economy, coinage, and weights & measures).  A sprawling city surrounds the castle, one of the most populous on the western half of the continent.
Auerbach, by contrast, is a very lonely castle, relatively squat, boasting a single keep, barely maintaining a town outside of its walls, and is surrounded entirely by a moat and high crenellated stone walls which can be accessed only by a single drawbridge, making Auerbach a nearly impregnable fortress.  It has to be, as Auerbach currently represents the greatest bastion of Neustria’s northern border, and is the center of the war effort against Galicia, sending out raiding parties and spies everyday to learn more about their hated neighbors.  The Enste family has held the castle for generations, and their current leader, Siegrid Enste, nicknamed the Lord of the Crimson Flood, is said to be mustering for a major offensive to the north and has sent many letters to the knights of Neustra to come to the north.
•	Religions and Philosophies: The Neustrians are for the most part either atheist or apathetic to religions.  Their history has almost entirely focused on their advancement with only the aid of mortals (and some help from the Kiengir, of course, who were considered mortal by the Neustrians).  The “science” that comes from the Keep of Flame is all the Neustrians need to show their superiority over the barbaric Galicians, and their treasured steel shall be the engine for the gift of reason to the world.
•	The People: The Neustrians tend to run the tall end of the spectrum, with adults almost universally hitting the six foot mark as adults.  Physiques and hair styles vary wildly, however, with current fashions, professions, and so forth.  There is no real issue of locked social classes, but the differences in wealth make for natural distinctions.  The knightly class, that is, the heavy mounted cavalry, tend to command the most prestige (and expense, for each knight is expected to maintain his own equipment, though many willingly become vassals to wealthier knights and lords in return for lands, income, and equipment).  A merchant class exists in the cities, and tend to dress more sumptuously than artisans and farmers.  The knightly class dresses the most ostentatiously, sometimes weaving gold, silver, and stones into their dress.  
•	Past History: A recognizable Neustria first appeared four hundred years ago, and are believed to have migrated over the Zugspitze mountains from the east.  No records exist of early campaigns against any indigenous peoples, so it is generally believed that the lands that Neustria now claims for its own were unoccupied or sparsely populated enough that their deaths were not considered worthy of mention, or that integration was remarkably simple.  After the consolidation of power amongst local chieftains, the discovery of iron, and it is believed, the aid of the Kiengir, allowed the metal and stone working crafts of Neustria to progress at an unbelievable pace, making Neustria the only nation west of Chalcedeon that has the knowledge to create steel.  With their new material and intellectual wealth, castles were raised, horses purchased from Mitanni and trained, spurs and armour made, and saddles created to allow the creation of the knightly class of heavy mountain cavalry.  Eventually, one century ago, the most powerful lord of his time, and generally recognized as “king,” Tobias Amberg, lord of Hessen Castle, managed to rally the majority of the feudal lords to his roaring bear banner to conquer the “barbarians of Galicia” to the north, and break out of the cage imposed on Neustria by the Zugspitze Mountains to the east and the vexing forests of the north.
•	Recent Events: The past century has seen the rise of the Enste family, whose heavy cavalry and unorthodox combination with guerilla tactics landed them a strategic position to be the bulwark of the northern invasion, based at Auerbach Castle.  The current lord, Siegrid Enste, has seen his grandfather and father live and die without fulfilling the Neustrian dream of hacking their way onto the world stage, and has vowed to see the Galicians put to the sword, the Nemeton forest cleared, and his lord’s banner 
•	International Relations: Neustria maintains favorable trading relations with  Hellas, though they have not made a concentrated effort to reach out to Mitanni and Narbonesis aside from merchants and officials acting from their own accord, most often profiteering through iron trade.
•	Names: See German names, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_names and http://realnamecreator.alexjonas.de/ 
•	Class Skill: Knowledge (nobility & royalty) 
•	Favored Class: Fighter
•	Prestige Classes: Knight Protector, Lance of Hessen, Ur-priest.
•	Galicia 
•	Inspiration: Celtic cultures, barbarians, druids, linguistically Gaulish http://www.wordgumbo.com/ie/cmp/gaul.htm 
•	Capital: None
•	Status: “Barbarian nation,” forest and plains nomads.
•	Rule: Various bands around a chieftain leader or druid/druidess
•	Location: North part of the west end of the continent, bordering the Orontes River and continuing down the Elbe.
•	Geography: Galicia is dominated by the Nemeton forest, whose great trees form a natural boundary, extending as far south as to end several miles north of Auerbach Castle, generally hugging the western coast of the Elbe and Orontes rivers.  Within the forest are several patches of open ground and grasslands, but these tend to be few and far between.  To the northeast is the Aten lake which provides a source of water for much of the interior, including the three rivers: the Roudo (which provides a majority of the red clay that makes its way into Galician style pottery), the Sirom (considered a natural wonder for the sparkling riverbed, which some believe to be signs of an underwater silver vein), and the Veco (known for its incredible rapids and crashes for such a small river).
•	Natural Resources: Timber is the most obvious resource available in the great forests of Galicia.  The strangely red and blue clay of the Ater Lake fuels a small pottery industry which is for the most part traded to far-traveling merchants of Mitanni which often makes its way to the temples at Zagros Mountain.  Wildlife is plentiful, but the Galicians have not taken skinning and animal product industries to heart, preferring the natural equilibrium of the land, especially after seeing the effects on the land from Neustrian slash-and-burn expansion in recent years.  The knowledgeable can make medicines and wondrous concoctions out of the fauna.  Metals of all sorts are rare or non-existent.
•	Economy: There is no coinage (nor mint to speak of), so the majority of Galician economy relies on trade and barter.  All of the Galician tribes maintain some sort of minor trading presence with individual Mitannian merchants along Galicia’s northeast border, but it is not a truly national trade, nor is it formally recognized by the Mitannian Great King.  Most Galicians trade herbal concoctions and exotic red and blue rope-coil pottery and carved bone instruments to Mitanni in return for bronze weapons, armour, and exotic food and drink items such as wine and sweet oil.  
•	Locales of Note: Ater Lake is at the center of the largest cleaning in all the Nemeton Forest, and generally used for great meetings and gatherings of the clans.  Various primitive uncarved stone altars devoted to spirits and gods of water and the trees exist throughout Galicia as well, the largest of which is named Doro, a few miles inland of the continent’s northwestern coast
•	Religions and Philosophies: The Galicians are a fierce people whose history of conflict has shaped a culture that reveres strength and wits in equal measure, traits needed to survive both in the wilderness on one’s own and united against the Neustrian menace.  A form of animism exists in Galicia, with particular reverence given to the spirits and gods of trees and of the rivers who grant the necessities of life.  It is believed that a great water spirit dwells in Ater Lake who visits its favored ones in dreams and bestowing omens and oracles; those visited by the spirit of Ater Lake invariably find themselves drawn to the altar at Doro, and are the lore keepers and wise ones of the Galicians.  
•	The People: The appearance of the Galicians resembles that of the Neustrians to an uncanny level, leading virtually everyone to believe that the Neustrians and Galicians descend from the same “racial stock.”  There is talk of a marked increase in “exotic” features among the Galicians, however, both twisted and fascinating.  Deformities such as hunches, palsy-twisted limbs, and even vestigial wings and scales are paralleled with fiery red hair, unearthly beauty, and the eyes the flash with purple flame.  No Galician has been captured or observed in the best of conditions, however, so such claims are often ignored by the Neustrians.
•	Past History: The Galicians have few records of their past, but most of what does exist comes from the words of the lore keepers of each tribe and old carvings on raised pillars at Doro, which tell of two creator deities represented by Sun and Moon raising the world, Landa,  from the primordial waters, More.  Since then, the Galicians have existed on the west coast of the continent in the Nemeton Forest, though the forest began receding almost the instant the Neustrian’s ancestors came to the southwest portion of the continent some four hundred years ago, leading many Galician seers and prophets to say that the day the Neustrians conquer the last Galician tribe, the Nemeton Forest will vanish.
•	Recent Events: The various Galician tribal leaders and elders have been meeting with one another to discuss a possible Great Alliance, especially in light of the horror called the Crimson River that occurred last year.  The master of Auerbach Castle, Siegrid Enste, managed to penetrate into the forest with a unit of specially trained woodsmen and scouts as far as central branch of the Veco River.  The number of casualties inflicted on the Galicians included an entire tribe, the Logan, being wiped out, their blood causing the Veco to flow redder than the Roudo.  A bounty worthy of two tribes’ worth of Galician goods, and even, it is rumored, high quality bronze goods from Mitanni, has been offered up for the one who brings the Enste lord’s head back to Doro.
•	International Relations: Warring with Neustria for survival and expulsion.
•	Names: Find Celtic names; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Celtic_language 
•	Class Skill: Survival 
•	Favored Class: Barbarian 
•	Prestige Classes: Bear Warrior, War Chanter.
•	Chalcedea 
•	Inspiration: Chalcedeon is Byzantium at its height, Phoenician alphabet
•	Capital: Chalcedon 
•	Status: In existence, trade center of the continent.
