Region: Gaul

Gaul

Gaul is located to the northwest of Tartarus and is home to most of the Dagda fleet of Godcities that survived the Fall. There are seven major surviving Godcities located in Gaul, as well as four destroyed Godcities in the north, including the three worshipped by the cult of the Morrigan.

Geography

Gaul borders the Sea of Lir to its west, the frozen wastes of Hyperborea to its north, Midgard to its east, and Tartarus to its southeast. Like Midgard, Gaul’s border with Hyperborea is marked by a massive mountain range, but unlike the other major populated regions of Anesidora, the border between Gaul and Tartarus is not mountainous. Thus the only thing protecting Gaul from the many dangers coming out of Tartarus is the Black Forest, a dense and difficult to navigate wooded area filled with magical fairy circles that keep the Unliving from crossing into Gaul.

Most of Gaul is covered by temperate forests, except for the grasslands surrounding the Godcity of Epona in the southwest. The lands are also crossed by hundreds of rivers, so most movement of goods and people away from the God-Road occurs via boat. Due to the density of forests, Gaul has the greatest variety of flora and fauna of any of the major populated regions, though it still pales in comparison to the lands of Kronos in Tartarus.

History and Culture

During Ragnarok, the Ancients who crashed in Gaul were relatively safe from the Unliving threat. Though the open land connection with Tartarus would seem to make Gaul an easy target for the Unliving of Pallas, the Fairy Circles were already created and active by the time the Ancients arrived, and the Unliving mostly left the Ancients of Gaul alone. Despite relative safety from the Unliving, the Godcities throughout Gaul were still abandoned early on in Ragnarok, and taken over by the dangerous animals that lived in the region.

At the start of the Second Age, the people of Gaul quickly expanded throughout the region, but without the aid of magic they were unable to establish any permanent communities near the abandoned Godcities. The arrival of the army of The Nile and reclaiming of Sekhmet was the first evidence to those living in Gaul that any other Ancients had survived, but it was not until the arrival of the Ascended and the God-Road that significant contact between regions occurred.

Once the Hearts of the Godcities were revived, the local populations employed the rediscovered magic to carve out large kingdoms around each Godcity. These divided kingdoms proved little challenge to the initial invasion by the armies of The Nile, and it was only due to prolonged guerrilla warfare, and the arrival of the Fimbulwinter, that Gaul was able to repel the invading army.

It was also during the Second Age that the Ascended Pwyll formed the Order of the Druids. This Order employed magic gifted to them by the Ascended to maintain the Fairy Circles, and during Fimbulwinter the Druids volunteered to stay out in the cold, giving up their opportunity to be among the Chosen to ensure the safety of all of Gaul.

Fimbulwinter was particularly deadly to the people of Gaul. Being on the opposite side of the world from Eunomia, the messengers sent to warn of the coming winter arrived in Gaul too late. Without guidance on how best to pick the Chosen, some Godcities found themselves in full civil war, and the Godcity of Boann was destroyed completely when the cult of Morrigan capitalized on the chaos to destroy the Godcity’s Heart.

In the Third Age, the Chosen domains in Gaul remain relatively small compared to other areas of Anesidora. While most Chosen found that the Exiled near the Godcities were easy to reconquer, the Exiled in Gaul still had some magic, thanks to the Druids, and were able to effectively employ their magic against Chosen attacks. When knowledge of the destruction of Boann reached the other Chosen in Gaul, their anger towards the Exiled grew, but this did not lead to additional military success. Eventually, thanks to the Druids, an uneasy peace was established between the Exiled and the Chosen., However, it would not take much to break this peace, and, in addition, increasing Morrigan activity threatens to further destabilize Gaul.