This clickable map shows the cultures of the Known World, except for the migrating Horde. Borderland areas are coloured in red. Clicking on an area takes you to the relevant culture section.    Boring note: with this kind of projection, areas to the north (up) on the map are disproportionately large. Turangi covers vast areas, but not quite that vast. Unless you want it to, of course :-).     Below is the same map with countries added. Clicking on a name will take you to that country section (if it exists - some don't yet). Clicking on the cultures won't do you any god on this map.    Note that only the names are given, and not the actual size of the countries, nor their borders. And, as usual, I use XWP and H:tLJ (where it doesn't contradict XWP). There are no non-canonical names here.

 

WHAT’S ON THE MAP? Aquitania: One of the three unnamed parts of Gaul mentioned in the series. Assyria: Mentioned as part of a dangerous joke in The Furies. Belgica: One of the three unnamed parts of Gaul mentioned in the series. I use the Roman name to emphasize the Mediterranean perspective of the series. Britannia: The place where the story arcs of the Fire begin. Carthage: The mighty rival of Rome is another realm that's only mentioned briefly in a half-joke. Centaurs (Greek): I have included the Centaur Nation in the Greece section, but it’s sufficiently special to merit a mention here. Dacia: A Strigoi-ridden country in a H:tLJ-episode. Denmark: Actually mentioned by name in the Norse trilogy and home of Beowulf. DesertStates: Seems to include Gurkhan’s fortress, so that’s where I put it. Eire: From an arc in H:tLJ. Gaul (Gallica): Here the largest of the three unnamed parts of Gaul mentioned in the series.  Greece: Of course… Iberia: Shown on a map in H:tLJ with no further information given. India: Mentioned as a region and possibly a country. Since I picked the former option, the link goes to the Indian culture section where several countries are mentioned (pending their expansion into full entries). Indus: An archaic realm of city-states. Israel: From The Giant Killer, and possibly one or two season 1 episodes. Land of the Rising Sun: Land of the final episodes. Lao: Placing Lao was tricky, since there was no such territory. Ever. I settled for a location that was close to the Wall (as shown in the series) and close to the historical Lao Tsu’s place of origin. Lower Egypt: XWP’s Egypt is Cleopatra’s on the verge of being taken over by Rome. H:tLJ’s ditto has Ramses and Nefertiti. For this reason, and to satisfy my personal vision of season 7 Egypt, I split it in half. Lower Egypt (the northern part) is Cleo’s and Rome’s, Upper Egypt is older pharaonic. Ming: See the notes for Lao, except that I had even less to go on. Norway: From the Norse arc in H:tLJ. Oman: Mentioned in Tale of Two Muses. Persia: A huge empire during much of antiquity. But since some other nations seem to exist as independent entities in XWP in those areas, it’s smaller here than it might have been. Still, since exact borders are deliberately left out form the map, this doesn’t matter that much. Phoenicia: From The Giant Killer. Rome: Home of the Evil Empire in XWP. Scythia: Appearing in In Sickness and in Hell. Their historical territory was quite well known. Scheherazadistan: Morlock's mentioned realm in Dangerous Prey, and a real headache. No such place, and not much help from etymology. Some sources place princess Scheherazade in India, and chakrams were used in Punjab, so that's where I put this elusive realm. Sumeria(Sumer): From H:tLJ. Syria: Mentioned in When in Rome... Turkestan: Mentioned briefly in Old Ares Had A Farm. The mundane world concept is somewhat vague. It’s both a large region including several contemporary countries, minor territories in existing countries, and an ethnic concept. I placed it where it wouldn’t conflict with other concepts, but still within its traditional area. Upper Egypt: See Lower Egypt. This is the southern, traditional Egypt, never overrun by Roman forces.     Finally, there is the same map showing both canonical and non-canonical countries. The non-canonical nations are drawn from mundane myth and history. While I make every effort to include only things that fits with the time and tone of the series - they are used in my own fanfics and campaigns after all - it seems only fair to be open with what's what. WHAT’S NON-CANONICAL ON THIS MAP? Agder: A tiny Viking kingdom. Argippaeans: Bald, peaceful and spiritual, these people have manage to avoid the constant wars and feuds of their neighbours. Arimaspians(Arimaspi): This tribe is known for ritually blinding one eye as a rite of passage. Avanti: This kingdom is a haven for ascetics. Bashkir: The members of this warrior tribe are known to be both hospitable and suspicious. Biarmaland: A friendly tribe by Turangi standards, intent on fleecing strangers rather than flaying them. Centaurs (Indian): Less noble and restrained than the Greek ones, but still civilized. Chudes: Brutal Turangi raiders, not used to horses as the eastern tribes are. Dingling: The Wolf Clans with huge-wheeled wagons. Goths: Savage plunderers with siege engines. Hsiung-nu: From my fanfic and mundane history. The spelling is nearly as varied as that of Gabrielle’s hometown, but it was originally a people related to Huns, Scythians, and such cultures. Hålogaland: