History of the Western Rim
The Rim is the great western arc of the continent of Antilia. It ranges from the glaciers and mountainous fjords of the far north, where goliaths and giants dwell, to the jungles and cloud forests of the far south, home to tabaxi villages and bold human kingdoms bent on conquest. To the east stretch the deserts, mountains, and prairies that separate the Rim from the ancient warring empires of Apalacha. To the west, of course, is the Sea -- the mighty Sea of pirates and trade vessels, the driftwood cities of halfling folk, the roving islands of wizards, and above all, the Rim's highway to the wider world.
The Rim has been host to many ages of history. The earliest known human and halfling settlements date back some thirteen millennia; the sagas of elves and dwarves preserve histories of empires and heroes still older. Cosmopolitan kingdoms have spread across the land, only to shrivel and crumble, leaving ruins in the wilderness and legends enough of haunted halls to lure generations of explorers. Forests have waxed and waned, reclaiming ancient cities only to fall once again to axe and furrow. Even the most remote jungle or mountain valley may be home to some forgotten relic, some shrine to a slumbering lich or demigod. Even the most populous city may rise above ancient catacombs preserving the evil of a long ago age.
Mighty conquerors, daring revolutionaries, profound scholars, ruthless tyrants, peaceful farmers, proud workers -- all have left their mark on Antilia over the many centuries of its history. Magic too has shaped the land, wielded by its many races and even by some of its innumerable monsters.
Elves yet dwell in the airy cities their forebears strung above the mighty valleys and canyons of the Range of Light. Their capital, Ahwanniko, said to be founded on the First Dawn, climbs the walls and waterfalls of the mightiest of these glacier-carved canyons; its shining white balconies and walkways, shaped and supported by magic ancient beyond memory, sweep as gracefully as spiderwebs from its polished granite walls. Other elven kingdoms, lesser in antiquity and renown but Ahwanniko's equal in pride, dot the mighty Redwood Coast, north of the human metropolis of Ayalar, and encircle the towering volcano of Sokokowen deep in the Bear Coast. These populations may be said to be true "kingdoms" in the human sense, in that a particular figure or family wields overall authority, but elven politics are an arcane business; a popular saying is that elven kingdoms are ruled by song and by moonlight. Small populations of elves reject even this form of authority and remain true to their primordial nomadic heritage, whether herding sheep in the Great Valley or living in hunting bands in the mountains and deserts further east.
Dwarves have a history as ancient and formidable as the elves, and the rivalry between the two races is of equal antiquity. Alliances between dwarves and elves can last millennia, fostering trade and the creation of masterpieces of craftsmanship in addition to providing martial aid in times of strife; ages of enmity between the two can last just as long. A major dwarven commune, Garrengaur, has existed for millennia in the roots of the Range of Light; typical of the rivalry between elves and dwarves, each race insists their own center of power existed long before the other. Another center of power, quite new by dwarven reckoning, is Traggendelve. It was established a few millennia ago within the roots of the Rain Divide, north and east of the human realm of Clathmet. Not all dwarves mine or even live underground; particular clans and communes of dwarves have been known to set up trades in metalworking, lapidary crafting, even carpentry and shipbuilding. Less aloof than elves, it is not uncommon to find dwarven populations in the heart of human cities, or mixed halfling and dwarf settlements in the hinterlands. Dwarven political power rests upon the esteem of each clan and lineage, which in turn depend upon the productivity and skill in craftsmanship demonstrated by its members. Each clan and commune is free to broker trade with outsiders, or to offer or withdraw alliances with their neighbors. Centralized authority in times of crisis is delegated to the Dwergenmot, a meeting of the most esteemed clan leaders and commune representatives. War chiefs may be selected by the Dwergenmot, or ambassadors sent to treat with outside races on behalf of all Dwerrokind.
The earliest known human polities in the Western Rim were incursions from the wild north. Foragers, hunters, and subsistence farmers, they established small villages along the coast or ranged wide distances across the interior in search of game. Human history is often tumultuous, full of nations and empires that emerge and convulse and disappear in a matter of mere centuries, but the race's restless energy and seemingly inexhaustible capacity for adaptation have left their mark all across the Rim. From the deepest deserts of the Rockred, where human towns shelter under towering cliffs and eke out snowmelt and runoff to sustain farms of melon and corn, to the vast tundras of the Northland, where humans herd caribou and collect raw petroleum for trade, human groups have managed to settle almost every available corner of Antilia.
