Post by Hanjiru Akudou on Sept 20, 2005 0:11:24 GMT -5
Please, don't bother giving me lip for this, it's the best I could do with what I had to work with (and I should point out that the only canon map for the FMA world is literally just white circles on a black background with labels). And yes, those blue circles are lakes.
Amestris
Better known as "The State" within its borders, Amestris is a nation ruled by the military dictatorship of the Fuhrer King. Despite this fact, though, the nation in general is known to be a fairly happy and peaceful place, particularly in contrast with its neighboring nations and holds a great deal of fertile land that serves its people well. The country is divided into four administrative districts based on the four cardinal directions on a compass, each of which has its own Military headquarters. The center of the nation is dominated by Central City and HQ, which is the main seat of power for the Fuhrer King. Currently it holds a tense peace with all of its neighbors, but this is tenative at best, particularly with the nation of Drachma to the north, which has long been envious of the warmer, arable lands that Amestris is known for.
Towns within the borders of Amestris
Resembool - A small, largely rural community, Resembool is a very quiet and peaceful town well away from the borders of Amestris and their fairly regular skirmishing and territorial battles.
Xenotime - Once a booming mining community, Xenotime has recently fallen on hard times as its rich veins of precious and useful ores have largely dried up. Still, many families have taken root there, and are fighting their hardest to keep the town alive despite that loss of income.
Lior - A desert town near the edge of the State's border with the country of Ishbal, it is largely populated by people who worship a sun god, Leto, and is relatively independant of State control, though more by the fact that the town has little to offer that the State wants.
Dublith - A peaceful community somewhere between rural and urban living, Dublith is located close to a large lake and has some of the most pleasant weather in all of the State. It also hosts one of the few Universities that exist in the State outside of Central and South City.
Youswell - A mining community located in the mountains that form the border between the State and the loosely defined country of Gunsmoke, this town thrives on its trade in precious and industrial metals, but also has to deal with fairly common raids from the neighboring nation of theives.
Aquroya - A town located on an island, the residents live a fairly placid life supported by the frequent tourism they experience due to the unusual nature of their city and its trademark aquaducts.
Temruk - A small town on the now border with Drachma, it was claimed from that in the recent land push of the last few years. Several damaged by a battle that waged right through its streets at one point, the town has yet to recover economically and most living in it suffer in the most abject of poverty.
Central City - The city built around the Central Command HQ of the State, it is a bustling metropolis that thrives on a number of different trades, many of which are largely supported by the many military personnel station at the headquarters. It also boasts one of the most prestigious institutes of higher learning in the land, the Fuhrer's Trust University. Crime is also a fairly rare occurance within its borders, as the Military itself tends to handle such matters, often with a brutal efficiency which has left most criminals moving elsewhere.
East City - A town set just at the border between the State lands and Ishbalan territory, East City is actually rather peaceful due to the strict enforcement of the Ishbalan more against Alchemy by the State Military itself.
South City - The town formed around the Southern HQ for the State Military is known as the best place within State borders for automail, due to its many trade agreements with the Engineer's nation of Areugo to the south. It is also one of the cities lucky enough to boast a University, one which largely specializes in technologically related studies due to the proximity to Areugo.
West City - Formed at the foot of the mountain range that defines the divide between the State and Gunsmoke is the smallest of the five major Headquarters, due to its need to police the many mining towns located on the face of the resource rich Briggs mountain range. The town that exists around it, however, is a bustling center of commerce and trade, due to city's reputation as the largest mineral supplier for the entire State.
North City - Set a considerable distance from the current border between the State and the nation of Drachma, North City and Headquarters is a testament to the great amount of expansion that the state has made in the last several decades. The town itself is fairly common of the military towns in general, fairly large thanks to the needs of the Military Headquarters creating many jobs and opportunities for various kinds of work.
Ishbal
The nation of Ishbal is a small country that straddles the border between the edge of Amestris and the beginnings of the Great Desert. A theocratic nation, its people are marked by their worship of the goddess Ishbala, a creator diety who is said to have made all things on this earth. As a side-effect of this belief, Ishbalans almost one and all believe that alchemy is a sin against Ishbala, profaning her creations by presuming to have a better form for them than the one that she originally gave them. Due to this, the Eastern HQ of the State Military strictly enforces a law forbidding alchemy at the border of Ishbalan lands and even within them, when the Ishbalans allow them to do so. This maintains a tentative peace between the two nations, supported somewhat by Ishbala's generally benign and non-violent dogma.
Towns within the borders of Ishbal
Karaj - Capital of Ishbal and center of worship for their faith, Karaj is a bustling city constantly filled to the brim with Ishbalans come to worship at their most magnificent and holy of temples dedicated to Ishbala, the name of which translates roughly to "the point of creation." By an agreement between the ruling priesthood of Ishbal and the State Military, Amestrins are strictly forbidden from even entering Karaj.
