ATLAS OF SKOTHAR
Introduction to Skothar
Dear readers of the almanac, both old and new, I salute you.
My name is Erakliton, and I am a philosopher and politician from the city of Traun, in the Confederation of Minaea. Last year I had the pleasure to work for the almanac, correcting mistakes that had found their way in this wonderful guide, and explaining a little better the way Minaeans live, their political organisation, and describing shortly some of our wonderful cities.
Last year, I also gave some information regarding the Lands of Swanamutu, but I wasn't satisfied with the outcome. The information was sparse and imprecise. I wanted to be brief and not throw vast (and probably unusable) data onto the readers, who probably had already a hard time figuring out that we Minaeans are hardly pirates [many Minaean are pirates. Erakliton is obviously speaking from a biased point of view. Ed.], and our culture is as old and interesting as those of the so-called Old World... if not more.
But this year, I will expand on my work on the Swanamutu. I will deal most specifically with the region known as Tangor, the western area of the Swanamutu Lands. The area takes its name from the main power of the region, a powerful empire dominated by a black-skinned human race that call themselves "Tangors." Nearly all the Black Men of the region are of Tangor ethnicity. This is the most known region of the Swanamutu Lands. The existence of an empire in the region has led to the wrong belief that there is only a major empire that occupies all the Swanamutu Lands; this is ridiculous, as I already said last year.
The Tangor region goes from the city of Akuba east all over the Gulf of Tangor up to a longitude of 105° East. The area comprises the western stretch of the Tangor Chain, and thus the area that we will talk about in this description is about the same size as your "Old World." There are no important islands in the region.
Besides the Tarystian Coast and the Tangor region, Thyatian correspondents give us reports about two northwestern nations of Skothar: the Alphatian Republic of Esterhold, and the not-too-distant Kingdom of Thonia.
Correspondents for Skothar
Here is our list of correspondents that give us detailed information on the nations, places, and events of Skothar:
Erakliton of Traun
Erakliton is a Minaean philosopher from the city of Traun. He has long been a member of the ruling body of that city, but now he has left all his occupations behind to dedicate himself to scholarship. He has decided to join the almanac after having read the past issues and their imprecise description of the Minaean region.
Welten Feather-of-Blood-and-Soil
Welten is a Jennite warrior who accepted to give us his people's opinion on the Alphatians of Esterhold, and what they did to his native land. Although Welten is an illiterate savage warrior, he did not attack our representative on sight (many Jennites do, in those times of war, as aliens are associated with the hated Alphatians), and indeed talked to him at length about the people of Jen.
Yin Tang of Beitung
Yin Tang is a priest of Noumena, explorer and soldier. He spent many years prior to the Great War delving into the mysteries of the Dawnsea region and beyond. When it became apparent to him that Alphatia and Thyatis were bound to clash, he enlisted in the Thyatian military, remaining in service even after Ochalea seceded, out of a sense of duty and an unwillingness to betray his oath to the empire, and also because he believed that Alphatia must be stopped. Because of his unique pre-war experiences, he was sent on far-flung missions, including an effort to foster dissent against the Alphatians in Esterhold, a mission that first brought him to the shores of Skothar. After the Great War he was among those that explored the sunken Alphatian continent and he has worked for the reintegration of Ochalea into the Thyatian Empire, and he recently returned to imperial service as an explorer.
Atlas
AKUBA (City-State of)
CYMRU (Hivebrood of)
DURHAN (Republic of)
EKLEKE (Kingdom of)
ELO GOBLANDS
ESTERHOLD (Republic of) and DRAEH (City-State of)
LLEWERYN
MINAEA (Confederated Kingdom of)
TANGOR (Empire of)
THONIA (Kingdom of, a.k.a. Empire of)