World Map - Continent of Cantoria

Looking out over the endless mounds of the desert, something glimmers in the distance. Rising above the hazy horizon lies the city of Verdant. Surrounded by the green of the fertile grasslands and hugging the salty blue of the coastline, Verdant is uniquely positioned in the desert, allowing for an abundance of life to flourish in this otherwise burning wasteland. With the palace of the Queen dominating the center of the city and the towers of the Five Houses standing guard, Verdant Proper lives as a testament to the determination of it's people. This heavily populated city boasts a thriving marketplace, with goods and imports brought in from the trade provided by their expansive ports. The bounty of the sea is open to it's people, providing every manner of succulent creature to be enjoy. The grasslands agricultural abundance is assured by two growing seasons that allow for different crops to flourish and be harvested and stored.   

Four oasis cities dot the landscape of the Verdant nation, providing a respite from the heat and thirst. Though travel between them is treacherous, each oasis is an important part of the nations stability and security. To the West, Lodestone provides and processes iron, copper, and nickel.  To the Southwest, Last Respite offers a moment of reflection before the unbearable desolation of the Red Wastes. To the East, Flourish watches the coast line, well placed should any invaders come by sea. To the Southeast, there is the Speckled Ponds, where the land is thought to be sacred due to it's sweet and healing waters. 

To the far West, past the Greenpeak Mountains, lies the thick canopy of the Dense Jungle. Bursting with the Orcish people that once called the deserts home, they now make their homes in the treetops. Their knowledge of this land is unquestioned and insurmountable, making it ill advised to trespass. It is rumored that there lies a magnificent city somewhere in the maze of greenery, but if there is, the orcs have no intention of divulging it's location. Though it has been generations since the last incursion, and longer still since they last engaged in open combat with Verdant, there is still a great deal of distrust between the Orcish tribes and the people of the nation. Some see them as a risk to their very way of life, a shadow looking in the boughs and underbrush. Still others remember the ferocity of the Orc folk in battle, and see them as potential allies should their worst fears become a reality.
 
To the South lies the Red Wastes. A desolate place, uninhabitable by all but the most brutal and determined of creatures. Used for generations of Verdant's young women as a testing ground for them to prove themselves worthy of becoming Citizens, only three Trial huts remain. The daring still undertake this traditional venture despite the risk of raiders, sandstorms, predators and the Yenya. This striped, exiled race has no love for Verdant or it's people. They often join with bandits to lead raids on the oasis cities.   
 
To the East, over the Spirepass Mountain Range, lies the Abandoned Empire. It's said in the old scrolls that the women of Verdant left these treacherous lands long ago, seeking their destiny in the golden sands of the desert. It has been well over a thousand years since anyone has ventured beyond those mountains, but rumors have begun to swirl. Surely no nation would be foolish enough to send an army into the endless and brutal desert. It would be suicide! 

Wouldn't it?