Campaign Setting: Karamekois

Overview

Back when I started playing D&D this was the "Known World" described in the Expert Set and what we used for our early games.  Later it became known as Mystara.  I have made a few adjustments to make it my setting for a traditional Tolkienesque world.

History

Legends tell of the great Dragon Empire of the High Elves that stretched from coast to coast and the rise of the Orcs, and the empires own infighting that brought about its doom.  No one knows where the Orcs came from some say the vainest of the Elves compared themselves to the Gods and were cursed.  From the empires ashes rose the feudal kingdoms of man.  These are the lands of the Known World that battle for survival.

Races

Common: Human (Variant & Standard), Sylvan Elves, Dwarves
Uncommon: High Elves, Hin (Halflings)
Half-breads: Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Dragonborn (children of dragons), Tiefling/Genasi (Half Djinn), Gnome (Half-dwarf)

Grand Duchy of Karameikos

Government: Monach, the Grand Duke, and council of Barons
Capitol: Specularum
Through warfare and marriage Karameikos has united many small fifes into a single nation.  Some say that Grand Duke Stefan III should have taken the title of king but others can see that doing so would anger their Thyatian neighbors and could lead to invasion.  Much of the Duchy is still wild and untamed, and will take years before the entire nation is fully settled.  It is over a century since the last civil war but there is still occasional battles between barons as they via for power within the land.  Recently Karameikos suffered a number of defeats against Glantri in the north, and its rules looked inward and sent ships south, shattering the growing pirate threat from the Minrothad confederacy.

Alfheim

Government: Council of Elders
Capitol: Alfheim Town
Language: Elven
The great forest of the Sylvan Elves forms a buffer between Karameikos and Thyatis and they have treaties with both nations.  The Elves arboreal cities are said to be a great wonder to behold.  Known for its many high magic areas, where monsters magically appear and the fey are found in greater number than anywhere else.

Five Shires

Government: Representative
Capitol: Shiretone
Language: Hin
A peaceful farming nation, the Five Shires are the home of the tranquil hin, or halflings.  Comprised of rolling hills and fertile farm land the Shires produce far more food than even the hin could eat. Fought over heavily in the past, the hin have liberated their lands three times from orcs, dwarves and Thyatian invaders.
The Shires - Eastshire, Heartshire, Highshire, Seashire, Southshire.

Minrothad Confederacy

Government: Plutocracy
Capitol: None
Language: Draconic, Elvish
The archipelago stretching across the Azure sea is home to the last of the high Dragon Lords. Their paranoia of each other prevents them from working together except against invasion from the mainland.  This has allowed small city-states to thrive on other islands each rules by a merchant princes or king. They form a loose confederacy but overall are a powerful naval trading nation.  It is also the most racial diverse with Elves, humans, hin and shield dwarves from the northern Jarldoms working together.  For many years the islands have been a haven for pirates even on the few islands that try and maintain the rule of law.

Empire of Thyatis

Government: Monarchy
Capitol: Thyatis City
Thyatis is the most powerful nation on the mainland.  While it is an empire in decline, it is still very much a force to be reckoned with.  Thyatis is lead by Emperor Thincol I an accomplished general. He has tried to turn the decline around, with mixed results. Thyatis still maintains a strong military, and their campaign against the Hinterlands shows their expansionist policies have not changed. Thyatis is still one of the last nations to embrace slavery, and their reputation for treachery and intrigue is well deserved.

Republic of Darokin

Government: Repulic
Capitol: Darokin City
The land of wealth and trade, Darokin is arguably the richest nation in the Known World.  With limited access to the sea, Darokin has built an enormous economic empire mainly through ground trade.  It now faces attacks from the unified orc tribes to the nortth under the great Khan and has been hiring lots of mercenaries.  Darokin City is the heart of the nation. The largest merchant guilds operate here, and it is centrally located for all the caravans.  Selenica calls itself the eastern capitol. The second largest city in Darokin. Fiercely independent, Selenica deals with the most foreign market guarding the pass to Ylaruam and is famed for its University.

Emirte of Ylaruam

Government: Monarchy
Ylaruam right now is in the process of modernizing its culture, switching from a nomadic lifestyle to that of a urban culture is still a bit of a shock to most Ylari

Rockhome

The kingdom of the dwarves, unchanging and static for centuries. Located between Karamekois and Ylaruam.  Rockhome is split between those that live above ground and those that live below. The dwarves are neutral to most other nations, as long as their caravans move unmolested they don't care about external politics.

Principalities of Glantri

Government: Theocracy of Mage-Priests
A fractious Theocracy, Glantri is extremely powerful, with more enemies than any other nation in the Known World.  They have banned clerics of other gods upon pain of death.  Glantri is ruled through its Parliament, though its ten Principalities are so at odds with each other little law making ever gets done.

Religion

I go with a mix of Greek and Norse gods for easy as people know them. Sometimes a deity will be know by different names in other countries.
Odin/Zeus, Thor, Loki, Apollo, Posseidon, Hecate, Surtur and Heimdall are commonly workshipped.