Tarkishi Confederacy

The nation immediately west of Meneluinin, Tarkishi is known for its endless swathes of nothingness and patches of wild magic, left after an intense and deadly mage war.

Tarkishi is less a nation on its own and more a loose confederacy of squabbling, loosely allied city-states, each somewhat independent and each extremely competitive. Inhabitants of this land - mostly humans, half-elves and halflings - are known mainly for having a Machiavellian streak and for being a little on the paranoid side, both of which are survival traits there.

Settlements are more common along the Meneluinin border, as the western reaches were left desolate after the Wars, and resources are scarce.

City-States
Helkaerea : Another large city in Tarkishi, a little further west and north of its rival, Talaghash. It's surrounded by barren magical wastelands and is generally extremely unpleasant, even for Tarkishi. People from Helkaerea are comfortable in extreme environments and are considered paranoid and distrustful by other Tarkishians. Helkaerea's main rival is Talaghash; proverbially: Put a Talaghashi and a Helkaerean in the same room if you want two corpses. Helkaerean mages are often occupied devising ways to halt the Blight, the magewrought wilderness of western Tarkishi--which seems to be spreading.

Talaghash : The dominant city and thus, the current capital of Tarkishi, located quite near the border with Meneluinin. The city is named after the constant, ever-refreshing ring of fire that forms part of its defenses, and is one of the few cities to have been nearly untouched by the wars that resulted in the near-destruction of the Tarkishi Confederacy. Talaghash prospered during the war through skillful political maneuvering: playing every side against every other side and selling weapons and supplies to everyone without prejudice. Its leaders made sure it was never quite worth the cost of taking it. Because of its thriving economy, most of the other Tarkishian city-states believe Talaghash has gone soft.

Tathyska : The southernmost Tarkishian city-state, Tathyska was hit hard by the wars, which destroyed most of its viable farmland. Ever since, it has been involved in border squabbles with Meneluinin and Valerian. Prior to the war, Tathyska was the most geographically hospitable Tarkishi city-state, with rolling hills of lush farmland wherever the eye could see. Afterward, many of the areas that even still had topsoil became uninhabitable, causing horrific insanity-inducing nightmares and delusions to anyone unfortunate enough to get within 10 feet of a bad spot. The city has been plagued by supply issues and the resulting civil unrest ever since. Martial law has been declared twice in the past five years, and there have been seven Speakers (leaders of the Tathyskan government), none of whom have survived their time in office. Geographic and Blight-induced isolation have protected Tathyska from the aggression of other Tarkishi city-states, which no longer see Tathyska as the supply-laden asset it once was.

Valeria : Before Vigil disappeared, some of its people fled the riots and siege, setting up their own refugee camp that slowly grew into a city. Valerian is by far the most insular Tarkishi city-state, preferring to rely on its own defenses rather than making alliances. Because of the hardships suffered by its first settlers, Valerians are more cooperative and less competitive with each other than most Tarkishians, fiercely banding together to defend each other (in whatever way necessary) from outsiders.

Vigil : Prior to the devastating war that pitted nearly every Tarkishian state against every other Tarkishian state, Vigil was the nation's capitol. Afterward... no one was quite certain how an entire city disappeared, but then again, no one really wanted to get close enough to investigate, either.

Notable Features
The Blight : Variously called the Blight, the Wastes, the Bane, the Zone, Bad Spots, Nightmares, and the Rot, these are the uninhabitable areas of Tarkishi, which include most of the western two-thirds of the nation as well as some portions of eastern Tarkishi.

The Wars : Though all the Tarkishian city-states have names for the wars that devastated their confederacy, most of the people just think of them as "the Wars." Mages and casters of unspeakable power went at it hammer and tongs to try to take over the Confederacy, which at that time had conquered most of Meneluinin as well as part of Solitaire. The conflict came to a sputtering halt when the most powerful remaining combatants disappeared, along with the nation's capitol and everything in it.