The north has never been favoured by the gods, from frozen forrest, to high mountains, rugged terrains, to frozen seas and rivers, to the harshest of winters, the north has never been the most desirable place of Tenria. Yet over a million people calls this frozen wasteland home. The House of Arktos ruled over this vast expanse of frozen waste, known as the Frostborn kings, house Arktos is said to have decendend from Maour Vikti, a warrior and northern ledgend, the house of Arktos have ruled the vast land of the north for hundreds of years with an unwildering iron fist, crushing rebellions and ascertaing its dominace over the winter. Though a poor country, the north are the firecest of fighters and have an unwavering loyalty to House Arktos. The narrow path; the only land connection the north has with the rest of the continent is its own natural defense against any form of southern invasion, closer south than north, it is the only piece of ariable land the north possess and as such is gaurded with fierce determination.
King Kaelin Arktos ruled over this frozen wilderness, called frostbjorn by his council, killing a polar bear at four and ten years of age and acending the throne at only eight and ten years. His castle, the FrostBite keep is a testament to northern engineering a formidable fortress built on the frozen mountains with hot spring running below the castle, an impregnable castle with high walls and four majestic towers. His Queen, queen Brynja, a lady from house Blackice, one of Arktos vassals is said to have bore him seven childreen with four girls and three boys, Princesses;Linnea, their firstborn child, Svala, Brynja, named after her mother for striking similar features she was always mistaken for the queen, Kari called the winterwolf, for reasons not fully understood. Princes, Arin, heir and called snowblade, the northmen have a strange custome of nicknaming folks after mudane things, Errik and Odin. The royal house of Arktos is as fierce and numerous as the snow in their lands. No southern invasion has ever broken through and the northmen are discontented with the happenings of the souh, safe for their grains as it alone cant feed its populance. With seven and ten vassals, house Arktos commands a force to be recokned with.
As opposed to its northern counterparts, the west of Tenria is the crown jewel of the continent, with beautiful beaches and coastal cities and port, an ever bubbling country, with fields of wheats and trees producing food in abndance, to its golden plains and hills and rivers, but perhaps its most valuable assests are its mines. Gold and silver mines are scattered all across Aurum Terra, the western country, filling its land lords pocket with so much gold and greed. House Aurum ruled the western lands for hundreds of years controlling vital sea trade routes with other continents and across the western coast of Tenria, their deep pockets and insatiable greed for more led to the creation of the richest and most powerful country on the continent.
The Auric kings as they are called ruled from their castle of Solara Keep, a breathtaking beautiful palace of gold encrusted marble, with towers and spire that gleams as the sun. Built on an abandoned gold mine with deep tunnels and carefully planned underground, Solara keep is one of the most magnificient castles Tenria has ever seen. King Marcellus III ruled over this beautiful, rich lands, with over two and a half million subjects, the Auric kings where perhaps the greatest of the kings of Tenria. But wealth and power always comes with challenges. For ages the Auric kings have battled their eastern neighboors both on seas and on land, the Vine kings, matching the Aurics might and power always found themeselves in one war or the other. As beautiful and rich as Aurum Terra was, peace was never a virtue.
Not many of the kingdoms as had as much impact on the continent as the Vine lands, the biggest of the southern kingdoms, with a vast coastline streaching from the west to the south of Tenria, with golden fields, vast ariable lands, rolling hills and sun kissed vineyards. With borders to four of the southern kingdoms, the Vine lands has the most borders and their fertile lands has always been a cause for wars, with a constant endless conflicts with the Auric kings and skirmishes with the river kings, House Vynaria of Moonstone has ruled over the Vine lands with a commandering determination and firece resistance to various invasions, as the centuries unfolded, need for allies led to the intermarrige of the royal house of Thoren the stormlords for ages, and creating an everlasting ally east of their border, supplying it with all its food and in turn using their vast navy for protection of its shores. Due to their contol of the continents food supply, the Vine lands grew to become the second richest kingdoms, with House Vynaria the second richest house of the realm. King Ryker IV ruled this vast and beautiful lands, his wife and queen, queen Adelheid who bore him four childern, Princessess; Helga and Gisela and Princes;Thane heir and Bruno. MoonStone keep the ancient seat of the vine kings is a towering, elegant castle, built on a craggy hill with dinstinctive spire and lucsious gardens that dominate its landscape. With ten vassals, House Vynaria has been able to hold the Vine lands under its yolk for hundreds of years.
While the west and vine lands might be the richest parts of Tenria, but the riverlands are its blood and heart, for without the great river, Tenria would die. With a population of about four to five million the riverlands are the most populated country of the seven kingdoms, with a diverse mix of riverfolks, fishermen, townspeople, and traders, the riverland is a vital strategic crossroads and of high importance,due to the great river and being a hub for commerce and trade, as nearly every products flows through their lands and rivers. With a large population, the river kings of house Lyrax, have a larger tax base allowing them to maintain and invest in infastructures and its military. The river kings are masters of the great river which allows them to regulate trade and commerce inlands, provide transportation and logistics support argiculture and fishing industry of Tenria, maintaing a strong grip on the lands.
