Type of government: Democratic Monarchy
Title of leader: King
Considered by many to be the pinnacle of civilization and inclusion across all of Calsin, Sintison has seen more war than perhaps any other country on the continent. When the world was still young, the mighty giants ruled from their enormous capitol city. This land proved to be the focal point of the conflict between the giants and the trolls when trolls were first born, and again with the orcs as the green-skinned warriors came upon the land. Eventually, both the trolls and the orcs allied together to oust the giants from their territory and drive them across the mountain range. The trolls withdrew into the Dark Realm, leaving the land firmly in orcish hands.
This reign lasted for quite some time, though a war council of elves, fearing orcish attacks against the newly-formed Elven Empire, led an assault that drove the orcs from the land down to the south, and established the territory as a sort-of elven buffer land. This buffer territory was subsequently challenged as the dwarves rose up from under the mountains and attempted to claim the land as their own, only to be driven back into the mountains by the elves once more.
The final and greatest conflict came with the Giant War, a formal conflict that occurred when the giants charged across the mountain range and attempted to reclaim the land as their own. The war against them cost millions of lives from all known races, but successfully repelled the attack and left the stretch of territory broken and ruined. Realizing that leaving the land vacant wasn't a good idea anymore, the leading generals of the armies forged a pact together to form a new and inclusive country. They elected a king, the dwarven general Florific, and began to establish cities from there.
There are two important facts to note about Sintison with regard to its map. The first is that, unlike many other countries of Calsin, the kings of Sintison have never required formal approval for the formation of cities. This has had multiple effects, one of the foremost being that at any given time, there are dozens if not hundreds of smaller settlements dotting the landscape. As these are formed without approval, the vast majority have no governors, proper structure, or official standing with the Sintison government, and subsequently have never appeared on any maps. The second fact to note is that it continued to experience its share of war following its formation. Dozens of minor wars have rocked its soil, ranging from civil wars to minor invasions, which has resulted in a tumultuous history that isn't always the easiest to track.
Despite being primarily elven and dwarven to start, the country has always allowed any and all species to join, and is the only country in Calsin where no one species holds a majority over the rest of the population. Humans were allowed to join as free men almost immediately upon their discovery, though this was kept a secret by the countries that enjoyed enslaving and using humanity. Even orcs are allowed as free citizens, though only if they agree to certain restrictions against public violence. Since its foundation, it has stood as a pillar of growth, often pushing policies and technologies far beyond that of other nations. Very little is considered taboo, a fact that both excites and worries many individuals. One thing is for certain, though. In a straight-up fight, there are very few nations that could stand a chance against the power that Sintison now wields... And there are very few nations who will even dare to contradict anything that the kings of Sintison issue.
Donenrot
Many cities in Calsin will make claims to fame, such as having the best bakery on the continent or the highest walls. Many of them will be well-warranted, accurately describing a specific feat or wonder found within those walls. None of these cities, though, however they may try, can likely stand against the might of Donenrot.
Thousands of years before the Giant War, the giants had built up an extraordinary castle, which they dubbed "Donenrot." After their demise at the hands of the orcs, the castle fell into ruins, and over the millennia was covered in dirt and soil and became a small mountain rising from the plains. After the giants were routed in the war, King Florific declared that it would be the first and greatest city in the new land of Sintison. Construction began immediately, with elves drawing new buildings up from the soil while the dwarves tunneled deep into the ruins. Using the ancient city as a blueprint of sorts, a true metropolis took form.
At the present day, Donenrot stands as the single largest city in Calsin almost any way you look at it. Traveling wall to wall at its narrowest point covers a distance of nearly thirty miles, while its population is numbered in the hundreds of thousands. The castle, set at the pinnacle of the ancient ruin, is larger than many small villages, and is often completely obscured by clouds on drearier days. Crime is almost nonexistent, as legal fighting pits stand here and there across the city for citizens to take out their aggression within. Hundreds of restaurants and taverns dot the city, dozens of art galleries support and display the work of immensely talented painters, sculptors, and authors, and open laboratories allow the illustrious minds to experiment and bring about their wildest dreams. Still other locations allow for the free practice of magic in nearly all forms, while almost every recognized religion has a temple or meeting house at some location. Many individuals have been born within the walls, grown up, and died of old age without ever having to leave the protection of the great city.
Dindriir
Built on the border of Elsinor and Sintison, Dindriir was originally built as a fortress to protect against any giant attacks. The giants hadn’t shown any major interest in leading an assault at that point, but the elves wanted to be prepared nonetheless. As such, dozens of elaborate traps were constructed, ranging from pits filled with spikes to magically-produced sinkholes.
