Malai

In ancient times the region now known as Malai and the Kingdom of Mordon was heavily forested, with over 95% of the land covered in climax forest. It was an Elven land, by some estimates the home of over a million elves, full of majestic cities built upon the trees themselves. The buildings were more than dwellings, they were works of art and they were the beloved homes of the elves. Though they are now long since vanished, their memory lingers with a strong sense of sadness and loss amongst the few remaining elves that still live in what remains of the once great forests of the region. How this great Elven civilization fell is hotly debated amongst scholars and it is rumored that even the elves do not know for sure, though it is more likely that they are simply unwilling to speak of it openly. Some blame natural calamities, others to the will of the gods. The clever point out that perhaps there is no difference between those two possibilities. More recently, some have suggested that the war with Jor and the subsequent rise of Nyfastis is in some way related to that calamity of so long ago. In any case, the great forest is gone, as are all but a handful of the elves. Those that remain are in small sanctuaries within the small wooded patches that remain. The only lasting legacy is the calendar now used in the region, as time is reckoned as the number of years since the fall of the Elven civilization: AE.
Malai is now occupied by various humanoids and demi-humans, with a population approaching half a million souls, with a further quarter of a million in the Kingdom of Mordon.

The capitol of Malai is the coastal city of Riga. The current ruler is Queen Vistra II of Brisbane; by all accounts a fair, if somewhat fickle ruler. Her family has ruled Malai since its founding in the year 342 AE. The queen is served by a ruling council with representatives from the orders of Soleil, Moira, Jeone, Mylak, and Bornikai. This council is known as the Council of Five. There is a sixth counselor representing matters of trade, who is thought to be a representative of Mordlou.

While there is no official census, unofficially, Malai is thought to have a population somewhere near a million inhabitants. Just how near is a matter for much tavern-talk speculation. The vast majority of that population is human, but there are smaller numbers of elves, half-elves, halflings, dwarves, and even gnomes to be found within Malai’s borders. The majority of the elves, however, live in the remnants of the great elvish civilization found in the formerly great woods within Malai’s borders. Only two major population centers remain for the elves: Solinari and Shalimar.

The largest city in Malai is another coastal city known as Brisbane. With a population estimated to be in excess of one hundred thousand, it could very well be the one of the largest cities in the known world. It sits on the northeastern-most border of Malai on the Sea of Whispers.
On the northeastern frontier, Malai faces the Eastern Barbarian Lands. To the northwest lies the Halfling Hordes, while to the southwest is the closely allied Kingdom of Mordon.
Jor, archenemy of Malai, lies across the Halfling Hordes and the Great Dwarven Kingdom in the Avalon Mountains to the north. Since the war of 1407 AE, there has been little activity that way, though the inhabitants of Malai are ever wary of what might come from that way. The Malain army heavily guards and patrols the northern borders, ever watchful for trouble.

Riga - Capitol of Malai
Large Metropolis - Population 98,000 – 15,000 troops

Home of the Queen and the seat of the government of Malai, Riga has served as its capitol since its
founding in .



Adelaide
Large Town – Population 3,000 – 100 troops

Bowen
Large City - Population 15,700 – 500 troops


Brisbane
Large Metropolis - Population 111,000 – 15,000 troops


Bunbury
Large Metropolis – Population 67,000 – 5,000 troops

Bunbury is known across the land as the premier place where the most enlightened practitioners of magic seek to perfect their art. Central to this pursuit and this city is Drena University, where wizards (and others interested in the pursuit of the light arts) come to study. The University dominates the community. Though Bunbury was originally a small trading community, it was the University that swelled its population from a village of a few thousand to a major metropolis.

Drena University contains eight colleges, one for each of the major disciplines of magic. While specialists run each individual college, any wizard may study at any of the colleges (opposition school permitting, of course). The university owns much of the property in town, though only some is used directly. The rest is rented out to others for more mundane purposes. (The university also owns some property in just about every other major city in Malai, mostly used as recruitment centers and libraries for university scholars who find themselves outside the welcoming walls of Bunbury).