A giant-ruled kingdom on the borderlands between the Norse and the Turangi cultures. Illyria: my private theory is that the action in Chakram takes place here, since it’s conveniently placed between Italy and Greece. The bird motif that Kal uses also fits with ancient Illyria, although they were more into water fowls than birds of prey. Iyrcae: Clever hunters and archers, with horses trained for unusual stealth. Kishkindhya: Hanuman's people lives here. Khuzebar: This tribe greatly values humour and laughter. Kush: A long time rival to both Upper Egypt and Sheba. Lugians: A fairly civilized tribal kingdom. Magadha: A trading kingdom. Matsya: A military strong kingdom. Nagas: Kingdom of the infamous serpent people. Pohjola: An Altitude fanfic people inspired by Kalevala. Pyu: A loose confederacy of peaceful cities. Sarmatia: Another fanfic people vaguely inspired by the mundane history nation of that name. Scania: A tiny Viking kingdom. Sheba: Fanfic yet again, but irresistible to use in a Xenic context, since it’s both well known in history and myth, but also hotly debated. Suebi: Alcohol is forbidden in this semi-civilized realm. Svitjod: The Viking kingdom that most often clashes with Denmark. Tochari: The Clans of the Moon, holding their own against Chin armies and Turkestan raiders. Tripura: Ruled by a god-king. Van Lang: Not unlike the larger Chin kingdoms in tone, but never part of the formal hegemony. Westrogothia: A small Viking realm. Compiled list of nation descriptions         RULES FOR CULTURES (D&D4E) Every culture has its own limits on the following: - What classes are available. No character belonging to a culture can have a class that is unavailable in that culture. Such a character can't ever be a member of that culture. - What planes you can reach. There simply is no way at all for god or mortal alike to reach an unreachable plane, except by dying. - What happens when you die. This is the only thing that goes with the character, not the geography. No matter where you die, your afterlife is decided by your culture. - Gods are often, but not always, peculiar to a certain culture. In addition, cultures have the following effects: - +5 DC for Arcana, History, Nature, and Religion checks regarding subjects from other cultures. Note that Dungeoneering checks are unaffected.  - Heroic characters have no reputation outside their own culture. Some paragon characters have, however, and all epic characters. See the reputation rules for details.     RULES FOR CULTURES (D&D3.5) Every culture has its own limits on the following: - What spell-casting character classes are available. If you enter a culture where your class is unavailable, you can’t use the spell-casting abilities or other supernatural abilities from that class, as long as you are in the area of that culture. - What spells you can cast. In every culture, there is one school of magic that is forbidden. No spells from that school can be cast in that culture. Also, some spells are only usable in certain cultures. Attempts to use them elsewhere simply fails. - What planes you can reach. There simply is no way at all for god or mortal alike to reach an unreachable plane, except by dying. - What happens when you die. This is the only thing that goes with the character, not the geography. No matter where you die, your afterlife is decided by your culture. - Gods are often, but not always, peculiar to a certain culture. In addition, cultures have the following effects: - You get a +2 bonus on Gather Information checks within your own culture. - Your reputation applies only in your own culture, unless you are of epic level.   EMBRACING A CULTURE In order to use the spell-casting available in a culture, you must embrace that culture. This means consciously choosing to accept that culture as your own. It can literally be done overnight, but can’t then be changed until you enter a new culture and make a new choice. You must have had some introduction to the new culture, by living in a community for 1 month, or having someone explain the spiritual essence of the culture for you. That “someone” can be a book.    Embracing a culture also means that your afterlife will be governed by the rules of that culture. BORDERLANDS The physical borders of a culture are usually loose and hard to define. This means that in many areas, two cultures overlap. Such areas are called borderlands. In them, the rules from both cultures apply. The spell-casting classes from both cultures retain their powers, you can reach all planes open to at least one of the cultures. But, as usual, the afterlife is decided by what culture you have embraced. GROWTH AND DECLINE OF CULTURES If an area in a culture remains occupied for one year solely by people who have embraced one other culture, the cultural identity of the area changes to that of the new culture, as soon as the first baby is born in the new settlement. “Occupied” implies only presence, and can be a peaceful settlement rather than a military outpost. In fact, since a baby must be borne for the culture to change, a purely military venture is less ideal for changing a culture.    Culture is not the same as political influence, even if the two often overlap.    An area that remains devoid of human or other sentient life can still retain its culture indefinitely, as long as no settlement occurs as above.