At present, three major human polities claim swaths of territory across the Rim.
From its capital city Ayalar, the mighty trading hub dominating the Golden Bay, the kingdom of Elteynnyn rules much of the central coast and Great Valley. To the north, it forms the inland boundary of the elves' Redwood Coast, encompassing ranchlands and small farms along the Muqadda River, a country of vast grasslands and open oak parklands in the Great Valley and its neighboring hills. The warm valleys immediately north of Ayalar are given over to the cultivation of wine and the estates of Elteynnyne nobility. To the east, Elteynnyn claims rule up to the foothills of the Range of Light, though in practice the foothills form a rough, nearly lawless border country, too remote from Ayalar for effective control, and seldom visited by the disdainful elves of Ahwanniko; hill bandits and other pests often raid neighboring farms and settlements in the Great Valley. To the southeast, Elteynnyne control extends along the course of the Eljakim River in the Great Valley, an often arid expanse of grazing lands and small farms. Due south of Ayalar, Elteynnyn rules the lovely and long-settled Moon Coast, once the seat of the ancient Kingdom of Montalvair, and still home to small port cities and farming villages with a Montalvairean flavor. Montalvairean ruins, typically built of white granite carved by Garrengauren dwarves, are often said to be reminiscent of Ahwanniko, with their light and graceful construction -- a claim the current inhabitants of Ahwanniko are quick to dismiss.
Bordering Elteynnyn's southern flank is Beyha, a province of the Moshkan Empire. The provincial capital is Zihuatl, a dusty city ringed by ranchlands and orange groves squeezed between the Sea and the mighty Jaxinto Range. Centuries of slow conquest and consolidation in its native highlands, far to the south, have given away to a rapid expansion of the Empire. Beyha, once a nation of renowned warriors, fell to Moshkan armies scarcely a century ago. Revolutionary cells bent on Beyhan independence exist side by side with ambitious warriors eager to expand the Empire and make names for themselves along the northern frontier. Efficient administrators, the Empire rewards faithful service with grants of land across its territories, which serves to mix its motley populations and nurture a class of loyal, landed citizens in all areas of its rule. Moshkan policies of citizenship and inclusion extend equally to nonhuman races; it is never a surprise to find exotic communities of tabaxi, dragonborn, kenku, and even kobold within or on the outskirts of bustling Moshkan cities.
North of Elteynnyn and the Redwood Coast is the human realm of Clathmet. More a loose confederation of small city-states and agricultural fiefdoms than a kingdom, Clathmet extends generally from the dry, pine-clad mountains bordering the Great Valley northward along the valley of the Neverstill River and on into the southernmost fjords of the Bear Coast. The territories falling under Clathmet protection incorporate portions of the Seaward Range, home to roaming populations of firbolg, as well as the forest hills and volcanoes of the Rain Divide, abutting territories claimed by the Traggendelven dwarves. Clathmetan humans often have a more adversarial relationship with their nonhuman neighbors than do their counterparts in Moshka and Elteynnyn. Clathmetan armies are levied from across the realm and often patrol against nonhuman incursions, though firbolg and elf alike typically evade them with ease in their native forests. In recent years the city-state of Skappsport has asserted dominance over the confederation, becoming its de facto capital, and demanding tribute of lumber, beer, and other goods for export. This has caused friction with Clathmet's nonhuman neighbors as lumber-cutters have fanned out into the ancient forests along the edges of their realm.
Many other human polities and tribes exist within the bounds of the Rim, and small human communities thrive on lands nominally controlled by other races. A sturdy contingent of human miners, smiths, and mechanical laborers live among the dwarves of Garrengaur, and human and half-human faces are regularly encountered even among the elves of Ahwanniko. Horseback raiders from the far-flung tribes of the eastward prairies have been known to harry settled peoples as far west as the Great Valley.
