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The South: A Land Divided

Far from the intrigues of the Blessed Isle and the rising empire of the north, Creation's south has yet to recover from the devastation of the Contagion and the Balorian Crusade. Many of its people were unable to escape Fair Folk incursions, and an active fae presence across the South keeps the nations of the region on their toes. The Realm's power here is great, more so than in any other area of Creation save the Blessed Isle itself, and the agents of the Sorcerer King must travel far and carefully to forment unrest and search for ways to overcome the Scarlet Dynasty.

Satrapies of the Realm

The Realm is the dominant power in the South, and none can gainsay it. Over twenty-five million people, spread across dozens of nations, send tributes to the power of the Scarlet Throne. The Realm controls the only two great nations of the South - the Lap, which is their most prosperous satrapy, and An-Teng, the glorious nation of flowers. In addition, they have varying degrees of control over the rest of the region's satrapies, from the fractious and disorganized peoples of Kirighast and Varang to the scavenger lords of the southern deserts and the ruined port of Chiaroscuro, which still stands as one of the main ports for the Realm's trade, if little else. Those Shogunate remnants that did not side with the Seven Tigers eventually bowed to the Realm as well - the towering mountain of Blueglass in the south marks their southern boundaries, while the relatively intact forces of Zeretan send troops to support the Dynasty against the Sorcerer King.

Still, these kingdoms are satrapies, not properly controlled nations. They often war with one another, they trade with the Guild, and they are suspicious of outsiders. For all that the Realm's power is great here, the South is a fragile land, and the Empress's eye cannot always be on her people.

Neutral Nations and Barbarian Tribes

Still, not everyone in the South bows down to the Empress. A handful of neutral nations on the edge of Creation, along with millions of barbarians and dangerous Wyld tribes, struggle to live free. Their lives are hard, but they have their own supernatural backers and power. Fifteen million people, across hundreds of barbarian tribes and two dozen mortal kingdoms, have managed to retain their freedom, being too remote, too proud, and too impoverished to be worth crushing.

To make things more confusing, there are powerful Lunars in the South, quiet enough to avoid being brought to heel by the Wyld Hunt, but active enough to raise trouble for the Dynasty. Ka-Koshu raises barbarian tribes, guarding them against the ravages of the Wyld, and Tammuz walks among them, teaching them lore and thaumaturgy that helps them become half-ciilized. The South is second only to the East in terms of Lunar influence, and if the Realm's attention ever falters, they may make it their own.

The Fae

The South is also a bastion of the Fae. The Black Desert stretches across the eastern desert, a land of choking ash and strange savannahs that few can measure. It is one of the world's largest Wyld Zones, and monstrous creatures slip out of it and into Creation, threatening surrounding areas. Many of those in the South must contend with the fae, who span a hundred forms as they tempt and hunt, brutal and glorious in turn.