My Fantasy RPG World, Feedback and Ideas appreciated

My buddy who I brainstormed Scarterra with long enough joined World Anvil not too long ago. I convinced him to get off the fence and the Summercamp got his writing. His handle on World Anvil is ErontheTall

Many years ago he was taking a comparative religion class and a homework assignment was to make a fictional pantheon. He did this around the same time I started hammering out Scarterra for a 3.5 D&D world. We bounced off ideas for our respective worlds a lot. Needless to say, he got a 100% on his paper. But he kept writing his world after the class was over.

It took me a year or two to come up with the name Scarterra. It took Eron almost ten years to finally name his world. But his world is named Therrmordia. I'm not sure why he has an extra "r" but that is kind of a thing he does in naming.

As of yet, he has written very little for Therrmordia that is not a direct answer to a Summercamp prompt. He has 26 of the 30 released prompts done. You can see his competition page here.

Technically I am a co-author of Therrmordia but I am only helping with minor proofreading and writing RPG crunch related stuff using the same system I created for Scarterra. I am a coauthor because I bought a premium subscription for World Anvil and it just so happens that my coauthors get access to many of the premium features I have, first and foremost not having ads appear on their world page.

At my subscription level, I can have up to 100 worlds. Currently I have Scarterra, Westhammer, and Old World of Darkness campaign world for an old RPG I'm 99% probably not going to resume playing, so I let Eron have one of my 97 remaining worlds.

I especially liked his response to the important document prompt.

Proclamation of Returning
Declaration by Gnomefather Abderdad III, summoning all gnomes from the extended gnomish holdings back to defend Gnomehome. The colonists response to the proclamation led to the Sundering of the Gnomes and the end of the Gnomish Empire.
Background
During the first and second gnomish expansions, waves of gnomish explorers and colonists left their island of Gnomehome and settled north and south along the coasts of Riccastra. These settlements were all nominally under the rule of Gnomehome's leader, the Gnomefather, and are often referred to as the Gnomish Empire, but but this was by no means a centralized state. The northern colonies, called the Five Daughters by the gnomes were fully developed and starting to establish colonies of their own. The leaders of these cities viewed the Gnomefather more as a "first among equals" rather than an absolute rulers. The southern colonies were progressively less developed and more isolated, and many of their leaders considered the Gnomefather to fill a symbolic role. These views would be tested as several of the gnomish colonies directly south of Gnomehome were threatened by Infernalist invaders from Riccastra's interior. The outnumbered gnomes fell back to their coastal settlements, which were soon besieged. Gnomish sea-lanes were able to bring supplies into the settlements, but then the city of Titarna fell to the besiegers. Worse still, the neighboring city of Concordatra threw open its gates and joined forces with the invaders, its populace willingly converting to demon worship. With their control of the sea about to become contested, the Gnomish Empire faced a major crisis. At the time vessels could not make extended sea voyagers, and travelled either along the coast or in short hops from supply point to supply point. The loss of Titarna and Concordatra already opened a sizable gap in the gnomish coastal network, and the loss of more settlements could create an unbridgeable gap that would cut off the remaining southern colonies. At the same time if the besiegers pushed north they could threaten Gnomehome itself.
The Proclamation
The reigning Gnomefather, Abderdad III, was determined not to abandon the gnomes to the south and protect Gnomehome. He determined the only way to do this was to send a proclamation to all colonies commanding them to abandon their settlements and return to Gnomehome while it was still possible. Either desiring as many defenders as possible, or not wanting the southern colonists to feel like they alone were sacrificing, Aberdad sent this proclamation to all gnomish settlements north and south. All gnomes were ordered to sail to Gnomehome within three months of receiving the proclamation, bringing what supplies and equipment they could, and hiding or destroying what remained.
Aftermath
While Abderdad may have had good intentions when issuing his proclamation, he seriously misjudged the colonists' response. The Five Daughters politely replied that while they would happily contribute their fleets to the defense of Gnomehome, they had no intention of abandoning their cities, now or in the future. While friendly relations and trade were maintained between the two groups, the Five Daughters now considered themselves completely independent of Gnomehome, and over time, with the addition of some prosperous colonies of their own, became the modern Seven Jewels.The southern colonies were in even more shock, as most residents could not imagine abandoning their homes, but were not sure what they could do. The settlements were paralyzed until the Master of Seahaven, a settlement at the southern tip of Riccastra, announced that he would be staying and that his home would remain a haven to all gnomes who needed it, whether to return to Gnomehome, or after they were on their own. This inspired several other colonial leaders to send negative responses back to Gnomehome, while others didn't bother replying. Some gnomes did heed the call the return, but in the end only about ten percent of southern colonists left. More cities fell or joined the infernalists, opening up a shipping gap that could not be circumvented for centuries and forming the Burning Coast, home of the most feared pirates in Therrmordia. Gnomehome successfully fought off multiple attacks and eventually began the Third Gnomish Expansion by using Rhyallias as a stepping stone to the East. The southern colonies endured in their isolation, eventually expanding up the western coast of Riccastra and establishing a major presence in the Kingdom of Prairies Endless.


Of course, in a perfect world there would be hyperlinks on everything underlined, but Eron just started so he has a big backlog of things to put on his world page

I see
@Paradoxical Pacifism has joined World Anvil. Welcome aboard! If you write really fast you can pick up some Summercamp digital badges in the next six days!

In any event. If you have any constructive criticism on a better way to organize Scarterra's wiki or on anything I desperately need to write more about, let me know.

 

30 prompts down. Just need to wait for the tiny window in which the 31st diamond prompt is released.

Prompt 19: "an often undervalued but vital profession"

Poop porters. Could have called it sanitation workers or turd shovelers, but I liked the alliteration of double "Ps." No offense intended @Paradoxical Pacifism.

