The world of which Novaria is part is a
parallel world to
Earth, a plane of existence related to ours in that ours constitutes its
afterlife. Culturally it bears resemblances to the eras of both
Classical Greece and
Medieval Europe. Mankind shares this world with other intelligent beings, like the serpent people of Beraoti, the beast-men of Komilakh, and the silvans of the mountain forests. The fauna is largely that of Earth's
Ice Age, while the vegetation is similar to that of present-day Earth. Novaria's world is one in which the supernatural element is dominant. Magic works, though in a strictly logical fashion that often leaves its practitioners dissatisfied. Gods are real and strongly influence mortal affairs, communicating with their worshippers through dreams and granting them favors if paid homage. They grow weaker without this, and will eventually fade away if entirely bereft. Gods also require statues of themselves as foci to enter the material world. Demons can, and often are, summoned from other planes of existence, which Novarians number in relation to their own (which to them is the Prime Plane). Novaria itself is a broad isthmus joining two continental masses to the north and the south. The northern continent consists primarily of the steppe country of Shven, with the pirate isles of Algarth off its western coast and the land of Hroth to the north. The southern continent contains the empire of Penembei and the desert of Fedirun to the south of Novaria and the jungles of Mulvan and Komilakh to the southeast; other lands, notably Beraoti, lie further south. Novaria is separated from the northern continent by the high Ellorna Mountains and from the southern by the great Logram Mountains. On its other sides it drains into the Western Ocean and the Inner Sea, which communicates with the Eastern Ocean via the smaller Sea of Sikhon. Across the Eastern Ocean are the archipelagos known as the Peppercorns, Salimor, and Gwoling, and an eastern continent on which is found the great empire of Kuromon and another nomad-inhabited
steppe belt. Across the Western Ocean is the country of the cannibal Paaluan sea raiders; as these are also stated (in
The Honorable Barbarian) to be a threat in the Eastern Ocean, there is evidently a navigable sea passage around either the main Novarian continent or the eastern continent, or both. Novaria is a land with a single language and culture, divided politically into mutually-competing city states - reminiscent of
Classical Greece and
Renaissance Italy. The twelve city-states into which Novaria is split are Solymbria, Boaktis, Tarxia, Zolon, Ir, Metouro, Govannion, Aussar, Xylar, Othomae, Kortoli and Vindium. The Twelve Cities are ruled under a wide variety of competing governmental systems, some of them unique. For instance, Solymbria is an
archonate whose leader is selected by
random drawing, Boaktis is a dictatorship, Tarxia is a
theocracy, Zolon is an island
ruled by its navy, Ir is under the control of a syndicate of
plutocrats, Metouro is ruled by a secret society, Xylar chooses its kings by lot and beheads each after a five-year term, Othomae divides civil and military power between a Grand Duke and a Grand Bastard, respectively the eldest legitimate and illegitimate sons of the previous Grand Duke, Kortoli is a traditional hereditary monarchy, and Vindium a republic of the classical variety. This allows the author to explore pros and cons of different modes of governance as his hero tours the region. As for other countries, Shven and Fedirun are home to nomads patterned after the
Mongols and
Beduin, respectively, Mulvan is a caste-bound empire combining features of
India,
China and
Persia, and Iraz, divided from Mulvan by Fedirun, is modeled on the
Byzantine Empire. The jungles of Komilakh east of Mulvan are inhabited by beast men, and the far-off islands of Salimor in the Eastern Ocean comprise a monarchy mingling elements of
Japan and the
Philippines. The distant empire of Kuromon is based on
China and
Japan. ==Features==