The world is much, much larger than just Madarch and the Farlands. The world is a globe, and all habitable land is within a relatively thin strip of continents and oceans. To the north and south are two great, impassable and uninhabitable land masses that wrap around the globe, to the south is the Great Ice, and endless expanse of lifeless ice and to the north is the Great Sand, an endless harsh desert where one could melt tin just by leaving it out. Not that you would live long enough to see that, though. Most of the world has not been explored by Sengl, though thanks to true-elf astronomy they do know of the rough size of the world and its spherical shape.
Madarch is an island far out in the ocean, consisting of several fragmented pieces and two minor islands. The pieces of the island are connected to each other by gargantuan metal chains that stick into the broken cliffsides of each piece, preventing them from drifting apart from each other.
Floating islands of various sizes slowly float high above the clouds over Madarch, raining rocks and dirt down underneath them. It's said that Wyrms, or dragons, live on them and they are not interested in coming down.
The sea surrounding Madarch is called the Durhir. It's extremely temperamental, needing expert captains to bring ships in and making it almost impossible to escape in anything except a Farlands ship.
Seth is the name of both the central island of the fragmented pieces of Madarch and the name of the ancient Sengl city that used to spread across all of it. Most of the city is ruined now, half buried under the ground, but as you approach the centre of the island you can see the old walls still standing high above the ground and the dense urban city ruins. However, the ruins of Seth are completely overrun with monsters which make them very dangerous to explore or loot, especially as you go towards the ancient palace. No one has been able to make it to the palace and come back alive... Yet.
The penal colony is the place where the UP governments send their undesireables for the supposed purpose of recolonising Madarch. It’s a dangerous island after all, and they need expendable Sengl to deal with the monsters. So far there is only one penal colony on Madarch, so it’s simply called “the colony.” Prisoners are shipped here every month, as well as food, materials, money and animals, but the colony’s purpose is to make itself self-sufficient like its own city-state. The penal colony is still the only one of its kind, though there are plans to establish more nearby, but it is only around 20-30 years in the making, in which that time was spent focusing inwards.
The colony is run by the sheriff, who has the job of managing the Guard, Class Career Agency (CCA), merchants, and landlords. The sheriff is appointed by the Union Parliament in the Farlands. The current sheriff of the colony is an orc man named Bradur Predatel, a counter-revolutionary originally from Formagrad who defected to Inpetus.
The Guard are the domestic military and judicial system of the colony, they are a volunteer force from the Farlands who manage and control the working population as well as solving merchant and landlord disputes. They keep a close relationship with the CCA to avoid subversion. The captain of the Guard is a dwarven gini named luka sike pi kiwen.
The Class Career Agency is an office that hires prisoners with particular talents to actually go out and explore Madarch or solve domestic problems that the Guard isn’t responsible for. They sort their recruits into archetypes corresponding to their abilities, which allow them easier access to apprenticeships, services, and networking with others of similar talents. Prisoners working for the CCA have special privileges over other prisoners. They have greater freedom of trade, are exempt from most compulsory labour, and have free leave of the colony. They do not make prisoner wages, instead accruing their own wealth either by being paid by the CCA or finding or procuring valuables from the island. They are still prisoner status and are treated as such by the law, there is no getting around that. The chair of the CCA is a holbytla named Aethel Ibnat Cearcern O’Cneoris.
The merchant class is vital to the flow of money and trade goods both in and out of the colony, as well as within it. Most independent artisans in the colony sell the product of their labour to the merchants, as there is little flow of money in the lower classes, and the merchants in turn have the unique privilege to sell to the guard and CCA, something the artisans are not able to do themselves because of their prisoner status. The merchants are usually sent over on ships, do their business, and leave, but it makes for a consistent and varying flow of goods within the colony. However there are three merchant guilds that have permanent residence and family in the colony. There are the Clethyv who trade weapons and armour to the guard and CCA, the Hanifail who trade agricultural tools and animals with the landlords and peasantry, and the Trysor who trade art, decoratives, and other valuables with the Union Parliament.
