The Map of Aevrya

Aevrya is the continent the brothers walk. The year is 317. The Valas Empire holds the middle of the map. Its capital, Orvallis, has never fallen to a siege. Beyond the empire’s roads the world goes on without it. Dwarves keep mountains the Crown cannot enter. Elves keep rivers the Crown cannot cross. Forests refuse imperial patrols. Deserts swallow caravans.

The Empire At The Centre

The Valas Empire is not a single kingdom under one king. It is a federation. One Crown sits at High Orvallis. Five regional Solarchies each govern their own part of the continent.

Four of the five were founding members of the federation in Year 130. The fifth was added by the Crown in Year 217.

The first Emperor was Crissan Orvallis. He won the Crown War of Years 125 to 130 and was crowned at High Orvallis when it ended. His family has held the imperial crown ever since. The current Emperor, Calvane Orvallis, has reigned since Year 275.

Each Solarch runs his own region. He sets the law, appoints the officials, runs the courts, collects the taxes and keeps his own soldiers. The Crown sits over all of them.

The Five Solarchies

NORTHERN SOLARCHY. Seat at Varkel Tor. Holds the steppe frontier against the Skarval raiders. Cold kills more men here than combat.

WESTERN SOLARCHY. Seat at Mordaq Spire. Holds the western front against the Shard-King hill realms. Siege warfare. Castles fall in autumn and must be retaken by spring.

EASTERN SOLARCHY. Seat at Caldor, though the Solarch keeps his main residence at High Orvallis and runs the region through local officials. Covers Cindral Vale, Caldor and the watch forts along the Old Forest. River trade, iron mines, farms. The brothers grew up here.

SOUTHERN SOLARCHY. Seat at Sandveil Hold. Holds the southern frontier against the Zareem. Caravan escort. Constant duty without a declared war.

COASTAL SOLARCHY. Seat at the Ash Coast keep. Added in Year 217 after a civil war in the south. Runs the empire’s shipyards, glass forges and salt cutters along the Saphirath Sea Lanes.

The World Beyond The Empire

Beyond the empire’s borders, the map stops belonging to Orvallis.

KHAZRAKK MOUNTAIN ARC. Dwarven holdfasts. Neutral trade power. The empire’s three biggest rivers begin here. The dwarves answer to no Emperor.

LUTHAREL RIVER REALMS. High elf kingdoms. The elves keep the oldest records on the continent. They do not fight the empire and they do not trust it.

THIRWOOD. Wood elf forest in the south-east. No paths through it. Dangerous to outsiders. No imperial road crosses it.

SHARD-KING HILL REALMS. A patchwork of small human kingdoms west of the Stone Chain. Always at war with one another. Hired soldiers change sides as the season changes.

ZAREEM SATRAPATES. Spice and slave economies south of the Coastal Trade Road. Raid and trade in the same season.

SAPPHIRE ISLES. Free captain houses offshore from the Ash Coast. Volcanic islands and reef systems. Pirate season runs late summer through autumn.

THE VERDANT MIRE. Sylthic territory northwest of the Western Marches. A steppe-and-swamp region closed by terrain and by choice.

THE WASTES. North of the Khazrakk Arc. The Crown’s word for “we do not go there.”

The Four Fort Chains

The Empire maintains four border fort chains, one for each active front:

THE FROST RAMPART (Northern, against the Skarval). Varkel Tor, Halzur Wall, Korveth Redoubt, Rimefall Fort, Skel Watch.

THE STONE CHAIN (Western, against the Shard-Kings). Karthol Keep, Velgran Hold, Thrace Wall, Drakhal Gate.

THE WELL GUARD (Southern, against the Zareem). Azmar Fort, Qarim Post, Sandveil Hold, Dorakh Bastion.

THE ASHEN LINE (Eastern, along the Old Forest). Greyfen Post, Marnen Lodge, Thorn Mile Tower, Ember Cross. Not a wall. Scattered watch forts.