For those on the outside, Fortunata might seem fairly straightforward: a region of countless oasis cities and petty kingdoms, where cultures mingle and caravans of hardy merchants brave both supernatural and “natural” threats to make their fortunes.
The truth, of course, is far more complicated.
Fortunata is defined by what lies beyond the mountains which surround the realm — four competing great powers, all desperate to devour the region’s resources — and by the impossible space within it, which prevents those four powers from direct invasion. The Scar is a cauldron of conflicting magical regions, making journeys hard and military campaigning harder still. This is a land for adventurers, not armies — though one never knows what the four powers might be plotting . . .
To the west of the Scar lies the Great Kingdom of Valmanway: a feudal monarchy so large that the King must rule through a layer of regional lords. The aristocrats occupy their noble hours with feuds and the pursuit of personal honor, snubbing the commerce that funds their lavish lifestyles; the merchants ply their trade, knowing the true power of the kingdom lies in their hands. Keeping a cautious eye on the Red Imperium to the west and the Lestian Empire to the east, Valmanway stands for itself, always aware of just how dangerous an alliance between those two other kingdoms might be . . .
Somewhere off West, beyond Valmanway, is the Red Imperium: a great but barbaric empire with plenty of gold — and an insatiable appetite for the silk which regularly travels through Fortunata to the Lestian Empire. A large regular army guards the Imperium’s dimly known borders, but military might is useless in the quest to enter Fortunata — even without the Great Kingdom of Valmanway blocking all entrances. Instead, espionage is the order of the day: Imperial agents work tirelessly (and stealthily) to open a place for their merchants in Lestia’s lucrative trade — and, even more quietly, to neutralize the Imperial Exiles, who have abandoned the Imperium in their quest for personal gain. If any “gain” can be found in the Scar, of course . . .
To the east of Fortunata is the Lestian Empire, an ancient civilization with hereditary aristocracy, a ready supply of silk, and an aptitude for commerce. Gazing across the Scar to the Great Kingdom of Valmanway, the Lestian Empire always seeks to combat that great rival’s influence. The best move, of course, would be to forge an alliance with the Red Imperium; but, in the meantime, Lestia focuses on what it does best: trading silk, following the “status quo” path of the Four Sages, and maintaining a garrison in Grenadyne: the only city in Fortunata held by one of the Four Powers.
Paying no heed to the three rival kingdoms on either side, the Kallendai dispatch monks and mystics from temples in the Dragon Mountains to do their bidding in Fortunata. They seek Order above all else; and, in the quest for Order, the Kallendai are open to using any and all means — even braving the perilous desert in a search for magical power — to achieve their mysterious ends. The Kallendai appear to be playing their own game, the rules of which only they know, and the outcome of which would undoubtedly spell disaster for the other three powers . . .