Rasht - A town just on the edge of what is considered the border of Ishbalan territory within the Great Desert, Rasht is generally the place where all travelers from Xing cross over into the western world, and is often frequented by the few nomadic tribes that wander the wastes of the desert, though they usually only stay long enough to procure extra supplies before vanishing back into the rippling air of those hellish lands.
Hamadan - Set just before the border to Amestris, Hamadan acts as the gateway into Ishbalan lands from the State, as State and Ishbalan laws require all Amestrin citizens to register with a special office located within the city, so that they can be properly tracked and kept from causing undue trouble within the foreign lands. The city itself holds many remarkable sites, and hosts one of the only temples to Ishbala that will allow Amerstrins to enter its confines, though all alchemists are still barred access.
The kingdom to the far east of Amestris, Xing lies beyond the Great Desert separating it from Ishbal, and is largely a mystery to the other nations that reside on the Continent. Though they know of its existence, few know of its actual landscape; a virtual jungle and oftentimes rainforest due to its proximity to the edge of the continent; or it's form of government; a monarchy based around an Emperor, with the nation itself divided into numerous clans that control territories within the country's borders; or any such information. One of the things it is well known for, though, is the prevelence of medicinal alchemy and other forms of transmutations involving the physiology of the human body, such as the Ninjutsu of the secretive Iga Clan, which can be used to alchemetically enhance the body's natural abilities. Due to the harshness of the boundary between them, though, few individuals from Xing ever make the difficult journey across the Great Desert to reach the western countries of their Continent, generally content to remain in their own lands.
Towns within the borders of Xing
Guiyang - A coastal fishing town, Guiyang falls within the lands of the Hatsujurei Clan and is considered one of the most peaceful cities within the empire, short of the Imperial city itself, due to it's position distant from any of the borders of the clan territories, along with the fact that its citizens tend to care little for the clan rivalries that run rampant in their country. Largely, they simply want to live out their simple lives fishing, and perhaps get in a little exploring along the way, be it of the wide ocean itself, or of the distant lands to the west.
Kobe - Home of the Iga Clan, Kobe is a hidden city which features the only formal training academy for the clan's infamous ninja, shadow warriors trained in stealth, infiltration and assassination. The city itself is a very quiet place, if not peaceful, and boasts a very small population of specially chosen individuals from the Iga Clan who serve and support the academy.
Maebashi - Capital of the Empire of Xing, home of the God descended Emperor, Maebashi is a place within Xing where all forms of clan rivalry are strictly and absolutely forbidden. This edict is stricly enforced by the Emperor's personal guard, some of the best trained warriors and alchemists in the empire, as well as the Iga Clan ninjas, who have always held an almost fanatical loyalty to the Emperor. The city itself is quite placid, and has a number of residents who perform various services for the Emperor, and tend to be the best at their craft in the Empire.
Areugo
The Engineer's Paradise, Areugo is a nation whose rocky lands are virtually bursting with resources of all kinds, and has thus grown to be one of the most technologically advanced nations known to exist. The birthplace of automail, the best of the best pieces and mechanics are generally found within this nation's borders, along with various other technologies which are often times completely unknown to those living in other countries. The nation as a whole tends to have a fair amount of disdain for alchemy, calling it "a shortcut to a goal which could just as easily have been reached through ingenuity and hard work," and thus the practice of alchemetic sciences are largely discouraged within its borders. A strong trading partner with Amestris none-the-less, the two nations exist in a vaguely symbiotic relationship, the State relying on Areugo to supply it with the more advanced automail and other technologies of the day while the Engineer's paradise relies on Amestris to supplement its weak agricultural industry, due to its general lack of arable lands. For the time being, this symbiotic relationship has kept the two nations at peace, but how much longer will it be until one decides to end the give and take and instead simply bring the other under its heel to take all it wants?
Towns within the borders of Areugo
Rush Valley - The self-proclaimed, though quite truthfully, technological capital of the world, Rush Valley is a metropolis of almost staggering scope, one of the largest cities on the entire continent. Filled the best automail mechanics, machinests and engineers on the planet, Rush Valley truly is the place to go if you want to get something built. If you'd like to stay nice and squeaky clean, though, you should probably avoid the area entirely.
Corbis - A city dedicated to the study of technology applied to attempts at flight, Corbis is a town almost bursting with excitement and energy, along with ecentric inventors looking to be the first to create a working flying machine. Far cleaner than Rush Valley, Corbis is a fine place to raise a family if you want them to learn technical expertise . . . just as long as you don't mind things fairly regularly crashing against and sometimes into your home.