In the end, the fortress only saw one single battle, towards the end of the war with the giants. After building up traps for hundreds of years, the giants weren’t even able to get close, and soon retreated. As the soldiers from the war began to settle in the newly-formed land, treaties drawn up with King Florific allowed Sintison to use part of the fortress, creating the city that stands to this day.
Goistour
The second of the border cities between Elsinor and Sintison, Goistour was first established during the Giant War. As soldiers from all nations flocked through the Elven Empire to do battle, many of them began placing their tents at that particular location. It quickly became a popular place to settle, and soon, walls rose to form a makeshift garrison.
Following the conclusion of the war, many of the soldiers drifted back to Goistouor due to their time spent inside its walls. Elsinor and Sintison both accepted it as a new border city, and it gradually expanded into a great center of trade between the two nations.
Ordi
Much like Donenrot, the fortress of Ordi holds a number of records across Calsin. For starters, it stands as the single largest fortress on the continent, housing anywhere between one and two thousand soldiers at any one time. In addition, according to various dwarven scholars and scientists, the enchantments contained in and powered by the fortress are the most powerful ever crafted.
Following the declaration of Sintison as its own country, it became obvious that they needed to find a way to keep the giants behind the mountains for good. In response to this, dozens of dwarven workers began to muddle on the issue, eventually returning to Taninor and purchasing thousands of gemstones with which to create a massively powerful enchantment that eventually powered a force field up and down the length of the mountain range. To protect this enchantment, a fortress was built up around it, and guarded by as many soldiers as they could rally. To this day, that remains the primary purpose of the fortress, to maintain the field. A small suburb eventually sprang up around the walls, as soldiers got married and vendors brought items to sell to the armored guardians.
Istrid
Another extraordinarily powerful fortress, Istrid is only considered unimpressive when compared to Ordi. It was constructed around a century after Ordi when a giant managed to smash through a weak portion of the field. After a bit of handiwork by the dwarves, more enchantments were applied at Istrid, creating a second field across the mountains to bolster the strength of the first one. Like Ordi, it maintains a large group of soldiers to guard the field, around five hundred at any time, as well as a suburb for families and shopkeeps.
Ritin
One of the smaller cities in Sintison, Ritin has gone through quite a lot of change over the years. It was one of the first cities built, founded shortly after Ordi was constructed. At the time, it was mostly designed as a training camp for those who desired to continue serving as warriors instead of integrating back into civilian life. As the years went on and the force field was raised over the mountains, it began to take on a bit of a different form. Traders gathered to the city, thankful for the protection. As it grew more and more crowded, the soldiers and garrison moved out to other camps, but left the city behind. At that point, eager to occupy the former military headquarters and curious what the soldiers may have accidentally left behind, the city experienced a small population boom before leveling out again. Over the years, it has grown and shrunk as other developments have occurred across Sintison, but has never vanished entirely.
Ondelsour
Hailed as one of the greatest failures of the aqahartis people, the city of Ondelsour was established as the aqahartis flowed up and onto land, forming the new country of Tifingor. Prior to that point, Sintison had been around for a little over a thousand years. It had grown, expanded, and changed, but had done very little to expand to the south. The kings considered it unsuited for proper civilization, so outside of the various fortresses intended to keep the orcs in check, they largely avoided the sweeping western plains of Calsin.
When news reached Sintison of the formation of the aqahartis and Tifingor, the king at the time, a human woman named Fedlora, ordered that no official help be sent to them. They would be welcomed if they wanted to journey up and join the kingdom, but no military aid would be provided. When she died and was succeeded by King Selphora, her daughter, the aqahartis were just beginning to expand outward.
King Selphora eventually received the word that she had been dreading: The aqahartis wanted to build a border city, and in fact had already started construction. This was particularly crucial, as a large number of aqahartis had independently traveled up and integrated into Sintison's society, proving themselves quite valuable. That said, despite their contributions, there was no telling how an alliance of any sort with a fledgling country would work. If the aqahartis were invaded by the orcs, Sintison would be called upon to defend them. If they were attacked by the dwarves, a not-unlikely scenario, Sintison would be forced to betray its close ally, Taninor.
In the end, King Selphora decided to simply send her armies south to evaluate the situation. Her soldiers stayed the winter with the aqahartis colonists, who were unsuited for the brutality of the Sintison snows, returning in the spring with words of encouragement about the young species. After some thought, King Selphora agreed to explore the possibility of an alliance. It took several more years, involving emissaries sent to Elsinor, Taninor, and Tifingor, but eventually, a proper city was built out of the trying and difficult beginning.
