The Forsaken Land
The remnant of Ageond, now known as the Forsaken Land to the rest of the world, is an island-continent slightly larger than Australia, and through the power of the dark gods, it is a land shrouded in dark clouds. Inhabitants of the continent still refer to the land as Ageond, or the Remnant.
Danaij, Danaij’vai, humans, vampires, and Asath that managed to survive the war rebuilt their nations that had been wholly devastated and began their societies anew. The land is broken up into several nations divided by race, but they all share the same religion of darkness.
Contents
Desert of Black Sand
In the heart of the Forsaken Land is the Desert of Black Sands. In the sinking of Ageond, the center of the southern tip of the continent was a sink for lava flows, swept by tsunamis, and generally ravaged by the Cataclysm. Black volcanic glass was ground to sand in sweeping dunes. This desert is not a place of scorching sun and sapping heat, but it is a cold, arid wasteland where few plants can find a foothold to grow, and though it is perpetually covered in clouds, it sees little rain and ravaging windstorms.
Rivers flowing from the mountains have gradually cut their way through the desert and deposited sediments to enrich the soil, but this process has been slow and painstaking. Many north-flowing rivers find their way into this basin, and at present, the Naslip river from the northern end of the Ormiss Mountains has shaped the northwestern edge of the desert and spreads into a delta to empty in the sea. Rivers from other mountain sources further north join with the Naslip, and have confined the desert to the central-east region of the continent.
East Coast
The Forsaken Land's east coast is home to predominantly human-ruled nations that were established in the aftermath of the Cataclysm or as colonies from Thiskel. As the Desert of Black Sand fills much of the center of this side of the continent, these nations claim land in the northeast and southeast corners, and along the coastline. When the continent was resettled during the Cataclsym, the Danaij took shelter on the western side of the continent under the protection of the mountain ranges (at least, those that were not actively erupting).
Paddarrain Mountains
The northeastern tip of the Forsaken Land is defined by the Paddarrain Mountains that dominate the center of the region. This range is the end of a pre-existing mountain chain from Ageond and was especially seismically active after the sinking of Ageond, leaving the region uninhabitable for several hundred years until the volcanoes settled. On the east side of the range is the country Rilema, established by exiles from western Thiskel and thriving as the strongest intercontinental trading post in the Forsaken Land. Rilema claims several notable islands off their coast.
Two notable rivers are sourced off the Paddarrain mountains. The river Chemelt flows to the east through Rilema. The north fork of the river is in the heart of the country, while the south fork defines their southern border.
Over the last several hundred years, newer human-ruled nations have arisen on this tip, including Rhude to the north and east of Rilema, Amiroth on the eastern side of the Paddarrains, and Gondon to the south of Rilema. Further south, along the coast and desert's edge is Dubrainia, which has staked claim to as much arable land as it can, as well as claiming the more verdant island of Zirzik which sits at the edge of the Forsaken Land's perpetual cloud cover.
South East
Much of the land between Dubrainia and the much further south Farmaith is sterile desert. Farmaith is a young nation, emerging from ambitious humans and hybrids escaping the vampire-ruled state of Kromnathly. The two nations are separated by the Neasit River that flows southward off the Ormiss Mountains. The southern tail of the Ormiss Mountains falls within Kromnathly's borders and the nation is home to dense, dangerous, but fertile forests that are mastered by the vampire lords that rule the land. Kromnathly shares a short, southern border with the Danaij nation of Kiran at the short Ernil river that flows off the south arc of the Ormisses.
West Coast
The west coast of the Forsaken Land is perhaps the best land of the continent, and claimed by three major Danaij nations. The northwest of the region is claimed by the nation of Nalxad and is home to the Ny’skel Mountains. Mairax lays claim to predominantly low riverlands just north of the Fisay Range and Ormiss Mountains. One of the oldest and most stable of the Danaij states, Kiran, is in the south, nestled between the Ormiss and Kixes Mountains with coastline on the southern sea. West of the Kixes Mountains lay three major Danaij’vai states along the southwestern coast; Barandir, Veredo, and Ravindinor.
Nalxad
With the Ny’skel Mountains in the north, fertile lowlands in the south, forested highlands in the northwest, the edges of desert in their east, and most of their border being coastline, the Danaij nation of Nalxad has one of the most dynamic and varied landscapes in the Forsaken Land.
The Ny’skel Mountains are the end of what was a longer mountain chain up Ageond's west coast, but this southern end is all that remains. Off the northern tip of Nalxad is an archpelago of islands that are remains of sunken mountains, or volcanic islands formed during the Cataclsym. The Ny’skel volcanoes have been inactive for several thousand years, but some of them still have the potential for eruption at any time.
