The Earth’s Round, on which mankind lives, is much indented, as it is an ancient world, with tens of millennia of past civilizations from throughout the planes. It is covered with vast seas which lie between its great pangeistic continent and the numerous charted and uncharted islands of all sizes. Most of the population of The Earth’s Round dwells on The Continent, which covers almost a third of the world’s surface area, and there has been little to no contact with the ancient cultures across the seas.
Upon The Continent, there are 6 dominant cultures -The Maha Empire, The Kingdom of Ypsalla, The Achaean League, The Kingdom of Tara, The Kingdom of Tomer, and The Shinarian Empire. It is possible that there are still kingdoms across the seas which are unknown in the present time, and indeed, the codices of Sturla the Sage recall legends of forgotten lands and cultures across the ocean.
CLIMATE & SEASONS
In the present age, climates on The Earth’s Round vary primarily according to latitude, although aberrant or anomalous climatic regions can be found in small pockets. Most regions within approximately twenty-five degrees on either side of the equator have a tropical climate, although higher elevations in this latitudinal zone may have somewhat cooler temperatures and subtropical ecosystems. For the most part, these regions are warm and humid year round with a rainy season lasting two or three lunar cycles. Flora tends to be lush and prolific.
Latitudes from twenty-five to forty degrees of latitude (north or south) experience four seasons, with mild winters and extended spring and summer seasons that tend to be warm and only mildly humid or even arid in some locations. Many locations are able to cultivate a wide variety of crops nearly year round. This is one of the most hospitable climatic regions of The Earth’s Round.
North (or south) of forty degrees of latitude spring and fall seasons are usually short and wet, summers are warm but relatively short, and winters are long and harsh with frequent precipitation. In general, temperatures are colder in these regions, but judicious use of the short growing season allows for robust settled communities and even civilizations.
Regions north or south of seventy degrees of latitude seldom experience temperatures above freezing, and generally cannot sustain humanoid settlement excepting special circumstances, uncommon but not unknown.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
The vast, indented, pangeistic continent that covers a little over a third of the surface of The Earth’s Round is the only known continental landmass. The next largest land masses are the island of Beltaine off the continent’s northwest coast, and the island of Achaea off the southwest side. Sailors from all cultures have brought back tales of lands found beyond known seas since time out of mind, but as yet most continental sages are of the opinion that little will be found in the vast oceans but small scattered islands without large populations or civilizations, although some of those may be very mysterious, little known, and exotic indeed.