Kingdom Guide

As has already been established, Valadae is divided into eleven kingdoms. Most uphold peaceful or neutral terms with their neighbours, and those embittered by contentions are obligated to appease their allies by refraining from violence as a means of resolution. As such, there has been no significant conflicts between the kingdoms for over two hundred cycles.

Regardless of exact geological location, every kingdom is grouped under a region of one of the four cardinal directions: north, south, east, or west. As shown in the map below, the directions are coded by colour for easier referencing. Purple for north, blue for east, green for south, and orange for west.

Kingdoms of the North: North-Earth, K’tailiur, Kiiyoten

Kingdoms of the East: Risenden, Whelvenlailil, Ho Ru Thenen

Kingdoms of the South: Gelian, Bandu’ur

Kingdoms of the West: Enquelanrdia, Rhin-Tset, Setting Lands

 

NORTH-EARTH

Home to the incomparably famous Klonnoth Aire, North-Earth began its founding over six sentydes ago, although was only recently officially recognized as a Valadilian kingdom. While the land is ruled justly under the dragons’ constitution, and its economy and citizenry continues to thrive, the history of its establishment is riddled with violence, bloodshed and grievous struggles.
North-Earth was created solely as the necessary foundation on which to build Klonnoth Aire. At that time Valadae was still caught in the upheaval of the War of Shores, and the dragons were forced to expand over the territories of other kingdoms in order to obtain enough land. The price to build the towers was high, however it enabled the Valadilians to drive back the corrupted chaos and exile their enemies from their lands once and for all.

Ruling Creature-kind:

Capital City: Koruhand’minokul (the 3rd tower of Klonnoth Aire)

Current Ruler: Velhonoandrius II, Lord of all Dragons

 

K’TAILIUR

A relatively small, secluded kingdom, K’tailiur is a solemn, beautiful land, whose wealth lies in the traditions of its native founders, the morwulves. Despite suffering for sentydes through numerous wars, cycles of poverty and integrations of other creature-kinds, the land is enduring and exclusive in the ethnicity of morwulf culture, where art, music, and combat  are highly respected practices.
K’tailiur is selective in its dealings with other kingdoms, neutral yet co-operative in most aspects of outside affairs, although is known to hold a passive hostility towards North-Earth and the Setting Lands.

Ruling Creature-kind:

Capital City: Dae

Current Ruler: Lord Kibaton Senjin VII

 

KIIYOTEN

Kiiyoten is one of Valadae’s wealthiest kingdoms. The land is rich in mining and agricultural resources, and its constitution promotes unity between kinsmen and strangers, augmenting inheritances within clans, and celebrating cultural diversity of all creature-kinds. Unique in its regime, Kiiyoten is governed by four ruling heads – known as the Peers. The land is divided into four distinct provinces, Koep (east), Kilnii (west), Krann (south) and Kail (north), with a Peer assigned to each of them. Though the kingdom is ruled by separate individuals, all laws and ethics instituted by the Peers are affected throughout Kiiyoten as a whole. No province is superior to another. Each is maintained with equality in all aspects. Such consistency in the principle of equality is the primary reason for the kingdom’s long-lasting prosperity.

Ruling Creature-kind(s):
     

Capital City: Keicress

Current Ruler(s): Peer Phrejak (Koep), Peer Mem Shilvii (Kilnii), Peer Aramunn (Krann), Peer Yuudai (Kail)

 

 

 

RISENDEN

Close to six thousand cycles ago the gryphons, manorphis and hippogriffs descended upon the eastern shores of Valadae, and from their cultures and lore the very first kingdom of Valadae was established. Famously revered as the Three Winged Kings, their arrival heralded an Age of cultural distinctions and advancements for nearly every creature-kind in Valadae, and became the foundation for what would eventually become the eleven kingdoms.
Risenden’s scenic landscapes are iconic, from the rugged, volcanic-enriched slopes of the Opaline Mountains, to the eerily beautiful petrified forests of Coron-Mias. The cities and castles built by the gryphons have stood the test of time and war, and mark the kingdom with Valadae’s most famous historical settings. Although full of history and imprints of valiant legacy, Risenden is an echo of its former glory. After the last of the gryphons died, the remaining Winged Kings withdrew into self-isolation and the land fell into an unspoken dormancy.
For nearly an Age, Risenden has had no king or queen, yet the ways of old have not diminished from the courts and councils of the land. Currently, a steward oversees the happenings of the realm, and bound by oath to the evaish, is to continue guarding the throne until such a time as a new king is crowned, from the blood of the Elder Ages. Many believe that such a bloodline no longer exists, and although prophecies have claimed the time for renewed sovereignty will come, it is a hope that many have given up as lost.

Ruling Creature-kind:

Captial City: En’Duenith

Current Ruler: Lord Rynual Rhenorth

 

WHELVENLAILIL

Whelvenlailil is Valadae’s second oldest kingdom, and richest in the resource of natural manna. The landscape is predominantly forestry – spanning over half the kingdom – with the coastal region and upper inland comprised of open fields and valleys.
A realm renown for a history steeped in beauty and tragedy, Whelvenlailil is a fragile and generally non-receptive domain, immersed in primeval folklore and home to creatures of ancient magic, both wicked and pure. Whelvenlailil is a peace-seeking kingdom, though with its wild and unrestrained energies it is known to be a perilous place for the inexperienced wanderer.