Prompt 23, "a unit or squad who guards an important person"
The personal guard of the Queen of Swynfaredia.

Pretty self explanatory, but with some draconic trappings needlessly attached to it.

Prompt 25: "a Romancer, Paramour, or other amorous individual"
I had to obviously choose an evil seductress. Sailors beware of beautiful naked mermaids wearing nothing but a kraken necklace. Sadly I have no illustration.

 

Here's an old prompt that has nothing to do with the current contest. I want to keep gradually adding idioms to this list forever.

Share some common idioms and phrases from a culture in your world.

Scarterran Idioms WIP
"bridgeling": Polite term for a transexual or cross dresser, referring to Korus bridging the divides.

"burning a Silverwood tree": Any act that is grossly wasteful.

"dabbler": A somewhat insulting term spell caster that is not very powerful.


"double dabbler": A derogatory term for a dual divine and arcane caster. In most cases, dual casters never become very powerful in either discipline.

"Dragon's share": Taking most of the best parts of something. Equivalent to "taking the lion's share."

"Dragons hoard": Anything good or valuable. "Have you tried the pies at the new shop? They are the Dragon's hoard!"


"Dragon's vote": Everyone votes for themselves to be in charge. Equivalent to a pirate's vote.

"Fake metamorph": Derogotory term for a transexual or crossdresser. Referring to Metamorphs that can literally change their form at will and are generally distrusted.

"Void Take You!": Equivalent to "Go to Hell!"

"golden scale": Golden coin. In the First Age, coins were minted as scales. Later round coins had scale patterns on one side. The Kingdom of Swynfaredia still mints scale patterns on their coins.

"ghost horse": A spirit loa.

"godly tears": gemstones.

"leafer": Generic term for a gay, lesbian, or bisexual person. Because a lot of LGBT Scarterrans join the Stewards or at least become staunch Korus worshipers and the Stewards use tree symbols all the time. Some people find the term "leafer" offensive, some do not.

"little god": A spirit of the Nine, especially a spirit that frequents the material plane and interacts frequently with mortals.

"mule": Derogatory term for a half-orc, half-gnome or any other mortal hybrid that is sterile. A half gnome might be a "runt mule" while a half orc might be a "tusked mule"

"observing the Nonagon": A Scarterran that tries to pay his or her respects to all of the Nine which frequently have temples or shrines arranged in a literal Nonagon formation. "The local lord fully observes the Nonagon."

"Octagoning": Used as a verb. This refers to someone praying to all the Nine but one. Only eight of the local heads of the priesthoods were invited to King Henryk's coronation but the Testers were not invited. Later people said that "King Henryk Octagoned Maylar." Dark elves are said to "octagon Mera" in their daily lives.

Note that it's possible to "octagon" more than one deity (despite the fact that this would technically make it a heptagon or a hexagon. While the term came from academic circles originally, most Scarterrans using the slang term are rarely very educated.


"purple chicken": A magical spell or ability that looks impressive but accomplishes nothing practical.


"taking the Dragon's path": Becoming an adventurer and deliberately seeking out difficult and dangerous tasks to become stronger by overcoming.


"tenged": To be cheated in a sales transaction. "That merchant tenged me selling me these rusty swords painted silver!" The term is a racial slight against tengku.


"Turoch's bones" Iron.




Because Scarterra's foundation is the cosmology of the Nine, I'd like to come up with more religious based slang terms. Perhaps enough to warrant a separate section.

 

Ooohhh I really like those! They fit the world quite well.

 

Fun fact: that was the case in real life!
It was quite a business to gather, process and distribute feces of both animals and humans in the medieval period. "Gong farmers" could get pretty rich.

 

That's a good idea. I don't think I could come up with something as clever and awesome as the the living tanks report on "humanology" but I could come up with something. For starters, few Scarterrans are that ignorant about other groups. I might be able to have some fun with Scarterrans and Scaraquans having gross misunderstandings of each other though.



I was a big fan of the old World of Darkness. One thing the RPG books usually did was have a stereotype sidebar.

For instance, Vampire the Masquerade had 13 major vampire clans and a section describing each clan. Each had a sidebar with a short and generally insulting opinion of what each clan thought of the other 12 clans. Generally about 20 word opinions.

They did the same thing with werewolf tribes, mage traditions, changeling kith, etc.

One option is to go to articles I already written and create sidebars where a character representative of a group gives a short snarky opinion of all the groups they interact with.

I could add sidebars like that to some groups. Since the Colassian Confederacy has ten small nations in it's alliance it might be worthwhile to put a sidebar in where a "typical" resident gives his or her opinion on the other members of the alliance.

That sounds like a very good idea, I'll definitely do that...eventually.

The more Old World of Darkness detailed sourcebooks had longer opinions for how groups viewed the "others."

If I wanted lengthy responses, How does Group X feel about everyone, that would require separate articles. I probably don't want to go that far

One thing that is very common on many World Anvil world pages I visited had a lot of small blocks inserted with in character opinions of whatever the article is about.

For instance, if an article about a dangerous monster there might be one blurb written by a nerdy naturalist, one account by a peasant who barely escaped alive, and one opinion blurb by a guy who hunts monsters, either someone competent or someone's last words.

 

Some D&D books have that as well,
(In the current edition Tasha's Cauldron and Volos Guide to Monsters as well as Xanathar's Guide have it) and that makes those books so alive and cool.

 

I am now pondering a very deep question...

"Mahrlect"

Should this be a swear word that gnomes use, or should this be a Draconic swear word that most Scarterrans picked up?

Either way, it is something Nilen the cobbler is going to say when he gets rattled.

 

IMO the draconic etymology sounds cooler.

