The Land Today
The Four Part Land consists of a single massive continent, bordered on the south and east by the ocean, the north by impenetrable mountains, and the west by a broken wasteland, and mountains beyond that. Inhabited by humans, much of the continent is occupied by the great desert, a vast sandy ruin around which the civilizations string themselves, caught between the sand and the ocean. There are four major powers within the world, each focused about one of the elements.
Bohortha Eilan is the nation of water, holding a large island and its lesser cousins in the eastern ocean. Mercantile to the extreme, they control much of the water-borne trade, while supplying themselves with fishing, and acquiring those tools they feel are necessary. Traditionally, they have stayed away from conflicts with the mainland, but due to the their location, are usually supportive of Niam Liad. One of the main protagonists, and his tale, originate in Tregonethra, the capital city of the island.
Niam Liad follows the precepts of air, and their architecture is built of tall, narrow stacks, often with sides of cloth or reed that can be rolled away, and with aerial walkways connecting many of the buildings, such that few people in the towns and cities travel on the ground. Controlled by an oligarchy of guilds and their patrons, they stand as one of the two great powers of The Four Part Land, claiming land from the peninsula on which their capital lies all the way north to the great desert that cuts the continent in half. They also control much of the coastline, although many of those cities are functionally independent.
Bhreac Veryan sits astride the great land trade that ventures from the metal mines of Tri-Hauwcerton down to Niam Liad and the coastal ports to Bohortha Eilan. From this they gather much of their power, taxing all goods that pass through their borders. Harsher than the cultures about them, those of this nation prize military prowess above all else, a notion that stems from having once been the dominant power that controlled the entire continent. It was dissolution of that empire under rebellion by Niam Liad, and, eventually, Tri-Hauwcerton that spawned a sense of their greatness being stolen, and that war was how they would retrieve it. Thus, in almost any war that takes place, Bhreac Veryan is the primary actor.
Tri-Hauwcerton is the last of the principle nations, and the smallest. Tucked away in the northwestern mountains, it is an inward-looking land, content to let the others fight amongst themselves while remaining safe in their mountain fastness. Their primary city is a fortress that spans the mouth of a great valley, and while they control the land in front of the city as well as behind, the rulers of Tri-Hauwcerton have always made certain that the city could live for many years off of the supplies provided from behind the wall. Master metal and stone workers, they burrow their homes and buildings deep into the earth, preferring to live underground, protected from the environment. The other main storyline begins within the mines of this kingdom.
There are other, lesser, nations that live within the gaps of the great lands, but they are usually allies of one of the great kingdoms, or so impotent that none thought it worthwhile to gain a controlling influence.