SharShar has a variety of different regions, with different characteristics. The south coast is somewhat moderate, a sort of Mediterranean climate, while the north is a tropical rainforest and jungle, with a number of swamps. The continent is divided in half by a central mountain range, which also separates a cooler, grassy central plateau (see below) from either side. The plateau is closer to the western end of the continent, but the eastern end has strong interior cultures as well, though it is less thickly populated than the center and south.
Technically, all land in Shar and the Shank Islands are part of the Empire of Shar, though in practice the continent is made up of a variety of smaller kingdoms and states which owe fealty to the emperor at Anshargor. Tribute is paid to the capital in both gold and troops on a regular basis, and should such tribute fail to arrive, the Mighty Neesharg army will descend on the country and loot the country dry.
This keeps the army in fighting shape and ensures that having an army around makes economic sense as well as military sense. Beyond such tribute arrangements, the Empire interferes little in local governance, though control is much more strict near the centre of power.
AnshargorThe capital of the Neeshargs lies in the fertile central plateau, which is a large well-watered prairie. Some regions are used for conventional agriculture, though a great deal of grazing goes on there too. The area around the lakes are particularily fertile and are farmed intensely. However, typically the lake people find themselves migrating south into the river valleys of the coastlands, in response to pressure from the more barbaric plains people. This of course brings them into contact and conflict with the Shanks...
Shank IslandsThe ancestral home of the Shanks is a home to a wide variety of fishlike diffs, who are all lumped under the name Shank by Pazzites. The principal island where Ishtish is located is quite large, and comparable in size to Borneo or Alaska.The region is dotted with thousands of tiny islands, and only the major ones are noted. Many of the islands are volcanic.
The Sea of Chaos is a stormy, violent sea, fraught with reefs and rocks. Since it is a nexus for the Sea of Spirals, the Thorinjar Sea, and the Emerald Ocean, the tides can be very bad here as well. It is difficult to navigate and one of the principal reasons that the Shanks are rarely seen in Eastern Schan.
Sea of SpiralsThe Sea of Spirals is a warm pleasant sea most of the time, though it, while nowhere near as bad as the Sea of Chaos, nevertheless is prone to freak storms and hurricanes.
On a night of Notor Zan, the surface of the sea of spirals comes alive with tiny sparling lights as small phosphorescent crustaceans swim just below the surface. There are a large number of Sea-Barynth living in the Sea of Spirals, who feed on the large volume of such creatures.
Thorinjar SeaThe sea off the south coast of Shar is one of the best fishing regions in Schan, thanks to the silt and other organic material poured out into the sea at the confluence of rivers in the south. Shank ships have typically been a common sight on this sea, and they often cross the sea to raid the shores of Melora and Gah.
A small amount of information has already been written about Gah, in particular their slave culture, particularily in the case of women, who are pretty much all deemed to be chattel by the Gahvians. In fact, due to fear of the spread of these ideals, it is possible that the Savanti therw their weight behind the old Empire of Loh, and are at least partly responsible for its success, because it was a woman-dominated institution.
Gah, however, is a very large continent (larger than Europe or North America), and though most regions do have similar attitudes towards slavery and women, there are a great variety of cultures present.
The most powerful nation on Gah is a large Empire, reoughly equal in size to Pandahem and Vallia combined. The Empire is highly organized and regimented, and the use of slavery has made this society a factorylike machine, capable of a great deal of physical achievements, though somewhat lacking in art and literature.
The main regions of this empire (Technically the Ganittora Empire, but usually just referred to as the Empire of Gah) are on the north and east shores of the great bay on the west coast, though the Empire extends a good ways both north up to the desert, and east across the mountains.
To the east of the Empire, on the eastern side of the mountains, are wide plains, inhabited by nomads. The southeastern coast is a fertile land of forests, and many small kingdoms exist there. To the north the land becomes drier, until it is a genuine desert by the time the land narrows to a point. Some of these regions are supported by complex irrigation systems, while others are barren and desolate. The northeast coast is dotted by independent City-States, who drift in and out of alliance with the Empire of Gah.
The promontory to the west, separated by a narrow neck of land, is the Kingdom of Gordoth, which is fiercely idependent and highly organized. The Gordothians have resisted invasion by the Empire of Gah on more than one occaision, and have occaiaionally brought the fight to the Empire as well. Most of the time Gah is content to let Gordoth remain independednt, since both nations have a great deal in common; they are organized similarly, though Gordoth is not as efficient or opressive as Gah. Occaisionally small areas of Gordoth attempt to declare independence, but they are generally suppressed quickly.
Between The Empire of Gah and Gordoth lies the Kingdom of Sidrahar, which occupies virtually all of the southern block of land west of the mountains. Sidrahar has successfully resisted the expansion of Gah for a long time, but the battle has not been easy, and Sidrahar is known for getting by narrowly. They are generally considered lucky by others, even if they tend to be apocalyptic themselves. Periodically the smaller nations on the eastern side of the mountains have been a part of the Kingdom of Sidrahar, but at the moment they are all independent.