The landlord class owns land that is worked in and around Madarch, which they socage to the peasantry. They are beholden to the Sheriff, who is the “true” owner of the land, and have the legal responsibility of keeping the farm productive and protected while the farmers hold it and work it. The peasantry hold the land and make regular payments in harvest to the landlord, which is then distributed by the lord to the farm, a share to the Sheriff (where it then becomes colony property), to the lord’s own house, and to the civilian population. Their loyalty to the Sheriff is necessary for the peasantry to not come above their prisoner status.
The peasantry, artisans, and craftsmen constitute the lower classes in Madarch. Although they do hold some economic privileges over each other, the peasantry holding land, and artisans owning their own tools and workshop, they share the prisoner status that sent them to this colony in the first place. In effect they are slaves at varying levels of conditionality. A peasant under a socage and a craftsman doing manufacktur can still meet each other and know that they share common interests against the colonial government and its military wing. However, being very new and the Guard suppressing subversive activity among the prisoner population well, a progressive revolution seems distant for now.
The ruins of the ancient capital city of all Sengl covers the entire island fragment of Seth. In the middle of the island is the inner city where the palace that the Sthed-Igyd lived in lies. The inner city ruins are far too dangerous for anyone from the penal colony to explore yet.
A university in the inner city ruins of Seth. Little is known about it except for legends passed down about a disease that afflicted the alchemists here that turned their skin into rusty gold.
The Farlands is a collective name for all the nations and places that are not Madarch.
A wide mountain range that was home to an ancient civilisation that created the City of Doors, and now home to the dwarves who have dug into the mountains. Homeland of the dwarves. Demonym: Nenan.
A vast desert behind a mountain range where not much vegetation grows, food and water is scarce, but the night sky is the most beautiful in the whole world. Homeland of the true-elves. Demonym: Scriptic.
Called a “forestland” as it is a massive collection of forested lands, very rich in surface resources. It is all covered in a thick fog or mist. Its soil is able to cultivate a variety of mysterious and magical plants. Homeland of the peris and later, the gnomes. Demonym: Arafayi.
A dense rainforest full of animals and fruits. The canopy above is tough enough to build cities on, although the large predatory birds here are incredibly dangerous. The sun is hot above the canopy, but the rain feels lovely on the skin. It's not as humid as it is below the canopy, but if water isn't collected from the treetops it may evaporate and the cities would become extremely humid. This would rot the wood they use to build, but to counter this a special resin made of a mix of shellac and sap is used to seal worked wood with just a thin coating, so that it will last much longer in humid conditions. If you aren't used to the humidity though, it could still be pretty miserable. The ground is poor in nutrients but the sheer number of animal life the rainforest can support can sustain the Sengl here. Plant agriculture is mostly harvesting fruit rather than growing crops, and animal husbandry has the most important role for feeding everyone. The local tree species, the sultaniyya tree, lets water remain pure as it is held in the tops of their canopy and their leaves are used for cooking. Homeland of the goblins. Demonym: Saqfi.
An island relatively far out in the sea. Much of it is rocky and barren, and there are very few trees, but field of delicious grass extend for dozens of merhale. Homeland of the mori and later the holbytlan. Demonym: Stallislonder, mori, holbytla.
A temperate region known for its breath-taking landscapes, karst topography, and odd columns of land that jut from the ground, growing unique plants on their sides. No one knows what's on top of them yet, except the true-elves, but they're not telling. Homeland of the humans. Demonym: Inpetan.
Formagrad is an extremely wide republic that contains a variety of biomes, however its roots lie in the tundras to the south and that is the stereotypical image of the republic. Accommodates a nomadic lifestyle well, much like Stallislond. Homeland of the orcs. Demonym: Formagradnik.
A nation near the jungles of Saqf, homeland of the vanara people. Unlike in Saqf, they live below the canopy.
A seafaring civilisation from a mountainous island off the coast of Script. Homeland of the tengu people