The River Kingdoms

Scattered among the forests and marshes of the Sellen River basin are the River Kingdoms: a loose confederation of tiny, independent states, the largest of them holding only a few thousand souls.

Hundreds of such kingdoms have risen and fallen over the centuries, for treachery and chaos are rife in this region, and few River Kingdoms outlive their founders. Within just the past few years, for instance, the kingdom of Pitax fell after an overambitious attempt to extend its borders, while a new kingdom arose out of the former Stolen Lands bordering Brevoy.

The lawless reputation of the River Kingdoms draws outcasts, refugees, and anyone else so desperate to escape their pasts that carving out a new life in a rough frontier town seems like an attractive proposition. Such settlers rarely have much money, and as the skills developed in their homelands are often ill suited to hardscrabble lives in the river basin, they generally find it difficult to rebuild their fortunes. The region is further depressed by the River Kingdoms’ instability, which deters trade, investment, and even travel. Thus, most of the River Kingdoms are poor, isolated, and backward—but stubbornly, proudly free.

Some of the current River Kingdoms include the following.

RAZMIR

Born mortal, the masked wizard Razmir claims to have ascended to godhood by passing the Test of the Starstone in distant Absalom. He founded his faith in the River Kingdoms, rapidly conquering the Arch-Duchy of Melcat and smaller kingdoms through intimidation and mass destruction. Now his grip on Razmiran is complete, and his agents continually seek to expand his theocracy by undermining neighboring lands.

The clergy holds all power in Razmiran. Promotion is won less by acts of faith than by seizing territory. Most often, this is achieved by establishing a temple in an impoverished, desperate community outside the nation, and pushing grateful new converts to clamor for annexation.

RAZMIRAN PRIEST HUZURIS The tribes of old Sarkoris were famed for their mystical witch-wardens, their painted warriors, and the idols they called huzuris. Each huzuri began with the bleached skull of an animal significant to that tribe, either because it represented their totem spirit or because that individual beast shaped the tribe’s history. A fall-fattened bear who appeared before hunters on the brink of starvation and a loyal war dog who saved a clan chief in battle might equally become honored huzuris after death. Once consecrated by the tribe’s oldest witch, the huzuri became integral to the tribe’s ancestor-based magic, and was often believed to be the repository in which the spirit of the tribe itself lived. Each successive witch and chief, upon attaining that title, pressed a fingertip soaked in their own blood to the bare skull. That crimson fingerprint stored its maker’s memories, and so the collective history of the tribe was recorded in spirit-magic, blood, and bone. If a tribe’s huzuri was ever lost or destroyed, the ancient Sarkorians believed that the tribe’s soul was lost as well.

SELLEN RIVER

Daggermark

The largest and most stable of the River Kingdoms, Daggermark is renowned for its sister guilds of assassins and poisoners. It also hosts the annual Outlaw Council, where the leaders of the various kingdoms gather to plan the means by which they protect their freedom from the larger forces arrayed against them. This is the closest that the River Kingdoms come to having a unified government, and every year’s session is contentious.

Leydis

The fallen city of Leydis is a moss-cloaked ruin of marble buildings and crumbling, water-stained mosaics. Founded by a Taldan prospector in a region once known as Loric Fells, it collapsed shortly after its first buildings rose. The grandeur of its remains and the rich mines that surround it have proved irresistible, however, and Leydis is forever being claimed by adventurers or monsters. None have held the city for more than a year, and often the next creature to venture into the ruins finds nothing but stripped skeletons dangling from the walls. The medusa Chryphaena and her blind zombies currently inhabit Leydis; it remains to be seen whether the medusa will fare better than the ruins’ previous claimants.

Sevenarches

Founded among the remains of sacred elven ruins, Sevenarches is currently in the hands of Oakstewards, secretive druids who have ruled the land since Kyonin’s elves departed Golarion to escape Earthfall. While the elves have a vested interest in reclaiming this holy site, the Oakstewards continue to refuse entry due to the Obnubilate plague, a contagious and lethal disease that claims any elf who approaches the ruined arches.

Tymon

Famed for its prestigious gladiators and sensational arena battles, the city-state of Tymon makes its living selling spectacle and pride. Influential citizens from other River Kingdoms often visit Tymon in order to cheer on their favored warriors. These charismatic gladiators can inspire such devotion that political feuds, murders, and even petty wars have occurred due to disagreements between their fans.