Humans are always a difficult thing to write about in rpg settings, they are generally the average or baseline that everything else is compared against. Maybe this is why I haven’t focused as much on developing the human parts of the setting compared to my original species.
Gal Hadre is significantly inspired by the dark ages, so it shouldn’t be surprising that it is mostly based on european cultures, though Pathad and the lands beyond Delos are inspired by other cultures. On Gal Hadre, humans are the most populous species of sentients followed by Trollkin. They also have the most widespread population, the rest of the species tend to be concentrated in certain regions of the continent.
Nearly all organized lands on the continent are human dominated, though in the case of Pathad not necessarily peacefully. Varth, Kal’Garand and the Shard Cities are all controlled by other species, but in the case of Varth humans remain the dominant population. Beyond the continent humans are still the most populous species, though they are often in conflict with different species than on Gal Hadre.
Most human civilization on Gal Hadre has spread from Aclimdan, now an empire long past its glory. Most of the western two-thirds of the continent were once under its dominion. However over the centuries what is now Lothran fell into banditry and warlordism, and with the death of the original imperial family, Sangad broke away, and Varth finally officially declared independence. Even now the King of Aclimdan is barely able to hold onto his throne, and only the most arrogant or naive believe his son will inherit without a fight if the civil war can be held off that long. Aclimdan is home to one of the few kingdoms that has an established centre of magical study, the Thumaturgery. Rarely rising above half a dozen instructors, the Thumaturgery has only barely begun the process of trying to centralize knowledge of dragon magic.
Aclimdan’s capital, Alab, is an imperial city that lacks an empire, much like Rome after the fall of the Western Empire. It is still the largest human city on the continent, but much of it has fallen into dis-repair; parts are even abandoned because there is no one to live or work there. The other major cities are controlled by the major factions that challenge the King for power.
Sangad is honestly part of the continent that hasn’t seen much development, it’s only land border is with Aclimdan, so it’s navy and seaborn trade are very important to the Kingdom. In recent years it has been making significant efforts to expand across the sea to the west. Those lands have long lacked any significant centralization and are only really noticed when a horde tries to break the mile wall in Varth or launch their primitive ships to attempt a raid against the western coasts. Sangad has planted a pair of fortresses in key deep water harbours while it attempts to secure more control over the region. It is entirely possible that a civil war in Aclimdan could see Varth make a move for the island of Skargoy.
Lothran lacked central government for around 900 years, repeatedly being smashed by attacks from the Undil Waste. Power was slowly gathered by warlords who controlled heavily fortified strongholds that could survive these attacks. Eventually the house of Adelyj, the leading warlord line, managed to unify the region through a series of campaigns both martial and diplomatic. The other warlords that were willing to negotiate received titles and positions of power within the new Kingdom, while the others were crushed and their lands distributed to loyal forces. Now that it is somewhat secure, Lothran has a rapidly growing economy, but it’s nobility look worriedly at the foes that surround it on all sides and are sinking significant funds into border fortresses.
The holy protectorate of Thand is an isolationist land in the NE of Gal Hadre. While Thand himself has long ‘ascended’, his priesthood maintains fierce control over the region and suppresses all dragon magic. Foul rumours claim however that Thand’s priests actually use dragon magic instead of magic granted by their ascended lord. Now that Pathad is in chaos, they don’t have any real neighbours. Occasionally, they have to deal with attacks from the Undil Waste across the Wolfterel, but the protectorate isn’t a wealthy land, so most tribes from the Waste prefer to raid south or west.
Turandy is the human land in Gal Hadre that is most on the ascendant. Less than 2 years ago it smashed the long established Kingdom of Pathad. It’s other neighbours are happy that it has been stuck fighting an ongoing resistance to it’s conquest. It’s nobility are stretched close to the breaking point, if the resistance in Pathad can be broken in the near future the conquest will likely pay off; otherwise it may lead to the collapse of the kingdom.
Turandy’s actions have worried several of it’s neighbours and rumours abound that the Lothranian King is preparing to sign a mutual defense pact with his Kal’Garand counterpart. Some even claim that Sangad or the shard cities may join to increase protection from Aclimdan as well. In counter the Turandian King is in discussion with Aclimdan and is said to be sponsoring tribes that inhabit the Undil Waste to keep their rival distracted. The entire continent is on a powder keg waiting for the wrong match to be lit.
While the Undil Waste and Fatar Desert are mostly controlled by Trollkin tribes, they also have several human tribes as well. Most are deeply mistrustful of the more civilized lands but they are perfectly willing to sell their services as mercenaries.
So that is a brief overview of the major human factions on the continent of Gal Hadre. A future post will look at several human adjacent species that exist in the setting. Are there any specific locations you are interested in learning more about?
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