Places, locations, and topography

Topography of the Alliance

On this map you can see that down the middle of the alliance area there is a big mountanious ridge with several volcanoes, most which are inactive. This area is under dragon domain and seldom visited by any humans outside of pact-perscribed traditions.

The human area starts with the iron mine, a terrain that was fought over ardently, for not only did it provide humans with iron ore, but the dragons saw it as a place of power, and, of course, something that gave them leverage.

The economy is based primarily on agriculture and animal husbandry. A lot of trade happens along the rivers - especially of metal, cloth, dye, and medicine. Unfortunately, the naval situation throughout the seas is dangerous

A note on noble ranks

In the Larson kingdom, Ash is considered a prince not only for his status as a crown prince of the realm heir to the throne, but also because 'prince' and 'princess' are just what you call the offsprings of nobles above a certain rank. It is a placeholder title and princes(ess) will gain an actual noble title through marriage, certification, managing lands, or otherwise.

In Fiona's kingdom the titles of 'prince' and 'princess' only belong to the children of the royal families while the rest of the nobility uses courtesy titles for their offspring. This means that the children of a titled noble rank are granted by courtesy a title one rank below their parents that does not have any lands attached to it. Fiona's parents have a dukedom and she is the daughter of a duke, which makes her courtesy title technically a marchioness. In her lands Ash is still rpince but in Ash's kingdom Fiona is considered a princess, a title she hates. Both of them compromised and call her a duchess.

The Dark Lord Robert, while being the sole ruler of his small kingdom and having joined the alliance of kingdoms, chooses to use 'Dark Lord' as his legal appelation followed by his first name, both for being a conquering warlord and for never having belonged to any noble family and therefore not having a last name at all. His kingdom barely has a court due to the power being reigned from a centralized ofice, his trusted delegated being mostly skeletons, and the highest ranking humans he presides over being glorified ealdormen.

Notable locations

The Larson castle

In the middle of the Alliance, within one of its central kingdoms is the castle that Ash calls home. It's one of the oldest buildings in the alliance and has sheltered humans fully during the draconic wars. The court mantains a permanent retinue there and nobles from the kingdom send their chilren to join both the political court and the guard. The guard trains up new knights from noble families to guard the castle (and the kingdom, depending on where said noble's lands lie) from magical threats and monsters in a 14 year training program. This castle is located at the joining of two rivers, defended by water on three sides and by a dense forest on the remaining side, has a moat, and even boasts of fireproof walls. The rivers allow for good trade with its neighbouring kingdoms. This makes it a modern cultural hub and a central planning station for military activity.

Fiona's dukedom

This dukedom lies in a neighbouring kingdom of the Larson's and is one of its main tradepartners, specializing in thread, fabrics, and dyes. Like most in the alliance, during the draconic wars the humans were housed in underground cities which have now mostly been abandoned and fallen to ruin. While marchioness may be Fiona's courtesy title, her family's main hold is in fact located on a border. It is also hosting a dragon deep in the forest.

The Dark Lord's lands

This area has only recently been organized into a structured and centralized society, as thirty years ago it was a land plagued by small-time warlords battling for dominance over a starving population and an iron mine whose ore could only be extracted under the most perilous of conditions. Then suddenly a new warlord came out of nowhere with an army of skeletons and conquered the entire area by force, centralized the ruling, and managed to turn the mine into a profitable business that didn't necessitate the loss of human life.... only the human dead. The taboo magics animating the skeletons of the inhabitant's ancestors have dubbed the new ruler a dark lord of magic, and have made the rule a constant attack of warriors and heroes seeking to restore light to the people.