Kostek

Kostek is home to nine races.

The Trajak are a largely nomadic people, though large cities do exist. Even the settled Trajak still show echoes of their past, as game meat is a very big part of their diet. Trajakter, which encompasses most of the Trajak's ancestral highlands and the lowlands home to some of the big cities like Karuket and Taktev, is the only nation in Kostek to abolish slavery, and they use their influence to encourage their Vjulti and Defet allies to follow suit.

The Vjulti are a lizardman race who primarily live in the northeastern swamps of Kostek. Their landscape is cold and unforgiving, but they have managed to create an undoubtable superpower in their lands, primarily thanks to their use of the tuuve, a large beast of burden which can also be ridden into battle. Vjulti life revolves heavily around the tuuve, they use it for wool, milk, and meat, and to breed and sell. They are also keen fishermen.

The Kyndic live in the only tropical area of Kostek, a warm valley between the Trajak Highlands and the Vjulti swamps on the east coast. They are organised into numerous city-states who live on the winding peninsula or the hundreds of tiny islands in the bay. Each of these islands has its own unique resources and its inhabitants a unique skillset, so these city states have to trade to survive, and embargos can be deadly. The Kyndic city states prefer economic war to military war. The Elves (aka Thalef)'s ancestral lands extend to the Ekindan Bay to the west and the Dorrekuo River in the east, and the North Funosk Mountains in the south. This area is entirely forested, covered in gigantic ironwood trees it would take ages to cut down. Thus, the elves have learned to adapt to these forests by making their cities in their branches.

The Humans live in the centre of Kostek, in the fertile Funosk Valley. This location has let their population boom, though it has taken quite a toll on their ecosystem.

The Ekin live in the rocky northwest peninsula of Kostek. Their land is too rugged for crops to grow, so most Ekin live off wild game supplemented with berries and fish.

Most Ekin also live underground, in large, communal burrows (look up Cappadocia in Turkey for a reference)

The Defet live along the barren west coast of Kostek. Their land is often blasted by storms combining snow and volcanic ash, which creates a very fertile terrain in this otherwise barren landscape. Most Defet live in self-contained city states, surrounded by gigantic walls. Outside these forts, the land is mostly untamed and covered in snowdrifts.

The Dwarves live in the southwest of Kostek, and their land is the most barren and devoid of vegetation of all. Their land is covered in mountains with elevations too high and temperatures too low to grow things in. Thus, the Dwarves live in caves, often stretching deep underground either naturally or from digging. Due to this extensive, hard lifestyle, Dwarves make heavy use of slave labour, usually consisting of Defet. This has created a long and bloody rivalry between the two peoples, with the Darash River separating them often running red with blood. Finally there is the Bokiro, in the south-centre. Their land mostly consists of gentle, rolling hills and a large flatland plain along the coast. Their capital city of Yakoto was once home to a massive empire that controlled all of Kostek, but fell for unknown reasons. The Bokiro have developed several techniques to make their agricultural lives easier, and as such have created great advances in science and art, such as inventing gunpowder.