•	Rule: Rule by merchant houses
•	Location: Pretty much in the bottom/center of the continent.
•	Geography: Chalcedea is a very small state, composed of only two cities, but considered the most important territory to control for international trade.  Its capital, Chalcedeon, is several miles south of the end of the Behistun Mountains, and rests in the center of a large plain on a raised hill.  The Al-Kalb river valley is traditionally set as Chalcedea’s border.  The majority of Chalcedea is prairie/low grasslands, though to the east and northeast, the steppes quickly take over.  
•	Natural Resources: Chalcedea lacks virtually every natural resource there is.  Its only advantage is its premier location, being situated at the safest and non-mountainous passage from east to west, as well as the Al-Kalb river connecting it to the sea and to Narbonesian territory.
•	Economy: Chalcedea is the center of international economy across the entire continent.  Within Chalcedeon proper, all manner of goods are traded, and anything can be bought for the right price.  The finest goods, from Neustrian steel, Abydosian antiquities, Khenbishian horses can all be found here.  The most skilled hired expertise, from Mitannian charioteers, Galician adventurers, even Hanyu martial arts instructors can be found in Chalcedea.  
•	Locales of Note: Chalcedeon itself, which is the acknowledged capital and believed to be the center of the world, where anything can be found.  The city is laid out in an absolutely huge rectangle, with the residence of the Hiram, the “exalted brother” and mayor of the city and region being near the center of the city.  The square itself is home to a huge marble fountain of Helladic design, with statues cleverly lined up with Narbonesian engineering to create a fountain out of the statues, and is said to be one of the wonders of the world.  
Tarshiish maintains the nominal honor of being the elves’ birth-city.  The city is located several miles north of Chalcedeon, and is popularly believed to have been the seat of an ancient elven empire, though the Chalcedean elves deny this.  Tarshiish receives no visitors other than the Chalcedean elves themselves.
•	Religions and Philosophies: Chalcedea is a mixing pot of all faiths and philosophies, though the merchant houses of Chalcedeon ensure that no particular faith becomes too powerful or tries cutting people off from the city.  
•	The People: Humans from all over the world journey to Chalcedeon.  The only people unique to the Chalcedean region are the Chalcedean Elves.  The elves tend towards slimmer physiques than humans and tend towards standing between four foot five to five foot six.  They lack facial hair, though the hair on their head tends towards exotic (to humans) colorations such as silver, gold, scarlet, and even mixes such as violent and silver.  Hair is most often worn long, though in battle, Chalcedean Elves tie their hair back with ribbons made of silk as strong as steel.
•	Past History: Chalcedea, as far as virtually everyone is considered, has always existed, and the gods and forces of the world willing, shall always exist.  No war has come to Chalcedea in centuries; the last time an invading army came to Chalcedea’s borders was over a millennia ago, and the invaders were wiped out so thoroughly that not even the few existing Parsaian records record their names.  Living memory records Chalcedea as a peaceful, if bawdy city with sights from all over the world.  Every nation of the continent has some manner of representation at Chalcedea, from small neighborhoods to entire streets and districts.  
•	Recent Events: The past few years have been particularly profitable for virtually all parties, and Mitanni in particular has accounted for a tremendous amount of the small economic boom, mostly on account of Shaushtatar IV’s desire for steel and the willingness to pay for it.
•	International Relations: Chalcedea is officially neutral with all other countries, with no particular system of favors.  Everyone is essentially on their own with investments and business in Chalcedeon.  
•	Names: Use Phoenician names, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenician_alphabet, http://www.behindthename.com/php/search.php?terms=%22Phoenician%22&description=yes , 
http://www.geocities.com/mariamnephilemon/names/asia/phoenician.html 
(f): Arishat, Elissa, Muttunbaal 
(m): Abdeshmun, Abdi-Milki, Abdmelqart, Abdosir, Aderbaal, donibaal, Ahiram, Akbar, Aqhat, Ashtartyaton, Ashtzaph, Baalhanno, Baalshillek, Bodashtart, Bodeshmun, Bodinelqart, Bodhmelqart, Danel, Eshmunamash, Eshmunazar, Germelqart, Hanno, Hasdrubal, Himilco, Hiram, Kanmi, Khilletzbaal, Maharbaal, Melqartpilles, Milkherem, Milkpilles, Milkyaton, Philosir, Rib-Addi, Sakarbaal, Tabnit, Yehawwielon, Yutpan, Zimrida.
•	Class Skill: Diplomacy 
•	Favored Class: Rogue 
•	Prestige Classes: Bladesinger, Chalcedean Mask, Invisible Blade, Master Thrower.
•	Skaoan 
•	Inspiration: Vikings 
•	Capital: Lerwick 
•	Status: Actively skirmishing with Mitanni, attempting to expand south.
•	Rule: Skaoan warlords with personal armies nominally loyal to a central king whose title is the Chief Reaver.  The position is not sacrosanct, however, and every Chief Reaver can expect to see his position challenged by a rival warlord who desires the throne.
•	Location: The islands north of the central continent, north of Mitanni.
•	Geography: The islands of Skaoan are incredibly rocky, with barely any arable land available to the Skaoans.    The four Skaoan islands are, from west to east, Undrlaug, Adisa, VigR, and Pialfarr.  They are surrounded by the Ekkill Sea which extends as far north, west, and east as any Skaoan cares to think about.  Directly across the Eitri Straight is the northernmost coast of Mitanni to the south, and Khenbish’s northwestern border to the southeast.  
•	Natural Resources: What little land is available is used for barley that is eventually processed hops that go into ale manufacture.  There are several iron mines, but they are almost entirely used in the interior for arms and tools.  The two westernmost islands, Undrlaug and Adisa, provide carefully rationed timber.
•	Economy: The Skaoans have virtually no mineral or metal wealth available to be sold or bartered to the outside, but Skaoan ale is famous across northern Mitanni and Khenbish, and has even made its way south as Epirus, where it’s known as a “drink for when you really want to forget the past month.”  Expertise for hire generally means either the infamous Skaoan berserkers or bards who recite and sing the great epics of Skaoan heroes.  
•	Locales of Note: Pialfarr, the easternmost island, holds Lerwick, the capital city of the Skaoans, where the Chief Reaver maintains a home and citadel built on the rocky abomination of an island.  The citadel is a short, squat thing, not even three stories tall, but as solid and unassailable as the islands themselves, for Lerwick commands the only safe landing site of the island, though more often than not, the only visitors to the Skaoan islands are returning Skaoans.  A small lake named the Buri is on the northern part of the island and provides much of its fresh water.  
The island of VigR, the center island, is just as forbidding as its eastern neighbor, though there are two citadels standing, one on the north and one on the south part of the island, though they are no longer staffed for war and defense, nor have they been for generations.  It is on this island that the majority of the non-combatants of the Skaoan people live, working the pitifully small barley fields, working the iron mines, crafting weapons and boats of war, and so forth.
•	Religions and Philosophies: The Skaoans have a great reverence and fear for the sea and its master, the petty deity Aesir, who resembles a great Skaoan warrior with armour made of scales from deep sea creatures, and whose fingers end in terrible claws.  Kraken are believed to be his emissaries, and the appearance of one of these creatures are believed to be great omens, though one hasn’t been sighted in eight years.  Freya, the goddess of love and beauty, is worshipped primarily by the Skaoan women, though there is no sizable clergy.  A wicked deity simply called the Faceless Trickster, faceless because he was said to have been burnt beyond recognition in a battle against a primordial god-giant of fire, and never named so as to not draw his attention, exists as well, though no one worships the Faceless Trickster openly.
•	The People: The Skaoans tend towards paler skin and average heights in the middle to upper range between five and six feet tall, and many are considerably stocky, the better to maintain balance, warmth, and protection against the winds and storms of the Skaoan islands.  Hair, which is generally brown or blonde, is typically worn long and wild, with great beards grown by the men as well, though for the few formal occasions and receiving important diplomatic envoys (which is almost never), the Skaoans might braid or comb their hair; for a Skaoan to “dress up” to receive or meet someone is considered a great measure of honor and respect to the other for Skaoans.  Perhaps paradoxically, the Skaoans consider it a sign of one knowledgeable in Skaoan custom for visitors to come dressed in plainer, less ostentatious, and “not dressed up” fashion.  Some believe it is respect for those who simply live honestly and without worry of cosmetic issues, though others believe it simply gives Skaoans pleasure to see others in a less fortunate-looking position than they are.  Clothing is rough woven cotton and whatever warm materials can be imported from the continent. 
•	Past History: The Skaoans are believed to have always existed on their islands, though they had more of a mainland presence some three centuries ago when the land that the Eitri Strait now covers was still crossable land.  An underwater earthquake disrupted the earth, sending the land covered by the Eitri Strait to the sea and cutting the Skaoans off from direct land passage.  The past three centuries saw the Skaoans, already a surly bunch, grow saltier and even more surly, and kick-started their naval and survivalist culture.
