My friend Shawn made this map for me a few years ago, because she is a miracle of a human being. However, some of you may have wondered how these nations came to be where they are. Or you just might be interested to learn more about the Tide World. In either case, I’d be happy to walk you through some of my fake world history. First, some personal history:
- I first drew these maps in junior high, but due to the dimensions of my scanner, I wasn’t able to capture various important places. The original maps were subsequently thrown away by my father. I have other paper maps of the whole world, of course, but for all intents and purposes, this is all the world the main characters know exist anyway.
- The maps I have now are all very spoilery so I can’t show those to you. They’re covered with things like “this happens here” and “that happens there” and they also have all the continents you can’t see. Unfortunately they also have all the capital city names. I’ll try to make more detailed, non-spoilery maps on a nation by nation basis.
Stuff to Know About the Nations You Can See
This land mass is not the entire world. In fact, this entire thing right here is only about 3/4 the size of Africa. It does, however, represent “The Known World” for the main sequence characters.
Alarunde: Capital city is Alarunde, so that’s easy. I designed this to basically be like Ayn Rand’s version of Israel. Due to something that happened a long time ago (called the Red Union) Economics is essentially the Alarunde religion, though not officially, which has both good and bad consequences. There’s a Pillar in the middle of Alarunde which looks different to everyone who sets eyes upon it.
When I thought this up, I asked myself the question “What if Objectivists totally got their own way?” and Alarunde was my answer. As of right now, the richest man in Alarunde is Olmer Charaun, who you met in “The Sweet Song of Silver” and he’s actually not an asshole.
Larin: Capital city is Abroiese, which is named after an older placed called Abroiese. This is my cross between old England and the pre-industrial American south. Technology in the Tide World is not medieval, by the way. It’s a clash between preindustrial and early industrial… and it’s been stuck there for a while due to reasons which would be spoilery.
When I made up Larin, I thought “Where’s a place I could actually stand to live before indoor plumbing?” and Larin was my answer. I figured it’s a really pastoral place, laid back but dutiful people and fucking awesome barbecue.
M’Doun: Capital city is Camloan, which is weird for a number of reasons. We’ll get to this later but Camlaon was an independent city state up until a couple hundred years ago. M’Doun is basically Victorian England if it was ruled by police officers who inherit their authority.
I asked myself the question, “What if all those old people you read about in the 1800′s and 1900′s with a can-do attitude and no regard for human life made a country?” and M’Doun was my answer. The civilians are a lot more like Dickens characters than Imperialists though.
Rivengaud: Doesn’t really have a capital city, because Rivengaud is a wilderness territory. There’s an important border city called Abreen, which basically operates as a city state and M’Douni protectorate. Rivengaud looks a lot like the Pacific Northwest although there are Cainden (metal trees) groves as you go further in. I can’ tell you too much more about it without getting spoilery, but there is a Citadel in the far north.
Basically, I wanted a giant forest to be able to wander through, where amazing things lived, and came up with Rivengaud. Along the border, for the most part it’s full of logging camps, illegal moonshine operations, and mines. It’s where I grew up if where I grew up was a country.
Tall: The Capital city is Lantia. Tall for the most part is revolutionary France with some Spain thrown in. Very uptight class conscious people with very rigid codes of honor. And I decided in college that all the noblemen would carry around cane swords, not only because cane swords are awesome, but because it actually fit into the world history pretty well.
I thought “Where would I hate living, but not enough to move?” and came up with Tall as my answer. I figure they have really good food, really interesting dance, and really great art and Academics, but just full of people who are way too aggressive and uptight.
Shen Anrath: The capital city, insofar as it has one, is Hallara which is ruled by a token shitty Emperor who doesn’t actually have any power. It’s kind of a city state in the middle of the country, except they don’t dare speak out or step out of line. Shen Anrath is actually broken up into feudal baronies ruled by some pretty heartless fucking tyrants who do awful shit to people. I based it off of feudal Russia, so you’ll be seeing a crazy Peter the Great rip off at some point in the main sequence.
