Marrikan Quick Primer

Here is a quick primer of the world of Marrikan.

The Western Continent

A land of dizzying diversity and the cradle of the world's oldest civilization, the City of Bridges
Mordau
Mordau is a cold, harsh land. It has few resources and few settlements. The ruins of several Arctic Elf settlements litter the frozen forests and cold mountains.
Ancestries Dwarf (Rock, Strong-Blooded), Elf (Arctic [Rare]), Goblin (Snow), Human (half-orc, half-elf)
Common Classes Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Sorcerer (Elemental, air)
The Summerlands
The Summerlands encompasses all the areas between Mordau to the north and the Desert of Chaos to the south. Once known as the Kingdom of Estrabaq, it was filled with knights and duelists. The City of Bridges served as the capital of Estrabaq. Estrabaq was primarily an elven nation, and was widely considered to be the birthplace of cities and civilization. The woodlands of the Summerlands are deep and touched by the fey.
Ancestries Dwarf (Strong-Blooded [Uncommon]), Elf (Seer [Rare], Whisper [Uncommon], Woodland [Uncommon], Gnome (Chameleon, Fey-Touched, Sensate, Wellspring), Goblin (Irongut, Razortooth, Unbreakable), Halfling (Gutsy, Hillock, Wildwood), Human (half-orc, half-elf [Uncommon])
Common Classes Alchemist, Bard, Champion, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Wizard
Destrian Swamp
The Destrian Swamp is a dark and dangerous swamp filled with lizard folk and, if rumors are to be believed, the Necromancer's College , a school of magical learning that was illegal even before the Iron Lord took over and declared the formal practice of magic to be forbidden.
Ancestries Elf (Whisper [Uncommon]), Gnome (Chameleon, Umbral), Goblin (Irongut, Unbreakable), Halfling (Nomadic, mostly having wandered in from the Desert of Chaos [Uncommon]), Human (Half-Orc)
Common Classes Druid, Ranger, Rogue, Wizard (Necromancer)
Desert of Chaos
The Desert of Chaos is a burning desert, a seemingly endless sea of sand and dunes only occasionally broken up by ancient ruins, the one known city called Oasis or the forbidden Black Citadel located at the heart of the desert and said to contain the remnants of the ancient god Chaos . The closer one gets to the Black Citadel, the more reality seems to warp and melt, the area becoming a surrealistic hodgepodge of pure, unbridled creation. Large tribes, made up of multiple ancestries, wander these sands, never staying in one place too long and eking out a difficult existence. The southern regions of the desert are a battleground as forces of the Iron Legion attempt to break through to Drakkareach, one of the few areas of the world not controlled by the Iron Lord .
Ancestries Dwarf (Forge), Elf (Seer [Rare]), Goblin (Charhide, Unbreakable), Halfling (Nomadic), Human (Half-orc) (and when we get rules for them, lizard folk)
Common Classes Bard, Champion, Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Sorcerer (Elemental, fire)
Drakkareach
Drakkareach is also known as the Wyrmlands. It is a vast area on the southern tip of the Western Continent , surrounded by mountains. As the nation is ruled by dragons, the Iron Legion has been unable to establish a foothold in the nation, leading to a long and bloody constant battle for the last 450 years in the northern areas of the region. There are few settlements as humanoids would call them, though there are some tiny villages scattered throughout the land. The exception is Gatetown, a large city that once acted as a sort of embassy between the humanoids north of Drakkareach and Drakkareach itself. Though it is cut off from teh west of the continent due to the forces of the Iron Lord, Gatetown contains the Chamber of Fangs where the Council of Wyrms, made up of one dragon of each color, rules over Drakkareach. The city is surrounded by several mountains, each of which is home to one of the Talons of the Wyrm. There are a large number of sorcerers that hail from Drakkareach, particularly those of the draconic bloodline.
Ancestries Dwarf (Rock, Strong-Blooded), Elf (Seer [Uncommon]), Gnome (Wellspring), Goblin (Irongut, Razortooth, Unbreakable), Halfling (Gutsy, Hillock, Nomadic, Wildwood), Human (half-elf, half-orc)
Common Classes Cleric, Sorcerer (Draconic), Wizard

The Redlands

The Redlands is the birthplace of humanity, a great continent where once celestials and humans lived side-by-side until the Night of Tears when thousands of celestials were killed, their blood seeping into the ground and causing the land to become permanently stained red. Druids which live in the Redlands, particularly those of the Leaf and Wild orders say that they can communicate directly with the Redlands, that the spilling of so much celestial blood gave the land a sentience and, while that sentience still slumbers, it is close to awakening. The Redlands is also home to the Iron Lord who has made the ancient City Angelus, once the center of civilization in the Redlands, into his personal keep and capital. All of the Redlands is under the strict and powerful control of the Iron Lord and the other humanoids that live here either work for the Iron Lord or struggle to live beneath his tyrannical boot.
Ancestries Dwarf (Forge, Rock, Strong-Blooded), Elf (Woodland [Rare]), Gnome (Fey-Touched, Sensate, Wellspring), Goblin (Charhide, Irongut, Razortooth, Unbreakable), Halfling (Gutsy, Nomadic, Wildwood), Human (Half-Orc if we ever get an orc ancestry, this is the place.
Common Classes Alchemist, Druid, Fighter, Rogue, Sorcerer (Angelic)