 

Pondering what would offend dragons enough to create a cuss word over, I came up with a dragon taboo.

The Sacredness of Dragon Eggs

Dragon females don't lay eggs very often. While a single dragon female could theoretically have five or six clutches of three to five eggs over their lifetime, and some ancient dragon queens from yesteryear were said to have many more eggs than that, laying eggs is usually decades apart.

Most dragons consider harming dragon eggs, even the eggs of enemies to be a severe taboo. Even dragons that believe in letting their hatchlings fend for themselves completely unaided will viscously destroy anything that vaguely threatens their eggs.

In ancient dragon warfare, it was generally a much more severe war crime to smash eggs than to kill hatchlings and juveniles. Sometimes dragons would adopt the eggs of their defeated enemies.

In the First Age, some dragons argued that because dragon eggs were sacred, all eggs were sacred in a way and it was offensive to eat eggs. Even if these beings deserved to die, eating their eggs would be a gross violation of the natural order Other dragons argued that non-dragons were so inferior that their eggs were fair game.

In some ways not eating eggs was the ancient dragon equivalent of a real world human being a vegetarian. A dragon refusing to eat the meat of animals that laid eggs themselves might have been the equivalent of being vegan. Almost no dragons were literal vegetarians.

One thing that annoys historical scholars is of the scant few ancient documents that survived from the First Age into the Third Age, a lot of them are fairly dry and academic accounts of debates on whether or not it was morally acceptable to eat eggs of non-draconic species.

While there are a few non-egg eating hold outs from yesteryear, the vast majority of modern dragons in the Third Age have no moral qualms about eating eggs of other species and they aren't offended by the widespread practice of humans eating chicken eggs.

Most Third Age dragons still view dragon eggs as sacred, though it is worth noting that modern dragons are slightly less protective of dragon eggs than their ancient forebears. It's still somewhat scandalous for a dragon to destroy the eggs of enemy dragon, but it's a lot more likely to happen now than in times past, and the practice of rearing the eggs of a defeated foe has almost died out entirely.


"Cracks" is a mild exclamation. A dragon egg that is slightly cracked, will still probably let a healthy dragon be born. A crack can be a good thing when a dragon is about to hatch.

"Shards" is a more extreme exclamation.

"Yolks" is a severe curse. It's roughly the equivalent of shouting "DEAD BABIES!"

"Mahrlect" could be "Dragon Yolk." Though for a dragon it's be a MAHR (with a roar and a gargle) and lect with a hissing spit and extended tongue. Simplified when Mahrlect gets adopted by humanoids. Mahrlect would be less shocking in human circles than dragon circles because most humans and demihumans have forgotten what mahrlect means. They just know it's a word of harsh exclamation.

Or Mahrlect could be a stand in for something else. I have a whole slew of ideas for what dragons would be cuss about.

I'm working on three tiers.

Mild: Gosh darn it!

Moderate: Most four letter words that a PG-13 movie is allowed to use once and a R movie tends to use a lot.

Severe: Words that a single utterance can make people gasp on shock.

Spoiler: The perils of the 21st century manufactured controversy

Though I should point that there was a huge uproar over the Mandalorian Season 2 when Grogu ate non-fertilized eggs of a sapient species. I should also note that it would be easy to draw analogies to abortions which is something I'd prefer not to do.

 

Reminds me of a SciFi story which I once read, in which one of the most offensive curse words of a lizard species is "egg salad".

 

I got my 31st prompt done before leaving for work like the OCD person I am.

Answering: "a bloody coup, rebellion or uprising in your world's history."

 

If I ponder Scarterra while driving I will not crash my car, but I will drive past the left turn I should have taken.

I was pondering dwarf idioms. Specifically dwarf idioms of Meckelorn and Stahlheim. Mondert is so geographically and culturally removed that they probably have different idioms.

I figure since these dwarves are in the dead center of West Colassia, they would have terms for all the other people of West Colassian.

They would probably have a lot of slang based on mining and metalwork.

The dwarves tend to live in areas that are less than fertile, so they probably take their food seriously. They probably have a lot of idioms about food or the lack there of.

north dwarves: Meckelorner dwarves

south dwarves: Stahlheimer dwaves

sea dwarves: Mondarian dwarves. Term is falling out of favor because for the past two generations, Stahlheim has started growing their merchant and war fleets.

deep south dwarves: Mondarian dwarves

bat folk: allied kallazotz
wild bats: unaffiliated kallazotz
bat orcs: Camazotz

axe sheath: orc
tusk: orc

dagger sheath: goblin
elf turd: goblin (referring to the fact that goblins speak a variant of the Elven language)

The Big Boot: Fumaya
Booters: Fumayan Humans

blood sacks: Derogatory term for Uskalans (referring to the fact that they are lorded over by a vampire)

Horsemen: Kantoca Humans, because they have lots of horses.

Ears: Elves

Man Mule: A human-dwarf hybrid. Mondarians treat usually man-dwarves with respect. Stahlheimers and Meckelorners usually do not.

Walking Crow: Tengku

Tunnel Giant: Delver

Note the Borderlands are important to dwarfs because they form the buffer between Meckelorn and Stahlheim, but I cannot think of a better nickname for the Borderlanders than "Borderlanders" or "Border Baronies" If it's not broken, don't fix it.

I kind of want a colloquial name for "gnomes" though I'm not sure what it would be. Dwarves generally get a long with gnomes. They might also have nicknames for local or foreign gnomes. Gnomes that are part of Stahlhiem and Meckelorn are culturally distinct from gnomes elsewhere.

I'm still not sure what their nicknames for Swynfaredia would be. Meckelorners are probably a lot less friendly to Swynfaredia than Stahlheimers, but Meckelorners probably don't worry about them much because they don't share a border.

