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\title{Empire of the Isles}
\author{Aaron Sher \\
ars3\_cif@uhura.cc.rochester.edu}
\date{Phrixus, Lvl 1, Room 15, S3}
\maketitle
\setcounter{page}{113}

{\it
{\Large H}ere's a campaign setting to render your players stupified by
your genius and hard-work.\\}

{\Large L}orien, Oleand, and Matibar, and the group of smaller islands
known collectively as the Torman Isles, compose the Empire.\\

\begin{description}
\item[Lorien:] Its capital city, Lan, is also the capital of the Empire.  It is
by far the largest of the islands, being more than twice as large as Oleand
and Matibar {\em combined}.  Its climate ranges from temperate (New Jerseyish) to
almost subtropical (Cuba).  It has large expanses of forest, and is for the 
most part fairly flat.
\item[Oleand:] Its capital city, Olan, is one of the busiest ports in the 
Empire.  It is only slightly larger than Matibar, and has fewer people
(population roughly 100,000).  Its climate ranges from subtropical to 
tropical, and it is primarily rainforest and jungle.  One of Oleand's primary 
exports is wood, to Matibar.
\item[Matibar:] The third in the primary triangle of islands which make up
the archipelago. It is roughly 800 miles
North-South, and about 700 miles (at the widest point) East-West. It's not rectangular, 
or even oval, so these are maximums.
Matibar has a population of almost 150,000 people.  Its capital city is Mati, 
and its climate ranges from temperate (Virginia) to desert (Sahara).  Its
terrain is almost entirely desert, mountains, or plains; wood is in short
supply.
\item[Torman Isles:] The Torman Isles were not colonized from Lorien like the
great islands; they were already populated when they were contacted by the
Empire.  The Tormani are famous for their merchants and their mercenaries.

\newpage
\item[Politics:]  The titles of the Empire are:
\begin{description}
      \item[Emperor:] There is only one Emperor.  He is in Lan and is addressed
         as ``Your Majesty".
      \item[Regis:] Roughly equivalent to King.  Rules a registan, which is a
         large area roughly the size of Matibar or Oleand.  Matibar and
         Oleand each have 1 registan, while Lorien has five.  Regises are
         addressed as ``Your Highness".
      \item[Cont:] Roughly Duke, conts rule contans.  Contans are large; there
         are only seven in Matibar.  Conts are addressed as ``Your Grace".
      \item[Morl:] Roughly Baron, morlans are small.  Each contan contains on
         the order of thirty or forty morlans.  Generally, every town and
         village is a morlan.  Morls are addressed as ``My Lord".
\end{description}
   Titles can be combined; for example, Arnith is Regis of Matibar, Cont
of Mati (called First Cont of Matibar), as well as Morl of Mati.  There is
also a Council of Advisors, who rule the city of Mati so that Regis Arnith
can rule the rest of the island.

\item[Geography:]  Matibar is divided into two large sections: North
and South Matibar.  The divider is a
large mountain range, called the Swords of Delvor-Neb.  The North,
primarily a desert, is called the Endless Waste.  The South, primarily 
plains, is called the Great Plains of Matibar.  There is one large body of
fresh water, in the South, called the Lake of Sorrows.  There is only one
good pass through the Swords, called Brin Pass.  Brin Pass is guarded by
Brin Keep.

\newpage

% Here is Aaron's original map sent via ascii-email. I've put together
% a postscript version via idraw which is contained in a separate
% file called isles.ps
%
%Map 1 - Empire of the Isles
%------------------------------------------------------ 
%                      O
%                 O O    O
%                    O  Torman                     _
%                         Isles                   | \ 
%   ___                             /\           /   | 
%  /   \                            | \__     __/    /___         
% /     \                         __/    \___/           \    
%/      |Matibar                  \                      /       
%|      |_                         \                  ___\           
% \_     _\                         \     Lorien     /_  \|           
%   \   /                            \                 \         
%   |__|                             /                 /       
%                                    |                /__
%                                    |                   \          
%                                    |_                   \      
%                   /\    ___          \                  /      
%                   \ |__/   \         |                 /         
%                   |         |         \___            /    
%                   |         /             \___________|    
%                    \ Oleand |                                   
%                /\__/        /                          
%                \           |
%                 \      __  |
%                  \____/  \_/                 
%
%------------------------------------------------
%Map 2 - Matibar
%             _____                               
%            /     \                          
%           /      2\              1:Mati       
%      ____/         \             2:Ciator               
%      |            ^^\            3:Brin Keep              
%      |           ^^^^|           4:Ithiaport                
%   __/ Endless  ^\^^^^|           5:Dominor West               
%  /     Waste  ^^^\3^^|           6:Dominor East         
% /            ^^^^^   |           7:Delvornia          
%|            ^^^^     /           8:Imia Keep               
%|          ^^^^      1\                            
%\         ^^^^         \____                            
% \      ^^^^^       7       \                      
%  \    ^^^^^                6\                         
%   \______ ^       OOO5      /                   
%          \       OOOO  ____/                     
%           \   8       /                       
%           |      ____/                             
%           /     /                            
%        __/      |                         
%        |4       |                     
%         \       |                   
%          \______|

