History of the River Kingdoms
The massive Sellen River basin drains all the eastern lands, carrying waters from the Lake of Mists and Veils north of Brevoy, the massive Lake Encarthan, and lakes and rivers all over Galt, Numeria, and Ustalav down to the Inner Sea. As the tributaries pass through the hundred marshes and forests of the River Kingdoms, they seem to carry an especially heavy freight of sin, treachery, and thievery, for the River Kingdoms are where desperate men go to escape their pasts and carve out new lives.
A true history of the River Kingdoms could fill a number of tomes, for the kingdoms that currently thrive or struggle here are but the most recent. Dozens, if not hundreds, of kingdoms have risen and fallen in this region over the past several thousand years—some, like Razmiran, have managed to stabilize and become their own nations, while others have faded forever into obscurity. Yet regardless of each specific kingdom’s creed or goal, they all share one rough code of justice called the Six River Freedoms. Not all honor the code, but enough do that it serves as a sort of shorthand for the independence that all people of the River Kingdoms hold dear, the closest thing this region has to a common ground and shared legacy.