Geography

Elondor is a small continent in the world of the Last Age, home to various human societies and languages and the main setting of this world.

Etymology and Names

Composite scan of an unfinished draft map of Elondor (the Blue Map)

By the end of the Imperial Era, the Olgish name Elondor has come in use with the majority of societies on the continent, propagated along the official channels of the Empire. It first appears in the narrative concerning Nardin and the First Battle of Mortim-Arnim as Olg Olgish ...elondor cún grálí srónath ‘the all-boundary, where men dwell’, presumably denoting not only the continent but the wider domain of humans, into which the Nathari have ventured, implying their origin in a para-human, mythological plain, possibly the Underworld. The legend was included in the (6th century E.B.) Lonsorigi but probably dates from at least the 8th century B.E.B., with certain passages possibly even older. Originally pronounced as [ɛ.ˈlɔn.dɔɾ], with regular stress on the heavy second syllable, its frequent use by the itinerant preacher Dúrmin, who in his sermons warned against a return of ‘those that dwell beyond the all-boundary’ (grálá dess' elondor), popularized an alternative stress pattern in the mid-3rd century B.E.B., following the strict initial stress of his native Ébrinine dialect as [ˈɛ.lɔn.dɔɾ] or [ˈe.lɔn.dɔɾ].

The name was applied to the continent in particular no later than the 4th century E.B., when the Edict of Corbin uses it explicitly in contrast to Nokim. It was later adopted by the Olgish Church as their predestined domain of reach and prominently used by Beldárin Fadhérún in his campaign to gain dominion over ‘all those devout to the true faith of Ortûlék and Shéa'voch to dwell in Elondor’. With its common usage in imperial parlance, it came to be adopted in most provinces.

The Iiles of old referred to the continent as Dínerima ‘the white dryes’, but the term has mostly fallen out of use in favour of the Olgish-derived Erùndar. Even throughout Imperial times, the Lerewe have kept their ancient term Ğewodun' Esneğiwi ‘the great earth of fire’, contrasting with Ğewoduna Syōwe ‘the great earth of the wind’, Nokim.

Geography and Climate

Elondor is located immediately north of the continent of Nokim, mostly separated by the Sea of Timesthe, but at their closest point, the Seligonian Trident, only about 7.5 Olgish Leagues apart. It spans just under 80 Olgish Leagues east to west between the seas of Avalia and Runion and just over 50 Olgish Leagues north to south, giving it an upper-central position, entirely in the northern hemisphere, between the continents of Eren and Nokim. The continent has a vaguely triangular shape between its corner points at Tár-Noldorin, the Allalond, and the Seligonian Trident, with the Erendál Peninsula emerging in its northeast and forming a fourth tip of land. An S-shaped mountain chain comprised of the Míbar-Hûrind, the Reknayan Mountains, and the Seven Rivers, and extended by the Erendál Mountains, the highlands of Belkondíl, and the mountains of Seligon, cuts Elondor in half, separating the northeastern, Avalian from the southwestern, Runian part. It has three major inland sees, the Kalparian Sea in the northwest and the White Sea and the Bight of Loskilón on its southern shores.

Major Regions

Traditionally, the continent is divided into seven regions:

• Belkondíl, the heartland of Lécaron, located on both banks of the rivers Cëlac and Brethan in the southwestern corner of Elondor. The homeland of the Olgs and Western Sosks, it is a vast area of heath and moorland, mostly looking upon the brash waters of Runion, but with warmer strands toward the Timesthe to the south.
• Old Seligon, the homeland of Iilish culture, east of Belkondíl, comprising Moreth east of the Seven Rivers, the fields of Amasia, and the islands of the Gulf of Seligon. Served considerably milder climate by the warm streams of the Timesthe, it consists of mostly swampy plains and humid highlands, notable the Seven Rivers, and with the Lakes of Amasia Elondor's largest inland bodies of water.
• Seligon, the southeastern tip of the continent. A warm and sunny region, it was home to the earliest of Elondor's civilizations, thriving for millennia before conquered and colonized by expatriate Olgish groups. It has retained its cultural diversity well into the Imperial Era and become notorious for its ethical conflicts and bloody nationalist wars after the end of Lécaronian rule. Before its southern coast lie the Great Islands of Seligon, a cradle of early civilization on Elondor and a contentious area in both imperial politics and religion. While its fertile western part is densely populated and home to several significant market towns and port cities, East Seligon is a dry and deserted region, largely unexplored even in the days of Lécaron. The term is sometimes meant to include Nelkon, the sparsely populated region north of the Seligonian heartland and east of Amasia, concentrated on the high plains and marshes running down to the Sea of Avalia.
• The Reknaya lies in the heart of Elondor, stretching east to west along the mountain range of the same name and south across high plains and foothills, bordering Belkondíl and Old Seligon. A region known for its wealth in ores and a site of earliest metallurgy, it has experienced frequent migrations throughout its history, and its west had come under Olgish dominion around the 12th century B.E.B., while its northeastern third was one of the few areas to remain free of Lécaronian rule for the entirety of the empire's history (save for a short period 682‒700 L.R.), alongside only parts of Aribel and Celsond. The Reknayan climate varies from the relatively moist and fertile Besokan Valley to the open plains of Atiya and the stony deserts of Wat and Erkenma.
• Celsond is the northernmost part of Elondor, comprising the Erendál Peninsula and the lands to its south, north of the Reknayan Mountains, which can loosely be divided into the western steppes and the more mountainous and densely forested east. Like East Seligon a mostly untamed landscape, infamed for its harsh climate, it is home to the Celdic Peoples, who live of fishing, gathering, and herding, and was never conquered or otherwise part of Lécaron.
• Aribel, the homeland of Aribelian culture and the early Aribelian Republic, is located in the utmost northwest of Elondor. Like Celsond, it is a region of relatively cold and harsh climate, covered mostly in swampy plains, boreal forest, and its famed lakes, and the population is concentrated to its abundant harbour cities and a few other population centre. The fortress-city of Berán with its famous academy is the cultural and political centre of the free strip of land north of the River Muïnulis, with the rest of its land occupied by the Northwestern Colonies, a loose federation of states inhabited by Aribelians, Olgs, Sosks, and Kalparians, and part of Lécaron 135‒645 L.R. To its south, it is bordered by the River Kalpa and the Kalparian Sea, home to the Kalparian nation, which is split in its lands between Aribel and Geran.
• Geran, finally, is located between Belkondíl, Aribel, and the western foothills of the Reknaya. In its centre split by the Ílgarian Woods and the Nukna Highlands, it divides into the Geranian Heath, an open grassland home to the ancient Yamenaen culture and more recently the Wertian Olgs, the Hajalad, a wealthy coastal region inhabited mostly by Geranian Olgs and Kalparians, and the Norides archipelago. It is bordered to the north by the river Kalpa and the Kalparian Sea and contains the southern half of the lands traditionally claimed by the Kalparians.

Climate

Its position between the longitudes of 38° and 60° north allows for the mostly temperate climate in Elondor. The southwestern corner of the continent, the southern coast of Seligon, experiences the warmest climate with mild winters and dry summers, propagated by the warm water carried north by the eastern half of the Timesthian Current. Its warmest sub-region is the plain of Iliatar, which experiences hot subtropical and in exceptional years even tropical climate. As one travels west towards the Runian coast, temperatures steadily drop, still fairly warm in Old Seligon and moderate in eastern Belkondíl, but cold and harsh along the western shores of Belkondíl and Geran, and similarly on the Avalian coast of Nelkon. Aribel and Celsond cap the lower end of temperatures, with cold moderate and subpolar climate, and near-polar conditions in the north of the Randal.

History

→ See also: History Outline

Human populations have settled Elondor in two main waves before the last Ice Age, the first group, ancestral to the Ortûlékians, the Besokians, the Volsians, the Avalians, and the Seligonians, entering the continent from the the west via Tár-Noldorin and Belkondíl, and the second group, ancestral to the Iliatarians, the Lerewe, and the Eskarians, venturing north from Nokim as colonists of the Neolithic Nokimi Dominion and settling the southern shores of Seligon.

Prehistory and early empires

Societies are isolated during the Last Glacial Maximum, separating the population of Elondor into the first six of its seven ethnolinguistic groups, the Ortûlékians remaining in northern Belkondíl and the Mountains of Lágon, who develop the first light hair, the Besokians and Yenmians, settling in the Besokan Valley, the Volsians and Avalians, seeking refuge in Amasia and developing the epicanthic fold, and the Seligonians, living in the Armundic Valley and the fertile plains of central Seligon. When humans reconquer the continent after the end of the last Ice Age, populations begin to spread. Farming emerges around 8000 B.E.B. in the Besokan Valley and rapidly spreads to neighbouring societies, reaching Celsond and southern Seligon around 6000 B.E.B. The first cattle is domesticated presumably around 6500 B.E.B. in the Plain of Ortûlék, with first attempts at metalworking following around three millennia later.