\item[History:]  To the southeast, there is a mainland.  This is called
Ilishtha by the citizens of the Empire.  Here is a general timeline for
the Empire and Matibar in particular:

\setcounter{page}{115}

\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{rp{2in}}
   -20 &Atyan the Tyrant usurps the throne of Ilishtha\\
   -10 &Lorien the Explorer discovers the (now) island of Lorien\\
     0 &The Five Families flee Ilishtha and Atyan's government, 
          colonize Lorien, establish Lan\\
   283 &Oleand discovered\\
   294 &Oleand colonized, Olan established\\
   312 &Torman Isles discovered; trade introduced\\
   427 &Matibar discovered\\
   428 &Matibar colonized, Mati established\\
   455 &Delvor-Neb wars begin (see Delvor-Neb, below)\\
   473 &Delvor-Neb wars end, Delvor-Neb beaten and driven back into Swords\\
   742 &Regis Arnith comes to power\\
   761 &Current time\\
\end{tabular}
\end{center}

\item[Time:]  Time in Matibar is counted from the coronation of the latest
Regis; the current date would be called Arnith 17 or the 17th year of 
Arnith's rule.

\item[Delvor-Neb:]  When the colonists arrived from Lorien, they began to 
spread out over the island.  Eventually, some of them tried to cross the
mountains, and they discovered that the island was already inhabited by
Delvor-Neb.  Delvor-Neb is an orc tribe, or possibly a large collection
of orc tribes.  They number in the hundreds of thousands, at least, but
they stay mostly in the mountains (called the Swords of Delvor-Neb).
The first meeting of colonist and orc triggered the
only large war Matibar has ever seen; the Delvor-Neb wars.  The Delvor-Neb
wars lasted for eighteen years, and in the course they killed thousands of
men and tens of thousands of orcs.  Mati was only attacked once, and the 
attack was repelled (though not without loss).  Dominor West was taken and
razed.  Since then, there has been constant skirmishing, particularly at
Brin Keep.  Brin Keep was built for two reasons; first, to guard Brin Pass,
and second, to provide a target for Delvor-Neb's attacks.  To fulfill these
purposes (particularly the second), it needed to be as strong as possible.
It was built by Regian workmen, assisted by Amish-Tor (a legendary archmage)
and the dwarves of Mish-ar-Neth (or so goes the legend).
It has magical strengths and defenses; nevertheless, it has been
taken by Delvor-Neb twice.  Both times, the Regian armies marched from 
Mati and retook it within two months (unbelievably fast for a citadel as
strong as Brin Keep). Nobody seems to know how this was done, however\ldots

\item[Mish-ar-Neth:]  The legends tell of a dwarven city near the mountains
hundreds of years ago.  Delvor-Neb found this irresistible; they attacked
in force. The dwarves slew thousands of orcs, but finally
they realized there was no hope of driving Delvor-Neb away.  Therefore,
they retreated underground, to a secret outpost which they enlarged into
a giant citadel: Mish-ar-Neth.  Mish-ar-Neth is at least half legendary,
but given the legend's recent genesis, there must be at least a grain of
truth to it.  Nobody really knows the location or level of civilization of
Mish-ar-Neth, and no dwarf claims to have seen it.

\item[Racial distribution:]  In Matibar, about 70\% are human and 20\%  
half-orc.  Half-orcs
are generally despised (Delvor-Neb accounts for this, and also for their
frequency).  Another approximately 8.5\% are dwarves, gnomes, and halflings;
half-elves make up another 1.25\%, and elves are the remaining 0.25\% of the
population.  Elves are very rare as there are no large forests on Matibar.

\item[Religion:]  Matibarians worship the Norse pantheon of gods.  Each god's
clerics have their own unique powers and limitations.

\vspace{1in}
\begin{quote}
``A history degree may not get you a job, but it's a great GM's resource\ldots"
\begin{tabbing}
\ \ \ --- \=Gwen Johnson\\
\>{\em sgj@slc1.brl.mil}\\
\end{tabbing}
\end{quote}

\end{description}
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