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For information on how the magic change has affected these nations, please see The State of the World

Backbone is a feudal society which worships the gods of the Egyptians. Before the wars, the peoples of Backbone were arrogant to a fault. Since theirs was the first organized kingdom to emerge from the chaos that ended the second age, they considered themselves special. The wars with the Dark Mage washed away that nationalism and it is only now beginning to come back. Rathwyn has tried to rule the country with an even hand, but once the orcs were no longer a threat, she was faced with increasingly violent and angry citizens. She established an arena for gladiatorial-style combat which seems to have served as a release for some of this violence, but she constantly worries about organized revolt. Worse still is the fact that certain families have become very prominent in the city and her control over the militia and city guard is slipping into their hands. More and more frequently she has had to rely on the power of the Trio of Might to keep the peace.

Lowland is still uninhabited. The undead that once plagued the city mysteriously vanished in the spring of 1107, but the orcs remain. It is not known whether Pelham still remains in the city or not. Presumably, he has the freedom to roam the world now that his curse of unlife has been lifted. The country itself is still quite bleak. Lowland was under the shadow for over eleven years, longer than any other place in the world. The plant life has not fully recovered and so the animals have not returned in great number. Much of the country is considered a desert.

Resh is an eery ghost land. When the Godslayer asserted his presence into this land in 1104, the entire population was slain. Worse still, almost every aspect of the eco-system died with them. Animals were slain by the psychic assault as well as the humans, and the plants, while unaffected initially, soon withered and died. After the portal was dispersed in 1105, the storm cloud from Lowland drifted to what was once the capital city and it is believed that many demons and undead have taken refuge under its evil shadow. The rest of the country has recovered partially in the three years, but no one lives there, nor does anybody want to.

Blanan, the dwarven kingdom, is remarkably intact. A meddling wizard sealed the mines and turned the dwarven population to stone in 1098 and so the dwarves were spared from the ravages of the storm cloud. When they were revived in 1106, the world was in a much more stable condition. The dwarves, though, rely on trade with other races in order to survive. Traditionally, humans in large numbers would live in their outer cities and provide the goods and services that could not be found in their mines and caverns. When the mines were sealed in 1098, the humans outside the walls were forced to flee to Backbone. Many died in those years and few have returned since the wars ended. The dwarves, therefore, have been forced to do the work (primarily agricultural) that they detest. Trade with Backbone is difficult since the two lands are separated by a great distance and orcs still plague this zone, but the dwarves have made a concerted effort to carve a safe route. They are continually frustrated by Queen Rathwyn since she refuses to commit her soldiers to patrol these dangerous trade routes. The bottom line is simple: Blanan needs the trade, Backbone does not. This is a position that the dwarves find unacceptable!

Pleven, the elf land, is still ripe with orcs. After the elves vanished in 1099, hundreds of tribes made the trek from the mountains down into the forests. After thousands of years in the hills, though, they found that they didn't care much for the forests. Then, with the defeat of the Dark Mage, they had no controlling force nor any common enemies to bind them together. This level of peace was unknown to most orcs, so they chose to fight each other. What followed have been perhaps the bloodiest years the orcs have seen in some time. The population has drastically declined and many tribes have retreated back into the mountains from where they came. Without the Dark Mage's power to hold them together, the orcs would undoubtedly lose if a concerted effort were made to retake Pleven.

Spindrift has fractured into three separate countries (and some say four). The two islands Midore and Aldore split peacefully from Norwood's leadership in 1105. Norwood decided that force could not hold the kingdom together, so he handed control over to the governors that he had appointed. Both governors were unpopular because of their association with Norwood, but have managed to hold onto their positions. Lendore isle itself is also a divided land. Norwood moved the capital seat back to Spindrift where it was before Uith took over, but has not been able to restore the prosperity of 1090. To compound this, the families of Restenford resent him because they no longer have the prestige that they had under Uith. The political rivalry between the northern and southern halves of the island has threatened to rip the kingdom in two. As long as Norwood holds the sword of command, no one can take him from his throne, yet he is reluctant to abuse the power of the sword. Several of his advisors have requested that he appease Restenford and grant them a limited form of independence.

In between Lendore and Midore is Marshard island, which has been a refuge for the druids for centuries. The druids are primarily a scholarly organization and have traditionally avoided the political rivalries between the islands. Technically, they are part of Lendore, but they never agreed to the split of Spindrift in the first place. As reluctant as they are to take part in the political process, they have found themselves acting as middlemen between the island since Norwood took over. Luckily, the island itself is mostly wild and has little usable land. Otherwise, one of the neighboring islands would have tried to claim it for their own. Also, the druids have at their disposal a fearsome kind of magic which would make even the strongest of invaders think twice.

Farther up the chain is Sabit, a backwater little community generally regarded by the rest of the islanders as “barbarians”. They do not have the level of civilization that the other islands enjoy, but they are a very proud and self-sufficient community. They were untouched by the wars and only experienced the Dark Mage's storm cloud for a month.

With the fall of Backbone in 1098, Rota became the supreme power in the world. Since that time, they have been forced to constantly look inward to maintain that power. Galin has done an admirable job of holding the kingdom together, but he is not the leader that his mother was. Cale & Strachan are two of his most valued advisors and many of the other barons do not respect his reliance on their magic. As long as the two hold the disks of Odin, though, the church will side with the king in all matters.

This was the setting for the initial chapters of the Voyager campaign. It consists of three major tribes in the central plains: Baka, Etenaî, and Comani, as well as a smaller, fourth tribe on the eastern shore over the mountains: Dyanaî.

The Dark Mage's storm cloud covered this region for only four days and retreated when he was defeated on January 8, 1105. The sudden appearance and disappearance of the cloud shook the stability of the tribes, and several small feuds blossomed into short wars. However, by the end of 1105, these wars had faded and life returned to normal.

In the central plains of the main continent is a vast desert known as the "Sea of Sand". It is home to numerous nomadic tribes who were displaced (but not seriously inconvenienced) by the Dark Mage's storm cloud.

Far to the south of the main continent, The Southlands was mostly untouched by the wars. When the Dark Mage's fleet overran the country, the peoples simply vanished into the jungles and waited for the armies of undead to pass. The Dark Mage did not seem to care or even know about how their society was structured and so within a few weeks, there was no sign of their march across their peninsula. Since then, the natives have carried out a reign of terror against their original oppressors and most have fled north. A few small communities have been founded part way up the coast from the peninsula.

To the west of the Southlands are two countries of which very little is known. The first are a group of dark-skinned people that call themselves the Arela. They live in the jungles about midway along the southern coast of Thentao. Reports vary from these people being cannibalistic to peace loving artists. Farther west, in the mountains of south-west Thentao are the Dumaka, a strange race which seems to use magic constantly in their everyday lives.

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