Arkhaven Regions¶

Arkhaven is divided into several major geographic regions. These regions are not political entities, but broad environmental zones that shape climate, trade, settlement patterns, warfare, and culture.

Many states occupy portions of multiple regions, while some regions contain several competing powers.

Overview¶

The continent is broadly divided into eight major regions:

States within Arkhaven¶

Many states occupy portions of multiple regions, while some regions contain several competing powers.

Veylrain Expanse¶

The Veylrain Expanse dominates the northern coastline of Arkhaven and contains some of the continent's oldest and most dangerous rainforests.

Dense jungle stretches from the western coast to the eastern sea, broken only by rivers, wetlands, lakes, and scattered highlands. Heavy rainfall throughout much of the year creates a humid environment where vegetation rapidly consumes abandoned structures and forgotten roads.

The Expanse is home to several powerful tribal societies, including the Zul’Akari Clans, Myruun Clans, Veylrath Clans, and Jhakur Clans.

Ancient ruins are common throughout the region. Many remain unexplored, while others are protected by local peoples who regard them as sacred sites rather than sources of treasure.

The Thornbelt¶

The Thornbelt occupies much of north-central Arkhaven.

It is a broad region of dry grassland, scrubland, rocky plains, seasonal rivers, and scattered hills. Conditions become increasingly harsh toward the interior, where water and fertile ground become valuable strategic resources.

The Thornbelt serves as a natural buffer between the jungle societies of the north and the more settled states further south.

Most of the region is occupied by the Kharad Wildlands, though portions of the Haskarn Freeholds, The Eldermarch Court, and neighbouring frontier territories extend into its edges.

Trade routes crossing the Thornbelt are vital to communication between eastern and western Arkhaven.

The Crimson Chain¶

The Crimson Chain is the most strategically important region on the continent.

Formed by the navigable waterways and steep cliffs of The Godscar, it divides much of Arkhaven while simultaneously providing one of its most important transportation corridors.

Large lakes, deep river channels, fortified crossings, cliff roads, and narrow passages dominate the landscape. The region takes its name from the chain-like sequence of waterways extending from north to south through the continent.

The Vermillion Crown controls many of the major crossings and passage routes, while The Leridian Concord and Court of Thalóriel maintain strong interests in the region.

The Crimson Chain also contains the greatest concentrations of known veinstone deposits. Most exposed veins have been heavily worked over many centuries. Remaining deposits often appear as faint red crystalline seams with occasional flecks of gold visible within fractured cliff faces.

The Floodlands¶

The Floodlands occupy the north-eastern interior of Arkhaven.

Unlike the dense jungles of the Veylrain Expanse, the Floodlands are characterised by vast marsh systems, shallow lakes, seasonal floodplains, and countless interconnected waterways.

Travel is often dictated by water levels rather than roads.

The region is dominated by The Skeldic Concord, although neighbouring powers maintain influence around its borders.

Fishing, river trade, monster hunting, and wetland agriculture are important aspects of life throughout the region.

Arkenfall¶

Arkenfall forms the eastern frontier of northern Arkhaven.

Its landscape consists of mixed forests, rugged coastlines, lakes, river valleys, and isolated uplands. While less densely forested than the Veylrain Expanse, it remains heavily wooded and relatively difficult to traverse.

The region contains much of the territory of the Republic of Havenor and the eastern reaches of the Jhakur Clans.

Historically, Arkenfall marked the frontier between expanding human settlement and the older peoples of the northern wilderness.

Windmere Basin¶

The Windmere Basin occupies much of south-eastern Arkhaven.

Fed by rivers descending from both the Anvilspine Range and the mountains of the Dornhal Empire, it is one of the most fertile regions on the continent.

The basin contains rich farmland, vineyards, orchards, river valleys, market towns, and major trade roads.

The Windmere Assembly occupies much of the southern basin, while the Dornhal Empire and The Throne of Khuldovar control the surrounding highlands and mountain systems.

Its wealth derives from agricultural abundance, trade, and access to both inland and coastal routes.

Veridian March¶

The Veridian March stretches across much of western and central Arkhaven.

The region consists primarily of temperate forests, rolling hills, grasslands, rivers, and settled woodland.

Compared to the harsher northern regions, the Veridian March supports dense populations and numerous long-established states.

The region includes portions of the The Verdant Confederacy, Houses of Bârathanaear, The Eldermarch Court, Tirith I Daur, and neighbouring territories.

Many of the oldest roads outside the Godscar pass through the Veridian March, making it one of the most interconnected regions on the continent.

The Silent Weald¶

The Silent Weald occupies much of south-western Arkhaven and is closely associated with the historical event known as The Green Silence.

The region is dominated by ancient forests, overgrown ruins, abandoned roads, hidden settlements, forgotten sacred sites, and stretches of woodland that appear untouched by conventional history.

Many locations within the Weald appear to have been altered by the Green Silence. Roads vanish beneath centuries of growth. Entire settlements survive only in fragmented records. Different maps often disagree on the locations of old towns, shrines, and trade routes.

The region contains large portions of The Martarië Crown, Court of Thalóriel, and Tirith I Daur.

To this day, the Silent Weald remains one of the most mysterious regions in Arkhaven. It contains no single ruin, battlefield, or monument that can definitively explain the Green Silence. Instead, evidence is scattered throughout the forests themselves, hidden beneath roots, beneath moss-covered stone, and within contradictory records preserved by different cultures.

The Green Silence is believed to have affected both the physical landscape and the historical record. Roads became impassable. Settlements disappeared beneath forest growth. Shrines became inaccessible. Written records were lost, restricted, damaged, or removed. Regional travel became less predictable, and later generations inherited conflicting accounts of places that once seemed well known.

For many scholars, the Silent Weald remains one of the greatest unanswered mysteries in the history of Lazuril.