Ruling Creature-kind:

Captial City: Lailil-Thenen

Current Ruler: Great Stal-Marr

 

HO RU THENEN

Once a part of Whelvenlailil’s coastline, Ho Ru Thenen was torn from the mainland over seventeen sentydes ago by a Manna Eruption. The cause was believed to be the duards, who began mining into a network of natural caverns, in search of inithrium – a rare mineral  grafted into evaishian skyships to make them airborne. The caverns were later believed to be intersections of channeling manna, which would have sealed the fate of any mining expedition, no matter what care was taken. Even after it broke away, the land remained a part of Whelvenlailil, although was uninhabitable for two destydes while volcanic eruptions and earthquakes continued as after pangs from the Eruption. Eventually the island stilled, and the unicorns released it from their province in favour of allowing for a new kingdom to be established.
During the War of Shores, Ho Ru Thenen was the central base for the evaish and their legendary skyship fleets, however the island is now more famously known for its native inhabitants, the riphilven, and their allegiance to Ho Ru Thenen’s rulers.

Ruling Creature-kind(s):
 

Captial City: Wilpire

Current Ruler: Ardius Tias

 

GELIAN

Gelian is the second largest kingdom in Valadae and boasts richly cultivated hill country, scenic coastlines and extensive, flourishing forestry. A kingdom rich in cultures, resources, and local histories, Gelian is home to hundreds of diverse Denin and Et’denin creature-kinds, all coexisting in a relatively stable, controlled condition. Under the ruling of the centaurs, the realm advocates safeguarding peace, increasing knowledge, and preserving all histories. Gelian is also the central base for the most renowned armed force in Valadae: the Centaurian Army.

Ruling Creature-kind:

Capital City: Wylagel

Current Ruler: King Phellidinus

 

BANDU’UR

Bandu’ur is the largest of the two central kingdoms, and the fourth largest in Valadae. Known for its dry, windy climate and large areas of grassland, Bandu’ur is not celebrated for any outstanding beauty or abundance in unique resources. It does, however, hold a key geological location and is a bridge for the continued distributions of economical and political interests from all the surrounding kingdoms. Bandu’ur is a neutrally friendly domain, which makes passage across its borders for numerous creature-kinds, safe and uncomplicated.

Ruling Creature-kind:

Capital City: Rellornen

Current Ruler: Duchess Yulena, of the House of Vulkin

 

ENQUELANDRIA

Enquelandria is Valadae’s largest kingdom, and is ruled by the hemlans, although the central mountain range is governed by the duards. As with the dragons, the hemlans came to Valadae from across the sea to the west. What is left of their documented histories suggest their origin to be close in location to the motherland of the dragons, although many hemlan historians vehemently deny this.
For many cycles the western lands below Rhin-Tset were divided into several small and highly territorial provinces, and times of peace between the segregated regions were short and frail. When Rhin-Tset threatened war and expansion to bring the provinces under control, however, the provincial leaders understood the necessity of unity, and so brought their people together under one banner and one ruler, and on the first sunspan of bahenen, the kingdom of Enquelandria was born.
A realm rich in natural diversity and cultural industry, Enquelandria is a thriving nation, and has the largest creature-kind population of all the eleven kingdoms. The biomes and climates are extreme and diverse, from the temperate grasslands in the east, river-veined canyons and rocky plateaus across the north, tropical forests and wide, sandy beaches fringing the west, to the beautiful, undulating hills and thick, wild woodlands of the south. And centred like a giant spine amidst all those ecosystems, are the unrivaled, awe-inspiring Ghiaroan Mountains.

Ruling Creature-kind(s):
 

Captial City: Aas’nuer

Current Ruler: King Aldahir Troanen, Sharr Duumblun

 

RHIN-TSET

An unforgiving realm for those ill-equipped for its harsh, burning landscape, Rhin-Tset is dominated by arid, rocky regions, and Valadae’s only desert, the Wilder Desert. Scorched in heat by sunspan and icy temperatures by sundark, over eighty percent of the kingdom is governed by extreme conditions, where only the hardiest plants and creatures survive.
The customs of Rhin-Tset’s native citizens are ancient and extravagant, the superstitions deep and ceremonial, with histories steeped in noble lineages, famous heroes, and terrible, bloody wars. Long ago, a fierce and war-mongering nation, Rhin-Tset has since maintained an honourable, neutral peace with the other kingdoms of Valadae, although it is generally an unreceptive place, where strangers are looked upon with mild disinterest.

Ruling Creature-kind:

Captial City: Ruusa

Current Ruler: Empress Amaris Mia-Rayh

 

SETTING LANDS

Long before the dragons came and tamed the north-western land of Valadae, it was known as the Ever-Dark, and was a realm poisoned by the fumes and flames of Valadae’s most famous volcanoes, Aradus and Beolorus – also known as the Fire Brothers. For sentydes, the land was ravaged and the sky was blackened; a rough, dark, uninhabitable scar across the north-west. Then, the dragons came and secured the Ever-dark as their own, using it as their central base during the final years of the War of Shores. Immune to the toxic air, and resilient to the poisoned earth and molten fire, the dragons effected their incredible power and stamina, and silenced both volcanoes by means which have never been explained, and in the aftermath of stillness, built their first city on the slopes of Aradus. Within a few short cycles, the land transformed in an explosion of life and growth, and thus the kingdom of the Setting Lands was born.

Ruling Creature-kind:

Captial City: Aradus

Current Ruler: Sephorelian

 

Copyright © N. R. Eccles-Smith 2011-2019®

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