Melora is a large Island just west of Gordoth, which is broken up into small kingdoms and principalities. The north shore has long been victim to Shank raids, and so is sparsely populated, despite some valuable mineral resources there. Prospectors often visit the north coast in the hope of finding gold or gems, but they rarely stay for long. Some kingdoms of the interior, on the other hand, have begun attempting to gain footholds on the north shore, and both the Empire of Gah and Gordoth have established colonies. The fact of the Shank migration away from Schan means that all parties concerned will be able to increase their focus on this region, and conflict seems inevitable.
Culturally Melora is very similar to Gah, though by no means as opressive. Many of the nations, particularily on the east coast, vacillate between Gah, Gordoth, and Sidrahar, allying with one or another. The nations of western Gah all want a piece of Melora, though the Melorans usually hope to play them off against one another.
Since trade from the wealthy Eastern Seaboard of Thyraxia must pass Emelira on it's way to Gah, Emelira has become prominent in the trade of the region, particularily it's north-western areas, which are favoured by their protection from the Sea of Chaos, which few ships bother to travel.
Emelira is much like Pandahem, and is divided up amongst a variety of Kingdoms and smaller territories. The interior plateau is slightly cooler and easier to manage agriculturally, but the trade with foreign powers requires ports, so a rivalry between the nations of the interior and the coastal nations exists.
Emelira is relatively advanced, but generations of slaving have depleted the population of the southern shore dramatically. Those cultures that do survive in the south tend to be aggressively militant and xenophobic.
Crezedodrin is an out-of-the-way place, and as such remains mostly aloof from Scahnnic politics. It does experience a modest amount of raiding from Aragorn from Gah, and many of the areas on the south side of the island are at best only sparsely inhabited.
Crezedodrin is mostly tropical forest, and is considered by many who live there to be a sort of paradise. The people of Crezedodrin have a reputation of being calm, peaceful, spiritual people, though this reputation is not always deserved. Like most of Kregen's Great Islands, Crezedodrin is divided up into small kingdoms, which occaisionally war with each other. However, these kingdoms are not especially advanced, and many tribal societies also exist there.
Crezedodrin is relatively tectonically active and has a number of active volcanoes and earthquakes are common.
ThyraxiaThe large continent of Thyraxia is divided into two halves by a huge mountain range, one of the highest on Kregen. This natural barrier prevents most movement from one side of the range to the other, and so the two regions have developed very differently.
The north side of the mountains is a region that I imagined might be the locale of the places mentioned in Ken's book Swords of the Barbarians, which is pretty consistent with Kregen except for the occaisional mewntion of a single sun. A large part of me wishes I could go through and edit out those two or three passages, exchanging "the sun" for "the suns".
Assuming this is the case, the northern side is a region dominated by apims, though some diffs live there, including a race called the Dentros, who are not very bright, have four arms, and the face of a rat. A wide variety of human cultures exist. In the far northeast is the cool land of Drugay, inhabited by barbarians. Further south along the east coast, the land becomes more civilized, until on the north side of the large bay we find the League of Praterxes, an enlightened, advanced, and powerful nation. The nations around there are similarly advanced, though none are as powerful.
Northeast of there we eventually find the wizard-city of Gamelon, which lies on the Singing River, just south of the shallow bay in the center of the north coast. West of that is Garthland, a land occupied by the hosts of the Sjombalku clansmen, barbarians that have been driven out of their homes further west.
The south side of the mountains, on the other hand, is radically different than the north. The land at the southernmost extreme is a tropical rainforest; jungle and swamp. further north, the land dries out and becomes a wide savannah, and beyond that, particularily along the west coast near the mountains, a large desert.
Most of this region is savage and wild, although the Ngalugas, a ferocious race of lizard men, live here. They have made an alliance with the insect people of Scaktiadrin and now seek to conquer Schan (see below).
ScaktiadrinScaktiadrin is home to the insect-like race of the Chan and the bird-like Tseng. These winged people have formed an alliance with the Ngalugas of the continent, and like a Mongol horde are descending upon Schan in a drive of conquest. Two main thrusts are being undertaken by two separate armies. The first has landed on the western promontory of Thyraxia, driving out the Sjombalku, and intends to sweep along the north side of the mountains, eventually reaching the Emerald Ocean.
The second has swept along the southern mountains, so that pretty much all of southern Thyraxia is under the control of the alliance. From there they have begun to cross over to Shar, and have begun the battle with the Neeshargs.
Cooperation between these races is based on a mutual biological process; they feel they can understand each other because they all lay eggs. These "People of the Egg" are able to reproduce very quickly because of this as long as adequate food supplies are available, and so the more they conquer the more dangerous they become.