Augusta - The study of energy sciences holds sway in this cozy little town, housing one of the many institutes of higher learning that exist within the borders of Areugo dedicated to that very goal. All forms of research go toward finding better sources of power for the endless marvels turned out by the people of Areugo, and for that reason tends to be one of the cleanest, if a little unstable, towns in the whole nation, which is half the reason they gave its own institute.
Gunsmoke
A loosely defined country situated on the other side of the Briggs mountain range, it was once a dumping ground for exiles and other such rengades from the nations of Drachma, Amestris and Areugo were sent to live out their lives where they couldn't hurt anyone else. Over the years, the "population" of the land began to grow as criminals started to willingly escape to its lands, until the point current day when it boasts a large enough host to almost be considered a nation. Largely anarchic in nature, there is very little formal government of the whole area, instead being ruled from area to area by "gangs" that situate themselves in one of the scattered towns across its largely barren land. Almost utterly lawless, a person lives only by the speed of their draw and the sharpness of their wits, but even still attracts many less savory individuals for the simple fact that most normal people and; more importantly; law enforcement agencies don't dare enter the lands. Being marked as having come from the lands of Gunsmoke is generally a considerable stigma, and thus most people try to avoid letting such a fact become known.
Towns within the borders of Gunsmoke
Folsom - Ruled by the Pachinero gang, Folsom is a bustling gaming town, filled with endless establishments where an individual can test their cheating ability against those of the trained dealers and workers of the city. One of the slightly safer towns in the nation of Gunsmoke, you generally only have to fear for your life if you come in with a lot of money, or try to leave with too much. It also includes some of the finest restaurants in the Gunsmoke area, but that's not really saying much.
Sing-Sing - Close to the mountain border that forms the divide between Amestris and Gunsmoke, Sing-Sing is quite an unusual town. The cleanest and least unsavory of the Gunsmoke town, it's main advertised source of income is tourism, taking advantage of all the individuals seeking to experience the "danger" of the lawless lands. The truth of the matter, though, is that their real source of income is their frequent raids across the mountain and border into Amestrin territory by the Brash gang, with the tourism being a front to draw away at least some of the suspicion. They've made out with it fairly well for the last several years, the military having far too many other issues to deal with for them to actually form a concerted expeditionary force to end the raids, but who knows how long that will last.
Alcatraz - The most wretched hive of scum and villainy anywhere on the planet, Alcatraz is an island at the center of the only lake in all of Gunsmoke's land, and is a congregation point for the most vicious and dangerous of killers and other such criminals. The island fortress is ruled by the secretive Dragonmaw gang, and acts as the defacto leader of the Gunsmoke lands because none of the other gangs have yet gotten up the courage to challenge their authority. This is largely because it is widely known that the Dragonmaw clan employs some of the most deadly assassins in the world.
Drachma
A nation now almost completely situated atop a mountain range, Drachma is a harsh country that manages to scrape out an existence on its frozen lands only because of its immense size. If Amestris is known as a land of prosperous control by an iron fist, then Drachma is its darker twin, a nation which, at best, continues to survive through the control of its military dictatorship. Due to these similarities, along with the contested fertile lands at the border of the two nations, Drachma and Amestris have been on the edge of all-out war for years on end, the two constantly engaging in border skirmishes that have pushed the edge of each country's dominion both outward in and inward many times. Currently, the country is suffering from the loss of almost all of their arable land at the foot of their moutain range in recent years and appear very much at the ready to declare war on their long-time rival the the drop of a pin, much less a whole hat.
Towns within the borders of Drachma
Almetyevsk - The capital of Drachma is certainly an interesting place, to say the least. Amongst their own the people are friendly, cheerful, and even complete strangers seem to treat each other as if they were family. When dealing with foreigners, especially those from Amestris, a similar attitude is taken to present a kind face to cover the deep seated hatred they feel for their southern neighbors. As for the city itself it is surprisingly colorful given the conditions. Several large, bright buildings make up the capital buildings and it often seems as if there is some fashion of fair, assembly, or celebration going on in any of the city's various squares.
Nahabino - The furthest town from both the Drachma/Amestris border as well as the furthest north of the equator Nahabino rarely has to deal with outsiders and because of this they're free to present the true feelings of Drachman citizens. Curses are openly thrown at Amestrisians and at each other, the entire air of the town being bleak and bitter which is only further enhanced by the darker, earthen buildings.
Sarov - Nestled quietly in a valley Sarov is a small village with little contact with the outside world at all, including it's own government. The citizens tend to keep to themselves, content to make their ways in the world as best as possible through mining and attempting to farm what land they can. Because of this attitude they know very little of what's going on at any given time, and it's been suggested that they wouldn't even know if war did break out between Drachma and Amestris.
(If one of the cities available does not meet your needs, you're more than welcome to make up one, but I will warn you that there is a chance we might find it in some manner objectional and have to hold your character back for it.)