You live in Sefonia, though other civilized lands call it The Southlands.
To the west, the ocean, and The Western Isles, which its people collectively call Dhan.
To the east, The Eastern Lands, which its people call Ossau.
To the north, the Northlands, which its people call Quayern.

The Western Isles were conquered by Sefonia long ago. They have their own government now, but are still officially owned by Sefonia. The people there are very poor, and any Sefonian will tell you Westerners are generally untrustworthy. All Westerners have very dark hair and light eyes-- and are pale, since The Western Isles so often have cloudy or rainy weather (or maybe they're just like that anyway?)

The people of the Eastlands are all blond, but they usually cut it very short, because theirs is an extremely (insanely, most would agree) militaristic culture. The last time they came to fight Sefonia, the fighting was fierce, but that meant that Sefonia earned the Easterners' respect, so they've kept their distance pretty well for many decades now-- they're usually too busy fighting civil wars anyway.

The people of the cold Northlands all have various shades of brown hair, sometimes reddish brown, sometimes not, but usually thick and wavy, and long, on both the men and the women. Their eyes are always quite dark. The East and the North fought with one another only about twenty-five years ago, but once Sefonia decided to come to the aid of the Northerners, it all ended in a grudging stalemate, with only a few skirmishes now and then since then.

Sefonians have a variety of hair colors and skin tones... a sort of strawberry blonde is slightly more common than any other look, but not by much.

The scrawny, sickly Westerners are naturally-talented sailors, although any Sefonian will tell you they're quite lazy otherwise, and that Westerners one meets in Sefonia are usually begging for work (or on the run from the law).

The friendly Northerners are great miners and smiths, and dig deep beneath the earth. They're also very good with glass-- most glass is imported from the north. When one meets Northerners in Sefonia, they're usually on vacation (trying to warm up), or they're visiting relatives, or they're on some sort of religious pilgrimage-- there are a couple of important holy sites to Veles in Sefonia.

The scornful Easterners never think about anything but fighting. When one meets Easterners in Sefonia, they're usually diplomats (and/or spies), or visiting scholars (also possibly spies), or mmmmmaybe refugees from their constant civil wars, but Sefonia has strict laws and quotas about that sort of thing, so one's more likely to meet a visiting scholar (one isn't really likely to meet an Easterner in Sefonia at all).

So, basically, Northerners are (on one hand) kind of loud, but (on the other hand) they're pretty fun-loving, Easterners are dangerous maniacs but at least mean what they say and say what they mean (except maybe for the spies), Westerners are poor hopeless dreamers, and Sefonians pretty much are solid and reliable and invented most of the good things about civilization, or so any Sefonian would explain to you.

As for Sefonia, northern Sefonians (where the capital, Vierna, is located) are intelligent and civilized and open-minded... to the far south, the people are a little backwards and superstitious... the Sefonians in-between are just generally steady and good-natured, despite a tendency to be a bit hidebound and traditional. (Incidentally, mentioning monsters, or any other legends about intelligent non-humans, is considered to be in very bad taste in Sefonia. In and around the capital, and among the upper classes, it's quite rude. As one goes farther south, and/or amongst the lower classes, it's more that it's just considered bad luck to mention such things.)

Sefonia is ruled by its Queen-- currently Teresa III-- in conjunction with a house of lords.

Sefonia's main religion is that of Noric, god of the sky (and therefore things that fly, and (therefore) freedom, and also the stars, and therefore fortune-telling... and also tall trees (Noric reportedly loves anything tall that sticks up into the sky, like towers and steeples and mountaintops etc.)). Noric's symbol is a bird (he particularly likes bluejays and cardinals), and/or a tall tree.

In the North, they worship Veles, god of the earth (and therefore possibly of harvests. Because of Noric's love of tall trees, he is sometimes seen as being in charge of plants in general, and therefore harvests and crops, and sometimes this is attributed only to Veles. There have been no religious wars about this, but it is often a matter of mild debate. Some communities just honor both Noric and Veles when it comes to crops, as if they are partners in such endeavors-- which makes a kind of sense, considering the importance of the weather to such matters). They respect Veles a lot in Sefonia, too, but it's Noric who's the bigger deal there, whereas it's Veles who's by far the bigger deal in the North. Veles' symbol is a pickaxe.

In the East, they worship some god of duty. It figures.

In the West, they seem to favor Veles, although they make somewhat less of a big deal out of him than they do in the North. Any Sefonian you ask will shrug and say that it figures that Westerners would be sort of meh about their god...

Next-most important in Sefonia, however, is Alara, goddess of justice and punishment... She's not as big a deal as Noric, but her followers take her very seriously, and it also often seems like they try to gain worldly power for themselves (in her name, of course)... Alara's symbol is a sword-- often, in Sefonia, a shortsword or broadsword.

There are many other gods, but they are considered lesser by Sefonians, and indeed by most people. These gods usually have one shrine somewhere in the world. Often, they are local gods, tied to a specific place-- a particular mountain, or bay, or river, or even a particular river crossing. Not all minor gods are tied to a specific spot, but they do typically only have one or two shrines, and no organized priesthood...

...With one exception: the final deity worth mentioning is merely whispered about: Calum, goddess of both the night (and therefore the moon-- somehow Noric doesn't seem to claim it as he does the stars), and blood... Calum's cult is feared-- and as a matter of national policy, discouraged-- but that never seems to eradicate it...

You will start in Trevisi, the fourth-largest city in Sefonia, home of Sefonia's Bardic college and an important shrine of Veles, the Stone of Grace...

Specific places your PC has been:

--The foot of Old Kilnhook and Young Kilnhook, two very large mountains over in the northeast corner of Sefonia...

--The Bridge of Skies, in Vierna, by which one may cross the Nain river...

--The Ullenwood, a forested area to the southwest of Sefonia where bandits had set up camp and had to be dispatched...
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:05, Thu 20 Aug 2020.