•	Recent Events: Raids have been made on the northern border of Mitanni, though for the most part, they have been fended off.  The current Great Reaver, Skjoldr the Fierce, has the Skaoans solidly behind him after defending his title in a landmark battle, wielding his rune inscribed axe, Burrbildr, against three challengers, the Ondottr brothers.  He is said to be planning to send gifts of iron and ale to the Khenbish and the Chane for a friendly mainland presence.
•	International Relations: Skirmishing with Mitanni, potential overtures to Khenbish and Chane for allies and trade.  
•	Names: Norse names, http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/ONNames.shtml 
•	Class Skill: Intimidate 
•	Favored Class: Fighter 
•	Prestige Classes: Frenzied Berserker, Stormlord, War Chanter 
•	Chane 
•	Inspiration: Celtic “barbarians,” linguistically Kiswahili
•	Capital: None; nomadic/barbaric
•	Status: In existence, expanding into formerly dwarven lands 
•	Rule: Individual tribes and chiefdoms 
•	Location: Just east and south of the Behistun mountains, though there is a very small presence on the west side of the Behistun mountains.  
•	Geography: The Zuri Forest hugs the east side of the Behistun mountain range, gradually emptying out into the grasslands of the Jela Plain and eventually steppes and highlands towards the east.  Small lakes are scattered throughout the Chane territories, with very small rivers and watering holes existing outside of the Zuri, with the Eshe river, a tributary of the Orontes which flows through the Ashanti Passage of the Behistun mountains, being the only major source of water outside the Zuri.
•	Natural Resources: Timber seems to be the only natural resource of note available, with little to no expeditions made by the Chane into the Behistun mountains for mining and exploration purposes.  
•	Economy: Chane lacks coinage and takes primarily to barter and trade to get what it wants with its own people.  The Chane have very little to offer outsiders other than hired expertise as trackers, guides, and protection through their lands., but they are always on the lookout for equipment that makes life easier, such as metal tools.
•	Locales of Note: The Zuri forest has varied wildlife and extends for some distance through Chane territory, but the lands outside of it, in essence the Jela Plain, has very little to offer aside from grassland.
•	Religions and Philosophies: Some of the Chane follow a form of druidic animism, with individuals choosing to revere which spirits they wish to follow.  Generally, those tribes dwelling closer to the mountains worship the spirits of earth and stone, those who live in the Zuri pay homage to the spirits of woods and streams, and the tribes of the Jela pay homage to the spirits of sun, fire, sky, and moon.  There is no real hierarchy for the spirits of the Chane; popularity of a particular spirit’s worship is dependent almost entirely on its mortals converting others and spreading the word.
•	The People: The humans that dwell in the Chane lands bear a striking similarity to the Galicians in almost every way, leading some scholars to believe that both Chane and Galicians are descendants of the same stock, that in the distant past, all the people of the continent were like them, but gradually changed to fit their habitats as time went on.  This feeling of lineage and human provenance, however, bears little in terms of personal respect and what few diplomatic overtures are made towards the Chane, who are often seen as backwards and fools for not fully developing their lands, especially with Chalcedea, the center for international trade, being so relatively close. 
The Chane lands are particularly infamous for housing the largest concentration of orcs, who call themselves the Enzi (“powerful”), on the continent, beings of humanoid structure, though generally shorter, in the four to five foot range mostly on account of a marked hunch that seems to plague all Enzi.  The Enzi have an incredible amount of muscle mass compared to humans of like size (and of virtually any size, at that), and on numerous occasions, Enzi have been hired out to serve as mercenaries, shock troops, and body guards for individuals who manage to find them and gain their respect, often through performing feats of strength such as smashing stones, wrestling matches, and axe hurling competitions.
Every Chane makes his own wardrobe, it is said, with surprisingly effective clothing being made from virtually any material available; this at one time even sparked a minor fashion craze of bark and bone woven clothing which made some Chane wealthy for a time.
•	Past History: The Chane are believed to be the oldest people of the continent, seemingly always having been in existence.  In the distant past, the Chane roamed the farthest reaches of the continent, from coast to coast, but with the expansion of other military-minded kingdoms, various peoples were displaced and pushed towards the center of the continent.  The Chane today represent the descendants of those were finally pushed to the wall of the Behistun mountains, and not driven away from there due to the perceived economic and military uselessness of their current lands.  
•	Recent Events: Various chieftains in the northern Chane territories, among them the Enzi tribe, have been contacted by Skaoan Great Reaver for a potential military alliance (an economic alliance between two peoples who have nearly nothing to offer one another would have been a sick joke).  The first emissaries were only sent in the past year, and each tribe that has received a Skaoan emissary is mulling things over.
•	International Relations: Contemplating alliance with Skaoans, no great consensus regarding the other nations.
•	Names: http://www.babynamebox.com/swahili-baby-names.html 
•	Class Skill: Survival
•	Favored Class: Barbarian 
•	Prestige Classes: Enzi One-Eye, Frenzied Berserker, nature’s Warrior, Ravager, War Chanter.
•	Narbonesis 
•	Inspiration: Rome 
•	Capital: Epirus 
•	Status: Beginning to expand north and west.
•	Rule: Oligarchic republic; “rule by the elite,” the Senate.
•	Location: The peninsula to the south that stretches out into the Eternus Mare.  Direct control is generally presumed to end at the Tiberis River, though recent military campaigns have begun pushing to the west and north.  They haven’t quite struck the Urshum river or the Zugspitze mountains with their military machine, but they certainly intend to do so, and to push even further outwards.
•	Geography: The majority of the Narbonesian peninsula is hilly terrain, broken up with plains and flatlands that are most often used for transportation of goods and military marches.  Beyond the Tiberis lie patches of forest and more hilly country.  The Tiberis has three small tributaries, the Marano, the Calcinara, and the Sile, the first two of which are rather shallow and not conducive for large cargo transport by boat, although periodically flat-bottomed boats that can hold twenty or so men are sent.
•	Natural Resources: Narbonesis’ major natural resources are copper and coal, with small tin mines scattered through the country.  Marble and granite can both be harvested at quarries several miles away from Epirus, and the dead volcano Monte Cimino just off the eastern coast sometimes yields pumice and obsidian.  The Tiberis provides a wealth of freshwater fish, and the surrounding forests provide wildlife such as bears, eagles, and wolves that are sometimes hunted or tamed by bestiarii, the trainers of beasts.
•	Economy: The Narbonesian economy functions mostly on coinage, fueled by national mints and trade with the Helladics to the south.  Exports include raw marble and granite especially aimed at Hellas for their experts to sell back fine statuary and pottery.  Bronze is considered too valuable to trade en masse internationally due to the relatively low abundance of tin, but copper is sold throughout the world, though it is of no special quality.  There are very few Narbonesian adventurers and mercenaries abroad on account of recent army musters and expansion efforts, and the Narbonesian Senate is generally too proud to call in military expertise, or any hired help beyond menial servants and artisans & scholars of exceptional caliber.  
•	Locales of Note: Epirus is the capital of the Narbonesian Republic, a marble and granite city clearly influenced by Helladic artisans and stonemasons, with pillared temples and public buildings dominating the cityscape, and amphitheaters providing places of entertainment.  The center of the city houses a great garden which is famous for the tame wolves and bears that are allowed to roam free, and nearby is the forum, where great rhetorics and orators sway the public, and close by is the domed Senate building where the decisions of state are made by the elite.  Outside the city is the great Colosseum, a circle of sand several hundred feet across encircled with stone where Narbonesian warriors go to settle disputes and hone their martial skills, often to the delight of a crowd. 
•	Religions and Philosophies: The Narbonesian people do not care much for god worship, being big believers in their might as the Narbonesian people.  This goes as far as an ancestor cult, with the greatest leaders, thinkers, warriors, and so forth of the Narbonesian people being enshrined in state ceremonies in Epirus.  It is believed that ancestors look down upon their descendants, giving their blessings only to the worthiest of mortals, which gives a nearly national sense of doing one’s best to promote the Narbonesian state to the best of one’s ability.
•	The People: The men and women of Narbonesis tend towards white skin and sharp, almost angular features, making most of the people seem as though they were people shaped through artificial means, though the Narbonesians simply take this as a sign of their innate superiority expressing itself in even their bodies and minds.  Toga robes, much like the ones Helladics wear, are favored, though the Narbonesians tend to use lighter fabrics and materials due to the fact that they don’t have to deal with the harsher weather of Poseidon’s Sea.  
