~ Welcome to the world of Haisha ~

The world of Haisha exists in an industrial era comparable to Earth’s 1800s. A mysterious, semi-liquid resource also named Haisha is pumped from deep beneath the earth. When refined, it burns with a clean, blue-white flame and powers the steam trains, ironclad warships, and massive factories that define the age. The geography of the main continent is wildly diverse. In the northwest, the Abadia Desert is a wasteland of shifting sand dunes. To the north, the Sandalwynd Mountains give way to the rich, wind-swept Alidar Grasslands. Further east, the frozen Ringo Ice Land and the jagged Stoneveil Mountain Range create a harsh northern barrier. The center of the continent is swallowed by the Great Kahilyai Forest, a massive, ancient woodland so dense that sunlight rarely reaches the ground. From this forest rises the Nahunes, a vast, hard to traverse mountain range. Muddy rivers system that serves as the main highway for steamboats and trade flow from the senator of the continent. To the south, the Rimewatch Swamps are a treacherous, foggy marshland teeming with dangerous wildlife. Off the southeastern coast, the rugged Borgaigh Isles form a rocky chain of shipwrecks and hidden coves. It is a world of smoke, steam, ancient forests, and dangerous seas.

Basic Land

Grass Land

Forest

Taiga / Dark Forest

Jungle

Swamp

Desert

Hills

Mountains

Tundra / Ice Land

Snow Cap Mountains

Major Rivers

The Nations of Haisha

(The white dots are the location of each nation’s capital.)

Ago: A tiny, fiercely independent mountain republic located within the Stoneveil range. Their people are stubborn miners and merchants. Their capital, Mountgate, is a fortress carved into the mountainside. They live a hard, isolated life focused on extracting iron and gold.

Azureleaf: A warm, tropical island paradise. The people are open, friendly, and egalitarian. Their capital, Coral Citadel, is built on stilts over a crystal lagoon. Their way of life centers on fishing, trade, and living in peaceful harmony with nature.

The Borga Kingdom: A loose collection of pirate captains and freebooters living on the southeastern isles. Their capital, Sunspear, is a chaotic port built on sunken ships. Life here is lawless, dangerous, and focused on the sea, plunder, and survival.

Drakandar: A rugged, independent confederation of swamp-dwelling clans in the south. Their capital, Valdris, is a wooden fortress on high ground. Their people are fishers, trappers, and scavengers who value absolute freedom above all else.

The Emerald Empire: A terrifying, ancient slaver nation in the extreme southwest. Their capital, Wyrmhold, is a ruined city of black stone. Their way of life is built on occult Haisha rituals, swift raiding fleets, and the brutal capture and enslavement of monsters.

Frihet: A progressive coastal republic that serves as a safe haven for monsters. Their capital, Newhaven, is a colorful, cosmopolitan harbor city. Their society is built on equality, integration, and welcoming refugees escaping slavery from other nations.

Giuanom: A wealthy, peaceful, agrarian nation situated on the most fertile soil in Haisha. Their capital, Rivercross, is a sprawling market city on a major river. Their people live comfortable lives as farmers, bakers, and merchants.

Gwenya: A coastal buffer state that officially allows the slave trade, but hides a secret underground network of abolitionists. Their capital, Brightford, is a busy, watchful port. Beneath the streets, free monsters survive in catacombs and sewers.

The Holy Empire of Eryndor: The largest and most powerful nation on the continent, encompassing the central heartland. Their capital, Highshield, is a gargantuan industrial metropolis of 1.5 million people. Their way of life is rigid, bureaucratic, and industrial, with monsters legally designated as second-class citizens.

Lumi: A small peninsula nation in the frozen northeast where survival requires brutal cooperation. Their capital, Twilight, is built on wooden stilts over a frozen bay. Their people are ice whale hunters who live in integrated communities where humans and monsters rely on each other.

Morvella: A quiet, reclusive forested peninsula. Their capital, Shadowmere, is a moody, foggy town of dark wooden houses. Their people are deeply traditional and suspicious of outsiders, with free monsters living hidden in the dense woods.

