Valia plays a prominent role early in “Quest for the Red Sapphire”.  It is
located on the southeast coast of the continent.  The Kingdom of Rador is
its friendly northern neighbor.  Several small kingdoms border it on the
west followed by Sartan.  To the east lies the Great Eastern Sea.  The
problem beings at the southern border.  After the last Dark Age, the
goblins in Valia were pushed off the fertile farmland into the Southern
Marshes.  Here the goblins plot endlessly to retake the rich land to the
north from its human inhabitants.  Valia’s leader is King Hardurian. 
The king rules from the magnificent walled city of Sarice.  He is old and
wise but has a political hornet’s nest with which to contend.  Much of the
real power in the country lies with her rich noblemen.  For them there is a
problem.  There are simply not enough people in Valia for all their
enterprises.  Much of the country is farmland which needs massive amounts
of labor to work.  They also possess arguably the finest navy in the world
and are constantly short of sailors.  Then there are the new colonies
established across the sea where precious metals including gold have been found
in abundance and require adventuresome people to settle.  With a wealth of
trade, the merchant class also is busy.  That leaves very few soldiers for
General Linvin Grithinshield to command and try to fend off goblin invasion upon
invasion.  In every encounter, the Valians are dramatically outnumbered and
must rely on leadership, strategy and training to prevail.  Valia’s most
renowned inhabitant, however, is an old man by the name of Sedemihcra.  He
is the foremost inventor and military strategist of the age.  It is
Sedemihcra that Linvin is sent to live with and learn the skills he will need to
become Master of the Red Sapphire.  As Chief Military Counsel to the King,
Sedemihcra wants nothing to do with Linvin’s training at first.  After
seeing the boy’s abilities and Dirk’s generous endowment, the old man decides to
take in the boy of twelve and raise him to be a great general, leader and
person. At age eighteen, Linvin enlists in the King’s Bowmen to gain practical
experience.  His career soars from there.  King Hardurian takes notice
of Linvin as he rises up the ranks and begins to look at Valia’s military savior
as a son.  Linvin’s success is a double edged sword, it seems.  While
he pulls off miracle after miracle with meger resources to save Valia, it only
reinforces the oppinion of the noblemen that a large standing army is
unneeded.  Thus, Valia continues to neglect the army in favor of income
generating pursuits.  What their shortsightedness fails to see is that
Linvin’s destiny has always been elsewhere.  He will not always be around
to save them.  It will be then that the sad army will be truly tested by
the Marsh Goblins.

In the northwest corner of the known world of Lavacia are the Goblin
Nations.  It is the geographical version of a prison with the Endless
Mountains making up the eastern and southern borders and barren wasteland to the
north and west.  The world has gone through several Dark Ages when the
goblins controlled all the lands.  No one is sure how many Dark Ages there
have been because all written history is destroyed during them by marauding
goblins.  During the Dark Ages all innovation stops and society is reduced
to its most rudimentary form.  Currency disappears and people barter for
goods.  Eventually someone pulls the different races and peoples of the
world together and fights off the goblin menace.  Many times that person
has been the Master of the Red Sapphire.  Because the goblins are so vast
in their numbers and so easily repopulate, the best that can ever be
accomplished is to cut down the threat and settle on borders.  So long as
the people of the world unite, they can fend off the hordes.  Once the free
people turn their attention elsewhere, however, the goblins replenish their
ranks and plan their next move.  Dark Ages would be much more frequent
except that the only people the goblins like fighting more than the people of
Lavacia are themselves.  There are eight goblin clans.  After the last
Dark Age seven of them were pushed into the Goblin Nations where they were
easily checked.  The clan farthest to the south was forced bit by bit back
into the Southern Marshes by the armies of Valia.  The land in the Nations
is poor for agriculture and nearly devoid of natural resources.  As a
result, the clans make war on each other for what scraps are to be had. 
The largest clan is the Kangons.  Their numbers are greater than all the
other clans combined.  Alas, they are the least organized and possess the
fewest weapons.  Famine runs wild and kills more than war.  The
Mandrean Empire needed soldiers that were obedient to fill their devastated
legions after the War of the Unclaimed Territory.  A deal was struck to
purchase goblins in exchange for food and weapons.  While the Kangons were
pleased with the bounty and those sold had a better life, the clan no longer had
the warriors needed to defeat the other goblins.  While they are better
fed, they are no closer to victory than before.  Meanwhile the Mandreans
have moved on to new conquests with their replenished forces.  While the
Marsh Goblins make raids and occasional invasions into Valia, the rest of the
goblins are too busy fighting each other to be little more than a nuisance to
their neighbors.  Lately, however, the Kangons have sent lesser quality
soldiers to the Mandreans before stopping the practice completely.  Clearly
they have plans and need only wait until their numbers are sufficient.  The
question is, will they attack the other clans or will they start another Dark
Age.