Here are some idioms not related to people

Gold's gold: Any substance more valuable than gold such as platinum, haber crystals, or sovereign silver.

Ranging: Traveling across mountains above ground.

Vault Vittles: Food processed for long term storage. Often literally kept in vaults.
Range Vittles: Fresh food.
Soft Nugget: Eggs
Crunchers: Edible insects. Usually used as a topping or garnish to other foods.
Booter's Milk: Beer. An expression almost exclusive to Meckelorn because they really like ale from Fumaya though gradually some Stahlheimers have started calling beer Booter's Milk, even if it doesn't come from Fumaya.
Chewing Leather: Being hungry.
Dung Flower: Mushroom
Little Goats: Animals that are normally eaten in desperation such as rats and dogs. Goat meat is the normal staple meat for most dwarves.
Stone Bread: Crops grown underground with the help of a life stone.

Soft Silver: Valuable goods that are not mineral based such as spices and fabrics.

Hot Mine: Mine with a spring of molten metal feeding it.

Cold Mine: Mine without a spring of molten metal feeding it. Note at some point, every mine had a spring like this, but the vast majority of metal ore springs are very short lived.


This is a WIP. I plan to add much much more. Terms for professions, terms for magic, terms for old and young, men and women, nobles and commoners.

 

The number one killer of RPGs is scheduling conflicts.

I am going into severe RPG withdrawals. I'm vaccinated but it seems like I very rarely am able to see more than one of my friends at a time.

I've never tried a video conferencing RPG before but I hear it works out. Problem is, most of my local friends are not very interested in this.

Hypothetically, would anyone who is following this thread be interested in playing a Scarterran RPG campaign online? I understand the scheduling conflicts would probably still be present.

I really like Fumaya, but a second campaign should probably not rehash what I've already done.

I can do political and war campaigns but right now I'm trying to build sandboxes. I think the best sandboxes would either be wandering heroes in the Borderlands.

So the game I'm running but is sort of on ice because of scheduling conflicts. One player like cinematic action, one player likes establishing a political presence and forging alliances, one player likes mysteries, and one player just likes hanging out with friends. I think I'm balancing these priorities with a mix of combat, intrigue, puzzles, and light social interactions in my campaign. All the players seem to like variety, so that's what I'm trying to do.

I can try to adapt things to player interests if they communicate what they are interested in.

Note this would require some more work on my part, but I could theoretically open a sandbox in Penarchia. Penarchia is the least developed continent on Scarterra, but it's set up as being made up of many small feuding kingdoms so there is plenty for adventurers to do. Also, it is probably going to have a lot inlets, peninsulas and islands for those who like sea adventures.


Alternatively I could run a campaign in Scarterra's Red Era in which case it could be set in the same place as my current campaign, but you know 2000 years earlier when vampires were trying to take over the world or 3500 years earlier when Void Demons were still a regular threat as opposed to a rarified threat.

 

This is a response to one of World Anvil's random prompts. It is not part of a contest or any bigger endeavor.

In response to the prompt What's your world's largest ocean, and what lurks in it depths? Do people fear it or own it?


Perhaps it's lazy, but I'm dividing Scaraqua into a mere two oceans. The Outer Ocean (dark blue) and the Inner Ocean (light blue).


Go to Scarterra Homepage
Outer Ocean
The Outer Ocean is the largest continuous body of water in Scaraqua both by surface area and volume. In terms of population, the Outer Ocean is dwarfed by the Inner Ocean, which most Scaraquan scholars believe holds at least three times the population as the Outer Ocean.

With somewhat less edible flora and fauna than the Inner Ocean and far fewer navigable Scaraquan Currents, the major undersea powers such as the Oshamni Empire generally do not bother trying to assert their power here making the Outer Ocean a heaven for nomads, petty independent warlords, and those wishing to disappear.

Recently, the Oshamni and their major rivals have begun probing the warlord's petty mountain top kingdoms for weaknesses hoping to control a few of trade nexuses in this sparsely populated region.
Geography
The Outer Ocean circles the major landmasses of Scarterra and encompasses the entirety of the Dark Sea, the entirety of the Long Sea, the entirety of the Sea of Mubete, over half of the Sea of Taedi, and tiny portions of the Sea of Resona and Sea of Mangcha. The only sea that does not at least touched by the Outer Ocean is the Sea of Enosha centered around what Scarterrans call Mera's Lake.

Near the major continents the sea floor of the outer ocean is quite shallow but the sea floor slopes very steeply down. Most of the Outer Ocean is very deep, too deep for most Scaraquans to survive easily.

With some exceptions, most Scaraquans that do live here stick to the surface waters and live a nomadic lifestyle by necessity.

The sea floor is scattered with mountains, some of them are high enough to make tiny areas of shallow water. The Mountain ranges form tiny shallow spots are the only real locations where permanent structures can be created without using magic. These are the closest thing that passes for civilization in this region of Scaraqua, often serving as trading hubs for many nomadic groups.

Besides mountains there also deep trenches. These remain largely unexplored by Scaraquans for obvious reasons. They are the subject of much speculation and superstition.

Ecosystem
Though the outer ocean is very deep, most of the plant and animal life is near the surface where the sunlight penetrates. As expected, the equatorial waters of the Outer Ocean hold more and more diverse lifeforms than the polar waters.

The Outer Ocean is dotted with chemical vents which provide metaphorical islands of fertile ground sustaining self contained ecosystems, but these are fairly few and far between. The sea floor is very poorly mapped here, so the shallow dwelling Scaraquans only know where a tiny fraction of the undersea vents are.
Fauna & Flora
The surface waters of the Outer Ocean are much like the rest of Scaraqua though the ocean floor is so far away in most places that any sea creatures or plants that require the presence of the sea floor cannot survive here. This means means many of the familiar sights of plants and animals fond in the more populous Inner Ocean are not to be found here. Deep in the trenches, high in the undersea mountains, and especially along the deep sea chemical vents are creatures, both mortal and bestial, very much unlike those of the rest of Scaraqua. Some such creatures are known to those of the Inner Ocean in vague and often contradictory tales, some are known only as faint rumors, and some are unknown entirely.

