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Description
Zaberen is a continent split in two by a massive mountain chain. The continent is in the planet's southern hemisphere, so the western side of the continent is slightly colder than the east. Slightly; because there is a warm ocean current, from the sea that hits the south east side of the continent. And most of that ends up going up the western side of the mountains, into lake Jero. Thusly the western side of the continent has a pleasant, British style climate on the southern end. And a more Mediterranean style climate, to the north.

On the eastern side of the mountains however; things are very different. The land is incredibly dry and sandy; and only the southeastern coast gets any consistent rainfall. Making a large chunk of the east a giant desert. The western half of the east however; has active volcanos, that make the soil a touch more fertile in tandem with the occasional rainfall. Even still; the land is made up almost entirely of drylands, that just barely get enough rainfall for small yearly harvests. The only part of the east that's actually good for agriculture however is the south east, which gets some of those warm ocean currents. And thus is able to support much larger agricultural societies.

And then finally on the far east, are some tropical islands. The Bari islands; with the biggest, and most important island being the island of Kolo. The Bari islands, aren't very good for agriculture, on account of being tropical, and quite marshy. Thus, the Bari peoples mainly survive and thrive by trade; and occasionally piracy.

To their west is the southeast; inhabited by three main nations: The Kurians to the south, the Balssi to the north, and the Vuaga to the west. The kurians hold the most valuable agricultural lands, inlcuding most prominently, the Chidi river. The most fertile of all the rivers on the continent. Despite all the food though; most Kurians are actually very poor. As Bari pirates often raid Kurian ships; making trade far less profitable then it could be. And even then; most profits go to the merchants first, then the royalty second. With aristocratic landowners taxing non farmers based on arbitrary property values. Thus making most city dwellers, quite poor. Balssi, on the other hand is quite wealthy; despite owning the less fertile Siir river to the north. They make this money by acting as a middleman for the Kurians. Buying their products, and then selling them off to the Shiqan at a markup for profit. They also do the same with the Vuaga to their west. The Vuaga mainly profiting by forging iron weapons and tools, from iron in their iron mines; and selling that to the Balssi. The Balssi then take those weapons and tools. And sell them to the rest of their neighbors. with the pirates getting their weapons at a discount, in exchange for not raiding Balssi ships.

To the north in the great desert is the Shiqan; an empire spanning the entirety of the great Naodi river. Agriculture beyond the river is virtually nonexistent. So almost all food in the empire is consumed; rather than sold. What little food is imported, is mostly luxury cuisine; eaten by the middle and upper classes. The empire taking and redistributing all food to first: the ruling classes, nobility, aristocracy, and military. Then second: the middle classes; made up of artisans, inventors, artists, and manufacturers. ho make fine goods that are then traded to the rest of the world. And thirdly: the farmers themselves; as well as anyone else left over who has some kind of job. This system allows them empire to maintain consistent profits; at the cost of occasional famines. They have issues when it comes to trading due to piracy from the west however. While they do have a powerful navy; the ships are mostly designed to sail up and down the Naodi, and do not fare well in the open ocean.

On the western side of the east, there is the Muwi empire. Although Muwi is not really a true empire. More of a federation of various disparate nations, who come together to fend off big threats. Mainly the Axima nations to the west, who tend to invade with ferocity; since not capturing human sacrifices from enemy populations. Means human sacrifices from your own population; which is not great if your family is the one who gets picked to die. The Muwi mainly operate as republics, in which only landowners can vote in the elections. While the larger population is mostly just gobbled up into the war machine to die. Especially since Muwi doesn't have alot of advanced military tech, and what little advanced stuff they do have, is rationed out to the veterans. The endless bloody wars have given the populace collective war trauma, and a general prejudice against Axima peoples. And because of all the prejudice and trauma; the Muwi don't really trade with Axima nations. And instead tend to commit acts of piracy on the Axima whenever they get the chance. They do trade with other nations on Zaberen though. And the Muwi's cross cultural contact between the nations west and east of the mountains, are what sets the precedent of Zaberen as a unified continent to begin with.

Dibe is a very small nation, consisting of the cities of Di and Daobei. They control very little land, but have a great navy, and essentially protect all trade in the northern sea.