Hammerfell

Considered by most Dwarf scholars to be the place where the gods forged the first dwarf, Hammerfell was once a great and mighty kingdom of dwarves. Then the treachery of humans, backed by infernal power, allowed a human to take control of the dwarven empire. But this so-called "First Human King of Dwarves" was tricked by the infernal forces with which he had been treating and portals tore between Hammerfell and the various infernal realms. Fiends of all sorts began pouring through the portals and in response the First Human King of Dwarves utilized a powerful and ancient ritual, causing all who die or ever died within the confines of Hammerfell to rise again as semi-intelligent undead, giving the First Human King of Dwarves a massive army of the undead with which to battle the encroaching fiendish forces. Today, Hammerfell is a parody of life itself, made up largely of undead who go about their old ways as if it were habit. While the fiends have largely been beaten back, portals still open with alarming regularity and the battles begin anew. Over it all is the lich-like First Human King of Dwarves who has ruled over Hammerfell for thousands of years, overseeing this never-ending battle. Many of the humanoids that had not yet died fled to the Sunless Reaches and, in those tunnels, have evolved into darker versions of their original selves. The Iron Lord has made no move to try to conquer Hammerfell, possibly seeing it as a waste of time. As a result, the pogrom against the elves never reached the heights it did in the rest of Marrikan, and elves are significantly more common in the Sunless Reaches near the surface than they are in other lands.
Ancestries Dwarf (Ancient-Blooded, Death Warden, Forge, Rock, Strong-Blooded), Elf (Cavern, Whisper), Gnome (Umbral), Goblin (Razortooth, Unbreakable), Halfling (Twilight), Human (Half-Elf if we get any rules for undead ancestries, these will go well here.
Common Classes Barbarian, Champion, Cleric, Fighter, Sorcerer (Undead), Wizard (Necromancer)

The Island Nations

Scattered throughout the Four Seas are three different so-called Island Nations. Though two of them are large enough landmasses to be technically continents, they are considered less than the other lands of Marrikan.
The Crescent Isles
Home to the Lunarian , the Crescent Isles sit in the Sea of Donoon between the Western Continent and the Redlands . Though the Iron Legion has made some progress in the Isles, they have not gained the hold they do over other lands. This is due in large part to the sea-locked location of the isles and the pirates that ply the waters around the isles themselves.
Ancestries Dwarf (Forge), Gnome (Fey-touched, Sensate, Wellspring), Goblin (Unbreakable), Halfling (Hillock..though they don't live in hills here), Human (Half-Elf)
Common Classes Bard, Cleric (Moon), Druid, Ranger, Rogue
Weldlands
There are no settlements of any sorts on the Weldlands. Any settlements larger than a camp invariably fall to ruin within three days. The reason for this is unknown, but as a result the Weldlands are littered with ruins of cities, villages and outposts, many of which are thousands of years old. The Weldlands are an adventurer's paradise but there are no ancestries that call these lands home save for a few dragons that have slipped over from Drakkareach . It is said that treasures older than even the City of Bridges can be found in some of these ruins and, as the Iron Legion seems to have little interest in the Weldlands (yet), a few bands of wanderers and adventurers make their homes here.
Marakan
Marakan was home to an ancestry that was completely destroyed, the name of which has been lost to time, by refugees fleeing Hammerfell. Of course, the Iron Legion rules over Marakan now, as it is not far off from the Redlands and was the second large land mass to fall beneath the banner of the Iron Lord . It was here that the pogrom against the elves began and today there are no known elves living in Marakan.
Ancestries Dwarf (Ancient-Blooded, Deathwarden, Strong-Blooded), Goblin (Unbreakable), Human (Half-orc)
Common Classes Alchemist, Bard, Champion, Fighter, Monk

Sunless Realms

The Sunless Realms are a series of underground tunnels, caverns and vaults that penetrate deep within the world of Marrikan. Much of it is unexplored, though there are several areas where strange civilizations exist, notably the Forsaken Elves, also known as Drow. Eldritch beings burrow through the rock and soil. Compared to the ancestries that live in the sunlit world, those in the Sunless Realms often seem cruel or downright evil, a side effect of the harsh truth of survival in these realms. Ancestries of all sorts can be found in the Sunless Realms, and adventurers often travel here looking for ancient gold or other lost treasures. The Iron Legion rules the regions of the Sunless Realm that most closely mirror where it rules in the upper world but the legon's influence rarely penetrates deeply.
The Spider Nations
In the early days of the fiendish invasion of Hammerfell, a few elves made bargain with a minor, relatively unknown deity called the Spider Queen. Per the terms of the agreement, the so-called Forsaken elves would be lead to a lad where they would not be attacked by fiends but in return they had to worship none but the Spider Queen. That promised land was built into the Spider Nations, located deep within the Sunless Realms. Here the Forsaken elves changed in to something else, the drow.