Big map of Irdya: GSE edition

[Mechanical]

The main goal of the GSE has always been to expand the world of Wesnoth. I'm looking at this era as a mod for the region of Irdia east of the kingdom of Wesnoth. I used to be busy creating factions. Now 6 factions are done, and I started designing the lore. I started with the map, as it helps visualize the place of the steppe factions in the Wesnoth universe.

Some people have tried to create a big map of Irdia before. I don't like their approach. Unknown lands were filled with random terrain and random races from default (or some addons). These races did not have a connected history, culture, state. There was a feeling that the only civilization was Wesnoth in the west, and the rest of the lands were inhabited by small "wild" tribes (and somewhere there must be the advanced dunefolk).

I offer a completely different perspective. In my version, the eastern lands of Irdia are inhabited by new peoples who have an ancient history, state, religion, and culture. They are connected with each other by a complex system of political relations and often arrange bloody wars. The East of Irdia, in my understanding, is the territory of dark fantasy in "Asian" colors. The cultures I have presented are quite different from classic fantasy based on Western Europe.

In fact, I have a lot of lore about the history, culture, and society of the eastern factions. But little has been translated into English so far. I will try to briefly tell you the history of the region and each state. Think of it as your main points. (In the future, all these theses will be detailed in my articles on the wiki and in the game).

General cosmology:

- In the beginning of time, worlds appeared from cosmic particles. From light particles - the "upper" worlds, from heavy particles - the lower worlds. At their junction are "middle" material worlds. Irdia is one of them.
- Each world has unique material and non-material resources. When beings from one world become advanced enough, they can infiltrate other worlds to obtain these resources.

History of the region:

- In the Primitive Era, Irdia developed in the same way as our planet. The animal world evolved. Races were formed from primitive populations (humans, ogres, elves, etc.)
- At some point, the Hierarchs of the lower world found Irdia. They sent their demon servants there. The demons took over the huge Primordial Monster Beasts and began to keep sentient populations at bay. This fear they passed on to their masters. The Hierarchs fed on it and drew strength from it. Cults of worship of monsters appeared.
- Centuries later, the world of Irdia responded with the appearance of the Dragon. The Dragon was the incarnation of Irdia. He flew in from the North Pole and destroyed many otherworldly monsters. In the northern regions of the East, a good cult of the Dragon has appeared.
- Hierarchs of the Lower world sent a new Servant to figure out why the monsters stopped transmitting fear. They armed him with terrible dark magic.
- The Servant went to Irdia and killed the Dragon. The first war in Irdia began in the eastern lands. Many populations followed His example. Militant cults of demigod heroes were founded everywhere.
- The Servant gained unprecedented experience. He took the best of his followers to the Lower World. Using his new experience and cultists, he overthrew the Hierarchs and became the ruler of the Lower World. He is now known as the Bull God.
- After the Bull God left Irdia, the war did not subside. Warlike populations tamed mounts and mastered destructive magic. Mass migrations began. Furious hordes of different races set off from the East of Irdia to all corners of the world. They captured local populations, which until now were in awe of monsters or revered the Dragon, and founded the first states of humans, elves, dwarves and others.
- One of the peoples went west and reached the Green Isles. Then they were kicked off the continent. But other tribes remained in the East. Their descendants will become Northern folk, Dunefolk, Xian, and other human races...
- For a long time, primitive powers lived their own lives. They developed and fought. They made the first discoveries and laid down the culture.
- Centuries later, the Bull-God returned to Irdia. He needed new servants for the war in the Lower World. He chose the people of centaurs who lived in the east of the Steppe. The centaurs began to worship him and conquered almost the entire steppe, destroying nomadic humans. The Bull-God gave them time to multiply and gain strength.
- Centuries later, the Bull God returned to the centaurs. He gave them some of his vampiric power. Under his leadership, the centaurs set out on their last bloody campaign. They absorbed the life force of their slain enemies and turned into demons worthy of the Lower World. Their horde destroyed many ancient states, and then went to the Lower World after their Lord.
- This was the reason for the second migration of peoples. The old world was destroyed. On its ruins, the surviving peoples began to fight for survival. In the whirlpool of migrations and tribal wars, modern Eastern powers were born.

Now briefly about each power. In fact, none of them is a monolith and does not control their vast territories in the sense of modern countries. But to talk about the intricacies of the structure of each power would be too long (and would be beyond the scope of the post). Think of the borders as the expanse of influence of each faction.