The first ancient kingdom of Elondor rises in 3642 B.E.B., when according to Dasmilian legend the holy city of Abreshahar is founded. Not long after, major territorial states are tangible in all regions of Elondor. The Nokimi Empire of the southern continent begins to spread north along the Horn of Nokim and colonize the eastern part of Seligon, establishing the seventh and last ethnolinguistic group of Elondor. Seligon will remain a cradle of civilization for the coming millennia, with Abreshahar and later the Armundians, the Ruldôrians, and the Hakessian states, most notably the Fenedic Empire, which reigns supreme in western Seligon from its foundation in 534 B.E.B. until its fall in 618 E.B.

The rise of the Olgs

At this point, most of Seligon, and indeed large parts of Elondor, have fallen under the dominion of the Olgs. They hail from the west, the hills and moors of Belkondíl. A sub-group of the Ortûlékian, the Olgs are among the first to experiment in metallurgy and the first to permanently domesticate cattle and keep herds. Toward the end of the 3rd millennium B.E.B., the initially peaceful farming people comes in contact with the kingdoms of the war-like Western Soskish rider culture and not only adopts many of their ways but eventually gains supremacy over the Soskish population and their admired and feared cavalry. The following centuries are witness to the rapid expansion of the Olgish-Soskish cultural horizon, first conquering all of Belkondíl and expelling the native Auls, Aribelians, and Noldorinians, later expanding into Geran and the western Reknaya. A halt to their conquests is only made in 286 B.E.B., when the young Iilish Empire, hungry for lands and resources, ventures west and the native Olgish countryside in eastern Belkondíl itself becomes occupied.

At this point, no single Olgish nation exists, Olgish identity not more than a faint spectre haunting the history of many states, and the Iilish retain their tight grip on Belkondíl until the end of the Bronze Age. Only then, a young Olgish prince from an ancient noble house succeeds in uniting all of Belkondíl and retaking the lands of Olgs and Sosks and is subsequently installed as the first king of Belkondíl in known history. But not all of his now-devoted subjects have joined the battle on the Olgish side, and as the Iiles are banished from Belkondíl, so are the twelve Olgish princes who have taken their side against Olgish unification. With a train of thousands and no lands to feed them, they turn east to their former ally, the Iilish emperor. Unwilling to give up the lands of his own people, he settles them on his Seligonian borders in Iilmildarn as a buffer against the Dasmilians and the Hakessian charioteers. It is here again that the Olgs prove their stubborn and unpredictable nature, and instead of defending Iilish borders, they have soon made peace with the Dasmilians and, in joint effort, succeed to subdue the westernmost of the Hakessian kingdoms. On its ruins, they create the first Olgish foundation in Seligon, the Olgish Kingdom of Great Ukkar, which will for centuries be the greatest foe of the already-powerful Fenedic Empire.

The Olgish Expansion complete and the foundation of Lécaron

With the fall of the Fenedic Empire against the Olgish invaders after nearly six centuries of hostilities in 618 E.B., western Seligon falls firmly into Olgish hands. A similar fate has already befallen, or will soon befall, many other parts of Elondor. Geran, afore the home to Geranian mariners and mountain herders like the Kalparians and the great steppe Kingdom of Yamenna, has long been overrun by the Wertians, who have established their own kingdoms. The Kattasi kingdoms of the Reknaya have fallen into Olgish hands, and the Great Aribelian Wars of the 12th and 13th century E.B. will result in the foundation of Olgish colonies in the former kingdoms of Arsapárin and Narisekkin. In eastern Seligon, the Hakessians and the Lerewe are conquered, so are the Hyatti of Nelkon and the islands of Seligon. By the turn of the 14th century E.B., Olgish influence extends to most of Elondor. It is then that Beldárin, King of Belkondíl proposes to all Olgish kings of Elondor his protection in exchange for their homage and is crowned Emperor of Lécaron Térmennin, the ‘Great Empire of all the Olgish Faith’.

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