Western Arrotha

Mylberath, Valendar, and Esterburg

Arrotha, Labeled

Western Arrotha is home to many diverse human kingoms. One of the most notable of these is Mylberath, located centrally in the western end of Arrotha. Mylberath is a common trading post for those who may be passing down the Western edge of Arrotha, many ships stopping in Mylberath after having doing trade in Brealia, or on their way North to trade with Brealia. Therefore, of the three cities, Mylberath is the most active when it comes to trade. However, many ships will travel along the Wyvern Trail River, which flows from the Dragon's Spine mountains, to do trade with Valendar and Esterburg respectively.

The cities of Mylberath, Valendar and Esterburg are well-known for their strong alliance, relying on each other as much as their own defenses in fighting off any potential threats that may arise in the area. Being located so near to wide mountain ranges, they are often faced with very diverse dangers, including orcs, goblins, and highwaymen; these threats being the most prominent in the region. But occasionally, they are faced with more terrifying threats from giants who are most commonly found in the Dragon's Spine Mountains, werewolves, which are commonly found in the Forest Pass, or Gnolls which are ever-present in the Silver Ore Bluffs. These are only some of the common threats that these allied cities face.

The alliance was brokered long ago by King Deren Striker III of Mylberath after a magical construct, a tower of power, had been erected within the Forest Pass, and a powerful Warlock had threatened his Kingdom with servitude. Once the threat was identified, Clara Voidstorm, the archmage and appointed Voice of the City in Esterburg, easily garnered support from the ruling council to join in the alliance. Duke Grant Billows, on the other hand, a major rival in trade with Mylberath at the time, wasn't convinced of the need for his city to join into the alliance, until the threat of the Warlocks domain unexpectedly arrived at his doorstep in the form of wraiths riding powerful acid dragons, wreaking devastation on his city in short order. The alliance was quickly drawn up and established as an ever-lasting agreement, and the combined forces of the three cities quickly overran the Warlock and destroyed his evil construct, ending a dark era for the western cities of Arrotha. The alliance, which still stands in present-day Arrotha has forever been known as the Karen Hopper Treaty, named after Clara's sister, who, like Clara was a powerful spellcaster, but had unfortunately lost her life in battling the Warlock. The name was presented by Duke Grant Billows himself as a show of respect and recompense for Esterburg's loss of a great hero.

Today, the cities of the Karen Hopper Treaty remain the most prominent powers in the region.

The Southern United Tribes

Often referred to as "The Southern Tribes" or even "The Nomads in the South," The Southern United Tribes are hardly that, competing fiercely with each other for dominance of the region. However, when threatened by outside intrusion, the tribes are known to ban together to protect their old ways of life, preferring to work together rather than allow their lands to be overrun by outsiders.

The tribes of barbarians who live in the land continue the old traditions of hunting migrating herds and living off the land. They compete regularly amongst themselves to demonstrate their strength and power, and they maintain old traditions of honor. Among those traditions is a generally accepted revulsion to magic, believing that spellcasting is the trick of a coward and that true strength is found in physical prowess.

Among these tribes, the Spearhead Tribe, the Mountainpass Tribe, and the Earthskin Tribe are the most dominant. Although the tribal names once held great meaning for the tribes, generations of breeding between tribes has caused many of the more obvious distinctions between the barbarian tribes to become more or less homogeneous between the tribes. It is said, however, by those who have traveled to those southern reaches where the barbarian tribes call home that the barbarians are unlike any other civilization of men that had seen, in terms of height, strength, and thickness of the skin. Wild tales of the barbarian tribes talk about barbarian heroes stopping the thrust of an orc spear against his bare skin as if he were wearing a powerful mage armor. Whether this is true or not is widely unknown amongst the more civilized societies.