This was my take on all the downsides of living in a place where there isn’t democracy.
Jimroar: The capital city is Omverness. Jimroar is basically revolutionary Russia crossed with a land entirely ruled by sea captains but not really. As of the main sequence, it has only existed for a couple decades. Here’s the low down, because they have all the good coastal land and the mines, Jimroar was always a lot different than the interior of Shen Anrath. There have been a couple wars, but this last one was successful for reasons that are spoilery.
I thought about “How cool would it be if there was a place just full of cantankerous sea captains miners and trappers who get drunk and fight all the time?” and this was my answer.
Nyria: Capital city is Shaohad, where there’s a giant fortress that is awesome. Nyria lays right across the equator and it’s basically a cross between Germany and the old Empires of the Middle East. Basically I thought “Where’s the place I would least like to live that could actually function as a society?” and Nyria was my answer. Super sexist culture, super racist, and as of the main sequence super religious.
I needed bad guys okay? I mean, there are good guys who live there, kinda sorta. They’re in something called The League of Southland Lords, but for the most part think Hitler when you think of Nyria. Some cultures just produce asshole people. I’m sorry.
Samaerael: Capital city is Samaer. The people here are really reclusive like in medieval Japan. No outsiders, don’t speak to the infidel etc. I based them on Japan and goth culture. They wear a lot of pancake make-up and black lipstick and other emo stuff like that, although there are actually very good reasons for them to do all of that. From the outside, they seem like crazy people who worship the mentally handicapped but there are secret reasons for everything.
I basically thought “What actual reasons could there be so that dressing goth is normal? And how can I represent that in such a way that if I ever become famous hot goth chicks will show up at my events?” and Samaerael was my answer. I also wanted to make sure I acknowledged the existence and humanity of people who were born with physical impediments and not ignore them as is done in most Fantasy.
Erill: This is all spoiler stuff, but I’ll tell you what I already told you in the story “Ironwood.” There are metal trees here, the same as if you go far enough into Rivengaud. Some people get near these trees and start to feel strange and hear voices in their heads, and then they disappear.
I basically wanted a place for Eskimos and Native Tribes.
Valaen: Capital city is Fandahar, which is pretty much just a giant port. Ships engaged in trade cut through the middle of Valaen, so it’s an economic boom center in that one port. Unfortunately, because of Kaero Saul, a lot of the land there is useless and full of destitute people. It’s where Nanna came from in the story “Smiling Sick.”
If you go further inland though, to the western landmass, you get a very modern Caribbean/Samoan culture blend. I wanted Samoans basically, because I fucking love Samoans and have yet to even hear of any Samoan acting like a giant asshole.
Kaero Saul: I hesitate to talk about Kaero Saul because it verges on spoilers. So here’s what people outside of Kaerao Saul know about it. Living at the edge of the lightest arc will double the odds of you having a child with deformities. Go further in and the odds get higher. Plants that aren’t native to the area will grow strangely.
Go into the second arc and you’ll die, but not immediately. You’ll linger long enough to leave the area and tell people about it, but that’s it. You’ll die of a wasting disease that deteriorates all of your organs. There’s no grass of anything growing inside of the second arc. There’s literally a perfect line in the ground of life and unlife. You can’t mistake it. People also have hallucinations inside the second arc (*cough* they’re not hallucinations *cough*).
Go further in and people claim to see a city behind a wall of black. The location of the third arc is speculative because it’s impossible to test, but if you cross it you die immediately. Some people claim to be able to walk through all the arcs without harm, but no one believes them… even though they all see the same thing.
I wanted a giant mysterious place. That’s what Kaero Saul is for.
Stuff to Know About Nations and Places You Can’t See
- Angard is missing from this map. It’s an island nation southeast of Erill. Geographically, it’s about the size of Tall. It’s where Metal Weavers live and make their home. It is also frequently attacked by the Shaen, who are the demon creatures of the Tide World. It’s my favorite place and it has a lot of influences.