While few Scarterran sailors are in serious danger here, the deeper waters definitely qualify as the "Here There Be Monsters" territory for Scaraquans.
Tourism
The Outer Ocean boasts modest fishing at best, so there is very little to draw a Scarterran to this ocean other than a convenient means of travel to other lands.

Scaraquan sailors will make journeys between the western edges of West Colassia and Umera and the eastern edges of Penarchia and East Colassia.

The long distance means that ships need to pack a lot of supplies and the lack of landmarks means that navigators better be able to read star charts well or have a magical diviner on board.

All things considered, traveling the Outer Ocean is pretty safe with the only real danger being boredom.

While there are many rumors of horrible sea monsters spawning in the great depths of the Outer Ocean, the odds of a sailor running into one are low. Since less than a quarter of Scaraqua's population lives in this vast sea and relatively few ships ply the waters, the odds of a Scarterran sailor meeting a Scaraquan here, hostile or otherwise, are also fairly low.

Piracy is rare here and warships rarely bother patrolling far to the Outer Ocean. There just isn't enough sea traffic to bother with since locating a lone ship or even a flotilla of ships in this large open ocean is like finding a needle in a haystack.

While rare, naval warfare is not completely unheard of here. Given that the sea lanes are far less busy here, the Outer Ocean is a good place for a patient naval commander with good navigation skills to stage a sneak attack against an enemy if he is clever enough.

 

I'm a completionist, so I guess I better write about the Inner Ocean too. I don't have much to write about because 80-90% of all Scaraqua articles I created thus far relate to the Inner Ocean.


Go to Scarterra Homepage
Inner Ocean
The Inner Ocean is the smaller of Scaraqua's two great oceans. While it is smaller than the Outer Ocean, it is still quite large.

In terms of population it is very large indeed. It has far more fish, crustaceans and other aquatic beasts than the Outer Ocean and it houses at least three quarters of Scaraqua's mortal population. The vast majority of Scarterra's salt water vessels ply this ocean as opposed to the Outer Ocean.
Geography
The Inner Ocean is encapsulated by all the main landmasses of Scarterra and compromises the entirety of the Sea of Enosha (which encompasses Mera's Lake), most of the Sea of Mangcha and Sea of Resona, about a third of the Taedi, and the Demonic Strait.

The Inner Ocean has a few trenches in it but most of the waters of the Inner Ocean are relatively shallow and many beasts and mortals live on the ocean surface. The sea floor of the Inner Ocean is dotted with farms, quarries, fortifications, homes, and other constructions making the Inner Ocean the heart of undersea civilization.
Fauna & Flora
The Inner Ocean has a wide variety of sea creatures. Almost every plant and animal that exists underwater exists somewhere in this Ocean.
History
As the cradle of Scaraqua's civilization and culture and the main shipping lanes for Scarterra, when Scarterrans meet Scaraquans either on friendly, neutral, or hostile terms, nineteen times out of twenty, it is in the Inner Ocean.

 

So I got stereotypes written for how the members of the Colassian Confederacy

I haven't put this on World Anvil yet. It's over 3000 words. I'm not sure if I should make an article like this as is or split this material into several other articles. As cheesy as it is, I'm tempted to sit on this until December's World Ember contest where every word is counted.

The full details for the Colassian Confederacy is on page 10 of this thread, but here's a brief recap with 22 words @pendrake approved summaries.

Coastal
Marginalland: They are the most geographically removed from Kahdisteria and were the last nation to join the Colassian Confederacy.
Musseland: Musseland controls a large inlet to the sea that is treacherous for large ships but is great for harvesting fish and shellfish.
Mooringsland: Mooringsland controls the Confederacy's richest and largest port.
Marshlandia: These good and simple people eke out a meager living in a large bayou.
Magic Land: Magic Land has a major font of arcane power that is harnessed by a coven of wizards who call all the shots.
Meraland: A fringe group of unusually militant Mera priests runs the nation like a theocratic police state.
Mineraland: The most mineral rich land in the Confederacy is also the only Confederate nation that actually shares a border with the dark elves.

Inland
Mereshnari: This friendly group of barbarian human nomads is nicknamed “the desert runners.”
Midlandia: The most fertile grazing lands of the Confederacy.
Mariverland: The most fertile cropland of the Confederacy.


Marginaland Opinions on the Others

Buy a drink for Taahir, sell sword captain and he’ll tell you what he thinks you need to hear.

Spoiler: Marginland Views on the Others

Musselanders: We have problems with a lack of good water, they have a lack of good soil. We both make do with what Korus’ gave us to survive.

Mooringslanders: They say we don’t contribute to the Confederacy, yet they can hardly be stirred from counting their coins to do any fighting.

Marshlandiaers: I find them agreeable enough…as long as I’m not standing downwind of them.

Magic Landers: Must be nice to be able to make all your problems go away with a few spells.

Meralanders: They are strong allies and treat us better than most of our other so-called allies. Why then do they frighten me so?

Mineralanders: I’m glad they are holding the frontlines against the dark elves and not me.

Mereshnari: For a people living in a hot desert, they can act very frosty. Still they are staunch allies.

Midlanders: Oh right, I think they herd sheep…

Riverlanders: They have the most fertile land on the continent but their people eat worse than mine. The nobles take everything here, but fortunately the nobles don’t like to fight their own battles so I can always find steady work here.