•	Past History: The Narbonesians, until about fifty years ago, were vassals of a civilization named the Tusci, and under command of a Tuscian governor who commanded the majority of the Narbonesian peninsula.  A revolutionary war began, however, when the Tuscian governor of Narbonesis, Lucius Tolumnius of Veii, angered the Narbonesians with  a number of attempted reforms, among them the murder of his predecessor and destruction of his predecessor’s body by running it over with a chariot, orchestrating the murder of key senators who supported the predecessor, and proceeded to throw out numerous aspects of the Narbonesian constitution, including the disarming of the lower classes and going beyond mere corvee labor in the forced construction of regal monuments for Tolumnius.  A revolution was staged, centering around an alliance with the Parsaians, the senator Narbonesus, for whom the kingdom was named, and he was subsequently regarded as almost a god after his death and father to the country.  Narbonesus pioneered the creation of the Narbonesian army and its division into legions, the populus of the city, and of them, one hundred noble men to be the patricians, the members of Senate.  There were talks of incorporating the Parsains into their government structure, but their disappearance has rendered suck talks useless until what happened to them can be discovered.  
•	Recent Events: The Narbonesians are now led by their first citizen, Ancus Marcius, and the army is still strong, combining all manner of elements in civil, religious, and military affairs.  The past few years have been spent consolidating gains since Narbonesus’ death forty years ago.  There is talk of marching west towards the Zugspitze mountains and gradually moving north to engage Mitanni.
•	International Relations: Neutral with most countries, with a minor trade alliance with the Helladics.  
•	Names: These guys are going to have both personal and family names, with the personal name coming first.  Latin names, obviously.  
Personal names: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_praenomina 
Family names: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_nomina 
Some women names: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_female_names 
•	Class Skill: Craft 
•	Favored Class: Fighter 
•	Prestige Classes: Praetorian Guard
•	Mahajanapadas 
•	Inspiration: India until just around the founding of Buddhism
•	Capital: Each of the five kingdoms has its own capital, which also serves as the name for each kingdom: Kasi, Kosala, Anga, Magadha, and Vajji.  
•	Status: In existence, akin to Sengoku with struggles for supremacy and unification of the country.  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahajanapadas for more inspiration.
•	Rule: Monarchy 
•	Location: Southern half of the great island to the east
•	Geography: The majority of the Mahajanapadas half of the island is covered by the Thar plain which surrounds the rocky Deccan Plateau.  The northern boundary of the Mahajanapadas is considered the Alburz mountain range, with the Alburz mountain at the center of the island and dominating the island for miles around.  Two major lakes exist in the Mahajanapadas; the Mannar to the west and the Andaman in the center, which serves to connect the rivers of the country.  The Beas flows in from the Alburz mountains, and the Andamann serves as source for the Ravi, Sutlej, and Bomti rivers.  
•	Natural Resources: The Mahajanapadas have very rich reserves of coal and iron throughout the country; it is jokingly said that “iron is like dust,” and many other countries look upon the iron scimitar wielding warriors of the Mahajanapadas, when much of the mainland is stuck wielding bronze and copper weapons.  The kingdom of Magadha is famous on the mainland for its diamond trade.  Livestock and horses are both commonly grown, and there are several mulberry gardens in Kassi along the east coast.
•	Economy: The Mahajanapadas maintains numerous economies such as textiles (including hand-woven carpets and Kassian silk), tools and weapons made of metal, and Magahan diamonds find their way all over the continent.
•	Locales of Note: Countless villages and wilderness homes dot the landscape, but there are only five major cities in the Mahajanapadas, each of whom serves as the capital for one of the petty kingdoms on the southern half of their island: Kasi, Kosala, Anga, Magadha, and Vajji.  Each has a tremendous urban sprawl centering around a great bazaar where markets almost as large as Chalcedeon.  
•	Religions and Philosophies: The dominant philosophy of the day believes that the universe is divided into various realms; the realm of mortals, ashura (evil spirits and malevolent beasts) and devas (more beneficial spirits and gods that aid the mortal race).  The universe and all its realms is said to be an emanation of a great creator spirit called the Brahman and presided over by the deva and ashura spirits.  Mortals are said to be reincarnated into the mortal world in social positions, locations, and to parents and professions in accordance with an energy that mortals pick up through their deeds called kharma, that is, spiritual merit.  Mortals will continue to be reincarnated into this world unless they become deified or manage to return to the Brahman emanating spirit. 
There is a cult that has recently formed in the past five years around a man known as the Arhat Shakyamuni who is preaching a new philosophy that preaches that existence is a condition of suffering and that to leave this suffering requires the purification of the soul and mind through several reincarnations to reach a state of ultimate bliss in life, called nirvana, and upon death in a nirvanic state, to escape reincarnation and find total and limitless bliss, parinirvana.  The established Brahmin and secular leaders have not responded to the Arhat Shakyamuni’s new philosophy en masse, but his wild popularity and the willingness of hundreds to put down their tools, shave their heads, and don an orange saffron robe like the Arhat has made many local warlords nervous.
•	The People: The people of the Mahajanapadas tend to remain around the higher range of five feet and have brown skin tones with a tendency for black hair which is rarely cut, but often braided or tucked back into a turban or bandana.  The people are divided into four major castes: the Brahmin priests and scholars, the Kshatriya kings and warriors, the Vaishya traders, landowners, and artisans, and Shudra farmers and service providers in accordance with their holy texts known as the Vedas.  
•	Past History: The Mahajanapadas have largely developed in isolation, with chieftains and local warlords keeping secular power while the priests and teachers eventually began congregating in cities and convents, with charismatic teachers drawing disciples to their cities which would eventually become the five great cities of the Mahajanapadas’ kingdoms.  The military class has developed a system amongst military vassals called the haya system which declares how many military resources (most importantly cavalry) a vassal must contribute to his lord.  There has been no major conflict between the five kingdoms of the Mahajanapadas since their founding three centuries ago, with only skirmishes between small groups for the maintenance of military skills having occurred.
•	Recent Events: As under “People,” the prophet known as the Arhat Shakyamuni has been wandering the country, preaching his new philosophy, which has even managed to find converts in the northern half of the island, Phayul, and several monks have been noticed in the Hanyu courts.
•	International Relations: The Mahajanapadas mostly interact with Phayul, sending religious emissaries and exporting diamonds to the north.  There is a greater deal of respect for Phayul, whose state religion of the Diamond Sutra makes them worthier of respect than the majority of other nations.
•	Names: Sanskrit names; http://www.indiaexpress.com/specials/babynames/ 
•	Class Skill: Knowledge (any) 
•	Favored Class: Fighter 
•	Prestige Classes: Deceiver, Shakyamunian Disciple, Vajrayana Disciple, Sutra-Bearer.
•	Phayul
•	Inspiration: Tibet 
•	Capital: Lhasa
•	Status: In existence.
•	Rule: Theocracy under the Diamond Vehicle, Vajrayana 
•	Location: Northern half of the great island to the east
•	Geography: Phayul is located on the northern half of the great eastern island, its territory dominated by mountainous terrain.  The Ambo mountain range covers the majority of the northwestern corner of Phayul’s territory, broken on its eastern border by the Yunnan pass, and continues to the east with the Kham mountain range which gradually finds its way to the east coast, petering out to the Ngari islands to the northwest, rocky and mountainous islands which are believed to be uninhabited.  To the south of the Yunnan Pass, at approximately midway between the Alburz mountain range which notes Phayul’s southern border, and the Yunnan is lake Baidi, which provides the source for the Mekong and Tsangpo rivers, which in turn provide much of the nation’s fresh water, allowing pockets of arable land to exist along the rivers’ borders.  
•	Natural Resources: Phayul is richly endowed with plant resources, with literally hundreds of plants found no where else throughout the known world.  Hundreds of plants exist in the forests to the southwest of the Kham mountain range that bear medicinal properties.  There are several species of birds, reptiles, and mammals, most famous among them panda, deer, and wild yak.  Phayul lacks a great deal of mineral wealth, however.  
•	Economy: Phayul’s major economy is based around subsistence agriculture and medicinal herbs which are well known in the Mahajanapadas, Hanyu, and Khenbish, though there are no serious efforts to expand the medicine industry on a global scale.  Phayul is not a “shut off” country, but most industries are aimed at keeping the people alive and for offerings to the Vajrayana monasteries.  When secular citizens must get things from among themselves, they use a system of trade and barter, though the peoples who live in villages north of the Yunnan pass and near the Alburz mountains to the south know the value of coin for foreign trade, and wealthy men and women have begun small scale mining operations in an attempt to find metals and precious minerals to turn to coin.
•	Locales of Note: Lhasa is the only large city in all of Phayul, and operates as one of the focal points for the state religion, Vajrayana, or the Diamond Vehicle, as introduced five years ago by traveling monks, students of the Arhat Shakyamuni.  The city lacks defensive fortifications of any sort, and is essentially a monastery on a grand scale, having been raised on a flat plain near the fork of the Tsangpo and Mekong rivers for access to fresh water and to regulate traffic coming in from the Yunnan Pass.  Many autonomous buildings exist in Lhasa, from bell towers and meditation halls to living quarters and meal halls, all richly decorated with elaborate symbols in the holy language of the Vajrayana sutra, all aimed at protecting the people from bad spirits and attracting good merit.  
