Fiction:Mushrum Kingdoms

The Mushrum Kingdoms, Funghal Empire, or Mushtäria (Land of the Mushrums), are a realm that has existed for five centuries in the heartland (centre) of Koldenwelt, inhabited by the Mushite Races. It is ruled by the High King of the Mushrums. The empires' territory is centered on the Mushite kingdom of Shrumia, and includes the neighboring Kingdom of Pilzarre, the region of Hongotolia, and the Duchy of Champignon.

Mushtäria is one of the largest nations in the world of Koldenwelt, both in population and land area. Initially a place of many disconnected peoples and satraps, the Kingdoms have evolved into what today is one of the most developed realms in the land. Its place between the deltas of the Silver and Golden Rivers provides it with fertile soils, and its location in the green plains of Koldenwelt has made it a thriving centre of trade; its great size, however, makes it a region of great ethnic diversity, with customs, races and daily life varying greatly from city to city. These differences keep the Kingdoms too distant to unite, limiting the power of its armies and keeping its rulers tied between the squabbling states-in effect, the only obstacle that keeps the Empire from spreading any further.

Geography
The Kingdoms are roughly rectangular in shape and divided by several rivers and mountain ranges into four main countries; The Kingdom of Shrumia, the Kingdom of Pilzarre, the Duchy of Chapignon and the Archduchy of Hongotolia. The four lands are mostly surrounded by mountain ranges and rivers, and where there are nto natural boundaries the Great Mushrian Wall separates it from the rest of the continent. They are situated in the forks of the Silver, Gold and Grand Rivers in central Koldenwelt; most of its influence, however, remains aimed at the Eastern regions and away from the kingpins of the West; the kingdoms of Marmoreal, Tragnon and the city-state of Reneath. While these three dominate trade and culture along the forested Western coasts, Mushtäria serves as a barrier between their power and the lands of the East.

Terrain
The Terrain of Mushtäria varies greatly from region to region. It encompasses mountain ranges, marshes, steppes, plains, forests, jungle and savannah. Of the four countries the Kingdom of Shrumia makes up the bulk of the Empire's terrain, and thus also most of its diversity.

Central Shrumia
The heartlands of the Mushrum Kingdoms are a collection of lush plains that contain the capital of the Empire as well as the cities of Darwinvale, Khrimsontown and the ghost town of Dhead. Mushionmar is the kingdom’s titanic capital, famed for its undefeated walls. The concentration of wealth in the city is equal to that of any other settlement in the realm-twice. It is also the home of Shrumia’s royal family, with the Imperial Mushrum castle at its centre.

Cities within central Shrumia are protected by the Empire's Inner Wall, a hundred-foot tall stone leviathan that surrounds the heartlands and is one of the Mushite people's greatest feats of engineering. Within the heartlands, cities are built in a medieval style, thoguh they also vary from settlement to settlement.

The North
Northern Mushtäria is the industrial powerhouse of the Empire, despite being the most sparsely settled region. Dry hillsides and temperate forests dot this region of the Empire. Due to its inhabitants lacking the use of magic, they have focused their efforts on pther ways to meet their needs; primarily, machinery. Perhaps the most advanced quadrant of Shrumia, the North is, for this reason, renowned for its prosperous cities and universities, as well as its famed (although limited) use of steam power.


 * Chron – the 'city of clocks' is perhaps the sole most important industrial producer in the four kingdoms combined. Its steampunk architectural style is the product of the two opposites meeting in Chron; endless machinery to power its factories, and the educated elitism of its upper classes.


 * Ruubansburg - the long-established economic kingpin of the North, Ruubansburg functions as the empire’s financial capital. It is clothed in marble statues and adornments in the Beaux-Arts style, and is brimming with new inventions such as theatres and banks. It even contains buildings more than eight stories tall, a feat unseen anywhere else on Koldenwelt.

The South
Southern Mushtäria, by comparison, is the antidote to the North's industrial advancement. For oen thing, it is bordered by the Silver river to the South and most of its land remains untamed. While northern Mushtäria is cool and flat, the south is consumed by marshlands, flood plains, mountain ranges and a sun-drenched coast.


 * Sporeley Heights - Sporeley heights is residence to many artists and retired public figures. It lies on the southmost edge of the Kingdoms, the so-called Golden Coast. The town is leisurely and built for pleasure; neither trade caravans nor raiding parties commonly find their way here.


 * Warnii - Warnii is home to one of the rarest Mushite races, the Wanaran. Though it's deemed a region prized for its natural beauty, it lie sin the heart of the southern marshes of Shrumia and is thus almost impossible to get to. Wanarans live on the roots of the giant violet Valencia trees, suspended above the;lakewaters of their swampy environment. They are a race both gifted in magic and as long-lived as any elf.


 * Archduchy of Hongotolia - the south of the Empire encompasses an area known as the Archduchy of Hongotolia. It is a muddy and primitive land, with only two main settlements that resemble the ancient cultures of our world; Habylonia, the Archduchy's capital, is renowned for its ancient temples and sinking gardens. Nayaüm lies on the Golden Coast, with its unbowed pyramids that stil house its native Nayam species. The people of Hongotolia have lived in the area for millenia, long before the Kingdoms came into existence; upon Shrumia's birth, they were subjected to Mushite rule and became a part of the newborn Empire

The East
The eastern Kingdoms are a land of great oriental similarity; most of the region is a great mountainous highlands split in half by a gigantic gorge known as Vale Valley. The area is lush idfperhaps too wet, and streaks of jungle flourish every now and then between the sudden foggy peaks of the Kaburai Province. To the far northeast is the small but cultured Duchy of Champignon; to the far southeast, a handful of gilded outposts where the Kingdoms border the desert-like savannahs further out east.


 * Kabura - Kabura is one of the largest cities in teh Empire, and the sole best defended one after the capital itself. It is flanked by extensive paddy fields where exotic grains are grown, as it lies on the hilly entrance to Vale Valley where a small river known as the Koi wounds its way into the mountains. Bright orange and gold-tiled pagodas symbolize the city's wealth, which stands as the rest of the Kingdoms' entrance to the far orient.


 * Nadia - A true wonder of the world is what most inhabitants in the kingdom consider the eastern city of Nadia to be-massive and built solely on the immense stone mountains at the far end of Vale Valley, hidden between the fog. The city's height provides an unparalleled view of the myriad lakes and lands below.


 * Goldarad - Goldarad is the easternmost city in the Empire. It is the last outpost between civilization and the almost desert-like wastes that lie to the east. Its inhabitants, the Goldems, are not native to the Kingdoms bur rather immigrated from lands unknown. The wealth of the settlement is not something to play with; for hundreds of years, it has had to be greatly regulated by the kings at Mushionmar so that it does not outshine the capital. For in Goldarad, every onion dome is made of solid gold and every wall covered with marble ornaments...or so say the legends that plague Koldenwelt about its richness.


 * Duchy of Champignon -

The West
To the west of the heartlands lie strange forests and mountainous fields, and the westernmost Mushrum Kingdom of Pilzarre. The western territories possess the most mineral wealth and are the most alien of all; after the green fields and shires that surround central Shrumia, orange forests and mountains take their place. deep within the brush lie cities made of crystal, glass and ivory, a place unlike any other on the continent.