Jeria is the largest nation that borders the great lake Jero. They inhabit the western side of the lake and have expanded as far west as the city of Pula. All of the other nations surrounding lake Jera; are small city states that can't really compete. And as such have entered into an alliance with Jeria, that basically amounts to being part of the country, with some exceptions and compromises here and there. Just west of them is the other small nation of Krollich; who mainly inhabits the southern mountains, up to the city of Kizzan. Both Jeria and Krollich are feudal monarchies, who have very lax rules about what their vassals can and can't do. As such they tend to wage wars not as big armies marching out against eachother, but as small military squadrons of dukes, fighting against other dukes for small bits and pieces of land here and there.

Above both of them is the empire of Miria. A small nation that mainly controls the Rod river and some surrounding cities. Their main claim to fame however, is steel. Which makes them the most technologically advanced civilization on the continent. Despite this tremendous tech advantage though. Miria simply isn't a very expansionist state; and mostly just works to secure the mountains they use as mines to enforce a monopoly on iron and make sick profits. They are also a dictatorship, who elect a dictator who rules over the entire country from the state office. Hence why he is called the Officer or "Upser."

And finally, the nation of Zyche. Zyche is an ethnostate comprising the Zych people who had migrated in from further west. They are a republic with human rights and universal suffrage... amongst Zych peoples. Everybody else needs to pay extra as a "tax" for the protection they receive from the state. If you don't pay it; they will evict you and take you stuff and probably also beat the living shit out of you too; just for good measure. This is all done as a measure to repay the crimes committed onto their people; once long ago. What income doesn't come from minority taxes, instead comes from trade with other nations. Zych people, being quite famous for their unique arts that fetch fair prices abroad. They also tend to sell off alot of their excess fish catches, which helps grease the gears here and there.

Overall, Zaberen is a very diverse continent, filled to the brim with unique nations and cultures. As well as plenty of unique landscapes, however nestled within it's beauty is a thorn of brutality and suffering. With many people living on the edge of malnutrition, and starvation; especially east of the mountains. But the sun still rises every day, as does the peoples of Zaberen.

Description
Zaberen is a continent split in two by a massive mountain chain. The continent is in the planet's southern hemisphere, so the western side of the continent is slightly colder than the east. Slightly; because there is a warm ocean current, from the sea that hits the south east side of the continent. And most of that ends up going up the western side of the mountains, into lake Jero. Thusly the western side of the continent has a pleasant, British style climate on the southern end. And a more Mediterranean style climate, to the north.

On the eastern side of the mountains however; things are very different. The land is incredibly dry and sandy; and only the southeastern coast gets any consistent rainfall. Making a large chunk of the east a giant desert. The western half of the east however; has active volcanos, that make the soil a touch more fertile in tandem with the occasional rainfall. Even still; the land is made up almost entirely of drylands, that just barely get enough rainfall for small yearly harvests. The only part of the east that's actually good for agriculture however is the south east, which gets some of those warm ocean currents. And thus is able to support much larger agricultural societies.

And then finally on the far east, are some tropical islands. The Bari islands; with the biggest, and most important island being the island of Kolo. The Bari islands, aren't very good for agriculture, on account of being tropical, and quite marshy. Thus, the Bari peoples mainly survive and thrive by trade; and occasionally piracy.

To their west is the southeast; inhabited by three main nations: The Kurians to the south, the Balssi to the north, and the Vuaga to the west. The kurians hold the most valuable agricultural lands, inlcuding most prominently, the Chidi river. The most fertile of all the rivers on the continent. Despite all the food though; most Kurians are actually very poor. As Bari pirates often raid Kurian ships; making trade far less profitable then it could be. And even then; most profits go to the merchants first, then the royalty second. With aristocratic landowners taxing non farmers based on arbitrary property values. Thus making most city dwellers, quite poor. Balssi, on the other hand is quite wealthy; despite owning the less fertile Siir river to the north. They make this money by acting as a middleman for the Kurians. Buying their products, and then selling them off to the Shiqan at a markup for profit. They also do the same with the Vuaga to their west. The Vuaga mainly profiting by forging iron weapons and tools, from iron in their iron mines; and selling that to the Balssi. The Balssi then take those weapons and tools. And sell them to the rest of their neighbors. with the pirates getting their weapons at a discount, in exchange for not raiding Balssi ships.

