Welcome to Gaia! ::

Setting
a

(Okay, it decided to shrink it for me...b*****d. That dark spot over where the river forks is the capital. I think the rest you can pretty much gather, other than city names and such.)

The lands are mostly wastes. A single river, the Tigris runs through the Imperium�s lands, and breaths the very life into it. To the West lays the Ematian Mountains, and in the South and East lays the Great Sea. And, to the North, lays vast forests.

The Wastes are desolate, infertile, and for the most part, uninhabitable. The soil is a tough, dry, brownish-red dirt, thinner than clay but thicker than sand. It somehow manages to have the worst qualities of both. Every so often, perhaps one every square mile, is a dead tree, as if it had been dead for centuries. Brittle, tough plants, likely inedible, dot the ground every so often, made of a dark brown, almost green, color. During the day, the light is dull, and a hot, dry air bellows across the land, blowing sand anywhere, and everywhere; and during night, it is cool and winds often subside, but it becomes near pitch black, requiring night vision equipment for basic guard duty.

Along the River however, life is good, and this is why most of the cities are built upon it. The ground is fertile and soft, and grass grows upon it for a few miles out. Twisted, gnarled trees speckle the area, their leaves blowing in cool, soft winds. Most of the populous however, never really gets to see much of this area. And the same with the Usad plains. The area is nice, serine, but most of it is set aside for farming. However, as that it is so dark in day or night, the beauty of the place has almost an eerie feel to it, seeming only a slight bit brighter than dusk all day.

The Coasts are similar to the River, and almost as populated. Grass and plants grow to about a mile inland, but are all gnarled and shaped to odd directions because of heavy winds. The waters are always a dark blue, yet almost grey, adding to the dismal feel felt anywhere else in the known world. Waves are often docile, but will on occasion reach heights of over a hundred feet, keeping people from sporadically building along the coast.

Most Cities are monoliths of steel, shooting up into the sky and expanding off into the distance. However, usually the rich literally live upon the poor. The rich, who can afford better housing, will buy penthouses high up in buildings, and as you go down these buildings, the people tend to get poorer, and at the bottom, there is poverty, starvation, and violence. Police forces seldom go down there. And as nice and clean as the upper levels are, the lower are grimy and dirty.

Smaller Towns and Villages are often made of stone and metals, though not as professionally made. The streets are merely packed dirt, but the people seem to have well enough lives. Most are loyal to the Imperium, but seeing as many of these do not have regular contact with large cities or fortifications, they will often become partisan, raider, or otherwise malignant settlements.

To the North is an area like no other in the known world, and for good reason. As you travel further north, first off, it gets brighter, not by much, but a noticeable difference. Also, there are forests, and much fertile land, and much of it is just left fallow! However, not much is known of these lands, and for good reason, the Menace.

AND SO THE CHAPTER BEGINS...