(Old) (Patreon Short) A journeyman's chronicle to Redal: Wesland

Firsland is by and large acknowledged as the birthplace of mann, but mann did not keep still. Through archaeological studies of both religio

Firsland is by and large acknowledged as the birthplace of mann, but mann did not keep still. Through archaeological studies of both religious and military architecture, it was pinpointed that three great journeys were undertaken by our ancestors to colonise our continent of Redal and beyond.

Ships sailed to the north-westernmost part of the continent, in the province now known as Deep Stone of the desolate and freezing land of Heillhs. To the Southwest part of the continent, on the land of Bicors, and  to the southernmost tip of the eastern continent, facing the Foggy Sea and Solomon continent, the warm and tropical province of Sitera of the country Avlir. These settlers then proceeded to spread across the continent and travelled across the Foggy Sea, the Shallow Sea and the Grey Sea. Each of these travels are worthy of notice and praise, for they tell of our ancestor's ingenuity and how it led to how we live today.

One could write an entire book on the journey of the Longlegs across the ever so Shallow Sea and how it led to the creation of the Rimm maritime empire we bear witness today. But in this chronicle, I will attempt to instead tell you and all my readers of the different provinces, countries and regions of our ever so great continent of Redal.

In this comprehensive first part of the chronicle, we will discuss the great Firsland Kingdom, and its different regions. Though it is officially considered a monarchy; the land is deeply rooted in olden feudalism. For that reason, many consider it more akin to an aristocracy with the monarch acting as a mediator between the 7 provinces.

To make a short work of a very complex political system; the 6 dukes are in charge of their own Duchy and will, in turn, take care of their marquess and the count's disputes and those will in turn take care of their barons. Meanwhile, the monarch will have complete control over the capital province.

Now that we have established a rough outline of the political proceedings of the region, a bit of basic geography is in order. The kingdom is, as previously mentioned, separated into 7 duchy. Positioning itself on the westernmost coast of the lkingdom; the Grand Duchy of Wesland holds a special place in the country's function, and will be there for the subject of this first chapter.

The grand duchy is subdivided into three regions:

The Emerald Coast is composed of fishing town and villages. It is composed of a system of rivers that flow all the way from Norland to connect to the sea. This large amount of water makes it an ideal spot to fish both saltwater and freshwater fishes. The area is densely forested, and though the riversides and coast have a high traffic, the inland portion is considered a high-risk region. A high number of reports regarding bandit activities and the presence of ferals and monsters has made the area undesirable. Though the danger is high inland, the villages in the region are said to be relatively safe. It appears the true presence of bandits is not in fact to raid villages but to rob travellers on the highway running through the region from the province of Norland to Salland. There is only one major city in the region under the name of Wriglan or colloquilally known as Crooked Port. The name isn't historically linked to any shadowy reputation, instead, the name refers to urban architecture around the port: it is designed so no two ships can be anchored parallel to each other. This was said to be in order to receive Diid's blessing on the port, allowing for safe arrival for all ships. The blessing has proved effective, in the 6 centuries since the port design, no one ship has ever had an incident in the ports bay.  The people who live in these lands are often described as odd and distrustful. Although it could easily be attributed to the constant danger of attacks from the many tasteless characters who share their lands, many actually attribute this attitude to an unknown curse plaguing the region for what they claim has been going on for centuries. There is, of course, no religious or alchemic basis for this belief other than that perhaps the generally greyer weather of the region might be making people a little ‘cranky’.

The central region of Wesland is known as Sunbarrow Valley. About a century and a half before the writing of this chronicle, Sunbarrow Valley and what stood south of it was actually known as the Duchy of Sunbarrow. The duke of the time had the unfortunate idea to displace many Aleniakins which caused outrage in the neighbouring regions. The family was swiftly deposed and the territory merged into the Grand Duchy of Wesland. Sunbarrow Valley is renowned for its fertile grounds and rich agriculture. Not only is the soil of the valley extremely fertile, but the presence of the Alenia temple has helped preserve the strength of crops. Sunbarrow valley is flanked on both its west and east side by chains of mountains, and the north side's path is blocked by a large river. There are two bridges allowing passage over It, but the raging river has, on more than one occasion, knocked it down. The second one is through a thick forest close to the Gods river system that intersects with the aforementioned river. It is important to note that though connected, the earlier is not considered part of the system, due to it being unnavigable.

The southmost part of the region is largely open land and connects to the last region know as the Great Lake region. The origin of its name is quite obvious, at the centre of it a gigantic lake is present, so big that you can't see the other shores. In fact, some claim that it's in fact part of the ocean and that the idea that it's a lake is only a playful hoax. These are very uneducated guesses since one sip of the water will immediately tell you that this is fresh water. Most would assume that the presence of such a large lake would make it a perfect area for agriculture, but most of the area is barren and rocky, and to top it off is prone to strong winds. Only arduous crops survive the environment, and for that reason, the main industries remain fishing and pasture.

Although we have highlighted several of the landmarks dotting the region, one can simply not undersell the beauty and history that permeates these lands. It is easily forgotten that, despite not being comparable in architecture to the Theocracy or Avlir, this kingdom was once home to all of mannkin. How it has preserved its purity and innocence, is a mystery, even to me your chronicler, but I can say that if I was to one day retire from my travels, it would be here that I would come to finally kick up my feet and enjoy the unadulterated country life.