From the eastern side of the mountains flow two notable rivers. The Ciccan is sourced further south, tumbles through the mountains in a northern arc, then flows through the foothills until it meets the Nematus River, which is sourced in the center of the Ny’skels and flows out to see in the north. On the west side is the Leasandus River, which has headwaters between both the Nematus and Ciccan sources, and flows down the mountains to the east, to empty into the fjord Eargana.
At the southern end of the mountains, the river Samim is sourced and flows southward into the lowlands. It forks into two directions, the east becoming the Samost River that joins the Naslip Delta to flow out into the north sea; and continuing south meeting with the west fork of the Hatal river out of Mairax lands. The two rivers combine and then flow toward the sea to the west. The west Samim-Hatal River serves as a part of the boarder with Mairax. The border continues along the banks of the south River Samim, then along the Samost until it merges with the Naslip.
Mairax
The Danaij nation of Mairax is in the center of the Forsaken Land's western half, with most of the country's land being on the interior, with only a short span of coastline nestled between the ends of the Samim-Hatal and Kourethi rivers. This small western region is mostly highlands coming off the small Fisay Mountain Range that is a distinct section of the the greater network of Ormiss and Kixes ranges down the southwestern coast. The northern borders of Mairax with Nalxad are formed by rivers. To the west, the Samim-Hatal marks the border. In the central north, the east bank of the lower Samim River up to the point at which the upper Samim splits into the east-flowing Samost, following east until the Samost joins the Naslip Delta. The eastern border is defined by the Naslip River, but undisputed as beyond the river, the barren Desert of Black Sands begins. Mairax's south border ends in the foothills of the northern point of the Ormiss Mountains and then at the north banks of the Kourethi River.
Much of Mairax's most valuable land is the riverlands east of the Fisays and west of the Naslip River. The Hatal River system is Mairax's primary river. From its source waters in the Fisay, it flows northeasterly and fills a basin near the foothills that becomes Lake Hatal. From the north end of the lake, the Hatal River continues in an east fork that joins the Naslip, and a west fork that joins the Samim. These rivers gradually restored the soil in the Forsaken Land's central basin, which once was barren desert, though the eastern most lands along the Naslip are still in the process of reclaimation.
Kiran
The Danaij nation of Kiran is nestled in the valley formed between the Ormiss and Kixes Mountains in the central-south of the Forsaken Land. Kiran's only coastal borders are to the south, where the Aldelti River that flows through the length of the nation empties into the sea. Being surrounded by two of the most ancient mountain ranges has protected Kiran since its founding as the first Danaij nation post-Cataclysm.
The northern point of Kiran provided an access point to the protected valley, and has been the only point of contention with other Danaij states in the highlands between the Fisay Mountains and the beginnings of the Ormiss and Kixes ranges. A massive lake fills much of this region, Lake Eireen, which is the source for the Kourethi River that defines the borders of Mairax and Barandir. From the south end of Lake Eireen and its highlands, the river Neisreen flows into the Kiran Valley until it joins with the Aldelti.
The Kiran Valley itself is forested in the foothills along the walls of the valley, but with open arable land throughout the heart of the valley surrounding the Aldeti.
Rivers
The Ormiss and its connected ranges are also the source of many rivers. Starting from the north is the Samim and Hatal rivers. The Hatal River starts in the west of the Fisay Mountains and flows northwestwards through the heart of Nalxad, then forks north and northwest, the northwest becoming the Samim River, which cuts through the north of the Ormiss range, creating a deep canyon, then empties into the sea on the northernmost point of the continent. The Hatal continues on slightly northeasterly, and is joined by a short river that flows from the end of the Fisay range before emptying into the sea.
The largest river in the continent is the Nasip, which has its source in the Kixes Mountains, flowing from the Mairax nation and cutting straight through the center of the island, through the desert, and emptying into the ocean from the central north coast at the lowest point of land, where it fans out into a delta.
In the lands of Kiran, there are two major rivers. The northern river, the Neasit, flows from the end of the Kixes range on a mostly easterly path where it empties into the ocean in the east coast. The second and southernmost river of the Forsaken Land is the Aldeti, which flows from a southern point of the Kixes and cuts a natural border through the southernmost point of the Kiran valley, separating Kiran from the Danaij’vai lands. There is another small river that follows from the Ormiss Mountains and merges into the Aldeti, which then flows on a southeasterly course and empties into the ocean in the south.