We next move from the Mandrean Empire to the object of its desire:
Romadon.  It stretches from the east/west segment of the Endless Mountains
in the north to the edge of the wastelands to the Deep South.  The eastern
border starts with the Silver River dividing it from the Mandreans on down
through the Great Western Forest of the Unclaimed Territory.  The western
border is barren rock on which no vegetation can grow.  Romadon is more
ethnically diverse than any country except for Sartan.  Unlike Linvin’s
home, however, the different races live together instead of separating into
distinct counties.  There are some elves and the highest concentration of
gnomes outside their homeland.  Many dwarves call Romadon home.  They
are the life blood of the booming manufacturing centers in the country. 
The vast majority of the populous is still human.  Being such a long
country, Romadon is blessed with different climates.  In the north it is
cooler and perfect for grain farming.  The center of the country holds the
capital and is a perfect environment for hard fruit trees.  The south is
hot and dry but still sustains orchards of citrus fruit.  Throughout the
country are generous deposits of coal and vital minerals.  Knowing the
Mandrean ambitions toward their nation they have developed a solid defensive
strategy.  From the Silver River it would take weeks for an army to cross
the Gap of Romadon where the long corridor of fertile plains lies.  Guard
towers are set along the border and in a grid back along the plain to light
beacons if an attack has begun.  Then the invaders are allowed to penetrate
deep into the gap until their supply lines become stretched.  At that point
the armies of Romadon strike from the front and from secret tunnels under the
soil in order to attack from behind.  The results have been devastating to
the Mandreans who have lost army after army with few survivors to explain what
happened.  Though Romadon does not possess an army as big as the Mandreans,
they are still numerous and well trained.  They rely heavily on cavalry due
to the extreme length of their nation.  Their segment of the Endless
Mountains provides a wonderful natural barrier against the Goblin Nations to the
north.  There are only three passes through the mountains.  Romadon
has walled them off and built what are said to be impregnable fortresses to
reinforce them.  All of this planning and prosperity started over a hundred
years ago.  A young man came to be king of what was a loosely knit
subsistence society.  He set about reforming the nation and solving her
problems.  It is said that he never aged and continued his work at a
frantic pace until Romadon was a world class power.  Then he married and
his queen died during the birth of their only child; Princess Mirianna. 
From then on, the king was a broken man and a shadow of his former
greatness.  He also began to age.  No one knows the circumstances, but
the people of Romadon hold him in great esteem and do not wish to see an end to
his reign.  Desert nomads raid southern towns with increasingly brazen
attacks and many soldiers are stationed in the south.  The trade route
through the wasteland is still the safest of all possibilities even with the
constant threat of robbers.  They send caravans to and through Sartan and
into the nations of the east.  Romadon is proud but alone. 
Fortunately for them, the nation is in good hands.

