LetsBuild5e:Geography and Cosmology
Contents
What's the world look like?[edit]
The Double-Sided World[edit]
The as-yet-unnamed world of this setting is a two-sided disc - planet-sized and circular, with a distinct 'top' and 'bottom' side. The 'bottom' side presumably has normal gravity, but is known to be much harsher and more inhospitable than the 'top' side. (Decision: [1] ) The identity of the two sides switches over with a periodicity measured in at least centuries; this appears to be a natural phenomenon whose nature is not well-understood. The last flip was some 700-1000 years ago, so that the earliest histories, the newest legends, and the faded memories of the oldest elves touch on it. (Decisions: [2] [3]) There's at least one huge pit in the surface of the world which is reputed to be where the elders tried to dig right through it before the races were sundered. The edge of the world is virtually unvisited, but is believed to be an endless impassable waterfall, punctuated only by rare mountain islets thrust out into space, as treacherous as they are striking. (Decision: [4])
Although afflicted with periodic upheavals, the world is rich in resources: there are mundane resources such as iron and oak, magical variants of them such as thunderbolt iron and dryad oak, and non-variant special resources such as adamant and quickwood. (Decision: [5])
Between the Mountains and the Sea[edit]
The plateau of Axalvo lies on the southern half of the disc, in a middle latitude. It has a warm summer continental climate (Köppen group Dsb). (Decision: [6]) The great Sellumeverni mountains border it to the west, and a warm, dry wind sometimes blows down from the mountains and across the plateau. (Decision: [7]) The nation of Gartihann lies at a fairly high altitude; the ground slopes steadily down to the north and east, interrupted by ranges of hills cut by the gorges of plateau rivers which flow to a warm inland sea. To the south, the plateau reaches a high spot and then shelves away quite steeply to an expanse of broad, cold steppes, which are crossed by slow, lazy rivers flowing east to a distant ocean or south to meet proglacial lakes. (Decisions: [8] [9]) We have an initial map of the region sketched out. (Map: [10]; decision: [11]; Placename decisions: [12]) The plateau is part of a Europe-sized landmass which is probably not the largest on this side; the Inner Sea has a fairly wide opening to the ocean. (Decision: [13])
The flora and fauna of Axalvo and the regions north and east of it broadly resemble the 'Old World' of our own Earth, especially Europe and Central Asia. However, the basin province which lies beyond the Sellumeverni mountains provides plants and animals more akin to those found in Central America and the Andes. (Decision: [14])
Ruins of an Empire[edit]
In the north of the starting region is a nation of elves and humans. They are skilful traders, and they export court scholars and diplomats to other nations. Their trading capital is a mass of ships, chained together in a coastal lagoon, representing the many other nations and cultures with which they do business. (Decision: [15]) (This city is at the most northerly river mouth on the map.) A second city, to the south, provides an administrative centre, but most of the elven lands lie further north. (Decision: [16]) Their native language is a member of a wider group of Elvish tongues. To the south, beyond the settled nations, live clans of horse-riders, predominantly orcs, halflings, dark elves, and humans. They speak a language known as Old Imperial, which derives from a human tongue spoken on the other side of the world before the last flip. Since then, it has grown to have some features in common with the speech of the mountain-orcs who have lived on this side since before the flip. The steppe is about as far in north-to-south extent as the distance from the mountain-orc kingdom of Brugo to the elven lands. Beyond the steppe lie tundra and taiga, and then a huge high ice sheet. (Decision: [17])
Much of the territory hereabouts was once part of a large empire ruled by half-orcs who spoke the tongue of the horse-clans, although their orcish ancestors came from Brugo. (Decision: [18]) Vikreng, the former capital of this empire, is the capital of Gartihann, although its grand halls grow dusty with under-use and its parade-grounds are vaster than the current militia could ever use. (Decision: [19]) Gartihann and Brugo are neighbours in the south-western corner of the plateau. A range of hills divides this area from the rest of Axalvo, causing the main river to drain south over a waterfall onto the steppes. The area from the waterfall westward to the mountains is claimed by Brugo; Gartihann lies to the north of it, and includes part of the foothills and a portion of the plateau to the northeast of the hills. (Decision: [20]) A band of unclaimed land just over a day's fast ride in width separates Gartihann and Brugo from three nearby nations to the east; the unclaimed land is partly wilderness, and partly the private holdings of monasteries, smallholders, and other private interests. (Decision: [21])
In the northern region of the mountains is a great peak, Narrhest, said to be the highest in the world. It is revered by the locals as an axis mundi. There are small dwarf-majority nations (with dragonborn enclaves) along almost every river as it passes through the foothills on the eastern side of the great mountains. Beyond the mountains to the west is an extensive basin-and-range system with many salt lakes and pocket deserts; it's not widely known how far beyond it the next ocean is. (Decision: [22])
Far to the east of the elven lands is the nation of Wáyéhì speakers where the central bard colleges are found. (Decision: [23])