Ourfidrinot
The second border city between Sintison and Tifingor was not established until many years later, as the newfound country of aqahartis continued to grow and expand. The Tirfin of Tifingor, Fersiv, sent out several envoys to King Lorsil, a dark elf of some power. When the emissaries arrived, he agreed, though it was more to keep an eye on the aqahartis than anything else. To help with this, he sent a rather large army down to watch the aqahartis build, though he offered no resources from Sintison to do so.
It wasn't long before word drifted back from his armies about the true courage and might of the aqahartis. With their already-short lifespans, there was little that they would refuse to tackle, and built a city up out of the plains with extraordinary speed. As soon as he heard this, King Lorsil authorized citizens of Sintison to travel down to join the project, allowing the city to rise to prominence in only a few short years.
Gliig
An objectively gorgeous and majestic city, Gliig was first conceived around the time of the Dwarven Civil War. A large number of clerics in Donenrot were growing increasingly concerned with the amount of what they considered to be immoral behavior in the enormous capitol city. What exactly this behavior concerned varied from cleric to cleric, but it was enough to bother nearly all of them. Together, over a hundred clerics from several dozen religions banded together and set off into the wilderness to found a sanctuary.
This... Went about as well as one might expect. As stated above, different clerics had differing ideas of what morality concerned. For example, the dwarven highsands detested the public fighting pits for their unnecessary bloodshed, while the dark elven persphonix cheered the sport as a right and true process of nature. As the clerics settled down and began to build up their churches, with the intention of attracting large numbers of true faithful, they decided to build one single church in honor of the god who created all of Calsin, which was to include all aspects of all known religions.
The church still stands to this day, and is considered one of the most impressive works of architecture outside of the elven empires. The other churches that were being built... Not so much. Dozens of fights quickly sprang up among the clergy, driving them apart and ultimately resulting in the whole project collapsing. Only a handful of the priests stayed, each one hoping that they would be the last and be able to lay claim to the structure they had built up together. In the end, it was King Gucoros who marched in and declared that, as it was made for the creator god, no cleric of any would ever hold a service within it. This more or less settled the deal, though by the time that was completed, a large settlement had sprung up around the structure, and has stayed to this day.
Title of leader: King
Considered by many to be the pinnacle of civilization and inclusion across all of Calsin, Sintison has seen more war than perhaps any other country on the continent. When the world was still young, the mighty giants ruled from their enormous capitol city. This land proved to be the focal point of the conflict between the giants and the trolls when trolls were first born, and again with the orcs as the green-skinned warriors came upon the land. Eventually, both the trolls and the orcs allied together to oust the giants from their territory and drive them across the mountain range. The trolls withdrew into the Dark Realm, leaving the land firmly in orcish hands.
This reign lasted for quite some time, though a war council of elves, fearing orcish attacks against the newly-formed Elven Empire, led an assault that drove the orcs from the land down to the south, and established the territory as a sort-of elven buffer land. This buffer territory was subsequently challenged as the dwarves rose up from under the mountains and attempted to claim the land as their own, only to be driven back into the mountains by the elves once more.
The final and greatest conflict came with the Giant War, a formal conflict that occurred when the giants charged across the mountain range and attempted to reclaim the land as their own. The war against them cost millions of lives from all known races, but successfully repelled the attack and left the stretch of territory broken and ruined. Realizing that leaving the land vacant wasn't a good idea anymore, the leading generals of the armies forged a pact together to form a new and inclusive country. They elected a king, the dwarven general Florific, and began to establish cities from there.
There are two important facts to note about Sintison with regard to its map. The first is that, unlike many other countries of Calsin, the kings of Sintison have never required formal approval for the formation of cities. This has had multiple effects, one of the foremost being that at any given time, there are dozens if not hundreds of smaller settlements dotting the landscape. As these are formed without approval, the vast majority have no governors, proper structure, or official standing with the Sintison government, and subsequently have never appeared on any maps. The second fact to note is that it continued to experience its share of war following its formation. Dozens of minor wars have rocked its soil, ranging from civil wars to minor invasions, which has resulted in a tumultuous history that isn't always the easiest to track.
