A map of Enwyr Byd
When I was first asked to write an introduction to this great land of ours, I couldn’t quite understand what had just been said. “Introduce Enwyr Byd?” I said. How? Why? It’s where we live, isn’t it? How do you introduce the air you breathe, or the idea of sight, or what a home is? You can write about each, describe them in detail or in general, but no matter what you do, you’ll always find yourself telling people what they already know.
That was the challenge I was given; to tell people what they already know, in hope I might also give them a thing or two they didn’t. And so, like you do with any challenge, I rose to it. Perhaps unsuccessfully, perhaps with less than the desired amount of grace, but I tried all the same. I suppose that’s the one positive characteristic that really defines those of us from Cariadus, other than peacefulness and kindness. But then that really goes for everyone else too, doesn’t it?
The continent
So what is Enwyr Byd? What is the land where we all live?
I suppose it’s a sort of an island, but an island so big that pretty much anywhere you are on it, even on the coast, you think it goes on forever in all the other directions. It’s so big that, if you were suddenly picked up, tossed around, and set down on the east side, you’d see a desert, but if you were then picked up and set down in the west, you’d see forests and giant cliffs and be convinced you were in a completely different world. And then, if you were picked up again and moved just a few miles to the east, you’d see mountains so high and frightening and cruel that you’d wish you were back in that desert, even with its lack of water and shade.
Her mountains
Perhaps I should describe the island a bit more than saying it’s big. There are three main mountain ranges, each characterised in their own way. In the west, cutting the island in two, is a range of steep peaks, full of dry, dark caves with rumours of trolls and dwarves (though I’ve never met either). Eibhir mines these mountains for gems, and they seem to get quite a lot, at least if their treasury is any indication.
Go south and a little west of here, and you’ll find another range: The Brynig Mountains. It serves once again to separate two kingdoms, but this time, there’s still a significant amount of land where the border is still level and easily passable (and not even really noticeable). One kingdom, the one to the north and west, is the wealthy and powerful Galánta, while the other is the peace-loving Cariadus. These mountains are lower, and easier to climb, but they’re also considerably less wealthy, and without the trolls (which, in my opinion, is quite a good thing).
But if you’re looking for dangerous mountains, you’ve been waiting for this last one: The Mountains Draag. The Draag are a bit east and far to the north of the Brynig Mountains, separating Galánta from the eastern-most kingdom, the strong and warlike Maleisus. These mountains, while not as tall as the Miniog, are so many and so densely packed that to attempt to cross them is folly. Dotted throughout are many large and small lakes, but what really characterises the Draag is its legends.
For as long as the Draag’s been called the Draag, it’s been feared. Stories exist of the mountains exploding in fire and rage, as if a thousand dragons had suddenly risen from the lakes and the caves and went on conquest. Yet no one really knows when this was, or whether it’s happened many times, or just once, or not at all. If you were to ask people in Galánta or Cariadus or Maleisus what they thought, half would probably insist their grandparents had seen it, while the other half would argue that it’s all a bunch of fairy tales and dragons don’t exist anyways, but then glance up, over their shoulders to look, just in case.
Her rivers and lakes
While Enwyr Byd’s many rivers and lakes are too numerous to count, her most prominent two are worth mentioning.
From north to south nearly across the entire island runs the River Afon. It flows from Brynig in the south, joins with two additional rivers flowing from Cariadus, then continues on down, down to the coast and the Bay of Galánta in the north, right between the Miniog and the Draag. It serves to divide the kingdoms of Cariadus and Galánta.
Another major river divides two more kingdoms, and its divide is perhaps the most important one we’ll discuss: The River Gyferbyn flows from the Draag south east, dividing the Kingdom of Cariadus from the Republic of Maleisus, eventually down to the coast and the Sea of Gwydor.
The kingdoms and their rulers
I’ve mentioned several of the kingdoms of Enwyr Byd so far, but I suppose it’s necessary to list them fully and explain them too. From west to east, the kingdoms are Eibhir, Galánta, Cariadus, and Maleisus, with Gwydor on an island in the south east.
