The Lands of Pangloss [Part Three]

This is third and final part of my Pangloss travelogue, listing the highlights of the lands and major cities of the realm.

Part One is HERE.

Part Two is HERE.

Oneiroi

Meta: 70s blacklight poster fantasy realm. Melniboné mixed with Narcosa with a dash of Jack Vance. Little bit of Sectaurs, too.

Oneiroi is an island nation floating over the Sea of Shadows. It is the last remnant of the great Elvish Empire (Deyrnas Du Tuatha, or just the Deyrnas)

Oneiroi is a minor chunk of the Feywild in Pangloss. It is the ancestral home of Pangloss's Wryd Elves (High Elves).

Psychedelic fairytale kingdom. Perpetual summer. Ulfire mushrooms and narcotic flowers. Kaleidoscope trees.

Wyrd Elf nobility uses giant insects as mounts, especially luminescent moths, dragonflies, and wasps (for combat).

Different stars rise and fall over Oneiroi

Dreamspire

• Captitol city of Oneiroi. Opalescent spires and floating towers made of jade and spun glass.
• City surrounded by walls of amber. Ancient monsters encased within, to be released when Dreamspire finally falls.
• Ruled by King Oostavah Xyilovah and Queen Byanwaan and their seven children. That wealth of children is unprecedented among elves.
• Gates of Delirium, massive portal to the Feywild, has been sealed for centuries.
• Hypnoglossic Library keeps records of the great elvish sages and generals. Dreams captured in globules of silver honey.

Realm of the Ashen Queen

Meta: Designated “bad guy” kingdom. Korriban by way of Warhammer Chaos.

Once known as Arkavoi, most people now refer to it simply as the Realm of the Ashen Queen.

Salandra was a human queen with great magical talent and martial prowess. Rumored to have the blood of both elves and dragons in her lineage. United the lands of Pangloss and pulled them out of the centuries-long dark ages that followed the fall of the Deyrnas Du Tuatha. Built magical gates (“Devil Doors”) that connected the distant lands. Bred the Orcbrood as soldiers. She ruled as empress for 400 years.

The Night of Fire came 100 years ago when Salandra did something magical that mortals are not meant to do. Arkavoi was scorched by black fire. Reality rippled across Pangloss. Demons, undead, and other things poured forth from the Devil Doors into the heats of civilization. The worldwide network of heroes, The House of Hrothgar, fought and defeated the monster hordes and shattered the Devil Doors. The House of Hrothgar was all but destroyed.

Salandra is now called the Ashen Queen. She bathes in the cremated remains of sacrificed young people to retain her beauty, youth, and magical power.

Arkavoi is a shattered nation fallen into chaos. Much of the realm is scorched badlands and ashy desert. Reality is “broken” in some places.

Fertile lands remain along the coast of the Sea of Secrets.

The Bortherhood of Cinders is a militant cult dedicated to restoring Salandra's empire and restoring the Ashen Queen's dominion over Pangloss.

The Ashen Queen resides in The Burning Manse in the volcanic wastes east of Skarn.

Skarn

• Arkavoi's largest reaming city.
• Militant city ruled by Lord Bael, a mighty warlord with weapons and armor crafted by the Ashen Queen herself.
• The Iron Basilica is Pangloss's largest temple to Moloch, god of tyrants.
• Droxx the Crimson Death, is a hybrid red-black dragon bound to the city. Breathes burning acid.
• City currently at war with Gnomeria. Queen's navy lead by Lady Var Abaddon, warrior-priestess of Moloch.

Gnomeria

Meta: War-torn clockpunk city of survivors.

Called “The Alchemical City.” Pangloss's largest Gray Gnome settlement.

Currently losing a war with Skarn. Many residents have fled south to Madyan.

Gnomeria is one giant factory of clockwork machinery and alchemical refineries of Seussian proportions. Once surrounded by balmy vineyards and farmlands, now blasted by war.

Ruled by Prince Daviel “Clockarmor” Bastielhiem IV, a cunning warrior and engineer.

The king remains comatose and in a state of near-undeath due to a powerful curse. His life is sustained only by sophisticated alcemical machines.

The Walking Archive, a mechanical library of ancient gnomish lore, was secreted out of Gnomeria three years ago. Its current whereabouts remain unknown.

K'Narth

Meta: Pulp sword & sorcery island of evil wizards. Zothique, Sahu, Lemuria, and Torth.

Artificial island raised from the sea 1000 years ago by a cabal of wizards lead by Archmage Qyo K'Narth

Rocky scrub lands, tangled black forests, and marshes.

Ruled by the Yellow Warlocks of K'Narth (who are mostly wizards but also include some sorcerers and actual warlocks). So named for their baroque yellow and black robes.

Council of Thirteen rules the island, guided by the Magna Magus, also known as the Serpent's Head. Much bickering and infighting.

Current Magna Magus is Xothgog Kothorsis, a conjurer of great power.

Council of Thirteen meets in the Twisted Spire, a non-euclidean tower grown from the bones of Quo K'Narth.

Strict social caste system. Yellow Warlocks on top, lesser magic users below them, then clerics and military, then everyone else. More magical power equals more social and political standing. Only way to leave your birth caste is to show some talent for wizardry.

Much slave trade between K'Narth and Vancia.

Yellow Warlock agents travel across Pangloss to bring magical secrets and treasure back to their masters.

Xian-Zhu

Meta: A place for monks to come from. Based on my love of Wuxia films mixed with my limited knowledge of ancient India.

Subtropical land north of the Sleeping Jungle. High rolling hills with many rivers.

Was not part of Salandra's Emipre.

Several warring states, finally unified by King Ramyan Sosona five years ago.

Shattered remains of ancient temples and statues oh humans with an alien mien known as “The Old Men.”

Sleeping Jungle full of dangerous narcotic plants, amazon tribes, and dinosaurs. 

Kayn

• Capitol city of Xian-Zhu.
• Octagonal city with a massive temple to one of the eight Bodhivistas at each of the eight points.
• Palace of Gold and Cedar sits in the center of the city in the middle of a man-made lake.
• Jade Guard is the king's retinue of elite soldiers comprised entirely of dragonborn fighters.
• The Glass Pilgrims, a race of men with transparent flesh, recently arrived on the shores of Kayn in a ship made of tortoise shell, reportedly from a land far to the west.