The Planet of Cyclones has been home to eight major nations in the 1,050 years of recorded history. Five of those nations still have active governments. Additionally, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of minor factions. Those minor factions represent human cults (there are many of these,) kobold tribes, necromantic sects, bandit groups, thespian bands, and so on.

Click map to expand.

This document is a brief primer on the eight major nations. Far more detail than this has been recorded about each nation, and the fate of their citizens, elsewhere. Perhaps if there is interest in some detail of the below, a scholar will extract that lore from the arcane dialects of the ancient scrolls and make a summary.

For those who feel the need to know exactly what the glyphs on the map above represent, there is a key.

Dwarves

Dwarven ethics are summarized here.

The Granite Abbey (still active)

Situated in the east mountains, this nation is ruled by Queen Sekur Climaxhowls. Her early life was spent as a surgeon and mercenary in Evildwells, a former goblin capital, now under the control of humans since the great wars of 880. Sekur’s line had gotten tangled up in Goblin lands long before, probably having been brought there as snatched babies. One of Sekur’s ancestors is known to have been enslaved by the human conquerors of Evildwells, and later escaped.

Queen Sekur, having been raised among humans and inherited their values, remains a member of the human cult The Earthen Denomination, and is an ardent worshipper of the human god of nature and chaos. By itself, this sort of eccentricity would not be a matter of concern to most citizens of The Granite Abbey. However, the previous queen, Urist Cavemine, abandoned her position as queen in 1042 to become a necromancer in pursuit of immortality. And the queen before that — Reg Owlrags — did the same in 913. All three dwarven queens were devoted worshippers of the same human god.

The Oceanic Attic (still active)

This benighted nation is a testament to dwarven stubbornness. It is like a twisted tree hanging on to a high mountain cliff; stunted by its surroundings, but surviving despite them.

Attacked on all sides by enemy nations, constantly beset by night creatures, goblin babysnatchers, and megabeast attacks, life in the Oceanic Attic tends to be brutal and short. The very first queen of The Oceanic Attic was famously slain by a creature described as:

A towering feathered wolf. It has a square shell and it squirms and fidgets. Its black feathers are downy. Beware its poisonous bite!

The historians recorded the queen’s last fight in gory detail which will not be recounted here. That beast was last spotted in 1032, devouring a dwarf.

Against this backdrop, Urist Ownedfenced, a goblin with a dwarfish name, became king in 388. Urist was born to a goblin family in a dwarven town in 301, and is now 749 years old, thanks to the immortal nature of his goblin heritage. His parents had been living in those hills since before recorded time, and raised Urist with proper dwarven values.

Elves

Elven ethics are summarized here.

The Eagle of Spring (still active)

An immortal triumverate has ruled this nation since the beginning of time. Their nation has taken the entire western wilderness for themselves, and has grown strong there. In the first century, there was a human nation there. In a war that started over grazing rights, the humans were crushed. The Eagle of Spring’s ruling druid, princess, and queen tasted much human blood during that conflict, and each devoured at least one human ruler.

The Watchful Thorn (overrun)

The Watchful Thorn was doomed from the beginning. It was established in remote wilderness, distant from other nations. Its homeland was so beset by monsters that by the 57th year of its existence, its triumvirate had a 1,100% loss rate; 33 rulers had died, and none of them peacefully.

By year 48, their last forest retreat was destroyed by the jungle titan Lebeyu Skunkwaved the Tufted Fish of Growths. The last triumverate member was slain in 57 by a minotaur. No one attempted to replace him.

Humans

Human ethics are summarized here.

The Imprisoned Empire (crushed)

Along a western coast, this vigorous nation briefly thrived. Then the war with the elves began. Its might was broken in that war, and their last Law-Giver died of old age in 162. She was never replaced by the few humans who still lurked in the ruins.

The Vigorous Confederacy (still active)

This human nation took root in the vast, fertile plains between the eastern sea and the eastern mountains. The only nation near enough for interaction was the dwarven Granite Abbey, and the dwarves and humans got along just fine. The Law-Givers ruling this nation lived long lives, and oversaw the construction of many roads and hamlets.

In the summer of 879, everything changed. The farthest reaches of the Vigorous Confederacy came into contact with the vast goblin nation known as the Unwelcome Monsters. War broke out, and the vast numbers of the Vigorous Confederacy overran the many pit-settlements of their enemies. The Law-Giver set up his own administrators in each of the conquered pits, doubling the breadth of his nation. To this day, this The Vigorous Confederacy extends from the westmost tip to the eastmost tip of the known world.

Goblins

Goblin ethics are summarized here.

The Unwelcome Monsters (in exile)

This nation began with a brutish demon escaping from the underworld, then making a pact with a dark god to stay in the overworld to perpetuate war. The goblins under his rule swelled their numbers by forcibly “adopting” children from surrounding nations, and raising them with traditional goblin mores.

For nearly nine centuries, the Unwelcome Monsters spread in all directions. Then in the space of a single year, it all crumbled before the armies of the Vigorous Confederacy. Citizens who did not flee or die fighting became slaves of the humans. Thus many natural-born goblins, as well as kidnap victims and the descendants of kidnap victims, became part of the Vigorous Confederacy.

As for the demon who started it all: during the chaos while his nation fell, he was trapped by a goblin bandit group and imprisoned in a tomb.

The Unwelcome Monsters is not what it once was, but it is not dead yet. There is an ancient goblin who acts as queen, and her professional babysnatchers still roam the back alleys of other nations.

The Flighty Hex (still active)

The same dark god who bound the master of The Unwelcome Monsters to the world, bound another demon in the distant south. The southern demon was a towering skinless gecko twisted into humanoid form, who knows and intones the names of all she encounters.

The goblins of The Flighty Hex made long war on the kobolds and greater monsters of the far south, unaided and unhindered by other great nations. In time, they spread even to the ruins of The Watchful Thorn. Today, this alien power has spread over a vast area, and its agents are beginning to be seen by other nations.