Several nations from across the Sea -- Kwan, Haikkenden, Shai Tei, Ranga Ranga, O'opeha -- have established strong cultural presences through centuries of transoceanic trade. Generations of settlement by merchants, ambassadors, deserting sailors, adventurers, and other far-travelers from these lands has left a distinctive footprint in the port cities (and many other human settlements) of the Rim.
Unlike their near-kin the humans, halflings seldom establish kingdoms, or polities much larger than a county or a riding. They are most often found in small communities or loose areas of settlement within the realms of humans, or upon the surface lands above dwarven communes. While never reckoned great powers, halfling settlements are often populous and bustling; the halfling habit of venturing out in wagon caravans to settle new lands when their old communities grow too large to support has led them to colonize surprising places. A common saying holds that adventurers deep in the wilderness are as likely to find a halfling village as a dragon's lair. Some halfling communities eschew settlement altogether, following the flow of seasons in their colorful wagon caravans, offering entertainment and trinkets to villagers in exchange for food before venturing on into the wilderness once more. Certain halfling populations have taken to the Sea, where they dwell in vast accumulations of driftwood, shipwrecks, and other available materials, cobbled together into floating villages adrift on the waves.
These roving halfling communities (on land and on the Sea) will often attract and incorporate bands of gnomes among their ranks. Other places that other races often encounter gnomes are in the cities of dwarves and humans, bustling places that offer ready markets for clever trinkets and inventions as well as access to troves of books and arcane learning. Yet for the most part, gnomes keep to themselves in populous underground warrens, far from the eyes of other races. Almost any sizable forest or mountainous region will be riddled with gnomish settlements. Gnome towns are generally so well hidden among rocks and roots that even elves are at a disadvantage when locating them.
Equally elusive in their natural habitat, firbolgs roam wild forests and mountains throughout the Rim. Particularly large populations dwell in the belt of forest stretching from the Bear Coast south to the Redwood Coast, and also in the Rain Divide east of Clathmet. The remotest canyons of Rockred likewise shelter small, nomadic firbolg populations. Firbolg settlements are generally small, each habitation far removed from its neighbors as well as from the prying eyes of other races; individual firbolgs may spend years at a time away from these settlements in their role as caretakers of the forest, lending most firbolg towns a half-deserted air. While comparatively uncommon, it is not altogether unprecedented to find the occasional firbolg with a taste for noise and company enjoying the novelty of life in a human city.
Far to the south, beyond the bounds of Antilia proper, are the homelands of the tabaxi. Mighty tabaxi kingdoms teem in the jungles and mountains of Xe'tlacan, beyond the reach of the Moshkan Empire. Xe'tlacan is the stage of ferocious wars against the yuan-ti, wars scarcely known outside tabaxi society. The tabaxi kingdoms produce steady numbers of veteran mercenaries, scholars, monks, explorers, and adventurers of all types; millennia of gradual, piecemeal emigration have dispersed thriving tabaxi communities all across the Rim, especially in Moshkan territories.
Far less common emigrants from the realms of Xe'tlacan, lizardfolk are rarely encountered outside of their ancestral swamplands. On occasion, lizardfolk exiles, mercenaries, and others with more inscrutable agendas have been known to mingle among the "soft" races of Antilia, though rarely in groups of two or more.
Kobolds are especially prolific in areas of past or present dragon influence, such as the desert canyons of Redrock and the vast, sparsely settled mountains and forests inland from the Bear Coast, north of Clathmet. Small kobold communities have established an eccentric, though generally harmless, presence in certain Moshkan cities, including Zihuatl.
Aarakocra have aeries and small villages scattered throughout the highest mountains of the Rim, from the frigid Ikenpak Range in the far north to the misty pampas plateaus bordering Xe'tlacan. Aarakocra, never a major power in their own right, are a small but ubiquitous presence in the lands and cities of other races, gaining employment as scouts, couriers, diplomats, monks, and thieves throughout the Rim.
In recent years, goliaths have become a more common sight south of their ancient home in the far north. Stalwart warriors and reclusive mystics, goliaths have traditionally kept to their own kind. Rumors of reawakened strife between giants and dragons swirl in the wake of these new travelers, whose exact provenance -- refugees? emissaries? spies? -- is rarely ascertained.
