The Lands of Warlderia

Geography of the Divine Empire

The Divine Empire encompasses a vast collection of provinces, principalities, duchies, counties and marches stretching across much of Warlderia. Though united beneath the authority of the Divine Emperor, each retains its own history, traditions and character. Some are ancient realms whose boundaries pre-date the Empire itself, whilst others were created through conquest, settlement or the administrative reforms of Kaegor and Innocence. Consequently, there is no single landscape, culture or way of life that can truly be described as typically Imperial. The Empire contains everything from fertile river valleys and prosperous coastal provinces to great forests, rugged uplands and remote frontier territories. Ancient cities stand beside lands that remain thinly settled, whilst Imperial roads connect market towns, ports, castles, monasteries and provincial capitals separated by hundreds of miles. Geography has inevitably shaped the people who inhabit these regions: coastal provinces look towards trade and the sea, agricultural heartlands towards their harvests and markets, while those nearer troubled borders have developed stronger military traditions.

Despite these differences, centuries of Imperial rule have bound the provinces together. The Common tongue, Imperial law, coinage, trade, the great highways and the recognised faiths of the Concordat provide a shared framework within which remarkably different peoples coexist. A traveller may journey from one end of the Empire to the other and encounter different customs, architecture, food, clothing and even local languages, yet still find familiar laws, temples, measures and institutions along the way. This diversity has always been one of the Empire's greatest strengths. It is also, in the present age, one of its greatest challenges. As authority from Divine Kaegoria has weakened, geography has once again begun to matter politically. Distant provinces increasingly look towards their neighbours rather than the Imperial Court, old regional identities have strengthened, and powerful provincial rulers have become accustomed to solving their own problems. The lands below represent the principal regions and provinces of the modern Divine Empire, together with those territories that remain Imperial in tradition or memory even where the Emperor's authority no longer reaches.