Bari is a small village to the north, outfitted with a nominal barracks and minor fortifications, and is a farming community/small urban center of several hundred people, with a notable presence of merchants and militia, though nothing on the scale of a national army.  It is Phayul’s link to the north, and unofficial, private trading occurs frequently between Phayulan merchants and Hanyu’s own.  Bari even boasts a Hanyun ambassador and minor military presence. 
Hongqi is Phayul’s southernmost village, and like Bari, is a gateway to a foreign nation, in this case, the Mahajanapadas.  It mirrors Bari’s appearance, with minor walls and militia, and the presence of merchants.  Hongqi has some farming fields to the north and east, but the major industry of Hongqi is mining, and they have been lucky to strike several silver veins which is the major product exported to the Mahajanapadan kingdom of Magadha for valuables such as diamonds and religious texts relating to the Vajrayana.  
•	Religions and Philosophies: The Vajrayana sutra, introduced by traveling monk-missionaries of the Arhat Shakyamuni some five years ago found popularity in the wealthier and more powerful members of society in Phayul, and it is said that virtually every noble and man of importance immediately shaved their head and donned the saffron robes of the new religion, abandoning their old “barbaric” practice of worshipping native spirits and demons, though some small shrines and temples to the old religion exist in the Amdo mountains for those who care to find them.  Though perceived as a minor subschool or splinter sect in the Mahajanapadas, the Diamond Vehicle sutra is the major philosophy of Phayul, which is said to teach techniques known as “skillful means” to more escape the cycle of reincarnation through living an ascetic’s lifestyle in a monastery, reciting of Vajrayana sutra, meditating over holy objects such as stylized thunderbolts of a deity known as Indra, which represents “method,” and metal bells which stand for “wisdom,” and through the use of mandala charts, special diagrams which are said to hold the keys and true shapes of the universe.  Other meditation techniques teach to “use the result as the Path,” which means that rather than placing full enlightenment as a goal far away in the future, one tries to identify with the enlightened body, speech, and mind of an enlightened spirit, such as the various Arhats and enlightened beings mentioned in the sutras.  
•	The People: The people of Phayul look much the same as the people of Hanyu, leading the majority of scholars to believe that the modern Phayul are the descendants of immigrants from southern Hanyu to explain the few differences that arise, such as the spacing of the eyes, the relatively coarser hair, and the domination of brown hair over the Hanyu feature of black, straight hair.  The Phayulan people stand slightly taller than their northern cousins, usually reaching approximately five foot seven at their tallest, and have slightly tanned skin tones.  Among the laity, hair is rarely cut, and often arranged in elaborate knots, braids, and configurations amongst those who can afford the expertise, while a simple queue is fine for those who lack the expertise.  Clothing tends to be white or brown tunics and pants, or robes, with decorations depending on the seasons and the person’s own tastes.  
The monastic residents universally shave their heads and don saffron robes, though the coloring and dyes on their robes differ depending on the monk’s rank and advancement on the path of the Diamond Vehicle.  The robe’s dying goes from orange, yellow, green, blue, red, purple, black, and finally white.  Many monks also carry a holy relic of some sort, such as a stylized thunderbolt, a small metal bell, or portions of the Vajrayana sutra scrolls tucked into their robe.
•	Past History: Oral traditions are the only records that exist beyond five years ago with the introduction of the Vajrayana monks, but they divide the events that shaped Phayul into the events of the legendary kings and mystics of the past, and what has gone on in the days of earth-bound mortals, the relatively mundane events of state.  Phayul has never engaged in war, though the indigenous religion that existed before Vajrayana entered the land used rituals such as human sacrifice to ward off and appease demons.  The people of Phayul were village-bound by habit, and very few Phayul traveled to other villages other than the few and far between merchants and religious figures.  Consequently, many Phayul believed they were the only ones living in the world.  
•	Recent Events: The arrival of the Mahajanapadan monks five years ago sparked the coming together of Phayul into a true country, with a centralized language, a derivative of Mahajanapadan, allowing communication between tribes and villages of Phayulans despite centuries of no communication.  The founding of Lhasa provided a strong nationalistic and theocratic center for Phayul, and the increased attention to international affairs kicked the villages of Hongqi and Bari into high gear, with private merchants, explorers, and newly made monks journeying far and wide across Phayul and even into other countries on missions of mercantilism and religion.
•	International Relations: Because of the appearance of the Vajrayana sutra, the Mahajanapadas are considered the moral center of the world for the majority of Phayulans.  Hanyu is considered a “different,” though powerful, nation, especially with reports and testimony from monks and merchants making Hanyu a country that Phayul ought to get on their good side, not only to spread the word of the Diamond Vehicle, but also to gain a foothold in the world market.  
•	Names: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_language , http://www2.lucidcafe.com/sherpa1/sfa/sSherNam.htm 
•	Class Skill: Knowledge (religion)
•	Favored Class: Monk 
•	Prestige Classes: Vajrayana Disciple
•	Hanyu 
•	Inspiration: China during the morally upright Han Dynasty
•	Capital: Changan 
•	Status: In existence.
•	Rule: Emperor given Mandate of Heaven (tien-ming)
•	Location: The southern half of much of the territory to the east of Chalcedea. 
•	Geography: Hanyu has a variety of different landscapes, with mostly plateaus and mountains to the north, with lower lands to the south, east, and west.	Hill ranges exist all over the country, though the south and east bears the majority of Hanyu’s flatlands and arable lands which historically have existed along the rivers.  The Huashan mountain range to the north has traditionally been the northern border of the Hanyu and the primary line of defense against Khenbish incursions, while other mountains, such as the Henan mountains to the far south, provide places for religious retreat, including the famous Yong-heng monastery, world-renown for its martial artist monks and esoteric practices.  Other places kept “pristine” by government order for religious reasons, such as the Changbai forest which covers the majority of the land encircled by the Huaihen and Xinjiang rivers.  Beyond the Huashen mountains to the west, the land peters out into rocky lands and eventually a stretch of desert that leads into Chalcedean lands.  The land along the southeastern coast is particularly low, lower than sea level in some places.
•	Natural Resources: Hanyu bears a tremendous amount of mineral and natural wealth, from forests and rivers providing timber and fish industries.  The lower elevation of the southeastern provinces lend well towards wet rice agriculture, which is the major foodstuff of the Hanyu kingdom.  Barley and grain are smaller industries and common among the lower classes and grown in areas where wet-rice and terrace agricultural fields fail.  Mulberry trees, whose leaves are used to feed silkworms, can be found virtually anywhere a farmer with an eye to the future lives.  In the northern provinces can be found quarries and mines dedicated to various minerals and metals, the most valuable among them copper, tin, various crystals, and jade, considered the object of Heaven.
•	Economy: Hanyu has quite possibly the world’s second largest economy after Chalcedea, with Hanyul coinage accepted at virtually every city in the civilized world.  Hanyul silk, highly decorated and of excellent quality, is Hanyu’s primary export, finding its way to the wealthiest of nobles even as far as Neustria, and Hanyul metal products, from ingots to finished containers, tools, and even weapons, are used and studied by even the metal geniuses of Neustria.  Hanyu has very little need to import, providing its own food, clothing, tools, and so forth.  About the only noticeable import the Hanyul people have made is regarding religion, where several monks from the distant Mahajanapadan kingdoms have brought with them a new religion three years ago, the Saddharmapundarika sutra, or the White Lotus of the Sublime Law sutra.
•	Locales of Note: Changan is the seat of authority in Hanyu and has acted as the capital city for over ten dynasties to date.  Meaning “Perpetual Peace,” the city’s layout has been the standard for all Hanyul cities, and remains the second most populated city in the world after Chalcedeon, a consumer city bearing a tremendous population because of its role as the political capital of Hanyu.  The city was built over the course of three generations, and follows an exacting standard of geomantic principles, such as a grid of streets, roads, residential, and mercantile districts that are said to be interlocked at corners of exactly ninety degree angles.  The city’s political power is weighted towards the north, with the houses and properties of Hanyu’s most important political families, along with the numbering system of roads and streets starting from the north, with the Imperial Palace at the northern apex of the city.  The entire city is walled, with hundreds of towers bearing siege engines and ever-vigilant guards protecting the city that many Hanyul call the center of the world.  
Zhongdu is located at the western end of the Yangtze River and considered the greatest military fortress ever constructed by the Hanyu people.  Built on an artificial mountain, with sheer walls and towers that go so far as to encircle water sources and farming fields so that the soldiers are never without needed resources.  The war against the Khenbish has its center here, with all roads and passes leading through the Huashan mountains leading directly to Zhongdu, with numerous minor forts and checkpoints regulating all traffic between the two countries.  
Fushun is the center of Hanyu’s silk industry, with cleared fields full of mulberry trees and silkworm processing facilities as far as the eye can see.  The city of Fushun itself is surprisingly very small, for to ensure quality, the government limits the number of citizens allowed in the district and allowed apprentices of the secret art of Fushun silk, which is often reserved only for Hanyul and foreign nobility of the highest rank.
