For the past three centuries, Marcia has existed beneath the rule of the Paolemern Empire, its history and identity forever shaped by the lingering shadow of the older and more terrible Mernic Empire from which it descended. Though the Seven Realms continue to maintain their own kings, queens, lords, and ladies, all are ultimately subject to the authority of the Emperor, whose throne stands above every crown in Marcia.

The northern realms are lands of frost and stone—grey, windswept, and unforgiving. Jagged mountain ranges rise over frozen plains and ancient forests, creating a landscape as harsh as it is majestic. Life there is difficult, yet the people of the north endure with a stern resilience shaped by generations of cold, war, and rivalry.

To the south, the world changes entirely. The realms grow dry and blistering beneath relentless suns, where survival depends as much upon endurance as strength. The great canyons of Salbany cut vast painted wounds through the earth, while the deserts of Blemen stretch endlessly beyond the horizon, their shifting dunes swallowing travellers, armies, and entire histories alike.

At the empire’s centre lie the ancestral Marcian heartlands of the Paolemerns, fertile territories whose rolling plains and rich orchards bear a striking resemblance to the ancient lands of Mernia from which their forebears first came. Nowhere is this resemblance more apparent than in the lush north-eastern regions of the Damson Lands, where fruit trees, vineyards, and dense vegetation continue to flourish in abundance—seemingly untouched by the passing centuries of conquest, empire, and bloodshed.