Eastern Mozra (CCW)

Though sometimes referred to as “Vadraedic Mozra,” the lands of Eastern Mozra are not all coastal. In fact, the region encompasses thousands of miles of forests, deserts, jungles, mountains, and steppes, comprising the bulk of the Old World. But all these lands are Vadraedic-facing in trade and politics, and all paths here lead to Sunya, which tucks these vast territories securely under its wing: Evindala, once a great empire itself; Inner Mozra, Sunya’s colonial centerpiece and cultural ancestor; and Almantia, the eerie, desolate south.

Evindala
Three very different peoples inhabit this peninsula, coexisting in a strong, but brittle alliance. Two and a half thousand years ago, they formally united into the Evindal Malicate, humanity’s first and largest inter-continental empire. It was this Malicate that began the Second War against the Gods, a war which won them their initial dominance, but eventually became their downfall.

That was long ago. Today the Evintines form “a curious confederacy” of three nations, all of which serve under the Sunyans and the Marisian faith: The Province of Palomay, a lively, tropical economic engine, with white sand beaches and friendly, chaotic people; The Principality of Ingresis, an impenetrable, nightmarish jungle, with equally impenetrable and hardened citizens running a major research and magic hub; and the Malicate of Beledosia, the region’s center for religion and high culture, with its more arid, temperate climate and Argamatan ports, culturally and geographically proximate to the oldest parts of the world. When most people think of the Evintines, they tend to think of Beledosians; passionate, proud, more bold than sophisticated, but always fashionable and savvy in their endeavors.

What unites the Evintines is their sense of exceptionalism from the Old World. It is what led them to be conquerors in the first place—their belief in vigilance and renewal in opposition to sleepy tradition. It is not quite a superiority they feel, but by an acute sensitivity to decay. The Evintines have always feared irrelevance and have always learned from the failures of their neighbors. It is why, despite little love shared between the three realms, their alliance is not just sound, but sacred. It is why they carefully measure their economic decisions and keep up with the technological and cultural trends of the great powers. Evindala is not a nation, after all, it is a pact for survival.

Note: The eastern coast of Ingresis is mostly occupied by Daisori, a Full Mak of Makala, imbued with all the rights and privileges of the central islands. The Daisori have a more than hostile relationship with the Evintines, who see them as occupiers.

Inner Mozra
Fertile river valleys, rainforests, and lush misty hills, all connected by a vast central steppe; together these sundry lands form the critical Inner Mozra region, theater for the most dramatic events of the Old World. This area has been solidly under Sunyan rule for over three hundred years now but it still retains its reputation as a land of romantic tales—of legendary warriors and philosopher princes, grand quests and clashing kingdoms. The allure is especially strong for Sunyans and Makalans, who modeled their states after the five “kingdoms of old” and whose ancestors began as barbarian maks on these very steppes. As it follows, colonial rule in Inner Mozra is characterized by patronizing admiration. Wealth is poured down in drafts and fed into preservation, vanity projects, and the pockets of important nobles and officials. Meanwhile, an epidemic of hovul abuse takes its toll, distributed by rebel groups that have largely devolved into gangs. Rumor is the Sunyans themselves arm these groups and turn them against each other.

The present incarnation of this region includes five kingdoms (though not the same “five kingdoms of old” mentioned above) that operate as colonial provinces. Junkaig, which occupies the northern tropics and most of the steppe, was once the dominant military power of the region and an empire in its own right. Cyuzon, which borders Enekhe and shares some of its traditions of mysticism, is a small kingdom with some breathtaking mountain views and steep river valleys. Wun has the flattest, richest riverlands and two coastlines, making it the most strategically important territory. It’s also the most populous colony with large rural and urban populations. Gaowe is close behind, with a similar, if more austere, landscape and culture in its eastern half, but towering snowy ranges and the dry southern steppe to the west. Sindat, the most easterly of the five kingdoms, consists mainly of un-navigable jungle, more mountains, and some smaller port towns.

Almantia
The southern reaches of Mozra have not recently been the focus of the Old World, not since the tiny Kingdom of Keaslior rebelled against its gods and had the whole area obliterated—twice. The region’s Makalan and later Sunyan rulers don’t pay it much attention either. The winters are too long, the straits too choppy, the terrain too rugged, and the wildlife unpredictable. But Almantia has a sizeable, motley population, descendants of colonial subjects from around the world who were shipped south to mine and sift through rubble. They live in the ruins of massive cities, cities that span hundreds of leagues, abandoned by the Guiyant race during their exodus from Mozra five thousand years ago. The shells of these buildings stand as tall as the mountains and stretch miles and miles across, covered in pictographic etchings on every inch of surface area. These structures are found throughout the continent but it is in Almantia where they dominate the landscape and where whole kingdoms are built inside them like bees in a deer carcass.

New Guiyant structures are discovered every couple of years; some are settled, some disassembled for parts, often both at the same time. Most Almanty “kingdoms” are disbanded after two or three generations when the area’s resources are depleted or new, richer areas require workers. It all makes for peculiar circumstances: people with no shared language or history that coexist to cannibalize the substance of their own homes. And it is dangerous work. Last year the partial collapse of a Guiyant library in the Kingdom of Frasia killed thousands, prompting Almantys to petition Sunya for safer working conditions and expert guidance on salvage and navigation. But who exactly can be considered an expert on Almantia? The ancient Guiyants are already poorly understood and almost nothing is known about the humans that succeeded them or the divine magic that wiped their civilization off the face of the earth. Efforts have been made to contact the reclusive Kosri hill people that presumably descend from that time, but they seem to know even less.

So Almantys continue to live their strange, precarious lives, tiptoeing through the desolate, echoing halls of long-dead strangers. In the Kingdom of Cearsie, which exists entirely on the top five levels of a Guiyant plant sanctuary, many children have never stood on the soft ground of the earth, living their whole lives camped on dusty stone floors three hundred stories above the ground.

Notes: The Kingdom of Keaslior and its surrounding lands were destroyed in 1 Ks in response to their rebellion. In 439 Ks, the entirety of Almantia, then under the rule of the Evindal Kosrine, was decimated for its continued resistance to the Immortals. Their descendants were either sold into slavery or retreated into the hills. A portion of these descendants also made it Northern Arcuria somehow and formed the basis of the Secin and Terbeian peoples.

Beyond
See also...
 * The Ferali
 * The Guiyants