Eibhir
Strong and proud, Eibhir is the second wealthiest, and correspondingly the second most powerful, kingdom of Enwyr Byd. With mountains rich with precious gems in the east, and great expanses of forests and fertile land, Eibhir is pretty well set.
Eibhir has always had a close relationship with the kingdom of Galánta to its east (right over those mountains); They’re perhaps each other’s closest trading partners, and their border tends to be softer than most. In recent months we’ve seen the culmination of that, something I’ll get into shortly.
Eibhir’s current ruler is the youngest of all the kings, queens, presidents, and councilmen in Enwyr Byd: The eighteen-year-old Senn. Senn’s father, the previous king and ruler of Eibhir, Dominik (insert last name later), disappeared nearly 6 years ago after he set out by water to explore the islands to the west of Enwyr Byd, never to return. Senn has ruled the kingdom for the years since with the guidance and wisdom of Olivia, her advisor and regent who has been around since the time of her father, though has become increasingly powerful as time went on.
A competing view of Eibhir’s future is led by Adam, the founder and head of a somewhat more radical sect of Eibhir’s ancient and ever-thriving religion of “rock-worship”, as it has unfortunately been termed by the public of Cariadus. Adam’s followers believe that Eibhir’s destiny is to rule all of Enwyr Byd, and that this destiny is imparted to them as a right from the very stone and gems of the mountains themselves. Adam has also cultivated a great amount of influence with the young queen, bringing him evermore into contention with her differently opinionated advisor. For the moment, Adam and Olivia’s views for the immediate future of Eibhir align, but some worry that sometime soon, they very much won’t.
Galánta
If it were stated to me that Eibhir owned a third of all the wealth in Enwyr Byd, I would immediately assume Galánta owned the rest. Galánta is wealthy, a product of their own hard work and determination, their fertile lands and large forests, their general goodwill with kingdoms in far-off lands, and perhaps just the sheer immensity of their possessions.
Accordingly, Galánta is also a powerful kingdom. Its many riches allow it to finance a large army, and the size of its population allows it to staff it. While Cariadus is often seen as the most peace-loving of all the kingdoms, Galánta has always been the kingdom to put force behind those beliefs.
Galánta has an excellent relationship with its neighbouring kingdoms, Eibhir and Galánta, and a cordial relationship with Gwydor; Yet for over five decades, it has been in a state of only temporarily paused war with the physically largest kingdom of the island, Maleisus. While troupes from Maleisus and forces from Galánta have never crossed each other’s borders, they have fought many battles in Cariadus, stuck directly between the two.
For the past twenty or so years, Galánta has been ruled by Kassandra, a wise and well-liked queen in her kingdom. She is unmarried, a not uncommon circumstance with the opening up of succession rules of late, and for a while, it was thought that that would remain unchanged.
But then, little less than a year ago, Kassandra and Senn announced their intention to wed this June. I suppose this should have been of little surprise, considering the two kingdom’s closeness, both physically and diplomatically, but I was a little stunned all the same. Inter-kingdom marriages have been quite rare over the last two hundred years, since the marrying of a commoner came to be no longer frowned upon, and succession outside of marriage became allowed.
As for the wedding, it is expected to be a wonderous event. Representatives from all five kingdoms have been invited, and festivities are planned to last a whole five days with the actual wedding planned for the fourth. The minstrels and poets have been singing of the event non-stop for the past eight months, and the subjects of not just the two kingdoms, but Cariadus as well, are beyond excited.
Cariadus
Now we get to the kingdom I’m from: Cariadus. It is wedged between the Kingdom of Galánta on one side and the Republic of Maleisus on the other, with the Draag in the north and the Sea of Gwydor to the south. Cariadus is not as wealthy as its cousins to the west, nor as technologically advanced as its friends to the south, and it’s certainly not as warlike or as massive as the republic to the east, but it’s still honestly quite comfortably well-off.