Despite being primarily elven and dwarven to start, the country has always allowed any and all species to join, and is the only country in Calsin where no one species holds a majority over the rest of the population. Humans were allowed to join as free men almost immediately upon their discovery, though this was kept a secret by the countries that enjoyed enslaving and using humanity. Even orcs are allowed as free citizens, though only if they agree to certain restrictions against public violence. Since its foundation, it has stood as a pillar of growth, often pushing policies and technologies far beyond that of other nations. Very little is considered taboo, a fact that both excites and worries many individuals. One thing is for certain, though. In a straight-up fight, there are very few nations that could stand a chance against the power that Sintison now wields... And there are very few nations who will even dare to contradict anything that the kings of Sintison issue.
Donenrot
Many cities in Calsin will make claims to fame, such as having the best bakery on the continent or the highest walls. Many of them will be well-warranted, accurately describing a specific feat or wonder found within those walls. None of these cities, though, however they may try, can likely stand against the might of Donenrot.
Thousands of years before the Giant War, the giants had built up an extraordinary castle, which they dubbed "Donenrot." After their demise at the hands of the orcs, the castle fell into ruins, and over the millennia was covered in dirt and soil and became a small mountain rising from the plains. After the giants were routed in the war, King Florific declared that it would be the first and greatest city in the new land of Sintison. Construction began immediately, with elves drawing new buildings up from the soil while the dwarves tunneled deep into the ruins. Using the ancient city as a blueprint of sorts, a true metropolis took form.
At the present day, Donenrot stands as the single largest city in Calsin almost any way you look at it. Traveling wall to wall at its narrowest point covers a distance of nearly thirty miles, while its population is numbered in the hundreds of thousands. The castle, set at the pinnacle of the ancient ruin, is larger than many small villages, and is often completely obscured by clouds on drearier days. Crime is almost nonexistent, as legal fighting pits stand here and there across the city for citizens to take out their aggression within. Hundreds of restaurants and taverns dot the city, dozens of art galleries support and display the work of immensely talented painters, sculptors, and authors, and open laboratories allow the illustrious minds to experiment and bring about their wildest dreams. Still other locations allow for the free practice of magic in nearly all forms, while almost every recognized religion has a temple or meeting house at some location. Many individuals have been born within the walls, grown up, and died of old age without ever having to leave the protection of the great city.
Dindriir
Built on the border of Elsinor and Sintison, Dindriir was originally built as a fortress to protect against any giant attacks. The giants hadn’t shown any major interest in leading an assault at that point, but the elves wanted to be prepared nonetheless. As such, dozens of elaborate traps were constructed, ranging from pits filled with spikes to magically-produced sinkholes.
In the end, the fortress only saw one single battle, towards the end of the war with the giants. After building up traps for hundreds of years, the giants weren’t even able to get close, and soon retreated. As the soldiers from the war began to settle in the newly-formed land, treaties drawn up with King Florific allowed Sintison to use part of the fortress, creating the city that stands to this day.
Goistour
The second of the border cities between Elsinor and Sintison, Goistour was first established during the Giant War. As soldiers from all nations flocked through the Elven Empire to do battle, many of them began placing their tents at that particular location. It quickly became a popular place to settle, and soon, walls rose to form a makeshift garrison.
Following the conclusion of the war, many of the soldiers drifted back to Goistouor due to their time spent inside its walls. Elsinor and Sintison both accepted it as a new border city, and it gradually expanded into a great center of trade between the two nations.
Ordi
Much like Donenrot, the fortress of Ordi holds a number of records across Calsin. For starters, it stands as the single largest fortress on the continent, housing anywhere between one and two thousand soldiers at any one time. In addition, according to various dwarven scholars and scientists, the enchantments contained in and powered by the fortress are the most powerful ever crafted.
Following the declaration of Sintison as its own country, it became obvious that they needed to find a way to keep the giants behind the mountains for good. In response to this, dozens of dwarven workers began to muddle on the issue, eventually returning to Taninor and purchasing thousands of gemstones with which to create a massively powerful enchantment that eventually powered a force field up and down the length of the mountain range. To protect this enchantment, a fortress was built up around it, and guarded by as many soldiers as they could rally. To this day, that remains the primary purpose of the fortress, to maintain the field. A small suburb eventually sprang up around the walls, as soldiers got married and vendors brought items to sell to the armored guardians.
Istrid
Another extraordinarily powerful fortress, Istrid is only considered unimpressive when compared to Ordi. It was constructed around a century after Ordi when a giant managed to smash through a weak portion of the field. After a bit of handiwork by the dwarves, more enchantments were applied at Istrid, creating a second field across the mountains to bolster the strength of the first one. Like Ordi, it maintains a large group of soldiers to guard the field, around five hundred at any time, as well as a suburb for families and shopkeeps.
