Picking up the book Thomas opened it where he left off and started reading. Hopefully this would give him a better insight into the world he started venturing into.

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Unlike the Empire when it comes to the Orie and Helsara Kingdom they are considerably more insular people. To outsiders they can come off as cold or distant. Within their culture they are more family orientated. While they won’t be outright hostile unless you get accepted by their people it will be hard to make any meaningful connections.

To start with the Helsara kingdom, it is considered to be the kingdom of the beastkin. There is a smattering of other races, not counting the dwarves from Orie. Helsara population consists of multiple different clans. Each clan’s territory acts as almost independent city states having independent control over their territory. The ruling family, the White Wolves, acts in the best interests of the kingdom as a whole. The White Wolves clan became the rulers of Helsara shortly after the founding of the kingdom. The original rulers were displaced after multiple cases of cruel treatment to other beastkin races. If you wish to learn more about the rebellion, please read Helsara’s Hellish History.

The White Wolves act as ambassadors to the other nations and keep the peace between all the other clans. They maintain this position because of the culture of the beastkin as a whole. The beastkin respect one thing above all and that’s talent. Not just combat talent but being unparalleled in anything or at least trying to be the best. The White Wolves are the most talented in combat, negotiations, and above all have the most compassion towards the people of Helsara as a whole. The pack mentality the people Helsara has adopted is partially due to the overprotectiveness the White Wolves have over the clans, they look out for their own.

The clans will treat any outsider with suspicion until you get accepted by a clan. Once that happens you are normally gifted with some item that indicates that you have been accepted. Showing it to the other clans won’t immediately accept you but you won’t be looked at with complete distrust. It will make them treat you more fairly than a normal outsider. So, when you start your dealings, you need to impress them that you are talented in whatever field you pick.

If you are a warrior, completing quests at the guild may get you recognition and eventually accepted. If you are a merchant show you are the best in your field and earn their respect. Nobles wanting to build friendly relationships have it easier in some respects but more difficult in other ways. The White Wolves will accept you and allow you to move freely if you act in a proper noble way but getting that approval can take time. Once you have their approval you will have most of the things open to you. You still need to get accepted by the individual clans but being accepted by the White Wolves goes a long way.

Once accepted, trades, deals, and anything can become possible but be warned. Losing the favor and trust they give you will have dire consequences. Earning that acceptance is an honor and expect you to act as if you are a member of their pack. Disrespecting that can lead to at best exile at worst death. Please read up on local clans and their customs to avoid any blunders when you are traveling that way.

So, if you want to build relations with the beastkin, not just Helsara but any you come across. Be honest and show you have skill in whatever your field of expertise is, they will notice and slowly integrate with you. Before you know it, you will be an accepted member of their group.

That brings us to the Orie Kingdom, as I mentioned before they are closely tied to the Helsara Kingdom. Their social system is extremely similar to Helsara. They have a multitude of clans that make up their kingdom. The ruling family, the Steelheart family, have maintained their leadership for the same reason the White Wolves have. Through dedication to the kingdom and clans as a whole. The dwarves live in the mountain range at the south of the Helsara Kingdom. They act in concert with Helsara to guard against any beast that come wandering over the mountain passes and the open plain on the border they share with Balmar.

The dwarves are some of the best smiths, armorers, and all-around crafters in the known world. That talent is why Helsara get along so well, the drive to be the best at their chosen professions. Over time the Orie and Helsara have intertwined deeply causing a lot of people to view them as a single entity. That assumption can lead you to making errors that will ruin potential dealings. The dwarves are more direct, they want you to show them what you have and can do. Not the more roundabout way the beastkin do by observing first and slowly integrating with you.

Most of the various clans have different specialties, the ones that don’t compete against each other to be the best. If you are lucky enough to buy dwarven made gear it will be some of the best on the planet. When making deals with them, it can be considered an insult if you try and compare non-dwarven made items to their made items. Unless it is truly unique, such as a dungeon drop, that is a quick way to get accepted into the dwarven society.

When it comes to the nobility of either country by the time you would interact with them you would already be accepted at that point. Unless you are a noble yourself. Which makes the interactions you would have with them rather simple. Treat them how you have treated people until that point.

All in all, when it comes to Orie or Helsara it is imperative you enter those kingdoms with a plan on how to impress the two groups. Once you get accepted the ability to make dealings will become easier in every way.

To the east of those two kingdoms, we have the Balmar Kingdom. Balmar is a mainly human kingdom, but other than the empire has the greatest number of all the different races. Including the Royal family, it is well known that the current King, Francis Balmar, second and fourth wives are not human. An elf and beastkin respectably, the king himself is half elf.

