I'll fill in some background info on the land itself, i.e what you'll find in terms of monsters, people, buildings, landscapes. etc.
MapMonsters/NpcsThere are many animals, beasts, and people who are just up to no good. I will list some of those unique to Grennendia:
Yaks. Big, I mean big, yaks. Creatures with huge horns. They tend to hang around mountains and cold places. Usually peaceful unless themselves or young are threatened.
Vascar Lizards. These lizards are similar in size to komodo dragons, but a bit smaller. They come in varieties; jungle, swamp, common, which hang around plains and grassland, and Ice, which are found in mountains. Some are poisonous, and others are even worse- the ice can breathe gaseous nitrogen, which freezes almost anything it comes into contact with. These are concentrated, and seem like a beam of ice.
Spirits. Not dead people souls- these are spirits, a race as diverse as insects. The most common are the lesser, and there are rock, ice, fire, earth,light, dark, electric- pretty much every element. There are Greater, which come under the general classification of Bad Things To Be Near.
Ghosts- these
are dead people spirits, those who had a violent death usually, or a major purpose that went unfufilled. With the great war only six years over, these are in abundance all over grennendia. Most are peaceful- but some are savage, and will attack- and sometimes kill- on sight
Dwarves; this race lives in their stone halls in the mountains. Some of them hate humans to the core, and will attack almost as soon as they you. However, they are intelligent, and sentient- not beasts.
Ents, these live in the Southern Forest and are effectively huge, walking, talking, trees. They could crush you without a thought- agility is more useful then strength here. They do, however, stay well away from Tralenia, the tree city.
Fenrir, the great wolf, also prowls the plains between cities. Fenrir is a huge wolf- perhaps 20 feet tall. It is always aggresive, and it's lair is, apparently, in the Molros Volcano.
Norn, 7-8ft tall humans that excel in close combat, and love the hunt and a challenge.
Wyverns- these are feared everywhere. They are similar to dragons, but with a more birdlike shape. They are only found in two places- the Norn Range, and the Molros Volcano. There are three varieties- Ice, Fire, and Draconic. Ice are found in the mountains, Fire around Molros and Draconic are rare indeed. They can be found in either, and are not only rare but excessively powerful.
Goblins- small, mottled green creatures that swarm in caves underground. They are unintelligent, but their numbers are huge. They are natural enemies of dwarves.
In the foothills of the Norvair mountains lives some of the greatest and most elusive birds in Grennendia- the Sharae. A single Shara is roughly five feet high, and very intelligent- much cleverer then dogs, or dolphins, or other creatures. But this is not what makes the special, because the Sharae are known to be birds of lightning. They love it, and are most often seen during big storms, where they are spotted flying between great lightning bolts with the light flashing off the gold trim along their wings.
Another Lightning creature is one of the more dangerous of the Vascar lizards, the Electric Vascar. These are big lizards, with spines that glow in the prescence of electricity. They are found almost anywhere in Grennendia, one of the only roaming Vascar lizards.
Forretra is home to many strange creatures, one of which being Hell Falcyons, a strange species made mostly of lava.Distantly related to Lava Elementals,these creatures come in various shapes and sizes,however as a general rule the less powerful they are the more like a human,although even as a "human" they have red lines across their body,which is often mistaken for tattoos.
PlacesThe Mountains of Norvair stretch across perhaps two thirds of West Grennendia. There are passes in the mountain range, but they are often plagued by bandits and spirits. These are the coldest places in Grennendia, espescially the northern tip. There, a great castle of ice still exists. It literally is made of entirely opaque ice- it is a mystery how it got there- natural occurence say some, contstructed by others.
The Halls of the Dwarves rest not far from the Ao Seruld city of Grax'nor, and are carved in the biggest mountains of the Norvair range. The dwarves rarely venture from these, but some dwarves do leave to start a life outside the great mountains. Another race lives in the mountains- the Norn. These live all around the part of Norvair known as the Norn Range. They live not in cities, but in wooden houses out in the wild and cold. They occaisionally gather together in villages.
Another landmark is the Molros Volcano, on the plains near Selenis. This, while technically active, has not erupted for many hundreds of years. It has shown signs, for the past century, of smoke, and magma is believed to be building in the cavern. Empathists (Followers of Empathism, the main religion on Grennendia) believe that a volcano eruption signifies Empartheus' fury at the world.