Firstly, it’s politically based on America, which is my favorite country. The people are also like Native American Irish Samurai Mormon Vikings, wherein I took the things I like about all those people and discarded the rest. I basically thought “Where would I most want to live?” and thought of Angard. Then I filled it with demons.
- Bathlaen: This is where the demons get to Angard from. It’s not a nation or anything like that. It’s just a large series of volcanic islands that extends into the Storm Wall east of Angard. Bad ju ju comes from there on the backs of Sarpents, lands on Angard and kills people. There’s other stuff about how the Woa get to Angard but it’s all kind of technical and spoilery.
- The Elem Rift refers to the waters directly east of M’Doun, Shen Anrath, and Jimroar. It’s full of what are called Sarpents, or giant sea creatures based loosely upon the octopus, squid, and other creepy looking things. From a practical standpoint, it cannot be crossed by ship, so if there are land masses on the other side of hint (*cough* there are *cough*) nobody can get to them (*cough* for right now *cough*)
- The Silver Sea: Is the Western Ocean and pretty much creates a boundary on the world over in that area. You can sail around Valaen basically, but if you go out much further than that you’re going to run into Sarpents again. Most people just assume the world “ends” there (*cough* it doesn’t *cough*).
Now, you may be asking how the coasts can be inhabited at all, to which I will reply: they are shallow, there are something called sea swords protecting them, and they’re also protected by magical whales and dolphins.
- The Storm Wall to the east is an impossible massive weather phenomena running north to south. It looks like a storm turned on its side, although if you wait for a break somewhere in the cloud cover you can see rainbows at every point. Its existence has more or less has caused everyone to believe the world is flat.
- Sheymara Launeva: This is an island far far to the south (near the pole) where the Aodani are said to live. Most people don’t actually believe it exists (*cough* it does *cough*)
Contemporary Pre-History:
The Reformation Era
Okay, so here’s the number one most important thing to know about the Tide World as far as the modern era goes:
Once there were two races of god-like beings, called the Haestan and the Drakkan’mirr. The Haestan ruled over all the parts of the world that you can see here… except the world didn’t look a whole lot then like it does now. The Drakkan’mirr ruled over parts of the world you can’t see. And that world didn’t look a lot like the one you’re seeing in these maps.
The reason for that is the Haestan and Drakkan’mirr went to war and it royally fucked up everything. The most visible thing they did was make the area now known as Kaero Saul uninhabitable, but it extends beyond that. Their weather and climate control technologies went haywire, their geological power stations went all kaka, and other stuff I can’t talk about.
So on top of all this, one day the Haestan and Drakkn’mirr disappeared. This came to be called The Abandonment. Remember that word. Abandonment. It took several hundred years for the world to end up in its final shape, so don’t get creeped out that things look differently here. Those hash marks are just representing the parts of the world that were still forming. “The Zone” is Kaero Saul and its up a little high, but there’s a reason for that… which I can’t tell you.
The long and short of it is that the Haestan were pretty much the source of all the energy in their society. Not directly, of course, but all power sources were tapped and put into place by them. They were also the head of the government, production sectors, etc. They also lived in a paperless society. So, on the day they disappeared there was also set into motion a series of geological catastrophes. Tidal Waves, Earthquakes, Massive Electrical Storms, Floods, Volcanic Eruptions you name it… and all of it lasted for years. Not only was there no government to response to these threats there was literally no physical record through which knowledge could be accessed.
It would be like if we woke up one day, there was no government, the police were gone, electricity had stopped working, and every natural disaster that could happen to us did happen to us and kept happening for decades.
The Tide War had already drastically reduced the human population as the Haestan were on the losing side of it until the Surrender of Ragnad. We’re talking about 90% fatalities. Thankfully, the few people that were left were battle-hardened survivor types, but even they took high casualties, and worse, burned through all the stored resources of their society trying to survive the Abandonment. They didn’t have a lot of time for schools or government or anything other than wandering and scavenging for food.
However, the world finally did settle down and society began to emerge. A few of the old structures survived, but not many. The landscape was still largely devastated but over time roving bands of hunter-gatherers began to accrue and rebuild cities with the scraps of their technology.