Balmar’s main focus has been on exploring the frontier, more so than its neighbors. A policy that has rewarded them greatly from the goods they find and sell to the empire and other nations. How this effects relationships with other nations is clear. From the beginning all the other nations have great trade deals with the kingdom, but at first the Rathian kingdom were jealous and supposedly attempted to sabotage some of the key locations Balmar found. Such as the massive gold and silver mines, which is one of the largest sources of incomes, it is one of the largest sources of gold that all the nations mints get their gold from. Along with the Bundlos Dungeon, where they pull out magical artifacts by the wagonful.

The previous king of Balmar left it up to his children to solve the issue with Rathian, he wanted it done in a way that would prevent a war. The child to do so would become the heir, Prince Francis at the time was adventuring with his party who all later became his wives. When he was told of his father’s challenge, he went to the border and did a simple demonstration. With one slam of his war staff he created a valley that covered a dozen miles. It was how the prince, now King, announced to the world he became an S-ranked adventurer. Still to this day, he is one of the current eleven to reach that point and that are still active.

After his impressive show Rathian and Balmar had a few close door meetings that ultimately resulted in the hostilities between the two countries to end. It also elevated the fourth prince to become the heir and eventually take over the throne. If you want to learn more about King Francis, please read The Prince and his Flowers. (AN: Please note that there is factual information it does focus heavily on the romance between him and his future wives.)

The current political position of Balmar is tied directly to their expansion efforts to the frontier to uncover more financial opportunities. Balmar has a large economy centralized around the dungeons they have found.

If you are a mercenary wanting to better yourself it’s the kingdom to go to, getting delving slots to most of the dungeons is rather straightforward. If dungeon delving isn’t for you then there are plenty of opportunities to be a guard at any of the frontier towns. There are also sponsored expeditions into the frontier itself.

If you are a merchant, you will face many difficulties breaking into the market around the established cities, the business that are there have been operating for centuries without issues. If you are wanting to take risks the frontier has many opportunities for budding merchants.

The same is true for adventures, there are plenty of quests available. Any manner of work is needed, be it simple tasks like picking certain herbs or more dangerous work like hunting down griffins.

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Balmar doesn’t interact that often with Valarus Queendom or Keller Kingdom mainly because of the distance. They have the standard nonaggression pact that all of them share.

With the Phoenix Empire they have a few dealings that involve training some of the empire’s troops in a few of their dungeons for better tax deals when selling goods to them.

All In all, the Balmar Kingdom has adopted a similar attitude as the Phoenix Empire. As long as you act in an honorable way you will be treated fairly. They aren’t to the level of the empire be honest dealing will get you further with the general population.

Moving on to the Rathian Kingdom, they are a kingdom of elves. As I have discussed before they used to have a feud with Balmar, but the current policies shown more open and honest dealings. I personally believe it isn’t just to build friendly relations with Balmar but to try and ease any tension with all other countries. Except with the Valarus Queendom, from what I gather they still have frequent border skirmishes. It is well known that they were the only two countries to declare war against each other since the Unification. I was unfortunately unable to find the reason for the initial war or the constant feuding.

Regarding the other nations they have friendly dealings with all of them. Mainly trading their alchemical creations to get their wants and needs met. If you are an alchemist or you want to become one, Rathian is the best place to receive training. Getting an apprenticeship is extremely difficult and I was never able to uncover what all the requirements are to get selected for one. If you do get selected by the end of the training, you will be one of the best alchemists there is.

If you are a merchant wanting to make dealings with their people, it is rather easy. Merchants are largely accepted if you have proof that you are a merchant with good standing with any nation other than Valarus. The current King, Rhett Rathian, has only been in power for a hundred or so years but has worked towards accepting more outsiders. From what I was able to gather he has received a lot of push back regarding that choice, but the little it has been accepted helped bolster their trading.

If you are a mercenary, you will find plenty of work as well. Be it working as a guard or signing up to fight in some of the skirmishes that happen. From what I was able to find out the pay is rather good. It was hard for me to find out any more information about Rathian and its future motives but as always please read up on local laws so help prevent you have future issues.

Just like anywhere there is always a need for adventures. You will be able to find steady work just like anywhere else you could travel. The only noticeable difference is the fact that Rathian only has one known dungeon, and it is largely monopolized by the nobility.

When dealing with the people of Rathian be aware they do have some issues with being bias against any race other than the elves. They do tend to have an elitist attitude and I believe it steams from their long life spans. There won’t be any overt issues but the people of Rathian do tend to be more brisk with the other race. Outside of that try and deal with them in an open and honest way and you shouldn’t face any issues.

Next bordering Rathian is Valarus Queendom, it is mainly populated by Drow. They are a matriarchal society; it doesn’t matter if you are a visitor either. If you are a man, then you will experience what it feels like to be a woman in the rest of the world. As already discussed, they are feuding with the Rathian Kingdom.