Yet more races -- triton, drow, tiefling, aasimar, genasi, kenku -- are most often encountered as outcasts, exiles, ambassadors, and adventurers, lacking any true homeland within the bounds of the Rim.
The Rim has been host to many ages of history. The earliest known human and halfling settlements date back some thirteen millennia; the sagas of elves and dwarves preserve histories of empires and heroes still older. Cosmopolitan kingdoms have spread across the land, only to shrivel and crumble, leaving ruins in the wilderness and legends enough of haunted halls to lure generations of explorers. Forests have waxed and waned, reclaiming ancient cities only to fall once again to axe and furrow. Even the most remote jungle or mountain valley may be home to some forgotten relic, some shrine to a slumbering lich or demigod. Even the most populous city may rise above ancient catacombs preserving the evil of a long ago age.
Mighty conquerors, daring revolutionaries, profound scholars, ruthless tyrants, peaceful farmers, proud workers -- all have left their mark on Antilia over the many centuries of its history. Magic too has shaped the land, wielded by its many races and even by some of its innumerable monsters.
Elves yet dwell in the airy cities their forebears strung above the mighty valleys and canyons of the Range of Light. Their capital, Ahwanniko, said to be founded on the First Dawn, climbs the walls and waterfalls of the mightiest of these glacier-carved canyons; its shining white balconies and walkways, shaped and supported by magic ancient beyond memory, sweep as gracefully as spiderwebs from its polished granite walls. Other elven kingdoms, lesser in antiquity and renown but Ahwanniko's equal in pride, dot the mighty Redwood Coast, north of the human metropolis of Ayalar, and encircle the towering volcano of Sokokowen deep in the Bear Coast. These populations may be said to be true "kingdoms" in the human sense, in that a particular figure or family wields overall authority, but elven politics are an arcane business; a popular saying is that elven kingdoms are ruled by song and by moonlight. Small populations of elves reject even this form of authority and remain true to their primordial nomadic heritage, whether herding sheep in the Great Valley or living in hunting bands in the mountains and deserts further east.
Dwarves have a history as ancient and formidable as the elves, and the rivalry between the two races is of equal antiquity. Alliances between dwarves and elves can last millennia, fostering trade and the creation of masterpieces of craftsmanship in addition to providing martial aid in times of strife; ages of enmity between the two can last just as long. A major dwarven commune, Garrengaur, has existed for millennia in the roots of the Range of Light; typical of the rivalry between elves and dwarves, each race insists their own center of power existed long before the other. Another center of power, quite new by dwarven reckoning, is Traggendelve. It was established a few millennia ago within the roots of the Rain Divide, north and east of the human realm of Clathmet. Not all dwarves mine or even live underground; particular clans and communes of dwarves have been known to set up trades in metalworking, lapidary crafting, even carpentry and shipbuilding. Less aloof than elves, it is not uncommon to find dwarven populations in the heart of human cities, or mixed halfling and dwarf settlements in the hinterlands. Dwarven political power rests upon the esteem of each clan and lineage, which in turn depend upon the productivity and skill in craftsmanship demonstrated by its members. Each clan and commune is free to broker trade with outsiders, or to offer or withdraw alliances with their neighbors. Centralized authority in times of crisis is delegated to the Dwergenmot, a meeting of the most esteemed clan leaders and commune representatives. War chiefs may be selected by the Dwergenmot, or ambassadors sent to treat with outside races on behalf of all Dwerrokind.
The earliest known human polities in the Western Rim were incursions from the wild north. Foragers, hunters, and subsistence farmers, they established small villages along the coast or ranged wide distances across the interior in search of game. Human history is often tumultuous, full of nations and empires that emerge and convulse and disappear in a matter of mere centuries, but the race's restless energy and seemingly inexhaustible capacity for adaptation have left their mark all across the Rim. From the deepest deserts of the Rockred, where human towns shelter under towering cliffs and eke out snowmelt and runoff to sustain farms of melon and corn, to the vast tundras of the Northland, where humans herd caribou and collect raw petroleum for trade, human groups have managed to settle almost every available corner of Antilia.