The university itself numbers only four or five thousand students and faculty at any one time, but there are many thousands more who support the university in one form or another. Some are hopeful students, on waiting lists for entry. Other citizens are scholars who merely seek to study the magic in the scholarly sense, not the practical, and so do not attend the school, but merely peruse its public libraries. The community has also attracted the scholarly-minded, and so the population of Bunbury is highly educated, far more so than average. This has resulted in a more “enlightened” governing council and status in Bunbury is very strongly tied to one’s standing as an educated, enlightened scholar rather than the typical indicators of status or power.


Locales:
Drena University
Not so much a locale as the reason for this city’s existence, the University dominates the city, physically and otherwise.


Drenian Wizards’ Rules
I: No direct attacks upon familiars
II: No attacks upon wizards in training unless in self-defense.
III: Must take at least one apprentice upon reaching 11th level, preferably three to four.
IV: Test by 5th level to become full member of Drenian Mage’s Guild



Crossroads
Large Town – Population 4,500 – 100 troops


Eucla Springs
Small City – Population 8,000 – 200 troops

Hobart
Large Town - Population: 2,300 – 100 troops

The city of Hobart is a relatively recent addition to the face of Malai. Founded in 1345 AE at the crossroads leading to Adelaide, Vermeer, and Bunbury, it grew from a traveler’s way station to a thriving, if reasonably small, community. As a stop for travelers, there is a wide mix of races for such a small community.

Hobart is home to several fine craftsmen, including one of the best woodworkers in all of Malai, but there are no large-scale manufactured goods.

Hobart is ruled by a council made up of representatives of Soleil, Moira, and Jeone. Presiding over the council is the Mayor of Hobart, who is elected by the citizens for life. The laws are enforced by a city watch made up of 23 watchmen plus 2 sergeants and one Captain of the Watch. Once arrested, a defendant will be tried before the local Judge who is appointed by the Mayor (with approval of the council) and handles all legal cases for the city.

One of the few notable buildings in town is the library. It boasts a rather large and impressive collection for such a small and out of the way city. There are thousands of tomes on a myriad of topics and the library often finds visitors from all across not only Malai, but from all across the known world. There have been some attempts to move the library to a more accessible location, such as Riga or Brisbane, but the caretaker, a Halfling Diviner named Ellie the All-Knowing, will not listen to such talk, and neither with her assistant, a gnomish illusionist named Rolo Sharimo the Fantastik.

The wealthy quarter of the city is known as the High Quarter, and it is divided off from the rest of the city with its own wall and towers. One must obtain a pass to enter this part of the city, though anyone living in that part of town can issue such a pass.
For most of the city’s history, not much of note happened within the walls of this little city. That all changed in 1407 AE, when Hobart was attacked and overrun by a force of marauding Orogs from the north. Despite a valiant effort, the city fell, and was occupied for several months before the Orogs inexplicably pulled back to the north. It was later determined that the Orogs were in the vanguard of the Jorian invasion of Malai, but had, in their eagerness, struck too soon. Hobart was thankfully spared further invasion when Jor and Malai reached a stalemate, a stalemate that uneasily lasts to this day.

On the whole, Hobart is a nice, quiet place to live, despite the troubles that have sometimes befallen its inhabitants.


Nielson Fortress
Stronghold – Small Town – Population 1,500 (700 Troops; 800 Support)

Northam
Metropolis - Population 42,000 – 4,000 troops


Rosario
Small City – Population 8,500 – 200 troops


Salin
Large Metropolis – Population 52,000 – 4,000 troops


Southwestern Checkpoint
Stronghold – Large Town – Population 3,500 (1,500 Troops; 2,000 Support)


Tennant Creek
Large Town – Population 4,000 – 50 troops


Vaizel Outpost
Stronghold – Village – Population 850 (250 Troops; 600 Support)


Vermeer
Small City – Population 11,000 – 1,000 troops