Map of Central Spathi [WIP, sketch]

The map of the central continents of the world of Men+Monsters, Ace of Beasts, Nectar and Ashen Sun, Spathi. I will be rendering this in full color, adding and editing as I see fit, until I'm ready to print it as a nice little map for those who want to do some 'monster hunting' of their own ;>

Disclaimer: Most of the names were made up, so if any of them mean something weird or lewd in another language I am unaware of it (I looked up pretty much all of them so they should be clean *shrugs*). Any resemblance to real cultures or people are coincidental - I'm doing my best to create an interesting social landscape. Also some of these names were made up over 10 years ago! This world is a familiar one to me ;>

Places and populations named below, with some new additions and edits from the previous post. A timeline will be uploaded later, with some elaboration from the non-spoilery post I made elsewhere.

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The world in Ace of Beasts and Men+Monsters (and the other comics) is called Spathi. M+M and AoB take place in central Spathi, on two separate continents.

The continent in Men+Monsters is called Letum and was named such after a large battle that happened hundreds of years ago between monster people and humans. The results of the fighting left the land littered with various ruins, which some of the more feral monster people (and feral monsters in general) have taken a liking to.

As for fauna and flora in Letum, there are animals, but not as many as you would expect to see in the wilderness since feral and humanoid monsters also roam the lands. Monsters crave metallic substances, gold and precious gems to eat; robots / automatons consume a very sweet blue glowing substance that is sort of their ‘blood’. As a result of all this, and other factors, there aren’t that many humans in their world in general (this applies to Ace of Beasts too, although feral monsters have just been introduced, so their continent, Sylvos, isn’t nearly as messed up yet)

--some of the towns in Letum--

Tarask - Lex’s home, but not his birthplace. A kingdom only populated by humans and a small group of man-made robot companions. The robots and humans are heavily biased against monster people, since there is a high concentration of knights descended from those who fought long ago here. It’s common to distrust others in general here, though a beautiful city there is a lot of tension. The kingdom’s crest is a white sword.

Rathe - A monster town and home of Dover and Kinver. Very few humans, no robots. A big town with many buildings, suggesting a robust population before the war.

Den - Silas and Xylia’s home, a heavily wooded forest where many monsters live for hundreds of years. A humanless place. All of the monsters born here are raised by one matriarch. Characterized by the white trees surrounding the area.

Robot Town - A city of robots who have either discarded their created purpose or are just automatons who want to live with other automatons. Some of them have domesticated and adopted feral monsters as companions (ironic, since many robots in this world are made for companionship themselves!) or have taken to human recreational activities to pass the time. Ironically, there is a big initiative being taken for these human activities to cease, with posters condemning such behavior for being 'un-robot-like'. It has gotten to the point that there is a law preventing one from having more than a certain number of plants outside their residence.

The people:

Robots in Letum are man-made and usually created to fulfill a specific purpose. In general they prefer monsters as friends, since monsters live for a very long time and robots live forever (provided they are regularly maintained / upgraded by mechanics and other specialists). Augmentations, especially sexual ones, are getting more popular as the older models fulfill their previously assigned (usually utilitarian) Purposes.

Monsters - There are two kinds of them, feral and humanoid. The feral ones are ‘magical remnant’ type animals. The humanoid ones are ‘true’ monsters who have taken the form of humans to better adapt to their world. Many are kept as ‘pets’ due to their tendencies to act like extinct species such as cats and dogs and their high intelligence. There is debate about the ethics of forming an intimate relationship with fully matured ‘pet’ monsters. Both feral and humanoid monsters must consent to such an arrangement, and so there is not much of a moral panic about the idea of monsters as 'pets'. They hatch from eggs and most have no navel / nipples because of that.

Humans - Non-magical, non-animal people whose population is steadily declining. Intelligent and proficient in weapons and robotics, yet the monsters are seen as the primary reason in their decline due to fighting and other factors: fear of their power, the monsters consuming the resources for currency and weaponry (metals), and fear of exploration due to the overwhelmingly large population in the world compared to humans.

Humans and monsters cannot reproduce with each other. Robots have procreated with humans with a certain scanning technology, but it is generally frowned upon by the 'organic' population.

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In Ace of Beasts, the continent is called Sylvos, so named for it’s lush scenery and characteristic red and orange trees.

Feral monsters went extinct in Sylvos a very long time ago due to monster hunting and have just been re-introduced into their world, so there are still many animals and crops in the world. Letum could be seen as sort of a bad future of Sylvos if the monsters are left to roam. Instead of performing executions on criminals who commit heinous crimes, people are exiled to Letum with the implication that they will die there.

The exception to the extinct monsters was the Gryphon (also stylized 'gryphon', no capitalization), which became considered a domestic animal despite it’s monstrous roots. Due to their intelligence, relatively docile temperaments and usefulness to humans and animal people alike, they have been kept around and now fill many roles in their world that a domestic animal would (transportation, pet, mail carrier, sport animal, etc). There are subspecies that are larger than a house to those who can fit in a cup. Some Gryphons have sentience and were not part of the monster extinction, but these are rare to encounter.

