The Realm of Hadash
The Realm of Hadash is the only major polity in the empire not to share the space around the Encircled Sea. Rather, it is across the Sea Between, in the northern part of the continent of Salthos, and occupies the immensely fertile land Emerald River, on the banks of which resides the capital of Hadash, Jewel. The river flows from near the fringes of the jungle to the south to the Sea Between far to the north. The realm exerts little control over the dry grasslands to the east and west of the Emerald River farmlands, and the region is occupied mostly by herders.
Hadash is ruled by King Misic Rannal I, widely regarded as paranoid and dangerously incompetent.
Beyond Hadash, far to the south, is the jungle called the Labyrinth. Few venture into it and those who do keep to its very fringes. The beasts of the Labyrinth are vast and immensely dangerous, especially the huge reptiles which the Hadashi sometimes report seeing deeper into the forest.
Far to the west of Hadash, where a network of rivers renders the grasslands verdant, is a disunified jumble of petty realms and nomadic tribes, called the Plains Kingdoms. Some are human, but hobgoblins are much in evidence too, as well as roaming ogre clans. Raiders occasionally intrude into Hadash and skirmishes ensue, but it has been two years since the last incursion by any of the Plains Kingdoms, which was met with a deliberately disproportionate reaction as Sufet Irreth Anadun, ruler of Summer's Abode, assembled an army and all but laid waste to the petty kingdom responsible, after which its land was gobbled up by its neighbours. The Plains Kingdoms have been cowed for now but some worry the peace will not last.
To the east of Hadash is the Pearl Sea. It is of major importance as a commercial link between the empire and the rather nebulously named Cornucopian Realms. Everyone in the empire is certain that mighty civilisations must exist there. Nobody really knows the particulars. The merchants who come from those lands deal fairly and in a range of goods, but say nothing of their homes. This situation has persisted for centuries, and with the wealth of goods that flow from the east, the empire sees no reason to disrupt it now. While ships can self-evidently travel to and from that place, Hadashi mariners who attempt the voyage invariably find themselves sailing back towards the coast of Hadash, with no memory of why.
The northeastern part of Hadash is adjoined to the rest of Elthos via a narrow isthmus, beyond which is the Great Desert. The remains of ancient civilisations are rumoured to lie there, and it is generally assumed that something terrible happened long ago. The desert is utterly inhospitable, and people do not go there. The only inhabited portions of the Great Desert are a few small coastal settlements along the Pearl Sea. North of the Great Desert are the southern reaches of the Red Waste. Farther still to the east of that is the mighty mountain range, the Worldspine.
Hadashi tradition has always involved a relatively small number of noble houses and highly centralised administrations. Nobility are deemed special by dint of simply being noble, blessed by River and Sun, and their place in society is exalted. Heads of houses wield absolute power, at least in theory. Cadet branches and the formation of new houses, a feature of nobility in much of the rest of the empire, do not happen in Hadash. Hadash has a long history of internecine conflict, sometimes within houses and sometimes across the realm as a whole.