- compiled by Oledia Vanamian
On Corridors and Seams
- adapted from an essay written by Saltor Quillpocket -
When speaking of the world Kriadar, one is referring to the stable landmasses, known in scholarly circles as the Corridors. When one travels away from the Corridors, they enter the Seams, shallow chaotic territories filled with danger. Further travel into the seams often can lead to one being lost within Kholaz, the universe, entering entirely new planes of existence. Due to the ever changing nature of the Seams, one cannot use them as a reliable form of extraplanar travel.
While within a Corridor there is often consistent logic in regards to the environs, entering a different Corridor may at times lead to a drastic shift. For example, traveling north in one Corridor one may see a gradual shift towards colder weather, yet when they enter a new Corridor further north they may find themselves in a tropical climate. Even the cosmos appear different in certain Corridors, with differing star patterns and heavenly bodies.
However, smart travelers and cartographers need not fear. Most Corridors form around a specific geographical feature. For example, the entirety of the Paradon River is a Corridor, and if one were to travel by boat upon the river they would not get lost. There are of course exceptions to this rule, such as the Heartsguard Mountains, where a wrong step could lead to being upon a completely different mountain or plane.
At times, Seams begin to stabilize, creating new Corridors and new lands to be discovered, sometimes bringing new life with them. Generally, Corridors never destabilize and turn into Seams, yet there are a few mysterious exceptions to this rule.
Major Landmasses of the Western Half of Kriadar
Letzel
The largest continent in the west, Letzel stretches from the desert of Phenolor's Breach, where the Tieflings first arrived, to the subcontinent of Teb, an inaccessible land blocked from passage by the ever-shifting and dangerous Heartsguard Mountains. A diverse land, southern Letzel is considered to be the birthplace of the Gnomish people, while Phenolor's Breach is considered to be the arrival point for the Tieflings.
Behenia
A smaller continent to the north of Letzel, Behemia recently arrived as a Corridor within the last 1000 years. Most of the continent is covered by a verdant rainforest, and it is the homeland of various new species, many of them resembling various beasts throughout the world.
Mepholos
Similar to the Heartsguard Mountains, the southern continent of Mepholos straddles a peculiar status between Corridor and Seam. Once a larger continent connected to Teb, it has since floated away. Within itself, the continent of Mepholos is stable, but the continent is afloat in Seams, making arrival at the continent near impossible for those without arcane or divine guidance.
Scholars debate whether Mepholos could even be considered a Corridor and many argue that it in fact sits alone as its own plane.
Shamay Isles
Six isles surrounding a larger island in the center of the Endless Ocean serve as the birthplace of the Elves and homeland of the Shamay Elves. Each island features a mountain directly in its center, with the center island containing the largest mountain in Kriadar. According to the Shamay Elves, and many non-Shamay scholars, the Isles are where creation of Kriadar began.
Technically not in the Western half of Kriadar, as they straddle the center of the planet, the Shamay Isles have been placed in this section due to the long history between the Shamay Elves and the people of Letzel.
Major Landmasses of the Eastern Half of Kriadar
Sh'hoona
The largest and most populated continent in Kriadar, Sh'hoona is connected in the northwest to the continent of Klo'ais by the Pels Bridge, and separated from the jungles of the Mavom subcontinent to the south by the Zahira Desert. Sh'hoona is considered to be a continent cobbled together from Corridors, containing many different lands and environments, from the deserts of Liigo bordering the frozen mountains of Latiyet to the plains of Nar Hofa bordering the swamps of Netviz.
A diverse and varied land, it serves as the homeland for several peoples. The land of Monakat, along the Yozira Sea is considered by most to be the ancestral birthplace of the Halflings, with some Munak scholars claiming Monakat, not the Shamay Isles, is the true center of the world. Spanning the Pels bridge is the desert land of Liigo, considered the birthplace of the Dragonborn. The dangerous swamps of Netviz serve as both the ancestral homeland of the Viz elves and the birthplace of the goblinoids.
Klo'ais
The continent of Klo'ais is connected to the northwest of Sh'hoona by the Pels Bridge. Klo'ais is characterized by the long Alohadra Mountain range running east to west throughout the continent. The Alohadra's length provides moderate stability for the continent as a continent. Alongside the mountainous regions of Klo'ais, the Yozira Sea rests between Sh'hoona and Klo'ais and serves as home to several large islands.
Scholars debate as to whether Klo'ais or Deroh are the birthplace of the human species.
Mavom
South of the Zahira Desert and bordered by two mountain ranges is the jungle subcontinent of Mavom. Much of the land of Mavom is unknown to explorers, as it is heavily wooded and protected by the Mavom Elves, who rarely allow outsiders to enter their homeland.
Deroh
South of the Mavom subcontinent is the land known as Deroh. The expanse between the northern Morgaeros Mountains and the southern Ironshields, is fairly flat. The southern point of the continent, from the Ironshields is a mountainous region.
Nafelz
Also known as the Shattered Lands, Nafelz was once a large continent to the southwest of Deroh, but millennia ago the land was broken apart and transformed into a large mass of non-volcanic islands. Seams have formed in the water between the different islands, so that even though there are areas where the distance between two islands may only be the width of a river, these bodies of water are dangerous to travel upon.