Goblins: As long as they stay in their hidey-holes, I will leave them at peace, but if they so much as look at my food or coins, I’ll take their heads.

Kahdisteria: The dark elves rarely bothered us, but every time they did it was a great tragedy. This is why we eventually had to join the Confederacy despite the limited aid they provide.

Gnolls: A scourge on our lands to be sure. Our allies say we don’t contribute but we kill far more of these brutes than all but perhaps the Maresh.

Uskala: Why did King Drosst build a base north of us? Why do the rest of our allies pretend like this is no big deal?

Frost Biters: There are too many sightings by too many people to deny that East Colassia is no longer free of orcs. Yet again, the rest of the Confederacy heeds us not.

Yeti: Perhaps if the Confederacy forsakes us, the Yetis may prove worthier allies. It is sad that we have more common cause with these monstrous mortals than our fellow humans.

Musseland Opinions on the Others

Hear the words of Gaatha, Lantern of Zarthus as she speaks of those she met.

Spoiler: Musseland Opinions of the Others

Marginallanders: They are hardworking and brave, at least when they are serving their own interests.

Mooringslanders: The bustling port is a lovely place to visit. So many different people in one place! I wouldn’t want to live there though, best not get dragged into the inter-guild struggles.

Marshlanders: Our spiritual brothers. Like us, they are not afraid to get their hands dirty with hard work and they understand how important a strong community is.

Magic Landers: The wizards and their puppet rulers are more than a little arrogant and stuck up, but they at least see to the basic needs of their commoners.

Meralanders: The Paladins keep the commoners well fed, well protected, and healthy. Why then do their wards' eyes seem to carry such sorrow?

Mineralanders: Their practice of keeping goblins “laborers” is going to bite them in the ass someday. I just hope Mineraland doesn’t bring down the whole Confederacy when their mines collapse on them.

Mereshnari: I am a daughter of the sea, they are desert runners. I never know how to relate to them, but at least they keep the gnolls at bay.

Midlanders: Pleasant enough though a little soft…like wool. It’s not their fault I guess, but any dark elf raider has to pass through our lands to attack them and any gnoll raider has to get past the desert runners. It’d be nice if they showed a bit more gratitude for the protection they receive.

Riverlanders: They outlawed slavery and serfdom, even for goblins, generations ago. Still the common folk live a rough life on the farms and plantations even if though they are technically “free”.

Goblins: We should be able to make common cause against the dark elves, but the goblins are too stupid to tell the difference between a human and an elf.

Kahdisteria: Slavers and rapists. They must all die. We never should have signed that armistice.

Gnolls: They don’t usually push this far south for which I am very grateful.

Yeti: Too far away to matter.

Mooringsland Opinions on the Others

Hear the wisdom of Eknok, tengku merchant.

Spoiler: Mooringsland Opinions of the Others

Marginallanders: The potato farmers don’t contribute much, but we cannot leave them high and dry against the dark elves and gnolls, otherwise their stark lands would become a breeding ground for our enemies.

Musselanders: Friendly, a little boring, but friendly.

Marshlanders: Peace is good. Peace with goblins is risky, but the marshlanders seem determined to make a go for it and they haven’t had cause to regret yet, though perhaps that is because they are somewhat goblin-like themselves.

Magic Landers: They are prideful, but for the most part they earned a right to be a little arrogant. Give them a little flattery and they can be very useful business partners.

Meralanders: Negotiating trade deals with a Paladin diplomat is like having teeth pulled, not that I have any teeth. I imagine it is like having teeth pulled. They are staunch military allies against our mutual foes, but they are not our friends.

Mineralanders: Putting the goblins to work is more merciful than killing them outright and I cannot deny it gets results. Without out their ore, Mooringsland would be much poorer. Without our trade goods, Mineraland would not survive at all.

Mereshnari: Thank you for keeping the desert passes safe. Here is some salt, spices, and a newly forged scimitar in payment for your services. Now go away.

Midlanders: Valuable trading partners and easy to work with. We need their meats, cheeses, and wool, they need our everything else.

Mariverlanders: Valuable trading partners. We need their grains, honey, and wines, they need our everything else.

Goblins: Thieves and murders all of them. I’ll pay two gold coins per goblin ear you give me.

Kahdisteria: We have an uneasy peace, but we must maintain the fragile peace as long as possible, at least until we’ve built more warships. At the rate we are building ships, we should reach naval parity in about 812 years.

Gnolls: Hopefully our trading partners will keep them far away.

Elven Empire: I am loathe to trust an elf, but if war with the dark elves breaks out, we cannot keep the ship lanes without the grey elves help. I hear the dark elves and the grey elves don’t like each other...

Yeti: We periodically send them gifts via Mereshnari couriers. A waste. What good are allies on the far side of the continent with nothing worthwhile to trade?

Marshlandia’s Opinions on the Others

Zakarel, part-time hunter, part time fisherman, part-time military scout tells you what he thinks of the "furreners".

Spoiler: Marshlandia's Opinions on the Others

Marginallanders: Dry land creates dry folk.

Musselanders: Good folk that help celebrate with you in good times and will'n to stand with you in bad times.

Mooringslanders: The city folk have fancy ships, fancy threads and fancy vittles but they need to get out in the real world a bit more.

Magic Landers: Mages have their place, but they should serve the common folk, not dominate them.

Meralanders: The Paladins keep their folk well fed, healthy and safe…like cattle in a pen.

Mineralanders: Why did the Confederacy think it was a good idea to ally ourselves with slavers. They’ll turncoat and join the dark elves soon enough, mark my words. I hear they have more half-elves than the rest of the Confederacy too…

Mereshnari: I respect 'em even if I don’t want want to mix with ‘em.

Midlanders: Decent enough folk, I suppose.

