Locations and Cultures

The Ardent Vigil has its base in Hochlant, a hotspot of monster activity where hunters are often in demand. But there is a wider world out there, which monster hunters may have reason to travel to or from, with their own cultures, people, and perils.

The Vereint Empire

The Empire of Mankind is a collection of primarily-human nations gathered under the banner of the Church of the Holy Truth.

• The Imperial Heartland consists of the longest-standing nations under Empire, the countries of Vereint, Baimarch and Westerreich.
• The North is used to refer to the countries of Brannmark, Genrike and Hollness.
• Thekland - The northernmost tip of the Empire, Thekland is a cold and stark country, touching the Permafrost.
• Hochlant - Separated from the mainland Empire by the Westmeer, Hochlant has links to the nations of all mortal races.

The Elven Kingdoms

East of Hochlant, on the eastern side of the fey-infested Deepwoods, lie the Elven Kingdoms, consisting of the nations Coillearnach, Talamard, and the small kingdom of Glynry.

The Jovan Alliance

Known to its own people as Szovetzége Jovatesz, the vast uplands of The Jovan Alliance house the grand underground city-states of the jovatesz.

Viharos

A nation of jovatesz that has seceded from the Alliance and allied itself with the Empire. Viharos is a nation changing rapidly with cultural influx from the empire in contrast to the stagnant ways of the alliance.

Snjórland

A nation arguably more sea than land, Snjórland extends from a territory on the north-western coast across islands of varying sizes and into the permanent ice-sheets of the far north.

Ashamsi

Across the Boreasolan sea to the south lies the illigen nation of Ashamsi. Among the vast desert continent, live springs up around sources of freshwater, particularly the river Nahr.

The Southern Orthodoxy

The nations of Valenia, Librence and Phylennos worship a similar pantheon to the Holy Truth, but do not hold Lanzarius as king of the gods.

• An island of city states with a long history of conflict, Phylennos is the home of medicine and martial channelling both. Illigen and humans equally call the island home.

• South of the Verient Empire, the illigen nations of Valenia and Librence lie between the [mountain range] and the Boreasolan sea. The warm climate supports vineyards and arable land, and is the home of chivalry.

Further Afield

Beyond all known maps, the world continues. The nearby nations may have more knowledge of what lies beyond their borders, but very little is known of the far flung corners of the world.

• North of the Storm, a permafrost marks the storm-scourged land, generally defined as anything uninhabitably northern.
• East of the Mountains, further even than the reaches of the Jovan Alliance.
• South of the Desert, beyond the desert trade routes, lies the presumed source of many spices and other riches.
• West of the Ocean, land has yet to be found even by the seafaring traders of the Vereint Empire.

• The Exalted Elves appear close to the Elven Kingdoms with some frequency, but their cities are well-concealed from mortal eyes.