The current year is 4607 AR.

Geography of Golarion

Salinian Empire: The empire was founded in 4081 AR, with the secession of the province of Cheliax and the subsequent division of the ancient empire of Taldor (often known now as the Eastern Salinian Empire). The Western Salinian Empire comprises a number of provinces, including Cheliax, Andoran, Galt, Isger, and Molthune: in other words, most of the territory along the northern coast of the Cerulean Sea. The empire's capital is Westcrown on the River Adivian, in Cheliax. Reme, about 650 miles away from Westcrown in Andoran, is another significant city. Reme was known in ancient times as Augustana before the Salinian Empire took control of the province.

The Salinian Empire was stricken by tragedy a year ago, when the Emperor Antonio II was assassinated with the involvement of the dread god Vulciber, and the empire's chief deity Aroden died. The empire has been plunged into fear and chaos: Imperial forces have retreated to the major cities, leaving outlying towns and villages to fend for themselves.

Majoor: Southeast of Reme in Andoran stretches the Hellasian Peninsula, at the southern tip of which lies the ancient city of Majoor. The town has never been particularly large, but has been continuously inhabited as a trade and military post for thousands of years. The city's first true buildings were built in the time of the Conquering Pharaoh, An-Hepsu II, circa -2570 AR. Better known for his conquest of Thuvia and Rahadoum, the pharaoh established fortified trading posts across the Cerulean Sea, most of which disappeared in the following millenia. Majoor was briefly seized by a Stygian naval force in 4079 AR, but was retaken three years later during the establishment of the Western Salinian Empire.

Across the bay from Majoor is Landgrant Isle, where the Salinian Empire has settled many of its retired solders. Ferrymen can be hired to row across the bay to the small fishing thorp of Crimmor, and a rough wagon trail leads through the forest to the village Bon Collina from there.


Thracia: Less a nation than a rough territorial neologism, Thracia is an area inhabited by a group of Hallitt-speaking barbarian clans who migrated south several decades ago to settle among other peoples and nations. It comprises several allied baronies in the River Kingdoms, as well as dispersed human settlements throughout the Five Kings Mountains.

Absalom: This island city-state has been an independent commercial hub for thousands of years. One of this city's most notable features is the Street of the Gods.

Khemit: This most ancient of civilizations was founded ca. -3500 AR along the the great river of northeastern Garund. It reached its territorial peak during the An Dynasty thousands of years ago, and went into a millenias-long stagnation until a Qadiri invasion in 1532 AR that deposed the pharaonate and established a client satrapy in its place. It was at this time that the worship of Sarenrae was introduced from the east and many Khemitian nobles were driven into the desert. The satrapy never managed to exert territorial control over all of the nation's former territory, and the western deserts never came entirely under its sway. Although the area was nominally under the rule of the satraps (and later, sultans), the western desert region has maintained and preserved Khemitian identity and independence for thousands of years. Khemit, today, is effectively Western Khemit.

Circa 2230 AR, some 2,300 years ago, a man named Rahotep became Grand High Priest of Set, and then Vizier of Lower Khemit. However, he was accused of disloyalty to the Satrap Phraates III by the zealous Qadiran priests of Sarenrae. The Satrap moved against the entire cult of Set, but this conflict devolved into civil war as the Khemitian population rebelled against the satrapate once again trying to displace their native gods with foreign imports. When Phraates III was assassinated in 2253 AR, sunflowers growing from his mouth, the satrapate collapsed and the church of Sarenrae was discredited. In its place, an independent Kelishite sultanate was established, based in Stygia. Within decades, the priests of Set had reestablished a position at the sultan's ear, more secure and prominent than ever.

Stygia: The last Qadiran satrap was assassinated in 2253 AR by the church of Sarenrae, and a line of sultans assumed the throne. In time, this sultanate came to be dominated by a group of sinister Kelishite houses based in Stygia, a region between the River Asp and the sea, famous as the center of the cult of Set. As these houses waxed in power, the whole nation came to be known as Stygia. Despite the efforts of other churches, the cult of Set has become the dominant official faith of Stygia. It is a dark, haunted desert land, plagued by evil priests and sorcerers, and growing in power across the Cerulean Sea.

Plain of the Crocodile: The northwestern desert of Stygia, east of the Junira River, is known as the Glazen Sheet, a region of parched limestone flats and salt licks in dry endorheic basins. The coastline at the extreme northwest has a small mountain range formed by geologically inexplicable earthquakes. Near the coast, they enclose a small basin like a ring: water from the mountains flows into the basin, but is prevented from draining away by the coastal bluffs. In ancient times, this created a large coastal freshwater lake, but during the An Dynasty (ca. -2600 AR to ca. -1770 AR), a series of aqueducts, artificial ponds and impoundments, and extensive irrigation works drained the lake to create a fertile valley for growing rice and papyrus. The most significant aqueduct runs north from the mountains through the farming town of Shedyet to the coastal port town of Arsinoe. Shedyet is more Khemitian in character, while Arsinoe and its people have always been more closely tied to the merchant houses of Absalom, Taldor, and the Salinian Empire than Khemit or Stygia.