AHKEER:
A large continent on the other side of the world from Fjoul, Bext, and Illerine, Ahkeer is shaped like a three leaf clover, the center of each `leaf' dominated by a tall ridges which meet in the continents center.
These days, Ahkeers dominant inhabitants are the Unliving, an assortment of ghosts, ghouls, shadows, wights, and wraiths ruled over by a liche and vampire aristocracy. The few living sapients in the regions controlled by the undead are either in hiding, or exist as food for their undead overlords. Matters are somewhat different on the southernmost of Ahkeers three `leaves'; this warm temperate region is being systematically reclaimed by the Iordians, a nation of humans fleeing the ice enroaching upon Cyst, a continent to the south.
Life on Ahkeer was very nearly eradicated during the last days of the Final War when the vast cloud of poison spewed forth by the death of Ausheel crossed the land; even now, only the hardiest of grass and brush grows in most parts of this continent; animal life is somewhat scarce as well.
KHABULL:
For a millenia prior to the Final War, Khabull was the dominant nation not merely of Golgotha, but of the sphere as a whole. At its height, it ruled all of Ahkeer, parts or most of Fjoul, Bext, and Illerine, and several other continents as well. Khabulls overlords maintained a large space navy that patrolled not only this sphere, but occasionally ventured into other crystal spheres as well. But that was long ago.
As time went by, Khabull gradually rotted from within and in so doing was unable to meet challenges coming from without: the growth of the nations of the lizardmen, a nobility increasingly out of touch with the people they ruled, a court more concerned with intrigue than leadership. Taxes climbed, corruption grew, riots and rebellions sapped the empires strength. One by one, the various vassal states rebeled, declaring themselves free nations. Sometimes the reigning emperor would contest these upstarts, sending in wave after wave of ill treated troops who were no better than bandits. More often, though, the secession was simply allowed to happen. At least until the reign of Kartos the Mad.
Kartos, the next to last of the living Khabullian emperors, was disgusted with what his country had become. He wanted to bring back the old glory days when Khabull had been a power with which to be reckoned. When Daridia, the last of Khabulls major holdings across the sea revolted, he sent in the troops with orders to make an example of the rebellious state by eradicating the entire populace. What he succeeded in doing was uniting most of the rest of the world against Khabull, and in prompting more revolts against his authority even within the nation. The Final War was underway.
The Final War was a demon spawned nightmare: vast fleets clashing at sea and in space, continents on Golgotha decimated were with spell and sword, the entire planet of Chian reduced to mere rubble floating through space. Insanity was piled atop insanity.
And Emperor Kartos, perhaps, was the most insane of all. After savagely putting down a revolt of his leading nobles in the wars final decade, he decided that something more than mere oaths was required to ensure the loyalty of the rest. Towards this end, he ordered all of the remaining his remaining nobles - save a few directly involved in the fighting - to report to the imperial palace at Arabar. There, with the nobles gathered in the Hall of the Throne, he had his nephew, the Archimage Makal, cast the spell of Undying Loyalty, that would ensure their loyalty to the emperor forevermore. At least, thats what the spell was supposed to do.
What it actually did was to slay everyone present, not just in the emperors Hall of the Throne, or even in his palace, but in the entire city, turning a metropolis of tens of thousands into a vast necropolis. Without leadership, chaos engulfed the continent. Across the sea, the empires troops fought on, eventually banishing or destroying the greater bulk of the tanar'ri who were by now the principle foes left. But they returned home to find utter anarchy.
General Jamal, seniormost of the empires generals, was proclaimed emperor, but he was old and weary, the damage done was too great and the resources left to him too little; he died at his desk a week before the all engulfing cloud of poison spawned by the destruction of Ausheel swept over Ahkeer, wiping out virtually the entire remaining populace.
But though the Khabullian Empire is dead, it is not gone, for Makal, nephew to Kartos survived - as a lich, ruling a nation of undeath. He rules the northern two thirds of Ahkeer (and outposts elsewhere in the sphere); his subjects mindless zombies and skeletons, his nobility vampires, spectres, and death knights (to name but some of the undead monstrosities under his sway). What few humans remain in these lands are either in hiding, or exist to provide sustenance for their undead masters.
Arabar:
The former capitol of the Khabullian empire, Arabar is still an impressive sight: its buildings well maintained, its streets clean and kept up, with nary a sign of decay. This is so because Makal's ego insists on it; the imperial capitol, after all, must be a grand place. Arabar is situated well inland, built in concentric rings around a tall hill overlooking the placid waters of Lake Masat. A spelljammer port is located on this lake, where undead spacefarers take off to enforce Makal's edicts elsewhere in this sphere. There are no living creatures in Arabar, merely undead.
Hamas:
Hamas gives the impression of a normal feudal state, with diligently toiling (and much abused) peasants, merchants hawking wares in the village markets, and priests preaching sermons in the various temples, all watched over by a distant, brutal aristocracy. In actuality, Hamas's aristocrats - and some of its other citizens - are vampires, who see the province as nothing more than a source of fresh blood to slake their unholy thirst. The semblance of normality here is just that - a facade to help set the peasants at ease. Most of the vampires victims are bandits, criminals, and other troublemakers, which helps matters. Hamas's vampires answer to Makal.
Raydama:
Like Hamas, Raydama is a ruled by vampires; unlike Hamas, Raydama's vampires do not bother with even the pretense of normality, stalking and slaying whomever they chose. This is the result, some decades ago, of meddling in Raydama's affairs by the living realm of New Iorida to the south. Contact between the two natiions tripped off an uprising that saw several of Raydama's vampires slain and most of the human populace wiped out. Desperate for blood, the bulk of the vampires attempted an assault on New Iordia, which accomplished nothing more than getting most of their number killed. Currently, Raydama's few remaining vampires each maintains a dwindling `stable' of humans on which to feed, penned in grim castles or underground chambers. There is no semblance of normality here.
Ghuman:
Ghuman, built on a plateau nearly encircled by a serpentine river valley, is a ticking time bomb of a city. Once, Ghuman, like Hamas and Raydama, had a vampiric aristocracy, but a monumentally complex feud, combined with a sudden decline in living humans on which to feed, resulted in the vast majority of these vampires being forced into stasis in the catacombs deep beneath the city - by Emperor Makal himself. Since then, the human populace has recovered somewhat, though they have no illusions about the nature of the cities masters (the current ruler is a death knight). However, at some point in the future, the stasis spell holding the vampires below will end...
NEW IORDIA:
Were it not for the great sheets of ice slowly enveloping the southern continent of Cyst, there would be no New Iordia. As it is, well over half of `Old' Iordia's inhabitants have braved the dangerous ocean crossing to southern Ahkeer, clearing cropland and rebuilding ancient ruins in which to dwell.
New Iordia has been established for less than a century. At first New Iordia paid tribute to Khabull, even trading with the inhabitants of Raydama and Hamas. Then came the Nights of Blood, when the true nature of Khabulls rulers became apparent, and the Iordian prefect Garras proclaimed that "New Iordia deserved rulers of flesh and blood, not mere animated corpses from an era long gone." New Iordia and Khabull have been in conflict ever since.
The Bringers of Rest:
Founded by Iordia's rulers after learning of the true nature of Khabulls inhabitants, this is a order of priests, warriors, and wizards whose mission it is to eradicate the undead.
New Iordia:
Set at the base of a great southward facing bay, New Iordia is the arrival point for those fleeing the ice consuming Cyst. Home to over six thousand souls, it is a mostly rebuilt ruin, surrounded by a tall wall set with undead repelling glyphs.