In Erill, which you’ll see is the one constant across all these maps, people used a type of solar power technology coupled with bio-engineering to cut themselves off from the rest of the world and create a defensive barrier. That isn’t as great as it seems, however, since for a lot of the Abandonment, ash filled the sky and the technology was useless. However, it did save them from the remaining Shaen troops left behind by the Drakkan’mirr. They would stay there, trying to rebuild a spoilery thing, having little to no contact with the outside world.
In M’Den, a group of people from the Haestan Military (from a group called the Velli’Sheam or the Silver Men) took power and tried to restart democracy with limited success. This eventually evolved in a constitutional monarchy based on a form of technology left behind in the Abandonment and which you’ll see in the Mad Boy King.
The Fire Allegiance, and the Crane Country were basically ruled over by warlords descended from the rank and file military. They fought with each other an awful lot and were eventually wiped out by internal rebellions and a war with M’Den which led to their absorption, except for the easternmost reaches of the Crane Country, where the land remained ruled by local warlords. The terrain made it too difficult to capture this territory, so it was left.
In Fell/Talos, there was a military coup which led to the country being renamed. Their sole focus as a society was basically to repopulate the world. However, the unchecked use of a type of birthing technology caused them to have unusually high problems with famine and drought. They eventually voluntarily became part of the growing M’Den empire.
The Badlands, were pretty much what you’d expect. The Cainden groves hadn’t taken root there yet, so there were a lot of Shaen there constantly killing people with no check on their growth. They eventually got pushed back, but it took a long long time.
Rin Tilan and Orden were populated by what was left of the Haestan Navy, although they had to move inland to avoid the Tidal Waves. The people stuck on Rin Tilan suffered high casualties from the Kaero Saul phenomena. As Valaen as a whole didn’t have the resources necessary to have a modern society by itself, society collapsed fairly quickly there.
The Golden Crown, was a semi-religious dictatorship based around something called “the Promise.” In the last moments of the Tide War, at the Surrender of Ragnad, Alarell transmitted that when the Tide rose again, he would return to fight it. The Golden Crown concerned itself with arming against an eventual return of the Tide. At that time, they also had issues with the Woa, although that is not as true in the modern age.
Beginning of Recorded History:
The Founding of M’Den
All the wars got fought, and when enough people died something like democracy took hold again. Yes, there was a king in M’Den (named after the most beautiful city of the Haestan) but with the leadership technology in place, it was a benevolent constitutional monarchy. There was a Senate elected by the people and great Academies and cities were rebuilt. Technologies, though not as great as those before the Abandonment, were rediscovered. People began to thrive and repopulate the world. Maps were made, books written, etc. This was known as the Age of Empires.
However, the warlords left behind by the dissolution of the Crane Country formed an empire of their own, although feudal in nature. Their drugged populace, often beaten into submission, was numerous enough that it posed a significant threat in war time. Rideen was a bloody and violent place without democracy, and it often warred with M’Den. It’s leaders, eventually taken under Shaen influence, created such a state of discord in the M’Deni royal families that everyone with a claim to the throne and the Leadership Technology upon which M’Deni society was ultimately based caused it to dissolve into three lesser territories, with however, similar styles of government.
Think of Rome and the fake version of Attila the Hun (not that bloodthirsty in real life from what I understand) and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what times were like. They weren’t perfect by any means, but they were better than they had been.
Luckily, this period of unrest was short, and the Shaen-backed government of Rideen was brought to justice, ushering in the regions one true flirtation with democracy to date.
The Second War of Tides
On Meranor the 5th of 1192 AA, for a reason no one is sure of to this day, the Loke and Woa returned in force and attacked the nations left from the dissolution of M’Den and Rideen, which had at that time existed for several hundred years. They came from three locations: the silver sea to the west, Rivengaud to the north, and the sea of swords to the south.
Think of what would happen if the Zombie plagues people talked about became real. Massive unrest, governments have to go into hiding, and huge casualties in just the first few days. The Woa were the major threat here, as they hadn’t really been seen in several hundred years and were thought to be mythical, and the Loke were too few to be much of a problem until the end.