Riverhollow, a majestic castle built on threee interconnected islands in the middle of the great river, with towers that seems to grow naturally from the riverbanks, its walls has never been breached and has never fallen. King Kem III ruled over the riverlands and its lords, his queen Kiya and son crown prince Khnumhtoep and princess Meret are the royal family of the river lords.
The east of Tenria is perhaps the strangest part of the continent, with mountains so high it touches the sky, and islands inside the mountains. The Dragon teeth mountains is perhaps the gods sense of humor, with rumors of ancient magical royalty to which some houses in the east claim origin from, and diamond and chrysolite mines deep in the mountains of the dragon teeth. Singers sing of a time when magic ruled this lands, when dragons roamed its skies and when its families lived like gods, peharps the tales are as true as they say, because one look at a someone from the mountains, you are struck with awe at their maginificient pale skin and often at times golden silver hairs and eyes deeep red its like an ever burning fire. Some say magic still reside there, some even claim dark arts are being done deep in the mountains, but only the past holds its secrets.
Regardless of singers and story tellers, the people of the mountain are as industrous as they are hardworking, the MoonGate castle is a testament to this, unlike any other castles of the kingdoms, the Moongate castle was carved into one of the mountains in the dragon teeth making it one with the mountain, with walls as high as the mountain itself, House Kyre rules over the mountains and its peoples, with sparse ariable land, sparse fields, a rocky storm battered southern coast, and mysterious islands in the mountains. King Thayer XI ruled over his patchment of land and is said to have been married to Queen Kestrel, a socerress as regards to some accounts, bearing a son Gideon and his sisters princessess Livien and Piper. House Kyre ruled over a million and five hundered thousands subject, as expected as a place like this, with formidable knights, skilled stone masons, diamond mines and control of the gate pass, it is nearly impossible to invade the Mountains from the land.
Like its name implies, the stormlands are south of the mountains with the eastern narrow sea seprating this two sworn enemies, although with little conflict on land, the stormlords decimated the mountain kings naval power in battles over the years and although having the upper hand at sea it was impossible to ever lunch a land conquest of the mountains, the cause of this unending tension between this two kingdoms are a set of islands called the triplets, south of the mountains in the eastern narrow sea and north of the stormlands, having no natural resoures like its neighboors, the storm kings of House Thoren, built an impressive navy so vast and powerful not even the combined naval power of the Auric and Vine kings could match them in naval conflicts. Their allies the Vine king uses this as an edge over the Auric kings in the western sea to disrupt and often at times raid coastal cities of the westernlands. King Cormac Thoren ruled this vast rocky country with is queen, queen Brynn and children crown prince Ronan and his sisters princessess Aisling and Niamh, with over two million subjects and ten lordly vassals. The crown power of House Thoren or the stormlords as they was called was their navy, so large and so powerful that none of the other kingdoms navy combined could out best them in naval coflicts.
The dunes of Tenria is as mysterious and beautiful as all its neigbhoors, no one can say for certain how the sounternmost part of the continent or the arm as its often called became a desert, with an ever shifting sands, mass oaises, ancient ruins, a vast coast line,and an abundant deposist of spices. The dunes of Tenria or dunes of Kharsos, named after the royal house that ruled this harsh desert are boarderd by the stormlands to the north, vine lands to the west, southern sea to its south and the eastern narrow sea to the east.
Skilled warriors, and horsemen the men of the Dunelands are masters of desert warfare; they had to, as the value of spice, their most valued resources always invite invasions. With a large population of over two million inhabitants, with a mix of mountain clans, miners, craftsmen, spice miners and traders. The dune is home to a variety of peoples and cultures, amongs them, the strangest peharps are the camel clan, mostly a normadic tribe who suplies the royal army with over 200 camels for logistics and war, these camel mounted warriors decimates enemy flaks with as much ease as breaking bread. With formidable desert castles and architecture and a tight control of rare spices like golden safforn, starlight salt, mirage pepper, the dunes might be harsh but far from poor. The most impressive of all its archtecture is peharps the home castle of House Kharsos, the desert kings and royal house of the dune. Aridos, a fortified city, built on an oasis with towering walls and imposing towers, many have died trying to scale its walls, many would still die before the century turns. King Khalid VII ruled the dune, alongside his wife Queen Zahra, their son and heir prince Amir, and princess Jamila and prince Malik. Twelve noble houses owes alligence to the desert kings.
Tenria has always existed in state of fragile peace and stability, while open conflict between the Auric and Vine kings is a never ending state of affair, tensions simmer beneath the surface with each royal house maintaining a delicate balance of power. Houses Thoren and Kyre engage in a never ending disputes for the triplets, while Houses Vynaria and Thoren maintain close relationships for mutual survival and defense, Houses Aurum and its endless bickering with the Vine kings and riverlords for control of the western sea and the lucrative river trade. While being the most powerful the Auric kings never really got an edge over the Vine or River lords, due to strategic check and balance.
In all this the desert kings had alwys strived to navigate its complex web of alliance with caution over its vulnerable borders. As each house struggle for dominance, subtle shifts in power and influence posses a significant threat to upset the delicate balance of power in Tenria where future events would test the strenght of forged alliances in which the very fabrics of Tenria would be torn asunder.