The World Writ Large

Not so much a unified country as a bunch of bickering cities that can only agree raid somebody else instead of each other. With the harshness of the northern weather and the constant threat of invasion from the Helcaraxe, the people here are hard and warlike. The ruler is selected every 10 years in a moot where each city nominates a contestant and the group then fight to the death in ritual combat, the winner is crowned thane until the next moot.

A small province that was released from the empire, the sunset isles are so named for being the last civilized land that the sun will set on. Most of the economy of the isles is based on exploration and the sea, as many expeditions stop in vinyamar before heading into the western sea. Lately, the isles have been having problems with raiders from the lost lands

The original domain of Morgath, the Helcaraxe  is now a broken land, full of pain and loss that has permeated into the land. Vile creatures freely roam and there are still many orc and gnoll armies that have not tried their luck by running the Gap of Angband. In the last several centuries, Dol Baran and Dol Tarlang have been rebuilt, but Angband still lies in ruin. 

Arandor is acts very much as a sister state to the Empire, with many shared values  and cultures. One major difference is that Arandor is ruled by a classical republican council, with each  city nominating representatives based on population. Arandor has mutual defense treaty with the Empire, and both Arandor armies and Imperial legions man the fortresses of Andrast and Narog against any forces that try to come through the Gap of Angband. Not having the fertile farmland of the empire, they are forced to import food from the southern state in return for mineral wealth and lumber. 

The largest and oldest realm of man in Arda, built on classical principles of service and enlightenment. The empire hast fallen from its golden age, but seems to be awaking again under new governance - but this has not come without some significant malcontent from certain classes. The legions are the strongarm of the empire, but they prefer to use soft, economic power to achieve their ends if possible. 

The last kingdom of the Elves, few have been able to venture past the veil to see the majesty that lays beyond. Occasionally elves and diplomats leave the veil to observe the world at large and bring back discoveries of note. The veil itself is a seemingly impenetrable wall of fog, and any uninvited guests that wander in find themselves lost and right back where they started. 

A breakaway province of Egladil, Hildorien has made itself a tremendous thorn in the empire's side. With control of both the river Anduin and the Firienholt, Hildorien is taxing and strangling the wealth of the empire, enabling its upper class to live in tremendous privilege and wealth, surrounded by slaves and opulence. The state is controlled by a military dictatorship of several legions that defected and now keep a strangle hold on the nation, defending it both from invading armies from Fos Alimar and "protecting" the state from the empire. 

The Sapphire isles are as close to paradise as can be found on arda, and they get their names from the beautiful tropical waters that surround them. Having little in the way of natural resources or population centers, the sapphire isles only exist in that they are not worth invading for anything other than the environment. The isles do posses a robust fishing and trade fleet though, as well as many of the well to do around the world will visit to swim in the tropical waters.

A smaller kingdom, Dulduwath is mostly made up of the remnants of Sol Aureus and refugees from the Wilderlands, settling in the first hospitiable land that they found. The wide grassy plains that they now call home has made the Delduwath into master horsemen and horse breeders. 

A splinter kingdom under the dominion of one of Morgath's lieutenants and is run from the city of Sammath Naur. Fos Alimar seemingly does not have the strength of arms to launch a war of domination, instead satiating itself with minor conflicts and skirmishes, keeping the domain of men from fully reorganizing. 

Nobody in recorded history has ever found the other side of the endless sands, with the terrain being ever shifting sand dunes and rocky outcroppings. In the north of the Endless sands is the remain of the empire of Sol Aureus. A once proud empire that the sands of the dessert have swallowed. There is some contention on which empire came first, Egladil or Sol Aureus,  but Sol Aureus is no more, and history is written by the victors. 

The ancersteral homeland of the tabaxi before they were forced into the sea, the island is covered in large trees, endless jungles, and mists. After fleeing their homeland the Tabaxi built great wooden ships many hundreds of feet long form the tree on their homeland and now ply the seas for their bounties, trading with the land based kingdoms for anything that they cannot catch or find at sea.

The island itself is now home to the lizard folk, where they continue to launch raids on the other powers in Arda. Any explorers that approach the island report seeing masses of the lizard fork hiding in the large trees and mists, and great flying lizards in the skies above. There is a strict quarantine on the island, as the powers of Arda are worried about giving the Ghaarrichk'k  any other advanced technologies to copy when the crews of the approaching ships would inevitably be consumed.

The birthplace of Humanity, Rhudaur has mostly fallen to the wayside of history, with little happening in the region. Occasional border skirmishes erupt with Fos Alimar, but its citizens rarely venture beyond the wilderlands, although some expeditions have been launched into the western sea. The kingdom is known for its mercenary companies, but little else in the form of exports. It is governed as theocracy, and Elerrina is the capital and where it is thought that humans first walked. 

The wilderlands are lands that are starting to return to the wilds. Any civilization that existed in the area was destroyed in the sundering war, and now the region is covered in a large grass sea and spotted with ancient runes of civilization gone by.