Uqar

The first continent to be populated by humanity, Uqar was once the site of the great nation of Keassar, a generally peaceful people who valued exploration and discovery greatly. Over time, they grew to have influence across the entire continent, and among their many goals, was a desire to understand the power of the Ultimate principles. This goal eventually lead them to the discovery of the Land of the Fae, a place steeped in strange energy that echoed similarly to that of the Principles. This discovery led Keassar to many new technologies, as they learned to access the new, far more abundant power source. Unfortunately, their drive for technology and develpoment began to outclass their understanding of things they were drawing on, and this split eventually reached a breaking point. The resulting explosion echoed across all of Astrael, severly damaging the barrier protecting it from the many intersecting planes and their governing principles.

The years after the Great Cataclysm were a time of great uncertainty across the whole world. The influx of different powers brought cascades of change, and newly present were portals, in the places where other planes intersected with Astrael most closely. Through these planar tears came both other creatures and magic, changing landscape and indiginous populations alike. Uqar became a fraction of what it once was, fleeing the heart of the Keassar nation, and settling almost entirely along the coasts where the flux of magic was the least saturated.

The Alturum Empire

On the eastern side of the continent, many people took themselves underground after the Cataclysm, living in existing caves, and eventually developing the skills to tunnel through rock and dirt alike. For many centuries these small communities held to themselves, treating other communities with suspicion and hostility. They dug in isolation, and the points where their tunnels connected became the location of many deadly battles. Eventually, a talented historian and storyteller by name of Teyvar Altur dedicated his life to healing the relations between the many developing cultures, and by the time he reached his old age, he had succeeded in quelling the disputes and beginning an era of peace. On his death, his daughter Arrat, who had spent her time travelling to gather stories from the many different corners of the land, returned and took up his work. She encouraged her children to follow in the family tradition, and by the her grandchild were grown, the Alturum Empire had been officially declared, and their family had been thus dubbed the Bard-Kings of Altur.

The Jentharum Kingdom

On the west coast of Uqar, there were already a number of well-established cities by the of the Cataclysm, and though none of them survived the Cataclysm unharmed, they did survive. For some time they would consider themselves to be the remains of Keassar, but eventually they would rename themselves to the Kingdom of Jenthar, honoring the eponymous hero who defended the remaining population many times over the years after the Catclysm. Much as the hero they renamed themselves for Jenthar responded to the Cataclysm by focusing on helping and protecting each other.

The Causeway

The southern tip of Uqar has always been dominated by high plains, but the Ctaclysm triggered a series of major earthquakes that tore the land apart and left it bisected by a series of fast-moving rivers that dug the gorges ever deeper. Still, the plains between the chasms remained fertile farming land, and the people stranded in these lands chose to remain, and dedicated their efforts first to the maintenance of the fields, and second to the inventiveness which had once fueled Keassar. Soon they had sturdy bridges spanning the gaps in their roads, and life in the Causeway rumbled along at a steady pace, largely unbothered by the many dangers present in other parts of the continent. After all, they were well away from the worst of the magical contamination from the original explosion, and for some reason no significant planar tears appeared in these lands, leaving them relatively safe once the initial disaster had settled.

The Aurum Alliance

The icy north wasn't particularly popular before the cataclysm and it remained similarly isolated afterwards. The handful of communities that called the tundra home were used to living dangerous lives and were largely unconcerned with the appearance of new threats after the Cataclysm. In truth, it wasn't until Nozhrazac, the Great Comet of the North made himself known, that life began to change in the Aurum Cities. Nozhrazac began to claim dominion of the snow-bound north, demanding tithes in exchange for his protection. In some ways, this protection was a boon at first, as it granted the various populations some reprieve from the worst of the monsters, but resources in the tundra were already relatively sparse, and Nozhrazac's greed began to build resentment. Surprisingly when the first group of would-be heroes failed to defeat him, he responded with glee, and so it became that he issued a new demand; that each year in addition to their tithes, the various strongholds would band together to send out a party to engage him in mortal combat. For a very many years, he prevailed over these supposed heroes, until one year, when he was defeated with the help of a mage from the causeway. Now, the Aurum Alliance holds it's own against the threats of the north, boistered by their impressive skills in combat.