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The Kingdom of Morena reigned over central Ashan for several millennia during what is now known as the Warring States period. Crown Hill, even at that time, served as Morena’s capitol. From the ancient keep turned fortress overlooking the city, Queen Dorothea governed her kingdom, usually directing several wars at once, without ever setting foot outside her well-fortified citadel. Her rule, often cited as more just than merciful, prided itself on maintaining the martial discipline necessary to preserve the kingdom’s territories in the face of near constant onslaught.
If you were to look at an old map of Morena, Crown Hill, would lie almost exactly at the center. The Adrielle River flowed through the capital, feeding the fertile plains that surrounded it. This area was under direct control of the Monarchy, although local governance was maintained by the minor nobles that administered the various counties and wards. The rest of Morena was divided into six Thanes, all of which owed direct allegiance to the Queen. They were Gaishun and Kolaida, known together as the Twin Thanes, the Euphemian Plains, Whisperwood, Thisbe, and Hesiod’s Pan.
To the North lay the Twin Thanes, Gaishun and Kolaida. These two cities stood at the foot of the Agni Mountains, facing each other from across the beginnings of the Adrielle River. The leather-skinned mountain tribes were kept at bay behind the Long Wall, which stretched many miles in either direction and marked the Kingdom’s northern boundary.
To the northeast, several days ride from Crown Hill, began the Nahalan forest. Even further northeast emerged the foothills of Ios. This mountain group, which gradually increased in height until forming the tallest peaks in all of Ahsan, were the meeting point of two separate ranges, the Agni and the Grey. The region, known as the Staircase to Heaven, was home to the giant races.
The Grey Mountains, at an almost 90 degree angle to the Agni Mountains, stretched towards the south. The Mountains were separated from Morena by the vast and deep Stone Canyon, which was impassable save by flight or magic.
To the south, in the vast Euphemian Plains, lived the diminutive humanoids known as the Hanner Dyn, or shortstriders. The plains ran all the way to the Great Ocean. No one in even the furthest memory has ever ventured beyond the continent in that direction, because the way was blocked by the Orospu Islands, home to the chromatic dragons.
To the west of the plains, the multiple branches of the Adrielle formed the Herpelon Delta. The swamp was inhabited by all manner of reptilian races, including some dragons. Not far to the north, near the widest point of the Adrielle, lay the city of Whisperwood.
Even further west began the Eilleithisan, or the Great Forest, home to the Faerie. It was a mystical and mysterious forest, and its inhabitants remained aloof from most of the constant battling of the neighboring kingdoms, only allowing themselves to become involved when their own way of life was threatened.
To the far west of Crown Hill stood the holy city of Thisbe. This Thane was charged with protecting Morena and its borderlands from the great evil of Skeldya, whose domain began just beyond the border in the Dead Hills.
Finally, occupying approximately the midpoint between Crown Hill, Thisbe, and Whisperwood, rested the economic bastion of Hesiod’s Pan, which acted as a trade center and market place for all the outlying rural areas.
With enemies at every corner, Morena faced a constant struggle for survival, a survival that, through a knotting of fateful events, would suddenly come to depend upon a group of young teenagers from a small, nondescript village known as Moon’s Thresh.