Lore Codex

Mountain of Kings

Ignal hardened into this stone mountain when Avar removed the control ring. The site is central to Crown of Fire prophecies, mining claims, and repeated fraudulent treasure hunts.

• Heat scars and impossible coloration still show in deep shafts.
• Dig camps, prophets, and frauds all work within sight of one another.

City of Avar

The City of Avar is a capital repeatedly transformed by stone-shaping magic.

The Avarran capital was built and repeatedly reshaped with stone magic. Its magical arenas include battles against legendary creatures.

• Magical arenas create unusual match conditions.
• Late-circuit matches can include legendary creatures.

Brasshearth

Brasshearth is where sponsors, prison money, courtesans, and arena prestige mix into something glamorous until the bill arrives.

• Its bronze arenas attract noble wagers and underworld attention in equal measure.
• A rising gladiator company becomes gossip here long before it becomes safe.

Prismatic Prison and the Hill Country

Milnik the Mad designed a prison so beautiful that nearby hills became courting grounds. Rainbow shadows sweep across Unicorn Hill and Dancing Bear Hill at noon.

• The strongest prisoners in Menfelled are sent here.
• The same view that inspires picnics also reminds everyone what Avar does to people it cannot bribe.

Queen's Reserve

A mountain-fed lake whose waters are blessed through Hela's annual rite. The empire drinks from it and reads politics into everything that happens on its shores.

• The public bathing ceremony renews legitimacy through spectacle and vulnerability.
• Who stands close to the waters matters almost as much as the rite itself.

The City of Hela

The City of Hela is a military capital containing the hardest melee combatants in Menfelled.

The military-focused Helation capital contains the hardest melee combatants in Menfelled.

• Training and late-circuit contracts emphasize difficult melee combat.
• The final Helation champion represents the end of the current circuit.

Ashfen Crossing

Caravans, inspectors, and brokers meet at this crossing. Schools with proper permits travel quickly; others face delays.

• Red Army inspections are public and often affect a traveler’s reputation.
• House Vaelcor uses formal ceremonies and diplomacy to make strict enforcement more acceptable.

Queensguard

A formal city for Hela's military elite, with organized arenas and matches against trained personnel.

A walled city serving Hela's military elite. Formal arenas commonly feature matches against trained military personnel.

• Military instruction improves disciplined training.
• Public events emphasize order and formal conduct.

Glassmere and White Reeds

These districts feed Helation with water traffic, governor theatrics, and more romantic mismanagement than the bureaucracy would ever admit.

• Glassmere is tied to King Pell Orsik and ceremonial nonsense that keeps somehow working.
• White Reeds belongs to Marrec Dovain, permit jokes, and unexpectedly effective charm.

The Broken Mountains

The range still hides collapsed Drugar tunnels, volcanic scars, and old fear of what greed once found down there.

• Deep mines are treated as both economic opportunity and spiritual trespass.
• Every serious relic cult eventually sends somebody north.

The Dragon's Tongue

A smoking ridge of red-black stone where dragon rumors thrive. Most sightings are lies, but enough are not that caravans still pay for escorts.

• Virithimus stories gather here whenever the weather turns strange.
• Red stone shards from the ridge are sold as fake relics across the south.

The Frozen Forest and the Ruins of Elyria

Cold woods and pale ruins where some elves still keep long silence and longer grudges. Elyria remembers Aldar in architecture humans still fail to read properly.

• The forest shelters reclusive shrines and memory-keepers.
• Treasure hunters rarely understand which stones are sacred until too late.

Temple of the Forgotten Gods and the Forgotten Forests

A broken religious complex swallowed by woods older than Menfelled. Priests, scavengers, and old-race families all treat the place differently and none agree.

• Some say minor gods fled here when Ignal burned the world.
• The forests still produce relics, curses, and arguments in equal measure.

Bay of Avarra

The western bay that made Avarran expansion profitable. Fleets, smugglers, and sponsor shipments all move through it.

• Port of Avar and Woodsman's Wake both profit from the same water for different reasons.
• Avar's Watch guards the bay, at least officially.

Lenid's Pass

A gigantic gate controls passage farther into Avar and holds caravans for inspection.

The mountains have been improved into a gigantic gate controlling passage inland. Goods availability is high while caravans wait for inspection.

• Equipment availability is high while merchants wait to pass inspection.
• The arena tests schools before they travel inland.

The Wheel

The road encircling the Mountain of Kings and linking capitals, farms, and border towns. During peace it is Menfelled's artery; during tension it becomes a necklace of checkpoints.

• Most nonhuman communities live in settlements connected to the Wheel road.
• A poor reputation here can reduce opportunities throughout the region.

Moonfen Hollow

A southern town of beast pens, trial hunts, ferries, and long-memory judges. Monster contracts mean more here because people still need the roads kept open.

• The Beast Court can ruin a company with one honest description of bad conduct.
• Talrhen guides and Rookfen salvage crews both treat it as strategic ground.