At present, three major human polities claim swaths of territory across the Rim.
From its capital city Ayalar, the mighty trading hub dominating the Golden Bay, the kingdom of Elteynnyn rules much of the central coast and Great Valley. To the north, it forms the inland boundary of the elves' Redwood Coast, encompassing ranchlands and small farms along the Muqadda River, a country of vast grasslands and open oak parklands in the Great Valley and its neighboring hills. The warm valleys immediately north of Ayalar are given over to the cultivation of wine and the estates of Elteynnyne nobility. To the east, Elteynnyn claims rule up to the foothills of the Range of Light, though in practice the foothills form a rough, nearly lawless border country, too remote from Ayalar for effective control, and seldom visited by the disdainful elves of Ahwanniko; hill bandits and other pests often raid neighboring farms and settlements in the Great Valley. To the southeast, Elteynnyne control extends along the course of the Eljakim River in the Great Valley, an often arid expanse of grazing lands and small farms. Due south of Ayalar, Elteynnyn rules the lovely and long-settled Moon Coast, once the seat of the ancient Kingdom of Montalvair, and still home to small port cities and farming villages with a Montalvairean flavor. Montalvairean ruins, typically built of white granite carved by Garrengauren dwarves, are often said to be reminiscent of Ahwanniko, with their light and graceful construction -- a claim the current inhabitants of Ahwanniko are quick to dismiss.
Bordering Elteynnyn's southern flank is Beyha, a province of the Moshkan Empire. The provincial capital is Zihuatl, a dusty city ringed by ranchlands and orange groves squeezed between the Sea and the mighty Jaxinto Range. Centuries of slow conquest and consolidation in its native highlands, far to the south, have given away to a rapid expansion of the Empire. Beyha, once a nation of renowned warriors, fell to Moshkan armies scarcely a century ago. Revolutionary cells bent on Beyhan independence exist side by side with ambitious warriors eager to expand the Empire and make names for themselves along the northern frontier. Efficient administrators, the Empire rewards faithful service with grants of land across its territories, which serves to mix its motley populations and nurture a class of loyal, landed citizens in all areas of its rule. Moshkan policies of citizenship and inclusion extend equally to nonhuman races; it is never a surprise to find exotic communities of tabaxi, dragonborn, kenku, and even kobold within or on the outskirts of bustling Moshkan cities.
North of Elteynnyn and the Redwood Coast is the human realm of Clathmet. More a loose confederation of small city-states and agricultural fiefdoms than a kingdom, Clathmet extends generally from the dry, pine-clad mountains bordering the Great Valley northward along the valley of the Neverstill River and on into the southernmost fjords of the Bear Coast. The territories falling under Clathmet protection incorporate portions of the Seaward Range, home to roaming populations of firbolg, as well as the forest hills and volcanoes of the Rain Divide, abutting territories claimed by the Traggendelven dwarves. Clathmetan humans often have a more adversarial relationship with their nonhuman neighbors than do their counterparts in Moshka and Elteynnyn. Clathmetan armies are levied from across the realm and often patrol against nonhuman incursions, though firbolg and elf alike typically evade them with ease in their native forests. In recent years the city-state of Skappsport has asserted dominance over the confederation, becoming its de facto capital, and demanding tribute of lumber, beer, and other goods for export. This has caused friction with Clathmet's nonhuman neighbors as lumber-cutters have fanned out into the ancient forests along the edges of their realm.
Many other human polities and tribes exist within the bounds of the Rim, and small human communities thrive on lands nominally controlled by other races. A sturdy contingent of human miners, smiths, and mechanical laborers live among the dwarves of Garrengaur, and human and half-human faces are regularly encountered even among the elves of Ahwanniko. Horseback raiders from the far-flung tribes of the eastward prairies have been known to harry settled peoples as far west as the Great Valley.
Several nations from across the Sea -- Kwan, Haikkenden, Shai Tei, Ranga Ranga, O'opeha -- have established strong cultural presences through centuries of transoceanic trade. Generations of settlement by merchants, ambassadors, deserting sailors, adventurers, and other far-travelers from these lands has left a distinctive footprint in the port cities (and many other human settlements) of the Rim.