The Southern Forest, (Semi-Rainforest), is big and contains much wildlife, and the city of Tranelia, which has some of the most beautiful sights in Grennendia.
There is also a legend; that a temple, the Temple of Kalkasra, rests somewhere in Grennendia. This holds many marvels, riches and much magic; along with traps, guards and other, more subtle things. The greatest treasure of the temple, however, is the Diamond of Empartheus, the diamond that Empartheus apparently used when he created life. It has only ever been spoken of in legend- but legend often has a grain of truth.
ForretraForretra is a recently discovered tropical island chain east of Grennendia on the map.
It has quite a low population compared to the Mainland, but it is very spread out. The entirety of it are native people, who are mostly primitive, except around the capital.
The only major city there is Amberisa. Amberisa is a relatively small city, but with the best market of spices, food, musical instruments, etc, in all of Grennendia. It has the best wood workers in all of Grennendia as well.
Cities/EmpiresHaleinis is the Capital of Ao Seruld, the western empire. It is at the foot of the mountains, and so has a pretty cold atmosphere. However, it is very heavily populated, and therefore one of the richest cities in Grennendia. It is technologically advanced; it invented catapults, longbows, and Scrying Discs (these are rare, and used by advanced mages to see far distances. They are also big and difficult to transport. 5 of 14 of these rest in Haleinis.) Ao Seruld generally is much more scientific and technologically minded then Corbep, which has it's own national religion and relies more on magic.
An example is that the Deus Magnifico University of Magic is based in Ralvas, capital of Corbep. Magic is also used to support the most beautiful city in Grennendia- Tranelia. Tranelia is a large, 3 tiered city- but constructed entirely among the gigantic trees of the Southern Forest, a huge Semi-Rainforest (A semi-Rainforest is basically a rainforest, but cooler, with less rain, and less crowded trees). The lowest tier- tier 3- is half way up the trunk of the trees, where the working class live. These have ladders and pulley systems leading down to the floor. Then, tier 2 has the richer people- those who do no manual labour, but writers and mages and others. This tier is among the leaves of the trees. Finally, Tier 1 is built at the top of the trees, which views the entire forest. The ruling class lives here and the very rich live here.
Another city in the Southern Forest is Loranolis, the city of the Lorians. It is not unlike Tralenia, using the trees as a city, but it takes it to the next step. In the heart of the forest, the trees can be up to 80ft thick, and the Lorians used magic to hollow these and made their house in them. The government/palaca is made in the Tamarisk Tree, which is the biggest tree in the world, and easily the size of the Dwarf Halls, if not bigger. Despite this, few non-Lorians have ever seen it, and only then with their permission.
Another major Ao Seruld city is Grax'nor, which rests deep in the mountains themselves. It controls most mining and metals in Ao Seruld, and has some of the most advanced mining technology in Grennendia, along with the great Halls of the Dwarves, one of the wonders of the world.
The only major port city in all of grennendia is Selenis, and because almost all sea trade between cities goes through it, and being the only city with more then 4 docks, it does not actually belong to any empire, and is governed independently.
There is one Norn city- The fortress of Malanis. This was made if ever the Norn people were in danger, and it is renowned as being the most well-defended and strongest fort in Grennendia. It is so big inside the walls, that it really is a city, or at least by Norn standards, who only ever gather in a village of 6 houses.
HistoryThe Great War was the worst event in the history of Grennendia. It was caused by the death of the Ambassador of Corbep in the city of Haleinis. Then, tensions grew and everyone was forced to take a side. Even now, some racial hatred still exists.
The Main Religion of Grennendia- Empathism- believes in the god of nature, balance and magic, Emparthus. In Empathism, Emparthus did not create the world, but found it when it was just a big ball of rock. Then he made the water, and then the plants and then life. And when the earth was young, and the people were in danger of being overwhelmed by the adversities facing them, he gave them magic.
Norn and Lorians have always had a long-standing distrust of one another. They feel this instinctively, perhaps because they effectively represent two different ways of life- The Norn live by the sword and the hunt, and the Lorians live by Magic, writing and intelligence.
Only recently were the astronomical revelutions, when the existence of the planets two moons were officially realised. Deorz, made of black rock, and Magus, made of white rock. Only once every 45 days are both moons visible in the sky, while every 250 says is one night where neither moon can be seen. This is referred to as the Night of True Dark. The days when both are visible in the night sky, once every 90 days, are referred to as the Twin Nights.