When it comes to the other nations, from what I found they have extensive trade deals because of the few rare herbs and plants that only grow within their borders. They have also worked closely with the Keller Kingdom selling them certain ingredients that they use in their resorts. Besides the herbs and plants, they are known for their tracking skills which most nations gladly hire them for.

From the rumors I have heard the current queen, Lilliah Valarus, is pushing for their people as a whole to find a true specialty like the other nations have. I was unable to find out more about what their future goals are in that regard.

For merchants if you are a woman than you won’t have any problems but if you are a man then expect them to try and take advantage of you. It’s how their society functions and complaining to the authorities won’t help as long as no laws are actually broken.

Mercenaries are hired for all the various jobs that they have. Mostly they are used for the border skirmishes with Rathian, but some are hired for basic guard jobs. From what I was able to find the pay is on par with Rathian kingdom.

Being an adventurer in Valarus isn’t the best place to find work. From what I was able to gather there isn’t a lot of work to be found for adventures. Outside of basic collection quests and the occasional mana beast hunt. The military handle a large portion of the monster population unlike most of the other nations who rely on the adventure’s guild for that work.

While I was in the Valarus Queendom I truly enjoyed my stay. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any other information about the nation. It felt like I was pushed out whenever I tried to do some snooping. From what I did experience it seems like as long as you can assist the country in some way you are accepted rather easily. At least if you are a woman.

Lastly, we have the Keller Kingdom, they are the smallest kingdom by are large margin. It only spans a few cities and their capital. The country outside of the small swath of land, that consists mainly of group of islands. Their focus as a country as a whole is tourism. They even host the top nobility of every nation in their luxury resorts. They have exquisite spas to relax in and beautiful ocean beach resorts that can give you a glimpse of what the oceans have to show you.

Their population consists of Merfolk and dragonnewts. They are a race of beastkin, the Merfolk are an aquatic people, they spend most of their lives in the water. While the dragonnewts live in the sandy sunny islands that host the resorts. The Keller Kingdom is a kingdom in name but truly run in a more democratic way. They have one person that is voted in as the king for ten years at a time but can be reelected at the end of their term. While most of the decisions are decided by a council and the king or queen has final say. Both races are part of this council, and both have had previous kings or queens. This also works out to keep it as an almost natural territory for the other nations to meet.

If you are a merchant Keller Kingdom isn’t the place to go. They source most of the items they want from the nobility of all the other kingdoms. They have lengthy trade deals and very tight nit dealings that make it possible for them to stay a completely independent nation.

For mercenaries they are always looking for competent guard for their resorts. You will need to be investigated to make sure you aren’t a spy or have a questionable background. If you do have a clear background and can get accepted and graduate from their guard academies, you will not only be eligible to work at their resorts, but you will be desired in any nation across the land. The mercenaries that manage to graduate from their schools are praised for their professionalism and skills.

Adventures are always needed to prevent a dungeon break from the Sunken Ruins of the Leviathan. If you don’t know about the Sunken Ruins of the Leviathan, it is an ancient, abandoned city that is off the coast of the Keller Kingdom. No one knows how old the city is, but it is believed that it was originally an island that partially sunk, at best guess thousands of years ago. It was a city that worshipped the great leviathan that has been seen far away from Athera coasts in the deep oceans. A dungeon manifested there centuries ago, and adventures are always needed.

If you are planning on coming to Keller Kingdom for work or relaxation, be aware that it is expensive. Even at the cheapest resort it can run you a few silvers a night, there are cheaper options of course. The same goes with pay if you manage to secure a work, it can be very lucrative. The people are exactly what you would expect from a kingdom that focuses heavily on tourism. They are friendly and accommodating people, open and easy to talk to.

I feel like I should mention the Floating Isles as well, it is as the name suggests a cluster of floating islands that can be spotted floating in various areas around Athera. The Floating Isles are home to a few families of dragons that will occasionally visit a city as they pass by. It is considered good luck if you are visited by one but be warned, they are still dragons. Making one mad will turn out exactly as you imagine.

All in all, this book is a small overview of the various nations that make up our world. How they interact with each other and what they focus on as a nation. These were my own personal findings throughout my travels. If you experience something different than please write to me and I will gladly investigate it myself.

Written by: Laura Landra

If this booked helped, please don’t hesitate to read a few of my other books such as:

* The History of Theodore Kingsley and Athera

* Helsara’s Hellish History

* The Prince and his Flowers

* Forbidden Love from Across the Borders

* The Haunted Castle

Please note that not all of my books I write are information books like this one some are written for specific audiences.

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Thomas placed down the book and stared at the ceiling. He was glad that now he knew more about the world but it left him with more questions. Questions he would need to ask Abigail about, there is no way the world is as nice as it seems. The book did do what he hoped, he was tired and ready for bed. Turning off the lamp next to the bed, he let the darkness take him as he drifted off to sleep.