Ritin
One of the smaller cities in Sintison, Ritin has gone through quite a lot of change over the years. It was one of the first cities built, founded shortly after Ordi was constructed. At the time, it was mostly designed as a training camp for those who desired to continue serving as warriors instead of integrating back into civilian life. As the years went on and the force field was raised over the mountains, it began to take on a bit of a different form. Traders gathered to the city, thankful for the protection. As it grew more and more crowded, the soldiers and garrison moved out to other camps, but left the city behind. At that point, eager to occupy the former military headquarters and curious what the soldiers may have accidentally left behind, the city experienced a small population boom before leveling out again. Over the years, it has grown and shrunk as other developments have occurred across Sintison, but has never vanished entirely.
Ondelsour
Hailed as one of the greatest failures of the aqahartis people, the city of Ondelsour was established as the aqahartis flowed up and onto land, forming the new country of Tifingor. Prior to that point, Sintison had been around for a little over a thousand years. It had grown, expanded, and changed, but had done very little to expand to the south. The kings considered it unsuited for proper civilization, so outside of the various fortresses intended to keep the orcs in check, they largely avoided the sweeping western plains of Calsin.
When news reached Sintison of the formation of the aqahartis and Tifingor, the king at the time, a human woman named Fedlora, ordered that no official help be sent to them. They would be welcomed if they wanted to journey up and join the kingdom, but no military aid would be provided. When she died and was succeeded by King Selphora, her daughter, the aqahartis were just beginning to expand outward.
King Selphora eventually received the word that she had been dreading: The aqahartis wanted to build a border city, and in fact had already started construction. This was particularly crucial, as a large number of aqahartis had independently traveled up and integrated into Sintison's society, proving themselves quite valuable. That said, despite their contributions, there was no telling how an alliance of any sort with a fledgling country would work. If the aqahartis were invaded by the orcs, Sintison would be called upon to defend them. If they were attacked by the dwarves, a not-unlikely scenario, Sintison would be forced to betray its close ally, Taninor.
In the end, King Selphora decided to simply send her armies south to evaluate the situation. Her soldiers stayed the winter with the aqahartis colonists, who were unsuited for the brutality of the Sintison snows, returning in the spring with words of encouragement about the young species. After some thought, King Selphora agreed to explore the possibility of an alliance. It took several more years, involving emissaries sent to Elsinor, Taninor, and Tifingor, but eventually, a proper city was built out of the trying and difficult beginning.
Ourfidrinot
The second border city between Sintison and Tifingor was not established until many years later, as the newfound country of aqahartis continued to grow and expand. The Tirfin of Tifingor, Fersiv, sent out several envoys to King Lorsil, a dark elf of some power. When the emissaries arrived, he agreed, though it was more to keep an eye on the aqahartis than anything else. To help with this, he sent a rather large army down to watch the aqahartis build, though he offered no resources from Sintison to do so.
It wasn't long before word drifted back from his armies about the true courage and might of the aqahartis. With their already-short lifespans, there was little that they would refuse to tackle, and built a city up out of the plains with extraordinary speed. As soon as he heard this, King Lorsil authorized citizens of Sintison to travel down to join the project, allowing the city to rise to prominence in only a few short years.
Gliig
An objectively gorgeous and majestic city, Gliig was first conceived around the time of the Dwarven Civil War. A large number of clerics in Donenrot were growing increasingly concerned with the amount of what they considered to be immoral behavior in the enormous capitol city. What exactly this behavior concerned varied from cleric to cleric, but it was enough to bother nearly all of them. Together, over a hundred clerics from several dozen religions banded together and set off into the wilderness to found a sanctuary.
This... Went about as well as one might expect. As stated above, different clerics had differing ideas of what morality concerned. For example, the dwarven highsands detested the public fighting pits for their unnecessary bloodshed, while the dark elven persphonix cheered the sport as a right and true process of nature. As the clerics settled down and began to build up their churches, with the intention of attracting large numbers of true faithful, they decided to build one single church in honor of the god who created all of Calsin, which was to include all aspects of all known religions.
The church still stands to this day, and is considered one of the most impressive works of architecture outside of the elven empires. The other churches that were being built... Not so much. Dozens of fights quickly sprang up among the clergy, driving them apart and ultimately resulting in the whole project collapsing. Only a handful of the priests stayed, each one hoping that they would be the last and be able to lay claim to the structure they had built up together. In the end, it was King Gucoros who marched in and declared that, as it was made for the creator god, no cleric of any would ever hold a service within it. This more or less settled the deal, though by the time that was completed, a large settlement had sprung up around the structure, and has stayed to this day.
