Fragments from the Archives · College of Discernment
A geographical register of stone, learning and war
Cities are remembered by their walls, their customs, and the things their inhabitants choose to preserve.
The Sproutling capital gathers its identity around the Stone King. At its heart stands a citadel remembered as shaped or grown from a single great boulder. Stone shrines, polished pebbles, chalk spirals and grey-green festival dress keep the old victory present in daily life. The city is also a place of kitchens, soldiers, markets and difficult royal decisions.
A northern city of pale luminous stone and dark veins, with frosted spires, bridges and faceless statues. The College of Discernment gives Luminara its scholarly authority, though successive rebuildings have left older halls beneath newer structures. Knowledge is catalogued here; its custody is less settled.
The College preserves and studies the Glyphs, vortexes, natural history and the records of the realms. Its departments and archives do not always agree. Some teachings are restricted, and even a scholar’s right to investigate may end where royal power or military necessity begins.
The fortress holds a mountain pass between friendly lands and the eastern battleground route towards the Realm of Thirty-Six. Its gates, stores and watch posts matter as much as its walls. The outpost has become a place where ordinary soldiering meets threats that no drill can adequately anticipate.
A structure whose purpose changed with its occupants and its age: donor tower, vortex facility and later the seat of the Dark Lord. Its history is a record of how an invention may outlive the intention of its maker.
Moetwhisper is the principal port town of the Sproutling Realm. Facing the Sea of Dom, its harbour connects the realm to merchants, travellers and the lands beyond its shores.
Min Durrell is a fortress town within the Realm of Thirty-Six, one of the fortified settlements marking the realm’s military landscape.
Chamber City is the capital of the Realm of Thirty-Six, a centre of rule and authority in the eastern lands.
Three regions recorded in the College’s geographical registers, each associated by tradition with an elemental power.
Named for the sprout-weed that grows in abundance across its lands, the Sproutling Realm is said to honour Stone. Its settlements, customs and remembrance of the Stone King preserve that allegiance.
The realm takes its name from the wars of the First Age. According to tradition, only thirty-six men survived the elemental wars and rebuilt humanity from the ashes. The realm is said to honour Fire.
The Southern Realms comprise nomadic settlements and only a handful of established towns. Their lands are renowned for fine sand, spices and exotic metals. They are said to honour Water.