When I discovered the
glorious game of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D) back in 1983 in high school, I knew
right away that I wanted to run or Dungeon Master (DM) my own game. Not
long thereafter, I realized that rather than use one of the
commercially-produced worlds out there, I wanted to make a world of my
own.
Thus sprouted the concept of the
world of Irith, which I began creating by mapping continents on graph
paper using colored pencils. It was my pride and joy and has grown into a
solid world with a rich environment for players to game in and
provide a basis for my upcoming books and other stories. Nearly three
decades later, I'm still going. I look forward to the next batch of true
adventurers who can help me weave the next tapestry to add to Irith. Along
the way, I hope that readers of my fantasy books will find value in this
site.
Here, you can explore the maps and
those areas I've fleshed out to get a richer vision of the canvas I'm
trying to paint. You'll find information about the various kingdoms and
their histories and much more. If you have any questions or concerns, let
me know. I look forward to helping you enjoy Irith as much as I've enjoyed
creating it.
What is Irith?
Irith is a world with many
splendors to spark the imagination and dangers to destroy the body and
corrupt the soul. Irith itself consists of five continents: Houress, Clorne, Drakiria,
The Top of the World (Arctic North Pole) and Irith's Heel (Southern
Arctic Pole).
Houress
and Clorne are populated, largely civilized places. Next to nothing is
known about the mysterious Drakiria, for no one has ever claimed to have been from
there or if they have, they have never admitted to it. Those who have
sailed there have ever returned. The Top of the World and Irith's Heel are
cold, desolate, inhospitable places. Only a few rare tribes of humans and
other humanoids live there, and those from the "civilized" continents have
little reason to travel to these two places of extreme.
This is a single grayish
moon that hangs in the sky above Irith. It is called by many names: Night
Sun, Lunaria, Ithil, Cluthaau, Kr'Thur, etc. Most commonly it is referred
to simply as "the moon."
In
terms of today, the First Age of Man is undocumented and nothing
survives from the era to give clues about the tragic time. There only exists
rumor and speculation. This Age is referred to by scholars and historians
simply as the “Cleansing of the Light.” It was a time of pestilence and
famine when the population had nearly reached extinction from a blight
that suddenly came upon the world. It was a harsh time for Irith, and for
nearly two-and-a-half centuries, the survivors fought to survive and
repopulate.
Today, the Second Age is largely undocumented other than common references
in bibles and other religious tomes that herald the return of the gods to
the heavens to guide the lost sheep on the troubled world below. It is
also said that during the next thousand years, the gods took the world of
Irith and seeded magic so that it would grow and proliferate. This led to
the rise of magical creatures and animals, as well as the different
non-human races that began to grow and spread.
The religious texts talk of how the gods sought to cleanse the world of
past teachings that served only to corrupt the people and eventually lead
to their downfall.
The Second Age lasted nearly
a half a millennium. It ended with the great War of the Word, where people
loyal to the gods they worshipped pursued and conquered the last surviving
generations from the First Age, effectively destroying the last vestiges
of a time the gods would have the people of Irith forget about.
Today,
the Third Age of Man is referred to as Age of Expansion, and there is only
a bit more historical documentation on the events of this time. As the
beliefs of the gods in the heavens took hold over the population on Irith,
the people there began to grow and prosper. The gods were aggressive in
asking their followers to spread their word across the lands, which were
returning to the lush vitality it had before the Cleansing of the Light.
Communities began to forge into countries and then kingdoms and empires.
It was a slow process, for the repopulation of the world took many
centuries. Growth was hard, though, as many of the humanoids that rose to
power as a result of magic in the land sought to gain dominance. Wars
raged constantly across the land. After nearly 800 years, humans
established themselves firmly as the dominant race on Irith. At the end of
the Third Age, a common calendar was developed with the agreed-upon year
beginning at “1”.
The
Fourth Age of man only lasted about 748 years. The last century-and-a-half of the
Fourth Age is marked by the rise of the dark Queendom of
Varanady. Varanady dominated Southern Houress both by arms and influence.
The White Queen and her armies had most of the eastern half of Southern Houress
firmly under control and her influence stretched far and wide, disrupting
lands and people abroad. Her influence was so great that she herself
declared that a new age had dawned and ordered her historians to document
the event accordingly. But her empire was short lived after that, and she
was brought down by an alliance of her own people and those of Regdon.
Despite the fall of the queendom, the designation of the new age—to be
called the “Fifth Age”--remained.
The
fall of Varanady brought a desire upon the people to forget about the
White Queen and the grief and suffering she had caused. Nations were
forged from the shattered lands and allies retreated home to lick their
wounds and rebuild their populations. A time of relative peace settled
upon Houress, which is where we find ourselves today.
The Fifth Age of Man is also
referred to now as the "Age of Rebirth."
Irith is a world with many
splendors to spark the imagination and dangers to destroy the body and
corrupt the soul. Irith itself consists of five continents: Houress, Clorne, Drakiria,
The Top of the World (Arctic North Pole) and Irith's Heel (Southern
Arctic Pole). 
In
terms of today, the First Age of Man is undocumented and nothing
survives from the era to give clues about the tragic time. There only exists
rumor and speculation. This Age is referred to by scholars and historians
simply as the “Cleansing of the Light.” It was a time of pestilence and
famine when the population had nearly reached extinction from a blight
that suddenly came upon the world. It was a harsh time for Irith, and for
nearly two-and-a-half centuries, the survivors fought to survive and
repopulate.
Today, the Second Age is largely undocumented other than common references
in bibles and other religious tomes that herald the return of the gods to
the heavens to guide the lost sheep on the troubled world below. It is
also said that during the next thousand years, the gods took the world of
Irith and seeded magic so that it would grow and proliferate. This led to
the rise of magical creatures and animals, as well as the different
non-human races that began to grow and spread.
Today,
the Third Age of Man is referred to as Age of Expansion, and there is only
a bit more historical documentation on the events of this time. As the
beliefs of the gods in the heavens took hold over the population on Irith,
the people there began to grow and prosper. The gods were aggressive in
asking their followers to spread their word across the lands, which were
returning to the lush vitality it had before the Cleansing of the Light.
Communities began to forge into countries and then kingdoms and empires.
It was a slow process, for the repopulation of the world took many
centuries. Growth was hard, though, as many of the humanoids that rose to
power as a result of magic in the land sought to gain dominance. Wars
raged constantly across the land. After nearly 800 years, humans
established themselves firmly as the dominant race on Irith. At the end of
the Third Age, a common calendar was developed with the agreed-upon year
beginning at “1”.
The
Fourth Age of man only lasted about 748 years. The last century-and-a-half of the
Fourth Age is marked by the rise of the dark Queendom of
Varanady. Varanady dominated Southern Houress both by arms and influence.
The White Queen and her armies had most of the eastern half of Southern Houress
firmly under control and her influence stretched far and wide, disrupting
lands and people abroad. Her influence was so great that she herself
declared that a new age had dawned and ordered her historians to document
the event accordingly. But her empire was short lived after that, and she
was brought down by an alliance of her own people and those of Regdon.
Despite the fall of the queendom, the designation of the new age—to be
called the “Fifth Age”--remained.
The
fall of Varanady brought a desire upon the people to forget about the
White Queen and the grief and suffering she had caused. Nations were
forged from the shattered lands and allies retreated home to lick their
wounds and rebuild their populations. A time of relative peace settled
upon Houress, which is where we find ourselves today.