Jinan represents the farthest directly controlled Hanyul city, modeled in the same style as Changan with its gridline streets and important families and the governor being housed at the northern end of the city.  It has a marked amount of foreign influence, especially from contact with Chalcedean merchants and foreign goods.  
•	Religions and Philosophies: In Hanyu’s distant past, there were periods of strife known as the Warring States era with produced a multitude of philosophers and schools of thought that many sought to introduce to rulers in order to bring the period of strife to a close and create moral dynasties and subjects.  The most popular and surviving philosophy was Kong jiao, “The teachings of Kong,” the philosophy of Kong-fu Tzu which stresses moral conduct through the principle of human-heartedness which is able to be cultivated through living properly in order to become what he called the sage, one whose power is to inspire moral conduct in others through his example and teachings.  Important teachings include the Rectification of Names, which delineated everyone’s proper role, the concept of Five Relationships (ruler/subject, husband/wife, father/son, older sibling/younger sibling, older friend/younger friend), all based on the notion of age and position.
Two years ago, several traveling disciples of the Arhat Shakyamuni arrived through the trade lines to Phayul, eventually arriving at Yong-heng.  The monk, called Tamo by the Hanyul monks, taught the philosophies of Chan and the Saddharmapundarika sutra, or the White Lotus of the Sublime Law sutra, which taught that anyone could become enlightened, and specifically, that enlightenment could come even in a single lifetime in a sudden blooming of one’s inner Arhat nature, becoming as above the muck of the impermanent world as a white lotus sits atop a mud filled pond.  Several monks have traveled to the Imperial Court to preach this new religion, but there has been no official Imperial response.  
The indigenous faith of Hanyu was split along two great philosophies, the spiritualist and naturalist views.  The first believed that the world was full of spirits, and that the human soul was divided into two pieces which separated upon death.  One piece, the shen, would ascend to the heavenly realms, and bore the mind, intellect, and memories.  The second piece, the kuei, bore the animalistic urges of the person, and descended deep into the earth.  These spirits could be consulted for advice, knowledge of the future, and to influence events.  The second view, the naturalist view, cared nothing for spirits, seeing all events occurring in the process of interaction between two opposing forces, yin and yang, the weak and the strong, the female and the male, the dark and the light.  Everything is said to be able to be understood in the process of these two natural forces, and while mortals aren’t able to necessarily influence the process of these unthinking natural forces, they can divine these influences through special divination techniques to roll with what the universe gives you.
•	The People: The citizens of Hanyu tend to top out at five and a half feet tall, with exceptions appearing every now and then.  Straight, black hair is a virtually universal trait, with the majority of people letting their hair grow long, with men, especially military men, braiding their hair back into a queue that can be quickly whipped out of the way should combat break out, and women arranging their hair in as elaborate designs as they can muster.  The people are divided into a number of classes, with Kong jiao principles placing the scholar at top for his moral virtue and skill at the arts of peace, the farmers for growing the food that feeds the people, the military man who performs the undesirable acts of war, and finally, the merchants who make nothing themselves, but maintain the economy and bring finished goods to market.  While it is true that those who pass Imperially sanctioned civil service exams whose primary objects of examination are ethics and moral virtue as defined by Kong fu Tzu, calligraphy, painting, and poetry tend to get into the higher stations of government, military men tend to command the provinces and lands bordering foreign countries by necessity.  Sumptuary laws declare that only certain classes can wear certain materials, such as only the military class being able to keep weapons of war in their own homes (they must otherwise be stored in barracks and garrisons that are often locked when the province is not at war) and the scholarly class being able to wear silk of certain dyes, and only the Imperial family can wear yellow.
•	Past History: Hanyu civilization begins nearly two millennia ago, when it is said that a number of divine kings and mortal heroes descended from Shangdi, the lord of Heaven, came together and established a kingdom at Changan, said to be the center of the world by the ancient historical writings.  Some believe that the Ahura-Mazda were among these divine kings and mortal heroes.  Over time, provincial warlords and chieftains forged alliances with one another and attacked the capital of Changan en masse, seeking to depose what they saw as weaklings for their attempts to rule through virtue and divine right than the strength of the military.  The war wound up eradicating both sides, forcing everyone to start over and kicking off an era known as the Warring States period, wherein hundreds of philosophical schools would rise to prominence, with the school of Kong Jiao eventually becoming dominant when the king of Han defeated the Qin king and established the first dynasty based on Kong fu Tzu’s principles, the Han dynasty, and established the civil service examinations.  Eventually, the Han rulers became, over generations, weak due to the delegation of responsibilities, especially to court eunuchs, and corruption swept the land.  It was said that the Han rulers had lost the right to rule, the Mandate of Heaven, or tien ming, and sparked off a popular uprising.  This cycle of a virtuous new ruler taking over from a bad ruler, and the new dynasty turning corrupt, and taken over by a new virtuous ruler, seems to have served as the model for all dynasties according to the Hanyul historical texts, and saw the end of the Han, Xia, Shang, Zhou, Jin, Sui, Liao, Ming, and Song dynasties.  
•	Recent Events: The Tang dynasty began approximately sixty years ago after the Li family was pressed by the military and the people to take over from the failing Song dynasty in a great revolt that lasted seven years before the patriarch of the Tang dynasty, Li Yuan, was enthroned and sat on the Jade Throne.  He ruled until his death of old age, and has since been succeeded by Li Shimin, whose rule name is Tang Taizong, for the past forty years.  Tang Taizong’s earlier military expansions have expanded the borders of Hanyu to their furthest in Hanyu’s history, and their military and economy have never been stronger.  Most believe that under his reign, the Khenbish will finally be subjugated and the entire east become a single kingdom under Heaven.  Two years ago, monks from the Mahajanapadas introduced the concept of Chan and the White Lotus of the Sublime Law sutra, which has become very popular in the southern provinces.
•	International Relations: Hanyu is always in a state of aggression against the various raiders of Khenbish, and maintains a neutral stance on all other countries.
•	Names: Chinese names
•	Class Skill: Knowledge (any)
•	Favored Class: Fighter
•	Prestige Classes: Drunken Boxer, Eunuch Warlock, Geometer, Iron Hand Adept, Iron Vest Adept, Kensai, Lion’s Roar, Shou Disciple, Void Disciple, Yong-heng Ssu Animal Fist, Yim’s Twelve Kicks.
•	Khenbish 
•	Inspiration: The Mongols just before Genghis Khan; “Khenbish” means “Nobody,” an ethnic attempt to avoid misfortune and confuse evil spirits.
•	Capital: Karakorum
•	Status: In existence.
•	Rule: Individual pastoralist-nomadic tribes
•	Location: The northeastern part of the map.
•	Geography: Khenbish’s territory is very large, but contains very little arable land, as much of it is covered by arid and unproductive steppes with mountains to the south and the Hanno desert to the south and west.  The rangelands are fragile and easily destroyed by overgrazing, which results in the expansion of the Hanno desert, which leads a majority of the Khenbish to stray away from the desert.  Khenbish’s largest lake is the Amur lake, which serves as the source for the country’s major rivers: the Selenga, Halha, Tuul, and Onon rivers.  Beyond this area, the steppes, often referred to as the ‘sea of grass’ by visitors and natives alike, is often unbroken, with the northern coast being the only break in the sea of green and brown.  The land is said to be very active by scholars of earth and stone, which results in numerous earthquakes that strike the land, and hot springs that can be found by the knowledgeable.  Alpine forests can be found along the Huashan mountains, though more often than not, the only Khenbish that go so close to those mountains are raiders and warriors beating back any Hanyu advances into their domain.
•	Natural Resources: The fields and steppes of Khenbish are the grazing grounds of the country’s most obvious natural resources, the great horses of Khenbish who know no equal in the world.  The tiny portion of Khenbish who have the patience or servants to dig underground have found pockets of gold, silver, and iron, while the pockets of trees and the alpine forests of the Huashan mountains provide wood for tools and weapons.
•	Economy: Khenbish’s internal economy is focused on trading and bartering, with the most valuable objects in the land being horses and weapons, especially bows and iron weapons.  Steel is virtually unknown to the Khenbish, as there are no foundries or smithies in the land.  Few tribes have the will to brave crossing the Henno desert, but those that have done so in the past know the value of coinage in the international market.  
•	Locales of Note: Karakorum, located on the northeastern shore of Lake Amur, is the only collection of structures in Khenbish that could be considered a “city,” and beyond one or two mining communities in the eastern Huashan mountains, the only group of permanent structures in all the land.  Karakorum is often used as a great meeting place for the Khenbish people, having adequate water and flat lands around it to maintain even several tribes’ tremendous horse hordes.  Various stone buildings exist for sleeping, though places for public speaking are all outdoors, including the great Platform of Speech, a raised stone stage where speakers stand to address the Khenbish people.  
