Pandros (Continent)

Did you mean Pandros (Person)?

Pandros is an icy country-continent comprising of the main island of Pandros as well as numerous smaller islands in the vicinity. Perpetual snow storms plague the majority of the nearly 3 million square miles of land that make up Pandros. Pandros is the world's third smallest continent by total area. Irorind, a small self-governed continent to the South, neighbors Pandros and provides them with a large portion of their crops.

History
In the beginning, Pandros was controlled by the Half-Orcs. The Half-Orc name for Pandros has long since been forgotten, all that is known is that is not its original name. The Half-Orcs ruled Pandros peacefully, never starting any conflict.

Holy War
In 27 A.S., a war between the Dwarves of Irorind and the Elves of Yuelia was waged on Pandros, each side attempting to control Pandros for their god. The war lasted four years, before coming to a conclusion in a massive battle in the North East of Pandros. The Dwarven ingenuity allowed them to conquer the prideful Elves by making a deal with the native Half-Orcs. In the deal, the Dwarves promised the Half-Orcs that they would retain their holy land so long as they assisted in the war. Much of Pandros' remaining history has been lost to time. The Dwarves and Half-Orcs were never ones to take a liking to record events.

Alyent Off-Grid
In 994 A.S., Alyent cut off communication with the rest of Pandros. Upon investigation from other cities, Alyent had completely sealed its gate and appeared to be completely empty. No one knows exactly what caused this incident, but it had lasting effects on Pandros. The remaining cities of Pandros needed to rely on the assistance of Irorind more than ever before if they were to feed their people.

Attack On Izza
In 996 A.S., an incident occurred which changed the foundation of Pandros. In the middle of the night, the city of Izza was assaulted by a horde of giants. The sudden attack wiped the city off the face of Pandros, and marked the beginning of the giant uprising. Before this event, giants were nigh unheard of in Pandros. The few of which were known to exist were docile and lived hidden away in the mountains. After the destruction of Izza, the giants began to rapidly grow in numbers and become more and more aggressive as time went on.

The Slayers
The reign of the giants didn't come to a pause until 997 A.S. when a group of heroes arose to stave off the giant army. This team of four patrolled Pandros, helping defend many of the cities against these attacks, and killing giants before they could mobilize an assault. The Slayers were regarded as the saviors of Pandros, and even helped found the fortress-like city of Metropolis. In 1000 A.S., the Slayers seemingly disappeared off the face of Pandros, after which the giant's army began to grow once more

Governing States
In the past, Pandros was governed by three major powers; Alyent, Metravia, and Poropolis. These three worked in unison to control the continent of Pandros.

In the West was Alyent, a city of hunter-gatherers which provided food to the other states. Plentiful forests and access to the warmest areas of Pandros allowed Alyent to provide minor farming where no other state could. Alyent was the wealthiest of the three powers.

Metravia was located in central Pandros, giving its people quick access to anywhere on the continent. Metravia had the greatest military academy known to Dwarves, providing the defense for Pandros.

Poropolis, in the East, had access to the many mines and caverns below Pandros' surface. They specialized in their mining, providing valuable metals and resources to the other states. Without Poropolis, Metravia's army would never have been successful, and Alyent would have been hunting by hand.

In modern day, Pandros has only a single governing body, Metropolis. It's been said that the name Metropolis was determined by a simple coin flip, and that it was nearly called Poravia instead. Metropolis was formed by the leaders of Metravia and Poropolis after Irorind refused to risk sending ships to the dangerous continent of Pandros. The ideology behind Metropolis was to create a fortress with which to unify all of Pandros against the army of giants, to make their newly self-sustained survival easier. Thanks to the centralization of the entire army of Metravia, Metropolis has been well defended against attacks. Many giants have attempted to break through the walls, but none have been successful.

Cities and Notable Locations
Modern Pandros is nearly devoid of cities. Many have fallen to the giants, or have been abandoned as their inhabitants flee to Metropolis. Those that remain are either well defended, or too arrogant to leave.

Alyent
The fallen city of hunter-gatherers. Very few have any idea what happened to Alyent. The few who have knowledge of the inside of Alyent keep it a secret, hoping to one day restore it to its former glory.

Clockwork Tower
Originally a large floating tower made of brass. It produced Clockwork devices to help defend the cities of Pandros. It has since been destroyed, though no one knows the exact cause of the fall.

Ft. Condor
The last remaining stronghold of the Half-Orcs. An excessively well-guarded fortress in the North West mountain range of Alyent. Ft. Condor is under giant assault repeatedly, but thanks to the massive reinforced walls and the strength of the Half-Orcs, they have never lost a battle. Hodor! is the current Chief, but has left Ft. Condor in charge of Fred, the second in command.

Izza
The first city to fall to the giants. The ruins are located in the center of Pandros, about ten miles south of Metravia.

Kyndale
A mountain city on the East coast of Pandros. Kyndale is the most recent city to fall to the Giants.

Metravia
The old army capital of Pandros, and governing body of central Pandros. It has since been combined with Poropolis to form Metropolis.

Metropolis
The last beacon of hope for Pandros. Metropolis is the culmination of Pandros' remaining governing bodies and power. Its walls and army have prevented the entry of dangers from the moment they were raised.

Poropolis
The old mining capital of Pandros, and governing body of East Pandros. It has since been combined with Metravia to form Metropolis.

The Spire
A massive tower on the North East coast of Pandros. Yen Sid lives a life of seclusion within his spire, masked by illusion spells to prevent Giants from finding him.

Zero
Zero is a town populated exclusively by Dwarves, located in North East Pandros at the location of the final battle of the Holy War of 27. The town bears a state depicting the Dwarven leader standing, victorious, over the fallen body of the Elven leader. Although the town isn't hidden away, its inhabitants are sure that their god would protect their holy land from attack. The giants have yet to wipe out the town, so there may be more than just myth protecting Zero.

Geography and Climate
Pandros' area is approximately 3,000,000 square miles. It is bordered by the sea of Cymopoleia to the West, and the sea of Poseidon to the East. Pandros is one of the smallest continents on Mobium, second only to Irorind to its South.

Given Pandros' small size, it only contains three major landscapes. The center of Pandros is mainly flat plains. The northern side contains many mountain ranges, while the southern side is made up of primarily forests.

Throughout the entire continent, the climate is near perpetual winter. The snow rarely stops, save for a few valleys in the Northwest and the temperature rarely rises above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The valleys, however, have an average temperature of around 45 degrees, sometimes rising as high as 55 degrees.

Language
Pandros does not have a diverse language system. Thanks to only originally having three major states, all unified to govern together, they have stuck fairly well to Common. Many people of Pandros still know Dwarven, but it has mainly fallen out of popularity in favor of more simple communication.

Religion
Pandros has extremely zealous beliefs. The native Half-Orcs believe in nothing more than their sacred ground, trusting in the power of the myth of the Condor. The Dwarves and others who live on Pandros worship a wide variety of gods, though the main focus points are on Hephaestus and Helios.