The Westmarches¶
The Westmarches are the westernmost part of Numenia, the sub-continent its own people call South Astia, lying beyond the Blue Mountains, the range "which separate the Westmarches from the rest of the continent". They were the heartland of the old kingdom of Amarin, whose capital stood here. Ravaged in the Demon Wars, the Westmarches are now almost entirely covered in Earthblight, and the demon-held country at their heart is known in the Fourth Age as the Demonlands.
Overview¶
The gazetteers of the 2014 archive count the Westmarches among the regions of the Western Kingdoms, "the West": the non-imperial half of the continent, "home to numerous nations, kingdoms, and principalities", whose great powers are Dalmar and Pesh. Its neighbours in that list are the Pictish Jungles, Rhovun, Angorath and the Blue Mountains. The entry for the region itself is short enough to give whole:
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The Westmarches make up the westmost part of South Astia. During the Demon Wars, the lands were ravaged, and as a result, the Westmarches are now almost entirely covered in Earthblight. In addition, they were once home to the capitol of Amarin. (S387)
The same gazetteers describe Amarin as "an old kingdom which once covered most of the North-west, from Dalmar in the south, to Rhovun in the north, as well as from the Westmarches to Faragond", destroyed during the Third Demon War. What the Westmarches were before Amarin, and what they are now beyond blighted ground, no source in the archive says.
Earthblight¶
The Westmarches are the archive's one named example of a land given over to Earthblight, which the same documents also call the Withering, Kalar's Bane and the Red Plague. The condition is described as a death of the land itself:
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Areas of the planet that have died and are no longer able to sustain life of any kind have been infected by Earthblight. Many theories exist about how this can happen. However, the most respected is: a complete exhaustion of local Mithius energy. A combination of massive destruction and magic-use can exhaust an area to such a great extent that the Mithius-cycle is broken and Mithius concentrations collapse. Living cells in these areas consume Mithius energy with no way to be replenished. Insects and tiny organisms die within an hour of exposure. Smaller animals get sick and die within days. Larger animals become sick and die within a few weeks. (S387)
The "massive destruction and magic-use" the theory requires is, for the Westmarches, the Demon Wars. Mithis itself, and the nature of Earthblight as a magical phenomenon, are treated on their own pages.
People¶
The Westmarches had a people of their own before the demons came. The archive's lists of human ethnicities record the Gildans in one line: "The Westmarches once belonged to the Gildans, but during the Demonic Apocalypse, their people and way of life were exterminated. They are now considered to be extinct." The compendium's table of human sub-races gives them no share of the living population, only the entry "Extinct (west)".
Gap
No source describes the terrain, climate, rivers or settlements of the Westmarches, nor any survivors living on the blighted land. None dates the Demon Wars that ravaged it in any calendar. The Fourth Age documents that describe the Demonlands never use the name Westmarches, and treat Amarin as an island reached by sea; how that island relates to this mainland region of the 2014 gazetteers is not stated anywhere.
Places¶
| Page | What it is |
|---|---|
| Amarin | The old north-western kingdom and empire whose capital lay in the Westmarches, destroyed by demons and never cleared of them. |
| The Demonlands | The demon-held country built on the seat of the Amarin Empire, the land called Valnyr, contained in the Fourth Age by the Order of Valyr. |
| The Gorgery | The city of the demonlord Vulgurak the Maw in the Demonlands, divided among his Great Gorgers. |
| Vaal'Dunak | The ruined Imperial Mint town of Amarin, destroyed in the Second Demon War, and the Pits of Turis beyond it. |
The Westmarches are not the Duchy of Westmarsh, the lordship the Marshford campaign's notes plan to raise in the Kingdom of Arnyr with Marshford as its seat.