Moving north up the center of the continent of the
known world of Lavacia, we come to the Mandrean Empire.  Its southern border is
the Silver River emptying into the great Sorrowful
Sea which drains into the Mystic River.  In the north it ends in the arctic
region at the border of the Realm of the Ice Giants.  After its latest conquests
the eastern border is the edge of the Great Eastern Sea.  In the west the
Endless Mountains run like a backbone down the continent separating the Empire
from the impoverished and militant Goblin Nations.  The mountains, however, take
a western turn and run between Romadon and the Nations.  There is a great gap
between the mountains and the northern edge of the Great Eastern Forest in the
Unclaimed Territory (see yesterday’s blog).  It is a vast plain with a small
section belonging to the Mandreans and the rest belonging to Romadon.  Only the
fast flowing Silver River with its steep walled gorge separates the two nations.
  Long have the Mandreans coveted the plain, much as they desire the Unclaimed
Territory.  Many attacks have been launched by the Mandreans into Romadon but
all have failed miserably.  Still the Mandreans continue to mass troops on the
border while Romadon leaves their side of the gorge nearly undefended.  The
Mandrean Empire has few trade partners but is luckily self-sufficient in nearly
every way.  In the north they have a wealth of mineral resources ranging from
high grade iron ore to gold.  Their newly won lands along the Mystic River offer
vast stands of good timber and serviceable farm land.  To the south along the
Sorrowful Sea is the heart of the Mandrean’s agriculture.  A rich sandy loam is
ideal for grapes and other fruits.  Slightly north of there is a vast region of
corn and other grains.  The Mandreans started their empire as a small kingdom
among hundreds after the last Dark Age.  With ambitious rulers they set upon one
credo.  Every Mandrean Emperor must expand their territory.  Their current
ruler, Lord Mandrean the 13th, has already secured his legacy but wants more
land.  He is obsessed with defeating Romadon.  He rules from his capital of
Marinhalk near the center of the old country.  The strength of the Mandreans has
always been her armies.  After the War of the Unclaimed Territory, however, they
purchased goblin warriors from the starving Goblin Nations for food stuffs.  Now
the Mandrean Legions are essentially thousands of goblin infantry with a few
human officers.  They have been so successful over the years thanks to a vast
network of roads throughout the empire allowing troops to move quickly from one
battlefield to the next.  Other than the
goblin soldiers, there is little diversity in the empire.  Most of its
inhabitants are human.  The Mandreans possess the most powerful standing
military in the world.  It is only a matter of time before they use it again. 

Though it is not a nation, the Unclaimed Territory has certainly had a profound
effect on the countries in Lavacia.  Before their lone pursuit of money, the Kingdom of Sartan
had a militaristic King who boldly laid claim to the land to his north, on that
side of Thornhaven Forest.  He had good reason.  The land he coveted was a vast
prairie of long grasses and untilled soil.  It stretched from Thornhaven in the
south to the edges of the Sorrowful Sea (a great fresh water lake) and Silver River in the north.  Dense mixed
deciduous forests bookended the east and west of the prairie.  Since no one had
made a rightful claim to the land, the forests were simply called the Great
Eastern Forest and the Great Western Forest.  Herd animals roamed unafraid in
the free land.  The soil was rich and could prove to be a bread basket capable
of feeding the world if managed properly.  There was also a financial reason to
want the land.  Being centrally located trade between Romadon in the west and
the counties of the east often travelled through the territory to save time. 
The owner of that land could tax such trade and make vast sums of money.  Those
reasons also made Lord Mandrean the 12th desire the land.  The Mandrean Empire
was the largest nation in the world and always sought to increase his holdings. 
It stretched from the Sorrowful Sea to the Realm of the Ice Giants in the
arctic.  The territory offered him an excellent opportunity to expand.  He laid
claim to the land as well.  Negotiations broke down as both sides felt their
military to be superior and war soon followed.  It dragged on for years with the
tide of battle going both ways.  The Mandreans finally summoned all their forces
together and pushed the Sartanians back to the edge of Thornhaven where the
entire militia of Sartan had gathered to spring a trap.  In what became known as
the Tree Line Stand the Mandreans marched into the snare, losing the bulk of
their forces.  Sartan too had almost no men left.  Entire generations on both
sides were wiped out leaving the old and the young with a few crippled men in
between.  Mysteriously both the King of Sartan and Lord Mandrean the 12th died
soon after the battle.  Both sides sued for peace but they had to save face.  It
was decided that neither of them would have the territory and it would exist as
a buffer between the nations.  No soldiers would be allowed into the region and
it would remain untamed.  The agreement was beneficial to both sides.  The
Mandreans had time to refill the ranks of their army with goblins purchased as
slaves from the Goblin Nations (another blog).  Without law in the territory the
trade routes all shifted to Sartan as no one wanted
to go through the Mandrean Empire.  Sartan turned its eye to the money they were
making and vowed never again to go to war.  Though they missed out on the
monetary gains, Sartan’s stance could not have made the Mandreans happier.

