Blood of Ambrose

APPENDIX A THE LANDS OF LAENT IN A.U. 330

Laent is a flat or shield-shaped land mass bordered by ocean to the west and south and empty space to the east; north of Laent is a region of uninhabitable cold; south of Laent is a large and largely unexplored continent, Qajqapca. Beyond that is believed to be an impassable zone of fire.

Along the western edge of Laent lies the Wardlands, a highly developed but secretive culture. It has no government, as such, but its borders are protected by a small band of Seers and warriors called the Graith of Guardians.

Dividing Laent into two unequal halves, north and south, are a pair of mountain ranges: the Whitethorn Range (running from the Western Ocean eastward) and the Blackthorn Range (running from the Eastern Edge westward). There is a pass between the two mountain ranges, the Kirach Kund. North of the Kirach Kund there are only two human cities of any note, Narkunden and Aflraun. The rest of the north is a heavily wooded and mountainous region inhabited by humans and others of a more or less fabulous nature.

The Whitethorn Range, by custom, forms the northern border of the Wardlands; the Graith of Guardians do not permit others to dwell there. The Blackthorn Range is divided between the untamed dragons and the dragontaming Khroi, a nonhuman race of unknown origin.

South of the Whitethorn Range is the empire of Ontil, sometimes known as the Second Empire. Around 2800, in the reckoning of the Wardlands (see appendix C: "Calendar and Astronomy"), Vraidish barbarians began to pass through the Kirach Kund, not merely to raid or kill but to conquer and settle. After several generations, one of the Vraidish war-leaders, called Lathmar the Old, established a united kingdom out of the divided Vraidish duchies. He was materially aided in his rise to power by magical assistance and counsel from Ambrosia Viviana, Merlin's daughter. Ambrosia later married Lathmar's son, Uthar I (called the Great), who called his kingdom the New Empire of Ontil and settled its capital at New Ontil (not far from the ruins of Old Ontil). The title of King (later, "King of the Two Cities," i.e., the Old Ontil and the new capital) was retained for the imperial heir. At the time of Blood of Ambrose, the Vraidish Empire of Ontil extended from the Whitethorn Range south, to all the lands surrounding the landlocked Sea of Vendh, as far as the southern coast of Laent (including the formerly independent kingdom of Kaen). On the west it was bounded by the Narrow Sea and the Grartan Mountains. The region between the Grartan Mountains and the Whitethorns was called the Gap of Lone by inhabitants of the unguarded lands. Inhabitants of (and exiles from) the Wardlands called it "the Maze," because of the magical protections placed on it.

Immediately south of the Blackthorns is a wooded region of extremely poor repute, Tychar. Farther south is the Anhikh Komos of Cities, Ontil's great rival. The largest Anhikh city, where the komarkh lives, is Vakhnhal, along the southern coast of Laent. Anhi may or may not extend its domain to the Eastern Edge of the world-accounts differ.