Sarcius - the small, lush desert town between Zendo and Sarrat. Xerxes and Osric settled here after they became mercenaries / monster hunters.

Alanoc - Osric’s home. A kingdom settled in a canyon with a river from the ocean running through it. The only kingdom with a nearly completely human population. Known for their Knights of Alanoc, who are trained as Gryphon-riders.

Zendo - Xerxes' and Ramzi’s old homeland. An affluent human-only town with very tall walls but beautiful waterways throughout. Dark red trees have grown over the stone buildings, making life hard for the guards who live there, as thieves have an easy way to break in to buildings now. A very lush, water-filled city but just outside of town there is a small forest - beyond the river are small mountains, and beyond that is a very arid environment. It's said that the sharp difference in climate is magic-made to allow life all the way out in this otherwise unforgiving natural place.

Altin - The 'city of silver', named for it's distinct skyline reflected on the horizon in the sands. Home to the notorious Thieves' Guild, but that fact is summarily ignored because it's also a rather colorful tourist attraction due to it's hospitable and pretty atmosphere.

Korahu - Osric's birthplace, and home to his older twin brother King Xander. Currently having tensions with both the Winged Kingdom and the Lymori-Mazran domain due to the outbreak of monsters, with the blame being placed on all the animal people.

Sarrat - the kingdom of the Winged people surrounded by tall trees. There is a tropical mangrove that separates this land from the aquatic Demons’ swamp Mazra, and many Winged people mingle with the Demons there.

Shinta - the shape-shifters’ kingdom in the icy mountains. A land where many mages live. Their wolf prince has a certain distrust toward the Lymorids, because a long time ago they took the forest from them, forcing them back into the snowy cliffs.

Lymori - A forest of taur people of all kinds. It is ill-advised to enter the surrounding forest at night, because of a highly toxic spore released by the trees at sundown.

Syoldia - An island out in the most northern part of Sylvos, also called 'the arrow tooth' by sailors for it's jagged shape. A land populated by anthro animal folk, but a mostly untouched natural landscape.

Paradise - A mythical place untouched by time, somewhere beyond the planes of Spathi's physical realm. The gods live here, and it is here where the dead go to make deals with the more adventurous immortals.

The animal folks:

Winged people - Bird people or harpies. Gifted with destructive and healing magic but consequently are the ones often blamed for supernatural occurrences. Closest allies of the Demon people. Like the monsters, they are sometimes kept as 'companions' since they hatch from eggs, although the morals of this are highly controversial. Since this idea is falling out of favor, Winged people have capitalized on this and formed 'birdhouses', places where people can spend time with them (eating, talking, recreation, sex) for a fee. Most Winged people frown upon this idea for it's implications as well, but some argue that since it's an environment encouraging friendly interaction it benefits them.

Demons - Mermen and elementals. Monstrous looking and powerful but rarely become practitioners of magic. A lot of people are scared of them, but Demons are friendly towards pretty much anyone. They’re most commonly seen in their mangrove (Mazra) or the surrounding bog. Water Demons (merpeople) can travel on land with a slithering motion of their lower body, and are surprisingly fast due to the strong lower body muscles.

Lymorids - Centaurs and other half-animal four-legged humanoids. Non-magical people, so cannot see supernatural occurrences, but also unaffected by magical anomalies. Mostly hostile towards the other animal people and humans, but their territory was most recently united with the Water Demons' domain so they are on good terms at least. Most take riding on their back as a form of friendliness or intimate affection, but some are very offended by the gesture. Lymorids and Water Demons have interbred, the most famous of such a union being their Lymori-Mazran ruler.

Shape-shifters - Half human half-animal folk who change shape to a fixed giant animal form at will. Their twelve rulers are notoriously hostile to outsiders, but the people in general are not so callous. Not many shape-shifters are seen among others, because there are not many of them left.

The Sylvian automatons:

Suvari - Non-man-made robots who live underground. A demon-god-worshipping cult of them exists somewhere in Sylvos that has given automatons a bad name. Most people in Sylvos have suspicions about robots in general because of them, but imported robot companions are becoming more popular anyway.

Anomalous magical populations:

Djinni -  Half-monster people (although considered and called 'monsters' anyway) transformed from a curse into strange beings of smoke and fire. There used to be many Djinni, but they, like the monsters, exist solely in Sylvian legend now. A wound from one can turn other humans into Djinni - there is speculation that ancient transformations could be one of the reasons there is such a small human population in Sylvos today.

Feral monsters - Similar to the feral magical beast population of Letum, but these went extinct on Sylvos long ago. Revived by the sorcerer's magic, they wish to rest again after glorious battle. A bite from these, unlike the Letum kind, can turn a human into a Djinn.

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I've been developing this lore for years!  More to come, but this is only a taste. Let me know what you think ;> (sorry it's so long lol)