Cradled between towering mountains to the east and the vast seas to the west, the Heartlands is a land of trade, tides, and tightly held power. The Luminary Court’s influence is strong here, ensuring that only elves and half-elves may govern, while others serve beneath them. The region is bordered by the Temlean Coast that leads to the Azuremere Sea to the north-east and the Cerulean Reach to the west, while its northern frontier ends at Thistledale, the last true settlement before the ruined lands of Ashenreach, a once-thriving kingdom brought to ruin by the Elven Empire.
The country’s lifeblood flows through its great rivers, which carve a path from the highlands to the seas. Riverhaven, the administrative and trade center, sits between the two largest rivers, ensuring its control over inland commerce. To the north-west, along the Cerulean Coast, lies Seahaven, Riverhaven’s maritime stronghold, a town built on fishing, trade, and sand farming, where shifting tides bring both fortune and danger.
But beneath Seahaven’s thriving ports and temple spires, shadows stir. Smugglers and black-market dealers operate under the watchful eye of corrupt officials, slipping contraband past the Luminary Court’s rigid laws. Ruins lost to time emerge from the sands, drawing the desperate and the reckless to forgotten places. And though the Elves maintain their hold, ambition and resentment simmer, waiting for the tide to shift.
The name of the country
“Heartlands” is not the actual official name of the country. When the Luminary Court asserted its dominance over it, they renamed the country Riverhaven Country, after its capital.
The name didn’t really stick in the population mind.