The Rift

The Rift is a colossal chasm, likely widened during Ignal's wars and later fortified as one of Menfelled's harshest arena frontiers. Its cliff forts, rope lifts, and exposed terraces make travel and combat extremely dangerous.

Arena conditions: extreme terrain danger, monster handling, and high-risk public matches.

• Crowds here prefer dangerous matches involving prisoners, monsters, and difficult terrain.
• Relic cultists, dig crews, and underworld brokers all like the Rift because terrible geography keeps honest witnesses thin on the ground.

North Lamora Lake and South Lamora Lake

Twin lakes feeding ferries, shrines, salvage routes, and quiet smuggling. Their shores blur the line between trade, devotion, and opportunism.

• North Lamora is calmer, busier, and easier to tax.
• South Lamora feeds stranger roads toward the Ivory Swamps and the Wetwood.

Isle of Sunken Saints

A low island of half-drowned chapels and saint legends. Pilgrims, wreck-divers, and fraud monks all claim it for different reasons.

• Objects recovered here are often sold as miracle relics.
• Helation clerics and southern pragmatists disagree on how holy the island really is.

The Ivory Swamps and the Wetwood

A dangerous green sprawl of white-rooted bog trees, old bones, and half-lost roads. Traders say the swamp eats maps on principle.

• Rare beasts, tonics, and fraudulent dragon signs all come out of here.
• Guides are worth their weight in coin because certainty gets people killed.

Port of Oman, Oman's Rest, Goldenbreak, and Spoon of Oman

A chain of ports, rest towns, and forked coast roads that moves marsh goods north and unwanted people sideways.

• Goldenbreak handles more quiet exchange than its name suggests.
• Oman's Rest is where tired caravans pretend they are not carrying anything interesting.

Port of Oman

A major southern port whose military and maritime traffic keeps its slave market well supplied.

A large shipping and military port. Slave availability is high because military and maritime traffic feed the local market.

• Gladiator and courtesan availability is higher here.
• Naval discipline shapes the local arena culture.

Sufan's Keep and Creka

A defensive keep and island settlement watching the straits. The area is famous for hard winds, sharp tolls, and sailors who lie professionally.

• Creka thrives on being slightly too far away for clean oversight.
• The keep protects shipping, smuggling, and occasionally both at once.

Hill of Lords

A long line of hills houses Avar's nobles and powerful families, with renowned arenas and taverns below.

A long stretch of noble estates and powerful households. Renowned arenas and taverns operate at the base of the hills.

• Noble patrons improve sponsorship opportunities.
• Appearance work and political influence matter here.

The Southern Isles

Warm-water islands dotted with outposts, shrines, monster stories, and forgotten anchorages. The isles feed trade, piracy, and expedition myths equally.

• Avar's Watch is the polite face of maritime control.
• Every island tavern has a different rumor about where Avar first learned too much.

Last Watch

A small town and arena occupy the ruins of an important Avarran guard post.

A historically important guard post. Its ruins now contain an arena with a small town built around it.

• The ruins preserve the site's military history.
• Local matches emphasize discipline and practical combat.

Bounty's Burden

A productive farming village with abundant food and a limited market for slaves and manufactured goods.

A northern farming village known for abundant food. Slaves and manufactured goods are harder to acquire here.

• Food supports fighter recovery.
• Equipment and recruits are harder to find.

Prismatic Prison

A giant crystal fortress uses gladiator matches to channel the violence of its most dangerous inmates.

A giant crystal prison where arena matches channel the inmates' violence. A small service town surrounds the fortress.

• A small service town surrounds the prison.
• Prison matches are difficult but pay well.

Golden Break

A city famous for gladiatorial combat since the Sultan of Oman ruled the land.

A jungle city famous for gladiatorial combat since the Sultan of Oman. Native captives and dangerous animals are common opponents.

• Jungle expeditions bring native captives to market.
• Vicious animals regularly appear in arena events.

Hela's Stand

An arena occupies the ruins where Hela trapped an enemy army in a mountain valley.

Ruins from Hela's famous mountain-valley victory now hold a carefully lit arena popular with visitors and couples.

• Careful lighting makes the ruins a popular evening destination.
• The setting supports strong appearance rewards.

Traders Stand

A small city with enough trade competition to offer the cheapest equipment in Menfelled.

A small northern trade outpost with exceptional market competition. It is the cheapest place in Menfelled to acquire equipment.

• Equipment supply is exceptionally high.
• Buy prices are lower than at any other circuit stop.

The Queens Row

Hela's noble hills surround a polished alabaster coliseum seating 5,000 spectators.

Hela's nobles and elite occupy these hills. A polished alabaster coliseum seats 5,000 spectators using brass viewing glasses.

• Wealthy spectators watch from above with brass viewing glasses.
• Appearance rewards and political influence are especially strong.