The Realm of Dyria

The Realm of Dyria spans a number of the islands of the Encircled Sea, as well as the east coast, running inland until it reaches the Red Waste, a vast expanse of badlands. Expansive though it is, much of the inland part of Dyria is hilly and in places quite arid, with much of its fertile land concentrated on the coast. Its major settlements are consequently concentrated there along the coast and and on various islands, leaving its eastern reaches sparsely populated, and then only by particularly hardy folk.

Queen Sophia Kournis rules Dyria from her seat in Dyria's capital of Elis, a city built upon an island of the same name.

The Red Waste is home to a number of nomadic tribes, some human and some not. The people of Dyria trade with the human tribes without much issue, though the tribes of the Waste keep imperials at arm's length, wary of being subsumed into the empire. Some ogre tribes are present, and as long as their endless appetites can be sated, they are mostly peaceful, with a few even moving into Dyria to be employed as mercenaries, a practice which happens primarily in eastern Dyria and is met with wariness in the more populous regions near the Encircled Sea. A few hobgoblin clans also feature; they are militaristic by nature and while they can be bribed to stay away from Dyria, peace with a clan rarely lasts for long, so skirmishes sometimes happen in the realm's eastern reaches. Since 630, there have been sporadic rumours of a centaur tribe having entered the Waste, but it has not yet been verified.

Dyria is home to an unusual number of dwarves, numbering in the low tens of thousands. A secretive people, scant little is known of them, other than that they arrived into the empire over a century ago following some evil that befell their mountain holds in the Worldspine. Few believe that goblins could be to blame. A few human expeditions have travelled across the Red Waste to try to enter the dwarven holds. None are known to have succeeded; the majority have never returned, and those which do report large numbers of goblins and beasts in the mountains. The dwarves' general refusal to swear fealty to a human monarch has a blind eye turned to it due to the expert artisans and engineers among their number. Their skill has been a boon to the economies of places they have settled, with certain cities by now being renowned for the dwarven products produced there - much to the ire of artisans in those cities in the early days. By now, dwarves dominate certain fields in a few Dyrian cities and human artisans ceased trying to compete decades ago. Since 631, small bands of dwarves have departed Dyria, apparently bound for the Worldspine, though their business remains a secret.

To its west, just northeast of the Encircled Sea, Dyria borders the Imperial Territories. To its southwest, on the far side of the sea, is the Grand Republic of Thasen. North of Dyria is the Commonwealth of Hana and Lonin. Southeast of Dyria, the Red Waste turns eventually to the Great Desert.