Riverlanders: Their nobles are arrogant asses, but the common folk are okay. They are working to get by just like anyone else.

Goblins: They are just trying to survive and take care of their families just like us. If you show them a little kindness, they will make staunch allies.

Kahdisteria: Our allies have proud armies and proud banners. We are not proud. We hide our strength and the dark elves never see us coming…

Gnolls: Dangerous to the folks living dryer lands, but the swamps spawns their own breed of monsters. Monsters the rest of the Confederacy can't e'en imagine.

Yeti: Just because something doesn’t look human, doesn’t mean they cannot be our friends. Still, I ain’t going to be the one making the journey up north.

Magic land’s Opinions on the Others

Behold the wisdom of Aadaya, Professor of Divination Magic as she speaks of those less educated than her.

Spoiler: Marginaland's Opinion on the Others

Marginallanders: It turns out the desolate northwest corner of the continent is actually inhabited, by humans nonetheless. And what’s more amazing is they somehow had someone literate enough to sign the Treaty of the Confederacy.

Musselanders: One thanks the fisherman for his services, but one does not invite him into the banquet hall.

Mooringslanders: The Mooringslanders control the only port to the outside world. We are the only source of wisdom and scholarship on the continent so we must be able to import books from the rest of Scarterra to continue our scholarship. Therefore we must tolerate the avarice and small mindedness of the port’s guild masters.

Marshlanders: One thanks the kennel master for his service, but one does not invite him into the banquet hall.

Meralanders: It is good that we are neighbors. Their mettle and our magic makes a very potent combination. I rest easier knowing that this alliance is keeping our lands, and the rest of the Confederacy, safe.

Mineralanders: I will hear no words against these stalwart allies. Without their resources they mine, the Confederacy would have little more than sharp sticks to keep our enemies at bay.

Mereshnari: The Mereshnari claim ancient blood and ancient traditions. I dare not gainsay them. They cloak a surprising amount of wisdom underneath their savage exteriors.

Midlanders: One thanks the butcher for his service, but one does not invite him into the banquet hall.

Riverlanders: It is good that we are neighbors. Our wisdom and their industriousness make a potent combination. I rest easier knowing that this alliance is keeping our lands, and the rest of the Confederacy well-fed.

Goblins: They are slightly more detrimental to the dark elves than to us, so do not slay them unless their trespasses grow intolerable.

Kahdisteria: It is galling that these rapacious slavers have far greater libraries than we.

Gnolls: Beasts and vandals. They make good target practice for our invokers.

Yeti: I’ve long been curious about their strange cultural practices. Perhaps we should send a scholar up north to learn of their ways.

Meraland’s Opinions on the Others

Daana, Defender of the Hearth assesses her allies and enemies.

Spoiler: Meraland Opinions on the Others

Marginallanders: Their courage is sometimes lacking, but at least they are not lazy.

Musselanders: They are a little disorganized, but at least they understand the value of cooperation.

Mooringslanders: Our alliance with the Mooringsladers is barely tolerable. Greed is a sin and their weak king cannot keep the greedy guild masters in check.

Marshlanders: On rare occasions, unsavory actions must be taken for the greater good. These are the actions the Marshlanders excel at.

Magic Landers: A little arrogant and impious, but at least they are wise and pragmatic.

Mineralanders: Whatever their shortcomings, they are our first line of defense against Kahdisteria.

Mereshnari: They may be uncivilized but you cannot say they are without honor without proving yourself a liar.

Midlanders: They could use a little more discipline. Their army relies on quantity rather than quality which often results in needless amounts of lives lost.

Riverlanders: The lords keep order reasonably well and manage all their farms well.

Goblins: Perhaps kind Mera can rehabilitate some of them some day. But that day is not soon. Until then, the goblins should keep their distance if they value their lives.

Kahdisteria: The armistice with the elves will not last forever. We remain vigilant.

Gnolls: All that threaten our charges must be destroyed. Fortunately the gnolls are more obvious than most other threats.

Yeti: They are not our enemies, but they are not our friends. I will withhold judgement until we learn more about them.

Mineraland’s Opinions on the Others

Naakesh, Commander of the Confederacy Citadel of the First Watch speaks of his allies and foes.

Spoiler: Mineraland views on the Others

Marginallanders: They hide behind our shield and rely on our handouts and complain whenever we ask them to contribute a fraction of what we provide.

Musselanders: Undisciplined but fierce.

Mooringslanders: They are middlemen, getting rich by taking a percentage from the fruits of the rest of the Confederacy’s labor, yet the Confederacy cannot survive without them.

Marshlanders: Backwards fools. I don’t see why we tolerate them.

Magic Landers: Worthy allies. Without their magic and lore we would have been overcome by the elves long ago.

Meralanders: Our brothers in arms. Unlike our softer allies, the Paladins understand that the security of the Confederacy relies on courage and sacrifice.

Mereshnari: Fierce warriors with an admirable discipline though it must be nice fighting disorganized rabble of small bands of gnolls instead of the cunning sorties of the massive magically augmented army of Kahdisteria.

Midlanders: Shepherds guard their sheep. We guard the shepherds.

Riverlanders: We couldn’t survive without their foodstuffs any more than they could survive without our steel.

Goblins: It is more merciful to put them to work than to slay them outright. Unlike the elves, we see that they are well fed and cared for and do not work them to death out of some sadistic whim.

Kahdisteria: Our troops and their troops stare at each other across the border. It’s only a matter of time before one of the damn elves breaks the armistice. Or perhaps one of our troops will crack and break the armistice first.

Gnolls: They are a rare problem for us. As dumb as they are, the gnolls have learned they have no hope of breaching our fortifications or sneaking past our patrols.

