Atlas Elyden #128 - the Byssian States (High-res)

As always, here are the high-res and textless versions of my latest map, a redo of a much older map that I had divided in two. It's available to Acolyte patrons and above, showing the Byssian States of Trakia, Andiluth, Moah and Khalhaat.

I've also included the image as high-res and textless files so you can download them directly, including a plain version with no text for personal use.

You can find an updated key to the map here.

Thank you so much for your support  :)

This is available to use as per the CC license on the image itself.

ANDILUTH
Not  so much a nation, but a loose collection of people between other  nations, Andiluth is a relatively recent land, having been submerged  beneath the Sea of Byssos until around 1,000 years ago and exposed only  through the waning of Elyden’s waters.

The region is  dominated by the once-coastal shelf of the Sea of Byssos and the marine  fossils and calcified coral forests that pepper the otherwise  featureless flat expanse.
The people of Andiluth are  descended from the coastal nomads that once roamed the foothills of the  Cammorean mountains. As the diminishing sea exposed more of the  Andiluthan shelf, they slowly moved north and eventually came to settle  natural harbours that dominated the exposed coastline, becoming  fishermen. Over the decades this way of life was destroyed by  increasingly unpredictable weather that brought terrible winter storms  miles inland, across the flat Andiluthan shelf. All but the most  cosseted settlements were devastated by these storms. Even those cities  that were well-protected would become uninhabitable in the storm season,  forcing the people south for half the year. This lead to the appearance  of the city of Cardamathia - the only major settlement in the entirety  of Andiluth. It swells in winter as people travel there for shelter,  bringing cured fish and other food with them.

Elsewhere  many Andiluthans cling to the nomadic lifestyle of their ancestors,  constructing light shorewalkers - wind-powered machines that travel west  and east along the shore - through which they can comb the coastline  for debris washed ashore. This life is difficult and these itinerants  need to contend with the giant crabs that haunt the region as well as  each other.

TRAKIA
Small  nation in northern Sammaea south of the Tarahid Annexes. It is largely  empty, dominated by badlands and scattered Atramental wastes. Its people  are remnants of a divided race that has, over time, died out or become  absorbed by the Parthisan empire to the north (the people of the Tarahid  Annexes to the north are their closest relatives).  

They  are a hardy people, used to harsh weather and little help from the  outside world. They work diligently against Atramental corruption,  especially cyclocephaly, which is an unfortunately common ailment in the  region, afflicting humans as well as the scattered oghur population  alike. This Atramental disorder afflicts life in the womb, causing  newborns to have one eye and distended heads. Manby are stillborn, and  most of the rest remain weak and debilitated throughout their short  lives. Interestingly those born with cyclocephaly are more likely to  have an affinity for the Atramenta. Those who are capable are taken  (usually more than willingly) from their struggling parents and sent to  the university in Deacania, where they study the way of the Atramenta to  strengthen them and fight against its spread.

KHALHAT
One  of few non-human nations in Elyden, Khalhat is a lhaus enclave, a  remnant of a far larger nation dating back to the Fourth Age that  dwindled as the great empires of that age crumbled. They are largely  insular, knowing how dangerous and unpredictable humans can be, and are  relatively content with their small scrap of land in Sammaea.
The  Khalhati lhaus are experts in the field of cloning and, like their  demiurge father, are obsessed with eternal life. Due to this they have  perfected a method of cloning known as clada, where the soul of a dead  lhaus is transferred to an artificially-crafted body, allowing continued  life. This can be done indefinitely, though each such transference  strips away part of the soul’s individuality, eventually leaving it as  an automaton.  Only the  richest and most powerful lhaus can afford this treatment, though they  can live for thousands of years as a result, leaving the rest of the  populace to dream or work for their betters in the flesh-crafting  ateliers.

MOAH
Moah  is a small independant nation centred around the powerful city-state of  Roa, locataed in northern Sammaea. It is ruled by a council of five Numenin – otherworldly beings that have shaped the course of the city’s fate since its founding in 1624 RM, following its emergence from Khalhat to  the north years earlier. The city has its own governing body, which  only seeks the counsel of the numenin in times of uncertainty, though  their wisdom is often conflicting.