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The Kingdom of Zeretan</b>

(Please note that the total population of the kingdom of Zeretan is close to 300,000. About half of these live in the five major cities, there are around 80,000 farming the Black Farms, another 30,000 in the River Towns, about 20,000 along the cost, and around 15,000 scattered in small towns across the desert. Aside from the five largest cities, there are no towns with more than 2,000 people, and few with under 1,000.)

City of Zeretan: The capitol of the Zeretan Region is a large city, with a population in excess of 60,000 people. Easily the largest city in the area, Zeretan contains over a fifth of the nation's population, and is fed primarily by a combination of fishing, large amounts of pearl trade from the Ivory Sea, and farming brought in from the farms along the east bank of the Inky River. Because of its' pearl trade, Zeretan is a final destination for many goods, and consumes both food and luxuries in vast quantities. The Black Farms supply the city with food, and if they were ever overrun or destroyed, there would be starvation and riots. For more information on Zeretan, see the Zeretan document.

City of Kilrath: Kilrath is a small, orderly town, and is the home of the region's lionmen. With a population that barely reaches 8,000 - nearly all of them beastmen, aside from around 2,000 slaves. Kilrath does not follow the laws of the Realm - slavery and thaumaturgy are legal - however, they still distrust and dislike the Anathema, and they are obliged to contribute 1,000 soldiers to the defense of Zeretan if such is required. Kilrath follows a careful code of ethics, and violating that code can result in deadly unarmed duels. It is not commonly visited by outsiders.

City of Servan: On the eastern edge of the kingdom, Servan lies near the border between Zeretan and Caliphar. In older days, Servan was the closest port to Zeretan that was capable of bypassing the Sea of Storms; by doing so, they became the port of call for every city in the region, especially for crops sent out from the Black Farms to feed the Realm. When the storms died down, however, most trade was rapidly re-routed through Zeretan, and Servan almost immediately began to suffer. In light of that, the conquest of the city by Zeretan was almost an afterthought. In modern days, Servan is an echo of its former self; the population of 20,000 is spread out across a city almost as large as Zeretan, most of the buildings are derelict and in poor condition, and there isn't much to speak of there. The city's only real feature of note is a private library on the western edge of town, kept by a sorcerer from the Zeretan garrison.

City of Purdaya: Named for the Colonel of the Thirteenth legion who founded it, Purdaya began as a watchpost for the rare Fair Folk who might try to curve around the ocean and land between the rivers during the Contagion. After the Fair Folk fled, the post was expanded by the Empress, who used it as a staging ground to comb the swamp for artifacts of the Legion. Afterwards, it slowly grew into a town of trappers, thaumaturges, and adventurers, each of whom have their own reason for entering the swamp. Purdaya is a sketchy town morally speaking, but its town guard, well-equipped, punishes violence and con games with excessive force. They turn a blind eye to smuggling, drug trafficking, and similar crimes, however, for a small gratuity. Purdaya is a thriving city of roughly 30,000 people. City of Candat: Once, Candat was the centre of a small but bustling mining industry. Gold, silver, and the occasional pocket of jade were found in the southern mountains, and the city grew based on its mineral wealth. However, when Zeretan walked in, they took control of the mining industry. Now, mining is primarily done by convicts, and by people foolish enough to sell themselves into five or ten year contracts with the mines. The city is crowded, squalid, and cramped. Violence is common, and the overseers don't seem to care. Aside from posting guards near the gold mines, due to rumours of orichalcum being discovered from time to time, the Dragon-Blooded leave the running of the mines up to Relway, and it is rumoured that prisoners who are meant to remain in the mines for ten or twenty years vanish unaccountably. Whether there are dark creatures in the mines that have been disturbed since the mining operations increased in volume, or whether the mines are being used for some other purpose by Zeretan is unknown, and no one is very interested in investigating. Overall, there are about 25,000 people living in Candat.