•	Religions and Philosophies: The native religion of Khenbish is a form of shamanism, with the central religious figures being specialists skilled in identifying and communing with spirits, especially through ecstatic shaman-trances where the shaman allows the spirits of the land, the sky, and of animals and plants.  There is a collection of ninety nine tngri, or heavenly creatures of the Blue, Mighty, Eternal Heaven (koke tngri, erketu, tngri, mongke tngri), of which Eternal Blue Heaven is the chief, the creator of the visible and invisible.  Another prominent spirit is Qurmusata, the King of the Gods who brought fire into the world, which is considered very sacred.  One of the many etiquettes of the Khenbish is to never stamp out a fire or put rubbish or water on it.  
Beyond the shamans, the principle of the Khenbish is the ability to ride and survive in the steppes, whether it is alone or with the tribe.  Military and hunting skills that go hand in hand, such as riding and archery techniques that translate into cavalry and dragoon military maneuvers are expected to be trained by every Khenbish, even among the women.  
•	The People: The Khenbish tend towards taller heights, often topping out at six feet tall, though the majority of them have slight hunches from the cold winters of the Khenbish land, and virtually everyone above the age of five has the tell-tale straddled way of walking that comes from years of traveling by horse.  The people tend to dress in leathers for the most part, with heavy cottons favored by most people as under-garments and secondary clothing.  The wealthier Khenbish import silk whenever they can, raiding for it when they cannot.  Hair is worn in whatever fashion the individual Khenbish desires, and beards are seen as signs of masculinity and wisdom.
•	Past History: The ancient tribal history and oral traditions state that the Great Tribes, those named Khenbish, the Xiongnu, the Huns, the Khitan, and the Tartars, descended from gods serving under the Qurmusata, the King of the Gods, and were given the gift of horses to emulate the divine speed of their heavenly ancestors.  As the centuries went on, the original Great Tribes splintered and fragmented due to differences in opinion, perceived insults, and quarrels, leading to the current day where at least fifty autonomous tribes of varying sizes, from less than one hundred to the largest tribe, the recently reunited Khitan, bearing nearly five thousand.  
•	Recent Events: The various tribal politics have not changed all that much in the past century, though the Khitan tribe, through legitimatization by shamanic consultations with ancestral spirits and the ninety nine divine spirits, have managed to reunite the majority of the descendants of the original Khitan, and it is said that their leaders are attempting to bring back together all of the Great Tribes to become a single people once more.  Whether or not this will eventually lead to a grand military uprising against Hanyu, and the rest of the world, is uncertain, as is the majority of information regarding the Khitan’s leaders; even their names are unknown to Hanyul spies and the few Chaledean merchants who visit the steppes.
•	International Relations: Due to the Hanno desert cutting off large scale contact to the west and Hanyu’s aggression preventing much movement to the south, Khenbish lacks a great deal of international presence and opinion.  The Hanyu are for the most part hated by those who come in contact with them.
•	Names: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_names 
•	Class Skill: Ride 
•	Favored Class: Fighter 
•	Prestige Classes: Bahadur, Order of the Bow Initiative, Yam Runner.
•	Abydos 
•	Inspiration: Egypt 
•	Capital: Merenptah 
•	Status: Dead empire.  “Archaeologist” city on northeastern coast.
•	Rule: Formerly by god-king who controlled all land by divine right.
•	Location: Southwest portion of the map
•	Geography: Predominantly desert.  A single river, the Iteru River, runs north/south past Merenptah.  
•	Natural Resources: None exploited, though it is believed that the land around the Iteru River is very fertile and exploitable due to the consistent flooding of the river valley.  
•	Economy: Alleged black market deals in antiquities based at the Hands of Gold university-city.  The Hands of Gold import all the necessities of life, particularly food-stuffs such as grain.
•	Locales of Note: Merenptah, believed to have been the capital of Abydos, is a veritable ghost city.  Virtually all that remains of the city is its limestone foundations, a tremendous square nearly twenty miles to a side.  Basements and worn down staircases have been found, as well as bases to pillars and several existing columns that show what are believed to have been temples going as tall as five stories high.  The city rests on the banks of the Iteru River.  No foundations of city walls or any form of fortifications have been found, leading many scholars at the Hands of Gold University to believe that the Abydosians were either supremely confident in their might, or simply had no enemies to speak of that could not be dealt with other means.  
The Hands of Gold University lies on the northeastern peninsula of Abydos and combines the aspects of a university-town and a port-city, importing all manner of living essentials and exporting knowledge to the few ancient scholars abroad, as well as unfortunately fostering a black market in antiquities found, which include objects worked in gold and silver, among them scarabs, earrings, amulets, and bronze weapons and statuary.  
•	Religions and Philosophies: It is believed that the leader of Abydos was seen by the people as a god-king who ruled all he surveyed and given divine right to rule from a great spirit in the form of a falcon, but this spirit’s name, and any other deities, have been lost to the sands of time.
•	The People: It is unknown what the ancient Abydosians looked like. The students and residents of the Hands of Gold University come from all over the main continent.  
•	Past History: Known to have had many great rulers, though its earlier history has been lost, as virtually no one knows how to read the pictographs that remain on monuments.  The last ruler, whose name has been found in a gnomish text as Usser-Maat-Re, was said to have been Abydos’ greatest ruler, but after his reign, no records remain.  The only city found in all the continent of Abydos so far is (again, in a gnomish text) Merenptah, though its meaning is lost.  It is believed to have been the empire’s capital due to the remains of statuary and column halls.
•	Recent Events: A society of explorers and archaeologists and scholars who call themselves the Hands of Gold established a university-city on the northeastern corner of Abydos two hundred years ago, where they hope to look into the history of Abydos, and ultimately, the world.
•	International Relations: None.
•	Names: No linguistic records exist for personal names other than Abydos’ final ruler, Usser Maat Re.
•	Class Skill: Knowledge (history)
•	Favored Class: Academician 
•	Prestige Classes: None
•	Kiengir 
•	Inspiration: Ancient Sumer.  The dwarves; name means “land of the Sumerian tongue.”
•	Capital: Nippur 
•	Status: Most likely dead. 
•	Rule: Unknown, most likely theocracy of stone and earth spirits
•	Location: Along the Behistun Mountains in the center of the continent
•	Geography: The Kiengir never truly expanded their territories beyond the Behistun mountains.  The few non-Kiengirs who visited their great underground kingdom located beneath the Kiengir mountains spoke much of tunnels that extended as deeply as the roots of the earth, with amazing sights such as underground lakes and rivers, and one explorer even spoke of underground forests, though the reference appears only in a single journal dating back three hundred years, and has never been referenced in any other explorer’s journal.
•	Natural Resources: Before the cessation of contact, virtually any form of mineral and metal wealth could be exported from the Kiengir, though no sizable non-Kiengir force has truly penetrated into the depths of the Kiengir’s territory to find the full extent of resources within.  
•	Economy: Before the cessation of contact a century ago, Kiengir’s external economy was fueled by its mineral and metal based economy, with tools made of virtually any earth-found material imaginable from gold, silver, bronze, iron, and steel, to jade, obsidian, ruby, and so forth.  Since the closing off of contact, Kiengir goods have become virtually priceless, in particular weapons of the rarest of metals, Kiengir steel.
•	Locales of Note: There are no above-ground Kiengir communities, but the Gate of Eridu, located near the center of the Behistun mountain range, traditionally marked the entrance to the Kiengir underground kingdom.  Nestled in a box canyon only accessible by a winding staircase carved out of the mountains several miles long, the gates themselves stand well in excess of two hundred feet tall, depicting scenes of famous warriors, smiths, priests, and divine figures.
•	Religions and Philosophies: Though very little, if any, information exists of the Kiengir’s religion, accounts of the Kiengir’s dedication to their crafts of mineral and metal are legendary.  It was once said that once a Kiengir started a task, he would see it through, even if it took a century or more to complete (indeed, many stories exist of Kiengir that did just that, especially in the legends of the construction of weapons forged from Kiengir steel, and other great works).
•	The People: The Kiengir were a demihuman race, said to said at their four and a half feet tall, though “giants” of their people standing five feet tall or more appear in their legends.  Short and squat, they were possessed of great strength and stamina, often growing their hair out into great manes and beards which they refused to cut; not even a Kiengir smith would cut his beard short, though in the name of practically, certain smiths tied back their beards and hair to work at the smith without catching their head on fire.  Kiengir often dressed in heavy, utilitarian clothing made of cloth and silk, and were never seen without the tools of their craft.  The Kiengir were known to be able to live for three centuries on average, with the eldest among them living to be seven centuries; Amar-Sin, a famous armour-smith who crafted the Armour of the Moon, a legendary suit of armour crafted from a strange white metal currently in possession of the Mitanni royal household at Wasshukanne.
•	Past History: For the most part, mankind is ignorant regarding the earlier history of the Kiengir people.  Some believe that the Kiengir were creations of spirits existing in the Behistun mountains, while others believe that they were humans who ventured into the Behistun mountains and were transformed over generations into the short men and women.  Still others believe that they were transformed into short, bearded people in return for great skill at the forge.  None can say, for no Kiengir historical texts exist beyond the Gates of Eridu, and none have gone through those gates to do the serious research needed to discover the truth.