To the north in the great desert is the Shiqan; an empire spanning the entirety of the great Naodi river. Agriculture beyond the river is virtually nonexistent. So almost all food in the empire is consumed; rather than sold. What little food is imported, is mostly luxury cuisine; eaten by the middle and upper classes. The empire taking and redistributing all food to first: the ruling classes, nobility, aristocracy, and military. Then second: the middle classes; made up of artisans, inventors, artists, and manufacturers. ho make fine goods that are then traded to the rest of the world. And thirdly: the farmers themselves; as well as anyone else left over who has some kind of job. This system allows them empire to maintain consistent profits; at the cost of occasional famines. They have issues when it comes to trading due to piracy from the west however. While they do have a powerful navy; the ships are mostly designed to sail up and down the Naodi, and do not fare well in the open ocean.

On the western side of the east, there is the Muwi empire. Although Muwi is not really a true empire. More of a federation of various disparate nations, who come together to fend off big threats. Mainly the Axima nations to the west, who tend to invade with ferocity; since not capturing human sacrifices from enemy populations. Means human sacrifices from your own population; which is not great if your family is the one who gets picked to die. The Muwi mainly operate as republics, in which only landowners can vote in the elections. While the larger population is mostly just gobbled up into the war machine to die. Especially since Muwi doesn't have alot of advanced military tech, and what little advanced stuff they do have, is rationed out to the veterans. The endless bloody wars have given the populace collective war trauma, and a general prejudice against Axima peoples. And because of all the prejudice and trauma; the Muwi don't really trade with Axima nations. And instead tend to commit acts of piracy on the Axima whenever they get the chance. They do trade with other nations on Zaberen though. And the Muwi's cross cultural contact between the nations west and east of the mountains, are what sets the precedent of Zaberen as a unified continent to begin with.

Dibe is a very small nation, consisting of the cities of Di and Daobei. They control very little land, but have a great navy, and essentially protect all trade in the northern sea.

Jeria is the largest nation that borders the great lake Jero. They inhabit the western side of the lake and have expanded as far west as the city of Pula. All of the other nations surrounding lake Jera; are small city states that can't really compete. And as such have entered into an alliance with Jeria, that basically amounts to being part of the country, with some exceptions and compromises here and there. Just west of them is the other small nation of Krollich; who mainly inhabits the southern mountains, up to the city of Kizzan. Both Jeria and Krollich are feudal monarchies, who have very lax rules about what their vassals can and can't do. As such they tend to wage wars not as big armies marching out against eachother, but as small military squadrons of dukes, fighting against other dukes for small bits and pieces of land here and there.

Above both of them is the empire of Miria. A small nation that mainly controls the Rod river and some surrounding cities. Their main claim to fame however, is steel. Which makes them the most technologically advanced civilization on the continent. Despite this tremendous tech advantage though. Miria simply isn't a very expansionist state; and mostly just works to secure the mountains they use as mines to enforce a monopoly on iron and make sick profits. They are also a dictatorship, who elect a dictator who rules over the entire country from the state office. Hence why he is called the Officer or "Upser."

And finally, the nation of Zyche. Zyche is an ethnostate comprising the Zych people who had migrated in from further west. They are a republic with human rights and universal suffrage... amongst Zych peoples. Everybody else needs to pay extra as a "tax" for the protection they receive from the state. If you don't pay it; they will evict you and take you stuff and probably also beat the living shit out of you too; just for good measure. This is all done as a measure to repay the crimes committed onto their people; once long ago. What income doesn't come from minority taxes, instead comes from trade with other nations. Zych people, being quite famous for their unique arts that fetch fair prices abroad. They also tend to sell off alot of their excess fish catches, which helps grease the gears here and there.

Overall, Zaberen is a very diverse continent, filled to the brim with unique nations and cultures. As well as plenty of unique landscapes, however nestled within it's beauty is a thorn of brutality and suffering. With many people living on the edge of malnutrition, and starvation; especially east of the mountains. But the sun still rises every day, as does the peoples of Zaberen.