<b>Geographical Features:</b>

The Inky River: The Inky River is one branch of the Black River, which branches into the Ashen River and the Inky River as it exits the mountains. The river carries tiny black particles in it, which make it almost impossible to see the bottom and which are extremely nutritious to plants. Because of this, the area between the Inky and Ashen Rivers is a breadbasket, which produces much more food than it normally could (enough that, combined with fishing, all the small towns in the breadbasket can feed themselves, and still cover about three-quarters of the rest of the kingdom. The black particles are also harmful to the dead and the Fair Folk, who cannot cross any of the three rivers.

The Ashen River: The Ashen River is essentially the Inky River, but bordering the swamp. The Black River: The Black River runs through the Zeretan mountains, and branches into two smaller rivers as the mountains peter out on one side. No one knows where the Black River originates; it is deep enough into the mountains to be unsafe for travellers, and no one has been curious enough to check; at least, no one who has returned. Similarly, no one knows where the strange black particles that give the river its name originate, or what they are. There is a general opinion that since the particles are so useful, too much inquiry could only bring trouble.

The Candrik Range: The mountains south of the desert, the Candrik range is a fairly tall and arid mountain range, with scrub-like plants and few animals. The range's foothills spread to the east, while the western half of the mountain gets extremely tall, before falling downwards into the swamps, grasslands, and desert. The range is riddled with cave networks, which are rich in natural minerals. The Rejanai Desert: Named after the Dragon-Blood who first charted it, the desert stretches over hundreds of square miles of once-arable land. The desert was once fertile, but never recovered from the Fair Folk invasion or the contagion, and is now a fairly standard desert. Caravans still occasionally cross it, arriving from the Lap to the southeast and taking the river north to Zeretan. Most of the desert is scarcely travelled, however, and it is a haven of bandits and outlaws.

Swamp of Crystal Bones: The Swamp lies primarily to the southwest of Zeretan, and makes up a major border of the kingdom. The Swamp is a remnant of the First Age, and the entire region can be considered Tainted Land, with a small number of Wyld borderlands within it, most fairly small. The swamp is filled with the ghosts of Shogunate soldiers and townsfolk who were slain by the Contagion and by the fae, and is a dangerous place. However, many of the strange plants within the swamp have medicinal effects, and people routinely travel its edges, making their fortunes in various dangerous ways. Only the extremely brave or foolish push deeper into the swamp, however. The creatures within the swamp are unable to cross the Ashen River into Zeretan, which keeps the kingdom fairly safe. The Swamp takes its name for the bones of those slain by the fair folk, which were turned into hard glittering crystal and lie scattered around the swamp. The bones are said to be cursed, and bad luck follows any who remove them from the swamp. Any proper purification of a bone (for example, by Immaculate priests) causes it to crumble to dust (and not crystal dust, either. Just the normal kind).

Sykarra: According to rumour, the military base of Sykarra lies in numerous pieces throughout the swamp. Occasionally, brave adventurers will come across a piece of the base, and a number of strange and (more rarely) powerful First Age artifacts will be unearthed. However, many of the base's defenses are still partially active, and there are many fae, hungry dead, and gruesome creatures that have taken up residence within.

The City of Iron Sand: During the early years of the region's history, there was a city in the southeast that went by the name of Rylet. Rylet was the primary stop for caravans travelling to Servan, and it profited both from this and from its martial influences; the city hired out many guards to protect against the lionmen and other bandits in the desert. However, over time, the lords of the city grew greedy and corrupt, and began to seek after ever-greater magical power. Eventually, they found an artifact that they believed would grant them control over the dead, a bottle filled with dark mist said to be one of only three ever created. Rylet's monarchs planned to use the bottle to destroy whomever opposed them first; unfortunately, they failed to understand how it was meant to be used, and the bottle was opened inside Rylet's city limits. Exactly what happened is unknown, as the resulting black storms destroyed the city, killed every inhabitant, and transformed the region into a massive shadowland. Everything in the city, including the very sand that now blows through it, is stained a dark gray. This dull iron shade slowly tains anything brought into the city, and slowly bleeds out of anything removed from it, leaving the entire area a dull monochromatic shade. The City is a dangerous place, and due to the size of the Shadowland, no one has ever made it to its centre to discover what, if anything, lurks in Rylet's palace. The treasury has never been looted, to anyone's knowledge, but few are willing to attempt it.