•	Recent Events: Approximately a century ago, during the reign of Shulgi of the Adamantine Fist, the Gates of Eridu closed for what was believed to be the last time.  Since then, no Kiengir have been seen anywhere, and nothing has been heard from the Kiengir kingdom, leading many to believe they tired of aboveground affairs.  
•	International Relations: None
•	Names: Sumerian names; (f): Ashusikildigir, Enanatuma, En-hedu-anna, Ninbanda, Puabi, Shagshag, Shub-ad; (m): Aanepada, Akalamdug, Amar-Sin, Eannatum, Ekur, Ekur, Enmebaragisi, Ishme-Dagan, Mesanepada, Meskalamdug, Naram-Sin, Shulgi, Ur-Nammu; (gods): An, Bau, Dagan, Enki, Enlil, Ereshkigal, Gula, Inanna, Nanna/Sin, Ningal, Ninkhursag, Ninurta, Utu; http://www.geocities.com/mariamnephilemon/names/asia/sumerian.html 
•	Class Skill: A stone or metal related Craft skill 
•	Favored Class: Fighter 
•	Prestige Classes: Deepstone Sentinel, Dwarven Defender.
•	Parsa 
•	Inspiration: Ancient Persians; they will be the Gnomes.
•	Capital: Urmia (now abandoned)
•	Status: Vanished, presumed dead for twenty five years. 
•	Rule: None, though the Parsains are believed to have had a system of officials whose title was satrap that answered to a central king.  The last known Parsaian king was Teispes, who was in his seventy third reigning year when the Parsaians all vanished.
•	Location: The Parsains once occupied the territory in between the Urshum river and the Sile river, extending as far west as the Zugspitze mountain range, but now their lands are empty.  
•	Geography: The land once claimed by the Parsains is for the most part flat grassland, with the Sile, Calcinara, and Marano rivers providing the land’s water.  Lake Zab exists to the west along the western half of the Urshum river, and the skyline to the west is dominated by the Zagros mountain, a single mountain rising up from the rocky hills surrounding it.  
•	Natural Resources: The three rivers and single lake provided a great deal of fish, and abandoned mines bearing silver and tin have been discovered by Narbonesian scouts.  There is very little wildlife beyond the occasional species of bird and small mammal in Parsain territory.
•	Economy: None, though when the Parsains still existed, they engaged in trade with the Narbonesians, using coins and trading foodstuffs as well as their legendary knowledge of sorcerous affairs with them, though today, much of their knowledge is no longer understood by even the scholars of Parsain history and language that exist in Narbonesis.  
•	Locales of Note: The Parsain capital, Urmia, stands some miles north of the Marano river, and, as a former vassal of the now defeated Tusci kingdom, lacks walls or fortifications.  Its buildings have ceilings and doors that were sized for the Parsains, making them a hassle for those of human size to enter and move about in.  Though stories say that the center of the Parsains’ study of the magical arts was located in this city, no magical lore or objects have been found to date; it seems as though all relics and grimoires of consequence simply vanished.  Scattered all over the city are black scorch marks on the ground, where it is believed that the Parsains were standing before whatever calamity annihilated their race occurred.
•	Religions and Philosophies: It is unknown what faiths the Parsains followed, but what is remembered of them is that the diminutive people thrived off of the acquisition of knowledge, especially that of occult matters.  It is said that every Parsain knew a sorcerous incantation or two.
•	The People: Those that remember the Parsains remember them as very short people standing no more than four feet tall.  They, like the Narbonesians, were a clean-shaven people who generally kept their hair short, and bore sharp, nearly angular features.  They were said to dress mostly in robes of reds and blacks, and had a great love for jewelry set with precious stones.
•	Past History: Until approximately fifty years ago, Parsa was a vassal state of the Tusci kingdom.  The first appearance of the Parsains are marked down by Chalcedean historical texts to approximately a millennia ago, and were always catalogued as a peaceful race well known for being keepers of lore, both mundane and sorcerous.  Many believe that they were given special knowledge by the Anagran, and that special knowledge fueled their magical arts until their apparent annihilation twenty five years ago.
•	Recent Events: Twenty five years ago, every Parsain on the face of the earth seems to have vanished thanks to what many believe was dabbling in dark forces. 
•	International Relations: None.
•	Names: http://www.anvari.org/cols/Original_Persian_Names.html 
•	Class Skill: Spellcraft  
•	Favored Class: Wizard 
•	Prestige Classes: None as yet
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•	Inspiration: 
•	Capital: 
•	Status: 
•	Rule: 
•	Location: 
•	Geography: 
•	Natural Resources: 
•	Economy: 
•	Locales of Note: 
•	Religions and Philosophies: 
•	The People: 
•	Past History: 
•	Recent Events: 
•	International Relations: 
•	Names: 
•	Class Skill: 
•	Favored Class: 
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Religion Mechanics 
•	Also known as “stuff for guys who want to make a Cleric.”  
•	This is only for the benefit of those who want to play typical D&D.  I’d rather use the Black Company Campaign Setting spellcasting system.
•	Druidism 
•	Base: Galicia, Chane 
•	Holy Symbol: Varies by spirit
•	Domains: Plant, Animal 
•	Misc: Most of these guys are Druids anyways.
•	Helladic Deities
•	Base: Hellas 
•	Holy Symbol: Poseidon’s Trident or Hephaestus’ Hammer & Anvil.
•	Domains: 
•	Hephaestus: Artifice, Community, Earth, Fire, Good.
•	Poseidon: Chaos, Earth, Water.
•	Misc:
•	Khenbish Shamanism 
•	Base: Khenbish 
•	Holy Symbol: Varies by spirit 
•	Domains: Varies by spirit 
•	Misc: No way in hell am I writing up ninety nine spirits.  Probably can assume virtually any combination of domains and so forth except things that relate to sedentary lifestyle (such as crops).
•	Mahajanapadan Deities 
•	Base: Mahajanapadas 
•	Holy Symbol: Varies by deity
•	Domains: Varies by deity
•	Misc: Basically the Vedic Hindu pantheon
•	Narbonesian Pantheon  
•	Base: Epirus 
•	Holy Symbol: Varies by deity
•	Domains: Varies by deity
•	Misc: Essentially the Roman pantheon (i.e. Greek pantheon with Latin names).  See Deities & Demigods. 
•	Neustrian Atheism 
•	Base: Hessen’s Keep of Flame
•	Holy Symbol: A tower with a stylized flame behind it
•	Domains: Any 
•	Misc: Essentially use the Ur-Priest PrC.
•	Shakyamuni’s Teachings 
•	Base: Mahanapadas, Phayul 
•	Holy Symbol: Lotus flower, among others, but don’t usually carry one
•	Domains: None
•	Misc: No clerics or anything; instead, use Monks with the various PrC’s, such as Shakyamuni Disciple, Sutra Bearer, Vajrayana Disciple.
•	Skaoan Gods 
•	Base: Skaoan islands 
•	Holy Symbol: Varies by deity
•	Domains: Varies by deity
•	Misc: Essentially the Asgardian pantheon.  See Deities & Demigods. 
•	The Ten Thousand Spirits
•	Base: Mitanni 
•	Holy Symbol: Varies by deity
•	Domains: Varies by deity
•	Misc: No way in hell am I writing up ten thousand deities and entries.  Can probably just spin up any combination of domains and so forth.

The Cosmology 
•	The Mortal Realm 
•	The mortal plane is essentially an earth-like plane where the campaign most often takes place.  It has the geography described above and as seen on the map and follows the natural laws of earth and so forth.
•	The Empty Country
•	Chalcedean texts describe the Empty Country as a plane of existence that overlays the mortal realm.  It is said to bear the same geography as the mortal realm, but not a single being, living or dead, sentient or not, can be found in all the plane.  The sky above is cloudless and shows the viewer the same stars as the mortal realm.  The Empty Country, as described in the texts, were even said to have mortal made structures such as houses, but not a single soul.
•	The Spirit World 
•	Virtually every person in the world believes in some form of afterlife, and the souls of the dead all leave to the Spirit World, a plane of existence apart from the mortal realm.  The term “Spirit World” is a blanket term for all forms of afterlife, from free-roaming spirits to the “countries” in the Spirit World that are said to grow around places and entities of great power called deities in the mortal realm.  Every diviner that has claimed to look upon the Spirit World (none have claimed to actually travel that far) has come back changed.
•	The Infinite Beyond 
•	Cosmologically the most distant plane from the mortal realm, the Infinite Beyond is the term given to planes that exist “behind” the Spirit World, each with their own rules, their own environments, and, of course, their own hazards.  No mortal is known to have seen or traveled that far.

Stuff I still have to do 
•	Do the “Climate” for each nation.  Might not even bother with this, to be honest.
•	Make the Prestige Classes.
•	Describe the Cosmology.
•	Consolidate all the religion mechanics.