People quickly remembered the methods through which these creatures were fought, however not before the damage had been done. People banded together much more quickly than they had previously, but it was mostly in giant roving armies under the leadership of men like Jareff Karendell or in city-states like Camlaon. The nation as a heuristic for binding people together was temporarily put aside. Every man woman and child was one nation in this new war against the Shaen.
- Angardi Barbians from an island to the south, which had before been just a curiosity were shipped en masse to the north by all nations to help fight the creatures plaguing mankind. It was here that the Angardi, who had previously lived in something like Norse or Native American tribes, began banding together into something you could properly call a government. Strangely, the onslaught on the mainland had eased the threat on their island home.
- The Samaeraeli began to worship the mentally handicapped, even going so far as to steal them in some cases, claiming they could be harnessed as a weapon against the enemy, although they refused to tell people how this might be done.
- The People of Benloed form an army under Jareff Karendell, and scourge out the Woa city by city, reclaiming precious farmland and resources. Their army mysteriously disappears in an area now known as the Cairn Ruins.
- The People of Chinlea align behind king Tavaraum Eld Tumand Veade, to fight back at the enemy with the apparent aid of Aodani from the south, and green-skinned people from Erill although this would be largely considered mythical at the war’s end.
- An army of Tants and Rainbow-Eyed Warriors apparently under no leadership at all, sets foot in Chinlea and takes the fight into Rivengaud, disposing of the bulk of Loke forces on their way.
- Horiku receives aid from a person claiming to be from across the Elem Rift by the name of Thage emon Thettar emon Thoral, who instructs them in the use of explosives, although must of this knowledge is lost by the end of the war.
The Second War of Tides was an eventful time in human history, and can’t really be summarized in detail. It ended ten years to the day after it began, when Moke Eld Esan Thornaud, leader of the Aodani, stood on the Ring Hill and activated a Haestan Era Tide War Weapon, killing himself in the process. It is remembered as Standing Day.
In the aftermath of the second Tide War, city-states became the norm for almost a hundred years. The only global influence was that of the Nashodian (made by a guy named Nashodia if you can believe it) Church, which had arisen in the middle of the conflict to give people hope.
Rule by the Nashodian Church
Over time, the Nashodian Church became the de facto ruler of the world, as it alone claimed to know the will of the Haestan, who by this time had evolved in the mind of the populace to become god like figures. Kings could not be crowned without its blessing, wars could not be fought without its say so. Under its influence, the city states of Shen Anrath devolved back into the barony system, now backed by religion, and would stay that way until the modern era. Everywhere else, on the M’Den side of the old empire line struggled to retain constitutional rights as the power of the church rose. The areas that were once Chinlea became the most religious and as a result were the places where authoritarianism was most accepted.
As the church became more and more corrupt, as was perhaps inevitable, fringe groups arose, as lack of any religion at all was considered unfathomable except in Angard and a few city states like Camlaon. None of these stuck particularly well until a reformer named Galen Wheeler, arose from within the church with a number of complaints. This led to religious unrest, and the gradual lessening of the church’s power over the next several hundred years. Religion schismed into “Dian” and “Galenite” branches.
Dians had a hierarchy up to something called “The Most High Brother” and traditional churches. Whereas Galenites were a lose association, mostly of traveling merchants who sought religious protection against bandits, and preached from the back of their wagons. Whether this, or Galen’s last name caused them to be called Wheelers is unknown.
The only true opposition to the church on the mainland was from the newly risen mercantile class, represented most strongly by the Red Union in Barrus. This new merchant class spread far and wide, gradually weakening the church’s absolute hold on governments as economic interested competed with religious ones.
No war fought during this time was the result of mass action, or anything other than unrest in one particular area. To cover them all would take far too much time.
Consolidation/Consumption of City States:
The Age of Trade
The weakening of the church and the widening of economic powers increased the strength of governments enough that they could begin mass consolidation. Only truly powerful city states like Camlaon remained independent and then such independence was tenuous. However, at this time, every state did have an official religion be it Dian or Galenite, and this did at times cause strife between the government and their peoples which would later erupt. At the time, however was mostly overshadowed by the dominant force at this time which was the sea trade.