Yeti: I’m too busy dealing with real issues than to worry about minstrels’ tales of fancy.

Mareshnari Opinions on the Others

Here the words of Janesh the Outrider as he shares what he learned from his many travels.

Spoiler: Mereshnari Opinions on the Others

Marginallanders: They do not share our blood, but they share our struggles. We both understand what is like to live where water is scarce and allies are far away.

Musselanders: I always look forward to being a guest for these friendly and cordial folk during times of peace. During times of war, I prefer strong warriors besides me.

Mooringslanders: They have gained great wealth as traders, but they grew so civilized that they lost their warrior’s edge. Will your trinkets protect you from our foes?

Marshlanders: They are strangers in a strange land. I can never relate to them, but I bear them no ill will.

Magic Landers: It would do them well to leave their libraries and explore living in the real world more often, but I cannot deny they have power and wisdom in their own way.

Meralanders: The Paladins are harsh in their rule, but they recognize that Scarterra is a harsh world.

Mineralanders: It one thing to delve in the earth, but another thing to force goblins to delve in the earth for you. We are united by a common foe and nothing more.

Midlanders: The midlanders still have much blood of the Meresh through their veins and keep many of the old ways. I am proud to call them brothers.

Riverlanders: The riverlanders still bear a trickle of Mersh blood. They are our cousins and I am pleased to call them allies.

Goblins: Vermin, but a hundred times less threatening than our other foes.

Kahdisteria: These days, the elves rarely travel west of the mountains. If war resumes, they will probably attack by sea and there is very little the Maresh can do to help our friends if this happens.

Gnolls: Our constant battles with the filthy hyena warriors keep our sword arms strong.

Frostbiters: There are orcs in the north. At the moment they are occupying land no one else wants, so I am content to leave them in peace...for now.

Yeti: I only visited them once and very briefly at that. I cannot deny that I sensed an air of nobility and honor among them, alien though it was.

Midlandia’s Opinions on the Others

Here the words of Saad, traveling minstrel

Spoiler: Midlandia's Opinions on the Others

Marginallanders: Hard lands breed hard people. I’m glad they joined our alliance.

Musselanders: I’m not sure if we have any shared blood with them, but they are spiritual brothers at the very least.

Mooringslanders: Arrogant copper counters…they are easy enough to convince them to part with some of their coin with a little flattery.

Marshlanders: They are good allies to have on the battlefield, but when Marshlanders visit, livestock seems to mysteriously disappear…

Magic Landers: They use books and magic to avoid getting their hands dirty, but I’m glad they are on our side.

Meralanders: Don’t try to spread merriment in Meraland, pleasure and joy are sins in the eyes of the Hearth Mother!

Mineralanders: Sharing a border with the Kahdisteria has made the Mineraland become Kahdisteria.

Mereshnari: Our distant kin. Without their friendship and courage, gnolls would be feasting on our livestock…and our families.

Riverlanders: Their lands are more fertile because they have more water, but I don’t envy them. I’ll take our local lords over the Riverlanders' tyrant lords any day.

Goblins: I feel bad for their plight, I really do. But we can’t just sit on our hands while they plunder our herds.

Kahdisteria: The goblins try to steal our livestock, but the dark elves try to steal our children. Void take all their evil souls!

Gnolls: The gnolls try to steal our livestock and our children. I’d say the Void can take their souls too, but I doubt these monsters have souls.

Yeti: I hear they are enemies to the dark elves, but as remote as they are, they might as well be at the bottom of the sea for how easily we can contact them.

Mariverland’s Opinions on the Others

Lady Laalsa the coffee plantation owner speaks of those in the lands she trades with.

Spoiler: Mariverland's Views on the Others

Marginalanders: If the potato farmers want to be independent and free of obligations to the Confederacy, we should let them be independent and be done with their whining.

Musselanders: I like seafood once in a while, but I don’t know else they can contribute.

Mooringslanders: Without their skilled sailors and merchants, where would we be? We’d be little better off than the Marginalanders!

Marshlanders: Pathetic rabble and yet they somehow have the audacity to pretend to have the blood of the mighty Fakhari flowing through their ignoble veins.

Magic Landers: They have great knowledge and great magic. This means they have great power. Those with great power deserve great respect.

Meralanders: Lords and ladies should rule over the peasants carefully, but there is no need to crush the peasants under your heel.

Mineralanders: Their practice of using goblin serfs is risky, but it seems to be working for them.

Mereshnari: Pay them well and speak to them with respect. Without the desert runners, the gnolls would destroy us all.

Midlanders: Our poorer cousins. They do the best they can with what Korus has given them.

Goblins: We tried to work with them, they wouldn’t take to it. I take no joy in their deaths, but I will not allow them to steal my crops or harm my workers.

Kahdisteria: I do not believe war will resume with the dark elves anytime soon, but I’m not letting my guard down.

Gnolls: By the Nine do these monsters breed! We kill them by the score but they never seem to stop coming back.

Yeti: Our lands our closer to the Yeti than most, but it’s still a huge difficulty to contact them. If war with Kahdisteria should resume, we would do well if we can convince the Yeti to open a second front against them.

If this is well received I will try to do more like it. I am still fleshing out the Swynfaredian nobles houses, and I think it would be helpful to have dialog blocks of a noble spewing gossip about what he or she thinks of the other houses.

On the hand, Fumaya's noble houses are so similar I'm not sure what they would say. I mean Duke Nanda Frymar is kind of a dick, but that doesn't mean that all members of House Frymar are like that. In fact, many of Duke Frymar's greatest political detractors bear his surname such Revered Mother Alexandra Frymar.

 

I like to do such lists (on a smaller scale) for my D&D adventures, just a one-liner for each faction or NPC about all others, as a baseline for dialogues.
Very useful when working out possible interactions.