Parmenia

Exotic trading cities, nomad riders, and a culture of mystery and intrigue.

Far to the southwest, bands of horse-riding nomads roam across the open plains, driving their herds to new pastures as the seasons turn. These lands are dominated by the trading cities of Parmenia - ruled from opulent palaces by the inscrutable merchant guilds.

The cities have grown rich from the trade of exotic luxuries from lands further west. Each is a world unto itself, with labyrinthine streets, idiosyncratic laws and customs, and cutthroat internal politics (it’s said that some of the guilds are run not by traders but by thieves and assassins). Different schools of philosophy and religion flourish here: Parmenia has more Seekers of the Utmost than perhaps any other nation, and Canoel is believed to be controlled by a Seeker elite.

The greatest cities are Carcosa, Agos, Canoel, Pallars, Lomea, Giugero, and Ymanna. Smaller towns exist around rivers and oases, earning wealth and sustenance from the great trade routes, but aside from the nomad herds and a few patches of irrigated farmland, Parmenia is very much an urban civilisation.

More adventurous Arginese characters may have travelled to Parmenia in search of trade goods, esoteric knowledge, or glory on the frontier. It is a land particularly attractive to Seekers due to its freewheeling approach to religious inquiry. Nonetheless, foreigners are seldom made entirely welcome in the cities - the merchant guilds are notoriously jealous rulers.

Parmenian names and terms are taken from the Romance languages, in particular Spanish and Italian.