There are several small kingdoms in the world of Lavacia.  It is the larger
ones where the bulk of the series takes place.  I will be detailing them in
these next few blogs.  It seems only fitting that I begin with the land of
Linvin’s birth; Sartan.  The nation has a wonderful sub-tropical
environment.  It is the most divided nation in the world.  Sartan is
separated along ethnic boundaries into three distinct counties.  Running
from east to west there is the Human County which holds the capital of Fraylic
in its southern section.  Moving west we find the Elven County with the
growing towns of Missandor located along a major crossroad and Varns in the far
north just south of Thornhaven Forest.  Lastly, farther west is the Dwarven
County.  The towns there are less distinguished as the dwarves are spread
evenly throughout the province.  All three counties are roughly the same
size on the map though the population is concentrated in the Human County. 
The entire country is bordered to the north by Thornhaven while the southern
edge stops at impassible jungles and desolate wasteland.  Sartan is a
nation of people obsessed with money and its trappings.  With the country
centered on the map, lavish trade routes bring taxes and goods to their
people.  As a result of the prosperity, Sartan has become the foremost
center of banking in the world, holding notes from nearly every nation at one
bank or another.  It was not always so.  When Linvin was a child, some
trade went through Sartan but much more went through the land to the north of
Thornhaven called the Unclaimed Territory.  That will be a topic for
another blog.  After Linvin was sent away a war erupted over lordship of
those lands between Sartan and the Mandrean Empire far to the north.  After
a bloody struggle they ended it in a draw.  Those of the men of military
age in Sartan had been decimated by the war.  That left the old and the
young.  Neither group had any more stomach for war and decided to
concentrate on monetary pursuits and pacifism.  As a result, Sartan with
its constitutional monarchy, elected politicians to the Assembly who would keep
Sartan out of future wars at any cost.  One must be careful as that cost
can climb very high.

Jelena Grithinshield never quite fit in anywhere.  The mother of Linvin and
the wife of Dirk grew up as the oldest of 3 children in an impoverished elven
family in the town of Varns, in the Elven County of Sartan.  Her younger
siblings were Caritha and Anvar.  Jelena was a simple, honest woman who was
not physically dominant or breathtaking but had a subtle charm.  Try as she
might, she could never please her parents.  None of the suitors they
brought to court her were at all interesting.  Though she was proud of her
heritage, she did not share her family’s hatred of Humans.  Anvar openly
liked Humans just as much as Elves.  When he could no longer handle the
backlash from his parents, he left to make his way in Fraylic, the Capitol of
Sartan and the Human County.  For a while Jelena stayed in Varns but she
grew tired of the parental disdain for her.  Finally she followed her
brother to Fraylic.  Once there Jelena met up with Anvar who introduced her
to his best friend, Dirk Grithinshield.  He was handsome and
charming.  At last she met someone who was not so caught up in
ethnicity.  For Dirk’s part, he found her simple goodness a refreshing
change from the people always trying to get the better of him in business. 
He finally had met a woman with whom he could let his guard down and be
himself.  Dirk would see her extensively in between business trips and
finally decided to make her the person he would come home to each night. 
Thus, the two were married.  The Greenliths (Jelena’s family) all refused
to attend the wedding.  Over time Dirk’s business grew at an exponential
rate.  He was even named First Citizen by the King.  Jelena suddenly
found herself yearning for the spotlight to shine just slightly in her
direction.  Dirk was aware of this but had a problem.  Most of Fraylic
Society looked down their noses at Jelena because of her simple ways and elven
background.  Not being a man to stand for any insult to his wife, Dirk took
action.  He bought the finest mansion in town and hired instructors to
teach Jelena the way of the bluebloods.  His next step was to not do
business with anyone who disrespected his wife.  He possessed the economic
clout to make it a painful point to the aristocracy.  Finally, Dirk made
the mansion the center for society functions in Fraylic.  Even the King
would occasionally attend.  A requirement of attendance was the bringing of
gifts and praise to the lady of the house, Jelena.  Parties were held every
month and sometimes more often.  Jelena was finally accepted somewhere, so
long as Dirk was around.

