The Gauntlet

It is a well known story of how The Gauntlet came to be, how true it is...no one can say. Fisherman, old wives and children alike all say that there were men so tall they were bigger than the sky itself. Two of these giant men got into a fight and one of them lost his arm; the great limb fell down and landed in the ocean and floated there for thousands and thousands of years, turning from rock, to earth, to soil and then to land and after that the first true men came crawling from the darkness of the caves and crevices deep within the earth.

The Continent was once divided into Three Kingdoms; Vassalward, Belthwys and Forynfell. Vassalward made up the South, a rich land of steppes and grassy plains. Belthwys made up the midlands, the thinnest portion of the continent and the most open to sea trade and fishing. Finally, Forynfell lay upon the Hand of The Gauntlet, between The Northern Forests and a vast stretch of fertile farmland that provided a large amount of food for all of the Kingdoms.

The Three Kingdoms were held together by an ancient peace treaty, however, relations were always tense. Forynfell bore the weight of much of the agricultural duties for the continent and felt that it was asked too much of by the other two Kingdoms. Belthwys wanted to explore the world and expand their Kingdom's reach across the sea to The Other Lands but the treaty placed a strict embargo on any travel beyond the continent. Vassalward considered itself to be the ruling kingdom, something Belthwys and Forynfell were not happy with.

After the Vampire Massacre the Kingdoms were united under one Royal Family at the behest of Alissa. Since that day the three Kingdoms are joined and their names have been bestowed upon their former capital cities. However, mistrust runs deep and even though they are simply provinces under one banner, an unease will always remain.