Fogland

Fogland
Fogland is a colloquial term for the human-controlled East. The skies here are always full of smoke and the streets full of fog, a result of pollution from magically-run machines.

Most steampunk-type characters belong in Fogland. It's known for its strange styles of dress (think Renaissance meets Victorian England) and its innovative machinery, including vehicles, toys, and weapons. Inventors are welcome here. So are machinists and handy-men who can assemble what's thought up.

A kind of train runs through the entire region connecting towns, mines, fields, and factories, making Fogland one of the world's most lucrative regions. Officially the train's called a velocitrav, but locals just call it the trav. Passengers can ride for a small fee. Otherwise the cars are reserved for cargo. Most places see just one trav per day, while bigger cities (City of Ei, Drekhenburg, and Prast) almost always have a trav near the station.

Many things run on coal in this region. Other fuels include steam (water), oil and natural gas, wood, and magic. Fogland has a centuries-long agreement with Khaz Skarrenruf in the Iron Mountains: they receive tonnes of copper from the dwarves in exchange for technologies that ease mining. Because of that, many things in Fogland are fabricated from copper or copper alloys (brass, bronze).

Most of those who reside in these Lands worship the Ei as deities. They consider Sihiri's Crowned Deities to be imperfect imposters unworthy of worship.

City of Ei
This is the city of monastery guilds. People come here from all over the world to study under the White Monks, who have been safeguarding sacred relics for time beyond memory.

The Ei Weapons are stored here. Each is kept in a separate guildhouse. The monks of each house are devoted to their weapon's particular attributes. The attributes include:

Students can come to learn any of these skills, but once they're devoted to a particular house they must stay with that house -- no hopping from one to the next. The monks believe it is dangerous to collect all of the skills into one person. They believe that when all nine True Sigils meet in the same place, the world will end.

The City of Ei has a stark military mindset (think Sparta) with ornate buildings and clothing styles (Italian Renaissance). Although the city itself is quite peaceful thanks to its rulers, children of both genders are trained to fight at a very early age. Tournaments are often organized and taken to the arena, where anyone's welcome to come and spar when it's not in use. The City of Ei has the best defenses and the best military in all of Sihiri.

So far only two of the True Sigils have found their way to the City of Ei. Eight and Two are sometimes found wandering the streets or discussing matters with members of their guilds.

Drekhenburg
This is the biggest city in Fogland. People are crammed into every nook and cranny. Technology turns the whole city into a fast-paced, confused, wild jumble of citizens doing business in every conceivable way. Whatever's invented in the guildhouses of Ei is put to use in Drekhenburg.

The streets are well-lit at night thanks to a forest of gas-lamps, which must be lit by hand each evening. Zipliners fly by overhead. The trav passes through every hour on the hour, which is easily measured by the huge clock at the trav station, a local landmark called Big-Face by the locals. The streets are a jumble of houses and shops, but there is an overwhelming sense of business, wealth, and success here and the buildings, though old, are well-kept.

Drekhenburg is governed by a different king or queen every four years. Prospective rulers must pass through a series of punishing physical trials to be eligible, and then the public chooses a leader from among the survivors. The streets are policed by a roving task force called the Patrol.

Prast
Prast is home to Fogland's upper class. It's a gentrified city full of nobles, new and old, living in massive properties which lower-class servants maintain. Prast's nobles have tendrils of investments in every other region and town. They control the world from inside their cushy little bubble of a town. A common saying is, "As Prast, so the world," meaning Prast's decisions dictate what happens in the rest of Sihiri.

The Arena
Not to be confused with the sparring/tournament arena in the City of Ei. This is a stand-alone complex in the far east. It's surrounded by miles of grasslands, valleys, and wheel-shattering tumbles of stone, and there is no way to access it except by the Arena Road, which leads to its gates alone. Nevertheless, at least twice a week the place gets jam-packed with spectators hungry for blood.

The area around the arena is full of carved benches where spectators sit to watch. The floor of the arena is made of sand surrounded by a fence. The sand itself is considered sacred: non-contestants are not allowed to walk on it. The only entrance to the arena is reserved for fighters. There a wooden door leads into the fighters' quarters and cells. Dim lanterns light the way down a hallway, first, with rusty-barred cells on either side. The hallway floor is made of dirt. Eventually the hall becomes better kept, until eventually the bars disappear and portraits of the arena's organisers (the "Fathers") begin appearing on the walls. At the hall's end is a kitchen and a pair of bedrooms.

Fighters consist of captured slaves of all types, kinds, builds, and races. All fights are to the death unless the Fathers declare otherwise. It is always raining at the Arena.