The Aqualon Builders Guild

Maps

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  The Middle Lands

  This sizable portion of the Great Land lies on the southern hemisphere of Aqualon, fairly, but not quite centered between the Eastern Walls of Weltenend and the Western Walls of Weltenend. To the east lies the Yamato Kingdom, to the west lay the great city of Altonar, the Golden Sands, and the Lake of Glazglubin. To the South lie the Saltplains, the Yellow Sands, and the Red Sands, to the North lie parts of the High North.   To the five corners of the land lie the cities of Arda, Aerialis, Aquaris, Lumina Aka and Fulgrath. Smack in the middle between them stands the Tower of Five, where the Keepers of the Elements rule over and protect the Middle Lands and whatever lands that have sworn fealty to them. Each one of the five Keepers is responsible for one of the cities, though depending on who is Keeper at the moment, the form of government in the cities may change or even differ entirely from one another.
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  Jamphel Yeshe

  The Yamato tribes were the first to realize that there was a vast ocean beyond the Iron Belt. When they mapped the island of Jamphel Yeshe in 143 AID by circumnavigating it, they called it Kujirajima, 'Whale Island', due to its likeness to a whale's head. People still sometimes use that name to illustrate it as a place that swallows people whole and then slowly and painfully digests them.

   

  The Five Sages traveled the Great Land for many centuries until valiant explorers crossed the Iron Belt and found there a great ocean to the south. They left their peoples and joined in silent meditation on the First Island, and they built a monastery where they taught those who came to hear their wisdom, calling it Jamphel Yeshe.

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  The City of Aquaris

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  Legend

  

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  The Island of Graanshoof

  Graanshoof is the smallest island located at the northernmost tip of the Hooper Chain, which used to be a part of the Maritime Stratocracy of Guantil-ya and its later forms until the Age of Gears and Elements. Because it lies barely above sea-level and often subject to storms, its inhabitants had to build dykes around its shores and many modern dyke building techniques originated here.
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  The Black Sanctum of the East

  The Walls of Weltenend lie to the east and the west of the Great Land and encompass the Lands of Inferno, where constant volcanic and tectonic activity renders the land uninhabitable and the air toxic. On the slopes facing the Great Land, a Black Sanctum of the Null is set into the high peaks on either of the two grand mountain ranges.
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  The Bonfire Shrine

  In the year 320 AID, the people that lived around Mount Tarkaal and the Charwoods obtained the gift of flame from the Angel Saxons, who traded the secrets of magic with them throughout the century in exchange for them erecting Angel Stones within the borders of their far-away lands.
  
  The men of Mount Tarkaal and the Charwoods, then subjects of the margrave of the West, Jeremiah Byren, constructed a great wooden gate near the Charwoods to represent the Angel Stones built during the tradings with the Angel Saxons, who were revered at the time for their prowess in battle and skill with magic. The gate was built some leagues away from Lichterland, the hamlet of the castle of House Byren, and in front of it, they kept the first flame given to them by the Angel Saxons burning with magic alone.
  
  With the art they had acquired, they vowed to keep this flame burning for all eternity, and in time, it was enshrined in a great glass sphere, having fire mages tend to it day and night. A shrine village began to grow around the gate, which together with the sphere was named the "Bonfire Shrine". The village grew and became the West's hub for magic, where new fire mages were trained, originally to keep the flame and the secrets of the order alive.
  
  However, it became more and more common for shrine maidens and priests to leave their service after a few years and take up lucrative jobs as fire mages for the margrave of the West. This, of course, was seen as very dishonorable and an affront to the order by their peers. Though, once in the service of Lord Byren, they would usually become quite famed and wealthy quickly, serving as the most distinguished of knights and often being compensated for their services with tracts of land.
  
  The shrine is situated close to the northern tip of the Charwoods and a great road joins directly into the Vastroad to the north. A smaller road also connects to the Vastroad in the west.
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  山雨得 Xiau'toku in the Northwestern Yamato Valley

  Located in this part of the Northeastern Yamato Valley within the Yamato Mountain Range is the small town of Xiau'toku as well as a handful of shrines and an ancient mansion, rife with chilling ghost stories.
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  The Pirate Coves of Porasta

  The small pirate island of Porasta is surrounded by sheers, rapids, and underwater rocks, which make circumnavigating it quite dangerous: Only two or three cave mouths lead into hidden tunnels and coves, and in just such a cove Porasta Harbor lies. This pirate harbor inside the island is infamous for being a lawless unregulated space where pirates, racketeers, and Black Market goons roam unchecked. The harbor lies in a bay beyond the Mouth of Dunkelbar, a bottleneck that leads past the Skull of Dunkelbar, a strange rock formation in front of the cove that somewhat resembles a skull.
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  The Saltplains

  The Saltplains are one of the most fertile lands of the Great Land, and salty ground water regularly seeps up to enrich the soil and grass with minerals, making it ideal for raising cattle and rich crops. They are ruled by the three Green Baronies, Gosawin, Ortraud, and Dietgard
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  The Yamato Kingdom

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  Central Aerialis

  The city center of Arealis contains the Royal City in its middle, the Flathedge and Gram Special Wards to its east, and even further east the Guild Wards, to its north the Old and New Market, to its North-West the Gravensburg Special Ward, to its West the Flügelwind Special Ward, and to its South the Severlin Special Ward.   The City was constructed around the Rickard Leeuw Magistorium and the ancestral halls of the Van Haag-Taira family and lies on the eastern-most corner of the Middle Lands, just to the east of Lake Ripploch.
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  The World of Aqualon

  This world map shows the basic layout of Aqualon, most of its parts bleached out to indicate it has not been completed yet. As more and more detailed maps of the nations and locations of Aqualon become available, this grand world map will also become more and more filled out! For now it should help you see the geographic relations of some of the places described in this setting.
  Color Key for Pins
  Green - Large nation, island chain, or region
  Orange - Sub-nation or smaller island
  Blue - Capital city
  Purple - Culturally significant landmark
  Grey - Politically or economically significant landmark