Civilizations

The Heartlands is known as the Center of the World both geographically and symbolically -- at least if you ask a heartlander. It is indeed a civilized and prosperous continent, home to several powerful nations and with a long and cultured history. The geopolitical landscape of the Heartlands is largely dominated by the powerful Empire of Egea and the politically inclined Grand Duchies of Tyria. Peace has reigned in the region more or less uninterrupted for a few centuries ever since the international peace treaty known as the Accord was signed.     The North is a vast, arctic continent separated from the Heartlands by ranges of tall mountains. Warm ocean currents enable naval access between the Heartlands and the maritime nations of Kushan, Nordgard and Bhaskar. Most northern nations are geographically distant from each other, being divided by savage frontier regions. Some such frontiers are within the borders of nations, too inhospitable to settle. Other frontiers are entirely claimed by independent barbarian clans, and they do not easily suffer the passage of traders, envoys, or armies.     The West lies beyond the Great Sea, being entirely inaccesible by land from the Heartlands. Many centuries ago settlers from ancient Tyria sailed to the western shores and settled there, their descendants now being divided into the nations of Minarra and Isatia. Of the original nations of the West, the empire of Shang is perhaps the most politically significant, but many diverse peoples dwell in the seemingly impenetrable jungles that span the southern half of the continent.     The South is a micro-continent of endless, wild jungles. Two rivalrous civilizations, Menyamar and Nergamesh, vye for the control of its inhabitable regions. To the south of these vast domains lies the inhospitable desolation of the Straits of Doom, laid to waste in the Divine Calamity by the gods themselves.     The distand and exotic lands of the East lie across the scorching sands of the Rubian Desert. Not much is known to heartlanders of the eastern civilizations except for the tall tales of wonder and mysticism passed on by traders that survived the trip back and forth across the dangerous desert sands. The southeastern continent of Gargantia connects to the Rubian Desert by a narrow istmus, but the existence of this accessway is only an obscure legend in the Heartlands. Travelling to the istmus requires passage through the region called the Dead cities -- a foreboding wasteland of black desert polluted by necrotic energy.     Amanor's tens of thousands of years of history are rife with conflict and ruination. Dynasties both big and small have fallen and been forgotten in the countless wars of the world.