Suddenly having coastal land became not only a convenience, but an economic necessity in order to compete. At first, of the nations west of the Old Empire Line, only Callass was without port. After repeated wars with Jerkia however, a deal was struck by which a land bordering Kaero Saul known as “the Extension” would be jointly governed and used by both nations. The already burgeoning mercantile class exploded. Roads were built, rivers bridged, anything and everything which could be done to expand the mainlands economic base was done.
This however had the side effect of rapidly spreading Galenite ideals into lands which were still, for the most part, very much controlled by Dians. There was also a lessening of rights for the common man that weren’t directly connected to economic privilege. The governments operated more or less under mandate from the economic class and many ordinary citizens felt themselves shut out of this system.
While most members of city states lost their identity, the dissolution of their independent governments also sowed strife. The people of the world, while more prosperous than ever, were waiting for an excuse to change the balance of power.
The War of the Broken Rose
The true War of the Broken Rose was fought between Angard and Callass but it came to envelope the entire world and dramatically change the balance of power.
Callass, seat of the Holy Dian church, had become every more expansionist in its desire to grab coastal land from which to launch its ships to take part in the sea trade and it decided to take part in a civil war on Angard in hopes of making a land grab.
The war was taking place between a rebellious faction led by an exiled Metal Weaver named Glenn Lo’Dain and a ruling self-styled Dragon Clan which has achieved dominance over the other clans during the Second War of Tides. Callass sought to support the ruling Dragon Clan in exchange for economic privileges to the island, and this was done with the blessing of the Dian church who all but spoke with the same voice.
However, the democratic movement in Angard was too powerful for Callass to stop, and the Metal Weavers essentially removed any advantage that additional human ground troops might add. Callass made several attempts to take the island by force, only to have their armies slaughtered almost as soon as they set foot on shore. The Dian church began to advocate a mass war on Angard, for its economic riches. All Dian nations agreed to take part in this as they saw it as a way of taking power over the Galenite nations.
After winning the battle of the Gliding Fields, more or less ending the war on Angard, Glenn Lo’Dain preemptively dispatched one hundred Metal Weavers to the mainland before an assault fleet could be sent to Angard, where they assassinated every ruler openly supporting the authority of the Dian church. It soon became obvious no protection was ward against a Metal Weaver, and some governments sought to surrender, only to be overturned by their own people, keeping the strife alive for several years.
Callass surrendered and was eventually divided into three separate nations. A democratically inclined northern nation called M’Doun, under the leadership of the city state of Camlaon which had been Angard’s one mainland supporter, an economic state in the middle, and a religious state to the south. Angard ordered the return of stolen lands to Shen Anrath, hoping to bolster the freedom movement in the south, and the government of Alarunde voluntarily surrendered its powers (at least publicly) and gave its people certain rights. The Dian government of Sheralynn stepped down and gave control to its Galenite majority.
The Great Return
Here we arrive at the modern age again. Shen Anrath has had a number of civil wars, the last of which was successful and liberated Jimroar from the Empire, but for how long no one knows.
M’Doun came under the leadership of the city state of Camlaon, although much of Camlaon’s identity was lost in the transition, most notably that title became hereditary instead of meritocratic. The largely Galenite nation of Larin came under control of the former city-state of Abroiese after the surrender of its Dian government. The people of Alarunde, tired of being treated like slaves from the economic class, rebelled and demanded rights and were awarded them in part. The economic class of Callass resettled in Tall, where as the religious Dian south formed the nation of Nyria.
Angard became the strongest most prosperous nation in the entire world.
Then one day…. from the lands beyond the Elem rift, a great light came out of the sky, traveled across the whole of the world, and touched down in the city of Shaohaod, in the room of the pregnant queen, Bestna Rovan… whereupon everyone everywhere heard a voice making good on a promise, and her small child disappeared leaving behind only a smattering of clues that lived.
