Kem

From Praemal

Antique and shadowy Kem was a place of great magic and sorcery. Now it lies in ruins, brought low by the same spells that once made it great.

History

Once a magocracy ruled by cruel and terrible spellcasters, they wiped themselves out thousands of years ago during the Wars of Fire, but the wars devastated the land.

The shadow mages of the Invisible Kingdom allegedly foresaw the coming war, and emigrated north, eventually settling in the area that would become known as Midwood. Other ancient orders of magic also fled the country: Orders known only today as the Binders and Namers fled to the Distant South where they passed from the records of the north.

Today, Kem is viewed as the site of magical knowledge otherwise unknown in the rest of the Tarsisian Empire, and wizards from Redhurst and the Inverted Pyramid commonly organize expeditions to Kemite ruins. Adventurers of all sorts do the same, although each year, more adventurers die in the ruins than return successfully.

Geography

Small communities still lurk in the blasted, almost unfarmable landscape, although many have strange and peculiar customs that make them seem odd or even outright hostile to outsiders. Rumors claim that some of these communities are the last heirs to otherwise forgotten methods of spellcasting.

The community of Erish-aga on the southern tip of Kem is as close as the ruined nation comes to a city, although it would likely be considered a mere slum of Tarsis or Ptolus.

The border between Kem and the rest of the Prustan Peninsula is marked by the Graywall.

On the northwest coast of Kem is the fishing village of Peck.

Residents and Kemites abroad

In Midwood, Khenemet-Apep is a Kemite.