The Bull Tumen (reddish brown):

The steppe power of ogre nomads. It consists of several hordes ruled by khans. Tumen appeared after the Centaurs destroyed the ancient kingdom of the ogres. Then their kin was divided, one part of the ogres went to the steppes and became the new chosen ones of the Bull God. For hundreds of years, under his patronage, the steppe ogres have multiplied and captured almost all pastures. They have a nomadic raiding economy, every year they make campaigns against the Triumvirate and the Khaganate and sell slaves to their western neighbors. The cult of the Bull God is firmly rooted within the hordes of Tumen, many priests are already waiting for his arrival to Irdia. Although among the steppe ogres there are still many adherents of the old shamanism who do not accept the bloody magic of the bull priests.

The Ogre Kingdom (white):

It emerged from the other part of the divided Ogre people that migrated to the West and settled near the borders of Wesnoth. These ogres adopted Wesnothian religion of the Light and began to develop under its auspice. Gradually, they rebuilt their society in a human manner and became a strong and religious state. The Ogre Kingdom has taken an active part in the history of Wesnoth, most often speaking on the side of the Law-abiding forces. Now it is in alliance with Wesnoth and repels the offensive of the Kaganate to the southern borders. At the same time, religious conflicts with Tumen and the crusades against Lintanir and the Triumvirate are the causes of tension on the eastern borders.

The Serpent Khaganate (orange):

A massive despotic empire created by mysterious Serpentheads. In ancient times, on the desert lands there was a country of people and a kingdom of Nagas. Centaurs destroyed both. A few centuries later, Serpentheads emerged from the southern caves, who, with the help of incredible magic, began to build their empire. They created magical servants and enslaved all the peoples of the desert. Now the Khaganate is inhabited by humans, gnolls, desert nagas, vampires, serpentheads and others...

The Khaganate is distinguished by its organization and order. It is based on slavery and a strict social hierarchy. All the conquered peoples are built into the new society by the snakeheads, like puzzle pieces, and attached to a common culture. The Khaganate is constantly striving for conquest, therefore it is the main threat to all powers in the region. Now the Ogre Kingdom, the Bull Tumen, the Mandate of Tartarus and even the Wesnoth are actively fighting them.

The Northern Knyaz Triumvirate (blue):

A young alliance of three northern principalities (Krada, Tem and Zimnovsk), which was fromed in response to the threats from the steppe. The principalities are inhabited by humans - Northerners, but their culture is significantly different from the Wesnoth. They live among forests and rivers, actively trade, sail well on small ships, and are known how to “entalk” or enchant objects. In Krad and Zimnovsk, light cults are revered, originating from the worship of the Dragon, in the Temsk land, militant paganism dominates. The northerners are constantly repelling raids from the steppe powers.

The Dead Field Coven (purple):

The Coven appeared as a result of the war between the principalities of future Triumvirate. It was founded by the fugitive Queen of Krad, who possessed an artifact capable of summoning a demon. With the demon, she fled to the east of the Steppe, where over the centuries she learned dark magic, enslaved the local undead and created a society of witches, demons and bloodthirsty half-breed Canavars. Now the Coven has become the center of attraction for all the evil spirits of the steppe and witches from the Triumvirate. The witch-queen wants to destroy the Principality of Temsk (the eastern lands of the Triumvirate) and constantly sends her servants on military campaigns. She despises the steppe ogres and often battles their hordes. He also frequently cooperates with the Tartarus Mandate.

The Tartarus Mandate (green):

The empire of the Xian people managed to repel the attack of the Centaurs, but the death of their emperor caused the great power to split. One of the many princes was able to restore its former glory with the help of a mysterious entity – Tartarus. However, the Mandate of Tartarus - the right to rule – recognizes only the strongest. While the throne was occupied by various inhuman candidates, the country has turned into a haven for motley monsters and evil spirits, which are now ruled over by the terrible Mangus giants - the most successful of the Mandate holders. Mandate is a centralized bureaucratic empire with smaller homelands of Yaogai - mystical creatures serving as clients. Mandate is hostile to Khaganate and Tumen, while strongly (though not quite sincerely) cooperating with the Coven.

I will still improve the map, my plans are to create detailed maps of each country and work out the terrain even more. For example, I have a more detailed sketch of the Ogre Kingdom map:



I hope that my vision of the east of Irdia will interest you. I am always open for discussions, suggestions and development!

[Lord-Knightmare]

WOAH. This is amazing!

So much lore built from a single add-on, and has a detailed map of the Northern Great Continent which hasn't properly been done in many years.

Keep up the awesome work, guys

[Mechanical]

WOAH. This is amazing!

So much lore built from a single add-on, and has a detailed map of the Northern Great Continent which hasn't properly been done in many years.

Keep up the awesome work, guys

Thanks! I'm glad that even such a small part of the general steppe lore impressed you.

Of course the work will continue. My main goal is to make the steppe an "unofficial canon". I really want to deeply open the East of the Great Continent. I hope people appreciate my work.