Niebo: Not a nation, but an isolated prison island surrounded by killing currents and thick fog. No capital exists. There is no way of life here, only survival. Monster and human prisoners are dumped on its shores to die, making it the ultimate penal colony.

Pustina: A grim, industrial slaver nation in the north. Their capital, Sorrow, is a soot-covered, grey city. Their way of life is based on the brutal exploitation of monsters in coal mines and slave markets.

Shanmai: A large, eastern coastal monarchy that abolished slavery fifty years ago. Their capital, Jade City, is a beautiful port of canals and tea houses. Their society is structured and traditional, with monsters living in separate Fang-Villages on the outskirts.

The Sowgen Empire: A militaristic, expansionist empire ruling the frozen northeast. Their capital, Meridian, is a massive, black-iron fortress-city. Their way of life is built on honor, cold resilience, and a powerful navy that uses monsters as cheap, expendable crew members.

Tengoku: A misty, mountainous island chain known for its master shipwrights. Their capital, Cloudhome, is built high on a steep cliffside. Their people are fiercely isolated, with free monsters surviving in volcanic caves deep beneath the surface.

Tubig: A coastal slaver nation specializing in exotic swamp monsters. Their capital, Tidetown, is a chaotic, decadent port that never sleeps. Their way of life is loud, ugly, and centered on auctions, blood sports, and the trafficking of monsters.

Wayang: A small, flat island of salt-flats and marshlands. Their capital, Silkport, is a quiet market town. Their people are tough, silent, and practical, living simple lives as salt harvesters and fishermen.

Woestijn: A brutal theocracy that believes monsters are an unholy curse. Their capital, Westhaven, is a stark, forbidding fortress-city. Their way of life is defined by religious zealotry, the Inquisition, and the absolute extermination of all monsters.

Yekhoron: A stoic northern kingdom of mountain folk enduring nine months of winter. Their capital, Norstead, is built at the mouth of a frozen river. Their people are hardy and resilient, with free monsters surviving in the warm, volcanic Under-Caverns beneath the peaks.

Zamrud: A lush, tropical island plantation society. Their capital, Emerald Bank, is a handsome, white-washed city on a hill. Their way of life is comfortable for humans but laborious for monsters, who work the fields while remaining legally free but socially lower class.

Humans and Monsters

Humans and monsters share the world of Haisha, but they are biologically distinct. Humans have a typical lifespan of around 85 years and almost always have one child per pregnancy. Monsters live up to 500 years old. When they reproduce, egg-laying monsters produce clutches of 4 to 12 eggs, while live-birthing monsters almost always have twins or triplets. There is no mental difference between humans and monsters; they share the same capacity for love, fear, hate, and intelligence. Their physical forms are wildly diverse. Some look near-human, while others are insectoid, aquatic, or animalistic. The existence of monsters is tied to the ancient Haisha vents that mutated the first ones millennia ago.

The treatment of monsters by humans depends entirely on where they live. In places like Woestijn, monsters are legally hunted to extinction. In places like Pustina and Tubig, monsters are property and enslaved without rights. In places like Gwenya and Yekhoron, slavery is legal, but an underground resistance of free monsters survives in sewers, caves, and hidden forests. In places like the Holy Empire of Eryndor and Shanmai, monsters are legally free but treated as second-class citizens, forced to live in isolated communities and city slums. In places like Frihet, monsters and humans coexist as equals, sharing jobs, neighborhoods, and festivals. There is one area, Niebo, where no humans live and only wild monsters and exiled prisoners roam the dark forests. The conflict between these zones drives the politics, tension, and adventure of Haisha.

Here are some characters within the world of Haisha.

Princess Laeretia Motago

Shannon Gill

Clementine

Rosalie Mcgregor

Alice Aurora

If you have a character within the world of Haisha, then make a comment about them and I’ll turn them into a real character. The more details the better.