Phillarn: The Continent of the humans

 Today we’ll be talking about one of the continents in the fantasy setting I’ve been working on for a little while now. I have notes scattered all over the place from notebooks, google docs, and even worldanvil from when I still had a subscription to that place. I don’t promise this to be interesting, but I would love feedback of any kind since doing all of this stuff on my own is a little daunting for sure. So let’s keep it simple and start!

The continent of Phillarn resides across the main ocean from the continent of Igrax and is home to the most prominent human nation of the realm. The humans have resided there for as long as the continent’s recorded history and remain the primary race inhabiting the whole place. One thing to note about the humans in this world is that while they are capable of magic, they don’t tend to realize their own potential unless they actively seek it. In fact, the majority of the humans that reside in this continent don’t even practice it. They have always relied on technology and the physical world to sustain and innovate. The continent itself is divided into four sections: The Industry region, the Capital Region, the Conflict Region, and the Wild Region.

The Industry region contains the extreme majority of production in Phillarn. Meaning that if something needs to be made, it is probably found here. The industry region was created as a necessity to keep critical production facilities away from the frontlines during a war that happened between the northern and southern hemispheres of the continent a long time ago. This resulted in the consolidation of production which propelled the industrial complex by many years. Even though a lot of independent companies operate the various factory and factory towns sprinkled throughout the region, they all have to abide by the king’s rules lest they be taxed into bankruptcy. Another unfortunate side effect of the majority of industry being concentrated here is the environment. Massive swathes of dead forests and mined out plains streak across the region like scars on what once was a very beautiful landscape. Because the King is very lenient on industrial actions as long as he gets paid, the companies operating here very rarely put any effort into conservation. They are conscious of letting it spill into the capital region though because then that would cause some legitimate issues. In order to keep the factories going prisoners as well as slaves brought in from the conflict region are regularly brought in to work with little promise of actually getting freedom. The nation is very careful about how much they allow people to look into the industry region lest it ruins their reputations among others. Despite some of the less desirable aspects of the region, many great innovations have come from this region including the tech required for paved roads, rudimentary steam engines, and the streamlining of naval production. Without the work done here, Phillarn would be behind some of the other continents by many years.

The Capital region, like the name suggests, contains the capital of the human nation: Prime City. Here the monarch rules over the nation and makes decrees with the help of his loyal council. Much like feudal societies during the middle ages, the king grants pieces of land to a select group of lords who pay fealties to him. Within the capital also contains the elite upper class as well as the largest garrison on this side of the world. The kingdom itself has rarely been in a war, but there is a strong belief among the people that a strong army means they are safe. Because most of the industry is now elsewhere, the land has been allowed to flourish with a wide array of temperate forest climates as well as some very tropical regions as you get towards the southern part of the region. This is also where the majority of coastal trading cities lie, giving the rest of the world official access to Phillarn. The biggest one of these cities is Frush, which is where the majority of imports/exports take place. The city has a direct trade route to the Industry region which is very closely guarded to keep outside perceptions of Phillarn mostly about the capital region. A lot of this comes from the King’s paranoia about outsiders. He’s worried that people will come along and take the land that has been under his family’s name for generations. It’s caused him to make some questionable choices that are only made reasonable by a team of capable advisors he has surrounded himself with. Despite this, public perception gets more and more mixed the further you leave the comfortable life of the capital region. Perhaps there is a need for change in the leadership, but what would that mean for the people of the continent?

The Conflict region gets its name from a great war that was fought many years ago. Before the humans were able to form one nation, there were many that inhabited the continent. In a bid to gain more power, a large alliance was formed between a select few who tried to then bring the rest into the fold. Many within this group turned their eyes to the conflict region, seeing that it contained a large amount of natural resources including ores and metals. Not wanting to be exploited for their natural resources, the inhabitants of the region formed their own alliance and tried to stand against the others. The war lasted for many years with a lot of bloodshed on both sides. Despite a valiant effort, the smaller nations were crushed and given one of three choices: either you join into the alliance, becoming a vassal of the alliance, have your people become enslaved and forced into work, or lastly be driven into the wild region(more on what this means later). While the majority became vassals in an act of self-preservation, some chose to keep fighting their way to a free life in the conflict region. The war may officially be over, but the conflict region tells a much more different story. Small pockets of resistance as well as a few holdout settlements dot a landscape that has been ravaged by war. Because the numbers are so small, the Capital region rarely sends large amounts of soldiers into the region. When they do, it’s mostly to collect another round of slaves to be sent to the Industry region or to be thrown into the royal mines to collect resources for the rest of the continent. The region is currently in an interesting spot. The people know that something must be done to prevent the decline of the natives, but no one has seemed to be able to step up and rally the people together.

The Wild region represents an interesting dilemma for what is the self proclaimed strongest nation in the world. Until the present, the Wild region remains completely unexplored by humans. It’s a lush jungle environment with plants so thick there is almost a natural barrier between it and the Conflict region. Many attempts have been made to explore it with little success. This also means that those who were sent in there during the war have never been seen again. What the region hides from the rest of the world is a very dangerous jungle, with beasts and living elementals sustained by an ancient magic that flows through the area. If it ever were to be tamed then perhaps they would have the power to change the world. Sounds generic, but a lot is still yet to be discovered about the nature of this region.

That’s obviously not everything there is to the continent of Phillarn, but that’s kinda what I have so far if that makes sense. What I might do is try to write some more specific things about each region as well as the nation of humans that live here. For now, like I said before, I’m just trying to collect what I have written down about everything so far. As always, any questions/suggestions/comments are appreciated since this is something a little more creative in nature and I would love to create something that people are interested in. Besides that, thanks for checking this place out!