Introduction
In this section you’ll find important information about the magical world where our story takes place, just in case you are curious or want to get to know Eridan a bit better.
Important! This section won’t have any spoilers per se, but, as the story advances, it will be updated with facts and data mentioned in it. When that happens, which data is new will be specified to avoid spoilers and ruin the experience to newcomer readers.
That being said, I leave us with a bit of History of this world, important data about its organization and a map made by myself with my awful management of Adobe Illustrator.
About Eridan
A coven of old druids and witches, descendants from the Celtics and casted away by the society of the moment created Eridan to offer its people a better world, away from disputes, fights and wars over the territory, quite commons during the Middle Ages. The First Queen, Eleanor, was the daughter of the Chief of the Druids, who died even before he had the chance to reign. She assumed the leadership, as her father’s dying wish. Since then, the firstborn women descending from Eleanor have taken the helm of Eridan.
Amelia Harried, on Eridan’s creation.
Eridan is the name given by a Celtic coven from the Isle of Man to the magical world they created thanks to some powerful and legendary spells. This new world was ideated to mimic Earth and its likeness, as it was familiar and known to humanity, and was generated thanks to the fully extents of magic; that means, with both, Light and Darkness, the only power that can create life. It was conceived to satisfy the needs of its creator, Chief Druid Ephraim, father to the eventual First Queen Eleanor, who sought for a stable and war-free place to offer to his people.
Is one of the main settings of our story, where a lot of the action takes place, as it is the magic world Evelyn Anderson is destined to save and guide.
Territorial Order
Like the Earth, a great part of Eridan is formed by water, and, despite the many secrets and surprises the world may hide, the majority of human population gathers in one stretch of land. The world nourishes form magic, and functions thanks to it.
Eridan is divided in six main regions:
1. Domains of the Light
Under direct command of the Royal Family, the descendants of First Queen Eleanor, the region is the centre of Eridan’s political power and is considered the world’s “capital”. As such, most of important commercials and cultural events are held in its grounds, which congregate important economic activity. The region is specialized in business such as fishing, livestock and agriculture thanks to its large extension of lands and coast, but it also has power in armoury, metal handcraft, and, specially, magical investigation, where is an unique pioneer. Climate is warm in spring and hot in summer, but quite cold in winter. Now, and due to lack of a full-time heir to the throne, the land is ruled by the Council of the Five. Its representative colours are silver and turquoise blue, the colours of the Royal House.
2. Dukedom of the East
Also called “The warrior dukedom”, the piece of land controlled by the House of Holt is specialized in all kinds of weaponry crafting: its people are military by tradition, carrying battle in their veins. Is the greenest region, considered the lung of the continent due to its dense and numerous forests and meadows. Thanks to the moderate climate and the presence of several of the most important rivers in the continent, the East is also the most fertile land in Eridan, so the rest of its economic power comes from agriculture, livestock and forest industry. It is also the most fertile land in Eridan thanks to its soft and moderate climate and the curse of several of the most important rivers of the place, so the rest of its power comes from agriculture, livestock and forest industry. It has good commercial relationships with all regions, though they are particularly goo with the West. Its representative colour is green.
3. Dukedom of the North
People of the North are said to be made of a special material, probably because it is the place with the hardest and toughest conditions in all Eridan thanks to its temperatures of extreme cold in the months of winter, its intense rains and snowfalls and the thick mountain ranges that surround the land in almost its whole entirety. It may be the least habited Dukedom in Eridan, but not the least proficient: three of the most important rivers in Eridan are born in its domains, and it harbours almost all the mining production. It also has an important fishing exploitation. It used to be a spot for industry development, but the war against Darkness has forced to paralyze those ambitions, damaging them seriously. It is directed by House Avery and its representative colour is indigo. Right now, the land is not in good terms with the West for reasons…let’s say complicated.
4. Dukedom of the South
If there’s something in which the Southern Duchy excels specially, beside its warm temperatures and its beaches, is its textile assemble and industry of materials, in which competes against the North. The South is a cultural hive: it accumulates a huge amount of architectural patrimony. Thanks to its kilometers of coast, its levels of fishing are also quite powerful. Its lands are mostly plain; its climate is, generally, dry, so the South usually suffers from drought and problems of water’s scarcity. Nevertheless, it has good commercial relationships with the West, in whose frontiers is located a big lake whose resources they both share. Their colours are yellow and orange, and it is under the command of House Isen.
5. Dukedom of the West
Particularly well versed in construction, the Dukedom of the West it has always been one of Eridan’s richest regions: its climate is balanced, it has enough forests and green lands to have a powerful forestry industry, counts with one of the biggest river of the continent and is skilled at livestock and agriculture. It is also a zone with important commercial and economic activity; it has particularly good relationships with the South and the East, though bad ones with the North and the Domains of Light. The grounds that lock down the Darkness’ dissidents used to belong to the West, and they were “handed over” following orders from the Royal House, so Barclay Family, which has ruled the Dukedom since its creation, is not particularly happy about that. Its representative colour is purple.
6. Domains of the Darkness
After their defeat at the end of the First War with the Darkness, the followers of the Lord of Darkness were incarcerated on those grounds, previously a part of the Dukedom of the West, and sealed behind a magical barrier in the surrounding forest, The Forest of Doom. What exactly lies behind that wilds is, in fact, unknown those days, though military secret reports speak about a fortress known as the Lair of Darkness…and the possibility of a side much more organized and prepared for war than the Council would have liked to.
Though each Dukedom is independent, all of them are subjected to the authority of the central government, that being said, the Royal Family and the Council of the Five, except, of course, the Domains of Darkness.