The world of Arcadia is rife with possibilities and there are plentiful cultures and kingdoms that populate this world. Magic is as commonplace and steel and war are as expected as summer droughts and the frost of winter. You are one of the thousands who populate this world. You grew up in...

A.) The trading town of Indigo Creek, on the southern Coast of [hider=Kebala]The southern seas are practically owned by the kebala Meritocracy, a loose league of city-states united by the powers of a few key merchant tycoons. The Meritocracy is extremely varied in race, religion and cultures making the people accepting and sophisticated. The major flaw of the meritocracy is it’s relatively new age. The city-states only recently stopped fighting to control more land and it has already mustered a couple of ancient enemies. The crumbling Akratian empire made a vain attack at the Bogmire tribe and barely won a hollow victory and so the Kebala are preparing a counter attack while the old empire sleeps.

The meritocracy trades many varied things from luxury goods like jewelry, dyes and salt, to the more mundane lumber and shipwrights. Their economy is booming but the merchant upper class is always at each other's throats trying to out compete the competition. Merchants control private armies and wealth represents authority in votes completely shunting out most low born people. 
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B.) The Free City of [hider=Mythrin]Deep in the steppes is a city lacking in humans and smaller races. Ogres, giants, cyclops and many other large races gather in the ancient Mythrin city. Once a bustling capital of the Nungir empire, a fire giant country that dominated the continent millenia ago, now Mythrin is a crumbling trade city where the isolated fractions of large races come to trade food, slaves, weapons and animals. While smaller races aren’t particularly denied access the city is extremely bigoted. This is the current capital of the steppes where most trade and delegation is done, often through giantkin ambassadors.

Ruled by an illusive cloud giant, some people question if he is even still alive after all these years. The city is entrenched in ancient tradition, bearing stone tablets across the place depicting the required courtesy, laws and customs to understand. Duels are frequent and sometimes used as an excuse to murder or steal someone’s things, courts are simple and judges are cruel and opinionated. The laws are harsh and sometimes trials are ended with a shrug and leaving the lives of both the innocent and guilty to fate.
[/hider], in the no mans land between [hider=Chubalga]A democratic expansionist state from the east that is quickly growing into a powerhouse, the Chubalgans are ruled by an elected emperor and senate who have no term limits and many often serve for life. The conglomerate grew from the many steppe horse tribes but actually founded villages and cities in the more fertile plains and hills around the Inner sea to the west. While many remained nomadic, this helped them create an expansive caravan business. The people of Chubalga are diverse and cultured, and their ambassadors have gained control of surrounding smaller countries as protectorates. During the collapse of the empire, mercenaries from Chubalga grew rich raiding the countryside and sacking towns, earning them a dangerous enemy. The Chubalgans are at the height of their power currently and only time will tell if they begin to decline or rise to power.

The chubalgan army is mostly made of volunteers, mercenaries and hired steppe tribes nearby creating a fast moving, varied force of heartless raiders paid in the loot and sack. The chubalgan army is feared continent wide for how they decimate the countryside,the morale of the people, and leave countries ruined. The slave trade still exist in Chubalga, but the current ruler is struggling against many odds to abolish the practice, as most slaves are children sold by their parents or street urchins. The country mostly being roaming orcs, humans, outcast  and Akratian immigrants, the country is very superstitious and tends to be wary of outsiders. As such the many immigrants coming into the conglomerate deal with a lot of hate.
[/hider] and [hider=Akratia]Akratia is the oldest human empire still standing and though far past it’s glory days are behind it. The kingdom’s forces were stretched too thin across its vast territory and bands of bandits, barbarians, and inhuman monsters have managed to cause enough issues with the kingdom’s trade routes and cities. A kingdom pinned in the middle of a wartorn area the Akratians hardly get by paying off other kingdoms and slowly descending. 

The kingdom is very diverse and the many nobles rule more like governors and barons than actual politicians, delegating over smaller provinces. The ruling class has power in the military and little say in the actual politics as the emperor does. Recently, the king of the nation was assassinated and his wife has taken over. She has since tightened her grip on the control, gaining more control than previous rulers and using it to make major changes.

The landscape of Akratia is a hilly, deep-red desert filled with canyons, elaborate cave systems and two very large rivers that form the country’s borders. The rain comes once a year and rains for a few days straight and otherwise the country is dry and bleak.
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C.) Redmount, the capital of Akratia
D.) A nomadic clan in the Chubalgan steppes
E.) The port town of Darkwater, a major trading post on the island country of [hider=Sironia]Far north across the inner sea lies the small kingdom of Sironia wedged in between the many provinces and fighting countries around them. The Sironians are a small country but they are exceedingly rich and by far the leading country in the sciences and enginuity. Their navy is nothing to scoff at and the advent of primitive firearms has made them devastatingly effective. Sironia has created multiple treaties with countries all around the world agreeing to protect each other should they go to war, and have done so for multiple countries as well. 

Sironia has dipped its hands into Chebulga extensively, hoping to get their hands on land in Akratia by instigating a war between the two countries. Sironia is a highly nationalistic country that uses propaganda to win over it’s people and uses demonstrations of their power to win over allies, be it through economic support or war. Once the country was a long long lasting monarchy until they rebelled and defeated the king and started a new kingdom. 
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