SETTING INFORMATION

Actavia is a vast and varied land. The nation of Actavia takes up the whole continent in which it is situated, though it's not truly one nation. A little history:

In ancient times, Actavia was actually five kingdoms. Their names were Cappadocia, Montigan, Aristes, Surres, and Lairecht. These five kingdoms did not span the whole continent; a large area to the west, known as the Western Territories or the badlands, was largely uninhabited and too inhospitable to bother trying to settle. This isn't to suggest none did; the land was inhabited by a few scattered nomadic groups of people, but no central government for the area existed. Likewise, a large forest smack dab in the middle of the continent – the Ayruinn – was claimed by no one, and so acted as a sort of "no man's land." As a consequence, both areas – the West and the Ayruinn – were havens for all manner of thieves and rogues, assuming they could survive the harsh environments. Together, the Ayruinn and the river that ran parallel to one of its borders, the Boss, acted as a natural divider between kingdoms.

Long ago, it is said, a powerful warrior named Acacia led a great army of warriors mounted on dragons to overthrow the cruel and corrupt king of the Third Kingdom, Aristes. Acacia handed power to a young peasant man, who rose to become a great king. Under his guidance, and with Acacia's wise insight and powerful forces, all of the lands were united under one rule. This "empire" lasted several centuries. Unfortunately, the last Great King died young, before he could produce any heirs. A power struggle seemed imminent, but an emergency meeting of the Provitors, the sort of "district representatives" for each province, was arranged to discuss the fate of the land. Each agreed that he did not want to see any of the others claim the throne; instead, it was proposed that power be divided among the five of them, so that Actavia would return once again to being five seperate entities. However, rather than war against one an another as had been the custom, it was decided that they should keep a sort of unified government to be shared between them; each would rule in his own state, but all would sign a pact to be allies and resolve any disputes at a meeting of all five. Of course, having all five rulers in one place would be as difficult to arrange as it would be unwise; instead, each would send a set number of "representatives" to a great council meeting. In short, the five Provitors created a Senate to rule Actavia, a system which proved so effective that it is still in place today. (Think of this as you would the EU, or perhaps more the UN - the Senate does not have the power to enforce laws on any individual state, and the states still have their own governments and ways of handling things. The Senate is mostly for conflict resolution, though any "international" dealings are done by means of Senate votes - as far as the rest of the world is concerned, Actavia is one united nation.)

It is impossible to describe Actavia in terms of culture or anything else as its peoples are so varied and scattered. Instead, below are the data files for each of the original Five Kingdoms, as well at the Westen Territories. Please be forewarned that much information is still missing on many of these countries; more data will be added as it becomes available. We are trying to leave as much freedom as possible for players to craft the world around their characters; as such, it is up to the players to sculpt the lands as they see fit. As characters from each land appear, their owners will contribute to the information on this page, so please do check back often. (If a land has no information and you wish to make your character be from there, please do not ask me for information - you get to make it up. You don't have to describe the entire country, only those parts which relate to your character. Thank you!)

 FIVE KINGDOMS DATA FILES

  Aristes
  Cappadocia
  Lairecht
  Montigan
  Surres
  Western Territories

These are by no means the only places in the world (or even in Actavia, as evidenced by islands like Quaqtuq. Please refer to the Wikipedia for a much more in-depth look at places, and bear in mind that you are always free, within reason, to create your own.)