Cariadus is a peaceful kingdom. Perhaps this comes of being so close to a country like Maleisus, or perhaps it comes from Cariadus’s historical dependence on Galánta for some staple crops until those were successfully introduced to the southern regions almost a century ago. Whatever the cause, Cariadus is perhaps the most liberal and pacifist of all the kingdoms, seeking mostly just happiness for themselves and those near them.
Just over fifty years ago, armed forces from Maleisus crossed over the border dividing them from Cariadus and began marching north-west. Their goal was to enter and take forcefully the kingdom of Galánta. Cariadus, not having a particularly strong military even then scrambled to pull together a militia and, with the aid of forces from Galánta, managed to push Maleisus back enough to negotiate a ceasefire agreement for the cessation of hostilities.
For almost twenty-two years, Cariadus has been governed by Laef. Laef is liberal, even for his kingdom, and has spent the past two decades pushing Cariadus more and more towards open borders, schools for commoners, and even talked of government chosen by its subjects, a concept which most people today are quite rightly wary of. His enacted policies have been popular, however, and he’s maintained good relations with all of Enwyr Byd’s kingdoms, a somewhat impressive feat.
Laef’s trusted long-time advisor and second-in-command is Tiffany. While Laef hails from the capital of the kingdom, like his mother before him, Tiffany was born and grew up in the east. The easterners are, understandably, quite skiddish and worried about the security of the border, especially after a recent influx of refugees coming from Maleisus, and some have even advocated forming a stronger military to protect the kingdom, but with Tiffany’s help, the central government has slowly worked at calming fears and hostilities.
Gwydor
Gwydor’s a bit on the unusual side of kingdoms in Enwyr Byd. Far smaller than all the rest, it occupies the entirety of a large island off the coast of Cariadus. Ruled by the Council of Nine, an allegedly immortal group of nine, highly accomplished philosophers, Gwydor prides itself in its thirst for knowledge and technological development. It does an excellent trade in weaponry it designs and develops itself and uses the returns to purchase resources that don’t exist on the island and fund further experimentation.
It’s unfortunate to say, but I don’t think the other kingdoms like Gwydor very much. Not that many of the other kingdoms like their other neighbours too much either, but there’s a special bit of distrust those in Galánta and Eibhir, and, sadly, in Cariadus as well, have for an island that is often referred to as the “Hermit Kingdom”. Perhaps it’s just as well that Gwydor seems to desire to keep to itself, engaging in contact usually only with the intention to buy resources or sell weaponry.
Maleisus
Nearly a century ago, the subjects Maleisus, the largest kingdom on Enwyr Byd occupying a full half of the island, from northern sea to eastern sea to southern sea, opted to rise up and overthrow their king, then install a government selected by themselves. Many say that’s when their troubles started.
Less than a decade later, Maleisus was now ruled by a military junta which had assumed control after the collapse of the revolutionary government. While this brought stability back to the newly reconfigured republic, it also began a warlike nature in the land that has been typical of Maleisus for decades since.
Since the beginning of the military junta, Maleisus has kept building again and again for war. With their invasion of and eventual loss in Cariadus, and the resulting ceasefire agreement, their forces have been mandated to stay few in number, and all evidence has suggested that they’ve stayed true to this. Yet with years of prioritising military improvement over food and infrastructure, thousands of its subjects are hungry and homeless. Many have left and crossed the border into Cariadus in the hope of finding a better home there.
The peace talks
At the beginning of June, with the gathering of the five kingdoms for the wedding of Kassandra and Senn, the leaders of Cariadus are scheduled to run a four-day series of peace talks for the entire island. While their chief desire is to finally negotiate a peace between Galánta, Maleisus, and Cariadus, they are also speaking for the first time of bringing Cariadus’s educational reform and equality of the masses to all of Enwyr Byd. There is also talk of reducing the militaries of Galánta, as well as the two kingdoms not originally included in the ceasefire and strengthening the limits of the ceasefire. Gwydor is looking to get permission to do research in the Draag, Adam wants to convert new followers to Eibhir’s religion, and Galánta and Eibhir are looking to potentially merge, creating the largest kingdom on the island.
How it all goes is yet to be seen.