Dirk Grithinshield has the distinguished honor of being mentioned throughout
“Quest for the Red Sapphire” but is barely in the book.  He is the father
of Linvin Grithinshield (the main character) and draws a long shadow.  Dirk
is Human and is married to an elf; Jelena.  An imposing figure, he stands
roughly six foot four and is remarkably muscular.  Those are not anywhere
near Dirk’s greatest gifts, however.  He is one of those rare people you
meet in life who is simply impossible to dislike.  Race, sex and age make
no difference as Dirk is a charismatic person of impeccable character. 
With a good head for numbers and business he starts his own merchant store on
little more than a handshake.  He then travels the ethnically segmented
Kingdom of Sartan and makes arrangements with suppliers of goods that are rare
in his city of Fraylic.  His store stocks the best Elven and Dwarven
merchandise.  Dirk’s gift with people combined with the exotic stock make
business flourish.  Affluence soon follows and his family moves to the
aristocratic part of town in an effort to guarantee their safety and also give
Jelena the place in Society she secretly longs to have. 
Dirk’s world
changed after a trading expedition where he procured an important item.  He
soon realized that his 12 year old son, Linvin, was destined to be the master of
the Red Sapphire.  The immensely powerful stone was said to be the most
powerful magic a mortal could possess.  Dirk knew Linvin would need
training if he was to make the most of the opportunity when it was
presented.  Thus, Dirk adamantly forced Linvin to be sent to Valia in order
to train with Sedemihcra, against Jelena’s wishes to keep him home and let him
follow in his father’s footsteps.  There were different pieces to the
puzzle that would complete to bring the Red Sapphire to Linvin.  Dirk was
determined to obtain all the pieces and then send for his son to return
home.  Fate may have desired to have Linvin win the stone, but it had other
plans for Dirk…

Bander Greenlith is the polar opposite of his fraternal twin brother Rander in
nearly every way.  Being tall for an elf and ruggedly built he is imposing
physically.  Few elves stand a chance in a melee with him.  As mighty
as his brawn is, his wit is just as lacking.  He is slow to pick up on
conversation and in general can be confused easily.   As a result of
this shortcoming he decided at a young age that Rander was the smart one and it
was probably wise to follow his lead.   (Rander likely told him
so)  The result is that the manipulative Rander stirred up many a hornet’s
nest and had his brother to back him up and save his skin.
Bander is actually
a good natured person.  He hates Linvin because Rander told him to do
so.  In truth there are only two things Bander deeply has feelings
about:  family and food.  Bander loves to eat and anything that gets
in the way of his consumption is a major problem to be overcome.  He is
friends with everyone that his brother has not told him to dislike.  In
all, he is a big loveable fellow who just doesn’t think quickly.  If,
however, facts are presented to him slowly in a logical manner, Bander does have
his own opinions and feels quite strongly about them.  Rander knows his
brother better than anyone and is aware of that fact.  It is for that
reason that Rander rarely gives explanations for his orders to Bander.  The
less Bander is forced to think, the more he agrees with Rander.   It
was Rander’s influence that caused the fights the twins had with Linvin as
children.  With the two reaching the age of young adults, Bander now begins
to wonder about his brother’s commands.  An independent streak is nearing
the surface.  Rander sees it and works constantly to suppress it.

Rander Greenlith is Linvin’s cousin by way of his Aunt Caritha.  He was not
blessed with many physical gifts.  He is short, even for an elf.  Rander is not
strong or brave or noble.  Instead, he is the voice behind the scenes, always
playing mind games and pulling strings of those
surrounding.  No one is more influenced by Rander’s manipulative ways than his
fraternal twin Bander.  Rander hates all things Human.  He dislikes their
county, their dominance, their affluence and most of all, his cousin Linvin
Grithinshield who is half human and thereby tainted.  At every family get
together Rander picked fights with Linvin and counted on his brother to back him
up.  They had terrible brawls and all were left bruised and bloody.  Before
long, Dirk Grithinshield had seen enough and refused to take his wife and son to
the Greenliths for social gatherings.  Rander was pleased with the arrangement
and used it to further distance the Grithinshields from his family.
Rander’s
father died in the War of the Unclaimed Territory and was mostly raised by his
mother.  Caritha had seen the war as a Human affair that had claimed her husband
and was likeminded with Rander on most things.  When Linvin comes calling for
the twins to go on his quest, Rander refuses and the others follow suit.  Then
Linvin appeals to their greed and Rander shows his true colors.  At least at the
start of the book, all Rander cares about is what is best for him.  He will
trample anyone who stands in the way of that goal.  He is a selfish, greedy,
racist individual who secretly longs for all that Linvin possesses.  His
jealousy appears throughout the book and leads to great conflict.  The
diminutive elf will have to change his ways before Linvin’s temper becomes too
much to control if he is to be any help on the quest.