Free Realms

The so-called Free Realms are not beholden to a single monarch or state, rather they contain many city-states each led by a titled official; that official either being a King or Queen, Viscount or Viscountess, Grand Duke or Grand Duchess etc. Villages, towns and other cities that fall near a city-state’s location are considered part of its territory and so are under the protection of the local authorities. Many people of the Free Realms are descendants of hardy settlers that wanted to make their own fortune and leave their own mark in the world, although some people are descended from nomads who lived there already.

The Free Realms formed centuries ago when the leaders of each major city came together to the city of Artara, and performed a moot that ended in the formation of the Free Realms with the Treaty of Artara.

Different rulers and, in some extend, different lifestyles sometimes mean tension among the cities but for the most part the city-states live in relative peace and sometimes codependence. In the event of aggression from neighboring realms and kingdoms the Free Realms can assemble a joint military front that can prove very potent in defending the land and counterattacking the enemy force.

The southwestern landscape of the Free Realms is dotted with ancient ruins of the long lost Neryli civilization, like the ones that exist in the Claimed Lands. The Big Bridge that connects the Free Realms and the Claimed Lands was also built by the Neryli as a means of expanding their empire. The Big Bridge is so big that it actually hosts two cities on it. It is one of the greatest and most famous landmarks of Rythalion and it used to be part of a very traveled route, being the only thing that connects the landmass of the Free Realms to the rest of the continent. Now, however, it has closed its gates to the Claimed Lands due to the poor state of security there. So the once celebrated and famous route is now a thing of the past. Other famous regions and locales besides the Big Bridge are the Canary Coast, Bravery's End and the Great Library of Iona among others.

The Free Realms use Common as their main language. There is another language native in this land called Tilder, however it is an almost dead language spoken by very few.