Unlike their near-kin the humans, halflings seldom establish kingdoms, or polities much larger than a county or a riding. They are most often found in small communities or loose areas of settlement within the realms of humans, or upon the surface lands above dwarven communes. While never reckoned great powers, halfling settlements are often populous and bustling; the halfling habit of venturing out in wagon caravans to settle new lands when their old communities grow too large to support has led them to colonize surprising places. A common saying holds that adventurers deep in the wilderness are as likely to find a halfling village as a dragon's lair. Some halfling communities eschew settlement altogether, following the flow of seasons in their colorful wagon caravans, offering entertainment and trinkets to villagers in exchange for food before venturing on into the wilderness once more. Certain halfling populations have taken to the Sea, where they dwell in vast accumulations of driftwood, shipwrecks, and other available materials, cobbled together into floating villages adrift on the waves.
These roving halfling communities (on land and on the Sea) will often attract and incorporate bands of gnomes among their ranks. Other places that other races often encounter gnomes are in the cities of dwarves and humans, bustling places that offer ready markets for clever trinkets and inventions as well as access to troves of books and arcane learning. Yet for the most part, gnomes keep to themselves in populous underground warrens, far from the eyes of other races. Almost any sizable forest or mountainous region will be riddled with gnomish settlements. Gnome towns are generally so well hidden among rocks and roots that even elves are at a disadvantage when locating them.
Equally elusive in their natural habitat, firbolgs roam wild forests and mountains throughout the Rim. Particularly large populations dwell in the belt of forest stretching from the Bear Coast south to the Redwood Coast, and also in the Rain Divide east of Clathmet. The remotest canyons of Rockred likewise shelter small, nomadic firbolg populations. Firbolg settlements are generally small, each habitation far removed from its neighbors as well as from the prying eyes of other races; individual firbolgs may spend years at a time away from these settlements in their role as caretakers of the forest, lending most firbolg towns a half-deserted air. While comparatively uncommon, it is not altogether unprecedented to find the occasional firbolg with a taste for noise and company enjoying the novelty of life in a human city.
Far to the south, beyond the bounds of Antilia proper, are the homelands of the tabaxi. Mighty tabaxi kingdoms teem in the jungles and mountains of Xe'tlacan, beyond the reach of the Moshkan Empire. Xe'tlacan is the stage of ferocious wars against the yuan-ti, wars scarcely known outside tabaxi society. The tabaxi kingdoms produce steady numbers of veteran mercenaries, scholars, monks, explorers, and adventurers of all types; millennia of gradual, piecemeal emigration have dispersed thriving tabaxi communities all across the Rim, especially in Moshkan territories.
Far less common emigrants from the realms of Xe'tlacan, lizardfolk are rarely encountered outside of their ancestral swamplands. On occasion, lizardfolk exiles, mercenaries, and others with more inscrutable agendas have been known to mingle among the "soft" races of Antilia, though rarely in groups of two or more.
Kobolds are especially prolific in areas of past or present dragon influence, such as the desert canyons of Redrock and the vast, sparsely settled mountains and forests inland from the Bear Coast, north of Clathmet. Small kobold communities have established an eccentric, though generally harmless, presence in certain Moshkan cities, including Zihuatl.
Aarakocra have aeries and small villages scattered throughout the highest mountains of the Rim, from the frigid Ikenpak Range in the far north to the misty pampas plateaus bordering Xe'tlacan. Aarakocra, never a major power in their own right, are a small but ubiquitous presence in the lands and cities of other races, gaining employment as scouts, couriers, diplomats, monks, and thieves throughout the Rim.
In recent years, goliaths have become a more common sight south of their ancient home in the far north. Stalwart warriors and reclusive mystics, goliaths have traditionally kept to their own kind. Rumors of reawakened strife between giants and dragons swirl in the wake of these new travelers, whose exact provenance -- refugees? emissaries? spies? -- is rarely ascertained.
Yet more races -- triton, drow, tiefling, aasimar, genasi, kenku -- are most often encountered as outcasts, exiles, ambassadors, and adventurers, lacking any true homeland within the bounds of the Rim.
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